#also i enjoyed drawing a curly hair harley

[summersofsalt]

girlfriends :)

[mist-sly]

Sing of the moon

Chapter One: Coffee talks

This is a Wolfstar MMA AU that's on AO3 that I have been writing. However I'm gonna start posting it on here too because its easier for me to kept track of what I wrote. Any ways Hope you enjoy!

It was the biggest fight of the year. The middle-weight title on the line. Millions of people watching around the world. The champ, Sirius Black facing one of his biggest rivals, Severus Snape. It was a long overdue fight, the two constantly targeting each other on social media and making comments to the press.

The hype had been real. Every press conference was another layer of added tension and anticipation to the fight. No one wanted to miss it. Sirius was athletic and had every technique known to fighting in his arsenal. A predictable fight many had said. Others argued that Snape’s slippery, submission style could be enough to beat the champ.

Either way, it had drawn the attention of everyone. Even those who shied away from the bright lights of UFC. It lured those who lived in the shadows of the fighting scene.

A large flat screen TV had been set up in the old underground stadium. A crowd of fighters all gathered round to watch, each one sitting on some old create or broken chair. “Its not looking good for him wolfy,” said a teenager with dyed grey hair. He was sitting cross legged on the floor. The TV screen reflecting of his blue eyes. “Ill say. Every punch Black is receiving is drawing blood,” a big, bulky red-haired man said. He scratched at his beard and looked over to his left staring at the young man who was sitting back on the old, patchy red couch. The young man’s eyes darted around the screen, zoning in to one thing specifically as Snape aimed a body shot. “You see something, don’t you wolfy.” The other fighters dragged their eyes away from the screen to look at the young man.

Remus Lupin sat forwards, his elbows resting on his thighs, his hands covering his mouth and nose as he stared at the TV. Remus’s golden amber eyes narrowed right as Snape connect a light jab to Sirius face. He watched as a small cut formed on the champ’s cheek, drawing blood. He drew his hands away from his face showing his frown.

“There’s always something with an opponent like Snape,” he said in a low voice. The camera angle changed on the screen. A close up of Sirius’s face, enlarged for everyone to see. One eye was swollen shut, the other turning a mix of blue and purple. You could not see where cuts began, and trails of blood ended.

This should not have been the outcome. A total of three rounds the fight went on for. Thirteen minutes and a gory scene that would make any viewer feel sick. Three minutes into the third round and it was over. The champ got hit and did not get back up. The group of fighters where quiet. This should not have been the outcome.

However, everything happens for reason.

~

It had been exactly thirty-seven days since he lost. Thirty-seven days of thinking how? How did he lose that fight? Sirius had gone through it a thousand and one times in his head. He was quicker than Snape. Had a harder punch than Snape and was far more intelligent when it came to thinking on his feet?

Sirius shook his head to rid him off the thoughts. He was on his daily run to clear his head, not bring back more memory’s and questions. He stopped, his breaths heavy, panting as he ran a hand through his incredibly dark locks of hair. “Shit,” he muttered as he looked around. The area was unfamiliar to him. Small shops and old building surrounding the street he had just came down. Clearly it was in the more run-down part of Gryffindor. Sirius didn’t even know there was a run-down part of Gryffindor.

He spotted a small coffee shop further on down the street. A few people where sitting outside it but other than that, the street was relatively quiet.

A bell rang over head as he entered. The smell of coffee and baked goods immediately hitting him like a bus. It was warm inside, a delightful change from the nippy autumn air outside. The walls were painted a vibrant orange, the furniture looking old giving the whole coffee shop a warm and vintage feel.

“Hi, what can I get you?” asked a girl behind the counter. She had long, flowing red hair and beautiful green eyes. A sweet and pleasant smile on her face. “Sorry, I’m a bit lost. Could you tell me how to get to the upper side oh and a coffee, black?” he asked the girl.

