#my gender is horsegirl okay

[plaudiusplants]

Okay I know this was a couple days ago, but you are logged a lot of horse things. Are they your favorite animal? (feel free to go on a long rant if you so please)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am vibrating!! Yes, horses are my best friends and favourite animals of all the ever and I love them so so much!! They're just like me fr!!! Tall kitty

Horses are the best and I've found that they're actually a lot like really tall cats!! They like to snuggle until the moment they don't, they like to cause problems on purpose, and they really like to feel like they have some control over their own situation. They are being ever so gracious in allowing you to do things that they have decided ahead of time are okay for you to do with slash to them. And, like, don't tell any horse I know that I said this, but they're kind of right. I'm (approximately) 120 lbs; any horse I ride is about ten times heavier than me, give or take. I'm not winning that tug-of-war unless the horse allows it. That physics will not track

I'm gonna start talking about anxiety here and it doesn't get really heavy anywhere but I'll put a read more button in anyway just in case 💕💕 (pictures and gushing about the horse I'm currently riding are also at the end though!)

Okay but so basically though, the way to succeed in an interaction with a horse is to assume they are scared and to let them know over and over again that you won't let scary things happen to them. Scary things include horrifying horse-eating squirrels, terrifying horse-gobbling pigeons, petrifying horse-devouring shadows, Large Noises that could have come from any of the aforementioned things, etc. I figure it's probably good strategy for prey animals to assume that basically anything can and will hurt them, but it also means that horses tend to be very spookable. I shit you not that I have ridden a gelding (boy with no balls) who spooked away from a jump because he saw his shadow right in front of the jump and thought it was dangerous

That said, obviously some breeds are going to spook more easily than others, and depending on training and background there are many many horses in the world who are very good at ignoring such terrifying things as "small children who make noise" and "leaf, blowing in the wind", and even "being the first in a line"

And as someone with a whole metric shit-ton of anxiety (now medicated, thankfully), the idea that I have to be the brave one who looks at things rationally and says "no, actually, nothing here eats horses" has always helped me a lot. If I can say that well yeah public speaking is kind of terrifying, but nothing here will eat me except socially, and I can recover from the social horrors. Probably.

Anyway the horse I'm riding now is named Gracie, just like my cat!! And for a very long time she was a brood mare, meaning she lived in the field and had babies and that was most of what she did for her life. She was trained when she was very young, but for some reason her owners decided not to put any more effort into training her, but now she belongs to my coach, so she gets to play with me! We think that whoever trained her taught her that being good meant going fast and that if she is being good that means she should be going fast? Anyway, in the last few months, she has relaxed admirably!! She enjoys the work, and she thinks that I am a Good People, and she usually stands still for me to groom her 💖💕💖🌻💕💖

She gets incredibly sweaty every time we ride together, even though I tell her often that we don't need to run so fast. It's less and less motivated by her own anxiety though, so I'm happy that she's happy 😊

Also, fun fact! Horses cannot vomit! Vomiting is my least favourite bodily function, whether I am doing it or someone else is, so I am extremely happy about that! Yeah yeah being unable to vomit means other health issues I don't care!

Anyway look at my (not mine) beautiful lovely horse who I love with all my heart!!!!

[ravs6709]

As Pretty As The Petals- Four Horsegirls

(For those who don't know, Four Horsegirls is Linh/Marella/Maruca/Stina!)

Anyways! This is for the kotlc gift-exchange, and my gift is for Sky (@constellations-of-elixirs)!

Heard you like flowers! So flowershop au (and tattoo artist and coffee shop-) and flower language! Just a whole lot of fluff and Linh pining! Hope you like it Sky!

Linh uses ve/ver pronouns, Marella uses ze/hir, Maruca e/em, and Stina she/they (though, they all call each other girlfriends, rather than a less gendered variant)

Warnings: referenced bad parents Quan and Mai, but the crew is in their twenties so they don't care as much therefore not as serious

•~•~•~•~•~•

Linh Song was happy with ver life. The job was nice, ve worked at a flower shop where ve got to grow ver flowers and occasionally gush about flower language to the customers who were curious. Ve loved hearing about the various reasons why people were buying flowers- a confession, an apology, a gift.

