#is everyone ibrahim now?

[magnificentposting-fabrizioart]

@laurenshield made me aware of an extremely disturbing fact.

The consequences are left entirely to you.

[pxme-granate]

[ID: 9 bust drawings of each kid in Unit 919, all in their Wunsoc uniforms. They are arranged in a 3x3 square. From left to right:

Row 1: Anah is looking to the right, holding her cheek in her hand, laughing slightly in front of a pastel green background. Thaddea is looking to the left, holding both fists in front of her excitedly on a light blue background. Francis is looking to the left, pointing at himself with a nervous laugh on a light blue background.

Row 2: Morrigan holds her hand in front of her face, looking to the right with a smile on a pastel purple background. Hawthorne looks to the right, holding one finger up as though he were planning something, on a pastel orange background. Cadence looks to the left, her hand slightly covering her smile, looking intrigued on a pastel green background.

Row 3: Arch is looking to the right with his eyebrow raised, shyly holding his fist in front of him on a pink background. Lam looks to the left, laughing with her hand in front of her chest on a pastel purple background. Mahir looks to the left with a smile, holding a quill in his hand on a light blue background. End ID.]

There are more versions in the reblogs 👀

[pineappleciders]

operation olive branch fundraiser (IMPORTANT)

another update on Ibrahim's fundraiser! they are now at $21,481 AUD (about $14,207 USD) out of their $42,000 goal! that's more than halfway! when i first shared the fundraiser they were at 42 donations, and now they're at 731!!!! WOW!!!

thank you so much to everyone sharing, reblogging, and especially those who have donated. please consider taking old change or cash you would've used for a coffee and donating it to help rescue Ibrahim's family in Rafah. or you can donate it to any other operation olive branch family!!

please keep sharing!! they are getting so close to their goal❤️🍉

[communistchilchuck]

I was asked to help share Ibrahim's fundraiser. He is a medical student from northern Gaza urgently trying to help evacuate his family of 7 from Gaza to Egypt and continue his studies once he and they are safe. He has currently made €1,595 out of his €30,000 goal! Please donate, and if you can't, please share!

From Ibrahim's GFM page:

Hello, I am Ibrahim. I live in northern Gaza. I live with my family consisting of 7 people, a father, a mother, 2 brothers, 3 sisters, and me. I study human medicine at Al-Azhar University in Gaza. Before October 7, my family had a house and a car. And now there is nothing. On October 12, my house was completely destroyed and all possessions and dreams were destroyed. My family and I want to complete our dreams and our lives by leaving Gaza and settling in Egypt. This costs a lot of money, as it costs the whole family 30 thousand. Dollars, and we do not have that because money was lost during the bombing and war. I was also forced to flee from northern Gaza to southern Gaza, where there is suffering. We get water and food with great difficulty. I ask for your support to complete my dream of studying medicine and my family’s dream, hoping for a better life.

I have had the dream of studying medicine since childhood, but now that my dream has become more important and my goal of studying medicine has become an inevitable goal in relation to what I saw of the urgent need for doctors in my city of Gaza in this war in which we are still living until this moment. I write this letter after more than four months of bombing, destruction, famine and genocide to which we have been subjected. I took the first steps to achieving my dream after I finished my high school studies and obtained a 96.3% average. I registered at Al-Azhar University and specialized in medicine. I started studying in September 2022, and I only completed two weeks of my second year of study, almost on the path to my dreams before this war began and the occupation bombed and demolished my university. As I did in all the universities in the Gaza Strip, my dream vanished with it. The financial burden on my father has become unbearable, especially in light of the bad conditions caused by the war and the destruction of my home. It may take my father many years to rebuild it and put in everything he possibly owns. In the end, I aspire to be an exceptional doctor in my field, in order to help the people of my city of Gaza who suffer from various physical disabilities, such as amputation of limbs and others, and health problems resulting from war and fighting. Many, many medical personnel were killed while carrying out their duties in hospitals, clinics and medical facilities, which led to the collapse of the health system in the Gaza Strip, so I hope to continue my dream of studying this specialty as soon as possible.

Now I hope that my voice will be heard and that you will help me continue my university studies outside Gaza and build my dream and my family’s dream again, become a doctor, serve the world, and support my family. I hope you take my call to your hearts and spread hope to the world, and thank you to everyone who will help me achieve my dream.

[matan4il]

We've lost so many people since the last time I could make a news update post, that I find it hard to write about them all. I guess at the very least, I need to write about 38 years old Elad Fingerhut, father of 3, who was murdered by Hezbollah on our Independence Day. He was a civilian, who happened to be nearby when a terrorist rocket attack on Israel's north started, he realized soldiers were hurt, and ran in to help. That's when he was hit directly by a following anti-tank missile fired at the same spot. He was murdered for being a decent human being, willing to help others even under fire.

The IDF has recovered the bodies of 4 Israeli hostages, all of them were murdered on Oct 7 and it was their bodies that the terrorists had kidnapped. The corpses were found thanks to military intel in a tunnel in northern Gaza, next to explosive devices, so Hamas was actually using these bodies as a booby trap to kill Israeli soldiers. I will never understand people stanning an organization capable of murdering innocent civilians, and then using their bodies like that. The four hostages were Shani Louk, Ron Benjamin, Itzhak Gelerenter, and Amit Buskila. As far as I'm aware, only Shani was confirmed as murdered on Oct 7 before this operation, so bringing the bodies back allows, in addition to proper burial of the murdered, for the families to finally know what happened to their loved ones, get to mourn, and hopefully start processing, and eventually, healing. As for Shani herself? Just a small reminder that on Oct 7 itself a vid was published, showing her body stripped down, leg broken, tossed into the back of a truck, guarded by armed terrorists, with a random Gazan teenager was spitting on her violated corpse, and after that, a Gaza "journalist" called her family to lie to them and claim Shani's alive, just injured, and being treated in a hospital for her wound. If that's not enough, a Gaza "photojournalist" won an award for taking a picture showing the Hamas terrorists riding the truck on top of her. Now her family can finally find comfort in knowing their kid is at rest.

There are at this time 128 hostages in Gaza still, at least 39 are believed to be bodies. This includes two Thai men who were kidnapped from Israel, for whom there is now evidence that they were murdered on Oct 7, and their corpses are held hostage.

May the memory of all Palestinian terrorists' victims be a blessing.

I assume everyone knows already that the (undemocratically elected) president of Iran, Ibrahim Raisi, known as "the butcher of Tehran," has been killed in a helicopter crash. What people may not be aware of is that the UN has actually observed a moment of silence for the man who personally oversaw the murder of countless innocent Iranians, many of them as part of the Islamic regime's gender-targeted violence, and who, as part of the regime, was responsible for many more deaths of people around the world, including financing Hamas and so enabling the Oct 7 massacre. In fact, the UN secretary general has extended personal condolences to the people and government of Iran for Raisi's death, as per his official statement. Here's what the UN's one tweet about it looks like:

(I'm not surprised that the top comment is an angry one from a Ukrainian woman, since the Iranian regime does supply Russia with attack drones and missiles)

Meanwhile, do you know how long it took the UN to officially discuss for the first time the hostages abducted from Israel on Oct 7, as part of a massacre enabled by Iran? Seven and a half months (discussion held on May 16, five days ago). But sure, the UN isn't biased at all, and is totally reliable and a force for peace. Please keep this in mind as the UN's judicial arms, the ICJ and ICC, continue to make a mockery of justice and the idea of international humanitarian law. Hey, did you know that the ICC's chief prosecutor never asked for arrest warrants against Raisi?

Meanwhile, around the world, antisemitism has only been intensifying. Some recent incidents include an Israeli father living in Belgium being attack by an anti-Israel mob in front of his visiting daughter, in France they burned down a synagogue (great how I couldn't find a single headline where the synagogue attack was mentioned before the fate of the attacker following it), in Sweden there were shots fired near the Israeli embassy, and in NYC a man randomly stopped his bike by a group of religious Jewish kids playing on the street and physically attacked them...

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Wait so what is happening with Spinos now? I thought we recently had a huge breakthrough about them being very aquatic?

