All Things Reins

Home of Rodeo Applejack and all things Reins (Asks/Questions OPEN)

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

Welcome to the blog!

OOC //

Hey, y'all. Welcome to the official Letting Go Of The Reins blog!

This blog is half-rp half not. Mostly, it is set up and run in a way that suggests that Applejack is the blog owner. However, there will be many portions that will be me, Jay, posting. For more info on this, check out the Out Of Character Guide!

If you aren't viewing this in the website version, I recommend you do. Here are the sidebar buttons you may be missing otherwise and a mini guide to the blog:

Ask (You can ask me questions as the author or the characters questions. Please specify!)

The Others (ongoing character list and bios through AJ's POV)

OOC (the OOC guide linked above)

Applejack's Journal (entries from Applejack's journal)

The Story (link to the fanfic this blog is based on. If you somehow wandered over here with no context, I recommend checking that out)

Photo Album (Reins images will be posted here with a caption as if they were real pictures)

Other random important things/links/comments:

This is The Spotify Playlist (songs are made public as I see fit, with an accompanying blog post)

RE: Asks --- If I don't answer your ask or give a non-answer it's because it's spoilery or something I plain don't want to reveal. Also, should I do asks with art like you see a lot? or just some of them with the little arts to answer the question?

RE: Art. I do these randomly, but they're all "canon" unless I say they're not :)

Please enjoy!

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

Interlude II Out!

OOC//

Yeah hi it's me! Been a while! I'm so deeply sorry, but I sswear I haven't forgotten about this story. Life's hard. Will give an actual life update at a later time but right now I just wanted to say, I posted a new chapter! Go check it out HERE.

For now, though, here's a sneak peek of what you're getting into:

Hurting was a rather weak word to explain what the young girl felt as she mindlessly doodled on the margins of her paper. 

It wasn’t a physical type of pain, though that was pretty much a constant in any rancher’s life. No, the sore muscles and occasional bruising were to be expected and therefore couldn’t really be considered a bother. The type of hurt that she felt was deep inside, somewhere near her heart, between her lungs. It ached and deepened and made her pulse feel thick, but Apple Bloom had grown used to it in the last month. 

Really, she’d been used to it since her parents’ passing, but the whole situation with Applejack had only brought that pain back to the surface. She’d almost lost her sister, her constant source of stability. She hadn’t realized before, but Applejack had been somewhat of a maternal figure ever since they lost their real mother. She’d taken over the role, maybe subconsciously, making sure Apple Bloom was ready for school, taking her to whatever activities she could make time for, looking after her injuries whenever they happened (which was more often than she had ever thought)... Really, Applejack was more of a protector than anyone else had ever been.

Now, Apple Bloom couldn’t help but notice her sister seemed… out of place. She always lingered around others, offering to help Granny with dinner, telling Big Mac that she was willing to help with chores, trying to do anything that she used to be able to do. But as protective of her sister as Applejack was, Granny and Big Mac beat her tenfold. And Apple Bloom recognized how much that bothered the blonde.

[End of preview]

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

Big fan of your fic Just checking in too See how you are doing and if this Story is in Hiatus or Discounted? Love the art also

OOC//

howdy! thanks so much for your message! glad to hear that you enjoy the story and the art :)

the story is on hiatus for now, college has been a bitch and life's been hard but i have been slowly but surely chipping away at the next chapters. reins isnt over yet and i intend to finish it!

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

OOC// Here's that one scene from chapter fifteen where Applejack can't get herself to go down the ramp in front of the hospital. Drew this for a very nice long-time Reins supporter who generously tipped me on Ko-Fi! Thank you very much for your support :)

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

Hi! I like the art you've been doing. I'm wondering if you're ever gonna draw Strawberry? I'd like to see what she looks like :)

OOC//

Woohoo! Here's one I have been WAITING to do. This has been sitting in my inbox for a good little chunk of time but I just haven't had the time to draw her. Here's just an art of her and Whippy that I ... whipped up (lol) while PROCRASTINATING tonight!!!

First official Strawb art! Yippee!!! POV: You're Applejack 'cause those two are always at each other's throats. That's why she looks GRUMPY!

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

What's Coming Up?

OOC//

Hi guys! I dunno how many people actually read this blog HOWEVER here's a bit of an update.

