Sorry But Can I Just Say How Hilarious It Is That Neil Ended Up On The Foxes Who Have Bright, Obnoxious

i need to know what jean thinks of mangos

because mangos fit that specific kind of sweet that i think strawberries and peaches have. not overly sweet and they can have a hint of tartness too. and they are such a fruit of warmth that i don’t think you can eat them without feeling homey. they only grow in warm climates and maybe it’s just me, but i think their flavor calls forth summer storms and heat

but most importantly, mangos are their own kind of rainbow and we know how jean feels about rainbows

okay but i’m soooo interested to see how andreil’s rooftop cig moments will transform in the queen’s game now that andrew is quitting. because neil doesn’t smoke but he’s still holding a cig and i doubt he would keep that habit up with andrew’s decision

just realized we’re gonna see non-smoking andrew in the queen’s game……..

it would be stumbling fr but it would be so cute and they would figure it out together with so much sass and exy and care

i need fics of this right now

every time i reread aftg (the original trilogy) i forget how sassy wymack is and its literally amazing

here are some examples from tfc:

first line and he’s opening with sass at a 10/10

i. love. him.

great one liner but the whole thing is hilarious

the way he just speaks over seth is everything lmaooooo

“watch me beam with pride” im. dyinggggg

kicking kevin? 💀 the colon??? iconic

the forming relationship between him and neil actually means the world to me

every time i reread aftg (the original trilogy) i forget how sassy wymack is and its literally amazing

here are some examples from tfc:

first line and he’s opening with sass at a 10/10

i. love. him.

great one liner but the whole thing is hilarious

the way he just speaks over seth is everything lmaooooo

“watch me beam with pride” im. dyinggggg

kicking kevin? 💀 the colon??? iconic

the forming relationship between him and neil actually means the world to me

andrew definitely loves to nap. i just know he gets exhausted from having to be around people at class (and generally just deal with the human species) and as a result, needs quiet time in bed to be able to make it through the rest of the day. especially with their late night practices. and when i say nap, yes i do mean i think he takes naps in the traditional sense where he’s falling asleep for a little while but i also think he just likes to get in bed midday to just rest and reset. like just to be in the dark and not have to deal with anyone while he is horizontal and tucked in. tell me you can’t see it

(also imagine neil finding this out. i feel like some days he would join andrew but knowing andrew is doing this to be able to mentally handle the rest of the day, he would know to give him space and respect that. and when he does join him, sometimes he’ll be invited to just lay next to andrew but a lot of the times he just gets in his own bed and rests too, just providing some quiet company. dorm beds are tiny, even for them, and there’s no way to comfortably avoid contact and the last thing neil wants to do is push andrew’s boundaries especially when he is doing this to reset. but andrew lets him stay in the room when he does occasionally join and i feel like neil would be pleased at that alone, at being able to partake in and witness this ritual of his even without cuddling.)

We all know that Neil has two smiles, his "Neil-smile" and his "Nathaniel-smile". I went through the books to see how many times Neil actually smiles, because god knows it's not that many.

His "Nathaniel-smile" pops up a few times, usually when he's around Riko, threatening someone, or daydreaming about his father's gruesome death.

"Are you threatening a federal agent?" Nathaniel smiled so hard his burns ached. "I wouldn't dare."

He smiles his normal or "Neil-smile" a total of eight times through the series. Never in the first book, twice in the second, and six times in the third. Out of these eight, four were towards Andrew, one to Kevin, one to Wymack, one to Nicky, and one to Matt.

Nicky subsided with a lightning-quick grin in Neil's direction. Neil managed a small smile back.

The original point of this post was that Neil really doesn't smile or laugh or anything as much as he does in fanfictions and stuff. Andrew and Neil are not a grumpyxsunshine trope, Neil is not the light to Andrew's darkness, they're both massively fucked up and Neil does his crazy serial killer smile more often than his regular one.

