Lovably a "Ruffnut" AND Eleven

We had another birthday this week.

Victoria.

She's ELEVEN... going on THIRTY-FIVE, I think.

People say she's the most like me

(which isn't necessarily a complement).

But perhaps that means that if she had to choose a faction, she'd choose Dauntless...

For on good days, she does say and do things that fit with Tris' character ~

“I have a theory that selflessness and bravery aren't all that different.” 

“We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.”

“Politeness is deception in pretty packaging.” 

“Who cares about pretty? I'm going for noticeable.” 

“It reminds me why I chose Dauntless in the first place: not because they are perfect, but because they are alive. Because they are free.”

&

“...there is power in self-sacrifice.”

I often thought "Victoria" as I was reading the book...

It's highly possible that given the opportunity, she'd argue with a fence post, and most likely win!

I now understand why my mom always used to say the same about me...

"And if I were weak and girly, I'd be my brother."

"You know, they say competition is the very essence of life itself."

Tuffnut: Try those songs mom used to sing to us when you were little and afraid of the dark.
Ruffnut: You were afraid of the dark, not me! I was afraid of you!
Tuffnut: Just sing!
Ruffnut: (Sings) Hush little viking, don't you cry...Or the beserkers will come and stab you in the eye...Don't let the enemy see you afraid, or he'll cut you with a rusty blade...

But for all her bravado, she really does have a tender, gentle spirit - when she's willing to share it with others...

That's real bravery instead of mere bravado... and a lot harder to learn in the long run.

Even though she's most like me, 

sometimes I think I understand her the least of all of these Wrightlings...

You know... all those "Why do I do that/say that/act that ways... we're always asking ourselves...

Thus, I find myself asking these well-known questions ~

???????????????????

How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?

???????????????????

But how do you make her stay and listen to all you say?

???????????????????

How do you keep a wave upon the sand?

???????????????????

How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?

???????????????????

These oft' sung words describe her, more eloquently than I...

She'd outpester any pest

Drive a hornet from its nest

She could throw a whirling dervish out of whirl

She is gentle! She is wild!

She's a riddle! She's a child!

She's a headache! She's an angel!

She's a girl!

Because that's not just the way we love her...

it's also the way we really like her, as Ruffnut herself would say, 

a whole stinkin' lot!!!

(Yep... there's a whole lot "borrowed" to construct this post... from 

Divergent, The Sound of Music, and How to Train Your Dragon movie/TV series. 

Also a special thanks to Holley VanDenBerg for sharing the better quality and in focus 

Ruffnut and Ruffnut/Tuffnut photos!)