#raise awareness byrd!!

[rebouks]

Previous // Next

Byrd: Dad? Oscar: Morning, bud.. miserable day, huh? I’m not looking forward to packing up in the rain. Oscar: Did you sleep okay? Byrd: Erm… Oscar: GO GET YOUR HEARING AIDS! [Byrd fidgeted guilty, implying that he’d lost yet another pair] Byrd: [sobs] Why do I have to be deaf without them, papa-.. s’not fair. [Oscar held Byrd tightly, stroking his back until his sobs subsided somewhat] Oscar: LET’S SEE WHAT WE CAN DO… [Oscar plonked Byrd outside as he rummaged through his bags, eventually producing a backup pair of hearing aids] Oscar: Better? [Byrd nodded gratefully, burying his snotty nose in his father’s hair as he threw his arms around him] Oscar: Maybe you ought to think twice about learning SSL. Byrd: What’s the point? No one else knows it. Oscar: Robin does, and we all know bits n’ pieces, don’t we? [Byrd grumbled disinterestedly] Oscar: I think it’s long overdue, pal-.. what if we all learn it together? Properly this time. Byrd: I guess… Oscar: All I heard was yes. Byrd: Are you deaf too? Oscar: [snorts] C’mon, we’ll probably find the other pairs as we clear up. Wren: Daaaaad, it’s raining! Oscar: The faster we get goin’, the faster we’ll be in the car-.. I bet Wren can pack up faster than you. Byrd: [gasps] NO WAY! [rain pattering]

[primamchorus]

Introductions :: Tandem Chorus

Name Meaning :: The Last Dance (or some bastardized Latin variation of it) Nicknames :: Tan Age :: 28 Birthday :: August 15th Height :: 5'11" // 180.34 cm Birthplace :: Insomnia, Lucis Race :: Lucian with Galahdian ancestry Orientation :: Allosexual / Aromantic Relationship Status :: Non-committal Defining Feature :: Hair-restricted leucism Weapon Preferences :: Kukris / Knives (NIN), Lance (DRG), Sword & Shield (PLD), Greatsword (DRK), if disarmed: Fists (MNK)

FFXV :: Origin

Born of noble House Chorus in service to the Crown of Insomnia as Arm of the King, Tandem and his twin sister were raised with that at the forefront of their existence due to their mother’s rigorous and strict regimen. Originally meant to be Crownsguard as they grew older, King Regis’ conception of the Kingsglaive and taking in Galahdian refugees in exchange for their efforts to protect the Wall and city saw their mother requesting a change in their role as part-Galahdian individuals despite the generations that House Chorus has been in service.

Since the new King’s disappearance, Tandem had been helping with the protection and gathering efforts to keep survivors of all kinds safe in the lit safe haven of Lestallum. His unit consists of him, his sister, Primam, and two other Kingsglaive members by the names of Canem Lasciva and Felis Venor. A majority of their work involved braving the Endless Night to gather and bring back meteorshards for EXINERIS’ efforts in distributing power where they could.

Due to the efforts of her and other Glaive and Guard that had been around, citizens and survivors had taken to calling them ‘Warriors of Light’ for ensuring the safety of light was always available to drive back the daemons. That was all it was, surely. After all, the King was the one who ever walked in the light of the Crystal.

FFXIV :: "AU" I Guess

Through an unknown means to Tandem and those affected by the happenings, he had been whisked away from the star of Eos and brought to the star of Hydaelyn. Tandem arrived in a state of distress -- during his venture, he had ended up being harmed by his own weapons on hand after having landed in the Black Shroud. He was found by nearby Wood Wailers and taken to the nearest settlement of Hyrstmill.

When he had awoken, he learned he was being cared for by a woman that went by the name of Caesaria. She had been a local of the settlement, and Tandem found himself grateful of her care. Though they knew nothing of his sister's whereabouts when he asked, he did his best to repay her kindness by helping out with chores and keeping the settlement safe from any attacks from the wildlife. At least up until there had been a strange visitor some moons later by the name of Jaydin Byrd. She had left him a note in a delivery...a note that changed everything.

In the note that Tandem had been given, it revealed that this Jaydin Byrd was aware of the existence of his sister. With questions and the desire to be reunited with his twin as well as find a way back home, Tandem soon affiliated himself with the Starry Knights and has come to live with them. With as helpful and selfless as these Knights have been to Tandem, he has pledged his talents to them and whatever they may need.

[rabbitcruiser]

National Bird Day 

Don your binoculars to spy these feathered friends in the wild, contribute to conservation efforts or raise awareness of birds in captivity.

The world is filled with a plethora of different species of birds. From cardinals to doves, from parakeets to parrots. Different people have different relationships with the various species of birds. As such, one could easily imagine that there could actually be numerous National Bird Days in the world, serving different purposes and perhaps varying by region.

What this day refers to, however, is known as National Bird Day, observed primarily in the United States. This is a bit different from occasions such as International Migratory National Bird Day, World Migratory National Bird Day, National Bird Day (UK), and several other National Bird Days which do not follow the same etymology as “turkey day”.

It is also worth noting that each of these is named for those avian friends, not the late Senator Robert Byrd!

The ‘National’ term might be a bit deceptive here, since it’s not actually a national holiday in the United States. For a day to technically be a national holiday, an Act of Congress is required, and there is no evidence that has ever happened. That being said, this delightful day is still popularly known as National Bird Day, regardless of whatever Congress might think of that.

So get ready to learn about and celebrate National Bird Day!

History of National Bird Day

Back in 1894, Charles Almanzo Babcock, the superintendent of schools in Oil City, Pennsylvania, declared the first holiday in the United States to celebrate birds. Babcock was passionate about the idea of advancing bird conservation as a moral value and it seems that his idea for the day caught on. Babcock’s National Bird Day eventually turned into what is now known as International Migratory National Bird Day, which is celebrated in May.

That day is not actually related to this National Bird Day, though, in terms of history. This particular version of National Bird Day was created as it marked the end of the annual Christmas Bird Count in the mid-21st century.

National Bird Day has been dedicated at least in part to raising awareness about birds that are held in captivity. This day is a project of the Avian Welfare Coalition, which works hard to raise awareness for birds that are captured or produced in captivity for either profit or amusement of humans.

Presumably that includes Aunt Marjorie’s parrot, the penguins in the Columbus Zoo, and that turkey that made the ultimate sacrifice to grace the family’s dinner table for Thanksgiving back in November. After all, a holiday that marks the end of three weeks of focusing on wild birds that occurs during the Christmas Bird Count would appropriately focus some attention on captive birds.

The goal of the day is to educate folks on the destructive tendencies of the bird trade, the cruelty of bird breeding mills, and ideas for helping and improving the lives of birds that are already living in captivity.

How to Celebrate National Bird Day

Looking for ideas on how to celebrate National Bird Day? Well this list is a great way to begin. Try out some of these ideas or come up with some of your own:

Learn More About Birds

Birds are important for a variety of reasons. They are a valuable part of nature’s ecosystem. Many of them sing and quite a few of them even look pretty! Of course, many species of birds are also eaten by humans, but it does seem that it might be a little inappropriate to go quail hunting in honour of National Bird Day, no matter how delicious quail might be.

Visit Unique Birds in Their Natural Habitats

Forgo the zoo and head on over to places where the birds actually live and thrive in their natural habitats. For some bird lovers, this could simply mean taking a walk in the forest with some bird watching glasses to spot some unique creatures.

For others, this might mean building an entire vacation to an exotic place to see tropical birds in their natural homes. Many different Eco-tour companies will offer limited viewing opportunities for those who want to travel around the world to see parrots in Guatemala, Tenerife, Belize, Honduras and more!

Help with Bird Conservation

Raising awareness, getting involved and making a donation are all ways that bird lovers can celebrate National Bird Day. Host a charity event or party to let friends and family enjoy an evening while learning about the important reasons behind National Bird Day. Get together for a meal, watch a documentary, and then let people know about these ways they can make a donation to these important support bird conservation efforts:

Indonesian Parrot Project Helping protect endangered parrots and cockatoos from trappers, smugglers, transporters and traders.

Hatched to Fly Free This organization works to breed and then release beautiful, colorful macaws in the nation of Costa Rica.

One Earth Conservation Empowering people to save the planet, this organization helps to educate and build programs to love nature, with a specific focus on parrots.

Visit the National Bird Day Website

There’s also a website at National Bird Day, for those who want to learn more about the folks who are actually promoting this day, this website is a great place to start. It’s filled with resources and information to educate adults and children about the difficulties faced by so many birds in captivity today.

Get Educated on the Risks of Bird Extinction

On a serious note, approximately 12 percent of the world’s bird species could face extinction in the next century, if things continue on as they have been. That includes nearly a third of the 330 different species of parrots.

Things don’t look a great deal better for numerous species of songbirds, not to mention some penguin species and others, like the kiwi bird. The largest components of these threats of extinction are habitat destruction and pet trade. A great idea for celebrating the day would be learning about all of the wonders of birds, then helping to educate friends and family members about their plight. Because the survival of the world’s birds hinges on public awareness as well as support for conservation efforts all over the world.

Source

[lboogie1906]

Robert “Bob” Northern (born May 21, 1934 - May 31, 2020), known professionally as Brother Ah, is a jazz French hornist.

Born in North Carolina and raised in The Bronx, he studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Vienna State Academy. He is known as a session musician, working extensively in the 1950s and 1960s with musicians such as Donald Byrd, John Coltrane, Gil Evans, Sun Ra, McCoy Tyner, Roland Kirk, and the Jazz Composers Orchestra. He also worked with Don Cherry, Thelonious Monk, Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Eric Dolphy, Charlie Haden, and John Lewis.

He lived in New York City, and after a period of increasing interest in non-Western music, visited and studied in Africa (Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania) for seven consecutive summers. He released several albums as a bandleader; his release Sound Awareness featured Max Roach and M’Boom. These albums were reissued on CD on the Ikef Records label. He branched into percussion and flute performance in his career. He taught at Dartmouth College, Brown University, and the Levine School of Music. He is the founder of the World Music Ensemble, a group that explores African, Japanese, Spanish, East Indian, Native American, and American musical traditions, and the founder of The Sounds of Awareness Ensemble which explores the sounds of nature and music. He hosts a weekly jazz-oriented radio program, The Jazz Collectors, on station WPFW in Washington. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Trudy Ring at The Advocate:

Twenty-five years ago this week, Americans — and possibly much of the world — began thinking about anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes to an extent they hadn’t before. On October 12, 1998, 21-year-old gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard died in a hospital in Fort Collins, Colo., of injuries he’d sustained six days earlier in Laramie, Wyo. He was savagely beaten by two men he met in a Laramie bar and left hanging on a fence on the city’s outskirts. Shepard quickly became the face of the victims of anti-LGBTQ+ crimes or, as it was put then, antigay crimes. In the years since, there has been more recognition of the community’s diversity and of hate-crime victims’ diversity, but he remains the most famous victim of such a crime. After the attack on Shepard, Laramie was overrun with reporters from all over the U.S. His funeral drew protesters from the hateful Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., who waved signs with virulently homophobic slogans — which were blocked from the mourners’ view by young people wearing angel wings. The media returned in force the following year, when Shepard’s killers went on trial. Both are now serving life sentences.

