#and I forgot my tag for references that I want to use for my book

[angel06babysworld]

singledad!rafe x babysitter!reader

You’re Hired

✦ ･ﾟ⭑｡✧˚. ❍ ⋆｡˚☁︎˚｡⋆ ❍ .˚✧｡⭑ ･ﾟ✦

She was desperate when she applied. The kind of broke that made her skip breakfast and pray her bus pass didn’t expire midweek. Twenty-one, a full-time student, and buried in debt deep enough that she couldn’t see a way out of it without selling pieces of herself—her time, her energy, her sleep. Babysitting, at least, was honest work.

The ad had been short: In need of a sitter. Afternoons and occasional evenings. Must be patient. Call Rafe Cameron. 699-696-6969.

She’d called. He hadn’t said much, just gave her an address and told her to come by Tuesday at five. No interview details, no talk of pay. Just the kind of man who didn’t have time for formalities.

The house was nicer than she’d expected. Clean siding, trimmed hedges, a porch swing that looked used but not loved. She checked her reflection in the window before knocking—lip balm, cardigan buttoned up, smile rehearsed. When he answered, she forgot all of it.

He looked like the type of man who didn’t try anymore. His shirt was wrinkled, his sweatpants sat low on his hips, and there was a shadow of stubble he hadn’t bothered to shave. His hair was still damp from a late shower.

“Hi,” she said, voice a little too bright. “I’m here for the babysitting job?”

He stared at her for a beat longer than polite, then stepped back to let her in without a word.

“Ellie’s five,” he said, walking ahead of her into the living room. “She likes dinosaurs, won’t eat anything green, and she’ll probably pretend she doesn’t like you for the first half-hour. Don’t take it personally.”

She clutched the strap of her bag, nodding. “I have three younger siblings. I’m used to moods.”

He glanced at her over his shoulder. “You a student?”

“Yes, sir,” she said automatically.

Something shifted in his expression—barely. A raised brow, the corner of his mouth twitching like he was amused but too tired to show it.

She flushed. It came out too respectful, too eager. She always defaulted to that when she was nervous.

The interview—if you could call it that—was barely five minutes long. He didn’t ask about certifications. Didn’t ask for references. He offered her a glass of water she declined, and then sat on the edge of the couch, looking like he hadn’t slept in a week.

She stayed standing, trying not to fidget. There were toys under the coffee table, coloring books on the floor, a coffee cup going cold on the windowsill. She wanted to ask questions, but he didn’t leave room for them.

Ellie appeared a few minutes in—small and solemn in an oversized t-shirt, dragging a stuffed triceratops by the tail. She blinked up at the stranger in her living room and said nothing.

“Hi, Ellie,” the girl said softly, crouching down to her level. “I like your dinosaur.”

Ellie looked at her. Then at her dad. Then back again. “He’s my favorite,” she whispered.

That was all it took.

Rafe stood slowly, his gaze unreadable. “Can you start tomorrow?”

“Yes,” she said, too fast.

“You’ll pick her up from school. I’ll text you the schedule.”

He didn’t say anything else. Not about the pay, not about rules. Just gave her a nod like they’d made a deal. Like she’d passed some unspoken test.

As she left, Ellie waved once—just a small flick of her fingers from behind her father’s leg.

Rafe didn’t wave. He just watched her walk down the steps, jaw tense, eyes tracking her until she was halfway down the sidewalk.

She didn’t let herself look back. But she felt it—his gaze. Heavy. Curious. Cautious.

It was just a job. She reminded herself that on the bus ride home, when she replayed the entire meeting in her head. Just a job.

Except… she already wanted to be good at it. Wanted to impress him. Wanted to hear him say her name in that low, quiet voice again.

And she had a feeling that was going to be a problem.

tags: @amelialovesrafe @alyisdead @illumoria

[beartitled]

Found your art through the STP Reddit and now I have a new TSPUD artist to enjoy!!! Your style is gorgeous :)

Reddit 🤨❔

I don’t have reddit

*sounds of paws tapping on the keyboard*

Aha repost with no permission I see? 🔍🐻‍❄️👓

This ask actually send me on a mini research lmao

I didn’t expect to see like 4 posts on Reddit with ppl posting my comics/sending a screenshot from ?Pinterest? and asking who the author is

That made me chuckle :'D

To be clear, I don’t really mind reposts if a person credits me

Always appreciate ppl askin permission 👍

For the reference: Reblog - a button that looks like this 🔄, shares a post on your page while showing the original author; Repost - when you screenshot/save someone’s art and post it on your page (ideally with credit, but if you’re a meanie you will just post images with no word about og author); Credit - a reference to the author «this art was made by [@author] on [this social media]». Sometimes see ppl mixing up terms 🫡

(Most of the time creators dislike reposts, bc it often leads to art theft)

Since we’re on the topic, specifically what I do have a problem with:

- Don’t use my art for AI training or for NFTs

- Don’t profit off my art (no merch is allowed without my approval, if you want to use my art for commercial purposes, this must be discussed with me in advance)

- Don't pass off my work as your own (here does reposting my art without credit, creating blogs/accounts impersonating me and so on)

- Don’t use my personal projects (this applies to my ocs, any original IPs/content I create: picture books, comics, artbooks, megadrawings etc. At some point in the future I may register a legal copyright for them btw.)

I’m more flexible and forgiving with fandom art, but still would appreciate ppl communicating with me. Fandom comic dubs - are welcomed, just be sure to credit me (tag me and share the final dub too man, I’m always interested). Fandom comic translations - ask permission first please.

This list is a pretty standard for any artist really, if you’re doubting something - feel free to ask 👍

If you see somebody breaking those/potentially breaking those - feel free to notify me 👍

I considered creating “blog rules” or “list of boundaries”, but I’m not sure if it’ll work on my blog 🤔 My header is pretty oversaturated as it is - portfolio, tags, navigation and so on; if I add rules to the pile, something tells me ppl won’t even look at it 💥 + I didn’t have specific issues with anyone yet (as far as I’m aware), I might create a list if something happens, but stayin hopeful for now

There’s certain things that do make me very uncomfortable/are triggering to me. But again didn’t have any specific issues where it was a huge problem + those stuff are highly personal to me to just put publicly. For now, I prefer to resolve issues personally, there wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle at this point 🫡 Mayhaps in the future it may change, we’ll see

Also some might have noticed that I don’t use any watermarks/signatures on my art, again considered that, but never ended up implementing that 🐻‍❄️ Some part of me just likes lookin at pictures in full HD quality with no watermark 😭 (I have an art signature, but I mostly use it in my mega drawings or if someone specifically asked for a commission lmao)

Sorry for a wall of text on such a sweet ask 💥 Just saw an opportunity to talk and took it lmao

Thank you, I really appreciate your words ❤️💕

Made a doödle of the narrator bois for the old time sake :D

Surprisingly there is a bunch of reposts of my art, with is a bit wild to me (you guys actually like my comics? 🤨 what? 🤨)

Especially never imagined my voices x princesses would get so popular 💥

Oh I see you went under read-more

Come closer

Closer

Just a smol step more

I forgot to draw Smitten’s brows in this specific frame

Now you will never unsee it 😈😈😈

*tiny mischievous bear giggling*

[safely-in-vhagars-belly]

Games in the library 18+ MDNI

Aemond x reader (Tutor/gamer au) Fluffish and also smuttish

Tags: smut, library fucking, public sex and nerdy gamer references.

Cool devider credits: saradika

🔷Summary: Your GPA is tanking and you need help. Luckily there is the grumpy antisocial Aemond to help you out.

🔷Author's note: Based on tutor aus but I made my own spin on it.

🔷Wordcount :7324

🔷Warnings: Au universe, smut, desk fucking, p in v, dom/sub, reader x aemond, fluff, gamer references, cozy gamer gf and shoot-em-up bf (found something else? Let me know)

There have been quite a few storms lately, causing more rain and making the world a little gloomy. You don’t mind, however. You have always been a fan of rain. Unlike today, where it’s an extra reminder how much you rather spent inside, cooped up with a good game with a warm cup of hot chocolate, not running around your campus with your bag above your head, as if life depends on it.

You are relieved when you make it inside, in the beautiful library that was built long before you began this study. You notice a silver-haired boy with a missing eye sitting in the corner of the room, with his math books in front of him, impatiently glaring around, unaware you are already there. “Hi!” you enthusiastically say, placing your Starbucks coffee cup and handbag on the table in the big messy library you just entered. It’s a saturday so most students would not want to be found death here at this time. 

You have a reason to be here, sadly. You are failing math, falling behind more and more on the subject. So your professor, Borros assigned you a very unwillingly tutor, Aemond Targaryen. He sighed when Borros suggested he should tutor you, even going as far to say that there is no use in tutoring someone who does not want to learn. There is truth in that, but the issue is not that you don’t want to learn. It’s something else.

Aemond glares at your cup before standing up and checking the time on his expensive smartwatch. “Why are you late?” Great. You were afraid of not getting here in time, seems like your Starbucks trip took a little longer than you had planned out.

You take out your phone. You are exactly 5 minutes late. There was a big line in front of Starbucks. And you forget you had tutoring today, to begin with. “I—uhm—forgot the time.” You lie.

He looks at your Starbucks cup accusingly. If it had feelings, the cup would feel attacked, perhaps even insulted, before it would hop off the large wooden table and into a nearby trashcan, ending itself. You would gladly follow it in the rabbit hole trashcan.  “I’m sacrificing my free Saturday for you. The least you could do is get here on time.” There is always a bit of a gruff, Gringe-like edge to his voice as if someone just stole his presents and he is pissed.

You huff. He acts so high and mighty, and yet you know there is nothing personal about this. He does not help you because he is some godly angel. He helps you to get points. This is not a charity project for him, or a social project this is cold selfishness and part of his plan to become the best student of your class, likely a step 4 in his 10 plan step to world domination.

You smile sweetly when adjusting your ponytail. “You aren’t sacrificing anything. You get points and the chance to become Borros’s TA.’’ You tell him, dangling his reward in front of him as if it’s a carrot, just in case he thought about bailing.

He dreams of that position for some reason, though you can’t for the love of the gods figure out why. Perhaps for status, power, future learning references or just to get close to Borros? Your teacher  had hinted that if he could somehow get you to improve your grades, there might be a chance he would become his teacher's assistant. That was enough to sway Aemond into teaching you.

Aemond briefly pushes his gold-rimmed glasses back on his nose, smirking at you.  You feel a little nervous under his gaze. “Correct. That means that I decide how this lesson will proceed.’’ 

His cryptic description makes your mind wander back to the familiar gutter you have come to know so well. You  make a mental note to stop reading dark romance books with tutors for a while. 

You ignore him. That makes him eager to get your attention back. “No calls, no texts—for the next hour, you are at my mercy.” Sweet gods.

His soft pink lips briefly smack before breaking into a grin that sends shivers down your spine. You are thankful for the small bolero that covers your dress.

Aemond is a huge nerd. Kinda cute, but he doesn’t know how innuendos work. And he is certainly not aiming his innuendos at you. 

“Okay. So, you’re like good at math, right?’’ you ask, a little insecure. You are worried he might not actually teach you anything at all, though he is smart, his hands almost always scorching through the air as though Borros is personally offending him with his questions. He reads advanced math books whenever you and your girlfriends hang out in the library, shooting glares whenever you are too loud, giggling or gossiping.

He seems insulted that you think so lowly of him.”’I’m the best in our class.” You never really kept eye on who is the best of the class, and you do not really ever cared. Who cares, as long as you keep up your GPA it is all fine.

But you are not dumb, you need to keep him as your friend for now. At least your ally. Your accomplice? You don’t know. You think you would be all the way at the bottom. ‘’Impressive.’’ You say, but you can’t bother to meet his eye before taking a sip of your very delicious pumpkin spice late.

His head tilts slightly when he narrows his eyes suspiciously, reading you as a open book. He huffs. “I can tell you don’t give a damn. Take out your notebooks, study books and whatever else you might need. It is time we start.” Whatever else you might need? You feel dread and anxiety fill your chest as you become aware of your thoughts traveling already far away from the lesson.

He brought an adorable little digital clock, that he puts on the table gently, before turning it on, exactly 120 minutes. He really does not want to be here a second longer than he has to be.

You faithfully take out your notebooks decorated with Sanrio stickers, Pokémon stickers and panda stickers, as well as your textbook, and your collection of Hello Kitty gel pens. You put it all out for him to see, flicking the textbook open in front of you. 

Aemond stands up, briefly looking over your handwriting in your notebook. He wets his lips before speaking. “Good girl.”

You roll your eyes.

He gets up from the chair across the table, walking to the empty seat next to you. He sits down, glancing at some of your previous sums, together with little drabbles and doodles. “So—what do you have problems with?” 

You can feel the warmth of his body and smell the fabric softener he uses on his clothes. He probably does his own laundry. 

This will be a long hour. You sigh, before summing it up. “Addition and subtraction, analog time, multiplication and division…’’ And you forget dozens of other things.

Anything and everything that involves numbers. You have been that way since a kid, throwing tantrums whenever you were forced to do math or make a puzzle. Your brain blacks out whenever you are forced to make a sum, and after a while your brain is just completely fried.

He wrinkles his nose, thinking. “So, everything?’’ he summarizes dryly. 

You nod. “Yep.”

His good eye slightly widens. “I can do this,” he mutters, to himself more than to you. He taps on an empty page of your notebook with his fingers.

‘’Write down ‘twenty-five plus eighty-seven’.”

You obey, faithfully writing the sum down in your notebook with your favorite Hello Kitty glitter pens. 

Aemond looks at the pen with a sigh, bending over your notebook to see what you wrote down. His brows furrow. 

You try your best to focus on his voice and his words rather than the fact that he sits so close to you and smells like fresh strawberries.

‘’Alright. Next, write down ‘one hundred and fifty-nine plus ninety-four’.” Again, you write it down as best as you can, in a reasonably readable handwriting. You hear him curse under his breath, exhaling.

