#Foxes are like: this is just a fun game kevin calm down | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

theravenkin · 1 year

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I posted 3,886 times in 2022

That's 1,789 more posts than 2021!

90 posts created (2%)

3,796 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@herondaleoffspring

@neil-puppy-josten

@neilthefoxjosten

@squash1

@neil-jortsen

I tagged 823 of my posts in 2022

#aftg - 119 posts

#andrew minyard - 114 posts

#all for the game - 110 posts

#neil josten - 109 posts

#andreil - 91 posts

#the foxhole court - 53 posts

#the raven cycle - 48 posts

#kevin day - 47 posts

#trc - 43 posts

#pynch - 34 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#(im not very good at it but i love when my mutuals who are all so smart make posts about it and then i can reblog it and say sooooo true <3

My Top Posts in 2022:

ok i'm back from my disappearance. here's some more "aftg as shit my team has said" as an offering

neil: wow, aaron's actually kinda feisty.

andrew: sure, but not feisty enough to get out of a headlock.

aaron and andrew: *intense sibling rivalry stare*

kevin: we are /not/ losing to that team. they're wearing /green/. if we lose to a team wearing green, i swear to god-

dan: okay guys, big game today! Please show up with a good attitude even if you're on your period or can’t breathe!

neil: yeah, they may think they're the shit, but look at the scoreboard. scoreboard doesn't lie, bitch!

kevin: ...neil...we're losing.

neil: well, yeah, but only by a little bit.

neil: *getting a little too intense while watching the game from the bench*

wymack: neil, have you ever- this is a genuine question, coming from a place of genuine concern- have you ever considered just...trying to calm down? have you ever tried that? i really need you to calm the fuck down.

473 notes - Posted May 9, 2022

cant get over the idea of remus taking regulus under his wing. remus seeing through reg's arrogant ice prince facade and seeing a scared little baby gay underneath. remus slowly getting reg to open up to him, to show his blushy awkward teenager self for once. regulus spilling all his insecurities, his secret crushes, his embarrassing interactions with remus. remus hyping reg up when he likes somebody, encouraging him to be himself, teaching him how to flirt. remus teasing him about being "slytherin's resident heartbreaker" and regulus going bright red every time ("ugh, lupin, shut up."). reg having One (1) interaction with the person he likes and SPRINTING to tell remus immediately ("we touched hands, remus" "oh, you minx!" "shut the fuck up"). remus and reg being able to share a Look and immediately breaking out into giggles. sirius HATING IT. (james finding it kind of adorable.)

sirius: what the fuck are you two on about now??

reg and remus: NOTHING. god. don't worry about it. so nosy. *suspicious giggling*

just. remus being like the "fun aunt" to reg. god i'm so obsessed with this someone help.

605 notes - Posted September 28, 2022

not only does andrew read books; he annotates books but only by underlining every other sentence and writing "gay" in the margins

636 notes - Posted June 22, 2022

hc that kevin has a really hard time remembering to knock instead of just walking into a room because there was no privacy in the Nest and he has no concept of boundaries due to the way he was raised there.

do with that what you will.

773 notes - Posted May 20, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

something i just really like to think about is neil starting to show his actual personality to the rest of the foxes post-canon and them being shocked.

before they knew about everything, he had to keep up the shy, quiet, ordinary, unsuspecting neil josten act. but post-canon, i like to think that he lets loose a little, allows his real personality to show. he actually lets them see ruthless, blunt, hot-tempered neil josten.

i believe in neil having a very specific "im about to raise hell" expression where he does his scary smile and his eyes go absolutely feral, and the others learn that if they see that expression, they need to step aside. also, i think the others might underestimate how good of a liar neil is. he'll have them convinced that he's innocent but andrew will insist that he's lying; the others, at first, think andrew's being mean and bitter, neil's too sweet to be faking this time, why would he lie about something small like this? ...and then neil's expression completely changes from "innocent child" to "chaos demon" frighteningly quickly. it's absolutely terrifying. andrew sees the horror on the other's faces and just goes, see? gullible morons.

what makes this even better: i like to think that once andrew sees that neil won't be pushed around anymore, and also that neil won't let his people be pushed around either, that andrew feels like he can let down his guard a little bit. like...he feels like there is someone who is willing to and capable of protecting him for once. so andrew might actually relax a little bit...while neil gets more unhinged. i just love this trope and all the possibilities.

like, imagine neil does or says something shocking to the upperclassmen, and they turn to andrew and are like "??? are you gonna control him??" because they're used to andrew being controlling over his people. but andrew doesn't feel the need to control neil when he's like this (tbh he's not fully sure that he could). so he just shrugs nonchalantly and stares blankly (and, if you look closely, admiringly) at neil while he wreaks havoc.

it's just like...wait til the upperclassmen realize that neil is far more willing to fuck shit up than andrew ever was. wait until they realize that andrew just wants to drink hot chocolate and talk shit with his therapist while neil crosses people off his hit list. you know?

2,388 notes - Posted February 24, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #false

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kevindayscrown · 3 years

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The one where Kevin Day falls in love with an ice hockey player.

Part 7 Night Lights

(TW: Awkward first dates with Andrew watching from a distance)

Anything included in this head canon takes place the semester after the Foxes won the championship against the Ravens.

Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about varsity teams in the United States so excuse any false information. Head over to the directory to find the previous parts.

Kevin knew that wherever they went in Palmetto, someone was bound to recognize either one or both of them. It didn’t matter where their date would take place, as long as people saw them.

He’d been to dates before. With Thea, after he left the Nest and whenever the two of them had time. It had been less than ideal. But, being the only experience that he had, Kevin used it as an example and booked a table at a restaurant.

It was obvious that Eric was hesitant about it but he agreed nonetheless.

“I think I might have a suit buried somewhere.”

Of course, he had to book two tables, seeing as Andrew and Neil would be joining them. He’d told Andrew that he didn’t need a fucking chaperone, but Andrew had ignored him completely.

Eric offered to pick Kevin up at the parking lot, half an hour before their reservation. Kevin had gone with the suit he’d worn at the last banquet, figuring this wasn’t something he should put too much thought or effort into.

Kevin realized, upon meeting with Eric in the parking lot, that he had had a different idea.

Suit brand new, hair brushed back, freshly shaved, the goaltender looked less like the jock he was and more like the proper date for someone like Kevin.

That thought made Kevin halt. Obviously, his ideal date would have been a woman. Obviously. He wasn’t even attracted to men.

“Come on Day, give me that one million-dollar smile all those fans of yours go crazy over,” Eric said and laughed as he opened the door so that Kevin could get in the car.

Kevin simply glared at him and got in the car. As Eric closed the door, Kevin watched Andrew and Neil heading over to the former’s Maserati.

“This is going to be a long night,” he muttered under his breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

The restaurant was packed, which made sense since it was Sunday night. Their tables weren’t as close to one another, which Kevin was grateful for. He sat down across from Eric an picked up his menu.

“Are you going to give me the silent treatment all night?” Eric asked once they’d ordered.

Kevin looked at him and put his hands down on the table. He found himself wishing he had the puck, which had proven to be quite useful as a stress reliever.

“We have nothing to say.”

“I thought you loved hearing yourself talk.”

Kevin narrowed his eyes at him, but decided to let it slide. He almost clenched his left hand again but Eric reached for it and stopped him.

“I told you not to do that.”

Kevin would have pulled away, but the warmth of it reminded him of their night practices, when Eric would take his hand and guide him forward on the ice.

He wasn’t sure if Andrew would come out of nowhere and use the table knife to stab Eric’s hand, but they’d made a new deal and Kevin hoped he would keep it.

“Day, relax. You are too tense. We are supposed to be on a date, no?”

“Why are you enjoying this?” Kevin finally asked as he stared at him, although he tried to not let his anger show.

Eric looked surprised by the question, but quickly shook it off with a shrug.

“I don’t care what people think, Day. They can make assumptions about me all they want. That’s on them. I just want to have a good time.”

He said it so casually, that Kevin was almost jealous of it.

“Are you-,”

“Gay?” Eric completed the sentence for him and then shrugged his shoulders a second time. “I don’t like labels. And I’ve never thought about it really. I’ve only ever dated girls but honestly, who knows?”

Kevin stared at him as if Eric was speaking a foreign language but said nothing else as their food arrived. Eric pulled his hand away; Kevin’s own almost instinctively reaching for it until he forced it to stop.

They ate in silence.

Eric shifted in his seat when they were done.

“I have an idea. But you’ll have to trust me.”

Kevin didn’t like the sound of that so he only arched an eyebrow at him.

“Look, no offense, but this is kinda boring and I want both of us to enjoy this. Plus, we may manage to get rid of your legal guardian over there,” Eric said as he glanced at the table where Neil and Andrew were at.

Kevin thought for a moment but nodded. They both insisted on paying but eventually settled with each of them paying for what they’d ordered.

Sneaking out of the restaurant without being seen was easier than expected, but perhaps it was because Neil and Andrew unexpectedly ended up having their own date, which kept Andrew occupied.

Eric wouldn’t tell Kevin where they were going, but Kevin was just glad to be out of there and not have Andrew on his back, watching them.

The building they stopped at was not enough on the outside to alert Kevin of what was waiting for him. Eric looked excited, which scared Kevin further as they made their way inside.

“Seriously? A public rink?”

Children yelling and laughing as they slid and fell across the ice, couples holding hands, groups of friends messing around, amatueurs holding onto the ledge. It was loud and busy.

Eric grinned at him. “I brought our skates just in case,” he said as he held up the duffel bag he’d taken from the trunk of his car.

The goaltender seemed to know his way around. He found them lockers after talking with some people he was quite friendly with and Kevin removed the blazer of his suit and the tie, shoving them inside, with no care whether they’ll get wrinkled.

Eric handed him his skates and as Kevin put them on, the other reached forward and undid a few buttons from Kevin’s shirt.

“It’s not ideal to skate in this but let’s make the most of it.”

People in and out of the rink instantly recognized them as they slid on the ice. Kevin told himself that that was the only reason Eric reached to take his hand again.

“Relax,” he whispered in his ear as he leaned closer to him. Feeling Eric’s warmth breath against his skin in an otherwise cold room made Kevin shudder.

He turned his head to look at him, but almost fell back at how close their faces were. Thankfully, he had practiced enough to keep his balance.

Eric smiled at him and then moved forward, taking Kevin with him. Kevin tried to dodge all the kids and anyone who was in their way. Some would come up to him on purpose, introducing themselves, saying they were big fans. Kevin gave them all his flashing press smile, saying he was glad to meet them, while still holding onto Eric’s hand.

“If you’d excuse us, we are on a date,” Eric eventually told yet another person who had approached them. Despite the words, the way he went about it reminded Kevin of how calm he was on the rink during games.

People mostly left them alone after that. Kevin was grateful for it. Sometimes, he got too lost in the persona, in the ‘who he was supposed to be’ that he lost the meaning of what he did.

Besides that, however, Kevin realized that he was genuinely having fun. The two of them would challenge each other as to who would skate a certain number of circles faster, and in the end, they’d banter about it while still holding hands.

Kevin forgot which part of it was an act and which was real, the lines blurred.

It dragged on long enough that they’d have to leave because the rink was closing for the night.

“The night doesn’t have to end here, you know?” Eric said when they were both in the car.

Kevin smiled. It was a genuine smile, nothing more than one of the corners of his lips quirked upwards. But it was still there.

“No. No, it doesn’t have to end here.”

198 notes · View notes

simonsrosebud · 3 years

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what if kevin & dalton had been set up instead of meeting on their own?

(pls accept this as apology for not posting any kalton for MONTHS)

kevin doesn’t have a date to the banquet.

normally, it’s fine. he’s taken allison or renee to the last few, as friends. but this year, renee has something going on with gwen, their freshman dealer who is somehow only a year younger than himself. and allison got scooped up by ricky, the other freshman dealer.

“what happened to us being dates? i thought it was unspoken?”

allison shrugs and pushes her hair behind her shoulder. she has her arms crossed as she leans against the doorframe to kevin’s bedroom. “sure, but ricky has a crush on me and it’s fun playing around with it.”

kevin sends her a look. “ew, don’t look at me like that. as if, he’s like a baby to me.” kevin opens his mouth, but gets cut off. “you could get a date easily, it’s fine, we’ll help.”

and she’s right. later that afternoon she shoots a text to the team groupchat.

allison: kevin needs a date, any and all genders welcome. must be hot, good at socializing, and able to withstand his complete lack of care for them esp once he starts talking exy.

allison: i expect a nominee from each of you. good luck soldiers.

and kevin’s going to kill that girl.

the freshmen don’t answer, of course. all of their friends are freshmen, and they’re also just too scared to respond to the foxes sometimes.

aaron responds first, suggesting he just take one of the vixens. neil chimes in by saying that marissa girl is fucking social alright.

kevin doesn’t get why allison can’t just set him up with one of her friends. she has a strict rule against any of the foxes dating her non-exy friends, but it’s just an banquet.

matt comes in last, but instead of the groupchat it’s just to kevin.

matt: i have a friend named dalton. he’s in his masters to become a professor but he’s chill. he’s nice and fun too, the best guy i know

kevin knows he shouldn’t be shallow, but...

kevin: picture?

matt responds almost instantly. a picture of his friend sitting across from him at starbucks on his laptop. he looks caught off guard, like matt took the picture without warning.

is he with him right now?

kevin: maybe.

he drops his head back and rubs his eyes.

an hour later, the door opens. neil comes in first. matt is on his heels, and someone else trails in behind him. kevin sits up.

neil looks at him. in french, he says, “i wasn’t a part of this.”

kevin stands, and responds back in french. “you let him in.” neil shrugs at that, and continues down to the bedroom.

matt nods at him with a smug smile. “do you still have your psych 101 workbook? i have to take it next semester and i don’t wanna buy it.”

kevin frowns. is he not going to introduce his friend? “uh, yeah.” he turns to his desk and rummages through the drawers to pull it out.

“oh, this is dalton, by the way. he’s a friend from sophomore year.”

there it is. kevin turns back, book in hand, and nods at dalton.

dalton smiles, calm and charming, and tilts his head a bit. “he’s lying. i was his TA.”

kevin gives a smile. it’s small and faint, and mostly fake. he can’t help it. he doesn’t care for small talk like this. how old does that make dalton?

also, how did matt befriend his TA? kevin’s never spoken a word to the majority of his own.

“can’t imagine having to deal with him in class,” he says, jokingly.

matt doesn’t defend it, just shrugs and moves on. “hey, did you find a date to the banquet yet?” he wiggles his eyebrows.

kevin’s gonna kill him. he stuffs his hands into his hoodie pocket so he can ball his fists. “not yet, no.”

he nods, nudges dalton. “kevin’s on the exy team, too. he’s the only one without a date to the winter banquet this year,” he says. “allison, remember allison? she’s on a manhunt to find someone she approves of for him.”

dalton considers it. “that sounds like allison.”

kevin refrains from frowning. “have you met her?”

dalton has, just one time when he and matt went to a football game this fall and made a pit stop to matt’s room. it’s also when he met neil, albeit very briefly. neil had too much going on to give him the time of day.

“once, a month or so ago.”

when matt and dalton get into the car, dalton turns halfway in his seat to fully face matt. “he doesn’t have a date?” matt shakes his head. “is he into guys at all?”

matt glances at him. “yeah, he’s bisexual.”

dalton raises his eyebrows. “um, hello?! why didn’t you set him up with me?!”

matt frowns and shoots his friend a look. “why do you think we just went over?! i took psychology freshman year!”

dalton’s gonna kill him. “but you didn’t say anything about me to him.” matt rolls his eyes and waves him off, and dalton sits back in his seat.

“i know kevin, i know what i’m doing.”

he crosses his arms. “you’re the worst wingman i’ve ever met.”

but low and behold, kevin texts matt a few hours after his visit.

kevin: how do u know dalton would want to be my date to the banquet?

matt: bc he literally told me so

kevin: fine, ask him if he wants to go and i’ll take him.

when dalton climbs on the bus behind matt, it takes him only a moment to spot kevin and make his way over.

the banquet is five hours away, so the foxes and their dates are changing into their formalwear once they arrive.

dalton has joggers on, and a long sleeve henley that’s a size too big. his collarbone hangs out as the collar hangs low. he wears a soft smile, and pushes a hand back through his hair.

he looks hot.

dalton looks even more hot dressed up in his suit. he keeps at kevin’s side at first, and talks to both matt and dan from time to time. allison even pops up once to inquire about him, since he wasn’t one of her picks.

dalton and matt seem to joke around like they’re best friends. but he doesn’t ever remember matt mentioning him.

then again, if kevin had friends outside of exy, he may not introduce them to the foxes, either.

he finds his way back to kevin’s side at their table, where he’s talking to a trojan player. after a while, kevin turns to him. “you don’t have to stick by my side, if you don’t want.” he almost feels bad.

dalton shrugs and smiles. “what if i want to stick by your side?” the way that kevin reacts shows that he wasn’t expecting that, and dalton’s smile turns shy. “um, i don’t mind, really. i’d feel bad leaving you alone. i’m your date.” he takes a sip of his drink.

“okay.” it barely leaves kevin’s lips, but it’s enough to make dalton happy.

“you can even talk exy to me, if you want. i can pretend i know how it works.”

kevin’s heart seizes. “you don’t know exy?”

dalton grins. “i’ve never even seen a game.” he leans closer. “teach me?”

so he does. for the next half hour, they sit and kevin blabbers on, and dalton listens and asks questions. and then they sidetrack somehow to talking about marvel movies and what they suspect will happen in the next spiderman movie.

dalton swears to die on the grave that peter parker is a bisexual icon.

“you can take that title, instead, though.” his grin is cheeky. kevin lightly kicks his ankle and rolls his eyes, but he’s heavily amused.

“what about you? what are you?”

“gay,” he shrugs. “not much to it.”

