#the windsor by sflow

[sflow-er]

Sunday snippet?

Today, I actually had some time and energy to write for the first time in months. I mainly tinkered with The Windsor, where I kind of want to do a flashback to Henry and his estranged childhood friend Stella on the first day of Hillerska.

I'm not sure how happy I am with this version or whether it will even make it into the final edit, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway!

--

There was something really familiar about the main building at Hillerska, and not because Henry had ever been there before. On the contrary, this was his very first time on the premises after missing the open house in the spring.

It wasn’t just because he always knew he’d be coming here, either. Sure, he could easily recognise the building from all the photos he’d seen and place it in the stories he’d heard growing up – but that didn’t mean the place was familiar to him. If anything, the hall was smaller and being there without any of his friends from home felt a lot more daunting than he’d imagined.

No, the familiarity was something else. Something he had mostly just been annoyed to hear over the summer but that really lifted his spirits now he was here.

“Does that remind you of anything?”

Stella reluctantly looked up from the phone she’d been checking for the last several minutes. She clearly didn’t appreciate him breaking the awkward silence that had settled in when their parents told them to wait here together.

“Excuse me?”

“That shape on the ceiling,” Henry clarified, prompting her to look. “Isn’t it the same as the ceiling medallion in your old room?”

She pinched her lips in obvious annoyance. “It doesn’t look anything like it.”

“No but like – imagine it way smaller and raised from the ceiling, and with squiggles on top. Then it’s exactly the same.”

She rolled her eyes and let them fall back on her phone screen, calling him a weirdo under her breath.

He figured that was fair. Many years had passed since either of them last saw the thing, and Stella had never shared his fascination for it in the first place. Of course she wouldn’t remember it as well as he did.

However, that was only the first part of his observation. He ignored her dismissal and went on, “And it’s not just the ceiling, it’s this whole place. This hall is basically the same except for the window shutters. That pink room over there is just like the one where we used to –”

“I am aware that manor houses in the same style look the same,” she interrupted with an exasperated look at him. “That can’t be news to you either, so what’s your point, Henry?”

--

[young-royals-confessions]

The WIP I adore right now is The Windsor by Sflow!

There’s only one chapter so far but I eagerly await updates each day.

💜 The Windsor by @sflow-er

Rated T, 2k, ch. 1/?

After the formative year at Hillerska that brought Henry Silfverfeldt and Walter Strömbäck into each other’s lives, a lot of people assumed said lives would be upended by romantic feelings sooner or later. An event to celebrate their twenty years of friendship makes Henry think about how those people turned out to be wrong - but only about the feelings.

OR: An aged-up Henry character study, with flashbacks to the years that have passed since the end of canon. Features queerplatonic Walty, reunited childhood friends Henry & Stella, and a whole lot of thoughts on whether noble firstborn sons are allowed to be aroace.

[sflow-er]

Monday snippet!

Because I feel like I'm finally getting back into the groove with The Windsor and want to share this cute bit of reminiscence with you:

The concept of Henry’s marriage had been there all his life. It had already loomed over him and Stella when their parents arranged playdates for them, even if he was too young to understand that. He actually remembered overhearing Mikaela joke about her ‘future daughter-in-law’ once; he had genuinely assumed it meant they were about to become siblings. He’d been devastated to learn that wasn’t the case after all.

I really hope the new approach I'm taking with this chapter pans out! It's been a preposterously long time coming.

[sflow-er]

Small collection of Stella's expressions and body language for fic reference:

[sflow-er]

4, 5, 23 for the writer ask game <33

Hi Elliot, thanks so much for the numbers!

As you and @bluedalahorse both asked 4 and 23, I'm going to answer 4 and 5 for you and save 23 for her. I'll tag you in that reply!

4. A story idea you haven’t written yet

This is the question where I usually mention the Felice family background/Smysan fic, but instead, I think I'm going to get solemn for a bit.

At the moment, I have one outlline that was never meant to become a fic in the first place, and two abandoned WIPs. One of those is a Bjärstad trio first meeting one-shot that I don't think I'm ever going to finish, while the other is an S3 Walty fic that will be buried except for a couple of things that I plan to integrate into my current post-canon WIP, The Windsor.

But I do not have any new fic ideas bouncing around my head right now, and I'm not sure if I will develop any either. My priority is to finish first The Windsor and then eventually The real deal, but beyond that... Well, of course I'm not ruling anything out, but as of now, I've actually got a pretty strong feeling that they might be my last fics in this fandom.

So I guess the idea I haven't written yet would be the one where I turn the bits of Other people's secrets that aren't too dependent on canon into an original novel someday. I already have some rough plans for the Sapphic characters who would replace Wilmon, for themes and plot, etc. I've even thought about potential locations in my own town where the story could be set.

5. First sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP

Instead of the unpublished WIPs that are not likely to ever be finished, you can have this sentence from the next chapter of The Windsor, which is a flashback:

Based on what Henry’s father had heard through the parents’ council, everything had pointed towards the school inspectorate’s decision being reversed on appeal.

23. coming up in another post! Thank you again for the ask <33

I'm still open to questions from this list