Twinyards - Blog Posts

Andrew Minyard first join the PSU Foxes just to be able to make sure that Aaron could be a med student and a way to thanks Nicky for dropping everything in Germany for them.

We know the twin love each other really deeply but bc of what happened and their own internal struggles they can’t put words into this AND IT BREAKS MY HEART💔.

Then, disaster.

Kevin Day got his hand smashed like a cookie by Riko and ended up with the foxes, bro was so stressed about everything that Andrew took him under his wing to protect him.

+1 mafia traumatized kid who only lives for exy as a way to cope.

And then, another disaster.

Neil Josten tried to run away from everyone and got a exy racket smashing his stomach by a blond psycho short man, BOOM, join the foxes, BOOM, a millions problem got added since he was literally searched by the mafia for 8 years! And decided to drop everything for stick ball? Andrew and his gay ass did not manage to look away and after making sure Neil was not a threat (he actually is but against his will), he took Neil under his wing to protect too.

+1 mafia traumatized kid who only lives for exy as a way to cope.

Andrew Minyard, the man you are🔥

Bro took every hot mafia traumatized kid and declared they were his and NO ONE said anything to that, AURA + ♾️

(Bonus point for dating Neil Josten after all the shit this ginger caused)

but it's like whatever

do you think Erik refers to Andrew and Aaron as his stepsons?

maybe it started as a way to quickly explain why his partner wasn't in Germany/wouldn't be anytime soon without having to breakdown the whole situation. just a little shortcut for nosy people who aren't entitled to their personal lives.

maybe he just got used to it and it became a normal association. maybe he even started to like it. ah yes I should check in on how the stepsons are doing when I talk to Nicky next. thanks for asking, my stepsons are doing well in school we're excited for their graduation coming up.

but he doesn't say it to Nicky or the twins because that's opening a can of emotional worms he knows his poor emotionally repressed american family members aren't ready to unpack yet.

but maybe one day he calls them his stepsons without really thinking about it when he's visiting and they hear him.

maybe.

unable to stop thinking about the idea of aaron being under the assumption that both andrew and nicky knew how dangerous (and possibly fatal) it was for him to ride out his withdrawal locked in the bathroom. his relationships with them being influenced by the knowledge that they'd rather him dead than an addict.

and of course andrew finding this out in one of their sessions with bee, and having to admit he didn't know. and aaron has to reevaluate everything

I really wanna know which Minyard twin is older. Like.. Who was born first? Unless it's stated somewhere in the books or extra content, I'd like to think Andrew is so he can tease Aaron about it.

both of theses fics made me wanna cry they are both so beautifully written.

@minyard-05 your telepathy au is making me wanna sob because now all I can think of is every damn moment in those books like the final game for example aaron just hearing Andrews thoughts while he's running to get to Neil

hey if you read & liked my fic Talk To Me, you HAVE to read this incredible addition by @sunriseabram it's amazing <33333

why why do you like doing this, this is so fucking good tho like oml I can't form words

hey do you ever wonder if sometime during his degree aaron took a class about drugs and drug addictions and found out that quitting cold the way he did from the amount of drugs he was on could've killed him. do you ever wonder if andrew knew. do you ever wonder if there's a different timeline where aaron didn't survive the bathroom

again PREACH THE TRUTH BAMBAM

like he was protecting his brother not to mention she was abusive and got Aaron hooked on drugs

STOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP SAYING THAT ANDREW KILLING HIS MOM WAS A "BAD THING" HE DID!!!! IT WAS NOTTTTTTTT!!!!! YOU GUYS I'M SO SICK OF ITTT

First why remind me of this

second it's not fucking wrong which sucks and hurts a lot more, but it was most likely another full week yk.

I'm sorry for that

Friendly reminder that when Andrew got fucking assaulted, he didn't care what was done to him but instead his first thought was to pull Aaron in closer and make sure he wasn't harmed in any form or another and I just—

Why do fanfic writers randomly make characters korean. And it is always the whitest characters ever. Like I read a fic where someone made the twinyards half korean or some shit and it's like. Tilda was probably a racist. I swear to you I have read multiple fics where Keith Kogane was made korean. He's literally japanese. just don't do it? it's not only forced diversity, it's just randomly making your faves korean because you have an east asian fetish. This has been a PSA.

Ok just imagine: the twinyards with albinism. For no reason other than that Neil's commentary would be just that bit funnier.

