#i love kevjean but there is no way they are endgame

[joejhang]

why kevjean doesn't work.

i'm sad about it too but hear me out. spoilers ahead continue at ur own risk.

look it makes me so sad to say it but kevjean does not work in this universe (i know, this also means it doesn't work, by extension, in any universe, considering jean is dead.) and i need y'all to hear me out on this. everyone theorising that kevjean will be the endgame ship in tsc i hate to break it to u all: not only does that not at all align with anything in canon, but it also would just be a really bad writing decision on nora's part.

LET ME EXPLAIN. jean's arc in tsc is first and foremost about healing. i think everything and every relationship jean has throughout the tsc trilogy has to lend itself towards that in some way, and ultimately has to resolve in jean being in a better place than he was at the beginning, and if not done healing, then being certain that one day he will be. (this is how jean is when he graduates from usc in the current canon ec).

following this line of thought, jean logically can't end up with kevin. and not just because it contradicts canon, because i fully believe nora is free to contradict any of the ec she wants in tsc, but because fundamentally, it would not aid in jean's healing arc.

i see the appeal, i really do. kevin and jean have insane lore, off the charts chemistry and tension and are actually extremely compatible. but that isn't enough in this case to justify an established relationship between the two of them that isn't in the past. (don't get me wrong i am a WHORE for past kevjean/kevjean situationship/unrequited kevjean it's all very yum).

i genuinely think getting into a relationship w kevin at this point in the story would hurt and hinder jean's healing arc. kevin, through no fault of his own, is so deeply entwined with jean's trauma and memories in evermore that he literally cannot be anything but a trigger and catalyst for bad memories and grief/anger in jean. y'all forget just how deep kevin's departure cut jean (not just physically), and jean hasn't even entirely worked things out with kevin yet. they have a lot of dirty laundry to air out, both between the two of them and their relationship as well as about neil and r*ko. people also forget that kevin and jean both played a role in each other's abuse. jean said himself that it destroyed him, how easy it was to fall into kevin's bystander role. they both were witnesses and bystanders to each other's abuse by r*ko or tetsuji. that doesn't mean it was their fault, and they literally could not have done anything to help or stop anything, but it doesn't mean it didn't have an affect on the other nonetheless. i feel like ppl r missing a lot of nuance in this context: kevin and jean's relationship has always been inherently tragic, even if it doesn't end with a fall out. they've always been each other's greatest friend in the worst places, and they've always been forced to witness the trauma done to both of them. they're bond is complicated, even if the love is there (which i think it is). i won't call it a trauma bond but i do think their bond is deeply influenced and intertwined with their shared trauma.

even if they did work thru everything, i honestly think jerejean is the only way to go here. nora has laid the groundwork for that mutual attraction and trust there in book one, and now we're just gonna have to see how it plays out. they may not be together properly until jean graduates, but i don't see a problem with that. i think, at the end of the day, it's not a matter of if it'll happen but when. jean needs jeremy (and cat + laila) right now, and there's a reason kevin chooses to send him to the sunshine court, and it's not just cos they're the only team worthy of jean's skill. "their kindness matters." kevin says, and it does. jeremy + the trojans innate kindness and care towards jean are what he needs to heal and grow out of the ravens' shadow. being with kevin i fear would jeopardise that. at the end of the day, kevin is too deeply rooted in jean's past, which is a veritable goldmine of trauma that, while does need to be acknowledged and talked about, does not need to be dug up again. this isn't jean or kevin's fault, just a fact.

i think nora's also made it pretty clear that kevjean (whether requited or not) is a thing of the past. the love was there, and it might've changed everything and it might've changed nothing, but the love was there. and maybe it still is. but things have changed, and they're both going their own way and i think it's really important to understand that.

side note: this is also part of the reason i'm not the biggest fan of thea and kevin's relationship. i'm not actually sure if they're all that good for each other, given how/where their relationship began and developed. i don't doubt they care for and love each other, but i just don't know if they're the best people for each other in terms of like...wellbeing. anyway does anyone have any good kevaaron fic recs???

[mostlymaudlin]

i have the follow through of a toddler when it comes to non-Andreil writing projects, so don’t hold your breath, but id love to write a fic that explores Thea’s relationship with Kevin the same way people have done with other minor characters, like Jeremy or Jean. Thea’s one scene is very emotional and you can choose to vilify her for it. Or you can choose to pick apart what would push her, a presumably decent person who cares about Kevin, to that anger. And from there, you can probably make up some really interesting things about her character & their relationship, and tell a hell of a story.

I see a lot of people default to “it’s not good for Kevin to be endgame with someone who is so loyal to the Ravens,” but people write hopeful stories about KevJean healing together from their Raven trauma all the time. If Thea was written in a fic as a dynamic character, her history and flaws and behavior would be positives, not negatives. They’d be something for Kevin’s own flaws and hopes to bounce off of. That’s what makes a good character.

And you know what doesn’t sound particularly interesting to me? Kevin ending up with a character who loves him without challenge and magically fixes all his problems with an unrealistic capacity for kindness and mental stability. That just isn’t how it goes. Y’all know that — you ship Andreil!

