#neil did later and jeremy will but renee was the first

[betterlucknexttime]

thinking of how renee gives andrew her knives (protection) and jean her cross necklace (faith), being the first person to give them what they needed most.

[allfortheslay25]

Some extra all for the fish content I didn’t finish so I wasn’t eager to post (Last post for mermay!)

Abandoned idea of Neil being caught by sailors and Kevin saving him (sailors don’t come into Moriyama territory)

Neil is terrified of being caught by sailors since he was caught once as a child and nearly died by choking on air (sirens can do without ocean water for limited time) so in this wip, Neil has an asthma attack caused by his ptsd of being taken and nearly dying

Melancholy Kevin comic wip

Kevin’s necklace was a gift from Jean when they started secretly seeing each other. Riko turned a blind eye because he assumed Kevin was doing it to make Jean more willing to abide by the rules. After finding out Jean had ‘seduced’ Kevin, Riko punished him

When Kevin eventually fled to the Monsters pod, Jean tore the necklace from his neck.

Later, Kevin convinces Jean to join Jeremy’s pod because it’s made of a bunch of very strong mermaids and no siren will sensibly try to take them on

This is how all mermaids and sirens mate (tho sirens differ because some couples will switch mid intercourse for better reproduction chance) why did I draw this? I wrongly assumed this is what my sister asked for (she meant how do they pick their mates💀) she did laugh tho since Neil’s tail is struggling to grasp at Andrew since he’s so short

But since it’s here, sirens and merfolk alike will often wrap their tails around their mates and do the dirty as they are tangled. It makes it so that their genitals don’t ’disconnect’.

A fact about sirens is that during their mating they will often flare their fins to attract future partners. Since sirens aren’t the kind to mate for life, they are always looking for their next partner and most sirens mate in front of a crowd to prove their sex appeal and reproductive abilities.

Neil is not trying to do any of these things, he is flaring them for Andrew and only Andrew

Mermaid Allison and siren Renee doodle

Allison is a mermaid with an interest in sirens. She’s always wanted to have their shapeshifting abilities. This is her flirting with Renee who had been planning to kill her (she assumed Allison was a threat at first)

Renee is pretending to be a mermaid since she wants to change as a person from her past. She shapeshifts to make her appearance more mermaid like until she goes hunting

[tessasilverswan]

hello tessa!! i hope you’re having a great day :) i am here to humbly ask for jeaneil headcanons

-@you-know-i-get-itt

Hiii

I am, thank you! I'm already home for the break & enjoying my mom's food hehe. How are you?

So, I was pretty sure I made a really long list of them on my notes app a while ago, but I can't find it now, so these are the ones I remember.

For a raven Neil au:

1. when Jean got to the Nest, he had a tutor to teach him English, but Nathaniel was the one tasked with making sure he learned fast, and the one punished when he didn't. The first words of French Neil learned were 'ça va?' and 'je suis désolé' (are you okay? & I'm sorry) When they started testing Jean on his English and he made a mistake, Tetsuji would hit both with the cane, and Jean would revert back to French, unable to recall English words. This would only lead to more hits. Afterwards, he'd apologize, again in French and heavily accented English. Neil would say 'I'm fine', or 'ça va', tapping Jean on the arm. Eventually, they both spoke each other's language, as well as one that nobody else did.

Double tap on the forearm from Neil asking 'ça va?'. Double tap on the shoulder from Jean reassuring 'it's fine'. Jean's knuckles tapping three times, meaning 'don't anger him', Neil's only once, answering 'okay'.

Kevin asked to learn French too, and Jean taught him, but Nathaniel never spoke it in anyone else's presence; nobody could know.

2. Jean was the one who called Nathaniel Neil. After the nth nightmare, both got used to the other waking up gasping. Jean's were about Riko and Tetsuji, or, worse, about Élodie at their mercy. Neil's were always about Nathan. And so, in whispers in a pitch-black room, Neil confessed he was named after his father and only spared his legacy by the Nest, bad as it may be, and Jean gave his only friend a name that was untainted by the Butcher's shadow.

3. Jean used to pick up Neil and carry him over his shoulder à la potato sack when he was heavily injured, despite his protests that he could walk, until Neil figured out the one (1) thing that surprised Jean enough that he put him down, after trying literally everything else: kissing between his shoulder blades. After that, they both walked away from Riko's room leaning on each other and the corridor walls, except for the time after Kevin left that Jean carried an unconscious Neil. Neil insulted Riko until he forgot he wanted to hurt Jean for Kevin calling out in French, Riko hit Neil until Jean forgot how many times.

4. Neil softly headbutts Jean whenever he wants his attention, like a cat; Jean jabs his index finger three times in quick succession.

For canon universe:

1. Neil does get Jean to try Thai tea, and he finds it disgusting until Neil adds sugar (Neil drinks his with very little sugar, sometimes none). Then he finds it atrocious because of the sugar, and only allows himself to drink it when Neil comes to visit. Eventually, he also drinks boba with Cat, Jeremy & Laila and the occasional lemon-flavored soda, but Thai tea is still something Neil gave him.

2. when the Trojans fly out to a game in Arizona (Tucson, maybe) later on, they evidently don't go to Millport. But Jean buys three postcards. One goes to Kevin, with the score of the game and a 'Jeremy says hello', another to Renee, with Jean's list (A cool evening breeze. Rainbows. Open roads. Friends.) and a simple 'thank you'.

The third is addressed to Neil, and it's one of the first times Jean lets himself be snarky for fun. Maybe he says that it's no wonder Neil is such an idiot, the sweltering sun must have fried whatever neurons he'd had left. It's also the first time he signs Jean-Yves Moreau.

Also, because I can't leave them out, I have to mention Jean's calligraphy one more time, and that Neil knows Morse Code.

Okay this got way too long and also more angsty than I realized my hcs were. Sorry if you wanted happier stuff; I guess you can see the product of my forever partners obsession.

[obsessing-over-fictionn]

pt. four(and final) of things i gathered from reading nora's extra content :

parts one, two, three

[tws: guns, shooting]

- if kevin were ever to make out with any of the foxes, it would be allison because a) she's gorgeous and b) there would be no strings attached

- "(I was super proud of myself for making Kevin like pineapples because I am not a fan of them and I was like YES NORA THINK OUTSIDE THE COMFORT ZONE)" - nora about kevin liking pineapples

- kevin's best memory that isn't exy related is finding kayleigh's letter and discovering who his father is

- seth could sing! he was a tenor

- seth doesn't hit woman unless it's on the court

- aaron has the second-best grades on the team after kevin

- nicky never reconciles with his family after drake

- and rightfully so luther can die

- neil was matt's best man at his wedding :')

- thea and kevin got married and had a child who got along well with 'grandpa wymack'

- as cute as that is, ew bc imo kev and thea are not it

- but anyway

- jean and renee attempted long distance dating but it didn't work out

- definitely because jean and jeremy are meant to be(this is my opinion tho so)

- renee is the only one of the foxes to marry without the other foxes in attendance, but only because she met someone who worked with her and they couldn't take enough time off of their job to have a wedding and the place that they were didn't take well to visitors

- jean was originally going to commit suicide to alert and bring attention to the abuse faced in the nest but it was changed in the last draft

- neil only ever places one bet the entirety of his time at palmetto state

- aaron proposes to katelyn before starting his fifth year, and they marry soon after graduation

- after graduation allison becomes a fashion designer

- allison had two kids, one son and one trans daughter ! she was fiercely supportive and god i love her

- allison's son develops a crush on kevin's kid💀

- matt proposed to dan on the morning of his graduation ceremony

- later on in the pros, andrew would punch their coach after they let an injured neil onto the court for a sub

- between andrew and neil, andrew is better with babies

- the only reason why robin cross, the freshman goalie that is recruited andrew's senior year, was approached was because andrew specifically asked for her

- if you want to know more about robin(her story is actually pretty messed up), here's the link

- when robin is incepted into the cousin's family, she moves into their dorm

- but because there are only four beds, andrew gives her his and shares with neil

- andrew gives robin his and renee's knives when he graduates

- originally, kevin and riko were dating but they broke up because riko cheated on him with jean, though riko and jean went by different names

- in that draft jean actually broke kevin's hand instead

- riko had capital i Issues

- like we already knew that but still

- "Did you know that from day 1 of All for the Game, when it was a shoddy little comic taking place in a Japanese high school, up until the second-to-last draft, they were lovers? The main drama in the first comic was that Riko had cheated on Kevin with Jean, and Kevin stormed off in a heartbroken fit, and Riko was trying to win him back before Kevin & Neil fell in love together." - nora about kevin and riko

- riko broke kevin's hand by stomping on it

- there was a draft where riko shot both neil and kevin, though neil was the only one to survive

- after jean moves to the trojans, kevin tells jeremy that jean can't go anywhere alone due to being so used too the raven's way of living and functioning

- i take this as confirmation that jeremy and jean get really close and they bond and fall in love and-

- when kayleigh and wymack were a thing, they were in an open relationship because kayleigh didn't have time for monogamy

- it's also helped to disguise kevin's parentage

- "Wymack was definitely sweeter on her than she was on him, and it killed him a little that he couldn’t win her over, but he respected her wishes and never pushed her for more than what she wanted to give him. He did a lot of drinking on the nights she was out with her other lovers, though. His head understood why it was better this way–she had dreams, and he had dreams, and they would spend most of their lives apart because of the paths they needed to walk even if they were each other’s one & only–but it took his heart a couple years to catch on." - nora about wymack and kayleigh's relationship

- half of the canon drafts of tfc ended with kevin dying

- nora says that kevin's straight but no he isn't

- nora's aro-ace !!

- say kandreil(kev, neil, and andrew) had still been a thing. if kevin had died, andrew and neil would have had a massive falling out and the resulting events would result in neil leaving abruptly, taking his money and contacts with him and leaving without warning

- the loss of both neil and kevin so close together sent andrew further into a spiral of self-destruction. he was on the edge when neil finally returned, but it took a long, long time for their relationship to be eveb halfway mended

- nora sakavic is actually a pseudonym !

- tfc was born from the most epic of thoughts: 'i want to write a comic about gay athletes'

- abby and wymack never get married but they do move in together during neil's fifth year

- they grow old and are eventually buried together

[wesawbears]

I am a simple AFTG fan. I love Andrew, I love Jeremy. I think they should be friends. I write that.

Here’s my other Andrew and Jeremy friendship post, but it’s not necessary to read that first: x

--

For the most part, Andrew paid his teammates as much attention as one would give to a road sign. Enough attention to keep his job, to do what they need him to do, but he’s still not a team player, and making friends with inconsequential people is not on his immediate to-do list. 

Jeremy Knox is slightly more interesting, if only for the fact that Kevin knows him, and according to him, he’s the only other person on Andrew’s team who has a chance of making Court. What’s more, Andrew likes to know who he’s dealing with, and the urge for leverage is one instinct he didn’t leave behind with his knives.

(Okay, so maybe he’s still a little bruised at just how many secrets Neil snuck past him.)

Still, he does his research on Knox. Raised in rural SoCal, captain of the Trojans for three years. Boring. Reputation for never getting a red card. Slightly more interesting. He hopes it isn’t insufferable morality, but that remains to be seen. He thought the same of Renee initially, and found something more substantive below. He was also a curiously private person, never indulging the press with his thoughts. He did know of the rumors that he was dating Jean Moreau, which was interesting if only because of Jean and Neil’s history. 

