riyah

 i was kinda spurred to write this from all the recent talk abt him since signing his contract and getting his big boy money, and this is probably better suited for the tumblr audience, but i kinda already went over why i dont think ill be using it… or maybe ill say eff it and crosspost. idk, who cares.

and this is so parasocial and me reading way too deep into things in the mind of a baby defenseman, so if this is not your cup of tea… sorry.

but like, i really cant imagine what it must be like to be luke hughes, the brother of elite hockey players who made it to the olympic team, jack and quinn hughes, because thats how people are acting. like, for you to always be brought up in trade conversations, etc., as an afterthought, always seen as that annoying snot lil kid brother that gets dragged along with his big brothers because they have to (obvs not my thoughts… i love lukey. but thats how it feels like everyones treating him).

always in the shadow of your older brothers, they are your standard… like, not to bring kpop into this, but i have to mesh my interests together, and the parallels of txt rookie days to rookie luke hughes. whats the bang shi hyuk quote?

"people may think that txt got really lucky and had an easy path, but they carry the burden of meeting expectations that were already set. rookies usually have a chance to grow and shine while they’re still rookies, but txt started on a higher level, so it’s harder to showcase growth."

because yeah… almost the exact same scenario. always held to a double-edged sword standard because of the last name on your jersey. the nepo baby conversation, the recent discussions about how he’s being coddled by the coach and gm because they want to cater to the hughes brothers, but also the ridiculous expectations and the hate boner people have for them. his own fans can’t wait for him to fail, and they’ll be the first to laugh, point, and say “i told you so” before thinking of picking him back up.

that when you first dreamed of playing with your brothers and making it to the nhl, you guys were nobodies. it was just quinn hughes and jack hughes—your big brothers who you shot minsticks with in the basement—not quinn and jack hughes the hockey players. fast forward, and now your oldest brother, quinn, was the captain of the canucks, a norris trophy winner, and seen as one of the top two defensemen in the league—the biggest trade of the year, the player every single team wanted. your middle brother, jack, drafted first overall, is the franchise star, who played in four nations and is now on the olympic roster.

never mind your own accomplishments — breaking records at umich, being named alternate captain your sophomore year, becoming a third finalist for the calder trophy. none of it matters when you’re never seen as your own person, only as a comparison to how good your older brothers were at your age, always measured against names that was never yours to begin with.