#meanwhile in my fic the friendship break up happened because of the previous Golden Guard

[numericalbridge]

"#(most likely imo him stopping being friends with odalia over whatever happened during the rats play)"

I'm sorry this may come out of nowhere but I just can't get over this tag because it makes it sound like the Darius & Alador/Odalia rift was over Raine of all people and is just sounds so fucking funny to me like holy shit.

Raine: I just ended a 5 year relationship.

Lilith: OMT are you ok?

Raine: I'm fine, it wasn't my relationship.

Absolutely not canon but funny as hell that image may forever live on my head now, you placed a curse upon me and I wanted you to know.

Haha, 😆

To be fair - since this is my theory only for the case where the old hexsquad was not one single friend group and instead people Eda had particular memories about - it would be not because of Raine specifically, but more like Darius standing up for what is right/realizing Odalia had crossed the line.

Longer explanation if you are curious:

Obviously this is based mostly on the vibes and there are way too many variables and i feel like even things that were initially planned since s1 can be changed/retconned, so, as i've said, i find it hard to speculate, but when i tried picturing what a raeda-focused old hexside spin off would've looked like as a mini-series or comic - and i don't think it would work as anything longer - it seemed like the Rats play was meant to be an important event, and, lets be honest, i don't think it would be very likely for Darius to get a lot of screentime judging by the way the main show handles its characters, so tying up development of several supporting characters to the Rats play could be a possibility, even if that wasn't the initial pre-shortening plan for the Darius, Odalia and Alador friendship break up. And in Eda's memory in Kings Tide: compared to Odalia, Darius seemed to be placed closer to Raine and Lilith and his expression seemed more open to me (although everyone was off-model in that image, lol), so i assume Eda had some positive memories of him.

So my speculation is that Odalia could've done something that crossed the line, Darius, who previously might have been somewhat 'antagonistic' towards Raine (like pestering them about their acting abilities etc), wouldn't support it and eventually stoped being friends with Odalia, while Alador for one reason or another wouldn't and that caused the rift that just continued to grow. Darius standing up for what is right/for other kids would also tie with ASIAS.

But the thing is, i don't actually want this speculation to be true, lol, because i would much prefer 1. Darius and Raine being some kind of actual friends in school and then drifting apart, even if doesn't fit Eda's Requiem and 2. i love the headcanon that Darius used to be much more open in his school years and more like s2 Willow - though still petty and somewhat bitchy - and became more closed off and cold with years, and that's something that he has to work on, post-canon. And the above scenario might not fit with this headcanon.

And my personal favourite headcanon for Darius and Alador friendship break up is either disagreement over some fundamentals of abomination magic and/or just petty teenaged drama that spiralled out of control (though i dread to imagine what fandom's reaction would've been).