#he even says this to kevin in tkm

[foxstens]

i love neil because while you're in his head his words and actions seem somewhat reasonable

but then from jean's pov he's just insane

[ninyard]

Hellooo i saw that you were asking for asks (that sounds funny) and I wanna know some of your hcs on Kevin and Allison being besties/ kevjean relationship

This is my chance to finally share some Allison/Kevin hcs so I'm gonna seize this opportunity with both hands and give you this total MESS of a brain dump

- Allison is the only fox that doesn't make fun of Kevin's eating habits. Kevin KNOWS his relationship with food is fucked up because of the nest and Allison knows it too, so she refuses to make bets or make fun of the way that he eats. Kevin only realised because she once tried to quietly tell Nicky to knock it off when he was pushing Kevin to have dessert or making fun of what he'd decided to have instead.

- Kevin also knows not to talk about the numbers or macros in front of her, too. They have a weird unspoken mutual respect RE: food and they both appreciate each others efforts on that front without ever actually mentioning it. they also have a gesture for each other that's code for "i want a snack do you have anything" and they'll throw each other protein bars if they're out/on a long bus journey etc.

- they are the BEST drinking buddies. Whenever the team starts drinking/partying/clubbing more together post-TKM, they are literally CHILDREN when they're drunk together. Kevin gets tired of the monsters being boring when they go out and there's only so much dancing he can do with just Nicky and Aaron alone. So Allison pulls him up to the bar one night to do a tequila shot, and they literally have the most unexpectedly fun night ever. Kevin loosens up a whole lot without the threat of Riko etc post tkm, and when I tell you he is such a fun drunk. now he doesn't really drink THAT much during the season but off-season? oh he's a party animal. I could write thousands of words about him and Allison getting drunk together and becoming literal best friends as soon as they have a drop of alcohol in their systems but here's some things I think they've done drunk

stole a shopping cart and sat in it as they pushed each other down the road in it (and fallen out of it and laughed so fucking hard) ((but were bruised up as fuck the next day because of it)

he's sat her on his shoulders - while dan sits on matt's - as the two girls try to push the other one off

he's really easily convinced to do things by her. another shot? sure. and another shot IMMEDIATELY after that? alrighty! karaoke? well, okay. jockeyback? stealing traffic cones? pulling pranks and fucking with the other foxes? acting like actual teenagers? okidokie!

she's probably the only person in the world who has successfully convinced kevin day to sing

he holds back her hair if she has to puke

she convinced him to let her do his makeup once. full glam. like a serious look, fully beat, full coverage look. there's a picture out there somewhere of it that she saves for blackmail.

fucked. make out sometimes. strip poker. they dance together :)

he never lets her walk alone anywhere when she's drunk. if she can't find one of the girls to accompany her to the bathroom at a party she'll take him.

she's taught him full dance routines

she was joking that there's no way the raven warmups could be that different to theirs, and bet him that she'd be able to do them without breaking a sweat (he won)

they've both ugly drunk cried in front of each other (but they never talk about that sober)

she's pretty light so he's bench pressed her before

- They know each others drink orders/favourite shots

- if Allison is out, say she's with her friends and not with the foxes, and she has to wait alone for a taxi or walk somewhere alone, she'll call him and he'll stay on the phone with her until she's safe

- They make fun of each other and bully each other like there's no tomorrow (affectionate). the whole "Allison hates Kevin" thing WAS true for a while, but once they get closer, she just pretends to hate him. he's like an annoying brother to her

- Allison is really easily frightened, and Kevin thinks it's funny to scare her. she's never safe walking around a corner or into a room if Kevin is there and in a good mood.

- they're not BEST FRIENDS. like they're not in each others pocket all the time and laughing and joking ALL THE TIME but she can read him like a book. she knows when he's having an off day, or thinking about something too much.

- She also knows when he's being serious and when not to joke around. She knows when he doesn't want cheering up or to joke about something and knows when to back off. The same with him - he knows when she's having a mood that requires being cheered up, or a mood that requires him to leave her the fuck alone.

- He's a big reason why she puts a whole lot more of herself into Exy post tkm. She's always been invested, but once they talk more, and they consider each other friends, she listens to him talking about Exy and it really clicks for her. his dedication. and also how fucking talented he really is. She doesn't do the night training with him but they'll occasionally go to the gym together or start practice a half an hour early to run some basic raven drills.

- They're iconic when they get together to do press after games. they bounce off each other like nothing else. they're just so funny. and he's also like andy murray in that he will ALWAYS defend her, dan, and renee's talent if interviewers start to focus more on him instead of the girls. he'll step in if an interviewer says something shitty or misogynistic. she LOVES directing objectifying and misogynistic questions his way.

- She calls him a bitch and makes fun of him for being a nepo baby. He calls her an asshole and makes fun of her for being a rich kid.

- Have gone to banquets as each others date.

that's just a few random thoughts off the top of my head but yes. Allison and Kevin. Literally the only Two Pretty Best Friends ever to exist.

