#araluen royal family

[dragoneyes618]

The Araluen royal family seems very small - riskily so. Royalty and nobility usually try to have at least several children, so in case the heir dies - the risk of dying young was a lot more common back in the old days, between sickness and accidents - there's still other family members to inherit if needed.

But Duncan has no siblings. Cassandra has no siblings. Madelyn has no siblings.

We don't know anything about Duncan's childhood. Maybe he did have more siblings who died. (I personally headcanon that Oswald and Deborah got married later for whatever reason so Duncan was the only child they had [which is part of the reason why Oswald changed the law to allow girls to inherit, because if he and Deborah only had a daughter and couldn't have any more children than someone needed to rule the kingdom] , but that's just my headcanon.)

But we know about Cassandra, and we know she's definitely an only child. Alright, so we know why Cassandra is an only child. Her mother died in childbirth. Maybe her father was too brokenhearted to ever remarry. Not to mention that what with having to deal with the aftermath of Morgarath's war, build himself a reputation as a good, strong king (with Morgarath not having actually been defeated, and with the army unable to get him out of the mountains, that probably didn't look very good for Duncan's first war as king) and raise a newborn daughter, remarrying was probably not high on his list of priorities at the moment.

But after a few years, even if Duncan himself didn't want to remarry, his court should have been beginning to urge him to. After all, Duncan only had the one heir. If anything happened to Cassandra, there'd be no one to inherit the throne. And indeed, Cassandra came close to dying many times. What if she'd died in Celtica? What if she'd died in Skandia? The future of Araluen's throne would have been in jeopardy. It would've been a lot less dangerous and risky if she'd had one or two siblings, just in case.

Moving on from Cassandra, there's Maddie, who is an only child as well. Again, it's risky for the monarchy to have only one heir. Especially now that she's no longer living safely at the palace but is training as a Ranger. Sure, she's not planning on actually becoming an active Ranger, but Ranger training in and of itself can be risky. Ranger apprentices are expected to go on missions and risk their lives just like full Rangers. Maddie almost died when she was wounded in the hip that time. What if she actually had died? What if she dies from an accident during training? All that would be needed is one bandit or whoever to get in a lucky shot, and that's it.

Royal families usually try to have at least "an heir and a spare." Just in case something happens to the heir, that's what the spare is for. But Araluen hasn't had any "spare" in generations.

The kingdom needs heirs, and generation after generation of only children in the royal family aren't enough of them to secure a stable future for Araluen if there is no direct heir. What if Maddie dies, and Cassandra at this point is likely too old to have children? Who will inherit the throne after Cassandra?

[mudpuddless]

I saw a couple tags with king Halt AU and I am interested now 👀 (if you need someone to blab to about this)

okay. listen. i was rereading the early years and halt rescues duncan but refuses to call him highness and duncan gets mad, the canon dialogue is pretty much just,

halt: you-

duncan: YOUR HIGHNESS

halt : i preffer to be called halt, actually

(this is the base idea: this scene is doubly funny if halt were also crown prince)

so picture halt swimming back to shore after ferris tries to kill him and deciding actually he doesn't want this idiot in charge of his country.

halt has had about four years of ranger training on top of royal battleschool at this point and ships ferris of to the countryside, names Caitlyn as his successor to the throne and convinces his father that he should aide araluen (read: the rangers who kept pritchard informed) for diplomacy reasons.

his father thinks this will be a good lesson in war craft for the crown prince and sends him on his way.

halt and Crowley meet in the inn just like in canon while pritchard, who travelled with halt to araluen, makes his way to berrigan who was his main contact and then the plot kicks off (canon slightly to the left) halt is still halt but with the full authority of the clonmel crown behind him. he just doesn't tell people. surely this won't result in any silly situations.

big change might be that daniel, who still dies, asks halt to look for his wife, who is heavily pregnant and halt goes to find her, but presented with a baby who has no living relatives he knows of he just takes baby will and disappears him to Hibernia? Caitlyn loves her nephew. halt insist that will is not his son. will is absolutely his son and no one will be convinced otherwise.

