rangers apprentice side blog

I got to hear him speak once at a Barnes and Noble event and remember how funny and genuine he was. Someone asked a question about character names, and he said something to the effect of, ‘your main characters names are the ones you’re going to write the most often, so they should be as few letters as possible’ that always made me smile reading about Will and Halt.

I can’t accurately express how much of an impact Flanagan’s stories have had on my life. From giving me exciting stories to read at recess, to fueling my interest in storytelling and media analysis, to forging new friendships, to exploring Europe, to inspiring me to create my own work. My current long-term project wouldn’t even exist if it hadn’t started with me playing around with RA characters and my own OCs.

Though my thoughts on the RA and TRR series have grown more cynical over the years, I keep turning back to them. There’s a magic in those words that will never fully fade, even when every character has been met, every surprise spoiled. These books have had such a profound impact on me and it hurts to think no more is coming.

Dear John, thank you for all you've done and for the world that you created. Ranger's Apprentice has meant a lot to me and helped me when I felt lost. You'll be greatly missed. Rest in peace, beloved Head Ranger🍂

(articles underneath the cut)

[ID in ALT]

Horse Halt.

Discord is asking how we feel about AI and how we would feel about having AI integrated into the website. Here's the survey!

1. He's a good tactician, which we write off to him being a ranger, but he propably had some war training, especially the tactics of it.

2. Technically speaking, he should probably be able to use a sword, yet another classic thing for your fantasy medieval royal to know.

3. Halt can propably sing, as it is a respectable skill to have.

4. Fashion. Halt knows, or used to know Hibernian fashion to a T.

5. He is multilingual! My best guess is - Hibernian - Araluen - a decent amount of celtic and pictic - and maybe a hand full of gælic, as a treat

6. I've said it once, and I'll say it again, he knows royal and high society protocol and rules. He just chooses to ignore them

7. Halt used to wear some make-up

OAK TREES ARE VERY IMPORTANT IN IRISH PAGNISM!!!!! Not only is the oak king associated with the yearly turn of the Wheel, but oak trees are also considered to be 1 of the 7 Airig Fedo, or Lords of the Wood, which are very valuable and spiritually important trees (no, I'm not kidding)

Halt being Hibernian (Irish) is very important to his story, which can probably go unsaid, but sometimes you have to spell things out. Why not double down on his culture? Give him an Irish accent, an Irish (birth) name, an Irish haircut, and why not an Irish religion while you're at it?

Irish chieftain and eventually kings would be sworn in underneath spiritually important trees (yeah, it's trees again), and given that Halt was an Irish king, we can assume that the Irish practices still remained. And if the Irish pagan practices remained, why not the actual Irish pagan religion?

Fun fact: Lineage was SO important in Irish tradition that, in meetings called by kings, you were not allowed to speak at all unless a bard could declare your lineage before you. So, Halt going and insulting Duncan's lineage in book 3? Way bigger deal than in canon. Like. Massively big deal.

Ogma, a god and the champion of the Tuatha Dé Danann, created the Irish alphabet Ogham because he wanted to prove he could. Come on guys, tell me Halt wouldn't love that.

C'mon. Don't be a coward. Do it. Make him pagan. I beg of you. All of you. Literally just look at a Wikipedia that's good enough