#bailey handler

[fairyplam]

Did I literally adopt the characters from horse land and made them my own-?

Indeed.

Anyway I ship Chloe and Bailey- I’ll design Bailey soon 🙆🏼‍♀️

[spookymultimedia]

Fuck it Horseland fanart

[karamina]

Horseland Age Headcanons

Time for me to show up out of the weeds with my completely unsolicited headcannons and theories for obscure television series that I should be way too old for again lol. Today's victim:

Horseland

There seems to be a general consensus on the ages of the various human characters in Horseland. That fanon conclusion being that the main characters are all around 15 yrs old, with the exception of Will, who is slightly older at 16-17 years old. I disagree with this assessment.

First let's look at some direct quotes from some of the episodes.

Episodic Evidence

1) Episode: "You Can't Judge A Girl By Her Limo" (S1E1)

"You calmed Button down better than I could and I've been riding her for five years!" - Alma Rodriguez

This quote provides some clues about Alma's age, or at least the minimum age that Alma can be. Most riding instructors will take students at the age of 9, with some taking as young as 6 years of age. Being's that Alma's dad is the manager at Horseland, I think that Alma would have began riding at a very young age. By that logic, Alma is somewhere between 11-14 years old, unless she rode a different horse before Button.

https://horsesafetytips.com/2020/06/04/whats-the-best-age-to-start-horseback-riding-lessons/

2) Episode: "Fire, Fire, Burning Bright" (S1E5)

This episode has some interesting quotes that may give clues to the main character's ages, or at least the Stilton girls ages and Will's age.

"Let me get this straight, you got all the way to middle school without learning to swim?" - Molly Washington

Wouldn't it be odd that Molly specifically mentions Chloe and Zoey making it to middle school (11-14 yrs old, in Canada from Wikipedia) without having learned how to swim if they were high school aged (14-18 yrs old)? If they were in high school, she probably would've said that instead. Beings that the series likes to remind us that Chloe is older than Zoey, that would mean that Chloe is about 12-14, and Zoey is around 11-13 years old. Either that or they are twins, but that doesn't seem to be the case (I myself have a sister that is 1 and 1/2 yrs older than me, and I also had a close relationship to her growing up). The only evidence I have seen that points to them being twins as opposed to being siblings close in age is the names rhyming with each other (Although my mom's friend's four grandchildren all have names ending with the -en sound and I went to school with twins that had non-ryhming names so that isn't a very strong argument imo)

"But I was in charge of the trip. I am responsible for everyone." - Will Taggert

This one's a bit less obvious, but as a volunteer that has worked with minors on weekend retreats before, I know that organizations and schools typically require (often by law) at least one faculty chaperone to be 18+ yrs old and to have clearances stating that they have never abused a child or commited a crime (usually, they also want more than one adult chaperone per group as well, but we'll let this slide based on the fact that there are only 5 minors going on this trip). From this line and his role in this episode's plot, we can deduce that Will is the staff member from Horseland facilitating this overnight event, and thus is at least 18-19 years old. This makes sense. Will has a rather unique role in the series compared to the other characters. He is a sort of groundsman and riding instructor at Horseland, rather than a student. His aunt and uncle (Bailey's parents) are also his employers. Reasonably, if I had to pinpoint a narrow age range for Will, I would say that he is 18-21 years old, although I wouldn't discredit him even being as old as his mid twenties (at least in season 3), almost solely based on his demeanor and almost laid-back relationships with the other main characters. His behavior in this episode even supports this. I went through a similar predicament, albeit on a smaller scale, while acting as a hiking guide at the age of 20 on one such aforementioned retreat. I blamed myself for potentially endangering these students, even though they were told to follow my lead and instead went off trail at one of the more dangerous parts of the trail. Likewise, Will blamed himself for the forest fire, even though it was really Chloe and Zoey's actions that caused the fire, for the sole reason that he was the adult responsible for the trip and all the students he took on it and thus is immediately liable for anything bad that happens (Well more like Horseland would be liable, and Will would be at risk of losing his job and/or facing fines or criminal charges). From this episode and how Will progresses throughout the series, I'd say Will is in his early stages of leadership and that is why I chose an age range closer to the ages of majority in Canada (which depends on which province Horseland supposedly exists in). I know some of y'all may be thinking about this, so I'll address it while I'm still on Will. In several of the episodes featuring competitions, while we never actually see him compete, Will is on Jimber and wearing typical dressage wear as opposed to his jeans and t-shirt (See "Changing Spots"). Some may say that this proves that he is actually a student as well. It may be possible that he is a student as well, and simply tutors more ameteur riders in his free time, but this says nothing about his age, only that he would be more advanced than the other main characters. He also could be dressed like that just for show for the competition. Additionally, while I know very little about equestrian competitions, while I was in HS winter colorguard, my instructor (a college student) usually would compete with a different club in a different age category at the same competition. It may not be disimilar.

3) Episode: "Pepper's Pain" (S1E7) "Zoey, you guys have been together for years. Your dressage proves how well you've grown as a team." - Chloe Stilton

The information provided in this line from Chloe is ambiguous. However, the emphasis she puts on years implies that Zoey has been riding Pepper for like a really long time, although she may just be emphasizing this word as she's trying to make a point to Zoey. Regardless, it is safe to say that Zoey has been riding Pepper for at least 5 years. That would put her in the same minimum age range as Alma, 11 to 14 years old.

