#bostenyard

boyd/josten/minyard

@hornetvoid:

for your ask game; let’s hear it for bostenyard 🥴

for this ask game :3 making these 2 asks a package deal. this is weeks late, but i’m having another boring day at work so i finally had time to finish this one!

1. what made you ship it?

mattneil is so special to me. matt has the biggest heart of gold. the first thing he does is offer to fight the monsters for neil, and he very quickly makes good on that promise when neil picks a fight with kevin that he can’t possibly win. matt is this vastly reliable consistent in neil’s life, and i think the longer they’re friends, the more neil would realize just how much matt means to him.

matt is so so accepting of everything to do with neil. he literally takes every new bit of info in stride, and i think after neil shares everything about himself with the foxes and matt continues to treat him exactly the same as he did from day 1 would make a big impact.

matt is a softer consistent in neil’s life that i think he really needs. he needs to be bear hugged, and looked in the eye and told that the things that happened to him weren’t normal and he didn’t deserve it. matt would provide a really healthy bridge to a normalcy that i don’t think neil has gotten a lot of, but i think he deserves to experience.

neil, on the other hand, holds a lot of darkness himself and would intimately understand the demons that still tug at matt. both neil and andrew i think would be acutely aware of how easy it is to slip back into bad habits and rely on something that hurts you, and i think they’d make matt feel really unashamed with his struggle. when neil gets to palmetto, matt’s sobriety is solid but i could see dan graduating and moving on changing that.

mattneil only works for me in an au where things get broken off between matt and dan after she graduates. i can’t really imagine a poly au where andreil and danmatt exist while mattneil discover their feelings for one another. also. usually, generally, mattneil leads into bostenyard for me because andreil are a forever pair in my mind. i can’t fathom a universe where andreil doesn’t exist, so andrew bleeds into the mattneil.

and damn, andrew/matt is a FASCINATING pairing. there’s History there. his first year, andrew thought 3 people were interesting enough to take out to eden’s: dan, renee, and matt. it’s like the rest of the team didn’t even exist to andrew. unfortunately, this attention on matt resulted in the BATSHIT effort of making him relapse to put him in rehab. andrew went out of his way to get on GOOD TERMS with matt’s mother for this plan, and while it ultimately worked out, IT COULDVE BEEN CAREER ENDING AND HORRIBLE. so any sort of relationship they have going forward is built off this start.

i do think it’s very interesting though that andrew did for matt something similar what he did for aaron. the result was a net-good (them getting clean) but the way there was a nightmare that couldve ended in tragedy. and while it can be argued that andrew just set up this elaborate plan because matt’s shaky sobriety was testing aaron’s… i don’t think andrew wouldve gone about getting matt sober if he didn’t think matt was worth it as a person. i could see him getting a threat to aaron kicked from the team before attempting to Help them, yknow? so i think on some level, this action was indicative of andrew thinking matt deserved sobriety

not to mention, after the whole thing — matt only ever offers help taking on kevin for neil

“Seriously, though. If they give you any trouble, just let me know. I'll kick Kevin's ass for you."

as well as punch kevin in the face for letting neil go to the nest.

he has a healthy respect when it comes to andrew, but has zero problem going after kevin (who everyone knows andrew is explicitly protecting). so it isn’t out of fear that he doesn’t go after andrew. makes me think that he sees andrew as more of a person than the upperclassmen tend to.

2. what are your favorite things about the ship?

first thing that came to mind was this adorable scene

Matt was predictably the next to react. He bolted past Neil to stare at the car. "What are you doing with a Maserati?" "Driving it," Andrew said, like it should be obvious, and got in the driver's seat. Matt reached for the hood with both hands but didn't touch it, like he thought his fingerprints might ruin the perfect exterior. The blatant awe on his face had Neil looking to Andrew. Andrew met his gaze through the windshield but didn't hold it for long. He reached for the door to close it, but Matt darted around and put his hand in the way. He leaned over to look inside, owl-eyed and rapturous. Nicky had fewer reservations about putting his hands all over the new ride and he made a slack-jawed lap of the car. "But when—?" Matt asked. "And how—?" Matt beckoned to Andrew. "Start it up! Let me hear it." Andrew twisted the key in the ignition, and the car came to life with a quiet roar. Matt threw his hands up and spun away like he was orchestrating a symphony. Andrew closed his door, so Matt wheeled back to Dan, sputtering facts and statistics that went way over Neil's head.

this is unbearably adorable to me. neil got andrew the mas, and the first time everyone else sees it, matt is SO excited. andrew even entertains his excitement by showing it off and revving it. you can’t convince me they wouldn’t bond over their love of luxury cars. and on the opposite end, while the stats don’t matter to neil, i think he’d love to be the one to do all the repairs on the mas as it ages and matt would be so eager to get his hands on the inside of the mas.

i also fucking love the image this scene plasters in my mind:

