After yet another horrible date leaves you stranded, you call your best friend, Garrett Graham, for help. Now, if only Garrett can convince you that heâs the right guy for you, after allâŠ
Feeling flows both ways | @mutantvampireearthquake
You surprise your boyfriend after a big win
Jeep | @bitchinbarzal
garrett loves his car, garrett also loves you. you wrecked his car.
Awaited Moments | @g0ldendesiree
garrett finally decided heâs done with your game of cat and mouse, the only thing standing in front of him? a football player whoâs name you canât even remember.
Problem | @/g0ldendesiree
when garrett finds out about a problem youâve been having,what kind of friend would he be to not help you?
Play Pretend | @/g0ldendesiree
the boundaries blur between fake dating and whatâs real when garrett gets jealous.
BREAKFAST SOUP | @edawgz
Garrett Graham loves that youâre an academic weapon. Well⊠he loves it until finals week rolls around and suddenly your textbooks are your first love.
mr. perfect | @aliahsarchives
when youâre partnered up with a football player for a class project, garrett canât help but want you in his sights 24/7.
girls in matching yoga sets don't play | @grahamsangel44
Between Sets | @theunwrittenmoments
You agreed to start going with Garrett to the gym because between hockey practice, games and your work schedule, you have limited time together. Garrett spends the entire time watching you instead of his own training plan before his jealousy gets the best of him.
Fall into you | @girlontheruin
after a nasty fall on the ice, you return many months later to find out a certain hockey playerâs stolen your usual slot. Where in Garrett Graham collides with you and your whole world falls down.Â
Garrett Graham x Figure Skater!Reader
Heating Pad & Hockey Boyfriend | @andy-15-07
PROFESSORâS DAUGHTER | @darkkdamsel00
Garrett Graham, Briarâs star hockey player, breaks every rule heâs ever had when he falls hard for his strict literature professorâs daughter.
edge of the earth | @finelinevogue
the off campus house is having a party but you're not feeling it. luckily your boyfriend lives there and so you retreat to his bedroom (your safe space)
garrett graham one shot | @kooksandpearls
Laundry Day⊠| @grahamsangel44
Perfect For Me | @jaylalolz
you lose your virginity to the Garrett Graham.Â
breaking point, part two | @pucksandpower
Garrett is supposed to hate you by association. Youâre dating his rival. Youâre wearing the wrong colors. But he doesnât look at you like youâre the enemy, he looks at you like heâs seeing something everyone else has learned to ignore. And when you run out of places to hide, his number is the only one you can think to call
Caught Looking | @/andy-15-07
Study Date Disaster | @/andy-15-07
spin me in circles | @/finelinevogue
it's your birthday and your boyfriend won't stop kissing you for more than a minute. safe to say, he's obsessed with you.
Off The Market (Current Boyfriend Trend) | @/theunwrittenmoments
When you stumble across the current boyfriend trend on TikTok, you and Allie decide itâs the perfect opportunity to prank your boyfriends. They didnât find it nearly as funny as you did. Garrettâs response though? That was unexpected.
đ Beau Maxwell
Bad Idea Right? | @/g0ldendesiree
what's the worst thing that could happen when you start seeing your brothers best friend?
Little Black Dress | @/g0ldendesiree
beau knows the rules, but that doesnât stop him when someone else tries hitting on you.
got a lovehate relationship with routine and repetition. yes if you put me in a repetitive situation i will start chewing on myself like a caged animal. but also no if you interrupt my self imposed routines i will start crying. this has made me so super good at being in the workforce #trust
Sometimes I see people talk about how sad or upset they are that kagehina ended up in different teams.
Usually said, because it means theyâll never play on the same team. That their paths are now diverted. Or that them as a âsetâ is over, no longer a âsetter and spikerâ and those titles now belonging to someone else.
And it makes me want to scream.
Kagehina were never meant to be on the same side of the net. Never. And thinking they should misses the entire point of the series.
Donât confuse yourself, despite it all, Kagehina at their core, are not friends. Theyâre not partners; nor are they teammates.
They are rivals.
Their bond that transcends logic, their bond that allowed them to be The Freak Quick Duo, and perform the Fast Attack - wasnât born from partnership. It was rivalry.
