#and adding them to my aftg board

[mooniism]

last post about me sobbing over the stuff im seeing on pinterest. WHY IS THIS LOWKEY AARON MINYARD CODED kill me bro

[codename-adler]

WIP Game: aftg television soundtrack project

I love everything going on with this, just constantly imagining it in my head with different lines and scenes and everything 💖💖💖

my beloved, beloved insane project... i've already spoken about this here and there on my blog (i will organize a tag now that i think about it, dw), but in short i'm imagining AftG as if it were adapted as a TV series (first it was films, but i can do more with a show, and HBO TLoU changed me as a person and writer). it was 3 seasons, one for each book, but i've added a 4th season for TSC, and will add another one or 2 depending on how many more books Nora Sakavic blesses us with.

what i did was, i extracted the most impactful scenes from each book, those that would fit a soundtrack moment. i've created a sort of PowerPoint presentation, like a mood board for the scene, of how i'm picturing it shot, the angles, the pace, the tempo, etc. it is very, very clear in my head how everything goes. i'm not kidding. making playlists is my passion, and one i excel at i believe, but it brings me so much joy, pride and satisfaction. it's also really good for my mental. in parallel to this, i've also got the aftg x tlou project, which was wholly inspired by @cielalune 's own Andreil tlou AU fic turn out the lights, which i will NEVER shut up about. i have found a true kinship in their writing and musicality and i will forever be grateful for finding them and getting to exchange. all this to say, the playlist-making/planning for that fic is very time-consuming and brain-obsessing.

now back to the purely soundtracked wip. i'll share one of the first scenes i imagined and that has yet to change. this is for you too @minyard-05 <3

All for the Game (S2): The Raven King

"Betsy closed the door behind them. Neil could just make out the sound of her engine starting, and then it was quiet. Andrew was gone." (p. 255)

the slide currently looks like this as i haven't gotten to editing S2 of the project, but rest assured this is in no way the final look:

i'm going for a sort of echo-y, daze-y, numbing eulogy. TFC ends with Seth's death, and in a way, TRK ends with Andrew's. luckily it is a good "death" as he will come out of this freer, himself, accepted. but it is a death nonetheless. death of his past. a point of no return. a definite cross on all of it. no going back. and he also cannot bury this under his skin like before. over it. it's all in plain sight now. for as unapologetic as he is, Andrew was hiding.

Neil loses his best friend. Neil reckons with another's demons, and loses to them, loses him to them. That closing door rings the gong. And it's quiet. As manic as he may have been, Andrew was never noisy and full of life. Still he is missed. His absence is an abyss. It's not peaceful without the "monster"; it's deafening silence.

and the title of the song, too, is so perfect. Andrew leaving Neil behind that closed door, in that moment, means he is letting go of what he thinks is a hallucination. Neil will only be a memory now. he does not know yet Neil isn't a pipedream at all.

but both men will hold on to the memory of each other to survive what comes next.

[foxufortunes]

So like, I was gonna add this onto my post about the Raven's win percentage and how that compared to lacrosse with NCAA Exy and NCAA Lacrosse being about the same age, but I figured I'd put it here so everyone can see, because this is what I mean about the exy timeline being complicated and why zero losses makes sense over 30 years.

And yes, I know AFTG is not aiming for hyper realism grounded in reality, but I like figuring out a cohesive timeline for things like fics it's TRC all over again. Also I just like to think way too deep about this things, and if I'm descending into madness over these things you're coming with me.

That said, the timeline of exy and Evermore as much as I can make sense of it:

So, the exy/Evermore timeline in kind of a mess and a great example of how adding more makes something make less sense. What we're going to do is take the books at their most concrete fact and say that Tetsuji and Kayleigh invented exy 30 years pre-canon, and for ease of timeline we'll call it exactly 30years. So, here we go:

So our base line in 1976 (for the record NCAA Lacrosse was formed 1971, this is what I mean when I say they're roughly the same age). Tetsuji and Kayleigh were in university and in Japan, but it's not clear at what point in their studies they were and how long they had left to go at university.