The girl snorted turning away from him. “An up sider? How did you end up down here?” the girl asked as she started to brew a fresh pot of coffee. “Went for a run, got lost in my head.” Sirius give the girl a smirk as she looked over at him. Her eyes travelled up and down his body, taking in his appearance.

“Guess that explains why your sweaty. What about the bruises?” she asked staring at the faint mix of yellow and brown that covered half his face. Sirius smirk dropped. The girl knew she struct a nerve but before she could apologise, the bell above the door went again.

“Hey Lils. Can I get the regular for the trio and a peppermint tea for me?” Said a young man who walked towards Sirius. Tall, Sirius first thought upon seeing him. Skinny too. He watched as the young man walked towards him. His hair was curly, a caramel brown colour that Sirius doesn’t think he has ever seen before. He wore an old orange jumper that had seen better days and a pair of grey sweats that were rolled up at his ankles. Sirius looked at the bottom on his sweats surprised, surly no one that tall would need to roll up their cloths.

The young man nodded at Sirius before standing beside him at the counter. “Three sugars wolfy?” the girl, ‘Lils’, asked. The young man nodded.

It was quiet after that. The sound of coffee machines running and ‘Lils’ humming echoing around the small coffee shop.

“Here you go Up sider. One Back coffee to go.” The girl slid the coffee over to Sirius before scribbling something down on a piece of paper. “Up sider?” The man asked suddenly. Sirius looked over at him. His amber eyes sparling with curiously as he looked at Sirius.

It was now that Sirius got a good look at the young man. He had handsome features, that was for sure. He had a nice jawline, not to strong and not to soft. Freckles littered his face likes stars in the night sky. He has long eyelashes that seemed to make his amber eyes brighter.

He would have looked soft, too soft, if it weren’t for the scars on his face. He had one across the bridge of his nose and another one on his left cheek going down to his jawline. The young man had a fresh cut above his right eye that was bruised.

However, as Sirius looked at the man, the man also looked at Sirius. That was not good in Sirius’s head. The last thing he needed, was for the media to know where he is.

“You shouldn’t have lost your fight,” the young man said bluntly as Lils set the piece of paper down with directions in front of Sirius. The statement had taken Sirius by surprise. So, the guy knew him, that was great but to say something like that irritated Sirius. He didn’t see Mr tall and skinny facing a world class fighter like Snape.

“Excuse me. I’d like to see yo-“Sirius started only to be cut off by the young man saying, “Snape’s gloves were loaded.” Sirius blinked at the man, “tampered with,” he added in case Sirius didn’t understand.

Sirius couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Who the hell was this guy? Some losers who clearly knows nothing. Sirius took a deep breath and looked at the man. “Look. I’m not sure how much you know after fighting but official gloves have to be worn, not to mention that the gloves got checked and nothing was off with either one.”

The man however kept looking at Sirius with those amber eyes. “That wouldn’t necessarily matter. There’s always ways around the system.” He shrugged. Sirius could feel the laughter starting to bubble in him stomach again. “Ok then. Enlighten me, how were the gloves tampered with?” The man narrowed his eyes, a darker look falling over his once soft face. “A layer of padding was taken out of the gloves. That would have been obvious if they had not replaced it with something else. That other layer would have had to been roughly the same weight as the padding. My guess is that they used soft cast.” Sirius snorted.

Sirius knew what soft cast was. What fighter didn’t? It was an old scandal back in the day with a boxer. It had long since been forgotten though. The man continued, however. “It would make the hits harder on your face not to mention as the soft cast scratched the leather of the glove it would wear the material down.” He raised an eyebrow at Sirius to see if he was keeping up.

Sirius nodded and gestured for the man to continue, taking a sip of his coffee. Sighing the man rubbed his eyes, as if he were trying to teach a child how to read a simple word that they couldn’t quite grasp. “The soft cast would scratch against your skin and the impact of each punch would increase as the match went on because the cast would harden over time. Didn’t you notice when you were fighting, how the first hit was not hard but still drew blood? How as the fight went on Snape put less effort into each hit but was still able to increase the impact every time?” Sirius stopped drinking. His coffee cup frozen at his smooth lips. He blinked at the man as he thought back to the fight. When Snape landed his first punch, he was off balance. The punch shouldn’t have had enough force to bruise his cheek so badly, the way it did.

