#probably bad opinions on hockey

[vantaesfairie]

𝔭𝔦𝔠𝔨 𝔞 𝔠𝔞𝔯𝔡 : 𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔬𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔫𝔢𝔵𝔱 𝔩𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔯

atlty’s tarot readings: art commissions, paid readings, spell ritual comms open!

choose a pile below:

part 1 of my christmas series!!!!

pile 1, reindeer friends with a cute snoot:

wow they could be quite rich! they could be from old money or enjoy spending daddy's / mommy's money.

they could be continuing a family's inheritance or legacy in their area of study or work.

they could enjoy nature or watch things grow.

they definitely put in long term strategies. they are probably good in investing money.

they have pretty good foresight. they could play a role of 'caregiver' a bit, like they will spoil you materially.

they could have a small waist regardless of gender, and tall.

they are a good negotiator and likes to make you smile.

they are someone who takes care of you deeply and wants to watch you prosper.

they want to steer you away from your bad troubles and only towards good days. they want to take away your pain.

you may meet them at a time of prosperous growth or when your life seems to be taking a turn to the next chapter.

pile 2, black cat in christmas lights:

they have a very strong energy, they could be a fire sign or enjoy gaming or group sports.

they are very assertive and tend to be more masculine.

they motivate others and you, and would literally fight off people to protect you.

they could feel challenged a lot, they may have trouble with their self worth, esteem, and ego.

they want to win arguments, they want you as their prize.

they could be blunt but quite persuasive. they could be good with words to make you happy or seduce you.

they would love to debate or banter playfully with you.

they could play sports that involve a stick, like hockey or polo.

they are very ambitious in their work with clear direction of where they want to go and achieve but lack proper emotional development.

they may need you to keep them in their lane sometimes with their bad days, but they would be so passionate with you.

pile 3, stag (james potter? should i start a hogwarts pac?):

they could be more soft and introverted than the rest of the piles here. they could have sadder eyes (in your opinion).

they could hurt people without knowing and suffer hollow victories.

they want to treat you like their forever lover with everything that they give you. they want you to glow and be a rainbow in their life.

they would be very attracted to you, you would be their type.

they could be blunt with words which they regret immediately after.

they see you as someone who can help heal them so they may come to you for comfort.

they could feel like an outcast in their peer crowds easily.

they run out of emotional energy quite quickly so you would help give them spiritual energy like a charger.

they would learn many emotional lessons from you. they never want to hurt you.

they could be avoidant when you two fight because of their nature to hurt people easily, but they want to always cherish you.

i hope you enjoyed this pac! please consider purchasing a paid reading by sliding into my dms. reblog and share if possible! i’d love to know if this resonates to you. thank you so much!

#witchblr #tarot #witchcraft #pac #tarotblr #pick a card #astrology #small business #divination #support #tarot readings #major arcana #cards #piles #free #paid

[recklessmark]

You stand nervously with your back pressed against the wall as the players trickle out of the exit. The audience starts screaming and chanting the name of the team they root for.

Two teams. Two rounds. One champion.

Your heart races faster as you see two figures finally skate out from behind the corridor. A small smile tugs your lips when Jeno stops where you’re standing, but it quickly falls as you realize Mark is with him, too. He has a sly smirk plastered on his face while Jeno’s clenching his jaw so hard you think he might break his teeth. There’s this feeling that has been setting you on edge since today’s morning, and judging by the look on their faces, your intuition is true.

Jeno sets his hockey stick down, letting it lean against the wall. His helmet is hold against his hip.

“Hey, what’s wrong babe?” You ask him worriedly.

But before he could muster an answer, Mark chimes in. “Well I might have started a bet and your boyfriend is being a pussy about it.”

When your eyes fall on Mark, he’s having his stick parked across his shoulder, his other hand holding his helmet. As much as you want to deny it, Mark looks smoking hot in his hockey gear and that infuriating smirk on his face doesn’t help calming the frantic beats of your heart either.

“Watch your fucking mouth,” Jeno almost growls as he suddenly swivels on his skates and gets into Mark’s face.

The older doesn’t back down, instead he even leans in further, dark eyes staring at Jeno’s. “You’re just scared you’re gonna lose.”

Your eyes widen at the sight of these two men. They’re always like this whenever they have a match against each other. But this time, it seems the thin line that separates them from setting off a shitstorm has been crossed. Thoughtlessly, you jump in between them, both of your hands gripping their biceps.

“Are you done? The game is beginning in a few minutes and you guys are here acting like goddamn kids fighting for their toys.”

Both of them stare at you for a beat on silence before you notice Jeno’s eyes focus on where you’re holding Mark’s bicep. Panicked, you jerk your hand away at the same time Jeno pulls you into his arms. Roughly, he pushes you against the wall and catches your lips with a vicious kiss. You gasp, your eyes widen in surprise. The intense gaze of Mark, which is probably magnetic, catches yours and you’re unable to look away or close your eyes. Your skin crawls, not from how roughly Jeno’s kissing you, but from the way Mark’s watching you. It’s like he’s a predator, and you’re the little targeted prey.

Only when you feel your lungs are screaming for oxygen, does Jeno release you. Your jaw mildly aches from how he was holding your face. Then he turns to Mark, licking his lips with a vicious grin.

“I’m not gonna lose, motherfucker.”

“He better not,” Mark tells you, eyes never leave yours. “Because if he does, I’ll have no choice but to ruin you for everyone else, including him.” He let loose a sinister smile. “I’m curious how sweet Jeno Lee’s girlfriend tastes.”

It then dawns on you what kind of bet they’re having and how bad their rivalry has escalated. The fact that they didn’t even include you or your opinion in their fucked-up arrangement actually makes you feel like a small toy in their hands. And you don’t exactly hate that, instead you’re glad that your heart hasn’t jumped out of your ribs from how excited you are.

“And please give an applause to our captains, Jeno Lee and Mark Lee!”

Not even bothered to put on their helmets, both of them strut onto the arena like Gods. You press a hand against your chest, unable to decide whether you want your boyfriend to win or not. If they’re crazy, you must be beyond insane.

a/n: i just can’t get those pictures out of my head 😭

#mark lee smut #mark smut #nct smut #mark scenarios #jeno smut #jeno scenarios

[jeynearrynofthevale]

Just watched the Connor McDavid: Whatever it Takes documentary and my main takeaway is that he’s insane but here are a bunch of random notes and pics:

““If it was up to my mom, we probably would’ve been a skiing family”

The drive, that’s who he is, he’s always been that way, since he was probably 3 or 4, he refused to let his parents help him get dressed and he would carry his bag everywhere, the bag was bigger than he was

“He’s intense and he’s competitive”

Bobby Orr said when he was 15 that he was gonna be the greatest skater to ever play

Tracy Wilson: Olympian and skating coach “what I love about Connor is it’s all about power, doesn’t matter how it looks, it’s about getting there”

Kassian “we haven’t seen a player like that in the game in maybe forever”

McDavid “at the end of the day, you’re still playing an nhl game, but that’s not much to hang your hat on” in reference to being out of the playoffs

“Right on the post square and I just felt the pain right away, thought I’d just broken my leg into a couple pieces”

They keep replaying him going into the net at top speed and it’s fucking horrible to watch

He whispered to me “I think it’s broke”- Kassian

“I was having flashbacks to Stamkos’s energy and I know stammer really well”

Stamkos texted therapist: “did he break his tibia?”

“If I could do it all over again, you’d like to take it back”- giordano

Team physical therapist asked if he could move his leg and told him he could either try to get up or call the gurney. Connor said “no, no, no” and stood up even though he was worried and thought his leg was going to give out”

“I held it together until we got though the tunnel and then I was just a mess” it took them 10 minutes to get back to the room

He said “stop, just give me a second”

3 guys had to hold him up the way back

Lauren “it was really hard when he called me, he just said “I think I broke my leg””

Brian “he was really upset and in pain, as a parent it’s hard”

Kelly: “it’s the worst thing in the world”

“Maybe in hindsight it would’ve been better if it was broken”

Never realized the infamous scene where Leon squeezes Connor in the hallway is from this.

Grade 2 strain of his pcl

“Hey dad, just want you to know I’m going for a second opinion in Colorado Springs”

Doctor told him it was a full pcl tear where tears on bth sides of his miniscus, “tore the popliteus right of the bone”

Full reconstruction of the knee, pcl, and popliteus would require a year recovery, doctor said he needed to do it asap, within a few day

“He was distraught, very, very under described”

His mom wanted him to have the surgery

Surgical intervention is to give it stability back

Had to make decision in 48hrs about whether or not to operate.

“He was very emotional and it was very difficult for him to talk.”

3rd opinion in LA: 2nd doctor is right about the issues but thinks the surgery is risky and doesn’t believe in it, wants to try to rehab it

Had to make that decision at 22 in 24 hours

Pcl cut right in half, back of knee joint completely torn, popliteus also completely torn, lateral and medial meniscus are both torn, crack in front of tibia from where he hit the post

“Hockey is my life”

He wanted to hear that he didn’t need surgery

His rehab guy literally lived with him

7 days a week, 10 hrs a day

50% chance to get him maybe skating again by end of summer

He was in a hyperbaric chamber daily for 40 days, 2 hours at a time

Claustrophobic in a literal tube

“At one point, doctor cleared him to flex his quad muscle”

They had to keep the injury as secret as possible, didn’t tell Ken Holland how bad it was

He would call his mom right after every mri appointment

He was in the pool all the time working on his knee

While rehabbing, his core specialist was like “might as well work on everything while we’re stuck here” and they worked on his core, pelvic floor, rotational movement, spine, everything

Gymnastics coach also helped

Didn’t want him to skate till September

He went on the ice with just his dad on his doc’s recommendation before September

He was so happy to be back on the ice with his father, completely changed emotionally that day

You can really see how much he loves just skating

He was so happy to know that even if he couldn’t fully heal he could still go on with the brace and skate

He’s so smooth in these skating exercises while in an insane brace

“One thing to be out there playing the game but another to do it at the level he was capable of”

Tracy Wilson did in their own words “edging” with him for afternoons, taking him through all sorts of movements and exercises without his brace

Opening night started to look like a possibility

He wanted to be there for training camp

He decided not to participate in biosteel

He wanted to play in all 7 exhibition games even though most veterans only did 4

“Like my first game all over again”

Seeing him on opening night was incredible for his training people

Okay, seeing the canucks slashing at him and shoving him into the boards in the home opener is now making me so protective

“He willed himself back”

#Connor McDavid #97 #hockey #oilers #Edmonton oilers #McDavid #cmd #mcjesus

[hopetorun]

i'd love to hear your beliefs about the tension in their relationship because i'm a very nosy bitch but obviously only if you feel like it!

lol well i did offer! beliefs is a strong word, tbh. more of a like ... is this stuff true? i don't know. but if i were writing a story where i wanted to have tension in that relationship, these are the places i would be inclined to introduce that tension. maybe there is tension in some of these places in real life! that's none of my beeswax.*

anyway: some places i think it is plausible that there's tension in the relationship, or at least plausible enough to play with in fiction. receipts on these where i can find them, sorry if they're paywalled but them's the breaks.

