#and for a change of pace

[fidgetspringer-art]

Equestrian AU part 4 A discovery is made. Noah does not take it well.

The next morning, Martin repeats the steps he’d followed the day before. Except this time, when the horses (led by Tansy once again), follow him up to the gate, he doesn’t stop to shut it until Tansy has followed him out of it. She looks a little confused at being on the outside of the fence, with the rest of her new buddies on the inside, but she doesn’t seem anxious. When Martin walks off towards the barn, Tansy follows.

Casey is sitting out on the front steps when he comes past, and she grins at him. “Look at her!” She cheers. “Wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“Haven’t gotten a halter on her.” He doesn’t dare be too optimistic yet. They’re moving in the right direction, but it’s likely that the halter will be a bigger hurdle. “But I reckon you can go ahead and call Abigail. Set up that appointment.”

Casey gives him a thumbs up, already in the process of digging her phone out of her pocket. “Today or tomorrow?”

Martin stops, watching Tansy do the same a few steps behind him. She’s curious about everything, but so far she hasn’t seemed overly spooked at all. That screaming, frantic monster of a horse from the other day is nowhere to be seen. “Tomorrow might be safer.”

“I’ll have her come over this evening, we could do dinner, and if Miss Tansy will allow we can get her checked out then. If not Abby will be happy to come back tomorrow to try again.”

Martin nods. The perks of your vet being married to your manager he supposes. “Sounds good.”

he spends the rest of the day doing his usual chores, mucking out and feeding, both the horses and the other animals.

Tansy shadows him the whole time. She takes a minute to follow him into the barn, not too trusting of the dark space within, but it’s obvious that she’s fairly used to going to lots of new places. Very little phases her overall, and when she is unsure about something she meets it with curiosity before fear.

It’s surprising. How level headed she is, when the picture that had been painted of her before meeting her was that of a fire breathing dragon.

Martin walks back into the barn after dropping off some fresh hay with the two other client horses, which Tansy had very loudly and excitedly greeted over the fence, and this time he intentionally walks down through the cross ties and out the door at the end of the barn.

Tansy follows.

Martin turns and walks back through. Then he stops halfway and takes the halter off his shoulder.

Tansy watches him. Ears perked.

He lifts the halter, hand outstretched towards her. The mare doesn’t budge. Huh.

He walks up to her, half expecting her to step away. But she stays where she is, bending her neck to sniff his pockets when he stands next to her, halter touching the side of her neck. “Good girl, Tansy.”

He takes the halter away from her and replaces it with a treat.

The next time he touches the halter to the side of her head. She immediately starts looking for her reward. “You’re smart, huh?”

It doesn’t take many rounds of this before Martin feels confident enough to slip the rope halter up onto her nose and over her ears. Tansy doesn’t try to flee. She just nods her head a bit, begging for a piece of carrot. Martin ties the halter off. He feels a bit silly now. For making this problem seem so much bigger than it was.

He likely let Noah get under his skin. Let himself forget that this is what he’s good at, that he’s spent his whole life learning to understand horses. And here Tansy has been, telling him she’s been ready for the next step all day. Yet he hadn’t seen it until now.

“I’m a stupid old man, aren’t I, girl?” He gives her neck a scratch. “Let's go for a walk, before we leave it for today.”

That evening Abigail arrives. She’s clearly just come off a call. She’s dressed in her barn clothes, just as dusty and covered in bits of straw as Martin is.

Her dogs come pouring out of the front seat of her car when she climbs out. The terriers go racing off across the property, off to hunt down some mice, no doubt.

“Evening, Martin.” She smiles as he comes up to meet her. “Had any luck with my next patient?” Casey must have given her a rundown of the situation.

“Got a halter on her earlier. No drama.”

Abigail hands over a shopping bag full of bottles and cans. It’s gonna be one of those dinners, apparently. “That’s good. You want me to look at her before we get started with the food?”

Martin has already thought it over. “Nah. We’ll wait until tomorrow, give her a moment to process today.” He lets Abigail in through the front door. “If you don’t mind, that is.”

Abigail kicks her boots off in her usual spot and hangs her jacket next to Casey’s. “Of course not. I’ve got the day off, well, mostly. I’ll come look at her.”

