#ila- i am SERIOUS

[jackhues]

mango dragon refresher - quinn hughes

notes: this is part of @wyattjohnston's summer exchange fic, and written for the lovely @lam-ila! i'm horrible at writing angst with happy ending, but i felt inspired to write something like this for quinn!! i really hope you like it <33

warnings: accidents, injuries, angst with happy ending, kinda hurt/comfort

gif not mine!

in hindsight, driving with a broken tail light wasn’t the smartest decision you’ve made.

your mother had taught you years ago that everything you learn when it comes to driving was meant to be applied whenever you were behind the wheel, for the rest of your life. and for years, you’d taken her words to heart, never once stepping out of line.

but you were hungry, and out of milk, and you’d already taken the cereal out into your bowl, and quinn had taken the working car to practice.

you didn’t think it was going to be a big deal, especially since the grocery store was less than five minutes away. besides, you saw people driving with things worse than broken tail lights all the time. how bad could it be?

convincing yourself it was no big deal, you got in your car and headed off to the store. you’d made it there fine, not even a scratch. but on your way back, the car in front of you slammed on their brakes suddenly. you’d stopped as well, just in time to avoid ramming into the rear bumper. 

but with your tail light broken, the car behind you had nearly no warning as he drove into you. you felt it all happen in two times speed: your head hitting the steering, hard, as cars around you honked their horns and manoeuvred away from the crash.

i guess this is why they say mother always knows best, you thought drowsily, the world going dark around you.

-

quinn was feeding his teammates pucks when the assistant coach, nolan, called him over. 

he’d been in a serious conversation with one of the trainers for a few minutes, before he motioned for quinn to come over.

“ooh, hughesy’s in trouble,” some of the guys snickered, messing with him.

quinn rolled his eyes as he held back a laugh, nodding at nolan and the trainer. the trainer nodded back, before rushing away quickly.

quinn didn’t think much of it — the trainers always had lots of work to do.

“what’s going on?” he asked.

nolan motioned over his shoulder, “let’s go talk about it, c’mon.”

now quinn began to worry, almost as if he really was in trouble. during the short walk to his office, a hundred different thoughts flew around quinn’s brain — yet, not one of them explained why he might be in trouble.

i’m a full-grown adult, quinn thought to himself. how the hell am i going to be in trouble? what would i even be in trouble for?

as nolan motioned for him to take a seat, quinn’s thoughts took another direction. he thought of bo horvat, and how he’d been given some terrible news in the very same way.

“wait, am i getting traded?” he asked suddenly.

nolan’s eyes widened, “no, no. we’re not trading you, that’s not why you’re here.”

“then why am i here?” quinn asked. “is there — is it something bad? did i mess up?”

nolan looked resigned, as if the last thing he wanted to do was sit here and tell quinn… whatever it was he wanted to say. but he took a deep breath and forced it out.

“it’s y/n,” he said finally. “your fiancée. she’s been involved in a car accident and has been admitted to the hospital.”

the world seemed to stop for quinn.

y/n, in a car accident. 

he didn’t believe it. you were the safest driver he ever met, there was no way you could be involved in a — the broken tail light, he realized suddenly.

for some reason, you must’ve taken the car and went out to do something, either forgetting about or dismissing the broken tail light.

quinn internally began to curse himself. 

he should’ve woken up half an hour earlier and carpooled with elias when his teammate had asked. that way there’d have been a working car at home, and you wouldn’t have been in the hospital.

“quinn?” nolan asked hesitantly, snapping him out of his spiral. “are you okay?”

“where — which hospital is she in?” he got up. “i want to go see her, i’m leaving to go see her.”

nolan stopped him by placing a hand on his arm, “i’ll drive you. you’re in no state to be operating a vehicle. go get changed, and we’ll head out to see her.”

quinn wanted to argue, to tell him to take him right now, but he saw the determined look in nolan’s eyes. quinn knew him long enough to know there would be no arguing with him. 

he rushed off to the locker room, changing in record time, before meeting nolan in his car.

“let’s go,” nolan said, driving quinn.

the car ride was tense, with quinn stuck between wanting to ask nolan more information, and at the same time not wanting to know anything and just hope for the best. 

his brain compromised by thinking of the worst scenarios imaginable.

“breathe,” nolan said as they arrived at a red light. “she’s gonna be fine, you just need to calm down.”

quinn took a deep breath, resisting the urge to snap at nolan. you wouldn’t want him to get mad at someone who’s only trying to help.

nolan took a right, arriving at the hospital entrance.

“head on up,” nolan told him. “i’ll park and come.”

quinn didn’t need to be told twice, as he bolted out of the car and towards one of the receptionists.

“my fiancée,” he rushed out. “she was — she was just brought in here because of a car accident. y/n, y/n y/ln.”

“one second,” the receptionist said, searching through her files. “you’re her emergency contact. quinn hughes, correct?”

“that’s me,” he nodded.

the receptionist nodded, “she’s in the emergency room, currently being operated on. she needs stitches, and is being checked for a dislocated shoulder.”

quinn’s heart felt like it would stop in his chest.

“where — where is she?” he stuttered.

the receptionist gave him a look of sympathy, pointing him towards the direction of the room. quinn ran down the halls, coming to a halt outside the room.

on the other side of those doors, you were in pain. you might’ve been under anaesthesia, but after everything, quinn didn’t want to think of you being in pain.

doctors, nurses, patients, and even visitors walked around him. for once, no one was asking for an autograph — only giving him looks of sympathy.

-

“mango dragon fruit refresher for quinn!” the staff called out.

quinn walked numbly to the counter, taking the drink, before heading upstairs. in his other hand, he held his own coffee — which is pretty much what he’d been living off for the past day.

there were three or four mango dragon refreshers in your room, melted or in the trash. quinn bought one for you each time he went to get his coffee, just in case you were waiting for him.

the accident itself was quite bad, to the point where the doctors were saying it was lucky that you didn’t sustain any long-term injuries.

from what quinn had been told, you were suffering from a minor concussion, needed six stitches across your forehead, needed twelve stitches on your hand, and had dislocated your left shoulder.

the stitches would come out eventually, and the concussion would be fine within a few weeks. but your shoulder would need to remain in a sling for three to four weeks, and you’d be needing physiotherapy afterwards.

quinn was just waiting for you to wake up.

you’d been out for over twenty-four hours, quinn not leaving your side except to get your drinks. nolan had brought him some food, which was in a bag in the corner of your room. he just wasn’t hungry.

quinn entered your room silently, mango dragon refresher in hand as he tried not to disturb you.

“is that for me?” your voice caused him to startle.

quinn turned towards you, seeing you awake and sitting up in the hospital bed. words failed him as he stared at you, trying to force something — anything coherent — out of his mouth.

“you — you’re — are you—”

“hi,” you gave him a tired smile, patting at your bedside.

quinn was there immediately.

“you’re awake,” he whispered, hesitantly reaching out for you.

“and you look like you haven’t slept in days,” you responded, taking his hand in yours. you leaned into his touch, savouring the feeling of him next to you. “are you sure you’re okay?”

quinn stared at you, shaking his head to himself in disbelief. “you’re the one in the hospital bed, and you’re asking if i’m okay? i should be asking you that!”

“i’m fine,” you answered. “a little battered, but i’m alright. you on the other hand, you look like you’ve been through hell.”

quinn rolled his eyes, but it was true. he felt like it too. sitting by your side, all night, not knowing when you were going to wake up — it drove him crazy.

“i’m just glad you’re okay,” quinn choked up, pressing a kiss to your intertwined hands.

he’d spent the last day thinking of the worst possibilities, torturing himself. seeing you here, smiling and happy, it made him realize that he couldn’t lose you. 

you smiled, leaning forward to place your forehead against his. 

“me too,” you whispered.

[butterflydm]

wot rewatch: 1x1 - leavetaking

Rewatching as prep for season two! These are going to be pretty spoiler-heavy for the books (will note how far) and kinda live-bloggy - I'm briefly pausing to note down thoughts but won't be writing out entire paragraphs. Just little notes as I go on.

Spoilers for the entire first season and some s2 spoilers plus through maybe The Dragon Reborn in the books. Maybe only The Great Hunt.

1. Fascinating how Liandrin's perspective on men and the One Power is the reverse of the truth. It's not men who make the Power filthy but the Power that makes men go wrong (because of the taint). I do think she genuinely believes what she's saying here though.

2. We get a lot of info from Moiraine and Lan here: we know there's an active prophecy, we know that the Dragon can channel, we know they should be 20 years old. We also see Moiraine's doubts and her wishful thinking both at play: she doubts/tests various parts of the prophecy but does not let herself believe he was gentled before he could ever be found.

3. The rumors in/out of the Two Rivers are interesting to think about - it sounds like the idea of ta'veren must be fairly widely known -- given that we know in TGH that at least one of Moiraine's eyes-and-ears is Tuatha'an, I wonder if the group of Tuatha'an near the Two Rivers that Egwene & Perrin run into (with Ila & Aram) is also the group that has Moiraine's spy, in the show canon. EDIT: we know from TDR about her spy, not TGH, lol

4. I am So Interested in whether or not s2 will get into the emotional details of Egwene not braiding her hair anymore.

5. It kinda feels like the show went more hardcore egalitarian for the Two Rivers than the books did -- we never hear anything about the mayor or village council and the women's circle is a rite of passage for womanhood as opposed to being a governing body.

6. Wolves! ❤

7. Some people apparently took Rand calling past-him a sap as him being... a Chad now? Very strange. He's obviously not being serious (and he brings Egwene a berry in this very episode).

8. The scene with the three boys is so good for establishing them as friends but also showing Mat is not supernaturally lucky here, and we see Rand and Perrin's concern and affection.

9. Enter our Mysterious Wanderers. It's a great dramatic entrance for our very Dramatic pair. Moiraine taking a good look around trying to clock all the twenty year olds.

10. So we get introduced to all the celebration and joy first... and then after Moiraine's intro, we get into the various emotional turmoils each of our younger cast are facing:

a. Perrin's marriage is somewhat troubled.

b. Mat's parents have created a troubled family life for him and his two sisters and he is basically the one raising his sisters even while having to deal with his drunk mom telling him he's a terrible person.

c. Rand and Egwene's relationship breaks up as they realize for the first time that they have grown into having incompatible life goals (a problem that will not go away even after their individual situations completely change).

Despite the idyllic scenery, the emotional undercurrents in the village are complex.

11. First we have Moiraine specifying that they need two beds and then we get the lovely non-sexual bath scene with Lan and Moiraine. I love how much we get to see Moiraine & Lan being platonic companions.

12. I like that Egwene and Rand truly care deeply about each other but that doesn't make their lives compatible.

13. Love how we go from the whistling background sound over the Fade to Fain actually whistling.

14. The next morning, we get Mat pawning the stolen bracelet -- this helps sets up why he steals the dagger later; Mat has an incentive to need money that isn't about being greedy. But then we also see in the later scene that his friends very much want to help him. And Mat shows deep emotional intelligence and concern with Rand as well.

15. Nynaeve gets knocked out as a Dragon candidate right away, due to being too old to be the prophecy baby. Sadly, in the process of figuring that out, Moiraine burns a bridge with Nynaeve (who already wasn't inclined to trust her).

16. The Wisdom cleaning the sacred pool fits very well with Nynaeve becoming a "servant of all" aka Aes Sedai (just like Egwene surrendering to the river is a mirror of surrendering to saidar). But also the Wisdom is really the only 'leader' that we get introduced to in the Two Rivers in the show.

17. I am very curious about if the issue of the Old Wisdom comes up again when Nynaeve is in the White Tower. Nynaeve does seem aware here that Listening To The Wind is connected to the One Power.

18. Again, I love how the Rand, Mat, Perrin friendship feels substantial here and not just because they're all the same age so they hang around together.

19. Love getting the themes here of rebirth and how the reincarnation aspect of the lore feels present in people's everyday lives.

20. Nynaeve being separate from all the other villagers so they can't see her pain. My heart!

21. Now that we've set up Life As It Is, it's time to break it so that the main story can start. Lan brings the news about the Fade & Trollocs and Moiraine confirms that she doesn't know which of the four kiddos is The One (a good thing, as it turns out).

22. Some good character work during the fight:

a. Nynaeve trying to protect and heal her people.

b. Fain just sauntering off without a care.

c. Mat going back into danger to save his sisters.

d. Perrin doing something to make him terrified of the violence inside hinsrlf.

e. We see that there's more to Rand's dad than meets the eye.

f. Rand defeats the Trolloc but at a cost (his dad getting horribly injured).

g. Egwene & Nynaeve both willing to fight back, even when they just have belt knives.

h. Once Moiraine and Lan are able to turn the fight (and we get some lovely choreography of then working as a team and seeing how Warders aid their Aes Sedai), the villagers take heart and really together against the Shadowspawn.

23. Overall just a good job showing how traumatic an attack like this would be.

24. Anyway, it felt clear to me that part of the reason our kiddos don't argue much with Moiraine after the battle is because they're all pretty shocked and traumatized. None of them have ever experienced anything like this!

25. I hope the implied flashback for Moiraine & Siuan in s2 has us getting the prophecy onscreen but it was still cool to hear Moiraine telling them about it here.