halts father/ the king of clonmel declares Will fourth in line to the throne bc what else are you supposed to do when your heir goes to fight a war for eighteen months and returns with a baby. the king isn't an idiot, halt.

i want at least one scene where an invitation is extended to the Hibernian kings for princess Cassandras first birthday and Caitlyn shows up to represent clonmel and bonds with crowley bc they have a similar sense of humour (compatible with halt). crowley refers to halt only by "Arratay" and Caitlyn only by "my brother". they think the two should meet though crowley thinks halt doesn't know how to behave in the presence of royalty.

this would be even funnier if it was cralt/craltine (geometrically accurate love triangle my beloved) bc crowley is fawning over halt and Caitlyn unknowingly sets them up by encouraging crowley to tell his friend how he feels.

at least one scene would be halt and crowley visiting Crowleys family which is big and loud. halt is immediately a favourite of Crowleys kid sister who thinks he is the funniest person who ever lived. halt is stumped by this

the rangers are also 100% the queerest group of people in the entire country. berrigan and Leander are established and not subtle about it. at least one person is only referred to by ranger, never by any pronouns. this is never remarked upon.

the problem im still trying to figure out is how I can merge canon post TEY. halt returns to clonmel bc he has to check on his family and also bc, yk, the infant he now cares for and virtually disappears from araluen. crowley and pauline are upset bc they dont know what happened. this would be even funnier if this was craltine and they just had a highly emotional moment and then the final battle happens and suddenly halt is gone and no one knows where.

if this was really cracky they would tag along as security/diplomacy detail for duncan when he is invited to halts coronation but then again, we're not catholic so I might as well. could be fun

feel free to add anything you might find funny/devastating etc.

[ragingadhd]

I’m always tagging Cassandra as Cassandra Altman bc flanny never gave her a last name but I will never think of her as Cassandra Altman. Yes she and Horace are married and very good matches for each other but there’s no way she took his last name. Do you seriously mean to tell me Cass really just gave up the Araluen royal family name, a name with centuries of precedence mind you, all for the sake of some patriarchal tradition? Princess Cassandra??

[the-thursday]

I feel like I should go outside and have life. But this flu is keeping me inside and is making come up with all these headcannons so let's go.

Halt adopts the Treaty name

And like, we talked about idea of Will adopting Halt's surname many times.

But.

What if we pulled the uno reverse card. And it was Halt adopting name Treaty.

Like. I know that Halt O'Carrick has a nice ring to it and I know 'Treaty' is Will's name that he earned and got. Hear me out.

Halt himself admits that there's not much tying him to the royal family of Clonmel. He never uses the name because 1) out of caution and safety 2) he hates it for obvious reasons.

I think that he also feels that now Sean's reign shouldn't be marred by the shadow of the previous O'Carrick siblings and he feels like it's only right that only Sean should bear the name. So along with everything else, those are the reasons why he wouldn't assume the O'Carrick name again and why he will never bear it.

Now think about that while I am gonna move to another branch.

Now let's move to Will and his name. Until his graduation, Will didn't have one. And it was something that troubled him greatly, it is even mentioned in TRR series. Having a name for himself meant a lot to him. He always knew he was Halt's family. But now, thanks to finally having his own name, he was his own family too. He knew (or maybe hoped) that he would one day share it with Alyss. He knew that with the name, he will built something for himself and people he loves.

Now let's get back to Halt, who technically formally terminates the official relation to the O'Carrick name. While he wasn't fond of his brother or fighting parents, it was still his family (and in his words) the only one he had. So mentally, somewhere deep down, he too removes himself from that name and hopes that Sean will be able to make himself out of it. But the point stands, he terminates his relation to it.

And while it isnt something that mattered to him, it still weighs on his heart. And I think that Will senses that. So somewhere during book 9, he comes to Halt and offers to share the name Treaty with him.

