#Masha Ru

[tomorrowusa]

It's not healthy to believe your own propaganda. Unfortunately Vladimir Putin buys his own distorted views of Russian history which he then peddles to people like Tucker Carlson who are utterly clueless about Eastern Europe.

Masha Lavrova of The Kyiv Independent interviewed British historian Dr. Jade McGlynn of the Department of War Studies at King’s College London.

Putin's deformation of history is a major feature of what has been driving Russia's aggression.

Putin's attempt to restore the glories of the Russian Empire only serves to weaken Russia in the 21st century. But Putin's grandiose self-deception probably keeps him from acknowledging this.

Dr. McGlynn points out that Putin simply doesn't accept Ukraine as a real country. That's the root of the problem.

If we look at what Putin has said about Ukraine, you know, even if we only go back to 2014, there's plenty of evidence that this is not going to be solved by just giving him a little bit more of Ukrainian land. This is about a war to reshape the global order and, in Russia's view, it has the right, and also it has the need. [ … ] Because Russia is a "great state" and Ukraine is a "colony", it will therefore either be a colony of the West, which he [Putin] doesn't want, or be a colony of Russia, which he does want.

She blames the lack of understanding by some alleged Russia specialists in the West on their inability to understand Russian. They are simply unable to understand Putin and the context of what he's been saying for the past 10 years.

Speaking of Russian, in the vid Dr. McGlynn uses the Russian name for Ivan the Terrible which is Ivan Groznyy — or Иван Грозный in Cyrillic script.

[dustedmagazine]

Sha Ru — They Are Textural (Monkeytown)

Working between New York and Berlin, duo Sha Ru, singer/producer Masha and her partner Ru, make music steeped in the underground ethos of both cities. They decelerate the bpm of techno and emphasize rhythmic physicality as they explore the fluidity of gender identity so often nurtured in the clubs. Using a limited palette of electronic sounds, thumping beats and shuddering bass, the pair traverses a broad emotional range. Masha’s lightly German accented sprechgesang is high in the mix, the voice moving between robotic distance, intimate disclosure, and vehement indignation. On They Are Textural Sha Ru concentrates on using rhythm to produce timbres that reflect Masha’s lyrical narratives. The struggle for identity, the pains of rejection in being, friendship and love, the joy of personal liberation through community and at base, the seductive power of music.

“ONA” opens with a metallic shimmer of chopped vocal samples before resolving into Masha’s intonation “andere/andere/andere” (others), the bass drops deep and squelchy as she “with inhibitions in my head” observes the bodies writhing in strobe lit silhouette. You feel the process of formation, from the alienated chant to the ambivalence of the gaze reinforced by the rhythm track which stutters beneath the voice and bass. “Not Your Steps” follows a similar pattern but ups both the tempo and intensity. The bass batters against the claustrophobic atmosphere, submarine like bleeps in the background adding to the sense of entrapment, as the narrator struggles to find escape from past stigma and repression. The tone is measured in its determination to break free and at times break loose. On “Get Lost,” the defiant refrain “I get lost to get lost” is softened somewhat by the response “I’ll find us,” as the rhythm skitters around mirroring the contradictory impulses of involvement and detachment. The highlight “Crawl” shows another side of Sha Ru’s music. Beneath the main vocal line, slightly distorted and lower in the mix than what’s gone before, the music, expands and contracts like molten metal, the bass like molasses and a constant almost subliminal cacophony of voices chattering beneath. Its less a crowded club than the vicious internal voices in the aftermath of a torrid night. It leaves you with a satisfyingly uncanny sense of dread.

Andrew Forell

[7ooo-ru]

Маша Распутина ответила на вопрос о препятствии Пугачевой ее карьере

Певица Маша Распутина ответила на вопрос о препятствии народной артистки СССР Аллы Пугачевой ее карьере. Слова исполнительницы приводит aif. ru. По словам Распутиной, Пугачева никогда не пыталась «перекрыть ей воздух».

Подробнее https://7ooo.ru/group/2024/08/07/980-masha-rasputina-otvetila-navopros-oprepyatstvii-pugachevoy-eekarere-grss-330805106.html

[xmas95]

Museum of Edible Earth

Typography design and identity for the Museum of Edible Earth project by masharu studio.

summer 2020

[qqueenofhades]

I know you mention often you don't have much time to read history books...but if I wanted a fundamental knowledge of Russian history leading up to where we are now--God help us--where should I start?

Okay. This post will consist of two parts: one, a suggested reading list, and two, some discussion on what you (or anyone) should do if they want to think, write, or speak about this situation in a remotely constructive way, and not one that just mindlessly amplifies destructive propaganda on any side of the conflict. I have a long-standing, if amateur, interest in Russian history, literature, and language; I started reading about Catherine the Great and the Russian Empire in high school, and over the last few years, I have been expanding that with work on the medieval Kievan Rus', the USSR, and post-Soviet Russia. So I have actually read almost all of these sources, which vary between the academic and the popular. I have starred and bolded the ones that I think will be the most accessible for a layperson and/or the most relevant.

This is a long post, but I have tagged it "long post" if for some reason anyone wants to filter. However, given the urgency of this moment, I feel as if it is more important to read in full than look away.

READING LIST

Medieval Kievan Rus'

Fonnesberg-Schmidt, Iben Marie. The Popes and the Baltic Crusades 1147–1254 (Leiden: Brill, 2007).

Isoaho, Mari. The Image of Aleksandr Nevskiiy in Medieval Russia: Warrior and Saint (Leiden: Brill, 2006).

Lind, John. ‘Early Russian-Swedish Rivalry: The Battle on the Neva in 1240 and Birger Magnusson’s Second Crusade to Tavastia’, Scandinavian Journal of History 16 (1991), 269–95.

———. ‘Scandinavian Nemtsy and Repaganized Russians. The Expansion of the Latin West During the Baltic Crusades and its Confessional Repercussions’, in The Crusades and the Military Orders: Expanding the Frontiers of Medieval Latin Christianity, ed. Zsolt Hunyadi and József Laszlovszky (Budapest, 2001), pp. 481–97.

Nielsen, Torben K. ‘Sterile Monsters?: Russians and the Orthodox Church in the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia’, in The Clash of Cultures on the Medieval Baltic Frontier, ed. Alan V. Murray (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2009), pp. 227–52.

Ostrowski, Donald. ‘Alexander Nevskii’s ‘Battle on the Ice’: The Creation of a Legend’, Russian History 33 (2006), 289–312.

*Plokhy, Serhii. The Lost Kingdom: The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation, from 1470 to the Present (New York: Basic Books, 2017).

———. The Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006)

Selart, Anti. Livonia, Rus’, and the Baltic Crusades in the Thirteenth Century, trans. Fiona Robb (Leiden: Brill, 2015).

The Cold War and the USSR

*Plokhy, Serhii. Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe (New York: Basic Books, 2018).

———, The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union (New York: Basic Books, 2014).

———, The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine (New York: Basic Books, 2015).

Sarotte, Mary Elise. 1989: The Struggle to Create Post-Cold War Europe (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014).

*Westad, Odd Arne. The Cold War: A World History. New York: Basic Books, 2017).

Post-Soviet Russia and the Rise of Putin

*Belton, Catherine. Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took on the West (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2020).

*Gessen, Masha. The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia (New York: Riverhead Books, 2017).

———, The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin (New York: Riverhead Books, 2013).

*Maddow, Rachel. Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Most Destructive Industry on Earth. (New York: Crown Publishers, 2019).

* Sarotte, Mary Elise. Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2021). (This one is my own reading this weekend.)