“Five hundred and thirty-two plus six hundred and fifty-six..” 

You write a bit faster, messing up a few of the numbers in the process. You are glad you are starting with the addition sums, as they come the easiest to you.  

“Lastly, three hundred and fifty-five plus four hundred and sixty-six.’’ He looks at your sums. With one glance at his face, you can tell you’ve already fucked it up. “I said ‘one hundred and ninety-five’, but you’ve written down ‘one hundred and fifty-nine’. I said ‘six hundred-and-sixty-five’, but you wrote down ‘six hundred and fifty-six’.” 

Great. He must think you are doing it on purpose. Embarrassed, you quickly scratch out the numbers you wrote down before sighing, cursing yourself for thinking this was going to solve anything.

“Are you doing this on purpose?” he wonders. “Do you even want my help?” The nerve of this man. 

“What do you think?” you snap, placing the cap back on your Hello Kitty gel pens. “You think you’re my first tutor? You think you’re the first who’s tried to help me? I’ve done all of this before, but none of it matters. Nothing will stick anyway.” 

Your voice becomes squeaky. You blink rapidly to avoid ruining your mascara. He must think you are so stupid. You are. So, so stupid.

Aemond looks over your work again, sighing and rubbing his face. “No,” he murmurs quietly. “You turn them around. Some of the numbers.” 

That has been an issue since you were introduced to numbers. That and the bigger they get, the bigger the chance you mess it up.

“No shit,” you huff, searching your handbag for your tissues. You find them buried under your perfume bottle and use them to wipe at your eyes. 

His feet move under the table, briefly touching yours.

“Don’t get mean. Just making an observation.’’ He scratches behind his ear. “What do you mean, ‘nothing  will stick’?” 

Great. He will piss himself with laughter when he hears this.

You’d rather not tell him, or anyone, really. It is embarrassing. You are a twenty-two-year-old girl who can’t divide the simplest numbers and, without a digital clock, you’d get nowhere on time. You wouldn’t even know the time. People can and have taken advantage of that just to bully you. “It’s complicated,” you say.

His usual gruff voice softens. “Alright. So, tell me.”

What is the harm? you wonder. Who is he even going to tell?

“I’ve got a non-verbal learning disorder,” you mumble. There. He knows.

“What?” he asks, a little too loud for your liking. Even if he had whispered, it would have been too loud. There is no one here, yet you are worried somehow someone heard.

You growl back, “Non-verbal learning disorder. NLD.” 

It is a little less common than dyslexia—a lot less common, actually. You have heard that dyscalculia and NLD is a very common combination. That might be the reason you are so horrible at math. Part of your brain just refuses to understand it, which frustrates you, which makes you upset, and all that means you’d very much rather not do math at all. 

Aemond becomes very quiet before admitting something you never thought you’d hear. “I’ve never heard of that.” 

Where could he have, though? He is very clearly a math expert, not a learning disorder expert. 

You look at your polished pink nails with gold glitter.

“Hm. Not surprised. You are perfect after all, aren’t you?” you ask.

He becomes grumpy and unbearable, as you become mad and perhaps jealous that he is so perfectly fine and normal, and boring. “Fine. Don’t tell me.” 

Aemond takes out his phone. You thought they were ‘forbidden’. Didn’t he say so earlier? You glare, insulted. You have a social life, after all, and the world suddenly seems far more beautiful than it had been before you began your suffering here. 

“So, are you telling me you don’t know how late it is now?” He shoves a Wikipedia page in your face. He looked it up.

You take out your phone. “Of course I do. It’s fifteen-thirty.” 

You don’t say the correct time. You say ‘fifteen-thirty’. Fifteen thirty. Not half over past something, am or pm bullshit. You say it how it is. It’s fifteen-thirty.

Aemond draws a clock in your notebook. You quite like the way he uses your Hello Kitty gel pen for it. “And in analog time, that would be?” He wonders, his voice trailing off when his one remaining good eye glances at you.

You shake your head as he draws two hands on the clock, and multiple numbers. “Oh, no one cares about those lame old clocks,” you smoothly lie, and it is part of the truth. 

No one uses those old lame clocks anymore. Everyone and their mother has a cellphone. Why bother reading a clock if you have a cellphone? And in your case—why bother reading a language your brain seems to not understand anyway?

Aemond sighs, reading you easily. He scratches the clock out. “You can’t read them, can you?” He asks after he has scratched them out. You can either deny it or lie about it but why waste energy and time?

This man is too observant. 

“I know that the big one up means ‘twelve’,” you say with a little smile, very proud that one thing did decided to stick.

You can see it on his face—it’s becoming more and more clear that you don’t need a tutor. You need a miracle.  

He blurts out a question. “How did you even leave high school?” he asks. You don’t think he meant to hurt you, but he still does.

“How did you lose your eye?” you ask, lashing out.

Aemond sits up a little straighter. “That’s quite a personal question—” 

You smile back, still furious and hiding your displeasure by ripping your nails.  “Exactly.” you groan.

“Fine,” he mutters. “I’m sorry. I’m impressed, if anything.’’

Fake sympathy. Yeah. 

This is a waste of time, you didn’t learn years ago, why would you learn it now? Why did you even came here to begin with? A little voice reminds you of just why you came over. “You don’t need to lie to me. I know I’m stupid,” you mutter when playing with your bracelet. 

Aemond grabs your wrist, letting go almost the second his skin touches yours. “You’re not stupid. I know you can be very clever and an absolute pain in the ass when you want to be.” He grins. “Just… not with numbers.” He closes your notebook.

“Really?”

You know you are clever on other fronts. It’s just difficult to believe you aren’t stupid when you see how advanced your peers and friends are and you still struggle over middle school math.

He nods. “Yeah. I remember for a while in History and Language that you were a threat to my position as best student.’’ 

You’d liked History for a while, it’s true. You were good at it—that is, until you got a social life and it became an afterthought. What might have happened if you had stayed on that path?

You don’t understand why he wants to be the best. “I mean, you are already first in math, aren’t you?” 

He should not push for perfection as much as he does.

He shrugs. “I don’t care. I have to be the best in everything.” It sounds empty. You might not be the only one with problems.

You try telling him what you think. “That’s a little… unhealthy.”

He snaps at you, suddenly scowling. “Well, I don’t have a rich daddy to pay my way into school.” 

Ah. That is his issue with you. He thinks you’re a rich little girl that has a daddy that pays for everything.

You stare at your pink nails, briefly ripping at them before speaking. “I don’t either. Mine died when I was two. I have a stepfather, but he’s too busy fucking my mom and arranging vacations to Dorne for the two of them to bother with me.’’

Aemond’s chest sinks a little, regret written across his face. “I’m sorry.” 

He sounds sincere. And, just like that, you realize your math session has turned into a therapy session. 

You laugh despite your sadness. “Look at me, trauma-dumping all over you. Sorry.” 

You open your notebook at the same moment that Aemond grabs your fingers.

“I think you’ve earned a break.” He awkwardly lets go of you again.

That’s fast. “We haven’t solved a single sum,” you say. “I mean, we can solve one. I think this one is doable…” 

You look at your crossed-out sums. Oh, yeah. That happened. 

His silver-haired head nods up and down, but he does not answer at first, staring at your nails. “Perhaps not. But we have discovered why you have issues with this. Go take a break. That’s an order.”

He cheekily smirks at you, causing butterflies to flutter in your stomach. Perhaps not butterflies—perhaps just straight-up lust. You want to pull this guy in by his sweater and give him a good tumble.

You lick your lips. ‘’Yeah? What will you do if I don’t, sir?’’

He leans in a little closer, his eye flickering to your ruler lying untouched on the table. “Let’s just say… you wouldn’t like to find out.’’

Aemond takes a bottle of water from his bag and a sandwich while you grab a hot chocolate from the machine in the library and a freshly baked muffin from your bag. 

You eat your muffin and then take out your Nintendo Switch bag, starting the device up for a brief moment of relaxation. You play Animal Crossing for a few minutes, forgetting the world around you as you’re sucked into your peaceful little island.

Aemond is very silent as well, staring mostly at you.

“I’ve got one too.” You are sucked out of your island and back into reality. 

‘’Huh?’’ He nods to the switch.

He means a Switch. You didn’t think he would be into games. You think he would be too busy studying, really.

“What game are you playing?” he asks, tilting his head, coming a little closer so he can see for himself, almost touching your skin in the process as he clumsily bumps into you. ‘’Sorry.’’ He murmurs.

“A very intense one,” you comment as a compilation happens on your screen. You want to restore your island from desertcore to cottagecore and right now, one of your villagers has decided to be a menace. 

On Aemond’s lips grows an almost dreamy smile as he stares at you playing on your Switch. “Oh—like Xenoblades? Zelda? Hades?” 

You’ve heard of all three, but haven’t played them. They are not games you think you would like. They sound difficult, full of combat, full of puzzles and full of realisation that you are stupid. So you stay far, far away from them.

“Animal Crossing!” You turn your Switch so he can see your former desert island as you turn it back into a cute aesthetic-worthy village. 

He tries to blink, but he only has one eye so it looks a little awkward. “That is your definition of ‘intense’?” 

It can be. It can be so intense you rage-quit. Some of these animals have no manners—you’ve certainly bullied a fair few off your island. 

“You try terraforming your island when a lazy villager sits in the way!” You point with your finger to the panda cub that sits in the way, right where you want to plant a bush. “That’s Chester, and right now he’s making my life hell—” 

The panda, or Chester, enjoys a sandwich while smiling at your avatar, unaware of the misery he is 

causing.

“That panda is?” Aemond asks, confused. “The panda is the issue? Can’t you tell him to move?” 

That would be so helpful. But, unfortunately, no—that is not an option. 

You nod, turning your Switch back to you. “He just won’t leave. I can hit him with a net, but he would hate me,” you mutter. “Pushing him is useless. He’s, like, glued to this spot.”

Aemond smiles to himself. “Perhaps he is saying we should return to studying.” Chester would say that, the menace. He has not given you his photo either, the bear knows too much.

“He says to me that I can have five more minutes,” you say, smiling and blinking your eyes innocently. 

He sighs deeply, exhaling before putting his arm under his head, watching you terraform around your island. “Cute.” He sits up straight, blushing and quickly pointing to your Switch, decorated with stickers from Stardew Valley. “I meant, uh, the stickers.” He quickly mutters, and you can’t hide your own smile.

The stickers are cute, but you can’t help but wonder if he wasn’t talking about something else. “Thanks, they’re from Stardew Valley.” 

“I heard that game—” Whatever Aemond would say next would forever be a mystery. He is rudely interrupted by your fan dumping all over him, telling him the plot, the main features, and your personal opinion of the game in the world-wide record of 4 minutes as you ramble. “You’re kinda supposed to help this town flourish by bringing crops you grow, artisan stuff, to this community center. You can also romance and have children and have a pet. There is like magic too, but I wish it was more fleshed out-’’ You shut up quickly. You put your switch down.

He nods, but you can tell you are losing his interest. 

“You can slay monsters, too,” you blurt out. “And you have different swords, weapons and stuff. Sorry. I kinda ramble.”

“I like it. It’s cute when you ramble.’’ Damn it. You feel your cheeks redden. Aemond watches the rain outside, before asking another question about Stardew Valley. ‘’Can I kill my spouse?” he asks as a follow up. 

You know the modding community is very active, but they are like about dogs and cat breeds, about teleportation hacks and making portraits better. Not about you know, full-blown murder. “No…”

He frowns as if that surprises him. “Is there warfare? Can I take other people’s farms? Is there a princess for me to save?” No, no, and no.

You understand you two play different games.

“No, not really. It does have multiplayer, though.”

Aemond’s scoffing little smirk returns but it does not meet his hurt and very glossy eye. “I’m kinda a loner.” He laughs but there is a hidden sadness there. A sadness you relate too all too well.

“I am, too,” you say. 

“You have dozens of friends.”  You can still have friends and be alone.

He refers to the girls that you hang out with. Are they friends? You don’t hang out aside from the weekend. You can’t call them, if something has happened to you, and they definitely don’t know you game or have NLD. 

“Yes,” you say, “but…none of them game, I guess? Like, in that way, I’m alone. And I don’t make friends easily. Not everyone likes the games I play. Some wouldn’t even call it gaming. So, what kind of games do you like to play?”

He suddenly becomes interested in his very well cared for nails, and you know you hit a weak spot.

“Crusader Kings II, Zelda, Hades, Xenoblades and shooters.” He tells you. ‘’Mostly single-players.’’

You don’t know Crusader kings, but judging by the name, you do not have a cute farm at day and a run a witchy cozy coven at night. “The bloody ones.”

He snaps his head to you, smirking a bit.

‘’Zelda is not bloody.’’ Before he looks at your hair and your lipstick. ‘’I think you actually like it, if you gave it a chance.’’ He says. ‘’I mean, there is dozens of npcs to talk to, a wonderful open world, and ingredients to forage and outfits to collect and to find. In a way, it is Stardew Valley but without the Valley.’’

He definitely heard about Stardew Valley before. ‘’You know a lot about Stardew.’’

He nods. ‘’My sister, Helaena, she plays it a lot. I wouldn’t know how to play it, however.’’ He confesses, slightly tilting his hands. ‘’It’s beyond me how you get anything done with a time limit and a stamina bar.’’

You smile, and you never thought you would in his company. ‘’Describe the story. Of that Zelda game.’’ 

He needs some time to think before telling you the main story. ‘’You see, with an adventure game that’s…that would defeat the purpose of playing. So: You are a hero, named Link. After 100 years, you awake in a shrine, and you hear a voice, and you need to save the kingdom and the princess.’’ It sounds very …male-written and male-aimed. You aren’t sure Zelda is for you.

You have another problem with it too.

‘’That sounds horrible. Imagine waking up from your nap, and suddenly you got to save the world.’’

