#I'm a little proud of myself 👉👈

[the-phony-king-of-england]

Hi all! I know I’ve not been super active, but I’ve been working on a little fic, requested by @norozco18, and I finally feel comfortable enough to post it! 

The idea was super cute, and I’ve enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone a little with the main characters of the story.

If you get the chance to read it, I hope you enjoy! I’ll be back with my regularly scheduled programming soon enough <3

[seyvia]

📩 Simblr question of the day: A non-sims simblr question/s! Besides Sims, what other games do you play and what platforms do you like to play on? (PC, Console, Mobile...) What would genre/s do you tend to lean towards? (FPS, Sandbox, Multiplayer, Simulation, etc.)

Bonus! If a game has character customization, do you like to make a completely new character everytime or do you like to use the same OC/Sim?

Feel free to ramble, especially if you really enjoy a game (❁´◡`❁)

Thank you for thinking of me💕(>/////< " ). (Sorry it takes me so long to answer these) I'm only playing pc/mobile games currently, but I used to play lots of console/ds games. But I'll stick to talking about what's current. (I'm honestly a bit behind the times, lol 👉👈)

I play Syberia religiously every year! All three games, if I can. I didn't enjoy that recent one that came out. I wish I could explain why better then, 'the vibes were way off and the actual gameplay part of it was nonexistent,' I've played this game since I was 7, ok! It developed my brain! I have HIGH expectations and no tolerance for anything less at this point.

I also pick one of the old Her interactive 'Nancy Drew' pc games to play on the side because they make me happy and give me so much nostalgia. (The problem is I know who did it, so no surprises for me🥲) they just don't make these kind of games like they used to.

I've played farming sims since the GameCube, as some of y’all know, I only recently started playing Stardew Valley. I enjoy it far more then I imagined. If you're wondering why I hadn't played it before now, well, I simply didn't appreciate the pixel style until recently. I find it charming now♡ I've been playing Palia since last September and I'm really enjoying it. It's charming and the characters designs are something I've wanted from a farm sim for a long time, plus+ its freaking free♡ (I'm not big on multi-player, tho so I have to build up the courage to play it, I'd have loved it if it was a solo🫤). I played Ooblets on my hiatus. It was very cute and reignited my imagination♡

I bought Fallout 4 when it was on sale. I hope to play it soon, I love retro 50s/60s atomic age. My brothers are really big on it, and it actually brought us a little closer since they didn't understand my enjoyment of the era before they played the game.

I played all of Spyro reignited last summer♡ pretty proud of myself for getting almost perfect. And for mobile I play 'Good Pizza, Great Pizza' It's so cute highly recommend. I want to get home chef hustle and recreate my character in Sims, lol!

CHARACTERS: Honestly, I make a new character depending on the game and what suits my interests at the time, but they are usually the same? Like, they all kind of look like...me, sometimes...😅 when in doubt, brown hair! that's about it.

[papuchochoe]

I don't really draw but I drew some of my Viego skin concepts and for once I had fun and I'm proud of myself, so I wanted to post them 👉👈

Its:

Cafe Cuties Viego (1st iteration), because he was mentioned as a part of the universe in SG VN :D, he is strawberry-kiwi tart and his little guy's name is Kiwin ^-^. 2nd version is there because I wanted to give him more of his uncles drip also :3

Pool Party doesn't have much lore, he's just a menace, he stabs people with pool noodle, his W is a water balloon, his E is him walking at the bottom of a pool (wraith form has snorkel :3) and R is just a BIG water splash <3

PROJECT: is my saddest Viego concept because his lore is that he is a failed Mordekaiser's prototype, he has a malfunction that causes machines around stop working/act weird but he can't control it and it happens randomly, so he was thrown out. He doesn't remember anything except that Isolde was one of people who created him, so he searches for her for answers, like why does he even exist <3

PROJECT: Viego also exists so you can do a "I can fix you. Literally." joke coz he's a machine guy you know ;u;

I think his E and R VFX would be pretty, E would have rain falling down and R would have city image on impact 🥰

Withered Roseeee, I think he has better concept than mine obviously!! But I wanted to attempt one too ;u; I'd like him to reference his early base concept with rose motifs + thorn crown + Withered Rose uses lingerie in design sometimes, so I think his chest harness could change with chromas 👉👈 I was considering giving him a braid/half-mask but I think it would overdesign his top side uwu

And Dunkmaster exists because I saw a "imagine he's playing basketball, point as you and says "this ones for you!!", throws a ball and completely misses" ❤. i think he would have squeaky shoes that you hear when he enters E and he's just throwing ball on W and dunks on R and his sword is also a whole basketball hoop, he's just hurting you with pointy side, not like Darius ;w;

I knowwww these drawings arent very good, but I dont draw usually >.< it was almost the first time to me 👉👈 I want to draw all of my Keviego skin concepts, so Im missing Battle Bunny (carrot sword!!), Porcelain, Star Guardian (that everyone thinks is a Star Nemesis but he's just awkward) anddd Beego because I don't think I can handle Eclipse Knight or Ashen King armor haha

[the-sun-is-also-a-star]

Hi Sheba! I love that name btw so original and awesome, kinda like you 🤭 i hope you’ve been having a lovely day sweetheart 💗 so… since you’re in an interacting mood, can you please share with us like three or four things you love about yourself so we can love you all the more for them too 🥺👉👈

hey love! have i told you the backstory behind my name yet? its a fun one! and i think you're pretty darn original and awesome too! the boop feature was truly a godsend simply because i got to make beautiful mutuals like you!! (and im gonna need a name for you so i can give you your very own special tag)

i am having a pretty good day and this ask just made it better!! i hope you're having a lovely day too <3

ooooh 3 things i like about myself this is a tough one but I'm gonna try just for you!

1. I like my eyes! this will probably be the only physical feature on this list but i have really dark brown eyes and quite long eyelashes and a tiny little mole underneath the corner of my left eye and i think its pretty neat!

2. I love the way I love people. this one is pretty obscure i think, but when i care about people, i care about them deeply. i find it pretty hard to let people in as of late and im actually somewhat of an introvert irl, not in a shy smiles kind of way, but in an aloof, distant, comes off as intimidating kind of way. but around the people i love, i really melt and open up and i love how i am around them and i love how much i love them...if that makes sense lmao

3. I like my ability to write/talk. I've always been pretty good with words which is ironic considering how bad i am at informal conversation, but I'm an avid public speaker and i also love writing. so my ability to weave together words and to enlighten people on my way of thinking is something I'm pretty proud of!

this was such a fun and sweet ask thank you so much for it :) <3

[caroodraws]

I'm a little hesitant to post this because it's so rough, but I wanted to export it for my personal records before my Adobe subscription ran out and thought I might as well post it here lol

I tried to do a 3 day short film project this past month, but it turned out to be way more work than I anticipated. 👉👈 It slowly turned into a 1 week project and then 2 week project until I eventually completely ran out of steam on it and have... Set it asside for now until I can afford adobe again. (even then I don't really want to use adobe products again for my personal work since there are so many other better/cheaper options out there!!! Idk I have mixed feelings about adobe)

While I perceive this project as a failure, I think it's chill and healthy to acknowledge the work I put into it and feel proud of myself for trying something that was a bit too ambitious for me at the time.

I genuinely had a great time working on this while it lasted though!! I wanna work my way up to eventually creating full short films in my spare time and find a good non-adobe pipeline.

