#seth ship poll

[thefoxesraven]

Oh man, I'm going to through my hat into the ship poll ring to get y'all to acknowledge my son.

[rpfshippingpolls]

⚠️ DON’T START DISCOURSE ABOUT RPF IN THE NOTES!! YOU WILL BE BLOCKED IF YOU DO SO ⚠️

Do you ship it?

No reason submitted

[cosmic-nebula356]

God damn I never posted this here 😳

It started out as a crackship, but now I genuinely like the pair and wound up making them children 💀

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Characters, book, and author names under the cut

Oberyn Martel/Ellaria Sand - Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Arek/Matt - So This Is Ever After by F.T. Lukens

Agatha Wellbelove/Niamh Brody - Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell

Baru Cormorant/Tain Hu - The Traitor Baru Cormorant/The Masquerade by Seth Dickinson

[mlmshipbracket]

ROUND 1: POLL #19

Nick x Seth art by Melcarrianna on Tumblr

ROUND 1 POLLS [HERE]

PROPAGANDA BELOW

Shanks/Buggy:

Childhood friends/lovers, got separated after their captain died. Shanks clearly still adores Buggy, and Buggy pretends he doesn't reciprocate the feelings, but this is clearly untrue, as he takes every opportunity to talk about Shanks.

Nicholas “Nick” Bell/ Seth Gray:

[kevin-day-appreciation]

I read a long Seth/Kevin fic once and I haven’t been the same since.

who’s ur baby? ur bestest babe?

edit: removed the Kevaaron option bc it was skewing the results and i personally don't consider it a rarepair anymore, considering the amount of fics they got on ao3 + kandreil not an option either bc RAREpair get it?

edit 2: aftg rarepairs 2.0 here

[loremaster]

i went crazy (as i am known to do) and drew BOTH of each daily prompt for @raincodeshipweek! nothing past PG-13 here. double check the tags for ships below - or if you want to be surprised, jump in and see them all here:

Hurt/Comfort - Clockmare - I remember a while ago @pixelatedraindrops did a poll over which of the two to draw sick in bed… Halara's cat allergies won out, but I thought the opposite scenario of Fubuki needing recovery from overusing her rewind powers was cute too! This is a very cute ship that needs more love!

Healing - Kokolight - This is *THE* ship that's all about healing. (Emotional healing at least.) Yuma learns a lot from Vivia about how to embrace the uncomfortable parts of life… and Vivia learns a lot from Yuma about how not to let that diminish your spark. Plus, by the end, they understand what each other’s been through more than any other characters... almost. Also, dat height difference. Good shit.

Dancing - Aetheria trio - Similar bonding over shared grief here! But this time there's three of them! Big 3 of Cups energy. It's a shame we never really got to see much genuine interaction between Yoshiko, Waruna, and Kurane during the game's story… but sometimes the most fun parts are what we get to imagine for ourselves, hmm? Anyway, yeah. These three are bonded for life. (Too bad it wasn't a very long one...)

Domesticity - Viviakou - There's nothing funnier than two guys with opposite behaviors. Vivia wedges himself into the crack between the bed and the wall as far as he can. Yakou spreads out and takes up more room than the bed even has. Plus, he snores. Disasters, both of them. …I was going to try and come up with another ship for this prompt, since - spoilers - there'll be more Viviakou later on... but I thought of this image and laughed hard enough I couldn't not draw it!

Sun/Rain - Yakou/Amaterasu Researcher. - One of the happiest moments of Yakou's life was when his wife got him a boat for his birthday. A whole boat!!! A portable office! Never had he felt so loved before. …Never has the sun shone that brightly again. He hates the rain.

Stars - Clockbolt - Fubuki is staring out wistfully at the rain clouds, lamenting that she cannot see her star - the one her parents bought for her. But luckily - “Don't worry, Princess, I'll be your star…!” says Desuhiko. Bolder, brighter, and much, much closer than her faraway prize…Yeah, I think Fubuki would eat that up. This is a fun ship. I like that Desuhiko - against all odds - treats Fubuki like a person. And ironically I think that would make her like him more!!

