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maibluemen · 2 months

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ok while i'm working on which meta stuff i want to have on this blog, i do want to make a somewhat? detailed post on some name headcanons i have. so. some countries whose names i either tweak or change from the ones suggested by himaruya (arguably, there are no canon names. alfred is really the only one you could argue for lol)

🇷🇺 - ivan ivanovich morozov

hima doesn't give patronymics to the countries that would use them. ivanovich comes from ivan being very young and asked what his full name is, and the only male name he could think of was his own lol so he just stuck with it. and yes both sisters have teased him for this. morozov is derived from the russian word for "frost," which i find fitting; i wanted to find a non-jewish surname for him because i don't headcanon him as jewish and. of all the non-jewish countries to have a jewish surname.....well. no judgement on people who use braginsky and i doubt himaruya meant any harm or anything but yeah that's why i use a different surname for him lol

🇱🇹 - tolvydas jonas laurinaitis

shoutout to @hinotorihime who i believe was one of the first, if not the first person in the fandom to suggest tolys being a more accurate translation of トーリス (since japanese doesn’t distinguish between R/L sounds like indo-european languages do, and english doesn’t distinguish between I/Y the way lithuanian does, and tolys being an EXCEEDINGLY uncommon name, i don’t think “toris” is an unreasonable translation to have made after the game of language telephone from lithuanian->japanese-> english lol. トーリス would be directly transliterated like “to risu” for those unfamiliar with katakana. it’s worth noting that pixiv translates his character tag as “tolys”). uhh the source he gave me is a website that no longer exists and wasn't archived unfortunately, but "tolvydas" means something like "far seer" and tolys is a shortened form of it jonas is the name he added when he was finally baptized, and it's in reference to john the baptist anyway, here is an old post where she explains some name meanings!

🇪🇪 - eduard tamm

look i know eduard isn't really used in estonia but the guy simply gives off eduard vibes to me, sorry tamm, aside from being the most common surname, means "oak"

🇱🇻 - raivis bērziņš

bērziņš is, again, the most common surname and means "birch"

ed and raivis having the most common surnames in their countries i swear isn't me being lazy, i like the idea of all 3 baltics having tree names (laurinaitis referring to "laurel")

🇵🇱 - feliks mieczysław kazimierz łukasiewicz

who let the poles be catholic so. feliks has only been a name used in poland since around the 1800s? iirc, it was specifically brought over because of a fascination with french names but i might be wrong lol (and ultimately the origins of the name are latin, so variants of it are pretty old anyway). anyway. i've decided that his first name used to be mieczysław and he changed it around the time of the napoleonic wars to feliks, but kept the old name. kazimierz was chosen at his baptism and refers to st casimir, one of the many patron saints of poland (there's literally a wikipedia article dedicated to them all lol)

🐥 - gilbert maria beilschmidt

mary was just a hugely important aspect of gil's history as a knight (and the specific orders he represented also). he hasn't been catholic in centuries but he keeps maria in his legal name because that's his mom, guys

N. 🇮🇹 - felice luca veneziano

veneziano and romano being surnames (meaning "venetian" and "roman" respectively) i decided to just...assign the italy bros their uh. titles? as surnames. apparently siblings having separate surnames isn't unheard of for the nations lol, anyway. i thought it would be more fitting as i also headcanon that there's at least 20 italies (corresponding with each modern-day region though the actual history gets a bit messier, like my tuscany oc is more properly my florence oc.....that's another post, tho) and vene and romano represent. well. veneto (but originally venice) and lazio (but originally the city of rome...though i have yet to decide when he started representing rome because he's not an Ancient....anyway.....) felice being the italian variant of "felix" luca is a baptismal name referring to st luke, who is a patron of (amongst other things) artists

S. 🇮🇹 - lovino francesco romano

heh so lovino is in the category of not really a real name but i like it and have never really felt drawn to another name instead francesco refers to st francis of assisi who is hugely popular. well, in general. and is a patron of italy. i need to workshop some more headcanons about romano and religion because of....reasons lol, but this is definitely a name he took on relatively recently.

#heta meta #name post #this is definitely another one that will be updated as i come up with new thoughts lol #like my god i REALLY need to come up with a hebrew name for rod.....#and i need to decide on a czech name and a hebrew name for czechia.........

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doyl1st · 2 months

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Isaac and his siblings

I haven't quite decided exactly how many children were raised at the Facility, but there are five concrete ones at the moment. The children aren't biologically related, but considering the circumstances, think of themselves as something of a family. They'll be getting posts of their own eventually, but I'm gonna give somewhat short summaries here.

None of the siblings share a surname, but they all have the same initials of ID. It's a joke, because they needed some form of identification.

In no particular order, we have Ike, Iggy, Imani, Ivan, and Isaac.

Ike didn't live past his teens. He'd killed himself in his room at the age of 16, no longer able to cope with life as an experiment. Isaac used to consider him weak and a waste of effort, but after his own experiences with attempted suicide, he now considers Ike the brother he never got to know, and the most tragic victim of the Facility.

The next is Ignatius, or Iggy, as he prefers. He and Isaac share a lot of similarities, to the point where they've considered they may have the same father. Both of them are short. Isaac is 5'3, and Iggy is 5'4. They both make highly animated facial expressions, and they're both adrenaline junkies. They're also prone to violence with poor impulse control, but Iggy is definitely worse than Isaac.

Iggy is a few months younger than Isaac, but you'd think it'd be years, with how Isaac looks after him. He fusses over Iggy and encourages him to make good choices, and he'll give anyone an earful if they talk poorly about his brother.

Isaac is a very impulsive person, but around Iggy he tends to display a lot more self control. He sort of feels like one of them has to be level headed, or they'll both probably die horribly. But he's absolutely not above joining in on some of Iggy's more violent or impulsive fun. Iggy likes to call himself and Isaac The Beastie Boys and Isaac does Not get the reference.

Iggy's very big on music, which Isaac is kind of clueless to. He's one of those "I listen to everything :)" people and his favorite genre is the heaviest metal known to man. Isaac can't stand it, but he does like 80's hits, so that's what Iggy usually plays in the car.

Isaac thinks a lot about how differently things could have been if they'd reconnected earlier than in their 50's. He feels horribly for the mess Iggy got into.

Then we have Imani, the reason why Isaac says he's the smartest man on Earth, rather than the smartest person. At the Facility, the two were often neck and neck with each other in regards to test scores. Some years Isaac would be on top, some years she would be. By the time they left, Isaac was considered the greatest success, but that's not really true. He may prove smarter in the sheer amount of knowledge he holds, but she is by far more emotionally intelligent and grounded than he is. Imani's the only one of the four defined siblings that was able to successfully integrate into society. She's a college professor, and a mother of two, with very little interest in her brothers' misadventures.

She's relatively new, so I don't have much developed for her just yet, but I do know that she's integral to helping Isaac catch their fourth sibling, who became a serial killer. That's when they reconnect for the first time since they were teenagers, and she tells Isaac and Iggy that she doesn't want to be a part of their world. Not them as people, but the cases they get into, and they have to respect that.

They do exchange letters, though. Isaac sends cards with too much money on the holidays, and Iggy sends toys. Just a little thing that helps them feel normal.

The fourth still living sibling is a man named Ivan, whose killing spree is currently Isaac's most difficult case yet.

At the facility, he was always considered third place behind Isaac and Imani, and that left its mark on him. He wanted prove he was the best and since Imani has (in his opinion) given up, Isaac is his primary target.

His murders were staged in a way to directly challenge Isaac to prove which of them was the most intelligent, with Ivan confident that Isaac would never catch him. Even if he did figure out his identity, he'd never be able to pin him down and arrest him.

