leaking sunshine

you didn't always sing it right but who could call you wrong? to put your emptiness to m e l o d y your awful heart to song. you don't have to sing it nice, but, honey, sing it strong. at best, you find a little remedy, at worst the world will sing along.

[amira-collins]

lucaskumar‌:

Amusement coloured his features as the brunette spoke, finding her flood of words endearing rather than overwhelming. He couldn’t claim to know much about the event that she was referencing - there were rarely anything of that equivalence in his line of word - but enough of it rang true for him to get the jist of it all. “Ignorance in our journalists? Who’d have thought.” Grin tugs at his lips after he feigns surprise for a few moments. It was all too easy to read things online these days and take them for fact and he sometimes wondered whether the authors of such thing believed them to be true. “But then again, with all that fake news getting everywhere, maybe should have seen it coming.” Head shook at her next comment, finding it impossible to believe anyone could find her infectious enthusiasm the least bit insufferable. “Somehow I don’t think that’s a fair trade off.” Obligingly he took a swig from his own drink already knowing he was barely prepared for whatever the night ahead held in store. “Sláinte.” 

"Okay, okay, laugh all you want but...” she responded to his facetiousness “I feel like it didn’t use to be like this, you know?  Such division.  And I mean at least with foreign correspondents, regardless if you’re working for a biased network or not, there is this camaraderie, in seeing things first hand, that you gave the facts as is, and fine, if the network spun them that was out of your hands but these people---” She huffed, slightly out of irritation, slightly for breath, having rambled for long enough without having taken one.  “Do I sound old fashioned if I say it feels like they have no honor?”  She was glad when Lucas had accepted her invitation to have a drink, although she felt bad for using him as a sounding board.  “Oh it is, you should’ve seen how annoyingly I can pester people.  It’s one of the many skills of a journalist...that and Solicitors of course.” 

“Now tell me, who are the circle jerks of your profession, hmm?  Who are the ones I should steer clear of if I were ever to run into a flock of paramedics?  Is that the right term? Flock?  Or perhaps a ‘murder of paramedics’?”

[amira-collins]

ceryskj‌:

“Oh, swooping is good! Very good in fact, thank you so much.” She could feel her heart rate slowing down again, feeling much more at ease with a woman than with a man, even if both were complete strangers to her. “You jumped in there like Captain Marvel, very badass, I might say.” Her hand moved to her purse she felt vibrating against her hip, pulling out her old an beat iPhone that showed a text message from her father, telling her he was going to close up and come to her bus stop. At least that was something. “Are you like the kind of vigilante that jumps roofs at night scaring off creeps like that? Because I dig that. It’s the superhero all those comic books are lacking.” 

“Only doing what I wish people would’ve done for me all those times men pull that shit.”  She said in response to the woman’s ‘thank you’s’.  When younger, Amira had been witness to these sorts of events all the time, as unfortunately they were commonplace.  But after something similar had happened to her, and no one had helped, Amira promised never to be complacent in the face of something like that again.  Sure, most of the time these situations ended without incident, but not always.  And if Amira could help stop that, why wouldn’t she?  And the point of women needing to stick together was truly driven home during her time spent overseas, where other women in her field of work were so scarce.  “Honestly, I might need a new job soon, so I’ll keep the vigilante career in my mind.” She chuckled slightly, glad to see the woman wasn’t so traumatized by the ideal that she continued to run her mouth a mile a minute (that is unless she was normally a quiet one).  “Where you headed anyways?  I’ll head that way too.”  

[amira-collins]

itskatarinayang‌:

“That shirt isn’t your color.” Katarina spoke from behind the person, she took a couple steps forward to make her presence known. “While everyone thinks yellow is coming back and is there color it’s honestly no ones.” She rambled on before she started to scan through the colorful racks, she eyed the person closely to match their color platte to them. “Here try this.” Pulling the shirt out in what she assumed would be the right size given the fact she was eyeing measurements. “It’ll make your eyes pop more than the one you have in your hand. Trust me.” She told him, held out the shirt with a tight cool smile on her face. 

