#AshFire

[hamstyandfriends]

AshFire & SilverBloom

The night when AshKit's littermates died, and he gained his burn scars, his life changed. He had to stay in the medicine den for a good amount of time, and still has to go on moonly checkups to this day

One night, when AshKit was still in the medicine den, a newly made warrior, SilverBloom came to visit. He felt sorry for the little kit, and wanted to make sure that he was alright. The medicine cats and other authority figures of SunClan were all concerned; What if AshKit will never be able to be a warrior? SilverBloom decided to take the first step, talk to CanarySong. The older medicine cat was a littermate of SunClan's leader, MorningCrystal, so SilverBloom knew that he's the only cat who could make his idea come to reality. He asked to mentor AshKit when he is ready. And luckily, CanarySong managed to convince MorningCrystal to let this happen

SilverBloom, despite being a young and inexperienced mentor, still tried his best to teach AshPaw. He was always patient with the apprentice, and comforted him when he had his doubts. AshPaw had it a little harder than his denmates; His scars often made it hard for him to move and train like any other cat. Especially with his weakened back leg, he had some trouble learning how to run or jump with it, but eventually managed to make up his own way of doing things. His mother, MistyHeart and SilverBloom helped him embrace who he is, and so did his best friend, KestrelPaw

KestrelCloud was made into a warrior a few moons earlier than AshPaw, despite being younger than him, but he didn't mind it. In fact, he was incredibly happy for his friend, and couldn't wait to join her as a warrior when his own time comes. AshPaw spent a great amount of time daydreaming about his own warrior ceremony; What would his full name be? Maybe AshHeart, after his mother? Or AshSpeck, after his late father? Or maybe AshPebble, AshSmoke? Maybe something completely different, like AshFur? AshTail? AshLeg or AshFoot would be a little bit ironic, wouldn't they? Then maybe AshFall? AshCloud, so he could match with KestrelCloud? Maybe. He didn't know, but he couldn't wait to find out

When the special day came, AshPaw felt like he was flying. As he sat under the Great High, waiting for MorningCrystal to announce his name, he imagined CrystalClan gathered all around him. And then she said...

... "AshFire"

Fire? Really? How could MorningCrystal name him after the very thing that scarred him? The tragedy that he has no memories, but nightmares of? Is this some kind of sick joke, made by CrystalClan? He didn't understand. But he didn't need to. Whatever this name meant, he was sure that it had a proper reason behind it. And what really mattered was, that he was ready to prove to all of SunClan that he could be the best warrior they ever had. The name AshFire will be remembered, and never to be made fun of. And that's a promise

[rescuebabiesau]

I did all of these and the first two pages this afternoon... I need to take a break, me thinks XD

Previous: https://www.tumblr.com/rescuebabiesau/717697861370986496/how-inconvenient-and-peculiar-previous?source=share

[namedafterflowerstournament]

Botanic Tournament : The Guardian Herd Bracket !

Round 2 Poll 5

(The pictures are actually pictures of other horses in the series. These ones didn't have official pictures)

[art-ally]

I’m really glad I redid this piece because I love how it came out! Again I must recommend the phenomenal trilogy Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto each book is so amazing and I love them so much!

[elizmanderson]

2022 wrap-up, part 2

click here for part 1 | click here for part 3

aaaaaaand we're back for more of a look at this year. today's topic is reading, which is considerably less sparkling than writing for the reasons below.

top reads in 2022

woof I did so little reading in 2022. I really thought I'd do more once grad school was done, but by then I was doing amm and working on book things for my debut, so it just kinda. didn't happen. I read 14 new books, and 4 of them didn't happen until I was at my parents' house for the holidays.

so maybe it doesn't mean a ton since I read so little, but here are my top reads this year, in no particular order:

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

as you know if you followed me when I actually read this book: obsessed. I wrote so many posts like OH MY GOD THIS BOOK until ofmd distracted me. I read this book twice in one month, in one sitting each time, and posted nonstop bullshit on twitter about it, too. super short, excellent forest vibes, folkloric, gay, what's not to love

