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i-did · 4 years

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I love your hc about kevin being bisexual aromantic and the part about his relationship with thea! I like hows it not just a "they lived happily ever after" situation, it feels more realistic. You also mentioned how you have some ideas for seth? I'd love to hear them!

Yeah! I'm not super into happily ever afters, I men to an extent sure, but for me they're so unrealistic that it pulls me out. I like how in aftg the happily ever after is that neil gets to live and hes with andrew and just has to pay a shit ton of money but we know that doesnt matter to him. Outside of context that doesn't seem very happily ever after, and I like it. It seems achievable and realistic while still romantic.

I think Kevin loves thea and thea loves Kevin, but out of habit and as partners with shared truama more than anything to do with the person themselves. Thea might not even love kevin romantically and he doesn't love her romantically but they don't really know that. And you don't need to know that because you don't need it. They fight and everything and have struggles but don't ever split up imo.

Okay seth ideas:

I have a lot of ideas for seth, I headcanon his mom was Vietnamese and his dad was white. He grew up with a racist dad who instilled toxic masculinity into him especially as an Asian man and then his dad dipped leaving him with insecurity of not being manly enough as well as abandonment issues. His mom worked a lot a lot a lot a lot to keep them afloat, he had a lot of brothers and the hierarchy was enforced with rough housing, the 2 oldest brothers suddenly parents. None of the kids ever got Vietnamese names legally because the dad wouldn't want them to have "funny sounding names" but the mom occasionally called them pet names, seth was hoping after the dad dipped at least their mom would finally be able to teach them more Vietnamese to close the barrier between them, her finally being able to speak in the language she was most comfortable in, but she was too busy and communication was always simple and shallow.

The whole EC deal with seth, the same family who left him giving him bigger abandonment issues etc etc

What seth looks like in my mind:

Obviosly he looks half Vietnamese half white, but he's a skinny lanky guy with a tooth gap he used to stick dumdum lolipop stick in between when he was little, he's got ashy medium brown hair, its dark when grown out but lightens a bit in the sun, he is one of those people with a lot of moles and freckles he got from his father. He used to be the guy who wore fake tapers and skate shoes, basket ball shorts, and a monster energy drink snap back. He starts to just wear tee shirts and jeans and takes out the fake tapers. He's got nobby knees and elbows he bangs on things and he swears everytime.

If Seth Lived:

Him and allison would have broken up a few more times until one really explosive fight and she says "I can't do this anymore" and he says "I know" and she says "I'm not going to leave you" and he says nothing.

She realizes staying friends with your ex was a promise she couldn't quite keep as much as she wanted to. They drift apart. He relapses but this time Kevin finds him. He's out the rest of the season for rehab, getting his degree online and Wymack pleads with them to let him keep scholarship. They cut him off. Wymack pays for what he can before seth can say no, and just drops off a bunch of applications for scholarships and says "I'm not letting you quit." And someone doesn't leave him.

He becomes a social worker. He actually really loves it. He reconnects with 2 out of his ~7 brothers. One of them died and he didn't even know, and he wishes for a second it was him instead, before remembering that they haven't talked in at least 10 years.

He becomes less homophobic but will still say anything to make someone hurt if he hates them, but he becomes less explosive and more worn out. The second hand trauma from being a social worker weighs on him and kne of his coworkers opens up about talking to someone. Their job doesn't cover therapy. He goes to AA and NA meetings. He's not relapsing, but its free therapy and he knows if he feels tempted he could get a sponsor.

He beats the shit out of someone outside one of the meetings who was trying to sell to the people coming out (he runs away and doesn't get caught,)

He goes on a dating website half assed at around 40 years old.

He meets a woman who is also on there half assed. She's very blunt and it reminds him of allison, but she's no frills and they come from the same type of world. He can relate to her and they don't have screaming matches that start with him refusing to take a gift of a 1200 dollar dress shirt when his from Ross is just fine.

5th date in he tells her he's sober and she says "why don't you think we've never gone to a bar?" And he realizes she's sober too.

10th date she says "i know this was fun, but I have a son and I can't be casual anymore. You have to be in or out."

And he thinks about it. And they talk about it. And he says he's in.

Its years of dating until the mom decides its steady enough to meet the son. He's 12 and says "you're not my new dad" and seth laughs, and the kid is confused, because he was trying to say something that would hurt.

His girlfriend becomes his fiance after she gets pregnant, not just because of the baby but because they've been dating for 6 years now and its been serious. Its a miscarriage and its hard, but they get though it.

Seth gets really close with the son even if he came in later into his life, he recognizes a lot of himself in the kid. He's never like a father to the kid, and seth isn't sure he knows what it means to love someone like a son, but he knows its pretty close and he tries to be the opposite of his dad.

They stay lower middle class their whole lives, her working her way up from grocery self stocker job she had at 16 to store manager just over time, him a social worker, in a cheaper town with not a lot to do, but they have a book shelf were they watch movies.

He turns on a game sometimes and quietly thinks to himself "what the fuck" about the one year of college exy he was benched the most possible drama happens. He'll say "I went to college with that kid" and she'll say "who? Scar face? Isn't he like famous or something?" And he'll say "yeah. He is"

She doesn't tell him he has to do anything he doesnt want to do, but she finds out he's been invited to multiple fox reunions where some of the attendees are rich as fuck athletes and says "i want them to pay for my meal" and so they go. They go in their Walmart dress clothes and they don't feel bad, they think rich people are stupid to spend so much when 20$ is enough for a shirt. Their son is in high school and can watch the house by himself.

Seth sticks to Matt, and then remembers that Dan was always more down to earth and his wife loves dan. Doesn't like the others so much besides Wymack and Matt a bit.

Its the only one they go to, but it reminds him to keep up with the man who had helped him out so much and he stays in contact with Wymack. He feels bad for drifting off but they talk. About once every few months, but its more than before.

Okay I'm ending it about here lol

#aftg #all for the game #the foxhole court #tfc #ask #seth gordon #mailob #fig writes

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ravenvsfox · 6 years

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Hey there 😊 would you write the actual fight neil had w breckenridge players in the parking lot from your other prompt? (The 47 one)

(hello my darling please accept this brand new prequel to one of my oldest tfc fics ever MWAH)

He’s mid-shout when Matt grabs him, pins him by the elbows and struggles to walk them both backwards towards the stands. They have only a couple of steady feet between them, and their progress is a strange half-time waltz.

The referee whistles in blistering, repetitive bursts and Neil, overwhelmed, wrestles free from Matt’s grip. He veers downwards as soon as he’s supporting his own weight, barely getting a leg and hasty arm underneath him before he hits the floor.

“Easy Neil, Christ alive.” He claps a hand on the back of Neil’s neck, which irritates him enough to send him ricocheting even farther away, jumpy and unpredictable as a pinball.

He slaps a sweaty palm into the plexiglass to heave himself out of the court, leaving a tacky handprint behind.

“They can’t even play,” Neil pants, tearing off his helmet. “This has gotta be a sick joke, they can’t—play.” He hunkers down, both hands on his knees, breathing deep and violent.

“Yeah, I’m really laughing,” Matt drawls, tucking his own helmet under his arm. He gulps down water and then shakes his head like a dog under a stream of it, setting the soaked spikes of his hair on an angle.

“Here.” He offers Neil the water bottle but Neil waves him off, already scanning the court for the place that he would be if he were on it. Matt wiggles the bottle in front of his field of vision though, and Neil swipes it just to stop him.

