Dan Riley

**Daniel Stephen "Dan" Riley** is one of the two main characters of the novel *You Could Make a Life*.

## Personal life

He was born in Toronto and grew up in Riverdale. He played in juniors for the Brampton Battalion of the OHL. He's of Irish descent. His first boyfriend was named Alex, a friend of his sister, Sarah Riley.

During his rookie season in the NHL, he lived with his parents and started dating best friend and teammate Marc Lapointe.

He was outed by a picture taken during a party after he won the Stanley Cup with the Toronto Maple Leafs in June 2011, where he was seen kissing his boyfriend (whom, however, could not be identified by the picture).

Later that summer, Marc Lapointe came out too and they became the first ever out couple in the NHL.

He followed Marc to Montreal when he was traded, but wasn't happy with the team there. When he signed with Ottawa, they kept up a long-distance relationship.

They got married in January 2014 and have two kids, Charlie (through a surrogate pregnancy) and Leon (adopted). They adopted a dog later in life.

He coached Charlie's hockey teams when she was a kid and never let Marc coach any of them.

## Playing career

He was drafted in the 6th round by his favourite team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, a childhood dream come true. He played his rookie season with them in 2008-09.

During the 2009-10 season, he spent several months playing in the AHL before being called up again.

He got injured during the playoffs in 2011, when he won the Stanley Cup with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In the spring of 2013, he got traded, along with his boyfriend Marc Lapointe, to the Montreal Canadiens. He was soon after sent down to their AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. However, he never regretted leaving the Leafs.

He signed with the Ottawa Senators in the summer of 2013, and he would remain with them until his retirement in 2024. He got an A as a veteran.

He played against his husband in the playoffs at least once (in 2016), and it wasn't pretty. The Ottawa Senators won tha series.

## Physical appearance and personality

He has brown eyes and brown hair.

He does not grow a beard unless it's for playoffs. He does, however, have scruff and his playoff beard is excellent. He's half grey by the time he hits 45, but he has aged very well. He has doofy ears. His style could be described as utility first.

In the thicc scale, he is **Pretty big!!**.

He cares deeply for those he loves (basically a good boy). He's also a very private person. He's an ESFJ and in the Global 5-SLOAN Multidimensional Typing System, he would be SCOAN. His Enneagram type is 1/2/9. His love language is Acts of Service.

## Trivia

* He was a Leafs fan growing up.
* He's in the "fairly often get into fights but they’re kind of terrible" category.
* In the Canadian bird debate, he would be in Team Loon (he would vote for the snowy owl for Marc Lapointe).
* He wasn't supposed to win the Cup with the Ottawa Senators in the original arc for his character, but that changed later.
* He likes to dress his kids in cute traditional costumes for Halloween, such as pumpkins and bees. He once made the whole family dress as cowboys.
* He stayed away the first time Marc Lapointe won the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens, but participated in the celebrations the second time around.
* He's a huge Toronto Blue Jays fan.
* He sometimes gets caught up in his own head, either in panic or in appreciation for how great his life is.
* He dislikes Marc's lack of social filter.
* He's mostly the big spoon in their relationship.
* He does yoga and is pretty good at the meditation aspect of it.
* He needs to send a good luck text to Marc before Marc’s games or it fucks with his own games.
* He puts his lips to his ring during the national anthem.
* He has tattoos with his kids' names and birthdates.
* He likes Harry Potter.
* He's a tumblr favourite.
* He votes NDP.
* He totally kicked Marc’s ass at Hungry Hungry Hippos.
* He would be vaguely creeped out by the idea of fucking his clone (he would be on board for a threesome with Marc and Marc's clone).
* He and his husband rarely argue, but they do not talk when their teams play each other in the playoffs. The biggest fight they had was years in their marriage, due to Marc suggesting Dan was not faithful.
* In a Hogwarts AU, he would be a Hufflepuff.
* He danced to "Can't Help Falling in Love" at his weeding.
* He saves spiders.
* He's a careful driver.
* In the reaction to cold scale, he's "I am dressed appropriately for the weather."
* He's terrible at drawing, but he can do a perfect maple leaf.
* He likes Beyoncé.
* Cries at weddings but wouldn’t cry at his own.