*unless they make it part of their public narrative

back in 2022 matthew was on the athletic hockey podcast and he talked about feeling "like a babysitter" when keith visits and how much keith enjoys being one of the guys. now mostly i think they probably have a pretty good time, but babysitter is a word choice there. i don't think it's a stretch to imagine that having your retired dad show up at your workplace and becoming the life of the party to relive his glory days could be ... trying.

not to beat around the bush but they're both opinionated guys! opinionated and chatty! and as a result you get: keith slamming the panthers on the radio. matthew sticking his nose into brady's contract negotiations (brady being grimace emoji about it). like, we know for a fact that the radio thing bothered matthew! and there's plenty of opportunities for one or both of them to offer unsolicited opinions that don't go over well.

to the previous point: i considered not including that because it's not as speculative as the others on the list. but it's definitely something i'd draw on if i was writing a story where their relationship is tense.

look, i'm not a man and not only am i not a man but i don't have any brothers and my dad died four and a half years ago and he never talked about his dad. so i can't claim to be an expert on the fathers-and-sons relationship dynamic. but why would i let that stop me from speculating wildly!

anyway: legacies. oldest sons. expectations. @ohtemporas touched on this briefly earlier, the way there's often an extra pressure on the oldest kid to be the same-gender-parent's legacy. do what i did. represent me well in the world. and i don't think it's even particularly weird for that to potentially lead to some conflicting feelings if all that legacy building leads to you being surpassed in some way. that's just human! especially for competitive people, and as i have said on this website before: no one becomes a professional athlete without being competitive.

here's keith being presented with matthew's 99th point puck from the 21-22 season, which his then-teammate did up with the writing for this specific purpose. chantal thinks this is SO funny. do think maybe being conflicted about being surpassed makes him not proud of matthew? no. but people can be complicated.

speaking of people being complicated: that one post-game after matthew scored 5 points on the blues. i think the tension between keith wanting his own team's success and wanting his sons' success isn't something people were making up out of whole cloth. but maybe it was especially noticeable when matthew was still in the western conference? i feel like it got dialed back after the trade. lol.

i'm mentioning it only because otherwise someone else might: i don't care about the hat thing. i think it's silly. if i was asked to throw my favorite hat onto the ice at an nhl game just because some schlub scored three goals i probably wouldn't.

a few concluding thoughts

i don't think any of this means they have a bad relationship! mostly i think that no two people have a perfect relationship where they agree on everything and never butt into each other's business uninvited and never hurt each other's feelings, because that's impossible.

i'm not making some counterpoint list of all the reasons i think they love each other. someone else can. i don't think having high expectations of someone means you hate them and i don't think anyone spends their time and money following their son's hockey team around the country on a road trip hoping to see him score his 100th point out of hatred or spite.

maybe i'm wrong about all of this and they've hated each other since 2002 and someday we'll get a tell-all story and people can come into my ask box or whatever and tell me how wrong i was. i don't care. all rpf characterization is fake. i watched keith froth at the mouth in the stands at the 2016 wjc every time someone so much as breathed on matthew, though, so i don't think i'm wrong.

#ask maggie #matthew tkachuk

[prodbyblush]

mitsuki mario aka Rao as bfie pleasee 😭💖

dating rao

ｎｏｗ ｌｏａｄｉｎｇ …

▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 100%

ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ!

・❥・requested

an: contains spoilers for the worst cross. read with discretion.

→ fem!reader

• with his well built and muscular figure, i say good luck in escaping from his arms during cuddle sessions. • most especially when you woke up first and you want to get out of the bed. even just one lift of your muscle, rao's eyes will immediately flutter open and you're being scooped back to bed. • house husband rao!!! but that's saved for another headcanon yes. • always has an arm around your shoulders or waist, but mostly around your waist! • prior to dating, he talks to Mercy a lot about you - gushing about how pretty you looked today with a new hairstyle or how pretty you looked smiling while with friends. • takes you to the orphanage of where he grew up and fondly recalls some of the memories. • not only is he very protective around children, he's very much protective around you as well. if anything, he detests violence and doesn't want you getting mixed up with suzuran's or his factions business. • not in the mood to workout with him? it's fine! he'll use you as his weights when exercising - cling on his back or have you underneath him when doing push ups, have you stand above his head when lifting weights and all! • he loves physical dates because it allows him to show you how strong he can be. like going out for a bowling and air hockey! • given his cold nature, he gives off as intimidating to others but he's a puppy through and through with you! fights are very rare and avoids conflict at all costs! but if disagreement arises between you two, then he'll try and understand where you're coming from. • doesn't get jealous too often. he trusts you and he trusts that no one from his faction will do anything bad or funny to you. but if anyone else in suzuran were to make a move on you, you best believe that he'll grab them by the back of their head and toss them away from your sight. • i honestly cannot help but say that rao is going to become a great and proper dad figure to his kid. as someone who's been abandoned the moment he is born, he'll never let his child / children feel like they aren't loved by him. • whatever ever he does, he always asks for your opinion. it could be asking you which between going to the city or to the countryside would you prefer when going on vacation, which ice cream flavor do you like best or do you prefer bathing with cold water or hot water. it also helps him get to know you more a little deeper in a sense! • has a whole album gallery of you on his phone. doesn't let anyone in on it. • his favorite spot to kiss you? the top of your head! have i mentioned it's because given his tall stature and he can't help but find your small height as cute size? now you know! • will never let you be the big spoon. • a dom. is very gentle and makes sure to put your needs on top of his. • calls you "baby", "babe" or "bunny". • prior to dating you, he doesn't have any dating experience. but he makes it a goal to always make sure you're happy and comfortable with him. • would probably be the first to say ily!

#high&low #high and low #suzuran #misaki mario #rao #suzuran rao #rao x reader #rao headcanons #high&low headcanons #high&low x reader #high and low headcanons #high and low x reader

[blusical]

Problematic Players and You

(PT: Problematic Players and You)

Trigger Warning: This post discusses several triggering or otherwise sensitive topics, including, but not limited to, abuse sexual assault, bigotry, and violence. Reader discretion is advised. Additional Disclaimer: This is not a post defending the actions of athletes mentioned *nor* is it an attack on said athletes (or their fans!). This is about dealing with serious events involving players as a whole.

Have you ever woke up one day and found out that your favorite race car driver said some not-so savory things? Have you ever checked the news one day and found out a hockey player you love was accused of rape? Are you a new sports fan who did research on an athlete you like only to find out they're a straight up creep? And have you ever asked yourself: “Where the hell do I go from here?” when it comes to merch you’ve already bought or the amount of gifsets you’ve made for them? Well, you’ve come to the right post! Because let’s face it, we’ve (probably) all been there, done that and got the t-shirt (Err, jersey). 

First off, what defines a problematic player?

Well... there's not really a set definition. Everyone has a different idea of what's 'problematic' and what isn't. However, there are some deeds that athletes do that are... kind of ick, so any of the following could make them be considered very problematic:

-Bigotry (ex. Racism, homophobia). -Cheating (as in cheating on your spouses. Not cheating as in using PEDs even though that too is also kinda trashy). -Abuse, sexual assault, etc. -Questionable/not so great political opinions.

And then there’s athletes who’ve been involved in so many off-ice controversies and allegations that it’s reached a point where regardless of how many are true or not, and no matter how much new information is revealed, they won’t be well liked by fans (Patrick Kane, anyone?). Okay, but why do athletes do this crap in the first place?

Well... there's a couple theories on why some do these things.

Sometimes mental and environmental factors can influence an athlete’s decision making. Say, if an athlete was abused by a coach when they were young, that might factor into any actions, good or bad, a player makes in the future. In cases of bigoted opinions, athletes are raised to have such opinions.

Age can also play a factor into a player’s actions. The younger they are, the more likely they’re going to do stupid shit (Or so I've noticed, please correct me if I'm wrong lmfao). Again. The theories are limitless. However most of the time athletes do these things because... they chose to do that. And a part of that is being because sports culture. Yeah. Sports culture sucks. Who would've known?

So do problematic athletes... stay problematic forever?

Well, yes and no.

As much as our first instinct is to “cancel” said athletes and pressure them to take accountability, we should also give them a chance to grow when they do take accountability instead of pushing the issue further.

However, that also depends on if they chose to grow. Hell, it depends if they even admit to making a mistake or admitting to guilt at all (which is, unfortunately, very impressive in a society like this). If they don’t.. Well, that’s their choice. Best we can do as fans beyond that point is just spread awareness. Remember: 99% of the time celebs won't listen to their fans. Some will. But do not expect your favorite to do the right thing. You will be disappointed. Another thing to keep in mind is that even if changes to character are made, people (us included) will still probably continue to view them differently for a while. As much as we’d like to put the past behind us, that just isn’t easy. (And besides, in the long term this is probably a good thing, since as fans it’s not our place to forgive; that’s up to the people affected). Actually while we’re at it..