At first he is confused but the moment he knows you are joking, he laughs, a very delightful sweet and welcoming sound. ‘’It starts very locked, but there’s so much you can do in the game, in my honest opinion it's one of their best entries in the series. There’s cooking, horses-’’ Horses? There are horses? And cooking? ‘’There is combat, but you learn quickly, at least I did. The monsters are actually clever, and in the beginning, its best to avoid them until you get decent weapons.’’ You aren’t sure. Combat? The monsters in the skull cave of Stardew Valley regularly kick your ass.  ‘’There are puzzles too-’’ That is where you draw the line. No puzzles.

‘’Hell no. I hate puzzles.’’ You did as a kid, and still as an adult you can’t figure out how some people enjoy putting together these images, made up of 1,000 pieces and when they finish it, they destroy it too. Like what is the point? And it does not help you can never figure out where to start.

‘’I know.’’ That catches you off guard. Aemond does not pressure you into it. He simply accepts it.  ‘’But they are fun. We can solve most problems in multiple ways. You can’t fuck this up, if you are scared of that. Even if you die, you can restart as many times as you like. And no one is going to call you stupid for it.’’ He promises you, when leaning in a little closer, touching your face gently.

‘’Not even you?’’ You ask, for confirmation, not sure why you care but you hate for him to laugh at you for doing something very rookie. 

He shakes his head.  ‘’No. It took me a lot of time to get the hang of it too, if you must know.’’ So he is not as perfect as he pretends to be. ‘’I already told you: I don’t think you are stupid.’’

You lean in a little closer to him, staring at his soft pink lips. You make your voice as dry as possible. ‘’What if I call ‘’Link’’ ‘’Zelda?’’ You ask him with a cheeky grin. Nothing annoys Zelda fans more than that.

He grins back, but has faith in you. ‘’I know you won’t.’’ That is true. You know that the Princess is called ‘’Zelda’’ but the person you play as is called ‘’Link.’’ To confuse the two would be like calling JojaMart Pierre’s general store.  

‘’But what if I do?’’ You ask, getting a little cheeky. ‘’Hm? Sir?’’ You ask, pushing his buttons a little more as you grin. 

He needs to make an effort to hide his smirk, quietly muttering when eyeing the stickers on your switch. ‘’Don’t push me, we are alone after all, and I’m very bored.’’ He murmurs, sending a shiver down your spine when his voice gets that rough edgy little dark edge.

‘’Are you …Interested?’’ You ask, surprised.

He lifts his head, a bit insulted. ‘’You think I would not avoid you like the plague if I wasn’t?’’

All this time you thought he hated you, but he had a crush on you. ‘’I thought you hated me! That I annoyed you!’ 

He blushes, quickly cleaning his glasses for some reason. ‘’No, I just don’t like it when I can’t control my feelings. Like I become very different around you.’’ You noticed. He puts walls around himself.

‘’You become a little angry bird or a Goomba.’’ You know for sure he knows what a Goomba is, and you know it as well. They are the adorable little creatures from Mario games that try to murder Mario and look grumpy.

He chuckles, mortified by your description.

‘’Please, no, gods, not a Goomba.’’ 

You do find the courage to tell him your final thoughts, before flipping your notebook again, picking up where you left with the sums. ‘’If it helps, you are kinda cute too, Aemond.’’ You tell him, and you mean it. ‘’Not that I’m into Goombas, but..Yeah. You’re cute.’’ You tell him.

He nods, absently before he becomes serious again. ‘’Did you ever try motivational tutor lessons?’’ Motivational what?

‘’What uhm do you mean?’’ You ask, a little lost.

He shrugs, smiling. ‘’Well, people are more likely to succeed if there is a reward for them in it.’’ You notice him biting down at his lips, avoiding your eyes.

‘’And uhm, what would my reward be?’’ You ask your body to betray you within mere seconds as you think of how he will reward you. You, on the couch on top of him when fucking him-

He grins, when slowly touching your legs, going to the space between your legs, to where your dress ends. ‘’Whatever you like,’’ he purrs softly in your ear. ‘’ A cup of coffee, a donut…’’

You nod, a little disappointed and curse your dirty mind. That man is a saint for trying with you. Aemond reaches out to grab something close to your textbook and your eyes follow his fingers. ‘’People are likely to succeed more if they are disciplined too.’’ He is just teasing you, you tell your very dirty minded mind.

You know he will make you stand in the corner or perhaps take your phone away. ‘’And what would my punishment be?’’ You ask, dryly when you copy the sums from the textbook.

Aemond sighs. ‘’I won’t do anything you don’t consent to, that is the first lesson.’’ You were taking a sip of your cold coffee and nearly spat it out, all over your textbook as your cheeks burned with interest.

‘’But if you are into a little motivation, I guess I can show you another use for this pretty ruler.’’ He mutters, tapping with the ruler against the palm of his hand. You notice he has excellent self-control. This will be fun.

Yet you are surprised, that the red sweater glass-wearing sniveling little best of the class into BDSM. ‘’You’re into Kink?’’ You ask, your voice is a bit strangled.

‘’That’s not an answer, little brat.’’ 

He totally is. Gods, just your luck, stuck with Aemond Targaryen who is secretly into brat taming. Whatever sums you wanted to make, will certainly get fucked up now.

‘’Do you expect me to really learn better?’’ You hope he understands that your brain is just not a regular brain. It won’t magically solve things now that you are motivated. 

Aemond shakes his head. ‘’I kinda don’t. But it’s alright, love. I won’t get upset with you. Not really, at least.’’ He tells you with a grin. ‘’But I won’t lay a finger on you until I get your consent.’’ Such a gentleman. 

‘’Fine, you’re free to touch me.’’

On his lips, grows a dangerous smirk as he grins, before sitting next to you. ‘’What is the square root of 48?’’ He puts his left hand on your knee and slowly makes his way to your thigh…

Fuck. ‘’Uhm, 4.’’ You blurt out. It is a gamble but you don’t care.

Aemond chuckles before tsking as a disapproving teacher, before grinning and telling you the correct answer. ‘’That would be 6.’’ You growl, a little angry you didn’t know it. But he softly murmurs in your ear, when his hands go over your body. ‘’Take off your coat.’’ He tells you coldy. 

You let out a little squeak. He grins, adding softly. ‘’Again, if you want to, of course.’’

‘’I want you to strip too.’’ You tell him after you have taken your coat off. 

He chuckles, thinking you can’t defeat him. That you don’t know his weakness. But he told you, earlier today without him realizing so.  ‘’You can ask me questions but I know a lot more about math-’’

You interrupt him, smiling.

‘’What year did the Titanic sink?’’

Aemond gawks at you, before thinking deeply. It is a random event that did kill people, but it had no major consequences. ‘’1910?’’ He guesses. You grin. 

‘’1912, take off your shoes.’’ You tell him.

‘’Fuck.’’ he murmurs, but obeys. ‘’If I go with the train at 9:20, and the train takes half an hour-'’ No way you will get that one, so you take your dress off, zipping your zipper down and exposing your black bra and matching knickers. Aemond’s breath catches slightly, exhaling when his pupils enlarge.‘’Good girl.’’ That is enough to worsen your arousal and to harden your nippels. Aemond watches as it happens, a pleased contemptuous smile on his lips. 

‘’Tell me, little Brat. Darwin’s father has four children, Red, orange, yellow and-’’ It is a pattern question. A clear question. Red orange yellow are colors represented in the rainbow. ‘’Green?’’ The moment you said it, you repeat the question silently before growling.

‘’No! "It's Darwin!” You grow out.

He chuckles. ‘’You can keep your pretty knickers and bra on. I want you to sit on my lap.’’ You sit down on his lap, making sure to rub him a tiny bit in the process, to make him wild. He groans in your ear when forcing your ass down. ‘’Such a naughty little brat. And so wet for me too.’’ He murmurs in your ear when his fingers smoothly slide in your knickers, before toying with your folds, touching before inspecting your wetness. You twist on his lap, trying to force the finger to move deeper, harder, and rougher. Aemond pulls you tightly to his chest to avoid you moving at all.

You enjoy his control more than you should. ‘’Fuck…’’ You quietly mutter. He muses happily to himself as you squirm and twist on his lap. 

‘’So tense, are we shy, little brat?’’ He is toying with you, torturing you.

‘’Aemond, please.’’ You beg, helplessly as he begins to fuck your body with his fingers, and you happily fuck his hands, clenching yourself whenever you are allowed. 

You need to find release soon, and he knows it very well judging by his smirk. ‘’I’m afraid I won't listen to that name. You will call me Sir or you will refrain from speaking at all.’’ He says, and your fucked up little brain enjoys it too much.

That is so hot. He has an authority kink. ‘’Fuck!’’

He grins, as he takes a stance behind you.

‘’I’m afraid I can’t allow such crass words.’’

Oh shit. You feel your heart race and your stomach flutter with lust and butterflies and your curious mind wanders. ‘’Aemond…’’ He grabs you briefly by the throat, but he does not make it hurtful. He raises a brow. 

You look at your shoes.

‘’I meant, Sir…’’ Your face is pressed down against the wood of the table, before Aemond growls.

‘’Nothing will save you now, little brat. You are all mine.’’

He grabs the ruler and your cheeks are spanked first with his fingers before he moves on to the iron ruler, hitting your cheeks with precision but hard enough for you to like it. You squirm on the desk, certain you leave a trail of wetness as Aemond uses the ruler on both your ass cheeks, finding a torturous rhythm. And yet you like it. You want it to happen again, you want to brat. ‘’Fuck,’’ you cry out as three of his fingers enter your pussy. His left hand is feeling you up, when his right continues to punish you for your sins. ‘’Sir, sir please!’ You moan.

‘’Are you sorry?’’ He asks, between fucking you on the desk with his hand and spanking you. You nod, furiously. He sighs, letting go of you and his fingers leave your spent wet cunt. ‘’Good. Don’t be naughty again or I will punish you again.’’ He warns you. You want to brat. And you want to brat so hard that he will punish you with his cock this time. 

You bring your own fingers to your entrance but before that you can shove them in, Aemond has grabbed your wrist, painfully twisting it. ‘’Seems like someone can’t behave herself.’’ You nod, furiously as if you regret it deeply. Aemond sighs. ‘’Pull my pants down for me.’’ He tells you, and you inwardly cheer. You get to work, unbuttoning his jeans for him and pulling them down first, before staring at his boxers which barely hide his erected cock. 

You pull his boxers down too, freeing his cock as the red swollen tip is pushed in your face, with clear precum on the edge. ‘’Get on the desk.’’ He tells you. ‘’Bent over it, the way I know you want to.’’ You know what he means very well, and you obey, bending over the desk so he could take you on it.

He sighs before grabbing one of your hands and wrapping your fingers around his cock. ‘’Make me go wild, and I’ll fuck your little needy pussy.’’ You obey, your back turned to him as you try to please him with your fingers rubbing his head and his balls. 

You are bended, and Aemond opens your legs roughly and sharply, before going inside of you with his cock, filling you all the way with his length as you silently whisper. Aemond starts to trust and you become lightheaded and carried away on your pleasure. He fits so well. ‘’Sir,’’ you weakly mutter as he fucks you on the table, your book and hello kitty gel pens still present. Aemond grunts as an animal before grabbing the ruler, smacking your cunt this time, causing you to cry out in pleasure. ‘’Sir!’’ You repeat your own cry, before slamming your hips against his own, begging him to finish you. ‘’Please!’’ 

‘’Such a needy cunny. I’m going to come inside of you, little Princess. You are going to tell all your little whore friends about this, that you got fucked by a man in the library, used as a glorified slave. You will tell them how red and throbbing your little pussy was, and you will not tell anyone it was me. Is that understood, or do you need me to fucking explain it another way?’’ You understand, but you would love another explanation because it sounds so dirty.

‘’Another way. I’m pretty stupid.’’

He glares as if he disagrees with that.

‘’Very well.’’

Aemond grabs you by your hips again, fucking you.

‘’’N-no, Aemond, I have a party tonight-’’ You tell him, begging him to be a bit gentle.

He groans. ‘’I don’t care. Fuck your parties.’’

He did not get invited.

‘’Nhn!’’ You cry out as his cock cruelly fucks you, not giving a damn about your warnings.

Aemond’s lips briefly kiss your sweaty forehead. 

‘’Delicious, such a good cunny.’’ He murmurs, rubbing your cunt until blood sticks to his fingers. You need a little push. Just one tiny push. ‘’And now, you will come for me, my slut. When I tell you, you will come all over my cock, soaking me.’’ You nod, bracing yourself.

Aemond fucks you harder and faster and it becomes difficult to hold your orgasm in. You need to release it, you need to find a release fast. ‘’Sir, please.’’ You beg, helpless. He grins, spanking your needy pussy.

‘’I know, but try to show some self-respect, my little brat.’’ 

You wordlessly wail. He sighs, before impaling you thoroughly and resting his hands on your hips. He whispers in your ear. ‘’Come.’’ You obey, freed from a prisoner and let go when you two fuck each other roughly, your muscles hurting from the rough fucking on the desk. And finally, you come all over his cock, just as he promised you would. He takes you two more times after that, bringing you close to two other orgasms, before denying those two. You are taken without warning and lose your control, coming all over him, earning you a spanking and a rough fucking before he comes inside of you as well, with a lot of curse words and grunts. 

‘’Fuck, Y/N.’’ He murmurs, in your ear. You put your underwear and bra back on. The timer ends, revealing that two whole hours have passed. Aemond dresses himself quickly too, looking at your messy hair and glassy eyes. 

You become aware of the feelings and the urge to run far away from them. ‘’I have to go.’’ You tell him.

Aemond stops you, gently and you know he has become himself again, dropping the dom-act.

‘’No. You seem to know some things about Kink, but after playing with my ladies, I give them aftercare. You deserve a bagel, or a donut, or fuck it, another Starbucks if you want. If we were at my place, I’d prepare a bath for you or give you a message.’’ He rambles on. ‘’Let me buy you something nice for your lunch, and at least walk you home.’’ He asks, no, begs. Your face melts at his sweet manners. 