“did you… when you told people, how did they react?”

dalton’s head tilts just a bit, and his smile starts to fade. “some people don’t like it, but it was fine for the most part.” and after a moment. “why, are you okay?”

kevin nods.

dalton doesn’t believe it. and he supposes he doesn’t know kevin enough to say that, but there’s something about the way kevin doesn’t verbally respond to it that sits weird in his head.

he props his chin in his hand. “i told my roommates i was gay the first week of freshman year. my roommate knew, but we had two suitemates, and one of them kinda stopped talking to me after that if he could help it.” he flicks his eyes up to meet kevin’s. “my uncle asks me at every family function if i’ve got a girl yet. he’s known for seven years, now,” he says. “and thanksgiving is now hosted at my house because my grandmother told my mother that i was unwelcome in hers.”

harsh.

“i’m sorry.”

he doesn’t know what else he’s supposed to say, really. he barely has family as it is, but he can’t imagine losing them now because of something so small.

but dalton just shrugs a shoulder. “it’s okay. think about it this way, if i was still in the closet i wouldn’t be your date right now.” he cracks a smile. always smiling.

that’s when kevin notices just how close their faces are. and how he keeps glancing at dalton’s mouth. he sits back. not here.

dalton goes to the bathroom, and matt takes his seat. “how’s it going with dalton?”

kevin frowns. “fine, why? did he say something?”

matt’s face is indescribable. “no, but i see you guys getting all close and stuff. just flirt with him, dude! he obviously likes you.”

yeah right. “i-i don’t think so. he’s just here because i didn’t have a date.”

matt drops his head for a second. “kevin, after you first met him he scolded me for not setting you two up. he doesn’t watch exy, and he’s not here for the famous kevin day, just give him a chance.” kevin looks to the side, where dalton’s on his way back talking with dan at his side. they’re getting closer, so he talks fast and quiet. he stands. “don’t fuck this up, he’s hot and nice,” he whispers, and grins when dan slides into his side.

“we wanna dance. boys?” she looks expectantly at both kevin and matt. matt doesn’t have a choice, but he’d never say no anyway.

dan pulls kevin up and shoves him lightly into dalton, who catches a hand on his waist. kevin wants to squirm out of it, but not because he doesn’t like dalton, or dalton’s touch. just because the idea of liking dalton scares him a bit.

but dalton lets go when he finds his balance.

“i don’t- i can’t dance.”

“yeah right, i’ve seen you at eden’s before.”

when he was belligerently drunk.

“you don’t have to.” dalton’s voice is soft behind him.

matt slides his gaze to kevin. don’t fuck this up.

he turns. how has his life come to this? “no. i will, if you want to.”

dalton grins, lopsided and happy. “yeah?”

he hopes he doesn’t regret it. “yeah.”

so dalton takes him by the hand and leads him after matt and dan. the majority of the foxes are in the midst of the crowd as well, but they don’t pay them any mind. there’s enough people that kevin can pretend he’s at eden’s.

kevin is a terrible dancer. dalton notices it right away and laughs. when kevin gives him a look he says, “follow my lead. just sway a little. nod your head to the music,” kevin looks up at him while he dances, but catches dalton’s eyes instead.

he looks away and falls out of rhythm. “sorry,” he mumbles.

“it’s okay.” dalton gently takes kevin’s hands and puts them on his waist. it feels illegal. his hands feel like dead weights, he doesn’t know what to do.

is he blacking out right now?

but then dalton’s moving his hips and dancing, and laughing. he’s having fun and kevin wants to have fun too.

he moves his hands from dalton’s waist to around his neck, and dalton hesitates with his hands near kevin’s hips until kevin nods.

dalton’s fingers dip into his hips. his one finger taps along the beat of whatever song is playing, while he lightly sings along and bounces back and forth.

it’s dark on this side of the court with the exception of some colored lights darting around. the designated dancing spot.

kenna is kissing jack in the crowd.

kevin looks back to dalton, singing with a smile plastered on his face.

no one would notice.

kevin’s fingers twitch against dalton’s neck. but someone could.

he’s already out, but that doesn’t mean he’s kissed a boy in public yet.

he drops his arms. “i need some air.”

dalton let’s go, “are you okay?” but he just nods and takes off, off of the court and down the hall to the locker rooms. the foxes have their things in the away men’s locker room.

kevin sinks down on the bench. he plays with the bracelet around his wrist, courtesy of betsy in case he needs something to fidget with. opposed to panicking, that is.

that woman is never wrong.

kevin likes dalton, that’s not in question nor is it really the problem. the problem is that he doesn’t know what his problem is. if it’s what people will say when they see that he truly is into men.

being told something versus seeing proof that it’s real are two different things. he’s learned that, dealt with it more than once. the last time it was the proof of the raven’s bullying and abuse. being told that kevin and riko’s relationship isn’t what the fans fantasize it is versus then seeing proof that it isn’t anything that they thought, for example.

kevin had to deal with backlash like that for months after the raven’s investigation post championship game. him being bi isn’t the same, of course, but he doesn’t know how to predict the behaviors of his fans. he doesn’t know what they’ll support or not.

but he likes dalton.

“hey.”

one of the freshmen, eva, stands in the doorway. “stop running

you don’t have to be scared of people seeing you dance, you know.”

kevin frowns. “i don’t care about dancing.”

“yeah, but you care about dancing with your date.” they cross their arms and lean against the doorframe. “no one cares. half this team is a little gay, anyway.”

once they’ve changed for the night in the hotel room, dalton hesitates from where he stands by the bed. “are you okay? you seemed a little jittery all night, i just... i wanna make sure everything’s fine, i guess.”

kevin looks up, but doesn’t answer.

stop being so afraid of everything.

he opens his mouth to say something, but he doesn’t know what he can say.

he sighs.

dalton’s standing there, arms crossed, concerned. kevin swallows his fears as he makes his way across the room until he’s standing right in front of dalton, and slides a hand behind his neck to kiss him.

dalton hums, surprised. after a moment he brings a hand to kevin’s chest, and there’s a second where kevin thinks hes going to be pushed away. instead his fingers dig into his hoodie and he pulls kevin closer.

dalton’s smiling as kevin pulls away. “about time,” he mumbles, and kisses him again.

the back of dalton’s knees hit the bed by accident, but he drops down to sit and gently pulls kevin by the strings of his hoodie.

kevin isn’t new to sex, so to speak. he’s not the most experienced, but he’s had his fun. it’s the only reason he’s confident enough to scoot dalton further back and kiss him into the mattress.

dalton wraps an ankle around the back of kevin’s knee. he curls his fingers into his hair and leans his head back when kevin kisses down his neck.

they wake up to kevin’s phone blaring. matt’s calling.

kevin only acknowledges the fact that he has his arm around dalton for a second before he checks the time.

they’re late.

wymack’s gonna kill him.

kevin sits up and shakes dalton as he answers his phone. “hey you guys are awake right? coach is pulling the bus around then we’re loading up.”

kevin’s out of the bed and throwing his shirt on, tossing dalton’s hoodie to him. “yeah, we’re coming.” dalton’s eyes go wide and that kicks him into gear as he realizes the situation.

they look a mess as they run around. they’ve really only got one pair of clothes and their suits to frantically shove into their bags. kevin pulls his sneakers on without socks and dalton’s got his on with the laces all undone as they jog down the hall.

at least they brushed their teeth.

dalton drops down to tie his shoes in the elevator, and when he stands kevin takes the liberty of carding his fingers through his hair.

he shrugs. “bed head.”

dalton can’t help but smile. “might wanna pull this up a little,” he mumbles, and that’s when kevin realizes that he’d accidentally put on dalton’s long sleeve henley. the shirt he’d been wearing last night before it got dropped to the floor.

dalton pushes the shirt up so it’s not hanging lower on kevin’s collarbone. he’s got a nice hickey that needs hiding.

“they’re never going to let this go,” kevin says.

dalton leans back against the elevator wall. “i’ve got some juice on matt if you ever need.”

kevin smiles, just a little. despite him worrying all during the banquet, last night was so good. he doesn’t want it to end as soon as they step off of the bus. he doesn’t want dalton to be a one night stand, he doesn’t think.

he takes a step forward and kisses dalton against the wall once more. he pulls away when the elevator dings.

matt smiles to himself as he watches them come around the corner. he tries to tame it, at least.

kevin and dalton are the last on the bus. kevin’s spot in the back is open, so they go back there. dalton toes off his shoes as soon as he sits down.

kevin is on the aisle side. his chest skips when dalton’s hand lands gently on his thigh. he doesn’t hate it.

it’s dinner time when they get back to a rainy palmetto. dalton had fallen asleep on kevin’s shoulder a half hour ago, and jolts awake when matt whoops and shouts to get out of his way so he can run off the bus for the bathroom.

“sorry,” dalton says quietly, scratching his head and yawning into the back of his hand.

“i didn’t mind.” kevin stretches his legs and pulls his shoes on.

dalton’s car is in the gated stadium parking lot. kevin walks him to it, head ducked because all he’s got on is dalton’s henley. no one anticipated rain.

dalton turns after unlocking his car, and sticks a ripped off folded note into kevin’s palm. kevin puts it right into his pocket for safe keeping. “so are you gonna call me after this?” dalton’s hair is falling wet over his forehead.

he nods, mouths the word yeah but nothing comes out. and dalton can’t help himself, so he takes a step forward and kisses kevin one last time, gentle as he hesitates with his fingers hovering over his cheek.

kevin’s got nothing to lose at this point, so he curls his hand alone dalton’s neck and steps closer.

he only pulls away because the team is most likely watching, and someone whistles. “i’ll call you,” he nods. he shoves his hands into his pockets and ignores the rain as he watches dalton drive out of the parking lot.

he turns towards the maserati and sees andrew shakes his head. kevin looks down at himself. he’s halfway to soaked. not ideal for such an expensive car. which leaves one option.

kevin slides into the front seat of his father’s car.

wymack can’t wipe the smug look from his face. “so-“

“no.”

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blossom-hwa · 3 years

Note

the danceracha and 3racha working aus were so funny i wanted to request a vocalracha one but i have no idea where they could work 😭

God damn you guys really enjoy my lukewarm sense of humor??? Well I just pictured vocalracha working at a tutoring center and bitching about it so here we are! Hope you enjoy <3

3-year anniversary drabble game: send me an NCT/WAYV/Stray Kids/The Boyz member + a prompt (check out the post for ideas) and I’ll write a drabble for you!

Half of this is based off of real experiences from when I used to tutor math god that was a TIME

Title: Tutoring Shenanigans

Pairing: no pairings, just vocalracha being dumb

Triggers: a lot of cursing

quick clarification:

seungman: seungmin

watch your foxing mouth: jeongin

watch your foxing mouth: seungmin

watch your foxing mouth: can you please take my shift this Saturday

seungman: no

seungman: the one time I get the weekend off in ages? I'm not going to bother teaching little gremlins math who the fuck do you think I am

watch your foxing mouth: I think you’re a little asshole who’s going to spend the entire weekend just working on homework like the nerd you are

seungman: see I'd say you were right

seungman: but I don’t have homework this weekend

seungman: I actually had other plans

watch your foxing mouth: like what

watch your foxing mouth: no one’s going to ask you on a date lmao

seungman: first of all fuck you

seungman: second of all I was going to drop by at work and maybe bring you a coffee because I'm nice

seungman: but not anymore

watch your foxing mouth: bullshit you never would’ve done that in the first place

seungman: you’re absolutely right but I'm also offended that you doubted me so quickly

watch your foxing mouth: when I asked you to get me water from chan’s cafe

watch your foxing mouth: you specifically asked changbin to fill the cup with ice

watch your foxing mouth: and then you brought the cup back

watch your foxing mouth: and told me to wait

watch your foxing mouth: what the fuck kind of impression do you think that makes?

seungman: that’s fair

seungman: but I'm still offended

watch your foxing mouth: feeling offended is part of your personality

seungman: you know me so well

watch your foxing mouth: which is how I know you’ll take my shift this weekend :)

seungman: you’re funny

watch your foxing mouth: SEUNGMIN PLEASE

watch your foxing mouth: I DON’T WANT TO DEAL WITH ASHLEY AND HER FUCKING BITCH ASS

watch your foxing mouth: SHE NEVER WORKS

seungman: suck it <3

watch your foxing mouth: I hate you

seungman: love you too <3

seungman: this small girl

seungman: walked into the center

seungman: and told me

seungman: tennis is not a fucking sport

watch your foxing mouth: I can’t believe I was getting drinks and missed that

watch your foxing mouth: what was her reasoning

seungman: ‘you don’t run in tennis’

seungman: huH?????????????????????

watch your foxing mouth: well we’ve established that these kids are rich little assholes

watch your foxing mouth: and have no brains 99% of the time

seungman: you’re right I should expect this

seungman: why do we work here again

watch your foxing mouth: rich kids = rich parents

watch your foxing mouth: rich parents = rich establishment

watch your foxing mouth: rich establishment = slightly higher than minimum wage pay

seungman: fuck you’re right

seungman: idk I feel like I'd be having more fun working at the cafe even if the pay’s worse

watch your foxing mouth: money or fun?

seungman: the ultimate question of life

watch your foxing mouth: fuck capitalism

seungman: you say that yet you’re slaving your ass off teaching basic math to kids who don’t want to learn for a salary that’s a third of what you could be earning as a private tutor

watch your foxing mouth: WELL IF I HAD A FUCKING CAR

seungman: you’d drive it into another tree

watch your foxing mouth: honestly fuck you I'm dumping your shitty americano into the storm drain

seungman: look you hit the tree not me

watch your foxing mouth: IT WASN’T EVEN THAT BAD THE BARK WAS SOFT AND THE CAR WAS FINE

seungman: allow me to repeat

seungman: you

seungman: hit

seungman: a

watch your foxing mouth: SHUT U P

seungman: fucking

watch your foxing mouth: QUIT

seungman: t r e e

seungman: IN A PARKING LOT

watch your foxing mouth: just dumped out your drink <3

seungman: you better be kidding me

seungman: you better be fucking kidding me

seungman: YANG JEONGIN

read by one at 4:49 pm

seungman: I'm transferring that bitch ashley to your table fuck you

watch your foxing mouth: why are you the one who always controls the music player

watch your foxing mouth: I want to play my tunes too asshole

seungman: no one can concentrate with your fucking trot shit playing in the background

watch your foxing mouth: and we can deal with your shitty ‘lo-fi comfortable beats’ or whatever the fuck is in your YouTube playlist?

seungman: if the parents are happy with it then we’re like. legally obligated to keep doing it

seungman: kevin would play strictly beyonce if he was in charge of the music

seungman: you would play shitty trot

watch your foxing mouth: my taste in music is not shitty thank you very very much

seungman: sangyeon would play like. classical music idk he’s an old man like that

seungman: and if we left it up to the kids wap would be playing all day every day

watch your foxing mouth: I hate it when you make sense

watch your foxing mouth: god damn just noticed all of the people working here are male

seungman: except yeji

watch your foxing mouth: oh right except her

watch your foxing mouth: but also where is the female representation???????

seungman: they’re smarter than us

seungman: they’re either out of state for college

seungman: or they can actually drive

seungman: meaning they can afford to tutor privately

watch your foxing mouth: this is why men suck

watch your foxing mouth: we’re not smart enough to turn shit around

seungman: and we end up stuck catering to the whims of rich little assholes who aren’t going to learn jack shit anyway

watch your foxing mouth: sigh

seungman: sigh

watch your foxing mouth: ASHLEY IS HERE I’M NOT TAKING HER MY TABLE IS FULL

seungman: FUCK I HAVE A SPOT LEFT

seungman: OH FUCK YOU SANGYEON

watch your foxing mouth: suffer

seungman: my existence is pain

seungman: suddenly I have the burning desire to learn to drive

seungman: at least I wouldn’t hit trees in the parking lot

watch your foxing mouth: see I know you’re trying to provoke me but I'm not going to give in because watching you deal with ashley is satisfying enough

watch your foxing mouth: my brain is fried

seungman: is this supposed to be news

watch your foxing mouth: honestly I'd be offended but I'm too tired to express it

watch your foxing mouth: I never knew teaching basic addition could be so tiring

seungman: why do tutors exist

seungman: why don’t teachers do their jobs

watch your foxing mouth: idk

watch your foxing mouth: why do we have to do their jobs for them for far less pay

seungman: throwback to the time the owners kept forgetting to give us a raise even though we were the longest standing employees at this shitty center

watch your foxing mouth: don't fucking remind me

watch your foxing mouth: I'm just sitting in the cafe trying to erase all thoughts of ashley from my head

watch your foxing mouth: I wish sangyeon was here today

seungman: god yes that bitch ella is awful

seungman: why does she walk around like she owns the fucking place

watch your foxing mouth: bright ass lipstick and shit

watch your foxing mouth: like no bitch

watch your foxing mouth: I understand you do our schedules but I also understand you’re an asshole

seungman: sometimes I want to set this center on fire

watch your foxing mouth: afuckingmen

watch your foxing mouth: oh hey

watch your foxing mouth: oh fuck

seungman: ?

seungman: why do I hear sirens

seungman: and see smoke

seungman: jeongin

seungman: JEONGIN ANSWER ME YOU BETTER NOT FUCKING BE DEAD

watch your foxing mouth: calm your tits

watch your foxing mouth: didn’t know you cared that much about me

seungman: I don’t

seungman: who would I bitch about work to if you died

watch your foxing mouth: honestly fuck you

seungman: anyway what happened

watch your foxing mouth: jisung set the refrigerator on fire

watch your foxing mouth: it was glorious

seungman: you’re telling me jisung almost burnt this center down

seungman: b u t d i d n t ?

watch your foxing mouth: sadly

seungman: shame

seungman: would’ve loved to see that bitch ella burn

watch your foxing mouth: can’t all have what we want ig

seungman: wait give me a sec I'm clocking out I want to see this mess

watch your foxing mouth: come out quick chan looks like he’s going to cry

watch your foxing mouth: it’s hilarious

seungman: doesn’t he refer to you as his child?

watch your foxing mouth: what of it

seungman: idk

seungman: just if I talked about my parents like that I'd be six feet under by now

watch your foxing mouth: chan’s too soft for that

watch your foxing mouth: bet you he won’t even fire jisung after this

seungman: I know better than to take you up on that

seungman: anyway where is he I want to take a picture

watch your foxing mouth: doesn’t he refer to you as one of his children too?

seungman: what of it?

watch your foxing mouth: you’re right you’re right let’s go watch him suffer

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play-exy-be-sexy · 3 years

Note

Is there anyway you can please do #3 with Kevin and Wymack?