Help! What should I do when an athlete (including my favorite) gets into controversy?

It’s always stressful (and sad) when an athlete you’ve admired and looked up to is eventually outed as a terrible person. It’s even more stressful when you’re a newer fan to sports and you just find out about said problematic deeds.

Well, first thing's first: process your emotions, and feelings. And once you're done crying, screaming, whatever action you're doing to process your feelings, spread awareness if you feel comfortable enough doing so. When spreading awareness though: DO RESEARCH AND ONLY SHARE RELIABLE SOURCES. Unfortunately serious allegations almost always have misinformation popping out. Hell, sometimes "allegations" may just be someone causing trouble on the internet (Corey Perry situation, anyone?). If the source is from a random Twitter user (that doesn't work in journalism), or the source is from a site like Deadspin and/or TMZ or any other site that has a history of clickbait, odds are, it's best to take it with a grain of salt. Team fansites (like RMNB, a Caps site) are also not always reliable, so take caution when reading through them as well.

It's better to stick with actually known sources like ESPN, Bleacher Report or a journalist like Elliotte Friedman. Rick Westhead and Katie Strang are really good journalists when it comes to issues relating to hockey. Additionally, do not expect to know *all* the information. Do not demand all information to come out. Sometimes not everything can be shared for legal reasons. Be patient and wait for everything to come out. And even then, don't expect it to be everything that happened (because again, legal reasons). Also, don't expect other people to talk about the incident in question! Do not guilt others into discussing it, do not force others to post about it. Focus on what you can do before focusing on what others can do! After most information (if not all of it), it's up to you to come to your own conclusions. Lastly, regardless of what your decision is, whether you decide to stop supporting them or you choose to believe they did nothing wrong (for any reason), but you're stuck on what to do anyway... Well... and this is probably anticlimactic I know, what to do is... up to you!

Internet wise, your internet space is your space! Your Tumblr blog is your blog! If you wanna stop posting about that player and also delete every single mention of said player outside of spreading awareness? Great! That’s your choice! Wanna keep said posts up but tag them and/or add a disclaimer! Also great! Wanna keep posting them or writing fics about them? Completely fine! Just tag it accordingly and keep in mind why these folks may not like said players. And *please* continue to be critical of said players when they do something wrong. Your favorite is not immune to criticism.

(In other words, yes Hawks fans, you’re allowed to post your Kane gifs and 1988 fics. Just tag it accordingly. And just know that people *will* probably judge you for it).

One thing you should not do however: DO NOT CENSOR NAMES. This fucks with filters and screenreaders (More in-depth post on this here!).

And because apparently this still needs to be said, don’t wish injury or death on the players and for the love of Wayne Gretzky don’t fucking send harassment to their families (seriously why do people do this fucking garbage holy fuck).

Secondly, don’t buy their jerseys or other merchandise from official sites! They will profit off that. If you've already brought it, don't just throw it out. Instead, leave it in storage, sell it or, if you're good at tailoring, try making something new out of it! Additionally (especially in cases of rape, violence, etc), SUPPORT THE VICTIMS INVOLVED. They need it the most.

What about the folks that continue to support said athletes?

If someone continues to post an athlete that’s done not great things, it’s tempting to educate them and tell them (which, if you’re going to do so, please tell them gently and not yell at them, especially if they’re a newer or younger fan who has zero clue what’s going on) But if they already know (which odds are they probably do unless they’re a newer fan), and/or they refuse to stop posting about them after being told, the best plan of action is to just… leave them alone. Just leave them be. Do not bother them further. Do not harass them. Do not send them threats. And for goodness gracious don’t make a callout post or blocklist of every single supporter of said athlete.

(Seriously attempting to make a long blocklist never ends well, especially since half the time the users on said blocklist turn out to be literal children).

That said though, if your friends/mutuals are actively defending bigoted comments and/or making statements that borderline towards abuse apologism, it’s not a bad idea to hold them accountable in a private setting. Yes I said private setting because most drama can be avoided with a private DM. But other than that... someone still writes 1988 fic? Leave them be! Someone still makes gifsets of Alex Ovechkin? Leave them be! Hell, someone still talks about the Staals? Just leave them be! The best course of action is to… just use the block button and/or filter posts accordingly. That’s literally it lmfao.

But why do people continue to support these athletes anyway?

Well it all comes down to the following: A. They have trouble grappling with the fact that they are, in fact, problematic. B. They’re Neurodivergent (especially autistic or individuals with ADHD), or struggling IRL, and kinda rely on those people to function or get through the day. 

C. Detaching yourself from a problematic figure is… really easier said than done. It is not easy at all lmfao. D. They're refuse to listen to info. E. They genuinely have no clue what's going on. Either way. Don't judge too harshly. Not everyone can just stop supporting a person/media and guess what? It's not as easy as 99% of Tumblr dot com thinks. Not everyone can just stop enjoying/liking something. And guess what? That's actually O-KAY. Last thing to know.

Lastly, you, yourself, *could* probably be supporting a problematic player right now! And you would never know until much later! At the end of the day, 99% of athletes have done problematic things one way or another. And honestly, if we tried to get rid of every problematic person... there probably wouldn't be any people left on Earth at all. Yeah, some actions are more shittier than ever, but trying to make everything "unproblematic"... is never going to work no matter how you look at it, and that is OKAY.

Remember the most important rule (stolen from someone on discord with the second edited by me!):

Now get out there and cheer for whatever player you'd like.

(Special thanks to @hard4softthings @saucerfulofsins @tapejob @youneedtolookatthis @restingbuchface @bedardconnor and a bunch of other folks for providing most of the advice/info/tips for this post!)

#post later #hockey culture #hockeyblr #hockey #sports #nhl #pwhl #women's hockey #men's hockey #ask to tag #id in alt #was going to post this tomorrow but considering recent events i feel like it's important for folks to know this #especially since this affects a lot of people #(and as always critique/corrections welcome!) #long post #problematic athletes

[theemporium]

i wanted to gatekeep but honestly a lot of hockey books suck to us hockey fans because the authors just don't get it but here's some with opinions:

vancouver storm series by stepanie archer (2 books so far) - readable, not super believable but not off putting

sidelined love by emery paige - would not recommend if you're looking for anything beside brainless filler, very surface level everything

vancouver agitators series by meghan quinn (4 books so far) - started okay but got worse, was looking forward to the 4th book so well and it ended up being so bad

jacksonville rays by emily rath (2 books, 3 novellas so far) - this series could have been so much shorter, can be summed up with "there was an attempt", i don't like saying this word but jesus there was so much cringe

playing for keeps by becka mack (3 books so far) - probably the highest rated series so far which is to say something because this wasn't a good series, so many pages yet so forgettable

mile high by liz tomforde (3 books in the series so far, only one hockey book) - solid reads but not must reads iykwim, like you probably won't regret it if you read it but the folks saying you have to are exaggerating, wait now that i think about it most hockey books are worse so yeah go for it it's good

elle kennedy (problematic author but honestly sometimes you just gotta)

off campus (5 books) - the OGs, read the first 4 books twice, their iconic-ness makes up for the flaws which there are but yolo, book 5 the legacy was a cute idea that could have been better executed

briar u (4 books) - not as good as off campus but i just checked and i rated them higher? why? eh whatever, no matter what people say you have to read this before the legacy to understand all the cameos and jokes

campus diaries (1 or 2 books so far) - a worthy continuation so far that hopefully won't disappoint because i just want more hockey books

brother puckers series by kayla grosse (2 novellas so far) - skip, skip, skip, can this even count the first one has no real hockey just a hockey agent twin brother of a player, could have been a wonderfully kinky book if it hadn't done literally everything wrong

totally pucked series by maren moore (6 books so far + 2 standalones) - they're all connected but there was no info on when the standalones fit in and overall it's just a mess and not a a fun mess just like messy all around, very heavy on calling women puckbunnies for no reason i think this author needs to talk to somebody about her biases tbh

off the ice series by bal khabra (1 book so far) - starts out eerily similiar to icebreaker but like... if it was good, very good alternative

d.c. eagles hockey series by leah brunner (2 or 3 books so far, 1 novella) - not super terrible but also just one of those books that you pick up because you can't find anything else and you don't feel anything about them afterwards like okay moving on

maple hills series by hannah grace (2 books so far) - i did not hate it, did i like it? uhm... next question

same time next year by tessa bailey - tessa bailey saw everybody on booktok thirsting over hockey players and thought "oh i can make some money with this", i don't think she googled even a singular thing for this, inaccurate as fuck

mendell hawks series by deanna grey (2 books so far) - very underrated series that deserves more love, good quick reads with likable characters and great friendships

ooooh thank you for sharing!!

#cece answers

[astrologys-the-life]

My Astrology observations: Aries edition

Every Aries sun express themselves very differently and they don’t have as many consistent themes compared to other signs. That is because they often have very strong interests or hobbies, each individual will have different likes , hobbies or interests. Therefore, depending on what they like, those topics will be emphasized.

For example there might be an Aries who likes hockey and another Aries who enjoys cooking. The One who likes hockey will emphasize that as a part of their personality by wearing sports jerseys everyday and often going to games multiple times within a week. On the other hand the aries who enjoys cooking might enjoy partaking in cooking competitions and watching cooking shows every night. Although they are very different personalities, they both strongly show off their interests. Which is why it is harder to find consistent themes with Aries suns since each one has different interests.

Overall Aries suns are very high energy, social people who can make long lasting genuine connections. They do have a tendency to be immature or childish when they are around loved ones, they aren’t childish in a toxic way, but more in a competitive way. Meaning they might want everything their friends have, or may get jealous if they didn’t get something their siblings have. This is often because Aries wants to feel special and important, because the people in their lives mean a lot to them. They sometimes need extra validation or attention from the people they love, the people in their lives mean everything to Aries and they will always make sure to have their back. If you’re looking for loyalty, then Aries would be your perfect match.