"No, but I would ask coach why your pale ass isn't on drugs"

"No wonder you both wear black all the time, I'd hate to see you two burn"

Neil pointing at white face paint in the Halloween store: Hey Andrew, it's your shade.

They match ghost costumes on halloween without realising and then next year they're both vampires. They learn to coordinate after that.

Just like... the twinyards but the odds are even more physically stacked against them. That is all.

Here's your daily reminder that Neil canonically refers to the twins as "pint-sized" on Halloween

fake idgafer i saw you beat up four men for being homophobic to your cousin. i saw you kill your brother’s abuser. i saw you befriend a kindhearted religious girl even though you knew the others would tease you. i saw you offer two traumatized boys protection when they thought they would never get any. i saw you ask “how many kids” when you found out that your abuser targeted more people. i saw you sitting on the roof even though you’re afraid of heights because you didn’t want to feel nothing anymore

Here’s a promt. Like Andrew, Aaron has a similar memory and a couple trigger words such as being called “ungrateful”. But unlike Andrew, Aaron shuts down.

Oh.

(cw: past abuse, trauma, trauma responses, apathy, foul language.)

"You're an ungrateful little bitch sometimes, you know that? Fuck, sometimes I really wish I'd given you up."

The first time someone called him ungrateful, Aaron tried to defend himself. It didn't go well for him in the end, but he supposed afterward that he should have learned how to duck from a punch before demanding life be fair.

When it happens now, Aaron knows consciously that nothing was meant by it. It's another matter of Coach being Coach, being a gruff old man with an attitude that Aaron normally admires. He likes that Wymack doesn't take anybody's shit, he likes even more that Wymack won't take his. There's some sort of safety in knowing he could be an asshole to the man and not get in any real trouble for it. (There is safety in knowing he won't be hurt for talking back.)

They're in the lounge when Coach says it. Aaron is perched on the armrest of the couch, with Nicky, Neil, and Andrew all seated on the cushions, and Kevin on the opposite armrest. The team is going over some basic shit for their next game, something Aaron has heard Kevin repeat time and time and time again. He's half-tuned out, but comes back to it when someone says something about dinner.

"You owe us, Coach." It's Nicky. He's whining about it, and Aaron tries not to roll his eyes. "We won last week, I think we deserve a team dinner after this week's game!"

"I owe you squat," Wymack says, his expression flat. "All the shit I do for you assholes?"

"Come on, Coach!" Matt this time, a grin spread wide on his face and a mischievous glint in his eyes. Aaron looks back at Wymack.

For his part, the man isn't swayed. He gives Matt the same dead look he gave Nicky. "You're all ungrateful little shits," he says.

It takes a surprisingly long time for Aaron to process what's been said. The word doesn't quite hit him right away, and at least four seconds have elapsed by the time he really reacts. Ungrateful.

The world feels less real than it did five seconds ago, Aaron decides. He knows what's happening, it isn't the first time he's gone through this shit, and he knows it sure as hell won't be the last. That doesn't make it any better though, so he just as easily dismisses the past experience in favor of trying to keep up with the conversation instead of being unresponsive.

It doesn't work. Not as well as he wants it to anyway, and definitely not well enough to convince his family that nothing happened. Aaron can feel Andrew's gaze on him, steady and unyielding and oh so suspicious of the man he calls his brother. For a moment, Aaron wonders if he looks the same way Andrew did last week when Kevin said the word "misunderstanding". They both have their words, he knows, and now Andrew knows one of his.

The conversation is still going on, Aaron realizes belatedly. He's trying too hard to get his eyes to focus to really pay attention to it, and when he looks down at his hands they're so fucking blurry he's not even sure if they're his. They must be, though, because who else would they belong to? They can't be anyone else's hands, they wouldn't be in his lap if they were.

"Aaron," Andrew's voice says, and Aaron blinks and looks away from his blurry fingers. There's less noise now, and when Aaron forces his eyes to look around the room, he realizes that the others are gone. When did they leave? How long has he been sitting here? It can't have been that long, he wasn't — he wasn't gone that long.

Andrew is standing in front of him, he realizes — that's his face. That's his, his and Andrew's face. They're the same. That's his brother. Aaron wants to say something, tries to say something, but his voice isn't quite working and he doesn't get why.

"Aaron," Andrew says again, and Aaron returns his wandering eyes to his brother's face. Andrew looks... bored. Bored? Bored. He always looks bored, though. Except when he's angry. Or when he's talking to Neil. Or when... when he's playing Exy. Andrew likes Exy, he does, but he won't ever say it. That's okay, though. Aaron won't tell.