Kagehina is the thesis, shall we say, of Haikyuu.
Haikyuu, at itâs core, itâs not about winning a volleyball match. It is, and always will be, about playing volleyball. Thatâs what it is most interested in. Showing characters loving, falling in love and playing volleyball.
Donât get it twisted, thereâs nothing more important to Haikyuu than this idea that playing Volleyball is fun! Hinata himself, is the concentration of that idea.
But, in the first episode, a fundamental truth is revealed in Kitawa Daichiâs match, that Hinata Shouyo internalizes all throughout the series: If you want to keep playing, you have to keep winning.
Kageyama says it best himself âOnly the strong remain in the courtâ.
This is why winning is important.
In other animes, winning is either a way for the main character to prove their own ideals, or for the anime to reinforce itâs own premise. Think about Kuroko No Basket, where winning against the Miracle Crew is more or less a way for Kuroko to prove their way of playing basketball is fundamentally flawed. That you cannot play basketball with one person. You need a team.
In Okiku Furikabute, winning is a way for Misahi (and Abe) to prove that heâs a skilled player.
Even in places like Free! Winning a race is a way to prove one person right, and the other wrong. That certain ideals are flawed, or that a particular outlook in life is lacking.
In Haikyuu, however, itâs different.
Winning is a way for everyone to keep playing.
While yes, they also use winning and losing to prove an ideal right or wrong - in particular the Shiratorizawa match comes to mind, in where Ushijimaâs worldview of âfertile land vs the concreteâ resonates with one of the core themes seen in Haikyuu - itâs one that is used less so than other animes. Mostly because (again aside from Ushijima) worldviews arenât meant to be proven right or wrong. Itâs not that Hinata or even Karasunoâs worldview or ideals should prevail: Theyâre all simply different ideas. Different strategies to keep winning. And losing doesnât mean that the ideas are forever lost, or lose validity. It means they need work.
(Oikawaâs ideals are proven valid, and worthy of consideration. It is not a flawed idea what makes him lose, itâs simply a matter of the ball falling in one side of the net. Nekomaâs match is nothing about ideals, itâs simply about making Kenma admit heâs having fun in a match. Losing is not about flawed ideals or lack of talent, it boils down to a single fraction of a second mistake).
This is further proved by the fact that, at the very last Karasuno match: they lost. They didnât become the idea, or worldview that dominated the nationals. Because that was never the story that Haikyuu was interested in telling.
Winning here, is not the point.
The point: Volleyball.
I have never seen a sports anime that is so in love, with its own sport.
Not the fictional version of the sport, mind you, in ways that perhaps Kuroko no Basket or Grappler Bakki would. That is to say, taking the original concept of that sport, and stretching it and distorting it to ridiculous lengths (which, btw, doesnât mean the author themselves doesnât love the sport - but that theyâre way more fascinated with telling outlandish stories with building blocks they adore).
Haikyuu, though, loves volleyball.
It loves the adrenaline of running across the field to receive a ball, it loves the sweat, the heat, the burn in your arms when you receive, it loves the jumping and the blocking, and finds pleasure in the thrill of the win.
Thatâs why itâs able to suck you in. Youâre seated at the edge of your seat watching frantically the ball, hoping it doesnât touch the ground - in the exact same way I know playing real volleyball feels like.
So, while worldviews and ideals exist, thatâs not the center of the story.
Volleyball is. And particular, this thrill and need to keep playing it.
Winning is framed, not as ideas winning over the other, but a means to an end. That end being, a need to keep playing.
Haikyuu is so in love with its own sport, with volleyball, that the worst possible outcome isnât to lose but to stop playing.
Okay, not really.
Haikyuu is about the love of the sport - but itâs more broadly about passions (and how the manga is passionate about the sport).
About how we fall in love with things that bring us joy, and the lengths we would go to keep chasing those passions.
Tsukisima is a great example of it. His character arc revolves around finding passion and love for the sport. That's why I love the tsukiyamaâs âprideâ scene.
It asks, âwhy would you care about something? Why would you wanna put your all into a hobby, when you know it may get you nowhere?â
Tsukishima keeps thinking about volleyball as âjust a clubâ. Something not worth caring. Why would you, when volleyball may not become your career? You can put your all into it, and still your effort wonât be enough to land you on the regulars?
