#switch hitter

[victoriadallonfan]

I think Victoria should princess carry Switch Hitter more often

For bonding of course…

[rebel-sqrrl]

18.6 might possibly be the best chapter of Ward. It's got:

Victoria making a lesbian she just met uncomfortable with accidental innuendo

Lily jumping on missiles

Homoerotic lobotomy threats

Solarstare (I love her so much) 🤩

Rachel being mean to Lisa

Aisha being mean to Lisa

Aisha reminding the Heartbroken to be mean to Lisa

Kenzie being mean to Lisa

Lily actually for real probably almost stabbing Lisa

Sabah fighting a Titan 1-on-1

Lily telling Victoria: "you don’t ... lift"

Lily and Victoria casually having complete faith in each other in a really gay way

And more!

[hollybudd]

Some designs from pride month

[luthqrs]

Greta looking at Carson | 1.04 - Switch Hitter

and a little bonus:

[conniesmlb]

[franglemand]

I keep trying to write posts about A League Of Their Own and realising one of the reasons I love it is the same reason I can't write about it succinctly - there are always so many layers and character motivations happening in every important scene.

Episode 4, The Switch Hitter, the conversation between (mostly) Carson and Lupe in the dressing room.

Lupe tells Carson she needs her and gives her space to finish her conversation with Shirley (who, not so incidentally, ramped up her anxious thinking about you meet 1 queer individual > you personally will get a lobotomy when she (a Jewish person) is told to stay in a convent overnight - I'd be uncomfortable with that now, and I'm much less obviously Jewish than Shirley Cohen is).

Carson comes to Lupe already freaking out about a) Shirley b) Greta c) the team. Lupe can tell something is wrong; Carson's not about to admit any of that to Lupe.

Lupe is freaking out about being sent away if she's too injured to play (or if they've decided Terri's a good enough pitcher that they can stop pretending the Mexican girl is Spanish and just send her away). She's also still on the outs with most of the team, who didn't invite her to join the secret practices and didn't want her as coach (not that most of them wanted Carson either). She didn't even get to switch roommates "in the spirit of collegiality" because Bev decided it wasn't fair to leave Esti with a non-Spanish speaker, so she's been trapped in her own head a lot. She in no way trusts Carson enough to tell her any of that (and Carson hasn't considered Lupe enough to have worked it out for herself).

Lupe told Esti something the night before; Esti didn't really understand but is now watching with wide eyes. Our first hint that this is not a private conversation.

Lupe says she's fine to play. Carson's knowledge at this point: 1) Lupe hid the injury in order to keep playing 2) Hiding it made it worse and resulted in a melt down on the field, followed by keeping her arm in a sling 3) On the bus there, Lupe had said she was fine again (and Carson was delighted) but Dove shut it down, saying he blew out his arm by ignoring injury and he doesn't want the same thing to happen to her 4) Carson knows Dove's career as a pitcher well enough to make that sound plausible 5) Carson doesn't trust Lupe to be honest about her injury (see points 1 and 2) and genuinely doesn't want her blowing out her arm by coming back too soon because that would be bad for the team. Carson's head is a mess.

Lupe had no reason to believe that Carson wouldn't agree to her pitching again - Carson was happy to have her back 2 days ago?? And she's been listening to Lupe's suggestions, even down to moving Carson herself back in the batting order because Jo's hitting better. Wtf, basically.

And then Greta arrives. Lupe's outwardly baffled/ frustrated that Greta's seemingly around every corner (when Greta's there, it's two against one - if it's just her and Carson, there's a chance she'll be heard) and Greta immediately gets mean.

Possibilities for why Greta goes for the jugular (I can't parse the pointed "Striker" and the "no one will choose you over Carson" as anything else): 1) Danger and distraction! Lupe's noticed that Greta's suddenly always around; what if she notices that it's because Greta stays near Carson? Quick, say something to get Lupe to think about anything other than Greta being near Carson! 2) Greta can see something's upsetting Carson. She doesn't know about the Shirley conversation, ergo Lupe must be upsetting Carson and Greta's coming to Carson's defense. Greta will absolutely choose Carson over Lupe every time. 3) Greta has a jealous streak that she's trying not to show, but Lupe and Carson suddenly looking so chummy is doing nothing for her nerves. (Pretty sure options 1 and 2 are the most likely, but I might keep option 3 for my own headcanon because it's fun to consider.)

Everything's fallen apart. Carson knows Greta's input made it worse but hasn't changed her mind about Lupe pitching that day and is hoping platitudes will make it better - she's terrible with words when put on the spot and doesn't know Lupe well enough to offer anything more personal. Lupe just sees that she's been ganged up on and isolated (again). And if she's not allowed to pitch, and not taken seriously as coach, and barely part of the team then the moment she's told thank you very much, you can go home now feels like it's coming ever nearer.

Jess may or may not have overheard the conversation, but can at least be there to share in Lupe's frustration and invite her out to the field with the rest of them. Presumably at this point the two of them have already bonded over wanting to win, so maybe she just thinks it's about that.

This is a lot for maybe 5 minutes of screen time! I love it, but have no idea how to write about it.

[poisindonottouch]

Queer Reads: EM Lindsey

For the fifth of Wednesday’s post, we have two sports: hockey AND baseball. 

E.M. Lindsey writes a variety of topics in the romance world, and I haven’t read nearly enough of their books. Lindsey’s books are full of really well written angst, disability rep, and trauma, with a healthy side of well-communicated kinky spice. 

The hockey books are two duos, one co-written with Marina Vivancos, and the other one solo written. While I enjoyed all of them, the West Coast Sin Bin books, Breakaway and Soft Hands, have the added bonus of being set in Denver. I love a story set in my home state. 

The baseball trilogy is also set in Denver, and features a sports world where out players are a thing (which the hockey books do too). Lindsey does hurt/comfort really well, and book 3 has a fantastic redemption arc in it. Out of the 9 or 10 baseball books I read (and attempted to read) in April, these three were definitely my favorites. 

On my to-read list of basically every other book Lindsey has written, so check them out. 

Remember folks, read queer all year. 

[junebugtwin]

Switch Hitter! A character in Ward that I had no idea existed but now love deeply!