#if anyone has ideas/suggestions for this let me know

[wren-kitchens]

i guess i’m human no more

4732 words

joel is extremely used to the vast amount of feathers he finds in their bed (and his mouth) every morning—going so far as to know which yellow feather is from jimmy's wings or grian's (jimmy's have more brown hues in). joel essentially knows their wings off by heart, and has been teased endlessly after that one time he accidentally revealed this fact to grian.  despite all this, there's- there is a bit of a situation. it's- there's a new colour feather.

good LORD this has taken me a while to finish. judas had the incredible idea of watchers/listeners being contagious to people they're emotionally close to in MAY and here I am in december only just finishing the oneshot for it

I did in fact go wild with this one. there are many headcanons and so much bad boys because I love them

CW: body horror, gore

there are too many feathers in their bed.

this is extremely ordinary—in fact, joel would be concerned if there were a normal amount of feathers in their bed, because it would mean that jimmy and grian had just been laying completely still. after sleeping in the same bed as them for a week or so, joel has learnt that this seems to be physically impossible for either of them to do. every single morning, joel has woken up with jimmy and grian sprawled in increasingly unlikely positions on top of him and each other (which is kind of sweet), and at least three feathers in his mouth (which is kind of gross).

that's not even to mention how many feathers they shed when they stretch their wings out. honestly, joel wonders if he should just attach a bin bag to their wings and see just how many feathers they can amass in a single day; it'd be an interesting experiment. although, the most they shed is when they're preening, which- okay, he can no longer get annoyed with them when they leave the piles of fluff on the floor—not since they let him help. now he knows how loopy they get, joel understands why they'd forget to tidy up. 

(joel wouldn’t admit this at gunpoint, but he's never felt so.. okay- it's- it will sound silly, but so trusted, than when jimmy suggested joel help, and grian agreed. there are very few things so intimate than preening, as joel has learnt, and the idea that they would ask him for help with something that personal makes his head spin.)

all of this to say, joel is extremely used to the vast amount of feathers he finds in their bed (and his mouth) every morning—going so far as to know which yellow feather is from jimmy's wings or grian's (jimmy's have more brown hues in). joel essentially knows their wings off by heart, and has been teased endlessly after that one time he accidentally revealed this fact to grian. 

despite all this, there's- there is a bit of a situation. it's- there's a new colour feather.

it doesn’t sound that weird, but- no one else on the server has wings with the pattern on the feathers joel has started finding, so there's no way it just rubbed off someone else and fell off here. it's a kind of orangey-beige, with dark brown marking; something joel knows is not a pattern on anyone else's wings on this server. it could be a weird glitch, if grian or jimmy have different markings on another server, and at some point their wings lagged or something. yeah, that makes sense.

so much sense, in fact, that joel didn't bother telling grian or jimmy about it—which apparently was about to bite him in the ass. 

-

if joel has to spend one more second trying to be diplomatic with scott, whilst being shot looks that very plainly tell him to chill out, he's going to stab someone. especially as martyn and grian are clearly arguing about something or other in the most roundabout way possible, and jimmy keeps backing grian up. joel has no idea what either of them are actually arguing about, and apparently neither does scott, which is only some consolation. also- not necessarily related to this situation, but joel must have slept funny or something, because his back has been aching all day, which is not adding very much to this experience.

"look- I don’t want you to be my ally any more than you want to be mine," joel says, thoroughly exasperated. "but you and your allies seem to be fundamentally immortal in these games."

scott raises an amused eyebrow, clearly entertained by joel's attempts at formality. dickhead. "so, you’re trying to profit off my skill?"

joel scoffs, stretching his neck in the hopes of lessening some of the pain in his back. "you say that like it's a bad thing. you know, I-"

"no- you’re being ridiculous!" martyn interrupts, half shouting and apparently unaware of the commotion he’s causing. "it's downright irresponsible-"

"and what do you think you’re doing?" grian's wings have puffed up in anger. "you realise that out of everyone you could turn-"

"which is exactly why i’m not going to." martyn insists. joel has no idea what either of them are talking about, but it's better than arguing with scott.

jimmy barks a laugh. "there are more than one reasons you’re wrong there-"

"you can’t talk!" martyn jabs a finger at him. "how would you know-"

"how would I know?" jimmy says, voice slipping from indignation to anger. "how would- do you remember, martyn, who turned me?"

joel's back gives a sharp stab of pain, and he winces at it. maybe he pulled a muscle or something when he was swimming up the side of the mansion with building materials. 

scott looks at him. "what are you doing?"

"you- what?" joel glares back instinctively, which scott apparently finds funny. "i’m not doing anything?"

"if you say so." scott turns back to the argument.

joel scoffs, folding his arms- and instantly regrets it as a spasm shoots up his back. void- what did he do to himself? it seems like it's getting worse as the day goes on, which does not happen with muscle strains- as far as he remembers, anyway. scott glances at him again, and joel pretends he hasn't noticed.

" -hen you should know better." martyn's voice is cold, but there's something like regret lacing his tone. joel feels like he’s missed at least five chapters- what are they on about? "you know the risks-"

"you know the risks firsthand, martyn." grian steps forward. "and do you truly think They will take kindly-" 

"of course They won't, but it's not going to happen." martyn hisses.

whatever joel has managed to do to himself seems to be worsening by the second- demonstrated by the pounding behind his eyes that seems to have materialised out of nowhere. cool- great, this is exactly what he needs right now: more pain. he closes his eyes for a moment, in the hope that the lack of light might alleviate the throbbing pain. it does not help at all—in fact, it just makes him feel a little unstable, since he can no longer see where he’s stood. 

he's- wait, what- did joel open his eyes and not notice? that- no, that's definitely- what the fuck? is the game glitching, or is-

"joel?" scott's voice is uncomfortably close to his ear, and joel's eyes snap open (how the fuck could he still see). "are- what-" (why does scott look scared.)

"you- that's not normal." joel's voice sounds so far away from his body. does he have double vision?

pearl looks over at bigb from where she's been laying upside-down against the wall. she says something that looks like, "I have an idea." but no sound comes out.

maybe he just needs to lie down- it's probably fine. it's just- he has some kind of fever- he just needs to have a nap.

grian is too busy trying to stop both himself and jimmy from attacking martyn to notice that anything is wrong.

someone grabs his arm-

joel lists sideways, and scott manages to catch him on instinct before he completely topples over. his eyes- they've definitely not always been purple.

grian looks over, panic rising in his chest like bile as he realises the worst has happened- 

"can- is there-" joel's breath is coming far too quickly- is he even breathing anymore? "I don't-"

someone is grabbing his shoulders, and there are too many faces to even- decipher who it is. he might be on the floor- there's something that could be grass under his hands, and someone is talking- who is talking? joel doesn’t want- he doesn’t like any of this. can he go home?

his mind swims, bursts of colour and movement flashing before him, gone before he even has time to understand what they are. head pounding, faces blur his vision- some he recognises, some he can't even begin to process if they are actually faces by the time they've vanished. people are shouting what might be his name and everything is- there's too much- there's way too much-

amidst the chaos, there's a gentle pressure against his forehead, and all of a sudden-

"I- grian?" joel is- he’s looking at grian. he’s only looking at grian. 

grian's eyes are fading from purple back to black, and he looks so worried, joel is almost embarrassed. "i’m- void, i’m so sorry."

joel's chest is tight with fear, and now he isn't dealing with- whatever just happened, he realises that his back has begun to hurt a lot more than it already was. "what- what the fuck was that."

