#igor answers.

[lafiametta]

Just saw Anora and got so obsessed w Igor its not funny i need to see more posts about him 😭😭😭😭

Igor’s on such a journey and I love it.

Can you imagine: it’s your birthday and you get a call from the Armenian guy you work for to pick him up at a baptism so you both can check on his boss’s boss’s rich-ass useless son and see if he has or has not married a prostitute. You understand the job — look tough, provide a little muscle if the situation calls for it — and once it’s done you can go return your grandmother’s car from where you borrowed it and visit with her for an hour or so before maybe heading out for a lowkey night to celebrate.

Instead, the rich-ass useless son runs away and you end up having to make sure the girl he married — who takes great offense to being called a prostitute, by the way — doesn’t take off too, and because she won’t stop throwing things and hitting you in the face and screaming you don’t know what else to do except restrain her with a phone cord.

And then she bites you and breaks the Armenian’s nose even as you’ve got her in a hold on top of you.

It’s not exactly what Igor had in mind for the day, is all I’m saying.

As an audience, we also get our expectations turned on their head: Igor, who at first just seems like your standard Slavic hired goon, turns out to have a heart of gold, or at least a soft spot just big enough for a beautiful, foul-mouthed erotic dancer with an impressive left hook. (Although he’s no slouch either, considering how he wields that aluminum bat.) There’s something about her that he really likes, even from the beginning, and you can see him looking out for her and trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to make up for what he did to her back at the house.

I think he admires her brashness, and the way she’s determined to fight for the Cinderella dream that a life with Ivan promised her. In both the courtroom scene and on the tarmac with Ivan’s mother he secretly smiles as he listens to her argue and threaten, even against people far wealthier and more powerful.

(There also seems to be a class element, at least where her conflict with the Zakharovs are concerned. Igor probably doesn’t love the fact that he’s employed by these rich assholes and Ani saying that she’s going to take half their money has him silently cheering her on, because, yeah, fuck them. And when Galina Zakharov winks at him after threatening Ani’s whole existence, he has to look away in shame, because he still works for them, and they think that means they own him.)

I’d love to know when he decides to steal the ring from Toros. Maybe at some point on the plane, after he can see that part of her has given up. It’s a brilliant display of rebellion, made even better by the fact that he waits until the very last minute to give it to her. (Would we have heard all that shit about “hunchback weirdos” and “rape eyes” if he had surprised her with it the first moment they were alone? But Igor is secure enough to take all her insults, and probably likes the fact that she feels safe enough to keep roasting him again and again. “Touché, motherfucker?” she says, and all he can do is giggle.)

Which brings us to the car scene.

The ring is an act of atonement, something to make up for what she’s been through over the past two days — some of which he knows he’s responsible for — and one last fuck you to the family that humiliated her. Igor thinks he’s evening the score before he says goodbye, not realizing that Ani sees it as a gesture she needs to pay back to keep feeling like she’s in control. So she gives him what she thinks he wants — what all men want from her.

Igor’s an adaptive, street-smart guy, but he wasn’t prepared for what she ends up doing. He doesn’t resist, though, taking initiative only once she’s fully on top of him and then just to take her face in his hands. Does some part of him know this is transactional? Does some part of him want it to be real the way Ani wanted Ivan to be real? He wants to pretend at least, and tries to kiss her, only for Ani it’s too real, too much, and she’ll fight to make it stop, like she fights for so many things in her life. But the emotions bubble up anyway, and even through the haze of sex Igor can see she’s in pain, so he pulls her in close and lets her cry, steady and silent as the sobs wrack her body like waves.

It’s a scene that neatly mirrors the one from the living room — him holding her as she’s on top of him — now cast as an expression of vulnerability and care rather than fear and aggression. He’s always been strong enough to hold her, but it’s only at the very end that Ani is willing to be held.

[pratchettquotes]

A Personal Note: Celebrating 900 Posts*

"I'm an Igor, thur. We don't athk quethtionth."

"Really? Why not?"

"I don't know, thur. I didn't athk."

Terry Pratchett, Making Money

*A Rare Personal Note: In honor of the 900th quote I have shared on this inconsistent, inimitable, genuinely joyous blog, I thought I should do what I normally do. That is, I went looking for one of the many profound, jarring, thought-provoking Pratchian quotes that draw so many of us back to his books again and again. And then I opened Making Money and abruptly changed my mind. Because let's be honest: Yes, we come back to Sir Terry for the insights and the head tilts and the moments that make us go "hmm" out loud, awkwardly, when we are in a silent train car. But that's not all. I may stay true to Discworld because it makes me think -- but I fell in love with Discworld because Terry Pratchett makes me laugh. Fifteen years later, I'm still laughing. So in honor of our 900th quote in common, let's celebrate the punchlines. If we have learnt nothing else from Pratchett, we know that laughing at the world makes it bearable to live in.