And the problem here isn't that Tsukishima thinks of it as âjust a clubâ. (We find out in the epilogue that Nishinoya didnât go pro. To him, volleyball was just a club, and never a long term thing. Which is not framed negatively. In fact, itâs very much a positive framing. He may not have gone pro, but he carried volleyball in him as he explores the world).
Itâs his inability to admit that he cares. Because admitting he cares, that he wants to be good at it, be a regular, and keep playing, means being vulnerable. It means the probability of (just like his brother) being benched. It means accepting that âgiving it your allâ might not be enough.
So, he asks:
Why would I âgive it my allâ, when it might not be enough? When we could still lose?
To what Yamaguchi answers, âprideâ.
It means, âbecause if you go home, knowing you could have won and losing because you didnât try, is embarrassingâ.
Itâs not embarrassing to care, or try to be good at something. In fact, trying to act like you donât care or giving a half-hearted attempt when you care, is the embarrassing part.
Haikyuu encourages you to continue pursuing your passions. Not because you might win. Not because thereâs a greater meaning to winning, or being the âbestâ, or the top number one. No.
It doesnât matter if you donât win, what matters is that you keep trying. That if you love something, you keep doing that. That no matter what you do, you do it because you genuinely wanna keep going.
It also says that, whatever youâre passionate about, âwinningâ or âkeeping it with youâ may not look the same. Some characters went pro, some didnât. Some play it in their free time, some become teachers, other influencers, some other physical therapists, etc.
Itâs all about following your passions, whatever form they may take.
But, in particular, Hinata Shouyoâs life itself revolves around volleyball.
To him, the worst possible outcome is to stop playing.
Thatâs why, up until his last match, losing was the worst thing that could happen. Because losing meant to stop playing.
Winning doesnât mean something, aside from the ability to keep playing.
Or as Kageyama puts it in the very first episode, âonly the strong remain in the courtâ.
That becomes the mantra that rules Hinata Shouyoâs life.
And hereâs the thing that makes Kagehina the core of the story:
Haikyuu never assumes that an opponent will forever exist.
Metaphysically speaking, this is because at the time that Haikyuu started Volleyball wasnât popular. Finding someone who would like or want to play volleyball wasnât easy. Furudateâs explicit purpose for writing Haikyuu is to get more people to play Volleyball.
Because sometimes, you donât have anyone who to play with.
Most sports anime focus on the idea that âplaying togetherâ means playing in the same team. This is for two main reasons.
Number one, things like basketball football or baseball are popular enough that youâll always have someone to play against. Grab a ball, make up your own rules and you can play basically anywhere with anyone. Volleyball thoughâŠIn my personal experience, itâs super hard to convince someone to even agree to a friendly net-less training.
And second, the way that they operate is, that the only true way to meet your equal is if you make such a great team that by playing together you always win. Youâll always have people who will want to beat you, so the only way to âplay togetherâ is by being in the same team.
Haikyuu is different.
From the moment it starts, thereâs this idea that finding an opposing team is the hardest part of it all. Unlike most animes that assumes there will ALWAYS be a more powerful person, and youâre always the under dog, Haikyuu never takes for granted a powerful enemy to play against.
Hinata starts, with no one to play volleyball with.
In Haikyuu, âno one to play withâ means âno one on the other side of the netâ.
It doesnât mean âI donât have a teamâ, it means âI donât have someone to play againstâ.
What Hinata always needed, was not someone to play in his team. It was someone to play against.
His poor receives are because of it.
Short story: Back in my HS days I played volleyball. I had a friend who was just as crazy about volleyball as me. We would spend hours playing 1v1. Because of that, my receives were really good. The one thing you practice in a 1v1 is receives.
But Hinata never had someone on the other side of the net to help him practice that. Because he never had anyone to play against!
In the early episodes, this is framed as a problem of not having a team. It is presupposed by Hinata that once he has a team that will be solved.
But Kageyama comes in and says âno. Your problem isnât that you have a bad team, itâs that youâre bad at the gameâ.
For the record, he is right. Hinata is terrible at receives, which is a basic component of the game.
