#tilda would have never taken aaron or andrew with her if she went on the run

[agoddamnrayofsunshine]

Such complicated feelings about Mary Hatford because like. She was not a good mother. She was abusive and unkind, she beat Neil so badly that her words haunted him long after her death. But also. She was never given the chance to be a good mother. A young woman, arranged to marry an older man, who was not only horribly abusive but also incredibly dangerous, a woman who had a child at a young age and then spent the next decade and a half keeping him as safe as she possibly could, even when that meant treating him horribly. She was not a good mother, but the one thing about Mary Hatford that cannot be denied is that she absolutely, without a doubt, loved her son. I think that maybe, under better circumstances, she would have been able to become a good mother.

[miniyrds]

it’s time to talk about andrew’s syntax

(finally, I hear you scream. in reality, it is just me screaming)

so I answered this ask a few weeks ago and I've been sitting on talking about my other examples for a while because I am lazy

I also feel the need to say that I don’t think this is that deep, but more so Nora writing Andrew how people would talk in these situations. in my head, she gave Andrew such a distinct tone that I didn't fully realize until I read the physical copies. if you read these scenes out loud to yourself, I hope you can see where im coming from

example one: andrew’s attack on allison

in case you forgot, Aaron had just said “Seth was a one off then” to neil and Allison slapped Aaron which was a big no no. Andrew currently has Allison in a combo of a chokehold/arm grip (??? I don’t know fight moves)

“Andrew, it’s just Allison. Okay? It’s just Allison.”

“It is not ‘just’ anyone when she lays a hand on what’s mine.”

...

“You failed. You should have been faster.”

this is andrew’s near-rage talking. he’s losing control. a part of his brain knows that if he doesn’t keep some semblance of control, he’s going to lose it and seriously hurt Allison. he’d be taken away and couldn’t hold up his promises. in my head, the lack of contractions shows Andrew thinking through the things he’s saying. read andrew’s lines through gritted teeth and it adds to the effect.

“that’s enough, Andrew”

“you don’t get to decide that”

...

“I didn’t promise that”

...

Andrew's mouth gave a violent twitch, a grimace he forcibly repressed, and he finally looked up. The darkness in his stare almost took Neil's breath away.

then, neil steps up and interrupts Andrew’s flow. (this is important later too). this throw’s Andrew off and his rage subsides slightly. he’s distracted by neil. he’s still angry, as the description shares, but he is in control enough to not have to dedicate so much energy to keeping himself in check. neil is able to get through andrew’s rage just enough to distract him. ultimately, it is Aaron who speaks up and gets Andrew to let go

“you asshole. you could have seriously hurt her!”

“you do not have the right to act surprised. That is the second time in as many weeks one of you has forgotten yourself. You should have learned your lesson the first time. You do not get to take offense when you force my hand.”

must remain Scary Andrew even when his rage is eating at the last semblance of control that he has. it doesn’t help that the upperclassmen don’t know when to back down. at least neil has that intuition (wymack too, I believe)

Don't," Andrew said, with a calm Neil didn't believe for a second. Andrew tapped his finger to his lips twice, warning Matt to silence, and pointed at him. "A privileged child like you has never seen the real world. Don't speak of it like you understand.

this is actually the paragraph that got me to go back and look at andrew’s dialogue in the first place. you’d think he’d still be speaking in his contraction-less sentences, but now he’s mocking Matt. he knows what he’s doing and he doesn’t have any rage left. I suspect his adrenaline is fading fast and now he’s exhausted. you can see that in how easily he agrees to go with wymack

example two: aaron’s promise

incase you forgot: they’re all sitting around while Andrew is confessing to killing tilda and Aaron is being all defensive bc he didn’t realize what he was getting into

“She was nothing and no-one to me," Andrew said. "Why else would I have killed her?"

It took Aaron a minute to find his voice again. He still sounded angry, but there was a muted edge to his, "You wouldn't even look at me. You wouldn't say a word to me unless I said something first. I'm not psychic. How was I supposed to know?"

