#fankoo for the questions darling!

[ronmanmob]

Would you rather give up your phone or only wear Crocs for the rest of your life?

Would You Rather Meme

The affront to sartorial elegance the very notion of Crocs bought on was such that Ron physically recoiled from Tabs' question like it burned him. "Nah luv!" he splutter-laughed, shaking his head as he sat back and drew his forearm across his chest in something of a keep it back! gesture.

"Nah, I'd jus' nick some ovvah lad's phone wouldn't I! Can't be seen in them Croc fings, live or dead. Can't do it! They'd nevah match wiv th'rest'a me!"

[ronmanmob]

👀👀👀

Behaviour Headcanon Meme

👀 'Liking' someone

It's hands left within reach - not offered precisely but not pulled back and tucked away. It's bare forearms with his weight on them, left reachable across the bar-top. It's the backs of fingers touched to another's for the briefest moment which becomes a wide hand over a forearm which becomes that same hand, over time, rested to the small of another's back. It's dipping his head close when another speaks, so he can show he's listening as well as sneak in that bit closer...Ron doesn't forget personal space when he likes another person. Slowly, inexorably, he lets them into his.

👀'Big joy'

Blunted affect and the (needed) cocktail of medication Ron takes to manage his schizophrenia can make his responses to emotive subjects, happenings and moments somewhat limited. Left to stew he can work himself up, particularly into a simmering rage, but sudden things? Those are hard to process. There are times though - and Ron's not sure what brings them on - where the stars align, his medicinal regimen either works right or stops working enough to let him feel things to their fullest extent in real time and when those moments happen and joy finds him...Oh. The emotional catharsis is breathtaking.

A memory of his, one of his fondest in this vain, is of a rain storm.

It came in suddenly, found him on his New York establishment's roof terrace, and it was one of those days where the meds either worked right or stopped working and it felt for a hot second like the sky unzipped and God smiled down on him and the lead weights that schizophrenia lashed to his arms and legs and shoulders all fell off at once. He stood there in that downpour, his head back, tears streaming down his face as he laughed up at the sky; as he flung his arms open and twirled in a tight circle just the once; as the rain drops fell down upon him like they were cleansing him of everything he'd ever wanted cleansing of.

He didn't tell his doctor about it; about how God had smiled at him and unzipped the sky to convey...something to him. They'd drug him blind, he was certain of it. So he tucked it away, looked back at it when the weights round his shoulders and arms and legs got real heavy. And he hoped to feel that kind of joy - that kind of emotion that's too big for one person to contain - again one day.

👀 'Scritch-scritch'

This--

Not so much the jerk round; more the scratching at his hair/scalp...That's an effort at self-comfort through distraction when the world feels like its on the wonk. He might have heard or sensed something no one else can but that's real enough to him that he's looked round to try and find it and found nothing. That'd be a stressful thing in anyone's book -- more than deserving of that attempted calm-down-by-scritch.

Gentle with him, ever he's found like this.

Never will this sort of thing happen on a good day.

[ronmanmob]

A + F.

Sinday Headcanon Meme

A - Affection: How affectionate are they during sex? Is it different with people they're romantically involved with? Can they sleep with people they aren't?

Back before his brain threw him for a distinctly paranoid loop and made casual hookups at best Very Prickly Endeavours, Ron wasn't the most affectionate lover; not with said hookups at least. He wasn't horrendous to them by any means. No one was harmed in the making of a bit of fun, but it was just that - a bit of fun. He didn't love these people, so didn't treat them like he did. And there lies the difference between casual sleeping round, which post getting poorly he just can't force himself to chance, and sex with a romantic partner he cares for. In that situation Ron is a giving, thoughtful lover who takes pride in making sure his person knows they're both deeply loved and very much wanted. The form that that expression of love/wanting takes depends on the person.

F - Food: Do they believe certain foods can be aphrodisiacs? If so what foods are like that for them? Do they like using food in the bedroom or is it too messy?

Given Ron's transitory disinclination towards food as a whole, bringing it into the bedroom isn't something he'd consider off his own back. That said, he's got terrible worked up over licking honey off a lover's fingers before now so...anything's possible.

