vira is here

okay, this was bound to happen eventually, so here's a quick guide to the whole madhouse that is this blog.

my ao3 | my twitter | my twinyards fic

the tag that answers the questions: #vira answers

kateronlison (katelyn\aaron\alison) socmed au tag: #aftg socmed au

aftg's crossover posts with game of thrones: #aftg x got au

my random thoughts tag: #just brain cockroaches

also, within the aftg universe, i have original characters that can be found by tags (may be added):

#oc: alicia minyard – she's twinyards' older sister;

#oc: arisu moriyama – she's riko's twin sister;

part one → here

after his brother was exiled, aaron found himself faced with a cruel choice: to renounce magic or be killed as a threat to the coven;

his fate hung by a thread, and Aaron knew that if he didn't agree to the leader's terms, he, too, would pay a heavy price;

with a heavy heart and confused thoughts, aaron decided to leave the coven and start a new life far from magic;

he didn't need magical powers if andrew wasn't around;

only his brother understood him; only his brother guided him onto the right path;

in aaron's hands, magic was like an atomic bomb if no one kept him in check;

it wasn't easy to give up everything he knew, but aaron nevertheless found the strength to do so;

he sealed his magic into a coin and handed it to the coven’s leader; from that moment on, he became what people called “the normal one”;

during that time, which dragged on unbearably slowly, aaron managed to get into medical school, but he continued to study how to rescue his twin from the prison world into which the coven had imprisoned him;

he couldn't leave andrew, because they had been close since birth;

if one twin suffered, the other also felt the pain;

their mother's cruelty still haunted aaron to this day; the magic wasn't worth their shattered lives;

during the day, he pretended to lead a normal life, and at night he read grimoires;

in fact, now that he was considered just an ordinary person, he was not allowed to interfere in the affairs of the magical world;

this was punishable by severe punishment;

the chance of ending up in prison world after his brother was closer than ever before;

aaron wouldn't have done anything at all if he hadn't still been holding out hope that he could bring his brother back;

the slightest chance of rescuing his twin from prison world cost him several hours of searching for every possible way to do so;

all the treasures in the world could not compare to the freedom he could grant his twin, despite the coven’s decision;

life seemed joyless without andrew;

yeah, aaron left everyone behind and started a new life, but he was never able to turn his back on his brother;

andrew had always been on his side, and now it was aaron's turn to prove that it hadn't been in vain;

no matter how dangerous his plan might have been, no one would have forced aaron to abandon his brother to his fate;

he continued to hope that he might be able to bring andrew back and was willing to take any risk to do so;

aaron knew that he was putting his own life in danger by getting involved in this; he also knew that he would never be forgiven for such an act of defiance;

we know that stuart is british, which means that mary, being his sister, is also british. in turn, british doesn’t just mean english, and more redheads are born in scotland than in any other country.

tw: mentioned suicide attempts

the gemini coven is a powerful coven of witches from tvd universe, renowned for their mastery of cloaking spells, their unique system for selecting a leader, and their ability to create prison worlds. when twins are born into the coven, on their twenty-second birthday they must undergo this merge ritual, during which the stronger of the two absorbs the magic and power of the weaker one, becoming the coven’s new leader, while the loser died.

the minyard twins, forced to live their lives without knowing that one day they would have to fight each other, were born into a family of the gemini coven; a miracle to others, just everyday life for a family of witches;

at first, there were no signs of trouble; both twins possessed magic and seemed like ordinary witch, but…

aaron really did have magical abilities, and andrew was a siphoner; a walking curse, so to speak;

siphoner were not welcome in the coven, and every effort was made to protect the other children from them; they were forbidden to play with their siblings, and were considered a stain on the family tree;

andrew didn't notice that people were avoiding him; he had aaron, and that was always enough;

he siphon magic from others without a shred of remorse in order to perform miracles;

andrew was carrying some blooming flowers in his hands, while aaron furrowed his brow in a comical way, grumbled, but accepted his brother with all his quirks;

realizing that one of the minyard twins was a siphoner, the coven leader decided to expel him;

and aaron really didn't like that idea at all;

a quiet, calm child rebelled against the coven's customs, surprising not only himself but everyone else as well;

the young witch, clutching his brother's hand, declared that if anyone else dared to cross him or his twin, he would kill them all;

none of the brothers knew at the time that one of them would indeed have to die during the merge ritual at the age of twenty-two; there was no one to explain this to them;

the other children began to give the minyard twins a wide berth, afraid to get involved with crazy witch and his filthy siphoner brother;

aaron shared his magic with andrew, and they didn't think of it as something bad or abnormal, as everyone else said;

andrew was dragged from his home on the night of their twentieth birthday, his brother shackled in anti-magic chains, as if they were both dangerous;

aaron couldn't help him, no matter how hard he tried; the coven's magic was much stronger;

while the witches were casting the banishing spell, aaron could do nothing but shout out deafening curses that held no power;

tilda watched, pressing her pale lips together; she had long since renounced her magic;

andrew had long since come to terms with his fate; he was the inferior twin whom no one wanted;

his brother had absolutely no reason to suffer alongside him his entire life;