The more Sirius thought about it, the more he realized how much of what the tall, skinny man was saying, was true.

He shook his head and narrowed his eyes on the man just as ‘Lils’ brought over four take away drinks in coffee cups. “Here you go wolfy! One hot chocolate with cream for Seb, a black coffee with two sugars for Harley, warmed milk with coco powder on top for Cain and your peppermint tea, three sugars,” ‘Lils’ said happily with a bright smile. The man, ‘wolfy’, nodded his thanks and took the four drinks.

“Wait! How did you know about the gloves?” Sirius asked before ‘wolfy’ could leave. “I watched your fight. Noticed what was happening and put it together with an old street fighting trick.” He shrugged and opened the door with his back.

“A little too good to be true, don’t you think?” Sirius said with a laugh, but the young man didn’t laugh back. He shrugged and turned his back to Sirius. “If you don’t believe me then check for yourself.”

Sirius watched as the door closed behind the man. He stayed in the coffee shop, not taking his silver eyes away from the door. The conversation replaying in his head like a broken record. He turned back around to ‘Lils’ who was wiping the countertop. “Do you have a phone I could borrow,” he said in a rush. Like somehow, he would forget everything the man just told him.

The girl smiled at him and nodded. She took out her iPhone from the pocket of her green apron and handed it to Sirius. He wasted no time in dialing a number. Listening as it rang in his ear.

“Hello. Yeah, James it’s me. I need you and your dad to check something out for me……”

P.s this is my first proper time writing so I'm not the best. 

[starring-movies]

Killing Eve: Episode Analysis

*SPOILERS*

Season 1, Episode 1 - Nice Face

The episode begins with our introductions to Villanelle, in an ice cream shop; and Eve at home with Niko, with Eve’s scene continuing to show her work dynamics.

I discuss these two first scenes at length in two of my previous posts, that I will link at the bottom of this post, as well as here: Villanelle, Eve.

In a nutshell - Villanelle’s first scene, she is introduced as distant and inaccessible to those around her yet still acutely observant, evident from the mimicking of the young man behind the counter. The knocking of the ice cream onto the little girl sat opposite her shows that she also has a cruel aspect to her character that is hidden beneath her friendly and unassuming exterior. From Eve’s scenes we see that she lives an incredibly unexciting life where falling asleep on both your arms is considered to be scary and justifies blood curdling screaming. We also see that Eve doesn’t act particularly professionally but has a perceptive and intuitive mind, illustrated during the meeting when considering who killed Kedrin.

Back to Villanelle, who has returned to Paris and has indulged in some extensive retail therapy. She’s taken her brunette wig off and we can now see her natural hair which is out, as it often is when she’s not doing a job. She is, however, still in the top and trousers from her earlier disguise. This means that we’re getting more insight into her character, but as she’s still half in disguise we can see that she’s still putting on her facade. She even politely picks something up that the man in front of her has dropped, maintaining her outward image and unassuming ‘nice face’.

The song playing through this scene is a french song, called ‘Il Voyage’ by Françoise Hardy. After a quick google translate it seems that the lyrics of the song are, as usual, a perfect fit for the scene. It’s a fitting representation for both how those who come into contact with, and we as the audience, see Villanelle.

The lyrics translate as:

“When you talk to him he doesn’t answer.

He seems to be watching you, you think he’s listening.

His eyes are there on you, but you won’t read it.

What he thinks of you. Do you think he’s thinking about it?

Or you walk on the street.

He lets go of your arm and neither seen nor known he disappears.

He is no longer there.”

These lyrics reflect how removed from others and unattainable Villanelle is. How she blends into the background seamlessly when she needs to, but has quiet observant eyes over those she watches and judges. Even the title of the song, which translates as ‘He Travels’, is applicable for Villanelle who is never in one place for long as she is always travelling across Europe to complete her kills.

