#Neil josten runs track

[sadboyayeron]

Can someone make a fanfic about a record holding Track Athlete from a rival school (I don’t know.) Calling out PSU for being slow and for no reason bringing up Neil Josten literally on a different sports team saying “Yeah he may be the fastest on the court but put him on the track he’ll get smoked.” And medias all over it cause no way you just called out Neil “attitude problem” Josten on TV not expecting him to clap back.

Fast forward reporters ask Neil how he feels about the statement and all he says is, “Give me his best event and two weeks, I’ll see him on the track.” So Neil joins the track team, practices with them for about 2 weeks just to learn track running technique. Qualifies for one of the biggest collegiate track events not even trying. Qualifies for the finals with the slowest time purposefully, then gaps this man on the track beating the Meet record and the Guy talking shit.

The foxes all watching Neil look at the board smirking when he sees his name and record beating time, looks then straight into the camera his face plastered on the board for the whole stadium to see. And all he does is put his pointer finger against his lips and goes shush 🤫.

All to prove a point. So the haters stay quiet.

(I would honestly say the event would be either 200m, 400m or both maybe even through in a 4x1 or 4x4 relay)

Ik Neil has a lot of endurance but I wanna see him really demonstrate his speed surprising even the Fox’s.

Just imagine the Neil in a Clemson Track compression Uniform (PSU), but instead of orange and purple, it’s orange and black/White with Neil wearing orange arm bands with fox paws and a orange Nike head band.

[cultpastorkevin]

I bet the palmetto track coach was on his knees every night begging god for Neil Josten to transfer to his team

[hauntingsunshine14]

summer olympics 2028 in a universe with no exy we have:

star gymnast neil josten

heavyweight champion andrew minyard

tennis pro kevin day

rugby goddess allison reynolds

d pole laxer matt boyd

marathon swimmer renee walker

volleyball libero aaron minyard

hockey forward dan wilds

synchronized diver nicky hemmick

[rekikiri]

a backliner from another team taunts kevin by calling him “pretty boy” and it immediately becomes A Thing amongst the foxes.

when nicky or allison see him around campus, they’ll whistle and cat call him.

lots of “hey, pretty boy!” “how’s it going, pretty boy?”

and kevin HATES IT. it simultaneously offends him to be called that and also flatters him. like how dare you call me pretty boy…but also, pretty boy? me?

and of course it has to escalate because it’s the foxes.

nicky and allison start to run out of steam a bit and decide to try to come up with similar nicknames for the other foxes. neil, of course, falls victim pretty fast.

the foxes are hanging out on a movie night, neil is curled up beside andrew and on the cusp of falling asleep right there, and allison gets an idea.

“since neil is the youngest, he’s the baby of our group. he’s gonna be baby boy.”

and neil is like :O what ??? And the other foxes talk over everyone and drown out his complaints.

aaron: “allison, that’s disgusting, what the fuck”

nicky, dan, and matt: “allison!! thats perfect! he is our baby boy!”

renee: “aw, that’s so cute!”

andrew: *silent but intensely staring at neil’s flustered state*

kevin: *silent and completely judging everyone in the room*

and it just sticks, ofc. it’s frequently shortened to just “baby” by allison, nicky, and (sometimes) dan.

kevin, aaron, and andrew never call him it

surprisingly, the next victim ends up being andrew.

once neil is unbothered by the nickname, they have to come up with a new one to start over. it begins during practice, and it’s surprisingly not allison or nicky that starts it

andrew is in goal but he’s completely zoned out. which isn’t unusual, but instead of just ignoring everything, he is staring at neil. his eyes are tracking neil as he is zooming around the court without leaving him once. most of the team starts to notice and are silently laughing at it because, yeah, andrew, we totally believe you that you and neil aren’t dating sure.

wymack notices his distraction but is content to ignore it for a while. eventually, after a few too many shots just sail right past his head, he bangs on the door to alert the team he’s opening the court doors.

“hey, lover boy, we’re kind of having a scrimmage here. stare at josten on your own time.”

“mind your pay grade, coach.”

and andrew doesn’t even look bothered. he just slowly rakes his eyes over neil again before turning away. the entire team is failing to contain their laughter. even aaron is having to cover his laugh up with coughs to try to keep up his front of hating their relationship

to his credit, neil only blushes a little bit

so that’s how our bastard trio end up being pretty boy, baby boy, and lover boy :)

[beeatabb]

Aftg series adaptation idea:

Every episode starts with a brief flashback to Neil's life on the run/ his childhood, and at the end of it, the scene cuts to a contradicting thing he does in the present (which would be the plot of that ep).