4) Episode: "The Competition" (S1E9)

"Oh my gosh, what a huge let-down. First off, his girlfriend was there, and they were both old! He was at least thirty." - Chloe Stilton

This ones a bit of a reach, but what teenager thinks that 30 is old? I certainly didn't (then again, I did grow up surrounded by family members that are elderly, so take my words with a grain of salt). Regardless, this statement solidifies the argument that Chloe is probably middle school aged, rather than high school aged. As we progress from childhood to adolescence into adulthood, the perception of "oldness" changes. Have you ever seen the vine where this little girl (likely kindergarten aged) famously says "I'm 16! I'm a grandmother!". If you were a middle schooler, you probably would consider 30 to be old. There are many articles that document this phenomenon:

5) Episode: "Heritage Day" (S03E10)

"Zoey, they eat mosquitoes, not teenage girls." - Nani Cloud

This line takes place after the girls are frightened by a group of bats sharing the cave they took shelter in from a storm. This line clearly states that at this point of the series, most if not all of the main girls are teenagers (ages 13-19). We can conclude one of two things, depending on how one percieves this show's timeline, since the line is said towards the end of the show's final season. A) The girls have always been teenagers or B) There is a time skip between season's 2 and 3. For me, B is plausible if we try to explain Bailey and Will's voice changes cannonically. But B is also not plausible considering Will is already an adult and would have already undergone a voice change. Thus I will say that the ages of the girls are constant through the series at the lower range of the teens, perhaps even preteens.

Plots and Storylines

Next, let's look at the plots of the episodes. A lot of the episodic plots support most of the main cast being preteens or in their very early teens. Molly getting her first cellphone, Alma getting her first crush, Chloe lying about being able to do an advanced jump to impress her peers, Sarah getting her first taste of death through the loss of a beloved pet, etc. Not to mention, many of the episodes are driven by some drama being stirred up (middle schoolers are notorious for being awful to each other). These are all typical problems that preteens face during this stage of their life. You may be inclined to think that all of the MCs are in middle school from this, but there is some evidence for some of the characters being slightly older than others. In the episode "The Best Loss", Molly is out with her friends at a pizza parlor with no parents in sight and has been able to take the public bus to and from Horseland on her own for the entire duration of the series. In the episode "Talk, Talk", she's even talking to her friend Amber about what she should wear to a party. This leads me to believe that Molly is slightly older than the other girls. Bailey also falls under this category. In the season 1 episode "Boss Bailey", Bailey is left in charge of Horseland for a day when his parents and Will have to go facilitate a parade. Even with Bailey being the owner's son, I think that they would not want to leave a middle schooler in charge of an entire riding school. Bailey is also used as an example during a lot of Will's lessons to the other MCs, demonstrating jumps, meaning he's probably more advanced than the other riders. He also does a lot of the groundwork and maintenance with Will (such as in "Pepper's Pain", "Fire, Fire Burning Bright", and "Wild Horses"). For these reasons, I think Bailey is a bit older than the girls.

Conclusion

I could go on and on, analyzing each character's behaviors one by one, but I'd essentially just be rewriting the show's script interspersed with my own interpretation. That is most of what this conclusion is, my interpretation of the characters based on my own life experiences and the collective characterizations the show provides across its three seasons. So with that being said, here are my guesses as to the ages of the characters.

Sarah Whitney -        13 Molly Washington -  14 Alma Rodriguez -     13 Chloe Stilton -           14 Zoey Stilton -            13 Bailey Handler -        15 Nani Cloud -              13 Will Taggert -            20

I chose most of the main characters to be so close in age to each other as they are all in the same "practices" at Horseland, as well as how they interact with each other.

So, what do y'all think? Do you agree with the ages I chose for each character? Why or why not?

*Side note - I know there are a fair deal of Sarah x Will shippers out there. I know that most of them do not support minors being in relationships with adults. Remember, there are no official ages for these fictional characters and this post is just my personal interpretations. While I myself do not ship these two characters, my intent is not to say that this fan population is wrong for supporting this ship. My purpose for writing and posting this is to share my thoughts on the Horseland characters ages based on my own observations and life experiences. 

[captainfireflyy]

Anybody who watched/watches the show Horseland go checkout Bailey’s fandom wiki page

it was not like that the last time I was there

[winterfieldfrontiers]

Crying like..

Mom and Dad loves to their daughter

[art-of-reinav]

Finally made myself into a horseland rider! 🌺 Their accent colour is black. 🌺 Wears fake piercings. But takes them off while riding for safety. 🌺 Works at a stable and is more focused on finding the right home for horses than riding. 🌺 Doesn't own a horse as of right now. 🌺 Owns Glacius Sisters Stables with the rest of her sisters. 🌺 They're great at dyeing and picking out colours that suit horses. 🌺 Horse care and stable-cleaning are part of their job. 🌺 The 4 horses you see are current and past horses raised with utmost care at Glacius Sisters Stables. If you would like to purchase any of the 3 horses that are listed as available, you can buy them here.

Here is my commission sheet for horses if you'd like a custom horseland horse from me!

Portfolio • Twitter  • Kofi •  Pillowfort  • Bluesky • Cara

•  Please do not repost my art

Commission me!

[jbaileyfansite]

Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer getting a shout out at the Critics Choice Awards by Chelsea Handler (January 14, 2024) [x] [x]

[jjmaybankssurfergf]

Surprise Bitches

#1 Rudy defenders me and @kraekat29

sorry, but jiara shippers go bye bye! Unless you ain’t toxic we won’t have a problem

lgbtq friendly

anyone is welcome

just started writing, I wouldn’t expect a lot of fica from me so far

I surf, travel, and study marine biology. I also study film a photography along with animations. Tattoo artist in training!

Anons that are that wanna be coward bitches, bite me!

not a big fan of Madison Bailey and Mariah, Elaine eh I dunno…..my thoughts are still being formed about her

I love old Disney animation and movies, my fav is tangled, princess and the frog, sword in the stone, then a short film called ‘Get a Horse!’

