#need more of aaron and neil actually

[minyard-05]

i know it's been pretty unanimously decided (and confirmed by nora) that aaron leaves exy and becomes a doctor after palmetto but like. could you imagine if he ended up as the medic for neil and andrew's pro team

cause the comedic potential there is too good to ignore

[inafieldofstarflowers]

Don't get me wrong, there's never a point in aftg where Aaron and Neil are close personal friends, but I think that the slow escalation of their hostility towards each other actually offers an important insight into who they are as characters. I think it makes so much sense that Aaron and Neil dislike each other more as they learn more about each other, because the two of them are mirrors in a lot of ways.

There is, of course, the Andrew of it all, which is sort of at the center of everything and what gets the most focus: it's how Aaron looks at Neil and hates him for holding Andrew's attention in a way Aaron feels like he's never been able to, and it's how Neil sees Andrew's unyielding commitment to Aaron and how him being Andrew's brother gives him the sort of belonging Neil desperately wants.

But I think their similarities only fuel the negative feelings that arise because of those things—they both had complicated relationships with their mothers, and continue to be affected by the memory of them. They both have a goal for their lives and work toward it with an intense focus. Neither of them feels the need to hold back from shit-talking people (Aaron just doesn't care enough to do it as often). Neither of them is willing to talk to Betsy about their trauma (a fact which probably makes Aaron even angrier about Neil's plan being to get the twins in therapy together, because this fact paired with Andrew's relationship with & comfort around Betsy makes these sessions an uneven playing field).

And so, while tensions are already building for other mafia- and Andrew-related reasons, these things, little similarities between the two of them that are mostly tied to bad memories, are adding fuel to that fire, giving them more reasons to dislike each other.

[dvrcos]

Andrew Minyard mic’d up if aftg took place today and the Foxes did social media promo

Andrew absolutely refuses to be mic’d up for a long time

When he finally agrees to do it it’s during a game against the Jackals

Everyone is sure it’ll be a bust and they won’t get much of Andrew actually talking

But to everyone’s surprise, Andrew turns his inner monologue outwards and doesn’t shut up

He commentates the game from his perspective

‘And there’s the son of Exy Kevin Day running the ball up- and oh yeah no he’s down for the count’ *huffs a laugh through his nose*

‘The other fuckers have the ball now, if my brother dearest let’s them get it to my goal I’ll kill him’

And when the opposing teams striker trips Aaron up and gets past to Andrews goal he shuts them out of course

‘He’s dead. Find a new backliner coach’

When he gets bored of the game and the backliners are keeping the ball away from his goal he starts to sing

He does a full rendition of “Life is a Highway” because Neil and him watched Cars on the bus ride to the game

And he gets into it

He makes the guitar noises with his mouth and everything

He even sings it in the best low, country voice he can do

He interrupts himself in the middle of the song suddenly, feeling the need to give his full synopsis and review of Cars

‘If I was the stupid fucking car and I fell out of my sentient truck/trailers ass I would keep driving in the same fucking direction. Simple’

‘Josten would do the same thing as Lightning McQueen. He would fuck up an entire town, he’s already done it once actually, when he came here.’

‘Stupid junkie, I hate him’ he adds but there’s a fondness in his voice

‘How do the cars reproduce? Are there humans in this universe that build cars and then make them sentient? Do the cars bang?’

Halfway through his rant one of the strikers gets past Matt and Aaron and he doesn’t even stop talking when he smacks the ball halfway across the court

When the other teams strikers start breaking through the backliners more frequently Andrew doesn’t even seem to care

He just swats every attempted goal away, squawking a quite ‘mine’ like the seagulls from Finding Nemo after hitting each one

Mine *smacks* mine *swats* mine *swish*

He keeps his goal almost completely shut down the entire game, spare a few times when the other team can get the ball past him because he’s not paying attention

‘I wonder what coach is buying us for dinner after this. I hope it's good since we’re’ *his goal lights up red* ‘Oops, anyhow it better be good, I’m working my ass off out here,’

‘What if we all started moving in slow motion. Josten and Day would look stupid running up the court like that,’ *a ball flies past his helmet* ‘If we were in slowmo I would’ve stopped that’

He plays the entire game (Renee's out with an injury) and he shuffles through doing all this the entire game

He sings verses of whatever song pops into his head

He reviews the movies he’s watched recently

He commentates the game in his dry manner, listing off every stat he knows about the other team and then explains why they still suck

He makes fun of his Foxes and the other team

He talks about his random hypotheticals

All while keeping the goal almost perfectly defended against the other teams strikers

When the game ends and the Foxes are loaded back up on the bus they listen back to the recording of Andrews mic

And they’re shocked that he doesn’t stop talking once the entire game

They listen to his entire recording on the ride back to campus

All of the Foxes are laughing the entire time

Even Neil is smiling (even though he’s used to this version of Andrew that is weird and likes to ramble)

When they post his mic’d up highlights to their social media it goes viral

It’s their most viewed and liked mic’d up video

Their fans are begging for more of Andrew mic’d up but he refuses to do it again

He got the enjoyment out of doing it once and doesn’t feel a need to do it again

The foxes do start to pay a little more attention to what Andrew’s saying while in goal (and all the time)

Aaron Mic’d up

[hmmm-shesucks]

Whenever any of the foxes are slightly inconvenienced by someone enough to complain about them, Neil always asks, “Do you want me to take care of it?” And everyone usually just laughs it off as a joke, but it is very much not a joke. Neil Does Not Like when people mess with his people. At all. Even slightly. Only Andrew, Kevin, Renee, and Aaron know that Neil is not joking.

It comes to light just how much Neil is not joking when some guy Allison was messing around with in her last year hurts her. Not horribly, he hurt her feelings more than anything, but when she tried to leave his dorm, he’d grabbed her arm hard enough to leave it bright red, minor cuts where his nails had dug in, and her elbow hit the doorframe when she jerked away so it was swollen and hurt to extend fully. Neil asks, “Do you want me to take care of it.” Allison tried to laugh it off, make it sound like a joke when she told him, “Yeah, actually. That’d be great.” But it’s all Neil needs as permission.

