Headcanons about the Andrew( and the foxes) figuring out some of the fucked up things Neilâs mom did. Like Iâve always had a head canon that she is the reason he says heâs fine all the time
for sure! I have a lot of feelings about Mary Hartford. I want to say that if the conversation does ever manage to come up, Neil would immediately jump to his motherâs defense. We see everything she did through his memories of her, and while we can recognize it as abuse, Neil still thinks of her fondly. She was the only family he really had, and in his eyes, everything she did was out of necessity, if not love (CW: abuse)
(side note, Iâve briefly talked about aaronâs reaction before as part of a different post, and I stand by that. Iâve also brushed upon the subject of Mary and Neil being âfineâ when I did a sort of sickfic hc!)
let me just start by saying how awful this news would be for the foxes. Like, itâs awful in general because what she did was fucked up, but their poor hearts⌠They managed the Nest. They managed Baltimore. They managed Drake (although that was Andrewâs past not Neilâs, they were still there for the murder and everything that followed). They have been through heartbreak after heartbreak for this kid who not only went through these things but thought, on some level, that he deserved them. So they really canât take finding out that his motherâwho Neil openly condonesâis also one of his ghosts. They canât take finding out that sheâs partly the reason why he doesnât swing, why he canât trust, why he runs and hides and lies, why he doesnât think he can have this. And if that wasnât hard enough, to find out that Neil thinks this is okay, that this is fineâitâs too much to handle.
Andrewâs first reaction, predictably, is murder. This doesnât quite work out for him, as Maryâs already dead, but the urge he feels to drain the life from her himself is frankly concerning. The second the words are leaving Neilâs mouth, the second all his suspicions are confirmed (because letâs be real, Andrew knew someone had hurt Neil, and his father had been too many steps behind him to cause that much damage), he sees red. Full on, knives out, burning rage. Heâs shaking with it. You can tell heâs feeling an emotion, because heâs not grumbling about anything. Heâs gone into quiet rage, the dangerous kind, in which he silently plots all the ways he can gruesomely arrange your departure from existence.
for a split second, the upperclassmen think that his anger is directed at Neil, and they subtly move in to block him from Andrewâs war path. This works out well for no one, because Andrew needs Neil in his line of sight right now to know heâs safe and here, and anyone who even thinks of touching this boy after what heâs just confessed to happening to him is getting stabbed. Repeatedly. Itâs not their fault for assuming, though. They saw what happened with him and Aaron after this sort of thing, and they just want to shield Neil from that fallout. Heâs been through enough
The only thing that manages to calm him down even somewhat is Neil himself. He holds Andrewâs gaze, doesnât hide under it. He looks him straight in the eye. He is fine, now. He isnât hurt. Heâs with Andrew, and Andrew is going to keep him safe, and Mary is dead, and thereâs nothing for them to fight anymore.
except there is, there is, because Neil is stupid. Neil is an idiot who doesnât know the meaning of the word fine, who has never been fine a day in his life. this was never okay. heâs worse than Aaron, because at least Aaron came to his senses eventually. but Neil, even after everything, is still standing there, defending her. it makes his blood boil. 140%. 170. 200.
Later, Andrew has to physically restrain himself from pulling him into a bruising kiss. He makes a tangible effort to be as gentle with Neil as he can, because he refuses to show him that love should be rough. It shouldnât. He holds Neilâs hand and kisses his knuckles, runs his hands softly through his hair. He shows him all the way touches should feel when coming from someone you trust. Neil thinks it isnât necessary but he accepts it with a stuttering heart anyway. His hands shake.
Aaron is seething, but for an entirely different reason. Heâs furious, because how does Neil not realize that theyâre the exact same? Neil gave him so much shit when he was upset over his mother, but now he has the audacity to stand here and spout this crap? The only thing holding him back from beating the shit out of Josten himself is Andrewâs presence, radiating wrath from beside him. If he took a step in the wrong direction, his brother might genuinely kill him this time. It doesnât matter. Neil went on and on and on about how Andrew was protecting him, how his mother was not someone who loved him but someone who hurt him, and how he should be glad sheâs gone. And⌠and then this? No. No. Neil doesnât get to love his mother after that. Mary hit him. She beat him to a pulp herself, nevermind what she said she was protecting him from. He wasnât allowed to have friends, to talk to people, to go outside. He wasnât allowed to speak. Heâd had to keep his head down. Yeah, it sounds familiar. It sounds like Aaronâs quiet footsteps around the house, hoping to god he wouldnât wake up Tilda. It sounds like him trying not to make himself seen when she came home after a night of using, like ducking his head and not meeting the eyes of her or anyone she brought home. It sounds like her fists on him when she was in one of her moods. It sounds really fucking familiar, and if Neil thinks heâs going to drop this, he is dead wrong.
