#I really don't know enough about Russian history

[shadowvalkyrie]

Not to be throwing Schadenfreude around too early, since it's hard to tell how this one will end just yet, but even with just what we've seen so far...

THIS is why you don't keep mercenary armies around.

There's always, always going to be this "curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal" moment eventually.

You can stave it off a while, by keeping them deployed far from home, but eventually the temptation (or the need) to use them on your own turf will be too great. And once you unleash them, there is no reining them back in.

These people's only loyalty is to money. They don't love or fear anything that you could hold over or use against them, and they've seen and done things that would have a regular soldier court-martialed twenty times over. And that is by design. The whole point of that kind of force is to operate outside the rules. But unfortunately that will eventually include the rules you set.

I'm just sorry for all the Russian civilians caught in the crossfire of this ever-escalating mess they didn't ask for.

[oreoambitions]

Someone asked me today to explain what's happening in Gaza, which I thought was a little odd since I'm by no means an expert in that region, but sure. I suppose I am the Adult Person Who Reads The News in the place where I work, so I figured I'd do my best and lead with "I'm not an expert in this, so I recommend you do some reading, but my understanding is-" And then the kid goes, "But I thought your specialty was the East." And I can understand how he got that impression bc I did a lot of explaining when the conflict started in Ukraine but my GUY. My specialty was Eastern EUROPE. Not the MIDDLE EAST oh my god I need to get you a map.

[itsybitsylemonsqueezy]

It's Goncharov to you. To me, it's simply Gonch.

[theyhadlightinsidetheireyes]

I usually don’t use this website to talk about the global issues, but I do want to remind people that the full-scale russian invasion in Ukraine is still happening. today is the 9 month anniversary. the war is ongoing. people are suffering. the russians are targeting infrastructure, electricity shortages are happening all the time. and it’s winter and the heating is of utmost importance. there are also regularly large missile strikes where the air defence just can’t stop all of the missiles, and some of them hit civilian buildings. a day ago a missile hit a maternity ward, a newborn baby died. there are so so many stories of innocent people dying, it has been 9 months of non-stop tragedy.

many of my friends left ukraine in march and are staying in different european countries. but we still have relatives and friends who stayed, and are trying to continue their lifes as much as they can, even though they had to move to the western part of the country. the sooner russia is defeated the sooner it will be over. please, do help ukraine as much as you can. please support us publicly, and with a donation, if you can afford it. but please do speak up for us. i know people got “tired of the war”, but ignoring it will not stop it.

we do not ask for NATO to send soldiers, but we ask for weapons and we ask for support. if russia wins, they will not stop here. same as they didn’t stop with crimea in 2014. even if you do not really want to think about ukraine or its people much, the war will come to the rest of europe, and in a way it has from the very beginning.

[dann-art]

I know that vampire chronicles aren't meant to be historical accurate. Like you read this and you know that all this events can happen in literally any time and space. Like really. The times doesn't really matter there, there are no nuances.

Listen, I'm not a historian, by any means. It's just like a hobby, but I have millions of them so I don't even learn that much.

Also I usually don't give a shit about accuracy in media, like whatever, until it's science do what you want, whatever suits your story

But sometimes it's time to say enough is enough.

So, we need to talk about Armands origin in Kievan Rus'. Okay, that's cool, we don't really explore it, but well whatever, at least we're not messing this up, right? Right?

While I was reading I ignored it. I was reading TVA in polish translation I thought like okay, names and nuances probably got lost in translation. It's a really bad translation tho.

But out of curiosity today I opened the book in English, because this was sticking in my head.

And it appears it wasn't translators fault.

So well, it's like kinda huge mistake. Like no one really checked it? But this book constantly claims that like Kievan Rus' was then in Russia. And suprise, suprise: that's simply not true. Well the term is kinda not right and can mean anything, like back it existed as state it was huge, but (judging on the mention of Kiev itself) that it was like somewhere in that area.

So I'll spare whole history, it's not relevant. We're stop around 1480's, when Armand was born (based on my calculations). And in that time the region was called Kiev Voivodeship (hope I got it right in english), and it was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and stayed there until 1569, when it passed to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (when the Polish-lithuanian commonwealth was created, but both countries were in union since early XV century)

So in the book we have some lines like this

Armand, bestie, I don't know how to break it to you, you're not russian. You never were. You've never lived in Russia (or back then I would use rather the name Moscow, but again I'm not a historian). More of a Ukrainian if so, but also not the world I would use. Most accurate would be rusyn (I think, or ruthenian???? I'm not sure how it works in English, anyway not russian).

Then we have this, and well... Oh boy. Something went really wrong with geography here. First of all, you've never been to Russia (or better say Principality of Moscow, like it wasn't even called Russia, from what I know, but i might be wrong).

So okay, Moscow and Novgorod were in part of Moscow indeed but Cracow!?!?!?? (Known also as my absolutely favourite city in the world). Like Cracow like Never ever has been a part of Russia. Okay, I get confusion with Kiev if you really really don't care about basic research. But Cracow???

Here's the map. Unfortunately it like administrative of Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth in 1619, but well you'll see my point. That doesn't make any sense

Cracow always was polish. Like it's our second capital. And look how far from Russia it is. Even during the partitions it goes to Austria not Russia.

Last thing I want to point out is this one

Like, man, maybe you speak russian, I do not doubt, like during travel to Moscow you could learn I guess.

I'm not entirely sure, but I guess the language there is ruthenian not russian. Like ruthenian is old language which is base for slavic languages such as Belarusian or Ukrainian. And what is also important it was not the language used in the Principality of Moscow, so it's definitely not russian.

