#i love Katelyn and Andrew being civil only for Aaron but also | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

our-king-bree · 8 months

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woke up loving the headcanon where Katelyn finds out that Andrew calls her "the cheerleader" –and mind you, she's very proud of being a cheerleader but she's been told that Andrew does it with a condescending tone and that just won't do– so she starts calling Andrew "the goalie".

When Andrew finds out he doesn't get mad but he's offended like c'mon Katelyn couldn't think of something else? He's getting associated with the position he, reluctantly, plays in Exy? That's just wrong. Of course he doesn't tell anyone that this bothers him, he will rather die than admit that the cheerleader got under his skin –annoying, intolerable, should've got rid of her when he got the chance. Whatever now's too late, Aaron's too attached and they're making progress, he won't harm the cheerleader but only because he's on good terms with his brother and he doesn't want that to change–. So he doesn't tell anyone but he, slowly, progressively, definitely not rushing, he doesn't care that much, stars referring to Katelyn as Katelyn.

The first few times he calls her different varieties of her name along with "the cheerleader". It goes like this:

"It's the cheerleader Kamila coming?"

"Will the cheerleader, uhm, Kara be there?"

"With who? The cheerleader? Kaylee?"

Aaron can see that something is going on but whatever it is will probably be good for them as brothers. After all, he still refers to Neil as Josten –and sometimes asshole, sue him Josten is an asshole–. So he doesn't say anything but just nods along and says "Yeah, Katelyn it's coming" "Yeah, Katelyn will be there".

When Andrew finally calls Katelyn Katelyn, Aaron can't stop smiling and he even texts Kate the news with a lot of emojis and exclamation marks ((((HE CALLED YOU KATELYN LIKE ACTUALLY KATELYN AND NOT KAVINSKY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT!! ☺️☺️💕💕❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹🙏🙏)))

Katelyn beams proudly. She does not stop calling Andrew "the goalie" for at least another eight months, she is petty like that. And if she sometimes calls Andrew "Andres" no one needs to know.

All the Foxes know, she calls him Andres in front of every single one of the Foxes cause she may like them but she knows they can't keep a secret if their life depended on it. Once again she is petty like that.

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aftgandotherbooks · 3 years

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First time Neil cries in front of the foxes- Aaron

Aaron’s experience in witnessing Neil cry for the first time is quite different, and much more… passionate and confusing? You see, besides having Nicky take the twins in, and obviously having Katelyn in his life, Aaron hadn’t had much experience with kindness. Not many people have shown him what kindness is like, and thus he doesn’t know how to be kind. Which explains his asshole attitude

For Neil, until he met the Foxes, he had never experienced true kindness from anyone he considers family, or just anyone at all really. His perceived experience of kindness was the fierce and harsh protection his mother gave him. Aaron can relate to this as well with having his brother and his questionable means of protection.

One day Neil was in the library after Kevin’s 30-minute rant of why he has to actually try to pass his classes to be able to play exy.

He was sat at a computer trying to do the research for his psychology paper on the history of the DSM and how diagnosis of mental illness has progressed over the years.

Aaron, who also had a bio exam to study for was in the library trying to find a good spot to camp out for a few hours trying to wrap his head around the many factors of the nervous system.

After almost 8 months of joint therapy with his brother, he learned many things about himself, his brother… and unfortunately of Neil. One was Neil was fiercely protective of Andrew, as much as Andrew hates loves it. Aaron respects that.

It’s because of this begrudging respect, when Aaron saw Neil in the corner of the library hunched over a computer, he decided to sit next to Neil and pack out all his books and start studying.

Aaron had it all planned out, he was going to get through the parasympathetic nervous system the first hour and then move on to the sympathetic nervous system the next so that he can avoid falling behind with his meticulously made study schedule.

That is until he looked at Neil’s computer on what he was researching.

You see, Katelyn wants to be a neurosurgeon one day and has done a few psychology courses already. Aaron always loved listening to her passionate rants about mental illness and how completely unfairly the medical system had been treating and stigmatising those suffering with mental illness over the years and still today. Aaron himself has gotten very passionate about the topic.

