Exy - Blog Posts
I just now realized I've been imagining that one giant exy shop as the bass pro shops pyramid
Andrew Minyard first join the PSU Foxes just to be able to make sure that Aaron could be a med student and a way to thanks Nicky for dropping everything in Germany for them.
We know the twin love each other really deeply but bc of what happened and their own internal struggles they can’t put words into this AND IT BREAKS MY HEART💔.
Then, disaster.
Kevin Day got his hand smashed like a cookie by Riko and ended up with the foxes, bro was so stressed about everything that Andrew took him under his wing to protect him.
+1 mafia traumatized kid who only lives for exy as a way to cope.
And then, another disaster.
Neil Josten tried to run away from everyone and got a exy racket smashing his stomach by a blond psycho short man, BOOM, join the foxes, BOOM, a millions problem got added since he was literally searched by the mafia for 8 years! And decided to drop everything for stick ball? Andrew and his gay ass did not manage to look away and after making sure Neil was not a threat (he actually is but against his will), he took Neil under his wing to protect too.
+1 mafia traumatized kid who only lives for exy as a way to cope.
Andrew Minyard, the man you are🔥
Bro took every hot mafia traumatized kid and declared they were his and NO ONE said anything to that, AURA + ♾️
(Bonus point for dating Neil Josten after all the shit this ginger caused)
Kevin Day:// All For The Game
I have many of thoughts about TSC. But to start off, I'm incredibly curious about Jeremy.
This book is dual POV between Jean and Jeremy. But the story revolves around Jean's journey. I think it makes a lot of sense considering he's been through so much—he needs the focus and time to get to where he is at the end. He's ready to open up and become his own person now for the next book. If that focus wasn't there on him, we might not fully feel this. Or if the focus was equally split, it might be a lot for one book. Cause I think Jeremy's got his own demons.
We know it's hinted at throughout. But that's it. Hints. Even in Jeremy's POV we barely get any insight. @kevindavidday mentioned that this very much might be done on purpose to show how Jeremy deals with his issues. Or that he doesn't deal with them, instead he distracts himself with those around him and tries to help them (i.e. Jean).
So just to go over what we know:
- Jeremy has a tumultuous relationship with his family.
- His family does not like Exy. They resent him for it.
- He doesn't get along with his step grandfather.
- Something odd about his siblings.
- He specifically avoids his older brother.
- Something happened after one of the banquets.
- He's gone/going to therapy, which apparently had helped him significantly.
- Despite him not liking living at home, there's an insinuation that he has to.
One theory I really want to put out there is about Jeremy's siblings. When Jean learns about the siblings, Cat stutters before saying the number. It leads me to believe that Jeremy's second brother is dead.
Taking into account that we have one scene with Jeremy's sister and at least know his older brother is in the house, that leaves one sibling unaccounted for. And considering the pause before saying the number, I think this indicates Cat was going to say "Two."
Taking this theory, does this connect to the banquet? Or at least why his family doesn't like Exy? There seems to have been an event that changed their family forever. Did his brother die because of something related to Exy?
Also who is his grandfather? Wealthy and seems to be a horrible person considering Jeremy of all people does not like him at all. What did he do to get Jeremy not to like him? Is he going to be a bigger player in the next book? Does he have a similar threatening influence that many high power figures have in the series?
I'm really excited to get these answers. We've spent so much time with Jean and his journey, I'm wilding to see Jeremy's. And how Jean might help him, just like how has Jeremy helped Jean.
I have things to say about their dynamic, too, but I'll leave that for a different post.
I love when AFTG fanart has Neil's eyes looking like this:
Brb, I need to reread about a chaotically mouthy runaway with the survival instincts of a literal goldfish that finds his high-key disfunctional, yet loyal and trusting, family through a sport he has more love and dedication for than, like, his own life.
Brb, I need to reread about a chaotically mouthy runaway with the survival instincts of a literal goldfish that finds his high-key disfunctional yet loyal and trusting family through a sport he has more love and dedication for than, like, his own life.