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

cozy fantasy, sapphic, not too long, exactly what I need from my fiction, and broke a reading slump that lasted most of my year thank god (no literally I read Silver in the Wood twice in march and then kinda cycled between books without finishing any of them until I read this in probably october)

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, Sangu Mandanna

new comfort read, ahoy! again a cozy fantasy, chock full of found family, so goddamn SOFT and again exactly what I need from my fiction, made me cry but mostly in a good way

The Mutantsitters Club by SJ Whitby

finally, a standalone in the Cute Mutants universe!! all the things you know & love about SJ's works, but softer, sweeter, and bite-sized, which is exactly what I need in my old age and also bc I'm a coward who hasn't even finished the original series yet bc I'm so scared of the many ways SJ might break my heart

the Brown Sisters trilogy by Talia Hibbert (reread)

obviously fantastic bc I reread at least one of them every year and this year went for all three. heartwarming & heartbreaking and digs into various mental health issues as well as neurodivergence (implicitly with Dani Brown, explicitly with Eve Brown) and chronic illness (Chloe Brown)

upcoming books I'm looking forward to

The Love Match by Priyanka Taslim

YA contemporary, debut author

Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything by Justine Pucella Winans

YA mystery, debut author

Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell

cottagecore fantasy romance

The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah

epic fantasy, sequel to The Stardust Thief

[ravs6709]

Going Forward- Latham & Veronyka

Word count: 1.0k words

A late birthday gift to Larson @larsonnoarson!!! I am finally here with it though! Exploring a little latham pov of veronyka, plus a little scene i thought could technically happen in the beginning of wos. Not quite where i was originally planning to go with this tbh, but i think leaving it more open was better

Hope you enjoy Larson!!!

Warnings: swearing (out of the censored era in my writing lol, it looked too weird)

•~•~•~•~•~•

Latham's first impression of Nyk was alright. He was nothing special. Just an ordinary stablehand. Maybe a little better than that, after he got Tristan scolded by his dad. He didn't hate Tristan, but he seemed too mighty, too isolated, too far above them and all because of nepotism. So if Nyk was gonna bring him down from that pedestal, he didn't really mind.

But then... but then so much started happening all at once. Elliot's betrayal, which nearly costed them all their lives. People actually had died. A phoenix had died. He felt the grief on his own, but it was tenfold because that phoenix was his own bondmate's mother. It happened in a flash, so when it was revealed that Nyk--Veronyka--was not who Latham thought he--she--was, didn't he have the right to be upset?

Not to mention, she was receiving so much special treatment. Veronyka became an apprentice quickly, and all of a sudden she was joining their patrol's outings, even after failing her audition to become a Master Rider. She was still a rookie who hardly knew anything, wasn't skilled enough for being a Rider yet. She wasn't useless, he wouldn't go as far as that, it wasn't like she wasn't helpful at all. The worst problem was the way her and Tristan behaved with each other. Tristan seemed less... standoffish? Which wasn't a bad thing, but he was very reckless, and she only seemed to be enabling him. No. She was making him reckless.

The two kept wandering off on their own, and one time they got involved in a fire on their own. Always making decisions on their own, rarely informing them of what they were doing. It was as if the two were harbouring some kind of secret. They'd gone out to soothe things out with the villagers, but not enough was being done. What were the rest of the patrol there for at this point?

And then Veronyka left. Tristan left with the commander to where Lord Rolan and Veronyka were, and their patrol soon followed. The action had fallen by the time they'd arrived, and Latham could see the Riders and Veronyka.

But no Tristan.

He'd been captured by Rolan.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he demanded Veronyka, striding right up to her. "We flew all the way here for you, some deserter, and now he's in danger? We shouldn't have come here." His fists hurt with how hard he clenched, they itched to just reach for her neck so he could fucking wring it or something, but he was very aware of the fact that everyone was watching.

Instead, he turned to walk away. That was, until her hands grabbed his tunic, yanking him down so that he was no longer towering over her. He shook in her grip, then froze as he met her eyes. Dark. Her eyes were dark brown, but they were near black with fury now, her jaw clenched. He'd never seen her like this before.

