Ana Sophía

**Ana Sophía** is the main protagonist and narrator of ***Darlin'***. After receiving the golden opportunity to compete in a paid female soccer league in the Super League Federation for under 18s, Ana Sophía commences her journey as she commits to representing the South City Wolves in the 2017 Women's Super League campaign as team captain and details overcoming the emotional struggles of day-to-day challenges with life as a Brazilian living in the United States. Her face is not revealed for the purpose of privacy and her last name is unknown.

## Biography

### **Early Life**

Ana Sophía was born and raised in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. From an early age, her mother made it priority with enrolling her in higher-education institutions, sacrificing much of her life savings for the benefit of her education. All her life, she grew up in her home neighborhood of Itaim Bibi, located on the West Zone of the city of São Paulo.

Ana Sophía and her mother left Brazil for the United States, immigrating to San Francisco in a high-paying job opportunity that her mother cited as important to keep the family financially stable. The job position is not described. Because of the job opportunity abroad, Ana Sophía is forced to relocate from Brazil. In ***Darlin'***, Ana Sophía does not open up on her thoughts regarding the move but acknowledges her mother's efforts to provide for her.

## Darlin' story

#### Introduction

Ana Sophía wakes up from a nightmare, calming herself down as she proceeds to follow through with her daily morning routine of showering before being taken to school by her mother. Once at her high school, her best friends Emma & Julie meet at the entrance as the trio head to class but confront problems with Ana Sophía's class bully, Sarah. Making fun of Ana Sophía's breakfast is the ideal target but Enzo steps in to help. At the end of the day, Ana Sophía & Enzo walk home and eventually goes his own way, with Ana Sophía dozing off on her bed after a long day.

Upon waking up later that evening, Ana Sophía wakes up and gets dressed for the night gala being hosted at her home. Dozens of guests are scattered in the first floor living room & kitchen, combining to what she estimates are around 40 people in attendance inside her home. She meets Hunter, Brett, Niko & Douglas, all part of Enzo's soccer team. In the late stages of the night, the slow-dance portion of the event is introduced, with Miggy being introduced by asking for her hand to dance. The couple sway back and forth to the music, allowing Ana Sophía to describe her internal happiness for the moment and open up on her affection for Miggy.

### Career kickoff

The following Monday, Miggy approaches Ana Sophía with the career opportunity of kickstarting her chances of making money in the United States by forming part of a competitive league and becoming the team captain of the South City Wolves. Initially perceiving the offer as a joke, she doesn't hesitate to accept when Miggy confirms that it is in fact a real offer. Ana Sophía begins learning the process of responsibility for being awarded a franchise expansion. Alongside Miggy, the couple work together to market Ana Sophía as an upcoming league star, despite never having played for a team.

Ana Sophía makes her debut on June 05 of 2017, suffering bruising on her left cheek from the game the night before, never going into detail about the actual game events. She briefly mentions having watched her goal posted online for the public to see. Ana Sophía discusses Miggy's SAT exams, opening up the conversation on Miggy's thinking on his future in education. Ana Sophía then briefly mentions Carol, an Instagram female crush Miggy has that Ana Sophía is aware of, never showing discomfort on the idea. After playfully fighting over the phone, the couple sleep in Ana Sophía's bed for the afternoon.

Upon waking up, Ana Sophía reveals the origin behind the book's name ***Darlin'***, with Miggy admitting it is his favorite word when asked to come up with a word that describes Ana Sophía. The couple then share dinner together and end the chapter by watching a movie, getting an inner idea that Ana Sophía is beginning to feel overwhelmed about the idea that things are moving quickly but ultimately assures herself that things will be okay.

### Popularity rise

Having been one of the most discussed athletes of the Women's Super League campaign, Ana Sophía experiences public recognition and acceptance from veteran players at social events, the most famous being American Super League star, Liam Stones, during their crossover at Beige V. In **Chapter 06: By Your Side**, Ana Sophía is welcomed by Liam to sit at his table as they place bets and watch Calisto Ávila's game live. Ana Sophía describes two guys who wave at her, which feature unnamed Super League legends *Anthony Walker* & *Sebastian Greyson*. Anthony compliments Ana Sophía on her goals scored earlier that day, which Ana Sophía responds by thanking him & showing she doesn't know who they are.

