#the only valid moriyama

[princeblue]

You know the very first two fandoms I was ever in was supernatural and blue exorcist.

I have a lot of opinions on supernatural but today is not that day I talk about it.

I just wanna say Izumo was the only real fucking person in that “friend group” after rin revealed himself as the son of Satan to PROTECT THEM MIND YOU. She never switched up and she’ll always be my girlie for that.

[slidetoleft]

thinking about kevin day’s relationship to fans

thinking about kevin being raised as an exy prodigy, shocked and awed by how many people seem to really care about him

thinking about the first time a stranger tried to grab onto kevin out in public for a photo, for an autograph, for a chance to talk to the son of exy

thinking about kevin finding comfort in the reactions to him joining the raven’s line officially

thinking about the first headline kevin read after he escaped the nest

thinking about kevin unable to prevent his own heartbreak over how quickly they turn on him

thinking about the booing, the glaring, the insults kevin fields as he steps onto the court for the championship

thinking about the moment kevin scores the winning goal, the moment of pure silence as everyone stares at the scoreboard, broken only by riko’s scream

thinking about kevin advocating for his own privacy for the rest of his life, citing the danger of public pressure on the mental health of athletes

thinking of kevin coming to terms with how he is considered property by more than just the moriyamas, but still mourning the moments of pride, of validation, of genuine care he felt as a child from strangers screaming his name

[iwouldservehim]

What I love very much about the Kevin/Wymack father and son reveal is that Wymack is just.... a very good man, and we knew that already because of the way he treats Neil, but it hits harder when Jean spells it out in TSC.

He didn't help Kevin because he was Kevin Day and there might still be value in that. He didn't help him because he was Kyleigh's son. He did it because that's what he would do for a Raven completely unrelated to Kayleigh (Jean) or a mere nobody (Neil or Andrew). And he does it with genuine care, even - especially - when it's not in his interest and even puts him in a precarious situation so it cannot be a publicity stunt for gain.

Most of his life, Kevin saw the Moriyamas as his only other family. He has a certain taught (and quite disfavorable) perception of Wymack and he only turns to him when the Moriyamas do the worst to him, so whoever Wymack turns out to be, it cannot get worse than that. He goes to him offering something, because of course one has to pay/offer value in exchange for any consideration even from "family" - he doesn't play the "son" card. He doesn't yet know he might play again, so he offers knowledge as an assistant coach.

And by the time Kevin is bold enough to say the word "son" he's seen Wymack help a "nobody" even when it was more trouble than benefit, even after it turned out he was "someone" in a bad way (and here there are at least SOME benefits), and he's seen him helping Jean (who is "someone") without any attempt to turn it into his own benefit (no attempt to make Jean a Fox, just offering unquestionable help without expectations).

When Kevin finally says "I should have gone to my father then (when he found out)" it's not what he would have believed then, but what he's learnt later. From grovelling all his life so the Moriyamas would give him these icy crumbles of "family" as long as he did as asked and watched his steps, to Wymack supporting whatever Kevin needed from day 1, no strings attached. "You want to be an assistant coach, will support that. You vouch for this nobody, will support that. You want to play again, will support that. You don't want them to take you back, will fight that."

All his life, Kevin was made to believe it doesn't get any better than what the Moriyamas offer him (at a high cost). The validation he eventually meets with by taking the risk of leaving them in favour of just anything else is just so damn satisfying.

[liaisun]

uhm... you're writing something from riko's pov? would you perchance like to share more details? it's okay if you don't, just curious.

hello anon!! i forgot i enabled anon asks again but i will keep it on so people arent scared away from asking abt these things LOL. i would absolutely love to share the details :3c

the fic is 2nd person pov, flashes of riko’s life through the years and the way he perceives the world, the development/degeneration of riko and kevin's relationship, riko becoming who he is, and his descent into madness

it all began with my most trusted confidant sending a msg abt “all the ways riko could have been different and all the ways his pathways were cut”, riko being ONLY 19 like he wasn’t even 20 when he died… augh what the hell . so i immediately started thinking abt riko’s thoughts and state of mind at the time of his death

do we think he didn’t see his kingdom crumbling? that he was holding on the tightest to the only thing he had, until it destroyed him? icarus to the sun? AHGH. and yet riko is such a clear case of a made monster.

riko’s convictions are fragile. that's why he constantly needs external validation of his superiority over others by exercising control over them; moriyama family status being the excuse provided to him, and it's what he clings onto when he sees behavior that doesn't fit into his worldview (like when he is with kevin and sees kayleigh/a loving parent.) you're a moriyama, you're different, you're not lonely, you aren't affected by things like that because you're better.

tbh i think riko doesn’t even conceptualize himself as a person. he’s a vessel for success, he calls himself king (a title rather than a name), he’s defined by the number on his face and is part of a set with kevin (his relationship w kevin is whole other can of worms lmfao). riko is simultaneously above everyone else and yet worth nothing, because he will never have the thing he truly wants— his father’s regard, a place in the main line

many of tetsuji's statments are translated as riko's own thoughts and he repeats them as children do. his behavior becomes more controlling but it isn't maliciously intentioned; riko genuinely believes he is protecting kevin by doing this, because he knows how the nest works and kevin doesn't yet. it's heartbreaking!!! it's also at this unstable time when kevin is taken in by tetsuji where you can see the dynamic between riko and kev take root and become twisted.

also, riko's thoughts on family and brotherhood are so contradictory— he sososo severely values the idea of a brother. yet he's seen how tetsuji's been treated by kengo as well, understands that brotherhood is conditional. so it's this thing to want and to fear, which leads to how kevin is simultaneously idolized and adored, while being objectified and diminished at the same time. kevin is his brother, but only when it's convenient. over time, it's less and less of kevin as a separate person, and more of seeing kevin as an extension of riko.

this became a meta LOL but that's what happens when u write a character study i suppose! most of the fic is written i just need to clean it up, hoping to post by the end of the year :-)

[capcavan]

Hiiii (manipulatively)

What do you think would happen if Kengo aknowledged Riko as his son after all, before he died? Do you think that validation would make anything different, and if so, why?

Heyyyyyy (gets manipulated) I think some dreams should be left unfulfilled. Thinking about his father's love was the only thing getting Riko through the days in nest, whatever Kengo would have offered him it would never match Riko's expectations it would disappoint, be too little too late and would take away his only real dream. Riko's dream was to play exy with Kevin, to be number one, the best. Because Tetsuji told him this is a way to get his fathers approval. Exy and Kevin are just ways to achieve his dream - acceptance and love. Kengo would die too soon to show Riko enough love to make the years of his life worth it, and even if he didn't I don't think this man was capable of love, whole Moriyama family tree is rotten this way. The day Riko can't dream any more is the day he stops living. I think the comfort Riko got from dreaming of this day and having hope is worth to him much more than disappointment, because I don't think someone this passionate would settle on pat on the back after 20 years of pain. The day Riko's father died Riko lashed out and hurt Jean- at the time second best player on Raven line up, possibly the reason Ravens lost against foxes. This triggered Riko's lil meltdown, this excused Andrew to break his arm, this made Riko unable to play and bring profit to the family - which in turn made the decision to kill him even more excusable to Ichirou. Surviving this lesson would teach him that love is not worth it, would that be living?