"Because I made you a promise," Andrew said. "I did not forget it just because you chose not to believe me. I did what I said I would do, and fuck you for expecting anything else.

neil picks up on andrew’s rage here as well. in the past I just brushed past this line but neil says that he saw a glimpse of andrew’s infinite anger at his core. he knows what Andrew is doing. how he’s forcing himself to keep it together and not lose it on Aaron. I personally think Andrew is really hurt to be confronting this truth here which is why it shows up as rage

Aaron’s line and andrew’s rage in response plays into people just not knowing how Andrew works which is a whole other topic

A heartbeat later Andrew's expression went dead. Neil regretted his intervention immediately. No one could let go of that much rage that easily; Andrew had simply buried it where it could hurt only him. It was too late to take it back, so Neil dropped his hand to his lap in defeat

distracting Andrew is a good way to give his brain something else to focus on to dull the extreme rage that is coming too close to the surface. however, as neil notices, it doesnt go away, it just gets re-buried which only does more damage to Andrew. I'll take unhealthy coping mechanisms for 200 pls

that got a little off track but you see how Andrew was near a breaking point in the way he was speaking, neil noticed and stepped in, and then learned a little more about how Andrew treats his emotions

[captain-danwilds]

One Step Forward

Hi @avengerpercy! I realize I didn’t take Brazil’s timezone into account when posting this so I’m sorry this is technically late, but here’s your @aftgexchange gift.  I hope this is good enough for you Cristal.  This is my first time playing in the AFTG sandbox, so I wanted to live up to your expectations.  I ended up using your prompt “Andrew and Aaron talking and solving their problems”  for a little outsider POV Andreil fluff with a large helping of twinyards.   

A few quick notes. Betsy and the joint sessions set the backdrop for this fic even though I am not a therapist and also not trying to make some statement about therapy in general (Personally I’m a big fan, but also recognize that Aaron really doesn’t seem to be in we’re in his POV.) I’m not trying to demonize Aaron or Andrew here.  Aaron just fundamentally misunderstands Andrew.  Also Raven King/Drake Incident references.  

Ever since Aaron had found out Andrew existed, he’d felt unsteady.   It wasn't just the sudden knowledge of how different his life could have been if Tilda hadn't decided to come back to get him or even if she'd just taken the other baby.   It was the fact his brother was a mass of contradictions piled on top of each other and every aspect of their relationship was built on the idea of one step forward and two steps back.

Aaron wasn't an idiot.  When the officer at the stupid game had mentioned Andrew, Aaron didn't expect his long-lost brother to immediately love him.  This wasn't a television show.   He knew by now that blood only went so far, that it hadn't stopped his mother from raising her hand to him or Uncle Luthor from sending Nicky away only for his cousin to come back a shell of himself.  But he couldn't deny he wanted it to work desperately, for there to be another little boy out there whose life might be made better by having a brother in it.  

His first step forward a letter that had to be rewritten at least twice because everything sounded wrong.  His bedroom trash can overflowed with pieces of notebook paper crumpled in frustration or with ink smeared from tears he'd never admit to anyone he'd actually shed.  Aaron must have spent hours writing the letter, typing it up in stolen time at the school library and sneaking to the post office while Mom had been out of it.  

Hours completely wasted when the only reply was two words:  "Fuck Off."

That should have been the sign to leave things well enough alone.  

But instead, he'd taken the return address and written a second letter to "the guardians of Andrew Doe."  

And instead of an answer from his brother, Aaron had gotten a voicemail saying Andrew had gone to Juvie.  

Even the slightest hint of progress was met with resistance.    

Gaining a brother meant losing his mom and never being in control of his decisions anymore.  

Andrew lived by his own rules, an unspoken tally system of betrayals where Aaron would never be the one who measured up.  Andrew wouldn't say it, because Andrew didn't say anything now that he was off the drugs.  Aaron knew his brother only cared about him in context of proving that he'd never broken their deal.  Until he called the whole thing off for Josten.  

Josten, the idiot that would say things like "Andrew doesn't lie"  as if he actually believed him.  As if there truly was some magical code his brother followed that made sense.    

"If you really don't care about Andrew, why does Neil bother you so much?"   Dobson asked during their Wednesday session.

Aaron dug his fingers into the couch.  He hated this.  Hated that the only time he could get answers out of Andrew was when he was sitting in front of a shrink.   A shrink who was undoubtedly on his brother's side. And that in order to get answers he had to rip himself raw first.  

"I understand that therapy isn't for everyone,"  She'd said smiling gently during their first mandatory meeting freshman year.  "More than that, therapy with me might not be your answer,  so don't let today stop you from seeking help in the future if that's what you decide you want.  I can direct you to one of my colleagues who you might feel more comfortable with."  