26. There's a great shot here of Moiraine facing Egwene and Rand and we see all three of them in shades of blue. Meanwhile, when we swap to Perrin and Mat, Mat has a tiny stripe of blue but the two of them are more earth-tones. Channelers vs non-channelers? Rand puts on an earth-tone coat as they leave - because he's going to be in denial?

27. Right now, Moiraine is saying they need to get to the protection of the White Tower (meaning Siuan and her attempts to ready the Tower). And that's a wrap on episode one!

[himadrics]

My Feminist Commentary Part - 1/5

My earliest memory of being at a disadvantage because of my gender is from the first day of school. I was excited to meet new people and make friends. "What is your name?" I had asked a boy, hoping to start a conversation. "I don't talk to girls," was his rude response. We were both five years old. I remember feeling confused and hurt, and for the first time, I wished I wasn't a girl. Little did I know that life was going to bring me many serious disadvantages because of my gender!

I am an Indian woman pursuing a PhD in her late 20s. I come from a dual-income, middle-class, Gujarati, Hindu, Brahmin family. My family is supportive of my education and most of my life choices. I have certain privileges because of my education and my family's socioeconomic class. For example, I have access to a good education and the financial resources to pursue my dreams. And that is what makes it possible for me to write this feminist commentary on a Saturday night from the comfort of my home.

As a matter of fact, many Indian women still live under the poverty line and struggle to get nutrition, education, hygienic menstrual products, and birth control. Feminism concerns them as much as it concerns me, but they don't get to write about it. My experiences might seem insignificant in comparison to the challenges they face, such as lack of access to basic healthcare or safety from violence. But since I am in a position to write, I am going to use it.

In this spirit, I believe that it is extremely important that women write. Regardless of a woman's privilege, the world always forces her to live a much more difficult life than that of a man with the same amount of privilege. So whenever a woman writes anything about being a woman, it is a valuable snapshot of such difficulties. I wish that we had more such snapshots of women expressing themselves from the past. For example, it would have been quite valuable for me to read about my great-grandmother's experiences as a woman under British rule in India. Fortunately, many contemporary Indian women have access to education and are in a position to write. So I hope we create our snapshots from time to time for future generations to read. This commentary is an attempt at creating a snapshot of myself and the women around me whom I know personally and closely.

Whatever I write is not going to be representative of all Indian women and cannot be generalized to the experiences of women who share my education and socioeconomic class. My writing primarily describes my thoughts and observations about myself and the women around me. Hence, the scope of this commentary is going to be quite personal and limited. This commentary can still serve as an interesting sample in the collection of all the snapshots created by contemporary Indian women, as "In the year 2023, an Indian woman in her late 20s described women's condition in this way…" Perhaps my experiences with navigating marriage expectations and pursuing higher education will resonate with someone in the future.

In this five-part commentary, I delve into the evolution of women in my family. I start by sharing the stories of my grandmother, ઈલા [Ila], who was born in 1946. I then describe the life of her daughter, છાયા [Chhaya] (my mother), who was born in 1970. Finally, I reflect on my own experiences as a woman born in 1996, named મુસ્કાન [Muskan]. I try to evaluate the generational progress in terms of gender equality in my family by describing the lives of these three women and recounting some relevant incidents. Each part will explore different aspects of their lives, from education and marriage to career choices and personal struggles.

[wditdsmutblog]

"A brat and bold. Whatever am I going to do with such a disobedient toy?" She said a serious look on her face as she flicked the vibrator back down to the lowest setting. Ila didn't mind edging Mia until she was a shaking wreck on the floor. "Look at the mess you've gotten yourself in. If you'd simply obeyed me I wouldn't think twice about letting you cum. But this is a punishment sweetheart. You'll cum when I let you."

Muse: Ila Wolfe/35/Florist/Scammer Open To: Anyone (25+) Context: smut for smut's sake

*Beta Editor

"Now you're just being a brat," Ila said leaning back in her seat as she watched them squirm with each tap on the remote in her hand. "You're the one who begged for this."

[dog-girl-zezora]

///

[wicked-mind]

Best friends? Nah.

Summary: Classic best friends don’t realize feelings for each other until someone points it out.

Word Count: 3.6k

Warnings: biker!bucky, Swearing, drinking, smoking of joint, and SMUT MINORS DNI. 18+ only! (Fingering, oral [f receiving] unprotected sex [wrap yourself and be safe!] Also I'm new to writing smut so sorry if it's shit) I think that’s all but maybe not?

A/N: I have plans for this reader (we will call her Baby) and biker!Bucky. If you’d like to see more of them, let me know (:

All Writing Masterlist

*gifs not mine

“Here comes trouble…” Steve mutters from behind the bar, pouring some red wine in a glass for his girl, Peggy. They had been a thing for almost a year and he had never been happier. Steve watched as Bucky’s hand immediately goes to his holster but Steve shakes his head with a chuckle, “Not that kind of trouble Buck, look.” He nods towards the window

Bucky follows Steve’s gaze and sees you jumping out of your jeep, a big smile on your face as you started walking towards the clubhouse. He grins and immediately starts running out to meet you, “Baby!” He calls out to you, wrapping his arms around your waist and picking you up, “Missed you.”

“Oh my god, he knows how to smile. Didn’t know he knew how to do that.” Clint said as he watched Bucky pick you up in his arms and spin you around with that silly grin on his face.

“Only for her.” Steve said with a smile.

Peggy looks up at Steve, “Is that his girlfriend?”

Steve shook his head, “Nope. That’s his best friend.”

“I thought you were his best friend.”

“I am,” Steve huffed out, “But that’s his best friend. Buck and I grew up with her and those two have always been close. Haven’t seen her in a few years though.”

Bucky brings you in, his arm draped around your shoulder, “Everybody, this is Y/N.” He said, gesturing to you as you put on a smile and give everybody a little wave with the wiggle of your fingers, “Baby, this is everybody.” He said over to you, then gestures towards Steve, “You already know Steve.”

You narrow your eyes at the tall blonde, “Is Steve hiding behind his bigger doppelgänger?” You tease.

Steve chuckles and walks around the bar to walk up to you and give you a hug, “Shut up.”

You laugh and push him back, “I’m serious, Stevie. I used to be taller than you now your like a sky scraper.” You tell him then shrug, “Ah well, you’ll always be that scrawny kid that I had to patch up after you and Bucky picked fights you weren’t going to win.”

Steve chuckles at the memories. The two had shown up on your parents’ doorstep more than they’d like to admit, beaten to a pulp after picking fights with the town bullies, but now everybody would think twice about messing with them. He walks back over to Peggy, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her to his side, “Y/N, this is Peggy.”

You smile over at Peggy, “Nice to meet ya! I’m glad Steve finally found his better half.”

Peggy smiles and looks up to Steve, “I like her.”

Bucky demanded there be a round of shots for everybody due to your surprise arrival, and then another round, and another until loud music was playing and you were dancing with Bucky, your arms wrapped around the back of his neck and his hands on your hips while both of you sang off key.

Eventually you two drifted over to the bar, sitting on the stools next to each other and joking about things from the past. You raise an eyebrow when a too skinny blonde in a skimpy outfit came up, running her fingers up Bucky’s tattooed left arm.

Bucky rolls his eyes and looks at the blonde, “What do you want, Ila?” Ila smiles brightly at him, “Just wanted to see if you need anything,” She said before leaning close and whispering in his ear, “Anything at all. I can help you out.”

Bucky sighs and leans away from her, “Little busy, Ila.” He hissed out to her, gesturing over towards you who waved at her.

“But, Bucky,” Ila whined, “You invited me here.”

“I didn’t invite you, you just follow whatever wears leather. Go find another dick to suck.” Bucky growls out to her which was enough to make Ila frown and scamper off to find another member of the club to hang off of.

You raise an eyebrow at him before smiling, “Bucky!” You whine, mimicking Ila before laughing.

“Shut up, baby.” Bucky says with a smile, grabbing the bottle of whiskey and pouring you each a shot.

“This is weird.” Natasha says to Steve, sitting at the bar watching you and Bucky so close to each other. Nobody has ever seen Bucky so happy as he was with you, even when he had the one night stands he was never as charming and happy as he was right now with you, “They seem like a couple.”

Steve shrugs, taking another sip of his beer as he pulled Peggy closer to him, “They’ve always been like that,” He replies, “Even named his bike after her.”

Natasha looks over at Steve, “That’s why his bike is named ‘Baby?’” She asks with an eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, it’s a miracle he actually introduced her by her actual name. He usually just introduces her as Baby.” Steve said, looking over at you and Bucky who were laughing, “It was the first thing he called her and now it’s just her name to him. You wanna see something funny?”

“Always.” Natasha said with a smile.

Steve grins and looks over to Sam, “Hey Sam! Come here!” He watches as Sam comes over to him, “Y/N is single, go take your shot.”

Sam smiles and looks over at you where you were now sitting at the bar as you downed another shot of whiskey with Bucky, “Thanks for lookin’ out, man.” He said to Steve before making his way over to the other side of you. He smiles and gives you a look over, “Hey, I’m Sam.”

You smile over at Sam, “Hi, Sam.” You say and tilt your head at him, batting your eyelashes in a flirtatious matter.

Sam looks over to Bucky who was narrowing his eyes between you and him before focusing back on you, “Wanna play some pool with me? We can team up against Steve and Peggy.”

Bucky frowns over at Sam and before you could answer, he grabbed onto the leg of your stool and pulls you closer to him before wrapping an arm around your shoulder and practically pulling you into his lap, “She’s mine, birdbrain. Scram!” He growls out.

Natasha joined Steve in laughter, shaking her head, “Oh my god, it’s so obvious they’re in love with each other.” She says over to Steve, “How have they not gotten together?”

Steve shrugs as he watches Sam go to the pool table, “Don’t know, both oblivious dumbasses I guess. They even have matching tattoos though. His name is on her hip and he has ‘Baby’ tattooed on his ribs.”

Natasha narrows her eyes over at the two of you, “Something has to be done.”

“Nat, just leave it alone.” Steve warns.

“When have I ever left something alone?” Natasha said to him, setting her beer on the table before standing and walking over to you and Bucky, her eyes flickering between the two of you.

Bucky looks over at the redhead curiously, “What are you doing Nat?” He asks, his own eyes narrowing at her, trying to figure out what was going on in her head.

“You two are weird.” Natasha said, “You guys really aren’t a couple?”

You chuckle and shake your head, “Nope, just friends.” You tell her, nudging Bucky and giving him a smile which he returned.

“Uh-huh,” Natasha said, nodding slowly, “I don’t believe that. You two have never…?”

“Nope.” Bucky said with a smile over to Natasha.

“Not even a kiss?” Natasha asks, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s not like that, Nat.” Bucky defends, picking up his glass of whiskey and taking a small sip.

Natasha nods slowly again, “So you’re telling me if you two,” She said, pointing between Bucky and you, “Kissed right now, it’d mean nothing?”

“Nope.” You reply with a smile.

“Nothing at all.” Bucky agrees with a nod.

Natasha smiles, “Prove it. If there’s nothing to worry about, it should just be kiss between friends, right?”

Bucky shrugs, “Alright, you know I always like proving you wrong.” He said to her before turning to you. He lifts a hand to brush some hair behind your ear before cupping your cheek and leaning in. He kissed you softly, before pulling you closer and kissing you a little deeper.

You didn’t expect Bucky’s lips to be so soft compared to his calloused, rough hands but they were and the moment he kissed you again you kissed him back deeper than the first kiss. You slowly pulled away and your eyes fluttered open to meet his blue ones, letting out a small breath you hadn’t known you were holding.

“Uh oh.” Steve said from the couch beside Peggy as they watched.

Natasha’s eyes flickered between you and Bucky, waiting for something to happen. She could practically see the fireworks between the two of you, “Well?”

Bucky doesn’t look over at Natasha, just keeps staring at you like he’s actually seeing you for the first time. His heart was beating a million miles an hour. Maybe he had been denying his feelings for you and that kiss just lit it on aflame, “Nothing.” He says softly.

You nod slowly, your eyes slowly drifting away from Bucky’s gaze to Natasha, “Yeah, nothing. See? Just friends.” You tell her before pursing your lips together and glancing away.

Natasha rolls her eyes, “Oh yeah, that was sure nothin’.” She says before walking away to sit back next to Steve and Peggy.

Now things were awkward, you and Bucky were avoiding eye contact like if you looked at each other again, you would have to face what just happened between the two of you. You clear your throat and stand up, “I’m gonna go smoke.” You tell him before heading for the door, walking out into the dark, cool night and pinching the bridge of your nose, “Ah, shit.”

Steve sighs and looks at Natasha, “See,” He said, gesturing over to Bucky, “You ruined it.”

“It’s not my fault they’re both idiots that can’t admit when they’re wrong.” Natasha defends, picking her beer bottle back up and taking a sip.

Ila took the opportunity to put on a grin and walk over to Bucky, sitting on his lap and wrapping her arms around the back of his neck, “You can kiss me like that anytime, Bucky. Why don’t we go to your room?”

Bucky groans and puts his palm on Ila’s face, pushing her away from him and onto the floor, “Shut up, whore.” He muttered out before standing and wondering off to his room.