He may not be able to take his teammates to Columbia, but he would get the answers he sought.

Conveniently, Knox was the one who he ended up rooming with for away games, seeing as he was the only one who still made the effort to speak to Andrew. The rest had clearly decided it wasn’t worth the extra effort. The first night, he learned that Knox stayed behind in order to be available to Moreau, which was an interesting confirmation if nothing else. He was tight lipped about everything else, leading to many quiet nights, which suited Andrew fine.

His next sign that Jeremy Knox might be more interesting than he appeared came near the end of the regular season. Their game was against Dallas, notorious for having an egregious number of ex-Ravens. Andrew took slightly more enjoyment than usual blasting their shots across the court, something he knew he’d get an exuberant earful from Neil about later. For now though, his sights were on the game.

It was unusual for his teams’ strikers to find themselves anywhere near Andrew, but Jeremy and one of Dallas’ dealers had managed to stay in a lock past midfield, until a hard shove sent Jeremy sprawling across the field. Andrew could see but not hear heated words exchanged once Knox stood. Andrew watched something dark and interesting flash across Knox’s face before he reeled back and decked his mark across the face.

A hush fell over the field as one by one everyone realized that Jeremy Knox was given his first red card and left the field.

Andrew leaned against the goal, face cool and unaffected, but mind moving.

--

By the time Andrew got back to the room, Jeremy was already there, and Andrew could hear his voice through the door. He stayed quiet and opted to stay outside to listen for a bit.

“I understand that...Look, I’m sorry that I worried you, and I understand where you’re coming from, but I’m not sorry for what I did...No. I’m not going to let them say whatever they want about you. Not when I know how far you’ve-...” A deep sigh. “Okay. We’ll talk tomorrow….I love you too.”

Andrew took that as a sign of the conversation’s end and headed inside. When he did, he saw Knox sitting on his bed, looking uncharacteristically annoyed. He attempted to perk up a bit when he saw Andrew.

“Hey. Sorry to keep you out of your room.”

Andrew shrugged off the apology and set his things down before sitting and looking at him. “Moreau?”

Jeremy nodded slowly, apparently surprised that Andrew was speaking to him. “Um, yeah.He was just worried after seeing the game.”

“So it was something about him that got you to crack.”

Jeremy’s jaw worked as he tried to come up with an answer to that. “Is it that surprising?”

“Be more specific.”

“That I have a temper.”

Andrew drummed his fingers against his knees. “Not surprising. Just interesting.”

“I’m happy to amuse then,” Jeremy answered, starting to turn away.

“It just means you aren’t as boring as the rest of our teammates.”

Jeremy didn’t seem to have a response to that either, so Andrew continued. “So much for those anger management classes.”

Jeremy’s mouth twisted. “Kevin wasn’t kidding. You do your research.”

Andrew waved a hand.. “It’s important to know where to push when necessary.”

“You don’t need to push. You could try asking.”

“I don’t need to ask when your motivations are so annoyingly obvious.”

Jeremy sighed. “I meant what I said when you joined. We don’t need to be enemies. Especially considering all we have in common.”

“And what would that be?”

“Well, we’re both on the wrong side of a deal we didn’t make.”

Andrew’s mouth twitched at that. “Surprised Moreau told you about that.”

“Of course he did. We’re together, so it affects me. I’d be naive to not know that I’m who they would come after if they wanted to hurt him.”

“Yet you chose him anyway.” Andrew heartily ignored the hypocrisy in his statement.

“I did. I’m too stubborn to let them tell us what we can and can’t do. At least this way I can say I didn’t run away.”

Andrew turned finally, satisfied with the answers he’d gotten tonight. He had plenty of time to learn more. 

Jeremy started turning away after a few moments of silence, only perking up when Andrew had one last thing to say.

“If you’re going to be any use, you need to learn to punch better than that.”

Jeremy smiled slightly. “Out of practice.”

Andrew hummed, effectively ending the evening’s conversation.

It was a fascinating experience for both parties.

[simonsrosebud]

the one where someone doesn’t know who kevin day is, pt. 4

part one two three five

extra content linked at the bottom!!

the cousins are all on the bus.  they’re the first ones there, but kevin hangs behind to wait for dalton.  apparently it’s obvious.

nicky hangs out the open bus door.  “he meet wymack yet?”  and goes bug eyed when kevin shakes his head.  “you haven’t introduced your boyfriend to your dad yet?!  this is the first time they’re meeting?!”

and jesus, he didn’t think it was a big deal.  it’s just the banquet.  but he also knows he’s never had a father before.  or a boyfriend, really.

“is... should i have done that before?  why- it’s not some big deal.”

nicky shrugs.  “first impressions are important.”  and goes in the bus.

and now kevin’s trying not to get overwhelmed.

abby’s in charge of the headcount, but wymack still climbs out of the bus when the dates get there.  dalton is the first one. 

he goes right to kevin- still waiting outside the bus, and gives him a quick kiss before grabbing his hand and continuing on his way to wymack.

he sticks his hand right out.  “i’m dalton.  it’s nice to meet you, mr. wymack.”

wymack nods.  “you as well.  heard good things.”  kevin hasn’t really said things about dalton, but he lets it go.  probably just being polite.

“hell, hope i can live up to them.”  he laughs.  “i would’ve made it a point to introduce myself before, i apologize.  i feel like i’ve been grading finals for weeks, now.”

wymack gets talking, and kevin honestly feels like a third wheel.  dalton was doing a better job at talking with his father than he did sometimes.

kevin sends dalton onto the bus eventually, and wymack holds him back.  “you told him shit?”

“yes.  not the yakuza.”

“but he knows you’re kinda fucked in the head?”  kevin almost frowns.  he’s not wrong.  wymack adds as a second thought, “not to say the rest of those idiots aren’t.”

“he knows.”  he normally wouldn’t care to mention it, but he really wants wymack to like dalton.  “he helped me with a panic attack a little bit ago.”

“riko?”  he nods.  every time it happens it makes wymack look beaten down.  kevin almost regrets telling him, but wymack purses his lips and after a moment shoves his shoulder towards the bus.  “he’s a good kid. stop your worrying and get your ass on the bus.”

it’s as good as a compliment as he’d hoped for, honestly.

this years banquet is in virginia.  it’s a six hour drive, and kevin had already explained why they don’t fly if they don’t have to, so dalton’s kind of made it his mission to get along with some of the foxes.

kevin would rather he not.  it’s not like the last time dalton spent time with the foxes they spilled his life faults in front of his new boyfriend.

that would be insane.

matt, dan, and dalton talk the most on the ride.  renee joins the conversation at some point and matt and dan butt out.

kevin’s busy talking to wymack about exy, and horror sets in his eyes when he sees neil talking to his boyfriend.  “we’re three hours in, kevin, he’s made it this far.”  as in, neil won’t break him.  but kevin’s nervous anyway.

until he hears what they’re talking about.

math.

“that’s disgusting.”  kevin leans back in his seat and watches them talk.

renee smiles.  “you’re dating him.”

the foxes are sat on the opposite side of the court of the ravens, as has become routine ever since neil and riko’s encounter.  instead they’re sat with the trojans and jeremy, jean, and alvarez sit across from them.  kevin smiles when jeremy comes around to say hi, but he smiles just a bit wider when introducing dalton.

jean and kevin have this thing.  they don’t talk often, but when they do it’s more of a check up.  so when jean asks him in french how he is, dalton grins.  “do all exy players just speak french?”  it’s more of a remark to jeremy, who laughs and tells him jean said he taught kevin french when they both lived at edgar allen together, which makes dalton feel a little bad.  kevin had told him how he knew jean, and about living at edgar allen with riko’s abuse.

later, dalton grabs his hand under the table.  “is french triggering for you?”  and, what?  “jeremy said jean taught you french, and you’ve told me about your time with jean.” oh.

dalton was a graduate student, sure, but he was more intuitive than kevin thought.  “french was an escape because no one but us understood it.  i like speaking french to you, because you like it.  it helps to take away the meaning behind why i learned it in the first place, i think.”

“okay... can i kiss you?  would you be okay with that?”

kevin raises a brow.  “i mean, jesus, i came out for a reason.”  he starts to turn away with fake annoyance, but dalton snorts and turns his chin back before he gets away.  it’s just a small peck, but it’s enough to make dalton smile so kevin doesn’t care.

jeremy circles back.  “volleyball, guys?”

dalton snaps his head back to kevin.  “oh, i’m going to dominate you.”  and takes off.

“be on my team!”

“nope!”

normally they’d drive back that night.  the first banquet after the disastrous one last year was the fall one (which kevin went to with renee because he was still scared to introduce dalton), and they’d gone back that night since it was only a two hour drive.

wymack wasn’t sold on it at first, but after getting multiple confirmations from everyone that it’d be okay, he booked rooms so they could drive back sunday morning instead.

the foxes are all drunk- save for renee, andrew, neil, kevin and dalton.

they gather in matt and dan’s room for hours.  at one point, kevin’s so out of it and tired that he doesn’t notice dalton leave for a moment.

it’s because of andrew.

but all must go well because dalton makes it back alive and unfazed.  he settles behind kevin and kisses his cheek.  “wanna head back?”  he drops his head into the crook of his neck.  “you look really good, baby.”

that’s a new nickname.  he thinks he likes it.

ahaha.  aha.  you know what happens.

dalton asks kevin if he would want to come to maryland, his home, for a few days during winter break.  kevin says sure before he realizes that it probably includes him meeting dalton’s family.

kevin does a google search once he’s settled back in his bed at palmetto.

when do people normally say i love you in a relationship?

he deletes it almost as soon as he searches it.  it’s a stupid thing to search.

dalton sends him a text.  a funny twitter post, and a message under it.

the banquet was so much fun, i’m so glad you asked me to go w you❤️❤️

kevin sends a heart back.

ALL EXTRA CONTENT ALL HERE BABEY (aka a dalton/kevin directory so i don’t have to keep updating on this post hehe)

there’s so much extra content and it just keeps coming so keep an eye out for updates on that link^^

dalton finds out how famous kevin really is

dalton/kevin at pride

what does dalton look like?

first fight aha

what did andrew say to dalton?

dalton & wymack’s perspective of meeting each other

AMAZING DALTON X KEVIN ART!!!

kevin meeting dalton’s friends

[andrew-minyards-bitch]

Aftg characters and the languages they speak because I find it so interesting and also I'm bilingual

Kevin and Jean: *done with all the bullshit from the other characters, are french, got therapy and are best buddies again bc fuck the extra content, bitches about the others in french because they're petty like that*

Kevin: *drunk bc aaron won't stop calling him out on practice hours and he's irritated* You know we can benefit so much more if we work together as a duo

Jean: *drinking coffee and spamming Jeremy with yellow hearts bc they remind him of jeremy and yellow means love freak the universal acceptance of red meaning love* Nah I'd rather be in Jeremy's team. He's so much better then you after all.

Kevin *ugly crying at 2:36 am*: ok first of all bitch you stole my childhood crush, the person I look up to an respect so highly you literally just took him from me. Right from my grasp.

Neil: *walks in the kitchen bc ik for a fact this man does not have a stable sleeping pattern also he speaks french yayyy* why are you both so obsessed with Jeremy? Omg marry him or something.

Jean and Kevin: we're trying to! you dumbass

Andrew and Neil: *learn russian together so they could communicate in their own little love language (literally) and to say things to each other without the intrusion of others*

Also Neil when Andrew wakes him up at three because he craves ice-cream: you are such a bitch! I don't even know why my ass puts up with your bullshit. Do you know how lucky you are to even be my boyfriend?? Like I bought you a car but now you think I will do anything you want and buy you fucking ice-cream at three in the dead ass morning??