So Neil digs. He listens to the rumors, talks to a few girls, and watches him from afar. And then, one day, he’s gone. Nobody can find him. There’s an investigation, and the campus is swarmed with all kinds of law enforcement, and nobody can figure out what’s happened to this man.

Andrew asks Neil if there’s even anything left to find, and Neil tells him plausible deniability is a thing for a reason—Andrew’s grumpy with the lack of details, so as revenge, he tattles. The teams talking about the guys disappearance in the locker room before practice, and Andrew nonchalantly says. “You gave him permission.”

Neil just glares but, when questioned further, just shrugs them off. Tells them not to worry about it. He tells them what he told Andrew. Plausible deniability. Not that it’s necessary, really. The police won’t find anything, and Neil knows what he’s doing. There is nothing to lead them back to him.

After that, they learn to take Neil much more seriously when he asks if they want him to “take care of it.”

[wilhelminyard]

compilation of nice/sweet things the foxes said to neil because even though they're a bunch of assholes who'll insult anyone in their vicinity they all just love him so damn much (part 1) :

WYMACK :

"if your parents are a problem for you, we'll move you to south carolina early."

"foxes are foxes for a reason and they know we wouldn't sign you if you didn't qualify. that doesn't mean they know specifics. it's not my place to ask and I'm sure as hell not going to tell them."

"it's about second chances, neil. second, third, fourth, whatever, as long as you get at least one more than what anyone else wanted to give you."

"I have never, ever hit someone without provocation and I'm sure as hell not going to start with you. you hear me?"

"I'll take care of this. you take care of you."

"do you have any idea what could have happened to you between here and there? what were you thinking? you should have called me"

"any of us would have come and gotten you"

"it's not your job to take care of yourself anymore. it's your job to play, and mine and abby's job to look after you."

ANDREW :

"oh you might actually turn out to be interesting"

"you be something. kevin says you'll be a champion. four years and you'll go pro. five years and you'll be court."

"curious that a man with so much potential, who has so much fun, who could 'be something' wouldn't want any of it"

"a liar who practices occasional honesty. clever."

"are you going to tell kevin?" "don't ask me stupid questions"

"oh neil, as unpredictable as he is unreal"

"what would it take to make you stay?"

"I'll stand between you and the moriyamas"

"you gave your game to kevin. give your back to me."

KEVIN :

"neil is exactly what the foxes need right now. his inexperience is inconsequential. we went through a hundred files looking for a striker for this year, but neil is the only one we approached. we knew as soon as we saw him we needed to sign him. we're just lucky we got there before anyone else did"

"our primary concern was keeping neil safe"

"*to riko* leave him alone."

MATT :

"are you bleeding anywhere?"

"coach says [neil's] got potential. andrew says you're fast. [...] andrew bets you can outrun everyone on this team."

"seriously are you okay?"

"I'll owe you one" "you won't owe me anything"

"you be careful, okay?"

"I'm fine" "you say that a lot. I'm starting to think you don't know what it means."

"coach says stupid but I say you have balls of steel"

NICKY :

"neil, you clean up good"

"andrew is keeping you, same as he kept kevin. it means you're part of the family now. [...] family means something different with us because it has to. it's not about blood. it's not even about who we like. it's about who andrew's willing to protect."

"that makes you invaluable to andrew"

"you're one of us, which means we'll never push you further than you're willing to go"

DAN :

"are you okay?"

"coach said you hitchhiked your way back here. I'd yell at you for being stupid but coach said he handled that already"

"we didn't let him [in]. he didn't make it further than the front door."

"neil? you don't have to do this, you know"

ALLISON :

"looking fancy"

SETH :

"maybe you're not as stupid as I thought"

AARON :

(I know it surprised me too but it's probably the only compliment he gives neil throughout the entire series and they literally just met at that point)

"at least you're not going to completely drag us down. it'll take most the season to get you where we need you to be but I can see why kevin picked you"

[abi-renirk]

Kevin finding out, begrudgingly from Jean, about the Trojans strength training in the pool and he immediately insists the Foxes need to do it as well, completely fan-girling about the Trojans to Wymack while he explains the benefits of adding swimming to an athletes training routine. He even goes as far as using the dad/kid thing against Wymack until he gives in and schedules his team for time in the pool.

The twins hate swimming and immediately plot revenge on Kevin. Betsy isn’t supportive of the reason behind their sudden comrardie, but at least the brothers are working together on something. The five-foot broody blondes struggle to kick their short legs enough to keep them afloat. They have to work twice as hard as the others, meaning they tire much faster and spend the second half of practice floating on their backs, talking through their ideas for punishing Kevin.

Neil falls in love with swimming the second he’s in the water. He never got to swim as a kid before him and his mom went on the run, and then there never was time for it. Now, when in the water, tiring out his muscles doing laps up and down the pool gives him the same high as when he runs until his legs are numb. Much like his intense runs, swimming is a way for him to turn his brain off and forget everything past, present, and future and just be, it’s just him and the sway of the water around his limbs. He has traded some of his morning runs for morning swims before the swim team claims the pool. Andrew pretends to hate sitting in the humid pool area while his rabbit swims back and forth, but watching Neil’s muscles contract, and his thighs stretching the seams of his swim trunks, is worth giving up sleeping in. He definitely doesn’t push Neil up against the back of the building on their way to the Mas and kiss the infuriating, but hot, redhead until both their lips are swollen and red.

Nicky and Matt enjoy the pool because it brings out their inner child. Coach definitely has to yell at the two a few times during training to stop splashing each other and trying to dunk one another under the water. Allison refuses to get the chlorine water on her costly platinum strands, so she stays in the shallow ends and walks back forth between the side walls, which has toned her thighs and calves from the resistant of walking against water so she won’t bitch at Kevin too much about the new training methods. Renee and Dan swim slow laps, talking with one another about anything and everything. The two girls call it their weekly therapy session, they joke about it, but they both leave every swimming lesson feeling better than when they showed up for practice.