Then Andrew is holding up his hands, and Aaron follows their actions with his eyes. Andrew grabs hold of his hands, or at least that's what it looks like, but Aaron still can't really tell if they're his. He feels it, he thinks, but that could just be his mind playing tricks on him. The connection between visual reception and tactile stimuli fascinates him, but—

"Aaron," Andrew says a third time, and this time Aaron meets his eyes. Andrew breathes slowly, obvious enough that Aaron can slowly start to match it. It helps, he thinks, and his fingers twitch against Andrew's. Andrew squeezes his hands in return, not enough to hurt, but enough that Aaron can feel it. His eyes still aren't entirely focused yet, so he blinks a few more times, startles a bit when he feels tears fall onto his cheeks. When did that happen?

Andrew looks indifferent as ever, Aaron realizes as he takes another slow breath in time. There's nothing in his expression, but Aaron tries to see through that — Andrew stayed for a reason. Andrew's saying his name for a reason. A year ago, Aaron isn't sure he would have.

"Aaron," one more time, and whatever Andrew sees when they lock eyes again must convince him Aaron is okay. And he is, Aaron thinks, he thinks he's okay. Or at least he will be.

Andrew lets go of his hands and steps back, giving him another silent once-over before nodding to himself and walking out. The room feels empty without Andrew there, but it's enough of a motivator for Aaron to stand up and follow him.

hola me amiga, back again to ask: tilda minyard and her relationship to both of the twins. thoughts?

hello again! 

(cw: abusive parent-child relationship, tilda, twinyards’ pasts)

oh boy. tilda. she is one character that i just. hate. i don’t hate her for putting the twinyards into foster care. i don’t even hate her for only taking aaron back, bc while it’s heartbreaking all around... she couldn’t handle two kids, which is devastating but fair. not telling aaron about andrew was pretty shitty, but again, she couldn’t handle two and aaron would’ve wanted to reunite, so keeping him a secret was maybe what she thought was the least painful.

but god. i hate her so much. 

she was neglectful of aaron his whole childhood and made him feel like a burden. he still loved her, bc kids want to love their parents so desperately. and in return he was met with snarls and insults and silent hatred. the kind where a person can channel their hate as they’re washing dishes roughly or clenching they’re jaw while watching tv. the kind that festers around you and makes the entire environment stifling and toxic. 

and then andrew. i don’t think andrew had it in him any more to care that he was abandoned. the fact that tilda abandoned him and kept aaron may have stung slightly, but ultimately, he would’ve shoved that down as just another shitty thing in his shitty life and moved on. 

however. 

tilda started to become violent when higgins told them about andrew. she’d been abusive the whole time, but now it was physical as well. and there’s no way aaron didn’t associate that negativity with andrew, even only subconsciously, before he even met him. 

and then andrew was reunited, which tilda had tried to avoid all along. and andrew saw how abusive she was and told aaron he could take care of it, and he did. and aaron despised him for it. because he still loved his mom. because he was still so desperate for the love that came out in fractured fractions from time to time. 

tilda is, ultimately, why the twinyards have such a shitty relationship. she’s the reason aaron had such a shitty childhood. (i don’t think it’s 100% fair to blame all of andrew’s on her, because while she is why he’s there, she wasn’t the actual abuser for him. she doesn’t haunt his nightmares). 

tilda shattered the twinyards and did nothing to put them back together. and i will never forgive her for it. 

jerejean fics are so much fun to read bc in aftg the characters more or less roll with the hits and just kind of accept what’s going on, and it doesn’t seem that out of the ordinary when you read it, but then you see how jeremy reacts to jean’s stories in the fanfics and it’s like... oh right... that’s actually probably how a normal person would react in this scenario

I always thought Andrew's big tips were actually for the drugs??? Like to pay them in an inconspicuous way??? The cracker dust at sweetie's and the drug for neil at eden's (also wasn't it aaron who paid in the first sweetie's scene???)

the very excessive tips at sweetie’s were definitely for the cracker dust! but in chapter 9 of the raven king, when all the foxes go to columbia together for halloween, there’s the quote: “Nicky's friendship with the staff and Andrew's generous tips got them instant access and ridiculous discounts on drinks”. so i guess it’s only really confirmed that he tips well at eden’s, but i’m assuming he’d do the same at sweetie’s (even without the cracker dust), especially since they continue to go there after andrew’s deal to quit using the cracker dust. plus, nicky worked there as a host before getting his job at eden’s (it says that in chapter 12 of trk) which would be even more incentive to leave good tips :)