It doesn't have to be mentioned on every piece of official paper. But it can be there, just for Halt and Will and their friends. And while it is technically a small and inconsequential matter, it is one final affirmation for Halt that his home and family is truly in Araluen. That he belongs there. Halt accepting Will is one thing. But Will truly and fully accepting Halt as his family is another.

And also, I think Halt needs to have some official name after the wedding. I think we all automatically assumed that he took Pauline's. But I have no issue for Halt to have both names of his son and wife.

Only issue I have with it is that Treaty is practically the name that Will made for himself, he built it from scratch. I am sure Halt would be hesitant about accepting it for that reason. That's why I don't want it to be too official.

But I like the idea of Crowley sometimes receiving reports from two Treatys and smiling to himself

[solarishashernoseinabook]

treat w/ will and horace? romantic or platonic your choice <3

Thank you!!

This accidentally features as a bit of a prequel for what I wrote for @lamesores, but not a trick slgshgh. This does contain an encounter with wasps, tho

~

The senior staff of Castle Seacliff were assembled in front of it in what had started as a well-ordered, widely-spaced group, but had bunched up as the chilly spring wind had started blowing. Baron Ergell kept alternately clasping his hands in front of him and putting them at his sides. Will found it almost amusing, though of course he wouldn't say so. Of all of them, Ergell should be the one most familiar with the protocols for a royal visit - he would have visited Castle Araluen more than once. But Seacliff rarely drew the royal family's attention, and he was understandably worried about whether or not he could receive them adequately.

Will knew the worry was silly. King Duncan had been on many campaigns in his career, and during their time in Skandia Cassandra had faced much worse than anything Baron Ergell could offer her. Will was about to open his mouth to say so when a lookout blew a horn, and Cassandra and her retinue came into view.

Will grinned. It would be nice to see Cassandra again, of course, but Will had just spotted Horace riding at her side. Without thinking, he raised his hand and waved.

'Ranger Will!' Ergell hissed, but Cassandra and Horace both waved in return, so he could hardly pretend it had been a significant breach of protocol. He straightened and bowed as they approached and Cassandra slid off her horse.

'Thank you for visiting us, Princess,' Ergell said. 'I hope you find our humble castle to your liking.'

'It seems lovely, Baron Ergell, thank you,' she said, smiling at him. 'May I introduce Sir Horace, my champion?'

Ergell greeted Horace, as did his Battlemaster Sir Norris. Norris looked rather pleased to have him there. 'Sir Horace, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. You've made quite the name for yourself.'

Once upon a time a comment like that would have gone to Horace's head, but instead he just grinned. 'Haven't done anything all that special, really. I've just been very good at not dying over the past few years.'

Sir Norris laughed. 'Would you do me the honour of seeing our recruits train, Sir Horace?'

'Certainly, but not tonight, if that's all right,' Horace said. 'I was doing some research on your fief, and I believe you used to have an outpost on the other end of the island?'

'Well, yes, but it hasn't been maintained since the treaty with Skandia went into effect,' Norris said.

'I'd like to see that. From the diagram I saw of it, it had some interesting defensive features,' Horace said.

Will caught Cassandra's eye and she rolled her eyes with a grin. From the excited, boyish grin on Horace's face, Will suspected he had talked about it at length during their journey.

'I'll take you to visit it, Horace,' Will said.

'That sounds like a good compromise,' Ergell said, smiling. 'You can set out after lunch.'

Horace smiled at that. 'Lunch! I like the sound of that.'

*

'So how's Seacliff been?' Horace said.

'Boring,' Will said, unable to stop himself from rolling his eyes. 'The most exciting thing was that Skandian raid we had in the fall.'

Horace grinned. 'After the life you've lead, I'd've thought you'd want a boring assignment, at least for a bit. Especially after everything that happened in Norgate.'

'Maybe I just got used to all that excitement, I dunno.' Will shrugged. 'I just know I want something to happen.'

