NEED The Aftg Fandom To Stop Demonising Andrew Just Let Him Exist. Sleeping With His Arms Draped Over

andreil is NOT an 'i can fix him' scenario. neil saw andrew and was like 'hes scary i'm going to let him save my life' and andrew saw neil and said 'hes so fucked up i wonder what happens if i do this' and then took him to the club

the one true 'i can fix him' in all for the game is kateaaron. THAT was a girl seeing a fucked up blond guy and going 'yeah i can fix that'. and she DID. queen.

neil “pathological liar” josten and andrew “eidetic memory” minyard make for theoretically the most implausible ship and that’s what makes them the best. “i am alive because i am forgettable so the people hunting me don’t catch me” vs “i never forget anything”

Neil Josten lets Andrew's his cigarettes burn to the filter without taking a drag. He hates vegetables. He knows all the places you can shoot a man without killing him. He doodles fox paws on his homework. He's not scared of knives or violence or the yakuza. He is scared of cellphones and therapists and his own reflection. His favourite colour is gray. He got told he couldn't play exy with a bloody nose so he sniffed back the blood until they let him. He doesn't like movies or loud music. He hitchhiked halfway across South Carolina by pretending to be a sociology student. He gets sad when Kevin watches exy without him. He wishes he had his mother's patience instead of his father's temper. He's brilliant at manipulation. He's stupid on purpose. He was every inch a lie but his friends made him into someone real. He doesn't wear a jacket to the roof when it's cold because he knows Andrew's body heat will keep him warm. He thinks the hardest thing he's ever had to do was opening a tub of ice cream after kissing his boyfriend and not like, all the torture he's been through. Nobody is doing it like him

there's aftg twt discourse about if andreil would wear skirts or not which is such a headache bc like ppl can headcanon anything they want with fictional characters? like fandoms always headcanon these kinds of things so just let ppl be

but honestly idk if andrew would wear a skirt, at the very least not in the books timeline like andrew just doesn't seem like that kind of guy?

and neil while he doesn't care about what he wears and let's andrew pick for him, i think it would take him time to rlly feel comfortable in expanding his gender expression, bc wearing a skirt as a guy is still "out of the norm" and may attract attention so it's honestly an interesting idea to explore at the very least

I've put some thought into this and I've come up with a theory. My theory is as follows: there are two main reasons people think the aftg novels are filled with bad writing.

1. They are self-published. This point is really two points. Because they are self-published they have a lot of typos and editing errors. Also, because they are self-published they are associated with not being good enough to be traditionally published. The belief that self-published books failed at being traditionally published is false. Nora has stated that she received interest from agents and publishers. They wanted her to change too much of the books, including replacing exy with an existing sport. She said that it would have felt like betraying her characters, especially her female characters, as exy is a coed sport. As for the errors, this is not an example of bad writing. It is an example of amateur proofreading, which is different.

2. The books do not have lyrical prose, which is actually an example of good writing. What?! How can this be? I'm about to tell you. The novels are completely from Neil's POV. They stay in Neil's POV. The reason the prose isn't lyrical is because Neil doesn't think lyrically. He is blunt. Straightforward, even though he's a liar. Think of the scene where he rejects Marissa or when he tells Seth why people don't like him. The writing style reflects this. In fact, many writers struggle with staying inside someone's head, with keeping to their POV. The way that Nora keeps Neil's perspective, and Neil's perspective only, is pretty impressive. His language actually changes a little as the books progress, which is seen around Andrew and his golden eyes. He starts to feel feelings around Andrew and his perspective changes to reflect this. Again, an example of good writing.

In conclusion, aftg are actually really good books. Source: me

i love fanfics where seth is still alive, it makes me so sad he deserved so much better and he deserves to get the chance to grow and change and make up for his mistakes:(( it also BREAKS MY HEART the fact he was clean when he went out HE WAS CLEAN HE DIDNT DO IT HE WAS CLEAN

Neil josten and his disposable cameras against the world.

Neil josten who has spent his entire life ducking away from photos, whose heart still beats a little faster when he sees a photo blown up for a poster on the side of the stadium when the season starts up again. Who sees a news article about himself go up and refuses to read it, trusting his pr manager (and andrew) to make sure anything posted about him isnt something weird.

Neil josten with a different disposable camera tucked into the pockets of every pair of jeans, each backpack and duffel bag, and shoved into nearly any crevice of the apartment.

(Andrew fishes at least one a month out of the dryer after they get forgotten in Neils jeans)

At first Abby had suggested it as a way to get more used to hearing a camera flash and associate it with something positive.

So theres rolls and rolls of film developed around the dorm, photos of the foxes, the stadium when the sun sets over it and lights the sky up orange. Blurry photos from Edens of Aaron and Nicky dancing to ABBA, photographed right after is a picture of both of them leaning on the bar wall outside crying into their phones trying to call Katelyn and Erik.

(Andrew corrals them into the car when he realizes that Aaron and Nicky drunkenly called one another and had been blabbering to one another from just over a foot away thinking they’d actually called their respective partners)

A series of photos of Kevin drunk and half leaning over the bar trying to snag someone elses drink that Roland is in the middle of mixing, showing Roland darting back and forth trying to dodge Kevins long reach.

Another photo of Kevin being dragged out of Edens by security, Rolands mixer held up victoriously in his hand as he’s brought outside.

A picture of Allison leaning against her pink convertible. Her hair is tossed back behind her and her mouth is open with a loud bark of laughter. She’d glared at Neil after for taking a picture of her unaware but she has the photo pinned up in the girls dorm room anyways.

Photos of all the cats at the shelter when they decide to adopt Sir. Most of the photos are of Sir. Nearly all of them looking identical because of the Persian’s inability to not have a permanent glare on his face.