Neil did not leave well enough alone when it was Aaron. He would not stop rubbing salt on the wound. And it hurt, a lot, but now Aaron is going to do the same. Not just for petty vengeance. Not just because Neil is a dick and this is payback. But because it helped. Aaron and Andrew are not on the same page about the way they feel, but they are about what to do next. Priority one is make sure Neil moves on, make sure he recognizes why Mary was wrong, and why it will never happen again, as long as any of the foxes have a say in it.Â
Matt and Nicky have the exact same reaction, which to immediately have their heart shattered. Theyâre in tears. Matt cares about Neil so, so much, and I know the fandom recognizes this, but I donât know if people realize how deeply Nicky cares, too. Itâs more than just cracking jokes; Neil is one of Nickyâs best friends. Theyâre going to make damn sure that Neil knows they will love him unconditionally, and that their love does not come heavy-handed. They will support him through this, even if they hate Mary for everything she had conditioned into him. Already theyâre planning what they can do to get his mind off of this and get him smiling again as soon as possible. Nicky will probably push Neil harder than Matt, and it will probably be the wrong thing to do, but heâs trying so hard. Heâs done this before, with Andrew and Aaron, and as heartbreaking as it was, he continues to do it because he loves them. And he loves Neil, too. Both Matt and Nicky already have adoption papers at the ready, and at this point theyâre going to forge the signatures, consequences be damned, if it means Neil gets a happy life.Â
Kevin doesnât have much to say about it when he finds out. I imagine he handles it with all of his usual finesse and sensitivity, which is none. He probably, not too gently, points out that Mary had a job to keep him safe from harm, all harm, and failed spectacularly at it. Itâs not exactly helpful, but he does have a point. And when he get Neil alone, he offers to talk to him about it. He may not have been through the same thing, but heâs been through something similar enough. He had no family at the Nest, but at the same time they were the only ones he had, and they werenât exactly gentle with him at the best of times. Riko and the Master werenât Mary, but... they werenât all that different, either. Like everything else, Kevin is there if he needs him.Â
Dan and Allison stare him down. They sympathize, they do, because this is awful, but they are not going to give him an inch. They donât have time to coddle his feelings about his mother, and god help him if they hear an âIâm fineâ fall from his lips. Theyâll hold him, if he lets them, and theyâll be as soft and gentle as he needs, but they wonât give in to this. They arenât going to pretend that heâs rightâheâs not. HIs mother wasnât what he remembers. Sheâs a complicated character. Theyâre not calling her evil; maybe she did what she had to, and maybe it was for the best. But it wasnât right. They are steadfast in that. It wasnât right. Neil can accept that when heâs ready, and when he does they will be there for him, taking care of him in their unassuming way so that he doesnât feel like theyâre walking on eggshells. Heâs so grateful to have them. Grateful that they donât push, but donât give in either. Some of the strongest people heâs knownâŚ
Renee is the one who actually talks him through it. All the others are ready with their pitchforks, about to burn Mary at the stake, but she understands. She walks with him through everything, the good and the bad, and lets him come to his own conclusion. She listens to him when he feels like talking about what is was like, and talks about her own mother when he doesnât. She shows him, subtly, what a parental figure is supposed to look like through her own stories. Lets him realize that sometimes the people who care donât get it right, but that there are still others who love you, and that love doesnât have to come with pain.Â
Bonus:
(Ik you didnât ask, and this is probably too long already, but) Wymack and Abby find out about this indirectly, likely through either Andrew or Matt. Wymack had known from the beginning this would have been the case, but heâd had no idea it had come from his mother. It hurts him, that no one had ever been careful with Neil the way he needed. He doesnât realize that he had been, though. Wymack hadnât raised his voice, hadnât made himself big in front of Neil. He had been careful to keep his anger far, far away and had always been there when Neil needed him. Wymack is his true father. Or mother. Or whatever.Â
Abby does what she does with Aaron: she gives him space. She knows that heâs probably never seen a woman in a comforting light before, and she waits to make sure that heâs okay with her presence before she gets anywhere near close to him. She lets him come to her, and, like Wymack, makes sure Neil knows that if she ever gets frustrated, that she would never take it out on him. They start the very slow process of showing Neil what it is like to be loved and cared for by someone who wants only to see you happy. Neil loves his family so, so much. He would choose them a thousand times over.Â
So my brother was showing me a few videos where American baseball, on friendly matches when the seasonâs not in, actually attach microphones and headpieces to a few players during the game? And instantly my head went straight to âwhat if they did that with Exy?â
They ask Andrew, Kevin, and Neil to give it a go first. Wymack making them do it for publicity, but also as a way for Neil to save face after his biting comebacks at post-game interviews. And also to give the foxes a slightly better rep all in.Â
They soon realise that they get nothing from Andrew apart from a bit of heavy breathing every now and then. The crowd and commentators put it down to Andrewâs commitment and focus and all the foxes get a good laugh at that when they watch the replay.