Also neil two seconds later: *grudgingly walks out the door muttering underneath his breath* stupid andrew can't believe I found the audacity to be in love with an idiot with a sugar addiction.

Nicky: *definetly has tiktok and also he's hispanic* est hora de comer, est hora de comer

Dan: *is a tired captain,took spanish in high school and I think early college* es tiempo de matar una puta

Andrew and Aaron: *got therapy, are in a good relationship with each other now, occasionally talk to each other on the phone*

Other foxes when Andrew and Aaron talk to each other on said phone call: Why are they screaming at each other?? Is there a problem? Are they okay, who's hurt, did someone do something stupid again??

Nicky: oh no they're actually saying words of encouragement and comfort because katelyn's pregnant/adopting a baby with kevin (take your pick based on your ships lol)

Allison: well can they not say it in a nicer tone without all the shouting??

Nicky: oh they can they just choose not to

Matt: at least they're agreeing on something and having some good old siblings quality time

Kevin and Renee: *has a conversation in japanese about food or history, renee is an east asian in my mind or just knows east asian languages*

Kevin: *history nerd, is half japanese* yeah I just think that it's extremely unfair that I'm 100% colonizer blood. Like that's just genuinely offensive to my existence

Renee: yes I agree japan needs to stop being a bussy and start talking about their colonization on other asian countries

[crazy-fangirl2524]

I read your bisexual aromantic Kevin post and omg im so intrigued! could you (if you want ofc) expand on why you think he's aromantic or other headcanons you have about it? Thank you!

Canonly, Kevin was supposed to be with Andrew and Neil. Nora was forced to cut out all that part as she thinks it’s “too much”. Thus according to this, Kevin was actually not straight but then nora changed it.

The whole fandom felt that Kevin is definitely not straight and either ship him with Andrew, Neil, Nicky, Aaron or their ocs. And it could be said that Nora used Thea as a shock factor and to just pair him up with someone. Furthermore, when renee told Neil that Andrew’s not straight Neil’s first thought was that Kevin and Andrew. Moreover, Kevin said “it’s easier to remain heterosexual,” this could imply that this was what he thought about himself.

So thats why I think Kevin day is bisexual.

“Their [Kevin and thea] relationship is built initially on intense physical attraction and athletic respect. It deepens over the years, but Exy will always be tangled up in the midst of it. They’re less about romantic getaways and more interested in beating each other up on the court.”

This is taken straight from the extra content (I know many people don’t consider that as canon, but personally I consider anything written by the author canon so bear with me for this okay). As many people didn’t actually take time to read the extra content, many may have skipped this.

This shows that at first their relationship was all physical and sexual, and only later developed into something more. However I never felt anything from Kevin and Thea and we never saw much so it’s normal to imagine that they broke up later (if you never read the extra content).

Now, we all know that Kevin is obsess with exy, (even obsess is to put it lightly). He put his whole focus on exy because that was what he was taught his entire life. The nest never allowed kevin to have any relationships and he never really find a problem with that? (I mean sure he did had a secret one with Thea but I never see that it was anything more than intrigued or sexual)

Now there’s also four and a half year age difference between Thea and Kevin, therefore, Kevin was only fourteen years old when Thea was eighteen and Kevin was a minor when their relationship began. And I hate big age differences so.

Then why not make Kevin biromantic? because every time someone ship Kevin with anyone else, they change many aspect of him. And I’m not saying that it’s not making Kevin “better” but it is literally just cutting out chunks of his character and moulding him into someone else. Kevin in the books literally never hinted to like anyone in anyway (it could be because he was already in a relationship with Thea but then Thea and him hadn’t talk since he got out of the nest and Kevin didn’t even think about telling her anything?! How does that screams a relationship to anyone? Therefore I rest my case that Kevin and Thea were only physical up until the end of tkm, the rest it depends on what one believes in)

And we rarely see aromantic characters in books or headcanon because the media made it seemed that to be complete or to heal from trauma or anything you will need someone. Yes of course people need support from others but it doesn’t necessarily have to be from your partner or someone romantically. It can be from friends and family which in my opinion is just as important as romantic relationships.

It is so easy to ship kevin with anyone. You can ship kevin with Andrew, Neil, Aaron, Nicky, Allison, Matt, jean, Jeremy. Literally anyone. He is the easiest character to ship with anyone in the books. So why the fuck not make him be satisfied with himself?! Why must we change part of him to make him suit another person when he is perfectly fine the way he is?

Honestly to be short and shallow I headcanoned him as aromantic because I want an aromantic character and all other characters are already taken lmao and I’m too lazy to make ocs for Kevin so making him aromantic make sense and I don’t want to make it about his trauma but he was literally taught to just make exy priority and nothing else so I feel like he never learn to care for relationships and then all the mafia shit and no time and Kevin couldn’t care more or else and feel like it’s wasting time and too much effort so yeah Kevin is aromantic. Oh ya and also there’s too little Kevin content on tumblr and I wanna write sth Kevin related and the first thing that pops up into mind is this. And I also have seen post saying Kevin is aro/ace but I don’t think he is asexual because the way Kevin sees Jeremy and giving his rare genuine smile yeah right straight my ass and Kevin must had been at least a little attracted to Andrew but was just too scared and had too many other things to worry about so.

[91percentpynch]

aftg characters and the sexualities/ gender identites i headcanon them as

i do this only becuause non-binary jean moreau got so much love. please don‘t attack me. hope you enjoy this!!

kevin day: genderfluid, i don‘t really see him as bisexual though??? or at least not the classic „men and women“ but „men and enbys“ thingy??? idk if this is offensive please tell me and know i never meant to offend you!! for me he‘s either only attracted to men (like c‘mon name one girl he was interested in), men and enbys (cuz nb jean and he WAS and probalbly still IS in love with jean) or he‘s ace aro but i‘m in my kevaaron feels so yeah. actually i always headcaonon him as asexual BUT he enjoys occassional hook-ups and he might actually also enjoy sex

aaron minyard: ASEXUAL BABY!!!! okay it‘s quite like with kevin, but he actually only enjoyed sex with kevin. he did hook up with katelyn, but he never told her he was ace, he was too scared he would leave him for something not even he himself understands, but when kevin tells him about his asexuality aaron is like „omg same“ and y e s acsexual demiromantic aaron minyard owns my ass.

alison reynolds: bisexual queen!! she had a thing for kevin and dan, but she would never admit it out loud. she loved seth, she really truly did and the only other time she loved like that was with renee and later her girlfriend!!

renee walker: acearo goddess!!! look first of all i want the representation and secondly i never got the vibes that she actually wants a relationship??? but her and allison cuddle a lot and platonically hold hands. they kissed once, it was when renee had an sexuality crisis and allison helped her figuring out!! allison was a bit hurt that she wouldn‘t never love her like that but eventually saw that the love renee had for her was so much bigger than romantic love and yeah!! i also feel like renee could be non-binary as well???

dan wilds: bisexual goddess!! look she had a thing for allison as well, but she really does love matt with her entire being!! because!! bisexuals!! do!! not!! have!! to!! date!! the!! same!! sex!! to!! be!! valid!!

matt boyd: bisexual disaster. neil walked in the room and he immediatly had a tiny crush on him. who can blame him tho? he also had a thing for kevin and seth!! but the love of his life is dan!!

katelyn (does she have a last name? if so i forgot it and i‘m sorry girl): anygays katelyn is bisexual, with a tendency for girls. she did love aaron, she really did, he was just not the one and when thea walked in her life she was so In Love, she K N E W she was The One.

thea mundani: lesbian non-binary icon. they/them lesbian, they exist, they are valid. she never dated kevin, they were just each others alibi!! anygays you can take that out of my cold, dead hands:))

ichirou moriyama: bisexual, he has a crush on neil. they are besties, he just wants m o r e

riko moriyama: i think he is either gay with super internalized homophobia (he had a thing for kevin and jean) or he‘d be acearo!! god this feels like an insult to both the gay and acearo community, i just i- i don‘t like riko, my brain just makes everyone gay okay

jeremy knox: either non-binary or genderfluid. i feel like jer wouldn‘t care which pronouns you use with him??? but i also love the trans!jer headcanon so much!! so anygays: demisexual and panromantic baby. jean moreau is his human. they are soulamtes.

jean morau: non-binary/ demiboy!! pronouns are he/them and he is sex-repulsed, asexual and demiromantic and his human is jeremy knox. jeremy accepts his sexual preference which is just no!!!!! and they just make me very emotional oops

sarah alvarez: pansexual icon!! i also feel like she could be trans (mtf)!! yes, yes she is trans.

laila dermott: lesbian icon who will end you if you say anything against her girl!!!!

okay that was all!! feel free to add more!! and you can always send me asks/ dms with prompts and ships if you want me to write something specific!!

[yourcasualfangirl]

Foxes children!! Because they don’t get spoken about enough!!

Kevin-

- one son, born after a one night stand when he was around 26

- in the height of his career, he was still reliant on alcohol heavily but the mother (let’s call her sally) said he didn’t have to be involved

- his plan was to slowly clean up his act but still have exy as his main focus, he knew he’d be a shit father and he didn’t want the kid to have to deal with that. Plus the press would never leave that kid alone, the son of a legacy and all that

- the day Jack Andrew Day was born was the best day of Kevin’s life, even if he knew he wasn’t going to be very involved he knew it was better that way

- Andrew pretended to hate the namesake, but he loved it. It was a reminder of all the years Andrew kept Kevin safe, the first person who made Kevin feel as if he was more than the sum of his exy talent

- after Ri*o and the ravens Kevin knew he didn’t know how to be a father, to be a nurturing, kind and patient person. He had never been shown that and he didn’t know how, sure he had Whymack but he only met him when he was 20

- things were fine for a while, the foxes had met Jack a couple times and Kevin was never really alone with him (he didn’t know what to do if he was, babies weren’t around in the nest)

- but then everything changed

- Matt and Dan were visiting with their two year old son when Sally asked if he could watch Jack for the afternoon, to which of course he said yes, dan and Matt were there it was all fine. He couldn’t break or permanently scar the child in one afternoon

-except Sally didn’t come back. Hours turned into days turned into weeks. She was nowhere to be found.

- now Kevin had a baby, a baby he didn’t know what to do with. A baby that was legally his. He saw what the system did to andrew and he’d raise it himself before he let that happen to his son.

- he was also still playing pro, he was living in New York and playing on the team there. Neil and Andrew on his team as well, of course he could go stay with them but what did they know about children

- soon enough dan and Matt had to go back to Virginia, Dan was the couch of a high school exy team and Matt played there professionally

- and Kevin was stuck. He didn’t know what the fuck he was going to do.

- enter Aaron and kaytlyn. Also living in New York and working at the hospital, they happened to have spare time

- enter the rest of the foxes doing whatever they could to make sure this wonderful baby was safe, happy and loved because they had all known what it was like to grow up without those things

- so they all helped, they helped Kevin stop drinking, they took the baby when he had to play and sometimes they’d bring him to the games

- Jack and Kevin became inseparable, it took a while but they made it work. They travelled all over the place and jack himself grew up all around America, with Aaron and Kate in New York, with Andrew and Neil, with Allison in Boston and Renee in Maine, with Dan and Matt in Virgina and sometimes he’d spend summer with Nicky in Germany.

