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#gold medal olympic?? olympian . whatev
thedevilliers · 2 years
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transcript under the cut ↓ 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 | 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 | 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 |
[EMILIA] Aren’t you the cutest, Asmo? [chuckles] [EMILIA] I’ll see you tomorrow. maybe later, actually. Don’t give me that face! [EMILIA] I just have to go— [AMELIA] Emilia, who are you talking to? [EMILIA] Mom! No one, just... nothing. [AMELIA] I don’t think I know this one. [EMILIA] This is Asmo. A gift from grandpa. [EMILIA] I told him I wasn’t really looking for a competition horse anymore. [AMELIA] He gave you a horse? [EMILIA] Yes. The others are rescued. [EMILIA] You should come by sometime! With appropriate clothing, though. You got your heels dirty, mom! [AMELIA] Theresa mentioned she wanted to come in the morning. We missed you at breakfast. [EMILIA] I wanted to go mom. I just lost track of time taking care of them.
[AMELIA] You don’t have to do all this by yourself. If you need help, just tell Pearl— [EMILIA] it’s alright mom. I know what I’m doing. [AMELIA] I’m just looking out for you, Emilia. I came here to talk to you about that. [EMILIA] About what? [AMELIA] Your future. Our publicist came up with an idea regarding a new image for you. [EMILIA] What’s wrong with the one I have? I thought people liked it. [AMELIA] You’ll like this one more, trust me. Can we go to your office? I’d rather talk to you in a... cleaner space.
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mythgirlimagines · 7 months
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Kaito as the ultimate Olympian?
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TIL you can compete in as many events as you want apparently
The Olympics were a bit deal in Kaito’s family, since it was such a huge occasion and his family loved sports. As a kid, Kaito declared he would win gold medals in a bunch of different events!
Nobody really took him seriously until his first time at the Olympics. He only competed in three events, but his training for other events made it so he would qualify as soon as he wanted to compete.
Of course, all of his training took a lot of time. He wanted to spend time with his classmates, too, but sometimes it just wasn’t possible. That was something tough he had to deal with.
Taking breaks was just as important, which was when he spent time with them and catching up on his schoolwork. Unfortunately, those breaks were often few and far-between.
That said, he had so much fun with his talent and his training! Being able to do basically whatever he wanted to in the Olympics was a freedom not many people would ever have.
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theunrealinsomniac · 2 years
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Could you give me some Nejiten family headcanons?
Hell yes I can lol.
Three more headcanons!
NejiTen Family Headcanon #1: We have mentioned that Neji is the Cool Dad. And we've mentioned that Tenten is also a Cool Mum.
But you wanna know who The Coolest Uncle is?
Yeah, Uncle Rock Lee my guys lol.
Lee is a very energetic and much like Rei and Enoki Hatake adore Sakura, Hideki and the rest of Neji and Tenten's children, I've not decided how many or what their names or genders are yet, forgive me, freaking LOVE Uncle Lee.
And while Neji is as present as he physically can be in Modern!AUs, his job does require he be away at times and when he is it normally falls to Lee to be a positive male role model.
Which he excels at.
He's also really good at exhausting small children by keeping up with whatever game they might want to play.
Neji and Tenten's date nights normally happen when Lee is available to babysit. They try not to rely on the Mum skills of Auntie Hinata after all.
Especially as the number of Inuzuka children grow.
NejiTen Family Headcanon #2: All of Neji and Tenten's kids take up a martial art.
Hideki flat out copies his father by taking up the Gentle Fist and while never quite as proficient as Neji is, he's naturally talented and can keep up with his father in sparring matches once he's an adult.
Their daughter though, who is still unnamed, give me time lol, but definitely exists is as gifted at Gentle Fist as Neji was. She's also proficient in Tae Kwon Do, several types of Kung Fu, Judo and lastly Aikido.
She starts competing at a young age and is a gold medal winning Olympian in Judo by twenty-one. The same age as Tenten was when she won her first gold medal.
Her family are ecstatically proud of her, and she dominates at the Olympics well into her thirties.
NejiTen Family Headcanon #3: Tenten's threat to Hiashi was honoured. And Neji's worst nightmare is never made into a reality.
None of his children in Canon!AUs bear the Caged Bird Seal. Naruto blanket bans the practice and names it Hizashi's Law, in his first weeks as Hokage.
And after years of study of seals with Naruto, Neji and Shikamaru, Tenten and their children are there when Hiashi, in a rare sign of humanity, removes the seal from Neji's forehead, and every remaining branch clan member's forehead in a massive, public ceremony.
Without anyone having to make him.
Neji drops to his knees and cries tears he'd never realised he'd been holding back as for a flicker of a moment, Neji imagines it's his father, not Hiashi, removing his seal and setting him free.
Thanks for asking!
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kwkiyong · 1 year
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i am a dreamer
lyrics from bewhy - fake pt. 2 (smtm 5 final) 
he’s tired. with figure skating being an individual centric sport, he’s always known that he is his best fan, and that the road to the top will be lonely. axel knows his one track mindset where he’s relentless in his pursuit for the olympic podium will set him apart from people around him but he didn’t know it would mean leaving behind his family, training mates and childhood friends.
studies show that athletes tend to spend more time with their coaches and managers over their own family and friends, and in axel’s case, the statistic applies to him as well. so when his coach announces out of nowhere he’s leaving for a different national association due to management politics, it feels like his world is crumbling down. axel idolises his coach even though he tries not to base his entire personality and skating style on his coach’s, having realised that he wants to be the axel nam and not the second XX. 
but whenever he wants to give up on himself, it was his coach that believed in him, no matter how stupid the mistakes he made on the rink were. when the media was writing scathing articles about his performance, when the pundits were lashing out on his social media ‘antics’, when his ‘fans’ were tweeting tweet after tweet on how dismal his performances were, his coach was the one who said “so? you get up and try again. if i didn’t want you, you wouldn’t be here. you’re here for a reason.”
his rivals that ‘mean well’ had checked on him since the announcement but he refused to give them any reasons to spread further rumours. the other coach which he was to be re-assigned to was the coach that he had told the union long ago that he refused to work with again, after the traumatising methods that were inflicted on him. so what if he’s a gen z snowflake who can’t tolerate the traditional coaching method of psychologically negative scoldings? just because he’s younger doesn’t mean he has to tolerate boomers’ strict ways, even if they have multiple olympic and world championship accolades to their names.
every time he tried to challenge the system, he would get reprimanded to just shut up and go along with the flow as it’s how it’s always been. but if the old system is so great, why has his generation yet to medal first place for worlds and olympics? if the system is so great, why is he the only one in the top 10 world ranking? why aren’t the rest of his friends who train as hard as him under the old system not doing well as him, who’s opted to train independently?
people tell him he’s being delusional, he’s being reckless, he’s too young to be making important decisions, that he’s letting sponsorship and social media get to his head. he won’t be able to win or even qualify for the 2026 winter olympics at this rate.
너에겐 미안하지만 난 꿈의 콩깍지를 절대 벗지 않아
I’m sorry towards you but I’ll never be disillusioned by my dreams
well, fuck the haters, fuck the naysayers. they’re not the ones that can call themselves olympians and even if they can, they’re not the ones living his life. he doesn’t care, cause it’s his dream and he can dream whatever he wants.
내가 원하는 길을 갈 권리가 있어
I have the right to go on the path I want
the boomers can stay in the dinosaur era for all he cares, but not him. no, axel nam will move into the future. fuck the traditional system, he’s going to pave his own path to success. the sky is the limit and even then, he wants to cross into space.
난 꿈을 꾸는 자 이게 바로 나의 정체성
I am a dreamer, this is my identity
the main reason he’s even reached to where he is because of his unwavering belief that he’d make it this far. and he knows deep down he can go further. after all, to be the best of the best, you have to be crazy enough to challenge the system. 
불가능한 꿈을 꾸지만 가능하다 믿어 누가 뭐라건
I dream the impossible but I believe it’s possible no matter what anybody says
he will reach that damn olympics podium and he will have that gold medal around his neck one day. it doesn’t matter if no one believes in him, if his family, friends, coach, union don’t believe in him. because he believes in himself and that’s already half the battle won. 
after all, winning is 40% physical training, 10% luck and 50% mental strength.
he’ll win cause that’s who he is. he’ll create his own path.
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aussie-wbb · 2 months
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Next stop: Brazil! 🪇
In their quest for Olympic qualification, the Seven Consulting Opals will take on Germany, Serbia and Brazil next month.
Full details ➡️ bit.ly/3U1CBkw
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So compared to the World Cup, Steph Talbot, Kristy Wallace, Darcee Garbin are out because of injury. Anneli Maley is out (I'm not sure why). Isobel Borlase, Jade Melbourne, Steph Reid, Alanna Smith are all in.
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The 12-player team tasked with qualification for this year’s Paris Olympic Games will include eight members of the 2022 World Cup bronze medal campaign.
The Seven Consulting Opals will need to negotiate Brazil, Germany and Serbia at next month’s FIBA qualifying tournament in order to compete at this year’s Paris Olympic Games.
The 12-player team tasked with qualification will include eight members of the 2022 World Cup bronze medal campaign including Tess Madgen, Cayla George, Marianna Tolo, Lauren Jackson, Ezi Magbegor, Bec Allen, Sara Blicavs and Sami Whitcomb.
Tokyo Olympian Alanna Smith rejoins the team as does Jade Melbourne (for the first time since the 2021 Asia Cup) while 19-year-old rising star Isobel Borlase and point guard Steph Reid will debut.
The qualifying tournament runs from February 8 to 11 in Belem, Brazil with world No.3 Australia needing to finish top three in its pool to book an Olympic ticket.
Opals Head Coach Sandy Brondello said while injuries to key players named in the squad had impacted selection the team was focused and ready to hit the ground running.
Steph Talbot, Kristy Wallace, Darcee Garbin and Alice Kunek were unavailable for selection.
“I’m really happy to finally announce the team, we have been hit with some injuries for sure but that’s the nature of what we do so we prepare for that,” Brondello said.
“Brazil is first up and with the home crowd they will be tough, Germany is a team on the rise and we have a really competitive history against Serbia, so there are no easy games.
“We have limited preparation time for this window but we will take that as a motivator, this is where our experienced players will really make a difference. We are completely locked in now on the three games and securing our Olympic spot.”
Olympian Tess Madgen said the team would harness the meaning of the uniform and the women who had gone before them as the Opals strive to qualify for another Olympic campaign.
“Qualifiers are always tough, the competition continues to improve, we have long distances to travel and limited time to prepare but we know how to win and the green and gold always brings out the best in us.”
Melbourne said she was thrilled to be selected.
“Playing for the Opals is the pinnacle for me. I can’t wait to get on the plane, get to Brazil and do whatever I can to help the team qualify for Paris.
“I’m super excited to embark on this journey with Izzy Borlase, we were room mates at the Under-19 World Cup and are so happy for each other.”
The Australian-based Opals will fly to Brazil on January 30 where they will link up with Brondello and Europe-based players Tolo, Magbegor and Smith.
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ciaomichaella · 2 years
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Wishing my Swedes a wonderful summer! I’m gonna miss watching and cheering you on these next few months - August can’t come soon enough. Here’s to fully recharging your physical, mental, and social batteries these next few months. May 🐐 @niklasedin @oggelit @rasmuswrana & @cr1ppa have a relaxing time off the ice so they can come back even stronger than ever this next quad 👊💪 They may not be 610 young, but they’re nowhere near their expiration dates. I’m not just joking or being biased when I say they can curl at an elite competitive gold medal winning level for several more quads - they are #thebestintheworld and I truly believe there’s a lot more left in the tank. #simplythebest . . Good luck to Nik on his upcoming ankle surgery and #worldsbestlead Crippa on the dreaded eye groin surgery 🙏🤞 Here’s to speedy recoveries, great pain meds, and lots of TLC at home from loved ones and caregivers. And maybe more spicy tweets 🤣 Also, just a reminder that you’re more than capable of beating Spidey w/ or w/o Grant Hardie on whatever ice (Olympics, Worlds, GSOC) so get that European Championships title back come November 😉 . . 🥌💙💛🇸🇪🥌💙💛🇸🇪🥌💙💛🇸🇪 #NiklasEdin #OskarEriksson #RasmusWranå #ChristofferSundgren #Icevengers #TeamSweden #Sweden #Swedish #EdinForTheWin #athletes #olympians #curling #sports #wintersports #olympicchampions #worldchampions #europeanchampions #lilterror #curlingfangirl #curlingpinay #pinaycurler #HardlineNation #HejaSverige #MCM #mancrushmonday #IBELIEVEEDINWILLWIN 🥌💙💛🇸🇪🥌💙💛🇸🇪🥌💙💛🇸🇪 https://www.instagram.com/p/CdV71LDrY5m/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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outfitandtrend · 2 years
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[ad_1] Australian Olympic hero Harry Garside grabbed the gizzards of Australia at the Tokyo Olympics last year, where he won a bronze medal. This was the first time in more than three decades that an Australian had medaled in boxing at the Olympics. It was also a night where stereotypes were questioned. Why? Garside is someone who likes to do things differently. Garside likes to incorporate Ballet into his training routine. He also likes to paint his nails. Rather than be cowed by tired old cliches, though, Garside is very much his own man, and is inspiring others with his refreshing approach. As The Guardian reports, Garside once said: “I say I do it for boxing, but really, I have always wanted to dance. Ballet’s very tough, the power through the legs that they generate, the coordination, everything is just so extreme.”“There’s a lot of people out there who feel like they have to be something because they’re a male or a female. I’m all about just being different.”Harry GarsideHe’s also down to earth. After winning the first gold medal in his collection (at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 on the Gold Coast) he told media: “I’m just an ordinary bloke. I’m back plumbing, back on the shovel and back with the boys.”This is what it’s all about! We’re so excited to have @HarryGarside2 bronze medal 🥉 from #Tokyo2020 on display inside our Olympic Gallery.From icon @Grant_Hackett inspiring him, Harry hopes his medal will motivate the next generation of Australian Olympians. #NoOrdinaryMuseum pic.twitter.com/Xe8ufvjqlf— Australian Sports Museum (@ausportsmuseum) March 22, 2022 Keeping in tune with his reputation for being a low-key legend, Garside took to Instagram on Tuesday to tell his followers he had decided to donate his Olympic bronze medal to the @mcg sports museum. The 24-year-old said he wanted to inspire other Aussie sportspeople by doing so. Garside wrote on Instagram: “I remember going to the MCG sports museum when I was in my teens. I walked away feeling inspired to hopefully one day also be amongst these Aussie sportsman and women. I donated this medal in the hope to inspire the next generation of young superstars so they may know that they are enough and can be whatever they set their mind to.” He also said in an Australian Sports Museum video: “I still feel like that kid who was inspired by Grant Hackett in 2004… and 20 years later I’m still chasing the Olympic gold.” Speaking about his bronze medal being donated to the museum, he said: “I just hope now some young person sees that and just strives to get in the middle… and gets that gold medal.” “Maybe when I’m older it might mean something more to me when I have kids or something like that. But at the moment, mate, I think it’ll be better off in display for young people.” Read Next Did you enjoy this story? If so, subscribe to our daily newsletter to receive our top tending stories. [ad_2] Source link
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lucy90712 · 3 years
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Being an Olympian (hc)
A/n: I have been watching the olympics recently and it inspired me to write this but I don't know that much about all the sports so sorry if you do any of these and I get things wrong
George:
He is so proud of you that all of your training has allowed you to fulfil your dream of going to the olympics, of course he is sad that he can't watch you compete for the first time but he will be up at whatever time your heats or finals are just to watch you.
