thank you for everything that you guys do!! i'm looking for a canon rewrite similar to The Sun Still Rises by mordax (not necessarily with the addition of a child character)! i've been reading it over the past week and i adore the way they made the story a bit more realistic. and, if possible, may i also request neil & abby fics? i think there's potential there but i haven't seen many stories where their interactions are significant to the plot. thank you!!!
“The sun is out, and the sky is clear…”
‘The Sun Still Rises’ keeps increasing in popularity, and for good reason - many of us have taken Alex (and big brother Neil) into our hearts. The old and new recommendations we have here for you will hopefully fit the bill too.
We also see a bit more interaction between Neil and Abby in mordax’s gorgeous fic. Sadly, there aren’t that many fics about their relationship. You’ll find more on their relationship in AUs, especially in fics where Neil gets adopted. - S
some previously recommended canon rewrites:
‘The Sun Still Rises’ (completed) and similar fics here
non-Neil pov of Aftg here
‘Extras - The Sun Still Rises’ here
‘no more fucks to give’ (updated) here
‘Royal Flush’ here
‘Take my Kidney. Take my Life.’ here
‘just tonight (i won't leave)’ (updated) here (a/b/o)
also see:
‘Way Down We Go’ here
‘Coming home’ here (updated)
‘Mouth like a bruise’ here (completed)
Daemon aus here
fics feat. Neil & Abby’s relationship:
Abby adopts Neil here
Maternal Abby here
you might also like:
Neil & Wymack fics here
‘In Flanders Fields’ here
‘I’m weak (and what’s wrong with that?)’ here
‘How to help your mafia traumatized adopted son to heal : An incomplete guide’ (updated) here
As the list of fics new to this blog has grown rather long (though by no means complete), I’ve put them under the cut.
Trigger Chain by mimific123 [Not Rated, 266130 words, complete, 2025]
At first glance, Neil Josten appears to be a quiet, unremarkable high school senior with distant, neglectful parents. But behind the carefully crafted facade lies a far more dangerous truth: Neil is actually Nathaniel Wesninski, the fugitive son of a notorious crime lord. After his mother’s death and his true identity was exposed, Neil made a deal with the FBI—betray his father’s empire in exchange for protection and a second chance.
Now living under a new name and raised by FBI agent Amelia Young and her wife Linda, Neil balances life as a covert operative with the illusion of a normal teenager. But everything changes when Coach David Wymack recruits him to play Exy for the Palmetto State Foxes, a college team infamous for its chaos and broken players.
Though reluctant at first, Neil joins, drawn to the game and the fleeting promise of normalcy. But fitting in is harder than it looks. His new teammates are suspicious, cold, and completely unaware of the secrets he’s hiding—his real name, his past, and the trauma etched into his body and mind.
With danger looming on all sides, Neil must decide how much of himself he’s willing to reveal and how far he’s willing to go to finish what he started.
tw: violence, tw: murder, tw: major character injuries, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: implied/referenced nonconsensual drug use, tw: nightmares, tw: panic attacks
From the Background, to the Spotlight by flupss2 [Not Rated, 10797 words, incomplete, last updated June 2025]
David Wymack and Kevin Day weren't in Millport to recruit Neil Josten, but Milo Gray. However, due to a last minute change. The Foxes are missing one player to qualify. Cue a Neil Josten that is better in remaining in the background, but can't seem to stay there for too long.
tw: threats of violence, tw: implied/referenced abuse, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon
We are all going to die aren't we? by aobsessedfangirl [Not Rated, 12766 words, incomplete, last updated June 2025]
What if Janie Smalls tried killing herself and Seth overdosed? What if Wymack had been there for another instead of Neil but after learning of Seth’s overdose he had to quickly get a striker and Neil was available?
Or
An au where Neil is a lot more badass. He has accepted death and has a screw it who cares rather than a need to live before he dies attitude. Neil is taken in by Renee instead of Andrew and since Seth is dead Allison is already recovering. Also he is severely underestimated by everyone and we will see how that ends up going.
Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying by YourLocalMixedRaceBisexual [Rated G, 35353 words, incomplete, last updated June 2025, locked]
Abram buried his mother on the black sands beach of California, then two months later gave birth to a baby girl. He never made it to Millport, Arizona, and no longer had time for Exy in any capacity. Instead, him and his little girl slowly made their way across the states until they end up in Palmetto, South Carolina.