Aries moons are one of the most common placements I’ve experienced within my lifetime as I’ve probably had more than 10+ long term friendships with Aries moons.

Aries moons have a dominating energy about them, this type of energy isn’t everyone’s cup of tea which can cause issues within their personal relationships, whether family, friend, romantic. This is something that Aries moons will get better with accepting over time. Aries moons often take a long time to mature and develop due to selfishness & immature thinking. When underdeveloped they often have bad attitudes towards the people that love them, they may also expect prince/princess treatment from loved ones leading them to have a spoiled/rotten way of seeing things. They also are extremely volatile if they do not get their way, they will stoop extremely low and expect no consequences for their actions as well. If there are consequences to their actions they often times can not handle the reciprocated energy. They may have a tendency to bully the people in their lives if it means they will get what they want, and aren’t afraid to step on others to get their way. They have a harder time with expressing sadness or deeper emotions which leads to a lot of anger being expressed especially through teenage years.

A developed Aries moon is much different than an underdeveloped Aries moon. They are the life of the party, they can make even the most mundane tasks a bunch of fun. They are risk takers who push beyond their boundaries and the boundaries of others who are capable of evolving themselves to higher levels of life, money, experiences. They also are the most honest friend you’ll ever find, they’ll make sure to tell you if your breath stinks or if your hairs a mess. They don’t mind giving a little tough love, which is such a fresh of breath air. They are very open about what their thoughts and opinions are, so you will always know where they stand. No questioning with them. They enjoy close friendships and prioritize their friends, they love going on adventures with their friends whether it’s to the beach, the pool, a party, or the park they always make sure to have a good time and love making the most out of their memories. They are reliable and creative people full of lots of love. They will always stand up for their friends, and make sure to protect them if it’s ever needed, However, since Aries moons take longer to develop they may not reach this point of healthy development until much later in their lives, usually around their late 20’s or early 30’s.

Having an Aries mars is a blessing as long as the energy is used correctly, Aries mars is such a strong placement that it needs a healthy outlet or else it can be self destructive. Aries mars needs to channel their energy into energizing activities that require physical movement that will benefit them such as weight lifting, dancing, cooking, sports, etc. they need these healthy outlets because they have large quantities of energy with good stamina that must be burned off, especially since not everyone can keep up with such high energy. If not channels in a healthy way this can lead to them being annoyed easily by others, creating unnecessary arguments, starting fights for fun, because there is so much strong energy that isn’t being used properly it will linger around and cause unnecessary harm to others. Aries mars can go very far since they don’t burn out easily, this can get them very ahead in whichever area of life that they want to put their all into. Anything is possible with this placement. As long as their hotheadedness doesn’t get in the way, if an Aries mars is ever mad it’s definitely intense but it will leave just as quickly as it came so don’t expect people with this placement to hold grudges over silly things. However, if you made a huge mistake with an Aries mars they will declare war and they won’t be backing down until they feel justified.

Aries mercuries are hard to come across, they enjoy talking with many different types of people. They are very straightforward with their thinking and mostly see things black or white. They don’t think much of the consequences of their words so don’t be surprised if they accidentally hurt your feelings. Don’t expect much of an apology either because they mean what they say. They are good conversationalist and the convos are never dry with them. Lots of fun, lots of laughs.

Anyone with an Aries Venus may struggle within their personal relationships, family, friends and romantic relationships because they always make sure to put themselves first. Although prioritizing yourself isn’t a bad thing, but when it comes to identifying other peoples wants and needs they may choose to ignore the other persons needs/wants/ expectations from the relationship since they are so focused on themselves. They may feel as if they don’t owe the other person anything, and that the other person shouldn’t expect anything from them. They have a bad tendency to prioritize themselves over their relationships/friendships. This is often due to fear of true intimacy, being intimate and close with others may be scary and uncomfortable for them so they’d rather avoid it all together by making sure to focus on themselves. Whatever relationships they choose to have with others will force them to face themselves in ways they may not want to, so the relationships may not be long lasting. They may prefer surface level relationships that don’t dive too deep. If they choose to get over these fears they make very protective loyal and loving partners who would move mountains for your happiness, however this may take quite sometime as it really depends on what level of comfortability they are within themselves.

Aries risings are very lucky people, all areas of life for them tend to be easier in various ways. They may have been born with a talent, born with wealth, born with beauty, whatever it is they can have easy lives if they choose. Depending on their character this can make them really lazy since life is easier for them, it can cause lazy tendencies. If used positively they can make quite an impact on the world and do something really big with their lives. An example of an Aries rising would be Rihanna, she made a huge impact on the makeup industry by adding diversity for various shades of makeup skintones from dark to light changing the makeup industry forever by making it more inclusive. Overall Aries risings hold quite some power!

Please keep in mind these are my observations based off of my personal experience. Everyone is different ant these may not apply to you. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post :)

#aries #astrology #aries sun #aries moon #aries mars #aries mercury #aries venus #astrology observations #astrology side of tumblr #astrological signs #zodiac sign #zodiac #astrology signs #aries rising

[astronicht]

whumptober day 2: thermometer

hockey rpf | nolan/travis | canoe tripping AU | 2.3k, rated T

Nolan used to work as a promotional contractor for a snowmobile company, one of the big ones. He’d spend all winter taking executives and investors out on three-day snowmobile trips in Colorado and Utah and BC, and then all summer at home with his mom watching Deadliest Catch and Treehouse Masters. Sometimes they ate weed gummies and Nolan gave his opinion on Pinterest boards.

His point was, no matter what his buddies who are hunting guides or fancy whitewater kayakers or Montana Forest Service think, taking a bunch of strangers with little to no winter wilderness survival experience who can’t be outright insulted or bossed around is pretty fucking dangerous. As such, Nolan is not going to get in trouble in the fucking eastern provinces. This is Ontario, for fuck’s sake.

He’s soloing his buddy’s nice Swift canoe with a little one-person tent and the sausage jerky his mom freeze-dried, also courtesy of pinterest somehow, and some rice and stuff. No gun because he’s in a Provincial Park for most of it, and the only people who can hunt here are the nation down at Golden Lake, and then usually only when the government asks them to do some culling the wolves haven’t managed over the winter.

He’s already thrown up the sausage jerky, but it took him half a day to realize it wasn’t just queasiness but a fever — probably, he has no way to tell. Nolan just has the shakes and a sharp pain in his abdomen, the bad-news kind, which meant a kind that Nolan was not already used to from his job before the snowmobile thing. It had started at his naval but moved right towards his hip, deep in his gut. He’s trying to remember which side your appendix is on.

Midafternoon in September is golden-green on the lake, which is called Otter Slide, and it’s cool and beautiful. The lake is all black water under the tree line, but swallowing the sky further out. Nolan remembers being young on the lake back home, watching boys in the shallows, watching girls pick up leeches on sticks and put them on logs, everyone’s jeans rolled up. He feels really bad. Even his sweat smells wrong. He was supposed to paddle westwards today, do an easy but long red-line portage, get further away from people.

He focuses. In the park Nolan dutifully gets campsite permits and camps in the marked spots, though not usually the actual site where he booked, so he knows there are a few other sites on the lake, marked from the water with an orange sign on a tree. They were all empty last night, Nolan gloriously alone on Otter Slide until the pain started, sudden and sharp. He hates pain that comes from nothing; he’d rather tear his rotator cuff again than get the weird senseless shit.

Someone appears on the lake: a speck of a red canoe coming from the eastern portages. Shit, he hopes they’re not booked at this campsite tonight, but they glide on to a campsite on the peninsula which earlier in the season would’ve been covered in blueberries. Maybe if Nolan ate blueberries instead of jerky he’d be okay.

It’s a man he thinks, though he can’t be sure. It’s someone who can solo a canoe just fine, which is a nice change from the paddling Nolan saw near the Outfitters on Opeongo. Nolan thinks his Otter Slide neighbor maybe looks his way, sees the Swift canoe bobbing where Nolan didn’t even haul it out last night, already feeling kind of shitty. The neighbor brings a pack up and then comes back down for the canoe, flips it expertly, walks it on his shoulders up the incline. He is not wearing a shirt. So, there, it’s not like Nolan is even fully alone. It’s midday, it’s a mild September, frost not coming for another week. Still. He’s not stupid about being in the bush. If he’s not feeling better in the morning, he’ll fucking pack out to the nearest highway.

It’s about 6PM when he wakes up scared. He thinks he can’t breathe in the tent but then it’s cold outside, gloomy under the trees but still day on the lake, sky blue-pink pastels, water welcoming black with ripples like fish scales picking up the bright dusk. Either there is something really wrong in his gut or something really bad in the fancy dried meat. Maybe they fucked it up somehow. Nolan’s mom’s friend helped. What if she fucked it up somehow. He thinks about blueberries again.

Around 6:40 the sky isn’t lighter and it’s not getting better and he realizes he’s been hunched and shivering on the dirt outside his tent, where it’s safe to wretch, for forty-five minutes that have slipped away like nothing. Okay, alright. He’s not thinking about anything, really, it’s some little animal part of him that scuttles bent-over down the smooth glacial stone towards the water. It’s good that the Swift is already in the water. He can just crawl in, an animal with something terribly wrong inside it going to its burrow. It fits around him. The water rocks.

A voice says, “Howdy,” warily. Someone’s put their bright headlamp on even though the sky is still golden pink over the lake and it’s right in Nolan’s eyes. He shuts them. He’s in his boat, for some reason, curled around his abdomen. He doesn’t know how he paddled; he’s sitting in the stern of the canoe but up by the thwart, which isn’t right at all for soloing. This guy is going to think he is so stupid. “You’re the guy in the Swift from across the way, huh?”

