Hi all,
I know I’m going to get comments saying Islamically hijab is fard, which you’re right, it is. I’m not saying it’s not, but we also have free choice and should not be pressured.
My husbands family is very conservative but traditionally so, the women all wear dupatta on their head and not really hijab.
I’ve started to make more of an effort to pray and my MIL keeps telling me to wear dupatta on my head and keeps coming up to me and puts it on my head. My other sister in laws wear it and so I keep being pressured by only my MIL.
I live separately but see my in laws pretty much everyday. My husband says to ignore my MIL but it’s pretty hard! Many girls in the family wear the dupatta but don’t pray but it’s ok bc they are wearing the loose scarf on their head. Honestly, this isn’t the way to bring someone closer to actually wearing the hijab, it’s doing the opposite.
I’ve made every single compromise for my MIL/in laws but no compromise made on their behalf for me, which is really upsetting. What can I do to get my MIL off my back?

Hi all,
I know I’m going to get comments saying Islamically hijab is fard, which you’re right, it is. I’m not saying it’s not, but we also have free choice and should not be pressured.
My husbands family is very conservative but traditionally so, the women all wear dupatta on their head and not really hijab.
I’ve started to make more of an effort to pray and my MIL keeps telling me to wear dupatta on my head and keeps coming up to me and puts it on my head. My other sister in laws wear it and so I keep being pressured by only my MIL.
I live separately but see my in laws pretty much everyday. My husband says to ignore my MIL but it’s pretty hard! Many girls in the family wear the dupatta but don’t pray but it’s ok bc they are wearing the loose scarf on their head. Honestly, this isn’t the way to bring someone closer to actually wearing the hijab, it’s doing the opposite.
I’ve made every single compromise for my MIL/in laws but no compromise made on their behalf for me, which is really upsetting. What can I do to get my MIL off my back?

Athena:
Athena, as the protector of the citadel, maintains her virginity as a symbolic reference to the inviolability of the polis: Just as she is not penetrated, neither are the city walls.4 Perhaps more significantly, Athena’s character is functionally androgynous; that is to say, while her sex is female, her gender is strongly masculine. Although she does partake of the feminine task of weaving especially, she is a goddess of warfare and strategy, and protector of the citadel. In the mundane lives of the Greek mortals, such activities were properly in the realm of men. Athena, then, had a strong masculine overlay upon her female sex, such that it was not conceivable for her to submit to a male sexually, or to be distracted with pregnancy and maternity. Furthermore, as she herself states to the audience in Aeschylus’ Eumenides (ll. 735–738), “I approve the male in all things—except marriage—with all my heart.” Athena is a guide and comrade to the male, his companion in the field and, one might say, at the drawing board. But she cannot fulfill such a function and be liable to eroticism: She does not submit to males, sexually or otherwise, because she is one of them, and their superior at that, being a goddess.
Hestia:
Hestia must remain a virgin because of her embodiment of stability. Her role as virgin tender of the fire is important for understanding ancient Greek conceptions of the family. The Greeks were patriarchal and patrilocal, meaning men wielded greater control in politics, law, and economics, and that women left their natal families upon marriage to join their husbands’ families. There was always a certain distrust of wives, strangers in the paternal household who could still have loyalties to their own families, or who could form greater bonds with their children than with a husband and his clan. Furthermore, there was a general anxiety present in same-sex familial relationships. Sons inevitably enforce the notion of the father’s mortality, and sons or grandsons often cause a (grand)father’s death in literature, like Oidipous and his father Laius. Mothers and daughters might form close bonds, but those bonds are inevitably severed when the daughter leaves her family to join a husband’s household, as with Demeter and “Persephonê. Thus, the closest familial bonds are between mother and son, and father and daughter. However, as with the mother–daughter bond, the father–daughter bond is constrained by the daughter’s need to leave home upon marriage. In human life, then, a father’s closest familial ally is temporary. The lives of the gods, however, were not so constrained, and in Hestia existed the ideal paternal ally: the daughter who did not marry but who clung to the paternal hearth, ultimately loyal to the paternal line. Just as the hearth is the solid center of the household, the virgin daughter, on the divine plane, is the solid center of the family. Hestia, being both, is more than just a hearth goddess for the Greeks: She is the personification of stability.
Artemis:
Artemis is forever a virgin because she, like her brother, never grows up. She is the perpetually nubile maiden, always just on the verge of fertile maturity, but never passing the threshold into domestic maternity. She is not asexual, like Athena or Hestia, but eternally on the cutting edge of sexuality without going over.

By Asma Bint Shameem
A woman is NOT “obligated” to give anything of her salary or her own money to her husband or contribute anything to support the household expenses.
A woman’s money is hers. And no one has the right to it except her own self. That’s one of the basic rights that Islaam has given women, along with her right to inherit, own property, run her own business, vote, etc.
And that’s what distinguishes Islaam from others religions.
But if she does decide to contribute to the household expenses or anything else for that matter, out of the goodness of her heart, without any compulsion, then that would count as sadaqah on her behalf and a gesture of goodwill. And a means of rewards for her from Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala.
That’s because it’s the MAN’s responsibility to provide for his wife and family. And NOT the wife’s.
The MEN are supposed to support the wife financially and spend on them in the mahr and on their maintenance, food, shelter, clothing etc.
🍃 Allaah says:
“Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allaah has made one of them to excel the other, and because they spend (to support them) from their means.” [al-Nisa 4:34].
It’s an OBLIGATION placed on the husband by Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala Himself.
🍃 Allaah says:
”the father of the child shall bear the cost of the mothers food and clothing on a reasonable basis. No person shall have a burden laid on him greater than he can bear.” [al-Baqarah 2:233]
🍃 And Allaah says to the MEN:
”And if they are pregnant, then spend on them till they deliver.” [al-Talaaq 65:6]
🍃 The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said in his Farewell Sermon:
“Fear Allaah with regard to women, for they are your prisoners. You have taken them as a trust from Allaah, and they have become permissible to you by the word of Allaah, and they have the RIGHT to be FED and CLOTHED reasonably by you.“ (Muslim, 8/183).
Being supported financially by her husband is one of the BASIC RIGHTS of the wife.
🍃 Muaawiyah ibn Haydah radhi Allaahu anhu said:
“I said, O Messenger of Allaah, what is the right of the wife of any one of us over us?
He said: That you should FEED her as you feed yourself and CLOTHE her as you clothe yourself, that you should not say to her May Allaah make your face ugly! and that you should not beat her.” (Abu Dawood, 2/244; Ibn Maajah, 1850; Ahmad, 4/446).
🍃 Shaykh ibn al-‘Uthaymeen said:
“The husband is OBLIGED to spend upon his family, upon his wife and children, on a reasonable basis, even if the wife is rich.
Yet he has NO RIGHT to TAKE ANYTHING from her salary, not half, not more or less.
The salary is HERS, so long as it was stipulated in the marriage contract that he should not prevent her from teaching and he agreed to that.
So he does not have the right to take anything from her salary; it is HERS.“ [Sharh Riyadh as-Saliheen (6/143, 144)]
So if he’s obliged to SPEND on her, how can he take from her money?
🍃 The scholars said:
“The basic principle concerning any wealth the wife owns is that it belongs to HER and not to her husband, whether this wealth came into her possession by means of trade or business, or through inheritance, or as part of her mahr (dowry) or from the state. The husband does not have a share in any of that; rather it is her property and none of it is permissible for him unless she gives it to him willingly. If it were the case that the husband owned his wife’s wealth, then his wife’s entire estate when she died would go to the husband and no one else would have a share in it, and that does not happen according to the laws of Allaah. Based on that, the money that comes to this wife as assistance for her from the state belongs exclusively to her and it is not permissible for her husband to take control of it.
It is not permissible for the husband to take anything from his wife’s wealth except what she allows.
Allaah, may He be exalted, says:
“O you who believe! Eat not up your property among yourselves unjustly except it be a trade amongst you, by mutual consent” [an-Nisa 4:29]
“And give to the women (whom you marry) their Mahr (obligatory bridal money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) with a good heart, but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, take it, and enjoy it without fear of any harm (as Allah has made it lawful).” [an-Nisa 4:4]. We have discussed the evidence from the Quran and Sunnah and scholarly consensus that proves that the husband is obliged to spend on his wife according to his means; he does not have the right to force her to spend on her own maintenance even if she is rich, unless she agrees to that.” (Islamqa Fatwa # 163541)
And Allaah knows best.

