#t: fc problems

[venicesstuff]

i have an unhealthy obsession with chuck t chipperson to the point where my 6 year old brother knows his name, team, where the hub is, exactly what their uniform looks like and legit everything else that can and is linked to chuck

send help

[darling-flora]

Everybody Here Wants You

fc: bella hadid

joe burrow x yn model (bella hadid) x ex!paul mescal

Note: I feel like this is really long 😭 I had a little fun with it. Let me know what ya think !!! ❣❤❣

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TMZ

Liked by username1, username2 and 969,944 others

TMZ Supermodel and CEO Y/n L/n and actor Paul Mescal have SPLIT after 2 years of dating.

Though the pair were recently seen in Ohio around L/n's family farm, Y/n was reportedly trying to work through the problems but articles came out about Mescal having an affair, to which Y/n immediately broke off the relationship. Then only days after they called it quits Mescal was seen around London with director J.J. Abrams' daughter Gracie Abrams.

There have been rumors of Mescal and Abrams growing closer around the same time as the relationship of Y/n and Paul started to grow rocky, Mescal hasn't commented on the split but sources close to Y/n L/n have expressed that "Y/n was heartbroken but she was also getting tired of all the lies, she felt a bit insane but then she saw proof of an affair and it all started to click".

Although the actor hasn't commented on the break up, people close to the actor have and said "As soon as Y/n found out about him and Abrams, she didn't think twice about dumping him, and he immediately regretted ever meeting Gracie. He was and still is head over heels for Y/n which i think scared him so he did something stupid that Y/n will never forgive him for".

While Mescal has been seen around London with another girl, Y/n has been spending more time in Ohio on her family farm.

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username1 wait they were at her farm was like a month ago.... so they've been broken up for like a month ??

↳username2 yeah they haven't been seen together since then, and paul has been seen with gracie and they've gotten more and more public..... ↳username1 omg it took him like half a year to even say he was in a relationship with y/n when she was so openly in love, then for him to be this public with gracie like weeks into their "situationship" is crazy...

username3 omg tmz with all the details holy....

username4 not really the point but her family has a farm ??

↳username5 yeah they have a family farm and her stepdad owns an educational animal sanctuary that help's people learn about animals !! ↳username4 oh i had no clue, that's sick !!

username6 i feel so bad for y/n "she was also getting tired of all the lies, she felt a bit insane" like poor girl... 😕

username7 tmz were you in the room when they were breaking up ??? how do you know so much..?

↳username8 wouldn't be surpised if people close to her are "leaking" stuff, if he was having an affair i would tell reporters too 🤭

username9 "He was and still is head over heels for Y/n which i think scared him so he did something stupid that Y/n will never forgive him for" omfg he's such a man 😒

↳username10 he's always talked so highly of y/n only for him to CHEAT on her ?? ↳username11 at the end of the day he's just another man im afraid.....

username12 he regretted ever meeting gracie IS CRAZY like your holding her hand around london wishing you NEVER MET HER ??

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cincyanimalsanctuary

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cincyanimalsanctuary We had the pleasure of welcoming some of the member's of the Cincinnati Bengals to the sanctuary for a little team bonding before the start of the 2022 NFL preseason starts.

Huge thank you to all the staff and animal ambassadors for being so welcoming to our guests, as well as a thank you to yourinstagram for showing the team around !!

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username1 y/n looks so happy, im glad !!

bengals Thanks for opening the doors for us. Everyone had a blast !!

↳bengals Extra thanks to yourinstagram for showing us around 🧡 ↳yourinstagram It was an honor to get to know the team everyone was a delight, a day well spent !!! ↳joeyb_9 Thanks for the lesson on horseback riding !! ↳yourinstagram You were a natural 😉 ↳sam_hubbard_ Well.... let's not lie ↳yourinstagram He was a QUICK learner, maybe not a natural.... ↳joeyb_9 ??????? ↳yourinstagram sorry.... 🤭 ↳username2 this feels like flirting...🤨

username3 wait did they meet the cows and goats ? did everybody ride horses ?

↳cincyanimalsanctuary Yes ! Everybody got a chance to pet and feed all the animals and Y/n joined a few of the guys to teach them about riding horseback !!

username4 bro y/n does so many side quest

joeyb_9 it was a pleasure !! will definitely come back 👍

↳cincyanimalsanctuary The doors are always open !!

username5 y/n with an nfl player next 👀💭...

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yourinstagram

Liked by joeyb_9, devonleecarlson and 4,959,944 others

yourinstagram ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣ ❣

Comments on this post have been limited.

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TMZ

Liked by username1, username2 and 369,944 others

TMZ Supermodel and CEO Y/n L/n and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow seem to be serious ! The owner of Cincy Gym posted the two working out on the same day, only 2 months ago the two were spotted on a date and it appears the pair are still going strong.

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username1 YES !!! i was wondering if they were together

username2 i truly thought he has been in a relationship since college

↳username3 he was in a relationship from high school to college but she didn't wanna move back to ohio so they broke up

username4 qb in the gym 💪 LFG !!!

username5 this is so serious for me

username6 do we think she's going to games ???

↳username7 oh absolutely !!!! I CANT wait to see what she'll wear

username8 i have no one to talk to about this 😭

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yourinstagram

Liked by joeyb_9, paulmescal and 4,959,944 others

yourinstagram me and blu woke up to a house full of flowers !!

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username1 girl why is p*ul in the likes ?????

joeyb_9 Mhm wonder how that happened 🤔

↳yourinstagram no clue.... 🤭 ↳username2 honestly love how unbothered they are ↳username3 they do NOT care that paul is liking her post 😭 ↳username4 we love a secure relationship 💅

username5 he wants her back so bad but she's moved on.... im laughing 🤭

devonleecarlson my girlfriend is so gorgeous! ❤️

↳joeyb_9 ???? ↳yourinstagram what....? ☺ ↳yourinstagram love ya devon !!!! ❣ ↳username6 the ???? IS KILLING ME 😭

username7 getting the love she deserves IKTR ! ! !

username8 hey paulmescal you miss her now that she's with someone else ? 😂

liked by paulmescal ↳username8 BRO YOU ARE NOT SLICK ↳username9 not him liking then un-liking 😭 ↳username10 he's with gr*cie why is he here ??? ↳username11 gr*cie def thinks it's more serious then he does, with the way she's been talking about being in a relationship recently😭

username12 you are so beautiful y/n 💕

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joeyb_9

Liked by yourinstagram, sam_hubbard_ and 2,959,944 others

joeyb_9 Summer photo dump ! How did I do ?

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username1 soft launching y/n....

yourinstagram Solid 8/10 ☺

↳joeyb_9 I'll do better next time 🫡 ↳username2 wait why is this kinda.... 🫦

username3 Honestly a pretty good photo dump 🤷‍♀️

username4 little less joe and a little more y/n next time !! 😉👍

↳joeyb_9 I'll take this into consideration ✍ ↳username4 PLEASE ??? 😭☠ ↳username1 nevermind..... i guess it's a hard launch 😭

username5 y/n rating it a 8/10 when i feel like she helped him chose the pictures 😭

↳yourinstagram he had the final say i fear... ↳yourinstagram i insisted on the 3rd picture tho !! 😁

lahjay10_ We'll put some more work into the next photo dump 🤫

liked by joeyb_9

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TMZ

Liked by username1, username2 and 369,944 others

TMZ Actor Paul Mescal breaks his silence on split with Supermodel and CEO Y/n L/n, after Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and L/n confirmed their romance.

When Mescal was asked about how he was doing, he hesitated before saying "I've been better" "It's been the most successful year of my life professionally but I've felt like sh*t the whole time" "I have no-one to blame but myself, for making dumb mistakes which I'll regret for the rest of my life" "It sounds really dramatic but it's true, I knew how good I had it, I was the happiest I've ever been and I was afraid of that, and I ruined the best part of my life, but now i have to learn from that mistake and grow".

Since the split Y/n L/n has talked a bit about the relationship and when asked about Mescal's statement L/n stated "I know my worth and I'm truly happier then I've ever been, being surrounded by my family and one's that I love and one's that show me love everyday; I almost forgot what that felt like".

What do you think ?

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username1 BRO we do not feel bad for you paul 😭😭 YOU cheated ???

username2 where is the y/n and joe pic from ????

↳username3 a friend of theirs posted it, i think it was from a birthday party !!

username4 paul you almost got me then i remembered y/n said "I was also getting tired of all the lies, I felt a bit insane" y/n may forget and forgive but I don't 🤬

username5 i mean just by the pics she looks happier with joe 🤷‍♀️

username6 she almost FORGOT WHAT LOVE FELT LIKE ???? paul when i catch you 👊👊

username7 omfg he is NOT being quite about how much he regrets losing y/n 😭

↳username8 he want's her back BAD

username9 he should've kept his silence

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joeyb_9

Liked by yourinstagram, sam_hubbard_ and 2,959,944 others

joeyb_9 Play Everybody Here Wants You by Jeff Buckley & go buy Orebella !!

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username1 wait im gagged

username2 joe said f^ck paul and his statement

yourinstagram Love that song !! & i love you 😉❤

↳joeyb_9 Love you bby ❤😍 ↳username3 i bet she makes him giggle... ↳username4 ????? ↳username3 idk i just feel like she makes him kick his feet while giggling and blushing 😭 ↳lahjay10_ she does.... TRUST me ↳yourinstagram PLEASE ??? 😭☠ ↳lahjay10_ it's true ↳yourinstagram oh i know 🤭 ↳username5 STOP I LOVE THEM !!!

username6 joe won at life 😍

username7 PLAY EVRYBODY HERE WANTS YOU AFTER PAUL HAS BEEN LIKING HER POSTS ???? joe burrow you have moved me

username8 he really said that's MY girl

sam_hubbard_ 💪🤠

liked by joeyb_9

username9 "I know everybody here thinks he needs you, I'll be waiting right here just to show you, How our love will blow it all away" who knew joe was a lover boy ??

username10 finally a man that show's y/n off

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yourinstagram

Liked by joeyb_9, paulmescal and 5,859,844 others

yourinstagram Im still in shock over the turn out of our first day of orebella thank you everyone for your love and kind words; it means the world to me. I can’t thank my team at orebella , my family , friends and loved ones enough for the support, time, passion and love they put into me and the Orebella launch. Orebella is a dream come true, it feels unreal to think this is reality. Thank you to everyone involved. I couldn’t have done this without you🤍

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username1 take y/n's happiness double it and give it back to her 🫂

joeyb_9 Congratulations to you my girl, i love you !! I'm endlessly proud of you ❤

↳yourinstagram love you handsome ❤ ↳username2 oh i need a man so bad ↳username3 "my girl" 😭❤

arianagrande So well deserved !! Love you !!!!! 🤍

↳yourinstagram thank you sm ari !!! 💞

username4 need HIM out of the likes....

↳yourinstagram no need to stress about it, im happy !! ↳username5 mother taking the high road iktr !!

username6 the people's princess !! ❤👑

devonleecarlson so proud of u 😙❤

↳yourinstagram ❤ ty ty ty ❤

username7 happy y/n is the best y/n !!!

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yourinstagram

Liked by joeyb_9, devonleecarlson and 5,859,844 others

yourinstagram Summer is over, time for 🏈 szn !!

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username1 summer has been over for a minute im afraid...

↳yourinstagram i forgot to post these pictures 😩

username2 what's it like to always serve 💅 ??

joeyb_9 Ugh that food was so good

↳yourinstagram we'll have to go back 😉🤞 ↳joeyb_9 also your cute 😍 ↳yourinstagram says you...😘 ↳username3 CON😭😭 GRA😭😭TULA😭😭 TIONS ↳username3 that should be me with y/n 😔

username4 the last pic !! they look so cute 🥺

devonleecarlson PRETTY GIRL LOVE YOU !!!!!!

username5 YAYYY i hope i get to meet you at a game !!!

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yourinstagram story

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nfl

Liked by username1, username2 and 1,969,944 others

nfl Supermodel and CEO Y/n L/n has arrived at MetLife Stadium for week 3, the Cincinnati Bengals at New York Jets game.

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username1 who is she rooting for ?

↳username2 bengals, she's dating joe burrow

username3 who asked ?????

username4 they are 0-2 if the bengals win this game i need her at every game 🙏

bengals Our favorite cowgirl !! 🤠

username5 so joe has extra motivation to win ? im sold

username6 we don't gaf

username7 i'll admit she's a pretty girl

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yourinstagram

Liked by joeyb_9, devonleecarlson and 6,959,944 others

yourinstagram 🐅 27-12 !!

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joeyb_9 Prettiest lucky charm ⭐

↳yourinstagram 😚🫶 ↳username1 bros whipped ↳username2 ??? it's y/n if i were him i'd be more whipped then he seems

username1 her influence is crazyyyyy b/c why did i, who knows nothing about football watch this game??? anyways go Bengals !!

username2 MOTHER TO ALL !!!!

username5 IT WAS NICE TO MET YOU !!!!! AHHHHHH

↳yourinstagram Nice to meet you too !! I hope your studies go well ❣ ↳username4 you are so lucky !!!!! what was she like ?? ↳username5 she was so sweet !!! i gave her a few bracelets i made, her favorite was one with the number 9 😭❤

devonleecarlson You looked so pretty on my tv 🤭❤

↳yourinstagram You are too sweet 😘!!!!!

username6 Y/n at a game is a cause for celebration !!

username3 first win of the season and y/n is there ? we need you at every game PLEASE 🙏 !!!

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[shatteredfears-arch]

@canonfoddcr convinced me sb remind me to add m/orticia g/omez and w/ednesday (maybe fester) when my brain functions

[chaotic-toasters]

Gone

Cortnee Vine x Reader (taken from my Wattpad)

ANGST ANGST ANGST ANGST ANGST

-------------------------

"Y/N, you good?" Kyra's usual mischevious grin was gone, replaced with a look of concern that was quickly mirrored by Charli. "You seem out of it."

It took a moment for you to realize she was talking to you, eyes snapping up to meet hers. "Uh– yeah, yeah, I'm... I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" the Gunner's voice was soft as she placed a hand on your shoulder. "It's okay to not be okay."

"I'm sure," you insisted, shrugging her off. "You and Charli have fun."

You weren't fine. That much was clear to anybody with working eyes. You'd come down for meals, only to eat half of the amount you should have. You'd train, only to act like a robot who didn't know how to have fun. You spent hours cooped up in your room, only coming outside when Mini and Steph physically dragged you out. It was unhealthy, and everyone was starting to worry.

"Y/N?" Macca questioned, sitting down next to you. "What's going on with you?"

You glanced around briefly, taking note of all of your teammates gathered around the sofas.

"What is this? An intervention?" you joked dryly. "I'm just going through something small. I'll get over it soon, don't worry about it."

"Y/N, if you're going through something, you need to tell us," Sam chided. "We're—"

"We're a team, and a team is family, blah blah blah," you rolled your eyes. "I know. But I told you it's fine."

