🥲 I wanted to reply to this so much sooner, but better late than never!

 

 

For Molten, I don't think I'm in the headspace for it anymore. 😔 The drama of it is - like... too shlocky now. If you've seen Star Wars, it's got the vibe of the one where Obi-Wan's yelling, "IT'S OVER, ANAKIN, I HAVE THE HIGH GROUND!" Which is great, don't get me wrong, but I'm just not in the mood to bring that particular scene to life.

 

What I'm doing instead is drilling into each of the pieces that I loved about it. The fic about how they grew up touches on that childhood trauma. The one where Rohan's getting preemptive separation anxiety touches on that feeling of loss. And one of the ones I'm working on now (where Angus loses his memory of Rohan altogether) is going to get into that, "Angus has effectively died and the version that's walking around wants nothing to do with me" angle.

 

The part I'm missing is the truly villanous and malicious angle, where Angus is actively weaponizing their bond against Rohan in an attempt to crush the guy. The drama of that is still sooooo tantalizing, but I think I need to build myself back up to it by taking on these lighter pieces first. If I ever get back to Molten or something like it, I want it to be a coin flip on whether one of them dies. And I'm not quite ready to have that yet; it's too obvious they're gonna live.

 

One other idea I had that'd get more into Angus' grief and breakdown was about 'killing' Rohan for a while. They'd go into a dungeon, find it's filled with magical things, and when all the Mystic Knights have their backs turned to explore the stuff, Rohan touches something and falls down dead. That's what everyone thinks, at least, and he functionally is. But the cave used to belong to assassins or spies, so what actually happens is that his spirit gets moved to an object (his sword, in this case), and he's bound to that.

 

The assassins would use it to tie their spirits to a gift that they'd present to their targets, and they'd be able to invisibly 'haunt' the area and study everything the object could 'see' from its position. Then their team would steal the object back, and the information gained could be sold or used to plan the bigger job once the assassin got returned to their body. Their bodies would be preserved, or there'd be nothing to return to - but unfortunately, as a 'gift,' there's an entirely separate spell that Cathbad or Fin Varra casts to keep Rohan preserved anyway (maybe to make a statue for his grave), so nobody ever gets to notice, "Oh, he's not decomposing. That's strange. Maybe there's some magic afoot and he's not truly dead." Total, awful coincidence.

 

Meanwhile, Rohan's spirit can't go farther than the object he's been put into can do. It's his sword, which he's already feeling suffocated by when they decide to hang it in the throne room. But then the others (minus Angus) start saying they should bury it with Rohan, which would mean moving the sword somewhere for Rohan's spirit to languish in complete isolation until he's driven mad. 😵‍💫 And they're having this conversation in the throne room itself, so Rohan gets a front row seat to freak the fuck out about this, screaming even though they can't hear him. There's a bit of hope around passing the sword to someone else, which Rohan is horrified to learn he's praying for (compared to being buried alive for eternity), but eventually they talk about letting Rohan's next-of-kin decide: Angus, who hasn't been here at all.

 

(Note: I don't know why I'm so obsessed with putting Rohan in his own plot, mentally torturing him, then letting him run crying back to Angus afterwards to say how upsetting everything was, but I am. And it's always paired with Angus getting up to his own shit, switched to his Rohan-Is-In-Danger hypercompetence mode, and not even thinking about how excruciating this all is until after it's been fixed and he can be like, "Well no point it dwelling on that now :)" But I keep doing it 🤣 Rohan gets to be a mess, Angus gets to fix it, and I'm in the background going, "omg can you imagine how horrible Angus would feel if he wasn't completely focused on solving the problem? omg imagine if he couldn't fix this 😍 he would die 😍😍😍 omgomg he absolutely would 😍😍😍😍😍" I just like seeing the edges and hints of his breakdown. It's like... the lingerie of angst, I guess?!?? What a terrible analogy 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Gotta leave something to the imagination, is what I'm saying, 'cause the anticipation of that breakdown is the best part)

 

SO! Completely off doing his own thing, Angus would've been alternating between sitting stunned in the hut and going to the crypt, which I've always headcanoned as - like... a morgue. Or a 'wake' room, to keep the body until they're ready to bury it. And Rohan hears the others talking about Angus, how silent he's being, and assumes it's open grief. But the others are talking about it like it's... disrespectful? Ivar's trying to explain that everyone grieves differently, but Angus' version might lead him to starting trouble somewhere else, since he's been found pacing the crypt and simply staring at Rohan's body like he's going to do something to it. Garrett's saying Angus isn't behaving at all as if Rohan's even dead, but instead sizing his friend up like he's annoyed or inconvenienced. And Deirdre's frustrated that Angus has been brushing them off like they're interrupting his thinking, while simultaneously going about his regular life without even mentioning Rohan's death.

 

In short, it sounds like they think Angus is grieving 'wrong', and while they know how much Angus cares about Rohan and how shocking this death must be, they don't know how to handle Angus seemingly... disagreeing with it? Not being in denial, not avoiding it, not calling it unfair, but just treating it like it's something that needs his permission. It's bothering them. They don't know how to react.

 

Rohan's delighted, because OH THANK GOD someone's taking a closer look - but it's not actually slowing the plans to bury him. For all of Angus' odd behaviour, he isn't running interference, and the day is quickly coming where he'll be entombed. The only break we get from Rohan's panic is when Deirdre makes the decision to force Angus to make one: the night before Rohan is buried, she gets the sword from where it's hanging in the throne room, and brings it to the crypt to Angus. Rohan finally gets to see him, after all this time. But as much as the others having been saying, "Angus is just living his life as normal" and "Angus is fine," he takes one look at the guy and sees how haggard and exhausted his friend is. It's purposely being hidden - so the others aren't wrong for thinking it - but Rohan clocks it instantly.

 

Deirdre explains that as Rohan's closest family, Angus needs to be the one to tell them what to do with the sword. It's the most important symbol they have of Draganta - and an immensely powerful weapon - but it's also the most enduring symbol they have of Rohan as a person. It isn't right for her or the king to choose to bury it or hang it in the throne room; by rights, this should be going to Angus instead.

 

And Angus, half-listening, leaned on the stone platform they've laid Rohan out on, says to put it down and he'll think about it.

 

Deirdre tells him this is his last night to think about it. After that, they'll go with her father's plan to seal it with Rohan in the tomb they've made for him. Angus isn't listening at all now, and Rohan can see where Deirdre's frustration is coming from - but she's a princess and graciously doesn't say anything about it. She simply leaves Angus to it.

 

They spend the whole night with Angus silently standing over Rohan's 'corpse,' staring at it, further in thought than he's ever been and uniquely concentrating. It's a face Rohan's seen before - one where Angus has a plan in mind, and it's terrible, so he's trying to think of literally anything else he can do instead - but it's interspersed with little moments of Angus walking off. Not leaving, but taking a short, slow pace around the room, hands behind his head, staring up, in another expression Rohan's seen on him: where Angus is working exceptionally hard not to just start screaming, but needs a break to at least consider that for a while. Then he comes back to stand over Rohan again and think. Repeat, repeat, repeat, until it's morning.

 

I was toying with the idea of how sappy I wanted it to be. In my mind, this takes place over three or four weeks - so Angus would be reduced to a single thought, not sparing much effort to actually feel anything that's not helping with the plan. But with it being the last night, either he gives in a little bit, or else the others simply tell Rohan about those moments with Angus earlier on. One of my head canons (and a common one overall 😝 it's in your fic too) is that Angus is an orphan who's family was nice until they got murdered by some sort of attack on his village. That gives him a couple of years where he had a happy family. I figure his mom would've taken care of him when he was sick by humming to him, stroking his hair, rubbing his back, saying all these little reassuring phrases, helping him eat, bundling him up - the full shebang. And in my mind, Angus learned that that's what you do when someone's sick. So whenever Rohan's sick, that's what he does: hums, strokes Rohan's hair, rubs his back, gets him food (as much as they have), and imitating what he remembers his own mother doing. He likes Rohan, that stuff made Angus feel better, so he did it to help Rohan feel better too. Which is really funny to me too, 'cause I'm imagining Cathbad being like, "Drink this potion and stop whining, you poisoned yourself with those powders, you're lucky I even have an antidote," while Angus is like, ":) here comes the dragon, open wide, i put honey on it so it doesn't taste like butt"

 

(Note: I also don't know why I constantly have Angus pampering Rohan as a kid, but I guess it's just to twist the knife whenever I snatch Angus away 😝 I also basically 'wean' Rohan off of it when they're older, 'cause I can't have Angus endlessly babying him when they're not like that in the show, but I truly believe Rohan has the biggest Man Cold™ meltdowns in all of Kells, and Angus swoops in like, "uwu d'aww does draganta need a nap 💖" I also believe they do NOT tell the others about this, because holy shit that would be so embarrassing 🤣)

 

Anyway, in the crypt, Angus has been having other moments where he stops looking at Rohan's 'corpse' like it's a problem to be solved, and like he sees it for what it is. And he doesn't seem to outwardly react to this much, but he does - after a considerable debate each time - lifts a hand to lightly twist a lock of Rohan's hair. That's all. Not for very long either. The others catch this every now and then, and they're concerned, because with his other behaviour, it's like it's adding up to Angus planning to attack Rohan's body somehow. Out of grief, not malice, but attacking nonetheless. But that never happens.