When he tips his head back to take a swig from the bottle, his view of the court shivers, orange going brown, and he’s hyper-aware of his knee popping, an overworked injury.

“They’re vicious as fuck,” Matt says, sniffing thickly, maybe through blood. “Their defence thinks we’re punching bags.”

“They’re overcompensating because they don’t know any of the rules,” Neil says. “If I see one more dirty check I’m going to slit either their throats or mine.”

“And here I thought there wouldn’t be any knife play tonight,” Matt jokes, and Neil snaps him a dead-eyed look. “Not that I don’t appreciate Andrew and his menagerie of deadly weapons.”

Neil looks away, but he doesn’t say anything. Andrew’s absence is sitting right on his shoulders where it hurts to stand up straight. Renee in goal is the flavour you choose when your top three aren’t in stock. Andrew’s a loaded pistol and she’s a curled fist.

“I refuse to let fucking Breckenridge get to semis just because our numbers are off,” Neil says narrowly. “They don’t deserve to pick up a racquet, let alone win a game, and Nicky and Aaron aren’t strong enough players for us to be suffering this badly without them.”

“Tell me how you really feel,” Matt says, but he’s smiling, a little. “You do know we’re winning, huh Josten?”

“Not by much.”

“And what, you think that point gap would be a point gulf if Andrew were in goal?”

Neil’s mouth quirks. “I know it would.”

“Right,” Matt replies, really smiling now. “And do you ever think maybe that’s all your mushy feelings talking and not your brain?” He jabs Neil in the ribs and Neil steps backwards unevenly.

“I don’t have mushy feelings on the court.”

“Oh please, that’s all you have. You look at centre court like its at the end of a trail of rose petals, it’s super gross.”

Neil shrugs, taking another long pull of water, and Matt laughs. He catches sight of Wymack gesturing angrily at them from the end of the bench, and he tugs his helmet back on, wincing at the humidity and the still tender pulse of his knee when he moves.

“Sub in,” Neil tells Matt, checking the straps on his gloves and shaking his head to try and replace frustration with the fizz of white static. Matt hums acknowledgement, propping his shoe up on the bench to retie the laces.

“Hey Neil,” he says, and Neil peers over the grate of his helmet to catch his eye. “I’m sure they’re fine. Nicky’s got them.”

It’s weird to think of Nicky as the thing that’s going to keep them stable, but Neil’s been thinking it all day. He saw the look on Andrew’s face this morning, like someone spilled water on his usual expression and everything went sideways. Aaron had been so brooding that he was almost indistinguishable from Andrew. It was Nicky who got them in the car and rubbed Neil’s shoulder goodbye and sent him hourly updates on the court proceedings.

Last night he had watched Andrew’s profile across the darkness of their bed and listened to his laboured breathing. He could see his mouth tightening to suppress noise, even in unconsciousness. He’s heard Aaron’s nightmares too, louder and quicker to ease.

Neil keeps thinking of some lawyer clipping evidence up like washing, and some audience deciding whether or not it looks dry, like it hasn’t been kept wet in the well of Andrew’s memory, like it’s not dripping blood.

“Yeah,” Neil says. “Fine.”

Matt frowns, patting his own helmet down. “Poor word choice. You know what I mean.”

Neil bobs his head, eyes streaking out to the court, to the scoreboard and the time that’s left, feeling for the first time that he’d rather not be here at all.

Matt mentioned the court case like it wasn’t taking all of Neil’s willpower to tear his mind away from it. Talking about his fear of the thing lurking outside didn’t kill it, it just opened the door and let it inside with him.

They step heavily back out into the action, and Neil sees it all as if he’s at home watching practice tapes, the predetermined smallness of it all.

He’s never liked how it felt to play without the whole team beside him, like going on family vacation a few siblings short. This is much worse. He scans his teammates’ faces, as keenly familiar through the grill of helmets and sheens of sweat as they are when they’re composed and made up off-court. The determination in them is stretched too thin, and they have this old, hungry look like they’re all fighting with one broken hand.

Kevin keeps tossing his racquet between his hands like he’s trying to find the right fit, Renee is half-slumped in goal, and Neil can see fresh hair dye snaking down her neck in rivulets of sweat. Breckenridge is tumbling through different line-ups, keeping their fresh, un-bloodied fists up, keeping the threat sharp. One grinning striker mimes a heavy limp to her friends, throwing one arm out to gesture towards Neil’s unsteady gait.

“Fuck that,” Matt says, with feeling. “Let’s kill ‘em.” They crack their racquets together, electric, before they spring back into the mob.

_____

They win by three points, half of them crying with rage or vindication when they meet by the goal and grip each other, bare their teeth, hold their victory up to the glow of their heat-wrecked faces.

They clutch their sides and brush blood out of their teeth when they finally find their way to the change rooms, and Kevin tries to lecture them but ends up insulting the other team, hands shaking from rare overexertion.

Wymack pretends he doesn’t notice that they’re passing around a bottle of whiskey, and Neil checks his phone in the corner of the room, waiting for everyone to change out, frowning at the two hour-old message from Andrew that just says “home late”.

The use of the word home is making his heart race, despite everything. Andrew thinking of Neil and Fox tower at the end of the day instead of battered, bruised Columbia is more than he could have hoped for.

He breathes through the full-body ache from the game, relieved to find the kind of feeling that he knows will go away. He clutches the little phone in his fist, knowing that some feelings do not.

“Hitching a ride with us?” Dan asks, brushing into his space as gracefully and invasively as always.

“I can walk,” Neil shrugs.

He feels a jab at the back of his knee and he barely catches himself on the handle of a locker. “Can you?” Allison taunts.

“Don’t be a bitch,” Dan says calmly.

“Oh, be realistic,” Allison snaps. Neil turns to confront her but now she’s crouched at Renee’s side, holding an ice pack to the nape of her neck and pursing her lips with concern. For some reason it makes the hollow of his stomach throb and contort.

“Neil. Ride?” Dan prompts, and Neil nods distractedly. Wymack’s directing Kevin and Allison into helping Renee to the couch, Matt’s bickering with Jack and one of the other new recruits. The room seems small but the feelings seem big, like an under-filled audience for a show-stopping number, like actors are gutting themselves for the benefit of only a handful of nervous eyes.

“Yeah, I just gotta, um, shower… still,” he says lamely, and Dan smiles.

“We’ll be outside drinking that game away, okay?”

“Okay,” Neil confirms. The room is filtering and he doesn’t want to be alone. The thought of nursing his knee without Andrew to manhandle recovery out of him is completely unappealing.

He changes out, steps into the spray of the shower gingerly, eager to get the almost-loss out from where it almost made it under his skin.

He wraps a stray tensor bandage snugly around his knee and steps into sweatpants and runners, tossing on the jersey he’d scooped off the dorm floor and pretended he didn’t know was Andrew’s.

When he finally makes his way out into the humid night air, the fight is already happening.

The door is almost jammed back into his body when he pushes it open, and his awareness trips instantly to high alert. He can hear Dan cursing, and Kevin shouting over the din of dull laughter and violent threats. He kicks the door hard enough to make contact with whatever was in front of it, and the person makes a gutted sound as they topple over.

All eyes swing to him, and he folds his arms over the number three screaming across his chest, taking stupid comfort in the splash of black armbands against Andrew’s number. He imagines the warmth of a knife holstered along his forearm and finds that he doesn’t miss it.

