#...also i have the attention span of a piece of moss so like

[ghost-cwunch-artz]

Light blood warning for this one too :3

The first image is in black and white to prevent triggers <3

🤍 Dividers by @sigmoon 🤍

This sketch was inspired by the last song of Chicago (2002) where Velma and Roxie dance together! I particularly love the choreography in that scene, I just HAD to do it with Lessie and Moksie.

Moksie is one of my close friends DnD characters (that I too play with), and we were talking about if they would get along or nah, so I got this idea!

They're both witty and cunning, so it was only fair :3

[boombox-fuckboy]

5 Underrated Audio Drama: Weird Fiction Edition

Weird fiction* is a bit of a niche genre, but is my absolute favourite, and is easiest to describe as that hard-to-define space between sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. *The more accurate term here is probably "New Weird" or something else. I'm not great at genre names, and depending on who you ask, you may be told that "weird fiction" is more cosmic-horror-leaning, or is the earlier movement, or the name of the overall genre category, or that the two terms are interchangable. I tend toward the last two but I think the first two are more accurate.

Notable weird fiction shows include Infinity Train and the OA, and popular weird fiction podcasts include Archive 81 and The Far Meridian (if you haven't heard these already, you absolutely should). While it's a smaller genre, it has a lot to offer, and there are some incredible smaller productions that are plenty deserving of attention! Here are 5 absolutely quality weird fiction podcasts. And I mean quality: I've heard each one at least twice.

Up to date as of 21st July 2021

Midnight Burger

"When Gloria took a waitressing job at a diner outside of Phoenix, she didn't realize she was now an employee of Midnight Burger, a time-traveling, dimension-spanning diner. Every day Midnight Burger appears somewhere new in the cosmos along with it's staff: a galactic drifter, a rogue theoretical physicist, a sentient old-timey radio, and some guy named Caspar. No one knows who built Midnight Burger or how it works, but when it appears there's always someone around who could really use a cup of coffee.

"When the waves of the universe crash unrelentingly, when the stars seem indifferent to your plight, suddenly there is a diner."

We open at 6."

The above summary is a great one, so I won't give my own. An incredibly funny and charming piece of weird fiction and sci-fi with an absolutely delightful cast of characters, fun and unique story ideas, and really clean voice and soundwork. The radio is a 1920s Christian channel specifically, so if like me you aren't used to Christianity it might be a bit weird, but it's not excessive. There are currently 9 episodes of between 25 and 55 minutes each, averaging 40 minutes per episode.

Midnight Burger is available on major podcasting platforms and Spotify. There are no currently available content warnings, but transcripts are available on the website. You can also follow their Tumblr at @midnightburgr

Out of Place

"Andrew Moss loved his anthropology job, until mysterious artifacts from a Mr. Havisham started arriving in brown paper bags. The artifacts are... Wrong"

A young archivist takes a job cataloguing strange items, and speculates on how the past, present, and future of the alternate timeline the item is from might vary from our own, based on the differences in the items. Out of Place is a delightful piece of both Weird and Speculative Fiction, and I was really surprised to find it's not more popular. It's very well written, the sound design is simple and clean, and the research and ideas are super fascinating. There's also a super cute subplot involving his boyfriend's niece that I adore. There are currently 18 episodes available with more airing. The twelve season 1 episodes range from 10 to 15 minutes, and the five season 2 episode average at 25 minutes each.

Out of Place is available on major podcasting platforms, and Spotify. It unfortunately does not have content warnings or transcripts at this time.

The Godfrey Audio Guide

"The world-famous audio guide for the Annabelle H. Godfrey Historic Estate and Museum. Please do not touch the art. This is for your own safety. Though this is a self-guided tour and you may listen in whatever order you choose, the Estate recommends that you start at the beginning."

The Godfrey Audio Guide is an audio tour guide of a weird and wonderful (and occasionally supernatural) art gallery and associated gardens. Each episode has two or three pieces, elegantly described and with a little context or history behind both the art and it's place in the estate. Simple but effective audio with delightful, professional, but friendly narration, it's a very relaxing and easy listen without ever slipping into boredom, and enticing mystery behind it. Casually and comfortingly very queer. There are currently 26 episodes available, between 10 and 15 minutes each.

The Godfrey Audio Guide is available on major podcasting platforms and Spotify. There are no currently available content warnings, but transcripts of each episode are freely available on the Patreon.

The Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity, and Mortality

"Hello, and welcome to the Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity, and Mortality. This Audio Tour Guide is aware that this is your first visit to the museum! On behalf of the Museum: Welcome! It’s a pleasure to have you with us here today. The Audio Tour Guide will be your window into the history of the museum and its exhibits today. Please note, that if you notice your version of the Audio Tour Guide behaving oddly, kindly ensure that you dispose of your Audio Device in the nearest incinerator at the earliest convenience."

Another audio tour guide, Godfrey and Mistholme might share a basic idea and format, but both are distinct and neither intrude on the other's flavour. The Mistholme Museum has you toured around a museum of strange artifacts by an incredibly sweet AI, who will tell you both about the item, and the story behind it. Amazing writing and narration that dips into both heartwarming and horror flawlessly, it features between 1 and 3 items an episode. Very creative and makes use of both original ideas and historic strangeness very well. Big on water, mirrors, changelings and doubles, and a healthy dose of subtle queerness. The third season is currently airing, and there are currently 27 episodes available, between 20 and 40 minutes each (but usually 25-30 mins).

The Mistholme Museum is available on major podcasting platforms and Spotify. It has external advertising at the start and end of episodes to support the production. Content warnings are given at the start of the transcripts, and transcripts are linked in each episode description. You can also follow their Tumblr at @the-mistholme-museum!

The Tower

"A young woman leaves behind her isolated, suffocating existence to climb The Tower, an abandoned relic of a forgotten age, built by a proud king who wanted to rule the sky as well as the land. It stretches up into the sky, through the smog."

The above description will be enough, so I shant write my own. A very pretty and meditative piece with stunning soundwork and a truely amazing original soundtrack. A great exploration of a simple idea with lovely written interpersonal relations and a great framing device. There are currently 7 episodes episodes of 5-13 mins in length, and season 2 is coming up soon!

The Tower is on major podcasting platforms and Spotify, and you can also find the soundtrack on spotify. There are no currently available content warnings, but transcripts linked in each episode description. You can follow their tumblr and find out more about their other amazing podcasts at @tincanaudio!

Feel free to leave a comment on what genre you want me to do next!

Want more good new audio content?

5 Criminally Underrated Sci-Fi Podcasts

5 Criminally Underrated Supernatural Podcasts

5 Underrated Sci-Fi Horror Podcasts

5 Underrated Superpowered Podcasts

5 Underrated Comedy Podcasts

[sophie-jen]

water lilies and tadpoles

read on ao3

James rolled onto his back. He looked up at the sun, shining joyfully in the cloudless sky, then immediately groaned, and rolled back onto his stomach.

"You look like a beached whale, honey."

James groaned again. "S'hot," he mumbled. 

"Why don't you go down to the lake and take a swim?"

James did not dignify this question with a response. His mother had been trying to kick him out all morning. She clearly didn’t want him in her way as she pranced around in her sunhat, gardening tools in hand. James was too miserable to care. He just groaned louder and rolled over again. But this was the wrong move, he realized belatedly, as he felt the crunch of his mother's favorite lilies being crushed under his weight. 

Five minutes later and a shovel shaped dent in his skull found James making his way toward the stupid lake. As he pushed his way valiantly through swarms of mosquitoes, he considered the very real possibility that he would drown in his own sweat before he ever reached water. 

The suffocating heat made everything hazy. Overhead, branches swayed. Leaves rustled. Underfoot, twigs crunched. Moss whispered. Streams of light danced around him. Birds croaked. Frogs chirped. A mushroom tipped its cap to him. 

Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, it occurred to James that he might be lost. Just as the beginnings of panic started brewing in his stomach, his foot caught in a root and he went toppling down a hill. He rolled to a stop next to a small glittering lake, and groaned. This was definitely not the lake his mother had been referring to. He hadn’t known there even was another lake in this area. It really was quite small, resembling more of an oversized pond.

There was something emphatically off about the happy twinkle of the water and the ethereal glow that bathed everything in a golden light. He also couldn’t help but notice that the water lilies were eyeing him suspiciously. To their left, a large, judgmental looking trout poked its face out of the water, took a good look at him, and with a disappointed shake of its head, went back down to report what it had seen. And sat on an outcrop not three feet away, looking straight at him while her fingers combed through her long tendrils of red hair, was a mermaid. This was a little much for poor James to take, and mercifully, after one last groan for good measure, consciousness fled and everything faded to black. 

                                                      *

James gasped awake. He lay in the dark for a few seconds, contemplating the strange dream he had been having, before sitting up. As he did, something cold and slimy slid off his eyes and down his face, taking his glasses with it. He felt around for the glasses, slid them back onto his nose, looked at the lily pad that had dropped into his lap, and felt his stomach drop with it. 

"I thought it might help cool you off."

He looked over at the girl who sat not far away. She was looking at him with an expression of mingled apprehension and curiosity. And sure enough, when James looked down, he saw curled under her a long gray tail, scales shimmering in the sunlight. He had to make a considerable effort not to faint again. 

"I’ve found lily pads are really refreshing. I was afraid you had heat exhaustion or something,” the girl said. 

“Oh. Thank you.” James didn’t know how to explain to her that it most likely wasn’t the heat exhaustion that had caused him to swoon. 

“I'm Lily, by the way."

James considered her for a moment. Considered at what point between rolling onto his mother’s lilies and meeting a mermaid named Lily he had lost his mind. Considered the lily pad laying limply in his lap. Made a decision. 

"I'm James."

                                                      *

“So, uh…” James kept his eyes on the small blue fish eating out of the mermaid’s hand. He was trying not to stare at her webbed fingers. “You live here? In the lake?”

“No, I actually prefer to perch on tree branches.” She gave James such a deadpan look as she spoke that he was inclined to believe her. At this point, he was inclined to believe just about anything. 

“Yes, of course I live in the lake,” she continued after a moment. She turned back to the fish, which was stretching as far as it could out of the water, vying for her attention. 

“Ah. Right.” James mulled this over for a moment. “But where do you-” he paused, trying to think of the best way to ask the question. “Well, where do you, you know, live?” Well said. “I mean, have you got a bed at the bottom of the lake or something?”

“Yep. I even splurged on a water mattress recently.”

To James’ surprise, a snort of amusement escaped him. Lily smiled as she stroked the fish, which flapped its tiny fins happily. 

“Honestly, I mostly sleep on land. I like looking at the stars.” She gave the fish a final pat, before leaning back onto her arms, her tail stretched out in front of her, and tilting her face towards the sun. “I couldn’t really do that much back home.”

“Back home?” 

“I live in the ocean.”

“What are you doing here?” 

“I got caught in a storm and washed up in a river somewhere, so I swam up here.” She leaned over and lifted a clump of moss off the end of her tail, where a large translucent fin lay. The left portion of the fin was in tatters, and an angry looking rip spanned almost the entirety of it. "I can't swim properly with my tail in that state." 

"So, what, you're just stuck here?" 

"Until it heals and I can try finding my way home. But I honestly don't mind. I grew up surrounded by angelfish and dolphins, so lake trout and tadpoles have been a nice change of pace.“ 

Despite her lighthearted tone, she didn’t look particularly thrilled as she said it. James immediately felt compelled to do something, though what that something was, or why he even felt compelled to do it, were beyond him. Instead, his mouth moved of its own accord. "Oh, so you're usually surrounded by a much more so-fish-ticated crowd, then," he said, placing emphasis on the “fish”. He regretted it immediately.

“Did you just-” She looked at him incredulously, but James was thrilled to hear the laughter in her voice. “That doesn’t even make sense!”

“Yeah, my bad, won’t happen again.”

“Unbelievable,” she said through a giggle. 

Not wanting to push his luck, he stayed quiet, and they sat in silence together. The fish, realizing it wouldn’t be getting anything more from Lily, swam up to James and gave a hopeful wiggle. He stroked it distractedly as the mermaid next to him sighed and readjusted the moss covering her fin. James only hoped she couldn't hear the frantic whirring of cogs as he tried to make sense of the pretty redhead and her tail, quietly soaking up the sun beside him. 

                                                      *

"Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop looking at my tail."

"It looked at me first."

"It's impolite to stare."

"Social norms don't apply when your cousin is a guppy."

A lily pad thwacked James across the face.

                                                      *

The sun was beating down mercilessly. James sat at the edge of the water with his feet dipped in up to his ankles. He watched as Lily resurfaced, yet another trinket in her hands, and swam closer to add it to the row of eclectic objects she had set out on the sand. She called them her treasures, although they looked more like what a demented three-year-old might drag home from the playground. 

While she fiddled with what looked like a vaguely heart-shaped ball of algae, he examined one of the rocks. She had said it reminded her of the hammerhead shark that would dig up her garden in search of crabs. It was oblong and one of the ends was slightly flat. To James, the resemblances ended there, but Lily had been thrilled at the discovery, so he had smiled and praised how hammerheaded the rock looked. 

He set the rock back down and checked to see what Lily was doing. She was still poking at the green blob. Her hair looked darker now that it was wet, pooling like blood in her collarbones and trickling down her back in rivulets. He looked away as soon as she turned toward him, and stared intently at a chipped snail shell. 

“I know, it’s not very impressive.”

“What? No...” 

She raised her eyebrows in skeptical amusement. “I wish you could see the collection I have at home. I’ve got this gorgeous pocket watch I found with all these flowers carved on the back. It doesn’t tell the time anymore though.”

“Where’d you find it?” asked James. He slid into the water and made his way towards a water lily he had spotted. 

Lily hadn’t seemed to notice, focused on smoothing out the wrinkles of the snake skin she had laid out. “We collect them from shipwrecks,” she explained.

“That’s morbid.” He snapped the flower off the stem and waded back over to Lily and her treasures. 

“Is it? I remember when I was little, my sister and I used to go looking for sunken ships and scare the octopuses living in them.”

“Here, add this to your collection.” Lily turned toward him, and he handed her the water lily he had picked. 

“I can’t add that. It’ll start wilting soon.” She took the flower from him, her fingers brushing his as she delicately held the white petals. He dipped his fingers in the water to quell the tingles. 

“Oh. I just thought it was pretty.”

She studied the flower for a moment, before placing it in her hair and securing the stem behind her ear. He watched as she fussed with it, trying to get it wedged properly. “There. That way we can enjoy it while it lasts.”

“I can get you another when it turns brown,” James offered. 

“No, I like this one,” she said. “I don’t want to replace it. Some things are meant to be temporary anyway.”

                                                      *

"GAAAHHhhbrrggllslg..."

"Pipe down, you'll scare the fish."

James came back to the surface, spluttering and coughing. “This clearly isn’t working,” he wheezed. 

“Really? I thought we were making great progress.” 

“Funny, ‘cause I thought that’s the third time you’ve nearly drowned me.” James rubbed his eyes a final time and opened them. Lily floated next to him, her hair like a pool of blood around her. He pulled a piece of it out of his mouth. 

She rolled her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair, picking out a snail that had gotten tangled in the strands. “You’re being dramatic.”

“Well excuse me for having a sense of self-preservation.”

“You’re acting like I’m trying to kill you!”

“Lily, I don’t have gills! You can’t just push me underwater without warning!”

She looked surprised at his outburst, her green eyes were wide with worry, and James immediately felt bad. 

“Listen, it’s fine. I just got freaked out for a moment,” he backpedaled. 

Lily wasn’t listening. “Maybe we should stop.” 

“No, really, it’s fine! I’ll just make sure to plug my nose next time!” 

But she was already swimming away, and with a flick of her tail, she had disappeared to a place where he couldn’t reach her. 

                                                      *

The bite was oozing. Oozing what, he didn’t know. Didn’t really want to know. He had never thought he would be having to deal with fish bites. Hadn’t realized such small fish even had teeth. Evil little bastards. Always sweet and cuddly when Lily was around. But this was apparently a summer of firsts. 

He poked at the angry looking marks, and hissed. Lily would know how to take care of this. Fix it. He had no idea where she was. She hadn’t yet resurfaced. 

Not knowing what to do, he climbed onto the outcrop where he had seen her for the first time, and stretched out. Warmth enveloped him on all sides, immediately making him drowsy. As he drifted off, he thought about how unbothered he was. Everything was fine. He let himself be pulled under, into the depths of sleep, not worried in the slightest. She would turn up. She always did. 

                                                      *

He’s sinking deeper into dark blue depths. His legs keep up a frantic pace as he kicks, trying to propel himself forward. All he can see is her: her long, slender fingers, her wrists, her collarbones, glowing in the murky water as she hovers, ethereal. All he wants is to go to her, but with a laugh she turns and swims further down, engulfed by the darkness. 

He can just make out her tail undulating as she moves inexorably on, never slowing down. As he follows her, going ever lower, several jellyfish zoom by, their tentacles tangling together to form a billowing cloud of exhaust. Somewhere to the side, a school of clownfish float in a large reef together, studying. A preoccupied looking manatee comes out of a dense wall of seaweed and almost bumps into James, muttering an apology as it hurries away. 

James is undeterred, his focus only on the mermaid in front of him. She turns to face him, curls one finger in a beckoning motion, and her smile is a hook that snags him, reeling him in, pulling him closer to her. Her lips are moving. He can tell she’s saying something, something important, but he can’t understand her. The water is filling his ears, muting everything, and he strains to hear her, to make out something, anything. Panic rises in his throat as her face grows troubled, panic so thick it’s suffocating. He can’t breathe, and she’s floating further into the murky shadows, and he hates the greedy gloom taking her away from him with every fiber of his being. As she grows ever more distant, his panic grows, and he’s never felt so lost, so helpless. He has to reach her, to stop her, and she’s screaming, screaming his name, over and over and-

                                                      *

“James!” He opened his eyes, gasping for air. After several steadying breaths, the darkness began receding. He blinked while the world came back into focus. The panic he had felt so acutely was already fading, dripping through his fingers, leaking out of his ears. It was replaced by the feeling of solid rock under his back, the sun wrapping him in warmth, and Lily’s hands cupping his cheeks. Her face was right over his, her hair forming a curtain around them. 

“Here.” He felt his glasses being placed gingerly over his eyes. “You alright?” 

Lily’s voice was laced with concern, her eyebrows knitted so close together they were almost touching. Her face was so close to his that he could see every individual hair in her eyebrows. He focused on one hair that lay slightly askew, pointing towards a freckle on her eyelid, as he finished catching his breath. 

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just had a weird dream.”

“Oh. Sure. I have those all the time.”

“Really?”

“Oh, definitely. The other day, I dreamed that I had climbed up a tree, and I couldn’t get down. And you were in the water, and I kept calling you, and asking you to help. But you insisted that you couldn’t, because you had to practice your underwater somersaults. And I was so angry that I started picking crabs off the tree and pelting them at you. But you kept catching them in your mouth and eating them. And you were laughing the whole time. And then you said, ‘Look, Tulip!’ and did a backwards somersault with so much force that you created a huge wave that knocked me off the tree. And then I woke up.”

“Sorry about that.” James was trying very hard to keep a straight face. 

“I can’t believe you called me ‘Tulip’,” Lily said with a frown.  

She looked so genuinely offended that James immediately felt compelled to comfort her. “Like I would ever forget your name!” 

“What was your dream?” she said quickly. 

“Oh, I was just drowning.”

“Well that’s not bad. Why do you get to have normal dreams?”

“Probably because I know how to do backward somersaults.”

                                                      *

James stared at the water intently, looking for any disturbances in the smooth surface. In his hand, he held a freshwater mussel the size of a large baseball. Lily had dug it up from the bed of the lake for the game she had devised. She had informed him that the mussels' name was Petunia, mentioning something about the mussel reminding her of someone. 

He tightened his hold on Petunia, causing her to give an indignant shake in response. James had discovered that a firm grip was necessary when handling the mussel. She had a tendency to clamp down on his fingers when he wasn’t paying enough attention, and getting her to let go required threats of feeding her to the snapping turtle that lived nearby. 

A sudden ripple drew James’ attention to a spot on his left. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the flash of a tail flicking above the water. As he scanned the green surface, he spotted a smudge of red. Raising Petunia above his head, his eyes following the billowing of crimson under the water, he took a steadying breath, and aimed. He exhaled. Petunia went flying. 

“Fucking ow!” 

The cry told him he had hit his mark. The proud victor had only a moment to celebrate his success before a wave of water was flung in his direction, drenching him entirely. 

“Bit of a sore loser, aren’t you?” James smiled as the top of Lily’s head surfaced. Her eyes narrowed and the green flashed somewhat dangerously, but he took no heed. He was on a roll. “Seems I’ve o-fish-ially won!” 

His laugh was followed closely by a scream as Lily pulled him into the water, and he felt his nose being pinched shut as he went under, smothered by a wave of red tendrils. 

                                                      *

"You know I can't stay here." 

"Can't you? What's so great about the ocean, anyway? So it’s got dolphins. Did you know dolphins are actually vicious? I read that they kill porpoises just for fun."

“James-”

“And they’ve been known to attack people.”

