#Maryna’s answers

[alcarenka]

Hey Maryna!

I’m Rach, a fellow tennis fan and janlitos/sincaraz enjoyer and I’m sliding into your asks to see if you’d be up to beta-read some RuRu writing… I know this probably comes out of the blue but I’ve been reading your blog for a while and I absolutely love your vibes!

I’m mainly looking for a general grammar check (I’m not a native English speaker and could use the help since I haven’t written in English in a while), but some brainstorming about the plot (it’s still a wip) and potential changes would also be gladly appreciated.

Let me know when you receive this. I’m open to talk about the story in depth and giving you more info 🥰

Hi Rach!!!! Thank you for the question 🥰

Sorry for responding the question a bit late but I was at the uni 😅

Well… I’m most a janlitos/sincaraz fan so I read more fanfics of them. However, I’m also more and more into the ruru ship and I've read some fanfics about them, mainly on AO3.

To begin with, I am not a person who knows how to write stories, fanfics or the like; I'm more the person who reads them. Likewise, right now, I'm very interested in reading books or fanfics (in this case, tennis fanfics or some football fanfics).

Regarding the brainstorming for a new ruru fanfic, I've been thinking about some ideas that I wish other writers could write about. One of those ideas is to write a enemies to lovers about the development of their relationship since the incident at Roland Garros and now in 2024 (like in the UTS in Oslo or in Acapulco) they get along wonderfully. Also, I can send you some videos and photos of them smiling to each other, getting along well or hugging for some inspiration.

Another of the ideas I have had about them is from several Thai bls series that I have seen and that have that enemies to lovers dynamic; and that maybe I am falling a lot into that dynamic for the ruru relationship. For example, one of those series is the first one I saw called TharnType The Series and I don't know why, it reminds me of them and has that enemies to lovers dynamic. This happens because the plot of the series is somewhat similar to their relationship (Type is a tall and handsome rookie. Although he is a warm boy, he is homophobic because of things in the past. His life is turned upside down when the new year of college brings a very interesting person in his life, a gay roommate, Tharn. Tharn, is a very handsome music student with light skin and mixed features. He is also openly gay. With a gay boy and a boy who hates gays , who have to share a small space for the rest of the year). Therefore, based on the plot of that series I think you could get a very interesting fic, plus there are moments where several plot twists occur.

These are the ideas that come to mind at the moment, I hope it hasn't been too heavy and I hope it helps you write something. I may come up with more ideas in the near future about ruru fanfics. I also have many or even too many ideas for janlitos/sincaraz fanfics. If you are interested in it too, I can tell you some 🫡

Thankssss Rach!!! ❤️❤️

[lucrezianoin]

Here is how to get astarion approval so high he will proposition you before the tieflings party. No evil choices, just some chaos. The score you want is 40.

Not all of these are necessary btw, if you di all of this you'll get over 40. Avoid what sounds too evil and check that you're getting up to 40. Also remember that for the party romance you actually only need 20.

- When Lae'zel is in the cage, talk to her before releasing her and ask her to say "please"

- Attacking the thieves at the ruined temple

- When Shadowheart mention needing a cure (at camp) make sure to choose the option about being cautious

- When you meet with Zevlor, refuse to help saying you have your own problems. (you can help anyway, don't worry)

- When Lae'zel meets the tiefling and ask him to bow, go along with her at least once, then you can stop her and apologise to the poor man

- When you meet Wyll, you can talk with the guy training the children. Tell the children that they will all die

- After saving Arabella, tell the druid woman that you just wanted to see what would happen

- When you meet Auntie Ethel at the refugees' camp, let her fuss over you and then tell her about the tadpoles

- You know the kid with the magic ring trick? Pocket that ring

- When you meet the two siblings mourning their dying brother, Astarion will approve of you send them to face the owlbear (but I never choose this, because it makes me sad). But I think the big approval comes in the dialogue just next, where you can say that using the tadpole seems like a great idea

- At the blighted village, when the goblin spots you, you will get approval if you attack them back

- Say boooo to Volo

- Open the door where the sexy moans are happening

- At the entrance of the goblin camp, if you can, thow shit at the guard

- There's a goblin that will ask you to kneel and kiss his foot. Uno reverse it, and intimidate him

- Let the cleric at the goblin whip you

- After you free the owlbear, pet them at camp

- Get the necromancy of thay, and the amethyst that fits in it and give it to Astarion

- Recruit Karlach with him in the party

- Killing the monster Hunter will also shoot up your approval of TEN POINTS. I usually never kill him, but if you're close to the party and you really want to get to 40, this is also an option

- When you meet Raphael, agree with Astarion that you should not trust him

- If you decide to do auntie ethel too, make sure to convince her to free Maryna and get the deal at the same time

Now, I think the majority of approval will come with how you talk with him at camp.

- Go along with his dialogue about killing you if there's any tentacle showing. Just play along, don't shut him down

- Go along with the "whose blood would you drink" dialogue. Your answer doesn't really matter as long as you don't shut him down

- When he bites you, of course, offer to give him your blood

- During the mirror dialogue (sometimes it happens pre-sleeping together) you can insult him a bit (you're not aging gracefully), but at the second reply reassure him. The last reply is fine for all the lines and they seem to all get approval, as long as you don't just leave.

In general this is usually all I need to get to 40, which is pretty high. In my last playthrough I managed to also get to 40 without doing many of these.

But as I said, you only need 20. Just remember that he likes being petty and asserting dominance over others, he loves the tadpole, he is cautious, he's a little silly and chaotic, he's selfish, he likes joking and talking so don't shut him down.

Just remember that he's much more explicit about sex being an exchange if you get the proposition before the party, and you end up missing the scene of the party. Up to you! If you see that he's at 40 he will proposition the moment you talk to him, so if you accidentally got his approval too high and want to see both scenes you can technically kill the goblin leaders and free halsin, talk to him, then when you sleep you get directly to the party where you will have the party scene too.

[sombredancer]

Recent visually beautiful and generally watchable Russian fantasy movies

(because I start forgetting they exist at all) Ironically, all of them are adaptations of books/comics.

