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[authorangelita]

NINE PEOPLE I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW BETTER

I was tagged by @disappearinginq – thank you!! 

LAST SONG?  Spotify says it's Snow (Hey Oh) by Red Hot Chili Peppers.  The song that's been stuck in my brain all day is Chlorine by twenty one pilots.

FAVORITE COLOR?  Deep purple or forest green

CURRENTLY WATCHING?  Ghosts, Fire Country, and The Rookie are the shows I watch  that are currently airing.  And I'm watching some older shows like CSI and Castle and Big Bang Theory.  I'm also super into vintage Jeopardy on Pluto TV. 

LAST MOVIE?  Alien (45th anniversary re-release on the big screen!)

SWEET/SPICY/SAVORY?  Sweet is my jam (pun intended).  I also love savory.  I'm learning to like spicy.   

RELATIONSHIP STATUS?  Single

CURRENT OBSESSIONS? Work is crushing my soul, so I don't really have any current obsessions.  I'm actively avoiding new shows that I think I'll get obsessed with because I have so many MacGyver fics that I want to finish, and I know how my brain works.  If I get obsessed with something new, I'll never finish those. 

LAST THING YOU GOOGLED? American Ninja Warrior Season 16 premiere date.  It popped up on the app I use to track my TV watching, so I wanted to verify.  It's June 3rd!  Before that it was the MID function in Excel because I was trying to help my brother sort a report for his job, lol

Umm, I usually don't tag people because I get anxious about it, but I'm going to give it a go this time. Like disappearinginq, I'm going to choose people from my mutuals list (if you're already been tagged/already done it, you can ignore me): @loves-2-read, @bloodfromthethorn, @januarydivide, @erinsworld, @commanderbunnbunn, @fesweetpea, @rosieblogstuff, @impossiblepluto, @appalachianapologies

[authorangelita]

[authorangelita]

Y'all are amazing. Reblog to hug the person you’re reblogging from.

[authorangelita]

5.24 Grave Danger

[authorangelita]

Me constantly: “how can I turn this into a Whump scenario?”

[authorangelita]

5.24 Grave Danger

[authorangelita]

🌹

This is from the next chapter of Undercover + Ranch, which I'll post in a day or two after I get a chance for some more editing:

“Can you take a break from playing food critic and get some air circulating?” Mac asked, wiping his good wrist across his forehead.

[authorangelita]

So you want to write about horses.

Or you're writing and horses show up. Or its a pre-industrial fantasy and your characters have to get somewhere. Or you have a faint idea of your MC's love interest showing up on a white stallion.

Whatever the cause, you're writing, and a horse appears. But you know nothing about horses. I can help.

This is a horse. Horses come in many sizes.

^ Big Jake, a Belgian Draft horse, and a roughly 5 foot woman for scale.

1 hand = 4 inches = 10.16 cm

Once a horse is smaller than about 14.2hh, it is generally considered a pony. In the modern day, ponies are not considered suitable for adult riders due to weight and height issues. Some pony breeds, such as Welsh, Fjords, ect. are known for being sturdy, and can more easily carry adult sized humans. Miniature horses should never be ridden by adults.

^The only suitable 'riding' a miniature horse should do

The above graphic mentions that horses are measured from the top of the withers, not the top of the head. But, what are withers?

The withers are where the horse's shoulders meet the spine, and the neck becomes the back. Withers are incredibly important for saddle placement, as a badly placed saddle in this area can prevent a horse from moving its legs properly, cause a large amount of pain, and even damage a horse's spine. Speaking of spines, this is a horse skeleton, with the withers pointed out.

Horses have four legs. Horses cannot have any fewer than four legs. They are obligate quadrupeds. This is, in part, due to their weight, as well as the construction of their legs and hooves. This is to say, that while cats, dogs, and other animals can be amputees, a horse, short of some incredible magic solution, cannot. Even a broken leg bone will cause a huge amount of problems, as all of the weight that leg would usually hold must be shifted to the other feet, and this causes a condition called laminitis, where the tissue that holds together the hoof and the toe bone becomes inflamed, and begins to separate. Once this happens, the hoof tissue dies from lack of blood, and the bone begins to rotate. This is extremely painful for the horse, and so often the best solution for a horse with a broken leg is to be spared that pain. Famous American racehorse Barbaro experienced a complex broken bone, which began to heal fine, but complications from laminitis in two of his other legs caused him to be put down. This is why media will almost always show a horse with a broken or injured leg being 'taken care of'.