Okay, thanks for reading if anyone is still there. I won't bore you any longer. It just was sitting in my head and I had to throw it out because we'll, basic research I guess.

[luvfy0dor]

Henlo

You know who it is, we all know, henlo

I feel like I’ve been here a lot recently

Just starting off with saying I loved the Dazai piece. It was really cute. Dad Dazai trying his best, made my heart melty

But I think you know why I’m here today

On this day

Honestly the day doesn’t entirely matter but I’m here on THIS one

With the dad Fyodor thought I promised

Cuz here I was thinking to myself. I feel like Fyodor definitely wants his child or children having some connection to Russian culture, since that’s a part of them too, regardless of their other parent’s nationality or background, he definitely wants his included. (Tho his partner could totally do the same)

So I was wondering, would you like a piece of him either teaching his children Russian or making Russian food for them? Or really sharing any Russian cultural thing with them at all. Honestly whatever one is easier for you to write or go into detail with, they’re all equally cute.

Cuz if his child or children develop a connection to that, I feel like that would make him a lot happier than maybe he would fully show.

I hope this ask sparks the creative brain juices in a fun way

Also considering sending a Halloween themed request at some point idk… oh but who knows!We’re here rn and having fun with this, that’s all we need at the moment

Also real glad you enjoy my messages lol. I will absolutely keep sending. Take as long as you need

-the person here attempting to give everyone baby fever because it’s funny

This blog’s Dad Fyodor anon

"da!" - Dad!Fyodor x GN!Reader ੈ✩‧₊˚

Warnings; Google translate Russian, not much reader involvement, very minimal proofreading happened

Description; Dad!Fyodor teaching his child about Russian culture! It incorporates ideas from the first dad!Fyodor part.

A/n; YESYESYES I one hundred percent agree, I think about this on the regular OMG I hope I depicted this well bc my knowledge on Russia isn't all that extensive lol, if you have any corrections, do tell me!! : ) Also I'm gonna be so fr I had NO idea what to name this so we're rolling with da I guess.............

Headcannons !! ༊*·˚

★ He teaches his child/children classical Russian music when they're old enough to play more difficult pieces. Until then, he'll settle for twinkle twinkle little star.

★ Introduces his children to ballet.

★ His children have a variety of Russian-originating toys, such as Matryoshka/Russian nesting dolls, rocking horses etc.

★ Brings his children to Russia at least once, specifically to Moscow (irl Dostoevsky was raised in Moscow, so we're gonna assume BSD Dostoevsky was too) to experience the culture first hand.

★ Teaches his children the foundations of the Russian language. He would like them to fluently speak it one day, though.

★ Cooks Russian food for them like I mentioned and included in the first part.

★ They learn about Russian history from their father, anywhere from Peter the Great to fur trade and all that jazz

Scenario !! ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥

(as always, p/t is parental title, d/n is daughters name)

Your head leaned against your fist while you watched your husband and daughter focus on their current activity. D/n carefully picked the colors and pigments she would use to color in the white spaces on her paper, and Fyodor just tried to keep things inside the lines. You could see the little girls tongue slightly sticking out from between her lips in concentration, making you smile.

Your daughter went to pick her next color, chosing a pink crayon to fill in the nose of the cat. "Papa, what'd you say your hat was called again? The one you always wear." She clarifies, even though there was really only one hat that Fyodor would wear at all. His eyes don't leave his thin paper as he replies, "A ushanka, and it's from Russia, malyshka." He answered, pushing some of his hair out of his face and behind his ear. "Russia." She says, the sound not unfamiliar, but not common to her either. "Where's that?" She tilts her head upwards, putting her crayon down to signify her attention on her papa. He puts his down too and rests his arms on top of one another.

"Quite far, but it is in both Asia and Europe. That's how big it is, it stretches over two continents." He says, a smile on his face. Her eyes widen a little. "That is really big. Have you been there before?" Her head tilts and she shifts a bit in her seat. "I grew up there, in the city of Moscow." He says, happy with her clear interest in his motherland.

"We should go there for a vacation one day!" She says, a grin on her face. He laughs a little bit and nods. "I agree, we definetly should." He agrees, fantasizing about it in his head. "Is that why you talk like that?" She questions her fathers accent, skittering around the table and climbing onto his lap. He smiles gently and nods. "Yes, it's called an accent, malyshka. I learned English, but Russian is my mother tongue. There are a lot of different pronunciations for certain sounds in Russian." He tells her, his hands fidgeting with the young girls hair. He parts it into three sections and starts to braid it.

"Is everything different there?" Fyodor hums, thinking as he weaves her hair into a gorgeous French braid. "Well, it definitely very different, but I don't think I would say everything." He says. "There are more historical differences than anything, if I do say so myself." She hums in understanding. "Papa, can you teach me some Russian?" She asks, turning her head to look at him with puppy dog eyes, even though she really didn't need them. He smiled and nodded.

"What should I teach you?" He softly questions, looking into the young girls eyes. She thinks for a moment, tapping her pointer finger on her chin. "I don't know! Whatever you want." She says, just excited to hear another language. He chuckles softly. "я не знаю, что тебе сказать" (I don't know what to tell you) he responds, a small grin on his face. Her eyes widen, almost as if she never believed he could speak a different language. You giggle a bit at her reaction.

"What does that mean?!" She excitedly asks, her mind seemingly blown over this. "It simply means I don't know what to tell you." He speaks. "But I can tell you the simple stuff. Like 'да' means yes and 'нет' means no. Hello is 'привет' and goodbye is 'до свидания'."

The young girl takes a mental note of these words. "привет, papa! I think I said that right." She says. You proudly watch the scene go down. Fyodor gives you a similarly prideful smile. "Yes, you did wonderful, malyshka." He praises her, patting her shoulder. "I'll have to teach you more one day." She nods vigorously, very obviously wanting him to. "Yes! And then we can have secret conversations, no one else will know what we're saying!" She snickers, making him smile.

A/n; I hope this is alright!! I loved this request a whole lot. Oh, also, feel free to send in that Halloween request even though it's November now lol

"Oh, ofcourse. That will probably be rather far in the future, though." He says, removing her from his lap and gently patting her back. "That's okay. If I learn more I'll know more words." She states the obvious. "And I'm gonna learn from the best russian ever." She beams, making Fyodor grin. "That's right, sweetheart."

[liianliann]

I am scared.

Oh what a time to be alive, I think, as I look at the results of the EU election in my home coutry, Germany.

The second-strongest group in my home country (AfD) is far-right, supports Putin (even had Russian spies in their midst), wants to literally DESTROY the EU, wants to revoke women's and LGBTQ+ people's rights, -

and that's just the beginning. And I can tell you where it'll end. And we had that same situation about a hundred years ago. Back then, Germany lost its constitution and started a genocide. And yes I'm talking about the Nazis.

I am scared. Not just of this political climate. I am scared because a lot of the people I know and am lucky to call my friends and acquaintances don't have a German passport, and because this party will want to get rid of them, or do anything they can, at least.

I am scared, because I am a trans man undergoing hormone therapy. It is, regrettably, a very vulnerable situation to be in in this political climate, because all they need to do is ban one type of medicine and claim it to be harmful-

or perhaps they will just revoke my rights to exist peacefully completely.

I am scared, because all this literal danger to the German constitution needed to do was speak a few pretty words for the camera, post it on Tiktok, and the people believed them blindly. So many haven't read the election program, so many don't know what these people want to do-

but they hate the other parties. So why not elect the one party that actively threatens the freedom and equal rights of our country?

I am scared. Maybe I won't be first in line to be shot, but I am standing in the queue.

And what scares me even more is that I can't understand HOW this situation could even happen. Were our voices not loud enough? Didn't we cry out and warned them often enough? Why did so many people choose to ignore the riots, the pleas, the thousands and thousands of voices?

Just "to make a statement"? Is voting against peace and against freedom and against equality a protest now? Is humanity so easily influenceable that they tune out all the voices on the streets? Or was I just optimistic, am I really just living in a country where we want war and supression and censors and dictators-

because that's what this is going to boil down to. And I am scared.

Scared of this country. Scared of the people in it. Scared of the future. Scared of what this predicts for the next election in 2025. Scared of the visibly easy manipulation of the masses.

Scared, because I KNOW that history repeats again and again and again and again and we claim to learn from it;

and yet, we don't.

[mynnthia]

hypothesis on the ethnic/cultural background of izutsumi's mom

[disclaimer: i am not a professional ethnographer, nor of any of the ethnic groups mentioned in the post. this post was written based on research done over the course of a day.

if you have any corrections, feedback, etc, please feel free to inform me! my inbox/dms are open. if there is any misinformation present, i aim to correct them] ----------

idk if anyone else into dungeon meshi has noticed this, but i think izutsumi's mom (and therefore, izutsumi herself) might've been of Nivkh (indigenous east Siberian) heritage?

[details and explanation under the readmore, its slightly long]

when dungeon meshi chapter 59 came out (~2019), i saw a few people speculating that izutsumi's mom might've been Ainu because of how her clothing style notably differed from typical Japanese clothing.

while the Nivkh robe's trim features a different pattern style (swirly) than what izutsumi's mom wears (triangular), the Nivkh robe still looks to be a closer match than Ainu robes, especially in the collar/neckline & sleeve cuff areas.

note how the Ainu robes (image 2) have a different neckline style and wider sleeves:

heres more images of the robes, but from the past this time, found in Wikimedia Commons:

image 1: Nivkh robe from 1871 image 2: Sakhalin Ainu girl (left), Nivkh boy (center), Hokkaido Ainu girl (right) in 1912

Nivkh people have had interactions with Japan dating back centuries too. heres an exerpt from wikipedia:

"For many centuries, the Nivkh were tributaries of the Manchus. After the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689, they functioned as intermediaries between the Russians, Manchu and Japanese, and also the Ainu, who were vassals of the Japanese. Early contact with the southern Sakhalin Ainu was generally hostile, although trade between the two was apparent"

(sorry historians for quoting wikipedia as a source here. a lot of the more reputable sources are 20-200+ page papers, and not concise enough to put on a tumblr post)

the English language wiki doesnt have much more detail on Nivkh-Japan relations unfortunately, but there seems to be more info on the Japanese language version of the page.

i've also seen at least 1 speculation that izutsumi's mom might be Mongolian, as her robe somewhat resembles a Mongolian deel. in my opinion, the robe's neckline trim having patterning makes it resemble the Nivkh robes more. this – combined with the fact that prior to the 1900s, Japan-Mongolia relations consisted mostly of Mongolian forces trying to invade japan repeatedly – makes me think Nivkh (or some other indigenous east Siberian) heritage is more likely.

i wont rule it out entirely though, as i don't know how much Ryōko Kui cares about historical-based cultural relations. regardless, here are various deel styles across different Mongolian ethnic groups, if that is of interest to anyone:

i dont really have a profound conclusion for this post tbh. i wanted to document what i found, and figured i might as well share it to tumblr.

theres limited amounts of easily accessible information on traditional eastern Siberian clothing out there, but here's 1 source i found that goes over a few groups (including Nivkh):

[mx-lamour]

Costuming Strahd: Part 1 An "I thought too hard about this" adventure.

