aftg gives me life

i do not know what to do with my life after reading aftg. come scream with me about the foxes and andriel. mutifandom but mostly aftg series

[lnmei]

A moment after a win that Dan captured on camera! A rare bonding moment and Kevin’s real smile :)

( GIF version here ! )

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

[triquetrine]

i wrote a little thing for this because i had to

“…pathetic stamina resulted in clumsy footwork, which is the only reason I was able to get around him, so I really think all of the celebrating is unnecessary-” 

“Only you would be complaining after scoring the winning point.” Neil said, but there was a hint of a smile on his face. “Just say ‘thank you’ to all your adoring fans and get over yourself.” 

“I always say thank you. I am extremely polite.” Kevin didn’t get to continue, because Andrew reached over without looking and tapped his fingers on Neil’s chin to get his attention. His hint of a smile turned into a real one, and the two of them split away down the hall toward the lounge, walking close enough for their arms to be brushing.

A hand came down on his shoulder, and Kevin’s head whipped over to the side in surprise. Wymack, at some point, had come up next to him. His tie was undone and his blazer discarded, but his hair was still locked in place with the gel that Abby forced upon him before every match. She always insisted that he had to make himself “presentable”, he always insisted that she stop “pestering” him, and yet he never failed to show up with his hair combed back. 

“Hey,” Wymack stopped laughing with Matt and Aaron for a moment and met Kevin’s eyes. “You did really well tonight.” He was smiling. It made him look different, somehow. Younger. “I’m proud of you.” 

He was fairly certain that was the first time Wymack had ever said it to him so directly, and so openly. He had alluded to or heavily implied it in the past, but never just stated it. And in a public space, as well. The moments before facing the Ravens a second time was close, but even then Wymack had deferred the words to Kayleigh. For a brief moment, Kevin did not know what to do. Obviously a “thank you” was the right response, but he didn’t think that was enough. 

Wymack didn’t need a response, apparently. Without missing a beat, he squeezed Kevin’s shoulder before following Renee and Allison to the waiting crowd of press. His wordless departure wasn’t a dismissal. It was an acknowledgement. Understanding. Of all the things they couldn’t yet say. Of all the things they would.  

I’m proud of you.

Kevin watched his father walk away, then let out a little laugh. He felt weirdly warm inside, and it wasn’t from the 90 minutes of full sprinting he’d just done. Nicky passed by, clapping him on the back and saying something about celebratory vodka. There was the familiar shutter of Dan’s beloved camera somewhere ahead, undoubtedly capturing Kevin’s flustered joy.

He didn’t mind. 

[andrew-minyards-bitch]

Conversations Renee and Andrew definitely had

Andrew, struggling on basic grammar: how do you differentiate between man and men?

Renee: mEn has an E in it which stands for Ego that Every men have

Renee: mAn stands for Audacity that some may posses but are too cowardly to show it

~

Renee: what’re you eating?

Andrew: a Twix

Renee, under her breath: ya fucking twink

~

Renee, anytime Andrew says or does something problematic: did you know it takes zero dollars to shut up and think before you speak or do?

Andrew: pay for my silence

Renee: bitch you think you’re worth the money? Also I’m broke so,,

~

Dan: why the fuck are you sitting on the sofa like that?

Renee, with her legs spread wide on the sofa so Andrew wouldn’t have any room: huh? What do you mean?

Andrew, clingy on the left corner of the sofa like a cat because he refuses to admit defeat: we’re both gay :)

Dan, is tired: *l e a v e s*

~

Renee: I think that men should show emotions more specifically crying <3

Andrew: yes I agree, like in media or literature men not showing emotions and painting them as monsters is so shitty-

Renee, stares in “you didn’t let me finish talking”: not because of gender equality and all that shit but because I just like seeing them cry, I see a man in pain and I’m like good, suffer

Andrew: I- that works too

~

Renee: I am sick and tired of “men don’t feel emotions” bullshit when society literally allows men to weaponize their anger and let it out in ways that physically harm another human being and last I checked anger is an emotion

~

Renee: I hate men

Andrew: good more for me

~

Andrew: enemies to lovers is only good when it’s gay

Renee, sometimes his reading partner: exactly because if I wanted to see a man and a woman arguing I’d simply go downstairs and have dinner with Coach and Betsy

~

Andrew, has TikTok: I’m gonna marry your son, make him my husband

Renee, deadpans: Andrew- Neil is an orphan you know this

Andrew: it’s a TikTok sound??