Much has changed since then. Matthew’s parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard, established the Matthew Shepard Foundation and have worked tirelessly to raise awareness of all LGBTQ+ hate crime victims and promote LGBTQ+ equality generally. Matthew’s brother, Logan, works with the foundation as well. In 2009, due partly to the family’s efforts, Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, aimed at enhancing investigation and prosecution of hate crimes. Byrd was a Black man murdered in a racist crime, also in 1998. The LGBTQ+ community has made great progress in those 25 years. Marriage equality is the law of the land, LGBTQ+ people can serve in the military without having to hide their identity, and coming out is occurring at younger ages than ever. But much hasn’t changed, and progress is being eroded. This year has seen a record amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation introduced and passed in states around the nation, much of it specifically targeting transgender youth, and there remains an epidemic of violence against trans people of color.

Wyoming remains one of only four states that have no hate crimes law, let alone one covering crimes motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Activists have been trying to get one passed for years. “Five years ago, for the 20th anniversary of the murder of Matthew Shepard, I gave countless interviews, extolling the progress that we’d made in the last 20 years and exhorting my fellow Wyomingites to maintain the momentum and bring us across the finish line: pass a statewide hate-crime law, face head-on the shame and grief over Matthew’s murder so many years ago,” Sara Burlingame, executive director of Wyoming Equality and a former state legislator, tells The Advocate via email. “It felt like this healing was within reach, a fever that was going to break.” “I was wrong,” she adds. “In the last five years, the Equality State has slid backward, embracing a new form of politics and culture that I barely recognize.”

She had always known Wyoming, she says, as a conservative but live-and-let-live state, where legislators turned back anti-LGBTQ+ bills and people helped one another without prejudice. Now that has changed. This year the state passed a law excluding trans girls from girls’ school sports in eighth through 12th grades. A bill that would define the provision of gender-affirming care to minors as child abuse passed the Wyoming Senate by a large margin but failed to win House approval, so it didn't become law. Of course, the backward slide is going on nationwide, despite President Joe Biden’s strong support for the LGBTQ+ community (and, at least in part, in reaction to it). [...]

Area activists stepped up as well, despite the widespread fear. Renna recalls the appearance of the “angels,” organized by Romaine Patterson, a close friend of Shepard’s. “When they came around the corner with those big-ass wings, I was as surprised as Fred Phelps was,” she says, referring to the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church. “From that moment on, he got dealt with very differently. These kids showed him that you could respond to hate with love. It was just stunning.” During the trial, one of Shepard’s killers tried to use the “gay panic” defense, saying Shepard had made an unwanted sexual advance to him and that caused him to respond violently. The judge in the case ended up not allowing it, and use of this defense and the related “trans panic” defense has now been banned in numerous states. But in 1999, Renna says, she spent an hour and a half talking to reporters about the defense — and debunking it. The case “shifted the way we talk about that,” she says. With all the progress on LGBTQ+ rights since then, the backsliding we’re seeing now is frustrating, she notes. Also frustrating to her and others is that other anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes aren’t as well known. “Twenty-five years later, we’ve never had a hate crime get that much attention,” Renna says. She has tried hard to bring attention to others, such as the murders of Frederica C. Martinez, a two-spirit Native American teen, in Cortez, Colo., in 2001, and Sakia Gunn, a butch Black lesbian, in Newark, N.J., in 2003. That’s a reflection not only of media bias but of the LGBTQ+ community’s own bias, she says. Shepard was white, attractive, middle-class, a college student. “He had that boy-next-door quality,” Renna says.

On this day 25 years ago, Matthew Shepard was killed in an anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime in a hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado 6 days after being savagely beaten and left hanging on a fence in Laramie, Wyoming.

25 years later, there is a frightening trend towards the erosion of hard-won LGBTQ+ rights (and transgender rights in particular) that were gained over this period.

[queenoflonging]

Defecit in dolore vita mea, et anni mei in gemitibus. Infirmata in paupertate virtus mea, et dolor meus renovatus est.

My life is wasted with grief: and my years in sighs. My strength is weakened through poverty, and my sorrow is renewed. (from Psalms 30:11 & 38:3) William Byrd composed a motet, adding: Sed tu Domine refugium factus es mihi, et in misericordia tua consolatus sum.

But thou, Lord, art become a refuge unto me, and in thy mercy am I comforted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvjdP-KIKQw it’s wonderful. A great finishing touch to Boëtius Adamsz Bolswert’s engraving. It’s named Kind betreurt het voorbijgaan van de tijd (A Child Dreams of the Passing of Time). The child sighs, “Eheu!” (Alas!). The day and night pass, and we’re all at their mercy. But time has wings, it flies around unaffected, governing the two. I really like the contrast between the Time holding a sickle (perhaps a reference to Death) and an hourglass on top of its head and the child lying on the ground with a fallen hourglass on the right (the single raised wing seems to define our very efforts to resist time: We’ve both given up and keep trying. We know the battle is lost, but we try to live). But the child is the element that stands out: There is Time and the rushing day and night, but the child is lying on the ground calmly. The child takes everything in as it is: It is not aware of time directly as it doesn’t fully grasp it yet, but it knows something about it indirectly, through the changes it sees but does not yet comprehend (hence the ‘Eheu!”). The accompanying text reveals that the child will not remain unaffected by the passing of time...

William Byrd comes in and gives the whole picture hope with the blessing of Faith. Splendid!

There goes my interpretation.

I was quite captivated by this engraving (as I normally tend to be intrigued by motifs of dualism with a third element or trinities with a fourth), so I thought I might give it some context.

(via The Art of Dreams – The Public Domain Review)

[crankycreates]

A Bird in His Hand, Chapter 2: An offer is made

“Do I have a choice?” “Of course you do,” he said, raising his eyebrows. At her slightly dubious expression, he gave her a wry smile. “This isn’t the mob, Miss Byrd. I’m simply a businessman, offering you a position at my company.” Chloe did not believe for a second that Jean was ‘simply a businessman’, but she didn’t contradict him. “As an … office assistant.” He gave a non-committal hum. Then he cocked his head, eyes very slightly narrowed and peering at her face. No — not her face. Her mouth, she thought. He said, “How’s your gag reflex?” Still trying to process the events of the past hour, Chloe couldn’t quite make sense of his question. “My what?” she said, sounding every bit as nonplussed as she felt. “Your gag reflex,” he repeated patiently. “Uh— Um—” She was suddenly intensely aware of a blush heating her cheeks. “I don’t know, normal I guess?” Jean hummed. (She remembered that hum, she’d gotten herself off to the memory of it.) He leaned closer, reaching out and cupping her jaw. When she tried to pull away from his touch, the back of her head met the back of the chair, and she was trapped. He tilted her head back a little. The pad of his thumb found her lips, and they parted for him, or perhaps for the whimper his touch elicited. “Open your mouth,” he said.

[zenlesszonezero]

[hotshotsxyz]

HIPAA versus the Heart

buddie (3.3k) (read it on ao3)

inspired by this post by @free-byrd . thank you for letting me riff off your idea!

Dr. Carolynn Richards is a patient woman, so when her newest client says he’s not ready to talk about the incident that brought him in, she allows it.

“Why don’t you tell me about yourself, instead?” she suggests, and he does.

Eddie Diaz, former Army medic, current firefighter. Single father of the best kid in the world (his words). Best friends with another firefighter, recently recovered from a serious injury, recently out of a not-serious relationship. In Carolynn’s experience, ten months is usually fairly serious; she doesn’t vocalize the thought. She makes a note to ask about the injury.

Eddie holds his arms close to his sides as he speaks, not entirely closed off, but not very open, either. He shifts uncomfortably as Carolynn writes the observation down.

“Tell me,” Carolynn says, watching carefully as Eddie’s posture stiffens, “what’s your favorite thing about your job?”

Eddie relaxes almost immediately. “My team,” he says. “They’re my family.”

Carolynn nods.

A few weeks later, Eddie walks through the door practically vibrating. “You would not believe what Buck did today,” he says, throwing himself into his regular chair.

Carolynn’s eyebrow raises. It’s the most emotion she’s ever seen Eddie share willingly. Perhaps they’re finally making some progress. “Tell me,” she says.

“He tried to transfer stations,” Eddie says flatly. “As if the rest of us wouldn’t care. I don’t know what I have to do to get it through his thick skull that I - that we want him around.”

“Is that your responsibility?” Carolynn asks.

Eddie looks at her like she’s grown a second head. “Of course it is,” he says. “Buck’s one of the most important people in my life, and he’s been through a lot. I’ll tell him as many times as he needs to hear it. I just hope one of these days it really sinks in. My life - all of our lives are better with him in it.”

Carolynn nods. “Why don’t you tell me about him?” she asks.

Eddie smiles softly, an expression she’s only seen before when he’s spoken about his son. “What do you want to know?” he asks.

-

“Dr. Richards?”

Carolynn startles, so caught up in the article she was reading that she hadn’t noticed her colleague enter the room.

“Dr. Copeland,” she acknowledges, smiling. “What can I do for you?”

“You’re aware that I’m taking a sabbatical to do research, yes?”

Carolynn nods. “I am.”

“I have a patient that I believe would do well with you. Do you have any open slots? His name is Evan.”

-

“I think I need to talk about it,” Eddie says quietly. It’s the first thing he’s said since he arrived, aside from a mumbled greeting.

“Talk about what?” Carolynn asks gently.

“I told you I was injured,” Eddie says. It’s not really a question, but Carolynn nods all the same.

“I was shot,” he says, expression carefully blank. “On duty. By a sniper.”

Carolynn knows this story. She’d seen it on the news, just like every other citizen of Los Angeles. “I’m sorry that happened to you,” she says.

Eddie frowns. “I - it didn’t just happen to me, though, did it?”

“The shooter’s other victims-” Carolynn begins, but stops when Eddie shakes his head.

“No. I mean - it did happen to them, too, but that’s not what I’m talking about. My partner, Buck. He was there.”

“Was he hurt?” Carolynn asks, keeping her tone carefully neutral.

“No, not physically at least. He saved me.” Eddie swallows. His eyes are far away.

“What made you want to discuss this today?” Carolynn asks.

“Something happened at work,” Eddie says. “I - I thought I was fine. I thought we both were. About the shooting, at least.”

“What happened?”

“A hostage situation. We all made it out, but there was a gun, and-”

-

“Good afternoon, Mr. Buckley, it’s nice to meet you.”