By Asma Bint Shameem
A woman is NOT “obligated” to give anything of her salary or her own money to her husband or contribute anything to support the household expenses.
A woman’s money is hers. And no one has the right to it except her own self. That’s one of the basic rights that Islaam has given women, along with her right to inherit, own property, run her own business, vote, etc.
And that’s what distinguishes Islaam from others religions.
But if she does decide to contribute to the household expenses or anything else for that matter, out of the goodness of her heart, without any compulsion, then that would count as sadaqah on her behalf and a gesture of goodwill. And a means of rewards for her from Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala.
That’s because it’s the MAN’s responsibility to provide for his wife and family. And NOT the wife’s.
The MEN are supposed to support the wife financially and spend on them in the mahr and on their maintenance, food, shelter, clothing etc.
🍃 Allaah says:
“Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allaah has made one of them to excel the other, and because they spend (to support them) from their means.” [al-Nisa 4:34].
It’s an OBLIGATION placed on the husband by Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala Himself.
🍃 Allaah says:
”the father of the child shall bear the cost of the mothers food and clothing on a reasonable basis. No person shall have a burden laid on him greater than he can bear.” [al-Baqarah 2:233]
🍃 And Allaah says to the MEN:
”And if they are pregnant, then spend on them till they deliver.” [al-Talaaq 65:6]
🍃 The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said in his Farewell Sermon:
“Fear Allaah with regard to women, for they are your prisoners. You have taken them as a trust from Allaah, and they have become permissible to you by the word of Allaah, and they have the RIGHT to be FED and CLOTHED reasonably by you.“ (Muslim, 8/183).
Being supported financially by her husband is one of the BASIC RIGHTS of the wife.
🍃 Muaawiyah ibn Haydah radhi Allaahu anhu said:
“I said, O Messenger of Allaah, what is the right of the wife of any one of us over us?
He said: That you should FEED her as you feed yourself and CLOTHE her as you clothe yourself, that you should not say to her May Allaah make your face ugly! and that you should not beat her.” (Abu Dawood, 2/244; Ibn Maajah, 1850; Ahmad, 4/446).
🍃 Shaykh ibn al-‘Uthaymeen said:
“The husband is OBLIGED to spend upon his family, upon his wife and children, on a reasonable basis, even if the wife is rich.
Yet he has NO RIGHT to TAKE ANYTHING from her salary, not half, not more or less.
The salary is HERS, so long as it was stipulated in the marriage contract that he should not prevent her from teaching and he agreed to that.
So he does not have the right to take anything from her salary; it is HERS.“ [Sharh Riyadh as-Saliheen (6/143, 144)]
So if he’s obliged to SPEND on her, how can he take from her money?
🍃 The scholars said:
“The basic principle concerning any wealth the wife owns is that it belongs to HER and not to her husband, whether this wealth came into her possession by means of trade or business, or through inheritance, or as part of her mahr (dowry) or from the state. The husband does not have a share in any of that; rather it is her property and none of it is permissible for him unless she gives it to him willingly. If it were the case that the husband owned his wife’s wealth, then his wife’s entire estate when she died would go to the husband and no one else would have a share in it, and that does not happen according to the laws of Allaah. Based on that, the money that comes to this wife as assistance for her from the state belongs exclusively to her and it is not permissible for her husband to take control of it.
It is not permissible for the husband to take anything from his wife’s wealth except what she allows.
Allaah, may He be exalted, says:
“O you who believe! Eat not up your property among yourselves unjustly except it be a trade amongst you, by mutual consent” [an-Nisa 4:29]
“And give to the women (whom you marry) their Mahr (obligatory bridal money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) with a good heart, but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, take it, and enjoy it without fear of any harm (as Allah has made it lawful).” [an-Nisa 4:4]. We have discussed the evidence from the Quran and Sunnah and scholarly consensus that proves that the husband is obliged to spend on his wife according to his means; he does not have the right to force her to spend on her own maintenance even if she is rich, unless she agrees to that.” (Islamqa Fatwa # 163541)
And Allaah knows best.

By Asma Bint Shameem
A woman is NOT “obligated” to give anything of her salary or her own money to her husband or contribute anything to support the household expenses.
A woman’s money is hers. And no one has the right to it except her own self. That’s one of the basic rights that Islaam has given women, along with her right to inherit, own property, run her own business, vote, etc.
And that’s what distinguishes Islaam from others religions.
But if she does decide to contribute to the household expenses or anything else for that matter, out of the goodness of her heart, without any compulsion, then that would count as sadaqah on her behalf and a gesture of goodwill. And a means of rewards for her from Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala.
That’s because it’s the MAN’s responsibility to provide for his wife and family. And NOT the wife’s.
The MEN are supposed to support the wife financially and spend on them in the mahr and on their maintenance, food, shelter, clothing etc.
🍃 Allaah says:
“Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allaah has made one of them to excel the other, and because they spend (to support them) from their means.” [al-Nisa 4:34].
It’s an OBLIGATION placed on the husband by Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala Himself.
🍃 Allaah says:
”the father of the child shall bear the cost of the mothers food and clothing on a reasonable basis. No person shall have a burden laid on him greater than he can bear.” [al-Baqarah 2:233]
🍃 And Allaah says to the MEN:
”And if they are pregnant, then spend on them till they deliver.” [al-Talaaq 65:6]
🍃 The Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said in his Farewell Sermon:
“Fear Allaah with regard to women, for they are your prisoners. You have taken them as a trust from Allaah, and they have become permissible to you by the word of Allaah, and they have the RIGHT to be FED and CLOTHED reasonably by you.“ (Muslim, 8/183).
Being supported financially by her husband is one of the BASIC RIGHTS of the wife.
🍃 Muaawiyah ibn Haydah radhi Allaahu anhu said:
“I said, O Messenger of Allaah, what is the right of the wife of any one of us over us?
He said: That you should FEED her as you feed yourself and CLOTHE her as you clothe yourself, that you should not say to her May Allaah make your face ugly! and that you should not beat her.” (Abu Dawood, 2/244; Ibn Maajah, 1850; Ahmad, 4/446).
🍃 Shaykh ibn al-‘Uthaymeen said:
“The husband is OBLIGED to spend upon his family, upon his wife and children, on a reasonable basis, even if the wife is rich.
Yet he has NO RIGHT to TAKE ANYTHING from her salary, not half, not more or less.
The salary is HERS, so long as it was stipulated in the marriage contract that he should not prevent her from teaching and he agreed to that.
So he does not have the right to take anything from her salary; it is HERS.“ [Sharh Riyadh as-Saliheen (6/143, 144)]
So if he’s obliged to SPEND on her, how can he take from her money?
🍃 The scholars said:
“The basic principle concerning any wealth the wife owns is that it belongs to HER and not to her husband, whether this wealth came into her possession by means of trade or business, or through inheritance, or as part of her mahr (dowry) or from the state. The husband does not have a share in any of that; rather it is her property and none of it is permissible for him unless she gives it to him willingly. If it were the case that the husband owned his wife’s wealth, then his wife’s entire estate when she died would go to the husband and no one else would have a share in it, and that does not happen according to the laws of Allaah. Based on that, the money that comes to this wife as assistance for her from the state belongs exclusively to her and it is not permissible for her husband to take control of it.
It is not permissible for the husband to take anything from his wife’s wealth except what she allows.
Allaah, may He be exalted, says:
“O you who believe! Eat not up your property among yourselves unjustly except it be a trade amongst you, by mutual consent” [an-Nisa 4:29]
“And give to the women (whom you marry) their Mahr (obligatory bridal money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) with a good heart, but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, take it, and enjoy it without fear of any harm (as Allah has made it lawful).” [an-Nisa 4:4]. We have discussed the evidence from the Quran and Sunnah and scholarly consensus that proves that the husband is obliged to spend on his wife according to his means; he does not have the right to force her to spend on her own maintenance even if she is rich, unless she agrees to that.” (Islamqa Fatwa # 163541)
And Allaah knows best.

Just look at this thread: https://x.com/hollowearthterf/status/1796578770310336690?s=19
These same feminists say women do all the work, yet simultaneously demand social programs that force men to subsidize women. They know, everyone knows, men are responsible for the VAST majority of production in society. That has ALWAYS been the marital arrangement: men are providers.
Are we going to pretend an hour of folding laundry is as hard, stressful or productive as an hour of mining. No wonder men die so much earlier with this societal attitude.
Additionally, it's hilarious that these women are complaining about this "heteronormative marriage arrangement" as if it's patriarchy's fault when this is the arrangement THEY demanded, for women to also work full time.
Finally, as an aside, I personally find it economically silly for both partners to work and then split housework. Either one works and the other is at home, or you both work and hire a maid. But to each their own.
EDIT: And let's not forget that MOST people overestimate their contribution while downplaying others. For instance, most people say they do all the work at their job.
However, women are doubly bad about this because men are taught not to complain. This is a part of the male gender role feminists are surprisingly not fighting to get rid of.
I wouldn't be surprised if most women who "do all the work" actually do far less than their husbands. I know plenty of cases of that in my personal life.