"It sounds stupid, but it's true," Mini crossed her arms. "So are you gonna tell us, or are you going to keep suffering alone?"

"I think I'll keep it to myself, thank you," you stood, patting your knees. "I'll see you guys later."

"Sit," Steph growled, forcing you back down. "Tony's already worried about you, but we've told him we'll handle it. Do you want us to get him involved?"

Your nostrils flared. "You wouldn't."

"We will if you don't open your fuckin' mouth and talk," the Defender glared. "You know I'll do it."

You were silent.

"Come on, Y/N, just tell us what's going on," Cortnee pleaded. "We're your friends."

Friends. Something you didn't want to be with the Sydney FC Winger. Since the first time you met her, and she'd smile shyly while offering you her hand to shake, you'd fallen for her. Hard. And it hurt. Because you knew she didn't feel the same. To make matters worse, she already had a girlfriend who she was happy with. Much happier than she'd be with you.

"Just... mind your own damn business," you retorted weakly, attempting to shake Steph off you. "I can handle my own problems."

"Your problems are our problems," Mini reminded you. "If something is bothering you, we're here to help."

"You and Steph," you nodded to the door. "No one else."

You stood first, leading your two mentors outside.

"Well?" Steph placed her hands know her hips.

"I like Cortnee," you blurted. "I— um..."

Mini raised her eyebrows. "Which one?"

"Uh... Vine."

"Okay. Continue."

"I've liked her for years," you swallowed. "But she doesn't like me like that. And she has a girlfriend. It's hard to— to see Cortnee when... when I know I'll never compare to her."

Steph and Mini shared a look.

"Come here, kiddo," Steph said gently, opening up her arms. "It'll be okay."

You slumped into her warm hug, crying softly into her shoulder. You didn't know if you should have been glad or upset that they didn't tell you to confess your feelings to Cortnee. That meant that your suspicions had been correct, and that she didn't feel the same, but that also mean your suspicions had been correct. A total catch-22.

"Why don't you take a nap, kiddo?" Steph whispered, caressing your forehead. "I'll be here when you wake up."

---------------------

"I'm not gonna lie to her, Sam," Steph's voice was quiet. "I can't give her false hope. It's not like she believes it, anyway. Cortnee sees her as a friend. Nothing more."

"I just feel bad," Sam mumbled. "Are you sure there's nothing we can do?"

"I'm sure," the Defender confirmed sadly. "If she tells Viney, then things'll probably be awkward for one of them or both of them. If she doesn't tell Viney, then she has to keep her true feelings bottled up for the rest of her international career."

"No, I don't," you said suddenly, startling the the two captains. "I have a way out. And as much as it hurts to take it, it'll hurt more if I don't."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked worriedly. "What do you mean?"

"I'm just as Dutch as I am Australian," you refused to meet both of their widening eyes. "I'm eligible to play for the Oranje Leeuwinnen Vrouwen."

"What?" Sam was dumbfounded. "But you can't... we're your family!"

"If you and Kristie both played for the same national team, but Kristie was in a relationship with someone else and didn't love you back, would you still want to play with that team?"

Her silence spoke volumes.

"It's been quite the ride," you stood, offering a faint smile to both Sam and Steph. "Thank you both. I don't know when my transfer will be approved, but... I can't see Cortnee anymore. It hurts. A lot."

Sam looked ready to protest, but Steph instantly wrapped you in a motherly hug. "I'm so proud of you. You're gonna do great things. Make sure you call me though, yeah?"

You swallowed. "Yeah. Could you—could you do me a favour?"

"Of course."

"Tell all the girls that—" you sucked in a breath. "Tell all the girls that I've loved every minute of this journey with them, and that it's none of their faults I'm leaving. Could you—could you tell them the truth? The whole truth? I would, but I can't be there to see Cort's reaction. It would kill me."

Sam nodded, a small, sympathetic smile on her face. "Good luck, Y/N. We'll be cheering you on, always."

-----------------------

"Thanks, Tony," you shook hands with the manager gratefully. "You've been great."

"You as well, Y/N," he stated kindly. "Just remember that you've always got family in this team. You can come to us if you've ever got a problem. The Matildas are behind you."

Your lip wobbled. "I'll see you around, boss."

"Have a good one, Y/N."

--------------------

"As of today, Y/N will no longer play for Australia," Steph's voice shook slightly. "She'll be transferring to the Netherlands for the foreseeable future."

The room was dead silent.

"What?" Ellie was the first to speak. "Wh—why?"

Sam lowered her head. "She fell in love."

"With who!?" Cortnee looked upset. "She doesn't even have any Dutch teammates!"

Mini shook her head. "She didn't fall in love with a Dutch player."

"Then who—" Cortnee's eyes widened. "She likes one of us? Who?"

That's when it clicked for everyone else. The longing glances, the overly kind gestures, the touches that lasted just a bit too long; you loved Cortnee, but she hadn't even realized you liked her in the first place.

"Oh, Viney..." Lydia grimaced. "Poor Y/N."

"What is it?" the Winger was clearly starting to get annoyed that everyone knew something she didn't. "Just tell me already!"

Steph, Mini, and Sam all shared a look.

"Cort, there's no easy way to say this, but—" Steph felt as though there was something caught in her throat. "Y/N loved you. But she knew that you didn't feel the same."

Cortnee's breath hitched in her throat. She was suddenly taken back to a night at one of last year's training camps.

"Hey, Viney?" you started, slipping your phone into your pocket. "Can I ask you somethin'?"

"Shoot."

"Are you happy in your current relationship?" your tone was innocent.

She smiled. "Yeah. Char's so sweet, how could I not be happy? I could totally imagine a future with her."

Something in your eyes had shattered. That much was clear to her now. But she'd been too preoccupied thinking about her girlfriend that it had slipped her mind.

"Oh, Y/N..." Cortnee's voice was barely above a whisper. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You deserve to be happy," her head snapped up at the sound of your raspy voice. "Who am I to take that away from you?"

"Y/N—"

"Thank you, girls, for my time here," you smiled weakly from the doorway, meeting each of your former teammates' eyes, though you struggled to meet Cortnee's. "It's been fun. I'm glad to have met all of you, to have shared the pitch with you, and most importantly, to become friends with all of you. I'll see you soon."

And just like that, you were gone.

[distantlaughter]

Exclusive Interview- Nico Rosberg

Originally published 23 January 2014 on transfermarkt.com (x)

Nico Rosberg has big plans for 2014. The Formula One pilot is desperate for a shot fighting for the Formula One championship and would love to become champion with Mercedes. "It is time for a proper clash" he says in an interview with Transfermarkt. But we spoke to the 28-year-old German mostly about his second love – football. Since he was a little boy Rosberg supports FC Bayern.

Transfermarkt: Why FC Bayern?

Nico Rosberg: Because Bayern were the first club I encountered. Again and again. When I was at my parents there was always football running – every Saturday. There you could see all clubs. But during the week, there was mostly Bayern. I learned to love them during the Champions League evenings – something happened between me and them.

Transfermarkt: And this "relationship" had it´s peak last May in London?

Nico Rosberg: No, unfortunately not. I couldn´t be there as I first had to win my home Formula One race (laughs). The Formula One is not very lenient in that respect. But in the driver´s paddock luckily football is a hot topic and everyone has his favourite club. Felipe Massa for example is also completely crazy about football and so are the English drivers. During the Chmpions League final we Germans obviously had the upper hand! I was extremely happy.

Transfermarkt: Your fondest football memory?

Nico Rosberg: Hmm…probably the summer of 1990. I was only just 5 but I still remember that we were in Sardinia at some friends' place. And our parents were totally taken by the World Cup fever. The final we watched on a boat everyone was edgy and I couldn´t really understand that at my age, but with the final whistle it was pure joy. And I just repaetedly jumped from the boat into the water because I was so happy. I think I even managed my first somersault – long before Miroslav Klose used his as a trademark (laughs)

Transfermarkt: Do you have a Bayern Shirt?

Nico Rosberg: Of course!

Transfermarkt: And what name is on the back?

Nico Rosberg: Via the national team I was able to meet some of the players and they visited us once at the Monaco race. Really great guys! So my problem is: If I had Müller on my kit it wouldn´t be fair towards Robben who I also really like – Or Schweinsteiger. No, I couldn´t decide for one.

Transfermarkt: But a shirt without a name is not cool!

Nico Rosberg: I do have a name on the back: Rosberg. That was the least problematic! (laughs) But seriously, the shirt was given to me by Philipp Lahm with signatures of all players and Rosberg was already printed on the back. I thought that was excellent.

Transfermarkt: Last match in the stadium?

Nico Rosberg: I manage that very seldom. Last time I was seen in the Allianz Arena was in the end of 2011 against Dortmund. Wasn´t so great, we lost 0:1 against Dortmund and the goal was scored by Götze – luckily he now plays for the right club (laughs)

Transfermarkt: At the best club in the world?

Nico Rosberg: Definitely. It is impressive what an extremely strong team has evolved. Now even with international flair through Guardiola. You don´t see a Bayern team as great as this one very often, and only many, many years ago.

Transfermarkt: Is that a motivation for Mercedes to become the best team of Formula One?

Nico Rosberg: That´s difficult to compare. We started building the team up basically from zero. But this phase is past us and it took long enough. It is time for a proper clash now, regarding the results.

Transfermarkt: Do you envy the "winner gene" of Bayern?

Nico Rosberg: No, I think it is about your very own motivation. This will to win every single time. And I can say about myself that I do have that. I am extremely ambitious. I want to solve every task and I am definitely not good at losing. Winning gives me enormous joy and makes me even more hungry for winning again. Whoever wants to get to that feeling needs to have the ambition to come first every time.

Transfermarkt: Are you comfortable with a ball yourself?

Nico Rosberg: Not great, but a little bit. Football has been my second favorite hobby. I played in a suburb of Monte Carlo in a club some years ago. Well, actually I only went to the training as I had cart races every Saturday. But as I said, I am not very talented. I think with racing I have chosen the right path. Funny really, that I was so much better at it. In the end both sports are about similar things. You need eye-foot-coordination for one and eye-hand-coordination for the other. Let´s just say: My foot is better for stepping on the gas then playing passes (laughs).

Transfermarkt: Is Formula One more likely to compare with football where the whole team is working with the star or with Tour de France, where the whole team is working for the star?

Nico Rosberg: Good question, easy answer: The team, the whole machinery is working for two drivers. We are the ones who have to convert the work that hundreds of colleagues have done for month and every day again in the end. And we the drivers drive for our team but also against each other. That is a very special situation. The tactics might change within a season. At some point we start driving together for the team. That is a whole different spirit. Like it was at the end of last season. We just wanted to beat Ferrari in the constructors ranking and come overall second. When we reached this goal it was an amazing feeling for everyone involved. From start to the end of a season the approach can change.

Transfermarkt: Back to Bayern. How many titles will it be this season?

Nico Rosberg: As good as we currently are we should basically win the lot. If in the right moment luck is on our side. Luck plays a big part as well of course.

Transfermarkt: There is a Bayern fan talking. What about the German national team?

Nico Rosberg: They have every chance of becoming World Champions in Rio. What a great goal to look forward to. Seriously, which team is really better than the German team? We have so many so good players. The chance is there, so I think it can happen!

Transfermarkt: But you will only have a chance of watching it on the TV, right?

Nico Rosberg: Yes, it looks that way. TV, live ticker and on the mobile. I seldom miss a match. Even in the engineer meetings I take a look at my mobile or internet-TV - in secret of course, nobody must know…

Transfermarkt: Be careful then. And thanks a lot for the interview.

[ouiouibaguettt]

Bluey and Red

Leah Williamson x Lola Hernandez (oc!)

@carinaswife hope that you like

warnings: no one

words: 1k

Masterlist

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Lola’s POV:

"I'm sorry" I managed to get out between sobs into Sam and Guro's arms. "I shouldn't have missed, I should have passed to one of you" I repeated.

We had lost to FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the second leg of the Champions Leagues semi-finals. We only needed one goal to equalize. A goal to still believe but I wasted the opportunity. I had the chance to shoot or pass but I missed.

"We don't blame you, you know that, even great players miss shots like yours, the only thing now is to work on them more and not give up, you're an exceptional player Lola, whether it's us or your nationale team, we're very lucky to have you" Guro said to me as he helped me to my feet and accompanied me towards the tunnel.

"Hernandez!" coming from an unknown voice behind. "Yes?", "Congratulations even if you didn't win you can be proud of the team, you can be proud of yourself really you were an incredible opponent" says the only Alexia Putellas. "Thank you, congratulations to you for the victory, and I hope you'll be back on the pitch soon" I said feeling sympathy for her, it had been 10 months since she had set foot on a pitch and I have the same at home.

"Do you want to swap shirts?" she asked. "Yeah sure" I said excitedly even though I was still bitter about the loss but who wouldn't dream of swapping shirts with Alexia Putellas. "Don't worry about your shot, I miss shots like that too, but if you believe in yourself and your body, you'll put them all in" she said, handing me her shirt. "Thank you, that means a lot coming from you" I said, handing her mine in return. "No problem" she smiled at me.

I made my way back to the dressing room with Alexia's shirt in my hands and immediately went to sit in my seat waiting for Emma's speech. When she had finished, I pulled out my phone to see a photo that Leah's mother had sent me.

Mamanda 🤍 The picture was Leah in my Chelsea shirt watching the game on our sofa. Amanda also said to me 'She's waiting for you at home for comfort. You'll come back better. x Amanda'

That message alone makes me feel good, and seeing Leah in a Chelsea shirt is amazing but seeing her in mine is even better, it almost makes me feel better. Speaking of her, she just sent me a message.

My red ❤️ 'I know you're disappointed in the game, and in yourself, but don't be, you led the team all the way, you were amazing in that semi-final, bluey. Know that I love you and I'm waiting for you at home, go home safe. x your red.'

The fact that even thousands of miles away she manages to give me back my confidence means a lot to me coming from her.

//

My red ❤️ 'I've just landed I can't wait to get you home. x your bluey.'

Putting my phone away in my pocket as I saw my suitcase arrive, I headed to pick it up and leave to join Lauren and her brother on their way home.

The drive from the airport to the house was long and quiet. Once I arrived I thanked the James brothers/sisters for the ride, and walked towards the front door which was open with Leah resting against the door frame, she was waving goodbye to Lauren when I reached her and I let go of my suitcase and hugged her.

"I missed you so much red, and I love you too" I said as I replied to her message from the night before. "I missed you too bluey. Come on let's go home before we catch a cold" she says guiding me to the bedroom so I can put my suitcase down and we can go sit on the couch and cuddle.