The area was nice too. Ve lived in the city, but there was a school and a park nearby, so during the afternoons, the streets were crowded with more than just cars driving by the road. It was heartwarming to see the occasional child come and buy a flower for their friend.

"This one's my friend's favourite colour!" They might have said, and Linh smiled at them, giving them a slight discount because they were adorable.

The best part of it all though, was the company.

The bell chimed, and Linh looked up reflexively to see someone with curly hair walk in, a book in one arm, and a tray with two coffees in the other.

"Oh, is it lunch already?" Linh asked. "You can sit down, I'll be right there in a minute."

Stina nodded. "Marella and Maruca are both busy, so they won't come until later. Maruca made our coffee."

"I'll have to tell em thanks," ve said, getting ver co-worker- Jensi- to take over since he'd just finished his break.

Once that was settled, ve sat in the chair next to Stina and pulled out ver lunch.

"Oh, that's a new book," ve remarked, pointing to the book on the table. "Is it good?"

"Haven't read it yet, so I can't say," Stina replied. "Honestly, I picked it up because the person who returned it said there were lesbians and there's also a horse on the cover."

Linh laughed. "You would read a book because of a horse. Wait until Marella and Maruca hear that. I can't blame you though."

Stina rolled her eyes. "I've already conceded I'm a horsegirl, what else do you expect from me?"

"I hope you know that admitting it was an awful idea, right?"

Stina sighed, more fond then exasperation. "Yeah."

Their conversation ended, and there was silence, but not an unwanted one. They sat there, eating their lunches, and Linh took the opportunity to just look at Stina and admire how pretty she was. If ve ilted ver head just right, it looked one of the flowers behind her was actually in her hair.

Ve stood up. "I'll be right back."

Ve went to the counter, remembering that ve had a single oxalis flower. Ve took it and went back to Stina. Ve leaned forward and tucked it behind ear, ver hand brushing against her cheek.

Okay. Wow. She looked way prettier than ve'd been expecting, and it wasn't doing good things to ver heart. There was a slight pink flush to her cheeks, matching the colour of the flower.

"Thanks," she whispered, smiling.

A loud alarm rang, ruining the moment.

"I have to get back to work now," Stina said, packing up. She gave ver a long, tight hug. "I'll see you later."

"Have a good day!" Linh said.

•~•~•~•~•~•

"So, what if I got myself another tattoo?" Marella asked, as ze, Linh, Maruca and Stina sat at a table at the coffee shop Maruca worked at.

"Where are you going to put it?" Maruca asked.

"Probably on my arm," ze replied, flexing hir arm.

Linh's eyes lingered on hir arm, focused on the details of some of the other tattoos ze had on hir arm. Marella worked as a tattoo artist at the parlor next to ver shop, and not for the first time, ve wondered what it would be like for ze to give ver a tattoo-

Ve looked away, realizing that ve had to have been staring for too long. One look at Maruca though told ver that e had been doing the exact same thing. At least it wasn't just ver.

"What should I get though?" Marella asked, oblivious to the staring that had been doing on.

"You should put a flower," Stina suggested. "One of the flowers at Linh's shop, maybe."

"Ve helps grow really pretty flowers," Maruca agreed.

Marella looked thoughtful at that. "I'll take a look to see what flowers there are. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, actually."

With three equally beautiful pairs of blue eyes now on ver, Linh found it a little hard to breathe. "Of course! You can come whenever you want!"

It wasn't as if it were the first time that they'd come to ver shop, in fact, they generally have their lunch breaks together (usually in Maruca's shop, but sometimes not; like now. Either way, it didn't matter too much, since their jobs were all next to each other anyways). But sometimes ve would be caught off guard by how beautiful they all were.

(Ve was in this odd situation, because they all seemed receptive to the mild flirting ve had done in the past, but there was a difference between mild flirting and an actual confession.)

"Great," ze smiled. "I'll come over tomorrow and be there to do some sketches."

•~•~•~•~•~•

"Oh dear, Linh," Maruca said at the cashier. "I've got your order ready. Are you alright? You look tired."

"Yeah," ve sighed. "I'm fine. My parents called, they wanted to have our family reunion scheduled for earlier this year."

E narrowed eyr eyes. Linh had told em and the others about ver parents in the past, so e knew exactly why ve was exhausted.

