goddamnit-minyard

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OH MY GOD?!?!?!?!

"Andrew ghosted a kiss across Neil's hip before–" well, you know 👀

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CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL DOES IT MEAN THAT NORA IS WRITING ANOTHER BOOK CALLED "THE SUNSHINE COURT"????? HELP ME

I've been out of here for GOD KNOWS how long which, it's the first time i do that. ever since i read these books i've been here pretty much uninterruptedly. but now that all my energy is being consumed by other hyperfixations i pulled away for a bit.... AND THAT'S WHEN NORA DECIDES TO COME BACK????

SOMEONE'S GONNA HAVE TO FILL ME IN WITH THE DETAILS.

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I'M BACK (maybe?) WHAT THE FUCK DID I MISS

she knows what she’s doing.

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11/11 Pocky Day!

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the Lessons series and The Unkindness of Ravens by @hopingforcoordinates in ao3 are masterpieces indeed

I wish we'd gotten a gym scene at some point because you know we'd have gotten a whole monologue about how watching andrew's biceps flex while he does bench presses reminds neil about how strong he is and how andrew protects neil and how he's the strongest person neil has ever known and then yet again someone would make a vague comment about neil checking andrew out and he'd be like what??? I don't understand where you could possible get that idea from

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im sorry but neil describing opening a pint of ice cream after making out with andrew as the hardest thing hes ever done is the funniest fucking thing

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THANK YOU. DEAR FUCKING LORD. ENOUGH WITH THE AFTG SLANDER. ENOUGH!!!

I've put some thought into this and I've come up with a theory. My theory is as follows: there are two main reasons people think the aftg novels are filled with bad writing.

1. They are self-published. This point is really two points. Because they are self-published they have a lot of typos and editing errors. Also, because they are self-published they are associated with not being good enough to be traditionally published. The belief that self-published books failed at being traditionally published is false. Nora has stated that she received interest from agents and publishers. They wanted her to change too much of the books, including replacing exy with an existing sport. She said that it would have felt like betraying her characters, especially her female characters, as exy is a coed sport. As for the errors, this is not an example of bad writing. It is an example of amateur proofreading, which is different.

2. The books do not have lyrical prose, which is actually an example of good writing. What?! How can this be? I'm about to tell you. The novels are completely from Neil's POV. They stay in Neil's POV. The reason the prose isn't lyrical is because Neil doesn't think lyrically. He is blunt. Straightforward, even though he's a liar. Think of the scene where he rejects Marissa or when he tells Seth why people don't like him. The writing style reflects this. In fact, many writers struggle with staying inside someone's head, with keeping to their POV. The way that Nora keeps Neil's perspective, and Neil's perspective only, is pretty impressive. His language actually changes a little as the books progress, which is seen around Andrew and his golden eyes. He starts to feel feelings around Andrew and his perspective changes to reflect this. Again, an example of good writing.

In conclusion, aftg are actually really good books. Source: me

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LMFAOOOOOOOOO great additons keep the thread going

neil : *lifts his shirt up to wipe his face*

andrew : he’s a 10

kevin :

kevin : but?

andrew : but nothing.

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neil: *lifts his shirt up to wipe his face*

andrew: he's a 10

aaron:

aaron: u mean his jersey number?

andrew: no

neil : *lifts his shirt up to wipe his face*

andrew : he’s a 10

kevin :

kevin : but?

andrew : but nothing.

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neil: whats your biggest fear?

andrew: you

neil: why

andrew: [i’m scared that one day you will look in the mirror and see yourself as i see you. you will realize just how amazing you are and that you deserve all the happiness. i am terrified that you will leave] not important.

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"i wish i had that problem"

Renee and Wymack: my parent was killed in a prison fight

Neil:

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yall need to be for fucking real. this cannot have so many notes. neil's mum ultimately loved him and protected him ruthlessly, sure. but she was extremely toxic and abusive regardless.

she was ABUSIVE. get that through your skulls first.

she beat the shit out of him for kissing someone to the point is scarred him psychologically so badly it left him unable to tell if he just wasn't attracted to girls or if this trauma blocked his ability to feel attraction.

"They stopped six feet from the tide and she made him repeat every promise she'd ever dragged out of him: don't look back, don't slow down, and don't trust anyone. Be anyone but himself, and never be anyone for too long."

her LAST words to her child were a demand he always remembers to do EVERYTHING he had to stop doing in order to heal throughout the books, with the foxes, with andrew.

she, alongside neil's father and the moriyamas, is EQUALLY as responsible for the insane amounts of psychological damage he endures and will probably endure forever. even if he heals, there will always be days were it just comes back to haunt him.

he never would've healed had she stayed alive.

she would not have let him. no matter if it was his choice to die trying.

he was THANKFUL she died due to this.