A shadow fell over them and Will glanced up. Seacliff got a lot of rain at this time of year, and from the look of the clouds that now hung heavily above them, they were about to get more. 'We should probably stop soon,' he said. 'I don't like the look of that sky. There's a spot in the woods we can stay at, it's just another few minutes.'

Horace looked up as well and nodded, and they moved their horses to a trot. They only slowed their pace once they were amongst the trees.

They soon came to the area Will had mentioned, a wide space between four trees in a rough square. An old wasp nest hung from one of the trees, but Will had never seen much activity from it, and assumed it had been abandoned. He dismounted from Tug and took out the tent, but fumbled with it and dropped it in a patch of mud created by the rain they had gotten last night.

He cursed and bent to pick it up, an effort slightly hampered by the gust of wind that blew and caused the canvas to billow out around him. Horace laughed and Will shot a glare at him. 'Oh, sod off.' Horace just laughed harder.

Until the wind dislodged the wasp nest, and it fell out of the tree, bouncing off Horace's head.

Will had been mistaken; the nest was only mostly abandoned. As it fell, a dozen wasps swarmed out of it, causing Horace to jump away from them with a yelp. Kicker shied away in the opposite direction, snorting and tossing his head.

Will put his hand over his mouth to hide his grin. 'You okay?'

'Fi--' Horace suddenly froze; then, to Will's confusion, he began to frantically undress, tossing off his surcoat and chainmail with little regard for where they landed.

'Horace?' Will dropped the tent again and went over to him. Horace had just yanked his shirt over his head when Will saw the reason for his distress. A wasp had gotten under his clothes, and flew away with an angry buzz. For a moment, Will and Horace just looked at each other, panting.

Then the heavens opened and it began raining hard, fat drops that hit with force. Will and Horace ran to the discarded tent and set it up in record time, then dove inside it. Will tied the door closed with rough knots that kept out most of the rain, then sat back, wiping his wet hair out of his eyes.

'Hey, Will? Promise me something,' Horace said, already beginning to shiver. 'Never wish for anything exciting to happen again.'

Will looked over at him; then all at once they burst out laughing, and didn't stop for a long time.

*

Cassandra was having some tea with Baron Ergell's wife out in front of his castle the following afternoon, and so saw Will and Horace as they returned. She grinned and set down her tea, then went to greet them. 'Will, Horace! How--'

She paused. Both men were splattered with mud, as was the tent that was bunched behind Tug's saddle. She cast her eyes over this, then looked between them. 'Er, how was the trip?'

To her confusion, instead of answering, they just laughed.

[kiuda]

Morgarath is still here because I need a villain and I loveeed the first main plot, so Araluen war it is <3

Rangers: Dream (silver leaf), Tommy (bronze leaf, Dream's apprentice), Punz (silver leaf), Bad (silver leaf, Commander), Ant (silver leaf), Puffy (silver leaf), Sylvee (silver leaf)

Knights: Sapnap (royal guard), Sam (Araluen Battlemaster), HBomb (Redmont Battlemaster), Tubbo (Redmont Battleschool apprentice)

George - prince of Araluen

Skeppy - ambassador to Toscano (spends a surpiring amount of time in Araluen anyway) or Diplomatic Corps man I haven't decided yet

Karl - Scribemaster/librarian at Redmont

Q - baron of Redmont

Callahan - the guy that takes care of ranger's horses because yes.

SBI -> from Scandia (well. kind of.)

Phil and Wilbur - born Scandian, actual blood family

Techno - rescued from a raid, who knows where he is originally from

rest of Syndicate - their crew (+ some other people)

[burnin0akleaves]

maddie for character impression (get well soon king)

Going to power through this ilness just because you told me to now, I can't not do it. (Thank you)

First impression: Again, hazy memories, but pretty sure I was annoyed by her at first. I didn't hate her, but the scene with Jenny? Yeaah I was with Will on that one.

