So I recently read an old interview Nora did, and she was talking about how no publishers wanted to pursue AFTG, and how at one point, before deciding to self-publish, she considered and even attempted majorly changing it to get more interest. One of the biggest changes she tried was switching from exy to a real sport, but then she had to change all the female characters into men.
Idk, I just think that even though exy doesnât make a ton of sense in how itâs played, the concept of an extremely popular co-ed sport is really cool, and like Iâve seen a lot of people talking shit because of a glib response she made once about creating exy because she was too lazy to learn about a real sport, but like, then we wouldnât have Dan, Renee, and Allison. And even though theyâre âminorâ characters I personally love them all a lot and their backstories are very complex and interesting and the books would not be the same without them.
also, a good quote from the interview
Partway through the new story I began hating the compromises more than I hated the feeling of failure. Foxhole is a mess of a story, but that mess is what makes it so important to me. Making it more logical or realistic betrayed what I wanted to write in the first place. I finally remembered that success in writing isnât measured by contracts and book deals but by the chance of being happy with what one creates.
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I could see the âAlastair isnât a Carstairs by bloodâ theory happening, but I imagine it going very differently than how Iâve seen other people talking about it.
So in my head how it would work;
Sona was pregnant when her first husband died, and Elias was aware of this before they got married. He loved her and told her that he would be a father to her child no matter what. They decide together not to tell Alastair, thinking it would confuse him growing up and worry him that he isnât loved or something. They think they may tell him when hes older, but probably not.
Things are good for a while, Cordelia is born, they are one big happy family. Then Eliasâs drinking problem starts getting worse. He becomes more depressed, and gets bitter and angry when he is drunk. When heâs sober he doesnât even realize he has unresolved feelings about Alastair not being his son by blood, but when heâs drunk he treats Alastair differently, more stand-offishly, sometimes even cruelly.
Sona sees this but doesnât know what to do. Elias refuses to acknowledge it sober and itâs useless to try and talk to him about it when heâs drunk. She doesnât know what to tell Alastair, worried that if she tells him the truth now he will believe that Elias doesnât love him, but Alastair starts to suspect the truth anyway.
Which is why he makes that particular claim to Matthew that day at the academy. Because his father isnât coming for him, and heâs worried that heâs not actually his father in the first place. So he does what Elias does when he drunk and angry. He lashes out and projects and bullies who ever is around him.
The whole part with Cortana not choosing Alastair in my opinion has nothing to do with this. Cortana is a shadowhunter blade, and shadowhunters have always know that family is more than blood. Adoption has always been a big aspect of their culture because so many of them die young and leave young children behind. Alastair is no less a Carstairs than Cordelia, and the sword knows that.
However, when they were fighting over who would get to train with it, the sword chose Cordelia because at that time she was more âworthy.â This is a different theory now, but we know Cortana starts burning when Cordelia holds it, and Cordelia does some shady stuff in Chain of Iron. I think Cortana knows that there is another Carstairs out there, more worthy (Alastair) and is trying to get to him.
Friendly reminder that people (and well written characters) are more than one thing.
Aaron has some homophobic beliefs; âif youâre gay you shouldnât be proud of/broadcast itâ being the biggest one that appears to me in canon, but probably others as well. AND he stands up for and supports Nicky. His feelings towards Andrew donât change when he finds out he is gay. BOTH these things are true and exist at the same time.
Nicky sexually assaulted Neil, and has issues respecting other peopleâs boundaries. AND he deeply cares about Neilâs happiness and wellbeing as well as all of his friends and family. BOTH these things are true and exist at the same time.
Andrew takes his promises and deals of protection extremely seriously. He respects peopleâs sexual boundaries to a fault due to his history of abuse. AND he seems to feel as if once someone is under his protection he has a degree of ownership over them. (slashing Kevinâs chest/choking him, âdonât touch my thingsâ, always being in control of what the cousins do/where they go.) He physically assaults multiple characters on multiple occasions. BOTH these things are true and exist at the same time.
Kevin is arrogant, single minded to the point of insensitivity, and dismissive of others he deems unworthy. AND he tells Neil to save himself and run, knowing it will cost him the season, which could probably lead to him going back to the Moriyamas. BOTH these things are true and exist at the same time.
