The Preathfics-verse Chart
I had an ask in my inbox asking for an introduction to the relationships preathverse, so I thought I’d channel my inner Alice Pieszecki and develop a chart.
dashed lines = typically portrayed as an ex or romantic rival
solid lines = typically portrayed together
thicker lines = portrayed together more frequently
If you distill the chart down to the most canonical characters and their romantic relationships:
Christen & Tobin - Our heroes, our OTP (One True Pairing), our preferred endgame (preath). When they aren’t playing soccer, Christen is often a professional (lawyer, professor, consultant, doctor) and Tobin is often an artist of some sort (especially a photographer). Tobin is often portrayed as either goofy/a useless gay or a player and artsy. Christen is often portrayed as spiritual, uptight, anxious, or as the more mature one who puts up with Tobin’s goofiness. She is also sometimes portrayed as being more powerful/in charge, though they both occupy these roles in different fics.
The New Kids: Lauren Cheney/Holiday & Amy Rodriguez- These two are often portrayed as Tobin’s besties and confidants in the older fics (though they still make an appearance sometimes). Amy played club with Christen in Utah until recently, and thus made some appearances (often to help them connect). Lauren also makes an appearance as Christen’s friend sometimes. They’re called the new kids because of US Soccer. Jrue, Lauren’s actual husband, is Lauren’s OTP. Adam comes up occasionally, but Amy is typically just assumed to be married to him.
The Exes: Shirley & Vero- Shirley Cruz and Vero(nica) Boquete- These two pairings are based in real-life rumors that Tobin started dating Shirley when they played together for PSG and Christen started dating Vero when they played together for Tyresö. Sometimes stories portray an overlap between Shirley and Christen. There is also Christen’s actual high school boyfriend and current friend Nima who appears as an ex/current friend sometimes.
Alex Morgan- Alex is often portrayed as either an ex or current romantic relationship of Tobin’s (talex), especially in older fics, because they were visibly very close IRL during the 2015 World Cup. Given this closeness, is also often portrayed as disliking Christen. More recently, we have seen some “Chrislex,” which sometimes plays on this enemies tension in the canon to create sexual tension.
Alex is also often portrayed in a relationship with Kelley O’Hara (kellex). This ship became increasingly more popular after the most recent world cup, as Talex pairings and Alex-Tobin-Christen love triangles faded. Additionally, she is sometimes portrayed as married to her real-life husband Servando Carrasco.
Kelley O’Hara- In real life Kelley has played on national teams with Tobin for many years and went to college with Christen and played club with Christen in Utah until recently. As such, she is often portrayed as one or both of their closest friend. She also has IRL chaotic energy so she is often used as a comedic foil. She is also portrayed as an ex of Christen (O’Press) and, less frequently, Tobin. Given the recent controversy surrounding her decision not to kneel for the national anthem in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, she has lost some popularity in fic.
Kelley actually has three primary ships across preathfics: (1) Alex Morgan (Kellex), (2) Emily Sonnett (sohara), (3) Hope Solo (o’solo). The former two appear more frequently in post-2019 WC fics whereas the latter appears in fics prior. Hope Solo (the former national team goal keeper) is also often portrayed in a relationship with Carli Lloyd (current national team forward).
Oh, and Kelley is also more recently attached to her actual girlfriend whom she kissed publicly after they won the 2019 World Cup.
Emily Sonnett- Emily Sonnett plays on the national team and played club with Tobin in Portland. She is typically romantically connected to either Kelley O’Hara (sohara) or Lindsey Horan (Soran). She has been more prevalent in fics since the 2019 World Cup, and serves often as a comic foil and as a mentee of T+C. Recently there have been a few fics featuring Sonnett connecting with Christen (sonness) and Kristie Mewis (KMewett).
Lindsey Horan- Lindsey played club with Tobin at PSG and in Portland. She is often portrayed as the “little sister” figure to Tobin and is typically romantically connected to Emily Sonnett (soran) though she has also been connected to Mallory Pugh (Mal). Mal is often portrayed as the “little sister” figure to Christen or is cast as their real child.
Julie Johnston/Ertz (JJ)- Julie plays on the national team and played club with Christen in Chicago when she came back from Sweden for the first time. She is sometimes portrayed as a romantic match with Christen, but is more often her friend. Her OTP is typically Zach Ertz, her actual husband. Like Kelley, she has recently fallen out of favor a bit for her (in)actions on BLM.
The Gayng: Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger, & Megan Rapinoe (& Sue Bird)- Ashlyn (Ash), Ali, and Megan are all on the USWNT and Sue is Megan’s real partner. Since the 2019 world cup these three couples have been called the “Gayng.” Typically, Ashlyn, who played in college with Tobin, is portrayed as Tobin’s good/best friend and confidant (and very occasionally ex) whereas her actual wife Ali is typically portrayed as Christen’s good/best friend and confidant (and very occasionally ex). They are, however, the most consistent other pairing in this fandom (Krashlyn). When they got married it was called “the royal wedding.”
Megan is often portrayed as a wise and clever best friend to both Christen and Tobin. She offers some comedy but is also often portrayed as someone who sees their relationship for what it truly is. She seems to be coming more and more into favor recently as Kelley and Julie’s popularity have declined and T+C have spent more time doing re-inc things with her. Her OTP is Sue Bird, though they have only started appearing in fics together concisely more recently.
Allie Long: Allie and Tobin were very close for a period of time (calling each other “Harry”) and as such she makes an appearance as the best friend in a few fics. She’s married to Jose Batista (Bati) and they are often portrayed together.
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