#since coach li was his coach in the national team

[makkir0ll]

setting the past (part two)

ukai x reader

wc: 1.8k

synopsis: you coach a volleyball team, one of the best in the country known for having mostly recruited players. you take pride in the fact that you have led your team to win a national championship title. And with the news of the rising team karasuno, your interest is piqued, mainly because that was your old school. you had known that they were nicknamed the "fallen crows" and such, so hearing about their fast improvement you decide you want to see it for yourself. you call up the school and takeda picks up. you organize a practice match for later that week.

but what you don't realize is that their coach is your highschool ex.

a/n: me when i post a part two after a month. sorry guys i was battling depression, school, and writers block but we survived and now i give you this. shoutout to @cottonlemonade for listening to me rant about this fic for hours.

part one. masterlist

the aura in the gym is awkard. everyone can feel it. and they sure don't miss the way you and ukai keep sneaking glances at each other while the teams warm up. ears turning red when you guys make eye contact.

he's just observing your coaching style he says to himself. but he can't help but notice how pretty you are. your hair tied up so your neck can remain cool in the hot and humid gym. the sweat beads that drip down ur neck and onto your chest. he's starting to sweat a little and not because of the heat anymore.

and you surely think he's changed a lot too. the blonde hair definitely suits him, compared to his buzzed hair in high school (that you helped him with in the bathroom of the sakonishta store). and you for sure don't miss the two silver piercings on his left ear.

but your thoughts are interrupted when your team captain comes up to you "we're receiving first." you nod your head in acknowledgment, pulling out the whiteboard and giving the team the game plan.

"we're going to start out with haru, yoshi and kyo in the back line, for the best defense. and we'll have our tallest in the front." you point to the whiteboard. "remember that no matter what keep-"

"keep the ball in play" they all cut you off. you're surprised with that. do i really say that everytime you think to yourself.

"well since you already know the drill then. go and have fun. don't worry too much since this is just a practice match." you say smiling sitting back down on the chair as you watch them line up.

as the game starts nothing too interesting has happened yet. until you see a ball getting slammed to the ground out of nowhere and you look to see a jumpy first year land back from his spike. your team is frozen in their spots, they turn their heads to you and you turn your's to ukai. he just gives you a smug smile and shrugs his shoulders. clearly he likes to show off.

"don't mind it, get the point back!" you yell at them, as karasuno goes to serve. what the fuck have they been working on?

the game continues as your team slowly becomes accustomed to the first year's insane quick attack. you end up winning two straight sets but the points were really close throughout.

as you pack up your things you see a man with glasses approach you. you assume he's the one you talked to on the phone to plan out this match. you turn your body to face him and he holds his hand out to shake.

"thank you so much for coming all the way here, it must've been a long drive." he starts, still shaking your hand.

"oh it's no problem, thank you for having us. i know it was very last minute so thank you for being able to accommodate us." you reply, releasing your hand from his and bowing down slightly. "i think our bus driver is here, so we'll head out. i hope you see you again."

you hoped to see everyone but your ex, you lied to yourself. but deep down you couldn't help the butterflies in your stomach that would erupt whenever you would catch him glancing at you.

you and your team are walking back to the bus, they are eager to get home and you can see it on their faces how exhausted they are. you told them that you'll stop for food on the way back home and you're going to keep your promise.

once you counted fourteen players on the bus, you reach into your pocket for your phone, except you couldn't find it. with a sigh you turn to the bus driver, " i'm so sorry, but i think i left my phone back in the gym. i'll just go grab it really quick." you explain with an apologetic look on your face. he tells you it's no problem and to take your time. meanwhile he'll turn on the air conditioning because it's hot.

you turn around to walk back to the school, the smile on your face turns irritated. you really didn't want to run into ukai again. how emabrassing would it be to walk back in the gym. he would proabbly say some bullshit like "oh back so soon", with that stupid smirk on his face you thought to yourself. you really liked his stupid smirk.

your thoughts are interrupted when you hear your name being called out. you look up to see the fake blonde running towards you, your phone in his hand. you roll your eyes. of course this would happen to me of all people, this somehow seems worse.

he stands in front of you now. you take notice of how he's grown a couple of inches since you last saw him in highschool. "is this yours?" he asks, holding your phone out.

"yes, thanks." your tone is still sharp, you're really annoyed now. you would've rather just slipped into the gym quietly to grab your phone, not be face to face with your ex.

you grab your phone out of his hand, but your fingers ever so slightly graze each other and you feel his calloused hands from the years of volleyball. i wonder if they- NO NO NO STOP THINKING THAT.

once the device is in your hands, you begin to walk away, pulling up your friend's contact so you can update her on the absolute shit show that happened today.

"i saw they used your little trick back there," ukai says. it makes you stop in your tracks and you slowly turn around.

"what?"

"in the game, your team, they used that trick of yours from high school, right? the one where you would hit the block on purpose to get a rebound?" he explains to you, crossing his arms with that stupid smirk on his face gracing his features.

"so? it's a good technique. and since when were you this observant?" you question. ukai had never really been the one to know techniques, let alone remember yours. it might have made your stomach erupt with butterflies at the comment but you tell yourself its the anger bubbling up. with your frustration growing and all you wanted to do was go home, you turn around. "i'm going now, bye."

"you haven't changed a bit, y'know" he makes you stop, yet again. ukai couldn't help but admire how your passion for the sport never left. the way your eyes lit up everytime your team got a point was the same look that you had when you were in highschool. the way you spoke with so much thought and intent during time outs made him smile.

though you didn't think he meant it in that way. you thought he still thinks your the same dumb girl from highschool. you have changed a lot. you've grown as a person. you are NOT the same person from highschool.

"whatever ukai." you emphasize the use of his last name, walking away back to the bus as you ring up your friend. she picks up asking what happened.

"you will not believe the shit i just went through."

------

"and then get this, as im about to leave he goes 'you haven't changed a bit y'know' like what the hell is that supposed to mean?" you say to your friend who's on the other end of the phone. for the past twenty or so minutes you've been debriefing the utter chaos that happened today, what you don't realize is your team in the background quietly eavesdropping on your conversation trying to put the pieces together.

"i dunno y/n? but anyways why does this matter he is your ex from highschool," she emphasized the last word, "it shouldn't matter now, unless, y'know, he's a good fuck? is he?"

your voice goes to a whisper "i dont see how him being good in bed is related to this?" you know your team is listening to the conversation, they’re not slick about it and you can't have them hear you talk about things like this.

"because! maybe you'll meet again and have some hot makeup sex, and trust me it sounds like you need it." she explains, you cringe at her words trying to not imagine the scenario (you do later that night)

"anyways, i wouldn't know either way. we never got that far in highschool." you explain. you did all the other stuff though, just not the main act.

"what a shame, he sounds like he'd be good too."

"can you please not imagine my highschool ex in bed." you bring your fingers to smooth out your furrowed brows. you don't want to have wrinkles before you hit thirty. "anyways i have to go now we're back at the highschool, i'll talk to you tommorow." the bus comes to a stop and the team stands up to walk out of the vehicle. when they all step off the bus they thank the driver in unison before turning to you to hear any last minute annoucements.

"good work today," you start off. "i know it must've been a long drive but thank you for cooperating. i hope you enjoyed the game." they all nodded their head yes, too tired to express any other emotions. you could tell that they just wanted to go home and sleep. "alright then! go home and rest a lot, make sure you're eating enough and staying hydrated, because next week we're going to the summer training camp. that's all i have to say for today, i'll see you tommorow, goodnight!" they all reply with a tired goodnight mumbled under their breath as they make their way back home while you go towards your car.

once your in the tiny vehicle you immediately crank up the ac because although it is night your car still feels somwhat warm from the summer heat. as you're waiting for the car to cool down you're checking your email, and you see one from coach nekomata, the coach from nekoma highschool who invited you to the tokyo training camp. his email is answering your question that you asked a while ago about the teams that are going to be there.

Hi Y/n! Sorry I got back to you so late. I am still figuring out how to use this phone. But here are the list of teams that are attending the training camp:

Fukurōdani Academy

Nekoma High

Shinzen High

Ubugawa High

Karausuno High

Kozue High

you re-read the list of highschools again, making sure that you read them all right. karasuno high. you read the two words over and over again, rubbing your eyes to make sure you weren't hallcuinating. with a groan you slump into your car seat.

"of course this could only happen to me"

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group C Round 4: Ping Pong the Animation vs White Cat Legend

#C6: Ping Pong the Animation

Sports anime for people who prefer bildungsromans to sports

#C8: White Cat Legend 2020 (Dali si Rizhi)

Government employee and his white cat boss investigate crimes

Details and poll under the cut!

#C6: Ping Pong the Animation

Summary:

Despite being polar opposites, Makoto "Smile" Tsukimoto and Yutaka "Peco" Hoshino have been best friends since childhood. Although the overly confident Peco strives to be the best ping-pong player in the world, he often skips practice, earning the ire of his fellow teammates on the Katase High School ping-pong team. Meanwhile, Smile—in spite of his innate talent for the sport—cannot help but hold back his full strength when playing against others. Through their mutual love for ping-pong, the two have developed a bond that is seemingly unbreakable.

When Peco hears that an ex-national team player from China is coming to Japan, he drags Smile over to rival Tsujido High School to observe them. The subsequent trip leads to a clash between Peco and Kong Wenge, who overwhelmingly defeats the former in one game. Stunned by such a comprehensive loss, Peco finds himself questioning why he plays to begin with. Seeing his potential as a player, Katase's coach begins to train Smile to overcome his hesitation, but he is reluctant to play if it is not for enjoyment.

As the two struggle to find meaning in the sport, a plethora of stronger players—each with their own internal strifes—await them at the inter-high tournament, where only the very best can persevere. But when these young athletes let their unbridled ambition go unchecked, the hardships they face paint a somber reality as they pursue glory.

Propaganda:

An experimental director (Masaaki Yuasa) adapting a work from a very stylized and emotionally-focused shonen mangaka (Taiyo Matsumoto). This is an anime that feels more like watching an indie arthouse movie than a shonen anime. Featuring characters and arcs that subvert standard anime tropes, it gives an incisive picture into youths on the verge of growing up and learning responsibility. If you want to watch a short anime (one 11-episode season!) which will include cool sports action (and that’s coming from someone who is not generally into sports animes) the matches given weight by the primary use of them in narrative being as checkpoint in the characters’ growths.

I tend to prefer shojo over shonen for being more introspective, with the emotional arcs developed slower and more subtly, but for me this shonen hits a sweet middle ground of having that more internal feel, while getting to do the shonen things of having cooler, action-focused animation and character relationships which are about friendship rather than romance, and character arcs that are about trying to strive hard to achieve a dream. The show is quite well critically regarded, but a lot of anime fans get turned off by the unusual art style, and there isn’t really a fandom for it, so I think it counts as underrated anyways! Anyways, I think it delivers a really impactful and complete story-arc in a short time, and it leaves you feeling like you’ve grown alongside the characters, no matter how old you are (no seriously, my 50-year-old mother walked away saying she didn’t know anime was such a profound genre when I made her watch this).

Trigger Warnings: None.

#C8: White Cat Legend 2020 (Dali si Rizhi)

Summary:

Chen Shi, a young man from the countryside, journeys to the capital in search of his missing older brother, whose existence he has only known about upon his mother’s death. He knows neither the name nor face of his brother, and after finally arriving at the capital he runs out of money as well. One thing led to another, and he finds himself employed at Dali Court, working for Vice Minister Li Bing, a large white cat.

On the other hand, Li Bing is of royal blood who was imprisoned because of his family’s treason. Now, he has to work in the government to atone for the crime.

At Dali Court, they review court cases from all over the country. And when an incident involving the esteemed ministers of the royal court breaks out, Dali Court is called to help—only to find themselves entangled in political threads and hit heads with an eccentric demon.

Li Bing is determined to get to the bottom of this, but how far can he go when he could turn into a real cat at any time when left unchecked?

Propaganda:

Intriguing plot? Check. Complex and interesting characters? Check. Comedy? Check. Drama? Check. 

The blend of comedy and drama is just so good. I started the show because I love cats and supernatural stuff. Who would’ve thought it would pull me into an abyss of despair and political intrigue. The cat demons turned out to be just the icing on the cake. 

We have all these different characters brought up in different ways that their ideas of what is Right conflict with each other. None of them are exactly Wrong or inherently Evil (except for one guy), and this makes it so much more difficult to choose who to root for. You’d think everyone against the protagonists are the Enemies, but turns out even the protagonists are limited by their biases and unintentionally harm others. The two protagonists themselves get into arguments because of their different standpoints.

And I just love this because it makes them realistic, you know? The characters don’t always agree with their friends, and their enemies are not completely hostile either. It really all boils down to what they believe in. Sometimes their beliefs align with existing comrades, and sometimes they find it on the other side.

Production-wise, this show also gets a check on everything. As an adaptation, it’s amazing. The original manhua has quite a simple style—kind of like comic book drawings, and panels are all rectangles in one straight line. Storytelling is also simple and straight to the point. 

But the 2020 donghua? God, it went far and beyond that.  The animation team does not cut corners at all, which is a feat considering the show has a low budget from what I’ve heard. 

A short, simple scene in the manhua becomes an emotionally-devastating experience in the donghua. The animation choices, angles, music, and just everything else blend so well to deliver a STORY. This adaptation does not just copy frames from the source (like Blue Lock) or cut/reorder some of the scenes (like Horimiya and Sasaki to Miyano). White Cat Legend 2020 understands the material so well that it can creatively use the advantages of the animation medium to deliver an experience that exceeds even that of the source. Think Mob Pyscho 100 or One Punch Man s1 level of creativity. It even has mini stories at the end of the ending song. For s1, the mini stories are in stop-motion, while for s2 it’s formatted like a video game. You gotta appreciate the effort.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form with your revisions, and I’ll consider adapting those changes.

New: Starting round 5, screenshots will be included in the poll post. You can submit screenshots through the form linked above, or through here, via ask or dm.

Guidelines in submitting screenshots:

No NSFW or spoilery images.

Pick some good images please. Don’t send any blurry or pixelated ones.

You may send up to 9 screenshots, but not all may be used.

[wanted-to-be-nosey]

Read all about it

Finally getting round to publishing my fifth square for the @starkerfestivals summer bingo!

prompt fill - Secrets wordcount ~ 2,800

warnings - misunderstandings, mentions of cheating, suspected affair, proposal, angst with a happy ending, swearing

AO3 link

Peter would like to think he’d grown a thick skin over the past four years.

You could say it was a requirement for dating Tony Stark.

During those first few months he’d been coached by the Stark Industries’ PR team, as well as the man himself, over how to deal with the media and the public. He knew that there would always be tabloids stirring up trouble. Peter himself had been the centre of three supposed scandals himself during the past year alone. He knew that they flat-out lied and embellished the truth.

He’d learned long ago to ignore the headlines.