Neil is a cut throat badass man who does whatever needs to be done to achieve his goals while accepting there may be collateral damage to others. AND he enjoys and craves moments of softness with his friends and lover and wants to protect them. BOTH these things are true and exist at the same time.
Even Riko, he was a horrifically abusive and cruel person who hurt a lot of people. AND he was a victim of abuse. BOTH these things are true and exist at the same time.
If you keep looking, you will find more things that may seem to be contradictions. People arenât black and white, good or bad. Complexity and nuance are GOOD. Actions canât cancel each other out, no amount of good deeds can erase the bad youâve done, and vice versa.Â
Try expanding your thinking! As Walt Whitman said, âDo I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.â Things get harder to define and to put into boxes, but they also get infinitely more interesting and useful!
Hey guys, hereâs something that apparently people need to hear. You can disagree with Nora about the extra content or even canon without telling her to go fuck herself.
It really fucking boils my blood when I see people saying âFuck you Nora, your character actually Xâ when they can just say âActually, I think this character Xâ and leave it at that.
Why do people feel the need to add the extra ugliness and cruelty? Especially since Nora went out of her way, when answering the questions that people literally asked her to answer, to say that she encourages everyone to have their own interpretations! Like on multiple occasions in the extra content she says âthese are just my thoughts, and please feel free to have your own!â So why do people attack her? Donât believe me? here are literal quotes.
When answering the question about when Andrew and Neil first say I love you, Nora prefaces her answer with:
I was a little leery of answering this question because someone already wrote a ficlet about this, but.
meaning, she supported the fic authorâs interpretation and didnât want to contradict it! But she did because people asked her for her version of the story! You can make Andrew and Neil say I love you and Nora supports that! She just doesnât think it happens herself. source
----------
When someone asked if Andrew ever ties Neil up, she explicitly says
This is my take on the situation, but it doesnât change anything. Everyoneâs free to interpret the characters how they like and do with them as they wish!
I donât know how much clearer she could be. source
There are more, but Iâm going to leave it at that.
I personally like a lot of the EC, but I like to think Allison goes pro. So I do! And I donât think Nora is a stupid jerk for not!
Even in canon, I think Renee is a lesbian and her interest in Jean was platonic. She saw a kindred soul she thought she could help, but is exclusively attracted to women. Nora thinks Renee is straight, she and Jean courted, and she ends up marrying a man. Thatâs cool! She created Renee! And she would probably support my headcanon!
So please please please, stop being assholes. Because Nora is not one. It really is all you.
I always see people talk about how aftg are bad books, and I wonât deny Iâve done it too. I was embarrassed to tell my family I was reading them, and dismissed them as like junk food, fun and yummy but ultimately insubstantial and bad.
But the more I think about it, the more I realize it's not true, and that that could also be considered part of their brilliance?Â
Hear me out; one of the biggest morals is that the concepts of âgoodâ people and âbadâ people are extremely flawed and humans are too complex to fit into such categorization. And that by forcing people into such categories we are perpetuating harm to others and ourselves.Â
Bad things happen to people and everyone reacts differently. Society decides which reactions are acceptable and which are not. If you dismiss people based on that without bothering to get to know them better or understand what theyâre doing, you're going to be missing out on a lot of good things.Â
(Someone else could probably write this better, but hopefully you get the idea)Â
So now let's think about literature.
What makes a âgoodâ book? Why isnât aftg âgoodâ? What is it lacking, what is there too much of?Â
Letâs look at what is there.
it's enjoyable to read (some may argue that this is not a requirement of âgood literatureâ but it is a bonus)
it has nuanced and complex characters and relationships
it has a coherent plot (not a likely or realistic one, but it still makes sense)
it has a clear and consistent voice, message, and themes
it asks the reader to reexamine their assumed beliefs
Like, I agree that it could probably benefit from being looked over by a professional editor, but then again, does that mean it's âbadâ because it's not pretty and polished and sanitized for the masses?
By dismissing it are we ignoring what it is trying to teach us all along? To please who? The intellectual elitists who determine our worth by the books weâve read, whose power was built on patriarchal and white supremacist values in the first place?Â
I want to say fuck them, let all call aftg a good book. But that still leaves it forced to stand up next to their standards and justify itself. So I canât really end this with a call to action. Just some things to think about I guess.