Previous Interlewd XLI Next First
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---Sample---
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---Fnurfar’s perspective---
---2710 Terran Calenda3 years BF---
All six of my paws desperately scramble against the slick pavement of the Prosperity back alley as I flee for my life!
Pursuing me… is a monster!
His species aren’t meant to be sprinters!
They said if it came to a chase, I just needed to quickly get out of his line of sight and keep going and he’d not be able to keep up!
I skid around a corner and steal a glance behind me, seeing two furious eyes moving towards me so fast that they seem to leave streaks of emerald green behind them as afterimages!
The Fury is so close on my tail that he’s almost certain to catch me now!
It would be laughable how much my… ‘employers’ had underestimated him if it weren’t so terrifying!
‘You’ve got a Terran with you! There should be no issue!’
Yes, that idiot mercenary they hired almost had me going with his smug, arrogant proclamation that ‘Big=slow! Slow=dead!’ as he idly showed off his little knife tricks!
My confidence lasted up until the very moment I saw the one we were supposed to rob!
[20cm] taller than the skinny mercenary and looking like he could easily weigh twice as much, the man was a Hunt damned beast compared to the one who was meant to protect me from him!
I think Flynn reassessed his cocksure attitude as well because, rather than waiting for me to have an opening like we agreed in the [fucking] plan, he just drew a knife and tried to stab the monster to death!
An extremely poorly calculated risk!
There was no competition!
This juggernaut dealt with Flynn as easily as Flynn could have dealt with me!
It took him a matter of seconds to dispatch my accomplice but that was a matter of seconds where he was distracted enough that I was able to snag what we had been after… not that it makes any difference now!
Just as I hear thundering footfalls coming up on my left, powerful fingers impact the space between the bottom of my neck and the top of my top shoulderblades.
I’m slammed into the ground… but not killed…
I can feel the power contained in the iron grip around my neck…
I know that decapitating me would be as simple as deciding to close his fingers but, as I wait for death to come, it doesn’t…
Instead, the hand slides up my shoulders, gathering the loose skin and lifting me up like a kit in her parent’s mouth…
The first thing I’m able to see is the monster’s flat, booted feet, followed by a pair of long thick legs, then a chest and left arm covered in a loose fitting, buttoned shirt, patterned with vertical and horizontal lines.
The red fabric of his top disguises the bloodstain from the wound he got from Flynn, just below his shoulder. However, the nauseatingly metallic smell of it absolutely fills my nostrils!
The final thing to be revealed, as my feet hang more than [a metre] from the ground, is a face… the scarred skin a pale beige, the white, calcite teeth bared in a furious grimace, copper coloured eyebrows tilted downward in the middle over a nose, wrinkled with anger, and emerald eyes, burning with rage!
His shoulders rise and fall, in time with panted breaths he sucks in and out through his gritted teeth, putting me less in mind of a person (or even an animal) catching their breath after exertion and more in mind of some hulking piece of machinery from the Steam Age venting its pressure!
The Terran extends his pallid skinned, long fingered, furless, pentadactyl left hand to me, stained with the ferrous blood that’s run down his sleeve, and growls “Sample!”
“No…” I breathe, terrified.
“GIRL! I AIN’T fuckin’ PLAYIN’ with you!” he snarls, curling all but his index finger and jabbing it towards my snout “You’re gonna. GIVE. BACK. what you. FUCKIN’. STOLE!”
“You… can take it… from my corpse…” I defy, clutching my exhausted, trembling pawhands to the front of my jumpsuit.
Effortlessly, his free hand comes forward, batting my four aside, before pinching the top of the stasis vial and pulling it free, with there being absolutely nothing I can do to stop him!
He holds up the tube, in which is visible a small plant with a rosette of frilly black leaves and through which can be seen a frozen impression of the room it was in when it was stasised, demanding “You’re really willin’ to die for this!? For corporate espionage?!… Why the fuck’s this matter to you like that?!?!?!”
“I don’t care… about the plant… at all…” I answer, defeated.
His face twists in a sneer as he asks “Then why tell me I had to pry it from your cold. dead. hands!?”
“Because… if I come back… emptyhanded… they’re going to… torture my husband… and son… and make me watch!… If I don’t… come back… at all… maybe they’ll let them go!” I pant in answer.
His face falls blank… but I can tell that is not because he’s no longer angry!
Instead, his redoubled rage has gone from white hot to ice cold as he leans in and demands “Who’s ‘they’?”
---2715 Terran Calenda2 years AF---
“One!?” demands the sceptical, lutrine, Nvar man, one of six listening to my story for the first time (along with the two friends who’ve heard it before), holding up a webbed pawhand and extending a single finger “You’re trying to tell us that one Terran dismantled the entire Giluspri Sisters’ Syndicate, overnight!?… Simply because you told him a sob story about them holding your family hostage!?”
“I did say you wouldn’t believe me(!)” I smirk, lifting my drink to take a sip.
“You’re damn right I don’t believe you!!!” he sneers “It might have been a little more believable if you’d made it a team of a dozen or so Terrans that were guarding this thing but one!?… There’s no way it took a single individual a single night to root out and entirely destroy an enterprise that Prosperity’s government had been hunting for nearly [2 decades], even if that individual was a Terran!”
I place my drink down on the table and turn the palms of all four pawhands to the ceiling as I say “Believe me or don’t… that’s exactly how it happened!”
“Hmmm… Don’t know ’bout ‘exactly’…!” comes a familiar voice from behind my head, in the next booth over.
I freeze and straighten my back.
The friends and audience in my booth are looking past me, curiously, but, from their faces, it doesn’t look like they can see anything.
I stand and slide out through the gap between the table and Nafnarl’s footpaws.
I turn right and am immediately able to see that the booth next to us is occupied by a mixture of Terrans and some much smaller humanoids with green skin.
I keep going, rounding the partition to reveal…
“By the Hunt! Victor?!” I exclaim, seeing the man sat with his back almost exactly to where I was sitting, next to another tall, slim humanoid with blue skin and four arms.
His copper hair is much longer, his face isn’t as scarred and isn’t wearing the disgusted sneer that characterised so much of the time he and I spent together but… there’s no mistaking it!
The man turns his head, smiling, before standing up to nearly twice my height and extending a palm to ruffle the fur between my ears, saying “How’s it goin’, Foxy? You look a lot better ’an you did last time I saw you at least(!)” gesturing with his other hand up and down my less skinny and less visibly scarred body.
“Never mind that, Victor! What are you doing here?! You didn’t tell me you were coming back to Prosperity!”
He smirks “Yeah, sorry Foxy… It’s a loose lips sink ships kinda deal… Just thought I’d show my friends here the bar you brought me to celebrate after everythin’ was done that time… Didn’t think I’d actually run into you here!”
I stare up at the man, agog, for a few moments before reaching up with both my left hands and closing them around his wrist.
He allows me to drag him back to the head of my table.
“Nafnarl! Gfurnaf! This is him! This is the one I’ve been telling you about for the last [5 years]!” I say to my two Graufna friends before turning to the rest of the table to declare “He’s the man who took down the Giluspris! He’s Victor ‘Cuddles’ Taylor!”
With mirthful bemusement, the Terran raises his left palm to the table to smile “Y’alright guys!” before his eyes scan the faces and his expression goes concerned. He turns to me and asks “Your hubby alright, Foxy?”
I bare my teeth (I hope friendlily) and answer “Fnarnulf’s fine, Victor!… Fuffarn too! This is just a girl’s night…” gesturing at my two friends “…or… it was(!)” gesturing over the four men and two women, of four different species, who joined us to hear my story.
“What did you mean by it not being ‘exactly’ right?” queries Lunvo, the same sceptical Nvar who voiced disbelief before, still looking sceptical (not that I can blame him) but at least impressed by the fact that the ‘con’ has an (imposing looking) Terran stooge now(!)
“Weeeeell…” Victor frowns down at me, mirthfully “…the way she described me dodgin’ that knife attack, she made me sound almost psychic(!)… In reality, she and this guy weren’t as smooth as she seems to think(!) The fact that I even got nicked by someone I was payin’ as much attention to as that is a bad reflection on my reaction time!… Also, she kinda made it sound like I went into their headquarters with a gun in one hand and a lit plasmasword in the other(!) As I recall, I gave ’em all a chance to surrender and come quietly and it were only after they, shall we say, indicated a lack of interest in that option that my weapons first cleared leather!… Oh! And what was with all that comparin’ the way I pant to ventin’ steam engines, Foxy(?!)”
“But…” starts Muan, a nervous tolypeutine Wne woman beside her Wno husband, Kmuw “…you don’t deny it was you and you alone who brought down the Giluspris?… Without help?”
The pale skin of the Terran’s flat face performs a complicated scrunch as he considers the question before answering “Don’t know ’bout ‘without help’… I had Foxy here for showin’ me the way, after I’d done a lotta convincin’… and, once I’d taken care of ’em, local law enforcers came to take the survivors away… Aaaaand… I probably didn’t actually manage to kill or capture every last one of ’em… just gutted its power structure enough that the rats fled the sinkin’ ship(!)”
“Why are you calling her ‘Foxy’?” asks Lunvo, four eyes narrowed in suspicion “‘Fnurfar’ is the name she gave us!”
The large man shrugs his shoulders “I didn’t get her name until we came here to celebrate… she didn’t trust me to give it… Had to call her somethin’, so I called her Foxy.”
“Hmmm…” responds Lunvo “…I’m not buying it…”
Victor raises an eyebrow “You ain’t buyin’ me givin’ her a nickname(!?)”
“I don’t believe any of it! The whole story reeks of the fanciful!”
I bare my teeth and slam my paws on the table before snarling “I don’t care if you question my honesty, Lunvo, but this man saved my husband’s life, my son’s life, the lives of dozens of others, freed me from effective slavery and freed this planet from its largest criminal syndicate! I will not have you questioning his integrity!”
Lunvo cowers away from me, despite the table separating us.
I feel a large, strong hand on my shoulder.
I turn to see a smiling face.
“Eeeeasy there, Foxy… ’Preciate the defence but there ain’t no need to get heated over it!… ’Specially not when there’s a really easy way to sort this out…” he looks up at Lunvo and asks “Lunvo, was it? Could I ask you to look up the front page of the Prosperity Chronicle from the 3rd of September, 2710?… I think you’ll see a picture of me shakin’ hands with your governor at the time…”
---
Previous Interlewd XLI Next First
Discord
Dramatis Personae