~

Andrew and Renee had a Disney movie marathon:

Andrew: look I get that everyone is freaking out over Nick Wilde from zootopia but like are we not going to acknowledge that Robin Hood was the literal blueprint?

Andrew: see here; same ginger fur, green eyes, is a criminal and the government wants them, attractive personality, dry witty humor that makes them even hotter- they are literally the same person

Andrew: Robin Hood walked, he walked, he strutted that runway so that Nick Wilde could run

Renee: I? Just? Want to? Marry? Maid? Marian??

~

Renee, watching 2017 beauty and the beast while the beast is singing “evermore”: break a man to the point where he sings songs like this

Andrew, trying to vibe with the song: I’m begging you to not, please

~

Andrew: why has no one made a joke about Flynn’s late name?

Renee: you want to Ride his dick so bad don’t you?

~

Andrew: I want to get kidnapped

Renee, slightly concerned: why?

Andrew: cause if they decide to starve me then I can be skinny

Renee: why don’t you just try dieting?

Andrew, eating a tube of ice cream: no I’m good

~

Andrew: *sends ten paragraphs of love notes*

Renee: *talks about something that’s completely irrelevant*

Andrew: did you not read what I sent you?

Renee: bitch you think I’ve got the time??

~

Andrew: I want food

Renee: no starve

Andrew: I want food but I’m too lazy to get up and cook

Renee: you should get a sugar daddy and then I’ll get a sugar mommy so then we won’t have to do anything again

Andrew: *already downloading the app before Renee could finish speaking*

~

Renee: Andrew go shove the snow, help the workers out

Andrew: no that’s a buff lesbian’s job and looking at the both of us, it’s clearly not me

Renee: you lazy fuc-

~

Renee: I hate you!!

Andrew: okay?!

Renee: *gets 10 snacks and gives it to Andrew five minutes later* I love you so much you have no idea, you are the light of my life and everything about you makes me a better person

Andrew: I don’t know if that’s sarcasm or not but your mood switch is freaking me out

~

Andrew: can you try not killing me?

Renee, sparing partners check: can your face not look so annoying and punch able?

[andrew-minyards-bitch]

I am here on this earth for one reason and one reason only and that is to remind this fandom that Andrew canonically has a neck fetish

[smol-midgets]

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of soft andreil:

It's movie night with the foxes. Neil is super exhausted from practice and running. Andrew can see that so he spreads his legs, right knee propped against the arm of the couch, an open invitation. Neil comes and sits sideways between Andrew's legs and curls up against him. His back against Andrew's right leg, shoulder against his broad chest and face nuzzled in his neck. The foxes see this but wisely say nothing. Nicky is barely keeping it together.

Almost asleep, Neil brings up his hand and clutches Andrew's shirt close to his face, like he wants to keep him close. And then – he places a light, sleepy kiss to Andrew's neck. Andrew wraps his arms around Neil's waist and pulls him a little closer. He buries his face in Neil's soft, auburn curls and presses a kiss to the top of his junkie's head.

Theres a thud as Nicky bangs his head on the table.

[eunnieboo]

pink in the night

[sourcherrymagiks]

If there is a time I don’t reblog this it will be because the apocalypse got me

[kingjinxii]

also the creator confirmed the brunette girl is trans!!

[dreaming-paradise-dixie]

I had a strong feeling the brunette was trans

[play-exy-be-sexy]

Hi I love you all🖤

[hellofromthehallowoods]

[play-exy-be-sexy]

This is beautiful omg😭😭😭

[smol-midgets]

Professor!Andrew AU

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

On their anniversary, Neil decides to surprise Andrew and shows up at his office. He enters and Andrew isn't there yet, so he waits for him

Suddenly there's a knock on the door, and Neil automatically says "come in"

A small group of students enter "Professor And—" and suddenly they've stopped because they aren't looking at Andrew, they're looking at Neil Josten. At Neil Josten. In Andrew's office

"You're not Andrew"

As a response to Neil's comment, they're just standing there, stunned, mouths open. It was getting a little awkward now

That's when Andrew enters (thankfully) and freezes for a second when he sees Neil in his office

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to surprise you" he holds out a box "Cupcakes" and then the most gorgeous smile lights his face

Andrew holds up his finger to tell him to wait a slight smile tugging his lips and turns towards his students

The first thing his students say – "That's Neil Josten"

Andrew lifts a brow "Congratulations on having eyes. Now tell me why you're bothering me after hours"

"Umm... We had a question about a case..."