If Isaac was the person he thought he was, though, that might have been true. He'd assumed that Isaac was as cold and detached from the world as him, but he's very much not. He proves as much by setting his ego aside and asking Iggy and Imani for help, outside factors that Ivan didn't count on.

It leads to a confrontation between the three brothers, ending with a bullet in Iggy's stomach and one going through Ivan's skull.

I haven't mentioned it just yet but Iggy is like, really good at fighting and he's got no qualms about killing people he feels deserve it, so it's necessary to handicap him for the climax of the story.

Iggy's on the ground bleeding out, so he can't really help. But what he does do is goad Ivan into trying to strangle him, giving Isaac the opportunity to kill Ivan.

After his death, Isaac kind of regards Ivan as another tragedy. He thinks his brother could have done great things and changed the world, if not for his ego and self importance. The whole ordeal causes Isaac to take another lesson in humility, and he's a bit more tolerable afterwards.

#off the record (ooc) ❌#That’s My Rap Sheet (about) 📄#very long post #also #suicide tw #ike doesn't have a photo bc he didn't make it to adulthood

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wagner-fell · 10 months

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Okay so Breaker and Ewan (apparently my phone has been correcting Ewan to Ivan so that’s totally on me for any confusion) are the godfathers to Beatrix and Benedict, we know that, but they’re also Kells’ oldest friends. And they dated on-and-off for a long time, while Breaker was also maintaining a very toxic relationship with Kells, which in itself was just very complicated and a big part of the reason why Breaker didn’t leave Kells when Ewan did

But anyways

When Beatrix arrives at the school (or maybe town? completely undecided), she and Benedict make the decision to not tell Ewan that she and Breaker were around because they didn’t think he would react well

And they were right, because he didn’t

Breaker and Ewan reunite when Ewan spots him at a grocery store or something and he starts to panic, thinking that Kells had finally found him and Benedict and that this is how he intended to punish him for it; with his former lover here. It wouldn’t be completely out of the question for Kells to do something like that, send Breaker to Ewan to kill him (best case scenario in his mind) and take Benedict. He wouldn’t put it past Kells to not do this

So he decides to confront Breaker, basically interrogating him about why he’s here, if Kells sent him, is Kells there with him, etc.

Breaker is still very upset with him for how things ended between them six years earlier and he feels betrayed for Ewan’s decisions the night he left. But despite that, he answers his questions

He tells him Kells is dead, has been for over a year, something Ewan had had no idea about and that even before that, he’d barely seen Kells in the last four years. Since when the twins were 12, Kells sent Breaker and Beatrix to London so Beatrix could go to a magic school there that he approved of

Ewan is just pissed off and says some things that he later regrets, same with Breaker

After all, this is six years of anger and hurt just flowing out of them. It gets to a point where they both storm out, with no intention of actually forgiving each other

This whole conversation is just angsty and brings up a whole lot for the twins as well, who are then caught with their lying, it ends up kind of being like how in The Parent Trap when the parents realize they have the wrong kid and they’re all emotional about it

I would also love to point out that Breaker already knew Ewan and Benedict were living there, and so had Kells, before he died. Kells had simply chosen not to go after them, thinking that living in a constant state of paranoia would be worse than any punishment he could come up with

Ewan and Breaker and giving such Ballister and Ambrosius from Nimona vibes omggggg

Aaaahhhhhh I’m literally so nervous for them seeing you talk about that interaction, let alone reading it 😭😭

Do you have a surname for any of them yet?

#FUCK KELLS #riley!#riley’s ask

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mcheang · 4 years

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Bustier salt(you don't have 2 if its 2 mean) Bustier use to be like Chloe and Lila and Mari reminded her of her old rival who defeated her she only singles out Marinette out of misplaced retribution and tells that to her smugly alone where Mari record the whole conversation and give it to Nadia (guest star Bustier's rival) Bustier gets busted down on her knees defeated

Petty Grudge

I made up the surnames from snow. If I had to make Caline a mix of Lila and Chloe; I’d say she have the wealthy background and snobby attitude; but she plays nice, hiding her true feelings. Post-Ladybug episode. I claim this as a rough draft!

“Marinette, could you come down for a moment please? There are some people here who would like to see you.”

“Ms Bustier, may I speak to you for a moment? In private.”

Ms Bustier put down her pen. “Of course, Marinette.”

They walked outside the staff room and found a deserted corridor.

Bustier: What seems to be the problem?

Marinette: I’m not sure this whole forgiving method with Chloe is working. She hasn’t really changed for the better.

Bustier: of course, she has. Even Ladybug has noticed and given her a miraculous.

Marinette: She loaned Chloe a miraculous, and that was only when the situation was dire or the akuma was someone close to Chloe. But Chloe’s attitude hasn’t improved. She still bullies. Yesterday, she purposefully ruined Nathaniel’s sketchbook!

Bustier: Marinette, I appreciate your concern, but I believe i am the teacher here.

Marinette: Then what makes you so sure Chloe will improve? You’re just indulging her and she knows it!

Caline stiffens. “Watch your tone, young lady.”

To her surprise, Marinette doesn’t back down. She just holds her gaze with her own steely blue stare. Oh, how Caline hates that look.

Calming down, Caline said gently, “Let me tell you a tale of a girl I once knew.”

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Caline. She had been the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Paris. Caline had it all at her school. She was the A-list girl. People deferred to her. She was even friends with the most popular boy at school. Thomas Neige was a very cute boy and a local movie star.

Then she came. Tessa; the new girl. Tessa came from an ordinary background but she had dared to challenge Caline. She claimed Caline wasn’t doing anything to help the class and ran against her for class presidency.

To Caline’s shock and outrage, the class actually backed Tessa. She implemented ridiculous changes like a shared class chore list and added more bins in their classroom to encourage the class to recycle.

The next thing Caline knew, Thomas and Tessa were blushing around each other.

Caline tried to help Tessa fit in, but Tessa rejected her assistance.

Caline had been young then. She let her emotions overwhelm her to the point that she sabotaged Tessa’s dance recital.

Tessa caught Caline and exposed her. And when Caline apologized, Tessa still insisted Caline face the consequences of her actions and Caline was suspended.

Caline tried to rouse her friends to the problem that was Tessa, but they all ditched her now that they found a “real class president.”

Caline knew she could not win and suggested a truce with Tessa when she returned. Tessa had accepted.

Caline is ashamed to say she couldn’t handle the truce. Tessa had taken everything from her. Her crush, her kingdom, her impeccable record. It had only been minor bullying; a trip here, an accidental food spill there. But Tessa didn’t understand Caline’s sadness and punished her again.

Caline had been left alone, outcast by the class. She graduated into a teaching college because no one wanted her with her school record. While Thomas and Tessa got married and went on to act and dance to stardom, Caline had been stuck with a teaching job. Money couldn’t help her now. Her Father had made some bad investments and lost most of his fortune.

“So you see, Marinette, I know that punishing bullies never leads to coexistence. It only leads to separation.”

Marinette just stared at Caline. “You’re just letting your feelings get in the way. You were the bully at your school, and because you didn’t change your ways, your class decided to give up on you. It had nothing to do with whether or not you were punished.”

“Now Marinette...”

“No!” Marinette refused to listen. “You’re just living vicariously through Chloe, aren’t you? Because she gets to bully others without reprimand. You let her bully Ivan; bully Nathaniel, bully me, for years. And you’ve never stopped her. You’ve never done anything to dissuade her beyond a trivial sentence now and then for the class’ sake.”