He glances backwards to see the Breckenridge goalie doubled over from contact with the door. That mocking striker from before has Dan by the hair, and the big one, Hawking, is trying hard to wrestle the whiskey from Matt’s hand.

“Playing dirty wasn’t enough, you’ve gotta fight that way too?” Neil asks coolly. “I don’t know what I expected from fucking Breckenridge Jackasses.”

“Jackals,” Leverett corrects. “Your betters.”

“Disgraceful and delusional,” Neil says. “That’s sad.”

Hawking steps towards him and Neil looks dully in his direction. “You’re pretty brave considering your watchdog isn’t here.”

Neil feigns surprise. “I didn’t know you knew how to speak. Or do anything except break things and lose games.” Hawking paces forward furiously.

“You’re not really helping, Neil,” Matt calls cheerfully.

“You shouldn’t have come out here,” someone says darkly. Feet scuff against the pavement, faraway birds titter, and Neil finds himself watching Kevin’s face, drained of colour, shaking almost imperceptibly at him.

“Why, because you’re allergic to an even fight?” Some dynamic shifts again, and Hawking is suddenly much, much closer.

“Who says you can fight? Isn’t that what your itty bitty boyfriend is for?” He mocks, leaning all the way down into Neil’s space. “Oh, wait! Shit! I forgot that he was too busy bending over to fight back.”

His fist is in screaming agony before he’s registered that he’s punched Hawking, clawed him in by the neck, and sideswiped him so hard in the jaw that he collapsed.

“Fuck you,” he spits. He gears up to kick him in the ribs, but it’s sloppy, and Hawking catches his ankle.

His teeth are bloody when he grins and rips his leg out from under him. Neil lands hard on his back, breath ripping out of him. “You’re embarrassing yourself. Defending your girlfriend’s honour.”

“That was dumb,” Matt says.

“I’ll kill you,” Neil promises, rolling in the dust and feeling tiny rocks raking his skin raw.

“Jesus, Neil,” Dan calls. “You can’t win against him, he’s a monster.”

Hearing her call anyone a monster gets into his heart and tears blood out of it, and he feels his chest ruined with rage. Neil whirls and knees his groin, throwing a gritty handful of dirt into his eyes and briefly gaining the upper hand. Hawking spits and blinks and his eyes stream, and Neil punches him in the throat, deadly fast.

“You really think he’s worth it, huh?” he wheezes. “I bet the only thing easier than scoring on that psychopath on court is scoring on him off of it—“

Neil swings his arm back but its too lethargic, it wobbles in the air. He can scarcely believe that it’s his punch that’s going so badly until Hawking grabs his wrist. It’s in that tilting moment that he realizes he was much too tired for this fight from the beginning, and that he’s not going to win it.

Hawking’s hand closes around his throat, holding all of Neil’s weight so he feels strange and light on his knees. The air in his lungs was already cracked and shouted out of him, and his vision goes very spotty very quickly.

He hears the others calling his name, but there’s a sharp ringing in his ears over top of everything else, so loud that it feels like an embodied thing. All that he knows is real is the rush of sound and the terrible pain of suffocation and the other version of himself, the one made of anger. His throat is being so effectively crushed that he feels like his flesh is tearing, like Hawking’s hand is serrated or maybe his throat is paper.

He’s let suddenly go, and he keels over on the pavement, coughing himself from his knees down onto his stomach. He touches his own neck and expects to feel bone. It’s not the first time he’s been choked, but it might be the longest, and he doesn’t think he could speak if he tried.

His vision is blurry, but he can see Kevin’s foot pinning Hawking’s neck, and the rest of them struggling weakly with players who seem more rattled than angry.

Neil dips one foot into unconsciousness, and falls accidentally thigh-deep before yanking himself back up.

“Neil,” someone says. “Fuck fuck fuck. Neil? Fuck.” He nods, not trusting his voice. Matt’s face ebbs into focus.“That motherfucker was beyond out of line.”

Neil nods.

“Never thought I’d wish Andrew was here to shank a guy,” Matt mutters, and Neil cracks a smile.

“He’s okay?” Kevin asks nervously from somewhere beyond Matt’s close, concerned face.

“Yeah, I think,” he responds.

“I’m sure he wishes there was a round two,” Kevin says icily.

“I’m right here,” Neil croaks, grateful to hear his voice coming out more or less intact.

“I know,” Kevin says. “And I’m leaving.”

“Don’t mind him,” Dan says, leaning into view, brow furrowed but mouth upturned. “He just loves you and hates to see your pretty neck get hurt.”

Neil grabs hold of Matt’s offered hands and hoists himself to standing, staggering a little when blood and oxygen swirl to his head again.

“Home, please,” Neil says hoarsely, thinking of Andrew’s text. He breathes through the shredding pain in his throat, part of the tally of miseries from a day against Breckenridge and his own loopy loneliness.

Dan and Matt grip his shoulders and keep him strung up between them, but he’s barely aware of their halting progress, too deep in thoughts of Allison’s hands on Renee’s throat, Kevin’s bruised neck, Andrew choking Allison to the ground, getting choked himself, getting held down, the word psychopath looping and meeting up with the word monster, the last blinking red seconds of the match sparking weird nervy panic in his guts.

He has to roll the window down on the way back to Fox Tower, has to swallow lungfuls of cold air and let the wind whip his tears away. He thinks of Hawkins being pinned to the ground, face welling, eyes raw, and satisfaction holds him together.

_____

He crawls into bed, light on his injured knee, pulling at the collar of Andrew’s jersey until it swallows his neck.

He’d tried to ice it, looking vacantly into the mirror and seeing his terrible neck, the rings of pink then shadow around his eyes. His hands were shaking too badly to keep the ice pack in place. He kept thinking about the heft of Andrew’s bravery, of that metaphorical clothing line, the lies and truth and villains and heroes and the impossible crisscrossing lines between them.

The rumours of the court case had clearly made it far enough to climb inside the taunts of opposing teams, or Hawking had made cruel and specific guesses and waited for something to bowl Neil over, and now he’s only been proven right. Both options are so awful that he has to swallow and swallow and swallow to get rid of the taste of bile.

Neil’s used to people prying his wounds open, but the idea of someone looking at Andrew and seeing monstrosity or weakness is impossible, it doesn’t fit in his head, it travels down his body and stiffens his hands and stirs his heart to the kind of rage that he thought he was forgetting.

He settles onto Andrew’s side of the mattress and fists the sheets, breathing cigarettes and sugar, trying to stabilize something that leapt and stumbled to Columbia and now no longer fits inside him.

He can’t imagine what Andrew will say when he sees him, if the tenderness of his body will register after a day at court, if anything matters except the justice that no one seems to have a full grip on, if his injury is just another cruelty in the current of cruelties that washes ceaselessly through Andrew’s life.

It seems unfair that Andrew should fix one leak and come home to another. It seems unfair that people can say whatever they like about you without ever having seen the gorgeous, murderous defiance in your eyes.

Neil rolls onto his side and holds the covers close to his chest, hands sweating, throat burning.

The door scuffs opens behind him, brushes soft against the carpet, and Andrew’s presence in the room is so enormous that he forgets to feign sleep.

Fists still clenched, throat barely able to support his shallow breath, Neil thinks, no matter what, I will not be another thing that hurts him.