I Am Dragon / Он — дракон (2015) This movie is a very free adaptation of the novel "The Rite" / "Ритуал" by Maryna and Serhiy Dyachenko (Марина и Сергей Дяченко). It's a reinterpreting of an ancient tale about a maiden, a hero and a dragon. I don`t like the novel because it's very postmodern, wracks the typical fairytale plot and hurts my escapist feelings by ugly reality, but the movie is pretty fairytale-ish and nice. Firstly, it is visually beautiful and represent Slavic pseudo-medieval lore the way it should have always been in Slavic fantasy.

Secondly, as a love story between a monster and a maiden, it has got A PLENTY of tropes I'm usually looking for in Chinese dramas, so I understand very well why it was pretty popular in Asia.

Thirdly, when I said it's visually beautiful I wasn't joking. The main hero is played not by an actor, but by a male model, who is shirtless all the time (and sometimes pantless) and has a very fit and good-looking body. It's something unbelievable that someone in Russia made a movie to please women's eyes! Really, it's insane!

The folk-rock band Мельница wrote an insanely beautiful song "Обряд" (The Rite) for this movie (more matched to the book plot, though), but it was never used as OST, which is a shame. The song is about a black sheep girl, who is denied by society and asks a dragon to come for her and to take her away, because the dragon is denied by this world just like her. You can listen to it here. The band also has a song "Змей" (The Wyrm) (based on Lev Gumilev's poem), which is more accurate to the plot of the movie: the wyrm kidnaps maidens to make them its wives, but they are all dying during the flight; at the end of the song a hero-knight is ready to shoot it in order to stop it. Listen to it here.

It ends with HE, which is better than the book's obscure ending, so it is pleasure for me to rewatch it till these days.

Major Grom: Plague Doctor / Майор Гром: Чумной Доктор (2021)

It is an adaptation of Russian comic series "Major Grom" by Bubble comics. I am traditionally not very happy with the source material, but it is very good reworked to be the screen play of this movie.

It's very beautifully made in terms of director's, cameraman's and screenwriter's work, which is a rare thing for Russian movies. Also, the actors are young and handsome, especially the villain, which is a rare thing not only for Russian movies, but for the current Western movies, too. It has got a lot of allusions to Russian reality and a lot of beautiful views of Saint Petersburg, the second capital of Russia and one of the most beautiful Russian cities. And it has got some unusual visual solutions that turn it into a comic it should be.

The plot revolves around a mysterious serial killer (kinda bad Batman), a black sheep police officer and Russian Mark Zuckerberg (kind of). Mark Zuckerberg is the best guy of this movie and I like him a lot! Серёёёёжа! 🧡🧡🧡

This movie wasn't popular in Russia because of political situation in the country by the moment of its release (the both sides found out in there something insulting for them and banned it), but even if it has something like that, I honestly didn't pay attention to it. It's just a nice blockbuster with a tragic and handsome villain. The villain also has got his own BL-drama (in the comics they are really lovers, it`s as obvious as it could be shown in a Russian comic).

By the way, the villain is hot, insane, ruthless, sensitive and suffering. How does he contain all of this character treats in one personality? you may ask. He doesn`t. He has dissociative identity disorder, I would answer.

I don`t know if it works by now, but some time ago you could watch this lovely movie on Netflix.

The Master and Margarita / Мастер и Маргарита (2024) This is a loose adaptation of Russian classical novel "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov. I genuinely hate this book, but the adaptation reinterprets it, divides it into very interesting layers and makes it understandable and beautiful.

It`s layered, so it will probably be hard to understand what layer are we currently on if you are not familiar with the original story. The first layer is an ugly Soviet reality, the second layer is a plot of the novel that the main hero is writing, a story within a story. The third layer is the insane intertwining of the first two layers. On the reality layer the Master loses his job and freedom because of friend's denunciation and becomes star-crossed lovers with a married woman. On the novel level he meets devil, who visits Moscow by chance, and the devil gives him and his woman opportunity to live their lives being free from everything that usually tortures people IRL. Somewhere among those layers is a little plot about Jesus and Pontius Pilate.

The movie is visually beautiful. Although it feels pretty anti-Soviet, Soviet visuals of the movie are gorgeous. There were used the Stalin-times concepts of Moscow of the Future, the CGI buildings in frame came from the real architecture projects of those times. The Stalin Empire architecture style and views are typical for Moscow (but as I know, ironically, this all was shot in Saint Petersburg). It seems to me that this movie is heavily stuffed with visual allusions to the Western works: devil's escort looks like bunch of Pennywises, Margarita is Enchantress from Suicide Squad I, the scene of blood dripping is from Blade I etc. Usually, when I see it in Russian movies, it feels like plagiarism because I can recognize the reference but there is nothing except for these references . But here we have got the plot, so the allusions work as allusions and don`t irritate me.

The movie is dark, disturbing, uncomfortable. It really makes you feel as if you watch devil and his escort marching around you; they ravage, kill and destroy everything and you can only breathlessly, helplessly and in fear watch them. The German actor playing devil is insanely good. He stole the movie and I understand why it should have been named Woland (the devil's name) instead of the current movie's name. You may want to watch it, because it's very unusual in terms of plot and visuals experience, especially when you are not familiar with the book.

[mariacallous]

As western nations fail to deliver the weapons and ammunition Ukraine says it needs, Russia is rapidly advancing in the east of the country using its superiority in air power and artillery

The Russian war plane flew above Avdiivka, the Ukrainian city abandoned this month by Ukrainian forces. It looped above the new eastern frontline. And then it dropped a bomb, not far from where Maryna Haivoronska was standing in the village of Novoselivka Persha. “I saw the jet in the sky. It was 9.30am. The bomb landed 500 metres away from me. I threw myself to the ground. My legs are still trembling,” she said.

Since capturing Avdiivka Russian forces have been moving rapidly forward. Earlier this week they overran two settlements down the road from Novoselivka, where Haivoronska is the mayor. Their tactics are brutally effective. First, fighter jets carpet-bomb the area. Then, assault groups using armoured vehicles overwhelm Ukraine’s new and vulnerable positions.