“The principal has insisted we do not anger Chloe, considering her father’s position.”

“Don’t you dare blame other people! Regardless of Chloe’s threats, you could have at least tried to talk to her. But you didn’t. You just kept forgiving Chloe when it was not your place to forgive, but us!”

Marinette paused. “And if Chloe is meant to be the new you, I’m guessed I’m the new Tessa. That’s why you’ve ignored me when I called out Chloe on her misdeeds. That’s why you let Lila organise a massive seat change. And that’s why you blindly believed a note that I was cheating when the test answers were stolen after the exam had taken place!”

Bustier: What does Lila have to do with this?

Marinette laughed. “I recognised your style. You may have had the wealth, but you were like Lila, pretending to be nice all along. Do you dare to look me in the eyes and tell me honestly that you believe Lila has a dubious disability from saving a kitten on the tarmac, somehow bypassing security in the process and never purchasing the necessary hearing equipment? You and I both know she just wanted to sit next to Adrien. And you were willing to let me sit in the back alone because of your petty grudge.”

Caline shrugged. “Lila just wanted to make some friends. Her methods were dubious but harmless at the end.”

Marinette groaned. “Ugh, you sound like Adrien. But harmless? she framed me, and you knew it and you let it happen.”

Caline stared at Marinette for a long time. “So what? Who’s going to believe you Marinette? The whole class adores me. They already didn’t believe you about Lila. Why should they believe your accusations about me?”

Marinette glared at her teacher. “You shouldn’t be a teacher. Teachers are supposed to want to help their students.”

“You’re right,” Caline agreed. “I shouldn’t be a teacher. I was not born to teach rowdy teenagers. But this is where life has left me. I need to make the best of it.”

Caline straightened her back. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Marinette, I have some papers to finish grading. Rest assured, I never sabotaged your grades. I do have some morals.”

Marinette shook her head as Caline smugly went back.

The next evening....

“Good evening Paris, I’m Nadja Chamack and I have here with me, world renown choreographer Tessa Neige on her new campaign to stop bullying. Bonsoir, Tessa.”

Tessa, a pretty brunette in a fabulous dress, greets Nadja and takes her seat.

Nadja: before we begin, may I compliment you on your wardrobe?

Tessa grins. “Thank you, i decided to hire a school designer with massive talent to custom design it for me. This is a Marinette Dupain-Cheng original.”

“I know Marinette. She’s a sweet girl. But we’re here to discuss your stance on bullying.”

Tessa takes a breath. “Yes. I’ve been bullied before and i want to help stop this problem. The best defence we have against bullies are the teachers, which presented me with a problem. What happens when we have a faulty faculty?”

Nadja: Like Teachers who overlook bullying?

Tessa nods vehemently. “Exactly. One of the girls who bullied me became a teacher. I decided to check in on her by asking Marinette about her.”

Nadja: Marinette’s teacher used to bully you?! Who is she?

Tessa: Caline Bustier. I had heard she was a popular teacher and had hoped she had learned her lessons. I went to see Marinette about this when I went to commission my dress. What I learned instead shocked and saddened me.

Nadja: Why? What did she say?

Tessa: Marinette told me that Caline asks her to be the bigger person and forgive her bullies instead of making sure they get punished for their misdeeds. Basically if Marinette is bullied, she shouldn’t complain about it and just forgive the bully.

Nadja: that’s horrible. Do you mean to say the bullies are never in trouble?

Tessa: exactly! It’s the other way around instead. It’s the victims who are unfairly blamed and punished.

Nadja: But this is one girl’s word against a teacher’s. Do we have any reason to trust Marinette? I know Marinette and I believe in her, but the rest of the world does not have any cause to.

Tessa: I’m glad you asked. I asked Marinette to do a small favour for me and she did a marvellous job. She sent me the recording already.

Nadja: Let’s watch it then!

Cue recording on screen.

Nadja says softly. “Shocking. I’ve never been more appalled in my life.”

Tessa looks sadly at the screen. “It’s a shame that the class has to suffer. Bullies have to be reprimanded and punished or else they might never change. I’m sad to see that Caline hasn’t changed at all.”

“No, she hasn’t. I’m sorry for what bad memories this must have brought back to you, Tessa. Thank you for coming here to inform us of this heinous error in the educational system.”

“Not at all. I made a promise to myself to never let a bully get away with their wrongdoings; not if I could help it.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, Tessa Neige.”

Needless to say that airing finally exposed Lila and Caline. The school board interceded and fired Caline. They threatened the principal to either punish Chloe or get sacked. Chloe was suspended. Lila was expelled.

The class apologized to Marinette for not believing her or being sensitive to her feelings. They also thanked her for standing up for them.

Adrien apologized to Marinette for his dumb advice. She accepted. The boy was still new to the world of making friends.

Bustier’s termination of employment was a sad affair because the class did thought she was a teacher who cared for them. But the victims of Chloe’s tyranny knew better. When Ivan tried to protect Mylene from Chloe’s insults, he was sentenced to detention for disrupting the class. When Chloe stole Nathaniel’s sketchbook, Caline accused him of drawing in class. And for crying out loud, everyone knows Chloe never does her homework or projects. It’s not a wonder she gets As when Sabrina is doing all the work or her Father bribes the principal.

#miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #ml fic #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #adrienette #lila gets exposed #lila karma #lila salt #bustier salt #ml salt fic #lila is exposed #post ladybug episode #post episode ladybug

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pagesoflauren · 4 years

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Ride & Prejudice Epilogue (Steve Rogers x reader; cowboy!AU)

Summary: A take on Pride & Prejudice, certain circumstances in your life have led you to take refuge and work in a farm village, particularly on the ranch owned by Steve Rogers. He doesn’t take kindly to you, having bad perceptions about city folk. Your only reaction to that is the one you deem acceptable: get annoyed at every little thing he does whilst doing your best to annoy him and still keep your job.

Warnings: mentions of violence, reader has PTSD & traumatic flashbacks, guns, mentions of animal violence, non-human-inflicted animal injury, swearing, angst, slow burn, eventual smut

A/N: I’ve had so much fun writing this series! I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to these characters yet, though...

Masterlist

Previous Chapter

You and Steve stayed in a bubble for almost two weeks now, basking in the glow of being newly weds.

You couldn’t go anywhere without checking in with the Witness Protection Program and Steve couldn’t go on any vacations because he had a farm to run.

Peter was bunking with Nat and Bucky for two weeks, helping them out best he could while also giving you privacy to enjoy your marriage with Steve.

Despite being “on a honeymoon,” Steve still did some chores, rotating hay and taking Brego, Ivan and Ash out to the corral for some exercise in the mornings. You didn’t complain, though. You would wake up shortly after he left and scamper down to the kitchen to make some breakfast. When Steve returned, you were rewarded with a view of him shirtless and glistening with sweat.

Needless to say, breakfast was cold by the time you got around to eating it.

Nearly a week after your ceremony passed before you and Steve decided to start opening presents.

A lot of them were things for the house, new kitchen supplies or personalized accessories with your shared surname on it. There were some monetary gifts that you and Steve decided to put to use for bringing more color into the house.

“S’like you.”

“What do you mean?” you ask as you look at paint colors in the hardware store’s catalog.

“You brought color into my life.”

“God, you’re such a sap!” you exclaim, smacking his arm with the flimsy booklet.

He’s on you in the blink of an eye, tickling you and sending you into a fit of giggles.

You’re saved by the doorbell, suggesting it’s probably a delivered gift like the new set of plates and cutlery from the woman at the dress shop.

Steve kisses you and reluctantly gets up to answer the door.

