#a lot of references to aftg canon

[aboutnavi]

this is how i announce i just posted an aftg-marauders crossover short fic. we are going a little insane over here, people. it's mad-town.

[quiescentdestiny]

contemplating the conversation Neil and Andrew (and Renee) have in the locker room at the beginning of The King's Men.

"I've never understood why he likes knives" Such simple words should not have gotten the reaction they did. Andrew went still and looked up, but he didn't look at Neil. He looked at Renee, so Neil did too. She'd stopped mid-sentence to stare at Neil, but the Renee studying him wasn't the Foxes redeemed optimist. Her sweet smile was gone and the too-blank look on her face reminded Neil of Andrew. Neil instinctively tensed for flight-or-flight. Before his body figured out what to do, Renee shifted her inscrutable gaze to Andrew. They stared each other down, soundless and still, oblivious to the bewildered looks their teammates sent between them. (pg. 34)

And comparing it to Son Nefes (Extra Content)

"You could have chosen a weapon you were more comfortable with," Renee said. "It made sense at the time to pick it up," Andrew said with an expansive shrug. "He liked knives, and I like beating people at their own game."

and

"Do you know why I learned to fight with knives?" Renee asked. [..........]"He was older than me, and bigger than me, and stronger than me, so I had to find a way to fight him. He liked knives," she said, and Andrew flicked her a quick look she couldn't decipher, "so I decided to use them against him. I wanted to beat him at his own game, too."

ANYWAYS. I just thought I'd put all that in one single place because :))))

Especially since in TRK, when Neil and Renee talk, she says "But if you are as like us as we first predicted you to be, perhaps one day you can also come to see me as a friend."

Also the general fact that, there is a certain sense of... interest to me, I guess in the fact that Neil was purposely vague in hopes that everyone in the room would think he was speaking of Riko, when really he was talking about his father, who's his own monster from his past, and comparably made the two of them think of their own. Renee confirms this later to him(when she offers to teach him to wield knives), and Neil actually wonders about Andrew in that conversation as well.

[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.

[idkjuststuff-iguess]

so i first read aftg years ago and my memory of the first andreil kiss is a lot diff from my 2 rereads and i was wondering if anyone knew why?

my first read was a physical copy - kiss was on the rooftop, andrew asked yes or no out of the blue -> neil didnt understand but there was a line about how he trusted andrew so he said yes anyways -> andrew kisses him, hes surprised -> (i think?) andrew was kinda miffed about neil not knowing what he was agreeing to. ive never seen anyone refer to this ever so i assume its never been canon and i havent been able to get my hands on a physical copy since to check

my other two reads were both the ebook and went the way i hear everyone talking about it (the whole i hate you, i believe you less everytime, no one asked, kiss, that isnt a yes its a breakdown) which i know is the canon one

my two theories on the discrepancy are either the physical and digital copies are slightly different (dont think this is very likely?) or that i read fanfiction years ago and just overwrote my memory of the first read with it

just kinda curious if anyone else remembers reading the first scene anywhere?

[joanofexys]

2, 11 and 16 for the fandom asks? 💫

- @ninyard

2. a headcanon you weren’t sure about at first but have come to like!

I used to really not like the idea that the Minyard twins are kind of distant/don’t text or call a lot after graduation. I just didn’t like the thought of them doing a bunch of healing only to text each other occasionally and not really stay in touch

But I actually really like the idea that even though they only text occasionally and probably only little life updates or short responses that they’re a lot happier with the relationship they have with each other

11. if you’re a writer or artist, what fic or piece of art are you proud of making?

I’m obviously really proud of all my aftg ocs. but that’s kind of a dumb answer. Of the fics I have posted I really am happy with both of them but i promise to be there this time (alright?) is a fic I’m ultimately very proud of despite hating it like the whole time I was writing it

16. a tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate

Jean referring to the Ravens as his Ravens. It’s something that hit me hard in my first read for some reason. It makes me fucking insane

[capcavan]

7, 9, and 11 for your tag game 💜

nah love i need you to answer all of them but yeha only fair i do mine to lul

What is your favourite character in the Foxes? I don't really have favourite there i think Neil will be my favourite in future right now it's Renee

And favourite in the series aside form this one? I will let you guess

Drop your beloved head-canons about both! Renee does not in fact believe in god she participated in Christianity for sense of community it gives her, Riko is deathly allergic to peanuts and wishes he was born a girl but not in the trans way. He just know his life would be better if he wasn't a man. I also feel very strongly about him having adhd/bipolar .

Fic(s) you are always happy to recommend or fic tropes you will always read. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12283962/chapters/27922614#workskin Little Boy blue , I generally can be baited into reading any fic where riko is treated with bit more nuance than flat line Disney villain. I adore extreme hurt with happy ending

Which of the books is your favourite The foxhole court i enjoyed this story much more without seeing it's full development also loved Kevin much more before he was pushed aside, my first idea of what this story would be was much different .

Opinions on AFTG audiobook release? Worth a listen juts to laugh at girls voices , but i adore Renees soft tone in it, I think it,s main reason I adore her sm actually.