"it- that was my fault." grian drops his hands from joel's shoulders, and joel immediately misses the warmth, but he’s too focused on how guilty grian looks right now. "i’m- I was reckless- I knew what might happen, but I-"

"what happened?" joel says, almost exasperated. his back is killing him, and he doesn't know what's going on, and he just wants to go back to the mansion and curl up in their bed. "I don't- I don't care whose fault it is, I just- what was that?"

grian looks like he might cry, and that might just be the worst part of all of this. "you- so. you know what I am, right?"

"I- yeah?" joel remembers suddenly that scott and martyn are still here. "I- I know."

"well, that- if I get.. too close to someone, they-" grian's breath catches in his throat, and he coughs. joel wants to hug him, but- even the thought of lifting his arms that high makes his stomach turn. why does everything hurt so much? "it. it happens to them, too."

joel stares for a second, brain sluggish against the pain and overwhelm as he tries to understand what grian actually means. it takes a moment, but it begins to dawn on him. "you're saying- no, that wasn't-" he looks over at jimmy, half expecting to find him grinning. he is more solemn than joel has ever seen him. "that can't be- possible, I don't-"

"what did you see?" jimmy asks, and this is ludicrous, but-

"pearl and bigb." joel's head feels foggy, his spine burning at his flesh. "I- me, but, from scott's point of view. and my eyes were- wrong, I don't-" he takes a breath. "why did you not tell me?"

"selfishness, mostly." grian says softly. "there's no excuse."

"what- I just don't-" joel's breath is starting to feel laboured again as he tries to concentrate on his words and not how it feels as if his back is being sliced open. "why does it hurt?" his voice slips into something so vulnerable, joel is almost thankful that he’s too distracted to care that scott is right behind him. 

for the first time, confusion flits across grian's expression, coupled with a concerning amount of panic. "I- hurt? what hurts?" 

before joel can remember how to string the words together, scott is saying, "I- joel, take your jacket off."

grian looks as confused as joel feels, but scott sounds weirdly serious and joel is in too much pain to argue. "it- I can’t. it hurts to move."

"what's going on?" jimmy says, closer than he was a second ago.

"I would have thought you'd know." scott is saying, and joel is about to accept his fate and hit him when he finishes- "he’s growing wings."

there's a moment in which all joel can think is that he probably should have mentioned those feathers he kept finding in their bed, until there's a resounding squawk of- "what?"

"makes sense." joel grits out, if only because the juxtaposition is funny. if joel can’t commit to the bit in any situation, who even is he? "don't- don't suppose you have potions?"

"martyn, can you grab a golden apple?" scott says, stepping in front of joel—who is not happy that his best bet right now is scott smajor. he’s not so stubborn as to not accept his help though. "grian, help him take the jacket off. cut it off if needs-"

"you are- you are not ruining my jacket." joel manages to look up in order to glare at scott, but he falters as he takes in how concerned scott's expression is. scott notices him looking, and his face turns blank.

"fine- take the jacket off then, or it will get ruined." scott scoffs, turning away to watch martyn grab the apple.

"can you- are you gonna explain what is going on?" grian says, somewhat more desperate than joel thinks he meant to sound. "how is- why is this-"

a spasm of pain wracks joel's body, and he suppresses a scream as he falls forward on his arms, shaking a little. his breathing is heavy again- he just wants it to be over. 

"if I die," joel manages, head swimming. "will- can I just-" he can’t muster up the energy to finish the sentence, but the desperation in it seems to be conveyed. can it just be over?

"I don’t know." scott says, and despite it all, the helplessness in his voice brings joel some sense of vindication. so he doesn’t know everything.

"okay, i’m- i’m gonna take your jacket off." grian says, more panicked than joel knows he wants to sound. "can you- is that possible?"

joel lets grian move around him, barely lifting each arm as grian guides the sleeve of the jacket off his shoulders. as soon as the first sleeve comes off, joel finds himself relaxing ever so slightly at the lack of pressure against his spine. he should probably make that vest bigger.

"why- why is this-" joel can barely manage half of that sentence before the pain becomes too much, but scott seems to understand what he was trying to ask.

"i don't- i’m not sure." scott says, more panicked than joel thinks he’s heard him in a long while. "I just- this kind of thing happened to me in double life, but I still don't understand-"

"oh void." grian says suddenly, and joel has to resist the impulse to turn his head. "I thought i’d- it shouldn't be possible anymore-"

"what shouldn't be possible?" jimmy says, with a sense of urgency joel has never heard from him before.

grian hesitates for a moment, and joel recognises it—grian always does this when he's about to say something either bizarre or embarrassing. or both, more often than not. "the game- it thinks we're soulbound." 

there's a pause as everyone seems to process this ridiculous information, before jimmy says, "it- but why does it hurt? tango grew wings in double life, and he didn't even notice until his shirt got torn."

"there's- it's a.. thing." grian audibly winces as he speaks, as if he knows exactly how terrible whatever he’s going to say will sound and is preemptively apologetic. of course. "the closer soulmates are—like, emotionally close, I mean—the less painful it is- and vice versa. but- the game thinks we're soulmates, which. I assume is- is 'cause we're close. so since we're not actually soulbound-"

"it thinks that must be distance." scott realises. joel is gonna murder someone once he regains the use of his body.

joel groans, dropping his head to the ground in exhausted exasperation. "why's everything so.. weirdwith you?" he manages. 

"i’m so sorry." grian says, voice quiet enough that joel thinks only he was meant to hear it. 

joel is about to tell him not to worry about it when a kind of pain he’s never felt before in his life shoots through his back- and the ripping of flesh is all he can hear, a scream forcing its way from his mouth- primeval and torturous. he’s never felt pain before- he’s never felt death before- there can be nothing worse than this.

it feels like years until joel realises that he is beginning to see shapes again, that there are other noises in the world other than his own whimpers of agony, that the terrible tearing is not all he can feel anymore. there's something that feels like a viscous kind of liquid against his skin, and a sickly sweet smell that he can’t quite name. healing potion, joel recognises as the pain begins to lessen. 

after a long moment, joel finds himself able to push himself into a sitting position- and almost falls backwards as newfound weight pulls him down again. jimmy is in front of him all of a sudden, catching his shoulders and wiping something wet off his face. it could be tears, or blood, or potion—joel has no idea. 