Watching you do all the tricks and flips you do as a gymnast he gets scared hoping that you won't fall even though he knows you will be fine because you've done these routines a million times he can't help but worry. Will cheer out loud when you get a really good score and when one of your competitors messes up because he knows that it's good for your competition.
You are in the individual all around final and a few apparatus finals which he watches intently right to the last second. Loved seeing your reaction when you won your medals and of course was so proud of you calling you the second he could to celebrate with you seeing as there wasn't really anyone there for you to enjoy the moment with.
When you come home he picks you up from the airport greeting you with the biggest hug and flowers because he's just that cute. He also love seeing your medals and is surprised by how heavy they are, would definitely call Dream and Sapnap to show them your medals and brag about how cool you are for going to the Olympics.
Dream:
He knows very little about volleyball despite how much you try to explain it but he will suddenly become very interested when you actually make it into the Olympic team and will try his best to learn everything from you before you leave.
Will get up at whatever hour to watch your game and cheers you on as loudly as he can even though you can't hear him and he annoys Sapnap who eventually just decided to join him in watching because it's easier so you have two cheerleaders back home. He often records small parts of the games and puts them on Twitter to tell people to watch and cheer you on as well.
After each game he will call you and either celebrate with you if you won but if you lost or weren't happy with how you performed he would help you look at what to do better for your next match. Of course he's no expert and your coach is there to help with that but hearing some things from him is actually useful sometimes.
In the final he is on the edge of his seat the whole time hands sweating from his anxiousness he is watching you knowing that you are so close to achieving your dream at your first olympics. When you score the final point giving your team gold he jumps up off his seat and runs round the living room he's so excited.
Once your back home he gives you the biggest hug and takes pictures of you with your medal and might post one because he's just so proud. May also steal your medal sometimes just to look at it because he thinks it's so cool.
Sapnap:
He is your biggest supporter and will come to training with you sometimes even though he can't swim anywhere near as fast as you but he will time you to see if you are up to pace which of course you are. When you set a really fast time he will get so excited and will give you a hug even though you are soaking wet.
When your races actually come around he's more nervous than anything because he knows that you have set such high expectations for yourself and he really wants you to meet them. He gets stressed just watching your heats but you make it through with the fastest time which helps him keep calm. Dream would also watch because Sapnap would beg him to even though he probably would anyway but dream has to keep him calm or else Sapnap would bounce off the walls.
By the time your final came around Sapnap almost couldn't watch because she knew that this was your chance to win the medal you have been training so hard for for years. In the last few seconds he was watching through his hands because it was so close between you and the person in the lane next to you but when you touched the side first he sprung up from his position and jumped up and down for ages.
You also do a relay in which your team gets second so you have two medals to bring home. You show him your medals over FaceTime and the smile on his face says everything, he's so proud of you for doing so well after working so hard. While on FaceTime he takes a bunch of screenshots of you with your medals and then he takes more actual pictures when you get home.
Sapnap would definitely brag about it on stream and show people your medals because he's so proud, the chat are also so happy for you because Sapnap had mentioned before just how much you had been training.
Quackity:
Since you do athletics he will come out in runs with you and go to the track with you even though he is always way behind he enjoys watching you run. He has been to all of your previous completions so he’s sad that he can't watch you at the biggest competition of the season but he is supporting from home.
He can't bare to watch you on his own so he will watch your races with your family which creates such a nice atmosphere which even though you can’t see he knows you can feel them supporting you. Is always available to give you a pep talk before you race or after a heat he is there to tell you how well you did. As much as you have an actual coach he is just as good in motivating you and he’s learnt a lot from your actual coach so can give pretty good feedback after each of your runs and isn't afraid to tell you what you could do better.
After you finish second in your heat still qualifying for the final he's so happy but gives you a bit of advice on how you can do better in the actual final which you take on board and use to win the gold medal. The medal ceremony is an emotional moment for him because he can see the huge smile on your face and remembers all the times you've talked about winning even just a bronze and been so excited but seeing you on the top step does make him shed a few tears.
When you come back home he definitely films a video with you called something like racing an Olympic runner where he gets you to show off your skills to his audience who may not have seen you race. He definitely loses the race but he's ok with it because the whole point really was for people to watch you.
Karl:
He is excited to watch you dive at the top level but also a bit scared because he knows that if things don't go right you can get injured and you have only just recovered from an ankle injury you got during training so safe to say he's a bit anxious watching you.
Luckily the synchronised diving is up first when you and your partner are diving together, watching that calms his nerves slightly because he sees you perform so well and only just lose out of the gold medal by 0.5 of a point. Talking with you after the competition also helps because you say that you are feeling on good form and he trusts your knowledge of your ability.
When it comes to your individual event he sets up an alt stream to watch it because he's way to nervous to watch it on his own. A bunch of his friends join a discord call and watch it with him cheering you on along with the chat who were really engrossed in the competition. The reaction when the score for your last dive comes in is ecstatic because there is almost no way anyone could beat you and when the last score came in Karl was jumping around, the chat were going crazy as well as everyone in the discord call. Karl also called you before he ended stream so that one he could talk to you and two thr chat could hear from you.
Does a proper stream when you get back so that the chat can see your medals and ask you questions which was really fun and it’s so cool to hear from people who are now inspired to take up diving because of you.
Wilbur:
He is so proud of you for being able to get to the olympics but because of how strict the lockdown has been in England he is worried about how little you have practiced and trained over the past year but of course he still has faith in you he just doesn’t want you to hurt yourself. Was also gutted he couldn’t go out there with you especially because it’s your first olympics and he so desperately wanted to support you and be there in person to cheer you on.
Watching you practice and watch videos of your past performances has helped him learn how you actually do the high jump so when you start in the first round he can tell that he didn’t need to worry because you are jumping super well. Setting up a makeshift bar in the living room obviously did some good for you because you were looking really good.
Once you made it to the final 8 is when he got most nervous because all of the others were looking great too and the person who had beat you at some world championships was there doing well too. He had faith in you though because he had watched most of your recent practices and you have been really close to beating your personal best so when of it comes to that he thinks you can do it.
It really did get down to that and you had to try going above your personal best but you did it first attempt so you were celebrating and so was he. That height knocked out a few people leaving only you and one person left fighting for gold. You just kept going somehow even though you’ve never made it to these heights before and then it got to above the Olympic record height which is when he started biting his nails with worry. Your competitor failed all 3 of their attempts and you still had one left and you made it meaning not only had you won the gold medal but you hold the Olympic record.
Is so excited for you to get home because he just wants to give you a hug and tell you how well you did not just over FaceTime. He was there for the second you got off the flight and picked you up to give you the tightest hug he could. You also had a lot of interviews to do which usually aren’t your thing so he helps you get though them with his media experience and now the nation loves you because of how sweet you are in all the interviews you do.
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i’m so glad to know - c. mcavoy
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Pairing: Charlie McAvoy x female!OC
Summary: Seven years ago she broke his heart. And now she was standing in front of him, a gold medal around her neck and looking like every dream he’d ever had.
Word Count: 9,351
A/N: So I am the QUEEN of just never ending writing a fic so I’m q pleased I made this into just a one-shot. But rest assured, I’ll def write about them more because sometimes I fall in love with my own pairings. SUE ME.
Warnings: alcohol consumption, tw: eating disorder, swearing [i think that’s it but as always pls tell me if I missed any that you think should be tagged]
“And we have a ceremonial puck drop tonight with recently returned Olympic gold medalist Eleonora Roux.”
“Wait, what?” Charlie tuned back into the morning announcements, eyes narrowing on Bergeron who had just finished speaking.
“That hottie Maine chick that just won at the Olympics.”
Charlie swallowed hard at Grizz’s response. It was fine. Everything was fine. He wouldn’t see her. He wasn’t the one who’d take the face off, he could ignore it was happening and go back to acting like she didn’t exist.  
Except just the sound of her name was enough to throw his head out of whack.
During the morning skate he managed to get tangled up in JD’s stick and slam into the boards. He biffed an easy shot, the puck flying wide and hitting Pasta in the shin. He collided with Grizz during a defensive rush when he’d gone in the wrong direction. By the time they were stepping off the ice, the guys were giving him a wide berth like whatever was messing with his head was catchable.
In a daze, he went home and tried to go through his usual pre-game routine. His girlfriend had left him a sandwich that he ate despite it tasting like sawdust. He crawled into bed for his nap but instead laid there wide awake, staring unseeing at the ceiling. When his alarm went off, he sluggishly dragged himself out of bed and got dressed on autopilot.
By the time he got to the rink, he started to think maybe he’d be okay. Mentally, he kept telling himself it was fine. He wasn’t going to see her. This game would happen like any other and then she’d be gone again. Like she didn’t exist. It was this small mantra that he clung to, repeating it over and over in his head that he’d get through this.
Unfortunately for him, nothing he promised himself came true.
Standing in his stall taping his stick, listening to Grizz talk about god knew what, he tried to keep his focus on the upcoming game. But then the camera crew for Behind the B came bustling into the locker room, zoomed in on a small crowd of people. He swallowed hard, spying a flash of thick chestnut hair.
“Nice – we got the Olympian visiting all of us.” Charlie Coyle pointed and the small cluster turned to stare.
Panicking, Charlie thought about fleeing the scene. Sprinting to the bathroom. Trainer’s room. Parking garage. Logan airport. He’d go anywhere if it meant he didn’t have to talk to her.
But luck wasn’t on his side.
“Luckily the American boys all like to cluster together.” Cam Neely was leading the group and Charlie unfortunately made eye contact with him before he could escape. “Boys! Shake hands with one of your own.”
Grizz and Charlie Coyle stood eagerly, Smitty and Wags hurrying over to join them while Charlie tried to back away before he could be noticed. The all gushed over her, congratulating her on the win and how proud they were she had represented them while the NHLers still couldn’t attend the games.
“And this is Charlie McAvoy – our latest to wear the A.” Cam hit Charlie on the shoulder and then his worst nightmare came true when he connected with a pair of eyes that had been haunting him for the last seven years.
If she was as wrecked by the encounter as he was, she didn’t reveal it. Instead, she gave that brilliant smile that made his heart hurt and held her hand out.
“Congrats, McAvoy – well deserved. I’m sure you’ll make Krejci proud.”
In a daze, he reached out to take her hand and the little jolt of electricity that shot down his arm nearly made him jump. She seemed to feel it too because she dropped his hand like it burned, turning to greet the rest of the guys. They posed for a few pictures as Charlie tried to keep the panic from his face, forcing a smile that felt beyond fake.
As badly as he wanted to run, now that she was right in front of him, he couldn’t tear himself away. Instead, he watched her greedily. Her eyes kept sliding to his even though she was talking to his teammates. They were asking questions about her Olympic run, the training to get there, and comparing time spent in the Midwest training where some of the guys had also been. She still wrinkled her nose when she thought about the right way to answer a question. Still twirled a strand of hair around her finger when she was nervous. Still bit her lip and nodded her head while listening to someone.
He didn’t know what to do. If he was smart, he’d let her move along and walk out of his life like she had all those years ago. If he had an ounce of self-preservation, he’d put a smile on his face, congratulate her and then go back to the rest of his life. If he was thinking straight, he’d let go of all the questions that were on the tip of his tongue that he’d never gotten the answer to.
But he’d never been able to do the right thing when it came to her.
“Where, uh – where are you sitting?” he asked lamely and some of the boys shot him curious looks.
Surprised, she dropped his stare, picking at non-existent lint on the immaculate jersey she’d been given to wear. It had her name on the back and the number ‘01’ signifying her top place finish.
“The team has us up in the owner’s suite.” She finally responded softly and Charlie stepped closer under the guise of trying to hear her over the rumble of the locker room.
“Cool, you should – um, hang out after.” Grizz and Jake snorted behind him and he felt his cheeks flush.
This was humiliating.
“Oh, well…that’s nice of you to invite me. I think I’m going to meet some of the families after, so I shouldn’t be hard to find.”