[sadboyayeron]

Tapping at my Chamber Door (Nikoshi Doe) Chapter 1

All For The Game Fic                                                                 Chapter 2>

(This is how everything started, this is Nikos mothers POV)

I was born in Jamaica.  I moved to the states at a young age to live with my Aunt in the Bronx.  I didn’t have a sad childhood besides the fact that I miss my mother who died and I didn't know my father.  My aunt took good care of me.  She took me to track practice everyday and worked hard to pay for the rent.  I got a Scholarship to Edgar Allen University to run track for there school.  It was one of the best scholarships I got that was closest to New York.

Thats where I meet Riko Moriyama.  It was around the same time Kevin day left.  I always knew he went to the school, who wouldn’t his face was plastered everywhere.  He wasn’t bad looking, not at all.  Sharp cheek bones and slitted eyes.  Black pools of nothingness.  I noticed him looking at me couple times.  I figured it was because my name went around that I broke multiple school recorders and was rumored to be running in the next olympics.  He only ever looked, no emotion etched on his face.  One day I decided to approach him while in class.  

“Like what you see.”  I was trying to catch him off guard but he didn’t even look surprise.  But then he smiled.  Something sharp that left me feeling tingly, similar to how I feel before racing.  

“Not to bad, no.”  He chuckled, looked me up and down before he landed back on my eyes, “Want to sit.”

He left me in a trance and I took a seat next to him and sat my books in front of me.  I tucked some braids behind my ear and looked at him again, he was looking back with a smug smile on his face.  

“Are you from New York?” He asked.

“How do you know?” I replied.

“You have an accent, I've been there a couple times to be able to tell.”  He looked back down to his work and the professor walked in.  At the end of the class he passed me a note and left with out a word.

Like what you see

***-***-***

And thats how I got myself in this fucked up situation.

Rikos dead.  I’m Pregnant.  Rikos fucking dead and I'm 5 month Pregnant.  I had to stop running.  I had to quit my life and he killed himself.  Dead.  I didn't know what to do so I went to his Uncle. Tesuji who didn't bat a single eye when I told him.  All he said was give him the kid when I have him and I get my scholarship back.  My life back.  Thats what I did.  I went back to New York, back to my aunt who was disappointed in me.  She had every reason to be.  She tried to get me to keep the kid but I just couldn’t.  I’m not ready to have to take care off another human being, maybe later but not now.  The next 4 months went by and I found myself in the hospital.  God it hurt like hell, the doctors looked panicked ad my Aunt was crying.  I knew I was bleeding to much and I was probably going to die.  Tesuji was in the hall way, my aunt called him when my water broke.

“Nico,” I whispered to her.  “His n-name is Nico.”

Naima Dixon Died May 20th, 20**

Tesuji held the small vermin in his arms trying his best to look like he cared for it.  The child was clearly Riko’s, just with small curls on its had and darker skin. As soon as he could he would drop this child off in the system but now he had papers to sign.  “Nico,” is what the hag had told him the name would be.  To close to Rikos.  He decided to spell it Niko and add a Shi at the end out of spite.  It only made sense, shi meaning death in Japanese.  

Nikoshi Doe Born May 20th, 20**

About ten years went by and Tesuji found himself in New York again face to face with his older nephew.  Tesuji’s time was up now.  It only made sense he was useless and caused so much trouble to the Moriyama name after the ravens were tarnished.  In the face of death he found his thoughts drifting to a little boy with brown skin and curly hair with eyes, lips, nose so smiler to the child he beaten with inches to his life so many years prior.  He should have killed the thing when he had the chance.  He looked his nephew in the eye and gave his last words.  Of him having his own nephew.  His late younger brother not being able to keep his hands to himself in ways besides torture.  The child not living to far from this office.  In the system.  The offspring would have been nine or ten years old by now.  Older then when he had to take in Riko.  He watched as Ichirou thought about his claim.

“whats his name?”  He finally spoke.

“Nikoshi Doe.”  Fitting wasn’t it.

Not long after Tesuji was found dead in his home.  Said to have been peacefully asleep.  The best way to go out.  Ichirou did some digging, calling numbers he knew could find him what he was looking for.  Nikoshi Doe was not hard to find at all.  He was currently living in a foster home with a couple other children in the Bronx.  He was 10 years old and was in the 5th grade.  He received a picture.  The child was average hight for his age.  He had milk chocolate skin, dark eyes resembling his own (Rikos), curly hair that fell all around his head in a afro.  Slight bags under his eyes, full lips pulled into a smile that didn’t quit reach his eyes.  He could see little studs in his ears.  In the face he was definitely his brothers child.  His nephew.  Doesn’t mean he wants much to do with him, he has no time to deal with a child and can't have this ruining the Moriyama name any further.  Killing a child is were he crossed the line though, leaving it would be the easy option.  But of course he wants to have some fun with his investments.

 Kevin Day has never gotten a text message from the lord so when he wakes up one day while he's sleeping on Neil and Andrews couch in Chicago to buzzing on the coffee table he is terrified.  What he sees though is a picture of a child.  Deja���vu hits him hard.  Then his phone rings in his hand with the same number he knows so well.

“Hello My Lord.”

(I had to redo this because some reason it deleted ugh)

I decided I wanted to actually start writing.  This has been stuck in my head for so long.  I love reading how you view this and keep doing what your doing I love it @side-effect-of-the-meds.  Can’t wait to go further in depth for how I picture this going hopefully I do okay. @andrewminyardamiright

@kevindayprotectionsquad

Chapter 2>

[eightdye-art]

wow look at me i made a bnha oc

no but seriously I think he's adorable

[saywhatyouwillbut]

grace's essential aftg fics

hi friends! i made a list of all my favorite aftg (read: andreil) fics to recommend to whoever wants them! all of these are either complete or regularly updating, so no waiting for a chapter that will never come. enjoy, and make sure to leave the authors a comment!

never fallen (from quite this high) by crystalcrow

For most people, a problem is a matter or situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful that needs to be dealt with or overcome.

For Andrew Minyard, it’s the word that fits Neil Josten with a capital P.

(or, aftg from andrew’s pov)

Chapters: 43/43, Words: 352140

why i like it: i'm a slut for andrew's pov, so this fic is kind of my everything. bonus points for being an alternate way to reread the series.