Two years after the full-scale invasion, Russia is close to achieving a strategic breakthrough in the east. It is happening in a rustic landscape of brown fields, wispy yellow feather grass and pyramid-like slag heaps. Ukrainian forces clatter up and down in green Humvees along dusty country roads. But they have no answer to Russian planes, which patrol menacingly above them in an azure haze, leaving decorative curlicue trails.

Ukrainian troops have not given up. They have shot down 10 enemy Sukhoi jets in as many days. But overall they lack tactical-level air defences, which would allow them to chase away Russia’s marauding squadrons, as they move into position above the occupied city of Donetsk. The Ukrainians have little artillery. The Russians have lots. The sound of incoming Grad missiles can be heard every few minutes along the Ukrainian frontline: a terrible thunder clap.

The heavy glide bomb that fell on Novoselivka’s School Street wrecked a private two-storey house. Miraculously the family inside – Alyona Movchan and her two children – survived. The village has been hit before. In 2023 a rocket flattened the main square, destroying everything apart from a garish Soviet war memorial with a silver-painted sculpture of a wounded soldier. Two people were killed. Another died from a heart attack.

Locals say decisions being taken far away – or not, in the case of US Republicans blocking a crucial $61bn (£48bn) package to Ukraine – are existential for them. Their homes and communities are being swallowed up. “We are on our knees, begging the US and the UK for help,” Haivoronska told the Guardian. She added: “I’m from Avdiivka. I believed the city would hold. We lost it because our guys didn’t have planes or enough ammunition.”

Some residents are reluctant to leave, despite the fact the Russians are 10km away, and getting closer. The mayor said 18 people remained. There is no electricity or gas. The village shop – Natalie’s – shut this week. Its disco, kindergarten and surgery closed long ago. In the neighbouring village of Zhelanne 454 people hang on. On Tuesday humanitarian aid was given out at its school. Moscow has bombed the building three times, ripping off its southern facade.

“I have a bag packed. But where am I supposed to go?” 63-year-old Liubov Hryhorivna wondered. She explained: “I have no money. Our pensions are small. I love my country and I don’t want to leave.” What did she think of Vladimir Putin, who has vowed to ‘liberate’ the parts of Donetsk oblast not under Russian rule? “He started with Donetsk in 2014. Now he wants everything. His appetite has grown. He’s our enemy,” she said. Could Ukraine win? “I don’t know,” she replied.

Hryhorivna collected a gas stove, a solar-powered torch and a grey blanket. She said she was living in a flat belonging to her husband’s late parents, after a missile hit her own property, blowing out the windows. “I would like to stay alive so I can see my grandchildren,” she said. Of the 30 people who picked up supplies, one said he supported Russia. “I believe in peace,” Anatolii Anatoliiovych said, predicting: “Russia will win.”

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, this week convened an emergency summit in support of Ukraine, alarmed by the stalemate in the US Congress, where participants agreed more had to be done. The EU, however, has failed to make good on its pledge to give Kyiv a million artillery rounds. Deliveries of weapons – tanks, air defence systems and long-range artillery – have typically come too late, and only after indecision and government caution.

Ukrainian troops, meanwhile, have hastily constructed a new fortified line designed to thwart further Russian advances. It stretches between the villages of Tonenke, Orlivka, and Berdychi. There are trenches. And a body of water. But they offer less protection than the now abandoned concrete bunkers inside Avdiivka’s industrial zone and its sprawling coke factory. These helped Ukrainian combat units withstand Russia and its proxies for a decade. Would the new defences work?

[oodlenoodleroodle]

I propose that instead of closing the border between Finland and Russia, we translate this article into Russian and require everyone entering the country with a Russian passport to read it and then complete a short reading comprehension test about it, a la "how old was Maryna when she lost her leg when the Russian forces bombed her home?" and "which event cancelled all of the progress that Maryna had made with her psychological recovery?" And you have to pass the test before you can enter the country.

And then when the people want to cross back to the Russian side there is another article and test to pass before you can exit. And obvs you can't legally ban people from leaving the country but people who refuse the exit test could be personally persona-non-grata'd and forbidden from entering Finland for the next 20 years or something.

Or actually, to discourage cheating, we could have a large collection of articles and accompanying reading comprehension tests, which are randomly assigned every time you want to cross the border. Also you are first given the article to read and then 20 minutes later the test so as to make sure people don't get to just hurry past it. Because children getting bombed in Ukraine don't get to hurry past it.

People with difficulties reading will get an audio version. People with more severe difficulties will get an assistant that will read the article out loud to them and ask them the questions orally and mark their answers down for them.

[straightlightyagami]

For the maths ask: 7, 9, 17, and 27 :))

Thank you for the ask ^_^

7. What do you like about math?

I like that it is possible to know with complete certainty that some things are true. Unlike science you don't have to run experiments and make a theory that is the most predictive or whatever, you can generally verify a proof and know if it works.

9. Do you have any favorite theorems?

Not any specific ones I would say are my favorite, but there's a couple I like. First isomorphism theorem is quite nice to me, quite satisfying I guess (?). another result/proof I like is Cantor's diagonalisation argument, it's the sort of thing you'd tell people about to show them math is cool. Sorry for the basic answer, all the math leaves my brain the second I have to choose this sort of thing haha.

17. Are there any great female Mathematicians (living or dead) you would give a shout-out to?

Maryna Viazovska, Ukranian mathematician who won the Fields medal in 2022 for her work in sphere packing. Second female fields medalist.

Maryam Mirzakhani, first woman to be awarded the Fields Medal

Emmy Noether, probably one of the most important figures in math/physics history

Sofya Kovalevskaya, first woman to receive a math doctorate

27. Do you know any good math jokes?

um, not any funny ones? "a mathematician, a biologist, and a physicist observe the entrance of a house. two people enter and in an hour three leave. the physicist says, 'the initial measurement was inaccurate.' the biologist says, 'they must have reproduced.' the mathematician says, 'if one more person goes in, the house will be empty.'"

[jcmarchi]

Watching Electrons at Work - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/watching-electrons-at-work-technology-org/

Watching Electrons at Work - Technology Org

Researchers from ETH Zurich, Empa and Stanford have taken snapshots of the crystal structure of perovskite nanocrystals as excited electrons deformed it. To their surprise, the deformation straightened out the skewed crystal structure rather than making it more disordered.