It's been a few weeks since the last Reins update. If you follow me on Twitter, you'd know that I had to take a break from like... EVERYTHING because college was kicking my ass, and then I had family over during the break and I've just been trying to feel like a person again.

College starts back up for me again on Tuesday (I don't have classes on Monday) and strangely my motivation to write came back with it. I've just hit 100k words on the Reins document which is crazy, and I'm trying to finish up this chapter so I have two ready to post. I'm excited that we're finally moving forward in the story after sixty thousand words (yes, sixty thousand) of Applejack being either in a hospital or in a rehab centre.

What have I been writing? Lots of dialogue, lots of Applejack being angry, lots of Applejack being kind of sad and pensive, and... Some arguing. Typical Reins stuff.

There are horse things, there are family things, there are Strawberry things, there are Thistle things...

Sometimes, I feel like this story kind of has a mind of its own. Despite me having most things at least roughly planned out, there's a lot of blank space that I kind of just fill in as I'm writing it and sometimes the story surprises even me.

This day in the Reins universe has kind of been dragging on for multiple chapters, but it's kind of a big thing. I actually really like how this part of the story has been working out. I don't think it's my strongest writing, not at all, but I think it's something that's been getting put down in a way I'm happy with.

Sometimes I find it hard to feel confident in my writing, but sometimes I have people tell me they like the story and that really helps. So to those of you leaving me nice comments or even messaging me and saying you like the story, I want to give you thanks. I don't think I would have ever gotten this far in the story without you. To those of you who sent in questions to this blog, thanks as well. Hopefully, when I get back to more regular uploads I'll have more to put on this blog.

In terms of art, I have been extremely burnt out. I haven't been drawing almost anything. I did start drawing a bunch of busts of Reins characters for fun and just for me to have someplace to look at 'em for reference. Maybe I'll post that. Is that something that might interest anybody? Or maybe just even tell me what character you wanna see and I'll draw them. I know I've drawn some, but there is definitely a lot I've neglected.

There are some things in my personal life I'm trying to deal with. Falling back into bad habits isn't great, but it's something that I've been going through. It makes it hard to want to do anything but luckily Reins is something I love and that I actually enjoy doing. That's why I'm so thankful that people are enjoying it. It's not a huge smash hit on FimFiction, but that's okay. It's like our little corner of the site. A little secret place.

I'll hopefully have something to post on the site soon in terms of the next chapter. Like I said before, I have the next one done, I just want to have two done. So I guess I do have something to post, but you know what I mean.

For those of you who like to make roll credits jokes, I did accidentally write the words "letting go of the reins" in the narration. I thought it was funny. I kept it. You'll see. Maybe even chuckle. Point a finger and go "haha title drop".

Anyway, I'm sorry for my absence. For those of you that I was having a conversation with that I suddenly disappeared from, I'm sorry. If you still want to talk feel free to hit me up again I just forgot how to talk to people, to be honest.

More content soon. I promise. If there's anything you'd like to see or hear about, you know the drill.

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

Response to the creator HAPPY NEW YEARS !!!! Cheers to more creative writing and popularity to come

OOC//

Thanks!!!

Been super busy, but I've actually been writing recently. Everything's sort of settled down and I've got maybe a week or so of nothing, so I will definitely be writing. This next chapter's been really fun to write so far, I'm excited to get the ball rolling again.

Happy New Years to you too! And to everyone!

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

Chapter Twenty-Five Sneak Peek

Boiling Over

The universe hated her.

It had to be that. The universe had a personal vendetta against Applejack. It hated her, personally. Life was a rollercoaster that was only drops. Farther and farther down until the exhilaration felt more like dread and the pit in your stomach felt like being stabbed. A rollercoaster that went so far down it burned. 

Applejack had never even been on a rollercoaster before.

“I don’t care that I got a week left in my stay,” she argued with the receptionist at the front desk and the nurse that had arrived. It was the nurse that had come when she’d woken up in pain. That felt like forever ago. Just another shitty moment in her shitshow of a life. “I need to leave.”

“The roads are so iced over,” the nurse said. Applejack thought her name might have been Terry. “It’s not wise to leave, especially on your own.”

“I’m not leavin’ on my own!”

[End of preview]

Read more Friday night when the next chapter of Reins comes out!

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

Chapter Twenty-Four Sneak Peek

Iced Over

Dirt. 