If there are fics like this already, I’d love if people would drop them in the reblogs/replies 👀

[kevindavidday]

Hello! Just wanna drop a note and say kevaaron FTW! I got into this pairing when I was reading a fic on it and i must say that i love the way they fall into each other via trauma bonding. How Aaron is able to understand his trauma and helped him through with it and how Kevin helped Aaron navigate his sexual awakening. I wanna ask if you have any HCs or future fic ideas about them?

oh boy do i have hc's and fic ideas about kevaaron...i have like 3 long fics in progress for them and most of my hc's are incorporated into those fics because i can't write a short fic to save my life apparently

first fic is called to be good, i've posted the start of this on my ao3 it's a very lengthy look into the nest and perfect court (including andrew) but as artists instead of exy players and the way kevaaron (artist x doctor) end up together in this eventually is like the only thing keeping me alive right now. it is, however, andreil centric with unrequited kevjean, endgame jerejean, kevaaron and andreil (ofc)

second fic idea is an entirely canon compliant fic of kevin's life with the main canon divergence being kevaaron exists and is endgame. i wanted to explore what they would be like if i changed nothing else and also wanted to see how aaron would be like with amalia (i suck and have no idea if i will ever actually write this but trust me i have so much of it planned: it would be called 'the winner takes it all' after the abba song)

third fic idea is pretty recent and i really really really want to write it but the premise is that kevin experiences insane levels of burn out in his late 20's and his professional team psychiatrist and doctor sideline him to the benches (what horror what injustice to take kevin off the court) and the foxes collectively decide someone needs to take care of kevin lest he kill someone or himself. aaron lives closest to him and he does not volunteer to do this but oh, look he's a doctor! he can take care of kevin! and so they end up living together aaaaand chaos ensues (lowkey this one's gonna be displaying my love for aaron minyard x 10000)

i've got like a billion trillion hc's of them sharing wire headphones while riding the subway and aaron consistently playing with kevin's hands and making sure he doesn't overwork it and them getting the most obscure things for each other that no one in the world would understand the reference to and cooking together and travelling together because they can't stand any of the other foxes and yeah i can talk about them for like hours you're gonna wanna book an appointment for this one babe

[moreau29]

a little rant abt kevjean

saw this post by @back2beesness and i have about a billion thoughts so i'll make a separate post instead of making an excessively long addition

disclaimer: these are simply my very personal opinions and feelings on them and you do not have to agree !

i've never shipped it. not in the way that i wanted them to get together. but not because i doubted they ever loved eachother (romantic or platonic). i just don't think it'd be good for anyone from the nest to be in a relationship. this is one of the reasons i cannot stand thea and kevin but that's a different rant for another time

nora confirming in the sunshine court that jean loved kevin absolutely shattered my heart. i always kind of assumed he did. it was a headcanon, if you will. but having that confirmed was a fucking gut-punch like none other. i'm not religious but i pray for anyone who ever has and ever will fall for Kevin Eyes-For-Nothing-But-The-Court Day.

when i first finished the first three books, before entering the fandom space, i liked jeanee. they were cute enough, but i knew almost nothing about jean yet. they were that one couple that just,, made sense. i could see it happening and i didn't hate it. she's her superhero, you know ? then i entered the fandom space. i was reminded very abruptly of jean's transfer to USC. to jeremy knox. i never looked back; not really.

i quickly found out abt the infamous (now removed) "extra content". i read all of it. now, i know the fandom has long been very split on whether we want to take anything from the extra content as canon, but jean's section ? oh man. it was confirmed jeanee wouldn't be endgame and at that point i was long moved on from them. i was shoulders-deep in jerejean already. but jean's section ?

holy fuck. it cemented my opinion that no one from the nest, especially jean, should ever be in a relationship with another raven. he deserves to cut any and all ties to that place and never look back.

he can't do that. he'll most likely never be truly free from the moriyamas for as long as he lives. not unless someone takes out the entire family. and he doesn't want to let go of kevin. he's moved on from wanting him in the way he once did, but they can still be sort-of-friends.

i still keep thinking about what could've been. if it weren't for the moriyamas, for riko (for renee and jeremy). could they have been more than sort-of-friends ?

[codename-adler]

you know what nora’s initial kandreil endgame plan establishes? poly in the aftgverse. you can mix and match whichever characters as you see it fit, and you got yourselves ot3s, ot4s, etc. you can pick up a canon or almost canon pair and fuse them with another character (renison, jerejean, andreil, danmatt, kateaaron, kevaaron, kevjean, keremy, nickerik, etc.)

but you know what the most fun a gal can have? pick up those same pairings and add an oc. DELICIOSO 🤌

i take your renison and raise you an all-female ot3 (or or or orrrr throw robin cross their way and watch the magic unfold!!!) i take your lailalvarez and do the same!! nicky’s lonely in the U.S. why not send him a bff he gets too attached to only to realize that along his bff-content-filled erik-skype-sessions his very man has fallen for the boy in question through nicky!! or you know what?? imma get thea mf muldani, katelyn mf young and female mf oc and make them kiss. on the lips. like barbies. and it will! work!

the siblings you can create omgggg!

but most of all. my recent obsession. my new beloved brainrot. my beautiful new fox recruit, turning danmatt’s world upside down. the most well-established couple of aftg, with so much love between them it accidentally overflows onto this unsuspecting girl in need of much care. mwah!

anywhoo. danmatt is wildly under appreciated and underestimated for their fic and ship potential. need more of them.