The international research team found that excited electrons (at the centre of the image) can straighten out the skewed crystal lattice of perovskite nanocrystals. Image credit: Nuri Yasdani / ETH Zurich

Many a scientific and technical problem could be solved easily if it were possible to look inside a material and watch its atoms and electrons wiggle about in real time. In the case of halide perovskites, a class of minerals that has become very popular in recent years for their use in solar cells and quantum technologies, physicists have long tried to understand their excellent optical properties.

A team of researchers led by Nuri Yazdani and Vanessa Wood at ETH Zurich, and Aaron Lindenberg at Stanford, along with colleagues at Empa in Dübendorf, have now made significant progress towards our understanding of perovskites by studying the motion of atoms inside nanocrystals with a time resolution of a few billionths of a second. They recently published their findings in the scientific journal Nature Physics.

“Halide perovskites are great for many opto-​electronic applications,” says Yazdani. “But it is puzzling how this class of materials can exhibit such outstanding optical and electronic properties.” Perovskites are minerals that have the same type of crystal structure as calcium titanate (CaTiO3), the “original” perovskite.

Researchers knew that when perovskites absorb light, electrons that are excited to higher energies couple strongly to phonons inside the material. Phonons are collective vibrations of the atoms in a crystal, similar to sound waves.

“Often one can treat the average position of each atom inside a crystal as fixed, but that is no longer possible when an optical excitation of an electron leads to a large reorganisation of the crystal lattice,” Yazdani explains. The question the researchers had to answer was, therefore: how do excited electrons in perovskites change the shape of the crystal lattice?

Looking inside nanocrystals

To take a peek inside a perovskite (formamidinium lead bromide) synthesised at Empa by Maryna Bodnarchuk and ETH professor Maksym Kovalenko, the researchers used an ultrafast electron diffraction beamline facility at the Stanford National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) that produces very short pulses of electrons lasting only a hundred femtoseconds, or millionths of a millionth of a second.

These electrons then hit the perovskite nanocrystals, about 10 nanometres in size, and the diffracted electrons are collected on a screen.

Since electrons are quantum particles that behave like waves, after being diffracted from the atoms inside the material the electron waves interfere constructively or destructively, depending on the positions of the atoms and the direction of diffraction – much like light emerging from a double slit. Even tiny changes in the crystal structure can be measured in this way.

The ETH researchers made use of a special feature of the SLAC beamline to take snapshots of the crystal structure during and after the absorption of a photon: by using the same laser to create the photons and to trigger the electron pulse, they were able to control the photon’s arrival time at the nanocrystals relative to that of the electrons by changing the distance that the photons had to travel.

From the analysis of those snapshots over several hundreds of picoseconds (billionths of second), it was possible to see how the deformation of the crystal lattice caused by the photo-​excited electrons evolved over time.

When a perovskite absorbs a photon, the resulting exciton straightens out the skewed crystal lattice (left). The researchers took snapshots of that process by measuring the diffraction of a very short electron pulse at different times after the photon absorption (right). Image credit: Nuri Yasdani / ETH Zurich

Surprising increase in symmetry

The results took the researchers by surprise. They had expected to see a deformation of the crystal lattice that should have led to a reduction in its symmetry. Instead, they observed a shift towards increased symmetry – the excited electrons had slightly straightened out the skewed crystal structure of the perovskite.

From model calculations, they deduced that several excitons – bound pairs of excited electrons and positively charged holes left behind by their excitation – could cooperate in straightening out the lattice. Since that lowers their total energy, the excitons were effectively attracted to one another.

Tailoring the optical properties of perovskites

“Understanding the origin of the electron-​phonon coupling will make it easier to produce perovskites with particular optical properties tailor-​made for specific applications,” says Yazdani.

For instance, perovskite nanocrystals for use in next-​generation TV screens can be coated in a shell of another material in order to reduce the electron-​phonon coupling and hence reduce the spectral linewidth of the emitted light This was already demonstrated in 2022 by several of the co-​authors of the Nature Physics paper.

Also, since the attractive interaction between excitons is similar to the mechanism that allows electrical current to flow without loss in superconductors, that attraction might be exploited to enhance electron transport. This could, in turn, be useful for making solar cells based on perovskites.

Source: ETH Zurich

You can offer your link to a page which is relevant to the topic of this post.

[amanda-youngs-slvt]

Oh ho ho I am so glad you asked, friend.

I’ll start with the questions you asked here and then you can ask any follow up questions

Break here

1. It’s for my OC, Ruby. Short short story she’s an ex mafia princess who’s brother was beaten to death by their other brother (and two cousins) for being gay (it’s far more than that but that’s the core reason. Ruby (real name, Kateryna Maryna Romanenko) finds her older brother, who is the only one who’s ever actually cared for her, and runs. She runs as far as she can away from newyork with the cash she has on her. She got to Brooklyn and had to go into hiding as “Ruby” which is her nickname from her older brother because she was born in July. She has no money and no documentation and is only 18 so no way to get work or housing. So in desperation she decided to become a sex worker. It gave her money to get by and a place to sleep each night. So there is a very rudimentary version of the backstory.

2/3. The motives for the actual trap she is in which is known as “Ruby’s collar” isn’t based on her really. It was a simi-crudely constructed earlier trap design made by john while Amanda watched and learned from him. Kind of like how the shotgun collar wasn’t really related to Lynn personally but her trial was.

4. It is beatable! They used this trap to indoctrinate her. it was a grueling trial but she made it out alive and became an apprentice- sort of. Her story actually aligns with cannon until the end of saw iii which is a whole thing. Then everything completely changes. I will say it’s all rather self indulgent.

