#theme: flashbacks

[aftgficrec]

hi I'm so excited I caught you guys open :D

I was wondering if you guys could find some fics where Neil brings up his past in casual conversation or his past gets brought up because of something he said or did

Also I've read a lot of the older soulmate fics where they can feel each other's pain or communicate telepathically and stuff like that but was wondering if there are any new ones :)

Ty u so much <333

There is so much material here I decided to split it into 2 parts, one with fics about Neil’s past, and one devoted to soulmate aus.  Enjoy! - S

references to Neil’s past:

people Neil met on the run here

Foxes learn about Neil's past here

The Foxes react to Neil’s life here

The Foxes react to Neil’s scars here

The Foxes react to Mary’s abuse here

videos of neil on the run here

Neil’s secrets unravel here

Neil says ‘it’s fine I’ve had worse’ here

Neil shows off his knife skills here

‘The Bet’ here 

‘here I am, there you go again’ here

‘I'm not broken (I'm made for a mosaic)’ and ‘More Afterthoughts, Chapter 39’ here

‘arrivals/departures’ here 

‘TFC minifics...’ Ch 23 here

‘heavy hands, heavy hearts’ here

‘"I've endured far worse"’ here

‘it whistles through the ghosts still left behind’ here

you may also like:

Neil with languages/accents here

Neil with languages/accents 2 here

‘No straighter path than to struggle’ here

Neil also shows off his knife and language skills in ‘I Hope You Lie To Me’ here (ch. 9)

Neil’s past:

Andrew, I'm fine by AceSirenSinger [Rated T, 2081 words, complete, 2023]

Andrew passes through the door into the ensuite bathroom, and he freezes an instant before he understands why. The bathroom tile is smudged red, just so. Someone bled here, and then wiped it, too quickly. Andrew wants to call for Neil, but he is suddenly unsure if he is alone in his apartment.

tw: nightmares, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: knives, tw: violence

Killer Bunny by godless_writer [Rated T, 6661 words, complete, 2023]

Neil started his second year in college thinking his past was behind him. His father was dead, Riko was dead, he was no longer running – nothing left to hide from. At least that is what he thought before six FBI agents barged into his team’s practice one day. Or The team finds out Neil had to kill some of his father’s men while on the run.

tw: implied/referenced murder, tw: implied/referenced abuse, tw: panic attacks

Bound for Error by confusedtoadd [Rated M, 22759 words, incomplete, last updated July 2023]

“You claim you’ve left your truth bare, yet you still lie, interesting don’t you think Nathaniel?” Neil was paralyzed, stuck between begging for her to stop and strangling her. They were a mix of his parents' wishes, his father's anger was bubbling over, his mother's survival instincts charged his legs with vigor. “Perhaps I should have stepped in sooner. No matter, they will know the truth soon, you did promise no more running, Nathaniel.” OR The foxes react to Neils life, pre-canon included.

tw: implied/referenced suicide attempt, tw: implied/referenced suicidal thoughts, tw: implied/referenced self harm,  tw: violence, tw: blood & gore, tw: torture, tw: abuse, tw: psychological abuse, tw: panic attacks

Secrets by The_stars_ship_us [Rated T, 1265  words, complete, 2023]

Matt sees Neil's scars for the first time and Neil wakes up, still sleepy, and feels comfortable and safe enough to speak in his true accent

tw: implied/referenced abuse, tw: scars

The Best That You Can Hope For (is to die in your sleep) by Major_816 [Not Rated, 10840 words, complete, 2022]

The first time O’Malley saw the kid was in a low-level underground gambling ring, walls crawling with asbestos and next to every bastard inside armed with something sharp if not something packed with warped metal and gunpowder.  He couldn’t have been more than thirteen, but he surveyed the crowd of the room with years more experience than he should have. There were scars cutting across exposed bits of skin, sick looking in the light of the place and stretching hotel-bible-page-thin over crooked bones.  He was a wispy thing. Nothing more than a scrap of a boy stitched together. O’Malley was half-convinced a strong wind might blow him over, but the kid turned, those quick and clever eyes burning across the room and O’Malley could recognize that sort of fight instinct.  He saw him again half a year later in Northern Florida.

tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: scars, tw: panic attacks, tw: dissociation

Broken bones by All_for_the_andreil [Rated T, 1126 words, complete, 2021]

Neil gets injured during a game and freaks out. Andrew finds out what exactly happened to Neil in Baltimore.

tw: implied/referenced torture

I guess I can drop the accent now by poly_pr1nce [Rated M (we say T), 495 words, complete, 2020, locked]

Neil reveals the final thing he's been hiding about himself after the Foxes win against the Ravens and Riko's death

...'ah yes, my shirt will cover this'  by @jingerhead [tumblr, 2021]

This prompt is great, I've read some angsty fics about Neil getting hurt and they're great BUT I love the idea of Neil getting stabbed and he's just like.....'ah yes, my shirt will cover this' and everyone notices right away. I think something super angst or something more lighthearted would be equally great haha!

tw: injuries

Art

what’s life on the run like? art by @meaucrow

Thinking about all he went through trying to survive art by @microolli

[opbackgrounds]

This is unironically one of the most important things Oda has ever written

[drayarts]

I'M NOT SCARED AT ALL, ARE YOU SCARED OF SOMETHING?

bonus

[captainofthetidesbreath]

Candela Obscura: Needle & Thread is about, if it is about anything, parent-child relationships and the desperate desire for a closeness in the face of a yawning chasm of separation, physical, emotional, or both.

