thinking about kevin day winning his first olympic gold medal.
kevin day who appears to the media as a confident athlete who knows how talented he is. everyone knew the gold medal was only a matter of when he’d get it and not if he gets it— he’s the son of exy after all. they might have seen him a bit stiff in his earlier years and people did not forget about his class i exy interviews in which he confirms he had never been skiing or that the palmetto state foxes’ coach is actually his father— but he has always maintained that kevin day winning smile and his polite composure with the perfect amount of charisma.
but then the US exy team wins the final game at the olympics. it’s the first time he has won the olympic medal and when the final whistle fills his ears, he quite literally drops to his knees, he yells out in celebration, and then when he takes off his helmet he is crying. he has finally done it. he has won the gold medal which he was so determined to win ever since he could remember.
and most people do not know the extend of what he had to sacrifice for it. they don’t realise the extend of how hard he had to work to get back to exy after his hand got broken— both mentally and physically. nor do they know the amount of panic attacks he had to deal with and the same amount of times he had to drown his feelings away with a bottle or three.
and he’s crying. the fans cheer him on. and it’s not just the USA fans— but it feels like the whole stadium starts cheering his name in celebration and support. because at the end of the day that’s kevin day and he has finally done it. he has gotten the medal and it’s literally going to be a historic moment.
andrew makes his way to kevin’s side and he helps kevin take off his gloves like he has done many times before. andrew wants to say something, maybe a remark that will get under kevin’s skin— but then he looks at kevin’s expression and he realises this is all they’ve been building up to for the past years.
and it’s not just kevin who has won the golden medal right now. it’s him too. his team. their team. and they’re all a bit speechless and astonished by this moment. so andrew helps kevin up and neither of them say a word to each other just yet, but kevin feels andrew’s weight shifting into him too— they’re both leaning onto each other; they’re both holding each other up.
Neil Josten you are my favourite cunt ever like that man was really on his deathbed being TORTURED and still managed to gain the confidence to call his torturer a “strung out whore” like boy give it up
there's aftg twt discourse about if andreil would wear skirts or not which is such a headache bc like ppl can headcanon anything they want with fictional characters? like fandoms always headcanon these kinds of things so just let ppl be
but honestly idk if andrew would wear a skirt, at the very least not in the books timeline like andrew just doesn't seem like that kind of guy?
and neil while he doesn't care about what he wears and let's andrew pick for him, i think it would take him time to rlly feel comfortable in expanding his gender expression, bc wearing a skirt as a guy is still "out of the norm" and may attract attention so it's honestly an interesting idea to explore at the very least
The whole "house husband Percy" agenda the percabeth fans are pushing disturbs me so much. You have no idea.
1. Is Percy not allowed to have ambitions and dreams of his own? Annabeth has her architecture. Let Percy have his environmentalism, and 'saving the sealife' hobbies that who knows-could potentially turn into a job with the right connections.
2. It's pushed by the same crowd that refuses to acknowledge that Percy is smart, let alone that he's canonically smarter than Annabeth. The same crowd that thinks he's a seaweed brain (aka stupid), and needs Annabeth to be the brains for him. It gives the impression that accomplishing anything in the mortal world is too much for Percy - he's incapable of it, he should just stay at home and do the house cleaning/child rearing and let Annabeth do all the higher thinking.
3. It also follow the dangerous trend of Annabeth's abusive tendencies in isolating Percy from his friends/family. She's already isolated him from Jason, Reyna and Rachel - the last via emotional manipulation (actively making him uncomfortable to even mention her). Imagine a life where Percy stays at home most of the time - only with Annabeth. She brings in all the money, and therefore has even more control over him. Any money he needs to see friends - bus/plane tickets, money for a vehicle/gas etc. he has to ask her permission for it. In the world we live in, money is everything. Can't do anything without it. Annabeth will have all of it, and Percy would be completely dependent on her. He wouldn't even be able to get a phone or laptop to communicate with them without asking for Annabeth's money and permission.
