winningmymind

[winningmymind]

Some twinyard angst for ya

Aaron gets a head injury during exy against a particularly rough team and he passes out briefly. When he wakes up, Aaron can't remember anyone but Nicky, and is diagnosed with temporary amnesia. Ofc the Foxes are concerned and try to jog his memory quicker, but the Monsters are the main ones viscerally affected that Aaron only remembers Nicky and can't remember his twin Andrew at all.

Andrew especially is determined to get Aaron to remember him, Betsy Dobson notes in their solo therapy sessions (the joint twin one is postponed due to Aaron's amnesia) how Andrew feels uncomfortable that Aaron can forget his existence and how he wants to kill the away team's striker for causing Aaron's head injury.

Aaron, on the other hand, is surprised and a bit heartened at this many people caring about his wellbeing. The Monsters find hope in Aaron instinctively reacting to things that piss him off like Kevin's annoying health diet he keeps pushing on everyone or Neil's uncontrolled lovey dovey eyes towards Andrew or Nicky's inappropriate flirting when a hot man is around. It's small signs that Aaron can come back to them and Andrew latches onto it because even though his brother is physically here with him, it's not the same emotionally, and it makes Andrew long for the letter Aaron originally sent him when his twin wanted to know everything about Andrew instead of looking at Andrew like a stranger that shares his face.

"You don't remember who I am?"

"No. Sorry."

"But you killed for me."

[winningmymind]

pt.88: Kevin’s Q&A!! <pt.87

kevin redacted (patrick) day my gorgeous horrible little bitch i love you forever and ever. i sentence you to centrifuge

extra long post because he my wife

also introducing mouse monaghan! not an existing oc of mine (and thank god for it. couldn’t have those in public) so she’s only really here to torment kevin. for now 👀 also bc i think this is gonna open some doors for new flavours of bullshit from non-exy students at edgar allan being like right. what the fuck was all that. mouse is a history and politics student who came to EAU because (from canon) it’s a niche arts university and the week after she started this GODDAMN NERD in her 17th century IR class would not shut the fuck up and he was wrong about everything but never stuck around after class for her to push him down the stairs. but the internet presents so many new opportunities when you find out your class enemy is famous and online.

ANYWAY

tags for the homies ❤️ @andrewsleftarmband @blurryhour @you-know-i-get-itt @notexactlythatgirl @longspacerat @tessasilverswan @minyard-05 @carbon-dated-gal @bisexualchaosdemon @stormiiflies @watercoloureyes01 @vampire-overlord @iron-sides @azure-wing @buffalo-fox @ohgodnotagainplease @pink-hydrangea @jaywalkerss @ohmynoggin-blog @cosmic-marauder @min-getoutofmy-yard @plazybones @disastersappho @leestars13 @the-witch-forever-lives @minyardsss @post-historical-posts @andabuttonnose @hidinginmyhands @aftg4l @allfor-thegames @yaoishida @inafieldofstarflowers @snowcoming @mooniism @fieldsofpoppies-in-salt-air @prometheusthedragon @graveyardviolence @bustedleftshoe @beatrix33 @aftg-bs @yes-i-exist-shutup @milktemproom @all-for-exy @moon-over-ruined-castle @meta-breakers @whatwereyouthinkingaboutagain @dragonslayer26806 @malepresentingleg @lesbiansforkevinday

[winningmymind]

parallels i was not expecting that still drive me up the fucking wall

[winningmymind]

@itsachlys I’m responding to your comment in a post because my response got too long for a comment and I thought it was worth it’s own spotlight!

Itsachlys comment: “Sometimes I think this fandom has a twisted sense of mortality that doesn't allow the characters to be human and thus be flawed/act in a way a saint wouldn't”

My response:

I totally agree. People crave complicated characters, and Nora wrote some of the most complicated and complex characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading, and yet the fandom seems determined to turn them into caricatures or cardboard cutouts of tropes. None of them are perfect, none of them made the right choices every time. They aren’t perfect victims of their situations, who respond in the designated socially acceptable ways to their traumas. And instead of celebrating these facts the fandom picks and chooses who to elevate to angel status and who to demonize.

I find that in these situations we usually find characters like Andrew, Neil, Renee, Jeremy, and Jean lifted to angel status, which destroys their narratives, erases their humanity, and takes away the power and pain behind the hard (sometimes impossible) choices they were forced to make. Meanwhile I see that characters like Kevin, Aaron, Seth, and Nicky are demonized, to the same detriments that occur when certain characters are given angel status listed above, but additionally causing them to be forgotten, abused, berated, and rewritten by the fandom.

Outside of their individual characters, relationships are also harmed by this. You can’t write or generally create anything regarding these characters and leave out their relationships, which are such a central factor to the books. Even characters who aren’t given an incredible amount of direct on page time together, we still see their relationships and how those relationships impact them through bits of dialogue, through their pasts, through other’s perspectives, through their limited actions we do see.