Every Time a Bell Rings by fuzzballsheltiepants

Nathaniel has been lost since his mother died. According to the authorities, he died too, in the shootout that killed his father. In reality, he's been dragging himself along from town to town, sleeping on the streets, lacking even a name. He's not sure how he's been surviving, or if it's even worth it anymore.

Andrew has been stuck in the waiting room of the Afterlife, reading the same stupid pamphlets and listening to the same terrible music, ever since he was collateral damage in the car wreck that eliminated his mother. Until he gets a chance to take over the guardianship of one particularly difficult person and possibly earn his wings--if he can keep the idiot alive.

Basically, an It's a Wonderful Life AU featuring our favorite Foxes.

Chapters: 17/17, Words: 56704

why i like it: it's sad, funny, and heartwarming, much like the inspiration.

Fencing with Reality by fuzzballsheltiepants

What do you do when you're bored out of your skull during social distancing and a spider has just taken up residence in your living room? If you're Andrew Minyard, you take up fencing and end up meeting someone who you can't get out of your head - even if you've never actually seen their face.

Chapters: 1/1, Words: 7230

why i like it: pandemic or no pandemic, taking up a new hobby because there's a spider in your house is both hilarious and ridiculously valid.

Magesong by fuzzballsheltiepants

Ten years ago, Neil and his mother fled from his violent Fire mage father, leaving the kingdom of Ravenar and his childhood friends behind. Now alone, his magic stripped from him, Neil finds himself a spoil of war, sold by the new king of Ravenar into marriage with the prince of Palmetto in an attempt to buy peace. Nothing goes quite as he expects: he regains his lost magic, makes new friends, and reconnects with old ones. But even as he starts to form a magical bond with Prince Andrew, a threat lurks on the horizon, and he must stop it before war breaks out again.

Chapters: 13/13, Words: 54753

why i like it: magic! but also the positive arranged marriage. mostly the magic tho.

light fires at night (to push back the void) by inthesea (now archived)

The first time Andrew realizes he wants to hear the words, Neil isn’t even doing anything. He’s just sitting there, staring at the horizon with that stupidly dramatic faraway expression of his, and letting the cigarette burn down between his fingers all the way to the filter — an outrageous waste of good nicotine, if you asked Andrew.

(Or: 20+ times Andrew and Neil say I love you, and one time they say it out loud.)

Chapters: 3/3, Words: 61862

why i like it: a very good development of neil and andrew over the years. it's just satisfying.

The Bachelor of Baltimore by likearecord

Nathaniel Wesninski, the only son of the Butcher of Baltimore, has two options: choose a mob boss to marry for the benefit of the Moriyamas, or meet with an unfortunate accident. He thought he had it worked out. And then Andrew Minyard walked into his life.

Chapters: 5/5, Words: 32235

why i like it: it's a (slightly nicer) look at what neil might have been like if mary had never ran, and while we don't support the mafia, it's interesting to see how the foxes might have fit into that world.

Point Nemo by moonix

Neil meets his favourite Exy player of all time one starry night on a balcony, steals his cigarette lighter, gets asked out on a date... and has to pretend not to be completely, utterly obsessed with Exy in order to keep his interest. Easy. Right?

Chapters: 1/1, Words: 13814

why i like it: cozy winter vibes, chronic pain rep, and neil being absolutely ridiculous. plus, this kevin moment:

“Remember what happened last time you tried to set me up with someone?” Neil said, snapping his fingers at him.

“She wasn’t so bad,” Kevin said mulishly. “How was I supposed to know she was deathly allergic to peanuts?"

Not Nothing by TheRainbowElectric

Five times Neil tells someone that he and Andrew aren’t dating, and one time Andrew uses his words to set the record straight.

Chapters: 1/1, Words: 23148

why i like it: it's a nice, pretty realistic take on neil and andrew's relationship and the way it develops in the aftermath of tkm.

Blame It On My Youth by youreyestheyglow

10 years after the end of The King's Men, Andrew and Neil have decided to foster a kid. They have low expectations for themselves--they're not exactly ideal parenting material--but at the very least, the kid will be safe with them. But neither Andrew nor Neil do temporary very well.

Chapters: 126/?, Words: 1,425,633 (as of 2023-03-05, updates on Sundays)

why i like it: general domestic fluff (with some drama here and there), great character dynamics, and the fact that i laugh out loud at least once each chapter.

[jemej3m]

Devil wears Prada pt2 where Nicky or Matt or Alison or smth give Neil a makeover and Andrew is Too Gay For This Shit

mmMMmmmMMMmMmM

*

“He hates me,” Neil insisted, leaning his hip against Kevin’s focus board. The man was busy sorting out different approaches to the spring release, of which Nicky had been nagging on about all week. 

Kevin hummed, ignoring Neil completely. 

“I don’t want his validation,” Neil continued. “I just - we all work hard here. Harder than he does! And he gets all the credit?”

“You’re being melodramatic.” 

Neil just huffed. “Well, what do I do?”

Kevin shrugged. “Andrew chooses who he listens to. You need to prove that your ideas are worth his time.” The man glanced up, giving Neil’s outfit a derogatory once-over. “And you’re going to get nowhere, looking like that.”

Neil looked down at himself. “I look fine.”

“You’re the secretary for the forerunner of the most lucrative fashion editorial that’s ever graced the planet, wearing Goodwill jeans and shoes that have superglue seeping out from the soles. Fix it.”

Neil just flipped him off, storming out of Kevin’s office. The man went back to his concept arrangements with little more than a roll of his eyes. 

*

Before Neil could reach his desk the next morning, a hand wrapped around his wrist and tugged him sideways. 

A blonde woman stood head and shoulders taller than him, grinning fiendishly. “Hello, Neil.” 

“Hello,” Neil allowed, taking a step back. “Do I know you?”

She flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Kevin gave me full reign over the sample closets with an order to teach you how to look less...like that.”

“You just gestured to all of me?”

“Well, yeah.” She pinched his cheek. “My name’s Allison. Model, entrepreneur, fabulous bitch and your saviour. Now, shall we?”

“Minyard will be arriving soon -” Neli argued as she towed him down the corridor. 

“Kevin excused you for the morning,” she winked. “Appreciate it, I think. Now, where do we start? Underwear, presumably. Wait! Let’s tackle that mop of hair on your head.” 

Neil just gulped. 

*

Andrew was mildly pissed off. Kevin had excused the haggerty brat of a secretary from work for the morning and refused to disclose why: even Nicky had kept his mouth shut, typing away quietly at his desk. It meant  Andrrew’s coffee was late and his scheduling wasn’t printed out in the format that he liked. He hadn’t even realised that Josten had picked up on that detail, which only served to piss him off even more. He was deathly busy: he had no time to be thinking about the likes of Neil Josten, his train-wreck of a secretary. 