I warmed up to her pretty quickly after that, and seeing that she was actually deeply insecure and felt the need to prove herself won me over. I put myself in her shoes the whole book, and Maddie ended up being braver than I would be every single time. I remember being EXTREMELY stressed at the part where Will has to stay back and Maddie has to get the kids to safety alone, because I just thought about how horrifying it would be to have that much responsibility on my shoulders and to be forced to make decisions on my own without Will's guidance.

Proud to say that it has been quite a few years since then and that I would be able to handle a situation like that better now, but middle grade Howls was extremely impressed by Maddie.

Impression now: I love her! Maddie has so much depth to her and I think she is a great character. Has her mother's spirit, her father's wiseness and her uncle's willpower. Like, think about it for a second, the girl is literally surrounded by all the legends of Araluen. You bet your ass she will grow up to have the best parts of all of them.

Favourite Moment: Already talked about the part where she has to take charge in book twelve and how that had a big effect on me, but I also need to talk about the scene where she is forced to kill for the first time. I love that she didn't cower away in fear or kill in cold blood. She was faced with an extremely scary situation for a child, a man breaking into your room in the middle of the night to threaten you into silence, but she managed to control her fear and defend herself. The scene where Will comforts her and tells her how brave she was is extremely sweet, I'm glad that she got to be comforted like that.

Also the entirety of the Red Fox Clan duology? Her taking complete control of the situation in Escape From Falaise and dueling that one knight alone? VERY badass. I really hope her story continues.

Idea for a story: I want Araluen, and maybe the whole world, to face another crisis. Maybe something supernatural and world-ending. It starts from when Maddie is a ranger and at some point in the story she has to take charge of the entire kingdom as queen as well. She has her family to support her obviously, but none of them are in their prime anymore. At the end, she has to face the enemy herself, alone. I have bits and pieces of scenes floating around in my brain for this but nowhere near a full story, so thats all you're getting.

Unpopular opinion: People that hate Maddie but love Horace and Cassandra are complete hypocrites. She has great character development, and is a genuinely lovable character. Her growth isn't any less realistic than her parents, some people just hate TRR and pick it apart to find every single thing to complain about.

Favorite relationship: Will and Maddie. I love watching the royal family be together as well, but the uncle/niece relationship has a special place in my heart.

And when it comes to romantic stuff, I'm glad Maddie doesn't have a love interest forced into the plotline. Leaves room for queer headcanons and just... lets the girl be herself. You don't need to be in a relationship with someone. I do wish she got to make more friends, but I also understand why she really wouldn't get to. Being the princess and Will Treaty's apprentice at the same time doesn't really let you relax and socialise. I'm glad she has Ingrid at least, and I hope we'll get to see more of her at some point.

Favorite headcanon: Cassandra doesn't get to use her sling anymore as queen, but she is too sentimental to throw it away. When it becomes obvious that she won't get to use it again, she gives it to Maddie. The sling is very old and Maddie would never replace the weapon she is used to, let alone use her mother's sling that went through so much, but she holds on to it.

[im-a-mandola]

Horace, horrified: please, cassandra no! i love you.

Cassandra: I’m sorry, i have to.

Madelyn, equally as panicked: mom please! don’t do this to us. we’re begging you!!

Cassandra: I’m sorry.

[Cassandra : *places a +4 card*]

Cassandra : uno.

[redmont-fief]

i kept forgetting The Royal Ranger exists and honestly?? that’s a form of self-care

[dragoneyes618]

Since when does Cassandra have cousins?

These cousins are never mentioned again. And Duncan was never mentioned to have any siblings.

They could be her cousins on her mother's side, I suppose, but Rosalind's family would have no reason to be at Castle Araluen with such regularity.

However, there is one other royal cousin mentioned: Dimon.

I believe it says that he's a third or fourth cousin, or of some such degree. As the only living male heir, he'd be directly in line for the throne if women couldn't inherit.

Could Cassandra's two male cousins actually have been second or third cousins, Oswald's great-nephews or something or the sort?

Could one of these cousins have been Dimon's father(presumably now deceased)?