“You too, Dr. Richards. Call me, uh, call me Evan.”

-

After discussing it with Evan, Carolynn chooses not to review Dr. Copeland’s notes. She can look at them later, she decides, but for now she’d like to form her own impressions, uninfluenced by her colleague’s. Still, though, she’s tempted. Evan spoke briefly about his sister during their session, and Carolynn suspects there’s a great deal more to their story than he lets on.

-

“I’m a firefighter,” Evan tells Carolynn proudly when she asks about his job.

“I’m surprised you’re not seeing one of the fire department’s counsellors,” she says.

Evan shakes his head. “I know how to be a firefighter,” he says. “This was never about the job.”

“Tell me what it is about, then.”

“A lot of things,” Evan says. “Me, I guess.”

-

Eddie makes a noise of frustration. “I want to talk about it, I just-”

“Don’t have the words?” Carolynn suggests when he doesn’t continue.

Eddie blows out a breath. “No, that’s not it. I know what to say, I just… can’t seem to make myself say it out loud.”

“Would it help if I asked you some direct questions?”

“I - maybe?”

“Alright then. Let’s give it a try. Did the shooting remind you of your time in the Army?”

-

“I just want Maddie to be okay, you know? She’s made it through so much - I know she can make it through this, too. And Chim... I just wish he’d talk to me.”

“You speak about your sister the same way many people speak about their parents. Is there a reason for that?” Carolynn asks gently.

Evan’s expression shutters slightly. “Yeah, uh, Maddie… She did most of the heavy lifting growing up. Our parents were pretty distant most of the time.”

“I see. Have you considered that you might not have the same understanding of your sister that her partner has? That you might each know her in different ways?”

Evan shakes his head but smiles a little. “Somebody else told me the exact same thing.”

-

“Did I ever tell you about Ana?” Eddie asks.

Carolynn very nearly jumps in surprise. “No,” she says, I don’t believe you have.” With some prodding, Eddie will talk about the shooting. He’ll talk about Afghanistan, his job, his son, his friends, sometimes even his deceased wife. Eddie will not, however, talk about his most recent relationship. Not until now, at least.

“She was perfect,” Eddie says. “Everything I should want in a partner. Pretty, nice, my kid loved her. At least, I thought he did.”

“What was missing?” Carolynn asks.

“Nothing. Everything, I guess. She was perfect and I didn’t feel anything for her.”

Carolynn waits a moment, and Eddie chuckles darkly. “Well, that’s not quite true.”

“What does that mean?”

I had a panic attack.” Eddie grimaces, like it pains him to say the words. “I had a panic attack,” he repeats, “because someone thought she was Christopher’s mother and I couldn’t… I didn’t… I didn’t want that.”

“It sounds like ending the relationship was the right choice,” Carolynn says carefully.

“I just… why didn’t I want that? She was everything I’m supposed to be looking for, and most days I couldn’t even bring myself to kiss her. What’s wrong with me?”

The anguish in Eddie’s eyes and voice nearly breaks Carolynn’s heart. For a moment she thinks of her own son, how if he said such a thing she’d pull him against her chest and stroke his hair and tell him that he’s perfect just as he is. She wonders if Eddie’s mother ever told him that. She doesn’t ask.

“We can choose how we express our emotions, but rarely can we choose our emotions themselves,” Carolynn says instead.

Eddie shakes his head.

“Have you spoken to anyone about this? Buck, perhaps?”

Eddie snorts. “No, Buck’s the last person I want to talk about this with.”

“Why is that? He’s your best friend, isn’t he?”

Eddie’s eyes widen.

“What do you want, Eddie?”

-

“My best friend got shot six months ago and he won’t talk to me about it,” Evan says one day. “He - I can still taste his blood,” he whispers.

-

“I think I might be gay. Or - or bi, or something,” Eddie says in their next session. He’s tense, like he’s bracing for Carolynn’s judgement.

“I’m glad you’re considering that,” Carolynn says softly.

Eddie leans back in surprise. “Why?”

“In our last session, you mentioned several times what you ‘should’ want. I suspect this means you’re thinking about what you want for yourself, not just what other people want from you.”

“So what do I do?” Eddie asks.

“You don’t have to do anything, not if you don’t want to,” Carolynn says warmly. “But is there anyone in your life you’d like to tell?”

“I… yeah. There is.”

-

“Eddie’s been acting weird and he won’t talk to me about it,” Evan says.

“Eddie?” Carolynn asks.

“Yeah, my best friend? I’ve told you about him, he’s the one that got shot. He’s been acting weird ever since I broke up with Taylor.”

Oh. Oh. Oh no. Surely it’s a coincidence. There has to be more than one Eddie who’s been shot in LA.

“Do you and Eddie work together?” Carolynn asks

“Yeah, we’re partners. Most of the time, anyway. Right now he’s working with Hen, just until Chimney gets back.”

Ah. This is not ideal.

-

It’s not illegal. That’s the first thing Carolynn triple checks. Usually she has a rule against treating the close relations of her patients, but it’s not actually breaking any laws to do so. Still, she’s not sure it’s a good idea. After all, Evan and Eddie frequently discuss each other with her. She’s sure she knows things about both of them that they didn’t choose to share on their own.

Maybe she should send them both to different therapists. Eddie though… she’s made so much progress gaining his trust. She’s not sure he’ll be willing to go through that again with another therapist. And Evan will be back with Dr. Copeland in January, not even two months from now.

It’s fine, Carolynn decides. It’ll be fine.

-

It is, decidedly, not fine.

“I’m in love with Buck,” Eddie says, wide eyed and disbelieving. “I don’t know how I didn’t see it before. I - he’s practically co-parenting my child.” He laughs, almost hysterically. “What am I supposed to do?”

“You could tell him,” Carolynn suggests gently. She likes to think she knows Evan well enough to know that, even if he doesn’t reciprocate Eddie’s feelings, he won’t do anything to hurt him intentionally.

“Absolutely not,” Eddie shakes his head. “I can’t lose him. Not over this.”

-

“I just wish he would talk to me, you know?” Evan says. “I can tell something’s eating at him, but he won’t let me help.”

“Maybe it’s something you can’t help with. Maybe you need to let him come to you?”

“You sound like Taylor,” Evan grouses.

“You never told me why the two of you broke up,” Carolynn prompts.

“I need a partner, and I want a family. She was never going to give me either of those.”

“When you imagine those things, what does it look like?”

-

“Buck’s being weird. Or maybe I am?” Eddie says. “Do you think he knows?”

“Well that depends,” Carolynn says. “Have you told him?”

Eddie snorts. “I told you, I’m not going to do that. Why would I risk messing up what we already have? Whatever he’s willing to give me, that’s enough. He’s enough.”

“What if he’s willing to give you more?”

“He’s not.”

-

“I’m in love with Eddie,” Evan says, wide eyed and scared. “What am I going to do?”

Carolynn wants to laugh, or maybe cry. “You could tell him,” she suggests gently.

“No, no I - just, no.”

No. It certainly couldn’t have been that easy.

-

She’s done something to anger the universe, Carolynn’s sure of it. Because every week she listens to Eddie wax poetic about Evan’s smile, and Evan bemoan his surely unreciprocated feelings for Eddie. And she. Can’t. Do. Anything.

-

“Would it be so bad,” she asks Evan, the first week of December, “if Eddie found out how you feel about him?”

“Yes!” Evan exclaims. “He’s my person. Him and Chris… they’re my family. I can’t risk that.”

Carolynn wants to bang her head against the wall. “If you’re not going to tell him… are you going to try to find someone else?”

Evan shakes his head and smiles sadly. “There’s never going to be anyone else. Not after him.”

“Evan,” Carolynn says softly, “you should tell him. It’s hurting you not to.”

“Better me than him.”

-

The office decorates for a few weeks leading up to Christmas - lights and a tree in the waiting room, mistletoe hanging over the door that leads to the offices. It’s not much, but it brings some cheer into the space. It’s something many of Carolynn’s clients appreciate, either because it reminds them of their families, or because it helps them replace traumatic memories with healing ones.

It seems to make Evan, in particular, smile when he comes in.

“You seem happy today,” Carolynn observes.

“Maddie’s back,” he says simply.

“That’s wonderful news, I’m so glad to hear it. How is she?”

“She’s doing a lot better. Excited for Jee’s first Christmas. She spent some time in an in-patient facility. I think it really helped.”

“I’m so glad,” Carolynn says, and she means it. Both Evan and Eddie have told her about Maddie, and from what she’s heard, she seems like a wonderful woman who’s been through a great deal of trauma.

“I think… I think I might tell Eddie,” Evan says. “Maddie says I’ll regret it if I never do, and I think she might be right.”

“That’s good, Evan,” Carolynn says. “You deserve to be happy.”

Evan’s face twists, and he sniffs. “Do you think he’ll hate me?” he asks.

Carolynn bites her lip. She wants to shake his shoulders and tell him exactly how Eddie feels, tell him that there’s nothing he could ever do to make Eddie love him any less. After all, Eddie’s said it to her himself. It’s not her place, though.

“Buck, if he’s anything like the person you’ve described to me, he won’t hold your feelings against you.”

Buck stiffens and his brow furrows. “I didn’t think I ever told you that name.”

Fuck. Fuck! Carolynn keeps her expression as neutral as possible. “No? Maybe it was Dr. Copeland that mentioned it. I apologize if it made you uncomfortable, I’ll stick to Evan in the future.”

“It’s, uh. It’s fine,” Evan says, still sounding wary.

The rest of the session is stilted and awkward. Carolynn’s sure Evan isn’t aware that she’s seeing Eddie as well, but she’s just as certain he didn’t buy her excuse about Dr. Copeland. She should have done something as soon as she’d discovered the problem. Who knows what kind of irreparable damage she might have done? To both of them! She probably won’t lose her license over this, but god, maybe she should.

“Hey, uh, Doc?” Evan says. “Are you okay?”

Carolynn flushes. “I’m fine, yes, I apologize. Could you repeat the last thing you said?”

Evan looks at her with furrowed brows. “It’s okay if you read Dr. Copeland’s notes, you know,” he says finally.

“Excuse me?”

“I know we said at the beginning you wouldn’t but I gave her permission to send them to you for a reason. It’s fine if you looked at them.”

It’s an out. It’s an out and she should take it but she just can’t bring herself to lie. But she also can’t violate Eddie’s confidentiality and tell the truth. She was only seeing Evan for another two weeks, then Dr. Copeland would be back.

Two weeks, Carolynn tells herself. It’ll be fine.

“Thank you,” she says noncommittally.

-

The week of Christmas, Carolynn’s booked solid. Between the shortened week and the many clients who struggle during this time of year, Carolynn’s fairly certain she doesn’t have more than five minutes to herself until Friday.

She doesn’t realize the problem until it’s too late to solve it. She glances at her schedule as Eddie walks in, only to realize that, this week, Evan has the appointment directly after his. The odds that they don’t run into each other are astronomically low. The jig is up, as it were.

