#bowman crowder

[freekicks]

ok obviously this scene is hilarious just because of raylan’s absolutely transparent and irrational OBSESSION with boyd (hmmm wonder what that’s about), but can we also talk about what a DICK raylan is to ava?

like, you’re really gonna sit here and tell ava that boyd is worse than bowman? really??????? i mean, not only is that assertion dubious on its merits during season 1…. but you’re going to say this to ava of all people???? THE WOMAN HE VIOLENTLY ABUSED FOR DECADES???

what a fucking asshole.

[msindrad]

A hypothesis

I can’t exactly claim to be qualified to diagnose anybody, although I have taken some psychology courses at my university and have been reading a lot on the subjects of psychology-psychotherapy-psychiatry in my free time for years... and yet. 

Remember Johnny saying this:

4.10:

Johnny: (...) Boyd doesn't give a damn about nothing. Never did. When we was kids, he'd build half a tree house, and then he'd run off and go build a go-kart. And then he'd forget them both and spend the whole rest of the summer stealing candy and trading it for cigarettes. (...) 

And then Bo saying this in 1.11: 

Bo: I seem to recall you making your first tent out of bedsheets and broom handles. You were about knee-high. Some things never change, huh?

Because Bo has never been there for Boyd, building up his crime empire and-or prioritizing Bowman over him.

And that other time in 1.11:

Art: Well, it's now the property of the Marshals Service, until such time as you can prove that you came by it honestly, you know, with donation forms and receipts. And I'm sure you've got all that stuff.

Boyd: Well, I've never been good at paperwork, but I'll get right on that.

And now think about how Boyd has changed his, hm, occupations multiple times over the course of a couple of years. And then how he blew up Bo’s shipment in 1.12, betraying Johnny, as Johnny explained to him in 1.13: 

Johnny: You have any idea how ugly it's gonna get now?

Boyd: I am ready to reap the whirlwind.

Johnny: God! Well, I am not, okay?

And that time when Boyd came to then already incapacitated Johnny in 2.10 to share with him his thoughts and feelings (apart from inviting him to go back into business with him), and Johnny explained to him once again how inappropriate/egotistical his behavior is:

Boyd: It's not just about me, Johnny.

Johnny: It's always about you, Boyd.

 What I’m getting at is, I think that (apart from PTSD from the war) Boyd might have some form of ADHD. I mean, we’ve got recklessness (remember the robbery in 1.1, that’s all I have to say about that, haha), a lot of self-focused behavior, lack of organizational skills at times (which is why Devil and Johnny were so helpful to him), unfinished tasks, daydreaming, etc. 

I feel like this hypothesis is worth considering. 

[justifiedandrec]

[msindrad]

We have many great interactions in the show, but sometimes I wish there were other scenes that we never got: with Loretta and Carol, or Mags and Arlo, or Boyd and Winona, and so on and so forth, just because it’s so interesting to imagine how they would interact with each other, what would they talk about.  And then, there are the characters that we’ve never really met. Bowman will forever stay a bummer for me in that respect. And Frances, and Boyd’s mother, or Loretta’s mom, or Mags’ husband, and so many others...  Which characters you would have liked to see interacting with each other? And how do you picture some of the ghost-like characters that we have on Justified? 

[msindrad]

Also, can we talk about how Johnny’s alienation from his family is underscored by his very name from the very beginning? We’ve got Bo, Bowman, Boyd, and Johnny “let’s break with our fine tradition” Crowder. I get it, Bo isn’t his father, and therefore Johny isn’t entitled to the same attributes as someone who is a continuation of his patrilineal descent but still - what growing up with his cousins but not as someone with the same status as them must have done to him psychologically? Nothing great, I’d guess.   

[psychicrhubarb]

Bowman took Ava out deer hunting because her daddy was dead and well, someone had to.

They were out in the cold well past the end of season, school just out for Christmas and a first early snow spread thin across the ground. The wood-board walls of the box stand cut some of the wind, but Ava’s nose was painfully pink and even Bowman, furnace of a boy that he was, had submitted to the necessity of a scarf and a hat.

It was day three and they’d hardly seen a deer, much less shot one. This was because days one and two had been primarily dedicated to making out on the floor of the stand. Bowman had been a perfect gentleman, except when he wasn’t, and Ava had kept his hands politely on the outside of her coat, except when she didn’t. But now the first snow had fallen and the cold had broken over them, so they were hunting deer.

There were no deer in sight. Bowman was eating sunflower seeds and courteously spitting the shells off to the side. Ava looked at the loose pile they formed and reflected on the benefits of marrying him.

—–

Read Artemis & Actaeon on AO3 here.

Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, Ava Crowder/Bowman Crowder, Pre-Canon, Deer Hunting    

Word Count: 935

[toli-a]

laisserais replied to your post: “I have learned that several people I know who watch Justified believe...”

wow i always assumed bowman's the oldest, and boyd is second. he acts like a middle child                    

So apparently in the short story Bowman is younger. It’s funny, I always saw Boyd acting like the oldest: like someone who’s used to successfully bossing people around and/or manipulating them and getting his way. (This should tell you something about the eldest children I grew up around! Interestingly, most of them were in single-parent households, so I wonder if it also would depend on when Boyd’s mother dies.) It also seemed to me that if Bowman was older, he would have beat up Boyd more, and Boyd never struck me as someone who spent his childhood getting beaten up on a regular basis. Though it would be interesting if he had.

 bestillmyslashyheart replied to your post “I have learned that several people I know who watch Justified believe...”

huh i've only ever thought of Boyd as the oldest too. I think because Ava is younger than Raylan/Boyd and she talked about how she married Bowman outta high school before he realized he wasn't gonna get outta Harlan I just assumed Bowman was the same age as Ava aka younger than Boyd                  

Yes, I agree with you on that (as does the short story). Logically, if Ava is too young for Raylan in high school, it would be odd if she were dating Boyd’s older brother. Also, I feel like Raylan would have known more about how Bowman’s football career had or hadn’t panned out if Bowman were older.

[toli-a]

The short story calls Bowman “Boyd’s baby brother, Bowman,” so that’s probably why the prevailing fanon is that he’s younger. The show isn’t a fully faithful adaptation of the short story by any means, but personally for me that settles it.

Oh, bless you. I am terribly relieved to know that I didn’t just make the idea up wholesale. Though interestingly, in the short story Boyd is a few years older than Raylan, so that means Bowman and Raylan could have been about the same age. Which, generally I prefer to write them how the show has them, where Boyd and Raylan are the same age, but it’s an interesting thought. Thank you again for finding and/or knowing this!