#I haven't drawn a horse since high school

[burloire]

Solas Dragon Age but make it Pride & Prejudice!!!

Y'all I read @opal-apparition's fic A Matter of Pride and I haven't stopped thinking about Solas in fancy tailcoats, I'm obsessed. Pls read it and give them some love, its Delicious. Their Lavellan has captured MY heart just as much as Lord Fen'Harel's *A*

[12timetraveler]

Something In The Orange

Chapter 12

Summary:

The Matthews family take you and Charles to their cabin in Big Valley for a winter vacation.

Notes:

Y'all I am SO SORRY for how long this chapter has taken.

I hit some major burnout over the last few months. So much so that I've actually been put on short-term disability leave from work. I'm starting to feel a bit better and I've been able to do more writing, but I'm still pretty worn out if I'm honest.

As always, this chapter was written entirely on my phone, so any weird typos, autocorrect words, etc you can blame on my phone haha.

Anyway I hope I haven't lost all of you who've been here since the beginning.

As always below is a little preview. Read the whole chapter and the entire work (so far) on AO3

Reminder: You must be logged in to an AO3 account to read my works as I've had to lock them down to protect from AI Scraping.

~~~~~~

You couldn't help but smile as you examined the three pins on your Christmas stocking. Three Christmas seasons with the Matthews family, each marked with a little pin. The silver horse-drawn sleigh from the first year. Then a little mouse sleeping next to a piece of cheese with a bow from the second year. And this year was a cowgirl boot and hat dusted in snow.

Christmas was a month ago, of course. Hosea hadn't had time to take down the stockings. Or all the lights. Or the menorah. But you were actually kind of glad about that. It was nice to see the cheerful sight, even in late January.

Going back to campus after the winter holidays this year had been awful. You tried your best to be a good student, to get excited for your classes and get right back into studying. But you found your thoughts drifting more and more to your beloved. Wondering what he was doing. Missing his sweet voice, his herbal scent, his long cock. It had been torture.

Monday was a bank holiday, meaning the high schools and the universities had a three-day weekend. So Friday afternoon you and Arthur drove up to Firwood Rise to pick up Hosea, John, and the horses to go on a little weekend trip. The plan was to go out to a cabin Hosea and Dutch shared out in Big Valley, West Elizabeth.

Aside from a couple ranches, it was still mostly wild, and even in the winter the trail rides were unforgettable. Or so Arthur said. This was your first expedition with the Matthews men out to this cabin. You'd never been to Big Valley, but it was legendary for the beautiful, natural scenery.

Charles was going to meet you at the cabin early Saturday morning, since he had a late class on Friday. His old beat-up truck was a beast when it came to snowy mountain roads, so you weren't worried. And then the lot of you would spend the weekend trail riding, maybe doing some snow sports, just having a good time.

So that's how you found yourself standing in the Matthews living room, smiling at the stockings while the others loaded up the truck. You could hear John and Arthur yelling out in the yard as John backed the truck up to the horse trailer to hitch up. Occasionally Hosea's voice would cut in if the two got too close to an argument as John insisted he could do it while Arthur was adamant he was doing it wrong. Typical of the two brothers.

You heard the truck turn off, and the driver door open. “Told you I had it covered,” John's voice echoed just loud enough that you could hear from inside. You couldn't make out Arthur's retort, but based on the way John began to snap back, only to be cut off by Hosea’s sharp scolding, you could only imagine it was more brotherly banter.

The door opened a moment later. “Those boys,” Hosea tutted, stepping into the house, looking a little irritated, cheeks rosy from the cold. His face softened when he spotted you, and he shut the door behind him, glancing out the window to make sure John and Arthur weren't near before stepping toward you and pulling you into his arms.

“Hey,” you murmured, tilting your head up expectantly.

“Hi,” he whispered before granting your request for a kiss. “I've missed you.”

“I missed you too.” You nuzzled against his chest, the fabric of his jacket cold from the winter chill, but the warmth of him underneath still seeping through.

“The boys are loading up the horses and then we'll be good to go.” Hosea hummed.

“Okay,” you said, stepping back. “Before we go, I need your help with something.”

“Oh?” He asked. You jerked your head towards the stairs, gesturing for him to follow you. Once upstairs you led him to the bathroom, pulling him in and locking the door behind you.

“Dove, it'll only take a few minutes for the boys to get the horses loaded.” Hosea chuckled, immediately clocking what your intentions were.

“Five horses. It'll take them at least ten minutes right? Probably more.” You mumbled, guiding him backwards until he was pinned between you and the sink.