“Why don’t you both spend the night, then? Looks like you aren’t driving anywhere any time soon after all.” He lifts the shopping bag pointedly.

The two of them stay over pretty often as it is. Both of them have spare clothes put away in the guest room, or mostly Casey does, for when she’s helping out with youth camps and the like, but Abby has some of her own clothes here too. It’s always nice to have someone else in the house.

“Sounds like a plan.”

They spend the evening out on the patio at the back of the house, eating steak that Martin had saved for an evening just like this one, talking about all kinds of things that don’t really matter.

The dogs turn up at some point, and Martin ends up in a rocking chair with a lap full of sleeping terrier. He’s nudged awake at some point by a giggling Casey, telling him it’s time for bed.

The next day when Martin calls the horses, Tansy follows them all the way up to the gate. Though when he tries to lift the halter off his shoulder, she back up and trots away. Not quite ready for that, then.

He puts the halter back where it had been and focuses on the other horses instead, and it doesn’t take long before Tansy finds her way back to the front of the herd to beg for more treats.

Instead of trying to get the halter on her again, Martin opens the gate and gestures for her to come through it. She seems to remember their little game from yesterday, and she happily steps out so he can shut it behind her. Once again she trails after him while he feeds and tidies up around the farm. He stops at one point and without making a big fuss about it, slips the rope halter over her head and throws the rope over her back. She allows him to do it just like she had yesterday. No drama.

Casey and Abigail are sleeping in late after the night they had, but since Martin rose with the sun like he always does, he’s got some time now to work with Tansy before her vet check.

He spends that time in the barn, by the cross-ties.

He opts to just sling the lead rope over one of the stall doors instead of tying her up properly. He still doesn’t know how she does with being tied, though he suspects she’ll be just fine with it. Still, he doesn’t want to make her feel claustrophobic and risk ruining what trust he’s built with the halter.

The first thing he notices is that she’s fidgety.

She spends the first little while exploring the stall door in front of her with her nose, touching every inch of it. Then she cranes her neck to stick her head into the stall to sniff around in there too. That done, she starts turning, trying to keep Martin within her sights, curious to watch whatever he’s doing.

He’d wanted to see how she would do if he just left her alone, and the answer is that she’s fine, just bored.

In the end she figures out that the rope isn’t actually tied to anything, and she comes padding after him when Martin goes to fetch his brushes.

He leaves her standing free in the aisle while he brushes her down, and while she sometimes moves to go investigate something that’s caught her attention, she mostly stays put.

She’s not at all opposed to being brushed and touched in this context. She isn’t overly stressed or impatient, and she’s not scared in any way.

Martin thinks back to the rundown he’d gotten about Tansy’s issues. High stress levels, poor impulse control, spooky and at times aggressive. Though most of her issues come to the surface under saddle.

For now, just changing her environment has been enough to see a significant change in her, but Martin knows this is only the beginning. She might be thriving under these specific conditions, but this isn’t her real life. Finding a solution that will work for her in the long run will be another matter entirely.

While he’s standing there, watching Tansy sniff at a clump of her own fur that Martin has just brushed off her, he catches the movement of the barn door behind her back as it’s swung shut by the wind. Hard.

He’s bracing himself for Tansy’s explosive reaction before the sound even hits them. The bang rings out like a gunshot, loud enough to make even Martin’s heart leap in his chest.

But there is no flurry of hooves or a half ton animal barreling into him.

Tansy hasn’t taken her nose off the floor, where she’s now licking the dust like there might be stray bits of grain hiding somewhere.

Martin blinks. Well shit. “Tansy.” He raises his voice, just a little. No reaction. “Hey!” He barks it as loud as he dares. Her ears stay forward, focused on her task. “Ah hell.”

Abigail checks the mare over, top to bottom.

They trot her up and bend her legs every which way to check for any sign of lameness. Nothing. Her vitals are all normal and while she complains a little when Abigail pokes and prods and pulls at her to check for any sore spots, they both agree it’s just because she’s not keen on the handling, and not because she’s in pain.

Martin trusts Abby’s judgment more than he does anyone else, so when she declares Tansy healthy and pain free, he knows that she’s right.