“Wow, that’s a big one,” you hear him say.

You sit up to see him sign the postman’s touch pad before tugging the package inside.

He was right, it was rather large.

“Who’s that from?”

Steve squints as he reads the return address. Your heart drops when his eyes widen.

“It’s from my brother.”

He leaves the living room and comes back with a pocket knife, slicing through the tape and flipping the top flap of the box open. Your head tilts in curiosity as you watch him.

His brows furrow.

“What is it?”

He doesn’t say anything, only lays the box on its long side and kneels next to it. He pulls out…

“He gave us a luggage!” Steve says exasperatedly, “Fuckin’ bastard.”

“Well, it’s an expensive one,” you say, noticing the LV printed all over, “Maybe we could sell it, make a buck or two.”

You join him on the floor and survey the surface for any nicks.

“You think anything’s inside?” you ask.

“Doubt it,” he says, but goes to unzip the luggage anyway.

It’s empty.

Save for the single white envelope in the middle.

Steve picks it up and looks at both sides, noticing there’s no writing on it.

He sticks his thumb under the corner of the flap, dragging it to tear it open.

On the inside of the flap, he recognizes his brother’s scrawl:

I believe this belongs to your wife.

Steve can see your expression fade from curious to terrified as he pulls out what’s inside: a chunky beaded necklace with a broken chain. Your favorite thing to wear to work and bring a pop of color to any outfit.

The last time you wore it, you killed a man.

“Sugar, you alright?”

Ransom is used to junk mail, but recognizes an oddly shaped envelope amongst the pile that lays just inside his front door.

Everything else goes in the trash and he tears open the top of the envelope.

You’re invited…

So, his stupid, useless hick of a brother was getting married.

As he takes in the picture of you two perched on horses, he notices Steve looks just as he remembers.

His eyes land on your face and he twists up in confusion. He’s seen you before. Where has he seen you before?

He props the card against his napkin holder and orders from DoorDash.

He stares at the photo as he eats, the TV droning in the background as he tries to pin your face to a memory.

In bed, he stares at his empty ceiling.

When a car passes by, headlights flashing through the translucent cover of his curtains, he remembers.

He was waiting in the getaway car. It would be a quick job.

Afterwards, he’d take them to a bar and maybe they’d let him join the gang. It’d be more financially secure than investing in startups that always fell through somehow.

He needed money. Badly. There wasn’t much left to his name. The way he saw it, he had two options: join the gang or go home.

No way was he going to spend his days shoveling horse shit.

He hears the popping sound and goes to start the car.

But another car starts.

He hears the familiar voices of his acquaintances yelling and a few other popping sounds. In the rearview mirror, he sees them run toward the street.

Ransom gets out, sneaking to peer around the corner.

“Let me go, let me go, please!”

“No chance, baby, we can’t let you jabber to the cops.”

She fought and fought, Rumlow grabbing her by the shirt collar. Ransom caught the glint of metal as a chain dangled. Rumlow threw it far over his shoulder, the piece of jewelry landing at Ransom’s feet.

“I won’t, I won’t, please just let me go. I’ll say nothing!”

“There’s only one way we can guarantee that--”

Ransom’s eyebrows raised when she threw a punch. He was impressed. The gun fell out of Rumlow’s hands and onto the ground. The other men in the group backed away, not wanting to be in the path of a stray bullet.

They struggled for a moment until the trigger was pulled and they both stilled. They were all shocked when Rumlow was the one who went limp.

Sirens wailed in the distance. Ransom picked up the necklace and got into the car, speeding away.

He sat up and turned on the lamp on his bedside table.

So, his stupid, useless hick of a brother managed to marry the woman the gang would pay a very generous amount of money for.

Maybe his brother wasn’t so stupid or useless (he was still a hick, though).

Ransom would have to plan. He would have to be smart. But he knew his lovely little sister-in-law was the perfect addition to his family.

Tagging: @jeremyrennerfanxxxx123 @jamielea81 @viarogers @plutonium-m @simsadventures @ntlmundy @rohaintahquil @what-is-your-plan-today @icanfeelastormbrewing @csigeoblue

Sequel: Love & Brotherhood

#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers fic #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x you #mcu fanfiction #mcu fic #avengers x reader #avengers fanfiction #cowboy AU #ficsofpagesoflauren

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elenatria · 5 years

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How to turn a London Con trip into a “Chernobyl” trip.

I’m home so I can finally make this post.

Where to start.

Okay-

Let’s start with “Chernobyl”. It happened a few months ago, fell on our heads like a nuclear bomb. We all loved the protagonists but Viktor Charkov, the KGB chairman, is also a memorable, creepy, hateful character who got under our skin with the cold truth of his words, the harsh reality of his behaviour. He was too real, too pragmatic to be ignored. From stories I’ve been told in person, he’s no different than the executive arms of tyrants we had here not more than forty years ago. He exists. People like him live among us.

As for the actor himself, so strange. See, there is no mention of Alan Williams’ age on IMDB or Wikipedia and that’s enough to show that, apart from his theatre, TV and film work, little is known about him. Where to find him, contact him, he’s too old to care about social media and apparently he never was too sought out, not with a “face like a bagful of donuts” as he jokes.

But I was thrilled. I wrote the first chapter of “A single bullet” after watching “Chernobyl” and I just had to show it to this elusive low-profile thespian who inspired me. Because... I don’t know, because. Just to say “Thanks for doing a magnificent job. Thanks for helping me understand evil.”

So I tried contacting his agent. I gave her my name and nationality. I thought I’d just send her the link and forget about it.

Apparently, she forgot about it too because I never heard from her.

After a month London Con was upon us, but what to do in the evenings? Plays of course. I booked a ticket for “The woman in black” and “The Hunt” with Tobias Menzies. Then I searched and searched for Alan Williams plays but, to my dismay, he had finished playing Ivan Romanovich Chebutykin in “Three sisters” at the beginning of June and his new play, “Faith, hope and charity”, wouldn’t premiere before September. Just my luck to be in London in between the two plays. No stage door queue, no autographs.

After spending a full Saturday at London Con and Sunday at the British Museum, Monday had to be a day of leisure. A free concert at St Martin-in-the-Fields before lunch was all I was capable of attending, drag my steps towards the closest bus stop that would drop me off… wherever. I didn’t care.

But then I decided to read my post from the previous day about managing to buy a ticket for “The girl on the train” at the very last minute and meeting Alex Ferns, the naked miner. The unexpected ticket, the unexpected hug.

Now how difficult would it be to meet an actor who is NOT doing a play at the moment?

Very very difficult, confirmed one voice.

He’s rehearsing for ‘Faith, hope and charity’, isn’t he? disagreed another. He must be. It’s almost August and the play opens in September. He’s at work right now. He must be!!!

I googled and googled for almost an hour. I found that “Faith, hope and charity” would be staged at the Dorfman theatre near Waterloo station so I called the stage door. I explained to the receptionist that I did not know Mr Williams in person but I was visiting London for only a few days, was a big fan of his work in “Chernobyl” and I would really love to greet him. The man on the phone was very helpful revealing that this was their first day of rehearsing (the incredible coincidence!) and they had started only… an hour ago. He asked my name and I said “Well… you can say Eleni”, I mean, who needs my complicated surname, right? The guy said he’d save my number and let Mr Williams know.

Oh god.

But I couldn’t just sit there waiting for a call, I’d never get that call, come on.

So I rushed to the Dorfman Theatre. I was breaking my brain trying to figure out how I could get the Charkov chapter of “A single bullet” printed in a district with no stationary shops whatsoever. I was hoping I could… shove it into his face I don’t know, and later imagine he’d be reading it. He didn’t really have to read it, just nod condescendingly and lie that he would, and that would be enough to put a smile on my face. Just like all those toys and drawings people give to celebs at cons that end up in the hands of volunteers, assistants or charities, if not in the trash.

When I got there I talked to a different receptionist, a very professional, very unhelpful young man. For safety reasons he wasn’t supposed to disclose neither the time they’d finish nor the time of recess. For safety reasons I had to go through Mr Williams’ agent to get to him. Outrageous, the woman didn’t even forward my story to him, let alone give me permission to meet him. I was hopeless, I was being turned down. I was being an idiot.

“But they must have a lunch break, right??” I insisted. “Can’t I just wait outside?”

That guy was a goddamn sphinx, and the helpful guy was still talking on the phone or to some lady there, I don’t remember, so I couldn’t reach out to him. Suddenly I felt unnecessarily needy as if I was sitting on the subway floor, shaking my hat to passers-by, clinging my few coins. How humiliating.

With heavy steps I exited the theatre. Why is it so complicated, why do I need someone else’s “permission”? I’m not a child. I looked around, it was a sunny day, people were sitting in coffee tables out in the patio. Some tables were empty but I didn’t care, I just sat on a column by the entrance, far enough to not be seen by the receptionists and feel like shit for lingering, close enough to catch anyone exiting.

For an hour and a half I crouched over my phone trying to figure out how to contact the agent without sounding too stalkery. I called the agency but the girl on the phone gave me the same email address where I had sent my fic. Fine. I changed the wording of my message again and again so as not to sound too needy or creepy even if I knew it wouldn’t work.

I knew I had missed my concert for no reason and I would soon have to leave because who doesn’t like giving up? It’s better to give up than stress over something that’s never gonna happen. It always is.

I was seconds away from clicking “send” and making a fool of myself to the agent for a second time when I thought I saw someone, a towering presence stopping a few meters away, looking over, hesitating, waiting.

I raised my head.

There he was, three-dimensional, bathed in sunlight. Not an image in my head anymore.

Believe me when I say that I was staring at Gandalf, Santa Claus, the Grail Knight from “Indiana Jones”, the Big Bad Wolf.

I honestly don’t know what I was staring at.

But there he was, in all his elderly silver-bearded glory. A myth in my mind, in the flesh. How did he know I was there? I didn’t tell anyone. I was supposed to be hiding.

After nanoseconds of deer-like stun I did the polite thing and jumped on my feet, ready for a handshake. I mean, I had to stand up, right? He had come out just for me.

Shit. What had I done? The nerve.

The first thing I remember noticing when I got closer were his faded blue eyes with a distinguishable light-shaded rim circling the iris. The rest was just word vomit, how we all love him on tumblr, write fics, make memes etc.

Memes?

I described to him the “Try me, bitch” edit we all love, courtesy of @two-screaming-rats.

He didn’t get it at first, then he laughed so HARD, so damn hard. You guys have to see Charkov laughing his heart out.

He said he only had a few minutes before he had to go back to the rehearsal so I decided to start the conversation with the Charkov fanfics. He was quick to apologize for not answering my email. “I’m sorry but… but I honestly don’t know what to say when someone sends me a story,” he admitted humbly. “I read all of them but… I mean I’ve been sent stories based on my characters before but I really wouldn’t know what to say.”

Okay first of all, he read my story. I don’t know if he read it a month ago when I sent it or minutes before he exited the theatre to greet me but he did.

Secondly, there are more stories about his characters? WHERE.

“I’m not a writer anyway,” I said apologetically.

The unexpected reassurance. “But you are.”

I guess one doesn’t have to be The Writer™, they just have to write. What a way to be courteous to a fan though.

Then I mentioned how we love Charkov’s trademark, his glasses, how we’re frantically looking for ‘80s-looking glasses, how we obsess over specific frames and brands.

“They’re not a brand,” he clarified, “they were specifically made for me, they’re an exact replica of Viktor Chebrikov’s glasses. Just like our clothes that were made by seamstresses who worked during that era.”

Naturally I praised the production’s attention to detail that has us ranting, how beautiful and “European” it all looked, how true the script was to Lyudmila’s story as it was described in Svetlana Alexievich’ “Chernobyl prayer”. I talked about my thoughts when I first heard there would be a “Chernobyl” TV series: the Americans made a TV show based on events that affected Europe, now that’s a new one. He mentioned Russian media admitting that they should have made that show, not the Americans. I agreed but also added “That’s the thing, it may be beautifully made, it may be the truth, but it’s still propaganda. Just because it’s true, just because the Soviet government did all those horrible things, that doesn’t mean that the show is not serving someone’s agenda.” He disagreed saying that the Soviet people were shown in a good light for their bravery and sacrifice. Well, we knew that, didn’t we.

I said how impressed I was by his portrayal of Charkov because we were told about people like him by dictatorship victims at school. People who had been tortured in the ‘70s came to us, talking about their time in underground cells, in the hands of sadists like Charkov. I told him about my uncle who was arrested and executed by the Nazis for distributing left-wing leaflets, about my grandmother who had to escape to the mountains during the civil war that followed the German occupation because she was a communist. I explained how real it felt to me, his last scene with Legasov in the kitchen. How bleak and horribly accurate.

He mentioned “You’re one of us, Legasov”. To him Charkov was just doing his job, working for the greater good and he agreed with the quote in my fic, that Charkov “couldn’t wait to retire”.

He then joked about Charkov being blasé after the committee meeting, “Meh, I’m done with arresting people, I let others do it for me”.

I assure you all those questions were answered in a couple of minutes, and I was certain our meeting was about to come to an end.

But then… he gestured toward an empty table.

Don’t let an aged man standing, was my spontaneous thought. I was reminded of my father.

Then I realized. He gestured toward an empty table.

Table. The two of us. On a sunny day.

Time, he was offering me his time.

And… oh my god, this was practically an interview, why was I not recording this, he was answering my questions so effortlessly.

No. That would be rude, that would be greedy.

Just relax and enjoy the moment and try to remember fucking everything.

I asked him what his inspiration for Charkov was, if he based his portrayal on other actors or historical figures. He paused to think and explained that the script was very strict anyway, very defined. However he did mention Charkov’s line, “I know you’ve heard the stories about us. When I hear them, even I am shocked” and how that reflected Stalin’s hypocritical quote, “What do I know, I’m just a peasant”.

His favourite line was “Trust but verify, and the Americans think that Ronald Reagan thought that up”.

“Is that really an old Russian proverb…?” I wondered.

“I… don’t know!” he laughed.

During the rest of the conversation he mentioned his friend whose job was to translate the Pravda, and his years in Canada where he met Czech-Greeks, namely Greek communists who were driven away by our right-wing government after the Second World War. Even the Soviets didn’t want them so they were sent to the Czech Republic and ended up in Canada. These people belonged nowhere.

I didn’t know that, and he didn’t know about Vladimir Gubarev, the writer of the play “Sarcophagus” and science editor of the Pravda who was the recipient of Legasov’s tapes. I quoted him saying “Why call the protagonist Legasov since that’s not how Legasov was, they could have used a character who’s a scientist and give him any other name.” Like Ulana, I added, who’s a composite character, or Chebrikov/Charkov, mostly fictional.

Our conversation was coming to an end; he asked me what plays I saw in London and he smiled when I mentioned Alex Ferns in “The girl on the train”.

