#totovolff-main

[trueishcolours]

Compilation of canon descriptions of Yassen

@totovolff-main, you got me. It’s the weekend in lockdown and I love thinking about Yassen, so here’s your list. I don’t claim that it’s exhaustive, but here we go.

Stormbreaker

‘[The photograph] showed a man in a white tee-shirt and jeans. He was in his late twenties with blond, close-cropped hair, a smooth face, the body of a dancer... “What does he do?” Alex asked, though looking at the cold face with its blank, hooded eyes, he could almost guess.’

‘The tower opened and a man climbed out, stretching himself in the cold morning air. Even without the half-moon, Alex would have recognised the sleek, dancer’s body and the close-cropped hair...he was dressed in grey overalls. He was smiling.’

‘He darted forward along the jetty, moving like a cat...’

‘A lean, fair-haired figure dressed in black...walked languidly towards a door...’

‘His clear blue eyes gave nothing away...there was no trace of an accent in his voice. He spoke softly, reasonably.’

Eagle Strike

‘The other man was slim, fair-haired and twitching with nervous energy...he was just nineteen years old.’

‘A man stood at the very front [of the yacht], staring straight ahead, his face blank.’

‘Yassen saw [Franco] and clmbed down, moving like spilt oil. He was wearing blue jeans and a white shirt open at the neck. Other men might have had to struggle to keep their balance walking down the swaying gangplank, but he didn’t even hesitate. There was something inhuman about him. With his close-cropped hair, his hard blue eyes and pale, expressionless face, he was obviously no holidaymaker.’

‘Alex could see that Yassen was very much in charge...there was still an extraordinary coldness about him that seemed to neutralize even the Mediterranean sun.’

‘He was speaking English with only a very slight trace of a Russian accent.’

‘[Alex] could see every detail of his face: the chiselled lips, the almost feminine eyelashes.’

‘Alex tried to look away, to avoid the calm blue eyes that were watching him with something like pity.’

‘He saw Yassen whip aside as fast as a snake...’

‘The empty blue eyes gave nothing away...’

‘Yassen half-smiled to himself...Then he was serious again.’

‘He alone was still, not joining in the applause.’

‘Wearing jeans and a polo neck, he was sitting on the piano stool, his legs crossed.’

‘Yassen was watching [Alex] and he looked worried.’

‘Although Yassen looked as if he was in his late twenties, he was in fact thirty five.’

‘Yassen hadn’t spoken yet. Alex got the feeling that the Russian was uncomfortable being here.’

‘He was covered in blood now and there was a strange quality to his eyes as the blue slowly drained out. Yassen’s skin was even paler than usual and, as his head tilted back, Alex noticed...that he had a long scar on his neck. It was dead straight, as if it had been drawn with a ruler.’

‘The ghost of a smile flickered across Yassen’s face. But it was filled with sadness.’

Snakehead

‘ “I remember thinking that I’d never seen anyone so relaxed.” ’

Russian Roulette

‘Nobody noticed him. It was actually a skill...the art of not being seen. Even the clothes he wore - expensive jeans, a grey cashmere jersey and a loose coat - had been chosen because it made no statement at all.’

‘He was in his thirties but looked younger. He had fair hair, cut short, and ice-cold eyes with just the faintest trace of blue. He was not large or well built but there was a sort of sleekness about him. He moved like an athlete - perhaps a sprinter... - but there was a sense of danger about him...’

‘Yassen kept himself in superb condition, spending two hours in the gym every day...’

‘He spoke English with no trace of a Russian accent.’

‘I can see myself, stick-thin with long, fair hair and blue eyes that always look a little startled. Everyone tells me that I am small for my age...’

‘ “You are incredibly good-looking...” ’

So what I’m getting from this is

a) presence of Russian accent and blueness of eyes fluctuate

b) he’s so beautiful that Alex notices it constantly

c) cat? snek? oil? IDK

Fancast this man, sock drawer!

[4mulaone]

you're the most valid Vettel fan mutual and the brit I trust the most ✌️😳✌️

snif.....snoff..............id like to thank the boys back at the factory this title is for them.......*shakes ur little mercedes/canadian hand*

[komkommertijd]

5, 12, 49 💖

Thank you so so much, I always get so excited when I get asks from you :”)💛

5. Books or authors that influenced your style the most.

This one is a tough one to answer, mostly because my writing style in English is probably different than my German one and it’s hard to see the connection between books I read in German and the stories I publish in English. 