Hi! Yes, this is such a good one for them! Also this is supid but I’ve never gotten an ask so congrats on being a great first! Anyway here ya go:

Wymack. like a lot of his Foxes often couldn’t sleep at night, whether it be because he was too busy thinking about that days practice/game or the memories of his not so great past catching up to him. He often found himself driving around the town at night, trying to clear his mind. Sometimes not sleeping at all. One of his many stops, was of course, the stadium. Wymack was a night owl, so he never really interfered with Neil, Kevin, and now, Andrew’s practices.

After a particularly bad dream, he once again found himself pulling into the stadium drive way. Wymack headed into the locker room and was surprised to find all the lights on. Usually the cleaning staff was done by 10, it was easily to 2 in morning by then. He went to the inner court to check who was there and was unpleasantly surprised to see Kevin, slamming ball after ball into the goal like he had a personal problem to pick with each one. Wymack watched until Kevin ran out.

Slowly, Kevin sank to his knees. Wymack watched with a level of uncertainty and nervousness only Kevin seemed to cause. Kevin pulled off his helmet and let out a shaky breath, one turned into two, two turned into three, and three turned into silent sobs that rocked Kevin’s whole body.

Wymack quickly walked onto the court, slamming the door behind him. Kevin jumped violently, but quickly calmed down when he saw who it was.

“What the hell are you still doing here? It’s two in the morning,” Wymack said, his voice gruff but full of care.

Kevin just looked at him before curling his knees to his chest and resting his head in between them. Wymack could hear Kevin sniffling

“Talk to me, kid,” Wymack said reaching and setting a hand on Kevin’s shoulder. He flinched and Wymack quickly yanked his hand back. Kevin mumbled an apology, his voice breaking in the middle. He looked up at Wymack

“I’m so stupid,” Kevin whispered before repeatedly hitting his head on the back of his hands and rocking back and forth. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

“Knock it off, Day. You’ll hurt yourself doing that.” Wymack gently lifted Kevin’s head up so they were looking eye and eye, “Spill it.”

“Not right now, maybe later. Just...sit with me for a while?

Wymack grunted a yes and watched as Kevin took deep calming breathes Betsy had taught him.

Wymack didn’t know how long they sat there on the court but Kevin opening up to him the next day made the long hours worth it.

okay, not the best but a start! maybe by the end of my 14 days i’ll be a pro! probably not but it’ll be fun lol

#aftg #all for the game #kevin day #david wymack #exy #tfc #trk #tkm #andrew minyard #neil josten #writing prompts #all for the game headcanon

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markonasurface · 4 years

Text

20/50 - “It’s 8:30, I have a hangover and you’re annoying me.”

Fandom: All for the Game/The Foxhole Court Characters/pairings: Jean, Jeremy/jerejean Summary: Jean and Jeremy tag along on the Foxes’ spring break trip. A/N: This has taken me too long to finish. I think I started it two years ago. I almost forgot to use the quote prompt.

Warnings: implied past abuse

“Kevin invited you to the Foxes’ spring break trip?” Jean asked, eyebrows high.

Jeremy barely glanced up from the text he was studying. “Mm.”

“Are you going?” Jean pressed.

“Are you?” Jeremy snapped.

Jean flinched and Jeremy’s mouth dropped open. “I’m sorry.” He finally put his studying materials down and turned to face Jean. “I didn’t mean to snap. I just - last semester, you know?”

“Yes,” Jean said, even though he didn’t. He felt the heat in his cheeks and internally cursed himself for not being able to control his reactions. Riko used to love to make him flinch. It was at one point worth the beatings for not giving him the satisfactory.

“So, are you going?” Jeremy asked, back to his normal self if a bit exhausted.

He bit the inside of his cheek and stayed completely still. It was hard being around Kevin but it might be nice. Kevin did whatever Riko told him to do but Kevin wasn’t cruel. He had learned from his therapist that he didn’t miss Evermore; he missed the familiarity of it. Kevin could give him a bit of what he thought to be normalcy.

“Jean?” Jeremy said quietly, patiently.

Jean looked up to meet his eyes. “I - yes.”

“You’ll have to give Kevin my regards,” Jeremy said and turned back to his text.

“You aren’t going?” Jean didn’t know if he was relieved.

“I should really study,” Jeremy sighed.

Their bedroom door opened and Jean jumped.

“Y’all left your door unlocked.” Laila fell onto Jeremy’s bed. “And you’re going to spend your last spring break studying? Come on, Jer.”

“Fuck off, Laila,” he said.

She nudged his chair with her foot. “I bet those Foxes get fucking crazy. I wish I’d been invited.”

“Take my invitation.”

Laila took a loud breath. “Mama Alvarez would have a cow if we bailed on her family trip.”

“If you don’t come they’ll probably stick me in a room with Hemmick,” Jean said.

“You could use the brea-eak,” she sang. “Also, see if they’ve picked up any new moves for finals.”

“Laila.”

She held up her hands in a placating gesture. “I’m kidding. Go. Have fun. Or you’ll burn yourself out and have to come back in the fall.”

Day 1

“An island? Seriously?” Thea stood with her arms crossed over her chest.

Kevin shrugged.

“I thought we were just flying somewhere tropical,” Jeremy added.

“Why are you all looking at me?” Allison demanded. “Neil’s the one who paid for this trip.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Neil said. “I recently came into some money.”

Jeremy sighed. “Right. N.B.D. I just rented an island.”

“Follow me.” A man in khakis and a polo shirt motioned for them. He had introduced himself as Frank as they boarded the small plane that brought them to their rented island.

It was a short walk through some trees and a large house came into view. There were gasps and one of the freshmen from the team said, “No fucking way.”

“Dude, how much did this cost?” Matt asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Neil said, leading the way through the gate.

They walked past the pool and its fountains, up some stairs and through double doors. As they all stood in the foyer, Frank smiled and said, “Right. Everything’s stocked. I’ll be back at the end of the week. If you need anything, call the number on the refrigerator.”

Neil handed the man a cash tip and thanked him.

Allison looked around at everyone. “There are ten rooms. Neil gets first pick, losers.”

“You mean Andrew,” Jack mocked.

It was quiet for a moment then at once everyone raced to find a room. Jean looked at Jeremy and said, “They’re fucking crazy.”

Jeremy laughed as they heard Dan yell, “I’m your damn captain!”

They followed the shouting and as they turned a corner Jeremy ran into Renee. They both apologized, looking like literal sunshine and Jean bit his lip.

“They’re the guests.” Allison was staring down one of her teammates. “They get the room next to ours.”

Jeremy realized she was talking about them and opened his mouth. Renee shook her head, a warning in her eyes. Someone stomped by and Allison grinned.

“Welcome to the third nicest - who am I kidding? - the fourth nicest room on this island!” She gestured grandly. “And that’s saying something.”

Nicky popped his head in. “Fifth nicest. Andrew and Neil gave up the first nicest so they have the second nicest, Dan and Matt have the third nicest, and you have the fourth nicest.”

Before Allison could demand to know who got the glass room on top if it wasn’t Dan and Matt, Nicky ran off.

Jeremy looked as if he suddenly remembered something. “Did you two wanna share? I can room with Nicky or whoever.”

Allison cackled. She left the room.

“We’re not -” Jean started.

“We were never dating,” Renee said.

Jeremy’s eyes were wide. “Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed and uh, forget I said anything.”

Renee smiled kindly and backed out of the room. Jeremy looked at Jean who was staring at the one bed in the middle of the room.

“I can still room with Nicky if you’re not comfortable sharing,” he said.

Jean swallowed. “It’s fine.” He managed a small smile and said, “We share every other day of the year.”

After they unpacked, everyone seemed to congregate by the pool. Nicky and Andrew were situated behind the bar and Neil was perched on top, but everyone else was already swimming.

Jean glanced around nervously. Since joining the Trojans, he’d become a lot more self-conscious about the state of his body.

“You can leave your shirt on.” The voice startled him and he looked up at Neil, then glanced to see if Jeremy had heard as well. Then he realized Neil was speaking in his native tongue. “But nobody cares.”

Andrew spoke. “Ignore the freshmen. They’re idiots.”

“Where’s Kevin?” Jeremy asked, coming to sit at the bar.

“Fucking Thea,” a girl said, joining them. “I saw her take his shirt off but then they moved away from the glass.”

Aaron grabbed a tray of drinks from Nicky and sneered, “Do you have to be such a perve, Sheena?”

She stuck her tongue out at him, snagging a drink and flicking her wet hair at him.

“Like, Andrew said,” Nicky stated. “The freshmen are idiots.”

He mimicked Sheena’s face, nose scrunched and eyes narrowed, then asked, “What can I make for you?”

“Something that’ll make me forget I have my last midterm when we get back,” Jeremy grimaced. “Who gives a midterm after spring break?”

“I got just the drink for you.”

The sound of the blender going again cut off conversation. Sheena left to play chicken with her friends and Renee called Jean over.

“Don’t break anything!” Dan called from where she was laying out with Allison and Renee as Jean joined them.

“Here you go.” Nicky handed him a glass.

Jeremy held the drink up and studied it. “Are those silver stars?”

“Edible silver stars.”

Aaron came back with a tray in one hand and a girl’s hand in the other and said, “Nicky has to make everything gay.”

The girl hit his arm lightly with the back of her hand. She looked at Jeremy and held out a hand. “Katelyn.”

“Jeremy,” Jeremy said and shook.

“I made you both the same,” Nicky said, handing two more glasses over the bar.

“On three?” Katelyn suggested. “One. Two. Three.”

Everyone who had a drink took a large sip and more than one of them sputtered. “What the fuck is this?” Aaron gasped. “Did you just add ice and stars?”

Nicky shrugged. “Make your own damn drinks if you don’t like it.” He hopped over the bar and ran for the pool.

“You’re drinking this?” Aaron asked in disbelief and Jeremy turned to see Neil gulping it down.

After one large sip, Jeremy was already starting to feel warm. He took another sip, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. When he opened them he saw Renee running her hand down Jean’s bare back. How many times had Jeremy wanted to do the same?

He shook his head. He was such a lightweight. He’d never been one to party hard but he knew how to hold his liquor. The last year he’d spent more time studying and less and less time drinking and his tolerance was down. Clearly.

Day 2

By the second night, Jeremy was starting to realize the Foxes weren’t so different from any other college sports team if you took away the tragic backstories. Yeah, Jeremy would stick out if they all sat around and compared histories but - surprise, surprise - there wasn’t much talk about that.

Allison banned any talk of Exy and if she ever saw Neil and Kevin together she’d cock a brow and put her hands on her hips. Kevin would flip her off and she’d leave with a, “Fuck you. There are rules for a reason.”

It was making him miss his own team - the way they all fit together even when they shouldn’t.

Jean was there, but if anything he was part of the Kevin/Thea/Jean Former Ravens group or the Kevin-Neil-Jean-I-Was-Abused-By-Riko-Moriyama-and-Marked-For-His-Perfect-Court group.

He was different from a year ago when he’d first joined the Trojans but he still had his rough edges and hangups. And Jeremy saw it all.

Whether someone tapped his arm lightly without warning, or when he was flinching awake from a nightmare, Jeremy was there, trying to think of a way to calm Jean down without overstepping.

Jeremy had promised Laila he’d enjoy his spring break and be involved in all the fun things the Foxes did. Jeremy didn’t break promises. That’s why it was two in the morning and he was just starting to work on a study guide problem he’d left at five AM yesterday morning.

He groaned. Shots before homework wasn’t working for him.

“Jer,” Jean said, voice hoarse. “Come to bed.”

In his sluggish alcohol influenced state of mind, he almost thought Jean was asking him to come to his bed. His face flushed as he thought, What if Jean could read my mind and saw that?

He cleared his throat. “Soon. I’ll go to bed soon. I just need to finish at least three problems first.” Who was he kidding? He’d be lucky if he finished one.

“Okay,” Jean breathed, turning over and promptly falling back to sleep.

That was something that had surprised Jeremy. The way Jean could just sleep. He had expected his distrust to keep him awake at night. He guessed when you were tortured and worked to the bone, you had to take the sleep where you could get it.

Jean looked so cozy and peaceful, Jeremy wanted to be cozy and peaceful. He made the mistake of putting his head down on the desk.

He bolted awake when tentative fingers touched his arm.

Day 3

Jean flinched and Jeremy took a deep breath. “Sorry, sorry.”

“The others are going for a hike,” Jean said quietly though he offered a smile. “Apparently there’s a waterfall. Do you want to come?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jeremy responded, yawning and stretching. When he looked back at Jean, Jean quickly averted his eyes.

“They’re meeting by the pool.”

Jean hurried out, closing the door behind him.

Jeremy stretched as he stood. There was a crick in his neck that was making him regret last night’s choices.

He picked up a shirt off the floor and sniffed it. What did it matter? They were gonna get sweaty on their hike. He tried to shove away the thought of what would Jean think and changed into the shirt.

“Jer-bear!” Nicky greeted him as he stepped outside.

He squinted at the sun. It was only eight in the morning but it was already too hot. Jeremy couldn’t wait to get to the waterfall.

As they approached the start of the trail, two figures raced down the hill toward them. Thea pushed Kevin and Kevin shouted, “Hey!”

The two of them passed the sign indicating which way to go around roughly the same time and immediately Jean said, “Thea.”

“No one asked,” Kevin said, panting, but he didn’t look upset. “Besides, she cheated.”

“Prove it,” Thea said, hands behind her head as she gulped air.

“Rematch.”

Nicky said, “Neil would beat you both.”

“With those little legs?” Thea looked skeptical.

“Show ‘em, Neil.”

Neil shook his head. “I don’t feel like it.” He paused and looked at Andrew. “I don’t run anymore.”

The way he said it gave the words weight and Jeremy felt like he was missing something. Neil and Andrew’s teammates groaned and Andrew looked unimpressed.

“That was really sweet, Neil,” Matt said.

Neil winked at Matt and Andrew muttered something that had him grinning widely.

“If we’re done with the cheesefest ...” Allison stomped past everyone.

The waterfall was breathtaking. Jeremy couldn’t believe something could be so untouched by man.

“What took you guys so long?” Thea called as she dunked Neil under the water.

Despite what he’d said about not running anymore, Neil couldn’t resist Thea’s challenge and they’d run ahead of the group with Kevin.

As some of the others dived in, Jeremy’s eyes searched for Jean. He was leaning down so Renee could rub some sunscreen on his face. Jeremy tried to stuff down the jealousy bubbling in his chest.

This wasn’t him. He didn’t get jealous. Certainly not of one the nicest humans to ever exist touching his teammate who clearly didn’t mind. He was about to turn away when Jean pulled his shirt over his head.

And how could he have such negative feelings when Jean was so obviously enjoying his spring break? After the first day, Jean didn’t even hesitate in stripping down and letting the others see him shirtless. As his roommate, of course Jeremy had seen him without a shirt, but it had been months before his first reaction wasn’t to cover up his scars. In the locker rooms, he always changed as quickly as possible and usually with his locker open.

Here, with people who had trauma, too, and who didn’t bat an eye when Jean took his shirt off, he was able to stop thinking about it. It made Jeremy sad that he wasn’t able to give Jean that around their team.

Jean turned around and Jeremy tried to pretend he hadn’t been staring. When he stood in front of him, he asked, “You okay, Jer?”

Jeremy swallowed once. He felt his cheeks get hot but hoped his sunburn hid his blush. “Yeah, just, um, enjoying the view.” He inwardly groaned. Jean had seen him staring at him. He scratched his cheek.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Jean said. He clearly meant the trees and the water. Jeremy was both relieved and disappointed. “See you down there?”

“Yeah.”

Day 4

Jeremy put on his noise canceling headphones and opened his textbook. He had to get this reading done. He wouldn’t allow any more distractions until he finished.

Not even a sleepy looking Jean poking his head into their shared room.

He removed his headphones and gave him a questioning look.

“We’re putting on a movie. Wanna join?”

Jeremy sighed. “Can’t. I should have finished this chapter two days ago.” Jean bit his lip, then he closed the door. “What are you -?” He sat on the bed.

“I don’t really like movies that much.”

It was a lie. Jeremy knew it was a lie, but he wasn’t going to argue. He remembered the look of confusion on his face the first time he heard Jeremy ask what movie the rest of the team would like to watch. He gave Jean a small smile before putting his headphones back on.

An hour later, Jeremy was lying beside Jean, who was dozing, his head on an open book. His head lolled to the side and pressed into Jeremy’s arm.

Jeremy froze and tried to keep his breathing even.

His eyes followed the line of Jean’s jaw. He liked this side of Jean’s face best. It wasn’t tattooed and it had less scars. He still liked the other side of Jean’s face - he liked his whole face - it was just easier to not think about the circumstances that brought him to his team when he could only see the right half of Jean’s face.

Day 6

“No studying tonight!” Allison yelled.

“But -”

“Jean told us you study every night after we go to bed,” she said. “It’s your last night. Enjoy it!”

Jeremy shot a look over to Jean at the bar who - was smiling? He shrugged at Jeremy before tipping back a shot.

Allison had made a list and passed it around to anyone who wasn’t a freshman. Any time one of the freshmen said or did something on her list, the others had to do a shot.

From the looks of things, Nicky, Dan, and Matt had gotten an early start on the game. Allison whispered, “Don’t worry if you can’t remember who’s who. Just drink when the rest of us do.”

Jeremy looked around at the team, then into the pool with its night lights on and glowing balls floating on the surface.

Renee came over and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure no one drowns.”

When one of the freshmen girls made a pervy remark about Kevin, Nicky handed out shots. When one of the boys copped a feel off the girl and she pretended to be offended, he handed out two shots to every person. When a couple of the freshmen started making out, he got three shots - one for the act and two for the couple.