"I'm starting to think that we should actually let Marella commit arson," e mumbled, just loud enough for ver to hear.

"You know I can't let hir do that," Linh said.

"Yeah yeah," e grumbled, getting Linh's coffee. "Won't stop us from thinking about it though."

Ve took ver coffee from Maruca, ver hand gently brushing against eyrs. "Thank you for this," ve smiled. "Seeing you has already made my day better."

E smiled back. "I'm glad I can help. Have a good day, Linh."

•~•~•~•~•~•

"Linh, one of your girlfriends just entered the shop," Jensi called out.

"Which one?" ve blurted, putting down ver water bottle, ready to get back to work. "Wait- I'm not even dating any of them."

"Yet," he corrected. "Also, it's Marella."

"Don't be so loud about it!" ve whisper-yelled.

Jensi was the other person on ver shift, and it meant that he usually had to watch Linh be a disaster in front of ver crushes, and listen to ver ramble about how pretty they all were. Despite the fact that he wasn't even interested in romance, he was a very attentive listener and liked hearing what ve had to say. So really, ve couldn't blame him for teasing ver, when it meant that he was willing to put up with ver rambling.

"Are you looking for the flower to use as your tattoo?" Ve asked Marella.

Ze nodded. "I'll be looking, you carry on."

Whenever ve wasn't busy taking care of a customer, ve was staring at Marella as ze walked around, gently touching the petals (Linh had given the three of them permission to do so, and showed them the proper way to do it So they wouldn't harm the flowers).

"The pansies look nice," Marella remarked. "Red would probably be a classic choice, but the orange ones kinda look better. Hey Linh, what do they mean?"

"They represent joy, happiness, and optimism."

"Oh, sweet. I'll buy one."

"You don't have to-"

Marella cut ver off. "It's fine, I wanna pay for it."

"Okay, if you insist."

Ze bought the flower then sat by the counter, pulling out a notebook and pencil so ze could draw the pansy. Linh loved watching hir draw, the way ze got focused, it was captivating.

Marella didn't have hir shift for today until later in the afternoon, so ze stayed inside of the flower shop until it was time for ver lunch break.

"Alright, I think I've got it," Marella declared, holding up hir notebook.

While drawing and the actual flower didn't completely match, it was still really good. When it came time for it to be an actual tattoo on Marella-

"Here, it's for you," Marella said with a smile, hir hand extended towards ver. And in hir hand was the same pansy that ze had been drawing.

"Me?" Linh whispered.

"I thought that you should have it. I heard from Maruca about this morning, and I figured that you should have some of the joy and happiness that this flower represents."

"T-thank you," ve murmured, sure that ver face was on fire, and even Marella's face flushed red as ve accepted the flower.

"You're welcome. Let's uh- head to Maruca's for lunch. Bye Jensi!"

"Bye Jensi!" Linh said.

"Have a good lunch, you two!" He replied.

When they got there, Stina and Maruca were already sitting at the table, all four drinks already prepared. Linh sat down next to Stina, who set down their cup and hugged ver.

"How are you feeling?" They asked.

"I'm a lot better now," ve said. "I'm with the three of you."

Stina pulled away so they could go back to eating. "That's good."

"Who here thinks I should burn-"

"Marella!" Linh chided half-heartedly, while Maruca and Stina's hands were already raised in agreement.

"They deserve it!" Ze said.

"There has to be some other way to piss them off," Maruca said. "Even if I agree."

Linh hummed thoughtfully. "What if I brought you three with me?"

The three of them stared at ver.

"Are you allowed to bring your... friends?" Stina asked. "Isn't this a family thing?"

"It'd definitely annoy them," Linh replied. "Though I was thinking more..." ve took a deep breath, not sure where this sudden feeling of courage was coming from. "as my girlfriends, maybe?"

The three of them stared at ver.

"Or you could ignore what I just said," ve added quickly, covering ver face with ver hands.

Dark hands pried vers off of ver face. "I'd like that," Maruca said. "Not just to piss them off, but being girlfriends in general."

Linh smiled. At least one of them didn't oppose.

"I'm glad it's not just me," Stina sighed in relief. "I'd love to."

Marella nodded. "It was really tough trying to get the courage to confess. So, we're dating now?"

