#ifl

Ava and Yelena are both playing flag football so I get a little bit more freedom as there's not really a major league akin to that of the IFL. Ava's team is the Ghosts for obvious reasons and I modeled it after her og suit. A lot of people, younger and older, wear long sleeves/tights, so translating Ava's body suit for her chronic pain is pretty easy. Yelena gets Thunderbolts bc she literally played for a team called that. The blue and pink were just colors I thought would stand out as an actual thunderbolt as part of the design for her team. I also translated her eye makeup to the smearing of the eye black (I hc that Natasha would do a spider one). With Yelena's hair, I think she would slick it back to hold it in place and then wear a halo as a headband/protection.

Alexei played professionally too. However, he played hockey for Russia. He kind of understands football so he doesn't understand flag a lot but he loves to cheer Yelena on. Bc of his track suit in the end credits scene, i feel like he would get all of the personalized merch he could to both embarrass Yelena and support her.

John currently plays for the Quad City Steamwheelers. Unfortunately, there's no current Georgia or New York team so he couldn't play there. So I stuck him where Lemar's from, Illinois. I gave him the national anthem pose bc i think it fits. I also think that John and Lemar played together on said team. However, Lemar still dies in this universe. It's one of those tragic car accidents. So, the following game there's a little spiel and a video showcasing Lemar's life. The following year, the Steamwheelers showcase Lemar's mom on the big camera shortly after the anniversary of his death. The two seats beside her are typically occupied by Lemar's sister/dad but they weren't there. I also put Lemar's mom in a 2024 jersey bc Lemar dies in 2024 (mcu timeline is weird and I don't understand it but I think that's when he dies).

I really wanted to draw both Joaquin and Bob in the sharks outfits, however it doesn't really make sense for them. I don't think Bob would actually play because of medical reasons. Like, he played when he was younger but didn't continue. So, water boy for the sharks, hence the merch rather than a jersey. Joaquin would play for the sharks bc of his background, but I think it would be funny to tie in his original lore of bring from Arizona to make it so that he's played for the Rattlers in 2024 when they won then got traded to his state team.