Allah designed men to provide for and protect women, but that doesn't make men superior to women
Of all the factors that have made masculinity — the biological essence of males — perhaps none is as consequential and underappreciated as this: wombs are more valuable than sperm. A man can impregnate multiple women at a time, but a womb can only hold one baby (occasionally two or three) at once; thus twelve women and three men can re-populate a society to a far greater extent than three women and twelve men.
This makes men more expendable than women.
The most obvious example of this occurs in times of war when there are inevitably large numbers of widows and girls whose fiances and husbands have been killed in the fighting. One has only to recall the figures of the dead in the first and second world wars to be aware that literally millions of women and girls lost their husbands and fiances and were left alone without any income or care or protection for themselves or their children. If it is still maintained that under these circumstances a man may marry only one wife, what options are left to the millions of other women who have no hope of getting a husband? Their choice, bluntly stated, is between a chaste and childless old maidenhood, or becoming somebody's mistress; that is, an unofficial second wife with no legal rights for herself or for her children. Most women would not welcome either of these since most women have always wanted and still do want the security of a legal husband and family....
Hence, Islam proposes polygamy as a solution in a time of crisis. Instead of abandoning large numbers of families, widows, and orphans, in the hope of holding on to some notion of “equality” and monogamous marriage under all circumstances, Islam offers a practical solution keeping in mind the long-term health and spiritual condition of individuals and the society at large.

I figured I would tell my story to the void to help me cope somehow.
It all started on April 29, 2024, with what was supposed to be a routine ultrasound for my 12-week pregnancy. From the moment they wouldn’t let me see the ultrasound and only took pictures of the baby’s head, a sinking feeling settled in my chest. Something was wrong. On May 3, my fears were confirmed when I was instructed to see another ultrasound specialist due to concerning findings from the initial scan. My husband and I tried to stay optimistic, hoping against hope that any issue might resolve itself or require only minor surgery after birth.
On May 4, we found out we were having a boy. We shared the joyous news with a few close friends and family. This was our first child, and the anticipation was overwhelming. But by May 13, I was bracing myself for the worst, determined not to cry no matter what the doctor said. My best-case scenario was that our baby had a condition where the bowels were growing outside the body, which could be corrected with surgery after birth. The reality was far more devastating.
The doctor told us the head and upper extremities appeared normal, but a large cystic structure dominated the lower abdomen, likely the bladder, with umbilical vessels entering and surrounding it. At 14 weeks, our baby was measuring at just 12 weeks, possibly due to the cyst. Worse still, the spine appeared truncated at the lumbar area, with no sacral spine, causing one leg to grow normally while the other was significantly shorter.
As the doctor explained and showed us the images, my resolve crumbled. Tears silently streamed down my face. I felt embarrassed by my inability to hold them back, even though it was perfectly reasonable to feel such heartache. Isn’t it silly to feel embarrassed in such a moment of profound grief? My husband hugged me tight, reassuring me that we could get through this together. It took all my strength to compose myself enough to leave the room.
Walking through a waiting room full of other pregnant women, I felt their sympathetic gazes piercing through me. I hurried out of the office, my heart heavy with sorrow, and finally broke down completely in the car, the weight of our reality crashing down on me. I'm a very prideful person; I don't like showing my weakness to anyone. My husband has only seen me cry a handful of times (I'm in therapy working on this).
In the solitude of the car, I let it all out—the fear, the sorrow, the overwhelming sense of helplessness. This journey, which began with so much hope, had turned into a heart-wrenching ordeal.
Making the call to my OBGYN to schedule the termination was to say the least difficult. Due to the stage of my pregnancy, I would need to be referred out to have this done. When I found out I would have to travel 2.5 hours from my area to have this done, enraged me. I was told that was the only place they could refer me to, they had one place that was in my area but they no longer had a contract with them. I had to get my insurance and husband to fight for me to have the procedure closer. I was finally able to schedule the termination closer to home thanks to the insurance, though it took some time. So my schedule date is June 3rd & 4th, I made sure to keep myself busy and not think about it. I have to admit that after hearing the diagnoses of the pregnancy, I let everyone know I was going MIA from social media and overall communication in general. Everyone gave me the space I needed to heal from this. As the days get closer, the sadness comes in waves but so does the peace knowing that he wont be suffering anymore.
Thank you for reading this.

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Tips for women whose husband are into feet.
Firstly I would like to thank everyone who upvoted my previous articles. I am getting amazing DMs on how people have improved their relationships. For those who are new to my page I have spoken about the benefits of making him suck you feet daily.
Have you ever questioned yourself on the following?
1) Am I using my feet enough? 2) How do I use them better? 3) How much is too much? 4) How does it make him feel?
I will be happy to share my experience and perspective in the same.
What will define great sex is how hard have you made him. The harder he gets the better both of you will feel down there when he gets in. Ever wondered why women enjoy their oral sex so much? Ever wondered why oral sex is given before intercourse? They want it hard when it gets in.
They say the women works hard in the first half and the man reciprocates in the second.
You are lucky he gets hard with your feet. So are you using them enough? Sucking works the best, instead of him grabbing for them I like to give him a surprise, keep it unexpected. Let him suck as long as he wishes. Make him suck them more. The longer you spend here the harder he gets. Make him reach out for them. Try different positions. Keep it exciting.
If you like oral then you can pair it up or if you are an ocassional oral girl then feet indulgence is a must.
A little secret is to keep your eyes shut while he is sucking. A lot of men feel their wifes don’t appreciate this act so much so there could be a bit of a judgement from your end. Keeping your eyes shut is the best way for him to enjoy the act more. If you equally enjoy the act or like to see him go after it its best to clear it out. You want him to be open and comfortable for him to achieve a hard erection.

I recently got married and I'm currently freaking out about whether it was the right decision. My husband is a great guy who always puts me first and tries to make me happy. However, lately I have putting all the pieces together.
He's a 33 year-old Catholic attorney who believes marriage is for life. I'm 33, unemployed, and come from a background where I saw my parents struggle their whole lives. I don't want to repeat that for myself.
We met through an app, and at the beginning, he had moved back from another estate and he was living with his parents and his gay best friend, which was a bit of a shock for me since I come from an old-fashioned family. While I believe we can have gay friends and still be straight, there are some red flags that concern me.
My red flags:

1. Underwear Incident: before getting married I once found sexy underwear in his closet. He said it came as a promotional item with his regular underwear, which he orders from the same brand as his gay friend. This seemed odd to me.
   
2. Close Relationship with Gay Friend: He had a very close relationship with his gay best friend. I asked and he assured me there's nothing between them. Since then his gay friend moved out of his house and got married.
   
3. Family Concerns: His mother also didn't like that he lived with his gay friend, even though they liked him because is a nice person.
   
4. Texting Concerns: His gay friend's now-husband mentioned that he was concerned about my husband texting his partner so much which I thought it was normal at that time but now I question it.
   
5. Gay Friend's Preferences: His gay friend once described his dream man as a blond, muscular guy, which is exactly how my husband looks.
   
6. Molestation Revelation: During a church questionnaire before our wedding, he revealed he'd been molested, which he'd never told me before. He said it was by an older woman, but I have my doubts. Never asked further questions to respect his privacy.
   
