fic: blue skies are calling [Pep Guardiola, Leo Messi] (PG)

[stickmarionette]

Title: blue skies are calling
Characters: Pep Guardiola, Leo Messi (also featuring Xavi, Gerard Pique, Eric Abidal, Luis Figo and Andoni Zubizarreta)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Made up, except for the parts that aren't. See end notes.
Summary: "What - " His voice comes out hoarse. "What do you do if what you love most in the world doesn't love you back

Comments

[meretricula]

getting it out of the way first: A+ NOAH AND THE WHALE REFERENCE. FISTBUMPING YOU ALL THE WAY FROM AMERICA. right. moving on...

omgggggg Leo I HAVE TOO MANY FEELINGS. like, this is how we can tell that his conquest of my heart is complete, right? that I read this and even though I'm all PEP GUARDIOLA YOU FLAWLESS MAN LET ME TAKE YOU HOME AND FEED YOU COOKIES mostly I just want to grab Leo and squeeze and never let go. HE IS TOO PRECIOUS FOR THIS WORLD. after the Copa final, crying in the corner and Masche and Gabi and and and ;_;

I can't even really face post-international duty Leo, the wound is too fresh. and the last lie Leo told Gerard, oh god. I've only got the one heart, how many times are you going to break it. ABI.

but also:

He can picture Gerard being dazzlingly brilliant at any number of things, and that right there is the biggest difference between them, even more than being introverted or outspoken, tall or short.YES EXACTLY. and Pique knowing how to have a conversation around Leo's attention span, and hugs! never too

[stickmarionette]

♥

If not for you, I wouldn't have discovered those earlier Noah and the Whale albums, so I thought it was fitting.

I just read some comments from Leo taking about how hurt he was by the Copa elimination and just...oh God I can't. I'm glad my many, many ~feelings came across in the story.

With Gerard, we always hear about how he's really good friends with Leo, and can get through to him even when he's not happy, and I just wonder how they interact, you know? Especially since Gerard thinks Leo's a smart mouth. And Xavi, well, every day I realize anew how he should never ever leave us.

Pep's boyfriends are legion! That recent documentary where Manuel's talking about how he felt when Pep had his back problem, oh my heart.

I'm so glad you liked the Pep-Leo relationship here. What Pep said about Leo right after the CL win this time really changed my view of their bond, and I wanted to explore that.

And and and what an amazing compliment to be told that I could convey a bit of Leo's magic in words. <3

[stickmarionette]

Thank you so much! One of my main concerns is getting the characterizations right, so that's really nice to hear. :D

[tinymich]

So I know you wrote this for V's birthday, but on behalf of the rest of the world, can I just thank you for bringing this to us. I LOVED this. <3 So many fave moments, but my fave fave moment was probably "We're going to Wembley."

Also, TRUTH on Geri being brilliant at any number of things. A friend and I were brainstorming a "Ten Things Geri Pique could have been" series, including but not limited to the following:
- President of Barca (this is an eventuality, no)
- The cool high school history teacher whom all the girls secretly love
- Boyband member
- Tycoon of industry
- Young overworked lawyer
- Chicklit author
and the list goes on and on.

You write so beautifully. Thank you for everything you choose to share with us.

[stickmarionette]

Aw, thank you for such a lovely comment! And that Gerard series sounds brilliant. He could totally be great at all of those things.

[tinymich]

Gerard Pique, paris skater. (I debated over whether to make Cesc or Leo the flower to Geri's stem, but. Even though Leo's shorter, I bff-ship Fabrique, so it's GOTTA be Cesc.)

I just had to leave that there.

[brojan]

i don't know how i missed this before, but oh my god, it is amazing, amazing, amazing.

[stickmarionette]

Thank you so much! :D

(I was desperate to post it and ended up doing so during LJ downtime. Not smart, but I was already super late for V's birthday. *g*)

[chicagoblack]

Your writing is, wow. It's hard to believe that all of this is just fic, it feels that real. This wrapped the 1011 season up bittersweet just fantastically, I feel somehow strangely grateful and proud of myself of just following all of these moments through, and getting to say oh yeah, that, omg while scrolling down.
And your notes, just as amazing as the fic itself.

On number nine though on your notes...I was here in Korea and I had almost gone and watched that game, Barcelona visiting was a huge HUGE thing and everybody was going crazy. And the whole thing about Leo playing how-many-minutes and the contract thing the media was all but spitting fire about how Leo Messi of all breaks the contract and not respect the K league and what not. The image of FCB here is never the same :/ I personally thought it was more the fault of the people arranging that ridiculous schedule, but wow, I didn't know that THAT had led to the conflict within FCB with Pep.

[stickmarionette]

Thank you very much! One of the things I really strive for is realism, and I'm glad that comes across. And 10/11 was so crazy and amazing I couldn't really let it pass without writing something.

See, that's why I feel bad - pre-season tours may be annoying and bad for the team's preparations, but for foreign fans it's possibly their only chance to see the team, and sending out a half-assed line-up is just disrespectful in that light. I can't blame Pep for his position, and I can't blame the organisers for theirs either. You're right, somebody up in the boardroom screwed up big time with that one.