toomanybirdss

[toomanybirdss]

petition to include robin in more aftg content and fanfiction, particularly andreil stuff. girl was so important to them, they chose her and she was there for neil when he was the last of the og team on the foxes. wish she was explored more she seems so interesting.

ooo thought, what if we get her introduction in the queen's game??? that would be awesome

[toomanybirdss]

someone should do an animatic or art of jerejean to that the last of us audio that went around that was like

"that's a weird fucking tone man" "that's just the way he sounds, he has an asshole voice, joel tell him he's okay" "*deadpan* everything is great"

i feel like it matches their vibe lol

[toomanybirdss]

saw someone write this to explain jayce's justification for using the arcane to save viktor, but it felt like an epiphany moment to me that boils down a really interesting concept.

they said : "i need you more than i need to be good"

and i just... it's so beautiful and heartbreaking and devastating and morally ambiguous and potentially harmful.

but i think it succinctly describes many instances in fantasy / sci-fi / fiction relationships (of any kind) where they love and are devoted to each other, to the point where they would corrupt themselves or each other or the world or their morals in order to stay together.

like jayce using the arcane to save viktor.

like silco using shimmer to save jinx.

like ekko using the z-drive to save jinx?

like xaden turning venin to save violet.

like emma turning killian into a dark one to save him.

like neil going to the nest and letting lola capture him to protect andrew and the foxes.

like aaron killing drake for what he did to andrew.

like jean helping and protecting neil while in the nest to ensure that neil could eventually leave.

like jean "i will lose them all if i have to."

like cardan exiling jude to protect her from persecution for killing balekin.

like peeta and katniss choosing to eat the nightlock berries instead of killing each other.

like patroclus following achilles in his adventures, and eventually putting on his armour to fight in his stead.

like achilles choosing to kill hector knowing what his fate would be.

like natasha choosing to die for the infinity stone instead of clint.

like lucy rewriting the end book.

like aang closing his access to the avatar state instead of letting go of katara

i could go on forever.

some of these are romantic relationships and some aren't. some of these you might not even agree are applicable examples. and most of these are extreme cases.

but i think this sentiment can be seen in many many large and small acts of sacrifice. where one person doesn't agree with the morals or the consequences or the reactions related to the action in question, but the other has completely put aside those factors and concerns in order to protect that person.

it feels like a deeply indescribable emotion and desire. the act itself seems almost unfathomable to the person on the receiving end of it, and sometimes even to us as the audience.

but those choices likely can never truly be understood until you yourself are faced with a situation like it.

where someone you love is in danger, and the more unfathomable thing is the possibility of losing them.

i think that phrase encapsulates this beautifully.

[toomanybirdss]

the struggle is going to be so satisfying to read hehehe. the yearning. the hornyness. the adoration. on both sides. insane. simultaneously feel bad for them and ecstatic to see it. muahaha

between freckled shoulders and a rivulet of water sliding down Jeremy’s spine towards his towel and Jeremy putting his head under the shower spray to send water down his face and neck and Jean seeing enough to “put a hungry knot in his gut” does Jean even really have a chance in the next book? absolutely not.

[toomanybirdss]

yeah i don't think he would kill her either.

if anything i feel he would've stuck with her from the beginning of the games.

peeta's willingness to kill her was tested through the revoking of the district team rule, which i would argue wouldn't have happened if it was gale.

gale wouldn't have admitted to loving her in his interview with caesar, therefore not inciting the star crossed lover ploy that the capitol obsessed over, that haymitch used to gain sponsors for katniss, and that the gamemakers played with to create the district team rule they then revoked to have the final showdown.

i think gale would've just been angry about their circumstances and tried to ensure both their survival as long as he could in the ways he knew how and had been doing with her for years. if they did stick together the gamemakers likely would have tried to pit them against each other in a similar way, but it's hard to predict all that would've happened in a different games scenario obviously.

he did have his line of considering killing people to be hypothetically the same as killing animals, but until mockingjay he never truly had an instance where he could test that theory. if he had been in the games with her and had that opportunity, he would probably feel different about it especially if it were katniss he was up against for whatever reason.

he's angry and expresses it in poor ways yes, but he's not necessarily capable of murdering his best friend.

saw someone theorize that if Gale had been reaped with Katniss in her first games instead of Peeta, that he would've killed Katniss in a situation that required it for his own survival. what are your thoughts on that?

okay, i have been seeing this too. and... i just disagree with the heart of this argument so much.

because like, yes. gale probably would turn on katniss and try to kill her. and katniss would probably turn on gale and try to kill him.

just like how her first instinct was to point her arrow at peeta following the second rule change. only to be met with peeta's surprised expression as he drops his own weapon.

gale's hypothetical turning on katniss is not a unique character flaw. it is what everyone would do. and it would literally destroy them.

sometimes people forget that what peeta did by dropping his knife in the lake instead of turning on katniss is the exception, not the rule.

the gamemakers were expecting them to turn on each other. because of course they would. that is what everyone would do in this situation.

it's just that the games were not prepared for a boy who had already made himself a promise. that he would not lose his soul for the game. a boy who had accepted his death before the games began.

and a girl who was inspired by his words. compelled to follow him. in moral preservation. in love. and in death (if it came to it). rather than submit to the cruel hand dealt to them.