He and Tony were happy together. They had been from day one and Peter didn’t need other people getting in the way of that.

Of course, Peter was aware of Tony’s past. Tony was notorious for his playboy antics. The genius was capable of many things but holding a steady, long-term relationship had never been one of them. Until Peter.

Before Peter, Tony had been a self-proclaimed man-whore, working his way through a string of partners each weekend. But that had all changed when they started dating. Tony was attentive. He would always make time for him. He was open and honest, and Peter had never been happier.

Until a month ago.

With seemingly no cause, Tony had grown distant. He began working longer hours and didn’t want Peter in the lab to tinker while he completed SI projects. Tony would lock himself away in his office for hours at a time. He’d claimed to be heading out to meet up with Rhodey on multiple occasions, but Peter had bumped into Rhodey at the Compound and the colonel had mentioned not seeing Tony in almost three weeks since the man had been so busy.

Peter tried not to jump to conclusions, but Tony was lying to him, and he didn’t know why.

Despite his internal turmoil, Peter liked to think he could be quite level-headed, and he knew he shouldn’t read the tabloids in the first place, but all it took was one headline with an accompanying picture, and he found himself in the back of an Uber on his way to May’s apartment, the stupid article laying open on his phone as he fought back tears and tried to ignore the drivers staring.

Tony Stark spotted entering apartment of unknown male – Does this spell the end of the nations beloved Starker?

Below the headline was a grainy picture that clearly showed Tony walking with a younger, blonde man, his hand on the youngers lower back as they entered an elevator. Tony was in the suit he’d been wearing that morning when he claimed to be going out for brunch with Happy and Rhodey – neither of whom were anywhere in the photo. To make it worse, he’d also passed Happy when he was leaving the Tower. The head of security had been keeping his usual visual over the lobby. Peter had quickly turned his head before the man could talk to him, not wanting him to see the tears blurring his eyes.

Stepping out of the Uber, he felt multiple heads turn his way as he quickly made his way into the apartment building. Adam from the second floor started trying to offer his sympathies before Peter rushed past him on the stairs to get to May’s before he completely fell apart.

It took him three tries to get his key in the door, but it meant as soon as the door was open, May was already on the other side, quickly pulling him in for a hug as he kicked the door shut behind him. As soon as his head hit May’s shoulder, the sobs he’d been holding back were let loose. His shoulders hitching as he gasped for breath, May’s hand rubbing soothing circles into his back as she muttered reassurances.

Peter’s not sure how long they stood there but eventually his sobs began to subside, and May led him to the couch while she moved to the kitchen to get them some tea. Once they were both curled up on the couch and nursing their teas, a heavy silence fell over them. Each lost in their own thoughts.

Of course, it was in that silence that Tony would decide to call. Peter’s phone lighting up with a picture of Tony when he’d fallen asleep in the lab. The picture that just an hour ago would have brought a smile to his face now caused a lump in his throat. Declining the call, Peter put his phone on silent before sliding it onto the coffee table face-down.

“What am I supposed to do, May?” he asked, ignoring the way his voice cracked. “I thought we were happy, but he’s been so secretive recently. Do you think it’s been going on the entire time? His– His affair?”

Taking the tea out of his hands, May guided him to cuddle into her side and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“I don’t know, Peter. We don’t know what’s even happening, but we’ll figure it out. You’re not in this alone. And none of this is a reflection of you, okay? It might not even be what you think. You know the tabloids are a shit news source.”

“Yeah, but whoever that guy was, was clearly not Happy or Rhodey. Why lie about it if he’s not doing something he shouldn’t?”

“I don’t know,” May sighed. “I really wish I had a better answer for you, baby.”

“It’s okay… Can I stay here tonight?”

“Of course, you know you’re always welcome here. What do you say I order some Thai, we put on a movie and have some ice-cream for dessert?”

“Sounds good,” he replied, grabbing a tissue to blow his nose while May phoned in their order.

Grabbing his phone, he swiped passed the notifications of the six missed calls and ten texts from Tony, to respond to Ned who wanted to check on him. Given he wasn’t really sure how he was feeling, he kept it vague and just let his best friend know he was safe with his aunt, and he’d call him in the morning.

Once May returned to the couch, Peter had already queued up the first of the Star Wars movies, hoping to lose himself in the familiarity of the original trilogy. Curling up together on the couch, they only moved to get the food from the delivery driver and to then switch out the takeout containers for tubs of ice cream.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Peter must have fallen asleep at some point during the third movie, as the last thing he remembered was Luke being taken to the Emperor. Blinking into the dim light of the living room, he tried to work out what had woken him.

He didn’t have to think for long.

May was at the door. Squinting at the clock, he froze. Who would be at the door at three in the morning?

“I already said no,” May whispered. “You’re not going to change my mind.”

“Please, May,” a voice begged. Peter gripped onto the blanket tighter. He knew that voice and it made him want to cry. “I don’t know what you read, but you have to know that’s its not true. You know me! I wouldn’t–“

“What I know,” May interrupted him. “Is that my kid is heartbroken and confused. You’ve been lying to him for who knows how long, and he had to learn about it from an article?”

“I–“

“I’m not done. I know you’re a busy man, that you have to work long hours or go away on business trips. Hell, I’d even understand if you have some top-secret government bullshit going on, but you don’t lie to my boy, Mr. Stark.”

“It’s not like that–“

“Oh, really? So please, pray tell, who is the blonde boy in the photo? Is that Rhodey or Happy, because unless they’ve changed their look in the past month I think you were clearly lying.”

“He’s– May, I was going to come to you, I swear. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. But the man in the photo? That’s Randall. He’s a jeweller. A bespoke jeweller. He’s been designing me an engagement ring. We were going to his private workshop to see the final piece. It’s… God, it’s perfect and I was going to come by tomorrow for you to see it and to ask your blessing and then at the weekend I…Please, May. You have to believe me,” Tony begged.

Peter sucked in a breath as he realised he’d been holding his breath while listening to their hushed conversation. Neither of them was aware he was listening in on them. He didn’t know what to think. Tony sounded genuine. He sounded on the verge of tears if his ragged breathing and rough voice were anything to go by.

Grabbing his phone, he hid it under the blanket before checking his messages. His phone had been inundated with missed calls and a wall of texts from Tony. The messages themselves growing more frantic the longer he went without a response.

Tony’s explanation would certainly make sense, but was he simply being naïve?

In recent months, Tony had talked more openly about settling down, that’s what had made the perceived betrayal that much harder. Was it possible that this was all one big misunderstanding?

“It’s not my place to believe you, Tony. Even if you had the best of intentions, you fucked up. Peter is his own person and if that’s truly how you feel then its entirely up to him. For what its worth, before today I’d say go for it. After your stunt this morning, I’m angry that your desire to keep it a secret hurt my boy, but if – and I mean if – he decides to forgive you, then so will I.”

Tony exhaled loudly as if he’d been holding his breath for May’s verdict. Like a prisoner walking to the executioner’s block and awaiting his sentence.

“Thank you, May.”

“Now, it’s the middle of the night and Peter is sleeping so go home. He’ll still be here in the morning if you want to try talking to him then.”

“Okay. I will. I promise I’m going to make this better. I–”

Before Peter could even think about what he was doing, he found his feet carrying him to stand behind May. Tony cut off whatever he was about to say in order to stare at him, which also drew his aunts’ attention.

“Peter,” May exclaimed. “I’m so sorry, did we wake you? He was just–“

“I, uh, I’ve been up for a bit…” he shrugged self-consciously, suddenly nervous to admit he’d been eavesdropping.

Tony’s face fell, as he bashfully asked, “So, you heard me when I said who the guy was?”

Huffing a humourless laugh, he nodded.

“Oh,” Tony breathed, suddenly looking very unsure of himself. “Okay.”

“Why don’t we all just get some rest and start fresh in the morning, huh?” May asked, her eyes wide and slightly manic from the odd hour and the emotional charge in the air.

“I, um, I’d actually rather hear what Tony has to say?” Peter mumbled, taking a deep breath before meeting Tony’s eye. “Do you want to come in?”

“Of course. Yes. Please. Yeah. I mean, if it’s okay?” Tony glanced at May and waited for a nod before he stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind him.

Staring pointedly at his aunt who was making no move to leave the pair alone, Peter rolled his eyes before guiding Tony into his bedroom. Closing the door behind them, he was aware of the tension in Tony’s shoulders as the man stood stiffly with his back to the window. Peter couldn’t tell which one of them was more nervous.

“I’m sorry for–“

“I’m sorry that–“

They both froze when they started speaking at the same time, chuckling quietly at the following awkward silence.

Exhaling through his nose, Peter took a step forward.

“I’m going to go first,” Tony nodded his agreement but watching him warily as Peter continued. “I’m sorry that I jumped to conclusions. I know better than to believe the stupid tabloids, but you’ve been so flaky this past month that I just assumed the worst. That’s not fair on you. Regardless of what I thought was going on, I should have asked you about it. I should have talked to you and instead I reacted and then ghosted you. You didn’t deserve that.”

“It’s okay,” Tony was quick to reassure him. “I mean, yes, it hurt. But I could have handled it all so much better. I should have realised that you weren’t happy and that me wanting to surprise you wasn’t worth me losing your trust. I, urgh,” Tony groaned, dragging his hands across his face. “This is not how it was supposed to happen, but obviously the cat is now out of the proverbial bag. I’m sorry for keeping it all a secret and being an inconsiderate jerk this past month. But as you now know, I was working with Randall – who you would love by the way – to design an engagement ring. There were lots of back and forth emails and calls over design ideas and then I wanted to incorporate some of my mom’s diamonds into it – which I know sounds corny, and I’m not exactly the sentimental type, but I thought you’d like it and I, well, can’t say I mind the idea of it. But anyway, my point being, that all of that secrecy led to today where I finally got to see it in person and well–“ Tony took a shaky inhale as he dropped to one knee, his hand pulling out a black velvet ring box and holding it out to Peter as he opened it, “–Peter Benjamin Parker, will you do me the absolute honour of being my husband? I promise I may not be perfect, but I will spend everyday of the rest of my life ensuring that you know how important you are to me.”

Peter didn’t know what to say.

The ring was gorgeous. The perfect blend of masculine and feminine, delicate enough to not look gawdy but still impressive. There was no doubting, however, that a billionaire had been involved in the design. Dragging his eyes from the ring, he was met with Tony’s vulnerability. 

Peter knew without a doubt that Tony had probably planned some big proposal. That he’d have had it all organised and pulled out all the shots. He’d never have wanted to do it like this. So bare and simple, but to Peter it was perfect. Nothing to distract them from the moment.

It wasn’t until Tony swallowed unsurely, his eyes crinkling in concern, that Peter realised he still hadn’t responded. Hadn’t given any indication of a possible answer.

Instead, he stood frozen with a hand covering his mouth. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been on such an emotional rollercoaster over a twenty-four-hour window. When he’d woken that morning, he’d been worried about Tony’s recent behaviour and had tried to convince himself he’d been overthinking things, but after he read the article, he’d practically fallen apart. He’d been distraught in his belief that Tony could cheat on him. It had felt like his world was ending and his chest was going to break open when he’d curled up on his aunt’s couch searching for comfort. The relief that seeped into his bones at hearing Tony’s explanation had left him feeling lighter than air, and now, with his boyfriend on his knee in front of him, asking for his hand in marriage, he didn’t even have the words to describe the feeling. He felt like a helium balloon ready to burst, that if he opened his mouth the only sound to escape would be a high-pitched squeal. He simultaneously wanted to jump up and down and shout to the world while also launch himself into the man’s arms.

Sucking in a steadying breath, he allowed his hand to slowly drop to his side, before hesitantly nodding his head.

Things weren’t perfect between them, but they never would be. There would always be another problem. Another bump in the road. It was the nature of relationships. They were messy. People were messy. But if today had taught him anything it was that he wanted Tony to be by his side for all the twists and turns they would face.

He wanted to face them together.

If he wanted to wait until they had the perfect relationship to get engaged, then he’d be waiting his entire life.

Tony’s lips twitched into the start of a smile, “Is that a yes?”

Knowing there was no other answer that he could possibly give, Peter couldn’t contain his shout of yes before finally giving into the urge to launch himself into Tony’s arms. Knocking the man off balance, they both crumpled to the floor, locked in each other’s arms.

[heavenboy09]

Happy Birthday To One Of The Greatest Martial Artist / Actor Since Bruce Lee 👊🇨🇳

Li Lianjie, better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, martial artist, and retired Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singaporean citizen. After three years of training with acclaimed Wushu teacher Wu Bin, Li won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team.

Li's first role in a non-Chinese film was as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), and his first leading role in a Hollywood film was as Han Sing in Romeo Must Die (2000). He has gone on to star in many international action films, including in French cinema with the Luc Besson-produced films Kiss of the Dragon (2001) and Unleashed (2005). He co-starred in The One (2001) and War (2007) with Jason Statham, The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) with Jackie Chan, all three of The Expendables films with Sylvester Stallone, and as the title character villain in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008).

He was born in Beijing, China and was the youngest of two boys and two girls. When he was two years old, his father died and his family then lived in poverty.

Li was eight when his talent for Wushu was noticed as he practiced at a school summer course. He then attended a non-sparring wushu event, followed by joining the Beijing Wushu Team which did a martial art display at the All China Games. Renowned coaches Li Junfeng and Wu Bin made extra efforts to help the talented boy develop. Wu Bin even bought food for Li's family in order to boost Li's protein intake. A very young Li competed against adults and was the national all-around champion from 1975 to 1979.

According to Li, once, as a child, when the Chinese National Wushu Team went to perform for President Richard Nixon in the United States, he was asked by Nixon to be his personal bodyguard. Li replied, "I don't want to protect any individual. When I grow up, I want to defend my one billion Chinese countrymen!"

Please Wish This Iconic & Legendary Martial Artist/ Chinese Born Actor A Very Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊

Happy 60th Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 To One Of The Greatest Martial Artists And Chinese Actors Alive of the 21st Century.

Mr. Jet Li   李连杰 Jet Li  #JetLi

[sapporomilktea]

every couple years i get a coworker who's a pathological lying enthusiast and this newest one has lied about

being an olympian

knowing simone biles personally

having been a jeweler

knowing thomas kincaid personally

going to school with noah and miley cyrus

being a professional wedding mua

a netflix internship for makeup???

knowing jeffree starr personally

his dad being the us national ice sksting team coach

being besties with higherups in mac/estee lauder/nars/lancome

getting hit by a car on his lunch break

getting offered an ae position at nars on the spot with no interview

being fluent in japanese

and #12 is especially funny because when i asked him a very simple question in japanese he floundered and said some bullshit about only being able to speak "an older dialect" and hasn't spoken to me since

[rajivsharma0401]

Rising Stars: The Story Behind Chandigarh's Basketball Academy

In the bustling city of Chandigarh, amidst its vibrant sports culture, lies a beacon of hope and opportunity for aspiring basketball players. Sardar Saran Singh Sports, affectionately known as the heart of Chandigarh's basketball community, has been nurturing young talent and shaping future champions for years. Join us on an inspiring journey as we unveil the remarkable story behind Chandigarh's Basketball Academy and the incredible individuals who call it home.