7. Gay Friends: He has other gay friends who are now with partners, either men or women.
   
8. Gay Bar Incident: Recently, while out with friends, my husband insisted we avoid a certain bar because he claimed it was a gay bar. None of us knew it as such, which made us wonder how he knew so specifically. I felt embarrassed. I asked him how he knew that and he said it was because his friends told him that. The next day I asked and he said it was because he used drive by it and “seen gay flags”. He lied. He never lies so that was the moment where I got worried.
   

I've asked him if he's bisexual or gay, or if he's had any experiences with men in the past, and he insists he hasn't. Our sex life is active, and his behavior seems straight, but all these concerns make me feel like I'm blind to something. I can't discuss this with my family or his, but I need to make a decision before we consider starting a family.
My concern is that if he is gay or bisexual, he might be repressing his feelings, and coming out could help him be happier. Unfortunately, staying with him in that case wouldn't work for me, although I respect those who can be married to a bisexual person.

Of all the factors that have made masculinity — the biological essence of males — perhaps none is as consequential and underappreciated as this: wombs are more valuable than sperm. A man can impregnate multiple women at a time, but a womb can only hold one baby (occasionally two or three) at once; thus twelve women and three men can re-populate a society to a far greater extent than three women and twelve men.
This makes men more expendable than women.
The most obvious example of this occurs in times of war when there are inevitably large numbers of widows and girls whose fiances and husbands have been killed in the fighting. One has only to recall the figures of the dead in the first and second world wars to be aware that literally millions of women and girls lost their husbands and fiances and were left alone without any income or care or protection for themselves or their children. If it is still maintained that under these circumstances a man may marry only one wife, what options are left to the millions of other women who have no hope of getting a husband? Their choice, bluntly stated, is between a chaste and childless old maidenhood, or becoming somebody's mistress; that is, an unofficial second wife with no legal rights for herself or for her children. Most women would not welcome either of these since most women have always wanted and still do want the security of a legal husband and family....
Hence, Islam proposes polygamy as a solution in a time of crisis. Instead of abandoning large numbers of families, widows, and orphans, in the hope of holding on to some notion of “equality” and monogamous marriage under all circumstances, Islam offers a practical solution keeping in mind the long-term health and spiritual condition of individuals and the society at large.

Of all the factors that have made masculinity — the biological essence of males — perhaps none is as consequential and underappreciated as this: wombs are more valuable than sperm. A man can impregnate multiple women at a time, but a womb can only hold one baby (occasionally two or three) at once; thus twelve women and three men can re-populate a society to a far greater extent than three women and twelve men.
This makes men more expendable than women.
The most obvious example of this occurs in times of war when there are inevitably large numbers of widows and girls whose fiances and husbands have been killed in the fighting. One has only to recall the figures of the dead in the first and second world wars to be aware that literally millions of women and girls lost their husbands and fiances and were left alone without any income or care or protection for themselves or their children. If it is still maintained that under these circumstances a man may marry only one wife, what options are left to the millions of other women who have no hope of getting a husband? Their choice, bluntly stated, is between a chaste and childless old maidenhood, or becoming somebody's mistress; that is, an unofficial second wife with no legal rights for herself or for her children. Most women would not welcome either of these since most women have always wanted and still do want the security of a legal husband and family....
Hence, Islam proposes polygamy as a solution in a time of crisis. Instead of abandoning large numbers of families, widows, and orphans, in the hope of holding on to some notion of “equality” and monogamous marriage under all circumstances, Islam offers a practical solution keeping in mind the long-term health and spiritual condition of individuals and the society at large.

Man here. I just watched a TikTok where a woman said she likes to teach men a lesson by treating them the way they treat women. She listed examples including calling them 'sugar tits,' asking if they could wear something sexier for her tomorrow, and telling them they're cuter when they're not talking.
I had to wonder if it was satire. I mean, holy shit, if a woman approached me and said those things, I'd be like, Woah, she's bold AND funny, and she's flirting with me hard, and have an ego boost the rest of the day. I'd look back on it years from then and smile like, Holy shit I'm smooth.
So I checked the comments to see if this was a joke account or something, as that seems like the opposite of what you should do to punish men, but sure enough, it was full of women talking about what a genius she is and men talking about how much they want that to happen to them.
It also makes me flash back to the viral story where a woman got her friends to catcall her husband to prove he would hate it because he said in an earlier argument he'd love it, and sure enough he loved it, much to her perplexion and dismay.
Which makes me think there's a huge disconnect between what men and women want and by extension, what they think those of the other gender want. Perhaps it's hard for men to grasp why women find certain behaviors creepy or patronizing because when we put ourselves in their shoes, we'd love those things. Which makes me wonder how many men are just plain creepy versus genuinely not understanding due to the limitations of the classic "treat others how you'd like to be treated" cliche--treating women the way they'd like women to treat them.

Of all the factors that have made masculinity — the biological essence of males — perhaps none is as consequential and underappreciated as this: wombs are more valuable than sperm. A man can impregnate multiple women at a time, but a womb can only hold one baby (occasionally two or three) at once; thus twelve women and three men can re-populate a society to a far greater extent than three women and twelve men.
This makes men more expendable than women.
The most obvious example of this occurs in times of war when there are inevitably large numbers of widows and girls whose fiances and husbands have been killed in the fighting. One has only to recall the figures of the dead in the first and second world wars to be aware that literally millions of women and girls lost their husbands and fiances and were left alone without any income or care or protection for themselves or their children. If it is still maintained that under these circumstances a man may marry only one wife, what options are left to the millions of other women who have no hope of getting a husband? Their choice, bluntly stated, is between a chaste and childless old maidenhood, or becoming somebody's mistress; that is, an unofficial second wife with no legal rights for herself or for her children. Most women would not welcome either of these since most women have always wanted and still do want the security of a legal husband and family....
Hence, Islam proposes polygamy as a solution in a time of crisis. Instead of abandoning large numbers of families, widows, and orphans, in the hope of holding on to some notion of “equality” and monogamous marriage under all circumstances, Islam offers a practical solution keeping in mind the long-term health and spiritual condition of individuals and the society at large.