[ronmanmob]

Brave questions: "You ever have a time where someone almost killed you? Not the kind of feeling when the taxi driver is going too fast or driving like a dick. A proper, serious moment where you're not sure you're going to see tomorrow."

Brave Questions

It was glacial, the change in Ron's expression - from curious to impassive but without a trackable progression. Between blinks, the focus in his eyes shifted to somewhere in the middle distance of his mind so he could dredge for an answer. It didn't take long to find one, but he dredged and dredged again for another; one more palatable, less personal, less revealing but...despite the life he'd lived in London, despite being a literal Face with a capital F -- a Landahn Gangstah...There'd only been once. And it'd been before all that'd kicked off proper.

"Was a youf" Ron said at length, his attention fixing outwards again; resting somewhere between Tabby's eyes. "N as youfs do, I came aht'a club in th'wee 'ours'a th'mornin' on an 'igh -- joy, not chemical. It'd been a good night. Gloryin' in me own existence I turned a smile on everyone I saw, didn't mattah 'oo, 'n then I went on me way t'get 'ome. Left aht th'club, dahn th'road, left dahn an ally f'a shortcut t'th bus stop 'n--"

A slight pause, like something in the retelling hurt.

"I got followed." The words were chased out by a breath. "N this lad - one'a th'ones 'oo'd got a grin off me as I came aht th'club - kicked ten bells ahta me wiv 'is workman's boots b'cause a lad 'oo walked aht a gay club in Central London 'ad no business lookin' at 'im, much less smilin'..."

This next pause begat a gesture, fingers towards his chin.

"S'ow I got this'n--" Back Ron's head went by degrees enough to show off the curved, half inch thick scar on and under his chin. "Workman's boots...'And t'God Tabs, I f'ort 'ee was gonna kill us there, in tha' wet-floored alley. Bu' 'ee made a mistake tha' night, tha' lad." The publican-gangster's lips twitched into something of a sneer. "Ee didn't."

[ronmanmob]

When you're caught up in *passions*, you like more music, silence, or some soft between?

Sinday Queries Unexpected as the query was when it wisped up from behind the Lancet's latest copy, it didn't reach Ron's ears unwelcome. There was implied within it the question of next time - when next we get caught up in passions would music be welcome or no? The way she broached it in that roundabout, not quite square on, still shy but curious way made smiling easy. Smiling and movement, for Ron was up and leaving behind his puzzle pages; an earbud and his phone in hand to show more than tell her what he liked. Beside and to the front of her in her comfy chair he knelt, bud offered as he poked his phone's screen into life.

"--Y'know voice-words c'n twist f'me" he said, explaining though she knew already how his brain, when it rebelled, liked to turn lyrics personal in the worst ways. "So i's gotta be sumfin' like..."

A click bought them a soft, jazzy ambiance.

"Li'dat."

[ronmanmob]

What has Ron's weirdest experience been?

Nonnies For Sinday

"--Sexually y'mean?" Somehow this one...This Them of Specs hit different. This one didn't hit like they were paparazzi, undercover. This question he could answer without barbs or threats of Claude. "Prob'ly attendin' a f'reesome, 'ones'ly. I say attended, not took part in, purposefully. Went there wiv full intent t'partake. Got there. 'N I jus'...Couldn't. Too many 'ands. Too much touchin'. I one-eightied, came 'ome, nevah tried it again. Jus' didn't agree wiv us."

[ronmanmob]

17. Does your muse leave hickies? Do they ask for them?

Vanilla Sunday Meme

As mentioned here, Ronnie'll nibble if his partner will let him - and that attention isn't reserved for their neck. He's not at all averse to being nibbled in return either, though he'll only allow that, and only do it himself, if the person he's with is a settled romantic partner. He's too paranoid a man generally to want to feed his demons health-related fodder by being uncareful with someone relatively new in his romantic circle.

As to hickies, Ron's not so fond of sucking bruises onto skin as he is of biting - gently unless his partner likes things especially rough - and won't allow them to be sucked onto his.

[ronmanmob]

5. is there a muse you really want to try? if yes: what’s stopping you?