[kebiday]

of course ppl have no obligation to care about characters they don't like... & fandom is about doing what you want and having fun... & it's inevitable for fanon to simplify the cast into little cardboard cutouts...

but i Do wish that ppl who pour a lot of love & effort into analyzing + developing the relationships of + having empathy for the circumstances of the main characters would extend more than a fraction of that to other characters. like my favorite girl kevin day 🐈‍⬛

[kairospy]

More AFTG Twitter updates because Nora likes torturing me

- Thea will make an appearance but Nora is aware she’s universally hated… so there’s that

- Blond Jeremy

- Auburn Neil. Auburn. Not ginger

- Neil gives Andrew the first cheek kiss and the first forehead kiss (mostly because Andrew can’t reach Neil’s)

- she really likes the bond between Jean and Neil and hopes to explore that to some degree. She says their experiences laid the groundwork for an enduring friendship and they have a very special kind of intimacy

- there will be flashbacks to Jean’s abuse in TSC

- if andreil ever got married Neil would pick Matt as his best man and Andrew would pick Kevin

- Andrew still pampers Neil with gifts and clothes even after Neil learns some fashion sense

- the marriage between Mary and Nathan was arranged

- Ichirou is 24 in TKM, 25 in TSC

- Kevin likes Hamilton and Andrew knows the Le Miserables songs because he heard them once

- Kevin does indeed appear in TSC

- Renee has a few scenes in TSC

- Jeremy’s family makes an appearance in TSC

- she hopes TSC will be a standalone

- the twins got on the horses in TKM with kiddie stools

- when the newbies start bothering Neil post TKM, Matt starts checking them so hard they see stars and denies he’s being overly aggressive when he’s confronted by Wymack

[dayurno]

this is like. not a real issue but out of all the ways kevin gets mischaracterized i think my least favorite is when people assume he is a sore loser and, specifically, will be one when the foxes lose against the trojans. 1) kevin has been playing exy for as long as he has been able to pick up a racquet, he is more than used to losing gracefully and probably had to learn it the hard way 2) the foxes lose a whole lot. like a Lot. they’re a bad team. when they first lose to the ravens kevin’s reaction is to say that despite their flaws he was happy with their performance, because he is not stupid and he knows when they are not evenly matched against a better opponent 3) he LOVES the trojans. he knew the trojans would beat the foxes in tkm and he was still just happy to be in their court. he warned jeremy to not throw away their game even if he was certain the foxes were going to lose if jeremy didn’t. if there is one thing kevin doesn’t do in exy it’s underestimate his opponents and, especially for the trojans’ case, there is very little in the world he’d like to see better than jean winning with the trojans. cope. stop fantasizing about kevin day getting humbled like he’s your middle school bully

[thefoxholecast]

The Original Foxhole Court Extra Content (Archived from Nora Sakavic’s Tumblr)

We copied the following text directly from the pre-2024 version of the Foxhole Court Extra Content page on Nora Sakavic’s Tumblr blog (korakos.tumblr.com/fox). In March 2024, she did “some spring cleaning” by shortening the list of links and deleting/hiding old posts. The links in this copy lead to archived snapshots of the old posts on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Some of the links are broken. If you have copies of these posts, please let us know so we can fill in missing content!

Because Tumblr only allows up to 100 links per post, we're unable to replicate the full list here. View the full list of links on our blog here: thefoxholecast.tumblr.com/FoxArchive

The Foxhole Court

ETA 2023: most of the posts here are from 2013-2015. Some of them overlap with older drafts. Some answers have evolved over time, even if they haven’t been updated here. Most I haven’t changed my mind on, for better or worse. Take ‘em or leave ‘em, and good luck making sense of ‘em around all the drunk rambling and detours. One day if I have the energy I’ll just sort it into a coherent reference.

~~

Two sections here: the questions submitted by tumblr users, and a miscellaneous collection of stories & factoids pulled from the oft-neglected blog. The questions aren’t in any particular order, though I did try to organize them by subject matter. Ish. Once the dust is settled a bit I’ll try to find a better sorting system. Also, the tumblr tag I use for questions is http://korakos.tumblr.com/tagged/foxhole-court-questions-and-spoilers

Lots of spoilers for The Foxhole Court ahead!

Preface: Why are Asks disabled in 2016?

COURTING MADNESS

—Exy Rules & Regulations

—Exy: A History of the Sport

—Palmetto State University

—The original “What Happens After King’s Men” post

—SON NEFES, the cousins’ freshman year through Renee’s eyes

——One . Two . Three . Four . Five

—Nicky Hemmick

—Seth Gordon

—Aaron Minyard

—Matt Boyd

—Kevin & Andrew

—David Wymack & the Monsters

—Wymack & Andrew re: Neil

—Dan Wilds is recruited to the Foxes *

—Allison through Dan & Renee’s eyes *

——pulled from an abandoned, unfinished book about the Foxes’ women

TUMBLR

NEIL

—Neil’s life on the run

—Do they ever celebrate Neil’s birthday?

—What if Neil told the truth earlier?