I'll be posting my boards (which contain the whole story, this is just the first scene) and the sparse design work I did on this later :0

[the-curviest-marshmallow]

1, 5 , 8 , 9 , 14, 17, 18 , 19 , 94, 100 (I skipped so much , I got so eager to send something quick 👁️👁️)

Continue to be eager!! Please!! I am too

1. Tag your biggest tumblr crush

Ahh, I can't choose so have 3 😖

@lostboyosworld @z-d-e-a-d-1 @neutralmilkhoetel

5. What's the best orgasm you've had in the past few months?

It was I think last weekend.. got really high and me and my partner both kinda got lost and were grinding against each other 🫠 I like being so so so mutually needy and pathetic

8. What position or angle or specific technique makes you cum without fail?

^^^^^ needy, messy, desperate sex.. and idk what to call it but on my tummy, between my thighs from the back. It's hard to cum alone most times

9. When was the last time you watched porn?

Before bed last night 👉👈 I sometimes just get myself worked up before bed and then I'll be touching myself all day (today was a little frustrating so I didn't get to)

14. What's your go to nude pic to send someone?

I'm really proud of this one, I posted it already.. so I need to find a favorite I think 😵‍💫 but it's from the angle of my hips looking up.. you can see my tummy and curves on the sides making a cute little dip, look up more and you see nipples lol! It looks so soft and I'd bite them if I could

17. Have you ever watched someone masturbate online? Has anyone ever watched you?

Yes to both! It was a long time ago and I don't think I could do it live again. I've always been a little camera shy but anyway.. it was kinda a challenge to see who could hold out the longest heheh

18. Do you have anyone from tumblrs nudes in your phone right now?

Not exactly but they're in the dms 👀 I wouldn't mind swapping with you too

19. What underwear do you have on right now?

They're kinda cute?

94. Describe your body in a way that would turn us on.

Enough body to worship up and down for days. Long legs and grabbable thighs that feel so perfect squishing your face between. Tits that fill both hands.. but please be gentle. I really want your mouth around my nipples and for you to leave hickeys to decorate all the empty space. (That last bit may not have been my body but like.. please?)

100. Put your hand in your underwear and type a reply with your other hand. Just touch yourself.

I already did once I showed off my panties. I can't think with you perverts rubbing off on me. Literally. I wish

[hyperbolicgrinch]

Teehee,,, here she comes,,, to ask,,, questionnnnnsss, (no pressure of course bestie) 1, 5, 12, 13, 16, 25, 29, 33 and 34 !!! But no pressure to anything!!! no pressure to answer either <3 I’m on laptop so this is a v boring ask i apologise it won't let em format this at all :(

There she is!!!! To ask questions!!! (Bless you for fighting the laptop to send me these, ilysm 💕)

1. From one to five stars, how would you rate your writing? (No downplaying yourself!)

I simply can't. It's impossible. I never look directly at my writing so I don't know her well enough 😂

Okay, fine, fine, she's mid, that's what I'll say?? So ⭐⭐ ?? Not doing anything spectacular but gets the job done more than not?

5. What’s the fic you’re most proud of?

Maybe my All Out!!! requested ones because I actually finished and posted them, which was a miracle 😌✌️

12. Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about.

Honestly I'm really excited about a silly modern university One Piece au I'm sort of doing on the side sometimes when I need a breather from other fics. Even though I've barely written anything officially for it, it's a cumulation of all my sister's and my 2am ramblings and silly little biased ideas and I just really wanna bring them to life so she can read them. 😂

13. First fandom you ever wrote for?

Ooo, if my memory serves right it was One Piece or Supernatural. I didn't ever finish or publish any of them but yeah- gateway drugs.

16. Any guilty pleasure trope(s)?

Let me think, what's at the top of my head right now...

Argh, I guess I like when arseholes catch feelings for each other but still stay arseholes about it adsfggh 😅

Ohhhh and where one of them gets injured or beat up or whatever and the other dickhead is like "tell me who did this to you" while cradling their face or something hnggg 😳👉👈

Or when they've been complete dicks to each other but one of them turns up on the doorstep of the other cause they had nowhere else to go and then they have to deal with each other and they fall in luvvvv 😏

I also really am a bitch for the bastard is in love with and pining for other character (in fiction!!! In fiction!!!!). ugh if done right and pulled off well (in fiction!!!! In fiction!!!), I am unfortunately on the edge of my seat 🫣

Love me a bitch that gets jealous and starts acting out too (in fiction!!!!!) because as a bitch that do get jealous (not to that level, I am not pulling that crap, I promise) it speaks to me a little ngl 🫢

Ooooo and the fuck the whole world, I choose you thing. Like if they damn the whole world for their person/people then I'm there. I'm right there. It's gotta be done right thooooo but to be fair, it's pretty hard to mess up 😌

Okay gonna stop outing myself on main because I could go on adafgdhjy and just end with, not really a guilty pleasure, just a pleasure, but if there's a forehead press I am on the floor every time. The chef's are kissing with tongue!! Nothing like a forehead press!!! 😍

25. Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them!

Okay so the big One Piece one I'm working on atm, I keep having an urge to make a sequel after it that let's me kinda do a fix it au and teams the characters up again for a joint revenge plot. I can see it in my mind but making it work is going to be a lot. Still love to daydream about it tho 😂

29. Have you ever gone outside of your comfort zone for a fic? How did it turn out?

Hmm. Well atm I'm writing a lot of seggs and I'm not that (pun intended) jazed about writing it because it's not really my thing or in my wheelhouse, so that might count?

Don't know how it turned out cause it ain't finished yet but pray for me. It's a slog but the uglies must be bumped, I guess (instantly regrets saying that) 🙃

33. Is there anything you wish your audience knew about your writing or writing process?

I'd need an audience first, pfftt 🤭

Nah, um, that it takes literal years and none of that shit is written in order. It's all an illusion, babbeyyy!!

34. Copy and paste an excerpt you’re particularly fond of.

Crikey okay everything I'm writing at the moment is pissing me off so here's something I wrote in like 2016 and haven't touched since but that I think about often (even if I would change most of it today) because of a compliment I got on it. 😙

(It was for a Zoro pov zolu ficlet after the timeskip meet up when all the crew gets back together again in One Piece because that arc always leaves me with some damn big feelings and they have to go somewhere 👁️👄👁️)

"I'M GONNA BE KING OF THE PIRATES!"

And he will be.

And Zoro will be there when he does, because oh, he's not leaving this thundering feeling for anything in the world ever again.

He shuts his one good eye, and smiles.

The heavens will hear Luffy's name long before they ever hear his own.

[cherrypeaking]

good morning baby~ 🥺🩵 it's finally friday!! we made it to the end of the week!

this week has felt so long and exhausting yet somehow the time i spend with you everyday feels like it zooms by ;; i wish there were 100 hours in a day so i could spend them all with you 🥺🥺 talking to you everyday isn't enough i need to sleep on your ceiling or live in your walls or something shdjhsg i'm always so thankful for the time we spend together everyday, i love my cherry time so much but lately it feels like i miss you even more than usual >< i didn't even think that was possible!!