(Original fic is a short little thing right heeeere and it’s very very old)

#wow! im so sorry im late again im a nightmare woman #the foxhole court #tfc fanfic #andreil #aftg #prompt #mine #violence tw #i missed this #Anonymous #ask

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deadmanzp · 4 years

Text

aftg asks; questions by triquetrine

these are so interesting so i did all of them.. i want to come back after a year and see if id still answer the same!

op is the post before this or also tagged “misc”

neil josten: favorite/most iconic line?

first one that comes to mind I’m not sure is a favorite or iconic line? but it’s a line i think about a lot and it always hurts to read. it’s when they're at the cabin in TKM.

“He didn’t care how much it hurt so long as he could pull Andrew closer, and he let Andrew take him apart until he couldn’t think anymore.”

that comes at the very end of Chapter 14 and gosh just the paragraph that line comes from and the paragraph before…. the fact neil thinks andrew doesnt care about him the way he cares/feels about andrew is like….. CMON MAN but also i just love the pining angst of it. i like this line especially because the line right before it mentions neil working his “bandaged fingers into Andrew’s hair”. so the “he didnt care how much it hurt” to me always carried a double meaning of 1. the physical pain he felt bc of his injuries but also 2. the pain of unfamiliarity abt his feelings towards andrew and thinking it was unreciprocal AND THAT HED HAVE TO “WARN” ANDREW like the implication.. of neil thinking abt their “relationship” possibly ending bc andrew doesnt feel the same and maybe wouldnt want to be entangled in whatever neil was feeling …… IM LIKE neil knows andrew so well and him being so sure abt this but hes like …. WRONG …. e

nathaniel wesninski: one thing you would change about the books? (plot, characters, etc)

there is very little id change about the books if at all. mainly bc while i know there are upsetting things that happen/the charas do, i think all of those things make the series really interesting to analyze and talk about. i will say a moment i hated was when neil touches andrews scars when andrew makes it clear he doesn't want neil to pry about them. i know neil offers his scars in turn when he's trying to convince andrew to let neil look over kevin but that was controlled. he let andrew touch them and find out about them of his own volition. neil touches something directly related to the trauma andrew had just experienced again when he had 0 permission to do so. while i always get mad at neil for this when i read it i still dont think id change it or get rid of it. im not really sure how id change it anyways and i think andrews relationship with his scars (and himself in general) is probably what allows him to brush it off(?)/never bring this up (plus maybe neil offering his scars was enough for andrew) but i havent thought too hard about this. but ya i remember i got rlly angry w neil the first time i read this scene and i still get mad abt it when i reread.

andrew minyard: if you could be friends with one of the characters, who would you pick?

i mean realistically i wouldnt be friends w jocks ILL BE REAL LOL and i think as much as i love the monsters, theres no way id be friends w them haha uhm but prob dan would be most realistic! maybe even katelyn tbh..

kevin day: if you played exy, what would your position be?

oh i think dealer! in sports i liked being able to do both defense and offense bc it made me feel i had more control over the field, like i could always do something if there were any holes

dan wilds: favorite moment/scene?

definitely the hotel reunion scene. theres so much to it; it drives me nuts!!!!! but honestly there are probably a lot of really good moments im forgetting. to me the whole series is really enjoyable and every scene has something i could say about it haha

matt boyd: song you would love to see in a live-action adaptation?

Oggghh this is so hard… esp since it takes place in 2007???? Idk.. iconic artists then i suppose ghfgkjhf BUT i think general vibes i think itd be so cool if paramore (time relevant), ptv (also time relevant), and mitski were on the soundtrack……. Ya……..

nicky hemmick: which made you more emotional, neil at evermore or neil in baltimore?

neil in baltimore for sure… neil at evermore i can't remember what i felt the first time i read it (maybe pain LOL bc he was doing it for andrew and i felt like riko wouldnt keep his promise) but in my latest reread i was unimpressed by it (mostly bc i think riko is boring and unimpressive). i think i mightve said evermore in the past though….. maybe... neil in baltimore is like … GOD neils emotions are so strong during all of that its really juicy haha. i think like him being angry bc he was on the cusp of having everything he couldve ever dreamed of; the desperation of wanting to fight back and get away; even just the fear of being in the same room as his father for the first time in so long... all really juicy

aaron minyard: a character you will defend to your death?

defend…. im not sure is the word i would use and i dont think i really believe in defending any of these charas “to death” bc of how flawed and complex they are; id like to acknowledge when they did wrong. i think id “defend” any of the characters if i saw anyone misinterpreting or misunderstanding them.. theyre all really interesting even if they didnt get too much spotlight. except maybe riko. hes incredibly boring to me. and also nathan ig and any of his crew just bc there is Nothing abt them rlly...

katelyn: which minor character do you wish you could see more of?

uhhhmmmmmmmm hmmmmmm….. idk maybe… jeremy…. gjfjgkdngmdghs just bc him and kevin r so funny.. i was thinking maybe jean too but…… idk a diff kind of kevin relationship lol (yikes) (pain) but really im satisfied w jeans screen time. i think ichirou is interesting but again i think he didn't rlly need more. maybe erik actually. im interested to know what nicky is like with him :0

allison reynolds: favorite headcanon about the foxes?

actually something i recently thought abt was neil and photography. iirc? andrew gives neil a camera in the ec and i also imagine kevin eventually gets another camera too (i loved that detail when we saw his room at the nest) so i thought abt neil and kevin sharing/trading pics they take of (mainly) scenery. i imagine neil takes pics of anything he wants to remember/keep while kevin is more prone to taking pics of subjects related to some nerd history stuff (lol) so thats why they trade scenery pics mainly. but i like this small connection bc i want more to their relationship than their exy obsession and i imagine they have room for more now that riko is gone and i just like this other commonality btwn them. i think maybe they mail the developed pics to each other maybe w small descripts/notes but thats it. and i also imagine it kind of just is something that started happening.. neil and andrew r on a roadtrip and some building reminds neil of kevin so he snaps a pic and eventually sends it to kevin w some note. kevin replies 1. either a text being like that is nothing. > neil: shrugs brushes it off but figures he is welcome to send more when kevin sends his own picture back or 2. kevin simply replies back similarly w his own photo. i dont know.. maybe this goes beyond what their actual relationship would be like but i do like the idea of them just bein like… dude friends u know so i want them to have more than just exy and a traumatizing experience between them.

as for common headcanons within the fanbase…. i do like the allison + neil haircuts thing.. although im not sure if i imagine it the same as most haha i feel neil would know how to cut his own hair from his life on the run (though theyre not Good or bad just like ok u know like passable generic w/e) i think hed definitely be tense the first couple times but he has experience w allison being close from needing to be covered up w make up after winter break so i think she would be allowed.

renee walker: favorite non-canonical ship? (renison, jerejean, etc)

uhmm to be honest none really… im way too attached to canon to be able to dismiss any established relationships. i think kevemy (??? is that the name) is rlly amusing but i dont want them together necessarily haha i used to rlly like renison mainly bc im a lesbian and i want “main” chara wlw relationships lol but i recently read something abt how bi allison doesnt rlly sit well w some bc she outs andrew and neil during the hotel scene.. i also agree this is kinda :/ if she was bi Mainly bc i feel a lot of ppl (or at least this is what i gather from renison stuff ive seen) portray allison already being established bi? if this makes sense. i think if renison/allison realizing shes bi is a later development id feel better abt it but usually renison is already established so ya her outing them does bother me…. BUT aside from this, thinking about them as characters and what their partners (would) look like… im not sure if theyd rlly choose each other.. but i still enjoy seeing them together in art and in fic bc in the end…. im a sucker for women lol….