Like, for example, "i have been running for 9 years, always hiding, staying out of sight, (bla bla u get the picture)" and then BOOM it cuts to Neil dressed up on live TV. Like ??? Yknow, and then it proceeds with the story leading up to that moment.

Or or or

Smth about how he got his scars, some dramatic montage of Neil and Mary fleeing, shots fired in the background, her prying off Neil's kevlar vest to reveal an ugly wound, and then the scene abruptly cuts to that same wound, but healed. Camera pans out, and its Neil showing Abby his scars.

DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN??

Like there are so many options:

Playing at Evermore as a kid/ ...playing at Evermore

Neil getting struck by an iron/ showing his scars to Andrew (again. Or smth else).

Lola teaching Neil how to cut things/ kidnapping scene

Nathaniel Wesninski/ Neil Josten

Etc.

Like, this way we get bits and pieces to Neil's past like how we do in the books; we're not getting totally info-dumped, but we get insight throughout the books as to who he actually is.

It also works with how strongly Neil holds onto Mary's rules, how sick/ sorry he feels whenever he breaks them, because we can actually see why she was so hell-bent on laying low; she doesn't only come off as some paranoid freak, she had reasons- (This is getting off track, Mary ily).

And then we get to experience pure whiplash as to how crazy Neil's life acctually is without him suppressing/compartmentalizing it.

Ah, a girl can dream...

[mania-sama]

neil josten, who, for most of his life, never owned more than what he could fit in his duffel bag. he never carried anything that wasn't essential to his survival - his binder keeping track of the famous exy prodigies included. he never lugged more than his weight, and he never stayed anywhere long enough to obtain sentiments.

neil josten, who directs matt and dan to his living room. they are hauling in a tree into his and andrew's apartment. their friends got stuck with the job because nicky demanded they get a tree, but the little pines and needles rubbed against neil's scars uncomfortably, and andrew claims he didn't want the tree in the first place so he resolutely refused to any manual labor. nicky quickly left for germany, and the rest of their friends were either unavailable or whined too much about the work (kevin).

he walks up to the tree - a real one, with the scent of pine and warmth and christmas overflowing the apartment - and hangs an ornament. it's a useless, metal thing that he'd carried around for half a year. he purchased it when the olympic team played in rio de janeiro and kevin forced him and their merry band of friends to go touring around the city when they got the chance.

he hangs another ornament, a little orange paw to represent palmetto state university. he doesn't live in south carolina anymore, but he'd collected it as a reminder of the university that flipped his world upside down. andrew hangs another one beside it, and although he claims to be scrooge and hate all things merry, he collects just as much, if not more, ornaments than neil, and he makes hot chocolate for the two of them. with marshmallows and cinnamon sprinkled on top.

he runs into an unanticipated problem with the cats. or, well, just one - sir (short for sir fat cat mccatterson) seems to love the ornaments. it is a fight every single day to prevent him from climbing the tree and breaking everything they own - all christmas decorations included.

neil josten, who knows that ornaments are stupid, completely useless, and non-essential items to survival. it burns money that he could use as passage tickets, obtain new identities and new passports, and for temporary food, clothes, and shelter. but he lives in a warm brownstone in brooklyn with two cats and a boyfriend who burns nutmeg-scented candles to enrich the air with christmas spirit (though he will never admit to such intentions). but when he's done, and he steps back to admire the christmas tree that lacks lights but does not lack ornaments, he find he doesn't mind. he doesn't mind that he owns more clothes and shoes than he knows what to do with, that he's bought and made ornaments that he doesn't really remember the purpose of, or that, for once, he doesn't feel any desire or need to run.

he's content where he is, with more than he could ever fit in a duffel bag. he has a life.

the tree glitters with all his happiness and life.

[eleanorpowers]

Hello all for the game tumblr,

With seven weeks until The Golden Raven comes out, and my endless need to gab about this series, I've come up with an idea.

Every week leading up to the book release, I'll share the Spotify playlist I've created for an aftg character. Every day that week, I'll share one song from the playlist and wax poetic about all the ways it connects to the character.

I already have which characters I'm going to do and an order in mind, so without further adieu I give you week one:

And our song for day one is the very first song on the playlist!

