foxnotarabbit

[foxnotarabbit]

The King's Men - Chapter Seventeen (19)

Day: Friday, April 26th / 27th* Time: 9:04 PM EST

Cameras are waiting by the court door for the Foxes' starting line-up, so Neil follows Kevin over. Kevin stands calm and quiet until a referee opens the door for them. Before he steps on Kevin taps the butt of his racquet against the floor and passes his stick to his other hand. He strides to half-court head high and left-handed, and the crowd goes wild.

Art used with permission by dshr-art. Thank you @dshr-art!

*Due to the Leap Year, I have opted to highlight the day rather than the date to keep the events in occurrence to the 2007 year. I will continue to mark both days accordingly.

[foxnotarabbit]

The King's Men - Chapter Seventeen (19)

Day: Friday, April 26th / 27th* Time: 10:04 PM EST

Neil wishes he could smile, but it takes all his strength just to look at Riko. The Raven captain and Exy King is staring at the scoreboard like he expects it to change. The Foxes are running for each other, still screaming their fool heads off, but the Ravens stand still as stone. It is the first loss in Edgar Allan's history, and they'd fallen to the unlikeliest of opponents. Neil sucks in a deep breath that rips him open on its way down. "I'd ask you how it feels, but I guess you've always known what it's like to be second, you worthless piece of shit." Riko finally drags his gaze away from the board. He stares at Neil, blank-faced and stunned, and then revulsion twists his expression into something terrible. His racquet goes up over his head but it takes Neil a moment to realize Riko really intends to take a swing at him. Dan screams his name from halfway across the court, but there is nothing Neil can do except watch Riko's racquet start down. He barely has the strength to breathe. Dodging is out of the question. Riko's racquet gets close enough that Neil hears wind whistling through the strings, and then a second racquet comes out of nowhere, big and bright and orange. Andrew puts everything he has left behind his swing and catches Riko across his forearm. Bones give a sickening crunch as they shatter. Riko's racquet clatters harmlessly off to one side, and then Riko is the only one screaming. He stumbles a few steps away from them before falling to his knees and holding his arm to his gut. Andrew puts his racquet down in front of Neil like a shield and watches Riko's breakdown with a bored stare.

Art used with permission by Rosiethorns88. Thank you so much @rosiethorns88!

*Due to the Leap Year, I have opted to highlight the day rather than the date to keep the events in occurrence to the 2007 year. I will continue to mark both days accordingly.

[foxnotarabbit]

The King's Men - Chapter Seventeen (19)

Day: Friday, April 26th / 27th* Time: 10:05 PM EST

Neil loses sight of Riko when the Foxes swarm him. Gloved fingers pat his head and shoulders, looking for any sign that he's been hurt. Neil tunes out their frantic demands, more interested in listening to Riko's endless, agonized screaming. Then Dan catches his face in her hands and gives him a shake. "Neil," she says, so desperate and afraid Neil has to look at her. "Hey," Neil says, hoarse with exhaustion and heady triumph. "We won." Dan throws her arms around him and buries a choked laugh against his padded shoulder. "Yeah, Neil. We won!"

Art used with permission by Kiiakostet. Thank you @kiiakostet!

*Due to the Leap Year, I have opted to highlight the day rather than the date to keep the events in occurrence to the 2007 year. I will continue to mark both days accordingly.

[foxnotarabbit]

The King's Men - Epilogue

Day: Saturday, April 27th / 28th* Time: 3:10 AM EST

Neil waits off to one side while the others file out, knowing Andrew will be the last to leave. Wymack knows better than to stick around and follows his Foxes down the hall. Andrew brings Neil's duffel to him. Neil takes it but drops it off to one side. Andrew studies it for a moment, then shrugs out of his own bag and puts a hand to the wall near Neil's head. "Your close calls are getting old," Andrew says. "I thought you knew how to run." Neil affects confusion. "I thought you told me to stop running." "Survival tip: no one likes a smart mouth." "Except you," Neil reminds him. A year ago Neil had been a scared nobody, hating himself for signing the Foxes' contract and counting down days until he moved in with Wymack. Tonight he is the starting striker for the first-ranked team in the NCAA. In two years he'll be captain, and in four he'll graduate from Palmetto State. Neil will find a professional team first and then fight tooth and nail to make the cut for Court. Neil can already imagine the weight of an Olympics medal around his neck. He doesn't even care what color it is so long as it is his. Better than that bright future is what he already has: a court that will always be home, a family who'll never give up on him, and Andrew, who for once hasn't wasted their time denying that this thing between them might actually mean something to both of them. Neil didn't even notice the silence at first, too distracted by his dizzying thoughts. Now he can't help but smile and pull Andrew in. This is everything he wanted, everything he needed, and Neil is never letting go.