It was truly overwhelming; I was torn between being swept away by the moment, focusing on nothing but the faded blue of his eyes, bathing in the calm rhythm of his voice, and actually paying attention to what he was saying. Only once did my eyes dart at his left hand spotting the unusually thick golden ring on his finger. When one’s mind plays tricks the best way to discipline is a glimpse at The Ring because if he didn’t have nearly my father’s years I’d probably be having a horribly inappropriate crush.

“Time to go,” he apologized.

We took a couple of photos and I pulled out Svetlana Alexievich’ book, asking for an autograph.

“Where should I sign?” he asked.

“Wherever you want.”

He flipped through the pages noticing my page markers, notes and underlinings. “What are these for?”

“Just… just notes. Do you want my—” I suggested grabbing my big-ass permanent marker.

Without a word he gave a knowing smile and, like an experienced conjurer, he pulled out of his jacket an elegant little sharpie. Delicate pens for delicate words.

I didn’t dare read what he wrote to me then, I could only make out his name through that intelligible doctor-like writing. Surely my name wasn’t there because I hadn’t introduced myself. Still, I thanked him from the bottom of my heart.

Time to go.

We shook hands and I said how honoured I was that he had spent time with me. I tried not to stare as he disappeared into the theatre but before I left I ran into the foyer, quickly thanked the receptionist to whom I had talked on the phone and stormed out of the building with that huge wave of adrenaline pumping violently in my ears.

As I crossed the street I was grinning like an idiot. I knew I had to stop right there and write down everything before I forgot - but it was pointless. I’m not a recorder to have to write down everything the minute it happens. It’s enough to remember the pale rimming of his eyes.

Now, two days after meeting him, I’m still torn between pride and embarrassment. What the hell was I thinking? Doesn’t a man deserve to work in peace?

But as I’m writing this and attaching his signature on the first page of “Chernobyl prayer” I dare for the first time read what he wrote to me.

Pleasure to meet you.

People say they have religious moments when meeting their favourite celebs.

Mine was poetic.

What a darling, darling man.

#chernobyl #alan williams #viktor charkov #vikor chebrikov #fan encounter #dorfman theatre #alex ferns #the girl on the train #london #kgb

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m-myrtus · 7 years

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Project "Rename Hetalia's characters"

Hello everyone! Let’s talk about it: one of the most annoying issues about Hetalia are *drum roll* the NAMES, people. Characters’ names/surnames, yes. So, with my friend, I wanted to give them a more “realistic” trait, starting with my nation’s one, Italy. I tried to change ONLY canon names, not those who are not decided yet (such as Belgium’s or Ukraine’s, for example). Some of them remained unchanged, because of specific reasons, but I would be glad if all of you could help me with your home country. Let’s begin!

N.Italy= Francesco Vargas (Francesco is a common name in Italy, also is our St. Patron’s name. As an italian, I’ve never head before of “Feliciano”);

S.Italy= Salvatore Vargas (Salvatore is a typical southern name, very common in South Italy. Also here, Lovino is not an italian name.)

I left the same surname chosen by Himaruya just because “Vargas” is an existent italian surname. (If you want to know, it’s actually the name of a football player);

Germany= Ludwig Schmidt (Only changed the surname here, I think Schmidt is more common in Germany and its sound is similar to the original surname’s one);

Japan= Daisuke Honda (Kiku is a symbolic name, really beautiful and rare, but I’ve thought to give Japan a common name. Honda is a famous japanese surname, nothing to say about it);

USA= George F. Jones (The surname isperfect as it is, I guess. George is for George Washington and F. stays for the same Kennedy’s second name );

UK= Arthur Thompson (I was insecure about his name. At the first time I thought about bames as “Oliver”, because of his popularity and because of Oliver Twist, or “John”. But then I realised that Arthur is good and symbolic as well. So, I’ve changed the surname. Kirkland was pretty anonymous and I wanted something that could have sounded more british);

France= François Bonnefoy (Only transformed Francis, which was the english version of the name, in François, very used and “french”);

Russia= Ivan Vasilyev (Braginski was a polish surname! I’ve chosen something that still sounded like “Braginski”, but at the same time was a real russian surname);

China= Yao Wang (I didn’t found anything to change here);

Spain= Antonio Fernandez García; (Antonio was good, also Fernandez is popular. I’ve only removed Carriedo in order to replace it with García, which is largely used in Spain/countries with a spanish toungue);

Prussia= Gilbert Schmidt (Gilbert was perfect, only changed the family name);

Austria= Roderich Amadeus Wagner (Roderich was ok. I’ve added “Amadeus”, because of Mozart and changed the surname in “Wagner”, still a composer’s name. The combination of this three names gives me some sort of nobility impression);

Hungary= Ágnès Horváth (Totally renamed her. Ágnès is not only cute, but also a bit used, I guess. I found Horváth to be one of the commonest surnames in Hungary);

Canada= Matthew Williams (I don’t see nothing wrong here, maybe it has to be something francophone in there?);

Belarus= Natałlia Arłoŭskaja (Leave it as it was; but changed the way it was written);

Egypt= Muhammad Hassan Al-Nur; (Okay, Muhammad and Hassan are very popular among arabics names, in fact I just leave them to be. But, I found out that Gupta was an Indian surname and also the letter “p” kinda don’t exist in arabic. Soooo I’ve made a list of some cute surname and, at last, Al-Nur won among the others);

Estonia= Eduard Tamm (Tamm is pretty common);

Finland= Timo Hämäläinen (Tino actually wasn’t a finnish name, but TiMo yes. Hämäläinen is rather common and it’s a good alternative to Väinämöinen, that is not a real surname);

Greece= Αlexandros Ypsilanti; (Alexandros is a good, widespread and elegant name. Alexandros Ypsilanti, is also a national hero’s name, during the greek war of indipendence);

Latvia= Raivis Liepa; (Raivis was an actual latvian name, so why don’t keep it? Only the surname changed, Galante was an italian one);

Lithuania= Laurynas Valaitis (I’ve changed everything here, in order to make it realistic, but also to make it sound like “Toris Laurinaitis” as well);

Poland= Feliks Łukasiewicz (It is just normal as it is);

Sealand= Peter Thompson (Only changed his family name);

S.Korea= Kim Yong Soo (Just as it was before);

Sweden= Gustav Lindström (Gustav was the name of many swedish kings. Lindström is commonly used, I think.)

Switzerland= Noah Schweizer (Noah is commonly used in all the cantons, the surname has a german sound);

Turkey= Sadık Adnan (Almost the same. The name is written in turkish)

IF ANYONE HAS ANYTHING TO SAY/ADD/ERASE/CORRECT PLEASE, YOU’RE WELCOME! I’D LOVE YOUR HELP. DISCLAIMER! The post will be updated every time if needed.

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roderich-edelfine · 7 years

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2p!Austria headcanons

-2p!Austria went under many different aliases for the first nine centuries of his life, mainly as a means of escape if the going got tough. After settling down in the 20th century, and later meeting 1p!Austria, he decided that 'Roderich’ wasn’t such a bad name and went with something similar, calling himself ‘Heinrich’. He's done pretty well without a surname so far and has no plans to adopt one.

-Heinrich detests anything to do with government. He gives off an anarchistic impression but his actual attitude is somewhat milder, more like ‘just let me be…’ Even so, he is in fact genuinely concerned for humanity, the only reason why his bosses haven’t banned him from national duties.

-He is a loner. Heinrich is an incomprehensible soul to Roderich, who in contrast needs constant affirmation and companionship.