"I'm proud of you, you know that?" she said, resting her head on my chest and looking into my eyes. "I know red" I tell her. "So stop pulling your head up, you were the best player in the game, you missed your shot? So what? It's not a shot that's going to destroy your career" she says. "But I destroyed our hope of going to the final..." I said, breaking the eye contact. "No, it wasn't YOU who broke it, it was the whole team, do you hear me? So right now our plan is to rest, enjoy our time together and you're going to go and win your last few games even against Arsenal right?" she commanded me. "Yes I hear you captain" I said with a little smile.

//

Leah comforted me as best she could that night, so I had to return the favor. That's why I found myself in the Arsenal Stadium, wearing Leah's shirt, cheering for the Guners.

At the final whistle I managed to get down to comfort Leah, I knew that games like this were close to her heart, and I couldn't help but feel bad for her as she was injured just before the semi-final games.

"I'm sorry red, you should be proud of yourself and the girls, really, you were a great team all the way" I said. "Thank you bluey, I love you." she said with tears forming in her eyes. "I love you too, come on don't cry you'll come back much stronger, Chelsea have a lot to worry about next year" I tried to make her smile, which worked. "I'll wait for you at the car okay?" I said. "Okay, I'll be right there" she said, giving me a kiss on the cheek before joining her team in the locker room.

Once we got back from the stadium, we curled up in bed, exhausted from the crazy game we had seen. "Good night bluey" she said to me. "Good night red" I said, closing my eyes.

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I'm devastated that Arsenal lost tonight, they had a crazy season in the champions league despite the injuries, they deserved to go to the final, but congratulations to wolfsburg 😕

[masonmyluv]

Photographer 📸

Pedri Gonzales x reader

One shot

Fluff

"You're staring"

"Am not"

"Take a picture, it'll last longer"

That was kind of ironic coming from your co-worker giving the fact that you were a photographer for FC Barcelona and that was your job: taking pictures of the players. "Actually that's what I'm going to do" you said, snapping some in the mean time of a certain player that always caught your eye: Pedro Gonzales. He looked adorable with that red tint on his cheeks after the game, and his smile when his teammates congratulated him for the 100th game in Barça's t-shirt and the winning goal he scored.

After the game ended and Pedri received his t-shirt, your co-worker, Luigi, was asked to take some pictures in the changing rooms because some of the players were looking indecent. You rolled you eyes, but waited until almost everyone was out so you could sneak in. You hoped Pedri wasn't indecent, but that wouldn't have been a problem. "Y/N? What are you doing here?" He asked confused. "Came to take some pictures with the man of the match" you said. "But Luigi—". "Shush. Pose for me" you said. "Alright" Pedri chuckled. "Perfecto" you whispered. "tú eres perfecto, no yo (you are perfect, not me)" he said. "I mean it, Y/N. You're so good in everything you do and you're so talented" he said when you opened your mouth to object. "Thanks Pedri. I should go, but congrats for the goal" you said. "Gracias". "Can I give you a hug?" You asked. "Sure, but you don't have to ask" he laughed. And just like that, you gave your crush a tight hug that lasted for about 5 seconds, but it will last forever in your memory.

—

"Nice pictures" You slightly jumped at the sound of that voice, a voice that caused butterflies to erupt in your stomach. "Gracias Pedri" you smiled. "Hopefully they'll post them" he said. You didn't realise how close he was until now: he slightly bent his head over your shoulder to take a better look at your laptop, his breath fanning over your neck. "That's PR. I'm just a simple photographer" you sighed. "The best photographer" he corrected. "¿Que esta pasando ahí? (What's happening here?" Pablo asked. "Pedro tratando de conseguir su amor para ser su novia (Pedro trying to get his crush to be his girlfriend)" Ansu answered. You looked a bit confused when Pedri told them to fuck off. "Sorry about that" he chuckled nervously. "It's okay... I need to finish editing these photos anyway" you said, closing your laptop and hurrying down the hall to your office. "Y/N... wait" he yelled, catching up with you. "Do you want to... maybe... watch a movie? Together?" He asked. "Are you asking me out, Pedro Gonzales?" You asked blushing. "It's just my cinema room. I don't really like cinemas" he said. "Then yes. Just text me your address" you said.

—

"Oh wow I..."

"Do I look that bad?" You asked.

"Not at all. It's just weird to not see you in Barça clothes" he said. "Oh wait till you see me at the gala" you laughed. "You're going to be there?" He asked. "Yep. Probably in a dress" you said. "No puedo esperar a verte (I can't wait to see you)" he mumbled. "Sorry?". "Third room on the left" he cleared his throat. "I'll bring snacks for us" he said. "Can I help you?". "No, it's fine. Feel like home" he smiled.

That was kinda ironic given the fact that his house was 10 times your apartment, but you didn't care about that now. You were too close to Pedri to even think about something straight. You sometimes looked at him, he was so fucking handsome, his brown eyes and his plump lips. "Hey... you okay?" He asked, his thumb brushing your cheek. "You drifted off" he clarified when you looked at him confused. "I think I'm tired. I should go" you said. "It's late. Why don't you stay here? I have a lot of spare bedrooms. And I can drive you to work in the morning" he suggested. "I don't know...". "Please?" He gave you the puppy eyes. "Okay... but tomorrow we have to stop at mine to get my camera" you said. "Of course" he said.

—

"You spent the night at Pedro's???" Luigi yelled shocked. "Shhhh!!! Yeah I did. We were having a movie night and it got too late to go home. So I stayed" you explained. "Did you two you know" he wiggled his eyebrows. "No, Luigi, we didn't. I stayed in one of his guest rooms and we met in the morning. Then he bought me a coffee on the way here" you said. "Awww". "And he asked the barista to draw some hearts on my cup" you blushed. "Oh my god! He likes you too!" He said. "Too? Who said I like him?" You asked. "It's clear you do. And you're gonna convinced yourself at the gala next month" he said.

—

"Oh wow..."

"cloae su boca. Usted podría babear (close your mouth, you might drool)" Gavi said just in time because you were making your way to the two boys in your red dress. "Hey guys! Ready for the big night?" You asked. "Claro" Gavi flexed his biceps. "And you, Pedri?". "I'm...good... yeah bueno" he shuttered. "Well, I'll see you around" you said. "dile que se ve hermosa (tell her she's beautiful)" Gavi whispered to his friend. "Y/n, you look beautiful" Pedri said. "Thanks. You look good too. Both of you" you said blushing. "ella se sonrojó (she blushed)" Gavi said. "estás viendo estrellas (you're seeing starts, Pablo)" Pedri argued with him. "Shush you two" Ferran said as the ceremony was about to start.

"And the prize for the best photo of the season... first let's see it"

"And the best photographer, all go to Y/N Y/l/n". Everyone started applauding as Luigi helped you on the stage. You claimed your award and luckily didn't have to say anything because you surely couldn't do it.

After the gala ended, it was a little after party, so you all went there. "May I have a dance with the winner?" Pedri asked, snapping you out of your daydreaming. "Sure. There you go" Luigi shoved you into him. "Congrats. I told you you're the best photographer" he smiled down at you. "I wouldn't have won it if it weren't for the person I photographed in the first place" you said. "Now, don't tell me you won because of me" he laughed. "No, but your charm helped" you shrugged. "You think I'm charming?" He smirked. "Umm... yeah" you blushed looking down at your shoes. "Y/n... I really like you" he whispered. "More than a friend" he added quickly. "Pedro—". "No, it's okay, it's your perfect night and I ruined it" he panicked. "Pedro, just listen to me" you chuckled, cupping his face into your hands. "I really like you too...and you could make this the best night of my life if you would just kiss me". He blinked twice before he registered what you just said. So, with your permission, he pressed his lips softly to yours, wrapping his arms around you in the meantime. "Te quiero, Y/n" he whispered.

"Finally!"

"Took you long enough" His teammates patted his back. "Now I won't have to listen to him saying how beautiful you look every day" Pablo whispered to you. "We were dancing here" Pedri said. "Mhm. More like making out" Pablo said. You blushed, hiding your face into Pedri's chest as he swung your bodies to the music.

Hope you like it ❤️

Feedback is always appreciated ☺️

[deathsconsort]

respond to the following prompts out of character, then tag others you'd like to get to know a little bit better.

roleplayer name: bri

roleplayer pronouns: she / her 

muse name: the cuntress herself, nesta archeron 

preferred communication: tumblr dm’s and discord, but i reply faster over tumblr tbh

experience: rp wise somewhere around 2009-2010. when it comes to writing in general i was very young like 6 or 7 writing short stories and rewriting fairytales to make them the way i wanted to lmao 

preferred roleplay type: multi para length, i like to yap 

pet peeves & dealbreakers: i have quite a bit tbh, which i think a lot of us do when we’ve been around for so long. but my biggest one is copying, whether it’s copying me or my friends and then thinking no one will notice. whether it’s the writing, ideas ( such as hcs and verses ), hell even when it comes to fcs and setting up how a blog looks. i think if you lack originality then maybe this hobby isn’t for you. there’s also this, imo, weird stigma that drawing attention to instances like this is considered drama when it’s not. yeah, it’s rp but people stealing your ideas isn’t right and i wish people would stop watering it down to petty rp drama. i’m going to add this second thing about the ac/otar fandom specifically. if you’re someone who hates on any of the sisters, say mean/negative things about them, and/or complain about the people who like a sister that isn’t your favorite then i don’t want to see you on my dash. it says a lot about you as a person when you say things like that. i’ve blocked people before for it and i will continue to do so. when someone follows me i will scroll through their blog to make sure they don’t act like that before following them because of how many times it has happened. i can’t tell you the amount of times i’ve had people follow me first and then make nasty posts about nesta. i don’t even know what they’re trying to get at when they do weird things like that. but for a fandom that is predominantly women, the misogyny is appalling. i don’t want to deal with people who will shit on the sisters, but will love and treat the men of that series as if they’ve never done anything wrong. 

plots or memes: memes!! i always find it easier to plot once we already have s/t going and i have a feel for how someone portrays their characters. it makes the ideas pop in my head easier than they would starting with no writing at all. and tbh i also do enjoy winging things. 

best time to write: late at night, it’s when i have the most energy and creativity. there’s also nothing around to distract me. 

are you like your muse: extremely. it’s why i get v passionate and protective over her??? the trauma, grief, depression, ptsd, the sister dynamic, her personality, and how she was raised are eerily similar. it’s why i connect with her so deeply and is a character that has helped me through some really rough times. i have two sisters as well and we all have our own problems/struggles with each other and it’s why the dynamic between the sisters is really important to me. i also think that’s why i sometimes see things differently than a good chunk of the fandom does.

tagged by: @stareternyl and @firehcart

tagging: @yourgraves @sparelove @valkyrd @siphonedshadow and anyone else who wants to!!

[jsprnt]

Healing Hearts PT.9 | Virgil van Dijk

Would a fresh start bring you more than just a new job?

A/N: Hi loves! Sorry for the late post. I’ve been studying for exams I have this week and the next week and it’s been insanely time consuming. That’s also why I’m choosing to take a two week break from writing, I hope you guys will understand. Don’t worry, I promise I’ll be back with a banger. For now, enjoy this chapter <3

WC: 4.326

Summary: Y/N L/N is a very skilled and praised physiotherapist. A certain event pushing her for a fresh start, as a physiotherapist for Liverpool FC. One question always being in the back of her mind: Will she be able to let go of her past and allow herself to experience new things?

I let go of the steering wheel as I arrive at the terminal, half slumping over it due to how tired I am. Rubbing my eyes lightly to not smudge my mascara, even though I knew that the moment I sat down in the plane I would be out cold and my make up would be smeared. Thankfully, I could use all my energy on driving carefully and properly.

I groan, cursing the scheduling staff for planning a flight with the team at seven in the morning. The match against LASK would take place tomorrow evening, so why the rush?

I grab my small suitcase filled with all the essentials I would need over the course of the next two days. I throw my handbag over my shoulder, actively trying to avoid the September sun, beaming into my tired eyes while locking my car.

I turn around walking towards the small private plane terminal. The wind had picked up since I left my home, making me feel like my suitcase weighed a million pounds. I place my hand above my eyes, looking down at the floor as I continue walking.

"Lookin' tired doctor."

I turn around abruptly, eyes meeting a cheery Robbo.

"Hm slept way too little." I respond, zero energy in my voice. He walks up next to me, a comforting smile on his face while he pats my shoulder.

"Sleep on the plane. Four hours should be good enough doctor."

"That was exactly my plan." I mumble a small smile cracking on my face, continuing to walk beside him. Pulling my suitcase behind me.

It had been about a week since the guys had come back from international duty. The away game against Wolves last Saturday was an amazing way to start again, with a 3-1 for Liverpool.

I had totally been busy with injuries lately, working on the recoveries and planning that came with them. Ibou could start tomorrows game thankfully. I still had to work with Trent on his injury, but I had full faith in his recovery.

Things between me and Virgil had been- normal. He'd joined the team on the away game, showing support to the guys even when he was suspended.

Thinking about that £100.000 fine he had received had me sweating just at the thought of having to pay. Expensive things and prices weren't that foreign to me, but having to spend that amount on a fine had me shocked. I had teased him about it, telling him he could abstain from buying a new super car that week. He had given me an annoyed look, as he continued to run faster on the treadmill during one of our appointments. I had never laughed at him that hard before.

He had brought up our conversation in his car after the appointment, urging me to not keep problems to myself again. I had waved him off with a smile, telling him I'd be fine. Truly, I hadn't lied. Everything had been going fine so far, no calls and no messages from him. I had just been living my life as normal as possible.

The week without Virgil had been a busy one, me being fully engrossed with work and everything. Both the paperwork and recovery of Trent and Ibou consuming most of my time.

The messages from Virgil were the only thing keeping me sane as I worked from morning to the evening. I couldn't lie, going to bed after reading a sweet goodnight message was something I really missed experiencing. That week had blessed me with the best sleep I'd ever gotten since I had moved to Liverpool.

We walk into the terminal, seeing all the familiar faces making me realize I had to actually socialize, instead of trying to sleep standing upright. We both walk through security quickly, being done within a couple minutes.

"I'm sitting." I mumble quickly to Robbo. I greet the people I walk past curtly, making my way over to the lounge, walking up to the very comfy looking seat.

I plop down, head down as I lean back into the chair. My handbag placed, on my lap. I close my eyes, sighing to my self at the peaceful feeling. Though sadly, that peace is broken by a hand tapping my arm lightly. I open my eyes, ready to yell at the person, but my mood changes as I am greeted by a hand holding out a warm cup of coffee. My eyes trail up the arm of the person, tired eyes meeting with Virgil's.

"Oh it's you." I mumble, squinting slightly due to the sun beaming through the glass panels. "Yes it's me. Disappointed?" He replies, a small smile on his lips.

"Very disappointed." I tease my voice tired, arms folded on my chest as I shake my head at him. He raises a brow, clicking his tongue before pulling the cup of coffee away from me.

"See, I saw you that looked tired and got you some coffee, but since you're disappointed by seeing me-" I chuckle at him, extending my hand to grab the cup of hot brown liquid. "I'm kidding, of course I'm happy to see you." I tease, taking a sip of the coffee. He sighs, looking at me with an annoyed but amused look.

