#neil josten/ichirou moriyama

[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

[incorrectaftg]

[hands you these] part 86

[feelingthedisaster]

The King's Men's plot structure is genius.

TKM has been critized a lot for not following the conventional plot structure, because it doesnt end inmediatly at the resolution of the climax, like they taught us in class. But it actually has a reason behind it and it think that is what makes AFTG unique and Nora Sakavic an amazing writer. I'll explain.

So, we all know AFTG has a lot of chess metaphors, however i think it doesnt contain the metaphors, it is the metaphor. Each character represents a piece of the board (Riko king, Kevin queen, Neil pawn, Andrew knight, etc) and exy is the chess, but but but, a chess game not only involves the pieces, the game cannot exist without someone playing, the chess masters (which would be Kengo, Ichiriu, Nathan and all the mafia stuff).

So, AFTG is divided into two plots happening at the same time: what happens on the chess board (exy season) and what happens outside it (the mafia mess).

Of couse, the climax has to be about the outside out, because who cares which one of pieces move in which way if the players are pointing guns at eachother under the board? The guns are more more important. So who cares? The pieces on the board care, the ones that are being played with. And who is the narrator? The character that represents the pawn, the less important figure of the entire room.

Yeah, the 'outside of the board' plot is over half way into the book, but it doesnt matter because that happens outside the board, the chess game has not ended yet. The pawn cannot go back to rest in the box until the game is over, until the king dies. The book cannot be over until the chess game our protagonist is a piece of ends. The books have to end with the king's (Riko) death and that is exactly what happens.

If this isnt excellent writing and one of the best examples of know the rules so you can break them, i dont what is.

[broken-heart-raven-queen]

Ichirou needs bestmen and someone to plan his bachelor's party and not having any friends and he doesn't wanna pay someone to do it and also could look weird so he calls Jean, Kevin and Neil to do something for him that they can't refuse.

They are all weirded out by this but also don't want problems so they end up planning a trip and a party with the budget Ichirou (that really doesn't know how much this things cost) gave them.

The four of them have a blast and it's SO random, they of course don't ever bring this up again and when the media asks they use their relationship with Riko as an excuse. But Ichirou got to live like a man in his 20s once, and he's starting to think that maybe things aren't just as his father said it should be.

[ksuhi13]

That scene in the moriyama car

Neil: If you don't rein in your brother, he will destroy the Moriyama Empire. Ichirou: How daring. And what has he done? Neil, pulling out a portable projector and opening a 150-slide presentation: I'm so glad you asked.

[lily-s-world]

I see your "the Moriyamas being brought to justice," and I raise you to "Stuart bringing down the Moriyama mafia to free his nephew."

[chilledstrawberrysoda]

Do you think that Neil gets to write off his "charitable donations" to the moriyama's on his taxes or would that be too big of a risk because I feel like he would almost certainly get audited if he claimed on his taxes that he was donating EIGHTY PERCENT of his total income? But if he really is making what we assume of a professional athlete that puts him in one of the highest tax brackets at like 37% annually, so are the moriyama's taking 80% of his gross income or 80% of his income after taxes and agent fees (because those will be part of his expenses).

I'm genuinely very curious about the logistics of this deal like the moriyama's had to send him something explaining once he was signed right? Did they give him an accountant so he wouldn't fuck it up or raise any red flags? I want a fic about the technical aspects of paying the mafia for your safety.

I know Neil would 100% be capable of doing his own taxes but I really think he would find it overwhelming and stressful to file his taxes and not raise any red flags that would bring the moriyama's onto the IRS radar and possibly jeopardize his safety.

Also if Neil is paying enough to the moriyama's to put him at a 17% deficit is Andrew just paying for Neil's whole life??? Would it look less suspicious to be donating such large amounts if they got married "for tax benefits"? Has anyone written a fic about this? Would it be boring to just have a whole fic that's like a meeting with Neil and the moriyama's financial division going over what would be enough for Neil to love on and how he could best go about filing taxes?

[stop-being-the-rabbit]

[aftgficrec]

Hearts in Halves by heybabyricecake

This author has become rather popular lately, we’ve just posted a rec for another one of their fics here. - S

Hearts In Halves by heybabyricecake [Rated M, 228071 words, incomplete, last updated Dec 2023]

Instead of killing Riko and sending Neil back to the Foxes, Ichirou banishes Riko and takes Neil back to the Edgar Allen Ravens to be their starting striker. This is basically post canon, if the very last scene in The Kings Men happened differently. Neil has to adjust to life in the Ravens Nest, and the Foxes have to deal with losing Neil right after championships. The Nest is a nightmare, and Andrew is reeling from the separation from Neil. Andrew and Neil have to burn it all to the ground to find their way back to each other. ---- Andrew stopped eating mid chew. He remembered. “Don’t say what you’re about to say.” “I couldn’t let them hurt you.” Wymack said anyways. “Now, Neil will forgive us in a heartbeat if we sign him over to the Ravens. I don’t wish he was that way, but that’s the way he is. You know it as well as I know it. But. He never would’ve even tried to come back to us if I’d let them hurt you.” Andrew digested this, hating every word Wymack was saying. “My life is not more important than his.” Andrew said “No. It’s not.” Wymack agreed. “I meant what I said before, Coach. I’m done.” “No. You’re not.” --- Updates Sundays

tw: violence, tw: rape/noncon, tw: torture, tw: suicidal thoughts, tw: emotional manipulation,  tw: drug addiction, tw: withdrawal, tw: drug overdose, tw: kidnapping, tw: major character injury, tw: implied/referenced self harm, tw: homophobic language, tw: implied/referenced csa, tw: implied/referenced eating disorders

[overheard-at-palmetto]

[willofred]

okay my personal thought and assumption has always been that Neil would have had a totally different Nest experience than Kevin or Jean did. I had always assumed that he wasn’t getting sold off to the Moriyamas to repay a debt but that he was getting placed in an environment to be groomed into Nathan 2.0, for when Ichirou took over. Like the violence of the nest to train him and isolation from his parents so he had only loyalty to the Moriyamas. So that eventually when Kengo died and Ichirou took over there was a replacement for Nathan ready and (hopefully) willing to go

[incorrectaftg]

[hands you these] part 91

[fortheloveofexy]

working on a little something

[cultpastorkevin]

insomnia induced AFTG/TSC memes pt 3

[i-am-trying-my-best-okay]

OKAY, so I just learned about the Ichirou and Allison shenanigans, and have many thoughts. But mostly, I'm just thinking about how if it were to happen, then Kevin, Neil, and Jean can get away with anything and Ichirou won't do shit because they're his girlfriend's friends.

Ichirou: "That's it! They've undermined my authority for the last time! I will get rid of th - "

Allison: "Babe."

Ichirou: "...eir attitudes with a strongly worded email. Again."

[bolotosd]

idc I create my own reality