“magic is more important than family,” they used to say;

no one cared that by doing so they were ruining two lives; even tilda agreed that separating them was the best solution, and she was their mother, no matter how poorly she had fulfilled her parental duties;

the last thing andrew remembered was the indescribable grief on his twin’s face; a suffering that cannot be put into words;

a burst of magic separated him from his brother, trapping him in a personal cage;

andrew believed in cruelty, which is why he harbored no illusory hopes that he would be spared or that his sentence would be commuted;

he wandered through the city, feeling as if he were being followed;

if aaron had been with him, he would have said, “you must be imagining things,” but aaron wasn’t there, and something suspiciously strange was happening all around him;

in the prison world, andrew wandered alone for several long months, and when his despair became unbearable, he decided to suicide;

the first attempt was unsuccessful... as were the second, the third, and the twentieth;

of course, he didn't know that it was impossible to die in this world; that became his personal curse;

“collective morale smudges like soot” as a metaphor that exposes a system of collective irresponsibility. living by the system they follow, crows show little sense of responsibility toward themselves or others; they may exhaust themselves or turn a blind eye to violence, just to achieve a better result;

“i reach for a hand and get pushed with an elbow, i'm looking for eyes but I'm stared at instead” as trying to find something human in the ravens leads nowhere, because they have forgotten how to feel; they are soulless machines that keep each other in line, grabbing someone by the elbow only when they want to stop them; there is no room for sincerity in their eyes, their gaze is empty;

“there's a big butt above everyone's heads” as this emphasizes that ravens are incapable of critical thinking, their values are turned upside down, and authority belongs to those in high positions, despite their cruelty;

“red dawns turn into brown sunsets” as they don't distinguish between times of day, so for the average raven, sunset and sunrise are no different from one another except for the color of the sky; they live in a faded, blurred reality;

“we're all shackled by the same chain, we're all bound by the same aim” as they're literally a cult, okay; the chain is a symbol of their dependence on each other and on the structure that controls them;

“here muscles are sluggish and spaces are vast” as a sense of apathy and helplessness that the ravens have experienced since joining the team; they are losing strength, both physically and psychologically, but cannot escape, trapped within the dark walls of the nest;

“crumpled trains become pillars that are built to last” as each raven is stripped of their individuality so that they do not stand out from the cult’s overall image, because otherwise this would undermine the established rules;

“some words are for kitchens, others for streets” as what is said in private differs from what is commonly said in public; a striking example is how they tried to spin the cause of kevin’s broken arm;

“here they traded in eagles for a piece of white meat” as eagles are a symbol of pride, freedom, and grandeur, while white meat are a symbol of mass production, consumption, and a lack of individuality, which is why ravens are being turned into them;

“and i stand at attention even during a kiss” as every raven is forced to follow the rules, conforming to the system in order to suppress their true feelings, because relationships between them are forbidden;

“you can believe in the absence of faith, you can get busy with worthless deeds” as these lines vividly reflect the cynicism of every team member, because for the ravens, there are no generally accepted norms; the pursuit of personal gain justifies any means, and even if an action is clearly intended to harm someone, others will choose to ignore it, believing that today’s allies may become tomorrow’s enemies, and vice versa;

“the poor, they know no rest, they pray for their poverty to remain guaranteed” as ravens do not pray for salvation or for their lives to improve; on the contrary, they want no one to disrupt their established order, lest they be cast out into the real world, where they do not know how to find their way; they have become so accustomed to their situation that they perceive it as inevitable or even as a source of some (albeit perverse) stability; we recall jean with his “i am a raven; if i am not a raven, who am i?”;

“here, whatever tune you play, you will always end up sounding retreat” as a metaphor for the futility of effort; no matter how hard the crows try to escape, they will not succeed; any attempt to save themselves is doomed to failure (and quite possibly to suicide);

“and if someone's coming to visit today tomorrow, they may come to take you away” as fleeting fame is worthless once the raven falls out of favor; as long as you're useful, they'll support you, but otherwise they'll get rid of you; that's exactly what ichirou did when riko started causing more trouble than he was worth;