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I just saw some Nora appreciation posts and this has been in my drafts for a while and why not jump on the bandwagon? :)
Beyond Nora sharing these awesome books and characters with us, encouraging fans to make their own headcanons and fanfictions, and answering our questions and giving her own ideas of the Foxesâ futures, she did it all for very little in return? I am talking financially, and also a little bit referring to all the hate she gets from the fandom based on her books (but thatâs not the focus of this post.)
The ebooks are only $.99 each AND the first one is free. So the entire trilogy is $1.98. Nora probably only gets like 25-30 cents total when someone buys tkm or trk. This year AFTG was the #4 book fandom on tumblr. So she has this crazy successful series that she makes hardly any money off of. She probably only gets 50-60 CENTS whenever someone buys the entire trilogy.
5,000 people follow the âaftgâ tag, that's $2,500 approximately, not taking in to account that a lot of people download PDFs of the books and therefore donât pay! Compare that to what other authors profit from their books. Like, I donât know how much Maggie Stiefvater has made from The Raven Cycle, but itâs the #8 book fandom on tumblr and itâs definitely way more than $2,500! (I am a little confused about this though, because the raven cycle definitely has a much larger readership the aftg, and 39k people follow that tag? I guess AFTG really is just small and mighty!)
And then I was thinking about all the people selling fanart prints/zines/tchotchkes etc. and commissions based on her characters (and Iâm not speaking against those, support fan artists/creators please!) But, if you pooled all the money other people have made off of her characters vs. what she has made I bet sheâs made a lot less overall.
So this is a Nora appreciation post, since I cannot financially compensate her, and we donât even know her real name or what shes up to these days (I donât think). I know youâll never see this but thank you for sharing all this with us!!! These books have actually changed my life, they inspired me for the first time to create my own writing, led me to meet new people, and also they just make me feels things. So really, thank you.
The upperclassmen start playing it as a drinking game one night and Neil is intrigued. Andrew is also intrigued but doesnât show it and refuses to play.
They are all already pretty tipsy, with Kevin, Matt, Nicky, and Aaron pretty much drunk.
Allison goes first, she has an amazing poker face and calmly says all three statements with no facial twitches or vocal cues. âmy first car was a Toyota Camry (truth), my prom dress cost over $10k (lie), and I once made out with Miley Cyrus (truth)â
Renee, Neil, and Aaron guess right, Matt, Dan, Kevin, and Nicky have to drink.
Then itâs Mattâs turn and he is terrible, he starts snickering before he opens his mouth. âIâve swam with sharks (truth)â he says, but he cannot control his face and it keeps contorting as he tries to maintain a neutral expression. He takes a deep breath to try and control his giggles, âmy favorite flower is sunflowers (truth)â then he canât hold it in anymore and starts hysterically laughing and chokes out, âMy favorite city in the world is Newark, NJ (lie)â
Everyone gets it right and Matt has to drink.
Dan is next, she goes for the âone of these is so out there and crazy it canât be a lie...or is it?â method.
((It is.))
âIâve never shot a gun (truth), as a kid my favorite food was celery with ranch dressing (truth), and when I was 18 I won the lottery but the ticket was ruined and I couldnât claim the money (lie)â
Aaron jumps in with âObviously you never won the lottery, how would you even know if the ticket was destroyedâ
Dan has her story ready. âWhen I first turned 18, I played the same numbers every week. It went on for a few months when my numbers were picked, but by that point playing was more of a habit than anything else and I wasnât too careful with my tickets. I searched for it everywhere and found that I left it in my jeans pocket when I did my laundry.â
Allison asks what the numbers were, and Dan answers with no hesitation, which makes Allison tilt her head and stare into Danâs eyes. Dan looks back without guile, totally relaxed.
Nicky is looking at her with his eyes wide and mouth slightly open and asks how much money she would have won
When Dan answers $53 million dollars Nicky gasps and Matt groans.
Neil, Renee, and Allison get it right, but everyone else falls for it.
When its Nicky turn he forgets to say a lie.
He is sitting there trying to come up with something for what feels like forever while every goads him for taking so long.
