#sarah nowak

[new-br333d]

[m0d3rn-l0v3rs]

[baby-mama-family-tribe]

[onlyblondzz]

[pseudo-satisfaction]

[irresistible-desires]

[mitjalovse]

Calling someone an international musician remains quite a weird thing to do. I mean, what is my syntagm trying to achieve here? Let us check this on a case of Sarah Brightman. She's a British singer, yet you couldn't tell this from her albums, they have a distinct European flavour. You see, her works move within the field that corresponds with pop, classical and rock. They sort of remind me of Enigma in a way, had the latter project been streamlined into a pop band with a female singer that has a penchant for opera. Of course, she collaborated with one of the coworkers of Michael Cretu on her albums. However, her choice of songs also shows a sensibility that looks beyond all borders. I mean, she covered a great German rock song on the link.

[laswells-ashtray]

How did Kate and Sarah meet? Can we get a story time?

I don't think how Kate and Sarah met was romantic in any way, I think it was something they refer to as the incident instead of looking back fondly on it.

Kate needed intel. Scratch that, Shepherd needed intel and he made it Kate's problem because she "had the skills required to obtain it from their asset". Which is a long-winded, bald-headed way of saying she's a woman and their asset was a sleazy man. And Kate refused to subject anyone else to the creep's advances just for measly information that would probably fuck them in the long run.

So, Kate finds herself in a bar. She was the only one intended to be there but she made the mistake of complaining about the job and she spies a familiar-looking Brit sharing drinks with a familiar-looking Russian in a booth in the back of the bar.

Nowak is already late twenty minutes late and the bartender might just be worse than him, he's been a little heavy-handed with Kate's bourbon in what she assumes is an attempt to win her favour as he stares at her tits with such force she expects to see laser beams shooting from his eyes.

She drinks anyway, she needs it to stop herself from just walking out of the bar and taking a hammer to Shepherd's head to see how many hits before it dents. There's a group of women in the corner, clearly celebrating something or other as they drink and Kate truly wishes she could share their joy.

If anything, she feels nauseous. There's an oddly sick feeling at the back of her throat that she can't find blame for. The situation? The fact she's drinking on an empty stomach? Or is it being surrounded by men?

She bites back a suicide threat and finishes the bourbon in her glass before tugging at the collar of her shirt. Why couldn't she find herself in a bar with good AC? Because nothing could possibly go right in the life of one Kate Laswell.

One of the women strays from her group and approaches the bar, Kate pays her no mind. She glances at the door but unsurprisingly there's still no Nowak. God knows how long she'd be stuck waiting for him.

She can feel the material of her shirt sticking to her skin and there are strands of her hair that just won't stay in place, if she looked more presentable then maybe she'd feel better about the entire ordeal but she truly just wants to find the nearest bed and curl up in it, asleep.

The woman to her left stumbles into her, nudging Kate forward into the edge of the bar in a blatant assault on her tits. It fucking nips, pinching at the exposed skin as if she hadn't suffered enough for the day. An apologetic hand reaches out for her shoulder and she finds herself face to face with a tall brunette who's eyes are a damn near exact colour copy for the bar they're standing at.

"Fuck- Sorry, are you alright? Christ, I wasn't looking. Try to make space for one person and assault the next."

Kate waves off her spiel with a hand that feels weighed down by lead before returning her dull stare to the empty glass in front of her.

"You alright? You're looking a little dejected there, honey."

It takes Kate longer than she should to realise that the woman is still talking to her, responding with an eventual "Hm?"

Kate knows approximately three things about the stranger beside her now, she's clumsy as shit, gorgeous persistent.

"Oh, you're drunk, aren't you? You got anyone else with you?"

Kate bites back a sigh and turns to face the brunette, it takes more energy than it should, something she quickly notices as she blinks up at the other woman.

"I'm not drunk, that was only my second glass."

The other woman clearly doesn't believe her and Kate can't entirely blame her, she sounds tipsy enough. Words just a little softer than they should be around the edges.