Making her way back to her apartment, Villanelle passes a middle-aged looking woman with dark curly hair and an obvious resemblance to Anna. Villanelle’s eye is instantly caught by the woman and she maintains her stare as the woman walks past her.

This is the first of three moments when Villanelle notices different women who resemble Anna. The second, is at the end of this episode, when she sees Eve for the first time in the hospital toilets. The third, is in S1E2, when she is out walking with Sebastian. Each of the three times this happens, Villanelle has an incredibly strong visceral reaction to being reminded of Anna. After the first time she mocks the elderly lady, who lives in the apartment opposite her, for her slow walking; the second time she kills the entire room of hospital staff, not just her target Kasia; and the third time she immediately cuts her and Sebastian’s walk short to go back to Sebastian’s apartment to sleep with him.

A nice showcase of the attention to detail on the show is how a single draw can be used to show how Villanelle’s private life and work life intermingle in her living space. The contrast of having her razors, nail polish and tampons (all considered very feminine objects) in the same draw as her gun and bullets (stereotypically considered masculine) shows the contrast of a woman in a line of work that would usually be considered a man’s. Also notable is the fact that the tampons and bullets are presented identically; both in boxes and the same shape and size.

Similarly, the french song in this scene, ‘Roller Girl’ by Anna Karina, with the lyrics translating as “I’m the girl we stick on the Harley Davidson, BMW’s, 16 ton trucks” - in the same way as the draw, the lyrics emphasise the contradiction we find in Villanelle, between what is typically considered to be masculine and feminine.

The mirrored order of Eve and Villanelle’s scenes is significant as we first see Villanelle ‘at work’ and then proceed to see her at home, but with Eve we first see her in her casual setting at home and then at work. This shows the contrast between the two aspects of both their lives - professionally and personally. Professionally, Villanelle is calm, collected and confident; whereas Eve is more scattered and all over the place. Personally, Villanelle is alone with no real connections; whereas Eve has a husband and a number of coworker friends.

Continuing to settle back into her apartment we see Villanelle place the brunette wig we saw earlier, who she calls “Loulou”, on a wig stand. Giving the wig an affectionate name demonstrates how she considers her disguises to be like different people with individual personalities, perhaps she draws inspiration for the disguises she uses based on people that she’s previously observed.

After taking off her top we see that Villanelle is wearing a chest binder underneath, another ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moment, but an important one as it explains why Kasia tells Eve that the killer was “ale decha” (flat-chested).

Villanelle’s vanity, and the importance she places on superficial things such as he looks, is shown when she examines herself in the mirror.

Mirrors are a recurring theme in Killing Eve, often used generally to symbolise self reflection, and specifically used in the show to illustrate how Eve and Villanelle see themselves mirrored in one another. In this instance, the mirror highlights how Villanelle’s self reflection currently only goes as far as surface level. She prioritises her beauty and material things, and as shown during her conversation with Eve in S1E5, she neither questions nor concerns herself with why or who she is killing.

These aspects to Villanelle are presented in the lyrics of Unloved’s ‘When a Woman is Around’, which plays when she is in Tuscany.

“I don’t pretend to know the ways of the world. A means to an end seems the way”

- Villanelle doesn’t care about why she’s killing, she’s good at it and it’s just the means to an end for her so she can earn money and have the lifestyle she wants.

“Who has the most of whatever’s best”

- Whatever’s best to Villanelle is beauty, money, clothes and power, all of which she does have the most of.

“Truth is seldom found when a woman is around”

- Again emphasising that no-one really knows Villanelle.

Villanelle’s boredom that she talks about in the speech she makes as Billie in S2E6, where she says that she’s “just so bored”, is shown here through the joke she plays on Konstantin; as well as her telling him she “just want[s] someone to play with” in Tuscany.