This is not to say that all marriage where one member is a stay at home spouse is controlling and abusive. That isn't the case. But in HoO, Annabeth has shown alarming abusive and controlling tendencies - both in controlling Percy's social life and restricting his autonomy and powers. Giving Annabeth financial control of his life would be disastrous and perfect grounds for her existing abusive tendencies to become far worse.
You just don't get him like I do.
Wymack pulled a bottle of vodka out of the bag and put it down beside Kevin. “You have ten seconds to inhale as much of this as you can. I’m timing you. Go.” It was alarming how much a man could drink when he needed an emotional crutch. Wymack had to pry the bottle from Kevin’s desperate fingers afterward.
Kevin was silent for an endless minute, then said, “You should be Court.” It was barely a whisper, but it cut Neil to the bone. It was a resentful goodbye to the bright future Kevin had wanted for Neil. Kevin recruited Neil because he believed in Neil’s potential. He brought him to the Foxes intending to make a star athlete out of him. Despite his condescending attitude and his dismissals of Neil’s best efforts Kevin honestly expected Neil to make the national team after graduation.
“Good thing you’re not there anymore.” “Jean still is.”
“Let Riko be King,” Kevin said, with the exaggerated enunciation of the thoroughly sloshed. “Most coveted, most protected. He’ll sacrifice every piece he has to protect his throne. Whatever. Me?” Kevin gestured again, meaning to indicate himself but too drunk to get his hand higher than his waist. “I’m going to be the deadliest piece on the board.”
Before he stepped on Kevin tapped the butt of his racquet against the floor and passed his stick to his other hand. He stroked to half-court head high and left-handed and the crowd went wild.
yall need to put spoiler warnings at the top of ur post or smth I HAVENT READ TGR YET PLSSSS i have just seen the most devastating spoiler and idk if it's real or not 🚶
wait a minute...does Renée choose her name bc it means "reborn" in french (re-née)
she is reborn from Natalie's ashes into Renée DUDE HELLO
this speaking as a cis person. Nothing brings me more joy seeing people find gender euphoria in becoming a mediocre representation of humanity. And I mean that so genuinely. Local boy finds joy and fulfillment wearing a cargo shorts and t-shirt combo. Local girl has transitioned to look like someone's disheveled aunt, has never been happier. Local person experiences gender euphoria rocking the world's worst bowl-cut. Without a scap of irony, this shit makes me see the wonder and whimsy in just, being a human. An average, person going through their day-to-day, is a wondrous thing? That's amazing. And heteronormativity has stripped these experiences of their joy. Like you're right, wearing a basic girlypop skirt should make my heart sing. Why not? Why are these expressions lesser because they're normal? All this to say. Shoutout to all the basic bitches out there. Yes that polo shirt does make you look like a divorced golfer dad. Yes, that too is kind of a slay, now that I think of it.
i think grover pointing out to percy that annabeth's yankee's cap is the only thing she has of her godly parent makes percy realize how important it is for demigods to have symbols of their parents with them. and i would really love to see it all come full circle when percy battles with ares later on in season one, and after he wins, he demands that ares leave them alone so they can return the bolt and that he gives clarisse another spear to make up for the one he broke. which would be an amazing way to set up percy and clarisse's 'i have a lot of respect for you/you're an annoying bitch that i tolerate/if anyone messes with you, i'll cut them' trope for later seasons.
I know I've made this post before but it absolutely fucking kills me that Andrew's entire outlook on life was "I just have to hold on until I drag Aaron across the finish line," only for Kevin to swoop in and, between fits of hysterical sobbing, somehow still find the time to insist that Andrew has a great life ahead of him, and the breath to belligerently dismiss anybody who argues, especially Andrew.
No wonder they're so antagonistic. No wonder they're best friends. Suddenly Andrew is the one getting dragged to the finish line. If Kevin is wrong, then he's covered in mud for nothing. If he's right, then the finish line is much, much further away than just graduation.