Amira was in a right awful mood.  Her sleep had been littered with nightmares, and her waking didn’t bring anything much better, from a tense conversation with her boss to an altercation with a flatmate, everything just seemed to be going poorly for the woman that day.  In desperate need to get out of the flat and be by her lonesome, Amira wandered the streets, dipping into shops that piqued her interest.  She absentmindedly found herself perusing racks of clothing, trying to find something other than black to add to her wardrobe, when she was approached.  Perhaps if it were any other day, Amira could have responded in kind, but it wasn’t any other day, and harsh words spilled from her mouth before she could stop them, a knee jerk reaction.  ‘Well, I don’t take kindly to being told what I should or should not wear, so you can go right on and piss off, thanks.”  

[amira-collins]

Aiysha Hart

[amira-collins]

lucieoc‌:

      Lucie swirled the last of the drink in her glass before tipping it back. She understood – sort of. The acting world wasn’t much different. She could wait for hours in a room with a hundred other auditions and when her number was called they would give her the time of day; because she didn’t have the right look or some other bullshit excuse. Then why was she there? She swallowed the last of her drink, letting out a sigh before ordering another.

     “ People are dicks. Simple as that. ”

“Eh, you got that right, for sure.”  Amira responded with a sigh.  She was used to having to deal with people in a very different way.  Overseas there were no inter office politics, no simpering and underhanded comments.  You did a job and fuck anyone who got in the way of it.  Amira was quite annoyed that she could no longer tell people to ‘fuck off’ in increasingly creative ways when confronted with an issues.  “I just forgot that you know?  Of course people overseas at work were dicks too, people are dickheads everywhere, it just didn’t feel...I don’t know, as personal?” Pushing her old drink aside before gripping the cold glass of her new one, taking a strong pull before turning back to her company.  “But what about you?  By the sounds of that statement sounds like you didn’t have a good day either?”

[amira-collins]

cameronstcvens‌:

their cheeks were flushed from laughing, so cameron took a healthy sip of their beer - just barely keeping from snorting the whole thing back out at amira’s words. “ it almost sounded boring ‘til you said circle jerk, ” they deadpanned, seconds before breaking out into the biggest smile. “ just take me with you next time. i play dumb until people give up, because fighting them is exhausting. ” honestly, cameron could pretend - did pretend, most of the time - that their friday night had been absolute fire. but instead, they’d gotten home from work, collapsed into bed with their jeans still on ( yikes ), and napped until they’d woken up feeling somehow even worse ( double yikes ). drunk bitching with amira had saved them from an evening of swiping right on tinder and then violently avoiding their phone when they actually got a match. just normal friday night things. “ you came, you saw, you pissed some people off, ” cameron raised their glass in response, draining the damn thing before ordering a row of shots for them. “ that’s a good day’s work, innit? ”

“Trust me, Cammy, not people you’d want to see partake in a handy orgy, alright?”  She made a show of a dramatic shiver just to drive her point home.  But as they continued on, letting her know of their, quite honestly, mastermind level plan to get under the skin of her fellow journalists she couldn’t help but mirror their large grin from only moments before.  “Oh god, could you?  God that would be endlessly amusing.  I would quite literally pay to be a fly on the wall for that.”  Journalists rarely seemed to socialize outside of their political echelon, and to have someone play dumb and unknowing would only serve to frustrate, and it would be the best part of Amira’s night if that were to happen.  -- “But c’mon, out with it, what were you doing before I dragged you out for pity party drinks?  What app were you on this time?”