5. The trial- oh the trial. It’s a bit on the nose but a lot of the traps are I suppose.

This is a whole thing so bare with me. Here’s how the trial works-

It starts with Ruby in a chair with the collar around her neck in the dark. She wakes up and the video explaining the trial starts to play “hello “Ruby” or should I say, Katryna, I’d like to play a game.” You know, the whole shpeal. To her right is a table with three wine glasses and three very small plates. Then infront of her, which she can’t see yet, are three people hoisted on three apparatuses that look like that think from the Blair witch- three crosses. With a scalpel on top of the table she has to cut off three chunks of flesh that are the size of the very tiny plates (about 1/4 of a cup of flesh per plate) and she has to fill each of the wine glasses to the fill line (about 3/4 of the glass). She then has to feed the substances to the people infront of her on the crosses before slitting their throats with the knife. All of this needs to be done in 15 minutes. Periodically during the time period the large screws in the collar will screw inwards. Successfully completing the trial will result in a safe by the table opening with a key inside to unlock the collar before the final screw happens which would result in impaling her neck five ways. It is then revealed to her that the three people infront of her are her two cousins and the brother of hers that killed the other one. They come to soon after the video ends and as soon as they’re all awake the timer starts.

I would love to answer and other questions I have a lot of answers lol

AHHH I FOUND MY DRAWING OF THE JUDAS TRAP (part of my saw oc’s trial)

I really need to draw out the rest of this trial

[max1461]

I wonder how much the Fields Medal recipients are affected by politics? I have to imagine the answer is "not much, but a little bit", which makes me wonder if it will be affected at all (positively or negatively?) by the fact that Maryna Viazovska is Ukrainian. Anyway I hope she wins it, obviously because it would be deserving, but also because "first white woman Fields Medalist" is a slightly hilarious concept to me.

[aloy97]

10 episode LL commentary

I start by saying that you have finally understood that the filler episodes we do not like, are already 4 episodes that you produce rich content and not miserable information, which I like , as well as, although we are in the arc of Rayan, receive information and involvement with my Flirt.. Castiel: What can I say, he as always is an angel, although he would have all the reasons of this world, to get angry with Lynn, always tries to keep calm, which denotes a personal growth and absolute maturity, If you think about how he behaved in high school or college I’m sorry that the candy is so dull and selfish, as well as unacceptable, You know, the kind of profession you’re in, and I find it absurd that you can’t understand that if he blew you off at dinner, it’s for something important. There’s talk of a relaunch for his profession, and it’s obvious he prioritizes a job opportunity, if he went to the dinner,  He and the bruised bass player would have moved on and he would still be economically dependent on lynn, since his current record company seems to have dissolved into thin air, along with his manager, Jim.... If in the beginning , that is, before the discussion on the phone, I could understand in short his speech of the " a message you could send me", now I totally agree with Castiel. You can not think that one shatters a proposal of work, of dinners you will do as you want, darling, you’ve chosen him as a musician, he always does that, but Castiel doesn’t mean he doesn’t miss you, he even said that he misses you.I just think , is this is the glaring demonstration, that cass needs an independent and understanding person in turn, lynn by force of tantrums will lose it, because cass always tries to find a compromise, Instead she knows only complain and minimize the work of others.. No one is perfect and you can not expect that one lives in symbiosis with the cell phone , maybe for real could not answer, every job has its own rhythms and conditions and if lynn does not put himself in a position to understand, I can already imagine the reason for the breakup.A singer does not have a common job and unfortunately either you accept the matter or you find another partner.... Nathaniel: If with cass I thought the candy had reached the bottom, with him I changed my mind, same controversy, if not more hysterical, childish and unjustified.As cass , nathaniel does a particular job, there are risks and you cannot expect him not to perform certain tasks and it seemed disrespectful and selfish to ask him not to take part in future infiltrations or specific requests.I repeat: if you were not willing to this kind of relationship, you were looking for a simple guy , without problems and with any job.Ok nathaniel compared to Castiel is recent this choice of his but he has always made known his passion for crime stories, adrenaline works etc etc, so you can not properly say lynn  fell from an orchard eh. I think his scene was the worst ever, I NEVER expected such a reaction, I understand the tiredness, the nervous but my joy, you know what the situation is. And if Castiel could theoretically write them,   nathaniel no.Despite everything at least we have a treat that manifests emotions. Dan: as always he thinks he is the absolute master, but not . In fact I refused to let him expand the place, you never know what could happen and honestly as long as you sell works and people attend, In case of problems then I think the cake might consider the idea of expanding it or adding some news.For now it doesn’t need it. Maryna: eehh what to say, always worse her, as well as Priya which I can say, for what I have seen and read, both less than depriving her of high school.. Rayan makes me a unique tenderness and I hope with the help of the candy can redeem but surely his reputation is now ruined and I hope that Maryna and Riya pay and also salty for what they did to him. Vote ep : 9.

[ask-kindghb]

Fureur, Do you ever have night~ where you ~imply cannot ~tay a~leep no matter what becau~e your brain refu~e~ to quiet down? If ~o, do you have any mean~ of beating it? I've woken up over ~even time~ tonight, and it'~ driving me mad. - Maryna P.~. -Your cu~tom weapon~ are coming along ~wimmingly, ~ir, and I ~hould have them for you within the next week. I apologize for the delay, I've gotten a ~upri~ing number of commi~~ions in the la~t month that have kept me quite bu~y.

♑: But to give a really quick answer; Yes I do. and take your time, working for money is more important sometimes than for just doing stuff for others for free.

D: As to how to win against the restlessness in your bed, if you’re not sleepy enough and can’t fall asleep soon enough, I highly recommend getting up from the bed and doing something productive or calming, depending on your mood. But don’t just go passively watch video’s on youtube, and cut your time on the web short near your bedtime if you have trouble sleeping. Also, keeping your electronic devices a bit further then right next to your head might also help.

[endless-shelter]

H: Remember how you always wanted to be part of the Kingdom's guard? M: Yeah but there's all that dumb moonstone loyalty stuff. H: I know, but there is no moonstone to swear loyalty to or mindtraps. You've been loyal to the kingdom even though you weren't officially a part of it.

M: Well I couldn't just leave our home to be destroyed. E: You know how many of the guard gave up their loyalty in the final war. M: *oh good lord you scared me* E: *sorry* H: *pfft~* Look, I know you've been patching up my first uniform ust to get back into the armoury. Be honest with us here, do you still want to be a royal guard, or a full member of the brotherhood?

M: Wait you don't mean?- H: Maryna, just answer the question. M: Yeah! Duh! E: Today's the day, Maryna! It's official All but M: Welcome to the brotherhood.