- Jack was always happy, laughing and grew up seeing the absolute best in people. He helped Kevin just as much as Kevin did him. Jack never hid his emotions, he never felt he had to, and for the first time in his life neither did Kevin

- when he was old enough to learn about what happened to the foxes, why they went to Palmetto he cried. They all tried to explain their story to him, they all tried to make it seem not as bad as it was

- for a little while Jack stopped believeing in the good in the world. He stopped believeing that people could be saved and that there was good in everyone. Because these people had hurt his family. They people he loved had been hurt so bad, Jack had to many emotions he didn’t know what to do with

- he was mad he didn’t know, that he had grown up oblivious to all the pain and secrets, he was so sad for the first time in his life.

- but eventually (with the help of all the foxes) he started to see the good again, he started to understand more and in the end he knew it made him a better person

- and now he knew, why uncle Andrew had taught him consent when he was so small (he used it every time, with everyone), he knew why uncle Aaron and Matt touched their arms when they were sad or upset, why Aaron couldn’t be in a locked room and flinched at loud noises, he knew why aunt Dan would always tell him to never be ashamed, he knew why aunt Allison always reminded him they’d love him no matter what, he knew why uncle Nicky made sure he always accepted himself, he knew why aunt Renee taught him about finding the good in people and always trying to be a good person, and he knew why uncle Neil sometimes had his bad days and couldn’t talk to anyone.

- the next time Kevin got that look in his eyes, when he wasn’t quite dad Jack day beside him and asked him if he could hug him. When Kevin said yes, quite confused, Jack hugged him and promised him it would be okay.

- None of the foxes quite understood how they raised a boy that good

- but they did

- when Jack came out to Kevin it was the scariest day of this life. He knew he’d accept him, he knew because uncle Nicky and Andrew and Neil and Renee. Because Kevin loved them all the same. But still he was terrified. How was he supposed to explain it, how was he supposed to tell him he got a boyfriend.

- Jack day came out as pansexual when he was 15, and he cried. He cried when Kevin told him he loved him and Kevin cried too and it was a mess. But that’s okay.

- Now Jack Day date’s. Oh god does he date. He loves people and everything that goes with it, he dates guys girls and everything in between, and he gives everything he has to everyone.

- also he plays exy. He started in little league because he wanted to be just like his dad and found a love for it. He was a captain and a leader just like his uncle Jeremy. He plays striker and when the foxes all get together during holidays back at abbys he and Kevin go head to head. He gives Kevin a goddamn run for his money every. Time.

- he grew to be 6’6 and a half, Aaron and Andrew were outraged

- hes so full of love and hapiness everyone’s so confused, hes Jeremy Knox reincarnated

- he looks exactly like his father

- also he speaks so many languages, French with Kevin and Jean and Neil, english ofc, German with the cousins and Neil, Russian with andriel, and then him and Andrew learnt Bulgarian secretly to fuck with everyone because they are Human Chaos

- also he’s a hufflepuff through and through with his uncle Andrew and gets them matching scarves

- him and Andrew watch crime shows together whenever he stays with them, they’re obsessed

This is so long but I have so many feelings about Jack Day being the sweetest boy ever and helping Kevin heal and AHHH.

There are more ideas about other fox children so I might post those later.

[side-effect-of-the-meds]

PLEASE write about Andrew & Jean being chaotic and bitter bffs on the same team the power they would have the intimidation level the fashionable goth energy,,, w ow also I want Andrew to learn French so badly which we all know he would if Jean started insulting him in French

IT WON’T BE UP ANY TIME SOON but I’m writing a fic about Andrew visiting Renee’s for winter break in his final year of college in which he’s forced to spend the week sharing a space with Jean. 

Over the course of said week, they form a tentative alliance that’s essentially that We’re Not So Different You And I bit by John Mulaney 

Anyway, that’s like mid-way through Andrew’s fourth year. They don’t speak again until a little before Andrew’s graduation. The Foxes have just won the Championships they made it to finals last year and lost the last  game :’( and so they’re having a party. Andrew needed some air so he stepped outside and, a little while later, he hears footsteps on the porch behind him. Jean sits down, leaving some space between the two of them so as not to crowd Andrew, and just sort of slides a piece of paper over. Andrew keeps up his cool guy facade for a while, assuming Jean will break first. He does. 

“Would you just look at it?” Jean snarled. Andrew flicked him a cool look before, picking up the paper painstakingly slowly. He held it up to his own face, not bothering to actually read it. “Illiterate too, I see.” Andrew could barely keep the scowl off his face. He squinted at the stack of papers he picked up. 

“Why?” he asked. 

“Our goalkeep is, how you say? A piece of shit.”  

“You’re giving him more credit than he deserves,” Andrew cut in, his lips curling in a sneer. 

“I’m getting tired of being the last line of defense. It’s hard not having anyone to watch your back,” Jean said, shooting a meaningful look at Andrew. He elected to ignore it in favor of taking another drag of his cigarette. Jean muttered something that sounded like a curse before standing up and disappearing back into Abby’s house.

A month later, Jean stepped out of his apartment wondering which horrid little monsters the Cardinals had signed now. Turning towards the stairs, he found his answer waiting for him. 

“There’s no point in both of us driving down there. You make breakfast and I’ll drive,” the gremlin said. It wasn’t an offer or even a demand. He said it as though he were stating a fact. 

“The arrogance of Americans never fails to amaze me,” Jean shot back. 

“You’ve got dual citizenship, Frenchie. I’m sorry to say it, but that makes you one of us.” With that, the little monster turned on his heel and headed down the stairs. Jean muttered a steady stream of curses as he followed Andrew out to the Maserati

Having Andrew on his team is literally the worst. All he ever does is laze around. Sometimes, he’ll just lay down in the middle of the goal and stare at the ceiling. Jean gets a lot of shit for it bc he’s the one that recommended him for the line. It’s the day of their first game and tensions are high at practice when Jean loses his temper. He picks up an exy ball and hurls it at Andrew. Without even looking up, Andrew catches it with one hand. He stands slowly and throws it back so fast that Jean doesn’t have time to react. The ball wedges itself into the grate of his helmet, the force of it knocking him off his feet. Everyone assumes that Andrew isn’t going to play that night or will just be his asshole self but, when Jean finds himself struggling to hold the line, Andrew gets sent out and he’s an absolute monster in the goal. Every shot that comes his way gets deflected all the way down the court. The last goal of the night is made in the final seven seconds when Andrew slams a shot all the way down the court into the opposing goal. It lights up red and the crowd loses their shit. Exhausted, Jean collapses on the floor. 

“It’s hard not having anyone to have your back,” Andrew said as he passed by. By the time Jean found his voice, Andrew was already gone. Catching a ride home with one of the strikers, Jean felt a tightness in his chest. Andrew was an annoyingly lazy little bastard but Jean should have trusted him.

Jean doesn’t know how to apologize. Words are wasted on the likes of Andrew so he says nothing. He wakes early to make breakfast the next morning and says a silent prayer. Andrew is never late to anything but, when 6:30 rolls around and he isn’t there Jean’s heart plummets. He leaves the plate out on the counter while he eats. The ticking of the clock is deafeningly loud. At 6:47 there’s a knock at the door and Jean nearly faceplants in his hurry to answer it. 

“Your food’s gone cold,” Jean blurted out. Andrew turned a glare on him but said nothing as he shouldered his way into the apartment. Dark circles rimmed his eyes. His shoulders sagged, weighed down by exhaustion. There was no way he’d gotten a wink of sleep last night. 

“Moreau,” a voice said from the door. Jean whipped around to see Matt Boyd standing at the door. How he’d missed such a tall person standing in his doorway, Jean didn’t know. “Mind if I come in?” Jean stepped aside and Matt moved in. 

“Are you hungry?” Jean asked, haltingly. Boyd was the starting backliner for the Virginia Cavaliers, a whole state over. What the hell was he doing here? 

“I could eat,” Matt said brightly. He grabbed hold of a chair and dragged it over to where Andrew sat. 

“Not out of my plate,” Andrew snapped when Matt made to steal his eggs. Jean made his way to the kitchen to fix a third plate. From the dining room he could hear Andrew’s voice and Boyd’s laughter. Handing the plate over to him, Jean took his seat at the far end of the table. For the next quarter of an hour, Boyd rambled on about something or the other. If you asked Jean what he’d talked about, he wouldn’t have been able to say. He was far too absorbed in watching Andrew. 

The usual tension that pervaded his form had fallen away. Despite the obvious lack of sleep, Andrew seemed far more relaxed than usual. Every now and again, Jean saw his lips twitch up into the barest hint of a smile. From what he’d heard, Andrew had never had a good relationship with any of his teammates save Josten. But that made sense. Neil was his lover. What was it about Boyd that softened him so much? 

As soon as breakfast was finished and the plates cleaned, Jean disappeared back into his room to grab his phone. By the time he’d returned, both Andrew and Boyd were gone from the dining room. Jean found the pair blocking the open door. He stopped short when he heard Boyd’s voice. 

“I’ve missed you so much, Andy.” His words shook Jean to his core. 

“Yes or no?” Andrew asked quietly. Jean watched in stunned silence as Matt leaned down, mumbling yes a hair’s breadth away from Andrew’s lips. The second the word left his mouth, Andrew closed the distance between them. A soft moan slipped from Boyd’s lips and Jean watched in horror as he tangled his hands in Andrew’s hair. “Stop staring, Moreau,” Andrew said as he broke the kiss. 

“I thought that you and Josten-”

“We are,” Andrew cut in dismissively. “Matt is too.”

“Oh,” was all Jean could think to say. Back at the Nest, there had been no exclusive relationships. While most relationships in the real world weren’t like that, Jean had heard there were still a few. Boyd said his goodbyes before heading down the hall to the back stairwell. Andrew started off in the other direction. Jean had to run after him once he’d locked the door. Neither of them spoke in the car. They never did but there was a weight to the silence now that Jean didn’t know what to do about. A thousand small talk topics flitted through his head but he knew Andrew wouldn’t appreciate any of it so he kept his mouth shut, contenting himself to stare out the window. 

Jean is ready to run by the time that they pull up at the court but he doesn't. He needs to prove that he’s going to have Andrew’s back so he stays with him. 

It’s kind of awkward for a while. Andrew doesn’t like having Jean towering over him from behind bc it makes him feel vulnerable so he’s always really tense. 

The turning point in their relationship is when a striker from another team tries to start a twitter feud with Andrew. He gets asked about it in an interview and the interviewer pulls a Kathy Ferdinand and reveals that the striker is backstage. Jean is sitting with Andrew for the interview and when they try to start shit live on air, Jean snaps. He cuts the striker a new one, roasting them within an inch of their life and the interview is forced to end bc the striker throws a punch. Andrew steps in front of Jean, catching the punch with ease and judo flipping them. 

Neither of them really acknowledge that it happened but, when Andrew comes to breakfast the following Monday, he brings a loaf of sweet bread that he baked over the weekend. 

Things kind of settle after that. Sometimes Andrew leaves recipes for foods he wants and Jean starts filling their silences with something other than the news. He complains about Americans and moons over Jeremy and starts teaching Andrew French too. 