 

But Rohan sees this, or hears about it from the others later, and recognizes it fairly quickly. His body's preserved, so it looks like he's simply sleeping on this platform in the crypt. He's never slept that deeply without having been sick or poisoned or something, and even when he's been taken to Cathbad's chamber to recover, Angus has always waited with him until Rohan woke up (unless there was something he could to help other than waiting, of course. Sometimes Cathbad would have Angus running to grab certain herbs or running back to get exactly what Rohan had eaten or been stung with). Obviously, being unconscious, Rohan had no idea what was going on, but the familiarity of Angus hovering like that clears up any doubt. And since one of the things that would happen while Rohan was sick was Angus stroking his hair so he felt better, it's like he can see Angus is stuck between wanting to comfort his sick friend, and knowing this isn't a sickness at all. If everything was as it appeared, Rohan would be dead right now. And the moment would linger with Rohan realizing the denial that Angus is fighting against, losing enough to touch Rohan's hair, but never allowing himself to do more than twist it in his fingers.

 

Then Angus lets it go, puts his head down like he's collecting himself, and returns to staring at Rohan like an abstract puzzle again. It's a very quiet grief, and it puts what the others were saying - about Angus either being alone in the hut or alone here with Rohan's body for every day since Rohan died - into a sinking perspective. Yes, Rohan's survival is still at stake, but it's his chance to stop and face the effect this is having on his friends. Part of him had started off angry that Angus was behaving like this without stopping the burial plans, but now that same part is wondering if Angus has even been eating.

 

(Note: that's the other half of the 'Angus endlessly pampered Rohan' thing: Rohan didn't do that back 🤣 It was always, "My funny friend is being funny by being so nice to me, this is nice, I love it but I'll never say that because maybe Angus will suddenly stop doing it, better not question or call any attention to it and just enjoy uwu" Why? Because Rohan is emotionally constipated. And that is what ABSOLUTELY twists the knife when I snatch Angus away: ✨guilt✨ that Rohan never reciprocated that care he'd freely accept, because even though the thought to do it back had occurred to him, he'd get scared and talk himself out of it with a hundred reasons why it'd be bad. So he missed his chance, and now he's being made to realize how hollow those excuses were - because obviously, OBVIOUSLY, Angus wouldn't've ridiculed him or rejected him for returning that. Rohan never 👏🏽 appreciates 👏🏽 Angus 👏🏽)

 

But the day comes. Angus hasn't made any decision about the sword, so they proceed with locking Rohan's body in a tomb and sealing him with his sword. And like how Balin had a big stone coffin, Rohan has one too - and with the sword being put inside that, he can't see anything at all now. It's just blackness. He's been sealed inside, alone, away from his home and from his friends, doomed to be an eternal ghost until he goes insane. As he lays in his coffin, buried alive as he had feared, he'll make little attempts to fight through the magic or contact Aideen or any magical creature, and none of it will work. He almost wonders if they can't hear him when he's in this coffin, and that he missed he chance too. There'd be a scene of him remembering everyone's faces, his failure to reach any of them while he was still in the castle, and his regrets at leaving them like he did - all because of some stupid magic in a goddamn cave that they should've known better than to go into. He'd probably been the one to push them to explore it as well. So his last thoughts seem to be pointed towards a pity party.

 

Hours pass.

 

Yeah - hours. Because that same day, after the point at where the procession would've returned to the castle to continue honouring their legendary warrior, the stone coffin that Rohan was buried in would've been unsealed. Even as a ghost, even with how weak the light is in here, it's enough to blind and terrify Rohan when it cracks open.

 

And it's Angus, who appears to have purposely hung back, and would've been very unlikely to be questioned about it when it's so easy to say he's staying out of grief. It's the most beautiful moment Rohan has ever seen, and if he could throw up from the excitement, he would. But he makes himself conclude his panic attack as Angus stares down at him, still seeing - from everyone else's perspective - a corpse.

 

Angus' face has changed. It's not staring at Rohan like a puzzle anymore. It's moved on to being awkwardly resigned. It's the face he made when he distracted Pyre to give them a chance to run, and the face he made when he let Torc and the Temrans capture him to break the fear spell on Rohan, and the face he made the first time they purposely returned to Tir Na Nog: "I am going to regret this, but it simply has to be done." And Rohan's so relieved that he doesn't even connect that Angus was thinking up a plan this whole time.

 

There'll be a speech. :3 There's gotta be. Angus is alone in the tomb with Rohan, putting some sort of plan into action, and he's always got something to say before the inevitable happens. I figure he'll be speaking a little quickly, which is a sure sign that whatever he's doing, getting caught doing it would be bad. I also figure he'll be stopping intermittently to interrupt himself, not wanting to follow any particular thoughts too far and distract him. But what it'll be is an apology. A rushed one. Angus is sorry that he's broken into this place before Rohan's had a night of rest, and sorry that he's being so deluded into thinking he has any right to do this, and hoping Rohan would forgive him for violating this most basic rule of respect... and Rohan would be more curious at any other time, but Angus started by saying, "If you're dead," and the word 'if' has never sounded so magnificent before.

 

Then Angus takes Rohan's sword out of the coffin and straps it on.

 

... Not on his back, though. Angus has slung it over chest, putting it on the opposite way. That, as a guy who's had a sword in his hand since birth, is so bizarre to Rohan that it takes all of his attention when he sees it.

 

So it's kind of a shock when Angus follows this up by reaching in, grabbing Rohan himself, and dragging that limp body out of the coffin too. After sliding the coffin lid back in place, *Rohan* gets put on Angus' back, and in the most complicated struggle to get him settled on there without any assistance from anyone. But, only half-dropping Rohan once, Angus gets him secured, and piggybacks the Legendary Warrior Draganta's corpse out into the evening sky. If anyone looked inside, they wouldn't know the stone coffin was empty. As Rohan continues being grave-robbed out of his own grave, he's asking a hundred other questions that Angus can't hear, but the desperation isn't as sharp as it could've been. This is Angus. This is the only person who thought about this enough to do something, and regardless of whether he has a choice, Rohan isn't going to lose faith now.

 

Angus takes him the way to that goddamn cave they'd found. Cathbad had visited it later, Rohan knows, because he'd been in the throne room hearing the report to the king. It wasn't any magic that Cathbad had heard of, other than that it being the magic of assassins and spies. With no way to study it, but knowing Rohan's spirit had left his body, they were left to accept this as some magic meant to strike a sudden death for their target. That means Rohan's surprised to go back there when it's supposed to be hopeless, instead of taking him to Tir Na Nog. It's also a lot farther, but with Rohan's coffin sealed behind them, it much less likely the others would think that this is what happened. Even if Ivar tracked them, it wouldn't be urgent. They'd probably want to give Angus his time alone to grieve anyway.

 

Every now and then, Angus has to take a break. He always complains about how stupidly heavy Rohan is, and when he picks Rohan back up, he points a finger directly in Rohan's face and snaps, "Don't curse me." It has to be for his own sake, because Rohan would never curse Angus. Ever. But maybe it's another regret: that he'd never made that clear enough before.