“Something like that,” he sighed as your hands settled on his waist. “The horses are all pretty good at loading.”

“That's enough time for what I have planned.”

[laxibbeb]

Hello!

I also haven’t read an actual book lately either🫣But I do like Ali Hazelwood’s books (I love a good STEM romance), and When the Moon Hatched is on my tbr

I’ve also done equestrian! I rode growing up and was on my school’s IHSA team in college.

Here’s a very specific question:

How do you feel about pre-cauldron Elain and high fae Lucien? I’m cooking up some angst with that idea (including the exes to lovers trope you said you liked😉)

More general questions! (Not necessarily related to the fic)

What brought you into the acotar fandom?

Are there any other ships you love? (Either acotar or other fandoms)

What is your favorite kitchen appliance and why?

hi!! we're busy people, we're conquering the world ok 🫣 time for reading will come but holy shit, "when the moon hatched" is on my tbr now too, it sounds amazing

oh my god!! that's so cool, you were on a team! i've always been very on and off about horse riding and i have regrets :(

OKAY, YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY COOKING, i'm loving what you're putting down, i've been thinking about this constantly since i saw your message and INCLUDING exes to lovers... who are you, you genius 🫵

– let me put a nice divider here –

fandom question! i inhaled the books around 2020 but i never really actively partook in fandom before acotar, because i was scared lmao

i always loved to draw and i drew mostly for myself, so eventually, sometime in 2021 i drew an elain i loved and i was like, I NEED TO SHOW THIS TO PEOPLE and i've been here ever since, showing this to people 😌

and about ships listen. i'm such a mutishipper, so i have tons and tons

from acotar, apart from elucien, i really enjoy azris and mor/nesta (which is very niche, i know, but the potential.) i love mom and dad (feysand), it's a crime that i haven't drawn them before

also a good place to mention i enjoy essentialy all the elain ships, with a few little exceptions that don't really get me going (😉)

and as for non-acotar

i'm going to soo uncreatively name every ship i have art of here, just watch me 🤣

i love imogen/laudna/fearne (in literally any composition) from critical role

i was also obsessed with catradora from the she-ra series, which was pretty much one of the first fandoms i've been in (and the obsession is still there, i just need to rewatch the series like, once)

favourite kitchen appliance is a very serious question i think it's my immersion blender, with which i blend even if i don't need to immerse 😜 it's just so convenient, easy to clean.. ah glorious

but one other thing that deserves a shout-out here is my flour sifter for which i'll provide a photo

she makes zero mess and i love her to death

(i want to know what prompted the question - DO YOU BAKE and if yes what's your favourite recipe?)

[cakegatedisaster]

What's texas like?? Seeing the pictures is so different from locals describing it

Well, there's a lot of flat land. We're mostly a rancher state, so the hills have to be centered in smaller areas. We're the biggest continental state, meaning if you wanted to drive from Perryton at the top to McAllen at the bottom, it'll take you about 13-14 hours, over the span of 800 miles. I live in San Antonio, where there's a lot of Latin and Mexican culture. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone here who's not at least a little proud of the state. There's actual cowboys, with the hats and boots. Everyone's pretty nice, regardless of what the rest of the country says. Our freeways let us go 85 miles an hour. Football (not soccer) is very popular, and there's a lot of emphasis on religion. Country music is prevalent, and something I love. Barbecue is everywhere; you haven't lived until you've gone outside one night in the middle of summer and seen the lightning bugs flying around, and smelled all your neighbors cooking in the backyard so the smell mixes with the air. Every other house will have a Texas flag in their front yard; we're the only state that flies it as high as the American flag. You ask any Texan, and they'll tell you they're Texan first, American second. There're a lot of guns, but most everybody is respectful with them. I've been shooting since I was 12.

I live in San Antonio, which is a pretty big city. We're a tourist town. I have two different theme parks less than 20 minutes away from me, both with world-record-breaking rides. There's the downtown district, with the river walk. It has gondolas on it that take us around. At night, there's horse-drawn carriages that sparkle with lights as you drive. The Alamo is a big draw, and when you're in elementary school, you go every year to learn about the people there and see where the battles were fought. It's undergoing renovations right now and is getting turned into a museum.

There's so much more to talk about; I love Texas, and it'll kill me this year when I leave for college.

[sealovinq]