[seefasters]

write in for frank. he doesn't get his own poll option

[paladin--strait]

14 for igor in fic form please🫶🏻!!!

trying to wrap presents - igor shesterkin

-

it’s the week before christmas and igor and i are sitting on the floor, surrounded by a complete wrapping paper hurricane. there’s a tree in the corner that looks cute, at least.

but everything else? total mess. torn paper, ribbons everywhere, and some seriously questionable attempts at wrapping presents. i don’t know how we managed to make it so complicated, but here we are.

i glance over at igor, who’s hunched over a gift, his big hands trying and failing to fold a corner of wrapping paper neatly. he looks like he’s never seen a roll of paper in his life. it’s actually kind of hilarious.

“baby...” i say, trying not to laugh too much, “you’ve wrapped presents before, right?”

he looks up at me, sighs dramatically, and then shrugs. “i’m a hockey player, not a gift-wrapping pro.” he says, his accent seeping through his disappointed tone.

“i mean, you’re supposed to be good at everything,” i tease, deciding to joke with him a bit. “you’re a literal superhero.”

he grins, a little cocky but mostly just amused at himself. “i’m great at everything…except this. wrapping paper is so slippery.” he says, looking down at it with an almost sad expression on his face.

i chuckle and grab the roll of paper from him. “alright, let me show you how it’s done.” i cut a new piece, start folding it with one hand while trying to keep it together.

“you make it look easy,” he says, looking at his own lopsided attempt. “i make one mistake and just get frustrated.” he holds up a sad little piece of paper that was supposed to be a square but is more of a weird trapezoid. “i’ll stick to slapping pucks around and making the best saves ever. you can do the delicate stuff.”

we both burst out laughing, and before we know it, it’s past midnight, and we’re still on the floor, surrounded by crumpled paper and tape. somehow, we finally finish everything. it’s like a miracle. i look at the pile of gifts we’ve wrapped. some of them are definitely unique but hey, it’s the thought that counts, right?

“so, team effort?” he says, standing up and stretching like he’s just finished a game, a loud grunt leaving his mouth and i swear i heard a few muscles popping.

“definitely,” i say, grinning. “you were the muscle, i was the finesse!" i giggle, flexing my muscles.

“next year, we’re hiring someone,” he says, clearly exhausted but still with that mischievous grin of his. “but honestly, i kinda love the mess. it’s...us.”

“yeah,” i say, pulling him in for a hug. “next year, we just buy pre-wrapped stuff...or maybe just gift cards,” i joke.

he laughs and kisses the top of my head. “maybe.”

and with that, we collapse on the couch in each others arms, surrounded by our very pile of interestingly shaped gifts. they weren't perfect, but the experience was definitely memorable and i just know that we both look forward to doing it all again next year.

[lets-ignore-that]

trick or treat! except this is me throwing a pumkin at you and leaving

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! you can have this weird green rabbit thing i found

[fruitybashir]

astp ch3 mini spoilers without context 🪑🐱🍳

[theres-nothing-to-be-scared-of]

@micahsawyer asked for a romantic starter . XXX

He was taken by the way Micah had suggested it, how he first came and approached him with it, and he was taken by how quickly just discussing it turned what was essentially a small want into something of a need. It’s like with the exchanging of words a shared want became this deep desire. Like something that had been there from the very start, now demanding to be spoken.

To be spoken by Micah, to be heard by Igor; DEMANDING like the blood stained hands on the hilt of a knife. A knife buried deep in another’s chest, lodged deep, deep, deep. Like the deep shared desire between two men.

A deep desire. that had been there. from the very start.

Both men, staring into each other’s eyes. Sharing ragged breaths like virgins in a shared bed. And it felt as intimate as that, as intimate as it was supposed to be.

Those red hands, with wet fingers that relinquished their hold on the knife, now demanding to cradle Igor’s life. And subsequently, they were cradling his imminent death. a nearing death, coming with the shivering of his body.

“Will you watch the light leave my eyes?”

His voice was uncharacteristically soft. He had this longing there, in those eyes. His brows knit together, and he looked altogether uncertain, or pained. And he found his hands, both at either side of Micah’s face, holding Micah’s more gently than they’ve ever held anything.

