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Andrew Minyard, star goalkeeper of the Boston Panthers, is going viral. But not for the reasons you’d expect.
You’d expect him to go viral for a great save, or for a clip from an interview, something to do with the infamous Minyard-Josten Rivalry, maybe.
You’d be wrong.
At 12:43am on an insignificant Tuesday, a new account on Tiktok was made and a video subsequently posted.
This was not, in and of itself, an earth-shattering occurrence.
More earth-shattering: a TikTok account made by Andrew Minyard.
Andrew Minyard already had a TikTok account, of course. Verified and everything. Mostly, he reposted clips from the team account, or other clips from his various interviews and general interactions with the public sphere.
This new TikTok account, under the handle ‘amcooking’ had no followers, and followed no one. The one video it did have went like this:
Andrew Minyard, standing in a kitchen. Wood cabinets, granite counters. A fridge behind him, magnets holding up a piece of paper which declared ‘Meal Plan’ in bold letters, another piece of paper (presumably a schedule) and a photo, too small and far away from the prying eye of the camera to make out.
Andrew Minyard is known for his general lack of expression. This has not changed, as evidenced by the video. “I’m making dinner,” is all he says.
The video cuts. Andrew is now standing next to his fridge, computer cradled in one arm. He looks from the computer screen to the fridge — to the meal plan — and back again. A soft meow sounds from somewhere near his feet, but Sir Fat Cat McCatterson is shielded from the camera by the countertop. “You’re right,” Andrew says to her, as if they were actually in conversation. He rips the meal plan off the fridge. The video cuts.
Andrew is standing in front of the camera again, smoothly dicing an onion with precision on par with an actual professional. Suddenly, the onion is in a pan on the stove. Vegetables go in with it. Water is boiling in a pot. Pasta goes in.
Andrew is standing in front of the camera again, bowl full of his pasta in one hand, fork in the other. Sir jumps up on the counter, gingerly sniffs the bowl.
“You won’t like it,” Andrew tells her, face just on the unimpressed side of still completely blank.
He scoops up a forkful of pasta, lifts it as if he’s about to put it in his mouth, then pauses, looks at the camera, and decidedly frowns.
When the camera cuts back in, his bowl is empty. “Good,” is all Andrew says, and then the video ends.
It didn’t go viral immediately, of course. People thought it was a joke, or an AI video. Andrew got sent hundreds of DMs, all a variation of did you know there’s a fake cooking video of you? But then people started following the account. Ex-Foxes, some of Andrew’s teammates. Then the video went viral.
The bio changed from being completely blank to linking to Andrew’s main account, AMinyard03.
Within a few weeks, Andrew has surpassed a million followers. Andrew posts roughly twice a week, fans are salivating, and not just for the food; this was the deepest that they’d ever gotten into the personal life of their beloved goalie.
@exysosexy
@AMinyard03 lowkey being a chef was not on my bingo card this year
Replying to exysosexy @AMinyard03
me neither but here we are
@minyardian
seeing @AMinyard03 cook reminded me that these famous people are actually just people hello???? he’s not all scary he just cooks and talks to his cat oml i need to sit down
@kevinallday
If you haven’t watched the cooking video at least 1000000 times what are you doing @AMinyard03
@BostonPanthersOfficial
Turns out our very own @AMinyard03 doesn’t just cook up on court! Go check out Andrew’s latest Tiktok here.
Andrew’s next video to blow up was sparked by a comment of Matt’s: real ones remember Andrew’s baking era.
Cue the video of Andrew in his kitchen, baggy black hoodie draped over his broad frame. “Matt wants a cake,” he informs the camera.
A metal bowl is in front of Andrew. One-handed, he cracks two eggs into the bowl. Those watching more closely can discern a shift in his expression; his eyebrows raise slightly – he’s surprised. A shot of Andrew mixing whatever’s in the bowl vigorously.
A shot of Andrew sliding the cake into the oven, immediately followed by him pulling it out again, now cooked.
The cake sits on a wire rack in the foreground, cooling. Andrew stands in the back, arms crossed. Sir jumps up onto the counter, bell on her collar jingling softly. Andrew glares at her. She sniffs the cake. “Don’t,” he warns.