“I expect you to catch up on all this,” Andrew heard Kevin say. 

“Do you take me for an amateur? I’ve already sorted out everything on this list,” Neil Josten retorted, shoving the clipboard back into Kevin’s chest. Kevin stayed by Nicky’s desk as Neil waltzed through into Andrew’s office without knocking. 

Andrew couldn’t help but stare.

“I know you would’ve suffered through one of those bitter, watery espresso shots this morning,” his assistant said, placing down Andrew’s favourite coffee order on a coaster than Aaron had bought him. He then dropped down two books. “Here’s the manuscripts that you ordered for your niece and nephew, the most recent copy of the Palmetto edition unedited, and your correspondences. I’ll have you know that a Kengo Moriyama has asked you to an event, so I retorted with a scathingly professional rebuke. I’ve printed out the response for you to peruse, since I know you actually think it’s amusing -”

“Who dressed you?” Andrew demanded. 

Neil looked down at himself. He was wearing black slacks that clung to his legs and glossy Dolce dress shoes. A midnight-blue velvet blazer was kept open over a white blouse that had a lace overlay, tucked into his trousers and extenuating an incredibly slim waist. 

His hair was clipped and artfully curled. Worst of all were the smudges of eyeliner at the corners of his eyes, the blue irises outshining every Cerulean jewel. 

“Allison toyed with me slightly,” he admitted. 

Of course. Allison.

Andrew hummed, ignoring the poignant thrashing of his heart against his ribcage. “Out.” 

Neil, inexplicably, grinned. With a two fingered salute, he left Andrew’s office, shutting the glass doors behind him. 

Andrew tugged his cigarettes out from the bottom drawer of his desk, staring out at the landscape of New York City as the hour chugged by, ignoring every call and knock on his door. 

Fucking dammit. 

[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!!

[bekaraar]

Why Kandreil is valid

umm so imma start with this: I AM NOT TRYING TO FORCE MY OPINION ON ANYONE, THE PURPOSE OF THIS POST IS TO EXPLAIN MY BELIEFS TO YOU, IT IS YOUR CHOICE WHETHER YOU BELIEVE IT OR NOT.

So some people give the following reasons for why Kandreil is not valid and I’ve addressed them

Warning: Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Past abuse, mentions of choking

a) Kevin’s homophobic comment.

Ok so we know that riko is a sadistic controlling jerk, so it is safe to assume that Kevin never got to form his own opinion on anything. Any opinion he has is Riko’s and riko was a homophobic single minded little fuck and therefore Kevin carried all those enforced ideals with himself: for example “its better to be straight blah blah”. We also know that he is bi. Even if you don’t ship him with any man, he is obviously bi, lets face it, a fucking queen tattoo and the always scene is not straight. So here you have a person who has been told from his childhood that there is this part of him that is wrong, that a part of him will stop him from getting to his dream of being court. This is where internalized homophobia comes in. I personally believe that Kevin seriously has self worth and self esteem issues as well as internalized homophobia, and as it often is with any emotion humans feel, we try to project it and that is what he did. (His was, though, in the right place. He just wanted the best for them. He felt coming out would harm their career.) I do think that even if Kevin goes on and marries Thea or anyone else, one day he will come to understand that every part of him is amazing and that it is best live as you are, not hiding any part of yourself. 

b) Andrew choking Kevin

Again we need to face it: Andrew has trust issues. Drugging someone who panicked on seeing a famous sports player is a little too extreme, even when the drugs are considered. So when he found out that the person he had been protecting had been keeping a life-threatening secret from him, he reacted in an extreme manner. That being said, i do not think that the way he reacted was at all rational or even possible for that matter because: He promised Kevin that he would protect him and then went and broke his own deal by choking Kevin (to the point of leaving bruises), and we all know how much Andrew values his deals. Therefore i think it was simply impossible and that Nora put it there only to dispel any notion of Kandreil ever existing.

c) Did Kevin uphold his part of the deal?

Um so I’ve seen many people give their take on this and here’s mine: Yes, he did. There are a few reasons for it. So, if we even only consider Andreil, then it was technically Kevin who recruited Neil, giving Andrew his literal soulmate and, by extension, a reason to live his life. Neil was always Kevin’s recruit so in that scenario the deal was upheld. the second thing is Exy. Now this is controversial, but personally i think after watching Neil play and derive joy from the simple acting of playing, i think Andrew would become more sympathetic towards the sport. Later in their relationship as he would notice how Neil absolutely lights up when Andrew agrees to play a game, he would like it even more, though there will be that little bit of hate surrounding it because of the Moriyamas. (These are scenarios only with Andreil. With Kandreil, there are more but that’s for another post.)

[side-effect-of-the-meds]

Okay so Nikoshi Motherfucking Doe 

So, @sadivy2​ dropped into my inbox and snagged my attention with a rather interesting ask and while I like most of the concept, I’m choosing to take a few creative liberties. Take what you want from this but, as always, I’mma do what I want bc I can :))) Bear with me as I tell the tale of the only valid Moriyama

In the months following Kev’s flight from the Nest, Riko begins to grow incredibly volatile and needs something to distract him. It’s in the middle of his English class that he sees the prettiest girl on the face of the Earth. On his way out, he swings by to talk to her and, one thing leads to another and she’s leading him back to her dorm. 

About a year or so later Riko hears about the car crash that killed Evermore’s number 1 track star and orphaning her child. He doesn’t think much of it until a week later when he sees the shrine they’ve put up for her. 

It’s the girl from English and in the photo is her four and half month old son, Nikoshi. For the most part, he seems to take after his mother. He’s only a few shades lighter than her with a more golden/yellowish undertone and the same cloud of corkscrew curls but his nose is thin and turns up just a little at the end. His lips aren’t as full and his eyes are rounder with irises as black as night. The child is beautiful and is unmistakably Riko’s.

By the time Riko gets his shit together, it’s too late. Nikoshi’s been shipped off into the foster care system. One would think that with such an unusual name, he’d be easy to find but Riko can’t for the life of him find the kid. 

Make no mistake, Riko doesn’t give a damn about this kid. He wants to find him and erase him. If word got out that Riko had been fooling around and had fathered a child, there’d be a thousand women falling at his feet and attempting to claim that their child was his too. Nikoshi was a threat to Riko’s reputation. He had to be disposed of. 

Of course, he never gets the chance to deal with the kid. Instead, he’s to preoccupied orchestrating the death of Seth, the return of Dr*ke, and Neil’s trip to Evermore to even think about Nikoshi. It’s not until the death of his own father that he even takes the time to think about his son. It’s only for a brief instant that the word flashes through his head. My son. Riko hates it immediately. Anger floods him and he beats the shit out of Jean. The next morning, by the time Riko wakes, Jean is long gone.

