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I've mentioned this headcanon before, but Will absolutely wrote poetry. A lot of poetry. It started as a coping mechanism, he just really enjoyed putting any dark thoughts or feelings of his in a literary way that made it beautiful. After a while, though he just wrote because he loved writing, he loved the fulfillment it gave him when he turned a depressing thought or a traumatizing experience into a beautiful cadence. Sometimes he would put a melody to it and play them on the mandola for Alyss, love poems, dark poems, poems that didn't even fully make sense to him.

He also wrote several about Halt, and their relationship, although Halt never heard/saw them.

Poetry for Will was a way to put his complicated feelings into words, it was a feeling of closure to have his feelings down on paper.

After Alyss' death, he stopped writing, because he was ashamed of his feelings, and didn't even know how to put them into words, he had never had that issue before, which only served to make the sinking feeling worse.

After the Ruhl incident, and after his emotional blockage was healed, he wrote a poem. It was short, but scathing, and something that Will hoped no one ever read for the sake of his own reputation, they would think he was crazy, or murderous or both. But lets be fair, he kind of was.

He ended up burning that first poem. But he was glad he wrote it.

The rest of his poems were about Alyss. Every. Single. One. Even when he tried to write one about Maddie or about Halt or Pauline, they always drew back to Alyss, she was the denouement of every one of his stories. The resolution he couldn't not write.

Even after Will's own death, when Maddie found all his poetry, the poetry that was written on napkins, the backs of mission reports, stationary, scrap paper. Anything he could find. It was all shoved in a box under the loose wood board in the living room, momentarily forgotten.

But Maddie wouldn't let them be permanently lost to time.

She published them. Not all of them, just the ones that she felt symbolized quite clearly who Will Treaty was, and what he stood for.

Not the intimidating and hard man that some people knew him as through stories of his adventures, but as a man who suffered a great deal of immense transformation throughout his life. He was a clueless curious teenager, a cheeky and astute young man, and a melancholic, yet well-fortified ranger. He was a man who was oftentimes so overwhelmed with his feelings, that he let them spill onto physical paper to arrange them in a way that made sense.

Sometimes they didn't make sense, and Maddie speculated that those arcane poems probably wouldn't ever be interpreted in the way that Will wrote them, but that added to the reflection of who he was.

A man who never quite grew out of the 'feeling too much' stage as a boy.

A man who felt things as a child in a way no one would understand.

A man who never quite grew up.

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And thank you Taylor Swift for providing fanfic writers everywhere 31 more heart wrenching titles for their all hurt no comfort fics 🫡

#fanfiction #fanfiction struggles #fanfiction memes #writing #Taylor Swift #song fics

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#not 24/7 #but a lot #and always when I’m worried stressed or scared

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"You cannot barge in through the door like that, Will. I am still a commandant and this is still my office."

"First of all, I barged in through the window this time -"

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"He stooped in the saddle to talk down to the Skandians and the hunched shoulders and his black cloak gave him the look of a vulture."

I really like when Flanagan compares his characters to different animals :] Wanted to draw this one for some time now.

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jenny: wait, you actually believe me?

george: jennifer, you're the only genuinely good person in this ward. i would fully believe little cartoon birds helped you get dressed this morning.

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Alyss Mainwaring/Will Treaty, Horace Altman & Will Treaty Characters: Alyss Mainwaring, Will Treaty, Horace Altman (mentioned) Additional Tags: Relationship Problems, Established Relationship, Talking About The Future, Fighting and making up, relationship fears Summary:

After Will faces yet another near death experience, Alyss stresses about what their future will hold.

#ranger’s apprentice #rangers apprentice #fanfiction #ranger’s apprentice fanfic

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A worthwhile fight:

The bruise on his eye was a mottled pattern of black and indigo, with yellow just starting a creep in on the edges. The orange glow of the fire did nothing to warm the battered skin. It was violent and harsh and it made Alyss’ stomach flip every time Will turned his head. Like now, as he looked over at her and offered a grin that split his face from ear to ear, smiling as if he wasn’t in the aching pain she knew he had to be in.

“Come join us ‘Lyss.” He extended his arm towards her and his sleeve slipped down his arm, revealing a wrist ringed in roped burn. She hesitantly sat between him and George, careful to not bump into him. As Will launched into another story, Alyss tried to force her trembling hands to still. But all she could think about is how close they had been to losing Will for good. How if Horace had arrived just a few minutes later, they’d be standing around his casket. And how none of the others seemed to care. How Will didn’t seem to care.