"you- you with us?" jimmy asks, a scared-looking smile on his face, as if trying to reassure joel of something he can't bring himself to trust. "you’re not- you’re feeling better?"

joel nods, suddenly exhausted and more thankful than he realised for the warmth of jimmy's hands against his arms. "you- you guys are such nerds."

jimmy grins, looking ridiculously relieved at being insulted, and there's a soft laugh from next to him that sounds like grian. "yeah?" jimmy says. "how's that?"

"not- not sure if I misheard, but." joel takes a breath, and jimmy squeezes his arm gently. "'think you care about me so much that the game thinks we're soulmates. and you- you turned me into a watcher, or something." joel manages a grin. 

"yeah. you heard right." jimmy says, and there's a rush of affection in joel's chest. "I- do you want to lie down or something, 'cause you look like you’re about to pass out."

joel answers by shuffling slowly forwards and falling onto jimmy—far too tired and in far too much pain to let the embarrassment stop him. jimmy gives a slight gasp of worry, before wrapping his arms around joel's waist, lower than joel expected him to. it takes a second for him to remember that- he has wings now, which are probably in the way of normal hugs. jimmy presses a kiss into joel's hair, and he makes a soft sound of content.

"sorry I took so long." martyn's voice comes from somewhere behind him, more nervous than joel thinks he’s heard him in a while. man, he should grow wings more often if it makes everyone this scared. how's that for a trap? "we didn’t- I wasn't sure you’d be able to eat the apple-"

martyn's explanation is reduced to white noise in joel's ears, and- void, he’s tired. jimmy's heartbeat is audible from where joel is leant against him, and he can almost feel the way his own heart stutters to catch up; he wonders if grian's heart is at the same pace, with whatever this bizarre game has done to deign them unofficial soulmates. he wishes he had enough energy to pull grian into their hug and see for himself if their hearts all beat in unison now.

something occurs to him all of a sudden, and joel closes his eyes. he isn’t sure- and now probably is the worst time to try this kind of thing out, when he has no idea how any of it works, but maybe he can.. do something with this whole watcher thing. 

joel feels as if he’s trying to use a muscle that doesn’t exist—like some kind of phantom limb—but after a moment, grian's face comes into view. it's easier than he thought it'd be. almost like controlling a timelapse drone, but with your mind, and also the video is directly transmitted into your brain. it's pretty cool.

there's a stab of regret as joel stops congratulating himself on such a good job, and actually takes in the amount of guilt etched into every line of grian's face. his stomach drops as he turns (kind of? he sorta- uh. hard to explain, actually) and sees that jimmy is wearing a painfully similar expression. almost scared to see, joel looks at martyn and scott, and is at least vaguely reassured to see that they just look worried. frankly, if joel ever saw scott looking guilty because of joel, he'd have to end his own series. 

"it- it's not your fault y'know." joel manages—more of a mumble than anything else, but grian and jimmy both seem to know he’s talking to them. "'s kinda cool. I should probably thank you."

grian is looking at him- or, maybe his.. watcher drone? either way, he seems to know he’s being looked at. "I am sorry, either way." he says, but he doesn’t look as devastated as he did a moment ago. "I didn’t- I should have told you what could happen."

joel snorts. "if you thought I was about to turn down cool powers and wings, you don’t know me well enough." he finds that it's getting somehow easier to speak, despite being exhausted, and he remembers the healing potion still travelling through his veins. he never thought he'd be this thankful for martyn- probably ever.

grian smiles, and it feels as if a knot in joel's chest has dissipated. "you’re definitely getting the hang of it."

jimmy hums in agreement. "it's not called a drone though." he says, and it very suddenly occurs to joel what a listener must be able to do. "I- did you not already know?"

"how was I meant to?" joel huffs, watching with slight embarrassment as jimmy smiles at it. "you’re a secretive lot."

"so- and I hate to disrupt this," scott suddenly says, and joel suppresses an instinctive groan. "but do you need any more help?"

there's a mischievous kind of look that flashes across grian's face, if only for a second, and joel can't help but feel reassured by the fact that he's getting back to normal. "well- we could use a couple allies?"

scott sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I can’t really turn you down now, can I?" he says, and there's a weird kind of tone that makes joel wonder if he’s actually as annoyed as he’s putting on. 

"I just grew wings." joel mumbles, unintentionally quiet but apparently effectively sympathetic, as even martyn seems to be swayed. look at him go. "'can’t just.. throw us to the wolves now."

scott rubs his face with a hand, clearly throughly exasperated at how easily he has been won over. "yeah- okay, fine. we can be allies." 

"thanks." jimmy grins a little, and joel watches as scott softens ever so slightly at it. 

joel opens his eyes, and he’s once again staring into the coral reef, facing away from everyone else. jimmy's hand is in his hair, and his back is only aching now. he’s a little worried to move, in case it all starts feeling abysmal again, but he can hardly spend the rest of his 24 hours on the mean gills' bridge.

"I could carry you." jimmy suggests, and joel makes a noise of concern—thinking about how precarious they've made their base. "that's- yeah, that's a good point." 

"could you try to stand?" grian says tentatively. his voice sounds closer than it was a moment ago, and there's a hand on joel's shoulder that has to be grian's. "the pain shouldn't get too much worse, since the potion has actually fixed a lot of the wounds."

joel wonders if grian can read minds too, or if he just knows what joel would be thinking. he doesn’t think he can read minds, which suggests that- maybe grian just knows him that well. it's a nice thought. 

he pushes himself slightly more upward, regretful as he leaves the warmth of jimmy's embrace- and immediately begins to fall backwards again, once again completely forgetting how unbalanced he is now. both jimmy and grian make noises of panic before joel catches himself before he topples all the way over, and he can’t help grinning despite the twinge of pain the sudden movement shoots through his back- and wings, which is a bizarre feeling. 

"I might need some help not falling over." joel grins, as grian stands up and lends him a hand. "but it doesn’t hurt that much anymore."

"that's good." grian says, a wave of relief overtaking his expression. joel squeezes his hand, and grian smiles. 

jimmy is at his side before joel realises. "maybe we avoid bread bridge for a bit." he says, and joel snorts.

the journey back to the mansion is not nearly as perilous as joel had worried it'd be, considering that it's day and anyone they bumped into seemed to notice the dried blood accompanying the very large wings on joel's back and presumably decided that trying to kill them now would just be rude. the downright murderous looks from both jimmy and grian when someone came a little too close with a weapon, or made just a bit too serious of a threat probably also helped.

instead of attempt to swim with the unfamiliar weight of his newgrown wings, joel elects to pillar up instead. jimmy and grian hover next to him, climbing onto trees and swimming up the water in some attempt to provide a safety net if he falls. admittedly, it's quite sweet- not that he's about to tell them that. he instead settles on insisting that he knows how to pillar up, and praying to every deity that might exist for him not to fall off immediately.

luckily, no one falls or dies or whatever, and they all make it to the top of the mansion in one piece. joel is prepared to pass out in their bed as soon as he reaches it, but he doesn’t really want his bad boys to worry even more at his exhaustion.

as if reading his mind- oh. he forgot- yeah, he can actually do that, can't he? it- anyway, jimmy plops himself down, and gestures for grian and joel to join him—which joel happily obliges. grian almost hesitates, but joel drags him along, and grian doesn't even bother protesting. 

joel lays next to jimmy, and grian—who followed quickly after him—pulls him into a hug. huffing softly, joel hugs back. "it's okay." he mumbles into grian's shoulder. "I promise- i'd say something if it weren't."