So, seeing Neil who was completely oblivious to Aaron sitting next to him while trying to understand the journal articles he’s finding on mental illness and huffing every few seconds when not understanding half of what they say, Aaron kept an eye on him

After 5 minutes of Neil not moving past the same highlighted sentence, Aaron made a decision.

Aaron sighed as if trying to be nice is the worst chore he’s ever had to do, he said “the null is that’s there’s no difference between the two variables. You want to reject that there’s no difference”

Neil jumped, only then noticing Aaron as the person who was sat next to him. He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

Aaron rolled his eyes, “in the results section, where it says the research null hypothesis for the study was rejected, it means that what they were trying to find… was proven to be found in the study they conducted. That’s good, that’s what you want to hear.”

Aaron was… actually being helpful… kind…for once. Neil furrowed his eyebrows and read the sentence he’s been stuck on for the last 5 minutes again. And. Lightbulb moment.

It finally made sense! He clicked back to the other tabs of articles he’s been trying to figure out and it was like he just figured out a whole new language.

“Um… yeah thanks, that… actually helped a lot.” Neil said, refusing to look at Aaron.

“Yeah well… Katelyn’s been chatting my ears off after doing psychology stats last year” Aaron said, looking back to his own work.

Neil took a minute to process that Aaron actually helped Neil. Aaron, who spent a majority of his freshman year antagonising, or ignoring Neil’s existence completely… was being nice to him. Granted Neil wasn’t being very polite back.

It was quiet for a few minutes before Neil spoke again.

“Um… I actually found an article on the long-term effects of the different types of medications for bipolar. You should show it to Katelyn, she told me the other day that she’s interested in neuropsychology. She um… might find it interesting” Neil said in attempt of making conversation.

You see, Aaron and Neil having been trying to be civil after a major breakthrough in therapy when Andrew actually snapped and started yelling at Aaron about how ungrateful and pathetic Aaron had been acting for the few years they’ve known each other. After that, they started to communicate more, even if that communication meant playing video games with the occasional comment here and there, and sometimes grabbing lunch when they had a break between classes. Andrew and Aaron made a promise that they’ll actually try this time to be brothers. And this meant trying with their partners as well.

So, when Neil threw the ball, Aaron caught it.

Slowly and gruffly at first, Aaron started talking about what he learned from listening to Katelyn talking about how medication for mental illness should only be given when all other types of therapy have been attempted.

This conversation then moved onto medical trials and how unfair it is that medical trials were forced upon juveniles.

Which moved onto Andrew.

Turns out, when Betsy talked about the medication Andrew was forced to take and how severely Andrew was affected, Aaron spent days figuring out what exactly the medication was.

Aaron then told Neil about what he found. It was medication for major depressive disorder, and the medication specifically targeted the dopamine system… which would have been effective if the dose wasn’t so excessively strong for Andrew. Aaron told Neil about how instead of levelling the chemicals Andrew’s brain was lacking, it increased it past a healthy point, which resulted in making Andrew manic a majority of the time.

Neil listened to Aaron talk, taking notes for future research on ways to help Andrew overcome the trauma and side effects he faced from the long-term use of the medication alone.

The more Neil listened to Aaron’s passionate rant about the unfair treatment and mishandling of mental conditions, the more he saw how much Aaron really cared for his brother.

It got to the point where they were going on about how much Andrew changed over the last year and how he adapted to such terrible conditions throughout his life.

Talking about this was taxing to both boys. Neil actually started to get tears in his eyes, and Aaron too. Both refused to look the other in the eye, instead focussing on the computer screen in front of Neil.

When Aaron’s phone alarm went off to remind him to start studying the sympathetic nervous system, they both went quiet. They then looked at each other.

Aaron said “you’re still an insufferable asshole”

And Neil said “and you’re still an ugly midget dickhead”

“You’re dating my twin!” Aaron sputtered

“So?” Neil smirked and raised his eyebrow

And so, they both wiped their eyes, packed their things and left the library, (separately of course) and never spoke about their hour of bonding again.