ABOUT THE PRESENT SITUATION

First, I would argue that calling it the "Ukraine crisis" is deeply misleading, due to the fact that a) it's no longer a crisis, it's a full-fledged war, and b) it makes it sound as if Ukraine is the instigator or aggressor in the situation, while conveniently removing blame from Russia. This is not unprecedented in Russia's post-USSR or Soviet history (see: invasions of Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014; invasion of Afghanistan in 1979), but it certainly represents the most serious breach of international law and outright war in Europe since the end of the Yugoslavian conflicts. (Everyone is saying 1945 and the end of WWII, but that erases the Balkan civil wars which happened in the NINETIES, when most of you were already alive, not to mention the Bosniak Muslim genocides.) I didn't rule out the possibility entirely, but I (like everyone else) was skeptical of Putin actually taking such an insane and suicidal step. (We'll get to that.) However, it's happened, and it needs to be taken seriously.

First, the usual impulse among terminally-online leftist circles is to engage in "whataboutism," point out Europe and the USA's own long and sordidly shameful history of colonialism and imperialism (believe me, I know, I have written many posts in that vein), and otherwise act as if Putin is somehow correct for "showing up" the West. I am obviously a sympathetic outside observer to Russia and I know a lot about it, so trust me when I say: bullshit. There is absolutely no call to soften or ameliorate Putin's actions, or try to excuse him or the paranoid imperial autocracy (with nuclear weapons that he has gone so far as to hint using on anyone who tries to stop Russia's current insane crusade) that he and the siloviki (ex-KGB security men who form his inner circle) have deliberately built in the ruins of post-Cold War Russia. You don't need to show that you Know About The Bad Things the West Has Done. Right now, what matters is that a sovereign democratic country has been violently attacked and is going to suffer another generation of bloodshed, destruction, and dysfunction for absolutely no other reason than Putin's paranoia, ego, and revanchist desire to rebuild the Russian Empire. Ukraine has already overthrown and/or gotten rid of several pro-Russian leaders in the last decade, and Putin is punishing them for that. As noted in his rambling speech "recognizing" Donetsk and Luhansk as "independent," he doesn't think Ukraine has any right to exist as a separate state, and he wants revenge for their daring to buck the good old days of absolute Russian/Soviet rule. That is the beginning and end of it.

Next: I'm already seeing a lot of Westerners insisting that, basically, "all Russians support Putin" and they're willing to follow him to the bitter end and there's no reasoning with them. Once again: this is bullshit. I have been reading a LOT of articles on this whole mess, including those from the Russian perspective, and I haven't seen one single ordinary Russian who is happy about this. Even those who do support Putin politically and think he was right to recognize the separatist republics don't want a war, are afraid of what it's going to do to their young people and/or economy, and otherwise don't feel great about it. Young Russians particularly hate it and are in despair about how their future has, again, been robbed from them. Bankers and businesspeople are worried about the crushing impact of expected sanctions on their savings and ability to plan for the future. One verbatim reaction was "only an absolute idiot would want war and sanctions instead of diplomacy and improvement of Russia's international reputation." They bemoaned the awkward, ludicrous, satire-worthy televised meeting of the National Security Council, where members of Putin's cabinet were forced to come to a microphone and tell him they supported recognizing the breakaway republics. (Putin went so far as to berate the head of the FSB, the KGB's successor organization, for forgetting his lines.) The members of the Duma, or Russian parliament, are widely hated among the Russian public for existing as a puppet rubber-stamp for the Kremlin's decisions and extorting bribes. Some people have gone so far as to say that sanctions on the otherwise-unaccountable Russian elite would be welcomed by 99% of the Russian population. So.