Ignore the bad pacing at the final panel, I had to finish this to have some time to work on school art lmao. But yeah, Dark Kingdom’s back up and running, and with no more weird magic things, getting one new member is an easy task.

[jmflowers]

Top 5 people you’ve met through the internet

I’m gonna take this as met in person first, and then answer the second one of this same question as people I haven’t met in person yet.

1. Kaitlyn - we met in the Calzona fandom near the beginnings of my adventures there. She was the absolute greatest cheerleader through writing my first long haul AU fic and I will never be able to thank her enough for that. We’ve stayed in touch for nearly a decade, checking in periodically about how our lives are changing. I flew out to Colorado to meet her for the very first time in November, hugged her dogs, and hung out with her wonderful wife.

2. Catherine (and Jayde) - we also met in the Calzona fandom after she reblogged a video I’d made with the absolute nicest tags. We iMessaged often through those years and I remember clearly the conversation we had when she first met Jayde. They’re from Australia, so I never thought we’d get to meet, but we all happened to be in London at the same time in 2017 and the 8 hours we spent together was one of the most amazing days of my life.

3. Lauren (and Jacquie) - we were mutuals during the Calzona days and ended up adding each other on social media at one point. She made a post on her Facebook a couple years ago about a squirrel running up a tree with an entire slice of pizza and I instantly messaged her to ask if she was in Toronto. 😂 We met up the next night for tacos, Sweet Jesus, and one of my token “I have no idea where I’m going actually” walks. It was lovely. Very grateful for the dating advice they gave me that night.

4. Stef (and her friend, Emily) - was a friend of a friend and mutual in the Calzona fandom. They happened to be in Toronto at one point, so my best friend and I went to meet up with them to spend the day at the zoo. It’s always really amazing to get to talk to people in real life about humans you know from the internet. I spend half my daily life talking about people I’ve never actually met in person and trying not to let other people know that they’re internet friends, so it was amazing to turn that off and just speak.

5. Maryna - I reached out to an Evelyne Brochu fan account on Instagram because I was going to a show in Montréal by myself and wanted to find someone to sit with as it was general admission. That fan connected Maryna and I, so we met up at the show. We ended up talking to Evelyne and Félix after the show, then rode that high for a very giggly stroll through Montréal. I’d say she’s one of my dearest friends now, and we’ve been taking turns going back and forth between Toronto and Montréal to visit each other for more than a year now. She helps me practice my French, I help her with English, and then she answers a phone call from her mom in Russian and Ukrainian. Amazing young woman.

[redjaybathood]

Sure! Some of those recs are actually what was recommended to Russians after the 24th Feb. on one of forums I in, and some are my personal recommendations. Here it is:

1) Serhiy Zhadan/Сергій Жадан

He's a poet, and I hate poetry, especially contemporary poetry - but I love his stuff. Recommended anything past 2014 - he's okay even before, but I guess the shift in our society was an inspiration he needed to go next level.

From the old stuff, I recommend Mushrooms of Donbas/Гриби Донбасу/Грибы Донбасса. It's kinda says miles about how life there's been before it all went to shit; not perfect by far, but our own.

He's also a prose writer. Voroshilovgrad/Ворошиловград is maybe the most known, but I personally would recommend Internat/Інтернат

2) Oles Honchar, The Cathedral/ Олесь Гончар, Собор

Oldie but goodie, and especially significant to read today, when we got the news about destruction of Sviatohirsk Lavra

3) The Forest Song, Lesya Ukrainka/Лісова Пісня, Леся Українка

A rec if you like 1) queer writers 2) folk fantasy 3) stories about power of love, freedom, and art

4) Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors / Михайло Коцюбинський, Тіні Забутих Предків

It's a novel about love in Carpathian mountains.

Which also has a movie version by Sergey Parajanov, and researching a bit about the premier showing of this movie will also help to understand a bit what was like to be Ukrainian in the 60s

From Kotsiubynsky, I would also recommend Intermezzo. It's an experience - very impressionist literature.

5) Denys Kazansky, Maryna Vorotyntseva «How Ukraine Has Been Losing Donbas» / Денис Казанський, Марина Воротинцева «Як Україна втрачала Донбас»

This is a non fiction book. It also one of two books I personally own. It's very important to me as it's about my home. And it's written by people from there: Denys is from Donetsk and Maryna from Luhansk. If you ever questioned: why and how and for what purpose, Luhansk and Donetsk are currently occupied, here's your answer.

I think it's the only book from this list that's not available online though. I've been thinking about making a bootleg translation to English if situation permits but I might have to ask the authors first.

This is only a short list. Ukrainian literature is vast, for any taste. But most of what I mentioned should be available online and even had translation either to Russian, or to English, or to both. Though disclaimer: I did not read it in Russian translation and can't vouch for quality, so if possible, try to read in original language.

Hello! I’m a great fan of your work truly.

The thing is I’m Russian. I’ve heard that you prohibited publishing you books in Russia. I totally understand you position, Ukraine deserves freedom and life without war. Though I feel like I need you to know that the iron curtain is a scary thing that many Russian residents are experiencing right now. We, who do not support government’s politics, are afraid to live in this world, where we can’t even have access to foreign books, movies, shows and other art works (let alone scientific papers) . And I do believe that books can build bridges between a reader and other countries’ cultures. It may even help people see through government’s propaganda and help spread awareness. Right? Without foreign authors our country will drown in propaganda, there’ll be no way out. And I don’t want it to happen. I still believe Russia will be free too.

Of course you can do whatever you want with your works. I just want you to be mindful of the danger of the iron curtain in my country and how authors can help people.

Thank you!

P.s. Neverwhere is my comfort book. I’m rereading it right now, when times are tough.

Sorry for my English by the way, my letter can sound rude, I’m not articulate enough :(

I haven't prohibited my books from being sold in Russia -- I can't. For a start, there are valid extant licenses to my existing Russian publishers out there. What I can do is state that I won't sell new books to Russia while Putin is in control. And I'm sure you're right about books building bridges, but I have to do something, even if it's small and symbolic, within my power to say, I don't agree with what Russia is doing to Ukraine.

