AFTG Headcannons!

when neils gone pro and is super famous there are threads titled “Neil Josten being absolutely hilarious and he doesn’t even know it” filled with interview excerpts and his reactions to things and it goes viral, obviously, with an accompanying hashtag, #funnyneiljosten

Cue the OG foxes joining in

However what surprises most people is that Andrew Minyard tweets his first ever tweet, and adds fuel to the fire that is the speculated minyard-Josten rivalry

Until

FF [Lessons in Cartography] by Profenity 🧡💜🤍 @hopingforcoordinates

can we talk about how exy courts have no fucking nets. there are just squares painted on the fucking plexiglass. but the squares aren't just squares- no no my friend... THE SQUARES LIGHT UP? why are the goals just light up sketchers??? is there even walls on an exy court like in ice hockey? or is it just clear all the way down? i HATE THIS STUPID BASTARD SPORT. nora please come back from the dead ten years later just to explain the full logistics of the exy court. pls and thx

okay but are we forgetting that Jean didn't join the Foxes because he didn't want to deal with Kevin's ass (valid)

long haired Neil? long haired Neil 😌

once and future idiots or something

part 2/?

Thinking about Nicholas Esteban Hemmick, who for some reason did improv classes. Who would literally clap back at anyone in less than a second. School mascot thrusts at him? He thrusts right back. Some fans heckling the foxes? He didn't even hesitate to heckle back. Wymack had to stop him. He was literally so unhinged. what the hell. What a little shitster.

Marketing degree? Please go to hell. Thinking about how he overcompensated his personality to be even brighter and bubblier to balance out the twins doom and gloom. Thinking about him going to conversion therapy. Thinking about his future husband saving his life. Thinking about his black hair (that everyone forgets for some reason?) Thinking about how he was an overdramatic useless gay bastard on the court. If he wasn't so flashy he would be a better player and he literally gave no fucks.

who let this man outside. I love him.

no.1: dickieboy oldman

First impressions: he's nothing like me. he's a weird narrator, unreliable and all this account take on this dreamlike take of what happened. i mean seriously, his account of everything is almost a decade after the events and it's idealised and confusing, chock full of timeskips.

But. he's an incredibly written unreliable narrator. he leaves out key details, (like the fact he was drunk off his ass half the time) (or on drugs) and just really. he lets his own bias get in the way of everything. he still loves bunny and charles (charles somewhat less because he actually hurt someone he "cared" about) because he's a white man from california in the eighties. he doesn't care that they're but abusive hateful people because their prejudices don't actively hurt him. even though they harmed his friends.

and furthermore he kind of indulges in the same prejudices. he feels violent urges towards camilla (though it was really a passing remark and he doesnt act on them as charles does) and his internalised homophobia inhibits his relationship with francis whenever he's confronted with francis' gayness all over again. (although francis was flirting with him the entire time. so that may be a moot point.) so yeah. he's definitely a narrator alright.

the way he interacts with people is interesting because he feels the urge to lie about. well. everything to do with his past. and so he doesn't really HAVE a relationship with people until they realise he's penniless. which they notice pretty quickly. (even bunny does) (ie making fun of his offbrand ties etc etc) as the people around him spend mroe time with him and realise that Richard Papen is actually poor, they start treating him like a person.

Richard has a very distinct and interesting way of interacting with his friends individually. he builds up a distinct way to build rapport with each of them. (reassuring charles that he is liked, listening to francis and taking him to the doctors etc) because not only does he have a deep seated need to be like, BUT he wants these people to stick with him for life. he wants them to want him.

but onto the reason i wrote this. hes fuckin gay. the way he describes men is just out of this world. henry is described like he's a god. francis is beautiful and untouchable. charles is an all american dream. and camilla. is constantly described as boyish and looking exactly like charles. which means he's attracted to charles by proxy. he literally kisses francis back in the kitchen. he would've got on his knees for henry had he the chance. he was literally a charles apologist. he was so repressed it hurts my heart. he just didn't like women the way he described men. he wanted to grow old with francis in the countryside. camilla was the closest he was going to get to a man.

