andré lamoglia. he/him. cis male. › spotted at the met steps, nicolas ‘nico’ salazar, most likely listening to live forever by oasis with their airpods pro. the twenty two year old gained quite a reputation, known to be - competitive yet + humble to anyone who knows them. you'll easily spot them when you hear about training until the sun goes down and crying if there's a defeat, long walks in rio de janeiro, being the 'fun uncle', carrying an entire team on your back, followed by invictus victory by paco rabanne. latest nepoupdates article talks about late night out with brazilian soccer team ends in a nightmare injury for salazar – will he ever play again?, but i guess any reputation is good reputation.
basic stats ;
⟶ full name: nicolas thiago mael salazar ⟶ nicknames: goes by nico, his teammates and soccer fans would call him ‘menino’ which is basically boy in portuguese ( he was the youngest guy on his team ) ⟶ three things he likes: mango with salt and lemon, dogs, luan santana ⟶ three things he dislikes: lazy people, dirty fingernails, soda ⟶ gender: cis male ⟶ height: 5 ‘ 11 ⟶ age: twenty two ⟶ birthday: october 9, 2000 ⟶ zodiac: libra sun, aquarius moon, libra ascendant ⟶ right handed or left handed: left handed ⟶ eye color: brown ⟶ hair color: light brown ⟶ piercings and tattoos: left earlobe pierced, the name ‘natalia’ tattooed on his inner right bicep in small typewriter font ( older sisters name ), small soccer ball tattoo with cleats on his wrist, brazilian flag and country in color on his inner left bicep ⟶ languages spoken: portuguese ( brazilian portuguese, also native tongue ), spanish, and english ⟶ sexuality / romantic orientation: homosexual / homoromantic ( very recently came out ) ⟶ place of birth: porto alegre, brazil ⟶ last five songs listened to: você de mim não sai by luan santana, live forever by oasis, vou falar que não quero by vitor fernandes, eu, você, o mar e ela by luan santana, glorious by andreas johnson ⟶ five aesthetics: beat up soccer cleats, a great dane named rio, a silence so loud it echoes through the walls, chipped black nail polish, homemade pão de queijo ( brazilian cheese bread ) ⟶ character inspo: adam groff from sex education, cruz carvalho from elite, prince wilhelm from young royals
background story ;
nicolas, or nico, as he prefers to be called, was born into an upperclass family, being the youngest child of marisol and esteban salazar, and the younger brother of natalia
his father wanted to drop on him what he could never convince himself to do, and that was soccer. to nico, his family didn’t know a lot of things, but esteban did know one thing – he wanted his youngest son to be everything he never could have been
since nico had a sense of judgment, he’s been playing soccer. he’s basically been kicking a ball around since before he could even run, being officially enrolled in a team when he was only two years old
since he could remember, he’s felt a huge amount of pressure from both his parents to be the best, the usual ‘be the player your father could never be’ being thrown his way more times than not, and truthfully, despite the fact that soccer was basically thrown at him and wasn’t something he chose, nico really did like soccer. slowly but surely, it turned into his passion, something he would use as an escape from his overwhelming parents. he could always say ‘i’m gonna go to practice’ and suddenly, his parents were off his ass about everything
as time went on, nico realized how much he wanted to do this for the rest of his life. he also felt the pressure from his parents, the mindset that if he didn’t make it, he was just as bad as his older sibling, or his sister. truthfully, nico rarely ever knew where he stood at with his parents. one day they were proud of him for being the best on his team, the next they were screaming at him because he didn’t play up to their standards. nico, having a very go with the flow, non-argumentative personality, went along with what they said, telling himself that if he did make it the way he so badly desired, he would be making enough money to be far away from his parents
it was waking up at four in the morning, training for three hours, school, then training after school. on weekends, it was getting up at six am and training until 7 pm, with two forty minute breaks in between. it was beyond intense, and there was times where he would even end up sick with how hard he would go at it, but as esteban would say – practice makes perfect
and well... he was right. nico was an exceptional player, honestly one of the best. when he was only ten, he joined the youth academy of santos fc. at age fourteen, he had a successful trial with spain’s real madrid, and santos had to increase its spending to retain him
he made his first team debut with santos when he was sixteen, averaging a goal every other match, even winning south american footballer of the year title two years in a row, and slowly but surely, nico felt his hard work and dedication paying off. he could only dream of playing for a fifa world cup, doing this for a living for as long as he could
when he’s barely nineteen, he signs a three year contract with fc barcelona after a trade with santos in exchange for fifty eight million euros, one of the most expensive soccer transfers in history. from then on out, his life drastically changed. he moved to spain, his followers on social media began blowing up, he began getting sponsorships and deals left and right ( companies like adidas and mondeléz ) all wanted him as their ambassador, and nico can’t help but ask himself – how did i get here?