Run and Go is a perfect representation of where Neil's journey is at when The Foxhole Court ends. As far as he is concerned he just indirectly caused Seth's death, and now should be the time that he runs. He's been running his entire life. But for some reason, even though he'll be dead or in fbi custody by the end of the year, he stays.

And you can view the song as an internal monologue towards either himself or Andrew. It works either way, and I see both mingling throughout the song. Perhaps even more interestingly, the song itself is related to religion, something something being sinful and undeserving of God who you've indirectly killed by sinning.

While I don't see any world where Neil is calling on help from a higher being, he certainly is beginning to recognize that he needs someone to rely on outside of himself. His shit is too much to carry on his own. And still, he doesn't want to drag Andrew into this.

But of course Andrew ends up being the one thing "that [can] hold him and all of his problems up without breaking a sweat". The one who stops him in his tracks and keeps his attention and makes him want to stay, rather than keep running.

[orange-foxes]

Neighbors

🏠 under the kitchen lights (you still look like dynamite) by ephemeralsky (26k)

In which Andrew and Neil are neighbors who do various neighborly things))

🏠 we might be hollow (but we're brave) by stttmsbwa (41k)

Andrew is looking to live his life in peaceful nothingness, but his new neighbor's cat won't stop sneaking onto his balcony. As much as he tries to not make it into something, Andrew finds himself drawn to the mysterious and tempting man next door. Neil is just trying to find a reason to not leave Palmetto after everyone else has moved on. But he never thought he would want to run toward something in favor of running away. (In a slightly different world, two people find themselves meeting in a softer setting and in just as much need of each other. A story about dealing with pasts, sharing secrets and a cat who is an asshole yet manages to charm everyone around it.)

🏠 No Place Like Home by gluupor, moonix (32k)

With neighbours like these, who needs enemies? Neil and Andrew have been friends for years, but have never met face to face. Josten and Minyard are new neighbours who start off on the wrong foot. Can they turn a prank war into a courtship?

🏠 boy next door by foodforworms (34k)

“I’m Neil,” he says next, undeterred by Andrew’s prior lack of responses. Neil pauses a few seconds and evidently must come to the albeit correct conclusion that Andrew will not reply unless prompted to and continues with “and you are?” “Not friendly,” Andrew replies. He takes the very last drag of his cigarette and puts it out on the windowsill before tossing it in the small trash can he keeps in the corner for the explicit purpose of throwing away empty cigarette cartons and butts. ... “No,” Neil agrees, smirking and looking down as if this is some sort of private joke Andrew let him in on. He watches Neil cough out a little laugh, and feels something akin to hatred bloom in his chest again. Neil looks back up at him, and his smile widens. “Neighborly, then.” _____________ Neil moves into the apartment next to Andrew's.

🏠 I know they won’t hurt you anymore by greedwtf (62k)

After burying his mother’s bones in an empty Californian beach, getting caught by his father, and being saved by his uncle, Nathaniel Wesninski has no other choice but to talk to the FBI to put an end to all of it. A new chance in life leads him to a homey off-campus apartment in South Carolina, as a Mathematics major with his dog Ellie, trying to figure out how to live again. ———— In which Neil Josten, Math genius amputee, former track prodigy, only begins to exist after Nathan’s death. Stuart adopts Neil and helps him finish high school and settle down, and he ends up living next to Andrew Minyard, a Criminal Justice major at Palmetto State University who takes an interest in him.

🏠 between the wall and a hard place by alex_wh0 (7k)

When Neil hears alarming sounds from his neighbour's house, he's about to intervene, but a mortifying detail makes him reconsider. Cue excessive exchanging of notes between Neil and anonymous neighbour who may or may not hate Exy and may or may not want to meet him.

[nick-c0rrupt3d]

AFTG x ALEX G songs here!

Andrew Minyard:

-Come Back

song here

-Keeping promises for 'kicks'.

Him saying that promises means everything, but lets aaron go over them.

-Thinking it wouldnt 'stain like this',

Him losing his impurity, feeling dirty after his SA.

-'slimy little pills keeping you around'

He thought that Neil was an hallucination.

-'i wish i could come back down'

His need to stop being manic because of his pills.

-Candy

song here

-'keep your body in the air, shut your mouth stay up there, dont let them see you like this, wash your face and hide your wrists'

Just his SA and his way to recall his body his own throught cutting himself. The costant need to never show what you have been throught and let himself percieved weak.