“Are you honestly trying to slander dolphins?”

“I’m just saying, it’s a cruel world out there. But it’s safe here. I can guarantee you’ll never be attacked by a toad.”

“The other day, I woke up with a tadpole up my nose."

“Small price to pay.”

“Small price to pay for not being viciously attacked by a dolphin? Do you hear yourself?”

“I just don’t get why you have to leave right now. How could it possibly be safe? Your tail isn’t even fully healed yet!”

“It will be soon.”

Quiet settled over the little lake again. She broke the silence first. 

"Mermaids can live for up to 300 years."

"My dad is turning sixty next month."

“I want to go home, James. You can go home any time you want. You can be sure that you’ll be able to celebrate your dad's birthday with him. What about me? All I've got here are the tadpoles.”

"You've got me."

"What?"

"You've got me, haven't you? Or do I not count?"

"Of course you count, you idiot. You count so much, you have no idea." 

James' heart must have swollen so big it cut off the oxygen going to his brain because all he could come up with was, "I'm actually terrible at maths." 

She sighed. “I will miss you. But I can’t stay here forever, hoping you’ll visit me occasionally.”

“That’s not-”

“It is.”

                                                      *

The heat had somehow worsened. The pair floated in the cool lake water together, incapable of anything requiring any more energy. He could sense her presence, sensed it constantly, incessantly, tugging on his consciousness whenever he was around her. 

They floated in silence, the only sound coming from two particularly loud swallows. The birds were having it out over a spider they each felt entitled to. The angry chirping hadn’t ceased for at least the last ten minutes. 

James felt a ripple and saw Lily shift over and look up at the birds. She rolled her eyes and smiled at him. He felt the sudden urge to bottle up her smile and keep it stashed away, to take out and enjoy on special occasions. Instead, he dunked his head in the water and pretended with all his might that his heart wasn’t being constricted so tight it would shrink to the size of a marble and roll out of his mouth when he was sleeping. 

                                                      *

And then she was gone. Just like that, the lake was empty. James sat on the outcrop, and watched as a wilting water lily floated by serenely. A small blue fish poked its head out of the water. The fish looked around and then stared at James for a few moments, as though wanting to ask something, before diving back under with a small splash.

Here’s a painting that I think looks just like Lily

[writing-the-end]

LoL Chapter 29- Fae Magic

Masterpost

A Wizard Hermits tale (AU, designs, ideas belongs to @theguardiansofredland)

BDubs and Stress take a trip to the eternal spring fields in eastern Lairyon, where they face lighthearted trouble and grim fates.

________________________________________

“Oh! That tingles.” BDubs giggles, feeling the hot, dry heat turn into a comforting warm breeze upon entering the magical barrier. Wet, damp air hanging with droplets soaking in the warm sun rays, clinging to the vibrant flowers and trees that turn the enchanted forest into a painting. Eternal spring among the Flowerfruit Fields, petals and berries of rare specimens growing in the wild space. Pink and green grow from the collapsed buildings, vines laden with fruit creeping down the roof. The vines and bushes overflow onto the thin green pathways of the roads and walking trails.

It’s the fruit and herbs that Stress and BDubs are here for. If they hope to face Dolios, and to help their friends ward off the darkness that attacks them, they need an antidote for dark magic. Stress thinks she found a potion that could reverse any ill effects- if administered in time. Unfortunate for the hermits, the ingredients are rare and unusual. No apothecary she visited had the ingredients she needed. Most they never even heard of. 

But if there’s one place she could find the ingredients, it was here in the fields. Foraging among neon green leaves and plump blue fruit. And if there’s one hermit that knows what weed is what, it would be BDubs- resident plant mage. And already, he’s like a kid in a candy store. “Amazing, I thought the starflower went extinct eons ago! Oh, is that a kipling scale vine? Absolutely incredible, stunning.” 

Stress snorts back a laugh. “How do you keep all that information in yer head?” 

“By removing non-important info, like how not to yell, or all my maths I learned in school. A-and names. If they aren’t a hermit, I don’t remember.” BDubs springs to his feet, grabbing the parchment of paper while Stress escapes the heat of her robes. It’s a little much, the fuzzy wool and thick fleece. She wraps the sleeves around her waist, revealing pale, toned arms and a bright pink undershirt. “Alright, what’s on the shopping list for today?” 

Together, the two forage across the field. Stress plucks leaves that BDubs points out, bags fruit that she remembers from the potion book, but no matter how long they searched, they could not find the rarest, most elusive ingredient of all- dragonfruit. Though BDubs has heard of the unique plant, he has no clue how it grows. Is it a vine plant, like a melon? Or perhaps arboreal, or bushgrown. After stabbing himself on the thorns of an estenberry bush, for the fifth time, he snarls defeat. 

“Aww, don’t give us that attitude, BDubs. We’ve been at this fer ages, it’s okay if we take a break.” Stress gazes at the sky, the sun already setting. They arrived here this morning, but all day among the fields has eaten up their daylight. A cold breeze nips at her nose, inviting her to set up camp. 

“No, I’m not stopping until this job is done!” He plunges his hands into a patch of star flowers, hoping that maybe he’ll find something in there. Instead, he feels the sensation of something cool but energetic running along the tips of his nails. The sound of bells rings in his ears. 

And Stress smacks her forehead, so hard that her pale skin turns as red as a Fi fruit. “The fair folk! Of course! They created the Flowerfruit fields, surely they’d know where we can find one of them dragonfruit!” 

BDubs snorts, brushing dirt from his fingers. “You actually believe in faeries? What are you, twelve?” 

“Would you-!” Stress claps her hand over his mouth, glancing from side to side, then glaring him down. “Of course they’re real, BDubs. What, you tellin’ me you’ll believe in dragons and plant monsters, but the other kind are too far outta the realm of belief?” 

The plant mage only nods his head, glancing around at the evening field. Fireflies dance in the blue night sky, and bunnies hop across the trails, from fruit to fruit in search of their next meal. He sighs, backing away. If there’s one thing he learned, it’s best not to trifle with any of the girls. Cleo and False could run him through with their blades if he crosses them- which, admittedly, takes a lot to do. But he’s also the master of annoying people. Stress however… she needs no weapon to make an impact. “Alright, we’ll look for your faerie friends, if you think it’ll help.” 

Stress’s smile is worth backing down on this argument. Seeing his friends happy is what he loves to see most. BDubs follows the ice blue trail of her robe into a thicket of trees, dancing around the rare and exquisite herbs growing at his feet. He can hear the sound of bells ringing in his ears, soft and sweet, just at the cusp of sounding like voices and laughter. Some of the dancing fireflies cast shadows that look bipedal, but he chalks it all up to his weary body. Stress and him had been traveling for days to arrive here, only to jump right into searching for ingredients. Ingredients that now swing in pouches and vials on his and Stress’s waist. 

All except for this ridiculous dragonfruit. He can’t help but grumble to himself as he follows Stress. Why would a dragon even want fruit? Are they omnivores? It sure didn’t seem like it at the championship. Do they grow them, is that why? What he wouldn’t give to see a massive dragon tending to a tiny dragonfruit plant, tilling the soil and watering it at the mouth of their caves. 

BDubs is yanked out of his own thoughts, Stress grabbing him by the arm and nearly throwing him into the mossy grass at her feet. He’s about to whine about the rough takedown, but she falls to the floor next to him. “Look!” 

The two peer through ivy and bushes. Before their eyes, mushrooms and toadstools grow and glow in the moonlight. Pink flowers of cherry blossom trees sway, petals falling to the verdant floor in a storm of rose. Fireflies dim to reveal the festivities inside the ring. Dozens of fae, dancing with bare feet across the soft moss. Their laughter sounds like tiny bells, harps and pipes filling the air as if it were a human orchestra. No matter their tiny size, the music rose well beyond the center of their festivities. 

Stress reminds herself it’s rude to eavesdrop. She crawls through the bush, about as unlady-like as she can get, but announces her arrival. “Hello, fair folk!” 

The fae rise on dragonfly wings, an aura of light following them as they dance upon glitters and gusts. They bow and welcome Stress to the Flowerfruit Fields, though the music grinds to a halt and the glimmers turn red. Stress realizes what’s wrong, and elbows BDubs in the stomach. Hard. “Ow! Alright, Hello, other kind or whatever.” 

“Don’t ruin this, be polite.” She growls under her breath, amber eyes turning icey. “Just...follow my lead.” Stress turns away, walking into the clearing. Careful to avoid stepping within the faerie circle. “I’m the Ice Mage, and that’s the Plant Mage.” 

“My name is-” BDubs howls as a heavy snowboot lands on the arch of his foot. “Yep, that’s me, the Plant Mage.” 

A young faerie, hair a dark halo of curls bouncing against deep hued skin. Pink petals stitch into clothing, a smile for jewelry and raindrops for gems. “Welcome, mortal mages! For what reason do you enter our forest? Do you wish to join in our celebrations? Perhaps you would like some food?” 

At least this time, BDubs waits for Stress to tell him no. They do not enter the faerie circle, nor do they accept the food. “Actually, we’ve been lookin’ fer something all day long, and if there was anyone who would know where to find the final ingredient to our list, it would be the very people that created these fields.” 

Just like BDubs, fae like their egos stroked. The fae accept the kind comments, a few playing with Stress’s short brown locks. BDubs steps away, unwelcome to the idea of tiny, glittery creatures touching him in any way. “Of course, we would love to show you our wonderful creation. Eternal spring, the time of birth and celebration!” 

The faerie attempts to lead Stress into the circle, but she’s too clever to be caught in their trap. She’s a woman raised in high society- she can sniff out trouble a mile away. “We searched all day, but could not find the last ingredient we need.” 

“A dragonfruit.” BDubs finishes, wringing his hands. If he gets his hands on the seeds of this rare plant, he’ll propagate it in his own jungle garden, until no one ever has to stick their hands in a fi fruit bush ever again in search. The fae around him titter, and he catches only snippets of the gossip and conversations around him. Something about the rarity of the fruit, the tender care needed, like it was a jewel or child. How much time it took for the fae to find one. He sneers, turning his back on the petite party. “Forget it, they don’t have the ingredient Stress. They just want to force us into their weird little realm they’ve got.” 

“BDu- Plant Mage!” Stress claps her hand over her mouth. He said her name. Not her full name, thankfully, but it’s one piece to the puzzle the fae could use in their tricks. She turns back, kneeling to the tiny troublemakers. She has to pick her words carefully. “Please ignore my ignorant friend, he didn’t mean what he said. Your help is greatly appreciated from me, and my appreciation spans to him.” 

“Oh, yeah. Thank you so much for all the help. I dunno about you, Ice Wizard, but I don't see a dragon-” His whining morphs into squeaking, and laughter crowds the illuminated air around Stress. Her fellow hermit is no longer at her side. A rabbit is instead. No, wait. Stress would know that tuft of hair between large, floppy ears anywhere. 

“He runs his mouth like a bunny.” The pink faerie giggles. They turn their attention to Stress, a glint in their eye matching the mischievous tone of their voice. And Stress thought the look on Grian’s face was trouble. “Unfortunately, bunnies cannot carry a dragonfruit. And I don’t think we’d want to give such a rare fruit to ungrateful humans. No no no!” 

“Fair folk, we humbly request your kindness. My friend here is an idiot-” She yelps as sharp bunny teeth nip her fingers. “And a right meanie. But we need the fruit. This potion is crucial to the safety of all Lairyon. Please, if he apologizes consider giving us the dragonfruit.” 

“An apology will not be enough.” A fairy with a red aura and lanky wings deems. “Apologies are worthless to the fae. Your belittled bunny here must prove he is sorry, and lower his crown to that of jester to be granted reprieve.” 

Stress glances at her furry friend, but he shakes his head, crossing his paws in defiance. “It’s a deal! What’s one little prank gonna do?” 

The fields flurry around the two, separating Stress from bunny BDubs. One faerie settles on Stress’s shoulder, warning her she should stay back. They don’t want the kind human to be caught up in the misgivings of the illfated. Another faerie drops a flower crown atop Stress’s head, though Stress is careful not to accept any food the fair folk offer. 

BDubs, on the other hand, is picked up by his fluffy cotton tail by three different fae, their laughter a cacophony of bells. His tiny claws dig into the dirt, but the otherworldly beings are must stronger than his thumper feet, and they succeed in pulling him to a faerie well. The pink aura fairy flits to the stone siding, casting dust into the ripples as if she were sowing seeds. The water turns a milky shade, swirling like clouds trapped in the ground. Mist pours from the sides. 

Fae pull BDubs off the ground, suspending the rabbit above the well. “Enjoy your nap, Plant Mage.” 

Stress joins in the raucous laughter from all around the forest, and a short squeak is cut off when the faeries dunk BDubs into the well. He doesn’t stay under for long, but when the faeries pull him out, his eyes are closed and mouth lolled open. Somehow, even in a rabbit’s body, BDubs manages to snore. Stress raises an eyebrow. “Is that all?” 

The fae go silent, the entire forest echoing only the sound of BDubs fast asleep, apart from a snicker here and there. A squeaky, high pitched voice breaks the silence. “Nonono, big gummy bear, I’m not cherry flavored. I swear.” 

Stress realizes the voice is coming from the rabbit, and a snort slips through her lips. The forest roars with laughter, as BDubs continues to dream aloud. His dreams jump from ridiculous statement to ridiculous statement. Stress was sure she heard the weirdest things come from BDubs before, but she can’t help but howl like a chupacabra when BDubs mumbles out his secret enjoyment of diamonds. “Guess someone ‘as rubbed off on ya. Better remember to wash my coins and jewels when they come from both of ye now.” 

Feeling fuzzy both inside and out, BDubs coughs up a hairball from his throat. He opens his eyes, rubbing them from sleep, before realizing he is fuzzy. He’s still part rabbit, in the midst of transforming back from bunny to human. Paws turning to hands, ears shortening back to be beneath his bandana. The young faerie donned in pink settles their arm against BDubs’  bunny feet. “So, how was your nap?” 

“That was the wor-” Stress cuts BDubs off, eyes blazing hot enough to melt all the ice in Lairyon. The last thing he should be doing is rebuking the fae. Again. BDubs groans, but voice pitches to a sickly sweet tone. “I had a wonderful nap.” 

The fair folk all in the fields laugh and cheer, some zipping away to tell others of the fun they missed. It’s a rare delight to have such entertainment, such a witty human that can still fall for their pranks. The young faerie in pink disappears among the bushes, and returns with a bag full of small black seeds. “We fae keep our word.” 

“Th-” BDubs remembers not to say those words, and simply bows his head in response. “Great kindness, i guess or whatever.” 

“We will miss your company.” They snicker. “We would love to have a romping rabbit to bemuse us...and of course, the kindly Ice mage. Take good care of these rare seeds, they require the care of a beast, much like their namesake.” 

BDubs takes the pouch, securing it right next to his heart. He’s going to sleep holding these seeds after what he’s been through. The two hermits rise, about to make their way from the fields when a green light collides into BDubs’s head. “Can I not get a godsdamned break here?” 

The faerie that ran into him shakes off his stupor, voice running so fast it sounds less like talking and more like chirping. Stress turns to look at the fae. “What’s the problem, loves?” 

Faeries rush around them, flitting around in every direction with no sense of purpose or precedent. The young pranking pixie starts to fly away, but stops dead in the air. “No, no that will not do. The dark presence is too close.” 

“Dark presence? What do you mean?” Stress follows the faerie, but they turn on the hermits. A hand as small as Stress’s pinky nail passes between hermit and other kind. BDubs moves to follow, but discovers he can’t pick up his feet. It’s as if they are rooted into the ground. 

“Be the light.” The faerie breathes, before disappearing in the brambles and bushes. Stress cries, watching as her robes turn to bark, bones to wood. Her feet have become roots, and it’s climbing higher. 

BDubs reaches out to help his friend, shock dawning on his face as his fingers turn to branches, bright pink cherry blossoms blooming. The transformation engulfs Stress’s face, Features turning to knots and whorls of the grain. He can only close his eyes, and accept that they’ve been tricked by the fae again. 

Except when he opens his eyes, he can still see. He cannot move, cannot even breathe, but he remains able to see the outside world. He feels a brush of leaves against his own branches, and that’s all he needs to know that Stress is alive as well. 

Why have the fae trapped them? Why turn them to trees, but let them see the world beyond? 

Screams fill the air where there was once birdsong and laughter, the peace of the Flowerfruit Fields shattered. BDubs surges forward, but is stopped by his own roots and rigidity. A howl sends shivers down his leaves, and in the moonlight, a shadow beast prawls through the grove. A varkolak husk, red foam dripping from it’s misty muzzle, sniffs the air before chasing after fleeing lights.

Stress can’t watch. She closes her eyes, hearing the husked creatures snarl and snap, and a distant chuckle begins to arise from the bloodbath. She keeps her eyes closed, until that charismatic voice warms across the massacre. “Such raw magic...so ethereal, why haven’t I thought of coming here before?” 

Three spires of black crystal orbit around Dolios’s crown, mist swirling. With each breath Dolios takes, he consumes the dark magic. Red splatters across his cheek, droplets falling from the hairs of his perfectly kept beard. Eyes glimmer with curiosity as a faerie is dangled from between his fingers. 

A crystal lowers from the angled orbit around the Magistrate’s head, and a shadow falls over the cherry blossom tree. Transparent mist swirls like midday clouds, a low rumble of a magic spell escaping under Dolios’s breath, followed by a cut off scream, scraping like a bell. 

When the shadow disappears, there is no faerie left. Only the magic, the power writhing through Dolios’s veins. The magistrate looks around, and for a moment Stress fears he knows they’re not real trees. But he steps over the corpses on the ground, faeries sapped of their power fading away into nothing. Not even a husk. 

The stolen magic disappears under Dolios’s golden hemmed sleeve, and his hands clasp behind his back. The husk monsters continue at the simple nod of his head. Leaving behind in his wake a bloodbath, and the ashes of what once were the fae of the Flowerfruit fields.

[oh-no-whoopsie]

reasons I love kip!! (aka @ghostsingold) 

(making this post bc they deserve all the love and my meds have kicked in so im able to be productive today. thanks long-acting adderall!!) 

kip I love you for so many reasons and as I fill out college applications im gonna list them out <3 no special occasion its just! you make me happy and I wanted to share that with you and since I have a teeny blog no one will see this but you <3 

1.) this response to a post I made on my old blog. it was one of my first positive interactions on Tumblr and this tiny piece of writing made that entire week easier. it was a tiny start to a friendship and it was also a stranger caring for me, which at that time I didn’t think was possible. 

2.) every single time that they have been a part of the Brown Eye Stan Club and hyped up brown eyes,,,,dude I can’t you’ve been such a big part of the journey to accept my brown eyes. it means so much to me that you just? say it!! you’re proud of the fact you love brown eyes! hell yeah dude! thank you!

3a.) for sending me songs that remind you of me??? to have someone think of me?? MY HEART?? I- I can’t express how much it means to me I just,, hnnhhh you even made me a fucking playlist (which I listen to CONSTANTLY) (here is the playlist ) just. dude. I love you 

4.) one of those songs is Glitter & Gloss by Skott and 

          a) this song makes me feel like a fucking badass 

          b) made me feel so appreciated and loved because it was the first time someone had said “this song reminds me of you!” 

          c). when I was stalking your blog trying to find my old posts I found this post about that song and?? sunbeams through Spanish moss? trees? pretty?? is this how you see me?? im in love????? also this ask I sent you where you describe your love for the sun <3 the implication that I am even a little bit like the sun to you makes me wanna cry happiness 

5.) Your taste in music is SUPERB. IMPECCABLE. A DELIGHT. 

6.) Someday I will have the strength to do naniwrimo with you and that will be a glorious month (and next September we should be able to be writing buddies!!!!! because now I have meds for attention span so I can write again >:) ) 

7.) A long time ago (old blog) I asked for people to give me nicknames because I never got cute nicknames and because I could only ever insult myself. for the longest time I forgot what you said but I remembered!!!! it was birdie!!

          a). even though now most people call me doe cuz of bumblebee, you were the first person to reply to that post and just because milk suggested fawn/doe and it stuck doesn’t mean I love birdie any less 

          b.) it means a lot that you suggested it in the first place and while I was finding links for this post I came across this ask where you call me birdie :> p.s. you still mean a lot to me and I hope you’re okay <3 

8.) every single time you sent me a picture of a frog :),, also that one post about taking fake shots of water still sends me but I can’t find it to link it,, and also everything you listed on this post including the fact that it is inspired by my post

9.) when you agreed to talk to people for me when I was panicking thinking they were going to die but had to go to sleep. that means so much that you would take that role on and dude I am so so sorry I ever asked that of you. 

