It's been AGES since the last update, I know. But I've been extremely busy with, as you might or might not know, Ranger's Apprentice. I have successfully finished the fan booklet and officially handed it over to John Flanagan during the Dutch Ranger's Apprentice Days. Like I said, it was a great success, all of that, but it takes times and costs a lot of energy. So here's an update, on all the Ranger's Apprentice related stuff that's been going on in my life lately. 

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First of all, I'm not going to the RA Days without a decent cosplay! So here are some pictures (side note: this wasn't the complete cosplay just what was finished when we took those pictures.  But it gives a fair idea of what I was wearing for an entire weekend XD)

As you hopefully guessed, it is totally inspired by Alyss and her Courier outfit :)

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Next, a full report on the Ranger's Apprentice Days for all those who weren't there (or weren't there with me). Honestly, it's been the best weekend of my entire life yet. 

Saturday, June 3rd, 2017

12:00PM

Interview with JF for bol.com in the Iron House.

He approached and we, a group of 8 fans, screamed: "John Flanagan! John Flanagan! John Flanagan!" He walked around and high fives everyone, after which the interview starts. 

OP (other person): "I wanted to start with saying that there are a lot of girls here. Most people think this series is for boys only, but over here I see mainly boys. Could you explain why you think that's the case?"
JF: "Yeah, all the girls here, dressed up and all, it's amazing." He gestured at us, we scream and yell and wave, he smiles at us and continues. 

Halfway the interview there's a sort of break. 

OP: "Anyone wants to ask a question?"

"Rose!" my friends reply, but me, having a black out, says nothing. But then, JF starts talking to me, a smile on his face. 

JF: "Love your costume. As whom have you come?"

Me: "Thank you, sir! I'm Alyss."

JF: "Well, Alyss, I've got bad news for you. You're dead."

Me: "Yeah well I came back."

JF: "Or you're just Alyss from book 11 or so. You look great."

Me: "Thank you! I made a sabre, too."

JF: "Oh, you've even got a sabre! That's good, because she's got one in book 10!"

Me: "Yeah."

JF: "And what's her symbol?"

Me: "A laurel leaf. I don't have a pin, but I've got something for my hair so at least I've got something."
*I get out laurel leaves hair thing* *place it on my hair*

JF: "Alright! Oh, yeah, that's beautiful. You know, you're the first person I've seen who's stood up as Alyss. Usually, you know, everyone dresses up as Rangers. Fantastic!"

Me: "Thank you!"

JF: "Really good. Fantastic."

12:45PM

The show in the Arena. John comes walking up onto the stage, everyone claps, we scream. He's announced, he weaves, we scream. Applause dies down, and when it's almost completely silence, I scream: "We love you John!" Everyone looks at us ~at me~ and he grins.

JF: "You again."

He answers questions, and as he starts talking about books we scream "We want more! We want more! We want more!" He grins and waves.

14:35PM

We, a group of 23 fans, get to meet him in private (something that, for the record, I organized...). I walk up to him, he looks up and he smiles widely when he recognises me.

"The Courier! There you are again!"

Me: "Yeah, I'm back!"

I give him our goodiecup, get a signature, get on a picture with him.

JF: "What do I have to do when you're not here tomorrow?"

Me: "Oh, I will be! In costume and all!"

JF: *laughs* "Of course you will be. Looking forward already."

We gaan een groeps foto maken. Ik ga op de stoel naast hem zitten.

JF: "Oh, I knew the Courier would take the chair!"

A short moment later...

Me: "Thank you so much for meeting us!"

JF: "No, thank you for all your support today."

Sunday, June 4th, 2017

With a few new fans and two old ones we're once again sitting in the Arena for the show. And ones again, we are the loudest of them all. And again, do we scream: "We want more! We want more!" JF looks up, sees us, smiles, and says: "You lot again!"

4:55PM

The person of Gottmer, the publisher, with whom I've had contact to organise some stuff for our private meetings, says the following to my mom:

"They're, like, just REAL fans."

