#thanks for the ask zainab!!!!

[firstelevens]

23 + sambucky 💛

23. wearing someone's clothes

In spite of his phone buzzing for the sixth time in the space of two minutes, Sam doesn't bother to check it. He's not slacking on the job: he's flanked by other superheroes, all of whom would also be getting notifications if something world-threatening were happening, and he's got AJ and Cass and Sarah in his immediate field of view.

The frenetic buzzing of six--wait, no, make that seven--text messages in no time at all can only be the work of one person, and that person is safely ensconced at the palace in Birnin Zana, undoubtedly being as much of a nuisance to his friends there as he is to Sam.

There's not much of a question as to what the text messages say, so Sam lets them roll in undisturbed, and makes sure that all of the cameras catch him emphatically not checking his phone. Instead he brings his attention to the students in front of him, crouching down to get a better look at the device that they built in their environmental science club.

He points to the receptacle at the top--it's a water filtration system--and asks the group how it works. They're very excited to answer, and when Sam asks specific questions about the mechanisms and how hard the process was, he watches them light up. He talks to them for so long that one of the PR people has to gently nudge him along to another group. Sam's phone periodically keeps buzzing away in his pocket, but he ignores it in favor of talking to all the students, doing his best to ask relevant questions and toss around jokes to make the shy ones laugh.

The event ends with plenty of pictures and plenty of questions about his own wings and how they work, and when it's all over, he feels the same pleasant exhaustion that he feels after a good workout or a mission where things went to plan. In the car on the way back to the house, all AJ and Cass can talk about is how cool all the Stark prototypes were, and Sam promises to let them mess around in his workshop tomorrow so they can do some inventing of their own.

It's not until he's back home that he remembers to even check his phone, putting it on the charger and laughing when the screen lights up to reveal thirty-two text messages from Bucky. The last one came in just a minute ago, so Sam flops down on the cozy armchair in the corner, Bucky's favorite place to curl up on nights when sleep is hard to come by, and calls him back.

The phone barely rings once before Bucky answers, skipping a greeting entirely so he can say, "You stole my sweater!"

Sam laughs. "Hi to you, too, baby."

There's a huff on the other end of the line. "Hi, sweetheart. I miss you, and also, you stole my sweater."

"Did I?" asks Sam. "How do you know that it didn't just find its way into my side of the dresser? You're not very careful about keeping our things separate, you know."

"Yeah, I do know," says Bucky. "That's why when I was packing for Wakanda, I asked you, 'Sam, love of my overlong life, man I would do anything for, have you seen my favorite green sweater?' And when you said no, I asked if you checked your side and you said that it wasn't in your sweater drawer, either."

That's because it was strategically placed in a laundry basket under half a dozen polo shirts that Bucky would never touch, Sam doesn't explain. "Sounds like it just got misplaced, and maybe someone shouldn't wait to pack for their trips until half an hour before they leave."

"Yeah?" asks Bucky. "Is that what it sounds like, and not like someone had their eye on my sweater and waited until I was distracted to snipe it and wear it to a public event where he knew I'd see him on TV?"

"Well that's just silly, Buck. Who would do that?"

"It's impossible to say," replies Bucky, making Sam laugh. Then, after a moment of quiet, he adds, "It looks good on you."

"Thank you," says Sam, and it shouldn't still make warmth rush to his cheeks when Bucky compliments him, but here he is. "Does that mean I get to keep it?"

Bucky snorts. "Let's not get carried away, Wilson."

"That's hardly getting carried away; we just established that I wear it better than you do."

"When did we establish that?" sputters Bucky.

"Are you saying it's not true?"

"Of course not," replies Bucky, without hesitation. "I saw how your arms looked in that thing; it's a fucking revelation. That's not the point."

"Ooh, I've never been called a revelation before," teases Sam.

He expects another grouchy reply, but instead, Bucky just says, "Yes, you have."

Sam actually stops and pulls his phone away from his face to make sure he's still connected. "What was that?"

"Nothing," says Bucky. "Tell me about this science thing that was so important you had to steal my sweater for it."

"Uh-uh," says Sam. "Nope. You tell me who's going around calling me a revelation."

"Sam."

"Bucky."

"You know who it was."

And yeah, Sam's good enough at putting together evidence to get to that conclusion, but he wants to hear it from Bucky all the same. "Tell me anyway?"

"All those times when you crashed into my life in all those different cities, you brought something with you. Do you remember that?"

As if Sam could ever forget. "My folks raised me never to show up empty handed, you know that."

It had been more than that, of course. He hadn't known how else to get Bucky to trust him, sure he was still struggling to trust himself most days. The whole point had been to make sure that Bucky was safe and whole, so the first time Sam managed to cross paths with him, he'd brought a loaf of bread and some strawberries from a roadside stall. Another time, it had been flowers, other times cups of coffee or books.