-'Just like candy you go down, stain my teeth and rot your mouth'

Again, his pills doing more bad than good.

-East coast(unrealeased)

song here

-'And maybe, I'm tired of you running your mouth, And maybe, I don't have the guts to spell it out, And maybe, I want you to hurt my brain'

Maybe, maybe, maybe, he is insecure, he doesnt understand, he is struggling to understand what neil means for him.

-'When you go, Where you go, I don't wanna know, When you go, Where you go, Don't tell me so'

Andrew in denial, a lof of 'i dont care' while he does. Its easier to think that Neil will go away.

-Track 07 (unrealesed)

song here

-'I wanna make you cry like you knew, I wanna make you lose'

Wanting revenge from his abuser. making them cry like they make him do.

-'What's the matter? I dont want to wait so long'

Him waiting and waiting for his abuse to stop.

-'Met a boy who likes my body, said he wants to break your teeth'

Well..Neil Josten. Sprinting to defend him at Thanksgiving, but Aaron beating him in time.

BONUS!

MASTER POST

[grasslesss]

Evan "Buck" Buckley Playlist

Hello!! I've posted my playlist master doc before but I've decided I want to start posting each of them individually and talking a little but about them, their vibe, and some highlights from each, and I've been so proud of the Buck one lately I've decided to start there. If you want a refresher on how I curate my playlists/my rules, I will attach the master doc here where you can find info about that & any other character playlists you might be interested in.

To sum it up, the general criteria is based on lyric interpretation, vibes, sometimes the era a character comes from if it’s clearly defined, and if I personally think the character would listen to it or not.

With that being said, my Buck playlist!!!! The sonic vibe here is a combination of plucky guitar and brain-itching synths. Buck gets to have one of the wider ranges of music (similarly to my Neil Josten playlist) because I generally interpret the characters who travel a lot/have "running" as a theme in their arcs as listening to a lot of different music because traveling lends itself to that.

I generally don't put Taylor on a lot of playlists despite liking her music because I just don't think a lot of characters would listen to her despite how much her music is tied to fandom, so it is a JOY when I get to. There is a nice handful of Taylor on here. A sprinkling of Maggie Rogers and Remi Wolf as well. Buck loves some girl pop, what can I say.

Fleetwood Mac is THE roadtrip music, so he has a sprinkling of their tracks on here as well.

My favorite addition to this playlist are the tracks by Nick Drake. I am a huge Nick Drake fan and when "One of These Things First" started playing during Buck Begins I nearly lost my mind. I think his introspective lyrics and raw production would be something Buck really enjoys.

There is also, of course, some Noah Kahan because it thematically fits. (Again, ties back to that idea of running. Also ties into themes of family, and the concept of "home,")

My wildcard, hot take opinion on this playlist is the sprinkling of new wave. I just think Buck would like new wave music.

And a highlight track for me is "Cowboy Tumbleweed" by FIGHTMASTER (or E.R. Fightmaster.) It is *the* people-pleaser character anthem, but I think more than any of my other character playlists it's on it fits this one the most.

I hope someone enjoys this :)

[our-king-bree]

PREVIOUS PART

AFTG AU PT.2 where Katelyn and Neil are half siblings, and Katelyn got left behind with Nathan when Mary ran away with Neil.

Katelyn doesn't react well when she sees Nathaniel for the first time at Palmetto. She's been secretly going out with Aaron for a while so she knows there's a new guy on a team, that's a menace, that's trouble and that Andrew seems so intent on breaking but she doesn't know how he looks and his name —Neil Josten— doesn't ring any bells so she doesn't pay him much attention, really.

Their first encounter happens on a practice, the Vixens practice on court too but they don't share the same schedule with the Foxes—that's why they haven't crossed paths yet. But practice got postponed and things happened and suddenly, the doors open and in come the Foxes. The Vixens don't mind them, their practice will end up soon anyway but someone catches Katelyn's eyes —a short guy, dark brown hair, brown eyes, and something so familiar about him. She doesn't realize she stopped mid stretch to openly stared at the guy until Maya hits her lightly on the shoulder. And then, Katelyn recognizes him.

Her first instinct is to run, her second instinct is to attack. Her third instinct, and the one she follows, is to scream at him to get his attention.