END OF ALL FOR THE GAME SERIES.

Art commissioned and used with permission by the incredible @hamrikaa!

*Due to the Leap Year, I have opted to highlight the day rather than the date to keep the events in occurrence to the 2007 year. I will continue to mark both days accordingly.

[foxnotarabbit]

"Did you think you were special?"

[foxnotarabbit]

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that he hurt you, I’m sorry that you’re still afraid to talk about it, and I’m sorry that you think I’ll never understand. I’m sorry that he tricked you into thinking you deserved it."

[foxnotarabbit]

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that he hurt you, I’m sorry that you’re still afraid to talk about it, and I’m sorry that you think I’ll never understand. I’m sorry that he tricked you into thinking you deserved it."

[foxnotarabbit]

this color suits you better

[foxnotarabbit]

Tsc is the literary equivalent of Andrew hitting Neil with a racket 2 sec into first meeting him

[foxnotarabbit]

Beneath the clothes were his few personal possessions: namely, postcards and magnets Kevin had bought him while on the road with Riko for press events.

Jean’s favorite, a small wooden bear with a red beret […]

[foxnotarabbit]

Jean swallowed hard against everything he knew better than to say and managed a quiet, ​“I will burn the house down.”

[foxnotarabbit]

Halfway through the sunshine court and I'm not okay. Anyhow more Neil Jostens for the lil thing I'm working on! Fun fact my deadline is today🫡

[foxnotarabbit]

When the misunderstanding is mutual but they’re both so sweet about it (coffee shop au edition)

Inspired by the tags below (originally on this post) from @blahblaheverythingisgay and @lovelyprincejehan accompanied by some thoughts:

thank you for bringing this GALAXY brain take to my attention 😂 this guy comes in, all cagey about his past and his scars, always wearing baggy clothes but complaining about compression clothes (being on the run does a number on your joints and muscles), picking out a name for himself??? OBVIOUSLY he’s trans right

They somehow manage to have like three separate conversations about it without realizing they’re talking about two very different scenarios. Andrew only was so wrong for so long because scars on their own (and even being a criminal lbr) are such non-issues that it didn’t even occur to him that Neil could be talking about anything less important than being trans lol

Andrew had his little crisis about it and landed pretty solid on yeah he’s still into Neil regardless, and yeah he’s still super gay. He’ll figure out the rest from there. The only thing he didn't prepare for was Neil being uh. Cis

[foxnotarabbit]

[foxnotarabbit]

Nothing is funnier to me than Andrew Minyard thinking “when I’m sober Neil Josten will stop being hot and then I can live my life in peace” and then getting out of the hospital and immediately realizing that he is, in fact, in way too deep.

[foxnotarabbit]

[foxnotarabbit]

1 I think we've all seen it by now but tsc will be out april 13. english ebooks will be avail same places the first three are, paperbacks will be a lil bit later (easier to correct digital than print, so delay is a buffer for any emergency typos) 2 probably won't see the cover until it's out, bc it's not ready yet, but it's not an emoji (woe) or a sun. (unfortunately it cannot be a mascot either on account of me not wanting USC to execute me on sight)

3 still sorting out which pics of LA to post, I've got about 30 set aside to review but I def don't want to upload that many. they'll likely go up the same day the book is out

4 wrt TSC2, one person guessed correctly that TEB is "Two: Electric Boogaloo". TFS is "this fuckin sucks" because tsc2 is being a nightmare. TAF is "these're all fake". Its actual title was decided back in mid Feb but yall will have to wait til later this year for it