Yeaaaaaaah that hypothesis was full of holes. The short version is scientists keep publishing papers that just disprove the last one published. It’s a mess and everyone is fighting.

Spinosaurus was either semi aquatic (like a crocodilian) or a wader (like a heron) or maybe something in between

The biggest part of the drama is the the two scientists who first proposed the aquatic thing broke up bc the Lead guy (Sereno) decided to, ya know, follow the science, and realized there was more evidence for hell heron than hell croc; but his mentee (Ibrahim) still supported the aquatic hypothesis. They had a huge fight, “broke up”, and now the fight continues in the papers

Think of science as the world’s biggest Talmud and this is a particularly angry section

[crusera]

The Sultan, they said, was a good man. Soft, quickly moved to tears. Out of compassion, he bought the freedom of a Christian woman's stolen daughter. Even Walther von der Vogelweide, the minnesinger in distant Germany, praised the "mildness" of the powerful ruler in the Orient, whose name has a good reputation in the West: Saladin, a righteous man.

He was a man who always kept his word, even to his enemies.

He let his subjects drag him to court, because God's laws applied equally to everyone. Also for him, the ruler who managed to do what no one had ever managed before: to unite the Islamic world of the Middle East after centuries of discord and to wrest Jerusalem, the holy city of the Muslims, from the Christians in 1187.

His name translates as "righteousness of faith", and Saladin is indeed a devout Muslim. Nevertheless, after his conquest of the Holy Land, he allowed the Christians and Jews there to continue praying to their God. This is another reason why, more than half a millennium later, Western Enlightenment thinkers would make him the epitome of the tolerant ruler.

But this al-Malik an-Nasir Salah ad-Din Abu'l-Muzaffer Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi, known as Saladin for short, also had other sides.

He could be treacherous, vile and mean. He did not shy away from murder. Nevertheless, this man fascinated his contemporaries. He became one of the most revered rulers of the Islamic world and the most important opponent of the Crusaders.

Saladin was born in 1138 in Tikrit (in present-day Iraq), the son of a Kurdish officer. During his political career, Saladin was the first to bring Egypt's army under his control.

Saladin, a Sunni, now founds two universities where theology is taught according to Sunni theology - a signal that he is on the side of the population. He also abolished a number of taxes that contradicted the Koran and the teachings of the Prophet.

Saladin's subsequent conquests shock the Christian world. By 1174, his power extended from North Africa to the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. In 1186, he ruled from the Nile to the Tigris.

At the height of his power, the Sultan even dreamed of taking the Holy War to Europe, conquering Rome - and putting the Pope in chains.

The Crusaders conquered Jerusalem in 1099 and held it until Saladin besieged it in 1187 and handed it over to the Ayyubid dynasty, a Muslim sultanate that ruled the Middle East at the beginning of the 12th century.

Saladin wanted to recapture the city, which had previously been ruled by Muslims.

For Muslims, Jerusalem is a place where important events in the life of Jesus and other important personalities took place. It is also the place where the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven according to the traditional interpretation of the Koran and other texts.

In Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third holiest city after Mecca and Medina. Muslims believe that Muhammad was brought to Jerusalem during his night journey (Isra and Mi'raj).

The name Jesus is mentioned twenty-five times in the Holy Qur'an, often in the form 'Isa ibn Maryam, which means "Jesus, son of Mary". In the Quran, he is given the unique title "Messiah" (al-masih in Arabic), which means "anointed one". He is considered one of many prophets from the lineage of the Prophet Ibrahim, or Abraham (peace be upon him). Many Muslim traditions regard it as an ideal example of spirituality. Unlike Christians, who generally believe in a triune God, Muslims believe that Jesus was a great prophet who was to lead mankind on the straight path of monotheism and obedience to God (Allah).

When Jerusalem also fell, two kings and an emperor set off for the Holy Land with their armies from 1189 onwards. One of the monarchs is King Richard I of England. Even before the armed pilgrimage, he had already earned himself an honourable name: "Lionheart."

Saladin lies in wait for the Christians in the forests of Arsuf near the Mediterranean coast. But King Richard of England had anticipated the attack; on 7 September 1191, his troops won a clear victory. Nevertheless, the Muslim army is still strong enough to block the road to Jerusalem.

Saladin's reconquest of Jerusalem in 1187 prompted Pope Gregory VIII to organize the Third Crusade. From 1189 to 1192, Saladin lost Acre and Jaffa and was defeated in the field at Arsūf. The Crusaders retreated to Europe without seizing Jerusalem, but Saladin's military reputation had been damaged. He died in 1193.

[awkward-sultana]

Scenes I would have liked to see in Magnificent Century (always being updated)

These are just things I would have liked to see, or honestly just hyper specific scenes I’ve envisioned in my own head. Don't come at me about realism. That's not why any of us are here.

Would love to hear everyone's opinions and what you would have like to see in the show!

Hürrem telling Suleiman about Leo and him accepting it A big part of Hürrem’s power in the harem in the show is that she got away with a lot of things, whether it be through manipulation or Suleiman’s love for her, but mostly it was through being smart and manipulative. That’s a huge part of her character, but it would have been nice to see a moment where she doesn’t win and has to come clean to Suleiman. His acceptance of Leo would have made their love more genuine in my eyes. He knew she was a slave and had a life before him.

Hürrem's past as a priest’s daughter When Hürrem went to Edirne, it would have been great to see her open the palace to the sick and nursed them instead of sitting there helplessly in literally one spot the whole time. We saw her help Hatice medically in seasons 1 and 2 and she was a priest’s daughter so we know she saw a lot of sickness and has some basic idea of giving aid.

Hürrem seriously going off on Suleiman at least once Again, a big part of Hürrem's legacy was how nuts Suleiman was for her and how she could get away with things other concubines couldn’t. I would have liked to see her really loser her temper at him at least once. Maybe go off about how difficult it is in the harem, being a woman battling for her life and her kids’ lives. It would have made their relationship seem deeper than it was in the show.

Generally seeing Suleiman's absolute obsession with Hürrem That man was nuts about her in real life. True Gomez and Morticia Addams.

Some good moments between young Mustafa and Hürrem Like thanking him for saving Mehmet from drowning in the first season or saying, “Thank you for being such a good big brother to my son.” She protected him during the janissary riots, but we didn’t see much day to day interactions between them. It would have made the distancing between them more impactful.

Another grown sultana in the family, like Mahidevran’s daughter Raziye It would have been great to see the dynamic between Mihrimah and another daughter, especially one that was older but still within her age range. The aunts were older than her and she constantly had to show them respect, so it didn’t feel like a fair fight. And Esmahan had to defer to Mihrimah too because she was the Sultan’s daughter. Another daughter who is equal to Mihrimah in most ways would have been fun.

Hürrem pulling away during the whole Firuze thing Hürrem had to stay on Suleiman’s good side because he’s the sultan, but I would have loved to see her pull away from him in small ways, like not spending time with him or choosing to eat alone and not with him. I’m a sucker for a good grovel.

Suleiman actually apologizing for things he’s done Again, I love a good grovel and it never happens in this show.  He always just got sick and woke up and told Hürrem how much he loved her. This goes into Hürrem pulling away during the Firuze arc and showing Suleiman her love is reasonably conditional. Again, real life Suleiman was whipped for Hürrem.

Ibrahim and Hürrem bonding at least once over being slaves and considering what their lives might have been like at home This kind of goes into my last point of Hürrem pulling away from Suleiman when he was with Firuze. I always thought that would be a great scene when they’re having dinner with the dynasty members when Firuze was in the picture. I envisioned Hürrem mulling about her “home” in Eastern Europe and confusing the dynasty about what "home" to her seems to mean now that's she's pretty unhappy, then asking Ibrahim in front of all of them what he thinks his life might have been like if he hadn’t been taken. This could have given way to a deep scene between Hürrem and Ibrahim as well as a sweet scene later on of Suleiman asking Hürrem to share her memories of her home.