-Both Roderich and Heinrich have near-identical faces, except for Heinrich’s mole being above his left cheekbone and a subtle mad glint in his eyes. They also have identical silhouettes but under the clothes, Heinrich is more toned, extremely strong despite his slim build and heals injuries faster. He’s defeated 1p!Gilbert in every arm wrestling match and can even take on 1p!Ivan in unarmed combat. He is no match for 2p!Ivan though.

-He will do tasks quickly and efficiently if he’s decided that they’re worth his effort. He is impatient and unsympathetic with those who procrastinate.

- He’ll politely decline sex out of genuine disinterest. It doesn’t stop people from being obnoxiously persistent though.

-Unlike Roderich, Heinrich spends minimal time angsting over his appearance. He keeps his hair just above shoulder length. Only when it starts brushing against his shoulders and irritating him does he remember to hack at it with craft scissors (why…). Otherwise his hair is ignored.

-He can’t grow a beard or body hair, similar to 1p!Austria. This is a matter of disappointment to Heinrich, as his childhood aspiration was to grow a full beard to complement a rugged, burly look. Puberty achieved neither of these things.

-He is a lifelong lover of classical music like Roderich though he also has a very even spread of preference across genres. You’re just as likely to find him at the piano playing Mozart as it is to find him rocking out to Trackshittaz.

-Heinrich accidentally cloned himself while pottering about in his top-secret lab in the Alps and kept the foetus in storage, just in case. Of course, Heinrich being Heinrich, he later added extra modifications to this clone, some being resistance to animal toxins, tolerance of temperature extremes, and an innate empathy with wildlife. He ultimately had no personal use for the clone and ended up 'gifting’ him to 2p!Australia’s government to nominate as their new nation-tan.

-His wardrobe is frankly dull. Button-up shirts, slacks, plain woollen jumpers, lace-up leather work boots. Sometimes he forgets to take off his lab coat after work. Comments about his appearance (not that he cares) are often about how he ‘could do better with a figure that nice’. He doesn’t wear glasses.

-What he lacks in boisterous fashion sense, he makes up for in boisterous personality. His pastime is burning people with stinging one-liners. Think Malcolm Tucker from ‘The Thick of It’ but with less cussing.

-His accent is similar to Roderich’s Viennese German. Heinrich’s vocabulary is very clean in relation to Roderich, who doesn’t mind the occasional cuss if really necessary. Heinrich does. not. swear. Since it has more to do with the challenge of a restricted vocabulary and not out of prudishness, he isn’t above talking about vulgar topics only using milder terms.

-He regularly recounts outlandish, implausible tales about ridiculous stuff he’s done or witnessed. Most people dismiss them as being mere fictions but he confessed that all of them are true to the word except one. He hasn’t specified which…

-He is happily married to a human and has many children. Or not. Might be that odd story out.

#2p!austria #roderich edelstein #APH Austria #hetalia #2p!hetalia #Headcanon #2p!heinrich #eycsnow’s hc

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cookies-hetaoni · 7 years

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(1)Hey I was curious, why did you give song jin a monosyllabic given name? (btw its written in the eastern order, right? With the first character, song as the surname?) I mean you obviously put a lot of thought into names. Nowadays, it's mostly two character given names (esp my gen), but I believe the ratio varied through history, so both are equally valid, it's just I realised Chinese given names tend to be monosyllabic in the hetalia Fandom. Eg China, Taiwan and most 2ps/nyo names.

(2) so I was curious if you had any particular reason for choosing that, and if you know why it is so overwhelmingly monosyllabic in the hetalia fandom? Also, great and thoughtful design, good job, as always! (I wondered why the leg wrapping thing, puttee(?) is yellow, but a quick search proved that I was just too used to seeing white ones) - noitasilivicWait what. I was looking at their full body portrait thingy, and. just realised that in it, loup holds up 3 fingers, and iggy holds up 2, ie their number, and I thought I was on to something, BUT igor breaks the pattern with 5 fingers instead of 8, god damnit why, was it intentional or just a coincidence?????? - noitasilivic

---

(adm: Yes, Song is his surname, Jin is his first! I especially wanted to give him a monosyllabic name because of “Wang Yao”. I tried to name all of my 2Ps something that would sound like the original names, yet had absolutely nothing to do with them. That’s something really hard to do, so I’m not sure I was successful in doing that with Ignatius Oleander/Arthur Kirkland, Igor Smirnov/Ivan Braginsky and Francis Bonnefoy/Loup Dubois, but I guess that was the best I could do having such little time to find a good name for them XD Song Jin/Wang Yao, however, have the same amount of letters/syllables, and that’s one of the things I was aiming for. I don’t know the reason why the fandom prefers short names or China, I’m just guessing it sound cooler? LOL because it totally does to me!Thank you for the compliment!! Yeah, I was going to make them white as they are usually seen, but thinking a little more about his character [and his own name, to be honest, since “Jin” means “gold”, I decided to make them yellow.

If you look closely, Igor is indeed showing just 5 fingers, but he has them close to the three pieces in his headphones, so you can count them in!)

#noitasilivic #ask #reply #Anonymous

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vetto17-teo11-andme · 7 years

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Ivan Zaytsev, saved by a blonde

The interview to the Tsar of volley, on the field “all strength, grit and ignorance. Outside a laziness champion.”

On his knees, open hands, a scream. One [scream] of the one he gave us during the five days at Rio, when the Azure volley conquered all the boot [Italy]. That’s the grit of Ivan Zaytsev, lent this time for a shooting at adidas, of which from last November he’s a testimonial. The shoot, then his voice. «Lemme know if I have to be madder!» Because then in the end, he says, that behavior in the field is partially fake. Or better, it stays in the nine meters under the net where the Tsar created his reign, but going out of the perimeter [of the field] he turns to be just Ivan, almost a quiet guy. «Summing up» - he says - on the field I’m talent, strength, fisique and ignorance, while outside I consider myself a solitary person, sometimes even really lazy.» Class 1988, two meters and four centimeters of height and an arm that is a cannon. After two years playing in Russia, he came back to Italy, at Perugia where he trains plays and be a dad for the little Sasha (and let’s also put some VIP’s jobs). Son of the Russian volley player Vjačeslav Zajctev [TN: don’t know why they translated the surname like this] and of the swimmer Irina Pozdnjakova, he made himself known for his grit and his so eccentric crests… «MY hair represents my mood. I do it for myself, the show confidence even if in reality my relationship with them is particular, strange. Maybe because every cut is temporary, I need that in that moment and then I cut everything.»

Let me understand, if you cut everything it means you’re calm, high crest we need to be scared?

«No, come on, it’s not so immediate. Let’s say that a particularly eccentric crest gives me a different strength.»

And do your teammates understand your mood from your hair? Did you ever fought with one of them?

«Let’s say that once it happened that I had to hold my tongue, but I would have gladly broke his face… stop. I’m not saying anything else. But never in Italy. A few words to the wise.»

So, what you can say us about Russia?

«So… It’s really where I didn’t want to go (laughs)! Let’s change topic?

Now in Italy everyone know you. Do you feel the responsibility of being a public character?

«No not at all, I would dedicate more time to the people that come see us, but it’s really difficult.»

Talking about responsibility, when you got in Russia you had a name when can define important…

«Uncomfortable maybe. My dad was voted as the “player of the century” in Russia, it’s normal that everyone was curious. The fact of being “son of”, I took it away when I was 19, when I changed role. The Soviet sport mentality imposes that the son has to follow his father’s footprints, not only in choosing the sport, but also in the role: he was a setter, so I would have also been one. With him I always just talked about volley, before and after the trainings and he kept telling me “Set, set”. Image the trauma he had when I decided to follow my instinct, the passion and become an hitter. A choice that created quite tensions between me and him, but at the same time it freed me from the weight of his inheritance. I created my path and my career. Now I don’t feel it anymore.»