[toomanybirdss]

I really hope Nora writes the story she wants to tell. I really hope she doesn't feel she has to compromise her view to appease the fandom or a subset of it. This applies both for The Broken Cage and the Kevin books. I may not ship Kevin and Thea, but I'm excited to know her, to see how their relationship started and how they complement each other. Even if it's not my cup of tea, I'm willing to give a straight ship a chance lol. And idk, maybe we'll have a confirmation that Kevin is bi (we all know there's no hetero explanation for Kevin), and I wouldn’t mind if he ends up with Thea, as longs as it is interesting. Knowing Nora, it will be very, very interesting.

And hey, if we're sad that Kandreil or Kerejean or any other Kevin ship isn't canon, we can still fanfic our hearts away.

But I just really, really want Nora to do what she wants, and for us as fans of her and her work to respect that. I want her to have fun while writing, as her clear passion and enjoyment that gives these books that spice that we love so much. Whatever she has in store, I just can wait for it.

[toomanybirdss]

AHHHHHHH

>>> the perfect court the foxhole court the raven king the king's men the sunshine court the golden raven the broken cage >>> the queen's game

[toomanybirdss]

An interesting scene in tkm to me is when Neil dismisses Kevin on the bus to Binghamton.

It's the middle of the bus ride, and he's trying to decide where to sit after their rest stop as Kevin talks to them all about the stats of the team they're on their way to play. As he's making that decision it says he "felt trapped, stuck between what he wanted and what he needed, what he'd never have or be and what he had but couldn't keep."

The former of both oscillations, in my opinion, is referring to Andrew and what he feels with and for him and the team in general, and the latter are referring to exy and what Kevin could bring him to in this season and in the future as a pro.

Ultimately, he chooses Andrew, but in doing so Kevin reacts by telling him to stay and listen and "Remember that you gave me your game." Neil responds to this by saying that Kevin has given up on the team and "I'm taking my game back. I don't owe you anything."

This is Neil ending his deal with Kevin to keep playing despite knowing what is coming for him, right before he goes to do the same with Andrew.

The differences between these cutting of deals is compelling to me.

With Kevin it is more implicit in the "I'm taking my game back." In Kevin's anger and exasperation at Neil's "spoiled child" act, I don't think he recognizes what Neil is doing and meaning by ending their deal. It's not just 'Kevin gave up, so I don't owe him anything', it's Neil letting go of his ties as he prepares for what the "0" on his phone will bring.

Andrew, I believe, does recognize this. Neil ending their deal, framing it as "Let me learn to fight for myself." It is him once again cutting ties, but also releasing any blame for what is about to happen to him, especially since Andrew is very serious about his promises and so needs to be explicitly released from them if ever. Andrew doesn't know that the countdown has ended, or that there was one to begin with, but he can see that something has shifted for Neil in him asking for this. Just as he sees after their game from "the strain in Neil's mask." and the "Thank you. You were amazing."

Neil knew something was coming that day, what and when he wasn't certain, but the "0" was demonstrative enough. I think the way he ended those two deals displays a lot of his emotions towards those two things he valued.

He needed exy, but had already released the idea of keeping it. So he dismissed Kevin and anything he owed him in relation to their gameplay, still ending their deal but in a way that speaks of having understood when he started that it wasn't something that would last. He wanted safety and comfort and love, but didn't believe he'd ever have that life or be that person. So he asks Andrew to let him go, showing that he understands how Andrew works with deals, that he values him enough to end it before it's ended for them, and that their 'this' isn't something he expected to happen or knows how to want or be. Both are endings of deals, both are releases of blame, and both display to the recipients that something has changed for Neil, whether or not they recognize it.

But he chose to go to the back of the bus and to ask, he chose Andrew, even if it was only for whatever time he had left before the result of that "0".

[toomanybirdss]

this was my bookmark for tsc and tgr btw hehe 😏😁

[toomanybirdss]

i don't think in general it is concerning lol, but given Jean's mentality at the time... it just makes me wonder what he was imagining could be done to skin, his skin, with a peeler, by him or others. and that his instinct is to visualize that possibility by testing it on his finger...

dunno maybe i need to touch grass but it made me shiver reading it.