Firuze slowly losing favor instead of an instantaneous decision There are so many deus ex machinas in the show that act as resolutions to issues and the Firuze thing was one of them. I would have liked to see her slowly lose favor, like treating Cihangir without permission from Hürrem or Suleiman, being disrespectful to Hürrem in front of him, or butting in on the family grieving Mehmet’s injury. 

Hafsa and Hürrem bonding over something other than hating Mahidevran, like the loss of Hürrem's unmentioned son It was great to see her realize  Mahidevran’s manipulations, but I hoped for a deeper resolution between her and Hürrem. We only see Hafsa acknowledging Cihangir’s illness like once or twice, which is so out of character, but I know they were trying to keep her firmly in the area of antagonist (crappy writing). Hürrem had another son, Şehzade Abdullah, who died as a toddler. Losing a child would have been a good bonding moment for them and brought them back as mothers.

Hurrem’s kids speaking Russian(?) One thing I always found wholesome is when children speak the language of both parents. It would have been a great homage to Hürrem's roots, since we didn’t see it a lot, especially in season 3. On that note, I would have liked to see Hürrem revert to her native tongue when she lost her temper, since that’s super common.

Mercan going over to Hürrem's side and staying in Season 4 One of Hürrem's best character traits was her ability to make her enemies her friends and Mercan was a great enemy. Convincing someone who was so zealously devoted to another dynasty member to come over to her side? Iconic. His and Sümbül's dynamic was also great and watching them being forced to work together would have been fun.

A reunion between Hürrem and Gulnihal, maybe Hürrem meeting Gülnihal's kids and husband and seeing Hürrem's kids grown Characters tend to disappear and never be mentioned again in this show despite their big influence on characters and their development. She should have gotten a kiss on the hand like Hatice and Suleiman did for Afife. She raised Hürrem's kids.

Ibrahim telling Suleiman to stay out of his marriage during the Nigar affair This is probably the most unrealistic thing I envisioned, but I love when one character beneath another in rank or station stands up to that person as a friend. And Ibrahim was getting bolder throughout the seasons so it wouldn’t have been totally out of character. 

Hürrem helping Nigar escape with her daughter instead of Firuze The whole Hürrem helping Firuze escape thing made no sense but it was in there to prove that Firuze was a spy. I think I speak for everyone in this fandom when I say I would have liked to see Hürrem help Nigar and Esmanur escape instead and the whole kidnapping Mihrimah’s baby thing not happen. But it would not hinge on the writer's hating Nigar's character and making her lose her mind and betraying Hürrem for a man.

Mihrimah being Selim’s valide sultan Mihrimah was well aware of the fratricide law, it was the whole reason she worked with Hürrem to kill Mustafa. She wasn’t so naïve to think her own brothers wouldn't get caught in each other’s crosshairs. Kösem forgave Osman for killing her own son, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of realism to see Mihrimah and Selim get back on good terms. It’s one of my favorite parts of her real life legacy.

Suleiman letting Hürrem do something really shady for him at least once He couldn't get his hands dirty, but he knew at least to some degree how cunning his wife was, even if he was willfully blind to it. Would have loved to see a "I won't ask questions" kind of conversation between them and Hürrem strolling from the room like a hitman for hire.

Cihangir seeing some sort of consequences for his naïve support of Mustafa As wise as he was, he was so painfully naïve when it came to Mustafa, seeing him face some consequences for that would have been satisfying.

Suleiman seeing more negative ramifications of sending Hürrem away in S3 Suleiman tended to send Hürrem off willy nilly because he could and not really take into account for the ramifications, especially in such a charged atmosphere. Seeing consequences to those choices would have been satisfying and would have reinforced Hürrem's importance as a partner, parent to adolescent children, harem ruler, etc.

Mihrimah’s trip back to the palace in S2 after Hürrem was ambushed being more difficult, like an actual kidnapping I really like antagonists being taken down by their own hubris and it would have been fun to see Hafsa suffer real consequences for her fake ambush. 

Hatice going off on Hafsa about how she treats Hürrem at least once in S2 She questioned her a few times in season 2, like when Hürrem's horse was stabbed. She did it a few times in calm ways in season 1 and once or twice in season 2, but seeing her lose her temper even a little would have been satisfying. I think this could have more happened if they had stuck to actual history and Hafsa had come as a slave and not a princess.

Suleiman seeking more comfort in Hürrem Suleiman was described as “weak” for Hürrem and it wasn’t really shown in his more emotional moments. The show expected us to be fine with his speeches and poems and see basic expressions of affection as “weakness.” When Ibrahim died, I would have really like to see him break down with Hürrem, his face in her stomach, the whole nine yards. He really just glared at her in that scene.

Hürrem and Suleiman being more of political and personal partners In the show a lot he tells her to “mind her business” and “don’t get involved in things that don’t concern you.” He also blew her off and treated her like a child when she voiced certain concerns (his condescending little smiles made me feral). A big part of her legacy was being an advisor to him and their abilities to share with each other what they couldn’t share with others.

The real importance of Hürrem's new haseki status and what that meant This was such a thing for me. Hürrem being the first with the haseki status was HUGE in the harem at the time but that whole story line was abandoned for the sake of rivalry between her and Mahidevran, which would have been there regardless. I hated seeing Hürrem curtsy to the sultanas in later seasons, especially in season 4 when Vahide was the actress. It was like having to watch Hafsa curtsy to anyone.

Mihrimah pulling away from Hürrem more during her engagement/marriage to Rüstem "Yeah, I'm doing this for my brothers but do you expect me to happy about it? Gush and fawn over having a kid with a man who kind of repulses me? I have postpartum depression? I'm super unhappy so I can't imagine why." Like I've mentioned before, big fan of having a character's ego come back and bite them and I think Hürrem should have suffered more consequences for basically telling Mihrimah her happiness doesn't matter. She was a little delusional in S4, acting all coy, telling Mihrimah she still loves Rüstem and they would find their way back to each other. Girl...she never liked her husband, stop trying to act like her homegirl and push her to be happy in a marriage she would have rather died than be in.

Gülfem standing up to Hatice at least once Hatice had a real high horse sometimes and even if she was insulting someone else, I could tell it made Gülfem feel a certain way because she was also a slave. This is yet another character I would have liked to see lose their temper in a more aggressive way. Like, girl, have some character development.

Some sort of resolution between Mihrimah and Esmahan Mihrimah had pretty much know other girl her age to lean on, I think it would have been easier to invest inheritance character if you saw her break down maybe once with Esmahan instead of trying to be tough. Like when Esmahan went to comfort her before her wedding. Mihrimha’s fake tough persona in that moment seemed hollow and just like a young bratty kid. Or when Humasah was kidnapped.

Bali Bey manhandle the sultanas a little bit during their questioning about Hürrem's disappearance I’m going to get a lot of flack for this one. I don’t mean him really putting his hands on the actresses, I mean like grabbing Şah's arm when she leaves. I like seeing haughty characters being taken down a peg. They would have seen they’re not as infallible as their status makes them feel.

More bonding between Gülfem and Hürrem at least once Gülfem lost a child and saw what Mahidevran and Hürrem had to go through fearing for their own sons. Hürrem had the chance to pay Gülfem some sort of compliment on the balcony when Cihangir was sick, like "I'm not as strong as you." Out of character, but this is basically an OOC post.

Hürrem let some things take their natural course Like when Mahidevran discharged Esma when she took charge of the harem. Suleiman would have caught on eventually that Hürrem was constantly unable to spend time with him due to taking care of 5 kids, or having to train brand new concubines.

Hatice being happy with her new husband I really liked him.

Hatice getting some closure about Sadika A big part of Hatice’s early character was her empathy for those below her (most of the time). She liked Sadika and wanted to see her happy and I’m sure Sadika had grown some affection for Hatice. I would have like to see Sadika write a letter to Hatice before attempting to murder Suleyman saying something along the lines of “I’m sorry for lying to you, my friendship with you was real but this was more important.”

Hürrem coming together with one of Suleiman's's sisters just as a fellow woman Maybe when Lutfi hit Şah, Hürrem was there and Şah let her pull her up off the floor. They were all women and mothers stuck in a patriarchy.