He takes a seat beside me, as I sip on the coffee. The caffeine is either going to keep me up or give me the worse headache known to mankind in the next hour. I slump back in my chair, feet off the ground as I sway them a little.

"Why are you acting like you barely slept?" He asks, leaning closer. I lift my arm, putting it above my eyes in a comforting way. "Cause I barely slept like five hours." I mumble, a soft huff leaving my lips.

"Why? You were off pretty early yesterday."

"You'll either call me an idiot or laugh." I sigh before continuing. "I woke up in the middle of the night after dreaming- well having a nightmare about losing my passport." I explain, arm still placed on my head. "So- I woke up panicking. I immediately started looking for my actual passport and couldn't find it. Which lead me to turn my entire apartment upside down and a panic attack until I realized I had placed it into my handbag." I pull my passport out of my handbag, waving it at him. He doesn't spare a second before he's laughing as loud as he can, way too loud this early in the morning.

"You're serious?"

"Dead serious." I grumble, a little embarrassed at the attention he's drawing. "Stop laughing- you're making my head hurt." I mumble.

He clears his throat before turning to me again. I lift my arm and look at him, seeing the most beautiful smile on his face. My eyes travel down to his tatted arms, getting practically lost in the pretty designs.

He opens his mouth to say something, but he's stopped by the announcement of us being allowed to board. I groan, squeezing my eyes fully shut for a moment before standing up along with Virgil. He pulls his training fleece on, following me out.

The overly tired girl stands up, grabbing her handbag as Virgil walks alongside her. He observes her slumped and tired looking frame, feeling a slight thump in his heart. He didn't like seeing her mood so down.

He reaches out to her and grabs her handbag, her head moving to the side and up to look at what he's doing. His hand now clinging onto her handbag.

"Let me hold it- looks heavy." He mumbles, his hand coming to rest in between her shoulder blades in a comforting manner. She doesn't react, exhausted and slightly slumped forward as she practically lets him guide her towards the plane.

Both are unaware of the gossiping and teasing looks exchanged in between the other Liverpool players.

The cold winds blow past them, making them slow their pace significantly before stepping into the plane and taking their seat, next to each other. She slides into the window seat, head already slumped against the soft cushion of the luxurious seat. He sits down after putting his belongings up, her handbag placed on the small table-like space in between their seats.

They take off a while later, but Virgil taps her shoulder, taking her out of her tired trance.

"Hm? What's wrong?" She asks, turning slightly to face him. "Here, drink this and go to sleep." He says, handing her a bottle of water. She raises a brow, grabbing the bottle and taking a few gulps.

"I don't know if I want to sleep now." She mumbles, standing up to remove her phone from her back pocket. "Why? You still look tired."

"Yeah but-" she begins looking into his brown eyes. "Do we have wet wipes on the plane?" He looks at her confused, wondering why she'd need them. "I'll be back." she says. Walking away as he's looking back at her confused.

She walks back not even a minute later, wet wipes in her hand as she sinks back into her seat. She starts wiping off the make up that was quickly applied that morning.

"You're wiping your make up off to go to sleep?" He asks, looking at her intently. "Yeah, these white seats won't look pretty nor will my face." She jokes, running the wipe along her cheeks. Carefully removing the last of her eye make up before turning to him. "Can you look if all the mascara is gone?" She asks, moving her face close, so he can see.

Virgil stares at her, taking in the beauty of her bare face, realizing he'd never seen her without make up before, this time she was fully bare faced. "The make up? Yes, I think it's all gone." He replies, a breathlessness in his normally deep voice.

She smiles, moving back to sit in her seat comfortably. "Thank you for checking." She discards the used wipes. She can feel her head staring to hurt and places her head back on the soft cushion, a yawn leaving her lips as her eyes become droopy, her exhaustion taking over and pulling her into a slumber. Soft snores making it obvious she was in need of a nap.

The athlete notices the snores, chuckling at the physio sleeping peacefully next him. Staring at her for a moment, tracing her beautiful features with his eyes.

He notices her shiver, and tugs his training fleece off, leaving him in his T-shirt and draping it on her sleeping figure.

He notices his teammates loud banter from across the aisle, hearing them joke loudly brings a smile to his face. He glances back at y/n, noticing her stirring, half awake. He reaches out, placing a hand on her arm and trying to calm her down.

"It's just the guys, go back to sleep hm?" He whispers tenderly, and her eyes close again. He watches her fall back into a slumber, and returns to watching his show he had selected earlier. He'd send a glare to the younger guys when they'd get too rowdy, telling them to calm down just incase they'd wake their physio up. Glancing at her sometimes to check on her.

A quiet "Sorry Virg" sent to him after he would glare. Virgil unaware of the fact that his teammates were gossiping about their way too obvious captain. Making up stories and betting on ways he'd finally confess to their beloved physio.

I open my eyes, squinting at the sunlight beaming through the window, noticing a jacket on my lap. I fix some of my hair and look at Virgil who looks totally invested into the show he's watching. I look at his bare arms and realize he must've placed his jacket on me while I was asleep. Making me feel warm at the thought. I reach over to nudge him, he turns his head immediately, removing his earphones.

"Oh you're awake."

"How long did I sleep?" I ask him, rubbing my eyes. He checks the time on his screen. "About two hours."

"Really? I was out for two hours?" I gasp.

"Yeah, I just let you sleep because you looked so peaceful." He says, staring at my slightly disheveled form. I can feel my face flush, so I decide stand up, grabbing my handbag and telling him I'll freshen up. I walk past him, sighing to myself as I walk down the aisle to the toilet.

I stare at myself in the mirror, thankfully I didn't look that bad, though my eyes were definitely puffy. I wash my face and fix my appearance a little, pulling down the soft white top I'm wearing since it had ridden up a little while asleep.

I walk back into my seat, plopping down and staring at the screen Virgil was watching, he notices, taking out one of his earphones and handing it to me with no words exchanged. I smile at him, accepting it as we continue to watch the show together.

I watch as the guys train, the sun had gone down a while ago in Linz, the sky pitch black with stars twinkling as I look up to admire them. The beauty of the sky in an open field was incomparable to the view of it in the big city, but both were amazing to look at.

I had been to Austria before, not necessarily stayed but visited it during a road trip me and my family went on when I was younger. We had traveled all around Europe for about three weeks. My parents had taken much-needed time off and decided traveling and seeing as many places as possible was the way to go.

I snap out of my thoughts at the sound of a whistle, realizing training had finally ended for the day. I tug my jacket on, chuckling at myself for being cold while all the players were drenched in sweat due to training. I watch as I see some of the players sit down on the chairs on the side of the pitch, and walk over to hand them some water.

"How are you even cold?" I hear Ibou yell, visibly tired. I laugh at him, handing him a bottle.

"Because I didn't go running throughout the entire field like you guys." I retort. "Besides I have low iron." I say, zipping up my jacket, hearing some players laugh. "Low iron yeah?" I hear Virgil say, smirking. "What? Can you let me live?" I say, hands on my hips while looking at him offended.

Our conversation- well bickering is interrupted as I turn my head to look at Dr. Woods, who's calling out to me, talking to me about the condition of some players.

Since Dr. Davis couldn't be here I would have to step in for him. This also meant I could join Dr. Woods on the bench as physiotherapist, making me feel super excited for tomorrows game. Finally, my bench debut would happen!

We arrive back at the fancy hotel, our luggage already brought up to our rooms. I was told I could take Dr. Davis'. So, I had my own private room I didn't have to share with any other female staff member, making me long for the comfortable silence and the big soft bed.

I walk along with some players, listening to them chat amongst each other. I reach into my jacket pocket, grabbing the chocolate snack I had stuffed into it, just in case. I had been craving sweets lately, undoubtedly an early sign of my period. I unwrap it, taking a bite before realizing I'm being watched by someone.

"What? I can't have low iron and a snack?" I ask Virgil. My eyebrows raised defensively as I take another bite, shaking my head at his judging expression. He raises his hands, jokingly surrendering with a smile on his face. "I didn't say a word."

"You've been on the doctors case a lot captain, give it a rest." I hear Robbo say as he puts his arm around my shoulders. I smile at him, as he tries defending me. "I know right he's being so rude." I say, as I start fake crying and Robbo laughings. I glance back at Virgil, seeing his expression drop for a moment, something flickering in his eyes.

"You've been teaming up with my teammates! What is this, no support for your captain at all!" He points to Robbo, but other players around us laugh, knowing they've joined me with teasing him. "Sorry lad, the doctor is the one helping me recover after I get injured. I don't want to be on her bad side." I smirk at him, holding back a laugh as we walk into the hotel.

I tell the guys goodnight as I get off the elevator on the level my room is. Walking into the hotel room, immediately walking over to check the view. The shining city lights making me admire them for a second before jumping into the shower.

I walk back out of the shower, bathrobe on as I plop onto the bed. Picking up my phone from the nightstand, realizing my friends had been ringing it. I press onto the missed call, their faces coming into view as I lift the phone closer to my face.

"Finally, miss sports physio called us back." I hear Monet say. I roll my eyes at her, leaning back and throwing my self fully onto the bed. "I was in the shower." I say, voice tired. "How was the flight?" Priya says. "Fine, I took a nap." I reply, running a hand on my face.

"You guys, she called me at two in the morning! Thinking she lost her passport, panicking for I think an hour, before realizing she put it in her handbag!" Jul shouts complaining about my late night call to her. I hear the others chuckle.

"Stop, it's not funny! I really thought I was fucked this time!" I whine. "You really need to stop overthinking, girl you used to always do that back in uni." Liz replies sternly. I groan at the tone in her voice, a scolding from her was always imminent.

I talk to them some more, before hanging up as I had to go to bed. I yawn, grabbing my suitcase and choosing my sleepwear. Changing as fast as possible and getting ready to finally rest properly.

I cheer as the referee whistles, clapping at the team's performance during the game. Liverpool had won 3-1 and I couldn't be prouder since they were on top of their table. The match was full of exciting moments like, Ryan's first assist for Liverpool and most importantly the final win. Not to mention, my first time being actively working on the pitch during a Liverpool match.

We walk back into the team bus, everyone tired but in a good mood. I pull out my phone, checking my notifications before clicking on the highlights of my childhood football club, who also had a match, the same time as us.

Despite only getting interested into football in my late teenage years, my dad always made it a point to teach me to love his childhood club. It was a generational tradition at this point. Since my dad is part Turkish, and was raised by my Turkish grandfather, he had to support the same Turkish football club: Fenerbahçe. It was one of the things that bonded me and my dad, at least a little.

"What are you watching? Highlights of what game?" I pause the video turning to Virgil. "My childhood club." I reply. "Fenerbahçe? Right you're part Turkish." He remembers, and I nod. "Think Galatasaray is better to be honest." He blurts, and glare at him. He really had to say that he liked my clubs biggest rivals in their league?

"Stop right now, I swear I'll never treat you again." I threaten, offended. "You're a little too fanatic- Okay I'll stop." He surrenders, a smirk on his face. I sigh, and return back to watch the video. "Oh they won, are you happy doctor?" He interrupts, again. "Yeah, my dad is so happy." I laugh, showing him the rare message my dad had sent in our family group chat.

I glance back at him, noticing him staring at me instead of the phone screen. I see him look away quickly, mumbling something about football making everyone happy. I can feel butterflies in my stomach, but I try to shrug it off, returning to finish watching the video. This time paying half the attention with my thoughts somewhere else.

We feel the bus park a while later, and we all walk out and go up to our hotel rooms. I wave everyone off, getting into my room, not feeling very tired, but remembering we had to get up at nine thirty this time, to get back to Liverpool.

I hear my phone ping as I'm watching TV on the couch, snacking on some candy and chocolate I had gotten this morning. I check my phone, seeing that Virgil had texted.

"Are you up y/n?"

I immediately feel butterflies in my stomach. What's with late text?

"Yeah, I'm up." I text, snapping a picture of the snacks on the table. "Craved some candy and a good movie."

He sends a funny sticker, also snapping back a video of him laying in his bed, might I add, shirtless. He pans the camera to show his own empty room, hearing his TV blare in the background. "Ohh so captain gets his own room?" I text, teasing him.

I smile to myself. If anyone else was in this room, they probably think I looked like a giddy teenage girl, texting her crush.

"What room are you in?" He replies, and my heart stops for a second. Why does he want to know that? Does he want to come here? I mentally panic before, getting it together and telling him what number.

"311 why?" I ask.

"You'll see." He replies, and I shoot up from my position. Is he actually coming to my room? At almost ten o'clock? I neglect texting back, running to my bathroom, fixing my hair and putting on some sweatpants underneath my oversized shirt. I take my time, just in time for a knock on the door.

I calmly walk up to the door, placing my head against the door to check through the peephole.

It's hotel staff?

I open the door carefully, sticking my head out of the opening. "Hello miss! Your room service." I stare at him for a second, tilting my head before it clicks. Virgil wasn't coming over to my room.

No, he'd ordered room service for me?

I open the door wider, allowing the man to bring in the food, he leaves shortly after and I close the door behind him.

I grab my phone off the couch, walking up to the food that was ordered for me. Two charcuterie boards; one consisting of all sorts of fruit and the another one full off savory snacks.

This was the sweetest thing someone had done for me in a long time, it making me a little emotional. Tears well up in my eyes at the thought. I couldn't tell if it was my hormonal cycle changing or it was due to the fact that I genuinely was so touched.

My phone pings with Virgil sending messages.

"Did you receive it?" He asks. "I thought this would be better than eating unhealthy snacks."

I feel a single tear drop down my cheek, replying with a picture of my crying face. "Wait, why are you crying? Do you do not like it?" He texts and I feel more tears fall down.

"No, it's so sweet that you thought of doing this." I reply, wiping away the tears on my cheek.

"Come on anyone would think of doing that." He says, and I laugh to myself. He was either way too oblivious or trying to be humble.

"No, seriously. You're so sweet, thank you." I reply, along with a sticker of a cute kitten. He sends a sticker back, before telling me to enjoy the snacks along with the movie.

I suddenly get an idea.

"Do you want to come over? I mean I couldn't finish all this by myself.” I ask, a little nerve wracked, fidgeting with my necklace.

"Are you sure? It's late, and we have to be up early." He replies.

"It's fine come down!" I text back, before dropping my phone on my bed and running to pull on some more appropriate lounge wear, this time knowing he'd come over for sure.

My phone pings a couple minutes later and I open the message. "I'm at your door." I read, before hearing a knock.

"I'm coming." I say, a little quieter too not wake up everyone on my floor. I swing my door open, revealing a very relaxed looking Virgil, in gray sweats and a black T-shirt. The dream combo, I hold back a laugh.

I notice how good his hair looked, his waves done neatly. Did this man just take his durag off or? His hair always looked freshly done, no matter what.