XELLE OMG HI its been way too long 😭😭 idk if u rmbr me .. previously @/recordplayershipping (scout) !!! i saw u as i was clearin out my discord friends list recently n i wanted to come see how u were doing 🥺 i hope schools going well!!! also take this as a free pass to introduce me to the f/o ur fixated most on rn!!!!!!! <3

HELLO HELLOO!!!! AAAAAAA SCOUT I MISSED YOU SM!!! of course i remember you omg you're literally one of my fav moots /gen i'm sorry if this took too long WAAA i didn't know which f/o to talk about.... and yes i've been SUPER busy with school and it's starting again in a few days so 😭 BUT TYSM FOR STOPPING BY, I HOPE YOU'RE DOING WELL TOO<3333!!!

it's actually been a while since i got a new f/o... but i started rewatching m.lp (my lit.tle pon.y) and am currently around season 5 and erm... ya girl got a crush on one of the main 6 GGRGRBRHRJFJ she reminds me of my partner irl so WIWIWIEIJEJ HAHA NOT SURPRISING....

in reference to that previous post of mine i was actually referring to appl.ejack 🙈🙈 LOOK who doesn't like a masculine woman (mare in this case) who can carry me without breaking a sweat amiright WEEEHEHHEJD.... and the human version (NOT E.QG) fanarts of her DID NOT HELP because they all drew her with a muscular body and i am literally!!! so weak for that!!! HELLO!!! SAVE A HORSE RIDE A COWGIRL 💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

i've made a ponysona too UABAYUSBDHDJ i haven't drawn her with aj as of yet because i suck at drawing ponies 😭 and i haven't made much lore about them either but i just like thinking about them hehehehehe

here she is!! my precious lil gem!! i based her off of the color palette of the beach hehe classic ocean-loving me. she's besties with ra.rity and would often come to her for advice about what to do with aj (pre-dating). again i haven't developed her but she's very Pretty and i love her so so so much. i would love to see her getting introduced to farm life by aj even though she's a bit icky about dirt but she'd do anything for the Girlfriend!!!

speaking of ra.rity i actually kin her! so it doesn't bother me when i see ra.rijack or any other ships involving aj tbh. BUT HELL when i do see ra.rijack I GET SO HYPED BECAUSE WE ARE SO CANON<333!! yes she is holding my waist and kissing me on the mouth yes that is me with the curly purple hair ehe

idk i just love aj a lot 🥺🥺🤧 i love especially how she's so blunt sometimes UABSHDIJD and she's so hardworking and does everything for her friends and such a sweetheart eeuuuuuuehhhh.... i wanna smooch her so badly and make her flustered AWAWWAEAEEEEEE

also i've re-explored my gender and decided i am more of genderfae (basically a gender that fluctuates to any gender except masculine ones, for example i can be feminine or neutral any time but never masculine ones) and have developed an attraction to mascs which aj perfectly fits into... aha <33

i don't think i'd be shipping with her e.qg version. they're canonically high schoolers and usually range around 16-18 but it's not confirmed so it's still kinda weird so i'm sticking to her pony version! og is always the best anyway 😍😍🙏

look at Her and her Handsome Face

SHE!!! 🥺🥺🥺🥺🧡🧡🧡🧡

[dr-fancy-pants]

I don't do that often but some little art rambling

I think I'll post it later but I made a sketch yesterday without a single look at a ref - which nowadays is very rare for me - and it made me realize some stuff

Using photo references so heavily has made me make a LEAP in how I see and construct anatomy, even without reference now. I'm better with weird angles, and quicker (people who have seen me draw IRL know I was already crazy quick. Well I'm faster now, sorry bout that. It's the brain worms. If not fast enough, I get bored and ditch it all 🤷🏻‍♀️)

Drawing people without clothes will help with that. And also. It's nice. 😅🤣 (No next drawing is not nakey. Just an open shirt. Already something eh)

Just like my style is different if I draw directly on the tablet (haven't done that lately. I was using hand drawn sketches and lined them on the tablet), my style is different if I use a photo reference or not. With a photo ref I tend to more realistic traits and proportions, with finer face features and hands. Without I get blockier/rounder faces, and more cartoonish looks. Which I should have noticed because I reduce canon proportions ON PURPOSE since high school (that's LONG AGO) in my art.

A little bit on canon proportions: I have no idea how to explain it in artsy terms because I have never taken a single art class in my life outside of the mandatory ones in middle school (which. Meh. The teacher didn't like that I was obsessed with stuff and kept drawing the same thing for months on ends, only adapting to the rules (limited palette, include stripes, whatever. I managed to do all that while still drawing horses only lol). I wish she could see my blog, now 🤣🤣🤣

Anyway canon proportions for an adult man are that the whole body will be 7x to 8x the head in height. Women tend to be 6 to 7.

My proportions are usually 5x to 6x, except for my OC Desden who gets 7 because he's supposed to be noticeably taller than everyone else. Which results in that more cartoonish look, because the head will look bigger compared to the body.