If you write/draw/create aftg stuff, what is your favourite work of yours?

i adore this fan art a lot bc it,s funny light hearted has clever joke that references rikos obsession with court numbers and has fox jean and riko on it + riko kind of looks like girl here and i think it's very hot look on him

welp the numbers got fucked

Favourite event/plot point in the books Foxes reaction to seths death and seth death, it set really god tone for rest of the story and was the only event that genuinely surprised me bc i did not expected anyone from hero team to drop dead

Least favourite part of canon (can include Extra content) The fact that both foxes and ravens are groups of abused individuals but one word ,, mafia" is enough to put blame for all bat things on riko only even though he was pawn to his caretaker the way she wrote jeans abuse list it feels excessively edgy for sake of begin edgy i find nothing deep or sad about this i can also write down random list of numbers and attach to it words like rape and broken bones

If you could sent Nora an ask and get answer, what would you ask about? i wouldn't ask about anything bc her giving me answer i'm not looking for would feel bad

If you could make an idea of your choice canon to aftg, what would it be? I'd have a riko make a joke about how foxes should be in prison by now considering they are dressed the part (orange) (and most of them broke the law) id also replace neils car lighter burns with something else bc they are annoying to draw

Feel free to share some random hot takes if you like Andrew "murdering" their abusive mother is creepy as fuck and her being abuser or him only teenager with not fully developed brain is not really making this any less creepy and i enjoy his character because of this I don't mind aaron being homophobic , i'm cool with those character being murderers abusers and bigots , it's fictional characters they had not hurt anyone in real life so i don't really care about their fictional flaws and enjoy interacting with their content all the same I don't like only one of the foxes and i don't think this fox should be part of this team i don't really care about story and whatever, it's my personal bias so discussing it deeper makes no sense unless you want to unpack my past and all people who lead me to feel that way rlly

[ladyryukyo]

For the WIP thingy, 🗣 and 👻

🗣️Talk about your favourite WIP

i am so excited to talk about this FSHLFSG so i always find multi-chaptered fics super intimidating and i have this thing planned out from start to finish and written about 20k words for it but im too scared to post it unless im at least halfway done bc i dont want to risk abandoning it 〒▽〒

i dont even know if anyone in this fandom knows about these books, its a beyblade x all for the game crossover, you dont need to know anything about aftg, its just the setting but then with the mfb characters and beyblade instead of exy. kyoya is neil (obviously, its me duh) and on the run from his dad and gets recruited for the metal state spirits, a pretty decent college beyblade team. it has its two star players gingka (kind of a mix of kevin/matt) and ryuga (andrew; yup this is ryukyo) who convince kyoya to accept the offer despite him knowing it will put him at risk.

so theyre all in college, and the spirits are gingka as the team captain, then ryuga, kenta, hikaru, benkei, yu and kyoya. ryo is the coach. hyoma the team's physician. hokuto is their psychiatrist lmao.

i dont want to reveal everything yet bc there is some mystery there especially if you dont know the books (and even if you do cos i did make a lot of changes to the original plot); but ill put a short scene at the bottom under the cut if that interests anyone

👻Is there a scene that you find intimidating that you have yet to write?

tbh anything that is very introspective is intimidating to me and i am in particular talking about the dark trio and the dark power right now because thats a thing i promised and desperately wanted to do for mayblade but i am struggling so hard with how exactly to go about this. i have a whole word document dedicated to how the dark power affected each one of the dark trio but the how and why of the conversation(s) they would have about that completely eludes me at the moment bc i need it to be at least kind of in character and it has so many references in canon which is exhausting and intimidating both. i am honestly just writing all the other prompts i still have for mayblade first and probably will be leaving this one for last or until i have a sudden flash of inspiration. you never know.

the worst thing about this is that i have several ideas for several short fics talking about the dark power and the dark trio or just tsubasa or just hikaru (kyoya just wasnt as affected lol) but obv still have the same problem for these. i am so fascinated by what you could do with these kids and their trauma i just wish i knew how to go about it haha ha... ughhh

okay heres the snippet for the aftg crossover:

Kyoya only realizes his mistake once it's already too late. He's too engrossed in teaching Gingka a lesson that he doesn't notice another person appear behind Gingka until they grab his T-shirt and violently yank him around. Kyoya’s back slams against the row of lockers next to the door to the locker room. Ryo angrily shouts, "Ryuga!" but gets no response.

Internally, Kyoya sighs in exasperation. Gingka Hagane and Ryuga Himoto. He is in a room with the two people he has vowed to keep as far away from as possible. In his mind he sends a quick prayer heavenward and apologizes to his mother for all the stupid decisions that have brought him into this situation.

Ryuga fixes him with an unreadable stare of golden eyes. His hands are still clutching Kyoya's shirt, but he looks composed, almost bored. Kyoya returns his gaze with hostility, but knows he wouldn't win a fight against Ryuga because he is taller and in a decidedly more advantageous position than Kyoya.

However, when nothing happens after a few moments, he realizes that this is just Ryuga's intimidation tactic and forcefully tears himself away, taking a few steps back from Ryuga.

He looks at Ryo, whose attention is on Ryuga, a disapproving twist at the corners of his mouth. "Is that your usual tactic for recruiting new bladers?" Ryo turns his attention back to Kyoya. "Because the tactic sucks."

Gingka laughs briefly and Ryo sighs, running a hand over his face, exhausted. "No," he says, rolling his eyes. "It's not our normal tactic. But we usually don't have such a hard time convincing new bladers to join us."

"That surprises me," Kyoya replies dryly which elicits a resigned smile from Ryo.

[ao3feed-iwaoi]

beauty and terror

Read this masterpiece on AO3 at https://ift.tt/ElODBI3

by morgeia

Nothing ever ends poetically. It ends and we turn it into poetry. All that blood was never once beautiful. It was just red.

— Kait Rokowski

Words: 7098, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Haikyuu!!