Questions for Muns

Honestly I've not really thought about writing another muse seriously but for Ron. I've got a couple of other blogs that have other muses on 'em, but the inspiration for them has never been as keen as that I have for Ronnie. Perhaps one day I'll find another one/other ones, but for now me 'n 'Im in the beer garden are quite content sharing pens and writing stories.

Here we are look >w<

[ronmanmob]

<3 <3 <3 Pro!

Dating Pros & Cons Meme

They'd been half way through exploring one of Ron's old packs of tarot cards - inherited as a hand-me-down from an aunt of his who wasn't one by blood but was one just the same - when the Lovers appeared to them.

Instinctively, Ron reeled off its meaning first. "Upright-" he said, "she symbolises c'nnection, love, romance, alignment'a values, soulmates. Reversed's th'opposite - disharmony ov union, conflicts 'tween a pair, emotional disconnection." He considered the card for a moment, stroked its slowly fraying edges, its corners bent and un-bent through years of loving use before it and its sister cards came to him. Then, he turned the card to face Beth and sat it before her so, to her view, if she'd picked it, it displayed upright.

"Y'll always know wha' th'future brings, datin' me" he mused, grinning lopsidedly and then adding more seriously-- "Me partnah falls on 'ard times, I'll look aftah 'em. Don't mattah th'sort'a 'ard times. They stumble, I'll catch 'em. Always."

[ronmanmob]

What would Ron consider giving his mother as a gift? Why?

Questions, questions, questions

It was that time of year again - end of July start of August time. This was birthday season among Ron's close circle, four friends and his mum clocking in happy returns through the warming summer months, and as was customary the publican-gangster spent a portion of it combing through this years Spring-Summer catalogues from Claridge's, Harrods and a dozen or so smaller Central London boutiques. This year though, things were just a little different.

This year, he had help.

"--Anyfin y'want, Luv" Ron mused to Beth mid page-turn. "You put it in th'treat pile. We'll fetch it."

The oddly likely twosome were sat beside each other at the dining table in Ron's Cedra Court flat, the glossy paper panoply spread between them. The Mum pile, Pals pile and Treat pile were neatly marked out across from them, bare as yet for all they'd been at it about ten minutes. Minds easily wandered on slow-time days like these - with windows open and tea on the brew and fresh pastries out the baker's down the street - and that was perfectly fine by all concerned. They had all day to spend catalogue shopping.

Ron turned a page slowly, detoured for a sip out his mug and then found himself in the PJ's section in Claridge's. There were doubles of some of the magazines they had with them. He reached over to Beth's collection and opened her copy of the one he was pursuing to the same page he was on - just in case she looked up from her exploration of a glossy chocolatier's publication and fancied wandering the same aisle as him.

"--Don't fink mum'd like chap's p'jamas..." he mused quietly to himself, both hands coming back to the pages open before him. With an almost delicate touch he stroked them flatter against the tabletop, then used his fingertips to follow where his eyes tracked each item on offer. A set of jade coloured sleepwear was his first stop, his verdict-

"--I...like them--"

-escaping just before the advert was carefully torn from its page and popped onto the Treat pile.

"--There's lady's though, look-"

Next item, a set of the same but in a feminine cut and white, 100% cotton. This was swiftly added to the Mum pile, Ron flipping on a few pages (and turning the pages in Beth's copy too) to the tea and treats section. They couldn't let their picks get samey after all.

All day they went at this, between stops for lunch and chatter and dog walking and an evening shower. In the end Mrs Kray had PJs and luxury teas, a trip for afternoon tea at The Ritz, and a horse ride round Hyde Park all among the lot upon her prezzie pile. Times ago Ron would've said he'd have bought her a house for her birthday if he could've afforded it. But he'd done that now, so it was things she could use, and experience and enjoy that he focused on. He'd secured her future safety and comfort. It was about bringing some extra colour to her life now.

[ronmanmob]

🌧- For a heavy, emotional secret 🙃- For a lighter, slightly embarrassing secret🌟- For a secret wish or desire of theirs🍏- For something they secretly wish didn’t exist🍎- For something they secretly wish did exist

Forced Secret Spilling Meme

🌧- For a heavy, emotional secret 

‘No.’