A Legacy of Excellence

Since its inception, Sardar Saran Singh Sports has been synonymous with excellence in basketball training. Named after the esteemed coach Sardar Saran Singh, the academy embodies his vision of providing top-tier coaching and facilities to budding athletes. With state-of-the-art infrastructure and a team of seasoned coaches, the academy has become a breeding ground for talent, consistently producing players who shine on both national and international stages.

The Path to Success

At Sardar Saran Singh Sports, success is not just measured in wins and losses but in the journey of personal growth and development. From the moment a young player steps onto the court, they are immersed in a culture of discipline, hard work, and determination. Under the guidance of experienced coaches, athletes undergo rigorous training sessions focused on skill enhancement, tactical understanding, and physical conditioning.

Cultivating Champions

The academy's commitment to holistic development extends beyond the basketball court. Alongside intensive training sessions, players receive academic support, nutritional guidance, and mental conditioning to ensure they excel both on and off the court. Through mentorship programs and leadership workshops, athletes are instilled with values of teamwork, resilience, and sportsmanship, laying the foundation for success in all aspects of life.

A Community of Support

Central to the academy's success is its strong sense of community and support network. Parents, coaches, alumni, and volunteers come together to create an environment where every player feels valued and empowered to reach their full potential. Whether it's cheering from the sidelines during games or providing emotional support during tough times, the Sardar Saran Singh Sports family stands united in their commitment to each other's success.

Beyond Borders: International Exposure

One of the hallmarks of Sardar Saran Singh Sports is its focus on providing international exposure to its players. Through participation in prestigious tournaments, exchange programs, and training camps abroad, athletes get invaluable opportunities to compete against top talent from around the world. These experiences not only sharpen their skills but also broaden their horizons, instilling in them a global perspective and ambition to strive for excellence on the grandest stages.

From Dreams to Reality

For many young athletes, Sardar Saran Singh Sports is not just a training ground but a gateway to realizing their dreams. Over the years, the academy has produced numerous success stories of players who have gone on to represent their country, secure college scholarships, and pursue professional careers in basketball. These achievements stand as a testament to the transformative power of passion, dedication, and unwavering belief in oneself.

The Power of Mentorship

Central to the success of Sardar Saran Singh Sports is the invaluable mentorship provided by seasoned coaches and alumni who have walked the same path. With a wealth of experience and knowledge, these mentors serve as guiding lights for young athletes, offering insights, advice, and encouragement every step of the way. 

Through personalized coaching, individualized feedback, and one-on-one mentorship sessions, players receive the guidance and support they need to navigate the challenges of competitive sports and emerge as stronger, more confident individuals both on and off the court.

Embracing Diversity and Inclusion

At Sardar Saran Singh Sports, diversity and inclusion are not just buzzwords but fundamental principles that shape the fabric of the academy. Regardless of gender, background, or socioeconomic status, every aspiring athlete is welcomed with open arms and given equal opportunities to thrive. 

Through initiatives aimed at promoting gender equality, accessibility, and cultural diversity, the academy fosters a sense of belonging and camaraderie among its diverse community of players, coaches, and supporters, reinforcing the belief that basketball is a sport for all and that unity in diversity is the key to success.

Making an Impact Beyond the Court

Beyond producing top-tier athletes, Sardar Saran Singh Sports is committed to making a positive impact in the broader community. Through outreach programs, grassroots initiatives, and social responsibility projects, the academy strives to use the power of sports as a catalyst for social change and empowerment. 

Whether it's organizing basketball clinics for underprivileged youth, promoting health and wellness initiatives, or raising awareness about important social issues, the academy leverages its platform to inspire, educate, and uplift individuals from all walks of life, leaving a lasting legacy that extends far beyond the confines of the basketball court.

Fostering a Culture of Resilience

In the competitive world of sports, resilience is often the difference between success and failure. At Sardar Saran Singh Sports, resilience is not just a trait; it's a way of life. Through challenging drills, intense workouts, and simulated game scenarios, players learn to embrace adversity, bounce back from setbacks, and never lose sight of their goals. 

With each hurdle they overcome, whether it's a missed shot, a tough loss, or a career-threatening injury, athletes emerge stronger, more determined, and better equipped to face whatever challenges lie ahead, both on and off the court.

The Pursuit of Excellence

Excellence is not an accident; it's a habit. At Sardar Saran Singh Sports, excellence is woven into the fabric of daily life, from the meticulous attention to detail in training routines to the relentless pursuit of perfection in every aspect of the game. Through a culture of accountability, discipline, and unwavering commitment to improvement, players are empowered to push beyond their limits, exceed expectations, and strive for greatness with every dribble, pass, and shot they take. It's this relentless pursuit of excellence that sets Sardar Saran Singh Sports apart and fuels the aspirations of Chandigarh's brightest basketball talents.

Conclusion

In a city pulsating with energy and ambition, Sardar Saran Singh Sports stands tall as a beacon of hope and inspiration for Chandigarh's basketball community. Through its unwavering commitment to excellence, holistic development, and inclusive ethos, the academy continues to shape the lives of countless young athletes, turning their dreams into reality. As we celebrate the remarkable journey of Chandigarh's Basketball Academy, we invite you to join us in honoring the rising stars who embody the spirit of perseverance, resilience, and triumph.

[badmintonstorefan]

In Focus: South Korean Badminton Star An Se-young

In the dynamic world of badminton, emerging talents bring fresh energy and excitement to the sport. One such emerging star from the Republic of Korea is An Se-Young. She is a South Korean badminton sensation whose remarkable achievements and unique playing style have garnered attention from across the globe. With a focused approach to excelling at her craft and improving her skills, An Se-Young is carving her path to greatness.

Career Profile:

1. Women’s Singles World Rank: 1 2. Women’s Singles World Tour Rank: 1 3. Recipient of the 2019’s Most Promising Player of the Year. 4. Bronze medal at the 2022 Tokyo World Championships. 5. Secured Seven BWF titles in 2023.

Personal Information:

1. Birth Date: 5th February 2002 2. Country: South Korea 3. Height: 1.70m (5 ft. 7 inches) 4. Handedness: Right

A Quick Glance at the Recent Wins of World No. 1 Women’s Singles Player

An Se-young had an eventful 2023! She has won seven titles and several other championships to make her the number 1 player in the game today!

1. Daihatsu Japan Open 2023 (Tokyo, Japan): On the 30th of July 2023, Se-young won the final match against Chinese shuttler He Bingjiao in two straight sets.

2. Korea Open 2023 ( Seoul, Korea): An Se-young won the finale of the Korea Open in an exciting match against Taiwanese star Tai Tzu Ying. She won the game in two straight sets: 21-9 and 21-15.

3. Kapal Api Group Indonesia Open 2023 (Jakarta, Indonesia): On 17th June 2023, An Se-young lost the semifinal to Chinese player Chen Yu Fei but secured third position in the tournament.

4. KFF Singapore Open 2023 (Singapore, Singapore): As a part of the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750, Se-young won the tournament by competing against Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.

5. Toyota Gazoo Racing Thailand Open (Bangkok, Thailand): This HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament was played from 30 May - 4 June 2023. An Se-young emerged as the winner by defeating Chinese player He Bingjiao in straight sets of 21-10 and 21-19.

6. Total Energies BWF Sudirman Cup Finals 2023 (Suzhou, China): Held in China from 14 May- 21 May 2023, An Se-young was a part of the mixed team that won a silver medal.

7. Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships 2023 (Birmingham, England): Se-young defeated her opponent Chen Yu Fei in a grueling match that lasted more than an hour to lift the trophy on 19th March 2023.

8. Yonex German Open 2023 (Mulheim, Germany): On 12th March 2023, she secured the second position in the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300 German Open after losing the final to Akane Yamaguchi.

9. Daihatsu Indonesia Master 2023 (Jakarta, Indonesia): In the Indonesia Masters, the badminton champ won the first position in a nail-biting match against Spain’s Carolina Marin.

10. Yonex Sunrise India Open 2023 (New Delhi, India): In the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament held from 17-22 January 2023, An Se-young lifted the gold medal after a match that lasted 62 minutes.

11. Petronas Malaysia Open 2023 (Kualampur, Malaysia): She won the silver medal in the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournament in a close fight with Akane Yamaguchi.

A Quick and Deserving Entry to the Hall of Fame!

At the tender age of nine, An Se-young’s coach told her, "You can’t be world number one by studying, but in sport, I can make you world number one." His words left an indelible mark on her memory and that’s how she chose the path of a professional badminton player.

In 2017, An Se-young was part of the mixed team that won the Asian Junior Championships in Jakarta. In the same year, when Se-young was only 15 years old, she was selected to represent the national team of the Republic of Korea. At that time, she was only a junior high student.

In the coming years, she displayed her astute sense of badminton by winning her first BWF World Tour title at the Super 300 New Zealand Open by beating Olympic gold medalist Li Xuerui of China. Since the implementation of the BWF World Tour in 2018, she has won several titles, making her the rising star of South Korean badminton.

Her breakthrough happened in the year of 2019 when she won the title at the New Zealand Open, Canada Open, Akita Masters, French Open, and Korean Masters. She won the silver at the Hyderabad Open in the same year.

Appreciating her achievements, the BWF awarded her the Most Promising Player of the Year 2019. In 2020, Forbes named her one of Forbes' Asia 30 under 30 in the entertainment and sports category.

Fast and Young: What’s the Playing Style of An Se-young?

Se-young's playing style is characterized by her aggressive play and agility. She may have a small frame, but she possesses the power to hit devastating smashes and complement them with quick footwork to confuse her opponents.

She stands out for her remarkable speed and precise shots, keeping her adversaries guessing. When she is on the court, you will notice her rivals on their toes because she maintains constant pressure on them.

Her ability to adapt to various match situations showcases her strategic approach to the game. Her excellent court coverage and versatile shot selection demonstrate maturity at a very young age.

An Se-Young’s Favorite Badminton Racket and Other Equipment

To match her aggressive and agile play, An Se-young requires a racket that can handle strong smashes and deliver lightning speed. There is only one racket that can remain true to her expectations and it is Astrox 77 Pro.

An Se-young prefers the racket because it delivers power without compromising speed. Several other players choose the Astrox 77 Pro because of its playability. It is less demanding and can be used by advanced and intermediate players.

It has the NAMD technology for ensuring explosive shots every time the shuttle comes in contact with the racket. It also offers medium flex and a super slim shaft for faster snapback and enhanced racket handling. If you want an affordable and beginner-friendly version of the Astrox 77 Pro, you can opt for Astrox 77 Play.

Her favorite string is the Yonex BG 80 for quick repulsion. She uses the latest Yonex Power Cushion Aerus Z Women's shoes and Pro Tournament Bag.

The Perfect Combination of Aggression and Passion

An Se-Young's journey in the world of badminton is one marked by her incredible passion and calculated aggression. Her recent achievements are a testament to her dedication, determination, and rigorous training routine.

As she continues to make her mark on the international badminton stage, An Se-Young's story inspires young athletes worldwide, reminding them that they, too, can leave a lasting legacy in their choice of sports.

[atlanticcanada]

At Canada Winter Games, children of top athletes say their advice helps development

For some athletes at the Canada Winter Games, the discipline of elite sport has been part of their lives since they bounced on their parents' muscled legs.

And as the Games unfold in Prince Edward Island, Halifax and Crabbe Mountain, N.B., a glance through the Team Alberta roster provides examples of elite-sports parents who have nurtured talented offspring, with family ties found in hockey, curling and speedskating.

Stuart Wilson, a 30-year-old doctoral candidate in sport psychology at the University of Ottawa, says this mirrors a wider trend.

He studied data gathered in 2013-15 on Canadian and Australian athletes, and in 2017 published findings indicating that 46 -- or about a third -- of the 139 elite athletes interviewed had a parent who was either a national- or international-level competitor.

"It supports the old joke that if you want to be a great athlete, you have to choose your parents," he said, during an interview on Tuesday.

"But why does it happen? Well, we know there's a bit of genetics, but from a psychologist's perspective there's likely more things going on," he added.

For Zoe Lueders, 20, and her sister Maya Lueders, 17, of the Alberta speedskating team, the answer lies in emotional support and psychological guidance.

The daughters of Pierre Lueders, an Olympic gold medallist in bobsled, say they grew up with an expert source on the "mindset" needed for high-level competition.

"He taught me: be sure you don't overthink. The biggest thing is to trust in what you've done and in your ability," said Maya, who won silver in the 500 metres on Tuesday.

Luke Vlooswyk, a Calgary-based hockey player competing at the Games, has grown up with the role model of his 48-year-old mother, Lisa Vlooswyk, an eight-time Canadian long-drive golf champion.

He said he has watched and emulated her weight training technique at the family's home gym, learning to focus on form. "Whether it's the squats or dead lifts -- she's given me helpful critique," the 16-year-old defenceman said.

He said his mother has passed on other tips. "She taught me to study your opponents' game while you're on the bench .... In hockey, I watch the forwards coming down the side constantly and I can pick up on what moves they're making," he said.

Then, there's the reality of learning from failing. "She's shown me that winning is great, but you learn more from your losses," he explained.

Wilson said it's his suspicion that having the support of an elite athlete as a parent may add an edge in the maze of choices amateurs face as they develop.

"Having a parent who's gone through that pathway could be an advantage on its own," he said.

"When do they start? How often do you go to practice? What is a good coach and a bad coach? A parent who has been there before has a much better idea of what good and bad is and how to support their children when they go through."

Yankun Zhao is the 19-year-old son of Xiuli Wang, who competed in four Olympics in speedskating for China and has been a national team speedskating coach for both Canada and China. Zhao has drawn on his mother to help navigate the hard times.

The young speedskater says that after his father died in the summer of 2021, he had difficulty training and fell short of being selected for the junior national team that year, but his mother offered guidance through a period of rebuilding.

"She took this defeat and taught me to use it as a motivation for the next year to make the junior (national) team a year later, which I did," he said, adding he came sixth in the 1 km race at recent world championships.

None of the athletes interviewed indicated a sense of heightened pressure from their parents, saying their mothers and fathers sometimes encouraged breaks at strategic times.

David Nedohin, a three-time world champion curler and the father of Canada Games curling athlete Alyssa Nedohin, said much of the benefit of an elite-athlete parent may happen on an almost subconscious level for their children.

"When you grow up in a house where the things you think about are goal-setting and how you're going to get there ... it's the children's natural way of thinking and how they approach life," he said in an interview Wednesday.