Kevin and Neil try not give Andrew away by snorting into their own mics, Kevin tries to hide his own guffaw the first time it happens by coughing violently enough that they ask if he needs to sit out.
Neil doesnât say much apart from counting his steps in multiple languages, but itâs just a random number here and there. But then when the commentators ask Neil questions, heâs still as sassy as ever.
âNeil, tell us whatâs going through your mind!â the second he scores.
âIâm thinking I might take my teammate up on his offer for a therapist because the voices in head are starting to give me dangerous ideas.â
âWeâllâŚlet you play on and come back to you later then.â
But when Neil does start having fun, starts to relax a little, he gives some of the wittiest comments and opinions, and some really snarky tips for all the players. People start tuning into the foxes gameâs a lot more for his dry sense of humour.
Kevin though.
Kevin âmost handsome and well spoken and humble in the public eyeâ Day is sweating. And his teammates know it, all having a small twinkle of mischief in their eyes.
Kevin is downright vicious when heâs playing, especially in his commands to other players to pass to him, or watch his back, or defend the goal. His french is downright filthy sometimes too. So this headset thing is a lesson in control for Kevin.
He does well for the most part, but you canât hold Kevin back when his brain is in competitive mode.
And then when the commentators start asking questions mid matchâŚit doesnât take long for Kevin to crack.
âYour style of playing has changed so much in the past few years since you left the Ravens, how do your teammates fare in comparison, now that you all seem to be settled.â
âTheyâre been improving every day and I can proudly say that they are meeting every expectation I have- except Neil! Christ sake! I was right there! mĂŞme votre mère pouvait voir que je me tenais lĂ et elle est six pieds sous!â
ââŚKevin, sorry son, we missed that, could you repeat that but in English?â
Neil, fuming and ready to hurl his racket at Kevinâs head a few hundred times, âYeah, Kevin, câmon, tell the whole world what you just said.â
Kevin goes deathly pale and doesnât really say anything for the rest of the match, but in his post-game interview, itâs his turn to start trying to save face.Â
Somewhere, Jean is howling in laughter at Kevinâs expense.
And yet, this slightly unpolished version of Kevin makes him more favourable in the public eye for not being so robotic and inhuman, and that he does slip up every now and then.Â
Everyone kind of hates it but theyâre also hella relieved.
It does take quite a bit of sucking up to do on Kevinâs part.
They give everyone else a turn on the headset: Aaron is the same as Andrew and doesnât say much, Nicky wonât stop talking to give the other players a chance to chip in, Dan is professional as always, Matt laughs infectiously even when he stumbles, and getâs everyoneâs team spirit up, Allison is flirtatious and just as sassy, Renee is the humble one and comments more on the great skills of the opposing players.Â
All in all, itâs an experience for all of them and Wymack regrets his decision to do this before it even finishes.Â
Feel free to add anything on to this!! And Kevin says something along the lines of âyour mother could see I was standing there and she is six feet underâ which is justâŚharsh dude. Maybe it takes a while for the public to get over that when they translate after all. And maybe a statement or two from Neil for people to forgive and forgetâŚ
World War 2 ends, and yet nothing changes in Columbia, a small country ensnared by the Moriyama Empireâs false pretenses and promises. Neil lost his mother on the Spanish border but finally outran his father by the end of 1945: can he find the peace he so desperately needs in Palmetto, Columbiaâs main city? Or will a faction by the name of Ravens reduce all the Foxesâ efforts to rubble?
my 2nd author for the @aftgreverse isjfasidj soooo GOOD nailed everythingÂ
Was maintaining the exact same appearance part of the twinsâ deal? Because if no, then either A) everyone around them is an idiot because once you know them twins are easy to tell apart, or B) Andrew went completely out of his way to copy Aaronâs hairstyle, posture, mannerisms, etc. like a never ending game of copycat and I picture poor Aaron doing increasingly ridiculous things to try and differentiate himself.
