Does He Cut A Square Out Of The Middle? Or Does He Make It Triangular So It Looks Like A Regular Slice?

hold on, so the moment Neil says “do it” when Betsy’s trying to convince the everyone to have Andrew go off his medication, that’s the first time in the whole series he’s put someone/something before Exy, including himself *screams*

Doesn’t even consider for a second how that will affect the Exy season, just immediately does what he can to make it happen because he needs so badly for Andrew to be better or at least have a chance at being better, even when it might mean Neil loses out on the one thing he has been holding onto (insert Nicky’s speech about how Exy can’t love you back and you need someone to hold onto, this shows how Neil has been holding onto Andrew and how much that has changed his priorities).

here to prompt that 'other time', thoughts on allison? headcanons, character study etc?

thank you for giving me free reign to ramble about this absolute goddess

the short version of this post: allison reynolds is such a underrated character whose trauma is too often overlooked 

the long version:

one of the most common criticisms about allison is that she’s too cold/uncaring. i don’t want to make this a whole post about sexism, but i will say this: it’s shitty to hate a female character for the same reasons you love male characters in the same series. this happens too often in literature (not just aftg) and it’s exhausting. you can obviously have preferences and favourites, but loving andrew for his apathy and hating allison for hers isn’t the vibe. there are valid arguments that people can use to defend their favourites without being hypocritical and sexist

on that note! allison’s apathy isn’t just because she wants to be bitchy - it’s absolutely something that she learned while living with her parents. she would’ve gone to social gatherings where masking your actual emotions is essential and expected, and then she’d have gone home and have her dreams and aspirations bashed and ridiculed by her parents. it’s only natural that she would hide behind that icy persona in order to guard herself. i’m willing to bet that she pretended not to care when her parents disowned her, and only let herself fall apart when she was completely alone. it would have taken her a long time to be vulnerable in front of others

allison’s just become a really great actress who doesn’t let people get close enough to actually see her. it’s a coping mechanism and it’s how she protects herself from hurting more than she already is

and somewhere (i can’t for the life of me remember if this is in the books or the ec, but anyway), it’s mentioned that allison doesn’t get presents from randy. partly because anything that she can afford anything she wants, but also because she doesn’t have a parent figure to talk to, and randy subs in as a mother figure for her. remember that scene where nicky asked neil to convince andrew to go to thanksgiving in columbia, and remember how heartbreaking it was when he said he missed his mom? allison feels the same thing. (some key differences in the actual situations, but the gist of it? she misses her mom so desperately that she clings to any sort of motherly affection she can get)

okay anyway, that’s enough rambling about allison for today. i’m hoping to start posting more allison content, because even though it doesn’t do as well, i love her sm

basically? more allison appreciation pls and thanks xoxo

also!! @codename-adler wrote a foxes + onesies post (well 9 posts, 1 for each fox) and the portrayal of allison is 10/10, i highly recommend checking out their tumblr :)

neil and andrew definitely write sir and king into their will. but not as possessions, like... they leave their cats money. a lot of it

neil’s too preoccupied with analyzing other people’s emotions to care about his own. like his feelings never,, mattered to him ?? it was always about survival, not about living, so of course he doesn’t bother interpreting his own emotions, he only worries about those of others because that’s what has always been important for his survival

@manic-andrew aghdahkdhdkh YES EXACTLY thank u for ur tags

neil and andrew definitely write sir and king into their will. but not as possessions, like… they leave their cats money. a lot of it

i can’t help but wonder how many times mary called neil stupid, given that that’s what he thinks of all his decisions

matt and neil’s relationship is so sweet and i just KNOW that as soon as he figured out that neil loved fruit, matt made sure that their dorm was always stocked with so. much. fruit. (especially oranges bc yknow, foxes) and i can see him discreetly placing snacks on the corner of the desk as neil does his hw (aka doodles fox paws on papers mindlessly) just to see the way that neil pauses his doodling and gingerly eats the fruit like its the most precious thing in the world

okay bestie please elaborate on:

SAFE HAVEN AU (yes i’ve already heard about it and watched the movie with you but just more pls), vet fic, and andreil night drives!!

Thank you for the ask! Even though I have made you watch it with me I will still offer you some Safe Haven content (honestly if I've made you watch Safe Haven with me there's no going back we're best friends from then on).

Spoilers for the movie Safe Haven?? Idk if I need to do that but this is your warning if you haven't seen it there is an actual twist so like don't read this if you genuinely want to watch it.

Safe Haven Au

One of my favorite WIPs! Idk why I love this movie so much but honestly it's probably cause I watched it a lot as a child and can now project Andreil onto it. Anyways, into the plot. I'm just assuming y'all have seen it because otherwise we'd be here for ages. Oh and some relationships are changed and I feel like you can guess where as I explain who is who. So Neil is Katie and Andrew is Alex which I feel is pretty obvious. Nicky is Lexi, and Aaron will be Josh which again.. if you've seen it you know the vibes. Wymack will be Roger which I think will be ridiculously funny for the lead up to canoeing scene. Bee will be Jo because the potential™. And of course Nathan is Kevin. Also Kevin is Rhett. And Abby will be the Ivan's owner.

The plot stays pretty much the same with some minor changes like the kids being replaced with Nicky and Aaron, Bee being Jo and Nathan being Kevin. But even then their roles are staying the same it's just the relationships that are changing? This au works to well is what I'm saying. The biggest change will of course be with Bee being Jo. I think she'll end up being a co-owner of the shop with Wymack and will have adopted Andrew and Aaron at some point, and Nicky will either also be adopted or just like live there with his cousins because he can (maybe post-Bee?? I'll have to think on this more apparently). So Andrew will take over her spot as co-owner and the story stays the same from there. It's really more backstory that will be a kinda off-hand mention (e.g. beach scene) than a true plot point because if you've seen it you know that her character up until the end reveal doesn't involve any of this.