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Miya Atsumu, Miya Osamu, Sakusa Kiyoomi, Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime, Ash Lynx, Frederick Arthur, Skip, a few OCs I'm not going to bother with

Relationships: Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi, Akaashi Keiji/Miya Osamu, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Shimizu Kiyoko/Tanaka Saeko, Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, the last one is if you squint REALLY hard, especially during the literal porn scene, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou

Additional Tags: Past Sexual Abuse, PAST NON-CONSENSUAL SEX, Sexual Abuse, healing from sexual abuse, Internalized Homophobia, Violinist Kiyoomi, Motorbike Racer Atsumu, Ballet Atsumu, Angst, Because Ales Says So, past trauma, Listen It’s My Fic Of Course There’s Angst, Go In Prepared Or Remain Silent Forever, dead dove do not eat, just a little bit tho, traumatized sakuatsu, Not for the weak-hearted, Angst with a Happy Ending, Atsumu Smokes, Cigarettes, Drugs Mentioned, Alcohol Abuse, Pinktsumu Anyone?, Kiyoomi Thinks He’s Straight, You May Think That’s A Joke But It’s Not, Oisaku Friendship, iwaoi canon, I Repeat IWAOI CANON, And Iwaoi HUSBANDS, Hand Study Readers I Hope You Forgive Me Finally, A Lil Bit Of Banana Fish Cross-Over, And A Lot Of AFTG, all for the game references, Andrew Minyard Is The Light Of My Soul, And Also The Bane Of My Existence, Gay Awakening, as it goes, Banter, Saeko/Kiyoko for Anyone Who’s Interested, Kuroken Canon, Arthur is a complete asshole, but what's new, Andrewification of Miya Atsumu, that one goes out for emilka

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/ElODBI3

[moondal514]

@frickenpasta Steph idk what’s going on with your tumblr but tumblr won’t let me respond to your ask 😭. Hopefully you get the notification for this

🦋 Which character is your favorite to write?

Andrew Minyard my beloved <3. I just always feel like the quality of my prose improves when I write him because I have to write in a specific way to really capture him. So far, most of the writing I’ve done that I’m most proud of centers around him

🦈 Which character is the toughest to write?

I’ll keep this one AFTG-specific. Since I try to keep my characterizations v canon-specific, like I usually literally have the AFTG books open for reference when I write, basically any character that doesn’t get a lot of canon-attention or page-time is difficult for me to write. If I have to moreorless create an oc out of a named canonical character, I’m going to have a hard time writing them. So that includes Mary, Ichirou, Nathan, Stuart, Jeremy (though that might change with TSC), etc.

💕 What is your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Turn Thy Wrath Aside: an Oresteia fic that centers around Clytemnestra and Helen of Troy, written for Yuletide Fest 2023. I’ve been a Greek Mythology hoe since I was 5, so this fic was genuinely the funnest writing experience I’ve ever had. Just pure self-indulgence on my end

Fanfic writer ask game

[altruistic-meme]

👀 #11?

Oh hello! >:D so obviously I assume this is in reference to this post let's goooo

#11: The way Andrew and Neil act when it comes to touch is so backwards.

So I literally just responded to someone in the notes of the post about this, but I have more room here so I can go into a little more detail!

A lot of the time in fanon content, we have Andrew being extremely touch-averse – and I am 100% not saying he isn’t, and there is definitely evidence in canon to prove me wrong if I tried to – but even so, Andrew initiates a LOT of contact, especially with Neil. Like. A LOT:

Andrew sprawled against his side. (p. 105)

He reached back without looking and pushed at Neil's shoulder. (p. 227)

He touched Neil's back on his way by (p. 228)

He pressed two fingers to Neil's throat, checking his pulse. When Neil tried to bat him away, Andrew caught his wrist with his free hand. His smile was small and fierce as he leaned forward into Neil's space. (p. 237)

his grip on Neil's wrist to pull Neil with him out of the way of the door (p. 237)

Andrew hooked his fingers in the collar of Neil's shirt and tugged just enough for Neil to feel it. (p. 250)

(If you notice that these all come from after page 100, that’s because it’s when I finally noticed a pattern – I am almost positive that there are more examples before these as well, but I need to go in to look!)

This isn't even all of the examples I have, but as I said, Andrew actually touches Neil quite a bit in book 1 alone. And often against Neil’s desire – Neil fights against at least 1 of the ones I listed and 2 that I didn't, but Andrew insists on the contact. Which is GREATLY DIFFERENT than he is portrayed in fanon: as either never initiating contact, or immediately letting go.

Even more shocking, the way that Andrew is most often portrayed in fanon is almost EXACTLY how Neil acts in canon. I cannot provide examples of Neil initiating contact because I didn’t note him ever doing so. I can, however, provide an example of Neil intentionally avoiding contact: “he stopped as close to Andrew as he dared and waited for Andrew to move.” (p. 128) As well as Neil explicitly wanting to not be touched: “"Don't you fucking touch me," Neil said savagely.” (p. 140)

(This of course ties well into the scene in book 3 where Andrew tells Neil “No” and Neil stops – we’ve seen from the very beginning that Neil almost never initiates contact! This is something I definitely want to explore further in the other two books, so that will be fun.)

In fact, it's not just Andrew who initiates contact with Neil that Neil doesn't reciprocate - most of the Foxes do. Off the top of my head I can remember instances of Matt, Nicky, and Allison all touching Neil in some way and usually Neil expresses some kind of discomfort (although I believe it is always in his internal monologue, not expressed to the Foxes).

Of course, I don't know that Neil initiates contact much even in fanon spaces, but I do think I've seen it quite a bit when compared to his behavior in canon!