“I invited Buck over for Christmas,” Eddie says. “I think I’m going to tell him.”

“That’s wonderful news, Eddie,” Carolynn says. “What changed your mind?”

“Chimney, actually,” Eddie says with a rueful smile. “He gave me my own advice.”

“And what was that?”

“It was about Maddie. I told him that tomorrow wasn’t promised, so if he loved her, he should tell her.”

“That sounds like very good advice, Eddie.”

-

She follows Eddie out of her office, hoping she can somehow prevent him from running into Evan. Eddie beats her to the waiting room door, though, and standing on the other side is Evan, already reaching for the door handle.

“Buck?” Eddie asks.

Carolynn dives behind a fake plant. It’s not her proudest moment.

“Eddie? What are you doing here?” Buck asks.

Through the leaves, Carolynn sees Eddie shrug. “I, uh… therapy. I was going to tell you.”

“You didn’t have to, Eds,” Buck says softly. “But I’m proud of you.”

Eddie looks up at him, smiling brilliantly. “You are?”

“Always,” Buck says.

The way they look at each other… Carolynn wonders how they don’t see it. Too blinded by their own love, she supposes, to see it reflected back.

“You’re still coming on Friday, right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Buck says, ducking his head and smiling.

“And you’ll stay?” Eddie asks quietly.

Buck’s head snaps up. “Eddie,” he whispers.

“You know,” Eddie says slowly. “I was going to wait until Friday to say anything.”

“But?” Buck asks, breathless.

“But we are standing under mistletoe,” Eddie says, looking up.

Buck follows his gaze. “We are,” he confirms.

Eddie takes Buck’s hand and weaves their fingers together. There’s an entire waiting room of people beyond the door’s threshold, and an overly invested doctor hiding behind a nearby plant, but they might as well be the only two people on the planet if the way their eyes never waver is any indication.

“Do you know what I told my therapist, just now?” Eddie asks.

Buck shakes his head.

“I told her that I was going to tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“I’m in love with you,” Eddie says in a rush of air. “You walked into my life and made every single thing better, just by being you. And Evan, I just - I love you. I need you. I always want you to stay.”

Buck’s eyes are wide and shiny. “Do you know what my therapist asked me?” he says after a moment.

Eddie shakes his head. The corners of his lips are turned up in a small smile, like the fact that Buck’s hand is still in his hasn’t escaped his attention.

“She asked me what I pictured when I thought about the future. About having a partner and a family. And Eds, it’s you. It’s always been you. I’m in love with you.”

Eddie breaks into a wide smile and curls his free hand around Buck’s jaw. “I’m going to kiss you now, okay?” he murmurs.

In lieu of an answer, Buck surges forward, pressing his lips against Eddie’s.

The waiting room bursts into cheers - apparently Carolynn hasn’t been the only one watching.

Buck and Eddie break apart slowly, cheeks pink and grinning widely.

“Let’s go home,” Eddie murmurs.

“Yeah,” Buck agrees. “Oh, I, uh, I should let my therapist know,” he says.

“Pretty sure she already knows,” Eddie says, tipping his head towards the plant Carolynn’s hiding behind.

Carolynn hits the ground, cheeks flaming. She’s definitely going to lose her license over this.

To her surprise, Buck laughs, loudly. “I think it’s time for me to go back to Dr. Copeland,” he says.

“I’m sure Dr. Richards will understand,” Eddie says warmly. “Now, home?”

“Yeah,” Buck says, “Home.”

[rosesnink]

The Fall And Rising Of A Rose

A/N: I’m struggling to bring myself to write the current chapters of The Cursed Heiress, so I decided to write some one-shots that gives boosts to some small plots I do not have the chance to explore in the main series. I’ll start with some characters we’ve met/will meet and sometimes the characters before and after meeting Joanna. I reccomend listen to Dynasty by Miia while reading for better experience! 

Summary: A visit of Mr. Sinclaire to the house of ill repute changes a poor woman’s life...forever. 

1813

Ernest was certain that this time he was at a bed, though he could not tell which one was. There was a woman, one whose face he could not see. She was naked and giggling, such a pleasant sound that made his heart race rather rapidly. She had some scars on her chest, though he couldn’t identify them because the vision was blurry. Her hand brushed his chest as she mounted atop him, her smile the most enthralling thing he’s ever seen, her rich lips now swollen and red, probably his fault. He didn’t know what was happening. He knew he was in the dream, but the Ernest in there wasn’t quite him. It was someone more different than him, though he couldn’t tell the difference between them. The woman leaned to kiss him and he did too, meeting her partway, her lips tasting like morning breath and blueberries from his garden back at Ledford Park. It felt incredible and his version of the dream hummed in delight.

“Mmm, we should do this more oftenly, my queen.” He mused.

“Hm, I think the grown men of the court would not like it.” She whispered as she kissed his jaw, waking goosebumps on his body.

So he was with a queen? He wondered which queen it was and how the hell did he win her over, his position being so low. Alas, he didn’t think that there was a queen out there who was redheaded. Not that he studied of, at least.

He pulled her closer to him, pinning her on the bed, but she out strengthened him and pulled away coyly, making him chuckle as she dressed in a very expensive and rich dress, red and off shoulder that showed her cleavage and started to coif her hair in a very complicated way.

“Shouldn’t you call your ladies in waiting?”

“My dear Ernest, a lady has more refined jobs in my chamber than something as easy as dressing one self. Last time I checked, women are killed by childbirths, sickness, old age and offended men, not dressing themselves.” She turned around him, some strands of her hair still out, her long hair showing. He shrugged, giving her a point. He couldn’t see her eyes or nose, but he could see her lips, a smirk tugged at her lips “Don’t tell me you’re capable of everything but dressing yourself! What are you, five?”

“I assure you, I can dress myself rather fine. I’m just impressed that a woman of your status is able to dress herself with such rich silk and difficult garments.”

“Back in the village, I was undercover. My poor mother had to learn to do work she was not used to!”

“I can imagine your poor mother trying to figure out how to put a frock or the corset on.” He mused.

She laughed before throwing him a pillow, thing that made him laugh.

Whoever this woman was, she was special. No woman ever made it to his bed than Roselyn and they weren’t clearly married. He got up and spun her around, kissing her lips as he adventured to lift her skirt with care and picked her up “Must you really spend three hours fixing yourself up for these grown men?”

“I must look good so they see me as their queen. Especially when introducing them to our Liz.”

He kissed the nape of her neck “Surely a woman of your talents will think of something...” He pleaded her.

She giggled again before kissing him, his hands undoing the pins on her hair and throwing her to bed, happy and--.

“Sir? Are you awake?” A rather familiar voice woke him from his curious dream.

He blinked and saw her again. He quickly got up and started to dress himself, aware of the situation at hand.

“It… happened again, didn’t it?”

“Yes… and I know the speech already. You needn’t worry, sir, your secret is safe with me.”

“Good, that’s… that’s good.”

He noticed she had her worries too, her mind drifting awa too. He fished some coins and gave it to her. She smiled at him and nodded in gratefulness “You don’t need to, sir.”

“I know, but you deserve it.”

“For what, doing my job to content you at night and keep quiet at day?” She questioned.

“For putting up with me. My time here has been most educational and I wish you well in your career. May I put good word with a friend of mine? He is looking for a housemaid and he’s growing desperate.”

She got up, looking at him with surprise “You’d do that?”

He nodded.

“…It’s not that I am not grateful for this job, but I could really use the money…”.

“I shall speak with your future patron straight away.”

He finished getting dressed and went to the door when her words stopped him “Marianna Howard.”

He spun around to look at her better “Sorry?”

“My name, my true name. It’s Marianna Howard, not Rosemond. But please, call me Mari.”

“Very well, Miss Howard. I give you my word that you will have a job at the end of the week.”

She smiled at him, bowing her head respectfully.

Then, he left.

Three weeks later

The blonde woman threw up again, shaking her head as she went right to check as she begged her body to bleed… but nothing came out “Come on, bleed, bleed for fuck’s sake! FUCK, NOT AGAIN!” She wailed as she shuddered, leaning against the wall and falling sobbing quietly.

Mrs Wayward, the cook, rushed to her and caressed her shoulders “What is it, Mari?” She looked at the cold stone and gasped “You’re…I…”.

“Pregnant? It seems so.”

“Who’s the father? It cannot be Mr. Chambers, he doesn’t even fancy women that way!”

She looked at her intensely “Promise me on your son’s life that you shall keep this secret to your grave.”

“My god… it’s an aristocrat’s child!”

“Give me your word!” She begged.

“…You can count on me. I shall not tell a soul, not even my dear husband.”

They talked and soon she had to tell Mr. Chambers about her state on her knees, pleading him not to ask too many questions or fire her. Lucky her, her patron was a sunshine and told her she owed him no explanation whatsoever and that she’d have his support should she were to raise this child on her own. She knew that he had his suspicions, but kept his word on not ask around and soon forgot about his musing once Mr. Byrd came to visit, his only focus him.

On the 18th of April, she gave birth to a girl who she decided to name ‘Girl’, in case she died or had to sell her should she be a sickly kid. But she grew strong and thrived, growing the same untamed hair than her father and his eyes too, just as his full lips. Though she had too her capacity to charm a man and Mr. Chambers grew fond of the child, buying her a doll and a brush of her own and raised her salary so she could maintain her. With the changes in the world, she would send her to work soon at a factory. Until one day, her luck would turn around…

April of 1816

“Mama, it’s sunny outside!” Her three-year-old daughter called “May I play with the other girls in the park? Please?”

Mr. Chambers knocked on the door, looking away first, ever the polite man and then beamed at the young girl “Happy birthday, beautiful! How many years do you have now?”

She signalled him the number three and he gasped “How old!” He knelt down on her and handed her a few coins “Here, buy yourself something at the center. It shall be my present to you.”

“Thank you, sir!”

She bowed her head to him “You are too kind, Mr. Chambers.”

He smiled “It’s nothing, really. Your girl is delightful and you have been my saviour all of these years. It’s the minimum I could do for you both.” He heard three sharp knocks and smiled “I’ll get that, you go and have the day off with her. I was about to, ah, dismiss you for the day anyways.”

She giggled “Of course, sir. Have a good day with your… dear friend.”

They strolled around the streets, trying to avoid rich neighbourhoods as they saw a nice tavern and beamed at the bartender, who greeted them “So, it’s the kid’s birthday, I hear?”

“Yes!” The girl beamed.

“A birthday cake and some drinks, coming up!”

“Oh, I don’t think we can afford—.”

“Don’t worry, the nice lady has paid for it.” She signalled a redheaded girl a few tables away from her, dressed in a rich, very expensive violet gown and the prettiest tiara she has ever seen. She smiled at them and raised her glass.

“Who is that woman, Mama?” Her daughter asked.