Not to mention, if you say, "all Russians support Putin," you are openly legitimizing Putin's own insane talking point that he is acting in the Name of All Russians, they all agree with what he's doing, this is a united nationwide effort, so forth and etc. You are supporting a ruthless dictator's own propaganda lines about himself and playing into the exact Cold War-era stereotypes about the Red Menace that give Putin his fodder to stoke domestic resentment against the West. If we're not going to agree that the lunatic fringe far-right Trumpist cultists represent All of America and the majority of its political views, we're not going to do the same with the lunatic far-right fringe of Russian politics. It is impossible to overstate how brutal and repressionist the Putin regime has been, and how much ordinary Russians are punished for speaking out. There is credible evidence that the 1999 apartment bombings and the 2002 Moscow theater siege, both attributed to Chechen terrorists and which shored up support for Putin at the start of his reign, were false-flag operations by the FSB. We all know what has systematically happened to Putin's political enemies. The government has stripped funding from any independent or critical media entity and forced them to flee the country, so the only "news" available on TV are the federal propaganda channels. The massive crowds who came out to protest the treatment of Alexei Navalny (who is somehow both still alive and still has access to Twitter: @navalny, which I recommend looking at; even if you don't read Russian, Twitter usually offers an auto-translate option) were arrested, investigated, and otherwise treated in bad-old-days Soviet fashion. The brave few who have openly come out in Moscow to protest this war have been immediately arrested. Modern Russia under Putin is a dictatorship, full stop. As the Russian opposition keeps saying, this war is going to hurt Russia as much as Ukraine, and turn the country once more into an isolated international pariah. If Putin was so confident that his plans and the party of United Russia were so fully supported by the Russian public, he wouldn’t need to completely destroy its limited democratic functions to prevent it from ever being replaced.

Likewise, there are some exceptionally deluded dirtbag leftists who like to do the same thing to Russia as they do to America: insist that the murderous right-wing authoritarian dictator (Putin/Trump) and the human but flawed democratic politician with some regrettable past statements/positions (Navalny/Biden) are fundamentally the same and that there's no point in differentiating between them. This reflects the immature, self-righteous, zero-sum logic that has increasingly developed on social media, where one side is the Good/Passive Thing that has Morally Problematic Things Done To Them, and the other is the Bad/Aggressive Actor who is solely responsible for Doing Morally Problematic Things, and that there are no other categories or shades of grey between them. This, obviously, is (again) bullshit, and if you come across ignorant westerners spouting this kind of rhetoric, you should push back hard. Once again, this removes the moral weight of this catastrophe from Vladimir Putin, the person who deserves to shoulder it, and makes it into some sort of abstract occurrence that would (apparently) have also happened if, in some better timeline, Navalny was the president of Russia. Because something something unchangeable Russian nature, straight-from-the-Cold-War nonsense. Do better.

In short, it's the same logic where certain elements of the so-enlightened Twitterati are now acting like this is Biden's fault, because he somehow should have magically stopped an insane dictator from launching an entirely unnecessary war, and that it isn't said insane dictator's fault at all. The current Russian system is a master of disinformation, denial, and turning the west against itself (indeed, that's its entire communications strategy) and the reason the Biden administration kept warning for weeks that this was coming, even when almost everyone didn't take them seriously and Moscow itself was in Deny Deny Deny mode, is because the US is belatedly realizing that they're going to need to play the information game at the same level. The US's almost-unprecedented real-time release of intelligence and calling out the false-flag attacks as they happened was one of the reasons that Putin kept having to shift his invasion strategy/pretext for launching hostilities.

Likewise: sanctions, especially if the US and EU go all the way and launch them to the level of cutting Russia off from SWIFT (the global banking system) and the ability to trade in the US dollar, are punishing, but they are not a magic bullet, and they won't stop the conflict immediately. Putin will take pride in being punished by the Unjust West, and it's going to take a long time for the pain to be felt; as noted, they are also going to hurt a lot of ordinary Russians who have nothing to do with this, and once more destroy the country's development and attempt to join the post-Cold War world. In the meantime, it's the people of Ukraine who are going to do the most suffering, and that's where our focus needs to remain.

There has been lots of talk about how the Russian oligarchs need to be sanctioned, but it's a mistake to think that they control Putin or set Kremlin policy. Their arrangement is that they give Putin money whenever he needs it and in return, they don't go to jail. Hitting them will definitely hurt the Bank of Putin, but it won't fundamentally influence Putin's current policy, because he listens to nobody but himself. Hitting his inner circle of enablers, the Duma, the security services, the siloviki, the military commanders, the top-level financial fixers who actually put his decisions into practice, and fueling their resentment against Putin for cutting off access to the lavish Western lifestyles they like to enjoy, will be much more effective. This will also require an effort of will on the West's part that is far from a given. The reason the UK initially launched such pathetic sanctions (five banks and three individuals already on the US sanctions list since 2018) is because they have done extremely well for themselves taking gobs of dirty Russian cash and turning London into "Londongrad." If we're condemning the Russian actions that led to this, we also need to take a hard look at how ravenous, undiscerning, late-stage capitalism where any money and any mega-fortune is a good thing, has directly contributed to the general breakdown of society.

