Love That After All The Ravens Being Institutionalized And Dying Jeremy Checks In On Kevin With Very

Ill never forgive the aftg fandom for saying aftg is poorly written but loveable. it is so fucking well written. The characters are all interesting individually and as group dynamics. The plot is unexpected but always makes sense. Theres so many incredible 1 liners said. Theres humour. Theres heartfelt love. Theres angst. You can cry and you can laugh and you can get invested. Nora made characters with actual fucking personalities instead of just catalysts for neil's story. She did this so well she was able to take 2 minor characters and give them an entire sequel.

disagree with me if u want but I think it would be so hilarious if, after Jeremy becomes one of the first and only people that Neil immediately decides he likes, Jeremy just LOATHES Neil. Because in tsc we learn that Neil Josten just gives scary vibes. He’s harsh, he’s unpredictable, and he has that manic smile he shows more and more that’s just unsettling. And WE know that he can actually be very caring and empathetic when he likes someone, but Jeremy has barely ever interacted with him. Neil’s perception of Jeremy that we see in tkm is that he’s just this really chill, nice guy who’s great at exy and is just someone Neil really appreciates. But Jeremy only knows Neil through a) his not so flattering public reputation, and b) his pretty complicated relationship with Jean. Jeremy’s most significant memory of Neil is that one day, Neil just randomly shows up in California and Jean just looks terrified, they disappear for five hours and when Jean gets back he has a huge breakdown and looks like he’s going to cry. Wouldn’t it be so hilarious if this just taints any perception that Jeremy has of Neil? and so when they actually meet up, captain sunshine—the most accepting and kind man alive who is just friends with anyone—thinks that Neil is just an absolute asshole.

Bonus if Neil is completely oblivious to this. They start talking after a game and Jeremy is being super cold to him, to the point that even the foxes notice how awkward the conversation is, and then later that night Neil’s just like: “Jeremy’s the best, one of the only exy captains I actually have respect for.” And the other foxes are like ???

andriel headcanons

• andrew really pushes neil to enforce his own boundaries. sometimes neil is too wound up to be touched and the second andrew senses it, he makes neil say it aloud. "tell me to let go. enforce it. you know i'll respect it, this should be easy. tell me to back off."

• they try to raise plants. they fail miserably.

• the cats favor neil over andrew, which andrew doesn't necessarily mind.

• but when other players on their team bring their kids to practices or team events, all the kids love andrew and neil's a little jealous (even though he has no idea how to interact with kids).

• andrew has horrible seasonal allergies and neil doesn't.

• neil kicks all the blankets off in the middle of the night and andrew hoards them. they wake up in the mornings with the blanket on only one side of the bed and they never fix it.

• the first night andrew falls asleep facing the wall, neil doesn't say anything about it. but he falls asleep smiling.

• their relationship with aaron and katelyn is pleasant, and gets better with time, but the only thing that andrew and katelyn absolutely agree on is their disdain about neil using a 3-in-one shampoo/conditioner/body wash.

what did you expect, captain?

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

jean moreau and neil josten parallels might be death of me. how they were meant to have each other's numbers. misplaced forever partners. neil was jean's unfulfilled promise. how jean was always there to pick neil back up again during his stay in evermore. how jean and neil were the same in the eyes of the moriyamas. how one was scarred and burned with fire and the other was abused and conditioned with water. how fierce and gentle neil is with jean despite knowing him for a couple of weeks max. how they understand each other on a level that maybe no one else can. jeanneil you are SO real to me.

I'm like 99.99% sure that Eden's is a gay bar. It makes so much sense. But just imagine Aaron never knowing after 4 years, despite working there with Andrew and Nicky, and Kevin also never realizing.

Jean, Kevin and Neil are all obsessed with Exy, but all three couldn't be any more different.

Kevin looks at Exy as his birth given right. His mother created the sport. He probably held a stick, before he lernt how to walk. Little Kevin and Riko probably watched Exy games instead of shows for kids.

Kevin lived and breathed Exy since he could remember. It is his whole life, there is no way he could imagine living without it. It's not his hobby, it's not his passion, Exy is who he is. Without it he is nothing, he is worthless. He is outraged every time someone does something wrong on the court or doesn't care as much as he does, because it is personal for him. He takes disrespect on Exy as a direct disrespect on him.

He never chose this life, it chose him and he would crumble without it.

Jean plays to survive. He plays, because that is what is expected of him. Playing is his only worth, his only purpose, his only value. Without it he would be treated even worse than he already was and he knows it.

So he plays. He plays so he can have a moment to breathe, a moment for himself. If he can focus on the game, or the practice he can forget about the abuse. He can burry himself in at least one thing he is good at.

Exy doesn't, of course, come without consequences. He makes mistakes and he is punished and the cycle of violence continues. Exy is his curse, if he stoped there would be a chance that he would get a thing he so desperately wishes for.

Death.

But he plays. He plays, because he made a promise to Kevin. he plays, because he is too scared to find out what would happen if he didn't. He plays, because disobedience was beaten (and so much worse) out of him.

He never chose to play, it was forced onto him and even though he wouldn't accept it, a life without Exy would be his salvation.

Neil plays to live. He spent his whole life on crumbs, just surviving, looking over his shoulder and doing everything to see another day. He was in a rush, never stoping at one place for too long, never having someone or something that he chose for himself.

Until Exy, until the Foxes. He chose to play, despite knowing how dangerous it was for him. He played despite every survival instincts telling him to run.

Exy is like breathing to Neil. He loves it with every fiber of his being. He doesn't care if he gets hurt or killed, he just wants to play.

One more game, one more month, one more year, just one more.

Finding Exy again was the best decision he had ever made. It brought him his family, it brought him purpose, it brought him life.

He chose it himself and he would rather die, than let it be ripped away from him.

They are all Exy junkies, but none of them get the other. They think they do, but their obsessions are so fundamentally different, they never could.

I hope someone finds out like this

we're probably going to have to see how Lucas mourns btw

we're gonna have to read about him finding out and likely reaching out to jeremy

how he might be angry with jean because of his grief, even though he knows how horrible grayson was and is

we're going to have to watch him lose his brother for a third time, grieve his brother for a third time.