You pull out your cigarette carton, pulling out not a cigarette, but a joint instead. You place it between your lips and light it up, desperate to feel anything other than the feeling of Bucky’s lips on yours. That couldn’t be real, right? The spark you felt when he kissed you, it must’ve been the alcohol. You look over when you hear the door open, seeing Steve looking over at you, “Wanna drag?” You ask, holding the joint out to him.

Steve shook his head with a smile, shoving his hands in his pockets, “You coming back in?”

You shook your head, “Nah, I think I’ve had enough whiskey and partying for one night. I’m going to walk back to my hotel.” You tell him, pushing yourself off the wall you were leaning on.

“I’ll give you a ride, I haven’t drank that much.” Steve offers, gesturing over to Peggy’s red car that sat in the lot, “Besides, Buck would kill me if I let you walk home alone.”

“Alright.” You nod, following him over to the car and slipping into the passenger seat after discarding your joint. The car ride was silent, which you were thankful for. Steve knew when you didn’t want to talk but you could tell he wanted to. Once he pulled up to the small hotel you were staying at, you give him a smile, “Thanks for the ride, Stevie. See you later.” You tell him before slipping out of the car. You fumble through your jacket pocket to find the key to your room as you walk to it then slipped inside and just collapsed on the bed with an irritated groan.

Bucky wasn’t doing much better than you were. He was laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling as he processed things through his mind. You had always been there for him, and the more he thought about it, the more he picked out things he loves about you. The way you laugh, the way you smile (especially towards him), the way you’d tease him and he would tease you back. For the love of god, he had his nickname for you tattooed on him as you did his nickname. He had always been protective of you and you lit him up like he was gasoline and you were his fire. He didn’t even need to drink to be drunk on happiness when he was around you. And maybe, just maybe, he has always been in love with you and too blind to see it. Bucky couldn’t hear commotion outside anymore and his buzz from the whiskey had worn off. He sighs and pulls himself off the bed, grabbing his leather jacket on the way out of his room where he passed Steve, “Hey, is she still here?”

Steve stops his pace to his own room where Peggy was waiting and shook his head, “Nah, took her back to her hotel a while ago.”

Bucky sighs and runs a hand through his hair, “Which hotel?”

Steve smiles a little and folds his arm, “I knew you loved her.”

“Shut up.” Bucky groans out, “Just tell me which hotel.”

“The Sunset Motel down the street,” Steve confessed, “Room four from the looks of it.”

“Thanks,” Bucky says before turning on his heels and walking towards the front to exit the clubhouse. He noticed your keys on the counter still and snatched them on his way, opting to drive your jeep instead of your bike so he could leave it there for you in case things didn’t pan out the way he was hoping.

You had passed out on your bed immediately after changing into pajamas and brushing your teeth, your face smushed into the flat pillow. A nonstop knock on your door woke you up with another irritated groan as you walk over to the door, “Keep your dick in your pants, I’m coming.” You yell through the door, unlatching the locks and opening it to see Bucky staring at you, “Bucky, what’re you doing here?”

Bucky stares at you for a moment, taking you in as if it was the first time he was actually seeing you before taking a quick stride forward and cupping the back of your neck with one hand while the other rested on your hip, pressing a desperate kiss to your lips before pulling away and looking down at you, “Say it was nothing and I’ll go.” He whispers to you.

You were surprised that he kissed you, but that didn’t stop you from bringing your hands to his chest as your fingers curled around his dark shirt. You open your eyes and look up at him as he whispered to you, “It wasn’t nothing.”

That’s all Bucky needed to hear, pressing another passionate kiss to your lips as he backed you up into your hotel room, kicking the door shut behind him. His tongue traced your bottom lip, begging for your lips to part until they did and his tongue danced against yours as he pushed you back onto the bed, crawling over on top of you. He pulled away for a moment, admiring how you looked under him and it made him smile, “God, you’re pretty, baby.”

“Not so bad yourself, Bucky.” You smile up to him, grabbing onto the edges of his jacket and attempting to push it down his arms, “But you’re wearing too many clothes.”

Bucky stands up and strips the jacket off, throwing it over onto the small couch that sat beside the closed window, “So are you, gorgeous. Start strippin, I wanna see my name on you.” He purrs out, peeling his shirt off before kicking off his shoes as he started to unlatch his belt.

You nod to him and pull off your shirt before lifting your hips to slip the sleep shorts off of you, leaving you bare except for the red laced underwear you wore. You look over Bucky’s body as he pulled his pants off, leaving him in some tight boxer briefs that didn’t leave much to the imagination.

Bucky looked down at you almost naked in front of him, licking his lips at the sight. He wanted to devour you, and he would get to that, but first he wanted to kiss all the parts of you that were now his. His eyes traced down your body until he saw the tattoo of his name sprawled across your left hip in pretty, black cursive writing. He slowly leaned down over you, kissing the ink on your left hip gently before peering up to you as his hand slowly pulled your underwear down, “So pretty, baby.” He whispers as he gently kisses down your hips, spreading your legs apart for him to feast his eyes on your already wet him, “God damn beautiful,” He murmured before licking a stripe up your folds, making you shiver and whimper above him with want, “And all mine.”

It wasn’t long until he was devouring between your legs, your body quivering with one leg up above resting on his shoulder to give him better vantage point, “Bucky..” You moan out, “‘M close.”

Bucky hummed in response, pulling away for a moment, ��Fall apart for me, baby, I wanna see it.” He smirks before returning to suck on your clit, his tongue flicking against it. He presses two fingers into you with ease, scissoring and curling them until he found that spot that made your coil snap and release against him with a loud moan of his name.

Your body felt like fire as he feasted on you through your orgasm, shaking slightly as you claw at his scalp, trying to drag him up to you so you could kiss him. Eventually he detached his mouth from your dripping core, sliding up your body and giving you what you wanted. He presses his tongue into your mouth, causing you to moan softly into his mouth when you taste yourself on his tongue. You pull away and look up at him, wrapping your legs around his waist, “Need you, now.”

“I got you, doll.” Bucky smirks down to you, leaning up one one elbow while his other went down to grasp the base of his cock. He guided himself between your legs, sliding his shaft through your folds to get him all slick before positioning himself at your entrance. He pressed his lips to your shoulder, nipping at the skin there with a smile, “Ready, baby?”

“Just fuck me already,” You whimper out, needing to feel full of him.

“Your wish is my command, baby.” Bucky chuckles out against your skin before slowly sinking into you. He pulled back to watch your eyes flutter close at the feel of him, your lips parting in a silent moan until he was fully inside of you, “Fuck, so tight.” He groans out, his face falling into the crook of your neck with another groan of pleasure.

Your hands slowly slide their way up Bucky’s arms until their own his shoulders, digging into his skin, “Please move,” You beg out in a moan, wanting to feel all he had to offer you.

Bucky smirks against your skin, slowly pulling himself out of you before ramming back into you. He set a slow but rough pace as he fucked you, pulling his face away from your neck to watch your eyes roll back in pleasure at the feel of him, “You’re squeezin’ me baby, already close?” He grunts out, quickening his pace as he chased his own orgasm.

You nod, your body feeling like it was on fire. Words escaped you as you tumbled into ecstasy again, seeing stars behind your closed eyelids as you became a moaning mess beneath Bucky, your fingers digging into his shoulders and you were sure he would have resent scratches from the pressure but you didn’t care, he was too good. You felt Bucky’s thrust become uneven as you clenched down on him and with a loud grunt and groan, you felt him release his hot, sticky ropes inside of you which made you moan his name.

Bucky stilled in you for a moment, relishing in the feel of him inside of you. He kisses along your jaw until he met your lips, “So perfect.” He murmurs out against your lips before crawling off of you, watching you sigh at the loss of him inside you made him smirk to himself. He quickly went to the bathroom, bringing back a wet cloth and cleaning the both of you up before tossing it somewhere on the floor and crawling into the bed again, pulling you against him. He left soft kisses on your forehead, down your cheeks, and finally met your lips, lifting his hand to stroke your cheek softly with his thumb, “It may be soon, but I think I’ve always been in love with you.”

You smile and kiss him softly before running your fingers through his hair, “Well I think I may have always been in love with you too.” You tell him.

“Should’ve had you meet Natasha sooner.” Bucky chuckles, laying on his back and pulling you snug against him so your head could rest on his bare chest, “You’re all mine now though, and I’m never letting you go.”

_____________________________________________________________

Taglist: @stcrrysbucky @spookyparadisesheep @multiplums @leyannrae @redhairedfeistynerd

[ragnarachael]

omggg 43 or 47? u choose hehe

i went ahead and chose 43.) "i've had a terrible day at work so just kiss me"! this is a drabble for my tva!loki x tva director!reader series!! (talk about me bringing THAT back from the dead dskjhsd)

loki taglist: @mushroomlupin @miniminwriting @mariahlaufeyson @lam-ila @sineads-art @rosaline-black @a-lonely-gray-couch​ @lokis-little-love @lokis-tigress

FINISHING UP DRABBLES FROM VALENTINES DAY!

Work was long. It always is lately, and even though Maddie, your assistant, is always willing to help you pull-through the shit you've got to fish through now that you're a director. The poor girl is insane as you, bless her.

"I'm home!" You exclaim once you're entering the apartment, shoes immediately kicked off near Loki's, and your bag plopped onto the ground just adjacent from them on the floor.

You can hear a soft clanking from the kitchen, and your body easily directs you to where you need to go.

And that’s where you find your husband cleaning dishes, his hair pulled into a cute little ponytail in the middle of his head, trying to organize the mess he has on his hands.

“Hey,” you say again, a bit softer as to not startle him, your arms sliding around his waist firmly so you can stand on your tip toes slightly to give your chin a perch on his shoulder. “How was your day?”

Loki takes a breath, the small smiley-face scrubbing thing you insisted on getting slowly coming to a stop on a plate as he all but melts into you. “Full of cleaning. Did you know just how disgusting we’ve left this place?”

You know Loki is saying it in a fond way. Because if you didn’t have to go in Monday to Friday, 7 am all the way to a nice almost 8 pm just to be sure your team didn’t go batshit crazy without some assistance, you would be helping.

That was technically the plan. But, duty calls.

“I mean, we did just have a huge rush of cases. Both my team and yours,” you explain quietly, a little bit of guilt nipping at the edges of your tired mind. “It’s hard to keep up when you’re trying to keep the multiverse in one piece, you know?”

Loki hums in understanding, placing the things in his hands down, and moving to grab at a dry dishrag on the counter to wipe his hands off. “I know. How was work?”

You take a breath, tightening your grip. “Work.”

“Was it that bad?”

You giggle then, Loki’s chuckle vibrating you slightly. “A bit. Everyone loves to think I can solve the entire TVA’s problems, rather than just my teams. So much paper I’m shocked I don’t have a paper cut, there’s some weird anomalies coming from Earth-616 again. This time, it’s getting a little worse there.”

Loki groans lightly. “616 always gives us bloody trouble.”

“I knoow,” you groan back, your chin moving from his shoulder to press your face into his back. “You’d think the ex-sorcerer supreme could cut back a little. I sent out a few agents to scope out the scene. I hope it’s not what we’re thinking.”

Loki goes a little silent at that. you hear the muted plop of the rag and he turns in your arms, your face dramatically dragging against his shirt.

“What were you thinking it is?” Loki questions gently, his arms now going around you. And you’re more than happy to meet his gaze after pulling away from his shirt. You must have some dopey look on your face, because Loki looks down at you fondly and grins. “Hi, dear heart.”

“Hi,” you mutter before breathing through your nose. “Uh, we’re thinking it’s something..serious.”

“Serious how?” Loki presses gently.

“Well,” you trail off, looking down between you and Loki’s bodies. “Maybe serious enough for another Multiversal War.”

During you and Loki’s time at the TVA, you’ve both heard about the last one, and this time, was no different. Except you may be about a fraction of a second away from living what’s in the reports.

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” you start, snorting. “Oh is right. Me and Maddie hope that’s not what’s happening, but last we heard there’s something going on. And it wasn’t great.”

Loki frowns as you look up at him. You can’t read minds like him, so you have no idea what he’s thinking. And you’re not quite sure if you’d like to. If anything, your thoughts may be the same about this situation, but you’re home now. You don’t want to think on it.

“But, yes,” you start again, gathering Loki’s attention once more, “I’ve had a terrible day at work, so just please kiss me.”

Loki’s frown goes away in favor of a smirk, leaning closer to you once he’s decided that he’ll move on from the last topic.

“Yes, director.”

[i-did-not-mean-to]

Invisible hero - Part 2

So, here's the update for this one as well!

-> Part 1

Words: 3,4 k

Warnings: Smut, NSFW, nudity, oral sex...You know the jist...

“Well, yes,” Ori admitted, “it seems to make sense to stay at your disposal, should you require any kind of assistance during the night.”

The expression of amused patience on her face made it – once again – very clear that she did not expect any situation to arise that would make such an intervention necessary, but she seemed touched and entertained by his readiness.

“Is there nobody who shall wait for you?” she asked, letting her palm rest on the smooth blanket for a second before extending her hand into the room.

“My brothers know that I’ve gone out to seek any kind of work,” Ori explained, threading his own fingers – fleshy and much too broad compared to hers – into the waiting gesture, a jolt of pleasure chasing up his arm as the warmth of his skin dispelled the coolness of hers.