speaking of cherry time, while i'm happy i got this new job i'm so scared it's gonna cut into my time with you :( obviously i will always make time for you no matter what bc i love you and while i doubt the tasks i'll be given will be too difficult or time consuming, i always prefer having time with you with little to no interruptions >< i just have to remember that i'm doing this so i can have some quality time with my hot choco fairy in the early winter 🥺🥺🥺🩵🩵 i want to be with you and hold your hand so badly my love ;3; 🩵🩵🩵

since i'm back on my #employedgirl shit, i went to the grocery store and bought stuff for food prep :> i'm gonna start making salads everyday like i used to but i also bought sushi bc i can't resist a good shrimp tempura roll 😩😩😩

i didn't get to do my miniatures today since the day kinda got away from me (i took the world's sweatiest nap i swear dhjshg but the dream i had... 😳😳🤭🤭 i'll have to tell you all about it~) but i'll probably work on it some more this weekend~ every time i look at all the little furniture i have to put together i think about you and how tiny you are 🥺🥺🩵🩵 my sweet baby is so little~

i was thinking about how much you like pretty pink makeup (which is so cuute it's so you~ 🥺🥺🥺) and i saw this 4ce stuff on pinterest at the perfect time <3 pretty pink makeup + pretty pink princess taehyun = ultimate cherrycore 🥺🥺🩷🩷🩷

i'm missing you so much rn my baby love 🥺🥺🥺🩵🩵 i hope you slept well and i hope your shoulder is finally feeling better! i think i'm feeling good to get back into stretching but i have a tendency to push things so i think i'll give myself another day to chill just in case ><

i love you so much my sweet~ i'll always be here for you no matter what! like i always say, as your number one fan i'm rooting for you!! 🥺🥺🩵🩵🩵

i’m so excited for the weekend to be here finally mommy!! 😭😭 just had my gf toast (hehehe 👉👈🩷)

the week felt super long and busy indeed :’) i can’t wait to be done cause i needed a break… i also felt this way, it feels like i miss you even more than usual 🥺🥺 you’re the one i think all the time when i go to sleep 👉👈🩷 if you were on my ceiling or in my walls though i’d want you to come right into my bed instead 🥹🩷

i get that ;; i guess you never know what you have until it’s gone hence why i always made sure to live it to the fullest 🥺🥺🩷 since you were employed when we met i’m sure we will be okay though~ i just hope my mommy is fully well rested for her first day at her new work 🥺🩷 i love you mommy i’m so proud of you 😚

SUSHIIIIII YAYYY 🥹🩷 i get the need to meal prep hehe :3 salads are really nice to make >3< 🩷🩷 i hope you like whatever you make to eat, my mommy’s such a nice cook so i don’t doubt it 🥺🩷

ooooh a dream… 😳🤭🩷🩷 i can’t wait to know what it is about >\\< i’m excited to see a new progress pic cause it already looks so cute >3< i wish i could fit in there so i could be in your hand 🥺🥺🩷

THE MOODBOARD AAAAAH ITS SO PRETTY (but you’re even prettier and more beautiful 😚🩷) i love pink makeup indeed hehe tho i haven’t put on makeup in a while :’3 i really like it 🥺🩷

i missed you so much mommy!! i kept waking up at 3 then 5am i had to force myself to get back to sleep not to feel dizzy during the day but i wanted to talk to you each time i woke up ;; my shoulder is doing fine i think there’s still a sore point… i’ll see if i don’t opt for longer but softer stretches >< if you tend to push a little it’s better to take it easy and get one more day of break mommy 🥺🥺 i don’t want my mommy to get hurt 🥺🩷🩷

>\\\\< thank you mommy i’m always here for you, i love you i’m your number one fan as well 🥺🩷

[moonchild-in-blue]

Firstly, when you get this, you have to answer with 5 things you like about yourself, publicly. Then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)

🥺👉👈 I'm someone's favourite? Fankss anon 💖

5 things I like about me? Whoo boy-

My eyes - they're inky black, so dark that you cannot tell the iris and pupil apart unless you shine direct light on them (please don't). They're also really big and expressive. Someone once told me they hated them for being so dark, and even though it was in a joking manner, I still carry that with me. I love my eyes - they're shiny and dark like the night sky!

My brain - love-hate relationship with this chemically imbalanced fellow, but he's trying. I take pride in my intelligence. I'm not a genius or anything remotely similar, but I am smart. I've always been academically proficient, and quite successful at it, despite the circumstances. I'm that one annoying friend that spends way more time on Wikipedia than it is necessary, and always has a "fun fact" (that usually it's really only funny to me 😬).

My ability to make pancakes - I make, like, really good pancakes. I've perfected my recipe throughout the years, so they're always 10/10 delicious. They're my sister's favourite.

My skin - another love-hate. My skin is incredibly sensitive; I have eczema, allergies, acne scars that won't fade, you name it. But it is also beautiful - when I get enough sunlight, it's a beautiful golden shade of caramel brown. And when I don't, it's a nice shade of light brown, like boba tea! There was a time in my life I thought it looked wrong. Different. But now I could never, ever imagine myself without it. It bears the colours of all my ancestors; my heritage.

My resilience - I won't get into details, but there have been many times where I was very close to the edge. For many, many years since way too young, I had avoided making real plans for the future, because I simply thought I would never get this far. And yet, I still stand. I wish I didn't have to go through so much to become like this, but at least I'm still here.

Well, I struggled so hard to make it 5. Let this serve as a reminder to myself and to you - embrace yourself. Be proud of who you are, of what you do. No matter how seemingly small or insignificant - you are here. Living, and breathing, and kicking ass. So show yourself some grace, and maybe a hug.

Thank you dearest anon, I love you very much 💖 smooches a little nap for you 😚

[clockworkspider]

3, 13, 32, 59?

For the ask 👉👈

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

So it depends on whether i'm trying to write a fic or if the fic's trying to get me to write it.

Once in a blue moon, an inspiration will struck, and it'll just bounce in my brain and expand and then i'll have the whole scene playing in my mind on loop and it won't leave until I write it. Normally this is gonna be really good. These little wishes and Changeling are inspiration fics, and are probably the best ones I have recently.

If I have SOME inspiration and wanna write a longer thing for it (multiple scenes lol), but already have a few semi-solid scenes or ideas, then I really gotta talk through it with a friend for it to gain form. (What i'm trying to achieve for Vampire AU. Thank you for letting me bounce things off you.)

If I wanna write but has no motivation or ideas, then I generally ask for prompts. And like... it has to be prompts through the ask box or a comment, not through a challenge. Cause I'll be perfectly honest that knowing at least ONE person will read the writing is enough motivation for me. Cause like... when I have a solid inspiration I know it'll be good, I'm writing for myself. But when I am trying to milk an idea or squeeze water out of a rock I never know if it'll end up good, you know. And if I don't feel like there's a single specific person I'm writing for then I am not as motivated... So then i'll try to marinate on the prompt while walking or falling asleep. Just... keeping it in the back of my mind for a while. And most of the time nothing comes of it these days (it use to be so easy, I use to be able to write something for every prompt, but now my brain is like 'no writing unless you know it'd be decent!' and I'm cursed). But sometimes things come out of it! And it ends up good! I found you was written that way and I'm rather proud of it.

But yeah that's the process.

Mostly it involves staring at the cieling hallucinating a lot. Rambling about characterization and complaining about the characters I'm writing.

13. what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

Um. I have a hard time following tips.

Oh, the laws of "omit needless words" and "diction" are two tips that I deeply internalized and trained myself to do, and is actively fighting AGAINST whenever I'm writing enstars fic. I'm like "no minimalism, clock, you gotta let it all out, otherwise it'd be OOC!"

32. Name three of your favorite fanfic writers.

Umm... Well I can definitely list my friends again, I think ehyde, greymantleish and kaz knows I love them but we actually haven't been in the same fandom for a while, so I'll go by most recently read.

But i'll go by order of last read. It'd be ivoryandhorn, who write some super great IbaNagi.

4dmemedoggy, who writes really good ibayuzu. (In Chinese, tho.)

And asagiri, also an ibanagi writer.

59. Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

They literally all know. Except my current co-workers. I don't think I've told many of them because we don't talk much.

[self-ships-ahoy]

15, 16, and 17!

end of the year selfship ask game 

Thank you so much, Hannah!!

15: Is there any piece of selfship-related content you’ve created this year that you’re particularly fond of? (this can be art, writing, a headcanon you came up with, etc. anything counts!)