Flowers - Furroughs - What else could I have drawn for 'flowers,' honestly? It's a cheap bouquet of Black-Eyed Susans! I can't see this as a healthy relationship, honestly, but that's what makes it fun! Imagining them as childhood friends who used to be really close but grew apart in adulthood strikes just the right chord of melancholy with me. Even more heartbreaking if you see them both as trans - imagine Yakou's so excited to have a friend like him, and then as soon as Seth transitions he's like "you don't know me. never speak to me again." Mmm, I do so love to put Yakou through the wringer.

Memories - Yumagami - Sometimes you don't know what you've got until it's gone. I imagine Yuma goes through phantom pains after their pact gets broken, not knowing whose laughter keeps ringing through his ears, what's up with that tingly spot on his cheek, or why he can't look at a barrel without his face feeling hot. (Though, he's probably astute enough to put together the clues...)

First Times - Viviakou - The first time Yakou heard Vivia say that catchphrase, it didn't feel very good.

Final Moments - Viviakou - ...The last time didn't feel very good either.

Swap - Vivia/Amaterasu Researcher - Okay, hear me out. If Yakou had managed to run up that hill, make a deal with Kodaka, and get him to swap their places - that is, he dies while his wife survives and becomes Chief of the Nocturnal Detective Agency - I think Vivia would think the same of Mrs. Furio that he did of Mr. Furio (that is, helplessly smitten). EXTREMELY underrated. Please ship this with me.

Alternate Universe - Zilara - My personal pet rarepair!!! Alas, our two confident creature-lovers have been kept from each other by the cruel hands of fate. So, I cope by drawing them getting fancy little drinks together. This is an homage to Boba AU, of course, but honestly, while drawing this, I was picturing them as students at the local prestigious college campus. Maybe they're members of frat Alpha Beta Omega or something.

Past/Future - Makoyuma - This one's more of a concept/pitch than a fully explored scene, but hear me out: time travel AU. What if Yuma meets a mysterious masked stranger who turns out to be a tech-savvy time traveler from a destroyed future... but then also turns out to be himself, somehow? How is there someone who looks exactly like him, 5000 years from now? What's the connection between Yuma and Makoto? And why are they so drawn to each other?

...The last prompt for the official Ship Week is a free day - so I'm going to take the day off! Though, there are a lot of other ships I lament not shouting out here - Kokobolt, Kokomare, Twimare, Fubugami, just to name a few!!! But I'm gonna give myself a break for now. Don't worry, you'll see more art from me soon - maybe even print versions of this, and some of my other Rain Code fanart. And if there's a specific ship or scenario you really can't wait to see... my commissions are open! ;D

[unquietspiritao3]

kayfabe in rpf

I’m back with another meta-essay on the nature of RPF! Did you miss me?

This time, I was inspired by some notes on a poll about shipping Greg/Alex which seemed to me to imply that some anti-RPF people believe us shippers want the real people to break up with their real partners and publicly get together. And…darlings, no.

But also, this essay isn’t really aimed at those people. I know there will always be antis, and I don’t expect to change their minds. My audience here is actually other RPF fans, because I believe I have a useful word for a concept we’re all familiar with, and adopting it more widely might help avoid confusion both amongst ourselves and with outsiders.

The word is

✨kayfabe✨

Now, I didn’t make up this word. I’m borrowing it from the world of professional wrestling—you know, Hulk Hogan and all that stuff.

Kayfabe (rhymes with ‘say babe’) refers to:

the tacit agreement between pro wrestlers and fans to pretend the staged/scripted events are genuine, and

the play-acting involved in maintaining that illusion of genuineness.

In the past, kayfabe in pro wrestling was almost never broken. Wrestlers stayed in character whenever they were in public. That’s lessened over the years, though, and these days all wrestling fans (unless they’re very young, I suppose) know what they are watching is fake and happily suspend their disbelief to keep kayfabe.

Hopefully you can already see the connection to Taskmaster here. When Alex goes on Sunday Brunch or whatever other UK show and talks about Greg being his ‘boss’, that is kayfabe. When he was asked at the NYC premiere to list five things he likes about Greg and one of them was “he’s a gentle lover”, that was also kayfabe. Conversely, when they went on Seth Meyers and Alex took the time to explain very carefully to the maybe-unfamiliar-with-Taskmaster audience that it’s his show and was his idea to make Greg the Taskmaster, he was breaking kayfabe.