"Jean tested the edge of the peeler with his finger"

Jean's entire perspective in tsc is hard to get through, but this one line from Jeremy's pov just... *scream*

i'll leave it to your unwilling imagination

[toomanybirdss]

"Jean tested the edge of the peeler with his finger"

Jean's entire perspective in tsc is hard to get through, but this one line from Jeremy's pov just... *scream*

i'll leave it to your unwilling imagination

[toomanybirdss]

how many of us think that the Butcher's trial/case, and Neil and Jean's involvement in it, will be an event that plays a large role in the plot of the next book?

i didn't really think of it too seriously during tsc just because these books are about Jean and Jeremy, not Neil who is obviously the primary witness/corroborator for the case. but now with tgr, there have been multiple instances of the fbi and Neil himself bringing Jean further into the case as well. such as with Neil and Stuart ensuring the fbi's discovery of the Moreau's connection to the Butcher at the end of tsc, the subsequent arrest of Jean's parents in tgr, and of course the fbi stepping in to provide housing to Jean, Laila, and Cat when their house burns down, specifically outlined as being done to protect (and bribe/monitor?) a witness in said case until the trial ends.

in the discussion about the housing with Browning and Owens, they imply that the trial should be finished within the school year. so obviously it'll be happening at the very least in the background like we saw with Aaron's trial, but given these examples of Jean's perceived importance to the case by the fbi, i think it's likely that his involvement will play a larger role than i originally thought in the plot of the next book. (books? i'm still convinced there's too much to cover in only one more book, especially if this ends up being a part of it)

how he is involved, however, i'm wondering if will be different than we or even Jean is thinking. he specifically says to the agents in the housing discussion that he has provided them with the little amount of information he has and knows nothing else of worth for this case. and that's true... except for the exclusion of his knowledge on the Moriyamas. Browning's response to Jean stating that he was of no more use to them was “i guess we'll see”. i have a niggling suspicion that the fbi might be starting to look further than face value into either the potentially (though we know it's certain) extensive violence and abuse (and murder) that occurred in Evermore, or maybe even considering a connection between the Butcher and the Moriyamas and/or the Ravens given the concern brought up by Neil in tsc over why his appearance changed after going to the Nest in trk and Jean's early induction into the Ravens now that the fbi believes his family was working with the Butcher. or both given that one leads to the other.

i don't think this line of questioning will go far, considering how little it seems the fbi knows about the Moriyamas true business and the fact that we know that Neil, Jean, and Kevin continue to play exy in contract with Ichirou well into the future, but i wonder if this will become the primary issue in Jean's involvement in the trial with him having to validate his connection and knowledge about the Butcher and Neil without revealing anything about the Moriyamas, as we have already seen him having to censor himself about during the discussion with the agents.

and finally, if all of this comes to be true, i wonder if Jean's concern (likely terror) at being involved in this trial due to the Moriyamas and the complications that inevitably arise because of that, becomes how his contract and the real Moriyama business gets revealed to Jeremy, at the very least, but likely (hopefully) Cat and Laila as well... because as we know, where Jean goes those three follow and Jean will choose them right back.

[toomanybirdss]

I'm not sure if Nora has discussed the answer to this before, but which birthday does Neil use after his identity is made legal? Which one did the fbi put on his new ID and passport and stuff?

I recall that in the extra content Nora responded to an ask related to this saying that the 'crazy' party Dan wanted to do for him did end up happening in March, but in another she also explained how Neil doesn't really like large gatherings or celebrating things like anniversaries. That party doesn't necessarily designate that as the date he chose or that he celebrates at all, maybe just that the team wanted to plan something for him and that was the day that worked best in the timeline of the aftermath of tkm.

I've seen people post a happy birthday thing for him on both January 19th and March 31st, so it seems as a fandom we consider both accurate, but I wonder which one Neil chose... something to ponder.

[toomanybirdss]

guys the brainrot has manifested 😳😏🫢

[toomanybirdss]

love love loved cody "bean" winter in tgr!! i loved seeing more of their personality and perspectives, and seeing their friendships with jeremy and jean and everyone else, and how they add significantly to jean's growth. however, i was a tad sad we didn't get to see more of them with pat and ananya. i know that it's their journey playing out of accepting the possibility of a future with the two of them, which is very interesting and understandable for the timeframe, but i missed seeing the trio interact. i for sure enjoyed the exploration of other side characters this book, but it kinda set aside the floozy grouping from tsc that i loved. hopefully the trio will find their way together next book🤞

[toomanybirdss]

can someone smarter than me tell me vaguely what time of year golden raven ended? cause i'm mildly confused how the third book is gonna span all the way to finals if this book hasn't even gotten to winter break or anything... four books? 🤔😏

[toomanybirdss]

me and my homies support real artists who put their passion into their pieces instead of a machine who rips off the hard work of talented peeps