#there's a very normal amount of lana here

[idontcare4urmom]

wrong || matt sturniolo

stepbrother!matt x fem!reader

summary: where your dad found a new woman on his life after one year of your mom's death,so you are forced to live all together after a lot of pressure,but what you didn't know yet is that her son is a total temping being that will send you over the edge..in many ways.

warnings: smuttt,unprotected sex,not proofread,porn with plot,dirty talk,eating out,pet-names,suggestive,scratching,tits sucking,etc.

a/n: my first language is not English,this sure has some grammar or other errors so i am sorry<3

."🎀".

"what the fuck you mean we have to move in with her?" you were basically shouting on your dad,and you weren't sure if you were more annoyed at the fact that he had moved on so far already or cause he didn't even cared to ask you if you acknowledge with it.

"i told you too many times that this is a very big and important step to me honey,besides her place is absolutely flawless,you will love it" his words only made you angrier,but you decided not to push it anymore since you knew deep down it would be waste of time,he had made his decision.

--------------------------------------

the days passed quickly,and you found yourself holding your suitcase in front of a captivating building that would change a part of your life for many years,at least your dad did not lie,it was trully more than luxurious,so with a deep sigh you walked until the doorway with him,your anxious levels on high.

after a few knocks the door opened to reveal a surprisingly tall,appealing woman standing there,with brunette silky highlights and a pretty good enough shaped body,the sight made you furrow although you could tell why your father had fallen for her.you were caught off guard when you were the one she even pulled into an embrace first and seemed in general eager to meet you.

"oh sweetie your dad has told me many things about you,i am Lana,come in,come in" you didn't had much time to process because she was pushing your hand gently inside,your eyes widening as you took in the house with your eyes,it was for sure bringing vibes of a cozy,modern place.

you didn't want to be in your normal pissy mood for the reason that she was treating you politely for now,so you made a small comment "wow,the decoration is really nice"

"oh thank you,i want you to be comfortable and feel welcomed here,you can go check the guest room that will be your own,is down the hall,if you need any help just call out my name" you nodded a little and began making your way towards the apparently new space you will probably spend most of the day at.

but,without realizing a sudden unrecognized human figure appeared in front of you while making it's way to another room,making you leave a small yelp from your lips "who are you?"

the blye eyed boy raised an eyebrow once he heard the question,letting a sarcastic laugh as he spoke "very ironic for someone to ask when they are the one in my house" oh? well he had sure attitude for the few seconds you had met him. you were about to say something in response even so he continued, a sheepish grin forming on his lips when he examined your presence through his dark eyelashes "wait..you must be my stepsister"

"huh?" was the only word you could express,you were incredibly confused--who was he? "i am Lana's son, Matt,no one informed you about me?" it was like he was able to read your thoughts,it only creeped you out more.

"no..my father must forgot to announce your existence to me" the words snarked out of your tongue as you were trying hard to act sassy,but for a disguise,cause shit the more you were observeting him the more perfect he got.

he had the necessary amount of beard to sense in case he ever trailed kisses down your body,his blue orbs seemed like they could stare deep into your soul yet in a enjoyable way,and hell those fingers were too distracting for no reason,especially with those silver rings that were practically begging for attention.just any of his facial features were ideal--however you weren't supposed to fall for him,it would be wrong.

you snapped out of your thoughts when there was a sound of a familiar voice snapping across the end of the hall,approaching the both of you excitedly,even though she was addresing specifically to you "i see you guys met,sorry darlin' i forgot to have a quick chat with you about that i have a kid..anyway he may be a pain sometimes but i am sure you will get along well with him"

--------------------------------

two weeks have passed,and she was completely wrong.every day the urge of smashing a bottle on top of his head is only increasing,he would suddenly barg into your bedroom searching for his own belongings,asserting that he often lost things by accident since he is being here from time to time--why? his set-up pc is on your area for years now.

despite that,his own bedroom is just a few steps away from yours,you have been struggling with sleeping peacefully cause he would blast music on his speaker at 2-3 am,you are almost confirmed that he must be doing it on purpose--and it doesn't end here,there is worse.

you are aware of a guy having 'needs' so the occasional echo of moaning could be heard to you from the thin paper walls,you swear that it's music to your ears and you feel like your mind is sabotaging you.he is annoying,that though didn't stopped you from having a weird desire rising in you for him,a pang on your chest with guilt for possessing the most unholy fantasizes whenever he would roam around in just a pair of sweatpants.

with all this being said,you produced a baffling bond with Matt,signs showing that he is on the same page as you,which leads you to today.laying down on your bed with your phone on your hands,stressfully ignoring his presence a few meters away.him entirely concentrated on his screen computer playing--God knows what--video games,with the controller on his hands.the silense more than unbearable.

you were determined to prove to yourself that maybe you can spend some time with him,you took advantage of him not wearing any headphones and lightly tapped his shoulder,pointing towards the black console afterwards "can i try?" you anticipated for his response,silently hoping that he doesn't mind.

Matt was kind of surpised by your request,nevertheless he had finished the round so he nodded "umh..sure" he slid off from the gaming chair while handing you the controller,your fingers barely brushing with his yet enough to make your head spinning.

you rested your body on the mesh fabric as he sat on the bed,and with a glance of the buttons you were clueless of the task in hand,not having any idea on how to participate in the online game.luckily,he noticed the confused look written on your face so he came next to you and started to make a fast learning lesson,

he taught you how to jump,how to run,how to kill,and other features you require to have in case of a proper match.as he did so,you caught him taking a few glimpses of your chest--it's not like he could help it,your crop top was exposing a certain amount of your cleavage,making it hard for him to focus.

a devilish smile curled to your face when you noticed,feeling bold enough to adjust down the shirt such as leaving only your breasts covered--matt could feel his heart beat raising,the temperature of the room turning thick once he stopped talking.

"can you show me how to jump again? i don't think i get it" you spoke,a hint of suggestiveness leaking from your tone--and he didn't want more than just to devour you right there, your father and his mother had left for shopping,so you were both totally alone which sent shivers down your back,

the tension bloomed into a insufferable feeling between the two of you,causing your breath to hitch around your throat,especially when you felt his fingers starting to touch yours fully in attempt to answer your previous 'request'.a hushed gasp breaking out from you when there was a unexpected hand gesture tracing your thigh in a agonizingly pace--screw this.

with a smooth shift of your face and waist you palmed his cheeks,bringing his lips to yours into a fiery dance.he didn't hesitate to shove his tongue in your mouth,impatiently exploring your taste before nipping down your bottom lip,eliciting a moan from you that get's shallowed against him,

the sound you made vibrated through matt's whole body,landing directly straight to his core and he could feel his jeans growing tight around his crotch,he didn't ever remembered himself getting hard from just a making out session--he craved more,he needed more,and so did you.

his hands started travelling their way to your stomach,crawling upwards until he squeezed your nipples over the fabric of your top and reaching to lift it up, "is this okay?" you nodded desperately at the question,he didn't wasted time by taking it off over your head,unclasping with one motion your bra afterwards to shower your bare chest with open-mouthed kisses,

your hums of approval soon turned into whimpers when he wrapped his mouth on the flesh of your left breast,swirling his tongue around it while his hand pinched the other between his free fingers,he repeated his actions by giving the same treatment to your right one after.

with a loud pop he pulled away,slowly reaching under the gaming chair so he is on his knees,his eye pupils half-lidded and fluttering over your face before he yanks off your shorts with panties,exposing your already wet dripping pussy to his hungry gaze,

"fuck you are soaked,how long have you been dreaming this? have you been waiting for me to finally pleasure you sweetheart?" you could him mutter cooing through gritted teeth,licking at your thighs in a intractable speed as he itches towards the arching spot in between your legs,lavishing his attention there as he made a long stripe up on your clit,making you buck your hips against his face shamelessly,

your nails found his hair,gripping and tugging on it for support,dragging a hiss from his mouth as he began to lap on your juices like you were his last meal,you started riding his face while whining pathetically,the obsence resounds filling the room as he continued to satisfy you.

his index finger rubbed your entrance,letting you shaking for more and barely hearing his gagged whispers "you taste so fucking amazing,such an intoxicating cunt",your lower abdomen started quivering into the familiar knot,reminding you of your approaching release,making you clench uncontrollably around his mouth,

"come on,finish all over face baby" matt sneered out when he sucked on robs of your pre-cum, your lips forming a perfect 'o' shape in the same time you swirled your digits on his roots so his head is forced to be still there,with a long pornographic moan you erupted,spurting thick,white jets that made your legs glistening.

after pulling away he swooped you into his arms,carrying you bridal-style on the mattress of the bed,him laying down firstly before grasping your sides stronly,helping you to be on top of him as he guided your hips so you can push against his clothed erection,the sensation maddening for the both of you.

your still sensitive heat grinded back and forth,feeling his cock poking under you so your hands progress to tug the zipper of his jeans down,sliding them down along with his boxers to his ankles in a way of exposing his throbbing tip,you usually didn't liked how dicks looked but matt's was different; a needy tenderness to have it deep inside you,he adjusted with ease the head down your folds,and with no doubt you sinked down on his length.

a unbidden squeal slipped from you as he grunted repeatedly,his grunts turned into loud groans of pure filthiness as soon as you started bouncing yourself,your tight walls squelching him, sending him closer to the edge even though it hadn't passed a minute of you riding him,his back arching forward which gave you the opportunity of scratching down the skin of his behind shoulders,

"such a good girl,fucking yourself on your stepbrother's cock, such a whore f'me" his words actually made you feel pitiful yet encouraging your movements to speed up their pace,his hips thrusting up to meet yours so he can pound into your hole frequently, "c-close" you panted out,your second orgasm increasing through you as your walls clinged around him,the actions driving matt insane "going to fill you up,do you want that? do you want me to cum inside you?"

you miserably sobbed in bliss and let a ''hphm'' of approval,before you knew it matt had busted,his climax exploding extremely hard into your pussy,following suit after him with your head throwed back and stopping after a minute so you can pull yourself out of him,both of you being a panting mess,

"that was incredible" "i am never letting you to even enter my room again"

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evelyn speaks!! thank you so much for 250 followers jixijcmjg,my last post with Matt got more than 800 notes likeee insane,thank you ALL for the support it means everything xoxo🤍🤍

tags! @writtensturn @pixiespax @verywonderlandpolice @itsnotmariahh @user9383738392 @monroesturnns @badussybumper @nwlluvsturnsstars17 @shadowthesim

[exaltedfuzz]

What are your thoughts about Gant? Like, his motivations, as a characters, how much of what he does is premeditated/intentionally manipulative?

I really enjoy Gant. He's a fascinating character to me, and there's so much to say on him. I find it hard to describe him, because he's so disingenuous in how he presents himself. It's not that clear if he really means anything he says. But let's try and tackle this...

His motivations. He's self-serving. He says it outright. ("There are only three people I look out for: Me, Myself and I." - Gant)

I think this is being said slightly defensively, but it does hold up. When he kills Neil, it's to cinch the Darke case, but that can't be it. I don't remember if a concrete motive is ever given in game. I need to replay the case. However, I think this unknowable aspect to him is one thing that makes him terrifying. Beneath that jovial charisma, we know he's making Lana's life miserable. ("[withdrawing] was the only way I could make it through the past two years." - Lana) By the time we see her in RFTA, she's at the point where she's what amounts to being at least passively suicidal.

Obviously, she confesses to Bruce's murder to protect Ema through shouldering Gant's crime for him, but I can't help but feel like there's more to it than that. I think she's been incredibly worn down, overworked, and had her personal life and relationships purposefully eroded by him. Gant does whatever is convenient, and he's incredibly comfortable doing so. He outright tells Lana that he killed Bruce, without any idea that she'd tell anyone anything about it. The reason he gets caught in the end is because of her daring to tell Jake, and the whole stunt Jake pulled in the evidence room, iirc. The fact that he doesn't even consider the possibility that Lana would seek assistance kind of says a lot about what he's grown to expect from her.

