Neil Likes Sweet Things, Just Not Artificial Sweetness. It’s Canon That He Likes Fruit, Which Is Packed

honestly andrew probably got to neil in time by booking it across the court the second neil opened his mouth after the final match bc he just knew it’d be some dumb shit that would make riko want to kill him 

so i'm currently consuming only orange food (on accident) and my mind just decided this needed to happen so consider this:

it's neil's sophomore year and they've managed to make it to championships again

this year it's a home game, so they don't have to travel anywhere

enter neil

it's the morning of the game, and as he pulls an orange from their fruit bowl he gets an idea

how much orange food do you think can he eat before the game?

he tells no one, but eventually they all catch on

the foxes were never one for superstition or pre-game rituals

the closest they got was tapping the "riko racquet" before each game

but suddenly it's like they're on a mission

that first year it's mostly neil, but after he scores the winning shot of the game it's cemented in the team forever

the next year almost all of them join in, going to every length to keep it orange

neil buys orange ice cream and special orders all orange m&m's to try and get andrew to join, to no avail

his junior year he stops to pick up coffee (the one thing they agreed to allow, though they usually shoot for orange mugs) when he has an idea

"do you think you could make an orange coffee"

the barista: 👁👁 can i what now

turns out they can

when neil shows up at the dorms with orange coffee for everyone andrew has never been so close to murdering him

nicky all but loses his mind when he sees the tray

matt very excitedly adds it to their running list of orange foods held to the fridge with a fox magnet

when neil graduates allison frames it and they hang it next to the trophy stand

by his senior year andrew still outright refuses to join in

until it's his last college championship game

neil comes home from his run early and flips on the kitchen light to find him on top of the counter

3/4ths of the way through a pumpkin pie, orange whipped cream and all

and halfway through a two liter of orange crush

they both freeze

for a long moment nothing is said

a clock's ticks echo through the room

neil grins, "don't believe in superstition, huh?"

"shut up, junkie"

"i'm not the one devouring an all orange pie like a gremlin right now"

"i will kill you"

"you'd have to put down the pie first"

eventually he does, in favor of a very different pre-game ritual

neil “i’m fine” josten telling wymack after coming back from evermore that no, no, he’s not alright just... pierces my heart every time i think about it. you can really see how much neil’s grown by how he finally begins to trust someone other than himself or his mom. he puts himself in such a vulnerable position when he reaches out, especially by asking for help from an older man (given his past). and the way that wymack drops everything during winter break to immediately rush to the airport, i just- 

it’s the way that the foxes didn’t stay anywhere overnight all year and instead drove home in the middle of the night every single time to avoid being stuck somewhere unfamiliar, but they willingly stayed at a hotel when neil was taken and would’ve been fine with booking a second night when he came back to them if that’s what he wanted. like andrew would’ve stabbed them if they even thought about leaving, but the best part is that he didn’t even have to. i’m sorry i’m just crying

reblog and put in the tags the last book you read, the book you’re currently reading and the next book on your list

andreil would die for each other in a heartbeat, and i think that’s from a mix of wanting to protect each other and not wanting to be the one left behind. if one of them dies, they want it to be themselves - because, yes, they want the other to continue living, but both of them also finding the thought of living without the other unbearable

jerejean fics are so much fun to read bc in aftg the characters more or less roll with the hits and just kind of accept what’s going on, and it doesn’t seem that out of the ordinary when you read it, but then you see how jeremy reacts to jean’s stories in the fanfics and it’s like... oh right... that’s actually probably how a normal person would react in this scenario

it’s really trippy to search for allison reynolds, expecting the blonde defensive dealer and absolute goddess allison jamaica reynolds, just for the search to give you allison reynolds, the basket case emo girl from an 80s movie

neil has had countless dramatic main characters outside of the series - namely while staring out of a window as it’s pouring rain - and that’s just a fact

no but did you notice how easily neil started thinking dan instead of danielle and nicky instead of nicholas when they told him their preferred names,, like say what you will, but i just know for a fact he would absolutely use everyone’s correct pronouns and names with absolutely zero hesitation or issue idc