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I love soulmates but also this-

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...but he'd violently disliked her [Mary] for half his life.

I don't know why I find this part that fascinating. I guess it's the fact that Neil does understand what Mary did to him was wrong (considering the fact that he disliked her and was aware of that). Neil also realizes that part of his opinion is a bit biased because of being on a run and all of that.

Now I see lots of fics where Neil defends his mother and stands on the fact that she was a good mother, but then I reread his part and ... I'm not so sure now that he would. Yeah, he would shrug on the things she did to him and he might try to justify them even, but would it be because of believing that Mary was a good mother or simply because of being used to being hurt and being blamed for it?

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Desperately need to know what gifts Neil and Andrew would get each other for the holidays,,,,,

Like realistically I know they probably wouldn’t celebrate Christmas, but I do think that Andrew wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to give Neil more gifts.

And Neil wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to show Andrew how much he loves him <33

I feel like Andrew is the type to really listen out for the little things, getting Neil a bunch of stuff he’s made a comment on needing/wanting throughout the past year. Most likely some clothes too (god knows Neil needs it)

Neil would definitely find out about all of the things Andrew has ever wanted to buy in his life and make it his mission to buy ALL OF IT (maybe a second car??)

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“I was now High Lord and could do what I wanted with trespassers threatening the peace of my lands. I claimed Lucien as my own—named him emissary, since he’d already made many friends across the courts and had always been good at talking to people, while I… can find it difficult. He’s been here ever since.” - ACOTAR, Chapter 18

Tamlin rescuing Lucien from his brothers. I thought about drawing this scene ever since I read it and wanting to make a gift for @yaralulu, who loves angsty stuff as much as I do, I finally took the time for it!

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Imagine being Stuart Hatford and thinking for the better part of a decade your sister and her son are dead. Your god damn sister.

And then you learn - surprise! - they were not dead, they were just lying low, but then your sister actually dies and her son's idea of "lying low" is playing college stickball on national television and pissing off both the FBI and the Japanese mafia. Then you finally kill your nephew's psychopath father and reconnect with him only to figure out he's a package deal:

He comes with a murderous boyfriend (because, apparently, in the time he was on the fucking run, a college athlete, and evading the Yakuza's wrath he managed to get one of those) and a traumatized French Boy

You and the traumatized French Bond bond over dead sisters

It all comes full circle

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Honestly hilarious how Neil is basically like "ok Renee murdered people, I can trust her now"

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reading all for the game with @olly-olly-octopus and they described andrew minyard as emo so this is how i’ve been envisioning him. ignore how messy this is

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I keep seeing all these beautiful poetic posts about Jean and Neil "forever partners" and "died in every draft universe" and all that and I just–

Nora did not write a draft where Neil was a Raven!!! (as far as I'm aware)

When she said that he died in every draft but the final one, that's all the versions Nora wrote. Not all the versions that could exist in every timeline ever. It's like how in some earlier drafts Andrew and Renee were a thing.

If Neil was a Raven, Jean doesn't die because Neil would be there to keep him alive.

This is right up there with people saying Andrew believed Neil himself was a hallucination (and not Andrew’s feelings for Neil that he was blaming them on the side effects because the pills were supposed to make him happy and HE WAS)

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I can't even right now

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I know Katelyn and Neil looking similar is a common headcanon but what if Erik and Neil look similar? Like, we know Neil is Nicky's type and we don't have a canon physical description of Erik and redheads are common in that sort of area of Europe (unless Google lied to me). What if Erik and Neil are similar looking? I don't know, I think that would be funny.

(Yes, I know Neil isn't technically a redhead since he's auburn but it seems to be a really common headcanon that he is ginger.)

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Thinking about the casual mention of the huge rocks Ajax, Hektor (and Diomedes, I think, at one point? Idr) and undoubtedly others, too toss around. The ones that are more than two-four men "of today" can carry together.

It's easy to ignore this, of course, and just say that the Heroic-era heroes are as strong as strong humans today and let it stop at that. Easier, too, perhaps, if you're writing fic and such! But if we do acknowledge this as a thing, that has some fun implications and gives something to chew on both for individual characters and the Mythical Bronze Age people as a whole.

For one, is it everyone who is strong like this, from the simplest commoner to the greatest of the divinely-descended royalty? If that's it, it wouldn't be particularly impressive, I suppose. If everyone can do this it's just their baseline - which would of course fit with the idea that the Bronze/Heroic race of humans are "better" than Iron Age/our own people today, in some way.

On the other, there's no direct need to go that drastic - a sliding scale seems implied anyway, given, say, the great strength of Herakles, which is definitely beyond anyone else's.