"Every time you showed up and forced me to take the thing you were giving me, I had to figure out how to be a person about it. I'd forgotten what it was to be annoyed or impatient or to want someone to stay even when you knew they couldn't."

Sam's breath catches in his throat a little, but Bucky doesn't stop.

"And then you would just talk at me for a couple minutes, and then you'd get your stuff and be on your way, and I'd have to find a safe place where I could face up to the fact that you knocked me on my ass with some wilted daisies that you bought for five euros. What else do you call someone who brings you a part of you that you thought you'd never see again?"

"What the fuck, Barnes?" breathes Sam, rasping a little because of the sudden lump in his throat.

"It's the truth!" says Bucky, suddenly defensive.

"Yeah, well, you couldn't have waited to share that truth until I could hear it in person? So I could kiss the shit out of you the way you deserve?"

"Oh," Bucky says quietly. "You know, I could--"

"Absolutely not. Whatever you're thinking, absolutely not. You just managed to earn the Wakandans' trust again; you're not stealing a talon fighter for a booty call."

"It wouldn't be a booty call, Samuel."

"It would a little bit be a booty call, and Ayo would never let you hear the end of it."

Bucky huffs again. "Fine," he grouses. "But I'm coming home as soon as the last repair is done on my arm."

"Good," says Sam. "That'll give me time to steal the rest of your sweaters."

"Sam," Bucky all but whines, and Sam laughs in response.

"Fine. I'll only take most of your sweaters, and maybe one of your hoodies. Just one."

"If I say no, you're just gonna steal more, aren't you?"

"Probably," says Sam, shrugging even though Bucky can't see him.

Bucky sighs. "Fine," he says. "We'll work out a trade when I get home."

"Well, hurry back," says Sam. "I'm kind of curious about your negotiating tactics."

There's a loud laugh from Bucky's end, and Sam can still hear his smile when he speaks. "Back home as soon as possible, sweetheart," says Bucky.

"Gonna hold you to that, baby," says Sam. Then, just as Bucky's about to hang up, he tacks on, "I'm stealing your maroon sweater next!"

When he ends the call, Bucky's only halfway through indignantly crying his name.

[sesamestreep]

hi hello I'm here to ask about "write a loving letter" and "mystery door no. 4"

how dare you make me format TWO excerpts??

“write a loving letter boy” should maybe not be on here because it’s not exactly an active WIP because I’ve fully forgotten the actual plot I had in mind for it, but I love the draft title so much I can’t delete it (see below if the reference eludes you). The basic idea was yet another daredevil college au (what can I say, I have a Type) but in this case it’s…like a Cyrano de Bergerac AU?? where Foggy ends up helping one of their classmates woo Matt because he “knows him so well” and ends up discovering his own feelings for Matt that way?? I watched an episode of Bones that was obviously a Cyrano pastiche but they refused to acknowledge it and it made me so annoyed, I had to write this AU instead. Also thought I was very clever for thinking of a queer Cyrano retelling and then remembered “The Half of It” exists. Whoops.

Here’s the only scene I have, which is Foggy talking to the girl who wants to date Matt, who ended up just being the most fun OC to write:

“I was going to ask you something, actually,” Willa says, in that precise way of hers. Foggy likes her, based on the few conversations they’ve had, but he imagines she makes a lot of people their age feel a little frivolous, just based on her general energy. Foggy already knows he’s pretty frivolous, as a person, so he doesn’t take it too personally, which probably helps. “Sure. Shoot. Go ahead.” “You’re really good friends with Matt, right?” “We’re roommates, yeah,” Foggy replies, as he brings his drink to his mouth. “Right. I know,” Willa says, frowning. “But like…you’re friends too?” “Of course.” “I’m not friends with my roommate,” she supplies, explaining her clarification without actually explaining it.  “Oh, sure,” Foggy says. He likes the way Willa’s brain works, he’s just remembering. It’s like he can see the gears moving inside of it. It’s kind of fun. “Yes, Matt and I are friends as well as roommates. Why do you ask?”

title reference for page break reasons

“mystery door no. 4” is actually not fanfic, it’s an original novel I’m kind of working on (I am working on it, I just have no real vision for what I’ll do with any of it should I actually finish it, is what that sentence means, ftr). It’s based on an old idea I did for the made up movies meme on here years ago and I’ve been mostly handwriting it as an excuse not to look at screens during the spring/summer when I’m a lot more headache prone. I went through a period of about 2-3 months where I hated every fic idea I started and was just miserable about writing in general and decided to try writing some original fiction, which is not something I’ve done since I was like 12 (a long time but redacted amount of years ago) and it’s been very fun so far though I’m keeping my expectations low.

here is an excerpt, featuring my new OCs who I’m sure I’ll start tagging in stuff soon as the next step in my full descent to madness:

“Again with these words!” Aleks groaned. “Didn’t you just wake up?” “Not just.” “Still. ‘Puerile’? I couldn’t use that in a sentence correctly with three cups of coffee in me!” “Was that a hint?” “Hmmm?” “Do you want coffee? Were you asking me to make us some coffee?” “Are you part sheep dog or something?” Aleks asked. “Will you go crazy if I don’t give you something to do?” “Maybe,” Eugene admitted reluctantly.