Mahidevran give Helena permission to clap back at Fatma In that scenes when Fatma was like "Did you really think you were going to marry him?" Saying something like, "At least he wanted to marry me" and Mahidevran laughing.

More affection between the concubines and other harem members and the royal kids They were all raised in the same harem, I'm sad we didn't get to see some found family-ish dynamics. Those kids must have had a lot of "aunts and uncles" in the servants. I'm sure Mihrimah saw more than just one or two of the concubines as mother/aunt/sister figures, especially as the Sultan's only daughter.

A better ending for Gülfem Because what the fuck was that?

Mihrimah going off on her aunts at least once While she had to defer to them because they were older and was an unspoken respect thing, she could get away with talking to them a certain way more than maybe Hürrem could. "I know you're trying to kill my mother and that can't happen because then what happens to us?" or "I know you killed Nazil, who raised us, and you thought we'd never find out and see you differently? Stop acting like you give an absolute flying fuck about us when you know what will happen if our mother is killed or Mustafa becomes Sultan. This is war."

Hürrem showing more affection to adult Mihrimah She absolutely had to defer towards her sons' safety, but sometimes she acted like she actively disliked her only daughter in S4.

Mihrimah not being a brat when she was young (S2) It would have made her rise to power more impressive and more endearing. Sometimes older Mihrimah just seemed like a princess who had never been told no so she always expected to win.

Mahiedvran and Hürrem sharing one sincere hug They had more things in common than not. They were both women, mothers, slaves stuck in a patriarchy and both could lose their sons with one decision from a man who has complete control.

Hürrem having more quietly pervasive PTSD symptoms. She displayed plenty of symptoms like hyperarousal, emotional over-stress, emotional dysregulations, hypervigilance, etc, but a lot of symptoms can be more quietly sinister and they missed that chance. The symptoms they did display first and foremost took away from her character because we couldn't differentiate all the time between angry Hürrem and traumatized Hürrem. "She's angry and violent and irritable? Oh, that's jUsT HüRrEm."

More rank-opposite hand kissing One trope I will forever and forever always live for is shows of deference opposite of rank. When Suleiman and Hatice kissed Afife's hand? Loved it. Suleiman kissing Hafsa's hand? Not totally the same, but kind of still love it.

Afife telling Şah and Hatice she was ashamed of them at least once Would have rocked their shit. And you know she for sure was.

Mihrimah being happy with Taşlıcalı in the end Probably the second most implausible head canon. They had both lost a lot and know what war costs, why not end up with another person who can empathize with your unique pain?

More of Gülfem and Hürrem's real historical relationship Always going to touch on sticking to historical accuracy when I get a chance. Leslie Peirce touches on the fact that Gülfem was probably more of a mentor to Hürrem than she was in the show, guiding Hürrem through what was an unprecedented rise in the harem and, therefore, a huge and probably shocking rise in responsibilities that Hürrem didn't know how to manage on her own. Suleiman trusted Gülfem with Hürrem when he was on campaign and Gülfem was most likely there when Hürrem died. Instead of being the dynasty's emotional support pet in season 3, we should have seen her turn coats for the better.

Women lashing out at each other for their children and not for a man The real reasons Mahidevran and Hürrem probably lashed out at each other the most was because the fratricide law dictated every facet of their lives. Love, sex and jealousy were not half as much on their minds as the show made it out to be. Let me see vicious mothers, not jealous girls.

Hafsa and Hürrem having one good hug Self explanatory

More about Suleiman's late children He had I think 2-3 children before Mustafa that all died of the plague that we never really heard about. And it would have given even more credence of the severity of Mahidevran trying to poison Hürrem when she was pregnant.

More about the entire royal family's grief and trauma with Sultan Selim I That man was batshit and you hear offhanded comments such as "I see your father when I look at you" when Suleyman does something cruel. Go more into that. What was it like to fear for your life, your son's/brother's/uncle's lives? Selim I literally hunted half his family down and executed them. It would have given them so much more depth as characters.

Leo haunting Ibrahim In the back of scenes, the blurry character the audience only just notices, the specter standing over this shoulder in a quiet room, the beating heart beneath the floorboards. The start of the death of his innocence given form, standing at the end of the hall as his body is being carried away. Fucking art.

Nigar being on Hürrem's side in season 3 and being totally psycho about it I would like like to see Nigar regrow the brain cell she had in season 1, but maintained her scorched earth policy in season 3, but on Hürrem's side. Would have been great. Snapped: Harem Edition.

The Development of Esma and Hürrem's relationship Esma was one of the harem girls Hürrem didn't like at the beginning of the first season and then she was one of the only people Hürrem ever trusted with her children. I would have liked to see that development, or at least the moment Hürrem chose Esma to be her kid's nanny.

[bnxxshthealien]

Things I loved about The Legend of Ruby Sunday:

Ruby and Rose are besties

“gimme the lovvviiinnn”

Mel. Just Mel

Doctor Who is the only tv show where the God of Death can do the theresa may dance and everyone takes it seriously

The vfx. God damn, the tardis, sutekh, the vlinx, the susan transformation, it all looked gorgeous

Colonel Ibrahim

“DO YOU DREAM? OF BEING AN AMBULANCE ??”

They made tardis scary??? The one thing that’s always been safe for 60 years and now it’s scary ???? 💔💔

Gabriel Woolf

The Sutekh reveal was such a gamechanger. RTD lies, ridiculous fan theories can be true, now nothing is impossible.

Mel

Making fun of rishi sunak

The Trickster mentioned ???? 🔥🔥

New gods! We have new gods!

14 was mentioned but didn’t become a focus

wtf is a time window anyway

did i mention Mel

aaaaa there's probably a lot more things I'm forgetting but the point is. much good episode

[theroyalsims]

QUEEN'S NEW YEAR ADDRESS LAUDED FOR BEING LIGHTHEARTED AND HOPEFUL

Her Majesty, as is tradition, delivered her annual televised speech earlier today.

The address, also known as The Queen's Speech, often serves as a recap of the past year. It's also where Her Majesty shares her hopes and intentions for the coming months.

This year's address in particular was lauded by royal watchers for its lighthearted and hopeful nature. Her Majesty, despite local turmoils and international conflicts (especially in neighbouring Rennaux), urged everyone to go back to the basics, specifically, to recognise the importance of family.

(Above: HM's family-centric speech went perfectly well with her desk's chosen decor: family photos taken through the years. Ibrahim and Eleanore even get a frame of their own this time around!)

Royal experts claim that the calm and positive tone of Her Majesty's speech has a lot to do with how the Royal Family stands now. One expert suggests:

"The Queen and Prince Jacques are very happy with how things seem to be healing within their family. Although Anya and Eleanore's relationship remains icy at best, at least Anya has been a lot more civil as of late, despite her refusal to reconcile. But sisterly drama aside, the Queen has a lot to be thankful for:

Anya continues to be one of Brindleton's best assets and is a brilliant future Queen; 'Problem Child' Eleanore seems to have really grown up; Alistair is thriving, especially with his work with the military; and the twins have shown themselves to be capable and dependable senior members of the Royal Family. The Queen's relationship with her loyal and loving husband seems to be getting stronger by the minute. And of course, with the arrival of little Lady Ella, both HM and Prince Jacques finally have a grandchild to dote on. Life is, indeed, good for our Royals."

(Above: For her big televised speech, HM looked beautiful in a blue-and-white blouse, which she paired with diamond and sapphire jewels.)

It looks as though our royals really did have a grand time during the holidays! Here's hoping The Queen and her family are able to keep the peace and happiness they've had last year!

Happy new year!

[commissions4aid-international]

I am Hani Ibrahim from Gaza. I am married and have 6 children. We are suffering from the scourges of war. I had a supermarket and lost my job due to the genocide in Gaza. Now we are living the most difficult days of our lives. There is no work or food and we suffer from famine and scarcity of food and water. Your donation may save us and my children from surviving.

Donate or share

https://www.gofundme.com/f/hani-al-sharif-and-family?

[Verified by 90-ghost | $275 of $50,000 goal]

Of course!

