#loft answers

[blogaboutyafavbirdboys]

Personally I feel like browning has somehow connected Jean to more that just his family…like this might be a huge reach, but Jean and Kevin getting caught speaking Japanese on a nationally aired program is bound to have consequences

I've been thinking about how those three being Moriyama assets moving forward in their lives work for awhile now, like way before Nora even decided to write The Sunshine Court, and it just doesn't work for me.

#1 - I think if an athlete as famous as Kevin Day is is giving away such a large chunk of his salary people will notice and people will look into it. Then tie him to Neil and Jean giving away the same percentage and eyebrows are definitely getting raised. Like even if it's just crazy conspiracy theories at first I think it will catch on and be a thing. Like oh look the mafia kids are giving away most of their income to a "charity", that's totally not a mob cover. It's not going to work.

Now onto these books. I totally agree there have been way too many missteps. I mean misstep #1 is Jean moving in with two different people with familiar ties to the government, Ichirou for sure ain't liking that shit. I don't see Ichirou allowing Jean to continue living with them, and by living I mean it would be easier to kill Jean then allow him to possibly spread secrets to Laila's dad or Jeremy's gpaw.

Now Browning has stepped in and put him under house watch. A hit is going out on Jean so fast.

So my working theory as if now is that Neil(and Kevin) really would have been fine being Moriyama assets like he said at the end of the books. That really would have been all the freedom he needed. But I think something happened. Maybe Stuart learned that Ichirou was beginning to have some doubts. Maybe doubts about the whole thing or doubts about Jean in particular. Maybe Stuart brought that news to Neil. Neil(and Kevin) care about Jean and don't want anything to happen to him, but also if he could change his mind about Jean how quickly could he change his mind about Kevin and Neil. I think maybe Neil realized how limited his "freedom" really was. Especially when it hinges on a guy who would shoot his own brother in the head. (Also Tetsuji was supposed to be allowed to live but now he is missing, did Ichirou change his mind and kill his uncle? I mean he could just be hiding in Japan, but if he is dead that would be another warning sign to Neil.)

So yeah I'm leaning with the theories that the Moriyamas are going down in book three, but I am concerned about the amount of bloodshed it's gonna take to get there.

[blogaboutyafavbirdboys]

Takes on the upperclassmen all tend to be terrible tbh, especially the ones on how they treat Andrew and Kevin. ESPECAILLY when ppl try to link it to how they treat Neil and say something like "How could they treat Andrew/Kevin like they do when they treat Neil nicely and Neil is similar to Kevin/Andrew."

And it's like. They like Neil. He is their friend. He makes an active effort with them. Kevin/Andrew don't. They're not their friends.

Neil's similarities to Andrew & Kevin in this instance don't really matter. The upperclassmen largely don't like Andrew because of his violent behaviour, which Neil never displays violence towards any member of the upperclassmen. He mostly hits Riko, who they don't like. They largely don't like Kevin because he's overly critical of them, which Neil never is.

The one that annoys me the most is ppl complaining about the upperclassmen having more sympathy for Neil after his stay at evermore than they did for Kevin, who had been there for years. Neil didn't come back from the Nest behaving like Kevin! He didn't come back criticising them or have any air of superiority above them. Obviously, they don't react the same.

I never for even a second believe anyone who claims they would react any differently. They don't imagine themselves from the perspective of the upperclassmen. I know this because when people claim they would behave differently they'll say things like "How could the upperclassmen think Andrew is a monster when he made a deal with Aaron because he didn't want to lose his brother?" or whatever. Basically, "How could the upperclassmen think Andrew is a monster when he [did some shit the upperclassmen don't know about]?"

They think from the perspective of omniscient readers, with the added luxury of time to reflect. Same thing with Kevin. As far as the upperclassmen know, Andrew is just some guy who almost never speaks to them, when he does he's usually threatening one of them and he's never nice to them, and he occasionally physically harms one of their friends. Kevin is just some guy who also almost never speaks to them, when he does its not nice, and spends most of the time he does speak to them insulting them.

I'm not saying Neil's some angel. He's not. And I'm not saying Kevin & Andrew are evil. They're not. I'm just saying, from the upperclassmens perspective, it makes complete sense to react like they did. I see so many posts complaining, "How could the upperclassmen treat them that way?" Maybe ask yourself, "How could they treat the upperclassmen that way?"

"How could they not listen to Kevin talk about history? Why do they treat him differently from Neil?" Why doesn't he listen to them talk about something they're interested in? Why doesn't he listen to them talk about their lives like Neil did? Or sit with the girls while they talk about planning charity events like Neil did? Or watch movies with Matt and Seth like Neil did?