Anyway: as I said last night, for someone who claims to be a student of history, Putin is remarkably oblivious to how the Russian empire ended twice (once in 1917 with the murder of the tsar, and in 1991 with the total collapse of the polity he now desperately yearns to rebuild.) As with most dictators, he somehow thinks that he will be exempt from this fate. I hope more than anything that the world can show him, sooner rather than later, how wrong that is.

[walkingshcdow-a]

“See the menorah? It’s LIT.” (rus @ masha)

She can't help but laugh. Like she hasn't heard that joke before. She misses her siblings at the holidays - even Yelena - so maybe that's why she hugs Ruslan tighter as they light the third candle on her mantlepiece.

"Next year, maybe I'll take you home with me," she says, knowing what everyone will assume and for once, not really caring. "Then you and Efrem can make that joke together and you can have your first real Hanukah as a member of the family."

[annalaurendet70]

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova of Russia (middle) and Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna Romanova of Russia (obscured at left) aboard the Rus, the ship that ferried them to Yekaterinburg in May 1918. This is the last known photograph of Anastasia and Tatiana.

Timeline From Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg

20 May 1918 Monday

11:30am: Grand Duchesses Olga,Tatiana and Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova of Russia, remaining members of the Suite and servants leave Governor’s Mansion at Tobolsk and board “Rus,” joined by Baroness Sophie Karlovna Buxhoeveden.

5:00pm: “Rus” leaves Tobolsk

The Imperial Family has 58 days left to live.

22 May 1918 Wednesday:

Morning The “Rus” arrives in Tyumen; family has to be wait several hours for train to Yekaterinburg.

The Imperial Family has 56 days left to live.

23 May 1918 Thursday:

2:00am: Train from Tyumen with Grand Duchesses Olga,Tatiana and Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova of Russia, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich Romanov of Russia and the Suite arrives in Yekaterinburg.

Also arriving on the train from Tyumen: Count Ilya Leonidovich Tatischev;

Doctor Vladimir Nikolaevich Derevenko; Countess Anastasia Vasilievna Hendrikova; Baroness Sofia Karlovna Buxhoeveden; Catherine Alphonovna Schneider; Pierre Gilliard; Charles Sydney Gibbes; Alexandra Alexandrovna Tegleva; Elisabeth Nikolaevna Ersberg; Marie Gustavna Tutelberg; Paulina Kasperovna Mazhants; Katia; Masha; Alexei Volkov; Klementy Grigorievich Nagorny; Sergei Ivanovich Ivanov; Tutin; Franz Antonovich Zhuraavsky; Alexei Egorovich Trupp; Ivan Mikhail Kharitonov; Kokichev; Leonid Ivanovich Sednev. Maids Anna Yakovlevna

Utkina and Anna Pavlovna Romanova, others, remained in Tobolsk.

9:00am: Suite divided up: General Ilya Tatischev, Countess Anastasia Hendrikova, Catherine Schneider, MarieTutelberg, Elizabeth Ersberg, Alexei Volkov imprisoned; Elisabeth Ersberg survived.Baroness Sofia Buxhoeveden, Pierre Gilliard, Charles Sydney Gibbes, Alexandra Tegleva released, allowed to remain on train for week; Doctor Vladimir Derevenko allowed to take up residence in Yekaterinburg

9:30am: Klementy Nagorny and Alexei Trupp temporarily held for questioning. Ivan

Kharitonov, Leonid Sednev sent to Ipatiev House.