[amira-collins]

cressidawu‌:

Engaging with others when she wanted something had always been a talent of hers - engaging with people in general whether or not she had any ulterior motive or not. She knew how to charm people and had learnt to find other ways to get her own way that didn’t just involve flashing the cash. But for all their interaction had started as a simple means to an end, she found her lips curving up into a smile at the brunette’s words. Gaze flickered over her as though she was sizing her up before coming to the natural conclusion. “I don’t doubt it.” There was of amusement in her voice at the image of her being tackled that betrayed the sincerity of her tone. “You have my word that I won’t steal it.” Playfully she drew a cross over her heart, just as she always had as a child to try to convince Hugh that whatever she said wasn’t some kind of joke or prank. With him she usually backtracked but on this occasion she had no intention of making a run for it. There was no fun in that when her new companion was piquing her interest. “But don’t just take my word for it, one look at these should tell you that i have no intention of making a dash for it.” She extended one leg, gesturing to the heeled boots she had on. “So, what’s your poison?”

“Good on you for not making the mistake many do of underestimating me.  I may be tiny boned but I pack a mean wallop” she replied, words mumbled slightly as she slipped the straw of her drink in between her lips half way through, desperate to find the last escaped droplets of liquor in between the ice cubes.  “Alright, good--” she said with a nod before handing over her phone to the woman.  She didn’t have to worry about unlocking it as Amira had never bothered with a passcode.  If someone really wanted to get into her phone, a passcode wasn’t going to stop them anyways.  Nor was there anything on there that someone could find that would be bad news for her.  Lots of horrible selfies in front of landmarks that would seem unimportant to anyone else, unanswered texts from old friends, things of that nature.  --- As the woman showed her another reason (other than Amira’s obviously very intimidating stature) she wouldn’t be stealing Amira’s phone, Amira couldn’t help but give an appreciative glance at both the boots and the women in them.  If she hadn’t started off her request with the information of trying to get in contact with her fiancé, Amira probably would have tried to buy her a drink.  “I, ah--Gin and tonic, I think?  Honestly, been changing the order each round since I got here.  Been here awhile, if you couldn’t tell.”  She motioned to her surroundings where she had quite obviously made herself very comfortable.

[amira-collins]

jberncrd‌:

Receiving the text had come as something of a surprise when he’d considered himself to be nothing but a memory to Amira now.Or at least that was the impression that their lack of contact over the last few years had given him. But he’d never been the type to hold grudges - not when it was so easy for people to lose touch when they had different goals - and in truth he couldn’t help but still be curious about what she’d been up to in the time since they’d last seen one another.  So he’d found himself at the bar she’d recommended, spotting her in a quieter corner of the place before he headed over. “It’s been a while.” It felt like he was stating the obvious or maybe even making some kind of dig but in reality he just wasn’t sure what other kind of greeting he was supposed to give when it was all new territory to him. 

@amira-collins​

In the month since arriving home, Amira had taken a quick 180.  She assumed all old friends would be excited to welcome her home, with open arms, wanting to hear of her adventures.  What she hadn’t been expecting was the outright radio silence in response to reaching out, or the lackluster excuses.  It had taken her a a week or two to realize exactly what was going on.  They were ghosting her.  And she deserved it, because what was she if not the ultimate ghost?  She had left her friends with scant more than a quick goodbye for disappearing for years on end, only interrupting with faint hauntings in which they met for coffee or tea and Amira regaled them about her life, barely pausing for long enough to hear about theirs, before leaving again.  So, she was on a mission to make amends, starting with one of her oldest friends.  She had been excited to hear back from Bern, almost more excited that other responses she had gotten.  It had just been so incredibly long.  The woman’s face lit up in a glowing smile as she saw his form walk through the door.  As he stood in front of her, Amira couldn’t help but rise from her seat and give the man a hug.  There was just something about his steadfast personality that made Amira feel secure, something she was missing desperately these days.  Relinquishing him from the hug but not before giving him a quick peck on the cheek, “And that’s my fault. -- How are you, Bern?” she questioned, and for the first time in a while, genuinely wanting to know the answer.