—Neil through the Foxes’ eyes

—Neil through Ichirou’s eyes

—Neil’s looks post-book and relationship with his reflection

—Does Neil ever talk to Bee?

—Neil’s millions

—Neil’s fight training

—Who’s Neil closest to beside Andrew

—Neil’s fashion style

—Cellphone ringtone

—Christmas/birthday presents for Foxes

—Does Neil ever cry?

—Neil’s lonely fifth year

—When Neil’s overwhelmed

—Does Neil crush on his teammates?

—Neil & Ichirou’s intimidation

ANDREW

—Andrew’s sober look at his teammates & Neil

—How did Andrew react to Cass’s letter?

—Andrew’s medication and the follow-up

—Has Abby seen Andrew’s scars?

—Andrew & Mama Bee

—Andrew & Roland

—How far has Andrew willingly gone?

—What animal figurine did Andrew buy Betsy?

—Andrew’s eye color

—Andrew’s opinion of the cats

—What’d Andrew say to Nicky in TKM?

—Andrew’s honest opinion of Exy

—Andrew’s thoughts on Neil’s binder

—Andrew and his sexuality

—If Andrew had met Neil’s mother

—Andrew’s thoughts on Neil’s sexuality

—Andrew’s fondest memory of Neil

—Andrew’s aforementioned withdrawal

—Do you think Andrew is really really really awesome?

—Proust and Andrew

—What happens to Proust?

—Andrew’s reaction to Neil’s bday blood

—Andrew on Neil eventually changing out

—Does Andrew get grumpy?

—Does Andrew get less dead inside?

—Does Andrew call Neil by his name?

—Why give the Foxes crackers?

—Andrew’s first choices in winning a fight

—Who liked knives?

—What got chopped from Drake’s arc?

—Does Andrew get off thinking about Neil?

—Post Andrew & Bee’s side story?

—When did Andrew start thinking Neil was interesting?

—Any other words he can’t stand?

—What does he think about nicknames?

—Explain Andrew’s fatal disease in the comic version

—Andrew’s canon mental state

—How did Andrew not know about Tilda’s abuse?

—Why punch Neil for “Sorry”, and when Andrew is sick

—What’s with Andrew and promises

—Andrew’s thoughts on Roland’s premature confession

—Andrew’s arrest

—Wanting nothing vs not wanting anything

—Why was Andrew laughing after Drake?

—If Neil had chosen Dan & Matt over Andrew

NEIL & ANDREW

—The other 10%

—Which teammate caught on first?

—Do Andrew & Neil go on dates?

—When did they first hold hands?

—When did Andrew clue in?

—Exites self-censure

—Betsy’s & Aaron’s reactions to the news

—Roland’s opinion of things

—The breaking point

—Who tops?

—On tying people up

—Their domestic life aka Sir Fat Cat

—I love you

—Andrew and the bed issue

—Nightmares

—Do they learn to talk to each other?

—Blaming Neil for Drake

—Andrew comforting Neil?

—Neil’s fondest memory of Andrew

—Neil getting Andrew off for the first time

—Neil seeing Andrew naked

—Neil & the sex how-to

—How was the first time

—Where’d it happen?

—When was their first hug?

—“I won’t let you let me be”

—Their roadtrips

—Neil waking Andrew up

—Andrew’s real smile

—How does Andrew show appreciation for Neil

—Their happiest moments

—Does Neil ever make Andrew laugh?

—Does Andrew take comfort in Neil

—Does Andrew get protective/possessive?

—Doesn’t Neil crave affection?

—Andrew re: Neil’s panic attacks

—Media reaction to Andrew/Neil

—Further reaction to Andrew/Neil

—On “accidentally” sitting in laps

—What if Andrew died?

—What if Neil died?

—Reaction to getting hit on by others

—Do they celebrate anniversaries?

—The first time Neil pushes Andrew down

FOXES

—How tall are the Foxes?

—Why is everyone so short?

—Where did their names come from?

—What were their majors?

—What do the Foxes look like?

—What are their Hogwarts houses?

—Reaction to the kidnapping

—Do Neil & Renee become friends?

—What did Allison do with Seth’s urn?

—Nicky’s evolution over the drafts

—Do the Foxes get their skiing trip?

—Does Andrew know Nicky kissed Neil?

—When did Aaron & Katelyn fall for each other?

—How did Andrew and Wymack end up handcuffed together?

—Kevin’s favorite things

—Kevin and Andrew’s on-court kerfuffle

—Dan’s haircut

—Dan & Matt’s relationship

—Dan & Matt’s first kiss

—Matt bouncing back from Columbia

—Matt rooming with the monsters

—The other what-if OT3 aka D/M/N and the dynamic

—Do Allison and Renee have the hots for each other?

—Matt forgiving his father

—Any mistletoe shenanigans?

—Thanksgiving and the Foxes

—Kevin’s best friend

—Janie Smalls

—How did Kevin and Thea meet?