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play-exy-be-sexy · 3 years

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I feel like Allison and Katelyn could become really good friends so here’s so head cannons for them:

At first Allison doesn’t like Katelyn.

Allison sees her as competition, they are both gorgeous and she doesn’t like to share the spotlight.

But the more Katelyn starts hanging out with the foxes, Allison realized that she is actually kinda cool.

She super smart and philosophical.

She loves to argue and talk.

And Katelyn finds herself drawn towards Allison because she is a people pleaser and wants all of Aaron’s teammates to like her.

Allison tends to find herself talking to her more and more and having civil arguments about stupid things.

A lot of times it has to do with clothes or makeup because yes they are smart but smart strong women can still like girly things.

Eventually the talk of clothes turn into shopping days together.

Sometimes they drag Neil with them but most of the time it’s just the two girls.

They like to style each other when shopping.

Allison will go to a store, usually one a lot fancier then what Katelyn is use to, and pick Katelyn an outfit and vis versa.

They don’t show each the outfits till they are back at the dorms.

Because at this point they have each other’s sizes memorized.

Also they have very similar builds.

Anyway they all have a “fashion show” after their shopping spree for anyone who will watch.

It’s usually just Renee and Aaron.

They also swap clothes all the time.

“Kate, you want this? I don’t like how it fits on my arms and you have skinnier arms then me”

That kinda stuff

They both LOVE to gossip about campus drama.

Since Katelyn had a whole other social circle outside the foxes, well like three.

She’s a very popular girl

But Allison kind of has other friends too.

People from her classes that she’s clicked with and some of Seths old friends.

Anyway, this means they hear like alllll the college gossip.

They meet with eachother like once a week at a cute little coffee shop to catch up with eachother but mainly to gossip.

“Did you hear Tom from the lacrosse team got Kassi pregnant?”

“Like Kassi who’s on the debate team?”

“The one and only”

“No fucking way”

“That’s what I hearddd”

Yeah they know everyone’s business at all times.

But they never(usually) share anything past the two of them.

Because while it is their business it’s not anyone else’s.

The logic doesn’t make any sense to Aaron either trust me.

Allison’s last semester, she and Katelyn decide to take a class together.

It’s a feminism class that they thought would be interesting.

It just makes them closer because of course they become study buddies.

They hang out like almost everyday.

Aaron is kind of concerned. Allison is not a very friendly person and Katelyn is the definition of sunshine and happiness.

But they just seem to click so well.

Like so well.

Sometimes Neil joins them in their outings.

Him and Allison are pretty close and he gets along with Katelyn well enough.

Andrew thinks he’s crazy hanging out with two of the most girly girls in the school but Neil doesn’t complain.

Because really Neil loves hanging out with them.

They’re so funny and different than what he’s use to.

Allison becomes a complete different person with Katelyn.

She so much happie and lighter.

Not constantly looking over her back or caring what people think.

Neil has so much fun with them.

They constantly are buying him clothes, even more then Andrew.

They also love to do his hair and makeup and Neil really enjoys it.

Self care days are all their favorites.

They teach Neil how to do his nails, and mascara and be feminine in a masculine way.

Andrew like it a lot.

Anyway when the girls graduate Katelyn definitely cries because she has become so close to Allison but also has become friends with Dan and Renee.

She has a very hard time adjusting to not having Allison to gossip with but they still message and sometimes call.

Neil takes Allison’s place and him and Katelyn become super close their last few years.

Andrew and Aaron are so confused. They thought they just happened to both hangout with Allison not each other.

The three of them get together like two or three times during the school year and like for a week during the summer.

Sometimes Renee, Aaron, and Andrew come during the summer but the smaller visits are just the three of them.

Allison usually rents and Air B&B or whatever it’s called.

They go to New York, and Boston, and Florida, everywhere.

Anyway yeah just Allison and Katelyn being friends and Neil being their little doll.

