#moving on to tsc

[coldsaturn]

I finished my reread of TKM (in its Italian translation, for a change) in preparation for TGR, and I have thoughts

There's something inherently addictive about a character knowing they're on a countdown and trying to make the most of the time they still have

"I didn't tell her." They were the only two in the car, but it took Neil a moment to realize he was being addressed. He glanced over at Aaron, but Aaron was gazing out the passenger window. "Neither did I," Neil said. "She asked you about Andrew." It wasn't a question, but Neil said, "Yes. You too?" "She doesn't ask me anything anymore," Aaron said. "She knows there's no point. I haven't ever said a word to her." //Of course they hate each other so much, they're way more similar than they're comfortable with

Aaron, Matt, Renee, Wymack, e Andrew are all like "should we tell Neil he's now in a relationship or?" but they all decide to leave Neil in his painful obliviousness for the same reason. The fact that it will be Roland to tell him will forever be iconic.

On the translation for "Every inch of you," Andrew said. "That doesn't mean I wouldn't blow you." I forgive the translator every past mistake. That line got me like a freight train in the face.

"Whatever Kevin saw on Neil's face, it was enough to kill his curiosity. Kevin slowly closed his mouth, withdrew his hand, and went back to drinking" // Kevin in this scene

Andrew keeps on being hilarious even unmedicated.

"Cool it," Ricky warned them, with his hands out toward both of them. "We've got enough trouble to deal with right now without your bullshit." // I want a book about him

The whump level of attention Neil gets starting from his Evermore stay and onward is absolutely delicious.

Neil spends the night with Kevin watching Exy matches, then Nicky tries to get Neil to go for ice cream and Neil is about to say no when he sees Andrew and suddenly he's all existential "Exy can't be everything" lmao

Andrew going against Kevin multiple times to favor Neil is my new kink

"I don't want to be that person anymore. I want to go back for you." // Andrew has five (5) people he'd save in a zombie apocalypse. That's an entirely respectable number of people to care for that intensely. Neil chose one and one only.

It's almost impossible to comment anything once we start snowballing toward the end because that would require putting the book down, but I'll make an effort: Andrew's fierceness is heartbreaking. He threatens people left and right and most of the Foxes around him treat him like he's an immortal, vengeful god. Kevin trusts him to protect him from Riko, Neil hilariously trusted him to protect him from Riko and the mafia behind him. Riko himself reacts to him with caution like he's dealing with a rabid dog that might just be faster than a gun drawn in self-defense. Andrew threatens the FBI and Abby, and it's like he genuinely thinks he can win against multiple armed and trained adults. But he's not invincible. He's so far from that it's painful. He can be overpowered, his strength is proportional to his body, he has been brought down again and again. Hes' just a dude. But so many around Andrew treat him like his strength is a bottomless well, for better or worse, and I wonder what his self-confidence would be if he didn’t receive so often positive feedback on his ability to take everything and everyone down with him. I don’t think he’s even aware of it, but I’m glad it’s there nonetheless.

"She taught Coach Exy," Neil reminded him. "And what, he didn't notice that he knocked her up?" Aaron asked. // AARON lmao

Still can't believe Andreil got off on Kevin's drama queen tattoo and didn't even bother trying to hide it

Still can’t believe Andreil had a full on makeout session at Evermore. Somewhere, in a parallel universe, dark Andreil from the perfect court felt a tremor in the force

Reading my bound trilogy gives the pace of the entire work a completely different feeling. This truly is one single story, and not three separate books. Once you feel them being whole in your hands, without boundaries between one and the other, you can truly appreciate the avalanche that this story is. You start slowly with all the puzzle pieces around you and then accelerate until you reach the last 200 pages where you can't even find time to breathe, the entire narrative a single unified crescendo built on the 500 pages that came before.

Neil is an amazing protagonist, but he could have been unsufferable so easily if Nora hadn't done such a good job of keeping him an active character with a mountain of agency. The things that happen to him are obnoxiously incredible, but he never becomes the cliché passive protagonist bound by plot because they have nothing of their own to keep themselves upright. Everything that happens to him he reacts to with equal if not more force; hell, half of what happens he instigates with his own hands. So many books give you an empty protagonist meant to be the stand-in for the audience, just an empty shell so the reader can project onto them and fantasize about a different reality. Neil is complex, absurd, uncomfortable, and doesn't care if you relate to him or not. As a reader you are a fly on the wall and are treated as such. Neil isn’t here to make you feel good about yourself.

Insane rereadability rate. Read one book per day and I didn't even feel it, I already miss it and want to go back to the beginning to ride the roller coaster again. I'm a decade older than when I read this trilogy the first time, but these books are still a dopamine injection straight into my eyeballs.

[joejhang]

jerejean in tgr really said bring back real YEARNING. jeremy specifically learning marseille french for jean. jean feeling a "gnawing hunger" when he looks at jeremy. jeremy's radiant smile and jean having to look away every time. jean's lips brushing jeremy's cheek at the fireworks. jeremy covering his eyes with his arm when jean leans over him on the bed. jean taking a picture of jeremy laughing with jabberwocky and sending it to renee. jeremy telling jean "you look good". jean pressing his thumb into the bruises that faser left around jeremy's neck. jeremy feeling a "needy heat" in the pit of his stomach when jean compliments him. jean fitting himself against jeremy's side and helping him stand up when he's injured after an exy match. jeremy going up and down every flight of stairs with jean. jean grabbing jeremy's chin and saying, "fuck what i deserve, what about what i want?". jeremy taking off his shirt for jean's attention. jean looking at jeremy and thinking about the rules ("what rules?" "the rules have changed.").