“Someone who is nice enough to pay us a birthday cake, apparently.”

“We should thank her!”

“I don’t think it’s safe to—.” Too late, because she already approached the woman and started talking to her. Her demeanour was regal, almost royal, and her hair was flawlessly coiffed. She must be a high aristocrat, though she had never seen her before. Perhaps she was some poor girl who was hidden until she was of age? She was pretty hard to miss.

She approached them both and bowed respectfully before catching her daughter “Excuse my daughter, madam. She still needs to learn some etiquette manners.”

“You needn’t worry, Miss Howard. Your daughter is delightful and lovely. I always thought that expressing your gratitude to kind strangers is what makes you a proper lady, no matter how above your station they are.” She extended her hand “Lady Joanna Mills of Edgewater, but call me Joanna, please.”

“Oh! You’re the firstborn daughter of the Earl of Edgewater!” She gasped before bowing a bit lower “I am so humbled you’d look twice at someone of our characters…”

“You needn’t worry. A few months ago, I was just like you. I’m new to this noblewoman thing. Besides, I’ve been dying to meet this girl and you for some time.”

“Wh-what you could possibly mean?”

Her face was unreadable, but she looked down to the girl and smiled warmly at her “Why don’t you take the cake with you and share it with your friends? One of my men shall be with you.”

She nodded before bowing to her and ran off with her guard trailing not too far with the rather big and lavish cake. Marianna focused on the woman, now unsure of how to approach this.

“How do you know who we are?”

“Because I know the right people.” She said nonchalantly, looking at her in the eye “You see, people know me for being an acknowledged Foredale, but I’m the legitimate daughter and heiress from the Crochanes.”

Marianna gasped “Th-that’s impossible! They are a fantastical, fictional family, almost like an Arthurian tale.”

“Ah, but you see… all those stories are real.” Her eyes glowed and instead of blue, her eyes were now amber, to then blue. Her hand caught hers and stood her on her seat with firm strength “Calm down, ma’am, I will not hurt you. I come here in peace.”

“What—I—and the eyes—.”

“Breathe, Miss Howard. In and out. Good girl.”

“So… may I know why someone as powerful as you wants to do something with my daughter?”

“You see, your child is a special one, it’s almost an insult to her destiny that she is unnamed.”

“Wh-what do you mean destiny?”

“During centuries, Queens from the Circle, thanks to their magical abilities and special connection to the Ancient Gods, were able to foresee many things: especially their children. They come in either visions or dreams: premonitory dreams. The current Queen dreamt of me being her successor…”

“…And you dreamt of her being your successor!” She gasped “I can’t believe it… my child, royalty!”

“And I believe we have an acquaintance in common.”

“What do you mean?”

Ernest Sinclaire, master of Ledford Park.

She blushed deeply and looked away “I—I mean, he—we weren’t—he doesn’t—”

“—Know that you two have a daughter? I know. And I won’t tell a soul, for it is not my secret to reveal. But he must know.”

Suddenly, her head started to spin and Joanna seemed to notice. She lunged towards her and caught her before she could fall and felt how strong her hands were. She gasped for air before giving up…

She didn’t know if it passed down days, hours or weeks, but her daughter’s voice woke her “Mama, wake up!”

She opened her eyes to find herself on a very comfortable bed and Lady Joanna tending to her. A guard got the girl out of the room as she took a seat and looked seriously at Marianna.

“Today’s swoon hasn’t been the first one, was it now?”

“Uh… no. But it’s just exhaustion.”

“It is not. You see, your bad conditions on birth and previous pregnancies, with your poor treatment has taken over your body; your womb is almost rotten and with the poor health here and how unhygienic and the conditions you live in are slowly killing you.”

“No…”.

“Sadly, yes. I’ve seen people die before and it’s the very similar motives. You’re dying, Miss Howard, and it is too late to turn back. I can take care of the girl once you’re gone, but you must put in order your other affairs. Not even me can do something about it; my hands are tied with this matter.”

“You know the remedy, don’t you?”

“…It’s difficult to explain.”

“Try me.”

She sighed before starting to explain: the Dracarian Empire was an advanced society (over 200 years old advanced!) everything they had, the humans would achieve it in the 2010s! But that knowledge was a precious one and giving it to the humans was dangerous: many had died for possessing such properties and had risked their identities, too many things had been lost.

“So, if I gave you the remedy, you’d be accused of witchcraft, I’d betray the Queen by revealing the secret we share and you’d be hanged; your girl? Ernest would meet her before she were sent away, somewhere he could never see her again. Do you want that? Or do you want your daughter to be raised in one of the richest, most advanced and privileged societies in the world, to one day to become the greatest Queen, she who shall bring peace and so longed thriving society?”

“Of course I want that. But I don’t want to leave her all alone.”

“She has her father, a man with a heart of gold. And she has me: once she’s under my wing, she shall never starve or ask for anything again. I give you my word, once you’re gone, she will be provided for and will have a loving, caring and beautiful family.”

“Do you promise?”

She looked at the girl, giggling and teasing the guard, who took it very well for a scary guy.

“You can count on that. I never back up my word, and neither will Ernest. His word is beyond reproach.”

“I know. How much time do I have?”

“A month. Make it count, Mariana.”

“I will.”  

[hargrove-mayfields]

Headcanons Part Two!!!

My last headcanon post was all about Billy and Steve, but they won’t be the only ones showing up in my stories, so here’s some hcs for a few of the most recurring characters!

Starting with Max!!

My preferred middle name for Max is Nicole, because Maxine Nicole sounds pretty, but can double as being intimidating if someone was yelling at her. Also, she’s named after her aunt Nicole just because I can see Susan being like that.

Most important thing to know about Max in my writing is that she is ALWAYS autistic. I might not specify depending on the content of the story, but she is never ever ever meant to be allistic. I imagine her as being on a moderate support needs level, meaning for those who don’t know the term that she has highs and lows! There’s days where she can pass as allsitic and days where she can’t, and she maybe doesn’t need a lot of assistance in everyday life, but she still needs lots of stimming and has meltdowns and stuff!

Related to this fact is that in the 80s, autism was not a very common diagnosis at all, and so I don’t think she’d really have a word for it other than like, that just being the way she is. Because no one will give her the official diagnosis, Neil thinks she’s faking, so she gets told to stop stimming, isn’t treated fairly during a meltdown, told to “act normal” etc, etc, and she needs a lot of therapy in the future for it.

Her favorite ways to stim are rocking on her heels, humming, listening to loud noises (like sirens/car engines/lawn mowers, NOT things like music/Susan doing the dishes, those do the opposite) and dancing!

Her least favorite sensory things are raindrops touching her skin, her hair brushing her shoulders or her face, overwhelming smells (cologne, candles, food on the stove) and furniture that’s too firm! (like a memory foam mattress or a leather couch)

The first time she feels truly seen in the way she is is when Fraggle Rock starts airing in ‘82. Susan tells her to watch it because she thinks Max is still a baby no matter how old she is, but the minute she lays eyes on Wembley Fraggle she knows he’s like her. He stims vocally and with his hands, his friends don’t understand him, he’s empathetic, bad at choosing, gullible, and in every way just so much like her! Her and Billy have an inside joke where, if she’s putting something off or can’t make a decision, he’ll tell her to stop her Wemblin’ and sometimes he calls her Wembles without thinking!

There isn’t a lot of personalized furniture in the Hargrove-Mayfield, so I think it’s safe to say that she doesn’t really have any comfort items lying around. No favorite blankets or stuffed animals or toys of any kind, and I think because of that she clings to people. That’s why she is so insistent on getting in with the party, and why was so excited about having a brother in Runaway Max, because she relies on comfort people instead of objects.

She’s not very good at putting a name to her relationships. Like, she doesn’t really know how to describe how she feels about somebody, she just knows if she likes them or not. If she feels happy and sage with someone, that’s all that matters, she doesn’t feel the need to classify them beyond that. But she’s also aware that others don’t feel that way! And she feels pretty special when Lucas calls her his girlfriend!

In the future, there can be a lot of different outcomes for her.

If Billy stays dead, I can see Max ending up two ways, either staying in Hawkins because that’s where her brother is dead and buried and trying to move on in her own way, or leaving Hawkins entirely, just cutting ties completely with everyone and everything there to move away from the trauma that’s there, except for every year on B’s birthday when she comes back to visit.

If Billy lives though, I think there’s again two outcomes for her. One where she feels guilty about not noticing the mindflayer and her and Billy’s relationship gets a little strained, because they don’t cope well when they’re trying to pin the blame, or one where she is just grateful her brother isn’t dead and decides to live life to the fullest after that.

In any scenario, she would obviously get the happy ending she deserves, she just has to get there a totally different way.

And also, regardless of what path she takes, I think she’d make for an excellent writer in her future career. She’s smart, she’s got lots of story to tell and draw inspiration from, and it just seems right for her, because it isn’t super constricting and it’s a job most people who do it love!

Now onto Robin!

Her middle name is Leora!

For some reason I have this idea in my head that she doesn’t live with her parents anymore. Not that she got kicked out or anything, just that she moved out pretty early on.

I also think she isn’t from Hawkins. I like the idea that her family moved there just before high school from either Ohio or Maryland, not sure which.

In band, I think she’s a flute. She just gives me flute vibes but I got kicked out of the band so maybe I could be wrong.

It’s canon that she’s goth, wearing her spiky leather bracelet with her work uniform and all, but I think she also sometimes goes in the totally opposite fashion direction, like, sometimes she’s just feeling the patterns and fabrics and colors of the sixties and seventies her mom gave her.

One of her favorite things to do with her friends is go shopping! Not like, around malls, in part because other than Starcourt, the closest mall to Hawkins is forty five minutes away, but she likes to go out with her group and visit all the local thrift shops and cafés and stuff like that.

And she’s super crafty! She has embroidery hoops, beads, jewelry making kits, all of it scattered everywhere!

She has like, the tips of her hair bleached, they sort of look like highlights in a way, so I think it was her that convinced Steve to get his highlights done too.

Matter of fact, I think she teaches Steve a lot of things about himself without either of them realizing. She’s just so, not-superficial I guess, that it starts to rub off of him.

In my head she’s just always got like, a suuuuuper good read on people even if they just met, like, she just sees straight through everybody ever, and that’s why she even gives Steve a chance despite knowing how he treated her in school.

Her Scoops! shorts are pretty big while Steve’s are tight as heck, so I hc that those are his shorts. The uniform used to be a skimpy sailor skirt, but she’s seventeen and not particularly keen on being creeped on by older men when she gets hired there, so she refuses to wear it. She gets in trouble on the first day for wearing jeans, and Steve feels bad about it so he gives her the extra pair of shorts from his uniform!