That just leaves the matter of her hearing.

Abigail doesn’t even need any fancy equipment to tell him the mare is stone deaf.

“That’s not ideal.” Casey sighs. “I’ll call the owner, let him know what we’ve found.”

Martin stops her. “He’ll be by tomorrow, I’ll tell him then.”

She doesn’t argue. It’ll be best to tell him in person anyway. Hearing this won’t be easy, and Martin would be lying if he said he wouldn’t rather let Casey take the brunt of his reaction, but telling him over the phone isn’t fair.

Martin takes Tansy for a walk around the property before he puts her back for the day. It’s hard to believe this is the same mare that had been dropped off less than a week ago. She follows Martin around like a puppy, so content to just exist that if Martin had only ever seen this side of her he never would have guesses the headache she’s caused her owner.

It makes him wonder if there’s something more to this that he isn’t seeing. He’s missing a piece of the puzzle, but he has a feeling that finding it is going to be easier said than done.

Noah turns up the next day, when Martin is weeding the flowerbeds by the front steps.

The truck pulls into the lot behind him, trailer attached, and out climbs a familiar, scowling face, though his eyes are covered by sunglasses today.

“No luck, then I take it?” The tone of his voice grates on Martin’s nerves.

He saunters over, hands in his pockets. “Knew you wouldn’t be able to fix her. Don’t know why I bothered, should have found a real trainer instead.” He steps closer with a scoff. “Waste of my fucking time.” He spits, standing over Martin where he’s still on his knees, looking down at him like he’s nothing.

Martin is surprised by the way it makes his blood boil.

He’s on his feet before he knows what he’s doing, and he doesn’t catch up to his own actions before he’s got Noah by the collar of his shirt, slammed back against the side of his truck.

“You’re lucky I don’t believe in beating sense into spoiled little brats like you.” He makes sure to get in Noah’s face. “I don’t have to take this crap from you, but I will, because I give a damn about your saint of a horse.”

Noah opens his mouth to talk back, but Martin shuts him up by shaking him, just enough to have his head drop back against the car, throat bared and sunglasses crooked on his nose. Martin hates how good he looks like this.

“Take her with you if you want. But know that you’ll be the one who's ruined what progress she’s made.”

“What progress?” Noah hisses. His hands have come up to hold Martin’s wrists now in a feeble attempt to pry him loose. “You haven’t even caught her!”

Martin hauls Noah off the truck and turns him. Forcing him to look in the direction of a small patch of grass by the corner of the house.

Where Tansy is grazing quietly.

“What-”

Martin lets him go. Tries to not stare at the way his ridiculous polo shirt is all wrinkled and out of place from his fist. There’s dirt smeared into the pale fabric too, in the shape of his fingers. Christ. He needs to get his head checked.

“We’re gardening.” He says. Stupidly.

Noah turns to look at him like he’s insane. Maybe he is.

Noah settles down a little after that.

The shock on his face remains long after Martin takes him over to say hello to his horse, which Tansy responds to with surprising excitement. It’s almost like she’s missed him.

She lets Noah wrap his arms around her sturdy neck, and she noses at his face until she succeeds in knocking the sunglasses off his face. Noah’s stunned stiffness wears off gradually, and soon he’s smiling at his mare’s antics. “What have you done with her? How is she this calm.”

Martin just watches them, helplessly endeared by how gentle Noah is with her, despite Tansy being nowhere near fragile. “Not much. Just gave her some space and let her make her own choices.”

“And that’s all it took?”

“That’s all it took.” Martin nods. “But this is far from the fix you’re hoping it is. She’s thriving now, but she still has her triggers that need working through. From what I understand most of those turn up under saddle, correct?”

Noah sighs. “Yup.”

There’s a pause, while Martin gathers up the courage to say what he has to. “There’s one other thing, that I think you should know.”

Noah looks over, frowning. “What’s wrong?”

Tansy is back to grazing now. Head down and ears relaxed. “Watch her ears.” When Noah finally obeys, Martin whistles, sharp and loud enough that Noah startles beside him. Tansy doesn’t react.