But also equally part of the friendship

#allison reynolds #aftg #all for the game #andrew minyard #neil josten #exy #kevin day #andrew x neil #tfc #the foxhole court #trk

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palmett-hoes · 4 years

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Hi, I really loved your post with the monsters as Birds of Prey! Was wondering if you had any thoughts on the Foxes as Marvel or Mcu characters? I feel like I could see Dan as Carol Danvers and Andrew for sure is Jessica Jones, idk about the rest.

oh wow old post!!

haha unfortunately i’m not really a comics person so i don’t feel like i can really give the best analysis possible, but i have seen most of the mcu movies and bits and pieces of the netflix show so i’ll try my best. also im using dc characters too bc i want to

1. Dan: I think your instinct with Dan as Captain Marvel is spot-on (at least uhhh,, based on the movie lol sorry comics ppl). Her direct, forceful powers and fighting style are definitely reminiscent of dan’s no-nonsense leadership approach. similarly the themes of overcoming sexism and acceling in a male-dominated industry in the captain marvel movie is pretty much the same as dan’s story establishing herself as the first female exy captain (tho sports is way more valid than the military). plus there’s a lot of emphasis on love and friendship between women that dan is ALL about. also lashana lynch would be a god tier dan wilds fc. Dan could also def have that lawful good Okoye from Black Panther energy. Loyal, disciplined, no-nonsense leader. no powers except discipline. no hair. also danai gurira in 2012 with the dreads and the sword and the cape on TWD was definitely part of my middle school sexual awakening

2. Kevin: Aquaman. this is based pretty much exclusively on the fact that jason momoa is my #1 kevin fc and also that Pasifika kevin is phenomenal and mandatory, actually. otherwise i think he has a decent amount of stick-up-the-ass cyclops energy. or dick grayson nightwing energy but i don’t have any evidence for why. kinda looks like him tho

3. Andrew: andrew gets the most characters bc he’s my favorite. i think ur jessica jones instincts are absolutely correct, both in her storyline (i only watched the first season) and her powers. i’ve seen some powers au and the tendency seems to be giving andrew like,, psychic powers or the like, and i don’t really agree. andrew is a very direct character. he’s pragmatic, he confronts problems head on, and he doesn’t muck about in details. to me this really translates best into physical powers like super strength that help u big punch straight thru all ur problems. also i def think andrew would be not just a solo hero but a mercenary (or a detective) because he’s not altruistic enough to be a standard vigilante. he doesn’t care enough about other people to hang out on rooftops all night waiting for Crime to occur. there’s a price for that. which brings us to the NEXT andrew hero: deadpool. maybe in personality more of a drugged andrew but the superpowered mercenary is really a perfect fit for andrew. also, healing powers have a decidedly tragic poetry to them on andrew. already he’s self-destructive, if he had a healing factor his concern for his own well-being would be so beyond rock bottom it’d be in the earth’s core. even worse when you remember that with a healing factor, as opposed to indestructibility, you still feel all the pain. which brings us to Wolverine and X-23, who have the same thematic points as deadpool but are much more of a personality match and they have knife hands, which i really think andrew would appreciate. ending that sadness train and onto another tho, andrew’s aesthetic and Vibes fit the Winter Soldier just SO well (just that movie tho, not really civil war or anything past that) and a reinterpretation of the captain america story using the twinyards would be incredibly interesting. and finally, one last hero that would work really well for andrew: rogue, only remove the angst around not being able to touch people, andrew would love that. one touch and their comatose? baller. don't fucking touch him.

4. Matt: Shazam. I didn’t see the shazam movie but my dad and brother did and they said it was very funny and all the trailors looked like it had a lot of fun himbo energy and i really think that fits. in terms of matching himbo disaster energy i think i’ve heard good things about comics hawkeye (not mcu). thor?