Wilson said that while sports dynasties are often celebrated, they can also suggest a Canadian sports system that lacks methods to bring in emerging talent from less privileged social groups. He said a wider, school-based sports system might allow more Canadian children to try different disciplines and encourage a more diverse talent pool.

"Winter sport is often pretty expensive and requires a lot of know-how,"," said the psychologist. "Because of institutional and financial barriers to participating and succeeding in some of these sports, it favours those who have been there before."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2023.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/lBtgXyD

[megaclubdiolis]

Zhejiang Teammates & coaches comforting disappointed Xie Chenyi after his fall on HB dismount @ CHN Nationals 2022 | Qual.

[whumpily-ever-after]

Whumpy Book List

Hello and welcome to my first whumpy book list! I am a huge fan of books and I think they are even better when there is whump in them.

The books in this list are all ones that I have read and enjoyed. I have tried to include some of the whump tropes found in these books, but it has been a while since I read some of them and I can't remember everything that happened in each book. If you can think of any tropes that I missed for any of these books, please let me know and I will add them.

I am also going to include a summary of the books (taken from goodreads) so this list post will get long.

If there are more books you would like to see, please let me know. I will collect books to make another list in the future.

List under the cut...

A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding #1) by Freya Marske

Summary: “Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known. Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else. Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.”

Whump tropes: Magic curses that cause (seemingly) sporadic increasing pain, sudden onset of magical powers, drowning, attack by waterfowl, threats of unlawful imprisonment…

Witchmark (The Kingston Cycle #1) by C.L. Polk

Summary: "Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed either to be enslaved to his family's interest or to be committed to a witches' asylum. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn’t leave his past behind. The war between Aeland and Laneer leaves men changed, strangers to their friends and family, but even after faking his own death and reinventing himself as a doctor at a cash-strapped veterans' hospital, Miles can’t hide what he truly is. When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles’ healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient’s murder. To find the truth he’ll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen.”

Whump tropes: Stalking, broken bones, threats/fears of (forced) magical binding, abusive family…

All for the Game Trilogy by Nora Sakavic

The Foxhole Court, The Raven King, and The King's Men

Summary: “Neil Josten is the newest addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team. He's short, he's fast, he's got a ton of potential—and he's the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher. Signing a contract with the PSU Foxes is the last thing a guy like Neil should do. The team is high profile and he doesn't need sports crews broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation. His lies will hold up only so long under this kind of scrutiny and the truth will get him killed. But Neil's not the only one with secrets on the team. One of Neil's new teammates is a friend from his old life, and Neil can't walk away from him a second time. Neil has survived the last eight years by running. Maybe he's finally found someone and something worth fighting for.”

Whump tropes: On the run, secret identity, drugging, torture, kidnapping, found family, protective coach and friends…

Warning: *These books (mostly in book two) include sexual assault and mention of attempted suicide. Neither are graphic, but they are present.*

Note: I love these books so much. I read them in December and I have not been able to get them out of my head.

Magic’s Pawn (Valdemar: The Last Herald-Mage #1) by Mercedes Lackey

Note: This is the first book in a trilogy, but I have only read the first one.

Summary: “Though Vanyel has been born with near-legendary abilities to work both Herald and Mage magic, he wants no part of such things. Nor does he seek a warrior's path, wishing instead to become a Bard. Yet such talent as his if left untrained may prove a menace not only to Vanyel but to others as well. So he is sent to be fostered with his aunt, Savil, one of the famed Herald-Mages of Valdemar. But, strong-willed and self-centered, Vanyel is a challenge which even Savil can not master alone. For soon he will become the focus of frightening forces, lending his raw magic to a spell that unleashes terrifying wyr-hunters on the land. And by the time Savil seeks the assistance of a Shin'a'in Adept, Vanyel's wild talent may have already grown beyond anyone's ability to contain, placing Vanyel, Savil, and Valdemar itself in desperate peril...”

Whump tropes: Uncaring family, sudden (and violent) onset of magic powers…

Warning: *This book includes scenes and talk of suicide and attempted suicide. This one is graphic. *

Villains by V.E. Schwab

Vicious and Vengeful

Summary: “Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?”

Whump tropes: Electrocution... (this is one that I don’t remember in detail, sorry)

Obsidian Mountain Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

The Outstretched Shadow, To Light a Candle, and When Darkness Falls

Summary: “Kellen Tavadon, son of the Arch-Mage Lycaelon, thought he knew the way the world worked. His father, leading the wise and benevolent Council of Mages, protected and guided the citizens of the Golden City of the Bells. Young Mages in training-all men, for women were unfit to practice magic-memorized the intricate details of High Magic and aspired to seats on the council.

Then he found the forbidden Books of Wild Magic-or did they find him? The three slim volumes woke Kellen to the wide world outside the City's isolating walls. Their Magic was not dead, strangled by rules and regulations. It felt like a living thing, guided by the hearts and minds of those who practiced it and benefited from it.

Questioning everything he has known, Kellen discovers too many of the City's dark secrets. Banished, with the Outlaw Hunt on his heels, Kellen invokes Wild Magic-and finds himself running for his life with a unicorn at his side.”

Whump tropes: Terrible father, hunted, sick/wounded, learning to use new magic that is centered around give and take, threats of demons…

Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, and A Conjuring of Light

Summary: “Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black. Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand. After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure. Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.”

Whump tropes: Magic, “one of the last of his kind” situation, kidnapping, protective brothers, White London is creepy…

Note: I adore these books. I know that there are more whump tropes in these books, but I can't think of them at the moment. Also, V.E. Schwab is the sweetest person and you should go read all of her books.

The Ruin of Kings (A Chorus of Dragons #1) by Jenn Lyons

Note: The main character of this book is 15 when the book starts (and I can't remember how much time passes over the span of these books).

Summary: “Kihrin is a bastard orphan who grew up on storybook tales of long-lost princes and grand quests. When he is claimed against his will as the long-lost son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds that being a long-lost prince isn't what the storybooks promised. Far from living the dream, Kihrin finds himself practically a prisoner, at the mercy of his new family's power plays and ambitions. He also discovers that the storybooks have lied about a lot of other things too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, true love, and how the hero always wins. Then again, maybe he's not the hero, for Kihrin is not destined to save the empire.

He’s destined to destroy it.”

Whump tropes: Abusive family, attempted kidnapping, hunted, murder, hiding out on an island…

That is all for this list. Thanks for reading. I hope this list helped you find a new book to read. :)

Another note: I know that the whump community loves The Lies of Locke Lamora, but that book and I are fighting and I do not want to include it on my lists.

[sugar-petals]

german national team intro masterpost

since these utter buffoons officially qualified for the world cup (let’s do this ⚽️) it’s about time i rec you our football dudes, here are some key clowns i mean essential players to watch for 🇩🇪👋

first, have one of our hot weirdos with his puppy to bait you

if that interests you maybe nice thighs and arms will as well

that being said we’re good to go 

so who are these shapely men in black then

the german football team 2021 — coached by our nation’s tiny football dad hansi flick 

can you spot him, hint hint... he’s surrounded by a bunch of drama divos

⬇️

hansi is very important as he recently joined for a new era, not just because’s he’s walking all these attractive models around to drop our jaws but um i mean

anyway i digress, more about father hansi in a minute. 

for overview purposes have a cheesy overedited pic of everyone who is currently kicking the ball around for us, not 100% up to date (edit: some changes for 2022 apply) but you get a good idea

(”kader” translates to “our squad” basically)

but to us they are family, football is a big ole deal in germany

we all lose our marbles over the games (picture: pre-covid public viewing) and i’m about to explain you why our sexy football husbands are kicking up such a storm 

welcome to our world. send in the clowns

now you have to understand there’s no such thing as rational german composure you’ve been lied to

our chancellor & president are always the most feral people in the stadium VIP lounge and intricately color-coordinated with the team and/or flag. everyone else (except maybe italy) is just watching football. we are living it

even the introverts show up when the whistle goes, we’ve had retiring strikers do goal somersaults oh my god things can get 11,000% lit

as of now our 2021 men have the right skills the right lewks the rainbow agenda and finally the right coach to turn the party back up again after the drought 

so it’s an honor my comrades let’s get cooking

traditionally we play in black (away games) and white kits (home games) with four stars on the tiddies, and a surprisingly decent grey or blue for training — sweater paws included so everyone looks very cute and lovely

i especially love the crisp white design, look at these handsome lawn runway stars

our guys are very hard to miss they’re so notoriously dashing ugh the prettiness of them

our ginormous captain has to wear much-commented-on shades of neon since he’s the goal keeper and we want to bamboozle the eyes of our enemies with the colors of the rainbow but the same goes for him

... four stars since we won the world cup in 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014 

(translation if you have no clue about football history: we’re quite decently competent, the team can always be reckoned with, only brazil has one more star and we famously beat them 7:1 at their own world cup)

2014 was the last wc win with our golden generation and 90% of our favorite but slightly embarrassing granddads retired since

nowadays our mischievous pretty boys are 25 on average and we’re in the advanced construction phase to prep for the world cup next year which means we are cuter, sassier, more frustrated, and the eyebrows are immaculate

in germany our dear eyebrow team is called “Deutsche Nationalmannschaft” (oof) as an official tongue twister but in english we gladly say germany nt for short and that’s the tumblr tag you find the fandom in

...where we provide you with spiritually fulfilling content like this

it’s not an astronomically large fandom but there are blogs that update super often bc so much stuff (= our captain’s antics) can be talked about, during big tournaments this horny mob suddenly explodes, germany nt twitter is also alive and memeing. it’s no surprise, our drama club regularly delivers viral pictures that look like a rennaissance painting 

lmao perfect

and ps: don’t worry about any lengthy german names etc — most of our national circus clowns have a short nickname it’s tradition, and a lot of their social media also have an international version or insta english captions, and the football fandom also posts in english

so why don’t we check them out with some short intro trash talk bits

what better way to get to know them than some gossip, we got that judge fest energy

i can’t cover all of them so we’re going with 11 crucial clowns i know a thing or two about, who i can both praise and slander with confidence, followed by honorable mentions, plus of course model scout hansi

INTRODUCING THE SQUAD

basics first, the only normal person in there: our highly anticipated team miracle manager and already former co-coach hans flick (56), stoic but touchy football father who should have gotten this job like. years ago cuz the buffoonery escalated at the last tournaments. you missed nothing, i guarantee this thread found you at the right time. hansi hands out hugs and quality head pats for all the bottoms so i truly respect him, since he signed up we did nothing but win which hasn’t happened in 84 years so bless the man. specializes in comforting babies, of course he’s a pisces, kinda incognito as 50% of our players are like 7′5+ glam towers but he looks like the suffering meme guy in younger so that’s how you know it’s hansi

lgbt stands for love goalkeepers because tall: veteran human wall and nature hiking hoe manuel neuer (35), our rainbow team leader, has both nerves and green-clad booty buns of steel, living legend in germany, everybody stans him he’s famous famous, get ready for his ‘alternative’ aka straight up reckless methods despite pushing 40, this mf is anywhere but standing in his goal, most untrustworthy maniac i know but he walks with his chest pushed out plus he ruins christiano ronaldo’s penalties so he’s allowed 💚, can throw the ball as wide as he wants and where he wants, brilliant & bonkers in equal measures, aggressive ballerino playboy, we always wanna brag that we play fair but when manu clobbers another winger with his flying stunts we revoke our statement, he’s every striker’s worst nightmare, saves our ass 98% of the time but at what cost, dangerous bombshell blonde and thoroughly insane with cringy college humor, you’ve been warned, most objectified man in german history, he rolls with it and makes us sweat even more because he’s so cocky, all of football tumblr talks about how he layers and customizes his clothing because he’s so buff, our entire nation would risk it all to protect the holy fists and arms, dude can play in every position he’s nuts, our number one since years, but his name ironically translates to “neuer = the new one” in german so we always make puns with that, causes memes and a stir everywhere

(...he’s ridiculous i hate him)

head corner kick clown in charge with the mouth catching flies: wild & tiny midfield einstein joshua kimmich (26) who wouldn’t stop yelling even if the pope god and the queen were present, when manu isn’t playing he’s the captain, kimmy boy is a high IQ twink that’s why, collects all the guys you crush on with his mustache so prepare, gives 300% bc why not, piercing eyes with small pupils, great ass great hair great legs great everything, has an extremely perfect face, this brat is hot shit, and holy moly work ethic, a breakup is peanuts compared to seeing kimmich weep for minutes about getting an injury or losing a tournament, he’s irreplaceable, “last time kimmich lost a ball? when he gave it to his son when they played in the garden”, josi believe it or not is a father of two yet he’s the one looking like a kid, reliable and out of his mind at the same time how does he do it, collapses if he doesn’t get extremely tight embraces from everybody, zesty life of the party, very expressive and whiny whirlwind to say the least, if you don’t know how to spot jo just look for the firecracker i mean look at him are his lungs ok, shakespeare has nothing on kimmich

and those pupils... ⬇️⬇️ holy mother of manuel neuer look at that

ok enough about the unhinged blondies, here comes the distinguished chill dude with the stirring pot goal celebration: our even tinier sweetheart serge gnabry (26) who goes by sergio when he feels like it, if i remember it correctly his aunt lovingly calls him that (awe), doing some great stuff on the wings, we stan quality, he’s a class act, same with his outfits, very couture very polished, very poker face brand of cutting swabian humor (swabia + bavaria = the southern counties in germany), if you cross him there’s a scathing jab reserved just for you, defends all of his best friends like no other, the master chef has some sick burns waiting in his oven, other than that he’s introverted and does his own thing, he even has decent goalkeeping skills, yeah he’s that bitch honestly, and everyone hypes him, his fellow but much taller players always lift him up a little too enthusiastically when he scores a goal and serge almost dies every time because his massive butt i mean center of gravity tips him over, here we can see on-site footage of jo kimmich saving gnabry’s dear life

now tumblr’s favorite: terrifyingly buff and resident balding BDE man leon goretzka (26) who straight people lose it over like the world’s about to end, like how many spiralling stans does he have, they want a piece of him man they’re out for his curls, meanwhile leon’s good at his job i guess, extremely politically active too, has a signature frown which makes the hets sexualize his mysterious wrath, we get it you want to be topped just get out, generates conversation so you’ll never run out of content if you stan this dude, his whole personality consists of becoming more and more beefy but his redeeming quality is being diehard friends with the previously mentioned josi kimmich, these two lunatics make the football world go round, everybody talks about this duo, they donated 1 million for covid relief so that’s nice, in their free time they serve 20cm height difference cuteness and judge everyone together like the two aquarius trainwrecks they are, sometimes sergio joins, they just beam, but they also cause a lot of crackheadery, every minute leon gets even more ripped how does he do that