Andrew clears their doubt for them, but their eyes keep flickering over to Neil. So he stops and says "You have 2 minutes"

They squeal happily and are asking Neil for autographs and pictures. Once their 2 minutes are up they finish their discussion with Andrew and leave, but they can't stop thinking about who Professor Minyard is, and how he knows these people

Of course, word spreads and students go asking for Neil and Kevin's autographs. So a few days later in class - "If you don't want to be gutted with a knife in your sleep, you will not ask me to get you any autographs"

One day he comes in wearing a shirt with "Josten" written on the back. They don't notice at first because he's wearing a coat over it

When he removes his coat they ask him about it but he glares at them, so they stop

But this one student, Johnson, refuses to stop

He keeps bugging Andrew about why he is wearing a famous Exy players shirt. So at the end of the day "If you ask me that one more time I will give you an F on your test Johnson, and no I do not give a fuck"

One day Andrew is really late for class. All the students are talking about him, trying to figure out who he is and how he knows famous Exy players

So they decide to search him up

They aren't expecting to find much, but

They are SHOCKED

They knew he went to juvie, but it was because he was protecting his cousin (they were also a little concerned about the fact that he was able to singlehandedly almost kill 4 people twice his size)

He was in foster care, found his twin, was in the crash that killed his mom (and the entire thing seemed a little off to a few students...because it kind of seemed like he killed her??? But that wasn't possible)

And. He is married. To Neil Josten.

He'd made Court. Played next to Neil and Kevin. And they'd won the freaking Olympics (many students were freaking out over that amazing kiss Neil and Andrew shared when they won gold)

He scored a goal from his position

(everyone was frozen for a few minutes when they saw that)

Later, Andrew enters his class only to see the projector down and exy playing on the screen

When he gets closer he realises that they're watching his matches. Andrew Minyard's highlights.

They're so awed by what they're seeing on the screen, they don't notice Andrew is there until they hear a bored voice drawl "Having fun?"

Andrew is standing right there, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised

They regret watching exy in his class

Nevertheless, they've learned to pretend that he's not a brilliant Exy goalkeeper in front of him

But behind him

People are obsessed

They are constantly talking about his stats, his greatest saves, marvelling over how he seems to know where the ball is going to go before the striker shoots, and how he's able to hit it back to his players perfectly, talking about how amazing he is

So now, with every new batch of freshman

"You will NOT talk about exy in front of me. No matter fucking what. If you do, you will not live long enough to regret it. If you value your vocal chords you will not ask for any autographs whatsoever. Don't even think about saying the word "fine" around me".

All this in the most bored voice he can manage, which somehow makes his threat seem more threatening

Everyone's eyes are wide and their mouths have hit the floor. They are appropriately terrified.

Every batch of freshmen find out about Andrew and Neil from the older batches, and people occasionally see Neil around campus (especially after he retires)

Students try to talk to him and quickly realise that he's not really going to respond unless they talk about Andrew or Exy

Andrew has had to glare murderously at people several times so they leave his husband alone

They all eventually have a love - hate relationship with him, where they are fond of him but that doesn't mean they'll push him because he's still scary

The final part! Finally! Thank you so much for all those of you who read and liked this, I'm sorry it this long to finish it!

EDIT: Yes I changed this one slightly too :)

[smol-midgets]

Professor!Andrew AU

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

So his students know how soft he is, but they are also kind of terrified of the short midget. The constant death threats don't help

"Get used to it, you're majoring in criminology"

One day "If you don't want a knife between your ribs I'd recommend being less of a nuisance"

"Professor, you don't have knives"

Andrew looks pointedly at his armbands

".....Do you have knives in your armbands!?"

"Don't ask stupid questions"

They still don't know if he has knives in his armbands

He's staying back after school often, teaching John, some of the strikers from the team also stay back to improve further

On morning of November 4th, Andrew wakes up to Neil gently calling his name

He opens his eyes to find bright blue eyes staring down at him, hair glowing auburn from the sunlight filtering through the windows, and a gorgeous smile

Neil bends down to whisper a soft happy birthday against his lips, before lightly kissing him. "Go brush, Drew, and come out for breakfast"

He comes out for breakfast and sees Neil standing by the counter, preparing pancakes

"You made pancakes?"