Robin totally bottles up everything from Starcourt until she can’t anymore. Like, Steve is very open about his struggles with what happened under the mall because he wants help and he’s done it alone before, but she feels like she should be strong, grateful that they survived, and just, move on and forget about it. It doesn’t work and she ends up crashing hard. Like she goes from silently suffering to getting panic attacks all the time, and falling in a super deep depression rut. Obviously her friends are very supportive and provide her with the help she needs, and with time (lots and lots of time) she gets better!

Heather!

Her middle name is Ernestine! It was her grandma's name!

I head canon that she is a lesbian and I ship her and Robin!

She calls Billy William all the time because she was raised to be formal and respectful, and Billy just doesn’t feel or sound right when she says it. Even though she insists her name is Heather and she doesn’t need a nickname, Billy calls her Hetty or H!

She wears clip on earrings! Her parents refuse to let her get her ears pierced because they say she needs to respect her image and all that, but she always felt like she was missing some accessories, and found out from one of her friends about clip ons, which they allow!

Even though she has popular girl vibes, I don’t think she was in high school. Just sort of a floater, and she liked it that way! She’s way too sweet to be in with Steve’s crowd, but had some things in common with pretty much everyone else. Once she’s graduated she sort of falls into that popular category around Hawkins because she’s rich and older now, but she’s still the same old Heather.

Heather is a super good baker and cook! Her mother always had her helping in the kitchen while her dad was staying late at work, and eventually she got really good! Sometimes she’ll just randomly bring her friends like, a load of banana bread or a hot dish because it makes everyone happy!

She's a very affectionate person! If she hasn’t seen her friends for a while she’ll kiss them all over, and everytime you see her you have to hug her (unless you don’t want to, she’s equally as understanding as she is lovey!)

I reject canon! Heather is not dead! I know it’s very unlikely but I think the clones in the upside down were like fail saves, and the real versions are all still alive somewhere!

In the case that this is true, when everything gets fixed I don’t think her memories of what happened to her would be intact, and I think that would be super traumatic for her. Almost worse than how she would be feeling if she knew.

In the future she wants to be in the entertainment industry! I can totally see her becoming a country singer or a soap opera actress or both!

Robin becomes a librarian at the same school that Steve works at when he becomes a teacher! She also does art commissions on the side. Sculpting, painting, charcoals, all of it, she’s good at all of it!

And last but not least, Tommy!!

My hc for Tommy’s middle name is Byrd. It was like a super common name at one point and then just sort of plummeted, and I like to think his parents thought they were being original choosing that one. All of his friends call him Tommy Bird to make fun of him, but he secretly doesn’t hate it.

Tommy and Steve didn’t really become friends until middle school! Hawkins has two elementary schools based on which region you live in, and because they live in like, opposite ends of town they go to different ones. But the first day of middle school when the two schools merge, they’re out for recess, Steve sees Tommy alone and approaches him, and they become instant besties!

Tommy is very insecure about his popularity. Steve is cool with letting his slip because he has other things to worry about, but Tommy doesn’t. His grades are alright and his home life is decent, and he’s not involved in upside down business, so when Steve ditches him and people start to lose interest in him, he gets extremely upset. It consumes him sort of, the fear that nobody likes him anymore. That ends up being why him and Carol break it off for good.

Another reason he thinks a reputation is so important is because he used to be picked on before being friends with Steve. When he was little he had giant glasses and dressed kinda lame, and he internalized that a lot. He’s scared that without Steve they’ll go back to that.

All of that is why he clings onto Billy so tight. Like, his best friend for the past six or seven years just walked out without looking back, and he’s terrified that he’s going to be bullied again. So when big tough guy Billy Hargrove rolls into town he’s like I have to be friends with this dude right now or I’ll die.

I ship him with Steve! A lot! But also I like the thought of Tommy and Steve and Billy, platonically and shippy-y!

As for where he’s from, I don’t think Tommy is Hawkins born and raised. He grew up down south, maybe Georgia, or Tennessee?, but then his uncle over in Indiana starts a snake oil business with his dad and they have to move.

I think he’s very much a lightweight. Alcohol isn’t really his thing because his dad was an alcoholic and it scares him that he’ll be like that, so he never really tried it and his tolerance is super low. He always designates himself the driver, only he doesn’t have a car of his own, he’s not allowed to until he’s on his way to college, so he always drives other people’s cars to their houses and walks home.

I don’t know if Tommy is able to avoid the upside down beyond st2. Maybe him and Billy try to keep in contact once school lets out, but he notices somethings off with him because he’s flayed. This could result in him also being flayed, depending on the situation, or if not he might get involved later, because he starts putting the pieces together after Starcourt.

Tommy owning up and joining Steve in monster hunting quests! Heck yeah!

If there is no involvement with all that mess though, I’d say it takes a few years out of high school for him to finally admit to being wrong. Like, he always maintained that he was right to be mad at Steve for driving away and right to be basically just a bully like he was, but once he’s older, mid twenties maybe, he realizes that wasn’t the way to be and calls a bunch of people up to apologize to them.

He goes to beauty school and becomes a hair stylist and makeup artist on television sets!

As for other background characters, like other party members or adults, I don’t have a whole lot of specific ideas that aren’t already canon! In the future if I write anything where they are more central characters that might change, but as of right now I don’t really have any headcanons for them!

[angrylightgentlemen]

Vitamins necessary for hair growth

Hair loss is a frequent problem that can be remedied by taking vitamins and minerals. Vitamins and minerals are necessary for optimal cell growth and function. A lack of these essential nutrients can lead to hair loss and force you to opt for treatments like surgical and non-surgical hair replacements in California. While supplementing is very inexpensive and easy to obtain, it is critical to understand which vitamins and minerals are beneficial in treating hair loss.

 The reasons for hair fall can be numerous, such as:

·         Lack of Nutrition: Hair, like everything else that grows, requires the proper nutrients and circumstances in order to thrive. And it all begins with your diet and lifestyle.

·         Health Issues: Thyroid issues and anemia, for example, can have a negative impact on hair health and development.

·         Age: We have hairs developing, resting, and shedding at all times, but as we get older, the fraction of hairs actively growing decreases.

·         Genetics: The gene for male and female pattern hair loss is carried by 60 to 70 percent of the population.

 Nutrients are essential for a healthy being. The first step towards your healthy tresses is to have a well-balanced diet. However, you may want additional assistance to jump-start your hair restoration.

 Hair development is influenced by a variety of factors, including age, genetics, and hormones, but the most important element is proper food consumption.

 Five vitamins that may be crucial for hair growth are listed below.

1.  Vitamin A

Vitamin A is required for cell proliferation, including the hair, the fastest-growing tissue of the human body. Vitamin A also aids the production of sebum, an oily material produced by sebaceous glands. Sebum helps maintain healthy hair by moisturizing the scalp. Vitamin A deficiency can lead to a variety of issues, including hair loss. While getting adequate vitamin A is necessary, getting too much can be deadly. Overdosing on vitamin A has also been linked to hair loss in studies.

Beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A, is readily available in sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkins, spinach, kale, etc. Animal products such as milk, eggs, and yogurt also contain vitamin A in a significant amount. Cod liver oil is one of the most excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids.

2.          Biotin (Vitamin B7)

Biotin is essential for the health of your body's cells. Hair loss, rashes, and brittle nails can all be caused by its deficiency. Your levels may be low if you're:

·         Expecting a child or nursing a baby,

·         Taking antibiotics or anti-epileptic medications

 The majority of people consume enough biotin through their food. It is widely found in foods such as:

·         Yolks of Eggs

·         Whole Grains and ground forms of such grains

·         Meat

3.          Vitamin C

Vitamin C is required for iron absorption in the intestines. It can be found in a variety of food items, including:

·         Fruits of the citrus family

·         Greens with lots of leaves

·         Bell Peppers

 Megan Byrd, MD, tells WebMD Connect to Care that eating iron-rich foods with vitamin C-rich foods will help you absorb the iron in those foods more effectively.

 Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that protects the body against free radical-induced oxidative damage. It is also required for the production of collagen, a protein that is a key component of the hair structure. Vitamin C facilitates the absorption of iron, a mineral necessary for hair development.

4.          Vitamin D

You must already be aware of the importance of vitamin D for bone health. When you get enough sunlight, your skin produces vitamin D, but many individuals don't get enough from the sun alone.

 Eating fatty fish or drinking fortified milk can help you raise your levels. You can also ask your doctor for a supplement recommendation. Magnesium supplementation with Vitamin D improves the bioavailability of the nutrients in your body.

5.          Vitamin E

Vitamin E, like vitamin C, is an antioxidant that helps to avoid oxidative damage.

 According to one study, after eight months of supplementing with vitamin E, persons with hair loss showed a 34.5 percent boost in hair growth.

 There was only a 0.1 percent gain in the placebo group.

Vitamin E is found in various items like sunflower seeds, almonds, spinach, and avocados.

6.          Zinc 

Zinc is necessary for the production of proteins in your hair and other cells. Because your body cannot produce it, you must obtain it through diet or supplements. Rapid hair loss, low wound healing, and a weakened sense of taste or smell are all symptoms of low zinc levels.

 If you do any of the following, you are more susceptible to having a zinc deficiency.

·         Are pregnant or breastfeeding 

·         Have a bowel disease or severe diarrhea 

·         Have kidney disease

7.          Iron 

Iron is crucial for red blood cells to transport oxygen. Iron deficiency anemia is a severe disease that the lack of this essential mineral can cause. Fatigue, pale skin, and hair loss are some of the symptoms.

 If any of the following apply to you, you are susceptible to be at higher risk for iron deficiency:

·         You're a woman who has a lot of periods.

·         You have a long-term illness.

·         You're a vegetarian or vegan, 

 The following food items are significantly rich in iron:

·         Grass-fed red meat

·         Greens with lots of leaves

·         Legumes

 These are just some of the nutrients essential for healthy hair. For a detailed understanding, you can also visit a hair clinic in Concord like Just Hair. They are experts in this field with over 40 years of experience. They also offer the best non-surgical hair replacement in California.

[aion-rsa]

Marvel’s Loki Episode 5 Ending Explained: Who is the Real Villain of the MCU Series?

https://ift.tt/36oBhxO

This article contains spoilers for Loki episode 5.

Agent Mobius did say that time ran differently in the TVA but who could have imagined that the penultimate episode of Loki would arrive so quickly? Marvel’s Loki episode 5 “Journey Into Mystery” keeps up a streak of superb installments for this increasingly superb show. 

In this hour, Mobius joins the side of the heroes, Judge Renslayer has some questions, and Loki and Sylvie’s relationship continues to blossom thanks to the conjuring of an uncomfortable green blanket. Equally as important, however, is that “Journey Into Mystery” raises some big questions about the ending of this show and the future of the MCU. Questions like…

What is The Void?

This episode does a pretty good job of succinctly describing what the Void is. The Void is the end of time, itself. Since the Time-Keepers are unable to completely destroy matter (Theory of Conservation of Mass and all that), they send unwanted Variants to the end of the timeline to languish or be swallowed by a hungry monster (more on him in a bit). 