"I know." grian half-whispers, clearly fighting tears. "i’m- I just can’t get over- I did this to you."

joel swallows more emotion than he expected. "yeah. but- it's- it's 'cause you care. it's not- I can’t hate that." grian makes a little noise that could be a suppressed sob. 

"thank you." joel can barely make it out, but he can’t help but blink back tears at the honesty in it- from grian, of all people, that means a lot.

his wings are still sore, and moving them sends an ache down his back, but joel finds himself wanting to wrap them around grian. "I just- I also- y’know. care." joel says, kind of hoping it's too muffled for either grian or jimmy to hear. "it's- I like having.. I don’t know, a piece of you guys with me." 

grian sniffles, holding joel tighter. "I- dude, you’re- you’re gonna make me cry."

"join the club." joel huffs a laugh, eyes burning. he buries his face in grian's jumper in the hopes that it'll wipe away any tears that come. 

there's a very quiet clearing of someone's throat next to them—unmistakably jimmy. joel doesn’t even need to look up to know he’s also trying not to start crying, and he blindly reaches out a hand until he finds jimmy's shirt and pulls him towards them both. grian catches on, shifting a little to make room for their bad boy. 

"I- I didn’t wanna ruin the moment." jimmy is saying as both grian and joel drag him into the hug. 

joel can't help smiling as he feels jimmy wrap his arms around him, which- it's embarrassing, but weirdly, he doesn’t even care. "as if either of you could ruin anything." he scoffs, almost to himself. 

there's a kiss pressed into his hair, and grian laughs as joel rolls his eyes (if only to disguise how much he appreciates it). "bad boys for life, right?"

jimmy mhms along as joel grins, "bad boys for life."

[thrandilf]

Arc 3 Aaravos and Claudia- Love or Revenge?

I've been mulling over how arc 3 may go for Aaravos and Claudia and I'm really leaning towards an emotional arc where Aaravos does indeed see Claudia as his daughter and is forced to choose between her and getting vengeance

We've done so much set up across several character arcs culminating in S7 that I honestly think this is where we're going

Of course most people know my preference here (I'll be Aaravos sympathetic forever) and want to see him get a full blast of character development after stagnating for millennia

The layout I envision is:

Season 8: We posit the question, does Aaravos value his vengeance more than Claudia's life?

Season 9: We get the answer (I'm leaning Claudia, "I won't watch another daughter die")

Season 10: Resolution, which is that the Cosmic Order is unraveled (and therefore able to be rewoven) by either Aaravos and the protagonists together teaming up against a common enemy or Aaravos himself causing damage and fully going out with a bang and leaving the remains to be remade by the protags

Season 7 was our trial season as we learned all the different options for the protags to take down Aaravos and it ended in tragedy. Ezran points out that every single one of the trio had become the worst version of themselves, on the verge of giving up all they were (Ezran being determined to use violence, Rayla being determined to kill Callum, Callum caving into dark magic and discarding himself)

Note: Aaravos won in S7, or at least his Plan B benefited him greatly. As he's pointed out, he plans for contingencies and seems to have given Ezran the Novablade, potentially was the Dark Callum that Callum spoke to in the forest, he obviously allowed himself to be captured by Ezran, and he gathered every single archdragon to himself to begin the fight in earnest, in which he barely fought at all, knowing that his nova would kill his enemies for him

Aaravos has eliminated threats and gotten vengeance on not only the dragons but Akiyu as well, all boons to himself. Callum has a white streak which also leads me to believe Callum is falling into his hands in Arc 3, with Aaravos already referring to them as an "us"

With how dire things went for the protags and how they nearly lost themselves trying to kill or capture Aaravos, and playing right into his hands as they do it, I think that next arc has to offer other options other than a rehash

Which would happen if Aaravos came back different and/or let himself change priorities due to loving Claudia. (I'd like Claudia to have some pull over him as a result of her developing enough to tell someone what to do instead of always looking to others for guidance, but we'll see)

Aaravos referred to himself as Ezran's greatest ally, which makes me anticipate the Cosmic Council doing something like intervening in Xadia, such as specifically targeting Callum for his arcana and making an explicit enemy of humanity as things begin to change. The Cosmic Order hates change, including the positive change as we're seeing unfold

Aaravos would be his best ally in standing up to other Startouch elves

A lot of people's frustrations with S7 amount to Aaravos seeming to not be a part of the themes that have echoed across the series regarding grief, pain, revenge, forgiveness, healing, ect. He's been the one without closed wounds or another chance. Since we have 3 more seasons to go, I'm suggesting that everyone else's arcs are set up for him to have his. Aaravos being able to heal and care for others and himself again symbolizes an end to the longest-standing cycle of violence in the show, a total world state change. If he, an immortal, can move past violence and if not completely forgive, but at least see that no amount of suffering will bring Leola back, there's hope and truth to the idea that it's possible for anyone to do so

So his arc has to be last to wrap up the show

Ezran has had the most difficulty with this sort of arc, but he, Callum, Rayla, and characters across the show have all had to come to the conclusion that causing pain doesn't ease your own. Aaravos, after S7 and returning to the heavens, may see this firsthand as the stars perhaps don't even care about what he did, or that their suffering does nothing for him

There's also been recurring themes (particularly with Viren) about it never being too late to change

Terry this season also introduced the idea of becoming someone else/changing for the worst out of love for someone, and in doing so becoming unrecognizable to the person you love. IMO, this is a direct line to what's happened to Aaravos, who's been acting out of love, and Leola, who would be horrified by his actions

I suppose Aaravos could just not change, but since we already had a Karim, I think this is the most likely route and not just because it's everything I've ever wanted

TLDR: I don't see a way for Arc 3 to not further humanize/make Aaravos sympathetic and have an arc of his own in which he's at least a temporary ally, which will mirror many themes and trends we've seen across the whole show, scattered across many other characters over and over again. Even if he manages to permanently die (doubt it) he'll have peace at the very least for the show to land

[restinslices]

A Beast

Outworld Royal Family X Prophetic!Reader

Sindel's child from a second marriage has always been... Peculiar. Whispering to themselves, saying strange things, always seemingly in a dreamlike state. It's something the Royal Family has grown used to. It’s a shame, really. It causes them to ignore the warnings they bring. Edit: forgot to say that @isabelawritesthings gave me the idea! Posted a poll recently and wanted to do this concept and they suggested doing it with the Royal Family!

You couldn't blame them for not understanding you. You knew your words never made sense to them, because they never made sense to you.

It's a hard thing to explain. The world seemed to always shift between a dream and reality, so much so, it became hard to distinguish them. Moments in life, you'd relive them over and over and over again.