Finally, after waiting 5 minutes, Kevin says âIâm going because Nicky obviously canât come up with anythingâ and Nicky jumps across Kevins lap and goes âNo no no no no, Iâve got it!â
Without moving off Kevin he says âIâm allergic to shellfish, I died my hair green once, and Iâve read all the twilight books three timesâ He moves back to his spot looking pleased with himself.
Everyone starts discussing theories until Andrew says in his bored, flat voice, âNicky, those are all trueâ
Nicky starts to protest, thinks for a second, then just says âFuck!â and takes a shot.
Kevin rolls his eyes so hard that his entire head rotates then says, while slightly slurring, âOkay, my turn! Iâve played a game of pick up basketball once (lie), I know all the lyrics to We Didnât Start the Fire (truth), and Iâve traveled to over a dozen countries (truth).â
Matt starts hysterically laughing again, âYou know all the lyrics to We Didnât Start the Fire! oh my god Kevin you are such a nerd!â everyone else starts laughing at Kevin too.
âMaybe I do, maybe itâs the lie!â
âEveryone knows youâve never played a sport besides Exy in your life Kevinâ Dan says, âWill you sing it for us? Please, please, please!â
Allison, Nicky, and Matt join Dan in asking Kevin to sing. Renee even says, âIt would be lovely to hear you sing it Kevinâ to which Kevin blushes a little and answers, âMaybe laterâ and then takes his shot.
Aaron is drunk enough at this point to spill some truths he otherwise never would, and will wish for the rest of his life that he never had.
âWhen I was little, I wanted to be a figure skater when I grew up.(truth)â
Everyone goes completely silent and stares at him unsure whether to laugh or not but he doesnât realize and continues
âThe first time I got high I thought the squirrels in the tree wanted to adopt me as their squirrel king (truth), and I hate Taylor Swift (lie)â
No one says anything at first, and just when Aaron starts to realize something is up, Nicky says âNah man, you LOVE T. Swift, you canât deny it!â
They collectively make a silent agreement to ignore this new information about Aaron until he sobers up a bit and can either defend himself, or will be more fun to tease.
In the end, everyone but Renee guesses right, but she guessed wrong on purpose because she didnât think that Aaron should be having any more to drink.
When itâs Reneeâs turn, she smiles sweetly and says, âI can juggle up to 7 balls (truth), I have never drank diet soda (lie), and I once had a pet turtle named Vincent (truth).â
No one is confident about which is the lie and it is the longest the foxes debate after anyones turn. It doesnât help that Renee refuses to answer questions, and whenever someone tries to ask her anything she just smiles and shrugs.
It comes out to Neil and Aaron getting it right, while everyone else has to drink.
âHow the fuck has it never come up that youâre a master juggler?â Allison asks angrily
âIt wouldnât be appropriate to do it at practice, and weâre not really around balls much otherwise.â
Everyone asks for a demonstration, âI will juggle later if Kevin will sing.â
Everyone looks at Kevin who sighs but says âOkay, fine!â
They all cheer then wait eagerly for Neil to go.
Neil sits quietly for a little while, not as long as Nicky, but long enough that Aaron says, âCome on this should be easy for you! You lied to us all for a year, whatâs the problem, the truth?â
Neil shoots him a dirty look but doesnât respond for a few more seconds then says,
âMy mom and I once helped deliver a baby at a truck stop in Alberta, Iâve been bitten by a camel, and I can speak 7 languagesâ
Everyone just stares at him.
âTwo of those things are true?â Matt finally asks
âYeah.â Neil says, shrugging. Everyone is silent again.
Nicky turns to Andrew for help, but he refuses to say anything. His eyes are bright with interest though and he looks at Neil for a long time. Internally, he thinks the one about helping birth a baby has something off about it.
After much debate, Allison, Kevin, and Matt guess the baby, Renee, Dan, and Aaron guess the camel, and Nicky says the languages, âNo one can know SEVEN languages!! I wonât believe it!â
They all turn to Neil expectantly and he says, âIt was the first one, we were just outside Vancouver, in British Columbia, not Alberta.â
âBut you, Neil Josten, have helped deliver a baby?â Allison asks incredulously.
âTechnically I wasnât Neil Josten yetâŚâ
Everyone groans. Everyone takes a shot.