[cooldididesign]

A Cozy and Safe Home That Pays Attention to Healthy Body and Spirit: Project by Sergey Makhno Architects

"if you don't listen to the world with an open heart and mind, if you don't pay attention to what's going on around you, what the air smells like, what people say, the world starts dictating its cruel, cruel rules" - the founder and creative leader of ukrainian design, architecture, and ceramics studio, serhii makhno.underground house plan b project's task was to create a cozy and safe home in the depths of the earth. the architectural studio, sergey makhno architects, offer you a short trip to a depth of 15 metres and below. there is an autonomous house, which competes with ground residences in terms of comfort and equipment. from the outside, plan b resembles the entrance to a museum of modern art, or even to a military base. we tried to create a simple and concise form, which in all its perspective would speak of reliability, but also be aesthetically attractive, it would not intimidate and lets you in from both the ground and from the air.the massive concrete structure is equipped with three entrances and a helipad on the roof. it occupies only 172 square meters and can be placed either near the main house or, in our case, somewhere in the woods. the plan b bunker has three exits, and the fire-resistant evacuation "ring" can be reached from almost anywhere. this is done in case of the event of danger inside the bunker, its inhabitants do not spend time getting out (especially given the floor area), but can immediately get to the evacuation route, for example, from the bathroom or gym. of course, all systems in the plan b underground building are autonomous. water supply, sewerage, closed ventilation system with recuperation, intake, and air purification. whatever happens on the earth's surface, life in plan b will continue. the systems will be developed in detail at the project stage together with specialized contractors. at present, we have developed a design proposal for the bunker, our own vision.the main building mass is reinforced concrete, the strongest duo, and the optimal cost. the doors are automatic but have the option of manual control. directly next to the entrance to the bunker, there is a disinfection shield, behind it — a quartz zone. the main spiral staircase and elevator lead to the underground building, as well as two flights of spiral staircases for staff and loading stocks — so the flows are distributed and do not interfere with each other. technological "pie"according to international recommendations, the upper floor is at a depth of 15 metres. penetrating deeper our "pie" has the following layers: a living space, a floor with a water treatment system and generator, a layer of electrical equipment, and at the very bottom — a well. resourcelet's start with the fact that we have arranged a fish pool. in a separate room, there is a garden with phyto-equipment, where you can grow vegetables and some fruits. also on the living floor, there is a large warehouse of food. staff rooms are grouped in a separate area. in the underground building plan b, there is a separate room for medical care, with an isolator and a closed area for storing stocks of medicines. "security comes first. my priority was ensuring comfortable sleep, temperature, quality food, water, and air. the rest is just for comfort," says the studio's chief engineer olha sobchyshyna. apartment with a viewthe project proposal provides comfortable living for two or three families with children and staff with their families. if necessary, the project can be redesigned for a much larger number of people, but at this stage, we are interested in experimenting with the underground space in such a way as to create the illusion of being above the surface — as if you could look out the window and see the blue sky. plan b has two master bedrooms, which consist of a sleeping area, an enclosed storage area for things, and a bathroom. the main task in designing both was to change the awareness of space and its boundaries. master bedroom "mickey"at first glance, these apartments are no different from the terrestrial. a minimalistic and calm space, where a kaws guards your dreams, and above the bed, are the author's khmara clouds from serhii makhno, which never rain. but if you pay attention to the architecture of the design, you will notice the lack of sharp angles — the shape of the room is almost cylindrical. this technique is not often used in terrestrial architecture, but here it immediately helps us to create the illusion of infinity, as if the walls do not exist. opposite the bed, there is a stone garden, which ends with a highly sensitive screen-window, the view of which can be changed at a touch of a button on the control panel of the smart home system — for example, snow-capped mountains or a sleepy morning street in kyiv. moreover, you can "open" the window and feel a light breeze or a smell of freshly cut grass. master bedroom "ivy"again, we do not divide the space by walls in the usual way. between the thematic areas — only weightless partitions, which are as part of a maze that begins far beyond the horizon and ends somewhere on the other side of the world. on a physical level, it feels like there is something behind them, leading into infinity. in this room, for the first time in our project, stainless steel appears. when we thought about which of the materials we would like to take with us underground, this was one of the first. concise, practical, suitable for different types of premises. here it simultaneously divides and connects the wardrobe and the shower room. the second trick we used in this room was a game with several levels of light. the design of the ceiling provides an allusion to a light lantern: in the ceiling, there is a dome with a led-system, which gives the impression that above us there is the floor with windows and in these windows, there is the sky.the space is as empty as possible, it is a place of peace, where there is nothing to be bored with during a long stay in these walls. of the decorations, there is only quiet ivy, which does not need the sun for happiness. "modern people are too accustomed to freedom and lack of restrictions. life in a bunker, even a very comfortable one, is life within frames. we tried to design the space so that people could feel them minimally, ” says a co-author of the project, architect ihor havrylenko. family valuesplaces of common use are as close as possible to how we used to live on earth. here is a large dining table where all inhabitants can gather together. a library where you can stay alone, but where you will not be alone. a cinema with comfortable chairs, powerful acoustics, a 5d system, and a collection of the best films of all time. "we decided to make the kitchen professional — cooking can become a great new hobby. in any case, residents will be here quite often. and in general, i think that stainless steel for kitchen surfaces is a great solution not only for restaurants but also for living spaces," says a co-author of the project, designer oleksandr makhno. the decor here is again a green wall, author's khmara clouds, and chrome tetrapods around the perimeter. "for us, the task was extremely simple and difficult at the same time — to make the bunker a modern, cozy house," says architect oleksandr bokhan. a living room with a large sofa is like a cozy metropolitan apartment. and outside the window, there is a real picture of daylight as it should be on the surface. it is created so that biorhythms do not get lost and there was no substitution of the feeling of day and night. healthy body, healthy spirit, and future the architect's paid a lot of attention to the areas for sports, recreation, and recovery. the physical and spiritual bodies are an integral unit, and when one feels bad, the other cannot feel good. let's start with the pool area. it is separated from the general sports zone by a screen and due to lighting it strongly differs in the mood. there is no daylight in the pool, the main source of light here is greenish lighting at the bottom of the pool. bluish walls, islands of "earth" — it seems like you are swimming in the night sea, not in a soulless sports pool. the area of exercise bikes is filled with the same drive of disco halls: lighting and acoustics are appropriate here. the zone of multifunctional simulators is already a classic gym with daylight and concentration on achieving the set goals.thanks to such solutions, the team created different scenarios, anticipating different moods: from meditatively drifting by in an imaginary sea to a hardcore workout on the back muscles. and once more they meet the rounding of the space, it doubles in the mirrors, the flow of walls into the ceiling — all in order to create a feeling of lightness, infinity. "we sought to create a space in which we would like to live, even when there is no apocalypse. natural materials, the most preserved smells, textures, fibers," comments an architect maryna hrechko. in the center of the cylindrical meditation room, there is a powerful beam of light, which allows you to change the light schemes on the ceiling. it can be a starry sky, rainy sky, or even sunbeams. "for comfort": bike path and walks with a petplan b did not forget about possible pets, equipping a special area for walking dogs. here everything is at a maximum as on the street: wood, stones, grass. the evacuation circle can also serve as a place for long walks and for cycling. sergey makhno's team tried to convey the physical world as much as possible at the expense of materials and simplicity of decisions. and the intangible world — at the expense of architectural techniques, technologies, and human imagination. "this project is a release from emotions, a reflection on the continuation of human life under any circumstances, and an attempt to find an answer to the question of whether architecture can create the impression of life at the surface while being in its depths," sums up serhii makhno. courtesy of: sergey makhno architects | visual design: ihor havrylenko https://bit.ly/3h72WH9