seth gordon: most underrated dynamic? (matt & neil, wymack & andrew, etc)

my first thought was wymack and andrew bc i rlllllyy like their dynamic especially after reading their ec stuff. i loved their first meeting (andrews terrible sandwich??!?fhdhfjd) and when andrew breaks into wymacks apartment BUT i think ppl mention them enough its not underrated. i Actually think renee and andrews dynamic/friendship is rlly underrated/overlooked!!! especially after reading the son nefes ec i love their dynamic a lot…

some son nefes moments of them i liked: tw // rape

renee convincing andrew to go with her to see matt after his trip to edens

how many knives do u carry / one more than u IS SO FUNNY and just andrews persistence abt fighting renee is also rlly funny to me

tw // rape : the moment when andrew asks renee if she killed her rapist/abuser that whole convo was good…

their convo in the rain w their tea

i cant remember when this happens or rlly exaclty what was said but renee offers andrew something (some help??) and he says i dont need (w/e it was) and she says something along the lines of i know but it wouldnt do any harm or SOMETHING like that.. i like this bc she acknowledges their abilities while showing shed still like to offer some help. im p sure she does this another time too (w neil???? or someone i cant remember maybe it was andrew again) and i remember liking it too. she has a way w words and talking (also seen in her convincing andrew to see matt)

BUT regardless of ec stuff i think their relationship/dynamic seen in the books is rlly good too. theres def enough to be intrigued by them and i always have been? so i'm reeeaallly happy son nefes exists i loved reading it..

david wymack: which ncaa team would you play for?

oh to be honest i dont rlly remember many of them but of the Three (ravens, foxes, trojans) prob trojans. i remember i even got them in a uquiz once…

abby winfield: which character was the most realistically written?

first that came to mind was aaron actually.. i remember before when i didnt rlly like him or care abt him it was actually bc he was too “boring” to me. i always thought he had the most realistic reactions to things which is what made him boring to me amidst the ridiculousness of, well, everything in aftg lol… i still think he is really realistically written but now i dont think hes boring haha

besty dobson: how many times have you read the series?

fully i think…. only 3 times… i wish this were a higher count but i actually feel guilty everytime i try to reread it.

riko moriyama: coolest exy moment? (kevin’s last-minute point against the ravens, andrew shutting down the goal, etc)

uhhmm uhmm i def think kevin during the final game against the ravens…. hes so cool haha but i KNOW there were a lot of game moments that i thought were really cool so i cant rlly say…. oh also i love neil being defense in that game too rlly juicy wish i could pull up obscure moments bc i know i rlly enjoyed reading the games but terrible memory...

jeremy knox: which do you like reading more, domestic!foxes or chaotic!foxes?

uh i guess chaotic? not rlly sure exactly what that could entail but i do like… their chaos.. when they have fights and squabbles and stuff… this includes the high tension moments. ALTHOUGH i do like the tiny lines in the books when we see the monsters just doing like random basic everyday life stuff like playing video games or whatever. i like…. imagining them... fhdjfjshfjs… as for fic def chaos. i feel domestic is usually too softened…..

jean moreau: favorite friendship?

oh i think this goes back to andrew and renee. but other than them… i do like neil and matts friendship.. though probably not the same as its typically portrayed

#my own #misc

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nickireadstfc · 7 years

Text

The Raven King, Chapter 4 – Andrew Does Shit No One Expects Him To, Pt. 2

In which Orange Sportsball finally starts to form into something resembling teamwork, the Foxes drag Neil for “I’m fine”, I suggest a quality mascot design, and Neil pulls some sweet stunts, only to be dramatically and jaw-droppingly out-stunted by Andrew ‘Extra’ Minyard.

Sounds good? Then it’s time for Nicki to read The Raven King.

GUESS WHO’S FCKNG BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have risen from the ashes of my shattered laptop, finally ready to once again bring you the foxy shitpost content you love and deserve. I’m writing this from a Dell brick that probably came out while I was still in elementary school and weighs as much as a small child, but I don’t care. It has a keyboard and a screen and Microsoft Word, and that’s all that matters.

Back not with a fizzle, but with a bang: I bring you an event filled with drama, shade and Extra, brimming with excitement and recklessness –

The first actually epic Exy game of this series: Palmetto State vs Belmonte University.

(This is a tad longer to make up for lost time, so strap yourselves in.)

They were driving back after the game instead of checking into a hotel for the night. (…) They could have just hired a driver like most schools did, but Wymack was almost as leery of dealing with outsiders as his Foxes were. It was apparently better to be uncomfortable but safe than to trust a stranger with his fractured team.

This is ya friendly reminder that Wymack is a badass protective mother hen and deserves everything good in this world. My dude :’)))))))))) #dicksoutforwymack

They stopped for gas and a bathroom break, stopped again for a quick dinner, and crossed a time zone on their way to Nashville.

And this is ya friendly reminder that American is large as hell. DIFFERENT TIMEZONES. IN THE SAME COUNTRY. How is this a real place.

They arrive at the stadium and Neil is once again faced with his worst enemy (besides new clothes):

Communal showers.

The only reason the Foxes had private stalls on the men’s room was because Wymack specifically commissioned them. Neil forcibly focused back on the task at hand. First he had to survive the game, then he could worry about the showers.

I initially wanted to make fun of the fact that this is a real sentence, but actually I kind of understand what it’s like to not want to show parts of your body to everyone, so. He gets a pass.

Also, the idea of trans!Neil just does not leave my head. I want a billion pieces of fanart/fanfic now.

It’s almost game time!

Neil didn’t see the Vixens, the Foxes’ all-girls cheerleading squad, or their mascot Rocky Foxy.

The have a fucking mascot??? Oh my actual God. What is it, an oversized Fox? Complete with a jersey, a black eye and a big FUCK YOU spelled on its forehead to match the team?

Why have we never heard of this before, this is the best thing ever.

[Belmonte’s Terrapin mascot] stopped a safe distance back from their benches to make a couple crude thrusts at them. Nicky was happy to return it until Wymack swatted him upside his head.

Oh Nicky, never change. <3

Kevin pulled one of his racquets free, fingered the strings like they might have come loose on the drive, and went over to the court walls. He didn’t spare the crowd a single look; all he cared about was right in front of him.

And if you look to your left, you’ll see Kevin being his usual Exy-obsessed, stoic and mighty self.

Also ahehehehe… Fingered. Hi, I’m 12.

As they are getting ready, Neil gets some sweet advice from Kevin – basically, only do boring ass gameplay until the second half and then go so hard you and I both bust a nut, also Andrew should realistically collapse field from withdrawal but he’ll probably hold up through sheer ego alone.

Sounds legit and like there could be nothing going wrong with it, at all.

We also briefly meet Katelyn, Aaron’s crush and – as I’m guessing – probably his date for the banquet thingy they’ve got coming up soon.

(You think I forgot about that, didn’t you. I never forget about opportunities for Fox banter, dress-up and hilarious social situations.)

However it’s not entirely a fun encounter as it’s time for another episode of our popular show What The Actual Fuck, Andrew?:

“Oh.” Andrew slapped his fist into his palm as if the answer had just occurred to him. He flashed Matt a wicked grin but answered in German. “Maybe he’s afraid she’ll die on him like the last woman he really loved.”