Nora's EC says that Tetsuji was reaching out to the NCAA before he graduated. During his last semester he was reaching out promising funding and himself as a coach. So this is, at most a few years after exy was created unless Tetsuji had the slowest university career ever.

The next fall semester NCAA Exy officially starts with Ravens vs Trojans at Castle Evermore. So, as I've said before, the Big 3 were in on the ground floor. This is why they're so dominant, but that they started with the Ravens means they should be more competitive. The Raven's won the first match 13-12 and if it's that close at the start, the idea that the Raven's undefeated 20year+ streak is because they've been around longer loses all ground.

Evermore was the first stadium completed, followed by the Golden Court for the Trojans and Pride Court for Penn State Lions (which is such a cute name, I want a book on them please Nora). Pride Court was delayed but Penn State kept up training, while USC and EAU had their courts built at impossible speed. For reference, building a sports stadium, from first plans to completion is at speed roughly an 18month endeavour, if everything goes right, but depending on how you read the point above this could be just a few months. Either way, it's very fast. Other universities had pop up stadiums or played at the bigger stadiums of the Big 3 or local stadiums until theirs were complete. Ironically, given his apparent treatment of his female players, a lot of Tetsuji's funding came from getting women on board, promoting how co-ed the sport was.

The first pro teams were formed around the first graduates from the NCAA league. So 5 years after Evermore and we get a professional league.

And the US Court 2 years after. So 7 years from the start of the NCAA competition and we get a national team.

Then exy is in the Olympics the next year. So 8 years from the first NCAA game for exy to be Olympic recognised (a generous estimate makes that 1988, 1992 at a push, 14-18 years pre-canon and roughly a decade pre-foundation of the Foxes).

The problem with all this, of course, being that the book in only chapter 2 of TFC says that Kevin (born in 1986) and Riko were around with Tetsuji when Evemore was still in the blueprint stage.

Now, there's a couple of way I can think to maybe square this all. Firstly, obviously the 30years is a rough but that should mean closer to 30 than anything else, but to be generous either way, we're looking at between '71 (35years pre-canon) and '81 (25years pre-canon) and the later timeline can square a little better. It's also possible our Castle Evermore is a new stadium and the first Castle Evermore is an old one they've knocked down and replaced at the new one is the one Kevin and Riko were around for. It's also possible to be more generous with Tetsuji's university career: say he was in his first year in 1976, did a longer/postgrad course and stayed for say 7 years giving us 1983 for his graduation, then be generous and say "next fall semester" actually means '84 (which is still fast for a stadium) for Evermore's completion and the NCAA starting, which gives us the '92 Olympics.

So, let's work backwards instead. For Evermore to be being built while Kevin and Riko "already had custom racquets" we'll be generous and lowball age 2? So, we'll work with Evermore opening around '88. Even working with the most generous estimate of when exy was invented (1981, 25years rather than 30) that means, assuming Tetsuji spent his freshman year in Japan, he was in university for 6 or 7 years (depending on how you read next fall). Putting us at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and making NCAA exy 20ish years old.

[teenwerewoofs]

Comfort tag

Tagged by @bwtch & @meggie-stardust semi-recently (time is fake!)

Comfort Movie: Pride & Prejudice (2005), The Mummy, Resident Evil, Blade (any of the Blade trilogy tbh), The Replacements; I’m not a big fan of rewatching movies so anything that I will rewatch basically automatically gets added to this list lol.

Comfort food: garlic bread, spaghetti, pizza

Comfort Clothing: I basically live in a sweatshirt/hoodie and sweats/joggers. Right now, though, I’ve been non-stop wearing this AFTG hoodie I recently bought. It’s so comfy and I love it.

Comfort song: like 10 songs by The National lol

Comfort book: Pride & Prejudice. I’m also not a big re-reader; I mostly turn to fic for that! I’m revisiting a ton of AFTG fic that I loved and it’s been long enough since I’ve read them that they’re not still completely familiar.