EDIT: over a year later, but I made a google doc pertaining to this, so you can check out the AFTG Touch Doc here <3

[jeanmoreaux]

idk where the original post is but it was buried in a longer post abt aftg canon and op was (basically) like “this will hurt people but neil isnt canonically demi bc the word isnt in the books and nora only said it in the ec so people can interpret neil’s sexuality” and like…that made a lot of the ace part of the fandom (very rightfully) mad and so yeah

(as an ace elder of this fandom i am…exhausted)

i've been in this fandom since like 2014/15 and this discourse really feels like it's coming out of nowhere (more so then past discourse). i haven't seen the og post and i don't wanna go search for it because by god i have much better stuff to do with my time but this sounds just weird to me. and a little concerning because didn't you all have literature classes???? like canon is what's in the text but not everything that is canon has to be explicitly spelled out?? i mean what kind of logic is "the word wasn't used so it's not canon" ?? half of discourse comprehension is inference. when are things always 100% spelled out??? just because you infer information does not make it not canon?

i mean if we take that logic to a ridiculous extreme rico wasn't murdered by ichirou because the text never explicitly mentions the word murder to refer to the act of ichirou putting a bullet through rico's head. it only says “Ichirou put the gun to Riko's temple and pulled the trigger without hesitation.” and some other stuff but never murder/murdered/murderer. i mean everyone with half a brain cell will still infer the information that what ichirou did is murder. you read between the lines and realize this act falls under the definition of murder. so obviously it's murder. so rico was canonically murdered by ichirou.

if something is naturally inferred by the reader based on the textual evidence they are presented it's canon even if a certain word is not used directly. if the definition of a word fits what is described, the word fits. like for example in the six of crows duology the word "bisexual" is never used to describe jesper or nina yet the text makes it clear that both these characters are attracted to more than one gender?? so are they not bisexual because the text doesn't explicitly say so even though this word may be used to accurately describe these characters' sexual identity? i think that as long as the textual evidence that falls under the definition of bisexuality is there, their bisexuality is canon. so is their pansexuality if you want to employ that definition. what is NOT canon is these characters' straightness because there is textual evidence that directly contradicts this claim.

same with neil. there is textual evidence that supports a canon reading of neil as demisexual and no textual evidence that directly contradicts this interpretation. so it's canon. if you have the textual evidence to support whatever claim about neil that you want to make without there being contradictions: congrats, it's canon!

what's in the text is canon. and if the text reflects a pattern that can be directly summarised in an another word then that's canon too. this also makes it possible for canons to co-exists if several definitions fit. you all need to be aware of the relativity of canon.

[palmett-hoes]

okay! aftg by locations pt.2

where are the foxes from?

i really wanted to do this one because i feel like people don't know a lot of these, especially dan and renee, because the references to where they're from are super super quick in the canon

(pt.1: places in canon)

again, some of these might seem a little silly for americans, but there a lot of non-american aftg fans and i don't want to make any assumptions about what they may or may not know about american geography

also sorry for the pictures being so small i had to splice them together to make image limit

---

neil

somewhat easier and addressed in pt1. neil is from baltimore, maryland

i think it would be way too complicated to map, but a list of places neil mentions having been on the run: britain, germany, austria, switzerland, france, greece, lebanon, dubai (UAE), canada. this list may not be exhaustive, if you can find any other places neil mentions he ran through let me know

---

andrew

andrew is from oakland, california, which is right next to the more well-known city of San Francisco, and part of the area known as the Bay Area

andrew lived in oakland until he was about 16, when he relocated to columbia, south carolina to live with tilda and aaron

---

aaron

aaron also grew up in the bay area, the same as andrew, though he grew up in san jose, which is slightly south of oakland

aaron lived in san jose until he was 14, when his mom moved them to columbia

---

nicky

now nicky was born and raised in columbia, south carolina. he then spent his senior year of high school in germany (so he was 17) , and then moved there for the next couple years after he graduated. if my math and memory check out, he came back to columbia at 19 or 20 to take over the guardianship of the twins

it's not ever specified where he lived when he lived with the klose family but he mentions that during canon erik was working in stuttgart. it's very possible the whole family is there too

EDIT: @enifmiimfine found a correction that the klose family was actually located in berlin when nicky stayed with them during his high school exchange year, so big thanks for that!!

---

kevin

it's not specified where kevin lived with his mom, but once she died he moved into the nest. edgar allan university is in west virginia, and we can assume it's close to charleston because that's the airport they send neil through over winter break

we also know he traveled at least a decent amount for games and various teams and publicity events

---

dan

dan is from north dakota and lived there until she left for college.

it's not specified what city she's from, though we know she lived in a trailer park so we can assume she lived in a suburban or rural area rather than an urban one

---

renee

renee was born in detroit, michigan and lived there until her mid-teens, including time in juvie and time in foster care

after she was adopted by stephanie walker she moved to north dakota, to somewhere relatively close to dan's town. wymack recruited them from the same game, where their high school teams were facing off against each other

---

matt

matt is from new york, and because he takes the foxes to nyc over their winter break we can assume he's from there rather than somewhere more upstate

he mostly lived with his father growing up because his mom was very mobile due to her job as a boxer, though she took time off to help him through rehab as a teenager, and it's not stated whether they left the city during this time

---

seth

seth is from birmingham, alabama

now this one isn't actually mentioned in canon. i got it from the wiki, which isn't 100% reliable. i have to assume this is from the ec

---

allison

allison has no mentioned locations to my knowledge. her parents are billionaire luxury resort owners so we can assume they have multiple houses all over the world. allison may have moved around a lot growing up

we know she chose a particular public school to attend to play exy, but to my knowledge we don't know where that school was located

---

and that's where everyone is from!!! when i'm developing the foxes i focus a lot on their backstories and where each of them are from plays a big part in that. but then i often get the sense that people don't know a lot of these so here they are, use as you will

[codename-adler]

Hey! So I saw someone ask you for kevaaron recs and I saw the ones you recommended. I have read like more than half of those and I really like your taste (especially the one on Instagram, that one's great). So, I wanted to ask if you would give some of your favorite jerejean recs, since you also ship them. I don't have a problem with explicit scenes btw, but I don't prefer kerejean (I am sorry if that doesn't suit with you, but it's just not my thing)

This will be an honor and a pleasure!