Linh took the hand that Maruca was holding and held Marella's. Stina put their hand on top.

"Yeah," ve said. "Looks like we are."

•~•~•~•~•~•

"You have got to be kidding me," Linh groaned, pointing at Tam.

Tam was pointing back at ver. "You didn't tell me you were finally dating them!"

"You didn't tell me that you're dating Keefe either!" Linh retorted.

Keefe waved, and ve smiled and waved back, before looking back at Tam. "I can't believe we just copied each other."

Linh and Tam were standing at the driveway of their parents' house, Linh's girlfriends behind ver, and Keefe (who was now dating Tam!) behind him. It was actually really funny, that they somehow both got with their partners and decided to bring them to the family reunion just to annoy their parents, but at the same time, did they really have to do the same thing?

"Congratulations though. Keefe, he was really pining after you," ve teased.

Keefe grinned. "I'd love to hear about Bangs Boy waxing poetry about me."

Tam sputtered, but recovered quickly. "You wouldn't believe all the stuff I had to hear from Linh, like Marella's arms-"

"Okay, let's go inside!" Linh yelled, dragging Tam with ver as they finally entered the house.

"What are... they doing here?" Quan asked.

"Those are my girlfriends!" Ve said cheerfully.

"And that's my boyfriend," Tam added, pointing at Keefe.

The look on their parents' faces was so so worth it.

•~•~•~•~•~•

"So uh, Tam said something about my arms?" Marella asked, stretching casually. It allowed ve to get a good look at the recently added pansy tattoo.

"I, uh-" ve covered ver face.

"No no, I completely agree," Maruca said. "You have really good arms, because you work out."

Stina nodded.

"Huh," Marella said. "I mean, I kinda knew that, but I didn't think you liked them that much. You should come join me at the gym."

Linh hummed. "Maybe."

"I don't actually feel like doing exercise though," Maruca said.

"That's fair."

"Wait, Marella?" Ve said.

"Yeah?"

"One day could you uh... give me a tattoo?"

Marella smiled. "Yeah, sure!"

"I think I'd like one too," Stina added. "I think we should get matching tattoos, if you all want."

"That sounds so cool," Maruca said.

"Okay, I can do that. We can go look for designs later."

Linh smiled. "Let's do it."

•~•~•~•~•~•

Kotlc taglist: @keefeinnit @impostertamsong @my-swan-song @subrosasteath @silveredviolets

If you want to be added/removed from the kotlc taglist, just let me know!

[moogoth]

okay. besties and horsegirls of my followers. if i cut my hair what should i do. i cant go shorter than my ears or a gender disease will get me

[juni-ravenhall]

on the topic of furries (with peace and love to the furries) i have a cousin who is a furry but like, she was always really ashamed of it and i dont talk to her anymore but last time i know she was still going “im not a furry for real i mean like.... its irony... or something” while wearing a fursuit she made herself and going to furry cons and almost exclusively dating and being friends with other furries

which is really sad like... live your true life be happy u know

but what i actually wanted to say was that one time, she started arguing at me for no reason (something she did a lot shes very rude) about that everyone who likes my little pony or who is into horses is also a furry. (her thing was: YOURE A FURRY NOT ME ALTHOUGH IF I WAS IT WOULD BE MARGINALLY MORE OKAY IF YOURE ALSO A FURRY SO YOU CANT JUDGE ME - without me, u know, actually judging her...)

and i think thats interesting like, at the time i was like “but isnt this pretty different?” bc ur typical image of furries is the canine or feline humanoid hottie type right? and MLP or horses in the style of Spirit or sso arent really... like... they dont really read the same way at first glance. but ofc its completely true that theyre anthros aka anthropomorphic animals (humanised animals) even if they still look like a horse and not a sexy wolf, if you’ve given them more humanoid expressions or ways of behaving. (yes i know theres dragon furries and all kinds please dont explain to me. i was on deviantart before some of you were born) 

so my topic is: do you as a horsegirl (gender neutral), or just as an sso player if you arent a true horsegirl, FEEL like a furry? do you identify as a furry on behalf of being into some anthro horses and/or real horses as an interest? would you agree if someone called you a furry on behalf of this? do you consider MLP or sso horses (esp soul horses or wildwoods herds) to be “furry” characters?