Why? You didn't know. It's hard to ask for help when you don't even know what you need help with

"Have you ever seen a male bird try to attract a female?" You asked, carefully adding details to the drawn bird on the paper below you. "All the dancing, it looks silly. It often reminds me of regular men. Maybe some people reincarnate into birds. Or maybe we all do. Some sort of cycle. Birds, then, I don't know, otters? A large beast maybe. I think I'd like to be a bird"

You could hear Kitana let out a "hmm", a noise of agreement hopefully. It'd be fun to be birds with your family. You'd be able to fly away from the prying eyes of those around you, the Royal life left behind. Yes. You'd quite like to be a bird.

"I think a large beast would be fun" Kitana said, "a bird I'd prefer, but I find larger animals cute"

"They are, aren't they? Most of them are at least. Not the ones here"

The beak, yes, it looked nice. A nice beak in comparison to the scary teeth you saw last night when you closed your eyes. Feathers. Nice and beautiful feathers colored pink.

"The ones here?”

You nodded, "yes. The one in Mileena's bed frightens me. It has large teeth, with these scary eyes". Eyes full of hunger, unlike the soft eyes you gave your bird.

"A beast?". Her tone told you all you needed to know - she was confused, but not as concerned as you wished she was. They never were. "They just say things" they'd whisper to others, "they mean no harm"

Those red eyes, those sharp teeth, the mouth extending, causing the skin to rip.

You slammed your pencil down, no longer able to find the joy in coloring. Over and over, you'd see this monster in her bed. Over and over you'd try to warn someone, but it was never real. Was this real?

You looked down at your hands. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 5 fingers on both hands. 10 fingers in total. This was real. Hopefully. Sometimes your dreams gave you the right amount of fingers and tricked you.

"Let's discuss something else”.

No! No, you had to warn them!

"There is a beast in Mileena's bed!" You urged, "a scary beast with blood dripping from its teeth!”

Her attempt to soothe you by placing her hand on yours had the exact opposite effect, throwing you into a frenzy. If the dreams would just be more clear, or if you could show them how your mind taunted you, then maybe they’d understand. “There is a beast!”.

“There is no beast”, she said softly as she pulled her hand back. Physical touch was either a hit or miss for you. Right now, it felt more overwhelming than comforting. “Let’s take a walk. Does that sound nice? It could help clear your mind”.

Your mind would never be clear. Thousands of years would pass, and it would still be as confusing as it was today. The beast would sleep in Mileena’s bed, and there was no way for you to stop it.

~~

You knocked softly on the door to your mother’s chambers, not wanting to disturb her if she was asleep. You doubted she could get any rest in these coming days, seeing as Mortal Kombat was getting closer and closer. She always found it hard to sleep, which you could understand. She worried over every little thing, and worrying would make anyone fidgety. It was human nature.

Sindel invited you in, used to your nightly visits. “You have more drawings to show me?” She asked, waving for you to join her on her bed.

If only. “Not this time”, you let the door close behind you, but it sounded strange. It wasn’t the usual boom. It was a… hmm… a puncture sound? Like a blade puncturing skin. Strange.

You must have zoned out. The next time you heard Sindel’s voice, she was next to you instead of on her bed. “Come. Let’s sit”.

No. Sitting would distract you and you couldn’t be distracted. “Have you seen Mileena?”.

“She is likely in bed”.

You shook your head, “no. There is a beast in her bed”. A deep sigh. It made you want to slam your head against the wall each time you heard it. “Just listen to me, please! It is a scary beast! We have to-“

“Shhh” she reached out to hold you, but decided to draw her hands back when you jumped. “Kitana has told me about this beast and I assure you, there is no beast on palace grounds. You had a nightmare”.

“NO- sorry! Sorry!”. Why couldn’t your dreams be more clear?! There was a beast in her bed, but you couldn’t see too many details. Its eyes and teeth glowed from the shadows, but that was all you could really see. “I’m afraid”.

Could she stop looking at you with those soft eyes?! You weren’t crazy! “My darling, Mileena is safe. You can go speak with her”.

“Mileena is- she has been distant with me. I’m… I think I did something to upset her”.

“Nonsense!” You could see her having to physically restrain herself from pulling you into a hug. Your entire family’s love language seemed to be physical touch, which really sucked at times. “Mileena has had a lot on her mind. The idea of being Empress weighs heavily on her. That is all I will say in regards to what she has told me. You’ve done nothing to deserve her ire”.

If Mileena was stressed and needed space, you didn’t want to bother her. But the beast in her bed…

“I’m afraid” you repeated.

Another deep sigh. “We can go to Mileena’s room together” Sindel said, grabbing her robe. “You will see that there is no beast”.

There was no beast.

But there was no Mileena either.

Not in her chambers, the study, the garden, anywhere.

With every guard searching, of course she was found. She was found on the ground bleeding, claw marks and bites covering her skin. And when she awoke… the beast…

She was the beast in her bed.

And you had been too late to save her.

Um, idk if I like this but it’s 8am sooooo imma call it a day.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Like, my issue with saying they have magic that allows them to know if someone has permission is then why have The Thief's Downfall? The whole purpose of it is to remove enchantments that the goblins can't notice on their own.

The fact they let Hermione, Ron, and Harry in so easily in DH suggests they don't really know better. Hell, Harry can sneak into the vaults under an invisibility cloak, completely unseen. That's crazy. They have nothing in place to check for people under cloaks. The Thief's Downfall would catch a Disillusionment Charm, but not the cloak (or maybe it's just this particular cloak) as the cloak remains invisible. It doesn't cancel it's enchantments. also, from Harry's description, it's super deep inside Gringotts, deeper than his own vault. Like, that's crap security. Why have your best security screener so deep inside where a thief wouldn't even need to go if they just want gold?

Especially when it isn't always active:

“The Thief’s Downfall!” said Griphook, clambering to his feet and looking back the deluge onto the tracks, which, Harry knew now, had been more than water. “It washes away all enchantment, all magical concealment! They know there are imposers in Gringotts, they have set off defenses against us!”

(DH)

They activate it when only they suspect there are imposters, but I doubt they knew. If they knew why let them in? Seems like an unnecessary risk to me.

Besides, a Shield Charm is enough to block the Theif's Downfall:

“Harry, I think I can hear people coming!” said Hermione, and she pointed Bellatrix’s wand at the waterfall and cried, “Protego!” They saw the Shield Charm break the flow of enchanted water as it flew up the passageway. “Good thinking,” said Harry. “Lead the way, Griphook!”

(DH)

A wizard who knows how Gringotts security works (or who had an imperio-ed goblin could break in way too easily.

As for the handwriting... if there was a way for goblin magic to tell who wrote it, Sirius would not be able to access his own vault with Harry's name. Technically, he wouldn't have permission they could magically recognize either (unless they don't mind he's a convict, and I'm not sure if the goblins care or not). But he definitely didn't have Harry's permission, as Harry didn't know about it.

Also, I kinda like the idea that Gringotts isn't actually as secure as it is rumored to be.