[bisamwilson]

Fic writer asks!

✨🎀🤲

hi zainab!!!! thanks for the ask <3

(from this list)

✨: What's a fic you've posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)

i feel like my answer to this is always MILF (man i love fishing) because i'm really proud of how i wrote sam and his process of grieving in this one, but i think i probably fucked that up myself by naming it a joke title (i have no regrets. that title is hilarious.)

i also want to shout out you don't look a day over fast cars and freedom bc 1) i think it got lightly overshadowed by the fic where bucky grows old after sam has passed on, which like, i get, because outside of the princess diaries au that might be the fic i'm most proud of, but also 2) if i breathed life into this one again i'm hoping it would spur on more old married sambucky bc i adore it and there's so little of it

🎀: give yourself a compliment about your own writing

aaaaaaa this is always so hard um. i really like my characterization? i spend a lot of time on it whenever i'm writing and, like i referenced in another one of these, i try really hard to make sure the characters are recognizable and still in character no matter what situation they're in (ESPECIALLY in aus) and i think i do a pretty consistently good job at accomplishing this, and i'm pretty proud of that!

🤲: what do YOU get out of writing?

i've managed to build myself a really wonderful community of friends and mutuals from writing, which is definitely a big part of why i do it, but i also just have a lot of ideas and it's really great getting to put pen to paper (metaphorically, of course, given i write everything basically in google docs). the whole reason i started writing sambucky in the first place is because i had fic ideas i couldn't get out of my brain, and they just needed to go somewhere, and they ended up going onto ao3 in the form of the one last stop au, the princess diaries au, and the fic where bucky dresses up (and, eventually, sam dresses up) as a uso showgirl for halloween, and then that's just blossomed into all the writing i've done from there. idk i just really enjoy both the sense of community i get from writing and the break from my brain being like "hey if we don't write this we'll die" (which is, coincidentally, also how i ended up giving a speech and winning a medal for it at my high school graduation even though i hate public speaking and, at that point in my life, had multiple anxiety attacks over the thought of having to do it)

[philtstone]

Writer asks! 3, 6, 10, 16!

im soooo late to replying to this but. thank you beloved and here we go

#3 What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

this is such a hard and mean question but here are some top contenders:

"easy, easy (my man and me)" - claire and jamie build a treehouse in the backyard. it came to me so effortlessly and i am still proud of the prose. also i sent it to my beloved high school english teacher and he loved it which makes it special! i don't think he realized it was fanfic lol

"hopeful." - sam and bucky accidentally adopt a bunch of super kids in the sort-of apocalypse. not prosaically perfect necessarily but my first ever completed chapter fic! i put a lot of myself into this one and it got me through a pretty tough year emotionally, and on top of that im actually proud of it!

"my daddy was a prominent frogman" - frodo baggins and his friends try to save their hippie summer camp from the evil industrialists. listen. this au is evergreen. 5 years later i have been inspired to write for it again, because it was just that good.

#6 Are there any fics from others you reread all the time?

Yes! of course!!! a staple of the genre! i say this and immediately forget every fic i've ever read!

I think the true brain changing fics are ones that i reread once a year or every few years. alternatively, i'll read one fic 10 times in a month. i read "let our joys so multiply" by @fallofrainblog 5 times in a week once so that gets a shoutout. every so often i have to go back and read irnan's star wars fics for personal reasons. also, the legendary anne fic catching moonlight which i go back to about once every 2 years. hilarious how 2 of these are ancient ffnet gems but there u go

its weird bc a lot of fics i'll forget about for years and then suddenly be like "oh yeah that one changed my brain irreversibly. i wonder if it holds up" and then i go find it again and am generally confirmed that it does, indeed, hold up.

#10 Is there a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?

Hmmm! many of them, frankly. there are some fics i write as throw aways with no expectation they will get traction, like "shut your mouth, hold your breath" or the very silly ponniyin selvan road trip au. there are others which I know are niche but still wish they had more traction so i had more external drive to finish them, because in theory i love the concept but just don't have the internal juice to see it through to the end. the force sensitive claire au is one of those i think. there are still others which are for huge fandoms and i am left wondering why they feel totally lost to the void. but that's all part of the deal, i guess, and quite often more related to my own ignorance of what is currently trendy

#16 At what point in the process do you come up with titles?

it really depends on the fic but very very rarely is the title conceived before the story. maybe for original fiction -- actually exclusively for original fiction do i do that. for fanfics i write the fic and then in the seconds before i post on ao3 i hail mary a title out of whatever divine inspiration is in that moment directly beamed into my brain from the heavens. usually in the form of song lyrics.