Applejack’s knees were dirty. Caked in layers of grass and dirt and failed work. 

The air smelled like a storm. Heavy and thick and wet like rain. It threatened to turn into a downpour at any moment. 

Gray skies and angry clouds. The faint rumble of thunder. 

Denim wasn’t the right armour, but it was all she had. It’d have to do.

Leather boots offered protection against the sinking floor beneath her. Every step was heavy. Dragged into and out of the mud. Every step was more of a struggle than the last. A fight to move forward. 

Wet.

Applejack’s jeans sagged with the weight of their mess and the water that had slowly but surely begun to fall from the sky. She trudged forward, becoming more and more stuck as she tried.

The rain started slowly. A splash on her arm. A drop from the brim of her hat. Good thing she wore her wool hat. Straw wouldn’t have helped. She shook her hand, but it became wet again anyway.

Cold. 

It was cold. The rising wind against her newly wet body made the spring breeze feel like winter’s requiem. By the time she reached the front porch, her limbs shook and her teeth chattered.

She opened the door and took off her boots before stepping inside. Dad would be mad if she tracked mud into the house. Applejack lifted her head and took off her hat with a shaky arm. She hung it on the hat rack and looked to her right. The bottom of her ponytail dripped wet on the ground, as did the rest of her body. 

[End of Preview]

Read more Friday night when the next chapter of Reins comes out!

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

Reins Playlist Song #6

Applejack song. It's been a lil while since last song! But it's getting hard to pick since they start to get kind of specific.

First a link to the playlist.

This next song is What's Up? by Mom Jeans. (Youtube) which also happens to be the song I play on repeat when I go out to smoke lol.

Y'know I've just realized I've got a lot of Mom Jeans. songs on this playlist. Heh.

"We just haven't really been on the same page. Crossing our wires, oversensitive to everything you say to me."

This one, I wanna say is specifically about the dissonance between Strawb and AJ, but I think it's also fitting to say this is generally about AJ and how she holds herself. I find it hard to explain certain songs and for some reason, I thought this one was going to be easier to explain? When I hear it, it makes so much sense to me, but I'm not sure how to put it into words.

You ever just feel like shit even though you shouldn't? Like, sure, there's some bad stuff, but overall everything's okay? Yet you just kind of feel like shit. Well, lol, that's just kinda what depression is like now that I think about it. I've been there, AJ's been there.

There's this... disconnect between AJ and everyone else, particularly Strawberry. I think she kind of goes through life in a way that keeps her safe, by which I mean with her guard up, which (like I've said before) isn't a great way to go about it but hey you do you girlie.

In terms of the song, I think it's kind of fitting that it sounds really upbeat, but when you actually listen to it, it's kind of a sad song in a way. There's a lot I could add, but I think I'd like to leave this one kind of up to interpretation 'cause that's fun! But I said my general piece on it.

(im such a fucking piece of shit, and you hate me for it)

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

Question for the author could you give us a little random info dump ! Anything will do >:D

OOC//

Oh! Um! Gosh, that’s difficult. I’m really good at info dumping (I do it a lot) but I’m not sure what to info dump about if someone asks!

I guess since I've had to read about a whole bunch of random things for Reins, I will tell you about something random. In my research (and I cannot for the life of me tell you how the hell I even ended up on this subject), I found out that there's this whole... community for professional hobbyhorsing.

What is hobbyhorse, you may ask? Hobbyhorse is a sport (yes, it is in fact a sport) that consists of actual people riding those little stick horses that they make for little kids in routines. Think dressage and other events like that, but... with stick horses. Yes, I'm being so serious. It's not even a joke, and has its biggest facet in Finland (over 10,000 competitors there alone!!!)

There are not only pattern routines, but also jumps. Yes. Jumps. Hell, in some organized competitions, they have different events like dressage, racing, hunter/jumping, steeplechase... Just... Actual equestrian events but... with stick horses.

People of all ages compete in these, from kids, to teens, to even adults. And the real kicker? These people think of their stick horses as real horses and describe them as such.

But hey, I'm not here to judge! If you think it's fun then go for it, I think it definitely takes an insane amount of athleticism. Is it weird? Yeah, but that doesn't make it any less impressive. I mean, I'm the one writing an insanely researched My Little Pony AU fanfic that is so far from canon that it may as well just be an original story.