All of these can be found on ao3, as they are from my personal bookmarks of Jerejean fics (12 in total, you can also find them regrouped on my dashboard @ codename_adler on ao3, just put the Jeremy Knox / Jean Moreau tag to filter down your research!)

I should also mention that these are all pretty long, triggering, explicit, mature and more or less canon compliant, considering how little we know in the books. To me, Jerejean is about healing and mending and finding solace in each other. If you're looking for something more... bright and AU-ish and short & sweet, I'm... yeah, not the right gal to ask. But please give these a shot, they are all so brilliant and beautiful!! ALSO, any Jerejean fic without Laila and Alvarez is lacking that quality content. I said what I said.

Alright, come on now!

Jerejean Fic Recs

Marrow Without Bone - exyfexyfoxes

First AFTG fic I ever read, first Jerejean fic I ever read, first ao3 fic I ever read... My first love. Always and forever in my heart.

(19 chapters, 79k, completed, M + TW + Explicit)

. When they laid Riko’s body to rest, the only thing Jean could think about was Kevin Day. Kevin Day, Castle Evermore, and the fragile blades of grass near his feet. He thought he must’ve been imagining their brightness, the absolute intensity of the iridescent neon bright fucking green of them.

Riko was dead.

-

'The Ravens never scouted me,' said Jeremy. He was bouncing his leg under the table. 'Didn’t you know why?' ''

playing on - flybbfly

Oh my god, they were roommates, but make it Jerejean with a bucket of angst, feels, trauma and sexual tension. So long. So slowburn. Yet never enough.

(31 chapters, 142k, completed, M + TW + Explicit)

(this one is also one of two fics that can only be accessed by registered users, make to have an ao3 account to read!)

" "Who knew California Golden Boy Jeremy Knox could play dirty?”

Jeremy grins. “Best kept secret on the west coast. Told you there was a western division striker who could dispossess you.”

“On a practice court, maybe," Jean says. "Try to get it away from me during a game.”

Jeremy leans back, bracing himself on gloved hands. “Luckily, I won't ever have to.”

In which Jean Moreau and Jeremy Knox play exy, share a dorm room, and accidentally insult each another a lot. "

philtatos - lydjah

A Jerejean getting together and healing fic with references to TSoA? It's more likely than you think. Hurts more than you think, too.

(5 chapters, 21k, completed, M + TW)

" Helping Jean Moreau heal is a game Jeremy Knox feels the stakes are too high to even consider the thought of losing. Jean’s first game as a Trojan against Edgar Allan feels like even higher stakes. Falling in love with Moreau - well, those are the highest stakes of all.

“You are his Achilles’ heel,” Laila whispers, in the dark, and her words bleed straight into the empty places in Jeremy’s heart. "

Quicksilver - lydjah

Alternate POVs between Jean and Jeremy, and so, so much love.

(5 chapters, 21k, completed, M + TW)+ Non-explicit sex)

" Jean’s first month at USC is nothing but darkness. Of course, he is used to this. The only colour Jean can anchor himself to in that time is Jeremy Knox’s bright, golden hair.

Fucking martyr, Jean thinks in savage French. "

Saturday Sun - bamboo_astronaut (A_Lesbian_With_Pink_Hair)

Setting beloved characters on the path to healing is its own form of therapy. I'm not even joking.

(1 chapter, 32k, completed, M + TW + Explicit)

" Jean Moreau arrives at USC bruised and battered, and Jeremy Knox is determined to help him heal from his painful past and welcome him to the Trojans with open arms. "

between hoping and believing - cryptickidprem

A soulmate AU!!!

(16 chapters, 47k, completed, pretty G-rated, slight TW bc duh it's Jean)

" Jean convinced himself a long time ago that he doesn't have a soulmate. Or maybe he just wants to believe that. Things would be easier if he was destined to be alone. It will at least hurt less when he inevitably winds up that way anyway.

And then there's Jeremy, who's been dreaming of meeting his match for years. For some reason, Jeremy seems determined to convince Jean that sometimes he might actually be able to have the things he hopes for, and that soulmate or no, Jean Moreau has people who will stick with him. "

Unholy Revelation - the_oxfordcomma

Brace yourselves. This isn't pretty. This isn't nice. But. Doesn't mean it's not worth it.

(1 chapter, 6k, completed, VERY M + TW + Explicit)

" Jeremy didn’t see the approaching Ravens. He was chattering away with Kevin and Matt Boyd, dazzling grin still in place from an hour ago when he’d climbed the stage to accept the award on behalf of his team for the final time. Although everyone in the room had known the Trojans would win, Jeremy still lit up with pride at the announcement, eyes sparkling as he squeezed Jean’s hand under the table. Jean had squeezed back.

Of course the Ravens would try and cast their shadow on the brightest thing in the room. "

Coupure Électrique - lscar123

The only uncompleted fic I'd recommend (last updated in 2017), although the last chapter ends in a way that could be a valid ending, which is why I'm putting it here anyways. The French is cringy but because the rest is so good it deserves a shot.

(21 chapters, 58k, incomplete, M + TW + Non-explicit sex)

" Jean and Jeremy spend the holidays together and learn more about each other than they ever could have imagined. "

Shield for a Heart - neilskey (spellitwithyourpeas)

Oh, the ansgt. Oh, the slowburn. Oh, my heart.

(16 chapters, 55k, completed, M + TW + Explicit)

" “It’s your choice, but you’re rotting away in here, Jean and no matter what she says, you can’t live in Abby’s spare bedroom forever. Time to start fighting again.”

Kevin’s hard and commanding tone was no surprise. The softness had been beaten out of him around the same time as Jean.

“What if I don’t want to anymore?”

