diff --git a/internal/page/proclamationOptions.go b/internal/page/proclamationOptions.go
index 52844ab..76e4b5e 100644
--- a/internal/page/proclamationOptions.go
+++ b/internal/page/proclamationOptions.go
@@ -110,13 +110,19 @@ func (p *ProclamationOptions) Init(ctx *PageCtx) error {
 
 func (p *ProclamationOptions) createFlatItem(name, id string, isCat bool, depth int) *FlatItem {
 	text := name
-	if isCat {
+	if isCat && depth == 0 {
 		text = "[+] " + name
 	}
 	itemScale := float32(32) / float32(p.Context.CfgPtr.StandardFontSize)
 	lbl, _ := NewStringItem(text, p.font, colors.White)
 	lbl.Scale(itemScale)
-	return &FlatItem{Label: lbl, ID: id, IsCategory: isCat, Depth: depth}
+	return &FlatItem{
+		Label:         lbl,
+		ID:            id,
+		IsCategory:    isCat,
+		IsSubCategory: isCat && depth > 0,
+		Depth:         depth,
+	}
 }
 
 func (p *ProclamationOptions) layout() {
@@ -143,8 +149,8 @@ func (p *ProclamationOptions) layout() {
 
 func (p *ProclamationOptions) toggleExpansion(index int) {
 	item := p.allItems[index]
-	if !item.IsCategory {
-		return
+	if !item.IsCategory || item.IsSubCategory {
+		return // Subcategories are never manually toggled
 	}
 
 	pureName := item.Label.content[4:]
@@ -171,7 +177,9 @@ func (p *ProclamationOptions) expand(index int) {
 	var cats []db.ProclamationCategory
 	p.Context.DbPtr.Where("parent_id = ?", parentID).Find(&cats)
 	for _, c := range cats {
-		newItems = append(newItems, p.createFlatItem(c.Name, fmt.Sprint(c.ID), true, parent.Depth+1))
+		fi := p.createFlatItem(c.Name, fmt.Sprint(c.ID), true, parent.Depth+1)
+		fi.Expanded = true // Mark expanded so collapse state is consistent
+		newItems = append(newItems, fi)
 	}
 
 	var procs []db.Proclamation
@@ -182,6 +190,16 @@ func (p *ProclamationOptions) expand(index int) {
 
 	tail := append([]*FlatItem{}, p.allItems[index+1:]...)
 	p.allItems = append(p.allItems[:index+1], append(newItems, tail...)...)
+
+	// Auto-expand any subcategories just inserted
+	// Walk forward: for each newly inserted category, expand it in-place
+	i := index + 1
+	for i < len(p.allItems) && p.allItems[i].Depth > parent.Depth {
+		if p.allItems[i].IsCategory && p.allItems[i].Depth > 0 {
+			p.expand(i) // Recurse — inserts children in-place, loop will walk into them
+		}
+		i++
+	}
 }
 
 func (p *ProclamationOptions) collapse(index int) {
@@ -235,7 +253,7 @@ func (p *ProclamationOptions) HandleEvent(event *sdl.Event) error {
 			item := p.allItems[p.highlightIndex]
 			if !item.IsCategory {
 				p.activeMap[item.ID] = !p.activeMap[item.ID]
-			} else {
+			} else if !item.IsSubCategory {
 				p.toggleExpansion(p.highlightIndex)
 			}
 		case sdl.K_BACKSPACE, sdl.K_ESCAPE: