Just because one of your chicken eggs hatched a fire breathing dragon people think you’re evil. But you’re still just a regular farmer trying to make a living while dealing with an overprotective dragon, heroes that want to kill you and fanatics who want to worship you as the new Demon Lord.

The thing you need to know about all of this, the thing that got me into all this trouble in the first place, is that chickens will sit on anything when they get broody enough. Anything. Duck eggs, goose eggs, turkey eggs, lizard eggs, egg shaped rocks, anything. Chickens aren’t smart. If it looks vaguely like an egg, they’ll plant their feathery arses on it and wait.

I noticed that there was a bigger egg under one of the broody chickens, when I checked. Of course I noticed, it was twice the size of the others. But I have geese. I figured it was a goose egg she’d found and stolen. It was about the right size, and I didn’t take it out to check the colour because that particular chicken gets very protective of her eggs. I’ve already got a scar on one hand from trying to get eggs away from her. I didn’t want a matched set.

That was a decision I regretted the moment I went out to feed the chickens and found a little blue-and-silver dragonet’s head poking out from under a very confused-looking chicken. The poor thing kept shifting around and looking under herself in a bewildered way, like she didn’t know what to do next. This particular chicken is a good mother, and she’s raised clutches of ducks and geese without any trouble – she’s even resigned to some of her children swimming – but this was too much. She didn’t object when I carefully reached in and fished out the little dragon.

It was so tiny, then. It fitted in my hand, with its little head peeking out one side and its tail looping around my wrist. Cute, too, with its big eyes and little snout turned up towards me.

That was when I made my second mistake. I decided to feed it before releasing it. Dragons are innately wild creatures, everyone knows that. They can’t be tamed. People have tried. The eggs are abandoned as soon as they are laid, and the dragonets hatch able to hunt, so they don’t even bond with their mothers. So just feeding it a little shouldn’t have been a big deal. It should have gobbled the meat and fled as soon as I loosened my grip on it and it saw the open sky.

It didn’t. As soon as I’d fed it, it fluttered up to a sunny window ledge and went to sleep. I went about my work, figuring that it’d leave in its own time.

By noon, it was sitting on my boot, squeaking pathetically. I wondered if maybe it was confused by the farmyard – they usually hatch in mountains, if the stories are right – so I took it back to the farmhouse with me and fed it again when I ate, then took some time away from the fences I should have been mending to walk it up to the hills. I found it some nice rocks, with plenty of lizards and beetles and suitable prey for something that size. It pounced on a beetle almost as soon as I put it down, and when I left it was crunching happily.

I hadn’t walked a quarter of the way back before something hit the back of my boot. The little dragon was holding on with all four claws, and when I looked down it squeaked pathetically. If possible, its eyes got even rounder.

Listen, you don’t make it as a farmer if you just let orphaned baby animals die. We hand-raise calves and lambs and ponies, set chickens to sit on abandoned eggs, or put them under the kitchen stove or by a fireplace. You don’t make a success of farming if you don’t value every animal. A good shepherd will spend all night looking for one lost sheep. So despite what was said later, it wasn’t just sentiment that made me sigh and pick up the little thing and carry it back to the farm.  I am a good farmer. I don’t let orphaned babies die just because they’re a little work.

Keep reading

This post contains discussion of racism, misogyny, and intersection of these ideas in the TOG fandom.

Though the conversation around the racist tropes sometimes employed in depicting Joe is valuable and important, I do not have anything productive to add to that particular conversation. Instead, this post aims to examine the ways in which Nile has largely been overlooked by fan created content for The Old Guard and suggest ways in which each of us as individuals might make this fandom a more inclusive place.

One last preamble: I’m an white woman. I am speaking here from a place of ally-ship. And I am still learning how to best be an anti-racist ally in all elements of my life. This post is coming from the best of my knowledge at the moment, hoping that maybe it’ll make a difference to somebody.

Alright.

I want to begin with a story: a couple of weeks ago in the Book of Nile group chat one of our members noticed that the stories and AU’s and ideas we were constructing for each other the previous week had focused on Booker, had given Booker the extensive backstories, had articulated Booker’s complexity more thoroughly. She posted that she had noticed this along with a note along the lines of “we can’t do better if we don’t recognize the patterns.”

So here’s a pattern that I’ve noticed that is particularly disheartening to me: Nile Freeman, a black woman and the main character of The Old Guard, has the least amount of fanworks created about her.

On AO3 she has the fewest tagged fics. On tumblr, there is much less fan art created for her. In discord servers, Nile is rarely mentioned.

This fandom has become dominated by Joe and Nicky.