In Marvel Comics, The Void is something of an actual character. It is a destructive amorphous entity capable of both adopting a corporeal form and destroying the universe as we know it. During the Siege storyline, the Void even killed Loki, which then facilitated his “rebirth” as Kid Loki. See how this all starts to fit together?

What is Alioth?

In the world of Loki, Alioth is a big, hungry cloud monster that prowls the Void looking to consume yummy matter. It’s the TVA’s unwitting cleaning service, wiping out all the Variants that the TVA can’t eliminate. Classic Loki helpfully offers up the analogy that the Void is a shark tank, and Alioth is the shark.

Alioth of the comics was first introduced in 1993’s Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective #1. That same comic also introduced Ravonna Renslayer and features Kang the Conqueror as its central villain. Oh yeah, it’s all coming together. 

Alioth is considered to be the first being that broke free from the constraints of time. It’s no wonder then that it would make an appearance in Loki.

What’s Up With That Castle?

It’s about time a Marvel villain lives in an honest-to-goodness castle! While it’s still possible that this is a misdirect and this environment is not what it seems, for now it looks like episode 6 will be headed off to a spooky castle.

Interestingly, there are no shortages of spooky castles in Marvel comics lore. Perhaps the most famous one is Castle Doom within Doomstadt. Bet you’ll never guess who lives there! Yes, it’s ol’ Victor von Doom himself, Doctor Doom to his friends…of which he has very few.

Another notable abode is Castle Limbo, which serves as the home of Immortus, who was once Nathaniel Richards a.k.a. Kang the Conqueror. Look, Kang is a confusing character, so you’ll just have to trust us on this one.

What is Mobius’s Plan?

Thank the gods that Loki and Mobius finally embraced their destiny as best bros. Mobius leaves all the Lokis behind in The Void to return to the TVA. What does he plan to do once he gets there? Why, burn the whole thing down, of course!

It’s unclear how Mobius believes he’s able to pull off such a grand task. The TVA is an enormous bureaucracy with seemingly infinite moving parts. The only real weapon that Mobius has at his disposal is the truth. The truth changed his and Hunter B-15’s perspectives but can it do the same for everyone else? The only other named TVA employee that we’re aware of is Casey (Eugene Cordero). He seems like a sweet, non-confrontational lad. But perhaps that will all change once he realizes he’s been robbed of fish dinners his whole life.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

What Becomes of the Other Lokis?

The most pleasantly strange aspect of “Journey Into Mystery” is how many new Lokis it introduces. This hour features: Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant), Boastful Loki (DeObia Oparei), Kid Loki (Jack Veal), President Loki (Hiddleston), and Alligator Loki (uh… a CGI alligator). Naturally, each of those Lokis has their own official hashtag sprite on Twitter. 

Fittingly for their chaotic energy, each of the Lokis introduced in this episode have quite different ultimate fates. Boastful Loki betrays his Loki comrades, because that’s just what Lokis do. The subsequent scene of President Loki and his Void army battling the other Lokis is one of the best moments of this show yet. That causes our Loki to take off with Classic, Kid, and Alligator. When Mobius invites that trio to come back to the TVA with him, they decline because the Void is their home now.

Read more

TV

Sylvie is the Secret Heart of Marvel’s Loki

By Lacy Baugher

Games

How Loki and Fallout Use Retrofuturism to Unnerve Us

By Matthew Byrd

That is the last we’ve seen of Kid Loki and Alligator Loki thus far but not the last of Classic Loki. The comic-accurate trickster returns to help Loki and Sylvie when they need it the most. He uses stunningly powerful magic to create an approximation of Asgard all around him, distracting the ravenous Alioth. Even Sylvie with her enchantress power is stunned by Classic Loki’s abilities. 

Is Richard E. Grant’s Classic Loki Really Dead?

Ultimately Classic Loki is swallowed up by the Alioth and therefore finally blinked out of existence. Or is he? It seems like he could have been utilizing the very same technique here he claims to have used to escape his death at the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. “I think we’re stronger than we realize,” Loki tells Sylvie, so this would certainly be a case of that if it came down to it.

Plus, that leads us to the final and most important question that this episode raises. 

Who is the Villain?

Who indeed? There has been one name bandied about as the most likely Loki Big Bad. Before we get to him (and it’s absolutely who you think), indulge us in another theory. What if the villain of Loki is…

Classic Loki or Another Loki Variant

Richard E. Grant is kind of a big deal as an actor. It’s not every day you can find a seasoned performer who can portray a kindly exterior with some menace underneath. With that in mind, it’s possible that Classic Loki is a bigger character than he appears at first glance. This episode goes out of its way to communicate just how powerful Lokis can be. And when you combine that kind of god-like power with a trickster’s sensibility, it’s not hard to imagine that Classic Loki, or another Loki entirely, could be pulling all the strings. 

Kang the Conqueror 

While Loki confronting himself in the end would make for a dramatically interesting enterprise, the hard evidence at hand still seems to indicate that Kang the Conqueror is our real villain. The internet at large has been banging the drum for Kang the Conqueror as the ultimate Loki villain for weeks now and it’s not hard to see why.

This isn’t a case of collective delusion like with all of the Nightmare/Mephisto WandaVision theorizing, Kang really does seem to be a legitimate possibility. For starters, we know we already have an MCU actor for Kang in the fold already in the form of Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country). Kang was announced for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania but doesn’t it sound very Marvel for the character to make his unexpected debut here?

In the comics, Kang the Conqueror is wrapped up in multiverses, timelines, and all manner of heady sci-fi nonsense that Loki is already invested in. In fact, as Reddit user u/Hpotter821 points out, one iteration of Kang in Marvel comics sought to become Immortus by eliminating all of his other Variants. It would seem that creating the TVA to police other timelines would be quite useful in that mission. 

Then there’s the fact that Kang has at least some level of crossover with just about every major character and element of Loki. Kang has a relationship with Ravonna Renslayer in the comics and is also an occasional rival of Alioth. The show is not shy about injecting Kang’s aesthetic into the proceedings. While ostensibly space lizards as Loki described them, the Time-Keepers do appear to resemble the classic Kang the Conqueror look a bit. And the TVA logo? 

Oh. Hey. I just noticed that the centerpiece of the Time Variance Authority’s seal totally looks like Kang’s head. 🤷‍♂️ #Loki pic.twitter.com/93QzNDVSbi

— Ken Plume (@KenPlume) July 2, 2021

Oh yeah, that’s Kang, baby.

Perhaps by this time next week, all of this Kang conjecture will look as silly as WandaVision’s Mephisto fever dream. It’s undeniable, however, that Loki has provided us with plenty of breadcrumbs. If it’s all a Kang-sized red herring, then so be it. 

Doctor Doom

This is a considerable longshot, despite the fact that we’ve wanted it to happen for a long time. Doom was at the center of Marvel Comics’ multiverse-shattering Secret Wars event by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic, and the castle we see in this episode’s conclusion sure does look an awful lot like his humble Doomstadt home.

Every time we get excited about Doctor Doom or the potential Secret Wars threads embedded in this show, we’re brought back to reality by the fact that there’s virtually no way that Marvel would introduce arguably their greatest villain in a teasing series finale episode, especially not when they’ve got the Kang-centric Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to tee up with Kang. Yes, we’re hedging our best by including him, but can you blame us?

Anyway, patience, Doom fans. The Fantastic Four movie is finally a priority for the MCU, and we should see that by 2023.

Kevin Feige

This obviously won’t happen but in the spirit of Marvel’s next Disney+ series What If…?, what if Loki and Sylvie arrive to the throne room in the castle and Marvel Studios head Kevin Heige is hanging out there wearing one of his trademark baseball caps? As witnessed in WandaVision and now Loki, this phase of Marvel cinematic storytelling is clearly about setting up a new multiverse of possibilities. What better way to introduce that multiverse than by completely breaking the fourth wall?

OK, so there are probably a ton of better ways but Feige would at least be fun and truly unexpected.

The post Marvel’s Loki Episode 5 Ending Explained: Who is the Real Villain of the MCU Series? appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2Uv1SXs

[rabbitcruiser]

National Bird Day 

Don your binoculars to spy these feathered friends in the wild, contribute to conservation efforts or raise awareness of birds in captivity.

The world is filled with a plethora of different species of birds. From cardinals to doves, from parakeets to parrots. Different people have different relationships with the various species of birds. As such, one could easily imagine that there could actually be numerous National Bird Days in the world, serving different purposes and perhaps varying by region.

What this day refers to, however, is known as National Bird Day, observed primarily in the United States. This is a bit different from occasions such as International Migratory National Bird Day, World Migratory National Bird Day, National Bird Day (UK), and several other National Bird Days which do not follow the same etymology as “turkey day”.

It is also worth noting that each of these is named for those avian friends, not the late Senator Robert Byrd!

The ‘National’ term might be a bit deceptive here, since it’s not actually a national holiday in the United States. For a day to technically be a national holiday, an Act of Congress is required, and there is no evidence that has ever happened. That being said, this delightful day is still popularly known as National Bird Day, regardless of whatever Congress might think of that.

So get ready to learn about and celebrate National Bird Day!

History of National Bird Day

Back in 1894, Charles Almanzo Babcock, the superintendent of schools in Oil City, Pennsylvania, declared the first holiday in the United States to celebrate birds. Babcock was passionate about the idea of advancing bird conservation as a moral value and it seems that his idea for the day caught on. Babcock’s National Bird Day eventually turned into what is now known as International Migratory National Bird Day, which is celebrated in May.

That day is not actually related to this National Bird Day, though, in terms of history. This particular version of National Bird Day was created as it marked the end of the annual Christmas Bird Count in the mid-21st century.

National Bird Day has been dedicated at least in part to raising awareness about birds that are held in captivity. This day is a project of the Avian Welfare Coalition, which works hard to raise awareness for birds that are captured or produced in captivity for either profit or amusement of humans.

Presumably that includes Aunt Marjorie’s parrot, the penguins in the Columbus Zoo, and that turkey that made the ultimate sacrifice to grace the family’s dinner table for Thanksgiving back in November. After all, a holiday that marks the end of three weeks of focusing on wild birds that occurs during the Christmas Bird Count would appropriately focus some attention on captive birds.

The goal of the day is to educate folks on the destructive tendencies of the bird trade, the cruelty of bird breeding mills, and ideas for helping and improving the lives of birds that are already living in captivity.

How to Celebrate National Bird Day

Looking for ideas on how to celebrate National Bird Day? Well this list is a great way to begin. Try out some of these ideas or come up with some of your own:

Learn More About Birds

Birds are important for a variety of reasons. They are a valuable part of nature’s ecosystem. Many of them sing and quite a few of them even look pretty! Of course, many species of birds are also eaten by humans, but it does seem that it might be a little inappropriate to go quail hunting in honour of National Bird Day, no matter how delicious quail might be.