Watercolour A5 painting of Neil Josten and his feature in Exy Pro magazine.
There’s some mistakes but I think I managed to smooth them over.
Made for a friend’s birthday.
Hope all you Andreil lovers enjoy.
Jason Todd has read the entire All For The Game series and wants to make Exy a real sport. He has no idea how to do so, but he will try his best.
Forever thankful aftg went the way it did because what the fuck kinda name is Nathaniel Wesninski
a question that hasn't let me go since finishing AFTG:
in a timeline where the perfect court worked out, would neil be a striker or a backliner?
while he was at the nest, riko made him play as a backliner but he performed rather poorly, and yet riko marked him #4 for his perfect court.
even though his special potential only showed when he played as a striker for the foxes.
but the perfect court was supposed to be riko (1) and kevin (2) for strikers, and jean called neil his partner that got away or something so we can assume that the planned backliners were jean (3) and neil (4)
did riko really gamble on neil's ability to adjust to being defense, or would he have been a striker sub??
Thinking about Jean makes me want to cry but his dialogue never fails to make me laugh
terms that jean uses for neil in the sunshine court:
tiny bastard
tedious malcontent
abominable cockroach
wayward child
rabid little Fox
wretched little runaway
ignorant child
miserable wretch
for the requests: 24 but like,, the opposite?? do whatever you want but also have this embarrassing story of mine for free because i have LIVED this and it is HORRIBLE!! I don’t know what was going through my mind but it was my friends bday and she went to give me a fist bump but instead of returning it I just grabbed her fist with my hand (scissors beats rock style) and we both stood there in silence for a moment staring at our hands until I turned it into a sort of handshake when I just started to shake where I had her fist gripped in my own hand up and down for a solid 10 seconds
24. "confusing a handshake for a fist bump" - but the opposite lmao
minyard-josten rivalry, y'all know where it's at
so these two dumbasses keep their relationship a secret from everyone, including their managers and PR team
anyways, i imagine that there's some sort of pre-game interview happening, to create some hype for the shitshow that's going to be a minyard v josten game
the problem is... no one knows how to predict their moves
andrew's PR team tells him to be professional — maybe shake neil's hand instead of ignoring it like how he always does
neil's PR team tells him to do something more casual, to reduce the animosity he's such a natural at creating
you can probably see where this is going...
so. andrew, neil, and few people from each of their teams come out in front of the cameras
the teammates + managers on the sides are just staring very intently at andrew and neil
neil sighs and shoves out his hand for a first bump with his boyfriend of very many years
andrew however. look, he hasn't seen neil in weeks and he the cats miss him and give andrew lots of sad meows and really seeing neil is a relief so his children not his children, his CATS, can stop being so upset
basically, he has a bit of a gay panic while looking at neil — the shape of his face, his eyes, his hair (good lord, that needed to be cut three years ago)
and so when neil puts out his hand in greeting, andrew really can't be blamed for being distracted!
he slams his fingers into neil's fist.
they stare at each other for a few moments as the only sound is cameras flashing. slowly, andrew curls his fingers just as neil straightens out his fist bump.
neil's hand now gets stuck in andrew's fist.
andrew blinks at their joined hands, promptly lets go of neil's fingers, and turns around to walk away. his teammates try to grab onto him to bring him back but like honestly most of them are laughing too hard to do anything
so the game continues as usual (with a little bit of teasing towards neil and andrew by their teammates)
and at the end of the game during the handshakes, one of the announcers says "minyard! josten! maybe figure out if it's handshake or fist bump beforehand this time!"
andrew internally flips off the cameras
(it's only not external because he knows aaron's kids are watching the game tonight and he is determined to be the more mature uncle out of him and neil)
so instead of making a fool of himself again, andrew decides to just nod at neil and walk away
no sooner than a second later though, he feels a bonk on his head. neil just bonked him. on the head. in front of millions of people.