Chapter 1: Hope’s 16th Birthday
As the rays of the sun hits her eyes Hope Moonshine wakes up excited, she was waiting for this day for all her life
She jumps out of her bed and rushes to her mom's room excited and she accidentally flung the door open too fast making a loud cranking noise waking her mother, Queen Matilda up
"Oops didn't mean to wake you up" hope said awkwardly"Honey I know you are excited for your birthday but you need to be patient the sun has just risen everyone is still asleep" Matilda said tiredly, "please go back to sleep darling you will have a long day today and you will need the energy, your party wont be begin till noon"
"Ok mom, sorry for waking you up" said Hope as she was trying to close the door slowly enough that it doesn't crank but it still did "Not an issue dear", said Matilda
As the door closed Matilda took a deep breath and closed her eyes her emblem on her right shoulder a pink diamond glowed she opened her eyes and she made a finger gun with her right hand pointing at the hinges and a shiny pink light zaps comes out of her index and zaps the hinges, the beam turns into a hand and it open the door and then closes without making a cranking noise, "I should have done that a long time ago" said Matilda
She removes the blankets from her bed to reveal she is already clothed for a serious occasion, as she goes towards the mirror she is wearing a long cyan dress that trails all the way to her feed her top being smartly tight with short shoulder sleeves, she puts on long white gloves and glances over her diamond ring she lets out a small sigh and frown and puts it on, she trances over the mirror for a few seconds before snapping out of it, and she looks over to a miniature painting of her an her daughter when she was 6 she picks it up and smiles "I know you are eager dear you won't have to wait for long"
After Matilda ready's herself she open her window and conjures a light bird of the palm of her hand, the bird flew off to Hope's room where it sees her lying in her bed on her stomach, the bird soon returns to Matilda's room and land on her palm her eyes glows for a moment and the bird fizzes into a yellow cloud, "Well it looks like she actually listened not very common of her to do so, it means I can continue to do my plan unobstructed" she said with a smile.
Matilda leaves her room and walk across the hallway to the main hall then she claps her hand twice, and snap her finger, suddenly a figure jumps into the window it spins 180° and a muscular women stands up, she has a scar on her left cheek and short brown hair, she wore knight armour that cuts of at her shoulder emblem that looks like a dark grey shield.
"At your service my queen", she said with a salute
Matilda is startled for a moment, but then composes herself, "Sally there is no need for you to enter that way you can just wait for me at the hall entrance", she said.
"I was scouting the perimeter we have to make sure this place is safe and to make sure no one can harm the princess at her important day, I was up all night with my team searching every corner of the upper ring for any danger and-" Sally was abruptly cut off by Matilda.
"It was not your fault Sally, there is no need for you to prove yourself to me" Matilda said remorsefully, "You tried your best so you must eventually forgive yourself it wasn't anyone fault, it truly came from nowhere"
Sally's serious expression break into expression of regret as she shamefully looks at the ground
"Now is not time to punish ourselves over who we failed to protect but to make sure my daughter has a great birthday" Matilda said with determination
Sally's expressions of regret turned to a smile, "Yes my Queen, me and the royal guards have spent last few weeks clearing a safe path from the upper ring to the more presentable areas of the lower ring that ends at the great barrier" Sally says with a salute.
"Well I trust your judgement, you are now dismissed" said Matilda
Sally goes down the stairs of the central hall towards the doors "I won't mess up again" Sally said with determination
"Oh Houston" Matilda said while turning her head left and right, "where is he when I need him",
"I am right here your majesty" Houston whispered from behind, Matilda was startled and was annoyed on how everyone seems to sneak up on her, "Sorry for spooking you" said Houston as he polished his monocle "We are well prepared to begin celebration soon" he said as his hand pointed towards the empty hall.
Matilda stared at him, he then clapped his hands and an army of servants entered the hall setting up the chairs and tables, followed up by waiters quickly setting food on the table, and then 6 waiters came together to slowly lift the large 4 layered birthday cake with a milk white colour with chocolate cream on top of each layer, with "happy birthday Hope" spelled with strawberry topping on the side of each layer, with the glowing yellow number "16" candle at the top.
"As I was saying my Queen" Houston started "We just need to wait for the guests to arrive, I will let you know when you can call your daughter" Houston stops from a moment "Do you want anything else your majesty or am I dismissed?" he asked.
"You are dismissed Houston" said Matilda
Matilda walks up to Hope's room and slowly opens the door to find her laying in her bed
"One thousand one hundred and forty-two" Hope counted to herself, she paused and took a deep sigh, and tried to continue but then paused scratching her head "Um One-".
she was interrupted by her mother saying "Thousand one hundred and forty-three", "Unable to sleep dear?" She said with a smile, Hope gasped and she had the biggest smile in her face, her mother was a bit startled and asked "what is it you are smiling at?".
Hope pointed at her, jumped from her bed and as she was taking heavy breathes pointing at her mother clothes, "You don't sleep in this" she takes a deep breath and exclaims "which means I have got to get ready" and she runs to her closet to pick up something to wear.
Matilda takes a glance down at her clothes and rolls her eyes "so much for a surprise"
"I am ready mom" Hope said ecstatically, she was wearing a beautiful turquoise dress which complemented her hair colour styled in two plates with with joined with a pink band and wearing her favourite golden necklace,
"That was quick" her mother commented
As they enter the main hall a bunch of guests are seated drinking beverages and helping themselves to freshly baked foods, "Attention everybody, I would like you to welcome the birthday girl" said Houston, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their heads towards the princess.
She gets a bit nervous and let out an awkward "hey guys", she didn't recognize any of them but she had to pretend to know all of them while hoping they don't ask her if she knows them, they all continue to stare as she and her mother get seated.
Houston lets out a forced cough to break the awkward silence, he says "and now Princess that you have come here you may blow the candles", the table the cake was on was carried towards Hope and her mother seated on there high chair, Hope tries to mask her excitement as she takes a deep breath and gently blow the candles, which fire off the cake and make a small explosion spelling out "Happy Birthday Princess!", Hope's eyes lit with joy.
Trumpets play and two royal servants come into the hall holding a gold plated chest decorated with diamonds, the chest is slowly opened and a blinding bright light shined from inside it, "Go ahead dear" said Matilda as her eyes pointed to the chest.
Hope goes down towards the chest and slowly lowers her hand inside of it and grabs what inside, as she removes her hand from the chest it reveals her to be holding the magic wand, it had a purple handle with a sparkly cyan diamond at its back end and a translucent turquoise sphere at it top decorated with a white glowing shape which resembled the combination of a two star into two different planes inside, and topped off with a small yellow crown at the top
Hope's shoulder emblem a pink heart with a tiny crown on top of both curves starts glowing, she raises the top of the wand at eye level, "ooh what's this" she says as she tries to stick her finger inside it to touch the spinning star
"HOPE DONT" shouted her mother, as soon as hope touched it burnt her finger and she let out a painful screech and fires a yellow glowing beam fires from the wand at some guest who were quick enough to duck, it hits a glowing orange decorative plant crushing it against the wall,
"hehe this could have been worse", Hope said awkwardly, the wreckage catches fire...
"FIRE" yells Sally, the guards that were standing by the walls quickly moved and shoved away all nearby guest as Sally goes and faces the fire here shoulder emblem glows and she fires yellow beam at it from her hands she then she clenches her fist and the beam turns into water extinguishing the fire and a yellow cloud evaporates from it, she quickly turn over to Hope and rushes over to her "ARE YOU OKAY PRINCESS" she exclaimed worryingly.
"I am fine it's just my finger is a little -" before she finishes her sentence Sally picks her up and running with her in her arms and runs up to the door and out of the Palace.
Queen Matilda is left with the guests and lets out an awkward chuckle and says "so who wants some drinks?", "Please help yourself to the finest wines in the whole kingdom" she said as a servant reveals a bunch of wine bottles in gold coating, the guests all rushed to get a sip
"I am telling you I am fine it's just a little scratch its rude for me to leave suddenl-" Hope was interrupted by Sally kicking the door open.
"PA-" Sally yelled before being interrupted by a "SHHHH", she was shushed by a woman with a white robe that cut offs at the shoulder, and a hand crafted necklace made of cotton around her neck, she had red hair tied into a bun and a green plus sign as her shoulder emblem.
"Seriously Sally how many times do I have to tell you to be quiet in here" said healer Pam with frustration she lets out a sigh and asks, "So what seems to be the problem?" Sally pulls out Hope and holds her at arms length right Infront of her Hope lets out a "Hi".
Pam gasps "Oh my princess sorry I didn't know you were coming, are you hurt?"
"No not at all it's ju-" Hope was interrupted yet again it seems like although she is becoming a grownup no one seems to want to listen to her
"She burned herself quickly check up on her" commanded Sally as she lowered Hope to her feet, Pam glanced at her up and down
"Where was she hurt", asked her confused. Hope sheepishly pointed to her left index finger it was a bit red which could be easily seen as it contrasted with her smooth white skin, but it was also accompanied by a yellow 'liquid', Pam conjured a white napkin to clean the site of the injury and singled out the injured finger from Hope's hand and put her hand on it and made into a fist and then she took a deep breath and closed her eyes her shoulder mark started having a green glow for a few seconds and then it suddenly went dim, she opened her hand to find the finger fully healed like it was never even scratched.
"Oh wow t-thanks" said Hope with a smile.
"Oh it's nothing" said pam, she took out her napkin it had some yellow glowing spots of what looks like fluid except its it didn't soak in but floated around it, "I see you can use magic now, what was your first spell" Pam said with excitement.
"I-i just shot this out of the wand" she said as she pointed at liquid on the napkin that started evaporating considerably, she then lowered her voice and talked faster "and it hit a plant and set it on fire" she was saying as she looked at the floor, Pam laughed and Hope was starting to blush.
"Oh don't worry dear we all mess up at the start, when I first started I accidentally broke a boy's arm" Pam said with a laugh.
"Is he okay now?" Hope asked with curiosity
"Well when I was your age healing wasn't what it is today they just put his arm in a cast and said if he was lucky his arm would be usable in three years", "I never was interested in healing like my mom but I wanted to fix my mistake so I studied and practiced for months to focus my healing and one day it just clicked, I got back to him and I was able to heal his arm and this happiness a patient feels when they are treated makes this all worth it" she let out a calm sigh and continued "It was not an easy journey but in just 8 years I was able to reach my peak"
"Eight years?" Hope said in disbelief
"Don't worry your path is way longer than mine my peak is at least four levels lower than you" Pam said with a grin
"It isn't that huge difference right?" Hope inquired hoping her journey wont be in the double digits because that's a very long time
Pam laughed and then said "Oh it way larger than it looks, but don't worry royals don't have a peak at least not one that one knows off" she put her hand on Hope's shoulder "Don't let the long road overwhelm you as long as you are better than yesterday you will be a great princess"
Hope smiled at her and said, "Thanks a lot Pam"
"So is everything alright with her, she stuck her finger into the wand are you sure there wont be any complications" asked Sally
"She will be alright she might have lost her finger if she went deeper and then It will actually a challenge to fix, but this is what pain reflexes are for, it a blessing in disguise", replied Pam
Sally clapped her hands and said "Well we got to go now we cant keep the guests waiting thanks for your help Pam"
Hope looked over to her and said "You should come over it's my birthday you can go change the setting", "No dear being a Healer is big commitment what if someone is in need of assistance and I am not here but I appreciate the gesture, maybe I could arrange my schedule to be there next time, go enjoy yourself".
"Pam the amputee is ready for his second regeneration session" a voice called.
"The what?" exclaimed Hope.
"Oh it's a bit graphic you really don't want to see it, I got to go now send your mother my regards" replied Pam as she ran over to a patient
Sally and Hope went to the door and left.
"You know I was really fine, it was just a scratch" Hope said as she looked up to Sally, "It's kind of rude to just leave the guests hanging I could have just sucked it up-"
Hope tried to continue when Sally muttered under her breath "I won't forgive myself".
"What was that?" asked Hope.
"Nothing, it's just you can never be so sure and no one was stupid enough to stick there finger in the wand I was just making sure but since it wasn't serious we don't need to worry" Sally said with an anxious fake smile, Hope sensed there was something off about her tone but she didn't want to push Sally into an uncomfortable spot so she left it at that
Sally and Hope make it back to the palace and Matilda rushes to her daughter "Oh dear are you ok"
She said as she gave her girl a hug, Everyone was staring and Hope got a bit embarrassed "yeah Mom I am ok" Hope said, Matilda stood up and was about to say something before Hope pre-emptively said, "I know I know it was pretty stupid from me to to do what I did, I know the wand is not a toy and I promise I will be more careful with it" she said while avoiding eye contact
Matilda smiled and said "Well I appreciate that you understand that you messed up but that not what I wanted to say" Hope made eye contact and Matilda continued "As princess and future queen we will have you visit the LOWER RING" Matilda took her daughter's hand "Sure its not the safest or best place in the kingdom but a hermit ruler is a bad ruler"
Hope got extremely excited over this as she always wanted to see the rest of the kingdom the Lower ring, the Outer ring but she was always told no because Sally's word "It's way to dangerous, you are not ready, you aren't old enough" or her mother's word "Is there something there that you cant find at home?, The place isn't very hygienic" but how bad could it be it was still under the rule of the Moonshines. Life in the Upper ring and the palace get boring after a while, why would she wants to stay put there when there a whole world to explore?