You put your stuff in your back, as Aemond zips up your dress for you, careful to avoid your hairs. He has done this before. You wonder how many times and with who. ‘’She is judging us.’’ He suddenly whispers, nodding to your hello kitty gel pen. 

After two hours he has become just as mad as you have. ‘’She knows too much, I might drown her into my Starbucks later.’’ You tell him.

He does not approve of that idea.

‘’That would be sad and torture.’’

‘’Fine, I’ll just…put her in my pencil case.’’ You do as you promise him, putting the gel pens in your pencil case.

‘’That’s it, good girl.’’

He winks before following you to Starbucks.

‘’Hey, uhm Aemond?”’ You ask after you are waiting for your order. Aemond looks around a little amazed. He has never been here before, calling it a capitalistic hell. 

‘’Yeah?’’ his hands nervously play with his rings. He can be so adorably shy.

‘’What are you doing tonight?’’ You wonder, hoping you don’t regret this. As in, he does not say no.

‘’Not much, I might actually play Zelda. Why?’’ He wonders.

‘’Want to come to this party with me?’’ You blurt out with a smile.

a/nthank you for reading let me know what you think. there might be a part 2 but i havent decided yet.

The eh creatures above the a/n are goombas.

[drsteggy]

Both @unmaskedcardinal and @smolavidreader tagged in me in last line writing games, but I haven’t written any new lines in at least 3 weeks (Ellipsus forgot who I was lol)

That’s cause I’ve been arting, so here’s the last page of my sketchbook. I was traveling last week, and I like to make notes in my book as I go so it’s sort of a journal, too. I was doing a bunch of quick figure/gesture drawings and then took one to work up better. I need to start practicing faces because I’m definitely doing an awful lot of people from behind and that feels like a crutch lately.

But also, the model I used as a reference was spectacular and I had to draw him. I like how this came out. Like his proportions are decent, he doesn’t look to stiff. There’s a bit of swagger to him.

The two seated figures on the side are actually my Link and Impa from Farore.

If you want to add your last written line, or art of whatever sort and what you like about it please feel free to add on!

(Also….”eye candy” is the name of the bar I was killing time at. Spouse was Doing Stuff and I was setting up camp with a glass of wine and then moving on after a couple hours)

[aekatty]

melt my heart ₊˚ʚ 🧊 ₊˚✧ ﾟ.

a/n: been rewatching fairy tail and i forgot how FOINE that man is aaaa also my friends requested this teehee also srry for long wait lmao

⋆꙳•̩̩͙❅̩̩͙‧͙ ‧͙̩̩͙❆ ͙͛ ˚₊⋆

!!! series !!!

─── ⋆⋅ ♰ ⋅⋆ ───

18+ !! MINORS DNI

─── ⋆⋅ ♰ ⋅⋆ ───

cw: readers lowk a bitch but they’ll get a redemption trustt, multiple flashbacks, angst, enemies to lovers, eventual smut, female anatomy, slight religious references but mostly used to emphasize a point yada yada

tags ✮⋆˙  afab!reader x gray, enemies to lover, eventual smut, angst

now playing: i'll kill you - summer walker ft. jhené aiko

❅ chapter 1: i'll kill you ❅

part 2…

You had gotten tired of the endless running. The feeling of your lungs giving out as you neared your limit, the sweat running down your forehead as you climbed upon the stone rubble. The smell of blood and smoke flooded your senses. Have the gods forsaken us? You watched in horror as the village was engulfed in chaos by the cursed demon known as Deliora.

“Help me! Someone, anyone! Please!” You felt your lungs ache as you screamed in desperation.

You felt the vibrations of the demon’s heavy steps become stronger, causing you to hide under the fallen walls of a building. The dark growl of Deliora caused shivers to run down your spine.

“I’m scared…” A lump formed in your throat.

Tears spilled down your apple cheeks before the sound of yelling caught your attention. You peeked from your hiding place to see a…boy? He looked to be your age, black hair while supporting a white parka. Now that you got a better luck at him, you remembered seeing him along with a lady and a boy with white hair around him in your village. He was usually accompanied by a woman with dark hair and a boy his age with silver hair. You were always jealous of him, considering you were left an orphanage as a baby— You looked towards the left to see the back of Deliora in a close distance. This kid is standing right behind THE Deliora! You wanted to call for him but stopped yourself in fear of being caught. The situation is life or death, it would be foolish to save someone who puts their own life in the line. All you could do was watch.

That same woman who’s always around him appeared. Except, she’s wearing an ice prosthetic in place of her right leg. The spiky silver haired boy was laid out on the ground unconscious.

“Take Lyon with you, I can’t risk the two of you getting hurt,” she looked at him somberly.

“No! I’m not leaving you! Ur, please-”

“Ur, don’t go!” Your eyes widened as you watched the white haired boy stand up on his own.

“Lyon-”

“I was trained by one of the best wizards to exist, I can defeat Deliora!”

She clenched her teeth, “It’s too powerful even for me!”

“Just trust me!” The boy with white hair readies his stance by crossing his arms.

“That’s Iced Shell! Where did you learn that spell?!” The raven haired woman watched in horror.

“I went to the storehouse and read all your books since you refuse to teach us powerful spells!”

“Lyon, do you know what happens to the caster of that spell?!”

Your eyes widened at the scene unfolding in front of you. The intensity of the spell had alerted the large demon, causing him to to turn around and notice them. “What is he doing?! Deliora’s gonna kill them for sure!” You bit your nails from anticipation.

Before the boy could fully perform the spell, he had quickly been encased in an ice sculpture. His movements frozen in place by the raven haired lady. “I can’t let you do that…”

“Ur, please…”

You watched the lady and the black haired boy exchange a few words before getting into the same stance as the boy encased in ice.

“Iced shell!”

You felt your heart race as you watched the brave woman cast the powerful ice spell to seal the demon away. Could this be the end of Deliora’s chaos? Slowly but surely, the woman’s body had started to deteriorate the longer she casted the risky spell, yet it seemed to be successful in sealing Deliora’s body.

After its body had been fully encased in the ice barrier, you diverted your attention back to the woman, her body slowly withering away. The black haired boy teared up as he watched his beloved teacher become one with the iced shell.

You bit your lip as you watch the boy sob nonstop as he called for his teacher’s name. You couldn’t understand it, all you felt was nothing but rage. You cursed the gods for leaving you fruitless. That boy had someone to look after him and his foolishness killed her. Meanwhile, your parents dumped you into an orphanage, leaving you with nothing. You fixed your own wounds, scavenged your own meals, and took up risky jobs for a few jewels. You even learned Lava magic by yourself! This boy had everything. A loving parental figure, a roof over his head, and proper education to hone his magic.

And you despised him for it.

You fled the scene before you could watch whatever happened next, kicking a few rocks out of frustration in the process. You swore the next time you saw him, you were going to beat the living hell out of him. “I really hate that boy,” you muttered under your breath.

You grabbed a map out of your pocket, unfolding it onto a smooth to piece of fallen concrete. “I can’t be here for any longer, I’m getting outta here.” You decided to scavenge up enough jewels to leave the wretched place that was once your home. After all, there was no use for you staying here anyways. And most of all, you didn’t want to see the face of that boy again.

You traced your dusty index finger along the tattered paper before landing on a specific region.

“This is it!”

———

Years after Deliora's invasion, you acquired enough jewels to board a ship bound for Magnolia, a trading center in the Kingdom of Fiore. You had grown enamored with the bustling populace, the pathways crowded with vendors and children running around with toys. Your senses are continuously being tricked by the aroma of freshly made bread from the local bakery. You were in complete wonder of the gorgeous city and its stark contrast to your once little village. You've practically called this your new home.

And a new home means new opportunities! You ended up joining Fairy Tail, the most formidable guild in Fiore! A day spent at the guild is never dull since you’re constantly surrounded by kind individuals who genuinely care about you. Not to mention, it wasn’t unusual for brawls to break out every other week in the hall. It was no surprise to Makarov when you became a member of the guild at such a young age— you weren’t the only one, after all.

There is always terrible in addition to the good…

Maybe, just maybe, God or whatever heavenly force that resided in the sky would take pity on you. You’re already a starving wizard taking up jobs to pay off your own rent. You had your own problems and you can barely take care of yourself. But hey! God decided to send you a problem in the form of flesh and blood. Black hair, shirtless, ice wizard…

“Oh…you’re still here?” You dropped your messenger bag onto the table.

Gray rolled his eyes at your derogatory question, “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

Your face contorted into an expression of disgust, “I was hoping you had left Fairy Tail by now so that I wouldn’t be able to see your face. Or even better, a giant toad could swallow you and digest you into nothing but bones.”

He smirked at your snickering, “Well that’s too bad, cause i’m not going anywhere.” You really hated that stupid smirk he gave you. It was like he was mocking you…

“Oh, yeah, you’re right. Cause you can’t do jack shit to save yourself,” you snickered.

He clenched his fist before getting up and walking towards you, “What’d you say to me?!” Mist seeping from his palms as he felt his temper rise.

“I said your ass can’t do shit to save yourself,” you laughed.

Before you could land another joke on him, you find yourself slammed to the wall by a huge block of ice. The warm red liquid trickled down your nose, irony and salty as you licked it off your lips, “Can’t take a joke, ice boy?”

You shoot hot magma arrows towards him before he dodged it, destroying the wooden furniture nearby in the process. He created a bow and arrow out of ice before shooting them towards you. Luckily you shielded yourself with hardened lava before you could pierced by them. As you bent the lava at your will, you felt a shard of ice knick you at the cheek, causing a drop of blood to trickle down it.

You dramatically gasped, “How dare you! I was supposed to be modeling for Sorcerer’s Weekly this week!”

He smirked, “It’s not like your face was pretty to begin with, lava witch.”

You flicked a droplet of lava on him, causing him to whince in pain before cooling the small burn wound with his magic, “Come on, [Name], revenge is so last year.” A sarcastic tone in his voice.

You wiped the blood off your face, “Oh please, don’t act like no one would want to date an ugly ice troll like you.” You stuck your tongue at him.

He rolled his eyes before continuing to use his ice maker magic against you, in return you employed your lava magic to defend yourself.

The both of you were too caught up in the fight to focus on the master’s screams as he begged the both you guys to halt your magic attacks on each other to prevent the destruction of the guild hall.

Before the both of you could land the finishing blow on eachother, you felt tight grip on your shoulder before looking up to see the red headed S-class wizard, a grimaced look painted on her face.

“Sorry, Ezra.”

“Sorry, Erza.”

You both spoke monotonously with a hint of fear in your voices.

“Master is not too happy with the destruction of the hall! The next time you idiots start bickering again, I’m gonna smash your heads into the wall until it’s nothing but soup!” She tightens her grip causing your shoulder to start aching in the process.

“Ok, ok! we get it! Just stop that! Ow!”

Before furthering any damage on your shoulder, she lets the both of you go before heavily sighing, “Since you both are done arguing, Mira wanted to speak to the both of you guys.”

You and Gray look at each other confused before walking towards the bar, you saw a drunken yet horrified master sitting on the counter as the silver haired beauty pours him another cup of booze, his cheeks flushed from the alcohol.

“Lovely morning to the both of you,” she giggles as she hands the wooden cup of booze to the master.

“And good morning to you too, Mira,” you smile back.

Gray stays silent with his arms crossed before you hit him lightly on the arm to alert him, “Hey- Morning to you too, Mira.”

She giggles again with her high pitched voice before tucking her silver hair over her ear, “Well, master was gonna tell you guys something but he got so stressed from the both of you almost destroying the guildhall that he drank himself nonverbal.” Right after saying that, you look over to see Makarov burbling random gibberish as he clutched the wooden cup handle.

She softly rubs circles onto the hiccuping master before turning her attention back towards you and Gray again, “There’s a job offer regarding the safety of a town nearby an active volcano. The volcano hasn’t been active for 1000 years but recently, the townsfolk have become concerned with loud rumbling coming from it. And since you guys are both lava and ice wizards…”

“Absolutely not. I’m not going with ice stripper here. And can’t you ask Natsu for help on this?”

Gray rolled his eyes at your nickname, “Not my fault my rock hard abs need air.”

“Never say that again,” your face grimaced.

“You know you like it, [Name].” He teases you.

You made a ‘barfing gesture’ at his comment, “Not in a million years, Fullbuster.”

She sighed, “Unfortunately, Natsu already stepped out with Happy since they’re still on that quest to find Igneel.”

“Of course he is,” you face palmed. You groaned as you pinch the bridge of your nose before looking up at Mira again, “Fine, i’ll do the damn job.”

“Awesome! I’ll mark this quest claimed by the both of ya’ll. And do try to get along while you’re at it…you’re kind of responsible for the lives of an entire town so don’t forget that!” She smiles.

Gray smirks before getting close to your ear, the warmness of his breath hitting your ear, “Don’t forget, we’re splitting the reward, lava witch.”

You rolled your eyes before turning your head towards him, “Duh.”

————

Two years after leaving your village…

You squealed as you glided your hand over the distinct mark of Fairy Tail on your arm, a symbol of your initiation into the guild. As you happily trotted down the guildhall, you felt someone tap your shoulder. In response, you turned around as you focused your attention towards a boy with pink hair wearing a scale-designed scarf.

“Hey, you’re that girl that just joined our guild! Welcome to Fairy Tail uhhh…”

“[Name]. My name is [Name],” you giggled.

He smiled cheekily, “Nice to meet you, [Name]. Name’s Natsu, I’m a fire wizard- wait no. A fire DRAGON-SLAYER, and this is my companion, Happy.”

“Aye!” The blue winged cat exclaimed in a high-pitched voice as he waved at you.

“Say, how old are ya and what type of magic you got? I hope you’re strong cause i’m looking for a sparring partner who’s tough enough to beat me!” The pink-haired boy slammed his fist towards his hand.