Noah’s eyes go wide suddenly, as the pieces connect. He does what Martin has just done and whistles. Still nothing. His shoulders drop. “You mean-”

Martin nods. “She’s deaf. I’m sorry.”

Noah doesn’t say anything, he just takes the few steps over to the bench set against the side of the house and sinks down onto it, head in his hands. “Shit.” He exhales. “So that explains it, then. Why she is the way she is?”

Martin takes a risk and sits down beside him. “It’s part of the problem, sure. But I think there’s more to it. Something I’m not seeing.” He nods in Tansy’s direction. “Look at her. She’s not anxious, or stressed, or easily spooked. If anything I’d say her being deaf is part of that too, part of why she’s so at ease.” He watches her rhythmically rip tufts of grass in half. “There has to be more to this.”

Noah has gone uncharacteristically quiet. Martin wonders what he’s thinking right now. If he’s connecting dots that Martin hasn’t yet. “I can’t believe I never noticed.”

“Easy enough to miss. She acts normal for the most part.” he doesn’t blame Noah for not seeing it before. It’s not the first time he’s heard of horses that have been found to be deaf or even blind to some degree until well into their adult lives. “They’re good at adapting. Good at hiding it.”

“What do I do now, then? This is it, isn’t it. I’ll have to retire her.” He sounds so heartbroken at the prospect that Martin feels for him, he really does.

“Not necessarily. I think if we can work her through the rest of her issues, the two of you can figure out a way to make this work. Odds are she just needs different cues from you to help guide her.” Which leads him to the next part of his plan. “I need to see her under saddle to get a better idea of what’s setting her off. If you’ve got time we can-”

Noah is up out of his seat in a flash. “I can’t. Not to day, I’ve got- I’m busy.” he rounds the corner of the house without giving Tansy so much as a pat goodbye.

Martin follows, a little taken aback. “That’s alright. Just stop by when you have time, I’ll keep doing what I have been doing. But I really do need to see her under saddle before we take any more steps.”

Noah is nodding. He shoves his sunglasses back down over his eyes. “Yeah whatever. I’ll stop by, later.”

He doesn’t even say goodbye before he’s slamming the door of his truck shut and taking off, turning his trailer around and disappearing down the road. Not the reaction he’d been expecting, but he’s not entirely sure if this is a good or a bad outcome. Time will tell, he supposes.

It doesn't take long for it to become apparent, however. Martin is in the kitchen when there’s a knock at the front door.

It’s a Sunday, so he’s alone on the farm, and he’s not expecting anyone. Least of all a sheepish looking Gabriel Warren on his doorstep.

Noah’s truck sits behind him. Trailer on the back of it, once again. Martin’s stomach drops at the sight of it.

“Can we talk?” Gabriel says, his smile is worn thin.

Martin steps aside, gesturing for him to come inside. “Go on then. I was just about to set the table.”

Gabriel kicks his boots off by the door. “Thanks but I don’t need anything, I’ll be quick, I just wanted to get something off my chest.”

The whole house smells like chicken soup, and despite Gabriel’s refusal, Martin ladles him a bowl along with his own. “Sit.”

They eat in tense silence for a while, before Gabriel finally speaks up. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I think Noah is making a mistake in terminating the contract, so I’m going to tell you anyways.”

Martin doesn’t say anything, just lets Gabriel carry on.

So he is here for Tansy then. Figures Noah would throw in the towel at the slightest sign of a challenge.

“Noah hasn’t gotten back in the saddle since his accident.” He says, which is not the direction Martin thought this conversation was going to take.

“He spent a few days in the hospital. Was all eager to get out so he could go back to riding. But then when he was finally discharged and given the all clear, he just, didn’t.” Gabriel pushes a piece of potato around his bowl. “Kept making excuses, anything to get out of it, or to change the subject. Tansy has sat in a paddock ever since. It’s been almost a year now.” he shrugs. “I just thought you should know. This is why Noah is acting skittish all of a sudden. It’s not anything you’ve done.”

This complicates things. But it’s valuable information. Information that Martin wishes he’d had from the start. Maybe Noah has a bigger role in this than he would have liked.

“I guess it doesn’t matter now. If you’re here for the horse.”

