The Kings Men - Blog Posts

I just now realized I've been imagining that one giant exy shop as the bass pro shops pyramid

With finals finally wrapping up I've started the sunshine court. I'm not going to recover will I?

I know that as a collective fandom we lament over the fact that AFTG has chemically altered us, but does anybody have any books that potentially resemble the vibes?

Take my 99 cents Nora. Take it.

I'm 5'2 and I have to sit on a seat cushion to drive so I can see the road and all I can imagine is Andrew with one in his big ass scary car.

Making a prediction for TSC;

I think we're going to learn more about Renee's past. You know how like during the King's Men when Renee and Jean had that strange relationship thing going on and Jean like froze when he first saw her? I think it's because he actually recognized her from her time involved with gangs.

I'm not sure exactly what their past together is gonna be but Renee did kill an unnamed man so their situation is ripe with potentiel angst. Since we know that the next novel is Jeremy x Jean, it would be a tad strange for the implied Jean x Renee relationship to never be addressed.

Unless of course, we read into it wrong and they actually have a messy, bloody history...

ME TOO!! Like I feel he worked so hard for his own name if that makes sense (?) Drake took his power away and would call him AJ. The fact that he claims his own name feels meaningful, like he is taking ownership of it again. Calling him 'Drew' kinda feels wrong because it is wiping him of that power. The series constantly stresses the importance of names and identity so disregarding the name Andrew desires misrepresents who he is and what he's worked for

Idk why but i have a massive pet peeve in the way that some people will shorten Andrew’s name to drew. Each to their own obviously but i just hate it, for some reason it feels wrong

Sometimes I forget just how terrible of a narrator Neil is. Like the only people that didn't catch onto Andrew's feeling were Neil and the audience. I wonder just how obvious Andrew was but we don't know about it because Neil is just so in his head about things he dismissed it

Rereading AFTG and I totally forgot that Neil and Riko are about the same height. I've been imagining as tall and imposing like Kevin but he's actually just 5'5"

Had to write a short story for my English class and accidentally started writing Andriel fanfiction...

I find it very ironic that Nora named the Moriyama liability "Riko" when the Rico Act of 1970 virtually destroyed Organized crime in America

Highschool photographer trying to get Andrew to smile for his school photo

Nicky Hemmick is so Effie Trinket coded

Mr. Andrew "I Want Nothing" Minyard has clearly never had a cold Dr Pepper

I love knowing that with Neil’s stupid ass flip phone all of his texts from Nicky are like this

  □ ALLISON’S OUTFIT!!1!!11!  □ □ □ □

The real reason Neil doesn’t drink is cause when he gets drunk his British accent comes out and he’s embarrassed about it.

Y'all think Andrew meows back at his cats?

sorry babe you're still hot it's just the way you didn't tell anyone you were receiving a countdown to your death and willingly handed yourself over kind of threw me off a bit

The results are in! The three new alt accounts will be named "neilshairdye" "sethkilledfortheplotgordon" and "aaronshortyard" thank you to everyone who voted!

Making some Instagram alt accounts and decided on making them All For The Game (or All For The Gay iykwim) themed! I have a poll for some current handles, but feel free to suggest more as some might be taken and I'm not sure about the Instagram character limit... (ALSO SPOILERS OBVI! HAVE A GREAT DAY/NIGHT!)

anyways, let me know in the comments if you have any other name suggestions!

2 days left! top three names become new alt accounts so vote on your fave!

Making some Instagram alt accounts and decided on making them All For The Game (or All For The Gay iykwim) themed! I have a poll for some current handles, but feel free to suggest more as some might be taken and I'm not sure about the Instagram character limit... (ALSO SPOILERS OBVI! HAVE A GREAT DAY/NIGHT!)

anyways, let me know in the comments if you have any other name suggestions!

Making some Instagram alt accounts and decided on making them All For The Game (or All For The Gay iykwim) themed! I have a poll for some current handles, but feel free to suggest more as some might be taken and I'm not sure about the Instagram character limit... (ALSO SPOILERS OBVI! HAVE A GREAT DAY/NIGHT!)

anyways, let me know in the comments if you have any other name suggestions!