10). you made me find magic in the sunlight and not just the moonlight, you helped me find that balance and accept that piece of me and it sounds stupid but its really important ok also im just gonna say it: your voice is perfection it is comfort it is warm and all things good in this world. ive only heard you speak like twice but I could listen to you for the rest of my life

11.) sometimes you send me posts that r like “thinking of you!!” and THEY MAKE MY DAY omfg 

12.) when you drew me!!! 

          a.) bc holy shit you are an amazing artist if you let me I want to post that drawing of me on my blog

          b.) I was supposed to draw you in return I am sorry I did not,, I still plan on doing it tho 

          c.) we drew ourselves as fairies and that was pretty fun 

          d.) you made me see beauty in myself I- 

13.) for never once encouraging my ed or bad habits. you were ready to call me tf out and I appreciate that so much dude? you were never subtley pro you also seem ready to stab anyone who opposes you. hell you post callouts against pr0-ana shit and m**nspo and f*tspo and photoshop and all of it. I admire you so much 

14.) for letting me ramble on about hermes and offerings and spirituality! 

15.) for lighting a candle for Catherine and talking with me that night

(I have the entire conversation copied into a google doc on my phone because it needed to be saved. the things you said are beautiful. it is so touching and breathtaking and if I could hug you I would and  I promise not to forget if you won’t forget. )

16.) holy shit dude P O E T R Y, both for being so good at it and for reading mine. 

17.) helping validate my arospec questioning and enby questioning,,, it was actually through your blog that I realized oh shit! I might be aro!! and having someone to talk about gender issues and arospec stuff is SO AMAZING and I love you <3 and thank you for talking with me and for helping me and for validating me 

18) validating my anger!! or at least helping to do so! you point out when things are unfair! you genuinely want my life to improve! you helped me realize some of my friends are shitty! you helped me accept things! 

19.) I love your vibes. I can’t say this enough but somehow you are just so wonderful to me,,, you are amazing I can’t describe it. you are ethereal and terrific and your features could be anywhere from beautiful to cryptic to solid to handsome but I promise you that there is something unique about you. a bit of mystery and magic left over from the days when fairytales were real. you have all the power of the sun and light and fire in both the life giving and the destructive aspects. you are so perfect and wonderful thank you 

20.) because you told me “you do not deserve to be traumatized” and in all honesty that slapped me into reality. if i still had my old Tumblr I probably would’ve screenshotted it so I could get the exact quote but I do not know how to make you understand How Much That Helped me 

all in all,,,, I must end the list here because I need to go be productive. alas.there is more I didn’t even BEGIN to mention,,, but kip, you are my rae of sunshine. someday we are going to go be cryptic authors in Scotland who disappear into the woods, perhaps to hunt with the faeries, perhaps no, who knows. we will become part of the local lore,, independent and happy and spooky. 

I love you so much!  also sorry I went through your archive to find all this,,,, to be fair I already did it once to find my posts <3 

I would never say that just one person “saved me”. thats too big of a responsibility to share. but kip, you helped save me, in ways I can’t explain, from myself and from death and from an abyss of numbness. you saved me from a thousand tiny deaths and gave me a thousand new pieces of life and I would not be the person I am today without you. I love and appreciate you so much and you bring me sunlight and joy and peace and connection. you are a true friend to me. thank you for being here. you deserve the world and so much more. 

[eirist]

I just read your newest One shot and it’s hilarious! Can I get some more of jealous Sanji and Zoro rubbing it in? You’re absolutly amazing!

LITTLE BITS AND PIECES OF HEAVEN

ADD-IN SALT TO INJURY

One-shot #: 18

Disclaimer: One Piece (and its characters) belongs to Eiichiro Oda-sensei. 

Reminder: I have no beta-reader. Any grammatical and spelling errors are solely mine.

Warning: OOC possible. One shot.

Rating: T (Just a few swear words here and there)

Note: This serves as a continuation of Behind Closed Doors. Mind you, it’s PWP and just pure insanity. The title is a play of the phrase ‘add insult to injury’, as I feel like it suits the Sanji inclusion here best. 

And… this took me a really loooong time to finish. This is where I got stuck, actually. But I hope you enjoy it anon. 

Summary:  There was no way he was gonna win this one. Not when those two are so obviously into each other.

The door slowly opened with a slight creak.

“Ohayo Nami-swan!” Sanji chirped ecstatically, twirling around and bowing low before flourishing a tray laden with scrumptious food and fruits. “I prepared a delicious breakfast in bed for you my beautiful angel, my sweet mellorine!”

“Cook.”

“Marimo?!”

The two men automatically scowled at the sight of each other so early in the morning.

“What do you want?” Zoro grumbled.

“What are you doing here?” Sanji hissed at the same time, straightening up.

The green-haired man cocked an eyebrow at him. Folding his arms across his bare chest, he leaned against the door frame. “This,” he drawled. “Is my girlfriend’s room.”

Sanji flinched. And it took all of his willpower to stop himself from kicking the bastard’s smug face.

He hated that the idiot swordsman can freely use that word to refer to the lovely navigator. And it seems like Zoro was doing that a lot as of late.

Especially when talking to him.

“Damn you!” Sanji spat out, taking a step towards Zoro so they were almost face to face. “This is also Robin-chwan’s room!”

The man shrugged. “Robin’s up in the crow’s nest.”

“Is it not supposed to be your watch?”

He got a scoff at that. “Change of shift idiot. I have the early watch. Robin has the next.”

The cook’s eyes widened. If the beautiful Robin-chwan was gone all night…

That means…

No! He doesn’t want to think about it!

“Well?” Zoro’s impatient voice broke through his thoughts. “What do you want? Out with it!”

“I don’t have business with your ugly mug. Where is Nami-swan?”

“Sleeping,” the swordsman replied with a yawn. “And you know what? I wanna go back to sleep too. So go away!”

“Why? Tired marimo?” Sanji asked sarcastically,grinding his teeth in anger when a smirk appeared on Zoro’s face.

“You have no idea.”

Sanji bristled at the connotation of that. “I hate you!”

“I don’t care. Now get lost swirly.”

“Hah! Big words coming fromyou!” Sanji almost guffawed at the irony of it. Then he stuck his face closer to Zoro’s. “Not until Nami-san orders me herself!”

“Then go stand there for the rest of the day aho.”

Zoro was about to shut the door when Sanji lifted a foot to block it. 

“The hell is your problem shit cook?!”

“YOU! You are my problem, you stupid moss-head!”

“What—” Nami’s sleepy voice suddenly interrupted them. “—the hell are you two doing?”

The two men immediately stopped fighting as they both shifted their attention to the orange-haired woman. Nami sleepily pushed herself up on the bed to glare at them. Zoro and Sanji’s bickering voices had pulled her out of her slumber.

The former pirate hunter glared at Sanji scathingly as if blaming him for disturbing the sleeping girl. ”Oi Nami. Ero-cook wants you!”

“Huh? What?”

“Nami-swaaan, ohayo!” Sanji cheerfully sang out, almost ramming the tray at his now-annoyed rival as he tried to step inside the room. “I prepared a special breakfast for you!”

Nami blinked and watched as the two glared daggers at each other, probably waiting for the other to keel over and die.

She sighed, sluggishly rubbing the sleep off her eyes. Wasn’t it too damn early for their daily squabbling? Luffy wasn’t even awake and they are already at each other’s throats!

“Thanks Sanji-kun,” she said, smiling slightly before giving in to the urge to yawn. 

Sanji’s eyes automatically turned into hearts as Zoro’s narrowed in annoyance.

“My pleasure my Nami-swaaan!” Sanji crooned as hearts started popping out of him. “Where do you want me to put it?”

Her brown eyes lazily drifted from the overly enthusiastic chef to the now-fuming swordsman.

“Hmm… just hand it to Zoro,” Nami answered, before unceremoniously dropping her body back on the bed and snuggling under the covers. The breakfast-in-bed gesture was quite sweet, even though she knows it was done to hit two birds with one stone—to pamper her and at the same time piss her grouchy boyfriend off.

“Huh?”

“You heard her,” Zoro sneered, pushing Sanji back outside with one finger. “Give it to me and go away!”

“I refuse!“ 

The two men glowered at each other. 

“Urgh!” Nami groaned from beneath the blanket. “Do not make me stand up and hit you both,” she threatened, sensing the two was about to start arguing again. “Just get it Zoro and come back to bed!”

Sanji blanched as a wicked grin appeared on Zoro’s face.

"You heard your Nami-swan. She wants me back on her bed.” He emphasized just to rile up the infuriating man.

“I. WILL. KILL. YOU. SHITTY. MARIMO!”

Zoro just snorted. “Try and die,” he grabbed the tray from Sanji’s hand. “Now scoot,” he said dismissively before slamming the door on the blond chef’s fuming face.

“ARRRGGGH!!!”

————————-

The weather that day was pleasant—not too cold, not too warm. The wind blowing from the sea was surprisingly soothing. From the looks of it, they are probably headed to a spring island and must’ve crossed its climate zone.

Sanji took a deep breath of the calming ocean breeze and squared his shoulders as he stepped out of the galley, balancing a tray with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice—the perfect drink, for the perfect weather, for his ever perfect Nami-swan.

It’s not like his failed attempt—no thanks to that marimo-head—of serving the navigator breakfast-in-bed earlier would be enough to dissuade him. In fact, it only made him eager to cater to the orange-haired whims and wait on her hand and foot. That would show that directionless algae.

A love-struck expression appeared on his face as his eyes zeroed in on Nami, who was on the lawn deck, reading and sunbathing.

She looks ravishing in a carmine-colored bikini. Coupled with her lustrous orange hair, it was as if the fire of love had come alive right in the middle of the Sunny’s deck.

Hearts materialized around him. Whispering her name excitedly, he all but bounded towards the stairs.

Suddenly, Nami looked up from her book and smiled. Sanji froze in his tracks, heart thumping wildly against his chest. He was about to smile back when he realized that it was directed opposite from where he stood.

He scowled in annoyance as Zoro jumped down from the nest’s ropes onto the deck. He probably just finished his stupid training as he was wiping the sweat off his ugly face with the small towel wrapped around his neck.

Sanji’s eyes narrowed when the katana wielder deliberately made his way towards his fiery angel… just right after Nami extended a hand, beckoning to Zoro to come to her.

His hand clutched the railing with enough force to put cracks into it. He silently seethed as Zoro reached out to take Nami’s hand in his before bringing it up to his lips for a kiss.

He cringed at the display. He had no idea that the muscle-brained man was capable of any affection at all. Sure, Zoro probably have an itty-bitty soft spot… probably.

But to actually show it?

Kinda hard to believe knowing the man breathe and live for raw brutality and rough and tough treatment.

He honestly thought only Chopper and Luffy gets the honor.

A giggle reached his ears as Nami playfully pulled at Zoro’s hand and he ended up on top of her. Zoro wasted no time and captured her lips in searing kiss. 

Sanji gritted his teeth, hard enough to make his jaw ache. Squeezing the rail tightly, he fumed as bits and pieces of wood dropped down the lawn deck as he imagined it was the bastard’s stupid neck he was choking. 

When Zoro drew back, laughing at something Nami said as he settled on the space beside her… their eyes eventually met.       

The swordsman gave him a shit-eating grin. And Sanji gave him the finger.

Zoro’s grin turned vicious at his reaction. He reached for Nami’s hand again; deliberately planting a kiss on her upturned palm, his good eye still locked with the chef’s.

“Damn you aho kenshin!” Sanji shouted as the balustrade finally broke with a loud snap under his hand. The intense flames of his fury exploded starting from his feet, making its way up, before engulfing his whole body.

“Get your filthy hands off Nami-san!” He roared indignantly.

In one swift move, he leapt at Zoro’s direction, while still gracefully balancing the tray of orange juice in one hand. 

Damn it all to hell and back. He should’ve poisoned the annoying bastard right from the start.

“HELL MEMORIES!!!”

————————-

“Okaaay… so that is the seventh railing cook-bro had broken in the span of one week,” Franky complained as he plopped his heavy body down on the galley’s couch, making Usopp bounce a good one foot up in the air. “And I’m telling you, I’m not really suupeer happy about it.”

Usopp squeaked as he landed back on the seat.  “Well, at least it’s only the railing that’s damaged not our food,” he said scratching his head. “Though I honestly couldn’t say the same for our cook." 

Franky nodded. "That is true.” 

“Well…” Robin, who was sitting on one of the dining chairs enjoying her coffee and sandwiches, spoke up. “I’m actually getting used to it.”

The two glanced at each other questioningly. “I’m not,” Usopp admitted. “I’m getting more scared on top of being scared all the time!”

“Sanji’s just having a bit of a trouble coping,” Robin explained, pouring another cup of coffee from the beautifully embellished silver dallah the chef had recently and lovingly acquired for her.

“Well if you call what he’s been doing recently a bit… then by all means,” the sniper grumbled sarcastically.

“Isn’t this supposed to be Nami and Zoro’s problem?" Franky asked no one in particular. His head turned towards the galley’s door, just as Nami entered. “Hey girlie! Shouldn’t you do something about it?”

“Huh?” The mapmaker stared at the cyborg blankly. “About what?”

“Sanji.” Robin replied with a small smile.

“Sanji-kun?” Nami inquired with a wondering expression on her face. “Why? What did he do?”

“He’s getting way out of a hand!” Usopp exclaimed. “He’s acting out, screaming and combusting at random moments every damn day!”

“He’s right,” Frank agreed. “A little bit more and we can actually use him for ammunition!”

“That is so true,” the sharpshooter continued in a whining tone.

Nami raised an eyebrow at them. “Well… why me?”

“Because somehow, this is your fault and Zoro’s!” Usopp pointed out.

Her hand banged the table at his statement, making them flinch. “How is it our fault, huh?” Nami was glaring at him in a manner that clearly says: she was his doom.

“W-we-well…” Usopp boldly stammered. He wasn’t a brave warrior of the sea for nothing… though he did scooted away on the seat just a little bit… in case Nami’s decides to grab him by the neck. “You just had to go and be with Zoro!”

“I thought you were on board with my relationship with Zoro?”

“Well, yeah! But that was before Sanji’s lunatic episodes! You should’ve gotten together with him instead and prevented all this madness from happening!“

"Care to run that by me again Usopp?" Zoro drawled while leaning against the doorway with a hand on the hilt of his newest sword. 

Usopp’s eyes widened and he swallowed—really hard—at the sight of the ex-bounty hunter and immediately backpedaled. "I’M SORRY ZORO! I WAS ONLY KIDDING!” He was out of the couch in a matter of seconds and at the other end of the room, bowing. “SUMIMASEN!”

“You’re a moron Usopp,” Nami scowled at him as Zoro walked past her to take a seat on a vacant chair across Robin. The hana hana no mi user greeted him and offered him some sandwiches to which he shook his head. “I’m charging you for that stupid comment by the way.”

“Hey!”

“Speaking of charging,” Franky interrupted. “Should I charge Sunny’s repair materials to you two?” He pointed at Zoro and Nami.

“To Zoro of course,” Nami answered without batting an eyelash. 

“Huh? Why me?”

“Because it’s you who keep riling Sanji-kun up." She flashed him a saccharine smile.

“I am not riling him up!” Zoro snapped. “I can’t help it if he’s nuts! He’s damn everywhere like a creepy stalker!” He huffed. “Why don’t you just charge it to Usopp since you’re already fining him for that stupid comment?”

“Please don’t drag me into this.” The liar pleaded as he stealthily shuffled back to where Franky was sitting.

“Either she charges it to you Usopp or I’ll have Enma slice you in half”

Usopp paled while Nami beamed a smile at Franky. “That settles it." 

"I can’t believe you two just arm-twisted me!” He cried out. 

“I can’t believe you actually suggested that Nami and ero-cook get together.” Zoro countered.

“I’m sorry Zoro,” Usopp laughed sheepishly, in an instant he was kneeling beside him. “Let’s be friends again.”

“Idiot.”

“Maybe we should just give Sanji some time to finally accept the truth,” Robin proposed. “I believe he’ll come around on his own.” She smiled at Zoro and Nami.

“You actually believe that?” The curly-haired lad stared at her, dumbfounded. “That guy’s been pining over Nami since day one! I don’t think it’s going to be that easy Robin!”

Robin just shrugged. “If that’s the case then let’s just prepare for the worse.“

“Can’t we honestly just do something about it?” Franky groaned.

“We can…” Zoro answered. “Let’s throw the cook overboard.”

“Zoro!” Nami gasped.

“What?!” The tall lad clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “This wouldn’t even be a problem if that dumb cook’s not the crazy idiot that he is.”

“Oi shit head,” Sanji suddenly snarled from the entryway. “I am just right here. I can hear you badmouthing me.”

“You can’t call that badmouthing if it’s the truth.”

“Temee…”

“Wanna go again aho cook?”

Sanji paused for a moment, placing a cigarette on his lips before lighting it. He took a drag and slowly blew out the smoke. “Why would I waste effort with someone whose bounty is lower than mine?”

Zoro’s features immediately darkened at that.

The room went quiet all of a sudden. Nami’s jaw had dropped open while Robin murmured a soft ‘oh’.

That was a damn shot! And it freaking hit the mark.

“Way below the belt,” Franky mouthed, shaking his head.

Usopp carefully edged away from Zoro and crawled towards the couch, straight behind the safety of Franky’s cyborg body. “This will definitely be a death match,” he whispered in a trembling voice.

“Supeeerrr…” Franky muttered back at him, nodding.

They continued staring at the two monsters of their crew. Sanji was smirking in a condescending way at Zoro, who was looking back at him venomously. Without another word, he stood up, flicking his thumb to unsheathe Enma.

Nami snapped into attention and made a grab for his arm to stop him. “Matte Zoro!”

“The hell Nami!”

“You might slash the Sunny in half!” She reminded him, recalling how powerful that sword is.

“The only one who will get slashed here is that perverted cook!”

“Hah! Let’s see marimo!”

“STOP IT!” Nami yelled, hands fisting at her side, ready to clonk the two on the head any moment now. “For crying out loud, you two have been fighting since this morning!”

“Bu-but Nami-swan…” Sanji stuttered, looking embarrassed at being reprimanded.

“He started it.” Zoro was quick to point a finger.

“And I’m ending it NOW!”

Sanji gulped at her tone, while Zoro’s annoyance shifted from the baka cook to her.

Nami met his stare head on. “It’s just bounty Zoro no need to get so worked up on it.”

Zoro’s glare on her was enough to freeze the entire New World sea… right back into the first half of the Grand Line.

The silence continued to hover inside the room. Several pairs of eyes exchanged looks, promptly looking for an escape route before the clash of the couple starts.

Nami didn’t really get why bounties were such a big deal. She’d always been the first to complain whenever the crew’s head prices go up after every incident spearheaded by their idiot captain.

But, what she did understand is… it is important to her simple-minded boyfriend who was looking too angry and too sulky at the same time for her taste.

She stepped closer to him, cupping his face between her hands. Standing on tiptoes, she murmured oh-so-softly that her lips almost touched his own. “Are you saying you can’t raise your bounty well past Sanji-kun’s?”

Zoro glowered at her. “Of course I can! Who do you think I am woman?” He hissed at her.

“Good. Then what seems to be the problem?” The navigator questioned, in a breathy tone Zoro knew so well. Her thumb traced his lower lip slowly and playfully.

Never mind that their crewmates are watching, most of the ones present have seen far more. Nami smiled as the tension in his jaw and shoulders loosened. Of course she knew how to smoothen his ruffled feathers.

“Fine.” Zoro grudgingly give up. He can kick that pathetic-excuse-of-a-cook’s ass next time.

“I expected nothing less from you pirate hunter.”

“Hmph!”

She gave him a flirtatious wink. And Zoro rolled his eye at her in response.

“And Sanji-kun,” she called in a sing-song voice.

“Hai Nami-swan!” The blond was immediately within her arm’s reach, down on one knee. “I live to serve you!”

Zoro snorted. “No qualms about that ‘cause that’s the only thing you’ll be good at.”

“And love you of course!”

Now the Santoryu master made a sound between a choke and a snarl.

“Hai, hai,” Nami said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Can you please stop fighting? Onegai?” She batted her eyelashes at him and pouted cutely as Zoro mumbled insults under his breath. He got an elbow ramming against his ribs for that.

Sanji blinked in astonishment. He was not expecting that request from the mapmaker. But of course he will concede. “As you wish my lovely lady,” he locked eyes with the swordsman. “It’s not like a lower bounty will be good even for a warm up.”

Zoro exploded. “Say that to my face shitty cook!”

“Maybe I will!”

And… they are back at square one.

Robin regarded the scene before her with eyes crinkling amusedly as she rested her chin on her palm. “And so it begins again…”

Nami let out an exasperated breath. “Ok I tried.” She raised both of her hands in defeat, moving away from the two.

“Yep, you did.” Usopp deadpanned.

“We really cannot do this without fists or thunderbolts.” Nami stated as a vein popped on her forehead.

​“We should just let them,” Robin voiced out. “They’ve been like this from the start. More so now that they really have something to fight over.” She winked at Nami. “May the best man win, ne Nami?”

​“But Robiiin…” Nami whined. Then she dejectedly blew at her bangs. “I guess you are probably right.”

“Oi!” Usopp retorted. “What is wrong with you two?”

The archaeologist smiled creepily at him. “You want to stop them?” She motioned at the two.

“YOU KNOW YOU REALLY ARE USELESS MARIMO. WHAT A LOUSY BOYFRIEND YOU TURN OUT TO BE!”

