kevindavidson

[kevindavidson]

(The Sunshine Court, ch.4)

I love Abby, but I agree wholeheartedly with Jean's response here. Because he did fight back. Despite only being a child, he still tried to fight back. But who could win against that? Even Neil nearly broke after two weeks.

Jean had been there for five years.

Like, Abby, look at this boy in front of you and tell me you don't think he's fighting just to stay alive.

Three fractured ribs. Sprained LCL. Twisted ankle. Broken nose.

And saying he had too many scars was an offensive understatement. Overlapping lines of varying thickness and clusters of small burns no bigger than a match head.

How can you think this boy isn't fighting just to stay alive when someone has carved literal whorls over his heart?

I love you, Abby, but fuck you.

[kevindavidson]

Pollen would take Kevin and his Nest-Acclimated immune system out whereas Neil could bury his face in a flower bush and not sneeze once

[kevindavidson]

If he would have lived, I think Riko would have crumbled.

Beyond the Nest, outside its brutal regime and structure, he’d have struggled so hard to wrap his brain around being calm, holding his tongue - and his fists - let alone actually do it. Without the approval to beat and berate his teammates, he’d have lost his mind and eventually scrambled back to EAU to Coach because anything but being King wouldn’t make sense. Alone, Coaches outside the Moriyama influence, unaware that he’s King, would drive him to madness.

The King was always meant to fall, and the Queen to flourish in leaving him behind. It only happened a few years early.

[kevindavidson]

hey guys. Just had a thought

so thanksgiving happens right. everybodys sat around the table having an awkward conversation and aaron's opinion of this is that he Really just wants to get it over with, minimal bullshit so they can just go home, right? and on their way in he saw how andrew looked at luthers car with the racquet and the LAST thing they need is for the cops to get called so aaron decides he'll just try to keep andrew away from his uncle in the hopes that they can just leave quickly, right?

so. at dinner. luther can't tell the twins apart so he looks at aaron and asks andrew to step outside for a talk. aaron stands up before andrew can and leaves with luther. What then.

[kevindavidson]

That bear magnet was a metaphor u see. The beret, because Jean is French. The bear, because he is big and protective, aggressive, and capable of being gentle. And cracked in half and missing a piece, because half of Jean’s life was in France, half was in America, and part of him was lost in between.

Also bc he thinks it’s too broken to be fixed lol.

[kevindavidson]

how’s that house that raised you?

[kevindavidson]

Kevin is the epitome of do it scared.

He escapes the nest. He slides into an assistant coach role. He steps back onto an exy court with his nondominant hand. He grabs Riko’s arm when he goes after Neil at Kathy’s show. He keeps choosing the Foxes over Riko and the Ravens — publicly and privately. He covers his tattoo. He finds a new home for Jean. He topples the king in his own castle using the hand Riko broke.

He does it all. Drunk off his ass most of the time and terrified all of it, but he does it. And that fear is called cowardice because he buckles under the weight of it. But Kevin Day does it.

[kevindavidson]

When I think of a possible Raven Neil, I imagine him very different from the Neil of now. To what extent? Well... I think Neil would develop some kind of psychosis.

But not drugged Andrew type psychosis, no. He would be psychotic in the type that would bang his head against the wall if Riko tried to isolate him from the others (and that is his worst punishment, because Neil has lost some of his sanity and needs to have people around so he doesn't lose it completely).

A psychotic who puts rat poison in other Ravens' food if they bother him. A psychotic in the sense that he is unpredictable. Raven Neil lowers his head with a twitch in his eye when Tetsuji approaches him, but in his head he is thinking about how to make him fall down the steps of the stands and step on his head until his brains spill out. Smile imagining it.

Jean has to squeeze his wrist with the strength of a titan to bring him back to reality.

Neil thinks that everyone is his enemy except Jean, and thinks about how to get out of there, killing them all along the way.

Jean thinks about how to keep Neil's sanity and keep them both alive.

One of them achieves his goal.

[kevindavidson]

idk why people totally ignore kevin’s irish heritage. like my man is at least half irish and people shouldn’t forget that, it annoys me so much.

you can have whatever thoughts about his heritage from wymack’s side but his mom was irish, i wish people would stop ignoring it.

addition: i know it’s easy to forget since it’s not brought up i just think there’s a lot of potential for kevin to be able to reconnect with that part of himself/his mom and it’s left out of a lot of kevin-centric works

[kevindavidson]

The Kings men, chapter four

Okay i'm literally shaking posting this, i've been working on it for days i lost all objectivity about it.