Nora has confirmed that if Ichirou decided to kill Andrew, Neil would scape to Japan, work his way through the rankings of the real yakuza there(the OG Moriyamas, that stayed in Japan and dont keep relations with the USA Moriyamas), and once he got to the top, Neil would start to slowly dismantle the USA Moriyamas' empire brick by brick. Until he ultimately got to kill Ichirou (but only after making him watch his empire crumble and loose everyone around him)

The level of manipulation needed to rise to the top of one the biggest criminal organisations in the world just to get revange against someone like Ichirou is ABSURD

Literally a cold psycho fueled by anger and hatred

We are lucky he is fueled by his love for Andrew, stickball and his team

Neil could really have been a very suave criminal mastermind if he'd chosen to be. I'm rereading the kings men and the whole thing is basically just Neil gently manipulating people to do what he wants them to, and figuring out how to put anyone who won't come around to his way of thinking (Aaron) under pressure so that they just do what he wants. He wouldn't need to be as violent as his father, the guy just knows how to read people and figure out what they want, and what they can't afford to lose. He'd have them eating out of his hand if he wanted to do anything more than play stickball have boyfriend.

I can just imagine the cold running down Andrew's spine as he heard Neil's cell phone ring, but no sign of Neil, just his bag and the phone there on the ground

He knew Neil would never willingly leave his things behind, even with all the chaos, he would never leave his bag there. As the realization Neil was probably taken settled in, Andrew stopped to listen to the lyrics of Neil's ringtone, right as it said

'Runaway train never coming back'

And at that moment Andrew knew his runaway train could really never come back. At this point he could be dead already. The thought almost made his heart stop. Neil was smart, he was a survivor, he could survive, he HAD to survive. Andrew cursed himself for the ringtone he had chosen as a way to spite Neil, but now just felt like another one of life's cruel ironies

'Wrong way on a one-way track'

Andrew tried to remember how to breath as he reminded himself thats how it was always supposed to end, he knew this would happen, it was indeed a one-way track, but...it was so early, so sudden. Why couldn't he have more time?? He thought, not knowing if it was about him, Neil or the both of them

Andrew's chest tightened, as a mist of anger and desperation builded up inside him. He felt like he would burst at any moment. It was like a giant hole had been carved on his chest. After so long feeling nothing, having so many feelings at once made him dizzy.

That was when another realization settled in: it had always been Neil all along. Somehow Andrew was dumb enough to fool himself into thinking he would be able to let go when the time came, that he was in control of the situation and Neil was nothing but a distraction, someone interesting to distract him from the fact his whole life felt like a bore. But it wasnt true anymore and it hadn't been for a long time, maybe it was never really true.

Andrew had indeed gone the wrong way a one way track. He knew how this was gonna end, and still he fell into Neil's gravity and allowed himself to be pushed closer and closer everyday. The phone finally stopped ringing, but the song kept playing on his head like a buzz

He looked around again, hoping to find those clueless stupid blue eyes looking at him, but there was nothing, no one. He felt like if he was falling as he stomach sank. It was right then and there he finally admitted something he already had known for a while: he didn't want to, in fact, he couldnt live without Neil. A world without him was just pure hell. Andrew needed Neil as much as he needed air or water

(This wasnt supposed to be almost a fic, but I got carried away while writing, lol. Forgive me for any mistakes, I typed it on my cellphone and english isnt my first language)

Do you ever think about how Andrew called Neil’s phone after he disappeared, but instead of Neil answering, it’s just ‘Runaway train never coming back’ playing on a loop… or are you normal?

Can we take a moment to appreciate the fact that in that scene Dan kissed Matt to the sound of the crowd's roar??

Like, that shit is f-ing epic

Imagine you are the captain in the team your boyfriend also plays, you just won a game and got yourselfs to round three of the championships for the first time ever, which is something you have been dreaming and working towards for ages.So you run over, take your boyfriend's helmet off and kisses him in the middle of the Court, with the whole crowd cheering and roaring. Literally "the alchemy" (by Taylor Swift): "cheers chanting cause they said there was no chance. Trying to be the greatest in the league. Wheres the trophy? He(she) comes running over to me"

Off course, Neil barely payed attention to that bc our demisexual king only had eyes to Andrew

Still epic as fuck. You go Queen Dan Wilds

"you're crazy they don't even interact in canon!!"

WHAT'S THIS?!?

anyway they're funny and kissing a boy would fix kevin so that's enough to ship them

"Just please let me go" was the most hearbreaking wording choice Nora could have done

It shows everything

First of all how done and tired he is ("just")

Also the "let me go" part: he is not asking only to be left alive, he is asking his father to let him go, let him live his life.

In book one he says that everytime he wakes up he has to remind himself everything is okay bc he always wakes up thinking his father found him and he has to take a few deep breaths and ground himself before starting his day

This has been this boy's life EVERY DAY for NINE YEARS, in other words, this has been his life for about 3.200 days.