I think "the legendary duo" as an idea is a crazy power imbalance. A young woman, presumably a very new detective, 24-27, and the deputy chief of police, a man in his 60s with an insane amount of power. Factoring in Lana's own circumstances, being Ema's only caretaker, and constantly falling into being the more mature one in anything interpersonal (Angel says she was always looking out for the other detectives, and that Jake couldn't have ever recovered from Neil's death without Lana's support.) it must have been nice for her to have a partnership where she was the one learning. She says that Gant "was everything [she] aspired to be", and Angel says that Lana hated anything corrupt. (I'm taking Angel's words at face value here, because Angel is shown to be very resentful towards Lana, and not likely to be giving her undue praise.) So, Lana had no idea about the kind of man he really is.

I think, therefore, that his decision to use Lana was very thought out. He knows full well that she respects him, admires his work, but more importantly, that she's nice. She's a character who seems to me like a little bit of a people pleaser. When you look at how all the characters describe what she was like, it's often about what she'd do for other people, and she comes off as being a little naive, maybe. Too private, and too passive.

I think Gant, working closely with her, and being the observant person he is, would pick up on this easily. He knows that Lana shuts up and gets on with it, but also that she's honest and earnest, and she'd need a tipping point to be able to be scared enough to be useful in furthering his career and his ego. So, at the first opportunity he has to make her sweat, when she's blinded by being terrified over whether Ema will be ok, he takes full advantage.

He also would have likely been her friend. So he'd have known she went to law school, and that she was the best. (She seems keen to brag, even in the circumstances at the start of RFTA, so I imagine she'd have been a little smug under normal circumstances). I think her earnestness that we see coming through near the end of the case, when she starts using that leaning forward sprite, would have led to her probably sharing a lot of personal things, which Gant would obviously keep in mind just in case there was ever an opportunity to use this information to his advantage.

Outside of Lana, though, he seems to be a good judge of character. In who he chooses to demote and fire, he fires Angel. He knows that Angel is the "cough-up-queen" (I found out that the Japanese version is "vomit-covered-okyou". Strange.) and that if she's ever on the same case, or in the same workspace as Prosecutor Skye, she'll break her and ruin everything. So Angel is out. She's wily enough to weasel her way back into their proximity, though, using everything she knows she can use as leverage. Jake, as well, isn't outwardly as confrontational as Angel, and he wants him tethered to the place his brother was murdered in, as a sort of reminder that they "found his killer", and he "has justice", I suppose? Maybe so that Jake never has the chance to take a step back from it all and evaluate. Of course, he doesn't factor in Jake and Angel having a relationship outside of office hours, and this enduring friendship giving Jake that chance... Which, actually seems to be a theme with him. I think he probably is a quite lonely man, and doesn't account for people having relationships more complex than coworkers. Maybe because he just doesn't care about anyone else.

I think very little of what he does is excessively premeditated, and everything is in his follow-through. Killing Neil seems entirely opportunistic, and killing Bruce, similarly, was done spur of the moment. I think he works within the framework of believing he knows exactly what pieces he has to play with. He knows how to terrify everyone around him - he puts Jake on the crime scene as a sort of "look what happens", and I don't think it's entirely unreasonable to think that he knew he'd be making Lana fear for her own life by casually telling her to dispose of the body of a coworker she was likely quite close to. He seems very aware of the bargaining chips that he has re:each person. Which makes it interesting that he doesn't care much about Angel, actually! I figure this is because she's a much more canny person, and he knows he'd never be able to shake her, so it's best to just have her out of the way.

I think an interesting line is the bit where the Judge says that he's not the man that he used to know.

Either Gant has always been corrupt, and incredible at keeping himself guarded, as we do see him to be in game, or he really was a good guy. Maybe he saw himself in the earnest, good natured Detective Skye, and the natural progression, therefore, was that she'd become just as corrupt as him. He doesn't factor in her empathy, though. He knows he's terrifying her by getting her to dispose of Bruce, but he doesn't care that her being terrified leads to her making awful body-disposing decisions. She leaves Bruce in the place he put him, she leaves the real weapon at the crime scene, she's witnessed, photographed, and she cuts open her hand. I don't think this was his intention, to frame her. I mean, clearly, Edgeworth was the intended target of the framing, but Lana messed everything up enough to give him a brand new scapegoat. He wouldn't want to dispose of the person who puts the prosecutors office in his pocket, but I think this incident really tanks her value to him in his eyes. He believes he can count on her to do anything, but she has entirely failed this task, so she might just become a liability for anything in future. I think Lana knows this too, which is why she doesn't have any fight in her.

When Lana is free from Gant, she, of course, has her smiling sprite. (My favourite.) But it's not just her being happy, it's her being actually free. She says so. ("A long time since I've felt free of these heavy chains"). Because I draw her so much, I've looked at her sprites a lot, and her smiley one really gets me. It's got the "can't stop smiling" feel to it, with how her eyebrows are held, and how her eyes crinkle. When you look at her normal sprites, she's either got a thousand yard stare or she looks terrified. The judge even asks if she thinks something is amusing, because she's just grinning. It's just cathartic. She's giddy. Usually she's acting out of a (misguided, and slightly self serving) desire to protect Ema, but knowing Gant isn't going to be a presence in her life anymore seems to not just delight her for Ema's sake, but also because she, herself, isn't in the middle of this anymore, and it seems like being happy for herself is something unusual enough for her that it just makes her soft. As well, her hands are in front of her now. So she's not having to hide the blood on them anymore. Anyway. I really like Lana's sprites. This isn't supposed to be about her.

I went on a bit, and I'm sure I repeated myself somewhere, but those are some of my Gant thoughts. He's really interesting to me. Especially the way he interacts with the other characters. Bear in mind this is being written a fair few months after playing RFTA one time...

[imaslutforwritingshit]

oh my god you're like the only writer i've found whose requests are open rn

so basically ive been reading this rlly good book where the male protagonist is like rlly tall and super sweet and a hockey player and now i very desperately need ethan landry as that with like a short reader who maybe has some attitude

you can add smut (preferably) but if you can't think of anything for it it's fine!

OKAY

(Hockey Ethan Landry x fem. short reader, that ice skates)

(Part One- teasing, plot)

Sorry to the requester! This took a while like four months 😭 but luckily it’s skating season!

Ethan Landry ❤️‍🔥

Julie Weston 🤍

I started the routine again. It’s the only thing that keeps me sane. Wake up, grab my skates, go on the ice. I forget all of my problems when I skate, letting them fall under my feet as I rake the blades into powdery ice. Today, the rink is empty, given no one comes this early. It’s 5:00 in the morning, and if any person would be here right now, my guess is that they would be a sports player, considering how insane they all are.

Skating has been a part of my life forever, since I was a child, even. I don’t let myself think about how long it’s been, how much has changed. I just ride, to quote Lana, whose music I immediately put on, raising the volume of my AirPods to (almost) an extreme level. I begin the comfortable act of sliding my legs, bending my knees, then faster, until the ice is blending and whirling under my skates, and I am speeding in the rink, distracted by the music in my ears. I do a backwards spiral, grabbing my leg and twirling, then a backwards spin. I feel elevated, euphoric, and then, I feel a hard wall slam into my backside.

I trip over my skates, and fall to the ice, hearing my leggings rip from the impact. Groaning, I push myself up from my hands. Not blood, just a scrape on my legs. I sigh, and feel that my AirPods fell out of my ears when I had slammed to the ground. As I searched the ice for them, a low, gravely tone behind me scoffed.

I jumped, immediately turning unsuccessfully to meet the person. I stumbled, and straightened my legs out of fear, like a small deer in the wintertime. But no sheer amount of embarrassment could prepare me for who I saw behind me.

Ethan.

Ethan Landry.

When he met my expression, he smiled, his dark eyes glinting with the satisfaction of my surprise. His hair was messy, as if he had just woke up from bed, like me. He was wearing a black hoodie, and grey sweatpants, which seemed normal, but what stuck out to me was the hockey stick in his hands.

“I’m not gonna play with you, you know.” I stammered, pointing at the stick.

Ethan laughed smugly, and I swear I could’ve just slapped him then and there. He tapped the base of the stick on the ground. “Yeah? I was hoping you would.” He dropped his eyes to my smaller body, and I straightened my shoulders in an effort to be taller. “You certainly have the…build of a hockey player.”

I rolled my eyes, and huffed, grabbing my AirPods awkwardly in front of him. I could feel his stare down my back, and I really wished he wasn’t in direct view of my ass. I moved on the ice faster than I thought possible to get away from him, finding a corner where I practicing skating drills in an effort to sit with my thoughts. Ethan was moving a puck casually on the other side of the rink, and I made certain that he didn’t see me staring.

When I was in elementary school, Ethan Landry was every girl’s crush. How could he not be? With his dreamy eyes, his soft, tender voice, cute curls? I could remember every friend I ever had begging him for his number, or to sit with him during lunchtime. But no, not me. I saw who he really was. He was cocky, so much so that every time I walked by him, he would ask me if I was ready to admit I liked him. But I never did, and even if I would, he would never hear about it. Ethan would pester me, throw dodgeballs at my shoulder, tap my thumb repeatedly in 7up, until I glared at him, ultimately losing the game.

And I was fine hating Ethan Landry. I enjoyed it. I liked knowing that I was the only one who knew what he was- a playboy.

In 5th grade, I had a friend named Allie. She always tried to convince me to “confess” that I liked Ethan. She told me nobody could resist him, and there’s no point in me pretending that I didn’t like him. But it didn’t matter how many times I told her I wouldn’t. She already had a plan.

Allie wrote a fake love letter, filled with the grossest things a 5th grader would possibly write, or know about. Allie signed the letter with my name; putting it on Ethan’s desk the morning of English class. I will never forget the look on Ethan’s face after she told me what she did. It’s the first time I saw him blush.

Probably because Allie wrote, “I want to sleep with you,” in the letter, even if she didn’t know what that meant yet.

Needless to say, I never talked to that girl again, until she moved schools. And Ethan stopped bothering me after that. Only recently, in high school, the taunting and teasing has come up again. And with it, memories of 5th grade. I just need him out of my life. And the worst part is, he’s still just as fawned over, if not more, than before. Every girl I ever knew had once crushed on him. He’s gotten significantly taller, around 6’3, and his form filled out nicely after enrolling into hockey 7 years ago. I never went to any of his games, and honestly, I don’t care to. He’s not my friend, my enemy, or my lover. He’s nothing to me.

I took a break from skating, huffing over the side of the rink walls. I heard him skate over to me, and I straightened my body again, my heart suddenly faster. I didn’t dare look at him.

“Hey.” His voice was soft, hesitant. I ignored him. “Hey.” I only stared at him, feigning boredom. He gritted his teeth. “Julie, can I talk to you?”

“No.” I turned around and began skating on the ice. I heard Ethan groan behind me and follow my trail.

“What happened to us?” His voice was light, but the words cut deep.

I whirled around, putting my hands in my hips to seem like my fingers weren’t shaking.

“What do mean, us? There has been no us, there will never be an us,” I exclaim, skating backwards. “The last time I checked, the only thing you ever wanted us to be was the boy who makes fun of the girl, and the girl who loveeeddd the boy so much!” I mocked him, rolling out the word with an irritating gesture. I huffed in cold air, and whirled around for the final time, taking my time to exit the rink.

As I clanked my skates on the warm carpet of the bench area, I looked back, seeing Ethan’s eyes on mine. He was breathing heavily, his chest heaving up and down, and butterflies warmed my core. I forced my eyes down, and began disassembling my skates, stuffing them in the light pink bag I got for my 18th birthday.