 

When they finally get there, Angus is exhausted and sweating and swearing WAY MORE than even Rohan's used to hearing. Turns out, even though Rohan knew Angus was watching his language in front of the princess, there was a deeper level of "village talk" that Angus would watch in front of him 🤣 It's almost fascinating, and Rohan would love to look into it, but Angus has gotten into the next part of his plan. If they dressed Rohan up in burial clothes, Angus is undressing him - and putting him back in the clothes Rohan had been wearing when he got hit by that magic and 'died'. It doesn't take long for him to realize Angus is 'recreating' that day. And because Angus can't stay quiet for long, and doesn't have a corpse on his back to drag around, he's free to start thinking out loud. Who's gonna hear him anyway?

 

From what's said, Angus reveals that he thinks he's crazy. Totally lost it. His best friend died, and instead of feeling anything normal, his first thought - and only thought since then - was, "Nah, it wouldn't be that easy." Through all the proof, through all the pressure, despite all the wise words from many people and condolences from even more, and despite what his own eyes and hands were telling him, Angus just doesn't agree. He's known Rohan for basically his entire life, and there's only ever been two truths surrounding his friend, which have never failed to prove themselves: one, that Rohan can't die on purpose, let alone by accident, as proven by the billion ways he's flung himself into certain death already; and two, Rohan will take the most complicated, longest, stupidest shortcuts to anything he tries, which make everything harder, but at least leave enough of a trail to find out what he's done. Rohan's watching this as a ghost like, "🤨 Ouch," only to remember that he is, in fact, a ghost, and go, "... ok fair."

 

He goes on to say that he doesn't know much about magic, and that's why he knows he can't get the others to help him. They trust Cathbad, and Cathbad said Rohan was dead. But Cathbad admitted this was a cave filled with things that were left by assassins and spies. Maybe Angus was only ever a thief, but he knows a tool of the trade when he sees one. The contraption that Rohan 'killed' himself with - which looks like a garden pinwheel made out of tarnished brass - is in the back corner of this massive room. That's not where a thief, at least, would put their tools. Those would be somewhere more accessible or not on display at all. It's not even where Angus would put a trap, because it isn't calling attention to come tinker with it. There's quite a bit of space around it too, with the area otherwise clear, and it's in the farthest spot to get to; someone coming in to simply swipe some stuff would take whatever was by the entrance instead. On their way in before, Angus *had* swiped a few trinkets, proving his own point. Putting whavever it was in the back of the cave seemed like giving it a dedicated space. That, therefore, and in his former-pickpocketing opinion, is where he'd be making preparations.

 

"You know Cathbad's got three kinds of powders," Angus says to the air, inspecting all the dust on the ground. "Ones he uses every day, ones he uses only rarely, and ones he tries hiding from us." He'll point at the pinwheel Rohan had dropped in front of. "That's not hidden, and it's too far back to use it every day. So it's something they use enough to keep it out, but not so important that they had to hide it more than putting it in a cave." As Rohan watches nervously, Angus steps in front of it. "You don't kill someone with something you'd have to drag from a corner everytime. You don't bring someone to your lair to kill them either - or at least not this far in. So I'll bet it's not for their targets at all. It's for them to use, and they wouldn't be keeping this out to kill themselves with it on the regular."

 

It'll sound rehearsed. As if Angus has said this hundreds of times. And Rohan will realize that's probably the truth. His friend's had four weeks to think about something, and this is apparently that something. He's looking at that pinwheel like it's the next part of the puzzle.

 

"If you can't use it to kill, maybe you'd use it to spy. Those were the two things they did in here," he concludes. "... How in the hell would you use this to spy?"

 

He'll narrate enough for Rohan to follow along with his thinking. On the wall around this device are more trinkets. But Angus says again that there's nothing here he'd want to steal. Everything looks tarnished and small. Horseshoes, dull knives, small cups, and the like. Many of the others were things he'd pick from a pocket and toss away - bent coins with no value pressed on them or a clear look at the metal, thimbles... Maybe that was the point, because they weren't sat here like trophies from victims. The spacing was uneven, which means they haven't been proudly displayed. Instead, they've been handled repeatedly. But they aren't carelessly tossed aside or knocked over, so they had to have importance to them. They were arranged on shelf above this device like they were extensions of it, but there wasn't any obvious way to attach them or hang them...

 

Rohan nearly has a heart attack as Angus gets closer to it, but doesn't touch it. Thankfully. But Angus notices all the stained fingermarks on the pinwheel. This has been handled a bunch too - and Rohan was playing with it before he dropped, so that made sense. Touching it would activate it.

 

So Angus goes to Rohan's body, drags him to the device, and picks up Rohan's hand to touch the device again. Nothing. There's a bit of a spin to it, so Angus next attempts to carefully wrap Rohan's hand around the pinwheel, and use that to turn it. Nothing again. He looks at all the objects, sees they're all made of metal, and remembers he'd brought Rohan's sword to purposely recreate things, hoping he could do 'reverse it'. Grabbing Rohan's hand in his own, making his friend grab the hilt like he'd done when he died, and using Rohan's other hand to turn the device -

 

It's not something I'd need to draw out, so it can be instantaneous. Rohan snaps back to being in his own body, coughing hideously from the dryness in his mouth and the lack of air, sputtering in an unseemly mess entirely unbefitting a legendary warrior. And he's by himself as he does it, even though he doesn't notice this for a while. He has to finish sputtering enough and take the weakly offered waterskin and recover before he realizes Angus hasn't said anything. There's a moment of panic-induced adrenaline as he whips around to check that nothing's happened to Angus now. Nothing has; he's fine.

 

He's staring at Rohan like he's seen his friend die, though. Whatever composure he'd been granted by focusing on this problem, it was coming undone now that he'd found an answer for it. His breathing's shallow, his eyes have contracted like he's blinded by a light that wasn't there, and he looked dazed. 'Respectful shock,' if the others had been there to see it. True grief.

 

Rohan could handle this. He could explain everything that happened from beginning to end, and by the time he was done, enough of Angus' senses would silently return to let him nod. And as Rohan is watching, there's a visible, conscious decision made to ignore those four weeks, and brag instead - however shakily at first - that Rohan was lucky to have a friend who'd think he's too dumb to die when he's told. Angus' breathing is still shallow, but that decision picks up in steam until Angus is smirking about this victory, and Rohan's celebrating around him.

 

The walk back would be careful. Angus would be telling Rohan everything he'd missed outside the throne room - gossip and village events - like Rohan had, in fact, only been sick for a few days. Like Angus had known the whole time. And Rohan's happy to feed into that, because if the others were here, they would call Angus' new behaviour disrespectful too. It wasn't relaxed enough to be relieved at Rohan's return. Calling it a rescue seemed to make Angus tense up worse. It also wasn't happy enough to be a true celebration. Bragging? Instead of saying how much Angus had missed him? Instead of mentioning anything about the twists of hair and breaks to pace and refuse to scream? About ignoring everyone and sitting alone in a crypt with a body, or stunned in an empty hut? As if Angus' great conclusion was that he'd proven Cathbad wrong, and was looking forward to saying as much when they got back. Teasing Rohan over how much Deirdre in particular had missed him, but lingering on how sure she was to kiss him rather than any details on how she'd - anyone - mourned. Rohan tells Angus thank you. Angus shrugs and says he's glad he's not going to get cursed, but what did he think of his own burial? Was it good? Would the king let them play - uh, use that device again, now that they know what it did? Was Rohan hungry? Did they think they could get a second feast to welcome Rohan back?

 

I don't know how the two of them would broach this. Honestly, I'm picturing them getting back, everyone giving a 'true' explosion of joy and relief that Rohan's been saved, reacting with 'true' horror at what Rohan had gone through and how close he came to being buried in darkness, and 'true' gratitude that Angus had followed his suspicions to the end, no matter how many times they'd tried to convince him to acknowledge Rohan's apparent death. Then I'm picturing Angus giving Rohan a pat on the shoulder and a smile, saying he's had a long walk lugging his body to that cave, so he's going to turn in early for the night. Then leaving, joking that he's looking forward to a month of Rohan doing all their cooking.

 

The others are a bit shocked and annoyed that Angus would leave when his best friend returned from the dead, and it's clearly a holdover from their frustration at Angus' previous behaviour. But Rohan clears him to leave, saying they'll see each other in the hut when he's finished here, and Angus heads off with that.