Demonizing Kevin doesn’t only harm his character personally, but harms Andrew, harms Neil, harms Jean, who no matter how complicated their relationships can be, love Kevin and who Kevin loves in turn no matter how he struggles to show it in a “socially acceptable” (neurotypically acceptable) manner. In turn, demonizing Nicky doesn’t only undermine his own character and past, but also undermines the choices he made to show up for his cousins, Andrew and Aaron’s relationships with him, his relationship with Erik and his relationship with the team who he so badly wants to be close to.

We can’t allow our own emotions and biases to completely cloud our view of characters. It takes away from the fandom, making it a more toxic and divisive place. It takes away from the art and writing we create, our ability to tell stories. And most importantly it takes away from the character’s complexity, from the complexity of their relationships.

[winningmymind]

*in a foxes group chat*

Neil: lol im dying send help

Matt: oof same

Aaron: me af

Dan: rip, what's up man?

Andrew: Good.

Neil: no like im legit dying

Neil: some guy stabbed me in a mcdonald's parking lol

Neil: the lol is habit

Neil: *sends a blurry picture of himself dabbing in the ambulance*

SEVERAL PEOPLE ARE TYPING...

[winningmymind]

pt. 27 | aftg socmed au pt. 28 | pt. 29 (coming soon)

tag list: @wasitworththefallforthesun @qixjone @very-small-flower @justaboredcryptid @demon-of-arts @sleepy-kamren @bisexualchaosdemon @justalunaticfangirl @ienvysomegays @all-for-exy @jeanmoreau29-3 @tireddreamergirl @little2nerdy @wasitworththefallforthesun @izzyhandsdeservedbetter @chaoticfox03 @youdontknowhowtodiequietly @moon-over-ruined-castle @winningmymind @graveyardviolence @aceadoxography @screechin-outloud @jean-yvesning @anxiouslyandmessily @saphritalks @itingtmywly @mqmneee @lovely-jjh @andrewsleftarmband @embooks @marzanomics @ugly-punkling @min-getoutofmy-yard @beatrix33 @slushsoda @batscentedbouquetperson @tessasilverswan @likeawildanimal @kgbkbg @buffalo-fox @stxrrstruckk @batscentedbouquetperson

I got the absolute worst sunburn, kill me

[winningmymind]

Read my AftG Dissertation!

Hello hello! Some of you may remember a questionnaire that floated around the fandom in December of last year, collecting data on how and where people discovered AftG. That was part of my research for my undergraduate dissertation:

As a long-term lover of this series and its fandom, I loved hearing from you all. It was so lovely to learn about your experiences with the series and how it got many of us through tough times! Thank you again to everyone who took part (or wanted to, but wasn't able to).

Many respondents expressed interest in reading the results of my research, and now that it has been graded and I'm officially no longer a student, I'm excited to share it with you!

Read it here!

[winningmymind]

It's hilarious how nosy Neil is about everyone while being so secretive himself to me

Like, in the tail end of TKM when the Foxes party with the Vixens, Neil wants to watch how different Aaron is when he's around Katelyn now that the twins are allowed to openly date and like Nicky n them have to teach Neil not to waste an empty dorm cuz Andrew left the party early

Neil really should be hired by TMZ or something the way he is always locking in on info/gossip or whatever

[winningmymind]

so do we think that andrew refused his prescription pain meds after his surgery so that they wouldn’t have to exist within proximity to his brother? because even if aaron was sleeping in a different dorm, he’d be over and he’d know they were there, and andrew trusted him but didn’t want to put him in that situation regardless? and do we think that above all, andrew didn’t want to be high on pain meds in front of aaron, didn’t want to provide that potential reflection?

[winningmymind]

Obsessed with Jean just attracting the most hyper people that wanna be around him.

Derek and Derrick, Tanner, and Cat

Then there's the dog, the rescue that senses kindred soul by staring Jean down and making Jean his doggo dad

[winningmymind]

I appreciate Andrew being able to clock Jeremy via the lighter. Like how many times have dudes tried hitting on Andrew in Eden's by offering to light his cigarette? Also, love that Andrew has a better gaydar than Nicky lol

[winningmymind]

Ngl Neil, Kevin, and Andrew give me Powerpuff Girls vibes

Neil/Blossom - smart redhead leader types, come up with elaborate insults, very strategic in how they move, seem sensible on surface/still crashout crazy underneath it all. Short but deadly

Kevin/Buttercup - Kevin joining the Foxes who have a bad reputation reminds me of Buttercup hanging with the bad boys Gangreen Gang. Also Jean states Kevin is the 1st Fox to take a swing and Buttercup is known to be a tough fighter that thrives brawling. They both enjoy mean mugging at people or ideas they don't like (RBF). Takes their jobs (Exy player, kickass superhero) waaaay to seriously

Andrew/Bubbles - both care a lot and when pushed there, can definitely beat your ass. Also loves sweets. Both have strong attachments to their siblings. Short but deadly.

[winningmymind]

they are so important to me

[winningmymind]

The Holy Trinity

[winningmymind]

Kevaaron!

[winningmymind]

me when i'm french and bisexual

[winningmymind]

aaron and nicky playing some game on the x box and they can’t beat the level and Aaron calls for his brother and Andrew looks up at him and the outstretched controller, chucks the fucking whatever he was doing, finishes the level, and picks up whatever he was doing and tosses the controller back