Gorilla needed only a second to get his breath back and then went after Matt. Matt backpedaled away from his giant hands, putting as many people between him and Gorilla as he could. Gorilla shoved his teammates out of the way as he chased Matt across the court. As soon as Matt passed the goal, Andrew stepped into Gorilla's path. He looked ridiculously small as he watched Gorilla bear down on him, but he stood his ground and waited with his racquet at his side. Gorilla jerked a beefy hand at him in a demand to move, but Andrew stayed silent and still. Neil held his breath, waiting for Gorilla to move Andrew with force. Andrew might be psychotic, but he was also half Gorilla's size. One perfect punch from Gorilla would crush his skull.

matt hiding behind andrew makes me so very fond. that matt had the confidence that andrew absolutely would stand between him and the giant that matt had provoked. like. matt wasnt under his protection, but andrew straightened up anyways, ready to fight this massive behemoth of a man just because he dared to try and get around andrew. damn, i love them.

as for mattneil, there are SO SO many good things to choose from but im beyond attached to how neil wants to let matt in after the jig is up and everyone knows everything

By now Matt was used to them jabbering away in foreign languages around him. He gave no sign he heard them or cared what they were saying but pulled coffee beans and filters down from the cabinet. Neil warred with himself, heart tripping and skipping with unjustified nerves. He studied Matt's profile until Matt cut the grinder off, then looked past him to Kevin. "Can he do anything about it, though?" Neil asked in English. Matt froze with the filter halfway to the coffee maker. In the doorway, Kevin tensed up in incomprehension or disapproval. Neil felt Matt's eyes on him but didn't return the look. Just last night he'd said he was done lying to Matt. He couldn't expect Matt to believe him if he talked behind Matt's back today. The upperclassmen knew the whole story now, anyway, so there was no reason to hide this inevitable complication.

matt has so much respect for neil’s privacy, regardless of being let in like this. directly after this, he gets out of the dorm as fast as he can so neil has space to shower in peace. he wants neil to feel comfortable and safe so badly.

ALSO. immediately following the shower scene. neil takes a cup of coffee over for matt 🥺 . and and and. andrew took note the night prior where matt had stashed his keys. IDK THEYRE JUST CUTE. THEY WOULD WORK.

Andrew turned away without comment and fetched Matt's keys from his desk drawer. Only after he'd made it back to Neil's side did Neil remember Matt dropping them there last night after changing.

When Matt swung the door open Neil held one of the mugs out. "You forgot this." "Oh, thanks." Matt took it and stepped aside to let him in.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

i think the ship as a whole is an unpopular opinion LOL. because danmatt are so perfect for one another. like, why disturb the balance of the world for a random throuple. BUT I SWEAR THERES SO MUCH POTENTIAL TO PLAY WITH BETWEEN THESE THREE.

without dan’s dreams of coaching keeping matt close to home, would he go court? would he make room for his own ambitions?

matt and andrew graduate the same year, would they join a pro team together? would they live together during neil’s 5th year? neil so is the glue. he would remain that unifying force he was to the foxes and bridge the gap between matt’s sunshine and andrew’s pessimism. so it’d be endlessly interesting to watch them join a pro team together. andrew wouldnt magically care abt exy, but during games he’d call out plays to matt while he was on the backline (while ignoring pretty much everyone else on the team), and everyone would want to know the magic matt had to get andrew to put in the effort of communicating, and he’d have a moment where he realized they were looking at him like the foxes looked at neil.

esp after this interaction

Nicky's characteristic cheer was gone. He looked almost defeated as he glanced between Dan and Allison. "I understand, and you're right, but I'm sorry. I can't promise anything. Andrew's—Andrew. We can't predict him or control him." "He can," Matt said, jerking his chin at Neil. "Why can't you?" "Fewer survival instincts?" Nicky guessed, but his attempt at humor fell flat. "More," Neil corrected, knowing Nicky wouldn't understand. Matt turned on Neil, expression intense. "Even Renee wasn't getting through to him. What did you say to him to make him stop? If you're not there next time, someone else needs to know how to talk him down from the edge." Neil couldn't explain without getting into things that weren't their business. "Don't let there be a next time." "Neil, I'm serious," Matt said. Neil shook his head. "So am I."

matt wanted to know how to get through to andrew. i think he’d have big feelings about suddenly being the only one around who made any impact on him.

chapters: 1/1 words: 1,376 relationship: Matt Boyd/Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard

And what Matt wouldn’t give to be allowed a fraction of the love they held for one another. He was probably still just picking at the stitches of his shattered heart, missing Dan – or missing having someone to lean on the way Neil and Andrew leaned on each other. They so easily supported one another’s weight. What would it be like to trust someone so completely? Would they bear his weight with the same ease? Desiring these two was not something he would let himself entertain.

Or, while helping Neil work on the Mas, Matt confronts some feelings, and Andrew, as always, is too perceptive.