“You know that I knew about Allie, right?”

His deep voice shocked me out of my state of pitiful thoughts. I shook my hair out of my face, and stared up, Ethan suddenly nearing the wall that separated the rink from the sitting area. I slid on my boots, and wiped melted water droplets from my pants as I stood.

“What?” My voice was weary. I just wanted to be home. School was tomorrow, and I would prefer to keep my Sunday Ethan-free from now on.

He stepped into the area, and sat down on the bench opposite to me. He was out of breath, red cheeked, with a smooth glaze of sweat gleaming on his sharp jawline. As he dusted off his sweats and kicked off his skates, he scoffed.

“I knew that Allie wrote the letter.” Silence filled the heavy room, only the heaters buzzing from afar the sound I could hear. Ethan finally stood up, black sneakers on his feet. He unzipped his jacket slowly, his eyes burning onto mine. As he stripped his body, I could see the muscles lining fabric underneath his shirt. I had to clench my thighs, bite my lip, not to go crazy.

Because, the secret was?

I’ve been attracted to Ethan Landry since the day I met him. And I’ve been trying, trying so hard to convince myself that I wasn’t.

He tugged on his sleeves, and casually zipping his bag as he talked. “She told me that she wrote it. And the reason that I was ignoring you after all of it wasn’t because I was embarrassed that you wanted to sleep with me.”

He stood near me, now towering over my frail body. I can’t believe how much taller he got, and he closed space between us, until I was up against the wall.

My nerves were burning, and his eyes were dark, fire pooling in his dangerously beautiful irises. He leaned in, his husky voice in my ear. “It’s because I was upset that you didn’t want to.”

My mouth dropped. “You were ten, and you knew what sleeping with people was?” That wasn’t on my mind. The thought that he would want me too… it drove me insane. I rubbed my legs together harder, pressure in my core.

Ethan laughed, but in a way that almost sounded painful. He leaned back, grazing my body with his eyes. “Jesus, not then.” His face suddenly got serious, as he rested his eyes on my hips, my breasts, and then my lips again.

“Now.”

My eyes opened wider than I could have imagined, and I gasped, letting breath open my lungs.

“Y-you want to sleep with me now?” I straightened my back, my eyes drilled into his.

His expression glinted with dark lust, a smile forming on his face as he took in my shock.

“Yeah.” He whispered, grabbing my wrist and sliding my arm over my head.

“Is that a problem?”

[felonytaxevasion]

For the record here are my other Undersider drunken karaoke night picks I think about this situation a normal amount (lie)

Round 1 - No One Has Added Underage Drinking To Their Daily Crime Journal Yet

Lisa - Lisa starts everyone off with California Girls because she is, in her heart, A California Girl She's Undeniable Daisy Dukes Bikinis on Top. Lisa is probably the closest thing the Undersiders have to a good singer but she's totally hamming it up here to break the ice in hopes Taylor will participate

Aisha - Every single Rihanna album has gone platinum in Aisha Laborn's bedroom and she will take any opportunity to make this fact known. I think she would pick Only Girl In The World because Aisha really feels like Rihanna made that one just for her specifically. Not a singer with technical expertise but she brings the most passion and joy to her performances

Brian - As stated in an earlier post he picks Bruno Mars Beautiful Girls All Over The World, possibly Just The Way You Are. He did not pick them to serenade Taylor specifically but at one point he does make eye contact with Taylor during the chorus and it embarrasses them both. Aisha pretends to vomit.

Alec - picks the exact same song as Brian and does it worse in every way. Intentionally makes eye contact with each of the Undersiders making sure to really draw out Brian's turn

Taylor - Peer pressured enough to participate but not enough to choose a song she actually likes and listens to in fear of being judged. She performs Fireflies by Owl City with real fireflies and it's equal parts charming and horrifying. Lisa cheers too loudly and Alec hides behind Brian and Rachel from the bugs. Taylor vows to never perform at karaoke again

Rachel - refuses to participate

Round 2 - Everyone is Slightly Tipsy

Lisa - Lisa performs Girls Just Want To Have Fun and gets really into it. She only hits half of the high notes but she tries really hard to hit all of them. It's the closest thing to an impressive performance any of them achieve all night

Brian - cuts in front of Aisha to perform Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Performs all nine minutes even while Aisha boos him and also sings the guitar solos. Experiences joy and whimsy for the first time in months

Aisha - Don't Trust Me by 3OH3. While singing the line "I'm a vegetarian and I ain't fucking scared of him" she gets too excited and flings a bracelet off knocking a glass off a table and shattering it. This does not slow her performance for even a second

Alec - Friday by Rebecca Black. Very pleased with the negative reaction this inspires. Aisha tries to chase him off the stage and the latter half of the song is just them wrestling for the microphone

Taylor and Rachel decline to participate and instead sit in the corner and whisper gay things the whole round

Round 3 - Completely Lost In The Sauce Wasted

Lisa - Incredibly Solemn and Serious rendition of Video Games by Lana Del Rey. Alec dims the lights and everyone sans Rachel wave their cellphone flashlights for her

Alec - Alec has spent the entire night lying and telling Aisha he can sing all the words to Rap God by Eminem. He messes up the words in the first verse immediately. Laughs through the rest of the performance and accidentally makes up a new word that becomes he and Aisha's new terrible "inside joke" they insist on saying every five minutes for the next month

Brian - Low by Flo Rida. Does a whole dance routine to go along with it. Everyone except Aisha has a GREAT time

Aisha - Super Bass by Nicki Minaj. High off the excitement of his last performance Brian performs along and completely steals the show. This leads to the first bout of drunken crying (Aisha. Immediately followed by Brian) followed by drunken declarations of love and affirmation

Eventually the affirmations lead to Taylor agreeing to singing one more song so long as every Undersider individually promises her they won't make fun of her. She picks This Is War by Thirty Seconds to Mars because she is a terrible angsty teenager in 2011 and she sings it very badly. Everyone stills cheers for her though and it is a very good finale

On the way home they get Rachel to agree to do the barks if the rest of them sing Who Let The Dogs Out acapella. This footage is captured by street cams and the footage of the teenage warlords walking down the street barking is presented as a "twisted intimidation tactic" by the PRT for the next three years

[siren-ej-exe]

The Messy French Girl Aesthetic: It’s Origins and Impact

When you think of Parisian style, what comes to mind? 

Is it Parisian style staples such as trench coats, ballet flats or a little black dress? Or French fashion style icons such as Françoise Hardy, Bridget Bardot and Jane Birkin? 

Many people on Tik Tok have been infatuated with the fantasy of the “Messy French girl” with the idea behind it being to dress effortlessly chic, timeless and stylish, whilst being careless. Achieving the look involves investing in items such as tailored jeans, mini skirts (usually black or plaid), basic plain tops with small patterns, a little black dress, loafers, ballet flats, oversized blazers, dress shirts, preppy jumpers, black healed boots, black stilettos, loafers, Mary Jane’s, fur coats, black or white tights with either designer logos or delicate patterns and a leather blazer.  They also take inspiration from people like Lily Rose Depp being the main one, Carla Bruni and Camille Rowe. The colours associated with this style are mainly: Red, Black,White, Creme and Camel. The brands that are usually mentioned are: Dior, Chanel, Burberry, Ralph Lauren, Brandy Melville, Reformation and Realisation as they are seen as creating classic clothing items or footwear as well as Dior and Chanel being actually French which can be seen as more ‘authentic’. 

The “Messy French Girl” loves red lipstick, smudged eye makeup, almond acrylic nails, listening to Lana Del Ray, wearing pearl jewellery, smoking, drinking red wine and is mysterious, has a small group of friends, journals, loves to read, is always on the go, goes out to fancy dinners and can be a party girl but will arrive home early to avoid the hangover. Whilst also being academic/intelligent and down to earth. With the idea of living in a lavish apartment in Paris and living her best life. This new re-birth of “The French Girl” is another example of trends repeating themselves and again connecting with younger audiences, making the whole aesthetic very profitable for brands. This aesthetic has quite a few crossovers between the Rockstar Girlfriend aesthetic and the Coquette aesthetic as it’s a more grunge version of the normal and lighter French Girl aesthetic. However, with most aesthetics birthed by Tik Tok there is also an issue with being inclusive as the aesthetics are usually curated to rich, thin, white women. As it has idealises the “heroin chic” body type created by Kate Moss in the 90′s and 2000′s. 

But how realistic is the idea of how actual Parisians dress day to day? Luckily I was able to go to Paris myself earlier this year in April of this year and observe peoples actual everyday style and here are some of my observations: 

Parisians do seem to dress in mainly plain colours and quiet a few people do wear trench coats as well as tailored Jeans and basic tops. However, almost no one was wearing ballet flats and the majority were wearing tennis shoes ( I also saw a lot of Adidas Sambas on the men particularly.) Although eventually you will see pops of bright colour. So basically, they dress like everyone else who lives in a European city. 

I think that Parisians in general don’t dress necessarily for style purposes but mainly for practicality and comfort trying to walk around the city as European cities are usually made for walking due to the amount of public transport.However, it is important to remember the aesthetics are mainly fantasies and in a way is not meant to be realistic The romanticisation of Parisian style or Paris in general, mainly seems to come from Americans.

The origins of this romanticisation stem from the making of old Hollywood films such as An American in Paris and Midnight in Paris. This is because in 1923 when the International Research Kinema asked the Séeberger brothers to take photos of Paris that are representative to help Hollywood help reconstruct it on sets. They took fashion photos of the highest class on what we now call street style. Some people see them as the “Fathers of street style photography.” In an article by Cody Delistraty titled “Why Americans Romanticise Paris” he explains why Americans are infatuated with Paris because “Everything in Paris is close enough to the American equivalent where it’s still accessible, not too foreign – it can still act as a screen to our desires. But there are slight differences. There are of course the obvious differences: the Eiffel Tower is not the Empire State Building, the Seine is not the Hudson, but it’s the smaller things in quotidian life that throw the visiting American for a loop.” Showing that Americans find a clear familiarity in Paris, but it could also be an affect of their long history together.

France is known as the US’s oldest ally, helping them win the American Revolutionary War in 1775-1783 and American diplomats travelled to Paris and write of there experiences. In Mina Le’s video titled “American Girl unpacks the “French Girl” Style” she talks about the history between America and France and how that helped France’s tourism from 8:46-14:03, which I recommend as well as Dion the Taurus’s video titled “Style Analysis: The Messy French Girl - opulence,cigarettes + continued Francophila” which I found interesting and if you are interested in aesthetics and fashion history I recommend their channels. 

I think that “The French Girl” aesthetics will always be re birthed so long as it is profitable and are mainly catered to American audiences a good example of seeing how Paris and Parisian style is marketed towards American audiences is the show “Emily in Paris.” seems a lot of people don’t actually enjoy watching it because it’s good but because it is a good hate watch. Although it doesn’t necessarily link to the “Messy French Girl” aesthetic it does show a good example of trying  to sell the idea of Paris to Americans. Obviously, the aesthetic is only a fantasy and not realistic as many actual Parisians dress for comfort and practicality whilst being stylish if that is their goal. 

Let me know what you guys think about “The Messy French Girl” aesthetic!, if you are French what do you think of it?