I'm fond of a whole lot of pictures I've made this year, even though there was a big chunk of the year where I couldn't draw anything. The ones I think I'm most proud of are the Techmedic Beach Pic and Anniversary Pic. The beach pic was something I wanted to do for a long time, ever since I saw the reference image, and the anniversary one was also for a color palette challenge and just absolutely adorable.

Also....I did write this thing that I'm sorta fond of.... 👉👈

16: Did you pick up a new piece of media because of an F/O this year?

Hmm...well I did watch Encanto through a bunch of YouTube videos XD I still have yet to play O.verwatch, but I have started watching streams of the game every now and then.. Hmm, can't say I actually engaged in new media myself this year.. 🤔

17: How do you and your F/O(s) spend new year’s eve together? do you celebrate in any way? do you have any important new years traditions? (if you celebrate the new year on any other point of the year than December 31 this question also applies of course!)

Well, Medic and I have a sort of little party with the others... Dai Zong and I look at fireworks in February, and he also accompanies me to celebrate today as well. I think all around, my f/os and I try to spend time with friends around this time, celebrating how far we've come and making it through another year with possibilities on the horizon.

[tartrazeen]

I swear I love the friendship between Angus and Rohan. Angus is my favourite character, and Rohan's okay as an extension of Angus (I tried to see if I had any interest in Rohan away from Angus, but the best I could do was, "I'm off on my own adventure, all by myself! Oh boy, I can't wait to come back and tell Angus what happens - that's my whole motivation for going!" So. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ He's forever relegated to being a package deal).

... But I also love proving how unbreakable their friendship is by making them fight until they borderline break up. 🥺👉👈

I don't know why that's so fascinating to me. I get that I love making Angus miserable for my own entertainment, which - in my defence - is the canon treatment of him on the show. But Rohan's got so many boring "ooh i have to save the kingdom" problems that he's only fun when I make him miserable over personal stuff - stuff from his old life.

And what's Rohan's old life? Living in a hut with Angus and being Cathbad's invisible, peasant apprentice. By the end of the show, he's gotten rid of that and doused himself in ancient prophecies, legendary fame, respect, power, a place in the king's court, a mysterious and long lost royal family, becoming popular at last (I still maintain the guy had zero other friends), and so actively embracing his role as Draganta that you'd think the biggest reminder of who he once was would be... well, an embarrassing reminder.

But Angus has never been embarassing to Rohan. In a lot of episodes, Rohan's really proud of him. After Angus says he sees gold in a field, Rohan's practically bragging about how good Angus is at spotting gold anywhere, and he's all happy when he learns how to steal a buckler from Torc like Angus taught him. The closest he gets to being embarrassed by Angus is, I think, when Angus is goofing off while Rohan's trying to learn how that fancy duel against Lugad is gonna work. (Rohan got into that situation by being a dumbass though, and I don't think he actually says anything. It's Cathbad who shuts it down, so it's Cathbad's fault uwu)

After that, maybe during the episode with the wish, where Rohan starts thinking Angus can't be trusted to make a 'good' wish on his own? And he's still not embarrassed - he's concerned. Rohan goes, "We need to help Angus do the best he can 🤔," not "Ooh, I can't be associated with this guy 😬."

So that friendship, that pride in who Angus is, the comfortable assumption that Angus'll be in Rohan's old and new life (and the insistence on it in the early episode where they all get enchanted and start attacking each other, and Rohan's like, "nooo i need my bestie 🥺 angus snap out of it 🥺🥺") is just a big Chef's Kiss. I love that he treats Angus like a walking safety net. Rohan's sad? Sick? Worried? Nervous? Scared? Awkward? Ass-kicked-by-Garrett? About to be dragon-mauled? Bored? Just basically unhappy in any way that Rohan can't instantly solve on his own? There's Angus 💖

Let's ruin it! 😃

Lately, I've been trying to make a fight where it's Angus who starts it, but it still comes back to being Rohan's fault anyway. 😆 Why? Blorbo privileges. Sorry, Rohan. But yeah, I want Angus getting his hands emotionally dirty instead of Rohan just being way too defensive and lashing out over something again. I adore the bull-in-a-china-shop energy, but let's let the angst lead us for once.

I'm picturing the build-up in the context of how they probably grew up: Rohan helping with the obvious chores and doing what he was told, but Angus - being a whole year older - actually learning what they had to do.

It's still Angus, so I'm not thinking he learned how to magically plan in advance. But with how resourceful he is, he'd absolutely figure out solutions to whatever mess they were in - ones neither of them saw coming 'cause they're both a little dumb. Like if winter "snuck up" on them, so Angus has to find where some Irish Squirrels© are nesting - and also who in a village did stock up, and what he can take from that stock while he's sent Rohan off in the other direction to innocently hunt/discover if Ireland even has squirrels. Or if their clothes start to wear or rip or get outgrown, and it's Angus who has to learn how to stitch them back together or "borrow" fabric from somewhere else to lengthen everything.

They've always had a Trial and Error dynamic between them. But Angus is doing the trial and error, stumbling through it after they've already stumbled into it, and Rohan's safely learning from those mistakes on the back of Angus' examples. It's adorable in how totally bullshit it is, because even when Rohan's calling Angus dumb (affectionate), we damn well know Rohan only didn't do whatever stupid thing Angus did because Angus did it first. When there's no hindsight available, Rohan's sprinting to do that dumb thing himself ("Yay, a fancy duel! I accept, Lugad! What do you mean it's a trap?").

So if winter sneaks up one year, Rohan wouldn't know what to do. Angus would bail them out by thinking quickly, and then instantly forget about it once it was spring again. It'd be up to Rohan to remember the next year that winter is gonna screw them over for food, remind Angus, who'll go, "Oh yeah! Okay, well, here's the plan." And then the year after that, Angus is going to forget aaaall about it again, and Rohan will remember and say, "Angus, it's time to do the food plan for winter."

After a while, it'd get to be enough of a yearly routine that someone on the outside could say, "Wow, Rohan. You're so responsible. You're always taking care of that lazy friend of yours."

(i think i shared my other version of this before, the one where rohan doesn't know angus told those lies yet, and he has to deal with the guilt of letting angus making that choice on his own even though angus was also a kid. but for this scenario, i want rohan being confidently proud of his friend - and confidently proud of them being at a place in life where angus can sit around and wait for rohan to remember that oops they're gonna starve again if they don't start prepping for winter right now. i am equally obsessed with the idea of rohan trying to pay angus back for everything he did to care for them as children, by having rohan try to provide for them now as adults :3 hence my headcanon that rohan got his own hut to make sure angus had a place to stay, since rohan could've stayed with cathbad a long while yet. and that angus doesn't know that and thinks of himself as a squatter in rohan's hut :'))

I like to imagine Rohan having Angus' back against comments like that, where he either tells them, "It's not like that," or gets into a long explanation of how Angus saved them both from death's door during their first winter. I see him doing that a lot with Cathbad, who'd be losing his mind trying to understand what's to gain from having Angus around.

"Well," Rohan says, "Angus was the one who'd lie and say he already ate just so I'd eat the last scraps of food we had, because he knew there wasn't enough to share and wanted me to be the one not to starve. So if I have to be the one who remembers winter comes every year, I'll do that."

So - same concept when we're talking about their clothes: growing "snuck up" on them, and so did "roughhousing and being tiny terrors leads to ripping your clothes." Angus learns how to patch and sew, getting really good at it for how often that has to happen, but Rohan's the one who puts the pieces together on, "Hm. These clothes keep not-fitting... I think we're growing, Angus 🤔" and "My shirt feels thin at the elbows 🤔 I think it's getting a hole in it, maybe?"