I love sharks, mainly lemons and tigers, whales are adorable, sea turtles rock, jellyfish are aliens of the sea, seahorses are unique

Rudy is my hubby

My big Three no judgement

Rudy Pankow, Benjamin Wadsworth, Thomas Doherty

lets just say i have a lot of friends

JJ is my handler keeps me in check heheh 😏

🏄🏼‍♂️🌤JJ Maybank🌤🏄🏼‍♂️ Masterlist

🫐🌻Rudy Pankow🌻🫐 Masterlist

My OC character~Augustine Maybank Madden

moodboards

Taglist

come say hi to papa j🤫

come talk to Country Club💵

taken by jj @hotestdudeintheobx and @surferboyjj cause they both just treat me so well!!!!

Dividers are not mine! Credit goes to creators!

[murdrdocs]

REQUEST RULES!

current status: CLOSED

note from the author DO NOT send me a request that you have already sent another writer and vice versa. if found out, you will be blocked. please keep any venting in my inbox positive. i only accept requests for blurbs or drabbles (>2k words)

★ YUP!

: ̗̀➛ cnc, somnophilia, piss (holding and letting go), blood play, knife play, exhibitionism, size kink, snowballing, impact play, pregnancy, breeding, praise, degradation, voyeurism

: ̗̀➛ cheating/infidelity, stepcest, drunk sex, threesomes, cuckolding, predator/prey, period sex, sex pollen

: ̗̀➛ fluff, angst

★ MAYBE ... !

: ̗̀➛ mommy kink, daddy kink, brat taming, feet/foot fetish, corruption

: ̗̀➛ pseudocest (iffy on adoptation), gunplay

: ̗̀➛ pegging, high sex (weed)

★ NAH !

: ̗̀➛ ddlg/age play, extreme degradation, race play, pet play, noncon, pissing in mouths, food play, feeding/feederism, teacher x student, period comfort ("___ taking care of you on your period")

: ̗̀➛ incest, being caught, kidnapping, sex w family near

: ̗̀➛ real people, male reader, major character/reader death, mental illnesses, ass eating, scat, sexual assault

characters ! 

* indicates sfw only ★ indicates current favorites

: ̗̀➛ stranger things : steve harrington, robin buckley, eddie munson, dmitri antonov

: ̗̀➛ outer banks : jj maybank, rafe cameron, sarah cameron 

: ̗̀➛  the hunger games : peeta mellark, katniss everdeen, finnick odair, johanna mason, young coriolanus snow

: ̗̀➛ scream : ethan landry, stu macher, chad meeks-martin, quinn bailey, charlie walker, anika kayoko, wes hicks

: ̗̀➛ avatar : neteyam sully*, jake sully, neytiri sully

: ̗̀➛ mcu : peter parker, loki laufeyson, matt murdock, adam warlock, peter b parker, miguel o'hara, hobie brown, peter quill

: ̗̀➛ teen wolf : stiles stilinski, theo raeken

: ̗̀➛ five nights at freddy's (2023) : vanessa shelley, mike schmidt

: ̗̀➛  pjo (2023) : luke castellan, ares, sally jackson, poseidon

: ̗̀➛  dune (2021-present) : leto atreides I, duncan idaho, feyd-rautha harkonnen, lady jessica, princess irulan corrino

: ̗̀➛ challengers (2024): art donaldson, tashi donaldson, patrick zweig

★ : ̗̀➛ the bear (2022-present) : carmen berzatto, sydney adamu, richie jerimovich, luca

: ̗̀➛  misc : dave lizewski (kickass), barbara handler (barbie)*, rodrick heffley (doawk), felix catton (saltburn), oliver quick (saltburn),

unsure about your favorite character? ask me about it!  

[ashintheairlikesnow]

This Reality

For @amonthofwhump's day 3 and day 4:

3: George Bailey “We’ve lost everything we have.” | Disowned Drowning | Comfort: Christmas Market

4: The Grinch Sedatives | Blackmail | Yandere Whumper | Comfort: Ugly Sweater Party

Follows on this piece exploring the AU of Chris never being rescued/running away and instead being abandoned years later on the street

CW: Drug use, drugged whumpee, references to noncon/dubcon scattered throughout

-

“Hey.”

A foot nudges against his side, but Baldur barely notices the pressure pushing into one rib. He’s drowning and it feels wonderful. The push of the pill through his veins keeps him languid and loose-limbed, lying on the ground with his eyes open, staring up into the watercolor sunset. He can feel the earth turning on its axis, spinning wildly in the empty universe. The pinks and reds in the clouds above him shift and change with the movement. 

Everything was so loud today. There are people everywhere, crowding together for the Christmas parade. He’d taken his usual route around looking for someone who might give him a bed to sleep in if he handed over the body everyone used anyway, but instead of the usual handful he knew, there had been police officers watching with their handler-like eyes, groups of families fighting and laughing and shouting.

The Christmas market and parade. He’d forgotten about it.

His Sir had always given a speech at the parade, ridden in a float. Baldur had watched him on television each year, lying in silence on the floor, wondering if he missed his Sir or was glad for the time alone. Desperately grateful for any time at all where he wasn’t afraid.

But then he’d forgotten it would still happen, even after his Sir didn’t want him anymore. 

Today had been terrifying. People everywhere and he’d had to push through them as he moved, the constant weight of their voices pressing his brain into a smaller and smaller space, bouncing around the inside of his skull. 

He’d caught himself shifting his hands, trying to flap, had to stop himself - stillness is better than what I do - repeating his handler’s mantra for him in his mind over and over and over again. But if he couldn’t move, he couldn’t get the sounds out from under his skin. Everything had been crawling over him, laying against him, buzzing like bees in his ears and behind his teeth.

Then he’d run into Vamp, a runaway like him who works a corner at night and a convenience store counter during daylight. She’d seen the look on his face when he ducked inside to hold off the worst of the noise and told him to wait while she got something out of her purse. She’d even bought him a bottle of water to wash it down with.

About an hour after that, and in the hours since, everything has been soft around the edges, the noise bouncing off of him. There’s a wall between him and the rest of the world. He doesn’t even know when he got to the park, only that at some point he stopped standing upright and instead was like this. Nothing ached in his legs and arms any longer, his mind no longer buzzed with the weight of the noise.