Everyone, please share and donate to Hani's campaign! He and his family are suffering greatly - they are living in a tent that lacks basic necessities, and they are dealing with malnutrition due to lack of food. They are also currently VERY low on donations - let's help them out!

[0alanasworld0]

Hero (Abde Ezzalzouli x reader)

Description: Abde gets his chance to wind down and relax with you after ending his extended season and finally with a gold medal around his neck.

warnings: sexual jokes, references to sex (no descriptions)

“HEY!” He yells , waving his arms around, a big smile plastered on his face.

Oh god. You thought. That was your surprise ruined. You were hardly close to the front row so you had hope that he wouldn't notice you among the crowds but alas. You attempt to hide your face and turn around but you can faintly hear him say something first

“I can see you, silly! No point hiding now!” He laughs and you relent, giving him a shy wave.

Everyone around you in the stadium is looking in your general direction and they take a while to register who he’s referring to. Eventually their eyes do lay on his mother who sat next to you and it doesn’t take them very long to connect the dots when they see your flustered face and the number 16 jersey that was just a little too big on you.

You can’t help but laugh as well when you see him beckon over his teammates, pointing you out to them. You want to be stern with him but he’s so cute. Ibrahim is the first to notice you among the crowd, somehow going even crazier than Abde at the sight of you.

You had grown quite close to the team. From the way Abde spoke of them when they weren’t around to the way they were when you first met them, they didn’t disappoint at all. They were indeed extremely energetic almost beyond belief, like your little cousins but somehow even more so. In a fairly short space of time, they had become family to him. 

He wasn’t overjoyed at the news of his ‘demotion’ to the under-23s. And he certainly didn’t like the word ‘demotion’ either. When he had come to terms with the fact, he was constantly reminding himself that it wasn’t that at all. Not for the role he was expected to play, anyway. Nevertheless, the social media discourse referring to it that way never failed to irritate him. 

He had no idea that he was going to become the official captain and armed with that information, he maybe wouldn’t have felt so down about his placement. The questions that constantly circled in his head soon dissipated when he first got a glimpse of that blue band. It sat pretty on the hanger which held his jersey. That was still the same at least. Another sign that he was nowhere near out of the count. He was still a part of his national team, he was still appreciated but he supposed that the new role would be perfect for his development. 

It was different from the senior team. He couldn’t blame his older teammates for passing to the safer options, of course Ounahi would think of passing to Hakim or Youssef before him. Matches needed winning and the other forwards certainly knew a lot about that. Much more than he did. Although he still wished for more chances, just a little bit of faith but alas. 

Although the first concession did almost send him swirling into a panic, he managed to pull himself together and was sure to not repeat old mistakes. His teammates trusted him with everything as captain and he wasn’t going to break that. This would seal off his redemption if all went well.

“Went well” didn’t do him justice at all. The trust from his teammates and coaches was turning him into a true monster. Everything was on the upturn: his passing, communication, decision-making. He wasn’t the little Neymar-wannabe he used to be, he was serious and he was going to fight tooth and nail for the win.

That fire was exactly what led him to the present. They made reaching the finals look so easy, it was almost funny but now was the true test. It was no secret that Egypt had been achieving similar performances. They were good. In the intimidating way: darkness on their faces, ruthless, knew how to get under players’ skin. Abde had picked up on enough of their habits to know just how to work around them. They were good but there were weak points he was going to take advantage of. He was worried, of course, but more than anything he was excited.

“Man, you had better not let your girl distract you!” Ayman slaps the back of his head and Abde pushes him off, attempting to shake off his love-struck haze.

“Oh please, this is just more motivation! Not like you would know what this is like!” Abde scoffs and he’s met with another slap on the head before they both get back to warming up.

Of course, you couldn’t hear a word but you were worried about him being distracted too. You hoped that your presence would be a surprise for the end of the match - you were pretty sure of the result even if he wasn't - he wasn’t supposed to catch you out like this among the crowd. Apparently fate had other plans.

Your worries didn’t really settle because even while warming up, he was constantly looking over at you and pointing you out to even more of his teammates and making cute little faces. It was sweet and your heart fluttered at the idea that he always had you on his mind, enough to catch you in the middle of such a crazy mob like this one. Proud to show you off to anyone and everyone who would entertain him. Nonetheless, he needed to get his head in the game and eventually coach Charai does, physically, knock some sense into him and he finally diverts his attention away from you.

The start of the match is far from picture-perfect, the team looks good but much to their annoyance, Egypt does too. And they’re not going easy on your love either. Every chance he gets on the ball feels like a death-wish with the tackles they were trying. Especially with the first concession, an absolute screamer of a longshot, they don’t back down. They look hungrier and their tackles get more and more reckless. 

Of course Abde had anticipated it, he wouldn’t dare let himself get injured like that but he could certainly frame the players for trying. His plan finally comes to fruition with one wrong move. A tackle that digs straight into Abde’s ankle and you wince immediately. It looks awful and you couldn’t tell whether it was one of those times he was playing it up. Thankfully a red card comes after what felt like years of deliberating. Of course, your Abde got up just fine, raring to go with the new advantage they had.

But still, they’re a pain to break past. There was no doubt that the boys were doing great, but still. They still needed that cut-through, they weren’t going down without the fight of their lives, that was for sure. 

It feels like years but it’s a very welcomed shock to the system when one finally does bury itself into the back of the net. As the crowd around you goes wild, the only thing you can feel is relief. You can’t even bring yourself to scream because you were beyond exhausted. The stress you were feeling from the match was finally simmering down. They were still in it, far from being done. 

Once again, you feel your heart in your throat as your love goes to take a free kick. What was most certainly going to be the last of the night. You knew that free kicks were far from his specialty, he’d complained about his inability to take them in the past. You were always so sure that he was simply being harsh on himself but at this very moment, you hoped with everything you had that your assumption was correct. There was an underlying fear that he was, in fact, right. The way he was taking his sweet time didn't really help either.

You can feel the tension in the air, the otherwise ear-shattering screeching of the crowd quieting into an uncomfortable silence. It was almost painful, the sense of dread was apparent across the stadium.

You can see Abde finally set the ball down, Bilal pushing a player that was getting too close for any of their liking. One thing catches your eye, though. A straggling player to Abde’s side, barely moving. It was as if he was trying as hard as he could to remain invisible. Not a single Egyptian player thought to mark him so perhaps it was working.

It was as if you could hear the entire stadium suck in a breath as Abde takes his step towards the ball and you all expect a rocket of a ball to fly through, the Egyptian players do too as they all jump from their wall formation in an attempt to clear but nothing. A quick cross to his side, barely visible and right to the straggler. It has everyone in the box completely blindsided and there's a frantic scatter, a mix of red and white shirts all pushing and shoving. It's all so messy that the ball flies, almost completely unnoticed from the straggler and finally, FINALLY, into the back of the net.

It's almost too quick to process and there's a moment of near-complete silence as realisation settles in. The roar that emanates across the little stadium is practically deafening, ear-popping. 15 minutes on the clock and the deadlock finally broken. The red shirts all piling in on each other to celebrate the breakthrough. Your Abde may not have had the best track record with free-kick goal attempts but he certainly had his wits about him.

This time, you scream. As loud as you can manage. You can’t hear yourself amidst all the other chaos but you feel your throat strain. It was so close, you could envision your love already lifting that trophy. You were confident now because if there was one thing this team knew how to do, it was defend. They would do it with their lives. 15 minutes.

Chaos was what it was. A blur of tackles and wasteful long passes by your beloved red shirts. Screams of frustration from the whites. A little bit of extra time-wasting and showboating by Bellaarouch who was perhaps treading very fine line but with 5 minutes on the clock, you supposed that he could care less. 

It was evident that the Egyptian players had all but given up. Their best players off the pitch now to be replaced with subs that, if anything, were only wasting more time for themselves. Some rather pathetic last-ditch attempts at earning a penalty, their only hope, but it was very clearly over.