Things and time started to blur and Jeremy had no idea how much time had passed. They’d all eventually moved into the large house to get warm. Kevin and Thea had disappeared a while ago as had Aaron, Katelyn, and a few of the freshmen. Now Neil and Andrew were heading upstairs.

The music was loud, the lights looked brighter, and Jean was laughing. It almost made Jeremy smile, but then he realized he was laughing at something Renee had said. He wrapped an arm around her and leaned down so she could whisper something in his ear.

Jeremy left.

It was too difficult to watch and he didn’t want to say or do anything to embarrass himself. Allison grabbed his arm in the hallway and said, “You better not be going off to study!”

“No!” he shouted back. “I just need to lie down for a bit.”

Once he made it to his room and shut the door, it seemed uncomfortably quiet. He flopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling as his eyes adjusted to the dark.

Jeremy was generally a positive person, but as he lay there, thoughts of Jean and Renee swirled around his mind. They said they weren’t dating. They said they’d never dated, but the whole week it was almost like they were a couple. They went everywhere together and partnered for every game.

He fell asleep, his mind seeped in jealousy and booze.

He woke up when Jean stumbled into the room, holding something in his hand. He vaguely registered music still pounding in the hallway.

“Hey, sorry,” Jean tried to whisper. “Everyone is asleep.”

“Okay?” Jeremy said.

“Renee made cookies.” He offered out his hand.

Jeremy might have sneered. “Of course she did. She’s amazing. She’s an amazing person. She’s an amazing goalie. I bet she’s an amazing girlfriend.” He was still drunk. It probably hadn’t been that long since he fell asleep.

Jean looked confused and timid. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Jeremy muttered, suddenly aware of how he must’ve come across.

“Are you jealous of Renee?” he asked, lips quirking.

Jeremy sighed and fell back on his pillows. “What? No ...” He looked over at Jean. “Okay, fine.”

Jean stepped closer and sat on the edge of the bed, looking over his shoulder at Jeremy. “Why?”

“Nothing,” he murmured, cheeks feeling hot.

“I’ve not been a good friend,” Jean said. “You’re just so friendly and easy going that I didn’t think you wanted me hanging around the whole week. And I figured Kevin would be taking up at least half your time.”

“That’s not - I mean -” Jeremy was at a loss for words.

“Then what is it?”

He threw an arm over his face, struggling to get a word out.

“You guys are so close,” he finally said. “I guess I just want to be - close with you.”

“We’re roommates,” Jean said. “We are close. There’s no one I trust more.”

Jeremy sat up. “No, I’m gay.”

He shrugged. “Okay ... I figured -”

“I have these ... feelings ... for you ...” He knew his expression was pained and sad but he couldn’t help it. He had probably just ruined things between them.

“Why didn’t you just say that?” Jean asked as Jeremy’s head lowered and he shrugged. “I think I have ... feelings for you, too.”

Jeremy’s mouth fell open. “Really?”

Jean shrugged again, feeling self-conscious. “Yes. It’s why I’ve been hanging out with Renee so much this week - to get her advice about you.”

“I really want to kiss you,” he said in a rush. “I mean, if that’s okay.”

Jean held his breath, then nodded. Jeremy moved closer. Jean blurted, “I just - um, I need to set clear boundaries and I need you to respect them.”

“Of course,” Jeremy breathed. He watched as he bit his lip, looking like there was more he wanted to say. “Hey, it’s okay. You can set all the boundaries you need.”

Jean took a shaky breath. “I need you to take things slow,” he said, voice quiet. “I need you to be patient and not get mad if I can’t do - if I can’t -”

“Hey, Jean, you don’t need to do anything, alright?” Jeremy said. “You don’t need to explain yourself to me.” He reached out to take Jean’s hand but Jean flinched.

“I’m sorry, I -”

Jeremy held up his hand this time and slowly moved to grab Jean’s hand so he had time to move away if he wanted to.

“I’ve never - I don’t mean to flinch. It’s not you.” He lay down next to Jeremy and stared at the ceiling. Their arms were pressed together from their shoulders to their fingertips and after a minute, it started to feel comfortable. “I’ve talked about you in therapy because I wasn’t sure about what my feelings meant.”

He took long pauses between sentences but Jeremy didn’t dare to interject.

“Nothing that ever happened in my life ever was consensual.” Hard swallow. “Until you and the Trojans. I don’t know if I’m gay, honestly. I’m still figuring things out. Feeling anything confuses me. You’re the only person who offers something to me and lets me choose to accept it.”

“You noticed?” Jeremy was shocked.

“Of course I noticed. I was confused - at first - but it’s become everything to me. If this is too complicated I understand ... but I hope - I don’t know.” He sighed, frustrated with himself and everything leading up to this point that was making him unable to trust his own feelings.

Jeremy bit his lip. “I’m here. You’re worth the wait, Jean. I want to be the one you can figure things out with.”

Jean sat up. “What if - what if I’m wrong about this?” His voice was breathy and when Jeremy met his eyes, they were wet.

“Then we’ll stop and we’ll continue being friends.”

“I don’t even know if I can try.” Every fear seemed to be coming to the front of his mind. “What if I’m wasting your time?”

Jeremy sat up. “I don’t care. Can I hold your hand again?” Jean nodded. “If after everything, you decide you’re not gay, or you’re not into me, it will all be fine. I could never hold it against you. I care about you and nothing will ever stop me from caring about you.”

Jean’s gaze on his face was intense but Jeremy tried to keep an open expression. He meant what he said and he needed Jean to know that everything would be okay.

“Can I kiss you?”

Jeremy felt his eyebrows raise in surprise. “Please.”

Day 7

As they sat on the boat that would take them back to the mainland Jeremy couldn’t help the smile on his face. Jean was next to him, arm pressed right against his.

He looked behind him to where Neil and Andrew sat, space between them but hands linked on the seat. Andrew was looking off in the distance.

Jeremy opened his mouth to ask Neil a question when Andrew’s head snapped in his direction. “It’s 8:30, I have a hangover and you’re annoying me.”

“I haven’t done anything.”

“That smile on your face is making my hangover worse.”

Jean turned around. “Get used to it.”

1 Kevin/Thea 2 Neil/Andrew 3 Dan/Matt 4 Allison/Renee 5 Jean/Jeremy 6 Aaron/Katelyn 7 2 freshmen 8 2 freshmen 9 2 freshmen 10 Nicky

#aftg #aftg fic #tfc #tfc fic #jerejean #background andreil #background kevinxthea

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kar3npage · 5 years

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Sewing Scissors and Throwing Knives

What would have happened if Neil stopped playing Exy? If he kept running after his mother died? Neil Josten is working as a janitor at Palmetto State University when he gets the opportunity to work as a fashion designer for an up and coming brand. It's a dream come true, if it wasn't such a public position and if he wasn't still running from his father and the Moriyama's. Aka, the Fashion Designer AU that no one asked for but I couldn't help but write.

I will be updating this fic once a week, so keep tuned! You can read this on ao3 here

Chapter One: Alli Rey

There’s something about empty public spaces. The feeling that comes from being the only person in a building that’s meant to hold thousands is eerie and calming all at once. Neil Josten loves his job for this aspect, and this aspect alone. The less enjoyable part of the job was the more important part: cleaning after other peoples messes. Neil’s been working at Palmetto State as a janitor for 3 weeks now, and he’s become very aware of how messy people are. Despite the obvious drawbacks to his current situation, he feels at home here. This could be a dangerous feeling and no one is more aware of that than Neil himself, but he can’t help himself but cling to the small comfort that is having a key to somewhere. Having a key means he belongs, that he’s not only allowed but desired in the building. It’s been 15 years since Neil first started running, 7 since he’s been on his own without his mothers company and harsh words. He never thought that he would make it past the age of 20, but here he is. Maybe not living, but alive for the moment.

Neil is achingly grateful for the fact that he’s usually in charge of the Art wing of the university. It’s one of the least liked areas due to extreme amount of mess that appears every single day, which is why the newbie got it, but Neil was okay with cleaning literally anything as long as it kept him away from the Exy court. Exy carried far too many memories, most of them negative. Today was different though. Through a series of unfortunate events (the person who usually cleaned it was sick, their backup won’t come in, etc) the court has been given to Neil to handle. This is the other most hated area to clean, thanks to the mess that’s left after games. The past few hours have passed in a blur with Neil counting in different languages and using various other coping mechanisms to keep his head firmly in the now. His fingers itch for a pencil and paper. He doesn’t have any grand ideas, but sketching out his thoughts has always been soothing, which is why he began it in the first place. The facts are these: after the fateful night when he scrimmaged with Kevin and Riko and his mother took him away, he decided that Exy maybe wasn’t as enjoyable as he initially thought. This opinion was hammered into place 8 years later, right after his mom died. He had been grieving and stupid and passionate, and decided that attending just one year of university for Fashion Design couldn’t possibly hurt. Somehow Riko found him near the end of the year, and he was ‘invited’ to spend two weeks with the Raven’s. Neil hasn’t touched a racket since then, and at the moment he has no desire to. This particular court couldn’t be more opposite to the one in Edgar Allen, but something about the scent and the sound of his footsteps echoing in the court brought memories that he would rather forget right to the front of his mind.

He’s almost done when it gets to be too much. The lights, the empty bleachers, all of it together is just enough to push Neil over the edge. His skin feels like it’s two sizes too small, his whole body is itchy and he’s overly aware of exactly where each scar starts and ends. Not only does his skin not fit, but now his ribs seem to be shrinking, forcing much needed air out of his lungs. Neil drops the massive mop where it is and practically runs out of the stadium into the foyer, desperate for air and a break. It’s not until he makes it outside that his ribs start to go back to their normal size. He had grabbed his bag during his panicked escape (the duffle that he still brings everywhere he goes. He has a small apartment to put it in, but there’s no way he can trust anyone enough to just leave it there), and he fumbles for his sketchbook and pencil case. His hands ache from work, but the sound of pencil scratching on paper is so comforting that he can easily ignore the discomfort. He isn’t trying to do anything groundbreaking, just drawing out idea after idea for fun. He draws suits with unique pockets and prints in fun places, dresses with elegant coats and dresses made out of fabrics with stupid prints on them. He goes through five pages of tiny drawings before his heart settles down and he stops jumping every time the light from the lamppost flickers. It’s torturous to go back into the empty building to finish. Neil goes as quickly as he can and sprints home with his duffle clutched to his chest.

Morning sun makes the little apartment cozier than it is, though not by much. He’s been living here for three weeks, and he’s not expecting to be here for any longer than a month from now. Neil never buys anything more than what he deems absolutely necessary. Most of that fits into his duffle. Whatever doesn’t will be left behind, such as the duvet set that he got on sale at Target. Another perk of the janitorial job is the hours: he doesn’t start until 10 pm, so he can avoid most human life a good deal of the time. Even though he works late, Neil can’t kick the habit of waking up early. It’s only 7 am and he’s wide awake and ready for a run. He does a quick check of the apartment to make sure that everything is in its place and ready to go if he needs to leave at a moments notice. This is when he notices that one very important item is missing. The sketchbook that has been Neil’s lifeline for the past year is nowhere to be found. With a sinking feeling, he realizes that he must have left it outside after his panic attack last night.

His running routes are always random but well thought out, to avoid getting jumped. Unfortunately, today’s route has to be to the university so Neil can find his sketchbook (if he was a praying man, he would pray, that’s how desperate he is to get it back). The university is a terrible place to run, since it’s so crowded and there are so many campus security around. It takes twice the amount of time to get to the court now than it does at night. The sketchbook isn’t where he left it last night. Neil scours the outside of the building, even checking the garbage bins. With a sigh, he decides to go inside as a last ditch effort. Logically Neil knows that it isn’t a necessity, so he really shouldn’t be heading straight into a trigger for it, but this sketchbook holds more information about him than almost anything else (other than the binder that sits at the bottom of his duffle). The black book practically has his soul in it, lame as that sounds. After that year in the Design program, Neil hasn’t shown anyone any of his designs. Not that he’s had anyone to show, but still. It’s a private thing, and not knowing where it is makes him feel vulnerable. As expected, the university Exy team is practicing when Neil goes inside. He can hear shouts coming from the court where he stands in the room that holds the TV and couches. Keeping one ear in the direction of the court, Neil starts methodically going through the room. He’s checking under one of the couches when the soft sound of a footfall makes him reel around. Standing in the entrance to the room is a man around the age of his father. His wife beater shows off tattoos that cover his arms. They’re intricate and Neil would think they were beautiful if they weren’t attached to the person blocking one of his exits. The person who looks strong and a little bit pissed off, who reminds Neil of his father for no reason other than his age. “Who the hell are you and how did you get into my court?” the man says. Neil flinches when he takes a step into the room. “Janitor. Keys,” Neil says, holding up his key ring for the university. He stands up and takes a careful step back, eyes darting to the other exits in the room. The mans posture softens, though his face still looks suspicious. “As far as I know, no one called for a janitor.” Neil considers just leaving without answering. But he really wants his sketchbook back. And maybe the man knows where it is. “I left something here last night.” The mans eyes gleam and Neil has an uncomfortable feeling that today might turn out much differently than he was expecting it to go. “The something you left doesn’t happen to be a black sketchbook, does it?” Neil takes another step back and nods. The man grins and jerks a finger toward the office door, where he must have come out of. “I found it outside this morning when I got here. I was flipping through it to see if there was a name of the owner and I saw your drawings. They’re good.” Goosebumps raise on Neils arms when he hears that this man looked through his book. He knows that he had a legitimate reason to look inside, but anger still rises up. “I didn’t realize that you were an art connoisseur,” Neil snarks, trying to avoid thinking about someone looking at his art without his permission. The man snorts. “I’m really not. But my son knows a lot about those kind of things, and I’ve picked up a thing or two from him. I’m Wymack, the coach of the Foxes.” That is just really too bad, Neil thinks. He was really enjoying getting to stay here, and now he has to leave a month earlier than he was planning to. The thing is, Neil knows exactly who Wymack is. After his little scrimmage with Kevin and Riko, he kept a close eye on Kevin. He wasn’t stalking him or anything, just checking up on the poor kid who had to see his father do such terrible things. He heard about Kevin’s injured hand almost as soon as the press heard about it. Not long after that, it came to light that David Wymack, coach of the Palmetto State Foxes, was his biological father. Kevin faded from the Exy scene a few months after that when it became clear that he was giving up the sport and Neil stopped checking on him. Wymack is watching Neils internal breakdown carefully and he shifts to the side so he isn’t blocking the exit anymore. If Neil wants to leave, he can, but he’ll have to get in arms length of Wymack. They have a silent staredown while Neil decides on his course of action. Wymack speaks before a decision can be made. “I hope you don’t mind, but your work was really impressive. I’m not an expert or anything, but I would like to think that I’m pretty good at spotting talent.” “What are you hoping I don’t mind?” Wymack scratches the back of his neck, the first time that he’s looked anything but confident. “Well, as I said, my son knows quite a bit about that sort of stuff. Actually, he’s a designer. At Alli Rey, the fashion company. And I sent him a few photos of your sketches.” Neil’s stomach plummets through the floor. Unless Wymack has another mysterious son, he just sent his artwork to Kevin Day. Neil had no idea that Kevin was a designer now, he didn’t even know that Kevin was interested in that. Neil tries to school his emotions and makes a beeline to the exit, tensed just in case Wymack decides to try to stop him. “He was really impressed.” Wymack says, and Neil freezes. “You had no right to go through my things, or to send them to anyone.” Wymack doesn’t even have the decency to look guilty. “He wants you to intern at Alli Rey, he thinks you have potential.” “I don’t want that.” “Why not? It’s a great opportunity, and you’re obviously passionate about it.” “I don’t need your help.” Wymack raises an eyebrow. “Maybe I wasn’t trying to help you, maybe I was trying to help Kevin. The company needs another designer, and he thinks you would be a good fit.” Neil searches for a legitimate excuse to decline an offer that in any other world would be like a fairy tale. “I’m not good enough to work with Kevin Day.” Wymack looks almost pleased with himself. “I never said his name. The fact that you know who he is is proof enough that you’re passionate. And who cares if you think your good enough or not? Kevin thinks you are. And he doesn’t say things like that lightly.” “I just came back for my sketchbook. If you could give it to me and let me leave, that would be great.” Neil can tell that Wymack is analyzing him. He has been this whole time. Finally, Wymack sighs and his shoulders slump a bit. He looks exhausted. “Is there a reason that you’re trying to push away an amazing opportunity that you want to take?” “Who says I want to take it?” “I recognize that look from my Foxes. Do you know how I chose players for the team?” Neil shakes his head no, even though he’s heard tons about the damaged players who are recruited for Palmetto’s Exy team. He wants to hear Wymacks side of it. “Everyone here has a bad past. The team isn’t about the sport as much as it is about second chances. Second, third, fiftieth. As long as it’s one more chance than the rest of the world wants to give you. Taking this offer could be your chance.” “You don’t even know my name.” “I know that you’re skilled, that you did a hell of a good job cleaning up last night, and that you have the same look in your eyes that most of my Foxes do.” Neil straightens his spine like that might prove that he isn’t broken, that he’s different than the aggressive team that’s currently arguing in the court. “Look, you don’t have to answer right away. Just think about it.” Wymack turns around to rummage around in the office for a moment. He comes back out with the sketchbook and Neil feels a spark of relief at seeing it in one piece. “I left Kevin’s number on a sticky note on the front. Take the week, he’ll give you until Friday to decide.” Neil snatches the book out of Wymacks hand and speed walks out of the building, breaking into a sprint the minute he’s out of Wymacks sight.

#fan fiction #writing #my writing #andreil #chapter one #all for the game #multi chapter fic #fashion designer au #the foxhole court #neil josten #wymack #coach wymack #fanfic

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 5 years

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Michael in the Mainstream: Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel is one of the MCU’s most powerful characters right now, one of the few heroes who can even have a hope of defeating Thanos, so of course she needs to have a movie. Throwing in a bunch of heroes into an ensemble film without properly setting them up is what amateurs do, and at this point Marvel is no amateur; they know how to properly set up heroes… kind of. You see, Marvel Studios has a bit of a problem when it comes to origin films: they’re all very, very similar, very formulaic, and sometimes even predictable. That’s not to say they’re bad, far from it! Films like Black Panther, Ant-Man, and Doctor Strange are all rather formulaic but they all have interesting twists to the formula that makes them feel fun and exciting. Marvel is a lot better with quirkier fare, ensemble movies, and sequels than they are with solo origin films, Iron Man notwithstanding, but they usually find a way to make things feel fresh.