Ila did not reply to that; she could hear in his breathing that he had not finished his sentence and she desperately wanted to hear the rest of it.

“My older brothers do their best,” Ori began, “but money is tight, and as the youngest, I try to contribute as much as I can.”

There was shame in his voice, Ila noticed, a quiet, almost resigned sense of failure that she understood only too well; she was the ‘weak link’ of her family, a constant drain on their resources, even though her needs were rather linked to time and emotional investment than to pecuniary worries.

As he dragged the comb meditatively through her hair, she sighed: “You have been a great solace to me tonight, Ori the dwarf, and I shall petition my father to make it worth your while.”

“That is the worst part,” he whispered tonelessly, “if I could, I would forego the payment for you are a lovely person to be around. I wish…”

Ila believed him; she knew not why, but – in her heart of hearts – she trusted him to speak the truth. It had been a long time since last she had talked to someone so freely and she realised just Nohow much she enjoyed this strange creature.

He had asked questions others recoiled from and it was strangely freeing for her to be questioned soberly and respectfully about her eyesight; it was so obvious an impairment that she often loathed people for shying away from addressing it directly.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ila replied, her fingers sliding along the intricate braid he had fashioned absent-mindedly, “my father can easily afford it. It is well worth the pleasure of your company.”

Ori was relieved that she could not see him blush to the tips of his ears; he had not been lying, Ila was an agreeable person to sit with.

“Let me lend you some clothes,” she then said as her hand brushed his naked forearm, “I’m sure we’ll find something in my father’s wardrobe.”

Following her sure steps along the corridor, one hand brushing along the wall ever so lightly, Ori wondered what she would make of Dori and Nori.

Somehow, he really yearned to show her his world and introduce her to his king and his kin in hopes that it would give her pleasure; she had the most amazing smile, so pure and open as if she didn’t know shame or reprimand.

“You may have my father’s bed as well,” Ila said as she entered a dark room and went to the wardrobe without hesitation.

“Oh no, Mistress,” Ori cried out, “I shall stay where I can hear you call.”

“Where would that be?”

In the dim light of the moon and the stars, he saw her smile broaden into a feline grin that vibrated with hilarity.

“Oh no,” Ori repeated, heat painting his face a crimson hue, “I meant outside your door.”

“On the floor?” Ila cocked her head questioningly.

“Yes,” he replied without a moment’s hesitation; it would not have been the first nor the last time that he would spend the night rolled into a blanket.

“Who do you take me for?” Ila asked in a serious tone, “I am immensely touched that you’d want to stay close to me, but I wouldn’t let a dog sleep on the cold floor outside my door and I certainly shan’t ask that of a friend.”

Friend? By this time, Ori was sure that his head was about to explode; since meeting Ila he felt as if the treacherous blush that she couldn’t see hadn’t once left his face and the constant heat was slowly but steadily cooking his brain.

“Where do you propose I watch over you then?” he wondered aloud, almost afraid of the answer she might give; she had undressed rather freely in front of him, and he did not know what impossible plan she might come up with.

Tossing a tunic over at him, she extended her hand again, confident that he would take it and let her lead him to whatever place she had in mind.

When – a few moments later – he found himself back in her room, Ori expected the worst to happen.

“Come on,” Ila grinned, making her way back to her bed and slipping under the thick, warm covers that she held up for him.

“Oh no,” Ori stammered, “you cannot be serious. Have you forgotten what I told you? I do not think that your father would much appreciate it if he came back early and found you – literally – in bed with a half-naked dwarf.”

That idea seemed to amuse Ila greatly for she laughed open-mouthed and much louder than he had ever heard a human woman guffaw; she was evidently used to being alone and unchecked, blissfully unaware of the punitive and disapproving stares of the well-bred people observing their absurd manners.

“It would teach him,” Ila wheezed, “but I do not think about my father in this.”

What was she thinking of then? Ori could not tell.

“Tell me more about your people,” Ila invited, her blurry gaze coaxing him ever closer until he sat on the edge of her mattress, his bare feet soaking up the coolness of the floor.

“They are…good souls,” he smiled, letting the movement of his face warm his voice in a way he knew now that she registered and – promptly – she gave him an answering grin.

Slowly, word by word, second by second, she drew him in until he lay – cushioned on the softest pillow he had ever touched – beside her, talking about how deaf Óin was and what a marvellous sight the princes were to behold.

“Fí,” Ori explained with a vague smile, “is like the sun at noon, radiant and warm, and, by Mahal, I swear that you’d love Kí…he’s mischievous to a fault but the best friend anyone could have.”

Ila found that she liked listening to him; she had never met any of his kind before this evening and yet, she couldn’t remember ever having been so interested in anyone before.

“Did you mean it?” she asked suddenly, “When you said you’d take me to meet them, did you mean it?”

Her hand slid across the space between them unerringly until it alighted on his arm again, gauging his reaction by the small shiver crackling like static on his skin.

“Of course,” he chuckled, looking down at the frail hand that reminded him of a beautiful, exotic, fragile bird that he was afraid to startle into flight by any sudden movement, “if you really care to come.”

“I’d love that,” she replied vehemently, scooting closer to him until she could feel the heat of his body radiate into her clammy skin. It was an unorthodox reflex, but she felt drawn to this stranger and to his honest face with that amazing relief that made her fingertips tingle.

“Do all the others smell as good as you?” she inquired.

“I don’t know,” Ori replied awkwardly, “what do I smell like?”

“Warm stone,” Ila replied immediately, “you smell like warmth and comfort and…there’s something else that I cannot identify.”

A discreet sniff into the general direction of his armpits told Ori all he needed to know; between the heavy blanket and her naked body, he was sweating profusely.

He had never wondered how and to what extent his race would be different from mankind; the thought had not occurred to him for he barely ever interacted with humans, but – in this painfully embarrassing second – he wished he had a better answer to her question.

“I wonder what you taste like…” she mused beside him, and his head snapped around.

“You wish to consume me?” he uttered in surprise and disbelief; she was a dainty woman, and he could not imagine her devouring a grown dwarf, try as she might.

“Only a little,” Ila chuckled while her fingers trailed up his arm to the ridge of his collarbone on which they danced ever so lightly.

Ori didn’t quite know what to say to that as he was still not entirely sure what she had in mind; he knew that his was a people who were strong in battle and feared more often than actively hunted, but he was also aware that there were dark magics and tricks that could bring a dwarf to his or her knees easily.

“Will it hurt?” he asked, horrified to find that he’d be willing to sacrifice a morsel of flesh for her enjoyment.

“I hope not,” Ila laughed and – moving faster than he would have thought her capable of – covered his body with hers as her fingers tightened around his chin.

Before he could process what was happening, her lips – soft and warm – were pressed against his own with such conviction that the words of protest and caution died in his throat.

He tasted warm, Ila thought hazily, like hot chocolate and winter spices; not being able to see him, she homed in on all the other sensations flooding her: the way his body – soft but unyielding – shivered under hers, the surprisingly soft texture of his beard under her fingertips, and the slow blossoming of his awareness into this kiss.

“You, my friend, are a thing of beauty,” she sighed, letting her forehead drop against his head as she came up for air like someone having dived for too long a stretch.

“You don’t even see me,” Ori croaked, humour and confusion thrilling in his voice.

“You feel beautiful,” Ila replied cockily, “you smell amazing, and you taste like you’re gorgeous.”

“Are you sure?” he teased, himself staring up helplessly at the ceiling and wondering what he had gotten himself into and why he couldn’t back away, “Don’t you want to double-check?”

“Ah, a scribe, that’s right,” Ila snorted, “double-check I shall.”

And with that, her fingers found the corner of his mouth again and – a heartbeat later – her lips were moving – caressing, teasing, inviting – over this unseen plain of pleasures once more.

He couldn’t help slinging his arms around the small of her back, pulling her closer still and sighing into her mouth which made her promptly part her lips to breathe in the sounds of his overwhelmed delight.

“We should not be doing this,” he tried to reason with her even though he couldn’t imagine anything better than to lie here with her in his arms while she lavished blandishments on him that he had never expected.

“I think we definitely should,” Ila contradicted as her hands moved down to his shoulders slowly while her body slid over his further until her thighs rested heavily on his.

Despite his best intentions, Ori bucked up into the solid, warm weight of her flesh grinding down on him while the sweetness of her lips made it impossible to string together a coherent thought.

“And it seems like you agree,” she chuckled, letting her mouth wander down the slender curve of his neck, while she basked in the almost exotic aroma of his skin.

“Oh, Ila,” he sighed, “you don’t know what you are doing.”

He was wrong, Ila thought, she knew exactly what was going on; she was blind, not dumb. She had heard the tales of her childhood friends with unabated jealousy, knowing full well how improbable it was that any man would ever saddle himself with a wife who needed to be supported throughout her life.

It followed – evidently – that, under her father’s constant supervision, she could not taste the forbidden fruit either when it was clear that she could not keep the plant alive.

This was different though; he would disappear back into the shadows of a world that only overlapped from time to time with her own; there was no pity in his voice and the way his body shivered under her own made her feel powerful in a way yet unknown to her.

Ila knew that she could easily have grown addicted to that sensation as much as to the fragrance of his body and the melody of his breathless sighs.

“Let me see you,” she pleaded and – accepting that he’d regret it forevermore if his cowardice kept him from giving in to her – Ori discarded the tunic she had retrieved for him.

Suddenly, he felt insecure about all the ways he was different from the men she might have known before; had she known men before? Had she taken other men to her bed?

It mattered not, he decided, as she let her fingers dance and slide over his skin, tracing his collarbone and following his sternum before circling around his navel for a long, torturous moment. And yet, he wanted to know.

“Have you done this before?” he asked shyly, wondering if he would be the one to introduce her to body parts that would be strange and unfamiliar to her.

“Never,” she admitted, lifting her face bearing a sunny smile radiating curiosity and confidence.

“Oh,” Ori made, unsure if he was well-equipped enough in knowledge and bravery to teach her about these things; this was not the moment either to let her know that if he went through with this, he’d wait for her to come back to him until the day she died.

She was most probably human which meant that her life would be much shorter than his own and – while his head left the pillow to follow the sweet kisses he so craved now – he was already mourning her – to him – untimely death.

“Show me,” Ila demanded and extended her hand to him in literally blind faith.

He wrapped his own fingers around her narrow palm and guided her hand ever down until her fingertips quirked upon encountering the thicket of coarse hair trailing down from his navel to that unexplored space between his legs.

“Talk to me!” she exhorted, letting her cheek rest against his chest, and listening to the erratic drumming of his racing heart.

“I…You don’t have to do this,” Ori stammered, a million cautionary tales flooding his memory about how other races would never find beauty in dwarves which made him afraid to be repudiated and rejected.

“It’s a bit late for that,” Ila laughed, turning her head to breathe a kiss upon his heated skin, “and I really enjoy this so far. You feel warm.”

As his hand let hers go, she pushed on and found heat – smooth as a blade and throbbing as a fire – encased in an oblong appendix of such girth and length that she had to twist and turn her wrist to palpitate its whole extent.

A sound halfway between a strangled cry of pain and an airy sigh of relief gusted through Ori’s gritted teeth as Ila proceeded with her meticulous exploration of his body; he was more than willing to be the object of her discovery – still and impassable – but her hands on his skin kept drawing the most undignified sounds from him which seemed to amuse her greatly.

“Interesting,” Ila commented, “I expect this is supposed to do something…?”

“As far as my studies can be trusted,” Ori replied, “it’s supposed to be introduced into another body.”

“In this case, mine,” Ila nodded, propping herself up on her elbow without releasing her loose grip on him, a dreamy smile on her face, “where exactly?”

Oh Mahal, Ori thought desperately, for someone being paid by the word, he sure ran out of them rather quickly in this situation; when Ila scrabbled to her knees beside him though and presented him with her other hand in a wordless bid for him to showher, he didn’t hesitate nearly as long as the first time.

“Here,” he whispered, directing her hand between her own legs and biting down on his moan until he could taste blood in his mouth when his fingertips brushed against the warm, wet heat of her lust.

“Oh…” Ila cocked her head, “I am not sure it will fit.”

Again, she clasped and unclasped her fingers around him and let her digits roam slowly to gauge the dimensions of this organ she had evidently never beheld before.

“I don’t know if it is supposed to,” Ori confessed; she was of a different race and there had been but very little scripture accessible to him detailing these things.

“Hmmm,” Ila hummed, “can you trust me, Ori the dwarf? I…It is not poisonous, is it?”

“No?” Ori didn’t know what exactly she had in mind until she bend down over him and shortly brushed her lips across the head of his member before taking it into her mouth tentatively.

Fighting down the feeling of choking, Ila let the heat and the weight settle onto her tongue while she focussed her whole awareness into that spot where his body and hers were joined.

A low, keening sound resounded above her, and she flinched back immediately.

“I am sorry,” she said hastily, “did I hurt you?”

Ori was – once again – happy that she could not see his dumbfounded expression; never in his life had he ever experienced a sensation half as entrancing and paralyzingly pleasant as the moist tenderness of her mouth.

“No,” he whispered, “no, that was…Oh Mahal, that was amazing.”

“Good news is, I think it will fit,” Ila declared, “maybe not so good news is that I thoroughly enjoyed this, and I’d like to do it again?”