Mun: ..>.>.. But Ron, the meme says it’s gonna be a hard work sh-

Mun: ..O.O.. *considers herself overruled* ..Moving on..

🙃- For a lighter, slightly embarrassing secret

‘Oh I’ll tell yah wha, righ-’ He sits forward slightly, a grin tugging faintly at his lips. ‘Y’met me bruvvah, luv? Seen ‘im? Word is we’re iden’icle, yeah? Nevah f’ort much ov it since I started on me tabs - put weight on us, them, so m’biggah than I used t’be ‘n biggah than Reggie. Different lookin’. Bu’ not so much tha’ ‘is Mrs didn’t mistake us at a glance ‘n give me a rahnd th’waist snug. Fink she almost fainted when she realised ‘er mistake. Th’second ‘and embarrassment was terrible.’

🌟- For a secret wish or desire of theirs

A thoughtful moment passes. ‘I wish- Hm.’ Something brief and unguarded flickers through Ron’s gaze - regret. ‘I wish me li’le sistah Violet was still wiv us. Wish she’d been wiv us at all, really. Barely lived b’fore she passed. I wish tha’ weren’t so. Fink I’d’a been a good bruvvah t’a sistah. Fink she’d’a been a lovely girl.’

🍏- For something they secretly wish didn’t exist

This one’s sore and it’s obvious in how he shifts, looks away. But there’s words for it. One single word. ‘Leukaemia’ he says. It tastes like ash on his tongue. There’s no elaboration beyond that.

🍎- For something they secretly wish did exist

A hundred thousand answers clamour behind his teeth - some deep, painful; some funny, dismissive. He lists towards the latter. There’d been enough deep talk and painful memories for one day. ‘A type’a dog’ Ron says, ‘tha’ lived th’same lengf of time as th’average ‘uman. I’d be set f’evah then mate. No question.’

[ronmanmob]

MUNDAY! What’s something about Ron that you wouldn’t like if you had to spend time with him? What’s a negative thing about Ron that you enjoy writing? What's a similarly you have with him? What’s a difference you have with him? What’s the hardest thing for you to write?

Ooooohhhhhhh look it’s Munday stuff left by Bef-mun! Good morning-afternoon darling face! Lemme see to these questions now. They’re all so interesting! Something I wouldn’t like about Ron if I had to spend time with him…His having so hair-trigger a temper isn’t something I’d enjoy - especially since I wouldn’t know precisely where his nope-zones were in terms of conversation/etc on short acquaintance (that’s totally not his fault, of course; it’s not anyone’s duty to inform others of their ins and outs just to make them comfy).

Something negative about Ron that I enjoy writing…would be that self-same unpredictability! Listening to him/watching him going through whatever situation he’s in in a thread and trying to pin down the rabbit warrens that’d un-spool as a result is as fascinating as it is challenging (which is very!).

A similarity I have with Ron – Now there aren’t many at all given all the differences between our upbringings/lives/etc, but besides the accent (which I have on good authority that I can lay on REAL thick), he and I share the disdain we feel about being in large, loud groups of people.

A difference between me and Ron - like I said, there’s LOADS! - would be how he enjoyed (and enjoys!) going out on the town of a night with his pals. That’s something I’ve just never had an interest in doing really. It’s a nice thought in the abstract, but when it comes time to go I have that age old I’m actually an introvert and wish I hadn’t made plans existential crisis xD

And the hardest thing for me to write…beyond describing how Ron’s mental health impacts him and manifests in his life (for I don’t have lived experience of his precise condition so can’t write from that) would be writing about his going through loss. I just can’t…force myself to imagine his pain at losing a family member - canine or otherwise.

Fankoo for the lovely questions, best person!

[ronmanmob]

lantern, amber, cinnamon, pumpkin

lantern - how did you meet your best friend? What were your first impressions of each other?

*meaningful look* I met her on the interwebs and thought (and think!) she’s bloody great

amber - share an unpopular opinion that you may have.

I don’t think cheaters should get second chances, but that’s just my very personal opinion - not judgement or aspersions on folks who think otherwise.

cinnamon - if you had to live in a time period different than the present, which would you choose and where?