he has to salvage his reputation so he puts his hands up in a threatening gesture and says something menacingly, but no one in the audience can hear what he says
all they see is andrew looking scary and neil... doubled over laughing
instantly, there are whispers going around the stadium about what happened, so neil's coach is like 'nah we aren't letting this kid do the pre and post-game interviews' — andrew had accounted for this in his attempt to rebuild his persona
so they try to sneak neil out the back, but what andrew hadn't accounted for was a sneaky reporter who catches sight of neil and asks loudly "what was andrew minyard saying to you on the court?"
neil smirks and draws up to his full height (which frankly, is still tiny enough for andrew to give kisses without too much strain. it was the ideal height gap, if anyone asked him. not that anyone was asking him this)
"well," neil said. "he said rock" — neil makes a fist bump — "paper" — he extends an arm out for a handshake — "and then... " — neil makes a scissor symbol — "snip snip motherfucker. we're cutting your hair when we get home."
"wait, you two live together— "
as a former soccer goalie, here are some very specific things andrew minyard does while playing exy
he has crazy good aim. that cone drill kevin and neil keep doing? andrew's an icon at that
he's gotta hit the balls directly at the strikers (or whoever else needs the ball) from a static position so his aim is probably better and stronger than most people on the team
andrew's literally shit at cardio. man literally doesn't run aside from normal conditioning (and chasing after neil) plus he smokes so his lungs do be constantly dying
also, i feel like people really underestimate how boring being in goal can be
like if the ball's not near you, there is nothing. to. do.
honestly, he probably just puts his racquet down or straight up sits on the floor when the action is on the other end of the court
(this is coming from someone who literally left the field for a few minutes because she had nothing to do)
another thing: the man can jump.
like, put him on a trampoline (not that he'd ever do that lol) and he'll fly above everyone else, no matter his fear of heights
especially because he's so short compared to the goal, he's gotta stretch in every direction to be able to reach the ball
he's mad flexible, is what i'm getting at
penalty shots are his worst enemy
idc how good of a goalie he usually is, most of the catches/blocks he makes are pure luck
and like. his height doesn't help with this at all
most of the sweating he does comes from his extra armor rather than the game itself
again. goalies literally don't move most of the time. for the longest time, nicky just thinks that andrew has some kind of magic deodorant he isn't sharing with the rest of them
(there have been more than a few raids into andrew's toiletries looking for it)
i literally used to get those misty fan water bottle things bc everyone else had one and it looked cool, not because i was ever tired after games lol
he likes interlocking his fingers to see how obtrusive the goalie gloves are
idk it's a thing that all goalies i know do, for absolutely no reason. it do be fun though
goalies have to do a lot of agility and reflexive drills. one of these is kinda like quickly running in place and jumping/rolling to the side to catch a ball someone throws at you
i'm just imagining andrew doing this bc it looks so. funny.
like the person doing the drill looks like some spider on drugs with how fast their feet are moving
(also it makes lots of goalies pretty good at dancing/stuff that requires lots of feet coordination. i'm not saying... but i'm kinda saying, if you get what i mean)
this isn't during exy, but sometimes catching things is so reflexive
once i caught a glass full of water before it shattered on a restaurant floor, and i imagine andrew does shit like that too
but the difference is that he gets so annoyed whenever it happens
being unintentionally helpful is andrew's least favorite thing (but neil finds it so goddamn funny)
sometimes neil randomly drops things near andrew just to watch him get annoyed at his reflexes
(also, i'm just imagining the foxes randomly throwing things at andrew. he's stuck between two situations: catch things and have the foxes laugh at him or let things hit him in the face and have the foxes laugh at him)
Hear me out- If Kevin wasn’t good at exy he wouldn’t have survived. His love for it is partly a survival tactic. Him teaching other people and making them better- in his eyes- is protecting them. He is teaching them how to “survive.”