“All of this is wonderful news to me,” Ori exclaimed and chuckled when she beamed at him before returning to her oral ministrations.

Warm and smooth, the twitching organ tasted like the pebbles her father had let her suck on for the minerals when she had been a mere child: salty and slightly musty.

“This cannot be right,” Ori panted, consumed by the contradiction between the indescribable sensation and the awareness that they were exchanging things they’d never be able to retrieve.

Ila’s face tilted up in sudden worry, painted so unequivocally on her pretty face, and she let go of Ori almost instantly.

“I do not wish to trespass on your moral rules,” she assured him, ready to quench the fire within her veins; she was well aware of the reasons why her own kind kept away from her, it should not have come as a surprise that, for another race, there would be even more prohibitions in place.

“It has nothing to do with morality,” Ori barked, harsher than he’d ever spoken to a lady before, “and everything with faithfulness.”

This, Ila could not understand.

“I know that you don’t tend to take these things as seriously as we do,” he went on, “but if we are to go through with this – and Mahal knows, there’s nothing I desire more in this second – it binds me to you.”

Sitting back on her haunches, Ila frowned; she wished – desperately – that she could see his face to understand the undertone of deep sadness that vibrated like violins in his voice.

“What do you mean?”

“If,” a moment of silence, a deep, shuddering breath, “if I take what you offer, I’ll have betrayed the way things are done. I am not destined to be betrothed – what with two older brethren yet unmarried – and even if that blessing was to be bestowed upon me, I’d have to follow certain rituals.”

Ila’s head spun as warm, sticky drops rained on the back of her hands, resting almost coyly on his shivering thighs now; marriage, an idea that was an open wound in her heart.

“I am sorry,” she whispered, “of course, I do not seek to entrap you in an unfortunate match.”

Psych...IDNMT cannot shut up and I tend to write shorter chapters...so there will be a third installment for this one as well...

🙈🙈🙈

I hope you liked this <3

-> Part 3

Taglist:

@blairsanne

@narniaandthenorth

@fizzyxcustard

@laurfilijames

@myselfandfantasy

@legolasbadass

@linasofia

@lathalea

@midearthwritings

@clumsy-wonderland

@fckmini

@otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore

@schrodingerspenis

[rationalnerd62]

Wheel of Time Screentime, s1e4

Did I postpone working on episode 4 because I thought it would be trickier to take screentime notes for it than for all the episodes so far? Yes. Was I right about that? Yes again, but this is pretty much the only thing that matched my expectations for this episode.

There was a lot of (more or less) named characters in this episode. Beside all the new Aes Sedai and Warders we had mostly briefly seen at the end of ep3, we also meet the Grinwell family: 3/4 don’t have a first name, but since they have a last name... *shrugs* I guess they’ll count for this chart.

We also had a few weird group scenes, where I wasn’t always sure where to stop the timers. For example, Ihvon is busy being a good cook next to Lan and Stepin as they practice, do I count him or not? (I did not). When we’re on an outdoor camp, when is a character too much in the background to stop being relevant? During a fight scene, the camera easily moves from one part of the fight to another: do I consider everyone as in the scene, or do I focus on the character that is being shown to me?

For the particular fight scene at the end of the episode, there was a lot of single character focus for short period of time, especially to show their reaction to specific events. This was the case with Stepin’s reaction to Kerene’s death, or Nynaeve’s confusion to the fight as a whole. As a result, I broke down the fight scene more based on what characters were shown than on what characters I guessed were there. If anyone ever tries to compute similar data, they may thus result in slightly different screentimes. Overall, the results shouldn’t change much though: from the moment Logain knocked down Liandrin and Kerene to the moment everyone got reunited in the cave, we only had around 2min30s of outdoor fight. Yes, I definitely thought it was more while watching that episode.

I will be honest, I am a bit surprised by the results of this episode. I was expecting two things:

For Nynaeve to be on the top 3 of this episode screentime.

For the gender balance to lean more towards women than men.

Turns out I was wrong on both accounts.

Our top scorer in this episode is Logain, which is logical and unexpected. Logical, because between his 3min30s of cold open, all the discussions our Aes Sedai had while shielding him and that escape attempt, it makes sense to have close to 18min of screentime. Plus, he was supposedly “The Dragon Reborn”, title of this episode. But it was also unexpected because that man didn’t move for around 7min40s of that time, so we almost forgot about him.

Most of our characters from the Aes Sedai camp follow, sometimes quite closely: there’s less than a minute of difference between Lan (#2) and Nynaeve (#5 - we could almost consider her #4, since a lot of Kerene’s time was spent, well... on the ground). Nynaeve’s screentime is still a serious improvement from previous weeks, as she has about 5min40s more than Rand. The younger adults from the Two Rivers all have around or below 8min of screentime for this episode.

This is also the first episode where no character goes above 20min of screentime. There’s two things to explain this:

The cast size.

A lot of two persons dialogues.

This is true for our subplots (Rand with Mat, Rand with Thom, Egwene with Aram, Perrin with Ila) but this is even more true for our main plot. Lan got to talk with Stepin, then Nynaeve, then Moiraine, then Nynaeve again. Stepin got his own discussion with Kerene, who also talked with Liandrin, who talked with Nynaeve. Moiraine even got her own friendship with Alanna (and I need more of this).

Overall, this gives smaller screentime to characters, but also screentime that does more to character development than, for example, most of the group scenes of episode 2 where Moiraine was usually the one talking (not that those scenes are bad, mind you. This is a Moiraine Damodred supremacist’s account, after all #gaymegay).

Regarding the gender balance, women are still below men in total. We do have a lot of significant female characters at the top of our list, but between Logain and Lan as our top#2 and a lot of 4 to 6min secondary male characters, I guess somehow we don’t reach the balance I expected. I did not have that feeling at all when watching this episode: I guess this is another one where it would be interesting to look at speaking time.

I will try to get episode 5/6/7 done before the season finale. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts on this!

As always, all the results can be found at this link (very useful this week, since the main chart may not be very readable on tumblr). Feel free to take a look at other screentime breakdown through the #wot screentime tag!

[a-simp-20]

"FAMILY??" [DORI SAKURDA FAN FIC]

Pt.1 Pt.11 Pt.111 Pt.1v [Wip]

[AIB Cast Masterlist]

Please read part 1 of this story to get to know the characters that are going to be in here.

There will be some special characters in here,and that is: @niragis-right-hand-rabbit And @aceofspadegrass .these two have inspired to write this so please go follow them they are very great people 😆

Sumarry: Dori's Characters are stuck in the universe where Dori is,and now most of them need to start to get jobs,while the rest of his characters need to be in new school's

Warning!: Fighting(yelling), Mentions of a bit of blood

Genre: Fluff,Angst,Comfort,Crack

|

|

|

ENJOY THE STORY

[SOMEWHERE IN TOKYO]

Ila woke up by stretching her limbs,as she got up from her bed and got ready for the day. She went down stairs to make some breakfast which was the typical Eggs and bread that she would always eat,After eating she heard a faint meow coming from behind her,she looked back to see her black kitten Niragi "Well good morning Niragi" She said as she patted the kitten's black head. Niragi meows as he rubs his head against It's fingers,she smiled down at him while picking him up and feeding him after that. After feeding Niragi she heard her phone ring,she pick it up "Moshi moshi?" She said through the phone " Moshi Moshi?,what do you mean by that gurl??" Someone said through the phone with a faint laugh " Oh it's you Chloe, I thought it was my boss or something geez" Ila chuckled as she sit's on one of her bar stools that were in her kitchen"so what's up?" "Well I was thinking maybe we could go to that ice cream shop that's near your house? I'll invite Ace too" Chloe said through the phone"sure!,but I have to visit a friend of mine after" Ila said "Let me guess who's this friend of yours is...is it Dori again?" Chloe giggled "yes,yes it is Chloe..why??" "Oh nothing,it's just that the both of you seem really close" She said " I mean we are close,but we aren't a thing you know" " Yeah yeah I know that,maybe me and Ace can a company you to his house?" Chloe asked " Sure thing" Ila said.

After how many more minutes of chatting she ended the call,she got up and went to her room to get ready.

[AT DORI'S HOUSE]

Right now Everyone was in the living room, silence filled the air until Dori broke it"since today is Sunday,all of you could look for new jobs while I deal with Suguru,Ryuichi,and Mugi's new schools " Dori said,everyone nodded while Niragi just snickers is confirmation "um,Dori kun?" Taketo said" Yeah?" "I'm actually in a band...and uh,I don't know if I actually have a specific job...like what jobs are there anyway?" Taketo said,chuckling nervously "maybe you could go talk to a friend of mine,he's in a band and he plays the drums. He said that he needs an extra guitarist in his band" Dori said as he crossed his arms over his chest"what's the bands name?" Taketo said in excitement "oh it's called-" "Why are we focusing on his job?,you know we need jobs too right?. Dori kun?" Someone said,the voice that said that belonged to Fukami that was sitting right next to Niragi as Fanta was on his lap "I mean,you know what your job is right?,like you literally own a whole Café named 'Coffee and Vanilla' " "He owns a Café,tch!. My job is more better then a stupid Café" Niragi said with smug look on his face "Niragi!" Dori said to him"what?,you know what my job is right?" Niragi said,as he looked directly at Dori's eyes.

"Come on guys,we should stop fighting and figure this out ourselves" Ryuichi said"Y-yeah..i agree with him,please stop" Suguru said while adjusting his glasses "it's settled then,all of you already know what your jobs are. Now all I have to do is take Taketo to a friend of mine and then I'll deal with schools" Dori said,as he got up "tch!,this is bulls**t" Niragi said as he got up,and pushed Dori aside"excuse me?" Dori said with a glare at Niragi's back "I said that this is all bulls**t!" Niragi yelled,finally looking at Dori's direction"I was the one that let you live in this house,and fed you!,without me you'll be in the streets by now!" Dori yelled back "G-guys,please stop fighting.." Suguru said,standing up in between them "GET OUT THE WAY YOU NERD HEAD!!" Niragi yelled as he pushed Suguru aside"Niragi!,be careful of your surroundings!" Fukami said,as he helped Suguru get up from the floor"oo~,this will be some spicy sh*t" Mugi said,taking out his phone to record "Mugi stop that!" Ryuichi said,as he tries to grab Mugi's phone away from his hand which he succeeded "I AM STILL NOT CALM BY THE FACT THAT I'M IN THIS STUPID WORLD,I'D RATHER SUFFER IN THE BORDERLANDS THEN HERE" "Well there is no way you will come back to the Borderlands!,Niragi you're safe now here with us!. No more deadly games and Suffering,why?..why do you want to go back in to that world!?"Dori yelled"G-guys...i think I'm bleeding" Suguru said,Fukami looked at him with a worried look,Niragi looked toward's Suguru,his eye's widen as he saw the blood coming from his nose now on his white T-shirt "i-i am so sorry-" Niragi said,but was quickly cut off by Suguru"No! No!...it's okay..i'm fine" Suguru said while wiping his nose"No you're not fine Suguru,Dori kun..do you know where you keep the first aid kit?" Fukami asked"Yes,it's in the bathroom upstairs" Dori said,as he pointed toward's the stairs "ありがとうございます、どりくん[thank you very much,Dori kun]" Fukami replied as he guided Suguru up the stairs into the bathroom "Niragi-" "I knew it I was going to hurt you all" Silence filled the room once more,but Dori decides to break it" No Niragi please look at me, son-" "Son?,who do you think I am?..your son!?" Niragi said with a cracked voice"After all I said to you,you called me your son!?" Niragi once again said with a cracked voice,but this time he was crying a bit"Maybe we should give you guys some space" Ryuichi said with a soft voice "Come on Mugi,Fanta" Ryuichi called for the both of them"Tch,you two are just both worthless-" "Mugi!" Ryuichi yelled as Fanta growled at him"Okay okay fine,I'm coming" Mugi said as he stubbornly walked towards Fanta and Ryuichi that were halfway up the stairs.

Now all that's left was Niragi and Dori. Both of them sat on the couch in silence,neither of them wanting to start the conversation. Dori just blankly looks at his black wooden coffee table that was in front of them,right now in his head..he could only think of what he said to Niragi,particularly yesterday night when he was talking to his dog Fanta,he said that him and his characters make a good family.Niragi sniffles"Hey,Niragi...come here" Dori said patting the empty space of the large couch that was right next to him,Niragi got up quickly and sat right beside him,his head low and tears were falling from his face to the floor. Dori hugged him side Way's,bringing him close "It's all my fault that I hurted him..even though he is actually myself.." Niragi said,finally calming down"Niragi..i-" "Dori!,ya in there??" Someone yelled from the front door "Quick!,go upstairs!" Dori whispers to Niragi,as Niragi got up and went up stairs into one of the rooms"I'm coming!" Dori shouted as he walked towards the front door.

He opens the front door to see Ila,Chloe and Ace" You told me to come over right?,also..you don't mind if I bring my friends right Dori kun?" The hijab girl said,smiling softly at Dori"oh yeah it's fine,come in come in" Dori said as he moved away from the door so that the three girls could come in. He closed the door behind him as he guided the three girls to his living room"This is such a nice place you live in Dori!" One girl said,the voice belonged to Ace " Oh uh, ありがとう" Dori said smiling at her.