Cut to 15 minutes later, Renee is juggling an exy ball, some apples, and Mattâs phone while Kevin sings. Nicky tries to sing along with Kevin but definitely doesnât know the right words, Aaron is watching Renee wide eyed, Dan and Matt are playing air guitar behind Kevin, and Allison is looking for more things for Renee to juggle. Neil and Andrew sit quietly on a desk holding cigarettes, observing their idiot friends. Â
Stories Behind the Truths and Lies
Allison
My first car was a Toyota Camry (truth) - Allisonâs parents wanted her to learn how to drive in a safe car that wouldnât draw a lot of attention, so they got her a Camry. She only drove it for 3 weeks before demanding an upgrade.
My prom dress cost over $10k (lie) - This was almost true. She had ordered a custom Zac Posen dress but before it was finalized she made her decision to go to PSU and play Exy, and her mother canceled the order. She ended up wearing something she found in a vintage store that she altered herself. She ended up enjoying it a lot, which led to her decision to study fashion. (In my hc she played professional Exy for 3? seasons but was injured and then started her fashion line.)
I once made out with Miley Cyrus (truth) - While out clubbing one night she met Miley through mutual friends, they were attracted to each other, they made out. Miley asked for her number but Allison wasnât looking for anything more than a hook up.
Matt
Iâve swam with sharks (truth) - He did this with his mom on a vacation and they both loved it. They also have a tradition where they watch at least one night of shark week together, or at least call each other to talk while they are both watching.
My favorite flower is sunflowers (truth) - No story lol I just think he would like sunflowers.
My favorite city in the world is Newark, NJ (lie) - I love thinking about New Yorker Matt. Raised on the Upper East Side, dad a top plastic surgeon, mom a public figure? Child grew up surrounded by serious privilege. HC that in fifth grade he made friends with a boy who was on scholarship at his school. Letâs call him⌠Metin. He lived in Queens? He took the subway? Matt goes to his house one day and it is 1/8th the size of his apartment and there are 9 people living there; Metinâs parents, two grandparents, his uncle, his two sisters, and his cousin. They all speak Turkish in the house and itâs loud and crowded but so full of life and love and Matt loves it. He and Metin grew apart when Matt started using, but before that they were best friends for years and explored the city together, Matt learning about and experiencing so much culture that for the first 9 years of his life he didnât know existed. When Nicky wanted to go to Times Square for New Years Matt knew he had to be a good host and take them but inside he was DYING. Iâm getting off track. No New Yorker could ever like Newark. Iâm not convinced anybody could like Newark. It is indeed, very laughable.
Dan
Iâve never shot a gun (truth) - Dan hates guns and refuses to shoot one.
As a kid my favorite food was celery with ranch dressing (truth) - Idk I just thought this was cute. And also thinking about young Dan who didnât have a lot of access to healthy foods getting celery sticks and ranch with her free school lunch and getting SO excited. Trading her cookie to a classmate for their celery.
When I was 18 I won the lottery but the ticket was ruined and I couldnât claim the money (lie) - I like to think this is part true. After Dan turned 18 but before she was recruited for the Foxes, she played lotto a lot, always with the same numbers that she got from a fortune cookie that said, âFailure is not defeat until you stop trying.â She stopped playing once she signed with Wymack.
Nicky (all truths)
Iâm allergic to shellfish - Mostly I love that Andrew knew all these things about Nicky, especially his allergy because heâs always looking out to make sure Nicky doesnât eat something he canât.
I died my hair green once - At first, when he took custody of the twins and started showing up for them at school at stuff, he hated the looks he got. He was a 19 year old kid who was supposed to be their guardian? Not to mention the way people eyed his skin and hair when he said he was family. One day he decided to dye his hair blond and he asked Andrew and Aaron to help, to try to bond. Aaron wanted nothing to do with it, but surprisingly, Andrew seem enthusiastic about the idea. He bought the dye and did everything for Nicky in the kitchen. When he was finally done roughly washing the dye out of Nickyâs hair, Nicky went to the bathroom to see how he looked and saw that Andrew had died his hair green. He wasnât sure if he wanted to laugh at the prank or cry because he foolishly thought he might be getting through to Andrew. When he went back to the kitchen, he tried to laugh it off and said maybe he should go to a salon to get the color right. Andrew told him he was stupid to try and change how he looked just because people were dumb enough to think that families needed to look alike. Besides, they werenât a family anyway. Â âFamilyâ is a toxic excuse for things people put up with, a reason we accept the tragedies and inconveniences forced upon us. (Noraâs words) Nicky was upset, and dyed his hair back to his natural color once the roots started growing in, but he reaffirmed his commitment in that moment that he would show the twins what Erik had shown him, what a family could really be.