You smirked at his fiery spirit before you decided to boast about yourself, “Mmm I’m ten and I’m a lava wizard. Ten is practically an adult so I can drink beer anytime I want.”

The boy looked at you with amazement, “WHOAAA, that’s so cool. Once I reach double digits, i’m gonna drink beer everyday and then I’ll be able to beat Guildarts!”

“And I know I said we should spar against eachother but since we both work with heat…I say we work together to defeat that stupid ice wizard, Gra-” Before Natsu could finish his sentence, a block of ice appeared out of nowhere, crushing the boy under it.

“OW! What the eff, Gray!” He cried out in anger as fire escaped his mouth.

You turn your attention towards the culprit, he was about the same age as you and Natsu. Black hair, Fairy Tail mark on his shirtless torso, a snarky expression on his face. You stood there frozen in shock and disgust. The boy from the village.

“Your voice was getting annoying so I was trying to shut you up,” he yawned with a nonchalant look on his face.

Suddenly, he saw you standing next to the loud pink-haired boy before walking over to you, a smirk painted on his face.

“Sup, name’s Gray Fullbuster. You’re the new girl in our guild, huh? Saw you from over there and uh-”

“Hey, Gray! Stop flirting with my new teammate and go away!” Flames still erupting from the pink-haired boy’s mouth.

“IM NOT FLIRTING! I’m just trying to get to know her…” The black-haired boy looked away as he awkwardly scratched his neck, a red hue creeping onto his cheeks.

He returns to his usual stance before using that same smirk on you again, “I’m an ice-maker user, it’s pretty cool, no pun intended. So how bout you ditch this loser and join my te-”

“I would rather burn myself in my own lava then join forces with you.”

The smirk on his face faltered as he looked at you in disbelief, “Excuse me?”

“Yeah, no, looking at you made me automatically dislike you. Can you at least have some type of decorum? Or are you a pervert in training?” You look at him up and down as you roll your eyes.

The boy’s cheeks become redder than before as he looks down on his lack of attire, “Not my fault it’s become a habit! I learned it from training in the mountains with my master!”

You scoff, “Yea, whatever, ice boy. I taught myself on how to use lava magic. No master needed.”

“Well, MY master was like the greatest ice-maker wizard to exist. AND she had the potential to become a wizard saint, BEAT THAT!” He smirks at you.

You felt your temper rise as you puff your cheeks out in anger, “Well some of us didn’t have the privilege of having a ‘master’ to teach us ‘cool magic tricks.’ Some of us had to work our way to the top on our own!”

He scoffed before crossing his arms, “Calm down, lava witch-”

“Lava witch?!”

“Yeah, cause you look like one and act like one!” He angrily pushed you.

“Ok then, how bout I call you an ice troll! Cause you’re dumb and ugly!” You pushed him back.

“IM NOT DUMB AND UGLY!”

You laughed at his reaction, “Whatever floats your boat, ice troll!”

He felt his eye twitch, “What’s your problem with me?! All I wanted was to say hi and now you’re picking a fight with me!”

You cross your arms before getting close to his face, looking him up and down, “Hmm let’s see…you’re ugly, short, a pervert, and you’re dependent.”

“Now you’re just being a bully!”

“Well, sometimes it’s needed.”

“I’m gonna kick your ass!” He rolled up his non-existent sleeves.

“Not if I kick yours first!”

As master Makarov took another swig of his booze, he heard yelling and hitting behind him before sighing and placing the wooden beer cup on the bar counter.

“Not even her first full day and already getting into a fight with the ice wizard…As if him and Natsu weren’t annoying already. I swear this boy makes enemies too easily.” He hiccuped.

“It’s ice-maker magic, dipshit!” The boy shouted as he pulled your hair.

“CONTROL YOUR MOUTH, BOY!” Makarov shouted back.

“Can someone get this stupid block of ice off me! I wanna join!” The pink-haired boy still struggling to push the block of ice off him.

Ice and lava is never a good mix…

[insipid-drivel]

Horses: Since There Seems To Be An Even Wider Knowledge Gap Than I Anticipated

...And actually find it really exciting that I have a reason to expand and address some comments and questions from my first post!

This is a sequel/addition to my original post, "Horses: Since There Seems To be A Knowledge Gap". I want to address more horse-related knowledge gaps, common misinformation and mistakes made by well-meaning and very skilled creators that wouldn't know otherwise unless they worked with horses directly. You should not have to work hands-on with horses to learn some of this stuff, but the fact remains that horse facts and riding knowledge is often underdiscussed and usually only shared by other people that work with/around horses. A lot of this information should be within easier reach for writers and artists, too!

Before I begin, I'd like to thank all of you that politely reached out in the comments, tags, and my DMs/asks with your thoughtful additions to details I forgot/left out/hadn't even considered, and your brave questions posed to me personally that I was more than happy to answer. I'm truly thankful to all of you who contributed with a positive energy, or that had the courage to reach out to me - the OP - with questions my first post didn't manage to help you with. I will never punish, shame, or otherwise mistreat anyone who comes to me with an earnest question or correction in good faith, anonymous or not. If you're polite to me, I will be polite to you. I will try my hardest to answer questions I may not have much experience with, but I will still do my best to research the answers so you don't have to, and tag/cite/refer you to people, books, or other knowledge sources that have more answers and experience than I do if I can't.

So, what more is there to know about writing and portraying horses? I'll just get started off the top of my head with some of the most frequent additions other tumblr horse folk have been hollerin' at me about, and with good reason, because you guys were right to point out what you did and really got me thinking!

-Spurs: My Second Take. In my original post, I voiced my personal distaste for the use of spurs in riding. Spurs, for those who don't know, were traditionally made as sharp metal pinwheels that attached to the back of riding boots for enhanced communication between the rider and the horse, much like how riding crops are used. I, personally, have had a lot of bad experiences seeing riders misuse spurs to hurt horses that I cared for as a stable hand and genuinely loved, and so I've been very shut down about the topic of spurs for many years.

Several people spoke up in defense of spurs as riding and communication tools, and I honestly believe that you guys were very on-point and made some great arguments: Spurs are only as harmful to horses as the intent the rider has in applying them, and I didn't have enough updated information about the different types of spurs that can be used nowadays that are not designed to be sharp or uncomfortable for the horse! I always grew up around traditional Cowboy-style spurs, which are sharp, stabby, star-shaped wheels, and can wound a horse and draw blood if used too aggressively. Tragically, most inexperienced and newer riders will use spurs too forcefully and wind up hurting the horse, and it's largely because new riders are inherently scared of riding, and over-rely on tools like spurs and crops rather than trust the horse to know what it's doing and be intelligent enough to know how to care for a human rider's safety.

Now, I've since learned that there are spurs with rubber wheels, blunted tips like those on the ends of safety-fencing foils, round metal bumpers instead of spurs at all, and even spurs that sport rotating metal balls that just feel (to the horse) like someone rolling a large ball-point pen over their sides, and more! So, to those of you that spoke up in tags and comments, thank you for doing so in a way that got me to open my own mind and check myself and my bad memories. You guys taught me something really cool and valuable that genuinely changed my perspective and opinions, and that's a really good thing!

-A Group Of Zombies/Unarmed Humans Can Take Down A Healthy Adult Horse. This is specifically aimed at The Walking Dead, but... yeah, you know the second episode when Rick rides a horse into the zombie-overrun Atlanta and the only way he's able to survive is when the zombies are distracted taking down and eating his obviously-jello-and-rubber horse?

Yeah, no. That is not how it would happen. At all. I think any biologists in the audience would back me up on that.

See, horses are prey animals, and they are herbivores. We're often used to thinking of herbivorous prey animals as shy, retiring, vulnerable animals that will simply keel over and die of fright when cornered by a predator. In reality, the opposite is often the case! Predatory animals tend to be much more shy, and much more cautious with their physical safety and wellbeing than prey animals tend to be, and that's usually because predators need to be able to remain uninjured and able-bodied enough to hunt again later, or else they and their babies may starve to death. Prey animals, especially herbivores, have evolved to deal with being hunted, and inherently don't need to be quite as healthy and able-bodied as a predator in order to avoid starving in the wild. Grass and leaves don't run away or try to fight back (unless it's like, poison oak or something), so an herbivore can generally recover from more environmental beatings than a predator typically can.

When cornered, horses very often only understand one thing: Murder. That's why you need horse whisperers and stable hands that know how to "gentle" a panicked horse as essential personnel at boarding and teaching ranches. While a horse can absolutely love and adore even the smallest of children and never harm them (at least intentionally - accidents happen), they can and absolutely will kill in order to defend themselves if running isn't an option. Horses can kick with up to 2,000lbs/907kg of force with their back legs. That's enough to break bones, shatter skulls, insta-kill grown men, and if you're kicked in the chest? Cause spontaneous cardiac arrest. Horses kick so hard and so fast they can literally make your heart stop from the speed and force of the impact alone: not from tissue damage. Horses will also paw and stomp with their front hooves until the Threatening Thing is effectively a mincemeat pancake, bite hard enough to take off fingers and hands, and can even cat-jump into the air off all four hooves in order to kick outward with all four legs at once. Spanish cavalry officers traditionally trained their horses to cat-jump on command in order to prevent them and their horse from being surrounded by footsoldiers in battle.

Horses will also use their body weight to roll, crush, scrape, and flatten anything or anyone that they don't want holding onto them. They will use environmental objects like trees, fences, or the corners of buildings to scrape unwanted hangers-on off into bloody smears (my mom's horse actually did this to a guy twice and he wound up in the ER with severe lacerations, bruises, splinters, and worse). Basically: a horse will use its entire body and the weight that comes with it as well as the entire world around it to fucking OBLITERATE anything they see as an unavoidable threat to their safety.

Without heavy-duty ropes, weapons, or tools, a group of adult, living, human men the size of football (the fake kind) linebackers wouldn't be able to successfully wrestle a fully-grown, panicked horse to the ground, much less a bunch of undead, mostly-decomposing zombies that only know how to bite and scratch. The horse Rick is riding on looks like it's probably a Quarterhorse, too. Quarterhorses are very sturdy, moderately-sized breeds that are also the iconic Cowboy Horse. They're tough, they're brave, they're hearty, and if they snap, they can and will kill both other animals and humans.

A horse's skin is so thick and tough that it's virtually impossible for a human to successfully bite or scratch hard enough to puncture through their outer dermal layers. As stable hands, a regular tool we use for getting mud out of a horse's hair is a literal metal wire brush that can rip open our skin if we try to use them, but the horses lean into them without even a hint of damage to their skin from doing so. There may be some tiny welts and a little bit of blood if a human tries to claw and bite at a horse, but horses do far worse to each other when they're just playing! Our fingernails and jaw muscles just aren't strong enough to do much damage to a healthy horse's skin.

-Horses aren't domestic animals.

...Yes they are. But just like other domestic animals, there can be wild populations of them that have had little or no human contact or intervention. Genetically speaking, however, horses are indeed domesticated. They're large domestic animals , but they are very much domesticated. Humans have been working alongside horses for at least 6,000 years. Domestic cats have only been domesticated for about 10,000 years. Truly wild horses in herds today, sadly, are pretty much 100% descended from domesticated horses. The recently-reintroduced-to-the-wild Przewalski's Horse is probably the closest genetic link to the original wild horses native to what are now modern Mongolia and Kazakhstan. Even the revered American Mustang is the product of domestication and planned breeding practices by both white colonists and Indigenous Americans over thousands of years, but Indigenous Americans were capable of maintaining a healthy balance between their personal horses and the essential need for herds of wild horses for the environment, too. White colonists did not understand this and intentionally stripped the North American frontier of its herds of wild horses, and are the primary reason the Mustang is only recently reappearing in wild herds in North America.

Sheep are domestic animals. Cows are domestic animals. Goats are domestic animals. Just because an animal has hooves and doesn't usually live in your house with you does not mean it isn't domesticated: You've just never had to live in an environment where they're essential to daily life or considered welcome companions, so they seem more like wild animals than cats and dogs. Hundreds of years ago, before modern building techniques created houses that could stay sustainably warm year-round, it was very normal for families to bring in cattle as large as horses and cows into their homes and sleep in the same rooms together for security and warmth, dookie and all (horse and cow poop doesn't smell as rank as dog or cat poo; they're herbivores, so it just doesn't smell as foul, and happens to make very good fuel for the fire). We don't do that anymore for health and safety reasons, and so horses, among other farmyard and "rural" domestic animals have become increasingly alienated from most people's psyches as being animals just as capable of being pets as your dog or cat.

-You can calculate how long a horse can run or work every day. This one is largely in response to some well-meaning questions I got from anons that seemed to want me to give them precise hourly work rates and mileage horses can tolerate. I was frustrated by questions like this, because it's a really cool subject to discuss, but not an easy question to answer. Horses are not machines, and "horsepower" is a unit of measurement derived from horses - not applied to them. "Horsepower" is a term used in machinery like tractors and cars. The total horsepower of your average horse is... well, 1, because that's how many horses a single horse can be without getting into some Welcome To Night Vale shit, which I'd love to do, but is a bit too far off topic for this particular post.

A horse's capacity to work or travel is heavily determined by outside factors, as well as organic factors in regards to the individual horse. How old is the horse? How heavy is it? How heavy is the rider? Is it also carrying cargo, like armor and camping supplies? Is it working on a farm and pulling a plow? If so, what quality is the soil? Has it been plowed before? Does the farmer own more than one horse? Is it hot outside? Is the horse going up and downhill? Is it fly season? Is the ground rocky? Are there burrowing animals in the area? Is there clay in the soil? Did it rain recently? How well-kept are the roads? Are there roads to use? What time of year is it- Aaaaaaah!