Lots of love,

~Siren~ <3

[sweetsweetloverlover]

btwww i got my hashtag deezer year yesterday morning look <3 sorry its in french. the first two say i streamed 14475 minutes of music which makes 241 hours. and i listened to 1611 songs of which 1009 i discovered this year.

i never know if im a very regular person or if i listen to music wayyy less than the average person but. im pretty sure i dont listen to nearly as much music as most of my friends & mutuals (or even my brothers & dad). anyway heres the amount of time spent listening to each of my top artists in order -> arctic monkeys : 6 hrs / blur : 9 hrs / lana del rey : 12 hrs / radiohead : 16 hrs / alt-j : 19 hrs. once again my total hours of music listened to this year is 241 like. when i say i listen to the same 5-6 artists on repeat it is not a joke <3

and here's how many times i listened to each of my top songs in order too yeehaw -> tiny dancer : 17 / philadelphia : 19 / the chain : 20 / little green bag : 22 / honey : 24. nothing to say abt that since over the years ive seen many ppl talk about their wrapped (or well. deezer year) and how they listened to some song 147 times or smth so im feeling pretty normal abt this one

also they added this thing thats like. the country most of the songs you listened to come from and ive got 147 hours of music from the uk. out of 241 hours of music at all like 😭 yes u got me im not immune to britpop britrock britpunk #sorrywomen

[tybaltsjuliet]

nicky’s archetype playlists, 08/11: the damsel.

and there's a perfect kiss somewhere out in the dark, but a kiss ain't enough.

(listen.)

i. the only time i feel all right is by your side. all i ever wanted was a life in your shape (so i follow the white lines, follow the white lines, keep my eyes on the road, and i ache.)

somebody to love (queen) // i've just seen a face (jim sturgess; from across the universe) // when my boy walks down the street (the magnetic fields) // strawberry blond (mitski) // about a girl (the academy is...) // be my baby (the dollyrots) // stupid cupid (connie francis) // grand theft autumn/where is your boy (fall out boy) // all day and all of the night (the kinks)

ii. that james dean daydream look in your eyes. yeah, i got busted (so i used my one phone call to dedicate a song to you on the radio).

townie (mitski) // boys boys boys (lady gaga) // the dum dum ditty (the shangri-las) // you are the light (by which i travel into this and that) (jens lenkman) // style (taylor swift) // burning love (elvis presley) // crimson and clover (joan jett and the blackhearts) // leader of the pack (twisted sister) // a shark in jets clothing (blondie) // i think we're alone now (tiffany) // there is a light that never goes out (the smiths)

iii. when i say i love you, you say, "you better." in or out, there's never a doubt just who's pulling the strings. (i'm all tied up in you, but where's it leading me to?)

the book of love (the monotones) // don't you (forget me about me) (billy idol) // love my way (the psychedelic furs) // puppet on a string (sandie shaw) // the tide is high (blondie) // when i come around (green day) // you better you bet (the who) // my sharona (the knack) // heart-shaped glasses (when the heart guides the hand) (marilyn manson)

iv. lovefool. you said you'll never be forgiven till your boys are, too.

dance, dance (fall out boy) // lovefool (the cardigans) // heart of glass (blondie) // off to the races (lana del rey) // sweet sixteen (billy idol) // colors (halsey) // total eclipse of the heart (bonnie tyler) // speechless (lady gaga) // as the world falls down (david bowie) // heaven's gate (fall out boy) // love song ( lana del rey)

v. there's things i want to say to you, but i'll just let you live. our love was worth a real long try, and i was just trying to be worthy of your love. (but i want to see blood.)

killer (phoebe bridgers) // exit music for a film (radiohead) // every breath you take (the police) // drive (halsey) // cinnamon girl (lana del rey) // loveletting (sons of an illustrious father) // early sunsets over monroeville (my chemical romance) // you're my world (cilla black)

vi. did you ever love her, do you know, or did you never want to be alone? so can we be friends, sweetly before the mystery ends? (i love you more than the world can contain in its lonely and ramshackle head.)

something (himesh patel) // young and beautiful (lana del rey) // love of my life (queen) // jesus was a cross maker (judee sill) // girl in the war (josh ritter) // step (vampire weekend) // jet pack blues (fall out boy) // heartbreak beat (the psychedelic furs) // love love love (the mountain goats) // john my beloved (sufjan stevens)

vii. there's a place for us - you know, the movie song. i can't do everything, but i'd do anything for you. (i can't do anything except be in love with you.)

how to disappear (lana del rey) // the blower's daughter (damien rice) // i'll never be lonely again (ludo) // kissing you (des'ree) // lovesong (the cure) // sweet sir galahad (joan baez) // willow (taylor swift) // i'll be your girl (the decemberists) // friday i'm in love (the cure) // i melt with you (modern english) // bella notte (ruby summer)

+ bonus: in my life, we'll always go on (and on, and on, and on)! my heart will go on - in the style of jackie wilson (mykal kilgore + postmodern jukebox)

[lilietsblog]

so whenever Russian characters crop up in American/English-speaking media theres a very noticable thing where writers v often dont understand patronymics and full names.

Now, there’s two gradations of “full name” that are in use here. There is the “FIO” full name, or SGP perhaps (surname, given name, patronymic), and there is the full given name.

As an example, let’s take Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich.

Ivanov is the surname. You can tell bc of hte -ov suffix at the end. (Not the only one possible but a pretty decent indication something is a surname when it is there)

Ivan is the given name. You can tell bc Russian has a set (an expansive one) of given names and this is one of them, one of the most historically popular at that.

Ivanovich is the patronymic, it can be translated as “son of Ivan”. You can tell bc of the “ovich” suffix. There is also “evich” and for at least one name just “ich”. Colloquially they will also get shortened into just “ych” making the variation “Ivanych”. (”Y” is the letter used for transliteration of a sound that doesn’t exist in English but is considered fairly close to “i’)

To be clear, “Ivanov Ivan Ivanych” is the exact same person as “Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich”, this is hte exact same name, the only thing that changes is how formal the speaker is being about it.

Female suffixes are “evna” and “ovna”. Anna Petrovna, Anna Fadeevna. There is also “ichna” for at least one name and an antiquated “ishna” which is the colloquial alternative in some cases. Anna Fadeevna = Anna Fadeishna. This IS antiquated tho.

Coming back to our Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich, this is the “FIO” form of his name, the way it will be put on formal documents that require one’s full name. The “Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov” form is also acceptable, its just not the order you write on documents in. The patronymic (Ivanovich) always comes after the full given name (Ivan), the surname can be stuck on either side of that.

The traditional respectful address to someone you know is the full given name + patronymic. Ivan Ivanovich! Could you come over here? It’s used with plural/formal “you”. This form is also becoming obsolete in recent years but if you’re writing mid-20th-century or characters of middle age+ Ivan Ivanovich is the name to go.

(Note the difference from the address + surname form in English: Dr. Smith or Mr Smith etc. In Russian this form does not exist except several centuries back or in very very impersonal century back “citizen Ivanov” that like a policeman would use to address you. Not anyone you actually know personally. Schoolchildren will often not know their teachers’ surnames because they are all Ivan Ivanovich to them.)

Now I keep saying “Ivan” is the FULL given name. The short given name from “Ivan” is “Vanya”. This is a set linguistic fact - the set of given names in Russian is factually two linked sets, a set of full given names and a set of short given names. Some short given names can  be short from several full given names, some full given names can have several short names (a person will usually pick one to use). A short given name doesn’t go anywhere on formal documents. It just follows from your full given name naturally, like conjugation. Some full given names (Gleb, Oleg, Diana, Vera) are short enough to be used as short given names too and so don’t realy have assigned short counterparts. In fact Vera can be both a full name on its own - Ivanova Vera Ivanovna - and short for Veronica - Ivanova Veronica Ivanovna.

Short names are formed through a variety of rules. There are basic requirements for the form they take as a result though. Full given names can have “complicated” consonant pairs together: Dmitriy, Aleksandr, Pavla, Anna. Short names are “simple” will almost always go consonant-vowel. Dmitriy -> Dima, Aleksandr -> Sasha, Alik or Shura (don’t ask how that last one happened, it’s a miracle of absurdity, but it’s one of the traditional shortenings), Pavla -> Pasha (well, Pavla is a rare name, you hear Pasha and you usually assume Pavel, the male name), Anna -> Anya. (”y” is not a consonant here, “ya” is a vowel sound English doesnt really have)

(As an exception to the consonant-vowel rule, when there’s a consonant pair the second of which is “l” it’s usually kept together in the short name - it’s just very simple to the Russian ear / tongue. Vladislav - Vlad or Slava, for example)

Often a name will be formed fully from the syllables / consonants of the full name, give or take changing the last vowel to the gender neutral “a”/”ya” (It will either be “a”/”ya” or a consonant). Vladimir -> Vlad, Ruslana -> Lana, Tatiana -> Tanya, Anna -> Anya, Katerina -> Katya, Dmitriy -> Dima or Mitya, Ivan -> Vanya. And then there’s the “sha” suffix tacked on as the second syllable: Pavel -> Pasha, Natalia -> Natasha or Tasha, Daria -> Dasha, Aleksandr -> Sasha, etc.

So long as they conform to these rules, you can kind of make them up. Though considering the whole of history, you’re not super likely to make up something that hasn’t been made up before you. Anna historically speaking turns into Anya, Nyura, Nyusha... -shudders-

So how are short names actually used?

As an implication of familiarity/subordination, that’s how. For the weebs in the audience, you know the ‘-chan’ suffix in Japanese? Kind of exactly like that. Japanese has more nuances, but generally if you wouldn’t call someone -chan, you shouldn’t call them by their short name. (Unless they specifically asked you to, but I think that’s a thing in Japanese too)

Short names are never paired with patronymics. The steps of formality in address are basically “Ivan Ivanovich” => “Ivan” => “Vanya”.

(There’s also formal you, so to be completely clear: “Ivan Ivanovich” (formal you) => “Ivan” (formal you) => “Vanya” (formal you) => “Vanya” (informal you). If someone is getting called their full given name + informal you, it’s either implying antiquity - pre 20th century - or they’re using their full given name as their short given name.)

You call your children and siblings by short names. You call your friends by short names. You MIGHT call your employees, especially if they are sufficiently young, or if you’ve known them for a long time and the “familiarity” part applies, by short names.

SHORT NAMES ARE NOT FORMAL. This is important. Nobody has “Natasha” written in their passport (unless I guess they were making new documents in America or something from scratch and didn’t use any old ones as basis of establishing idenity so could make up whatever. It’s still weird! It’s like having “Johnny-boy” written in your passport!)

SHORT NAMES ARE OFTEN GENDERED BUT YOU CANNOT TELL HOW WITHOUT KNOWING THE CORRESPONDING FULL NAME. “Pasha” and “Misha” are both male names becaus they are short from “Pavel” and “Mikhail”. Of course you could have a Pavla or a Mikhaila, but the former is very rare and the latter is probably a foreign Mykaila Russianified or something. In these cases it’s usually considered normal to assume gender, even if there’s a tiny chance you could be wrong.

PATRONYMICS ARE NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES INTERCHANGEABLE WITH SURNAMES. You have the same surname as your family members, but if you have the same patronymic, either you’re siblings or there are multiple people with the same given name in your immediate family, which is slightly odd. A patronymic is formed from your father’s name by unambiguous and definite rules. Foreign names can be turned into patronymics easily. (Though kids of foreign citizens can get whatever their parents want on their birth certificate - patronymic by the rules of one of the parents’ home country, no patronymic at all, whatever) Surnames are surnames and work the same way they work anywhere else.

PATRONYMICS AND SURNAMES ARE NOT CONNECTED IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER. Any surname goes with any patronymic same as it goes with any given name. Except for the obvoius “statistically likely to be from the same culture” part. (Your “Russian” character could have Georgian, Ukrainian, Armenian, Lithuanian, Bielorussian, Kazakh, Tatar descent, descent from any number of indigenous cultures on the territory of Russia that I personally never heard about until I started translating documents in high amounts and stumbling upon them. Russia is an empire!) But even that’s just statistics - you could have a Tsukino Farha Bogdanovna and I’d just go “that’s a fascinating family history right there”.