## References

1. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/80485748296/do-your-characters-live-in-specific-neighbourhoods
2. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/113902816361/happy-paddys-day-have-derek-carruthers-do
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Fitzpatrick, Taylor. (2015) *You Could Make a Life*.
4. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/172813572616/i-really-miss-dan-and-marc-do-they-start
5. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/62699125238/do-charlie-and-leon-ever-play-any-hockey-does
6. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/179816003946/im-not-sure-if-youve-answered-this-or-if-its
7. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/61442239637/do-either-dan-or-marc-ever-get-letters
8. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Taylor. 2015. *30 Years of Marc and Dan.*
9. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/61537242205/what-does-marc-think-when-dan-gets-in-a-fight-and
10. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/162306314911/im-not-original-anon-but-hair-color-and-eye
11. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/122510730466/im-just-wondering-which-of-your-characters
12. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/62784640658/do-you-have-a-headcannon-for-or-any-stories-of
13. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/146629144616/out-of-curiosity-which-of-your-characters-is-like
14. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/125164536061/what-made-dan-and-marc-decide-on-marc-providing
15. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/148429343216/hi-taylor-i-have-a-question-thats-been-nagging
16. ↑ https://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/626098742684205056/thicc-list
17. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/60311248833/all-i-want-is-saturday-why-do-you-do-this-to-me-d
18. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/119174589901/mbti-types
19. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/119223428271/danmarc
20. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/153745968186/enneagram-types-dan-marc-ulf-adam
21. ↑ https://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/642766423989633024/ycmal-verse-by-love-language
22. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/78072048702/what-teams-did-your-characters-grow-up-cheering
23. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/114735983411/ahh-it-lives-im-crying-oh-my-god-do-you
24. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/142450517201/david-because-im-hoping-the-answer-is-going-to
25. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/62819157865/so-how-many-cups-do-dan-and-marc-have-their-names
26. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/129608580611/prompt-jaya-hockey-family
27. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/65651327627/obvious-questionwhat-do-dan-and-marc-dress
28. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/122001045236/danmarc-charlotte-cup
29. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/167770194946/psotw-mattaaron-marcdan-vets-and-rookies
30. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/60114590372/what-is-the-habit-or-quirk-marc-finds-cutest-about
31. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/60234339745/whats-one-thing-dan-and-marc-genuinely-dont-like
32. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/60328068540/danmarc-domesticity-meme-a
33. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/61685643399/whats-marcs-life-like-in-montreal-outside-of
34. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/63715838289/whos-the-most-superstitious-of-all-your
35. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/64919309764/how-does-the-media-and-specifically-the-fandom-get
36. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/119345794956/building-on-other-anons-style-question-do-any-of
37. ↑ https://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/644056735152242688/hi-taylor-first-of-all-we-have-a-group-chat-to
38. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/125134368686/in-honor-of-the-harry-potter-marathon-on-tv-how
39. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/125138126686/would-you-mind-clarifying-why-dan-is-the-tumblr
40. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/131518352286/during-the-playoffs-my-excess-nervous-energy-goes
41. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/132137580541/how-did-marc-and-dans-duel-go-d
42. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/167023126871/where-are-dan-and-marc-on-the-clone-scale-and
43. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/62179334089/whats-the-worst-fight-dan-and-marc-ever-had-and
44. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/144790154331/hogwarts-houses-main-chars
45. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/159704978921/id-really-like-to-read-the-part-of-marcs
46. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/160309149701/im-pegging-marc-as-a-saver-but-i-have-a-feeling
47. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/160753472871/which-of-your-boys-are-careful-drivers-for-some
48. ↑ http://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/178960895601/my-dad-is-from-buffalo-during-the-winter-he-would
49. ↑ CIFP Kickstarter Weekly Update, 02 June 2019
50. ↑ https://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/189501533476/i-hope-its-okay-if-i-ask-3-questions-at-once-1
51. ↑ https://youcouldmakealife.tumblr.com/post/629814449397710848/im-afraid-after-finding-out-joey-cries-at