"Hey." He mutters. A pretty smile on his face.

"Hi." I whisper back, returning the smile as my dimples show. I step aside, making way for him to enter my room, and closing the door behind him.

[cxncordia]

Can I be real at 1 am in the dash?

Since I have started RPing I have discovered things in me as I played. First I discovered bleeding when I felt excited and angry and horny all through my characters. I had a rough time trying to distinguish what I was feeling. Lucky for me, at that time, I had read about different video-game theories and how they worked in media and how normally we overlay our own personality on the characters we play, so that helped me navigate a lot of things here.

Then I started doing table top rping where I realized that the engagement there is way different and much deeper than I could ever do through writing. I made literate RP (as they call it) my second home while I focused completely in table top rping. I have a whole universe spawning from the beginning of the time to beyond the end of times and it keeps on growing. All of the chronicles I've ran for the past four years are set on that universe and events that my friends have done in tables set in 2020 still have repercussions to this day.

While playing, I also have noticed that the bleeding of TTRPGs is probably WAY BIGGER than the bleeding I get from LitRP. While I write a lot of horny characters, I rarely touch myself to the things I write and it takes a while for me to get really invested in a thread this way. Unless it includes a FC that I have a massive crush on, I will engage the idea but in a very detached way. My apologies if this makes anyone who is reading this feel bad, but in all honesty, it just doesn't cut it like a table top session does it.

Now, why am I bringing this upfront?

Well, one of the things I have noticed, in both platforms, is that characters tend to be the epitome of beauty. And I get it, who wants to look bad when playing, am I right? We are, at the end, visual creatures who wish to portray our power fantasy and that comes with a free cosmetic surgery and a beautiful faceclaim. It's very rare to run into RPers who are not into their FC's and even rarer, RPers who are in it for the experience and not the aesthetics of it. Not that there's anything wrong with it, you do you, but certainly the tendency is to think that all characters are meant to be beautiful.

And that's the crux of my problem: so, if a main character needs to be beautiful to be performing as a main character, where does that leave me and my big ol' disforia?

I have been thinking about that for the past year. Well, in all honesty, I've been thinking about that since 2020, when a player at my table pointed that all the NPCs were good looking and fuckable. It made it very difficult for them to focus on the story because he wanted to seduce and convince all of the NPCs that looked good. I used that point to get away with a lot of things, usually with characters lying out right to my players' face in game and getting a pass because oh, they are hot!

This is why I have made more of an effort to include women in my tables and specially, people from very different cultures than my own as well as people that are above 30 years old. I am doing somewhat okay, but if I have to admit something is that I am not doing in the body diversity department. Most of the characters are either white or lighter skin, most of them are able bodied and rarely do I present "ugly" characters, unless required by their characterization (like Nosferatu and Tzimische).

So, where does that leave me and my 130kg weight? Am I allowed to sit in the Nosferatu table or not? Do I want to sit there either way?

And while I have been working to try and act on it, to put more people of brown skin and overweight as protagonists and main characters to my tables, I find it very difficult. Specially when I spend so much time at LitRP that depends heavily on visual cues, gifs, icons and you-name-it with actors that have to be either white, able-bodied, within the masculine hegemony and above all, fit to the t.

Again, where does that leave me and my 130 kg weight?

This is the reason why the last table I joined as a character, I asked my friend who kindly ST'ed for us, to let me use an overweight character. I wanted to create a Toreador, a clan associated with beauty, with an overweight and brown-skin character who looks like me. It's not fair that only straight men get their power fantasy on Werewolf: The apocalypse and the slim goths get theirs on Vampire: The Masquerade. I wanted to be part of the conversation too, thus I created Aristeo Alderete. I wanted to be front and center.

Aristeo, serving Toreador realness.

That said, the experience with that character was short lived. I could not construct much with him, although I really wished it, and many ideas were left out. This was not the first time I tried it: last year I also joined another table where I tried to use a character who looked like that, but I ended up leaving the table because it lacked the manners I like and I felt excluded from the get go.

Which has led me to believe that, well, I could bring him to here. Like I do with almost all the characters here who, at one point, were either my TTRPG characters or NPCs on tables I ST-ed.

But I know the impossible, regressive, hegemonic, racist and very blatantly evident standards of RP players here.

My most requested character is Rich, who fits the traditional masc representation to a T: tall, blonde, muscular, able bodied and with blue eyes. Then after him is Alden, Allen, Xandros, Alejo, Dio and Addison. I do not mind because they all cover different fantasies that I have with men like him. But Amir, Antonio, Arron, Anton, Ignacio and Arden along with Adan rarely get asked by other players. It's me who have to prop them up front and mention just how their background could fit others.

And listen, this is not to call attention to me not getting threads. I am happy and content with what I have and I have all the threads I require at this point. And yes, maybe it's a thing that I need to invest more time in: pushing my POC characters to the front. With that said, I want to ask you: how many overweight characters have you seen in your tumblr RP life? how many of them have had sex scenes or fulfilling threads that give you the feels?

I'm not gonna go around changing people's perspective on FC and what they use, you do you and all that. But on my end, I want to stop hating my body. I want to stop hating myself. I want to start enjoying the only body I will get in this life (unless the Technocratic Union decides to finally release the method for all of us to become disembodied sentient beings but I don't think the Timetable is ready for it.).

And more importantly I want to be part of the conversation.

I want to feel like I matter, despite of how I look.

[unknowybruh]

DUBBOX! he/him 19 y.o appears on disco party floor exits on SharkCo Mall a dubstep-headed dude who loves music and is a professional DJ! dubbox can speak any language expect korean because of the north korean goverment has a sibling named 'boomy' his audio-files can spawn anything! (example: piano.mp3 spawns a piano) he has a fear of heights interactions: entering the elevator. "H3LLO EVER#YONE!" "N1CE TO SEE U!" "DISCO NEVER DIES!" spray water, snowball: "GSH! C0LD!" "HEY! N0T COOL.." "AGHR#AHS!" tomato: "N0M" petals: "F0R ME? THANK U!" "I NEV3R GOT T#HESE.." "PETALS PET4LS! HOW CUTE OF Y@U!" full elevator: "OUH." "N0T TOD#AY" "0UT OF O#RDER? SRY!" dialogues BIVE B - Oh... you seem, interesting! DB - TH4NK U! B - I shall investage you more... DB - SURE, I D#ONT MIND B - What a unique THING! DB - IS TH@T A COMPLEMENT!? B - Take it as what you THINK! DB - TH4NKS! I NEVER GOT 0NE.. FLESHCOUSIN FC - Hello. DB - HI! FC - Dub wub wub... cub lub... DB - YE#A! (WHAT?) DB - W0W FC - Hm? DB - YOU L0OK JUST LIKE T#HAT GUY OVER THERE! FC - Laba-daba-di.. DB - C0ME ON! DATS COOL. GNARPY G - HRSH! Get away fromz ME! DB - ARE YOU A GN4RPIAN?! G - Nonz of your BUSZINEZZ! DB - AH! Audio-file 69456: Gnarpian Language. DB - Glorp zorp goop gap geep! G - GOP?! DB - C0OL! G - Whatz? DB - YOU LOOK C#OOL! G - I KNOWZ! INFECTED I - 0-0 DB - 0_o I - :O DB - :D I - :D I - WUT!1 DB - MY H3AD? I - Y4S! WUT D4 H3LL?!1 DB - I THINK I#T LOOKS COOL! I - M3 T00! LAMPERT L - you have an object for your head aswell? DB - YUH U#H! L - cool. DB - YUH UH! L - are you gonna say something different? DB - YUH 0H! L - huh. neat head. DB - TH4NKS! URS TOO! L - thanks too i guess. MANNEQUIN MARK M - Ay, how' it's goin'? DB - N1CE! M - WOOD to hear t'at! DB - HE#HE! M - Wood lookin'! DB - TY PAL! M - No problem' matey! M - Har har har! DB - H4R H#AR HAR! PARTYNOOB/POOB PN - oh!! parteh lookin' boi!! DB - I 4M FROM A PARTY! A D#ISCO FLOOR! PN - you luk amazeeng!! DB - YOU TOO! PN - a dubstep bumbox for a head?? yeouch! experiments must hav hurt... DB - I WAS B0RN LIKE TH#IS! PN - oh... sry... DB - N4H, ITS OKAY BUD! PEST DB - H1! P - Get out of my sight. DB - WHY? P - You disgust me. DB - I JU#ST WANTED TO BE FR1ENDS! :( P - What. DB - WUT P - What is your head. DB - DUBST3P BOOMBOX? STR#ANGE QUESTION.. P - I hope that head goes BOOMbox. SPLIT SP - Man, your head is BANANAS! DB - HEH SP - It makes my mind SPLIT! DB - YOH0#HO! SP - Hey! Where are you from? DB - D4NCE FLOOR! SP - I am from PEELiphines! DB - OHOH#OHOHO!! DB - CAN I HEAR MORE? SP - Sure! SP - Your head is self-DUBbed the coolest! DB - YEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!! SPUD DB - H3LLO THERE! S - spud! DB - SP#UD! S - SPUD?! DB - SPUD SPUD! SPUD SPUD SPUD... SPUD DB - Y0INK! I GOT YOUR NOSE! S - Give it back! S - i mean... spud! DB - SPUD! S - oh...

[chaosandcrimson]

no way is that ROXANNE ‘ROXY’ FLOCKTON.. they’re a 25-year-old HUMAN notoriously known for being MANIPULATIVE & VINDICTIVE but there are some people who have seen them being ALLURING & METHODICAL. if you ask me, they remind me a lot of specks of body glitter falling down onto a computer keyboard, purple bruises covered up with cheap concealer, and using your body to get men to do your bidding, but that could just be because they’re considered the FEMME FATALE around town. just keep an eye on them & see if their true colors shine through..

I never trust a narcissist but they love me So I play 'em like a violin and I make it look oh so easy 'Cause for every lie I tell them they tell me three This is how the world works, now all he thinks about is me

OVERVIEW

Name: Roxanne Satine Flockton

FKA: Nicole Lisa Shaw

Nickname(s): Roxy, Daydream (D4YDR34M)

DOB: July 22, 2099

Age: 25

FC: Kaylee Kaneshiro

Height: 5'8"

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Demiromantic Pansexual

Occupation: Dancer at The Kit Kat Club / Hacker

Relationship Status: Single (Closed)

[+] alluring, methodical, street smart [–] manipulative, vindictive, unscrupulous

BIOGRAPHY

tw: parental neglect, abuse, implied csa

Roxy was raised by a single mother who was always very blunt about her origins. She was the result of an affair with a married man who had paid them a laughably small fraction of his net worth to go away and pretend like they didn’t exist.

It was a fact that was thrown in her face whenever she had something to say about how her mom refused to parent her, or how her rotating cast of deadbeat boyfriends treated her—that she should be grateful that they were even willing to acknowledge her. Feeding and clothing her was more than her dad had done.

Eventually, one of her mom's regular boyfriends got elevated to permanent man of the house, and things only got worse from there. Altercations between her and her new stepdad were frequent and often resulted in violence, a fact which her mom refused to even entertain, always choosing to side with her husband.

They frequently had friends over, causing Roxy to spend a lot of time barricaded in her room with her computer, learning all about hacking while they were busy getting drunk and high. On a good night, they forgot that she was there and left her alone. On a bad night, either her stepdad would get angry and find a way to make it her problem, or one of his friends would decide to sleep in her room.

In her teen years, she tried to run away from home several times and was brought back each time—sometimes by police, sometimes by her parents' shady friends. She didn't understand why they insisted on keeping her when they made it clear that they didn't care about her. It wasn't until she overheard them talking to their friend, who was their drug dealer, that she learned his late-night visits to her room were how they paid for their drugs when they couldn't afford them.

As soon as she turned 18, she hitched a ride out of town with two goals in mind—first to get the fuck out of dodge, and then to track down her biological father and give him a piece of her mind. Unfortunately, she didn't have a lot to go on.

She bounced around from place to place for a few months before arriving in the Metroplex. Settling in the lower district, she took a job as a dancer at The Kit Kat Club. Her time there has made her quite adept at manipulating men and she uses that ability liberally. She has never stolen anything, but if a patron willingly gives her their expensive watch, she isn't exactly going to give it back to them.

She is mean, vindictive, and spiteful, but she genuinely cares about the other dancers at the club. She is very protective of them and has several times taken matters into her own hands when a customer was getting too friendly.

She has continued to hone her hacking skills and has been a part of R4P7UR3 for the past few years. Their leader, Draven Thorne, has become something of a hacking mentor to her; although unbeknownst to both of them, they actually share more than a love of ones and zeros. They also share a father.

MISC

She has a tattoo on her left wrist that is a series of zeros and ones in an 8x8 grid. Each row actually represents one character and reads "FUCK YOU" in binary.

[beyondparoxysm]

( andrew lincoln + cisgender male  + he/him + 48 ) crossing the gates of Jackson is DEAN CLARKE! our records show us they are SECOND IN COMMAND and a former member of FEDRA, known to be CHARISMATIC AND DISCIPLINED, yet HESITANT AND REGRETFUL at this new life. many around town said they remind them of half-finished cups of coffee, writing long to-do lists, a poor soldier but a good man. may your survival be long, and your death be swift. ⸻ mini / 28 / EST / she/her / n/a

Demographics

Name: Dean Clarke

Nickname/Alias: Most often goes simply by Clarke, only those closest to him call him by his given name.

Age: 48

Place of Birth: Millington, Tennessee 

Sex/Gender: Cisgendered male 

Sexuality: Heterosexual   

Physical Appearance

FC: Andrew Lincoln (as he appears in later seasons of The Walking Dead)

Eye color: Blue 

Ethnicity: White American

Hair color and Style: Dean’s hair is dark brown, though salt-and-pepper is creeping up on him. His hair is grown out long enough to slick back, and has a natural curl to it that he keeps wrangled as best he can. He wears a close-cropped mustache and beard, which grows in white-gray these days. 

Height: 5’10”

Body type: Mesomorph body type. Athletically built, broad shoulders, triangular shape.

Fitness level: Moderately active. Keeps himself in shape.

Tattoos: A faded black tattoo bearing the name Lydia sits on his right bicep. 

Scars/Birthmarks: No notable birthmarks. He has a handful of scars littering his body, the majority of which have faded to fine white lines over the years. His left shoulder notably bears a scar from a bullet wound.

Disabilities: An old injury occasionally causes pain to flare in his right knee. 

Cleanliness/Grooming: Relatively regimented in hygiene.

Posture/Gait: Healthy posture, confident. 

Psychological Traits

Personality type: ENTJ-T, The Commander 

Bold, imaginative, and strong-willed; always willing to find a way or make one. The Commander places a focus on objectivity and rationality, with a tendency to see effectiveness as the most important thing. Decisive, thorough, and highly organized. The Commander prefers structure and planning to spontaneity. These individuals are success-driven, perfectionistic, and eager to improve. 