They'd been meeting for almost a year now and Aaron still wasn't comfortable with her, no matter how many cups of hot chocolate she offered or how many smiles she gave.   They'd come a long way from the complete silence and blank expression of his first individual session or even the harsh words the first time he'd shown up to Andrew's session, but it wasn't comfortable by any means.  

The point was he wasn't about to pour his heart out to her even if Andrew wasn't in the room.  With Andrew there, Aaron had no good way to answer the question without giving too much of himself away again, of being hurt when everything went to hell. Still, Aaron couldn't help but let the multitude of answers flow over him.  

Because Josten waltzes in, every ounce of him screaming lie and danger, and this team bends over backwards for him. Because Aaron's seen enough to know Josten is dangerous.  Because he will kill him if Josten doesn't keep his big mouth from bring the mafia down on them again before Aaron graduates and he can't handle another murder trial.  Because Josten makes it so easy, throwing as many insults back as he gives.   Those are the easy answers, because Aaron's life doesn't revolve around Andrew. He can hate Josten because Josten is a piece of shit who makes every aspect of his life harder.  

But that's also not the whole truth.  Because he saw the way Andrew looked at him in Baltimore, the tender movements in his hands completely at odds with the angry spark in his eyes.  Because Andrew hates people touching him and yet he doesn't hesitate to wrap his hand around the back of Josten's neck.  Because there's something aggravating in the way that Andrew can look at Josten and see something precious when he never looks at Aaron like that.  

Aaron doesn't want to think his life revolves around Andrew, but his hatred of Josten certainly does.  It’s partially jealousy.  Why does this nobody get easy answers from Andrew?  What makes him so special?  

But the larger issue is that Aaron has seen Andrew broken.  As much as Aaron wants to wish Drake away, he can’t.  He’ll never be able to get Andrew’s face out of his head or the manic laugh left by the drugs. There are nights where he wakes up feeling like he still has the blood on his hands, that he’ll never be free of the feeling of Andrew knotting his fingers through his hair in worry when Andrew’s the one covered in bruises.  Seeing his brother like that once was enough to break him.  He doesn’t understand how Andrew can let Josten so close when Josten is a walking danger magnet.  He doesn’t know what he would do when Josten inevitably hurts Andrew, because that’s the type of danger Andrew can’t just stab with a knife.    

Betsy gave a small cough and Aaron knew he'd been quiet too long.  He avoided Betsy's gaze to look at the clock.  They were already a few minutes over their time.   He wouldn’t have answered at all, just turned back to glare at Betsy until she dismisses them both for the day except he saw Andrew.  

Andrew was still angled away from him on the opposite end of the couch.  His mouth was still turned in a slight frown, but Andrew’s gaze had sharpened.  Even months ago, Aaron might have missed it.  It was a sign of amusement, slight exasperation maybe, but also one of want.  Aaron had never seen that expression for any reason other than Josten, and now it’s directed at him.

“Josten isn’t safe.”  

Andrew gave a huff that might even be considered laughter.

“I’m serious. You’re giving him the power to hurt you.  Just because you don’t care about your own wellbeing, doesn’t mean I’m going to stand by and let him get away with it.”  

“I don’t need you to fight my battles for me.”  Andrew waved his hand dismissively.  “Which is good because you’re shit at picking the right battles.”  

Aaron groaned.  “And what do you mean by that?”  

“Neil won’t hurt me.”  He said it like it should be obvious, like he can’t believe Aaron missed something so fundamental.  

“But how can you know that?”  

“How do you know Kaitlyn won’t hurt you?”  The words were thrown like a weapon to end this conversation.  

But Aaron isn’t about to rise to the bait.  Andrew seemed to think that every girl was just going to be another Tilda, that Aaron would let them hurt him for the scraps of affection.  He knew Andrew didn’t decide Kaitlyn was safe out of the goodness of his heart, so his answer made no sense.  

“Why shouldn’t I be worried about Neil hurting you?”  Aaron repeated himself more directly, even calling the idiot by his first name as a sign of good will.  

Andrew looked down at his hands, his right-hand tracing seemingly random places around each of the knuckles on his left.  The gesture seemed both familiar and wrong.   Finally Andrew took a deep breath and looked directly at Aaron.  

“He listens when I say no.”

The words are simple, but Aaron can hear the depth of meaning there.  He gave a slight nod.

Andrew must still see that he doesn’t fully understand, because he continued softly, “He promised he’d stay” before nodding at Betsy and leaving the two of them alone in the room.  

Aaron doesn’t hear Betsy’s chipper goodbye or even comprehend most of practice afterwards. His mind is reeling and even though Andrew only gave him ten words, it feels like one hell of a step forward.  