Reluctant Acceptance by mondaymorning_2223 [Rated E, 59912 words, incomplete, last updated June 2025]
Neil Josten was done. Done living by his mother's rules. Done being someone he isn't. If he's going to die than so be it but he'll be damned if he dies anything but free and if he causes some chaos along the way well he wasn't raised a saint.
What if Neil was a little more apathetic, a little more sarcastic, and what if he wasn't afraid of himself.
Neil Josten was never supposed to be permanent he was quiet and didn't stand out in the crowd. Nathaniel Wesninski was the son of a killer and that killer taught him the trade, he was too sarcastic, with too much attitude. What happens when Neil learns to be both.
tw: explicit sexual content, tw: knives, tw: violence, tw: nonconsensual drug use, tw: attempted sexual assault, tw: implied/referenced child abuse
Sedated Hysteria by DannyLikesBoys [Not Rated, 24045 words, incomplete, last updated June 2025]
Neil Josten doesn’t remember who he used to be—only the ghosts his body carries. Twitching hands. Foggy thoughts. The way strangers recoil under his stare. The meds keep the worst of it at bay. Until they don’t.
After fleeing a violent past under a different name, Neil is left alone, haunted by fractured memories and a mind that won’t quiet. In a town that wants nothing from him. Survival means nothing to him—when he's medicated—, but it did to Mary.
He didn’t plan on joining the Foxes. But when a broken team offers a place to a boy with nothing left, he takes it. Not out of hope, but because he wants to do something with his life instead of running. He'd live how he wants to until his final moments.
A First Death by agustsea [Not Rated, 14901 words, incomplete, last updated June 2025]
The sun was already set on the day Nathaniel Wesninski took his last breath, leaving a bruised and achy blur of violet and charcoal coating the sky in its absence.
OR
The Monsters accidentally save a certain runaway from his father's people and find themselves saddled with a brand new striker, just in time for Kevin's return to the court.
tw: violence, tw: major character injuries
his daddy’s on death row by sensetia [Rated M, 55010 words, complete, 2025]
Neil Josten’s dad is on death row, and his arrival at Palmetto State draws attention he doesn’t want. Unfortunately for him, Andrew Minyard makes a habit of noticing the things others miss.
and i told you to be patient (and i told you to be kind) by jupiterrains [Not Rated, 22028 words, complete, 2025]
“Andrew,” Kevin pants, his eyes wide, chest heaving. “I found us a striker. Oh my god. I found him.”
“Kevin, don’t-” Aaron yells from the hallway. Kevin slams the door shut, cutting him off.
The desperation in Aaron’s voice catches Andrew’s attention.
“Who is it?” Andrew asks, shocking himself with his own interest.
“Neil Josten."
Andrew thinks of Neil Josten’s abomination of an essay and resists the urge to hit something.
“Neil Josten barely knows how to spell his own name,” Andrew drawls.
In which the Foxes need a striker, and Neil somehow fits Kevin's criteria.
tw: violence, tw: homophobic language
see me bare my teeth for you by ennoshit Rated M, 41236 words, incomplete, last updated April 2025]
Neil Josten still joins the Foxes under a false name with no intention of staying. But this time, the people he meets pull him in deeper than he ever expected. Seth overdoses but survives, throwing the team into disarray. Katelyn becomes a quiet constant, pushing Neil to open up. Marissa joins the roster and stirs tension between Renee and Allison, who are caught in a slow, painful unraveling. Renee wants control. Allison just wants to be wanted.