In other words, Rohan's the one picking up on the pattern again. Here, the answer's just 'Hand Angus clothes, get patched clothes back,' which is why Angus is the one who's always doing it (note: Rohan would know how to sew, he can't possibly not know, if not out of necessity then at least out of curiosity, but it's definitely gonna be an Angus job. Angus - our little pickpocket - is better with his hands anyway, and I am obsessed with the idea of Rohan coming to visit him in jail one day and uhhhhhhhh shoving a ripped shirt through the bars like, "If you're not busy... 🙂" And I think Angus would find that hilariously cheeky and also be happy he's got a way to feel useful as a guest in Rohan's hut 🥲). And Rohan might even be the one to say, "We should just make a new shirt instead of patching this one up all the time," and that'd lead Angus to figure out how to find/borrow/make one.

Injuries too, definitely. With all the fun encounters Angus has with guards and people who've caught him mid-theft, I picture him getting hurt worse when he does get hurt, but Rohan jumping off of walls and picking fights and falling out of trees and getting rocks thrown at him (by request) waaaaay more often. Angus is the one reacting again, learning how to fix the part where Rohan's shoulder isn't in its shoulder-hole anymore, and learning which powders un-poison that kid when Cathbad's away for a few days and Rohan was pretty sure he'd learned to do a 'proper' spell.

... Rohan does not learn the pattern for this one. 😝 He's chaos, Angus is chaos, but Angus at least starts to get a spidey-sense for when Rohan's next move is being driven by overt overconfidence. It's the same in the show: Angus goes along with dumb plans, but he starts to voice his concern when Rohan seems eeriely sure they don't need a plan at all (see: "let's just go to the dragon first" and "i'll just leave angus tied up, garrett won't take too long to beat").

Honestly, that fight in Friends For Life could've half-been because Rohan's praised for being lucky he stayed behind and lucky he was able to fight those Temrans on his own. That luck being validated as a tactical choice was gonna go straight to his head and have him charge into a crowd twice as big next time - and lose. (Obviously the show wasn't saying all that, but it fits in pretty nicely uwu)

Dinner - and this is the last example before the actual scenes - would be the same idea. Angus and Rohan would get hungry, not have a plan, Angus would bail them out that night, and Rohan would remember they have to actually eat every day. I think they'd both learn to cook, actually. With no plan, Angus is gonna forget every night, and if he's wandered off for too long, he might not get back in time to feed widdle Rohan 🥺 So Rohan might learn in the out-of-necessity way.

But Angus likes things that are actually good, and he's comfy eating that mystery stew swearing it's good. Either of them mentioning that what they're eating doesn't taste nice would get Angus to - again - bail them out of it. He'd learn to cook intentionally, maybe even bake things over the fire, and when he goes out to hunt or forage, he's specifically looking for ingredients in a meal.

Rohan seems more like a guy who'd go, "Hey, I shot this rabbit. Can you do anything with it?" and Angus would do culinary improv, otherwise Rohan would skin it and cook it and have them eat it totally plain.

... Cleaning (LAST one). I do think Angus likes to be clean, or at least he likes the luxury of hot baths. But - like, we've seen him mix powders around. He makes lots of mess. So I'm not envisioning someone who dusts and mops and has a whole Tidy Up Day.

But! Angus does draw maps to loot he's hidden. And he crawls and climbs and navigates his way through that castle. And the only times he's been pissed about the state of the hut, it was for two decently similar things:

"I'm leaving. 😤 Because I'm enchanted and angry. 😤😤 Why can't I find any of my stuff around the hut?!"

"Of course you couldn't find your stupid cup in here. 😤 This stupid hut is a pig sty. 😤😤"

In other words, Angus likes knowing where everything is. He's not tidy, he's organized. Rohan? Apparently he's neither, assuming Cathbad was telling the truth about Rohan being a crappy apprentice.

So what's the 'problem' Angus would have to bail them out of?

On one end, probably Rohan taking things, moving them, not putting them back, and then him or Angus getting pissed when they can't find it - even though Angus knows exactly where it was supposed to be.

On the other and more immediate end, with Angus being a sneaky guy, he's definitely tried to creep quietly back into the hut at night, tripped, nearly broken his neck, and then started swearing so loud that he woke Rohan and the rest of the village up.

I get the vibe that Angus has tried setting things in order a few times before, and Rohan has given it his best effort to follow the plan... but forgot how it was supposed to be set up. Or forgotten which things were his and which were just for Angus (and which things were stolen), until Angus finally had to hide things outside of the hut and drew all those maps to keep himself organized... until others caught onto that, and he was forced to keep the really important stuff in the hut again - away from Rohan somehow.

Personally, I like to think that Angus has a highly acute way of organizing everything, knows exactly where to put it, and can find all of it at a moment's notice - but he's a thief, so he's gotten used to putting things where people wouldn't normally look, and he's a squirrel (do they have squirrels in Ireland?!), so it looks like he's just putting random shit everywhere. Like how he's looking for his stuff under Rohan's cot? That's on purpose. "They would never check his bed." And there's that idea I had that he's always reverse-pickpocketing things onto Rohan as his 'extra pockets'. 😆

But that leads to Angus being the one who knows where stuff is. Would not be surprised - would be delighted - if he's the one doing inventory on Cathbad's stuff to keep Rohan from screwing it up, and if Cathbad's had to reluctantly ask Angus at least once if he's seen such-and-such powders the last time he was rifling through Cathbad's things. But certainly any time Rohan needs something that's not obviously in plain sight - or even if it is but he's just not sure if it's 'safe' - he shouts for Angus to tell him where it is. Rohan is Angus' extra pockets, and Angus is Rohan's extra memory (you know, the guy who famously gets distracted by gold and girls all the time).

So that's how they grew up! That's their dynamic. Angus reacts and problem-solves, Rohan recognizes and repeats. Angus feels like he's earning his keep around here, and Rohan feels like Angus finally stopped thinking he has to earn anything (lol. Rofl, even).

Bring in Rohan's new life. Post-canon. Where is he?

Confidently embodying Draganta

About to learn what it's like to be a prince

Realizing he has a real mom and a real brother (feelings towards them are irrelevant) and maybe even a real dad too

Surrounded by royal friends

Eating at the king's table, and even telling others to get food and say Rohan sent them (like he did with Human!Aideen)

Free access to Cathbad's chamber

Experience leading Kells' army and telling everyone to stand down

It's impressive. Especially when that all happened because he yelled at the king lmao

What I'm picturing is that Rohan starts feeling welcomed by the others. He's Kells' champion, he's genuinely friends with the princess, so everyone expects him to be at the castle.

Deirdre and occasionally Ivar and Garrett like to talk about things royalty is expected to do - sometimes smugly. But from one royal to another royal, it's meant to be reassuring and almost ironically smug. It's something non-royals wouldn't get. After a while, Rohan (who's Maeve's son) would have one of them point out that he is a prince. Not in a flashy way, because it's not like they'd expect him to change overnight, but they'd certain start giving him advice and reassurances.

For example:

"Rohan, your shirt's ripped."

"Is it? Oh. I'll have Angus take a look at it later."

"Don't be ridiculous. We have a seamstress right here."

"... You want your seamstress to mend my shirt?"

"She'll only need a moment. You're a prince; you shouldn't be walking around with holes in your shirt."

"... Oh."

"In fact, you could do with a new shirt altogether."

"Oh, that isn't necess-"

"Call it a gift. It's a token to thank you for... well... banishing your mother. :/"

":/ I banished my mother and all I get is a shirt?"

"A nice one. 😌"

"Oh. Well, thank you. :)"

"If you have any other holes in your clothes, you can bring them over too."

"Wow. :) Well. Thank you, Deirdre."