(^...he can’t be serious)

our human radio on two legs: good ole chatty southern man, 2014 world cup winner, another curly head, great large curls in fact, staple court jester, bs-dispelling troll and skinny legend thomas müller (32) who you’ll probably pronounce and write as muller and that’s ok, our team dearly needs this comedian and we dread his retirement since he’s from the golden gen, directs the midfield masterfully and off the field notoriously cracks every uncle joke you can think of, lmao nobody’s safe from his imitations and puns, once kimmich grows up he’s gonna be like thomas these two are so similar, if someone says germans aren’t funny direct them to this crazed bavarian card player crack, in any case he’s a must-know and underappreciated legend, his whole personality is all rustic, he likes horses, one of the few guys not dating some influencer but married since 2009, roasts the press as a hobby and trolls arrogant players, he’s a keeper, he’s the MVP, the meme machine, mü is the best. he’d so deserve the world cup next year i really hope we can make it happen

that one scary viking guy: broad meme irl niklas süle (26) who is our token immovable object and tattoo jock regularly leaving the defense to play as an attacker and he’s pretty good at it, constantly improves, he’s from frankfurt which is where germany grows our skyscrapers so of course he’s 6′5, fans have baptized him with the honorable nickname of sülinho so the commentators regularly mess up and announce him like that in formal settings lmao, well then if you like a rough around the edges cryptid nikki is your dude, he looks very collected and intimidating which is great because nobody dares to come close to our goal, this dude weighs 100 kilograms or 220lbs, you can spot this mountain easily he’s like taller like the rock just without the eyebrows

and now! cheekbones guy who scored THE champion’s league winning goal: hobby farmer and pianist kai havertz (22) who seems like he’s brooding existential questions all day but actually thinks about donkeys and dogs, chelsea paid a 100 (!!!!!) million to get this spaghetti frame, impossibly chill in front of the goal, has a notoriously cold neck & hands let me knit a scarf and gloves, very taut angular face so he gets called everything from emo habsburg heir to lizard prince, bisexuals + modelling agencies love kai so he’s approved, one arresting gen z masterpiece, unhappy without his blonde emotional support bff julian brandt who is currently not nominated for the nt so expect grumpy havertz, topples over often and struggles currently so i worry a lot, looks p harcore and plays the english way but his personality is cutesy without a single braincell, talks like he’s high 365, does this silly grin where his cheeks are like fish gills so i call him koi havertz, squints seductively to be the most f-able guy on the field, look at this expensive bitch it’s working

👇and that’s mr. julian (25), seated, also plays in the midfield, he’s angelic i love this dude. also ‘never two beautiful best friends’ is a hoax as we can clearly see, the hoodie sex appeal is pretty banging right here

more english-inspired style, our undercover goal jesus who could need a little hand from above every now and then please: resurrected chaos striker timo werner (25) whose streak of milennial pain and slander-laden misfortune always haunts him for months until one game where suddenly he explodes with skills and luck like ketchup from the bottle, understandably desperate and emotional man who you feel everything with, great at one-on-one with opponents but usually too fast to escape offside, that’s why his undercuts look so sleek, yeah that’s how you recognize him tbh he’s timo with the good hair, they see him rolling, they hating, at chelsea he’s playing with kai as forwards so you often see them hanging out flaunting their p(r)etty priviledge, in any case let’s hope for the best, you can see the pain in his eyes gee

his name is complicated and has a dutch ancestry flair to it: our second goalkeeper and guardian angel marc-andré ter stegen (29), we all call him just ter stegen and basically never marc-andré like ter is his first name it’s tradtion, anyway he’s top notch, usually has nothing to do in the national team since our manuel’s aggressive ballerino booty can fly in all directions and catches balls from space but marc is a given and a goalie god at fc barcelona, so stop hating on him he’s great, germany is the nation of goalkeepers with good reason and he is no exception. pretty normal and likable bloke so less clown mode to be expected — usually, nobody’s truly in their right mind in this ass parade, i think marc’s insanity manifests in the fact that he does his saves like superman so this guy is a bit ridiculous as well, in any case he’s an absolute luxury to have as our backup, i love ter stegen, he’s superb, did i mention that i love ter stegen? 

dc has flash but we have: lightning fast wing tech deity leroy sané (25) who already has several kids at home and all the clubs fight for him, oh boy he’s truly in demand, can’t be blamed he’s our most beautiful player: looks-wise, playing-wise, recently bounced back from a nasty mental block with the help of hansi, does extraterrestrial things with his pretty feet, v pleasant to listen to his voice is so deep, signature laugh, always somewhere giggling and snuggling w/ manu and especially his bestie sergio, cutest bunch, sané sounds like whipped cream (”sahne”) in german so we say he’s “allererste sahne” meaning creme de la creme so that sums him up, leroy is trained by pep guardiola in england, bag of tricks kinda guy, very tongue in cheek/teasing but he’s also a slutty capricorn, truly a combination of opposites, a talent and sight to behold, he gets several pictures because he’s leroy and my crush

and last but not least, basically a child: nobody calls him jamal musiala (18) anymore because bambi is the best ever nickname for him, german football lore has it that it was leroy who invented it out of nowhere, the rest is history, bambi has the looks and playing style of a deer plus some remarkable talent but prepare to suffer if you stan him the child protection agenda has him sitting on the bench often as of yet, nevertheless he is our future and he’s really popular, we all baby him, his skills and sudden goals are truly shocking he’s born 2003 like what do we do with this toddler?! in any case everyone adores bambi and he is in — as we saw — crazy, but good hands so fingers crossed, you spot him by the way he pulls his brows up and looks v small despite being 6′0, don’t underestimate him he’s always ready to go off on that goal

- honorable mentions, including some golden gen players:

antonio rüdiger (28) - also from the chelsea squad, very tall, defends, used to play with a mask due to injury, toni nibbles at our opponents’ backs to catch them off guard i’m not joking

mats hummels (32) - tumblr famous to unhealthy degrees, it needs to stop, currently on break, caught between our golden gen and eyebrow twink era, gets called D**F a lot but we don’t use that weird word here, defends, king of own goals, nice black hair though

toni kroos (31) - retired this year which i’m sad about, skillful real madrid midfielder who looks a little exhausted, infamously no-nonsense in interviews, badass with his tats, 2014 world cup winner, i miss toni </3

robin gosens (27) - new on the scene, from zero to hero, made a good impression at the last euros, very honest soul, now injured, he looks like the younger brother of the guy next on this list

lukas podolski (36) - poldi, was a sunshine himbo before it was cool, legendary retired winger, luke is cute and funny and confused he’s a national treasure, proof that geminis can be adorable, golden retriever

bastian schweinsteiger (37) - retired captain and silverback, basti is now pundit, made a huge impact back in the day, best friends ever with poldi they made legendary meme adverts for crisps together

miroslav klose (43) - the somersault guy, man he was the best striker ever, also retired a while ago i miss him tremendously, very stern but humble and a good man, miro is also a world cup winner, paved the way

philipp lahm (37) - another retired captain from the golden generation, several defensive positions, infamously smol and very talented, bffs with big manu, brainiac short king, we owe him everything

BONUS: robert lewandowsi (33) - he’s not german, he’s not in our team, he can’t join us since he already plays elsewhere (for poland nt), but our whole nation acts like he can because we want him as our striker lmao! get off tiktok lewy we need you 

(the four stars are from the munich club jersey which is unrelated to the national team, we like him since he plays there and is extremely successful, a lot of our national players are sent from munich it’s the talent factory, check them out for further germany nt research if u want, the club is legendary)

and that’s it thank you for sticking with me here i hope you adopted some new ridiculous boyfriends and gained sexy insights about germany

as you saw we have pretty boys ranging from XXL to XXS so the buffet is open we have something for everybody

collect yours and tune in for more november world cup quali games 2021 and the tournament next summer where we will spread more rainbow buffoonery than ever and smize the competition to the ground

totally official predictions:

during semi finals, serge gnabry will evaporate christiano ronaldo in his cooking pan, then bounce the ball into the goal with his big booty: instant man of the match

hansi flick will chant a magic spell and timo werner scores 15 times

thomas müller’s horses will eat france, italy, and whatever other team is good

kimmich distracts messi by hitting the high c

manuel will end england in a penalty shootout wearing a torn neon pink camoflage jersey

when we play against poland, lewy will cause an own goal so he can finally be our striker in spirit 😔✊

leroy sané will look very hot

leon goretzka debuts a tenpack

kai havertz will credit his dogs and donkeys for his success after scoring the overly dramatic winning goal in the final with those long noodly legs <3

it will either be clownishly tragic or eyebrowly glorious but in any case it’s good fun and you get to see some pretty people running from left to right and vice versa ⭐️ (and memes are pretty much guaranteed no matter what happens)

for those who are already in the fandom and want to add their own husbands or some more sexy stats to this or if something needs correction go right ahead let’s go and thank you for reading + reblogging

[falconcoast]

candy jar au thoughts —

notes - honestly if you’ve taken a speech or debate class in the last, like, three years, your teacher has probably shown you candy jar. cheesy as it is i love it sm sm sm !!! anyways !! brain rot time !! also not exactly accurate to the movie. (also this is dedicated to @wolfhookk :) gotta love a fellow speechie !! )

tags: debate au LOL, enemies to lovers, slight albedo slander, academic rivals au

just look at him.

look at those smug, blue eyes and charming smile that lies to get what he wants.

you’ve known him since elementary and your opinion of him hasn’t changed since then. he’s a prick, no matter how much time has passed.

from the start, you’ve believed that the devil takes form in the second in your class: albedo.

even as his presence makes you fume under your breath, he doesn’t really seem to care. he doesn’t see it the way you do—a competition meant to last a lifetime.

one such competition is fighting for who gets to be captain of the debate team. eventually, your club manager, mr. zhongli, has enough and labels you both as co-captains.

you’re fuming mad. “co-captain” is a term you hate with all your soul and albedo has gone and disgraced it all.

frankly, you find it bullshit. you’d argue day and night with coach if it meant you got your way, but you know better than to argue with a two-time national champion, double diamond coach who runs one of the best debate clubs in the state.

so, silently you agree. but that little quirk up of his lips makes you want to deck him on the spot.

more utc !!

the debate club isn’t that big. only a handful of members are still in it, and coach says it’s because yours and albedo’s passive-aggressiveness towards one another drives them away

you don’t even do the same type of debate. he’s in lincoln-douglas, you’re in congress. you don’t know how coach ever thought cooperation would work.

weekly club meetings are half-spent arguing over that month’s topic, to which the rest of the club looks on.

you swear you don’t care about what the rest of the club does. in the end, you know that this’ll land where you want to go: harvard.

from what you’ve picked up, albedo also wants to go to an ivy-league: yale.

you find him stupid for even believing that he’ll make it in. sure, he may be head of med club, an executive in environmental awareness club, and the founder of robotics club, but the only thing that’ll actually get him into any ivy league school is what he has plenty of: money.

even though you might not be as crazy rich as albedo, you know you have leagues more character and personality than he’ll ever have.

have you even seen him? he rarely talks, only to sarcastically reply to your opinions or talk about some dumb science thing. he’s a jerk, no matter if the underclassmen say he’s so sweet.

and anyways, your resume is perfect too! you’re head of several clubs, have magical teacher recommendations, and wrote three (3!!!) research papers in the last three years.

but you don’t care at the end of the day. you’re going to harvard, and he’ll be out of your head permanently.

the season goes well for the both of you individually. you silently poke each other to see who gets to hold the school sweepstakes trophy (something that he started, you swear) and he kicks you on the bus ride back from tournaments.

when it comes to national qualifiers, you make it, of course. so does he, but you didn’t bother to show up at his celebratory party.

but things go awry when you fail to make it to state qualifiers. you’re surprised and shocked to see that you didn’t make it. you swear the ballots are biased, that the judge is completely wrong, and that that slot for you at the state competition was all yours.

you have no clue what coach was thinking when he proposes what comes next.

you sit in coach’s office, feet kicked up on his desk and hands unwrapping a candy. you stuff it in your mouth, relishing the sugar sweet tasty.

“coach, i want an appeal on those ballots from last week. you know that the kid going to state doesn’t even deserve it! he’s a sophomore who definitely looked things up in round! it was scuffed!” you lament, tossing away the wrapper as he continues to work on his laptop.

“y/n, i already told you, there’s not point in sending in an appeal. until the time it gets to headquarters, you’ll have to be preparing for things that you might not even debate,” he replies.

“hmph. at least i don’t have to sit next to albedo on the ride there. thank god he isn’t going to state either,” you say, crossing your arms.

“that’s rather crude,” coach zhongli answers. “you shouldn’t advocate for someone else’s demise.”

sitting up straight, your shoes hit the floor. “coach, i think i have every reason in the world to hate albedo! he tripped me in front of my loved ones at kindergarten graduation! he stole my idea for the sixth grade science fair! and he hates my guts too!”

“y/n,” he begins to reprimand, but sighs. he picks up his reading glasses, studying you for a moment. “how badly do you want to go to state?”

“badly. and i’m just saying, i’m willing to drive down to the headquarters and ask for an appeal for that stupid ballot—”

“and just how much do you like debate?”

“coach, what the hell are you even asking? my entire personality revolves around being in debate and speech. i wouldn’t wake up at 4AM to drive across the state for a tournament if i didn’t.”

he makes a small huff, placing his elbows on his desk. coach zhongli presses his face into his intertwined hands, letting out a long sigh. you were going to ask what he meant by all this until there was a sharp knock at the door.

“come in,” he calls, nodding at the door. you don’t bother to turn around, only snapping up when he says, “oh. good afternoon. how was lacrosse?”

“just fine, coach,” a silvery voice announces, making you still. “thanks for asking.

your jaw drops and you turn around. “what the hell are you doing here?” you point accusingly at albedo. “isn’t the season over for you?”

“i could say the same,” he replies bitterly and you cross your arms. you give coach a look as he leans against your chair. he pulls out a candy from coach’s candy jar. “anyways, coach, you called me here?”

“albedo, how badly do you want to go to state?” he asks curiously.

“i would say a fair amount. i live and breathe to argue,” he shrugs. the lack of passion makes you want to storm out the room.

“and how much do you love debate?” he asks, tilting his head.

“it’s everything i’ve ever loved. even more than science or math. debate is essential for getting ideas across. it’s beneficial, and fun.”

you make a face. “coach, you just asked me the same thing a few minutes ago,” you purse your lips until you come to a realization. slamming your fists onto the fine, mahogany of the desk. “no, you can’t be serious, coach! i told you that i shine in individual events! and that i’d never, ever debate with him!”

he doesn’t listen.

“how does it sound to you two to do a partnerned debate?” coach asks and you think that world must be ending.

[fruitcoops]

Hi! I love your writing! I live for every notification that you've posted something new.

I really like your fics where Coops are being fluffy and adorable, and the team finds them and are all adorable about it, like the Sirius cuddle one. I think that's my favorite.

Would you write Coops skating together before/after practice, and the team finding them and quietly going mushy watching?