Her childish side is also shown again, which is explained much later in S3E5 when Villanelle tells her mother she wants to feel like a child. It shows her want for the parental connection that she lacked as a child. A connection she felt she had with Anna and sees to some degree with Eve, but currently only has in Konstantin as a father figure, asking him if he’d be sad if she died and he gives a sincere reply of “of course”.

Taking in mind Carolyn’s question to Eve in S2E7 “any escalation? Increased attention-seeking, recklessness”, a question she asks about Villanelle and concerning Eve herself; when looking back on this first episode the inkling that both of them were already starting to ‘go off the rails’, as well as how they both sit somewhere on the psychopathy scale when the series started, is apparent. This is shown from Villanelle in the pretend suicide attempt, the fancy hairpin, the unnecessary killing of everyone in Kasia’s hospital room, Carolyn telling Eve that “frankly she’s [Villanelle] starting to show off”, Konstantin’s worry that Villanelle might get caught and asking her in S1E2 “why are you being naughty?”, and killing Bill when she was told not too. It’s shown in Eve in her cutting her thigh, her interviewing and recording Kasia illegally, telling Elena not to tell Bill where she’s gone and endangering Dom by taking him with her to speak to Kasia.

Although earlier she knocks the ice cream onto the little girl, we do know from Tatiana’s treatment of Villanelle’s half brother, Bor’ka, and Villanelle herself when she was a child, that she doesn’t like children being treated cruelly by family. As Villanelle observes Greco and his grandson Davide playing with each other, we get a close up of her from a slight angle as she smiles. She seems to be enjoying the moment that they’re having together, maybe briefly forgetting she’s on a job and reminiscing about memories she had with her own father, who we know from S3E5 that she had a much closer relationship with than her mother - he taught her to fight, did woodworking with her and laughed at her jokes.

As soon as Greco pours the water over Davide’s head, we see Villanelle shift immediately. Her expression becomes harsh as her smile drops and the angle is now straight on Villanelle’s face showing she has been snapped out of the moment and is once again focused on the task at hand.

We see the pleasure Villanelle derives from watching the spark drain from someone’s eyes. We repeatedly see this with Villanelle, in S1E2 at the Bulgaria kill and the perfume kill, S1E3 the Fat Panda kill, Villanelle speaks about it to frank in S1E5 and Dasha talks about it in S3E7.

As well as having all her books, DVD’s and articles on female assassins; the fact that Eve is cutting her leg near her femoral artery and knows exactly how she’d kill Niko (when it hadn’t even crossed Niko’s mind how he’d kill someone), once again displays how we’re unsure if Eve just has a particular interest in female killers or actually wants to be one herself. This is something that Eve represses, shown in S2E5 when she considers pushing a man onto the tracks in the tube station and in S2E8 when Villanelle tells Eve “it’s what you wanted!” after Eve killed Raymond, but Eve rejects this.

Eve asking Niko “do you want to have sex”, just accentuates the extent of the dullness of Eve’s life and her relationship with Niko. It’s conventional, there’s little to no spark left between them and certainly no excitement or spontaneity left, it’s treated almost like a chore to be done. This is contrasted in the following scene with Villanelle, who Konstantin finds sleeping next to a man and another woman - not explicit but this short moment is all that’s needed to convey the difference. We also get a subtle suggestion of Villanelle’s preference to women, as she has the other woman’s arm wrapped over her.

Eve and Villanelle’s very first encounter with one another.

Villanelle is obviously struck by Eve’s resemblance to Anna, so much so that it almost looks as if she isn’t even going to speak to Eve. The inclusion of the mirrors and the satisfying symmetry of this shot demonstrates that similarity between the two of them that we often see. It visually represents what keeps pulling Villanelle and Eve towards each other and what Villanelle even says herself in S2E8 is the reason she’s so drawn to Eve - “we are the same”.

This moment of meeting Eve for the first time, as well as when Villanelle breaks into EVe’s house in S1E5, is also the reason why in the same episode Villanelle says she has “a thing about bathrooms” to Frank.