I mean, Quirrell (before being possessed), succeeded in breaking in on his own. The Golden Trio gets in almost too easily. The Theif's Downfall is so stupid and appears way too late. I mean, it catches the trio, but they're already inside the vaults so they keep going. If they were breaking into Harry's vault, they wouldn't have even triggered the alarm. And the waterfall doesn't really do anything, really. Like, the trio gets into the vault before anyone catches up to them. It doesn't even freeze them in place or anything like that (which we know magic can do).

Honesty, no wonder Quirrell could break in!

I think Gringotts' best security measure is its reputation which deters thieves on its own. Maybe, once upon a time, they did have some insanely effective security, but with years of no attempted break-ins they slowly removed measures (since none of them were automated) and we're left with a bank that is said to be the most secure place but isn't that in practice.

I mean, that's the only explanation I could come up with since they really don't seem to be that secure...

Interesting facts about how Gringotts vaults work...

How you access Gringotts vaults is interesting, and felt oddly inconsistent to me throughout the books, so I want to take a look at it. As in, all the times Gringotts vaults are accessed and how they are accessed. Becouse a lot of fanon and Weasley bashing fics put a lot of emphasis on vault keys, but I don't think vault keys are that important, especially not with the older vaults.

In the books, we only see vault keys in Philosopher's Stone and after that they are shockingly absent.

“Morning,” said Hagrid to a free goblin. “We’ve come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter’s safe.” “You have his key, sir?” “Got it here somewhere,” said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter... [...] “Got it,” said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key. The goblin looked at it closely. “That seems to be in order.” “An’ I’ve also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore,” said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. “It’s about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen.” The goblin read the letter carefully. “Very well,” he said, handing it back to Hagrid, “I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!”

(PS, Ch5)

Our first encounter with Gringotts is in PS, even this early we see two means of identifying yourself as someone who should have access to a vault:

Vault key - for Harry's trust vault from his parents

A letter from the vault owner.

This suggests that the key, rather than the only means of opening the vault, works as an identification method to show the owner gave the key to access the vault to whoever is trying to access it or is accessing it themselves. I will note it's odd the goblin doesn't identify Hagrid or Harry as who they are since a key could hypothetically be easily stolen.

It's why the letter seems to make more sense. It's a letter of temporary power of attorney signed by Dumbledore that gives Hagrid the right to access a vault in his possession. This is actually something that makes way more sense than the key, which I'll come back to later.

But the point of it all, is that Gringotts cares more about identifying who the person is and that they're allowed to access a vault than if they have a key. The key seems to be just one tool to do so.

The vaults were reached by means of small, goblin-driven carts that sped along miniature train tracks through the bank’s underground tunnels. Harry enjoyed the breakneck journey down to the Weasleys’ vault, but felt dreadful, far worse than he had in Knockturn Alley, when it was opened. There was a very small pile of silver Sickles inside, and just one gold Galleon. Mrs. Weasley felt right into the corners before sweeping the whole lot into her bag. Harry felt even worse when they reached his vault. He tried to block the contents from view as he hastily shoved handfuls of coins into a leather bag

(CoS, Ch4)

In CoS, we don't see anyone bringing up a key, and it's likely they just identified themselves in the bank by other means. As I mentioned, what matters is a person's identity, not the key.

At the beginning of PoA we see further evidence of how the key isn't really that important:

Once Harry had refilled his money bag with gold Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts from his vault at Gringotts, he had to exercise a lot of self-control not to spend the whole lot at once. 

(PoA, Ch4)

As Harry's able to access his vault without it.

And Harry seems to be aware he doesn't actually need a key to access his vault, since he plans to do so when on the Knight Bus:

The sky was getting a little lighter. He would lie low for a couple of hours, go to Gringotts the moment it opened, then set off — where, he didn’t know.

(PoA, Ch3)

So the fact a key isn't really needed for vault access at Gringotts is common knowledge in-universe.

But the most interesting implications regarding vault access, come from the ending of PoA:

There is something I never got around to telling you during our brief meeting. It was I who sent you the Firebolt — [...] Crookshanks took the order to the Owl Office for me. I used your name but told them to take the gold from my own Gringotts vault. Please consider it as thirteen birthdays’ worth of presents from your godfather.

(PoA, Ch22)

This is from the letter Sirius sends Harry at the end of the book and the implications are fascinating to me. I stumbled upon this quote when looking for something else and decided to draft up this post just because of it.

Like, Sirius sent a letter to Gringotts with Crookshanks, identifying himself as Harry (did he forge Harry's signature? Did he do something else? Do they have magical signatures?) to access his own vault. This has so many implications.

Again we see what Gringotts cares for is the identity of the person asking to access the vault, not any magical vault key.

Either the signature Gringotts has for Harry is incorrect or Sirius leaned to forge Harry's signature. both options could be hilarious for fic purposes.

Harry, at the age of 13, can access his own vault and Sirius' vault with just his identity.

That last one implies two things:

There is no minimum age for Gringotts vaults access or, if there is, it's something low, like 11 or 12. This means wizarding children are essentially treated as adults when it comes to banking since Harry had to exercise self-control over his own money at the beginning of PoA and there were no vault rules or laws that would limit his access to it.

Sirius made Harry his heir before he was sent to Azkaban. It was always my headcanon, but this is evidence of it. I mean, if Harry wasn't Sirius' heir there would be no reason for Sirius to be able to use Harry's identity to access his own vault legally.

Now, I know Weasley-bashing fics love to use the fact Molly buys Harry stuff with money from his own vault as evidence of theft:

“Look, here’s the stuff Mum got for you in Diagon Alley. And she’s got some gold out of your vault for you . . . and she’s washed all your socks.”

(GoF, Ch10)

But that doesn't seem to be the case. Harry isn't surprised she did it, and Molly told Harry she would be buying him things the day before. It's possible he even gave her a letter to let her access his vault himself. If Harry wasn't aware of it happening, I think he would have mentioned it's odd. Harry's pretty perceptive and not stupid, so I think it's likely he had given his permission to that since he knew of the plan ahead of Molly going to Diagon whenever it happened.

(Mostly I think JKR didn't feel like writing everyone shopping in Diagon Alley again every book so it was an excuse to have it happen off-page)

The final occasion of vault access I want to examine is with the Lestrange Vault in Deathly Hallows:

“Madam Lestrange!” said the goblin, evidently startled. “Dear me! How-how may I help you today?” “I wish to enter my vault,” said Hermione. The old goblin seemed to recoil a little. Harry glanced around. Not only was Travers hanging back, watching, but several other goblins had looked up from their work to stare at Hermione. “You have . . . identification?” asked the goblin. “Identification? I-I have never been asked for identification before!” said Hermione. “They know!” whispered Griphook in Harry’s ear, “They must have been warned there might be an imposter!” “Your wand will do, madam,” said the goblin. [...] “Make him press his hand to the door!” Griphook urged Harry, who turned his wand again upon Bogrod. The old goblin obeyed, pressing his palm to the wood, and the door of the vault melted away to reveal a cavelike opening crammed from floor to ceiling with golden coins and goblets, silver armor, the skins of strange creatures

(DH, Ch26)

Again, what Hermione is asked for is identification, not a key. From Griphook's reaction, it seems asking for identification is usually not necessary. I assume, usually Gringotts goblins have another way of knowing who stands before them, it would explain why the characters are never really asked for a key after book 1 — the goblins just recognized Harry and let him enter. (I'd get to why they didn't in PS later)

Also from the above quote, we see that a Gringotts goblin can just magically open even the oldest, most high-security vaults, making the vault key from the first book completely moot. We also don't really see keys used since then in, well, any of the books. We do see Harry mention it in DH:

“I think he would have envied anyone who had a key to a Gringotts vault. I think he’d have seen it as a real symbol of belonging to the Wizarding world....”