Gabriel shifts in his seat. “Like I said, I think Noah is making a mistake. I don’t think he’s thinking clearly.” That much is obvious. “If you’re on board, I’d like to see if I can change his mind before we take any drastic measures.”

“Think you can pull that off?” Martin is doubtful. Noah seems the emotional and impulsive type that’s hard to get through to once he’s made up his mind about something.

“I’m going to try.” Gabriel says, finally looking a little more at ease now that Martin seems to be willing to give them another chance. “Worst case scenario, Noah can come pick Tansy up himself, cause I’m not doing it for him. Maybe you can make him see reason, if I can’t.”

Martin snorts. “I don’t think there’s so much as a shred of reason in that kid.”

Gabriel chuckles at that. He shakes his head fondly. “No, you might be right about that.”

With dinner and their conversation wrapped up, Gabriel takes off, trailer leaving empty for the third time in a week. The two of them have bought Tansy a little more time, if nothing else, and if he’s lucky, Gabriel will be able to make Noah understand that terminating the contract now won’t do anyone any good.

He spends the rest of the day down in the pasture with the horses, enjoying his day off with his herd grazing around him. Tansy practically in his pocket the whole time.

Martin and Tansy get two more good days before the rumble of an engine and the rattle of a trailer makes Martin’s stomach twist.

He’s in a corral, working with the last client horse that’s due to leave tomorrow. And from here he can just barely make out the shape and color of the car that’s just pulled in. it’s Noah’s. Because of course it is. “Sorry bud. Be back in a sec.”

Noah is flinging a halter and lead rope onto his shoulder when Martin walks up.

“Noah.” He makes sure it sounds like the warning it is.

“Where is she?” He doesn’t even wait for an answer before he’s striding off down towards the pasture.

“Don’t do this.” Martin knows it’s a lost cause, but he has to try. “We can fix this. C’mon, we can talk it through inside.”

Noah ignores him.

“Noah, wait!”

He’s rounding the corner of the barn now, the horses come into view in the field below. Martin feels the fragile grasp on his self control snap like a frayed thread. “I said wait.” He grabs Noah by the shirt and, in a mirror of that day by the truck, he pins him to the wall, Martin’s arm across his chest.

“I know you’re scared.”

Noah’s eyes turn frigid. “You don’t know shit!” He struggles. “Let me go!”

Martin doesn’t budge. “Gabriel told me everything.” He gives the words a moment to sink in. “Are you going to give up on her, just because you’re a fucking coward, or are you going to man up and let me help you?”

Noah stares at him. Eyes wide with something that Martin can’t quite place. Fear, maybe, but there’s something else, too. He looks down at Tansy. The entire herd have their ears pricked in their direction, all except one.

“She’s not a lost cause, Noah.”

He bares his teeth. “No, but I am.” He sounds like he hates himself for admitting it. “I’m retiring. She’s going up for sale in the morning. I can’t do this.”

Martin’s heart breaks for him. The tears brimming in his eyes make him look so young, so small, like all that attitude really was just for show. A facade to hide just how torn apart he is underneath.

“You can.” He eases up a little, not letting Noah go, but letting him breathe at least. “You’re not a lost cause either.” He can’t believe he’s saying this. “Let me help you.”

Noah chuckles wetly. “You fix horses, Martin. Not humans.” He looks so resigned. Like he’s already given up.

“Sometimes the only way to fix the horse, is to fix the human too.” Martin gives in and wipes the single tear off of Noah’s face with his thumb. “I think this has cleared something up for me, about why Tansy is the way that she is. And I think that what you need, is to learn how to help each other.”

Noah looks up at him, eyes red and wet, same as his cheeks. “How do we do that, then?”

“First, we go inside, and we talk. Yeah?”

He nods. “Yeah. Alright.”

[Part 3 here]

[abandoned-quiche]

I LOVE ALL OF THESE CHARACTERS BTW. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE YOUR HATE FOR THEM ON MY POST

[bamsara]

I think that one thing people fail to understand is that unsolicited literary criticism coming from an online stranger who is reading with no knowledge of what the authors intended goal is, is not going to be received the same as say: the authors beta reader or friends who know what the authors intended goal and has the sufficient knowledge and input to help the author reach that desired outcome.

