Every Day. Every Damn Day I Wake Up And Wonder How Wymack Must Have Felt Hearing Jean Say, “Kevin Never

(The Raven King, ch.14)

This one line lives in my head rent-free. Neil may be antagonistic, but he never hated Aaron. He wanted him to be happy from the beginning.

When Andrew and Aaron graduate, they hug. Andrew is the last to let go.

So many of the foxes have sex related trauma.

Dan was a stripper as a minor. I imagine she was regularly harassed at work.

Renee was raped as a child.

Allison was being assaulted when Seth saved her.

Matt lost his virginity as a minor to a prostitute at one of his dad’s parties and let his dad’s friends use him when he was high. He might not consider it rape but I (and the law) do.

Kevin didn’t really have a choice to consent when Riko decided that he and Kevin were going to lose their virginity to Lydia. Plus Riko was in the room for Kevin and Thea’s first time.

Nicky was sent to camp for being gay.

Andrew was raped as a child and an adult.

Neil was beaten by his mother for just kissing a girl.

The only ones I don’t think have anything mentioned are Aaron and Seth.

The King's Men's plot structure is genius.

TKM has been critized a lot for not following the conventional plot structure, because it doesnt end inmediatly at the resolution of the climax, like they taught us in class. But it actually has a reason behind it and it think that is what makes AFTG unique and Nora Sakavic an amazing writer. I'll explain.

So, we all know AFTG has a lot of chess metaphors, however i think it doesnt contain the metaphors, it is the metaphor. Each character represents a piece of the board (Riko king, Kevin queen, Neil pawn, Andrew knight, etc) and exy is the chess, but but but, a chess game not only involves the pieces, the game cannot exist without someone playing, the chess masters (which would be Kengo, Ichiriu, Nathan and all the mafia stuff).

So, AFTG is divided into two plots happening at the same time: what happens on the chess board (exy season) and what happens outside it (the mafia mess).

Of couse, the climax has to be about the outside out, because who cares which one of pieces move in which way if the players are pointing guns at eachother under the board? The guns are more more important. So who cares? The pieces on the board care, the ones that are being played with. And who is the narrator? The character that represents the pawn, the less important figure of the entire room.

Yeah, the 'outside of the board' plot is over half way into the book, but it doesnt matter because that happens outside the board, the chess game has not ended yet. The pawn cannot go back to rest in the box until the game is over, until the king dies. The book cannot be oend until the chess game our protagonist is a piece of ends. The books have to end with the king's (Riko) death and that is exactly what happens.

If this isnt excellent writing and one of the best examples of know the rules so you can break them, i dont what is.

as a lesbian I can confidently say that betsy dobson is 100% a lesbian because only a lesbian would like Andrew that much. her wife gave her an Minyard 03 jacket and she cried i SAW it!!! they bake a cake together for Andrew's birthday every year, they call it Choco Explosion and it is heart shaped

I mean yeah we all know that Neil is a good liar and all, but I think sometimes we forget to what extent.

Like he got literally plucked from class one day and put in front of his father’s boss, totally unprepared, and put on an oscar-winning performance of a lifetime. Bitch was like “I am not saying your brother is out of line my lord 😔😔😔 I am afraid of what will fall back on you 🤔🫢 🤧” and fucking manage to convince ichirou to kill his own brother.

What a man…

Neil strikes me as the kind of person that just like doesn’t blush. Like yeah sure he may get embarrassed a little at the Foxes’ dropped jaws when yet another pop culture reference flys over his head, but he’s so desensitized to things most people can’t fathom that I feel like he would never get flustered enough for his skin to flush.

But. Maybe it does happen sometimes.

Like when Neil complains that he feels like his feet are gonna fall off after night practice and Andrew just. picks him up. Bridal style with a deadpan face and bored eyes like he picks Neil up all the time. And Neil’s face goes red in seconds because he’s never been picked up and it was Andrew doing the picking up.

Or when Andrew shampoos his hair in the shower and takes great care not to get any shampoo in his eyes and Neil pinks at the sweetness that Andrew will deny later.

Or when Andrew insists on Neil actually using the curling gel Allison got him because his frizzy curls extend “a mile off his head”. Neil blushes when Andrew comes into the bathroom with him (cause he knows fuck all about taking care of his hair) and stares while he applies fumbles with the gel.

TLDR, I like the idea that Andrew is the only one that can truly fluster Neil and Neil is the only one who can fluster turn Andrew’s ears slightly red in turn.

david wymack is such a fierce protector. he loves so deeply and so unconditionally it makes me wanna cry.

like he had just met neil when he said "you need one of us to talk to your parents? are they the ones who hurt you? [...] if your parents are a problem for you, we'll move you to south carolina early."

and he offered him his couch. and then he told him "foxes are foxes for a reason and they know we wouldn't sign you if you didn't qualify. that doesn't mean they know the specifics. it's not my place to ask and I'm sure as hell not going to tell them. did you think I made the team the way it is because I thought it would be a good publicity stunt? it's about second chances, neil. second, third, fourth, whatever, as long as you get at least one more than what anyone else wanted to give you."

he barely knew jean when he told him "your so called master and that bitch of a nephew of his. kevin told us the truth when he transferred so we'd know what we were getting into. I know you think you have to go back to evermore and I know what's waiting for you there. I will burn this house down before I let him touch you again."

and let's not forget about "wymack didn’t care if he had nine foxes or twenty-five. he’d stand behind them until the bitter, bloody end."

and how he usually drives the bus himself because "it was apparently better to be uncomfortable but safe than to trust a stranger with his fractured team."

david wymack dedicated his life to showing kids who were dealt a shit hand in life that they can still play their cards right. I heard somewhere once that sometimes miracles are just good people with kind hearts and I thought it was a little corny but oh does it apply to someone like david wymack. he gave each of the foxes their own miracles. I know he is a fictional character but he just has the biggest heart and honestly he makes me want to have faith in humanity.

Wymack was ready to propose to Kayleigh, but choose to leave to not overstep Kayleigh boundaries. Wymack called Kayleigh to know if Kevin was his and was ready to be a dad, but she said no so Wymack let it go. He sees Kayleigh everytime he looks at Kevin.

Betsy developed an unnoticed way to call Andrew's attention when he is going anxious and trying to hurt himself. That way he stops and nobody notices.

Andrew accepted joining PSU because it was Aaron's opportunity to study medicine and became the doctor their mother couldn't believe he could be.

Aaron was able to see through Andrew's denial about his feelings for Neil. Because he knew his brother ticks, expressions and mannerisms better than he let it show.

Andrew and Neil definitely cuddle, BUT i am a firm believer of two things, 1) their go-to is just Andrew lying on top of Neil like a weighted blanket (never the other way around though) and 2) andrew never like wraps his arms around neil to the point of holding him in place/restricting his movement or even putting them in positions that could make that a possibility even on accident