GOOGLE RUSSIAN GIVEN NAMES, DON’T MAKE THEM UP. And pay attention if something is marked as “diminutive” - that means it’s a short name, and it will not be used on formal documents or in conjunction with a patronymic. Go for the name it’s diminutive for and just have the character ask everyone to use their short name if you want - it’s trendy these days.

There’s all kinds of fuckery going on with name use on the margins - some old people will call their close friends the “patronymic + informal you” construction. (Actually it’s a “Russian babushka” stereotype that actually exists within the culture. And if anyone ever uses the “short name + patronymic” form irl it’s this category of people, though I’d imagine only in third person) Some bosses or even teachers will invite their students to call them by their short name (I am so deeply uncomfortable with this). Age is often the difference between a Vanya and an Ivan Ivanovich in the same situation.

All patronymics and a good share of surnames conjugate by gender! “Ivanov” and “Ivanova” are the exact same surname, but a guy will have the former writen in their documents and a gal would have the latter. If you legally change your gender that letter changes too. (No, there’s no gender neutral form. Some surnames, like those ending in -enko, just don’t do this, but those that do are at all times one or the other) I guess expatriates a couple of generations down could have whatever going on, but if you have an actually-born-in-Russia “Ivanova Ivan Ivanovna” that means “Ivan” is a girl with a male name for some fucking reason. Name gendering is just tradition, patronymic gendering is grammar. (And if you have an “Ivanova Ivan Ivanovich” that’s just someone making a typo) (Maybe our hypothetical Ivanova Ivan Ivanovna transitioned and liked her birth name so much, she decided to not even go for Ivanna or something else plausible, Ivan or bust. Officials would probably just shrug and go with it lmao)

Oh, and in less formal lists and situations, surname + short given name is a classical combination. When I call my grandboss, surname + short given name is how I introduce myself, because I’m much younger and much subordinate so short name it is, but she’s under no obligation to identify me from my given name so surname it is. (To people who I expect to remember my name but who weren’t expecting me to call, just surname is good, but to people who can connect my surname with my identity but probably don’t remember my given name immediately & exactly from that, giving also the form of given name they address me by is the reasonable person thing to do)

If I were introducing myself in the “Hi! I’m Tsukino Usagi!” anime intro format, I’d go for “Short given name + surname”. Short name is usually the one people think of as their personal identity as it’s whatt their close circle will have been calling them for their entire life, and ACTUALLY it’s normal for the surname to come after the given name. In a book citation of “famous doctor X did Y” they will probably be “famous doctor fullgivenname-patronymic-surname”. For a Russian speaker, switching between Japanese name order and English name order is not a difficulty, but we WILL be distressed by not being able to tell which is which and therefore which it is on sight )=

MARVEL COMICS WALL OF SHAME

- Natasha Alianovna Romanova. First, “Romanov” is not a common surname, it’s the surname of the royal family, it’s like a random English guy being called “Tudor”. Well, it’s plausible, it IS formed by the classic “common given name + -ov” rule, but Roman isn’t even that common a name (and not exactly Russian), and... well. It’s just weird. I don’t think there’s good chances for it to have come into existence as such historically WHEN IT WAS THE RULING FAMILY SURNAME. Second! Natasha is a short name! She should be Natalia/Natalya! Third... I mean I will not say Alian is not an existing male name, and I won’t even say it’s not used in any cultures that exist within Russia, but if they were aiming for “common Russian male name” they missed 180 degrees.

- Ilyana Rasputin. First, -in is a suffix that makes this surname adjective-ish, meaning it conjugates by gender, meaning she is RASPUTINA. Her brother is Rasputin. She is Rasputina. Second, again, I have heard of exactly one (1) guy with this surname, and it’s the same guy you’re thinking of right now. It is in no way, shape or form common, or reasonable to give to a character without making it a plot point. Third, Ilyana is not a Russian name that exists. Ilya is a male name, but there’s no female form. FOURTH, I distinctly remember reading a comic where she was calling her brothers “Piotr” and “Mikhail”. That’s their full names! I mean bonus points for actually finding the full names this time, but it’s extremely weird for their LITTLE SIBLING to use them! They should be Petya and Misha as far as her own speech is concerned!

P.S. “All Night Laundry” is a fantastic webcomic, but “Grandimir” is not a real name, “Grand” is not a Russian word root and will not be used in a name this way, you’re looking for “Velimir” or somethng (though that’s, like, a thousand years antiquated). Also while both the uncle and the nephew having the “Petrovich” patronymic is not that odd, Petr is not THAT rare a name and maybe their brother/father was Petr Petrovich... considering we never learn their surname, I seriously suspect the writer just confused a patronymic with a surname. Also, naming their dog the same name crosses the line into slightly weird. Who names a dog after their father? This is actually what prompted this...

[mosneakers]

Tag Game

I normally prefer to join sim related tag games (because I couldn't imagine anyone thinking anything about my life is interesting haha) but since I don't have a lot to post today, I figured I'd jump in! Thanks for tagging me @skywardoasis 💗

Nickname: Momo 🍑

Zodiac: LEO BAbEEE 🦁

Height: 5'6"

Last movie I saw: uhhh what's it called... Don't Breathe 2. muah very good, loved it 💋

Last thing I googled: "sims 4 career outfit cheat"

Favorite Musician(s): ohh boy, they're mostly bands, but Young the Giant, Bombay Bicycle Club, the Shins/Broken Bells, Muse, Gorillaz, and sometimes Lana Del Rey and Taylor Swift depending on my mood 😊🌼

Song stuck in my head: Some song on Kanye's new album (not really a fan but still catchy)

Other blogs: none

Blogs following: Earlier this year I cut a bunch of blogs from the list I follow, because the amount of posts I saw that were not sim related or didn't have tags were overwhelming, and it got to the point where I couldn't keep up with my favorite stories because all these reblogs and stuff were bogging them down. So after the cleanse I now follow 233!

Amount of sleep: inconsistent 😞

Lucky Number: ✨7✨

What am I wearing: black dress with pink flowers 🥰 (florals will never go out of style for me bb)

Dream Job: Honestly what I'm doing now is my dream job, full time stay at home mom and creating sims stories. Now where do I sign up to get paid for it? 🤔

Dream Trip: Literally anywhere you want to send me? Love adventure, lack the simoleons 😑

Oceanside or mountainside? 🗻🌲

Describe yourself as (an) aesthetic thing(s): Soft

Random fact: Here's three:

I've never smoked anything ever. I recently did a breathing test and x-ray of my chest, and according to the pulmonary doctor, I have "beautiful lungs". This is what I picture my x-ray looked like:

(shameless plug) If you're want custom poses every month, you can join my patreon tier "Pose Me Like One of Your French Sims" for $5 a month. Technically it's supposed to be a voting system, but I have so few followers right now that I'll just make the poses you request! Alternatively, you can sign up for $1 tier "Rated "S" for Spicy" to see the spicier posts tumblr can't handle 🔥

I'm always wishing for a storm 🥺🌧️

Tagging: @queeniecook @zosa95 @keri666 @whyhellosims @treason-and-plot @pixel-bloom @ice-creamforbreakfast @natolesims @ashubii @oatberrytea @echoweaver @wannabecatwriter @ladykendalsims @melunn @bbdoll @cantseemtohide

apologies if you've already been tagged which I'm sure you have, you cuties, you 🥰

[ofmccnlight]

𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐍𝐎𝐗.    /     six   characters  or   alternatively   titled   :   my   ode   to   asian   women   and   also   this   white   guy   .

𝐂𝐇𝐎  𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆   (   @chhochang   )

lana , i believe i have already told you that i think jessica henwick is an incredibly sexy choice but i will reiterate : jessica henwick is an incredibly sexy choice . i swear i love cho a normal amount , i swear . the easy friendships she has with people and this down - to - earth air that makes her seem so incredibly easy to talk to ( and , therefore , reply to ! ) . underlying all of that , though , is this quiet strength that is never talked about in canon even though it is incredibly apparent in who she is ! the fact that you made her a professional quidditch player ! sheʻs just threaded with competitiveness and resolve and kindness that i canʻt help but love everything i see of her . a fucking fantastic take on cho chang . absolutely stunning , lana , my DARLING .

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈  𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐋   (  @dolors   )

i am obsessed . i am obsessed . from the moment you said you were picking them up , i just knew i was gonna be ass over kettle for this . i think that what you do really well is that you change your canon characters , kind of significantly , from how we see in canon and make these changes so grounded in grief and moving on from the war that all of it makes complete sense . of course parvati would leave . all of your character choices are very deliberate and they feel so authentic that i canʻt help but adore every single one you make . what a beautiful take on this character . what a beautiful way to give a voice to a character whose only traits in the books is being half of a very pretty matched set . this is ajayʻs favorite cousin in the whole world and they are my favorite shittalkers in the whole world . 

𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐀   𝐕𝐀𝐑𝐈   𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐌𝐀   (   @mxterfxciendo   )

lizzo vc I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE . TURN IT UP ! i think the kcu has been due for a new addition for a bit and what a fantastic addition pandora is . highkey completely blindsided by pandora when you replied to my eulalia starter before i even realized you were here but it was such a fun reply ! antonʻs ex - wife was such a fun wanted connection and i love what you chose to do with it . i love that you chose to make her a singer and a public figure . i love her personality . the energy youʻve already created in your writing with pandora is so cool to read : her adoration of her child , the incredibly tense conversation with anton , the FUNKY LITTLE DYNAMIC WE GOT GOING ON WITH EULALIA . so many sides to this character that we already got to see so quickly that i cannot wait to see what else you have in store for her ( and also rhea , of course ! )

𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐔𝐑   𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑  -  𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐘  (   @delefleur   )

jenna <333333 all of your characters are so neat and interesting but i will forever have a little soft spot for fleur . what we see of fleur in canon is so little of what she could be and you really do latch on to all the best parts of her and bring it to life . this girl whose inheritance is beauty and a lifetime of being underestimated . the knowledge that her mother warned her of it and the advice she gave fleur . your intro for her is so spot - on and a very cool take on the character . and sheʻs a healer ! strong women ! strong women , particularly , in a field that is often seen as more nurturing than anything ! she consistently got shit on in canon and i love love LOVE that we can all look at this version of her instead . i hope j*r chokes on it !

𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐘   𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐍   (   @witchbiitches   )

i have made one of these fucking edits for every single pansy we’ve gotten in this goddamn rp since i’ve been here and you know what ? this is it . this is the last one i will make because this one is my favorite . WHOO BUDDY ! i adore this pansy . i adore the backstory youʻve given her . i adore paloma and her mother and their father . pansy is so witty and charming and biting all at once and i cannot tell you how much her and blaiseʻs friendship mean to me . the idea of two children trained to be guarded being very deliberate in their vulnerabilities and choosing to let their guard down for one another ?? knocks me on my ass every time . she is a STUNNING character and i love each and every one of your characters , rachel , but pansy <33 PANSY <33333

𝐄𝐙𝐄𝐊𝐈𝐄𝐋   𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐊𝐄   (   @hoggleswart   )

listen . i think this man is so neat . what a funny little weirdo with weirdo friends . this white man can hold so much exhaustion . ziggy , i think i really enjoy your character voice . iʻm constantly blown away by your seamus dialogue and the way you write all of your characters . ezekiel is particularly interesting to me because i do love a character who remains on the fence of things . working both sides not for sneaky reasons but for self - preservation reasons is my favorite thing to see and i love this idea of ezekiel doing what needs to be done but still remaining very loyal to a particular group of people . iʻve been waiting for someone to take up the wanted connections youʻve taken up from the main and i think youʻve done an excellent job so far with them . i think your characters are so neat <3

[thecreedsgambit]

Sam Dalton, CEO

author's note: i’m not entirely sure what it is that draws me to sam, but i actually enjoy the nanny affair. despite my uppity claims that i would turn my nose up at the plot (which i, in fact, do) and that i would deny choices the satisfaction of spending endless amounts of diamonds on smutty, indecent scenes with a completely fictional man (which i, in fact, do not do), i cannot ignore my attraction toward sam dalton. it has little to do with his personality and intent. quite frankly, i blame it on the soundtrack. there’s a particular track that’s smooth - almost sexily playful - like a steamy but timid caress that throws a casual smirk at potential and possibility. i’ve grown fond of it, and, of course, it’s the very track that plays when sam freshly enters any scene. so, yes, i completely blame the soundtrack. it’s possible i’ve somehow drawn a loose connection between it and sam. whatever it is, i will continue to read tna and roll my eyes at choices seemingly unobstructed ability to rope me into whatever they present me with (much like sam dalton, i suppose).