"Do you think there's even the slightest chance that you're more heartbroken than me?" she asked, her voice low. He wanted to open his mouth, because obviously he was heartbroken, because for all his problems with Tristan he wanted him back, but she continued on. "Do you think I wouldn't take his place in an instant if I had a choice?"

She shoved him back, and he stumbled to regain his balance. "Commander," he called out, his voice shaking, "what happened?"

The truth about Veronyka's identity was explained. An Ashfire. Veronyka Ashfire. What was... what was he supposed to do with that? The dynamic changed once more, and he avoided her. Even he wasn't sure how he felt. It wasn't like his dislike and bitterness went away just like that. He wanted to fight her, but he knew it wasn't a good idea to that, even if she started physically asking for it.

•~•~•~•~•~•

"Look," Veronyka said, as they went through a sparring session. "if you have anything to say to me, just say it to my face. I'm not going to just lash out at you if you insult me."

Latham blocked one of her attacks with ease. "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know," she said, her next kick containing more force. "Anything. I'm sick of all this. You glaring at me is better than... whatever this is."

"You want me to... yell at you?"

"That's not quite what I meant. But it's what you wanted to do for so long, wasn't it? Didn't you only show consideration because Tristan supported me?"

"I don't hate you," he said through a sigh, avoiding a punch.

"I know that," she said, and something about the way she was so self-assured about that pissed him off slightly.

"Then what do you want?" he asked. "I'm not going to jeapordize your role or anything--"

"I just want to be treated as more of an equal. It's annoying."

She went for another punch, but this time he was able to counter and knock her down to the ground. "because Tristan obviously cares about you."

She looked up at him. "Oh."

He stood still to catch his breath. "That being said, I still don't like you."

She got up, and she was smiling a little. His own lips twitched. "That's fine with me," she said. "You can feel free to show it more. Correct me on things, because I may be an Ashfire, but I still hardly know anything."

He nodded. "Don't complain too much, then," he said.

"Don't worry," she replied, getting into a fighting stance. 

He went back in and fought.

He was still upset at her, and that wouldn't change easily, but he knew to acknowledge that she had the same goal as him-- get Tristan back. It wasn't enough, not yet, but he wasn't stupid enough to think that he wasn't mainly affected by his emotions. Maybe she'd prove herself to be more capable.

So for now, that was enough.

•~•~•~•~•~•

cof taglist: @subrosasteath

Want to be added/removed from the taglist? just let me know!

[just-a-bookish-reader]

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book was amazing. I read it while waiting for flights and on flights to Charleston for YAllFest last month and I finished it so suddenly that my dad and I were thankful our first flight was only an hour long and then we had a layover, so I could just listen to an audiobook and survive before I could get to the other books I had packed. And honestly, in someways I feel like this book has ruined me forever.

The storytelling aspect was so strong, the way the author set it up with it actually being a story being told and not just running dialogue between characters that felt info dumpy... I almost find the latter annoying now even though that's much more common than what this book did. Also some of the flashbacks the way they were written - for some reason were giving me Six of Crows flashback vibes?

Which is absolutely meant to be taken as a compliment because I think those have been the best sorts of flashbacks I've ever read. Everything felt so vivid and real when I was reading it, and I cannot wait for the second book, but hey at least we have a title and a cover for it! Overall, completely 5 stars, magnificent masterpiece of a novel, and I can't wait to see what Chelsea Abdullah does with the rest of the series! View all my reviews

[ninja-muse]

2, 147

The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah - On the TBR because it's the sequel to The Stardust Thief

Spectred Isle by K.J. Charles - Originally on my TBR because "magical historical mystery" appealed; still on TBR because I've read enough queer historical fantasies that I might as well read them all.

Thanks for asking!

Ask me things!