Comfort game: I actually don’t play any games! I have what some may consider an “addictive personality” lmao so games are not a good idea for me. I bought an Inception inspired board game on kickstarter years ago that I will some day convince my friends to play with me though!

Zero pressure to do this but tagging @rosieposiepuddingnpie @aurevell @lucky-bishop @midmorning-bomb @tarantula-teeth @vmures @ambersagen

May 2023 bring even more comfort to all of us! 🥳

[aftgficrec]

hi!!! bless y’all for taking the time to answer these asks!! sorry if this is vague, but do y’all have any recs for andreil “fluff” or funny content that keeps really close to their characters? like them just being the dry humored deadpan duo we know and love? thank you so much!!

There are some writers that really seem to take that “dry-humored deadpan” concept and run with it.  If you find one of the writers mentioned “clicks” with what you’re looking for, check out their other fics - most of them have others that might satisfy that craving!  You might enjoy ‘what if we kissed…and we met on tinder?’ recommended here, and ‘married to my enemy’ recommended here, as well as the fics below.  -F

In Which Neil Josten is a PR Nightmare by CoverYourEyes [Rated: T, 12442 words, incomplete, last updated 2/2020]

Eve was not the best person in the world. Sometimes she didn’t hold the elevator open when she saw people rushing to catch it from the other side of the lobby. Cutting the line at Starbucks was a semi-regular action.

But Eve did not deserve to be Neil fucking Josten’s publicist.

Or, the one where Neil does what he wants, picks fights with reporters, discovers Twitter, breaks the internet, and really shouldn’t be allowed out of his house.

Wanted: Random Guy by fuzzballsheltiepants [Rated T, 5989 words, Complete 2020, AFTG Valentine’s Exchange]

Neil’s just trying to get through life as a math major, surviving primarily because of his favorite coffee shop and his speculation about all the regulars there. When an ad appears on the coffee shop bulletin board looking for someone to take fake couple’s photos with, he decides to give the guy a call. After all, it could be entertaining…right?

Andrew Minyard: Tiny Gay Disaster by gluupor [Rated T, 17045 words, Complete 2019]

Andrew is fed up with Nicky continually setting him up with guys, so he devises a plan to get him to stop: he claims he’s dating Kevin. Of course, with his luck, as soon as he declares himself off the market he meets Neil. Cue the useless gay pining.

can i get a kiss (can you make it last forever) by Talls [Rated T, 8995 words, Complete 2020]

“I’m obsessive about everything,” Neil protests, sitting in a booth with the four upperclassmen he can stand. “What makes this obsession special?”

“Okay, we get the Exy obsession, because you’re legitimately planning on going pro, and we get the Kevin obsession because he’s dedicated to teaching you to go pro, and we even get the Minyard obsession,” Dan says.

In which Andrew has a podcast, and Neil falls in love with him twice.

my head goes forward (and my heart goes back) by ephemeralsky [Rated T, 2454 words, Complete 2019, Andreil Week, locked]

Nathaniel Wesninski. Alias: Neil Josten. Status: Active; extremely dangerous.

Andrew has run into him on a few missions in the past - Bucharest, Hanoi, and, most notably, Reykjavik - and the warnings had been the same: Do not engage. Avoid at all costs.

As if that had ever been possible.

(or: Andrew is a spy, Neil is a hitman, and Kevin is exasperated)

(tw: cartoon violence, tw: knives, tw: guns, tw: murder)

[h-i-raeth]

WIP Files (I will admit to having adjusted file names since last time I did WIP Wednesday hah)(also whoops meant to get to this earlier in the day but it's alright progress is progress)

The Sum Of Our Parts (unpublished)* (AFTG, Andriel, Unwind AU, partially published)

Time And Hearts Will Wear Us Thin (hanahaki deconstrucion fic) (Stranger things, queerplatonic Stobin with several side ships, entirely unpublished will start to be as soon as I get the final draft up to season 3)

The Shadow Of Dust(Character & Plot Notes)* (Stranger Things, His Dark Materials AU, unpublished + looking destined to be Long)