I like to think that German poets like Goethe and Schiller influenced the way I work out my character dynamics - my character constellations for fics look similar to the ones we have to create in class to see the connections between certain characters, and I think especially when I was writing One Million Words figuring out the relationships between all the characters was a pretty difficult thing to do. It kind of proved to me that even when the writing I do isn’t the best, the dynamics I create between the appearing characters can make up for it in some ways. It’s also why I try to write complex characters, I guess. Even though I didn’t understand half of the story when reading Schiller’s “Intrigue and Love”, the characters stuck with me and that’s kind of a skill in itself.

Other than that, I’ve been reading a lot of coming of age books in English over the past years. My greatest inspiration there comes from Ned Vizzini’s “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky. In the case of the first book, I’m always impressed by the last chapter and the way it holds so much meaning in seemingly little words. But also the way emotions are described and the process of things that seem small but can add a lot to the story is pretty inspiring to me.

In the case of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, it’s the way actions are described and how they work and compliment the plot, even if they’re seemingly unnecessary. Another thing I really enjoy about that book are the descriptions the main character gives - things that I try to put into my own works and dialogues. The description of how one character perceives the world can add a lot of relatability to the story, in my opinion, and it’s great to see the worlds through their eyes. I think it influences the way I (try to) write the introspective of characters and the way I write about their feelings. I tried hard with that one in the victories and the lows.

But it’s not only those authors and poets who influence me - it’s a lot of fanfiction writers as well, in many different ways. Especially writers like @verstappened @3303andmore and @captainfuu - and you as well, actually - never fail to motivate and inspire me. It’s the best kind of influence when I read their stories and think to myself that I want to write like them one day. 

12. How do you deal with self-doubts?

My first thought was to say that I don’t, which isn’t entirely true. Obviously, I use writing as an outlet for many things, and especially self-doubt is going to play a role in the fic that I’m currently working on. There are a lot of inner conflicts that I force my characters to go through, although it’s probably becoming a bit bland because I always talk about the same topics. Other than that, I go through old comments on my fanfictions actually, there’s no place on earth where I can find more love, honestly, or I go through my Tumblr asks - there are tons of supportive people there as well. I am very lucky to have a very encouraging mother though, which is something I’m extremely grateful for, and many people who enjoy the art I create, the way I think, and talk about certain topics. I try to think of that whenever I doubt myself - there are always people out there who will enjoy having me around and who enjoy reading my stories and listening to my thoughts on some things. Of course, I can never fully get rid of that feeling of doubt, but I’m trying not to let negativity drag me down. Accepting myself is a long process and there will always be ups and downs. I just roll with it. 

When I doubt myself in terms of writing though, I either delete some of my work on AO3 once in a while, which is a horrible coping mechanism, or I, once again, read the comments and nice words of encouragement on my fics, and I remember the mentions when people recommend my weird shenanigans - that helps to deal with it better. 

It’s probably not any good advice-wise, but then again I haven’t even graduated high school, I don’t know shit.

49. What do you find the hardest to write in a story, the beginning, the middle or the end?

This honestly depends on the story. There are some, where I have the entire outline in mind, some, where I have a great idea for the last sentence but no clue how to get there, and some, like Baby I’ll Rule, where anything between the first and last chapter just happened somehow. It’s difficult, but I’m doing a lot of plotting lately to make the entire writing process easier for myself. Oftentimes I have certain scenes or conversations in mind, conflicts that I want to build throughout a story that aren’t necessarily the main ones, and I just write them down and keep them for later. I have yet to master the art of not writing fics linearly, which is something I can’t get away from.

So, the middle part is probably the hardest one for me to write, not only because it requires the most time, world building and character development, but also because I don’t want to mess it up and it’s usually the least poetic part of my stories.

Thank you again for the questions, I hope I didn’t overwhelm you with the lengthy answers.

send me some asks about writing :)

[alexanderalbons]

I vibe with Alex as a mango because that's such a basic asian diaspora identity fruit to the point where it is no longer ironic... give us mango diaspora poetry, king

exactly! something something soft and sweet with a strong hard core

[bottaslicious]

🌻🌻🌻

You get three facts!!! wonderful, unrelated facts that enrichen thy laif

The most difficult Swedish dialect isn’t in Sweden. It’s spoken in Närpes, a tiny municipality in Ostrobothnia, Finland, and no one can fucking understand them. They have greenhouses there and probably grow most of Finland’s tomatoes. I love their tomatoes.