Personality traits: 

Positive: Charismatic, disciplined, calm, rational, considerate  

Negative: Hesitant, regretful, possessive, ritualistic 

Temperament: Phlegmatic 

These individuals are generally kind and considerate, and are considered reliable and trustworthy. They tend to respect the status quo and maintain routines, offering consistency and stability. The Phlegmatic individual is known to be rational, objective, and systematic when approaching problems. They remain calm under pressure. 

Mannerisms: Whistles, clenches jaw and grinds teeth, walks quickly. 

Educational background: Completed his high school education and joined the military right out of his senior year. He had the intention to go back one day and get a degree – political science, he’d thought – but he never made it. 

Religious background: Dean was raised in an Evangelical home with a strong value on Church. He grew out of those values as he got older, though he still holds on to the idea of God. He keeps a bible and occasionally prays. 

Self-esteem: Most days his self-esteem is fairly good. His self-worth is unfortunately tied to external factors: when he sees the people of Jackson doing well, he takes that in as reflective of the kind of man he is. Subsequently, their struggles hit him hard. He is also prone to reflecting on the past, which brings up deep feelings of guilt and shame in him. 

Skills/talents: Background in military training and action, talented public speaker, good listener and talented at diffusing moments of tension.  

Morals/Virtues: Compassionate, reliable, cooperative.

Phobias/Fears: Loss of control, the fall of Jackson

Angered by: It takes quite a lot to anger Dean – he’s become a master of his own emotions throughout the years (at least outwardly) and likes to grin and bear it when possible. He is angered by selfishness and thoughtlessness. 

Desires: Sustaining safety and prosperity in Jackson; finding peace and forgiveness for himself.

Regrets: When he abandoned his post with FEDRA, he did not try to save anyone.

Communication

Languages known: English

Accent: Slight southern drawl. 

Style and pacing of speech: Somewhat slow and measured, confident, easy-going.

Pitch: Low-pitched. 

Laughter: Laughs often and easily, sometimes in an effort to be polite.

Smile: Close-mouthed and practiced for most, wide and toothy for those closest to him.

Use of gestures: Nods head, hums to reflect active listening, offers hand-shakes and shoulder-grabs easily.

Strengths, Weaknesses, and Abilities

Physical strengths: Healthy. Average core strength, slightly above average upper body strength.

Physical weaknesses: Occasional pains in his knee can cause limping. 

Intellectual strengths: Good organizational and militaristic skills. 

Intellectual weaknesses: Tendency to dwell/replay mistakes. 

Interpersonal strengths: Strong judge of character.

Interpersonal weaknesses: Tendency to prefer keeping the peace over altercations, which can at times lead to avoidance of petty issues/building of resentments. 

Physical abilities: Above average.

Physical illnesses/conditions: N/A

Mental illnesses/conditions: PTSD – but hey, who doesn’t have it? Experiences occasional panic attacks.

Relationships

Family: Dean was born into a large Evangelical family based in Tennessee. His family is presumed lost to him – his parents were amongst those who were lost in the initial outbreak, and contact was lost between himself and his siblings. He occasionally allows himself to entertain the notion that some of them might still be alive, and may one day make their way to Jackson – yet he understands the reality of it is unlikely. Dean has one child, see wanted connections. 

Partner/Significant other: Dean fell in love with his first wife Lydia as a teenager, and they went on to marry after high school. Lydia remained by his side throughout his tours in the army, and later mothered his child. Lydia grew to dislike the man that Dean became as the years wore on and FEDRA demanded obedience of him. When the Fireflies launched an attack on the QZ in an effort to liberate those inside, Lydia and their child disappeared. While presumed to be dead by Dean, Lydia had in fact absconded with the Fireflies – and took their child with her. Dean eventually went on to find love again in Jackson, and has remarried, see wanted connections. 

Friends: TBD (see wanted connections). 

Enemies: TBD (see wanted connections).

Significant Background Events

PRE-2013:

Dean was an active duty member of the American military prior to the onslaught of the Cordyceps pandemic. Serving as a Staff Sergeant within the US Army, he experienced a range of overseas combat as well as life on American military bases. Though this position separated him from his large family in Tennessee, he was not without companionship: his high school sweetheart turned wife Lydia joined him in his stateside travels, and eventually they welcomed a child together when he was about 25 years old. Dean, who’d served since age eighteen, opted to focus on family life and was honorably discharged at approximately age 26 after two tours completed. He transitioned into the national guard, with the hopes of attending college and embarking on a career in low-level politics. 

THE OUTBREAK & EARLY YEARS 2013-2020:

Hopes for the future were dashed with the outbreak of the fungus, and Dean’s position in the national guard meant that he was eventually called to duty. Like many of his fellow servicemen, he and his unit became absorbed into the organization known as FEDRA. He bore witness to – and directly participated in – the horrors that came with the establishment of QZs. Despite having considered himself at one point to be a man of strict morals and compassion, the terror of the virus and the messaging of FEDRA became a dangerous combination. He became a dedicated member of the cause, and followed orders – even when this involved questionable acts of killing. 

Dean came to reside primarily in the Atlanta QZ at this point in time, though participated in travel to other zones to combat resistance efforts made by the Fireflies and to quell attempted uprising. While he had been unable to secure the safety of his Tennessee based family in the fall, his commitment to FEDRA rested on his continued desire to protect his wife and child. Despite this, Lydia grew increasingly discomforted by the man Dean had become. 

An assault on Atlanta by the Fireflies led to a breach in the QZ and days of fighting, during which chaos temporarily ruled the city. When order was once more restored by FEDRA, Lydia and their child were not amongst the living. Their bodies were never found, and they were presumed to be amongst the burned or beyond the safety of the QZ. FEDRA claimed no responsibility for this – the chaos of war could not be avoided – and Dean was expected to continue to follow his duty in “protecting” the remaining survivors. 

DISILLUSIONMENT AND DEFECTING 2020-2025:

Listless, Dean continued in his role of so-called “protection” for several years, growing increasingly disillusioned over time. The deaths he caused sat heavily with him, and regret caused him to often lose sleep. He began to participate in petty acts of revenge against the organization that had done nothing to save his family and had turned him into a killer, notably assisting in black market dealings.

After several years building contacts amongst the underground of Atlanta, he defected, believing that death out in the wilds of a plagued America was better than life amongst those who ruled with bloody fists. Secrets were sold to members of the Fireflies in exchange for passage out of the QZ, marking him as a traitor to FEDRA.

Dean expected death to take him swiftly, but survived in spite of the suicide mission he’d launched himself onto. He’d considered making for Tennessee in an effort to see what remained of the home he’d once loved, but cowardice at the prospect of seeing the wreckage done by the combination of the fungus and FEDRA dissuaded him. He wandered in search of either death or salvation, and eventually found Jackson – a second chance made real.

LIFE IN JACKSON 2026-PRESENT:

His admittance at being a former member of FEDRA invited understandable suspicion, and building a new life for himself was not without challenges. Luckily, he was a man bent on proving himself as still having some shred of goodness, and was intent upon taking any job offered to him. He scavenged in an effort to keep supplies steady, and eventually came to establish himself as a trustworthy figure who was willing to risk his own life for the betterment of those who dwelled in Jackson. 

His climbing of the ranks has been gradual throughout the years, and he takes his current position incredibly seriously. He believes he is proof that those who have committed atrocities are capable of change, and is a voice of encouragement in accepting newcomers from troubled backgrounds. Despite this outward compassion, he is also a man with many skeletons in his closet, who lives with guilt and shame close to his heart. His loyalty remains above all to the sanctity of Jackson – and he will do anything to ensure its continued survival.

Wanted Connections

GENERAL DYNAMICS: Open to all, multiple characters can occupy the same dynamic, etc.

Friends: Dean is an affable man and a friendly face to most. There are a select few, however, who are able to see past the politician’s smile to the man beneath – and they are the people with whom he chooses to spend the majority of his time. He is a fiercely loyal friend to those who’ve earned his trust, and holds a grudge when he is betrayed.

Enemies: While Dean has worked hard to put the past behind him, it’s inevitable that there are some who are unable to forget the man he was before he came to Jackson. I’d love to explore dynamics with individuals who cannot accept that a former member of FEDRA holds a role of leadership in town.

Protege: I would like to see Dean bond with a young-ish person whom he believes has the makings of becoming a leader themselves one day. Perhaps this person is somewhat of a stand-in for the child he once lost – and subsequently, he is a father-figure to them. 

Old Faces: Dean resides in the Atlanta QZ for many years, and I would be interested in exploring dynamis with any individuals who might also hail from Atlanta and remember the man that he was. Similarly, Dean has had dealings with the black market and the Fireflies in the Atlanta area, and I would be interested in exploring relationships with people who were a part of his troubled past.

SPECIFIC DYNAMICS: See below. 

Oh you’re the one DEAN CLARKE has been looking for? Their CHILD has been long gone, but you might recognize them as ANY GENDER FC BETWEEN 23-25, rumored to be 22 years old. If you stumble upon them, please leave a message for @BEYONDPAROXYSM. Please review Dean’s character bio! Dean has not seen his child since they were about 8 years old and believes them to be dead. This character was taken by their mother, Lydia, out of the Atlanta QZ during a failed uprising by the Fireflies. Where they have been in the years since 2020 is UTP. This character should be a relatively new arrival to Jackson. I am open to anything ranging from heart-wrenching reunions to your character hiding the truth of their identity from Dean and having some major issues with him!  Oh you’re the one DEAN CLARKE has been looking for? Their WIFE has been long gone, but you might recognize them as ANY FEMALE FC, rumored to be 40+ years old. If you stumble upon them, please leave a message for @BEYONDPAROXYSM. Please review Dean’s character bio! Dean did not intend to find love again, but he and Y/M forged a slow-building connection that he now cannot live without. Y/M is the only person Dean is able to be entirely himself with – the only one who knows every detail and every bit of shame he carries.

[discluded]

Not looking to dump on you about the state of fandoms in your inbox but the MA fandom is the most Kpop adjacent fandom I have ever been a part of that shares some similar characteristics. It has been really eye opening to see the power of trending and just how much the efforts of the fans really do pay off in the promotion of the celebrities and the opportunities they receive but IMO you have to have one fan buy enough tickets to account for half of the presale record the movie set it is genuinely a bit demoralizing. It's amazing that fans are super committed and there was clearly interest in the movie as half the presale tickets did come from genuine fans and the public but I sometimes fear that people are too focused on the numbers games. These actions show the passion that fans have for these celebs but a person's work and the results should speak for themselves. I mean fandoms are changing constantly so maybe this is the new normal but for someone who isn't used to it it's been a bit annoying trying to find out what the actual reception of the movie is amongst the general audiences and how well the movie is actually performing in the box office.

https://twitter.com/Pandababygirl2/status/1709397703736824259?t=_yF0NTDyS3VL7wK3Jj19vw&s=19

you're not wrong with that and you're not the first to have noticed this rapid shift and interest in Thai stars recently.

for example this article was published on HBSg (which has a very friendly relationship with mileapo thanks to Kenneth Goh) and resyndicated in other Sg media outlets in the last couple of months.

As for whether that's good or bad, I think you've hit the nail on the head that business as usual changes, and this appears to be a new business as usual.

I mean, western celebs are also taking advantage of this as well. Some more egregious than not. TSwift recently got called out by her own fans for one of these common kpop practices of releasing multiple album versions specifically to drive up sales (cough line her own pockets with fans' money).

(op has already deleted her account now as she said she would but I have it cached from earlier)

as far as I'm aware, this was also a ticket donation project so not just a single person buying tickets and leaving the seats empty, or the equiv of a single fan buying dozens of albums which they can't listen to.

I actually think this is a much better use of fan funds than some of the projects like the Time Square ad placement for Man Suang... which of course was useless because there was no international release date announced 🥲 you want your advertising dollars to go somewhere effective and this was pretty much an equivalent of throwing money into a river. (sorry to the FCs who ran this.. I understand how hard it was to organize things like this so I tried to avoid criticizing but the effort could've gone somewhere else...)

as for the "actual reception", it's actually a relatively new phenomenon that we're able to hear first hand the thoughts of common viewers on the film à la Rotten Tomatoes. historically, films relied on good critic reviews to drive foot traffic. I actually have so many negative opinions about forums like RT (which suffer from the same problems as film critics... ie who is frequenting the site) but that's for another time.

ultimately the one who controls your fandom experience is you, so if you don't want to engage at this level or see this kind of behavior, just remove these kinds of more extreme (passionate?) fans from your line of sight. As long as they're not hurting anyone, including themselves in a financial sense, I don't feel like it's appropriate to moralise on the best way to be a fan. these fandom spaces are predominantly female-occupied when male dominated fan spaces (see, sports and video games) are not subject to the same amount of scrutiny over the level of zeal.

[alarrytale]

Outfit anon here…. Well, I’m not sure where to start. Good things: no white grandpa shoes & I loved how his outfit literally matched his festival’s theme with bright rainbow colors and his shirt was fitted better but that could’ve been because it was tucked into his shorts.

Not so good things: the fit of the shorts were a bit baggy and I think it would’ve been better with maybe the top being the rainbow colors and the bottoms being a solid color? I just have issues with matching sets in general so that may be my personal bias.

That heat was a scorcher out there so I’m not surprised he chose shorts and t-shirt. I’m just glad that shirt wasn’t big and baggy because that would’ve been worse.

Hi, outfit anon!

You forgot the absolute worst part of it. The long black socks in chunky black trainers paired with the shorts. That's a crime against fashion and it's the least sexy look ever. I don't know who allowed him to wear that...

Also, pet peeve of mine, calling ombre coloured/blended colours where you've got three colours or more "rainbow colours" is wrong. I know people desperately wants him to wear rainbow colours as a nod to them or his own sexuality. But this is a green/yellow/orange and black colourblended football kit. It's not rainbow coloured just because it's got three colours of the rainbow. Sorry, but i see several people refer to this outfit as rainbow, when it's not.

I don't mind matching sets that much, i prefer to not have it at all, but there is so much wrong with this outfit, that the matching top and shorts is probably the least of my problems. I understand that it's hot and he wanted to wear shorts and a t-shirt. But anything else would be better. Beige/offwhite or white cargo shorts or maybe coloured linen shorts (or even better jorts) and a fitted band t-shirt or one of his fitted tank tops would have been so much better than looking like he's a substitute for Norwich City FC...

The only plus for me was bright colours, but i didn't like the colour combination, and i'm sorry, but this is by far the worst outfit he's worn on stage this era.

[hockeylvr59]

Here With Me Part 20 || Taylor Makar

Author’s Note: Only a day after saying I love you, Taylor drops another milestone on Kelsey....meeting the parents and Taylor's sophomore season comes to an end. FC: Marina Laswick (@marooshk on instagram).