i would argue that since andrew and aaron are only mistaken for each other twice in the series (when neil gets to palmetto and when andrew kills tilda) that they actually DONâT look exactly alike MOST OF THE TIME. I would instead like to propose: andrew specifically got aaronâs exact haircut like the DAY before in each instance
#shdgsgs #imagine this though #andrew: suddenly turning up with exactly aaronâs hairstyle #aaron sighing deeply and already reaching for his one black hoody #aaron: wtf kind of shit are we pulling this time (via @moonsandstarsaregayâ)
Thatâs actually adorable? Hc that one reason Andrew wants to drive is that even after medication, if heâs a passenger then car rides make him sleepy, just like his brother
So I have read many fanfics where Neil calls Andrew âDrewâ and I think Nora has mention that Andrew doesnât mind nicknames and we all know both of them arenât affectionate and of course wonât call each other names like âhoneyâ âbabeâ because come on itâs not them but what if just imagine, just imagine okay that Neil one day accidentally calls Andrew âDrewâ
Hereâs a headcanon of the five times Neil calls Andrew âDrewâ and the one time he calls him that in front of the foxes and shook everyone
Neil is very tired from practice and the night before he didnât sleep well because of nightmares so in the afternoon, him and Andrew are just chilling in bed and Neil may be lying on andrewâs chest sleeping peacefully with Andrew reading a book and then Andrew has to move to go pee and of course Neil wakes up at the tiniest movement and because he is so tired and delirious he says in a super super sleepy and raspy voice, âDrew?â He doesnât even realise that he called Andrew that but Andrew freezes but recovers quick enough before tired Neil even realised and just says, âIâm going to the bathroom, Iâll be back, stayâ Neil just nods off and Neil doesnât even remember it
The second time, it slips out of Neil accidentally. Itâs early in the morning and Neil didnât go for a run and wakes up after Andrew. So Neil paddles into the kitchen to see Andrew already making breakfast for them, pancakes and still sleepy Neil mumbles, âDrew,â and then he freezes because Neil is scared of andrewâs reaction to this new nickname because what if it is crossing a line and he doesnât like it? But Andrew doesnât react and Neil tentatively says again, âDrew? Is it okay?â Andrew says nothing and just passes him his black coffee and it is not brought up again
The third time, Neil is having a nightmare, where Andrew is tortured by Lola and Nathan and Neil could do nothing but watch helplessly. He wakes up, heart pounding out of his chest and the slight movement wakes Andrew up too. Neil gasps out a âDrew, yes or no?â and when Andrew says âyesâ Neil closes the gap between them and lay his head on his chest, wrapping his arms around his waist, falling asleep to andrewâs heartbeat
The fourth time, Neil is woken up by Andrew leaving the bed silently and going to the roof. Neil gives him half an hour alone before following him and as he opens the door, he purposely walks louder so Andrew can hear him. Normally, the sound of his footsteps would have made some of andrewâs tension fade away but this time, his whole posture is screaming with tension so Neil asks softly, âDrew?â And it almost have an immediate effect, andrewâs shoulders loosen and Neil sits down a few feet away from him, giving him his much needed space and they sit together silently, watching the sun rises.
The fifth time, Neil is testing out this new nickname that Andrew seems to like. He starts to use it more often when they are alone and Andrew reacts positively each time (or not react at all, which is positive too) but still Neil likes to save it for special occasions
+1
The one time Neil accidentally calls Andrew âDrewâ in front of the foxes is when they are having their movie night. Neil is very tired and falls asleep almost immediately once the movie starts, his head resting on andrewâs shoulder. Once the movie is finish and everyone is returning back to their rooms, Andrew moves his shoulders slightly to wake Neil up and Neil mumbles softly âDrew?â Everyone hears it and turns their head so fast and the room went deafly silent and all eyes on the couple. Everyone sees Andrew soften, his normally blank eyes is holding an emotion no one ever thought they will ever see it in him. Andrew ignores everyoneâs curious and disbelief stare and just brings a sleepy Neil back into their room
After the couple has left, the rest of the foxes doesnât move, no one says anything until Nicky says, âdid we just witness that?â And when Renee nods, Nicky squeals, Aaron looks like he is sick but he is actually happy for his brother, Matt and dan share a look, Kevin is impassive and Allison is smug because she once again wins a bet and makes a fortune
But they all agree to never bring it up and even Nicky agrees to not tease them about this because those boys deserves to have something of their own and they know it is something private between them and they respect that and they try their best to ignore it when they occasionally hears âDrewâ here or there
And thatâs my headcanon, no one can change my mind about this and I just love them so much
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