one moment he’s playing soccer on an average team, and the next he’s one of the biggest faces in the game, and honestly? even though it’s everything he could have wanted and more, it gives him anxiety because now not only does he feel pressure from his parents, but he also feels pressure from everyone else, practically carrying an entire team on his back at such a young age
he’s a huge example of ‘i’m not sure how this happened’ because really? even though he worked his ass off and it was something he really, really wanted, in the back of his mind, he didn’t think he would be one of the chosen few to get this far. quickly, nico began to realize how much attention he received just because he was a well known, pretty face, an official professional athlete. he went from people not giving him a second glance, to everyone wanting to be his best friend, and it’s around this time that he realizes just how much female attention his career gave him
aside from his profession, nico is a really sweet guy with good intentions, and this, along with his hefty salary, was enough to make any girl fall for him, often times teased by his teammates on how much attention he received from girls. any guy in his shoes would be thrilled, but truthfully, nico felt like something wasn’t right, but he just didn’t know what it was
to make it clear, he’s hooked up with a ton of girls, receiving a ‘fuck boy’ reputation from his teammates, pats on the back for having so much ‘game’ on and off the field, but deep down inside, hooking up with all of these pretty females left him feeling empty, and he didn’t know why. he wasn’t sure why he had to drink so much to get into it, he wasn’t sure if it was normal to not feel anything for any of the girls he was hooking up with, and he didn’t know why, in the middle of it all, he desperately wished it would be over
it isn’t until he meets a gay fan and his boyfriend, that something inside him clicks, and he thinks oh... that’s why, and truthfully, he isn’t sure how to deal with this newfound revelation. this realization comes to him a couple of days after his twenty first birthday, and even though deep inside his heart, he knows he’s gay, he does everything in his power to try to ‘ungay himself’ ( impossible nico, but okay )
his hook ups with fans become more frequent, but each time, he further realizes that as much as he wishes he could be attracted to these females, he just isn’t, and it makes his heart hurt, especially because he knows how some of the people in this industry can be. he knows that this wouldn’t settle well with a bunch of his teammates, so as much as he wants to tell everyone, he just bottles up his feelings, and continues playing
and that’s when the famous, fifa world cup 2022 comes right around the corner, his first world cup ever, so he couldn’t be more thrilled, but we all know how that ends!