"This is very far away from home, isn't it?" the words feel like blades cutting her tongue, the language feels strange but she smiles to herself when Nathaniel stops on his tracks.

He turns around, eyes widened and tries to look for her on the ocean of Vixens, Katelyn takes a step closer to him. "You're not gonna say hello? I missed you."

Katelyn's words carry weight, the weight of endless punishments with Lola in the basement, the weight of endless lessons with Nathan. The weight of being left behind by both Mary and Nathaniel without a second thought. Mary wasn't her mother, and she knows it but she could've at least warned her mother and things would've been different. Instead, she grabbed her son and ran away.

"What are you doing here?" Nathaniel says, suddenly too close for comfort. Katelyn backs away and Nathaniel follows. "What? Afraid now? You literally yelled at me across the court."

Katelyn wants to laugh, she's not afraid. She had been trained to not be afraid, she doesn't laugh though. But she smiles and something akin to pride blooms on her chest when Nathaniel takes a step back. "What are you doing here? He would kill you"

She doesn't say what she really wants to say: 'This place is mine, I've been sharing the house back at Baltimore with your ghost. You don't get to steal this place from me too.' But it's a close thing, she can feel her chest tightened, her eyes burn and her fists closing over the imaginary handle of her father's knives.

"Locker room. Now."

She doesn't look back to see if Nathaniel follows her, but she hears his steps falling behind her and she nods to herself approvingly. Palmetto is hers, Nathaniel will do as she wishes him to do. She would no longer be the second. Not here.

[love-too]

ARO/ACE MEDIA REC

So, I decided to make one of this too with the books and movies/series I've actually seen to keep track of my impressions.

Btw these are just little descriptions to avoid spoilers, but before reading or watching, please, do seek more information about the plot and the eventual warnings that come with it!

BOOKS

Seven Ways We Lie - ace rep

The story follows 7 students who represent the 7 deadly sin. They all get caught up in a secret at their high school while having to deal with their messy lives.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman - ace rep

It talks about friendship and relationships and the difficulties that come with loneliness.

Solitaire by Alice Oseman - ace rep

It follows the story of Tori and her struggles with loneliness and making friends until Michael comes along.

How to be a normal person by TJ Klune - ace rep

One of the most moving father-son relationships I've ever read. This book is a bit weird, but really lovely.

Heartsong by TJ Klune - ace rep

It's about werewolves and magicians and found family. The relationship that the ace characters is in is really cute.

The Captive Prince series by CS Pacat - demi rep (?)

I was on the fence on wether to include this or not, but ultimately I did because. It's historical fantasy and it deals with abuse, so heads-up!

The all for the game series by Nora Sakavic - demisexual rep

The story of Neil Josten, an orphan on the run that turns to Exy to try to survive. It's about found family and it deals really well with the concept of consent.

COMICS

Wandering by pearsfears - aroace rep

This story is about sport, college, body issues and friendship. The artstyle is really soothing.

MOVIES/SERIES

Koisenu Futari - aroace rep

Arguably one of the best series on the topic I've ever seen. The characters talk about it out loud and with no shame and it explores the idea of a queer platonic relationship.

Heartbreak High - ace rep

It deals with the difficulties and incomprehensions that may come when one person in a relationship is asexual and/or sex repulsed and the other is not.

Heartstopper - aroace rep

Alice Oseman once again, this time with aroace rep from Isaac in the second season.

One Piece Live Action - ace/aroace rep

I never read the manga or saw the anime, but this one really surprised me. Luffy truly feels aroace with lines like "you look like Nami" (and Zoro's "you're asking the wrong guy"!) and loyalty that makes you think of the possibility of a qpr. Plus, found family! (Again, idk if it's confirmed. I know nothing about one piece, but the vibes are surely there).

[aftgficrec]

Any fics where Kevin goes out of his way to find Nathaniel Wesninski and hunts down Neil in Millport the way Neil thought he had?