I love those moments, too! This was an interesting (and difficult) fic for me to write, since I've never written Cole before, but I'm so looking forward to him in Vaincre. The song playing at the rink is 'American Gods' by ONR. SW credit goes to @lumosinlove!

Cole frowned. Upon Katie Dumais’ request, he had listened to “Hoedown Throwdown” enough times in the past two weeks to know the rhythm in his sleep, and that third beat just wasn’t lining up. He paused his attempt at working through the mess of his stall and straightened up, removing one earbud—sure enough, different music drifted from outside the locker room.

Someone else was at the rink.

He scanned the locker room, but saw no gear other than his own; two voices burst into faint laughter. Not the janitor, then. “Hello?” he called cautiously. It wasn’t against the rules for him to be at practice early, but maybe it was frowned upon by the others. Oh god, what if he became known as ‘the early guy’? The last ‘early guy’ he knew had become a suckup Coach’s pet, and everyone hated him for it.

There was a clatter, then more of the voices. Cole took his earbuds out and crept into the hall, wincing with each squeak of his sneakers.

Dumo’s at home, so it’s not the kids…Cole bit his lip as he tiptoed around the corner to the rink. “Oh, shit!” someone yelped before dissolving into laughter. He spotted two duffel bags on the bench, still full of gear, before a blur of movement flashed past and he had to duck behind the wall again to stay out of sight.

“Did you just trip over yourself?” Remus shouted across the ice from the other end with a wide grin. Cole craned his neck in time to see the captain nod, red-faced. “The great Sirius Black, everyone. Bravo, sir!”

Sirius skated over and checked him lightly—neither of them were wearing their pads, just skates and regular clothes. It was an odd sight. Cole felt a little like his two worlds were colliding. Off the ice, Remus and Sirius were kind (if a bit intimidating), and close with the team in a way he desperately wished for himself. On the ice, Cap and Loops were a wicked one-two punch that he idolized. They were careful with their words, and closed-off whenever media was around.

But out there, in their street clothes with well-loved sticks and a scattered collection of pucks, they looked so very different than the people Cole thought he knew.

A new song came on and Remus started doing the Sprinkler; Sirius had to sit down for a moment to catch his breath from laughing so hard, only to be dragged back to his feet and pulled along as Remus skated backwards. “If I have to get up, you have to sing for me,” he said with a groan, though his fond smile was visible from twenty feet away.

“Tell me all of my secrets, tell me all of my lies,” Remus sang, then paused. “And something, something, something…oh, American gods.”

Sirius shook his head. “Hopeless. Isn’t this your playlist?”

“I only added it for the drumbeat!” Remus protested, spinning him in a slow circle. “What, do you want to change it?”

“No, I want to watch you try to remember the lyrics while I push you over.”

“Wh—” Remus cut off with a squawk when Sirius let go of his hand mind-twirl, nearly sending him to the ice. “Son of a bitch!”

“Yes?” Sirius bit his lip and made a dash for the other end of the rink as Remus raced after him; Cole would never understand how someone so compact could build up that much speed in mere seconds. They chased each other in loops and swirls around the fresh ice, their voices echoing off the empty bleachers that didn’t hold a single fan or camera.

Realization trickled in like summer rain and he rested his shoulder against the wall. If he didn’t know them, Cole would have thought they were just some random couple, instead of two of the most famous modern athletes. He wasn’t watching Cap and Loops warming up for practice—he was watching Sirius and Remus screwing around in their free time, on the equivalent of a date.

Remus tried to dip sideways—a move that had helped him evade countless opponents, though Cole could never figure out—but Sirius caught him around the waist at the last second and lifted him off the ice. “Dirty play!” Remus called, sticking two fingers in his mouth to whistle. “Ten minutes in the box.”

“Ten minutes?” Sirius laughed. “I don’t think there’s an official penalty for picking other players up.”

“You wounded me.”

“Wimp.”

“My emotional state is in tatters,” Remus insisted as he kicked his legs halfheartedly. “I’ll never recover from this.”

“Are you sure?” Sirius set him down and turned him around, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“I feel short when you do that.”

“I hate to break it to you, but you are short.”

“Tremzy is short. I’m above the national average for men’s height by four full inches.”

“Shortie.” Sirius caught his hands and pulled, skating backward across the ice as the next chorus began. “Show my life in a mirror, through the opposite side—”

“Singing won’t get you out of this.”

“—and we kill for that moment, when we long to take flight—”

“How do you even know this song?”

“Because I actually remember lyrics when I listen to music,” he teased, turning them in a wobbly circle.

Remus leaned back, using his momentum to slide closer until they bumped chests. “Poet.”

Cole forgot that they were people, sometimes. Just people, enjoying some well-deserved time out of the spotlight.

“Cute, aren’t they?”

Cole jolted and clamped a hand over his mouth to stifle his yelp of surprise.

James shot him an amused look. “They do this before every afternoon practice.”

“Really?”

“Mhmm.”

“It’s so…normal.” He knew his bafflement shone through every word, but Pots seemed unbothered. Ahead of them, Sirius was lip-syncing to an old Paramore song as Remus tried to skate around him to get to the goal.

Pots raised an eyebrow. “What were you expecting?”

Cole made a vague gesture. “I dunno, actual practice? Running drills? The captain face?”

“The what?” James laughed quietly.

“The captain face.” He felt heat rise to his cheeks. “The one where it looks like you’re about to get reamed out by Cap at any given moment. It’s terrifying.”

“Reyes, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but that’s just his resting face.” Pots clapped him on the shoulder. “He’s the definition of RBF.”

Cole blinked at him. “This whole time, I thought he was gonna kill me if I slipped up.”

“Yup.”

“I’ve been afraid of him for two months and that’s just his face?”

“You get used to it.” He turned Cole back toward the ice, where Sirius’ smile was brighter than every fluorescent light in the building. “But he only looks like that around Loops.”

They stumbled a little going through an awkward attempt at a waltz, but they recovered at the last second, and Remus pulled him in for a light kiss. Cole felt his blush creep to his ears. “Should we go?”

Pots shrugged one shoulder. “They won’t notice either way.”

“This isn’t…creepy? They’re basically on a date.”

“They’re at the rink, remember?” A gleam entered his eye behind his glasses. “That means we get to chirp them for PDA in the workplace.”

Cole paused for a second and looked back, where Remus was playing keepaway with Sirius’ beanie. They darted around each other, practically flying over the ice—their footwork looked as natural as if they were born doing it. “It must be hard for them.”

“What?”

“Finding time to do this.” He glanced at James. “Everyone is expecting them to be one way all the time. I expected them to be one way all the time.”

James’ face softened and he draped an arm over Cole’s shoulders, leading him back down the hallway. “That’s what we’re here for. The best thing about this team isn’t our cohesion on the ice, or the Cup we won, or any of that. It’s that we’re friends, on and off the ice. As long as you remember that, you’ll never have to fit yourself in one specific box.”

Cole blinked at him. In two months of mentorship, he had never thought of James Potter as wise. “I swear you’re the same person that put shaving cream in everyone’s skates and blamed Harzy for it.”

James barked a laugh and ruffled his hair. “No boxes, Reyes. No boxes.”

[dhufflebee]

visto che la fic Spina x Bryan non arrivava mai, alla fine ne ho scritta una io

una roba un po’ così, con poco Spina e molto Bryan, abbastanza angst / sad (perché mi voglio male in quanto italiana e in quanto romanista)

speriamo che la prossima fic di questi due che compare sul tumblrcalcio sia un po’ più allegra, se la meritano 🙈

.

It’s been 111 days since the last time Bryan hugged Leo during a match.

Well, if that can even be called a hug – holding Leo’s head, choking back tears while he lies on the ground and desperately cries in pain. God, if they hadn’t been inthe midst of playing Belgium at the Euros (if only they hadn’t been playing at all), Bryan would have carried Leo off the pitch all by his fucking self and held him without letting go until his leg was good again. Instead, all he could do was stare numbly as the medical staff wheeled Leo off the pitch, his hands on his face and his hopes shattered.

The Euros hadn’t felt quite so magical after that (not for Bryan, at least). Bryan loves all his teammates, but Leo was the one who made everything better. Leo and Bryan weren’t as oblivious or obvious as some other duos (couples?) in the national team, but they were always together and had brought their mutual understanding and unspoken connection from Trigoria to Coverciano, and then to Europe… until that damned night.

When they beat Spain and Lore put on Leo’s shirt and everyone chanted Spina Spina like an anthem, the tears on Bryan’s face weren’t just happy ones, because it wasn’t fair that Leo wasn’t there to celebrate with them (with him).

And the blissfull, incredible night at Wembley – what he wouldn’t give for the hug he and Leo shared after the win to have been between two deliriously happy friends (who were definitely more than friends) in their sweaty kits, instead of a way too short one hindered by clothes and crutches and other people.

Now Bryan’s tossing and turning in the bed of a hotel in fucking Norway of all places, with mocking chants still ringing in his ears and burning shame eating away at his guts. God, what a fucking mess. The team disappointed everyone – themselves, the coach, the fans. Bryan can almost picture Leo’s hard expression as he watches the match on tv, and it hurts like a bitch, knowing that look would be directed at him too.

Except Leo wouldn’t look at them like that (especially not at him). He’d be his usual self, able to find something positive even in the worst defeats, ready to cheer for his teammates and offer insightful comments on their performances, and damn Bryan misses all that so much. He misses sneaking into Leo’s room at night in the rare away games they’re not already together, and spending hours talking and reviewing gameplays and muffling laughter in their pillows and hugging and and and. He misses the way Leo looks at him the last moments before he falls asleep, he misses stroking his hair, his neck, his back while they lie on the bed, legs intertwined, breathing almost in sync.

And maybe most of all Bryan misses the support and validation (and love) Leo has come to represent in his life. In this rubbish norwegian night, Bryan’s self-doubt is weighing on his chest like a mountain: he’s afraid he’s been playing like shit lately (even if Lollo and Gianlu keep telling him it’s not true), and only Leo’s soft words and careful hands could help him.

Enough of that. Bryan’s already on the brink of tears because of the awful match, and thinking any more about Leo and how he misses him like a limb would surely destroy him. He can’t do that to himself.

It’s been 111 days since Bryan last hugged Leo during a match, and at least 75 more days have to pass before they’ll play together again. God only knows how he’ll survive until then.

[tsukikento]

What’s Their Name Again? (Miya Atsumu x GenderNeutral!Reader)

Summary: In which Miya Atsumu quickly becomes infatuated with you and hits someone in the face with a volleyball because of it.

Word Count: 4,877

Warnings/Genre: fluff, the slightest bit of angst, cute stuff :) no warnings except maybe swearing and osamu and atsumu being argumentative twins lol

Notes: I posted this on ao3 yesterday and now it's here! I could not get this idea out of my head and just had to write it! Please let me know if you like it! I love to hear your feedback! <3

(masterlist)

The first time Miya Atsumu saw you was in his first year of high school. He had been walking onto the court to play a game at the Spring Interhigh Nationals when his wandering eyes fell on your own. He couldn’t even remember the other team’s name he was about to face. However, he could remember the deep blue and gold tracksuit you were wearing a couple of courts over. He practically stopped in his tracks as he watched you talk to a manager from another team.

Your eyes shined brightly and the smile that graced your lips had him reeling. Needless to say, he was rather speechless with your angelic appearance. The stadium was too loud to hear the laughter that came out of your mouth, but he was sure it was perfect. His eyes scoured over your body, looking you up and down.

Wow, he thought, tempted to watch you for as long as he could, before something bumped into him.

His eyes were dragged away mercilessly from your figure and to his brother’s.

Miya Atsumu groaned loudly as he looked at his gray-haired twin. His frustration boiled over easily as if in too small of a pot and it resulted in him chasing after Osamu until Kita gave him a look that told him to behave. Oh, yeah, we are at nationals…

“Tch,” He mumbled before looking back at you. Or at least, where you had been standing.

You were gone.

And he was too entranced by your looks to see what school you went to. Atsumu looked back to his team and held in a groan as he forced himself to focus on the game that was soon to start.

~~

The next time Miya Atsumu was graced with your appearance was during the Winter Interhigh for his second year of high school. His team had once again made it to nationals, and it seemed yours had too.

In fact, you were currently standing opposite him on court B, while he stretched out his limbs.

You seemed much more confident in yourself than last year. The small, nervous blush that was permanent on your cheeks last year was gone. Your hair was shorter than before, no longer hiding over half your face, and it made you look way too good.

He stared at you as your team ran around the small court.

Tanuki High, he read off the jerseys.

Although he wasn’t happy to be facing off against your team on the first round of nationals, he tried to look at the bright side. He could impress you.

He found himself frequently looking at you as he warmed up, hoping you were looking at him. However, his now blond hair didn’t even help him stand out in a crowd. Rather than looking at the gorgeous setter that he was, you were looking at a player from your own team.

The boy had short black hair and green eyes. He had a smirk practically plastered onto his face and it made Atsumu want to hit him. Not a punch that could make his precious hands and knuckles bleed, but maybe a swift kick or elbow of the stomach.

He could not figure out why you were looking at that other guy so much. From what he could tell, the green-eyed bastard was also a setter and much worse compared to his own skill.

Atsumu groaned as he watched you look at that idiot with such a kind smile. He hated how beautiful he thought you looked and how much he craved for you to look at him that way.

And I don’t even know your name, he thought.

Once again, Atsumu was torn away from you by his brother.

“You like ‘em?” He asked, nudging Atsumu and looking at you.

Atsumu didn’t reply and simply walked away.

“Ah, so you do?” Osamu pestered, becoming that much more incessant.

“Shut it,” The blond twin spat back, “I need to practice my sets, toss them to me.”

Osamu didn’t bother to say anything else and simply followed along.

~~

It was about halfway through the game when Atsumu’s blood began to boil.

Tanuki High was not a bad school. They had a great defense and an ace who practically shut them out. However, Atsumu was able to keep calm and levelheaded until he saw you looking at that black-haired setter.

For most of the game, you had been dutifully noting down every point, block, and whatnot. It helped that you weren’t staring and giggling at the setter like before. Except, as everyone shifted positions and Atsumu moved to serve, he watched the opposite setter move to be standing closest to you.

Back left, Atsumu thought.

He watched attentively as the green-eyed boy looked at your sweetly and waved.

You waved back shyly.

Atsumu saw the other setter mouth something he couldn’t hear and your face went red immediately before you giggled.

The blond groaned as he took his steps back. When he looked up, you were still smiling like an idiot at the other setter. The referee whistled, signaling that it was okay for Atsumu to serve. He didn’t even bother silencing the cheer team, subconsciously knowing it would draw attention to him. He ran forward, jumping just in time, and smacked the volleyball as hard as he could.

It took less than a second for the ball to connect directly with the black-haired bastard’s face.

The referee once again blew his whistle and multiple people rushed over to check if he was okay.