"The escorts are waiting for us outside those who want to go with us are welcome to go" Said Matilda looking at the guests with a forced smile almost knowing the reaction. All of them tried to mask there faces of disgust as if Matilda just asked them to bathe in mud or even worse she said that the food at the legendary "façade haut de gamme" was just an overpriced scam. They didn't look very impressed, Matilda coughed and asked "Well?".
One couple went towards the exit and when they got to Matilda the man said "We are truly flattered by your invite my queen but I am afraid we have something important to do" the man paused and scratched his head trying to think of an excuse Hope looked over him and asked
"What's more important to than a trip to see the rest of kingdom its not like we can always get to do it" with an ecstatic smile the woman who was scratching her head stopped as if she got an idea she went over looked to Hope with a stupid fake smile and said
"Well sweetie we forgot to sign up our son for school and registration will be closing today" she turned over to her husband and elbowed him in ribs and asked "Isn't that right honey?"
The man nodded in agreement and they walked out and they led out an audible sigh and when they were just outside of earshot the man told his wife "Moonshines huh? You would think after what happened a decade ago they would get the memo" the woman looked back at the Queen then waved and looked back at her husband and said
"She is weak if this happened to me I will make sure those pigs wish they weren't born".
Following into there footsteps and sensing an opening other guests decided to excuse themselves outside and at this point Matilda stopped resisting she knew some wouldn't want to go but she didn't think that many would go and she looked defeated Hope turned to her and said "Well mom we don't need those nose in the airers it's there loss anyways"
A woman walked up to them "She is right you know in-law" that woman was Hope's paternal aunt Mary, she had short blonde hair and brown eyes wearing a yellow dress for the occasion "The only reason any off these arrogant buffoons came here is societal expectations much like basically everything here" she said while rolling her eyes "and they all dipped the second they had the chance, come on lets go"
As they walked past the doors Sally was standing just outside the door scanning the setting with her eyes, her eyes wandered and locked with Mary "You should relax Sally no need for you to be so tense" she said with a smile she then changed her tone suddenly and said with a frown and a in a low voice that Hope and Matilda couldn't hear "Me and Matilda can protect ourselves and we aren't relying on you and my niece was under my protection since she was six, all you need to do is drive the horses and look menacing" and then she put her hand on her shoulder and smiled and said with an audible voice "So you can feel a lot more at ease dear", Sally tried hid her feeling of guilt with a fake smile "Let's go" said Mary joyfully
Everyone got on the horse driven chariot, just a classical chariot nothing magical about it, it's a very ineffective method of transport but one of the most relaxing ones
"HEEEEEY WAIT FOR ME" yelled a girl from as she was she surfing a purple cloud wearing a long sleeved purple sweater and blue pants as she got closer she tried to slow down by tilting her body backwards but she lost control and started flying at high speeds towards Hope
"EM SLOW DOWN" shouted Hope.
"I CANT BRACE FOR IMPACT" they both closed there eyes with their arms covering there eyes but just before contact she was caught effortlessly by Sally one hand and her cloud in the other she crushed the cloud in her fist into yellow mist that faded away and put the girl on her feet she then crossed her arms and looked down and barked
"Miss Emberlynn Springfield you should know how dangerous using magic without experience is, and you can't just rely on something you can't even responsibly use to make up for your own lack of punctuality"
Ember looked taken aback but she didn't want to look stupid so she snapped back with "I didn't know Hope is celebrating her birthday early in the morning, birthdays are a night activity".
Sally who was crossing her arms now raised her eyebrow and simply replied with,"Lies you were told everyday for the last week not my fault you can't seem to be able to be punctual friend's birthday, do you simply not care?".
Ember now looked embarrassed and now was rolling her finger around her dyed purple hair "M-M-My rooster didn't wake me up" she said with a smile while shrugging her shoulder as if she is asking question and the question was 'will Sally let the lecture go'.
"This doesn't matter now anyways it's that Ems is here" interjected Hope with excitement as she put her arm around Ember's shoulder "We shouldn't be wasting time let's go" she said as she punched her hand up in the sky.
Matilda, Hope, Ember and Mary entered the Chariot while Sally rode one of the two horses moving it while the other was being moved by an over-armoured and visibly nervous man.
"Calm down Edmund its just a short trip by a defined path we will be in an out in an hour or two" commanded Sally looking at Edmund clearly getting tired of his lack of confidence.
"I am trying but its such a big deal, escorting not one not two but three royals into the lower ring, I am not sure if I can do this, If I mess up-- I am too young for the consequences" he said clearly on the edge of panic
Sally slapped her hands on his cheeks "Edmund calm down you can do this I know you can" she said, Edmund seemed to calm down a bit "The whole path is being heavily guarded you and me are the last line of an extremely deep wall of defences we are most likely just going to be there for company" she looked back at the cart and said "and besides it's not like the royals can't protect themselves, they are much stronger than us after all"
"That's what they said about fre-" Edmund mumbled before putting his hand on his mouth mid sentence, Sally expression changed to that of anger.
"What did you just say?" she barked.
Edmund realising his mess up and started shaking "Um- I was talking about ---- the nice weather we are having" he said trying to pretend that this wasn't the stupidest attempt at backtracking, before Sally was going to give him a piece of her mind Mary stuck her head out and said in annoyed tone
"Hey I am not getting any younger here", Sally and Edmund looked forwards and shook the horse reins and they got moving forward
As they got to the edges of the Upper ring they reached translucent yellow barrier "We are reaching the barrier you might feel a tickle" proclaimed Sally.
As the horse crossed the barrier the barrier walls phased through the cart and it phased through Mary and Matilda there shoulder emblems glowed a four pointed star and a diamond respectfully in a yellow hue when it got to Hope and Ember the cart got to a sudden halt and they were thrown forwards Hope fell on her mother while Ember face was slapped into the barrier which was at this point halfway through the cart.
Sally opened the door "Everyone ok" she took one look at Ember and let out an annoyed sigh she dragged her hand out of the cart and asked while trying to hide her frustration "Show me your emblem"
Ember scoffed and tried to tuck back her long sleeves but she couldn't get back enough and said while crossing her arms "I can't and I am not removing my shirt".
Sally wasn't having any of it and from tip of her index made a sharp grey magic beam, she flattened Ember's sleeve and made a small cut in her right shoulder showing a yellow star rotated slightly to the left, after the cut yellow gas evaporated from it "And this is why emblems aren't covered it's common knowledge Springfield" said Sally annoyed.
"My favourite shirt! This was very unnecessary" whined Ember and before she could say anything Sally went back to her horse leaving her alone she scoffed and went back to the cart and sat next to Hope crossing her arms.
"You okay there", asked Hope concerned.
"Yeah I am fine just another lecture", said ember looking at the windows
As Hope looked out the window the lower ring didn't seem so different from home, people dressed and walked smartly roads were clean but something was off she couldn't help but notice everyone wore long sleeves even though it was a summer and it's not proper etiquette and that's something else it was surprisingly hot, She took her head out through the windows "Hello stranger" she greeted a man walking nearby he took one solid look at her and looked towards her mother and Sally who was frowning and her hands free with her emblem glowing, he didn't say anything and turned back and proceeded to speed walk away in a few seconds he ditched the subtlety and ran away, Hope was pretty disappointed and got her head into the cart
"What did I do wrong?", Hope asked.
"Girl it's either because you were too friendly it felt fake" said Ember, Hope looked down "Or they were made to feel unwelcome by misses buzzkill in the driving seat" she remarked
A loud sound of crashing wooden boxes was heard and cart went to a halt
"What was that" commented Mary
"Something that isn't boring" Hope said with excitement before leaving the cart.
"Make sure all of them stay put in the cart I will be gone for a short while" said Sally to Edmund before running to the source of the sound Hope tried to follow her but was body blocked by Edmund with his arms crossed
"Sorry I can't let you go princess, Superior's orders", he glanced to the left of him to seeing Ember touching a fancy table Infront of a café just for it to poof into a yellow cloud,
"Ow splinters" she cried, the yellow cloud fizzled reveal a wooden table barely clinging to its shape with a bunch of makeshift wooden fixes that don't even match in colour
Edmund looked like he just saw a ghost and ran towards Ember who was now transforming outdoor expensive furniture into splinter traps
"Stop touching it" said Edmund before shooting out a grey magical hands towards her subduing her, "What's your deal" he scolded annoyed.
"No what's this place deal why is everything here so fake?" snapped Ember "You hearing this Hope this place is fa-" she then stopped and asked "Aye were is Hope?"
Edmund let her go and pulled on his hair "Oh no no no no no no no" he cried
"Is everything alright where is my daughter?" asked Matilda concerned, Edmund didn't know what to say but before he could make up an explanation Mary interjected
"Oh don't worry Mati she will be ok she is probably with Sally and besides she still has this necklace I gave her so I am sure she will be just fine" Mary said with her hand on Matilda's shoulder "and we can go have some tea and chit-chat while we wait I heard that Gilbert's tea shop has actually potable tea" she suggested Matilda sighed and decided to go with what Mary said and walked towards the shop. "What about me?" asked Ember, Edmund turned towards her with anger and barked "You are staying right here!".
"Sally where are you?" called Hope as she was walking she saw a little girl wearing a cute pink dress and smooth brown hair walking alone Infront of her, she approached her and asked
"Hey do you happen to see a tall lady around here?" she tapped on her shoulder to get her attention and suddenly a cloud of yellow gas evaporated out of her Hope and the little girl coughed and as the smoke cleared the little girl was wearing a poorly knit patchwork of randoms scraps of fabric and her hair was covered in dirt she had a brown circle on the side of her shoulder, Hope froze in shock "I- I am so sorry, it was an accident" she apologised "I can go get you a new dress or--" the girl just looked at Hope her eyes glanced her wand which was in her right hand as well as her royal emblem and then she started hyperventilating and burst into tears.
Hope got on to her knees and she gently put her hands on the girl's shoulder "Calm down calm down, it's alright, It's not your fault but mine"
"P-P-pwease do-don hu-hur meeee" the girl sobbed.
"What hurt you? no no no no" Hope explained trying to figure out from where the girl got the idea
Hope hugged the girl "Here calm down see I am friendly" she soothed, the girl seemed to calm down a bit and she started sniffing
She let her go and asked "So what's your name?"
"R-R-Rosie" replied Rosie.
"Ok Rosie I am so sorry for ruining your dress, do you remember were you got it from?" she asked
"Ms Bea had guys gib it to us" Rosie said
"Misses Bea huh" she wondered out loud "Well can you tell me were misses Bea is"
"Sowwy I can't tell you misses moonnnn" Rosie was saying before she looked she wanted to cry again
"Please don't cry" Hope pleaded "You don't need to tell me where you live just wait" Hope passed her wand to her left hand and put her now free hand to her pocket and pulled out a purple wallet and she pulled out a golden note with 50 written on it she passed the note to Rosie and said "Here give this to misses Bea and tell her I am so sorry for destroying your dress also" Rosie grabbed the note and stared at it, Hope pulled some wrapped candy she got from the party "Her have some candy too" the girl put her the note in her pocket and grabbed the wrapped candy she struggled with it a bit and she then passed it back
"Open it please" Rosie asked
"Oh you can't? it's quite simple here" Hope said she gently tapped the candy her emblem glowed for a moment and the wrapping fizzed out.
Rosie put the candy in her mouth and quickly chewed and swallowed it, she then gave Hope a hug, she let go after a moment "Thank you miss, Ms Bea says Moosines are scawy but aren't scawy"
"Scary why would we be scary" Hope asked in disbelief with a smile
Rosie looked around and said "I am sowwy I need to go" she turned back and ran away and took a turn and was just out of sight.
"You couldn't just stop causing trouble for one day? what did we pay you for?" Hope heard Sally barking.
The sound of Sally's voice came from an alleyway, as Hope entered the alley the clean white paint started fading into rotting maroon bricks and the smell became foul coming from the open dumpster "Ewwwww" Hope said as she lowered the lid to try and lessen the stench
"Hey you know it's rude to close the lid on someone trying to fetch themselves a meal" a bald man barked as he popped out like a jack in the box he had a white beard wearing over shoulder strapped brown pants with a black plastic bag for a shirt and a metal can of beans for a hat and his left eye with a grey iris spinning his shoulder emblem only consisted of a simple brown circle, Hope screamed and ran away "Oh beans was that a Moonshine?" the man asked himself "Well I probably should skip town" he said to himself with a goofy smile while snapping his fingers.
Hope stopped running and started panting "Now you are lucky I am not here in head bashing duty or I would have sent you to a one way trip to the Outer ring and the monsters there could deal with you" Hope heard Sally scolding, she walked to the end of the alleyway the place beyond it was extremely different people clothes were worn out in which the holes were covered up by half baked sewn rotting fabric the road didn't exist it was simply a dirt undefined path and walls were all made of rotting bricks same as that of the alley, windows were broken and the stench of garbage filled the air, Hope saw Sally tying up a bunch of muscular men with a magic rope.
Sally glanced over and saw Hope "Princess what are you doing here?" she asked with dismay the rope holding the gangsters vanished they got up and shook of the dust and looked up and saw Hope and they all ran away in terror "Moonshine here run awway". All of a sudden all the people went indoors and the windows were sealed shut with wood and hammered with nails and just like that the place looked like a ghost town.