"for you, i'll risk it all." - unknown

00. At a Glance.

affiliate: the nanny affair

pairing: m!sam x reader

word count: 1972 (fairly short, i know. but this was poking my imagination after today's chapter. i couldn't deny myself the freedom of writing it down.)

summary: you and sam continue to make eye contact during the regatta, despite your pr plan to lie low and ‘meet-cute,’ if that’s what an outsider might refer to it as.

You had long since forgotten the races. In fact, your eyes weren’t trained on the glistening yachts before you. Instead, your gaze latched onto the picturesque waterfront. The sun’s rays bore into the blue depths beyond where you sat, casting a faint reflection that rippled with every rise and fall of the tide. Slowly, methodically, as if your eyes might blink shut at any moment, you let your gaze lazily trace the waves as they lapped against the dock and collapsed against one another, like a playful fight between two warring siblings.

As if on cue, Mason and Mickey billowed past you with a giggling Jovi in their wake. Jordan scrambled after them, sending you an apologetic smile over his shoulder, before calling - rather, begging - for them to slow down. A short chuckle escaped your lips as you returned your sights to the race before you. Your head tilted, just slightly, as the sun cradled your cheek and warmed your skin with the softest touch.

It was nice. A brief moment to rest from the pressure to look and be impressive. For once, being impressed made a rush of tension leave your already heavy shoulders. The majestic waters and stunning views were enough to draw awe and calm the seemingly desperate need to feel warranted and respected.

Your dignity, poise, and grace sloped, only slightly, as you let your shoulders drop and your hands take refuge on your wrist as you fiddled with one of your bracelets.

For just a moment, you were you. And that was enough.

“No, please. Go on, Will.” Marisol’s voice nearly wrenched you from your stupor. You straightened and resumed your position as a subtle reflection of your new peers you’d almost forgotten sat on your right. Marisol gave you an amused smirk, as if hinting for you to join her harmless teasing. “Perhaps your ramblings about the history of yachting might help me place a few bets.”

Marisol took a small sip of her wine, hiding a whimsical smile behind the tip of her glass. Will only huffed and reluctantly turned his attention back to the race. You bit your lip in an attempt to conceal the grin threatening to lace your earnest expression. You feigned a swat on Marisol’s arm before speaking.

“Oh, Will. Marisol’s only joking. I would love to hear the rest.”

With a quick turn back toward the table, Will grinned triumphantly, clearly elated. “I knew it. At least someone appreciates my genius.”

“I’m sure,” Marisol mumbled, taking another quick sip of her drink to avoid bursting into a fit of laughter.

You dared to throw a sly smirk in her direction before giving in and facing Will directly. He’d already dove into several backstories regarding yachting, each going unfinished as he hurried into the next with enough excitement for the three of you combined. A genuine smile graced your lips as you, momentarily, reveled in his enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, much like your attention on the race, your attentiveness was short-lived. As was your politeness.

For a moment, your gaze slipped once more toward the luminescent waters. You had every intention of returning to the conversation at hand and concentrating on whatever quips Marisol was currently, and once again, uttering toward Will, but your eyes regarded the crowd, instead. Briefly, ever so quickly, you made eye contact with him - with Sam.

He had long since fixed his own sights on you. Normally, your heart would flutter and your stomach would lurch at the slightest glance. Reflexively, you’d wander toward him like a moth drawn to a fiery flame, waiting to be engulfed by his very presence. Even under these circumstances, you wanted to. You wanted to make your way toward him and let your fingers get lost in his hair; public images be damned.

But everything you worked toward thus far hung over your head and your shoulders - a load almost too burdensome to carry.

Your eyes widened with alarm, quickly flitting toward Will and Marisol. Not here.

Sam stood in a semicircle with three other men, who seemed to be lost in a conversation Sam took no interest in. His arms rested at his sides, and his fingers swirled a small glass of whiskey, as he continued his ruthless - almost challenging - stare. It didn’t take long for your demeanor to falter and a restless smile dared to break your masked facade. You tried desperately not to squirm under the intensity of his gaze, so you looked away, forcing yourself to come to terms with the ever-enchanting thrills of yacht history.

Except that topic was long gone, and Marisol was waving her hand at a dismayed Will. “You say that every year. Placing a higher bet on Estate Sail hardly makes things any more interesting.”

“What would you propose, then?”

You couldn’t help but to lose focus almost as quickly as you'd gained it; your entire form now rigid under Sam’s steely gaze. Sparing a quick glance in his direction, you noticed he’d done little to disguise his observation of you. Slowly, painfully so, he brought his whiskey glass to his lips and took a slow drink. His eyes never once left yours.

It was intoxicating. Entirely too heavy. Your chest nearly felt hollow as your heart dropped to the pit of your stomach and heat rushed to your cheeks.

Your own stare fell to his chest, sweeping over his broad frame as you consumed every aspect of his person. The purple button-down he wore was quickly becoming your favorite as your eyes traced his taunt muscles under the fabric. His exposed chest seemed to catch the sprawling daylight as the sun chased his neckline and washed over his tan skin with every regard to the glow of his complexion.

Daringly, your eyes fell lower until you cautiously eyed his brown belt. You wondered just how quickly your fingers could trail over each and every loop and how any such movement might elicit a delicious sound from Sam’s lips. You even ventured to imagine one of his hands working the belt off in one, swift motion -

Your eyes snapped back to his. He arched one eyebrow, subtly, as a knowing smirk crossed his seemingly neutral expression. You wavered, feeling absolutely powerless under his scrutiny. Biting your lip, you pointedly angled away from him and desperately made every attempt to heed Will’s words.

Oh just how timely that was.

“I don’t know about that. I’m sure Steffi will take an interest eventually. What about you, (y/n)?” Will’s easy smile made you relax despite how quickly your startled heart raced. You struggled to remember the last thing you heard as Will shrugged. “I know I can be a bit long-winded, but I hope you’re enjoying the races.”

“Yes, you fit right in with us now.” Marisol gave you a genuine smile of her own. “Despite what some people may think, aren’t you glad you decided to join us today?”

You maintained a steady smile as you pushed pesky thoughts of Lana out of your head. “I am. Where else will I hear the harrowing history of yachting or place a wager on anything other than Estate Sail?”

“Hey,” Will warned good-naturedly, laughing despite himself.

Marisol noticed Jovi running after a makeshift sail the twins had tied to a string and shook her head with a warm smile. She and Will turned back to discussing their children and Sterling Academy as you chanced another glimpse of the crowd. Sam still stood firmly in his spot. The men surrounding him were pointing at the yachts in the distance and making idle conversation as Sam’s attention remained on you and only you.

He offered his counterparts around him a brief nod and a clink of his glass, but it was passive. Half-hearted. His eyes bore into you with enough passion to ignite the already kindling fire within your being. You were desperate. Completely at his mercy.

And utterly annoyed by how quickly you’d succumbed to his will. You wanted to prove your ability to do the same - toying with the inevitable long enough to make him flush with desire and writhe under all that you could offer.

You could do it from here; same as him.

Suddenly, shamelessly, your previously obstructed air bent to your change in attitude as you shifted to address his gaze. You arched an eyebrow as you matched his seemingly indifferent composure. You could tell he found your sudden roused behavior amusing, but his jaw quickly feathered as your eyes now held a challenge of your own: Two can play at this game, and I usually win.

Your sudden burst in confidence swelled your chest with enough boldness to dart out your tongue, wetting your bottom lip before pulling it between your teeth.

Some part of you wanted to make the conscious effort to tune into Will and Marisol’s conversation, but their distant chattering proved what you already knew. They weren’t paying either of you any attention.

Sam’s stare grew more intense; his eyes squinting ever so slightly as he watched your every move. With a coy smirk, you moved to pick up your wine glass at a leisurely pace that you were sure would seem like a lifetime to him. Even as the tip of the glass connected with your lips, you were sure to exaggerate every motion. One quick sip left a few drops of wine chasing the curve of your mouth. Using your finger, you wiped away the remnants and brought them to your lips. Your tongue flicked against your fingertip, closing your lips around it entirely, lapping up what was left of the wine.

All the while maintaining eye contact.

Finally, with a barely concealed chuckle, Sam dropped his gaze and shook his head. Every rapid rise of his chest and tense of his shoulders proved he was thoroughly distracted. Satisfied, you turned back to Will and Marisol. Both were watching the next race with an almost unexpected eagerness.

“I told you Estate Sail would win again,” Will stated happily.

Marisol only smiled. “The race isn’t over yet.”

Feeling superior still, you wanted nothing more than to continue your game with Sam, but, when you glanced back at his previous spot, he was nowhere to be seen. You couldn’t help but to frown until Will’s eyes caught on someone behind you and called out:

“Ah, Sam. Care to join us?”

“Actually, yes.” You tried to quiet your usual disposition, avoiding any instinct to turn and gratefully accept his presence with unadulterated mirth. It wasn’t a hard thing to do. In fact, you had to shake yourself from your frozen, shocked posture long enough to glance over your shoulder. Sam stood close enough behind your seat that you could nearly feel the heat emanating from his being, rivaling even the sun’s warmth. “Do you mind -?”

You shook your head, not fully trusting your own voice but not fully committed to throwing away the careful and meticulous planning for your public appearance together either. You waved, feigning carelessness, toward the empty seat across from you. “No, not at all.”

Before he sat, Sam made it a point to glance at Marisol and Will before settling on you. “Does anyone need a refill on drinks? Perhaps another round before the next race?”

The two of you shared a soft, lingering look - one filled with knowing desire and bridled actions. You weren’t sure how you were able to retrain your urge to surge forward and grab him by his shirt collar or loop your fingers through his belt loop, or, even, how you had the strength to manage the rest of the Regatta with a practiced smile. But, then, a minute smile spread across Sam’s features.

Another coy smirk traced your lips as you shook your head. “I’m fine, thank you. Everything I need is right here.”