Jean has his own tiktok and most of his vids are of himself cooking and have Andrew reacting at the end but there’s a few subsections tho. One of them is Andrew and Jean and their baking escapades. It’s always super messy. Another is their ‘date nights’. On the weekends, the two of them get a little extra dressed up and go out to sample new restaurants.  They’re both massive foodies so they like to try new restaurants together. Andrew is a surprisingly picky eater and listening to him critic food is the most Jean has ever heard him speak. Platonic dates are actually incredibly nice n more ppl need to indulge in them. 

The final subsection is fashion/makeup. Jean likes to do makeup bc… why not? Sometimes, he manages to convince Andrew to let him be his model and does some really interesting looks on Andrew. Those videos never see the light of day but it’s something they do and it’s very important to Andrew. There’s something very intimate about letting Jean touch his face for hours on end but it also kind of feels nice. Also he loves the way Neil and Matt fawn over him when he skypes them with his makeup done. The fashion videos,  however, do go up. The two of them go to the mall p often and take turns styling each other. They do style challenges too where they’re both given the same horrible item (something like crocs or a really ugly sweater) and they have to make the other person look good in them. 

They do little nice things for each other. When Neil has a game against Bluefield, Jean gets Andrew front row tickets for him and manages to convince Matt to come down too. Andrew learns how to make french pastries that he leaves on Jean’s counter pretty often bc it reminds him of home. He also gets Allison to help him pull some strings and arrange for Jean to spend Christmas break in France with Jeremy. Jean doesn’t cry but he does tear up a little bit. 

Andrew is still a menace and you see that on his tiktok. He rigs ridiculous pranks like setting up a tripwire to dump glue and feather on him or wrapping all his stuff in plastic wrap.

[akegatacchi]

Sense8 AU!aftg

In the honor of absolutlynothing I’ve decided to put out there one of the many au I have on my phone and archive it there

Big shout out to @a-m-peengoo and @bluesuederose for participating in this mess with genius lines and always be there to bear my 36 ideas per hour. We did a masterpiece girls.

Here we go it’s gonna be long

The cluster:

Kevin: Nomi. He’s just a fuckin hacker who’s running away from his family (riko). When he’s bored, he spends nights crashing the Pentagon system for fun, and makes every screen in the White House play Best Exy Actions Compilation (the longest and hardest part is choosing one compilation to play).

Dan: Will. One of them have to keep them under control. Plus, Dan with a gun i can’t even-

Matt: Riley. Soft, blue strand of hair, a heart of gold, maternal. As a DJ. Yes. SO SOFT (he still knows how to box)

Allison: Capheus. Listen. Imagine Allison in high heels, skin tight leather pants, driving a bus. Also, a F1 pilot champion who can drive anything (even if it’s the first time)

Andrew: Wolfgang. Duh. Do I need to explain myself. Just think abt him saying “This is Berlin. Those are my people. And we go to our knees for no one”.Boy he does NOT like this situation, at all. Will keep the others out with sheer willpower and no blockers. The cluster’s deadliest weapon. PLUS HELLO???? ANDREW IN A PASTEL PINK BOMBER SHOOTING ON A HELICOPTER WITH A BAZOOKA????

Aaron: Felix? Sorta? not a senseate but a great doctor. Senses bullshit and when someone is in Andrew’s body real quick  (Andrew: says more than 2 sentences and is pleasant. Aaron:.....who’s that bitch where is my brother) . Later helps to manufacture blockers.

Neil: Kala. A pharmacist that uses his skill for arson and may or may not be running away from mafia/family matter and currently hiding in India. Him saying “Bring it, bitch” to Riko is my sexuality and Andrew’s. Can create explosives from a Fanta can and spices I mean it’s already canon in aftg. (plus andreil would work even better bc technically Neil can’t even touch Andrew for real)

Nicky: Lito. The drama, the sass. Also the scene where he discovers the Twinyard in Germany are his cousins would be hilarious. The scene where Lito seduces the nurse but with Nicky (“engaging into heterosexual activity? me????”) or the scene where Lito screams in the museum but with Nicky

Erik as Hernando. That’s it that’s the post.

Renee: Sun. I mean, a korean fighter lady in prison trying to be a better person and had a silent bffs relationship with a german gangster? Come on. Also. Allison in a bus and Renee doing art martials stuff. 

Riko: whispers i guess he can eat Allison’s high heels

Now the ~scenes~ (it’s just shitposting):

Aaron, on the verge on several break downs: wait so you have like … DJ Blue Matt and F1 pilot Allison Reynolds in your head? since when? ANDREW SINCE WHE-

*

Neil: what’s a better use of a multiple thousands dollars education than precise arson?????

*

Aaron: why does your boyfriend always end up burning things up?

Andrew: he lits up my heart as well

Aaron: FOR FUCK SAKE

*

Kevin, shocked and betrayed: is there a better sport than exy?

Aaron and Allison: YEAH A REALLY GOOD CAR RACE

*

Allison: you’re - you’re like the spirit of Lucy Liu. In Charlie’s Angels. I watch it once a day. Renee:.....that’s sweet actually :) 

*

Neil: does a molotov cocktail

Matt: I tHoUgHt yOu wErE a PhArMaCiSt

Neil: Yes? That’s PHYSICS

Matt: no that’s ARSON NEIL

Alternative:

Kevin: breaks into the Pentagon virtually

Neil: breaks into the Pentagon physically

Matt, again: i thought you were a PHARMACIST!!!! Neil: Yes I am??? That’s irrelevant

*

A senseate sibling, escaping, grabbing a vehicle at random: someone knows how to drive that?

Allison, in stilettos : no, but I sure will soon

*

Just Allison driving Renee around to fight people

*

Everytime someone mocks a senseate sibling Neil or Nicky shows up to roast them. Sometimes they do it both at the same time. It’s apocalyptic. The sass. The drama. 

They can also bullshit their way out of any situation. Neil is such a smooth liar and Nicky is just ridiculous. The FBI agent charged to arrest them somehow ends up crying abt childhood trauma while hugging a teddy bear.

Neil, caught in the act of making a string of explosives by the FBI guy: uuuuuuh….Nicky?

Nicky, currently dealing with a white mom in retail: somehow convince the FBI to buy christmas lights

(Yes Nicky works in retail bc his family cut ties with him but he hopes to be an actor.ON BROADWAY)

(From retail to actor to cluster negotiator real quick)

A  fuckin moron to Allison: a hottie like you driving a bus? what is this, hooker on wheels?

Neil: please let me have this one

Allison: seats back and enjoys Neil roasting him

Nicky: brings the popcorn

Nicky, to the FBI guy: You can’t arrest me Daryl I’m your long lost little brother

The FBI guy, a white man: My name is not Daryl Neil: THAT’S WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO BELIEVE

The FBI guy, texting Neil (don’t ask): I guess I’m still in love with my ex

Nicky: aaaaaw we have to help this sweetheart

Neil: do you want me to burn his current boyfriend’s car, buddy?

(Nicky: DON’T REMIND HIM THAT HE’S SUPPOSED TO ARREST US)

*

A fuckin homophobe: ready to get your ass kicked, faggot?

Andrew: appears through Nicky

Nicky, smiling: fuck yeah, baby 

*

Andrew, between two bazooka shot, to Neil:  we’re nothing

*

Nicky, through Andrew, all cheery: Hi!!!! :D

(Aaron jumps like a scared cat)

*

Andrew: ready to kill ppl for mafia business

All the senseate siblings in the back minus Renee, eating popcorn and enjoying the show: Kick ass, Drew!

*

Andrew, on the hospital bed: has an emotional moment with Aaron

Aaron: sir or ma'am, idk who you are but it’s family only, I will ask you, as his doctor, to leave my brother’s body

*

Aaron: Andrew is2g if you’re making psychic love to that fuckin red hair rn i will-

*

Andrew each time a senseate is hurt: Aaron it’s for you

(Just Aaron doing med tutorials for a whole cluster while Andrew repeats it with a bored tone to everyone)

(Aaron, sighs: it is Neil again? Just let him bleed for a few minutes)

*

Neil, making bomb with kitchen stuff: If it means losing you then no

Andrew, falling in love: oh

*

Bad guy: You have no weapon, blondie!

Allison, with Renee and Dan behind her: Think again, sweetheart

*

They made a little “honorary cluster member” badge to Aaron (he does not cry STFU NEIL)

*

Dan and Neil both knows by heart the laws of different countries…..for very different reasons.

*

Luther: humiliates Nicky once again

Renee: calmly breaks his hand at dinner while smiling like an angel, all the while stopping Andrew from killing him with the other hand

*

Neil, a pharmacist: blowing shit up and arson

Aaron, a doctor, watching him: yk what hold my beer I know several ways to stop a man’s heart

*

The whole “You don’t know how to use a gun” “No, but you do” with andreil or matt and dan

*

Just Drew and Renee kicking some mafia asses together as buddies

(While Neil blows some shit up in the background and Allison/Nicky cheer)

*

Matt has the perfect ear too

Him and Kevin are the remote operation/communication team but one day all the fighters/criminals of the cluster are busy so they both start to fight as well and fuck they are good at it

Nicky: I expected this from Biceps Matt but Kevin??? You can land a kick like that???

Kevin, outraged: I WENT TO THE EXY OLYMPICS WHEN I WAS 16

*

Speaking of Kevin, they all call him “nerd” or “einstein”

Allison: so the nerd can fight uh

*

Aaron, counting down on his fingers: so you have F1 Pilot Superstar Allison Reynolds, former gold medalist and tech genius Kevin Day, a human diapason, a multilingual arsonist, World no.1 Taekwondo Champion Renee Walker, a cop, an actor…..what are you there for??

Andrew, literally a mafia king:....ice cream and crime?

*

Neil to Andrew, after the whole debacle with his father is out: You did know there were mafia out of Germany too, right?

Andrew: I can’t even have that for myself fuck this family

*

Dan, every time before each “mission”: okay guys I know we need to do it but I’d like to remind ALL of you *looks pointly at Neil and Andrew* it’s STILL illegal and morally dubious

Neil: …….like I said to Nicky, irrelevant *without missing a beat blows up the entire building and puts on stolen Gucci shades*

Alternative:

Neil: ok saint theresa why were you the one to suggest we explode Riko’s brain off then

Dan: ...don’t turn the conversation around me it’s about you

*

Allison “guess we’re detourning a place next” Reynolds and Kevin “It’s not that hard to pilot” Day

(Kevin: But why are you on a plane to Russia? I thought you were in India last time?

Neil:....don’t ask)

*

Aaron to Andrew, where they are trapped and betrayed: your boyfriend wouldn’t happen to know how to poison a whole room with gaz?

Neil: I was born for this moment

(Andrew: just bc you’re my brother doesn’t mean you have the right to dirty talk my boyfriend)

*

Andrew: be gay, do crime and eat ice cream

Nicky: AND BLOW NEIL’S D-

*

(before they know abt Neil’s past, when Andrew is angsty bc he caught feelings)

Andrew: You  shouldn’t get close to me, it’s dangerous, i’m mafia

Neil: oh haven’t you heard-

*

Jeremy, bouncing out of nowhere: Hey Kev ! Love how you BI-nary code ahah have you heard of the ARCHIPELAGO 

*

Neil, sipping tea: so my father is the Butcher

Matt:  okokokok coolcoolcoolcool yk what arson doesn’t sound like a bad idea after all

*

(this one is not funny sorry) but Neil taking over each time someone is hurt bc he is used to deal with it

“Give the pain to me”

*

Andrew and Aaron like to fuck around a lot with the whole sensate stuff (since only one of them is a sensate)

Bad guy: only one of you is a sensate, which one is it?

