nicky + the twins headcannons
andrew was a little blindsided by nicky taking custody. after tilda passed, andrew was expecting to go back into the system and he was ready to fight tooth and nail to stay with his brother and keep them both safe, or make luther and maria regret taking them in everyday the twins spent under the hemmick's roof.
andrew gave nicky a really wide berth for a really long time. in his mind, an adult man he doesn't know flies halfway across the world, leaving behind what sounds like a happy life, to get two underage boys alone in a house with him. at first, there's no "this is my cousin, this is my family." he doesn't know this person. he's never known this person. but he knows nicky's father. and andrew doesn't want that person alone with his brother.
neither twin really thought nicky was going to be a good guardian. both were expecting to fend for themselves a lot more than they ended up having to.
nicky spends the first several weeks cataloging every little detail about the twins that he can. aaron likes spicy food, andrew does not. andrew tears all his food into tiny pieces for some reason and aaron eats like a normal human being. andrew has a major sweet tooth. aaron also likes sweets, but prefers salty snacks. both twins always seem to be cold. both twins like to color-code things. both twins are right-handed and have horrific handwriting.
all the twins' teachers tell nicky that the boys are incredibly smart but don't seem to engage with their full potential. andrew excels at english and writing based classes while aaron flourishes in math and science.
nicky bakes a (pretty okay) cake for the twins birthday and presents it at breakfast. it's the first time someone actually bakes aaron a birthday cake.
nicky would purposely say or do things to get negative attention from the twins because he saw the way they would make eye contact across the room/the table when nicky would annoy them. he decides that letting them have a common enemy may help bring them a little closer than making an enemy out of each other.
it's nicky that teaches the twins to drive.
aaron and nicky bond over television shows.
nicky remembers the first time each twin chose to spend time with him. aaron sat down beside him and silently watched the show nicky was finishing. andrew helped nicky clean up the kitchen on their birthday after nicky made them the cake.
Jean Moreau head canons
- he loves traveling to away games.
- he could stare out the window on the bus ride all day long.
- he does not like staying in a hotel room.
- cat buys him a usc snow globe for Christmas. "i know you had something like a collection before. snow globes are easy to collect. maybe this could be a start of a new one."
- when he smiles at the idea, cat and laila get the rest of the trojans to bring him a snow globe back from their christmas breaks. the trojans bring him snow globes from wherever they are from.
- by the end of his first full season with the trojans he as a solid snow globe collection.
- he freckles in the sun.
- he is incredibly gentle with small children.
- after all his time in the nest, his immune system is a little out of date. he gets sick very easily for the first few years.
- his knee and the joints in his hands ache when it rains. he is unsurprised when he is diagnosed with arthritis in his early thirties.
- he can use chopsticks but he isn't great at it.
- he is a very talented artist.
- he has a sketch book. for a while it just sits in his desk. eventually he starts sitting on the porch to draw, out in the sun.
- it becomes something like a journal. he draws his room in the nest. he draws the court at castle evermore. he draws his parents. he draws riko. he draws kevin.
- he draws neil josten finishing his drink in the booth of a thai restaurant while he makes the fbi wait for him to finish. he draws the house. the view out the front window into the yard. portraits of laila and cat. of jeremy. of renee. of david wymack. he draws an open road next to the ocean.
Ill never forgive the aftg fandom for saying aftg is poorly written but loveable. it is so fucking well written. The characters are all interesting individually and as group dynamics. The plot is unexpected but always makes sense. Theres so many incredible 1 liners said. Theres humour. Theres heartfelt love. Theres angst. You can cry and you can laugh and you can get invested. Nora made characters with actual fucking personalities instead of just catalysts for neil's story. She did this so well she was able to take 2 minor characters and give them an entire sequel.
Thinking about how the foxes are all technically famous and probably have fangirls. Imagine how many girls are only at those games to see Matt or Kevin. Hell, even Neil. The posters would be insane 😭
Andrew is the favorite uncle. Not just for Aaron and Nicky’s kids but all the foxes kids are just obsessed with uncle Andrew.
None of the foxes understand why except for Neil. But that only because Neil is there when Andrew gets up at three am to answer a phone call from their sobbing niece, who admits for the first time out loud that maybe she isn’t a boy and “is that okay uncle Andrew”. Or when Kevin’s kid shows up at there house after getting in an argument with her dad and Andrew lets her rage and rant until it doesn’t seem like the end of the world anymore, then walks her home (hc: they live pretty close for a while cause their on the same team). Or when nobody can get Aaron’s twins to stop crying but as soon as Andrew is given a turn at trying to calm the babies they stop immediately.