Sean and Margaret, the creature and mother, Nathaniel and his father, Jean and hers, Allison and Lucas. Even Beatrix and the child she never had, transferred onto Sean. (Marion is the only major character who does not fit neatly and completely into this pattern, despite the brief look at his relationship with his father.)

That desire for closeness—even when there is immense strain in the relationship, even when that desire has been suppressed into more of an involuntary instinct—escalates over the chapter until incredible violence is being committed in an effort to reduce these distances.

These parent-child relationships are even weaponized repeatedly in the finale. Sean takes the deal to save his mother. The person in the cage observes that Nathaniel's father never liked him as a device to rattle him and his father's face is worn to force him to hesitate. Violet lashes out at Jean before she dies by telling her that her father was happy when she told him that Jean was no longer going to visit.

There is so much longing for a parent or a child in this chapter. Sean wants to be with his mother again, and Margaret wants her sons. Nathaniel craves his father's love, and in the end, his father reaches for him. Jean grieves for her father. The creature wants to be with their mother, and their mother is distraught when her child is killed. Beatrix is wistful for the child she did not have. Much of Lucas's screentime is devoted to missing his mother, and Allison misses her son terribly.

There is also much to be said about sibling relationships here: Sean and his brothers, Nathaniel and his, the creature and their sister. Sibling dynamics inform the relationship between Sean and Marion, and Sean and Nathaniel. That's not the focus of this post, though.

I believe that it is specifically this web of parents-children and the various distances in their relationships that really is the core of the chapter. This is about a desperately intense, even violent, desire for a closeness in those relationships and the willingness to do basically anything to overcome the distances.

[agentc0rn]

When the light of death pierced through the heavens

he became the god of destruction

[dolxiba]

doomed yuri

[markantonys]

THE WHEEL OF TIME | 1x06 → 2x06 → 2x08

[mayasaura]

I have no insightful commentary to add here I just sjsjzjzxb

Yeah about that Ianthe—

Turns out they've been there. Done that.

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

you got me curious about the original japanese dialogue for 1082 so naturally i had to look up the raw and buggy does say something to the effect of "like hell i'll ever be one of your subordinates, you idiot!!" so there u go 😔

oh wow, thank you!! (i mentioned wanting to see the raws in the tags of this post)

yeah, it looks like the translation i read was very much in line with the original—shanks saying ore-to issho-ni koi-yo is very straightforwardly "come with me," and buggy's the one who takes that to mean omee-no buka nanza (mappira da), "(i refuse to) be your subordinate"

so while idk if i buy co-captains as what shanks was aiming for canonically, as things stand it's a valid interpretation.

but oh man, shanks! you gotta choose your words more carefully with this guy! he mishears random shit as commentary on his nose all the time, of course he takes this request in the most insulting way possible ;~;

[latimeria-fell-from-heaven]

literally what the fuck belobog

[pavo-dence]

dunno if anyone's brought this up but is the person on the hades 2 steam page hecate?? there's slight differences to the design like lack of multicoloured cord and patterns so i'm not sure if its an earlier design or if its a different character altogether

[aftgficrec]

Hi!! I caught it open and I'm so happy. Thank you guys for you work! I've been reading fics via this platform for a year now and love it!! I was wondering if you guys have any new (or old) sick fics. Or andreil caring for each other when they're sick is my guilty pleasure. Preferably over 10k but I'll take anything really😁 Thank you so much!! 🥰

There are some really excellent long sickfics available, just look at the list of our previous recs below.  We seem to have rec’ed most sickfics over 10k already, but there are plenty of good shorter fics as you can see. - S

From previous posts:

‘Pause and Restart my Heart’, ‘The Bones of You’, ‘let them hear me shout (for you)’ (since updated) here

‘Back to the Start’ here

‘you're not next before forever’ here (now complete)

‘Broken’ here

‘just like that day’ here

‘no straighter path than to struggle’ here

‘Speaking In Silences’ (now complete) here

‘Virus’ here

‘Secondhand Lovers’ (now complete) here

‘and in a flash, it’s gone’ here

‘Muscle memory’ (now complete), ‘The Memories I Never Can Escape’ and ‘last piece of gold’ here

Paint me a picture of you by peachycloudsworld [Rated T, 20525 words, complete, 2022]

After spraining his wrist, Neil is off-court for four weeks. It doesn´t take long for him to start spiraling down. Luckily there´s Andrew and his new interest in painting to keep him afloat. Still, nightmares suck and his wrist is a constant reminder that the yakuza can take him out whenever they want.