This "let me go" isnt just a desperate plea for his life, but it is the plea of a kid who cant stand being afraid, scared and always on the run anymore. It has been NINE YEARS, and Nathan just cant let him go, for NINE YEARS Nathan didnt allow neither him or his mother to really go and he made their lifes a living hell. So what Neil is asking here is to be freed from the nightmare his whole life had always been, because of Nathan

He knows it is not gonna work, but he cant take it anymore. He had been strong for too much time and at that moment, all he wanted to was to live, but really live, not just be alive. And he couldnt do that unless his father letted him go

Another thing that always hurts me about this part is that he had accepted he was gonna die, literally until he saw his father

When it comes to kidnappings you should NEVER allow your kidnappers to take you to a second location. If you get kidnapped and you plan on trying to run, you gotta do it BEFORE you get to the second location. No matter how hard it seems to scape, it will be even harder once you are in the second location. Once you arrive where your kidnappers want you, then it is almost surely game over

Neil probably knew this very well. Like, even my mom taught me that, Mary definitely taught this to him

But even knowing that, when does he decides to try to scape???

Not only when he was already inside his father's house, at his basement (aka: second location), but also when his father arrived (aka: the worst possible time)

And this wasn't a rational decision

When Neil received Lola's call, he accepted he was gonna die that day. He didnt fight it, bc he had already accepted he was gonna be dead before may. Off course, it was earlier then what he wanted it to be, but it felt just like destiny knocking earlier at his door

But then he saw his father and reality hitted, HE WAS GONNA DIE

And at that moment he realized he wasnt fucking ready to go, not now, not this early. There was so much he wanted, most importantly there were the Foxes, he didnt want to leave them, he didnt want to leave Andrew, he wasnt ready. He tought he was, but he wasn't

And thats when he makes his desperate scape attempt and his desperate last plea "just please let me go", that wasnt a plea just for his life. He was asking his father to, after nine years, allow him to be happy, to be safe, to "go". It is the last plea of an abused kid to his abuser. "Just stop abusing me, Just stop obsessing with me. LET ME LIVE"

He knows it wont work, but at this point, after finally finding what to live for, he had to at least try it

If Nathan had found him at the beggining of his first season with the Foxes or while he was still in his HS team, he would have died without letting out a single scream or plea. Bc at that point he was living out of spite. He was living with the hopes he would eventually find what to live for. He had nothing but his pride, and he sure as hell wasnt gonna allow Nathan to take it from him.

But when Baltimore happens, he had found what to live for, his wildest hopes became true, he had what to live for. He realizes it when he finally sees his father after all this time. So at that point, fuck his pride, the Foxes were more important then that. So he begs. Knowing it will fall on death ears, but the life he had built for himself was way too important for him to not try. Nathaniel, the kid raised to endure all sorts of pain and scape from an entire mafia, would never beg shit to his father. But the Foxes had humanized him, so at that moment he does what any other human would do: he asks for his life. There, it was the first time In the whole series Neil does something remotely similar to what a 19 years old would (and even so, he still kept a certain composure). And that was when Neil Josten finally buried Nathaniel Wesninski. He did what Neil would do at that moment, not what Nathaniel would

Anyways, he was just a kid and I hate Nathan so much

I just hope this bastard is burning in hell and having to watch his son heal and live in spite of him

genuinely the most heartbreaking part in aftg like out of the whole series is at the end of the kings men when neil snaps and starts begging for his life

like his “please, just let me go, just let me go i’m not—” LIKE UGHHHH

to me it really emphasizes just how young he is…like he’s literally only 19 he’s a teenager!!! begging for his life!!!! (after trying so hard to save face in front of lola in the car it didn’t even matter in the end bc fuck i’m about to die)

and also just the parallel with andrew and his hatred in the word, that he also said please and it didn’t work

(and the fact that he probably also came to a point where he knew it wouldn’t work but he had to try and beg anyways bc there’s no way out he has no other options he has nothing to gain but nothing to lose either just please let me go—)

"just a reminder that proust made andrew say please. in case you were having a good day i'm here to ruin it" post of shame checked discord to see this day ruined life ruined actually

CACKLING i cherish their every little interaction.

istg just when you think a character cant possibly be more traumatized than this theres people in the fandom. fucking. psychoanalyzing them by breaking down their every thought and action and you realize that they are, in fact, a lot more traumatized than you think.

Dan!🤎