I recently picked up some fabric for Strahd (because you know I gotta dress up when my players eventually come to dinner).

A "fine black linen" for the shirt (from here if you want to grab some for yourself), and a black jacquard chenille (kind of a mid-weight upholstery fabric) for a classy vest.

I started doing some visual research on traditional clothing in Slavic and Southeastern European regions, hungrily compiling whatever I could find to build some pattern recognition.

Having a little bit of trouble reconciling traditional peasant garb with "but what would nobility wear" and "what year is it", plus the obvious influence of Dracula and his early cinematic adaptations on descriptions of Strahd von Zarovich (which are decidedly Western), and the need to remind myself that I am building a fantasy costume not some historical reenactment.

1937 print of a Wallachian peasant vs. a portrait of Vlad Țepeș noted 1466

The vague description from I, Strahd: The War Against Azalin gives me a neat little list of his layers: "cloak, outer coat, embroidered vest, and . . . a very fine black linen shirt."

The "outer coat" threw me. I suppose it shouldn't have. But it didn't quite mesh with the Ottoman influences in Vlad Țepeș portraits nor the stout vest and almost oversized coat ensembles I'd been looking at in peasant images from Romania and Hungary. Instead, that kind of layering really read Western Europe to me, so I was shunted directly back to Christopher Lee's portrayal of Dracula (in which his costume really is black-on-black-on-black, apart from the barest hint of a white shirt beneath the squarely Victorian suit, which easily consists of both a vest and jacket and, in this case, a cape).

Side note: Nowhere have I (yet) found mention of any sort of necktie. Just the Bela Lugosi style crest (but on a gold chain, not a ribbon).

There's just something about that 1930s white tie, folks. Mm.

Anyway, I figured it was safe enough to start with Strahd's shirt. Well... but, herein lies still the same conundrums: shirts aren't all the same spanning eras and regions. I did stumble on this, though:

I love me a pattern.

What I like about this in particular is that it's structured in a way that makes me believe Strahd was inspired by a man who lived in the 1400s. These sort of blocky, pieced shapes were how shirts were commonly built throughout much of history, with various amounts of gathering and whatnot, so it could be pretty versatile in terms of "what year is it".

I like the embroidery on the neck, cuffs, and over the shoulders. And I like that the split in the neckline is centered. I've seen examples with the split at the side of the embroidery panel that are really intriguing, but while a few have been noted as Ukrainian or Polish, most of the examples I've seen have been Russian, and I'm trying to avoid anything overtly Russian. (Russian garb is yummy, but it's not Barovian.)

The lighting on that third one is either ominous, suggestive, or both.

What I don't like is the open sleeve ends. There are certainly worse offenders (there are some HUGE open sleeves in some of the folk ensembles, like, unconscionably long and billowy), but even this kind of straight sleeve doesn't feel... I don't know... organized enough for Strahd.

I have a Viking style shirt with straight open sleeves like this, and it bothers me to no end. The material over the thin part of my forearms and wrists is floppy. It crumples and rides up (maybe they're just too big overall, but that's a risk to consider). I usually just roll them up to my elbows to have done with it, but that's a move for casual wear. I could see Alek Gwylim sporting open sleeves, but not Strahd. Strahd needs cuffs. Or if not cuffs, the kind of sleeve that narrows tight around the forearm and probably has at least a dozen buttons running up the length of it... but that's hardly practical, either, is it? Strahd treads that infuriating middle ground somewhere between comfortable and elaborate.

So anyway, I'm probably going to enlarge the sleeves. Not a lot; just enough to get a little bit of that "poet shirt" gathering on the shoulder and allow some extra movement in the elbow. And it's going to have cuffs that button around the wrist. Turning it into something a little more suggestive of the Renaissance (though I'm sure as hell not adding ruffles; I'm sure Strahd would think them frivolous).

Side note: Cuffed sleeves are not unheard of in folk garb from Romania and surrounding areas, but it still felt like a very deliberate choice to make. There's certainly a noticeable trend of open-sleeve styles, especially in Transylvania, if I understand correctly.

That first image is from I Do Declare. Great stuff.

Ultimately, the slightly tucked, cuffed sleeve should also bleed well enough into late-1800s suit territory, at least in spirit. The sleeves should have the approximate volume as (or perhaps a little more than) a modern button-down shirt.

Little concept sketches.

Building up from the body, the vest is the next most important thing (aside from pants, but I'm just looking at his torso for the moment; you can fake good pants, especially at the table).

Whatever happens, I knew the vest should be at least these two things: black, and embroidered. Why not blackwork on black fabric? And, since I've picked out a jacquard fabric that already has some texture to it, let's just keep piling on that subtle intrigue. That's right: get up close and personal, look at that mesmerizing detail... lol.

I do not have an actual plan for any of the embroidery yet. That's a problem for future me. (Good luck, sucker.) What I would like to do, vaguely, is take some of the traditional/folk embroidery from that southeastern region and combine it with more western Victorian elements. Haphazardly span worlds to mimick the elvolving lore.

Soutache, anyone?

The style of the vest I sketched out is based on the below examples of traditional Romanian outfits (from what region, I have no idea). The nubby little lapels reminded me of late Victorian waistcoats (which button up rather higher on the breast than modern suits), but with the added fun of a standing collar. That thick black embellishment also caught my eye, of course.

Look at that dapper little guy.

I would like the vest to be more fitted, though, rather than the boxy, open-front (and often sheepskin or fur-lined) style of traditional peasant dress.

Along a similar vein as "the man needs cuffed sleeves", having a more tailored vest seems practical and organized. Crisp might be the word I was looking for. And he's a lord, he can afford the extra effort. A fitted waistcoat would also play along with the little fantasy Renaissance lean and nods to Victorian fashion.

Strahd said trunk hose were a thing of the past, but made no mention of doublets one way or the other.

That's it for now. I was definitely just going to do a quick intro this morning, but here it is, evening again. Joy of joys. This is my work.

. . .

[Next - Costuming Strahd: Art Addendum]

[pongnosis]

ponggggggg bestie do you think yassen names his guns. DO YOU THINK ROSS NAMES HIS KNIVES. i think yassen would be a little averse to the whole naming thing considering hunter told him not to refer to his victims by names because it made them human. i feel like he would internalize that and think of his guns as mere weapons, as convenience, as tools and nothing more but still i'm sort of curious because some part of me also thinks he could name them. idk. he was petty enough to become an assassin just to spite him and the fact that he has a fav gun??? [it was a beretta right?] but this is also somewhat a useful tip. idkkkk im sleepy and feeling rambly and im making it your problem. also i bet gordon gives them the goofiest or the most poetic names. no in between. man's got a sense of humour but also has that shitton of history ping-ponging [heh] around in his head. anyways i think i'll go & try to catch some sleep. byeee <3

I think the only sentimental thing Yassen might have is the Fer de Lance, and that's one hundred percent headcanon, given that she might as well be a charter (or SCORPIA-owned) based on the information we got on her in Eagle Strike (look, I like ships, don't ship-shame!). I just really like the idea of Yassen having one thing that is his, and the unwelcoming looks of her, the tinted glass in the windows, and the name all seem like something he'd like. Everything else, especially his weapons, I think he has a very pragmatic approach to. They're something to be used and discarded if necessary, chosen based on the needs of the operation, and little else.

… except the Grach. I HAVE OPINIONS ON THIS ONE.

So. SO. Eagle Strike, page 49 in my version (Walker Books 2015 edition, from the box set, so who knows what the line originally said, but I've only ever seen the Grach referenced in fandom): "The gun was a Grach MP-443, black, with a short muzzle and a ribbed stock. It was Russian, of course, new army issue."

This is yet another enty in "Why Timelines Are, Like, Vibes Man", the ongoing saga by Ahorz.

The Grach MP-443 (wiki link) was developed in the nineties but didn't enter service until 2003, and while it was adopted as the standard sidearm, this did by no means happen immediately. It took YEARS for mass production to really start. For years after, there were - and still are - other Russian guns that were in far more common use and much easier to get a hold of for Yassen, who would presumably want to replace his gun fairly regularly to avoid inconvenient evidence.

Ignoring the timeline issue of exactly what year the books are set in (and whether the Grach was even in actual production by then), it seems like a very deliberate choice by Yassen. The Grach is not the best gun out there. It's not the most reliable, not the easiest one to find, not the most common (and more anonymous). It was, however, the new standard sidearm for the Russian military - the country that took everything from Yassen - and going out of his way to choose a weapon that most of the Russian military still hadn't been issued, one after the other to discard of when they became evidence, seems just like the sort of deliberately petty move he would like. A subtle 'fuck you' to his former home.

ALSO. I agree, Ross absolutely names his favourite knives. He'll rant about the bad ones if you get him going, but his favourite, most perfect knives, those get the adoring names. He's so the type to have an original V-42 stiletto in beautiful condition that he's named Rose.

[thegayhimbo]

Say "I know nothing about the history of Russia's treatment of Ukraine (the Holodomor being one such example) or what's currently going on between Russia and Ukraine" without saying it. 🙄😒

For those who can't access the video due to the "age restriction," here is a transcript of the 60 Minutes interview with Scott Pelley interviewing Freed Ukrainian Prisoners of War:

SPOILER ALERT: The following video/transcript contains descriptions of beatings, torture, rape, starvation, child deaths, and human rights violations.

As for "Russia is not continuously bombing all civilian infrastructure and committing a genocide," there have been multiple posts and articles over the past 2 years proving otherwise (including their recent attack on New Year's Eve). This also includes the Russian war crime of Ukrainian children being kidnapped by Russian soldiers, deported to Russian reeducation camps, getting brainwashed, and being used as Russian Propaganda tools:

Between the 2:27 and 2:37 mark, Isobel Yeung (the narrator) doesn't mince her words when she notes how Vladimir Putin and his cronies are accused of trying to "ethically cleanse a generation of young Ukrainians."

If you've read this far, you can probably come to the conclusion that imtryingsir did absolutely zero research, or even cared enough to follow the last 2 years of news about the Russian-Ukraine War, before making their abhorrently idiotic comment.

So why am I bothering to dignify this with a response when it's clear this person is being maliciously stupid? Because of this post. Specifically, the disgusting little remark they made where they tried to justify why a Jewish woman on social media deserved to be bullied/harassed (which eventually led to the Russia apologist comment above when they were called out on it by multiple Tumblr users):

Putting aside the gross victim-blaming and thinly-disguised antisemitism (which I'm sure my Jewish followers are deeply sick of at this point), what really gets me is how disingenuous this user is. They don't actually give a rat's ass about what's going on in Gaza: Someone who truly cares about genocide and the deaths/suffering of innocent people wouldn't be going out of their way to downplay/whitewash the genocidal actions of another country (Russia), or making comments dismissing another groups problems/trauma while dehumanizing them, or even straight up wishing for more death and destruction:

People like this (as well as the so-called "Pro-Palestine" users in the Jewish woman's post who were harassing her) are devoid of empathy. They relish in being cruel and condescending to others because they feel empowered in doing so, and they know they can get away with it without facing lasting consequences. They are doing nothing to help alleviate an already horrific situation, and are just making the world a worse place to live in. I'm sure they'll tell themselves the sweet little lies about how their bullying and antisemitism is really "activism" or "caring for Palestinians" or "Being antizionist; not antisemitic" (while continuing to spew the same bigoted rhetoric that Jews have been calling out as antisemitic for YEARS). At this point, I truly don't give a damn what their excuses are since they will grasp at anything, no matter how flimsy, to rationalize their behavior.