 That’s it. That was the final straw. All of Riko’s self-control is gone. He’s lost Kevin and Jean. He couldn’t bring Neil back to Evermore. He couldn’t even find the child he’d fathered. When he steps onto the court at finals, he’s ready to burst. 

He throws his all into the game and he still loses. 

The defeat is crushing, not as crushing as Andrew’s racquet smashing into his arm, but crushing nonetheless. It’s almost a relief when Ichirou pulls out the gun.

“I have a final request,” Riko started, speaking in Japanese for fear of the Wesninski overhearing. “Find the child I’ve fathered. His mother died in a car accident when he was four months old, nearly five. His name is Nikoshi. Find him and kill him too.” The gun goes off and Riko’s lifeless body slumps to the floor. 

For the next few months, all Ichirou can think about is Nikoshi. His curiosity ends up winning out and he ends up spending a few late nights researching. From what he’s managed to find, Nikoshi is the son of a woman named Renatta Beckford, a track star from Evermore who was being scouted for the Olympic team who’d never revealed the father of his child. Why she’d chosen to do so, Ichirou couldn’t figure out but he was grateful nonetheless. That made this mess a little easier to clean up. 

It’s YEARS before Ichirou manages to actually track the kid himself down. Well, if you could even call it tracking him down. On Ichirou’s rare day off, he decides to head down to Brooklyn for the weekend. Wandering about the Brooklyn Museum, he sees a kid, no more than twelve balanced precariously atop a bench in an attempt to see. 

“Nikoshi, if you don’t get down from there right fucking now!” a woman snapped as she yanked him off the bench by the collar of his shirt. As the shirt shifted, Ichirou saw the myriad of bruises blooming across the boy’s skin. 

“But Mom-” the boy started to say. 

“I am not your mother,” the woman hissed as she caught him by the hair. 

“Surely not, seeing as no mother could possibly bring herself to hurt her child in such a fashion.” The words were out of Ichirou’s mouth before he could stop them.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” the woman asked, giving Nikoshi’s hair another savage yank. 

“That is none of your concern,” Ichirou said breezily. “If I were you, I’d be far more concerned with who they are.” Immediately, a pair of officers moved to flank him. “I presume, you saw the bruises too.” One of the officers nodded. “Detain her and get CPS on the phone. Tell them Ichirou Moriyama is calling.” The woman’s face grew pale as her hand slipped out of Nikoshi’s hair. 

A few hours later, Nikoshi found himself riding in the back of the nicest car he’d ever seen. 

“I didn’t need your help,” he snapped at the man sitting across for him. When no response came, Nikoshi said it again, louder this time. 

“No wonder your father didn’t want you,” the man said. His words knocked the breath out of Niko’s lungs. 

“Fuck you. There’s no way you know my father.”

“No,” the man replied. “I didn’t know him but I know someone who did.” After that, no matter what Niko said or did, the man didn’t say another word. At some point, Niko gave up the fight and let himself be led out of the car and followed the man out to a plane. “Is there a problem?” the man asked when Niko stalled at the foot of the stairs. 

“I’m not supposed to get in a stranger’s car,” he said suspiciously.

“You already let us drive you out here,” the man pointed out. “Besides, this isn’t a car. It’s a private jet. Now, come on. I haven’t got all day.” Tentatively, Niko made his way up the stairs and into the lounge. He took a seat as far away from the man as he could and curled up. No one bothered him for the remainder of the trip. 

When the plane landed there was a second car waiting for them, just as nice as the first. Niko didn’t have any choice but to get in. He stared out the window, watching in silence as the houses passed by. They were massive. Each was three or four stories high with opulently decorated gates that towered over him. It wasn’t long until they pulled up into the driveway of one. The gates parted to let them through. 

“Come, Niko. It’s time to meet your new foster family.” Niko slid out of the car and turned his gaze to the man standing at the front door. His mouth fell open as he took in the messy black hair and emerald green eyes. He watched as the man worked his jaw, the muscles beneath the chess piece on his cheek twitching. “Nikoshi, I’d like you to meet-”

“Kevin Day,” Niko whispered in awe.

and it’s really late now so i’ll finish this tomorrow if you guys are interesedt in my continued bullshit 

[palmett-hoes]

since the first step in achieving your goals is to state them aloud, here's a list of aftg fics/ au s that i'd like to write some day

- pre-canon fic from aaron's perspective spanning the twins' first meeting till they're drafted by the foxes and graduate high school. i'm increasingly enamored with aaron as a character as well as with an outside perspective of andrew's actions and i think it would be very interesting to look at the foundation on which their fraught relationship is built and first developed

- even more pre-canon fic. andrew's early life in foster care. yes, we all know about the most... gruesome things that were done to him, but i believe that there is plenty more that has affected and shaped him, especially in relation to my interpretation of andrew as an autistic poc. this would not be a happy fic.

- anastasia au. neil as anya, andrew as dimitri. possibly a plot amalgamation from both the animated movie and the stage show, with changes as i see fit. (no, neil is not the prince of russia). what i find most compelling about this au is the story of neil and andrew as childhood friends and then the angst of having andrew, as an adult, teaching an amnesiac neil how to act like a noble while being convinced that neil is an imposter. good shit

- art school/dance club au. the foxes attend the palmetto school of art at prestigious edgar allen university. they're considered the school's charity cases, and they are NOT friends. andrew is a studio arts major with a concentration in sculpture who works in the campus coffee shop in the mornings and frequents night clubs that employ pretty boys in the evenings. neil is attending college completely on his father's dime, PROVIDED he study what his father wants, despite his desire to study dance and music. going crazy without an outlet, neil takes a secret job as a go-go dancer. look. this may slightly possibly be a result of me having planned to party hardy this summer, then having my plans ruined by the virus :c

- 1950s High School au. the 1950s aesthetics fucking rock even though the 1950s fucking sucked. kinda wanna tackle both. plus, andrew already has that james dean bad boy fast car appeal

- an exploration of mary and nathan's relationship and history. i get that neil's parents are both super taboo and both really really awful people, but i have questions and i want to answer them

- neil never returns from baltimore. in order to keep his deals, permanently, andrew kills riko and tetsugi, and gets over 20 years in prison. when he gets out, he just wants to be alone, but it seems there's a ghost haunting him. this was conceived for MAXIMUM angst, no getting around it. i got the idea from a badacts fic and it has haunted me ever since