the day brazil gets eliminated, him and his teammates are so upset with the outcome of the game, they rent a mansion and get trashed on their final night in qatar. nico isn’t expecting much of it, but a night of fun soon turns into nico’s worst possible nightmare ever
! injury tw, proceed with caution or skip over this if you’re triggered ! he gets so, so drunk, he fully doesn’t remember how it happened, but according to his teammates, he was attempting to walk down a flight of stairs when he trips, loses his balance, and falls off the second story of the mansion, unfortunately, fracturing his left leg ( tibia to be more specific, his left leg is also his dominant leg ), in the process
to add drama to the mix... this is not at all what happened. he did fall off the second story and he did fracture his leg, but it wasn’t an accident. one of his teammates, second best on the team, who has always been jealous of his success and being the second best, pushed him, resulting in his fall and injury, and all of his teammates were so drunk, only one of them remembers, but is caught between loyalty towards his friend, or telling the truth out of justice. if it isn’t obvious, his teammate who vividly remembers what happened, hasn’t said anything
nico wakes up the next day in the hospital, with no recollection of what happened, left leg in a cast after he had surgery, and tragically? he feels his entire world crumble beneath him. how was he so clumsy, that he fell so badly and hurt himself this way? will he ever play again? all of these thoughts, and the possibility that he may never go back to doing what he loves, really fuck with his head
to make matters even worse, the news goes viral in no time, and he doesn’t get the privacy he so desperately needs. endless dms, text messages, facetime requests, unwanted visitors at the hospital, all of people wanting to know what happened, or to give him ‘get well soon’ messages, which frankly? is the last thing nico wanted at that moment
he goes through a period of denial, where he tries convincing himself that this didn’t happen to him, that he’s dreaming and that he’ll wake up and it’ll all be over soon, but unfortunately, that’s not the case, and as much as he wants to resume playing, he’s told to do everything in his power to get better, to see if he can play again next year... next year
instead of going back to spain, he goes to new york, where his siblings live at, to attend therapy and rehab in the states in an attempt to get better sooner. for nico, this is only temporary, as his biggest wish at the moment is to fully recover and go back to spain, to play for fcb. the move was easy for nico, he stayed with his sister for a day or two until he managed to buy himself an over the top, extravagant pent house in the upper east side. he’s trying to make the best of his situation, but admittedly, what happened to him makes him deeply depressed, as he feels like his dream has been pulled from underneath him
headcanons ;
nico is a genuinely nice guy, a huge sweetheart, but he’s an excellent liar. he’s been lying his whole life, from pretending his straight for more than half of his life, to acting like he’s perfectly fine with what happened to him. he’s a yes man, but he can be a liar. to him, the less people know, the better
he has the lightest accent when speaking english, that you can tell it’s not his native tongue right away. it’s gotten very subtle and his english has gotten a lot better, but it’s there
he loves dogs. he has a great dane he named rio ( after rio de janeiro ) who is two years old and he loves him with his whole heart. rio is a therapy dog, and has been helping him tremendously throughout this hard time he’s going through
he attends physical therapy every single day, this has helped him a lot too, but he still can’t wait to go back to doing what he loves most, ever the impatient little shit
he loves the beach, makes it his business to go back to brazil or even california at least once every two months. aside from soccer, he loves to surf too
he loves music in portuguese. his first ever genuine gay crush was luan santana, a brazilian musician. nico basically loves him. has met him three times and they mutually follow each other on twitter and instagram
he was really repressed with his sexuality growing up. honestly, he has always ‘somewhat’ known he’s gay, probably since before he was even a preteen, but with the way he grew up, he just denied it and told himself it was just a phase. it took him more than half of his life to come to terms with being gay, but he has officially come out this year after his injury through an instagram post, and even though he has received backlash, he no longer feels like he has to hide
the first person he has ever come out to, before publicly coming out, was his sister. they had a four hour call in july of this year and he spilled the tea to her, thinking that maybe, she might be put off by the news, but she was more than supportive. it was a very emotional phone call. nico even cried
he can be a very superficial person, in the sense that you can speak to him for a solid three hours, laughing, over a drink, thinking you’re getting to know him, but when the get together is over, it’ll kind of hit you like ‘wow, i don’t know anything about this guy’. he’s great at small talk, can talk your ear off, but he never lets it get too deep
his career claim is neymar. he has 181+ million followers on instagram, basically? neymar’s career, sponsorships, etc
very shocking news, but he’s somewhat of a virgin. he’s had sex with a ton of girls, but he has never had sex with a guy. he’s never even kissed one before, and he isn’t really sure what to do in this sense
he’s very physically capable, in the sense that you can tell right away that he works out ( what kind of soccer player isn’t let’s be real ). even with his injury, he lifts weights and does his best to stay somewhat active. he hates being lazy, always has to be doing something physical even if his leg currently prohibits him from doing much
he’s really big on protein, kind of a health freak. he’s not a vegan or vegetarian because he claims he could ‘never’ but he’s huge on eating right, your greens, your protein, and your grains. his cheat day is on saturday, and what does he eat for his cheat day? a chocolate chip granola bar... he’s literally a fucking sociopath out of all the treats to eat nico?