It’s a man’s voice, talking slow and deliberate. “You got a problem?” the guy asks carefully, but like he’s going to handle Nolan however Nolan needs to be handled. Nolan wants to laugh.

“I think,” Nolan says, trying to also be cool and deliberate. He can’t really breathe deeply anymore or the pain will make him throw up again though. “I think…” he looks up into the glaring headlight. “Someone poisoned my beef jerky. Or my appendix is doing bad.”

“Aw shit,” says the guy, and gets him out of the canoe and into a tent, a process which means Nolan nearly pukes on the guy’s books twice. He’s got a shirt on now, the guy. It smells like sweat and campfire, which is not a nice smell, but it’s exactly like Nolan smells. It’s a two-person tent being used as a single, and the guy switches on a little solar lamp that casts a blueish light over everything. Nolan hadn’t realized it was getting dark.

“Do you have a thermometer?” Nolan mutters. “I just want to know if I have a fever.”

“Buddy, I think we can bypass the thermometer. Can you show me where it hurts the worst.”

“Do you have one though,” Nolan says.

“...Yes,” the guy says.

Nolan nods, feeling sweat break out on his upper lip. “Cool,” he says. His hair is plastered all over his face. Maybe he should do something about that? “It’s about here.” He gestures.

The guy nods. “Alright. I’m going to do something that’s going to suck, and I just need you to tell me if when I let go it hurts more or less, okay?”

“Can I take my temperature first.”

The guy stares. His mouth is actually a little parted. His hair looks like it’s been flattened under a toque for a week and his stubble is gross. Nolan likes the way his teeth glint with his spit.

“Yeah,” he says. “I’ve got it, hold on.” He fishes around in a plastic bag — like a grocery bag — that seems to contain his toiletries, which he had to fish out of a drybag that he appears to be using as a pillow. Nolan eyes the rest of the plastic bag and wonders if Pepto Bismol could help him now.

The guy sees him looking and says, “Hey, look, I get heartburn. It’s—right, thermometer, I’ve got you, I’ve got you, don’t look at me like that.” He takes the little plastic cover off the thermometer for Nolan. It feels like a man lighting Nolan’s cigarette. He opens his mouth and the guy — coachable — carefully pops it in. “Put it, uh, beneath your tongue,” the guy says.

Nolan opens his mouth to demonstrate. The guy looks a little wide-eyed, but he looks.

The thing that was going to suck does indeed suck. The guy places his hand on Nolan’s side, over the worst of it, and presses down a little. Nolan assumes this is the sucking part until the guy lets up the pressure and says, “Sorry—sorry— okay, better or—aw, shit,” as Nolan grunts around a scream and bites down on the thermometer hard enough to crack the case, but not break it.

It trills happily, an odd sound when he’s been in the woods for fifteen days with his phone on airplane mode. Oh, his phone. Right.

“Worse when I let go?” the guy asks tentatively. “Not to uh, assume there buddy, but uh,”

“Worse,” Nolan says, letting the thermometer tumble out of his mouth to talk. The guy picks it up without hesitating even though it’s covered in Nolan’s saliva.

“37.9, mild fever there baby, good call,” the guy says, and Nolan nods, satisfied. He’s lying on his back and wheezing. “Also I think you totally have appendicitis.”

*

Apparently the wait time at the Whitley Bay ER is usually minimum two hours, even if you get there at 5AM on what is apparently a Tuesday. The guy, whose name became Travis a couple hundred meters through the first night-black portage to Lake Opeongo with Nolan’s Swift — “It is so much lighter, we’re taking your fancy canoe” — talked to a few people when they got in and suddenly Nolan had an IV in his hand and someone taking him in for imaging.

“I’ll do your paperwork,” Travis had said as Nolan boggled and was wheeled away.

“You don’t know my name,” Nolan told him.

“Baby, I know your name,” Travis had said. Nolan narrowed his eyes. “You told me, I promise.” Travis said. “I promise.”

He had said that a lot, over the night, his hand on Nolan’s arm on his good side. There were three portages to Lake Opeongo. The stars had throbbed through the pines and both of them had forgotten to be unbothered by the concept of black bears and were fucking terrified anytime something moved in the big black woods of quiet Ontario, because Nolan was a small hurt thing.

“I promise,” Travis said, “I promise.” In the distance, very far off, wolves were beginning their autumn calling, and Travis had promised lots of shit. Between portages Nolan had laid in the belly of the canoe, rocked like a child. Even when he retched over the gunnel a couple times, Travis never so much as let the canoe tip.

*

He is woken up to take antibiotics. He still smells very strongly of campfire and clothes he has not changed in five days.

There is a pack of grocery store blueberries on the bedside table, and also Travis. He’s in a new outfit, clean clothes over unshowered man.

“I went to Walmart,” Travis says proudly. He must have bought the blueberries there, and the clothes. His shirt is advertising an anime. Nolan does not think Travis knows this. Maybe he can convince him to watch it. “They wouldn’t let me sleep in here and it’s only like an hour to Huntsville. One way.”

Nolan stares at him.

“You doing better, babe?” Travis says, unbothered.

“No,” Nolan says pointedly, scowling. He is scheduled for surgery.

“You feeling better than when you showed up on my doorstep telling me you’d been poisoned by wild mushrooms in your beef jerky recipe, and then we spent all night packing out to my pickup at the Opeongo put-in? You were a trooper, babe. You did so good. Your appendix was so burst, I saw the pics.”

Nolan frowns. “I don’t think there are mushrooms in there. There could be though…”

“Let’s not go back down the mushroom road unless we have to,” Travis suggests, a little hastily. Nolan does not remember this part very well.

It’s silent for a minute. Nolan wonders if he can get Travis to feed in one blueberry or if the nurse would know.

“How’d you know it was appendicitis? You’re not a doctor,” Nolan challenges. “What do you do.”

Travis blinks, lights up a bit, dims again as he apparently decides to cut down on the explanation. It’s fascinating to watch. Travis picks at one of his cuticles and says,

“Yeah! Well, I didn’t know for sure, man, but it was that or something else worth getting checked out, so. What I do. Not much work around here, but uh I’ve done a few things. Nowadays— okay, you ever heard of a show called Treehouse Masters?” He looks so hopeful, wide-eyed in his Attack on Titan t-shirt and scruffy stubble. “They stopped airing it a while back, but….” Travis lets the sentence trail away, gesturing like he can stuff the meaning into the air around Nolan’s head.

“No,” Nolan says avidly, and watches hungrily as Travis deflates. He needs to text his mom. He needs to tell her about Travis from Treehouse Masters.

“Okay, forget that— I’m a carpenter, or whatever.” Cabinetry specialty? Nolan does not ask. “But before that I was a nurse.”

Nolan grunts, mildly surprised.

“Yeah, school and everything. Hey, want me to feed you one blueberry. Or, shit, you’re totally fasting for surgery. No blueberries yet babe. But I’ll save ‘em for you, promised didn’t I?”

“What if I just hold it in my mouth,” Nolan suggests. “I’ll spit it out when I’m done.”

Oh, maybe they have him on something in this IV. Indoor thought.

Travis is opening the blueberry box. “Yeah babe, sure. Here, just hold it on your tongue like an ice chip. Open up, babe.”

Nolan opens up.

—

Spent actual real life time plotting the tripping route for this one and then fucked it up anyway.

#hockey rpf #my fic #tknolpat #whumptober ‘23 #gotta just post this baby no edits on 2nd half lfgggg i guess

[snugglebug-92]

Owen Power x Blankenburg Reader

When Owen walked into the rink for the first time with Coach Pearson and his dad he didn’t know what to expect. The one thing he didn’t expect was to see a girl skating around doing what appeared to be a figure skating routine. The girl not realizing someone was watching her keeps going until she hears a door shut. As she stops skating she looks up to see who has entered. She knew there would be some tours for prospect players today but she didn’t expect the tours to start this early. She quickly grabs her sweater from the boards before skating to the door to leave the rink muttering a quick apology to the 3 men. As she leaves Owen can’t help but watch her. He’s captivated by her even though he will probably never see her again.

“Hey, who was that?” Owen asks the coach.

“That’s Y/n Blankenburg. She helps out with the team. Her brother Nick is on the team. You’ll meet him later.” Owen hears the coach's response but only half listens after he finds out she helps the team out. It was at that moment Owen decided that this was the college he was going to attend next year. Yeah, he had some other offers but this was already his top choice and now the deal was sealed in his opinion. He gets shown the rest of the facilities and goes to get lunch before meeting with a few of the players including Nick who ends up bringing his little sister. Owen’s dad talks with the coach and a few of the players leave Owen alone to stare at the girl. 

“She won’t bite,” Nick states, looking between his sister and the boy. Owen quickly breaks his gaze to look at Nick.

“What?” Owen asks clearly out of it.

“Go talk to her,” Nick states, pushing Owen towards his sister. As Owen makes his way toward her she looks up from her phone to look at the tall boy.

“Hi,” She smiles looking at the boy.

“Oh um hi,” he responds, looking down at the girl.

“I know you. You’re the guy from earlier,” she states referring to when she saw him at the rink.

“Yeah. Sorry ‘bout that,” he scratches the back of his neck nervously feeling bad for interrupting her.

“It’s no big deal. Nick told me before I left that there would be a few tours today. I just didn’t expect them so early.”

“Nick’s your brother-” Owen starts before he gets cut off by his dad, “sorry I have to go.”

“Bye Owen,” she smiles at the boy as he walks away. She turns to find her brother only to see him shaking his head at her.

“What did I do?” she questions.

“Nothing,” Nick just shakes his head at her, placing his arm over her shoulder as they walk to the cafeteria.

Soon the next hockey season is in full swing. As the boys skate off the ice Owen sees a face he’s thought about almost every day since he went on a tour 8 months ago. Owen is about 2 feet from skating into the boards before Kent skates in front of him to prevent him from hitting them.

“What’s got you so out of it?” Kent questions.