"Don't worry I didn't poison them"

"You're cooking is inedible enough, you don't need the poison"

Neil pouts and Andrew has to kiss it away. One kiss turns to two, then ten, and then Andrews setting Neil on the kitchen counter, they're lips not parting the entire time

Andrew gets late for his class

when he gets there, Kevin is sitting at his desk. Students are staring because Kevin Day is sitting in their classroom in front of them

Cue Andrew's "What the fuck are you doing here"

Kevin is out of Andrew's chair in an instant "You're late for your class. And I wanted to tell you to come to that La Guardia restraunt by 6 today"

Andrew narrows his eyes "Why"

"I wanna have dinner with you"

"Why"

"What do you mean why! Can't I wanna have dinner with my best friend on his birthday??" Did he say best friend??? Professor Minyard is best friends with Kevin Day?? And it's his birthday??????

"You were never a good liar"

"I just wanna have dinner with you!"

"Try again"

Kevin's eyes dart around him, as if looking for help

"Spill day, or leave, but stop wasting my time"

*sighs* "Fine, we have a surprise planned for you"

"I hate surprises"

"We know but you'll love this one! I swear! Will you just come to the damned restaurant Andrew!?"

"No"

Kevin tries a little more, but eventually throws his hands in the air and leaves grumbling to himself (Andrew enjoys saying no to Kevin way too much)

"Is it your birthday today professor?"

"Yes"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I don't care about it" and that was that

When Andrew gets home Neil asks him if he enjoyed his birthday present. When Andrew only raises his eyebrows Neil says "It's been a long time since you really got to say no to Kevin. I know how much you enjoy it. That was your first birthday present. Well... second since this morning" And then smiles cheekily

Andrew rolls his eyes, but they're fond "So are you going to try to convince me to come now?"

"I definitely want you to. We know you don't like surprises but I really thought you'd enjoy this. If you say no nobody is going to force you"

"What will you give me for it?"

"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to"

And how could Andrew say no to his junkie now?

So they go to the restraunt, and all the foxes, plus a few other people from Andrew and Neil's old exy team are there (only the people they got close to). Some of Aaron's colleagues are there too. Everyone wishes Andrew and Aaron happy birthday. It's a good reunion, he gets the chance to catch up

Kevin and Aaron drink a lot and get up to weird shenanigans. Matt starts behaving like a puppy and cooing over Dan and Neil. Allison and Nicky start betting on everything and drag the rest of the foxes into it too

Andrew pretends to be annoyed by how he has to deal with the foxes' antics, but he's secretly happy to be around their weirdness again

A few hours later Neil and Andrew leave the party, and Neil takes Andrew to the roof of an abandoned building, where they share whiskey, cigarettes and kisses

They go home and cuddle and fall asleep

The next day his students have prepared an assortment of his favourite chocolates and ice creams (how he manages to maintain that body is a mystery), and a copy of a book he wanted

Andrew is just staring, and at first they think he doesn't like it but then they notice the reverent way he's holding the book (it's a book he's thought of buying for a long time)

"There's even a few cupcakes for your wife here"

"Husband" Andrew corrects automatically, finally able to unstick his tongue from his mouth, "and he doesn't like anything sweet"

Fortunately for them they quickly gather themselves and respond with smiles "Oh sorry. Well, more for you then"

They know better than to think that Andrew will thank them. But when he starts eating what they got him while teaching, they know he liked it

One day students slowly filter in the class to find a man in a large black hoodie sitting at the back of the class

Of course they are criminology students they're not going to just ignore a shady man in their class they've never seen before

So after bugging and threatening the man a little, he lifts his hoodie to reveal

Neil josten

What?!!???!!??

Several students are mortified because they just threatened Neil fucking Josten

Others are still trying to get over their shock at seeing Neil fucking Josten in real life

Andrew enters the class and looks at Neil "Aren't you supposed to be at practice". As if Neil Josten sitting in their classroom is a perfectly normal thing. Right, the only thing weird in this scenario is that he's missing practice. That's it.

Neil responds "I wanted to see you teach"

Andrew narrows his eyes "Did they kick you out? What did you do"

Now Neil looks sheepish "Ah yeah, I kind of hurt myself and Coach forced me to take the day off, but I do want to see you teach."

Andrew is visibly irritated and is grumbling something to himself quietly

The students' eyes are wide because that's probably the most emotion they've seen on their professor's face

He turns to the class and is clearly unimpressed "I don't want to be here either, but that doesn't give you free pass to stare at my face and do nothing. And you," looks pointedly at Neil, "if you're going to sit there you better keep that mouth shut."

