betrayedbycinnamon

[betrayedbycinnamon]

How to Use Russian Names. Instruction for Marvel Studios

#1. Do not use OFF in Russian surnames.

The use of the suffix -off instead of -ov/ova in Russian surnames is an outdated form of French transliteration.

It was used in the 19th and early 20th centuries by Russian emigrants in Europe and the United States, but is no longer used (yes, for several decades now). So unless the character comes from a family that immigrated due to the Russian Revolution (1917–23) or earlier, giving them -off instead of ov/ova doesn't make sense.

How these Russian surnames actually work: there are a few different suffixes in Russian surnames. The most common are -in/ina (e.g. Kalinin/Kalinina) and -ov/ova (e.g. Smirnov/Smirnova). Why two options for each: in Russian, words change according to gender. So typical Russian surnames (with the aforementioned suffixes) have options for each traditional gender: ov/in for males and ova/ina for females.

Example: Natasha Romanoff shouldn't be a Romanoff at all. She's not from a family of immigrants who came to the United States in 1918. She was born in Russia. Her legal last name on her birth certificate is "Romanova." That's her correct last name.

P.S. No, there is no information that she officially changed her name after defecting from the Red Room. This is simply a gap in the knowledge of people working at Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios. It is long overdue for this error to be corrected. Also note that Yelena's last name is Belova, not Beloff.

The same applies to another victim of this absurdity - Melina Vostokoff. She is Vostokova.

What about other suffixes that we see in Russian characters? They are also used, but less common and usually indicate foreign origin (for example, -ko indicates Ukrainian origin), and some of them are not gender differentiated.

By the way, "Vanko" is a made-up name derived from the Russian name "Ivan" that is overused in the US. It sounds weird to a Russian speaker. Please, don't make up names. At least Google the real ones.

#2. Use short names.

Yelena Belova, Alexei Shostakov... They are always called by their full names: "Yelena" and "Alexei". Even among family and friends.

In the real world it would not be like this. In Eastern Europe, people use shortened versions of names more often than full ones. "Natasha" is a "shortened" version of "Natalia". It is not a different name. The same applies to Yelena. The shortened version of the name is "Lena". This is what her friends and family would call her. Or those who do not respect her very much, like Dreykov. Alexei's shortened name is "Lyosha" (Melina would call him this) or "Lekha" (his male pals would most likely use this version).

By the way, Marvel put the stress in the name "Alexei" incorrectly. It's not AlExei, it's AlexEi.

Here are other variations of the name Natasha that can be used: "Nat", "Nata", "Natalie", "Natashka".

For Yelena: "Lenka", "Lenochka".

But be careful when using versions whose specifics you are not familiar with.

In addition: in official settings among Russians, patronymics are used. For example, Ivan Antonovich Vanko or Natalia Alianovna Romanova (by the way, Alian is also not a real Russian name).

P.S. Natasha's real father's name was Ivan, so it would be more correct to use Natalia Ivanovna Romanova and forget about this terrible "Alian".

#3. Learn surnames other than those of famous people.

It's not only Marvel's issue, but of other companies too (recall Chekov from Star Trek, for example).

Stop using names like Rasputin, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Lermontov, etc. for Russian characters in movies. When Russian speakers hear these names, they think they are watching, for example, Russian mafia AU with famous writers of the 19th-20th centuries. It's just ridiculous. These are not common Russian names. Google more common ones, those that gang members might have (but try to avoid the most common, like Ivanov, because they are overused).

And no, changing one letter won't fix it.

#4. Avoid rare and foreign names.

Marvel uses too many names for Russian characters that aren't actually Russian. Often they're made up or so rare that you'd never hear them in the country itself.

I have already mentioned a few made-up names, such as Vanko or Alian. Illyana is another one (the mutant Magik). Names like Melina or Antonia are real, but not of Russian origin and are not commonly used in Russia (instead, there are local versions of them, such as "Antonina").

In conclusion: I don't really understand how these mistakes came about. It's not that there weren't enough Russians in the States to ask how to use elements specific to a particular country in comics and movies. Rather, it's the abundance of indifference and laziness. Remember, it's always better to ask an expert for help than to do simple things wrong and make a fool of yourself.