You reach the dying seconds of the game and the tension rebuilds itself rapidly as you all await the final whistle. So so close. The wait was painful and you supposed that your impatience wasn't really speeding things up.

The players and coaches all lined up at the edges of the pitch, hands on their heads. Some raise theirs in prayer. Literal seconds. An exhausted Egyptian and an antsy Moroccan one. Seconds and the stadium had gone quiet as everyone awaited that final whistle. 

You can only hear the beautiful sound for a second before the whole stadium is lit up with screams and sparklers. It was pure electricity in there, it moved throughout the stadium and through your body. Visceral. Some manage to make it onto the pitch from the front seats and the players are all piling on each other to celebrate. The Egyptian players all frozen in their spots, defeated as ever and with very little sympathy from the sea of red that surrounded them. 

You only see the flash of red for a second before you’re enveloped in his arms and it quite literally knocks the breath out of you. He was so excited and had seemingly forgotten how strong he was so the impact paired with the squeeze around your frame was a shock to your system. The adrenaline is rushing through you too so you manage to recover too, one hand on his back and the other on the back of his head, pulling him into your neck and you feel his tears fall onto your shoulder. Months and months of doubting himself, hours of you talking him down from his panicked ramblings. All of that pain and stress had finally settled and it all felt so worth it. He had come so far and words couldn’t describe just how proud you were of him.

He pulls his face from your neck and lets his forehead rest against yours. Lips only centimetres away from yours and you can see his eyes drift. There’s nothing you want to do more than kiss him, among other things, but with the crowd surrounding you - and his mum right there - you knew it would be best to wait.

“Abde, behave yourself.” you whisper so only he could hear and he grins, rolling his eyes and opting to kiss your forehead and the tip of your nose before hugging you to his chest. You could feel him physically relaxing for the first time in what felt like forever. He rocks you back and forth for a while before letting you go and trapping his mum in the same, bone-crushing hug. 

He has to leave you both again as the podiums were laid out for the awards ceremony, the gold medals all ready and waiting for them. Abde’s golden boot, his first ever, waiting there as well alongside the AFCON trophy. Your heart could burst with pride for him and it felt like a genuine possibility when you watched him receive his golden boot. You weren’t as far away anymore so you could see the look on his face: amazement and disbelief. Of course, you had always known what he could do but even with the award in his hands he still couldn’t believe it. 

You quickly grew impatient as you waited for him to receive his medal because of course he had placed himself at the back of the line. The silver medallists get it over with pretty quickly, barely looking up and avoiding the camera flashes, only a few of them keeping the medals on as they walked down the line. It felt like time had slowed to a near pause as the Moroccan players received their accolades. And of course, the love of your life was right at the back of the line as he held the responsibility of lifting the trophy as well. You were growing antsy, counting down the players until it was finally time. The shock had finally worn off and now he just looked ecstatic. He had recently developed a not-so-nice habit of denying himself such celebrations but it seemed that he was finally allowing himself to revel in the satisfaction.

 He gets the first lift of the trophy to himself before he’s ushered to where his teammates were all standing. He takes his sweet time to reach them, in bouncing steps; much like his football hero only months prior. One final, especially a big leap and he finally raises the trophy with his vice captain almost perfectly in-sync with the beat of the music. Green, red and gold streamers everywhere and fireworks lighting up the sky above. 

Once the main photos are taken and after yet another victory lap of the stadium, Abde rushes over to you and practically drags you, his mum and his brother down to the field so you could all celebrate properly.

The cheering felt so different on the grass, it hadn’t quietened down at all and the way it all just surrounded you now. It was something so so special. The noise and colours hit you in every direction equally and you felt overwhelmed yet amazed at the same time. He takes you around so you can meet with his teammates again, now without the stress of the match weighing them down. His arm doesn’t leave your shoulder once as you make your rounds. As always, ready and waiting to show you off to everyone.

Although you don’t say, he knows that you don’t find any of the conversations particularly entertaining. How could you? Your world was so different from his and even though you were so deeply in love with each other in spite of it all, he could never blame you for struggling to understand things. He makes sure to slip a joke to you every once in a while, whispering in your ear the second everyone’s looking away, sneaking in gentle kisses onto your cheek and temple. At least you both think everyone’s looking away but the photographers had gotten quite sneaky so some of the sweet moments were captured anyway. The internet would have a field day with those photos, as they always did. 

Over the course of the on-field celebrations, his arm drifts down from your shoulder to your waist which he gently squeezes every once in a while, just to remind you that your AFCON gold-medallist was still there and soon to be all yours.

Once the main crowd on the field had left, many of the journalists and photographers, he ushers you all to sit down on the podium steps and before you go to sit next to him, you feel him gently tugging at your wrist. You pause, looking at him in slight confusion and he pats the spot in front of him and between his legs. Your eyes widen, slightly bewildered and he shrugs nonchalantly, pulling you down so you could finally relax. It wasn’t like his family cared anyway, they adored you as if you were theirs and there was no doubt that you were a good influence on their boy. 

Although you manage to create some distance between the pair of you, he’s not having any of it so he wraps his arms around your middle and pulls you so that your back is against his chest. Thankfully his mum appears to be distracted talking to one of the other players but his brother was very much still there and you could hear him chuckle. He didn’t mind the behaviour at all but he found Abde’s infatuation with you absolutely hilarious. It wasn’t even just now, it was a pattern of behaviours that left him without a doubt in his mind about how in love his little brother was with you. It was impressive. 

“You idiot, there are still photographers around!” you scold and he only responds with a kiss to your temple.

“Anjo, come on! I deserve a reward, no?” he teases and you roll your eyes, although he can’t see. You imagined he was quite proud of that double-meaning. You pretend to be annoyed but the second you hear him start to laugh, you can’t help but chuckle quietly at his dumb joke.

Once you finally relax into his hold, he’s quick to remove the medal from around his neck and place it around yours instead. You distract yourself playing with the heavy, golden disc as he gives his final interviews of the night. You know he’s done when his head drops down onto your shoulder and his hands move to cup yours.

“We really did it.” he sighs as you press a quick kiss to his cheek.

“I told you!” you point out and he hides his face in the crook of your neck while you tease him. He keeps you close for a while, enjoying the way you were loosening up a little as the last of the photographers left. The final few did manage to sneak some more shots of the pair of you before leaving but that was the next day's problem, you were none the wiser for the time-being.

“The armband looks nice.” you mumble and he smirks.

“You’ve mentioned it one or two times.” He wants to tease you more for your infatuation with the thing, maybe get a few more compliments or even a hint as to what was to come. but alas he’s whisked away by his teammates for the locker room celebrations while the rest of you are ushered to where the after party was going to be.

Eventually his brother and mum end their night early and make their way back to the hotel but not before waving Abde their goodbyes. A congratulatory hug from his mum and a punch from his brother, just like when they were younger. 

The party itself is quite the spectacle, the hotel reception lavishly decorated and filled with all of the players’ family members. The excited chatter was somewhat refreshing from the noise of the stadium with the emotions still running sky-high. Yet there was some semblance of peace, you could hear your thoughts and somehow that only made things more exciting and you were itching to see the love of your life come through those doors again, you certainly weren’t going to be leaving him for the rest of the night. 

You make use of the spare time to go and talk with your fellow WAGs but the room nears silence when the hotel staff announce the players’ imminent entrance. You didn’t need much indication because you could hear their loud yapping from a mile away. The tense silence is worth it when you manage to spook the boys with the loudest cheers and hollers you could all manage. It was like being back at the stadium when the party quickly hit full-swing, the cheering and the chants echoing down the walls of the venue. It was pretty large but it somehow became suffocating as you weaved through the crowds trying to find YOUR winner. He was searching too, you couldn’t have been too difficult to spot with the giant gold medal still around your neck.

After a good couple minutes of scanning, he’s finally able to spot you lost as ever in the middle of the hall, frantically looking around. He’s quick to end your misery, bounding over, tunnel-vision preventing him from responding to anyone trying to talk to him. He doesn’t want to scare you too badly so he resists the urge to pick you up and hug you from behind. Instead, a little tap on your shoulder and he’s only able to saviour the relief on your face for a split second before you throw yourself at him for a hug.

