#and the potential of neil and Jean????

[amalias-whatsoever]

question for the aftg fans. how come that neil says he has no friends but he is bestie with everyone?

[willofred]

literally the funniest part abt the perfect court is the height dynamic cause u would think between Jean, Kevin, and Neil that it’s Neil and his scary dogs but it is Neil, the scary dog, and his two trauma bonded ride alongs

[crazy-fangirl2524]

Kandrew is doomed as soon as Andrew choked Kevin the same way Kevjean is doomed as soon as Kevin left Jean behind

[purpleelephantsocks]

What I really want to know is after Neil came back from his Cali visit-a-friend take-out-a-hit piss-off-the-FBI One Day Holiday, what, if anything, does he tell Kevin??

When Kevin asks "how is he?" How does Neil answer?

Did he tell him that he showed up to Jean beaten and bitten and terrified? That he left him with the knowledge that his little sister that he hoped was safe had been sold and killed?

Did he tell Kevin that another of his former teammates was going to end up in the ground? That he made sure of it? Did he tell him before it was plastered on the news, or watch for his reaction?

Did he confront Kevin, asking if he knew? If he knew what Grayson did? What he was to Jean?

[jeanmoreaue]

Different anon, but how do you think Kevin would rank the characters as players?

ooo i want to say that Kevin would be objective about everyone’s abilities and i think he largely is buuut i think he lets some bias sneak in there with Riko, Neil, and Jean so his list in order of talent is:

1. Kevin

2. Riko

3. Neil

4. Jean

5. Andrew

6. Jeremy

everyone else is on a separate list to him

[kevindavidday]

will graham 🤝 andrew minyard

collecting strays

[bisexualfagdyke]

Neil & Jean brothers. Neil & Jean sibling dynamic. Does anyone hear me.

[unwillingtoreachout]

Yapping warning but I've been thinking of an aftg x soul eater fusion and just.... ✨The Possibilities✨

Like at first I was like meister Neil with twin weapons Aaron+Andrew (like death the kid AND them being guns would make sense too bc then you can parallel that scene where Neil reaches for his pistol and knocks Andrew's arm instead). But then I pondered further and realised that Kevin as death the kid would make more sense (which would make asura Riko I guess) and you know what? That opens the door for NEIL AS CRONA, like that could be so interesting to explore

To be honest, some part of me wants to inject this with the neilaaron worms so maybe Neil as maka and Aaron as soul could work too, and maybe his struggle with the madness could be related to his relationship with Andrew in some way (*cough cough* his inferiority complex and resentment about tilda mayhaps)

[aalyre]

WHAT KILLS ME ABOUT LOST FOREVER PARTIER NEIL JOSTEN AND JEAN MOREAU IS THAT NEIL WOULD HAVE TAKEN NUMBER 3 AND JEAN WOULD HAVE BEEN NUMBER 4

[thatexygurl]

real John Wick vibes

y'all ever think about when someone asked nora what would happen if the moriyamas killed andrew as a warning and neil crashes out SO BAD he literally ditches the "neil josten" persona just like that and reverts back to nathaniel hb pulled out ALL the stops he literally hunts down proust, goes to JAPAN just to give himself over as a HITMAN to the moriyamas' rival mafia family so he can take down the moriyama empire from there...thinking about that au. obv i would never want it to happen but GOD the power he holds.

[ionlydrinkhotwater]

See one of the unrealized beautiful things about Jean and Neil's friendship is that the more they hang out, the more their boyfriends have to hang out, too. Andrew and Jeremy actually have a lot of potential as friends, Andrew actually likes nice people, i think Jeremy is capable of getting Andrew to talk with him, they are both blonde Californians with dark taste in partners, they hate cops, they have weird relationships with their siblings, but they take mental health seriously, and they dont make Exy their whole personality. While Jean and Neil are having a complicated crime filled lovehate, "we are brothers from the same messed up family" friendship. Jeremy and Andrew could actually develop a really nice, uncomplicated friendship where they babysit the others' bf when they are in town.

[waestlandbaby]

The way Neil Josten switched into Nathaniel in order to process and handle the abuse and trauma of being found by his father's people and the reality of his looming death will never not fuck me up, he literally said I can't handle this but maybe the Butcher's son could. And then. And then!! The way those two versions of himself coalesce into Neil Abram Josten (legally recognised) after Nathan is dead and the truth is out? The Neil Josten we see in The Sunshine Court has all of the attachments of Neil Josten, the slow unraveling of family and care but all of the hard edges of Nathaniel, unflinching from the reality of the world he lives in and the decisions he has to make to keep his life. Nathaniel would never have stuck around long enough to care about Jean Moreau and call a hit out on his abuser. Neil would never have trusted those resources available to him (or potentially the trail it could leave) in order to deal with the problem in one brutal but efficient move. But Neil Abram Josten reforged could, would and did.