[amira-collins]

valentine-dupont‌:

Val loved hearing the horror stories from journalism- having majored in journalism and debated going into it, he’d found a bittersweet quality to talking to journalists and researchers- though becoming an author had definitely been a far better option for him, especially with the decline in his vision. Still, he lived for hearing Amira’s stories. “Oh? People asked insensitive questions about the Middle East? Y’don’t say.” He teased, shaking his head. His hand slid along the bar, feeling for his own drink. “People are fuckin’ insensitive and ignorant. This is why I live vicariously through your experiences, an’ stick to fiction.” He teased, feeling a light knock against his own glass and pushing it towards hers before taking another sip.

“I had one woman arguing with me on how you couldn’t be feminist and wear a hijab, as it’s apparently a sign of oppression.  She left after I asked her if by that logic how she could be a feminist and wear a claddagh ring, so I digress.” She finished with a small shrug.  “This is after, of course, I got asked why I don’t wear one since I ‘look like someone who would’.”  She rolled her eyes before taking yet another large gulp of her drink.  It had her first time dipping her toes back into the tepid pool of networking or work since returning home on sabbatical, and despite the lukewarm temperature of the experience, Amira couldn’t help but feel as if she had been burned, and found herself wanting to return to work less than before.  “Mmm---Fiction, huh?  What kind?  We talking realistic?  Historical? Oooh, sci-fi?”

[amira-collins]

[amira-collins]

ejcksn‌:

As much as Elijah loved his older brother, it did grow a bit tiring always getting recognized as Bern’s brother. Most of the time, it was all fun and fair; his foster brother’s friends were usually entertaining enough, but he still always had to do a double-take when a familiar face showed up in one of the bars. Amira, thankfully, had known him long enough by now that EJ was almost happy to see her. “I usually do,” he shrugged. “Either too empty for the owner to give a shit or so busy they need an extra hand. Thus,” Elijah held out the shot glass as an example, “I take a bit of the wares to make up for it.”

“What’d you do to get stuck with said shit sifts, EJ?  Forget to wipe down that bar?  Have a little too much fun during closing duties?”  She teased, knowing that the boy--Well, man, before her had always marched to the beat of his own drum.  “Or perhaps could it be that you’re...getting high on your own supply?” She argued as he spoke of nipping free drinks.  Although, she knew if she had to work in the service industry it’d definitely be something she would have to do to make it through the day.  She didn’t know how people did it, but she respected the hell out of them.  “Anyways, what’ve you been up to?  When’d you start working here?  It’s an old haunt of mine, you know.” 

[amira-collins]

Amira motioned to the bartender for another round, before turning back to the person sitting on the stool next to her.  “Honestly, I forgot what these journalism networking things were like: one big circle jerk.” She sighed with a roll of her eyes before draining the last few dregs of her drink, in desperate need for a taste of her own little oblivion after that shit show.  “Honestly it worries me about the future of journalism and press in general.  You’d think people who are supposed to be telling the masses what’s happening in the world wouldn’t be so ignorant, but you’d think wrong.” she huffed, trying and failing to keep herself from continuing to rev up her own anger and displeasure at the entire situation.  “You should have heard the questions I got after telling people I was a foreign correspondent in the middle east.  Ridiculous.”  She gave the bartender a grateful nod as he slid her next drink in front of her.  Turning to her drinking partner once more she raised her glass in cheers.  “Well, I did meet some of the most insufferable people...But they also met me.  Sláinte!”

[amira-collins]

[amira-collins]

cressidawu‌:

Fingers flew across her screen, determined to get the text about a last minute change of location sent despite the persistent ‘low battery’ warning that kept flashing up. “Just two more seconds.” Pleading whisper was given to her phone but it was either deaf to her pleas or chose to ignore them, the screen going black midway through her text to Félix. “Shit.” Putting her phone down on the bar with an indignant huff, gaze quickly lifted from the glare she was giving the object to glance around in search of someone who might be able to help. Eventually she turned her most winning smile onto the person nearest to her. “I know this might be hard to believe when I look so tech savvy but I’ve managed to let my phone die.” Self deprecating sarcasm dripped from her words in the hope that it would soften them to her request even just a little. “Would I able to use yours to let my fiance know there’s been a change of plans? I’ll buy you a drink for the trouble.”