“THINK YOU CAN DO BETTER COOK HUH?”

“​The hell I would!” Usopp cried.

“Well,” Franky stood up. “Let’s just hope we’ll be throwing just one corpse overboard tonight.” Usopp slapped him on the shoulder with an ‘oi’.

“I’m outta here.” The shipwright headed towards the exit. “Oi Nami-sis, just tell them I’m charging them for the repairs and damages this time.” He glanced at the two men.

“Got it Franky.” Nami nodded. Oh, think about the hefty interest rate she can place on that!

“OF COURSE I CAN DO BETTER! THAT’S WHY MY BOUNTY’S HIGHER THAN YOURS KUSO KENSHIN!”

Everyone froze at that again. Third time’s the charm after all.

Zoro’s bound to reach the end of his rope and hit the roof.

Much to their surprise, an arrogant grin appeared on the green-haired man’s face. “You know, I can always surpass your bounty nosebleed,” he declared.

Sanji raised a curled brow at him. The supernova was looking too smug for his liking… just like earlier in Nami’s bedroom.

“But you… you will never get the chance to get Nami. Ever.”

With that Zoro sidestepped and walked past Sanji, who stood stock still.

Franky and Usopp’s mouth hung open as Robin chuckled. Nami bit her lower lip to hide the smile forming on her lips as Zoro nonchalantly dropped a kiss on cheek before dragging her out of the galley.

“Wow! Now THAT is a much lower blow!” Franky hooted.

“That was sooo cool!” Usopp clapped his hands slowly. “Bra-vo! Zoro, four and counting and Sanji… you really should just give up.” He tapped the man’s shoulder to appease him but retracted his hand when he realized that their blond cook was completely motionless.

He peered at Sanji’s face. “Uhm… I think we should call Chopper.”

————————-

The afternoon was astoundingly quiet after all the commotion earlier. Everyone seems to be concealed inside their own respective places, resting or doing their own thing.

Sanji—who now recovered from his shock, thanks to their wonderful doctor—approached the Sunny’s library. It was time for Nami’s afternoon tea. He knew she was spending the remaining part of the day drawing and charting her maps.

He lifted a hand to knock on the door then he hesitated. He sensed that she was not alone inside. Zoro was with her.

He still owes him for what happened at the galley earlier.

Biting his lip to keep himself from kicking the door to smithereens, he quietly peered on the door’s porthole.

He watched as Nami took a seat on the surrounding bench beside Zoro, tucking her feet underneath her as she rested her head against his shoulder. There was a contented look on her beautiful face as she closed her eyes. She smiled at something Zoro said before the man kissed the top of her head and started massaging her tired hand.

Sanji continued to watch them for a few more seconds before letting out a sigh. It was pretty clear that there was no way he was gonna win this one. Not when those two are so obviously into each other.

He will concede. After all, what’s important is Nami’s happiness.

And what kind of prince he is if he did not support his favorite lady?

He’ll try to tone down with the arguments and the fighting with the idiot moss-head. 

But certainly not before ‘accidentally’ dropping just a hint of Chopper’s laxative in one of the sake bottles Zoro loves filching from their stock.  

————————-

“Hey,” Usopp nudged Nami with his shoulder. They were up in the crow’s nest surveying the area before dropping anchor for the night. “I’m curious.”

“Hmm? About what?”

“Why aren’t you stopping Sanji’s craziness?” He asked. “You know you could easily put your foot down about it… give Zoro and us a break somehow?”

The girl pursed her lips at his question.

“Please don’t tell me you seriously enjoy seeing them fighting over you?”

The cat burglar just cocked an eyebrow at him.

When she did not answer, Usopp blurted out. “YOU ARE?!”

Nami’s lips quivered slightly before laughing.

Usopp frowned.

"Let me put it this way Usopp. The more Sanji-kun tries to one up Zoro… the more my lost boy’s eager to shower me with affection.”  

He gaped at her as it sank into him. “You are one shrewd woman.”

“I know,” Nami winked at him. “Why don’t you scoot? I’m the one on watch tonight.”

“But Zoro said it’s his… oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” She grinned cheekily at him. “See it damn works for me Usopp. It damn works well for me.”

[elliots-stuff]

adventures i would go on with each of my friends :-) 

allie: [ @aliceteresamarie ] my very best friend in the world, i kind of just want to go to her house and look at embarrassing videos of her as a kid however. i think we would go to canada, they have a lot of cool things and Fantastic vibes there, tim hortons on every block, and also we could throw wadded up pieces of paper at anyone we hear speaking french 

elle: [ @cy-ne-fin ] my faux older sibling!! obviously elle and i would go on a hike in a really cool forest with a lot of trees and rivers and moss and cool stuff like that. going to look for faerie wives and inevitably get cursed which would be So exciting. somewhere in the upper peninsula maybe so the stars would be really clear 

sam: [ @orc-hestral ] i would visit sam at the dorm they’re living in this fall, they could show me around their college campus, i’m sure they know who’s having the best parties, we could eat bad college pizza and get ice cream and just walk around campus and listen to music and stuff, would b a fantastic way to spend a few days i think personally :-) 

max: [ @nostalgic-romantic ] Max and I would build a time travelling machine and then we would go to a Lil Peep concert. I’ve never been to a concert in my whole life and Lil Peep makes some bangin tunes, also I think everyone else there would Have the vibes, they would be cool and they would think Max is the Coolest based on Max’s high number of piercings, they would probably give me a random piercing right at the concert, what could be better. anyway I just think it would b a blast 

jo: [ @zagreus-eats-your-bread ] unfortunately i will be putting the burden of planning this trip on jo, but i think it would be sick if she showed me around germany, it looks like there’s a Lot of cool places there. also i think we should travel between cities on a train. also while i’m there we would watch star trek because i want to watch it but i have too small an attention span to sit and watch it by myself 

liza: [ @saturns-old-bones ] i think liza and i should go to new york and visit all the sick bookstores and museums there (museum gift shop hh), also we can eat soft pretzels and then i can catch a pigeon and smuggle him home in my suitcase 

jay: [ @brightbluesubaru ] road trip! jay promised hed take me to his hometown in the pacific northwest because it sounds Fantastic, and we’d start in the american southwest bc hh.... red rocks...... Cactus...... Ground Squirrel 

isla: [ @islaaries ] i would take isla to traverse city, it’s a funky little place with a lot of funny little stores, they have stationary and bookstores and like. every kind of store you could think of. they have a steampunk-esque store which is sick, they also have a lot of good restaurants and a cool skate park. isla i do not know if you skate but if you dont you should you have skater vibes 

kani: [ @pns-fandom ] kani and i would obviously go to japan and buy sick anime merch and cute stationary and take cute pictures of each other with the cherry trees and everything 

[sinterblackwell]

thank you @eliottdemmaury and @04hands for tagging me 💙

note #1: there is a spoiler from “the last olympian” in the “percy jackson & the olympians” series shown in the image above with the chosen text; it there’s also a little piece of my thoughts on the text itself that’s discussed below so just a warning incase of anything.

note #2: i had to crop the images a bit so i’m sorry if it looks a bit off.

directions: make a moodboard about yourself, including the following images:

your favorite type of weather:

i always feel better when i’m staying inside and it’s absolutely pouring outside. i’m good with some light rain, too; the sound of it helps me a lot, but hearing thunder helps even more.

a subject of study:

even though my dutch learning has been put on the backburner, i still remember how excited i was at catching new things from the language and understanding why sentences were the way they were. learning languages in general seems like such a fun concept, there’s so much to explore and you learn new things every day.

despite the fact that my attention span is a bit short, i’m excited for when i pick dutch back up again in the future. and my excitement applies the same to this greek language class i registered for in the fall.

favorite type of plant:

i don’t really have a favorite plant, but i guess i would say moss looks alright.

your celebrity crush with a heart around them:

sunmi!! i’ve known her for a while now, all since i first discovered her single “siren”—highly recommend—, but her most recent “pporappippam” made me love her even more. knowing that she wrote and composed this song herself made me admire her a lot because by the first moment i listened to this song, there was something so light and nostalgic about it, i fell in love with it immediately. plus!! just look at her!!

seeing her dance playfully in the relay dance of “pporappippam” on mnet made me smile, too. so there’s that as well 💜

standout physical attribute:

i’ve been complimented on my hair since i was a toddler and have never lost its thickness; both a blessing and a curse.

in this picture, it’s not as big but i’m still always admired for it because of how it frames my face. since it’s my natural hair, it just makes a lot of people fawn over it sometimes.

something you’ve eaten/drank today:

this made me realize that i didn’t eat anything today...but i did drink some water, so there’s that.

an inanimate object in your favorite color:

that blur is me!! i made many attempts at taking some self-timer photos and this was one of my favorites so i present to you my (pink) lei that my mom gave me to wear for my birthday.

a quote or text of your choosing:

this piece of text is from “the last olympian”, book five of the “percy jackson & the olympians” series by rick riordan. i have officially completed the series and am currently reading its spin-off, “the heroes of olympus” (which i already love; there’s a difference in tone and the characters and atmosphere feel so different but there’s still something very familiar about it and plus! i’m still learning from all of it).

pertaining to this excerpt, reading this part affected me a lot because i was like annabeth where i had faith in luke—for reasons unlike her own, but the hope was there. annabeth’s pride was determined to be her fatal flaw in “the sea of monsters” and that pride included her belief that she could take luke out of the darkness he wrapped himself up in. what she (and percy) came to understand in “the last olympian” was that her belief wasn’t as farfetched as they may have thought.

it was a pretty tragic ending for luke’s character, but it was a sacrifice he did willingly. the fact that it was his own choice after feeling like everything about his life was taken away from him...yeah, it means a lot.

favorite album:

i don’t have a favorite album as my music taste is really sporadic, which includes me enjoying only two songs from the same album at best. the songs that i’ve downloaded the most on a single album are from “map of the soul: 7” by bts but for this one, i would say that “this is acting” by sia holds itself up to the top.

it’s the songs that i like specifically from her album that is the reason for giving it this title, especially “footprints” and “house on fire”. i highly recommend listening to it if you haven’t already.

i tag: @tehkatie @yasminaseason @sekoui (if you would like!!)

[imagine-loki]

Seiðmaðr

TITLE: Seiðmaðr

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 6/? AUTHOR: goldtrimmedspectacle ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki is attacked and forgets his past. Now riddled with amnesia, Loki must decide whether to follow his mind and return his memories, or to follow his heart and find true happiness. RATING: PG13. Will go up in later chapters. NOTES/WARNINGS: Angst. Can be found on AO3.

Hear on the wind how the pendulum swings Feel how the winter succumbs to the spring Over the palisade morning will break Rise up to meet it, oh sleeper awake

- Caesar, the Oh Hellos

CHAPTER SIX

You handed the butcher a handful of ingots as he passed the sealed package of meat over the counter, tied together with a thin string, and into your waiting hands. The burly man stood behind the counter with a large smile, rewarding your thanks with murmured ‘of course’, coated in the thick regional accent of western Innangard and nodding his thanks in turn. From the front of the counter, you watched him stash the coins inside a clay jar, allowing the few coins to fall into his growing collection, and waved as you slipped out of the front door.

  “Have a good day.”

  The door slammed shut as you stepped onto the busy streets of Sandnæs, leaving you alone on the butcher’s front step with a small package of food for the oncoming day.

  A woman bustled besides you, smiling apologetically as she reached for her rushing child and pulled them back into her arms. The precocious toddler squirmed in her arms for a few seconds and then fell into their mother’s chest with a soft noise, followed by the mother cooing and forcing herself into a fast gait. The toddler peered over their mother’s shoulder and cooed at you briefly, disappearing behind one of the central town buildings a moment later.

  Swayed by the sweetness of the child’s toothless smile, you juggled the crinkled parcel with one hand and slid the meat into your side satchel alongside a loaf of bread that you had purchased from a nearby bakery. The endearing front and sign, spelling out Sæti Bakery in cursive, had lured you in – as did the sweet scent of custard pastries and cake.

  No wonder it was Bjarke’s favourite bakery in Vanaheimr.

  It was endearing and mildly annoying at how vastly Bjarke praised the bakery every time he visited, groaning with every bite of their carrot and rhubarb cake. The crumbs would often fall into his beard and gather until he finished off all the pastries he desired, so you were thankful to have gone alone for once. Without the added groaning and drooling from Bjarke, that is.

  Closing the satchel once more, you glanced into a nearby shop window and read the time plastered on the shop’s clock face.

  Half hour past twelve.

  Two hours had passed since you had left Ormr in the care of Healer Kari’s hands. His deteriorating state and the news of concentrated seiðr poison in his bloodstream had left the man beaten and exhausted upon the bed on which he lay. Even after leaving him in the care of such an experience healer, as displayed through Kari’s quick actions and previous experience in the medical field, you still felt uncomfortable having left the aching man in the grasp of another – despite your prior comments on passing him off to the next living soul who could heal him.

  However, whether it was his easy and quick words, or the manner in which he teased you, or the sudden act of trust in which Ormr had read out his mother’s last words to him. The man had grown on you like a thick moss.

  Granted, not a sturdy piece of moss, for it was a new ungainly friendship, but there were traces of life and flourishment in the odd friendship that had blossomed between the two of you.

  It had also taken you another half hour to allow the full consequence and meaning of Kari’s words to settle within your pounding head. The adrenaline of Ormr’s passing sickness and the sudden kaleidoscope of information about Ormr’s gift in seiðr – which you had reacted in a rather dismissive manner, you now realised – having thrown your thought process for a mental loop.

  It was rather overwhelming, having discovered the man only a few days prior and healing him under the beating summer sun, only to create an odd unstable friendship with him. His mannerisms still puzzled you at times, leaving you unsure of what phrases would set him over the edge or what would be considered taunting rather than teasing in his eyes. However, you did note that friendships were often built in less extreme scenarios, but it did not mean that Ormr and yourself were incompatible as companions.

  There were many companionships that had been formed in far fewer than seven days.

  Burying the thought, you glanced down at the lunch you had bought yourself and Ormr, that is if he was awake when you returned and tried to remember the right turn in which the side streets would lead you towards the main road leading into Sandnæs’ centre. Thankfully, in the time you had been apart from Ormr you had reunited yourself with Sandnæs layout and the townspeople – a sight to behold, granted there were far fewer people here than in previous years. You had also been able to require lodgings for the next few nights, and you had been gifted the opportunity to visit the passing merchants’ market, where there were many different and unique items being sold for either very extravagant or suspiciously low prices.

  A golden pendant had caught your eye briefly, although the outrageous cost had made you decide it was a lost cause – no matter how enchanting the colourful design was.

  Walking back through the opening streets of Sandnæs, satchel in hand, you decided a slow stroll back to the healers was your best decision in that instance and chose to gaze through the windows of multiple shops and stalls. The sound of voices and rolling carts on the bustling streets was a welcomed backing track as your eyes wandered from necklace to vial to book and then back to the buffed suits of armours and engraved swords, as well as the fancy clothes depicted in high-esteemed tailors and their partnerships.

  The larger shops continued for a while longer but eventually, the more family-orientated and smaller shops filled the streets. There were Vanir flooding out from each of the cobbled buildings and sharing their wares in small stalls in front of their homes, yelling out prices and bargains to the passerbys.

  You paused in front of a small bookshop.

  The display in the front window was petite in size with a varying range of thick volumes and journals for women and men of incredible penmanship. There was even a small collection of ink pots framed by thick quills and shiny tips. Besides, the beautiful quills stood even more books arranged into small piles – spanned over the wooden shelf to display the intricate leather-bound covers and titles.

  Whilst it was true that you did not often indulge in literature, you held an odd admiration for the written thoughts of another. Especially those of a fictional world where young children and adults were capable of escaping reality, at least for a moment. But that did not mean philosophers and their beliefs did not deter your attention either, as there were many interesting theories and discussions often held within the binding of a good book.

  Ormr seemed particularly interested in books, you noted in a passing thought, perhaps I should purchase a volume for him?

  A short-lived idea.

  It was a silly notion, you realised, and turned to head back – acknowledging that Ormr could choose his own books when he was moving once more. That is if he wished too. Yet, a thin book with the title Seiðr and Potions caused you to pause. The cover was thinner than the other more expensive books, but the intricate golden detailing seemed to make up for its small size, and you found yourself estimating the cut in your wages. Through much mental debate with what crossed the line of a kind-hearted stranger and friend, or an overtly friendly fool, you entered the shop.

  The exchange of money and paper was quick and painless, the book costing very little in comparison to some of the larger copies and finer covers, and you exited a few moments later with the volume in your arms and the hope that Ormr would enjoy it. Especially as you were uncertain if Ormr could actually remember how to use seiðr, no less use it without an infliction of seiðr poisoning. But perhaps he would simply appreciate the aesthetic of the green leather and black ribbon? Or, if his seiðr was currently indisposed, he would appreciate the connection to his past by the formation of potions and remedies.

  It is a gift of consolidation, you decided, an act of offered friendship and a further alliance, considering how Ormr may be staying with Bjarke and myself.

  It was a satisfying decision. Especially as you were sure that Ormr would feel quite alone and confused once he awoke, and if you were there to calm him down with a few sarcastic remarks and something familiar for him to grasp, then perhaps it would allow Ormr a source of comfort. Moreso, you were unsure whether the man would find your presence a comfort in such trying times. You may still be a stranger or newly-earned friend in his eyes, and the memory of Ormr’s sudden anger at your curious questions did not lay unforgotten.

  Checking the time once more, you found that the town clocks had struck half one. Distracted by the wares of an iron merchant, you hadn’t heard the town clocktower strike the hour.

  Finding it a good time to start your walk back, you checked that nothing had been lost in your traipse around town. And despite the slight squashing of the bread, everything appeared intact, so you slid the book into a side pocket and twisted the strap around your shoulders. The food and book fit snug in the leather hide, unbothered by the battering they received through the busy streets of Sandnæs, so you continued the walk with no further interest regarding the side stalls situated along the cobblestoned roads.

  When you arrived back at the healers, the swinging sign at its front had been washed during your absence and the door was flung wide open to allow some diminishment of the summer heat. Without its swinging motion, the entrance permitted you to walk into the small front of the ward without the shop bell chiming your arrival, and greeted the two young apprentices behind the counter.

  Both girls were young in their age, cusping on the awkward verge of childhood and adulthood. Both held similar features, however their skin varied in tone and one of the two sisters were speckled with lack of pigment, whereas the other had hair that bunched around their ears and her sister wore braids that fell to her shoulders.

  Both wore the embroidered symbol of the Sandnæs ward on their clothes.

  “Hello, how may we assist you today?” The smaller asked, face stretched into a warm smile whilst her sister gathered a handful of plants and vials – sorting them into an open cabinet to the side of their station.

  “Healer Kari asked me to come back for my companion,” you shifted the bag on your hip and nodded towards the curtain leading towards the back ward. “A man named Ormr who suffered from a poison-induced…seizure – long black hair and green eyes. Quite lithe and tall.”

  The twins glanced at one another.

  “Are you Jorunn?”

  By Odin, you cursed Bjarke for the endearing title.

  “Yes. I was the woman who delivered Ormr this morning,” you nodded in regards to the girl’s question, “My travelling companion and I came across him a mere few days ago. The man has been in my care since he was discovered and our party had only been able to reach town early this morning.”

  The taller of the two grimaced.

  “He is awake. Please, follow me.”

  Trailing after the girl, you passed the smaller of the two sisters, who smiled warmly once more, and through the red curtains – ducking between the folds of fabric. Inside the ward, rays of sunlight filtered the room where more men and women lay in the ward beds. Few were alone whilst others were covered by healers of varying ages and colours, all practised in the art of seiðr.

  None were men. As was custom to the Vanaheimr realm.

  Kari came fluttering up to you in a spike of anxiety, her hands gripping yours as she pulled you away from the young apprentice without a word. The young girl did little but wait for the older healer to pull you away, before turning and retreating into the storefront where her sister sat in waiting. Her hands were still as she retraced her steps and offered an unvoiced apology for the condition you would find your companion in.

  “Thank the Norns, you are back!” Kari bit out, relief encasing her voice as she hurried you out of the public ward. “The man – Ormr – he did not react well to your departure.”

  “My departure?”

  “Yes, very badly. Incredibly badly. Never have I seen such a violent response to someone’s absence.” Kari bit her lip and winced, “I did not anticipate such a panicked reaction to his awakening but it took more than three of my healers to stop his attack.”

  You faltered in your steps.

  “Attack?”

  Kari paused in front of a closed wooden door.

  “Ást,” she turned and her eyes searched yours patiently, ignoring the frantic tone in your voice, “You must understand. Ormr - you do not know who he is or where he has come from. The man could be of any mother or father in the realms. We do not know him or his heritage, but trust me when I say he has been injured very badly. Physically and mentally. Whilst his physical injuries have been healed and I can temporarily cure his poisoned ailment, there are traces of injuries that as healers of the body, we cannot fix.”

  The realisation that struck with her words caused shame to bottle in your chest, especially as Ormr’s previous actions had hinted towards evidence of physical and psychological abuse. 