So perhaps what we're looking at is that it's specifically those from royal lines that have gods somewhere in their ancestry that are this impressively strong. With "regular" people perhaps still stronger in general as a baseline than "us" today, but they're still below that of those with divine ancestry.

So you'd end up with a spectrum again, where Herakles is, of course, at the top. And Trojan War-era wise, Ajax (and Achilles undoubtedly) and Hektor presumably are at the top of that scale among mortal people still living. Everyone else, down to the common people, would be arranged between and below them.

With that we'd be back with that these huge rocks would still be a feat to the majority of the men on the battlefield (and those watching).

Yet it would also be something almost... expected, of anyone of noble/"heroic" bloodlines, something only they can do and ought to be able to do, given their ~natural excellency~. (Divine ancestry, that is.) Another question would be - those who are offspring directly of gods, in the Trojan war itself people like Achilles, Askalaphos and Ialmenos, Helen and Aeneas, etc, are they as a rule stronger than their mortal-but-having-divine ancestry peers? Or is it simply a possibility that they might gain greater strength than their peers, and would simply at the very least be as strong as the rest who have divine ancestry?

Just some thoughts - and possibly fun to include!

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It’s me again I’m glad you like to yap thanks for always answering

So, since you said that you don’t have much knowledge of the EC, I want to discuss with you, when a fan asked Nora who were Kevin’s friends/BFFs she mentioned that Kevin didn’t know really how friendship works but post TKM him and Thea properly become friends. Nice.

Except, she also mentioned that post Riko’s funeral Kevin gets a lot of shit from the foxes for mourning the Seth overdose and Andrew r*pe arranger that Riko was. And that the foxes have a hard time sympathizing with that side of Kevin, except for Andrew and Neil.

Again. This all adds up weirdly. One of the biggest reasons cult members have a haced time leaving a cult is because they fear to be made accountable of their actions while they were in their bee hive minds. And with Nora’s answers it seems Kevin sought a fellow Raven to not face judgement. Very valid but the fact that he stays forever with her?

Kevin is criticized for mutinying Riko —> becomes closer with “loyal to the ravens till the end” “no harm no foul” Thea. And then Nora mentions how they had a daughter and were super pushy about ext with her.

ooh okay this is definitely a tough question.

i agree that kevthea becoming proper friends post-tkm makes complete sense, especially with kevin’s other friends (the foxes) not always being able to empathize or sympathize while he mourns riko. as a raven, thea will at least somewhat understand, even if she doesn’t know the details of why mourning riko is so complicated for kevin specifically. still, i can’t help wondering how much of her “sympathy” towards kevin’s grief is clouded by a lingering allegiance to riko. i fear that she may not really be looking out for kevin’s best interests here. even unintentionally, there’s clear potential for thea to enable kevin’s regression into old habits or beliefs related to riko and the ravens. i struggle to imagine her successfully helping him to move on (or him helping her, for that matter).

which, okay, maybe that’s the story nora wants to tell. but damn, i do not want that for kevin, especially when we’ve seen how far he’s come throughout the original aftg trilogy. i don’t want all his progress erased by riko’s death because then riko gets the last laugh.

what you said about kevthea being endgame and having a child in the ec basically confirms the suspicions i’ve had since jean and kevin’s interactions in tsc: a raven cannot heal from their trauma alongside another raven.

while i can’t say i’m surprised, i absolutely despise that kevthea pushes exy on their daughter. poor girl. i hope they at least go about it in a way that indulges a pre-existing interest she has, but that could very easily not be the case. to me, this seems like proof that the nest still has a rather strong hold on kevin and thea.

in all honesty, i think the healthiest non-platonic relationship kevin (or most ravens, including thea) could have would be with someone who is either: a) completely removed from exy or b) a casual exy enjoyer who hasn’t made stickball their whole world. i’d argue that ravens need a clear separation between exy and other parts of their lives to recover, which seems to be tsc’s messaging as well.

but i also know that's wildly idealistic.

i acknowledge that not being obsessed with exy isn’t realistic for kevin because of his past, present, and future. living and breathing exy has been instilled in kevin throughout his entire childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. now, with riko gone, he’s in a position to start figuring out what exy means to him on a personal level (i’d argue this is part of what him learning to play ambidextrously symbolizes). to a certain degree, he can reclaim exy on his own terms. however, because of the deal neil worked out with ichirou, kevin continuing to stay alive literally depends on him going pro and making a lot of money to pay off the yakuza. so how much can playing exy ever really be on kevin’s terms when his survival’s at stake?

