Something I've Never Seen Pointed Out In The Aftg Fandom Is A Certain Aspec Of The Scene Where Neil And

How Nora wrote Jean and Jeremy puts into startling perspective how fucked up Neil's stay at Evermore was.

He would not and COULD NOT think about those eighteen days. It was so bad he can't even remember most of it.

I imagine that he only gets small flashbacks when something specific triggers him even later into his pro career.

something that makes jean so tragic is his inherently good heart. he’s prickly and distrusting and he’s been through too much but that doesn’t stop him from caring or feeling concern for others even if he can’t really convey it (because he wasn’t allowed to :(((). one of my favourite moments in the book was when jean noticed pat and ananya being touchy with cody and cody not really reciprocating leading him to ask cat if they were safe. like he was worrying for the safety of somebody he hardly knew even though he was conditioned not to care. he’s also extremely accepting. doesn’t bat an eye at cody being nonbinary, respects their pronouns, doesn’t care about pat, ananya and cody being poly just that it’s consensual and there’s no way the nest would have exposed him to that with the same sort of acceptance when jean was scared to show his attraction to men.

andrew's first pro game in the city aaron lives. he doesn't send tickets or ask aaron to come and he doesn't even tell aaron his team is coming to town. if aaron wants to come he will. andrew can't make him do anything.

between quarters, the jumbo tron is showing a "look-a-like" game on the screen where the camera operators find people in the crowd who look like different celebrities or animated characters. andrew's not paying any attention to it when the crowd goes wild. a teammate nudges him to look up and lo and behold, wearing a Minyard jersey is andrew minyard's look-a-like, aaron minyard himself.

he rolls his eyes when the camera focuses back on him for the side-by-side shot and but aaron can see that andrew is actually very pleased.

So do you think there was like maybe 3 minutes between seeing Neil irl for the first time and Neil opening his mouth that Jean thought he was pretty before he decided Neil is a horrifying creature?

There is poetry in Nathaniel finding belonging with the change of his name. Natalie finding salvation by the God that damned Nicky.

There is poetry in Andrew and Aaron finding a family in Nicky when he was cast away from his.

There is poetry in Allison relishing in the money that was meant to be hers but never got in the end, poetry in Andrew hating the money he was never meant for.

There is Poetry in Aaron having a mother that wronged him, and Matt being righted by his.

There is poetry in the way Dan had to fight to keep afloat, where it was Allison fighting that got her cut off in the end

There is poetry in Nicky finding love and himself abroad, where Nathaniel ran from all that he was

There is poetry in Matt with a loving mother who showed him how to live, and Neil who was kept alive by his own.

There is poetry in the foxes

For the record, Neil will do as he's told by others because compliance gets him what he wants. His obedience is fueled solely by ulterior motive.

But Neil will do as he's told by Andrew because Andrew Said So. His obedience is fueled by trust and pretty eyes.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that he hurt you, I’m sorry that you’re still afraid to talk about it, and I’m sorry that you think I’ll never understand. I’m sorry that he tricked you into thinking you deserved it."

I love seeing Neil through Jean’s eyes because we really see how much of the Butcher is in him and how much of Nathaniel is still there, when reading through Neil’s pov he’s aware of it but we don’t see it, but Jean can see it so clearly, it’s no wonder that when Kevin found out, he took one look at Neil and then could see it right away

one of my fave parts abt aftg is how realistic it is. like they're all college kids, 18-20 ish. they're just teenagers. like yeah obviously neil is going to retaliate on live television without thinking about the repercussions. obviously they're going to rely on their most violent friend for protection from the mafia even though he's just a 20 year old bipolar kid with a heavy ass racquet. obviously the trojans are going to have a cardboard cutout of a dog with a stupid name that they treat like a real pet. obviously they're going to take tourist photos when they go pick up the random dude from arizona that's going to change their lives forever. god i love them. god