  “Ormr has been injured by faculties of the mind and conscience, and my wards and I cannot help a man with those kinds of injury. Please understand, Ormr meant nothing in his attack and my own healers know this. He was scared and in pain, not to mention forcefully sedated during his seizure. I am unsure of the extent concerning his mental condition, but he is not the worst we have seen and he is not the best either. We have no knowledge in the extent of his poor mental health, but it is not our right to push his boundaries.”

  “And the attack?”

  Kari grimaced.

  “Another healer, one of the more experienced, thankfully,” she breathed out. “But when the man awoke, he was distraught – it was a mistake to move him whilst asleep, granted, as it was a mistake to have you leave whilst he was under. But the attack I speak of – he tried to physically harm one of our healers when they attempted to touch him.”

  You ran a few fingers through your hair as a source of self-comfort and sucked in a shaky breath.

  “Ormr did that to me the first time I tried to help him, too. But it was more as an attempt of escaping my grasp,” you lifted your head and met Kari’s eyes once more, “I am so sorry I did not warn you. I had no belief that his reactions would repeat in such a violent manner, especially as he has been so well in the past few days.”

  The older woman squeezed your arm.

  “Whilst the information may have prevented our panic, know that it is all well, krútt. You did not realise the nature of Ormr’s condition and therefore, it is not your fault. And our healer is fine – no harm done. It is not uncommon for our patients to awake in a panicked state, so rest assured that Ormr is not the first to react violently, and he shall not be the last either. However, I believe your presence would be appreciated, moreso because he was further panicked when the news of your departure reached his ears.”

  You winced, the shame strengthening until it overwhelmed your prior guilt, despite Kari’s own blatant shame, which lay heavy on her features. It was difficult to banish the regret despite your reasoning, knowing that your presence would have been a pure nuisance within the healers’ ward. And you knew Kari’s influence in your walk was out of pure heart rather than anything malicious. Besides, your walk had allowed the procession of your thoughts and feelings to be organised rather than to wallow and manifest in your mind. Not to mention, it would have been purely selfish to feast upon the ward’s rations than to buy your own food in town.

  Moving past Kari, you thanked her softly and opened the door, stepping into the small room where a single bed had been pushed up against the far wall. The bed was positioned facing the open doorway and beside it sat two side tables covered in herbal mixtures and flowers twisted towards the light coming through a framed window. The whole room was glazed in sunlight, displaying the white-washed walls and sterile placement of furniture through the rays of yellow slipping through the glass planes.

  Lying in the ruffled sheets lay Ormr bundled in several blankets and adorned in a fresh layer of plasters. His gaze remained vacant on the wall to his right, pupils frozen and glossed over by the streams of sunlight. The side of his head that had been ripped and shredded appeared to be mended now, the hair cut and sheered to a suitable length whilst any blood and cuts had been stitch and cleansed.

  You tapped on the door.

  His gaze turned to you.

  “How are you feeling?”

  Tension eased from the man’s stiff stature and his body fell more languidly onto the stiff sheets stretched across his bed. His eyes still drilled onto your worried form, eyebrows furrowed and a sneer coating his lips. An air of animosity filled the sterile atmosphere, causing you to shift and brace yourself for further violence or distrust from the injured man.

  “I am better.”

  The curtness in his answer cut an inch too deep for comfort.

  “I am glad. I feared for your health when your body reacted so violently to the healer’s seiðr,” you offered softly and walked into the room, slipping the satchel from your shoulder and grabbing a chair. “I apologise I was not here when you awoke – Kari sent me to fetch food and to prevent any disruption inside the main ward.”

  Ormr hummed and his eyes slid off your form, back towards the open window where the noise of carts and people echoed from the busy streets. His eyes seemed to freeze over and his features fell flat, refusing to meet your eyes once more.

  “Good. I was glad that you were not here. It allowed me some time away from yours and your companion’s boorish company.”

  There was an angered bite to his tone, seething and rejected in nature, but the manner in which he spoke was cool and unfeeling. No emotions reached past his jaw and his features remained cruelly despondent.

  You had experienced such behaviour before, and you would not fall flat in your attempts to break the frozen façade now.

  “I am glad then, that you found time to relax and heal despite my absence,” you smiled sweetly, ignoring the manner in which Ormr’s eyes twitched. “I bought us food – meat cutlets, such as boar and pig – and bread from a nearby bakery.”

  You dug the packages out from inside your bag and laid them on the table besides Ormr. The parcel crinkled loudly in the tense silence and you laid the meat out for the man to see and pick. The bread was, thankfully, pre-sliced and parts of the crust flaked from its paper coverage.

  “I am no longer hungry, thank you. The healers have fed me in your absence.” Ormr turned his head away from the food, however his eyes wavered in their attention for a moment, foiling the man’s silver tongue and his waspish words.

  “Well, if you find yourself able to stomach the food,” you sandwiched a piece of meat between two slices and bit into it, fully-acknowledging Ormr’s attention on your meal, “then I believe it is best to leave the bread and cutlets for your disposal.”

  The man faltered in his stoic behaviour, hands inching across the stiff bedsheets and eyes growing a small degree warmer, all whilst he stared at the bread squashed between your fingers.

  His voice softened.

  “Thank you.”

  You nodded and took another bite, brushing crumbs from the travelling trousers you adorned at that moment. True, it was a futile attempt in clearing the mess which would grow as you finished the sandwich, hunger temporarily quenched, but you found that the previously tense silence had grown slightly less overbearing as you sat and ate.

  “Oh,” you broke the silence again and swallowed the last bite. “I bought you a gift in town – something you showed interest in earlier, when we were riding Raoul through the Sandnæs’ centre.“

  Ormr watched as your hands slipped into the bag once more, pulling the green leather-bound book from its pocket and smoothing out the black ribbon attached to its spine.

  “Here. I am unsure whether Kari has informed you fully of your ailments, but I believe this book will be helpful or at least entertaining for you to read,” you explained and laid the volume on Ormr’s lap. He gazed at the book a moment longer and ran his fingers over the ridges of detail on its cover and spine.

  Lifting the book from his sheets, you watched as Ormr thumbed his way between the volume’s pages and curled the ribbon over his left hand. A look of grief and ease flooded his features, polar-opposites consuming his mind as he pulled the book further into his chest and allowed the smell of ink and paper to flood his senses. His eyes teared up momentarily, chest clenched and left hand rubbing over the dips of his fingers and the silk bookmark.

  “Seiðr and potions?” Ormr licked his lips and traced the cursive letters slowly. “Thank you – for your gift, that is.” He faltered and pulled himself further up the bed, book tucked into the crook of his arm, and sat to his full height.

  “It is alright. I’m glad you like it, especially as I hope it may help for future references.”

  He nodded.

  “Yes, the healers explained to me what occurred,” Ormr’s façade crumbled as a small wince coated his features. “I apologise for causing such an event,” he paused at the word, “but it is quite nice to understand the extent of my injuries, I suppose.”

  A lingering sense of bitterness weighed heavy on his tongue.

  “So, you know of the seiðr and poison?”

  “Yes, I know of the seiðr and poison,” he recited your words with a quirked eyebrow. His face held no remaining angst or anger as he traced over the book’s textured cover.

  “And, are you alright?”

  “What? Are you a mind healer, now?” Ormr spat out, shoulders tensing and fingers curling over the book’s surface. His defensiveness fell as swiftly as it built and Ormr’s body unfurled itself, a look of shame flooding his features, “I apologise, that was – uncalled for. I am not quite in the right mind as of currently.”

  He picked at his thumb.

  “As much as I don’t appreciate your curtness, know that there is no harm done,” you hummed and began to make a second sandwich. “However, the next time you yell at me, I will throw a rock at you.”

  You watched Ormr, cautious of his reaction towards your light-hearted threat.

  He chuckled weakly.

  “I have no doubt, dear healer. Will you make me build a fire pit too?” He teased and rolled onto his side, facing you fully. The fabric bunched around his waist and you were happy to see the clean gauze and patches that had been applied to the worst of his cuts. No longer was he bound in bandages.

  “Most definitely, but if you behave, perhaps I will allow you to simply set up our beds for the night,” you grinned and handed the prepared food over, “Now eat. Despite your gilded words, I know the behaviour of a starving man.”

  Ormr hesitated and took the food, accepting his lies and your truth.

  "Thank you, again.”

  His words held more meaning than was spoken, but you accepted the subject of which he voiced.

  You sat a while longer as Ormr ate the meal, supplying him with another sandwich and another roll of bread that you had bought. He eventually ate the entirety of the bread and finished off the remaining meat, all which he consumed with the ravenous nature of a bilgesnipe.

  “I feel like you and Valencia would get along just fine.”

  Ormr paused in his chewing.

  “Bjarke’s wife?”

  “Yes,” you smiled brightly, “She could feed both the army of Hel and the Valkyries. No doubt if you were to meet, the poor woman would never let you leave her home without a few pies and roast under your belt. That is, if the children do not eat the pies before you do.”

  Ormr chuckled and lapsed back into silence as he finished off the last pieces of meat. He passed over the last piece of bread - a truce and an apology. The bread and meat packaging were slipped inside your bag, and you took a bite of the slice he offered.

  The following hour you remained by Ormr’s side in comfortable ease. The awkward tension had ceased and so the pair of you indulged yourselves with the book you had gifted him, Ormr reading out each passage for his interest and your own. When the town clock tower struck four, Ormr silenced and turned to face the northern window. His eyes watched the clock’s hands land on the number four, the bells sounding as you rose and wiped off any remaining crumbs that resided on your trousers.

  “I fear that I must leave – Bjarke and Valencia will be expecting me soon for dinner,” you explained and slipped the satchel back onto your shoulder. “And I doubt Raoul is most grateful about his stay in the public Sandnæs stables.”

  Ormr stayed silent as the chair was tucked away and your satchel shifted. His eyes seemed wary as you rose and stood by his bed. His hands wrung around each other subtly, acutely hidden by his sheets.

  “Hopefully, by tomorrow you will be discharged and I can take you back to our current lodgings. Whilst Bjarke stays with his family, I have bartered two rooms in a nearby tavern. I will come to pick you up tomorrow around noon – that is, if you believe to feel up for it.”

  Ormr’s hands fell and the wariness lessened.

  “So, you will be returning?” There was a definite change to his voice.

  “Of course,” your eyebrows furrowed, “You did not believe I would abandon you to the healers’ hand, do you?”

  Ormr’s eyes shifted.

  “You did.”

  “When I awoke,” he spoke slowly, “one of the healers. She said that you had left the ward. Left me, I suppose, to fend for myself.” Ormr shifted his head upon the pillow. “I did not believe you would come back, nor that you would wish to keep me as a companion. I am not the easiest of men to be around, especially with the newly discovered circumstances. Such is the reason why I acted so, um, coldly, towards you.”

  “Ormr,” you sat on the bed and refrained from touching his arm, “I know that we are barely strangers. Barely friends. But know that I have no intentions of leaving you alone without your request. Bjarke and I want to offer you a place with our travelling party. We would be happy to have you join our journeys to other regions and realms.” You laughed at his frown. “Okay perhaps I would be happy to have you join our small travel party, but I truly believe that we could be friends. Or at least, I would like us to be friends. And I would like to assist with earning your memories back, with or without the poison in your system.”

  The injured man faltered and a slow smile settled on his cheeks, completely filling his features with unadulterated affection and gratitude. His eyes lit up and the fire that grew behind his pupils formed an elixir of gold and green topaz. Even his cracked lips grew into crescent blossoms that shifted with a lick of his tongue.

  “I would like to be your friend too.”

  You echoed his expression and lifted a hand.

  “Friends?”

  “Friends.”

  His hand clasped yours and it was unsurprising to see the magnitude in which his palm swamped your own. The gloves which he kept had obviously been used religiously as his hands felt extravagantly soft in comparison to your own.

  “Great,” you squeezed his hand once more and dropped it. “And no worries for your previous actions. It is in the past, however harke my words that I will throw a rock at you if you repeat such actions again.”

  Ormr smiled, “I promise. And I assure you that I truly am sorry. I apologise for reacting so coldly to your arrival and any other slights I have caused in the past few days.”

  You nodded thoughtfully and squeezed his arm, glad that Ormr did not pull away from your touch.

  “Thank you. I appreciate it, but I really do have to leave now – Valencia is not a person you wish to anger.”

  Ormr chuckled.

  “Have fun and do not do anything I wouldn’t.”

  You laughed and a smirk spread over your lips, “In which you mean, do not refrain from causing chaos?”

  His eyes sparked once more, watching as you stood to leave.

  “Dear healer, chaos is such a harsh term. Perhaps mischief would be better.”

_________

Ást– translation for love, pronounced: as-t Krútt - translation for sweetiblueutie, pronounced: kyer-root

[miki-agrawal]

Is the World Ready for Miki Agrawal and Her Next Big Idea?

Originally Published on Glamour.com By Eliza Brooke On April 4, 2019

She wants to talk about poop — if we all could just forget what happened when she tried to change the world with period underwear.

In late January the entrepreneur Miki Agrawal held a launch event for her book, Disrupt-Her, at The Assemblage, the latest coworking-slash-coliving space in Lower Manhattan. The room was decorated with wall rugs and cacti; Spanish moss descended around a nonalcoholic bar. Agrawal sat on a low stage with Lauren Zander, her life coach, and the stylist Stacy London, who was serving as interviewer for the evening. A crowd including Assemblage members and Agrawal’s friends and fans perched on couches, armchairs, and floor pillows, sipping water and nibbling on vegan snacks while the three women talked.

“I want to talk about what happened with Thinx,” London said, “because I think that that was an absolute, completely life-changing moment for you, and really worth discussing because we always talk about success and failure, which for me are words that don’t make a whole lot of sense. It’s all experience. So how do we use experience to our advantage, when it feels like we have been brought to our knees?”

Agrawal founded the period underwear brand Thinx in 2014, and as the company’s profile rose, she became a well-known figure on the start-up circuit. Suddenly, in March 2017, Jezebel reported that Agrawal had stepped down as CEO after several employees quit. Days later, Racked quoted, anonymously, employees who described the company as a volatile work environment with poor compensation and benefits; sources said that Agrawal pitted staffers against one another and implied that they were ungrateful for seeking higher pay. Then The Cut reported that Chelsea Leibow, Thinx’s former head of PR, had filed a sexual harassment complaint against Agrawal, alleging that Agrawal routinely made comments about Leibow’s breasts and touched them without her consent. It was a hard turn left for a start-up with a progressive, feminist image.

Miki Agrawal, photographed at her home Michelle Rose Sulcov

Agrawal with her son, Hiro Michelle Rose Sulcov

Speaking to The Cut at the time, Agrawal called Leibow’s accusations “baseless” and denied that she had touched her breasts; a Thinx spokesperson also said in a statement that the company took the allegations “very seriously” and that “the company commissioned an investigation that concluded the allegations had no legal merit” and declined to comment further. Agrawal also put out a Medium post characterizing Thinx’s HR issues as problems that many fast-growing start-ups face. Forbes reported the sexual harassment claim was withdrawn after a private settlement.

Agrawal didn’t mention Thinx by name when she answered London’s question at The Assemblage. In fact, she didn’t use the word once in the hour-plus she spent onstage that night. “There were a few people that needed to be restructured out that were kind of wearing the feminist T-shirts and the vagina necklaces but were singing a different tune, culturally, for the business,” Agrawal said, noting that when she did finally restructure, “it was just twisted out of context, and you know, it was one of the darkest times of my life.”

If this sounds like a vague description of events, it is. For legal reasons, Agrawal says, she can’t say anything about her time at Thinx, her work there, or her employees. I reached out to seven former employees; only two agreed to talk about their tenure at Thinx, and even then requested anonymity. This makes writing a profile of Agrawal challenging, and reading one potentially unsatisfying: Two years after the fact, the Thinx allegations remain a major piece of her public image and business backstory, but if you want the details of what really happened, there’s a blank space.

We’re left to fill in some of the void with reports from that time period. In the spring of 2017, the critique of Agrawal was swift and widespread. Her case seemed like an isolated incident. It predated a rush of workplace misconduct accusations; Harvey Weinstein had just wrapped what we didn’t know would be his final awards season. This was before pundits learned to parse the nuances of “bad behavior” and before scores of famous men issued their careful, vague apologies. As a culture we’re now figuring out what the rehabilitation of a disgraced public figure can and should look like. This is no easy process, and as Agrawal’s case shows, it doesn’t always come with a clear, public resolution.

At The Assemblage, Agrawal described how she got through those dark days, which took place when she was five months pregnant. She remembered crying “all the time” and calling Zander multiple times a day. She said the experience stretched her emotional capacity, and in that, she found gratitude. “I get to feel the depths of betrayal, the depths of sadness, the depths of pain, which only will then accentuate the heights of joy and the height of wow-ness in life,” she said. And it fed her book, Disrupt-Her: “All of that negative shit that I inhaled, that was so painful, that I wanted to just fight back so badly; instead I just pushed it down and put it into this book.”

Disrupt-Her spans the professional and personal, and instructs readers on how to question all manner of entrenched societal conventions, block out the haters, and fight gendered norms dictated by the patriarchy and sometimes reinforced by other women. In it Agrawal talks a lot about transmuting negative energy into positive action, but her underlying principle is this: If you’re a rule-breaking woman in the world, people will try to take you down.

In the book’s introduction, there’s a handwritten message that prompts readers to “press here” on a drawing of a bull’s-eye — “to eliminate all self-judgment + judgment of others.” Were this any other self-help guide, you might touch a finger to the button, earnestly or feeling a little silly, and move on. In the context of this particular book, the request to avoid judgment seems pointed, because many people are likely to go into it with preconceived notions about Agrawal — good and bad.

Agrawal has always positioned herself as someone in the business of taboo-breaking, and that paid off with Thinx: The brand came to many people’s attention when its ads, which mentioned periods explicitly and used photos of grapefruit halves as an artistic stand-in for vaginas, were initially deemed too suggestive for the New York City subway. Thinx effectively put period underwear on the map, and Agrawal became known as an outspoken, successful woman in the overwhelmingly male start-up world, albeit one who very much fit the mold of a Burning Man–going tech executive. (A key difference: While there she posted photos on Instagram of herself pumping breast milk while out and about, writing that she had given it to other attendees to drink.) Like so many entrepreneurs, Agrawal dresses distinctively. Her style identifier is a tall, wide-brimmed hat that adds to her small stature. She talks fast, in an energetic, almost muscular way, occasionally smacking a fist into her palm for emphasis. When she’s onstage at events and conferences, she gets laughs.

It turns out operating start-ups in spaces that, in her words, “make people uncomfortable,” is good business. She opened a gluten-free pizza restaurant called Wild in 2005, at a time when gluten-free food wasn’t as trendy as it has become, and it now has three locations in New York and Guatemala. Thinx came in 2014, and a pee-proof underwear line called Icon followed in 2015; by 2017 the CEO that replaced Agrawal reported that the company (which oversees both brands) was doing $50 million in annual revenue. As chief creative officer of Tushy, a company that makes bidet attachments, Agrawal now has her sights on changing how we poop. The brand is projecting triple-digit sales growth for 2019, with annual revenue under $20 million and, according to LinkedIn, a staff of 11.

“Over these last 15 years, so many people were like, ‘No one’s going to buy your products.’ ‘No one’s going to eat gluten-free pizza — it probably tastes like shit.’ ‘No one’s going to bleed in their underwear,’” Agrawal said at the book launch. “It took a long time to get investment in all of the business ideas, and it turns out that society was wrong. People did want to try these things.”

In fact, society is wrong about a lot more than just “periods, pee, poop, and pizza,” Agrawal said, drawing laughter from the audience. “This generation and the next is not interested in doing the things that people did 100 years ago. Not interested.” To that point, each chapter of Disrupt-Her names a common way of thinking, then explains where it came from in order to present an alternative. For the notion that “failure is embarrassing,” for instance, readers are instructed to “replace the word failure with revelation.”

Disrupt-Her isn’t billed as a memoir, and much of it focuses on universal topics like the importance of investing one’s money, cultivating a partner’s best qualities, and decluttering one’s home. It is a rebirth, in a sense: Before its launch Agrawal released a video-poem that begins with her crawling from a bleeding animated vagina. (A hat is conveniently waiting nearby; she puts it on.) While the public may view it as a comeback, the timeline isn’t so linear: Agrawal founded Tushy two years after she launched Thinx, then hired leadership to run it while she focused on the period-underwear brand; when she left Thinx, she seamlessly transitioned over to Tushy. If Disrupt-Her answers any question about Agrawal, it’s how she wants to present herself to the world after being accused of abusive behavior in the workplace. Less contrition, more ideology.

In her emphasis on transforming anger, betrayal, and pain into empathy and gratitude, Agrawal performs an amazing alchemical act. The book creates a space in which she’s able to comment on the bad publicity — effectively getting the last word — and land on higher ground. This puts those members of the public who are reckoning with how to regard her, post-Thinx, in the difficult position of arguing against positivity, against personal growth, if they question her at all.