- post-canon sexuality exploration fic. i have a real passion for quality sex education and healthy experimentation, and neil very clearly didn't get the chance for either. yet at the end of the books he finds himself in a very intense sexual relationship. i just really want to give him the opportunity to find out how desire works for him and what he likes, on his own terms. i read a lot of fics where neil's desires seem to be completely dependent on andrew's initiaton, and while i do believe that andrew is the only person neil is attracted to and will ever be attracted to, i also want to explore how his sexuality manifests on its own. the vibe i'm going for is, uh, HornySweet (tm), but also with a lot of genuine eductional material. i want this is to be something that offers real information to its readers that may have been inaccessible for a lot of people, on topics like like sexual hygiene, maturbation, and sex toys in a non-fetishy way. this will be very very E rated, but like,, in a very earnest and goofy way because sex and sexuality is neat and cool but it's also not all serious perfect fucking. it's just,, a topic that deserves to be DISCUSSED

- mobster au. andrew, having never met aaron, takes a job for the moriyamas to track down a runaway asset. Neil. upon completion, they make andrew the butcher's apprentice, and pull neil back into the fold as a commodity rather than a person. lots of violence, lots of shady underground dealings, lots of plotting, lots of secrets.

i'm gonna put some more under the cut, ones that i don't feel as strong a drive towards right now or that i haven't thought as much about. if you (yes, YOU) like any of these, or are interested in any of these, or wanna hear more about any of these, or are even inspired to write something yourself by any of these please, PLEASE, say something in the notes, or send me a message, or an ask or anything. ANYTHING. i am stuck inside, all the time, and i am so, so lonely. i answer from hoob-gooblin

- princess bride au. come ON. princess bride is one of the most romantic AND most snarky movies of all time, and andreil literally invented love and devotion sooooooo it's a perfect match. "yes or no" vs "as you wish" kings of consent and communication and unconventional love declarations. also,, he may not be how I imagine andrew, but a young cary elwes in dramatic black pirate getup is DEFINITELY a valid andrew

- hozier au. sometimes,, i listen to an album, and imagine a fic that encompases the whole thing. nothing speaks louder to me than hozier's discography. (also, yes, i am gay). maybe a little bit inside llewyn davis. neil wanders through a small town and takes up some small jobs, but sings his heart out through twisted metaphors once a week in a hole in the wall bar staffed by a very short, dead eyed veteran

- prince and the pauper au. on a stealth recon mission in enemy territory, andrew encounters a local lord who happens to have his face. in a moment of desperation to save himself from arrest, andrew knocks the lord out and assumes his identity. he returns to the castle just in time for prince moriyama to arrive with a shifty-eyed, red-headed handservant in tow. lord aaron of columbia, meanwhile, wakes up on a ship manned by crown traitor and fugitive kevin day, calling him by a name he's never heard before, and then he's in the hands of the guerilla rebel forces that have been attacking the kingdom. i watched barbie princess and the pauper as a child and that movie fucking slaps

- little mermaid/beauty and the beast/bride of the rose beast/ladyhawke au. in a last ditch attempt to escape his father, neil trades his voice and his tail for legs and washes ashore on a small kingdom with horrible secrets. because he cannot speak, read or write, prince aaron employs neil to serve the monster in the catacombs, the prince's twin brother. the twins are under a curse that turns them into terrifying monsters, andrew by day and aaron by night. aaron's affliction is a secret, as is andrew's humanity. this is such a hodgepodge idea lol. did neil also have to be a mermaid for this to work? no. is he? hell yeah

- new york private school/twin swap au. aaron wins a scholarship to a prestigious school that will guarantee him a future, but then he relapses. convinced he just needs a little more time to get clean, he makes a deal with his volatile new brother, andrew, to stand in for him at the school just until he can his shit together. neil and ichirou moriyama have been raised together their entire lives, always under the knowledge that ichirou will inherit the family empire with nathaniel as his right hand. they hate the idea, but they have no way to escape, and now neil is being harassed by ichirou's bitchass estranged brother at their stupid, fancy private school. LISTEN, we as a fandom do NOT take enough advantage of the twin swap possibilities presented to us. pathetic

- post-canon fic where ichirou, realizing that the life of a mob boss is a lonely one, decides that he needs... a friend. however, because of the nature of his work, he can't just make friends with anyone, so he decides to make friends with neil. without consulting neil first. cue a lot of very weird, very awkward coffee dates where neil is convinced he's about to be disposed of, and ichirou just wants to know about his cats. the thing i like about ichirou is he’s a complete blank slate. i can make him a good guy, a bad guy, an ally, the Big Bad

- Kill Bill au. mary survives a bullet to the head and wakes up from a coma over a year later. with nothing left to lose, she sets out to single-handedly dismantle the wesninski circle. good thing she used to be its top assassin

- single dad andrew au. except look, look, stay with me here, okay, aaron is his son, and he's adopted nicky and kevin. LISTEN. STAY WITH ME. JUST THINK ABOUT IT. tbh the idea comes from my interpretation of the andrew/neil/kevin dynamic as distincly parental, then extending that interpretation to andrew's protection over the rest of his family.

- fashion au. andrew is a fashion designer and photographer who frequently works with allison reynolds. one day she brings around a short, twitchy assistant who looks like she just plucked him out of an alley. somehow, he becomes andrew's muse. i watch a lot of fashion competition shows

- ghibli. either howl's moving castle (andrew as sophie, neil as howl) or spirited away (?). maybe both idk

- legally blonde au. legally blonde is so good guys

[yuzuka-rei]

foxhole court thoughts dump so they’re not in my head anymore

1, so okay just fuck im so so so into the kevin/riko dynamic,,, codependency is so my thing and to read/write about kevin’s slow decision that he doesn’t want to be overshadowed by riko anymore, his hope that riko will accept him as an equal/superior, riko’s betrayal by breaking his hand, leaving the Nest and realising that he knows he shouldnt want to go back but he wants to (think about breakups- you always want to breakup with a toxic s.o until you’ve actually broken up then you feel empty and you want to go back) just,,, 

kevin/riko is at its heart an extremely toxic relationship between someone truly demonic and someone so very human and just to see how riko would give kevin glimpses of love so that he would continue to follow him is just---------- also like riko would definitely try to tempt kevin back with the promise of love and then how andrew gives kevin a reason to stay and just- why does no one write about it!!

i also want someone to rewrite riko as less of a caricature,,, a youtube review put it really really well which was that the sports storyline had to match the level of the mafia storyline and thus riko became too much of a demon. i want to read a version, at the expense of the unbalanced stakes, i want to see riko be human, selfish, needy, tries to please kevin but the minute said “pleasing” doesnt match his own desires he stops, just i want!! to see!! riko be human!! and hate him just as much as i UNDERSTAND him (like cersei god i LOVE cersei shes terrible and i would stab her if i met her but shes an amazingly human character and i understand and in her place i would make every one of her decisions without flinching...)

anyways, riko moriyama, i want to write/read him in a way, like if this portrayal makes you want to call him your son its exactly NOT what i want (if someone writes riko in a way that makes you wanna protect him, sorry, not my thing sis, misplaced burn but this sort of person is exactly the sort of person that would have proudly claimed and advertises that they are “slytherin”, because they’re “evil” and “cunning” and “selfish” you’re delusional dude why would you WANT to be in the “evil” house (people who want to be slytherin because they’re ambitious etc etc are valid though) no mentally stable person actively wants to be bad, its human nature to try to strive for good, but sometimes what is good for you is bad for other people and you don’t care)

like i want to see that, riko knows what hes doing is horrid and you know you really should hate him, i want it to hurt, i want you to want to despise him but at the same time you see yourself in him, that makes you fear at night that you will too one day become like this. i dont want riko to be EXCUSED i want him to be UNDERSTOOD. 