“Huh nothing,” Owen shakes his head at the boy continuing to skate off the ice not in the direction of the boards this time. Kent looks around before his eyes land on a girl in the stands. He stares at her rather confused before making his way off the ice.

Owen changes out of his gear and leaves as soon as the coach dismisses him. He makes his way to the stands only to find the girl gone. He thinks all hope is lost until he hears the sound of skates. He quickly climbs down the stairs to see the girl. He climbs down so he is on the bench as he watches her skate. All is good til he knocks her metal water bottle down the sound ringing in the empty rink. She looks up before skating over to the bench where the boy was.

“So you decided to come here huh,” She smiles at the brunette boy.

“Yeah I guess I did,” He smiles back at the girl.

“And you still watch me skate.”

“Yeah, I guess I do that too.”

“It’s okay. I watch you skate too.”

The two talk for a while until Owen gets pulled away from her but this time with her number. The two talk almost every day throughout the rest of the season. Once the season wraps up the boys have a small party with a few of the girlfriends the following Saturday. The Monday before Kent decides to text y/n knowing Owen would never. Kent as well as the rest of the boys quickly became friends with you after your brother introduced you to them all. Kent was tired of hearing his roommate talk about you. It wasn’t that Kent had a problem with you or anything like that. It was the fact that you had talked about Owen the same way Owen talked about you. Kent asked Owen if he was planning on bringing anyone. When he only received a shrug in response he decided to take matters into his own hands. He texted you the next day asking if you wanted to come to the party to which you responded yes a little bummed. You were hoping Owen would ask you since you had heard about the party from your brother a few days ago.

Saturday rolls around and you're getting ready for the party. You finish your make-up and sit on your bed until you hear a knock at your door. You open to see Kent waiting for you ready to go to the party. You give the boy a half smile while you shut the door behind you. The two of you start the walk to Kent's car in silence. The two of you are almost in his car before the silence is finally broken.

“Hey don’t be mad at me. It’s not my fault he didn’t ask you,” Kent remarked.

“I know. I was just hoping,” you sighed.

“Me too.” he sympathized.

“I just don’t get it Kent. He will text me all day. We will face time and we will skate after practice. We do all of this stuff just to two of us but the second it becomes something with the team or someone besides you he asks like we barely know each other. Is there something wrong with me?” you question as a tear slips down your cheek.

“Hey now don’t say that. There is nothing wrong with you,” he cups your face wiping the tears off your face. He tilts your face up so you aren’t looking at the ground anymore.

“Then why doesn’t he want to be seen with me?”

“I don’t know. I wish I could say I did. I really do.”

The two of you continue on and get in his car to drive to Nick’s house. Kent parks a little ways away since there were already a few cars. He wraps his arm around you as you walk to the entrance. You and Kent make your way and greet the boys before you go your separate ways.

“You and Kent huh? I guess that means we can’t get married to lower our tuition,” Steve laughs as he sits down next to you.

“I told you last year no. What makes you think it’s going to change this year?” you laugh as the boy next to you feigns a hurt look. The two of you continue to talk for a little bit until he gets called away to play beer pong. You sit on the couch staring off into space until you hear the door open and the boys begin to chirp someone. You turn your head to see what's causing the ruckus and boy do you wish you didn’t. You see Owen walk in with a beautiful brunette girl. You wouldn’t have thought much of it but as they walk past you to get inside you notice something. She’s wearing his sweatshirt. The only sweatshirt he never let you steal when you got cold. You just shrug your shoulders and bring your knees to your chest hoping to remain unnoticed. Your plan works until the girl Owen brought makes her way over to you.

“Hi. I’m Victoria, Owen’s girlfriend. What’s your name?” she smiles as she sits down beside you. Your eyes go wide at her statement but nothing prepares you for what you hear next.

“Oh hey y/n I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” Kent comes over and grabs your hand, “oh hi Victoria I hope you don’t mind if I steal my girlfriend.”

“Oh, I don’t mind at all. It was nice to meet you y/n,” Victoria waves at you as Kent pulls you away. You send her your best fake smile and a wave before turning your attention to Kent.

“What was that?” you look at the Canadian trying to read between the lines.

“Look, I had no idea they were together. I really didn’t. And sorry I just panicked. I saw you there with her and I had to save you.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you want to-” he quickly pulls you into him trying to prevent you from seeing what happens but he’s too late and you see everything. It’s hard not to stare as all of the boys are yelling and hyping Owen up as he kisses his girlfriend. That was the last straw for you. You grab Kent’s hand and pull him out the back door so no one will see the two of you. You pull him to his car and then let go of his hand before you start running. And you run and run until the tears start coming. You run while the tears come and you don’t stop running until you trip and fall backward. You sit on the ground and wrap your arms around your knees and keep crying. You don’t know how long you stay like that before you feel a pair of arms wrap around you. You cry into the person not caring who it is just needing to be held. Once you calm down you look up scared to see who found you. You look up and see Kent but you also know that you ran almost 3 miles back to your dorm. You also notice Kent doesn’t have his car which means he also ran almost 3 miles back to your dorm to follow you.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers.

“No. I’m sorry. I just took off like that and I didn’t say anything and-”

“It’s okay. Let’s just go inside,” he cuts you off. He stands up and offers you his hand. You grab his hand and let him pull you up and lead you to your dorm. The two of you sat on your bed and just talked. You spilled everything you felt about Owen and how the two of you met on his tour. You talked about all of the times you skated after practice and how you would get cold which meant he would give you his sweatshirts. How he would call you after every game you couldn’t attend no matter what the time. After you finally let everything out you said one thing.

“I love him. Even though he doesn’t love me I still love him and it hurts.”

“I know y/nn. I know,” he wraps his arms around you. Kent ends up staying the night. The two of you end up getting breakfast the next morning. You say goodbye to each other and go your separate ways.

On his walk back to his car he can’t help but wonder ‘what did I miss’. He spent hours listening to Owen talk about you and how he felt about you. He listened to Owen talk about you after every away game or every game you weren’t there and how he missed you. He gets into his car and goes back to his room with Owen. As he opens the door he’s greeted with a sight that leaves a sour taste in his mouth. He sees Victoria in Owens's shirt. There are clothes everywhere and a sheet covers Owen just enough that he isn’t completely exposed. Kent just shakes his head at the two before pushing past Victoria to get to his part of the room. He grabs his pass to get into the ice arena before leaving the room leaving both Owen and Victoria very confused at the boy's behavior.

Ever since the night after the party, Owen notices that you barely respond to his texts. He also noticed that whenever he brings Victoria over Kent leaves. This continues until the last day before he leaves to go home. He does 3 things he should have done a long time ago.

He breaks up with Victoria. He only dated her to get over you and it didn’t work. She handed him the sweatshirt and didn’t even bat an eyelash when he told her things over.

He fixed things with Kent. The two of them talked and they got the relationship they had at the beginning of the year back. He found out that Kent and y/n never dated and he just said that to try and save her.

Lastly, he did the thing he should have done the morning after the party. He went to see you. He doubted you would answer the door but he could at least try. He knocked on the door only for Nick to answer. He let Owen inside with a glare that would have had Owen 6 feet under if looks could kill.

“Hey, Nick where did you put my- oh you aren’t Nick,” you state looking at the boy in front of you.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.”

“You shouldn’t have come at all. But it makes it easier to give these back to you,” you hand him all of the sweatshirts and beanies he gave you throughout the months.

“I don’t want them back. I want you to still have them.”

“No Owen I shouldn’t have these. Your girlfriend should.”

“We broke up.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“I broke up with her. I never liked her like that.”

“Then why did you date her in the first place? That's a bit of a dick move O.”

“I thought it would help me get over you. I didn’t think you liked me like that.”

“Owen-”

“I know it was dumb. I should have listened to Kent in the first place. But I’m here now and I’m asking you to give me a chance. Please.” Owen begged.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay. I’ll give this a chance.”

“Wait really?”

“Yes really. I’ll be your girlfriend.”

“Thank you,” Owen wraps his arm around your body lifting you up off the ground. You wrap your arms around his neck as he places you back on the ground.

“This is bad timing though O. We are both leaving for the summer.”

“You can come visit me. Okay?”

“Okay, I’ll come visit you.” When Nick opens the door back up to your room he doesn’t know what to expect but he sure doesn’t expect to see a still-intact Owen helping you pack up your dorm.

When the draft rolls around you are the first person Owen calls. Little does he know you coordinated it with his mom and sister and you were there the whole time.

“Hi baby,” he gushed as you picked up the call.

“I knew you could do it, baby. And first overall. I’m so proud of you.”

“I wish you were here with me right now.”

“And why is that pretty boy?”

“I really want to kiss you right now.”

“Turn around and do it.” Owen doesn’t understand but nevertheless, he turns around. When his eyes lock with yours he quickly hangs up before running over to you. He picks you up and spins you around before placing you back on the ground and planting his lips on yours. He starts to pull away only to have you pull him back in and kiss him even harder. When you finally pull away you can’t help but smile at the boy.

“I love you O.”

“I love you.”