Neil considers making a comment about how they might be staring because he's so pretty, but let's it go. However he definitely smirks at Andrew in a way that clearly says "you know how to shut me up"

Andrew tries very hard not to blush, and turns to the board in case he was unsuccessful (he was)

Everyone forcibly look away from the celebrity sitting in their classroom and try to concentrate on the lesson

Andrew makes sure they pay attention (flying chalks make for surprisingly good projectiles)

He finishes his lesson 5-10 minutes early so his students can talk to Neil like they have been dying to the entire time

In his office, later after class, Andrew looks over Neil's injuries

"It's not that bad, Drew. Really I'm f—"

He's interrupted by Andrew's mouth on his. "Don't" is all Andrew says between kisses. Neil smiles

I am SO sorry this part has come this late. I've had a lot on my plate these days. On the bright side, you will be happy to know I've found the super old post that inspired this fic! You can find it here. Credits to @humongousvoidbear for that. (I'll admit this entire fic could be better, but again, this was completely self-indulgent.)

EDIT: I have made a small edition to this part, because someone wanted a meeting of Neil and the students. This is the best I could come up with, hope you like it!

[smol-midgets]

Professor!Andrew AU

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Andrew tells Neil to put his classroom keys in his bag one morning, and after having breakfast he takes his bag and leaves

His students are standing outside the door, waiting for him. Other students and teachers are wandering around them

He digs for his keys but comes up empty, so he calls Neil. "Where did you keep my keys?"

"... shit. I swear I was gonna put them but then King wanted food and I got distracted"

"Idiot"

So he uses the needles from his bag and opens the lock

His students are absolutely astounded. It seems like every few months thier teacher does something and completely blindsides them. They are also a little troubled

"How do you know how to pick a lock professor?"

"I learned when I was in juvie"

What the fuck

Another student asks tentatively, almost afraid of the answer "...Why were you in juvie?"

"I put 4 men in the hospital for beating my cousin up" casually as he walks towards his desk

That was not what they expected him to say. They're not surprised he beat 4 people up, he's definitely got the muscles for it

One day Andrew's got a lot of work, so he's stayed behind in school longer than usual. Almost everyone else had gone home, only the exy team is still here

he's passing through the exy court when the coach runs up to Andrew

"Professor Minyard!"

"Coach Miller"

"I was wondering if you would do me a favour"

Andrew waits

"Our sub goalie got injured and I need another man to stand in the goal."

"What makes you think that I'll play exy for you"

Coach Miller was a little desperate. He needed someone in the goal, and there was nobody else except Andrew. "Umm...I'll vouch for you in all school related social events for the rest of the semester. I know you don't want to attend those, so just give me a call or a text and I'll make up some excuse for you."

Andrew considers this, before agreeing

"Ok, I know you want nothing to do with exy, but all you have to do is stand there. It's ok if you can't block their shots"

Andrew raises his brow, but nods. The coach doesn't know who he is, and he doesn't know that even though Andrew retired, he practices with Kevin and Neil sometimes because he misses playing exy a little bit because Kevin keeps begging him to play as he's still the best goalie. He just wants Kevin to quit his whining. That's it.

He also definitely only agreed because he really doesn't want to attend those social events, he'd rather cuddle stay at home with Neil anyway. That's the only reason

He starts looking for gear that'll fit him (which was not hard because of how tiny he is)

He's only just finished putting it on when the coach walks in

"Professor, let me help you put on your ge...oh. You've already put it perfectly"

Andrew walks past him and towards the goal. The students were just doing drills and when they see Andrew walk toward the goal they quickly get into position

Andrews team is braced to make up for not having a good goalie on their team

At first the other team shoots casually, and Andrew easily blocks them. They are surprised, eyebrows are raised here and there as they realise that he's a formidable goalie

They try harder. Andrew blocks those just as easily

Soon they're trying their best to score on him, but it doesn't matter how hard they hit or how complicated their maneuvers are, Andrew seems to block all the shots with minimal effort

Their starting goalie, John, is squinting, trying his best to understand how Andrew is blocking all the shots

By the end nobody has been able to score on him even once. Everyone is panting and drenched in sweat. They all stare at him in awe as Andrew casually removes his helmet and moves to the locker rooms