[Or: Neil has a bad couple of weeks and Andrew does whatever he can to take care of him.]

tw: panic attacks, tw: homophobia, tw: scars, tw: nightmares

The Songs Around Us by doodlingstuff [Rated M, 14484 words, incomplete, last updated June 2022]

The mission was simple: Nathaniel would join Astral Foxes as Neil Josten and make them part of Moriyama Music.

In reality, Neil became real, found a home, and fell in love despite his lies.

When the Moriyamas send the Butcher to remind Neil of his mission and Andrew's life ends on the line, Neil will have to decide how to escape his fate and bring Andrew back.

Sometimes, music is the only answer, and others, as Neil will realize, truth is the only weapon you have to save the ones you love the most.

tw: car accident, tw: torture, tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: panic attacks

There Now, Steady Love by jingerhead [Rated G, 7040 words, complete, 2022]

All it had taken was a broken strap, a helmet flying loose, and a rough push. That was all it took for Neil to feel like his entire life was taken away from him. He could barely remember that one of the things Andrew told him after he’d woken up, caught in a panic because he couldn’t see, was that his uncle had pulled through somehow and he didn’t have to worry. That things were taken care of, and they’d figure it out, together. But Neil’s world still came crashing down piece by piece.

He could never play again.

Due to a sudden head injury, Neil ends up blind and can't play the sport he's built his life around. Andrew teaches him how to again.

Palmetto Plague by ace_astronaut [Rated T, 5899 words, complete, 2022]

“I should tell you to stay in bed,” said Andrew, as Neil’s thoughts were interrupted by a fit of coughing.

“But?” Neil managed through coughs.

“But I know it won’t make a difference because, as we have established, you are both sick and stupid.”

“I promised Dan I’d captain the team while she was gone—”

“Save your voice. I’m not interested in your never-ending Exy excuses.”

With Dan out of town, Neil is promoted to acting captain for their upcoming death match. He’s not going to let something as insignificant as the flu stop him from leading his team to victory.

Andrew is Not Pleased. But he knows better than to try and talk sense into his junkie boyfriend.

I Never Said I Loved You by phan_taloon [Rated T, 5281 words, complete, 2022]

Andrew never learned how to love, never quite learned what loving someone or something means or requires, never knew how loving felt like. After so many fucking years with Neil fucking Josten and their not-nothing, he has no idea if he loves him.

This didn't go in the direction I initially planned and might be the softest thing I've written.

Title from Ripple by Moonfall

tw: car accident, tw: blood

As It Was by Exyshmexy [Rated G, 3088 words, complete, 2022]

Neil gets the flu, Andrew comes to the rescue.

One Hundred by TheRainbowElectric [Not Rated, 4553 words, complete, 2021]

The most shocking thing about the sight of Neil is how still he is.

Andrew has seen Neil bloodied and bruised before. But even beaten to a pulp and beyond exhausted, Neil talks and twitches and kicks in his sleep, restless fucker.

Now, Neil’s only signs of life are the shallow rise and fall of his chest and the steady beep of the heart monitor beside his bed. That’s all Andrew has to hold onto as he drags a chair from beside the window to the gap between Neil’s bed and the door and sits down.

Andrew breaks into Neil's hospital room after Baltimore. (Inspired by this artwork by @himawarrior)

tw: implied/referenced torture

Safe with Neil by Autumnalpalmetto [Rated T, 2392 words, complete, Aftg Winter Exchange 2020]

For JostenLovesMinyard on tumblr

prompt: Andreil, sick with the other looking after them, cuddling in front of a fire, snowball fights, and staying at a winter cabin.

Andrew gets sick on their first night in the cabin, and Neil takes it upon himself to nurse Andrew until he's feeling better.

Art

sick Andrew by @paradoxolotl

more sick Andrew by @paradoxolotl 

how to remedy high fevers by @microolli

Let Neil nap by @crowtoeoe

Injured Andreil by @bookaholic5

maybe they invented love by @broship-addict

[opbackgrounds]

The idea of laughter is one of the more subtle themes throughout the series. We’re introduced to all these characters with weird laughs and think it’s just another quirky world building element, but it builds into one of the pillars of the manga. People who are free tend to be people who are able to laugh. The ridiculous, the absurd, the ability to smile aren’t just central to One Piece’s identity, but to the Big Idea that Oda’s trying to convey. It’s no accident that the first time we really see Robin laugh marks the beginning of her first real friendship

[ufolane]

everyone's losing their mind simping over @naffeclipse's cryptid sightings and then there's me coming outta left field obsessing over vanessa. that's alright, i got two hands

[binghe-malewife-goals]

if you're not gay why do you guys have share a le motif

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

fleabag "this is a love story" voice: this is about suicide

youtube