#stele3

Thank you, lovely people. The political Everything + delayed hit of the time change + existential fear that I have achieved nothing with my life + incredible frustration with my current job and feeling stuck has all made it one of those Ho Ho Horrible mental health days and nobody likes that. I am attempting to put it behind me and remind myself that it will voraciously suck, but it will pass. It could also pass a lot FASTER, Jesus rollerskating Christ, but yes.

Honestly that's pretty much it, just with a hard T on the end. :D

The first was recommended by the glorious @somanywords. I’ve just reread it today and it is one of those stories that makes your heart completely full. It shows Bucky and Steve growing up together, hopelessly and silently in love with each other, and takes us through the war years and post Winter Soldier. What I love about this story, beside the fleshing out of Bucky’s childhood and personality, is the way that the moments in between are made beautiful and important. The big set pieces of Steve and Bucky’s story happen in the world of this fic, but they’re skipped over and alluded to. Instead, we get snippets of Bucky seeking quiet with Steve, army life with the commandos, holding hands in coffee shops etc. The small and the everyday take precedence over the big and dramatic, and through it all the writing is creating layers of character that makes the story so, so satisfying.

My second fic rec is a time travel adventure that takes Steve back to 1930s Brooklyn. But for Plot Reasons, this is a Steve who didn’t grow up with Bucky, and it’s interesting to see how not having had Bucky made Steve so much more closed off in later life. This story has adventure and plot shenanigans, but again it’s mostly about characters and relationships- this time, between modern Steve and (1930s) Bucky and beyond. There are bits that stomp on your heart and bring back all the tragedy of canon, but ultimately it’s hopeful and ends happily.

(I don’t know why the link says ‘New Session’, but the story is The Kinder Thing by stele3)

That’s absolutely no problem! I have some information for you!

if you’re looking to have her in west asian countries, your best bet for a favourite horse breed would be the Mongolian Horse, which is a hardy mountain pony/horse that has been acclimatized and bred for the steppes and mountains of Mongolia. it has remained unchanged since around the era of Genghis Khan, and as such is always a reliable and sturdy stock carrying companion and ridden equine. they are also believed to be a founding stock for many european, asian and north african-middle eastern breeds. these animals specifically were used by the mongols for their campaigns against western europe.

now if you’re thinking about a more european based breed i would choose the Yakutian horse. they’re a native russian breed found in the yakutia area/siberian sakha republic and they’re a similar horse to that of the Mongolian horse (they likely descend from originally Mongolian horses) but they have specifically been bred to survive harsh winters (of recorded -70 degrees celsius without shelter) and have developed the ability to graze under heavy snow fall which is always handy when moving through the Little Ice Age as what you’re writing about!

now a MENA based breed around that time would be the Barb horse which is a horse breed that has been kept and bred by the Amazigh peoples of the Maghreb, specifically for the use in desert and heavily sanded areas of north africa. they’re hard, can collect well (which means they can carry more weight easier) and are a desert acclimatized breed, which is useful when moving through the MENA and up into Central Asia. There’s also a high likelihood of Joe having experiences with these horses too, especially as a trader during that era which is a fun fact! They’re also bigger than the previous two breeds, ranging from 14.2 hands to 15.2 hands, where as the Yakutian averages 13.2 and 14 hands for mares and stallions respectively and the Mongolian ranges from 12 to 14 hands. 

Fic Covers | The Tether Series | by @stele3

stele3 replied to your post “just a dude swimming in the canal with a bunch of swords on”

I’ve never managed to get Geralt to full Witcher-black eyes before. Some day I’ll down a bunch of potions and just go for it.

  I feel like you’d die before you hit that. maybe certain potions do it faster. in this cutscene, his eyes were more or less normal, inasmuch as they ever are...

librarychick94 replied to your post “i’m not even supposed to be here today”

My experience with the Witcher is the series and your game posts. I love reading them. They are delightful and amuse me greatly. :)

I’m glad these playthrus have some kind of utility besides just being a way for me to mark basically the only thing I do in a day that’s remotely interesting. I had been wondering who ever found them worth reading, and feeling sort of guilty for how much time I spend on them, but--

I’m home this weekend, back in Buffalo visiting with my dude, and while we’ve found plenty to talk about, most of my most amusing stories are in-game Witcher stories. Which, to be fair, in my case, the game as I’m experiencing it is very much me watching this game with two of my very closest friends, and so there’s a healthy element of You Will Not Believe What DF Did, which my dude can appreciate on those merits too, but-- the upshot of it is that he’s now invested in a remote-playthrough of a game he’s neither playing nor even watching, just because it’s something for us to talk about. 

nogling replied to your post “i’m not even supposed to be here today”

*cackles* Suddenly I want a Clerks AU, where Geralt is Dante, Jaskier is Randal, Yen is Veronica, and Valdo Marx is Olaf and all he does is sing Berserker.