2, okay so andrew/kevin. equally as toxic.

 (toxic doesn’t mean its entirely impossible or morally corrupt it just means that unless they actively take.a lot of initiative to change their personalities all the relationship will do is hurt both of them, honestly apart from dan/matt/katelyn/neil/renee everyone else in these books would make pretty toxic relationships... like imagine allison and kevin... a fucking wreck sis) 

i personally don’t think those two can possibly have a healthy relationship unless its coupled with neil [nora’s original idea of the threesome also sounds pretty unhealthy but so so so intriguing... im glad she wrote andrew/neil instead that was pretty healthy all things considered] 

but just the IDEA of kevin being utterly utterly obsessed with riko, and to deal with these feelings he moves them entirely to andrew [i did this for my own relationship, like i got broken up with and to deal with the pain of that i latched onto the most unattainable person in my world... its ending fairly badly] and then he heals from riko and he falls in love with things about andrew that dont echo riko, then andrew pushes him away because andrew doesn’t want to hurt kevin (or himself) and just them dancing around each other, always protecting each other and always there for each other but neither of them are allowed to make a move... for any other pairing in this situation they would’ve become fuck buddies but that doesn’t work for andrew and people he actually cares about and its a mess

then neil comes along and they both “fall in love” with him, like they genuinely love neil but neil isn’t part of their codependency, they love him because hes a breath of fresh air, hes a pipe dream, hes perfect in every way but they’re also afraid of breaking him, you know? they both love in such all consuming and selfish ways. and neil literally loves like a first grader- this is his first relationship dude, he may believe that the world is a terrible place but you bet he still believes that everything in a relationship can be solved by love alone when it can’t. basically my point is that canon kandreil/kandrew would be a mess and while fluff fics are generally nice id love to explore exactly how much angst we can squeeze out of this shit

anyways this was a ramble feel free to disagree and only talk to me if you agree dude i have no qualms in admitting that i dont like talking to people who dont think the same way as me and i doubt you do either sis

[sadboyayeron]

Send some aftg hc promts!!!

Nikoshi ask would be great too!

(link)

[ohsweetflips]

hawk in the raven nest, chapter twenty-four

chapter summary: tragic: causing or characterized by extreme distress or sorrow

A/N: hey guys!!! im so sorry that i had to postpone today's chapter, i was had classes and then a swim meet and was out from 8am to 11pm last night and passed out the moment i got in

read on ao3

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Ever since Kevin began his time as a Fox on the starting line, the Ravens made it a habit of watching their games. Riko was the one who enforced that. Their teammates believed that it was so Riko could laugh at Kevin’s misfortune; Kevin left the best Class I Exy team for the last place Foxes, what was there that Riko couldn’t laugh at? Nathaniel, however, knew it was because Riko was paranoid. Kevin was always a threat to Riko, but before the Foxes, Kevin was a threat that Riko believed he could beat down. Now, with Kevin as an opponent, and an opponent who was drastically improving a team meant to amount to nothing, Kevin was a danger to Riko.

Riko became obsessive when watching the Foxes’ games. He kept note of every win and loss, the length of each point gap, which team they were playing and how they had fared against the Ravens. With each game that the Foxes won, and with that each large point gap, Riko grew less and less happy with his results.

With the Foxes winning game against Binghamton, Riko’s nerves were through the roof. He was past the point of a violent outbreak; at this stage, everything was internalized. His hands were clenched on the arms of his chair, his knuckles white. His eyes stared blankly at the screen as their teammates chattered around him in the lounge. Maybe they were nervous, too, but didn’t want to let on; maybe they didn’t see Kevin as a threat yet. Either way, Riko was panicking because championships were getting very close and the Foxes were going to be in the death matches. With the path they seemed to be going on, they might be able to get past Penn State. The Trojans could be the ones that stop them, but even that was too close for Riko’s liking.

Attention was brought back to the screen when none other than Kevin Day came back on it. He was the one who the reporters decided to interview that night. He was sweaty, with some pieces of hair clinging to his forehead. His green eyes shone with victory, and he flashed an award winning grin at the camera. The two on his cheek stared at them all, showing where he had come from, and where he was now.

“Kevin, what an amazing game the Foxes played tonight!” the reporter beamed, happiness obvious on her face at being able to interview Kevin Day.

“Thank you,” Kevin grinned, swooping his hair out of his face. “We’ve all worked really hard for this game.”

“Talk about working hard!” she exclaimed. “Look at you! Last year, no one thought you would ever step onto a court again. Now, here you are, right-handed, and picking up speed with the Foxes, who finally seem to really deserve their Class I rank. It seems that you’ve really been pushing your fellow teammates.”

“Actually, we all push each other. You see, while I definitely push the Foxes to be better, they push me, too, not just with their own drills, but with stamina in a game. The Foxes are really big on endurance training. Coach Wymack really emphasizes on it considering how few of us there are, some of us are out here playing full games with no subs. So, yeah, when I got here I was getting good training in. Not only was I coming off of not being able to play for months, but I also hadn’t gone on long runs in forever. Years ago, before we were even on the Ravens, Riko and I would go running around campus. But once we were official Ravens and had night practices, we haven’t done it since. We had no time, we would spend our time on the court before we would even think of going running. The Foxes and Coach Wymack really helped me get back to where I needed to be, I’m so thankful to be able to play again.”

The reporter wouldn’t realize what Kevin had said, and how it didn’t match up. She would realize it when she went over tapes, or had someone write an article about Kevin bouncing back from a hit and run that happened while Riko and Kevin were on their usual late nights runs. While she was talking about it, or someone was writing about it, they would realize the discrepancy in that story when they noticed that Kevin said very clearly that he and Riko hadn’t ran together in years.

At that moment, though, she just nodded along with a grin on her face. Captain Danielle Wilds came into view, but Nathaniel didn’t catch what she was asked. All eyes were on Riko, because while the reporter wouldn’t catch the discrepancy, it was all the Ravens noticed. They were told by Riko himself that something terrible had happened to Kevin, by Tetsuji that Kevin was struck by a car while they were on their usual run. Yet, Kevin himself, the injured party, blew that truth out of the water in just a couple sentences.