[betrayedbycinnamon]

#12 a trope you’re really into right now

Forever fake dating/marriage -> real relationship. I could read that all day long. The pining, mutual misunderstandings, missed communication. The realization that maybe they really can have it? Delicious.

[betrayedbycinnamon]

-despite everything, there is still love

@arthoesunshine/ @artsheila/ @daisies-on-a-cup/ @gayarsonist / @hjarta/ @yunawinter on twitter/ @bakwaaas/ @death-born-aphrodite/ anon on gentleearth/ @classicnymph on twitter

[betrayedbycinnamon]

Jasmine for President.

Republicans shut down the whole House for a month and a half.

All to give the rapist more time to pardon fellow rapist and sex trafficker.

[betrayedbycinnamon]

never forget your roots

fanfiction.net before they removed the NC-17 stories

going to fanfiction.net at all

going to adultfanfiction.net in the fallout of the great “purge”

figuring out that ain’t nobody actually monitoring NC-17 stories there anyway so just rate it “M”

“please R&R! concrit appreciated!”

warning: lemon

though it may be more on the limey side of lemon

“summary sux just read it”

replying to reviews in the author’s notes

author’s notes in which the characters talk to each other and the author

[betrayedbycinnamon]

you dumb dumbs don't need AI to come up with ideas, you just need a husband who's had 2 glasses of wine and an innate desire to make you happy.

[betrayedbycinnamon]

The reason why I get so worked up over the whole "not all doms are service doms" thing is that the common assumption that all doms are service doms leads to some dire miscommunication around scenes. I always tell subs I'm about to play with that I am not a service dom because it means that they will, often for the first time in their lives, ask me what my desires, needs, and fantasies are as a dom, rather than assume that my fantasy is whatever makes them happy. Doms are not pez dispensers of whatever it is a sub finds sexiest. Even service doms aren't; they have boundaries, too.

[betrayedbycinnamon]

Hes just so silly yunno?

Lines and sketch under cut

[betrayedbycinnamon]

If ANY of yall EVER do this shit to me, im deleting every single fic out of spite.

If I ever catch one of yall doing this to another author and I know youre a follower of my work I will block you personally on every platform

None of yall are the fic police. I DESPISE genai. I think its an insult to art, humanity, and the planet itself. But aint not a single fucking person here qualified to pick apart a strangers fic looking for a gotcha moment to make yourselves feel superior. If you think something is ai you can ask the author (most are proud of the ai use and will just tell you straight up) if they say yes you have your answer and can warn people. If they say no and you dont believe them you block and quietly keep it between you and maybe a close group of friends. Spreading misinformation is DANGEROUS. And NONE of you doing this shit are anywhere near qualified to do it.

THIS GOES DOUBLY FOR ARTISTS.

[betrayedbycinnamon]

@tommytuesday

in which moth goes its own way with a catfic 😅😅

Tomcat

Tommy counts to 10. He counts to 20. He’s inching towards 50 when the cat brushes against his legs and he’s absolutely grateful he’s in long pants and sleeves tonight. He bends down and carefully scoops Tomtom into his arms, huffing at the weight of him. The feral beast purrs and snuggles into his chest.

[betrayedbycinnamon]

Recently discovered, fully by accident, that the trick to feeling like you have more time in the day is to actually do shit with the time that's there, which seems fake and wrong and it's frankly infuriating that it works >:|

[betrayedbycinnamon]