“here women seek love, but end up old and alone” as it is well known that the raven girls were forced to prove they were worthy of being on the team and were subjected to various forms of ridicule in order to rise to the top, and their entire lives were spent in this struggle;

“here, the measure of work is how tired you've grown” as ravens exhaust themselves in their pursuit of perfection, but in reality, with this lifestyle, they don’t work toward a specific result; rather, they work until their bodies are so exhausted that they don’t even have the strength to stand; they live in a state of perpetual fatigue;

“no villains in offices of fine leather, it's hard to tell one face from another, but clearly they all would much rather not be shackled by the same chain” as there is no difference between those at the top and those at the bottom; all team members are in equally dire straits, dependent on their master, which underscores the hopelessness of the situation.

here is english cover:

and here is the original by nautilus pompilius in russian:

how andrew streams: he stays silent, rarely answers questions, rolls his eyes, and ignores any comments that have anything to do with his personal life

how aaron streams: not very often; he shares interesting medical facts, but he just doesn't have the time... plus, he sometimes pops up in the background during andrew and nicky's streams

how nicky streams: he tries to answer everything at once, flirts on live stream, takes insults in stride and ignores them, and then takes a long time to get over it

how alison streams: she brings in all kinds of interesting people, teaches others how to be just as awesome as she is, promotes a healthy lifestyle, and is all about fitness

how dan streams: she reads the chat, says hi to everyone-everyone-everyone, apologizes for the audio and video glitches that matt is fixing for her

how renee streams: she’s the one who’s collaborated with other streamers the most; she’s relaxed and doesn’t come across as too serious anymore, she can easily switch from one topic to another

how matt streams: he reassures everyone, disappears and reappears at dan's room, complaining about her equipment, watches movies live with his subscribers

how seth streams: he doesn't stream, but sometimes appears on camera while high, after which allison ends the stream

how neil streams: he really rips into his subscribers, but at the same time makes a ton of money off them

he leaves the ministry of magic without reporting his findings, knowing he’ll get an earful for it later. he’s not particularly bothered by it when he apparates into the rented flat, hastily straightening himself up. his heart is pounding wildly in his chest in anticipation of the meeting.

they hadn't seen each other for a couple of weeks, and during wartime, that's practically the same as declaring someone dead. jeremy hates the fact that he and jean are on opposite sides of the conflict. if they were to face each other in battle, he'd rather cast avada on himself than harm jean.

the death eater and a member of the order of the phoenix, how romantic!

apparating, he thinks that maybe they shouldn't have started all this. the door swings open instantly, as if jean had been waiting for him on the threshold. their gazes meet for a moment. jean looks exhausted, and jeremy realizes that he himself probably doesn't look much better.

jean silently pulls him into the apartment, slamming the door so hard that plaster crumbles from the ceiling. he presses his whole body against jeremy, wrapping his arms around his neck as if afraid that he’ll vanish. jeremy returns the embrace, breathing in his scent, a scent so starkly different from the smell of smoke and blood that had haunted him these past few days.

they don’t say a word, because words aren’t needed right now. jean kisses him greedily, desperately, as if trying to soak up all the love they’ve had to hide. all they need is touch; closeness; the certainty that they’re still here.

“i thought you’d been killed,” knox repeats in a trembling voice. “you were out of contact for so long.”

jean places a finger on his lips, silencing him.

“i know. forgive me for this. lord…” he stumbles over his words. “voldemort suspects me of treason.”

the kiss burns his lips. they can’t bring themselves to let go of each other for a long time, as if afraid that this moment will be their last. when they pull apart, jean presses his forehead against his.

“then what are you doing here, you fool? if they catch you…”

“i had to see you to make sure you were okay.”

jeremy flinches but doesn’t let go of him. panic swims in his eyes. if the dark lord suspects jean, then they’re both in danger. no one is going to pat him on the head for fraternizing with the enemy.

“go,” he whispers. “go now. go back to him. prove your loyalty.”

jean shakes his head, grabbing jeremy’s arm.

“i’m sick of all this, jer. all i want is to be with you.”

jeremy swallows the lump in his throat. his heart is breaking.

“this is madness. think about what they’ll do to you… i won’t survive it, you hear me?”

“i’m thinking about us. why aren’t you?” jean replies desperately. “if we’re meant to die, then at least together.”

if u went through anything remotely similar, i know damn well u wouldnt be chirping up the same. Just odd, its sad and gross, lets read the book again