[5a-alf]

It's so satisfying to know that Riko, out of all the people that were supposed to be in the perfect court, was the worst player overall (if the others played at full potential).

Like, we know for a fact he was worse than Kevin, that's explicit.

Then we have Neil, who is like... both an amazing striker AND backliner just by having trained for it for the grand total of like...2 years. He knows both roles and plays them top of the line. He is also always the fastest player on the court, and has enough endurance to play full games... he is so well rounded it's scary.

Andrew is just...out of the league when it comes to ability. He is out of any chart canonically. He just never tries -but when he does? To be able to choose how many shots he wants to let go through, to again play full games and letting only what 16 shots in out of HUNDREDS against the ravens?? He is overpowered, nora gave him depression because if he had the passion to play frfr he'd be court by like 19. No college needed.

Jean is able to be one of the best backliners while playing with broken fingers, broken/bruised ribs, being 2 years younger than everyone else, sleep deprived, tortured...the list goes on. He is still out there blowing everyone out of left field. He is big and coordinated, steady on his feet. And unmovable object. In saner and safer conditions he'll shine so hard the fans will need sunglasses. He's harder to point down as objectively better than Riko but like,, you see my point. Even if they were to be equal players he'd still win in the physique department, making him overall better.

Just. I love this.

[fairvstairs]

You just don't get him like I do.

Wymack pulled a bottle of vodka out of the bag and put it down beside Kevin. “You have ten seconds to inhale as much of this as you can. I’m timing you. Go.” It was alarming how much a man could drink when he needed an emotional crutch. Wymack had to pry the bottle from Kevin’s desperate fingers afterward.

Kevin was silent for an endless minute, then said, “You should be  Court.” It was barely a whisper, but it cut Neil to the bone. It was a resentful goodbye to the bright future Kevin had wanted for Neil. Kevin recruited Neil because he believed in  Neil’s potential. He brought him to the Foxes intending to make a star athlete out of him. Despite his condescending attitude and his dismissals of Neil’s best efforts Kevin honestly expected Neil to make the national team after graduation.

“Good thing you’re not there anymore.” “Jean still is.”

“Let Riko be King,” Kevin said, with the exaggerated enunciation of the thoroughly sloshed. “Most coveted, most protected. He’ll sacrifice every piece he has to protect his throne. Whatever. Me?” Kevin gestured again, meaning to indicate himself but too drunk to get his hand higher than his waist. “I’m going to be the deadliest piece on the board.”

Before he stepped on Kevin tapped the butt of his racquet against the floor and passed his stick to his other hand. He stroked to half-court head high and left-handed and the crowd went wild.  

[margareturtle]

Just thinking about how Jean Moreau is one of the best backliners in Class I exy but I don’t think anyone has even seen his peek potential yet

Just thinking about how Neil is able to match Riko at every turn with his speed at the Final Raven v Foxes match and he catches Riko by surprise since Riko is not expecting Neil in top form as when Neil was at the nest he only got on the court after being beat and his physical condition only got worse as the weeks progressed.

So just thinking that about how Jean has never played an Exy game not in pain. He is one of the best even while always playing in pain somewhere on his body. So I can’t wait to see Jean realize what he can do when he finally gets to play when he’s not in pain.

And for everyone to realize that they’ve seen Jean Moreau play but they haven’t seen Jean Moreau play

[simonsrosebud]

the reality of andrew and neil potentially marrying for benefits is that neil likely wouldn’t change his name because josten is his. it is this little bundle of feeling that he clings fiercely. he fought and struggled and suffered for that name and he got to keep it in the end. and yes, hyphenating it with minyard still means he gets to keep it, but it’s not the same.

neil wears josten across his back when he wins gold, writes josten on his first lease and contract when he finally makes a life for himself on his own in a new city again but this time as a real person. as someone who is known and hated and loved and seen.

neil is sentimental about keys, but we’ve seen the same importance of names- all of them. nathaniel, abram, wesninski, josten. “can i really be neil again?” and “Neil Abram Josten," Neil murmured, and it felt like waking up from a bad dream.” and “Are you going to keep it as-is, then? Jean Moreau?” and “I don't want to be Nathaniel. I want to be Neil Josten. ”

plus, i doubt either of them would care to change all that shit anyway. too much paperwork. they’re not showy with their affectation in public, so flaunting their relationship to the public by way of matching jersey names probs wouldn’t be their route regardless