#neil as nathaniel

[andreilslovechild]

Dark AU

a universe where Mary never ran

or she tried but failed

and Neil is left alone without a mother

to suffer through his father's unique hell

a world where Neil is not Neil but Nathaniel

a world where Nathan decides evermore isnt good enough for his son

and so he trains him

hours and hours spent in basements with pigs and cadavers

slowly working the weakness out of his disgrace of a son

breaking him down before molding him back up into a newer better version of himself

And Nathaniel knows it

Deep down he knows it

but it's almost easier to believe it was his own choice

that he chose this

that he enjoys it

and soon enough his pretending becomes true

blood is a delicious shade of red

his smile is as sharp as a knife and just as deadly

he and his father still fought

oh they fought

but in this world, they fight over the slowest way to kill a man

the most painful wound to inflict

the worst way to be tortured

and Nathaniel has forever forgotten the softness of a boy unwilling to cause pain

Nathan trains him and Nathaniel trains and trains and trains

until the day Kengo dies

until the day Ichirou calls on him

until the day he's assigned to be Riko Moriyama's personal bodyguard

Nathaniel does not play exy

he hadn't played exy since that day long ago when he first met Riko and Kevin

and he's made it clear he won't be playing anymore

he will simply watch

it's easier to keep an eye on Riko that way

when he meets Riko again

he sees a kindred spirit

another man who feels accomplished only when crimson is spilled onto the floor

another man to whom screams are a melody of the most intoxicating kind

they immediately become friends

Nathaniel the only one who wasn't afraid of Riko

Riko the only one immune to Nathaniel's knifes

Riko's knives though

oh Riko's knifes were another story

rikos knives were the only ones Nathaniel was weak too

but if Nathaniel's knifes were ones of destruction and pain

rikos were ones of pleasure and art

the blades cutting just so into Nathaniel's skin to create beautiful pieces of art

to create brands that stayed for as long as Nathaniel lived

blades that sent sparks of pain and pleasure straight to Nathaniel's cock as Riko sits on his dick while branding him with his own initials

cuts that shiver and itch underneath his clothes while he watches Riko come alive on the court from the bleachers

scars that glow white under the florescent lights when he cleans blood splatter from his knife grin after disposing of a threat to his king

and then he returns to his raven-haired king with his wide black eyes and his visions of art that he creates on Nathaniel's body with his bloody pen

[exy4life]

guys im reading this fanfic AND ITS SO FUCKING GOOD? it’s called The Nameless Monster by kanekicure AND IT’S A DARK NEIL FIC???? fml i love these so much😭 go read it please

[ionlydrinkhotwater]

I said this in another post, but it bears repeating:

Neil is to crime what Andrew is to Exy. Supernaturally talented and unstoppable if he wanted, but due to his general lack of interest nerfs himself.

Everyone should be grateful Neil finds crime boring and uninteresting compared to Exy cause he would have been the Kevin Day of crime, surpassing his father and mother. Nora confirmed in the EC that if the Moriyamas had messed with Andrew, Neil would have carefully and competently dismantled their empire and watched all of them burn. He was practically lab created and stress tested his whole life to fight, outlive, and outsmart criminal masterminds.

My headcannon is Ichirou is secretly relieved that Nathaniel just wants to play stick ball.

[hyngx]

andreil and meow meows

unfiltered under the cut + wip

they own stupid samsung flip phones so they can't canonically take pictures of each other 🙄

also i was originally going to render but decided against it, though i liked the muscles... so, i'm leaving it here as well!

[allfor-thegames]

there's something very funny about wymack recruiting neil and seeing him as this jumpy, cagey asf kid with alarmingly absent parents and then watching him befriend the monsters, speak three languages, start fights with riko moriyama, be incredibly apathetic to violence, join the perfect court and reveal that he uses alcohol as pain reliever because it's too dangerous for him to go to a hospital, unite the team and fall in love with wymack's other problem child, all for him to turn out to be the son of kengo moriyama's right hand man.

[ashbashsquashmabosh]

Neil could really have been a very suave criminal mastermind if he'd chosen to be. I'm rereading the kings men and the whole thing is basically just Neil gently manipulating people to do what he wants them to, and figuring out how to put anyone who won't come around to his way of thinking (Aaron) under pressure so that they just do what he wants. He wouldn't need to be as violent as his father, the guy just knows how to read people and figure out what they want, and what they can't afford to lose. He'd have them eating out of his hand if he wanted to do anything more than play stickball have boyfriend.

[er-the-surgeon]

Neil Josten really spent his entire life on the run, then said “fuck it” just so he could shit talk a guy on TV. A true hater

[polartss]

rough game??

[puemort]

"Grayson should have just walked away from Riko's tainted legacy and started over. He strung the noose himself when he came all the way here to put his hands on you, and I am not afraid to kick the stool out from under him"

NEIL FUCKING JOSTEN THE FUCKING MAN THAT YOU ARE

[grechgor]

😈

[kattsmoothie]

I feel like we as a society don't acknowledge often enough that Neil was convinced and waiting on his death for months and no one around him knew until he told Kevin

Neil was 18 at the time

When he ended his protection pact with Andrew so Andrew wouldn't get caught in the crossfire iirc he was freshly 19

We joke about him ignoring the countdown texts but he knew exactly what they meant and he was so tired of running fighting and collateral he saw no other options

Like do you realize how horrifc that is

[waestlandbaby]

The way Neil Josten switched into Nathaniel in order to process and handle the abuse and trauma of being found by his father's people and the reality of his looming death will never not fuck me up, he literally said I can't handle this but maybe the Butcher's son could. And then. And then!! The way those two versions of himself coalesce into Neil Abram Josten (legally recognised) after Nathan is dead and the truth is out? The Neil Josten we see in The Sunshine Court has all of the attachments of Neil Josten, the slow unraveling of family and care but all of the hard edges of Nathaniel, unflinching from the reality of the world he lives in and the decisions he has to make to keep his life. Nathaniel would never have stuck around long enough to care about Jean Moreau and call a hit out on his abuser. Neil would never have trusted those resources available to him (or potentially the trail it could leave) in order to deal with the problem in one brutal but efficient move. But Neil Abram Josten reforged could, would and did.

[lukeawesm]

the shower scene

[operose-art]

"In eight years on the run, Neil had been through sixteen countries and twenty-two name."

[ionlydrinkhotwater]

Neil is willing to kill for Jean, having only been his partner at the Nest for three weeks. Can you imagine if they had grown up together?

Also I can't get over the thought of Nathaniel comforting Jean whose pining for Kevin.

And that because they both grew up so unloved and uncared for they always use terms of endearment and hug a lot (they still snark each other, of course). They are the most important person to the other.

Imagine if they got rescued by the Foxes and the headache Wymack, Betsy and Abby have trying to coax them out of their codependency. Lol good luck.

Wymack: maybe go for a walk Jean

Jean: ok I'll get Nate

Wymack: or you could go by yourself?

*Jean and Nate start screaming like they're being murdered*

[lvsjean28]

Neil let his Wesninski side out all over AFTG and TSC just to protect his kids 😭