Kevin bitches about his teammates and their inability to follow instructions, questioning why he got stuck with a team that aren’t disciplined like him, wondering where it got lost in translation that they would be using the pool to swim laps to improve their performance on the court. Andrew and Aaron are floating on their backs with matching scowls on their identical faces as they argue back and forth in German, Allison is walking in the shallow ends with her hair on top of her head in a ridiculous bun-thing, Nicky is pushing Matt under water and then Matt is splashing Nicky after he comes back to the surface, Dan and Renee are gossiping about a player on the football team in Dan’s econ class that asked out a flute player in the orchestra from Renee’s literature class, and finally, Neil, he’s the only one actually following Kevin’s instructions. It’s only after their next game, when Kevin notices his teammates having more energy and more endurance throughout the entirety of the game, that he stops complaining so much about his unruly teammates.

[chaos-interwoven]

aftg floor plans

not that anyone asked but the way my brain works means that any time i read anything, i am piecing together every room, every house, and every space. i need to create an image in my head so i can see the characters in it and see how they interact with the space. except it’s always vague and sometimes a throw-away line places a window or a wall where i didn’t think it was and i have to redo the entire space in my head…… it’s a struggle but after so many times rereading aftg, i have a pretty solid idea

this is just a long way of saying i have decided to take what’s in my head and make it into reality and i have made floor plans for aftg lol

so far, i have done the foxes’ dorm (both how i think the entire floor is laid out and each of their three rooms), wymack’s apartment, and abby’s house. i plan on doing the cali places later, don’t even worry

of course tumblr is corrupting the quality but in my head there are five rooms to each side of the hall and the stairs are right next to the monsters' room. that stray white box is an elevator supposedly.... i had no idea how or where the elevator should be so i just kinda threw it there, don't laugh. and we know the soccer kids live on their floor so they have the rooms across the hall

i placed everything based on descriptions gathered from the first four books (thank you jean for telling us they do in fact have stoves even if they are just two burners). i gave kevin's desk an extra monitor to watch games on lol and andrew has to be by a window to smoke out of it. also, the beds are bunked. i know this looks big but it was hard to get the spacing right..........

for the girls, i mirrored the monsters' room because i know that piping tends to make apartments laid out so kitchens or bathrooms are back to back with your neighbors. they also get a fancy extra chair and a bigger tv bc allison is rich and you can't tell me their room wouldn't have the nicest furniture. i feel like dan would have the bottom bunk, renee the top, and allison the lone lofted bed but that's just me lol

we know matt and neil shoved their three desks by the windows and in my head, matt and neil's bunk is on the left while seth's lofted bed is on the right. and matt and neil have their dressers underneath seth's bed and his is by the window

this was actually interesting because we know that the front door is out of sight from the doorway of the study and that there are windows in the living room so i put in this turn to the hall. again, the space looks huge here but that's mainly because i didn't want to have to shrink and rearrange all the walls over and over again

abby's was the hardest by far. i went back and scoured the books for more information about her house because i was struggling and have struggled with it since my first read through. we know that there is a doorway to the kitchen (so i couldn't give her the open floor plan i wanted) and that the bedroom jean stayed in was just down the hall from the bathroom. i ended up giving abby her own master bath just because i felt like it but i have no idea if that is canon. and the hall bath seemed too large so i put in a laundry room randomly but whatever. we also know she has a two car driveway so i made the shape of the house a little funky. and in my head, during summer break aaron and nicky stay in one bedroom and andrew and kevin are in the other one. i put kandrew in the bedroom down the hall because it is farther from the front door and andrew would like that imo. that is also the bedroom jean is in after renee takes him from evermore. and of course she needed a huge dining room table to fit everyone

ANYWAY, if you made it this far i am surprised and thank you for entertaining this. i can also share all the passages i used to piece together these floor plans cause they are all bookmarked but that felt like too much to include here and i doubt anyone cares. feel free to debate wall placements in the comments, i would love to talk to you about it as you can probably tell

and if literally anyone is interested, i can and will make these in the sims and then they will be real cute and colorful floor plans. i will probably do it anyway for my own enjoyment but whether i post them is up in the air

pt. 2 pt. 3 (cali)

[vannyinthestars]

TGR SPOILERS AHEAD:

Welcome to Vanny’s live reactions to all of that

I have 259 Kindle highlights

There’s lots of thoughts and reactions so proceed with caution cuz this list is gonna be long

Will continue to tag my posts for spoilers but this is just everything from the entire book.

Guilty Lucas and Lucas being the one to get Rhemann because he was scared for Jean when Zane turned up hurt me more than expected

Emma Swift being introduced as a character feeding my soc med au shenanigans.

“Where is your rage?”

Some of the Trojans actually wanting Jean to snap (Derek) is interesting to see

Jean just casually admitting his MOM had his first ever captain and her entire family killed???? What???

Jeremy having a military dad oh he is so me. I’m trying so hard not to project rn but “Yes, sir” has me feeling lot of things

Notebook symbolism!

Jean quoting Neil and fighting back his own insane smile after Grayson is so important to me.

“Ill-bred child” is such a funny dig

“A single word is seldom rude enough to make a point.” SASSY JEAN WE ARE SO BACK

Jean saying he would’ve slashed Kevin’s tires before allowing him to escape makes me physically sick. I’m so normal about them.

JereJean sitting back to back.

Jeremy can’t sing being canon leads me to believe Karaoke is scene is possible for TSC3

“There you are.” I am UNWELL

Insight into Aaron’s trial and I was about to cry? Neil having to be there for Kevin but being stuck on the staircase

Jean not wanting to hurt BarkBark

“I like him Jeremy. Let’s keep him forever” “that’s the plan” FERAL FOR THIS

Cheek kiss.

“We’re his people” I was floundering around they are so found family and it’s what Jean needs.

Andrew being terrified that Grayson did something to Neil had me crying again. He came to Cali for Kevin only to find out Neil had gone without him probs to protect him from his feelings and then he was SCARED

The floozies calling Kevin Queen

JEALOUSY

Jeremy getting between KevJean and saying “back off” ohhhhhh I would’ve been shaking in my boots

JeanDrew scenes? Unexpected and unmatched. Ate them up.

Kevin teasing Jean over Jeremy?? Is he that oblivious intentionally? Will it ever get acknowledged???

Jean going after Bryson I AUDIBLY SCREECHED

Emma being the one to have the bandage idea for Jean’s fingers I need them to actually interact

Jeremy teaching himself French (Alsoooo who is his tutor gonna be??)