(i think you’re right about aaron paying for sweetie’s and the drugs in tfc. maybe they take turns paying? regardless, he left lots of tips too so i bet they’re just all really generous tippers!)

i just love the twinyards. many thanks to them for being tiny, terrible terrors that i love with my entire heart. either one of them could stab me or punch me in the face and i would thank them

“are we? friends?” crushes my heart EVERY TIME, like - neil had never had a friend in his life. there’s no way he got close to anyone in little leagues or on the run. the person he was closest to regularly beat him - and he saw no problem w that.

neil had no idea what constituted a friend, but then there was nicky, with his smiles and friendliness and exuberance, there were people that he actually cared about and that cared about him, and he didn’t know what to call it, didn’t know how to deal with it, didn’t know it was even possible for him to have friends, like normal people do, like people without butchers for fathers do.

the little stray finally found a home, and he would tear the world apart for his makeshift family of friends.

An AU where the twinyards don’t meet until even mater in life— as in after college where everything from Andrew’s end goes almost the same minus Aaron and Nicky being in his life. He still makes it Palmetto, still meets Kevin and Neil and goes pro. Aaron on the other hand becomes a nurse (I have my reasons for this) never goes to Palmetto, and they only meet because one injured Neil Josten ends up on his unit. Aaron is about at his wits end because Pro Exy player Neil Josten (whoever that is because Aaron doesn’t follow Exy), who is on a lot of pain meds, keeps calling him Andrew and Aaron is about 5 seconds away from making the on-call resident very upset by requesting another CT scan of Josten’s head because surely his brain is scrambled. There’s nothing more that Aaron wants than to go home and fall face first into bed which is of course when his charge nurse walks up to him with a sheepish look, nearly begging him to stay another 4 hours because his relief’s kid is apparently sick and she can’t come in until 11am, which makes Aaron want to die so naturally he agrees, which means another 4 hours of Neil Josten at the end of his shift hooray.

And so of course Neil Josten calls him “Andrew” once more while Aaron is checking his IV (note: it’s now visiting hours), and Aaron, exhausted and cranky and just had to dodge a bedpan being thrown at his head, feels his eye twitch violently as he politely (read: thru clenched teeth) reminds Pro Exy Player Neil Josten once again that he is not Andrew—

Which is when another voice pipes up from the doorway, fresh scent of coffee in the air that nearly has Aaron salivating, who says “correct, you are not Andrew. I am.”

And Aaron turns around to see his mirror image standing in the doorway.

afab twinyards but aaron is a trans guy and passes decently so he's really confused about how higgins got him confused with his twin sister. until he meets andrew and she's a butch lesbian. they have the same haircut

Twinyards have me crying so bad rn because I mean imagine the difference in celebrating each other's birthdays? Will andrew have celebrated his birthday at least ONCE? I can't help but imagine andrew passing a small birthday cake to Aaron through the bathroom door while andrew was trying to get him off drugs.

Okay i made more of these

Neil:

How Neil looked at Dan after his "you know, I get it" speech:

Twinyards again, Aaron is the one screaming for help, obviously:

How Jeremy is taking care of Jean:

How Andrew cared for Kevin in his first year:

Andrew with kevin after the "you were always going to lose him:

How Kevin feel coming out of the "I've never skied" interview:

Jean mid-training when Rhemann did not want to gomp him to death and instead simply verbally scolded him:

Andrew shouting at the cops in Maryland to let him see Neil:

Jean watching Neil and Kevin leave the nest:

Do you ever think about how if Neil grew up in the nest, he would have had Jean's number? And do you ever think about how if Andrew had joined the Ravens he would have gotten Aaron's?