5. Aaron: Mr. Fantastic. now this might be a stretch but aaron is a character who uses a skin-deep veneer of anger to cover the fact that he’s actually quite pliant and bends to other people’s wills. and he’s a doctor or w/e. he could alse be like,, antman. he’s smart right? hank pym not paul rudd. katelyn can be wasp

6. Seth: Arm Fall Off Boy. no i will not elaborate. ..... ugh fine, but i'm using my favorite piece of superhero media of all time: x-men evolution, the one where they're all teenagers in public high school. seth can be lance alvers/avalanche who’s a bit of a jerk and has a lot of issues with authority and has a rivalry with cyclops very reminiscent of seth with kevin, but still there’s the recurring theme that he’s lashing out because of low self-esteem and a bad situation and he’s a surprisingly sympathetic character who i’m very fond of. his power is earthquakes but i think the name makes that pretty self-explanatory

7. Allison: Iron Man. cocky, bitchy, and rich rich rich. sounds like allison to me. then to elevate it a level higher: emma frost, rich bitch extraordinaire. also if allison had telepathic powers she would be unstoppable. plus one more bitchy, morally-gray blonde (but chaotic this time): Harley Quinn

8. Nicky: Okay so I do wanna give a quick shout-out to Northstar, the first openly gay comicbook superhero, who’s a speedster which I’d actually say fits Nicky pretty well. However, if i had to choose a superhero to represent nicky in presence and powers it would have to be Jubilee from x-men (... from what i’ve heard lol. i’ve never actually consumed any of her Media hahaha anyway) she’s a joyful, energetic presence and her powers are setting off fireworks which i think is a good balance of nicky being a supportive cousin-parent AND a chaotic train wreck garbage trash man. also gonna throw in johnny storm for a cheap 'flaming' joke

9. Renee: Thunder/Blackbird from Black Lightning bc she’s a fufkin lesbian lol. (i don’t watch the show but i do follow nafessa williams’s tag). now the fr ones i’m gonna do together because to me they have the same Vibes so i chose them for the same reasons. Wonder Woman and Storm who to me have the same reserved, impartial, regal energy. honestly ethereal and somewhat otherwordly, and quite literally goddesses. also op as hell. black widow and her “red in my leger” looking for redemption story also fits thematically.

10. Neil: okay lazy answer first: the flash or quicksilver. get it? because they run fast? and neil run too? yea i like to think i've proven myself to be better than such a surface level interpretation but worth the mention ig. so for srs now, mystique and her shape changing powers would be an interesting interpretation of neil's identity issues, but i wanna push it a step further. nightcrawler would actually be possibly the MOST interesting hero to apply to neil 1. because powers still very movement go fast place to place 2. because of the thematic focus on neil's unusual looks and the lengths he goes to hide them, very much in line with the way nightcrawler will use a hologram-projector in order to look human, yet in both cases it's only a surface-level illusion, and 3. his parentage. here, mary would be mystique, which i also think works very well considering mary seemed to be the far more effective chameleon on the run than neil, and also fits with her place as a morally grey character, as mystique herself is often a villain or an antagonist, with her own agenda and shadowy motives. then nathan matches well with nightcrawler's father: azazel, a literal demon, and also where kurt gets his appearance. it's a shockingly coherent narrative between the three of them. then, to also give neil some powers that aren't contingent on his fucked up geneology and rather on his own merit and abilities, Black Canary and her sonic voice parallel the way that neil began to anchor his identity and take ownership over himself through his voice and his sick roasts

and 1 extra, wymack: batman, on account of his altruism, his dedication to second chances, and his many, many adopted children

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anon, ik it's been a sec since you sent this, so i hope it gets back to you. i had a fun time with it and it prompted like,,, 7 different au s that i'll never write

#Anonymous #txt #the foxes #im talkin #my posts

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evil-diabolical-oops · 7 years

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About Aaron

Here’s the thing about Aaron Minyard: he just wants to be normal (whatever that is). Or special, perhaps, but in the positive ways of being special: intelligent, good-looking, and appreciated. He doesn’t want to be associated with those he perceives to be losers, but the universe has conspired against him. He wasn’t born into a normal family, and things haven’t improved much since then.

I’ve talked about Aaron and the maturation plot before, but didn’t hit on some things in that discussion that I’d like to dig into now. The maturation plot is about going from a narrow, self-centered view of the world to realizing the world doesn’t revolve around you and learning how to navigate that larger world. Character change in the maturation plot is gradual, not sudden. It’s also about learning that you can’t rely on someone else (normally parents, but in Aaron’s case Andrew) to take care of you for the rest of your life. In the previous post, I discussed Aaron’s need for love and freedom from Andrew. In this one, I’m going to deal with his motivation to be normal.