Several group and single texts had been sent out to Amira’s friends, with texts containing apologies for lack of contact, words like ‘hey girl hey!’ and even promises to pay for everyone’s drinks if just someone, anyone would come out with her that evening.  Most texts went unanswered, a few got half assed replies with half assed excuses, and as Amira sat at the bar, phone in hands, staring at the texts, she knew she deserved it.  She had been such a horrible friend the past six years, but was only realizing it now.  Contact had been minimal on her end, but when she did reach out, so excited to share her own experiences in this crazy new world she was living in, she had rarely asked her friends about what was going on in their own lives.  She sipped on a nearly empty drink (mostly just melted ice mixed with small traces of liquor at this point) as she mindlessly scrolled through their social medias, unsurprised to find a few of the people she had texted all out together that very night.  She was interrupted mid pity party sigh by a somewhat desperate voice and it took her a moment to fully register the request.  “Oh, uh---No problem.  But try and steal it, and I will tackle you.”  What could she say? She had been burned before.

[booasaur]

A Discovery of Witches (2018) - 1x01

[amira-collins]

ceryskj‌:

Wow. How badly did she want to be her right now? Cerys watched the woman in awe as she jumped in the middle of the ‘conversation’ and went all wonder woman at him. Or well, her temperament was more that of Catwoman. Heck, she was her very own superhero, what was she on about? She’d been cut off mid sentence and while that usually bugged her like crazy, she was more than appreciative of it this time. She wondered what the man was going to do now that he was provided with the options given by the superwoman, but honestly not even Cerys knew if she was bluffing or not. She was kinda G.I. Jane, so she her her doubts it was a bluff but who knew right? 

When the woman didn’t jump in to tell Amira the situation was not what she had thought it was, Amira knew she had made the right choice.  And while completely willing to commit any of the acts she had previously described, thankfully the man conceded with a few choice words under his breath.  As he walked away, Amira turned back to the woman.  “Dickheads like that always choose the coward route.”  She said with a roll of her eyes.  Despite her calm demeanor, her entire body was buzzing.  It was the first time she felt alive since returning home.  God, she missed adrenaline rushes.  “You alright, love?---Sorry if I sorta swooped in there.”

[amira-collins]

drelyse‌:

“I’m one of the best god damn neurosurgeons in this country and he had the audacity to tell me I only got here because of my fathers name?!” Elyse exclaimed, and if looks could kill.  An important and well known patient  had asked for another surgeon simply because she was a woman, and when she had told him while it was his decision to make, that she had a record in the hospital. That’s when he told her he knew her and her family, and that she wouldn’t have gotten as far as she had without her father and his name. “Fuck” she says, finishing off the rest of her gin and tonic, and sighing “I need another drink, and keep them coming, please” she says, tapping her fingers on the  bar top anxiously. 

“You...You tell it sister!”  Amira agreed somewhat over enthusiastically.  A small hiccup escaped her lips as she motioned to the bartender to keep her drinks coming as well.  She had been there awhile before this woman had sat down next to her, but she had made the night infinitely more interesting, that was for sure.  “Stupid fuckin’ men and their stupid fuckin’ shit, right?”  She sighed, leaning on her own hand to keep upright.  “I’m over in a god damned warzone, nearly gettin’ my face blasted off, and they’re makin’ jokes about tampons.  Like, fuck off, dickhead.  Get a new set of jokes.”  She sighed, before slamming back another shot of whatever she had been drinking.  She wasn’t really sure anymore.  “--And, and, and tell that arsehole nepotism really only works for rich white guys anyways.” She rolled her eyes, while jumping back from topic to topic.