Visit Unique Birds in Their Natural Habitats

Forgo the zoo and head on over to places where the birds actually live and thrive in their natural habitats. For some bird lovers, this could simply mean taking a walk in the forest with some bird watching glasses to spot some unique creatures.

For others, this might mean building an entire vacation to an exotic place to see tropical birds in their natural homes. Many different Eco-tour companies will offer limited viewing opportunities for those who want to travel around the world to see parrots in Guatemala, Tenerife, Belize, Honduras and more!

Help with Bird Conservation

Raising awareness, getting involved and making a donation are all ways that bird lovers can celebrate National Bird Day. Host a charity event or party to let friends and family enjoy an evening while learning about the important reasons behind National Bird Day. Get together for a meal, watch a documentary, and then let people know about these ways they can make a donation to these important support bird conservation efforts:

Indonesian Parrot Project Helping protect endangered parrots and cockatoos from trappers, smugglers, transporters and traders.

Hatched to Fly Free This organization works to breed and then release beautiful, colorful macaws in the nation of Costa Rica.

One Earth Conservation Empowering people to save the planet, this organization helps to educate and build programs to love nature, with a specific focus on parrots.

Visit the National Bird Day Website

There’s also a website at National Bird Day, for those who want to learn more about the folks who are actually promoting this day, this website is a great place to start. It’s filled with resources and information to educate adults and children about the difficulties faced by so many birds in captivity today.

Get Educated on the Risks of Bird Extinction

On a serious note, approximately 12 percent of the world’s bird species could face extinction in the next century, if things continue on as they have been. That includes nearly a third of the 330 different species of parrots.

Things don’t look a great deal better for numerous species of songbirds, not to mention some penguin species and others, like the kiwi bird. The largest components of these threats of extinction are habitat destruction and pet trade. A great idea for celebrating the day would be learning about all of the wonders of birds, then helping to educate friends and family members about their plight. Because the survival of the world’s birds hinges on public awareness as well as support for conservation efforts all over the world.

Source

[lboogie1906]

Robert "Bob" Northern (born May 21, 1934 - May 31, 2020), known professionally as Brother Ah, is a jazz French hornist. Born in North Carolina and raised in The Bronx, he studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Vienna State Academy. He is known as a session musician, working extensively in the 1950s and 1960s with musicians such as Donald Byrd, John Coltrane, Gil Evans, Sun Ra, McCoy Tyner, Roland Kirk, and the Jazz Composers Orchestra. He also worked with Don Cherry, Thelonious Monk, Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Eric Dolphy, Charlie Haden, and John Lewis. He lived in New York City, and after a period of increasing interest in non-Western music, visited and studied in Africa (Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania) for seven consecutive summers. He released several albums as a bandleader; his release Sound Awareness featured Max Roach and M'Boom. These albums were reissued on CD on the Ikef Records label. He branched into percussion and flute performance in his career. He taught at Dartmouth College, Brown University, and then at the Levine School of Music in DC. He is the founder of the World Music Ensemble, a group that explores African, Japanese, Spanish, East Indian, Native American, and American musical traditions, and the founder of The Sounds of Awareness Ensemble which explores the sounds of nature and music. He hosts a weekly jazz-oriented radio program, The Jazz Collectors, on station WPFW in Washington. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd0VnKOukiczCLWL-webIvR8Chpvr2ix_cyVaM0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[supermaryauniverse]

And Now For Something Completely Different

For fun I’ve posted a piece that I will read at CSU in May. This creative non-fiction work was for my class in Creative Writing. Hope you enjoy it.

Where’s the Corpse?

Pets die and for some people it’s the death of a family member. Veterinary clinics, pet cemeteries/crematoriums provide options for handling the deceased’s remains and normally things go smoothly, without drama. However, on rare delicious occasions things go horribly wrong, chaos ensues, and a funny story is birthed. This incident occurred in the “Shallow South,” close to the Mason-Dixon Line where Yankee infiltration occurs and explains this major faux pas. Names and locale are changed to prevent further grief, embarrassment and legal action against yours truly. The bizarre, true event raises questions concerning proper “Petiquette” for pet funerals.

Our tale of woe begins with the death of “Lassie” a collie, one of “Mr. B’s” five mixed species pets. Purchasing individual lots guaranteed that all of them, together in life, would be side-by-side eternally. Displeased with the facility’s casket selection, Mr. B did what any reasonable grief-stricken pet lover would do. He promptly visited a funeral home, the humankind, and found something more suitable. The clinic storing Lassie in its deep freeze was notified. Bring her out, chip off the ice crystals and transport the body to the pet cemetery for a viewing (you read that correctly) and funeral. A quick search produced an alarming discovery. Lassie had vanished. How far can a dead dog go? Who knows? Lassie wasn’t just dead; she was actually dead and GONE!

The most likely answer, short of a dead dog-napping, and I’m aware of one such incident, was that Lassie was mistakenly tagged for mass cremation. She was then shipped off with the rest of those poor animals whose heartless owners chose not to have an urn containing the beloved’s ashes prominently displayed in their home, like on the fireplace mantle, complete with a pet portrait above it. A quick call to the crematorium confirmed the worst fears. They had no record for Lassie’s individual cremation. If she’d been sent to them improperly marked, she was now part of a mélange of assorted animal ashes to be unceremoniously disposed of.

I know it can be hard when pets die. However, this story made me laugh until I cried. The incident not only opens up a whole new realm of quirky human behavior to be examined, but also raises the critical question. Who will write the book covering the new field of Petiquette? Miss Mammals?

Seriously, who in their right mind has a viewing for a dog? Furthermore, what Petiquette applies when hosting one? We need to know! Which is more appropriate: an obituary’s cattle-call for attendees, or hand-addressed invitations with R.S.V.P cards? Local custom calls for light snacks to be provided. Considering special dietary needs, would a variety of low calorie, gluten free, macrobiotic, organic free-range, shade grown, bird friendly snacks for visitors suffice? Most pets would stick their paws down their throats and gag before eating such over-priced cardboard. Don’t you have anything better to eat here?

Would our pets stand around and ask each other the question: “Doesn’t he/she look like him/herself?” In Lassie’s case, unless a stunt double was secured, this was a moot point. Should leash laws be enforced or should attendees be allowed freedom of expression to assuage their grief? We humans endure long winded eulogies and tributes. Now pets can be bored to tears also.

We love our pets which provides an open door to crafty entrepreneurs to eagerly separate our money from our wallets in a time of emotional distress. How about cryogenically preserving Miss Muffins or Hercules for future resuscitation? Inter-galactic pet cemeteries would allow departed pets to chase asteroids and dodge space junk. Specially trained grief counselors will help surviving pets find “closure.” (Don’t laugh, I also know this has happened at least once.) How they’ve managed for all this time without our help is a mystery.

According to Hollywood All Dogs Go To Heaven so we know where Lassie wound up. Bets are off for everything else. Taxpayer funded studies could explore what eternal rewards pets receive. However, what happens if we precede our furry family members in death? Put in our shoes, not literally of course, what would they do? Will they bother with a lot of expensive nonsense to bury us? I don’t think so. A simple hole in the ground would suffice, and a trip to Hawaii or a cruise to Alaska to restore their emotional equilibrium will work just fine. Sounds like a plan to me.

Dr. Byrd, if you yank me off the roster, I will certainly understand.

[doomedandstoned]

Label Misconceptions

~Bacon's Blog~

Photograph by Randy J Byrd

I’ve been spending a lot of time listening and looking around in terms of what the needs are in terms of education for the scene lately. There’s a lot of different things you can potentially sink your teeth into, but I thought it might be wise to spend a little bit of time breaking down a few common misconceptions about labels. There are a ton, but four key ones that people seem to miss are that labels are not all powerful, they are not really looking for something hyper specific, the smaller ones are good to work with, but need to be dealt with thoughtfully and finally that you honestly probably do need a label if you want to get to the next level.

4. Labels Are Not All Powerful

This is a big one I think that people don’t understand. On some level, I think that a lot of people get that a label is not a booking agent nor are they a manager. A label is not the people who are necessarily going to break your band, though they can certainly have a part in it. Most important though, and this is one that it really took me hanging out in a lot of label offices to get -- labels are run by humans. They aren’t perfect. They might not understand something. They are going to fuck things up. That’s just what happens with humans -- especially when they are underpaid, undervalued and overworked. The thing is, especially on the higher levels, you have to realize that this is fundamentally just a job. Don’t think that you will find a label guy who can wiggle his magic wand and get you everything you have ever wanted.

3. Labels Aren’t Looking For Something Precise

So often I see bands asking me super specific questions like “Do you think Napalm Records would be looking for a groove metal band with a Southern twist?” or “I heard Metal Blade is looking for hardcore bands with a nu metal edge. Do you think we capture that in this new song?” That’s not how labels work at all. I have been involved with signing a lot of cool bands, stuff like Coven, Xasthur and Wino. Here’s the logic we use, every time. It’s just some basic questions. First: “Is the music good? Is the product we will be receiving sellable?” If the answer is yes then we move on to the next question which is, “Does anyone care about this band? Will it actually move any units and can we help raise the bands profile in a meaningful way?” Assuming the answer to both is yes – usually a band will get an offer. Of course they might be bogged down by production schedules but that’s a separate issue.

2. Dealing With Smaller Labels

Now the fact that people behind labels are human is especially important when you are dealing with smaller labels who frequently have limited resources. While a bigger guy might be able to get you on some cool tours, they are of course also drowning in submissions constantly. They can only sign a small handful of new bands a year. So, of course, you might start by working with smaller label. This makes total sense – but realize that because smaller labels have limited resources you want to make your deals as simple as possible. That is to say, go for product deals, where you get a share of the CD’s and LP’s printed rather than a royalty. In brief do stuff in a way that if you get ghosted you will not be completely fucked – because it happens more than you might think.

1. You Need A Label

Of course, you might be saying, “Matt this all seems very complicated, why the fuck should I do this? Can’t I put out a record on my own?” and the answer is yes you absolutely can. The thing is though – how many bands have really gone somewhere without a label? I’m not saying you should take any deal that comes your way. Look at what I said about small labels, frequently they are not well run and can ghost you. But you should still be very aware of the fact that every virtually every big band and every notable musician is out there needing a proper label to release their music on. If you’re not getting any offers after putting in a ton of work and putting together a good package then its simply proof that you don’t have a product any label feels confident investing in. But guess what? You can change that, you can improve upon that and develop opportunities that help you grow in the long run, you’re never fully out -- you just have to keep improving what you are doing.

Matt Bacon (IG: mattbacon666) with Dropout Media is a consultant, A&R man, and journalist specializing in the world of heavy metal. Matt also co-hosts the Dumb & Dumbest podcast with Curtis Dewar of Dewar PR.