It’s only later at one of the Fox movie nights that Aaron realized why Andrew’s fidgeting looked wrong.  He’d seen that gesture before.  Andrew’s right hand gently tracing the scars on Neil’s as they sit side by side in silence, barely acknowledging each other but still taking pleasure in each other’s presence.   It’s easy to miss the moment when Neil leans easily back into Andrew and Andrew only tugs their scarred hand closer.  

Aaron hated that it’s this little action is what finally makes him understand. Andrew’s words about Kaitlyn no longer felt like a dig.   It was his brother’s roundabout way of trying to phrase his relationship with Neil in a way Aaron would understand. When you love someone, the world seems safer with them in it.  Andrew might not have said the word love, but he didn’t have to. 

[sadboyayeron]

AFTG Avatar AU

So i’ve been watching Avatar and I’ve thought a lot about an AU where Neil is the Avatar.

Neil was born as a water bender but his father was basically one of the most powerful fire benders the fire nation next to the fire lord aka the moriyamas. Who knew how to bend his fire like knives.

Neils mother who is also a water bender ran away with him once she found out he was the next avatar to a village full of non-benders but filled with warriors and different types of artist. (He’s 16 y/o)

He learns how to use swords (on some zuko level blue sprit type energy).

His fathers crew ends up finding them and killing his mom (the smell of fire/burning flesh)

He already mastered water bending and one day he knows he will have to learn fire bending but he vows to never use fire that day unless he needs to.

While running away he ends up on the lion turtle. He doesn’t remember how he got there but he must of entered the Avatar state. There he learns how to bend energy, the ability to bend another person's life energy by predating the four main bending arts, the formation of the four nations, as well as the creation of the Avatar.

He then ends up in the Earth kindom. He finds Andrew (17y/o) in a earth bending comption and instantly knows he must learn how to Earthbend from him.

Andrew is reluctant at frist but he realizes this might just be interesting.

Neil learns that Andrews mother tilda had past away (due to reasons). She gave up Andrew and kept Andrews twin Aaron. Tilda was not a bender and abused her son who was. She didn’t allow him to use his bending.

Andrew was kept in a fire nation camp before he figured out on his own to metal bend and ran away at a young age when he found out he had a brother.

He learned how to actually earthbend from the Bagemoles. When he found his brother he taught him how to bend also, though Aaron still had troubles because of his mothers abuse.

After tildas death Nicky (20 y/o) found them before his father could and took them in.

His father is a very rich man who abandoned his sister and was a control freak (toxic parents). They hid together but the twins took turns fighting to get some money for food. Nicky worked in a underground club.

Nicky is not a bender but he has been learning some fighting skills from Andrew who learned them from studying the way fire benders faught (in a way he knows the techniques of fire bending and made his own earth bending skills, including Aaron.)

The cousins were found by Wymack (similar fighter to Iroh) a traitor Fire bender who takes in runaways and kids who need a second chance. They call them selfs Foxes.

He meets Besty or Bee as he calls her, she teaches them all how to calm there mind, teaching them breathing techniques and making delicious hot chocolate or tea. Her teacherings help all them in many ways.

Can’t forget Abby who is a healer, she studied different earth remedies and has perfect water bending healing.

Andrew meets Renee (19 y/o) who is exceptional at throwing stilettos, she learned while being a bandit in the Fire nation. Stilettos are small knives and spring-loaded stiletto holsters concealed in her robes, she is capable of besting numerous benders at once, despite not being a bender herself.

Andrew learns from her how to uses smaller blades in a similar fashion hidden in arm sleeves. He can even throw them using matel bending.

Matt (18y/o) isn’t a bender but he grew up in Kyoshi Village. The worriers such as his mother where women but he learned many skills from her, his father who lives in the Earth Kindom was against her teachings and forces Matt to learn how to survive in the desert. His mother found out and found Matt with sand benders who taught him a different way of fighting. He also was hallucinating the whole time, from one to many cactuses.

Allison (19 y/o) is from the nourthern Water tribe and was considered royalty. She was forbidden to learn water bending and studied healing. Her parents where going to have her Masries off. She went against the rules and water bended and then was banished from the tribe.

Dan (19 y/o) is from the southern water trabe but was taken to prision in the fire kingdom. There she learned how to dance with the water and the skill of blood bending.