—Foxes’ favorite ice cream flavors

—Kevin & Andrew’s on-court argument

—Foxes’ taste in music

—Kevin’s middle name & drink of choice

—Do Kevin & Neil want to kiss?

—Which Fox would Kevin kiss, then?

—Kevin’s best non-Exy memory

—Allison’s three bets

—Why is Allison’s middle name Jamaica

—Kevin, Andrew, and Neil staying friends

—“Joan of Exy”?

—Can the Foxes sing?

—Some of the Foxes’ previous bets

—Do Nicky & Allison become friends?

—Are Foxes based on RL people?

—Nicky when Neil asks about friendship

—Dan & the monsters in Columbia

—What if Kevin was killed?

—Renee and her near-death experiences

—More background available on Renee?

—Why doesn’t Aaron let the Foxes in?

—Team’s reaction to Drake, Andrew’s reaction to being outed

—Andrew & Aaron’s time with Tilda

—Does Aaron reconcile with Andrew over Tilda?

—Nicky & his parents after Drake

—Foxes thoughts in Baltimore

FOXES POST-TKM

—The Pro Teams

—The Weddings

—Neil as the Best Man?

—Kevin after TKM —Thea, Jean, Foxes, and Riko

—How does Kevin & Wymack’s relationship evolve?

—Renee after TKM

—Nicky after TKM

—Aaron after TKM

—Allison after TKM

—Dan & Matt after TKM

—Dan and the US Court

—Any pro-period scandals?

—Andrew & Neil’s relationship with their team

—Would Neil hold Matt’s children?

—Neil & babysitting the Foxes’ kids

—Which Fox’s child would curse first

THE FUTURE FOXES

—Who is Robin Cross?

—Neil and Jack

—Andrew’s reaction to Neil punching Jack

—Foxes’ reaction to Neil punching

—Kevin and Jack

—Neil’s new recruit

—Andrew and Jack

RIVALS

—Who is Riko Moriyama?

—Riko & Kevin’s evolving relationship

—More about Riko & Kevin’s past

—How did Riko break Kevin’s hand

—Riko’s brutality toward Jean

—Any draft where Riko wasn’t killed?

—Were Riko, Kevin, and Jean involved sexually?

—Does the Fox-Trojan rematch happen? Also how do the Trojans & Jean get along?

—Do Alvarez & Laila (Trojans) have backstories?

—Thea’s number & thoughts on Raven brutality

THE “ADULTS”

—Kayleigh Day & David Wymack

—Abby Winfield & David Wymack

—Wymack’s parents

—Did Wymack cry during the trilogy?

—Did Kayleigh know about the Moriyamas?

.

.

.

.

Nora & the Foxes

—Fancast and Andrew

—Changing opinion of Foxes over the years

—Bits of the scrapped K/N/A threesome here and here

—The KxAxN AU where Kevin died

—Will there be a sequel?

—What inspired you to develop Exy?

—Fox fanfictions, collected by coldsaturn

—Why a pseudonym?

—What came first, characters or story?

—Were you the artist of the comic version?

—What did the comic-Foxes look like?

—What do you do when you’re not writing?

[pieph0n]

I'm not on tumblr much so forgive me if someone else has already mentioned this, but the like- difference between Neil "I Don't Swing" Josten and Jean "Bi Freak out During The Beach Episode" Moreau is so like,, positively funny and silly to me-

I'm listening to TKM rn and there's the bit where they're all hanging out in the hot tub, nothing- Neil and Andrew "flirting" is vaguely threatening and Neil doesn't even realize he's doing it!!! And even after they like,, I don't wanna say "get together" but like, after they kinda figure their shit out? They still "hate" eachother!!!

Jean has a whole moment over Jeremy and Laila, before they go swimming, and while they're swimming, and curse Jeremy for looking good blonde!!! and and Kevin!!!!! And Renee!!!!!!!! Jean *purposefully wears a shirt he thinks Jeremy likes* despite knowing it's stupid!!!

I dunno for some reason it just is so fun and interesting to me to see the difference between the two. Neil "my whole life is ex..y...Andrew" Josten and Jean "I've been saved doomed by beautiful people and can't get rid of them" Moreau.

[d4rkshad0w]

ok so we know Andrew is protective of Neil like in that one scene in tkm where Neil hits Kevin in the head and Kevin says “If you hit me again” and Andrew says “you’ll what” and Kevin shuts up immediately, but he’s also protective of Aaron because he’s his brother like that one scene where he almost killed Allison because she punches Aaron

SO my question is if Aaron and Neil were fighting who would Andrew protect?!?!?!?