It feels just like the mornings at home with Sir, or when he’d gone off to work for the day and left Baldur behind, dozing drugged in his bed waiting for him to come back.

He used to cry all the time, when Sir was gone, wishing he could think again. Palming the pills when he dared. Now he just wishes he could at least go back to the quiet room and the comfortable bed, to one man demanding access to him in exchange for his life, instead of many. But the pill helps.

A little.

The foot nudges him again.

“Hey, are you-... are you dead?”

Baldur manages a blink. He has to consciously tell his head to move on the stem of his neck to look to the left now and see the man leaning over him, staring down. 

Vaguely familiar, with wild black curls ringing a perfectly lovely face, big warm blue eyes, dark brows a little knit together with concern. The guy who bought him breakfast a couple of weeks ago, he thinks, after they’d been the stars of the show in that house the night before. That had been fun, Baldur thinks. Maybe. Or had it not been? Skin on skin never feels good, but he’s supposed to act like it does. Sometimes he blanks out and he thinks his body has fun, then… His lips move with his thoughts, unable to separate enough not to. 

The man squints. “Okay, so not dead, definitely moving and breathing, but… are you, like, OD-ing, or… what is this whole thing happening here? What am I looking at?”

“... colors,” Baldur whispers, and looks back up into the sky above him. Grass tickles the back of his neck and the palms of his hands. “Night, soon. Then we’ll see stars, stars dead… a billion years ago. Far enough… far enough away… we still see the lights. Like me. Dead but you still see me… dead, but the image… like ghosts. Like… us.”

The man’s frown deepens, but he drops into a crouch, laying a hand on Baldur’s forehead, pressing a palm to his cheeks one after the other. He closes his eyes at the touch and pushes up into it like a cat. His Sir never cared enough to check him for fevers like that. He has fuzzy memories of a woman, dark hair, smiling eyes, who would do that. Oh, sweet boy. You’re on fire, huh? The image dissolves, though, before he can hang onto it or turn the impression into a real memory. It leaves an imprint of pain behind, making him wince.

The man pulls his hand quickly away, and Baldur fights back the urge to whimper at the loss.

No one touches him anymore unless they want to fuck him about it. He’s so tired of just wanting someone to hold him and stop there. 

The man sighs, shifting to sit down. “Just really fucked up, huh? I get it.” After a pause, the man lies down beside him, fingers laced together behind his head, following Baldur’s gaze to the sky. “I do that, too. What’s got you wanting to fuck off out of this reality tonight?”

Baldur doesn’t answer.

Instead, he thinks for a long, long moment of silence, and then manages, “... I forgot your name.”

“Kauri,” The man answers readily, without offense. “That’s okay. I remember you said you’re called… Baldur, right?”

“My Sir… called me that.” Baldur blinks again, his eyes shutting with a clang in his mind like garage doors before opening back up again. The thought makes him smile. “I… don’t like it much. But there… isn’t any other.”

“Oh.” Kauri thinks that over. Then asks, “What do the guys you fuck call you?”

“... baby. Sweetheart. Sexy…”

“Yeah, I guess there’s only so many nicknames in bed. Do you want to be Baldur?”

“... no.”

“Oh. Then… you can pick your own new name, if you want.”

It takes a little while for the statement to work its way in. He hears the words but they don’t really land, just sort of flit around his head for a while trying to find a place to nest. He giggles at the thought, like pretty birds with wings chirping pick your own, your own, own new name, name you.

Kauri watches him, then exhales. There’s a fond sort of smile on his face, but it isn’t the kind of smile Baldur is used to seeing, one heavy with meaning. The kind of smile that comes before a hand on his ass or moving his head down where they want it. Baldur turns his head to look back. They’re inches apart. He’s probably supposed to kiss him, now.

But the pill makes it so he remembers that he doesn’t actually want to do that. It makes him so he can just lay here, and wait to be kissed or not kissed. It’s okay. Everything is okay, like this.

“Funny to see it from the outside,” Kauri murmurs, and then moves up on his elbows. “Hey. Listen. If you could call yourself anything else - not Baldur, or your number, just like anything else that you picked and you alone… what would you choose?”

Baldur blinks again. Lets the words settle, arrange themselves into something that makes sense. Then, he closes his eyes and drifts, almost asleep instantly as soon as he shuts himself away from the vision of the sky and the way the yellow-gold fading sunlight turns the hair of the man lying next to him to some kind of glimmering brilliance. “... -ris,” He mutters, the sound coming to mind without any thought.

“What?” Kauri pokes him in the nose, making him open his eyes with another giggle to see his confusion, which only makes Baldur laugh harder. “What’d you say? Did you say Chris?”

No.

But Baldur can’t say no, can he?

No, good boys only say yes.

“Yes,” He says, and puts his hands over his mouth to try and stop his giggles from escaping. He fails, and finds himself rubbing his feet one against the other even through his shoes, rolling from side to side. He thrills at the forbidden movements, something he can only do now, when his mind isn’t in control of him any longer, when the handler’s whispered demands and punishments aren’t the loudest thing he hears. 

“Oh, wow, you are gone,” Kauri says, a little enviously. “Well, damn. Man, and that was basically my plan tonight, too. That’s okay, though, nothing like playing babysitter to the world’s most beautiful park decoration for a few hours to make you appreciate sobriety, huh?”

Baldur’s laughter fades, replaced with a hazy frown. “... hours?”

“Right. Yeah. Cause the way you are right now, somebody’s going to murder you and you won’t even notice until like ten minutes after you’re dead. So I, being your self-declared fairy godmother of the evening, am going to keep an eye out and make sure this little Cinderella lives past midnight.”

Kauri pokes him in the nose again. 

“Got that, Chris?”