Iâve read all the twilight books three times - Nicky was a huge fan of twilight, even going to the midnight release party for the last book. He was disappointed in the movie adaptations but loved the casting and watched for the eye candy. He is loving the twilight renaissance especially the twilight is gay discourse.
Kevin
Iâve played a game of pick up basketball once (lie) - Kevin has never played a game of basketball, or soccer, or tennis, or baseball, or any other sport for that matter and can not understand why anyone would want to.
I know all the lyrics to We Didnât Start the Fire (truth) - Kayleigh Day was a big music fan, she loved everything from classical to country, but one of her favorite artists was Billy Joel. After she died and Kevin moved into Evermore, he almost forgot about her music because the music at the Nest was all chosen for pragmatic reasons, like its BPM and ability to pump the players up. One day, when Kevin was around 15 years old, a rebellious Raven played his own music while training in the weight room. He and his partner were the only ones in there until Riko and Kevin showed up, and they turned it off as soon as they realized they had come in, but Kevin heard some of âOnly the Good Die Youngâ and for the first time in a long time had a vivid memory of his mother. He asked the boys what had been playing, and Riko scoffed at the name Billy Joel. That night while Riko was sleeping, Kevin downloaded Billy Joelâs Greatest Hits and listened until he feel asleep, and he continued listening to it for weeks until he started remembering more of his mothers songs from his childhood. We Didnât Start the Fire was one of his favorites because history.
Iâve traveled to over a dozen countries (truth) - Between travel through Europe with his mom while she spread Exy and professional appearances he made with Riko, Kevin is the most well traveled besides Neil.
Aaron
When I was little, I wanted to be a figure skater when I grew up. (truth) - When Aaron was around four or five, he watched the winter olympics on TV and fell in love with figure skating. Tilda never bothered to get him skating lessons, but one day, when Aaron was seven, there was an attempt to revive the Ice Capades. Aaron never thought he would get to go, but Tilda surprised him with tickets. It is one of the few really good memories he has of his mom.
The first time I got high I thought the squirrels in the tree wanted to adopt me as their squirrel king (truth) - I just imagine Aaron trying his momâs drugs for the first time alone in the back yard, laying flat on his back looking up at a family of squirrels, saying, âIâm king of the squirrels!!!â
I hate Taylor Swift (lie) - Katelyn is a HUGE Taylor Swift fan. When they first started hanging out, Aaron didnât really like her music but didnât want to say anything. Eventually he started associating her with Katelyn though, and he loves watching Katelyn sign and dance so much that he now genuinely enjoys her music.
Renee
I can juggle up to 7 balls (truth) - Renee always had a natural juggling talent. She never really tried to learn, it was just always something she could do.
I have never drank diet soda (lie) - She does prefer non-diet soda, but she has tried diet before.
I once had a pet turtle named Vincent (truth) - Vincent was a gift from one of her motherâs boyfriends, the only one Renee ever remotely like. He was horrible to her mother, but had a soft spot for Renee and treated her kindly. They broke up after a couple of months, and he gave her Vincent as a parting gift. She had him until she got arrested, she couldnât go back home to get him and when her mother went to prison he died.
Neil
My mom and I once helped deliver a baby at a truck stop in Alberta (lie) - This happened while Neil and his mom were on the way to Seattle. It was the middle of the night and they stopped to get gas a few hours out from Vancouver when they heard a woman screaming. There was nothing around for miles and only one other car in the lot that had been there when they pulled in. His mother immediately dropped the gas pump and Neil was already back in the car when the screaming stopped and his mother hesitated. Neil had never seen his mom hesitate with a potential threat around before, and he listened closely to try and understand why she stopped. All he heard was a woman panting harshly, but it sounded almost as though there was a rhythm to it. Mary signaled for him to get out of the car, and ordered him to grab some blankets, the first aid kit, and water bottles and follow her. They walked behind the locked public bathrooms, and found the woman squatting, with tears running down her face. Mary wasnât very gentle or comforting, but she told the woman in a calm and confident voice that they were going to help. Neil didnât do much, but he let the woman hold his hand and squeeze until he thought she would break it. He gave her sips of water between her contractions and did anything else his mother said. Once the baby was out, wrapped in a blanket, and in its mothers arms, Mary grabbed Neil and they left without another word to the woman. She stared after them, confused and grateful. Neil and his mother never spoke of it again.