Seth (20y/o) is a non-bender from the fire nation. His mother was a fire bender and his father was not. His father was a drunk who kept trying to have kids that were fire benders but non of them seemed to be. So he fourced them into intense training that wouldn’t even do much for non benders. Till Seths brother a year younger then him unknowingly bended fire that burned there father. Seths father then beat his brother to death.

Kevin (18 y/o) only joined resently thanks to Andrew who found him wondering starving in the middle of nowhere with two badly burnt hands. Kevin was from the fire nation and was training with Riko a firebending prodigy and is one of the few living firebenders capable of summoning lightning.

Kevin though was proving to be better then Riko who was slowly going insane and was abused by us uncle

Kevin even found a way to deflect Rikos lighting. Riko brunt Kevin’s hands while he was distracted in anger.

Kevin was taken in by the Fire lords brother who trained the fire nations army, after his mother passed in battle.

Before Kevin rannaway making himself a traitor he found out about who is father was and went on a journey searching for him.

Neil is taken in by this crew of misfits.

Andrew Teaches Neil Earth bending and in exchange Neil shows Andrew what he can do with his swords and Knifes. They continue to exchange truths and learn more and more about each other.

Aaron joins there training a lot and Neil notices how Aaron tends to hold back so he shares his truth about his mother not allowing him to learn other bending techniques and only telling him he’s the Avatar the day she died in his arms.

Aaron takes this in and tells Neil his story, hearing Aaron tell his story fills in details Andrew didn’t know or told. They both take a better understanding of each other.

Neil, Matt, and Renee help Nicky with his fighting skills. All learning from each other and passing it on to the others.

Kevin learns how to fire bend again. While he’s healing he teaches Neil how to bend fire. With the help of Seth and Andrew who both had studied it.

Dan is able to teaches Neil Blood bending but Neil and her both vow to only using is when it comes to trastic measures.

He try to hide it from Andrew but tells him when they become more intimate because he wants him to know he would never use it on him. A promise.

While Kevin heals, Wymack teaches Neil and Kevin techniques no other fire bender would know.

Wymack is able to teach kevin how to breathe fire and better learn how to redirect lighting and even go as far as learning how to absorb it making your fire stronger when reflecting it back.

Neil learns these techniques and even figures out how to bend lighting.

The only problem is learning how to Air bend.

The group not including Wymack, Abby and Bee, have to find the Air nomads temple that was said to be resorted by the fire nation. At least that’s what was said.

On the journey Neil gets drown to a direction where they find a flying bison in side a crave. There they find a Little girl named Robin (14 y/o). They find out she is a Air bending who was trapped somehow and survived somehow for so long.

They take her in and she teaches Neil Air bending. She was never wasable to get the aarows but she had scrolls filled with Air bending techniques. They were able to learn them together.

I was really bored and wrote this, I still need to finish rewatching Avatar 😂!

I’m pretty sure people made an AU about this, I saw art on instagram but haven’t been able to find the fics or art. Drop them in the comments for me if you can please!

[leahlisabeth]

WIPITGOOD- AFTG Magicians AU

Thought I would post this for the wipitgood challenge that’s been going around.  This was my first idea for last year’s AFTG Big Bang but then the whole fiasco with the Magicians season finale happened and I completely lost interest in this AU.  I may come back to it someday because I think there are some good ideas.  So enjoy! Tell me if you like it/think I should continue!

The biggest frustration of being able to see the flow of magic and not being trained to tap into it was this.  Neil Josten could see the magical trap at his feet.  He knew he was being guided.  But he couldn’t do anything about it.  His feet followed the blowing piece of paper helplessly, even as his brain told him to run, run, run.

His hand reached for the gate and he took a deep breath before he stepped into the sun on a grassy campus lawn.  The buildings surrounding him were low and sprawling.  The one tower in the area was maybe fifteen stories, and somehow heavy looking.  It was painted with eye watering orange stripes and even though it shouldn't, the shade brought him comfort.

“Neil Josten,” a voice spoke directly into his ear, so close he could feel the moisture from breath.  He shivered and leapt away, almost tripping over his own feet.  He turned to see Andrew standing at least ten feet away from him.

“Who’s asking?” Neil had to resist the urge to wipe off his ear.  

Andrew said nothing, eyebrow raised but face otherwise blank.

Neil felt his face grow hot under the other man’s gaze and nodded.  “I’m Neil.”

“You’re late,” Andrew said, turning and walking away.