He doesn't even look tired, forget sweaty (he's just a little winded, but otherwise ok. It was rather easy, he's faced much worse when he was pro)

He's removing his gear in the locker rooms when the coach walks in

"You've played before." Silence "Everyone thinks you hate Exy"

"I do"

"How can you hate it but be that good at it? You're a really good player, you could've gone pro" Andrews face stays blank but the coach thinks that he sees the corner of his mouth twitch. Andrew leaves without a word

At home that night, when Neil and Andrew are laying in bed together, he tells him what happened

"Did you have fun playing someone other than me and Kevin?" Neil is snuggled in his arms, looking up at his face

"I hate playing no matter who I'm playing with"

Neil only smiles and buries his face in Andrews chest

The next day when he comes into class, everyone knows that Professor Minyard is an amazing goalie

"Good morning, professor!" It's John

"What do you want?"

"What? I don't want anything. Can't I wish my professor a cheery good morning without having an ulterior motive?" Andrew folds his arms and waits

"Can you please give me exy lessons??? I'll do anything in return"

Andrew internally groans. It seems he's got another junkie on his hands

"I'd rather you didn't use the word please."

"Uh okay. Anything else?"

Andrew has seen this student struggle in his class. He heard the teachers gossip about him staying over at practice even after its over for a little bit.

"Your marks getting more pathetic day by day. We will go to my office after we practice"

John smiles. "Okay"

[smol-midgets]

Professor!Andrew AU

So I saw this post about Andrew being a criminology professor a long time ago, and I have not been able to get it out of my head ever since. This is the result. It may be a little unrealistic but only very slightly. There will be more parts. Presenting to you – a messy fic.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

After winning a gold medal in the Olympics with Kevin and Neil, Andrew decides he's done. He's achieved whatever he wanted to (not that he wants anything) and exy isn't going to give him anything more

Neil plays for a few more years. ("Junkie.")

He gets a PhD in criminal justice just so he can call himself Doctor Minyard and annoy Aaron

But he gets a good job to teach college students Criminal Justice at a nearby University, and he accepts because he wants to teach kids because he's bored

On his first day, he walks into the classroom and asks everybody to stand up and introduce themselves. After giving them his name he starts off

"Unless any of you want to be standing outside the classroom you will not talk about exy, you will not lie to me, and you will not utter the words "I'm fine"". (I like to think he's moved from murdering people when they say please or misunderstanding, especially after he and Neil spend time with the foxes' kids)

Nobody knows that he's the Andrew Minyard – exy legend, has one of the best goalie stats in the world

His voice is impassive and his face is bored but when he explains something most students listen with rapt attention

His aim is scary good and whoever doesn't listen gets a well aimed chalk thrown to their head

They quickly figure out that his memory is near perfect

"I'm sorry I didn't attend class last week mister Minyard, my cat died"

"How many cats do you have Marcus?"

"One, sir"

"That's interesting, because I remember you saying the same thing for missing class on 4th September as well"

*shocked silence*

"Uh...sir—"

"I also remember something about not lying to me unless you want to stand out of the class. You not attending class is your problem, but do not lie to me again. If you do, I will know"

And true to his word, he spots every lie a student makes

"I read that extract yesterday professor"

"Sure you did"

"I left my assignment at home"

"Is that the new code for 'i didn't do it'?"

"I don't know what happened to the chocolate on your desk professor, really!"

"And I'm the tallest man on earth"

Anyway they realise that he cares less about incomplete assignments and missed classes than he does about being lied to so they stop (it's not like they could get away with it anyway)

He constantly calls them idiots and says he hates them but contradicts himself by doing something caring

It's one of his students birthday, and he lets her choose the case they will be working on, and distributes cupcakes for the whole class

Students are shocked that he remembers her birthday (does he EVER forget ANYTHING!?!?), and that he did something about it

"That was very sweet professor, I didn't know you cared"

"I don't, you're all idiots and I hate all of you"

They just smile knowingly. Andrew is annoyed. He throws peices of chalk at their heads

Andrew bringing cupcakes for each students birthday becomes sort of a tradition

Sir gets sick, so he and Neil have to take him to the vet in the morning before school

Then they're running late, and don't have time to go home and then to their job. Neil can't take Sir to practice so Andrew agrees to take him instead

He's sitting on his desk correcting papers and Sir curling and purring around his feet when his students walk in. As they filter in the cat is rubbing her head against Andrew, jumping on the desk, walking on his papers, jumping down to his lap and walking in circles before curling up there and closing her eyes

His students are surprised by the gentleness and patience with which he handles his cat.