“You and me against the world.” I was crying

What did Jean say in French after the banquet when Jeremy got back with Laila. I need to know.

I was not expecting the Orgy mention at all- I could not even explain my reaction to that.

“The Trojans seemed to fall in love so easily” this is gonna get brought up again mark my words

Jean saying “Have a winning day!” I SCREAMED

Jean having to help carry Jeremy off the court paralleling Andreil in the later chapter (I’m getting there) is insane Nora

Rhemann punching Zane- I literally threw my phone.

“Fuck what I deserve. What about what I want?” THIS IS GONNA COME BACK I SWEAR IT

I actually cried and became nauseous over the Ravens v Foxes game. I understand why it had to happen plot wise but oh my god I thought they got their happy ending?? Andrew and Neil fighting for one another??? Dan defending Neil? I was so not okay I swear Nora you could’ve killed me with this one.

Browning is so real.

“I will choose you every time” is going to come back and be “Choose me” next book I swear

Yo-yo mentioned lmaooo

Jean’s favorite color being Brown? (Jeremy’s natural hair and eye color?)

“Cat wanted to be the voice of reason, but she would pry the stars from the sky if Laila asked for them.” I love them

Jean opening up about Elodie to Laila because they’ve both lost things they don’t know how to lose

Also circling back to Jean asking if it gets easier about grief hurt me so bad

The fact that Andrew appears to be the only character with a functioning Gaydar SENT ME

“Embrace fatherhood” and Jabberwocky Moreau have my soul

[ninyard]

I don't know if you've taken this into account for your trial posts, but if the prosecution requested Kevin's/the house's phone record that day they could found out he called Wymack before the police. And that could not look Good especially with his deadpan 911 call

i had thought about this and i don’t think i’m going to mention it but it’s SUCH a striking point i actually love it. i wasn’t going to bring it up purely because i’m not putting kevin on the stand, but it’s such a good reason as to why i could put him on the stand. like perfect kevin day trying to explain why he’d seen a dead body and called wymack before anything else? and how that phone call went as well? what if they played it?

-

“Take a breath and spit it out, kid.” Wymack’s voice is getting more and more strained with every second that passes and Kevin just can't get the words dislodged from his throat. How could he, when all he could smell was blood, and alcohol, when all he could hear was Andrew’s voice in his head saying tell me again how I'm too unbalanced to understand normal brotherly affection and love.

“Something happened.” Kevin tries not to watch as Nicky’s parents pass him, faces pale and hands shaking. He can’t hold himself together, when he opens his mouth to explain, all that falls out is a muted sob accompanied by, “Oh, fuck, Coach, it’s really fucking bad.”

Kevin winced as he heard Nicky start to sob somewhere upstairs, and David must have heard it too, because his voice was much more serious when he asked, "Who's hurt?"

It's the perfect question, almost, but that doesn't make it easier to answer.

"Andrew."

“How hurt are we talking?”

“I don’t know.” Kevin’s chest is getting tight. Not right now. Not now. He takes in a shaky deep breath, as much air as he can muster. He continues, “Somebody’s dead.”

“Fuck, Kevin, who’s fucking dead?” He sounds angry. No, he’s worried, he’s terrified. Which one of my foxes is it?

“I don’t know.” He repeats. He watches as Nicky’s parent fuss over something in the kitchen. “I don't know, I don’t know.”

“Dead, how?” David says, before he says something, presumably to Abby. Kevin's breath comes in and out of his lungs in painful, jagged intervals. This is too much, he can't do this, he can't do this. “Kevin, I need you to talk to me.”

“Aaron.” He cant say the words. “Somebody was- oh my god.” He feels his chest tighten, and tighten, and tighten. A twisting stomach accompanied by a pounding chest and fuck, the smell of blood, and alcohol, and-

“Breathe.” David says again, like it’s really that simple. “You have to tell me what’s going on so I can help you, kid.”

“Call Betsy.” It’s the only thing he can think to say. But when he thinks of Bee, he thinks of Andrew, he thinks of the body lying upstairs. He thinks of- “I don’t know what to do, David.”

There’s a moment of silence, and David is forced to listen to Kevin’s quiet hyperventilating. “Is Aaron dead?”

Kevin almost laughs. “No.”

Wymack's sigh is gentle, but louder than anything else, the sound weighing on Kevin's shoulders like the secret he felt like he was keeping, the secret he felt like he couldn't share. It's not exasperation, no, his annoyance is not directed at Kevin's panic or inability to find the words. It's worry, it's fear, it's being too used to those kinds of phone calls. It's too soon after Allison's Seth is dead, Coach, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do.

“Is Andrew? Is Neil?”

“No.” He says. The words are right there, he tries to swallow them down hard, but they keep getting stuck in his throat. Just say it. Just say it.

"Nicky?" He's getting impatient. But Kevin knows it's not directed at him. It can't be. "Work with me, Kev. Just say it."

"Andrew's been...r-" The tears that threaten to spill out swell in his eyes, the tightness at the back of his throat manifesting in a sigh, an exhale of breath that he had been holding for far too long. Kevin shut his eyes so he couldn't look at Nicky's parents, and following a deep breath that he hoped would fix everything, he says, "Andrew's been raped, and Aaron killed the guy that did it."

The silence that follows goes on for hours, for far too long. For long enough that Kevin has to check that David hasn't hung up on him, for long enough that he starts to think about it all, all over again.

"Jesus Christ, Kevin." is all that David can muster, in this voice Kevin has only heard once before, as he sat sobbing in his hotel room with no plan and no reason to live. He stumbles through a hundred different questions until he lands on, "Have you called the cops yet?"

"No." Kevin admits with a guttural sob. He hasn't even thought about it. Well, he did, in some way, but his fingers hadn't even hesitated over David's contact number. It hurts so badly, all of these feelings, the image of Andrew, the image of Andrew, the image of Andrew. His protector. The person who kept him safe. This was never supposed to happen to him. This can't have happened. Not to him.

"Jesus fucking Christ, kid, get off the fucking phone," David's yell snaps him out of it. "Get it together, take a real deep breath, and call 911. Then call me back afterwards. Fuck, Kevin."

"Okay, Coach." Kevin says, as seriously as he can manage. Call 911 - An order, something to follow. Something to do. Something to be good at, to pretend for, a reason to shove his panic behind a plastic mask for a couple of minutes.

"Okay." Coach agrees and lets out another deep, hurt sigh. Another second or two pass, but Kevin feels frozen in place. The phone is stuck to his ear, the electronic hum and buzz the only thing keeping him from going back to the reality of Nicky's parent's house.

"Are you okay?" Coach asks, and Kevin shuts his eyes to inhale, before exhaling out anything that hurts. He's switched off, untouchable, numb and unfeeling. Kevin isn't there, inside of himself anymore. He can come back later.

"No," Kevin says, but it doesn't feel like the truth anymore, his voice flat, the back of his free hand wiping away a tear that had found its way out of his eyes. "But I'll call you back."

"Okay," Coach says again. "You better."

The phone call ends with three consecutive beeps. Kevin pulls it away from his ear, and stares for too long at the 911 he's typed into the keypad.

Do what you have to do.

Be who they need you to be.

"Hello, 911, what's your emergency?"

[hamliet]

All for the Game: In Defense of Melodrama

So a friend mailed me a trilogy of self-published books (not published by my friend) telling me it had all the trigger warnings but I needed to read it. So I did.

And it took me 3 days to read through all three books of the All For the Game trilogy. So I guess you could say I liked it. A lot.

The premise is... unhinged. Think a sports drama meets a mobster story meets a college story. Plus some romance. Oh, and the sport is made-up.

But hey, every major single character is a lost, angry murder child who had no fair shot at life, and yet is given one anyways. And their development is some of the best I've read.

And the rarest gem of all? The best portrayal of identical twin characters I've ever seen. Y'all know how rare this is for me to say!

A Found Family of Foxes

Coach Wymack only recruits troubled kids to join the Foxes. Essentially, we need more Wymacks in real life. Addicts, sex workers, murderers, runaways. Everyone gets a second chance, and no one is limited by their pasts.

The author does a wonderful job of interlacing the characters' pasts. They each have their own piece to offer Neil, our main character, as he joins, insofar as learning what family means. They also all learn from Neil, and from each other, and each character feels very unique. They have their own manner of talking, and their own journey. They felt real.

Nicky was one of my favorite characters to read. Neil, Kevin, Andrew, and Aaron's arcs were the best written. Andrew, of course, is the standout. He's so angry, so hurt, and so easy to write off as a sociopath. And in real life, someone like him would be written off as one. But he's anything but.

In fact, Andrew is the heart of the story. Him learning to love despite seeming like the longest shot at the start answers the thematic question of the story... especially because that theme is twisted to ask questions of the reader, because we learned Andrew has loved deeply, and all along.

Andrew's twin brother, Aaron, shares a very complex relationship with Andrew. It's codependent and also filled with resentment and deep care. The idea that love and hate are two sides of the same coin is really embodied by their relationship. Whatever happens between them, they are never apathetic.

Their arcs are complimentary but unique, with Aaron learning to fight for Katelyn and with Andrew learning to stay for Neil. Their relationship also foils Riko and Kevin's, in that again, they are something of a "set" and there are complicated feelings about being abandoned and protected between them, as well as just what gives their lives value. Riko and Kevin's brotherly relationship was tragic, however.

Andrew's romance with Neil is also well done slow-burn. You can slowly see Neil falling for him, despite being oblivious in his narration, and his inability to open up and realize that Andrew is down bad for him (and that he's also obsessed with Andrew and has been since their first meeting).

At the beginning I assumed the romance was Neil and Kevin, and I think it was an interesting subversion that it was actually Andrew and Neil. Though apparently the author flirted with the idea of a throuple of Kevin-Neil-Andrew, and I'm not gonna lie, you can absolutely see that in the story. It could have worked, but I'm not mad it didn't either.

Neil is also a great main character. His struggles with identity and purpose mirror those of a lot of younger people, and that's without the trauma and the literal switching of identities (a way in which he and Andrew parallel each other in their first meeting, by pretending to be someone they aren't).

His slow acceptance that he has worth, and that life has value, and that he can be loved and love, that he can even trust, and that even if tragedy strikes, it's worth being loved--that was genuinely moving to read. Like, I teared up.

Fox Faith

I really enjoyed the way the author wrote about Renee's born again faith, as well as Nicky's faith. Nora Sakavic portrays them as real people, flawed too, but also people whose faith clearly impacts their lives in a positive way. And those around them as well, but not in a preachy way.

Listen, I'll take any portrayal of queer-affirming Christianity I can. And that the author does this without dumbing down the reality of living their faith? I loved it.

I also found the way the scenes between Nicky and his family at Thanksgiving went down--the utter nightmare they were--to be a somewhat accurate commentary on the state of the protestant evangelical church. I mean, the father is literally named Luther. In his judgement, he throws a hurting child into the arms of a predator, unaware he's being played by forces far greater than his (the mafia). But that doesn't break him. No, what breaks him is his son being gay. A child is literally being abused in your house, and you don't even focus on that because oh no, the gay. Intentional or not, it works as a scathing commentary on the American church today.

The Critiques and the Features

There's really only one critique I have. Well, two. But one is a critique I think actually is a feature, not a bug, and the other is really a taste thing.

The first critique though is a spoiler, so skip the next three paragraphs. This is your one warning.

I didn't like that Riko died. I think it works for the story, actually. I also think him living would have worked. Andrew breaking his arm after he's lost the game in the end was poetic justice. He had nothing left. His brother killing him was kind of just unnecessary--but also kind of the point.

Because the reality is that Riko never had a chance. His entire life he was thrown away and desperate. He was awful, yes, and did many unforgivable things... but because the entire story was about humanizing the types of people seem as monsters, it also never lets you forget Riko is human. His story is a tragedy, and his death ensures freedom for Neil and the Foxes, but I personally would have preferred him to live. However, this is more a taste thing than a critique thing.

I also think that Riko ironically mirrors Seth's arc: both died tragically and never had much of a chance. And even though they are gone, Seth is still loved and appreciated. Riko really isn't, and that is, itself, supposed to rattle.