Since you can’t talk about Aaron in this fandom without a crowd yelling about his homophobia, let’s start with that.

Aaron & Homophobia

“Thank you,” Neil said belatedly. “Huh? Oh, no. Don’t worry about it. You can make it up to me some other time when the others aren’t around.” “Can you try and get ass when I’m not standing right here?” Aaron asked. “You could leave and let me and Neil get to know each other better.” “I’ll tell Erik on you.” “Bald-faced lie. When’s the last time you said a civil word to him?” Neil didn’t know any Foxes past or present with that name. “Who is Erik?” “Oh, he’s my husband,” Nicky said happily. “Or will be, eventually. He was my home-stay brother for a year in Berlin and we moved in together after graduation.”

“Ja,” Nicky said. “You heard us earlier with the mumbo-jumbo, right? That was German. The little punks studied it at high school because they knew I could help them pass. If you take German as your elective here, just let me know and I’ll tutor you. I’m good with my tongue.” “Enough. Let’s play,” Aaron said, putting the bucket of balls down.

Let’s unpack some things about Aaron’s behavior here.

1. Aaron’s internalized homophobia

I am of the opinion it exists. I do think Aaron is very much “I don’t mind if you’re gay just don’t be so in front of me.”

“Can you try and get ass when I’m not standing right here?” Aaron asked.

It’s easy to look at lines like this and read them as purely homophobic and move on. But that’s oversimplifying.

2. Aaron resents Nicky abandoning him when he went to Germany

One common fandom belief is that Aaron is resentful of Nicky abandoning him alone with Tilda while Nicky ran off to Germany. Is that why he doesn’t like Erik? Or is it homophobia? Maybe he doesn’t like Erik’s sunny well-adjusted attitude. We don’t know.

3. Aaron wants to be normal

Aaron and the culture he grew up in probably doesn’t see being gay as “normal.” Nicky’s actions are calling attention to the fact that he’s not “normal,” and Aaron doesn’t want to be around that. Aaron doesn’t want to stick out. That’s feedback into point number one. Some people would lump it under homophobia. It is, but I want to stress that his motivation is not wanting to deviate from the norm. Because it gets a little bit more complicated than that.

The Foxes first group meeting in TFC:

“The death threats were creative, though,“ Nicky said. "Maybe this time they’ll follow through and actually kill one of us. Let’s vote. I nominate Seth.” “Fuck you, faggot,” Seth said. “I don’t like that word,” Andrew said. “Don’t use it.” “I would say ‘fuck you, freak’, but then you wouldn’t know which one of you I was talking to.” “Don’t talk to us at all,” Aaron said. “You never have anything useful to say.”

Aaron’s homophobia goes strangely absent. It’s not his battle. He doesn’t have to speak up here at all. You could speculate his homophobia isn’t that strong to begin with. And/or you could speculate there is a priority to it. Family generally wins (that deal with Andrew which Aaron stands by here but not at pesky times when Andrew wants him to), especially family against people Aaron considers to be losers. This is why I think it is his need to be normal and not homophobia that is the underlying drive for his actions.

But in the cases involving Nicky and Neil, Nicky’s actions/flirting are also a bit over-the-top, overly sexual, and don’t respect boundaries. Neil has already said he doesn’t swing, but in the passage at the start Nicky is still trying. Aaron finds Nicky’s behavior embarrassing, not just because he’s gay, but also because he’s making a spectacle of himself and hanging all over someone who doesn’t want him. Aaron doesn’t want to be embarrassed in front of others.

Why else would Aaron care about this type of behavior? Let’s look to Tilda.

4. Aaron’s mommy issues

We don’t know much about Tilda, but she wasn’t a good mother. We get the sense there were a lot of men coming and going in Aaron’s life. So many that she had to broaden her radius and that’s how Andrew’s and Aaron’s worlds end up colliding. Perhaps she was overly flirtatious with these men and that’s why Aaron hates that behavior. It’s not like he was shielded from it either. It’s conjecture, but it’s not far-fetched.