"Professor is that your cat"

"No". He's rubbing her head now and they see through him, they know it's his cat

"What's its name?"

"..." *sighs* " Sir Fat Cat McCatterson"

*shocked silence* None of them are able to contain thier smiles. The only reason they haven't burst out laughing is that he's glaring at them

"Professor, did you just say your cat's name is Sir Fat Cat McCatterson?"

He mutters "Not my cat...I call her Sir" They smile. Andrew is annoyed. He throws pieces of chalk at their heads

He lets Sir walk around in the class and cuddle up to his students. He leaves them 15 minutes early, and some of them stay back to play with Sir

They know that despite being bored and grumpy he really cares

One day he enters class, and raises his hand to silence the students, the ring on his left hand clearly visible

Dead silence

"... Professor Minyard, is that a ring on your finger?"

"Really putting those observational skills to work, aren't you"

Another student exclaims "You're MARRIED!?"

"Excellent deduction, I can see you flourishing in a future of crime and justice" his voice is amused, but his face is blank as always

He continues teaching as if nothing happened

(So this is completely self indulgent. This was just an idea I had and I wanted to share it. I hope you enjoyed!)

[ao3commentoftheday]

things I wish I’d known when I started writing fic on ao3

use & for friendships, colleagues, familial relationships and use / for romantic or sexual relationships (or encounters)

not everyone reads fic. Lots of people use screen readers, and screen readers can’t see what’s on images. use descriptive text to help them out.

lots of people download fic to read on other devices, not all downloads capture images too.

there’s a big difference between No Archive Warnings Apply (NAWA) and Author Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings (CNTW). NAWA means that there’s nothing in the fic that needs to be warned for using the official Archive Warning system. CNTW means there might be something that requires a warning and the author is either avoiding giving out spoilers or they are unsure how to interpret their plot point with respect to the official Warnings. (in both cases, additional tags are where it’s at - you can explain yourself there) 

the reason why the number of bookmarks in the fic is different from the number of bookmarks on your stats page is because your stats page number includes bookmarks that are hidden

there’s a preference setting where you can receive emails with your own comments/replies.

there’s a site skin that hides stats so you don’t have to see them

writing in rich text format makes my life easier

knowing html allows me to do fun things in the comments section like comment/reply with reaction gifs

knowing html also allows me to do interesting formatting in my fics that I can’t do with rich text alone

those little blue bubbles with the question marks in them will answer my questions a lot of the time - and also teach me something new

the FAQ is linked under the word About in the header

if you write your fic in the draft window, you might end up losing it so make sure you copy the text before you hit Post, just in case

they aren’t kidding when they say drafts are deleted after 30 days

[beck-a-leck]

Here’s some additions.

The Anonymous collection will allow you to post anything you want and retain ownership over it.

Your identifying information will not be anywhere within the fic to any other reader. Though you will see it from your end when looking at it as a logged in user.

When you reply to a comment, it will anonymize you, so feel free to respond to your commenters!

You can take your fic off Anonymous at any time

When you are signed into AO3, you can easily access your Anonymous fics by looking at the “Works In Collections” tab on your page. Nobody else will see these Anonymous works on this page.

Works can be added to the Anonymous collection at any time

Just because a fic is Anonymous does not mean it is Abandoned or Orphaned.

Speaking of Orphaned fics:

If you have posted a story and for whatever reason you no longer want it on your account or associated with you, you can Orphan the fic.

Orphaning fics will remove all of your control and ownership of the story.

Orphaning fics is not a reversible process. Once a fic has been Orphaned it cannot be taken back. You cannot delete it. You can’t check stats and it does not show up on your Works page anymore.

Orphaning and the Anonymous collection are great options for when you no longer want a fic associated with you, but you don’t want to delete it either.

[cacodaemonia]

Also: dark mode skins are great! I use Reversi on this page and it’s much easier on the eyes than the white background. Here’s how to use skins.

Also also: how to use html om AO3.

[buckskinblues]

Don’t know if someone else has already said this in the notes but unless your bookmark is private the author can look and see what tags or additional notes you’ve put on the bookmark (I like to check them to see if anyone has :D). Also, yes, you can add your own tags to bookmarks and make different lists to organize them! You can comment on fics anonymously (though I think you have to log out to do so as of now, really wish it was an option while signed in but still great it’s even an option at all!) You can save new chapters on fics as a draft (without the 30 day limit if I remember). I do this a lot. There is separate sections for both beginning and ending author’s notes (you can use both on the same chapter or one shot) and using the author’s note doesn’t include your rambling as part of the word count. Which is nice as it doesn’t artificially inflate the numbers.