Anyway. Just found that interesting so I thought I'd share 🤷🏻‍♀️

[wowowwild]

I finally was ok with the outlines and then I colored it in with the worst colored pencils known to man RIP lol

But for my free day I wanted to take a stab at traditional art (I haven't completed a traditional piece since high school). I'm better at sketching traditional and coloring digital so I got myself a document scanner but I need a new drawing program that is either free or I can buy outright. I used to used autodesk sketchbook but I would have to pay monthly for it now.

Anyway it's Taka and one of Nahyuta's butterflies! I've never drawn either of these before but I think I did ok for my first time. Much better than the horse attempt (we don't talk about the horse attempt). I cannot figure out how bird bodies work fr though. They are such shapes.

[televinita]

Ten Random Books From My Physical TBR: Round 3

a.k.a. "a random number generator picks unread titles from my book catalog and I explain why I haven't read them"

(I just felt like playing again and saw this half-done in my drafts. still no cover images)

International Velvet - Bryan Forbes

Well, I have to read National Velvet first, don't I? (also I have just at this moment confirmed for the first time that this is a novelization of the movie, and was never actually a proper book sequel. Still wanna wait though since I assume it draws something from the original)

2. Forever Free: Elsa's Pride - Joy Adamson

For one thing, I've only read the first book in this trilogy of nonfiction about rewilding a lioness, and I probably need to reread that before I continue even to the second (and this is the third). Still, good stuff.

3. A Tale of Two Besties - Sophia Rossi

A young-end-of-YA novel about two incoming freshmen, 100% being saved for precisely when I want a bright, light-hearted story about high school freshmen. I've been in that mood before and it's harder than you'd think to find books that match. Publishers are mostly allergic to characters over 13 but under 16.

4. Moonrunner - Mark Thomasan

At this point I'm actually scared to read this Australian boy-plus-wild-horse book. I've owned its beautiful pristine self since 2010 or 2012, and it's been on my bookshelf in the original horse-book shelf all that time; my shelf will look wrong if I ever take it off but...what if I don't like it?? I mean, I'm sure I will...but what IF.

5. The Law of Loving Others - Kate Axelrod

I'm honestly not sure why I haven't read this yet; every time I pass it I'm like, oh yeah, that looks like a super-solid YA read, better than most of what I could find at the library these days...

6. Unwanted Girl - MK Schiller

Oh, this is a '23 acquisition and immediate albatross around my neck 'cause like, it's not going to be great, it's self-published, but because it's self-published I will never be able to read it again without buying it (for more than the $1 I already spent), and I am just intrigued enough by the way this summary pinged my brain with "solitary/reclusive writer-dude falls for his delivery girl, is drawn to help her when he learns she also wants to write a novel" (also there appears to be a bit of age difference, my immediate weakness). But it's gotta be cast properly, or the characters won't outweigh the writing. And so, we wait.

7. Elephant Bill - J.H. Williams

I read Bandoola in a college, which is a sequel to this; I'd like someday to read the original.

8. Sit! Stay! Speak! - Annie England Noblin

Woman inherits a house (and adopts a puppy), sold.

9. A Bird in the Hand and a Bear in the Bush - Judy Hughes

A 70s memoir of one of the earlier wildlife rescues, if I recall correctly.

10. Kessa - Steven Levenkron

Sequel to The Best Little Girl in the World, which I was obsessed with in my brief looking-for-(th)inspo days. I didn't know the sequel existed until I saw it a couple of years ago. I've lost most of my enchantment with the original and this looks meh, but curiosity compels.

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

I was wondering, in your opinion what are the top 10 dreams that cause you to go to the hardware store and purchase 27 bricks?

I haven't had a dream about buying a lot of bricks since I was little but the top 10 I would say are 1) "you are a new student at my school," 2) a girl I dated in high school tells me she is pregnant, 3) a book I read as a teenager, 4) seeing someone at the supermarket who reminds me of someone I know in college but don't know well enough to have strong positive or negative associations with them, 5) being involved in some kind of (successful) legal case I've seen in the media, 6) getting into a fight with some of my friends and being forced to watch someone get the shit beat out of him (but he doesn't really hurt me and I'm not really involved), 7) falling out of a horse-drawn wagon in a rural area, 8) "you and a friend are driving a car and one of you is looking out the passenger window and telling the other one to turn left and right," 9) being in some sort of "fantasy" world where people I've been in contact with in real life are my friends there, and 10) getting caught in a landslide (not on purpose) after a trip to the store.