My other critiques are not so much critiques, just acknowledgements that AFTG doesn't conform to most westerners' expectations of fiction. The good news is that it sets this up at the beginning so the unrealistic elements don't really raise eyebrows because it never pretends it's going to be realistic. Expectations are fully managed.

Still, yes, you do have to suspend disbelief a bit. Neil's dad and his goons are comically evil (yet still terrifying). The coincidence of Kevin and Neil meeting again is a bit much. Also, Andrew's nonsensical medication that is just not how medicine works. And also, Exy. Okay, Exy as sport is basically lacrosse and Quidditch.

Larger Thoughts on Genre

AFTG also reminds me of what I think is missing from a lot of traditional publishing and is why a lot of people turn to, say, fanfiction rather than traditional work now. Actually, this extends beyond just publishing and gets into the western style of storytelling in the modern era.

It's too grounded in reality.

Not that realism is bad--I like realism a lot. But I do think a lot of the appeal of, say, K-dramas, J-dramas, Spanish and Greek telenovelas, and fanfiction is the melodrama. Modern western storytelling industries frown on melodrama, and indeed there are flaws inherent in melodrama, but there are also flaws inherent in realism. I do think modern western publishing and storytelling has, to use a cliche, thrown the baby out with the bathwater and forgotten how needed melodrama is. Too much realism leads to every story I consume from the west feeling muted and stale.

Really one of the few places in the English-speaking western entertainment sphere where you don't see an emphasis on realism is fanfiction. A lot of fanfics say the hell with reality, let’s portray the wildest possibilities. The ironic thing is that many of these melodramatic stories end up with something a lot more valuable to say, in terms of emotional truth and heft, than your average sanitized product from private equity firm controlled publishers in 2025.

AFTG takes wild possibilities and uses its melodramatic plot and premise and characters to portray emotional realities that everyone can relate to, and through the melodrama gives readers a safe space to explore those feelings. Feeling hopeless. Feeling trapped. Abandoned. Terrified of the past, and of the future. And it shows a family forming, trust forming, healing happening, despite scars.

While melodrama at its worst can be full of flat stock characters who never move past their archetypes, melodrama at its best--like in AFTG--takes those archetypes and breaks them down. It invites you into the premises of a story that could never happen in real life and asks you to explore the wildest reaches of the reader's capacity for empathy and hope.

Melodrama done well reminds me of the hyperbolized worlds of novels in the past. For example, Dostoyevsky's works, in which hyperbolized reality contrasts with the brutally honest realism of his characters' psychologies. Now, I'm not saying All for the Game is on the same literary level or anything like that. Not at all. I'm just saying that this work reminded me of melodrama's greatest strength: Hyperbolized worlds that enable us to explore the heights/depths of and questions of limits to human nature.

Melodrama at its best is a tool to enhance stories, and while it's got a bad rap, it is compelling ish when done right.

All this to say, I genuinely wish traditional publishing would open up to craziness again. Yes, all the YouTube dudebros will say "this would never happen" and they'd be right. But the emotional heft of the story is still very, very real.

[leroiestmortvivelareine]

Ok. Let's do this. My attempt to describe the brilliant move that of all Nora's brilliant moves is my absolute favourite.

It helps if you've read 'The Little Prince' by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (which you should anyway). There's a scene where the airman is trying to draw a sheep for a young boy who simply cannot be satisfied. The sheep is always too big, too small, too old, too young... until the airman realises the problem is not the sheep, the problem is the sheep has been revealed. So, now thoroughly annoyed, he draws a box and says something like: 'the sheep you want is here, but it is safe inside this box, you'll have to imagine it for yourself'. A sheep that was believable but at the same time a delicious and forever mystery, and of course exactly what the boy wanted.

The thing about all the great love stories is that they have a moment of revelation, and then they become... ordinary. The romance is no longer numinous, no longer a majestic and compelling mystery, no longer somewhere between the world of the gods and our own. There's the 'I love you' that somehow becomes lost among all the other 'I love yous', proposals that can only be varied in so many ways, the consummation that for some reason involves every single sexual position known to science (seriously, why do film producers do that, are they so unclear about what constitutes intimacy?)... all these attempts to say 'no you don't understand, this love affair is different from all the others, it is immense, it is significant, it is written in the stars...' when the only thing that can truly meet that test is time.

But if you're a writer, time is one thing you don't have. You need the cymbal crash. You can't end the third book of the trilogy by casually inserting thirty more books of domestic bliss to show it actually was an immense and significant love.

So Nora constructs a box to keep this great love safely housed, while allowing it to remain a mystery. She shows us the pillars of Neil's life (survival, exy) and Andrew's (the deals with Keven and Aaron). We see how central they are to Neil and Andrew's personas, to their very existence. I mean, we really BELIEVE in those pillars.

We feel Neil's bond with Andrew strengthen because we see Neil's priorities about survival falling further and further behind. We see Andrew increasingly choose Neil's interests over those of his liege.

We see, in this story titled 'all for the game', Neil offering to give up the game entirely if that's what Andrew wants. A declaration of love that isn't told, via vain attempts to describe Neil's feelings for Andrew, but shown by what he's prepared to give up.

We watch these two construct a new world, from pillars that are even stronger than the old ones. The feeling of inevitability is reinforced by countless parallels criss-crossing this narrative.

Then the final plank clicks into place: Andrew choosing Neil over his deal with Aaron, the deal we knew was iron-clad. The certainty in this choice is irrefutable. Andrew declared himself for Neil in a way that goes far beyond a simple proposal. And, to complete the symmetry, it involved Aaron giving him a key.

So their love never needs to be fully revealed to us; we only ever catch a fleeting glimpse. When we see Andrew and Neil kissing it isn't trying to be THE kiss that shows everyone this is for real... it's just them, being them, one more memory they'll share among countless others in the privacy of their own, unbreakable, world.