I don't actually have anything written for this it just all exists in perfect vivid clarity in my head. But maybe I'll have a piece soon and can post it separate if anyone is interested?

Vet Fic

This fic kinda has it all for some of my favorite fluff tropes. It's a meet-ugly (meet-angsty??) strangers to neighbors to friends to lovers. Basically, Neil works as the night receptionist for a 24/7 emergency vet when Andrew runs in one night with a fast-fading King (or Sir, undecided) after she's attacked by an animal. They manage to save King because I'm not horrible and Andrew is taking care of her at home when he notices someone moving into the long-vacant apartment next to his. That someone being Neil who very quickly becomes invested in King's recovery because why wouldn't he be, he worries about emergency patients all the time and finally has the chance to see how one is doing. Of course, King immediately falls in love with Neil when he comes over to check in and Andrew slowly begins to as well. Queue inevitable angst because yeah and then a soft sappy ending like always. Here's a piece from it:

-

Andrew was walking into his apartment building when he spotted a moving truck parked at the curb. Hopefully whoever was moving in was nowhere near his apartment, or at least knew how to take a hint when met with his blank glare. Fate seemed to hate him however, because when he stepped out of the elevator the door to his neighboring apartment was propped open and surrounded with boxes. Great. He tried to unlock his door quickly to avoid meeting them but again, fate hated him. Just as he was about to push his door open he hear a startles gasp then, “King Fluffkins!”

Odd. That was definitely not his name. He turned to his new neighbor prepared to ask what the hell was wrong with them and how they knew his cat’s name.

He found the nurse from the vet—Neil, his memory supplied—looking at him with wide eyes. Now that his mind wasn’t clouded with worry he notices that he is very attractive. Dammit. Fate was so fucking with him. To late he realized how long he had been staring and forced a response from his lips.

“My name is not King Fluffkins.” Andrew deadpans. -

Andreil Night Drives

This is an idea I've had almost since I read the book, it's just a short little fic based off of the song You Won't Be Here Again by Rainstorm Society. It's my favorite song to drive to at night/early in the morning and I think it works really well for their night drives after nightmares or when they can't sleep. There isn't really a plot it's just them together with the vibes of the song.

okay you know what, andrew may have killed his mom but at least he’s a generous tipper. murder? excusable. tipping 5% at a restaurant? well now we’re gonna have to excuse another murder

do you have any headcannons (andreil or otherwise) that are unpopular within the aftg fandom? and by unpopular i mean you haven’t seen them done/mentioned by anyone yet.

(also your posts are rlly cool, glad i stumbled upon your blog!!)

oh man, i love hc asks! i appreciate you giving me permission to let my mind run wild. and tysm, that’s really sweet!! 

(these are in no particular order. i haven’t seen any of them done before, but i also haven’t read all of the aftg hcs, so i apologize if there are any that you’ve already seen! CW: scars, bad family relationships... i think that’s it?)

kevin dog ears the pages of his books 

(he didn’t have any actual bookmarks at the nest and would rather just fold the pages than use a random scrap of paper)

in france, they greet by kissing each other on the cheeks (1-4 times, depending on the area). so, i propose that jeremy does his research and decides to greet jean at the airport with 2 “bises” (as is custom in marseilles). it’s second nature to jean, and he returns it without thinking. eventually that’s how all the trojans greet each other

bonus: the trojans greet the foxes like that at a match. most are confused, andrew stands off to the side and (understandably) refuses, nicky’s enthusiastic, and neil and allison reciprocate perfectly

the foxes write letters to each other when they no longer share dorms! especially neil, since he’s the worst at answering via technology

the letters include little doodles in the margins, pictures in the envelopes (mostly from dan), and other little things that can fit

all of the foxes have created spots designated for the letters

allison commissions a set of 10 custom garden gnomes that look like each teammate for all of the (og) foxes’ houses (and also wymack). while the reactions vary, everyone keeps them (some display them in their yards and some do not)

renee journals and presses flowers

allison reads classic poetry and novels

matt and dan get neil to paint lil fox paws around their house, wherever he wants to. they always smile when they see them

wymack has scars similar to andrew’s. he used to always wear long sleeves bc of it, but he covered them up with the flame tattoos and proudly displays his arms now

the foxes as a whole tend not to like rainy or snowy days bc bad weather = staying inside, which isn’t ideal when you have a horrible home environment (and for neil it meant running was harder)

they generally all end up in the same room on bad weather days, without planning it. no ones mentions the reason, but everyone feels a bit calmer with their found family around

neil and andrew start up a collection of black glass figurines in their home (like bee’s but opposite)

the foxes have a way easier time buying gifts for andreil once this collection is started, and it grows exponentially

neil doesn’t love ice cream but he has taken a liking for froyo

he doesn’t really care what he eats, but andrew notices that neil eats a lot more of it a lot faster, and fruit-flavoured froyo becomes neil’s usual frozen treat 

it’s also what caused him to experience his first brain freeze bc he’d never consumed a frozen food so fast before

i’m so sorry to any mobile users who have just gotten a wall of text

i hope this is sort of what you were looking for! aftg is on my mind 24/7 and this all flooded out LMAO

feel free to send me asks anytime! :)