âOnly the strong remain in the courtâ is reframed as the biggest issue. To keep playing, you need to be good. Hinata needs to be good to keep playing.
Thatâs the basis of most of Haikyuu. All the way to the nationals.
He comes to the conclusion that, if he wants to keep playing he has to be the best. Which ends with the self-destruction scene of him getting a fever. He was so obsessed with winning, that he forfeited his well-being, which caused him to lose. To stop playing.
The moral of it all, at the end, is that you keep trying. You have to keep trying to best yourself, and continue pursuing what you love. That you take those failures and keep going, all while caring for yourself.
Itâs no longer âbe the bestâ, but more âbe the best version of yourselfâ. Keep challenging yourself and keep trying to win. But if you donât win, you take those failures and think of a way to win next time.
Losing is not the end of the world, but a chance to better yourself.
Which is a very sweet message.
Then Kageyamaâs backstory comes in, and you realize that this was always a story about these two.
Kageyamaâs side of the story talks about the opposite.
If Hinataâs story is about how not being strong enough is a frustrating and lonely path, Kageyamaâs is about how being too strong is also a lonely path.
What happens when you have reached all your potential? What happens when you hit a ceiling, and you want to keep going?
Yes, part of his story arc is about how his loneliness is caused by an inability to connect with others. Demanding too much from others, and never giving up control. Itâs about his âselfishâ style, that demands from others and refuses to accommodate people who may be less talented or have other priorities.
And while, yes, part of that issue is âfixedâ by Kageyama being more open and flexible when it comes to playing styles - Hinata is a huge part of his arc (as is Kageyama to Hinataâs).
Hinata is the only one who would follow him. Heâs the only one that would race him, who would play 1v1 for hours.
Because heâs the only one who matches his passion.
Itâs even highlighted in this scene, where Kageyama acknowledges his selfish play style that demands from others as much as he demands himself - and rather than turning away from it, Hinata embraces.
In whereas Hinata very bluntly tells him that, said play style is undeniably cool. That his passions, his drive and his desire to control the court (a control born from wanting to play more volleyball) is not a flaw. But itâs instead something to look up to.
Because it matches Hinataâs own passion and drive.
Kagehina were never meant to be in the same team, at least not in the long run. Because, what it is shown at the very last part of the manga, is that to keep playing you donât need to be the strongest. You donât need to win.
What you need, is to find someone to play with. Someone to play against.
As long as you find someone whoâll want to play, for as long as you do, as long as you find someone as passionate as you for that which you love, youâll always be able to keep playing.
Haikyuu is about passions, yes. But first and foremost itâs about passion for volleyball specifically. A game that cannot be played alone.
What kagehina represents in the last chapter is âkeep playingâ.
If Hinataâs story was about how âkeep trying to be the best version of yourself, because if you do youâll get to keep playingâ.
Kageyamaâs is about how âkeep playing even alone, because someone even better will come along, and youâll get to play for even longerâ.
Kagehina were always mean to keep playing. But if theyâre on the same side of the net, if theyâre a team, then one day will come when theyâll win everything together. And eventually, like Kageyama did in middle school, hit a ceiling they canât overcome.
But if theyâre competing against each other, then theyâll always keep chasing after another. Theyâll become even better by constantly challenging one another. By always trying to one up the other, by always trying to win against an opponent of equal passion and drive, theyâll become stronger. Together.
By being rivals, by being on opposite sides of the net, theyâll keep playing.
Forever.
Kagehina were never meant to be teammates. Being partners is too shallow of a connection to people as driven as they are. They need to be rivals. Always pushing each other to become better, to be stronger.
Because thatâs what Haikyuu is about.
Itâs not only a story about passions, and what weâll do to chase after them.
Itâs about how that passion can be at itâs most powerful, when you get to share it with other people.
Itâs about how losing can be as rewarding as winning, when you get to keep playing.