Aaron is his twin brother and he killed their mom because she was being abusing Aaron, then Aaron killed his abuser, he hurt Allison and almost killed her just because she threw a punch at Aaron, so they’re both very protective of each other and Andrew loves Aaron very much even if he doesn’t show it

now Neil, Andrew is in love with him and was willing to hold off the mafia to protect Neil, he almost killed Kevin because he was hiding something about Neil, he went with him to be questioned by the FBI because he didn’t think the FBI would let him go again in Baltimore, he would’ve killed Riko if he even put a finger on Neil during the finals, he also let Aaron go and be with Katelyn for Neil

SO if Aaron and Neil started throwing punches and both were getting seriously hurt and none of the other foxes were around and Aaron and Neil had both started the fight who would he protect?? would he go after Aaron his twin brother who he committed murder for or Neil the love of his life?? would he just separate them or throw punches at one of them like he did with Allison and Matt when they hurt Aaron and Kevin?? would he wait it out and wait for them to stop?? i NEED TO KNOW

but also if he goes after Neil then Aaron will be furious and hate him again but if he goes after Aaron then i feel like Neil would feel betrayed

would he hit one of them in order to stop the fight?? or maybe he’ll sit it out until it gets too violent and separate them??

[aboutnavi]

One of the things that pisses me off so much about AFTG relationships is whatever the fuck Nora decided to do with Kevin and Thea. For one, let’s start with the big elephant in the room shall we: Kevin was fourteen and Thea was eighteen when they met each other. Kevin was literally a child and Thea was not. When they slept together for the first time Kevin is - presumably - eighteen (Nora only said it was his first year at EAU) and Thea was twenty two/three and it was in front of everyone. We know the Raven’s mindset is fucked up at best but seriously… in front of the entire team? They never talked about themselves in a normal-relationship way when they were at Evermore. According to Nora, “Thea’s last words to Kevin–until she showed up at Fox Tower in TKM–were to get some more practice in with the girls so he’d be ready for her when he graduated.” Be for real… this isn’t normal. But let’s pretend we can put all of this under the “they are Ravens and Ravens knows no boundaries and never had any normal human interaction in their lives” belt.

Let’s do a time skip. Riko breaks Kevin’s hand and Kevin leaves EAU. He spends a year at PSU not playing and not once he reached Thea. Understandable because he was still afraid. Then he starts playing again, still doesn’t reach her. She found out about all of this - broken hand, leaving the Ravens, playing again - through the media. Then, she shows up at PSU out of nowhere and almost doesn’t give a chance for Kevin to explain himself. Except Kevin explain - at best he can, considering he couldn’t put her in danger at the moment - but still she saw how Jean was and she knew what Riko was capable off, right? WRONG. Because Nora goes on to say the worst thing possible about their future:

Be fucking for real. You telling me you saw your teammate an inch from death, saw that the supposed love of your life had his career almost destroyed - and Thea and Kevin got married, so she is aware of the amount of trauma Kevin carry from being raised with Riko at EAU - and still the hate edges off because “after all, Kevin’s playing again, so no harm no foul, right?” ???? Are we seeing this? As a fandom, are we collectively seeing this?

“But Kevin needs someone who can keep up with him and with his obsession with Exy”. Ok, but I’m pretty sure there are other women besides Thea playing Exy that would be able to keep up with Kevin and still have an ounce of sensitivity in their bodies.

Now my only logical explanation to this, which is where I always go back to is that Thea and Kevin weren’t supposed to happen if Nora had planned AFTG like a normal writer should. We know she wrote a thousand versions of AFTG - even versions where Kevin dies or where Kevin/Andrew/Neil were together - before publishing as a book and we know she had so many versions inside her head she made the books a fucking mess but there is no way someone didn’t warned her about this absolutely fuckery of a relationship. I can’t believe we as a fandom bought into this and still reinforce it as a hc.

Also, do we really think Thea helped Kevin navigate his trauma after TKM? During their lives? This is so incredibly unfair because Kevin deserved someone who could help him heal himself and understand life outside of Exy but no, Nora really had to give us/him this mess.

I needed to vent a little, anyway…

[unrequitedloveisabitch]

it's so interesting to me how Jean kept calling Neil insignificant and powerless after his meeting with Ichirou, but like, Neil is on a slightly different level than the rest, I feel. Even Ichirou said so in tkm. He is insignificant, but not as much as Jean is, or even Kevin.

Jean is the son of someone who owed the Moriyamas money, he was sold to them, he is nothing but a possession. Even Kevin was just the son of a friend of a second son. But Neil was the son of the main branch's right hand man. The gives him more pull, more significance, even if he is still just an asset to them. Ichirou says that Nathan was someone to him, which is why he meets with Neil and hears Neil's opinion.

It makes me think about a lot of things. Like how Neil would have been as a Raven. And about the wildness in Neil that Jean says Kevin should have beat out of him. Kevin is right in saying that no one could. That wildness would have protected Jean in the nest. It should have. Riko wouldn't have been able to break him the same way he did the others, not completely. And I wonder what kind of future that would have led to for Neil, and Kevin, and Jean.

It makes me think about Neil's future in canon, too. Especially after the scene with Stuart and the FBI.

Neil telling Jean that having connections makes you safer because that means the Moriyamas feel they have someone to threaten if you step out of line. As if he wouldn't burn the world to the ground if any of his people were hurt.

I love Neil Josten so fucking much. I can't wait to see more of him in the next book.