[araluen-arrows]

hillyssandra: beloved (gathering #29)

(the horace/will/alyss/cass ship doesn’t have a name yet, to my knowledge, so this is me naming it. this is also me taking canon and making it Better Canon. also, i know it’s early for this prompt, but i was really excited to post it so here.)

- It starts, as we know, with two, perfectly fine, heterosexual couples. There’s Horace and Cassandra, and there’s Will and Alyss.

- Except Horace and Will have always had a thing, in the way of best friends who flirt as a joke. Will would never cheat on Alyss, of course, but Alyss knows about the bffs-who-flirt thing. Boys will be boys, and she loves both of her boys with her entire heart.

- We forget that Alyss grew up with Horace. They were the first two children to enter the Ward, and that’s a kind of bond that’ll never break. Alyss helps Horace adjust to life at Castle Araluen, because there are some things about being born common that Cass can’t relate to, as hard as she tries. They’re a good match: Horace is straightforward where Alyss tends to overthink, and Alyss picks up the social etiquette that Horace can’t seem to grasp. And through the years, they grow an utmost respect for each other. Alyss could start any war, in her capacity as a Courier, and Horace would fight it for her.

- And then, at the same time, there’s Cassandra. Their little rivalry is long over, so why is it that every time Alyss looks at her crown princess, her blood still feels electric? Horace and Will aren’t the only ones with a bond forged in the heat of battle, after all. In Nihon-Ja, Alyss and Cass put their lives in each other’s hands, and that’s a promise to the other person as strong as any: till death do us part.

- Till death do us part. That’s Will and Cass, in a cabin in the woods, half-dead in the Skandian winter. Will taking a trial by single combat for Horace in Hibernia. Alyss and Will, in a tower with a hypnotic stone and an I-love-you. Horace and Cass, who once stood together on an executioner’s block in Arrida and did not flinch.

- There’s always been love between them all, large enough to touch the sky. It’s just that over the years, maybe—maybe? they realize it’s become a different type of love. No better, or worse, but simply different.

- It takes them all falling asleep together after a late night at Castle Araluen and waking up together before Alyss realizes what it is. She loves Will—she just also loves the two other people in bed with her, and she knows she’s beloved in turn.

- Love can be between two people, she says. I just think it could also be between four. 

- It’s not that there isn’t jealousy, sometimes. There’s Cass, looking at the three orphans who grew up together and wondering how she could ever belong. There’s Horace, thinking his partners are so bright, vivacious, and charming that he questions if they could ever love him the same. Will, away on Ranger missions, does his best to not begrudge the others their time together. And Alyss sometimes is on the outside looking in, because she wasn’t with them in Skandia, or in Arrida.

- But they make it work. They’ve survived too much to let things like communication and distance drive them apart. Will and Alyss leave Redmont, to be based at Castle Araluen. Only Horace takes a consort title, because the other two can’t risk any more of a connection to the royal family than they already have. 

- They love more brilliantly, the four of them together, than they could have in pairs. It’s amplified, Alyss thinks, through each of them. The love she feels for Cassandra is stronger because Cass is also loved by the boys, who she too loves in turn. They reflect each other like mirrors in sunlight, the thing between them blinding, a beacon that will always bring her home. 

[thelastranger]

Ranger's Apprentice Month Day 27: Arranged Marriage

This is another future fic outline and it features the crack ship of Sean x Cassandra! Don't ask me why, it just happened.

Halt helps Araluen out by defeating Morgrath but then goes back to Clonmel (with a baby; it's okay, Crowley knows about Will) to take his seat on the throne until his nephew Sean can take over.

Duncan and Halt forge an alliance, etc, but don't really meet each other consistently. Cassie, Will, and Sean all meet each other as children and don't meet up again until Cassie and Will are kidnapped by Skandians and rescued by Horace, Sean, and Halt. Sean and Cassie exchange letters over the years.