Andrea Velez, a US citizen, was arrested in the time it took her mother to drive less than a block. She was on her way to work. She’s Latina. It appears that was enough. Tuesday morning, Andrea Velez’s mom and sister dropped her off near her workplace. She’s a production coordinator at Top Pick Global. Andrea graduated with a degree in fashion from Cal Poly Pomona. Near Andrea’s work, an ICE raid was taking place. In fact, someone had called the LAPD to say a “kidnapping” was taking place. The LAPD showed up, saw it was an immigration raid — LAPD is not permitted to assist ICE in immigration raids — and immediately switched to crowd control, making sure people weren’t in the street and so on. As Andrea walked toward her place of employment, she says she looked up and saw an ICE agent barreling toward her. In the flash of thoughts that went through her mind, she thought maybe she was being targeted for the color of her skin, that maybe he thought she was not a US citizen. She instinctively held up her bag and the agent bowled into her. Her mother — they hadn’t even made it a block away yet — looked in the rear view mirror and saw the plainclothes ICE agents standing over her daughter and putting her in cuffs. “They’re kidnapping your sister,” she said. Andrea tried to get the LAPD to help, and so did her mother and sister. According to her mother and other witnesses, no one ever asked Andrea for ID or asked about her status. The police didn’t help, even when Andrea’s mother was screaming she was a US citizen. In fact, according to some witnesses, they moved to stand around Andrea to make it more difficult to film what was happening. For the first 24 hours, her family couldn’t find Andrea. They didn’t know where she had been taken or what was happening. They hired lawyers who managed to find her, but no one would tell them what she was being charged with, only that she would likely face federal charges. DHS publicly said she would be charged with “assaulting an officer.” When they got to court yesterday, ICE lawyers downgraded that to “obstructing” an officer. An ICE officer claimed that Andrea purposely stepped in his way and raised both of her arms to stop him from going after someone he was trying to arrest. Witnesses tell the story the way Andrea does: an ICE agent approached her, knocked her down, then arrested her without asking any questions about her status or identity. Andrea, her lawyer, her mother and sister all have the same theory: during an ICE raid an ICE agent saw a Latina and scooped her up because of the color of her skin, and had to invent another reason once it was discovered she was a US citizen, born and raised in Los Angeles. Andrea was released on a 5k bond yesterday.

Immigration officers have recently taken to arresting Latino and Hispanic US citizens on raids and claiming obstruction or assault, only to release them a few days later, sometimes without charges. On June 12th, for instance, Brian Gavidia walked outside his work and saw immigration officers. He told them he was a US citizen and showed them his Real ID. They pushed him up against a fence and started asking him questions like “What hospital were you born in.” DHS later said he had “assaulted an officer” -- video evidence does not back this up -- but they didn’t charge him. Or return his ID. (A common pattern: DHS will say something like this on social media, but not in court. It appears to be a PR stunt, not any attempt at communicating something true or legally actionable.) When CNN reached out to DHS on this one they added that Brian “attempted to flee” as well, which is remarkable given that he’s a US citizen who literally just stepped outside his place of work. Adrian Martinez, 20, had a run-in with Border Patrol on his break at WalMart. It sounds like — this is unclear — he tried to obstruct a BP vehicle that held one of his friends from work. Border Patrol agents grabbed him and claim that he punched one of them. Of course, a nearby bystander was recording and there is no evidence of a punch. And Border Patrol went on to say that Adrian was a “hostile group” of men, which is weird because he’s one guy… unless they are counting Oscar Preciado, the delivery driver who stood nearby and videoed the whole thing. Neither Oscar’s video nor surveillance cameras that caught the entire event show a punch. Border Patrol says that the complete videos “are missing critical moments and don’t tell the whole story.” But after holding Adrian for THREE DAYS they also dropped the assault charge. Because, as Adrian’s lawyer said, “He didn’t assault anyone.” They’re now charging him with “conspiracy to impede or injure an officer” which his lawyer calls “trumped up” charges. ICE has claimed that upwards of 70% of those they arrest are “serious criminals” but their own statistics tell a different story. In the most recent ICE stats publicly released:

75% of people in ICE private prisons have nothing more than an immigration related issue or a traffic violation

47% of those being held by ICE have no criminal conviction at all… no criminal immigration violation, traffic violation, or criminal charge of any kind.

Would you like to guess the percentage of “serious criminals” who are being held by ICE? We’ve been told over and over that we’re after the “worst of the worst” so I suspect it must be an impressive number. And that number is: NINE PERCENT. It certainly appears that the enormous daily quota for arrests is encouraging quantity arrests rather than quality arrests. Arresting a US citizen, even if you have to release them a few days later, counts toward the arrest. Arresting a tourist at the border rather than refusing them entry counts toward the quota. Arresting people at their green card interviews, tricking immigrants without lawyers into giving up their asylum claims and immediately arresting them once they agree, these all count toward the quota. Some key takeaways:

Don’t call the police expecting help during an immigration raid. Even in states like California, where they are not legally allow to assist federal immigration forces, they also are unlikely to step in and help US citizens or others being abused. Best case scenario: they do some crowd control.

ICE and other immigration forces are not afraid to arrest US citizens (and others) on trumped up charges, hold people, and release them later. There’s literally no consequences for them as individuals or corporately.