Itâs about volleyball, and how addicting it can be to keep playing âone more timeâ.
hyperfixation please stay with me long enough to complete the project. hyperfixation do not fade. hyperfixation finish what you started for the love of god
Did you just legitimately tell me that a person who draws wolf ass is more competent than a dude who spent 8+ years in a university to give you your lung transplant?
doctors are bullshit and furry artists perform an infinitely more valuable service to society compared to them
It took doctorâs like 10 years to diagnose what was wrong with me, some insisting I was faking for attention while a furry artist I knew just went âthat sounds like crohnâsâ after hearing me complain once and ended up being right
Also I canât go to a doctor and ask them to draw Rouge the Bat wider than she is tall with tits to match, now can I
[ID: a comic illustrating the above thread as if it was happening in a theater. The users are mostly shaped like their icons, pukicho is a pikachu and hokuto-ju-no-ken is a gengar. The last panel is gengar looks back where a speech bubble comes out of the crowd to say, âyou could if you werenât a fucking coward.â /end]
She loathed the sun; the stark, bright beams of unforgiving joy and unadulterated happiness. And yet? Here she stood. In the middle of one of the busiest streets in the whole country, waiting to enter a gleaming golden auction house. Her dream house wasn't even that gaudy, but she was sure that one day she would have her dream house and buy the auction house too. Better yet, she would buy half the businesses in every city in the entire country⊠maybe more.
âWould you just go in or out lady? You can't just stand there woefully for all of eternity.â a snide male voice remarked.
She spun around on her new designer heels, confident in their strength as she strode right toward the speaker. It was four short steps but she made sure to savour them when she found herself right in his face.
âOh?â she breathed, watching him through her curtain of tight curls. Her lips, a carefully selected rich ruby red, glowed in the midday sun. He couldn't tear his gaze away.
âH-ey i didnt mean that⊠would you like an escort inside?â he sputtered out after a moment, eyes frantically tracing what he could see of her face and her body.
âNo, thank you.â and she left, strutting into the cursed oppulent and shiny entry hall of the auction. If she saw him again she would give him her best smile and sucker punch like a two-in-one deal, something she never gave anybody, no matter how charming.
âGlorious day madam, can I ask what you are looking for today?â the neat receptionist behind the main marble desk knquired, writing as she spoke, eyes darting around, observing, planning, predicting.
âI am looking for some rare goods.â
âMhm.â she didn't even look up, flicking through a stack of papers. âIsnt that what everyone here is looking for?â
âPerhaps. But you see, I am actually looking for something not everyone here knows exists.â
âHuh.â she nodded non commitally, glancing down at her then to the growing line. âJust say the word and I can get someone to take you there.â
âI dont want the normal goods. I want what this place is exclusively famous for.â she paused, letting the clerk actually look at her for the first time. âI want the exotics. The undesirables.â
âI see.â the woman set down her pen for the first time. She leaned forward, assessing the new threat before her. âWhat makes you think some little girl like you has the right to rent some overpilriced crude and wildly innappropriate outfit and talk your way into our masked auction?â
âBecause I have the owners personal word.â she slipped her hand into a small, bandsewn, hidden pocket and pulled out a delicate ring.
It was a golden, thin, almost normal looking band and a tiny gray stone pertruding just above the worn surface. As she brought it up, the desk clerk leaned down over the heavy marble slabs to take a closer look. With a gasp, she reached to snatch it. But she wasn't quick enough.
âTsk tsk, I expected better of such an esteemed establishment's employee.â
âTerribly madam, how can I be of service? Just the escort to the hall today?â the attendant gritted out, restraining herself to her seat.
âOnly if you get your newest hire to walk me in and attend to me. Oh, and do let darling Patty know I am waiting for him.â she slipped the ring back into its invisible home, tapping her toe twice on the squeaky floor.
âNewest? Are you sure?â she was already lifting a bell, ready to ring the tone that summoned an individual employee.
âAre you?â the words hung between them like a threat before the receptionist gave in and rang the sequence quickly and cleanly.
âYes?â less than a few seconds later, a man, no older than 25 appeared.
âTake her to the masked hall and attend to her.â the instructions were swift, clinical, and executed immediately.
The man, a gorgeous blonde with the most stunning green eyes held out his arm expectantly to his new client. She swaggered the full two steps to his side and grasped his arm like a lifeline, watching with glee as he played it off, quickly walking her away from impatient prying eyes.