[whoseafraidofliloleme]

u write so good i literally binged almost all of ur works

take care and have a good dayy <33

Aww thank you so much, I wish this wasnt anon so I could give thanks to an account and even ask if youd like to be on the permanent taglist but even taking time to send this ask means so much to me. Again thank you so much, for liking and loving my work, taking the time to read and leave this ask is a big thing as well, again thank you so much.

Take care and have the best day whever you are!! <3 xoxo.

[cripplecharacters]

Howdy! I’m working on a story with a side character who has mild to moderate intellectual disability from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

The character really likes dinosaurs and I was considering having the character buy presents for his family members all with dinosaurs because that’s what makes him happy. But I was wondering if this would perpetuate harmful stereotypes? Any insight wanted thank you!

I was also wondering about writing his speech and how his family talk to him. I’m assuming they use simplified language? But I’m not sure what that looks like in general conversation.

Hey!

If it's not presented as child-like or "stupid" by the narrative, I have no problem with it - seems realistic to me. I know a person from who attended SPED with me who did basically the same thing (except not dinosaurs specifically and with more or less everyone rather than just family members). I also appreciate an intellectually disabled character that's shown to have some deeper characterization to them, so that's cool to see.

Speech/language/verbality is a more complicated thing. It's a really broad spectrum in the context of intellectual disability. Some people will have it essentially unaffected - either because their ID is mild, or they have a specific disorder, like Williams Syndrome, where language doesn't tend to be affected much - and some have it be very obvious. To my understanding FASD doesn't specifically affect language abilities more than 'regular' intellectual disability.

If your character has mild ID, there's a chance his linguistic skills won't affect the dialogue 90% of the time. You can have him ask another character for clarification on what they said, for example, or ask them to reword a run-on sentence because he got lost 2 clauses ago. He might have poorer intuition when it comes to pronouncing an ambiguous word for the first time (for example, not noticing the pattern that the word is built on and breaking the syllables up incorrectly). He could have a particular tone of voice (most commonly: monotone) that you could mention in the dialogue tags. But things like incorrect basic grammar or misunderstanding everyday words are not a feature of mild ID (on its own at least).

Many people with mild ID aren't "obviously ID" to most people, and that includes speech. Others can often tell something is different, but in my experience it's often chalked up to autism, [insert a random developmental condition that person happens to know], or even poor hearing (some people might talk very loudly, which is what HoH/deaf people are often stereotyped as) since the average person seems to assume that a person with intellectual disability wouldn't be able to talk at all, or they don't even consider the possibility that a person with ID could exist near them (as opposed to being in an institution).

As for how people talk to him, that's a completely separate thing. You could have a situation where a mildly ID character knows someone and they have completely normal dialogue, but then the other character learns about the other's ID, and they suddenly turn to babytalk. Is this appropriate; no, the disabled character could clearly hold the conversation previously, is this realistic; absolutely.

However, yes, your character could need other people to alter how they speak to him, especially if his ID is more severe than just mild (and as always: it's not infantilization to have your needs met). Here you have some of the most common and realistic options of what happens (I'll use much simpler sentence examples than what would actually need to be simplified for the sake of clarity):

The bare minimum. This is what happens when someone is kinda trying, but not really. Maybe they don't have the patience, maybe they just didn't think about it too much. Either way, the disabled character doesn't get the full picture and is effectively left out of the conversation. E.g.: "Oh, yesterday Zainab and I went to the club and met up with her boyfriend and his annoying older brother, we wanted to grab some drinks there, but they were just so overpriced." = "I went out yesterday."

The "don't worry about it :)". Pretty much what it says. The other character decides that the disabled character doesn't actually need to hear that; they decide that it's irrelevant for them. E.g.: "Ever since her rent increased my mother has been doing nothing but worrying sick, and she won't even let me help her out." = "Don't worry about it."

The actual simplified version. The gold standard of simplifying something is actually making the person understand what you are talking about without leaving out information, or leaving out as little as possible. Depending on the actual text, it might not always be possible (you can only get so far in simplifying scientific subjects, for example), but in terms of regular conversation you can probably accurately simplify the vast majority of things being said. An example I like to use is English Wikipedia vs Simple English Wikipedia, some of the main features are shorter sentences, more commonly used words (when appropriate), and they use fewer pronouns in favor of repeating nouns. It's not perfect, but I think it illustrates what I mean by "simplification vs baby talk".

To figure out how his family speaks to him, you need to think about who they are as people and what's their relationship to him. An impatient person might just wave their hand and keep talking even if the character asks for clarification, while someone else might automatically switch how they speak when he enters the room to make him feel included. It's also a great way to show-don't-tell what the family dynamics are towards the disabled character.

Some of the posts about ID and language speech: 1, 2.

Hope this helps,

mod Sasza

[moriche]

WIP Wednesday!