Captain Marvel… does and doesn’t achieve this. Captain Marvel is probably the most “Marvel” Marvel movie yet made; it feels like a film they would have released a decade ago, during Phase 1 or Phase 2. And there is actually a good reason for that; this movie has been in the plannig stages for a long, long time, but racist, sexist, cheapskate CEO Ike Perlmutter wouldn’t let this film be made because he didn’t think non-white, non-male leads could sell (a laughable sentiment when looking at superhero films nowadays), only relenting to let the film be made if Kevin Feige made an Inhumans movie, which fell through when Feige managed to get rid of the meddler and get him exiled to the Marvel TV department. This film has been a long time coming, and it feels like it.

But I can’t say the film is bad; it’s most definitely not, and there’s a lot to love in the film. At the same time though, it’s easy to see why someone might not find themselves sucked into this; it’s a film coming out in Phase 3 that feels like it belongs in Phase 1. Where it would have been one of the best Marvel films of the early phases, it struggles a bit to stand out in the current MCU where the past few films have been nothing but home runs, and competing superhero cinematic universes have also been producing quality films, with Spider-Verse and Aquaman in particular bringing a lot of new stuff to the table. It just feels like Captain Marvel is almost irrelevat in the current landscape aside from introducing Carol Danvers to the MCU.

And yet… this is still a good, fun movie, because it delivers exactly what it promises, and it does the one thing I consider the saving grace of any film that would otherwise be average: it is wholly, unabashedly cheesy.

So let’s talk about what I loved first. The Skrulls are easily the very best part of the film, particularly Talos. Talos is one of the most interesting and complex antagonists in the MCU so far, and there’s a lot more to him than it initially seems. Just the fact that in general the Skrulls are now part of the MCU is absolutely delightful, as it seemed for so long they’d be exiled from continnuity due to Fox owning the rights to the most famous Skrull, Super-Skrull, due to his close ties to the Fantastic Four (though this is no longer a problem). To say much more about what makes the Skrulls so great would be to spoil one of the few genuinely good twists the movie has to offer, but it is a pretty neat twist on what you’d expect from Skrulls.

Carol herself, as played by Brie Larson, is a mostly enjoyable character. I think Carol is a bit shaky right now, having to deal with the tired amnesia plot and not getting to use her powers all that much, but for the most part she’s an enjoyable hero. I think she’ll fare a lot better in ensemble films and sequels, because Larson does a really good job, it’s just that so much of the movie is spent with her being limited. However, this is mitigated by the fact that she has great chemistry with Samuel L. Jackson, and pretty much every scene with Fury and Carol interacting is amazing. Speaking of Jackson, the effects used to de-age him are nothing short of stunning; you can’t even tell its CGI, it’s that good. Far better than the de-aging effects used in films like Rogue One, that’s for sure

The soundtrack is pretty good, though sometimes it’s a bit too on-the-nose. The usage of “Come As Your Are” is so literal it hurts, and the usage of “Just a Girl” is so utterly cheesy. But I think stuff like this helps add to the film’s charm, as does the fact that this movie is honestly, genuinely funny, especially due to the aforementioned banter between Carol and Fury, as well as the presence of Goose the cat, who Fury dotes over and who plays quite an amusing and cool role in the film, shockingly enough. Goose might be one of the best characters in the film honestly, which is not often something you hear about a pet cat.

Of course, not everything is perfect. A lot of the action is nauseatingly shaky and weirdly poorly choreographed, with the exception of the final battle and perhaps Carol’s escape from the Skrulls near the start. For a superhero movie, having such wonky action is inexcusable, though thankfully there’s not too much fighting… or not thankfully, since again, this is a superhero film, the sort of film where you expect superhero action. It’s not all bad, but when it gets bad it gets really bad.

There’s also the underutilization of characters. You know how the return of Ronan and Coulson was hyped up? Well, unfortunately for everyone, both of their screentimes are incredibly limited to the point they are essentially cameos, though Ronan feels like a cameo moreso than Coulson. Korath, too, is a bit wasted, though he at least gets a little more prominence with him being part of Carol’s initial squad, though he’s still not exactly focused on to any great extent. It just feels so pointless to have these actors come back to these roles if they’re essentially playing meaningless bit parts, especially in the case of Korath and Ronan, seeing as we know they end up dying anyway. It just seems like a huge missed opportunity to do something with these characters.

And of course, the whole amnesia plot kind of holds things back. Not that it’s done poorly, but it is a tired trope that is tricky to pull off, and considering Carol’s amnesia holds back the plot and holds her back from using her powers to any great extent, it does feel like more of a burden than anything that leads to interesting developments. It doesn’t help that most of the stuff revealed over the course of her rediscovering who she is is stuff that you could easily figure out on your own from nothing more than promotional material and the obvious hints throughout the film; it just feels like a contrivance to keep Carol in a weakened, vulnerable state instead of letting her let loose. Say what you will about Superman movies, but he at least gets to be Superman for vast swaths of the film in his origin story movies. Here, Carol’s big Captain Marvel moments really only come at the end, though I can’t stress enough that the final battle is a pretty cool sequence.

Still, nothing in this movie is done excessively poorly; there’s nothing here as bad as the Iron Man sequels or Thor: The Dark World. On the other hand though, there’s nothing here as innovative or impressive as in Thor: Ragnarok, Infinity War, Black Panther, or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, with the exception of the Skrulls. There’s a lot of good elements here, obviously, but most of the stuff really just doesn’t elevate this movie to greatness; it’s merely a good, even very good film, but not as great as it should be nor as bad as some make it out to be. And this isn’t entirely the film’s fault; as I said, Perlmutter’s meddling did keep this on the backburner for a long, long time, so it’s frankly amazing the film is any good at all.

Really, whether you love or hate this is going to boil down to how much you can tolerate cheesiness. I live and breathe cheesiness, I have been exposed to cheese since I was young, so of course I’m pretty fond of this film. I’m also a huge fan of Skrulls so it’s a given I’d like a film with them in it. But if you don’t like this film, if you just don’t connect, well, it’s hard to blame you. It’s not an amazing or groundbreaking film, and really that’s a shame, because it could have and should have been. But on the other hand, not every film needs to exist to break new ground, not every film needs to change the world… sometimes films can just exist and be good.

Captain Marvel is a film that has attracted a lot of controversy, vitriol, and debating over it, making it one of the most controversial superhero movies in recent memory. Beyond that sentence I’m not going to even bother addressing any of that, because it is all the most idiotic drivel I have seen in regards to film in years. This is an utterly harmless superhero movie through and through, and any argument otherwise is just pointless drivel.

I really wish this could have come out years ago, because this would have been a game-changer back when superhero films were first breaking through. In this day and age? It’s just a good, fun movie, nothing less. I have faith Carol’s next outings, in Endgame and her inevitable sequels, will be a lot stronger and more polished and full of interesting developments, but her first outing is simply a fun time before the inevitable heartbreak and mindblowing that Endgame promises. I’m kind of okay with that; it’s nice to have a little calm before the storm.

#Michael in the Mainstream #review #movie review #Captain Marvel #MCU #Marvel #superhero movie #Brie Larson #Samuel L. Jackson #Nick Fury

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adamslynches · 6 years

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stranger than all my dreams, chapter one.

read here on ao3!

chapter two here

Aaron considered himself to be a morning person. Being in pre-med like he was, most of his classes were early, or at least before noon, so he had had to get used to waking up early pretty quickly. Plus, there had been a little extra motivation in it to see Katelyn before class, to walk her to the building whenever he could.

Still, he had his limits. One of which happened to be waking up to screaming just after the sun had come up.

“What the fuck is going on?” He pulled on a clean shirt and scrubbed his face with his hand, walking out into the main room and then stopping dead, blinking.

In the middle of the room, two children were standing back to back, and there was a distressed looking Nicky hovering near them. On Aaron’s approach, the older man’s eyes filled with tears and the two children turned to face him too.

Oh fuck. There were two little boys, one slightly taller than the other but both wearing similar expressions of confusion and fear. The taller boy had a shock of auburn hair that stood up in tangled curls on his head, and bright blue eyes that were hard and observant. The other boy was as familiar to Aaron as his own reflection though, because, well-

“Andrew.” Aaron let out a slow breath, and the blond kid immediately looked slightly freaked out.

“How do you know my name?” His little voice was dripping with suspicion, and Aaron still couldn’t bring himself to do much else than stare at him.

“Nicky, what the fuck?”

Nicky swallowed and sniffed wetly. “I-I came out and found them like this, they- Neil, he-”

Aaron finally tore his gaze away from his brother, and saw what Nicky was talking about. Neil- Nathaniel, Aaron supposed, was bleeding from his right hand, and it had dripped a little onto the floor.

Medical instincts kicking in, Aaron took a step forward and sank down to their level. “Hey, uh… What’s your name, kid?”

Neil, skittish even as an adult, looked apprehensive before finally giving in. “Nathaniel.”

Aaron nodded. “Okay, Nathaniel, I’m Aaron. Can I see your hand?”

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes, but held out his small hand nonetheless. Aaron inspected it, and he hissed slightly though his teeth. Shards of glass were embedded in the boy’s hand, and causing blood to pump out.

“Shit, Nicky get a first aid kit, and a brush. Did you drop a glass?”

Neil- no, Nathaniel nodded, and Aaron sighed, before starting to pull the pieces of glass out of him. The boy’s bottom lip wobbled threateningly, and Andrew bristled beside him as if Aaron were hurting him on purpose.

Even as kids, they were fucking ridiculous.

Once Nicky got the first aid kit, Aaron cleaned out the cut as gently as he could, wrapping it in clean, white bandage and tying it firmly. Nathaniel thanked him, almost too quiet to hear, and Aaron, despite himself, felt his heart sink a little.

He wondered if anyone had ever patched Neil up so gently before.

Pushing that thought away, he helped Nicky to clean up the rest of the broken glass in the kitchen, and threw it away. Nicky had calmed down by then, now that no one was bleeding, and they were both more level headed by the time they made their way out to the boys again.

When they re-emerged, Andrew and Nathaniel had both moved to the couch, and were watching television. Nathaniel’s choice, clearly, as they were watching one of Kevin’s Exy DVD’s and Andrew looked bored out of his mind. He wasn’t complaining though, and if the way he glanced at Nathaniel every couple of seconds was anything to go by, he would have been too distracted to watch anything else too. It would have been sweet, if it weren’t his brother and Josten.

When he and Nicky walked in though, both pairs of eyes locked onto them and Aaron went to a chair across the room to sit down, not wanting to freak them out. Nicky followed him, sitting down on the couch beside him.

Nathaniel looked at Andrew, and they did their creepy silent conversation thing- apparently they could still do that- before Nathaniel looked at them again.

“Is Andrew staying with you now? And where’s my mom?”

Aaron didn’t really know what to say to either of those. Nicky looked as nervous as he felt, as he opened his mouth and then closed it again.

“Both of you are going to be staying here for a while. Andrew’s family needed someone to watch him and Nathaniel, your mom asked us to look after you.”

Neil looked highly sceptical. “You don’t know my mom.”

Aaron racked his brain, before shaking his head. “Her name is Mary Hatford, she asked us to look out for you while she… went to find her brother?”

Nathaniel frowned, then. “She went to find Uncle Stuart?”

That seemed to appease him though, and he settled down again, his leg pressing into Andrew’s. Aaron rubbed his face and groaned. He had never been good with normal children, never mind these two.

Nicky seemed to find his voice then, smiling and looking over at them. “What age are you both?”

Andrew fixed his gaze on the older man, whereas Nathaniel merely glanced at him before returning his attention to the game on the screen. “Six.”

Aaron let out a breath that he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. Six years old, and he could already see the scars that were peeking out from under Nathaniel’s shirt, reaching up towards his collarbones. He hadn’t thought it possible, but he felt an irrational urge to protect the little shit.

He pulled out his phone and held it in his hands, debating his options. He knew that everyone would come if he told them it was an emergency, but he was pretty sure that it wasn’t the best idea to swarm Andrew and Neil- fuck, Nathaniel, with lots of new faces at once. They didn’t like that as adults, they would probably hate it as scared, confused kids.

He made his decision quicker than he thought he would, and texted Renee and Katelyn, telling them both to come to the dorm. The other foxes could be dealt with later, the priority now was to figure out what the hell had happened, and to stop the kids from bolting as soon as they had the chance to.

********************

Renee widened her eyes as she took in the scene in front of her.

“I see what you meant by an emergency, Aaron.”

Neil and Andrew looked up at her in faint annoyance and slight apprehensiveness, as if she was going to hurt them somehow. Although, based on both of their prior experiences, she supposed that it wasn’t exactly that much of an overreaction for them. The thought made her heart hurt. She grabbed her bag, and then took out the supplies she had brought with her. Aaron had mentioned that the emergency had involved both Andrew and Neil, so she had come prepared for both, bringing a box of strawberries as well as a bag of fun-sized candy bars.

She opened the bag and took out a handful of bars, holding them out to Andrew who took them immediately, suspicious but never one to turn down free sweets. Neil, on the other hand, was harder to crack, although eventually he took the fruit and tore it open around the edges gently.

Both happier than they had been when she arrived, they seemed a lot more relaxed and open to strangers talking to them.

“My name is Renee, I’m a friend of Aaron’s.”

Aaron nodded from the doorway. “This is Andrew and Nathaniel. Guys, Renee is going to be watching you for a few hours.” He checked his phone again, and then grabbed his coat. “Katelyn is outside, we’re going to run and get some groceries for these little monsters. Do you need anything?”

Renee thanked him but declined, instead focusing on helping Neil to take the stems out of his strawberries, to make them easier to eat. Neil gave her a small, grateful smile, and murmured his thanks to her, so she beamed at him. “You’re very welcome, Nathaniel.”

Andrew stared at her, before turning his gaze downwards. “What are those?”

Renee followed his gaze to the scars on her knuckles and the backs of her hands, and she smiled softly. Of course Andrew would notice those first. Now that she thought of it, Neil had been looking at her hands a lot too.

“When I was younger, I had some bad people around me, and I got hurt sometimes. I’m safe now though, just like you’re safe now.”

She watched them both swallow that information down, and saw the grim recognition in both of their eyes. She hated it, but she supposed that there was nothing that she could do for them, no way for her to make the past better for either of them, other than making the present better.

Andrew, surprisingly, reacted first, frowning endearingly. “I won’t let them hurt you again.”

Renee’s heart broke just a little bit. The higher pitch of his voice took the threat clean out of the words, but she had no doubts that he meant every bit of it, that he wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt her without his intervention. Slowly, she held out her hand to him. Slower, he took it.

She smiled softly, and squeezed his fingers. “It won’t come to that, Andrew.”

He frowned deeper, but then nodded. “Okay.”

“Will you watch Exy with us?” Neil’s voice had a slight whistle in it due to a missing tooth, and good Lord, those boys were going to be the death of her. Andrew let out a long, tortured sigh beside him, and Renee laughed.

“Of course, but how about some ice cream first?”

Andrew immediately perked up a bit, and Renee stood up to walk with them to the kitchen, Andrew’s hand still tightly clasped in hers.

#andreil #andrew minyard #neil josten #aaron minyard #aftg #renee walker #deaging fic #kidfic

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nickireadstfc · 6 years

Text

The King’s Men, Chapter 16 – A Team Of Particularly Good Finders

In which I find a new favourite team, Kevin’s angrier half makes an entrance, I find a new favourite team, keys are distributed, faceclaims are suggested, and I find a new favourite team.

Sounds good? Then it’s time for Nicki to read The King’s Men.

Saturday morning Wymack stopped by Fox Tower with a guest. (…)

“Thea,” Kevin finally said, and scrambled to his feet. “What are you doing here?”

Oh HECK YES.

I’ve been waiting for this gal ever since she was first mentioned, and my dudes my pals my homies, let me tell you – her presence does not disappoint.

Thea Muldani is big and buff and bench-presses male egos for breakfast, but also wears pastel makeup, braids and dresses like Beyoncé herself gave her fashion advice.

A certified Boss Ass Bitch, you say? Absolutely.

A definite, definite Venus Williams faceclaim, you say?

Alternatively also Serena Williams?

Absolutely.

Like Kevin, Thea also left the Ravens, but she seems to have quite a different relationship to them than he does.

Even though Thea graduated from Edgar Allan almost three years ago she still wore her Raven jersey number on a pendant around her throat.

Interesting.

Neil then wonders how ex-Ravens fare out there in the Real World, and he voices my thoughts precisely: Do they recover? Do they hang on? And if they do, is it because they’re broken, or out of choice?

This is Interesting Shit that I am very, very much intrigued to know more about. Since I’m not sure we’ll have quite enough time to get into this in what’s left of this book, if anyone has any fic recs dealing with this (= post-Raven recovery), hit me the hell up.

However sadly, Thea is not here to answer my deep psychological musings, and is instead very much here to tear Kevin a new one.

Or five.

“I always wanted to talk, but it was complicated.”

“’Complicated’,” Thea echoed. The air quotes she threw him were angry and mocking. “’Complicated’ is having to find out from a press conference that you broke your hand and left the line-up. ‘Complicated’ is finding out the hard way you disconnected your old number and having to hear from Jean that you didn’t want anything to do with any of us effective immediately. Don’t you dare use ‘complicated’ against me. I deserve better than that.”

OH SHIT.

Exy Venus Williams is mad, y’all – and completely in the right, because Kevin, you done fucked up.

Anyone who figuratively leaves his girlfriend on ‘read’ for two years deserves to have the shit bitched out of them publicly.

However, Kevin has a magic trick to at least somewhat calm his angrier half down:

Fellow ex-Raven and resident human ground beef Jean Valjean Moreau.