"Sure about that? Because you're not looking too hot, honey."

Kate certainly feels hot, she wouldn't be surprised if her face was flushed a vibrant red. But she still has the urge to adjust her shirt and cover the visible skin from a non-existent chill.

"I'm fine, just need some air." Kate mutters, standing up from the barstool unsteadily and grabbing onto the back of it with a tight grip. The stranger gently grabs at her waist, holding her upright with a look that Kate couldn't describe even if she was thinking straight.

She blinks and suddenly John and Nikolai are in front of her. John is giving her his typical worried mother hen look and Nikolai, Kate can't think of how to describe him. She can't think of much other than the urge to sleep. She can recognise his hand reaching out for her, Nikolai has a small scar on the back of his thumb in the shape of a squint bee. Kate isn't sure if she laughs or not.

She's pulled back by the hot brunette and she watches the other woman hit Nik's hand away.

"Hey, get the fuck back from her. The fuck did you two put in her drink?"

She can hear the vaguely familiar and timeless John Price grunt of offence.

"Excuse me? What did we- Nevermind, who are you? Kate, are you alright?"

There's a hand that caresses her jaw, turning her head to face the stranger that's holding her steady.

"Kate? Is that your name, honey? Can you tell me if you know either of these two? Are they safe?"

Kate nods, or a least she tries to. She manages to turn her head just enough to face both of the men and attempt to reach out for one of them.

"J'hn, 'm-"

"Shit, Kate. You've been spiked, are you still with us?"

Nikolai's hand falls into her line of vision again and this time it isn't whacked away. His hand slips under her arms as he steps to her side, taking most of her weight by himself.

"Her name is Kate, we were here to meet a- someone. He didn't show up. We know her, we work with her and she's our friend." John sounds angry. Angry, impatient and pissed.

Her eyes might be slipping closed, she isn't sure but Nikolai is warm where her head rests against his shoulder. She can still feel the pretty lady's fingers trailing over her shoulder as she and John speak. Nikolai might offer her a light tap on the cheek or she imagines it.

"And you didn't think to keep a better eye on her? Wait- Just give me a second."

There's shuffling and more words explained, Kate isn't sure what's going on or if she's even holding her own head up. It's either a minute or an hour until she feels something getting tucked into the pocket of her shirt.

"Kate? You listening to me, honey? My name's Sarah and that's my number, you're gonna find it tomorrow and one of these assholes is gonna make you call me, alright? I'll stick with you as they walk you outside and make sure nothing happens but I think you know both of them and I think you trust them. So I'm gonna let you leave with them if that's fine for you?"

Kate is almost positive she makes a noise that sounds close to agreement. It might be lost over the general sounds of the bar or the aggrieved protest from John at the moniker of "asshole".

She's unsure of what happens after that, even waking up is an exhausting ordeal. She spends more than two hours being tended to by the two men she reluctantly calls her best friends before they eventually offer her an explanation as to what happened and why there's a note with a phone number in her breast pocket.

[shark-myths]

do you have any book recs for books about girls that feel like girl out boy. i want to read about girls but i don't want to read about fall out boy yk

I love this question! I am constantly seeking for books that feel like Girl Out Boy because I want to live in that muggy girlspace at all times. These cut a wide swath of genres and probably only 2 of them are genuine read-alikes in tone; the rest share a headspace or ethos or were otherwise important in shaping that world. I would love to collect other peoples’ recommendations on this question, so please chime in!

Nonfiction:

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein

Any book by Melissa Febos

Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers by Sady Doyle

The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic by Jessica Hopper

The Riot Grrrl Collection ed. by Lisa Darms

Fiction:

The Scapegracers series by H.A. / August Clarke—the most GOB thing I have ever read in my life!