 

As soon as Angus is gone, Rohan drops the façade. His face is grim as he demands to know how Angus handled the death - back when they thought that was what it was. It nudges the others into realizing there's more going on, which they'd suspected but hadn't been able to prove on their own, and starts a detailed recounting of how muted Angus had been and how muted he was still being. Rohan takes this in, agreeing it's hiding a worse mess, but tells them not to push Angus into admitting it. There were cracks already, and if those broke now, Rohan saw it more as something crumbling into dust rather a single hole that could neatly patched. Angus hadn't been handling this well, in other words, and it'd get worse the more his friend thought about it. So... they'd have to be careful in how they approached.

 

I'd have it end with Rohan coming back to the hut, and Angus in his cot, facing towards the wall. He's not asleep. He's not quite pretending he is, but he doesn't answer when Rohan calls and doesn't react when there's a hand laid gently on his arm. He simply lays on his side, arms crossed, eyes closed... and oddly focused, like he's willing the night to pass faster.

 

Angus has done that sometimes. When he drank too much, when he ate too much or too little, when he got into the powders he'd later tell Rohan to stay far away from... What Rohan means is that Angus has clutched up like this before when he was sick and trying not to be.

 

There, in that moment, Rohan's hand reaches up to almost take a lock of Angus' hair. But he doesn't take it. He doesn't want to disturb Angus when he's so focused on not focusing. Instead, he puts his hand back on Angus' arm to give a light pat, and steps away to go to his side of the hut.

 

... and that's where it would end. :3

 

✨ Tragedy ✨ :3

 

But without the really loud and dramatic declarations of betrayal. Just an unspoken, guilt-laden distance between them, where Angus refuses to recognize anything that happened, pretending he's fine, nowhere near convincing anybody of that, but stuck with Rohan emotionally constipating himself out of trying to help - 'cause, you know, ":( what if i make it worse? that'd make me, Rohan, so sad" 🙄

 

🫵🏽👁️👁️ I have more thoughts about the other stuff you wrote, but I'm like an hour late to the watch-along so I'm gonna go do that

Okay, I'm back again!

What's amazing is that my whole last reply was just me responding to "Why are you not still writing Molten" 😭 But whenever you wanna do a Molten-focused response, I'm totally game to read it 👀 I'm still reading your fics so I can't do that yet.

 

But for everything else:

 

 

I'm gonna skip right to the polycule stuff, 'cause I've been wanting to chat about that! 😝 It's a new type of ship for me. Another user (schimmelspore 💖) put me onto it, but I kinda think I'm doing it wrong...? Or like it hasn't clicked in my head to get its full potential.

 

So far, I love the idea of everyone managing their relationships with Angus by committee. Beyond that, though, I end up turning the ship into a writing exercise to explore how a certain combination - if they ever got together - would get along. For example: Garrett and Ivar don't interest me. I don't think I'll ever write anything about them out of personal interest in the pairing. Same for Ivar and Deirdre - I'm not interested in them either. But! I love the thought experiment of comparing how those relationships would work separately, and how they'd work if Ivar was genuinely involved with both of them. Do I think either one has any shot of happening? No. 😝 But if they did, what drama is hiding in there?

 

And as much as I love the idea of the four of them having a "romantic custody arrangement" for Angus, I've said before (in our DMs) that I'm so single-mindedly focused on Angus, my interest in everything else depends on it impacting him in some way. Or else I'm bored. 😅 So even though I'm saying, "Rohan would be timing the handover to the exact minute to make sure he wasn't shortchanged, but Ivar seems like the guy who'd use romance as a reason to justify being late, which is wildly out-of-character for both of them ordinarily, and that's what makes it fun," it's sorta just... background noise? Flavour text? Context, basically, for when I want a quick plot for picturing Angus flattered over lots of attention, guilty for going over time (again), annoyed that he's being monitored so closely, or fed up with this stupid schedule that he's only going along with to keep the others happy - so they don't fight (which is a little out-of-character in its own way, but again, "if he was concerned about everyone else fighting, how would he be dealing with it").

 

That's what I mean about not doing it right. 🤔 I think a true polycule ship would be more focused on what everyone's doing, but I either boil it to a throuple at best (some Angus/Rohan/Deirdre mix, ignoring any other influences), or I throw together a concept that I only explore enough to give me more Angus Angst.™ 🙃 And the bulk of that is, "Angus is gonna have a no-strings-attached thing on the side with Ivar and Garrett, and the only one who's chill with that is Ivar because even Rohan and Deirdre are pissed about it." Which means it's less about a polycule at all, and more of an open relationship concept. 🤔🤔 Angus is dating everybody at varying levels of commitment to them, which is great 'cause he doesn't have to get stuck with anyone (outside of dramatic and angsty purposes), and he can sorta sliiiiiide in to fill in any gaps the others are dealing with ("aw you and deirdre are having problems? :( let me check if it's a you thing or a her thing *an hour later* ok it's a you thing, she was great with me :)")

 

In my head, that unlocks so much random fun. Yes, Garrett would be furious and outraged if Deirdre dared turn her attention to anyone else... but also "Oh, Angus doesn't count. He's with everybody. That's not a threat." Deirdre would take too long of a glance at a visiting dignitary and worry she might be straying from Rohan, then roll over to ask Angus if that makes her unfaithful, and he just shrugs and goes back to smoking a cigarette 🤣 Ivar scolds Angus for purposely burning all his energy that morning to get out of patrolling later in the afternoon - that stuff. Hilariously, even those I'm still reading Glimpse, I had this vision of Angus marrying Eabha and telling her, "I am overjoyed to be dedicating the rest of my life to you. And so is my girlfriend, my boyfriend, my boyfriend, and my boyfriend, who never thought this day would come, and would like to discuss a new first-come-first-served schedule once we've finished our honeymoon 💖"

 

Also Ivar would be ass-drunk the first time him and Angus hook up, and then after that, be like, "It already happened once, might as well keep it going." It would definitely endanger his reputation... if it'd been with anyone else. But it's Angus so everyone goes, "Yeah, that happens sooner or later." I have a more genuine, romantic idea for Ivar and Rohan, but as much as I love the vibe I've given it, it's - like... :/ Ivar is cool, but he's not Angus, so he can't give me the energy I need to compensate for Rohan's genericness. But I fully believe it'd be romantic for anyone who likes healthy, intimate, slow, magical, elegant romances - which I do not. Half the reason I gloss over Rohan/Deirdre is because it's too much in that direction already. It's why Ivar and Angus is much more appealing to me; Angus will tap into Ivar's inner chaos demon. It's inevitable. 🤣

 

I like Rohan/Deirdre as the main endgame. Even in my own head, whenever I ship Rohan/Angus, I'm thinking, "Okay, but this is an exception to the Rohan/Deirdre stuff, so how is my daydream gonna explain that?" Not just because it's the canon pairing the show was pushing for, but because it makes the most sense to me. They do like each other! There are moments! When things are good, it's really, really good! But I get so annoyed with Rohan's flaws that I struggle to see why she would put up with them in a marriage. I agree with you: she would choose to be with someone she could keep in line, and Rohan would be working as hard as he could to keep her happy. But then - ugh, he's gonna fall short, and the thought of them running into a rough patch, knowing Rohan'll cloister up and nod along with whatever Deirdre is forced to decide for them, just for the resentment of that unilateral decision to build until they fight and she has to explain she's not a damn mindreader, so "use your words like a big boy for once, Rohan" - that bothers me. 😔

 

He'd want to fix whatever he's done, of course, but it feels like 9 times out of 10, he'd be walking around like, "Deirdre's inexplicably mad at me??" And the other would be, "I know why Deirdre's mad at me but how am I supposed to fix it?? Help???" As great as he'd be at having her back, I'm imagining them fifteen years later, with her getting sick of the 'tell Rohan how he's annoyed her, convince him it's a problem, convince him again because he's still brushing it off, get the standard apology gift now that he accepts there was a problem, accept that he's trying his best I guess' routine. Maybe that's pointing back to the social scripts the guy's following: "I mess up, I say sorry and give you flowers, we never talk about it again, all better." Yes, apologizing and giving flowers (for example) is very sweet, and he's a very sweet guy, but - um... how is he going to react when Deirdre says the novelty's worn off, and he can't treat 'give flowers' as a panacea for every stress and anger she's been stewing in? Because I'm picturing him uselessly panicking again: "The flowers?? Aren't working?? Anymore????" And then he sprints off into the night to angst about how terrible he is as a husband, leaving Deirdre to still handle everything else.