“Didn’t you say that you and Kevin would go on runs all the time?” Jenkins asked.

“He doesn’t know what he’s saying,” Riko managed out, his eyes locked on the TV.

“He seemed very confident in what he had to say,” Andrew unexpectedly said from besides Nathaniel.

“Shut up!” Riko shouted, and Nathaniel didn’t miss some of their teammates flinching. He wondered if Riko felt his own validity crumbling to pieces. Riko looked over at where Nathaniel and Andrew were sitting, except his eyes weren’t on Andrew. He was staring directly at Nathaniel. Riko didn’t know that Andrew knew everything, he didn’t know that Nathaniel and Andrew were constantly speaking with Kevin; Riko thought that everything that really happened with Kevin was just a secret between him and Nathaniel. He was waiting for Nathaniel to say something, to say anything that would give up Riko’s crumbling alibi. It was a threat; if Nathaniel said one wrong thing, Riko would kill him. Riko wanted to see if Nathaniel was smart enough to stay quiet.

Nathaniel had an attitude problem, but luckily for him, he knew when to save his remarks for a later date when they would be more beneficial. To reveal the truth now would give Riko an opening to destroy Nathaniel; Nathaniel was smarter than that.

Nathaniel met Riko’s eyes and said nothing. For right now, he would leave Riko the satisfaction of thinking that he scared Nathaniel into silence. He would let Riko try to convince his teammates that Kevin was delusional, because inevitably he would fail.

The lie that had been formed was finally being broken apart. The end never looked so clear and bright.

--

In the morning, Tetsuji was forced to call off another practice. Instead of practicing, the Ravens were corralled into their lounge. Nathaniel was sitting on one of the loveseats with Andrew at his side. Riko was alert, sitting tense on one of the recliners. The rest of the athletes were groggy with sleep, but anyone with a mind could see what was happening.

The door from above swung open, and all heads turned to the staircase. Down walked Edgar Allan’s Director of the Board of Education and the Athletics’ Director. After them came Tetsuji; he looked emotionless, though Nathaniel had a feeling it was just a facade. Even he had to know what was coming for them.

The Education Director stared down the athletes. “After the departure of two of your athletes, one with severe injuries, one in need of ‘time away’, we grew suspicious. We planned to have done this already, but we were told it would have been of no use,” he said, sliding a look to Tetsuji. “Now, though, it either seems that it was of use, or one of your top athletes doesn’t know how he broke his hand. We have a warrant from the board to search through your dormitories-” He held up a piece of paper. In his other hand were black garbage bags. “-You all will stay here as we do so, and no one is permitted to take anything from their dorm or leave.” He paused. “This team is in hot water right now. Even if all of you are confident in that nothing incriminating is in these dorms, it would bode best for all of you to listen and comply.”

Nathaniel hoped that they would see Riko as incriminating evidence, but he didn’t know if they could remove a person and take him to the Board of Education for inspection.

The Athletics’ Director looked over the athletes in front of him, and his eyes came to a stop at Nathaniel. It had only been a few days since Riko hit him, and the bruise on his jaw was an unmissable, ugly green. The Director didn’t say anything, but Nathaniel imagined that he would take note of that.

Both directors waited a moment longer, a dare to see if any of the athletes would disapprove. When they were satisfied with no one’s response, they headed down the hall that led to the red dormitories. They were the dorms for the athletes with two digit numbers; the ones suspected to leave no impact on the Exy world. They weren’t the reasons for the Directors being down in the Nest, but maybe the two of them hadn’t heard about their corrupt captain.

It wasn’t long until the Directors came back to the lounge. The bags in their hands looked empty, perhaps one or two items that were prohibited thrown in, but nothing major. Nathaniel didn’t expect them to find anything there in the first place. The black dormitories would grant them much more success in their search. The single digit players were the ones expected to yield success, five (now three) of which were expected to be stars in the Exy world, three of which were expected to earn the Moriyamas money, one of which was a Moriyama. The Directors would have fun in that wing.

Nathaniel believed some bloodstained clothes were still tossed in a pile somewhere in his room. Laundry was such a hassle sometimes.

Nathaniel also knew that Riko had knives somewhere in his room, along with who knows what else, and that Kevin’s belongings were still in their shared room.

The Ravens watched as they entered the black wing. Nathaniel shifted his eyes to Riko, who was staring blankly down the hall. The tension in the room seemed to shift from bad to worse. Just twenty-four hours before, the Ravens who were not Perfect Court hadn’t expected anything. They believed that Kevin broke his hand in a hit-and-run. They knew Riko was violent but they didn’t know the extent of it. Nathaniel found himself wondering if they knew what he did to Jean. He wasn’t going to ask to find out.

But now, everything had changed. Kevin had revealed that perhaps Tetsuji -who was standing perfectly still, watching over his team- and Riko had lied about what happened to him. Their rooms were being searched for evidence that the Ravens were a corrupt team, and how it was to be found in their captain’s room. Nathaniel always knew the corruption in the Ravens and how it tiered down from the Moriyamas, and he saw how blind they all were to it when they all believed Tetsuji’s words with no question, but now they couldn’t trust who they were forced to.

In this room, everyone’s lives were being flipped around. The rest of the Ravens couldn’t be blind, or play blind, any longer. Their team was at stake, and if Nathaniel knew any of these people, they either played Exy or they died. There was no way they could turn away from the corruption and the violence when there was a chance they would lose their only way of breathing easy.

What a tragic life these Ravens lived.

A couple minutes passed and the directors came back. Their bags were significantly more filled. The Athletics’ Director sweeped a cool gaze over everyone in the room before landing on Tetsuji. “We need to speak with you about some of the… belongings your athletes had, specifically in that room at the end.”

The room at the end was Riko’s.

Tetsuji nodded once. He followed them up the stairs.

When the door swung close, eyes shifted from one to another but, in the end, they fell upon their captain. Nathaniel turned to Riko and opened his mouth. The words he said next could have been borderline suicidal if Riko wasn’t under such heavy scrutiny. His next words told Riko that he had no secrets any longer; everything that he had done was bound to be brought to surface:

“Careful Riko, everyone’s watching.”

Riko said nothing, but he did tense his jaw. Out of his peripheral vision, Nathaniel saw Andrew give the smallests of nods to Riko.

It was enough to show that this secret between Riko and Nathaniel was never really between them at all. It was a sign that Riko was never as subtle as he hoped.

Nathaniel wondered if Riko’s stomach flipped at his fall from grace, or if it fell freely because, in the back of his mind, he knew everything would come crashing down at one point.