How many times do you think the Foxes have joked about similarities between Kevin and Wymack before they knew? They’d laugh about how “you’ve perfected Coach’s look of disappointment” and Kevin would stare off into space for a moment, a little bit wistful, a little bit pleased, before play on the court resumes under Wymack’s direction.
before endspiel
neil josten the character that you are. auburn hair and ice blue eyes and a serial killer's smile. the capacity for both extreme cruelty and immense kindness. an honest liar, a brave runaway. someone who is born of two violent, dangerous, immoral people and desperately, desperately doesn't want to be like them (but is a little bit anyway). harsh and brutal and rough around the edges and at the same time so devoted and genuine despite it all. spent his entire life outrunning his past, cutting people loose for his own survival, and was ready to die for the people he called family. never does anything half-hearted (except maybe college, but that's actually completely valid) but throws himself into it and literally puts his life on the line all for the game. bargains for jean's safety and makes an effort to keep him alive and well despite barely knowing him at all. signed his own death warrant by staying at the foxhole court because he wanted to see kevin break free of r*ko and make it to the top (where he belongs). neil josten, who could've been so much more violent and bitter and evil, but remained true and good and would've held onto his integrity and the people he loved till the day that he died. neil josten the character that you are.
before and after evermore
One of my fav canon facts is that Neil was running on 1h of sleep when he did Kathy's interview. Yeah I wouldn't have any impulse control either in that situation buddy
In each other’s gravity
I’m back and in aftg hell 😩
fake idgafer i saw you beat up four men for being homophobic to your cousin. i saw you kill your brother’s abuser. i saw you befriend a kindhearted religious girl even though you knew the others would tease you. i saw you offer two traumatized boys protection when they thought they would never get any. i saw you ask “how many kids” when you found out that your abuser targeted more people. i saw you sitting on the roof even though you’re afraid of heights because you didn’t want to feel nothing anymore
The raven king, chapter ten
"How interesting," they say.
(and they say it a lot)
(i'm not kidding. the entirety of the first two books is just both of them saying how interesting the other is. it's suffocating.)
Another medicated Andrew! And black haired Neil!
The two first books hold such bangers, and clearly not enough people ramble about them. I'm a sucker for the relationship they have afterwards obviously, but even before that they're hilarious. Many underrated scenes that could be worth drawing.
Also I underestimated how Neil dress and presents himself - like: he wears oversized, worn out and faded, preferably light-colored clothes; messy curlyish hair with bangs; sports hoodies; JORTS-
... He's got a banger style actually.
Andrew’s “bottomless rage” and Jean’s “old and ugly rage” are the same in this essay I will -
look at me Jean-Yves
every one in a while i am reminded that jean is just a kid (and then i cry)
jerejean aki moon and his sun
i think! nora should have let jean kiss renee
based on nora's tweet
jean dying in every draft except this one
no thoughts just them
thinking about how neil says jean is a survivor not a fighter and thinking about how jeremy says he is a starving dog and thinking about kevin saying "if you tell him to submit he will" and thinking about jean giving rhemann the racquet and thinking about contrition and thinking about jean asking and expecting to be punished and not fighting back AND ALSO thinking about how nora said jean went to evermore angry and betrayed like if you shoved a cat into a box closed the lid shook it and opened it again and how the cat is jean and thinking about how jean was angry and all claws and teeth when he first showed up at evermore and thinking about jean saying he would tear out kevin's throat with his teeth and thinking about jean wanting to punch jeremy for treating him with too much caution and thinking about jean biting back every time lucas insulted him and thinking about how jean is at once defeated and depressed and unwilling to fight back or fight for himself and also so insanely angry all of the fucking time and how he had (has?) so much passion and emotion and rage that got tortured out of him during his time at evermore but did it really?