Dori went into the kitchen and gestures Ila to follow him there. Ila got up and excuse herself from her friends as she went to the kitchen where Dori was making some food"So,what is it that you want to talk about?" Ila asked him,crossing her arms against her chest"Well,I don't know if you will believe me or not...but um" Dori went silent for a bit,his eyes,his dark brown eyes..scanned across the kitchen room as he thinks on what he is going to say next. He bit his bottom lip and started speaking again "My character's are in my house" He said with a serious tone,Ila chuckled "what?" She said with a smile on her face while fixing her hijab "It's true Ila Chan,and what I meant characters..i meant that they are real people who looks just like me,that is right now in one of the guest room's" Dori said,looking her in the eyes,her also dark brown eyes"So your character's are right now in their room's- wait...HOW MANY of your character's?" Ila asked Dori "Six,six of them" "Which are?" "Fukami Hiroto, Niragi suguru..the Borderland version and the middle school Version of him,Taketo from EVEN,Ryuichi from Koe Koi,and Mugi From Scums wish" Dori explains to her,Ila's eyes widened "We will talk about this later-" "No!,Fanta come back!!" Both of them rushed out if the kitchen to look at who was yelling..turns out it was Ryuichi chasing Fanta l,running circle's in living room where Ace and Chloe was. In Fanta's mouth there was basically a black box that is meant to be a box for glasses "Wait..if Dori's there,who's this dude.." Chloe said,looking back and forth from Dori to Ryuichi thar finally caught Fanta"Ryuichi wait up-" Suguru went down stairs with tissues that were plugged into his nose,he paused at his sentence when he saw Ila,Chloe and Ace in the living room "Suguru come back here!,I'm not finish cleaning you" Fukami then went down the stairs"Oh,I did not know that we were expecting visitors"Fukami said,eyeing Ila and her friends from head to toe"Can all of you shut the frick up?,I'm trying to relax here ya know" Mugi pop's himself out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist,his bangs wet"what's all this rucuss??" Niragi then went out of his room with squinting eye's,which is a sign that he was annoyed "WAIT IT'S NIRAFFI!" Chloe then suddenly said,pointing a finger at Niragi "And Nerdragi" Ace said,pointing at Suguru "this is going to be one hell of a mess" Dori sigh's as he pinched the bridge of his nose while closing his eyes.

[jackhues]

Oou can we get like a reader and barzy go out to the bar and some girl is hitting on him and the reader gets mad at him but he doesn’t see what’s the problem because he didn’t go home with the girl please give happy ending lol

the one - mat barzal

ooh, love this! the ending was a little tough bcz as a reader, i love happy endings, but as a writer i love angsty endings loll

warnings: angstish with happy ending, alcohol, swearing (i think i can't remember)

gif not mine but the split second of eye contact is killing me

"oops."

that was the single word that had ruined your entire night.

you never thought that a clumsy girl walking by you and your boyfriend at the bar, tripping over nothing would make you this mad.

but you'd had four drinks already, bringing out what your friends liked to call 'angry-y/n'. anything anyone did around you while you had four drinks in your system tended to make you mad, even if it wasn't even serious.

and this wasn't serious.

not until she began to flirt shamelessly with your boyfriend as if you weren't even there. you fumed silently as she stepped closer, reaching out to place a hand on his bicep. she ran her hand up and down his arm, and instead of being mad, mat just seemed to think that was fine.

"okay, that's enough," you said to her, placing your drink down and moving her hand off of mat.

"excuse me?" she made a face. "can't you see i'm trying to have a conversation with him?"

"conversations don't require you to be all up over my boyfriend," you responded. "now get lost."

"woah, woah," mat stepped between you guys. "let's just calm down. it's not that big of a deal, y/n."

"not that big of a deal," you repeated with a scoff. "she was literally groping you, mat."

"no she wasn't," mat insisted. "we were just having a conversation."

"yeah, y/n," the other repeated. "a normal conversation that you're intruding in."

"intruding? yeah, i'm not doing this today," you threw some bills down on the table to pay for your drinks, before shouldering your purse and stomping out.

if mat wanted to have a lovely conversation with that girl, you're not gonna stop him.

you stormed out the doors and down the street, beyond annoyed at mat, and that girl, and the fact that mat had the car keys and you had to walk all the way home in your heels.

you wiped the angry tears that were starting to blur your vision, just trying your best to take deep breaths so you wouldn't break down in the middle of the street.

"y/n! y/n, slow down!"

footsteps sounded behind you, until mat appeared next to you, adjusting himself so he was between you and the road.

"what's wrong? why are you so upset?" he asked, stopping you.

"why am i upset?" you repeated. "mat that girl had her hands all over you, she - she was--"

"she isn't the one i'm going home with," he interrupted, catching your elbow and pulling you close. "you, you're the one i'm going with, you're the one i'm always gonna go home to. not her, not anyone else who starts hitting on me." he tapped the crown of your head, "it's you, it's always you."

"promise?" you asked, leaning into mat's embrace and placing your forehead against him.

"you're the one," he promised.

-

tags : @woodruff-edwards , @austinbutlerscaresme ,  @svechnikovvv ,  @hockeyboysarehot , @emptyflowerpots ,  @mysticaldonkey , @lam-ila ,  @babydollmarauders , @starjoyyy  ,  @kjohnson-91 , @gavinbrindley, @hischierdevils , @jackhughesily  , @panarin10 ,  @equallyshaw ,   @power2myheart  ,  @lynnismypseudonym , @beccaiscold , @akengii , @hischierhaze, @cinnamonpancakes , @mitchymainer , @lifeofpriya ,  @marshmallow-babe, @hughesx3 ,  @emsully2002  ,  @starsandhughes , @huggy-hischier73 ,  @doglady5678 , @thatoneblog , @exonct07 @hughesmedicine , @qwanelledingele , @mindless-rock , @ireadthensuetheauthors , @huggy-hischier94, @slaythehousedownboots , @diary-of-jj

[saha-bee]

Some serious thoughts on us muslims in regards of helping those in need right now.

The following thoughts are my own but derived from Nouman Ali Khans Khutbah “The Nation of Balance” (I highly recommend you watch it too)

Nouman Ali Khan states a very good and very important point:

Our Ummah is facing the same trials as the nations who came before us. Our sense of unity is only then prevalent in times of heat and are met with ignorance from other nations because of what we put out in the world before that. 

Mankind can and will testify about us, muslims. If they are not drawn to our religion because of the kind of people we are, we will be accountable for that. 

Today, Islam faces a lot of prejudices not because of the religion itself, but the people who practise it, muslims. It is time we nurture not only our individual faith, but also our image, our faith and especially, our love as an Ummah.

We have a mission to take care of our image as well, we are meant to be a nation that is balanced, warm and always perceived as good. It is not other nations who started to incite hate on us. We have earned their dislike because of our judgement towards our own people. We are competing with our own kind instead of supporting each other. We judge other muslims, we look down upon them, we try to seperate ourselves from them if they are not following the same school, scholar, way of dressing or other cultural differences. It is not about being the most kind, gentle and moral person. It is all about who has a good career, the biggest house, the prettiest daughters etc.

Mothers, your daughters mission is not to get married young, to a man who you approve of.

Fathers, your son is not supposed to be earning a high salary so you can have a nice house and buy a car to then show it off to people who don’t even care about you. 

Sisters, it is not about looking your best and being pretty, getting a degree and having a job to get by until you maybe fall in love and have children who will then continue the cycle with more regard towards this life than the afterlife.

Brothers, it is not about competing in the gym, sitting infront of your computer all day consuming all sorts of entertainment and listening to tracks that make you feel “cool”.

Families, it is not about having successful (whatever that means anyways) offspring and being a notorious family among the others. The other families will still not care about you, even if you are the royal family, so what is it exactly that you are chasing?

It is about carrying on the mission of our beloved Prophet (pbuh). It is about being such a good person, to then become such a good nation, that people will say “Oh to be part of this muslim community! They are a really kind people”. This is how dawah is and should work.

Instead we are facing laws that restrict us to live our religion, but that is not originally coming from a place of unreasonable hate or fear towards muslims. It is coming from us being the exact opposite of a kind, non-judgemental and moral (!) nation. It is not the west that is our enemy, it is not the signs of the last day, it is also not the plot of any conspiracy theory you wholeheartedly believe in and give into. It is us. It is the way we do not lead by example. It is how when at a masjid with lots of mixed ethnicities, we fight over what race the imam should be to lead the prayer. It is us judging other muslims because of all sorts of things. How can we have the audacity to judge another human being when even our Prophet (pbuh) sought forgiveness like noone else? Judging is God’s job not ours.

We can keep donating, we can keep praying, but the cycle continues as it did for the past couple decades. It is about time we pray for the root cause of the suffering of all muslims around the world: a more unified Ummah.

So please, pray for us to treat each other like brothers, to nurture and build a community that transcends ethnicity, culture, language, appearance, status and unifies people based on “La ilaha ila Allah”. 

Teach your children to be good people, to be an example of what it means to be an excpetionally good person to everyone.

Teach them not to judge others, especially muslims.

Teach them their real mission in this life not just as an individual, but also as part of a nation.

But most importantly, lead by example and act as a nation that the Prophet (pbuh) would be proud of, that people want to be part of and that other nations will want to support.

Just as NAK is ending the Khutbah: We can do it. There is still hope that we as an Ummah can build this Ummah up to achieve nothing but love and support from ourselves and all other nations to the point where if a muslim country faces difficulty, it is not just muslims supporting that country, but the entire world!

It will take time, but it is not too late! We are the legacy of the Prophet (pbuh) and there has been change due to our own people that came before us! We carry the same legacy, mission and spiritual foundation as those that made this world a better place.

“This Ummah has a lot of blessings in it, a lot of potential in it. I am a huge believer in what just one generation can do.” Nouman Ali Khan

[askaceattorney]

Dear the-one-ace-attorney,

I’d love to, but the thing is, there isn’t very much I can say with confidence about this particular ship.  Unlike Phoenix x Maya, which at least has some circumstantial evidence to back it up, Athena x Apollo is mostly just wishful thinking on my part (and the part of many others, I’m sure).  So it looks like I’m about to go on a wishful thinking tangent.

Apologies in advance to every non-fan of Justicykes out there.

As we know, the two of them met in Tenma Town during their first case together, in a very unforgettable way:

Ah, good times...

So, one reason I think they make a good pair (even just as friends and coworkers) is the way their conversations usually pan out.  Much like with Phoenix and Maya, the more serious attitude of one of them clashes beautifully with the overly excitable personality of the other.

Right from the get-go, Apollo struggles to make sense of Athena and everything she brings to the table -- personality, energy, random foreign expressions, personality, a talking robotic companion...and did I mention her personality?  Then, of course, there’s her huge competitive streak.

I’m willing to bet no other lawyer has ever said that on their way to a crime scene.

Their clashing personalities don’t seem to get in the way of them working together, thankfully.  In fact, Apollo’s more mature attitude helps to balance out some of her more irrational behavior.

This symbiotic working relationship is the biggest reason I can see the two of them clicking on a more personal level, but there’s at least one other big connection between them: both of them know the pain and injustice of losing someone they love to murder.  I don’t claim to be a love guru, but to me, the ability to sympathize -- or at least empathize -- with someone else’s grief is one of the greatest parts of any relationship, especially romantic ones.  And on top of that, they both have a special talent for noticing when others attempt to hide their emotions.  That has to make for some interesting conversations, I bet.

Then, of course, is the fact that they’re both named after Greek gods.  While it’s true that the Apollo and Athena of Greek mythology were never lovers (in fact, they were half-siblings), this does lead me to believe that their destinies (heh heh) were meant to intertwine in a special way.  Again, it’s probably just wishful thinking, but yanevaknow.

Of course, as you may know, this ship has plenty of other fans, some of whom happen to be talented artists who decided to portray their version of a Justicykes romance (and kudos to each and every one of them for doing so).  I couldn’t possibly name them all, but I’d be remiss to leave out one whose love of the ship rivals even my own.  Some of her artwork has shown up a few times here, in fact.  I am, of course, referring to Ila, also known as Ticcy.  I thought my shipping was hardcore until I looked through the justicykes tag on her blog.  *whistle*  (Be warned of NSFW material if you decide to explore it yourself.)

But more importantly, her artwork provides some great illustration of why a romance between these two is so easy to imagine.  Take this one, for example:

(Source)

It not only illustrates how hilarious their one-on-one conversations could get, but how their relationship would be both a romance and a rivalry -- one in which they often compete to see who can break the other one first.  They’d still be lawyers competing to be the pride of the Wright Anything Agency, after all, so it’s easy to imagine them using each other to sharpen their skill at making people spill the truth.  Competition of this sort has a way of bringing out the best in people, so I can even imagine Phoenix letting them do it gladly...as long as it didn’t interfere with their work.

(Source)

It wouldn’t do much to interfere with the comedy value of their dialogue, thankfully.

And best of all, they’d be there to congratulate each other after every victory -- especially the ones they managed to pull off together.

(Source)

Also, one thing I absolutely agree with Ticcy on -- lovers or not, these two are a couple of lawyerdorks.