 

Maybe the problem's that I haven't embraced the drama of it yet. Deirdre having to deal with the fact that she needs to 'deal' with her husband even when it's not the 'fun' type of yelling at him - there's some juicy stuff in there! But unlike Angus, who can be emotionally held hostage to Rohan's whims for a variety of reasons, I look at Deirdre in that position and go, "Girl, you're the fucking queen. Tell Rohan to pound sand if he's not listening to you. Don't let him think he can get away with that." Maybe she does, though! Maybe the drama's not about her being held hostage to Rohan's tantrums, and more like Rohan doing backflips to *avoid* any meltdowns for fear of Deirdre discarding him. Masking (note: fr, I'm just commiting to the Rohan Is Autistic concept now) gets harder to do the longer he's around her and gets more comfortable, so it looks like he's regressing into thoughtless behaviour and careless remarks, instead of it being a roundabout milestone for how much more relaxed he feels with her. In his mind, Deirdre would dump him for a fraction of the things he offhandedly says to Angus, and that means Rohan has to reckon with not being good enough and masking harder. And that makes him come off even more awkward to her, or worse, more endearing, forcing him to keep putting on a show. Meanwhile Deirdre's like, "I sure do hope my husband stops calling me 'Your Majesty' soon."

 

Huh. 🤔 I might've talked myself into a whole new angle for them. Interesting. Lemme noodle on that a little more.

In the meantime - ROHAN/ANGUS! On one hand, I do think I prefer not shipping them, but it's 49% 'do it' to 51% 'don't'. Very slight difference. I see them attached to each other enough either way that shipping them is for logistical and coordination purposes; I'm clearing their schedule of any distractions so they can dedicate 1,000% of their time to what-the-hell-ever copendency they've got. And there are a few other plot points I can wring out from a ship that I can't get without it, so that's another pro for the list. 🥰

 

Oddly enough, I actually do think Rohan would be the one to make the first move, but he'd do it accidentally. I agree he'd be going, "Hm these feelings are uncomfortable" and awkwardly stuff them down, but I don't think he'd notice if he's subconsciously grabbing Angus or hanging off of Angus a liiiittle more than 'friends' would. I see Angus allowing it for a while, because he knows Rohan's just being friendly, but I'm falling back on the adage, "Kids can be cruel." With how weird Rohan must already seem, they're gonna notice that and start making fun of it. Angus tells Rohan to knock it off to curb the bullying, hurts Rohan's feelings, figures out some sort of compromise between them (more "we do not tell the others about this 😠 that's embarrassing" stuff), and the line's drawn there - and stays there. Then over time, Rohan learns what others are doing, maybe even gets some advice about Deirdre, and goes, "Haha - this is stuff I do with Angus. :)"

 

Someone would have to tell him, but he'd think it was normal or funny enough to actually volunteer that info to somebody else ("isn't this such a coincidence?"). That would be the other person's cue to ask, "🤨 You do this stuff with Angus?" And when he tries to laugh it off and explain that it's not like that, they'd be asking, "What other ways are there to interpret it," and then think back through a bunch of other moments that now have a new meaning. They go "😮," and then - well, honestly, it's like I had it in Nine to Go: Ivar figured it out first, then he's stuck deciding whether to help Rohan figure it out, since Rohan will never realize it on his own, but that is such a can of worms and Ivar doesn't wanna be the one to unleash it (unless it's causing a problem).

 

That can happen fully separate from what Angus is thinking, which is great because that gives me three kinds of drama and I love them all.

 

One's a simple, "Rohan figures it out, but he barely understands how courting a girl works, let alone another guy. He has no idea what Angus might think."

 

Two is, "Rohan figures it out, and regardless of what Angus literally does, he's fundamentally not interested in this." And this is cool, because it captures the 'Angus would find it incestuous' thing you mentioned. I completely agree Angus leans into the "brother" thing more. That's where I get the vibe that he babies Rohan a lot - and why Rohan would eventually scream, "You're not my mom" at him (even though that would be an upgrade from Maeve lmao). All of his sacrifices on the show come from a family angle, where Angus is putting himself out there to protect his little baby infant one-year-younger dug-out-of-a-trash-can sibling. If Rohan came up to him saying there were deeper feelings involved, Angus would a) be very confused, b) be worried he'd done something wrong to confuse Rohan. He'd be too concerned to even manage turning Rohan down, because it's so not on the table, and he just needs to do a quick course correction to redirect Rohan onto someone else. Like, Angus would infantilize Rohan for that: "You poor, dumb baby-man. Let's wipe your face and tailor your shirt and get you back on track with a girl. So silly. So dumb. What a Rohan-esque mistake." (Rohan can go have a heartbreak in the corner or whatever, idk he loves pining)

 

But it also captures what I was going for in Nine to Go, which is probably my favourite - or second-favourite - way of shipping them: toxic and doomed. 😍 Angus cares about Rohan so much that if this is what Rohan wanted, Angus'd do his best to go along with it. He'd be going :/ the whole time, and others would see that, but his answer would be, "It keeps him happy. It's not hurting anyone." Then it's a race to see what inevitable end finally ruins them. Does Angus realize that Rohan wants this forever, and that he can't just wait it out like it's a passing infatuation? Does he learn he can't stomach the increasingly nauseous feeling of Rohan being so close and so romantic, despite assuming he'd always be able to endure what Rohan throws at him? Does he find out he can't stop seeing Rohan as the best friend and practically-brother he grew up with? Does he get smothered by Rohan latching on so much more tightly as Rohan feels him shrinking away - or as Rohan flips out over Angus being perfectly at ease with other men and women, demanding to know why Angus isn't still like that with him?

 

It's got a fascinating parallel to the drama I just mentioned with Rohan/Deirdre, where Rohan's frantically trying to mask for fear of Deirdre seeing the real him. Only now, it's Angus trying to keep up the idea that he's okay with being in a relationship with Rohan. If Rohan's mask slips, Deirdre'll find out he's got a different way of expressing his love than others do. If Angus' mask slips, Rohan'll find out Angus wasn't in love with him in the first place. That'll cause a crisis of Rohan knowing he's been given a pity-romance that he'd thought was real, either furious at the deception or heartbroken that Angus felt he needed to deceive Rohan at all. Or maybe, because I can't help the villain!Rohan opportunity, they both *double-down*. Rohan insists he can win Angus over, and Angus is like, ":/ ok. i'll try." And we get ourselves a front row seat to Rohan proving he's exactly his mother's son, all "KELLS IS MY BIRTHRIGHT" for decades. Awful for both of them, neither one's happy, BUCKLE UP LET'S DO THIS 💖

 

The third kind of drama is the cringiest, sappiest crap out there: Angus has liked taking care of Rohan, Rohan likes being taken care of (obviously 🙄), it's very affectionate, and this is a natural progression of that affection. (I'm shaking my head at myself. My God.) The worst of their drama is their goddamn self-esteem. Rohan's all, "Ohhhh, I wonder if being a prince will finally let me repay him, or if he's going to be weird about it like he was weird about me being Draganta." Angus is all, "Ohhhh, surely now that he's a prince, he's got to marry a princess. I should get out of the way." And Rohan's all, "Noooo, I'm gonna have a castle now, come stay with me 🥺" and Angus is all, "Noooo, I'm going to hold you back, you need to move on without me 🥺" and it's - just 🤮💖 get a goddamn room.

 

They have an obnoxiously happy relationship, make tactical use of PDA during courtly meetings, and Angus is constantly twitching to intervene on everything Rohan's going to do - but respects Rohan enough (not because he's a king, that still doesn't matter) to wait until Rohan actually asks him for help first. He gets the rest of his micromanaging fix by bossing all of the Temran guards around, and Rohan gives him three days a year where he can roll around in the Temran treasury as a treat. And Rohan gets someone who is invariably on his side, can safely knock him out of choice paralysis, aggressively roots out traitors in the ranks like they were childhood bullies, doesn't mind his meltdowns, stops him from outright killing himself with stupid plans, and rubs his head when he's got a headache uwu (🤮💖) And I assume many would be like, "Haw haw, so is this guy your queen?" And Rohan's like, "don't insult him 😠 we'll get him a different title" and Angus is like "fuck ya i'll be the queen, that's hilarious lmao, gotta send a man to do a woman's job AM I RIGHT" and they high five and get married and stab people who go "🤨" about it. They're on excellent terms with Deirdre and whoever she ends up marrying, and I usually go with Garrett 'cause I don't wanna make up a new character. I assume they have a monthly brunch, and Ivar splits his time between both castles.