Someone requested this scene when I asked for recommendations on an older post, so this is tkm chapter four:

"Andrew sprawled on the couch in the lounge while Kevin went ahead to change out. Neil hesitated, changed his mind and started after Kevin, and changed his mind again. He stood behind the couch, folding his arms across the back of it, and peered down at Andrew. Andrew had one arm folded under his head and the other draped over his eyes to block the light. 'One of these days you might as well practice with us,' Neil said."

This scene is so long I had to cut some parts (including the incredible "You let us run ourselves into the ground and clean up behind us. You play the game like you play life. That's why you're so good at it.").

Not to mention Andrew's height fear, one of my all-time favorite aftg quotes ("When you said you were afraid of heights, you were joking, right?" "Andrew, you can't be. What were you doing on the roof?" "Feeling." -tkm ch.5).

Update: I cut the (too long) comic into smaller images so that you can open it and have a better quality, hope it works!

[kevindavidson]

Together.

Batgirl (2000) #67 // Batgirl (2000) #27 // Batgirl (2000) #18 // Batman and Robin: Eternal #3 // Truth & Justice #16 // Batman & The Outsiders (2019) #9 // Batgirl (2000) #29 // Batgirl (2000) #60 // Batgirl (2008) #6 // Batgirl (2000) #59 + Batgirl (2024) #3

[kevindavidson]

okay, but the "came back wrong trope" but with elodie moreau. elodie, who is alive, but is so, so different from the sweet 10 year old girl jean remembers, that she might as well be a different person. elodie who is alive, but killed all of the kindness insides herself, beacuse being kind also meant being dead. elodie who is far more skilled in combat, than she ever wanted to be. elodie, who is far more skilled with a gun, than anyone her age should be. elodie who killed people without hesitation. elodie who tortured people and didn't feel guiltily afterwards. who doesn't feel guiltily now. elodie who escaped, but left a bloody trail behind herself. elodie who is still stuck in survival mode, beacuse surviving was all she did, ever since she was twelve. (it was all she could do). elodie who flinches at every touch. elodie who was hurt and used without hesitation. elodie who can't sleep without a gun under her pillow. elodie who is obsessed with exy beacuse it's the only connection to her brother she's had for years. elodie who tries to hold on tho the scraps and pieces of her old life - her old self, but fails. elodie who changed her name so often she sometimes forgot her old one, but could never forget who she used to be - but wished she could. elodie who ordered stuart to tell her brother she's dead, beacuse the sweet 10 year old girl he missed is, beacuse she thinks her brother deserves better than who she is now. elodie who after all those years gave up escaping, running, fighting in a small town near the coast in louisiana. elodie who started playing in a shitty exy high school team, beacuse she's going to die soon anyway, so why not? (nobody recruits there, anyway).

[kevindavidson]

sleepy

[kevindavidson]

Something I wanna poke at in this fic is that Neil has, courtesy of Nathan, by far the most mob connections and importance out of the three characters currently indebted to the Moriyamas.

Kevin has no connection to the main family until Neil gives him one. He always has been and had the events of the series not taken place, always would be connected to the second branch. Yes, Riko “owned” him, but even Riko is small potatoes to the main family and they kill him relatively easily all things considered.

And Jean has said himself how insignificant his family was to the Moriyamas. How easily their debt was paid with their child. He’s more main branch than Kevin, even considering that, but he’s always been insignificant collateral damage and he knows it.

But Neil. Neil was supposed to be given to Tetsuji because the Butcher was never supposed to have a son. Because the Butcher having an heir is an actual threat to the Moriyamas. Because Nathan was a big deal. Nathan basically did their bidding in return for a wide swathe of power of his own, with the knowledge that it was all because of and for the Moriyamas and it would return to the Moriyamas upon his death. Nathan having a son to inherit that power is the only actual threat any of the characters in All For The Game have to the Moriyamas.

And we see it when Stuart invades Nathan’s house. I’m sure Stuart wanted to do that years before but couldn’t while Kengo was in charge and he had to wait until Kengo was about to die and Ichirou was about to take over. It took Ichirou deciding that it wasn’t worth risking Stuart’s power against him, especially considering the FBI involvement and that Nathan had made all his deals with Kengo rather than him so who knows where that power would actually end up with both of them dead. Stuart and Neil could have pulled that ring of power to them rather than the Feds if Ichirou hadn’t made a deal with them.

And now Neil is a product of both of those incredibly powerful families: the Hatfords and the Moriyama’s main branch’s attack dog. Kevin’s mom’s relationship to Tetsuji and Jean’s parent’s debt means nothing compared to that. So interesting.