Someone who worked with Agrawal at the time, who agreed to talk only on the condition of anonymity, says that Agrawal knows the value of building her personal brand through this kind of storytelling. Publishing a new book in the aftermath of the Thinx allegations reinforces a narrative in which, the former staffer says, “She’s the hero.”

In February I visited Agrawal at her home in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, a sleek space filled with colorful woven rugs and air plants. During our interview, her husband, Andrew Horn, popped in and out of the room on his way to and from errands. Their 20-month-old son, Hiro, occasionally toddled into the conversation, cheerfully making a grab at a water glass or one of the cell phones recording the conversation.

Agrawal wrote Disrupt-Her in the two and a half months following Hiro’s birth in July 2017. Laid up in bed healing from her C-section, she wrote between feedings and while the baby was asleep. “I had so many thoughts around the culture of complaining, takedown culture, feminism, patriarchy, fake feminists, people who wear the feminist T-shirts and the vagina necklaces but are really mean girls on the inside,” Agrawal says. These topics appear in the book, in chapters that deal with woman-on-woman hate and gossipy media coverage — the products, Agrawal writes, of scarcity mind-sets and a news business that rewards clickbait.

Agrawal says she believes in creating a culture that is progressive and supportive of people being themselves — but that doesn’t mean lowering her standards. “I demand excellence. I do,” Agrawal says. “Shouldn’t you demand it for yourself? And if I’m going to bring it out of you, that’s a good thing. If that sometimes requires tough love, like, ‘Hey, I asked for that three times, come on, you’ve got this.’ Then you go back and tell everyone, ‘She’s yelling at me!’ Like, is that yelling or just being like, ‘Come on, you’re better than this!’?”

In her book Agrawal writes that she learned to “constructively look at where I actually did go wrong as a leader and how I can improve.” When I asked what those areas of personal betterment were, she said that she had to become more cautious about who she surrounds herself with. As a more experienced boss (Agrawal is now 40), “I realized that, wow, I do shoot from the hip, and I just say, ‘Oh, you love my idea? Come work with me.’” At Tushy she’s looked for people with a lot of experience in the workforce.

“I spent seven months, myself, hiring my CEO. I spent all of my time calling everyone’s references,” says Agrawal. “I looked at everyone’s social media accounts…. I looked at people’s profiles, I looked at what they wrote, I looked at how they said it — if they sounded snarky or mean-girl-style, no. They had to be bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, loved life, came with a big smile, optimistic.”

While Disrupt-Her bolsters Agrawal’s public image as someone who’s overcome adversity, many of the professional changes that Agrawal has made since moving over to Tushy seem to have to do with protecting herself against a repeat of the Thinx affair. Being a consummate “Disrupt-Her,” she still lives her life out loud, but when it comes to Tushy’s internal operations, it seems she has created boundaries that help her feel safe. Agrawal no longer wants the sticky job of managing team dynamics, so she is Tushy’s chief creative officer, not its CEO: That’s Jason Ojalvo, who spent nearly a decade at Amazon-owned Audible before joining Tushy. Agrawal works from home, sitting at her long kitchen table, and staffers will drop by for meetings. Socially, she keeps a distance between herself and her employees.

“With my team at Tushy, it’s a relationship of respect,” Agrawal says. Earlier in her career “I thought, We’re all friends, we’re all doing this together. Then all of a sudden you have to make hard calls,” she says. It’s part of the complicated work of being a manager — a lesson she learned the hard way. “I’m just like, OK, clearly I get too connected with my team or I get too trusting, and I’m just — I’m definitely not going to do that again.”

Not being a CEO also means that she has more time for the creative marketing work she loves best, Agrawal says. When I ask Ojalvo about Agrawal’s leadership style, he touts her exuberance. “We have really complementary skill sets. Miki is great at getting everyone excited about her creative ideas. Her passion for our products, our mission, and the PR stunts we do is infectious,” Ojalvo writes in an email. “I can make those all a reality by growing and managing the team executing all of it, facilitating communication among the team, and making sure we have the outside funding and/or profit to execute on our dreams — but Miki always brings the enthusiasm and excitement to the next level.”

Agrawal’s creativity is one reason Ojalvo joined Tushy; he says he was similarly motivated by its product and accessible price point ($69 for the bidet attachment), its potential to change Americans’ hygiene habits, and, more jokingly, the opportunity to talk about poop all day (“My inner 14-year-old is living the dream,” he says). At the moment Agrawal is organizing a “funeral for a tree,” a cheeky means of talking about the number of trees that get cut down every year to make toilet paper (and that could be saved by her bidet attachment). “That’s going to be one of our biggest press events of the year, I just know it,” she says.

Agrawal has a complicated relationship with the media. She has deftly used it to raise her companies’ profiles and her own, and embraced stories like those about the Thinx subway ad controversy that cemented her products in people’s minds. The former staffer, who worked with her at the time of the allegations, recalls Agrawal placing a heavy emphasis on using the media to fuel growth. “It became clear to me that there was an increasing dependence on finding the next buzzy thing,” she says. The employee wished Agrawal would have focused more on growing the company than press opportunities.

But Agrawal could at times be critical of the press, even before the allegations of March 2017. After The Cut published an early profile about her, quoting her about how she started relating to being a feminist only when she launched Thinx, she put out a Medium post titled “An Open Letter to Respectfully Quit Telling Me How to ‘Do Feminism’ (and to just support one another, please!).”

In her book Agrawal takes aim at journalists chasing after “inflamed, exaggerated headlines” and writes about being interviewed by a reporter who was “almost licking her lips, like an animal about to get a big, bloody feast.” (Below this there’s a drawing, done by the author, of a wolf licking its chops.) As a reporter working on a profile of Agrawal, it’s hard not to think about this. It’s also impossible not to see a parallel with the current American president’s relationship to the press, a whirlpool of interdependence and combativeness that plays out every day on Twitter and TV.

During her book event at The Assemblage, Agrawal talked about a few of the mental coping tactics that Zander has taught her. One was pattern interruption: When a bad thought comes into your mind and threatens to fester there, you literally change position, stand up, or walk around. She turned this into a game at a recent press dinner.

“I had literally 13 of the top press at my house last Wednesday, and it was the first time that I had met with all the press, post–all the shit that went down a year and a half ago, and I was like, ‘Ha-ha-ha, in my lair, let’s do this,’” Agrawal told the audience, adopting a faux-evil voice.

“It was a 13-course disruptive dinner, and we had them play all these games,” she continued. “Like, dance like you’re three years old! Imagine the New York Times person dancing like she’s three years old.”

I attended the dinner, and that may sound like more of an exercise in humiliation than it was. The email invitation had instructed us to dress in our silliest outfits, which the reporters and editors in attendance did with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Agrawal had on a glittering hat, a bright pink wig, and a gauzy white cape that she’d worn at her wedding. I wore a blue tie-dye shirt. Each course of the meal and its corresponding discussion or activity was based on a lesson from the book, and dancing like children was chapter one: “You can still live in a childlike state of curiosity, playfulness, and awe and be a responsible adult, on and off the job,” Agrawal writes.

Agrawal isn’t afraid to dance. She isn’t afraid to talk about periods and breastfeeding and bowel movements. To tell you that what you think you know about covering and cleaning your ass is woefully misguided.

I am not a performer, and inventing goofy dance moves in front of my peers — or worse, dancing “sensually,” as we were later encouraged to do — felt awkward and embarrassing. But it was effective programming on Agrawal’s part. You cannot argue against this kind of activity, even as you internally debate its value. To not participate, or to participate with one eye on the clock, is to admit that you’re rigid and hemmed in by your self-consciousness, that you’re choosing to bind yourself to the societal conventions you’re supposed to be dismantling. Sooner or later you’ll have to commit wholeheartedly to finding your childlike sense of play and trying something new, because your rationalizing doesn’t matter, and the only way to relieve yourself of the agony of resisting is to give in.

Eliza Brooke is a freelance reporter. She lives in Brooklyn.

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What kind of vegan Ariana is?

Miss Ariana Grande has called herself a vegan several times but is she really part of that movement? does she even know what veganism is about? Let’s find out...

On November 5th of 2013 Ariana declared on her twitter account that she was becoming "100% vegan" from that day, as you can see below. (tweet link here)

The PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) organization even congratulated her for becoming vegan and for her AMAs award later that month and she thanked them reafirming her decision saying she was very happy for her almost full month as a vegan. (tweet link here)

One year later she celebrated her 1 year of a plant based diet on twitter. (tweet link here)

Notice she was proud of "saving some cute lil innocent lives". Apparently.

One month later, an interview she gave to the Daily Mirror was published (you can check it here) and her supposedly vegan lifestyle became one of the topics.

Interviewer: You’re part Italian, how do you stay in tune with that? Ariana: I’m very proud, my family has amazing history. It’s great hearing stories of my mum growing up in Brooklyn, then moving to Florida, having me and growing up with this eccentric, fun family. Although I don’t eat a lot of Italian things, because I’m vegan. I was raised on meat and cheese, so I’ve had enough for anyone’s normal life span. Interviewer: Why did you become vegan? 

 Ariana: I love animals more than I love most people, not kidding. But I am a firm believer in eating a full plant-based, whole food diet that can expand your life length and make you an all-round happier person. It is tricky dining out, but I just stick to what I know – veggies, fruit and salad – then when I get home I’ll have something else.

She seemed really proud of being a vegan, right? Well, let's see...

The Donut Incident (07/03/2015)

I think we're all familiar with that Ariana story, but, for those who don't know what the donut incident is about let me explain it to you. On March 7th of 2015, miss Grande and some friends went to a donut shop called Wolfee Donuts where she impolitely licked a donut that was on the shop's counter for sale. 

She was also very rude to the shop's donut server and declared to hate America, but that's a subject for another post (her diva behaviour). The main point is: after that she and her friends bought some donuts she was caught by the cameras eating a donut. You can watch the video here.

Well, it wouldn't have been a big deal if the donut were not vegan. This was confirmated by the shop's owner himself and a also by some fans after contacting Wolfee Donuts’ social media about it.

What kind of vegan goes around there eating anything whithout making sure it doesn't have any animal ingredients in it? It's pretty clear she knew it wasn't a vegan donut. She just didn't care about it.

M.A.C.’s Viva Glam Campaign (2015)

Back in 2015 Ariana was chosen as the new face of the line Viva Glam, by M.A.C. In partnership with the cosmetics brand, she developed two lipsticks that were out for sale in 2016 and the money would go for people affected by HIV and AIDS.

Pretty good, huh? Yeah, this would’ve been even better if M.A.C. doesn’t fund tests on animals. Any real vegan would think twice before accepting to be the face of a make up line by a company that funds animal cruelty, even it being for a good cause. Well, she didn’t.

The Fox Fur Jacket (2017)

On 2017's January 27th Ariana posted the picture below in her instagram account:

As usual, her fans quickly found her outfit online and the jacket she was using specially caught a lot of people's attention. It was a Tzarina by Ollia Fox Fur Jacket (£1,900.00).

Well, Tzarina by Ollia is a brand that has a lot of famous women using its designs, such as Kylie Jenner, Kendall Jenner, Jennifer Lopez and many others. This brand has openly confirmed to use animal fur in its clothes.

It would have been bad enough for Ariana to have bought this jacket without checking whether it was made of synthetic fur or not. But, the curious thing is that the brand apparently launched this model exclusively to be sold under her name, as it can be seen on its own website.

We don’t know if the sale of this specific jacket tied to Ariana was something done after she had acquired it and publicly used it, or, if from the beginning it was developed for Ariana itself as well as its commercialization under her name. Either way she agreed to this, even it being a piece of clothing from animal suffering, and is probably earning money from it.

She was seen using this jacket many times. The image used on the brand’s website of her with then-boyfriend Mac Miller was taken on the Halloween of that same year. The brand’s instagram account even posted a photo of she using it.

It's very strange to Ariana after declaring herself as a vegan several times have agreed to this, right?

Leather boots

As everyone knows, Ariana wears a pair of thigh high/over-the-knee boots almost every day. She tries to make it her thing, i guess. But, it wouldn’t be a thing to complain about if most of them weren’t made of real leather.

These Gucci boots, by example, aren’t vegan and you can see it on its website.

Y’all can check where most of her outfits are from here and see that not only her boots (which I’d dare to say 90% are made of genuine leather), but a lot of her clothes has animals skin/fur/feather in it. Sadly.

And since we’re talking about Ariana’s not-cruelty-free clothes I thought it would be interesting to let you all know that the pink top she uses on Thank U, Next’s desperate for attention music video was made of Ostrich feathers.

I think a real vegan would be more careful at picking clothes.

Reebook (2017)

Last year Ariana became Reebook's newest ambassador and at this point you can imagine that Reebok isn’t a vegan brand. Right answer.

Reebook uses leather and wool in its products. But that didn’t stop the pony tail from becoming a brand’s ambassador. Any real vegan wouldn’t accept to earn money from animal suffering. She did.

Conclusion

Ariana shouldn’t be going around telling everyone she is vegan ‘cause it’s pretty clear that she is not. Since she eats things with animal derived ingredients, wear clothes with animal derived materials and support brands that funds animal suffering she probably doesn’t even know what the vegan moviment is about.

In my opinion, she just had (or still has idk) a plant based diet for a while to lose weight and stay in shape. That diet is pretty famous and a lot of celebrities are adepts like Beyoncé and Kate Moss. It would be a lot better if she just admitted it instead of lying and claiming she is from a movement that she clearly isn’t. Very hypocrite.

See you on the next post, xoxo.

[networkingdefinition]

Hummingbirds Quotes

Official Website: Hummingbirds Quotes

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();  • A day so happy. Fog lifted early. I worked in the garden. Hummingbirds were stopping over honeysuckle flowers. There was no thing on earth I wanted to possess. I know no one worth my envying him. – Czeslaw Milosz • A rhododendron bud lavender-tipped. Soon a glory of blooms to clash with the cardinals and gladden the hummingbirds! – Dave Beard • Across the downs a hummingbird Came dipping through the bowers, He pivoted on emptiness To scrutinize the flowers. – Nathalia Crane • After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving behind the secretive sounds, the shy sounds, the whispers and conversations of moss disputing with grass over some soft piece of earth, or the hummingbird snoring. – N.D. Wilson • And in time it will be as though men had never come to this perfect corner of the world-never called it paradise on earth, never despoiled it with their dream factories; and in the golden hush of the afternoon all that will be heard will be the flittering of dragonflies, and the murmur of hummingbirds as they pass from bower to bower, looking for a place to sup sweetness. – Clive Barker • As long as the hummingbird had not abandoned the land, somewhere there were still flowers, and they could all go on. – Leslie Marmon Silko

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Hummingbird', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '68', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_hummingbird').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_hummingbird img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); ); • By the way, did you fellows know that a hummingbird weighs as much as a quarter? Do you think a hummingbird also weighs the same as two dimes and a nickel? But then she asked a question of her own: How do they weigh a hummingbird? – Calvin Trillin • Charm is the enchanted dart, light and subtle as a hummingbird. But it is deceptive in one thing: like a sense of humor, if you think you’ve got it, you probably haven’t. – Laurel Lea • Coming eyeball to eyeball with a hummingbird on my terrace is as exciting to me as any celebrity Ive met as a result of Downton Abbey. – Lesley Nicol • Dancing is such a despised and dishonored trade that if you tell a doctor or a laywer you do choreography he’ll look at you as if you were a hummingbird. Dancers don’t get invited to visit people. It is assumed a boy dancer will run off with the spoons and a girl with the head of the house. – Agnes de Mille • either you take in believing in miracles or you stand still like the hummingbird. – Henry Miller • Flutter like a hummingbird, Dive like an eagle, Ain’t no bird that’s my equal. – Twilight – Kathryn Lasky • furious flutter awakened hummingbird heart hello hello love – Megan McCafferty • Gentle day’s flower – The hummingbird competes With the stillness of the air. – Chogyam Trungpa • He has the attention span of a hummingbird. – Christopher Moore • He was becoming unstuck, he was sure of that – his bones were no longer wrapped in flesh but in clouds of dust, in hummingbirds, dragonflies, and luminous moths – but so perfect was his equilibrium that he felt no fear. He was vast, he was many, he was dynamic, he was eternal.- Tom Robbins • He wasn’t that good looking, he had the social skills of a wet cat and the patience of a caffeinated hummingbird – Karen Chance • How do you view God in a desert? There’s two types of birds. There’s vultures, and there’s hummingbirds. One lives off dead carcasses, rotting meat. The other lives off the beautiful, sweet, nectar in a particular flower, on a particular desert plant, in the same desert. They both find what they’re looking for. Do you know – take it all the way back into the Old Testament – and the Muslim and you, we actually serve the same God. Allah, to a Muslim; to us, Abba Father, God. – Brian Houston • I always loved those little creatures [hummingbird], always feel blessed when they appear nearby. There’s a magical quality to them. I finally put one in a song. – Leonard Cohen • I had the metabolism of a hummingbird on crack. – Ilona Andrews • I like snakes. I like hummingbirds. There’s nothing on earth I don’t like. Frogs. Salamanders. The bunnies, the giraffes, the hippopotamuses. – Ted Turner • I love devastating movies, documentaries and hummingbirds (yes, in that order). – Tig Notaro • I would say the hummingbird really deserves the royalties on [some of my songs]. – Leonard Cohen • I’d like to be like a hummingbird. You see them every now and then. You don’t see them everywhere. – Shailene Woodley • I’d written a lot of songs with hummingbirds in them. None of them ever came to anything, but I did write a few lines last month. It went like this: ‘Listen to the hummingbird whose wings you cannot see. Listen to the hummingbird, don’t listen to me’. – Leonard Cohen • I’m a Gibson guy. I play anything from Hummingbirds to J200s. – Corey Taylor • I’m more of a culture hummingbird. – Jai Rodriguez • In Mexico people wear hummingbird amulets around their necks to show they are searching for love. Here people pretend that they aren’t. Searching. – Francesca Lia Block • it doesn’t matter if Prince Charles falls off his horse or that the hummingbird is so seldom seen or that we are too senseless to go insane. coffee. give us more of that NOTHING coffee. – Charles Bukowski • Most elegantly finished in all parts, [the hummingbird] is a miniature work of our Great Parent, who seems to have formed it the smallest, and at the same time the most beautiful of the winged species. – J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur • Much still remains to be learned about his sex life because the Hummingbird is quicker than the eye. – Will Cuppy • My mind, I know, I can prove, hovers on hummingbird wings. It hovers and it churns. And when it’s operating at full thrust, the churning does not stop. The machines do not rest, the systems rarely cool. And while I can forget anything of any importance–this is why people tell me secrets–my mind has an uncanny knack for organization when it comes to pain. Nothing tormenting is ever lost, never even diminished in color or intensity or quality of sound. – Dave Eggers • My mother’s eyes were large and brown, like my son’s, but unlike Sam’s, they were always frantic, like a hummingbird who can’t quite find the flower but keeps jabbing around. – Anne Lamott • My work is the world. Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird – equal seekers of sweetness. Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums. – Mary Oliver • One day a hummingbird flew in– It fluttered against the window til I got it down where I could reach it with an open umbrella– –When I had it in my hand it was so small I couldn’t believe I had it–but I could feel the intense life–so intense and so tiny– …You were like the humming bird to me… And I am rather inclined to feel that you and I know the best part of one another without spending much time together– –It is not that I fear the knowing– It is that I am at this moment willing to let you be what you are to me–it is beautiful and pure and very intensely alive. – Georgia O’Keeffe • Question four: What book would you give to every child? Answer: I wouldn’t give them a book. Books are part of the problem: this strange belief that a tree has nothing to say until it is murdered, its flesh pulped, and then (human) people stain this flesh with words. I would take children outside and put them face to face with chipmunks, dragonflies, tadpoles, hummingbirds, stones, rivers, trees, crawdads. That said, if you’re going to force me to give them a book, it would be The Wind In The Willows, which I hope would remind them to go outside. – Derrick Jensen • Quick as a hummingbird…she darts so eagerly, swiftly, sweetly dipping into the flowers of my heart. – James Oppenheim • Regularity chauvinists are people who insist that you have got to do the same thing every time, every day, which drives some of us nuts. Attention Deficit Disorder – we need a more positive term for that. Hummingbird mind, I should think. – Ted Nelson • Shortly before she died Janis Joplin gave me the Gibson Hummingbird she recorded “Me and Bobbby McGee” on … Janis was a good guitar player, for her purposes .. she just wanted to play along with her songs, and she had a real pure and nice style for that. – Sam Andrew • Some of my old memories feel trapped in amber in my brain, lucid and burning, while others are like the wing beat of a hummingbird, an intangible, ephemeral blur. – Mira Bartok • Some people never find the right kind of love. You know, the kind that steals your breath away, like diving into snowmelt. The kind that jolts your heart, sets it beating apace, an anxious hiccuping of hummingbird wings – Ellen Hopkins • The first and most important thing for me is that people feel how beautiful fashion can be and that it is not just a case of well-made and expensive clothes. Fashion is so rich and it is such an amazing occupation because we can draw on so many different sources of inspiration – just as a hummingbird feeds on a multitude of flowers. – Dries van Noten • The retriever took each bit of meat from his master’s hand with a delicacy almost equal to that of a hummingbird sipping sugar water from a garden feeder, and when it was all gone, he gazed up at Dusty with an adoration that could not have been much less than the love with which the angels regard God. – Dean Koontz • There is a difference between our wisdom and nature’s simplicity. That reflects the burden of a complex intelligence. A complex intelligence like ours is impotent compared to the intelligence of a monarch butterfly migrating from Canada to Mexico, or the intelligence of hummingbirds that have co-evolved with the flowers all along their migration route. That seems so simple; it just happens, it just unfolds. – Alison Hawthorne Deming • There’s as much chance of repealing the Eighteenth Amendment as there is for a hummingbird to fly to the planet Mars with the Washington Monument tied to its tail. – Morris Sheppard • They always mean beautiful things like hummingbirds. I always reply by saying that I think of a little child in east Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball. The worm cannot live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent creator. – David Attenborough • Up north, you could find these radio stations with no name on the dials that played pre-rock ‘n’ roll things – country blues. We would hear Slim Harpo or Lightnin’ Slim and gospel groups, the Dixie Hummingbirds, the Five Blind Boys of Alabama. I was so far north, I didn’t even know where Alabama was. – Bob Dylan • We at Google have made tremendous advances in understanding language. Our knowledge graph has been fundamental to that. The new algorithm that we launched today called Hummingbird has been a great leap forward. – Amit Singhal • We spend so much time, these days, on forms of literature that don’t rise to be literature, and I’m speaking about Twitter posts and quick and hot takes on different websites. We sort of zoom from thing to thing like a hummingbird. – Ben H. Winters • We’re constantly being bombarded by problems that we face and sometimes we can get completely overwhelmed. [But] we should always feel like a hummingbird. I may feel insignificant, but I don’t want to be like the other animals watching the planet go down the drain. I’ll be a hummingbird, I’ll do the best I can. – Wangari Maathai • We’ve all led raucous lives, some of them inside, some of them out. But only the poem you leave behind is what’s important. Everyone knows this. The voyage into the interior is all that matters, Whatever your ride. Sometimes I can’t sit still for all the asininities I read. Give me the hummingbird, who has to eat sixty times His own weight a day just to stay alive. Now that’s a life on the edge. – Charles Wright • When I did the Abyssinian mass, I went through the whole history of the church music and the gospel music, even with the Anglo American hymns, the Afro American hymns, the spirituals and how it developed, up to Thomas Dorsey and the Dixie Hummingbirds, going through the history of the music, jazz musicians. – Wynton Marsalis • when you are convinced that all the exits are blocked, either you take to believing in miracles or you stand still like the hummingbird. The miracle is that the honey is always there, right under your nose, only you were too busy searching elsewhere to realize it. The worst is not death but being blind, blind to the fact that everything about life is in the nature of the miraculous. – Henry Miller • You are Life passing through your body, passing through your mind, passing through your soul. Once you find that out, not with logic, not with the intellect, but because you can feel that Life-you find out that you are the force that makes the flowers open and close, that makes the hummingbird fly from flower to flower. You find out that you are in every tree, and you are in every animal, vegetable, and rock. You are that force that moves the wind and breathes through your body. The whole universe is a living being that is moved by that force, and that is what you are. You are Life. – Miguel Angel Ruiz • You are so high in the tree.If you jumpyou will live a full lifewhile falling.You will get marriedto a hummingbirdand raise beautiful part- hummingbirds. You will die of cancerin mid-air. I will not lie. It will be painful. You are a brave little boyor girl. – Zachary Schomburg