We think Villanelle is going to leave without saying anything but then she tells Eve to “wear it down” just before she leaves. Just as Villanelle is transfixed by Eve and her hair; Eve is also transfixed with surprise at Villanelle’s assertive manner, so much so that she does what this stranger tells her to, and throughout the series Eve continues to touch or let down her hair whenever she thinks about Villanelle.

During Eve and Carolyn’s conversation when Eve asks Carolyn if she’s married, she tells Eve “a few times, yes”. This tiny one line, that might seem like a throwaway or filler line at first, actually holds so much weight. Implied within this tiny bit of dialogue is the strain of the secret agent work that Carolyn has done for most of her life and Eve is now getting involved in. The work is so taxing on Carolyn’s private life and maintaining a marriage that it has caused her to be married a number of times. It also foreshadows the fate of Eve’s marriage with Niko, which is also ended due to the strain of Eve’s work on their relationship.

You can read my previous in depth scene analysis here:-

The First Indroduction to Villanelle

The First Introduction to Eve

S1, E2 - I’ll Deal With Him Later

S1, E3 - Don’t I Know You?

S1, E4 - Sorry Baby

S1, E5 - I Have a Thing about Bathrooms

S1, E6 - Take Me To The Hole!

S1, E7 - I Don’t Want to Be Free

S1, E8 - God, I’m Tired

S2, E1 - Do You Know How to Dispose of a Body?

S2, E2 - Nice and Neat

S2, E3 - The Hungry Caterpillar

S2, E4 - Desperate Times

S2, E5 - Smell Ya Later

S2, E6 - I Hope You Like Missionary!

S2, E7 - Wide Awake

S2, E8 - You’re Mine

S3, E1 - Slowly Slowly Catchy Monkey

S3, E2 - Management Sucks

S3, E3 - Meetings Have Biscuits

S3, E4 - Still Got It

S3, E5 - Are You From Pinner? [Part 1]

S3, E5 - Are You From Pinner? [Part 2]

S3, E6 - End of Game

S3, E7 - Beautiful Monster

S3, E8 - Are You Leading or Am I? [Part 1]

————————————————————————————————————————

[tinternabbey]

Artists of Tumblr! I’m looking to commission someone to draw a few OCs for me from an upcoming novel I’m writing. Style doesn’t really matter, I’m just wanting some sketches for inspiration. If you’re interested, please DM me or reply to this post so we can chat about it :)

I’m looking for three characters to be drawn, all of which are further described below if you’re interested in checking them out! Thanks!

OC #1: Nieva Stone (age 18) Nieva is my protagonist. Physically, she is of average height and build and of Afro-Latinx descent (her mother is from Mexico, her father was a black man), meaning she will have darker skin, eyes, and hair. Her hairstyle is up for interpretation, but I was picturing somewhat curly/coily and long, flowing past her shoulders. She enjoys brightly-colored clothing, and often wears a denim jacket. Personality-wise, she is extraverted and optimistic, and is described by people close to her as carefree and bubbly. 

OC #2: Aurora “Rory” Giodorno (age 19) Aurora is a major secondary character in my novel. She is thin and of average height, and is predominantly white; she is a brunette with honey-brown eyes. Her hair is shoulder-length and her hair is naturally curly. She gives herself bangs early in the novel, so feel free to draw her with or without them. As for her fashion, she likes big sweaters in neutral tones and enjoys wearing beanies or hats. She is introverted and creative. Rory will ultimately end up being Nieva’s love interest.

OC #3: Harley Giodorno (age 19) Harley is Aurora’s twin brother and Nieva’s best friend. He is thin like his sister, but much taller. He is a brunet and shares his sister’s curly hair and light brown eyes. His hairstyle is basic in that it is short, but he doesn’t do anything to tame his curls. His fashion is pretty basic high-school boy; he often layers flannel over t-shirts, or wears a pastel-colored hoodie. His personality is extremely compatible with Nieva’s—he is also extraverted and bubbly, and enjoys making others happy.

If you’d like any more details on the characters or a basic plot outline, let me know and I’d be happy to provide them! <3