"Of course. 😌"

Normal conversation, right? Deirdre's being nice, and only trying to get Rohan to accept her kindness by invoking the Royalty Rationalization: where you're supposed to let servants do shit for you because that's the natural order of being royalty, dw about it.

And Rohan, being new to this, would find it worth telling Angus about (SEE? He can't have any solo adventures without them involving Angus somehow 😭). He might laugh about it, and outright say, "Deirdre said I could because I'm a prince."

Angus could say, "That's clever, 'cause I was gonna ask when they'd do mine."

You know. Subconsciously noting the subtle class divide that's never previously existed. It's not enough for either of them to know it's what happened, but the words have been spoken out loud.

Here's where things deviate from usual Mean Rohan Is Mean and Does Not Appreciate How Much Angus Sacrifices for Him scenario. Normally, I'd be like, "Rohan laughs it off and they never bring it up again. It's just some unspoken privilege for Rohan now, and it doesn't bother Angus in isolation, but it's not gonna be in isolation for long."

We're not doing that. I'm bored with that. Asshole/Thoughtless!Rohan is so 2023, I just decided.

Instead, Rohan... kinda goes to bed that night thinking about this. He thinks it's nice Deirdre offered, and he's not planning to have it happen all the time. He might be a prince, but he didn't grow up as one. It'd be weird to start acting like it now. But... since Deirdre is offering, maybe he'll take her up on it.

And it's a gift, right? To thank him?

It's like the 6th century or something - these people don't have giant closets, and I only remember Rohan having three or four outfits: the red shirt with the chainmail, the yellow shirt and the... tunic thing he has at the beginning, and I think he has a blue shirt at one point. Not a lot of stuff. So bringing like six articles of clothing isn't a huge deal.

But he's wondering if he could bring - maybe... ten articles. Maybe. If that's too much, then maybe only eight.

Because he's not the only one with holes in his stuff, and Angus has been stitching both their clothes for years. It'd be a nice surprise, wouldn't it? Getting some of his things stitched too?

He finds Deirdre the next morning and asks (in that very polite, very demure way he has of asking sometimes) if it'd be too much trouble for him to bring some of Angus' things as a well. As a double-gift, if that's all right. Rohan defeated Maeve but technically Angus was the one who flew Maeve to wherever she is now, and he'll just keep rambling his way into why it would make sense until Deirdre finally cuts him off and says, "Rohan, it's fine. Of course you can. You're both welcome to anything we have. He's a knight too, and we're friends. :)"

And Rohan's obviously still thinking as a peasant, because he reflexively assumes that obviously he's not welcome to anything they have. He's a guest in the castle. But he'll accept the gift. After all, he's a prince, and he can't have holes in his shirt, right? :D

He gets his clothes sewn up. He gets Angus' clothes sewn up. Surprisingly, he sees the seamstress start to cut up spots that weren't ripped, but when he asks, she says there were actually stitches there as well. Apparently Angus is quite good at mending tears, because Rohan didn't even know those parts were mended. But he isn't as good as the seamstress, who spotted the handiwork clear as day. She reopens them to mend them again, this time making them invisible, as is simply expected when handling royalty's clothes.

And there's - uh... a lot to mend. Angus' clothes are thicker and don't get scuffed up nearly as much as Rohan's do, so Angus' hardly need a fraction of the work. But the seamstress gets to one of Rohan's shirts and asks if this is the one he's going to replace. There wasn't any talk about replacing a shirt, and it takes Rohan a while to realize this is the polite way of telling a prince that their shirt sucks and it's more holes than fabric, get a new one.

Rohan meekly says to skip mending that one, and when Deirdre asks later if it's all finished, Rohan mentions this. To which Deirdre rolls her eyes and tells Rohan he can have a new shirt, to which Rohan asks if this is the same as the new shirt she said he was getting, to which Deirdre says obviously not 🙄, because Rohan's shirts take two seconds to sew so this one doesn't count.

"You're a prince, Rohan. When I say you're getting a new shirt, I mean a nice one. With nice fabric. Replacing one of yours isn't even something you should have to decide."

It's a neat little moment, where the 'yours' calls back to the class divide that has always existed. A year ago, Rohan might have thought she was insulting him. Now, though, knowing he's royalty as well... he starts to understand the joke. The irony in saying his 'peasant shirts' are so easy to replace is her way of emphatically inviting him to accept the offer, because surely he can understand the difference between a 'nice' shirt - requiring effort and time and also permission - and one of 'his' shirts, which he has an open door to ask for any time he'd like.

It's odd, because it does feel reassuring. Something about it makes him understand that he isn't imposing or stepping out of line. He's still nervous, and he isn't planning to make this a habit, but he finally accepts that he doesn't need to grovel over it.

Although the smile on Deirdre's face implies the grovelling's appreciated, only because it emphatically shows his gratitude.

He gets it. He's never seen the dynamic revealed before, but he suddenly understands how the formality means nothing and yet everything all at once. There's an oddly special sincerity in him being so shy to take these favours when he's supposed to be "of the class" that wouldn't think twice about it.

If trucks existed, the contrast would've hit him like one when he returned to the seamstress to find Ivar casually describing the detailed shape of new socks to her.

Rohan didn't even know socks had other shapes than 'sock'.

He gets a new shirt. :)

... And it takes some awkward conversation with Ivar and very little eye contact with the seamstress before he can ask for a second one for Angus.

Rohan's delighted to surprise Angus with everything. Angus is delighted too - first, that Deirdre even let his clothes in the castle, and second, that the royal court seamstress made him a shirt. He's not even royal! It's hilarious! But it's greatly appreciated, because Rohan could've easily not bothered.

And again, it's not quite speaking to their new class divide. Angus isn't grovelling. He's thanking Rohan the same as if it'd been birthday. There's a thrill to that, knowing Rohan didn't have to wait for a birthday. Or for any special occasion. He wanted a shirt for him and Angus, and Rohan got those shirts. It was nerve-wracking, so he can't play it off like Deirdre would by saying it's a trivial thing for him to do. But he does take joy in knowing he got to 'cheat' a bit by having a special occasion on a regular day. The thrill of that is mutually understood.

But there's the divide. The beginning of the separation. This is going to be - someday - normal for Rohan. And it's going to still be a big surprise for Angus. That thought's not consciously in their heads, but if they knew what each other was thinking, Angus would be amazed Rohan was already puzzling over when the 'next time' would be, while Angus had naturally assumed there wouldn't be a next time at all. One of them is royal. One of them isn't.

One of them had learned that socks could be tailored to a person's foot.

One of them was still shocked his clothes were mended, not burned.

It stops being in isolation.

Food.

That's the thing that gives it away.

Rohan and Angus have both gotten used to be being invited to eat at the king's table. They're Mystic Knights, and it lets them discuss their next move.

They are not used to being invited for breakfast "just because."

Rohan's not sure what he thought was exactly happening in the castle. Ivar and Garrett stayed there; they weren't exactly kicked out to find their own breakfast. But he assumed they had to be with the king or at least the princess to eat in the throne room. He was shocked to find that no, Ivar and Garrett could eat there whenever they wanted.

"Obviously," Garrett said, continuing a pattern with that word, "not when there's a meeting. But you know that. You've been in the throne room before by yourself."

To walk in, to pass through, to speak with someone, perhaps even to unwind with the others... but never to eat there as if he had any ownership over the room.

"I understand," Garrett said. "Kells' castle is impractically small. In every other castle I've lived in, meals are served in their own room, and the throne room is reserved for matters of importance. But there's nowhere else to put the table."

And Garrett punctuates that with a shrug, as if his statement excused everything.