It was suddenly too much to bare and she stood abruptly and made her way into Will’s cabin. She ignored the calls of her friends as she let the door fall shut behind her. A moment later, she hears Will slip inside after her.

“Is everything okay love?” He asks gently, wrapping his arms around her from behind. Instead of melting into him like she normally would, she shrugged out of his grasp and moves away from his warmth.

“Why does it feel like I care more about your life than you do?” She bites out.

He frowns in confusion. “Alyss, of course I care-“

“Then why don’t you act like it? You are constantly putting yourself in danger. Is it some kind of hero complex? Or a guilt thing? Trying to be like your father, like Halt? What are you trying to prove? What is it will?”

“It’s my job Alyss.” He spoke calmly, with none of the anger she felt, which only made her angrier.

“But it doesn’t have to be! You don’t have to be putting yourself in constant danger. You could step back, be a strategist, take Cassandra up on her offer to have you work at Castle Araluen. With a mind like yours Will, you don’t have to be out in the field all the time.”

Will looked at her with a hurt expression. “I could never live my life locked up in some stuffy office Alyss, you know that. And I certainly couldn’t make plans that put other in danger while I sat back and watched.”

“You could. You’re just choosing not to.”

Disappointment leaked into his sigh. “Alyss, I don’t want to fight with tonight. I just got back. Can we just, enjoy the evening with our friends?”

“No. I can’t just enjoy the evening. Because everything time I look over at you and see your battered face, I’m reminded of the fact that you don’t care enough about me to keep yourself safe.”

“Alyss, I get that you’re upset, but you’re not being fair. You have a dangerous job. You’re sent away on assignment for months at a time with zero contact. You think I don’t worry about you every waking moment? That I don’t have nightmares of you getting hurt or dying? But I know that you love what you do. How could I ever ask you to give it up just so I feel better?” Will rubbed a hand across his eyes. “I couldn’t ask that if you. I love you too much to ask you give up such a fundamental part of yourself. I guess I just thought you loved me like that too.”

Alyss stares at him in shock. “It’s, it’s not the same.” But even to her, the defense fell flat.

“Maybe not.” Will admits. “But it’s not that different either. Alyss, we are engaged. I don’t want to go into our marriage with you holding this resentment against me and my career. I think we need to take some time to seriously talk about what each of us thinks our future together is going to look like.”

Alyss leans against the wall and lets her knees fold under her. Will joins her on the floor, so close that she can feel him pressed up beside her from her shoulder to her ankle. “I can’t lose you Will.” She rests her head on his shoulder.

“I wish I could promise you that you won’t.”

“You could.” Alyss knows she sounds like a child, but she can’t find it within herself to care. She knows she’s fighting a losing battle, but that doesn’t mean she’s willing to just roll over and accept defeat.

She feels him shake his head, “Alyss, I could die tomorrow. I could fall from Tug and hit my head. I could trip and break my neck. I could be attacked by a mugged. We can’t know how or when we’ll die. But I do know that there are two things in this world I can’t live without. You, and this.” Will’s hand dips under the loose neck of his shirt and he pulls the silver oak leaf pendant up.

Alyss glared at the piece of silver. “You are so much more than that Will.”

He shakes his head and presses the pendant against his chest with reverence. “Being a ranger gave me a purpose. It gave me a place in this world. I didn’t know who I was, who I could become, before Halt offered me an apprenticeship. I don’t know how to make you understand that I can’t, I won’t, walk away from this.”

Alyss didn’t understand, and perhaps she never would, but what she did understand is that she wanted to spend whatever amount of time she could with Will by her side. “Okay.”

He looked at her, eyes wide with hope. “Okay?”

She nodded, “I’ll never like seeing you in pain or risking your life, but when you proposed, I agreed to love you forever, all of you. Even the parts I don’t understand.”

Will turns her head and kissed her lightly. “Thank you. And I promise to be as careful as I can be. I don’t want to leave you any sooner than absolutely necessary. I’ll always do my best to come back to you.”

#rangers apprentice #ranger's apprentice #will treaty #ranger’s apprentice fanfiction #rangers apprentice fanfiction #alyss mainwaring #fanfiction

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All of these are correct

Disorganized RA headcannons

During the whole Skandia arc, Cassandra would braid/play with Will’s hair. It was just something to distract them from their situation, but ever since, having his hair done has been very calming for Will.

