Asriel might be a big meanie but trust he gives the best warmest hugs I just know it
He flinches and stiffens and his arms remain suspended in the air for exactly 7 seconds before he returns the hugs and yes, yes it is the best and warmest hug the recipient (probably Lyra) has ever had
But then he realises what he's doing and pushes her away (firmly but not forcefully) and grumbles sth about her wasting his time and having to perform some heretical experiment or the other
But also he's happy and fuzzy deep down bc he hasn't been hugged in like 10 years and he can't believe his daughter actually likes him enough to hug him (he hates himself beneath that superiority complex)
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News
My flock has contracted Marek's Disease.
Since 2019, after I brought home Lyra and Wren, my flock has been a closed flock. Meaning I take biosecurity very seriously, and opted to not bring any new chickens in or allow other poultry-keepers access to the yard where they are kept. The only birds that were added from 2019 until now have been from hatching eggs. There are a select few diseases that can pass from mother to egg, but not Marek's.
But within the past few weeks one chicken displayed symptoms of leg weakness and became unable to walk. I brought them indoors and started treating for vitamin deficiency, since that is by far the most common cause of sudden lameness in poultry. But she didn't get better, and then Lyra started walking unsteadily, and I knew something else was wrong. I suspected something was wrong with my feed and sent off a sample to get tested for mycotoxins, and switched feeds, because I know a lot of people have had issues with that lately. But then one morning I found Moss deceased in the coop, and it all kind of went downhill from there.
Sebrights are known for having extremely low resistance to disease. They are very inbred. It is the reason I lost Kip to fowl pox when everyone else recovered fine. And why all but one (her unnamed cockerel "emo" son) of the members of my flock who are descended from Lyra are affected. But none of the other tiny breeds I have, Seramas or Kikirkis, are known for being particularly disease resistant either. So. I am extremely cautious at jumping the gun and saying they wont be effected.
I sent off Moss's body for a necropsy on monday and got the results today, September 29th.
I do not know how this got into my flock. Our nextdoor neighbor got chickens a few months ago, but our birds don't have any direct contact. That is the only way I can think of.
There is a vaccine but it can only be administered to day old chicks. Vaccinating to prevent this was not an option.
It generally takes 4-10 weeks for the disease to develop after the chicken has been exposed, so it had to have been fairly recent. My flock has not been carrying this sub-clinically.
I genuinely don't know how this is going to go from here. There is no treatment for marek's disease. It is a virus. I have ordered a few herbal remedies with vague studies to back up some kind of efficacy helping reduce the damage the virus does and boost their immunity, but its mostly a crapshoot. The only good news I have with all this is that older birds are somewhat less likely to succumb to this disease. And the fact turkies and pigeons can't contract it.
The only birds displaying symptoms right now are Lyra, and Moss's unnamed pullet daughter.
Lyra is tentatively okay. I have crafted a sling for her, and she has been increasing in mobility over the last few days. She did not ever have full paralysis, so I am hopeful. Her daughter and Mouse, one of the younger keep-back pullets from this summers chicks, are the only casualties so far.
I'll be doing all that I can in terms of supportive care, but if any symptomatic birds get to the point I don't think they will recover from I will be euthanizing them. I will not be selling chickens anymore.
This disease has been a nightmare of mine for such a long time and now it is really happening. I am pretty crushed.
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Drop it!
Your daughter sometimes couldn't tell the difference between what is food and what is not food.
Dad!Aemond x fem!reader
A/N: More dad Aemond shenanigans because it's too cute and I can't help myself anymore.
She had been so peaceful as a baby. Hardly ever cried, always wanted to be cuddled, always giggling and gurgling.
Now she was two.
The terrible twos were no myth.
You had laughed it off when Alicent said if she was good as a babe, she be hell when she turned two.
You should have known better.
She had learnt to walk. And walk she did. You turned your back on her for barely a moment and she was already on the other side of the castle. She had learned the word ‘no,’ and certainly enjoyed using it. Bathtime? No. Bedtime? No. Vegetables? No. Savory food of any kind? No.
Aemond, for his part, loved his daughter to bits, and would happily indulge her every need. Cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner? One big yes.
You sat him down eventually, tired of a constantly hyperactive child, and made things plain.
“Aemond, I love watching you with our daughter. I love how you love her, but please, you can’t keep letting her get away with things.”
Aemond nodded, understanding. “You are right, my love. I have indulged her too much.”
From that moment on, Aemond changed tack.
It started with: “Kepa,” she said and pointed at the vegetables on her plate. “No.”
Aemond sighed smiling. For a horrible moment, you thought he would bring out dessert.
“My little dragon,” he began, “I’m sorry. You must eat them this time and have cake later.”
“No.”
“Little dragon, please?” he begged. “For kepa?”
“NO!”
She threw her spoon at him.
“Now, little one, we do not throw cutlery at people.”
“NO!”
You sighed, putting you head in your hands. This was going well(!)
“Come now,” he said, spooning up the vegetables with his own spoon. “Open up for the flying dragon.”
To you complete disbelief, Lyra giggled. Aemond made dragon noise as the spoon came closer and closer to her mouth. And she ate it!
Finally!
Or not so finally. From then on she ate everything it sight. You or Aemond were forever telling her not to put something in her mouth.
One day, she somehow managed to get her little hands on Aemond’s favourite dagger. You were at tea with your ladies when you saw your tiny daughter with a large dagger in her hands.
“Lyra! No!” you yelled, jumping up from your seat.
And she looked at you with cheekiest grin, opened her mouth and slowly started to put the hilt of the dagger in her mouth.
“No, Lyra! Drop it!”
She giggled.
“Lyra! No! Don’t put it in your mouth. Kepa’s dagger is not a toy.”
She tried to put it further in her mouth, but just at that moment, Aemond swooped in, wrenching the dagger from her hands and picking her up in his arms.
“Lyra!” he fumed. “Don’t ever do that again!”
You daughter stopped giggling, but instead looked somewhat afraid.
Aemond saw this and sighed. “Lyra,” he said, putting her down gently. “Kepa’s dagger is not to be played with. It is not a toy. It is sharp and dangerous. The only things that should be going in your mouth are food and drink. Nothing else. Do you understand me, Lyra?”
Lyra nodded, although you weren’t completely sure she had understood.
“Now, if muna agrees, perhaps I can take you for a ride on Vhagar.”
At those words, Lyra started bouncing excitedly. She only been on Vhagar with her father once before, and when she wasn’t busy eating something she wasn’t supposed to, she was cradling her dragon egg, talking to the dragon inside (or at least, you thought she was. She still babbled in a language only she, and for some reason, Aemond could understand).
You sighed. “Alright.”
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