The spell had ended when Neil entered the gate.  He was no longer compelled to follow.  Andrew never looked back.  If he ran and cast the temporary magic immunity spell his mother taught him, he could be back through the gate and ready to disappear into another identity.  But he followed, not because of some spell but because it was time. This time he would die. He wanted to do it as Neil Josten. 

He stayed two steps behind Andrew the whole way.  He didn’t look over, didn’t even acknowledge the other man’s existence until they reached a nondescript door.

“Good luck.” Andrew saluted him sarcastically and left him there to open the door himself.

Neil took a deep breath and pulled the door open.  He slipped quietly into the room, ignoring the confused faces around him, and chose a desk somewhere in the middle of the room.   The room slowly quieted as papers were handed out.

Wymack stood at the front of the room and waited for the stragglers to find their seats.  He managed to catch Neil’s eye and gave him a slow, measured nod.  Neil breathed a sigh of relief.  He didn’t always have an ally right at the beginning.

The test was as brutally hard as ever.  And for some reason, it was one of the few things that changed every single time without his interference.  But at least he knew the trick this time.  All around him were muffled cries of dismay as the problems changed before their eyes.  He blinked a few times until he saw a question he could answer and then kept his eyes wide open and answered it quickly before his burning eyes forced him to blink.  He was the first one done but he waited until at least a few of the others had finished and handed in their papers before he dropped his in the box and strode through the door on the far side of the room.

Five people sat behind a long table in an imposingly large room.  Wymack sat at the centre.  Neil had never bothered to learn the others’ names.

Neil’s magic is tested (rewatch first episode)

<hr>

Nicky was waiting for him outside the door.

“You must be Neil,” he said, sunshine in his voice.  “I’m Nicky Hemmick and I’m here to show you around Fox Tower

Is introduced to the rest of the Foxes

Andrew is suspicious.  Takes to take him to Eden’s (sans glamour)

Neil lets slip that he knows how Kayleigh Day died

Kevin talks him into trying to summon her

They accidentally summon the Beast instead

Neil

Knows he has magic

Does not know how to use it beyond a couple of defensive spells for hiding or getting away

Was sold to the Moriyamas when his magic manifested before his mother took him on the run

Mary had great power once

It was bound when she married Nathan

He didn’t want someone who could challenge him but he wanted strong magical genes in his heir

His mother gave him a watch that could turn back time (needs to be a reason he doesn't go back and save her or maybe he does once but it changes nothing)

He doesn't use it until after he goes to Palmetto.

Nathan(the Beast) shows up and sucks the magic dry, kills everyone.

This is attempt number 40

There was some past Kevineil in some of the early attempts

This time he's going to trust Andrew. He hasn't made that choice before (when Andrew says “give your back to me” Neil always says “no”)

Andrew

Given up for adoption at birth

Bounced in and out of several homes

His magic manifested fairly young and he was taken in by the Spears

Cass got him into classical magic study

When Drake returned home (from Evermore? Another magic school? Magic army?) Andrew found a group of hedges who taught him to protect himself

Aaron appeared in his bedroom and Drake made threats

Andrew left  and used his hedge connections to stick close to Aaron

Eventually caused Tilda’s death and went to live with Nicky and Aaron

Protected Nicky and was blocked off from using ambient magic.  He has a court mandated allotment that controls how fast he receives it\

Aaron

Was raised by Tilda

Magic manifested later than Andrew (sixteen)

Got very high and then Tilda came home and started beating him

He travelled and found Andrew

Totally thought he’d been tripping

But then he started being able to read Andrew’s mind (and others too but Andrew’s first)

The Court

Magical land

Human rulers

Evermore believed in it.  Riko was being trained to be the next ruler 

Therefore Neil believes too

Everyone at PSU thinks it’s just a fairytale

[nekojitachan]

Okay, been thinking about this for a while now. Has the Foxes Halloween trick or treating thing been done before? Well, I’m doing it.

I think we can all agree (y/n) that Neil hasn’t done any trick or treating

I mean, come on, do you think Nathan would allow it? Would allow Nathaniel and Mary out of his sight like that, dressed in costumes and among a throng of people?

Or that Mary would allow him to do something like that? Out among people hidden behind masks? No, he’d be safe by her side whenever they were anyplace that celebrated the holiday (or carnival/the equivalent).

The same goes for Andrew - too many foster families wouldn’t bother with getting him a costume or didn’t believe in ‘spoiling’ him or took delight in denying him something he would enjoy.