(Source)

Of course, before we go any deeper, it’s probably best to return to reality (or game canon in this case) -- as of right now, Apollo and Athena are on opposite sides of the Atlantic, and aren’t likely to see each other again for a long time.  Or, in Athena’s words:

Is this a reason for us Justicykes shippers to be worried or sad?  Maybe yes, maybe no, but it does leave us with the promise of foreshadowing.  Somewhere down the road, whether it’s in Khura’in, the U.S., or somewhere else, sooner or later, by choice or by coincidence, chances are pretty high that they’ll meet each other again.  True, that'll require a new entry in the Ace Attorney series (among other things), but a potential reunion is better than nothing in my book.

One other thing worth mentioning is that Athena seemed to start missing Apollo just moments after they part ways.

Yet again, this might just be wishful thinking, but it could be she misses him in a different way than Phoenix, Trucy, and his friends back home miss him.  In the year and month she spent working alongside him, he’d showed her the ropes of being a defense attorney, served as her legal aide with her first court case, and even helped her discover the truth of her past (in a roundabout way, granted, but technicalities).  There’s no denying that they’d become close friends by that time, but could it have gone further than that in her mind?  I mean, just look at that face!

Is it the separation from a close friend making her feel this way, or did she perhaps leave a part of her heart in Khura’in?  Only time will tell.  As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the would-be mixture of yellow and red, so to speak.  Like I said, there isn’t any real evidence to support it, but it’s still a fun, heartwarming idea to explore.  Thanks for asking!

-The Co-Mod

[awkwardturtleaffairs16]

We Don’t Talk Together

Pairing: Min Yoongi x Reader/OC (Rey)

Genre/Warnings: idol verse  best friend taehyung, yoongibreakupfic, or were they even together?, unrealised and repressed feelings, lawyer OC, sad, slight fluff

Notes: I felt a bit awkward writing Y/N, so I gave her a name. And since Star Wars just came out, I am Reylo fangirling. She isn’t Rey per se tho! I also realised that Yoongi didn’t even show up in this chapter. lololol.

Taehyung was already preparing to go to bed after that exhausting day of training. Beep. Beep. An SMS. He stops drying his hair and grabs his phone from his bed.

 11:30PM Rey: “Taehyung ah, let’s grab some ramyeon tonight...?” He looks around the house, seemingly to check if the others were already sleeping. Only Jungkook was outside playing games on the couch.

 11:33PM V: “O.K. I’ll just get dressed xx”

 Taehyung checks his phone for the temperature tonight. Dang, -7 degrees, it was going to be freezing. He hurries to grab a down jacket from the closet beside the door and puts on his shoes. Checks his pocket, keys, phone, wallet. He grabs and door and waves to Jungkook, mumbling something about being back in 5 minutes.

 Does it really matter if it actually takes more than 5 minutes to boil ramyeon?

 ---

 She sat on the bench outside, near the river, a warm cup of noodles on hand, wind blowing on a december night. Kim Taehyung was sitting beside her, slurping Jjampong soundly. She took a tentative sip, and felt the spicy soup scorch her tongue.

 “Ahh.. This is the best way the best way to experience Seoul.” She says. Twinkling lights were appearing over the Han River. It was always slightly more magical during the December season.

 Taehyung laughs beside her and pauses to say, “You always say that, Noona.”

 With an irritated sigh, Rey tsks and murmurs, “Stop calling me Noona. I’ve already told you I’m not your Noona,.” Taehyung laughs, and continues demolishing his ramyeon. “How long are you staying in Seoul this time?” He asks.

 She pauses and seemingly ponders the thought. She hesitates before relenting, and says, “I don’t have a return ticket right now.”

 Taehyung stops to stare her. “......What? Are you serious?”

 She really got him shookt, if he stopped eating. She thinks that maybe she should explain, but at the same time, why? Did she really have to explain? She sighs. She takes her time chewing a mouthful of noodles before she looks at him and states frankly, “I’m tired of working. I need a vacation... a real vacation, Tae.”

 He stares at her for a second longer before he shrugs and slurps the last of his noodles. “I bet you’ll get bored and regret everything after a week.”

 She feels slightly affronted but just rolls her eyes. He doesn’t know how lawyering gets so tiresome. When she was taking the bar exams, the only thing she ever wanted was to be a damn lawyer. Now that she was and after 5 years of working 24/7, she can’t help but just wonder if it was worth it. How much time does she need before she realizes that maybe she wants to do something else.

 She catches his eye and he shrugs. “We’ll see, okay, stop trying to preempt my decisions.” Taehyung gives her a smile and asks, “Did you already have a place to stay?”

 “Yup. Don’t worry. I got those fancy Airbnb in Myeongdong. I think I live 15 minutes away from your dorm.”

 “That sounds expensive. Altho, I am looking forward to bothering you daily. I finally have someone to talk to.”

 Rey pauses. Her hand hovers on Taehyung’s shoulder before she decides to grab him to her side and give him a side hug.

 “You always have someone to talk to Tae.” She has a light fond smile playing on her lips, “...Soju?”

 “Damn, yes.”

 ---

 After 7 bottles of Soju in varying flavors of peach, plum, and grapefruit. The two friends were very very drunk. Stumbling thru the stairs of the Boy’s dorm, they manage to get to the front door, dropped the keys three times, before they successfully crashed on the couch.

 “God, Tae, Taegung, itz been a whileeeee since I got this drunk.”

 “Post debut drinks 2013, BBQ Grill in Gangnam. 13 Somaek’s + te-V-ila.” He raises his hand to correspondingly make a V sign above his right eye to emphasize the te-V-ila. It was probably the drinks, but they both burst out laughing. Teahyung slides a knowing grin to Rey. “Hey, I remember you were pretty busy that night.”

 Rey blushes a bright pink, atleast brighter than their current drunk flushes. “Shut up.” Despite the denial, she distinctly remembers cold wandering hands, hasty deliberate glances, shared cups, warm hugs outside the street. Also, unfounded attraction and excessive over analyzing of a certain person.

 V grabs his phone and pretends to ignore her, while humming. After a few seconds, she whips her head from his lap and harshly whispers, “Are. You. Singing. Drake????”

 Taehyung tries to keep a straight face but sings louder making suggestive eyebrows, “I got my eyes on you, you’re everything that I see...”

 Rey pinches his side and he grimaces before tackling her to the side with his feet. They pretend to tackle until both of them succumb to the fatigue and alcohol.

 “It’s cold Tae.” Rey mumbles grumpily.

 “I’m too tired to turn off the AC.”

 Both are quiet on the coach, with Taehyung sitting down and staring at the empty ceiling and Rey lying down, feet on Tae’s lap, curled on her left side.

 A short sigh, “I miss those days.” V says fondly thinking of easier times. Less fans, less responsibilities. More time for self-discovery.

 There is silence for a while, before Rey turns towards the couch, Tae almost doesn’t hear it, “Yeah. Me too.”

 ---

 She hears quiet shuffling in the living room in the middle of night. The lights are all out and she can scarcely see anything. She decides to ignore it and proceeds to go back in slumber. She feels a lot warmer now. Maybe Taehyung decided to turn off the air conditioner after all.

 ---

 When she wakes up, she blurrily sees Namjoon and Seokjin eating cereal and having fragrant coffee. They acknowledge her and offer her some breakfast, but she barely shakes her head to say no. Taehyung is passed out on the other side of couch. She notices its 6am, too early for the maknae line.

 It wasn’t unusual for her to spend the night in their dorm, but it has been a while since the last time. She lays back down and snuggles on the couch, maybe she can get another hour of sleep. She covers her face with the comforter with full intention of going back to sleep, just before she vaguely realizes that it smells like Min Yoongi.

[ilusionis]

THE MEGA RP PLOTTING SHEET / MEME.

First and foremost, recall that no one is perfect, we all have witnessed some plotting once which did not went too well, be it because of us or our partner. So here have this, which may help for future plotting. It’s a lot! Yes, but perhaps give your partners some insight? Anyway BOLD what fully applies, italicize if only somewhat.

Mun Name: vinn (or ila, for close friends)     Age: 22       Contact: IM, discord

Character(s) I rp: aizen sosuke on here, askin nakk ke vaar (@ levaer) and lille barro (@ firstritter, sideblog) Which muse(s) inspires you the most atm?(for MM): all of them actually. Current Fandom(s): bleach. Fandom(s) you have an AU for:  none. i’ve been debating about making a modern au but i wouldn’t be sure what to explore in it. within the context of bleach, though, i’m very interested in developing a bunch of AUs. My language(s): i’m only confident in writing in italian or english.  Themes I’m interested in for rp:   Fantasy / Science fiction / Horror / Western / Romance / Thriller / Mystery / Dystopia / Adventure / Modern / Erotic / Crime / Mythology / Classic / History / Renaissance / Medieval / Ancient / War / Family / Politics / Religion / School / Adulthood / Childhood / Apocalyptic / Gods / Sport / Music / Science / Fights / Angst / Smut / Drama / etc. Themes/Genres you have an AU for: none.

Preferred Thread length: one-liner / 1 para / 2 para / 3+ / novella. Asks can be send by: Mutuals / Non-Mutuals / Personals / Anons. Can Asks be continued?:   YES / NO   only by Mutuals?:  YES / NO. Preferred thread type: crack / casual nothing too deep / serious / deep as heck. Is realism / research important for you in certain themes?:   YES / NO. Are you atm open for new plots?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS. Do you handle your draft / ask - count well?:  YES / NO / SOMEWHAT. How long do you usually take to reply?:  24h / 1 week / 2 weeks / 3+ / months / years. I’m okay with interacting: original characters / a relative of my character (an oc) / duplicates / my fandom / crossovers / multi-muses / self-inserts / people with no AU verse for my fandom / canon-divergent portrayals / au-versions (as main or only verse). Do you post more ic or occ?:  IC / OOC. Are you selective with following others?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS.  

Best ways to approach you for rp/plotting:  if you want to plot, it would be best to send me an IM and ask me, then we can definitely move to discord if you’d rather. it’s possible to approach me for rp without plotting first, best way would be to send me a meme when i reblog them or simply an ic ask, which i will answer, while memes might get lost. ic asks are good ice-breakers, we can continue plotting from there.

What expectations do you hold towards your plotting partner:  i need my partners to be as interested in our plot as i am. it would be great if you already have an idea, but it’s still good if you don’t, i get that coming up with ideas can be hard sometimes; mostly, i require honesty. you can definitely tell me that you got no ideas and i will do my best to help, ask questions, try to spark something. i do require the feeling of having that commitment reciprocated.

When you notice the plotting is rather one-sided, what do you do?:  i tend to straight up drop the conversation lmao. no hard feelings, but if i get the feeling you’re not interested, i will take my distance - i won’t waste my energy on a plot if my partner doesn’t share my enthusiasm. still, you can always approach me again, if you’re feeling up to it / have new ideas / whatever. nice thing of online convos is that they don’t have an expiration date lol.

How do you usually plot with others, do you give input or leave most work towards your partner?:  i always ask if they got any ideas to begin with. if my partner already knows, more or less, what kind of dynamic they wanna build with my character(s), that makes it infinitely easier to build something meaningful. it’s still fine if they don’t, i will usually ask a lot of questions regarding their muse’s opinions / feelings / etc., and try to navigate from there. a question i usually ask is: is there any aspect of your muse you’d like to explore? i think that’s a pivotal point in any interaction. 

When a partner drops the thread, do you wish to know?:   YES / NO / DEPENDS. - And why?: if they feel like telling me, why not. but usually, i don’t warn when i drop a thread, so it’s not expected of my partners ever. - What should your partner do when dropping a thread?:  nothing in particular tbh. they can tell me or approach me to start a new thread if they wish to, but it’s not required.

What could possibly lead you to drop a thread?:  i might lose interest in a thread, especially if i feel like it’s going nowhere or if the inspiration for it simply doesn’t come. it’s never happened so far that i had to drop a thread because it was making me uncomfortable, but that could still be a reason for me to. in general, though, i would approach my partner in that case. - Will you tell your partner?:   YES / NO / DEPENDS.

Is communication in the rpc important to you?   YES / NO. - And why?:  absolutely. i’d rather avoid awkward situations or misunderstandings of any kind; if something’s up, tell me. i also like to communicate with my writing partners (be it in the tags of our threads or in IMs), makes me feel like the enthusiasm is not one-sided and i find it generally pleasant.  - Are you okay with absolute honesty, even if it may means hearing something negative about you and/or portrayal?:  sure. we gotta stay polite, but honest. - Do you think you can handle such situation in a mature way?  YES / NO.

Why do you rp again, is there a goal?:  to have fun, to cultivate my writing skills and my english, and to explore my favorite characters. 

Wishlist, be it plots or scenarios:  i want to develop aizen’s wandenreich verse, because i’m deep in quincy hell and i think his dynamics with quincy muses could be super interesting. anything involving the intricacies of bleach politics is super interesting to me, be it with aizen or with my two quincy muses - who, btw, are also good to explore dynamics between quincies / their culture / relationships etc.

Themes I won’t ever rp / explore:  i won’t write anything pertaining to sexual assault. 

What Type of Starters do you prefer / dislike, can’t work with?: it’s gotten difficult to work with starters such as “you summoned me / do you need anything / did you call for me” etc. i used to receive that kind of starters all the time with aizen, and i can’t come up with something new every damn time. i also have a hard time working with starters / replies that already feel like a closed conversation and don’t give me anything to reply to.