#owen power x reader #kent johnson #nick blankenburg

[puckgoss]

What are your hockey podcast recs? And I love last podcast on the left and behind the bastards and then like … the blonde files and lipstick on the rim lol

oohh i haven't heard of those last two before! i'll give them a try. thanks anon 🥰

hockey podcast recs:

32 thoughts

this is the most popular hockey podcast by far. hosted by elliotte friedman (NHL insider) and jeff marek (sportsnet radio host), this podcast releases episodes every monday & friday and includes a recap of the week's top storylines & news from around the league, insider information, and player interviews. many current players listen to this show as well.

they can have a slight focus on canadian teams, considering the podcast is produced by a canadian company, but they do talk about all teams.

vibes: informative. lots of news is broken/rumors start from this show. goofy gen x dads hosting a podcast about the NHL.

the chris johnston show

this is hosted by the SDPN (steve dangle podcast network). the show is hosted by julian mckenzie (writer for the athletic) and features chris johnston (NHL insider).

this show is similar to 32 thoughts in that it recaps the week's top storylines & headlines and updates biweekly.

vibes: informative. goofy millennials hosting a podcast about the NHL.

the hockey PDOcast

this is run by the same network as 32 thoughts (sportsnet). hosted by dimitri filipovic, this podcast takes an analytics-focused approach. they do break downs of players and teams from around the league. episodes are posted monday-friday.

might be hard to understand if you don't know much about analytics, but if you want to learn more about it, it's not a bad place to start. they won't explain in detail what everything they're talking about means, but you can always pause and do research if it interests you

vibes: let's talk about math but make it hockey!

the athletic hockey show

this pod is produced by the athletic (sports new department of the new york times). it's hosted by various staff writers at the athletic, and they release 1-2 episodes per day.

this show goes into the top news & storylines around the NHL, and also goes more in depth into certain topics like how a particular team is performing, how certain players are ranked, etc. the episodes are essentially podcast versions/breakdowns of the articles they post.

vibes: opinion-based analysis on the latest news and storylines around the NHL. different vibes depending on which writer(s) are hosting each episode.

the DFO rundown

hosted by frank seravalli and jason gregor of the nation network, the daily faceoff rundown is a daily podcast covering (you guessed it) the latest news and storylines around the NHL.

frank seravalli is probably the most controversial "insider" in the NHL world. he gets in trouble for spreading false information sometimes, but has also broken multiple stories before anyone else has. he's super tight with some player agents and will unashamedly be their mouthpiece, which also allows him to get some breaking news before other insiders do.

vibes: very opinionated reporting on the latest news & storylines around the NHL, including rumors that sometimes turn out to be true, and sometimes don't.

spittin chiclets

this is the preeminent, infamous dudebro NHL podcast. it is run by barstool sports and hosted by former players paul bissonnette and ryan whitney.

i'll be honest - this show can be very tough to listen to. very crass, quite misogynistic, etc. i mean it is run by barstool, enough said.

the reason i am including it on this list is that they have, by far, the best current & former player interviews. players feel comfortable with former players like biz and whit, and so the interviews with players on this podcast are far more interesting and in depth than with traditional media members. they really show their personality more than they normally would.

they release episodes once a week, and the episodes are obscenely long. i would recommend just listening to player interviews if you're interested in listening to them in more of their "natural habitat"

vibes: imagine this podcast being recorded in a frathouse. if that disgusts you, don't listen

locked on NHL: prospects podcast

the locked on NHL network has podcasts on general news and news for each team in the NHL. this particular show that i like to listen to is focused on prospects specifically. they analyze both undrafted and drafted prospects and go into what their game is like, the type of player they project to be in the NHL, do mock drafts, etc.

vibes: hockey-nerd analysis of young players who are not yet playing in the NHL / are in their first few seasons in the NHL

bonus youtube channel: the hockey guy

the hockey guy on youtube posts multiple videos a day. shannon is a legend plain and simple. he posts a video previewing each game happening that day, and reviewing each game after it happens. he also posts daily news videos and videos on other topics such as NHL expansion, deep dives into particular teams, etc. he makes things very easily digestible for all fans of the game.

vibes: your wholesome, nerdy neighbor talks about the NHL with the aid of his trusty whiteboards. he has many cats and bunnies who make guest appearances in his videos, alongside his lovely wife yvonne.

#hockey 101 #if you want more youtube channel recs lmk! #there's lots of other podcasts out there #like the too many men pod #i just listed the ones i listen to regularly/semi-regularly #thank u for ur recs & for indulging me anon #ask!

[matthewkniesys]

claire's friends rate hockey boys pt.1

i've done this in the past but this is with new friends also stole the idea to do this again from @liquidflyer

friend#1 is in orange

friend#2 is in purple

friend#3 is in green

jack hughes

9/10 "oh i know him. i always see edits of him on my tiktok. he's really fucking hot. we should move to new jersey. at least all the guys there are probably hotter than here."

6/10 "he kinda looks 19 but also 25. idk he's mid but i don't trust him"

8/10 "he's okay but my bf is hotter"

quinn hughes

5/10 "he looks old. but in a sorta hot but not really way. like idk. his brother is 10 times hotter"

3/10 "he looks ratty and like he's way too old. hard pass for me

3/10 "what purple said. i agree with her. he's just a no"

luke hughes

5/10 "oh you love this guy. you always send me edits of him even though i don't want them. he's cute i guess but idk"

6/10 "no strong opinion. he's meh. he's getting a +1 on his rating cause he wears hats"

8/10 "i see this guy on my fyp all the time. he's hot i like him. he sorta looks like my bf" (he doesn't look like her bf lmao)

trevor zegras

8/10 "he's hot. that's it, nothing else to say."

9/10 "wait he's really really cute. he kinda looks like a fuck boy cause yk he looks like he would fuck me over but he's hot"

7/10 "he's not too bad. i kinda like him"

alex turcotte

10/10 "he is the embodiment of my type. that's my future husband and i don't even remember his name. claire what's his name?"

7/10 "he's cute and he looks smiley but that's it. and he wears hats so yeah."

5/10 "his hair's too dark and idk he has interesting vibes. like he would be a nerd. and i love nerds but he looks too much like a nerd trapped in a hot body."

cale makar

6/10 "aww he's cute but like i wouldn't go for him"

5/10 "wait you like love him right? he has rosy little cheeks but he's not my type."

7/10 "i like him. he has very wholesome vibes."

jamie drysdale

9.5/10 "yes i like him a lot. you send me edits for him but i actually watch them unlike with luke. and also he kinda looks like that ales turcotte guy. i think i just like dark hair."

6/10 "no he looks like *someones name*. wait no actually he doesn't. he looks nice though. and he also get +1 for wearing hats" (he doesn't look like the person)

8/10 "he's a cutie. and he looks nice in that suit. i don't think he could hit a homerun with those spaghetti arms though."

poll time :)

#claires friends rank hockey boys #this is gonna be a series so send more players you wanna see #jack hughes #quinn hughes #luke hughes #trevor zegras #alex turcotte #cale makar #jamie drysdale #nhl #hockey

[sergeifyodorov]

Nathan MacKinnon for the hockey impressions ask please. If you have not already done so.

I actually have no idea what my first impression of nathan mack was; the earliest thoughts i can remember thinking might have been Terminal Sidney Obsession, so let’s start with that. Wow, I think, looking at people discussing this freak on the internet, that guy is really into sidney crosby

IMPRESSION NOW

Wow, this guy is really into Sidney Crosby

Mostly, Natemac strikes me as just… a real fridge of a man, a two-hundred-pound slab of muscle with a crooked nose. (the nose is good)(love the nose). He’s almost entirely a creature of obsessive hyperfixation and complete bullheaded determination -- you can see this in even just the way he skates, which has a forward momentum to it that even faster skaters like McDavid can’t match. Moves like a train, no real control or delicacy but good god you better get out of the way.

A tangled mess of feelings and emotion that he’s super terrible at understanding, even if he has the good grace to know how bad he is at understanding those feelings, which actually does help quite a bit. If I were to guess, I’d sum up those feelings as “blinding rage,” “all-encompassing desire to win,” and “ferda.”

This sort of all-things-lead-to-either-W-or-L worldview leads him to develop a very black and white way of thinking… especially re food. im not gonna say he has an eating disorder but i very much have heard he thinks things like milk are poison so whatever his relationship with food is it’s certainly not healthy

Oh my god he wants to fuck Sid so damn bad. I don’t even pretend to have vibe-based takes on his sexuality but gay or straight he wants to fuck Sid so bad

FAV MOMENT

i , as with … probably many of you, grew to know natemac during the iconique avs 2022 cup run, and esp since my leafs got eliminated early i got to watch a lot of it. Fav natemac moment is definitely the hat trick against the blues, topped off with the third goal, which was just a gorgeous end-to-end coasting that you could FEEL coming from a mile away. So that’s probably my fav natemac moment i am after all a simple hockey watcher sometimes

IDEA FOR STORY

sidnate nate’s-a-penguin au mayhaps… actually no idea. 

i find nate just an absolutely fascinating character simply because of his tangled ball of Emotional Problems, but because he’s so single-minded in all of them it’s actually hard to maincharacterize. like he’s got nuance, he’s got flow, he just doesn’t have the dimension to carry out a story in which he is the main actor. Get that boy into an ensemble cast

UNPOPULAR OPINION

I don’t know of enough opinion on natemac to know what’s popular and what’s unpopular… but i do not think he should be the avs captain in the future if/when landy gives it up. Imho that’s cale’s c to take (or mikko’s, even)… natemac is obviously a leader but he’s just too goddamn much of a control freak you can’t take this bitch anywhere. Like everyone needs a freak who will stand up for the team but if that guy is given free reign to yell at any time because there’s a c on his chest he will do so. i like the avs nathan’s mad-with-power arc would not suit them…

FAV RELATIONSHIP

Are you kidding me

FAV HEADCANON

he thinks milk is poison not because of its fat/sugar/caloric content but because he is lactose intolerant and unaware of it

#asks #nathan mackinnon #fav moment runners-up: winning the lady byng one year and going nuts every year after #(natemac bloody gifsets...hello...) #being shirtless on that boat with ror + tbear + brayden schenn #the Wrestling Incident

[grantmentis]

hey, i really really appreciate this blog, it's been super helpful for getting newbies like me into the pwhl/woho.

you seem to know a lot about woho, so i wanted to ask: is there any "problematic" (for a lack of a better term) pwhl players we should avoid? i just want to make sure i don't become a fan of a player whose opinions are Not Great lol

tysm 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

As a disclaimer I'm not the best at like instagram/twitter so if someone i didnt mention posted something wild and i missed it my bad. Admittedly, im also american and know more about the american players than canadian.

in general id say a lot of women's hockey falls into like center-liberal white liberal politics, so you some tone deaf statements and on a whole a lot of players are less likely to be outspoken politically compared to their counterparts in women's soccer or basketball, but I don't recall anyone who's currently rostered in the PWHL posting anything wild or pulling tony deangelo esque shenanigans. luckily a lot of the openly bigoted players from the last few seasons have retired or do not play in this league right now. This is not to say it is all sushine and rainbows, there's been players like both Lamoureux twins who've campaigned for transphobic legislation and no players have spoken out against them despite many working with them in the past, Kelli Stack who's been repeatedly racist but a lot of the team usa girls from 2014-2018 hang with her, or players like Rebecca Russo and Kelly Babstock who engaged in anti-black racism back in 2021 and had a lot of teammates at the time stand with them or not call them out.