At the very least, it was probably a bit humiliating for him to realize that she showed them more affection than she showed motherly affection to him. Her behavior was embarrassing, and all Aaron wanted was to be normal. Have I driven that point home enough yet? Sorry, I’m not done.

Let’s look at another favorite passage people use to prove Aaron’s homophobia:

“What?” Neil asked. “Just wondering how you went from your whole I-don’t-date high horse to Andrew’s bed,” Aaron said. “Either you were lying to us to hide the fact you’re a flamer, or you saw Drake rape Andrew and realized he’s easy prey.”

This is at the cabin when Aaron is gauging Neil’s feelings for Andrew. The use of "flamer” is definitely a slur. But Aaron is betting a lot (his happiness with Katelyn) on getting a reaction out of Neil. His words are meant to be as inflammatory as possible. I think it’s actually hard to say how much he means it as a slur he believes in and how much he means it to help get a reaction out of Neil.

Because you also have this following Neil punching him in reaction:

Despite his cruel words, his expression was calm and searching. Neil had the distinct feeling he’d been had, but that didn’t soothe his outrage any.

Aaron isn’t feeling very passionate about what he just said. They were words meant to hurt, not words with deep-held beliefs.

Aaron & PDA

I’m of the opinion that Aaron spends most of the series somewhat averse to PDA, in large part because of point number four above. His mother ruined it for him. He keeps his PDA fairly tame and standard: hand holding, cuddling on the couch, a kiss goodnight. Why am I bothering to point this out?

Near the end of the series after a win against the Bearcats:

Aaron was one of the first off the court. He shoved his racquet at Nicky and dropped his helmet and gloves on his way to the cheerleaders. Katelyn tossed her pom-poms aside at his approach and jumped into his waiting arms to kiss him. The Vixens bounced around them, cheering and waving to the crowd.

I think that this is a huge growth moment for Aaron. It’s a sign that he’s shifting his view on what’s normal. This level of PDA doesn’t have to be embarrassing. It can be heartfelt and exciting. A moment of shared joy.

Admittedly some of the perceived PDA hesitance could be the limit of Neil’s POV and Aaron hiding Katelyn because of his deal with Andrew. This isn’t central to my discussion, though, if you don’t agree with it.

Aaron & Being “Normal”

Aaron couldn’t hold onto his view of normal forever because it wasn’t realistic. What changed? When does Aaron cross the threshold of what he perceives to be normal with no possibilty of return?

The moment he kills Drake.

Normal people don’t kill others. It is certainly justified, but it’s also a life-changing event. After that, he sees Andrew differently, understands him a little better. Probably sees himself differently. It’s a moment he can’t take back, wouldn’t take back, and can only move forward from.

He’s not going to change overnight. He’s got a long road ahead of him. We see glimpses of it, even through Neil, about how much happier Aaron becomes toward the end when he isn’t trying to live up to someone else’s standard of what he should be or under the rules of his brother.

The part of Aaron’s story arc that dealt with freedom from Andrew and finding love with Katelyn is complete at the end of the series. The shift in his worldview on what he perceives to be normal is not. It’s reasonable to think that the climax comes at the trial. That he’ll have another huge growth moment with Andrew. Because of the way the series ends on a positive, you would also expect this to end on the positive. The extra content, if you want to use that, confirms this. He does gain a deeper understanding of Andrew. They keep attending sessions with Bee together. They work through some of their issues. They regularly message each other in the future.

I’d like to give Andrew some credit and think he wouldn’t try to be close with Aaron if Aaron held on to his homophobic thinking. And again the series ends positive, so I would expect the twins to stay in touch in the future even if somewhat strained at times while they work things out.

In Summary

Aaron spends most of the series letting the world dictate what he should want through his desire to be normal until he finally manages to gain his freedom from that thinking and is able to decide for himself what he wants. Once the foundational desire to be normal collapses, he has the potential to overcome the feedback loop driving his homophobia and other behaviors. That’s why I’m optimistic he’s going to change.

#tfc #the foxhole court #aftg #all for the game #aaron minyard #tfc meta #oops tfc meta #homophobia cw #abuse cw #rape mention cw

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