There was something else I was gonna add to this but I forgot as I was typing… oops.
I think Kevin’s love language is chronically misunderstood. Him wanting to train others and making them the best at the sport that means the world to him is like a love confession. Like people. Can’t you see how he’s letting you into his precious and broken little exy heart. Exy is what kept him alive during the Nest. He’s just trying to give others that same comfort and joy.
It’s the equivalent to a child coming up to you telling you all about their favorite topic. They feel joy about it so they want to share that with you. You may not be interested or find the same joy that they do but it’s an effort to include people in their happiness. And Kevin is trying to do just that
Im looking for a specific fic, I always remember very specific scenes and dialogue from fics I’ve read but never the fic itself 😭. I can’t remember if it was on ao3 or tumblr
It had the minyard v. Josten rivalry and was post-canon and during pros, and I think at the end it after Kevin and Neil had been fighting for the ball during a game, Kevin’s team had 8-5? I think on Neil and Andrew’s team, then when Andrew gets out on the court, Neil asks Andrew to shut down the goal and Andrew’s like what do I get out of doing it? And Neil says it’ll make Kevin sad. And since he only sees Kevin a few times a year now bc they’re in pros, he ends up shutting it down and Neil and Andrew’s team get 4 more points I think and then Kevin’s team gets Kevin another shot at the goal but Andrew blocks it and their team wins. Then at the end of the game Neil asks Andrew if he wants to piss of Kevin more and he’s like how and Neil asks yes or no and Neil calls Kevin’s name to make him turn their way and they kiss on live tv , Kevin’s pissed and says “fuck you josten, fuck you minyard” before storming off.
If you know which fic it is pls share bc I’ve looked everywhere through my history and I cannot for the life of me find it again 💔
Ah well... As I know fandom thought about that throuple
That already exists hella long as my profile pic... But I still wanna show it
Would eyes made to see start to feel?
Love them
A quick almost forgotten doodle of Tetsuji and hell I love the design of his cane
‼️Everything is completely my headcanons
Kayleigh was ready to do anything for two things and one person.
Life, Exy, Tetsuji.
The first was what made her decide to kill, go into prostitution, go with a group of homeless cannibals. In honor of life she lost all moral values. When life hangs by a thread, you step over all principles. You will do anything and survive in spite of everyone.
The second was what Kayleigh flames with. The mere thought that she would become the creator of something so harsh, rough, perfect and so accurately reflecting her inner struggle made her soul sing. Sing, if a battle cry of contented possessiveness could be ever called singing. It was hers - not only hers, of course, but it was born from her hands, her thoughts and her heart.
Tetsuji — the one who once looked down on her. Once he was the one whom, perhaps, Kayleigh would like to be. He was the one who never whistled from behind or cast appraising glances. Now he was the one who once sacrificed his health so that she wouldn't feel bad. The one who adjusted all the crazy ideas about the game and turned them into from dreams to goals. The one who, despite his skepticism, put his life on the line and agreed on a deal with his family. Tetsuji was the one who once gave her hope for eternity.
Congratulations: I have a theory.
If Kayleigh, when she already had some money, took abandoned children, allowing them to develop and live at her expense?
Do you think that's cute? Nah.
She knew that it takes years to popularize sports. She knew that her time is not eternal, and the spark has long since turned into a devastating flame.
She served as an example for Tetsuji. She knew that these children couldn't go anywhere. She also knew that it was important to have as many skilled people as possible playing under her name. Under the name of her game.
There is no place for the first and last in her team. Here are those who lack strength, those who lack agility, those who lack freedom on the court... The list can go on and on. Kayleigh has a keen eye and she noticed any flaw, forcing them to work on it until perfection.
Perhaps, partly, she was afraid. Afraid that Exy would fade away. That it would go out like a match. She wasn't going to let it happen. She squeezed the last drops out of players, pushing them at their best, just so her sport would be perfect enough to be recognized.
Neil and Andrew after an away game :)