[ninyard]

Honestly honestly the most romantic moment of the entire series is when Neil talks about how he'd never gotten to travel for fun before and the Foxes are planning to take him to the mountains, and Kevin starts to protest that they can't go on vacation but stops because Andrew is holding a knife on him 😭🥺😩 like I don't know that's just just a sweet little moment to me, Andrew threatening Kevin if he takes this little chance for happiness from Neil

Uhhhh literally Andrew “I-don’t-care” Minyard is the most romantic of ALL the foxes. My line of work revolves around intimacy and from all my training and studying let me tell you that man is a master at his craft.

Andrew’s touch is beautiful and sacred; this thing he does not take easily, or give out kindly whatsoever. Yet with Neil it’s as if he can’t stop himself. We see it in how gently he tapes the garbage bags around Neil’s injuries, wordlessly, without being asked. THAT’S intimacy. How he holds his neck to inspect his eyes when he removes his contacts, how he hands Neil cigarettes without a request, how he doesn’t say a word while touching Kevin with the point of a blade because Neil deserves a fucking break. Sure, by technicalities, the shower scene from TKM is intimate by definition, but really it’s in the kiss he ghosts across Neil’s hip, in how he pats dry his broken skin afterwards. How can you look at him wordlessly dropping keys into Neil’s palms, and think, yeah there’s no way Andrew could be romantic. Is he soft, is he gentle, as a person? No. But his minuscule actions are, his unmentioned gestures are. You just have to look and find them.

TKM just has some of the most subtly beautiful examples of a different flavour of love and intimacy that is so unusual and heartwarming it’s insane. That shower scene drives me crazy when I think about how caring Andrew is in it. He came in with the tape and bags on his own volition, knowing Neil needed a shower and couldn’t do it unattended. How he didn’t take away Neil’s autonomy by assuming he couldn’t undress himself, instead waiting until he paused and couldn’t go any further before he started to help. How he drapes the blanket over Neil’s shoulders, again giving Neil a chance to struggle before wrapping it around him. They practically don’t speak to each other really in that chapter at all apart from a bit of flirting in the shower. Because they don’t need to, because Andrew knows how to love, how to be caring, how to wrap up the boy he almost lost in bubble wrap because if he loses him again, it won’t be pretty. He washes Neil’s hair! He covers his wounds! He treats him gently when that is possibly the last word that could ever be used to describe Andrew. I feel like that scene was in part of course him just looking after Neil who can use approximately two square inches of his entire body, but in another part proving how serious he is about Neil. Everything changes between the two of them then, suddenly their actions more relaxed than hungry, not yet a given but instead now just a want.

I don’t know. I can’t help but see so much intimacy and romance in subtleties and things you’d barely even notice, regardless of the people/the characters and their circumstances. I wouldn’t use the word sweet to describe Andrew at all, but the things he does for Neil? The way that he loves Neil? The absolutely fucking sweetest.

[mudkarp]

making me genuinely ill how much of the jean/neil dynamic is confined to insane, unspoken could-have-beens.

jean attaches such a fierce sense of longing to the idea of neil and what he represents as a would-be raven, the idea that in another life he might not have been so alone. that he would have had someone who both understood his position (like kevin did) and stood on equal footing with him (like kevin and the other ravens never quite could).

it's why he's so persistent in thinking of him as nathaniel for the first half of tsc. it's not just raven indoctrination, it's a kind of fucked up bitter longing. he hates neil for not coming to evermore. he hates him even more for coming to evermore at the wrong time, in the wrong way. and yet he looks out for him!! like kevin knew he would, even after everything!!!

and then riko's dead and the ravens are fucked and none of it even MATTERS anymore!! like jean said, nathaniel was meant to be something to him, but neil is none of his concern. they're nothing to each other. they could have been everything. i'm going to drink cement!!!

it almost makes me sad, given how little neil even thinks about jean in tkm. like he has his own life, his foxes, and he doesn't have to let go the way jean does. and yet neil included him in the deal with ichirou. he has grayson killed for threatening his second chance. he makes defeating riko for jean too. he says it's about paying debts (which i certainly think is true on some level), but i don't think that means there's nothing more there

and now, after everything, they're going to be known to everyone as childhood friends. mafia brats bonded in the face of their horrific childhoods. its such a perverse echo of what they never got to be to each other, and they're going to have to pretend it's real!! i'm losing my fucking mind!!!

[jeanmoreautemple]

i really love your view on jean. can we get more pls

Aw nonny tysm!

I haven’t even talked that much about him yet, ofc I can talk more. I love doing metas and analysis. But idk where to start, if you want me to talk about something specific please let me now❣️

But I will say that his character is by far one of the best built by Nora. His early name drop and phone call with Kevin in the first book, his gagging first appearance in TRK, his rescue and enrollment with the Trojans in TKM…chef’s kiss.

He made direct appearances only 5 times, but Nora dropped crumbs here and there so well that he ended up quite a fleshed out character.