Iâve been bitten by a camel (truth) - Neil and Mary spent a few days in Dubai to get some papers from a specialist there before traveling back to North America. The man did his business out of a racetrack where they held camel races. To get to his office, they had to travel through the back part of the track that the jockeys used to get the camels into position. Neil got too close to one of the camels and it bit his arm, luckily (or not), the jockey was in the middle of beating it and before it closed its mouth too tightly, landed a blow that caused the camel to immediately open its mouth again. Once he was freed, Neil was out of reach in a millisecond.
I can speak 7 languages (truth) - English, German, French, Russian, Hebrew, Czech, Greek. (To clarify he can speak 7 languages but he wouldnât necessarily call himself fluent in all 7) We all know English, German, French, and Nora had a hc that Andrew and Neil learn Russian so they can talk to each other even with the cousins around which I love. Hebrew - In my hc Neil is jewish, as are Mary and Nathan. After running away, Mary didnât know where to go once she had left her brother. She didnât speak any other languages besides English, but she could understand Yiddish from hearing her grandparents and sometimes her parents speaking it growing up, and she could understand Polish from her time married to Nathan. She didnât want to go to Poland in case any of Nathanâs contacts recognized her, so she decided to go to Israel. She knew there were communities there that spoke Yiddish and she was familiar if not comfortable with Hebrew from going to temple when she was younger. But most importantly she knew Nathan didnât have any regular contacts there. While they were there, along with learning Hebrew, Mary pretended to be interested in converting to Greek Orthodox in order to get secret Greek lessons for her and Neil. After a while but sooner than she had hoped, Mary got a warning that Nathan had figured out where they were. She didnât think it would be wise to go directly to Greece so she decided to move them to Prague next, since Czech and Polish are fairly similar and she really had no other ideas. While in Prague she continued her and Neilâs Greek lessons, and they went on to Greece eventually. Mary didnât want them to lose any of the languages they learned, so she came up with a system that on certain days of the week they would speak to each other in certain languages. After Mary died, Neil pretty much gave up on Czech and Hebrew because he hadnât been surrounded by them in so long and he hadnât used either except with Mary since they moved from Prague or Israel. They had lived in Greece for longer than they had in Prague or Israel though, moving to a few different cities, so he felt stronger with Greek.
Fin.Â
This is my first time writing anything fanfiction, my first time doing any creative writing at all really, and I would love any and all feedback!! Thanks for reading this long ass post, I hope it wasnât terrible!!
Rereading some of Son Nefes for fic research and I love this bit so much
Seth made a noise like he'd thrown up in his mouth a bit. Reggie made a furious gesture but couldn't put words to his outrage. Juan was the only one with enough wits to speak, and then all he managed was a venomous, "Coach didn't say he recruited us a faggot."
If looks could kill, the one Dan turned on her teammates should have seared the skin from their bones. "Fucking enough."
"It's all cool, cap." Nicky gave an expansive shrug. "If I let every asshole get to me I'd never have a good day."
"What'd you call me?" Juan demanded.
"He called you an asshole," was a bored response, and one of the twins stepped up beside Nicky. Judging by the cool look on his face, this one was Aaron. Nicky was quick to prop his arm on the shorter man's shoulder, and Aaron didn't try to dislodge him. Aaron met Juan's glower with an unimpressed stare and said, "That wasn't news to you, right?"
"This is Aaron," Nicky said. "He's a bit rude sometimes, but at least he's honest. You remember Aaron, right, Dan?"
Aaron has a protective streak in him as much as Andrew, he just doesnât exhibit it in the same way!!! The confrontation with Neil at the cabin is another example of this. Heâs not going to physically threaten you but he will look out for his family!! Words and condescension are his weapons!