something something about brothers I think

sjfdhlwk i saw a little kid today and she was copying everything i was doing so i did the two-fingered salute thing at her and she did it back to me! it was the single cutest thing ever

now i can't get the image of andrew doing these salutes with aaron's young kids out of my head. and like. aaron wants to be annoyed because what the hell are you teaching my children, andrew but at the same time their chubby fingers trying to do a salute back to a full grown man is just adorable

okay, maybe it's hard to know if you're not from the area, but andrew and aaron literally grew up so close to each other. like oakland (where andrew was) and san jose (where aaron was) are literally 40 minutes apart

i mean these are obvs two HUGE cities in the bay area, but the twins probably felt even more shitty when they realized that despite close together they grew up, they still couldn't have a childhood with one another

andreil and goodbye kisses (pt. 6) ft. aaron

parts 1, 2, 3, 4, aaaand 5 you wonderful human beings || part 7, 8

so aaron isn't the biggest fan of neil's relationship with his brother

he has made that very clear. to everyone

is he glad that andrew is a bit less murderous now? yes, of course

is he upset that andrew's dating the guy who brought a mob war upon the foxes? just a smidge

despite all his... reservations, aaron can tell that whatever andrew and neil have, it isn't just "hate sex"

(granted, aaron doesn't want to spend much time considering his brother's sex life in the first place, but that's beside the point)

but no matter how annoying josten may be, he does want to have a decent relationship with his brother by the end of college

and unfortunately, that includes moderately tolerating his brother's loudmouth boyfriend

the very boyfriend who forced andrew and aaron to have joint therapy sessions

and look, aaron isn't as stubborn as he acts, he can acknowledge that the therapy sessions are helping

he would just... never admit it to josten's face. the man has enough of an ego as it is

anyways, dobson had told him weeks ago that in order to start understanding the whole of his brother, he had to be willing to accept all the different parts of andrew

and that entails spending time with the people andrew is close with

aaron likes renee enough. she's a bit too happy for his taste, but she's not too bad

aaron wants to kick kevin in the balls whenever he lays his eyes on him, which he is forced to do far too often in his humble opinion

and then there's neil, who aaron should probably start making amends with

dobson (unfortunately) agrees with that idea

so aaron starts spending more time with neil —walking to classes, studying, teaching neil how to play video games (for someone with such solid reflexes on court, neil is shockingly bad at figuring out game controllers)

(he's also 90% sure andrew told josten why aaron was hanging out with him all of a sudden, considering the slightly limited snark neil speaks to him with now)

and much to his chagrin, aaron actually kinda... enjoys hanging out with neil

he's sarcastic. annoying. moderately threatening. neil would be the ideal bro if he wasn't literally dating aaron's brother

(oh, and the mob war thing. can't forget about the mob war thing)

but maybe aaron is being the slightest bit presumptuous

because that week, dobson has to push back their appointment to thursday evening instead of wednesday afternoon

neil offers to drive aaron and andrew over to Reddin, saying that he was going over to the nearby cafe to work on some project anyways

so neil and andrew have their weird eye-contact conversation thing at every stoplight. aaron sticks to just texting katelyn.

he's so engrossed in his phone he barely realizes when they've stopped, and then wonders why andrew hadn't told him to get out yet

he glances up, ready to scramble out of the car, when he witnesses the single craziest moment of his life

neil and andrew, oblivious to aaron, are staring at each other. very intensely. it's a bit disconcerting how long they can keep their eyes open for

(maybe aaron should go into optometry, for his brother's sake)

anyway.

so aaron slowly holds onto the door handle, about to leave the car, when neil goddamn josten kisses his brother. ON THE NOSE

and his brother is blushing. BLUSHING

aaron's mind comes to a halt. what. is. happening.

he practically leaps out of the car, trying to pull his jaw back up from where it dropped as andrew emerges from the car and walks towards dobson's office, ears pink

(oh god. does aaron look like that when katelyn is around? that's embarrassing as hell)

shit. aaron had betted against andrew and neil on the kiss bet. nicky must have known something he didn't, considering how excited he looked that day...

bastard, he texts nicky with no explanation, hoping it leaves his cousin floundering in confusion

and fine. maybe josten isn't that bad for his brother

but he's also the reason why aaron is going to be in crippling debt soon

but. if he and neil become closer, surely he'd have the insider information on his brother's relationship

hmm. if he plays his cards right, this new, tolerable almost-friendship with josten might actually help him to win some money in the future...

I knew Andrew and Aaron were short, but because in the book is said in inches I didn’t really knew their exact heights, but I just converted it to cm because I need to know exactly how short they are and DAMN THEY’RE SHORT. Shorter than me, and this is crazy bc I’m 157cm tall… damnnnn

This is so perfect

foxhole twins

about to cry bc this lyric reminds me so much of the twins:

"Little Andy soft in your newborn skin,

Only one little Andy will you return again?

I believe we can renew,

and you could be my brother again"

like don't think about aaron thinking this about andrew ://// aaron and andrew love each other so much ik it in my heart of hearts