Smirking, Atsumu walked up to his brother who was standing at the front as said, “Serves him right for not paying attention.” He knew he was an ass, he knew it was a little much to purposefully do a jump serve right into someone’s face, but it was a split-second decision.

Osamu chuckled and Atsumu felt a sense of pride rush through his veins until he saw your eyes snap up at him.

Like any manager would, you had rushed over to check on the player. His nose was bleeding and tears threatened to fall from his eyes.

When you heard that comment from the blond you had just served, you looked up in disgust at him. Your eyes held a fury that was rarely seen and Atsumu stepped back tentatively.

“You monster. How dare you,” You spat at Atsumu with venom dripping from your voice.

Atsumu could barely pay attention as he watched you usher the setter out of the gym and most likely to the infirmary.

Well, that backfired, he thought, now missing your kind presence that previously filled the gym.

The game ended quickly after that, Tanuki High being low in spirits. Although Atsumu wasn’t that much better either.

His heart felt like it ripped apart as you came back just in time to see your team lose. You were not accompanied by the setter and sadly shook your head as he watched the coach ask you a question.

Was my serve really that strong? He questioned as you sat down.

Atsumu simply followed the motions as he perfectly set the ball to Aran and watched closely for any possible blocks. It didn’t matter though.

He heard the smack of Aran’s powerful serve hitting the floor before he registered much and the ref's whistle blow.

End game.

He watched you calmly put your clipboard down before looking up to meet his eyes.

There was still so much anger in your eyes, but you hardly looked at him, barely spared him a glance, before going up to the players and hugging each and every one of them.

Atsumu stared at you with a foreign feeling. It felt different than the jealousy that ran through his veins when he saw you talking with that black-haired idiot from before. This feeling made him feel empty, but at the same time made him crave to fill that hole with your smile.

Oh, that gorgeous smile. You had lips that he would beg for a chance to kiss. The perfect shade of pink that matched perfectly against your skin tone to the slight laughter lines. Your smile was not joyful currently, it was more so filled with a pity directed at the volleyball players, a sorry attempt to cheer up the players.

He knew he should, but the second-year was way too nervous to actually go up and apologize to you. However, after a small cheer he shared with his team, Kita and Aran did force him to go and bow and apologize to the entire team.

“I’m very sorry for hitting your teammate. Please give him my sincere apology and know it was never my intention to hit anyone,” He partially lied, while bowing down to a 90-degree angle. He flashed a remorseful smile directed at you in hopes for pity.

You had none.

~~

Atsumu did not see you during the Spring Interhigh National games. He didn’t know if it was because your team did not make nationals or if you just didn’t cross paths. Regardless, he didn’t want you to see him lose in only the second round and was grateful for the absence.

~~

Atsumu finally saw you again at the Winter Interhigh National games.

Your tracksuit somehow fit even better than in years passed and Atsumu almost immediately walked up to you because of how profoundly gorgeous you looked.

However, what stopped him was the black-haired idiot. Or more so the lack of him.

He must have been a third-year, Atsumu thought as he watched you talk to the players. He was quite sure you were giving them an endearing and powerful speech. The passion and fire in your eyes outshined everything else. He absolutely adored how passionately you looked. If he looked closely, he would have noticed that you were also teary-eyed.

Atsumu continued to watch over you as he debated what to do. He was more confident than he was before, confident enough to walk up to you and ask for your number.

But what if you aren’t single? He thought, knowing full well that the alumni setter had flirted so freely with you and most likely asked you out.

“Stop being such a wuss.”

Atsumu looked away from you and to his brother.

“You have been looking at ‘em since our first year,” Osamu reasoned.

“No, I have not!” Atsumu countered, ready to hit his brother in the head.

Osamu barely ducked away in time from the attack before laughing, “Yeah, and you totally didn’t hit that guy in the face with a volleyball last year because he was flirting.”

Atsumu groaned, knowing that he was right. “Shut up, ‘Samu.”

“Whatever,” Osamu replied. “Just don’t come crying to me when you finally work up the courage and can no longer find ‘em.” His brother shrugged and walked away to go and talk to Suna.

Atsumu immediately turned his head around, worried you would be gone like before. He would theoretically only have one more chance to see you, that was if your team even made it to nationals. Atsumu groaned, knowing Osamu was right.

You were currently kneeling on the ground by the back wall and packing up some things in a bag, getting ready for your team’s game to begin. With most of your team busy warming up on the court, it gave Atsumu his best chance to talk to you privately. Most of his team was also leaving the court so none of those idiots would interrupt him either.

Before he could even think about what to say, his legs began approaching you. He inched close and closer but stopped when he was about five feet away and simply watched you.

Shit, what the fuck am I supposed to say?

“Can I help you?” You asked, looking up at him, worrying that he was going to be one of the many volleyball players from a different school that simply asked you out because they didn’t have their own team manager. You had a suspicious look on your face that heavily juxtaposed the sweet smile you gave all the players in Tanuki High.

“Oh, uh,” Atsumu stumbled over his words, not realizing you would notice him. He tentatively stepped closer, suddenly much more anxious than he was a few moments ago. However, he also found your confidence and bratty attitude so goddamn attractive. “I’m uh—"

“Oh!” You stood up from the kneeling position you had been in and pointed at the blond. “You’re Miya Atsumu, right?” Your eyes scanned his features and he wondered if you knew him from his noticeable, sunken eyes and bleached hair.

Atsumu immediately felt his face heat up, something he had yet to experience in his academic career. Despite being sought after by many people from his own high school, those people only liked him for his talent.

He never cared much for people who couldn’t befriend him for his personality but were happy to ogle him while he played. Nevertheless, he also still found himself enjoying their praises while he played.

Any of the people he tried to date in the past, a whopping three people, ended up breaking up with him because of his personality. The explanations ranged from him being too loud to being too obsessed with volleyball.

Either way, he was much more cautious than before, and yet you still grabbed his attention and made him want to learn more about you.

Atsumu would have looked away from you and toward the ground, except your eyes were sparkling too brightly for him to possibly miss a second. Fuck, he thought as he tried to figure out what to say.

“Y-you know me?” He finally asked. He pointed to himself in shock, eyes wide and unsure of himself.

“How could I forget the number #1 setter who hit Tadashi Kou in the face with a volleyball?” You ecstatically spoke, leaning back casually onto the wall and smiling with a confidence that made Atsumu’s heart rate increase.

Atsumu figured you were talking about the setter from last year, especially because he did not make it a habit to hit people with volleyballs. However, your voice, although not dripping with honey, did not have any anger in it as it did previously. He thought that if you remembered him for that, then you would be more upset with him. Your blatant compliment told him differently.

Regardless, Atsumu found himself sheepishly rubbing the back of his head and apologizing. “Yeah, sorry again about that,” He mumbled, looking down to the floor.

“Don’t apologize,” You waved him off, sheepishly scratching at the side of your face for making him feel bad.

“Oh! Um, but why?” He asked, silently thankful. The conversation wasn’t flowing perfectly, it was filled with awkward pauses and exclamations, but that was better than nothing. In fact, Atsumu wondered if your awkwardness was because you liked him, the same way his awkwardness was because he found your more beautiful than anyone he had ever seen. He reminded himself not to jump to conclusions, a normal person would not fall that fast and he was only beginning to understand his own feelings.

“Tadashi Kou is an asshole,” You swore. “That bastard totally deserved it.” Your voice echoed itself from that day last year. Except, almost angrier. It dripped with a fury Atsumu was unfamiliar with and he was glad he didn’t hear you speak this exact way to him last year.

“Oh,” Atsumu awkwardly replied, not quite sure what to say. What did he do to you? He wanted to ask but feared stepping over a boundary.

“I suppose you are wondering why,” You mumbled more so to yourself.

They know me so well, Atsumu thought, well aware that anyone would think that. However, he decided to let himself dream a little bit more, relish the good feelings he got from talking to you.

Even just your voice was gorgeous. From the way it dripped with honey as you talked to your teammates to the excitedness behind it when you guessed who he was. Even the sassiness and anger that your voice held at certain times made him shiver in new ways.

He realized how much he liked a confident person. No person who had shown interest in him before was the confident or teasing type. They were all confident enough to confess to him, but not confident enough to stop him if he was doing something dumb. Which was rather frequent, unfortunately. But your confidence made him hopeful that you would be willing to joke around with him and stop him when he was going too far. He found himself grinning wildly at just how quickly he was falling for you.

When you looked up at him, he realized his mistake. His eyes were glued to you, but he was thinking of something completely different and you definitely noticed.

Shit, I must look like an idiot. How long have I been not saying anything?

The smile on his face was wiped away because of his nerves and he was sure his face was red. “Uhh, yeah, but I don’t want to make you,” He mumbled back, wanting to forget about this awkward instance. However, your sparkling eyes looking directly at him with such curiosity made it almost worth it.

“Well, the whole world should know he’s an ass,” You replied, shrugging your shoulders, and moving so gracefully that no one would realize the swear that came out of your mouth. “He cheated on me if you must know.” Your voice was flat and blatant.

“Oh, shit,” Atsumu replied without thinking.

“Yeah,” You shot back.

Atsumu wanted to say something, anything, to cover up the silence that quickly took over your conversation. He moved closer to you, now only being a couple of feet away. “Well, I knew he was an ass from the beginning, so…” He trailed off, not sure what his point was.

You, however, still sputtered out a laugh that made his heart skip a beat. Once your chuckles died down, you looked up at the blond with a glint in your eyes that anyone would realize was flirtatious. “Oh really? And what made you hit him in the first place? I assumed it was an accident.”

Atsumu scoffed, replying quickly with, “What makes you think it wasn’t an accident?”

You scoffed back, equally as quick-witted, “Because I’ve seen you play. Coach made me watch hours’ worth of videos when we were going to play you last year, so I know you pride yourself on your serves. You wouldn’t try to hit someone unless provoked, especially because it would make it seem like you didn’t have almost perfect control over your serves. So, I just assumed it was a freak accident.”

Atsumu smirked, “You watch me that much, huh?” On this inside, he was screaming. He was going absolutely feral. You were way too much, and he was about ready to ask for your hand in marriage.

You simply shrugged once more. However, Atsumu, who was watching you intently saw you smirk at him. “So, was it an accident?”

Atsumu smiled and shook his head.

Your smile somehow widened. “And are you gonna tell me what provoked you to hit him?” You wanted to know so bad. What could possibly make Miya Atsumu forgo professionality?

Atsumu, who was busy staring at you, slightly shook his head to bring him back to focus. “You really want to know?” He asked, moving even closer to you, and forcing you to look up at him to meet his eyes. The angle was rather perfect, it gave him an ideal view of your face and he was so tempted to lean in and kiss you.

Either he was an idiot, or you were flirting with him. And he was really hoping you were flirting with him.

Atsumu smirked boldly and you visibly swallowed and tried your best not to breathe completely in his face.

“I do,” You breathed out, barely trusting your voice.

Atsumu hummed low in his throat, an action he knew worked well in getting a rise out of people. “Well,” He leaned back slightly, giving him some more room to talk. “You’re right that I pride myself on my serves. However, I’m not so prideful that I wouldn’t intentionally hit an idiot in the face. In fact, I have a lot of practice aiming my serves directly at my brother's head.”

He paused and smiled joyfully as you shot your hand up to your mouth and laughed. However, your laughter died abruptly stopped as the blond setter once again leaned forward. This time, he put his left arm against the wall behind you, effectively trapping you in closer than ever to him. Atsumu felt lucky that there were a lot of people in the stadium, making it easy for him to hide. Just imagining his team mocking him for this moment almost made him regret it.

He looked into your eyes, so innocent and simply looking directly at him. What he would give to hear your thoughts right now…

“You never told me what made you hit him,” You finally spoke, your throat dry, but still determined to know why.

“If you must know,” Atsumu spoke, looking directly at you and tentatively licking his lips. Your eyes shined with intrigue and your lips were slightly parted. As a last-second decision, Atsumu leaned forward again, brushing his lips against your right ear. He gently breathed out, noting how you shivered easily against his actions. “I couldn’t help myself when I saw how he was flirting with you.”

He was lightheaded.

It was very unlike him to act like this.

Sure, he thought about how to flirt with people, but actually doing it was different. In fact, the last person he dated laughed in his face when he tried to flirt.

He was sure you were about to do the same.

Except, you didn’t shake with laughter. You gasped and turned your head just slightly to meet Atsumu’s eyes as he moved away from your ear. He could feel the heat radiating off your face and see the light blush on your cheeks.

Atsumu smirked, hiding his own nerves. He was so ecstatic with your reaction, but at the same time anxious to see how you would reply.

“Fuck,” He heard you swear. It was so quiet as if coming out as a meek breath. He wouldn’t have heard it if he wasn’t so close to you still.

Being so close to you felt suffocating at this point. The air was hot and the temptation to lean down and kiss you was way too high. He wanted to take this slow, at least for now. Atsumu slowly pulled back, just enough so the air he was breathing was no longer yours as well.

Quickly, you looked down at your feet and fumbled with your hands.

“Don’t look away,” Atsumu sadly whined. He wanted to see your face and your reaction.

“But you made me nervous,” You whined back, causing Atsumu to smile wildly.

“So cute,” He simply spoke before moving his hand to gently cup your chin. He tilted your head up and smiled kindly at you. He could tell you were just as nervous as him and hoped his actions didn’t intimidate you.

You looked into his eyes expectantly. You weren’t sure what he would want from you. Unlike people from his school, you didn’t know much about him. You knew he was popular though. At least, a popular athlete. You clearly remembered the multiple women who cheered for him and held up signs for him during games.

You wondered if he was only flirting with you for fun. Or maybe he was hoping you would entertain him for the night. However, the idea of him literally hitting someone in the head with a volleyball simply because they were flirting with you made you think it might be something more.

However, the long, pregnant pause that had you both reeling in nerves and teenage feelings was stopped when your name was called.

You looked over, Atsumu’s head also turning when yours did.

Your face met the face of one of the first years. A sweet boy with pale, blond hair. He still had a little baby fat on his face, but he was quickly becoming an excellent player despite his innocence and cheerfulness.

Those factors made this moment all the more awkward.

Atsumu’s left arm tucking you into the wall and his right hand holding your chin. He towered over you in a way that made this look even worse.

You gulped down the lump in your throat. “Yes, Watanabe-kun?”

“The game is starting soon, and Coach wanted to talk to you,” He mumbled, his eyes only looking into yours, too nervous to look anywhere else.

“I’ll be there soon, okay?” You replied. Atsumu hadn’t moved in the slightest. He simply only watched Watanabe like he was a potential threat.

The first year nodded and jogged away.

You turned back to look at Atsumu how met your eyes. “So,” You mumbled.

“So,” Atsumu repeated as your voice died down into nothing.

“I have to go,” You finally added.

“You have to go.”

It was clear that you were both reluctant to separate. Atsumu didn’t want to move because he worried that you would leave and he would not see you again.