“I missed you.” you mumble into his ear and he presses a kiss to the top of your head.

“We were only out for a couple of hours!” he laughs and you remove your head from under his chin, creating a bit of distance before slapping his chest.

“I don’t see your point.” you say matter-of-factly, returning to resting your head on his chest while he rocks you both back and forth. You hoped that you would be able to stay like this for a lot longer than the hug in the stands but he’s pulled off you and you’re both dragged to the centre of the hall and up onto the tables as the chanting began once more.

Abde manages to get his instagram live working again to share the craziness with everyone, for once featuring you which has the live chat even more stoked than before. He kept his family life as private as he possibly could and he had been pretty successful in that, no one outside of his circle even knew the amount of siblings he had. He was even more secretive about you. Your face was known and practically nothing else so any little snippet of your relationship elicited a lot of excitement from the fans. There were a few photos of the pair of you celebrating together and he had mentioned you a handful of times during his interviews. That was really all they had and you were happy to keep it that way. Break-up rumours circulated pretty often with the lack of content but it only served to make the pair of you laugh.

Today, emotions were running high. All positive of course so having the pair of you on live together didn’t feel wrong at all, you were too overcome with excitement to care about any of that. Not the haram police, not the jealous girls that lurked around his page, none of that mattered today.

The party goes on for what feels like years and you’re both so relieved by the time you reach the hotel room. It was lavish to say the least, nothing but the best for you but he hadn’t spent much time in there himself. And for the little time he did spend, he was strictly off any “boyfriend-girlfriend” activities, as much as that pained him. Having you massage his aching muscles at the end of his gruelling training sessions did a number on him yet he couldn’t do anything. And you certainly weren’t one to go against the rules either.

He had plenty of images in his head of all the things he wanted to do to you, and you had plenty of ideas of how you were going to reward him but the second he fell onto the bed… 

“Anjo I don’t think i can move from here.” he sounds disappointed of course but you couldn’t blame him. It had been a rough few weeks, non-stop work as a kay player and captain. He didn’t have time to be exhausted for a solid two weeks and it was crashing down the very second his mind was freed of the stresses of the tournament.

You make your way out of the en-suite, makeup off and only donning one of his shirts over your underwear.

“You could at least get yourself under the covers, no?” you joke and he thinks for a second.

“Well I was hoping that, y’know…” he leaves the statement open, hoping that you’ll catch onto his request because now that he’s actually able to take a second, his back is absolutely killing him. He manages to get his shirt off, not without groaning in pain and you finally do catch on.

“Can you keep the armband?” you ask quietly, and he laughs, enduring the pain he feels in his back even from that. He doesn’t press further and he relents, leaving it on for you.

You quickly get yourself into position, grabbing the lotion and straddling the backs of his thighs. His back is peppered with bruises and a couple of nasty looking scrapes, scabbed over so you supposed he got those in one of his many scraps in the last match. 

You start with the knots on the back of his neck and he immediately sinks into the sheets, sighing out in relief as you worked your magic on his tense and sore muscles. Even with the massages you gave him in between every training session, after the other matches, nothing could hold up against the amount of work he was doing. Of course it was all worth it in the end, the gold medal very much still around your neck. But it had taken its toll on his body and he was finally processing the amount of pain he was in.

you’re careful to not put too much pressure on his bruises as you slowly work your way down his back. He gives you the occasional grunt of approval, sighing as he feels the pain melt away at the tips of your fingers.

“So warm…” he compliments, taking a deep breath in and revelling in the way it didn’t hurt anywhere near as badly as it did before you worked your magic.

“That’s my freak trick!” you joke, it was true though. Your hands were always weirdly warm, even in the cold winter months. Your hands always persisted as mini space heaters and it was something he absolutely adored about you. His hands always firmly grasped yours whenever he needed warming up.

“You’re not a freak!” you scoff at that.

“You’re not! You’re an angel who’s perfect in every way, hands and all.” he assures and you chuckle at his certainty, he really never gave you room to doubt yourself. You were the definition of pure perfection in his eyes. Nothing could come close to you and when you did things like this for him, it only solidified his beliefs.

“Those defenders were…”

“Getafe-standard ankle-breakers.” he mutters, annoyed at even the thought of them. Not that he was wrong, playing low-block in what was supposed to be a super important final was… a choice. And indeed very akin to Getafe.

“You got the better of them though, hmm? Made them look like fools out there.”

“Not before they tried to shatter my legs. That Diomande guy from Mali… now THAT'S a real defender!” he admits. He may have had an ego but you loved the way he was able to appreciate other players around him, even opposition. 

“What about the blond one? The Hopper?”

“Oh Atef? Yeah, he was an advantage to us if anything. How do you waste the dying minutes of a game YOU’RE losing to try and bag a penalty when you knock YOURSELF out?” he wonders and you can’t help but laugh. He was right, everyone had expected much better out of the guy who was supposed to be replacing their best player. You were sure Abde didn’t mind it at all. At the very least, they didn’t make the same mistake as they did against Mali. 

You continue to go about the expanse of his back, trying to keep him talking so he wouldn’t fall asleep on top of the covers. Asking about other players he had come across, his teammates, he mentions a food place that he wanted to take you to the next day.

By the time you’re done with him, he’s just about awake but you can tell that he’s ready to drift off at any given minute. You bend down to press soft kisses across the expanse of his back and shoulders, your hands doing one final swoop over the ridges and bumps, quietly admiring all the hard work he had put in. You thought he was built like a greek statue before but he had turned things up a notch and you were beyond obsessed.

“I love you, you know that right?” you mumble into the back of his neck and he hums in satisfaction and pleasure. He felt so much lighter after the massage but your soft lips doing a once-over? He felt like a whole new man.

“I love you more.” he mutters and you laugh. You’ve had this competition far too many times.

“You keep telling yourself that.” you move off him and tug at the blankets, hauling them over the pair of you. He shuffles towards you, finding comfort with his face pressed against your neck and arms wrapping around your middle. You keep one hand in his hair, lightly scratching at his scalp to further help him drift off.

On a normal night, you would continue the little competition but he was beyond words at this point so you don’t speak another word. The comfortable silence and the feeling of your heart-beat lulls him to a peaceful, well-deserved slumber. You can feel his breaths slow and his grip around your waist loosen and you’re not too far behind him, allowing the sleep to take you over as well.

Your sleep is perfect and you wake up pretty early in the morning. Thankfully, before Abde so you get your chance to execute your plan. Somehow, during the night, you ended up back in your usual sleep position with you on top. The strong arm around your waist is still there but his grip is iron. It takes a while but you manage to wiggle out without waking him, although he does furrow his eyebrows and groan softly before quieting back down. 

You tiptoe to the bathroom and try to freshen up as quietly as you can manage. No makeup but you do your best to wash away the tiredness from your face before making your way back to the main bedroom. Not ideal but he is already up, wiping his eyes as he scans the room, a little confused with your absence but his eyes fill with relief when he sees you.

“Anjo?” you don’t respond just yet, slowly removing your sleep shirt to reveal what you had intended to treat him with yesterday. You supposed today would work just fine as well. His eyes widen a little but he’s quick to regain his composure and smirks as you saunter over to the queen-sized bed. The underwear really didn’t leave much to the imagination but you still heated up under his gaze, he made no effort to hide the way he was undressing you with his eyes.

“All for me?” he asks, as if he didn’t already know that answer very very well.

“You didn’t think I was going to let my captain go unrewarded for his work, did you?’ you pout as you place your legs on either side of his thighs. His hands rest on your hips and he draws small circles with the pads of his thumbs as he awaits your next move.

He has an idea before you can do anything though, carefully reaching the side of the bed frame to grab his gold medal. He places it around your neck and relaxes back into the bed, hands back on your hips.

“Come on, anjo. I think I’ve waited long enough…” 

heyyyyy... how y'all doing... I think I've got my motivation back lmfao. Stay in tuned for part two!!!!