[soyala04]

On site skins:

You can combine existing skins by creating you own skin scroll to the bottom under ADVANCED and then Parent Skins. Example, i use AO3s Reversi and then XParrots Shortening Long Tag Field

Also, you can exclude stories in this area too! I got this from another tumblr post so i can’t take credit for it, nor do i know how to expand it to other things like tags or pairing or author.

.blurb#work_430075 { display: none; }

Just replace the numbers with the work you dont want to see anymore.

[mikkeneko]

Just a few points to add that I hadn’t seen listed above:

-In addition to beginning and ending author’s notes for the overall story, there are also beginning and ending author’s notes for each chapter of a multipart story. When you first create the story, before you add additional chapters, it will treat your author’s notes as overall story notes – meaning your “so that’s chapter 1!” note will be kicked to the end of every subsequent chapter unless you move it to chapter 1 specifically.

-There is, in fact, a character limit in the author’s notes. I’ve run up against it a few times.

[bambazzle]

*the foxes playing truth or dare*

Dan: Neil, Truth or Dare?

Neil: Truth

Dan: Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.

Neil: ...

Neil: Dare

[fortheloveofexy]

"Thank you."

"You were amazing."

[vicholas]

do you ever look at the shit that’s always considered like… universal interests in this website and you realize. wait I can’t relate to any of this at all why am I even here

[vicholas]

someone: we all like to watch media because want to read fanfic of it and to ship stuff and also to find relatable characters to kin them haha right

me: what. what the hell. what.

[revolution-girlstylenow]

do some people…not… appreciate the relationships or relate to the characters from the media they enjoy? how the fuck do you consume media then. what parts do you enjoy

[theboobird]

you enjoy the narrative, writing, worldbuilding, themes, and feeling the media gives you. i dont read junji ito to get invested in his characters, i read his work to be horrified by the lovecraftian horror. i dont game of thrones to be attached to the amount of horrible shitty people in there, i read it for the political intrigue and to find the answers to many a mystery.

you need to.. i dont know, try exploring media that isn’t exactly character/ship driven because it can lock you into one linear mindset and prevent you from seeing the bigger picture of the thing you are consuming, even worse, it can make your writing/character creation/worldbuilding flat without perspective

[transcarcinization]

yo for the record if you put something in my inbox and i never respond it’s not that i didn’t like it or read it it’s that i very very often see messages and go ‘oh i should respond to that’ and then i fucking forget until it’s like. been enough time to be weird

[sixmiscellaneousnebulae-deactiv]

the foxes as things i or my friends have done

neil: tried to get out of the car by myself after i got my wisdom teeth out, hit my head on the door, and proceeded to tell everyone i was fine and that i didn’t need help

dan: looked up at a guy that was presumably flirting (my friend told me later- i was reading okay? i wasn’t paying attention) only caught the tail end of what he was saying “you get what i’m putting down” said “no,” and went back to reading

allison: stubbornly never took off her six inch heels at homecoming for a bet

aaron: said to me about finals: i’ll probably fail them. or get c’s, but that’s the same thing

nicky: said to me “i cant do my history questions i’m gay and dramatic”

kevin: had to argue that WW1 was the US’ fault for a school project, would not back down to my friend, who had to argue that WW1 was germany’s fault

matt: gave her friend a lecture about loving themself after they made a self-deprecating joke

andrew: got a shamrock shake from mcdonalds at midnight because i’d just gotten off the airplane and hadn’t eaten since lunch

renee: told a gay joke in earshot of my sunday school teacher

BONUS:

neil again: accidentally came out to my friend as ace with a joke when they said they could seduce everyone in the room. i told them i was immune to seduction and when they asked about it it was v awkward (i was going to tell them later anyway so it was fine)

[seongpinkhwa]

also could people stop pretending like it's only asian AMERICANS that are victims of racism right now like. more than eight in ten asians in australia have reported being discriminated against because of covid, and obviously similar things are happening in other nations around the world, especially western countries. this pandemic is global, and the racism is global too. it shouldn't take a massacre for people to realise what's going on and take a stand against it.