Andrew, another bowl in hand, is vigorously mixing its contents again. A shot of Andrew adding food dye to the white, fluffy frosting – blue, one of the Panther’s colours (and very similar to a certain someone’s eyes). The video cuts to Andrew using a spatula to dollop a generous amount of frosting on the cake. He shoots a glance at the camera. “No crumb coat, because I can’t be fu–”
Cut to Andrew carefully piping decorative swirls of icing on the cake, using one of those spinning cake stands. Sir jumps up onto the counter, sniffing the end of the piping bag. Andrew turns to give her a disapproving look. “What did I tell you?” He reprimands.
The video cuts. The counters are now clean, and Andrew is slicing into the cake, showing the camera his slice on a plate. At some point he must have cut the cake in half, because there’s a cream filling between two distinct layers. As is becoming his trademark, he goes to take a mouthful, frowns at the camera, and then it cuts to a shot of his plate, now empty. “Good,” he says, Sir meowing in agreement from out of sight.
@RealMattBoyd
Hey @AMinyard03 is it really making me a cake if you don’t actually share it with me??? Crying from NC.
Replying to RealMattBoyd @nickyklose
srsly andrew’s cakes r so good almost makes me regret moving to germany ;((
Replying to RealMattBoyd @AMinyard03
that's a funny way of saying thank you. you’re welcome, I guess
The incident launched a new movement in the world of Andrew’s culinary adventures; fans started sending him recipes to try. Now, instead of the commonplace “good” at the end of each video, along with a cleared plate, Andrew started genuinely reviewing them, in the sense that now sometimes the plate was half-cleared, and he would say “okay” with a shrug instead. The most viral of these was the result of a recipe from none other than Kevin;
@QueenDayOfficial
Hey Andrew @AMinyard03 here’s a recipe that would aCTUALLY FIT INTO YOUR MEAL PLAN
Replying to QueenDayOfficial @AMinyard03
what’s a meal plan
The video started with Andrew having a distinctly disgruntled look on his face. “Kevin wants me to try something,” he says. A shot of him reading the recipe, the beginnings of a frown on his face. Sir whines, long and drawn out. Andrew glances over at her. “Yeah, I don’t know what this is either.”
Instead of shots of ingredients catapulting into metal bowls, each shot includes Andrew’s face, frown growing increasingly prominent with each addition. Finally, a clip of Andrew taking it out of the oven, putting it on a wire tray. It seems to be some kind of loaf. Andrew glares at it.
This time, instead of just a shot of Andrew almost trying the food and then his empty plate, a shot in between appears; Andrew, back to the camera, leaning over a bin, and judging by the noises that the basic microphone of his phone picks up, he spits out whatever concoction Kevin sent him. The final shot, a telltale rustle as Andrew drops the entire loaf in the bin. “Not good,” he declares, glaring up at the camera.
@AMinyard03
i get that you can’t score on me but there's no need to kill me over it @QueenDayOfficial
Not only did the tiktok blow up, but fans cut out the clip of Andrew spitting into the bin for reaction gifs. As much as Andrew didn’t love the fact that it became frequent amongst exy fans, he did appreciate that talk around him had shifted away from the Minyard-Josten Rivalry; as much fun as he and Neil had, after four years it was wearing thin. In fact, to Andrew’s glee and Kevin’s dismay, reporters now forewent asking the goalie exy questions at all, skipping straight to his cooking endeavours. It didn’t help that he goaded them by actually answering their questions – reporters quickly realised that it was one of the only ways to get the elusive Andrew Minyard to participate in an interview. Suddenly, he was being asked to guest star on cooking shows and youtube channels. His PR agent, though bewildered, took the opportunity for her most difficult client to engage with an almost ridiculous amount of excitement.
Andrew’s popularity was, needless to say, skyrocketing. His cooking channel now had more followers than his main account, having tapped into a new audience of not-exy fans. His most viral videos now also included baking a cake for his and Aaron’s birthday (with Aaron actually in the video, shock-horror) and (for a reason that he couldn’t quite decipher but Neil apparently could, judging from his giggling) a video wherein Andrew spent the entire time in his glasses (“My contact prescription needs renewing”).
@chefscott
I was today years old when I found out the guy who runs amcooking on tt is actually an exy player lmfao
Replying to chefscott @Samthesame
Literally he plays exy internationally??? And here I was thinking he was just a guy
Replying to Samthesame @AaronMinyardMD
He *is* just a guy
Replying to AaronMinyardMD @Samthesame
OMG ITS HIS BROTHER!!!!!!
