#Liza Tushina

[creantzy]

Лиза Тушина

[bbgdionysus]

HERE ARE LIZA AND DASHA AS LESBIANS AGAINST NIKOLAI STAVROGIN BECAUSE THEY DESERVED TO BEAT HIM UP AT LEAAAST ONCE

[furbs-and-prayers]

hitting demons with the will wood beam. it is so over for me

[toastedcinnamonflakes]

What would they do with the Death Note?

Demons Edition

Nikolai Stavrogin: would be interested and grill the Shinigami for information, but ultimately would not use it and give it away as soon as he grew bored with it.

Ivan Shatov: would fall into a crisis of fate upon learning that there are Shinigamis. Would, of course, not use the Death Note and would probably destroy it. Before that, however, he would have one tiny moment of doubt and consider whether God sent him the notebook to make him his weapon. Would then have a mental breakdown and blame himself for the rest of his life.

Alexei Kirilow: would not use the Death Note, but would probably become friends with the Shinigami who brought it to him. They would have long discussions about life, death and morality. He would also not bother to hide that he can see the Shinigami, furthering his status as a perceived lunatic.

Liza Tushina: Would start writing a name of someone she doesn't like in a moment of passion, panick, erase the name and have a breakdown.

Darya Shatova: Would not use the Death note. Would hide it somewhere.

Stepan Verkhovensky: would launch into an extensive lecture about morality, the failures of man and if God exists, boring the Shinigami so much that they would write his name into the death note.

Warwara Petrovna: would not use the Death Note. Would, however, give the Shinigami a stern talking-to and embarrass them so much that they would end up leaving her alone and very ashamed of themselves.

Pyotr Verkhovensky: would absolutely use the death note. Would stage a Kira-like plan, but with the difference that he would kill basically everyone who does not agree with him, furthering his revolutionistic goals. Would also probably do some really weird and gross mind control shit concerning Stavrogin once he's gone completly insane.

[lmaowh-at]

Hi new post. Sorry this is all Dostoyevsky but first one was supposed to be an entry for a dtiys on insta that i didnt finish or post because a certain situation happened and posting on instagram feels very wrong right now. Then theres some Myshkin and Nastasya Filippovna faces. 👍

[toastedcinnamonflakes]

That's an interesting point. I do believe that the text is kind of subverting the trope of the "Pure Woman That Saves Impure Man" by making a) the woman also messed up, b) the man absolutely beyond saving, and c) the whole thing "wrong" from the beginning, because it's extramarital.

So in a way the text comments on the notion of "Love conquers all". Like, Stavrogin kind of has this idea that Liza's "Love" could save him, but it can't, because Liza realises it's not really love, it's an illusion (or just plain lust tbh. Which I don't blame her for, Stavrogin is famously beautiful).

It also shows how devastating that giving in to emotions is when it crosses societal boundaries - Liza is killed pretty much directly afterwards, by an angry mob. The text underlines that men can get away with extramarital affairs, women can't, and so romantic ideas of running away from your husband to sleep with someone else will ruin you.

One could argue that the "Love Conquers All" narrative is also subverted through young Verkhovensky - his love (obsession) can't save Stavrogin either.

I think the reason why Liza’s attraction to Stavrogin is so strong — aside from the fact that she’s also one of the many people who were idealizing him — is because the kind of adoration she has for him is a way for her to covertly hold power, and I suppose this stems from her own passionate nature. In a way, Liza wants to challenge Stavrogin, but all she can ever really do is burn both ends of the candle for herself; that is, she wants to overcome the kind of (self-imposed?) hold that he has over her, and in doing so she ironically entangles herself with him in hopes of undoing that knot. Which kinda makes sense, considering that she’s stuck between feeling intense hate and “love” towards him. It’s like… “I’ll give myself to you so I can have some sort of covert hold on you, and hopefully that will triumph over the hold you have on me”, but as we know this doesn’t work out for her in the end. Bell hook’s “All About Love” highlighted this recurring theme about love; that it cannot exist where one party wants to maintain control. Love cannot prevail where the desire for domination exists, basically. And I think that’s one of the arguments that can validate why Liza’s attraction towards Stavrogin is “fatal”; it has always been doomed, because love cannot exist between the two of them, who are both vying for control over each other. On Stavrogin’s end, well… That guy has no semblance of right or wrong (or more accurately, he rejects both notions), so how is he supposed to foster true affection towards Liza? I feel like he saw her as his way out of his misery, but that’s where the problem lies exactly: his objective for this is still egotistical and selfish; he’s in this short-lived relationship for himself, not really for the purpose of loving Liza as her own person. 