“Can I have your number?” You finally asked, surprising Atsumu.

“Um,” He finally pulled back and looked down. He tapped at his shorts, realizing he was still in his jersey. No pockets, no phone. “Do you have your phone on you?”

“Yeah,” You replied, and moved down to the bag you had been previously packing up. You unzipped the small, front pocket which helps your phone, and a small first-aid kit.

You quickly unlocked it and opened up to add a contact. You handed your phone to Atsumu and watched as he put in his number. You expected him to simply hand your phone back to you, but he suddenly moved to phone up high. He looked into the lens, smiled, and held up a peace sign before taking a photo of himself.

When he handed you back the phone, you saw he not only added a photo but also entered in his name. TsumTsum <3

“TsumTsum?” You questioned, looking up into the blond with an inquiring look.

Atsumu sighed and flopped around rather humorously. He acted like he couldn’t control his arms and whined out, “I thought it was cute!”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t!” You shot back, laughing at his actions.

Atsumu whined again, “Then why did you look at me like that?”

You simply shrugged, a beautiful smile on your face as you looked down at your phone and typed something out. Once done, you showed him your fine.

‘Hi TsumTsum <3’

Atsumu smiled proudly at the text.

“There, now you should have my number too,” You explained before tucking your phone away into your back. “Hopefully, I’ll see you tomorrow.” You smiled at Atsumu and gave him a quick wink before turning away and walking over to your team.

Atsumu smiled happily, so glad he was finally able to talk to you. In a haze, he finally left the gym and walked down the hall to where his team was supposed to meet up. Most of them were sitting around the small area, either on their phones or trying to sleep.

Atsumu had already given them a short speech about how they played today so they had most of the day free until after dinner when they would watch the recording of them playing and go over it with their coach.

Atsumu plopped himself down onto the ground next to his bad and Osamu. He immediately chugged his water and grabbed his phone out of his bag.

He giddily unlocked his phone to look at the text you sent him. His noise made his brother look over his shoulder and to his brother’s phone.

“Oh, did you get their number?” Osamu asked, turning around to see Atsumu’s phone more clearly.

Atsumu immediately moved to hide his phone. “Yes,” He abruptly replied before looking back to his phone and moving to add you to his contacts. However, as Atsumu’s fingers hovered over his keyboard, he realized something. “I didn’t get their name,” He spoke, looking up to Osamu as if he would have a solution.

The gray-haired twin immediately began laughing at his brother.

“Shut up, ‘Samu!” Atsumu exclaimed, moving to kick his brother.

Osamu hardly dodged his brother’s attack, unable to move swiftly from laughing so hard. “You’re such an idiot, ‘Tsumu!” Osamu said in between his laughs as he moved over to get to Suna.

Atsumu groaned loudly and turned to be by himself. He looked down at his phone, debating what to put as your contact.

Would it be too weird to put a pet name, he wondered.

Finally, after debating for some time, he decided to simply put your contact names as ‘Baby’.

Maybe I’ll change it once I know their name, he reasoned before turning back to his team and interjecting himself into Suna and Osamu’s conversation.

He never did change it though.

[zillennial97]

Enemies to Lovers | Larry Fanfic Recs

Walk That Mile by purpledaisy | 149k | Explicit

Harry stares at him, the line of his jaw standing out scarily. “I wanted to get the most out of this trip so I planned it carefully.” His voice is low and steady and somehow that’s worse than when he was yelling. “So far, you’ve put your sticky fingers on everything I’ve tried to do.”

“Sticky fingers?” Louis repeats, offended. “Are you saying it’s my fault you got stung by a bee? Had you been alone you would have gotten halfway to the Dotty Diner and ran the car off the road because of an allergic reaction, so don’t go blaming me.”

“Polk-A-Dot Drive In,” Harry spits before getting out of the car. He slams the door shut with a deafening reverb and Louis rolls his eyes.- A Route 66 AU where falling in love was never part of the plan.

Unbelievers by isthatyoularry | 136k | Explicit

It’s Louis’ senior year, and he’s dead set on doing it right. However, along with his pair of cleats, a healthy dose of sarcasm and his ridiculous best friend, he’s also got a complicated family, a terrifyingly uncertain future, and a mortal enemy making his life just that much worse. Mortal enemies “with benefits” was not exactly the plan.

Or: The one where Louis and Harry definitely aren’t friends, and football is everything.

we're not friends, we could be anything by nooelgallagher, yoursongonmyheart | 115k | Explicit

Louis narrows his eyes at Harry. “What that supposed to be a fucking joke?”

Harry narrows his eyes right back. “It was a good joke.”

Louis rolls his eyes. “Jokes require laughter, Curls.” Louis glances down at Harry’s thighs again, Christ. “Your pants must be so tight they’re restricting airflow to your brain.”

Harry wipes a bead of sweat off his forehead. “Pretty sure yoga is supposed to increase airflow, blood flow, and all that,” he responds dryly, finally jumpstarting himself and walking away from Louis towards his own bedroom.

Louis can’t help but stare at his broad back, still sheen with drying sweat, and his perky bum in the tight yoga pants.

Louis swallows. Christ.

...Or, the one where Harry and Louis are unlikely uni flatmates who definitely don't like each other and definitely won't fall in love (even if Liam and Niall think otherwise).

Our Lives, Non-Fiction by indiaalphawhiskey | 113k | Explicit

Heralded as the next Neil Gaiman, Louis Tomlinson does not appreciate being told that his very serious novel is in dire need of a PR boost. Even worse, that it comes in the form of a joint book tour with the UK’s #1 online romance-writing sensation Marcel Styles. Already turbulent at best, their partnership takes a drastic turn when, overly stressed about his looming deadline, Marcel accidentally blurts out a secret: though he’s famed for his scorching hot literary love scenes, he is, actually, a virgin.

Convinced that the only way to rid himself of writer’s block is to gain some experience, Marcel asks Louis, author-to-author, to sleep with him – for Science. And of course Louis agrees because, well, what on Earth could possibly go wrong?

Or, a lesson in romance that proves that sometimes the best love stories aren’t always by the book.

Soft Hands, Fast Feet, Can't Lose by dolce_piccante | 112k | Mature

American Uni AU. Harry Styles is a frat boy football star from the wealthy Styles Family athletic dynasty. A celebrity among football fans, he knows how to play, he knows how to party, and he knows how to fuck (all of which is well known among his legion of admirers).

Louis Tomlinson is a student and an athlete, but his similarities to Harry end there. Intelligent, focused, independent, and completely uninterested in Harry’s charms, Louis is an anomaly in a world ruled by football.

A bet about the pair, who might be more similar than they originally thought, brings them together. Shakespeare, ballet, Disney, football, library chats, running, accidental spooning, Daredevil and Domino’s Pizza all blend into one big friendship Frappucino, but who will win in the end?

Dance to the Distortion by Lis (domesticharry) | 96k | Explicit

Louis accidentally breaks Harry's camera lens and in order to get it fixed, they decide to participate in a romantic couples study. The only issue is that they are not actually couple. Well that and the fact they cannot stand each other.

You’ve Got My Devotion (Hate You Sometimes) by lucythegoosey | 95k | Explicit

Harry was in the biggest boy band in the world. He was also one half of the best (or worst, depends on who you ask) kept secret relationship in the music industry.

Now, almost five years on, after One Direction has broken up, and Harry and Louis' relationship has as well, a video threatens to put everything at risk.

One determined Irishman, a massive publicity stunt and two begrudging exes are all it takes to bring One Direction back to life and maybe, just maybe, Harry and Louis' mangled love life too.

Or: Harry and Louis are forced to fake-date after an old video from when they were dating emerges.

The Sidelines by RedRidingStiles | 47k | Explicit

"Alright, I know you guys are the best of friends but I'd like you to do this for the rest of the team,” Cowell says, making the rest of the team snicker. "So I want both of you to compliment each other." "I hate your trainers. I mean that in the nicest way possible. They're very...yellow," Louis says, arms crossed as he offers a fake close-lipped grin. "It's really nice of you to blow anyone you find slightly attractive," Harry replies, a sickening sweet smile on his lips. "Thank you, children, let me remind you this is a college hockey team. Try again," Coach says, completely unamused.

Or Harry and Louis play hockey for Penn state and can't stand one another, since they can't keep their hatred off the ice their coach and team do what they can to keep their hard earned spot in the playoffs and their two star players from killing each other

Wonderwall by AFangirlFantasy | 43k | General Audiences

Taking the sheet cluttered with times available for the next few weeks, Louis notices a pattern in the list. The name of the person Perrie had just mentioned: Harry Styles. It’s written at least seven times, and three of which are during timeframes Louis wants.

“Who the fuck is Harry Styles?”

“You’re about to find out,” she answers, pointing over Louis’ shoulder.

Or a Love/Hate College AU where Louis Tomlinson is the lead singer of The Rogue - the most popular band on campus - and Harry Styles is the talented Freshman unknowingly challenging all that.

All the Right Moves by cherrystreet | 32k | Explicit

This is the third game in a row that Harry has been distracted by the noisy boy in the stands, five rows back.

There’s really no reason that he should feel compelled to stare into the audience as frequently as he is, but he can’t help it. This boy is a nuisance. And he’s loud. Even from basketball court with nine other players running by him, shoes squeaking on the shiny hardwood floor, and thousands of cheering college students, Harry can hear this boy nearly shrieking, his laugh more like a cackle than anything.

It’s seriously obnoxious.

Nicotine by KrisStylinson | 32k | Explicit

"We're two different types of people, Liam. He likes sex and drugs, I like theater and tea. Trust me, we'd never date." Except they would, they do, and neither of them plans on letting go anytime soon.

"Just because you can get me hard doesn't mean I like you," Louis whispered. The fact was, he didn't like Harry right now, not at all. Not even a bit.

"Yeah, yeah," Harry murmured, his breath fanning over Louis' cock as he spoke. "You done telling me how much you hate me so I can suck you off?"

Like Candy In My Veins by littlelouishiccups | 31k | Explicit

“Um…” Harry said slowly after a moment. “Okay. That’s… this is… Let me get this straight.” He lifted up a hand and swallowed. “You told your family that you have a boyfriend… and my name was the first one you thought of?” “Harry Potter was on TV, alright? It wasn’t that much of a stretch.” Louis pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t believe he was explaining himself to Harry fucking Styles. He couldn’t believe he was stooping this low. “Forget it. I’m sorry I even thought about bringing you into this.”

Harry snorted. “What? Did you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend or something?”

(Basically the A/B/O, enemies to lovers, fake relationship, Christmas AU that nobody asked for.)

We're Like Bumper Cars by sincehewaseighteen | 31k | Explicit

“I have won, I won the final cross country. I win, Harry--”

“Whoever gets to fucking nationals wins it, pretty boy,” Harry teases. “You haven’t won. Interhouse is nothing compared to nationals, or interstate. You haven’t even won interschool. You can dream all you fucking want that you’ve won.”

Louis becomes so ignorant he decides to no longer eye the boy taunting him. “Trophies prove it all, Styles.”

“Where’s your trophy for biggest asshole?”

“Where’s yours for winning cross country?”

Harry growls before hooking his fingers in Louis’ belt loops and bringing them together for a flat kiss.

Or the AU where Louis and Harry are rivals of the century and Cross Country competitors before things get complicated and they play pretend.

After Hours by Velvetoscar for shipsdrifting | 26k | Not Rated

Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson are the bane of each other's existences. Unfortunately, they're already in love--even if they aren't completely aware of this minor detail.

[A "You've Got Mail" AU]

When It's Late At Night by Rearviewdreamer | 25k | Mature

Louis has zero interest in an ex-boybander turned solo artist when his appearance on the show gets announced, but that's exactly who he gets stuck with when Harry Styles shows up at the Late Late show to promote the release of his debut album. For an entire fucking week.

Or

The Late Late prompt that we all need to get through this excruciatingly hard time.

Love Me Please by angelichl | 23k | Explicit

Louis hates Harry, which is fine because he would really rather prefer to avoid him at all costs.

The only problem?

They're soulmates.

runnin' like you did by orphan_account | 20k | Explicit

“Should we tell him?”

When Lauren is met with everyone either nodding their heads or shrugging, she takes a deep breath. “I mean, I think it’s pretty obvious by now.” She stalls, sounding ominous and Louis doesn’t like it one bit.

“What is obvious by now?” Louis asks. He’s starting getting anxious. “I swear to God, spit it out. Stop being so damn cryptic.”

“I—We think it’s pretty obvious that you’re in love with Harry,” she states simply and shrugs as if she isn’t telling him he’s in love with the second—Nick being the first—most annoying person on the planet.

or, a college au where Louis knows how to hold a grudge and is definitely not in love with Harry Styles

Three French Hems by 100percentsassy, gloria_andrews | 20k | Mature

In which Louis is a designer at Burberry and Harry spends December wearing Lanvin… and Lanvin… and Lanvin.

once bitten and twice shy by pinkcords | 19k | Mature

This time as his stomach rolls, there’s no doubt about it. He’s going to vomit. And if he does, it’ll be on Louis’ shoes, a nice little parting gift to go with the embarrassment he’s caused the both of them. “I’m gonna throw up,” he says just as Louis turns to look at him, blue eyes swimming with shock and confusion, and asks, “Is that true?”

Or, in a rush of bravery only senior year can bring, Harry confesses his feelings in a letter to his neighbor and best friend, Louis, only for the entire school to hear it and laugh him out of their small town in Wisconsin. Ten years later, Harry's a successful lawyer at Columbia Records, coming home for Christmas for the first time since he departed for college. He plans to work his way through the trip, eat his mom's cooking, and avoid everyone from his past for as long as possible. The only problem is best laid plans hardly ever go as intended.

That's How I Know by allwaswell16 | 19k | Explicit

Louis Tomlinson has just landed his dream job, coaching soccer at Augustus University. When he moves into a new house near campus, he meets his very fit new neighbor, English professor Harry Styles. Although their first meeting leads to an instant mutual dislike, the more Harry gets to know Louis, the more he likes what he sees.

Or the one where Harry’s African grey parrot spills his dirty secrets to his very hot neighbor.

Get Off of My Cloud by Marora_Daris | 9k | Explicit

Harry is the most annoying neighbour that sexually frustrated Louis could have. Niall decides it's a good idea to handcuff them together.

Featuring guinea pigs, animal print leggings and inappropriate boners.

Erase My History, (Expo)se Me by BayouSexual, pacificrimjob for Edandcurly | 6k | Teen And Up Audiences

“My hair does not smell like strawberries.”

Louis blinks up at Mr. Styles. “I never said your hair smells like strawberries. How would I even know that?” Harry’s hair does smell like strawberries, Harry himself smells like strawberries, everyone who’s been within three feet of him knows this. ~~~~~~~~ Or the one where Harry and Louis both teacher history, their students think they should date, and one pink dry-erase marker is trying to ruin their lives (with a little help of course).