Hi all, just need somewhere to vent. Im currently 36 weeks pregnant with my second child. My first baby, my son, is 22 months. He’s so loving, cuddly, has always been a mammas boy. Im over the moon about meeting our little girl soon but im worried how my son will take it. We stopped breastfeeding not too long ago and I keep worrying about him being upset I’m breastfeeding his sister. As I’ve gotten bigger more choirs has fallen on daddy and it’s already causing my son to reject me a bit. I don’t want to sound petty but I do get jealous, I love the little world I have with my son and I’m sad that this is changing a bit sooner than I expected.
Cue my in laws. They are great with my son but they drive me mad. I let this go as my feelings doesn’t matter, they make him so happy and the stuff they do to annoy me is mostly petty and cultural differences. However, MIL was a STAHM, and they have always been funny about me going back to work, at us using a nursery instead of letting MIL move in part time, and as my family and close friends all live back home (a different country very far away) I’m always outnumbered. One example is that I like to do bath time around 2 times a week (more if he’s dirty or needed) and I don’t use strong soaps on his body, I prefer a very gentle oil. He has baby hand soap to wash his hands but that’s it. MIL is a bit more old school and will give him baths every night despite me saying I prefer otherwise, will bath him behind my back in the sink in the guest bathroom, using the cheap liquid hand soap to wash him.
They live 5 hour drive away. We need them to baby sit my son while I’m in labour. Problem is I’m very pregnant and emotional and I don’t want them here. They take over completely when they’re here, and I was hoping to spend more time with him leading up to new arrival. I hoped they could help with cleaning for once and let me play with my son but they just take him for the day and come home around 6pm. They buy him toys every day at every shop they pass. They give him sweets and cakes. They stop at every cafe. They give him everything and I’m just the grumpy old troll who says no and tries to spend as much time in bed as possible.
I’m miserable when they are here and my son only wants to be with them now. I feel like I’m failing him, maybe I should be happier and let them do whatever and just rest in bed. But I also have to clean and it does bother me they don’t even do their own dishes. I’m still working and have so much to do. It’s making me want to tell my husband I don’t want them here for the birth as they will need to spend so much time here and I would rather have no help if it means I’m left with all the choirs and no time with my son.
Am I being awfully petty and should I just be happy my son is having a blast? They make me so angry I can’t even breath the same air as them as this point. I just want to scream and I keep crying I’m so frustrated