(It should be noted, sometimes the division between kayfabe and reality is murky, like a real-life marriage getting written into a wrestling storyline, which is a whole other interesting discussion. Little Alex Horne’s wife is often mentioned on the show, but when Greg used Rachel’s actual name, some of the contestants were taken aback—did he blur the line of kayfabe a bit too much? But that’s beyond the scope of this essay.)

Now let’s expand this to the fandom. When we as shippers talk as if Greg and Alex have an actual sexual/romantic relationship, all knowing full well that they don’t, without explicitly acknowledging to each other that it’s a fantasy—a fiction we’re creating together—we are also keeping kayfabe. But if we wanted to talk about their real-life friendship behind all that, for instance, we could say, “Let’s break kayfabe for a moment…” and everyone would understand it’s time to set those shippy tendencies aside. It could help make the line between fiction and reality clear, both to ourselves and to outsiders looking in.

Of course none of this is limited to Taskmaster, it’s just the RPF fandom I’m in most deeply right now. I think it’d be useful for all RPF fans. At the very least, it’s fun to say. Kayfabe!

[sexiestpodcastcharacter]

Who is the Best Fiction Podcast Artificial Intelligence?

After receiving 57 submissions for 36 characters from 30 podcasts, a few disqualifications, and one preliminary poll, we have our bracket!

Bonus Poll: Which semi-sentient automobile is sexier? (The Ruby Seven vs Odyssey-San) (Ends May 10th.)

Round 1

Hera (Wolf 359) vs Flamingo Chris (Eidolon Playtest: Eidolon ROCK)

Proxy (StarTripper!!) vs ANDI (Marsfall)

Blue Sky A.K.A GORD (Red Valley) vs Tumnus (Moonbase Theta, Out)

Chester (The Magnus Protocol) vs Echo (Khôra Podcast)

SAYER (SAYER) vs Jet (Under the Electric Stars)

Keychain A.K.A. Otto (Not Another D&D Podcast: Trinyvale) vs Fern (inc: The Podcast)

The Divine, Arbitrage (Friends at the Table: The Divine Cycle) vs Dax (We Fix Space Junk)

Ship (ROGUEMAKER) vs QWERTY (Trial and Error)

The Audio Tour Guide (The Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity, and Mortality) vs Fan (Red Odyssey)

Imogen (Stellar Firma) vs MORIS (Inkwyrm)

SPEAKER (SAYER) vs Potential Parent A.K.A. Ai (Monstrous Agonies)

Sergey Ushanka (The Magnus Archives) vs Minerva (Tales From The Fringes of Reality)

Eris (Wolf 359) vs Ellis (Tartarus)

Alexandrite (Not Another D&D Podcast: Campaign 3) vs Seth (Lost Terminal)

Larry (Friends at the Table: COUNTER/Weight) vs Sec (The Vesta Clinic)

Mr. Ceiling (Rusty Quill Gaming) vs Dad (Deviser)

[userlaylivia]

I'm doing a endgame poll and then a non endgame poll because I'm me lmao I don't have a ton of endgame ships and also don't say why wasn't this or that in there because I chose my favorites or ones I liked most!! and also max/liz on rnm counts because they were engaged and would've gotten married!! I also put og roswell m/l in this because both are so different!! and I also chose quite a few popular ships I'm curious to see who wins this i love every ship even though delena is my #1 otp but yeah I don't care who wins because I love them all!!

[rosalind-hawkins]

Ships that I forgot existed but have rediscovered thanks to my old FFN poll:

Lustshipping (Thief King Bakura x Duke Devlin)

Yinyangshipping (Kisara x Duke Devlin)

Insightshipping (Priest Seth x Ishizu Ishtar)

Guardianshipping (Ishizu Ishtar x Raphael)

Outcastshipping (Kisara x Thief King Bakura)

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Friday, February 2

SWEET: (jumps back onto the floor) I can bring whole cities to ruin. And still have time to get a soft-shoe in. DAWN: Well, that's great, But I'm late, And I'd hate to delay her. SWEET: (dancing around her) Something's cooking, I'm at the griddle. I bought Nero his very first fiddle.