Twinyard, in a perfect and flat tone: try to guess

A bad guy is spying on Andrew and waiting to kill him in Germany, via a cam, thinking he’s safe BUT SUPRISE MOTHERFUCKER it was aaron dressed as Andrew in a mafia meeting and now you have to deal with a 5 feet tall mafia boy

*

For real tho they are a little protective of the normal doctor who heal them every time (yes even Neil but don’t tell him) so you bet something like that happens one day:

Aaron: comes home from work angry

Andrew, cleaning up blood or counting money: whassup shithead?

Aaron: There’s this older doctor he’s great and all but he’s a fuckin asshole to me he belittles me everyday bc i’m young and we lost a patient today bc he rathers humiliate me than let me save him 

Andrew, a dangerous glint in his eyes and a whole cluster behind him: oh?

Kevin, opens his computer and digs up dirt on him: give me a sec

Allison: I can roll over him with my truck

Neil: there is so many ways to mix two meds and kills him ON ACCIDENT

Dan: let’s see how he deals in prison

Nicky: oh this is going to be fun

Kevin, reciting facts like he’s reading a grocery list: so yeah he smuggles meds from the hospital so local drug dealers, illegally sells meds for himself on the black market, does tax evasion, is friend with a local senator and both of them are involved with minors….i have already several reservation at X hotel btw and cases of work harassment on nurses and interns, threats to others older doctors in serve, and OH. OH. We have a spanking kink on our hands too.

Every members of the cluster, turning to Nicky and Neil:....go wild

Nicky, giggling: not that’s it’s a shame when it’s consensual but not here so - let’s start with the spanking :D

Neil: Can I make him cry

No violence is used but the doctor is found on the floor drowning in his own tears after a few minutes and after an hour he’s resigned and leaving the country

Andrew was dressed as Aaron for that (that being: smuggling Neil and Nicky into the hospital to meet the doctor through him)  and sends him a selfie of a 5 feet surgeon and the man crying on the floor 

It’s their best memory as a family (Aaron hates Neil a little less after that)

Neil to Nicky: why did you stop me from pushing towards suicide??? He’s gonna do that in another country

(Kevin: no if I can help it)

Nicky: bc we don’t do that to people!

Neil, Andrew, Aaron, Allison:...........right

Neil: killing even indirectly is no good but destroying their life and humiliating them publically is good?

Nicky: YES!

Matt and Dan: WAIT NO

(Allison: don’t brother Neil you’ll just hurt your head)

(Neil, close to tears: but...but...but arson?? Andrew, with knives out: alright fuckers who broke his heart?)

*

Matt and Dan bc they’re fuckin weak to Neil: ITS OK BUDDY ARSON IS GOOD

*

I have to end on this note:

Storyline wise, Neil would have make the perfect Wolfgang too….if Wolfgang was a twink.

[whatmack]

IF ITS NOT TOO MUCH CAN U JUST UNLAOD EVERY SMALL DETAIL OF FLANDERS FIELDS TY

YOU’RE A GEM FOR INDULGING ME my hangover just hit so lemme find my notebook and flip back thru these illegible notes (my handwriting is. bad)

SPOILERS FOLLOW -Singing Bob was originally Singing Jim, until I hit on the idea of making them be Robin Cross -there were a lot of different versions of Neil’s “finding device”-- unsurprisingly, there was a strong innovative interest during WWI in finding people underground. One I fell particularly enamoured with involved sticking long metal tubes through the ground-- but I had to bow to my own inability to figure out how the FUCK neil would manage to do that, by himself, without people knowing. The history of radar and radar-like tech is fascinating. It really was just on this edge of-- we barely know what the fuck is going on so maybe this will work? Will this help? A lot of the ideas/attempts go back further then people realize. -I wrote a couple versions of the kashrut scene with Abby and Andrew; food is such an important cultural and social thing, and I really wanted to have this discussion about how choosing to be civilized, whatever that means to you, can be a powerful tool in places where civilization is breaking down--- i wanted to build that using food, and family, for Andrew. One of the versions almost made it into the final cut, I really liked it; it involved Abby being gifted a chicken by the gentleman who she trades for eggs, but having to dispose of it because the chicken was already dead when she found it. The differences-- and some of the similarities-- between kosher slaughter and what’s being done to the soldiers in the war-- that was a great puzzle to play with. Unfortunately I just couldn’t fit the scene into the narrative in a way that didn’t seem clunky, but I like to think it happened anyway.

-I pulled a lot of stuff about aaron’s shellshock from the collection “War Neuroses: Netley Hospital, 1917-1918.” It’s.....a difficult watch. The specific thing we call “shellshock” from WWI is not completely the same as what we think of as combat PTSD today; there’s actually debate about to what extent WWI shellshock should be thought of in the same category as PTSD, or if there are some parts of it that should be in a different heading. Like, well, basically everything else in biology, the human-applied taxonomic systems are flawed. -I cannot tell you how much research I did into the wines Kevin would find in that cellar and how they would taste before I realized that this fic’s Andrew wouldn’t fucking know from fancy wines either. Ah, editing -the fic ends in March because I hadn’t done enough with Jeremy Knox to feel worthy of a crack at Bloody April. There would have had to be a lot of extra development added, and I did want some cohesion in the story -I’ve said this in tags before, but Allison and Renee met at a “ladies lookin for ladies” tea parlour. Queer history is Neat -the rather obliquely described sculpture andrew makes out of tubing and medical glassware is.....a giant dick. Classy, man. -Mary and Neil did run away from Nathan, like in canon-- a couple times actually. Because unlike in canon, Nathan dragged them back. Neil....still doesn’t know if Mary’s alive, but it’s likely that she’s not. -Andrew likes to say that Les Miserables is better in English, just to piss Jean off. I swear I tried to fit this in somewhere on-page

-I switched the poetry opener for Part I (Dulce et Decorum Est) with the poetry opener for Part III (Break Of Day In The Trenches) back and forth a bunch. Ultimately I decided that while the subject matter fit them with Break Of Day first and Dulce later, the way they are now is a better representation of Andrew’s emotional arc. Also, Dulce is a fucking powerhouse of a poem, and starts the fic off on the note I wanted right out of the gate (I didn’t realize so many people had been forced to read it in school! But I can see why, whoof).

[violetwolfraven]

Drive! Fucking Drive!

@nightphans tagging you cause you seemed to like this idea and now I’ve expanded on it so... here goes my attempt at writing a new love interest for Kevin.

...

Kevin usually could put on a smile for his fans, but today was not a good day.

Him and Thea had been fighting (and it was bad, as in, they hadn’t so much as talked on the phone in two weeks bad), Andrew was off the court with a concussion, and the Foxes had a game against the Ravens in two days. While Kevin had come a long way, being away from them for almost 3 years now, he still didn’t exactly enjoy seeing his former teammates, even without Riko among them.

If any of the other Foxes had been there, Kevin probably could have handled it. Hell, he’d take one of the freshmen over facing this alone.

But he hadn’t thought it would be a big deal to go on a coffee run in Columbia alone, and then it was, and that was why he was running from a swarm of rabid fangirls.

Kevin wasn’t as fast as Neil, but he could definitely haul ass if he needed to, which was exactly what he was doing now. His only really clear thought was that he needed to get away and there was a convertible right by the curb and the top was down and it wasn’t going too fast yet so—

Parkour-jumping over the side-door into the passenger seat without asking probably wasn’t the smartest decision, but Kevin was desperate. He’d walked here, and there was no way he’d escape if he was sprinting away from fangirls all the way back to the cousins’ place.

“Fuck!”

The driver slammed on the brakes, probably rightfully. That was a reasonable reaction to having some guy jump into your car.

He didn’t recognize her—hadn’t even gotten a good look at her before he jumped into the car.

The driver was a young woman about his age, with hair dyed bright purple and brown eyes. She looked like she couldn’t decide whether to scream or punch him in the face.

She didn’t look like she had a clue who he was, which was unexpected, but Kevin wasn’t complaining.

“Hi,” he said, “I’m—“

At that point, one of the fangirls screamed and he remembered that he was running.

“Drive! Fucking drive!”

Whoever this woman was, she had quick reflexes. She didn’t question it. She just floored it out of the parking lot and narrowly avoided a car accident as she pulled onto the road.

“I’m sorry!” she shouted over the wind in a tone of voice that said that she absolutely was not sorry, “But who the fresh fuck are you?”

“I’m Kevin Day!”

“Am I supposed to be impressed? Why were those girls chasing you?”

“I’m a very famous Exy player!”

“Exy? You mean that indoor lacrosse ripoff?”

Kevin honestly didn’t think he’d ever been more insulted in his life.

“Exy is not a—“

“Tell it to someone who cares.”

At that point, the woman pulled over on the side of the road, safely a few blocks from the coffee shop.

“Look, I don’t give a flying fuck about any kind of sports,” she said, “I don’t know who you are and I don’t care to. The only reason I didn’t kick you out of my car right away is because you looked scared, and I have trouble turning away from people who look scared. It’s kind of a problem.”

“Seems like a good way to get yourself mixed up in things you can’t handle,” Kevin noted.

“Maybe. What about you? Have a lot of trouble with fangirls, Exy-boy?”

“Sometimes.”

She smirked, “What? Didn’t expect it, being a big-shot athlete?”

Kevin didn’t say that he’d never had a choice in being a big-shot athlete, so he’d never gotten to choose whether he wanted to deal with the fangirls and the press and all the not so fun things that came with the sport he loved.

The woman seemed to notice that the question was a touchy subject. She sighed.

“Look, what I’m trying to say is that you quite obviously need help, and I have nothing better to do this morning. Where do you want me to take you?”

Kevin was kind of in shock, to be honest. He hadn’t gotten much opportunity to meet people besides his team, being kind of anti-social, and he’d thought Renee, Abby, Jeremy Knox, and maybe Matt were the only people this nice on Earth.

Well, this woman didn’t seem nice, exactly. She didn’t seem like she particularly wanted to help him, just that she didn’t want to leave him on the side of the road. Plus, she definitely swore too much to be considered the conventional kind of nice.

Kevin would take it.

“My friends have a house here in Columbia. It’s not far.”

“Cool. Kevin, was it?”

It was so weird to talk to someone who didn’t know his name.

“Yeah. Kevin Day.”

“Well, what’s your friends’ address, Kevin Day?”

Kevin gave her the address.

Apparently, he’d been gone long enough that the cousins and Neil were getting suspicious.

They all seemed relieved, but very confused as he pulled up in a black convertible with a random young woman with purple hair.

“Did you get kidnapped?” Neil asked pointedly.

“If I was going to kidnap him, I wouldn’t have brought him back to you, now would I?”

“I got swarmed by fans and she gave me a ride,” Kevin explained, getting out of the car.

“Oh,” Nicky flashed her a smile, “Well, in that case, thanks for saving our guy!”

“I’d say ‘any time,’ but with any luck, I’ll never have to save Kevin here’s ass again, so... here’s hoping I don’t see any of y’all around.”

They all shot Kevin confused looks, except Andrew, who was just giving the woman a very suspicious once-over.

“She’s not an Exy fan,” he explained, “She didn’t even know who I was. I just jumped in the car and told her to drive.”

“And she actually did it?” Neil asked.

“She can hear you,” the woman said pointedly, “And if you’re all good, here, I’ll be on my way.”

“Then ‘be on your way,’” Andrew said, slightly mocking her South Carolina accent.

The woman glared at him for a second before tossing Kevin the jacket he’d accidentally left in her front seat and getting ready to drive away.