Barb Lives Side A (Alive) (Stranger Things, unpublished + looking to be long, will start being published when I've got a base draft done up to the end of season 2 + also a proper title)

Alternate Version (Trapped In The Upside Down) (Stranger Things, unpublished but should be much shorter than the other two Barb Lives AUs living in my WIPs)

*TSOOP & TSOD are both in phases where adding sentences isn't what I need to do to progress, so asks for them will me working on them/their notes/editing for at least 15 minutes. I'll post snippets from CH5 that have passed a final-editing sweep for Sum asks & both a snippet of sentences from a different WIP + a lore tidbit about it for Shadow asks.

My Snippet:

And sure, the kids have been more actively involved in his life since this most recent bout of insanity. He’s folded the idea of something happening to them into the same place where he keeps his anxiety about party guests lingering unwatched near his pool, and it means that the kids have rapidly figured out that they can exploit him for rides pretty much anywhere as long as he’s free. He bitches at them about it, but it’s honestly a relief to know where they’re supposed to be most of the time, and they’ve all rapidly endeared themselves to him, Dustin especially. It helps, but it’s still more babysitting than friendship, especially at this stage.

Mike still hasn’t forgiven him for having dated his sister (and is too wrapped up in El to really have time to warm up to Steve even if he had), and Will never went on Steve’s monster-hunting tween bonding adventure in the first place. Plus, he’s not like Dustin, Lucas, and Max, who don’t have any actual adults in their lives that they can go to about the Upside Down bullshit. He has no need for Steve outside of his glorified chauffeur services, and he gets rides from his mother or Jonathan most of the time anyway.

Max acts almost like a feral cat. He’s… Pretty sure she’s fond of him, but he doubts she’d ever admit it, and that extends to soliciting his company. She lets him get close so long as he doesn’t show signs that he cares and orbits cautiously around the group, alternating between being wrapped up in Lucas and almost abandoning the boys entirely as she renews her efforts to further endear herself to El. And El, for her part, seemed to like him well enough the few times Hop had had Steve help Joyce keep an eye on her when he had to go out of town, but with her being pretty much confined to the cabin he’s probably seen her in person half a dozen times at most, total.

Dustin convinced his mother to hire Steve as an actual babysitter for her late shifts, and he knows that Claudia is relieved about it, as odd as that is for him, and that pretty much amounts to just passing time with him. Lucas often gets folded into that, coming over to hang out with Dustin, occasionally with Max or Will in tow, and the group of them asking for his input on their various conversations every so often (even if they dismiss that input half the time as he admits ignorance to their board game rules), and he approaches Steve for advice much in the same way that Dustin does, albeit less frequently. 

But. As fond as he is of the kids, the fact of the matter is they aren’t exactly friends, even if Dustin comes closer to it than the others. They don’t really hang out with him. Steve can’t lean on them the way that he encourages them to lean on him. They don’t go to school with him. And Steve sometimes feels stiff and wrong-footed trying to interact with them, uncertain of the protocols for being friends with people so much younger than him. So they can’t fill the ache in him that the loss of Nancy’s constant company has left in him following their break up.

WIP Wednesday Game

It’s WIP Wednesday, time for a little accountability, sharing your work, and getting a kick in the pants.

Here’s how it woks:

In a reblog (or new post w/ rules attached), post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to post!

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can't share from (for example, an event or gift fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. If you tag me in your post, I will send you an ask request!

If you’re reading this, you’re invited!

If you see someone posting a WIP Wednesday Game snippet, send them an ask! Make them write.

Requested/Friend event mentions under the cut! If you'd like to be pinged next week, let me know!

friends @fiore-della-valle @redbirdblogs @greenbergsays @idkfandomwhatever @luckyspike @obaewankenope @mad-madam-m @sleepymccoy @eriquin @sosobriquet @qprstobin @spacebarrette @andavs @zainclaw @anonymousdandelion @flameraven @fractalgeometry @northeasternwind / Requests @aparticularbandit @madnessfromthemountains