(DH, Ch24)

But no one seems to be using them.

I think having a key to a vault means you have the physical key, yes, but it's more symbolic than something you have to have with you to open your vault. It's like a token that says you have vault number 687, not that it's the only means of accessing the vault since clearly, your identity is enough.

So, the question is, since vault keys or wand IDs aren't the usual means to identify oneself, how do goblins know? How do you usually identify yourself? How do they know who can access which vault just by looking at them? And why was the key asked for in PS?

Well, I have a bit of a theory/headcanon/speculation about this based on the evidence I mentioned above:

A Gringotts key is essentially a signifier for the ownership of a vault (goblin ownership, the vault is borrowed by wizards, and whenever vaults switch hands wizards likely have to pay for them again).

In book 1, the key was needed since Harry has never stepped foot in Gringotts before. The key acted as an identification for Harry who didn't have a wand yet and who the goblins just met for the first time.

After Harry was identified once, the goblins just recognized him. As they do everyone else. (Since a letter from Dumbledore saying Hagrid can access his vault is enough, they didn't ask Hagrid for any identification (not that he has a wand he can give them)).

I believe goblins just have a brilliant memory for faces and once someone enters the bank once, they are remembered from then on. (I also assume you need to sign something so they have a handwriting sample to identify your writing by. Which they also have a great memory of).

I think goblins are just magically really good at remembering details. It fits what we see about goblin-made artifacts which are very detailed and ornate. How goblins just remember who owes what and who took what. So, I think the identification method at Gringotts is goblins' really good memory.

That's why The Thief's Downfall is important. It removes enchantments that change someone's appearance which is how goblins identify people.

All this means Sirius learned how to forge Harry's handwriting to buy him a Firebolt, which is a fun concept. (Where are all the fics of Sirius being brilliant at forgery?)

This is a bit of a random tangent, but I found it interesting.

[artidoesthings]

Gonna possibly make my dnd party play dnd in the world of genshin impact. This’ll be fun

[lichenbug]

idk man i cant get over them

[shopwitchvamp]

Can't stop thinking about wanting to make a video game :[ Don't know how to make a video game :[[ Could I find the time and strength needed to learn? Perhaps. But something will have to give in return :\

[spittyfishy]

After the Darkest Day incident with Macro Cosmo Oleana needed to find a new job, and had all the qualifications for a management position in a different kinda shady highly influential conservation organization. Lucky for her after Faba’s demotion the Aether foundation had an opening!

I think Oleana’s awesome lol, definitely one of the stand out characters from Swsh, but the rest of Macro Cosmo was kinda underwhelming so I wanted to try putting her in a cooler evil team! I think she’d get along with Lusamine quite well, I’d love to see them girl bossing their way across the regions!

[piningpercussionist]

Template by @juni38

Im going to be completely frank with you all... and admit that I read these options and wasn't sure how to take this chart,,, so uh. Under the cut is Another Version. I'd apologize but I've given you the option to keep scrolling ¯\_(･･)_/¯

(If you notice characters missing on Kim's side, I probably figured she doesn't know who they are lol)

For the record,,, if they *wanted* me to pull their hair-- *is shot several times before I can continue*

Uhh Matthew is here because I have been converted fully on he/him or enby lesbian Matthew I think. He lives in my brain rent free now, very gender. I'd pull his hair but also I think he mostly just deserves to have it played with nicely.

And Scott's here because 1) I enjoy trans Scott, 2) Kim Pine Brain Rot possibly, 3) idk he's like,, the exception. God damnit, I've fallen for the inexplicable Scott Pilgrim Effect. What the fuck--

I did think about doing this chart like everyone was actually applicable to my tastes, but even if they were I think the ones I didn't put up would have to fall on the caress side bc I just don't feel that way abt them lol.

Again, not to say that's the case for the gals over on that side,,, I just think I would want to be gentle w them shxkdjsdhbd with the exception for Lynette who probably deserves to have her hair pulled, but again I fear she would Hurt Me,,, but maybe in a fun way,,,

Anyway No One Look At Me....

(,, also,,, Ramona is so far over bc I think she would enjoy it,, otherwise she'd be closer to Kim in that section. Same thing w Roxie)

If anyone actually looks at this version, I'm not opposed to doing a version like this for Kim btw! Just ask for it so I feel like I'm not just Dropping This and scurrying away

[dogearedheart]

I have a very important question.

*it's an au where supernatural things don't exist. sam still went to stanford, leaving Dean alone with his dad tho. cas is human (obviously).

*¹ sam leaves stanford, leaving dean alone with john. he still hunts the supernatural. cas is an angel.

[feel free to leave other ideas in the tags/comments!]

[aritany]

i’m beginning to think there’s a kind of indestructibility that comes with the territory of your first heartbreak being from your parents.

like, what are you going to do to hurt me? my superheroes chose religion over me. good try though

[youareapipedream]

Aaron and Andrew

Here is a sort of guide to the twins pasts and how they met, and their relationship with each other throughout the years.

(I really hope this makes sense, do let me know if anything is confusing)

When they were separated 

Tilda Minyard became pregnant after what Nicky believes is a one night stand. Once the twins were born, Tilda gave them both up to foster care a few days after they were born. Consumed by the guilt of giving her children up, she returned to the system and decided to take only one of them back. The one she chose wound up being Aaron. 

Due to the fact that Tilda didn’t register the twins under a last name, Andrew wound up staying in the foster system under the name 

“Andrew Doe” and bounced from family to family, none of them good, until he was thirteen. At this time, he moved in with the Spears. Cass and Richard Spear were the first family Andrew truly felt a connection to, more so Cass than Richard. Cass wanted to adopt Andrew, and he wanted to let her. 

The problem was, the Spear’s biological son, Drake, started to sexually abuse Andrew. Andrew finally felt like he had a real family, a real mother, in Cass. Drake was graduating soon and he wanted to join the army right out of high school. Andrew thought that if he could last until Drake graduated, then he could have the mother he wanted and wouldn’t have to give her up because of Drake’s abuse. 

Then, Officer Higgins from Oakland PD, who knew Andrew, saw Aaron who was with his mother and her boyfriend at a football game. Higgins believed Tilda was another foster parent and that the twins got separated in the system. 