Supper Club by Lara Williams

Anything Resembling Love by S. Qiouyi Lu

We Were Witches by Ariel Gore

It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

You Know I’m No Good by Jessie Ann Foley

When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey

The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

Pages for You by Sylvia Brownrigg

The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

Girl Mans Up by M.E. Girard

Passing Strange by Ellen Klages

Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman

Post-Traumatic by Chantal V. Johnson

Comics:

Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

Man-Eaters by Chelsea Cain

Paper Girls by Brian K Vaughn

Girl Town by Casey Nowak

The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag

Okay, I'm stopping myself now, because this is clearly just becoming a "Book About Women Sharks Want You To Read". And I could go on, and on, and on. Please let me know if you read and like any! Reading and talking about reading are my favorite things in the world.

Go forth and read about girls!

[new-br333d]

[m0d3rn-l0v3rs]

[baby-mama-family-tribe]

[onlyblondzz]

[luxurymodels1123]

Luxury Models... Sarah Nowak

[imnotinlovemp3]

books ive read 2024

on earth we’re briefly gorgeous by ocean vuoung (jan)

giovanni’s room by james baldwin (feb)

little women by louisa may alcott (march)

the hours by michael cunningham (april)

horrorstor by grady hendrix (april)

midnight on beacon street by emily ruth verona (april)

the ballad of songbirds and snakes by suzanne collins (april)

last night at the telegraph club by malinda lo (may)

silver nitrate by silvia moreno garcia (may) 

you’re not supposed to die tonight by kalynn bayron (may)

a guest in the house by e m carrol (may)

la bruja escondida por molly knox ostertag (may)

patricia wants to cuddle by samantha allen (may)

it came from the closet: queer reflections on horror ed. by joe vallese (june)

the lesbiana’s guide to catholic school by sonora reyes (june)

girl juice by benji nate (june)

catboy by benji nate (june)

hell phone by benji nate (june)

lorna by benji nate (june)

the girl from the sea by molly knox ostertag (june)

one last stop by casey mcquiston (june)

my lesbian experience with loneliness by nagata kabi (june)

fangs by sarah andersen (july)

through the woods by e. m. carroll (july)

the lottery and other stories by shirley jackson (july)

influenca by jade lft peters (july)

lucky cap scouts by o stevens (july)

the magic fish by trung le nguyen (july)

a gift for a ghost by borja gonzalez (july)

the daring life and dangerous times of eve adams by jonathan ned katz (july) 

fear street: party games by r. l. stine (july)

afternoon at mcburger’s by ana galvan (july)

girl town by casey nowak (july)

frankenstein by mary shelley (august)

m is for monster by talia dutton (august)

when among crows by veronica roth (august)

as the crow flies by melanie gillman (august)

shady hollow by juneau black (august)

roaming by jillian tamaki and mariko tamaki (august)

mimosa by archie bongiovanni (august)

grand slam romance by ollie hicks and emma oosterhous (august)

occulted by amy rose ryan estrada and jeongmin lee (august)

homebody by theo parish (august)

other ever afters: new queer fairy tales by melanie gillman (august)

stage dreams by melanie gillman (august)

the sprite and the gardener by rii abrego and joe whitt (september)

flamer by mike curato (september)

finna by nino cipri (september)

what moves the dead by t. kingfisher (september)

a house with good bones by t. kingfisher (september)

twelfth grade night by molly horton booth stephanie kate strohm and jamie green (october)

the elementals by michael mcdowell (november)

age 16 by rosena fung (november)

graveyard shift by m.l. rio (november)

abolition by angela davis (november)

thieves by lucie bryon (december)

kisses for jet by joris bas backer (december)

laura dean keeps breaking up with me by mariko tamaki & rosemary valero-o'connell (december)

of thunder and lightning by kimberly wang (december)

the chromatic fantasy by h.a. (december)

i am soooooo proud of myself bc my original goal was 12 books lol. this isnt meant to be a tagging thing but if anyone sees this and wants to do it too feel free to tag me!! would love to see what others have read this year <3 next year i want to read more non-fiction and graphic novels, so leave recs below if u have any :^) mwah