The Foxhole Court Tumblr Part 2

Riko's brutality toward Jean

"and the brutality that Riko could inflict on Jean without any recourse whatsoever" Is there any chance we could get some detail of the things that exactly happened between these two? Or rather, the things Riko did to Jean? (I so just can't hate him tbh,)

There are two critical differences between Jean & Kevin that we should probably start with.

1. Kevin had a destiny. Kevin had a purpose. Kevin was part of the Plan and Tetsuji had wanted to acquire him. Kevin & Riko were meant to be Ravens, were meant to be legends, were meant to be the future of Exy. Jean was property, was less than property, was a thing with no rights. Jean was an afterthought, a boy with potential who was not otherwise required for any of Tetsuji's grand schemes. He did not volunteer for this nightmare. He was a transaction. He was payment for a debt–Moreau sold Jean to Tetsuji, and Tetsuji repaid the Moreau debt to Kengo in cash in exchange.

2. Neither Kevin nor Jean came to Evermore by choice, and neither one of them came at a good time in their lives, but Kevin came while he was sick with grief and Jean came angry and betrayed. No, angry is an understatement. Trap a cat in a shoebox, shake the shit out of it, and dare someone to open the lid again. Jean is the cat. Well, Jean was the cat, because imagine how well Tetsuji & Riko tolerated that shitty attitude and his flailing claws.

Tetsuji already had his hands full with the ERC, the fledgling Court, two prodigies, and the Ravens. He had no time or desire to train Jean. That meant Jean was Riko's responsibility, though he still suffered Tetsuji's wrath when his court performance wasn't up to snuff.

It was Riko's job to fix Jean's attitude. That took a while, because Jean had a lot of fight in him and Riko was still learning how far he could go, but Riko has a depth of cruelty Tetsuji does not. Tetsuji is merciless for a purpose. Riko is heartless because he enjoys it, because it pleases him, because it distracts him from the toxic heat licking at his smile and chewing up his chest.

If I tried to list everything Riko did to Jean over the years, I'd never get to sleep tonight, so we'll have to settle for some random examples. Here are a few numbers for you:

Six: the number of fingers Jean's had broken over the years. Three: the number he was ordered to break himself for Riko's amusement. Zero: the number of days he was allowed to miss practice for these injuries.

Four: the number of times Riko pushed Jean down a flight of stairs in Evermore. Two: the number of times Jean didn't ball up fast enough and bashed his head open on the concrete.

Two hundred and sixty-six: the total number of stitches Jean needed while under Riko's supervision, not including the ones he received after Kengo's death.

Ten: the number of times Riko tried waterboarding Jean. Once to see if it was as effective and traumatizing as the news made it out to be. Nine more times because it really, really was.

Sixteen: the age Jean was when Riko first ordered another Raven to fuck him.

((Riko will not engage in anything homosexual himself, but he is not above inflicting sexual trauma on others via others. See: Drake. See: Proust.))

Five: the number of times Riko passed Jean around. "Only" five, because four: the number of times Jean whispered Please don't do this to me; four: the number of times Riko hit him for insubordination and ignored that haunted look in Jean's eyes. The fifth time Jean didn't break his own heart by fighting back. The fifth time he let the other Raven into his bed without a word or token protest, and that was boring as fuck, so Riko didn't orchestrate a sixth demonstration.

One: the number of drafts in which Jean does not commit suicide.

If Renee hadn't stolen Jean from the Ravens & Neil hadn't bought his safety:

one hundred: the chance Jean would commit suicide graduation night.