Of course Cass said he could have a costume and trick or treat

But Drake would go out with him ‘to keep an eye on Andrew’ so he pretended that he’d outgrown the holiday so he didn’t have to spend any more time than necessary with the older teen.

But what about the other Foxes?

Aaron tried a few times when he was little because all the other children were doing it, but Tilda. She couldn’t be bothered with the expense and the effort (she tried once because of a boyfriend, and Aaron regretted it a few days later), and of course once they moved back to Columbia, that was that.

Nicky was always envious of the other kids who got to enjoy the holiday - a pagan holiday he was forbidden to take part in by his father. Instead, he stayed home and read passages from the bible with his parents, the lights outside the house turned off to discourage the kids from stopping by.

Matt’s father often forgot about the holiday, or was too busy throwing his own parties to take Matt trick or treating.

A couple of the man’s girlfriends offered to take him out, but it wasn’t the same.

Once or twice his mother was around to do it, and those were among his fondest memories.

Renee? She vaguely remembered one or two homemade costumes when she was very young, before things got too bad at home... but things got bad when she was still quite young and that was that.

Dan went out a couple of times with friends, but then felt ashamed of never having any money for a costume and pretended to be too old for the holiday. She had other concerns besides candy, after all (like her grades and eating normal food and taking care of her mother), and then just tried to ensure that her little sister had some sort of normal childhood, never mind hers.

Allison always had the fanciest of costumes, but they never were what she wanted, they were whatever her mother found ‘adorable’ that particular year. When she was younger, she’d go out with her father to the mansions in their ‘neighborhood’, only to visit a few before he grew distracted by the drinks and the discussions he shared with the other parents, and soon was headed back home with the promise of treats to be made up later (they never were, her mother always told her she didn’t need to get fat). Later on she’d just gather with her friends at various parties instead of going out, and after a couple of years no one cared about candy (at least the sweet kind).

Kevin had the tales his mother told him about Samhain, about the day that the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead thinned enough that the dead could return for a short while. He lay in his bed while Kayleigh told him stories about that wondrous night and blazing bonfires and spirits returning to their loved ones, about the rich history of Ireland.... And all of that ended when she died, when he went to Edgar Allan.

(He spent the first Halloween there praying she’d return to him for just one night, and after that never thought much of the day again.)

The Foxes realized during Neil’s sophomore year that none of then, not just Neil, never had a proper Halloween, not really, and decided to do something about it.

They could still go to Eden’s for the drinks and dancing, and do the trick or treating the next night, so Andrew allowed their shenanigans once everything had steamrolled from ‘hey, Neil’s never really gone trick or treating’ into ‘hey, have any of us really done it?’

Plus, Andrew figured he’d get all of his and Neil’s and Kevin’s candy.

They’d reuse their costumes from Eden’s, so one less thing to worry about.

They just had to figure out where to do the deed.

Once Abby overheard them talking about things, you know she ordered them to come to her neighborhood.

No one was going to argue with the woman.

So there they were - Dan (a knight), Matt (damsel in distress), Renee (an angel), Allison (a very classy devil), Nicky (cat costume), Aaron (Clyde) and Katelyn (Bonnie), Kevin (same old wizard costume), Andrew (dark green dinosaur pajama costume) and Neil (fox pajama costume), bags in hand as they descended upon Abby’s neighborhood.

They made sure to stop at Abby’s house first, where she, Wymack and Bee were spending the evening. Many pictures were taken and much candy was handed out before they moved on.

Abby’s neighbors weren’t quite sure what to make out of the group - on one hand, there was Matt and Nicky and Allison, clearly too old to be out trick or treating. On the other hand, there were Andrew and Aaron and Neil, who were small enough to pass for kids. Renee and Dan and Katelyn were on the fence - clearly not that young but when they smiled, who could resist?

The neighbors decided to just hand over the candy, especially when Andrew gave them a too-blank look and Neil attempted to smile at them.

Needless to say, the group had a lot of fun (well, not Andrew, and Aaron tried to pretend that he didn’t even though he had Katelyn by his side all night) and came back with bags full of candy. Neil had a good memory of the holiday at last (they all did), and Andrew had enough chocolates to last him... well, a couple of weeks, at least.

Neil might not like sweets, but he didn’t mind all that candy when he tasted it on Andrew’s lips.