It is wednesday my guys, gals and non-binary pals! Thank you everyone for the well-wishes last week <3 It's good to be back!! Tagged by @gilgamish, @madam-whim, @dirty-bosmer, @changelingsandothernonsense, @theoneandonlysemla, @ladytanithia

And because I love seeing what everyone is up to and I like tagging folks: @thequeenofthewinter @truth-01001001-liar @pocket-vvardvark @illumiera @unknownhomosapien @kat-tail @nyarevar @changelingsandothernonsense @bougainvillea-and-saltwater @oblivions-dawn @scorchedcandy @saltymaplesyrup @dirty-bosmer @ladytanithia @thenotebookwizard @tonakuma @sulphuricgrin @umbracirrus @skyrim-forever @hircines-hunter @friend-of-giants @labskeever @heavy-metal-dick @sanza-17 @theoneandonlysemla @yansurnummu @orbitalmirror @scholarlyhermit @linwelinwrites @sylvienerevarine @kookaburra1701 @elavoria @wispstalk @stormbeyondreality

Added a bunch of TES WIP Wednesday folks - let me know if I forgot anyone else! If you want to get on or off Ms. Moriche’s Wild Ride, please tag me or DM me and I’ll make a note and add or remove you!

And also tagged are YOU! YES! YOU!

No writing today, but I did do my first drawing in Clip Studio Paint this week for an ask game! Some of the gear Veryn acquires throughout Fear in a Handful of Dust: a chitin Zainab bracelet to mark him a trader; a chitin earring to mark him a Clanfriend of the Urshilaku. The ring of Moon-and-Star. A mages staff made of mycelial wood; and Keening.

[cconfusedkat]

Lamb Questions!

3. How long was your lamb held captive by heretics before their sacrifice?

6. Who raised your lamb?

7. Where was your lamb raised? A village? A prison? Constantly on the run?

10. How did your lamb feel with their head on the pedestal? Afraid? Relieved? Angry?

(Also love your art and Lamb, here’s the ask list if you wanna see it)

AWAWAWA HAI ,,, Thank u for asking these i was super excited 2 see this in my ask box 🥹🥹 i answered the rest of them in my docs but i didn't get an ask about this til now

3. How long was your lamb held captive by heretics before their sacrifice?

Short Answer: held captive for three months until they just kept biting guards and then that's what led them to their finalized execution ⭐

,,,so basically they were held captive for three months? with their mom? they were held captive in one singular prison while their mom was the only lamb allowed to leave the prison at night time to gather resources. unfortunately since zainab (their mom's name) was older, she was meant to be sacrificed first right beside allure -- right beside them. as zainab was laid to the pedestal next to zainab, they bit off a guards hand , then another guards finger to protest against being executed ,,, this resulted in allure's punishment being executed a day after zainab + being even more humiliated by being locked in a small cage as the second punishment ,,, allure was then sacrificed a day later after jalala failed to open the cage. she got in serious trouble with the old faith and never saw allure again until 200 years later ⭐

6. Who raised your lamb?

Zainab!! Their mother ⭐ She's in her sixties. pardon the old image,, but. zainab's husband died to the genocide as well as the rest of the qabr family,,

(🐏 Qabr is their lastnames! Zainab Qabr & "Allure" Fionn Qabr 🐏)

im kinda projecting what i went through as a child -- my mom didn't want me to know about our genocide and how she used the excuse of our extended family being dead more as like,, they're on vacation to a safe place ,, zainab started running away with allure when allure was 9 and zainab was 50 ,, she didn't tell allure the truth on why they had to be on the run until they were 15

7. Where was your lamb raised?

they were raised in a village :o) on the run after turning 9 years old unfortunately ⭐

since i kinda want shamura and allure to have opposite stories ;; allure grew up in an open minded village until they were nine years old when lamb hunters invaded their village grounds killing each and every one of them. allure and zainab were the only ones to make it out alive. zainab was quick about it because it wasnt the first time she was forced to leave her home ,, she quickly grabbed allure and hid underground for two days ,, then after those two days she picked up allure quickly to start running as fast as she could to get out of the village ,,, she left everything behind. allure left everything behind.

all those important scriptures and pieces of culture are all gone

10. How did your lamb feel with their head on the pedestal?

a mix of wrath, anger, sadness, guilt,,, about all the mixed emotions u would feel if u couldn't avenge your mother and let your emotions override you ⭐

after 200 years they still get flashbacks whenever they have the slightest bit of contact with their neck ,, its why their neck is highly sensitive and why their collar is a little loose ,, the tightness of it reminds them of when the axe hit the back of their neck and how they felt the slow excruciating swing of it cutting their nerves and through the bone

im unable to depict this often but this is actually how big their neck scar is , even after having the ability to self heal as well as the power of the red crown to do anything to their body ,,, the scar never goes away and is a reminder for them every morning when they wake up that they're truly the last of their kind and feel incredibly terrible about it

what was done can't already be undone. you can wait for a millennium and your past will still haunt you

[3-2-whump]

Khaled’s Backstory, Part 1: The Way Things Were

next>

This backstory begins approximately two years (maybe give or take a few months) before the Eternal story actually begins. Thanks goes out once again to my amazing beta readers @whumped-by-glitter and @generic-whumperz

TW/CW: none, I think, but please let me know if I missed any.