It is ICE policy to lie. This is not an exaggeration. They call it a “ruse.” ICE agents aren’t just allowed to lie, they are encouraged to do so and trained to do so. ICE agents are trained to trick and confuse people. Andrea Velez, a US citizen, was arrested in the time it took her mother to drive less than a block. She was on her way to work. She’s Latina. It appears that was enough. (x)

[betrayedbycinnamon]

Ironically, hard light is bad for recording sexy time.

It will highlight every pore, every vein, every wrinkle on your nutsack.

One day I will end this ring light fad. It is my ultimate side quest.

[betrayedbycinnamon]

mormons undoubtedly in the top 5 worst things the united states has ever invented which is really saying something

[betrayedbycinnamon]

if you don't know how to end a written work you should be able to just let the words fade out like an 80s song and not resolve anything for the reader

[betrayedbycinnamon]

Ten 1st Lines

Instructions: post the first line of the last ten things you posted and tag ten (or however many) more people to play.

Tagged by @returnofbogmoth

Bucky’s fist was clenched in the fabric of Clint’s shirt, twisting and drawing the hem taut as he used it as leverage to pull him to eye level. Opus 76 (bet)

It was an ongoing joke between them. Opus 75 (Cellist)

Clint wouldn’t let Bucky near him the first time he shifted. Opus 33, No. 2 (adjusting)

Clint and Natasha managed to give the pertinent information without exposing the exact details of a Clint’s situation. Opus 35; No. 8, in Whump. Movement 3 (getting home) [from chapter 9, 1st chap was posted last year lol)

Clint walked into the room and flipped on the light. Opus 74 (Catatonia)

Bucky was zoned out in front of his television. Opus 29; No 2 (midnight baking sequel)

“Hey! I was gonna eat that!” Bucky exclaimed when he caught Clint clutching the container with his leftovers to his chest, and shoveling them into his mouth as fast as he could chew. Chapter 13 of Tumblr collected works

Clint rolled his neck and shoulders a little. Opus 73 (Exhibitionism)

Bucky heard Clint’s phone ringing in the other room and heard him answer it casually. Opus 72 (tag roulette)

Drip Opus 71 (Musical Mayhem)

also, tell me why i'm collecting these and thinking, man I haven't been writing/posting much lately, but the oldest one is from 2Jun? My sense of time is being screwy.

[betrayedbycinnamon]

So the AI ask wasn't spam. I'd highly encourage you to do some research into how AI actually works, because it is neither particularly harmful to the environment, nor is it actually plagiarism.

Ignoring all of that however, my issue is that, fine, if you don't like AI, whatever. But people get so vitriolic about it. Regardless of your opinions on if it's valid art, your blog is usually a very positive place. It was kind of shocking to see you post something saying "fuck you if you disagree with me, your're a disgrace to the community." Just felt uncharacteristicly mean.

Even if you insist AI isn’t actively harmful to the environment or other writers (and the research I have done suggests it is, feel free to send me additional reading) and you simply MUST use prompts to generate personal content, nobody has any business posting it in a creative space for authors, which was the specific complaint addressed in that original post. While I’ll never say “fuck you for who you are as a person” on this blog, I might very well say “fuck you for harmful or rude actions you’ve taken willingly,” which is what that post was about.

Ao3 and similar platforms are designed as an archive for fan content and not a personal storage place for AI prompt results. It is simply not an appropriate place. If you look in the notes of the previous ask you will see other people have brought up additional reasons they have concerns about this practice.

A note on environmental effects for those who might not know: Generative AI requires MASSIVE amounts of data computers operating. As anyone who has held a laptop in their lap or run Civ VII on an aging desktop computer, computer équipement generates a lot of heat. Even some home and small-industrial computers have water-cooling systems. The amount of water demanded by AI computers is massive, even as parts of the world (even in America) experience water shortages. Besides this, it consumes a lot of power. The rising demand for AI and the improvements demanded to keep it viable mean this problem will continue to scale up rather than improve. Of course, those who benefit from the use of AI continue to downplay these concerns, and money is being funneled into convincing the public that these are not real concerns.

I have been openly against the use of generative AI, especially for art and writing, since its popularity rose in the last couple years. I’m sorry I wasn’t clearer about this stance sooner. I have asked my followers to alert me if I proliferate or share AI content, and continue to do so.