"Why couldn't they be more understanding towards Andrew? Why do they judge him so much?" Why doesn't Andrew be more understanding towards them? Why doesn't he try not judging them? Why doesn't he try not hitting or threatening them & their friends? Why doesn't he talk to them?

Again, my point isn't that they're all bad or they're all good. Just that, compassion, friendship, understanding, loyalty... you need to show it to recieve it.

It might sound harsh, but I think a lot of people tend to relate to and see themselves more in the likes of Kevin and Andrew than they do in the upperclassmen. So, sometimes people get hurt when they see these characters being treated badly or judged. And it can hurt even more to see someone in the fandom say, "These characters, who you may see as similar to yourself, aren't entitled to endless sympathy from everybody simply because they've been hurt by others in the past or because their actions are ultimately the result of trauma."

AGAIN, because I know some ppl will get mad. I'm not saying Neil is perfect. Yes, he put them in potential danger from his father. No, this doesn't affect how they treat him because they didn't know about this fact until they weren't in danger anymore, and by that point, they loved Neil enough to endure danger for him anyway. Yes, he wasn't forthcoming with them about a lot of things. But, he told them enough to offer trueful pieces of themselves, to allow them to be his friend (and vice versa). The Foxes also have a mutual understanding that they're not entitled to every detail of each others lives, which explains why Neil got away with being so secretive without judgement from them.

What I'm getting from most of these hot takes/asks is that the fandom seems to have a problem with differentiating fanon and canon, and then arguing about it.

The upperclassmen and the monsters aren't friends. Kevin, Andrew, and I'm going to add Aaron don't care if they are liked by the upperclassmen. I'm sure their opinions mean absolutely nothing to them. I guess I've never seen people coming to defend Kevin and Andrew from the upperclassmen's judgment, that's wild to me.

I don't have a lot to add because you already spelled things out in great detail, and it's kinda crazy to me that people feel the need to defend the monsters.

[blogaboutyafavbirdboys]

1 and 8 for the tgr ask game?

-@aftgphoenix

I love when I put stuff like this out there and then forget to check my ask box. I don't know how long this sat there, but here we go.

1. What was your favorite part?

I've been thinking about this for like 2hrs now and I'm still not quite sure. I think my favorite part is just continuing to watch Jean be such a good person. He went through so much terrible shit, but he cares so much for his friends. Also watching him work through his more violent tendencies and understand why he has those and how they were built into him by his parents and the nest.

My second favorite part is the implications. We really seem to be working up to something big and surprising in the third book, and I'm so here for it.

8. What scene lives rent free in your head?

- I know this book is about Jean and Jeremy, but I'm sorry I am a Andriel girly to the core. So the scene where Jeremy is watching Kevin and Thea's impromptu interview and the Mas rolls up. I mean it has everything. #1 Aaron driving the mas. #2 Neil showing up only to stir shit up. #3 Kevin clearly knowing exactly why Neil is there. #4 Neil casually directing his question at Andrew, but also answering it himself cause he knew Andrew wasn't going to answer it. Idk to me that interaction shows that they are even more comfortable in their relationship, but also that Andrew and Aaron are more comfortable with each other as well.

Bonus Thea flying in from Houston to show support for Kevin and also Jean.

[blogaboutyafavbirdboys]

Hot take about AFTG and the fandom? There's nothing wrong with Kevin being cowardly actually. I think it adds charm. I love the scene where he talks about never having gone skiing, walks away all cocky and then immediately turns around and goes like, "we're all going to die." Or that bit where he's about to object to going on vacation but then Andrew points what I presume is butter knife (cuz they're having breakfast) at him and he gives in. Or when he freaks out about the district change and has to call Jean. When's the last time he even talked to Jean? He left Jean behind, cut contact with all the Ravens and then calls him out of the blue to ask if Riko's really coming for him? I've always liked that Kevin's a little selfish and a little cowardly at times because it adds an interesting layer to his usually pretty self-assured character. I think it's cute. I almost want to see how far he'd go out of fear if he really had felt cornered.

But that's just me. I tend to see a character with "bad" traits and like them more for it. I love that Andrew's unrepentantly violent and reactive whenever he feels attacked. I like that Aaron and Seth are just assholes to everyone. I even like Riko for being all sorts of fucked up and entitled. The series wouldn't be what it is without the awful parts of the characters.

(Sorry if I'm throwing oil onto the Kevin Day debate. For the record, I think he's a bit too ballsy in canon to be a proper coward, as much as I would like him to be.)