Popularity amongst those who she doesn't know begins to grow, something that is seen to be rather strange and awkward for Ana Sophía. She is recognized at Beige V several times, in the hallways of her high school and by other fellow players of the league. Her popularity rise also began drawing attention to comparisons with Brazilian striker Calisto Ávila. Although both players respectively compete in different positions, their same nationalities and same statistics commenced a hype for a rivalry between the two players.

### Brazilian reunion

On October 14th of 2017, the Women's South City Wolves defeated the Red Hawks to achieve their pass to the championship match, only to learn that Calisto Ávila and the Jaguars FC would be their rivals. During the match in November, Ana Sophía faced off against Calisto, demonstrating respect for her fellow competitor. In the end, Ana Sophía came out victorious with 3 goals in the match to earn herself her first professional league title as a debuting player. Calisto took home the golden boot, finishing her own season with a record 15 goals in 12 matches. Calisto would go on to praise Ana Sophía for her incredible season and declined any sort of hard feelings for her loss, citing the importance of having a Brazilian-born female player crowning herself champion & best player of an American sports tournament.

Because of Ana Sophía's peak performance in the championship game, momentum for her signing grew at an all-time high. She was offered to join teams in Canada, México, Brazil or remain in the United States and move with the stronger teams with other star players. Ana Sophía followed her dream and completed a transfer to Brazilian club **Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras** on a 3-year contract. Her move, to this present day, is seen as the beginning of the turning point for female soccer in Brazil, despite not being given credit, for changing the low pay and critically low attention it received before. Ana Sophía's big name arrival to a team trying to reach the first division meant a slight shift in the market for players opting for Brazil as a destination for their career, something viewed as a growing threat to the median salary for women's soccer in Brazil. In canon, Calisto Ávila would also move to Brazil to play competitively the following year.

### Systematic threat

On a disclosed period in the future, Ana Sophía cites **Chapter 13: Cross My Mind** as the turning point of her athletic career. She was about to kick off her game representing Palmeiras U-20, which was composed of both male & female. This was something never done before, with Ana Sophía as captain. As she stepped into the tunnel, Enzo begins playing mind games in an attempt that Ana Sophía confidently believes she can handle. Just as the chapter ends, Ana Sophía reveals Miggy as the captain of her rival team, Porto Alanza, and main antagonist of ***Darlin'***.

Over the course of the 90 minute match, Ana Sophía suffers a broken index finger, broken nose and dangerously high stress levels, caused my Miggy. Despite fighting the pain, she ultimately gets her answer as to why Miggy came to Brazil to hurt her, which he confesses. Miggy makes it clear that he failed to control her, in the way that she became a fan favorite and too popular to what he envisioned. He instead points to Matilda Brunet as the player he wishes to take her place because of her younger age, stronger body and biological advantages for being genetically modified.

At the end of the match, Ana Sophía pushes Miggy to confess on the reason wants to stay in Brazil, despite having completed his job of preventing her from qualifying, to which Miggy admits a new love interest from Instagram, Carol, has convinced him to pursue a change of life in São Paulo. Miggy walks away but the pair share one last kiss, with Miggy thanking Ana Sophía. ***Darlin'*** closes the story of the couple with the revelation of Marcella, Ana Sophía's younger sister that she chose to never discuss until that moment. Marcella helps Ana Sophía up to her feet from the ground, walking towards the exit of the Allianz Parque, confirming Ana Sophía's search for the reunion with her sister come to an end.

## Relationship

### **Miggy**

Ana Sophía's boyfriend, Miggy, makes his first appearance near the end of the opening chapter in **Chapter 01: The Ocean** during a night gala hosted at Ana Sophía's house in San Francisco. Described as tall and formal, very little is explained about Miggy's past from Ana Sophía's narration. It is known that their relationship commenced in 2016 and conserved much of their relationship to themselves.

In **Darlin'** **Chapter 02: Bloodstream**, Miggy offers Ana Sophía the opportunity for her to sign up in the 2017 Women's Super League campaign, an annual football league that is debuting for female players between the ages of 14 - 18. He agrees to be her marketing advisor throughout the year and together, achieve financial success through Miggy's branding of Ana Sophía in the league as a potential foreign star with endorsements. Their partnership became so successful during the year, they became known as the Super League couple. In **Chapter 05: Beautiful Now**, we learn Miggy holds feelings for an Instagram female user named **Carol** that Ana Sophía enjoys teasing him about. Described as brown haired and a very pretty smile, she is mentioned several times along the storyline. Miggy is described by Ana Sophía as a person who suffers from frequent nightmares, something she doesn't open up on with regards to their sleep together. In **Chapter 08: Two High**, Ana Sophía describes the little details in her hangouts with Miggy, often comedical moments from their strong chemistry in always describing how happy both of them are at all moments. We learn that Miggy attends American high school Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, as Ana Sophía describes stepping into his school and getting to meet his friends. As the story progresses, we learn Miggy is rather secretive,