Maybe it was because he had been half hidden in shadows-Jean had kept the shades drawn, but light still seeped in the cracks- but Jean thought he had seen something akin to understanding paint Kevin’s cool expression. “He’s gone. You survived. Play or don’t, it’s up to you, but you need to get out of this fucking house.” // Jean's first year at USC. Jeremy falls hard, Jean comes around eventually. "

He Could Taste the Stars - subtlehysteria

Yeah, there's a happy ending. But first, pain!

(25 chapters, 48k, completed, M + TW + Explicit)

" I am a Trojan. I go to USC, Jeremy Knox is my roommate, he has blue eyes, I have grey –

Jean recollected himself. Those were unimportant details. So why couldn’t he get the thought out of his head?

Jean is still adjusting to being a Trojan, Jeremy tries to help Jean open up to his new team. "

I Guess I Like You Like You - lazarusthefirst

This one goes pretty quickly into what matters and we like it like that.

(1 chapter, 7k, completed, M + TW + Explicit)

" ‘Even if it’s just sleeping, I’d rather do it in your room.’ "

Ask the Messenger - Metis_Ink

Second soulmate AU! But this one is very heavy... Made me cry. I cannot stress enough how sad and triggering this one is, even though it ends okay. Please be careful.

(5 chapters, 33k, completed, VERY M + TW + Explicit)

" Jeremy Knox and the soulmate.

Guest starring: Exy, a transfer student, generalized anxiety, older sisters, drunk lesbians, bread, cake, a shed, the beach, the absence of Hennessy, Star Wars, Renee Walker, self-taught smooth talking, gratuitous French, No. 1 Trojans fan Kevin Day, relationship drama, general drama, the power of Friendship, questions, answers, team spirit!, and, of course, romance. "

AND THERE YOU GO!

[whydamnitwhy]

AFTG Re-Read Notes

I wanted a place to put my random thoughts and HC’s while I re-read these books for the nth time and this is what happened:

There are 34 “Thank You’s” spoken by Neil throughout the story. [TFC= 10, TRK= 4, and TKM= 20]

There are 42 “I’m Fine’s” spoken by Neil throughout the story. [TFC= 10, TRK= 10, and TKM= 22]

Neil’s hair gets pulled (or mentioned to be pulled) 8 times in the story.

There are 14 times “I Asked” is mentioned in the books. 4 times by Neil. The other 10 are said by Wymack and Renee. All 14 are in reference to having asked Andrew something.

There are 35 “Please” spoken in the story. 11 of these are spoken by Neil. 

There are 8 “I Hate You” spoken in the story. 4 by Andrew. 3 by Neil. 1 by Kevin.

Andrew curses 8 times in the entirety of the three books. Each time was the word “fuck”. (Mainly verbs, but one noun, own adjective, and one adverb snuck in.)[And each time he was sober... kind of.] 

Neil wishes 22 times in the whole story, and in a way, all 22 wishes came true.

13 is a VERY important number. See THIS post.

HEAD CANONS- ish:

I believe there is a small fanon belief that Andrew pushed Janie Smalls over the edge-- but I realized Janie Smalls hadn’t even met the other foxes yet. Thats why it was so close to the pick Neil for the line.

-

“Andrew’s lot stay’s in town for summer break.”

Does that imply the first summer we read wasn’t the first summer The Monsters stayed with Abby? Did they stay their first summer too? Why not stay in the house in Columbia???

-

Realized that Neil was a 3.5 day walk away from San Fran where he buried his mother. (15 hour walk to the highway and 80 hours to walk to San Fran. And we know from his drug induced dehydration walk from Columbia to Palmetto, Neil could walk a mile in 17 minutes.)

-

I know Nora says Neil doesn’t like sweets, BUT the only canon instance where Neil states he doesn’t like sweets is with Bee (who he lies to all the time) and I can pinpoint at least 7 times where Neil willingly eats sweets. (TFC= Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 14; TRK= Chapter 9; TKM= Chapter 3, Chapter 10, and Chapter 16)

-

Realized (AGAIN) that Andrew went to Luther for help TWICE. And BOTH times Luther didn’t do a thing to help. (Once pretending to be Aaron to expose Tilda’s abuse and second for the Drake “misunderstanding”.)

-

I don’t think people talk enough about how self deprecating Neil is, but in a way that makes it seem logical. 

-

I adore that Neil wants to fix Andrew knowing he doesn’t have a future himself— not because he’s jealous or “in love” (yet)— but because he has only ever had his mother protect him before. And the deal with his mother was to protect her in return— so trying to better Andrew’s future was equivocating their deal in a more tangible method that Neil wasn’t able to give his mother before. (But also that Kevin thought Exy was a future Andrew needed, while Nicky believed his future would be in another person— and they were BOTH right.)

-

“Neil neatly excised ninety percent of the truth and said, "I asked.”

THAT takes a WHOLE OTHER MEANING with what I know “ninety percent” is in reference to in the future.

-

I like to think when Neil pushed Andrew’s hand under his shirt and accepted the offer Neil was giving him— it wasn’t just because he trusted Neil to protect Kevin, but because he wanted to see if this boy he held between his palm was as unreal as he felt in that moment. (What did he look like off the drugs?)

-

Just realized that the reason why Andrew was so protective over a brother he never knew when his biological mother meant nothing to him, is because he saw himself in Aaron because they’re twins. And if he protected Aaron— than maybe he could protect himself too.

-

Okay look.... I understand there’s a lot of faults in this book and I adore every single one of those faults, truly. But I can’t get over the idea that Neil is handcuffed in a Cadillac front seat during the Lola torture scene— a CADILLAC. There is not one make of a Cadillac that would have front seats REMOTELY appropriate for that shit.

-

NEIL UNLOCKED THE DOOR FOR HIS UNCLE!! HE WAS THE REASON THEY COULD GET INSIDE AND TAKE NATHAN DOWN.