It sounds good, actually, that name. Baldur weighs it on his tongue. He mouths it, teeth close together and then opening, tongue moving. Chris. Chris. Chris.

“Chris-... Christopher,” He sounds out, slowly, thinking of a child’s movie he barely recalls, a teddy bear. “Christopher. But Chris.”

“Right. Once you sober up, I’ll get you something to eat and then I want you to go see a friend of mine. I think you could maybe use somewhere to crash for a while, and there’s a place I go - they don’t make you do anything, there. So I go there sometimes. There’s a shower and you can eat any of their food and nobody stops you. You’ll like it. How’s that sound?”

Baldur doesn’t hear anything Kauri says. He’s too busy sounding out the name he’s chosen inside his mind. But he knows from the way Kauri’s voice lilts up at the end that he’s been asked a question. So he just says, “Okay.”

“Great. So tell me more about the stars and shine on you crazy fucked-up diamond.”

Kauri lies back beside him, the side of his arm just barely touching Baldur’s, a warm touch grounding him to the earth without climbing on top of him or shoving a hand down his pants or telling him to shove his hand down someone else’s. Baldur lets his eyes close, and breathes in the cool air.

“A lot of the stars… are already dead. But, but we… still see them. Because the light, um, of dead… of the dead stars… still travels so, so far… and it takes so long… we see them shining… and, and they’re already gone…”

“Hm. I take it back. Talk to me about something less depressing than that.”

Baldur has to think for a long time to find something that fits. Then he offers, “I met… a man over by the red diner… who carves little horses out of wood. He told me that he used to… work with wild mustangs, horses, a long… long time ago…”

“Perfect.” Kauri’s smile is brilliant, and Baldur is caught by the sight of it, staring for a long time in silence with wide eyes at the way it shines. Those blue eyes catch his, their heads turned towards each other. “Well? Keep talking.”

Baldur swallows, and then slowly nods, and tries to think of all the funny people he’s met since his Sir decided he needed replaced. He stammers, sometimes, but Kauri doesn’t seem to notice or maybe just doesn’t care.

He doesn’t hear the handler’s voice in his head, either.

Not while Kauri is looking at him. For the first time since his Sir shoved him out of the car and drove away, he feels like someone cares.

[regionbetween]

excerpt from harlan ellison's "the region between", published in GALAXY march 1970

The universe moves toward godhood. It started there and it wishes to return there. It is driven around in the greatest circle toward there. Godness lies dormant yet remembered in every thing, every smallest thing, in every puniest creature. Every living thing must, of needs, play at godness. It is built in. In the basic fiber, in the racial memory, in the pulse of blood or thought they remember all the way back to when there was nothing. Yet none of them are God. Thus it becomes a universe of things struggling ineptly toward a destiny they cannot even fathom, struggling impossibly to be God: a universe of manipulators, of users, of petty handlers who push and shove lesser, less god-driven races around in alien patterns, forcing them to dance to tunes they never knew, can barely comprehend, in pain and hopelessness, deprived of light or joy. From the sleaziest legislators of ethic and fashion and morality to the greatest pawn-movers of entire cosmic races, everything, everyone, scrabbles blindly toward the memory of when it was once god-blooded. All things try to govern the lives of all other things. And in turn, those Gods are used by other Gods. And those Gods are manipulated by greater Gods. And on and on. Domino ranks of puppet masters, to infinity and beyond. It is a universe of mad deities, one more selfish and corrupt than the one that went before. For none of them are God, they are merely circular pieces of the all-memory of what was godness at the beginning. Latent in the "soul" of what had been "Bailey" was the force that had first created everything. It had always been there, waiting its time, waiting to emerge and finish what it had started. Buried, sleeping, handed down through the unimaginable eons in plant, stone, fish, cloud, vehicle, Bailey. First cause? Perhaps. God? Perhaps. Any name will suffice. For if that force be God, then the bitter cynicism of the atheist is valid, for the God that was Bailey was insane, completely and eternally deranged, who but a madman would create all of everything then bury itself dormant and slumbering; a madman buried in an eternal "soul" passed down through decaying time. Buried here and there and everywhere yet struggling to be reborn by a pressure of equalization, a necessity for balance in something even as a lunatic as the mad world created by a mad God. But now, freed, like an evil genie from a bottle, the force that was God awoke...

[karamina]

Theories on Will's Parents

Man I love making up theories and headcannons for media intended for children and preteens. Why might you ask? Because often they leave out details on things kids might not understand and only hint at darker themes, leaving ample space for older fans and parents watching with their kids to gather the pieces to make hypotheses on what may be happening off-screen. As a side note, this is why I love the HTTYD franchise in particular, but that is not the victim of today's crazy theory post.

This post is about Will Taggert from Horseland. For those who don't know, Horseland was a show produced in 2006-2008 for children aged 6-12 that follows the life lessons and social skills that Sarah, Molly, Alma, Chloe, Zoey, Bailey, Nani, and Will (to a certain extent) as well as their horses (Scarlett, Calypso, Button, Chilli, Pepper, Aztec, Sunburst, and Jimber) and the animals around the farm (Shep the dog, Teeny the pig, and Angora the cat) learn through episodic stories.

There is a mystery that many fans of this show have explained in various ways surrounding the character of Will. What is up with Will's parents? Why does he never mention them? Why does he live at Horseland with his aunt, uncle, and his cousin Bailey?

As usual let's first look at the evidence the show presents.

Episodic Evidence

In the episodes "Talk, Talk" and "No News is Good News", we can clearly see that Will lives on the Horseland property and has his own bedroom in the ranch house. He is a riding instructor, coach, and grounds maintenance man at Horseland and often takes on responsibilities at the ranch such as special events, organizing and facilitating activities (such as the camping trip in "Fire, Fire Burning Bright", the early morning ride in "No News is Good News", and the Twilight Trek in "Molly and Chilli"), and advising students on proper care for their horses.