[bookcub]

24 in 2024

so three people have tagged me in this meme soooooo this is for @sixofravens-reads @asexualbookbird and @dustjacketmusings

hopefully this year i wont lose this list as i seem to do every other there

1. the fifth season by nk jemisin

2. the phoenix king by aparna verma

3. the darkening by sunya mara

4. godly heathens by h.e. edgmon

5. burn for me by ilona andrews

6. a power unbound by freya marske

7. emily wilde's map of the otherlands by heather fawcett

8. godkiller by hannah kaner

9. a study in drowning by ava reid

10. a spear cuts through water by simon jimenez

11. mickey chambers shakes it up by charish reid

12. oathbound by tracy deonn

13. a sorceress comes to call by t kingfisher

14. long live evil by sarah rees brennan

15. the ashfire king by chelsea abdullah

16. faebound by saara el-arifi

17. atana and the firebird by vivian zhou

18. gods of jade and shadow by silvia morena-garcia

19. a song of salvation by alechia dow

20. ink blood sister scribe by emma torzs

21. warrior girl unearthed by angeline boulley

22. dragonfall by l r lam

23. bitter medicine by mia tsai

24. before i let go by kennedy ryan

tagging anyone who wants to do this!!

[notwarriorswiki]

Highlights from reviewing this old art book…

How did Hollyleaf have a kit with Fallen Leaves, that guy was dead 💀 He had three dead siblings - Tumblekit, Timekit, and Aurorakit. Oh yeah his name was Leafclaw because… of course he had to be named Leaf.

Why I chose boring Stonestar over Monarchpaw looking back I don’t understand. I made a Crookedstar clone who is infinitely worse.

Snowbush and Lilyheart are together, so I guess I just didn’t think about cousins back then either. He’s called Snowflight and he’s shy at first but becomes super jaded and mean when Lilypaw leaves to become a kittypet.

Oh yeah Sorreltail didn’t die in the Great Battle??? Somehow? She got shot with a GUN????? And it traumatized Lilypaw so much that she dipped out.

Seedflare continues to be the name I use for dead Seedpaw.

Smokey and Floss kits being major characters who to this day I still remember fondly. Three girls and one of them is like the murderous villain and… reincarnation of Tigerstar? Like she doesn’t look like him at all, she’s a white cat with blue eyes - but she apparently was “born when Tigerstar died” like at the same time so she’s like… cursed to be evil???

Kinkfur’s kits? Sparrowpelt, Mistcloud, and Dewkit? Yeah those ones - major characters as well? Sparrow becomes Sparrowstar, Mistshadow is a medicine cat (which inspired the choice in my 10% left AU).

Dovewing has her kits Stonekit and Monarchkit in ThunderClan where everyone thinks they’re Bumblestripe’s, including him, but they’re actually Tigerheart’s and it’s like woah woah :0 big reveal. I don’t even ship TigerDove any more

I was so heteronormative oops

Bramblestar and Squirrelflight have kits but they’re not Alderheart and Sparkpelt… because they didn’t exist in canon yet so uh. They had Hollowkit, Bloodkit, and Acornkit. Hollowpaw died, but there’s Bloodclaw and Acornleaf. Acornleaf became a perma queen.

Thornclaw and Hazeltail kits?!?! Oh no, it’s early 2000s fandom showing itself. Ugh this is where Stonestar’s love interest is who is killed off for man trauma. Rip Skywillow. They also had her brothers Shadesky and Badgertooth. Badgertooth was jealous Shadesky had friends I guess and was an evil little shit. Incel vibes.

Foxleap and Rosepetal kits - Blazestripe, Smokestep, Saplingpool, and later Ashfire and Fuzzystripe. Uhhh Blazestripe died protecting elder Ivypool (yeah it went that far…), Smokestep was blinded in one eye and was a Brightheart apprentice (because at least I did that thank god)

Evil male RiverClan medicine cat who is in love with main villain.

Indigopelt… uhhh some random WindClan cat I have no clue where she came from.

Firestar lineage kit named Firestorm who is influenced by bad guys and has a relationship with a RiverClan cat who she kills when he rejects her and their kits…

Firestorm having a brother named Opalfang (do they know what Opals are???) who is the Jayfeather med cat apprentice and falls in love with a WindClan warrior for double issues. Uhhh he gave his one kit to Firestorm to raise alongside her own because his mate died giving birth because of course.