And then she was walking away and Charlie was watching her with his heart thundering, blood pounding in his ears and wondering what the fuck was going on.
--- ---
When Eleonora had come out to drop the puck, the crowd had roared so loud the Garden vibrated. The pride in a local girl bringing home gold in figure skating after a twenty-year drought was enough to turn her into an automatic hero.
Not that Charlie was surprised to see her succeed. The first time he saw her it was 6 AM. He’d been arriving for a morning skate and she was already on the ice, gliding across the slick sheet like she was floating. She was fairy-like, slim in a pair of leggings and a puffy vest on over a tight long sleeve shirt. Her long hair was in a thick braid, flying around her as she skated. He’d been entranced, watching as she danced across the ice, leaping and twirling until she’d thrown herself into a complex spin. Unfortunately, she didn’t land it and instead came crashing down onto the ice, landing hard on her bum.
Charlie had winced and stepped forward like he might be able to help her. But she pushed back up onto her skates and tried again, this time landing cleanly.
For the next two weeks he got to morning skate early just to watch her. On day sixteen he finally got the nerve up to talk to her, waiting outside the girl’s locker room before he had to go on the ice.
It was stupid but it was love at first sight. At least, it had been for him. The first time he’d spoken to her, she’d replied shyly but quickly warmed to him. For the next two years they were in Michigan they’d been together. It was easy to fall for her and he thought it had been easy for her to fall for him.
But then he’d left to go to BU and she’d shattered his heart. He still didn’t know why she’d ended it, why she had changed her mind about transferring her training to Boston. So he’d fueled that rage into hockey and making it in the NHL. As much as it hurt him, early on he followed her career. Followed the missed Olympic games in 2018 due to mysterious injuries that plagued her until it turned into the perfect hard knock dramatic tale of redemption in as she staged a comeback to sweep every event she entered starting in 2020, culminating in taking home gold in Beijing at the ‘too old for the sport’ age of 24.
Nine years. It had taken her nine years to achieve her dream, and she had. Because she was standing in the middle of the family suite with a gold medal around her neck, taking pictures with a small cluster of kids that were staring up at her with stars in their eyes.  
Despite the way he’d practiced, Charlie managed to get a goal and two assists to cap off a huge win so he’d been hung up with the media but he was pleased to see she was still there.
She hadn’t noticed him yet so he just watched her softly. He had missed the little half-smile of hers that she wore when she was nervous but was trying to hide it. She was kneeling down so that she was eye level with Patrice’s daughter – speaking quietly in Canadian French to her – and the smile there was genuine. Eventually she seemed to sense someone watching her and she glanced up and their eyes connected.  
He gave an awkward little wave that made her smile and she returned it with her own little wave. She stood up while the kids surrounding her dispersed back to their parents. Moving on autopilot, he made a beeline towards her.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
They stood there staring at each other for a beat too long. It had always hurt a little bit to see her in pictures or videos online, so much so that he’d steered clear of nearly all Olympic coverage on the off chance he’d be blindsided by the sight of her - only watching when he had prepared himself to see her. Now that she was standing in front of him, the real-life version of her was so much more delicate than he remembered. He’d always been amazed at how powerful she was when she was on the ice yet she’d still fit delicately into his body. He knew she was strong but there had always been something fragile and glasslike about her that made him acutely aware of his own size.
“Congratulations. Uh – this was your dream.”
She bit her lip slightly before responding. “Yeah. Crazy.”
“Crazy.” He echoed.
It had been so long and he’d imagined this conversation a million times. Usually in his wildest dreams there was some dramatic apology, Eleanora falling to her knees, explaining why she’d shattered his heart, and begging for him to forgive her. Or there were daydreams of him raising the Stanley Cup over his head and then catching her standing in the stands before she rushed the ice to kiss him at the blue line. No matter what he did in life, she was never far from his mind. Every victory, every failure he would hear her words in his ear – either pushing him or consoling him. After the Game 7 loss against the Blues, the only thing that dragged him forward was thinking about how she’d never given up on a goal and she’d be pissed at him if he did.
He knew it wasn’t sane, holding onto your first love like that. He knew it wasn’t normal to still think about your ex constantly, particularly when you were dating someone else. But there was always going to be something there. Something left unsaid or undone and the uncertainty of what could have been killed him.
Before he could form another sentence, Jake was bouncing over to them.
“You like your win, Goldie?”
Eleanora’s eyes slid over to Jake’s, red blooming on her cheeks. “My win?” she questioned curiously, glancing back up at Charlie.
“Of course. Gotta win it for my hero.”
“You’re Canadian.”
A slow smile spread on Jake’s face. “Yeah but our skaters aren’t as beautiful as you.”
Charlie felt his skin prickle angrily at Jake flirting with her right in front of him. Although it’s not like he had any idea Eleanora was his ex. To her credit, she looked shy and a little nervous about his blatant flirting.
“Chuckie!” a voice yelled behind him and arms wrapped around his middle. He stiffened, eyes frantically sliding to Eleanora’s. “Great win, baby.”
Fuck.
He’d somehow forgotten about his girlfriend.
Six hours of Eleanora Roux in his orbit again and he was completely forgetting about his own life. It wasn’t that he didn’t love Lucy; they’d been together for nearly four years now and she was one of his best friends, a perfectly fine companion. She was understanding about his demanding career and schedule, never caring about missed dates or weeks alone. She was…nice. But the truth had always been that Eleanora was the only girl for him, the only one that he knew for sure belonged in his future. Any other girl was always going to take second place.
But something had happened to end that. And he never found out why.
Turning, he stiffly hugged Lucy and managed to avoid her lips, the kiss she’d been going in for landing on his cheek. “Thanks, Luce.”
“You should come out for a drink.” He heard Jake saying to Eleanora while Lucy chattered away about how great he’d played. She wouldn’t say yes, there was no way she’d say yes.
“Maybe just one.”
Shocked he turned to look at her but she avoided his stare, instead letting Jake lead her out of the room, leaving Charlie to watch her walking away from him like he always was.
--- ---
Charlie leaned against the bar, scowling in the direction of Jake and Eleanora. The pair had stayed glued to each other’s sides while he’d had to follow behind them, Lucy wrapped around his waist. Now he was focused solely on the way Jake was leaning forward closely to talk to her over the noise of the bar and how she was laughing back at him. Their seats were so close to each other, Charlie couldn’t stop staring at the way Jake had his foot propped up on her chair. She was making a valiant effort to focus on Jake but Charlie noticed she continued to glance over at him, their eyes connecting too many times for it to be accidental.
She’d changed out of her jersey leaving her in a loose V-neck t-shirt that showed the hint of her black bra with a black leather jacket draped over her shoulders. He was pretty sure Jake had a clear view of her in a way that made him want to storm across the bar and smash his teammate’s face in.
Eventually, she stood up and unsteadily maneuvered around the barstools to make her way towards the bathroom. With barely a word to Lucy or the guys that were around him at the bar, he was off to follow her.
As she stepped out of the bathroom, her eyes widened in surprise when they caught his.
“Can you try to not fuck my teammate?”
Both of them were shocked by the words that Charlie angrily hurled at her. To her credit, Eleanora scowled and tried to push past him.
“What does it matter if I do, McAvoy? You’ve got a girlfriend.”
He grabbed her arm to stop her from storming off. “You made it abundantly clear years ago that you didn’t want to fill that role.”
“Let go. There’s nothing left here.”
“Because you made sure of that.” He hissed and dragged her back down the hall to get away from any prying eyes, finding the smallest of alcoves that likely housed a payphone at some point but was now just an empty space the size of a small closet. “You just – you fucking left me.”
“You went to Boston! To college and a different life. You knew what my goals were. You knew I wanted to focus on skating.”
“There were training centers in Boston – some of the best in the country. That was where you were planning on going, or so you said. But then you chose to not even give us a chance.”
“We were 18. You had your own goals too.”
“Don’t you dare try to put that on me.” He exploded back at her.
This was the fight they’d never had. And it didn’t matter that it had been seven years, these were the words he’d always wanted to say to her. The questions he’d wanted to ask. Because all he’d ever gotten from her was a voicemail telling him she was going to California and couldn’t be his girlfriend anymore. Then she’d ghosted him, never another call or text or response despite how much he’d tried.
“You left after a week of vacation at my house. With my entire family. And I thought the next time I’d see you we’d be starting in a new city together and you just…you lied. Were you even looking at Boston?”
“What does it matter now?”
“You owe me this.” He practically growled at her.
Charlie rarely lost his temper, it had always felt like a waste of time to be bitter or negative and he only truly got aggressive on the ice if anyone went against one of the guys. But the years of wondering and asking himself what could he have done differently or what did he do wrong were finally boiling over now that he had her in front of him.
“You owe me the explanation you never gave me.”
“I’m not doing this. It was a lifetime ago. You’ve moved on and are happy. What does it matter anymore?”
“Jesus, Nellie.” He stepped closer to her, pining her against the wall. She inhaled sharply but met his fierce stare. “You think I’ve moved on? You think any person in this world could replace you? I loved you – so fucking much. Did you ever even love me? Think about me?”
“How can you ask me that?” she practically whispered. Her voice wobbling and tears glistening but she didn’t break their stare. “You were everything to me.”
“So why – why did you give up on us?”
“I had to.”
“You ‘had to’? What does that even mean?”
He was so so angry. All he wanted were answers so he could truly move on. So he could stop wondering what had happened and why they weren’t together.
A single tear escaped her eye, rolling down her cheek. It made him soften slightly and he stepped forward, the pair of them so close he could feel the warmth of her body and her breath fanning across his chin. Gently, he brought a hand up to catch the moisture with his thumb, smiling at the fact she’d never completely lost her chipmunk cheeks. The pair of them had always joked that they were meant to be together solely because they had the same cheeks.
“It – it feels so stupid now.”
“Please. I need to know. I need to know why.”
“I – I can’t. It’s too much, I’ve put it behind me. You should too.”
“Well, I haven’t.” He admitted, feeling drained and confused. All he’d ever wanted was the closure that he never got. Although if he was being honest, all he’d ever really wanted was the chance to fight for them.
Eleanora opened her mouth to respond but the shout of his name interrupted her. Hastily, he stepped away from her, putting distance between the two of them knowing how close they’d just been. Poking his head around the corner, he saw Jake stomping towards him.
“Hey man, you didn’t see Goldie come through did you?”
Charlie bit hard on his cheek simultaneously thankful that Eleanora was hidden from view but still fuming that Jake was so intent on her.
“Uh, not sure.”
“What are you doing over here anyway?” Jake asked curiously and Charlie stepped down the hall, bumping his shoulder as he went to force them back towards the bar.
“Just got a call from my mom about the game – I could hear better out here.”
Heart thundering and the blood coursing through him as he led his teammate back towards the bar. Frustrated that they’d been interrupted there was still a little voice in the back of his head that told him it wasn’t the right place or time for their argument.
They rejoined the guys and Charlie accepted the beer his girlfriend handed him, managing to choke it down as he kept staring towards the bathrooms waiting for Eleanora to reappear. The guilt over Lucy standing there so happily swirled in his belly, making him feel nauseous. But Eleanora never reappeared, instead Jake frowned at a text he got that ended up being from her saying she wasn’t feeling well and had gone back to her hotel.
With mixed emotions of relief that she hadn’t returned to drink more with Jake but annoyed that she’d ever given him her number, he wondered if it was still the same number she’d always had.
Shielding his phone from view, he found her contact name, still saved the same way she’d first put it into his phone as ‘skater girl’ with the chipmunk emoji next to it, and opened it for the first time in years.
Before he could second guess himself, he sent her a quick text:
I hope this is still you – please can we talk?
Holding his breath after he hit send, he saw the message go blue and the little ‘delivered’ notification pop up under it. Within less than a minute, those tell-tale gray bubbles appeared, starting and stopping for at least a minute until finally he got a response:
Okay.
It was one word. No other context but it was the first text he’d gotten back from her in years to a question he’d asked hundreds of times. Within seconds another text followed with the info for the Fairmont Copley’s restaurant and a time. Feeling a weird sense of hope flood his stomach, he replied back with a thumbs up then put his phone away to stop himself from going crazy.
--- ---
Charlie sat nervously at the little table tucked in the corner of the hotel restaurant, tapping his foot and staring intently at the door. If she didn’t show, he’d go door to door until he found her room.
It was early, just barely past 7 AM and he was thankful that last night he’d dropped Lucy at her own apartment so that he didn’t have to make an excuse for being up and out of bed so early. As it was, the guilt he felt about lying to Lucy was eating away at him. They’d met her senior year at BU and his first full year in the NHL through mutual college friends. When they’d first met, she didn’t ask him for anything, never pushed him for a relationship, instead just kind of seeped into every part of his life that he barely even noticed what was happening until it was 4 years later and she was hinting heavily about a ring.
Charlie had never talked to Lucy about his relationship with Eleanora; he had never really shared it with anyone. For two years the pair of them had been together with barely anyone knowing. At the time, Charlie hadn’t questioned it – he’d just been thrilled to be with her at all. Their schedules meant they got used to being apart more than they were together but it had seemed to only strengthen their bond. It was constant calls and FaceTimes, texts back and forth. He watched her skate at different competitions as she prepared to qualify for the Olympics; she came to every game she could. When his parents and sisters had come to see him play, he’d proudly introduced her and brought her out to family dinner. She had spent a week in Long Island right before he was set to go to BU.
But as he thought back on it, he realized he’d never met her father. Barely knew anything about her family life except that she was an only child from Bangor, Maine and her mom had passed away the year before they met. Her father was a famous Canadian figure skater turned coach that had moved to California after becoming a widower and it had always confused Charlie as to why she didn’t train with him but was thankful she didn’t because it meant he’d met her. She had strong Maine roots, talking happily about her grandparents that were still there but in all the time he knew her, she hadn’t traveled home.