[possessedbydevils]

😮

[gegengestalt]

Liza........

[obscurewapcharacterbracket]

Marya propergander: Sweetheart, a bit silly, has a cute limp? Deserved better, Laughed in Stavrogin's face and is absurd (based). Also she's very adorable

Liza propergander: she is pretty she is deranged she is mentally unstable she dominates mavriky she slapped stavrogin on the face as he deserves

[madeleineengland]

Equality in Dostoevsky's novels 👌 (from the 2014 russian TV's adaptation of Demons, the famous novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky)

[tinytimism]

this may be stirring the pot a lil but i simply think the women in demons should have some more content

[englishhomeless]

This "3 characters that shaped you" trend is so funny. My 3 just scream suffering huh.

[bbgdionysus]

Liza: HEYYY BESTIE. Me and Stavrogin JUST broke up and honestly it’s true he was deffo not good for me AT ALL I feel so proud after confronting him #hot girl summer

Pyotr(Stavrogin just broke up with him too)(Imagine mascara dripping down): You’re first on my kill list.

[exile-on-uwustreet]

For that ask thingy: Liza Tushina :D

again, judging attractiveness based on my hc based on description.

looks: somewhat attractive | eh | not really my type | pretty | handsome | beautiful | stud | gorgeous | SWEET LORD MERCY

can you relate to this character on a personal level?: no | not really | somewhat | yes | they are me

would you date/be friends with this character in real life if they were real?: total bros | friends | best friends | date | become their steady boyfriend/ girlfriend | neither  | i don’t know

thanks for the ask~

[plutorine]

on lizaveta nikolaevna (demons)

— some supplementary notes / new knowledge i've picked up about liza; a bit of a ramble-y essay. may contain spoilers.

so i finished demons around late december of last year, and much like what i did after i finished crime and punishment, i went on to hunt for some journal articles about demons. i like doing that to refresh my knowledge on what i just read and clarify some themes that i might have glossed over. something i noticed was the lack of articles about liza tushina — i really wanted to understand her character some more, so i was bemoaning the scarcity of articles written about her (most of the ones i've come across are usually about stavrogin) on my private twitter account.

BUT. but. i did some more digging and found instead an article about dasha. i fully expected it to tackle her character only, but i was surprised to see that liza was mentioned several times in it.

i've always thought about the significance or the "rationale" of liza's character in demons. i thought about her a lot even after i've read the book, and i was always trying to figure out what dostoevsky could be possibly communicating to his readers through her. the general idea that i got (after weeks of Thinking Really Hard) is that liza's somehow a counterpart (i'm using this very loosely here) of stavrogin's being the disconnected, westernized russian man.

in the article i mentioned, liza is described as such:

in comparison to dasha:

as we know, liza is not above displaying her emotions; she also doesn't hold back especially when there's something she wishes to say. by dostoevsky's standards, liza is a "westernized" woman, too — she's passionate, assertive, and progressive, not at all like his otherwise "meek" female characters (e.g. dasha in this case; sonya from c&p) who embody the traits of a Good Christian Girl™️

another interesting point i want to touch on is liza's poor health / sickly disposition. there's a passage where the narrator says that liza rides around town according to the doctor's advice. additionally, we know that she's prone to hysterics / having fits. apart from a physical sense, i think this can also be understood as a "spiritual sickness", or at least a kind of vulnerability, which made her susceptible to the temptations of the moral bloodsucker that is stavrogin. she succumbs to temptation, she sins, and she buckles under the weight of her sin.

a little off tangent but the article i'm referencing here also talked about how this sickly-ness of liza is like that of stavrogin; it's something born out of her social class. it's why she holds much contempt towards dasha — liza thinks it's outrageous that she has to compete with a "serf-wench" for stavrogin's attention. it also explains why she thinks that marya lebyadkina can't possibly be her other rival, because she's outside her circle / way below the social status ladder, and therefore does not exist to her and is not a valid candidate as another rival for stavrogin's attention.

whew. anyway, that's it. i've wanted to make a longer post about this because i can only write so much on twitter, and because i've always been fascinated with liza ever since i finished the novel. please don't take this as me hating her — much like the other characters, she's got her own flaws that should be acknowledged alongside her strengths. this is simply me looking back on what i've read and making it make more sense to myself.

also, if you're interested in reading the article for yourself, this is the title:

if for any reason you don't have access to this / can't access it, feel free to send me a dm and i can email you a copy of it ^^