SnowLily kit from twoleg place named Golden who joins ThunderClan and takes over after Stonestar dies. I still remember liking her a ton genuinely.

The evil cat and her evil medicine cat mate had kits and one of them is like a ball of sunshine despite being raised to kill I guess so he joins ShadowClan. Oh another one of the kits got with Goldenstar somehow?

Oh god the Lionblaze and Cinderheart kits. Oakshade and Blizzardwind, then later Cardinalfeather and…. Rainbowsplash. I hate it here.

Oh Cardinalfeather left to join WindClan and be with his grandpa Crowfeather for some reason.

Toadstep and Blossomfall kits. Hornetsting, Cottoncloud, Fawnpelt, and Turtleshell. Turtleshell ended up being evil because she was jealous of Fawnpelt because she got with Oakshade. Ugh.

Twins named Burningpaw and Drowningsong. Burningpaw died.

[alienbites]

Traditional-like free digital sketch for AshFire (#206242/#208857) on Lioden!

[hamstyandfriends]

I swear I'm doing something with my life

(I'm not)

Anyways... SoC minis

KestrelCloud

AshFire

CinnamonCloud

HoneyLeaf

MoonDancer

SunChaser

FireFlake

StormFrost. I swear i'll explain someday

[bekah-reading]

2023 Mid-Year Book Tag

Best book you’ve read so far

Haunting Adeline by HD Carlton

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Manicalco

Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far

Twisted by Emily McIntire

Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

Vein Pursuits by Rhett C. Bruno

Best New Release You’ve Read So Far

Immortality by Dana Schwartz

How to Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie

New Release you haven’t read but want to

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

Most Anticipated Release for the 2nd half of the year

Crossed by Emily McIntire

The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah

Heartstopper Vol 5 by Alice Oseman

Biggest Book Disappointment

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker

Most Surprising Book of the Year

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

Most Beautiful Book You’ve bought this year

What books do you need to read before the end of the year?

Being really hopeful- but I’d love to end the year with no physical TBR other than my November bday and Christmas gifts.

But barring that- Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, The Hacienda, Area X, Jurassic Park, and Love, Theoretically.

How many books have you read this year so far?

65 books.

What have you been reading?

Horror, Gothic, Romance, Dark Romance, Short Story Collections, Sci-fi, YA Fantasy, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Extreme Horror, Splatterpunk, Western.

Out of Comfort Zone

None-I have yet to step out of my comfort zone this year.

Books that made you happy

The Stardust Thief, Twisted, Illuminae series, Stalkign Jack the Ripper series.

New Favourite Author

Kerri Maniscalco

Chelsea Abdullah

H.D. Carlton

New Favourite Crush

Zade Meadows (I had no hesitation to put his name down)

Thomas Cresswell

Crowley from The Black Badge Series

Shadow and Venom

Qadir

Julius

Newest Favourite Character

Audrey Rose and Thomas Cresswell

Sibby

Noemí and Francis

Tarquin

Duddits

Books that made you cry

Dreamcatcher- not ashamed to admit it.

The Stardust Thief

[namedafterflowerstournament]

Botanic Tournament : The Guardian Herd Bracket !

Round 2 Poll 4

(The picture for Ashfire is, actually, a picture of another horse in the series. Ashfire didn't have official pictures)

[art-ally]

Finished the Crown of Feathers trilogy by Nicki Pau Preto and oh my gosh it is so good!! If you loved the How to Train Your Dragon movies then I highly recommend this book!! I will be redoing this piece digitally so keep an eye out for that in a few days!

[rescuebabiesau]

How many kids do each of the Rescue Bots have?

As of right now, Blades has one son, Snowblast, and is expecting again, Heatwave has one daughter, Downpour, and is expecting again, Chase has a pair of twins, a son and daughter named Jack and Jolt, and Boulder has fostered/adopted two, a boy named Hopscotch, and a girl named Luminescence "Lumi."

Quickshadow also has triplets: Reverb, Vibrato, and Ashfire.