I do not mean to discount Joe and Nicky. Their depiction in an action movie is groundbreaking queer representation. They are fascinating individuals and fascinating in how they make their work partnership, romantic and sexual relationship flourish for an unimaginable length of time. Their story touches on themes that have long excited storytellers: the power of love above all, fate’s matches and soulmates.

Nevertheless, the way this fandom has diminished and ignored Nile Freeman is a collective act of misogynoir. All of us are complicit.

Racism is structural. Misogyny is structural. It is no one person’s fault. It is no individual’s moral failing. None of us can single-handedly fix it.

Nile’s erasure from the TOG fandom is nobody’s fault. As the opening anecdote illustrates, even those of us who actively seek out fan communities focused on her are guilty of backburnering Nile to a white man.

But, my experience working in one of the most racist systems in the US has helped me learn that though I can’t individually end racism and misogyny (and other structural inequalities), I can be aware of how my actions might reinforce these structures, and I can make deliberate choices to make my own actions as anti-racist and as feminist as possible.

So, TOG fans who are reading this, I ask you to pay attention to the content you’re creating and consuming in this fandom.

Furthermore, I hope that as you do this, you’ll notice the reasons that you haven’t seen or engaged with content about the film’s main character. I urge you to push beyond superficial explanations.

I just like the romance aspect of Joe and Nicky. Okay, but who’s to say Nile can’t have romance too? Booker, Andy, Quynh, heck, even reincarnated Lykon or OC’s or characters from other franchises, are all available to appreciate and love on Nile Freeman.

I usually just have one ship in a fandom. Okay, but what about fic celebrating the joys of an intercultural found family or fic delving into Nile being a badass millennial warrior? Those and others are all stories that are interesting and exciting too!

I just love that Joe and Nicky are canonically queer. Absolutely! Me too! But this isn’t a reason to shun or ignore a character whose heart and intelligence and courage drives the plot of a movie we all claim to love.

And then, once you’ve paid attention, I urge you to make a change, to work against the misogynoir in our fandom. Even small things make a difference.

When I said we can all do better, I meant it. I’m not excluded from responsibility. In case you're curious how I’m taking my own advice, here’s my plan:

So to conclude, we can’t do better if we don’t recognize the patterns. I hope you’ll join me in consciously thinking about whose narratives with the TOG universe are being prioritized and whose narratives are being ignored. I hope you’ll join me in taking action, as small as they might be, to lift up those narratives that have been overlooked due to racism and misogyny that, again, is nobody’s fault but is everyone’s responsibility.

Finally, if you’ve made it to this point, thank you for your time and attention. What we pay attention to matters, and I’m grateful that you decided to pay attention to this.

An Ankle Update

Well, sinners, i had the two weeks off. I got the very long needle stuck into my ankle, guided by an ultrasound. 

And it was pretty much all for naught. 

Not saying that it wasn’t a boost to my mental health, but… 

The physical health remains bad. 

During my off time, I was walking in the boot, using usually crutches or a cane to help with stability, but I also tried to keep the muscles surrounding the nerve happy and healthy by doing some stretches, walking around without the boot (although half the time it was with the cane), and just generally trying to make it good. 

It did not work. 

It hurts. My leg bends backwards when I stand on it solo to try to see about strength- and also it doesn’t last. In essence, I am sitting back into the heel to try to find stability when finding stability lies in being more over the foot. I’m sure there’s a better way to phrase that, but let me just say this- The way I’m sitting in a solo leg standing position could lead to bigger problems down the road. 

The pain is consistent and so is the swelling. 

I went back to work Sunday night and I could tell that it was bad. How? 

During my second shift Monday morning (Overtime, gotta love it), I got a migraine. Between that and my ankle being worse than it had been for a while, I had taken a whole of my painkillers (I usually cut them in half). 

It took care of the migraine and left my leg completely alone. 

I elevate. I stretch. I try to baby it as much as possible while also making sure I don’t make the situation worse by babying it too much. 

This all lead to me emailing my doctor at 2 AM today, asking what was next. 

He had said originally it would be six weeks in a rigid cast. 

He got me a referral and an appointment for an orthopedic surgeon for the end of the month. 

I’m currently asking him about other medications to help with inflammation and pain. I should hear back at some point tomorrow. He’s also giving me a doctor’s note to wear the walking boot at work- which is something that my supervisors were suggesting (after one of them told me I was too young to be having this issue). 

Unfortunately, all I can do now is wait and hope that this all ends soon. 

Either way, this is all going to take a toll on my monetary income, since OT helps me make sure I can live a good, decent life. 

It sucks. I hate it. And I wish I could have it return to normal. 

If you want to commission me, the link is right here. 

Otherwise, I just need friends. 