Years later, Cassie needs to arrange a marriage before she can ascend to the throne due to a mysterious, possibly magical contract made with the royal family that says that there must be a royal marriage before ascension to ensure that there is always a line of sucession. How the line of sucession is established and granted is up to the discretion of the married couple, but there always has to be another person ready to step towards the throne to guide Araluen through times of trouble. If Cassie were to die, the throne would pass to her pre-teen, snot nosed, younger cousin Dimon. That cannot happen.

Cassie isn't in love with this idea, but decides to hold a jousting tournament in the next two months to allow the possibility of Horace to win and Cassie to marry her friend.

In the meantime, the Clonmel delegation comes to Araluen and Cassie and Sean start to get a lot closer. Halt and Crowley get tipsy and go on a vigilante spree. Will spends his time getting acquainted with various organizations and getting close with a certain courier.

A month passes and Cassie is almost ready to call off the tournament in order to be with Sean when there's an attempted attack on Sean's life during the night. The Clonmel delegation leaves without a word in the early morning and Cassie is left confused and hurt.

the tournament proceeds as scheduled. The entries are a carefully preselected bunch of knights, nobles, and people granted special honors and distinctions. The only surprise is an unknown knight with dingy, cobbled together armor.

The unknown knight proceeds to sweep through the tournament, ending up facing Horace in the final. Horace puts up a valient fight, but is defeated in the end.

Turns out (obviously) that the mysterious knight is Sean, who never actually left Araluen as he needed time to figure out who the hired killer was in Araluen while Will and Halt left to stop Ferris, who was the one who sent the killer in the first place. The killer said they have someone close to Cassie, which meant Sean didn't want to reveal anything until he had tracked down the spy. Sean's messenger explaining all this got side tracked by all the treats at the tournament (the little girl was overwhelmed by the sweet smells and never made it to anyone who could tell Cassie the plan)

Sean and Cassie enter into a formal betrothal and all is well.

@rangersapprenticemonth

[rangergilan]

something that has bothered me is how did no one know that halt was the crown prince? halt is not a common name. so how is it that a foreign crown prince with a very uncommon name just yknow disappears, suspected to be dead, and a foreigner shows up in araluen with the same name, same age and the same description and no one put two and two together?

i get araluen was in the middle of a political crisis but if a member of the neighbouring country's royal family went missing, araluen would of surely been notified

and halt was not associating with the common people of araluen, he out here hanging out with barons, ladies and royals

[redrose-arrow]

judging you based on your favourite RA book

Tournament of Gorlan: You never got the chance to be a child when you were younger and you’re trying to make up for that time. Honestly I just hope you find your found family.

Battle of Hackham Heath: 1) you are absolutely right and I love you, and 2) you have no brain cells (like most of the characters in this book)

Ruins of Gorlan: you are simply a liar. If you’re not, you’re basic and don’t like spices.

Burning Bridge: You take… questionable decisions. Partially because 23/7 you have no idea what’s going on and you’re still figuring out what life even is.

Icebound Land: your primary coping mechanism is to just cry it all out. you also always have cold feet (literally and figuratively).

Oakleaf Bearers: you genuinely enjoyed mathematics in school. you like to promote yourself as thinking “outside the box” but you haven’t actually ever left the box. very much pick me material.

Sorcerer in the North: you were into magic and illusions as a kid. you say it was a phase, but it is actually not a phase. you also like dogs.

Siege at Macindaw: I’m not going to say a single mean thing about you, because you are absolutely right. Your taste is impeccable. I trust you with my life. That being said, you have a crush on a childhood friend.

Erak’s Ransom: You’re horribly afraid of dying without having accomplished enough in your life to feel worthwhile. also you’re white.

Kings of Clonmel: You have siblings. your biggest pet peeves includes loud breathing and chewing noises. you are an introvert.

Halt’s Peril: You’re the mom friend but you actually struggle to take care of yourself. Please drink some water and take your meds.

Emperor of Nihon-Ja: You try to be funny like this book, but you fail 9/10 times. you’re not good at learning languages.

Lost Stories: you are indecisive and also ask super annoying critical questions. English teachers loved you.