[andrewminyardslawyer]

Some notes for those writing AFTG fics from someone who lives in the Carolinas

- it's Hot. Like Hot Hot. It will be hot in October/sometimes November, it will start getting warm March. The summers are like an oven. Real feel can get to 120°F (48ishC). Neil not understanding how Andrew was wearing long sleeves in May is 100% valid because it is currently mid May and it's already 93°F (34°C) with a real feel of 105°F (41°C)

- it's humid which makes the heat even worse. You will be damp if you go outside, your skin will feel like you didn't dry off enough after the shower type of humidity. It feels like you're breathing in steam type of humidity. Your glasses will fog up immediately upon stepping outside and you won't be able to see

- snow isn't really a thing. There might be a day in like January when it comes down and immediately turns into a sheet of solid ice or it melts when it hits the ground

- Nicky would have a thick accent, especially with his father being a preacher. I know Andrew and Aaron grew up in California but they've been in SC long enough that honestly I do think they have a slight accent, not as much as Nicky but it's there. It's actually very easy to pick it up, especially on words like route, oil, boil, etc. (I think Wymack would say y'all constantly after being in SC for a couple years. I also think he would love saying "bless your heart" to people, aka: oh honey you're so stupid)

- Waffle House, Bojangles, Cook Out are what they are getting late late at night or hangover cure the next morning

- Boiled peanuts eeeeeveywhere. Farmers markets, gas stations, back of someone's pickup truck on the side of the road

- Cheerwine also everywhere (a cherry flavored soda). Cheerwine cupcake, Cheerwine ice cream, Cheerwine cocktails

- lizards skinks spiders snakes are abundant. You need to check your shoes before you put them on, the toilet before you sit down, the space between the two doors when you go outside. We have a specific critter catching container we keep in the house because they looooove to come inside

If anyone has questions about anything at all I am more than happy to help!

[dusty-bookelf]

Math major Neil and PreMed Aaron having to take calculus together.

Neil just gets it

Aaron does Not. And it pisses him off to no end

Aaron studies constantly and cannot get it. Especially like the concept of limits and stuff (me? Projecting? Never)

When Neil can (rarely) be bothered to show up, he doodles fox paws the whole time

Neil still scores higher on every test which causes Aaron’s eye to twitch

Eventually Aaron manages to score one percentage higher, activating Neil’s competitive mode

They spend more time getting on each other’s nerves and antagonizing to get ahead but also somehow bonding?

Because like “Aaron you idiot don’t do that the stupid way our Prof explained it, do it this way easier way” and “Neil you need to eat and sleep so when I score higher on you this next test you have no excuse”

They may not care about the class and care even less about each other but their drive to destroy the other means they both do really well in the class

Alternatively:

Aaron working on a research project and being super excited to do fancy statistical analysis with the guy his PI tells him is like a super genius only to find out it’s actually Neil

It takes all of his restraint not be like “you can’t be serious. This idiot can’t pay attention to a count down let alone run ANOVA”

If his future weren’t riding on this he would quit

They end up publishing and Aaron is livid Neil played an integral role in him getting into med school.

Andrew has a copy of the paper in a special binder neither of them know about

I just like the idea of them being forced to bond because STEM undergrad sucks and you can’t do it alone plus math and science always be arguing theirs is more important

[laurents-laces]

Only 20 days left until TGR! Here's all my rambling that I couldn't fit on a bingo:

Jean just found out about Elodie's death, Jeremy lost his relationship with his sister, and Lucas is about to lose his brother. I think sibling relationships are gonna be really important in this book. I also hope we get to meet Cat's sister Vivi when she drops off the motorcycle for Jean

So excited for exy with the Trojans! I hope they actually take some of Jean's advice because he's really good at seeing people's strengths and weaknesses. And I hope they interact with other teams more than the Foxes do. It would help Jean see that the Trojans are actually pretty normal and the Ravens are the weird ones. He still thinks it's the other way around

Jean thinks of Kevin as Riko's Queen or the Court's Queen a few times in TSC. Does he see that title as a symbol of independence like Kevin does, or does he see it as Kevin still having a place in Riko's perfect court?

I'm obsessed with the way Jeremy narrates events without telling us a single one of his emotions. Does he miss having his little sister in the audience when he plays a big game? Did he have feelings for any of those boys who were "exactly the kind of guy [he] was prone to trip himself up over"? Why hasn't he dated anyone before? He loves USC because it feels private and safe, so does he not feel that way at home?

I need to know what Jeremy's family did to him. He calls his mother the devil and dislikes his last name and gets angry just at the mention of his step grandfather. It's such an extreme reaction from a guy who barely says anything negative about anyone

I feel like Jeremy's family issues are gonna be too weird for anyone to predict. But I think his part of the story is going to be less about redeeming himself from past mistakes and more about letting his friends support him instead of acting like he's fine all the time

I think Jean might really struggle with holding back when they play against more violent teams. Would suck if it costs him a spot on the starting lineup, but maybe it would be good for him to see that there aren't any consequences for failing to be the best

I think Neil and Andrew might be too busy with Aaron's trial to go with Kevin to California but Jean thinks of them too often for them to not be relevant at some point, whether now or in book 3

I think Jean saying he learned the hard way not to look at another man too long has something to do with Kevin and the incident his freshman year. It's really weird that Riko only told Kevin half of the truth of what happened

"You cannot save me from what came before, and you help neither of us by trying to dig up those graves. Leave Evermore to me and Dobson... Help me survive what comes next.” I hope his friends listen to him about this. And I hope he starts actually talking to Betsy. He seems like he wants to, he's just worried it won't actually help

The way Jean describes the people he loves is so intense. We got some really lovely thoughts about Kevin and Renee from him in TSC, and I can't wait to see how he'll be when he gets to know Jeremy better. I don't think they'll be able to beat "you are a pipe dream" but I'd be thrilled to be proven wrong

[little2nerdy]

the average pro athelte retires before they hit 40, earlier if they have an injury. based on the events of tgr i feel like andrew might have some chronic pain that comes back to haunt him as he gets older and he retires from exy relativley early citing medical reasons (he gives neil + kevin at least one olympic gold). because of this, it allows him to really consider what he wants to do with his life, sure he doesnt really need to work, but he gets bored and he's smart. i have two hc's that i think work well together.

he starts a non-profit helping kids in the foster care system have access to counseling, food pantry's, sports, tutors, etc. he wants to provide them with a safe place and opportunities that he knows can make all the difference.

he gets his law degree, he has extensive knowledge of the carceral and child welfare systems and how they overlap in often unforgiving and awful ways. he uses that to not only further his non-profits reach but advoate for youth who need it, doing child advocacy work pro-bono.

i think eventually it expands, they do youth exy training camps, wymack and kevin help out, renee when she moves back to the states does too. aaron & kate's hospital does volunteer run clinics to help kids get free medical care (i hc katelyn working in peds so she'd actually get closer to andrew through this). robin gets super involved and eventually takes over after neil retires so he and andrew can spend more time together.

andrew has so much potential on and off the court and i want him to be able to use his expereinces to create the change he knows needs to happen, to be the type of person who would've stood up for a younger version of himself.