There’s a woman with a brain injury that causes her to be unable to experience fear. Because of this her sense of self-preservation is severely lacking and she has had a life strife with violence and other unpleasant shit, but she’s not particularly shaken by any of that? Also i think someone tried to rob at knifepoint her once and she just stared them until they backed of - they were so freaked out by her lack of reaction. She does, however, become very distraught when faced with the possibility of strangulation/suffocation. Other than that, nothing can shake her.

I’m very into Finnish true crime and this is like, beginner level fact but i just fucking love it??? it’s so bizarre???? anyway there are several unsolved murders from like, a 20 year period that aren’t really that similar but just enough to make a reach. Bodom Lake murders is the one of the most famous cases in Finnish crime history. A very popular suspect is Hans Assmann, a German ex-soldier (a genuine Nazi who started as a guard in Auschwitz but also fell in love with a Jewish prisoner there??? this man had a very strange and macabre life) who is also maybe a KGB spy and all around shady dude. Note that I said he’s a popular suspect - there are plenty of more probable ones. Assmann himself has never admitted to anything really, except on his deathbed he alluded to some cases veeeeeery vaguely and he could be lying. Somehow he’s become this go-to suspect and if you want you can link him to every unsolved murder from that time frame. He did the Bodom Lake murders. He murk’d Kyllikki Saari. Tulilahti? Hans Assmann. Fucking everything is Hans Assmann’s doing. But there’s like, only circumstantial evidence AT BEST. Never convicted of anything. His name is Assmann though and that’s hilarious.

[hakkinens-moved]

i was tagged by @totovolff and @jensons thank u so much!! 

name/nickname: erin/nico

gender: female but honestly, really do be feeling not female as of late

star sign: LIBRA!!!!!!!!!!!

height: 5ft 2

time: 21:21

birthday: 18th october

favourite bands/groups: kakkmaddafakka, kraftwerk, oingo boingo, frankie goes to hollywood, the wombats

favourite solo artists: elton john

song stuck in your head: murphy’s law by roisin murphy

last movie: senna (2010) and it was the extended version

last tv show: the serpent (2021)

when did I create this blog: 2014 

what do I post: as of late, f1 lmao but i was originally a football blog

last thing I googled: chilli prawn recipes 

other blogs: my “main” which is robertkarow

do I get asks: not often, but yes!

why I chose this url: mika...hakkinen....sexy king

following: 191

followers: 1323

average hours of sleep: like....9 

lucky number: 7

instrument: i never learned to play one :(

what am I wearing: looneytunes nightdress

dream job: director or screenwriter 

dream trip: fiji or reykjavik 

favourite food: salmon

nationality: scottish

favourite song: thats too hard uhhhh ill just give you one of my favourites and ill say dead of night by orville peck

last book read: im still reading it but its kimi’s autobiography

top three fictional worlds: uhh i have no idea. winden from dark!

i am incapable of tagging 30 blogs but if u want to do this...go ahead! <3

[oscarsalpinecontract]

Rules: tag 8 people you’d like to get to know better <3

tagged by @totovolff (i think u tagged my main), @f1topayrespects and @eight-hearts

NAME/ALIAS: allie, alison, pip

BIRTHDAY: born in ‘95 just like nicky 😎 also a July bby

ZODIAC SIGN: cancer 😎

HOBBIES: watching sport, doin sport, cooking and baking new stuff, sewing sometimes, altering clothes (I say the craft stuff is a hobby but i literally hate every single second and only finish projects out of pure spite), and tbh gym bc whenever I leave I feel STRONG like I can fuckn do ANYTHING

FAVOURITE COLOURS: deep forest green, dusty pink, muted maroon

FAVOURITE BOOKS: i cannot answer this

LAST SONG I LISTENED TO: twice by catfish n the bottlemen

LAST FILM I WATCHED: tenet? in cinemas. i hated it but loved r pat

LOVE: driving at night, sweet coffee, avo on toast, ramen, and talking w my lil sister bc she’s the funniest person i know

SOMETHING THAT HELPS PEOPLE: open LOTS of bank accounts (with the same bank tho) and stream your income into different categories. like important savings, haircuts, clothes, holidays, eating out, I just want it for no reason… etc. it really helps with spending guilt and planning to save. if ur too strict with yourself you’ll end up falling off the wagon, and that’s worse than having a smaller goal but sticking with it + being able to indulge when you want to

MEANING BEHIND URL: look, we pretend daniel is thic but he’s not. he’s a lean bean but 🍑 is up there isn't it

I'm tagging @slyther-intowords, @mushroomlance @captainfuu 🥰 and anyone else i forgot! if u see this and want to do it pls tag me

[trueishcolours]

Do you know if anyone has a compilation of canon descriptions of Yassen?