Here’s what we found. Kevin also seeks out butcher!neil in ‘Shake My Tomb,’ here. -A

They All Burn the Same by ribbittrabbitt [Rated E, 14348 Words, Incomplete, Updated May 2024]

Abram has been running since he watched his mother die. He's been running and doing the things he does best. He kills, he hides, he lies. He's allowed himself a break, time to settle as Neil Josten and allow himself a few months to live something resembling a real life, when an old friend tracks him down and drags him into a world he swore to always run from. An AU where Kevin Day seeks out Neil Josten and hopes that Nathaniel Wesninski will offer help in taking down Riko Moriyama.

tw: dark, tw: violence, tw: blood/gore, tw: implied/referenced torture, tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: rape/noncon, tw: alcohol abuse

[mommy-daddy-issues-poll]

Neil Josten (All For The Game) Propaganda

“Serial killer dad and abusive mom who raised him on the run his whole childhood”

“His father is a crime lord and basically sold him to the mafia as a child so his mother stole a bunch of money from his father and went on the run with him and they are hunted by his father's men. While his mother (arguably) loves him, she very much emotionally neglected him and physically punished him when he didn't keep a low enough profile. Then his mom is killed by his fathers men, so after being controlled by her all his life (for survival) he has to live on his own for the first time. And then also his father has him tortured and tries to kill him later on. So plenty of Mommy and Daddy issue to go around.”

“Neil was raised by a father in the mafia that is known as the butcher because he kills a bunch of people with a cleaver like that's his job in the mafia and he's abusive and terrible to Neil. Then his mom finally escapes with him and they have to live on the run for several years while his father tries to track them down. While on the run his mother is also abusive in a way that is trying to keep him safe but still abuse (like hitting him for going out with a girl because she doesn't want them to get too close to people). Anyways his father finally catches up to them and kills his mother and then he has to burn her body on the beach so. He doesn't trust anyone, especially not older men, and he also has to deal with the mental trauma that his mother put on them while on the run and it greatly affects his relationships with other people. He needs therapy so deeply but doesn't believe in it. Sometimes he wakes up reaching for a gun that he used to keep next to him at all times. He doesn't move when he sleeps bc his mom would hit him for it. Most of his actions in the series hinge on the fact that his father will find and kill him. He can't stop thinking about the way his mother's body looked as it burned. He's got so many problems <3 but he meets a bunch of other people who also have a lot of trauma and they bond and it's beautiful”

"Well, his father is the Butcher of Baltimore, a serial killer who's the head of a gang with equally horrible people. His father has his people torture Neil to teach him how to be like Nathan, and also tortures him himself. One incident in Neil's childhood is when he couldn't sit still enough when the police come round and, when they leave, his father whacks him with a hot iron. Then, his dad decides to basically sell him to the yakuza that he works for - or, at least, to a branch of it that controls a sport (Exy). They also mess up the college kids in their care, hurting those they feel they own.

To stop this, Neil's mum grabs him and goes on the run with him, so for a good portion of his life, Neil is moved around, told not to amount to anything so he's not noticed, and lives in constant fear. If he does anything his mum considers wrong or that could get them found, she would beat him, and often immediately moved them on. "

“His mother beat him frequently when they were on the run (out of fear because he could endanger them so she was trying to correct his behavior but still there are better ways). Like his relationship with his mom is so fucked that one of the first things we learn about him is that he likes smelling cigarette smoke to remind him of when he burned her body after she died. At one point he goes I wonder if my mom is watching over me from the afterlife, hopefully not because she would probably try to kill me. This is of course, his good parent.

His father tortured him on several occasions growing up and was going to sell him to his boss for him to become a professional athlete when he was like 10 but if his boss decided that he couldn't be a sports star he would kill him. When Neil is on the run, he has to live in constant fear of his father finding him and his mom. Later in the series his father does finally catch him and pretty brutally tortures him (this is Neil's second time being tortured in these books about college sports) where he is covered in cuts and burns (some of those were from his father's subordinates to be fair) and his father was planning on gutting him and dismembered him until Neil's uncle came in and killed him.

Anyways of course the boy raised by two different mafia families has a problematic relationship to his parents."

"so basically. his dad is a mafia affiliated serial murderer who abused him his whole early childhood, which already sucks ass for neil. but THEN, this guy tried to essentially sell him to a yakuza organization (that also def would have abused him as well, not that he really cared) to pay off his debts, making him property of a yakuza organization that would profit off of him by (im not joking here) making him play a sport that is basically aggressive indoor lacrosse and allowing him to be abused in any possible way. and you may be saying, wow, that’s really messed up and kind of a weird roundabout way to settle debts, but what about his mom? and uh. oh boy. what about his mom.