~~Once More, With Feeling~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Goldfinger Variations by meteoricshipyards (James Bond xover, Scoobies, Mayor Wilkins, FR7)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion Omake 10 by madimpossibledreamer (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure xover, T)

Hope is the thing with feathers - Ch. 1-7 by will_ (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Lie to Me - Ch. 5 by In Mortal (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

Truth and Consequences - Ch. 6 by JamesMFan (Buffy/Spike, R)

Amara Time - Ch. 18 by Joan963z (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Goodbye to Everything That I Knew - Ch. 19 by fortes775 (Buffy/Spike, R)

Presumably Dead Arm - Ch. 29 by tragic (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Neighbor's Point of View - Ch. 82 by the_big_bad (Buffy/Spike, PG)

Ship Of The Line : The Sunnydale Flyer - Ch. 5 by BlueZeroZeroOne (Buffy, SG-1 and Voyager xover, FR15)

Lie to Me - Ch. 5 by In Mortal (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: Kiss for my Valentine by CoffeeHunt (Darla/Drusilla, NSFW)

Playlist: The Mixtape Chronicles - Ch. 3 by Julikobold (worksafe)

Artwork: tara mlp design [my little pony] by wiltinn (worksafe)

Gifset: Hinton Battle as Sweet | Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 6.15 [6.07] by andremichaux (Dawn, Sweet, worksafe)

Gifset: lgbtqcreators creator bingo: color -> Buffy + Spike; Rest in Peace by lopeirce (Buffy, Spike, worksafe)

Artwork: Kali takes Blake and Buffy Shopping [DeviantArt] by MattanzaMFedora (Buffy, worksafe)

[Reviews & Recaps]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 3 Retrospective by The Cheshire Kiwi

[Recs & In Search Of]

February Fangfest: Welcome to Day One of February Fangfest! [Spangel fic]

February Fangfest: Welcome to Day Two of February Fangfest! [Darsilla art]

ISO: RogerLackman seeks Buffy dubbed in German

[Fandom Discussions]

I’ve made an important connection [photos of sad Faith and sad Angel] by shewhosleepsalotincemeteries

... the IDW comics established that Willow Rosenberg is canonically hot for TV's Tina Fey... by muppetfreak

one of my favorite underrated lines from the commentary. [Spike/William] by justafriendofxanders

Of all of Buffy’s (many) retcons, I think the one I’m most conflicted about... [Watcher's Council] by coraniaid

POLL: If I ran a Spuffy polyamory event, would you be interested? by boopsterliv

it seems the Scoobies are only close because of their shared experiences, knowledge and trauma... by becomingpart2

The Last Guardian by NCAT2024

One of Trigger Spike's victims reminds me of Sheila, Buffy's schoolmate... by alrtight

If BTVS had Continued as a Show and Season 7 Wasn't the End? by Big-Restaurant-2766

Faith's Apartment [location / set discussion] by Beautifala_Jones

POLL: When you first watched S7, which major event shocked you the most? by Opening_Knowledge868

Should the watchers council have been the big bad of season 4? by Tsole96

Just realized that Xander is short for Alexander which means 'defender of mankind' by Tsole96

Oz ignited my crush on Seth Green. by Sweet-Siren

What would an interaction be like between Harmony and Anya? by jdpm1991

My reaction to Harmony in the final episode by ribbitingfrogs

Which almost couple would you choose to ... actually be together? [Wesley x Fred or Angel x Cordelia] by Usernamelesses

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

David Boreanaz for Got Milk, 1999 (x) [old print ad, worksafe] via whatisyourchildhoodtrauma

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[kanai-ward-census]

Raincode Shipping Tournament Preliminaries: Assorted Ships 2nd Edition

Vote for whichever ship you like. Note: Them winning this poll is NOT a guarantee of them being in the bracket.

Seminic propaganda here.

Worshipriest propaganda here.

Jericardi propaganda here.

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Book names + authors under the cut

Red/Blue- This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

Baru Cormorant/Tain Hu- The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

[wammbam]

#8, 11, and 19 for the ask meme please?