"But I'm only trying to be helpful" How do I know you have the knowledge and literary skill for you to be able to actaully do that when we don't know each other and you are essentially a stranger to me? Are you applying this criticism based out of personal biased experience and desire to see the story or characterization be driven in another direction or tweaked, or do you know the author's intentions for the character? If the story is incomplete, are you basing your criticism of a character on the incomplete narration with only partial information available of them or are you building up a report until the story's completion? Did the author provide you with the information needed to make a fully informed criticism?

Have you discussed with the author what their plans are or are you assuming them based off the narration, especially if the narration is proven or implied to be unreliable or missing key points of the plot? Are you unbiased enough to help them reach their desired outcome for the characters and story regardless of your personal feelings towards the characters/antagonists and setting? Can you handle being told your specific input isn't wanted because you're a reader and/or have no written anything relating to their genre or topic? Do you understand and respect that the author's personal experiences might influence their writing and make it different than how you would have done it personally? Do you understand if an author only wants input from a specific demographic relating to their story?

If it's for fanfiction or other hobby media, are you holding a free hobby to a professional standard? Are you trying to give criticism because you feel like the author has produced 'subpar job performance' of their fic? Are you viewing their work as a personal intimate outlet or something that must conform with mass media? Are you applying rules and guidelines when the fic is shared for simple sharing sake? Is your criticism worded appropriately and focused on the parts where the author has requested input on rather than a general dismissal and or disapproval?

Have you put yourself in a place where you assumed you have the input needed for the story to evolve better, or have you asked what the author needs and what they're having trouble with? Can you handle having your criticism rejected if the author decides their story doesn't need the change and not take it as a personal offense against your character? Are you crossing that boundary because you think you are doing the author a favor? Are you trying to be helpful, or do you just want to be?

I think sometimes when people hear authors go 'please don't give me unsolicited writing advice or criticism' they automatically chalk it up to 'this author doesn't want ANY constructive feedback on their stuff at all' and not "i already have trusted individuals who will help me with my writing goals and- hey i don't know you like that, please stop acting so overly familiar with me'

[autumn-may]

Mostly spoiler free summary of my viewing experience

[suja-janee]

I’ve been losing my mind over these guys recently

[askfordoodles]

I just noticed when Ozzie appears behind Fizz, the initial explosion shows his sigil for exactly ONE frame (replacing Mammon's sigil we've seen plastered throughout the episode). I just thought it was a neat little detail, Asmodeus essentially summoned himself in that moment.

[skulkingfoxes]

Spent some time this morning putting together the colored pencil zines. I have rescan everything (unfortunately higher res is SIGNIFICANTLY better looking haha) but I think I figured out how I want to edit the drawings.

Want to highlight the color and softness of the pencils.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

class swap design masterpost for convenience (from top to bottom: bard!riz, cleric!gorgug, sorcerer!kristen, barbarian!fig, artificer!adaine, and rogue!fabian)

[linkbetweenlinksau]

Clones pt 3

Pt 1|| pt 2||

First

[ghostsberry]

soldier !!

[nori-no-name]

This is what I imagine the frontline Supreme Removers' team dynamic as (please tell me someone still remembers this meme, I couldn't find the original for the life of me)

I gave alt!Ladybug her Toxinelle hairstyle so it's more clear it's her, also I just like the space buns much better.

[mythmagicetc]

sits bolt upright in bed. buck putting in for a transfer WAS originally going to happen in 8.17. because part of the synopsis for that episode was “buck contemplates where he’s supposed to be” and there was that whole conversation with gerrard that they cut. at the time i was thankful (and honestly i still am, i wouldn’t have wanted another part of 8.17 cut) but i’m 99% sure that’s when it was supposed to be introduced

[yesloulou]

made this for research (which color brings out green eyes more) and now my brain is confused lol

[nerolikestowander]

Ughhhh this has so many flaws but here you go! This song ruined my life 😀

And here are the still versions :(((

[ryllen]

snap! 🫰 snap! 🫰 and it's birthing time already

[suja-janee]

Recent fixation go burrrr