I feel like we as a society don't acknowledge often enough that Neil was convinced and waiting on his death for months and no one around him knew until he told Kevin
Neil was 18 at the time
When he ended his protection pact with Andrew so Andrew wouldn't get caught in the crossfire iirc he was freshly 19
We joke about him ignoring the countdown texts but he knew exactly what they meant and he was so tired of running fighting and collateral he saw no other options
Like do you realize how horrifc that is
Sometimes I lie awake at night thinking about how in the shower scene, Andrew took off his armbands. He wasn’t scared of getting them wet or anything; he was literally wearing the rest of his clothes, but he knew that he was seeing Neil’s scars so he let Neil see his
andrew dresses up as kevin for halloween one year. brown wig, green contacts, jersey he's swimming in, and even draws the queen on his face with sharpie. and stays in character for the entire night. he will not respond to andrew, you may only address him as kevin, kevin day, or queen of exy. he will not spend the entire night draining the candy bowl like usual and is instead angrily altering between a protein shake and straight vodka on the couch and mindlessly staring at trojan games. he goes on a twenty minutes long tangent about jeremy knox's arms and the roman empire, then calls anyone who tries to stop him (kevin) brutus repeatedly whilst pretending he's been stabbed. and when people stop playing attention to him he chucks exy balls at their heads.
was it originally to prove a point to kevin on how annoying he is? yeah. did he get way too into the character? maybe.
but will he pretend it never happened the next morning? absolutely. he pins it on aaron and never mentions it again.
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The line ‘He’s not allowed to fight his addiction.’ changed my perception of Andrew Minyard forever
Is one of anyone else's favorite scenes in aftg that chapter in The Kings Men where the team is on the drive to Binghamton and Neil spends the entire second half of the trip talking to Andrew. Like:
Neil wanting to sit and talk exy with the rest of the team but that would mean Andrew would be left alone in the back of the bus.
Neil staring and not knowing what it was he found so interesting (beautiful) about Andrew's figure.
Neil calling Andrew just so Andrew would look at him and he'd be able to better study him. (And not being embarrassed or thinking anything of it because he is just admiring Andrew and he sees nothing wrong with that)
The whole "I knew I’d look out for only me when the world went to hell. I don’t want to be that person anymore. I want to go back for you.” conversation AND ANDREW GIVING IN
Neil talking about his life and all the places he's been and Andrew talking about his life after foster care (just the fact that they had this conversation with each other that they won't willingly have with anyone else)
ANDREW NEVER TAKING HIS EYES OR ATTENTION OFF NEIL AND LETTING HIM RAMBLE
I love something about Andrew being the one who tells Neil everyone is betting on his sexuality.
NEIL SAYING HE DOESNT SWING AND NEVER WILL BECAUSE THE ONLY PERSON HE WANTS IS ANDREW, followed by Andrew's "don't say stupid things", AND THEN FOLLOWED WITH NEIL'S "stop me" AND KISS (that he initiated)
Everything about this little portion of the chapter I love so much.
nathaniel, neil, nathaniel, neil. andrew flips the two names around in his head like tossing a coin. heads or tails, the coin always comes up abram. nathaniel and neil are two sides of the same coin; forged in a dark basement, in musty hotel rooms, on the exy court. both hate sweets, love to run, to talk back any chance they get.
some days, the coin lands on nathaniel. jack makes one too many comments at practice and neil - no, nathaniel - has him on the ground, raquet to his neck in an instant. he can't hear what the strikers are saying but through the grate of the helment, andrew sees nathaniel's smile.
others, it lands on neil. andrew finds neil and matt splayed out on the couch, three movies deep into a "pop culture lesson". neil motions for andrew to sit and absently cards his fingers through the blond's hair. matt hides his grin in his sleeve.
but abram; he runs to andrew after each winning game to tap sticks, he sits each friday in columbia, talking about escape routes for an alien invasion, he keeps ice cream in the freezer and cigarettes in his backpocket.
heads or tails, doe or minyard, doe or minyard.
doe was made and unmade in california. 13 homes, 13 film reels constantly playing in the back of his mind, each scene driving the cuts deeper and deeper. andrew doe learns the danger of wanting and vows to keep everyone out.
minyard went to juvie for his brother. he crashed the car to keep him safe. he spent years on medication that sent him up up up to protect his cousin. minyard guards himself with knives sharper than his glare; he protects those that are his and fuck anyone else.
heads or tails, the coin starts to come up drew.
it starts small; quick grins in columbia at neil; shared dinners with aaron that don't end in a fight; something like excitment in his stomach before an exy game. when neil is hanging out with the upperclassman, he stays.
heads or tails; the coin lands on growth
aaron watching andrew be forced to take a medication that will alter his mental state.
aaron seeing all andrew's nervous tics before he takes the first pill. aaron seeing how scared andrew is.
aaron sitting outside the bathroom door while andrew gets sick after trying to get off his meds the first time. when andrew finally comes out into the hall and sees aaron, he just walks right past him. "withdraw sucks doesn't it?" aaron says. "don't talk to me," andrew says back and aaron can't help but hate how tired and defeated andrew sounds.
I hope someone finds out like this
As some of y’all know I spent like 1.5 seconds in law school (was not for me lmao) but regardless of that I still have a pretty intense interest in court cases and laws
ANYWAY
Something that clicked for me today was Riko and RICO (in reference to the RICO Act) are pronounced the same way. In case you didn’t know the RICO Act, aka the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, is the MF ANTI MAFIA LAW. Riko’s actions in aftg would have been the eventual downfall of the Moriyamas. RICO takes down organized crime. Y’all get what I’m saying?
RICO = Riko
Do y’all think this was intentional or pure coincidence? I need answers desperately