8. what project(s) are you currently working on?

currently there are about 3 starts wips in my drive! the top of my list is the drag au i have set up (it was second in my poll, so ill be working on that until im ready to post) idk if this counts as a project or not but @seth-franklin-rollins and i have been trading omegaverse snippets back and forth a lot so thats all mulling around in my brain. (joepunk and beyond honestly) so there might be more of that? stay tuned? let me know what y'all think?

11. do you have specific playlists for writing fics?

i have a few! i posted the playlist i have for drag seth and i have a overall bcc playlist. i tend to group far more broadly than by fic, so there are a lot of moods in each (my bcc playlists extends to songs that relate to people like danny or even the shield, so its not just one ship or idea when i make playlists

19. give us a small teaser from one of your wips.

heres a bit of bondage bcc cause ive honestly had it in my brain for months and haven't had the energy to do much with it

bryan gives him a mean smack to the stomach for his fidgeting. the tingle of it makes a sharp noise escape around the leather covering his mouth, which is followed by a deep groan when he feels a finger trail down the underside of his dick.  “i like how he gets.” it’s cruel. but bryan is almost always this side of mean when they do this, so yuta only closes his eyes at it. doesn't whine or move like he would if he was three orgasms in and had a dick in him.

[equestrianempire]

A Week in the Life: Jennifer Clapp’s C Square Scholarship Adventure in Aiken

At the tail end of 2023, we shared the exciting news that Courtney Cooper of C Square Farm and Excel Sport Horses was launching a scholarship opportunity for two amateur riders to immerse themselves in the whirlwind of life on a professional yard for a week that would be jam-packed with education and opportunities. Now, we’re delighted to share the diary of the first of those scholarship winners, Jennifer Clapp, who ventured down to Aiken with her Connemara, Muggsy, to put her out-of-office time to great use. Take, it away, Jennifer! 

Jennifer and Muggsy dive into Aiken life – and the water complex at Vista.

Wow! What a week! It was a total immersion into the Aiken horse life. As a public high school teacher, my time off is very prescribed. Luckily, I was able to take my February vacation week to head down to C Square Farm South to do nothing but spend time with horses.

Before I get to the day by day play by play, I just wanted to say that Courtney, her working student Nathan, her college intern Beth, barn manager Emily, and fellow amateurs Kathleen, Kelly, and Seth all went out of their way to make sure I had a fun and rewarding week. 

Day 1:

After a very long day shipping down (17 hours plus a snow storm), we settled in well — Muggsy was super happy to run around on the nice sandy ground and have a really good roll. We spent the morning at Stable View, where Courtney and some of her students were competing. In the afternoon, I watched a couple of training sets and had a dressage lesson, where we got Muggsy to really loosen up his back and soften his poll, especially when he got a little looky. He finished very relaxed and soft in his body, which was great after the long ride.

Day 2:

A beautiful Aiken day on the farm! It was a busy one. I watched Courtney ride a young horse for the second day in a row and it was impressive to see how much he relaxed and got much more confident in his work. Courtney had two Zoom lessons with Peter Gray on her two upper level horses, which were fascinating to watch. I was so caught up in the second lesson I almost didn’t have time to get ready for my own jump set!

Our jump set focused on balance and rhythm; we started with trotting poles, first on a straight line, then bending through the corner, helping the horses to develop and maintain a consistent rhythm. Once they were confident there, we incorporated two sets of raised cavaletti as well as the original poles. The initial responses to the raised cavaletti varied; some over-achievers tried to bounce them or walked; luckily, Muggsy is a pro at figuring out the easiest way to get something done and he trotted neatly through them. The next step was trotting a course of small fences, including one with placement poles; the exercise encouraged the horses to maintain their own rhythm and be responsible for their own balance. By the time we moved to cantering a course, all of the horses were well prepared to jump, land, and turn in balance.

A chilly morning at Bruce’s Field.

Day 3:

We started off bright and early with a trip over to Bruce’s Field for their Tuesday jumper show. Muggsy and I had fresh tracks in the ring, with him blowing little puffs of smoke since it was still so chilly. I definitely was a little unprepared for Aiken’s cold mornings! We did two trips and had significant improvement between the two. Muggsy is on the smaller end, so we’ve been working to get the adjustability we need to be able to make it down the lines well and Courtney helped me find the right canter and approach (gotta come forward through the corners!) to make it happen.