Will and Gilan’s relationship consists mostly of them insulting each other. If they’re not insulting each other, they’re actually upset with each other.

One of the ways Will would get back at Horace while they were kids was to do the classic “Horace, there’s a spider on your head!” and Horace fell for it every time.

Maddie one way or another heard about that ‘spider’ trick and tried it on him. It still worked.

On that note, Horace was deathly afraid of insects (particularly spiders and bees) as a kid. As an adult, he’s not really scared of them, but he will still avoid them best he can.

At some point during Cassandra’s reign, Halt goes on a week long vacation out of the country. Cassandra had him legally banished during that week as a goof.

Horace is weirdly good at cutting hair. He could be a stylist if he wanted to. No one actually believes he has this ability though unless they see it for themselves.

#especially the banishment one

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This 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

Something I love about the way Flanagan writes villains is how he just lets them be evil. So many authors and directors try so hard to have “realistic” villains; poor, broken people who have been pushed too far. Those villains can be great and all, but holy shit, if an antagonist’s agonizing backstory only exists for the sake of making a bad guy’s character ‘believable’, it often makes the story clunky.

Flanagan never tries to explain his villains or justify their actions. There’s no “you know, maybe we’re not so different” moments between hero and villain. Morgarath wanted to take over Araluen because he was power hungry. Keren wanted to seize Mackindaw because he had an inflated ego. Jory Ruhl kidnapped children because he wanted money. These are some of the most shallow motives for villains, and I love it. Honestly, I think these are actually more realistic than the ‘morally-grey misguided soul’ type of villain. Do you have any idea the fucking atrocities that are committed for money or power or even just so some guy can jack himself off? A fucking lot.

And I absolutely love the effect it has on the overall story. There’s no wasted time on the main characters learning to understand the villain, no ethical dilemma someone has a breakdown over, no cheesy sob stories. All of those tropes are great in their own stories, of course, but I’m sick and tired of stories that clearly just want to be action and/or adventure getting a shallow moral lesson shoehorned into it because the author got marked down in their high school English class for not being ‘realistic enough’.

Flanagan knows what he wants his stories to be about, and he lets those stories be what they want to be. The rare moments where he gives his villains some deeper motives never convolute the character, but enhance them. Love it.

#rangers apprentice #john flanagan #ranger's apprentice

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[During The Siege of Macindaw]

Horace: What time is it?

Will: I don't know, pass me my mandola and we'll find out.

Will: *plays mandola loudly and out of tune*

Xander: WHO THE FUCK IS PLAYING THE LUTE AT TWO IN THE MORNING?!

Will: It's 2am

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Halt, gesturing to Maddie: Oh i’m sorry, I was too busy worrying about an ACTUAL apprentice-

Halt, gesturing to Will: That I appear to have forgotten about my idiot grown-up apprentice.

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Just came up with a new fic idea I’m super excited about and my head is telling me to wait until I finish my WIPs but my heart is screaming start it

So y’all are gonna help me

#rangers apprentice #ranger's apprentice #fanfiction struggles #rangers apprentice fanfiction

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Duncan, while Halt is on trial for treason: But why, Halt? Why do this to us all? Halt, who has been asking to go after Will for months now: as per my last email,

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Ok I am wildly obsessed with this 😭😭😭

frostbound

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It was a cold and bristly evening. Heavy flakes of snow hit the windowpanes before falling to the ground to join their companions, forming thick snowbanks, and covering the beautiful grounds of Redmont in luscious white clouds.

It was a truly wonderful time of the year.

To be inside where it's warm.

Cold weather had always agreed with Alyss, the hot sweaty environment that the summer offered was just too miserable to the courier. She preferred being comfortable in a warm cloak than sweating in the unrevealing clothing that her gender was expected to adorn.

Thankfully, during the summer months. She was usually at home with her husband; where she could wear whatever the hell she wanted with no commentary from him. Well, no insulting commentary anyway. But Will Treaty had an excellent command of the Araluen language and knew exactly how to use it to stimulate a reaction from his beautiful wife.

And that usually went exactly as planned.

But today, it was below freezing. So Alyss covered as much of her skin as possible, and then more on top of that. She felt like a ball of cloth, but she was warm. There's no fashion in the winter months anyway, sacrifices were made for comfort and no one gave two shits about it.

