i mean, i’m usually all for ignoring what’s ‘canon’ outside the books (stuff the author says, mostly) but nora has said straight-up that he’s demi and also…it fits? like, neil SAYS he doesn’t swing, and also his entire relationship with andrew screams ace spec/demisexuality even without considering anything nora says. so, that’s what i think
i also feel like saying he’s gay with internalised homophobia is also a terrible cliche straight-person-headcanon lmao
Also, consider that he while he had qualms about kissing Andrew because he felt like he was ignoring what his mother told him about relationships in general, and he was worried about putting him at risk, he had literally zero concerns about the fact that Andrew was a guy. He even said it didn’t matter that he was a man.
Neil makes it clear in so many ways that he’s not particularly interested in sex before Andrew. He refers to masturbating as being like eating, something he took care of because he had to not because he particularly wanted to or enjoyed it. If someone wants to headcanon Neil as gay/demi, that’s fine, but ignoring the demi/ace spectrum aspect of him is a crime when there is so little demi/ace rep out there.
What if one time Allison’s eyeliner ends up in Neil’s bag if makeup to cover up his bruises/scars and she can’t do his makeup that particular day because she has an extra long lab or something?
And Neil kind of remembers the process, but he can’t remember what she used this black stick for so when it says eyeliner maybe he’s like “it’ll make my black eye look better maybe?” So he uses it.
Then, he runs into Andrew shortly after and Andrew keeps staring at his face and Neil doesn’t know why. And Andrew is being more aggressive in that way he does when he finds Neil more attractive annoying than usual because he’s secretly trying to hide the fact that he’s so turned on by Neil’s popping blue eyes.
Ngl it highkey bothers me when people dont ‘count’ neil in the same way they do renee and andrew. As if neil would have been able to survive at all if he wasnt just as brutally efficient as them. Imo its not that neil cant fight its more that he doesnt know how to fight without the intent to end the threat permanently. The idea that neil who was trained in one form of fighting or another literally his whole life couldn’t at the very least hold his own agaist them seems a little insulting.
Like the two biggest instances of neil being hurt in any significant manner are both because he let them happen for the sake of others.
Just the idea that neil is defenceless without Andrew really doesn’t sit right with me. Especially with what we know about Neil’s training with a knife and his mother’s….everything. Particularly when Andrew only has to physically protect neil once in all three books.
That being said neil is not a Brawler like I doubt his punches are Powerfull like andrews but I feel like hes also more strategic in a fight and knows how to make them damn well count he’s fast and can be ruthless as all hell so it makes sense to me ig
Although it is very true that neil is better at starting fights than finishing them. Because he is an idiot who doesnt decide that hmmm maybe he shouldn’t antagonize people with far more connections than him.
Nothing but My Aching Soul 