Throughout the series, Will never once mentions having parents or having any other family besides Bailey and his aunt and uncle (unless you count his grandfather in the episode "The Secret", who I am 90% sure is dead based on Will's use of the past tense when talking about him).

Okay so not much to work with. There is no hard evidence for his parents being dead or not. Remember, no mention of parents does not mean they are dead, especially with Will being removed from the other MCs (he's older and has a different relationship to them based on his status as a teacher) and only appearing briefly in most episodes or not at all. All we can say with 100% certainty is that if his parents are still in his life, he doesn't live with them and instead lives with his aunt and uncle. This opens the door for fan theories. I will present both common fan theories and theories I have come up with on my own.

Theory 1: Will's parents died and he was adopted by his aunt and uncle

From what I have seen, this is the quintessential fan theory regarding Will's parents. In this theory, Will's parents died when he was young and he was adopted by his extended family, ala his aunt and uncle. From there, he grew up at Horseland with Bailey as his adoptive brother and became part of the family business. I've seen fanfiction where they died in a car accident, they died in a storm while trail riding, etc. I've even read some where Will has siblings that he was seperated from when his parents died and who were adopted by other extended family members. Regardless, his parents are dead, potential siblings live elsewhere, and Will is an honorary member of the Handler household.

Personally, I think this theory is as popular as it is within the Horseland fandom because it readily presents an opportunity for both emotional angst and whumpfic. In fact, Disney is quite partial to using the dead parents card as a tragic backstory for its main characters. Will is an easy character in this fandom to apply this trope to as he is the only main character in Horseland whose parents are not accounted for. (That is, besides Alma's mother; she only ever mentions her father and grandparents). Now that I think about it, alot of these same theories could also fit her as well, except maybe Theory 2 and with the addition of divorce as another possibility. However, this observation does not discredit any validity this theory holds.

Theory 2: Will lives with his aunt and uncle as a job requirement to work at Horseland

In this theory, Will's parents are alive and well. So why does Will live at Horseland? Simple really. Will works with his extended family as onsite staff. Maybe Will's parents (and potential siblings) live far enough away that it makes more sense for him to just live at Horseland. They may even live in another state.

This is even more plausible if you are like me and consider Will to be over 18 yrs old (see my post about Horseland character ages).

In this, Will mostly interacts with his parents and any siblings over the phone and visits them for holidays, special events such as birthdays, graduations, weddings or funerals, or just whenever he has a large chunk of time I suppose. Just infrequent and distanced interaction may be why they are never mentioned.

Theory 3: Will has an estranged relationship with his biological parents

It's unfortunate, but some people just really don't get along well with their immediate family or aren't safe living with their biological parents for one reason or another. It could be anything from something as simple as personality differences or irreconcilable moral beliefs to horrible situations such as child abuse, alcoholism, and/or drug abuse. This can lead to one of two things. The first is the case of a child under the age of 18. In this case, if the home environment of a child is deemed unsafe, any children in the household are removed from the home by Child Protective Services (CPS), parents lose custody and/or go to jail, and the children are placed in the care of another family member or into foster care. This can also happen if the parent(s) are incarcerated for a completely unrelated reason. The other case is estranged adult children. In this case, the child becomes an adult without ever having CPS and the foster care system intervening for whatever reason and moves out, limiting or completely cutting off contact with their parent(s). If either of these is the case leading to the relationship Will has with his parents, then this may be why he lives at Horseland with his aunt and uncle and never mentions his biological parents around his "students".

Conclusion

Because of how little the show actually tells us about the state of the relationship Will has with his parents and any potential siblings, all three of these theories are equally plausible and one can make an argument for any of them. I think all three of them could easily be used in fanfiction as interesting plot devices, and I would be overjoyed to read any of them (although theory 1 is already beating out 2 and 3 in that scope). So now I open the floor to y'all. Which theory do you think is the most plausible? Did I miss any other possible explanations for why Will lives at Horseland and his immediate family is never mentioned?

[bright-tatters]

Tatters #1

cw inappropriate attentions to a seventeen-year-old by a much older person.

*

Young Bailey White observed many things flowing out of Travail Ward and very little flowing in. This was the sorrow of Photia City’s most impoverished Ward: they had a solid industrial base and nothing else to call their own.

Tatters, the locals called it. The place stood in tatters.

Bailey, orphaned at eight after a shootout between Old Kid’s forces and one or another of the innumerable insurrections against her, spent eight years in one of Travail’s sordid workhouses before he got out to use his stringy frame for running messages that flowed in from the telegram office up near the Lamps border. And he listened, wondering about the structure of the world.

Mrs. Creed, in her years before becoming superintendent, caught him over a telegram once and never quite let him go. She would summon him to run messages for her. She would tell him what he was missing out on in school. The attention felt strange, but it also felt like if Bailey ran afoul of the Old Kid and got removed, somebody would notice and care.

One day Mrs. Creed told him that he was missing out on his education. That sometimes the representative of Travail Ward on the Council took pages to assist and observe the legislative process. The Council met on the topmost island of Central Ward; they made the decisions that kept Tatters poor, or at least, so Bailey expected. There was no way to fight them except to understand them. Bailey put himself on the list.

He had to borrow good shoes when the day came.

The journey to Central was life-changing even before he reached the Council chambers. He went with three students in a horse-drawn carriage over the high-arched bridge to Central. Everything on the island at the confluence of Photia’s rivers was tall and bright and angular or sweepingly curved, a series of lines laid intentionally in stark contrast to Travail’s organic mess. Musicians stood at street corners, offering melody to everyone passing by. A boy even younger than Bailey, dark-skinned and sensitive-mouthed, winked and did a violin flourish as Bailey passed. Bailey regretted having nothing to toss at his feet, but there was so much more to get to. Everything smelled good up here. The sun burned away the morning’s mist like so much air, without even a touch of yellow miasma.