Pulled from his thoughts, he finally saw her walk through the door, ten minutes late. Like it always did when it came to her, his breath caught in his throat when they locked eyes. Thankfully, she gave him a little smile and waved with her sweater paw, the too big top falling well passed her leggings-clad bum.
As she approached him, he didn’t know what to do. He wanted to pull her into his arms and hug her tightly. He wanted to be firm and serious, making sure she knew he was still angry. He wanted to beg her to take him back despite having a girlfriend.
In short, he had no fucking clue what he wanted.
“You came.” Was what he eventually landed on saying to her as she got to the table, sliding into the booth. They were at a corner table so they were closer than if she’d just sat in the seat across from him.
Blowing a long breath out, she gave him a wry smile. “Well, as you pointed out last night – I owe you an explanation.”
Surprised, he didn’t think they’d dive right into it but before he could respond a server appeared at their table, asking them for drink orders and giving them the menus. If he recognized them both, he hid it well, as he uninterestedly told them the specials before rolling his eyes while Eleanora thought about what to get for a drink
She eventually settled on a cappuccino while he got black coffee. The interruption seemed to make things more awkward as they read the menu intently, neither one wanting to speak first.
“Do you think they’ll judge me if I order clam chowder and a lobster roll at 730 AM?” she mused and it made him grin and he relaxed slightly into his seat.
“It’s on the menu, I think you can eat whatever you want.”
“That’s my immediate plan now that I’m retired: eat everything I want.”
Her diet had always been a source of conflict in their relationship. The amount that she trained didn’t ever seem to match up with what she was eating. Initially, he’d call her out on it but that had just made her clam up. As they were together longer, he figured out ways to get her to eat more, usually complaining that he was hungry then giving her extra bites to ‘try’. Figure skating was a grueling sport and he knew how much pressure she was under to be perfect but he’d hated the idea that she wasn’t taking care of herself.
So he was pleasantly surprised to hear her response, grinning back at her. “Then I think we should order a table waffle to share.”
“Table waffle?”
“It’s like a breakfast appetizer: you order what you want for your meal but everyone shares a waffle.”
Giggling, she flushed a little. “I like it – table waffle it is!”
By the time the server had returned with their drinks, they were arguing playfully about the difference between waffles and pancakes and which was superior. The way she always countered him had been his favorite part of being with her, something he’d been looking for ever since. It was never arguing or true conflict, just silly disputes over whose favorite movie was better (she maintained Jurassic Park won out over The Hangover any day of the week) or the pronunciation of croissant if you didn’t actually speak French.
After ordering, Charlie leaned back, eyeing her carefully as she dumped five sugars into her drink then sipped her coffee. Unaware of his stare, he watched as she hummed happily, bouncing a little in her seat. It made him smile.
Jesus, he’d fucking missed her.
“Can we talk now?” he eventually questioned softly.
Sighing, she set her drink down and glanced back at him. “I kinda liked it better when we were just play arguing again instead of actual arguing.”
“Not arguing, debating.” He teased, imitating a phrase they’d both shoot back at anyone around them who had wondered why the two of them couldn’t stop fighting each other over every little thing.
He hoped it would earn him a smile but she stared back at him seriously.
“I know I owe you, Teddy. It’s part of why I agreed to come to the game – I hoped I’d run into you.”
Charlie wasn’t sure what part of her response hit him harder: the use of the stupid nickname she’d always called him as a play on Alvin and the Chipmunks or the fact that she’d wanted to see him.
When he caught his breath, he finally stuttered out, “Why didn’t you come to Boston?”
It was the question that had plagued him the most over the years.
They’d had a plan.
It was part of why he’d ended up at BU: the Skating Club of Boston was one of the top ranked US training centers. She’d identified a husband/wife coaching tandem that were two of the top coaches in the country. Signed a lease near BU despite the added commute to get to the rink for her. It wasn’t some fake reassurance that she would be moving with him. It had been confirmed.
Or so he’d thought.
“After I stayed with your family, I went to see my dad in California…I, uh, I finally told him I was seeing you. That I was in love with you and that’s why I was going to train in Boston.” She spoke so softly, he had to lean in closer to hear her. She was nervously fingering the tablecloth.
“I know you wondered why he never visited. Or you never met him. But he was always pretty clear: I was in Michigan for skating. I was there to be an Olympian and I wasn’t supposed to date. It sounds ridiculous but he’d said he’d cut me off financially if I did, if skating wasn’t just my top focus – my only focus. But that summer I was finally 18. Old enough to make my own decisions. And, I thought, old enough to get my inheritance from my mom so I could be independent.”
Charlie sat quietly as he listened to her. He hadn’t known any of this, had never even questioned who funded her skating career or what her finances were like. They were kids, it wasn’t something that had ever crossed his mind.
“When I told him about us he lost it. Turns out, I couldn’t control any of my own money until I turned 22. Taylor Swift wasn’t kidding about feelin’ 22.”
He snorted and he knew just by the look on her face that she had to joke a little or she’d start crying. As it was, her cheeks were pale and she was gnawing on her bottom lip in between sentences, two telltale signs of Eleanora tears.
“It was you or figure skating.”
The weight of her words hit him hard, initially feeling angry that she’d given him up but after the burst of fury he thought about it. If someone had told him that his only choice was between being with her or playing in the NHL, what would he decide? She let him sit silently as his emotions played out on his face. They’d been so similar in their drive to succeed that she knew he’d come to the same conclusion she had.
“I would’ve – I would’ve helped you. Figured out how to help you pay for it. You were getting endorsements already even two years out from the games – you’d won World’s that year. You were the best. We could’ve made it work.”
He didn’t even know why he was arguing right now. If only because it was the way they’d always been with each other. They’d pushed each other and always held the other accountable if they were being an idiot.
“There was too much uncertainty. It was – god, I never told you so much.” She mumbled mostly to herself, looking down at her hands. “It was my mom’s dream to see me win Olympic gold. My father never won it – he ended up with 2 silvers and they badly wanted gold for me. I didn’t care so much about my dad and what he wanted but it was my mom’s dying wish…and well, it was harder to argue with her when she was gone.”
Charlie wasn’t sure how he’d never seen the pressure she was under. When he watched her skate, the sheer joy on her face made him think she loved it. Her drive to win never seemed external. It had to have been from the inside for her to be on the ice at 5 AM before going to school for a few hours only to return to the ice or the gym. No one did that for someone else.
“You loved skating.”
“I did – I do.” She sighed, tentatively reaching out to rest her hand on his forearm. The soft touch sent a shock down his spine and he felt warm just from being this close to her.
“But there was so much that it took from me too. You saw me at my best. Knew me at my best. I was alone in Michigan with a family that mostly just wanted to see me healthy. I didn’t have my dad at every practice taking notes to tell me what I’d done wrong or to monitor what I was eating. Those two years with you were the best of my life.”
The admission both thrilled and hurt him. They’d been apart for 7 years. While he always carried a deep pain at the loss of her, he’d pushed through it to try to find a way to be happy without her. To know that she was unhappy for so long hurt him more than he thought possible.
Before he could respond, their food arrived and they fell silent as each dish was set on the table. Swallowing hard, he wasn’t sure he was even hungry anymore but pushed the waffle towards her.
“The prettiest one at the table always gets the first bite.”
“That sounds like a line.” She teased, a flush crawling up her neck. He’d always loved making her blush. There was something so innocent about her that had always brought out a protective instinct in him but he’d always relished in being the one who could make her blush so sweetly.
“Usually, it’s biggest cheeks but I think we’d be at a stalemate if that was the case.”
Huffing, she kicked him playfully and stuck her tongue out at him. “Not nice, Teddy.”
“Just the truth, Nellie.”
They’d somehow moved closer to each other and the heavy pause made him realize if he moved his head just a couple inches he’d be kissing her. The only thing that stopped him was the thought of Lucy. Turning Eleanora into some kind of ‘other woman’ would taint everything they’d ever been.
His main question answered, he struggled to process what she’d said. The fact that she hadn’t fallen out of love with him or left him for someone else – all the scenarios he’d made up in his head after she’d unceremoniously dumped him – ran through his mind. He had so much more to ask her but the way she distractedly started to talk about Maine lobster and how morbid it was that she’d always liked to pick the strongest fighter from the tank as her meal, he couldn’t help but just be happy she was near him again.
So he let her talk. Teased her that Manhattan clam chowder was better than New England, even though he didn’t believe it himself. He just liked to see the little mischievous spark she got in her eyes when she was about to lay out an argument about how she was right and he was wrong. It was insane but he still had a note on his phone that tallied up who had won the most debates. After two years, she was beating him by 4. He’d never had the heart to delete it.
During a lull in the conversation as she picked at the berries from the waffle, he tentatively reached out to brush his fingers along the back of her hand. She froze, eyes shooting up to his.
“Can I ask you one more question?” Frowning slightly, she nodded for him to continue. “What happened in 2018?”
While it had hurt him to follow her career, he couldn’t help it. He’d even gone to see her at the 2016 World’s that were held in Boston where she’d finished first, regaining the title as the first American since 2006. But from there, her career had nose-dived. She had been touted as the figure that would bring America back to the top but then she’d seemingly crumpled under the pressure. After a disappointing 2017 season that culminated in her not qualifying for the Olympics, she’d disappeared for nearly 10 months. All Charlie ever learned was that she was injured.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t ask that.” She responded wryly.
“I mean – I followed your career. You were untouchable until 2017.”
“You followed me?”  
Grimacing, he shrugged. “I was so mad at you. So fucking angry but I never stopped loving you either. Or cheering for you.”
Her eyes glistened and he hated that he was making her cry despite the fact that she kind of deserved it. If she’d just talked to him, told him what was happening…he’d have waited – he’d have kept them a secret or just been a monk until she turned 22. Whatever she’d wanted, he’d have done.
“I’m sorry, Charlie.” She reached for his hand, squeezing his fingers tightly. “I’m sorry I never gave you an explanation. I’m sorry I broke up with you in a voicemail. I just – it hurt too much. Giving you up. I wouldn’t have been strong enough to walk away if I’d let you have a chance to fight me on it.”
Shockingly, he felt tears well in his own eyes. Staring at the girl that had his heart since he was 16, every ounce of anger that he’d been holding for the last seven years seeped out of him. All he saw now was a scared girl that had made a hard decision, a choice he’d have made himself in her position. He saw the same face that he’d fallen in love with the second he saw the determination in her eyes after she’d fallen. It was what he’d always loved most about her: she never gave up. For so long, that’s what had hurt him the most – that he wasn’t worth the fight.
He squeezed her hand back before pulling it up to press a kiss to her fingertips because he couldn’t kiss her how he wanted.
“Tell me about 2018, Nellie.”
Sighing, she kept her hand in his but dropped his stare. “Uh, after we broke up – after I broke us, skating was all I had. I trained harder than I ever had. I was on the ice more than was healthy. And I just – I developed a really unhealthy relationship with food, especially being under my dad’s coaching. There was so much pressure to be thin but strong; powerful but petite. Food was a necessary evil, fuel to keep going, but I wasn’t eating enough. One practice I was working on a new skill and I fell funny, landed too hard and my bones had become so fragile, I broke my back.”
Charlie squeezed her hand, inching closer to her. He wanted to hold her, wanted to fix her in some way but he knew she’d fixed herself. He couldn’t imagine the pain and recovery that had come with her injury.
“Besides needing surgery, the doctors were concerned about my bone loss. I probably wouldn’t have had such a bad break if I’d been taking care of myself. Besides physical therapy, I started to see a sports nutritionist. I think the doctors shamed my dad enough that he had to back off.”
Unable to resist, he wound his arm around Eleanora’s shoulders and pulled her against him. It was an awkward fit but he pushed the table away a bit and then she was sliding into his side, fitting against him like the missing puzzle piece and her head rested on his chest as she sniffled slightly.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head as he held her, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. All the while he’d held so much resentment towards her while she’d been damn near alone with a shitty parent pushing her so hard she broke physically and emotionally.
“The year off was good for me. After I finally turned 22, I changed coaches. They knew about my past and worked with me, figured out how to get me back to the top but healthily. I started to love the sport again, I started to want it again.”
“I’m really proud of you, Nel.” He mumbled into the crown of her head, taking a deep breath and letting the scent of her shampoo wash over him.
“I’m proud of you, Teddy.” She twisted a bit in her seat so she could look up at him. “I always watched your games when I could.”
“Yeah?” he couldn’t help grinning down at her.
“Yeah – I like your hockey hugs after scoring but will need to have words with Jake about taking you down like he does on occasion.”
The name of his teammate brought him back to earth a bit and he brought his free hand around to hold her face carefully.
“Please don’t date him. I couldn’t bear it.”
Huffing out a breath, she gave him a soft smile. “I would never. I just – I saw you had a girlfriend. I thought you wanted to talk after you asked me to stay but then that happened and I just, Jake was there.”
The mention of Lucy seemed to bring both of them back to reality as she reluctantly slid out of his arms so she was back on her side of the bench. Luckily, the server bustled by, dropping the check without even asking if they wanted anything else. Glancing at his phone, he realized they’d been here for nearly an hour and a half. Ignoring her protests, he slid his card into the folder and placed it at the edge of the table.
The awkwardness from earlier returned and he tapped his foot against the table leg.
“Where do we go from here?” he finally asked.
Sighing, Eleanora looked at him with a miserable face. “Nowhere, Charlie. You have a girlfriend. A life in Boston. I never should’ve disrupted that.”
It felt like she broke his heart all over again.
“You can’t say you don’t love me still.” He argued back. This was what he’d never gotten before and he’d be damned if he’d blow it.