Not that I know of. Let’s post this and see if anybody can help you out.

Now I’m very tempted to compile one myself...

Let’s see how much I can do from memory...

In Stormbreaker he has ‘the body of a dancer’ and ‘moves languidly.’

In Eagle Strike he ‘moves like spilled oil.’ He has ‘chiselled lips and almost feminine eyelashes,’ and his ‘clear blue eyes’ watch Alex ‘with something like pity.’

(This is all Alex’s POV BTW. Alex is not straight).

By Russian Roulette, Horowitz has backed down to ‘grey eyes with the faintest trace of blue’ like a COWARD.

That’s all I got. God I love him.

[wonderlanq]

as the year is coming to an end, i thought i would acknowledge the people who definitely made my 2019 worth it.

i went through a couple of very shitty days this year and being able to come onto a platform where i could forget everything and truly be myself (and talk about what i liked without people thinking i was weird or an absolute idiot) was definitely a highlight.

before i list all of you who definitely made a difference and had an impact on these last few months, i’d like to say that i’m incredibly grateful (and #blessed) to be a part of a group chat that not only is composed of incredible souls but also composed of people who i now consider friends. friends who listen to me when i need to vent about university or hype me up when i need the motivation. friends whose main concern is trucker!dan and how scared we become when *bryce’s typing* appears on the screen. thank you, cum cums for being fucking amazing!

now, to the list (there’s few because i don’t follow that many people, but you’re all the best):

A - G

@albonalexander // @aliciiaspinnet // @babysdrivers // @carla-roson // @charleseclair // @dearsenna // @f1topayrespects // @festivefewtrell // @grosjeans

H – N

@heccyb // @ilovejevsjeans // @italianoaussiepapi // @kimiricciardos // @landoavocado // @leclercified // @lol-ur-not-fannis // @lovejn29 // @maxdevrijns // @maxverstappen​ // @n-orris // @nyck-devries

O - Z

@papitoandrecito // @perantonis // @riccflair-dripp // @ricciardhoes // @ricciardosf1 // @russell-63 // @sebxvettel // @sharkleclerc // @stressfc // @tororuhroh // @totovolff // @track-walk // @viviansternwood​ // @vroombabies // @zaddiardo​

again, thank you so much. i wish you all a merry christmas and a happy new year. i also really hope you all kick ass in 2020!

[mattstrahm]

#7 for the editor asks?

Answered right here✨🖤

[4mulaone]

weed has also been legal in canada for a while and you know nich is a toronto kid and every time downtown there all I can SMELL is weed like the toronto default smell IS jazz lettuce so I think. he definitely has. all his buddies are also toronto kids 😔🤘 and he would do it out of love and solidarity for the 6ix you know how it is

jenna i love how every chance u get ur like i will sprinkle in the fact nicholas latifi is my torontian representation. as a treat. 

[komkommertijd]

"It's Kind of a Funny Story" is such a good book! I read it years ago and haven't thought about it for ages; thanks for reminding me of it

This book felt very special to me when I was reading it, and since I read it in Toronto, which was some kind of mental health supporting trip itself, I just connect a lot of memories and emotions with it. It felt important for me to read it and I’m glad that I did, it taught me some things and made me think, which is ultimately one of the best things a book can do, in my opinion. It is such a special story and it talks about issues that feel relatable and worth talking about, it’s a book I’ll probably never stop recommending to people. I'm glad that I could remind you of it :)

[bottaslicious]

re: the earlier colonialism ask, I've actually been dying for ages to ask about the common perception of how Finland has dealt with indigenous people. in Canada the colonisation/abuse is very straightforward to me because obviously indig. groups were here first before white settlers but? I don't really understand how it works in Europe where like..everyone has always been there? I've done personal research on the topic but I still don't grasp the dynamic (that is if u are okay to discuss it)

Colonialism in Finland is very complex and also usually publicly brushed under the carpet and never referred to as what it is, even if addressed.

I’ll start with a disclaimer - I’m not Sami nor do I have any links to Sami people, and I know am not very educated with issues about Karelia either. I’m from Western Finland, thus these things are by default kind of distant to me. I had to use wikipedia for this. Anyone who knows better is free to correct me.