And the people! Bailey kept close to the attendant who would bring him and three other Travail children into the Council’s deliberation chamber. Everyone here was tall and filled-out and colorful and, if not cheerful, at least nobly interesting-looking. Old Petra Wolds transformed from the stuffy old woman Bailey had seen in Travail’s Vines to a dignified, impressive elder statesman.

The Council building was a vast golden sphere patterned with triangles in a mathematical fever dream. Inside, narrow angled windows placed along those triangles’ edges let the light into the circling walkway, and higher, wider windows joined with a star-shaped skylight to illuminate the deliberation chamber.

The Council, representatives from each of the eight Wards of Photia, gathered in the gap at the center of their circular conference table and greeted the Tatters contingent. Petra Wolds, of course, resplendent in a dress that would get her mugged on her own streets. Darude Reinaldo of Underglow, holding a cloth against his mouth and nose any time he looked at the children. Elliot Fest of Forges, newly elected and very serious-looking. Torreia Danes of the Docks, tall and columnar and slightly frightening. Darvald Sperant of Lamps, who jerked when he saw sudden movements. Deiona Ravish of River Up, who lisped like a long-outgrown girl and cut things with her blue eyes. Maynard Crow, young in this crowd, but fourth in line to the King. And Mière Lu of the University, who was distinguished and handsome in a way that made Bailey thoughtful.

The students’ handler led them to a long table that ran along one wall. They could sit there and watch the Council circle; they were also handed assignments among piles and piles of densely printed papers.

Bailey did his work rapidly and efficiently, straining to memorize everything he saw. He had always had a good memory. When the Councilors got started on a bill proposal he watched and listened to who argued, and about what, and how emotionally. This was the way a city-state was run. He wanted to understand it.

When the last sunlight left the gilded edges of the overhead starburst, the Council called a halt. Mière Lu gestured for a real page to handle his things and came over to greet the Tatters students. “Come with me,” he said, “we’ll get you fed.”

They went to a low, dark, stuffy restaurant and Councilor Lu ordered things so good they hardly seemed to belong to names. Bailey let the place wash over him, and he ate, and he drank all the wine anybody would hand him. At some point he realized he was alone with Lu, with ravaged tables lying to either side of them.

“Well,” Lu said. He was built for elegance and a certain trim gravitas, and he was strikingly handsome, even in the low light with a firm set of beer goggles on. He wore a complicated geometrical jacket that unfolded in places and left his inner shirt showing in places. Bailey had never met anyone this glamorous. “We should go. My home is nearby, you can rest there.”

The prospect felt cozy. “Thank you, sir.” Bailey drained the last of the last page’s wine. “After you, sir.”

But Lu placed a hand at the small of Bailey’s back and steered him. He nodded and smiled graciously at the staff until they got outside. Then he called a huge carriage.

“Is this yours?” said Bailey, creeping inside and looking around the rich leather interior.

“For official business,” said Lu. “Sit facing this way, next to me; if there’s an accident you’ll be safe.”

“Yes, sir.” Bailey drew his knees up to his chest. “Quite a day, sir.”

“Some find it overwhelming. How are you feeling?”

Warm, suddenly, and excited. Bailey laughed nervously. “Like there was a whole world nobody told me about.”

“Do you think you could learn to belong there?”

Possibilities shook. “Do I have to? Tatters is my home.”

“What’s that?”

“Oh.” He felt himself blushing, not just from the wine. “It’s just what I call Travail Ward in my head. Tatterdemalion. Tatters.”

“That’s poetic,” said Lu. “Does Petra know about it?”

“No, sir! It’s just… just me.”

“Don’t be self-conscious.” Lu leaned over and touched Bailey under his chin. Bailey felt a surge of warmth and tension. “There we go. Here, come with me.”

Bailey dutifully followed his host into a house so high and golden he thought Lu must have stolen it from gods. Lu led him up a spiral staircase into a big room with a huge bed piled with furs. A golden canopy hung from the ceiling and spread out over four great black pillars.

“Sit here,” said Lu. “That’s it. Take off your shoes.”

And Lu followed close and kissed him. His lips were hot and demanding, and Bailey’s own heart and body didn’t manage to struggle when Lu wrapped his arms around him and pulled tight. “Oh,” he whispered against Lu’s lips.

“Relax,” whispered Lu. “I’ll show you everything.”

He did. Drunk and dizzy with wine and novelty, Bailey went along with everything the Councilor said. It was long, and tiring, and a man should be pleased by the attention. Bailey was pleased by the attention.

When Lu was done he just said, “Stay here tonight. I’ll return you tomorrow… you still have much to learn.”

Bailey understood, later, that this was what an empath could do. If you stripped away the alcohol and the promise of professional success, every other emotional surge he’d had had been implanted by someone else.

Yes, the trip was educational for Bailey, though he never heard followup from any of the Photian Council. Years later, when Mière Lu disappeared, Fortune was concerned enough to send out inquiries through the Tatters underground.

It came to nothing. Sometimes these things do.

[winterfieldfrontiers]

Theirstory

Only them.

The Little Mermaid - Now on Digital and Disney+, Blu-Rey on Sep 19

Barbie - Now on Digital, HBO GO and Blu-Rey on October

TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR Concert Film - October 13, only in North America

[baileybaez]

❝ people will try to obliterate you ❞

Age: 35

Gender identification: Cis woman, she/her

Residential area: Beach Front

Occupation: former model, current influencer & yoga instructor

Two positive traits: Resilient & engaging

Two negative traits: Impulsive & stubborn

Length of time in Briar Ridge: 3 years-ish

Faceclaim: Nathalie Emmanuel

80’s and 90’s music playing in the background, fashion magazines scattered about, a jaw sculpted by the gods, countertops covered in fruits and vegetables, a hair tie around a delicate wrist, a history of survival shining from dark eyes, and a shoe collection that could rival a warehouse

abuse tw, stalking tw, drug and alcohol abuse tw

The path to Briar Ridge was a bumpy road and one made mostly by choice.