“How I feel doesn’t matter. You have a girlfriend that loves you. And you were happy before I walked into that locker room, I know you were.”
“You don’t know shit, Eleanora.” He shot back. “It doesn’t matter who I’ve been with since we broke up, any girl was always playing for second.”
“I’m not having this argument with you.” She answered stiffly just as the server dropped his card off. Sliding out from the booth, she made a move to flee. He hastily signed the receipt before hurrying after her. She’d made it to the elevators by the time he caught up to her.
He grabbed for her hand, holding it tightly so she couldn’t escape him. “You’re not running away from this again.”
“Charlie, please.” She begged and he was surprised to see the tears waiting to fall. “I can’t do this to you. You can’t do this to me. We had our chance. You need to move on.”
The elevator dinged and it was mercifully empty. She wrenched her hand from his grip, storming in and hitting a button aimlessly. Instead of letting her go, he followed. As the doors shut, leaving them in private, he reached for her and she surprisingly let him wrap an arm around her waist, the other finding the base of her neck to hold her face up to his.
“Tell me you’ve moved on. Tell me you don’t still want me and I’ll let you go.”
Her chest was heaving and her eyes searched his frantically. There was no other argument he could give her. The time for them to argue was done. She had to make a choice now.
“There isn’t a universe that exists where I won’t always love you.” She finally admitted and somehow, Charlie restrained himself from kissing her like he wanted to. He wasn’t going to start them off with a tainted memory. He wasn’t going to cheat.
“I’ll break up with Lucy. Please – just give me another chance. I’ve never stopped loving you, I can’t let you walk away from this again.”
He was begging her now, forehead pressed to hers. Love had never been an issue between them; sticking around had been.
Wordlessly, she nodded her head yes and he felt his chest loosen as she clung tighter to him.
“Yes?” he asked, needing her to say the words; needing her to choose this too.
“Yes.” She answered, the word so clearly stated in the confined space of the elevator but he was positive he’d never heard a more beautiful sound.
--- ---
Four days later, Charlie was nervously wiping his palms on his jeans as he sat across from Lucy. Using some inhuman strength, he’d left Eleanora at her hotel room door, leaving only after hugging her so tightly she’d eventually squeaked and asked for air. Since then, he’d had practice and one game to contend with while texting Eleanora every second he got as he tried to figure out how to end things with Lucy.
He hated himself a little for what he was about to do. As recently as a week ago, he’d been perfectly content with their relationship. Sure, there was no real fire and half the time she felt more like a friend than she did a lover, but she was good to him. And now he was going to completely shatter that.
Reluctant to tell any of the guys the whole story, he gave some of the highlights: they’d dated when they were younger and he wanted to try again with her. Some of them were supportive while others were confused about how he’d gone from four years with a girl to dropping her the second an ex showed up but he didn’t bother explaining it and they trusted his judgement enough to accept it. Oddly enough, Jake had been the most understanding. He’d playfully punched him in the arm and told him now it made sense why he’d looked constipated at the bar that night.
The only other people he’d talked about it with was his family, turning to his older sister for advice on how to break up with Lucy. Surprisingly, all of them made some comment about never really liking his soon to be ex-girlfriend which was news to him. But according to his sisters, she’d always been a little too laidback about his career that they thought it was fake. They’d also hated how much Charlie paid for things for her which he’d never really thought about but was realizing now he’d given her a credit card linked to his own account and had never paid attention to it.
So now here he was. He’d called her and asked her to come over for dinner after making excuses to avoid her for the last few days. When she’d come in, he’d reluctantly kissed her before walking back towards the living room where he had wine and her favorite dinner. He thought that would help let her down gently. Breaking up with someone wasn’t exactly fun and he was starting to think Eleanora had the right idea in leaving a voicemail.
Finishing dinner, he set his drink down and turned to face her, scotching away from her while again wiping his sweaty palms on his pants.
“Can we talk for a minute?”
Oddly enough, Lucy was looking back at him happily, a bright smile on her face as she nodded for him to speak.
“Uh, this isn’t easy to say – I’ve been thinking a lot about the last four years with you and trying to find the right words.”
“It’s okay, I think I know what you’re about to say.” She interrupted, moving closer and placing a hand on his thigh.
Confused, he looked back at her. “You do?” Smiling like she was in on a joke, she nodded at him to continue. “Well, I guess I should just say it.”
The smile on her face grew and Charlie shook his head again. What was she so happy about?
“I can’t be with you anymore.” He got the words out in a rush at the same moment she said ‘yes’ emphatically.
Now both of them were confused. Lucy looked like she’d been slapped while Charlie was looking at her wondering what was going on.
“Yes?” he echoed.
“You’re breaking UP with me?” she shrieked, face turning red as shouted at him. “I thought you were proposing.”
“Proposing?” he echoed again.
“Yes, you idiot! Romantic dinner, my favorite meal and wine, you’ve been all nervous and jumpy lately. We’ve been together for four fucking years, of course I thought you were proposing.”
Charlie cringed and reached out to touch her arm. “I never wanted to hurt you, Luce.”
Throwing off his hand, she glared back at him. “Seriously, what the fuck, Charlie? Everything has been great – we don’t fight, I’m there whenever you need me. If it’s another girl…if you cheated…I mean, I don’t love it but that’s no reason to break up.”
“Huh?”
This was quickly becoming an incredibly confusing conversation. What girl in their right mind thinks it’s okay that their boyfriend cheats on them?
“You’re a professional hockey player, on the road a lot – if you need other girls to sleep with, that’s okay. Just as long as you’re married to me.”
Nothing about this was making sense. Charlie wasn’t that guy and he’d never want to be with a girl that thought that of him let alone was okay with it.
“Lucy, no. I’m not – I’m sorry but I can’t do this anymore.”
“Is there someone else?” she accused, and Charlie swallowed hard. This wasn’t the question he wanted to answer but he also wasn’t going to deny it.
“There’s – fuck, I’m sorry – there’s always been someone else. I never really got over my ex.”
“Your ex?” it was her turn to echo, and he cringed at the venom in her voice.  “You’ve never mentioned an ex.”
“It just – I never wanted to talk about it.”
“Well, we’re talking about it now. Who is this ex that just magically appear – fuck.” She gave a manic little chuckle, realization flashing on her face. “Tell me it’s not the fucking figure skater. Tell me it’s not a girl you saw four days ago and now you’re throwing away four years away for.”
Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair. The last thing he wanted was to talk about Eleanora but he also wasn’t going to deny it.
“Luce, we don’t need to – ”
“No. You owe me this, Charlie.”
Exhaling, he started slowly. “We met in Michigan. Dated for two years before I left for BU and she went to California to train.”
“You dated her when you were in high school. And you see her one time and decide to try to get back together with her?”
“It’s…more complicated than that.”
“Chuckie, come on.” She reached out for him, changing tactics as she tried to crawl into his lap. “You know we’re good together.”
“Lucy, no.” he gently pushed her off him. “I really am sorry. I care about you and I know this is shitty but I’ve – I’m sorry, I’ve been in love with Nellie since the minute I met her.”
Rage flashed in her eyes. “This is…unbelievable.” She sunk back into the couch, glaring at him. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“I know this is sudden but it wouldn’t have been fair to drag it out.”
“Fair? How am I supposed to pay my rent? How am I supposed to live now?”
“What does that even mean? Have I been paying your rent?”
She huffed, rolling her eyes as she stood to grab the Chanel purse he was pretty sure he bought her after she’d picked it out one anniversary. “Well you refused to move in with me so I’ve had it on your credit card.”
“What the fuck, Lucy?”
“Oh please. You have plenty of money, you didn’t even notice.” She stormed around, seemingly searching for items of hers that she’d left here.
“You need to go.” He finally managed to get out. This night had devolved and gone in a direction he’d never expected. Now he just wanted her out of his house and out of his life.
“Fuck you, McAvoy. I hope you’re happy with the little ice princess.” She shot back at him and he just stayed quiet as she stormed out.
He sat there quietly, trying to process what had just happened. After about fifteen minutes, his phone rang and he grabbed for it, hoping it was Eleanora. Instead it was his older sister. Answering it, she immediately asked how it went.
Chuckling mirthlessly he relayed the events that happened which only resulted in his sister yelling for his mom and sisters to come over and hear what happened too, the group of them all finding a great amount of humor in the way the break up had gone. Apparently, it was a rookie move to have done dinner first. They also couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed he’d been paying for her rent. The girls asked if he got his card back and he realized he’d have to cancel it instead because there was no way he was going to see her to ask for it.
When he finished the call with them, he glanced at the time. He had morning skate and it was close to nine but he didn’t want to wait to see Eleanora so he grabbed his keys and sped towards the Fairmont where she was still staying.
In less than twenty minutes, he was knocking on her door, leaning heavily against it until she opened it. She was barefaced and dressed in a little pair of shorts with an oversized Team USA sweatshirt. He’d told her he wouldn’t see her in person until he’d ended things so the soft smile that greeted him made his stomach flip.
“Hi, Nellie.” He smiled at her as she stepped aside to let him in.
“Hi, Teddy.”
That was all it took for him to scoop her up into his arms, squeezing her tightly against his body. He spun them as the door slammed and she giggled helplessly, wiggling against him until he set her down.
“Can I kiss you now?” he asked, cradling her face softly as she ran a thumb along her jaw.
Wordlessly, she nodded.
He hesitated for only a second, relishing in the feel of her and the way she was looking up at him. Finally, he leaned forward to press his lips to hers, smiling into the kiss because she was already grinning like a fool.
Seven fucking years. Seven years since he’d felt like this and he knew he wouldn’t ever stop fighting for her.
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female-malice · 2 years
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Oh. What The Fuck.
Okay are you guys ready for this? Let's do it...
Erica Sullivan Shares Thoughts on Lia Thomas: “I Just Feel Bad For Her”
At the women’s NCAA Championships next week in Atlanta, transgender woman Lia Thomas will be the top seed and favorite in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle races. Few of her national competitors have weighed in on the controversy surrounding Thomas so far. The only significant statement came from Stanford fifth-year swimmer Brooke Forde, who said that she would not have a problem racing Thomas in the 500 free at NCAAs.
Now, another key swimmer who will race against Thomas in the 500 free at NCAAs, Texas freshman Erica Sullivan, has shared an opinion. Sullivan was a U.S. Olympian in 2021, and she captured the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the 1500-meter free. With her performances, Sullivan became the first openly-lesbian swimmer to qualify for a U.S. Olympic team and then to win an Olympic medal.
Okay swim lesbian. Are you a sigma-female or are you struggling with your Ledecky complex?
Asked for her own opinion on whether Thomas should be allowed to race, Sullivan downplayed the competitive ramifications while lamenting the effects of the criticism Thomas has taken on her well-being.
“I think people are asking for this big, well thought-out explanation, especially for me as a gay swimmer, but my explanation is pretty simple. I don’t care. It comes down to the fact that when I race, I don’t race for the status or for the gold or for whatever. That’s just not why I do it. I love winning, don’t get me wrong. Getting a silver medal was so cool, and that’s always exciting, but I swim for the people around me,” Sullivan said.
You're an Olympic medallist in an individual racing sport. INDIVIDUAL sport. You do not swim for the people around you. And you never have. You don't get to an Olympic podium by swimming for other peoples' sake. You put yourself and your competitive athletic goals first over and over and over. That's how you got to that podium. You should be extremely proud.
I know that, as a lesbian, you're trying to downplay your gender non-conforming personality traits. But no one is asking you to do that. You swim for yourself and you know it. So own it.
“I feel bad for Lia because imagine being on a team where you know some people don’t want you there. That’s just a terrible environment to be in. I feel like I’m in an environment at Texas where I’m accepted by everyone here. If they’re not, they haven’t verbalized it to me. They’ve kept it to themselves, very supportive of my relationship, love it when I make my jokes. They’re very supportive of who I am as a person, and I just feel bad that Lia doesn’t have that.”
You're a lesbian woman succeeding at University of Texas's prolific swim program in liberal Austin Texas. You're also a superstar.
You were the only Texas swimmer on a podium in Tokyo. Before Tokyo, Texas swimmers walked away from every Olympics adding an armful of medals to their schools' prestige. The last Olympics to feature only one Texas medallist was the 1980 Olympics boycotted by the US swim team. There were no Tokyo boycotts. Texas's Olympic swimming prowess is just fading.
You're the last great hope of a legendary swim program. Of course they love you. Your teammates are starstruck by you. Do you see how your locker room impact is completely different from Lia's locker room impact in every possible way?
Sullivan was in favor of new USA Swimming rules creating policies and procedures for transgender females to be eligible for elite-level competition, but she expressed concerns about the NCAA changing eligibility requirements for trans swimmers such as Thomas in the middle of the season. She admitted that she would be upset if Thomas beat her but no more upset than if she lost to any other competitor in the field at NCAAs.
“I’m going to swim my 500 free to the best of my ability and try to beat her, not because she’s trans but because I’m competitive and I don’t like losing,” Sullivan said.
Erica... Lia Thomas is not Katie Ledecky. Please see a sports psychologist. You need to find a healthier way to process your rivalry with Katie Ledecky.
“If I lose, I’m going to be pissed, not because Lia’s trans but because I’m a competitive person, and I’m going to go back home and train as hard as I can.
You want to race against men. You want to face impossible competition. That's what motivates you. Why else would you train for the event Katie Ledecky has owned for a decade?
In the Olympics, there were 4 seconds between you and the GOAT. 4 seconds between you and that gold medal. But you went into the pool prepared for silver. You trained for a time that would edge out Sarah Kohler, not a time that would challenge Ledecky.
You were bold enough to choose Ledecky's event. So compete with her! She's human. She's female. She's not a man. She's beatable. What's the point of Ledecky pushing the frontier of women's swimming if you shy away from challenging her?