[clockworkbee]

Andrew Minyard 🤝🏼 Jeremy Knox

As gently as they can: fuck who you think you are. Remember who you are with me.

—The Raven King

—The Sunshine Court

[jeanmoreaux]

casually ordering a hit on one of jean’s abusers and being willing to pay any price for it and then simply going about his day, all with jean sitting right there, is probably just about the sexiest thing neil josten has ever done

[odysseus-day]

"renee adopts andrew" "allison adopts neil" and what if i said kevin is dan's chosen freak? what if i said they're best friends? what if i said they're siblings? what then?

[adamsrcnan]

at some point i WILL write a jean/cat/laila pov of jeremy's faser hook up

because like do you think the room was really quiet and intense that night? laila and cat doing their best to keep it light but jean noticeably quiet and watching the door waiting for jeremy to come back. until he eventually gives up and says he's going to sleep and then laila gets jeremy's text and jean pretends to be sleeping but he hears her quietly saying she needs to go get jeremy and he can hear the disapproval and disappointment in her tone. jean hears cat say she'll watch over him until laila gets back and then laila's gone and it's just cat and jean and jean closes his eyes and tries to sleep. pretends he doesn't care. laila will bring jeremy back. everything's fine.

but it's not.

because there's still missing truths and there's the teasing about drugs and parties and jean said he would protect jeremy tonight. but he let him leave. he couldn't force him to stay. what else was he supposed to do. then he hears a quiet knock. cat's up in a second but the door opens. jean gets up too but stays out of sight. he can hear their voices. cat's "what the fuck jeremy?" is all he needs before he's moving, catching sight of bruises on jeremy's tanned skin. it looks wrong. it looks ugly. it looks painful.

he promised to protect him. he didn't.

[jordiipordii]

really need a scene in the broken cage of jean being unable to look at anyone or anything but jeremy during a game. jean sitting on the sidelines as jeremy does his thing on the court: all guts and instinct and no sure strategy. let us see what it’s like to watch jeremy knox on an exy floor thru jean moreau’s eyes. tell me more about how he darts and ducks and shoots. pls.

but let us also see the way jeremy interacts with the team. let us see the way jeremy claps xavier on the shoulder and asks “are you ready?” with such unabashed pride. show us jeremy running his hand over cody’s buzzed head as they exchange grins. tell us about jeremy fist bumping laila and then turning to wave alongside her at cat and jean as they sit out during that half. tell me what jeremy’s bleached hair looks like sparkling under the lights. tell me how the shadows make his dimples pop.

tell me, jean— how kids come running up to jeremy excitedly during breaks. how easily he kneels down to be on their level. tell me how soft jeremy’s brown gaze is as he gives them autographs with the most lopsided smiley face beside his name. i need to know what he looks like when the cameras are still rolling but he barely knows it. i need you to tell me the way he shakes hands with older fans and appreciates their praise and good givings. tell me it all.

i need him to tell us and then make sure he locks in all this knowledge for himself. why?

because once upon a time david wymack said to jean moreau: “if someone is looking for a role model, wouldn’t you rather they chose jeremy over riko?” and jean said no.

in the broken cage i need to see jean taking those words back. i need to see the moment he watches jeremy from all angles and says “yes.”

[woah-there]

I can't wait for when the Foxes face off with the Trojans in the next season. Kevin and Jean have never played against each other when they were both in peak condition. Sure they must have done scrimmages against each other with the Ravens but they've never played like this- with Jean not being beaten and broken everyday, with Kevin left-handed and finally with his real family, with both of them on their way to becoming whole again. The best offensive and defensive players of Class I Exy.

[clary-jace]

"There are a hundred trillion cells in the human body, and every single one of the cells in my body loves you. We shed cells and grow new ones, and my new cells love you more than the old ones, which is why I love you more every day than I did the day before. It's science. And when I die and they burn my body and I become ashes that mix with the air, and part of the ground and the trees and the stars, everyone who breathes that air or sees the flowers that grow out of the ground or looks up at the stars will remember you and love you, because I love you that much."

CLARY FAIRCHILD and JACE HERONDALE from The Mortal Instruments series (2007-2014) by Cassandra Clare

[embraceweird]

Nothing is more important to me than the Cat and Jean friendship

[wikitpowers]

[spase2axolotl]

Be like TSC guys, touch grass u_u

-next-

[humlase]

Wondering if part of the reason Neil gets babied so hard by part of the fandom is his height. Short man. Shoulder/chest level to most of his peers. Many thoughts in my brain.

[aftheyyyy]

I'm sure I'm completely off the mark but I'm also 53% sure that Elodie is the tutor Jeremy wrote a letter of introduction to. A native speaker from Marseille that we have no other information on?? The world at large thinking that Elodie isn't dead, but missing? It feels like something is being set up here

[wherethemothsgrow]

TGR SPOILERS

Jean is so wild bro

Jeremy, good luck!! He’s holding himself up easily with one arm!?

[andrewminyardslawyer]

The amount of people I've had to block in the past few weeks in the AFTG and TRC tags because they won't shut the fuck up about HP/Maurders (or how ever the hell you spell it) is truly insane. Like there's always people comparing characters but it's been on another level lately. Shut. Up. I don't want to constantly be seeing that you think Andreil/Jerejean/Pynch is whatever made up relationship you made "coded". Get out of my face with that shit!!!