 

🤷🏽‍♀️

 

But even then, I'm like, "This is an open relationship, 'cause Angus is not getting locked down like that." Rohan would have 100% of his priority but 85% of his time - which is good, because that's the time Rohan uses to do his ridiculous adventuring and work that Angus wants to sleep through. Hobbies 👍🏽

 

Actually, you said 'outlet'. That's a way better way to phrase it. Outlets 👍🏽

 

So I'm very interested to read more about Eabha. From the scenes you tagged me in (which I classify as a preview uwu 💖), I love the dynamic with Deirdre. But I need more of the context from reading the rest to make sure I didn't assume the completely wrong facts around it. I'm delighted Deirdre's got an actual female friend who's not intermittently catfighting with her, and who's actually there to safely listen. Rohan's always had a confidant, Ivar and Garrett started confiding in each other, so it's about damn time that Deirdre gets that too! Eabha seems like the right person for her.

 

But ☝🏽 I am still assessing her as the right person for Angus. I like that he's so taken with her so far, and she has an awesome personality, but I'm squinting at him in Glimpse like, "Bullshit you're gonna stay focused on someone long-term" The fact that there's a sequel and she's in that makes me know he eventually does commit to her, but right now, it's looking like a whirldwind romance and he's swept up in the fun of being Facebook Official©®™. When I catch up to the point where I'm convinced he's not only doing it for fun, and actually wanting to settle down on purpose, I'll come back with more thoughts. 😌 He is such a type to have those Boomer "ol' ball and chain" jokes, so I've gotta see what finally makes him put those jokes aside. 👀

 

(p.s. that's got nothing to do with writing! that's "i'm not finished reading it yet" 😜 i'm also surprisingly invested in garrett having his ass romantically handed to him by ivar, who is effortlessly winning eilidh's hand 💖 talking about new appreciations for ivar, who'd've thought i'd have any opinion on a subplot around him? 👀 i normally skip that stuff, and here i am like, "you two good? you need any snacks? rose petals? champagne? aw you crazy kids - go have fun while i chloroform garrett for you :)")

@tartrazeen Well that was a lot. And as always, I have opinions.

Right, so the polycule. I struggle with this concept a little more than you, but I think it’s actually for similar reasons. I openly do not give a shit about certain relationships. Deirdre and Ivar can go suck an egg. Ivar and Garrett can be quiet friends in a corner, but I don’t want to hear about it unless they’re talking about something more interesting (this is where the Angus-centric thing comes back in). Rohan and Garrett is disturbing to me and I cannot for the life of me explain why. And I don’t think Rohan and Ivar would ever consider any kind of touching that doesn’t involve literal swords (no innuendo, Rohan would be horribly embarrassed and Ivar has higher standards).

I do like the idea of managing relationships with Angus by committee. As a character, he isn’t someone that can have a “meh” relationship. It’s either going to have a buttload of chemistry, or they will literally spend zero time together because Angus will not stick around for “meh”. What this does mean is that they all have a different dynamic, and that would absolutely need to be discussed as a full group because boundaries would overlap.

You know my feelings on Angus and Rohan. I love their friendship. I love their “adopted brotherhood” schtick. Angus definitely sees Rohan as family, whereas Rohan does not grasp this due to the autism that you have also made canon. Because you know…rules are rules, and family is blood, and I’m not related to Angus, so he’s not my brother, and that’s the rule. Whereas Angus is like…I have known you since you were six; you were a moron then and you are a moron now, but you are my moron and I will forever protect you. So I don’t see him ever actually being into Rohan in that way. But like you said, I can see him sort of being seduced into doing it purely because Rohan wants to and whatever makes Rohan happy is on the table. But Angus wouldn’t be able to commit to that despite trying, and it would end in a very bad situation for all involved. Rohan seems the type to get a bit stabby if he’s jealous.

I also question whether or not Rohan has the emotional capacity to consider his sexuality. He is very much a “by the book” kind of guy who has a clear set of rules and adheres to them (the only exception being running headlong into battle without permission). If he has been told his whole life that he is a boy and one day he will marry a girl, I don’t think Rohan would be able to contemplate being gay or bi. So he might have feelings for Angus, but they would be all mashed up in the whole “I can’t identify my feelings, I am broody” thing that he never fully grasps.

Angus and Deirdre is…gah. Again, you know my feelings on this. I love them together, but Angus WOULD NOT do that to Rohan, and Deirdre WOULD NOT allow Angus to be King. So unless they managed to have Deirdre openly have a sidepiece, it would never work. Angus wouldn’t hide it from Rohan, and he also wouldn’t sit in a throne out of duty. The only way I ever see it happening is like I said before (I can’t remember if it was DMs or not) where Rohan dies and tells Angus to take care of Deirdre. And obviously that means he needs to effectively become Rohan in addition to himself, so he would get in a serious relationship with Deirdre and be strong-armed into royalty where he doesn’t want to be and where Deirdre needs him to stifle himself, but is reluctant to do that because it feels all wrong. But the two of them do have chemistry, so it would be hot. I envision a lot of slapping, as is Deirdre’s way, and Angus would be 100% on board.

Rohan and Deirdre is, for me, the obvious pairing. I won’t say much about it because it is so generic and I know it’s cringey and romantic, but sometimes I like that. Sometimes it’s nice to have a meathead and a princess just be hopelessly in love with each other. Is it hot? No. Is it dramatic? No. It just is, and sometimes that’s life.

Angus and Ivar is interesting. Because I don’t see Ivar as an innately sexual character. He doesn’t tend to hit on female characters much and he never really cracks jokes about women. I almost see him as ace, but wanting a companionship. And I can see him and Angus having that. They both have the chaos streak, but Ivar’s is held closer to his chest. So he would loosen up with Angus around. But then Angus has a lot of closeted trauma and vulnerability, and Ivar is perceptive and wise, so he would be the kind of person who could sort of edge that out. I can see maybe something physical happening if Ivar got very drunk, but then I can also see him the next day being like “the past is in the past, and while I’m not burying it, it’s gone now.”

Angus and Garrett is a great power dynamic. Because both of them are alphas and will fight to the death to stay that way. Garrett cannot concede to being less than the best and Angus cannot concede to letting Garrett thinking he’s the best at anything. Garrett is obsessed with being royal and lords it over Angus, who is obsessed with NOT being royal and constantly trying to prove that he is just as important as someone with a title. Would this make for a healthy relationship? Absolutely not. It would be aggressive and physically painful and a daily lesson in anger management. But it would be cathartic and would probably make everybody else’s relationship with Angus a little more tolerable because the most aggressive stuff is reserved for Prince of the Idiots. And it might knock Garrett down a peg or two, which is a bonus.

The last one that I would consider is Deirdre and Garrett. Deirdre has made it clear she is NOT interested in that. And I don’t think she’s the type to lead him on. But if Rohan is unwilling to accept that he is Temra’s heir and marry Deirdre, I think she would have a competing relationship with Garrett out of spite. And Garrett would be furious and think he is above all of that, but would not be willing to not have the relationship with Deirdre when everybody else is doing it. Because Garrett is better than everyone else and therefore he should have what everyone else has AND MORE. So Garrett would be being used, and it would be dramatic AF, but it is plausible.

That said, polycule is not my bag. It’s an interesting concept though!

Can I just say I absolutely love the line “Angus is like, “fuck ya I’ll be the queen, that’s hilarious lmao, gotta send a man to do a woman’s job AM I RIGHT?”” Hilariously on-brand. 