You can't write Ledecky off as an anomaly in the pool, and you know it! If you could write her off as unbeatable, you'd be satisfied with silver. And you're clearly unsatisfied. You're mildly traumatized by the process of settling for silver. Now you're projecting that "settling" mentality across all of women's sports to make yourself feel better.
I’m going to be the same amount of angry if Emma beats me, Emma Nordin or Emma Weyant. Or Brooke Forde.”
You know who your real competitors are. You just want Lia in the pool to help you cope with your Ledecky complex.
You want to win another silver, look at the gold medalist, and say "oh well. Nothing I could've done. We're built different. At least I beat the competitors built like me." With Lia, that is true. There's nothing you can do about Lia's competitive advantages. But with Ledecky, that isn't true at all. You can beat her.
You're struggling to accept that silver medal behind Ledecky. So maybe a silver behind Lia will help you settle down. Maybe it will help you be less frustrated and intense and competitive. Maybe it will help you give up on chasing after the greatest swimmer in the world. And maybe you'll finally accept modest athletic goals and a more gender-conforming outlook on life.
But that's bullshit. You'll never be satisfied. You'll never be able to convince yourself Ledecky is unbeatable. Stop trying to smother the sigma-female inside of you and woman up.
Ledecky's reading what you're saying and she's worried you've lost the plot. She needs you, Erica. She needs you to push her. She hasn't broken her 1500m record in 4 years. In the Olympics, she swam 15 seconds behind her 2018 record. She's slowing down. So, are you speeding up or settling?
Sullivan expressed empathy for Thomas as she has received considerable criticism despite not breaking any rules. “She’s getting hate from all sides. All I can think for her right now is that sucks for her because that has got to mess you up at night. That’s got to hurt as a human being,” Sullivan said. “I just feel bad for her. She doesn’t deserve what she’s getting.”
I feel bad for Kamila Valieva. She's a 15 year old trapped in an abusive training environment. She did not choose to start doping. She had no control over what was and wasn't in her system. Her image is ruined. Her career is over. The gold medal she was promised was taken from her. She's lost her chance at the life-long salary awarded to every Russian gold medalist. Her life seems impossible now.
But just because I feel bad for her doesn't mean I'm okay with her competing.
Valieva's coaches jeopardized the level playing field of skating. Valieva had no choice in the matter. Lia Thomas is actively choosing to disrupt the level playing field of swimming.
I wonder if you'll still feel bad for Lia when you meet him at the national championship. When he's no longer a political hypothetical concept. When you realize he's truly male and no stand-in for Ledecky. How will you feel when you watch him swim in other heats and events right there in the pool in front of you? How will you feel when you're watching this live with no twitter commentary to guide your thinking?
How will you feel when it's your turn and you're standing side-by-side before the 500 free? What will he say to you?
"Not my best times so far today, but at least I'm winning everything. Can't wait to compete against a fellow lesbian!"
Will you settle? Will you do the gender-conforming thing and be nice?
Or will you find your rage?
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seasonsofeverlark · 3 years
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All That Glitters Is Gold
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Author: @jhsgf82 
Prompt:  Hi! Since the Summer Olympics is still planned to go on this year, maybe there can be an Everlark (+other THG faves) take on it? Archery and wrestling or different sports entirely? Repping the same country or different? How’d they get to where they are? Bonus: what shenanigans take place in Olympic Village? 😉(Also, I’m biased and want them all to take home gold lol) [submitted by @daydreamsandcaffeine] 
Summary:  Longshots Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen achieve their dream of making it to the Olympics, him in wrestling, her in archery.  What will the Games hold for them?  Will they medal and bring glory to their hometown?  Will they take home The Gold as Katniss so desires? Whatever happens, they’ll do it together.    
Rating: T 
Author’s Note:  When I saw this prompt, I immediately fell in love with it.  I wanted it badly, and I wasn’t the only one.  Two of my lovely fellow writers conceded to me, so I hope I did the prompt justice.  I tweaked some things, but mainly, I tried to be accurate about the details of the Olympics, and much of this is based on the present day and the 2020 (2021) Olympics, minus the no spectators.  I’m glad to know the Games will continue this year (postponed from last), and I hope all will stay safe and healthy.  In this fic, let’s pretend the pandemic never happened because I wanted fans in the stands.  Also, Panem is a country in this fic, sort of like in the books, and all other country competitors will be made up.  Some, however, may be based on actual countries. 
Parts of this were inspired by the song Never Enough from The Greatest Showman composed by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and originally performed by Loren Allred.
This will be Part I of II (Part I is kicking off the start of the Olympics, and Part II will be released by the end of the Games).  
My sincere thanks go out to @evestedic for brainstorming with me and for the video which inspired the ending of this fic as well as to daydreamsandcaffeine, who made the amazing edit (below) for me and helped with fancasting the THG Olympic team.  The fancasting was a lot of fun, and I’ll put out some edits with said fancasts a little later.  I hope you all enjoy my take on Olympians!Everlark!/Olympians!THG characters.  _______________
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IOC:  International Olympic Committee 
—–
  I’m trying to hold my breath
Getting louder now. Can you hear it echoing?
Take my hand.  Will you share this with me?
‘Cause, darlin, without you…
All the shine of a thousand spotlights
All the stars we steal from the night sky 
Will never be enough
Never be enough for me… 
(“Never Enough,” The Greatest Showman, composed by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul)
No one ever thought a girl from the wrong side of the tracks and a boy from a bad home would make it this far, but we have.  We’re going to be there; we’re going to see it.  Not just see, but be in it, a part of it!  The shine of the spotlights, the steady burn of the flame, millions of eyes on us.  It’s daunting to think about, but I want it.  I want it more than anything.  It’s an honor just to be selected, they say, to make it this far, but I want more.  I want the Gold.  Anything else is unthinkable.  
When I tell Peeta Mellark, my teammate and boyfriend, this, he chuckles, says “Atta girl” and kisses me.  At least, he’ll be by my side.  A warm, strong, steady presence I can always depend on.  Even so, I can scarcely breathe.  Peeta and I, we’re going to the Games!
Archery is my event, and Peeta will compete in wrestling.  Including us, forty-eight athletes from 12 Districts have been selected for Team Panem.  That’s nothing compared to what we’re up against.  In total, over 11,000 athletes will vie for Olympic Gold in 339 events for 33 different sports.  This year, there was a rule change limiting the number of athletes allowed to be sent, based upon size.  We’re small, so naturally, we have an unfair disadvantage.  We don’t even normally send athletes for every sport, not even close.  There simply isn’t enough interest‒people are too busy getting by from day-to-day for sports‒and we don’t have the training facilities.  At least, we didn’t.  It was a great and welcome surprise when they built a training center geared toward aspiring Olympians in my hometown of District 12. 
Speaking of 12’s Olympic training center and athletic complex, that’s where I met Peeta, officially.  Before then, I’d been used to practicing my archery out in the woods, hunting.  It began as a means of getting some extra food after my father was unexpectedly killed in a mining accident.  After the tragedy, I didn’t even want to pick up a bow, but I knew I needed to think of my sister and mother, and also, it felt like I would be dishonoring my father’s memory were I not to use the skills he’d taught me, something we’d bonded over.
So, I took to hunting on my own.  And I got good, really good.  
Once my family was better off, I decided to take archery a step further.  It was my friend Madge Undersee who encouraged me to pursue archery for sport.  
Madge is my exact opposite in every way.  Gymnast.  Pianist.  Mayor’s daughter.  Blonde bombshell.  How we ever ended up as friends is beyond me.  Madge is graceful and delicate, though the latter doesn’t mean weak by any measure.  Her long, lithe legs could crush concrete.  
As for me, I’m olive-skinned, not very big and not very pretty, but I’m skilled and determined. Sure, I’m light on my feet in the woods when hunting, and I’m good with a bow, but that’s where my list of attributes ends. 
It was also Madge who took me to the fancy new training center for the first time, scoring me free passes for as long as I wanted to go. It helped having connections, though I despised using them, and owing people.  Even so, I wanted Olympic Gold badly–it became my greatest dream, and the best way I could think to do my father proud‒so I took Madge up on her offer.  
On our first visit, naturally, I was pretty excited.  Being from the Seam and used to our rinky-dink resources there, this place seemed like the ultimate sporting paradise.  Madge took me around, showing me the facilities and introducing me to important people, and finally, I was able to get some target practice in.  Before we left for the day, Madge said she had a couple more people to introduce me to. 
More people.  Not that I was surprised; Madge knew everyone in town.  However, I was surprised by who she introduced me to next.    
Peeta Mellark.  
I knew of Peeta, certainly, and he’d helped me out once.  Right after my father died.  I could never forget his face, nor could I ever repay him.  After that fateful day when he took a beating to feed me (and my family) by throwing me two burnt loaves of bread, I watched him from afar.  But I never had the guts to face him and thank him.  
Well, apparently, my BFF, Madge knew his BFF, Delly, and it was they who introduced us.  I think it was a scheme, honestly, because why the heck would I want to meet a wrestler?  So what if I’d occasionally watched him practice in the old gym at school and secretly‒or maybe not so secretly‒rooted for him?  Who doesn’t have a favorite when watching a sports performance?  It’s only natural to choose.  Still, I wondered.  Madge must know something, though I’d never told a soul about the bread.  
When I came face-to-face with Peeta Mellark in that training facility, he was brawny as always and sweaty, his hair all disheveled.  And I couldn’t help thinking about how much I wanted to run my hands through that wavy blond, tousled hair.  That was new.  I’d never envisioned such a thing before, with him, or any other guy.  
Madge and Delly made the introductions.  And then Peeta gave me a smile that was just so genuinely sweet with just the right touch of shyness that unexpected warmth ran through me. His smile and his eyes were really beautiful.  And yeah, the rest of him was pretty beautiful, too.  In fact, plenty of times I’d had to work to keep from gaping at his muscles and his backside, and right now, I was having a hard time not looking…down.  Seriously, those singlets!  
“Hey, Katniss,” he said sweetly.  
“Hey, Peeta.” 
He looked at me then like I was something special, like I was the only one in the room, and he smiled again.  
From that moment, I knew I was a goner.   
This year, the host city is Capitol City, Panem.  With Peeta, I recall watching Miss Effie Trinket, IOC representative, announce the host city in her highly affected Capitol accent, which always gets higher and squeakier when she gets emotional over her city being chosen‒And it’s often chosen.  Maybe that secret ballot is rigged.   
We’re paired up with former Olympian Haymitch Abernathy.  He won multiple Golds in track & field and fencing back when he was about Peeta’s and my age, and his athletic career was thriving for about five years after that.  He was in line to snag the achievement of most Gold medals of any Olympic athlete until he blew out his knee.  His hopes dashed, and having no one in his life, he turned to drinking.  Actually, he could have continued on, but he had no interest in competing in the Paralympics, although he probably would have qualified, and he refused to even fall back on shooting, another skill of his.
I understand that something like that would be hard to come back from, but he was utterly broken.  I feel sort of sorry for him. 
So, why is he our mentor and trainer now?  
“Congratulations,” says Haymitch in a sarcastic tone when he meets us at the Olympians’ mixer.   
Why does he say it like that?  I wonder.  Isn’t making it here the highest honor an athlete can aspire to, aside from actually winning the Gold?  Is he so bitter that he’s going to try and ruin it for us, too? 
Inadvertently, I slip my hand down the front of my shirt to stroke the pearl Peeta gave me for our one-year anniversary, which I always wear around my neck.  It’s the most precious thing I own.  I’m also wearing another little trinket for luck and courage.  Madge has given me a special pin once belonging to her grandmother, a former Olympian.  It’s a pin of the five Olympic rings but with a mockingjay (our local bird) housed in the ring representing our nation of Panem.  I was so touched by this that I did something extremely uncharacteristic‒I hugged her.  I normally only ever hug Prim and Peeta.  
“Prepare yourselves,” Abernathy says cryptically.  “You kids have no flippin’ idea what it’s gonna be like, the pressure…” I swear his voice cracks at ‘pressure,’ and I have to speculate on what they did to him.  I know the accident ended his career, but shouldn’t he be over it by now?    
At my silence, Peeta steps forward.  “Thanks, but we’ve dealt with pressure before,” he says assuredly, and I nod beside him.  He’s right.  All the competitions we’ve been in, the qualifiers to get here…  Of course, none of those hold a candle to the Games.  
“Not like this.”  Pain and abject dejection fills his eyes, which are so similar in color to mine.
I look at Peeta then, and the softness in his bright blue eyes soothes me.   
We encounter a fraction of Team Panem at the Olympians’ mixer, including champion Olympian and model Finnick Odair.  I know of him; everyone does.  Twenty-eight medals.  Twenty-three Gold.  Eight in his last Olympics, alone. I’ve lost count of how many cereal boxes he’s been on and how many endorsements he’s done, but you know name it‒clothing, men’s cologne, sporting equipment, even some sexier ads you’d only see late at night…  Whether the product requires any kind of sex appeal or not, Odair has probably endorsed it.    
The moment I meet beach boy Finnick Odair in person, I think, treacherous.  Something about him doesn’t sit quite right with me.  He’s too suave, too confident, too famous, and too…good-looking, frankly, with those bronze waves, that handsome face, and those sea-green eyes.  He doesn’t do it for me like Peeta does, though.  Instead, I’m irritated and mistrustful of him‒I’m mistrustful of anyone who seems to have the world in their hands, especially when they know it.
He greets me as Girl on Fire, because that’s what Master of Ceremonies, Caesar Flickerman, was calling me while recapping the preliminaries leading up to the Games, and right away he offers me a sugar cube.  
What the hell? 
I turn him down, saying I’m on a strict diet.  A velvety chuckle escapes his lips.  “You’re at the Olympics, honey.  Aren’t we all?” he replies.   