Kevin didn’t know why he did it, but he didn’t miss the annoyed look on Andrew’s face when he called after her.

“Didn’t catch your name!”

“Aria!” she called back, “And you’re welcome, by the way!”

Kevin probably should have thanked her before she was halfway down the street, quickly getting farther and farther away.

“So,” Nicky said with a shit-eating grin, “Aria, huh?”

“Fuck off, Nicky. I met her ten minutes ago.”

“She’s a risk,” Andrew said bluntly.

“None of us are probably ever going to see her again,” Kevin pointed out, “So it doesn’t matter if she is.”

...

Imagine Kevin’s surprise when he did see her again, at that same coffee shop, a couple months later.

It was another bad day, ironically. Tabloids were spinning stories about Thea and one of her teammates, and while Kevin didn’t think she’d cheat on him, he couldn’t deny that she never smiled for him like she did in those photos.

She was flying into town tonight, and she’d said over the phone that they needed to talk.

Basically, Kevin was about 90% sure they were breaking up, and Nicky had suggested going to Columbia to cheer him up last night.

He was sad about it, but not as much as he’d expected. He’d kind of seen it coming. Thea was still too much a Raven for him to ever fully relax with her, and being around him often made her revert to an emotionless mask he never saw when he watched her games on TV.

In the Nest, they’d found solace in seemingly the only other person who wasn’t a complete sociopath—besides Jean, of course—but now, they were in a big, bright world full of people who weren’t sociopaths, and as Neil bluntly pointed out, neither of them were what the other needed anymore.

At first, this morning, Kevin thought Aria was going to ignore him, but she didn’t move when he came over to stand next to her while they waited for their orders.

Andrew, sitting in the chair in the corner, glared at him, but didn’t intervene.

“Do you always come back to places you already got swarmed at?” Aria asked.

Kevin shrugged, “They have good coffee.”

“On that, we can agree. It was Kevin, right?”

“Right.”

Kevin realized he didn’t really know what to talk about. He could usually just talk about Exy and if a teammate didn’t want to talk about that, they’d start a conversation about something else.

Kevin didn’t know how to talk about much else.

“You go to school here in South Carolina?”

Aria shook her head, “Nope. I’m headed back to New York in the fall.”

“What school?”

“Trying to stalk me, Kevin Day?”

“Well, I don’t even know your last name, so I’d have a hard time if I tried.”

She smirked, but didn’t tell him her last name.

“I’m going to the Juilliard School. Performing arts is kind of my thing.”

“Cool.”

Kevin knew absolutely nothing about performing arts, but Aria sounded pretty proud of herself, so the Juilliard School was probably a good one.

“What about you? What school do you go to?”

“Palmetto.”

“And you didn’t go home for the summer?”

Kevin shrugged, “Training camp.”

And he didn’t have a home to go back to, unless Abby’s house counted, but Aria didn’t need to know that.

“Well, I leave in three months,” Aria said, “So probably no use in being friends if there’s a time limit.”

She picked up her coffee when they called it out.

“See you around, Kevin. Or not, if you decide to stop being a dumbass and keep coming to places where fangirls run rampant.”

Kevin was tempted to argue with that, but she actually had a point.

He and Andrew did leave pretty quickly after they got their coffee to avoid anyone recognizing them.

“What did she say to you?” Andrew asked when they were back in the car.

Kevin shrugged, “She told me she’s going back to New York for college in the fall, so there’s no point in being friends. She also said that I should ‘stop being a dumbass’ and coming to places I’ve gotten swarmed by fangirls before.”

“Well, she’s right about you being a dumbass.”

Kevin figured that would be the end of it.

...

It wasn’t. After a few more times running into Aria in that coffee shop, Andrew asked her to come with them to Eden’s the next time they went, and as much as part of Kevin wanted to stop him, he didn’t.

He actually really liked talking to Aria. She kind of reminded him of Thea, with the seemingly unbreakable defiance she always carried, but at the same time, she absolutely was not Thea. Aria joked more, was less concerned with survival in the way of someone who’d never had to fight for theirs, and as she’d made it very clear, didn’t give a flying fuck about Exy.

That was still weird. Having to come up with small talk. Aria didn’t know anything about Exy and Kevin didn’t know anything about performing arts. Instead of those things, they talked about the latest movie, which meant that Kevin actually had to go with Nicky and Aaron to see those movies, or debate their favorite Jane Austen novel, or just bitch about how hot it was. That had never happened with Thea.

It was probably weird to keep comparing his new... well, he didn’t know if he could even call her a friend yet, to his now-ex-girlfriend, but Kevin had thought about it more times than he probably should.

Oh, yeah, him and Thea had agreed to stay in touch, but after a talk, were both more relieved than they should be about breaking up. Neil was right. They weren’t what each other needed. And yeah, Kevin had been sad about it for a bit, but he couldn’t deny that Thea was happier now, with that teammate of hers. He was happy for her, and...

And he knew that Aria was pretty in an unconventional kind of way, and she was witty and funny and he really didn’t know if he was attracted to her or not.

Honestly, even if he wasn’t, Andrew would probably still see her as a threat.

She’d probably never speak to him again after whatever Andrew was going to do this weekend. But Kevin knew none of the other Monsters would ever get off his back until he let them question her.

It was kind of surprising when she gave him a weird look as he started drinking.

“Aren’t you a pro athlete?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Aren’t pro athletes supposed to stick to a diet or something?”

Aaron smirked a little, and Kevin fought the urge to roll his eyes. Nobody except Aaron and Neil actually even remotely followed those. Kevin would, but unfortunately, an athlete’s diet didn’t include copious amounts of booze.

“Don’t actresses have to stick to a diet, too?” Andrew asked.

Aria shrugged, “I don’t have a contract yet. And besides, I pretty much burn whatever I eat with dance, so as long as I keep rehearsing over summer, I probably stay about as fit as you guys.”

Kevin seriously doubted that. He didn’t mean to let it show on his face, but Aria was already shooting him a sour look.

“I would like to see you last an hour at a dance call at my school. Sports are hard, sure, but you guys don’t have to look pretty and stay on-beat while you do it.”

Nicky snorted, “She’s got a point. Can you do, like, flips and stuff?”

“I can do an aerial. One of my best friends is so good at tumbling and stuff that he can do a backflip, but I’m not quite there yet.”

“Cool! Can you sing, too?”

Aria grinned and sang along to the next couple lines of the song that was playing.

“I’m on my guard with the rest of the world, but with you, I know it’s no good. And I should wait patiently, but... I really wish you would.”

She actually sounded pretty good.

“Awesome!” Nicky exclaimed, “You’re a triple threat!”

Aaron gave him a weird look.

“What? I went through a theatre phase in high school.”

“Well, theatre is gay culture,” Aria admitted.

“Interesting,” Andrew said dryly, “How you claimed you knew nothing about Kevin, or even Exy, and yet you know that Nicky’s gay.”

Aria just shrugged, “I still don’t give a flying fuck about Exy, but after y’all invited me out, I got curious. Spent some time on the Internet. Speaking of which, your Wikipedia page didn’t say you were as socially awkward as you seem, Kevin. How the hell did you get a friend as nice as Nicky?”

Neil and Nicky laughed. Aaron hid a smirk.

Kevin glared at them. Obviously, he wasn’t going to tell her about that deal with Andrew, and therefore basically getting adopted by the Minyard/Hemmick family, but he did give Aria a fairly truthful explanation.

“You get pretty close with people when you play on a team. Sometimes, things happen and you can’t help but care about someone.”

“I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said about any of us, Kevin,” Neil said with a shit-eating grin.

“Fuck off, Neil.”

Aria raised an eyebrow, “Woah. Seems like you’re just as much of a bitch as me.”

“Excuse me?”

Nicky was losing his shit laughing, and even Andrew seemed to find that funny, not that anyone who didn’t know him well would be able to tell.

“So, what else did our Wikipedia pages say?” Neil asked.

Kevin knew for a fact that Neil knew exactly what his said, but he didn’t say that.

“A whole lot of interesting stuff,” Aria admitted, “Your team seems pretty messed up.”

“That kind of sums it up,” Neil agreed.

“With any luck, I’ll have one someday. A Wikipedia page, I mean. Not that any of you will probably read it, but I’m gonna be on Broadway someday, so you can read all about it when I’m... well, probably not as famous as you. Broadway stars are famous to high school theatre nerds and basically no one else.”

“Convenient,” Andrew said, “Wanting to be an actress and meeting someone randomly outside a coffee shop who’s famous enough that his endorsement could probably get you exactly where you want to go.”

Aria seemed to get what he was implying, and she glared at him.

“Trust me, if I’m getting there, I’m getting there on my own. Victory tastes a lot sweeter when you got it fair and square, because then when you say that you’re better than the people you beat, you know for sure that you’re right.”

Kevin knew exactly what she was talking about.

Aria took a sip of her drink, still glaring at Andrew.

“If you wanted to know if I was a threat to your socially-awkward buddy, you could have just sat me down and asked questions like a normal person. If you had asked me if I was planning on using any of you to further my career, I would have told you that as a bisexual woman of color in performing arts, I have worked my ass off to get this far, and I sure as hell am willing to work my ass off even more to get myself the rest of the way. I’m not interested in taking shortcuts. So, if you still think I am, kindly get your coffee at a different time of day, because I’m not seeing you intentionally, but I’m not changing my schedule to avoid you, either. Basically, thanks for the drink, but I can call myself Uber, so don’t worry about driving me home.”

With that, Aria grabbed her bag off the table and started walking away.

To their credit, all the guys had the decency to look at least a little guilty, except Andrew.

Kevin didn’t want to know the look on his friend’s face when he followed her.

He caught up to her on the sidewalk, outside, waiting for her Uber.

“You weren’t kidding.”

“What?”

“You said that helping people who looked scared was a good way to get myself mixed up in things I can’t handle,” Aria said calmly, “And you were right. Don’t think I missed all the messed up headlines your friends have made when I looked up you and your team.”

“And you still came with us tonight?” Kevin asked.

She shrugged, “Seemed like they’d only get more suspicious if I cancelled. I didn’t feel like getting stalked by a team of athletes with half a dozen homicide accusations between them.”

That was actually fair logic. To be honest, Kevin was surprised there were only six accusations between Neil, Renee, and the twins.

“They’ve all seen some messed up shit,” he explained, “They’re just trying to protect me.”

“Yeah, I got that. Just don’t particularly see why I’m worth the fuss. I’m leaving in 2 months and I’m not coming back until Christmas.”

“They’re paranoid.”

“And you’re not? Judging by the articles analyzing you, you don’t go anywhere without at least one of them.”

Kevin had to admit, he usually didn’t. Even after 3 years away from the Ravens, he still didn’t do well alone.

He shrugged, “Sometimes paranoia keeps you alive. You don’t really seem like a threat, though.”

Aria snorted, “Thanks.”

She took a deep breath, seeming to be psyching herself up for something.

She took a piece of paper out of her bag and handed it to him.

It was a business card, with only three lines of information. A phone number, an email, and...

Aria Kennedy. It said her last name. By giving him this, she was making it a lot easier for him—and by extension, Andrew and the others—to look her up.

“You don’t have to use it,” she said simply, “But oddly, I actually enjoy talking to you. You make good conversation, for a jock.”

“You make good conversation for a sarcastic theatre kid,” Kevin admitted, “Aria Kennedy.”

