Aftg Pride Posts - Blog Posts

part 2 here <3

andrew is very loud about being gay.

he doesn't really "flaunt it" that much in college

but it gets to the point where he just wants to prove to kevin that yes, he can be successful and gay

so really, it all starts with a bet

anyway. neil has so many videos of andrew getting drunk in front of him and waxing poetic about boys (one in particular)

"neil. neil. this guy has such nice eyes. and ass"

*sigh* "andrew that's a picture of me"

"woahhhh"

but these are (mostly) all private moments

andrew isn't super open in front of others, considering how reserved he is in public

that all changes four years after going pro.

there are some days where queer people just feel exceptionally us and we just want to tell everyone we know

(but being closeted kinda... makes that hard. ahem.)

andrew isn't exempt from these feelings

and one day, the morning of a major interview, he's just hit with the sudden urge to tell someone that he's gay

it's bursting inside him, a physical feeling he can't push down behind the apathy

he tries to ignore it as best as he can and goes to the interview with his team

it's pretty chill. the team is playing a game called "Truth or Drink", where if you don't say truth... you drink?

so everyone's getting tipsy while andrew sits quietly in the corner of the sofa

eventually, one of his teammates realizes that no one had asked andrew anything yet, so when it's her turn, she turns to andrew

"andrew! truth or drink?"

andrew blinks slowly, a bit surprised that the question was directed to him

he considers his options. that weird feeling is still bubbling up inside his stomach and he figures alcohol will probably make things feel worse

so after a moment, he glances up at her and says quietly "truth"

she looks gleeful

after a bit of drunk conferring with some other teammates, she faces andrew with a glint in her eyes

"so," his teammates lean forward. "do you have a girlfriend?"

andrew groaned internally. of course this is the one thing they'd ask their most private, closed-off teammate

"no," he scowled. he was going to leave it at that, really, but his mouth moved faster than his mind and before he could stop himself, he blurted out "i do have a boyfriend though"

there was a moment of silence

then everyone started talking over each other, asking questions and demanding to learn more. andrew slumped in his seat, mentally preparing for the next 30 minutes

a few days later, the interview drops

predictably, the internet goes wild

fans speculate wildly about which guy andrew minyard could possibly be dating

it ranges to other exy players to celebrities to random students from PSU

neil and andrew don't come out for a while though

but in that gap, between andrew being out as gay and actually revealing that he's dating neil abram josten, andrew is pretty vocal about his sexuality

it starts with donations to LGBTQ+ groups and messages of support on social media

lots of sports fans (and people in general) understand how revolutionary it is to have an out athlete of this caliber

so they're constantly putting out encouraging messages

and after all this support, andrew eventually becomes a bit more... lax about what he posts

it starts with this on twitter:

yeah... andrew breaks the internet again

nicky tweets out an unholy amount of keyboard smashes

and andrew just... keeps posting gay memes

you can't go a single interview without andrew randomly interjecting the fact that he's gay

there are compilations on youtube like "andrew minyard being a gay icon for 17 minutes" or "20 minutes of andrew minyard being fruity af"

(andrew finds these far too funny — every time he comes across one of these, he just has to share it on social media)

andrew ends up on the face of so many queer magazines and pride events and such

of course, there are some shitty homophobic people

but every time a kid comes up to him and tells him how he inspired them to come out, those people become easier and easier to forget about

needless to say, by the time he and neil come out, andrew's already pretty comfortable with sharing his sexuality on the internet

being out as a couple, though? well, that's just a whole other story

LOOK OUT FOR PART 2 IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS it's abt andrew and neil coming out istg it's a mess but a very fun one lmao

the best part about rereading aftg is finding little hints at andreil before they actually happen. like it's so subtle but so hard to miss when you know what's actually happening ya know?

from trk

and this is from tkm

hii i literally love your headcannons... can you please write Laila and Alvarez hcs? they're so underrated!!

ok yes as it is now pride and these two are my fav lesbians i MUST

so they met their freshman year at USC, when laila tripped over her foot after seeing a hot girl (alvarez) and spilled a coffee all over said hot girl's new white shirt

alvarez proceeded to hate her. even if she was nice to look out. she definitely did not notice that

and because laila does not like to be bested, she decided that alvarez's pretty face would not distract from her annoying personality

their rivalry was the only major point of contention within the trojans — they would constantly bicker in and out of practice

(jeremy, bless his heart, could never figure out when laila and alvarez were flirting or fighting though)

but despite this, they worked wonders on the court

laila was a powerhouse in the goal and alvarez was a relentless backliner

everyone was extremely confused about the nature of their relationship

this on-and-off behavior continued well into their second year

that is, until they got their spring semester classes and laila and alvarez were in the same calculus class

now they actually had to deal with each other, even off the court

they managed to stay out of each other's hair mostly, but one day, alvarez was absolutely stuck on a concept and jeremy was shit at math and office hours were closed and this really wasn't good—

she did the first thing she could and texted laila for help

so laila came over and after some initial awkwardness, they actually started working

and it turns out, laila is really good at explaining math

it turns into a bit of a norm. every wednesday afternoon, they would meet in a café and study together

(and maybe, just maybe, if each week, they began sitting closer and closer to one another, that's really no one's business)

this just slowly happens over the next few months, and one day, it hits the two of them that hey, maybe i actually like her more than a friend?

naturally, laila and alvarez both freak the fuck out at this

so they go to jeremy separately, who is now dealing with two flustered, emotionally-constipated lesbians

laila: jeremy i think i like alvarez. "like" as in i want to date her

jeremy: hmm. maybe you should just tell her?

laila: fucking shit knox are you dumb—

alvarez: jeremy HELP i think i have a crush on laila

jeremy: well, maybe she feels the same way! just tell her that :)

alvarez: you're so goddamn stupid why would i do that—

needless to say, jeremy is extremely overwhelmed.

eventually, he wrangles the two of them together on new year's day at a party

it's minutes to midnight and nearly everyone has a partner, romantic or platonic

laila and alvarez end up pushed up next to each other, surrounded by a bunch of loud, sweaty college kids

but none of that mattered. because with three seconds on the clock, laila and alvarez both felt a surge of courage from jeremy's words

they rushed towards each other just as midnight struck and promptly smashed their noses together

neither of them really expected their first date to be at the ER with swollen, bleeding noses

but hey! there's nothing more romantic than matching ice packs and nose splits, right?