#who would've thought phebes would get to use her football knowledge on me one day? not me

[landinrris]

omg i am so excited for your football au!!!! idk what it is but wag lando always hits different, and any fic with it instantly becomes a favorite of mine! and he does pottery!!!! artsy bf and sporty bf!!!! lando showing up to carlos’s games in his jersey!!! and the insta stuff you posted for the au it just seems like they r so in love!!! so happy and confident and proud of their love!!!!! and lando has 500k he is officially living the wag life style (unless he earned that thru his pottery, which in tht case respect 🫡 ,but fully committed wag lando so fun haha), idk anything concrete about this idea except for wag lando who does pottery, and football player carlos, so all my thoughts might be completely off base, but i am so excited to see what you come up with!!!!!! wishing u good vibes as you work on it, and in the rest of ur life too!!!!!

ahh thank you for your excitement! I'm excited too and hopefully it won't be too long of a wait since I have about three and a half weeks left of this hardcore academic project that's been taking up most of my time and energy. I am extremely casual in my football knowledge so @phebess is doing a lot of heavy lifting for my understanding about what's typically expected and what's outlandish. She laid the seed for Carlos playing for Brentford, so now I'm letting it grow into a hopefully beautiful plant.

But basically, the fic itself is going to be established relationship, so it opens with Lando and Carlos very much already together and having been for a few years. They're very much Best Friends in the eyes of the public, and for many fans, Lando's been at Carlos' side for a lot of his public career- always just been around. He's a staple at team events and most matches. They go on holidays and hang with each other's families, etc. (Naturally, there would be an online fan community for the two of them lmao) They met while Carlos' team was in the tier below the Premier League, so they got to learn how to be together with less attention paid to them.

At a point I won't disclose specifically because of plot reasons, after Carlos and his team get promoted, they do become public. Naturally, Lando's thrust more into the spotlight than he was by just being Carlos' friend and being a decently successful artist. Lando is good at what he does, but he's not naive enough to not think he has extra attention on his work because of the knock-on effects of being nearer to notoriety. They don't really do anything differently post-outing regarding social media or how they act in public, but Lando does notice that a lot more people want photos of him when he's at the matches. A pretty significant part of that is going to be because of what being out and queer and visible means to a lot of people. And to be as successful as Carlos and Lando both are is icing on the cake.

The fic isn't necessarily about them coming out, so no ground-breaking spoilers there. It's just a facet that they embrace. But there is lots of Lando being proud of Carlos and getting to share in his happiness and success while also being there for him when things inevitably don't stay amazing forever.