Kevin starts to question whether Exy is all he has. Aaron fights to prove that his life has meaning beyond the game. Nicky, still aching for Erik, learns how to stop using charm as armor. And Neil, caught between survival and connection, finds himself pulled deeper into something that looks a lot like home.
rising shadow by Someone134 [Not Rated, 24243 words, incomplete, last updated Jan 2025]
What if Kevin had picked someone else from Millport to be his star striker. What if Neil had been last choice due to a miscommunication with the board and there was now 2 freshman from Millport. What if Neil was actually good at not standing out and never drew the monsters attention (at the start anyway ). Neil is now joining a new exy team and he feels completely lost, not only does no one seem to think he's any good but trying to figure out how to do collage is hard enough without also being a broke 18 year old hoping not to be killed by his serial killer father. And now he has to deal with being stuck in someone's shadow? seriously?
a no mafia au where Nathan is still just as bad but the ravens are just an intense team not a branch of the mafia. a fic where Neil is underestimated and very quick to prove everyone wrong. eventual andreil don't worry.
tw: violence, tw: drug use
I turned the FBI into my personal plaything (he did) by A_LonelynBittersweet_SpicyCupOfTea [Rated E, 38552 words, incomplete, last updated Dec 2024]
Now, he was sitting on the bench in the locker room when Kevin Day burst in, scanning the room before locking eyes with Neil.
"You." Day pointed directly at him and marched over.
Neil, still bent over tying his shoelace, pointed at himself with a mock surprise. "Me?"
"Yes," Day replied, dropping a stack of papers at Neil's feet. He gestured to them and commanded, "Sign these and hand them back. You’re being recruited by the Palmetto Foxes." He punctuated his words by tossing a pen onto the pile.
Wait, what?
Neil was found by the FBI and now he works for them. Kevin came to Millport to recruit someone else but the ERC's a bitch and the Foxes need a last minutes recruit.
All for the Healing series by This_Witch_Writes [Rated M, 277840 words, 3 complete works, 2023, locked]
A full book rewrite reworking in particular those elements of canon relating to mental health and trauma to be more in line with medical understandings and realistic pharmacology. The power of the antagonists is reduced in order to play with the idea that not all Neil and Kevin's trauma induced paranoia is accurate to reality but they're doing the best they can.
Part 1: can't be tamed (M, 94590)
Neil Josten is afraid and no matter now much unlikely hope joining the Palmetto State Foxes gives him, that doesn't change. He's a broken kid and he's in matching company.
Neil Josten is a Fox. All he wants is to play Exy, protect his team, and live until he dies. But as he wakes up on his coach's couch the night after antagonizing the captain of a powerful rival team with links to Neil's past, he knows that dying might not be his only problem. Foxes are Foxes because of their pasts, and Riko Moriyama wants to use that against more than just Neil.
Neil Josten has been a Fox for nine months of the year he assumed would be his last, but letting go might be harder than he ever imagined.
tw: violence, tw: torture, tw: major character injuries
Some more canon divergent rewrites, but this time a/b/o:
Running on Empty by Messers_misery [Rated M, 74100 words, incomplete, last updated May 2025]
Previously rec’ed here
Neil Josten is a chaos. Secrets swirl around him like a second skin, each one more dangerous than the last. For someone on the run, those secrets are more than baggage—they’re a death sentence.
Hiding from his father. Running from his past. Escaping the truth of who he is. It’s the life his mother taught him, and the only one Neil has ever known.
But then everything changed. His mother is gone, and Neil isn’t just running for himself anymore—he’s running for his son.
Which secret will destroy him first?
That he’s the Butcher’s son?
That he’s an Omega in hiding?
Or that Neil Josten, the boy who was never meant to exist, is now a father?
The Foxes think they’re recruiting a talented striker with a bad attitude. What they’re really getting is a storm in human form—one that will either shatter their fragile team or force them to face the wreckage Neil’s been running from his entire life.
Décalcomanie by Sashe [Rated E, 90638 words, incomplete, last updated July 2024]
Neil comes from a life where alphas rule, omegas serve and betas are an afterthought. These are just the facts of life. The way things are. He and his mother thought passing as a beta would keep him from gaining anyone's interest. He hadn't counted on the strange alphas of the PSU Foxes (or the fact that they're not alphas and that the rest of the world doesn't work obey the same rules as the criminal elite).
or
Rewrite/canon divergent non-traditional omegaverse where no one has told Neil about the non-traditional part.
I'll kidnap all the stars and I will keep them in your eyes by phan_taloon [Rated T, 12872 words, incomplete, last updated March 2025, locked]
Sitting on the swing on the front porch of Abby and Wymack's house, Neil is the first person to see the unknown black car with dark tinted windows park in front of the driveway. His heart starts racing long before the engine is cut off.