^Barbaro, in his prime. Even the best veterinary medicine couldn't save him.

Now, racehorses like Barbaro are moving at the fastest speed and the fastest gait of the horse, the gallop. The patterns that horses move their feet are referred to as gaits, with most horses having four, with some breeds having five or more.

The first gait and the slowest is the walk. In the walk, all four feet move independently, which leads it to be called a four-beat gait, as the footfalls make a sort of drumbeat on the ground.

The next gait is the trot, a two beat gait with diagonal pairs of legs moving together.

^Diagonal pairs marked in red and blue

The trot is a very bouncy experience for the rider, and can be uncomfortable. Some riders will rise and fall with a pair of diagonal legs, called a posting trot, some will stand in their stirrups, called a two-point or jump position, and some will sit the trot, which requires a lot of core strength (seriously, if you want a strong core, screw the gym)

The third gait is the canter, a three-beat gait with a single diagonal pair. This gait is ridden sitting, and feels a lot like going over waves on a jetski. There is a rise, a scoop, and a fall feeling. The canter is also called a lope in Western riding, they are the same gait.

^diagonal pair marked in red

A gallop is sometimes considered a variation on canter, as it is similar save for the legs actually moving in a four-beat pattern. As you can see with the image of Barbaro, all four of his feet are moving in different patterns, at different times, even though the gallop is really a four beat version of the canter. Riders in the gallop rise off the horse's back into a raised position, which allows the horse to use the full length of its spine and musculature to get as much reach and speed as possible. It feels like riding on top of a train barreling down the tracks, at least until your horse takes an unexpected turn and the ground is suddenly the only thing you're riding.

^ I've been there. The trick is to push away and hit the ground rolling, it hurts less that way. And don't land on your head.

That's all for this post. I'll have more when I feel like it, and send me questions if you want to know more about specific things or need a writing question answered

Reblogs welcome and encouraged

@jacqueswriteblrlibrary for wider reach

[authorangelita]

I was getting pretty fed up with links and generators with very general and overused weapons and superpowers and what have you for characters so:

Here is a page for premodern weapons, broken down into a ton of subcategories, with the weapon’s region of origin. 

Here is a page of medieval weapons.

Here is a page of just about every conceived superpower.

Here is a page for legendary creatures and their regions of origin.

Here are some gemstones.

Here is a bunch of Greek legends, including monsters, gods, nymphs, heroes, and so on. 

Here is a website with a ton of (legally attained, don’t worry) information about the black market.

Here is a website with information about forensic science and cases of death. Discretion advised. 

Here is every religion in the world. 

Here is every language in the world.

Here are methods of torture. Discretion advised.

Here are descriptions of the various methods used for the death penalty. Discretion advised.

Here are poisonous plants.

Here are plants in general.

Feel free to add more to this!

[authorangelita]

[authorangelita]

Share! Vote! Help me decide! And leave your propaganda in the tags or notes to help persuade me. 😁

[authorangelita]

I was tagged by @rosieblogstuff 😃

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

259.  I really want to hit 100 stories in both MacGyver and White Collar fandoms.   😁

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

594,984.  That averages out to 2,297 words per work, which is actually better than I thought it would be.  I write a lot of short pieces. 

3. What fandoms do you write for?

In order of most fics to least: White Collar, MacGyver 2016, Teen Wolf, White Collar RPF, Dark Angel, Supernatural.  There are a few other fandoms, but they're related to an event I did on LJ where you wrote down 15 characters from various fandoms, and people gave you random numbers, and you had to write a drabble/ficlet that included those characters. 

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Redraw the Lines (White Collar)

Letter T: Tired (Teen Wolf)

Letter Q: Quilt (Teen Wolf)

Letter K: Kidfic (Teen Wolf)

Friendly Advice and Family Dinner (White Collar)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always plan to respond, but I'm super behind at the moment.  One of these days, I'm going to catch up!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Listen, I'm not proud of it, but I did once write the death of Peter and Elizabeth's dog Satchmo in White Collar fic.