Ultimately, the answer is: A horse can work as long as it's willing to, and as long as its owner/handler judges is safe for the horse. A horse may be able to pull an old-fashioned plow through well-tilled soil for most of a cool morning before needing a break to cool down, eat, and rehydrate. It takes the judgment of the person commanding the horse when to call for a break or a full-stop to working for that horse by observing how tired it is (is it panting? Sweating? Slowing down? Are there any signs of strain in the hooves or legs?) or if it's in any way injured or in pain. The same applies with traveling long distances: It's up to the rider's judgment and how forgiving the environment is on the horse's body. In some cases, a riding horse may not be able to be ridden safely if the road is too treacherous or uneven for the horse to handle balancing its own weight and the rider's. In those cases, it's better for the rider to get off the horse and gently lead them through the bad terrain until it smooths out.

Also... horses can just... choose to quit. Some are quite sassy or very clear about their boundaries, and if they don't feel motivated or get too bored, they won't cooperate at all. The only way to deal with this is by letting them go do their own thing in the paddock until they decide they wanna cooperate again. Abusive people my try to whip or spur a horse into working past its limits, but humane people just let the guys take a break.

-Two adult people can ride on the same horse for a long time. GOD NO. PLEASE GOD NO. DO NOT DO THIS. PLEASE DO NOT EVER, EVER DO THIS.

Horses can only safely carry a maximum of about 30% of their total body weight on their backs without risking severe spinal damage, if not a broken spine altogether. A Thoroughbred - the iconic racing horse - typically maxes out at about 1,000lbs total in weight as an adult. Thoroughbreds are fairly tall compared to other fast, hot-blooded horses, like Arabians. That means that, at best, a perfectly healthy, not-too-old, not-too-young Thoroughbred horse would not be able to carry a total weight of more than about 450lbs, including the weight of its saddle and other tack, supplies carried by the rider, armor or other gear worn by the rider, and the impacts of gravity and the shocks of the rider's weight on the horse's back when it's moving at any speed. In the vast majority of cases, two adults cannot safely ride on the same horse for more than a very short distance before the horse enters the danger-zone for suffering severe and permanent spinal damage that can result in euthanasia. An adult carrying a baby or toddler is different, but two adults? Please don't. Please. Even if you're getting married and the owner of the super-huge pretty draft horse you're renting to take a gallant shared ride with your spouse with for pictures that reassures you it's fine, do not do it. Please just rent a carriage or pay extra for two horses. Please.

-A paddock with grass is all a horse needs to meet its nutritional needs. If that were true, horses would still be kept as pets more commonly around the world than they actually are. Unfortunately, to really thrive in the wild, horses need hundreds, if not thousands, of hectares of territory they can freely travel around in, while most paddocks are rarely larger than 10-20 acres when you're not talking about generational wealth or land. One of the reasons domestically-raised horses are almost entirely dependent on humans for food is due to the restricted spaces they're kept in. Grass only produces nutrition when the soil itself is fertile, and we humans don't necessarily have the natural ability to sense when soil is too nutrient-deprived for the plant life growing from it to be enough to provide just one horse with the vitamins and minerals they need on a daily basis to be healthy.

Another fact largely lost to history is that, back when most families had to farm to survive, farmers would store green leaves from various healthy and tasty trees and bushes in the boughs of other trees within their cattle paddocks and fields. By doing this, it kept large amounts of pests like rats from infesting the leaves, and keeping the cut branches and leaves stored within other leafy trees actually kept the greens fresher much longer than if they were stored on the ground or in a storage room. Horses would then graze from the leaves in the trees above their heads as well as the grass.

Stable hands and private owners keep rigorous dietary routines tailored to the needs of each individual horse. We're usually up and feeding the horses by dawn at the latest. The horses are usually given a few scoops of oats (not too much, because oats bloat up when they absorb liquid, and too much of that can give a horse colic), carrots and other vegetables for extra vitamins, salt licks (which are infused with extra minerals like a giant multivitamin), and even vitamin tablets/powder that goes straight into their dinner hay or alfalfa. Vets are essential for evaluating a horse's specific nutritional needs, so horses can actually get "prescriptions" for specific ingredients in their regular meals given to us from licensed large animal veterinarians, and not just a wealthy owner's best guess.

-Horses can throw up. Nope! It's not even physically possible for a horse to spit up food! That's part of why stable hands and owners have to be so careful in maintaining a regular, stable, healthy diet for their horses and keep their pastures and paddocks checked for toxic substances like poisonous plants that a horse may not know is toxic, or notice in the grass it's munching on.

Because they have such long necks and tall legs, horses need special muscles in their upper GI tracts in order to graze and drink water without constantly choking and fighting gravity. By having an esophagus that's one-way-only, as well as a muscle that clamps their stomachs shut at the top called a French Tie, horses hold down anything they swallow, even if it's enough to kill them.

-Horses are the best farm animals for a pre-industrial setting. Goodness no! Not at all! In fact, horses didn't start really replacing oxen on farms until the dawn of Draft Horses in the Victorian Era in the West. While many Eastern countries still retain the use of oxen for farming, Western European farmers fell prey to what we all dread: Peer pressure.

When Draft Horses started to appear in the scene in formal horse fancier associations, they were readily advertised as being excellent replacements for oxen (neutered male cows; so, a bull that has no balls). Oxen can be very stubborn, yet affectionate animals, and newer farmers often struggle more with handling oxen compared to horses. The Victorian Era saw a small boom in private farms, and so there became an increasing demand for "easy" farm cattle for newbie farmers to employ.

The other factor that played into horses replacing oxen in Western farming was clout. Horses are more expensive than oxen and generally seen as more prestigious to own. So, farmers often wound up "upgrading" from oxen to horses when their financial means allowed them to. The problem was that, in order to do the same amount of farm work with horses, you need more horses to replace exhausted or injured horses throughout each working day compared to how many more oxen you need to swap out throughout a day of heavy labor. But, nonetheless, horses took over for being "more trainable" and "more intelligent" than oxen (admittedly, oxen can be trickier to work with, but that does NOT mean that horses do a better job at hard field labor), and the Western oxen training industry has almost completely gone extinct.

Really, oxen do a lot better at extremely heavy jobs like tilling and plowing soil for growing crops and hauling large, heavy weights. Because oxen have cloven (two) hooves, they're a lot better at gripping the terrain and avoiding injury to their feet when they're working hard at awkward angles or on rough terrain. Oxen also pack on a lot more muscle and fat around their entire bodies, and so they have fewer vulnerable zones that can become irreparably damaged from exerting a lot of muscle power. Horses, only having a single hoof, can be rendered completely incapable of working or even running just from fracturing a hoof or stepping on a sharp object, like a nail.

-Any leg injury means instant euthanasia. No! No, no, no! There are lots of ways to treat a variety of injuries and illnesses that present in a horse's leg or foot. Especially nowadays, thanks to advances in all forms of prosthetics and 3D printing, horses are euthanized less and less for increasingly severe leg injuries courtesy of prosthetics and mobility aids! Some advances have been made so far that a horse that loses the lower portion of its leg can live a healthy life with a prosthetic!

Don't believe me?

Even in history, there have been treatments for leg and foot ailments for horses used before any talk of euthanasia is brought up. Remember: horses are often beloved service animals to people, today and a thousand years ago! Would you jump straight to euthanizing not only your best friend, but your primary mode of transport, as well as your extraordinarily-expensive ESA?

It's only in cases of severe breaks in a leg bone that injury-related euthanasia is discussed for a horse. Smaller fractures and hoof damage can actually be treated and healed, especially with modern veterinary science, and some fractures can be so successfully treated that a horse can return to riding and competing after recovering!

-Bits are cruel.

Look. There's one person that raked me over the coals in the replies for being ignorant in espousing bits as essential parts of a horse's bridle. I know who you are, and honestly, I feel the compassion you have for the animals... but you're still sipping a little much from PETA's kool-aid and did not convince me over to your side.

Yes, there are bridles that do not require bits to control a horse's head and communicate with it. Yes, there are riders that prefer them, and there are horses that can only be ridden with them due to bad experiences with bit-training or past dental problems. No, it's not cool to tut your fucking finger at me and call me ignorant when I assert that it's a very normal, standard part of tacking up and riding a horse, and the worst a bit can do is pinch the corner of a horse's lip or tongue if you are a jerk with your rein-etiquette. There are bits, just like I observed with spurs, that are specifically designed not to hurt or cause any distress to the horse, so if the person that dumped on me in the last post reads this one: Calm the fuck down and go take yourself on a walk along with your horse. Have an apple. You've clearly been in your stall too long.

As I was saying: Yes, there are different kinds of bits that are specifically designed not to harm a horse. Sometimes horses with smaller mouths or wrinklier lips (it's a thing) can have a hard time with specific bits due many of them sporting hinges where they wrap around out of the horse's mouth and connect to the bridle. This can be easily addressed by switching to a different kind of bit that's less harsh and more flexible for the sake of a horse's comfort, or getting rid of a bit altogether and swapping to bitless bridles. Ironically, I've met horses that actually stim with their bridles; they play with the bits with their tongues when they're excited before an event, kinda like they're grinding their teeth.

And yes, some horses can still have bad sensory issues with bits, and can need bitless bridles, and that's okay! The important thing about bridles in general is that they're the primary way a rider can communicate with the horse's head and show them where they want to go. As with riding, horses tend to go in the direction their heads are facing; they don't usually walk while looking sideways, but rather stand still to look sideways before turning back to the direction they want to go in to walk or run. A lot of riders are taught the phrase, "Head like a princess, hips like a whore," as a reminder to keep their hips loose and moving with the horse, but their heads focusing on where they want the horse to go, rather than looking at the scenery. Most riders, even those that are very experienced, can get distracted and accidentally put a little too much pressure on the horse's bridle and side in the direction of where they're looking, and that causes the horse to go off course, too.

-Horseshoes are incredibly painful and must be replaced only when absolutely necessary. Not at all! A horse's hoof is basically like a gigantic fingernail. While the inner core of the hoof, which is typically concave with a V shape in the middle and needs cleaning by stable hands on a regular basis to keep gunk, debris, and dangerous stuff like nails out of their feet is vulnerable to pain and injury, the rest of the hoof is literally a giant fingernail! A ferrier specializes at grooming a horse's hooves and trimming them so they don't overgrow (which can happen if they spend a lot of time on soft surfaces like grass), and many ferriers also specialize at setting and replacing horseshoes. A horseshoe specifically sits around the outer edge of a horse's hoof - specifically where a hoof is least sensitive and most likely to split or become damaged while riding and lead to infection and pain later - where the horse has no nerve endings. The nails that go into the horseshoe to hold it in place are actually very short and narrow at the tips, and only go into the solid nail a couple of inches into that same nerveless outer edge. The shortest horseshoe nails I've seen used are only 1.5 inches, or 4cm, and the largest around 2 inches, or 5cm and the worst a horse feels when a shoe is being set or replaced is a dull thudding from the tapping of the small hammer used to set the nails. A horse can literally go right back to business after their shoes are fitted, although a ferrier may recommend having them spend some quiet time in their stall for a couple of hours to really make sure the shoes are set properly and the horse is comfortable if something like a trip caused the original shoe to come off (the technical term is "casting a shoe").

My evening meds are kicking in, so I'll stop this very, very long sequel here.

As before, feel free to send me asks with more questions. I'm sure there are even more things I'm too sleepy to remember right now, and this post is running incredibly long.

[lingy910y]

Weekly Tag Wednesday

thanks @creepkinginc and @mybrainismelted for the tag 😎

how is your day going?

better than the other days so far this week. received good news (will expand on below), got senior merch, and conquered my fear of making two phone calls to a college office

are you okay?

fine, but drained and lonely T_T

what is your favorite shade of your favorite color?

magenta

are you single?

yes

are you happy about that?

no bc loneliness like i said and i'm very much a hopeless romantic, but dw it's not the right time :D

what age do you feel in your brain?

this mental age quiz diagnosed me with 26 so let's go with that

do you feel like the good times are behind you or ahead of you?

behind, but i do think there's going to be good times!

do you have a best friend?

no, refer to above answers

did you have a childhood pet?

i told this story for an earlier tag game but basically, i had turtles but my mom gave them away to a friend because they got too loud against the glass when they grew older and apparently made us not sleep well even if the tank is placed in the bathtub. but i have no idea how they're doing rn...they're prob dead

do you sing or whistle around the house?

no

do you light candles or incense?

no

are you busy friday night?

no

if you were a circus performer which act would you perform in?

maybe asking trivia questions if that's a thing

what is your favorite outfit?

light green thin blouse with pink cotton shorts and sandals (def not an outfit for rn tho)

what's the last thing you created?

i randomly doodle but the last "formal" art were the matching gallavich wedding pieces

what is your favorite fic or book of all time?

fic is fragile little fate: the portrait of a marriage by siriusmickey (hi jade), it'll prob change if i get into another fandom (oh god i don't want to think abt that)

book is dorothy must die by danielle paige

what are you looking forward to?

remember i said my art is entered into a competition? i got into the semi-finals so i'm looking forward to winning 😳 the winner's art gets to be displayed in the MET...i also want to watch the eras tour movie (def not uploaded onto youtube with a sus title) with my sis. we agreed for it to be tmr but idk if she'll even show bc she's not even sure when she's free

what can put you immediately in a better mood?

gallavich content that hits different

do you like hugs?

the rare times that i get a hug i melt.............i still need hug 😔

what is something you wish people understood about you? (edit: i forgot abt this question)

i worry too much

tagging @heymrspatel, @michellemisfit, @deedala, @jademickian, @lupeloto, @mmmichyyy, @juliakayyy, @gallawitchxx, @doshiart, @sgtmickeyslaughter, @iansw0rld, @energievie, and @krysmiss

[where-dreamers-go]

"That Happened" Bridge Carson x Reader

(A/N: I knew there was an insert reader I forgot to type!!! Found it. Ready? Reader has a crush on Bridge and somehow gets involved in a conversation with the Rangers.

Warnings: (Y/L/N) is used in place of your last name.

Word Count: 464 words)

Working at Space Patrol Delta was more of a lifestyle mixed with a career. You slept there at Headquarters; ate, drank, and any other necessity.

