#picturing kevin as maybe a young travante rhodes

[mariatesstruther]

So if Kevin hadn't died, when Ellie meets him he'd be 23. Now I'm not saying that's a bad thing but I am saying that Ellie going from losing Henry and Sam horrifically to staring down a 23 year old man with a dark complexion and his mother's smile might make her think uncontrollably of Henry and cause her to be uncomfortable in a way they'd absolutely have to talk about later because he wouldn't let his baby cousin be tearful around him, he'd have to fix it.

He'd be his mother's child after all.

@clickergossip has got me thinking about henry and kevin today! so here this is from my askbox anon sorry this took so long

okay i love this anon and i love the angst. i do hope at some point in s2 ellie actually gets to Talk about henry because seeing someone do what he did right in front of her has ti impact ellie so much, but we barely get her talking about it from what i recollect

i personally that aside from the slight resembling features, kevin and henry would be very very different characters. henry was essential thrust into the parent role for his little brother and, although definitely friendly and upbeat compared to joel, internally very serious because he’s constantly thinking about the next move he had to make to keep sam alive. he’s also not violent and incredibly careful—he has to be, as he’s essentially a dad and has to be as responsible as one

i imagine kevin as wayyyyy different. tbh, i kind love the idea that he’s a little bit of a rascal and troublemaker whilst also being a complete mama’s boy???? like how funny would it be for MARIA’s child to be an anti-establishment agent of chaos. think like young tommy miller meets hobie brown—that’s how i imagine kevin. he’s a sweet boy in that he’s genuinely kind and good to his mother and tries his best to do what’s right; he is also someone raised by a black queer chronically ill single mother and black panther granpappy hank (once again thanking @steeb-stn for hank. we love hank). kevin would STAY MF READY. and maria and hank likely needed protecting in a world as cruel as tlou’s, so i imagine once kevin is old enough (or at least what he considers old enough, because he knows his mother would disagree) he becomes somewhat of a savage in terms of combat/weaponry

toughguy kevin sizing up tommy when he realizes whats going on between this rando new guy and his mom 🤨🤨🤨 kevin lowkey approving of tommy but still jokingly acting all “you better be treating my mommy RIGHT fuckface” tough because it makes maria laugh and keeps tommy on his toes

kevin teaching ellie all the tricks of the trade of being a smart and safe troublemaker. joel and maria rarely hear complaints about them or catch them doing something bad, but it’s because kevin has got Stealth Mode down pat and ellie is a fast fucking learner

also lets think about badboy kevin meeting and falling in love with henry though 😭😭😭 them finding peace and love and building a life for sam in jackson 🥰🥰🥰 kevin basically doing what tommy did with him and maria, dedicating his once tumultuous life to becoming part of a family and protecting his peace 🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