The kids all love Andrew he’s the first one they go to with their issues, he’s the first one they run too when all the foxes are together, he’s the first one that they come out too if they’re queer(Nicky is so mad when his kid comes out to Andrew before him)
He’s just a really good uncle.
There is poetry in Nathaniel finding belonging with the change of his name. Natalie finding salvation by the God that damned Nicky.
There is poetry in Andrew and Aaron finding a family in Nicky when he was cast away from his.
There is poetry in Allison relishing in the money that was meant to be hers but never got in the end, poetry in Andrew hating the money he was never meant for.
There is Poetry in Aaron having a mother that wronged him, and Matt being righted by his.
There is poetry in the way Dan had to fight to keep afloat, where it was Allison fighting that got her cut off in the end
There is poetry in Nicky finding love and himself abroad, where Nathaniel ran from all that he was
There is poetry in Matt with a loving mother who showed him how to live, and Neil who was kept alive by his own.
There is poetry in the foxes
The Sunshine Court being a trilogy just means Nora is treating this story with care and wants the final product to be as fleshed out as possible. It means Jeremy’s backstory is somehow more complex than we thought. It means Jean and Jeremy’s relationship is a slowburn but maybe they kiss in in the second book and figure stuff out in the third (i.e., Jeremy’s family, Jeremy’s captaincy, Jean’s past trauma and his healing.) It means we get another two books of Jean learning to live because he wants to. It means another two books of You’re place is here with me, with us. I’m you’re captain. You’re my partner. We’re supposed to be doing this together, aren’t we? Stop leaving me behind. Look at me.
I'm like 99.99% sure that Eden's is a gay bar. It makes so much sense. But just imagine Aaron never knowing after 4 years, despite working there with Andrew and Nicky, and Kevin also never realizing.
My #1 AFTG fic Guilty Pleasure Indulgence is amnesia fics.
Andrew gets temporary amnesia and can't believe this weird scarred up man with blue eyes knows him so well. Can't believe this random dude keeps practically biting doctors for touching him without asking. Why is his perfect memory failing him? Who is this pipedream? What did Present Him manage to do to get a guy like this to stick around???
Neil gets temporary amnesia and why is he in a hospital and where is his mom and his duffle, he has to go they found him they found him they found him - oh who is this pretty boy and why does he radiate Safety Incarnate? Okay he'll lay down yeah sure, honey eyes whatever you say. Should they be running? Staying is an option?
Gets me every time
An idea I love is when the Foxes become a more well-respected team in the league, Wymack starts talking to them about being “role models” and that they have all these young fans now who look up to them. And Neil is just horrified.
Then the Exy league organises this like, pre-game warm up meet and greet thing where they do some drills and games with the kids of the local teams in the area.
Everyone expects to have to keep Andrew away from the kids but he’s actually fantastic with them. He’s blunt and honest but he does try very hard and they absolutely love him.
Neil spends the entire time running away from the children and hiding behind Wymack (he tried hiding behind Andrew but Andrew was actually getting along with the little demons)
Kevin hates it but the kids LOVE him, they think it’s hilarious how grumpy and angry he gets and they keep falling over themselves laughing anytime he yells. They keep asking him to “do the grumpy voice” he starts yelling in French and they think it’s just about the funniest thing that’s ever happened.
Dan and Renee are keeping the whole thing on track, actually running through the drills and teaching the kids with endless patience. Dan has a little mini me girl who’s like 10 and the captain of her team and just wants to be Dan so bad so Dan gives her a whistle and she’s just shadowing her all day, blowing her whistle whenever Dan tries to get someone’s attention.
Aaron and Allison hang back and only very reluctantly interact with the children.
Matt is the equivalent of a climbing gym. He has about 4 children hanging off various limbs at any given time and a little 6 year old has taken up permanent residence on his shoulders.
Nicky loooves it and teaches the kids all of bad words and gets them to play pranks on Kevin- which results in Kevin yelling at him and he and the kids falling over laughing.
One child seems to be really isolated and quiet. Neil sits with this kid so Wymack will stop yelling at him to get involved. They don’t talk at all but Neil gives the kid some gum and the kid manages a little smile.
if u think about it, Aaron being the one to kill drake but it only being possible because Neil brought a heavy racquet to thanksgiving is kinda symbolic of how Aaron is going to fix their relationship but Neil made it possible by giving him the tools to do so (even lowkey against Aaron’s will lmao). Nora Sakavic ur mind, ugh