Ana Sophía's relationship with Miggy takes a turn as we find out that Ana Sophía will indeed move back to São Paulo after her league-winning season with the Women's South City Wolves and the contract offer received from Brazilian club Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras Feminino. In **Chapter 12: What It Is**, Ana Sophía and Miggy spend their last night together prior to Ana Sophía's departure from the United States. It wouldn't be until **Chapter 14: Little Dark Age**, that Miggy returns, this time as the main antagonist of ***Darlin'***. Despite Ana Sophía's efforts, their relationship falls apart due to Miggy's ambition to prevent Ana Sophía from becoming popular and threatening the system.

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### **Mother**

Ana Sophía's mother plays an important role in Ana Sophía's life. She is not mentioned by name, nor does she share a chapter where they spend time together other than being an extra in her house events such as house parties. Although her absence in Ana Sophía's teenage life is clear, she is the turning point in Ana Sophía's dream come true moment, gifting her the plane ticket to São Paulo, Brazil.

## Friendships

### **Emma**

Emma is introduced as Ana Sophía's one of two best friends. She is first mentioned by Ana Sophía's mother when Emma gifts Ana Sophía a box of Krispy Kreme donuts in the first chapter of ***Darlin'**.* Both attend the same high school and she is the first person that Ana Sophía turns to when she is asked to recruit players for her team. Along the story, Ana Sophía expresses her personal admiration for Emma's strong traits that make her the strong woman she sees in her, although she doesn't tell her personally. Her loving relationship with Emma leads to their success in their 2017 Women's Super League campaign and good memories that Ana Sophía considers unique in Emma. In the final moments of ***Darlin'***, Ana Sophía reveals the collapse of their friendship through betrayal for having sided with her boyfriend, Enzo. They cross paths on last time in Brazil during the 2018 KOVO Champions Cup Hexagonal Qualifiers, with Emma scoring two goals in the match. Their friendship is left undecided, as Ana Sophía never comes across Emma during the game. She is last seen hugging Julie & Enzo as they walk off the pitch after the final whistle.

### **Julie**

Julie is another best friend that Ana Sophía considers special in her life since freshman year of high school, just like Emma. Julie is seen to be as a quieter, more reserved friend that supports Ana Sophía in her journey as we develop the story of their friendship. Julie is often seen standing up for Ana Sophía when she is bullied at school. Although we virtually know nothing of Julie's past, she asserts herself as someone who genuinely cares about Ana Sophía. Just like Emma, Julie also commits the ultimate act of betrayal against Ana Sophía when she sides with Enzo ahead of their playoff match that forces Ana Sophía to take on Julie's team.

### **Enzo**

Enzo makes his ***Darlin'*** debut by screaming across the high school classroom during an altercation between Ana Sophía's bully, Sarah, & Ana Sophía herself. Initially called Pretty Boy for his attractive looks, Enzo asserts himself as Ana Sophía's closest male best friend that respects her and dismisses any potential possibility of sexual tension. Enzo is looked upon as loyal and strong minded, showcasing leadership skills that Ana Sophía views as unique from other guys she knows. Described as popular with girls at school and determined in athletic exelation, Enzo eventually betrays Ana Sophía as he forms part of a team hired to eliminate her team in the 2018 KOVO Champions Cup Hexagonal Qualifiers in Brazil. Their clash in **Chapter 14: Little Dark Age** marked the end of their friendship and Enzo's constant physical abuse against Ana Sophía during their playoff clash in São Paulo, which Enzo eventually came out victorious.

## Personality

### Determination

Ana Sophía is seen as emotionally vulnerable during the storyline of ***Darlin'**.* The portrayal and description of her emotions with exactitude is something ***Darlin'*** excels in. During her time in the United States, she is remembered by friends as courageous and individualistic when it came to accomplishing her objectives. She kept a small circle of friends that she allowed inside her personal life, which we learn is only Miggy when it came to sharing life goals. She kept her intentions and plans brief to her outer circle. The distancing of her friendships by the end of the story force Miggy & Enzo to target her emotions during their faceoff in Brazil, focusing on distracting her mentally, which they ultimately succeed in.