For a moment, he can only imagine it's the Moriyamas coming for him, even if he has kept his part of the deal and hasn't told a single soul about the documents he translates so often. They have no reason to be coming for him.
Oh god.
What if they're coming for her?
Fill In The Blank by miauhito [Rated M, 6021 words, complete, 2025]
After running away from his house, Neil thinks this is going to be how his life ends. That's until a woman named Abby, with his husband and kid, extends a hand to him and offers him more than he could've ever imagined.
Or, where Neil runs away from Nathan and ends up under the Wymack's care.
tw: blood, tw: injuries
I was Relatively good by W_lonk [Rated T, 5237 words, incomplete, last updated Jan 2025]
In which a young, mute and traumatized Neil Josten gets adopted by David Wymack and Abby Winfield and has to navigate starting a new life with new parents, a new brother and new friends.
the foundations of decay by ifitmeanslosingyou [Rated T, 326 words, complete, 2024]
“does this hurt neil?”
abby’s sweet voice grates on his nerves, leaving him feeling vulnerable and weak, as most things do these days
he stares at the mangled remains of his right leg, resting on top of the bed, surrounded by bloodied bandages, stares at the cleaning kit by abby’s side, at the bottle of painkillers and antibiotics laying carelessly at the end of the bed
here's to the fact that i'll be sad without you by orphan_account [Rated M, 2945 words, complete, 2020]
“Please forgive me, Mom. I’m sorry, you were right,” he kept saying. “Forgive me.”
Then Abby finally broke out of her stupor, rushing to his side. She didn’t hesitate before gathering Neil in her arms, holding him tightly against her chest even when his tears wet and stained her shirt.
“I forgive you, Neil,” she whispered. “Sweetheart, I forgive you. It’s okay. I forgive you.”
(in which one of nathan's men got to andrew and neil is left to pick up the pieces).
tw: implied/referenced major character death, tw: suicidal thoughts
this is what love looks like by CurvedYellowFruit, djhedy, likearecord, RainbowObsidian (secretandarling), vertigo [Rated T, 23223 words, complete, 2020, locked]
Chapter 1: Abby
Have you ever wanted to see your OT3 through someone else’s eyes? An adventure to Kandreil-land, carefully documented by some brave observers.
OR
A series of outsider-POVs, set in verses where Exy may or may not exist, our boys are aged up a bit, softer, and just generally very much in love.
I Do Love My Ma and Pa by AlrightDarlin (WhoopsOK) [Rated G, 5066 words, complete, 2020, locked]
Objectively, Neil realizes Junkie is just a toy; he can’t get crazy about not being able to find him.
(Neil’s teammate thinks it would be funny to hide his toy fox. It’s not funny, it’s not funny at all.)
tw: panic attacks
Art
“Don’t look at me like that” by @z0mbiemind
“This was everything he wanted…” by @gremlinddrawss
"It's ruined," Neil said, voice ragged with an awful rage. "It's all ruined." by @02511213942
"I hate you," Andrew corrected him, but Neil barely heard him.” by @02511213942
Neil picking up Andrew’s cigarette by @fortheloveofexy
Neil went up to the roof by @cknossian
"You sure?" by @analynne
Some canon scenes illustrated by @rainbowd00dles:
"Better luck next time." - "I can't tell Riko no!" - “Another bit of unexpected honesty” - “Your parents are dead, you are not fine, and nothing is going to be okay.” - “You are despicable Kevin Day. I don’t know why I keep you around.” - “What was your name again?” - “Did he touch you?” (tw: blood) - "Then don't trust 'Neil'," Neil said, "Trust me." - “Help me” - “Let me” - ‘Neil wasn’t sure why he did it, but he plucked Andrew’s cigarette off the sidewalk and stuck it between his lips.” - Allison covering Neil’s bruises after Evermore - "No one asked you" - “No one wants to hear that right now.” Neil said. - "All that time fighting and you never learned how to duck?" - “It’s over. You’re going to be ok.” “Your neck fetish is not attractive.” - Andrew in Neil’s clothes - “Who said please that made you hate that word so much?” -"Last I checked you hated me," Neil said against Andrew's mouth. - “My father comes to all of my games.”
turnnoffyourmind
blakekathryn
theartofmadeline
ellievsbear
yousharknotpass