[palmettofoxden]

In case anyone not on the discord wants to cry over Aaron Minyard tonight:

So, Aaron Minyard grew up in Tilda Minyard’s shitty fucking household thinking he was an only child, right? Tilda couldn’t afford kids, but guilt made her take one back. So, you know she’s gotta work a lot to get by, especially when she’s got a drug problem to fund.

How many times did Aaron find her drugged af and think she was dead? How many times did Aaron have to sit wherever she was working and have to be quiet by himself in the corner? How many times did he have to wait in the car and watch while she blew their food money on drugs? How many times did Aaron have to sit by himself and make do playing with whatever was there and stay out of the way while he wished he had a brother? How many times did Tilda promise that she would get the money for him to go on a field trip or for that toy he wanted for Christmas or for them to go out for ice cream and then she blew it on drugs instead and got mad at Aaron for asking about it?

And you know Aaron was hungry all the time and afraid to ask for food and the fact that Tilda kept giving him empty promises and he kept clinging to them made it so much worse.

And Aaron had to look after himself when she left him alone and most of the time when she was there. Aaron had to look after her too when she got dropped off by the shitty boyfriend of the month, high out of her fucking mind and covered in her own vomit.

How many nights was Aaron kept up by whatever was going on with her and her shitty boyfriend? Or the junkie friends she had over? Or just watching to make sure she doesn’t choke on her own vomit and die?

And then Aaron eventually finds out that he has a brother and it feels like a blessing and a curse. He cannot believe that they were separated for so long. He can’t believe Tilda hid this from him. He is so upset about the lost time, but so excited to finally have a brother and not be alone alone alone.

So he spends fucking days drafting out so many versions, trying to find the perfect thing to say. And none of them are good enough and he’s getting so fed up, but he keeps on trying. And then he finally settles on a draft and his heart is pounding in his chest, but he’s gotta send it.

His every fucking nerve ending is on full alert for days waiting for a response. He’s so excited and terrified. He wants to meet this brother so badly, but he’s so afraid that the brother will be disappointed by Aaron when they meet. But then he gets Andrew’s response. And Andrew tells him to fuck off. He doesn’t even want to give Aaron the chance to meet him before he settles on disappointment.

And Aaron is the kid Tilda wishes she hadn’t taken back and it only took one letter for his brother to realize what a disappointment he was and everybody in Aaron’s shitty life knows he isn’t good enough and he doesn’t know why he thought this would change anything. It was a stupid fucking fantasy to think a brother that never met him would care about him any more than his own mother who already couldn’t stand to look at his face without drugs in her system. And he feels so fucking stupid and so alone and so rejected and there isn’t a person in the world that gives a fuck about how he feels.

Remember how Andrew was slowly killing himself living with Drake and he did it because Cass was the only person in the world that cared about him and she was his mom? Well, Aaron might not have been cutting his wrists, but he was willing to risk his drug addiction killing him, taking more and more drugs just trying to get by and survive Tilda’s abuse bc she might not be nice and she might not look after him, but she’s the only family he’s got and the person that cares about him most in the world even if that isn’t saying much and she is his mom.

And with Andrew’s deal, Aaron was more than happy to agree because Andrew might be distant and angry, but he was family and Aaron finally had a brother and he was going to cling to that and sign his life away for someone to stand by his side. But Andrew won’t even talk to him and Aaron’s still that kid that had to sit quietly in the corner by himself and keep himself occupied. And Aaron’s not allowed to have friends or girlfriends or anyone else to care about him, but at least he has Andrew, right? He’ll warm up a little eventually, won’t he?

But Andrew keeps just as distant and Tilda gets worse and worse to Aaron with Andrew there and the home environment has never been so toxic with them all trying to live together while Andrew and Tilda have this giant level of tension and hate each other and Aaron either gets completely overlooked or used as a punching bag and he’s honestly not sure which one he hates more.

And so Aaron keeps with the deal and is holding on as tight to what he has as possible and he’s trying so hard and Andrew doesn’t seem to be trying at all. And then Aaron branches out just a little. A girl in his class seems interested, so he talks to her a little at school. Andrew catches them talking at Aaron’s locker and pulls a fucking knife and Andrew makes Aaron’s life difficult in a whole other way. Aaron’s disgusted with how a little part of him is glad that Andrew got so protective and threatening bc that’s the first sign Andrew’s shown that he gives a shit about Aaron one way or the other since that deal the first night.

And at some point some girl was probably flirting with Aaron, playfully hitting him, and Andrew tried to fucking murder her and that’s why past girls that Aaron showed any interest in had it so much worse than the level of bad Katelyn went through.