Warnings: cursing, anxiety // Word Count: 6,295

~~~~

Nineteen

Kelsey had been a little surprised when Taylor had asked her to meet up Monday evening. She honestly hadn’t expected to see him again after Sunday before the opening round playoff game for hockey east unless he came to class in the morning. 

But if he was going to make the time for her, she would gladly make it for him. So, after finishing up a bit of lab work, Kelsey drove over to Mullins to meet him as requested. 

As soon as she pulled into the lot, Taylor was coming outside and sliding into her passenger seat, immediately greeting her with a kiss. 

“Hey Kels.” He murmured. “You look pretty.” 

“Thanks T. Had a meeting with my advisor this morning.” After all, she normally didn’t wear a dress, tights, and boots to class. “So what’s the plan?” 

“Dinner at Johnny’s Tavern. We’re meeting my parents.” 

As soon as Taylor said the word parents, Kelsey immediately froze, her face going white with shock. 

“Come again?” She gasped, thankful the car was still in park because her hands felt numb. 

“Dinner with my parents.” Taylor stated softly. “You knew they were coming to town and want to meet you.” 

“Yeah…soon…not tonight…” Kelsey mumbled. “Holy shit Taylor I am not dressed to meet your parents.” Quickly Kelsey’s breathing grew more ragged as the anxiety over what Taylor was dropping on her hit. Meeting the parents was something you needed to prepare for and Kelsey was so far from prepared. 

“Kels. You look beautiful.” Taylor assured her, a little taken aback by her reaction. His palm slid over onto her thigh and he spoke softly. “Kels, they’re gonna love you, you have nothing to worry about. They just want to get to know you because they know I’m completely infatuated with you.” 

His words did nothing to stop her shaking and after a minute Taylor got out of the car before moving around to her side, urging her out of the driver’s seat. 

“I’m not going to force you to go Kels.” He whispered into her hair as he hugged her. “But it’s not the big deal that you’re working it up to be either. They’re going to love you because I love you. They’ve been so damn excited to meet you.” 

Pulling back, Taylor grinned down at her, mischief on his face. 

“To be honest, I’m the one that should be worried. Because odds are they’re going to love you more than they love me or they’re going to bring up every single embarrassing moment in my life to share it with you.” 

Kelsey couldn’t help but let out a long soft breath at that. 

“Just trust me Kels. Please?” 

“I trust you.” She murmured. “Just not sure I can drive right now.” 

“If you’ll let me, I can.” Taylor offered, kissing her temple still trying to soothe her. Swallowing hard, Kelsey nodded and after a moment stepped away to let him adjust the driver’s seat while she moved around to the passenger’s still trying to calm her racing heart. 

“Breathe Kels.” Taylor insisted, lifting her hand to his mouth to kiss as he was stopped at a red light. “How’d your meeting go?” 

Kelsey knew he was trying to change the topic so that she stopped focusing on the stress of the moment. 

“Fine. Everything is on track. She doesn’t think I’ll have any problem getting into med school.” 

“That’s awesome Kels. I have no doubt you will either.” Taylor stated softly. “You’re so fucking smart and so passionate, any school is gonna be lucky to have you.” 

It wasn’t long before Taylor was pulling into the parking lot of the Tavern and coming around to help her out. 

“Just trust me Kels.” He repeated. “I love you and they’re going to love you too.” 

Taylor let her take a few deep breaths after gathering her purse from the car and then took her hand to guide her inside. 

“Come on, it’s cold out here.” 

Once inside, Taylor led her to a table, his hand on her lower back. By the time they approached, his parents had both stood up and while his dad hugged Taylor, Kelsey found herself pulled into a hug by his mom. 

“We’re so happy to finally meet you.” His mom whispered in her ear. “You’re even prettier than the pictures we’ve seen.” 

Switching off, Kelsey briefly was hugged by Taylor’s dad as well before Taylor guided her into the seat across the table from his mom, taking the one next to her and resting his hand on her thigh.

“Kels, this is my mom Laura and my dad Gary. Mom, dad this is Kelsey.” Taylor’s hand squeezed softly in reassurance. 

“We’re so glad you agreed to meet us.” Laura proclaimed, her smile warm. Kelsey’s face must have given away her hesitancies because Laura looked at her for a moment before looking over at Taylor. 

“Taylor David…you didn’t tell her she was meeting us?” 

“I did…” Taylor defended. “Just not until she picked me up.” 

“Taylor.” Laura chastised. “I’m so sorry Kelsey. I tried to teach him manners but apparently some things he takes after his father in.” 

Thankfully, the waiter interrupted as he dropped by to get Taylor and Kelsey’s drink orders now that they had arrived.  

Though Taylor ordered ice tea for himself he ordered Kelsey a glass of wine and a water knowing that she could use a little help taking the edge off her nerves. 

After getting carded, Kelsey bit her lip softly feeling the nerves rise. 

“So Taylor mentioned that you coach girl’s hockey? His dad asked. 

“Yeah. I started a learn to play program when I was a senior in high school and right now we have probably thirty girls enrolled. Age range of four to eight or so. It’s a lot of fun. We meet once a week to practice skills and scrimmage and a couple of times a season we go to a ‘tournament’ with other learn to play programs and they get their first taste of actual games.” Kelsey explained, pausing to thank the waiter as he brought drinks over. 

“It’s basically a first taste of the game for young girls who may not be all that familiar with hockey.” Kelsey continued. “We’ve had over 50 girls pass through the program already and I think at least half of them are playing on local girls teams now.” 

With Gary having coached before he immediately jumped into discussing drills and other things that he’d noticed being the most effective and Kelsey listened eagerly while glancing over the menu trying to decide what she wanted to eat. 

“Duck or Bass?” Taylor leaned over to whisper in her ear. 

“Bass.” Kelsey whispered back before again nodding at his dad and then talking about one of her girls favorite skill games that she’d found online. 

When the waiter circled around to see if they were ready to order, Laura and Gary both nodded having gotten a chance to look at the menu before Taylor and Kelsey even arrived. With Taylor nodding, Kelsey didn’t even bother looking back down at her menu, just letting him order for her once again even as his mother’s eyes went wide. 

“It’s fine.” Kelsey murmured. “Taylor orders for me basically anytime we go out somewhere. I can be a bit indecisive.” 

“Indecisive and price tag conscious.” Taylor elaborated after their orders were placed. “And I gave her options.” He shrugged. 

Hearing the confirmation that Kelsey was fine with it made Laura relax and not say anything. As Gary turned back to coaching, Kelsey couldn’t help but smile as Laura rolled her eyes. 

“Gary. We are not talking about hockey drills the entirety of dinner.” Laura chastised before changing direction. “So how did you two meet?” She questioned having never really gotten an answer out of Taylor. 

“Oh uh at the rink.” Kelsey admitted. “I was more than a little pissed at Carvy because he was kicking my girls off the rink like twenty minutes early and I literally ran into Taylor who made a joke about hiding dead bodies in the woods behind Silvan instead of the rink. It threw me so off guard that I kind of forgot how mad I was.” 

“Then I saw her at a party shortly after that and we just hit it off. Started talking more.” Taylor threw in, his cheeks turning a little pink at everything that wasn’t explicitly being said. 

“When Taylor asked me on a date I was so excited.” Kelsey admitted. “And it couldn’t have been more perfect either. An outdoor rink all to ourselves. Homemade hot chocolate. Dinner and then him asking me to be his girlfriend.” 

Sipping at her wine after giving a very brief rundown of the beginning of their relationship, Kelsey glanced at Taylor hoping that everything she’d said had been okay. She really wanted his parents to like her. 

“So what else do you do for fun?” Gary questioned. 

“Well I’m waiting for the weather to get warmer but I love to go hiking on weekends so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to drag T with me now and then.” 

She hadn’t mentioned that to Taylor yet but if his smile was any indication, she was going to have no problem dragging him out for hikes and she was really looking forward to it. 

“And you sew?” Laura added. “Taylor sent us a picture of the pocket squares you made him. They’re beautiful.” 

“Yeah I love to sew.” Kelsey enthused. “I love going to thrift stores and getting clothing or fabric and making them into something new or just making them fit in the way that off the rack clothing usually doesn’t. And if I can mend clothing to last longer then even better.” 

“Yeah she saved one of my favorite pairs of athletic shorts.” Taylor grinned. 

The conversation regarding sewing triggered a reminder in Kelsey’s head and she made an ‘oh’ face before turning to reach into her purse. Pulling out a small tissue paper wrapped item she turned to hand it over to Taylor. 

“Before I forget…” She started. “Not sure if Carvy is having you guys wear suits for playoffs but in case he is…happy early birthday Tay.” 

“You want me to…now?” Taylor questioned for a moment as Laura and Gary watched with interest. 

With Kelsey nodding confirmation, Taylor tore into the tissue paper to reveal a tie in the same navy with white polka dotted fabric that one of his pocket squares was made from. 

“It matches.” He grinned, looking it over. “Thanks Kels, love it and you.” Kelsey blushed again a bit at the words and the kiss to her cheek that followed. 

“I’m glad.” Kelsey grinned, missing the look that Taylor’s parents exchanged at their son dropping the L word. “I like making things for you.” 

Without his parents even asking, Taylor passed the tie over to his dad for examination with Laura leaning in close as well to check it out. 

“Very nice.” Gary praised. “She’s going to have you looking all snazzy.” 

“You have a talent Kelsey.” Laura agreed. “Was this your first tie?” 

“Probably second.” Kelsey admitted. “I made one for my dad before. Still a learning curve though because it’s been awhile.” 

The moment was broken by the waiter coming by to deliver their meals. As they ate, conversation dipped, though Kelsey took the chance to ask questions like what Taylor was like as a little kid, trying to learn things about him that might not come up in natural conversation between them. 

A story of their family pet, D.O.G., was brought up and Kelsey couldn’t contain her laughter hearing about Taylor making a whole ass powerpoint on why they should get a dog that wasn’t stuffed. It was a nice try even though it clearly hadn’t worked. When Laura showed her a picture of Taylor with the stuffed dog, Kelsey smiled brightly because yeah he was a really cute kid for sure. 

On the subject of pets, Kelsey brought up that she had had a bearded dragon named Pebbles for a good majority of her life up until a couple of years ago which seemed to catch Taylor by surprise as they’d never talked about her having a pet before. It had been a low maintenance pet that she’d finally been able to wear her parents down to and she had loved him, though she was definitely open to a furry pet at some point in the future. 

Enjoying her meal, Kelsey listened as Taylor’s parents spilled a few other stories about her boyfriend. By the time his parents were grabbing the check to pay, Kelsey felt a little bit more relaxed because it seemed like dinner had gone well. 

“Do you want to come with us to Boston for the game on Wednesday?” Laura asked. “That way you don’t have to drive or worry about parking or anything.” 

Kelsey should have known the question was coming. But she didn’t and it completely caught her off guard, flaring up the panic she’d been feeling since Taylor first mentioned her meeting his parents. Yes, tonight seemed to have gone well but going to Taylor’s game meant that she would be with them not just for an hour for dinner but for nearly 6 hours between the drive and the game itself. All without Taylor there to steer away from anything that may be uncomfortable or to serve as a buffer. 

With Gary nodding approvingly and both of them giving her expectant looks, Kelsey really couldn’t say no without looking like a bitch. 

So she’d agreed, murmuring with as much enthusiasm as she could muster that that sounded really great. Internally though she was trying to hold onto her composure knowing that it was going to be a rapidly losing battle. 

With Laura declaring that they would get her number from Taylor, Kelsey thanked them for dinner as they headed out of the restaurant exchanging brief hugs before parting ways to head to their respective vehicles. 

Sinking into the driver’s seat, Kelsey let out a loud sigh and leaned her head back against the headrest just trying to breathe. After a moment, Taylor’s fingers curled over her thigh as he rested his palm there over her dress. 

“You feeling okay?” Taylor asked softly, his thumb brushing back and forth. 

“I’m fine Taylor.” Kelsey murmured though her use of his full name and inability to force a smile spoke loudly to the contrary. Taking another deep breath, Kelsey buckled her seatbelt and then looked to him to do the same so that she could take him back to his apartment. 

After a moment Taylor secured his seatbelt as well and Kelsey pulled out of the parking spot to make the short drive across town, her fingers tapping on the steering wheel as she drove. 

When she arrived at the dorm she pulled up in front of the building along the curb to drop him off rather than searching for a parking spot. 

If Kelsey wasn’t drowning in her own anxiety she would have noticed Taylor’s confused and slightly hurt expression. 

“What’s going on Kelsey?” He eventually asked, his voice timid. “You’re not coming up?” 

“Not tonight Taylor…” Kelsey stated quietly. “I don’t want to be a distraction, you have an important game Wednesday.” 

“Kelsey…” Taylor pleaded. “Did I fuck things up tonight for us?” 

“No T.” Kelsey mumbled, closing her eyes for a moment. “Just….you’re not the only one that gets anxious. And you’re not the one who is going to spend the next 48 hours stressing over saying or doing something to make your parents hate me because I’m spending six hours alone with them two days after they met me.” 

“Kelsey…if it’s going to make you this stressed out, you don’t have to go to the game.” Taylor mumbled. 

“What and have your parents think I’m a bitch and an unsupportive girlfriend?” Kelsey exclaimed. 

“Kelsey.” Taylor stated, his tone suggesting that that was a little bit ridiculous. 

“Taylor, it’s fine. We’re fine.” Kelsey sighed. “I just…I need to be by myself tonight to work through all of this. Okay?” 

Taylor was quiet for a long moment before nodding. 

“Okay.” He declared. “Can I get a good luck kiss for Wednesday before you go?” 

“Yeah Tay.” Kelsey murmured, turning her head to kiss him softly. As they parted, Kelsey pecked his lips again. “I love you Taylor.” 

“I love you too, Kels.” Taylor sighed before finally moving to climb out of her car and head inside leaving Kelsey to make her way back to her own apartment where she poured herself a large glass of wine and sunk into bed until she could work up the energy to do a long yoga and meditation session to work through the flurry of emotions she was feeling. 

*****

With the team heading off to Boston Tuesday afternoon to settle in and prepare for Wednesday’s game, UMass Athletics held a brunch Tuesday morning for any of the parents who were in town for Hockey East playoffs. Making their way down from their hotel room to the conference room of Hotel Umass, Laura and Gary greeted the parents they knew from Taylor’s freshman season or had met over in Northern Ireland in November. 

Grabbing food they settled at a table and into light conversation with the parents that joined them. After a few minutes Coach Carvel and the other staff started the obligatory season recap to date, discussing how it had been a tough season as they were well aware but how he appreciated their boys being so even keel win or lose and that playoffs were a big opportunity for them to end on a positive note. 

Mingling and light conversations followed the speeches with Lucas Mercuri’s mom Dina taking a spot at their table to catch up as their sons had been roommates for two years now. 

“So Luc says you took Taylor out for dinner last night? Must have been nice to catch up a bit.” 

“Well it was more than that.” Laura admitted. “Taylor brought his girlfriend so that we could finally meet her.” 

“Big step bringing her to meet the parents.” Dina declared. “I remember when Luc brought his girlfriend home. From what I hear, Taylor has this girl around a lot, he must really like her.” 

“If his indirect dropping of the L word is any indication I think he more than likes her.” Gary mused. 

“And what do you both think of her?” Dina inquired. 

“She seems to really care about him.” Laura replied neutrally. “They share some interests and it seems like she’s independent but it’s hard to really have an opinion after just one dinner.” 