[horrorshow]

thanks for the tag @amill22 💕

nickname: suzy zodiac: scorpio height: 6'0"/183cm last movie I saw: i watched half of The Green Knight last week, but i still have to finish it last thing I googled: "kripke sam dean fight” which was a mistake cause it gave me every single bad take from the past 3 months but not the very specific interview quote from the early spn years i was looking for  favourite musician: if we go by all-time favorites i’d say Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, The Chameleons, The Sound, Slowdive, Breathless, New Order, Hole, Joy Division, My Bloody Valentine, Magazine.... rip to me for inheriting my dad’s music taste so most days im transported to the early 80s post-punk scene. song stuck in my head: love song by lana del rey (which has absolutely nothing to do with j[gunshot]) other blogs: there’s my other main @feestje and sideblog @jaimelannister which are my most active ones, so i consider myself having 3 blogs, butttttt *counts* i also have 18 (:/) sideblogs for personal use, mainly for reference/specific aesthetics, and there’s still a handful of dead fandom blogs im a member of.  blogs following: i follow 178 people on this account and 542 on my other one amount of sleep: aiming for 8 hours, but my sleep schedule is absolutely fucked rn so im happy if i get 6. lucky number: 11 what am I wearing: shorts, black tanktop dream job: i have a degree in film, tv and popular culture and a master in textual communication, so i thought my dream job was to be a writer/editor for a music/film website, but then i realized i have no ambition, hate competition and socializing, dont wanna work as a freelancer, and would ideally be at home alone immersing myself in art, books, music and film for the rest of my life without making it a job or having to think about work in my free time. i somehow ended up in a law job and it suits me fine.   languages: dutch, english and enough german and french to understand it play an instrument: i can play the first few chords of Come as You Are by Nirvana on guitar but that’s about it  favourite song: favorite song for doing WHAT? dancing? sleeping? i cant do this besties random fact: i left spnblr in 2014 and i truly TRULY thought ‘lets catch up on 6 years of spn so i can watch the finale live and be done with it’ and it wasnt until april this year that i caved and made this blog cause i kept hoping i would wake up normal (but i didnt and im glad im here<33)

tagging @breedablejohnwinchester cause i wanted to feel the rush of typing that, @rollthatbeautifuldeanfootage, @luminescent-chorus, @decadent-prince and @7minutesofsamdean if you want and haven’t done it yet<3

[tigerhart]

OFFICIAL ACE ATTORNEY LGBT STATUS

phoenix wright - bisexual trans man, chose the name phoenix for himself in like 3rd grade, you cannot change my mind about this

miles edgeworth - gay unfortunately cis dude that i am willing to gracefully bestow the label of demisexual upon. can also be trans if the mood calls for it but tbh we know von karma would not let a trans kid in his house

maya fey - lesbian. definitely nb. spent a significant amount of time worrying about her powers when she realized she wasn't a woman and is hyper-sensitive about it whenever she has difficulties

mia fey - bisexual trans woman you know it to be true. yes phoenix had a t4t respect-based crush on her for like a year before it began feeling weird yes she clocked phoenix at the doug swallow trial and thats one of the biggest reasons she took him under her wing

dick gumshoe - disaster bisexual, probably cis but we can respect him just as much as the normal characters

franziska von karma - lesbian. one of those (extremely valid) lesbians whose gender is lesbian. if she was ever asked the question "are you a man or a woman?" she would say she's a prosecutor. my evidence is that she is completely fine with gumshoe calling her sir, and also that she is a lesbian

kay faraday - bisexual transfem/nb. definitely either ironically or unironically identifies as crowgender (this is something i respect especially because she is 17 and well she is just very special to me)

lana skye - they LITERALLY told us that mia was """academically""" interested in her in college wtf of COURSE she's a lesbian

ema skye - u might be shocked to hear this from me but she's an ace lesbian. probably nb too but never actually explores it because it does not cross her mind she's got bigger things to worry about who cares about gender when you have luminol testing fluid

larry butz - token cishet. get him tf out of here. one of the first people to accept phoenix as trans and also uncomfortably transphobic sometimes it gets awkward

will powers - bear

adrian andrews - trans lesbian. you literally cannot tell me she wasn't in love with celeste that's fucking bullshit

diego armando/godot - bisexual. just fucking look at him

[shawoluvs]

Another tag from the lovely @mykindofkpop​, thank you~~~

Name: Holly~

Pronouns: She/Her

Star sign: Taurus

Height: I’m not entirely sure, I’ve not measured my height or weight in literally years but last time I checked I was about 5′2/5′3 and I doubt I’ve grown much since then~

Time: 10:28

Birthday: 12th May

Nationality: British

Fave bands/groups: SHINee, Red Velvet, WJSN, LOONA, ONF, Golden Child, DKB, ASTRO, EXO, NCT etc. etc. and non-kpop wise it tends to vary but atm I’m listening a lot to Hurts, The Score, Les Friction, Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift (it’s such a weird mixed bag ejhrgbjere my music taste is all over the place)

Fave solo artist: Taemin, Jonghyun, Key, Onew (basically all of SHINee but poor Minho hasn’t got much solo stuff), Sunmi, Taeyeon, Eyedi

Song stuck in your head: Lana Del Rey - Without You (I’m doing writing stuff a lot lately and listening to dramatic, tragic songs ends up consuming all of my time)

Last movie you watched: I think the last movie I watched was Cast Away

Last show you binged: The last full show I binged was The Irregulars but I’m also watching lots of Gilmore Girls and anime atm~

When you created your blog: I have no idea! It’s hard to say exactly because I created this one after I lost access to my first blog and I can’t fully remember when that was?

Last thing you googled: Whether dandelions close at night (they do and when it rains!)

Other blogs: I have a fandom/literature/overall main blog at @lonesplendour and I have an anime blog at @kimitokara so if you ever see those random blogs in your notifications it’s me~

Why I chose my url: I’ve been through a lot of urls honestly, I finally decided I just wanted one that would stand the test of time (sort of ejhbhger) so I combined my two main kpop fandoms and here we are~

How many people are you following: 264 which is really not so many, I occasionally have like purges of inactive blogs/blogs where I’ve fallen out of those fandoms but atm I’m pretty happy with the amount I follow and the content on my dash~

How many followers do you have: On this blog I very recently hit 400 followers! It’s not something I check often but I do like a nice round number >.<

Average hours of sleep: Around 8 when I’m working, 9 when I’m off work~

Lucky numbers: I don’t think they’re lucky but I like even numbers, I like 5 & 7, and I like numbers with the same digits (33, 55, 66 etc.) y’know like a normal person...

Instrument: I canny play any, I would love to honestly, I recently had like a weird epiphany that if my sister and I started a duo band we could have some really clever pun names and I once had a keyboard but we got rid of it when we had no space for it... long story short I can’t play any instruments but in my head I totally can play the piano and the violin~

What I'm currently wearing: PJs~

Dream job: I’d love to be an author, I think if I could have published works, even if I made no money off it and worked anything else for the majority of the time, I’d be pretty thrilled with that~

Dream trip: I’d love to do like a European tour and an Asian tour! For me I’m not like a beach person so when I travel I want to see like museums and temples and arcitechture and stuff like that!

Fave food: I’m a full on carnivore but I also devour carbs and cheese like it’s no one’s business~

Fave song: Right now I’m really into Gold Rush by Taylor Swift, idk what exactly it is about it but it’s just in my head a lot and idk I think it’s the switch up from the opening/ending to the rest of the song, it just appeals to me and not to be emotional here on this random ask game but “what must it be like to grow up that beautiful?” really hit me right in the self confidence pfftt

Top 3 fictional universes you'd like to live in: Oooooh this is a good question! And a really difficult one. I will totally steal one from Athena and say Middle Earth would be awesome, specifically I would love to be an elf and probably live in Rivendell! I also wouldn’t mind living in the Naruto universe like the Leaf Village is very pretty and I could be down with that~ Finally... the Fairy Tail universe! It’s probably joint with Naruto honestly because both worlds are beautiful but very different, I think I’d probably rather live in Fiore because as much as I love Naruto I really don’t think I’d ever make a good ninja, I’d have to just be like a village person where I would 100% dedicate my life to learning magic in Fiore!

Please take part if you wish: @userseokkie, @lilbubtaemin, @babyange1face, @ohmuqueen, @kibumf, @eternallys, @blingblinging, @anyhao, @ncityzen, @shineesbag, @taemirene, @babyseulgii, @confundo-on-cormac

(also I know I totally tagged half you guys in the last one but this one has a lot of the same questions so ejbgrjherge I just thought if one or the other has more appealing questions you could do whichever appeals more if you wanted to do either??? 😭😭 it makes sense in my head)

[greyias]

Kiss 11 :D

From the Kiss Prompt List: 11. “I almost lost you” kiss. Thank you for the prompt! Also, oops, looking back at the list this was supposed to be 100-200 words... my bad.

Set at the very end of KotFE Chapter 12, “Visions in the Dark”.

Theron Shan was a workaholic. It was something he freely admitted to himself, took pride in if he were being honest. If he put the time in, then things got done. It was as simple as that. At least, that’s what he liked to say when someone would make a snide comment. And it was mostly true. 

Mostly.

Sometimes though, it was just easier to get lost in the work. Focus his mind on one thing so he didn’t have to think about anything else. If he could lock down and focus his thoughts, then he could block out all manner of things. Usually distractions or pain or petty annoyances. Today though, it was the fact that the Alliance’s commander was not on this mission like she should have been.

So he kept himself focused on the present. Kept his eyes glued to the stream of data, blueprints, and layout of the Spire. Lives were on the line, so if kept his mind on that, he could tune out the bickering between the Alliance’s local Zakuulans and Kaliyo. He could tune out the exhaustion dragging at him from lack of sleep. And maybe, if only temporarily, he could not think about the fact that his girlfriend was missing. If he could fill his mind with everything else but that fact, then he’d be able to manage.

(It was not working. He would just have to try harder.)

Logically, he knew that the woman he lo—that he was intimate with was probably the most capable person in the entire galaxy. She didn’t need him to run out and rescue her when she found trouble. She was the one who did the rescuing—well at least she was when she wasn’t frozen in carbonite that was slowly poisoning her over five years. And the chances of that being the cause for her disappearance were absolutely infinitesimal. SCORPIO had provided the precise fraction when Koth had made the stupid joke as an attempt to distract from Theron wearing a trench into the War Room. He didn’t particularly appreciate the sarcastic math lesson nor the poor attempt at humor, but he’d also been more intent on trying to keep his rising panic at bay.

None of them could begin to understand the absolute, paralyzing terror that had gripped him the moment her voice had cut across his comm only to immediately fizzle out. How that fear had started at the base of his spine when the search parties had left looking for her, and how it slowly worked its way up the longer they came up empty. As the possibility that she might not come back out of those woods began to settle in closer to reality, that fear began to squeeze around Theron’s chest like a vice, stealing the breath from his lungs and bleeding the color out of his vision.

So no. No one in the War Room really understood, not even Lana as she threatened to tie Theron to a chair to stop the endless pacing and muttering. He had already gone through this before. For five agonizing years, he’d lived in that world without her, and hated every moment of it. He never wanted to do that again.

But Commander or no, time marched on, and the mission had to go on without her. So here he was, doing his damned best to concentrate on that. Even if life didn’t make sense, the work could. It was logical, and had an order to it. The numbers and the code he was slicing into would always fall into the right place. The structure of the digital world was comforting in that way. He always knew what to expect from it. So if he focused every available ounce of his attention on that, then there wasn’t any room for the other things. And if he couldn’t think about the other things, he didn’t have to deal with the emotions or consequences that came with them.

At least, that was the theory he was running on, which seemed to be working so well. That is until her voice cut through the room like a knife. The commanding note in her order for the bickering to stop seemed to make all of time stop.

Or maybe that was just for him, because everyone else seemed to be moving at normal speed, while his brain seemed to be processing things as if he were caught in an underwater current, each thought registering slow and sluggish. She was back. She was alive. She was okay. It wasn’t happening again. Those facts kept repeating themselves like a litany as she strode up towards the command console, and it was like he was still holding his breath and waiting, the pressure building in his chest as she took complete command of the situation like she had never even been gone.

But she had. It was evident in the stiff way she walked, as if she was nursing bruises and sores from some great battle. A stray twig was nested in her hair, there were scratches on her face, and dirt smeared on her skin and armor. She looked like she’d walked through hell to find her way back to him—them. Them. 