I think it’d go back to the 50′s/60′s in London. I’m a Londoner myself and would love the bragging rights buying Ron Kray a drink would get me :p

pumpkin - do you think that humans are inherently good or bad?

That’s a tough and interesting question! I think everyone has the capacity to be either/both to varying degrees. A lot depends on circumstances, motive, opportunity, need, the desire to act in certain ways etc.

[ronmanmob]

ABCs ask: B E K O T

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

Honestly? Seriously? Rey and Kylo Ren from the newest entries in the Star Wars saga. I NEVER expected a massive big budget franchise to go for the whole enemies to lovers thing in a setting like Star Wars, but here we are and I LOVE IT :D

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

Oh gosh I’m not sure :p I’ve had some hilarious moments with our local Reggie (nctcricus) that might be considered crack, but all in all...I don’t think so xD

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

That’s a hard one! I’mma come off as a total Kylo Ren stan if I say him, so we’ll not go there :p How about...Will Graham from the TV series Hannibal. It’s not a healthy arch, but FUCK is it interesting xP

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

*flips randomise on her iplayer* *THIS cover of Talk Dirty comes on* No seriously, this song to me screams of a scene where somehow Alfie Solomons (of Peaky Blinders fame) and Ron get the chance to commune and break bread at one of their many establishments. It’s not so much the words but the beat - it’s perfect to get a room dancing as a backdrop for their little meeting of the minds (that and I get the feel the Yiddish would earn an approving nod from Mr Solomons).

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?

Oh sweetheart HUNDREDS, but for time’s sake here’s five. One: The only time Ron would lay even a firm hand on a woman (in situations where she’s not asked him to very nicely) would be to stop her from clouting either him or one of his dogs. And even then there’d be no strike; no hit. He’d restrain her; eject her from his immediate presence. But he’d never hit. 

Two: Ron very very rarely hears silence, and can have the simply worst reactions when the precious moments of it he gets are interrupted. Three: Much as he’s tried, Ron just can’t get on with SPAM - the meat product not the email-type. Four: In modern times Ron’s social media presence is very small - just a little personal blog where he uploads pictures of the pubs and clubs he visits on his travels, a near inactive twitter account (@ronkray) and a somewhat well known Youtube channel where he’ll occasionally post videos about mental health and related topics. Five: Again in modern times, Ron has seen the movie Darkest Hour 65 times and counting. He can quote it word perfect and it gives him absolute chills.

[ronmanmob]

13. What’s the worst thing they’ve ever forgiven someone for doing, or turned a blind eye towards?

Prying Questions Meme

Ron's reply escaped through gritted teeth, so tense was he at its recollection. What animation there'd been about him before its asking fled; left him stock-still but for how his fists clenched and relaxed, and how his lips moved. '--Me bruvvah's treatment 'ov 'is wife.' No one bar Marion was anywhere close to being near enough to Ron to have heard him. Still though, he confided with such paranoid care that you'd have been forgiven for thinking there was a microphone hanging right in front of him. 'I don't like th'woman' he went on. 'Bu' she don't deserve wha' 'ee's inflicted on 'er, 'n I saw it...'N 'ee didn't 'av 'is 'ands broken. 'Ee didn't 'av 'is face carved, like any ovvah man would'a.' A hissed breath was taken in, held, then exhaled tightly.

'I a'te th'ole, foul mess 'ov it.'

[ronmanmob]

3. What is something your muse won’t admit to themself, or hasn’t yet realized about themself?

Prying Questions Meme

From time to time since he was about...eighteen or so if Ron's memory serves, there've been moments where whomever it is he's been talking to at the time have had to ask him to repeat himself because, as sledge-blunt Reggie once put it - 'Yer talkin' like a mad cunt Ron. Take a breaf.' That'd been said long before any kind of breakdown, any kind of diagnosis, but it wasn't the product of Reggie just not listening, like Ron convinced himself it was. It was an early doors play by what he didn't know then was a mental illness; a peep round the curtain by the Committee he'd come to loathe.

Schizophasia, his psychiatrist would name it down the line.

To the present, Ron flatly refuses to engage with even its implication.

Reggie not listening is the problem. Those bastards upstairs can't have his voice too.