-

I love that Andrew does things to Neil that his parents did: pull his hair, tell him not to touch him, etc. But Andrew changes the meaning and thus changes the action in Neil’s mind.

-

The messed up chapter numbers in The King’s Men GETS ME EVERY TIME. I like to think that you can replace the first chapter 14 and 15 with the second chapter 14 and 15 and get different storylines.

-

The scene with Andrew telling Neil “no” is so important, man. I fully believe Andrew was expecting the worst and didn’t WANT to test Neil. He wanted to be able to have Neil for as long as he could and by saying “no” it was testing his ability to stop....

“That’s why”— Wasn’t just answering why Andrew is okay with being with Neil physically. But was answering why Andrew chose Neil over Aaron in the first place. Neil LISTENED to Andrew— even when he wasn’t saying anything.

-

I will still die on the hill that Aaron and Neil are two sides of the same coin. They are so similar it hurts. And the understanding that Aaron threatened/interrogated Neil about Andrew— because Aaron CARES about Andrew again. Realizing that Andrew never stopped caring about him. 

-

TFC- “Welcome to the line.” And “Welcome to the foxhole court.”

TRK- “Welcome to the nest.”

TKM- “Welcome to the semifinals.”

-

Dude, they SOLD OUT the Ravens VS Foxes game?! I just now realized how many people that would require since it’s a US Court regulated sized court. Damn.

-

So I guess the “4″ or “Shi” was fitting for Neil since he did bring Riko’s death. 

[side-effect-of-the-meds]

Hc prompt! If the aftg characters like to read what genres do you think they gravitate towards? (I’m 100% on board with the hc that Aaron reads educational textbooks for fun because I do the same and like Abby is just eating up those gardening books with a healthy side of cooking books in a futile attempt to become better at desserts)

If Neil doesn’t have his nose buried in a math textbook or an exy play book, he’s catching up on the books he missed reading in childhood. Most of the Foxes own copies of books like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and Percy Jackson so, as soon as he finishes one, they’ve got another ready for him. He’s not super into most of them but Percy Jackson has a special place in his heart bc Percy too finds himself in a shit ton of trouble bc of exactly one of two things: a) his father or b) his own goddamn mouth.  

Andrew is canonically a criminal psych major so he reads mystery novels and runs a blog where he methodically takes apart every aspect of the book and evaluates the validity of the motives of characters. He’s ripped apart every major mystery novelist for their shitty stories. 

Kevin reads a lot of nonfiction history books. Ask him about the fraught relationship between the UK and Ireland. I fucking dare you. He and Neil can go at it for hours and they tend to slip into their Irish and British accents respectively. 

Aaron does in fact read medical textbooks just for kicks. No one knows what kind of kicks he’s getting until he pinches one of Jack’s pressure points and he crumples. You thought Andrew was the one to watch out for? Wrong bitch. Aaron is equally as terrifying as his brother. 

Nicky reads a lot of books queer characters. It makes him really soft and teary-eyed. He tries to convince the twins to read them. Both of them refuse but silently steal the books when Nicky’s back is turned. They make subtle references and Nicky never knows whether it’s a coincidence or if they’re doing it on purpose.

Matt is super into true crime novels and had a rabid obsession with the Butcher of Baltimore. He burns every book he has with any mention of him after Neil’s kidnapping.

Dan likes action books/spy novels. She really enjoys trying to predict the twists and turns that it’ll take. She also likes to consider how she would have handled the situations had she been in them and wondering which members of her team would be in which roles.  

Allison is secretly a Jane Austen/classics kind of person. Renee knows this and uses it against her. You know those scenes where the main love interest grabs the ungloved hand of the main character while looking up into their eye as he press a chaste kiss to the back of their hand? That’ll put Allison out of commission for days. Catch her simpin for Renee at all hours of the day after an occurrence like that

Renee, honest to god, believes in ghosts. She reads paranormal novels only to have the bejeebers scared out of her bc she fully believes that an angered spirit could come back with such a vengeance. After finishing a book, you can find her cowering in Allison’s bed. Allison has no problem comforting her poor girlfriend after particularly scary books.  

[gautierprotectionsquad]

Crossover fic: Cut&Run / AFTG. Ty Grady/Zane Garrett. Andrew Minyard/Neil Josten. Trying my best at being canon compliant.

Summary: Ty and Zane work in the Baltimore offices of the FBI. Neil Josten was taken in by the FBI in Baltimore. This crossover was practically handed right to me and the only reason no one has wrote it is bc of the lack of overlap between fandoms. Hope someone enjoys.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation in Baltimore have been after The Butcher for over 10 years. They knew it was Nathan Wesninski but were never able to gather enough evidence to convince. Well, Mr. Wesninski had just returned home from prison and the FBI were ready with a welcome home present just for him. Or at least so they thought.

Ty Grady stood, pointed his gun, ready to shoot while someone shouted "FBI. PUT YOUR HANDS UP" and agents entered the building. Someone was sitting in a chair in front of Nathan Wesninski's house. As he got closer, Ty realized that they were bleeding, another couple steps, realized they were tied to the chair.

He was just a boy. The boy smiled, crazed.

  "My name is Nathaniel Wesninski and my father is dead." The boy couldn't stop laughing.

Agents left the building. One of them said "sir, everyone was dead when we walked in. No survivors. Confirmed that one of the bodies was Wesninski's.

Son. Of. A. Bitch.

  ***

  "I wasn't even aware Wesninki had a kid," Zane said as he watched Nathaniel through the 2-sided mirror.

   "No one did. This is so fucked up. Tortured his own damn kid." Ty couldn't jeep the anger out of his voice. He came in first thing to see how the kid was doing, wanting to know what they’ve gotten out of him so far. They needed this kid. He was the only thing they had to crack down on the rest of the Butcher’s people.