Ivar invites him to breakfast the next morning. Deirdre hears about it and asks if she can come to. Rohan is horrified to hear Garrett and Ivar explain that no, Deirdre can't come, because this is to teach Rohan that he's allowed to be in there without her or the king.

The class divide opens up, and this time in a new. The very horror he had gets addressed, but as its own formality. Ivar and Garrett are royalty, but it's her castle. If they're going to have a party without her, the least they could do is inconvenience themselves.

They settle on saying they'll be up at dawn - far too early to drag the princess out - and that it's all so they can get a brisk air to fully wake them before they train. Obviously, they would not exclude the princess from her own castle. It's simply so inconvenient that it'd be rude to impose an invitation.

It's all so self-aware. Rohan's seeing the inside of the joke revealing itself.

And he wouldn't have given it any other thought (at that moment at least) if Deirdre hadn't casually asked if Angus was going.

They laughed, understanding that Angus would never get up that early. Not to train.

But that's not what they said.

Self-aware again, speaking in formalities again, Ivar said, "You know Angus." And while he transitioned to inviting both Angus and Deirdre to join them later, Rohan was caught by what that really meant.

'Angus has a habit of sneaking into places he's not supposed to be, so he doesn't need an invitation. It wouldn't be a surprise to see him there. It wouldn't be a surprise not to see him.'

'Angus has a habit of sneaking in.'

'Angus would be sneaking in.'

In the moment, Rohan decides not to dwell on that. Later, he starts to think it's nothing... terrible. Later still, he almost thinks it's a compliment. Not everyone gets to sneak in and eat at the king's table but not get in trouble for it. Everyone knows he's a part of their team. He's their friend. He's welcome.

When he speaks to Angus that night, he knows he's almost convinced himself. It's maybe why he wants to go out of his way to say it to Angus, and prove that it really isn't a big deal.

"Do you want to come too?"

Rohan hasn't said Deirdre wouldn't be there, only that Ivar and Garrett would be. He doesn't think it'll spark anything. After all, a prince is a prince. Ivar and Garrett are there, so it means they already asked for permission.

"When is it?"

"Early."

Angus doesn't like that answer.

"You could bring me something back," Angus tries to negotiate.

"I'm not going to stuff pastries down my pants for you," Rohan says. He leaves out adding that it's more than enough to be sitting there without the king or the princess.

"I would," Angus sings.

And that's because that's Angus.

He has a habit of sneaking into places he's not supposed to.

"I don't want your pants-pastries," Rohan says.

Angus enjoys that answer very much.

Rohan brings something back. But he gets it from the cook afterwards. Taking it from the king's table feels like stealing, but asking for it afterwards... It's simply asking for a favour. There's no reason the cook wouldn't do him such a trivial favour.

He starts to see it for what it is: a table. Deirdre's table, but a table nonetheless. Once, the king arrived as Rohan and Ivar were eating there, and joined them. Another time, he and Garrett ate in Garrett's room, simply so they wouldn't be interrupted by anyone else.

And when Angus was there, no one questioned it.

It was Angus. They all knew Angus. And the thought of someone questioning his place here was an insult to them all.

When Angus purposely took extras to have for lunch later, they allowed it by ignoring it. After all, that's just how Angus was: always sneaking food.

It was almost funny that he was doing it. Didn't he know he could sneak in for lunch, too?

No. Obviously not. Because after they'd patrolled and noticed it was lunch, he and Angus instinctively parted ways to eat at home. This was normal. This was what they always did. But now Rohan saw the class divide raw and exposed.

Deirdre, Ivar and Garrett would be eating together at the castle.

To them, he and Angus were choosing to eat at the hut. Away from them. And while it might have meant excluding three of their friends, those friends couldn't simply invite themselves over. He and Angus weren't prepared to feed five mouths. It made sense to exclude them anyway, because he and Angus were best friends, and why wouldn't they want to have lunch at home and uninterrupted?

The truth was he and Angus hadn't known they could go to the castle too.

... Rohan felt foolish for it now. Like he hadn't realized he'd been excluding anybody. How could he? They were royalty! He couldn't just go and join them for a meal when he felt like it.

Except that he could. He was royalty as well.

And...

Well.

They knew Angus. It wouldn't be a surprise either way.

The others were pleasantly surprised when Rohan and Angus walked in for lunch after all.

Rohan spent some of it wondering when the next time would be.

Angus did not seem to realize it was something worth wondering about.

(I'm gonna come back and finish this later. I'm sleepy. uwu)

(edit: okay i'm back)

There's a new set of rules Rohan learns over time: what he's allowed to ask for, what's simply assumed he can have or do, what favours others can refused without malice, and what favours had better have a damn good reason to decline. The power it gives him doesn't take as much getting used to as he thought it would; he just has to be polite, and realize that every time he asks for something now, someone else might get in trouble for saying no.

It's the opposite of how things used to be, where there'd be punishments for saying yes and giving food or favours to peasants without permission. But the concept's the same. He doesn't ask for something they shouldn't give him, and if they quietly slip him something nice (like a warning to not request whatever it was he wanted), he takes it. They were putting their livelihoods on the line to refuse a prince at all - the same as getting caught giving table scraps to common orphans.

He barely asks for anything, of course. He doesn't need anything. Treats and snacks for Angus, maybe something brought back for dinner if Rohan suddenly decided to stay instead of heading back to the hut. It makes up for Angus having to wait to start dinner, just to find that Rohan had eaten already anyway.

Before anyone's patience ran thin at that (especially Angus, who got sour when he was too hungry), Rohan started making changes. If he was going to eat at the castle, they were all going to be there. It was thing to leave the other three out over a misunderstanding, but he couldn't accept leaving out his best friend over the same thing.

So, If he was eating at the castle, he'd find a way to let Angus know. If it meant walking all the way back to the hut to get him, fine. If it meant leaving a note and having Angus catch up with them later, that was alright too. And if they just wanted (or needed) to eat back at the hut by themselves, Rohan would find something for the night. Angus was fine with whatever; he just wanted food.

They could've kept going like this for ages - and Rohan fully intended to in the spring - but it was getting to the time of year where they had to stock up for winter. He mentioned this to Deirdre offhandedly, while he was getting up to meet Angus for exactly that.

Deirdre had had a thoughtful look on her face for a moment.

She had it covered away in the next with a smile.

And she had it revealed in full the day after. She'd talked to her father, she said. With Rohan being the warrior Draganta - and the who'd ended the war - it seemed improper to let him stay out all winter again. Politically so, perhaps, if Temra ever caught word of how Kells was treating their prince. So why not take one of the spare rooms in the castle?

Just for the winter, she repeated. Kells only had so many rooms available.

The slight wince she made saying that gave the divide away again. If Rohan were a 'real' prince, he supposed he'd be offended at the thought of 'taking' a room away from a future, possible, more royal-er guest. But he wasn't, and getting to have a room at all was wildly generous of her. She was glowing with pride at being allowed to offer it - which, he understood, was why she hadn't brought it up yesterday. She needed to make sure the king would approve.

... Speaking of approvals...

"That's very, very nice of you, princess," Rohan said, with his own wince brewing.

"But?"

"But..." There was that power, and he was here on the peasant side. It put him on the verge of refusing royalty, and if he did it for a bad reason, he'd find out fast how 'real' of a prince he wasn't. "... It'd leave Angus alone. I can't leave him in the hut by himself."

The best way to refuse wasn't to refuse. It was to think up an inconvenience their great princess could accept was impossible to overcome.

"Well, unfortunately," Deirdre said, "we don't have two rooms available."

"Aw. That's alrigh-"

"But he can stay with you," Deirdre said. "You two share a hut already. You can share a room with him for a few months."