Andrew was also no stranger to being disliked, and being somewhat of an internet personality now, he was not immune to hate comments. The only video on his account that wasn’t of cooking was replying to a comment ‘idk why he needs to be a content creator if he gets rich off exy’, with Andrew showing himself donating the earnings from his account to various charities, most of his computer blurred out to hide his personal details. Though he’d posted the video regardless of his image, just genuinely revealing what he did with the proceeds, his PR agent sent him a top-shelf bottle of whisky in thanks.
The chaos around the Minyard-Josten Rivalry had somewhat quieted down in the wake of Andrew’s increasing internet fame, something which Neil very much did not mind. “It’s nice,” he told Andrew over the phone one evening, “that you’re popular for good things. It’s like everyone is finally seeing you how I see you.”
Andrew had responded with a raised percentage and a huffed “Junkie.”
The Panthers were almost grateful for the distraction from the famed rivalry; they hoped it would allow for a smoother transition once they announced that Neil was signing with them for the next season. The transfer had been in the works since Andrew appeared at their offices about a year prior and revealed that he wanted to update his emergency contact to his husband, one Neil Josten. The shock was quickly overcome by the excitement that the Panthers had the potential to have the best goalie and one of the best strikers in exy on the same team; they would be unstoppable.
Did Andrew’s team actually know about the relationship? No. But that was a problem they’d solve another day.
As the year was dragging to a close, Andrew started posting more Christmas-themed recipes (Not Thanksgiving, though. Never Thanksgiving). Fans were delighted by the colourful cookies, tooth-rotting hot chocolates and otherwise astounding sweet treats that would send Kevin into a coma. Andrew even appeared on the Christmas special of a few cooking shows. The Christmas break also meant Neil could come visit, the first time they’d seen each other in what was realistically only a bit over a month but what felt like an eternity.
Neil’s visit yielded a new viral video; Andrew, adorned in an ugly Christmas sweater which did nothing to hide the hickeys littered on his neck, looking the closest to expressiveness his audience had ever seen. Andrew stared at the camera for a second, then said, “Cookies.” Neil’s voice, concealed by a filter, laughed in the background.
Andrew continued on to make the gingerbread men in his usual style, but this time the interruptions weren’t just provided by Sir. Arms, concealed to the fingertips by an ugly Christmas sweater to rival Andrew’s, held out Sir to Andrew, in frame. “Your daughter,” the filtered voice said. Andrew pressed a kiss between Sir’s ears, then looked to the source of the voice, eyes distinctly soft. “Thank you,” he said solemnly. The voice cackled.
The shot of the gingerbread men, out of the oven and decorated, was accompanied by bickering; “Your gumdrop buttons are wonky,” The voice teased.
“At least I didn’t try to make a candy cane into an exy racquet,” Andrew sniped back, “Look how that turned out.”
“Well excuse me if I didn’t spend an entire year of college baking,” the voice argued, laughter a vibrant undercurrent beneath the warped cadence.
Finally, Andrew did his taste test, revealing a half-eaten gingerbread man. “Good,” he decided.
“Good,” the voice agreed.
Andrew looked from the voice to the camera, the expression on his face the closest to a smile, or bliss or not blank that his audience had ever seen. “Husband approved,” he said, and the video ended.
Surprise to no one, it took the internet by storm. Almost every comment, every post, every tweet was about Andrew and his mysterious husband. In response, Andrew added a pride flag to his name on all his social media accounts, but otherwise didn’t make any moves to satisfy the curiosity of strangers on the internet.
Soon enough, the season ended, the Panthers claiming second place to Kevin’s team (Neil, fuming, was 4th). The Panthers announced Neil’s transfer, and, like a switch had been flipped, everyone collectively remembered the Minyard-Josten Rivalry, and brought it back from where it had been approaching the grave. Andrew’s comments section turned from hounding questions about his husband to interrogations about his feelings on Neil coming to Boston, neither of which he deigned to answer. Frustratingly, reporters too had started asking him exy-based questions again, instead of his preferred ones on cooking.
On the other hand, Neil, for the first time since they’d graduated, was going to live with Andrew. Andrew’s videos now had Neil as a more common person, even as his disembodied, filtered voice in the background. Fans started commenting about Andrew looking happier, and while those remarks were often rejected by other followers into oblivion, Andrew could notice, comparing his videos from the start of his account to now, a looseness that had only settled once Neil was no longer states away.