Higgins convinced Tilda to give him her number so he could give it to Cass Spear. She did, likely out of embarrassment and received a call the next day. Tilda told Cass that she wanted nothing to do with Andrew. Aaron, aware of what the call was about, listened on the home phone upstairs. He heard Tilda say that she didn’t want Aaron to meet Andrew. Aaron had a huge fight with Tilda but she wouldn’t budge, so Aaron went behind her back and contacted the Oakland PD. Aaron told them to give his information to Andrew’s foster family. Two weeks after, Aaron got a letter from Andrew telling him that he wanted nothing to do with Aaron, and to leave him alone. 

While Aaron was trying to convince Andrew to meet him, so was Drake. Drake harassed Andrew, trying to get him to agree to meet Aaron. This was the reason Andrew refused to do it. Andrew didn’t care what happened to him at the hands of Drake, but he didn’t want anyone else to deal with it, especially the brother he’s never met. Cass convinced Aaron to try again later, and he was going to but he waited too long. Andrew decided to get himself locked up in a juvenile facility to escape Drake’s abuse. Juvie is where Andrew learned to play Exy, 

With their mother

About two months after all of this happened, Tilda took Aaron and moved him to Columbia. Once Luther, Tilda’s brother and Nicky’s father, found out about Andrew, he went to interview Andrew’s foster family. A month later, Luther flew himself and Aaron out to California to see Andrew. Aaron picked up Exy in school as a way to get out of the house for a few extra hours to escape Tilda’s abuse. 

Andrew noticed something was wrong and didn’t believe that the bruises came from Exy, and so he did everything in his power to get out. A year after this first short visit, Andrew got released from Juvie on good behavior, and put on probation. Luther managed to convince Tilda to take him in and so Andrew moved to Columbia. Andrew found out that Tilda has gotten Aaron addicted to drugs. 

Andrew didn’t like Tilda, and made that very clear, but he and Aaron had a cautious, but somewhat friendly relationship. Andrew and Aaron made a deal, Andrew would stick with Aaron until high school graduation, and protect him from women who wanted to hurt him, on the condition that Aaron ice out anyone else. Andrew initially did this to get Aaron to stop seeing the friends who enabled his addiction. Aaron, even with the deal in place, tried to make friends and even date a few girls. One night, Andrew pretended to be Aaron and got into a fight with Tilda. Andrew made it to Luther’s house, which is how the Hemmicks found out about Tilda’s abuse. Luther called Tilda to talk but she took Andrew and left. 

It’s uncertain what exactly happened to cause the car to crash, Nicky thought maybe Tilda panicked when she realized it wasn’t Aaron in the car, or Andrew did it on purpose, or if they were fighting. It is later implied by Andrew that he staged the entire accident, yet what exactly happened that caused the crash is still not known. Tilda wasn’t wearing her seatbelt and died during the accident. 

Aaron believes that Andrew killed Tilda because she left him in the foster care system. Andrew says that he killed Tilda because she hurt Aaron. Tilda’s death destroyed the fledgling relationship between the twins. 

With Nicky 

Nicky Hemmick was in Germany when he found out about his Aunt Tilda’s death and when he came back to the states for her funeral, he was told that his father was planning to take in the twins. Nicky was miserable when he lived with his parents and didn’t want the twins to have to deal with what he went through so Nicky became their legal guardians. They got a house in Columbia and the first thing Andrew did was stock the upstairs bathroom with canned food and other supplies and lock Aaron in it, forcing him through withdrawal. Nicky got a job at the restaurant Sweeties where he and the twins were introduced to a non-addictive drug called “cracker dust” to try and help Aaron with his addiction. He found out from customers about Eden’s Twilight and got a job there by befriending one of the bartenders, Roland. Eventually he got both of the twins part time jobs at the club. 

Medication

Two years before the start of The Foxhole Court, Nicky was attacked outside of Eden’s Twilight by four men because of his sexuality. Andrew stepped in and nearly beat all four of them to death. The courts rules that the violence took a step too far past self defense and Andrew’s lawyer managed to convince them to have Andrew engage in intensive counseling and be medicated for three years  instead of going to prison. 

With the Foxes

Andrew was scouted by Edgar Allen University, with Kevin and Riko, but he turned them down and nearly immediately signed with the Palmetto State Foxes. He signed with the Foxes because Coach Wymack was willing to sign his brother and cousin as well as let Andrew come off his medication for Exy games. All three joined the team. 

During the series, the twins rarely interact with each other unless they have to, showing a distant and oftentimes cold relationship. Aaron blames Andrew for Tilda’s death, and Andrew refuses to apologize for keeping his end of the deal they made, even if Aaron won’t. 

In The Raven King, while Nicky is trying to reconnect with his parents, Drake is waiting upstairs and attacks Andrew. Neil notices something is wrong and takes Aaron upstairs to help Andrew. Upon seeing what was happening, Aaron murders Drake to help Andrew. After the attack, the decision is made to send Andrew to rehab to get him off of his mood altering medication. He comes back and seems even more uninterested in his brother than usual. 

During The King’s Men, Neil manipulates Katelyn, Aarons girlfriend into shutting him out until the twins go to counseling together. Eventually, they do start going and attempting to work out some of their issues. Later in the book, Aaron uses their deal against Andrew, if Aaron can’t have a relationship with Katelyn because of their deal, then technically Andrew was breaking their deal by doing what he was doing with Neil. Andrew angrily and reluctantly agrees to end the deal with Aaron and confronts Katelyn in the library where he tells her that even though he is allowing her to see Aaron, that doesn’t mean he approves of or likes her. He tells her to stay away from him. Aaron and Neil end up switching rooms, Neil moving in with Kevin, Nicky, and Andrew, and Aaron moving in with Matt. 

After the books 

The twin’s relationship improves slowly over time, but eventually they acknowledge each other outside of the counseling sessions. According to a post from Nora’s Twitter, after the twins graduate and figure out they have to leave each other “Aaron catches hold of Andrew and Andrew is the last to let go.” After graduation, Aaron proposes to Katelyn right before his fifth year at Palmetto and they get married shortly after graduation. Neil manages to convince Andrew to go to the wedding but it takes two separate favors to do so, one to get Andrew to go and the other to make sure Andrew doesn’t threaten Katelyn. Aaron and Katelyn move to Chicago after graduating from Medical school and decide not to have children because of their busy careers and general disinterest in having any. Andrew lives with Neil and they adopt two cats while having successful professional Exy careers. 

[karmicpunishment]

bsd anastasia (musical) au 

atsushi as anya 

dazai as vlad

akutagawa as a (very different) dmitry 

chuuya as countess lily

still deciding who is the dowager empress and gleb 

[babymafuyu]

i kinda want to write about regressor + cg g3 toralei and clawdeen..

[kingspuppet]

I've been meaning to do this for several weeks now, but it hasn't really mattered much since I haven't been super active recently. But I am going to be switching to beta editor now. The site is gonna be making the switch soon anyway and I know it'll help people out that don't have access to legacy. So please excuse any odd formatting changes and other oddities as I adjust to beta. 💙