he's toeing the line between bicon and gay bastard but god does he walk it hard. he does it for us. i love and hate his junkie ass.

exactly!! he was scared of her because she could see him!! and that was such a scary thing for him because he couldn't form attachments if he was going to run by october, then by spring. but because of this understanding i can see them becoming literally the best duo. like you know when you introduce someone to one of your friends to another friend and they end up becoming better friends with each other? that's EXACTLY what happened to andrew with neil and renee.

renee being on the ball about EVERYTHING neil likes and dislikes. "not everyone dislikes bee" "that's why i make you uncomfortable" "i'm not andrew's type because im a woman" etc etc. what a queen. she's literally neil's mentor. like what didn't she tell neil. nobody else noticed these things and obviously she hasn't survived this long by being ignorant to other people's emotions, but she just reads neil so well. it's probably incredibly disconcerting for neil to be so known by a stranger.

AFTG Headcannons!

i'm currently rereading the books and i thinking about the foxes and i just need some fluff in my life.

· First Andrew and his Arms TM. How much he lifts in the gym is notable enough for Neil to point it out. He could out-lift anyone on the foxes and anyone on his new team post graduation. Which is incredibly funny to think about because he's literally 5 foot. Horribly unbalanced. Neil wants to lick his biceps.

· Every one of the foxes has seen andriel making out on the roof. Aaron is scarred for life. Kevin wishes they would spend that time on the court. Nicky has to be restrained so he doesn't take a picture to send to Allison. Wymack heaves a long suffering sigh. Why did the universe set him up with these idiots?

· Neil thinks of half his comebacks in advance. the other half is adapted from his pre-existing list. He talks so much shit in his head he just starts writing it down. Neil is a planner. Andrew also knows about this list. Sometimes Neil writes them down for him to give his critiques.

· Andrew and Aaron learn to fight like normal brothers eventually. Imagining those boys bickering like siblings breaks me in half.

· Aaron has a stage where he dyes his hair brown for like a couple months. He didn't ask for twin, did he? Him and Andrew don't talk much during this little rebellion.

· The foxes actually call drunk Kevin "Kevin Night". I saw a post about Kevin Night being all about destroying his liver and safe to say that is the funniest thing i have ever seen in this fandom. It's a running gag among the foxes and you'll Never Guess who started it. (nicky)

· When Andrew and Neil both eventually quit smoking, Neil takes to drawing all over Andrew's hand to curb his cravings, and somehow it spirals into him sketching on his arms, legs and torso and months later, under his armbands. But it all comes to a head years later when Andrew wakes up with a fox paw on his ass. Neil can't show his neck in public for months.

· One morning after a particularly bad nightmare, instead of Andrew hitting out, it was Neil. Andrew has a bloody nose by the end of it and Neil has never felt worse. More proof that he's nothing, that he's not worthy of the foxes, that all he can do is hurt, because oh god He Hurt Andrew- Andrew puts a stop to it as soon as he isn't dripping blood all over the carpet. Healing isn't linear, junkie.

· Once Andrew gets to the stage where he's ok with hickeys, Neil suddenly can't leave enough of them. If the foxes didn't know better, they would tease the hell out of him but sometimes their self preservation instincts get the better of them. Often, much the Aaron's disgust, the place bets on how many bruises will be on his neck the morning after. Renee refuses to bet on principle.

· Allison teaching Neil to dress himself and taking him on their weekly shopping dates. I just love the idea of it so much. The freshmen thinking they're dating because of it. Allison dressing Neil to kill, for Andrew's sake. Almost all the clothes she buys him end up on the floor afterwards. Allison teaching Neil to do eyeliner. Neil with getting a matching helix piercing with Allison. Everyone dies a little once they see it. Matt drools a little.

· As Neil becomes more up to date with his flirting skills, he realises that "Doesn't mean I wouldn't blow you" is literally the most insane this to say during a conversation. He teases Andrew mercilessly and Andrew does that thing where he blushes with his ears and snogs the life out of Neil. He doesn't believe in regret but even he isn't immune to Neil's particular brand of wind-up.