Life in S.P.D. was hard work and had plenty of opportunity for fun. It wasn’t all stressful. You had a life. And that life involved living with Power Rangers.

A group of Earth’s protectors who also had a life within Headquarters. All with unique personalities.

One personality in particular made you want to kick your feet in the air and sigh dreamily.

How can someone that smart and caring also be adorable and handsome? And a Power Ranger. You thought as you glanced up from your book. Him and his warm brown eyes.

Off towards the center of the common area, the B Squad Power Rangers were in the middle of a conversation; a debate, really. Something about painting and possibly cheating.

Honestly, you weren’t sure how they verged on the topic in the first place. No one was actively painting or viewing an art piece. You guessed it was random conversation.

“They’re artists,” Sky said as he leaned back on the couch, “they shouldn’t need it.”

“Heh.” You flipped a paper in your book.

Typical, you thought. Shame though.

There was a few moments of a unanimous pause in speech. Expressions and glances passed around the Rangers while words in front of you caught your attention.

“Cadet (Y/L/N),” Sky spoke up, “do you have something to add?”

Peering over your book, you nodded. Much to the delight of the Rangers, such a friendly bunch.

“Yes or no for artists using tape,” Z clarified in case you weren’t sure of the nature of the debate.

Easy, you thought.

“Yes,” you said.

Sydney gave Sky a triumphant look.

“Tape is a tool,” you continued. “Like a ruler, like an eraser, and a brush.”

You kept your composure, confident in your reasoning even as a pair of brown eyes were fully engaged in you. Bridge’s gaze.

Swallowing, you added, “It’s strange to expect artists to draw or paint a straight line free handed because of their skillset. What, a carpenter can’t use a level or a tape measure? A scientist can’t reference a book? A baker can’t use measuring cups?” You smiled. “Tape is simply a tool.”

Cadet Tate pursed his lips, bested in your logic. The other Rangers had a tamed celebration for the end of the conversation.

Yet that didn’t hold your gaze. Not for long. You looked to Bridge, attentive as ever and still looking at you with ease.

An air of confidence and satisfaction surrounded Cadet Carson.

With a small smile, Bridge winked.

Caught by surprise, you ducked your head behind the open book as heat rose to your neck.

Oh, that happened.

~~~

(If you love my writings and want to support me, I have a Ko-Fi where you can buy me a coffee. I would be eternally grateful.

coffee

Best wishes and happy reading.)

~~~~~

DreamerDragon Tags: @cubedtriangle

**Let me know if you would like to be tagged in insert readers, either through replies, ask, or message.**

[gordonzola-ramen]

My mutual @alectricblue tagged me in this game tag! I normally dont do these, but I thought it'd be nice to get to know me more (and also meet y'all if you wish to participate)!

It will be long though. Sorry

1. Were you named after anyone?

Was originally gonna be named Andrea after a ballerina my grandma liked! Sadly no one remembered her well, not even grandma, so I don't know much about her.

My deadname was simply just chosen bc it was easy to pronounce, as well as my chosen name Diego (it's what I would've been called had I been male), although when I chose it for myself I liked the JoJo character Diego Brando so there was some correlation there.

Funnily enough, people think I'm nicknamed Lio after the Promare character, but I hadn't met them yet.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Yesterday. At 11pm. Watching OR3O's One Piece song. It was nostalgic ok

3. Do you have kids?

Nope. There's an absurd amount of reasons I don't want them, although not a single one is because I dislike them. I've had to babysit many kids and they've all been very sweet.

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

Oof, my recent sports is taking my dog for a walk. But I used to like volleyball and kickball! And reluctantly played soccer and did swimming! Sports give me a lot of anxiety and i'm not sure why.

5. Do you use sarcasm?

I do a lot of teasing and lighthearted banter that can sometimes be considered sarcasm?

6. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Their eyes! Or anything outstanding like cool hairstyles or visible tattoos.

With online people, I mostly recognize them by pfp or a vague mental pronunciation of their username.

7. What's your eye color?

Dark brown?? Or black??

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Honestly, whatever makes me think more. Unhappy endings tend to do that more though, so I guess scary movies! But of course it depends on the mood, sometimes I just want a nice story to cheer me up.

9. Any talents?

I've been told I am talented at the piano! And music in general, although most of my skills feel less like talent and more like just studying the thing.

10. Where were you born?

So I was born in the US, in Florida, but my entire family is from Costa Rica and I just happened to be born while my parents were studying abroad. I don't remember much from the US though, I came back to CR with my grandma in my first months because she was less busy than my parents, and then they came to live here again. So in my eyes I've been a true Costa Rican since always hehe

11. What are your hobbies?

Playing the piano! Also drawing sometimes (I like to color more than draw, but unless I get my hands on a coloring book I can't do that unless I draw), playing videogames (mostly RPGs and visual novels), and doomscrolling.

12. Do you have any pets?

YESSSS my beloved dog Mia!!!!!!!!!!! I love her so much, she escaped her abusive home and we found her while walking around a plaza, said hi, and she followed us home. She's been with us for 8 years now and I adore her. Reference below because how can I not show her off:

13. How tall are you?

Excellent question. I forgot but I'm average if that helps!

14. Favorite subject in school?

It changed over the years, in senior year it was English because we had my favorite teacher! I knew him for years because he has a literature club I partook in, so I was very happy to have classes with him. Plus, we saw the Oresteia, which goes tremendously hard especially when your teacher geeks out about all the symbolisms.

Apart from that, computer class! We barely ever had it, and almost had it cut out entirely in senior year, but the few times we did I really enjoyed programming and practicing typing! And when we didn't do anything we could play so.

15. Dream job?

I want to make my own videogame! So I'd say a game developer, although being a part of any videogame, especially RPGs, would be a dream come true.

Well thank you for reading, I hope that was some insight, it was very fun to reply!

Tagging section (no pressure to do it at all, you can also do it if you're not tagged who cares)

@skyllion-uwu @thefrogswhospoke @gorgeousuare @chronologicalimplosion @fishy-lilic @smoothedsmoothie @mx-mind @montied @aspirationatwork @jhofoyitchg @derkhue @mellomaia @federalfazbear @mcfinnigan @mutantsgurls @foxounderscorecube @sweetnessfollowsmp3 @mildredtefoneck @oh-my-stars1969 @unfullbucket @fluffnfuzzxoxo @electriceel69 @scottigyn @stressedsilverware @sapphicrobotenjoer @antjellies @milk1non-tolarantes @ovalbrain @chocokhaos @markdiegamer @astralix13 @atheist-xmas @blktomekurata @monstar-dreams @glass-duke @c--eam @laooneart

[blogaliesa]

Since Lukagami ship tag is basically dead (the last one is basically my post) I'll share this unfinished cringy gacha story that I made back in 2019 out of boredom. Never posted until now.

Okay some backstory of this is that Kagami and Luka were both caught off guard by a beam that had transported them into a different dimension realm. There they both have to navigate and explore the realm in order to escape but on their adventures they realise something is a bit off with familiar faces acting way different than what they remember.

Here are the cast of characters of this hypothetical story that I made at the time.

And our main villain which the main characters of this story had met without knowing (Kagami's instinct was right from the bag)

Either I haven't named her or I forgot but basically she is an akumatized villain who had transported Parisian entering her fantasy world where they re-enacted her storylines that she had written in her book. So everyone who was caught was being assigned and renamed to fit her character.

But of course you might be asking, why is Luka and Kagami the exemption from others? And that is a supposed twist where our villain's storyline had confused between Lukagami and Ladynoir due to her being rookie in writing which accidentally made Luka and Kagami the main protagonist of the story.

Here's some bonus pictures I made in Gacha Life.

I still want to retain that Ladynoir is still in their hero form just warped by the role given so it's a no brainer I made them knights. Obviously I can't miss out in making Lila a kitsune which is a perfect role for her character.

For Nino and Alya, I made them mages just for the fun of it and lmao you can see the obvious reference with how I designed Alya.

I used to be so deep into the fandom that of course I have underrated characters that I like. I assigned them in a more eastern fantasy which fit with Theo being a painter and I can't help make a Studio Ghibli reference with Mireille.

Couldn't resist making Butler Armand (why in the hell do the writers like to do similar names as I went to double check if his name remains Jean as I stop watching half S4 and S5 all together. We got two Andre, two Vincent, two last name unrelated Wang and now two Armand?!) a bear in reference to Despair Bear and Chloe supposedly be Goldilocks but she is adamant that she wants to be a fairy like Thumbelina (well the original story she wasn't but I was thinking more of the Barbie version lol)

[morrigan-sims]

get to know me tag game

I got tagged ages ago by @indigoelfinspirit and promptly forgot to ever do the tag game... Sorry!! (You are right, btw. I do enjoy doing these things. Any excuse to talk about my interests, I guess!)

Favorite Color: Black, Royal Blue, and Crimson Red

Currently Reading: Nothing at the moment, but the last book I read for fun was Strictly No Heroics by B.L. Radley. Before that it was The Wager by David Grann while stuck in the DFW airport. (Morri reading nonfiction? Wild, I know. But 1700s sailing is my weakness, I guess.) Next week for my mythology class I have to read Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie. ("How is that related to mythology?" you ask? Go read Antigone.)

Last Song: Either Troubled Waters by Alex Warren or ship in a bottle by fin.

Last Movie: I have no idea, tbh. I don't watch movies very often.

Last Series: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood with the dnd group last night. They got tired of me not getting their references after 2 years of playing together. We've only been watching for two nights, and we're already 24 episodes in. I'm also very slowly rewatching Black Sails (my favorite show of all time) to keep pace with my dad on his first watch. But my mom is about to pass us...

Sweet, Savory, or Spicy: Sweet or Salty, depends on the moment.

Currently Craving: I don't really know. Mainly the motivation to do some writing or make a render. But I'll settle for playing a video game instead.

Tea or Coffee: Neither. I don't like hot beverages of any kind, and I hate the taste of both of those.

Currently Working On: Well, the goal for today is to keep working on the Black Sails outfits, maybe even take screenshots and start compiling some links. And the other goal for today is to either A) start playing Shadowrun Returns, or B) keep playing Elsinore.

I'm also grappling with the urge to buy a steam deck.

I'm not going to tag anyone, but feel free to do this and say I tagged you if you want!

[red-eldritch-warlock]

✦ Basic Oc info:

Name: Eberwolf Saskia

Class: The Warlock, Support class mercenary

Nicknames: Sorcerer, Mage, Wolf

Age: 25(?) [To be determined, rumoured to be immortal]

Height: 6’4

Birthplace: Graz, Austria

Gender/pronouns: Trans male, He/Him

Personality: socially awkward, solitary, reserved, neurotic, work oriented, cynical, easily flustered

Hobbies: palmistry, reading, collecting records, bookkeeping

Loadout: spellbook, sacrificial dagger, flintlock pistol

The lore(W.I.P)

Other stuff(W.I.P)

✦ Tags:

#Eldritch Invocations - Warlock post

#A gift from my patron- Warlock reblogs

#Whispers from the void - Answering asks

#Warlock antics - Rp starters

#Eldritch blast - Rp tag

#Eberwolf lore - lore tag

#Stag posting - mod posts

#Stag found this - mod reblogs

#Stag answers - mod asks

#Stags silly scribbles - Mod art / writings

Any sensitive topics will be tagged accordingly

!!Ooc and character description below the cut!!

✦ Blog info:

Warlock is an oc for team fortress two :)

I took inspiration from both dungeons and dragons warlocks and magic users, and @the-jack-class (specifically serpie and a bit of jasper) for this oc, and they deserve the credit(serpentine my belerpentine teehee)

I would like to keep this blog to be strictly 16+ with little NSFW. I have pretty bad anxiety, and receiving incredibly suggestive asks will most likely make that spike, and I don’t want to stress over my blog, this is for fun! Feel free to flirt and whatnot with Warlock, but anything i deem too far will get deleted or blocked based on severity.

i would prefer if minors did not interact, this blog may have sensitive topics discussed. or at the very least they do not interact with posts discussing said topics.

Mod is a self shipper, and is open to multishipping!

Mod uses he/him pronouns, and you can refer to me as Stag!!

Mod follows from @transfrogwithcoolsocks

Mod has insane social anxiety so i apologise if i come off as awkward or rude (i’m just a little guy)

Mod has the worst memory known to mankind, so if i send multiple asks it is because i forgot that i already sent one(i am sorrgy)

Any photos i use in posts will be found on Pinterest.

My other RP blogs are: @canineriot-fenrir @meet-the-trapper-tf2 @redhead-string-shredder @crutches-n-stitches @ultimate-exorcist-chyrche @darling-idol-hoshiko @dutch-bunny-rabbit @stupid-fishbait-moray @aussie-menace-dingo @kerosene-n-gasoline @lt-morse @hurricane-tsunemasu

✦ Rp info:

Rp will look like this:

[Actions and such go here]

“Talking will be like this”

✦ Physical description of Warlock:

Warlock is 6’4 with a lithe and lean physique, with toned arms and shoulders, slim waist and thighs and a generally lanky frame.

His hair is jet black and very curly, and is cut to shoulder length, usually tied back when fighting.

Warlock has fairly androgynous features, a sharp jaw, tired eyes, roman nose, sickly and pasty skin and bright violet eyes. He has some slightly unkempt stubble on his chin, and deep set eye bags. He also wears half moon glasses, and on occasion red tinted round shades.

His usual attire is a dark red velvet button up shirt with bell sleeves, a black leather corset, black flared jeans with a book holster on one thigh, heeled ankle boots and white satin gloves. He also wears a pocket watch necklace that has an octopus engraved onto it.

Mod is not the best with remembering to respond so I apologise if I forget about a thread or do not respond to an ask very quickly.

✦ Interact list:

Please do interact:

Tf2 Rp blogs

Rp blogs in general

Anons

Tf2 ocs

Other ocs(from any fandom!)