Keep me posted on the Eabha thoughts. It’s not too often I have an OC that I elevate to OG status, but she developed into canon in my head. I now have a bit more backstory in my daydreams that I’m figuring out, and it makes her dynamic with him make a bit more sense for him to be willingly tied to a ball and chain. I do stand by the fact that Angus’ innate laziness could very well result in him winding up monogamous because if he’s already got it at home, that’s easy and it comes with dinner. Kids are accidents that come with having that at home, and that means all his time is tied up with additional shit he never really intended to have, but weirdly enjoys, but also resents, but now he has to do it and it’s like taking care of Rohan, so he’s doing it, and when he doesn’t want to, he goes home and oh look there’s a naked lady, I guess I’ll go forth and multiply because of refusal to abstain. Again. And then there’s chaos everywhere, caused by his own actions and resented thoroughly, which is his character in a nutshell.

The other character that I have been looking at lately is Mider. Guy is absolutely batshit. There is some serious untapped potential there and I have no idea how to work it into anything. Is he in a thing with Maeve? They fight like a married couple. Is he Rohan's deranged absent biological father? Why does he want Tir Na Nog? If he does, why doesn't he just take it? Why does he put up with Maeve's shenanigans? Why are his arms like that? Why is his hair like that? What's up with Ivar's chalice being his portal device? So many questions.

I have more too, but this one's finally shorter!

 

 

I'm gonna move off the polycule stuff 'cause I've exhausted all I can say about it, but the thought of Deirdre having a relationship with Garrett just to compete with Rohan and Angus out of spite is so impossibly funny to me 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Peace finally stretches across the lands, and yet the war continues once a month in the two kingdoms' castles. Cut to Deirdre, kicking Garret awake at the crack of dawn and shouting, "get up loser, we're going to brunch 😠"

 

They get there and they're just watching Rohan and Angus across the table, who're sharing finger foods and giggling as they divvy up a bunch of grapes for each other. Deirdre's kicking Garrett in the shin like, "WE'RE LOSING, DAMMIT, DO SOMETHING CUTE. SHARE A PLATE WITH ME OR CHEW A SANDWICH INTO A HEART."

 

Rohan: uwu this strawberry is so nice that i'll only eat half so you can eat the other half

 

Angus: uwu aw thank you, this carrot reminds me of your nose so i will keep it forever

 

Deirdre: garrett if you do not adorably feed me a pastry right this damn second, i am putting you in a dungeon

 

Garrett: 🥺 'a' dungeon?

 

Deirdre: YES AN UNSPECIFIED DUNGEON, WHERE IS MY PASTRY

 

For Ivar, I see him as someone looking around Ireland and thinking, "Wow, slim pickings" more than I see him as ace - for why I'd think he wouldn't get involved with any of them, I mean. His travel clothes are fairly fancy, which makes me imagine a medival haute couture era in his homeland, compared to Kells where a hot bath is still considered a luxury. 🙃 (And holy hell yes, what you said about Ivar being able to edge his away around Angus' trauma - 100% 🥰)

 

Separately, I'm still giggling about that comment you inspired in me about Angus stumbling over more children:

 

 

See - when I get to know Eabha at her elevated OG status, I'll be able to fit her into nonsense just like that uwu 💖 Until then, I'm hoping she's the type to see other village kids coming into her home and hanging out, but nince6 Angus isn't complaining about it and they're not causing problems, she's fine with a rotating cast of assorted children circling them. Angus'll talk to one occasionally and ask, "Are you mine? 🤔" but get bored before they can answer, then skip to saying whatever it was he wanted to talk to them about.

 

There's a pecking order among the kids too 😭 The "official" children are taking leadership roles, and that's how Angus sorta keeps track of which ones are his: the child-government. But then the kids decide there's another random child way better at remembering stuff, so they elect that one as their new leader, then that one appoints a few other kids, so Angus is right back to thinking, "🤔 i should've give mine bracelets..." He stops caring when he learns some have actual skills, and he's like, "??? yes you can chop this firewood so I don't have to??? EABHA, WE NEED MORE CHILDREN, I DIDN'T KNOW THEY WOULD DO CHORES"

 

Everything's going great until he remembers Rohan was an unusually unkillable child, and that letting a six-year-old loose around a boar is traditionally bad. He's freaking out and screaming, "THEY CAN DIE FROM BLOOD LOSS??! SINCE WHEN?!" So he forms a little child army to defend his little child foragers, and sends them off to the forest in a big pack after espousing such wisdom as, "No, no, this works. This is exactly how I removed a wolf from an eight-year-old's leg when I was only nine. You're ten so you can do this too. Here's a knife."

 

Meanwhile in the village, two months have passed and the rest of the parents are like, "where the *fuck* did our kids go? 🤔"

 

One father tries to drag his own child home, but that one's excellent at making stew, so Angus doesn't want to lose them. Plus he knows the guy's wife and starts explaining how it's 50/50 for which of them this child actually belongs to, in case that opens the door to some shared custody. Then by the same logic, he realizes the other older kids aren't so easy to rule out as 'not his' either 😭 The only thing that accomplises is starting a child-war over the true pecking order now, and getting that first child's father to try to punch him, but Angus' child-army is too well-mobilized and already mid-attack, so they send the father packing 😭😭😭

 

Eabha's either supporting this whole-heartedly, or she's off starting a daycare in the castle with the youngest kids so they can play with the royal children, and have them not grow up so isolated this time maybe 🙃

 

Deirdre's watching some of this from her bedroom window and asking Rohan, "Angus wouldn't teach those kids to do crime, would he?"

 

Rohan goes, "There are several children in the walls right now."

 

One pops out: "You rang? o7"

 

Deirdre tells the child to get out of here. Rohan gives the child a letter to deliver to another part of the castle. The kid goes "o7" and scuttles back through a hole, and Rohan's nostalgic 'cause it's just like how Angus used to scuttle 🥰

 

I'm joking, 'cause I do think Angus would make an excellent father. He knows how hard it is growing up without a family, and he's got decades of practice from looking after Rohan, and I think he'd surprise himself with how much effort he puts in to be there. He'd surprise a lot of people. (I hope. I don't know how it is in your fic yet, or if he even has kids 😝)

 

Rohan wouldn't be surprised 🥰 Jealous that the new babies are getting Angus' attention? Yes, because we agreed Rohan is petty rofl - but also very proud of his friend, without needing to do a "look how far you've come" comparison first to make it meaningful. Angus is just a good dad outright. And how much more weight would that hold if Rohan never learns who his own father was? 🥺 I figure it'd be one thing for Rohan to put in effort with his own kids, trying to make up for the missing parents in his life, but quite another to see someone else - his best friend no less - enthusiastically participating as a father, and wanting to be there for his family. Deirdre would be mildly concerned that oh my god, there's more Anguses, but if she's cool with Eabha, that might temper her concern 💖

 

This would, however, set off another existential crisis in Rohan, as he starts to wonder if he's good enough to be a father too and comparing himself to Angus 🙃 Especially if Angus goes into Uncle mode and starts helping with Rohan and Deirdre's kids (assuming he magically has energy to spare, maybe from thinking it's easier to be in the castle with three kids instead of out there with fifty or however many he's collected by then). Omg - extra especially if they remind him of when Rohan was little 🥹 Angus channels all of his own trauma that he's totally-not-reliving, and decides this is a second chance to do right by Rohan through his kids 🥹 He'd spoil them rotten and show them all the crawlspaces in the walls (fml, Angus would cause a traffic jam in there with his child army). Rohan's going to be half-delighted and half-"Well I guess I'm not wanted here," but there's no saving that guy when brooding is his favourite thing.

 

The first time Deirdre's struggling to get her baby to relax and Angus takes over for her is so validating in my mind 🥰 Having someone around who's got direct, firsthand experience with Rohan must be a miracle when their kid decides to start whacking guards because of the zoomies. Talking's not working, scolding is making it worse, but Angus gives their kid a bunch of made-up missions to purposely wear them out, so they're sound asleep for hours afterwards. Deirdre being impressed is its own reward, but it's even better with Rohan slowly realizing, "Wait, does that mean climbing ten trees to get the freshest leaves isn't of life-or-death importance? ANGUS, YOU LIED TO ME" (Angus: uwu 💖)

 

I don't know if I'd ever get to writing it, or if you've already written it, but I'm sure it'd be an enormous relief for Angus to understand he's kept Rohan alive enough to grow up and have kids of his own. That's a milestone Angus might not recognize until he gets to hold their baby for the first time and see how precious it is. Just - instantly in love with his new neice or nephew. 😭💖 He'd have to give that baby back to them immediately or he'd keep it forever 😭💖💖💖 I'm even imagining him having to go outside and shake off the tsunami of emotion he wasn't expecting to carry him away. It's Deirdre's and Rohan's child, so it'll seem silly for him to be that affected by it, but it'll represent all the struggles they survived as being worth something. Yeah, yay, Rohan was Draganta and then the King of Temra and Kells, but that's on a magical, political level. On a personal level, Rohan's a parent now - they did it 😭💖💖💖💖💖

 

Mider's situation - hard switch to that topic 🤣 - is bizarre. He's repeatedly said he likes when she grovels, he's constantly putting her in his debt, he straight up makes a bet where she'll be his slave when he loses... I don't know where that was going, but if Aideen can be obsessed with Rohan, Mider can be obsessed with Maeve. I guess. I have no idea. He kicks her out of Temra in that episode where he takes over, but maybe it's because she made a poor servant.