They go see him, but like puppies left out in the rain we don’t get to go with, which is a damn shame because I’m getting increasingly interested in how our favourite baguette is going to continue his trauma-filled existence.

“You assume [Nicky] will survive until summer [because he’s annoying the hell out of Andrew with his Andreil shipping],” Andrew said.

“You break him, you owe me a new defenseman,” Wymack said.

Bahahahaha.

Found this chapter’s #dicksoutforwymack, that line was gold, small as it was.

“You have one at Abby’s house.”

DAMN RIGHT. Anyone up for some Fox!Jean? Yes? Yes?

Apparently, not Kevin and Jean, who have irreparably damages their athletic compatibility at the Batcave of Extra, so Fox!Jean is a thing we may have to keep to fanfic.

Again – a damn shame.

What is decidedly not a damn shame is that Wymack has a lil something for Andrew, and when I found out what it was I may or may not have shed a lil tear of pride.

Keys jangled as they hit the carpet, and Neil stared in disbelief. He couldn’t be right, except last summer Wymack had given Neil three new keys, too: a set for all the important doors at the Foxhole Court. (…) “Kevin said to give you those.”

KEVIN IS TRUSTING ANDREW WITH STADIUM KEYS.

KEVIN IS EXPLICITLY INVITING ANDREW TO COME PRACTICE WHENEVER AND UNSUPERVISED.

KEVIN IS STARTING TO BELIEVE IN ANDREW’S FUTURE AS A PROFESSIONAL SPORTSBALL PLAYER EVEN IF ANDREW MAY NOT BE.

KEVIN IS TRUSTING ANDREW WITH STADIUM KEYS.

KEYS!!!!!!!!!!

This has got to be the fourth or fifth time this series has made me emotional about fucking keys, what in the absolute fuck.

[Neil’s] heart was pounding. (…) He thought about fighting for a spot on the US Court and facing the best the world had to offer, Kevin at his side and Andrew at his back.

When will the Kandreil feels end, my money is on fucking never.

With this preliminary banter done, we move on to what’s really important in this chapter:

The first NCAA Exy championship semi-final; University of Southern California Trojans vs Palmetto State University Foxes.

Or, as I like to call it – USC Hufflepuffs vs Kevin Day’s Boner.

So much has been promised about this team, their human sunshine of a captain and their infamous Too Good For This World cinnamon roll-ness, I was buzzing in my seat waiting to get to know them.

“[Think] about what you’re going to say in pre-game.” (…)

“How about ‘We’re gonna own these lowers’?” Nicky suggested.

“And that’s why you’re not allowed to talk to the press,” Matt said dryly.

Bahahahaha.

Nicky, my boy, never change. <3

However, I immediately opposed any ‘loser’ insults as I finally, finally met –

The one, the only, captain of Trojans, idol of Kevin Days everywhere, the OG Cinnamon Roll™ – Jeremy Fucking Knox.

“Kevin, you crazy fool,” he said, less formally, and clapped Kevin’s shoulder in a cheery greeting. “You never cease to amaze. You’ve got a thing for controversial teams, I think, but I like this one much better than the last one.”

Hi, marry me.

Again with the characterizations through first lines in this book, aye? Pretty sure this guy is the only one in the entire world who could bro-hug Kevin, call him a crazy fool to his face, and come away with his nose unbroken.

(He says a little bit towards Wymack before that, but we’re gonna ignore that for the meme.)

But apparently, Jeremy is not the only one who gets to say unexpected things right now.

[Kevin] only said, “I have a backliner for you. Do you have room on next year’s line-up?”

… Does this mean what I think it means.

I THINK IT DOES.

I THINK IT FUCKING DOES.

My dudes, let me tell you, my ass is HERE for Trojan!Jean. Trojean. TROJEAN.

Seriously, if you want someone with a trauma caused by abusive competitive toxic teammates to recover, a team that’s known for being the friendliest, kindest and fairest motherfuckers on the planet is pretty much the absolute Way To Go.

Operation Trojean is the best rehab anyone has ever thought of, ever, and I will hear no other opinions on this.

I was already enjoying this tremendously, good things all around, how much better could it be – when Sunshine Boy decided to pull something so spectacularly Hufflepuff that I swear to fuck I heard badgers singing.

Y’all are not ready.

I was not ready.

“Our line-up,” Jeremy explained. “It’s late to be getting it to you, I know, but we were trying to avoid as much of the backlash as possible.”

Why, what’s happ–

“Two goalies, three backliners, two dealers, two strikers,” Jeremy said. “You’ve made it this far with those numbers. It’s time to see how we’d fare in that situation.”

WHAT

THE

FUCK.

You have got to be kidding me, Sunshine Boy.

You are giving up your gigantic team, your sure-as-life win, your One Big Strength – just because it’s fair? And because you want to learn from your opponents more than you want to win?

I’m out. This is too much. This team is TOO FUCKING MUCH.

“You’ll lose tonight if you play like this.”

“Maybe,” Jeremy agreed, unconcerned. “Maybe not. Should be fun either way, right? I don’t remember the last time I was this psyched for a game.”

There is no way in hell I’m not faceclaiming this guy as known Puff Champion Cedric Diggory now.

No. Way. In. Hell.

Neil finally understood how the USC Trojans had won the Day Spirit Award eight consecutive years.

Bitch, me too, the fuck.

“I take back what I said about earthquakes,” Nicky said weakly. “I have a new favourite team.”

BITCH, ME TOO, THE FUCK.

And with that, the game is on, and I can’t remember the last time I was so pumped for a good ol’ match of Orange Murder Sportsball.

Despite their Line-Up of Dreams, the Trojans pretty much wipe the floor with the Foxes in the first half, as was to be expected.

But in second half – well, let’s just say I ain’t never seen a badger run a marathon.*

USC could have taken control of the game in a heartbeat if only they’d rethink their strategy. If they pulled their three subs from the sidelined players the Foxes’ night was over. But the Trojans had made up their mind and they weren’t backing down.

HELL YES.

BECAUSE THEY’RE THE FUCKING FAIREST BEST FUCKING SPORTS IN THIS ENTIRE DAMNED LEAGUE.

(*For the record: Foxes don’t exactly run marathons either – according to the mighty Internet, foxes can run up to 55 km/h and badgers up to 30 km/h, but both only over short distances. A human Trojan would definitely outrun a fox (or a badger) over a long distance. So much for brand accuracy.)

But then! Oh, who would have thought! This is so completely surprising! The Foxes catch their wind on the second half! Amazing, they start to dominate the game! And – and – and it’s a win! Win for the Foxes! WIN FOR THE FOXES!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy and excited for them and all, but as if we didn’t absolutely see this coming.

“Is this what dying feels like?” [Alvarez] asked, and called over her shoulder, “Babe, I think I’m dying. Do I still have legs?”

Things like these make my sports-ignorant ass realize just how hardcore the Foxes playing full halves actually is.

No subs, we die like men.

Also, Alvarez’ “babe” turns out to be Laila Dermott, which makes me love the Trojans even more – and I truly did not think this was possible – because Exy Lesbians.

“That was fantastic. (…) I want to do it again. Next year, maybe, when my legs grow back.”

“Stop being such a baby,” Laila said.

This banter is giving me life.

If anyone has any fanart of these two buff buttercups, please send it my way pronto.

Neil didn’t care how many hearts they broke that night. They’d beaten USC. (…) The Foxes were going to finals, and that was the only thing that mattered.

HEEEEEEEECK YEEEEEEEEES.

Before we move on to post-semi-final celebrations, allow me to gush about the Trojans one last time, and then I promise I’m done melting into a puddle every time one of them so much as speaks.

“[Jean] will be back in the fall. He just won’t be back in black.” Jeremy flashed his toothy grin. (…) “He’s transferring to USC for his senior year.”

This is one of the best ideas anyone has had in this entire book. Four for you, Trojean, you go, Trojean.

(And none for Riko Moriyama, bye.)

“We’ll have to get him some sun this summer, though! He’s a little pale to pull of red and gold right now,” Jean laughed.

[To the tune of California Girls] California puffs they’re unforgettable…

Also, in which Jean is #me in summer, all day err’day.

Tanning is for weak people, we sunburn like true Germans.

Nicky (…) cut the TV off. “I’ve got a theory that Renee and Jeremy are long-lost siblings. What do you think would happen if they ever joined force?”

“They’d get murdered,” Aaron said. (…) “War’s profitable; no one wants their world-peace nonsense.”

Gee, thanks, you absolute walnut.

For the record, I agree with Nicky, and I’m also counting this as the reason I immediately fell in love with Jeremy.

What can I say – in a world full of Angst, Drama, Angst, Infighting and More Angst, ya girl loves herself some good sunshiney optimists.

As for post-semi-final celebrations, the gang makes good on an old tradition and goes into town for another Fun Night of Debauchery for what I’m assuming is the last time in this series.

To think that a year ago the prospect of this would have made me break out in protective Neil feels, and now I’m actually looking forward to it.

Man, we’ve come far.

Speaking of – Andrew now apparently has no need for cracker dust anymore(!!!), has nothing against being touched in public (!!!!) and doesn’t seem to mind his Bartender Pal Roland calling him out on his Very Much Gay, Very Much Official Relationship (!!!!!).

Man, we’ve come fucking far.

“How’d you know [about Andrew being gay]?”, [Nicky said.] “Is your gaydar more advanced than mine is or – “ Nicky’s jaw dropped as he clued in. “Wait. No way. No way! Did you two –?”

BAHAHAHA.

LAUGHTER.

BIG FAT LAUGHTER.

Andrew hooked up with Big Intimidating Bartender Pal, this is glorious.

Neil’s clock was still ticking down, but his numbered days followed a different schedule now. Neil had all the time in the world, and that left a heat in his gut stronger than any whiskey could.

Fuck yes.

Fuck YES.

A very good ending to a very good second to last chapter.

...Oh shit.

Second. To. Last. Chapter.

EVER.

Next chapter will almost conclude this series (I’m told there is a short epilogue, so we’re not quite done). Next chapter will almost conclude this blog, holy shit.

We’ve been following the Orange Hellride that is this series for over a year now (thanks to my giant hiatuses in between, oops). This is insane.

I’ll get all emotional and grateful and weepy in the last chapter and final book recap, so dry eyes over here for now, but y’all – get ready.

This ride is about to end, and knowing this series, we’re about to go out with a fucking bang.

Oh dear.

Before I go - a quick note on the update situation for the last few uploads (meaning chapter 17, epilogue, book recap). This feels almost redundant to say after my schedule has been very loose (soz) these past few chapters anyways, but I will be taking some liberties for the finish line.

This blog has been one of my greatest pride and joys over the last year, and I really wanna stick the landing. This means I'd rather spend an extra day refining than update by hook and by crook. As a loose time estimate – expect the last chapter by the end of the week, possibly earlier.

Let me make this good for you guys. I'm way excited (and scared), and I hope you are too.

Peace and love, y'all.

#tfc #the foxhole court #aftg #all for the game #jeremy knox #aka my new husband #tkm #the king's men #nora sakavic #nicki reads tfc #please hold my hand through the last chapter #PLEASE

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defensefilms · 3 years

Text

Fox Sports Apologize For Their Opinions Of Giannis

The build up to game 6 of the NBA finals has brought with it some interesting analysis and a lot of it was really self-analysis on the part of the television analysts and the media attempting a kind of mea culpa regarding their perceptions of one of the best players in the league.

Fox Sports has spent most of the day questioning their perceptions of Milwaukee Bucks star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, starting with Nick Wright.

To Nick’s credit he brought up some very great points about how most stars that accomplish what Giannis has accomplished get far more open and gushing praise and far more respect from the media and current players.

All this goes back to comments James Harden made a year ago regarding Giannis, to the effect of “I can’t just be seven feet tall and dunk the basketball. I gotta have skill��. The obvious implication being that Giannis doesn’t have skill which was utterly ridiculous and down right untrue when Harden said it and has been prove to be even more ridiculous now.

Indeed Nick Wright is 100% on the money here. Any NBA star that wins 2 back to back MVP’s and a Defensive Player Of The Year award to boot, would be regarded as the unquestioned best two-way player in the league.

It’s a false narrative and James Harden coming to the Nets overweight and unable to help Kevin Durant win a series against the Giannis and the Bucks. Harden didn’t face nearly enough backlash for that.

However the guy that should have caught the most heat during the Nick Wright segment in question, was his co-host Brandon Marshall, who has repeatedly said over the last two year that Giannis’ lack of shooting skill would prevent him from being in the position that he’s in now.

He’s clearly looking like one of the worst analysts on tv right now because of this and you have to wonder how these guys can get paid to be wrong. It’s one thing to hedge your bets on a players succeeding but it’s a whole other thing to bet on a player’s failure and that’s what a lot of these guys in sports media do.

Brandon Marshall is the beneficiary of a tv sports media culture that doesn’t pay you to be right they pay you to be on time. The way it should work is that guys lose money for getting it this wrong but that would be meritocracy and the media want meritocracy for athletes but nor for themselves.

These NBA playoffs have reminded me of the 2019 NBA playoffs, not because of Giannis but because once again you have a team and a star player in the Finals that the media would have not chosen if they were to have their preference.

The media are shamelessly pushing for big market teams to make the finals and some of it is jut job preference. Stephen A Smith has said many times that he would rather have to travel to Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago than Toronto, San Antonio or Milwaukee. Most of the media would rather be in big cities.

The problem is that it’s not supposed to matter what they want. It has nothing to do with the game, the sport or anything else for that matter.

Just Do Your Job!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of it is a style of play thing with Giannis and people thinking that Steph Curry is more fun to watch which is the dumbest thing ever.

Some of it of it is the belief in analytics and 3-point shooting being the defining factor separating elite players from the rest, which is clearly false. The Suns in this series have proven the limitations of 3-point shooting and the Warriors in 2019 were still capable of big shooting nights but the Raptors were just better.

I have one question for those that think Damian Lillard, Steph Curry, James Harden, Kyrie Irving and any other player who favors flashy plays and ankle breakers, “How many of those guys have ever carried their teams to a championship?”.

Kyrie Irving was instrumental in the Cavs 2016 win but he was not the best player on that team.

Steph Curry in 2015, was not named Finals MVP and the team he played against had injuries, and before you point out Giannis and the Bucks injury luck this year, remember that Giannis also came back from the nasty knee-bending injury that looked for sure, as if it would end his season. Any other player comes back from an injury like that within mere days, the way Giannis did would have stories written comparing him to Willis Reed.

By the way, American media tried to say that the Bucks would be better with Giannis off the court, because now the other Bucks can be more aggressive, which is ridiculous. The Hawks were without Trae Young and when he came back he was hobbled, these are not difficult things to point out given that it was just a few weeks ago but can you imagine another star being talked about in this way.

Yesterday, Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd spent the entire day backtracking on things he had said about Giannis over the last two years. As always Colin just pretended all of his old takes don’t exist and he explains that away as “adapting to changing information” as opposes to it being that he was always wrong.

Completely undermines things Colin said a year ago during an interview with Doug Gottlieb, another known hater of small market teams.

The meat and potatoes of this is that the media should stop trying to tell us what people like and what they like and just report what actually happens on the court.

The idea that fans are less interested in a Suns-Bucks finals series and that the game’s biggest stars (LeBron, Durant, Curry) not being present at this time of year is hurting the NBA is absolute hogwash. More than that though it shouldn’t matter as far as the audience is concerned.

The other layer of this is media commentators, like Jason Whitlock who believe that the decline in the NBA’s rating is due to them supporting Trayvon Martin and movements like Black Lives Matter, like a way of punishing a corporation for not being indifferent towards racism or racist behaviour.

It is absolutely astonishing how little these guys actually know about the wider world. If I lose 1 million local viewers and I gain 3 million international viewers have I really lost ground? Does math matter? Are your sources/metrics for keeping up with the rating a true reflection of ALL your total viewership or are you still using the old Neilsen ratings because you’re boomers, and there is no other country except America considered in the metric?

A combination of cord-cutting, new media, streaming and all other manner of things means that the NBA is better off embracing the idea of this being a global sport. Adam Silver understands this better than the talking heads on TV.

I cannot with this nonsense.

It struck me while writing this that usually at this time of the year, there are soundbites and callouts and subtle digs being thrown about in post game press conferences. Chris Paul tried some of that after game 5 when he said that “everybody expects Giannis to miss free throws”. I’ve been respectful towards Chris Paul even though this sereis has given me every bit of ammunition not to be.

I’ll only say this; Giannis has led his team from down 2-0 and the whole time, he’s been missing free throws but what does that say about the guys that gave up the 2-3 lead. What does that say about a guy that has given up multiple series leads?

Game 6 awaits tonight and yes, people are doing what they always do at this time of the year and the media vultures are already taking pieces of flesh out of Chris Paul. The talk in the media is that Chris Paul losing would hurt his legacy. I don’t agree but every year it’s got to be someone and this year it might CP3.

As For Giannis and further adding to how the media relate to the guy, is that his press conferences have no sound bites. There’s no calling someone trash or saying that “that’s a bad shot” or “claiming that the series is over” or that “they can’t guard him”, even if the last two of those things may in fact be true.

He has handled the media with kid gloves and in turn there is a stability and calmness about the Bucks.

For one thing, Giannis has completely challenged and flipped the media’s expectations of what a star player can be in this league. Long may he reign.

It’s a new day as far as the NBA media goes and if you’re not adapted, you’re dying.

#nba #nba 2021 #nba playoffs #nba finals #milwaukee bucks #giannis antetokounmpo #fox sports #nick wright #colin cowherd #brandon marshall

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kevindayscrown · 3 years

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The one where Kevin Day falls in love with an ice hockey player.

Part 8

Windows

(TW: Mentions of Riko and conditions in the Nest, slight angst)

Anything included in this head canon takes place the semester after the Foxes won the championship against the Ravens.

Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about varsity teams in the United States so excuse any false information. Head over to the directory to find the previous parts.

Eric claimed he knew where to take Kevin. He said that he’d make up for the lack of privacy on the public rink, and Kevin let him drive them away. He was surprised when Eric parked outside of an old building. It still looked well preserved.