On the MacGyver front, it's hard to tell.  Maybe Regrets (Jack) where Jack decides they all need to leave the Phoenix. 

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I don't know that I would classify many of my fics as having a happy ending. I think Altered Course, the AU where Jack and Diane decide to foster Mac after his grandfather dies, has a pretty happy ending. 

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, not really.  There are a couple of White Collar fics that I wrote that some people didn't like, but I still didn't get hate for them. 

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nope.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I haven't finished one, but I've tried a couple of White Collar/Teen Wolf crossovers.  That event I did with the 15 characters included crossovers, but they were so short, I don't know that they really counted. 

The craziest one from that was probably Luc Johnston (Tru Calling), Peyton Sawyer (One Tree Hill), and Peter Burke (White Collar) In a love triangle.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, back in the post-Dark Angel days.  A friend and I did a kind of role-playing thing where we wrote a bunch of Dark Angel fic that was mostly never posted, and several Dawson's Creek fics that were CJ/Jen-centric.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Is the Ever Given too obvious?

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I have a whole folder of fics called Limbo.  I've talked about this one before, but I have this idea (and I posted a ficlet of it during an event last year, I think) where Mac spirals after Jack "dies", becomes addicted to pain pills, and pushes everyone away until Jack comes back.  I would love to write it, but the amount of research needed boggles my brain. 

Another one that I probably won't finish is the one post-Regrets (Jack) where (post-Phoenix) Team Improv becomes an elite Search and Rescue team where Jack flies the helicopter, Mac gets winched down to rescue people, etc.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Oh, this is a good question!  And also a tough question.  Umm, Jack's voice, finding unique ways to twist an h/c story,  and the occasional zinger dialogue. 

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Also a good question and another tough one.  Fully fleshing out scenes, not starting paragraphs with someone's name, and coming up with endings that aren't cheesy.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I'm uncomfortable with it because I don't speak any other languages, and everything I know about translation apps/sites makes me nervous.  I named a fic with a word from another language, and I often think about changing it because I'm worried it means something terrible in a different language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

General Hospital.  Those fics are lost to time (or the secret FFN account that I will never share).  I was 14/15, and they were terrible.  But I'm so glad I had that brief fandom experience.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

For White Collar, it's Redraw the Lines.  I really don't think that answer will ever change.  For MacGyver, that answer changes often, and I'm still writing stuff, so maybe I haven't written it yet.  Today, it's Wearing Your Wounds.

I'm not sure who's been tagged so far, so if you want to play, please say you were tagged by me! 😃

[authorangelita]

Just wanted to take a moment to say "Thank You!" to everyone who participated in Cairo Day 2024. If you submitted prompts, voted, created, read, reblogged thank you! This event can't happen without your excitement and enthusiasm. Also remember that even though this week is over, we don't believe in deadlines. We've heard from several folks who weren't able to finish the projects they wanted to (mods included) but we'll gladly read and reblog your creations whenever they're finished, just give us an '@'

Until next year! (... or... sooner? stay tuned)

[authorangelita]

Do you know the dwelling(s) either of your parents grew up in?

Yes, I live(d) there

Yes, I’ve been inside it

Yes, I’ve seen it from the outside

Yes, I’ve seen it in a photo

No, I have never seen it

[authorangelita]

can we please talk about him

[authorangelita]

As there's been some new faces joining the fandom, I wanted to make people aware of this blog. Unfortunately, we're not restarting a rewatch, but if you go to the blog's archives there is a huge wealth of gifs, fanfics and other creative posts all tagged with the relevant episode.

It's a great resource for finding blogs to follow and older content that may not show up on Tumblr's search, because well... we all know how well Tumblr's search works. Give some posts a reblog, who knows, you may re-awaken that person's love for the show. Fandom obsessions never die, they're simply dormant...

The Archive

[authorangelita]

Use the #Cairo Day 2024 and @ us in your posts so we can easily find and reblog them!

Written Prompts: Shot Locked in

Visual Prompt: The ferris wheel and roller coaster of the amusement park at the Santa Monica Pier lit up at night.