The first game of the new season with Neil on court was highly anticipated, and Andrew’s subsequent post-game dinner video heavily engaged with. Given their win, Andrew thought that it would set a precedent that he and Neil could work together despite the “tensions” from their “rivalry”. Of course, people loved to prove him wrong.
Andrew was lying in bed, Neil’s head pillowed on his chest as Andrew gently scratched his scalp, fingers threaded in his auburn curls. “Neil?”
“Yeah?” Neil said sleepily, eyes still closed.
“What are your thoughts on coming out?”
Neil’s eyes opened, piercing blue meeting golden hazel. “If you want to,” he said casually.
“Do you want to?” Andrew asked.
Neil shrugged as best he could from his horizontal position. “I have thought about it,” he said slowly, “I think it would help the team–”
“Junkie.”
Neil rolled his eyes, but it was undercut by his fond smile. “I mean, neither of us like getting asked questions about how hard it must be to work with one another. It would be nice if we could interact in public without it getting interpreted as a fight, or provoking one another, or… whatever. I also don’t think the Moriyamas would care, so… yeah, if you want to.”
“Again, that doesn’t tell me if you want to or not.”
“Andrew,” Neil said firmly, sitting up a little so they were eye to eye, “Yes. I want to come out. But I don’t want to do it if you are uncomfortable with it.”
“I want to,” Andrew said quietly.
Neil pressed a kiss to Andrew’s cheek, then settled back down. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Andrew echoed.
They did so, of course, through Andrew’s Tiktok.
It was Valentine's Day: there was no better day, they supposed, to come out on.
Neil had gone out and bought a garland of red paper hearts, which he strung from one end of the cabinets to the other by clambering on the kitchen countertop. Andrew recorded it, and hence it was the start of the video.
They stood next to each other, in frame. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” Andrew said to the camera, “We’re making…” he turned to Neil. “What are we making?”
Neil grinned. “Chocolate cake.”
Behind them, the oven beeped; it had reached the correct temperature.
Andrew nodded solemnly. “Let’s go.”
They started, the video cutting from Andrew sifting flour to Neil melting the chocolate over the stove. A shot of both Sir and King jumping on the countertops, with both Neil and Andrew going “Get off there,” in accidental unison, followed by a clip of Andrew wiping down the bench where the cats stood while Neil, a cat in each arm, told them, “You’re not allowed to go on the bench while your Papa and I are baking.” They meowed sadly at him, so Neil set them down with a “Go keep each other entertained.”
The video cut to Andrew, cutting up strawberries.
“What are you doing that for?” Neil asked.
“To balance.”
Neil frowned. “You like sweet on sweet on sweet. You don’t need balance.”
Andrew turned his gaze from the strawberries to Neil. “You do,” he said simply.
Neil kissed his cheek. Andrew blushed so hard he blended in with the strawberries.
When they were done, Andrew showed off the cake, its cross section. As per tradition, he cut the actual taste test, skipping to the review.
“Good,” he decided, then turned to Neil. “Husband approved?”
Neil grinned. “Husband approved.”
The internet had a meltdown over the video, of course. That, combined with Neil posting a single photo from their wedding – Neil grinning and Andrew looking down at their hands as Neil slid Andrew’s wedding ring on his finger – meant that fans and press alike had an absolute field day.
That wasn’t what mattered though. What mattered was Andrew, and Neil, and Andrew and Neil together.
[photo]
NeilJos10 and AMinyard03 always yes
Liked by QueenDayOfficial, RealMattBoyd and 4,573,289 others
NickyKlose omg baby cuz im gonna cry stopppp you 2 r 2 cute xx
Allison_Reynolds never thought i’d see the day
WalkerRenee Very proud of you both :)
DanxWilds What a moment! Glad I was there <3
RealMattBoyd being best man was the best honour of my life
DanxWilds @RealMattBoyd what about OUR wedding???
RealMattBoyd @DanxWilds oops…
AaronMinyardMD Ew.
NeilJos10 no one asked you @AaronMinyardMD
QueenDayOfficial So I guess you’ll be cooking my words next @AMinyard03
AMinyard03 no need @QueenDayOfficial you’ve already eaten them