In short, there's a lot of people who have failed to speak out when the moment has called for it, and a larger cultural problem in women's hockey with enabling especially when it comes to racism ad transphobia, but no one currently who has said anything explicitly horrible to my knowledge

That said, we'll probably see britta curl next year who is a top college player/wisconsin captain and she has shared a lot of vilely racist and transphobic stuff. On that note, the PWHL also doesn't have a gender inclusion policy, which should be concerning.

#asks #anonymous

[be-the-creature-fan]

WILD KRATTS. Season 3 Review!!!!!!!!!!

One sentence review (1 being the worst-10 being a masterpiece) Hope you enjoy :)

Hermit Crab Shell Exchange: WHY did Gormond call Chris "Green Pea" instead of "Green Grape"? However this episode have so many great moments to count. 9/10

When Fish Fly: I love the use of the "take a walk in my shoes" trope, it would have been cool if they stuck with the team switching roles until the very end but besides that this episode is iconic. See, finding creatures is like a piece of cake/10

Slider the Otter: How did Slider live that long? Cute episode but not the most memorable (sorry if you like this episode) 6/10

Mosquitoe Dragon: WHY Ya Hitting yourself?! Also not a bad invention by Zach completely backfired though. 7/10

Search for the Florida Panther: Wholesome in every which way, I loved the scene where Martin makes Chris go out and search for food, the live action part is also one of my favorites. 9/10

Osprey: I'm probably a bit bias but this episode is Amazing, fricking Jimmy loosing stuff is hilarious and not only do they make an episode of an animal that's the Mascot of my favorite football team ( though it goes by the nickname) they realeased it the year they won the superbowl and to make it even more amazing...Green and Blue are the team colors!!! 10/10 ( GO HAWKS 💙💚) ahem...anyways.

Bandito the Black Footed Ferret: Getting a bit of name dejavu and Martin not learning his lesson from the Googly Eye: The Night Guru episode tsk tsk tsk, good episode though. 8/10

Where the Bison Roam: The talking Bison are cursed, and they switched who was Lewis and who was Clark midway through the episode, a little rough around the edges but it's still good 8/10

Crocogator Contest: Very informative still remember the difference between an Alligator and a Crocodile because of this episode also poor Jimmy. 7/10

The Amazing Creature Race: Team Fastfeet all the way babbbbbyyyyyy!!! Though we were cheated out of a Chrizelle moment, oh well 6/10.

Prarie Who: Just a fun episode, but what in the creature world was Koki doing? Also all those crash landings would have killed them except for Jimmy. 9 Yips/10

Mystery on the Prarie: I've been impaled the episode, poor Jimmy, Bush Chris needs to return and where is Moo after this episode? (Spoilers Moo wasn't full grown in the Christmas special) 8/10

Chameleons on Target: Bruh why was Aviva blaming the Kratt Brothers for that whole ring chip thing? The way they hid was funny. 7/10

Opossum in my Pocket: Gormond commits attempted murder on the Kratt Brothers. 8/10

Fossa Palooza: Best mothers day episode EVER, we saw Mama Kratt and their old neighborhood? 10/10

Mini Madagascar: 0_0 why they make the mouse lemur scary though. 7/10

Aye Aye: I love the pirate theme and why do Jimmy be lazy (I get it its a personality trait of his but still) but I mean Aviva could have done it also Aghhh. 7/10

Lemur Legs: Best episode opening in my opinion, they should have named one of the lemurs Zaboo instead of Bob but it was still funny. That sarcastic clap the WK crew did was also great 10/10

Under the Frozen Pond: Child endangerment and the WK team not playing fair at Hockey because they were loosing (but they were there first soooo) 7/10

Lemur Skink Fight: Tried a Tameron fruit before, it wasn't that great, unlike this episode, Also this was one of Donita's worse ideas she should stick to clothing. 8/10

Golden Bamboo Lemur: The dress looked better without the lemur, Why doesn't Donita utilize the hypnosis technology more often and I can't believe the Kratt Bros almost forgot Koki and Jimmy, Not cool man. 7/10

Tenric Treasure Hunt: Obi-Wan Kratt is big sad for loosing his Brother to the River. 8/10

Praying Mantis: I love this episode! Props to the animators for changing the "What if" animation to fit the live action bit, but what was up with that toy Monkey, still gives me the hebijibbies. 10/10

Capture the Fishmoblie: Technically not cheating if Aviva just handed it to them. 7/10

Back in Creature Time: THEY NEED TO MAKE A SEQUEL!!! Zach wanting to make the Kratt Brothers extinct is very dark I love it, also by changing where Great Grand daddy Gormond landed, potentially be a risk to whether or not Gormond would still exist? Also MARTIN WHY YOU SMUGGLING A TASMANIAN TIGER?!?! STOP. 10/10

Great season but I feel like after this season the writing changed...

#wild kratts #kratt brothers #chris kratt #martin kratt #why am i doing this #please help me

[workingforitallthetime]

drawn arrows unseen

part 2 / previous installments/tags

Room 1046 is at the end of the hotel hallway. Mason has to walk by everyone else swiping into their rooms, two by two, whooping it up.

“Sorry you have to babysit me.” Connor says, but it’s not exactly an expression of sympathy. Sorry we’re both stuck with this, says his tone.

“I’d be such a shitty babysitter.” Mason jams his keycard into the slot above their doorknob. “Go on, burn the house down. Make some prank phone calls.” He hits the light switch inside the door and rolls his suitcase past the bathroom to size up the two beds. He claims the one that’s closer to the window and dumps his backpack on the room’s only chair.

Sprawling out, he unloops the mask from over his ears, crumples it in his hand, and drops it over the side of the bed. Won’t need that for four days. Four long fucking days of quarantining with Connor Bedard.

He’s got to make the best of it. He’s got to be nice. Leadership, or whatever.

Mason twists his head toward where Connor’s digging in his suitcase, unloading boxes of protein bars and stacking them by the television. “I’m not your babysitter. Nobody babysits you on your team, do they?” He keeps it intentionally vague because he doesn’t remember what this kid’s team is, whether he played the shortened season in the W or went elsewhere. “Where’d you play this year?”

“Regina. And in Sweden.” Connor hangs a polo shirt in the closet.

“Sweden, eh.” Mason stretches his arms over his head. “Junior or pro?”

“U20, mostly.” Connor takes off his mask and stretches out on his own bed.

“See, you’re used to playing with older guys.” Not quite the same as what Mason’s been doing, but it’s something. “Everybody here's done it.” Everybody who ends up in a Team Canada jersey is the kind of player who’s been leapfrogging their way past their age group all the way up. Mason played U18 games when he was fourteen.

“Feels different, when most of you are the same year.” Without the mask, Connor holds his mouth in a strange way, with his teeth set together and his lip curled back a little, like he’s disgusted.

Mason looks back at the ceiling. “It’s not like any of us have presented.” That’s the real difference once you get past junior. Dynamics emerge. You have to account for the advantages alphas have: the aggression, the fearlessness, the way they can tell by scent which side another alpha’s coming from or whether he’s inclined to fight.

Omegas probably have that scent advantage too, but Mason wouldn’t know. There aren’t very many omegas who play professional hockey. Mason didn’t play with any in Switzerland, anyway.

“I know, just…” Connor waves a hand vaguely at the ceiling. “Regular teams are more spread out, with ages. But you guys all know each other.”

“You know the Western guys, don’t you?”

“I guess.” Bedard snorts. “Guenther cross-checked me last time we played Edmonton.”

“Of course he fucking did, that’s just Guenther.”

[Insert quarantine montage. Team-prescribed workouts that they turn into contests over who can do the most pushups or hold a wall sit the longest. Mason begrudgingly respects Connor for holding his own. Watching hockey highlights and trading opinions, recognizing each other’s insights. Mason forces Connor to close out of YouTube to watch basketball. Mason steals Connor’s snacks until Connor finally snaps at him, and Mason corners him into reluctantly admitting that he has to bring his own bars so he can make sure they’re nut free. The inevitable bad moods of two guys penned up in a room instead of playing hockey, but the brief spats keep settling back into companionability. The kid’s easy to be around. Down to earth, doesn’t have a stick up his ass like Wright.]

Connor picks up the paperback world almanac on Mason’s side of the table between their beds. “What’s this?”

“Geography.” Mason likes to look at the flags, the maps, the information about each country. It’s nice to browse through before bed. Gets him out of his head. “My billet in Switzerland gave it to me.”

Connor flips through the pages. “What’s the capital of Finland?”

“Helsinki.” Mason rolls his eyes. “Ask me a hard one. Like, not a hockey country.”

Connor has to think about that one. “Mexico,” he  says, finally.

“Mexico City.”

“India,” Connor shoots back.

“Delhi. You have no idea if I’m right, do you?”

“No fucking clue.” Connor smirks. “Maybe I’ll study up. Surprise you.”

Mason wouldn’t put it past him. Connor’s got a gleam in his eye like he’s about to memorize all the capitals of Europe just for the hell of it. Looking at him, Mason can’t think of a comeback. “Maybe you will.” He plucks the almanac out of Connor’s hands. “Maybe you will.”

(next)

#drawn arrows unseen