âSo.â she murmured so only he could hear as they weaved between impatient customers and nosy employees. âWhat is a pretty face like you doing working for such a dirty man?â
âWhat do you mean?â
âDarling. Dont play coy, what do they have on you?â with those words, his posture relaxed.
âSo you know.â
âI know many things. Be more specific.â
âThe real question is what doesn't he have on me.â
âI see. I can get you out, you know.â she glanced at him for the hundredth time, admiring his features. He gave he a tight lipped smile. He was just barely taller than her, a feat given her abnormal stature and heels.
âI doubt that madam.â
âPlease. I'm sure both of us know by now that anyone who knows anything about this line of work is not a madam.â
âTrue.â and suddenly he stopped. And that was when she realized they were finally alone. No other people roamed the halls. No doors were labeled with neon letters describing the goods sold behind them. In fact, there were very few doors, and even fewer lights. If only she had been paying attention, she would have known where to run.
âOh.â was all she managed before she was thrown against a wall. His forearm pressed against her, just above her collar bones but not quite high enough to impact her breathing. If either of them made any effort to shift however, that could be compromised.
âSo,â he hissed, dragging his free hand along her jawline, his thumb ending up pressed against her chin. âWho are you?â
âWho are you?â she remained undaunted, breath slow, steady, tantalizing breaths, daring to lean forward, letting their breath mingle.
âThat's not important.â
âIsn't it though? Vlad.â her words sent a jolt through him and he pressed harder, arm rolling up, closer and closer to her throat
âHow do you know my name? Who even are you?â but his words this time edged closer to fear, antsy, hesitant.
âDepends. Your dreams come true or your worst nightmare.â
âOh.â he scoffed suddenly, as if rationalizing himself. âAnother cheesy con artist? Just like half the people in that lobby, wanting to get there grubby hands on some stupid golden prize?â
âLife would be easier for both of us if that were true.â something about how she said it made him look at her again, really look, dissect her appearance.
âNo.â he loosened his grip, glancing down at her, scanning, head to toe. âNo.â
âWhat? What has the tichnae boy come to his senses?â she taunted, leaning forward, daring him to meet her in the middle.
âHow old are you?â he cut her off suddenly, green eyes blazing in horror as he stumbled away.
âAh.â she paused, thinking of another witty remark.
âHow old?â he demanded, looking more ashamed than alarmed now.
âOld enough that its not relevant right now.â she snapped, finally showing her teeth.
â17? 18? Are you in school? How are you here? Who let you in? To the masked hall?â he glanced around, as if suddenly remembering where they were and why they were here.
âClose.â she clicked her tongue. âIm 15 years old. I got in here because nobody stopped me. And I'm going to the masked hall because someone owes me a favor.â
â15? Really?â he ran a hand through his perfect locks.
âYes. Vlad. Happy with yourself? A 24-year-old Tichnaer who killed one too many hostages in the military and fled to Leqen but got caught at the border and shipped here.â she hissed, stalking towards him. He stumbled back, afraid to touch her skin like the plague.
âI-no-IâŠâ
âYou work with me and I can use my favor to get you out of here and working for me in the real world. So if you like the taste of fresh air and free will, take me to the masked auction hall.â she paused. âIf not, I could also make your life living hell with just a few words to the right man.â
âHow did you get the favor?â he looked at her with fear, veneration, and utter disbelief.
âI got two people on the inside on a bet. I also know a lot of casino owners, so a high stakes bet such as that caught traction. So. Yes or no Vlad?â
His gaze hardened with resolve. âGet me out of here little girl, get me out and I will do whatever I can to make it up to you.â
âAnything?â
âAnything is better than dressing up and guiding entitled people from room to room to waste their money on the prettiest trendy stone just to come back in a week complaining about how fake it was and wanting to buy be newer fashion.â he spat distastefully.
âOnly if you're sure I can't do any worse.â she grinned devilishly, glad he couldn't see the malice she was sure was glinting in her eyes.
âNot that I doubt you, but I would rather be anywhere else.â he held out his hand for a shake.
âNo take backsies!â she grasped his palm and yanked him towards her with all of their strength. In a whisper he wasn't sure he heard correctly, it almost sounded like she said, âa month from now, iâll have you on your knees praying for a death that will never come. You can't escape me now, pretty boy.â
