#the person who suffers the most in this scenario is connor mcdavid tbh

[msmargaretmurry]

It's me again. Sadly, my first kiss was in Ottawa not GTA :( but you know, some province at least.

But this is where my headcanon forms: against his will and better judgment, and thanks to adulthood and occasionally listening to Connor that you can't claim "German" as a personality trait every time you insist on holding a grudge for no GOOD reason, Leon has to admit that Matthew is actually a really nice person OFF ICE and perhaps a good hockey player not just useful for being a rat.

Also, maybe, Matthew is a good kind of competitive where he pushes himself and everyone around him, but when he doesn't win (which he usually doesn't), he just smiles or laughs and slaps winners on the back and it. It hurts Leon. But he maybe has to admit he was POSSIBLY wrong about Matthew Tkachuk. Inside. He'll never say it outside.

As for Matthew, he's never been the asshole in this situation. He's always thought Leon was talented and deserving (and hot as the goddamn sun in July).

hahaha, i don't know, i think ottawa beats brampton, in terms of vibes at least if not geography. 😂❤

anyway, yes. i have been really into lately the idea of their post-rivalry relationship — obviously still into the hot grudgey rivals-to-lovers bit as well, but here in the era of florida!matthew a whole new world of possibilities has opened up. i love the idea of them having to interact as adults with no real reason for animus between them and accidently enjoying it. like, @hopetorun and i have discussed EXTENSIVELY the concept where they accidentally end up on vacation together, which has a really similar vibe imo.

i especially love the idea of leon being confronted with the full force of matthew "great guy" tkachuk off the ice and just… not being able to dislike him. he's nice! and funny! he laughs at leon's jokes! he loves to buy a round of beers for the boys when they go out at the end of a hard week or training! horrible!! meanwhile matthew has to witness leon being his dorky affectionate self with his buddies in the gym and, oh no, he's hot when he's being nice, too. there's such a good possibility for a slow burn here, too, with them mostly only really interacting while they're training in the summer but somehow they keep getting weirder about each other anyway.

i have always maintained that if they were on the same team (or possibly even just not direct rivals) that they'd get along great. and, once again, obviously i love the rivalry but i also really love the concept of them getting over it and learning to be normal about each other. which turns into not being normal about each other. which turns into fucking nasty in scary gary's gym after everyone else has left. obviously.

#ask #matthew and leon #the person who suffers the most in this scenario is connor mcdavid tbh #he has to bear witness to all of this? #AND live with the knowledge that his favorite teammate and his kinda-sorta-buddy fucked nasty in HIS summer training gym?? #the world has never seen such a martyr