 

The thing with the chalice is the main head-scratcher for me. I would've thought that if it came from Ivar's kingdom, Ivar himself would've had more knowledge of its power or a more thorough connection to the fairy world. But he seems to think of it as a decoration or a trophy, not an enchanted artifact. I don't know if it's been passed down for so many years that his kingdom forgot what its significance was, but that's quite a detail to omit from their prince's education (and moreso when he's seemingly charged with protecting it). I'd have loved to have seen him get the chalice back and use it to cast more portals, or show a link to other chalices - anything. But I'm the same boat as you (obviously 😝), where I don't know how Mider even found out about this thing. Fin Varra and Aideen don't elaborate when they talk about it or reference it, so either they're keeping suspiciously quiet - normal for Fin Varra - or it's...? I don't know 😭 Why is it important to Mider?! Why is that the portal to the dark realm? Why weren't we given an episode to see what that dark realm looks like, and give Ivar a chance to flex some homegrown knowledge and navigate the place?

 

As for why he wants Tir Na Nog, I guess it's only for money...? Or to be worshipped? He doesn't get any stronger when he takes the throne from Fin Varra that one time, and he doesn't rub his hands together and say, "Now that I have the throne, I can finally gain access to whatever-hurble-burble." That's the problem with being evil for ambiguous or generic reasons: it seems like there's a hundred easier ways to get what he wants, since he doesn't do much when he temporarily reaches his goal. For narrative purposes, I love that Maeve got banished, but for narrative relevance, I wish Nemain was an elf or something and coming in to replace Mider. That would've been so much more fascinating, with all of its new implications. Hell, Maeve could've learned about the chalice from Nemain instead, and only told Mider about it since it needed a fairy to make use of it as a portal device.

 

I'm diminishing Mider's importance like that 😔 Like you said, he's got untapped potential all on his own already. But that's a tough one. The personal connection to Ivar or Ivar's homeland would've been my best guess, but there's none of that in the show, and they come face to face with each other in at least two separate episodes.

 

🤔 I'll try to think about it.

@tartrazeen Thoroughly enjoyed those opinions. Bit to add. And by "bit," I mean I have tapered it down to a minimum that others would not deem a minimum.

I love that. A shitload of kids all over the place, some might be his, some might not, nobody is a hundred percent sure. But yes, they would certainly all be used for chores and whatever errands Cathbad sends Angus on. I would guess they’d also be trained extensively to fuck with Cathbad and perform elaborate heists to gather fun powders. That said, I am in agreement that he would be a good father, albeit far more likely to do the fun stuff and very serious stuff, and leave the mundane for someone else.

My view of Eabha’s role in this is that she (1) secretly promotes sneaky behaviour being taught, but refuses to acknowledge that it was her idea in the first place, (2) Does not actively encourage having more children, but is resigned to the fact that she married Angus and this is her penance, (3) Knows full well which kids are theirs, which are just his (because there are some older ones that have a suspicious family resemblance), and (4) Is openly annoyed that Angus takes all the fun parts of parenting and leaves her with trying to make them eat cabbage soup for the third time that week or brush jam out of their hair.

And if Rohan did have kids, he would be the angstiest helicopter parent ever. Because he knows full well all of the shit he did as a child and now someone else shares his penchant for headbutting goats, except now it’s not him and holy shit, it’s DANGEROUS. He would absolutely watch Angus’ parenting (and uncle-ing) methods at first with amusement, and then realize that those methods were all trialled on him first. This would make him horribly angsty, because an 8-year-old was parenting him and keeping him alive, and there were so many close calls.

Angus would effectively accept Rohan’s kids as his own. I can totally see him taking Rohan and Deirdre’s child and being like…born leader right there, you’re in charge now, the rest of you step aside. Plus if he gives a literal prince or princess power, it means he has more sway to get what he wants from Deirdre, from days off to free food.

For Mider, the idea of “for worship” kind of makes sense. He likes it when Maeve grovels. So that would work, he just didn’t really have enough screen time to actually have any kind of motive. He was just this generic evil helper with a hilariously deranged personality. Props to Ned Dennehy for taking a character with essentially no value and elevating it to one of the best sources of comic relief.

I don’t see there being a direct connection to Ivar’s homeland. He doesn’t really seem to care about the chalice itself, just uses it as a method to enter and leave Tir Na Nog. So the importance of the chalice isn’t necessarily there, it’s just a shoe-in for Ivar to get involved. And Mider doesn’t seem to target Ivar in any way, not even by taunting him for his kingdom (which may or may not exist, because it does not have a name, a culture, or any basic geography). Seriously, WHERE IS HE FROM? I digress.

I couldn’t stand Nemain. It didn’t make sense to me to add in a new villain who didn’t really have anything to do with the war between Kells and Temra. I was ok with Maeve being banished, but given that she was a genuinely good villain, it would’ve been good if she managed to either sneak back into power in Temra or marry into it elsewhere. I also don’t quite understand how the King of Kells was able to banish the Queen of Temra. It’s not his kingdom to banish from. In that sense, Conchobar has some serious boundary issues.

I like the addition of Lugad. It's an interesting concept bring in a demonic half-brother for Rohan who has always struggled with his lack of family, and then his evil mother who abandoned him. But I don't think they handled Lugad particularly well. I am very much on board with making him physically different, but I think it would've been much more effective if he had more human qualities physically. Also as a child, I struggled to understand what he was saying because I couldn't read his lips and, frankly, the cadence was difficult.

There is so much to work with when it comes to Lugad, and that's one of those things that sort of overwhelms me when it comes to my own daydreams and fics. I can't seem to come up with a concrete use for his character beyond making Rohan angsty and desperately trying to piece together his family into something that isn't entirely dysfunctional. Deirdre shows some kindness to him, but I don't see that lasting because she's not one to drop everything for someone who won't do the same for her. Angus was criminally underused in the later episodes of the show (my guess is they knew Vin was leaving and effectively gave him the keys to a really ridiculous and unnecessary car and said "go nuts, you have less screen time now"), so never really actually spoke to Lugad. Ivar might have some sort of ability to form a relationship with Lugad because he is wise, but I don't know that he has the patience to deal with a demon who doesn't actually want to turn good. And Garrett (when he is around; again, criminally underused) would not have the time of day for someone who doesn't either (1) think he is God's gift to the world, or (2) offer some sort of value to him in return.

And I'm just going back to the car thing. FUCK THOSE CARS. No. I understand this is a kids show, and I understand that they wanted toy fodder, and I understand that they took liberties with Celtic history and legends (understatement of the world). But seriously, WHAT THE FUCK. Maybe if it was some sort of chariot pulled by horses that had weapons on it, I would be alright with it. But they didn't utilize horses as they should've to begin with (seriously, Angus was 100% right, why were they walking all over the kingdom when they could've ridden a horse and made it there in a quarter of the time?), and I hated that they turned what was actually a really creative use of Irish mythology into a Power Rangers knock-off. And yes, I also understand that the entire concept was a Power Rangers knock-off. But it was original! It stood out because it was different! And then they merged it so that it was just another part of the brand and I hated that. Fucking Saban.

I think there's a very good reason the vast majority of Mystic Knights fics pretend the Dragon Bow and the Defender (and was there another car? I can't remember) never existed. It's because they sucked balls and added nothing to the story.

I'm sure I have more thoughts. They will come to me eventually, probably when you say things that make me think OH YEAH, THAT MAKES ME FURIOUS or YES I LOVE THAT.