It just meant that at the end of a long workday, you had to put all of those layers back on, and then ride home. And although the ride was short-- just under half an hour, it felt like days when you were shivering beneath your coats and scarves, all your energy being forcefully sucked into the unproductive shivering that your body insists on subjecting you to.

Alyss stared out the massive window in her office, watching the snow fall, dreading what came next on her schedule and contemplating staying at the castle tonight. Will would presume that's what she was doing when she wasn't home within the hour, it wasn't uncommon for one of them to stay at Redmont when they had a late night, when the ride to the cabin seemed too tiresome.

They didn't like to do that though, neither of them slept as well without the other anymore, although the mutual dependency conflicted with their jobs. But that's how it was. Alyss felt safer with Will beside her, and Will slept more peacefully with Alyss beside him. Without either of those things, it wasn't the same.

That's why Alyss truly didn't want to not go home tonight, but the ride through the deepening snow seemed too detrimental. And who knows, maybe it would be too deep to ride through in the morning, and the project she was working on at the moment couldn't be postponed.

She would stay at Redmont for the night, Will would understand. Not that she ever doubted he would.

She could ask Arald for a guest suite, he would of course give it to her free of charge, he tended to spoil her like that; the advantages of being the Baron's surrogate daughter, she thought with an interior smile.

But it was already 8:30. She didn't want to bother the Baron. The next option was quite obvious.

She knocked on Halt and Pauline's door, patiently waiting for one of them to answer.

The door swung open with a creak, and revealed a very cheery-looking Pauline, "hello!" she cried, "come in dear, what a pleasant surprise."

Alyss stepped inside, her gratitude evident as she addressed Pauline, "I'm sorry for the impromptu visit. Would it be possible for me to stay here tonight? The snow is looking rather—" Her words trailed off as she locked eyes with her husband, who was seated on the couch with a mischievous grin

He stood as Alyss entered, playfulness dancing in his eyes. "Looks like we had the same idea."

Alyss suppressed the urge to reciprocate a smile.

"It looks like we did."

He took the bag from her hands, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek as he did so.

"Far too cold to endure horseback in this weather, hmm?"

"Mmhmm" she nodded at him, her eyes gleaming with a mixture of amusement and suspicion.

"You were meant to be working from home today, Will," she quipped.

Will looked back over at her, feigning confusion, "Was I?"

Alyss nodded back at him. A knowing glance passing between them.

Will shook his head, "Must have slipped my mind as I rode over," he responded with a wink as he crashed back on the couch with an air of nonchalance.

Alyss shook her head, exchanging a look with Halt that conveyed a shared exasperation.

"He follows you like a lost puppy, have you noticed that?" Halt remarked dryly, his voice laced with amusement.

Alyss chuckled, her gaze shifting back to Will.

"He does indeed." She agreed, slipping off her winter cloak. Will's casual demeanor couldn't hide the truth—his devotion to her was apparent in every glance and gesture.

She settled on the couch next to her husband, curling into his side naturally.

"But I wouldn't have it any other way."

#rangers apprentice #ranger's apprentice #fanfiction #rangers apprentice fanfiction #ra fanfic #wilyss

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His Worst Nightmare

Chapter Eight

Will could only describe the energy of the cabin as chaotic, and not in the fun, lovable way that had followed him around since he was a child. The room was filled with his loved ones screaming at each other, everyone blaming someone else for something. None of them even turned to note his arrival to the scene.

“Why are they yelling?” He whispered to Alyss.

She gives him a sympathetic look that he was all too familiar with being on the receiving end of. A look that she, Jenny, and Cassandra had all apparently learned together. A look that said oh, you poor, clueless boy. “They’re just worried about you Will.”

“I wish they wouldn’t.”

“It’s not really a choice any of us made. It’s just something that happens when people meet someone like you.”

“Someone like me?” He cocks his head and raises an eyebrow.

Alyss flushes and shakes her head, “Someone who’s so hopeless, they need a whole army to keep them out of trouble.”

Will rolls his eyes, and they land on the only other quiet figure, hiding in the shadows.

“Cover for me with the others?” He asks.

Alyss’ furrows her eyebrows in confusion but nods nonetheless, just like he knew she would.

Will slips around the crowd, grateful that the source of his unseen movement wasn’t all stored in his right arm. He comes up beside Halt, who he realized had noticed him the moment he stepped out of his room.