“This is sort of a hideout for the frats mostly,” Eric explained as he led Kevin inside. “It was found abandoned and they usually use it to throw parties. We got lucky that today is not one of those days.”

Kevin raised an eyebrow as he looked around. At least here, they were away from prying eyes and away from Andrew. He didn’t let himself think for too long that the only reason they were doing this pretend dating was that so people would watch them. Technically, neither of them had to agree to coming here.

He found a couch pushed back against the wall but before he could sit on it, Eric stopped him by standing in front of him.

“Not here. Come on.” He headed up the stairs. Kevin hesitated, and would have been suspicious if he hadn’t known that there was no way Eric hadn’t registered and taken Andrew’s threat seriously.

And so, he followed.

Kevin had doubts when he realized their new spot was in the attic.

But upon laying eyes on the mostly empty space, he halted.

It was small and yet big enough for just the two of them. There was a large window across from them, higher up, and when Kevin walked closer, he noticed that the only view through it was of the sky.

Eric sat down and pressed his palms down on the floor to lean on them, staring up at the window. Kevin hesitated before sitting down next to him.

“Sometimes, we come here with the guys from the team when we need a break, you know?” Eric started. Kevin scoffed as he kept his gaze outside of the window.

“So, you brought me on the same place you bring your teammates?” Kevin had loosened enough that Eric could tell he was teasing.

“Mm well, I figured we’d have some peace and quiet.”

And so, in silence they remained for a few minutes. The window was slightly ajar, so Kevin could listen to the sounds of the busy campus outside.

“Today was fun,” Eric said.

Kevin nodded slowly and brought one knee close to his body, hugging it.

“I suppose it was.”

Kevin could remember the feeling of Erik’s hand closing around his, the feeling of his breath against his skin, the goaltender’s laughter echoing even over the laughter of the children in the rink.

But he could also remember Riko. Riko and Tetsuji and their words. A good player was just that; a player dedicated to playing the game. Anything else did not matter. Especially things that could get in the way. Distractions.

Ravens did not care who they slept with in the nest. Gender did not matter, as long as they took what they wanted; meaningless sex. Riko however, would always tell Kevin that homosexuality was disgusting. It had no place in a world that belonged predominantly to men.

Kevin then remembered Jean’s screams and pleads.

He almost flinched, but Eric chose that moment to speak:

“You are always doing this.”

“Doing what?” Kevin asked, not looking at him.

“Get lost. In whatever it is that’s going on in there.”

Kevin didn’t respond.

“I know you’ve been through shit. I don’t know what that shit is exactly, but I’ve seen you face your demons. What’s holding you back now?”

Kevin had faced Riko. In the end, he’d won. But had he really?

“I’m tired.”

Was it the adrenaline from today’s excitement or the exhaustion itself that made Kevin say that? He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he was tired of carrying this weight. Riko’s ghost, memories from the Nest, guilt, his mother’s legacy, people’s expectations.

Was Kevin a person or was he a figure? A shadow of his mother’s decisions, an echo of her life? Someone that people looked up to who wasn’t even real.

Eric’s expression softened, but Kevin didn’t want his pity.

“I understand. I didn’t use to, but now I see it.”

Kevin attention was drawn by his words so he finally turned to look at him.

“You are too hard on yourself. You are cold and harsh with others, but only because you are so used to having high expectations from yourself, that you can’t help doing the same with everyone else.”

Kevin didn’t respond.

He wondered how he was so transparent when it came to Eric.

“And you?” He finally said. Eric raised an eyebrow, waiting for further explanation.

“Me?”

“Yes. You. You always have something to say, you are so calm and so fucking confident. What’s the catch?”

Eric hesitated and then shrugged.

“We all have our own weights. The question is whether you’ll allow someone to help you carry them. I have friends. A family who supports me. They help me through it. Who do you have?”

Kevin scoffed.

“You and your wise sayings,” he muttered. He would have looked away but Eric didn’t let him. He held onto Kevin’s chin and made him keep his gaze on him.

“If I am to pretend to be your boyfriend, I ought to understand you, don’t you think?” He asked.

Kevin had nowhere else to stare at but at Eric.

Eric noticed then, that Kevin had small tiny freckles sprawled all over his cheeks. They were tiny and almost invisible, but they were there.

“I suppose you are right.” Kevin said.

The thought of Eric ‘understanding’ him, terrified Kevin, though he didn’t show it. Opening up to someone, letting everything out. He’d never done it before. With anyone.

Their faces were dangerously close.

Kevin wasn’t sure why he didn’t pull away.

“You know, to sell the lie, we will probably have to kiss in public,” Eric’s voice was now a whisper.

Kevin froze at that moment, but all it took for him to relax was a brush of Eric’s thumb across his skin.

“We need practice. You know, so that it won’t shock you when we finally have to do it.”

It was a stupid excuse, but both of them used it to appease to their doubts and self-instilled restrictions, worries and no’s.

“Yes. You are probably right.”

Practice. This was a game. Nothing more.

And yet, as Eric pressed his lips against Kevin’s, Kevin felt a rush feeling of excitement, similar to scoring on court, his heart pounding.

His eyes closed and he leaned closer. Even kissing was like a banter, a competition between them. They enjoyed riling each other up, drawing reactions out of the other, pushing each other to their limits.

It became frantic, rough. Kevin’s hands gripped Eric’s shoulders and Eric’s hands went to his waist. They pulled each other closer and only pulled away when they had to catch their breath.

Kevin let go and panted slightly. Eric was the one who put distance between them and they remained silent for a moment.

It wasn’t awkward. But it was clear both of them had a lot to think about, for different reasons.

“Perhaps we need more practice,” Kevin muttered. Doubts and denial would come later. At the moment, Kevin was too focused on Eric, as the goaltender leaned in again and stole his breath away.

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okneiljos · 6 years

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aftg headcanons pt II

(some more of my ramblings)

• matt and aaron are roommates now since they switched so they’re not just sitting in silence nor talking to each other and ignoring each other’s presences for however years they have left right? the answer is no

— it might have been like that at first but then aaron warmed up to matt and actually started to like him

— katelyn and dan are besties and katelyn teaches her some cheerleading moves

— matt teaches aaron to box they go to the gym sometimes with each other but if one of them had a particularly bad day or an argument or they’re just frustrated and they’re in the dorms one of them will pick up a pair of gloves and the other will just know and then it’s on

— before when aaron would ignore him but matt would still talk to (at) him anyway matt never expected them to be friends but then one day aaron just replied, like one word or a grunt but it was something so matt started talking to (at) him more and then finally he got a full sentence

— nicky just barges in sometimes to complain about the rest of the monsters - especially when he’s forced to leave cause of andreils alone time (; - so the four of them (matt, aaron, kev, and nicky) form like their own little group but only when they’re in matt’s dorm together

— they’ll play games and blast music and do dumb dares and it’s a fun time

— their gfs will come over and bring renee and allison and they’ll hang and gossip and short fights will occur and seriously andrew and neil aren’t don’t yet

— anyway aaron and matt start being friendly in front of the others too and the first time it happened they’re all like “did that really just happen did i really just see that with my own two eyes matt said hi and aaron didn’t completely ignore him he replied???”

— they send each other memes all the time matt was surprised when aaron started it but he saw this meme on Instagram and snorted cause it was so matt and he sent it to him and matt choked on air and then he was crying with laughter and relief and joy cause his efforts weren’t for nothing and aaron was finally responding to him

— but when the foxes and monsters (usually kevin is the instigator) are fighting or any beef arises aaron will send matt the meme of pepe the frog sticking a fork in the socket or stupid funny shit that has matt holding back laughter but grinning at the screen

• matt and kev also become sort of bros

— kevin was drunk and rambling and started talking about history and usually everyone shuts him down because his history rants are almost as bad and long as his exy ones but 1000x more boring but matt listened to him

— he even seemed interested in what kevin had to say and then kevin started talking about his past and his anxiety and matt told him about his own struggles and they never talk about it ever again after that but if there are more understanding looks and if kevin barges in matt and aaron’s dorm to rant about whatever professor/student had pissed him off this time well that’s just coincidence

• kevin and dan bond over their love of wymack

— like they do on little dates and shit cause wymack is their dad and their his kids and abby insisted so wymack insisted so here they were out to eat lunch together

— it was weird and kevin said so but dan only looked at him and hummed then after a while she said, “only cause you’re making it weird. you make everything weird kevin” kevin was offended and shocked and stammered through a retort but dan cut it off with a laugh and kevin saw a little something of why wymack liked her so much and the ice was broken

— kevin stopped dreading these bi-weekly dates and actually started looking forward to them and one day dan takes him shopping because “no what the fuck kevin you cannot wear a track suit everywhere no you can’t—no jesus kevin formal track suits aren’t a thing”

— and “no kevin i don’t give a fuck how many calories are in this you’re going to eat this and you’re going to thank me” or “no kevin i don’t care how many fucking calories are in this i’m going to eat this and enjoy it and i’m not going to spontaneously gain 1000 pounds”

— kevin has a date with thea but he hasn’t seen her in a while and is nervous and doesn’t know what to wear so he goes to dan for help and dan grins at him and he knows then that they’re friends but he asks, “are we friends?” just to be sure and dan gives him this look like he’s an idiot and she says, “yes kevin we are friends. it’s really taken you this long to figure that out?” and kevin smiles at her

— dan is like whoa cause kevin’s true smiles are hard earned and usually related to exy or thea so it makes her feel a certain type of way and she beams and throws herself at him she’s got her arms around his neck and forces him to bend down he says, “jesus dan if this is going to become a thing you need to get a step ladder because i can’t afford to have back problems at this stage in my caree—“

“kevin?” “yeah?” “shut the fuck up and let me hug (love) you.”

• renee and nicky start spending more and more time together. they have lots of quiet but serious and philosophical conversation about their beliefs. nicky tells her about how his religion and the views of his parents twisted his view of his religion and made him question everything

— he told her he hated god or the idea of him for a long time becuase if what he was was so wrong why was he this he didn’t choose to be

— he hated himself for an even longer time but then erik came around and renee listens to him and they discuss it. renee opens his eyes to a lot of things and vice versa

— they don’t have these nights a lot but when they do happen they are peaceful and calm and tranquil and they can just talk about anything or not say anything because it’s just nice to be with someone who gets it or at least part of it

— they have a quiet but strong understanding and respect for one another and this connection between them may not be as strong as the connections they have to others it’s still something where it could have been nothing

• matt and andrew have a little understanding of their own that’s never spoken of between them but it’s still there. matt and andrew both care for aaron in very different ways but still

— also i have this headcanon that matt is as sugar addict as well, not nearly as bad as andrew but still

— okay so maybe one day matt was munching on a pack of reece’s and he has like three packs of four and who needs that many but he’s planning on eating it all

— andrew is sitting near him and looks over just to stare and matt is concerned he’s done something wrong and is about to die when he notices andrew’s not staring at matt but at the candy matt is eating

— he finds it amusing and asks, “do you want some?” andrew must see his amusement as he narrows his eyes but takes a pack for himself anyway

— matt is more than happy to share and now whenever matt has candy anywhere near andrew matt will automatically just give andrew some of it. when andrew has something particularly sugary or sweet he’ll gaze at matt and matt will ask and andrew will give him some

— kevin does not like this exchange of junk food and says so, “you guys are enabling each other’s unhealthy eating habits. eventually you’ll get fat and you won’t be able to play.” andrew just looks at him, “really, kevin, all i had to do to get of this fucking stickball team was become fat?” as he proceeds to munch on his snacks at an even quicker pace. kevin is cursing him and matt is laughing

— now whenever either of them eat something unhealthy in front of kevin (cause let’s be honest they’re in college and don’t have time) they’ll make a show of it just to watch kevin’s face turn red and him grit his teeth and they’ll exchange a look but they don’t talk about it

• when allison discovers kevin passed out drunk on their floor is when she kicks him awake and she starts yelling at him about being a hypocritical little shit

— kevin’s all like “the fuck” and allison is glaring at him and she’s kind of terrifying and it’s really bright and everything’s spinning

— she hits him upside the head and he groans at the explosion in his head she says, “you badger everyone about their unhealthy habits, andrew smoking, the food we eat but you’re fucking killing your liver”

— kevin wants to protest but the words die on his lips and instead of saying anything kevin makes this noise allison stops glaring at him so harshly “you can’t play exy if you’re dying of liver failure, kevin” she says and kevin doesn’t think that’s fair at all he wonders briefly if this is what he sounds like/what the others feel like when he does this to them

— “it’s not that simple,” he says pathetically

— “i know,” she says “but you need to find a new way to cope” he wants to ask how but she’s already there. “i’ll help you.” kevin nods, “okay,” he says.

— anyway that’s how kevin and allison got closer since allison is the first one to call kevin on his bullshit other than andreil

— so whenever something stressful or kevin’s anxiety starts acting up allison will distract him with things like shopping or cooking or anything and eventually kevin learns to cope by himself but he has a special place in his heart for allison even though he still gives her shit

• renee is a big thrift shopper. she goes any time she gets the chance and it’s how her and neil bond even more

— when she sees the polaroid andrew gets neil she starts thrifting cameras for him and sending them to him. by this time he’s already warmed up to her and isn’t so wary so it strengthens their bond

— when they were still at the dorms she went with dan and allison

— allison is Not a thrifter. at all. she only goes cause renee likes it, allison only gets cool little trinkets and books she thinks are cool and history books for kevin

— renee only goes for clothes and hats. most of her sweaters are all thrifted. dan is that shopper that gets all the weird stuff. like plates and curtains and stuff

— dan and renee always also get things they think the others will like. dan gets matt t-shirts and renee gets matt and nicky sweaters

— allison’s only clothing purchases are for other people until renee finds a red velvet dress that she thinks would look amazing on allison and it does becuase lets be real everything looks amazing on my wife. renee is like “there goes my gf, she so pretty”

— renee is a fan of corduroy pants, plaid skirts/pants, and mom jeans (this is random but it was necessary for me to write this down because this image has been in my head a while)

bro i’m on a roll with these. theres gonna be a part three because all day everyday of my life is spent thinking about these characters so i have so many more it’s a problem. sorry for any grammatical errors i just sped through writing this

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philosophiums · 7 years

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Closing Time - TFCFansgive fic

This is the fic that I did for @curlyhairedneil through @tfcfansgive. Hopefully this turned out alright!! I won’t lie, I really super struggled with the prompt, because we all know I’m not one for fluff writing, but this was... admittedly a lot of fun once I finally figured out where I wanted the story to go.

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Neil doesn’t know what to do on a snow day. Not that he considers this much of one. There’s barely a dusting on the ground, hardly enough to even call it snow. It’ll be gone by tomorrow morning, if not later this evening. He doesn’t get it. Classes – canceled. The whole school – shut down. Even Wymack, the betrayer, had called off Exy practice for the day. It’s not that Neil doesn’t get that, regionally, this is a lot of snow. It’s not even an inch, but to people who live here, who make a home in the south east, this is an abomination. Neil’s been here for three years – has called himself a Fox for three years, holy shit – and they’ve never called a snow day before. It’s unprecedented.

And yet all Neil can see when he looks out the dorm window is a lack of ice and perfect running conditions.

“We’re not going out there,” Andrew says from his spot on one of the bean bags. Kevin is at his desk doing homework. He’s been grumbling for the past fifteen minutes about stubborn coaches and unreasonable fathers. Apparently, not even Kevin could win Wymack over. The court is closed to them.

He should take a page out of Kevin’s book and get caught up on some homework. His chemistry is falling a bit short, but it’s fine because he’s still managing to maintain his GPA. Neil’s already done the math for that. He’d still be eligible to play even if he gets a low D in the class. And thank god, because Neil doesn’t understand the subject and his tutor is atrocious.

“Do your homework,” Andrew says as Neil drops down onto the sofa beside him, heaving a great sigh of boredom.

“No.” Neil stares at the ceiling and then at Andrew’s lap, debating.

“Yes,” Andrew says, and Neil can’t tell if it’s to maintain their argument or if it’s an invitation, but he takes it as the latter and settles down with his head on Andrew’s lap. Neil likes the way Andrew’s eyes track his progression all the way down until he’s on his back, neck at a bit of an uncomfortable angle, but it’s fine because Andrew is watching, looking. It makes Neil warmer, as if it wasn’t winter outside at all.

Kevin puts in his headphones and turns on an Exy game. Neil had known that the homework wouldn’t last long, especially since it was for his literature class and not any of his three history classes. It’s still nice to know that anything Neil says to Andrew and vise versa will be in confidence.

Neil waits for a staring comment from Andrew, but what he gets instead is a hand in his hair as Andrew returns his attention to the television. Neil doesn’t know what’s on, doesn’t care. He watches Andrew the way Andrew watches the show, taking in the reflection of the screen in Andrew’s glasses only to the extent that he likes the way the colors play on Andrew’s amber eyes beneath the lenses. He hums when Andrew takes to lightly scratching his nails over Neil’s scalp, and Neil likes the way Andrew’s jaw works like he’s trying impossibly hard to restrain himself from looking at Neil at all.

There was a time in his life – a long, long time – when this, here with Andrew, wasn’t even a thought in Neil’s head. It wasn’t even a fever dream. Neil knew his life was running and running and lying, was new identities and his mother’s backhand when he fucked up their backstory. Teenage hormones had gotten him a secret kiss that had turned out in the end to be not as secret as he had thought – and nothing special anyway. It hadn’t been worth the beating, hadn’t set off anything inside of Neil that kissing Andrew had – does.

Kissing Andrew is… different. It’s something Neil is afraid will be taken from him one day, something that could be used against him. Every kiss could be the last, every moment like this could be taken away from him so quickly, so easily. His father is dead, Lola is dead, Romero is dead, but there are so many, many others. And on top of it all, there’s Ichirou. Neil could wake up one day and his life could be in ruins.

So when moments like this come – no classes, no practice, an invitingly comfortable Andrew to lounge against, Neil knows better than to wish for anything else.

