#this got a little ramble-y I think but ah well dlkjsaf

[defiedlife]

tarot headcanon prompts @duelmarks asked: the elk // for aventurine

the elk: elk provide underlying support and stability amidst life’s many changes…who was there to act as your muse’s elk?

There's several people that come to mind here—in chronological order, his older sister, Jade and Diamond, Topaz, Ratio, and Acheron.

His older sister was his rock in his earliest days; the only family he had left once they both lost their mother. Though she wasn't the best role model for him, she still at least tried. She cared for him and encouraged him to stay alive, and imo his promise to her was the entire reason he began trying to protect himself. (Although pinning the hopes and survival of an entire clan on a little kid who can't be older than around ten years old, just because he's naturally lucky? Yeah, that totally didn't lead to trauma and intensify his survivor's guilt at all—but I digress. Their shared circumstances were horrendous, and he doesn't blame her. Anyone in their situation would've clung to the faintest glimmer of hope no matter the source, and he understands that.)

Jade and Diamond were collectively the pair who allowed him to join the Strategic Investment Department and become a Stoneheart. I've talked about it to some extent in this post already, and I want to save one aspect of their support for him for its own post, but suffice to say that they are a large part of the reason he was even alive to join the IPC in any capacity, much less the one department that would accept him regardless of his past. Since then, Jade in particular has trained him and mentored him to ensure that he can do his job well, and he'll always be grateful to her for that.

Much more recently, and in relatively quick succession, we have Topaz (and Jade again), Ratio, and Acheron.

The way things all played out, I don't think there was a single person who knew the entirety of Aventurine's plan—not even Aventurine himself. Half of the whole thing was meticulously planned based on information available to the IPC and Intelligensia Guild prior to his arrival to The Reverie, and the other half was a series of reckless gambles made based on a combination of "what-ifs," probabilities, psychoanalysis done on the fly, improvisation, and pure luck.

Before he ever left, he knew four things for certain—The Family would be difficult to deal with, the mission would be so risky that he'd need backup, security would be tight due to the festival, and The Family almost certainly wouldn't let him waltz in past security while retaining his cornerstone. Thus, he turned to Topaz and Jade for backup, his two most trusted among the Stonehearts, and put in a request to directly team up with the member of the Guild whom had also received an invitation—Dr. Ratio. The Guild are heavily affiliated with and funded by the IPC, yet still just enough of a separate entity that someone from it (especially someone with Ratio's personality) wouldn't be seen as a guaranteed, unwavering ally to the IPC from the outside looking in. This laid the groundwork for a "betrayal" if necessary, while also giving Aventurine an ally who could keep up with his 4D chess maneuvers.

And so he smashed his cornerstone to hide it, giving a piece to Topaz so that she could monitor his status from the waking world. The way the cornerstones work, this was a gesture that also indicated he could die, and as such, it was an immense show of trust right before his possible end. Having her support, knowing that she was ready to step in alongside Jade if or when it came to that, was key to him proceeding with his plan and taking all the real risks himself, as per usual.

Then there's Acheron, the "unsought guest" that he zeroed in on the second that he realized there was something off about her; something more to her than even the typical Pathstrider or Galaxy Ranger. From that moment on, she was the final necessary chess piece that fate dropped into his lap to give him a chance at victory, and so he pushed and pushed to trigger a confrontation with stakes high enough that he could force her to draw her blade against him. What he didn't expect was that she would understand his plan almost completely, no explanation required, and actually be willing to help him without being directly asked. More than that, she spent time with him in a philosophical heart-to-heart conversation, encouraging him to live and reminding him of Ratio's "medical advice."

Notwithstanding any unknown off-screen conversations, Acheron and Ratio are the first two people to tell him to live and keep moving forward purely because they want to see him do so for himself—no other rationale, no other motive; just pure encouragement and a desire to help him stay alive.

In the case of Acheron, the two barely know each other, yet share the bond of the Nihility bearing down upon them in different ways. Up to the point where 2.1 ends, she was his biggest gamble; whether or not she was truly powerful enough, and whether or not she would or even could help him reach his goal. But it worked, and it seems like she must have had some idea of what he was trying to do the entire time. The fact that she played along and ultimately decided to lend him a hand (as opposed to simply stopping him and nothing else) out of what I can only assume was a combination of kindness and a great respect for his efforts is just...everything to me tbh.

She's the first person to do something for him and ask nothing in return except that he live—if he chooses to, because she emphasizes his next steps still being his choice. She opened the door he was seeking and gave him a nudge in the right direction twice over; to continue through the door if he so wished, and the encouragement to make it back out of that abyss alive.

And because I've mentioned it but not yet talked about it at length, I have to circle back around to Ratio and that note.

Do stay alive. I wish you the best of luck.

The whole time Aventurine was working towards his goal in the dreamscape, when he had no one else to lean on, Ratio was there. Yes, they bicker and clash against each other, yet they work together seamlessly, making moves on the proverbial chessboard in tandem. Ratio was there to support him and did so flawlessly the entire time, even during the faux betrayal. They were and still are equals—ironic, given that one is so heavily academically lauded while the other never attended school at all.

Ratio's note is only a few simple words, and yet it speaks volumes. He wants Aventurine to live; to come back alive and victorious. He hardly needed to wish Aventurine any luck, because the Stoneheart himself is practically the embodiment of it, and yet he did so anyway—a genuine show of well wishes good faith, reinforcing that he isn't taking Aventurine's uncanny ability to win for granted.

Please live. I want to see you win and come back alive.

That's what the note really means, and to an Aventurine who was struggling to push through Nihility and debating if it was worth it to keep pressing onward, those words were exactly what he needed to hear.