with his siblings, he will speak in portuguese with them, especially when he doesn’t want to be understood by other people. his thought process, in fact, is in portuguese, very proudly brazilian
he spoils his niece, rosie, so so much. he will go out and buy a custom made chanel kids purse that’s like 50k for her for literally no reason. because he doesn’t have kids, and he’s not sure if he ever will, he spoils this little girl so damn much. all she has to do is point and suddenly he’s buying it for her, big fun uncle energy, basically considers rosie the ‘daughter he will never have’
despite having a lot of money ( legit google soccer players salaries to get an idea ), nico is a very humble guy. if he likes something, he doesn’t care if it’s a luxury brand or not, but he will get it. he isn’t one to care if he’s dressed from head to toe in designer things, and he doesn’t let the fame get to his head. he’s always willing to take a picture with someone or sign his autograph for them, and he has a very zen like aura to him
however, he is very competitive. call it the athlete in him, but he is not a fan of losing. you will watch him go from twenty two to seven years old real quick, even if it’s something as simple as a card game
wanted connections ;
i will help you through thick and thin: someone, any gender, who has maybe helped him throughout his injury. like ‘let me get this for you’ ‘no sit down, i’ll get it’, nico is most likely annoyed with them because he hates feeling incapable, but this muse just wants to help him
i’m your biggest fan: someone who loves soccer, who loves his career? could be any gender, they could be friends or they could not be friends, but this muse thinks his career is really cool and may or may not be out there starting prayer circles for him to get better and go back out on the field as soon as possible
our dogs are best friends: a muse who has a dog as well, could be any breed of dog, who surprisingly has become best friends with his great dane, rio. they see each other at the park and when they’re not getting bombarded with paparazzi’s, their dogs are out there being the best of friends
is it weird we’ve hooked up before?: open to multiple females, but girls he’s hooked up with in the past that he really has no feelings for. they could be friends now, they could hate him or feel used by him, anything can be plotted with this!
you’re the demon on my shoulder: a bad influence! nico is very health conscious, barely even drinks, doesn’t smoke or do any types of narcotics, so maybe this muse could peer pressure him unintentionally and be a genuine bad influence, whether it’s alcohol and narcotics wise or in any other aspect
maybe we’re confidants, or maybe we’re just bored: someone who he has gotten strangely close with, that they share information back and forth. very unlike nico because he’s a very private person, but they’ve created an unusual bond, basically trust buddies
why’d you only call me when you’re high?: someone nico is cool with, that once called him at three am in the morning, high off their ass, and nico went to go pick them up because they were too messed up to drive. at this point, it’s become somewhat of a habit for this muse to call him at ungodly hours in the morning, fucked up and needing a friend. nico comes to pick them up every damn time, somewhat overprotective of them now, a dad friend if you must
i hate that bitches skirt, too: someone he just talks shit with. they go out and talk shit about people, judge people, this muse brings out nico’s inner bitch. they will see a poor girl walking by and rate her outfit on a scale of donate to goodwill, to ten
you were my first: open to males, but... maybe the first guy he does anything with? could be very wholesome and i feel like this would have to go off of chemistry, but it would be somewhat special to nico so the vibes would have to be just right
or we could brain storm! gonna put his birthchart below and end this here because this is too long
birthchart ;