What type of characters catch your interest the most?:  i’m not sure i have a type. aizen is pretty much an exception, the only example of an already well-built character i write, since i tend to gravitate around minor ones that don’t have much material and that i can work on and expand without being affected by the fandom’s opinion or whatever. somehow i always tend to rp tall guys-

What type of characters catch your interest the least?:  children and teenagers don’t interest me for the most part. characters who don’t have a shred of an opinion or can’t offer any interesting conflicts. overly friendly, mushy, affectionate and flowery characters are really not my cup of tea either. 

What are your strong aspects as rp partner?:  oh god i have no idea. i’m very laid-back, i guess. i’ll never pressure my partners for replies, i don’t think i’m owed a reply in the first place because we all have lives offline,  so i’ll never take it to heart if a partner drops a thread. if i really feel like our roleplaying styles don’t mesh, it will be at my own discretion to do something about it. another strong aspect i have ....... i think i have a decent grasp on all my muses? especially aizen. of course ur free to disagree lol. also, lately i’ve been p active, so that’s it. 

What are your weak aspects as rp partner?: i’m really slow. i might speed up for my closest friends, with whom i plot / rp regularly, but usually i take quite some time to reply to random unplotted threads. i probably have a thousand other flaws as a rper, but this is the biggest one that comes to my mind rn. 

Do you rp smut?:  YES / NO. Do you prefer to go into detail?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS. Are you okay with black curtain?:  YES / NO. - When do you rp smut? More out of fun or character development?:  i don’t write detailed sex scenes. sorry lmao they’re just not interesting to me. however, i’m super-ok with writing anything around it, like intimate scenes etc. in fact i find it somewhat soothing.  - Anything you would not want to rp there?:  the nitty-gritty part is already a no, but i guess also sexual violence and shit like that. it’s a no.

Are ships important to you?:   YES / NO. Would you say your blog is ship-focused?:   YES / NO. Do you use read more?:  YES / NO / SOMETIMES. Are you: Multi-Ship / Single-Ship / Dual-Ship  —  Multiverse / Singleverse. - What do you love to explore the most in your ships?:  all my ships are with snow 8′) and ur never bored with her. in general, i love being able to explore the muses’ relationships, their conflicts and their peaceful moments, especially in relation to canon events! - What is your smut tag?: nsfw / ........ my n*sfw posts are rare anyway.

Are you okay with pre-established relationships?: YES / NO. - And what kind of ones?: to an extent, i prefer pre-est relationships to first meetings - which they can get a bit dull after some time. i’m ok with mostly anything, and only more selective when it comes to relationships that might severely alter my muse’s canon / past / overall character. 

► SECTION ABOUT YOUR MUSE.

- What could possibly make your Muse interesting towards others, why should they rp with this particular character of yours now, what possible plots do they offer?:  not to stroke my own feathers but aizen offers a perfect chance at character development to any and all bleach characters. he’s the main villain, he holds some wild opinions, and whether you agree or disagree with him, he leaves no one indifferent. aizen is the main cornerstone of bleach, and if you want your muse to questions themselves and the system / world around them, interacting with him is the best way to start. also, aizen interacted with a fuckton of people, knows practically everything there is to know, is responsible for significant amount of canon events, so you see ... whatever character you write, aizen has the full potential to be extremely relevant in the course of their development.

- With what type of Muses do you usually struggle to rp with?:   children, ordinary low-ranked shinigami (i find it hard when it’s out of the blue, even in aizen’s captain and lieutenant verses ... because interactions would likely be only work-related, and won’t go far), characters whose personalities really have nothing to do with aizen. unfortunately, he’s not my easiest muse, and i don’t want to force interactions with him.  - With what type of Muses do they usually work well with?:  characters who have opinions, some political involvement, in general characters with whom aizen had a dynamic in canon. 

- What interests your Muse(s) in general:  reading, calligraphy, philosophy (especially in-world philosophy), science (again, mostly related to the specificity of the bleach universe), the very careful crafting of his plan- - What do they desire, is their goal?:  kill the soul king and take its place, destroy the institutions of soul society, subdue them. and then rule, as the soul king never did before. - What catches their interest first when meeting someone new?:  the idiosyncracies in their behavior, the particularities, their possible weaknesses.  - What do they value in a person?:    very little, usually. he may appreciate a resolute personality, strength, and intelligence. - What themes do they like talking about?:  speaking mostly of mundane talks, he likes conversing about his interests. it takes a lot for him to share any personal information, though. - Which themes bore them?:  anything about the greater good, friendship, love, very human topics.

- Did they ever went through something traumatic?:  seeing the soul king, in all things like a ghost stalking his dreams, and well ... spending his early life in rukongai as a whole. being forced to consume other souls in order to survive. the first times his reiatsu killed anyone who tried to get near him.  - What could possibly trigger them?:  it’s rare that he will outwardly show signs of distress, i’d say almost impossible. the few times the soul king still appears in his mind, greatly upsets him though. - What could set them off, enrage them?:  the soul king gets him particularly heated. urahara, as we witnessed. after his defeat, ichigo, to an extent. - What could lead to an instant kill?:  kubo was a coward who didn’t dare let him kill any relevant character, but actually aizen kills very liberally.

- Is there someone /-thing they hate?:  the soul king, urahara. he has a strong disdain for yamamoto, and that joke of C46. - Is there someone /-thing they love?:    himself. tousen

Is your Muse easy to approach?: YES / NO. - Best ways to approach them?:  he’s only really easy to approach for bleach characters, who, depending on who they are, have different eligible verses to further facilitate the interaction. humans / powerless bleach characters can’t really interact with him tho. - Where are they usually to find?:  soul society or hueco mundo. i have a verse set in the wandenreich.

Something you may still want to point out about your muse?:  aizen is not a particularly easy muse, but it’s part of his overall mosaic to be somewhat unapproachable and distant. i’m not out to make him someone he is not, so forgive me in advance if plotting with me turns out to be difficult in a way or another. he’s very dear to me, and i try my best to do him justice! while my main headcanons may not affect our interactions specifically, i still ask my partners to look them up (they’re linked in my about page) because they’re essential to my portrayal and it makes me happy to have them acknowledged. i think that’s all lmao. come visit me over at my quincy boys too.

CONGRATS!!! You managed it, now tag your mutuals! ♥

Tagged by:  @skyvar​ I DID IT AT LAST. Tagging:  i don’t know who has been tagged so, you know what to do.

[edmund-valks]

Rented Birds and Family Ties

"It's missing most of its skin!"

Ila rolled her eyes.  "I know. I told you, I had to take it off to get it clean!  You can replace it, it's not a big deal."

Her youngest brother was shaking his head, muttering.  Sarendal was usually decent enough, but he seemed rather put out by this.  "You promised you'd bring it back in perfect condition!  This is definitely not that, Ila."

"It's still in perfect shape structurally," she argued.  "The only damage is cosmetic, and let's be honest -- it could use a new outside!  The old skin was ugly and starting to dry out and crack."

"That's not the point."

She sighed, making no effort to hide her irritation.  "Then what is, Sandy?"

"The point is you made a promise, and you didn't stick to it."

"Oh, for… it was that or die!"

He crossed his arms, clearly suggesting which was the correct option under the circumstances.

"If I'd died, you wouldn't have gotten any of the bird back!"

"No," he admitted, "but at least I would've been able to consider it an even trade.  Death wipes out most debts."

Ilandreline snorted, still not buying this nonsense, especially from her twerp sibling.  "You're being unreasonable.  I'm worth more alive returning a superficially damaged bird than I am dead."

"Are you, though?"

Her laugh died before actually leaving her throat.  The way he was eyeing her… Was he really serious?  He sure seemed to be.  Ila's eyebrows drew down and perilously close together.  "You know what?  Fuck you, Sandy, you've turned into a real asshole.  I was going to offer to get a fancy new skin and put it on, but no.  Do it yourself."

She turned on her heel, hand on her knife as she stalked off toward her mother's compound.  Her brother was probably still not enough of a prick to try murdering her, but if he did, he'd learn she'd only gotten better since the last time she'd had to kick his ass.  Unfortunately, she did have to respect him enough to check back over a shoulder real quick, if only to make sure he hadn't found a crossbow somewhere.  He was talking to himself, though, and rechecking the damage to his awful hawkstrider, Light burn them both.

"Mother," she called, entering the gate to the family estate, "are you in the gardens?"  Mellura'thel Glimmerbow was a skilled herbalist, possibly the best of even their extended family.  She also liked plants more than people, which sometimes -- like now -- it was hard to blame her for.

"Greenhouse," came the muffled response.  "What do you need, daughter?  I am in the middle of something delicate."

That was never not the case, in Ilandreline's experience, especially if they needed to have a talk.  Like now.  "How long are you gonna be?  I wanted to get your… guidance… on something."  She couldn't ask for an opinion because her mother didn't deal in those.  What she said was right, everything else was not; that was how things were.  It had taken Ila a while to figure out how to use that.

"I should be inside in an hour.  Be a good girl and make the tea."

In the interest of continued quasi-harmony with the one member of her immediate family who mattered most, she didn't argue.  The time allowed her to really mull over what Sarendal had said and refine how she wanted to address it with her parent.  It also allowed her to drink the entire first pot of tea and still be able to make more before her mother came in without hurrying.

Mellura'thel's entrance was preceded, as always, by her scent: moss; the close, wet warmth of a greenhouse; and a bloom whose name Ila always forgot but smelled as amazing as it was fatal.  She swept into the room, robes pristine, and took her seat at the table with a precision clockworks would envy.  Ila poured her tea, added the sprig of bitterleaf her mother always took, and placed the cup and saucer within easy arm's reach.  Conversation didn't start until she had enough tea in her to deal with people, meaning more waiting.

Eventually: "So, daughter, what did you need me to help you with?"

"What would you do if someone said you were worthless to the family?"

Eyebrows, dark like Ila's but much more refined, rose, her black eyes shimmering in what passed for daylight streaming in through the windows.  "In most cases, I would likely consider a warning was in order.  Perhaps a mild poisoning, with enduring effects no less than a month.  Cramping, intestinal distress, possibly temporary blindness, something along those lines."  She paused, head canting several degrees from vertical, a posture she took while thinking.  "If it was a second or third offense, I may simply kill them instead.  The pain and duration of their death would naturally be dependent on a number of specifics to the situation, but death is required in that case regardless."

Oh, by the Dark… "I didn't mean you specifically, Mother.  I was thinking more… generically.  Hypothetically, I guess "

"Without some other details on the situation, my answer remains the same: a warning, followed by consequence."  She sipped her tea, there being nothing unusual to Mellura'thel about discussing the murder of another over a simple insult.  Then again, accusing her of being worthless to the settlement wasn't that simple.  More like playing with fire next to alcohol fumes and a cloud of black powder.

"Okay, that's fair, but, like, what if they said it about, say… me?"

The older woman's focus snapped down on Ilandreline, creating a palpable sense of pressure as she was weighed in her mother's eyes.  The slight twist of her lips may have been disheartening to others, but Ila knew that was how she looked while thinking through something.  Not that it necessarily gave her hope -- an interest in non-magical methods of anything was hardly popular, but mechanicals were especially scoffed at when necromancy was so easy -- but it delayed the knowledge of disappointment for the moment.  Finally, Mellura'thel blinked her whiteless eyes.  A decision had been reached.

"The statement is not true.  You have provided knowledge to the family through your work, and occasionally still contribute some news of goings-on we may not otherwise hear of.  You were an excellent assistant as an adolescent, though you decided to turn your focus toward… other matters… once you were allowed to do so."

That was surprisingly fair.  Ilandreline was all set to exhale in relief, maybe even smile, when she saw her mother's mouth open again.

"However, I trust the gist of the statement is less literal and instantaneous, referring instead toward your total life and how it intersects with ours as a family, as well as the family's interests."

Oh no, here we go.  

"Under that assumption, it would likely be a fair statement, for while you have a great deal of potential for several beneficial areas of pursuit, you appear to have no interest in actually pursuing any of them.  Instead you claim kinship rights based on prior relationships and work provided, while doing little in the present to give in kind of something we may need or desire."

And there it was, the old gutpunch to deflate her.  Ilandreline gave herself several minutes to digest everything, mentally turn it over for examination.  It wasn't that her mother was wrong, exactly, but that… what?  What did she contribute?

"I see," was her eventual response.  "In that case… I suppose I'll leave now rather than spend the night."

As she stood, her mother's brow furrowed in what might have been confusion.  "You are entitled to stay, daughter.  I don't object to your presence or your company; you're certainly much more pleasant now than a century ago, while you worked on your thesis."

Ilandreline shook her head, black bob bouncing around her chin.  "I don't need to, Mother, and I don't think I want to right now.  Maybe next time."

She headed for the door.  No effort was made to stop her, no call of "Wait!".  Before she left, she did turn to say, "Hope your experiments go well," but didn't wait for a response.

Her motorcycle was waiting right where she'd left it.  Throwing a leg over, she took grim satisfaction in the throaty roar of the engine stirring to life.  There was something to be said for a little noise and a lot of combustion humming between your legs.  Perhaps the ride back to the Respite would help put her mind back to rights.