He couldn't sleep, but at least he could daydream his father's death over and over again. That was almost enough to make him smile, and eventually it thawed the chill from his veins.

Anyways, that 𝘸𝘢𝘴 the original point of the post, but now I'm stuck thinking about how cute it is that he literally smiles only eight times throughout the entire series, and 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 of them are to Andrew. It's so fucking cute, especially when you consider the circumstances of the rest of them.

Andrew, who for once hadn't wasted their time denying that this thing between them might actually mean something to both of them. Neil hadn't even noticed the silence at first, too distracted by his dizzying thoughts. Now he couldn't help but smile and pull Andrew in.

He shares a tired smile with Kevin after the first Raven match. He smiles when Wymack picks up the phone when he calls him after he comes back from Evermore. He returns Nicky's grin with a small smile to reassure himself when Riko comes to watch their match against the Longhorns. And he gives Matt a tight smile during the final match against the Ravens.

"Neil?" All the gruff posturing left Wymack's voice; that sharp edge was all alarm. "Are you all right?" Neil smiled. It felt like it tore his face open. "No. No, I'm not. I know it's kind of sudden, but can you come get me? I'm at the airport."

With Andrew, basically every single time is directly 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 of him. Those smiles are some of the only times he actually feels or shows genuine pleasure or happiness, and I just think that's so cute.

It wasn't funny—none of this was—but that response was so obnoxious and so typically Andrew that Neil couldn't help but smile.

Technically he does smile a ninth time, at all of the Foxes, but since that was immediately after and because of Riko's death, I'm tempted to classify it as a "Nathaniel-smile" lmao.

Neil looked from one tired face to the next, soaking them in, reveling in everything they'd accomplished tonight and imagining how they'd react when they heard the news tomorrow. "What's so funny?" Nicky asked when he spotted Neil in the doorway. Neil hadn't realized he was smiling. "Life?"

(Also the word smile no longer feels like a word to me now. I never realised how often Renee smiled until I had to go through every single time any character smiled in the books)

What if The Queen's Game doesn't just refer to Kevin? What if it refers to Kayleigh, too?

I just– Kevin has always said that the Trojans play Exy "as it was meant to be played" and the award for excellent sportsmanship is the 'Day Spirit Award'. What if Kayleigh Day created the sport to be as the Trojans play, and her death left Tetsuji Moriyama free to twist it into something it was never meant to be?

Coach Moriyama taught his Ravens that rule breaking and fouls were just an acceptable part of the game. Tetsuji behaved like success in Exy was intrinsically linked to cruelty and suffering, but Kayleigh used Exy as a way to help people like David Wymack.

As the co-creators of the sport, Kayleigh and Tetsuji were the original King and Queen of Exy. But this King's ruled long enough—it's time to tear his castle down. With Tetsuji out of the picture, will Kevin Day, the new Queen of Exy, be able to push the game back towards what his mother always intended it to be?

sorry to report but i will never stop being insufferable about neil and his bandana

little something bc I’m not posting a big piece this week

everytime jean looked at kevin and riko, he saw what he and nathaniel could’ve had if mary hadn’t run. not the part about being the best, he never cared about that. he just wanted a brother. he wanted someone to suffer with him like everyone else had. everyone else around him had a partner, why couldn’t he? it’s jean starting to resent kevin for having everything he never would and then leaving it all behind.

in a raven! neil au, it’s the opposite. it’s kevin looking at jean and neil and wishing that’s what HE had. a partner that defends him and helps him instead of being the one to hurt him (both physically and emotionally). to get to be a great player without being forced in front of cameras. someone who he’s actually close with instead of just calling him ‘brother’ for the sake of them being the Sons of Exy. he just wanted to be (what he thought was) normal. kevin would start to resent jean the same way jean resented him in canon.

finishes an essay just to have to write another finishes an essay just to have to write another finishes. an essay. just to have to write. another. eughhhhhhhhh