Today I had a dream about Andrew Minyard's inner monologue about his abuse and at the end he said: "maybe she wouldn't have sunken her claws so deep into me if I hadn't been so eager to rebel"
And then I woke up and cried.
My #1 AFTG fic Guilty Pleasure Indulgence is amnesia fics.
Andrew gets temporary amnesia and can't believe this weird scarred up man with blue eyes knows him so well. Can't believe this random dude keeps practically biting doctors for touching him without asking. Why is his perfect memory failing him? Who is this pipedream? What did Present Him manage to do to get a guy like this to stick around???
Neil gets temporary amnesia and why is he in a hospital and where is his mom and his duffle, he has to go they found him they found him they found him - oh who is this pretty boy and why does he radiate Safety Incarnate? Okay he'll lay down yeah sure, honey eyes whatever you say. Should they be running? Staying is an option?
Gets me every time
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?
I want Jean-Yves to be doing an interview in tsc2 and say this when someone asks about the whore rumours:
I think it is odd, the way you phrase that. Sorry, perhaps it is because English is not my first language. But all of the articles I read say "Jean Moreau sleeps around to get ahead" when I would have thought the better translation would be "Multiple Ravens fuck a sixteen year old". If you'll excuse my French.
jeremy knox gets grumpy when he's sick.
the first time jean sees it he is kind of amused. instead of getting up early as he usually does, jeremy doesn't get out of bed until cat and laila storm the bedroom he shares with jean saying breakfast has been done for over an hour.
jean stands by the door, an eyebrow raising as he sees jeremy put the covers over his head to avoid dealing with his friends. something jean has never seen him do before, something that is so not like jeremy.
"come on, jeremy. it's saturday. we already didn't do anything last night, you're not going to waste today."
cat insists while trying to pull the covers off jeremy who with a weak sigh ends up giving up and just letting her do it. the moment both laila and cat see his face they realize what's happening.
"what the hell, jeremy! what have i told you about hiding in the room while dying sick instead of literally asking for help?"
"don't be dramatic. i'm just tired." jeremy unconvincingly tries to calm his friend who already had her hand on his forehead.
"bullshit. you literally have a fever right now. sit up, laila is gonna bring something for you to eat before taking some medicine."
"not hungry. just want to sleep." jeremy whined once again trying to put the covers over his head.
"don't make me get jean to get you out of this bed."
"leave me out of this." jean warned still standing by the door and the moment jeremy heard his voice he felt himself more alert.
the last person jeremy wanted to see him weak, pale and sick was jean. he closed his eyes, defeated. and started sitting up knowing cat wouldn't leave that room until he did exactly as he was told. he awkwardly ran his fingers through his messy hair knowing it'd be useless.
"satisfied?" jeremy crossed his arm grumpily like a child and jean strongly held back the sudden urge he had to laugh- something he seemed to be wanting to do more ever since moving out with cat and laila- at the scene.
laila then re-entered the room carrying a plate of toast with eggs and a cup of the orange juice they had in the fridge especially for occasions like these.
"lighten up, princess. i know you love being babied by us."
laila handed him the plate and put the juice on the bedside table. jeremy who still had his arms crossed against his chest pouted a little.
"not like this! i hate being sick!"
and he did. jeremy didn't get sick as often but when he did, oh boy. it was hell. it'd usually take him at least three days to fully recover everytime and he hated how useless he felt between that time which resulted in a very grumpy, very whiny captain sunshine.
"poor thing. i know it sucks, but you'll feel a little better once you eat and take the meds." laila caressed his hair getting a content little sigh from him this time.
"thank you, guys." he then remembered jean standing by the door and immediately felt his cheeks burn from embarrassment.
"good morning, jean!" jeremy offered him a little smile.
"eat your eggs."
"he learns fast." cat joked and jeremy groaned.
"great. just what i need, three nurses wannabe"
"we can just let jean do the work if that's what you want."
laila winked at him and jeremy almost choked on the eggs he had just put in his mouth.
"alright, alright. we'll let you eat your food and then check on you again later. don't forget to take the meds for the fever after eating."
the girls left the room, but jean stayed where he was.
"jean? are you really gonna stand there and watch me eat?" jeremy joked a bit embarrassed still.
"i do not think you should be alone while sick."
"i'm okay, jean. really."
jean seemed to ponder for a few seconds before leaving. jeremy barely had time to finish chewing a piece of toast before jean was back already.
"to make you company."
jeremy thought his cheeks were gonna crack with the way his smile was so big on his face. in front of him there was nothing less than a six foot french man holding a cardboard dog cutout to put by his bedside.
"jean! you're amazing. thank you!" jeremy said cheerfully, his smile still bright and big on his face. "you... you can stay too if you'd like. i mean-" jeremy's face heated as he struggled with his own words.
"after im done preparing lunch with cat and laila."
jeremy smiled again.
"i will be here. we will." jeremy brought barkbark closer to him and jean rolled his eyes, but the small smile wanting to appear on his face before he left the room didn't go unnoticed by jeremy.
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.
who the FUCK is out here doing it like david fucking wymack. bitch has a reputation for the most dysfunctional college team in the country and he wears that sticker with PRIDE. encourages his team by saying hey when we lose we can all get drunk and they win and get drunk anyway. signs some random kid from arizona because a national champion said he was a good idea, let said random kid crash on his couch whilst he proceeded to antagonize everybody he met and then simultaneously pulled the whole team together. fantastic news for wymack. but jokes on you brother that random is actually the son of a serial killer. no fucking reaction. drove to columbia because his national champion called him, didn't break a sweat when his pre-med backliner killed a guy, and at least 3 other people on his team are confirmed murderers. he drives them everywhere and breaks out the line 'fight because you don't know how to die quietly. win because you don't know how to lose'. who the fuck is doing it like david wymack
aaron and neil have the energy of "i'd take a bullet for him and then use the fact that i took a bullet for him as an excuse to make him do the dishes for a year"
got my rainbow crate all for the game books! Im gonna add the bonus chapters here for anyone who didn’t buy the books cause they were EXPENSIVE
links aren’t working for some reason and you can only add ten pictures to a post so i’m gonna add the next two books in reposts
THE FOXHOLE COURT BONUS CHAPTERS SPOILERS BELOW
Everyday I'm reminded of the fact that andrew's arm was under neil's pillow when neil went to reach for a weapon and I lose a bit more of my sanity bc of it
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.