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, ANDREW. Also, what the actual fuck, backstory. I need it now.

No time to ponder on it, it’s game time, fuckers!

We’re kicking things off a bit unusual – literally:

Neil listened for a serve that didn’t come. For a second he was afraid Allison would lock up and refuse to move. He was halfway to Herrera before he heard the distinctive thump of a ball against Andrew’s oversized racquet. Allison had served it back to him, and Andrew smashed it up the court toward the strikers.

Have I mentioned how much I love functioning teamwork amongst my children? Because fuck, yeah.

Have I mentioned what I also love? Some good ass Kevin/Neil Exy action.

The only bright point was realizing his lessons with Kevin were paying off. (…) Passing wasn’t what Neil wanted to do in this game, but he could already see how he was improving. His shots were harder and more accurate, and it took him less time to figure out where to throw.

My beb :) improving :) being taught by Kevin because Kevin sees the heaps of potential in this boy and wants to make him the best he can :) I’m fine :)

Wymack (…) send out his substitutes. Neil wasn’t between Kevin and the door, but Kevin detoured past him anyway on his way out.

“Destroy him”, he said.

Neil felt like he’d been waiting for this all his life. “Yeah.”

Fuck yEAH :’)))))))))))

(Again, reminding you all that I am passionate multishipper who gets into p much any ship if dynamics present themselves unto her, unless they are super problematic. If I make any comments about ships you don’t like – cool, we all have our own tastes but please don’t send me rude comments about it.)

From that point on, my friends, the game finally catches me and holds my attention way more than the first game did. It’s on, you guys. Passes are flying left and right and our faves are working together, I really cannot stress enough how much I love functioning teamwork.

And then, of course, Neil pulls This Shit™:

He knew Herrera was right behind him for a body check. If he got crushed between the wall and Herrera, he’d lose the ball in the fight. Neil caught the ball right off the wall but didn’t try to protect it. Instead, he gave the butt of his racquet a hard pop with one fist. It sent the ball flying straight up out of the net. He dropped to his knees in the same breath.

He almost wasn’t fast enough. Herrera crashed into him at full speed a half-second later, but Neil wasn’t where Herrera was expecting him to be. He tripped over Neil’s body and (…) crashed into the wall head-first. (…)

Neil scooped the ball up and took off for goal. (…) He looked only at the goalkeeper and knew he was going to score. He put all of his first-half frustration behind his swing. The goalkeeper swatted at it and missed. The wall lit up red to confirm the point.

FFFUCKKK YEAHHH. This is the most badass shit he’s done since The Talk Show Incident™ (although nothing tops that ofc) and I am way proud of my son.

Also, Neil dealt with that backliner how I deal with my responsibilities: Letting them come at me full-speed and then swiftly ducking out of their reach.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Not before long, the first half is over and they’re at an even score! Amazing, wonderful, 100/10 proud mama right here.

Neil couldn’t feel his feet, but he assumed they were down there somewhere. The shoulder he’d hurt in the first half was still throbbing thanks to the well-aimed blows of his new backliner mark.

What a fucking asshole move. Oh, you’re already injured there? Let me hit you a couple extra times, just for good measure, just to really fuck you up.

Remember that thing about Andrew staying off his meds, and how it’s going totally well? Yeah.

Andrew stood a silent stone in their midst, looking a thousand miles away from all of this. He was a vacuum his teammates rowdy cheer couldn’t touch.

“Stop it.” (…)

Andrew slid a bored look Neil’s way. “I’m not doing anything.”

“Exactly,” Neil wanted to say, but he knew it was a senseless argument. He didn’t have the right words for that gnawing feeling in his stomach.

Ah yes :)))

Wymack shows up and scolds them for not pushing harder earlier, yadda yadda, team talk. And then, I present to you the genuinely funniest thing to happen this chapter:

Abby came to Neil last and stayed with him, feeling the line of his shoulder armour through his jersey. “How are you doing?” (…)

“I’m fine.”

Nicky fist-pumped in triumph. “Thank you for being so predictable, Neil. You just scored me ten bucks with two words.”

Matt look up. “Are you serious? Who the hell bet against you?”

Nicky jerked a thumb at Kevin. “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

I am hOWLING. I cannot believe they bet on his “I’m fine” oh my god this is the bEST.

DRAG. HIM.

The running gag of Neil “I’m fine” Josten will never not make my day. Neither will the Foxes’ obsession with betting on everything. I LOVE IT.

Kevin, never able to be anything but serious, drags him even more, but not in a fun way:

“You’re an idiot. Do you see this?” he brandished his left hand at Neil. (…) “Injuries are not a joke. They are not something to gloss over. (…) If you ever say ‘I’m fine’ about your health again, I will make you rue the day you were born.”

Yikes.

Abby eyed Neil. “I’ll ask again, then. Are you okay?”

“I’m –“ It was too automatic a response. (…) “It’s just sore. So long as I can keep my mark off my right side I’ll be – okay.”

Matt laughed at the near-miss. “I don’t see this experiment ending well, Neil.”

“Some people are just hardwired to be stupid,” Wymack said.

I’m literally loving every single thing about this.

Fun times over, they go back on the field for second half, where Neil sits out on the sidelines at first and uses this opportunity to talk about his favourite subject: Andrew.

“Why does Andrew do this?” Neil asked, unable to stay quiet any longer. “If he doesn’t care about Exy, what’s the point of going through this every Friday?”

“Would you want to be crazy high every day of your life?” Matt asked.

No, but in my opinion, that still doesn’t add up. He could have probably picked any day to go meds-free, Wymack would have taken him anyways – I don’t know, pick every Sunday or every Monday or every Wednesday after lunch, it doesn’t matter. Why Exy?

The only logical reason to pick Exy days over other days is the possibility that – shocking! – Andrew does care about this dumb sport after all.

Excited for the final explanation of this. I have a hunch there’s still more to it.

In other news – my feelings:

The Foxes were notorious for their shoddy teamwork, so most people forgot they were a Class I school. (…) If the Foxes could get over their differences and learn to compromise every once in a while, they’d be a formidable force. (…)

Neil wanted to be part of this evolution. He wanted to feel the team click into perfect synchrony, even if it lasted only a moment.

Give me all that good teamwork, and give it to me now.

The Terrapins came as hard as they could, but the Foxes shoved back with a ferocity the home team wasn’t expecting. They were exhausted, but Matt rallied the defense around him and Neil had permission to run himself ragged on the offense. (…) Every minute on the court brought him one minute closer to saying goodbye to Exy forever. He didn’t want to miss a single second.

As always, angst is the best motivator.

They’re all getting fired up and playing their hearts out when we near the most dramatic part of the game – the Foxes in the lead by one point, sixty seconds left on the clock. And then –

Eight seconds from the end a terrapin striker got the ball. Aaron ran after him, but he was too exhausted to close the gap. The striker’s ten steps took him all the way to the foul line for his shot.

Oh shit.

The goal was too wide and Andrew too small; there was no way Andrew could stop a shot this close-range. (…) Even if Andrew could get there fast enough, the ball was too low to the ground for him to swing his massive racquet.

Oh. Shit.

Except Andrew was moving before the striker finished taking his shot, as if he already knew where the striker was going to aim, and he didn’t even try to swing. He threw himself at the ground as far over as he could and slammed his racquet down between the ball and the goals so hard Neil heard wood crack all the way across the court. He was just fast enough; the ball hit the taut strings of his racquet and bounced off.