Language Note: The Urdu and Dari words I used were learned through reading multiple language-learning blogs, culture blogs, Reddit, and of course, the ol' reliable Google Translate. If I misrepresented any of the expressions (which is extremely likely) please let me know as civilly as possible, because I'd rather know than not know.

 “A 32% in Urdu, a 29% in Social Studies, and a 25% in English?” a muffled voice sounded through the thick apartment door. The latch to the door clicked open and the door knob turned as a pair of four-year-old identical twins rushed through the meager opening. A ten-year-old girl soon followed them into the apartment, with her twelve-year-old brother right behind as he kicked off his shoes at the entrance. Their eldest brother, the thirteen-year-old, was still detained by their disappointed parents.

“But, I passed Math, and Science, and Islamic Studies-” the boy defended.

“Barely!” his father snorted. “How did you fail Urdu, of all things? The language you speak every damn day?!”

“Ammi, come on,” he whined, trying to gain sympathy from his mother, “don’t you remember the part where Mr. Khan said I was ‘the friendliest, most outgoing boy in the class’?”

“School is not a social club, Khaled!” A crashing sound outside their living room redirected her attention. “Haye Allah, that cat is back,” she sighed then marched quickly to the door that led to their balcony. The stray that knocked over her plants merely blinked at her as Khaled’s mum gave it a scolding to match the intensity of the one he received on the way home.

That left the rest of the tongue-lashing to Khaled’s dad. “You are the eldest brother, beta; you’re supposed to be setting an example for your siblings! What kind of example are you setting for them if you struggle to pass your classes?”

“An example they can easily exceed?” The flat glare from underneath his father’s bushy eyebrows made Khaled backtrack from his wise remark. “But Abba,” he tried, “You never had to learn this stuff and you turned out alright, didn’t you? You got a job that provides-”

“I ‘turned out’ alright?” Abba interrupted, voice raising on the precipice of his signature lecture. “I got ‘turned out’ of my home and my country, along with the rest of my family, because the beghairat koskhol Russians razed our farm to the ground!”

Ammi poked her head back in from where she was sweeping up potting soil and ceramic shards. “Abdul! What did I tell you about swearing in front of the kids?!”

“Zainab, they don’t understand me, it’s fine!” Dad yelled back.

Yes, we do, Khaled thought. Most of what he knew of his father’s language was nearly entirely expletives. He listened through the rest of his father’s lecture before accepting his punishment with all the dignity a thirteen-year-old could summon. Grounded for two weeks, no football with his friends, only study and sleep? Harsh, but it could be worse, Khaled reasoned.

“Bhai! Bhai!” the twins squealed at him, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looked down to see his little sisters Besma and Zara tugging at his shirt. “Come play with us!”

“They want to play newscaster, and they insist on having an anchorman,” Ayesha said with a smile. She was the third sister, and the middle child of the family.

“Well, what about Yusuf?” Khaled asked, referring to his little brother and the second eldest child. “You heard Abba, I need to study!”

“I’m the weather man, obviously,” Yusuf announced.

“He can’t be the anchor man and the weather man!” Zara said.

“Come on, bhai,” Ayesha coaxed him, steering him towards the living room/impromptu play area. “Your grades aren’t going to get any worse if you miss one study night!”

“Well…fair enough,” Khaled laughed.

-

After dinner, Khaled hung around outside the apartment building, watching his dad fix up the old motorcycle and occasionally handing him the tools he’d need.

“I’m sorry about my grades, Abba,” he muttered.

“I know, beta.” His father reached out a hand behind him, holding a wrench out to Khaled. Khaled wordlessly took it and put it back with the other instruments in the tool kit.

“I’ll try harder, I promise,” he vowed.

“You do that.” Abba unfurled from his crouching position in front of the motorcycle and sighed, a contented little smile on his face as he wiped his brow. “Now, do you want to take this thing out for a test ride? Make sure I fixed it up properly?” he suggested.

Khaled raised a skeptical brow up at him. “But Abba, you and Ammi said I’m grounded, remember?”

“Yeah, but as the man of the house, I unground you, just for tonight, okay?” He swung his leg over the seat of the motorcycle and kicked up the kickstand. “Come on,” he said invitingly, patting the seat behind him.

Khaled beamed ear to ear as he climbed up onto the motorcycle and held onto his father’s waist. He buried his face in the man’s broad back and melted into the smell of sweat, motor oil, and cologne. The motorcycle started up, revving to life under Abba’s hands. He couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out of him as they peeled out into the street.