Royal Ranger: you have a superiority complex and are hella pretentious. you base your self worth off of academic achievements.

Red Fox Clan: you secretly like Brotherband more than Ranger’s Apprentice. you write “adventure calls❤️” for your insta caption but really you’re just bored and have no hobbies.

Duel at Araluen: most of your activism is performative. at least you’re trying.

The Missing Prince: you were probably a gifted child and now you’re burnt out trying to resolve trauma.

Escape from Falaise: you’re hella impatient and bullshit your way through life.

[rangertessadarling]

not to make anyone upset, but what if Will had refused Maddie?

and eventually Gilan had to begrudgingly remove him from the corps?

—

and Will left Redmont to find Jory and to “start over”

and ended up somehow disbanding the slave ring on his own and killing Jory

only to discover that killing Ruhl did nothing for his satisfaction, and he would need to return to his post as a ranger to fully be happy again.

but unfortunately it’s harder than it seems to just allow someone who had been- essentially- dishonorably discharged from the ranger corp, back into the ranger corp.

and Will just ends up living at Araluen and doing little things around the fief that would ~technically~ be under the jurisdiction of a ranger, but everyone already knows him as a ranger and no one would say otherwise. also while he’s there, he starts training Maddie, unofficially of course, and completely off the record.

meanwhile Gilan is getting an ulcer trying to find a loophole to let Will back in the corps.

eventually, the Red Fox clan happens. and Maddie is ill prepared, but Will is already there at Araluen. and he sniffs out Dimon almost immediately, and once again ends up saving the lives of practically the entire Royal family.

King Duncan then offers Will a reward for his honorable actions, but Will’s only request is restoring his place in the ranger corps.

so Ranger Will Treaty was reinstated and he moved back to Redmont happily. taking Maddie with him to officially start her apprenticeship.

the time away from the cabin- and from Redmont, had done him good. memories of Alyss still painfully flood over him when he first walks in. but they’re more bittersweet than all bitter now.

so he trains Maddie, and she’s a second year when they go to rescue the prince, but nonetheless all the more skilled because of her “extra” training at Araluen.

[solarishashernoseinabook]

4 8 23 for writers

Thank you!

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like) Ah, thank you, you've given me an excuse to talk about a line I like :D From my second-ever RA fic, Built With My Own Two Hands, which features Will having retired after a leg injury forces him to move around with a crutch:

Slowly Will learned that the world was not designed for anyone who was not perfectly normal. Everything that made Castle Araluen defensible – twisting, narrow staircases, heavy wood doors that were hard as rock, and high towers – also made it very hard on his leg.

I wrote this during a very introspective time of my life. I'd been suspecting for a long time that I was autistic, but wasn't entirely sure. During this time, I realised that I have fairly significant sensory issues - I can't actually tune out noise, and I never actually stop feeling my clothes - and that stimming helps a lot. I learned that certain sounds affect me more than others, and finally realised that I go into shutdowns when I get into sensory overload. Through the college program I was in, I made a couple of friends who were disabled as well - one who was deaf, one with ADHD, one with chronic migraines - and saw how our college failed, over and over, to accommodate them. And because I didn't have a diagnosis, I wasn't entitled to even the paltry accommodations I wanted (wearing foam earplugs during tests). That first line was me expressing my frustration with the world. If you're not perfectly normal in every way, the world doesn't stop for you, and wonders why you're not keeping up.

I channelled a lot more of those frustrations into The Royal Ranger, but this fic was the first time I actually expressed any of them

8. Is what you like to write the same as what you like to read? Pretty much yeah! My absolute favourite thing to read is found family fluff, which is also my favourite thing to write :D

23. What’s the story idea you’ve had in your head for the longest? I'll go with the one that I've gone the longest without writing: an AU based off the song The Log Driver's Waltz. It's entirely self-indulgent and appeals to exactly one person: me. Making it the absolute pinnacle of fan writing.....or, at least, it will be when I get around to writing it :"D

Link to the ask game if you want to play!