Our afternoon was spent at cross country schooling; Courtney had four horses from training to advanced to school with Erin Sylvester and then taught two upper level students, Kathleen and Kelly. Watching them school some tough questions was both educational and inspiring.

Day 4:

Another bright and early morning in the ring. Kathleen and I reset the jump course, practicing our accuracy in setting a couple of gymnastics and some single fences. Then we two and Courtney took three of the horses who had schooled cross country the day before for a hack on one of Aiken’s classic red roads, successfully navigating goats, chickens, and backyard decorations. Then it was off to the Vista! Muggsy started out being company for one of Courtney’s home breds who was going out for his first xc school. Despite being normally very chill, he totally failed at this job, spooking a shadow on the ground and what I can only assume was a bear (or maybe a dragon?) in the other field. Fortunately, Ghost, our buddy, was calm beyond his years!  He took everything in stride and it was really fun to watch him confidently trot all the elementary fences, the ditch, the bank, and the water with ever increasing joy. His face said, “look what I can do!” 

It took Muggsy a minute to get back into cross-country mode(I could almost hear him saying, “But it’s February!”), but he soon settled in and we had a great ride, with highlights being his bold jump over a coop with brush into the water and a super straight and forward approach to a corner.

Once we got home, I flatted Kathleen’s lovely young horse Curley and then set jumps as Courtney jumped three; the gymnastics we set that morning systematically prepared the horses as we built them up. Courtney was dragging the ring in the dark as we finished up!

Cross-country schooling with Muggsy at Vista.

Day 5: 

We started the morning off watching Courtney jump Kathleen’s lovely preliminary horse Excel Star Harry, whom she bought from Courtney as a four year old and has brought through her first two-star. Then I got to jump Curley, a six-year-old former steeplechaser who has just a fantastic rhythm and jump. He used a whole different set of muscles than my muffin of a Connemara!  Then it was back to the Vista, for cross-country schooling for Courtney’s student Seth and jumping in the derby field for her student Kelly and some of the horses who were heading to Pine Top that weekend. I finished the day in the most Aiken way possible: a long slow road hack for Muggsy and drinks at the Wilcox!  Kathleen and I headed in to meet some of my Area 1 friends (the best!); Seth and Kelly joined us later. It was one of those great moments in the eventing community, where a group of folks from all over (Areas 1, 2, and 8 represented!) with all kinds of different backgrounds can come together and have a great time based on the common denominator of eventing and our love of horses.

Day 6:

Pine Top!  It was exciting to visit this beautiful venue. We had the pleasure of watching Courtney ride her homebred River in his first Advanced dressage and show jumping, followed by her mare Maeve in the Intermediate. After spending some time watching all the big guns in the show jumping, we set out to walk the cross-country. It’s been a while since I’ve been up close to an Advanced course — Area 1 only has one left — and this one was BIG and, in some places, SKINNY! Looking at the tables, I could only think that Muggsy’s primary response, if I pointed him at one, would be to bank them. There was certainly plenty of room to do so!  The course was across a beautiful piece of land and the footing was perfect. After our course walk, we headed back to the farm to flat and go for a golden hour hack through the woods. It truly was a picture perfect ending to a wonderful week.

As I rolled out of bed at 2:15 the next morning to make the drive home (18+ hours this time!  I’d almost take snow over NYC traffic…), it felt like I had been in another world for a month, not a week. Every day was jam-packed with horses and educational opportunities; I never walked less than 30,000 steps in a day (admittedly, some of that was on horseback). It was the kind of immersion in the sport that I can almost never take the time to do. I came away with many tools for everything, from starting a nervous young horse to schooling one getting ready for its first Advanced (in the unlikely event that I’ll ever need that!), a bunch of new friends, and a renewed respect for the hard work and dedication it takes to be a professional in our sport. I’ve given you the highlights, but behind that was all the care that our animals need, the preparation and tacking up, the clipping, the packing and unpacking, and the sisyphean tack cleaning! I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity and hope my journey inspires other professionals to offer similar scholarships and other amateurs to load up their horses and take a risk in the service of their learning.