They whizzed down the fluorescent city streets, glowing every color of the rainbow under the dark velvet of the moonless sky. Khaled waved to drivers and fellow motorcyclists as his dad weaved in and out and around and through them.

They eventually ended up at their usual destination for late-night father-son outings: at Port Grand, sitting on a bench looking out at the waters, each one with a skewered kebab in hand. The shadows of cranes loomed over the horizon, marking the dock yard where Khaled’s father worked during the day. But at night, the port –no, the world –was theirs.

“What if I can’t do it?” Khaled asked.

Abba had just polished off his kebab, and now had a mouthful of meat to chew. Khaled looked down at his own bare wooden skewer and began fidgeting with it. “I mean, what if I still fail next term?” he elaborated. “I am trying, really, but what comes easily to Tariq or Muhammad or Imran does not come easily to me. What if I end up failing no matter how hard I try? Then what’s the point?” he asked.

That monologue gave his dad enough time to chew and swallow his mouthful. He wiped the grease from his lips and his beard with the back of his hand, then collected Khaled’s empty stick from his hands. “Khaled, you can do so much more than you think you can,” he started. Sincere, deep, dark brown eyes met the boy’s own. “You are my son, and we Bakhsh men are tough, yeah? You can do it, and you will do it, because Bakhsh men always do it.”

The way he said it so confidently and certainly, like he believed in him, made Khaled want to believe in himself too. “Yeah,” he murmured, smiling warmly.

Abba mirrored the smile back as he rose from the bench. “Now, don’t tell Ammi we went out for these, or she’ll have my ass,” he said, waving the kebab sticks around before he threw them away.

Khaled giggled, but gave his dad the thumbs up. Their father-son time would stay between themselves, just like Abba’s father-son time with Yusuf last week, or his father-daughter time with Ayesha the week before. As they rode back home and returned to the apartment at far too late at night, Khaled never realized that this would be the last father-son time he’d have.

Le Tag List: @kabie-whump @rainydaywhump @whumped-by-glitter @skittles-the-whumpee @generic-whumperz @bamber344 @there-will-always-be-blood @morning-star-whump @a-la-whump @watermelons-dont-grow-on-trees @defire @phoenixpromptsandstuff @scumashling

[zeebtrolls]

hi guys, i need 2 take my cat to the vet tuesday but i dont have enough money to pay for her treatments. my roommate took their cat to the vet and from what i know the stuff for tapeworms, flees, and an itchiness steroid shot all counted up to $156. i hate to ask for help but i do need it!! i’m broke rn and i edited my kofi goal to help w that. any amount helps !! i will even draw u im willing to draw anything for u !! discounting my comms as well i’m willing to do quick doodles for $20 a pop 💔

this just sucks man, not to mention my freaking apartment ceiling flooded down in our kitchen bc a pipe burst. thanks to our annoying neighbors upstairs…

our apartment has been sucking the entire time and i’m trying to save to move as well but sm has been happening!!!

[firstelevens]

I would take any off of that kisses prompt, but especially eyelid kisses, if you'd like? Or any of them, really truly

34. eyelid kisses

Sam has been dozing on and off for the past half hour at least, cozy under the weight of a plush blanket and halfheartedly debating whether he should get up and make some attempt at a real dinner. It doesn't feel like a real dinner day, if he's being honest. If feels like a laze around for a few more hours and then make midnight pancakes and eat an obscene amount of them kind of day.

He tries to remember if he has maple syrup lying around somewhere, and is distracted from his mental inventory of the pantry by the gentlest brush of lips, first over one eyelid, then the other. The kisses continue in seemingly no order at all after that: one to his nose, a few dotted over his left eyebrow, one on his earlobe. Sam stays where he is and lets them happen, tilting his head back a little when the kisses move down to his neck.

"We have to stop doing this," Bucky mumbles, his lips still pressed to the hollow of Sam's throat.

Sam doesn't bother opening his eyes. "You're not allowed to break up with me when neither of us has pants on. That's just bad manners."

"Sam," says Bucky, all plaintive and sad, and if it were anyone else, he'd class it as a whine. Maybe he will, if Bucky insists on being stupid.

"No," says Sam, eyes still closed. "Breakup denied."

"You can't just say no, you know."

"I'm pretty sure I just did," says Sam. "Try again when you have a better reason than 'keeping me safe.' That one was bullshit and you know it."

There's a nip at Sam's neck, the gentlest scrape of teeth before Bucky lets out an exasperated groan. "Why are you like this?"

He pretends to think about it for a moment. "How does that one Taylor Swift song go? The one you pretend not to like? Don't blame me, love made me crazy?"

Bucky sighs. "I hate you."

Sam finally opens his eyes, smiling when he sees Bucky's gaze locked on him. He lifts a hand to cup Bucky's face, smoothing over the worried furrow between his brows. "No, you don't."

For a long moment, Bucky leans into the touch of Sam's hand, letting his own eyes flutter closed like he's trying to commit it to memory. Then he leans over to kiss Sam again. "No," he says, dropping another kiss on the corner of his mouth. "I don't."