5:10PM

Somehow, due to a lot of luck, we are meeting him again. And so...

JF: "There you are again! Wondering where you had gone to!"

Me: "I promise I'm not following you to Australia though!"

He laughs, and I give him his present, the fan booklet. Wrapped in his favorite colour - blue - with a sticker of a red car (which he has). Sure I'm not a stalker. 

JF:"Won't I see you back now?"

Me:"Oh you will. Anyways, this is a collaboration from fans all over the world. It's from 116 fans."

He studies it. "Okay. You will forgive me if I don't open it now?"

Me:"I will forgive you."

JF: "And what else do you want? Another signature?"

Me:"Yeah, because I couldn't bring my books yesterday."

A moment of silence as he looks at me in disbelief. Hij begint te lachen.

JF: "Oh you're mad!"

Me:"I'm so sorry," I reply laughingly

JF: "You are so sorry - you've got such an English accent."

Me:"Thank you so much!"

JF:"No it's quite alright!"

Me:"I swear I'm not following you to Australia."

JF: "For you are Rosalie." He signs my books. We are silent. For a few seconds, until we start laughing again.

JF: "Oh you giggling. You're such, a girl."

Me:"I'll take that as a compliment."

He opens my other book, asks if that one's for me as well, he signs it for my little sister, who's taking pictures.

Me:"The entire family is a fan, so."

JF: "That's nice to hear. So, well, it's, seeing how insane you are it's probably a good thing. But uhm, tell the rest I miss them, I wish they'd come instead of you."

Me:"Yes."

JF:  "No don't tell them that! Don't be silly! It's delightful to see you and you know it was so funny when you were all standing up and screaming yesterday and this morning. I thought, oh god, the maniacs are back."

We're laughing. I take my books and take a step back. 

Me:"Thank you so much."

He looks up from the book he is signing.

JF:"My pleasure."

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And here are some pictures to fulfill your jealousy XD

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So yeah, this is what I got in my mailbox today! My headcanon about Madelyn wasn't correct but oh well ;-) Though the amount of time it took was huge, I honestly loved doing this project and it will certainly be done again, some time. For now, I'm happy with the result, and even more happy with the fact that John is, too :)

Anyways, I'm still trying to figure out the best way to be able to share the fan booklet with everyone, so as soon as I've got that figured out I'll let you all know where and how to read it. For now, let's do what John asked me to and pass on his thanks to all those who contributed. So here we go.

So thank you, Daphne, Olivia, Sarah, Cass, Arnold,Tahlia, Maja, Aimée, Louise, Emily, Brigit, Martin, Robbe, Sarah, Ignacy, Maya, Kaitlyn, Maria, Francis, Nicole, Katerina, Jassi, Kate, Renske, Adam, Abigail, Marije, Maura, Lilia, Brendan, Casey, Alex, Dennis, Anh Le, Charlotte, Zeynep, Roos, Veronique, Felicia, Fleur, Hannah, Sanne, McKinley, Anna, Philip, Rebekka, Ellen, Nick, Margaret, Camden, Tyler, Megan, Naomi, Alva, Mario, Lydia, Tessa, Darcy, Robin, Esta, Iris, Dylann, Dalton, Busra, Mohammed, Tayla, Caterina, Larissa, Renske, Janne, Lieke, Ronja, Ella, Dante, Eline, Evi, Johanna, Tamara, Elizabeth, Ester, Lily, Cara, Shem and Sara, Cassidy, Malachi, Trudy, Micah, Iertjep, Isabella, Elina, Emma, Mayson, Anousha, Asta, Caroline, Emily, Lot and Samantha, Indi, Marloes, Isis, Bart, Cindy, Paul, and finally, Helga.

Thank you, 10 anonymous people for sending your contribution.

Thank you, everyone, for sharing your message, your fan art, your cosplay, or whatever you sent me. Thank you for making this fan booklet a success; I couldn't have done it without you.

Thank you, all the Ranger's Apprentice fans from all over the world, for reading and supporting John Flanagan's books.

Thank you.