don't dare compare the way andrew chastises himself for loving someone due to his own trauma as a way to put up a protective wall with neil's incredibly harsh mother that was hellbent on keeping neil alive and never happy. their whole relationship is based on choices, trust, and growth. something neil's mother would've beaten neil to hell and back for doing (in neil's own words!!).

at the end of the day, if it killed neil to follow his dream, to follow his heart and stay, andrew would Support him, no matter how much neil's death would forever break him. and he did support him. because he loved him while knowing his life was in danger and he allowed him to stay and fight, to not be a rabbit anymore (in andrew's own words!). and you think he did it because he didn't love him as much as neil's mum did? he did it because neil will always get to choose with him. to put his own priorities first. because if andrew knows something it is that life is worth nothing when there's nothing worth living for. that's why neil loves him. because andrew gave him what he never had, what he never DARED wish for. which is to simply... choose for himself. and that is in big part his mum's fault. that is the WHOLE point. yall cannot have missed it THIS badly.

Anyone else think it’s so easy for Neil to understand Andrew’s whole “I hate you and I’m going to protect you with my life” thing because that’s exactly how Neil’s mom regarded him?

She cared for him and protected him, but she absolutely resented him because she cared about him?

Do you think the reason Neil is so comfortable in a relationship where his partner routinely calls him stupid and useless, says he hates Neil, and states that he wishes Neil was dead, is because that’s the kind of “love” Neil is already familiar with?

And what do you think Andrew would do, when he makes that connection?

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it's hilarious to think of the possibility of there being around 5 different couples of gays making out around neil CONSTANTLY everytime they're at eden's and this bitch daring to go "YOU LIKE ME?!" soon as andrew's like "i'm gay"

at this point i'm convinced eden's twilight is a gay bar and aaron just doesn't know it

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we'll never run out of bible-long posts to write about these books will we 😕

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aftg show bloopers like

the scene where Neil throws the glass at Aaron (it's not glass glass, it's that softish, breakable material used in filmmaking that looks like glass) and Aaron's actor ducks too late so it hits him straight in the face. nobody moves for a second (they're still rolling) until Neil's actor moves toward him going "oh my god I'm so sorry" and everyone starts laughing and Aaron's actor is like I'm fine dw

Allison's actress tripping in her heels during what's supposed to be a badass entrance and she drags herself out to redo the take, cursing the shoes

so many bits of the cast just pretending to club each other over the head with their racquets

Coach's actor accidentally switches up a whole bunch of words while shooting one of his inspirational speeches. but he just keeps talking as though he didn't just passionately tell the kids to "get out on that floor and- court- show them how real a Fox floors- plays...after tonight they will- they will not ever discriminate- underestimate you again" and you can hear the Foxes' actors quietly break character one by one in the background

Andrew's actor pulling out a knife to threaten someone but then dropping it and jumping back from it

just. the monsters all piled in the car for a scene and they're all in the zone, waiting for "Action" to be called when something happens and they all crack up in sync

Andrew and Neil's actors on an actual roof, trying to shoot an Andreil Moment but an airplane flies over and they have to wait for it to pass because audio. so in the blooper these two guys are just standing very close to each other, Andrew's hand fisted in Neil's hoodie, staring up at the airplane urging it to get out of the way

in one scene Dan's actress kisses Matt on the cheek as a goodbye before she leaves the room, and right after she does Neil's actor jumps up to kiss his cheek too

they're shooting a night practice scene and Kevin's actor keeps missing the mark and it's just a bunch of two second clips of him on set of the court, groaning and swearing and oof-ing. after he misses the action for like the tenth time he just turns to make direct eye contact with the camera, his face comically blank

(in the background you can hear Neil's actor go "thank goodness for editing and all that magic, eh?")

Andrew's actor forgets his line during the scene where the Foxes meet the Ravens at the banquet. he gets to the "Jean. Jean Valjean" line and then completely blanks, going "Jean Valjean. hello Jean Valjean. I'm supposed to say something to you now Jean Valjean. i do not remember what"

the actors for Aaron, Kevin, Andrew and Nicky all being crammed onto that couch in the lounge the way the monsters actually do and falling asleep on each other in between takes

Neil's actor is British who speaks in an American accent but one time accidentally lets the accent slip during a scene where he uses the phrase "strongest goalkeeper". he cuts himself off and it's silent for a beat and then he softly repeats "goalkeeper" to himself in an exaggeratedly British accent and cracks everyone up. Kevin's actor, who himself naturally has an Irish accent, goes "this is South Carolina, love"

it's a night shoot and it's cold and Aaron's actor steals Andrew's actor's (his brother) scarf going "how come you get a scarf and i don't. Aaron is getting the scarf for this scene"

Kevin and Neil's actors doing a scene where they get all up in each other's faces. and then start leaning in too much and make as though they're going to start kissing

just a solid two minutes of Neil and Andrew's actors fighting bugs away from their faces throughout various rooftop scenes