Born into a conservative and traditional yet very loving family, Bailey was raised in New York City. The Upper East Side of Manhattan to be more specific. They owned the building.

Her parents were strict and informed her and her siblings early on that they would have to forge their own path in life. Things weren’t just going to be handed to them. Of course, there was a promised inheritance but it would only come when deserved. As Bailey and her siblings got older it was realized through obtaining a university degree or displaying discipline and sound decisions toward building a steady life. 

Around age 13 Bailey showed the first signs of veering from parental expectations through truancy. Rather than dutifully go to her classes or stay within the walls of her private education she would explore a vast city. Usually that meant she was at the shops given that at the time her obsession was fashion and her aspirations were to be a model.

At age 14 she got her first tattoo and made her mother cry. That was the day her parents realized Bailey would be a lost cause. Bailey had never really been one to conform and generally always marched to the beat of her own drum. Those were traits her parents equally admired and feared in their young daughter. Thankfully, Bailey had the ability to make something of those attributes and landed a few modeling gigs after being scouted by an agent while trying on heels in Bloomingdale’s.

Despite not being old enough to legally drive Bailey found herself desirable to an all consuming industry.

All the wrong influences surrounded her. Managers and agents who were supposed to be looking out for the teenager's best interests, at least that’s what they had promised the Baez family, they only enabled and essentially became ‘yes men’. Not necessarily to be detrimental to Bailey growing into a stable adult life but because of the inability to turn away all the good fortune and opportunities that came their way.

Bailey was a star on the rise. With a killer jaw line and an uninhibited personality she was loved by photographers and designers alike. From ages as young as 14 and 15 she was seen in the glossy pages of Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Harper’s Bazaar apart of fashion campaigns for top brands and designers.

What that instant success and thrust into the machine of the fashion industry meant was the accessibility to things a child should never be exposed to. Not only by the time Bailey was a legal adult had she been scarred by the treatments of immoral types she also had tried a variety of drugs and drink. When she was hot and in-demand Bailey's handlers did whatever it took to keep her going.

Eventually she burnt out and her body crashed from the non-stop lifestyle she’d been leading for half a decade. At 25, she may have made her own wealth but it had come with exhaustion and some dependency on substances of the most unhealthy kind.

She’d been around the world and had some incredible experiences but what Bailey had missed out on was being a kid, a teenager like her friends in a city like New York.

There were some realizations and epiphanies that came from a hospital bed with her family at her side and agent pushed to a corner when she was being treated for exhaustion. In no way could she continue to live like this.

Life wasn’t meant to be one non-stop party. No person was meant to work without break for years. So, it wasn’t until she was an adult that Bailey listened to her parents and let them be the guidance she needed. She went into therapy and began a spiritual journey that awakened her to a much healthier lifestyle.

Activities like yoga and pilates along with vitamins and clean eating became the way of life instead of things that were never meant to be put into her body.

By the age of 30 Bailey had all but given up on her lustrous career in modeling and fashion and became a practitioner of mind, body, and soul. Instead of being another student in another class she’d become an instructor and trainer in the art of meditation, yoga and pilates.

Unfortunately the noise of New York City was still all too loud and temptations were difficult to turn away when she had a weakness to her and they were so easily offered up to her. Despite the challenge that wasn’t what moved Bailey to a small town in the south, somewhere near the beautiful beaches of the southern east coast— it was obsession.

A photographer that had been abusive toward her in her youth and yet someone she’d been forced to work with countless times claimed to love Bailey like no one else ever had or ever could. The former model had become a target of harassment and threats which escalated into dealing with a full-on stalker that the police couldn’t do too much to protect her against.

Given the way she’d turned her life around and had eventually become someone her parents could be proud of Bailey had received her inheritance, and that coupled with the money she’d made in the modeling industry she knew she'd be able to buy a studio in Briar Ridge, South Carolina and put the mess behind her.

potential connections:

yoga clients — she's working on or hoping to open up her own studio in briar ridge. valentina flores is just kind of getting in the way of that.

new yorkers — anyone that lived there for a time or visited a lot there's potential for them to have met, hung out, become friends, whatever works!

world travelers — she'd been all over thanks to her former modeling career.

neighbors — anyone in beach front holla!

fwb/hookups/dating — casual stuff. good/bad dates. some fun little flings. she'd be non-committal thanks to her stalker trauma.

i'll come up with more, these are just some starting points!

[thejoobiestnerd]

Meet Aiden “Agent Phoenix” Bailey.

They mainly use they/them but don’t mind messing around and going as feminine or masculine as possible, and don’t really care about pronouns. (Totally not me projecting about my “the fuck is my gender” thing)

They’re selectively mute (due to a medical issue that was never looked into at a young age that causes their throat to hurt severely.) and therefore prefer to sign or write rather than speak.

After the elevator fall at the end of ieytd2, their leg was broken- then crushed- and by the time their leg was treated- well, it had to be replaced. (Their handler happens to have a prosthetic right leg as well- and when they saw him again after getting their new leg, they gave him a smile, gestured to it, and signed “we match”. Handler cried- once he was out of sight. )

They have a very father-child relationship with their handler- who despite his better judgement couldn’t help but get attached to the reckless agent after they impressed him with their daring escape from the death engine.

They’re a bit of a pyromaniac- which anyone who would have known them as a child would have been surprised by (they were put into the foster care system after their home burnt down at a very young age.)

Their hair is naturally brown, they just decided to lean into dying it red, orange and yellow after they got the “Pesky Phoenix” nickname from Juniper.

If it weren’t detrimental to their sneaking, they would wear holographic or glittery things all the time.

Despite the bird associations, they honestly prefer snakes, lizards and cats.

Legally, they’ve died twice. This does not stop them.

Edit: also they’re 4’11. Why? I’m projecting.