OH SHITTTTTTTTT!!!!! BOI!!!!!! THE FUCK!!!!!! IM YELLING!!!!

This is exactly the sort of Extra and Dramatic Shit™ I was missing.

HOLY SHIT, WHAT A SAVE.

And with that, the game is over, FUCK YEAH.

Andrew, of course, is now completely done.

Kevin didn’t have to ask what was going on. He’d lied to cameras for years and knew how to buy Andrew time. (…)

Andrew let go with one hand and gestured. Kevin gestured back as if having an actual conversation. The only sound either of them made was the desperate gasp of air through clenched teeth as Andrew tried not to get sick in front of the crowd.

Cool move, actually. They seem to have done this before? I continue being beyond intrigued by their dynamic.

The rest of the team fell in around them, bringing the celebration to their strikers and forming an impromptu barricade around their fallen goalkeeper.

Team <333

Protect that smol sick bastard, he just saved all your asses.

They get Andrew off the court safely, and with that, it’s good things all around.

Neil had never seen Wymack smile like this. It was small but fierce, as angry as it was proud. “That’s more like it. Draw sticks and figure out who’s helping me fend off the press. The rest of you get your sticky, stinky asses to the showers.”

What a DAD. Love him.

“Renee and I will handle it,” Dan said as they headed to the locker room. “Neil, you can use the girls’ showers while we’re busy.”

Neil stared at her. “What?”

Dan frowned at him, so Matt explained. “There aren’t stalls here.”

LET ME FUCKING LOVE YOU. I cannot get over this move, what the hell, that is so sweet.

Foxes being there for each other :’) I’m fine :’)))))))))))))

Neil had noticed, but he hadn’t thought his teammates would. That they had, and that they were doing something about it, knocked the wind out of him. He tried to answer, but he didn’t know what to say. The best he managed was, “Is that really okay?”

“Kid, you’re killing me,” Nicky said. “Why do you always get that deer-in-the-headlights look when someone does something nice for you?”

Yet another installment in our popular series Neil Doesn’t Realize People Actually Care About Him, episode 4 of a billion!

Before we finally leave this long-ass trip of a chapter, Andrew briefly joins Wymack, Andrew, and Andrew’s new best friend Johnnie Walker Blue for a chat:

“Why did you pay for stalls, Coach?”

Wymack lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Maybe I knew you’d need them one day.”

Andrew smiled around the mouth of his bottle. “Neil is a walking tragedy.”

“You’re a pretty pathetic sob story yourself,” Wymack said.

Smol beans :’) bonding over how fucked up they are :’) love em.

Also #dicksoutforwymack, all day, every day. Maybe I knew you’d need them one day, holy shit, please have my platonic babies.

Andrew headed for the door, but Neil put a hand in his path. “How did you do it? How did you know where to go?”

“Coach said Watts always takes his penalty shots to the bottom corner. With the game riding on him he was bound to do the same.”

Neil stared at him, startled and disbelieving. (…) It’d been an off-the-cuff remark amidst a lot of other information. Neil hadn’t thought Andrew was even paying attention to Wymack’s spiel.

Well, my dude, seems like someone gives more fucks than we all were starting to think. OF FUCKING COURSE. I’m still grinning my face off writing this.

And with that, they’re off, back on the bus home, and we’re letting this chapter ring out but some good ol’ Neil “Oh shit, what’s this, good feelings, get them away from me” Josten.

As he listened to them, Neil realized he was happy. It was such an unexpected and unfamiliar feeling that he lost track of the conversation for a minute. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this included or safe. It was nice but dangerous.

Someone with a past like his, whose very survival depended on secrecy and lies, couldn’t afford to let his guard down. But as Nicky laughed and leaned closer to talk about one of Neil’s goals, Neil thought maybe he’d be okay for just one night.

:’))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Nicki out.

If you like what I do here and you want to help me continue writing, please consider buying me a coffee (or two)! Thank you so much <3

#trk #the raven king #aftg #all for the game #nora sakavic #nicki reads tfc #dicksoutforwymack #GUESS WHOS BACK BACK AGAIN #I MISSED YALL WHAT IS UP

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snarktheater · 7 years

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#BroodyBFF — LGBTQIA+ YA books

The #BroodyBFF challenge is courtesy of @BroodingYAHero on twitter.

This time, the prompt was:

Write a post on your most favorite (or most anticipated) LGBTQIA+ YA book! (#ownvoices and/or stories authored by LGBTQIA+ writers strongly encouraged!)

Well, that's going to be an easy one. No, really. I know I usually have a hard time to pick a favorite anything, but in this case…

"Oops, my hand slipped", as they say.

I will try to elaborate, but really, anyone who read my previous post could have guessed this one with fairly high precision. I mean, Captive Prince isn't YA (…boy is it not YA), and while I loved The Song of Achilles, it doesn't beat All For The Game. For so many weird, weird reasons.

I mean, TSOA sounds basically designed for me to love it. It's Greek fucking mythology. You can get more pandering to my specific interests (with, say, Egyptian mythology, for instance), but it's gonna take some serious effort. Meanwhile, AFTG is a contemporary young adult series centered around sports. So, you know. Nothing that should attract me. Which, to me, only speaks of the quality of the books.

Okay, that's not entirely true, of course. The trilogy just speaks to other things that interest me, especially thematically speaking. You know, themes of self-identity, and choosing your own family rather than being forced to accept the one you're born into. Or a romance that's built on understanding and honesty (a weird, twisted form of honesty, but still).

I've already ranted about how much I love these books in two posts, so I'm not sure how much more I can talk about them in my usual analytical style. What I can talk about is how they've just stuck with me on an emotional level that, honestly, I don't fully understand. Even though I read the trilogy over a year ago, the universe and characters of AFTG are the ones I tend to think about in my daily life. You know, daydreaming, that sort of stuff. I do it a lot, and lately, it's been almost always with these guys.

Few things have stuck with me like that—the only one I can name was the Percy Jackson books a few years ago, and that's mostly because I was immersed in fanfiction, not because of the books themselves. With this series, I've barely gotten involved in fanfiction at all (although, ironically, the fic I wrote with the best kudos/view ratio is in fact a one-shot I wrote for this trilogy). So I guess it's safe to say that the books themselves are somehow responsible.

I can try to give more elements of explanation, such as the way I intensely relate to Neil as a protagonist. But ultimately, I guess there are times where liking things just cannot be fully explained or reasoned with. Things just clicked for me. What can I say? It just worked. (And believe me, it makes it really hard to make people read the books, although so far the feedback I got from friends has been overwhelmingly positive, so I guess it's not just me)

I'd be remiss to leave simply on one book, though. Meager as it is, I can't not recommend my shelf for queer books on Goodreads. On the YA side alone, my recommendations are:

The Proxy duology (reviewed here and here) has a great gay protagonist and an excellent world.

The Six of Crows duology (reviewed here and here) is simply amazing (admittedly it's an ensemble cast with two gay protagonists)

I already mentioned The Song of Achilles (review), which is heartwrenching and I love it.

Hero (review) is a great YA superhero book with a gay protagonist that manages to blend the two aspects perfectly.

The Witch Eyes trilogy (I snarked the first book, and reviewed the second and third) has the urban fantasy grounds covered

I'll Give You The Sun (review) and Simon and the Homo Sapiens Agenda (review—although it's a comparison with a book I didn't like) are two excellent books about being a gay teen in our world, if you're not like me and you'd rather go for realistic stuff.