He should have said something, anything, but the question of what happened was the first thing on Lana’s lips. It should’ve been his, but he couldn’t seem to get them to move. Nor get enough air in his lungs to form those words. The fact that somehow Satele had been part of this adventure in the woods should have gotten some reaction out of him (especially if that quick sidelong glance Lana shot him was anything to go by), and the fact that the ghost of Darth Marr was apparently now his mother’s best friend or something deserved a comment. But no, that wasn’t coming either. A wave of he-didn’t-even-know washed over him, and all of this was just a sensory overload. 

Grey flashed him a look, like there was something more she wanted to say on the subject, but it was like something was lodged in his throat that made it too difficult to speak. Once again, it was Lana who cut through the tension with a joke, filling in for a silence he couldn’t break. He wanted to, but there was a lump lodged in his throat, and it made it hard enough to swallow, much less talk. Okay, so maybe words were useless. He was never good at them anyway.

It was just as well, because the mission was still going on—or rather, going awry, preventing any words of substance being said. As the wails of the Spire’s alarms filled the comm, Havoc lost contact while Kaliyo went rogue. He watched the flickering holos of the Spire, washed in red as the sirens seemed to echo in his skull.

For her part, Grey let out a long, ragged breath, resting her balled fists on the console. At first glance, she was poised as always, looking as if she was settling in to wait the whole night for news from Havoc and Kaliyo. But that was just on a superficial level, a closer look revealed something different. The fact that she wasn’t leaning on the console out of comfort or concern, but likely necessity. 

“Commander,” it was Lana again, filling in the silence that Theron still couldn’t break, “if your ordeal was as taxing as you implied, perhaps some rest would be in order.”

The Jedi raised her gaze up to meet Lana’s, a familiar stubbornness setting in. “I should have been on that mission—the least I can do is wait to make sure they all make it out.”

“I’m sure they would appreciate you taking a few moments to pick the twigs out of your hair.” It was a gentle tease. “We will let you know the moment we hear anything.”

The stubbornness seemed to waver, before finally breaking and Grey gave a tired nod, and squared her shoulders before marching off toward her quarters, head held high. She almost managed to hide her stiff posture and limp behind the dramatic swish of her cape. Theron watched her go as he’d been frozen in place, like a statue waiting to be woken up.

It was a sharp elbow jabbing into his side that seemed to break the spell, and Lana fixed him with an exasperated expression. He blinked at her dumbly, and with a roll of her eyes, she indicated the direction that the Jedi had just departed. Theron glanced back at his station that had more or less been his new home since this whole nightmare had started, as if he was asking for its permission to leave his post.

“Oh for,” Lana muttered, “just go. I can watch an empty console for a few minutes so you can get your head together.”

Yeah, okay. That was probably fair. After a few moments of hesitation, he finally managed to get his traitorous feet moving, lurching off in the direction of the commander’s quarters. Normally he would have waited a few minutes before making an excuse to leave, and take the long way around to the Commander’s Quarters. Not that he was hiding things exactly, just more trying to keep the whispering to a minimum. Although even that amount of subterfuge was fairly pointless now. It was the worst kept secret on the base anyway.

Grey was standing in the center of her quarters, looking a little lost and out of sorts when he strode through the doors. She looked up at him in concern, the practiced mask sliding back into place. “Oh, Theron! Have we already heard—?”

The question was silenced as he captured her lips in his, his fingers tangling through her damp and dirty hair. She let out a small noise of surprise, but then relaxed, her hands sliding up and around his neck as if she had suddenly found purchase on a slippery slope. And as her tongue tangled against his, that pressure in his chest eased. He still didn’t have any words when they finally broke apart, but maybe he didn’t need them. All he needed was a few moments to run his hands across her cheeks, secure in the warmth of her return.

[newmusickarl]

Album & EP Recommendations

As there is a HUGE amount to cover this week, I’m trying something a bit different with some slightly snappier reviews and a genre inclusion so you can head straight for the recommendation that matches your musical preference. There’s at least one album from all the key genres this week too, so hopefully a little something for everyone. Without any further ado then, here’s what’s good:

Album of the Week: Comfort To Me by Amyl & The Sniffers (Punk/Rock)

My personal preference from this week is the rip-roaring sophomore album from Australia’s own Amyl & The Sniffers. Although I was already vaguely familiar with the band’s previous work, I was still not prepared for the full throttle, smashmouth, rifftastic contents of this utterly brilliant record. As a result, this one hit me like a lightning bolt, thanks to the furious energy of frontwoman Amy Taylor and the mind-melting guitar work throughout.

From the off, absolutely nothing is held back here, as Taylor’s punk vocals and razor-sharp lyrics hit you in the ear like haymakers. What’s most surprising though is how the shredding guitar riffs that are littered across this record manage to sound so astonishing and impressive, yet at the same time as if the band are not even trying at all. It’s completely hypnotising yet everything is made to sound so easy and natural thanks to the sheer rawness of the music.

This one also already plays out like a greatest hits record too, with Guided By Angels, Security, Hertz, Maggot and Capital five of the best pure punk rock tracks to emerge in the last five years. Concise, in-your-face and no moment spared, this is a rock record the kind of which rarely gets made anymore. Without a doubt, one of the best of the year for its genre.

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Hey What by Low (Experimental/Alternative)

They may be 13 albums and nearly 30 years into their career at this point, but American experimental rockers Low show no sign of slowing down at this point. Still relatively fresh off the back of their hugely acclaimed album Double Negative, which was widely seen as the Album of the Year in 2018, Low are back yet again with another sonic trip into the weird and wonderful.

Now I must admit although a lot of people adored Double Negative, I personally was always a bit indifferent towards it. I appreciated the sonic textures and the heartfelt moments, but it never completely resonated with me like I know it did for others – one that fell into the “easy to admire, hard to love” category. That is not the case with this new album however, as with Hey What they seem to have further refined what they started on that record, creating an album that’s just as impressive but possibly more accessible than its predecessor.

Opener White Horses picks up pretty much where they left off under a tidal wave of soaring vocals and stunning yet unsettling distortion. From there you’ll once again be checking your audio equipment hasn’t broken, as Low playfully mess around with musical conventions and gargantuan glitchy soundscapes to great effect. This also allows the slightly sparser tracks like All Night, Don’t Walk Away and particularly Days Like These, to emerge out of this masterfully produced cacophony as some of the most haunting and stirring moments.

They may not have won me over with the last one, but they certainly have now – an outstanding album that leaves a lasting impression.

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Star-crossed by Kacey Musgraves (Country/Pop)

Golden Hour was another hit with the critics in 2018 that, much like the Low album, didn’t quite capture me. But again, just like Low, I prefer this latest work from country-turned-pop singer, Kacey Musgraves. With Star-crossed, Musgraves aims to craft her own Shakespearean tragedy, with all the theatre and the drama that goes with it.

The title track opener perfectly sets the stage as the gentle plucking of the acoustic guitar is suddenly surrounded by soaring, multi-layered instrumentation. It is all hugely cinematic and from there on in, Musgraves weaves her tale of heartbreak with plenty of catchy hooks, polished production and solid, heartfelt songwriting. However, the best moments are arguably when Musgraves keeps it raw, such as on camera roll where she takes something as simple as finding old photos of a lost lover on a phone and relaying back to the listener the pain that moment can bring.

In a year that’s already seen some brilliant pop albums, Musgraves stakes her claim with a well-crafted record built on a tried and tested concept. It’s a successful outing with more than enough great tunes and interesting instrumentation (see the jazz flute on there is a light in particular) to keep you interested from beginning to end.

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Enjoy The View by We Were Promised Jetpacks (Alternative)

Scottish indie rockers We Were Promised Jetpacks also released their stunning fifth album this week. This one pulls at the heartstrings from the get-go as the gentle waltz of reflective opener that’s Not Me Anymore immediately locks you into the record and refuses to loosen its grip until the very last note. There’s plenty of spine-tingling moments throughout too, such as the melancholic riffs of All That Glittered, the haunting sparseness of What I Know Now and the uplifting melody of I Wish You Well.

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Back In Love City by The Vaccines (Indie)

A band well adept at writing killer hooks at this point, indie rockers The Vaccines have also returned with their fun fifth album this week. Not too much to say about this one other than if you are a fan of their previous efforts the chances are you’ll adore this one too, as their music continues to deliver big riffs and anthemic choruses aplenty, but with more refinement and polished craftmanship at this veteran stage in their career. Highlights include the ultra-catchy title-track and the galloping, Western-stylings of Paranormal Romance, which comes across a bit like their own version of Muse’s Knights of Cydonia.

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Mother by Cleo Sol (R&B/Soul)

Fresh off her high-profile collaborations with Little Simz and Sault, singer-songwriter Cleo Sol has once again stepped out on her own, this time exploring themes of motherhood. Gracious, compassionate and quite moving, it’s a stirring soul record where Cleo’s soft yet powerful vocals take centre stage against a backdrop of minimal instrumentation. If you need something peaceful and easy listening, you won’t go wrong with this one as Don’t Let Me Fall, Promises and We Need You offer up the most beautiful moments here.

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The Melodic Blue by Baby Keem (Hip Hop/Rap)

There is a lot of pressure that comes with being Kendrick Lamar’s cousin, however you wouldn’t know it listening to Baby Keem’s assured debut album. Although it is admittedly quite hit and miss (first two tracks trademark usa and pink panties ironically leave a lot to be desired), there are enough high points here to make this record worth your time. The collaborations with Kendrick (range brothers and family ties) both strike a chord while the Don Toliver (cocoa) and Travis Scott (durag activity) featuring tracks also dazzle. That said Keem is arguably at his best when he’s riding solo, such as on the heartfelt issues and the Kanye West Love Lockdown sampling, scars.

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I’ve Been Trying To Tell You by Saint Etienne (Ambient/Electronic)

Crafted over lockdown, this tenth studio album from the London trio is a gloriously understated dive into modern British history, 1997-2001 to be precise. By using evocative imagery and samples from the turn of the millennium, where R&B and bubblegum pop dominated the musical landscape, they have forged quite a dreamy ambient record. Wonderfully creative and a fairly chill listen, it’s a fascinating reflection on a time when the world seemed a lot less complex than it does today.

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The Blacklist by Metallica (Metal/Various)

And lastly on the albums front this week, I have been promoting the various Metallica covers released as part of the The Blacklist project for several weeks now, but now finally the full album has been revealed along with all the covers yet to be shared as individual releases.

At 53 songs long, the tribute to Metallica’s classic Black Album is certainly not one to run through in a single sitting, however there is plenty of fun covers here to dip into and explore. In case you haven’t seen, amongst those offering their own versions of these classic tracks are: Miley Cyrus & Elton John, Phoebe Bridgers, Dermot Kennedy, Weezer, Biffy Clyro, St. Vincent, Rina Sawayama, Sam Fender, Flatbush Zombies, Portugal The Man, IDLES, Cherry Glazerr and many, many more.

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Tracks of the Week

Beautiful James by Placebo

I’m also over the moon to say Placebo finally released their new single this week, their first since 2016’s Jesus’ Son. Beautiful James shows that Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal haven’t missed a step in their five-year hiatus, with this one centred on a typically instant chorus and some neon-soaked synths. A big welcome back to one of my all-time favourites!

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I Don’t Live Here Anymore by The War On Drugs

Although the first single from their forthcoming new album may have been more understated than normal, on this title track Adam Granduciel & Co. return to the soaring stadium-sized rock for which they are known. Undoubtedly one of their finest tracks to date, you’ll want to stick this one on repeat just so you can keep getting lost in those wonderfully atmospheric guitar riffs.

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Arcadia by Lana Del Rey

And finally, Lana continues the build towards her second album of 2021, Blue Banisters, with this latest single seeing her on typically vintage form as the song sounds as if it was pulled from another time. With distant horns and a gentle piano, it’s as stunning as any of her best recent work.

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