The Sami are the only indigenous people in Finland. If you ever look at the Finno-Ugric language family (Finnish and Sami languages are both in this family) and how they’re spread on the map you’ll notice it doesn’t make any sense. Hungarian and Finnish are related and but there’s no firm connection geographically. There’s spots in the middle of Russia of Finno-Ugric languages that are distant from other areas of the same language family. The only explanation is migration.

Focusing solely on Finland and simplifying this to what I know for certain - the Finns and Sami habited the same land on their own areas and then slowly the Sami were pushed up north to Lapland, but they still lived in other parts, too. This is before Finland as a country or even as a part of Sweden existed. I don’t know much about the time during Swedish or Russian rule, but as Finns themselves were considered second-rate citizens I’ll make the assumption the Sami didn’t have a good time either.

1900s (maybe 1800s?) had this idea that the Sami could only live a fulfilling life by giving up their culture and Finland (along with Norway and Sweden) started to assimilate them. Sami children were placed in boarding schools where they were prohibited to speak their own language, and Samis were also being sterilised. Finland has not apologised for this, though these practices have been halted and Sami is now taught in schools.

Finnish constitution recognises the Sami as indigenous people and their right to maintain and develop their culture and language. Sami is an official language with Finnish and Swedish. Finland has not ratified the  Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (1989) because there’s apparently an issue with land rights. The Sami Parliament of Finland is the representative body for people of Sami heritage in Finland.

The Sami are kind of used as props for tourism and their culture is appropriated in ways they do not approve. While there is sympathy and understanding, there’s this very loud opinion that they are making a big fuss about nothing and look for reasons to be offended, because OF COURSE.

Karelia is sort of similar - I feel like we’re taught to seem them as Finns instead of a more separate people. Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, is actually Karelian folklore appropriated by Finns. Karelian language is endangered because you guessed it, you weren’t allowed to use it in school and people didn’t teach it to their children and so forth. I really don’t know much more about this.

I probably am not the right person to fully explain this whole thing so I’ll just leave it at this and hope someone more familiar with this will find it. Again, I’m from the West, I am an expert only in my people stabbing each other and fighting the government with fence posts and generally just being murder-y (Not genocidal - I descend from equal opportunity stabbers).

[trueishcolours]

For me, it needs to be somebody androgynous and almost ethereal-looking. Trouble is, when you search for pictures of men who look like that, they tend to be dressed up and posing with their hair done all fancy, so they don’t feel like Yassen. But maybe one of them could play Yassen.

Ilya from The Man From Uncle isn’t a million miles off, actually.

Oh, @totovolff-main​, I remembered another canon description. In Russian Roulette, Julia Rothman tells Yassen to his face that he is ‘incredibly good-looking.’

Do you know if anyone has a compilation of canon descriptions of Yassen?

Not that I know of. Let’s post this and see if anybody can help you out.

Now I’m very tempted to compile one myself...

Let’s see how much I can do from memory...

In Stormbreaker he has ‘the body of a dancer’ and ‘moves languidly.’

In Eagle Strike he ‘moves like spilled oil.’ He has ‘chiselled lips and almost feminine eyelashes,’ and his ‘clear blue eyes’ watch Alex ‘with something like pity.’

(This is all Alex’s POV BTW. Alex is not straight).

By Russian Roulette, Horowitz has backed down to ‘grey eyes with the faintest trace of blue’ like a COWARD.

That’s all I got. God I love him.

[4mulaone]

☆ Put this star into the inbox of your favourite blogs. It's time to spread positivity! // [looks around and touches walls with gloved hands] this ask box looks...familiar...I have spewed much bullshit in here back in my youth... deadass though you're hands down the funniest blog in this joint and I lay in bed nightly thinking about how none of us will ever match the energy. I may sound like I'm joking but I mean it when I say you're great and no one's doing it like you

CUT THE CAMERAS DEAD. ASS FHJKDSJJKDFHKSH HHHIOOOOOOO JENNAAAAAAAAA I LOEV YOU.....................OS MUCH IM CYRING 

when the fuckin og f1 blogs u followed back when u didnt kno what ‘slipstream’ meant and were too nervous to post in case u got pushed into the metaphorical locker validate u this way and also turn out to be the sweetest peas in the garden there is no higher euphoria to reach im seriously crying in the club dj turn that shit UP and im also not joking when i say i would unconditionally lay my heart on a blade for u