[winningmymind]

A quick ficlet of my aftg au post ft Kevaaron and Andreil. Part 1

The first bit of news that freshman Neil Josten heard, when he stepped foot on Palmetto State’s campus, was juicy gossip about the infamous Minyard twins. Andrew and Aaron. Neil’s current teammates.

“The M in Minyard stands for Monsters.”

“Nuh-uh! It's for Murderers!”

“Whaaat? I thought it was for Maimed?”

“Either way, it's all true. The rumors? Has to be. There was a whole court case and everything!”

“Right? They're totally insane.”

“Dangerous.”

“A waste of space until Kevin Day took pity on them.”

The second bit of news that graced Neil's ears was how his estranged turned rekindled childhood friend Kevin Day, AKA the Son of Exy, is as popular as ever among the masses.

“Kevin’s a real saint! What a man. An angel.”

Also known as the Queen of Exy.

“And dream boat! Can't forget that. He's so freaking hot!”

Prince Charming on paper.

“Man is fine! Okaaaay! A tree I’d certainly climb!”

Legacy poster boy in front of the cameras.

“Only good thing those Foxes got going for them, really. Kevin is a—”

Personal pain in the ass, according to his teammates and in Neil's honest opinion. 

It's been some months now since Neil got recruited personally, straight after high school, by Coach Wymack and Kevin to become a striker for the Foxes. So far, he's happy with his choice. Although, if they could win games and act more like a unit instead of having mini Civil Wars once a week, then Neil would be absolutely euphoric.

“We need to talk.” Kevin pulls Neil aside once practice is done. Everyone’s already hitting the showers, eager to take off their sweat soaked uniforms and gear. Neil spares a glance at one of the twins, his attention entirely glued to Andrew’s retreating form. Kevin whispers in Neil’s ear when he thinks no one’s looking. “It's about the Minyard problem.”

“Okay.” Neil agrees and follows Kevin to Coach Wymack's office for privacy. 

It's not exactly private. Wymack is still in there, sorting through paperwork stacks on his cluttered desk, but he has kept his word on not getting involved in the personal matters of the team, and Neil knows that Kevin’s going to somehow steer their conversation in that direction sooner or later. Kevin shuts the office door and deeply sighs. He locks his tired green eyes with Neil’s crisp blue. 

“I need the defense lineup to play better. Get motivated. Andrew’s a champion in the making when he humors me. Aaron’s better than Matt at blocking and passing. Even their cousin Nicky has potential when he actually tries!”

“You know they're only doing this for a free ride through college, though.” Neil reminds him, shrugging his shoulders and crossing his arms. “They don't get it. Don’t have the same drive that you, me, or Dan thrive off of.”

“But they could be like us!” Kevin hisses, pacing the floor in circles with an exasperated hand carding through his hair. “If we get through to one of their thick heads, we all could make court! Be Olympians even! If only they could channel all their efforts from half-assing into legit initiative.”

Neil stays silent for a bit, watching Kevin having his daily meltdown at the dire state of the Foxes’ underperformance, despite the rigid training that other Exy teams would kill for, if it meant Kevin saw a future in them. Neil’s initial introduction to the cannonball Minyard twins and their loose anchor Nicky, had his brain working overtime into concocting a surefire plan to fix it all.

“Any ideas?” Kevin finally pauses mid-rant.

Neil merely nods. Kevin grimaces at the non-elaboration. “Well, say something!”

“Andrew calls the shots. Make Andrew give a damn and his family will fall in line.” Neil makes it sound easy.

“Don’t you think I’ve already tried that?” Kevin huffs.

Smirking wildly and narrowing his eyes, Neil tilts his head in challenge. “That was before I came along. Remember? With me at your side now, we’re gonna win.”

For a few seconds, Kevin is dumbfounded. He blinks and searches Neil’s scarred face for any trace of faltering. When he sees that Neil’s serious, the spirited energy infects Kevin too.

“You’re right. I was tackling them by myself back then.” Kevin flits a finger between him and Neil. “You and me against them, partner.”

Satisfied that they’re on the same page, Neil’s about to leave the office and beeline to the lockers to wash up, but Kevin stops him with a grab of his arm.

“What now?”

“We have to discuss the other issue.”

“Which is…?”

“The Minyard problem.” Kevin repeats, except this time his tone is different, and Neil knows exactly what’s coming next from his friend’s mouth. “I waited it out, Neil, I really did, for a whole year after transferring from the Ravens and it’s still there. This nagging, demanding want or whatever I have for Aaron.”

“Same. Andrew’s on my mind a lot, too. Won’t go away.” Neil empathizes, mirroring Kevin’s frown.

The two of them, when not obsessing over Exy, have been constantly slammed with an unexpected onslaught of feelings for their preferred twin. Respectively. 

Too bad the Minyard twins don’t date. If they did, neither Kevin nor Neil know if they’re attracted to guys, and if they are, then they have no clue if Andrew or Aaron would even hookup with a guy from campus let alone on the team. 

“What are we gonna do?” Kevin has his head in his hands.

“What we do best.” Neil scratches the back of his head.

They share a look. Green eyes meet blue. Unspoken contracts signed with their fierce gazes. Neil and Kevin say at the same time with determination, “Game plan.”

And in his office, Wymack gets an unwanted front row seat of his two strikers digging their own grave strategizing how to romance the awful, off-putting, aggrieved Minyard twins.

series title (subject to change) is called: Why He Kinda...

Part 2

tagging @icangotwiceashigh

cuz Kevin and Neil are insane for risking death to be with their chosen Minyard twin lol