Neil tracks time by episode changes. They’re all half-hour segments, short little skits that Neil still finds too long and uninteresting. The tropes are boring, and Neil hates how poor the acting is, how the information is never tied together properly and how most of the “facts” are presented through a screen of bullshit. The plots are predictable, all following the same arch, the same path. The jokes are subpar and bourgeois. He’s never asked why Andrew likes them because it never seemed relevant; there were more important truths to be shared.

“Why do you watch them?” Neil asks during a commercial break. Andrew mutes the television and looks down at Neil. “If I spewed half of the nonsense coming from these shows, you would knife me.”

Andrew gives him a look which clearly tells him to not be so dramatic and then returns his attention to the still-muted television.

Kevin swears into the silence, then mumbles something about the stats of the game he’s watching. Neil picks up on the scribble of a pencil and wonders if Kevin is going to assign him this particular game to watch at a later date – tomorrow, most likely.

“I watched them in juvie,” Andrew says, pulling Neil’s focus where it should never have strayed from. The position of his neck is getting uncomfortable, but he doesn’t dare move. If he pulls away now, Andrew might stop talking, and Neil would rather die. “It was always funny to me,” Andrew continues in a humorless tone, “that the detention center allowed us free range on the television for an hour each day, but most of my foster homes wouldn’t even let us look at their screens.”

Thinking about Andrew’s past is never fulfilling for Neil, in the same way that he would rather never think about his own past. It happened, it was awful, and he doesn’t want it to keep affecting who he is today. Neil was never allowed to watch TV shows either, unless it was the news or it was a requirement for class – and those were usually documentaries. It was only when Neil showed up here, rooming with Seth and Matt, that he was allowed television. And despite Neil never taking advantage of Matt’s open invitation to watch sports other than Exy or Allison’s near-insistence that Neil watch some reality show with her, Neil can empathize with Andrew, with the juxtaposition of gaining a freedom in a place that should have been his prison.

But, for all of the hideous events that they have survived, television is not something worth weeping over.

So Neil snorts derisively and gives his head a small shake. “And of all of the channels available on cable network, you chose this one?”

Andrew blinks quickly enough for Neil to count it as surprise. Of course, Andrew chose the channel in juvie. Andrew has been frightful since day one, and Neil doubts that Andrew has ever allowed himself to be weak. Juvie would have been the perfect opportunity for him to bulk up, to punch someone hard enough to knock a tooth, to gain some semblance of control for the first time in his life.

It’s not surprising when Andrew tugs at Neil’s hair, signaling him to sit up. It’s also not surprising when Andrew immediately stands and makes his way to the kitchenette. But Andrew’s crooked finger is intriguing enough to unfold Neil’s legs and get him off the sofa. He glances just once at Kevin, sees his nose mere inches from the screen, and decides to just let him go blind.

Andrew pins Neil with a yes or no the second he’s in the kitchenette. The answer is yes, always yes, and Andrew’s mouth is a fire trying to fend off South Carolina’s poor excuse for a winter. Neil winds his fingers through Andrew’s hair to tug him along as he backs himself into the counter. He likes being here, something solid at his back and Andrew at his front. It doesn’t feel like being pinned for dissection. It feels… good. It feels like home, like reassurance, like Andrew’s hot breath against Neil’s wet lips as they break apart for a quick grab of air.

They don’t need words, don’t need misguided and ambiguous ‘thank you’s. They don’t even need to trade one calm assist for another.

Andrew kisses Neil once more, just as intense but not for as long, and then pulls away.

“We’re out of ice cream,” Neil says, half-amused when Andrew beelines for the freezer. They haven’t eaten supper yet – fuck, they haven’t even eaten lunch yet – but ice cream is an easy way for Andrew to, well, cool down after a mention of his past. Andrew stops before his fingertips even brush the freezer’s handle. Neil waits for Andrew to open the door, to double check as if looking for himself might make the ice cream appear, but he’s mildly surprised when Andrew instead turns back to Neil. Being the recipient of trust is still a new sensation.

“Who ate the last of my ice cream?”

Nicky did. “I don’t know,” Neil says, and he knows that Andrew knows he’s lying. But Andrew doesn’t call him out except to frown a little deeper. “We could always go get some.”

That suggestion is greeted with indifferent eyes and a simple, “It’s snowing. Everything is shut down.”

“I’m sure Walmart is open.”

“That’s in Columbia.”

Neil shrugs. “Good thing you own a car.”

“I’m not going to drive in this weather.”

Neil has a close call with a humorless scoff, but manages to pass it off as a hitch in his breath. “It’s just a little snow, Andrew. Haven’t you ever driven in snow?”

“No,” Andrew says, immediate and honest. “But you have.” It doesn’t have to be a question.

Once more, Neil shrugs. “That’s not a very interesting story. Just some shitty cars, some grinding gear shifts, and some snowy mountains.” Maybe Neil owes Andrew for the story about juvie, but that doesn’t mean he owes it now. It could be a debt, something to pay later when Andrew needs something from him versus simply wanting something.

“To Columbia, though?” Andrew asks, and Neil gets where he’s coming from. “It’s just ice cream.” And it’s a long fucking drive.

“Not only,” Neil says. “It’s a way to get me out of the damn dorm. I’m dying. I hate being cooped up.”

“So dramatic. Alright,” Andrew says, agreeing just like that.

They don’t bother to say goodbye to Kevin, to tell him where they’re going or what they’re doing. Andrew doesn’t even text Nicky to put him in charge of Kevin. Riko is dead and their deal is off – Kevin needs independence more than he needs protection.

Andrew grabs his jacket and for a half-second, Neil debates shirking his own just to prove a point – but in the end he doesn’t know what point he’s trying to prove, and he, like Andrew, has adjusted to South Carolina’s temperature enough that it does feel chilly outside. He can afford time for comfort, so he puts on the jacket and follows Andrew outside.

The car keys are traded for the cigarettes in Neil’s pocket, and Andrew crosses behind Neil for the passenger side. It takes a moment to readjust the driver’s seat to where Neil likes it, but soon enough they’re on the road.

The snow plows are out. Neil honestly can’t fucking believe it. There’s less than an inch of snow collected on the grass, and the pavement is wet but completely clear. He doesn’t get it, can’t comprehend how an entire campus and surrounding businesses can close down from such a minor inconvenience.

In the passenger seat, Andrew lights a cigarette, but he doesn’t offer one to Neil. More surprised than offended, Neil glances at Andrew.

“Eyes on the road,” is all Andrew says.

“There’s nothing wrong with the road except slow-ass snow plows and the congestion they’re causing,” Neil says. “Can I have a cigarette?”

Andrew seems to debate it, staring stonily out of the windshield. After a moment, he digs out a new stick and lights it. “If we end up in the ditch because of you, you had better pray that the crash is bad enough to kill us both, or you’re paying for all of the damages and buying me a new car.”

“Again,” Neil supplies – unhelpfully, judging from Andrew’s expression.

The interstate is shut down – really? Neil thinks, and flips a U-turn in the middle of the on-ramp – so they take the back roads. It’s freeing, Neil supposes. Peaceful in a way that comes from them being alone on the road, everyone else shut-up inside their homes, enjoying a day off from school or work. Though the snow is melting almost faster than it can accumulate, it’s still pretty as it falls from the clouds, and Neil likes the sheer screen it makes across his vision, something beautifully obscure.

“Do you like the winter?” Andrew asks, and maybe it’s collecting a debt but maybe it’s just curiosity.

“I miss it, sometimes,” Neil admits. “I’ve had a lot of good ones and a lot of bad ones. I’ve seen snow turn red, seen it fall like crisp linens to cover bodies and any traces that my mother and I were there. But I’ve also woken up and seen an inch of frost covering the trees, catching the light.” He wants to say that he’s spent a couple of winters with Andrew, now, and they’ve been the best yet, but he keeps that to himself. “I like the cold. It’s refreshing, makes me feel alive.”

“You have Exy for that.” Andrew digs out the pack of cigarettes, and Neil thinks it’s to hide his bemusement. “I’m not living anywhere that gets constant snow. You’re on your own.”

Neil’s hands relax on the steering wheel as a laugh rolls through him. “Making me choose between you and snow. That’s not fair.”

“I could make it be Exy and me,” Andrew threatens around the cigarette in his mouth, clicking lighter in his hands.

Neil takes the cigarette away and catches Andrew’s eyes for as long as he dares on the snow-wetted highway. “I would choose you,” he says, “without hesitation.”

Andrew looks away. For a moment, Neil thinks he’s lost the conversation, lost their pleasant afternoon. But then Andrew rasps out, “Don’t say that.”

“You think I don’t mean it?”

The slight shake of Andrew’s head would have been answer enough. “You’ve told me once already that Exy is everything to you. Don’t lie to me and tell me you’ve changed your mind.”

Neil puts on the brakes and pulls the car over to the side of the road. He puts the hazards on just in case before he twists in his seat to face Andrew head-on. “Look at me,” he says, and Andrew does. “I mean it. I don’t believe that you would ever make me choose between you and Exy, but if something happened… if the world aligned the wrong way and I had to give up one or the other….” Neil reaches out, stops, and then touches Andrew’s cheek when he nods. “You are the single best thing in my life. That I get to share my favorite hobby – my future job – with you is beyond amazing. But you are worth so much more than that, Andrew.”

They both know what it feels like to not be wanted, to be used and then pushed aside. Neil is not going to let Andrew feel like that anymore, not around him, anyway. But he’s also not about to force Andrew into an emotional conversation so far from home, in the middle of the snow that Andrew seems to loathe. So Neil smiles and hands back the cigarette. Then he shakes his head and pulls back onto the road.

“I’m driving two hours just to get you some damn ice cream,” Neil mutters, as if that should be proof enough. It’s not, but it does what needed to be done. Andrew relaxes and takes a drag, flicking the ash out through the cracked window.

“Stop bitching and drive.” He sounds normal again.

Neil has every intention of bringing up this conversation at a later time, but for now… for now, he’s content to just drive and reaffirm that this is real life, that he’s not dreaming, and that he’ll have Andrew for as long as Andrew will let him.

#the foxhole court #tfcfansgive #curlyhairedneil #andreil #mine #my fics

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van-dyne · 7 years

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I'm thinking of skipping some seasons of spn, are there any seasons that would be good to skip(I don't want to skip them I just don't have the time to watch them)

S1-5 is the ‘classic’ supernatural, so don’t skip any of them. The first 5 seasons tell a coherent story, and it’s an Epic one. They set the tone of the show, develop your attachment to the characters, makes you fall in love with them and their relationship with one another. It’s the Winchesters origin story, and imo you’d always feel something is missing, something you can’t quite grasp if you hadn’t been there with them from the start.

With that covered, let’s go into the later seasons, I assume you want to catch up with the current season asap? I wouldn’t recommend to skip a whole season because in order to understand the characters’ action (primarily Sam and Dean) you have to know what they’ve been through, and though the later seasons are more self contained, each has its own arc, it is still a coherent journey of the brothers as a whole. And they have quality episodes each season you dont want to miss.

Here’s the episode list from s 6-12, I highlighted the important episodes in order to understand the story for it to progress, also point out those fun and quality episodes you may not want to miss ;) (god it’s really long list) (sorry to those who’re on mobile)

Season 6 (there’s something wrong with Sam (!), monsters, demons and angels all want to open the backdoor to purgatory (imo it’s a mess)1. Exile on Main Street2. Two and a Half Men 3. The Third Man 4. Weekend at Bobby’s* (Love letter to Bobby)5. Live Free or Twi-hard* (Dean becomes a vampire, temporarily) 6. You Can’t Handle the Truth 7. Family Matters 8. All Dogs Go to Heaven 9. Clap Your Hands If You Believe* (This is a fun one, X-file style)10. Caged Heat 11. Appointment in Samarra 12. Like a Virgin 13. Unforgiven 14. Mannequin 3: The Reckoning 15. The French Mistake* (The one that will go down in television history) 16. And Then There Were None 17. My Heart Will Go On* (The one where they un-sink the Titanic)18. Frontierland* (The one where they time travel to the Western )19. Mommy Dearest 20. The Man Who Would Be King 21. Let It Bleed 22. The Man Who Knew Too Much

Season 7 (this season arc is basically Leviathan from purgatory is unleashed on earth and they can impose people, cause the winchesters a few, but they manage to off the monster in the end. The leviathan story is not that engaging but they have fun episodes. The more intriguing and important part in terms of characters arc is about Sam’s hallucination) 1. Meet the New Boss 2. Hello Cruel World 3. The Girl Next Door (Dean did something /questionable/)4. Defending Your Life 5. Shut Up, Dr. Phil* (The one with the Buffy reunion)6. Slash Fiction* (Leviathans!Winchesters, forcing the real winchesters on the run)7. The Mentalists (The bros resolve their conflict)8. Time for a Wedding! 9. How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters 10. Death’s Door 11. Adventures in Babysitting 12. Time After Time* (Dean travels back in time to the 40s) 13. The Slice Girls (Dean doesn’t want you to know about this one)14. Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie* (The one with the clowns, it’s fun)15. Repo Man 16. Out with the Old* (It’s a fun one, also Sam’s hallucination is getting worse)17. The Born-Again Identity 18. Party on, Garth (The one they drunk kill Ghost)19. Of Grave Importance 20. The Girl With the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo* (The one introduces Charlie) 21. Reading is Fundamental (The one introduces Kevin)22. There Will Be Blood 23. Survival of the Fittest (The one where they finally off the big Dick)

Season 8 (Dean’s back from purgatory and Sam quit hunting for a year, bros are back together, conflict ensured, they find a way to shut the gates of Hell in the second half of the season) 1. We Need to Talk About Kevin 2. What’s Up, Tiger Mommy? 3. Heartache 4. Bitten 5. Blood Brother (Benny the vampire friend of Dean) 6. Southern Comfort (The bros are lashing out on each other)7. A Little Slice of Kevin 8. Hunteri Heroici (The one with the looney tones, so fun)9. Citizen Fang (More Benny)10. Torn and Frayed 11. LARP and the Real Girl (The one where Dean dresses up as Medieval knight, it’s good fun)12. As Time Goes By (Grandpa Henry Winchester! Introducing Men of letters)13. Everybody Hates Hitler (The one introduces the Bunker) 14. Trial and Error 15. Man’s Best Friend with Benefits 16. Remember the Titans (The one with all the greek gods, it’s solid episode)17. Goodbye Stranger 18. Freaks and Geeks 19. Taxi Driver 20. Pac-Man Fever 21. The Great Escapist 22. Clip Show 23. Sacrifice

Season 9 (Dean is burden with guilt)1. I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here 2. Devil May Care 3. I’m No Angel 4. Slumber Party 5. Dog Dean Afternoon (The one Dean becomes a dog, temporarily) 6. Heaven Can’t Wait 7. Bad Boys* (get to know a slice of Dean’s childhood)8. Rock and a Hard Place 9. Holy Terror 10. Road Trip 11. First Born 12. Sharp Teeth 13. The Purge* (Undercover as yoga instructor and food lady, it’s fun)14. Captives (The winchesters have really nice coats in this one just sayin) 15. #thinman 16. Blade Runners 17. Mother’s Little Helper 18. Meta Fiction (it’s weird one I don’t know)19. Alex Annie Alexis Ann 20. Bloodlines 21. King of the Damned 22. Stairway to Heaven 23. Do You Believe in Miracles

Season 10 (Sam is gonna save his Dean no matter the cost) 1. Black 2. Reichenbach 3. Soul Survivor 4. Paper Moon* (Something you need, as a therapy, after the first three episode)5. Fan Fiction* (The one with the Supernatural Meta Musical) 6. Ask Jeeves* (Cluedo style, FUN)7. Girls, Girls, Girls 8. Hibbing 911 9. The Things We Left Behind* (Re-introduces Claire novak) 10. The Hunter Games 11. There’s No Place Like Home* (Charlie and her evil twins) 12. About a Boy* (De-aged Dean, yes) 13. Halt & Catch Fire 14. The Executioner’s Song !! (holy shit this episode)15. The Things They Carried 16. Paint it Black17. Inside Man 18. Book of the Damned 19. The Werther Project 20. Angel Heart 21. Dark Dynasty 22. The Prisoner 23. Brother’s Keeper

Season 11 (Darkness on earth, but at least the brothers are on the same page) 1. Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire 2. Form and Void 3. The Bad Seed 4. Baby ** !! ( A love letter to Baby)5. Thin Lizzie (There’s that kid from Stranger Things)6. Our Little World 7. Plush 8. Just My Imagination* !! (the one with the imaginary friend, very fun and unique)9. O Brother Where Art Thou? 10. The Devil in the Details 11. Into the Mystic 12. Don’t You Forget About Me 13. Love Hurts* (epic Winchesters wardrobe) 14. The Vessel* (Dean travels back in time! again)15. Beyond the Mat* (Happy fanboy Winchesters)16. Safe House* (Bobby and Rufus old case)17. Red Meat* !! (Epic Monster of the week episode)18. Hell’s Angel 19. The Chitters 20. Don’t Call Me Shurley !!21. All in the Family (Meh but you kinda maybe need to watch it)22. We Happy Few (UGH but you kinda maybe need to watch it)23. Alpha and Omega

Season 12 (British Men of Letters wants to take control of the American hunters, also Mama Winchester is back, also a hot mess) 1. Keep Calm and Carry On 2. Mamma Mia 3. The Foundry 4. American Nightmare* (the theme is dark af but it’s a very good episode) 5. The One You’ve Been Waiting For (Dean kills Hitler)6. Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox* (introduces the hunter network, solid episode)7. Rock Never Dies 8. Lotus 9. First Blood 10. Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets 11. Regarding Dean** (Jensen A+ acting)12. Stuck in the Middle (With You) * (the way this episode is directed is worth watching)13. Family Feud 14. The Raid 15. Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell 16. Ladies Drink Free 17. The British Invasion 18. The Memory Remains 19. The Future 20. Twigs & Twine & Tasha Banes* (A solid monster of the week episode with the Hunter Twins) 21. There’s Something About Mary 22. Who We Are !! (this episode imo saves the whole season)23. All Along the Watchtower ! (now you’re excited for what comes next)

#nonny #supernatural #ask #episode list #anon

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