Neil’s deal is less about the money he owes the Moriyamas and more about the criminal power he could accumulate if wanted to move against the Moriyamas. But Kevin’s and Jean’s deal are all about the money.

And Neil, the little shit, fucking knows it by the end of the series. He doesn’t at the beginning, assumes Kevin and then Jean are the more important Moriyama chess pieces, up until he’s kidnapped by Nathan and then is rescued by Stuart, and Ichirou proves it by killing Riko. And you see it when he talks to Ichirou both times, and when he comes to see Jean in the Sunshine Court: he might be playing happily as a pawn, but he’s also the pawn that can put the King in check if he wants. And he knows it.

[kevindavidson]

Brosten Pt. 2

I reposted by Brosten hcs recently and I'd remiss if I didn't include Pt. 2 - enjoy!!

Matt and Neil can both speak Spanish 

instead of using it to talk shit, they just say absolute nonsense to each other

Nicky always acts like they’re saying super offensive or petty shit

he’ll gasp dramatically and it just eggs them on

they drink from each other’s cups and water bottles and eat from each other’s plates all the time 

everyone else thinks it’s absolutely disgusting

“you didn’t even ask...”

“i don’t have to ask??” 

they go tailgating to other PSU sporting events in Matt’s truck, bringing along whoever is in the mood for hotdogs and busch lite

Matt teaches Neil how to throw a football, and they like to hang out at the park on the rare occasion that they have some downtime

Matt constantly has food for Neil in his bag, like little packets of fruit snacks or granola bars

Neil invites Matt to come running with him, and even though Matt doesn’t think he’ll like it, he agrees bc Neil thought of him and wants to hang out with him

he actually ends up really enjoying it, and Neil slows his pace way down to stay next to Matt

once Matt builds up his endurance they actually talk while running

Matt likes to say whatever pops into his brain, like he has no filter, and most of the time the completely random things he says just make Neil cry-laugh

Neil has a twitter account called shit-my-dad-says and it’s all the random nonsense that Matt says on a daily basis

it has over 500,000 followers

when Matt graduates, he continues to text Neil the funniest, randomest shit and Neil posts screenshots  

(Dan has a similar account called shit-my-work-husband-says and posts the absolutely horrible one-liners he says to her. it gets almost as popular as Neil’s account)

they know how to make each other laugh so hard they can’t breathe

once Neil becomes more comfortable with affection, they say “love you” to each all the time. 

at the end of phone, during practice, whenever the one of them does something small but sweet for the other

Matt makes Neil watch finding nemo with him, and from then on they constantly do the “gimme some fin. gimme some noggin. duuuude.” 

they watch TLC shows together

90 day fiance, say yes to the dress, Darcey and Stacey 

they like to yell at the TV

which is why they also watch bad horror movies together

when they get older and Neil and Andrew make Court, Dan and Matt take their kids to the summer Olympics every four years to watch them play

Neil makes the first exy game of the season for every single one of Dan and Matt’s kids, and the first basketball game of the season for their youngest who doesn’t play exy

Neil is the best man when Dan and Matt get married

he tells stories about them and about how much they love each other

he doesn’t get too sappy, but at the end he says, “Matt, you were the first person on the team to trust me and help me without wanting anything in return. I know the love you have for me is only a fraction of the love you have for Dan, so I know that you’re marriage is going to be unshakable. Here’s to forever.” 

Matt cries and Dan beams

they name their first child David Abram Boyd (Matt says it’s because those names are significant but Dan says it’s because the initials spell DAB)

they are the brothers they never had

[kevindavidson]

oh god okay having serious jeaneil thoughts so like how about jeaneil in the nest constantly watching each other's backs. wiping the blood of each other's wounds and stitching each other up. neil growling when anyone comes too close to jean. jean shoving people to protect neil on the court. riko forcing them to participate in each other's suffering but through their unspoken bond they manage to get through it. neil can bear the torment if jean's hand is there for him to squeeze the life out of. jean can hack the torture if neil's piercing blue eyes are there for him to focus on. them falling asleep together in the same bunk after long tiring nights when their bones have just barely been allowed to heal. them communicating exclusively in french when it's just the two of them alone together. them hauling each other up when one's about to fall. having a shared look that says "get up" or in the worst times "i can't do it". taking each other's hits and punishments because they know the other will do it for them when the time inevitably comes. both of them an unstoppable force on the defence line. when they're on together nobody gets through them. stealing this line from trc but jeaneil as a pair of "horror movie twins" with their blunt words, uncaring postures and sharp eyes. they don't talk to anyone. and everyone's better off for it. because if they do talk to you, they'll tear you limb from limb with their words.

[kevindavidson]

Bby