The way his first mention is him having taught Kevin a whole ass language in a whole ass hell, it immediately said a lot about his character and it became an even more endearing and touching fact as Neil discovered just how ruthless and cruel the ravens were.

I know the fandom over exaggerates his gentleness sometimes (me included) but he really is caring and loving at his core DESPITE it all. Despite having been since his formative years in a cult that promotes harrasing deserters, public humiliation and statutory rape “old tricks”— he still worried for Cody’s safety!

He pays so much close attention because it is part of his survival mechanisms but also because he cares. Nora making him a big brother is TRAGIC.

Anyways thank you nonny for coming. Please come back soon, it can be anything, a question, a ranking request, a statement, a rant… i don’t mind controversial takes either

[codename-adler]

all i’m saying is, did Kayleigh Day really die?

we never did “see” a body after all. no proof from a trustworthy source, at least. sure, it’s on theme for the found family of assholes with no parental supervision whatsoever, but what if?

all i’m saying is, Kayleigh Day did not need to die, so did she really?

Tilda Minyard needed to die, because it was the only way to get her out of the way for good and to stop her from hurting Aaron. she needed to die because the twins needed to go to Nicky, and the twins needed an unforgivable rift thrown between them. and Andrew personally saw to that. confirmed kill #1.

Mary Hatford needed to die, because it was the only way to unleash Neil and push him in the Foxes’ arms. she needed to die because without her Neil is let loose, halfway there to freedom, and Andrew. she’s the trigger. and Neil personally witnessed her demise. confirmed kill #2.

Seth Gordon needed to die, because the Foxes had to come together. did he od by accident? on purpose? was there a certain mafia involved? we don’t know. but Wymack called, and the Foxes did go on without him, for the better. confirmed kill #3.

Drake Spear needed to die because he’s an evil monster piece of shit. Aaron personally got rid of the trash. confirmed kill #4.

Kengo Moriyama needed to die, because Riko Moriyama needed to die. and Ichirou needed to pull the trigger on the last one. Ichirou would never come into power were his father not dead for good. confirmed kill #5.

Nathan Wesninski needed to die, because Neil needed to be real, and free. Nathan needed to die because as long as he was alive, Neil couldn’t keep on living, could never stop running. Neil personally lived the moment he was set free by his uncle. even the FBI collected the leftover garbage. confirmed kill #6.

Riko Moriyama didn’t necessarily need to die, but he did. shot fast and true. karma came and collected, by the hand of Ichirou. confirmed kill #7.

what do all of these deaths have in common? trustful information. absolutely no gray area; done deal. also, major turning plot points unsolvable by anything else than death. none of the resolutions or conflicts work unless there is an absolute zero chance of the threat coming back. the story cannot progress if any of these characters comes back from the dead, and so the narrative makes it explicitly clear that each of them is cold turkey.

except Kayleigh Day. the only two nebulous circumstances surrounding death in the series are Seth’s and Kayleigh’s. both deaths are Moriyama-tainted. however, Seth’s case is unsolved because we’ll never know who really pulled the plug. Wymack, the only trustworthy reference, confirms Seth’s death without a shadow of a doubt.

Kayleigh’s death is reported by the Moriyamas.

Kayleigh needed to be removed, because Tetsuji and Riko needed Kevin for themselves.

Kayleigh’s death is the only “accident” in the series, outside of Seth, but as previously said, there’s reasonable doubt there too.

Kayleigh’s death is the only pre-canon death that does not show a body. Andrew took care of Tilda; Neil took care of Mary.

Kayleigh’s death is the only one reported by the enemy.

Kayleigh’s death is the only one not discussed in heavy details.

all clues point to the Moriyamas orchestrating her car accident, but what if it’s more? what if it goes as far as faking her death? what if she’s alive somewhere, sequestered? what if she’s alive somewhere, undercover?

as TKM ends, we witness the beginning of Tetsuji and the Raven empire’s fall, Nathan’s fall, and the Moriyama empire being reshaped by a new leader. but it stops before the repercussions unfold. before we actually get to see everything that entails, what other secrets, irrelevant to Neil’s journey, are waiting to come out.

what if the resurrection of the Mother of Exy is one of them?

[kweenkday]

Riko's m*rder scene in TKM from Ichirou's POV, my pride and joy!

(it's kevin/ichirou flavored so Ichirou has extra motivation)

Riko stared at him, eyes hazy with pain medications, and words lost. He was small now. Looked like a boy much younger than his twenty-one years. Ichirou kept quiet, and so did everybody else. 

He picked up the handgun from the windowsill and tightened his gloved fingers around it. The drowning feeling of hollowness took over his chest. He was numb. Detached from his own body. He walked over the couch and stood before Tetsuji, and spoke quietly in Japanese.

“Our name is everything; it is what we live and die by. Your recklessness has tarnished it. The only thing keeping you alive is the vow I made to my father. But that mercy ends now—it is time you learned your rightful place beneath the shadow of this family. You will bow down, or you will break. It is your choice.”

Tetsuji’s expression remained still, and without a word, he bowed low over his knees. He didn’t sit up even when Ichirou turned his stare on Riko. 