I never thought I'd see the day where a bunch of Leftist/Westerners would embody two of the most loathsome fictional characters in media (right down to their hateful, sadistic, vile attitudes), and yet that is the point we've currently reached:

To say this has been deeply unpleasant to witness is an understatement. 😒

I talked about this in a recent post about antisemitism from the Left, and I'm going to reiterate something I said: "There is a larger conversation that needs to be had about how selective Leftist empathy and compassion really is. By this, I’m talking about people on the Left who will a.) Only be compassionate/empathetic when it’s convenient for them, or b.) Only be compassionate/empathetic towards people they think are “deserving” of it."

People like imtryingsir only prove why it's important to have this conversation: If you're perfectly okay dismissing/downplaying the suffering of one group of people (be it Jews, Ukrainians, Palestinians, etc) so you can prop up your preferred group of people who are suffering because you think they are more "deserving" of empathy/compassion......................you need to do some serious self-reflection about the type of person you've become.

[bedknees]

You always leave your cool headcanons in the tags! If you're up to it, do you have some for Simon and Betty your up for sharing? I'd love to hear them 🥺

lol sorry ha ha! I like whispering in the tags a lot lmao. And sure! I don't think I ever really gave headcanons on these two disasters but I have a ton so buckle up, and thanks for the ask. ^^

Betty

She was born to Russian Jewish first-gen immigrants somewhere in New England. They were medical doctors by trade, running a practice together and everything. She is an only child. Her parents worked a lot so she was often alone at home when she got old enough.

Due to relative solitude at home, Betty became an avid reader and allowed it to occupy her time when she was lonely. She has a particular penchant for mystery novels that persisted into adulthood. Her general love of the unknown led her into being interested in real world mysteries.

Her birthday is April 11, 1966 - making her an elder Gen X and an Aries.

Has always been very smart, especially in regards to mathematics and has a minor in it. It's definitely her forte, if not made obvious by Temple of Mars.

She is bipolar II and has learned to manage it well over years, as long as no major stressors enter her life she is pretty good to go [crying cat giving thumbs up image]

Loves plants and mushrooms! She's especially fond of succulents. Very adept at fungi identification and foraging properly.

When she's not deep into her work, she likes taking nature hikes either on foot or on her bike. She's always loved the outdoors.

Betty loves all genres of music, but is particularly partial to Depeche Mode and Journey.

She also loves all animals, but really enjoys alligators and crocodilians. The first time she went down South and saw an American Alligator just casually hanging out near a river, she nearly burst into tears.

Simon

His birthday is August 25th, 1965. He is a Virgo because of course he is. Just misses Boomer status, as Gen X began in '65 lmao.

His father was a first-generation Russian/Yakut immigrant, while his mother was a second generation Filipina American. They were borderline hippies that met at a music festival, but break the (objectively flawed) stereotype by being very well educated with successful careers in teaching.

Simon had a younger sister and developed Older Sibling Syndrome that defines part of his personality to this day.

Stemming from his parents, Simon has always had a thirst for adventure. In addition to being exposed to camping at young age due to his family taking him to festivals in his youth, he also has always had a general inclination to explore the unknown.

Loves 60s-70s rock and roll a la Mountain and Jimi Hendrix, but just prefers the genre in general. This manifests later a bit in Ice King's love for Marceline's music, which is of course rock-centric.

He is autistic; his first special interest was cryptids, something that never really left him. He eventually developed one for playing the drums (also seen in IK later) and Cheers obv. His main interest is by far ancient artifacts. He was the kid that checked out books on Ancient Egypt every week.

Got his PHD in Archaeology by 27 due to being wicked smart and starting intro college classes all the way back in his Junior/Senior years of high school.

Unironically tuned into Art Bell's radio show because of his cryptid and conspiracy fascination. He never actually bought into any of it (mostly), but it was fun for him!

Is a cat person full stop. He will sometimes take walks in his neighborhood and be greeted by all the outside cats that he has made a point to get to know!

Simon and Betty

Met at a University-held science and sci-fi convention right before Betty was to leave for Australia. Simon held a small panel on the Enchiridion, talking about its history and his search for it. Betty fell fast and hard. They both did. After the panel they talked for hours about it.

Their shared love for mysteries and adventure made them a perfect match. They shared a ton in common and became inseparable almost instantly.

Were the couple that rarely ever fought, but they also possessed a level of obvious codependency. Betty was the first person to ever make Simon feel so seen and he loved her wit and eccentricity, and Simon proved so smart and sweet and genuinely interesting that their pull was magnetic.

[unhonestlymirror]

Awwww, poor russian baby is upset that Ukraine is beating russian occupiers left and right, so they try to copy with redrawing cartoons about Kyivan Ruthenia as caricatures🥺🥺🥺

Fun fact, russia didn't exist during Oleshko Popovych (russified version: Alyosha Popovich) times. :D

The prototype of Oleshko was the former boyar Olbeh (Olbeshko) Ratyborovych, according to the “Tale of Bygone Years” as a rightful archer and slayer of the Polovtsian warrior Itlar. Possibly taking his part in the further defence against the Polovtsians of Pereyaslav, Khan Tugorkan and his son perished in the near future.