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jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'i', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_i').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_i img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'o', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_o').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_o img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'u', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_u').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_u img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'y', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_y').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_y img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

[equitiesstocks]

Hummingbirds Quotes

Official Website: Hummingbirds Quotes

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();  • A day so happy. Fog lifted early. I worked in the garden. Hummingbirds were stopping over honeysuckle flowers. There was no thing on earth I wanted to possess. I know no one worth my envying him. – Czeslaw Milosz • A rhododendron bud lavender-tipped. Soon a glory of blooms to clash with the cardinals and gladden the hummingbirds! – Dave Beard • Across the downs a hummingbird Came dipping through the bowers, He pivoted on emptiness To scrutinize the flowers. – Nathalia Crane • After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving behind the secretive sounds, the shy sounds, the whispers and conversations of moss disputing with grass over some soft piece of earth, or the hummingbird snoring. – N.D. Wilson • And in time it will be as though men had never come to this perfect corner of the world-never called it paradise on earth, never despoiled it with their dream factories; and in the golden hush of the afternoon all that will be heard will be the flittering of dragonflies, and the murmur of hummingbirds as they pass from bower to bower, looking for a place to sup sweetness. – Clive Barker • As long as the hummingbird had not abandoned the land, somewhere there were still flowers, and they could all go on. – Leslie Marmon Silko

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Hummingbird', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '68', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_hummingbird').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_hummingbird img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); ); • By the way, did you fellows know that a hummingbird weighs as much as a quarter? Do you think a hummingbird also weighs the same as two dimes and a nickel? But then she asked a question of her own: How do they weigh a hummingbird? – Calvin Trillin • Charm is the enchanted dart, light and subtle as a hummingbird. But it is deceptive in one thing: like a sense of humor, if you think you’ve got it, you probably haven’t. – Laurel Lea • Coming eyeball to eyeball with a hummingbird on my terrace is as exciting to me as any celebrity Ive met as a result of Downton Abbey. – Lesley Nicol • Dancing is such a despised and dishonored trade that if you tell a doctor or a laywer you do choreography he’ll look at you as if you were a hummingbird. Dancers don’t get invited to visit people. It is assumed a boy dancer will run off with the spoons and a girl with the head of the house. – Agnes de Mille • either you take in believing in miracles or you stand still like the hummingbird. – Henry Miller • Flutter like a hummingbird, Dive like an eagle, Ain’t no bird that’s my equal. – Twilight – Kathryn Lasky • furious flutter awakened hummingbird heart hello hello love – Megan McCafferty • Gentle day’s flower – The hummingbird competes With the stillness of the air. – Chogyam Trungpa • He has the attention span of a hummingbird. – Christopher Moore • He was becoming unstuck, he was sure of that – his bones were no longer wrapped in flesh but in clouds of dust, in hummingbirds, dragonflies, and luminous moths – but so perfect was his equilibrium that he felt no fear. He was vast, he was many, he was dynamic, he was eternal.- Tom Robbins • He wasn’t that good looking, he had the social skills of a wet cat and the patience of a caffeinated hummingbird – Karen Chance • How do you view God in a desert? There’s two types of birds. There’s vultures, and there’s hummingbirds. One lives off dead carcasses, rotting meat. The other lives off the beautiful, sweet, nectar in a particular flower, on a particular desert plant, in the same desert. They both find what they’re looking for. Do you know – take it all the way back into the Old Testament – and the Muslim and you, we actually serve the same God. Allah, to a Muslim; to us, Abba Father, God. – Brian Houston • I always loved those little creatures [hummingbird], always feel blessed when they appear nearby. There’s a magical quality to them. I finally put one in a song. – Leonard Cohen • I had the metabolism of a hummingbird on crack. – Ilona Andrews • I like snakes. I like hummingbirds. There’s nothing on earth I don’t like. Frogs. Salamanders. The bunnies, the giraffes, the hippopotamuses. – Ted Turner • I love devastating movies, documentaries and hummingbirds (yes, in that order). – Tig Notaro • I would say the hummingbird really deserves the royalties on [some of my songs]. – Leonard Cohen • I’d like to be like a hummingbird. You see them every now and then. You don’t see them everywhere. – Shailene Woodley • I’d written a lot of songs with hummingbirds in them. None of them ever came to anything, but I did write a few lines last month. It went like this: ‘Listen to the hummingbird whose wings you cannot see. Listen to the hummingbird, don’t listen to me’. – Leonard Cohen • I’m a Gibson guy. I play anything from Hummingbirds to J200s. – Corey Taylor • I’m more of a culture hummingbird. – Jai Rodriguez • In Mexico people wear hummingbird amulets around their necks to show they are searching for love. Here people pretend that they aren’t. Searching. – Francesca Lia Block • it doesn’t matter if Prince Charles falls off his horse or that the hummingbird is so seldom seen or that we are too senseless to go insane. coffee. give us more of that NOTHING coffee. – Charles Bukowski • Most elegantly finished in all parts, [the hummingbird] is a miniature work of our Great Parent, who seems to have formed it the smallest, and at the same time the most beautiful of the winged species. – J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur • Much still remains to be learned about his sex life because the Hummingbird is quicker than the eye. – Will Cuppy • My mind, I know, I can prove, hovers on hummingbird wings. It hovers and it churns. And when it’s operating at full thrust, the churning does not stop. The machines do not rest, the systems rarely cool. And while I can forget anything of any importance–this is why people tell me secrets–my mind has an uncanny knack for organization when it comes to pain. Nothing tormenting is ever lost, never even diminished in color or intensity or quality of sound. – Dave Eggers • My mother’s eyes were large and brown, like my son’s, but unlike Sam’s, they were always frantic, like a hummingbird who can’t quite find the flower but keeps jabbing around. – Anne Lamott • My work is the world. Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird – equal seekers of sweetness. Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums. – Mary Oliver • One day a hummingbird flew in– It fluttered against the window til I got it down where I could reach it with an open umbrella– –When I had it in my hand it was so small I couldn’t believe I had it–but I could feel the intense life–so intense and so tiny– …You were like the humming bird to me… And I am rather inclined to feel that you and I know the best part of one another without spending much time together– –It is not that I fear the knowing– It is that I am at this moment willing to let you be what you are to me–it is beautiful and pure and very intensely alive. – Georgia O’Keeffe • Question four: What book would you give to every child? Answer: I wouldn’t give them a book. Books are part of the problem: this strange belief that a tree has nothing to say until it is murdered, its flesh pulped, and then (human) people stain this flesh with words. I would take children outside and put them face to face with chipmunks, dragonflies, tadpoles, hummingbirds, stones, rivers, trees, crawdads. That said, if you’re going to force me to give them a book, it would be The Wind In The Willows, which I hope would remind them to go outside. – Derrick Jensen • Quick as a hummingbird…she darts so eagerly, swiftly, sweetly dipping into the flowers of my heart. – James Oppenheim • Regularity chauvinists are people who insist that you have got to do the same thing every time, every day, which drives some of us nuts. Attention Deficit Disorder – we need a more positive term for that. Hummingbird mind, I should think. – Ted Nelson • Shortly before she died Janis Joplin gave me the Gibson Hummingbird she recorded “Me and Bobbby McGee” on … Janis was a good guitar player, for her purposes .. she just wanted to play along with her songs, and she had a real pure and nice style for that. – Sam Andrew • Some of my old memories feel trapped in amber in my brain, lucid and burning, while others are like the wing beat of a hummingbird, an intangible, ephemeral blur. – Mira Bartok • Some people never find the right kind of love. You know, the kind that steals your breath away, like diving into snowmelt. The kind that jolts your heart, sets it beating apace, an anxious hiccuping of hummingbird wings – Ellen Hopkins • The first and most important thing for me is that people feel how beautiful fashion can be and that it is not just a case of well-made and expensive clothes. Fashion is so rich and it is such an amazing occupation because we can draw on so many different sources of inspiration – just as a hummingbird feeds on a multitude of flowers. – Dries van Noten • The retriever took each bit of meat from his master’s hand with a delicacy almost equal to that of a hummingbird sipping sugar water from a garden feeder, and when it was all gone, he gazed up at Dusty with an adoration that could not have been much less than the love with which the angels regard God. – Dean Koontz • There is a difference between our wisdom and nature’s simplicity. That reflects the burden of a complex intelligence. A complex intelligence like ours is impotent compared to the intelligence of a monarch butterfly migrating from Canada to Mexico, or the intelligence of hummingbirds that have co-evolved with the flowers all along their migration route. That seems so simple; it just happens, it just unfolds. – Alison Hawthorne Deming • There’s as much chance of repealing the Eighteenth Amendment as there is for a hummingbird to fly to the planet Mars with the Washington Monument tied to its tail. – Morris Sheppard • They always mean beautiful things like hummingbirds. I always reply by saying that I think of a little child in east Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball. The worm cannot live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent creator. – David Attenborough • Up north, you could find these radio stations with no name on the dials that played pre-rock ‘n’ roll things – country blues. We would hear Slim Harpo or Lightnin’ Slim and gospel groups, the Dixie Hummingbirds, the Five Blind Boys of Alabama. I was so far north, I didn’t even know where Alabama was. – Bob Dylan • We at Google have made tremendous advances in understanding language. Our knowledge graph has been fundamental to that. The new algorithm that we launched today called Hummingbird has been a great leap forward. – Amit Singhal • We spend so much time, these days, on forms of literature that don’t rise to be literature, and I’m speaking about Twitter posts and quick and hot takes on different websites. We sort of zoom from thing to thing like a hummingbird. – Ben H. Winters • We’re constantly being bombarded by problems that we face and sometimes we can get completely overwhelmed. [But] we should always feel like a hummingbird. I may feel insignificant, but I don’t want to be like the other animals watching the planet go down the drain. I’ll be a hummingbird, I’ll do the best I can. – Wangari Maathai • We’ve all led raucous lives, some of them inside, some of them out. But only the poem you leave behind is what’s important. Everyone knows this. The voyage into the interior is all that matters, Whatever your ride. Sometimes I can’t sit still for all the asininities I read. Give me the hummingbird, who has to eat sixty times His own weight a day just to stay alive. Now that’s a life on the edge. – Charles Wright • When I did the Abyssinian mass, I went through the whole history of the church music and the gospel music, even with the Anglo American hymns, the Afro American hymns, the spirituals and how it developed, up to Thomas Dorsey and the Dixie Hummingbirds, going through the history of the music, jazz musicians. – Wynton Marsalis • when you are convinced that all the exits are blocked, either you take to believing in miracles or you stand still like the hummingbird. The miracle is that the honey is always there, right under your nose, only you were too busy searching elsewhere to realize it. The worst is not death but being blind, blind to the fact that everything about life is in the nature of the miraculous. – Henry Miller • You are Life passing through your body, passing through your mind, passing through your soul. Once you find that out, not with logic, not with the intellect, but because you can feel that Life-you find out that you are the force that makes the flowers open and close, that makes the hummingbird fly from flower to flower. You find out that you are in every tree, and you are in every animal, vegetable, and rock. You are that force that moves the wind and breathes through your body. The whole universe is a living being that is moved by that force, and that is what you are. You are Life. – Miguel Angel Ruiz • You are so high in the tree.If you jumpyou will live a full lifewhile falling.You will get marriedto a hummingbirdand raise beautiful part- hummingbirds. You will die of cancerin mid-air. I will not lie. It will be painful. You are a brave little boyor girl. – Zachary Schomburg

  jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'a', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_a').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_a img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'e', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_e').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_e img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'i', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_i').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_i img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'o', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_o').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_o img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'u', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_u').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_u img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'y', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_y').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_y img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

[constructionaccounting]

0237: How To Write A Winning Contractor Resume

This Podcast Is Episode Number 0237 And It Will Be About How to Write a Winning Contractor Resume

Today's Podcast Is From An Guest Article Is From Mary Walton

 Mary Walton is one of PhD Thesis Writers, community for students who are in the process of dissertation writing. Mary has a blog - Simple Grad, where she shares her knowledge about college life. Also, she is an editor and proofreader at Research Paper Writing Service.

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The contracting industry is one of the most highly competitive business industries and you’re going to need a winning resume on your side if you want to stand any chance of standing out among the rest of the people in the same position as you.

There’s so many different aspects to consider and approaches you could take, but at the end of the day, all that matters is that your resume lands you your next job. Today, we’ll explore a few ways you can create this resume for success.

Create a Profile

The first paragraph of your resume is the most important since it’s the first thing your recruiter will read and first impressions count. In this section, you’ll want to write a summary of yourself. In this, include a brief summary of your skills, any security clearances you have as well as any unusual skills or trades that you have. Show Your Competence

Once you’ve drawn your employer into your resume, you’ll want to share what skills you have and why you’d be the perfect contractor. You’ll want to tailor this section, so it suits the job that you’re applying for.

For example, if you’re applying for a job which uses machinery, put your machinery-related skills first and then prioritise the rest of your skills with your least important at the bottom. This is why you need to edit every resume for every job you apply for.

Annie Grindstaff, a resume editor for EliteAssignmentHelp, continues;

“Within the competence section of your resume, it’s important to include any licenses or formal qualifications that you have. If you’re licensed to drive or operate a certain piece of machinery, include this information. The less questions your potential employer has to ask, the better your application will be received.”

Share Your Experience

After your skills, you’ll want to share what past experience you have. This is also your work history, so in chronological order, include your previous job titles, the dates which you worked these jobs, the company’s name and any other relevant information you’d like to include about this role.

In most cases, you’ll want to span this section back to a minimum of ten years. If you don’t have the experience, make sure you share all your experience, whether it was projects you worked on during your time in education or personal projects. Feel free to include photo evidence of your projects.

Use Tools for Perfection

Once you’ve completed your resume, it’s important to go through it and correct any silly mistakes that could cost you your job. Any spelling, grammar or punctuation mistakes show a lack of attention to detail, so it’s important you get rid of them. To make this easier, here are some tools to help.

Resume Services

This is an online resume builder that can help you create a comprehensive resume in a professional format.

Via Writing

Use this free online resource to brush up on your grammar skills.

CV Service

If you’re struggling with what to write, use this online writing service for writing advice and a collection of writing-related services.

State of Writing

Use this free online blog to refresh your knowledge of grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Word Count

Easy word count allows you to monitor and track your word count in real-time so you don’t use too many words to bore your employer.

Type My Essay

Use this online service as a writing guide when creating your resume. According to HuffingtonPost’s Write My Essay article this academic writing service is becoming increasingly popular in the business world.

Cite It In

When adding references, quotes or citations to your resume, use this tool to add them in a professional format.

Essayroo.com

If you’re really finding it hard to write your resume, use this writing service to have one created by a professional writer on your behalf.

Other Aspects to Consider

There are several other things you can add to your resume should you feel you need to. You may want to include references to employers in your previous roles. You could even include quotes about your performance from your manager. You may even want to include information on your ability to travel short and long distances to jobs and a note on your flexibility when it comes to working hours. This is what you can end your resume with.

About The Author:

Mary Walton is one of PhD Thesis Writers, community for students who are in the process of dissertation writing. Mary has a blog - Simple Grad, where she shares her knowledge about college life. Also, she is an editor and proofreader at Research Paper Writing Service.

______________________________________________________

I trust this podcast helps you understand that outsourcing your contractor's bookkeeping services to us is about more than just “doing the bookkeeping”; it is about taking a holistic approach to your entire construction company and helping support you as a contractor and as a person.

We Remove Contractor's Unique Paperwork Frustrations

We understand the good, bad and the ugly about owning and operating construction companies because we have had several of them and we sincerely care about you and your construction company!

That is all I have for now, and if you have listened to this far please do me the honor of commenting and rating podcast www.FastEasyAccounting.com/podcast Tell me what you liked, did not like, tell it as you see it because your feedback is crucial and I thank you in advance.

u Deserve To Be Wealthy Because You Bring Value To Other People's Lives!

I trust this will be of value to you and your feedback is always welcome at www.FastEasyAccounting.com/podcast

One more example of how Fast Easy Accounting is helping construction company owners across the USA including Alaska and Hawaii put more money in the bank to operate and grow your construction company. Construction accounting is not rocket science; it is a lot harder than that, and a lot more valuable to construction contractors like you so stop missing out and call Sharie 206-361-3950 or email sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com

Contractor Bookkeeping Done For You!

  Thinking About Outsourcing Your Contractors Bookkeeping Services?

Click On The Link Below:

www.FastEasyAccounting.com/hs

This guide will help you learn what to look for in outsourced construction accounting.

Need Help Now?

Call Sharie 206-361-3950

sharie@fasteasyaccounting.com

Thank you very much, and I hope you understand we do care about you and all contractors regardless of whether or not you ever hire our services. Bye for now until our next episode here on the Contractors Success MAP Podcast.

  Warm Regards,

Randal DeHart | The Contractors Accountant

Our Workflow Removes Your Paperwork Frustrations

Our Workflow Removes Your Paperwork Frustrations

For Contractors Who Prefer

To Do Your Bookkeeping

Fast Easy Accounting Do-It-Yourself Construction Accounting Store Is Open

Most Contractors Setup QuickBooks Desktop Version In One Of Three Ways:

#1 EZ Step Interview inside QuickBooks Setup #2 Asked Their Tax Accountant To Setup QuickBooks #3 They Attended A How To Setup QuickBooks Class Or Seminar

And QuickBooks Does Not Work The Way They Want It Too!