Hushed (which I didn't review, but you can find here on Goodreads) is more of a thriller and pretty heartwrenching in its own way, but it was also breathtaking all the way and I loved every moment of reading it.

As for most anticipated…I'm honestly not sure (if only because my ebook library and Goodreads shelves are a mess in that respect right now). I do know that I really want to read Time Keeper by Tara Sim when I get the chance, because I only had the time to read three pages of it in January and I'm told nothing but good things about it, so I'll go with that one. I mean, it's a book that has gay characters and time travel. I must love it.

Fanart source for Andrew and Neil: http://ziegenkind.tumblr.com/post/142978723345/hes-so-happy-can-you-tell-for-wymack

#queer representation #the foxhole court #nora sakavic #queer romance #all for the game #broodybff #brooding ya hero #young adult #young adult books #ya #ya hero #ya books #st: broody bff

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nickireadstfc · 7 years

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The Foxhole Court, Chapter 5 – Fun Moving Time, Fun Drama Time

In which we meet Matt, Neil’s torso makes me break out in Deadpool quotes, super-secret safes are bought to contain super-secret journals, and Kevin has a choking kink.

Sounds good? Then it’s time for Nicki to read The Foxhole Court.

With all the shit that went down last time, we are getting a bit of a break with this chapter, meaning: Not much happens.

(I’m not complaining, though. I needed a breather.)

It’s moving time! So long, Wymack’s apartment, you and the regular motivational speeches that came with your owner being Neil’s landlord will be sorely missed.

Neil took his [keys] and the paperwork regarding appropriate dormitory behaviour. He skimmed over it before signing all the dotted lines.

Remind me to make an extra post detailing those Appropriate Dormitory Behaviour Rules at some point when we know all the characters, their quirks etc. I am dying to write that.

He [had] to register with the rest of the freshmen class in August. Neil wasn’t in any rush, he still didn’t know what he was supposed to declare his major as.

Oh, right. Considering they’re a college team, there’s probably actual education happening at some point. I forgot that over all the ORANGE SPORTSBALL that’s been happening.

Don’t worry though, guys, sportsball is immediately back again in form of Abby, who wants to sports-nurse it up with Neil.

However, Neil isn’t having it:

“Shirt off.”

Neil stared at her. “Why?”

“I can’t check track marks through cotton, Neil.”

“I don’t do drugs.”

“Good on you,” Abby said. “Keep it that way. Now take it off.”

A sassy angel, what did we do to deserve her.

When Neil does take off his shirt, though, both her and I are momentarily stunned into silence, as Neil’s torso looks like actual living hell. We’re talking scars all over the place, scars in place you didn’t even know could have scars.

He looks like actual roadkill. Shit, he looks like roadkill that somehow managed to survive being roadkill, got up to walk a few steps, and then got roadkill-ed again.

Actually, not to be tactless, but just imagine I’m describing him the way Weasel is describing Deadpool’s face here, mostly because T. J. Miller is funnier than I could ever hope to be.

(Why am I worried about being tactless towards a book character. They’re fictional, Nicki.)

(Also, please tell me there’s fanart of this.)

Enough with the sad times: Matt is here!

Nicky was almost six feet and Kevin was an inch or two taller, but this man looked halfway to seven. Part of the illusion Neil blamed on his black hair, which he’d gelled up in short spikes around his skull.

Based on that alone, please know that I’m picturing him as a taller version of American Idiot era Billie Joe Armstrong.

What a babe.

Matt seems nice enough. Glad to hear Neil is at least rooming with halfway sane people. Nothing interesting to report here. Let’s move on.

The hill might have been a nice spot for students to picnic between classes, except someone thought to build the athletes’ dormitory on the peak. It stood four stories tall and had its own computer lab and parking lot.

Honestly, the recurring “privileged athletes getting in the way of poor regular students’ lives” trope is probably the most realistic thing about this book so far. My high school had thousands to spend on trips and equipment for the rowing and basketball teams, but our school play couldn’t get funding to print some fucking posters.

If you’re wondering whether I’m still mad about that despite having graduated over a year ago: I am.

Today’s Casually Mentioned, Yet Heart-Breakingly Sad Neil Fact is this:

Neil hadn’t slept in a real bed since he left Seattle. He’d broken into cars to borrow backseats in California, slept on the bus to Nevada, and dozed in passenger seats while hitchhiking with truckers to Arizona. His house in Millport had been unfurnished, so he’d slept on the floor with shirts as his pillow. Wymack’s couch was the nicest thing he’d had in over a year, but now he had a bed.

I’m not crying, there’s just Angst™ in my eye.

The Angst™ continues as Neil is forced to leave his beloved duffel bag unattended as he goes to the store to pick up something to protect said beloved duffel bag, or specifically his Precious Binder, More Valuable Than Anything Else, Ever.

And just as I am about to ask what the fuck might be in that binder – The latest runaway fashion fads? Offers for special sales on hair dye? Kevin Day’s nudes? – Neil answers me ahead of time:

A full-on Runaway 101 Journal, Winchester-style. Complete with stalker details on Riko and Kevin, emergency contact numbers, money, contact lenses, money, all sorts of faked IDs and certificates, and did I mention fucktons of money.

Neil’s mum had not been fucking around, you guys.

However, Neil soon has to discover that someone (read: Kevin) has been in his things, to which of course the next logical action is to go scream at him – in French.

“Stay out of my things,” he snapped. He wished he could take some satisfaction in the shell-shocked looks the language and his furious tone earned, but he felt nothing. “The next time one of you goes where you don’t belong I swear I’ll make you regret it.”

Mon dieu, mon cher, calme tes nichons. #faitesneilcalmersesnichons2k17

But it only gets better from here:

“Put a leash on your pet monster or I will.”

“A frightened child like you?”

“Fuck you, cripple.”

Across the room, Kevin’s face went white. “What did you call me?”

“I called you a deadweight has-been,” Neil said.

YOU GO, JOSTEN.

Kevin got his hands on Neil’s neck in an instant and slammed Neil up against the opposite wall. Neil dug his fingers into Kevin’s wrists, trying to loosen Kevin’s grip enough that he could breathe. He tried to knee Kevin, but Kevin crushed him against the wall with his own body.

Someone has got to have made that into a sexy fanart by now.

Choke me, da- I mean, what.

Thankfully, the other Foxes come to his rescue. Ahead of all: Dan Wilds! Much anticipated, finally here and instantly reprimanding them to leave the choking for the bedroom.

“What do you think you’re doing? It’s our first day back. Why are we fighting already?”

“Technically we never left,” Andrew said, “and Neil’s been here a couple weeks, so it’s your first day back, not ours.” He leaned to one side, looking past her to her roommate. “Hello, Renee. About time!“

Please please tell me Renee and Andrew are sweet goalie BFFs please.

I’m intrigued to find out more about Renee and Dan anyways, and Allison as well. This book is sorely lacking in the female characters department so far. Give me some girls in the next chapter, and give them to me now.

That’s all I have to say to that.

#nicki reads tfc #tfc #the foxhole court #the raven king #the kings men #nora sakavic #faitesneilcalmersesnichons2k17 #also thank you ever so much for leaving nice comments in my inbox or nice tags on your reblogs #i read every single one of them and im so beyond happy #yall rule

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