In the epics, Oleshko is called the winner of Tuharyn Zmievych and Idolyshche the Bad, Oleshko defended the lands on the left bank of the Dnipro, where the principalities of Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Pereyaslav were located.

The hometown of the hero was the city of Pyryatyn, Poltava region, where he supposedly often visited fairs.

In one of the legends, it is told how the mother escorted Oleshko to the market square of the Pyryatyn city on a campaign against the enemy. At that time, Pyryatyn stood on the border of the state of Kyivan Ruthenia (Ruś) and was one of its strongholds in the fight against nomads.

In Suzdal region and Ryazan region, the image of the chronicle Oleshko gradually merged with the figure of the Rostov boyar Aleksandr Popovich, who lived in 13th century. In the Tver Chronicle, it is mentioned that Alexander took part in the battle of Kalka (1223) and died together with seventeen other knights.

In the Nikon Chronicle, compiled in the 16th century to substantiate the moscow prince Vasyl III's claims to Kyiv, the name of Aleksandr Popovich also appears in reports for 1001 and 1004 (absent in the "Tale of Bygone Years") - together with Yan Usmoshevets. He is also called the winner of the Polovtsians - Polovtsians first appeared on the borders of Ruthenia half a century later.

But enough about Ukraine! Let's talk about others.

Very nice of a russian to redraw Belarus as an existing nation during Kyivan Ruthenia times. :D Because russian propaganda claims Belarus was created somewhere around Commonwealth times or even by Stalin, and that Belaruthians are, in fact, "polonized russians." Or "russified Poles." Russians don't really care about what they write in their "historical" articles.

Belarus is, in fact, the direct heir of the Polatsk Principality (Полацкае княства) which was quite independent from Kyivan Ruthenia for a while. Implying that Belarus ACTUALLY IS the Polatsk Principality - this is WOW, not even Belaruthians themselves have guts to admit that. That's really cool. I like it.

Belarus (as Polatsk Principality?) riding on the back of Lithuania as a donkey?? 🤣🤣🤣 Dude...

Did you know that "russian" (Ruthenian actually) word витязь (vityaź/vytyaź) came from a Baltic language, most likely Lithuanian "vytis" - a horseman, knight, protector? The Ukrainian word "вітчизна" (vitchyzna) means not the "land of parents/fathers" but "the land protected by brave warriors"? Вітчизна word specifically gained the sudden popularity during Commonwealth times - from the 16th century, when the authorities began to appeal not to "subjects" but to "citizens", because people were disappointed in polonization and serfdom.

"Vytis" warriors, especially Yotvingians, were highly valued on the military market of Kyivan Ruthenia.

Thousand of years passed, but Vytis in Lithuania is still a thing - it's their national coat of arms nowadays. :D

In conclusion, op, why are you meddling in the history of the land that does not belong to you if you don't even have enough knowledge about your own?

[stromuprisahat]

(I only read TGT once so if I get any details wrong here, feel free to correct me. Same for the historical reference I'm discussing here). I never understood why Nikolai was considered to be a better character than the Darkling when it came to helping the Grisha. I know Leigh Bardugo presents him as the "nicer" option but Nikolai always kind of reminded me of Tsar Nicholas II, who, from what I remember learning in school, was considered to be a nice man who clearly loved his children, but a rather incompetent ruler. He didn't always make good decisions which made relations with the government worse, and increased hardships for civilians and soldiers. He also was really detached and out of touch with the plight of the Russian people and I believe some of his policies ended up alienating people from ethnic minority groups. I brought him up, because Nikolai is also kind of like this, he's not an exact parallel obviously but like, it's kind of there. The only reason really that he's considered effective in the books is because Leigh can't really write politics that well. Like, even the way the nobility would behave is something she didn't really write well, as well as how the public would react to the things that happen in the story. Idk. Did this make any sense? What do you think?

Absolutely.

I can't speak about the historical Nikolai- I've read very little about him, and it's been years-, but while book!Nikolai's ideas aren't bad per se, he's been greatly helped by gross simplification of politics and LB's clear favour.

Nobles are either supportive, or stupid and gullible.

Inclusion of Grisha works 100%. Sure, the soldiers for Nikolai's elite inventors would he handpicked, but either there is no longer hatred for Grisha among the First Army, or the Tsar's too high to see it.

The only peasants we meet are enlightened enough to immediately understand and ADMIT they're faring better (Read the link. OP's no longer on tumblr, but her posts are based on actual Russian history and literature.), which is... well, have you ever MET any real people, Leigh? RoW was published during fucking covid of all possible times! Huge chunk of population will rather die, than accept the unknown!

Making Nikolai visibly think with his cock leads to no trouble. No one's calling him weak, no one suddenly remembers rumors about Grisha girls "being able to put a spell on a man", Zoya's desired and respected, instead of being viewed as seductress or outright Witch Whore.

And one more about Grisha- there have been pogroms barely a few years back. First Army was slaughtering Second only because they've figured they're to blame for the Fold moving (and don't forget the only survivors aside from Malina were the Darkling's people). Am I to believe a new Tsar ascending with THREE Grisha publicly backing him up won't cause decent upheaval?

Sure, Kolya's nice, but he's too nice. Somewhere on his way from Sturmhond to Tsar Nikolai, he forgot how to cut fingers even though it might make him sick. And the situation should look accordingly.