"And you'd be fine with that," he challenged, curious. "No one would mind him hanging about the castle all day?"

"It's Angus," Deirdre said. "He's here all day anyway. I don't think anyone's ever had luck in keeping him out." She paused. "And if he causes trouble, that's his private room."

A cell.

Fair enough.

"I'll ask him about it," he said. She looked disappointed at his lack of enthusiasm. "Truly, princess, it's very kind of you. But I don't know that he can last that long without causing any trouble."

Equally as fair. That would be their safe way to decline: pin it on Angus giving everybody a headache. It didn't matter if he would or not. It didn't matter if Rohan was practically just as bad. Rohan was a prince. Angus wasn't.

He'd meant it, though. He was going to ask Angus the next time they talked. Did they want to stay at the castle this winter?

"Not with Cathbad," Rohan said, cutting in before Angus made a face. "Deirdre said we'd have our own room. You and me would have to share, but we do that already. She'll even let you have your cell if you don't want to share."

"Hm. That's nice of her." A good answer. A positive one. Angus seemed to be mulling it over, and didn't entirely think it was some elaborate trap. Entirely. He still asked, "Why're we getting our own room?"

"Well -" He could've said a hundred different things. Rohan could have picked so many other ways of saying it, but he picked the one that had - at last - snapped the pieces into place. "- I'm Draganta."

Always, always, always in the past, Angus could've pushed back at that or laughed at him. 'Aren't you special,' perhaps. 'I'm a knight too,' if he was feeling snappy.

But that didn't work anymore.

This was their first time noticing.

Because if Angus tried saying anything about Rohan being Draganta, Rohan could instantly counter by saying he was a prince.

There was nothing either one of them could say to get around that fact.

"Right," Angus said instead, having done the same math and getting Rohan's answer. "You are." And then that had to hang for a while, looming as they awkardly adjusted to the weight of that news. "... Glad it's paying off."

"Yeah," Rohan said. "There's benefits."

Then that had to hang there, too.

"I'll think it over," Angus replied at last. "Winter's long."

Then he walked off before Rohan could answer.

'Winter's long'? What did that mean?

"You can say no if you don't want to," Rohan muttered.

... Well.

Assuming Angus didn't want to.

Winter was long. That couldn't be helped. And Angus didn't technically say 'no'.

"I'll give him some time to think," he said to himself.

Yeah. Yeah, Rohan would wait for a while. Angus probably just wanted to plan how to survive being trapped with all of them. It wouldn't make sense to refuse otherwise.

[fictionallyinparadise]

☁️ and 🌸 from your daaarling rick :D

-lurker anon

WAHFHA!!!!!

☁️: have you had any nice dreams about me lately? or any bad ones you wish I could scare away?

I have 👉👈. I had a dream where we were cuddling but the blankets kept trying to fall off from us so we had to fight to keep the blankets,,,it was so silly I loved it.

🌸: what is the thing you are most proud of about yourself, love?

Aaah,,,,,I'm proud of myself for learning to love my insecurities and overall get over some deep rooted self hatred,,,I'm also proud of myself for finishing a little writing project I started!!!

[social-muffin]

Hello! Hope you're having a great day. Here are a few of those emoji's from that I wanted to ask! 🥺✨️🎯🎶🌞👀🥰💌

Okay, so... yeah. That's more than a few, lol. Have fun!!!!

Thank you for the ask my dear! I hope you're having a wonderful day too!! 💞

No readmore cause this didn't turn out that super long :3

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

Oh this is a tough one cause Hurt/comfort is one of my big weaknesses. So I'm gonna just explain two interactions!

I catch the biggest feels when a more reserved character can't contain their emotions anymore and has a somewhat public breakdown. Made even better if someone cares enough to try to hide them/hug them!

I also catch the feels when misunderstandings are cleared up in a shouting match. It doesn't even have to be between two people that get along. Just let people be so emotional that they forget to control their volume! 😭💜

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

I'm really proud of my old writing, so this is a compliment for my new/not posted writing! It sparks a lot of joy when I read through my notes, even if I'm not ready to post anything yet. ;u;

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

I feel like yes, people have guessed major plot points before, but it's only happened a few times? And I can't recall any of the times when it did happen. It also happens a lit taht someone will suggest something happening and I fall in live with the idea and then I just. Steal ideas from comments with credit to the commenter in the next chapter. 👉👈🥺

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

I do listen to things when I write! I can't write in absolute silence. But the music/video I listen to varies a lot. I mostly look for music compilation type things, so I will for sure have music for like an hour at least. Or I listen to chemistry videos while I write, though I don't know why that one works lmao

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

I can write anytime, but my most emotional writing happens at around 3 am usually. Which is not conducive to having a day job. 😔 Especially since I need 8 hours of sleep to function! 😧

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

Hibari has taken over my brain and demands I write for him. For one of the up and coming fics I'll try to write is Teen!Hibari's POV of the future arc! It'll be a mega self indulgent thing with a lot of headcanons and quite a few OCs, just because. Where the hell did he go and what did he do inbetween his arrival and the end of the future arc???

🥰 How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

I am so open to receiving questions I made a whole ask blog specifically about my stories!! So if you have random questions, here's the place to as them! @ask-skull-and-muffin

💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback?

I feel that, for a while now, I'm being a bit of a glass canon about comments. Sometimes they are super motivating and get me to write 5000 words in a day! And other times a single comment can burn out my entire passion for a whole fic... It's pretty confusing to my soul.

I also have.... A shame I want to admit to here. 😔 A year or so ago I abruptly had the worst depressive episode of my life and I couldn't make myself reply to/answer comments as they came in at all for a good few months. So now there are 450 comments in my inbox and I think that's one of my biggest issues when it comes to getting back into writing properly... 😭

I'm so sorry to all my peoples that crave comments and don't get nearly enough! I wish I could give you some of mine, I swear! Feels like comments are a little wasted on me right now...

[that-wildwolf]

For the fanfiction writer questions, if you haven't answered these already.

16, 24, 56, and 74 :)

Thank you so much for asking! 🥺👉👈

16. Do you write by hand, on your phone, or on your laptop?

Because I am Poor™ and couldn't afford to buy a laptop, I used to write almost exclusively on my phone. The entirety of Behind Closed Doors, which is close to 90K words from what I remember, was written on mobile. It was mostly for lack of other options, to be honest. After saving up for a while, I've bought myself a little writing laptop a few weeks ago and it's a godsend. I can't believe I used to get by without this.

24. How do you choose whose POV to write in?

Ooh, this is a good one! For one-shots, it just happens. I start writing and then it's just a matter of keeping the same POV throughout the story. For longer fics, where I switch the POVs a lot, I try to think whose emotions and inner thoughts would be most interesting in this particular scene and then write that character.

56. Are there any fics that you would change or rewrite if given the chance?

I've recently put down a fic that had a good premise but a terrible execution. It was resting on three huge plot holes and the way it was written, from a purely technical standpoint, made me cringe. I wish I could write that one again someday.

It would also be nice to fix my Shepard Twins fic. AKA rewrite it completely.

74. Do you have a fic you wish got a bit more love?

Honestly, who doesn't wish all their fics got a bit more love? As for me, I'm just slightly anxious that everything I've been posting lately hasn't received almost any feedback. My newest fics seen to have gone largely unnoticed and that scares me.

Actually you know what I just filtered my works by kudos and what the fuck my Kryterius fic deserves more love! I know I'm primarily a Shakarian writer, but that is one of the fics I'm most proud of!

[azure-arsonist]

Ok so it's nothing special but like, I'm blind so I am a little proud of myself and ive never painted anything before 👉👈

I made my very first painting if anybody wants to see 👉👈🥺