Ichirou crouched in front of him, wordless and slow. 

“Ichirou,” Riko choked out, and he sounded just as small as he looked. 

He opened his mouth to say something else but closed it again as Ichirou cradled his cheek with his free hand. 

Ichirou looked at him, and he saw a hundred interviews, a thousand stolen glances at TV screens and newspapers. Saw lost opportunities, and regret, and loneliness; saw anger, and childish desires for closeness, a hundred pages filled with Riko’s name, and endless paper cuts the word “brother” had left on both of them. So many could have beens and what ifs. 

He blinked once, and another filmstrip flashed behind his eyes—bruises, and fingerprints around Kevin’s neck; broken bones, and money trails from California to West Virginia, and a racquet swinging against a kid’s skull on national television. So many stains on his family name. So many mistakes. So many— 

Ichirou brushed his fingers over Riko’s cheekbone, put the gun against his temple, and pulled the trigger. 

Riko’s body jerked under the force of the impact. Blood splattered Tetsuji’s back and the leather couch. Ichirou withdrew his hand and let Riko fall. He pressed the gun into Riko’s lifeless hand, curling his fingers around it, and stood up. 

He took a second to look at Riko’s body one last time before he touched his uncle’s head, featherlight, and said quietly, “It should have been you.”

On his way out, no one followed him. 

It's from this fic.

[jeanmoreausautismstickers]

tsc spoilers to share the brainrot but just a few small moments for you that are just sitting in my head that I NEED to talk to someone about

- jeans promise to Kevin

- Jean hurting Jeremy during practice “Away, Jean. You’re hurting me.”

- “Now I am not safe with you, Captain” because jer asked about Riko

- jer calling Kevin and asking if Riko broke his hand

- just fucking RIKO oh man we knew he was bad but lordy lordy lord he’s a monster

What do you think of it? How do you feel about Jean? Or Jeremy?

I need you to know that all of things you've noted made me cry. okay anyway

tsc spoilers under the cut xx

Jean's promise to Kevin? I fucking threw up brother. like it just. that whole scene and all the complicated feelings has about Kevin (and Neil) but he's still not breaking Kevin's promise. he still makes promises with Neil. like just that small, almost childish hope in him. he doesn't hate Kevin nearly as much as he wants to say he does now that he's gone and I'm so obsessed with it

oh the "Away, Jean" scenes broke my heart because I have a feeling Nora might use Jeremy saying Jean hurt him in the future. be it Jeremy finally Losing It about something and snapping (unlikely) or Jean using it as an excuse as to why he shouldn't look at Jeremy (very likely). they both break my whole heart with this scene, but I loved watching (well reading) Jean grow as a player and as a person, and start to understand that he can change his little habits. it'll just take time and watching his coaches and captain give him the grace he needs for that learning curve has me nawing on the bars of my enclosure

on top of that, Jean telling Jeremy he didn't feel safe? gagged. the fact that Jeremy, despite KNOWING it was a bad choice, stepped away and respected Jean's (slightly self-destructive) boundaries? screaming and yelling and crying my eyes out. that scene hurt me in so many ways, but the biggest one is the fact that Jean knew Jeremy would respect him if he said it. I mean it was like a punch in the throat, but it created a lot of trust between them based on Jean's boundaries and I cannot be normal about it

I'm not gonna lie, I giggled a bit at Jeremy's absolute rudeness on that phone call. like it was definitely heartbreaking and I want to give Kevin a hug. and Jean. and Neil. but the gall to call someone and immediately ask for their traumatic backstory is crazy. anyway, that scene was sad but other than giggling a bit at Jeremy's word choices, it didn't evoke a ton of emotion in me? i already knew about Kevin's had from TFC-TKM so it didn't surprise me, but I did feel terrible for Jeremy and how he found out. he will be making GOOD use of his therapist in the future I just know it

I HATE RIKO. OH MY GOD. the whole book everytime I say his, or Grayson, or Zane's name I had to say a quick prayer for the murderous thoughts running through my head. I hate him I need to hurt him even though he's already dead

i loved this book so much. once the mental illness about it dies down and I can think of it without my heart crumbling I'm going to reread it. I loved all the characters (minus all of the Ravens of course) and I cannot wait for tsc2 to come out. I'm sooo excited and I hope we get a bit more on Jeremy's family and how he thinks he ruined it. it was such a beautiful book and it makes me so sick to my stomach (in a good way) and I love it like my firstborn

I loved loved loved Jean and Jeremy, both separately and together. the parallels of Jean's family giving him up as a child but Jeremy's family not letting him leave even though he's an adult? Nora is fucking insane and i love her for it. her brain is just so good. I hope they get more of Jean accepting he has a family with Cat and Laila and Jeremy. I hope he starts referring to the house they share as HIS house, instead of calling it Laila's. I know he already called it home but I need him to take personal possession of things other than his notebooks. he and Jeremy deserve the whole world and I trust Nora whole heartedly to give them that after she torments us first ♡♡♡