It was the light headedness, that’s what he’d say when he woke up.

The HUM AND LULL OF HIS SLOWING PULSE, but Micah would KNOW. Micah would always know that the things he couldn’t say sober would be waiting for Micah on dying lips.

“Will you hold me?”

[fools-swap-askblog]

[phoebastria-albatrus]

yeagh okay. i get it

YAY

[kit-just-kit]

Send "💬" and my muse will reveal a Pet Name or Nickname that they have for yours. (for Igor pls!)

Terms of endearment meme

"Ahhhh but the charter on this one is somewhat of tally darling, is it not? Zver, drakon, zhivotnye.......the ones I scream in the heights of passion, when you're driving me wild even though surely I butcher the pronunciation of them.......". (she hadn't, Kit took the utmost care to ensure both her diction and speech patterns were spot on when saying anything in Igor's native language). ".....and yet, my favourite, is the one I use when I'm at my quietest, my calmest.

My Russian".

[wiinestories]

📸 - for Polly from Igor

Send a 📸 to see 3-5 pictures that my muse has/has taken of your muse(s)

Listen, her current favourites are these but she finds it so difficult to choose out of many she has. She knows Igor looks perfect in her eyes in every picture, but there are specific ones where she gets to admire him like these now.

Also... The last one? She's a dog person so... Heh.

[lafiametta]

I’ve seen a lot of different interpretations online (esp on twitter lol) but I wanted to know what yours was re: the reason ani was crying at the end of Anora and what it means that she did it with Igor (as opposed to any other time in the movie)

Ani's breakdown in the final scene is a combination of a bunch of things: over the past two days, she's lost the dream of the life she had envisioned for herself, her husband (who she probably believed she loved, at least on some level) has rejected her, she's been insulted and denigrated, she's been bruised and manhandled and dragged all over New York and then across the country and back, and she's got nothing to show for it (aside from the money and the ring, but I don't think she's really thinking about that yet). It's a lot, and I think if Igor hadn't given her the ring she would have gone into her house and crawled in bed and cried where no one could see or judge her.

But now he's given her this thing, which in her mind puts her in his debt, and she doesn't want to be in debt to this guy, this psycho who confuses her by doing nice things but who, in the end, is an embodiment and final reminder of this terrible episode of her life that she only wants to forget.

So she decides to have sex with him. It'll even the score — no more debt, and she'll be done.

The tricky thing with sex is that it can make things complicated, especially when the people involved have very different assumptions about what it means. Igor's looking at her and he's cupping her face and trying to kiss her and she realizes that he wants her — not just her body, but a connection deeper and more real than she's prepared for. Ani rejects that — the last two days have sent her reeling, made her question her worth and her whole life, and who is this fucking asshole to try to tell her she's suddenly worth wanting? — and she lashes out. It's the physical and emotional outburst, followed by the fact that he still doesn't reject her (like everyone else has), even as he sees her, sees everything she is, that makes it all come crashing down.

She only really starts sobbing once he's started to pull her into his arms, I think because it's the only point in the movie she feels safe enough to let go. It's that, and not the sex, that forms the real intimacy of the scene.

[sunskate]

Christina saying they used to train to please people and out of fear 💀💀💀and when they moved to Scott that was gone, and they had to train because they liked it and wanted to get better and how hard that was to learn 😭😭😭

[mazm-imagines]

To Igor,

Happy belated birthday, hope you enjoy your day today.

Note: I just got a new phone and I couldn't log in my old acc. I'm really sorry

"Thank you for your kind wish, regardless of it is late or not." Even if his face remained stoic, the tone of his voice indicated Igor was happy.

"Did you make this yourself? It looks wonderful... But- my apologies- I'll need to ensure it hasn't been poisoned... if not, I'll be sure to enjoy it fully."

[bitchdafuqyousay]

Omg thats so neat ur a tyler fan too!! Whats ur top songs from him?

uhh I'll go n say my top 5 cause that feels like a good number lol;

deathcamp (god this is for sure my all time fuckin fav I'm so serious I'll start jumping if you turn this on around me)

new magic wand

rah tah tah (I've had this on repeat for the past couple days now its probably my fav off the chromakopia album)

sticky

911/ Mr. lonely

[lets-ignore-that]

Will you flush Six…

I WOULD NEVER FLUSH HIM BUT HE CAN HAVE SO MUCH CANDY ALL OF IT INFACT

and one cornish hen too