("I'll tell you what I do hate, though," Bucky says later, when they're both midway through stacks of pancakes, "that stupid couch. If we're going to keep doing this, we need to get a better couch."

"Or you could just keep your hands to yourself for as long as it takes us to get up to the bedroom?"

Bucky considers this for all of a second, then shakes his head. "No. We'll have to change the couch.")

[bisamwilson]

Very Normal Fic Asks: 2, 7, 19, 25

hi zainab!!! thanks for the ask <3 (from this list)

it gets a little nsfw under the cut btw

2. if you put all your fics into a crockpot, what would be the resulting soup?

okay to start i'd like to note that this is the most makcore fic question of all time. if my apartment was on fire i would grab my dog, my phone/laptop, and then my crockpot in that order.

but to answer the question itself, i think it would end up being homemade chicken noodle soup. a lot of my fics are more character focused than plot focused necessarily, and, perhaps the star wars au aside, even my sadder fics have their fluffiness to them, which makes the hearty, classic, comforting nature of chicken noodle soup work here. also it's a favorite of mine bc i'm boring and also a mom friend that way

7. Which fic would you be too afraid to orphan, lest it enact revenge?

i feel like it's either renaissance man or save a horse (ride a cowboy) because those are the two smut fics i've written with the most ridiculous premise and both of them have to make sure that i spend the rest of my life knowing that i've written and published a fic where bucky ends up fisting sam bc he sent him a photo of the statue of david's ass and another fic where they have sex on a mechanical bull. these will continue to haunt me.

19. You've been arrested for [insert crime], which fic is the prosecutor submitting as evidence?

zainab messaged me after to say that the crime should be treason, so obviously the answer is either hey princess or i slithered here from eden because bucky might as well commit treason in the first one and sam definitely commits treason against god in the second (note: sam is valid here! bucky was not, even if his motives were understandable)

25. All of your fics are featured in a nature documentary, which one goes viral for its absurd behaviour?

because i already used save a horse and renaissance man, i gotta go with stuck a feather in his hat because the premise of this fic is bucky burns mac and cheese so often he ends up seducing sam with how bad of a neighbor and a mess he is, and it's named for yankee doodle. i had so much fucking fun with that one

[freepalestine777]

Thank you for sharing my friend But I need the support of me and my family Anything, brother, anything 😭 I swear I wasn’t like this, but the war destroyed everything and destroyed our dreams 😔😔 I used to own a company with my father, but because of the war, look what happens to me When I ask for help my heart is torn from the inside 😭

There is no shame in asking for help for you and your family. We all pray you will get safety and peace soon inshallah. I will try my best to help, and i hope everyone who sees this donates and shares.

Their donation link:

https://gofund.me/56f94ac5

[whoseafraidofliloleme]

U ATE WITH THE NEW THEME

love the colour smmm it goes so well and compliments your pinned post really well like it makes it pop more

(I'm just here passing time exams are near nd I don't feel like studying nor doing anything dk whyy 😞)

take care of yourself 💘

Aww thank you so much, Ive taken to matching my theme with Taylor and her album releases 😂. So it was a purple theme during Speak Now era, light blue during 1989 era and now The Tortured Poets Department is very monochrome with greys so thats my theme.

I genuinely didnt even realise it makes my pinned post look so good, kinda loving thia one so we're ginna keep it for a few months 😂😂, if us delulu swifties are right and Rep TV is next then this works out for me and I dont even have to change my theme 😂😂.

Ooof I hope ur exams go well!! Dont forget to take breaks during studying!! Taking breaks is very very important!!. Staying hydrated is just as important too!!. Take care!!!

[kartaylirsden]

🍎 For Ashana

She's Zainab, so she was born around their camp in the Grazelands in the late third era. She hasn't lived there for a very long time. By Skyrim era she was living in Solitude, and my current thought is that she eventually wound up in Blacklight after that, but I haven't gotten all the details parsed out that far.

Thank you so much for the ask! <3

[moriche]

⚠️ + 🗡️ + ✨ for veryn! 😌

Thank you for the ask!! Ask game here!

⚠️ - If this oc came with a warning sign, what would it be?

Warning: liable to be touched by Prophecy, and written about in the Elder Scrolls. in TES terms, Veryn's a Hero or a Prisoner, or in Wheel of Time terms, Ta'veren. A catalyst. Someone designated to bring change. If you're caught up around him, Events will happen, whether you want to or not. 🗡️ - Does this oc have a signature object, accessory, or weapon? I got inspired so I drew some of them! A chitin bracelet and a chitin earring, gifts respectively from the Zainab and the Urshilaku tribe. The ring of Moon-and-Star. A mage's staff made of mycelial wood. And Keening.

✨ - Tell something that makes this oc feel happy!

He likes delving into magical theory - give him a library and a desk and you probably won't see him 'til the next day!