[quranwithsehar]

You were applying for a job, but it didn't work out. You were really hoping it would work out, or you were really hoping to get accepted into the university. Unfortunately, you didn't get accepted at the university. Those are the kinds of tests where you could feel depressed or sad, but you can't live in that sadness. Feeling those emotions at first doesn't mean you don't have Sabr. You can have those feelings and experience those emotions, then pick yourself up and try again.

So, you can have a dip, a low, and a high – that's being human. Allah didn't create us as angels. Sometimes we may face other trials, for example, an engagement that broke off, a marriage that ended miserably, or not wanting parents to get divorced, and they did. These situations involve people, people doing things that hurt us or things we wish they didn't do.

I think the solace, at least for me, comes from the stories in the Quran where people much better than us, like Yunus, had no control over his family. He didn't have any control; Ibrahim, an incredible human being, had no say in his father's choices. We cannot control other people's choices, and sometimes those choices deeply hurt us. People much better than us were hurt deeply. Ibrahim AS being kicked out of his house was not easy; being married to Firaun was not easy. For Musa AS, running away from home was not easy. These people were traumatized by many terrible experiences. Allah taught us through them that we can only control what is within our grasp, and we have to learn to let go of what isn't.

In the end, we say, "To Allah, we belong, and to Him, we are going to return." Any problem I'm having, how long is it going to last? Well, as long as I last. I'm not here for that long. When I think about the grand scheme of things, this problem isn't as big as I think it is. And of course, Allah has given us hope too. After every difficulty, there is great ease. Now, put yourself in their shoes; how much did the companions love the Prophet? When he died, how devastated were they? In that moment, for them to believe the Quran is still there, saying, "With difficulty comes twice the ease." They were devastated, in tears, broken, but their faith allowed them to heal and move forward. Allah created so much ease for the ummah afterwards.

That's just this life; it's going to come with trials and difficulties. Allah has made us mentally prepared that life isn't going to be easy; He said it many times. We all have trials; don't believe someone else has an easy life because they appear to on social media. Everyone has things causing them hurt; the person next to you has things causing them hurt. These influencers may talk about the blessings of Allah, but that doesn't mean they're showered with blessings every morning and have no issues.

Sometimes we run after things that are not real, believing them to be real because someone else has them. We may think others don't have any challenges, but everyone deals with their own pain. Allah tests people differently, but we don't see the other person's trial or know that their trial is the same as ours. We might wonder why Allah is not testing someone else or why we couldn't have it easy like they do. We don't know their reality, so these thoughts should give us some comfort. Whatever trial Allah has picked for me, whatever loss, whatever experience, is something I'm supposed to learn from, learn and grow from. Keep moving forward.

-Ustad Nouman Ali Khan

[garebearandnan]

Coming soon: The girls are sneaking off from the Villa!

This fanfic will be LITG canon based but will include some bits from the actual TV show and Love Island Matchmaker. Including what happens in both the Main (Original) Villa and Casa Amor.

Bedroom

Bobby: Boys, where are the girls?

Bobby: I don't know, let's go and check upstairs?

Dressing room

Jakub: Where the hell are the girls?

(YELLS) Bobby: Girls? Where are you?

Ibrahim: Bobby, the girls are gone… 

Lucas: Maybe they are in the garden?

Gym

Gary: They've left the villa.

Ibrahim: They've left?

Bobby: They've all got really, really dainty, like, steps. Because I wake up quite easily. They must have been doing some mad ninja moves.

MC: "Girls on tour!" I cheered and we all clinked glasses. "Did you know, Casa Amor is actually Spanish for 'House of Love'."

MC: "I would be lying if I didn’t think a girl would come here and make a beeline for him."

New casa amor bomshells:

What's your Casa Amor strategy? "There’s no time to hold back, so I’m going to make sure I get to know everyone. I’m not going to waste any time thinking about what their current situation might be because I need to give myself a chance. I’m going to lay all my cards on the table and see where it gets me."

Why Love Island and why now? "I think it’s ideal timing and the perfect way to find someone. I don’t go out and party and I don’t use dating apps, I’m actually quite old-fashioned, so there’s no better way to meet someone than by going into a Villa in the sun with the potential ‘one’ in there."

What are you looking for in a partner? "I’m looking for someone who has good energy coming from them. Is fun and has good banter. The boys are waiting for someone to come in and steal their hearts."

Back in Casa Amor:

In the Beach Hut, Marisol: The Love Island gods have answered my prayers, they sent me in six fresh sexy new boys. It’s like day one again, do you know what I mean? It feels like this is my time to get to know all these guys and, hopefully, find a connection with one of the six. Or all six of them if I’m allowed. I mean, I will take all six, just to make up for lost time.

BH Chelsea: I’m like a kid in a candy store, right now. I’m just like, (points her finger in a pretend line) umm, um-um-um-um-um! I’m not sure which one I wanna try first.

BH Grace: I really think that Arjun is, like, a proper geezer. He's going to play a massive game. He is so confident. I could see the way he was looking at all the girls. He made me feel like he liked me within five seconds. I saw him doing the same thing to everyone. I wouldn't trust him.

Loungers: On the loungers, Hope and Grace are having a catch up. The others’ are in two smaller groups chatting getting to know the new boys.

Hope: I feel like I should be grating… But, then I’m like what’s going on. No. Not grafting, but…

Grace: Surely not. Who should you be grating?

Hope: No. Not grafting. As in like… Chatting. But, like, in sort of a big group I can’t get to know, like, any one of them one-on-one. There's Alex. (She points.) Carl. Mick?

Grace: Nick?

Hope: Mick.

Grace: No, not Mick.

Hope: The red beard. What’s his name? Mi-

Grace: There's no Mick.

Hope: Elijah?

Grace: Oh, I can’t even remember if there was a Greer, you know. There was defo a Greer.

Hope: Yeah, Greer’s that tattooed one, full red beard.

Grace: And there is a, um, Casey… Kayden… Casey?

Hope: No Casey.

Hope snorts and lowers her voice. “Who's your daddy? Who's your daddy?”

Grace: Oh, my days, Hope! Fuck, we’re so bad.

They burst out laughing.

Narrator, Iain Stirling: What we need here is, oh, I don’t know, a close-up of each lad, with their name magically appearing. Or we can just have our girls get some one-on-one time with the new boys.

Your phone beeps.

Grace: Oh, hang on. Guys I've got a text!

Girls, it's time to get to know these new boys a bit better.  Get ready for a round of speed dating. #icebreaker #cocktailshaker

[garnetbutterflysblog]

I understand why Hurrem doesn't tell Suleiman, Hatice and others that she knows Leo. She's learned a lot in the past few episodes including what risks to take, the instability of her current position, and who is or could easily become her enemy. Even if she omits that Leo was her fiancé, her reaction would arouse suspicion about what relationship they had. Seeing Leo triggered her trauma, which she has been trying to suppress the entire series. I doubt Suleiman wants to face the reality that all women brought to the harem most likely suffered through something similar as Hurrem. Hafsa is not currently acting against Hurrem, but she has been needlessly cruel to Hurrem before and is one of Mahidevran's biggest supporters. Mahidevran and Ibrahim have both been rightfully labeled as enemies by Hurrem. She might be able to assuage any suspicion from Hatice and Gulfem by stressing the deaths of her mother and sister, but Hatice is married to Ibrahim and is close to Mahidevran. It's too much of a risk for Hurrem to feel comfortable taking.

However, what I cannot understand is why Hurrem hasn't told Nigar. While she now understands Nigar isn't necessarily powerful, she has been Hurrem's ally since day one and Hurrem continues to trust her. Why is she not consulting Nigar about Leo? Or Gulnihal, who has shown an unconditional loyalty despite Hurrem's maltreatment of her. Consulting them would most likely lead to a less risky solution than the one Hurrem is pursuing. I understand Hurrem must be shocked and relieved, why she's pushed to take that risk but it's not her best decision. Getting Nigar or Gulnihal to help her send Leo away would be so much easier and safer for everyone.

[ask-heartslabyul]

> LINKS TO HELP SUDANESE PEOPLE 🇸🇩🔗

https://t.co/VhprF9W30x