“But there were no red flags that jumped out?” 

“No. She was polite, attentive, affectionate but not inappropriate. Taylor didn’t tell her until just before they headed to the restaurant that she was meeting us so she seemed a little on edge but that’s on Taylor not her. Taylor can be a bit daft sometimes, takes after a certain someone I know.” Laura stated, finishing with a chuckle as she looked over at her husband. 

After a few more minutes Dina bid her leave, following after quite a few parents who had already left leaving the room more sparsely occupied. 

Discussing softly between themselves a plan for the rest of the day, Laura and Gary looked up at the sound of a chair sliding along the floor to find Coach Carvel sinking into the it with a cup of coffee in hand. 

“So I overheard that you met my niece last night…” Greg stated casually. 

Brows furrowed as Laura and Gary looked between themselves before looking back at their son’s coach, their confusion evident. 

"I know, imagine my surprise when I found out from my niece that she's dating your son." 

There was a moment’s pause before Laura’s eyes widened. 

“I’m gonna kill him.” She mumbled under her breath. First Taylor failed to warn his girlfriend ahead of time about meeting them and then he failed to mention that his girlfriend was related to his hockey coach. 

How hadn’t it crossed his mind that maybe that was an important thing for them to know and not have dropped on them unexpectedly. 

“They both have strong personalities but they manage to balance each other out somehow.” Greg added. “They’re both good kids and have good heads on their shoulders. Even if they both piss me off sometimes.” 

Though still shocked, Laura and Gary both laughed a bit at the last comment because yeah that sounded like Taylor for sure. It made sense that they were cut from the same cloth, good and bad. Still, Greg knew that he needed to put in a good word for Kelsey because apparently she loves the younger Makar and admittedly they were kind of cute together and he had a feeling based on overhearing that she had been on edge that it was important to her to have the Makars like her. 

"As soon as she told me they were together, Kelsey threatened me against letting their relationship impact his position on the team so she's pretty serious about him.” Greg stated, giving Taylor’s parents some time to mull over his words. 

“Taylor has made some major strides this season, it’s good to see all the hard work paying off.” He complimented, changing topics. “Still has lots of work to do but it’s a positive thing to see.” 

Talking for a couple of minutes more, moreso about Taylor than Taylor and Kelsey, Greg took his leave, moving to stand up.  

"You know it's ironic that someone who hates men's hockey so much fell for one of my players...hadn't seen that coming." He quipped because he was still shocked that Kelsey had ended up interested in someone on his team after hearing her rants about men’s hockey. 

As he left, Laura again considered murdering her son for failing to mention it and Gary couldn’t help but shake his head at what a ballsy move it was by his son getting involved with his coach’s niece. 

****

After thoroughly chastising her son over text, Laura obtained Kelsey’s phone number and messaged her about the game Wednesday night, subtly offering her an out if it wasn’t something she was comfortable with by checking to make sure that it wouldn’t interfere with her schoolwork. 

The last thing Kelsey wanted though was for Taylor’s parents to think that she wasn’t a supportive girlfriend so there was no way she was going to back out of the game even if she was more than a little anxious about it. 

Laura had offered a few options for meeting including getting a bite to eat on campus, picking her up at her apartment or meeting somewhere else and Kelsey had suggested just meeting at Mullins because she could easily leave her car there and it was relatively convenient. 

Plus she wasn’t sure that she was going to be able to eat with the nerves swirling through her. Tuesday night she had stressed over her outfit and made a mess of her closet before finally settling on black leggings, a grey and black oversized hoodie, and black sneakers along with the hat Taylor had given her. 

After her Wednesday afternoon class, Kelsey had gone to the library for an hour or so before heading to Mullins to meet up with his parents at the designated time. 

Through the car ride, Laura and Gary talked amongst themselves, occasionally throwing a question Kelsey’s way to give her the opportunity to engage as much as she wanted to with them. Kelsey tried to find the balance between not being rude but also not putting herself out there in a way that would risk her saying anything that might not go over well. 

As much as she tried to hide her nerves, it was obvious that she was as much on edge tonight as she had been at dinner Monday though Laura and Gary tried to put her at ease. They knew she was nervous about being around them without Taylor and that she clearly wanted to make a good impression. 

In the arena, they found their seats amidst the rest of the parents, families, friends, and girlfriends of UMass. 

“Want something to drink Kelsey?” Gary asked. “Water? Beer? Seltzer?” Prepared to just ask for water, Laura leaned over whispering softly. 

“You’re allowed to drink in front of us Kelsey. It’s probably going to be a stressful game. But no one is going to force you.” Stressful was probably going to be an understatement with so much on the line and Kelsey sighed. 

“Truly or something?” She asked, thanking Gary softly. 

Running her fingers through her hair, Kelsey fixed the ball cap on her head before shifting slightly in her seat as Laura talked to a few people around them. By the time warmups started, Gary had returned and Kelsey took the can of booze in hand, smiling softly in thanks. 

Sipping at the drink, Kelsey focused on watching Taylor on the ice going through a warmup routine that was familiar to her even if she’d only been to a handful of his games. 

Standing for the anthem, Kelsey wanted to be hopeful but couldn’t quell the feeling that this was about to be a painful night. And just over a minute into the game before Taylor had even taken his first shift that feeling was proven right as BC got on the board early. 

Taylor showed that he had his legs on his first shift causing Kelsey to let out a sigh of relief. Right off the faceoff on his second, number 11 for BC tugged on the back of Taylor’s jersey holding him up from taking off into the offensive zone and Kelsey threw her hands in the air because what the hell you can’t do that. 

Though she didn’t want to be a bitch, Kelsey couldn’t help but mumble under her breath when Morrow made another turnover leading BC to head the other way. Sighing during a stoppage Kelsey murmured softly that at least Taylor’s line had showed up tonight because she wasn’t sure anyone else had. 

The seniors certainly hadn’t as they were on the ice for BC’s second goal with just under three minutes to go in the first. 

As the first period waned, Kelsey sat on the edge of her seat as Mercs brought the puck into the zone before passing it back to Mikey who immediately sent it cross crease to Taylor who buried it into the back of the net. Instantly she was out of her seat screaming and jumping up and down in excitement because that was the first goal her boyfriend had scored with her in the building. 

The smile on her face was so bright watching him skate back to the bench for fist bumps and Gary stated simply that that put him in the lead for goals on the season. 

If they could just carry a one goal deficit into intermission that was at least something. 

And then the seniors came out on the ice and less than a minute after Taylor’s goal with fucking 15 seconds left in the period gave up another goal to extend BC’s lead back to 2. Immediately Kelsey deflated and cursed softly because of course it was the fucking seniors who had been shit all season when they were supposed to be leading the team. 

She was trying to be polite because she knew their families were possibly around but it was so hard when of the 3 goals against so far they had been on the ice for two of them. Downing the rest of her Truly during intermission, Kelsey found it hard to keep still. 

When halfway through the second they allowed a third goal against as a line, Kelsey waited for the next stoppage in play before excusing herself from their row, her body radiating anger as she made her way to the concourse. Her uncle should have fucking benched that line a period ago because they looked like absolute crap out there and yet Taylor was trying so hard to get something going for his team. It just wasn’t fair. And if she sat there for even one more minute she was going to snap at someone. 

It wasn’t long before Kelsey felt a warm hand brush against her shoulder as she paced in a small circle. 

“Are you okay?” Laura’s soft voice asked. 

“Do I look okay?” Kelsey asked, her voice breaking as anger turned to sadness at the realization that there was no way they were coming back from this deficit and Taylor’s season was about to be over. “Taylor is fucking trying to put this damn team on his back and get something going and the fucking seniors who are wearing the letters are just damn liabilities on the ice. The game would be fucking tied if they could play some damn defense.” Her voice lowered as she spoke and her legs started to shake as tears pooled in her eyes. 

After a moment, Laura’s arms wrapped around her pulling her into a hug and Kelsey sobbed softly. 

“T might make dumb decisions sometimes but it’s because he gives a damn about this team and is trying so hard.” She cried. “And there are nights it feels like no one else is. The leaders suck at leading and it’s so demoralizing to watch.” She mumbled into Laura’s shoulder, letting Taylor’s mom hold her until she was able to pull herself together. 

“Go clean up Kelsey.” Laura eventually directed, “And I’ll go get you another drink because I think you’re gonna need it to get through the third.” 

Kelsey didn’t have the energy to argue with that and she couldn’t deny that maybe a buzz would help numb some of the pain. So heading into the nearest women’s bathroom, Kelsey proceeded to clean up her makeup before heading back to the entrance to their section where Laura was waiting. 

Sinking into her seat, Kelsey took the can from Laura and watched the final few minutes of the period with slumped shoulders as she sipped at the alcohol. 

During second intermission, she pulled up some flashcards on her phone just needing to center her brain anywhere but here. She missed Laura and Gary’s shared look and mouthing of ‘she’s upset his line is the only one trying’ as she tried to mentally recite chemical reactions formulas. 

When the third period started, Kelsey put her phone away just in time to see Taylor’s line take the ice to start the period. Which was about damn time. She’d understood her uncle elevating the seniors to the first line for senior night but she could not understand why they’d been kept there when they really didn’t deserve it. 

And right away they got the puck deep into the offensive zone leading to an Ufko goal 20 seconds into the period. Though Kelsey knew it wouldn’t be enough at the same time it felt like a bit of a fuck you to her uncle because now he certainly wouldn’t be able to deny that Taylor’s line had been the best out there all night long. It was a moral victory, albeit a small one. 

Again, Umass could not feed off of scoring and instead let BC score once more, except this time it wasn’t the senior line. By the time Taylor took a penalty late in the third, that Kelsey wasn’t sure was even a penalty, she was beyond ready for the game to be over because that had been awful. 

As she followed Gary and Laura and realized that they were heading down toward the locker rooms with the rest of the families, Kelsey did her best to not look sad or stressed because she knew that wouldn’t help Taylor any. 

When he finally appeared in the hallway, Kelsey let his parents wrap him in hugs first before stepping forward to sink into his arms, his head immediately dipping into her shoulder. For the first time all day she felt herself relax and just held him close rubbing his back. 

“I love you Taylor.” She whispered in his ear. 

Watching their embrace, Laura and Gary made note of the way they melted into each other, providing each other with security and strength. 

Though Kelsey could have praised him for the way he played, she knew that he wouldn’t want to hear it and instead just pulled him into a soft kiss, their lips barely grazing yet sharing so much. 

Eventually he looked up at his parents while still wrapped around Kelsey. 

“Can I ride home with you guys?” He asked quietly. “Coach said he didn’t care if we went with our parents.” 

After ensuring that it definitely was okay for Taylor to ride home with them, they left the arena and headed back to the car, Kelsey and Taylor piling into the backseat. Kelsey started on the driver’s side with Taylor on the other but by the time they stopped for Raising Cane’s because Taylor could always eat and Laura and Gary suspected that Kelsey hadn’t eaten since at least lunch, Taylor had pulled her into the middle of the backseat under solely the lap buckle. 

Taylor, having ensured that Kelsey ate, wrapped himself around her as his dad drove them back to Amherst. Within twenty minutes after finishing eating, both Taylor and Kelsey were asleep, his right hand on her left hip, legs tangled around each other, her head on his shoulder while his rested on top of hers. 

“We’re not making them either sleep apart or cram into Taylor’s dorm bed are we?” Laura inquired of her husband. “Because it’s pretty obvious that he needs her as much as she needs him and while I’m sure they’ve spent nights squeezed into his single, his body deserves better rest than that after tonight.” 

“What do you propose?” Gary murmured, peeking into the backseat as well. “Getting them a hotel room for the night? Because I’m fairly sure that’s in the parenting don’t column.” 

“Gary.” Laura declared. “They’re adults. And I’m pretty sure they’re just going to crash but at least they’ll be able to do it comfortably. Plus you know how much trouble Taylor has sleeping sometimes. If it takes sharing a bed with Kelsey to get him to rest then so be it.” 

Waving a hand for her to call the hotel, Gary focused back on the road. 

“But we’re taking him to Costco to buy condoms tomorrow.” He murmured with his wife clearly on hold. Laura had no qualms about that because they should stock Taylor up on some things before they left anyway. 

Getting the front desk, Laura inquired about whether there were any rooms near theirs available before securing the one across the hall for Taylor and Kelsey to spend the night in once they got back to Amherst. 

As they approached campus, Laura reached back to gently shake Taylor awake to see if they needed to stop by his dorm for anything or if his overnight bag from Boston would be sufficient. Him stirring woke Kelsey as well and they both groaned softly. 

“We got you guys the hotel room across the hall so you can sleep more comfortably.” Gary declared. “Do we need to stop anywhere to get anything first? Kelsey, do you need to get a change of clothes or something?” 

Still half asleep Kelsey didn’t really follow the conversation so Taylor answered for her. 

“We’ll figure it out dad.” 

By the time Gary pulled into the underground lot at Hotel Umass, Kelsey was gathering herself and feeling confusion wash over her. 

“Come on Kels, we’re just going to go to bed.” Taylor assured her, helping her out of the car before wrapping an arm around her and pulling her against his side. As they headed for the elevator, his parents stopped at the front desk, grabbing the room key and a spare toothbrush, sliding them to Taylor as they rode up to the proper floor. 

Outside the rooms, Laura hugged Taylor’s free side and kissed his head and Gary patted his back. 

“Know tonight didn’t go how you wanted but we’re still proud of you.” Gary murmured. “And I know a certain someone is too.” He added, nodding at Kelsey as she leaned against Taylor’s other side looking completely exhausted. 

“We’re just across the hall if you need us T.” Laura murmured. 

Nodding, Taylor unlocked the door to the room he and Kelsey would be crashing in, and guided her inside, flipping on the bathroom light to provide just enough to move by. 

“Time for bed Kels.” He whispered, walking her back toward the king bed before untucking the covers. Pulling the hat off her head, Taylor lifted her sweater off her body and slipped her bra off after unclasping it leaving her in just a layering tank. “Tights off?” He asked and when she nodded, his hands slipped under the fabric pushing them down off her legs so she could kick them off. Then he lifted her up into the big bed before moving to secure the deadbolt, flip off the light, set an alarm for class tomorrow knowing she would kill him if she missed it, and strip down to his own boxer briefs before crawling in beside her

Despite having more than enough space for both of them, Taylor pulled Kelsey into his chest and held her close, letting the slow rise and fall of her chest lull him back to sleep after a shitty night that ended a shitty season.