Thanks guys. 

You deserve none of this Luci and I wish I was in a position to help you financially right now. I'm always here if you want to talk ❤ even if it's just about pretty flowers

Yusuf Al-kaysani (THE OLD GUARD) in Genshin Impact AU ~

With PYRO ELEMENT 🔥Yusuf is the first son of a respectable family of merchants, mapmaker of Adventurers' guild. He meets Nicolò in Mondstadt during one of his journey

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I want to add a little headcanon of this AU: Joe has a tattoo (you can it on his belly) in Arabic and it means "balance". (I asked to a person who knows Arabic because it is their language)

It's a reminder of his family because he is a merchant of a respectable family of merchants, so the balance is everything in business. But also... Balance for his soul, for his heart. He is Pyro, Nicolò is Hydro. They are strong, but together they are balanced 💚

“The List™” (you know, *that* list from a while ago) never was a problem because of who was on it and who wasn’t, and it never was a problem because ‘some fics were misinterpreted’. It truly never was a problem because of individual auhtors who were or weren’t on it. It wasn’t a problem because of top vs. bottom dynamics (nor racism, for that matter) because it never was about that. That list was (and still is) a *structural* problem. A problem touching the very roots of society.

As is this new “list-like” thing. It isn’t about the individual people who are on it (or who aren’t). It’s not about user-IDs vs. actual names. It’s not about top vs. bottom dynamics, and it most definitely isn’t about racism. It, again, is a structural problem. (And, yes, I see it as a true problem, not an “issue”, not a “challenge”, not as “discourse”. I see it as something profoundly problematic and structurally dangerous.)

Those “lists” and what they represent raise questions about the world we live in and how we shape the societies we’re part of.

I once would have said (until half an hour ago or so, tbh) that I was done with this shit, that I was done with the self-serving BS that apparently is some people’s fandom.

Well, I am NOT done with this. I am not done with blatantly structurally dangerous mechanisms. I am NOT done with ‘suggesting’ to people to blindly follow ‘advice’ they can’t even understand because they aren’t given any kind of info besides “because I said so”.

This is a severe issue.

We should treat it as such. [ETA: And I don’t mean that in a ‘we as a fandom’ way, because, yeah, no - that’s not how it works. I mean it in a ‘we as conscious individuals and members of society’ way.]

these two have big shirt lil pants gay/big pants lil shirt gay vibes and you can’t convince me otherwise (the real reason nicky is always standing Like That in the movie is actually because he hates real pants) (this is the back of his booty shorts btw you’re welcome)

This Pride, don’t forget about us

ID: “This Pride remember to respect all trans people : Trans women who don’t shave with a drawing of a woman whit a yellow and pink beard, trans men who don’t bind, masculine trans women and feminine trans men with a drawing of a trans woman with short pink hair wearing a yellow baseball T-shirt holding hands with a trans man with a yellow crop top and short curly blue hair, fat trans people with the drawing of a fat trans woman with short white hair, dark skin and a pink cropped top, disabled trans people with a drawing of a wheelchair and a walking cane in the color of the trans flag, neurodivergent trans people with the symbol of the autistic community, trans people who are sex worker with a drawing of blue bra and pink underwear, poor trans people who can’t afford transition, trans people who aren’t out yet with a drawing of a closed door, trans people who don’t plan on transitioning, black trans people with a black fist holding a trans flag, and any trans people who isn’t white with multiple hands of different skin tones, muslim trans people with a drawing of someone wearing a hijab in the color of the trans flag, jewish trans people with a drawing of someone wearing a white shirt and a kippah in the color of the trans flag, non binary people even those who don’t identify as trans with the non binary flag, those whose identity you might not understand with the genderfluid flag, the agender flag, the demi gender flag and the genderqueer flag, trans people who don’t pass and don’t want to with a drawing of a trans woman with a beard and dark skin raising her fist, every pronouns with dialog box in which are different sets of pronouns, trans people of every identity with the gay flag, the lesbian flag, the ace flag, the bi flag, the pan flag and the aro flag, every trans person is beautiful and deserving of so much love so don’t forget the T.” End ID

P.S. : can someone tell me if I did the image description right cuz I have no idea

My second entry for the Luca discord bingo is for the prompt “singing”. Which ofc I meant to mean “Luca character rap battle”.

…bonus Richard under the cut, along with text in case the pics are hard to read

Weiterlesen

Ponder

2o2g when

Ko-fi, redbubble

They look so relaxed with each other! ❤

finished version of this little timelapse!

That is so beautiful neighbor!

when Joe is busy working out.

Inspired by THIS post

( @sunshineoftheheart please let me know if you’re not okay with me linking to your post?)