[thelegend2t]

The Jregswap Explanation Post

Hello, it has come to my attention that a lot of people are finding out about this old Jreg AU called Jregswap. And, if you found out about it recently, you don't really have much to go off of for information of it's short lived existence, except for this post which I'm making because of said lack of information)

Before I say the rest I would like to give credit to the main artist of Jregswap, @snalz-artt . Not only did he create the art, without him some of the most important stuff wouldn't have been recovered.

The Jregswap Extremes:

Here we have the first Reddit post about the concept, posted by the creator. It shows who the four main extremes would be switched with: Extremes who share many characteristics with them but also characteristics of the opposite quadrant. We have:

The Communo-Capitalist: A communist who believes in the creation of Anarcho-Capitalist Free Cities, where the top 1% would be culled regularly. (Based on this video)

The Homo-Fascist: A fascist who believes very strongly in LGBTQ+ rights. (A Centricide character)

The Anarcho-Fascist: An anarchist with extremely rightist views on cultural homogeny, race and identities in general. (A Centricide character but was also conceived in this video)

The Moneytaker: A radical capitalist who corrupts the state to bend to his will. (Based on this video)

Here's the art of the Swapped Extremes. Again, all art drawn by the person I mentioned at the start.

Here's some art featuring the leader of these extremes, Guevara Jreg. Snalz sent this to me when I asked him to help with this post.

Here's a comic the Jregswap team made. A dub of it was also the first Jregswap video ever made so that's cool.

The Jregswap Centrists:

The centrists in the order of this image are:

The Social Democrat, The Populist, The Centrist, The Neoliberal and The Moderate Conservative.

We never really got to many details on these guys, they seem self-explanatory enough I guess. They also seem to be the ideologies in the most moderate positions of each compass quadrant. Socdem libleft, Populist authleft, Neolib libright and Modcon authright.

None of these characters are based on Jreg characters, except for The Centrist who appeared in The Political Compass Rap at the end.

Here's an image of Socdem buying a non-binary flag from Geuvara.

The Jregswap Wackies:

Here's the image the creator posted on Reddit explaining the wackies of this universe and the accompanying art.

Guntakers origin

Techprims origin

Ecofascist origin

Anarcho-Nazbol origin

Accelerationist origin (As a note, this idea was conceived before Accelerationism made an appearance in Centricide 8)

Here's an image of this AU's Nazbol equivalent, The Bleeding Heart Libertarian. Bleeding Heart Libertarians are economically right but culturally left, this idea was conceived of before Jreg had a Pink Capitalist character.

The Jregswap Overtons:

Here are the moderates, or as they were called in Jregswap, The Overtons!

The (Russian) Reactionary, The Classical Liberal, The Wobblie (Industrial Workers of the World) and the Democratic Confederalist.

Similar to the centrists we never got to much information on these guys, but they are all real movements so whatever.

And here's Wobblie telling you to join a union.

The Jregswap Videos:

JREGSWAP - ''Homophobic Problems'' [Pilot Episode] https://web.archive.org/web/20200628100030/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRi4sjPDRKU&gl=US&hl=en

JREGSWAP: Know Your Ideologies

Sadly, these are all the videos ever made for Jregswap, though creating an entire alternate history scenario is pretty cool I'd say.

I would again like to thank Snalz, without him I wouldn't have a link to the second Jregswap video.

[jacensolodjo]

I really need people to stop with 'Russians gave up protesting after being knocked down so often'. Or any other variety of 'poor Russians'.

Like do you HEAR yourself? Do you even have an IDEA of how stupid that is? Yes, everyone has their breaking point but not an entire population.

What you are describing is more accurately "anticipatory obedience". By claiming defeat before you even start, you show the people who shouldn't have power how far they can go. A lot of these groups don't start out going 'hell yeah we're so badass we're so strong no one can stop us we're going to pull out all the stops ASAP'. They're going to be gradual. And it is the population's choice to push back or to just live life on their knees.

No group is powerful enough to suck the strength out of a population the moment they appear.

The NKVD is considered as bloodthirsty and murderous as they are because they executed nearly a million people in the time they were an entity. They chose to do it. They executed people face-to-face through their own initiative. Wanna know how we know? Because they'd shoot people in the street at the slightest provocation. Sound familiar? Yeah, Russians have been doing it again in Ukraine, just full on executing innocent civilians for no reason whatsoever. Even ones in surrender pose.

You get knocked down you get right the back fuck up again. Russians decided en masse they liked the new status quo. Russians hate that Ukrainians don't.

The West called Ukraine the 'most corrupt nation' but I guess they weren't paying attention to Ukrainian response to said corrupted government: it's called Euromaidan. And indeed, how could it be the most corrupt when you literally have Russia right the fuck there anyway? Every election is bought. Russians continue to love the status quo.

They just don't like it being brought up. They don't like being named guilty. They would rather make excuses than do anything remotely useful. To say nothing of their 'supporters' (seriously how do you continue to support a group like this at every opportunity but revile any other group who does the same shit? How do you sleep at night?)

Ukrainians fixed the problem of a corrupt leader. And, hey, so did Americans. Big Orange got ousted at the next election.

But where is Putin? Still in power. Sham election or not, there are other ways to overthrow leaders. Ukrainians showed Russians the way. But I guess Russians left their pen and pad of paper in their other pants.

Putin has been in power since 1999. Russians have had 2 1/2 DECADES. That doesn't happen unless you're really comfortable with the status quo. And don't give me 'but the USSR lasted--" there's a real big difference between gov't and leader so please. Or, perhaps more importantly: Russians have a history of being comfy with the status quo. They have been butthurt since 1991 when Ukraine declared independence. Because, again, Ukraine shows the way but Russians leave their note taking tools elsewhere.

Easier to die mad about it than to do something constructive, I guess.