Nice people

Do not interact:

Basic DNI

Pedophiles

Transphobes/homophobes

Racists

Creeps

Hai friends :3 (sorry for the tags, i love y’all!!!)

@eagle-head-charge @wastelandtherapist @conductor-on-grn @sly-daffodils @red-demo-tf2 @rengineer @thenumberonerascal @averagebioweaponslover @meet-the-civilians @meet-the-net @tf2-nurse-is-dreaming

[violetsareblue-selfships]

Training

Ship: Ayaka x April | Word Count: 682 | Warnings/Tags: fluffy, self-indulgent ^.<

A/N: ehe i nearly forgot i was gonna post this today oopsies but here we are! a little fluffy ficlet for her birthday~ I hope you all enjoy it!!

Ayaka grips her book tighter and resolutely directs her face down towards the pages. She starts to read, but several paragraphs later, she realizes she's not retaining any of the story.

She lets out a little huff and raises her head again, her eyes falling on the source of her distraction. How is she meant to focus on her reading when April's in the same room looking so freaking attractive?

It's her own fault. She can admit that much at least. It was her idea to read while April worked on her training. She just didn't expect it to be this hard to focus with the other girl exercising like this.

If this had been Thoma or her brother or really anyone else, she's sure that she would have no trouble reading her book. She's done that before, actually. It's one of the only times she can spend time with her brother with how busy he is. Though, to be honest, she's also usually working on her sword technique at the same time he is so there's not a chance for her to read like this.

The next move of April's involves her flipping her polearm over the back of her hand and catching it again, the sight of which sends a little jolt to Ayaka's heart. How? How does someone look that good doing something so simple??

And the sounds!! Ayaka hates to admit it but that's the main reason she can't focus. Not with April letting out small grunts and noises of exertion like this.

Necessary noises for this type of exercise, Ayaka's fully aware, but they're causing her face to heat up nonetheless. They remind her too much of… other fantasies of hers.

April sighs softly and de-summons her weapon before beginning to stretch. Ayaka barely holds back a squeak at the idea she might be caught and stares down at her book again. Still, she can't keep herself from sneaking little glances as April stretches.

She thinks she actually does squeak this time when April uses her vision to douse her hair in water, letting out a contented sigh as the water cools her off. April glances over at the sound, a small smirk quirking her lips.

"See something you like, princess?" She teases, giggling as Ayaka starts to stammer and looks down at her book again.

April shakes her head and goes over to the pitcher of ice water that was prepared earlier, pouring herself a glass and downing it. Then she goes over to sit by Ayaka's side.

Ayaka is still looking away, so she jolts a little in surprise when April's fingers gently nudge her chin up. Her face flushes anew at April's eyes so close to hers and April smiles warmly at her.

"Why are you so embarrassed, love? I knew when I invited you here that you'd end up watching… There's nothing wrong with it." April says softly.

"I know. I just didn't expect it to be so…" Ayaka trails off, several words coming to mind but none of them being good enough.

April laughs softly, seeming to know what she means. "It's different, huh?" Ayaka nods the best she can with April's fingers still holding her face up. "Of course, it is. Watching your partner exercise is different than watching anyone else."

"Wait… Is that why… before, when you watched me and Ayato spar…?" Ayaka trails off, both of them knowing what situation she's referring to. April's cheeks slowly turn pink and she laughs a bit sheepishly.

"Yes. That's why I got so flustered back then." April admits and Ayaka hums softly. "I couldn't help it. You look so pretty wielding a sword, my dear."

Ayaka blushes again but she giggles at the compliment. April smiles and leans closer to kiss her softly. "Now, come on. I seem to recall you wanting to have a picnic today?"

"Oh, right!" Ayaka perks up. April giggles and stands up, reaching for Ayaka's hand and helping her to her feet. The two smile and walk back into the estate, looking forward to their upcoming date.

[lazywitchling]

Oh, I definitely forgot to give final thoughts when I finished reading Queering Your Craft. Anyway...

6/10 - Better at Queer than it is at Craft, but you should read it.

So, there are some red flags in here. The main part that I screamed at was the paragraph about "Eostre" and how 'you're totally right, those mean ol' Christians did steal our Super Ancient Pagan Holiday with rabbits and eggs and just changed the name a little' which is... untrue. (Go check BreeLandwalker's tag on Easter if you want someone smarter than me to tell you.) So... yeah that wasn't great. But thankfully that was the largest problem I had with the book in terms of like, facts (That I can remember, at least).

Cassandra (whose pronouns I believe are they/them? That's how they're referred to in the About the Author at the end, so I don't know if they use any additional ones) does a LOT of work with the elements. They're VERY focused on that, and on checking your astrological charts to figure out what element you're most aligned with. None of that is relevant to my practice, but I'm not here to just read about practices that are Exactly Like Mine, so it's not a BAD thing, it's just a thing to note.

The spells are alright. The paradigm is fine. The witchcraft is nothing to write home about.

HOWEVER.

I highly appreciate the book as a whole for Cassandra's perspective on witchcraft. It's not a perspective I see terribly often in printed books, and more often find in the blogs that I follow. But it was really nice to read through a book breaking down a disabled, genderfluid, queer person's relationship with witchcraft, and it challenged me to pop the hood and get into the gears of my own craft.

Ultimately, I think I would have liked the book more if it were written as more of a memoir than a How-To, but I still think reading it was a net-gain.

[unnecessary-feelings]

Tell me abt the oc u lovingly refer to as "weird arson motherfucker" pls

HI sorry i forgot to answer this, thank you for asking abt her!!! i’m still in the process of fleshing everything out so things might change but she’s my ace attorney OC! i’m putting everything under a read more because this post ended up being longer than i meant it to be and i don’t want this to be a pain to scroll through for anyone on mobile who doesn’t wanna read me rambling about blorbo from my brain, i’m sorry if this is hard to read i have trouble putting my thoughts into words for other people to read hdjdbfbdn, also spoilers for cases 4-1, 6-1, 6-3, and 6-5

i made her because i started wondering what would happen if dhurke and amara had a daughter older than rayfa that was in line to become queen before the khura’in royal residence fire and then i accidentally got carried away with her story lmao

her name is kaba’anyi padma khura’in (i was thankfully able to figure out a name for her after i created her tag, it means something along the lines of “daughter of the sun” because sun motif go brrr. ALSO i got to that name because nyi means sun in tibetan and khura’in is in the himalayas so i figured that link made sense. i’m very proud of her name because i struggle with naming characters so being able to make up a name for a character from a country that doesn’t exist is very big for me), or anyi for short, and she uses she/her pronouns. she was born in 1998 (for the sake of timeline consistency in this version of AA dhurke and amara are around 5 years older than they are in canon because after i had already chosen a birth year for her i realized that dhurke and amara would have been too young at that point in time shdnrhdh) and i played around with the idea of her committing a couple of crimes as a member of the defiant dragons, set a couple of government buildings on fire to get back at whoever tried to kill her and amara (she didn’t know it was ga’ran at the time but since they would have had to have access to the royal palace she knew they would have to have been high ranking and probably still were in that position) which is how i got her tag name but now i’m not sure if i wanna keep that part in or not lmao, now that i have a probably-concrete name for her i might move everything in her tag over to a new one, probably should do that sooner rather than later before the tag has too many posts

anyways, no matter if it was arson-related or simply because y’know, she was the daughter of the man who the country believed had murdered the previous queen, she was arrested, but she broke out and managed to fake her death to avoid being looked for (that part may be subject to change if i can’t figure out how exactly that happened, while i have a good grasp on the rest of her story there’s a gap between the royal palace fire and her moving to the US that is just kind of a loose collection of things i thought would be interesting for now hjsjdjsjfh)

so after that, she moved to the US when she was probably around 21 (still working on a concrete timeline but that’s somewhere around the right age) because of the rebellion. she changed her name to guinevere amos (i chose guinevere because the rest of the WAA except for trucy has mythology themed names so i figured arthurian legend would fit into that even though i’ve gotten all of my knowledge of arthurian legend from the mechanisms lmao, and i just chose amos because it was the first name of the main character of the book i was reading at the time and i’m pretty sure amos is also a last name so i went with it) and ended up joining gavin & co law offices which turned into a very awkward sibling reunion with apollo, i think she would have acted as a second co counsel alongside gavin (pretty sure that happened once in dd so i’m choosing to believe that double co counsels are a normal thing in the aa legal system) during 4-1 and helped apollo and phoenix get kristoph arrested, then she joins the WAA alongside apollo (although i think she would have joined a little bit earlier than apollo as she was quicker to accept phoenix’s invite at the end of 4-1) and then she helps the WAA with the rest of AA4 as well as AA5

as for AA6, anyi decides to go with phoenix to khura’in because it’s been nearly a decade since she was last in contact with her family and the rest of the rebels and she felt it was time to go back even if only for a couple of weeks, since she was now going under a different name she decided that it was safe to go back if she could keep her head low and avoid getting into trouble, obviously that didn’t happen, which marked the beginning of Guinevere Amos AKA Kaba’anyi Padma Khura’in’s No Good Very Bad Vacation, canon shenanigans ensue, you get the idea, when i get around to replaying the AJ trilogy (i’m intending on replaying it when it comes out on the switch but i might end up doing it before then as well) i’m thinking abt doing a liveblog thing (is it still liveblogging if you’ve already played the game in question?) where i also explain how anyi would interact with the events of the games if that makes any sense

after the events of 6-5. she stays behind in khura’in with apollo, and works with him at justice & co law offices, my original thoughts were that she takes back the role of royal priestess alongside being a lawyer and then quits when she becomes queen instead of rayfa but it could also be that she stays a lawyer and rayfa becomes queen like in canon, either way i’d imagine it could be a source of conflict between the two, although i think they would be able to work it out, unlike amara and ga’ran

one last thing, i’m currently working on some art for her and i am so excited to post it here because she is literally GORGEOUS i’m so proud of her design <33

i think that’s everything! i hope this made sense lmao

also is it normal to be nervous talking about your ocs to other people? it feels so weird trying to explain the things that come out of my brain like this

[grudge-core]

Mrs. Governer

tag: Governer's wife, blacksmith, historical period, cheating, fluff, MUGGLE AU

tropes: kinda of star-crossed lovers,

pairing: remus lupin x reader

A/N'S NOTE: Kay this one is inspired by one of Professor Cal's audio but only in fluff. This thing is gonna be long af

Summary: your boyfriend calls you over to the library excitedly to show some historical artifacts he found and you zone out for a bit....

_____________________________________________________________

you reached the library your boyfriend Remus told you to, with a coffee in your hand and ur tote bag consisting of all your necessities. you entered the library and looked around to find Remus but couldn't find him so you decided to roam around the library. After walking for a bit you found Remus reading a book "Hey, remmy" you walked towards him with a wide smile on your face "Oh, hi there darling you made it" he closed the book and wrapped his arms around your waist while kissing your forehead "c'mon let me show you something its right over here"

You sat down "So what do you want to tell me that you couldn't tell on the phone" You took a sip of your coffee "Okay so some time ago like my second here in the college, I was on a hike, right? then I came across this abandoned building, right here in Chelmsford, and I explored a bit, but I didn't really think too much of it and so time went on and I forgot about the place, whatever...right?" he said while sitting opposite to you, as you nodded while listening carefully "well this past few weeks I decided to go back...and this time I found an entire basement floor that I didn't find the first time. So I go looking inside and there you know naturally overturned furniture here and there, probably a school used for storage or whatever" he paused to take a sip from his coffee "So just as I'm about to walk out I spot a big flat piece of wood leaning against the wall and behind it, I see a kinda edge of a door and so I'm thinking why will somebody cover something up like that. So naturally I walked over and took the wood off and underneath it's like this big metal industrial-looking kind of door like the kind you see in the factory and it got like big metal bolt thingy and it got chains crisscrossing and it was weird, okay it made me kind of nervous so I left" he laughs a bit and you let out a chuckle "and then I go down to administration and I ask around about it and they pretty much have no idea what I'm talking about but someone does refer me to a very vintage looking library and so you know I go to the library..." he kept talking and you just stared at him listening to everything he was telling you about with a soft smile on your face he then pauses "what? quit staring me like that" he blushed "But you're so adorable when you talk about things while being excited" you pinched his cheeks "Continue" you said while taking a sip of your coffee "so I started looking into the university's history" he takes out a piece of paper from his bad and straightens out "and university according to this was founded in 1895...but..." he takes out another piece of paper "according to this the building itself, the abandon ones were constructed in 1734" your eyes widen a bit "wow that's even older than the university" you said "yeah but that's not what it caught my attention it's the fact that they popped right up after 3 years the city was founded" you hum and took another sip of your coffee "so I did some more research in the city itself and found records of an old diary written by an unknown author, entries dated in the 1720s to 1730s" he takes out an old diary "now according to the diary this person was a part of ship of settlers who landed on the beaches here in 1730" he said and while you said in a suprising voice clearly intrested "here?" "yeah the same beaches i took you but anyway, apperntly they only wanted to stop here as a rest stop? before making their way to the other coast..." he flips the pages of the diary and shows you "It says in here though the forest that forest right outside the window..." You look outside the window to see the visible forest "was fake and was rich enough to supply the town with enough resources so naturally this rest stop area becomes one of the new worlds largest boom towns to build the towns Navy but anyway... a couple entries dated years later the town had nearly exhausted the forest so naturally again many people started to worry about the sustainability of the town" he flipped the pages again "according to the diary and few other historical documents people started to leave for the other colonies or they went back home to the old world, but the people that stayed though including our unknown author here began to get desperate, for a large part of 1732 and a little bit of 1733 the towns hit some kind of limbo and they sell less slumber and gather more dept....so people arents happy and things come to ahead on june 19th 1732 and the town council holds some kind of general meeting on what to do next..."

I'LL POST THE REST IN THE NEXT CHAPTER CAUSE THIS THING HAS A WORD LIMIT

P.S: [18/3/2024] I'm discontinuing this