his mom saw that her son was being sold to be a little lacrosse prisoner for his whole life and took her son and ran away from her husband. so she seems nice, right? wrong. she canonically refused to let him get to know anyone and hit him for even thinking about any kind of romantic feelings towards other people which. okay. i get that ur on the run from ur mob husband that wants to kill you but maybe be nice to ur son?? tbr tho, she doesn’t get that long a chance to, considering that a few years into being on the run she gets murdered by the aforementioned mob husband’s henchmen, after which she asks neil to dispose of her body by Burning It In A Car Fire and Burying Her On A Beach. so. uh. he does that. and then you’d think, oh, that’s quite a lot to happen to one person, he should stop having to Go Through It, right? but no. that’s just his backstory. we haven’t even gotten to the actual plot yet.

cut to years (and two and a half books) down the line, and he’s still on the run from his aforementioned killer mob dad who has sent henchmen after him to kill him. once he gets out of jail (he was in jail for a while there btw. i have no idea why these henchmen stuck with him after that but that’s beside the point), one of his henchmen kidnaps neil and the mob dad is like okay! im going to kill you with a knife now after my henchman tortures you! bye bye son! and neil is like yeah. that’s expected. and later when his dad is killed he is very much like ding dong the witch is dead (sidebar: he was not like that about his mom’s death. his relationship with his mom is very like… she loved me in her own way but she wasn’t kind but did she even have the chance to be? and i’ll never know but she showed glimpses of it i miss her so bad im glad ill never see her again. yk? lowkey the slightest bit complex i’ll give nora that and only that)

(second sidebar: neil looks Just Like His Dad and fully cannot look at himself in a mirror because of it. like he wears color contacts for Disguises while he’s on the run and he takes them out for more than like two seconds and goes out in public with His Dad’s blue eyes and he’s like I Want To Puke this is so bad.)

as a bonus the coach of the basically-lacrosse team he joins meets him and within literally an hour of knowing him was like “oh btw. i don’t hit kids. you look like you needed me to clarify that for you as if that’s not a given” and neil, after only knowing that this guy was roughly the same age and build as his father was like “yeah right” and genuinely does not truly think that this man isn’t out to get him until the end of the second book. it took him 2/3 of the plot to trust this man to even the smallest degree. what is even going on in nora’s brain that made her write this"

[nutella-icecream]

hello what's Trans vampire slayer Neil Josten

It's another one of my story ideas that's entirely bulleted outline with no parts written. I'm just going to share it all here

I think Nathan should be working for The First Evil, bc that would be fucked up. Mary realizes he might be able to track down Neil after weapons practice/ritual slayer murder with the Moriyamas and decides to flee with all Nathan’s money

Neil goes to high school in the US. but is Andrew a vampire or a student?

I think Andrew as a vampire could be really fucked up

His eidetic memory led him to give himself a soul, to protect what he wanted as a human

Let’s go with student Andrew for now. We’re in Columbia, SC. Allison, Renee, Seth, Dan, and Matt are seniors. Andrew and Aaron are juniors. Neil is a sophomore, as is Janie Smalls, the first victim of a vampire attack in the story.

Nicky is the guardian of Aaron and Andrew. Neil squats in an abandoned house. Wymack is either the librarian or the gym teacher at the high school…I want to make him the buff librarian bc it would be funny

If the Moriyamas work with The First Evil, then Kevin was trained for that after his mom died. What was her morality like in this setting?????????? Does Exy exist???? I want to say no. in that case, Kevin grew up with Wymack but kept his mom’s name. Wymack is training him to become a Watcher.

Neil knows the very bare minimum about vampires and demons from traveling constantly and living on the run for 6 years. He knows they’re real, he’s staked a vampire. He goes to a fictionalized Dreher High School bc there’s enough death associated with it that I can excuse Columbia being a hellmouth (:

I feel like a Hush premise would be really funny with Neil, who lies all the time and suddenly can’t do that anymore!

ANDREW AS WILLOW ANDREW AS WILLOW ANDREW AS WILLOW

Andrew already knows he’s gay but. Magic as a way of learning to control the chaos in his life. Magic as a way to express the good he sees in others. Magic as the connection between him and Neil when they ask “yes or no.” Magic as protecting his family and Neil

No Xander, all my homies hate Xander

Seth becomes a vampire bc of Riko at the end of the first arc and Neil stakes him

Renee would probably be one of the first people to find out about the supernatural, other than Andrew. Dan and Matt would find out together. Allison needs to find out before Seth turns.

[paradoxolotl]

The foxes need to do this for Neil