the day kevin’s passion for exy dims or changes to anything beyond striving to be the best is the day he runs out of use. more than that, it’s the day he risks getting killed. thea allows kevin to hold onto his old self just enough for him to stay alive. in some messed up way, kevin may need thea to keep him alive even if being with her simultaneously prevents him from living fully.

i adore kevin and it really hurts to see him resign himself to such a bleak existence, especially when other characters in similar situations don’t have to sacrifice themselves like that. neil is trapped in the same deal as kevin, but he has andrew as a support system both within AND beyond exy. moreover, andrew forces neil to have a life outside of exy because exy has never been andrew's top priority. tsc seems to be setting up the same dynamic for jerejean, too (ex: pottery class). considering that exy is the only thing that brought and continues to hold kevthea together, with both of them having exy as their first priorities… idk. it doesn’t bode well.

for what it’s worth, i could accept all of this as being a believable part of kevin’s journey if his and thea’s marriage ultimately ended in them getting divorced and learning to find themselves beyond being ravens. i think that’d feel bittersweet but necessary for both of them.

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For me it was the speed in which exy got popular. It was invented a couple decades ago yet it's already in the Olympics? For me, exy being a niche sport with a strong community makes more sense but in that case it wouldn’t be a college sport (as far as I understand how usa college sports work)

I just finished reading All For The Game and seeing people talk about the books being unrealistic but a good read if you suspend your disbelief is just so funny to me. To someone who doesn't really get why so many people are so obsessed with sports and someone who also does not live in the usa. It's. Exy is unrealistic? What... What part? The part where it's over the top violent? So is american football. The popularity of the game? I only recently found out that stadiums for sports teams from college are an actual thing that colleges in the usa spend millions of dollars on. The part where the ravens team are a cult? The line between people that are just really enthusiastic about a sport and seriously cultish behavior is so blurred it's barely visible. Also. Cults are so ridiculously common in the usa. The whole organized crime part?? The fact that you can buy assault rifles at a grocery store is honestly more unrealistic to me. And. Well.

I'm sure many sportsy people would be super mad if they read this. I'm just gonna hope that not many sportsy people will actually read this post!

Anyways i am so happy i read the books after years of seeing posts about it on tumblr. Every character is absolutely bonkers and i love all of them a ridiculous amount

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I realise I didn't include enough context. I'm talking about the fact Voldemort (or maybe just the Death Eaters) tried to recruit James and Lily at one point. They said no.

I sometimes wonder who suggested James and Lily to Voldemort because in the case of Lily, it's like "obviously Severus" but then – there's so no way he suggested James too!

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It's still wild to me that Ichirou brought Neil to watch him shoot Riko and ask him if he's happy with the result. Like we could unpack so much from this scene.

It is obviously a mirror of when Riko brought Neil and Kevin to watch Neil's father cut up a man in that very same tower.

But why did Ichirou even invite him to see this, its not like when Riko did it as a message of intimidation to Kevin and Neil, Ichirou was aware that Neil would actually enjoy this. Nora confirmed that this is one of Neils happiest moments in the series until this point. Ichirou could have sent someone to let Neil know Riko was dead but he wanted Neil to see. And then to ask him if he's satified

"Ichirou stopped in front of Neil. "You have cost the Ravens their coach and their captain. Are you satisfied?" It made no sense at first, because Tetsuji was still alive. When Neil caught on he stopped breathing. Tetsuji Moriyama was stepping down—not necessarily because Neil had asked for it, but because Ichirou had been here firsthand to see what the Ravens had become under Tetsuji's guidance. Stuart had said Ichirou was cutting his losses. The Ravens' reckless violence and fraying sanity made them a glaring liability. Ichirou wanted nothing to do with Edgar Allan's tarnished reputation. Neil was suddenly wide awake. "Your people are safe, as are mine. Yes, I'm satisfied."

Ichirou's smile was cold and fleeting. "Let them call you by whatever name they like. You will always be a Wesninski at heart."

I love that Neil is such a brat that he was like : but Tetsuji is still alive 😟 oh wait he's ruined forever? OK then this is the best day ever 😊 yay ❤️

Like this whole thing man. Mafia kids are on their own level when it comes to making friends I guess.

Ichirou to Neil being all : wanna be friends? I'll kill this guy that's been bothering you

Neil to Jean being all: wanna be friends? I'll kill this guy that's been bothering you

Seriously they are like cats

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Adorable commission of Neil with plushies of Matt, Andrew, Jean and Kevin by @meatiors

If you'd like a piece of your own, donate to 🇵🇸 aid for an AFTG commission starting at $10 USD! All info in bio and pinned!