   Nathaniel aka Neil Josten had just gotten out of the hospital and was now being interrogated by two fbi agents. The boy was completely covered in bandages covering up burn marks from god knows what and deep cuts all over.

   One of the agents left the room. "He's refusing to talk.”

   “That man almost killed him but he’s protecting his people now?” Zane asked.

   “No. He wants to talk to his team first.”

   "Team?" Zane asked

   "Neil Josten is the star striker for the Palmetto State Foxes exy team," Ty answered.

   "You've got to be kidding me. He's been on TV?"

   The other agent spoke. "They've been looking for him. We already called his coach. They're on their way in a discreet van. They'll be here soon."

****

His teammates were insane. Every single one of them. The Palmetto State Foxes were famous for being a team filled with problem children that the rest of society gave up on as well as being insanely talented. Every. Single. One of them refused to talk. The only thing they'd say is "Let me see Neil" and nothing else. Ty didn't think they knew anything anyway. It wasn't until a five foot gremlin pulled a knife on one of the agents that they decided to let them all get their way. But not without the knife kid getting handcuffed to his coach.

They put them all in a hotel room and gave them 20 minutes.

Neil agreed to tell them everything as long as Andrew, the knife gremlin, came with and that he not be put in witness protection. Instead, he'll be allowed to live his life as Neil Josten of the Palmetto State Foxes.

  "Wait. He doesn't want witness protection?" Zane asked, confused.

  "The coach is just as insane as the rest of them. Yeah. Nathaniel would rather play exy." said agent Brown, his hands in the air, angry that Neil had threatened him and gotten what he wanted.

For some reason, it didn't sit right with Ty that Brown was still calling him Nathaniel. Everyone that cared about the kid considered him Neil. Anyway, referring to the kid as Nathaniel Wesninski when his father's name was Nathan Wesninski was confusing as fuck and such a headache for Ty. Neil Josten was easier.

  "It's sort of smart. He's a public figure. We can't take him away without everyone knowing what happened. And someone's bound to recognize him from tv. Being so visible makes him easy to find but it's also it's own form of protection. No one can kill him without risking cameras or everyone on the news talking about it."

  As if to prove Ty's point, the station they were currently on started talking about Neil Josten, the sports anchors all taking a guess at what happened based only on rumors. Some of them were right, that he was kidnapped, while others were outlandish and, unfortunately for Neil Josten, not nearly as outlandish as the reality. Can't kidnap a public figure without everyone talking about it.

  They all took shifts to take notes on Neil's story. It started when he was just 10 years old and it was long and impressive. Even agent Brown stopped giving Neil shit after learning about their choice to keep running rather than staying with another crime family for protection. Andrew sat next to him the whole time, clearly a calming presence for Neil, giving him strength.

  Ty and Zane both came into the interrogation room after 3 hours. Zane handed Neil and Andrew some food.

  "Looks like we're in the 7th inning stretch" Ty said, hoping to lighten the mood.

  "I don't speak baseball," Neil said.

  Ty gave Zane a pained look. Zane just smiled.

  "Half time, then. Are those in exy?" Ty asked, not able to remove his rude tone.

  That resulted in Neil giving a 10 minute long speech about the rules of exy. Zane was probably imagining it but for a second he thought he saw a pained look in Andrew's eyes before he went back to his usual bland expression.

  Ty put his hand up. "I'm going to have to stop you there. Breaks over. We should get your story over with. The sooner you finish, the sooner we can all go home."

  That shut him up. He sighed, looked at Andrew for support, then continued where he left off. His father had caught up to him and his mother and his mother had stopped to fight back. She was hurt. Bad. But she kept driving until they got to a beach and then died. Neil didn't specify which beach but he told them that he burned the car and then buried her, got rid of all their belongings and evidence and set up his current and final identity. Neil Josten. How he gave up running and just let his father capture him when he threatened his teammates.

  Ty felt like he was leaving some things out but it didn't matter. They were getting names, they were going to bring Nathan Wesninski's people down. The kid was a pathological liar forced to spill his whole unfortunate life story. Let him keep a few secrets.

  When he got to his father's "birthday present" Ty couldn't stop himself from gagging. Zane grimaced, also grossed out. Especially because Neil said it so casually.

  "Don't worry. It was animal blood," he said as if it made everything better. Ty was reminded of Neil's look of delight when he said his father was dead. That kid was going to need some major therapy.

  Ty and Zane went home late that night, not even caring if people saw them leaving together. Ty drove one handed, the other hand clasped in Zane's, resting on Zane's thigh. Neither of them spoke, knowing that both of them were thinking about Neil Josten aka Alex Rodriguez aka Johnathan Collins aka Henry West and so on and so forth. A kid that grew up with a serial killer and mobster for a father and the scars to prove it. A kid kept hidden and then forced on the run until he couldn't run anymore.

   Ty knew Neil was lying about not knowing where the rest of the money his mother stole from his father was but Ty didn't give a shit. Not like the other agents like Brown would. Let the kid have it.

  Finally, Zane spoke up. "So what the fuck is exy?"

  Ty chuckled. "Didn't you hear the kid's 10 minute long rant?"

  "Those rules don't even make any sense. How is it even physically possible to stop a goal. And what do you mean mouth guards are optional?"

  "I'll put a game on when we get home and you'll see. I hear the knife gremlin's insanely talented. Like Olympian level."

  Zane lay on the couch while Ty put on a rerun of a Palmetto Foxes exy game, the one right before Neil got kidnapped. Ty plopped down on the top of Zane, making Zane grunt, and got comfortable.

  Zane read more about the players on his phone. Seeing that 2 of the foxes, including Andrew Minyard's twin brother, were recovering drug addicts made him a lot more invested in the game.

THE END.