Apparently not you if you’re popping straight sugar like it’s candy, I think.  At least, I think I think it; I actually say it aloud.
Finnick grins. “What can I say? I have an affinity for sweet things.”  He pops the sugar cube past his lips and chews slowly, watching me the entire time.   
By now, Peeta is making his way back to me from the refreshments table with our drinks, some kind of sparkly blush pink liquid. 
Immediately, I can tell Peeta’s jealous of Finnick.  I don’t know why, though.  Finnick isn’t flirting with me; he’s just screwing with me.  Peeta lightens up a little when Finnick introduces his girlfriend, Annie Cresta, also a swimmer. 
After two seconds of talking to Annie, I can tell she’s great, if slightly…nervous.  I hear she had a breakdown four years ago, just buckled under the pressure in a humiliating performance, and supposedly, she’s been in and out of therapy ever since.  Poor thing.  At least she’s back on the horse, er, in the pool, and her boyfriend seems to keep her rooted to reality.  
We meet several other Olympians from Team Panem, such as Rue, a gymnast, who I swear must have been some kind of bird in another life.  Then there’s Glimmer, a runner.  I hear she has bulimia, and I might feel worse about her eating disorder if she wasn’t such a bitch.  Of course, Peeta has to be nice to her.  Peeta’s nice to everyone.  I’d hoped Glimmer would just sashay right by us, but no, she stopped to chat,  and Peeta chatted right back with her.  It wouldn’t have been so bad if she hadn’t kept touching his biceps.  
Those muscles are mine, so hands off, Glimmer!  I give her a hard scowl that does the trick in sending her on her way.   
Cato comes sniffing around after that.  He’s Peeta’s biggest competition in wrestling, they say.  All I have to say is I hope they checked him thoroughly for steroid use, because the guy is a damn monster.  I actually fear for Peeta’s safety, although I know that even as lovable as my boyfriend is, he’s strong and fierce.  He won’t go down on the mat easily, and I’m sure Cato knows that, too. 
I know Peeta’s moves.  I’ve watched him so many times, and he’s talked about it so much that I know the names and pros and cons of all his maneuvers.  Admittedly, he’s used a couple of them on me, on a much gentler level, ahem, in the bedroom. Thus, I can speculate what he’s going to do next, but where Peeta is steady, dependable and predictable in a relationship, he’s anything but when it comes to competition.  You just never know what he’s got in store, and his opponents never know what hit them.  No amount of watching videos of him could prepare them, for Peeta’s mind and instincts on the mat are a thing to be reckoned with.  Still, if Cato hurts Peeta, I will murder him. 
Another thing I dislike about Cato is the fact that he can’t seem to make up his mind between Clove and Glimmer.  He flirts shamelessly with both of them.  Not only is it disgusting, but he has terrible taste in women.    
We meet Cashmere and her twin brother next.  Cashmere is beach volleyball, and Gloss is triathlon.  Stupid names aside, they’re both completely beautiful and ripped, although I prefer my Peeta’s musculature to Gloss’s over-hulked frame. 
My Peeta. Ugh.  I sound so gross, but I can’t help it; Peeta’s been amazing lately.  Well, he always was, but I’m really appreciating it here.  
Finally, we don’t actually cross paths with her, but I see Johanna Mason (soccer).  It’s not surprising we don’t meet, officially, but it is surprising that she’s here, at the mixer; she doesn’t associate with anyone, really, and most of the time she looks as though she wants to bite everyone’s head off.  She’s been casting daggers at me haphazardly all night, and when I happen to catch her eye, she smirks predatorily.  It’s unnerving, and I wonder what’s going through her head, but I manage to successfully ignore her the rest of the time.  
By the end of the evening, Peeta and I are wiped and well ready to head to Olympic Village to retire for the night.  
—–
The Olympic Village is built fresh for every Games, and it’s almost like a little town in and of itself.  Capitol City always spares no expense when it comes to the Olympics, so it’s ultra fancy. They take a lot of pride in the Games.  They’re almost like feral beasts about it.  Sometimes I feel more like I’m a gladiator being cheered on to fight for my life, rather than a simple athlete. 
We’re shown to our rooms that evening by Haymitch and Miss Trinket.  I’d wanted to share an apartment in Olympic Village with Peeta, but Miss Trinket‒I scowl simply thinking of her‒didn’t think it would be proper.  
The moment Miss Trinket leaves, Haymitch’s demeanor changes, and he almost-almost cracks a smile. 
“So, I take it you two…?” He motions between us.  I’m surprised he doesn’t make some kind of lewd gesture from what I’ve seen of him.  How does he know, anyway?  He must have seen Peeta holding my hand when we entered the mixer.  I was a little nervous, and Peeta’s hand naturally found mine, squeezing reassuringly.  That, and the fact that we’re always together.   
“Yeah,” I confirm.  I glance over at Peeta, and he wears a proud smile on his face.  I can’t help but smirk at his reaction.  He still acts like it’s so shocking I’d ever be with him, or acknowledge it.  
“Well, until this is all over, I expect you two to be nothing more than teammates.”  
“What?”  Peeta gapes.
I’m surprised, too, but I keep on a neutral expression. 
“What do you mean?” I ask dumbly.  
“Look,” he sighs, “I ain’t so old and outta touch to think two horny 19-year-olds ain’t goin’ at it almost every night, but on this tour, and until you both take home the Gold, I expect ya to keep yer snake in its cage, boy.” 
“Wh-what?”  Peeta stammers something unintelligible, so shocked is he that our mentor would demand something like this.  Despite my own shock and embarrassment, it’s kind of humorous seeing Peeta act so flustered for a change.  He’s usually so cool and collected.  
“You heard me.  While you’re here, I expect you two to be solely focused on the Games.  No distractions, which includes bumping uglies.” 
“But‒”  Peeta starts to protest again, and I rub my temples.  
“You wanna win, don’tcha?” 
“Yeah, but what does that have to do with…?”  Peeta seems completely offended by Haymitch’s decree, and I’m no longer amused.  His over-the-top reaction just confirms that we’ve been doing it, which is not something I want Haymitch Abernathy aware of.  
Well, great.  Way to give away entirely too much information, Peeta.
And as for Haymitch, before I thought him a surly, washed-up old drunk, but now…now, I think he’s crazy, too. 
“Alright,” I say, diverting them, “please, god, let’s not talk about Peeta’s and my sex life, or lack thereof,” I say to spite the both of them.  Then I stand up and walk to my room.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to punish Peeta for this.    
—–
Although I’m annoyed with him over the conversation with Haymitch and feel like locking him out, I let Peeta join me in my room that night, in my bed.  It’s much easier to go to sleep with him, especially in a foreign place.  But I allow him nothing more than to hold me, caress my skin innocently, and pet my hair.  As much as I think Haymitch’s mandate is stupid, and as revolting as he is to me, I respect him, in a way. I might even feel some kind of strange connection with him.  Maybe it’s superstition (although I’m not a superstitious person), but my gut is telling me to trust Haymitch Abernathy and to do as he says in all matters, no matter how ridiculous it is.   
A few hours in, and we’re both still awake.  It’s probably the excitement, and the nerves.  “Can you believe we’re actually here?” whispers Peeta against the back of my neck.
“No,” I say. 
Peeta starts nuzzling my neck and getting all affectionate, and I know that’s his way of seeking permission to do more.  He sucks on my earlobe, one of my weaknesses, and I yip.  
“Hey, you promised Haymitch,” I giggle, turning around to face him.  He brushes back a lock of hair, then pulls me close.  
“I promised him I’d keep my snake in its cage.  There’s plenty we can do while it’s safely in there.” 
Leave it to Peeta to find a way around Haymitch’s directive. Peeta is one of those types who’s skilled at telling white lies and partial truths, at giving just enough information to mislead while not really lying.  Not that he does so indiscriminately 
“Why are you so hard-up, all of a sudden?” I laugh. 
“I’m always hard-up for you, Katniss.” 
I chew on my lip a moment, considering it.  But then I shake my head.  “Peeta, I think we should listen to him.” 
“You really buy into all his mumbo jumbo?  The man’s a crazy drunk.” 
“I know that.  However, he does know what he’s talking about in regard to the Games, and I don’t want to do anything to get him mad at us.  We might need him.”  Haymitch Abernathy is just insane enough to walk out on us for breaking some ridiculous rule like this.  I don’t think it’s even about what we do with one another, but more about knowing that we’re listening to him, that we’ve put ourselves completely in his hands.  It’s a little controlling; okay, extremely controlling, but all we have is him and each other, literally, against the world.  
Peeta groans a little but agrees.  “How would he know, though?” quips Peeta, tickling the bare skin at my hip.  
How?  Who knows?  But I wouldn’t be surprised if Abernathy had some kind of sixth sense about it, as foolish as that sounds. Or, possibly, Miss Trinket has hidden cameras to make sure there’s no funny business going on.
I shake off my silly thoughts and give in, accepting a few kisses from Peeta and returning them eagerly.  And then we drift off.  Tomorrow is the Opening Ceremony, and as Miss Trinket always says, it’s going to be a big, big, big, big day.   
Author Note: Finnick is meant to parallel Michael Phelps (and their record is the same).  Likewise, Rue will be based on Simone Biles, albeit younger in this fic.  
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milktyama · 3 years
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— HEART OF GOLD
chapter three. golden boy
pairing: timeskip!miya atsumu x olympian!reader
wc: 1.4k
ch.2 | directory. | ch.4
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“Penny for thought?” your roommate asked.
It had been a couple of days into the Olympics. Since you had one match a day, after the extensive matches that would sometimes stretch into three sets, you were pretty much free for the rest of the day. You could go practice for future matches but you decided against over-exerting yourself, and although you love all of your teammates, you lacked the desire to watch their matches. So you settled with relaxing back inside your temporary apartment; at least try to.
“Don’t want you to waste your penny. There are no thoughts in this head right now,” you knocked on your skull to add comedic effect to your comment.
Your roommate chuckled slightly under their breath, leaning on the railing beside you on the balcony as you two bathed in the afternoon sun. “For an empty head, you’ve been mumbling and sighing a lot then.”
You hummed in agreement. “Maybe.”
“Does it have to do with a particular person on the floor beneath us?”
You whipped your head towards them in shock.
“Relax, I’m not going to tell Coach. But weren’t you laughing at my idea of slipping my number?”
“Well, I wasn’t exactly laughing at it. I just thought that you should probably concentrate on placing more than some foreign eye candy.”
“Pfft, good one. I might use that one on them later,” they gestured their thumb towards your other roommates on their phones reading through Wikipedia pages about some athlete, “but that aside, why are you here?”
You tilted your head in confusion. Were they trying to kick you out?
“I mean, I saw the schedule earlier and Japan men’s volleyball is about to start a match right now.”
“Hey, you eavesdropping!”
“If you didn’t want me to hear you should’ve kept the volume down. Every night all I hear is that monotone voice of google translate. You know I dreamt about the voice last night!” You giggled a little as you received a light punch to your shoulder. Your eyes pleading for forgiveness for bothering your roommate.
“It’s whatever now, but go cheer on your golden boy!” They pulled you away from the railing and pushed your back towards the door, throwing your track jacket and mask into your arms.
“My what now.”
“I’m calling him golden boy since you seem much more focused on him than the gold medal. Now go before I tell your doubles partner about your change of focus at the literal Olympics."
You reluctantly left, still dazed in slight confusion at the sudden events. Guess you really got the literal push but in the wrong direction. You dragged your feet outside the residential block and made your way into the indoor volleyball stadium. You thought might as well now that you were basically kicked from your apartment.
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The Japan team held a two-point lead over the opposing team, though momentum wasn’t on their side. The past few points were made against them, closing the point gap that everyone tried so hard to maintain.
The Japanese coach called a timeout, the players on the court dragged their feet into the bench for a discussion on how to gain their momentum in order to win the match. Atsumu took his towel and wiped the sweat on his face, frustrated as he could feel his rhythm slip through his fingertips.
His eyes scan through the nearly empty stadium. Where normally would be filled with fans and banners and flags and loud cheers were replaced with a small number of staff and athletes with free time sparsely peppered on one side of the stands.
He noticed that there were a fair amount of people cheering for the opposing team, defaulting his spirits a little more. His eyes landed on the entrance of the stadium, spotting a familiar track jacket coming inside and leaning against the wall. Although it was a little far away, he could already recognize your figure from anywhere.
His head perked up at your now new presence, a small tingle of adrenaline filling his veins. It may seem a little shallow, but now that he knew you were watching, he wanted to put on a little show to impress you and really show you his skills. Any previous pressure that weighed his shoulders down was now replaced with excitement.
He gave you a small wave, hoping that you would acknowledge him seeing you. You gave him a slight wave back and a little nod of your head. His body jittered a little with excitement and warmth from your gesture.
The whistle was blown and the players went back into their positions on the court, a glint of confidence sparkled in Atsumu’s eyes. It was his time to shine.
He took a ball from the back and stepped close to the service line and turned around, taking seven steps away from it. He spun the volleyball on his left hand, looking over to the stands at your figure for a split second before tossing the ball up for a topspin jump serve.
The ball slowly left his fingertips and with a few steps and a powerful arm swing, he served the ball into the corner with precision. The whistle was blown again, indicating a point earned for the Japan team.
An ace serve.
A catchy tune for the ace serve played as the team cheered for Atsumu’s serve, though his eyes were focused on your figure far away with widened eyes.
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The court was now being moped clean for the next coming match. The game concluded with Japan’s victory with a sudden improvement in momentum towards the end of the match. This victory rewarded them with the chance of competing in the quarterfinals which haven’t been done by the JNT in a while.
You were slowly walking towards the exit of the stadium. Although the game ended about 15 minutes ago, you waited at your spectating spot until you no longer saw the Japan team on the court. Even with your free schedule, you had no clear idea why you waited. Maybe you were hoping to see him up closer and talk to him, even with the language barrier.