Will offers the stoic, unreadable face a soft smile. “Hey Halt, do you wanna take a walk?”

Halt nods, somewhat hesitantly. Will pulls his cloak off its hook by the door and maneuvers it over his shoulders as they step out of the cabin. They bypass the horses, something Tug is clearly concerned about, but he seems to accept Will’s promise of an apple upon their return. Will limps slowly along, his bruised and weak body unused to the activity He was grateful Halt was gracious enough to half his pace without uttering a word.

They walk in silence for a while before Will breaks it. “I’m not angry. Not at you at least. You do know that right?”

“Will,” Halt sighed his name, which wasn’t uncommon, but the lack of exasperation was, “you have every right to hate me.”

Will stopped and frowned. “I don’t.”

“You flinched. When you woke up and saw me, you flinched away. You were afraid of me, I could see it in your eyes.”

“After what happened Halt,” Will let out a short, rueful laugh, “I’m terrified of my own shadow. You can’t take it personally. I mean, it took days for me to be okay with Horace reaching out toward me. I- I’m a wreak Halt. I go from scared to grateful to furious in a matter of minutes. I feel like I’m coming unraveled. I don’t know how to do this. How to exist in this state of… “ Will gestured to his stump, “incompletion.”

Halt’s heart ached for the boy and his hands itched to just hold him and tell him everything would be alright. And a month ago, he would’ve. But now, there was a ravine between them, and Halt wasn’t sure he had enough rope to get across it.

“I’m not angry at you for doing what you had to do. But,” Will sighs, “I am a little angry at you for leaving me when I needed you the most.”

And if that didn’t make Halt melt with shame, then nothing could. He felt smaller and stupider than he ever had. Because when Will laid it out so simply, Halt could see the blinding truth to his words. He had walked away, he abandoned Will during the absolute worst time of his life.

“Will-“

“Don’t apologize Halt. I get it. You were going through your own trauma. And I know that if I had called, you’d have come running.”

Will’s confidence in him was meant to be reassuring, but Halt’s blood chilled at the words. He tried to push it away, but one thought screamed at him over and over again. That if Will had sent for him, he wasn’t certain he’d have come.

They made their way back to the cabin slowly, but instead of turning up the veranda steps, Will passed them and shuffled to the stables.

“Will, come inside. You need rest.” Halt called after him.

Will waves him off as he reaches the horses. “I won’t be long. I just wanna say hi.” Tug nuzzled into Will’s chest as he stroked his gray mane.

“I missed you too bud. I hope Horace hasn’t been feeding you too many apples. Don’t want you to start liking him more than me.”

Tug lifted his head and gently sniffed at the bandages around Will’s shoulder. “Yeah, somethings missing. But it’s ok, I can ride with one hand no sweat.” It was true, Will knew that riding Tug wouldn’t change all that much. After all, every ranger was trained to be able to ride while shooting arrows. But the thought invited a long list of the things he couldn’t do single handedly, using his bow at the very top. The list seemed endless, and panic rose in his chest. Tug seemed to sense his growing distress and rested his head against Will’s, trying to calm his riders mind. His breathing became rapid and he felt his stomach turn with nausea. A warm and firm hand rested on the back of his neck.

“Deep breaths Will. It’s going to be ok. Just take nice deep breaths.” Halt’s voice rolled over him, like waves on the shore. He did his best to follow the instruction. “That’s it, just like that Will. Good job, keep breathing.” With every reassurance, Will felt the knot in his lungs loosen until eventually he was able to catch his breath again.

“Thanks,” He gasped out, “sometimes all of it just, hits me. I could be in the middle of a bath, or taking a sip of coffee, when sudden, it feels like the world has collapsed and I’m spiraling, and I can’t tell the difference between up and down. Horace is usually the one who has to put up with me when I get like this.”

Halt opens his mouth to speak, but a voice from behind him cuts him off. “It’s not “putting up” with you. Don’t say it like it’s not my greatest honor to be the one you trust enough to let yourself break around.”

Will looks up from Tug, “Horace-“

Horace’s gaze swing to Halt. “I think it’s time you and I have a chat.”

Halt nods and steps forward, “Yes, I believe it is.”

#rangers apprentice #ranger's apprentice #will treaty #ranger’s apprentice fanfiction #rangers apprentice fanfiction #his worst nightmare