The anons are fighting.

It's a little funny, a little hypocritical, that Neil reacts very similar to Kevin in these situations. Neil will do his thing, talk some shit, and then freak out about it later. He just does it privately, so that no one else sees how freaked out he actually is. He never views these as cowardly, he always has a justification. Even when he literally runs away from Kevin. Honestly it might take more balls for Kevin to have so many mental breakdowns in front of the foxes. Especially since the next day he will pretend like nothing happened and chew them out over sloppy footwork in practice. Whatever's happening in Kevin Day's head probably needs to be studied.

I think, just as with the anon who dislikes Kevin, the fandom needs to learn to respect opinions.

Also what you said at the end is how you're supposed to view characters in the media you consume. People are supposed to enjoy the bad guys, the fucked up guys, the irredeemable asshole that's what makes a story interesting. If everyone is perfect there is no story to tell. Most everyone in TFC is a little, a lot, fucked up, and it's a great story.

[blogaboutyafavbirdboys]

I love seeing aftg posts about sc as a south carolinian it’s so funny, always wild to see people excited over my everyday experiences

I am in Hilton Head so I have seen less Clemson stuff than if I was further inland, but that's really fun that you're surrounded by aftg stuff all the time. You have easy access to merch lol.

[blogaboutyafavbirdboys]

My hot take (I think it is a hot take?) is that I never understood why people make the upperclassmate sound like assholes because of the way they treat/think of Andrew. Like, I actually think most people would have similar reactions to them if Andrew was real and they meet him

The upperclassmen are right in their opinions about Andrew. Honestly people that don't have similar backgrounds to the upperclassmen would probably even have a stronger reaction to him. He is off putting and can be an active threat.

Does that mean they get to decide if he is worthy of any love or affection? No. For the people who understand him like Bee, Wymack, Renee, Kevin, and Neil he is worth it.

Does that mean Dan, Matt, and Allison ever have to give him 2nd, 3rd, 4th chances after he did some pretty awful stuff? Also no.

Also you know who doesn't care about how they treat or think about him? Andrew Minyard.

[blogaboutyafavbirdboys]

my hot take is that anyone who believes the twins have the same type needs to be sent to Guantanamo Bay.

but in all seriousness. i think anyone who believes this fundamentally misunderstands, usually, aarons character (cause people tend to mould katelyn to be more like Neil than the other way around). because Aaron wants to be normal and live a normal life. he wants a partner who fits that. he likes katelyn in part because she's an ordinary normal girl. Andrew doesn't care for a normal life. He doesn't want to conform to normalcy. he likes neil in part because he is about as abnormal as they can come, considering how often you meet the children of mob bosses.

And putting this aside. I also, on a fundamental level, don't think Aaron could handle the female version of neil josten.

anyway. that and the whole "they look like they could be twins" thing grosses me out idk man. I think the ppl who love this hc gotta be only children

Putting the heat in hot takes anon!

I agree that Katelyn is very normal, and that is something Aaron deeply appreciates about her. Aaron is put off by Neil from the very beginning, he isn't turning around and dating Neil in a wig. Aaron has more integrity as a character than that. Both the Minyards are very firm on who they are as people.

I think where this trend comes from is 1. Nora made her and Neil vaguely the same height, and I would have to assume both are conventionally attractive. Which leads to what if Katelyn also had auburn hair. Therefore 2. It becomes a fun thing people can explore in fics.

What's weird to me when people talk about the cheerleaders having the same recruiting tactics Wymack had with the exy team. People realize that it wasn't a school wide practice right? Just the exy team. Also each sport doesn't have its own set of cheerleaders. There is only one group of cheerleaders for the school.

[blogaboutyafavbirdboys]

you're not telling me I paid that much for books that weren't even proofread properly (mine haven't arrived yet)

Sorry anon we are.

I got mine yesterday and didnt notice anything besides the admission ticket for the game said 2014 for some reason, I was too busy looking at the pretty pictures. Then this morning on reddit of all things I saw the first post pointing out the mistakes.

As of now there is:

The date listed for the championship match in 2014 instead of 2007

Andrew Minyard listed as a backliner

Allison listed as a offensive striker instead of offensive dealer

Besty Dobson

And the biggest is that the raven kings blurb is for the foxhole court.

They seem to be saying they are thinking of ways to fix the issues, but unfortunately the first post they made about the issues were jokes. Being very unserious about the issues, which rubbed a lot of people the wrong way since the set cost so much.

If there are anymore people have found let me know.