Aria smiled a bit at that, “I’m not watching your games.”

“I’m not watching your plays.”

“Wow. I’m so crushed.”

Kevin laughed at her deadpan tone.

“Look, I’m not stupid,” she said, “I get that there are probably a lot of people out there who want to get with you for the fame and all that. That’s probably part of what your friends are protecting you from. But that’s not me. I’m not looking for a relationship. I’m barely looking for a friend. It just seems like you could use one who hasn’t done a turn at county.”

“Maybe,” Kevin admitted, “I’d like to be friends.”

He probably should figure out if he even wanted to be more than that, but for now... a friend seemed good. Even a friend who was moving to New York for most of the year.

Aria saluted with two fingers as she stepped into her Uber, “See you around, Kevin Day.”

Kevin nodded, “See you around, Aria Kennedy.”

...

((I’m sorry if this is out of character for Kevin. I’ve only read aftg once.))

[deus-ex-knoxina]

a cappella au

let’s get all the voice types out of the way first:

soprano: allison, she’s classically trained and delights in adding glottal stops to everything as a result of it (just to spite her parents)

mezzo/alto: renee and dan, renee is technically probably more of a soprano but allison’s Very Loud Voice doesn’t need any help holding down the s1 line, and renee’s more comfortable in the middle of her range. dan is a belter who taught herself how to do rIDICULOUS runs and has the low notes to sing alto

tenor: neil (countertenor), kevin, nicky, seth (his tessitura is lower than kevin and nicky so he usually sings with aaron), riko

baritone: aaron, andrew

bass: matt, jean

beatboxer: andrew, renee if he needs a second person for something particularly Wack™

there is literally SO MUCH under the cut so read more for the actual headcanons and fun shit

i’m returning to the whole perfect quart(et) pun with neil, riko, kevin, and jean, in which neil is generally relegated to ‘sing an upper harmony line and don’t overshadow riko’, jean gets bass lines that are, admittedly, musically complex and interesting, riko solos pretty much always, and kevin sings a lower harmony line that is just a little lower than where he’s most comfortable. which riko knows, of course.

the foxes, before neil, generally sing SSATTB, with allison on s1, renee on s2, dan on alto, kevin and nicky on t1, seth and aaron on t2, and matt on bass (and andrew beatboxing). it makes female solos complicated, because they’ll have to simplify the SSA to SA or stick one of the t1s on alto, but nicky doesn’t have the upper range to make it work and kevin refuses (he has strong feelings on tessitura and does Not Want to be forced into singing a part that’s not super comfortable for him again). this results in mostly male solos and the women are not happy.

when neil and his countertenor ass arrive, they promptly stick him on the same part as dan, which frees up allison, renee, and dan to switch parts around so that they can solo! thrilling! he’s already healing rifts!

at night practice, instead of kevin teaching neil raven drills, kevin teaches neil how to access more of the power of his voice (now that he doesn’t have riko telling him to be quiet), and neil teaches kevin (PLOT TWIST) about his upper range and how to make the most of that (now that he doesn’t have riko telling him to sing low).

this is a heavy angst free AU so instead of dying seth quits in the middle of the year after kevin arrives because he thinks kevin’s ruining their group by trying to make them do what he wants instead of doing the music they want to do. there’s a big argument. nobody actually expects seth to leave permanently (they’re not surprised when he storms out), but he does. oops

andrew has perfect pitch and it really irritates kevin that he insists on beatboxing constantly. and andrew, who is kind of entertained by this, is really irritated when neil manages to arrange a piece without any beatboxer part and thus force andrew to sing t2.

kevin would absolutely do the kind of run where you’re just seeing how long you can go before someone is like ‘ok buddy that’s enough we know you can sing’ and that person is ALWAYS aaron and he says it faster and faster every time

kevin: aaaAAaaAaaAaAaAaaAaa--

aaron: i think that’s enough

two weeks later:

kevin: aAaAaaaAAaAAa--

aaron: hmm a little overdone don’t you think

three days later:

kevin: aaaAAaa--

aaron: no.

(nicky, in the background, overdramatically pretending to sing along to whatever kevin is doing)

this never happens to dan because she is the epitome of tasteful when it comes to deciding how long her runs should be. it’s not a fucking operatic cadenza KEVIN we’re not going to sTOP AND WAIT FOR YOU

a bunch of them all try their hand at arranging and matt keeps arranging the most EMO ASS songs and kevin always, always backs him on it and nobody knows why but it’s because jeremy knox once told kevin he really liked mayday parade

(kevin, arranging a new song: andrew come sing this with me i need to hear how these two parts sound together

andrew: did you say something

neil, wandering into the room 5 seconds later: andrew can you come sing this with me i need to--

andrew: interesting. i’ll do it)

allison winds up teaching renee a lot of what she learned in private lessons because renee mentioned she’d like to learn to sing classical music

andrew does his damndest to convince everyone that they should sing an arrangement he made (or rather threw together in 15 seconds but they don’t need to know that) that’s just a vine compilation he saw set to literally random notes and rhythms. i know vine didn’t exist in the 2000s but let me have this. the tenor parts are in 3/4 time and everyone else is in 4/4. the soprano 1 has a low F. andrew passes out the sheet music and tells the foxes he worked really hard on it and it takes neil almost busting a gut from laughter for the others to actually figure out that he’s not serious (they were like. seriously torn because on the one hand it’s fucking weird music but on the other hand andrew has never arranged anything for them so maybe this is?? what he likes??? and they shouldn’t make fun of it because he’s engaging with the group????)

(andrew actually is a big fan of open fourths and fifths. he will never reveal this because it goes against his Image™ to like the literal most consonant intervals in the diatonic scale)

(allison, just to spite him, learns the whole thing and sings it outside his door with the crispest diction ever heard outside the metropolitan opera at seven AM)

[wetalkaboutbooks]

The King’s Men- Nora Sakavic

Apologies for how late this is, but it’s here now! So, here is my final review for both The King’s Men, and for All for the game as a whole. Spoilers ahead for all books in All for the Game, and a warning for mentions of harder source material that the books do work with. Anyway, here we go! 

I think that I will split this into the good, the bad, and an overall review of the series as a whole.

What Was Good?

Characters

Starting with Kevin. I really adored getting to a softer, more hopeful side of him. I felt the way he engaged with UCS and Jeremy was incredible, seeing him act like a normal person, with friends, who didn’t live in a constant state of fear, was lovely. I love Kevin, I think his character development is very well paced. I do wish that his alcoholism would have been dealt with, and his girlfriend, but we will get around to that later. For now, I think that his tattoo was a good way to show him moving on, taking control of his life, and reclaiming his skin from Riko. Also, proud of him for telling Wymack the truth.

Next, Matt and Dan. They’re so cute, the final scene where her strip club family comes to see the game, and how her and Matt work together is fantastic. I don’t know how to express exactly how much I love their relationship, it works so effortlessly and pays off in every scene they have together. They are such a highlight for me, and make the book a lot better.

Allison is a babe. When she just backhanded Aaron for talking smack to Neil about Seth, I have never rooted so hard for a character as I did for Allison in that moment. She had the least amount of development by far, and the least amount of time within the novel. The scene where she is looking at the banners did the same thing that Kevin’s tattoo did, in a smaller way. It was the idea of moving past a person’s control, moving into oneself, and standing without an essential pillar to their inner ideas and person. Allison and Renee were also very cute, and their relationship is adorable.

Seth, if you read my other reviews you knew this was coming, I love him, I miss him, he’s wonderful because he was so flawed. I do have some genuine thoughts about him this time around. So, I felt like this time around his death was finally properly acknowledged. He was allowed peace and closure, I miss him yes, but his death means something. Which is conflicting, but I think it's good. It’s more than just Allison that sees this, it’s Neil as well. I think he finally gets the remembrance he deserves in this book, as it comes from the people who matter.

Neil! I love him, he’s different in this book, more soft. And loved, he knows what he wants and knows that he can have it. He can let go of some of his walls and learn who he is again. He’s wonderful, and stronger as a character than he has ever been. I don’t really have all too much to say, mostly because his development was so natural. He’s wonderful, I think I love him too.

Nicky and Aaron, eh. I don’t really feel too strongly about them, I like Aaron, and Nicky is alright I suppose, but they didn’t get a lot of development throughout this book. They were better, so that’s good.

Renee is my love, what a badarse, bless her soul.

Andrew, he’s done it, I like him a lot now as a character. His growth this time around has been wonderful, the way he and Neil work together is so well done. The whole “I hate you” bit is endearing, the pipe dream scene, the mountain scene, the bandaging scene before the shower. But beyond them together, Andrew can stand so much taller on his own now, without Kevin and Neil he is a good character, he isn’t redeemed, but I think from this point on he will be.

OTHER

The fact that Andrew and Neil didn’t get together until after he was off his drugs, wonderful.

The amount of cop disrespect, go off.

The dialogue is very good at times, and had me laughing or almost crying at times.

The scene where Neil is kidnapped, and his dad just, you know. Walks down the steps barefoot. Just, slap slap, his bare feet on the cold ground. Pfft, can’t.

“My dad comes to all my games.” Kevin stop I’m already crying.

The blood in the locker scene was wonderful.

Jean, my French loving heart goes out to him. Also, poor boy, glad he’s free.

Game scenes, love them as always

The Not so Good

Less in this book then in the rest, so that’s a great sign.

Kevin. I wish he got to recover more, he’s a main character and deserved more than a half done revival. His girlfriend was a shoddy put it to give him something to go for. I love her, don’t get me wrong, but she deserved better than being Kevin's eventual redemption. And Kevin deserves to live for himself for a while. Without Riko, or Andrew, or anyone else. Let him live. Also, would have loved to see him take the tattoo off without being pissed.

Trauma. Can’t these characters have some respect for the suffering of their friends. They all need a break, and honestly so do I. I can’t anymore with the disregard of pain, a lot of it comes off as victim blaming, namely Neil in regards to Andrew. 

The trigger warning need to be taken seriously, please look them up if you are planning to read it. The dead animal scene was terrible and unnecessary. 

Which leads to Riko. Yikes, where to begin? Let’s start with the end. His death was shocking and a messy way to tie up the fact that he wouldn’t stop unless someone made him. He became far too easy to hate, see the fox scene, and I stopped hating him. Just felt pity for him, which isn’t very fun. I suppose there’s a bit of nuance to it, if you think, but I don’t think it played out well with his end being so dull. Yikes, what a let down, all this build up to his death and then it didn’t mean anything.

Seth. Wow, yikes, here we go again. This is sort of the same idea as Riko’s death, don’t tell me a character’s death means nothing, and then shoe in it means something at the end. It’s cheap, and takes away the message you gave in the first place. In this case, that being that sometimes people die and there are only a few who mourn, and it doesn’t mean anything big, but it still means something. Then boom, it’s a plot point for character development and all that work, accidental or not, is thrown away.

OVERALL

As a book

This is the best book in the series, by far. Sakavic really grew as a writer and it show’s in this book, in the pacing the game scenes, the dialogue, in the overall themes that were presented. I loved it, I really did. I loved this book, it was fun and I had fun.

8.5/10, Thank you for a wonderful ride.

As a series

Everything above, while true, does not extend to the series, I of course cover the flaws in my other reviews, but to summarize it’s not worth the wait. It takes too much bad writing, to much pain, and disregard, to get to this point. If you can put up with it, then it get’s fun, but overall. Eh, didn’t like it that much. 5/10 for the series. 

Book 1 Book 2