Nicky's actor being the mf king of improvised one-liners (in true Nicky fashion) and just constantly causing EVERYONE to break cause his quips are so random

not really a blooper but they're behind the camera, waiting for something to be set up, and Renee's actress has an acoustic guitar and she and some of the others make up really bad jingles for all the characters

Dan's actress is most likely to fumble her lines or trip over her tongue and she always does like a weird dance to shake herself out

Aaron's actor looking straight into the camera with a shiner blooming over half his face due to a badly executed "fight" scene: let it be known. here on the set of All for the Game, i do my own stunts

(his brother in the background: you DORK. Aaron's actor: shut up or I'm telling Mom you punched me in the face)

Kevin's actor doing a scene (perhaps that one on the bus in tfc) where he's downing alcohol and he's expecting the director to call cut at a certain point or tell him when he can stop drinking but that doesn't happen so he just kind of confusedly chugs the whole bottle and then the director goes "you didn't need to do all that but we got it thanks" and Kevin's like ?? but Neil's actor, who's in the scene, is stood there with his eyebrows raised, very impressed, going "oh my god that was amazing"

Dan's actress slipping on a line and then banging her head against the chest of Matt's actor in frustration and he just rubs her back, grinning

not a blooper but Neil's actor recites the Riko roast flawlessly and as soon as they call "Cut" on it he gets a little sitting ovation from everyone. even Riko's actor is like yeah okay shutting the fuck up and leaving you alone now

Neil's actor actually struggling to get the seal off the ice cream container in that one scene. he fake-struggles with it for a few moments and then starts actually struggling and looks over to the production people and goes "the bloody thing is actually not coming off"

so many bloopers of various cast members having too much fun hitting others upside the head like they do in the books

Andrew's actor accidentally spilling the tray of drinks at Eden's

Allison's actress being the one who can make others break character without getting caught herself

Matt's actor being the one who makes everyone, including himself, break character but doesn't get in trouble because literally everyone is cracking up

however. when they get into Moods, especially during night shoots, and they have scenes together, Matt and Neil's actors are IMPOSSIBLE. to work together. they just cannot control themselves. everyone hates them

see also: Kevin and Matt's actors. Nicky and Allison's. terrible pairings for long days.

there's a scene with coach and the monsters and after like the fifth time they restart coach turns to look at the camera and pours himself a drink using the prop alcohol while going "parenting....is tough"

anyway. call this an au of an au

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i'm so glad the fic we as a fandom assigned as the sequel of aftg explores the fuck out of this whole thing because it's actually so true

Neil as a team captain is positively delightful, because making him captain is both absolutely insane and absolutely brilliant. It capitalizes on the passive effect of having one (1) Neil Josten (god knows the world couldn’t handle if there were more of him) on the team in the most efficient way. Like. I’m 90% sure that after spending some time around him on the same team, most people will look up to him completely awestruck for how much he has impacted their lives, but that’s just not what is actually happening here. I feel like what’s going on is this:

Neil is a terribly amazing choice for team captain entirely because Neil is a meddlesome little asshole who will forcibly fix all of his teammates’ personal problems and improve their entire lives for literally no other reason than that he needs them to be able to focus on fucking stickball so he can win at sports. It’s not even that he genuinely cares about people and their well-being (apart from his original foxes). He just gets pissed when things aren’t working properly because it makes Exy annoying when the lineup can’t communicate. Exy isn’t supposed to be annoying. Exy is life. He’d meddle whether he is captain or not, but by making him captain, he has so much more official executive power at his hands. It’s like people are explicitly asking for him to do his worst. So, fueled by his own competitiveness and love for the sport, off he goes.

Neil is just as bad as Kevin when it comes to his Exy obsession. The major difference between them is that Kevin is endlessly tactical and he runs Exy with a focus on a technical and physical level entirely, whereas Neil’s approach is to look beyond a lack of practice and basically psychoanalyzing people on why they are not doing 110% for Exy. Kevin says “let’s run this drill 500 times, then we will inevitably be better”. Meanwhile Neil is scheming how to coerce and bribe people into life-changing decisions and long-needed healing, entirely because he wants to optimize playing a sport. Exy is a team sport, which is why this is the most logical approach his little stickball brain comes up with rather than minding his own fucking business. He looks at the team and is like “is anyone gonna whip this into shape? No?? I’ll fucking do it then cowards” and goes and does exactly that. It’s like he’s fixing the equipment so he can play.

I don’t think anyone except for Andrew is really aware that Neil really isn’t doing this out of the innate goodness of his heart, but because his personal brand of practicality involves the most convoluted and creative kind of scheming. I feel like Neil is a lot more selfish than people give him credit for. Sure, there’s people he cares deeply and unconditionally for, but that’s really not everyone. It’s fascinating to watch, especially because it’s not like he ever hides that he doesn’t particularly care, but people kinda assume he does, because why else would he put in this much effort?

Stickball. The answer is stickball.