[tshepiso-reads-books]

Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag | 2020

It’s time again for one of my favourite book tags the Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag. This tag was created by Earl Grey Books and Chami. So let’s take a look at the highs, lows, and anticipated reads of 2020.

Best Book So Far

My favourite book of the year so far is The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J Klune. The amount of love and joy on every page of this novel takes my breath away. I can bring myself to tears just thinking about this book and the impact it has had on me. The House in the Cerulean Sea hasn’t left my thoughts since I first picked it up in April and anticipate that this one will become an all-time favourite.

Best Sequel So Far

My favourite sequel so far this year is The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin. The Broken Earth trilogy shattered my soul into tiny little pieces and put them back together again. The Stone Sky stands out as a finale that tied every aspect of the story together flawlessly. Every single perspective we followed in this book and this series worked together to tell a wonderful story about generational trauma, cycles of oppression, and ultimately hope for a better future.

New Release You Haven’t Read But Want To

I’d love to get to Prosper’s Demon by K. J Parker soon. It came out at the end of January and was one of my anticipated releases for the first quarter of the year. This novella seems right up my ally and Tor.com never lets me down. I’m sure I’ll love a story about the botched exorcism of a mad scientist.

Most Anticipated Release For the Second Half of the Year

I’m looking forward to the release of The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal in July. Each installment in the Lady Astronaut series so far has been excellent so I have no doubts the third book in the series will blow my socks off. Honestly, what I need from 2020 right now is stories about women fighting bigotry and climate change while being badass astronauts I know Mary Robinette Kowal will provide.

Biggest Disappointment

Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel was one of my biggest disappointment of the year so far. The first book in the Themis Files trilogy was one of my favourite books of 2019, but its sequels were major letdowns. Only Human gave simple answers to complex questions and its plot development was shallow at best. The characters felt hollow and their relationships plastic and forced. It was sad to see a series I expected to become a favourite end up being so mediocre.

Biggest Surprise

My most surprising read of 2020 was The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan. While I was certainly enjoying my reread of the Percy Jackson series I didn’t expect the finale to the series to be such an emotional gut punch. Riordan truly put me through the wringer with this book and the culmination of the series was incredibly satisfying. It was truly a standout finale and one of my favourites.

Favourite New-to-You Author

Paru Itagaki, the mangaka of Beastars, is my favourite new-to-me author this year. Beastars was an unexpected delight in 2020 and I’m so glad I picked it up on a whim. Itagaki’s storytelling is so compelling because her characters are fascinating and play off of each other in enticing ways. Her art is drop-dead gorgeous and there are certain panels infused with so much emotion and intensity that I can look at them over and over again. While this is currently Itagaki’s only manga I plan on following her anywhere she goes in the future.

Newest Fictional Crush

I don’t have any fictional crushes so I’ll use this question to discuss my favourite fictional couple of the year so far: Rose and the White Bear from East by Edith Pattou. East is a retelling of the Norwegian fairy tale ‘East of the Sun and West of the Moon’. What I love about these two’s relationship is how much the White Bear is invested in making Rose feel safe and secure. I adored their tender relationship. These two spending time together, doing kind things for each other, and the soft connection between them made my heart melt.

Newest Favourite Character

My newest favourite character is Louis from the manga Beastars. He is such a fascinating character to explore throughout the series and the dark intensity he carries through every scene he’s in makes him a standout in the manga. What I love most about Louis is how he brings out interesting facets to the characters around him and the barely contained violence that lies within him.

A Book That Made You Cry

I spent the last 70 pages of The House in the Cerulean Sea bawling my eyes out. I fell hard for Linus, the protagonist, and the connection he forged with the wards of Marynas Island Orphanage was beautiful. Seeing someone who deserved love and happiness find a family genuinely brought tears to my eyes.

A Book That Made You Happy

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram is a book that puts a huge smile on my face. This quiet coming of age story was deeply relatable to me in so many ways. Its protagonist Darius was so charming and his struggles to connect with his Iranian culture and find common ground with his father spoke to me. Seeing Darius connect with his family and make true friends was wonderful to see.

A Book You Need To Read By The End of The Year

I’d love to get to This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amar El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone before the year is up. I’ve been excited about this novella since it came out last year. The fact that I haven’t read it yet is shocking because everything about it seems right up my ally. I’ll probably get to it in either August or September and I hope it’ll be a great read.

I always love doing the Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag and this year was no exception. Thinking back on the highlights of the last six months of reading never fails to bring a smile to my face and I can’t wait for more amazing reads in the future. Hopefully, I get to the anticipated reads I mentioned in this tag.