The cycle repeats when they get King. The Scottish Folds face etched with a permanently shocked look.

Theres a photo of her on the bathroom counter, feet blurry in the bottom of the photo but its clear shes trying to scramble backwards, the edge of a hair tie looped around the sink faucet and the other half lodged in her mouth as she tries valiantly to pull it loose without getting it in the water spray as Andrew washes his face in the mirrors reflection.

Andrew takes up the majority of the photos. Sure there’s hundreds pictures of the other foxes scattered about but Andrew is always Neil’s main focus.

Wether its actually Andrew framed front and center, always trying to give his typical unimpressed look but constantly betrayed by the uptick of the corners of his mouth, the slightest peak of his teeth when he closes his eyes at the beginning of a tired smile towards Neil.

Or if its not related to Andrew, the essence of him always ends up leaking in. The curl of cigarette smoke at the bottom of a photo of the sunset view from the top of Fox Tower. The reflection of his arm bands in the photo Neil snapped of the Maserati in the rain.

Neil’s favorites are the ones of him and Andrew in their house after theyve gone pro. Its a cozy house out in Washington, close enough to the Seattle team that they can comfortably commute each day without having to actually live within the city.

The lighting is always half shit because of the constant overcast sky outside. But the array of lamps inside always try their best to make the photos look orange and cozy.

Andrew sat asleep in Neils armchair. The bright orange fabric something that Andrew had huffed and rolled his eyes at, but constantly found himself in instead of the black designer chaise Andrew had bought. Both cats are on him. Sir sat on his shoulder glaring down at King, who is in the process of trying to eat his hoodie strings.

Andrew stood in the kitchen, his bare back turned towards Neil as he pours a smoothie out from the blender, arm already reached behind him and holding Neil’s smoothie glass out towards him.

Andrew a half second later, turned looking startled over his shoulder in shock from the sound of the camera shutter as Neils smoothie is caught in motion falling to the floor. Another photo following of Neil hunched over on the floor sweeping up glass.

A photo of Andrew stood with his hip cocked looking up at the light fixture on the ceiling, arms crossed in front of his chest as he stares up at it, the light half ripped out of the ceiling when he’d gotten the midnight urge to change it and then quickly remembered he was a professional athlete and not an electrician.

Andrew hunched over in the engine of a Mustang. The cars an obnoxious bright yellow, two black racing stripes gone up the middle of the hood. His hands are covered in grease and theres a streak of grease running through his short blonde hair as well. Theres a wrench in his hand and a jug of some fluid propped on the engine that Neil doesnt care enough to understand what its for.

And Neil knows the foxes start taking more pictures of him, can hear the camera shutter or see the flash going off but doesnt flinch away or try to sidestep out of the way anymore. Doesnt care that theres evidence of Neil Josten being a real man that exists and lives a real life outside of fake IDs and lies, because he has photos of the life he’s created for himself as well.

I know I've made this post before but it absolutely fucking kills me that Andrew's entire outlook on life was "I just have to hold on until I drag Aaron across the finish line," only for Kevin to swoop in and, between fits of hysterical sobbing, somehow still find the time to insist that Andrew has a great life ahead of him, and the breath to belligerently dismiss anybody who argues, especially Andrew.

No wonder they're so antagonistic. No wonder they're best friends. Suddenly Andrew is the one getting dragged to the finish line. If Kevin is wrong, then he's covered in mud for nothing. If he's right, then the finish line is much, much further away than just graduation.

i need to give neil's description of andrew before their first kiss more attention because the way he says that the look they share is one of deep understanding, it's just that neil is about to fall off the ledge but andrew has already fallen. it's crazy to think about because both neil and andrew never rlly had a home, except andrew made one in columbia and then invited neil into it. andrew as a kid was constantly forced into moving from place to place, and neil from ten on went through the exact same experience. even during the series neil was never going to stay, while andrew agreed to stay somewhere for five years (the longest previously he'd ever stayed being two years) and then asked neil to stay himself. like i always thought of it as neil saying that andrew had already reached his breaking point and broken (see andrew's gutter comment), but it's also that andrew reached his breaking point and now is unable to see the way he's creating situations that will do the exact opposite. if that makes sense.

Something that stood out to me in my aftg reread was how unhinged the upperclassmen actually are.

Matt fucking Boyd and his willingness to absolutely go at anyone, anywhere, any time. There's a scene where Kevin tells him to foul another player on the opposing team and Neil specifically points out the unrepentant grin he has on his face as he waltzes off court after it happens. He also is described as the best player on the foxes line up multiple times by Neil and his play style is aggressive, he uses his height and build to his advantage and he doesn't hold back.

Allison and Andrew have the exact same style of serving cunt, in that if you don't interest them they will not even acknowledge your existence. A player from another team attempted to score on the goal and both Allison and Andrew stood still and watched them miss with such bitchy indifference it probably gave that player ptsd. They also both have a habit of cutting through bullshit and demanding truth ESPECIALLY regarding topics other people would shy away from. Badass blonde bombshells.

Dan Wilds is just as rabid about Exy as Kevin and her every first thought goes to the game first just like Kevin. She's just better at making her second thought go to something else. She literally knew the second Seth was out of the picture that there was an opportunity there and she didn't even really hesitate to talk to Matt about it. She looked at Neil and whatever fucked up little thing he had going on with Andrew (as it would have looked to an outsider, let's remember that they all knew Andrew took him to Columbia and drugged him) and was like, how can we use this to make the team stronger. Like Nicky used Neil to manipulate Andrew but Dan did it better and with much more calculation.

Renee I don't even really need to talk about because Neil was always wary of her but there is one scene where Neil let's slip about his father's penchant for knives and Renee's reaction and understanding gave me chills. Renee uses that part of her to protect and that's really great because she would be terrifying otherwise.