Anyway, if you wanna check out what hobbyhorse is, check this out:

I hope this info dump was entertaining and sufficed :)

No horse? Hobbyhorse.

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

Chapter Twenty-Three Sneak Peek

It's About Time

Thistle shut the door behind him gently and took off his hat with his right hand, not taking his eyes off of Applejack.

All eyes were on her as she put her burger down and looked around at her family. “Uh, Thistle what are you doin’ here?”

Big Mac was the first to look back at Thistle, his eyes squinted as if he were trying to figure something out. Thistle simply held his hat by the crown at his side and stayed near the shut door. “You told me to come by today for our, err…”

Applejack cursed under her breath, then out loud. “Shit, I did. I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinkin’ when I told you to come today.” She shook her head and looked back at the rest of her family, who were all glancing at Thistle. Fritter seemed particularly interested, though she had the same thoughtful look in her eyes as Big Macintosh. “Uh, well, I guess now’s a good a time as any. Thistle, this is my family. And, y’all, this is Thistle Thorn. He’s my, uh, friend.”

“Just Thistle’s fine,” he said with a nod to everyone in the room. “Pleasure to meet y’all.”

[End of Preview]

Read more Friday night when the next chapter of Reins comes out!

(I think I like this format for sneak peeks, but what do y'all think? Would you rather have a [probably] quote from the chapter or the beginning bit of it like this one?)

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

Question for author: whats your favourite MLP episode and why?

OOC//

My favourite episode is season 7 episode 13, The Perfect Pear.

Not only is it the best episode on the show, but it was like, the second episode to really make me tear up. I think maybe I've got a little bit of an Apple family bias, but even just apart from that... Finally getting some insight toward Applejack's parents that we never ever really heard about other than that one line in the song "We'll Make Our Mark" and just all sorts of implications? It was really bittersweet. And just a beautiful story, with some heartwrenching vocal deliveries from William Shatner as Grand Pear. Plus that song moves me to tears every time. Ugh. I'm just a sucker for cute ponies and Pear Butter and Bright Mac are just so cute.

Too bad they're dead lol rip horses

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

Question for applejack Do you think that your going to get through this ? Here have a hug *Hugs*

Well. Yeah, I hope so.

It's either getting through it or not, and I dunno what "not" means, so there's really only one choice. I've been through stuff before. Sure, it ain't the same, but I've gotten through it. Plus, I've got my family around me, and they need me. I can't let them down.

Thanks for the hug? I guess.

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

Apple Bloom let out some of the horses to enjoy the winter weather we've been having. She sent me this picture of them standing around. She also said they brought them back to the stables soon after. I guess she knew I woulda made a fuss about it!

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

Reins Playlist Song # 6

Up next we have a Strawberry Sunrise song. Now this one is one of the most Strawberry Sunrise songs I have found thus far.

First a link to the playlist.

This next song is you can't eat cats kevin by Mom Jeans. (Youtube). There's a lot of Mom Jeans. on this playlist lol.

Like Cancelled by Broken Without Bones (Youtube), this song is a song that is very much how Strawberry feels bout Applejack during/after the whole bar thing. There's not much to explain, it's very self-explanatory. But like I said in one of the recent chapters, Strawberry very much had a crush on Applejack in the past, whether she realized it or not, and that was the reason why she kind of kept giving her chances. This is a song that fits current Strawberry taking that into consideration. It's kind of... like losing the patience you have for someone who you love but really shouldn't love. There's a lot of that between them.

There is LITERALLY nothing else I can say about this song that the song doesn't already say. Just listen to it.

"Well, I think that you're just building up a wall to try and protect yourself from the fact that I'm going to spend the rest of my dumb fucking life loving you."

Yeah, maybe if AJ found the time to be nice to Strawberry, things'd be different.

[homeofrodeoapplejack]

One day when this story is complete I would love to have a physical copy like those that "Ministry of image" makes or something(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

OOC//

That's so good to hear! That would be freaking awesome.

I have been wanting to do something like that for this story because, honestly, I'd want a hard copy of it too. My plan for this story once it's done is to give the whole thing a re-edit and a reformatting and probably fix up any inconsistencies, then get that on Lulu. I kind of wanna remake the cover art too if I do end up doing that.

Seeing that there's at least one other person out there who'd be interested makes me glad though! Gives me the motivation to do a good job with it once the time comes.