As you neared the exit, you heard several footsteps behind you. Lo and behold, it was the Japan team making their way out of the stadium right behind you. In front of the team, it was who you recognized as the right side hitters and one of the liberos who seemed to be similar in height. Behind them were the taller players ranging from the left side hitters, middle blockers, and another setter that wasn’t the blond you were looking for.
They walked past you on your right and when you thought they all had walked past you, you felt a soft bump on your shoulder. Your neck turned to the side and saw him right by your side, his pale bleach hair somewhat complimenting his bright red mask, which did a poor job at hiding his smile as it could be clearly seen through his eyes.
You two exchanged quick greetings and a little bow of the head.
“Did ya like game?” he softly asked in broken English. You nodded your head in response, unsure how to deliver your thoughts about the game in simple English that would be understandable.
You noticed that Atsumu started to shift around on his spot beside you as you two continued to walk towards the exit. Finally, he pulled out his phone and typed into what you assumed was the translator.
“Are you free after?” You became a little flustered at the statement. Your mind swirled with many possibilities that could come attached with that statement. You nodded towards him and he started to type onto this phone once again.
“After dinner, would you meet me by the Olympic rings?” This time, you looked at your feet and paused a little before nodding to him again. His eye smile appeared once again. It was so cute.
He patted your back in farewell and ran ahead to catch up to the rest of his team.
By the time you reached the outside of the stadium, you leaned your back against the wall beside the door. A hand made its way up to your chest, feeling the steady loud thumps of your heartbeat. The warm tones of the setting sun did not aid with the rising temperature of your face. Yet your lips pulled into a small smile behind your mask.
You were looking forward to what was to come after dinner.
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ch.2 | directory. | ch.4
taglist (open!) : @katsulovee @achillean-affection @mymoroll @pluviophilefangirl @panini @usernotcool @moonless-abyss @milf-lover3000 @ldraa @unstaaableaf @kyomihann @tunatoge @m1lfluv3r @kamalymaly @hehechee @kwiwin @tohman @loser-keiji (red means i cannot tag for whatever reason)
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sophiegunn · 3 years
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Paralympic paradox
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As a person with a disability living in Australia, the past fortnight I have felt represented. It is one of the only times I’ve seen people with disabilities represented in a way that doesn’t focus solely on their impairments or mobility aids. I’ve been glued to the tv and never felt so excited about watching sport.
On Monday night, we saw the conclusion of the 2020 Paralympics. Australia had an incredible campaign; 179 athletes went to Tokyo and came home with a total of 80 medals.
This is an amazing result and Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently announced all medalists will receive the cash bonus equal to that of which Australian Olympians receive. This is a huge step towards equality.
I absolutely love the Australian Paralympic movement and feel incredibly proud to have the people we do in the foreground. Each athlete spoke with such eloquence as they acknowledged the 1,044 Paralympians who came before them who didn’t have the opportunities and support that we’re seeing now. It was so heartening to see all Australian and most international events broadcasted on free to air tv.
Growing up, I have been constantly asked different versions of “when are you going to the Paralympics?”. Not because I am interested in sport, but because I use a wheelchair. At a glance this seems harmless. However, saying things like this sets a precedent of unrealistic expectations of people with disabilities that’s incredibly hard to achieve. It would be as if we expected every able-bodied child to grow up and compete at the Olympics. Furthermore, This expectation is intensely paradoxical in nature given the essence of sport being physically demanding and disability often creating physical movement barriers.
As Dylan Alcott said after winning gold in the Quad singles tennis gold medal match,
"Not every person with a disability can be a Paralympian but they can be a doctor, lawyer, a mum, a dad, a teacher, an educator, politician, whatever it is; they don’t often get the opportunities that we’ve got here to play sport."
These comments around unrealistic expectations can further perpetuate the notion that we with disabilities aren’t good enough, no matter how successful we are in our lives, if we can’t be a Paralympian sportsperson.
Two-time Paralympic gold medalist Madison de Rozario sums it up better than I ever could.
“The only time you see someone with a disability is when they’re winning gold medals in the green and gold, that’s not realistic, that’s not fair. We don’t hold any other Australian to that level, But that’s the only time we see disabilities, in Paralympic sport. It creates this unrealistic standard.”
I believe these comments also often stem from an able-bodied perception of the Paralympics. When able-bodied people watch the Olympics, they see professional athletes performing at their absolute best. However, when watching the Paralympics, they often perceive people with disabilities as getting up and “giving it a go”. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The people we’ve seen compete at the Paralympics are elite athletes that are the best in their field right now, and should be recognized as such.
People are not Ikea flat packs, only able to be built with a single specific set of instructions. People in general are complex individuals capable of greatness. Greatness looks like many things for different people, whether it’s sport achievement or otherwise. We have learnt this through the achievement of many able bodied people and it is time to start seeing the achievements of people with disabilities the same way, Paralympian or not.
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readyfreddy · 3 years
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Seeing all the out athletes dominating on the world stage gives me so much hope for current and future generations athletes. Between the 2020 Olympics and the 2016, there’s been nearly triple the amount of out athletes (60 in 2016 vs 179 in 2020). I’m so happy that they feel safe enough to be out to their family, teammates, and to the entire world. I’m so proud of them all.
Athletes do not owe it to anyone for being out. It is up to the individual whether or not they want to come out, for whatever reason that may be. Possible loss of sponsors, endangerment to them or the people close to them, or personal privacy. I applaud all LGBTQ+ athletes whether they are out or not. It is very difficult for queer athletes in sports, especially pro sports.
To see people like you doing well and doing what they love is so comforting to see. It’s giving kids confidence and role models. It’s telling them hey you can be queer and be an Olympian! There was never that statement for me growing up, I’m glad that younger people are growing up with that.
I wish I had the fraction of the courage that all these athletes have. I quit track and cross country, even after being recruited (however never joined) to a high-level and well-respected club. I love basketball but quit because I was scared that I was going to be hurt if I looked at someone for a fraction of a second too long. Maybe my life would’ve been a lot different if I continued running in high school. While I was never fully out in high school, people definitely did have their suspicions and speculations.
Four year ago, I left the high school sports and locker room scene, I still have personal traumas that I don’t wish that on anyone. In the end, I quit high school sporst to pursue riding instead. Equestrian sports are considered individual sports, with no locker rooms, but you quickly become a team and family. Though riding is considered a ‘gay’ sport for men, the amount of homophobic comments being thrown around by coaches, officials, and others is concerning. There’s a ‘statistic’ (but it’s really just people talking on Facebook) floating around that 70% of men in english equestrian sports aren’t straight. Many men are discouraged from riding (at least in the english hunter/jumper and dressage world), as it’s viewed as ‘girly’ and ‘not suitable for men.’ I’ve heard this from old coaches and teammates. With my current coach and teammates, I’m mostly out, and it's truly freeing.
These Olympics have been monumental for trans athletes. There was the first out trans woman to ever compete, and had a non binary athlete win a gold medal. This is incredible for their acts of athletics and trans inclusion in society. There were a few athletes who openly used them/them pronouns. More often than not, trans athletes are discouraged from sports either due to transphobia by coaches or teammates, or from fear of transphobia from coaches and teammates. I know many talented athletes that have left sports due to transphobia. It is truly sad that people leave what they love for who they are.  There is still a long way to go for trans inclusion in sports.
There were nearly 60 medals awarded to out athletes (including team and individual medals). All the athletes are deserving of their medals and they should all be super proud of themselves; even the ones who didn’t medal are awesome, and I hope to see them standing on the podium in Paris.
The IOC still has a long way to go for queer inclusion for their athletes and staff, but we’re slowly going in the right direction.
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anxietylord · 3 years
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Why do you hate Tim burton?
OOO HOO HOO YOU JUST OPENED A WHOLE CAN OF WORMS ANON
So I'll preface this by saying two things: 1. I actually like a lot of his early work before he became a Hollywood sellout. I'll never claim otherwise, and his work has had a profound influence on my own art. We can appreciate someone's art while also recognizing they're kind of a douchebag. 2. To my knowledge, he's not problematic or anything (aside from continuing to work with Johnny Depp), he's just a massive prick if you've ever interacted with him. EDIT: just found out this motherfucker is racist as shit, which honestly tracks SO hard fuck everything about this dude
SO... Fun fact: I went to the same high school as Tim Burton. I grew up in the same weirdly conservative suburb of LA as he did. And I'll be the first to admit that place is a hellhole. Or at least it was when I lived there (I haven't been back in a decade, that should tell you everything you need to know about it). It was homophobic, pretty racist considering it was majority people of color, and the class stratification was unbelievable. The town was pretty much ruled by upper middle class white people with a keeping-up-with-the-jones' type attitude. Rumors and gossip spread fast there. It's literally the town that Edward Scissorhands was based off of. It fucking sucked. Especially if you were a weirdo creative kid, like him. Like me. Here are the things I'd like to pick a bone with though.
Every adult I knew when I was a kid that knew/knows him from our hometown fucking hates him, because he swoops in with this holier-than-thou attitude every time he comes back for a reunion or whatever, talking about how much he hates it there. If you hate it so much don't go? Like why be miserable and make everyone else miserable? Why waste your time and energy just to be pissy?
He's constantly talking about how hard it was for him growing up there. You know.... as a white, cis, straight, middle class kid on the fucking water polo team. And like I'm not saying we don't all have our own struggles, but having grown up in the same place at the same school as a gay, trans, poor person, excuse me for being a smidge critical.
When I was in high school I was the editor in chief of the video yearbook, and during the centennial of our high school it was my responsibility to reach out to as many famous alumni as I could to see if they would be willing to sit down for an interview with me for the video yearbook reel. I had an overwhelmingly positive response from most people. I even got to interview a gold medal olympian. Now of COURSE the first person I reached out to was Burton. He was one of my favorite artists, and as someone who also wanted to be a filmmaker, I was so excited at the chance to meet him. Of course he declined which was his prerogative, but he also sent a rather nasty note (likely had someone else do it for him, but still) about how he "wouldn't step one foot back on that campus for all the money in the world." He said this to a 17 year old. A 17 year old who was an aspiring filmmaker just like he had been, at a school where he knew how hard it could be for people who were different. And like is this me being personally salty? A little to be sure, but now that I'm an adult, I realize just how inappropriate that was for him to send.
He's always going on and on about how "if you've ever felt like an outsider you'll feel like one for your whole life no matter how successful you become." First of all fuck you, you rich fuck. Seriously? You're gonna sit here and talk about how hard you have it from your position as the President of the jury for the Cannes Film Festival? Fuck off. And quite honestly? It's sad. It's sad that I, a gay, trans victim of parental abuse who's been homeless twice, have made my way in the world, and found an amazing community and a wonderful found family despite everything I've gone through, and this dude with EVERYTHING can't even be happy because he grew up in a shitty hometown. And I'm not here to play the oppression olympics or whatever, but it just grosses me out to see him spouting this bullshit about how Burbank ruined him or whatever when there are so many of us who started from a much deeper hole than him and come so much farther just to listen to him blame all his problems on it.
Anyway those are my gripes. Mostly personal as I said, but seriously, I cannot stand him, and most cool people from Burbank can't either.
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livyorkfm · 2 years
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( marlo kelly, 21, cis female, she/her, legacy/scholarship ) welcome  to  oakmore  OLIVIA YORK  back  again  for  your  SOPHOMORE year ,  i see .  well ,  what  are  you  waiting  for  unpack  your  bags  in  your  room  at   PAISLEY  &  get  settled .  oh ,  don't  listen  to  the  rumours  LIV.  i  don't  think  that  you're  IMPULSIVE ,   actually  i  think  that  you're  quite  LOYAL   -  you  know ,  you  actually  remind  me  of  KATE BISHOP .  okay ,  well  see  ya  round .  ( emily, 23, gmt +9, she/her )
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death cw, crime cw
olivia ‘liv’ york grew up in manhattan, in a penthouse on park avenue. she had the perfect life, apparently. except...well, how exactly did her family make all that money? when she was a kid, she never questioned it, but as she grew older, she started to wonder. her father always called it ‘business’ and sent her away. her mother smiled, and tried to change the subject.
and then her mother died. a car accident, they said, but liv...heard some things. call it eavesdropping if you have to, but what else was she meant to do? no one was telling her anything, and then those creepy looking guys were in her dad’s office, talking...well, it wasn’t such an accident, as it turns out. her dad had pissed off the wrong person with some shady business deal, and they’d cut the breaks in her mom’s car because of it. obviously, she didn’t take the news well. in fact, she was furious, and threatened to report her dad to the cops for whatever shady shit he was up to.
instead, he’d thrown her out, at all of seventeen and not even graduated high school. apparently, if you messed with his business, you were no longer family. she’d couch surfed with friends for a couple months, made up excuses why she couldn’t be at home, until she’d at least finished school. and then...well, it was time to figure out what came next. she’d applied for college, including at oakmore - her mom’s alma mater - but now, she had no money to pay for it. she’d had to take a year off just to work odd jobs, and then managed to finally score a scholarship.
see, the secret is that olivia? she’s actually an olympic level archer. kind of a weird skill to have, but rich kids learn all sorts of weird shit, and she had a talent for it. and oakmore were really, really into the idea of having a future olympian as an alumni. so here she is, in all her slightly messy, completely broke glory, to grace you with her presence. she’s a touch sarcastic, very impulsive & prone to making rash decisions, but she’s loyal to a fault and will never let anyone hurt her friends. she’s fun, she doesn’t stress the small stuff, and she just wants to have a good time and then go to the olympics and win a gold medal. good luck!
idk some connection ideas would be like. the rich kids that knew her in nyc. her close friends. idk stuff like that i’ll work on these later.
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