The Answer:

#1 Click Here To Buy An Entire QuickBooks Setup For Your Specific Contracting Company

#2 Click Here To Buy Just The Chart Of Accounts For Your Specific Contracting Company

Short List Construction Contractors We Serve 

Brand New Construction Company    Handyman Company

Cabinet Installer    HVAC Contractor

Carpentry Contractor    Insulation Contractor    

Carpet And Tile Contractor    Interior Designer      

Commercial Tenant Improvement Contractor   Land Development Company

Concrete Contractor    Landscape Contractor    

Construction Company   Masonry Contractor

Construction Manager   Mold Remediation Company      

Contracting Company    Moss Removal Company      

Contractor   Painting Contractor      

Custom Deck Builder    Plumbing Contractor      

Custom Home Builder    Pressure Washing Company      

Demolition Contractor    Remodel Construction Company      

Drywall Contractor    Renovation Contractor      

Electrical Contractor    Restoration Contractor      

Emerging Contractor    Roofing Contractor      

Excavation Contractor    Spec Home Builder      

Finish Millwork Contractor    Specialty Contractor      

Flipper House Contractor    Subcontractor

Flooring Contractor    Trade Contractor      

Framing Contractor    Underground Contractor      

General Contractor    Utility Contractor      

Glass Installation Contractor    Construction Employees    

Gutter Installation Company    Construction Support Specialist

  Additional QuickBooks Templates, Resources, And Services

QuickBooks Set Up Templates   Solopreneur

QuickBooks Chart Of Accounts     Free Stuff

QuickBooks Item Lists Templates     Consulting

  We Serve Over 100 Types Of Contractors So If Your Type Of Company Is Not Listed

Please Do Not Be Concerned Because If You Are A Contractor

There Is A Good Chance We Can Help You!

Call Now: 206-361-3950

If you are a blogger, who writes about construction we would like to hear from you.

https://www.fasteasyaccounting.com/guestblogger

          Contractors_Success_MAP, Contractors_Success_Marketing_Accounting_Production, Contractor_Bookkeeping_Services, QuickBooks_For_Contractors, QuickBooks_For_Contractors,Contractors_Success_Map_How_To_Write_A_Winning_Contractor_Resume

Check out this episode about Contractors Marketing - Accounting - Production (M.A.P.)!

[multi-ethnic-press-blog1]

Residing with Head Injury

Submitted by: Craig Lock

Category (key words): head damage, brain injury, neuro-psychology, brain, cognitive difficulties

Other Articles can be found at:

(Personal growth, self help, writing, internet marketing, terms of support and inspiration, money management)

Publishing instructions: we hope that the following piece may be informative to others. This article may be easily reproduced electronically or in print. If it helps anyone "out there in the often very difficult, but always amazing 'journey of life' in any way, then we are extremely happy.

"We share that which we know, to ensure we all may develop.

*

LIVING WITH HEAD INJURY

Here is some general info that I hope may be able to help others. . Hope it may be helpful to families afflicted by head injury, the 'hidden handicap, the silent epidemic'.

Head damage has become a common issue through the world. Most of the more severe injuries are related to road traffic and horse riding accidents. As an example, in the uk about 15 patients every hour are admitted to hospital for observation, because of head injury and every 2 hours one of those will perish. Head injury is implicated in 1 of all deaths and 50 OF ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENT DEATHS. Head injury is particularly prevalent in the age group between 10 and 25. CONCUSSION has occurred, whenever patients cannot remember the specific blow that made them unconscious.

THE NATURE OF HEAD INJURY IN AUSTRALIA

Some facts:

* In Australia more than 25000 people each year are permanently disabled by obtained mind injury. Within the state of Western Australia it is 1500.

* Each year in Australia approximately 6000 people sustain terrible head injury and will be totally reliant for the rest of their life (in W.A the figure is 600).

* It is estimated that 70 of these are caused by road accidents, the stability through work, home and sports accidents or from stroke, encephalitis and other medical conditions.

* Head injury is the better reason behind disability for individuals under age 40.

* It causes disabilities which range from a permanent vegetative state, right through to virtual independence and community re-integration.

* It causes memory loss and other behavioural changes, such as for instance a lack of concentration, an inability to plan, or to motivate oneself.

* It affects three times as many individuals, as paraplegia and quadraplegia combined.

* Despite being a widespread community tragedy, this has largely remained a SILENT EPIDEMIC, which isn't politically or financially recognised by the state. In third world countries, like Southern Africa, there has to be so many victims, whom urgently require scarce resources, in competition with many other pressing social and health needs.

* Carer-givers at home are often faced with the breakdown of your family unit, as a result of the 24 hour care needed by the individual with head damage.

NB: Note that HEAD DAMAGE IS NOT SIMILAR AS AN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

* * *

VARIOUS PRACTICAL ISSUES IN WORKING WITH HEAD INJURY:

1. Lack of Insight

2. Memory problems

3. Poor concentration.

4. Slowed responses

5. Poor planning and problem-solving

6. Lack of initiave - frequently incorrectly labelled as "lazy"

7. Lack of flexibility- "one track" mind

8. Impulsivity

9. Self-centredness

10.Dependancy.

*

SUMMARY:

Sometimes the person with a head injury will have a feeling of continual battle to try and cope with the day-to-day complexities of the world. Most frustrating! A standard reaction to these difficulties is to avoid the situations, to withdraw into a less complex and demanding environment.

So AVOID situations that cause you undue anxiety.

Through therapy and involvement in normal life situations, the patient may continue to recover for several years...in reality within the period of a lifetime.

An individual of forceful personality, with a high tolerance of frustration, showing drive and determination, will win through in the end more effectively than someone of less robust temperament.

********

THE RESULTS OF HEAD INJURY

The most obvious effect of severe head damage is often

Personality change:

Probably the most typical changes are those associated with injury to the frontal lobes regarding the mind.

A changed personality changes everything.

They are the most frequent impacts:

* Irritability

* Aggression: eg. increased shouting, swearing and often even physical violence

Also:

* Apathy

* Lack of initiative

* Boredom

* Lack of great interest in previously enjoyable tasks

* Restlessness

* Difficulty in concentrating

* Emotional regression: ie. more childlike in behaviour

* Lack of insight into the consequences of 1's behaviours

Lack of insight may even lead to a denial of a person's disability and they may make frequent mention of the plans to resume the former tasks, of that they are no longer capable, eg. driving a car or going back to work.

I was like that about racing after my accident.

* Lack of judgement: that may lead to inappropriate behaviour,

ie. behaviour which isn't socially appropriate ("please maybe not here Josephine"). Sometimes there are outright psychiatric symptoms with delusions (maybe not necessarily of grandeur), severe depression and other bizarre behaviours.

Often the most significant effect is MEMORY PROBLEMS. I'm just reading a book and my boyhood hero Stirling Moss says that after his accident in 1962, his memory went. He does not even remember winning the New Zealand Grand Prix some years before.

Memory problems: These are the effect of a change within the intellectual functioning of the brain; but the existance of memory problems may cause the head injured person becoming confused, to appear vague and a tendency to avoid certain situations. Undoubtedly that is me personally!

What else?

A LACK OF INITIATIVE:

N.B: AVOID LABELLING THAT PERSON AS LAZY. This is a very common label.

RESTLESSNESS AND DIFFICULTY CONCENTRATING: nevertheless, always remember that one's level of concentration can be improved.

SWEARING: it is a result of the person losing their normal inhibition and making use of words, which mean nothing but express emotions so vividly. Swearing has been termed an outpouring of "the all function emotional expression". A rather fancy definition coined by a clever medical person, I might say!

We swore like a trooper, sory ten sea-men, when I woke up after my accident. Six weeks plus in a coma and my dear parents were assailed by the absolute most filthy language they'd ever heard (from "quiet well-mannered boy-racer" Craig)

and finally,

DYSPHASIA: The person could have trouble speaking. eg. finding the right terms, putting them together to produce a sensible sentence. This arrives to injury to the speech area of the brain...usually the dominant hemisphere. This must exactly why I write plenty better than we speak.

Damage to your brain can affect everything you do. It may affect physical activities: hand strength and skills, balance, walking and running. What many individuals don't realise is the fact that adverse long term effects can also occur after quite mild injuries, like being knocked out at football. We'm surprised at exactly how many rugby players suffer numerous concussions, and still continue playing. Must certanly be very bad for them...and Francois Pienaar (Springbok rugby captain) is still a very nice guy and perfectly "normal". But look after yourself, Francois, your nation needs you.

Note:

Thank goodness the rule makers are in possession of imposed an automatic two week ban (or perhaps it is longer) for rugby players, who have been concussed.

Individuals who are coping with head injury will often have difficulties with:

* Concentration

* Memory

* Organisation or what is termed 'sequencing'. We have great difficulty in seeing exactly what has to be done in doing tasks, so break them down in little actions

* Irrtatibility

* Exhaustion

and

* their emotions

Every one of these problems can happen shortly after mild injuries, also serious ones. After severe head injury the control of FATIGUE and STRESS may be the key to managing recovery. Fatigue damages all other functions and it's management is the most crucial element in returning to work after severe head damage.

We have great difficulty in coping with my chronic fatigue - my biggest challenge throughout my life and what's shaped it!

*

Simply got this info last night from the Headway web website:

YOU ARE AN EXPERT ALREADY...

The main text is reproduced by kind permission of Trevor Powell from his guide Head Injury: A Practical Guide.

The cognitive effects of a brain injury affect the way a person thinks, learns and remembers. Different psychological abilities are located in different parts of the brain, so a head injury can damage some, not necessarily all, abilities such as rate of idea, memory, understanding, concentration, solving problems and using language.

The cognitive system can be divided up into six split areas:

Memory

Memory is not one thing or one skill on unique. It's easily damaged by brain injury because there are numerous structures within the mind which are involved with processing information, storing it and retrieving it. Damage to those parts of the mind on which these abilities rely can lead to poor memory. Difficulties with memory is a complex subject and is covered in more depth in a separate section.

Headway has produced a publication Memory Problems After Brain Injury that provides further information.

Attention and Concentration

A decreased concentration span is extremely typical after head injury, as is a diminished ability to pay attention to more than one task at the same time frame. These issues are usually caused by damage to the frontal lobe. Attentional problems tend getting worse as soon as the person is tired, stressed or worried. When there are difficulties with concentration, other skill areas could be affected. It is hard to follow instructions, plan ahead, be organised and so forth, whenever there is a problem concentrating. Working in a place with as few distractions as you possibly can can help and, as concentration improves, distractions can be increased. In this way, someone can slowly learn to concentrate better in a world which is crowded with distracting sights and sounds.

Speed of Information Processing

Slowing down the speed of which the brain does the job of information processing is frequently due to 'diffuse axonal damage' caused by a shake up of all regarding the pathways the brain uses to transmit messages. This results in problems such as maybe not understanding fast speech, being unable to absorb instructions first time around, and maybe not being able to quickly formulate a reply to a question. To enhance the speed of data processing, you should keep mentally stimulated at the right level to avoid overload.

Executive Functions - Planning, Organising, Problem Solving

Harm to the frontal lobe can affect these abilities, resulting in a subtle set of deficits which were called 'Dysexecutive Syndrome'. This covers problems to make long-term plans, goal setting and initiating steps to achieve objectives. The capability to stand back and take an objective view of a situation may be lacking, as may the ability to see anything from someone else's point of view. If the person is aware that this might be a challenge, then encouragement and direct feedback can be given to help anyone modify their behaviour. It is of good use to try to create structure in otherwise unstructured situations, by deteriorating any task into particular tasks, possibly using checklists. Versatile thinking is composed of both divergent thinking (thinking outwards or generating ideas from a single point) and convergent reasoning (thinking inwards, taking ideas and summarising them). Exercises which practice these skills not only improve ability but help to identify difficulties and improve awareness.

Visuo-Spatial and Perceptual Difficulties

Organs such as for instance ears and eyes may be working perfectly well, but the part regarding the brain which makes sense of incoming information from these sources may maybe not be working precisely. This gives rise to many different types of difficulty. Problems in judging distances, spatial relationships and orientation can mean, for example, that a person may bump into furniture they've seen, but have misjudged where it is in relation to on their own. Sometimes a person will have trouble where one side of whatever they are considering isn't seen (visual neglect). A person may only eat half the meals on their plate, or read only halfway the over the page. The power to recognise something seen from a different or unusual angle can be lost. This could also apply to sounds as well as vision. Building things or drawing them from component parts such as coloured block is extremely hard.

Language Abilities

Problems with language loss could be either receptive such that no sense could be made of what exactly is heard or read, or expressive which means it is really not simple to find the right terms to state or compose. Difficulties with one of these areas are known as aphasia. When both problems are current the condition is known as 'global aphasia'. There clearly was a special area in the left side regarding the mind worried about creating speech (Broca's area which is positioned between the front and temporal lobes) and another area for comprehending the speech of others (Wernickes's area which is located further back between the temporal and parietal lobes). Both of these are connected by numerous pathways but are quite distinct. It is of good use to remember that the brain skills which create and understand message vary to the capacity to make the sounds of language. The latter can be due to problems with the muscle tissue in the throat and lips, and more detailed information is given in the section on real impacts after head injury.

A publication titled Communication dilemmas after Brain Injury is available which describes the most popular problems and provides tips and hints on dealing with them.

Other organisations can help, such as Speakability.

EMOTIONAL EFFECTS:

Everybody else whom has had a head injury can be left with some changes in emotional reaction and behaviour. They are more tough to see than the more obvious problems such as those which affect movement (a physical effect) and speech (a cognitive effect), as an example, but can be the most difficult for the individual concerned and their family to deal with.

Headway has produced publications to help and advise on lots of the problems outlined below. There tend to be more than twenty titles covering topics such as Psychological ramifications of Brain Injury and Personal and Sexual Relationships Following Brain damage

Headway's network of local Groups and Branches are an exemplary supply of advice and support for the head injured person and family by people who possess experienced these difficulties at first hand, and can advise on coping strategies and treatment methods.

This topic is extremely large, and not everybody will experience all of the difficulties below. The severity of the problems will also differ.

Agitation

Explosive Anger and Irritability

As an example, exaggerated angry reaction to apparently minor annoyances.

Direct damage to the frontal lobes, which is the area of the brain which controls emotional behaviour and tolerance of frustration, can make psychological lability. This means emotions can swing to extremes. The anxiety of coping with even minor crises, such as misplaced shoes or a noisy vacuum cleaner, can be too much and trigger an angry outburst. If these stresses could be identified, they could be able to be reduced.

Insufficient Awareness and Insight

The mental capacity to monitor personal behavior and adjust it accordingly is a sophisticated ability found in the front lobes regarding the mind. Damage to this area affects the capability to be self-aware, have insight into the effects of personal actions, show sensitivity or feel empathy. It additionally means that a person may well not fully appreciate or realize the end result that the accident is having on their life, health or family. Participation in a head injury support group can be extremely useful for fulfilling people at various stages of recovery, who can help an individual recognise difficulties they could be experiencing.

Residing with Head Injury Impulsivity and Disinhibition .

As an example, speaking your mind regardless of what the circumstances, touching people inappropriately, and maybe not considering the consequences of any action.

This is the lack of capacity to control either actions or speech, and is due to neurological damage to the front lobes. This problem often goes hand in hand with lack of awareness, and the person may not be aware of breaching any social guidelines or etiquette. A behavioural management system devised with the assistance of a neuro-psychologist can help enhance the situation, and prevent a person developing unacceptable behaviour through habit.

Emotional Lability

This defines a person's tendency to laugh and cry very easily also to move from one emotional state to another extremely quickly.

Loss in control over emotions means the individual has lost the capability to discriminate about whenever and exactly how to express their feelings. This can be very tiring and embarrassing for family members to deal with, but in time a person can begin to re-learn emotional control.

Self-Centredness

For instance, maybe not showing any interest in family issues, and only being concerned with personal needs.

This can be partly due to direct brain injury affecting a person's capacity to judge exactly how another person is feeling, and might be partly due to a person becoming familiar with the huge amount of attention focused on a head injury survivor while they had been in hospital. The result can be quite difficult to cope with. It needs to be handled firmly to avoid a family feeling their work and love are not appreciated.

Apathy and Poor Motivation

For example, no interest in hobbies enjoyed formerly, or perhaps not being bothered getting out of a seat all time.

Insufficient motivation or spontaneity, or apathy, is a result of mind injury to frontal lobe structures that concern emotion, motivation or forward planning. Over time, lack of motivation can cause social isolation and not enough pleasure. To greatly help, tasks can be broken down into tiny actions to avoid overwhelming the person.

Depression

For example, feeling there is no point in having survived the accident, or thinking that everything has changed for the even worse.

Depression is a very common emotional reaction which comes on within the later stages of rehabilitation, often when a person realises the complete extent of the difficulties caused by the accident. This can be seen as a good sign, that a person understands of the reality of the situation, and is arriving at term with the emotional consequences. 'Healthy' depression can be worked through in time, as adjustments are designed. If a person feels emotionally blocked and unable to move on, professional counselling from a person who knows head injury may be helpful.

Anxiety

As an example, panic attacks, nightmares, and feelings of insecurity.

It is natural for individuals involved in a traumatic experience to feel anxious afterwards. Loss in self-confidence when faced with situations and tasks which are difficult to manage with is also a pretty normal reaction. However, long standing problems may appear if difficult situations are continually avoided, or if carers encourage dependence instead than independence. Talking about worries and worries is extremely helpful, and adopting practices of staying calm under stress can reduce steadily the effect of anxiety on everyday life.

Inflexibility and Obsessionality

For example, unreasonable stubbornness, obsessive pattern of behaviour such as washing or checking things, or anxiety about possessions being stolen.

The power to reason must not be taken for granted. The origins of this kind of rigid behaviour are in cognitive difficulties ensuing from damage to the frontal lobes. Anyone can lose the ability to jump from one idea to a different, and becomes 'stuck' on a particular thought. This kind of behaviour is often worsened by anxiety or insecurity, so reassurance is helpful, as is trying to redirect attention to more constructive ideas and behaviour. This type of behaviour can be very irritating to family and friends, and sometimes leads to social isolation.

© Headway - the mind damage association Reg Charity No 1025852

Real Impacts

Part regarding the text is reproduced by kind permission of Trevor Powell from his guide Head Injury: A Practical Guide

Tiredness

Fatigue after head injury can be one of the most limiting signs because it affects everything an individual does. Energy stores are easily depleted, and it can just take a long time to build up the reserves once again. By pushing themselves too hard a head injured person can exhaust the way to obtain energy, so that it is better to discover the early signs of fatigue and to rest.

Movement, Balance and Co-ordination

Damage to the mind which causes movement problems usually happens to the motor cortex, the brain stem plus the cerebellum. As one side of the brain affects the engine co-ordination on the alternative side regarding the human anatomy, a person often experiences a weakness or paralysis of 1 side. Damage to the cerebellum affects fine co-ordination of the muscles, and can mean continuing problems with dexterity even after a time period of improvement. Difficulty with stability could be caused by damage to the vestibular system, which is a small mechanism at the rear of the skull. Even a minor brain damage can upset this delicate organ, so that the person often feels dizzy. Learning to walk once again after a head injury involves re-learning the basic developmental stages so that they learn to balance before a stable posture can be achieved. Contractures, that is, abnormal shortening of muscles which will make it quite difficult to stretch limbs, can seriously affect posture. Exercises supplied by the physiotherapist are essential in helping to conquer this within the early phases. More severe contractures may require the muscle to be encased in plaster and slowly stretched.

Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia is a problem of deliberate voluntary actions, or sequences of actions. That means it is different from problems with motor co-ordination or movement. Anyone might not have a problem with actual movement, instead the problem lies with being unable to put movements together deliberately and intentionally. This sort of problem can frequently be perceived as a lack of co-operation in the individuals part. A good example of the type of problem would be a person whom cannot bend his elbow when instructed to, but several minutes later could tell the time by considering his watch which involves bending his elbow quite immediately. Rehabilitation aims to break actions down into a sequence of activities, with cues and prompts, which is then practised until the cues and prompts can be gradually dispensed with.

Loss of Sensation

Different parts of the sensory cortex deal with sensations in different parts of the body. After a head damage, people may experience a loss in sight, hearing, flavor, smell (anosmia) and so forth without really damaging any of the sense organs. If the sensory cortex has been bruised, a gradual recovery of sensation may be possible. In the event that area has been torn, it is unlikely to return to normal functioning. Processing exactly what the eyes see is carried out in the occipital lobes at the back of the brain. Damage here can result in either full or partial blindness, or gaps in the visual field. Visual neglect is covered in the section on cognitive problems. Heat control can additionally be affected, particularly by damage to the mind stem.

I am hoping that the above information from Headway and Trevor Powell from his book Head Injury: A Practical Guide (as well as my experiences) can help any people affected by a head injury.

Enjoy these thoughts...

"The task ahead of you can be overcome by the power within you...and the seemingly difficult path ahead of you is never as steep with the fantastic spirit that lies within you."

"We own it within; but we get it all from without. There is a well-spring of strength, wisdom, courage and great imagination

within each one of us; but once we draw on this truth, it gets watered from without, by a Higher Source - the Source of Life and Love, which is God, the very Ground of our Being."

"When you can see no light at the end of the tunnel, light

your own candle and let your light illuminate the world,

like the radiance from a screen at midnight." That is a

metaphor, BTW

"As soon as the world is filled with love, people are overflowing

with hope."

- craig