How was the life with him?

«It all moved around volley. For some time, in the Perugia juniores, he was also my coach and I remember it as a terrible period. He “destroyed” me, I was always mocked, far from being the daddy’s favorite. I played in the first team because I was quite good, but everything I did I earned it, no-one ever gave me anything.»

What do you remember about him in that period?

«He was not a character you could laugh about, always really frank and direct, maybe too much and that isn’t liked in Russia where you have to know how to move really well. He was a great player, but as a coach he didn’t had the same fame because he didn’t made compromises. This side of his character, I got it a lot but I also inherited it: let’s say that the “politic-ish” doesn’t belong to me.»

And how does he handle being a grandfather?

«He’s super good. He softened a lot, with Sasha he’s really awesome.»

And your mother?

«Mom is also an ex sportswoman, but differently to my father she’s a weaker character, meeker. That’s the only thing I accuse her of, even if I consider her the great woman that managed to raise all alone an healty and beautiful family, since her husband often traveled around the world. She’s super connected to me, maybe too much. Even if now my parents are not together anymore, she stayed anchored to the volley world, the one she followed when she was with my father, and now with me. She lives in Russia and when I played here she followed me everywhere. “Do you get that I always had my mom in tribune”? I’m not even remotely a mommy’s boy and sometimes I’m sad I can’t give her everything she wants.»

Are you a single child?

«No, I have a elder sister, 13 years more than me, called Anna born in Moscow. She was a tennis player, but she didn’t lived the same pressure I had.»

What did you get after your father and what after your mother?

«From my father I took the honesty in the words, in being true. From my mother the well manners, the respect for people.»

And you today with your little Sasha, what kind of father are you?

«My life changed a lot, I understood more my parents, all the sacrifices they made for me. Becoming father made me responsible and gave me the chance to being more concrete and responsible. With Sasha I’m like every father: I spoil him! Every time I’m home he forgets about mom and plays only with me. He already learned how to move, to spike. For the summer I’ll buy him a basket case! I’m joking, he’ll be free to do what he wants, volley player, chef…»

And your wife Ashling?

«She’s extraordinary in and for all, a really wasted brain to being only a mother. Decisive, tough… She doesn’t get a shit wrong! This thing let me think less and relying a lot on her. When I have a doubt, I don’t even connect my brain, I follow what she says.»

How did she came in your life?

«I was living my rebellious, crazy phase. I was twenty, I came to Rome, away from the family. I lost myself in nights, drinking, friends and disco so much that my pay check wasn’t enough, I didn’t give up on nothing. Then there was the meeting with “the blonde”, in the beginning just a relationship without any kind of effort. The change came when, the summer we were knowing each other, I had to go and went to see a girl in the south and Ashling called me saying, “If you go you’ll never see me again”. I didn’t went and if I had the possibility to go back, I would do it again an hundred times.»

#Ivan Zaytsev #interview #translated #my translation #sorry for being so late iza but here you go #Italy nt

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shortlivedplaces · 5 years

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The Faranda Project

My favourite class at UEM is Design Management. This is due to the professor, Oyer Ivan Corazon. His surname translates to heart in English and I haven’t heard of anything more fitting. His father designed the logo for the Renfe trains in spain alongside many other museum logos for some of Spains most prestigious and well known institutions. His father passed down his design skills to him and this shines through him during our time in classes. He puts his heart into his work as a designer and as a professor. He is very forward thinking and uses technologies (Design and Organisational programs) from his office in University. I find this very helpful as it gives me an insight into the tools used in industry. He also works with us as an office, it’s very similar to an industry environment. I like this as I feel I am being prepared for when I graduate or when I finish higher education weather that be a masters, by studying under him. He introduced us to his company DMO and showed us exactly what they do and how they work. He designs not only logos and type face but he rebrands companies and uses design thinking techniques to improve companies visual image but also the working aspects of a company, business or organisation. He introduced us to his success stories and in the first few classes he discusses exactly how he did it, showing us all the resources he used. I felt like I was an intern and student. I love this combination as I went on ERASMUS after applying for Design roles with various UK companies. I was stuck between wanting to undertake an international experience and a UK work placement. I felt a lot of anxiety due to family or friends always questioning my future in the Design Industry. I ended up putting a lot of pressure on myself to prove myself by obtaining a placement, I wanted a certain type of placement which was very difficult to obtain. Thankfully I chose ERASMUS and due to this I met Oyer, who does the exact job in the exact working set up and environment that I desire. I managed to get some short experience as a Designer in a Graphic Design and Design Thinking office last summer, I loved the experience but it was short lived. Meeting Oyer and attending his classes allowed me to get industry style experience in an academic setting, it was perfect. I could undertake an international experience, gaining skills in communication and cultural competence whilst directly developing my career by getting the Industry Experience under my belt. We began working on The Faranda Project. A friend in class’ family owns a very popular hotel branch in Spain and Colombia. Many of the hotels are doing very well however the one nearest to the University in Madrid was declining and had many issues. Our job was to identify the issues, use design thinking techniques to solve them and present our overall design and rebranding proposal to his family. Who could choose to make it happen- if they like our ideas. Throughout the project I learned many things. Initially we had to learn to communicate as a team of multinationals of different ages we all used our differences to our advantage. Design Thinking involves offering many opinions and putting them on the table for discussion. We became effective communicators and met up outside of class/ office to take the project further and keep on top of it. I developed organisational skills and I was introduced to a program used to share information between clients and designers on our timetables/ work patterns and organisation. It was and still is very a very helpful tool and I can imagine using it to organise myself both at University and in any office I work in after graduating as a designer. We then learnt about research techniques and methods. We had to collect customer research to really understand the people who will be using the hotel service so we can design and tailor experiences around them! Primary research we decided was best in the form of interviews. We all had to interview a range of people men and women between the ages of 21-35. We wanted young professionals to dominate the hotels clientele and set out to design around them yet keep in mind the entire range of clients that frequent the hotel. I chose to visit Google Campus Madrid to interview 3 people. We each had a goal of 3 people each and after arriving and at google campus my first obstacle was to gain member access. I spoke to the security desk and explained my role as a student and young designer. I said I would like to conduct 3 short interviews in this free working space to any young professionals who agree! He let me in after discussing the rules of the working space with me. I had my pass and I was in! Google Campus was the best working environment I had been to. The environment was perfectly designed to optimise productivity, collaboration and creative thinking. But more on that later. I sat down at a comfortable desk over looking most of the room. I then began to observe the room to find my 3 young professionals. I was incredibly anxious, I had to locate English speakers in a room of loud chatter and I felt very nervous to interrupt someone’s day of working/ productive time. I had been told that people here were very forward thinking and friendly and that they are often happy to chat and make new friends and connections. This is the purpose of the space. I swallowed my nerves and spoke with 3 people: One American school teacher working in Madrid teaching English, a stand up comedian from Canada and one English speaking Spanish man working in Technology. I felt I had a great range of people to use for research but I also felt really proud of myself for pushing myself out of my comfort zone and speaking to strangers. I felt a surge of accomplishment and self confidence afterwards. The experience grew my self confidence and ability to conduct professional research and have conversations with strangers. I tackled aspects of anxiety that hold me back- meeting and taking new people head on. I learnt that sometimes it’s head on experiences that help you over come irrational fears and grow you as a person. I then used this information in my research and after thinking about it realised that undertaking research techniques now will help prepare me greatly for my dissertation in third year. So far the hotel project has offered me so much to learn and is proving to be a experience to gain much from.

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