11:00am: Children arrive at Ipatiev House; Nicholas writes, “The poor things had endured a lot of personal, spiritual suffering both in Tobolsk and during the three day trip”

The Imperial Family has 55 days left to live

[princess-turandot]

Hello! I'm planning to learn Russian, can you give me some resources you'd recommend?

Hi! Of course, I’ll share what I’ve found useful:

First of all, if you’re studying on your own, it’s important to get acquainted with the sounds of the language; this includes pronunciation, intonation, rhythm... So I would recommend watching videos in the language for short amounts of time just to get it internalized, it doesn’t matter if you don’t understand anything they are saying. Afterwards, when reading on your own, you will realize you have a guide of how things should sound. 

This could be anything from watching interviews of Russian artists to listening to Russian music because of the pronunciation, or even watching Masha and the Bear... Whatever you find interesting will work.

In terms of book courses, I think The New Penguin Russian Course is very well done and meant for self-studying, but I found the pace quite challenging and it discouraged me from further studying. So while I do think it’s good, it throws a lot of grammar in your face and you start drowning very fast. I think it’s ideal for people who have had some lessons and want to resume their studying, so they have some previous knowledge to guide them and they can take advantage of how it’s structured. Almost every lesson has vocabulary lists, useful phrases, grammar charts, exercises... 

Tochka ru is the book I’m currently using in my Russian beginners course (I just started studying it formally, I had self-studied for some months in 2015/16). This books is very, very good. The pace is quite fast, too, but not as challenging as the Penguin Course because this one is meant for the classroom. (But I think it’s quite good for self-studying too). The difference is that it starts giving you enough tools to talk and express yourself and understand basic things without giving you a lot of grammar; so with very little you can do a lot, and this way you can expand your knowledge in firm installments and not drown in grammar that you can’t use yet. It centers more on giving you vocabulary so that you have some things under your belt before getting to the harder stuff. It includes a textbook and a workbook, plus audio exercises. I also like that it is very clear,and each lesson tells you what grammar/topic you’ll be covering.

Another book we sometimes use in class is Русский сезон, I think it must be good but it isn’t our main textbook so I can’t say much about it.

For pure grammar, especially for a good reference source, I’d recommend A Comprehensive Russian Grammar by Terence Wade. I have the third edition at home; the pdf version is quite easy to find, it’s a quick search. I wouldn’t use it to study from it, but for checking the things I’ve learnt. It is just like the title says: comprehensive. So you’ll find everything in there if you know where to look and it will give you a lot of valuable information. I like to put post-it notes in the sections I want to check later or that I want to find fast, like “Pronouns”, “Prepositions”, “Gender”; it’s not a book you read from cover to cover.

Here is a video from two Russian teachers who recommend textbooks for beginners:

You can check out that Youtube channel, too; it has some interesting videos that might help you out.

Finally, follow @wonderful-language-sounds, she has a lot more resources and info about learning Russian, and she’s very nice.

I hope this helped :)

[fuutarous-blog]

I would like to say 83 chapters of EZ. To be honest, I did not expect such a turn from Mashima, as it is unexpected to see such a picture, especially aware of the fact that this author drew FT, in which there were only pianos and the forces of friendship. In EZ, mashima shows That this manga is not just about friends and adventures, the author says that the time of FT has passed, and he wants to add something new, something that was missing in the previous manga.

Personally, I like these twists in the manga. I want to see more despair in the eyes of the main characters, not just the death of a loved one, this will not surprise them, so that they do not feel heartache and loss, but physical. So that the end of the entire story is read and understood, as well as the characters themselves, at what cost they have achieved and received everything.

Don't worry about Shiki, I'm sure this guy won't just die. I don't know what Masha will do this time, but I think it will be something cool. And I hope that there will be more turns like in Chapter 83.

Rus:

Хотел бы высказаться насчёт 83 главы EZ. Если быть честным, то я не ожидал такого поворота от Машимы, как-то неожиданно видеть такую картину, особенно осознавая тот факт, что даный автор рисовал FT, в которой были одни рояли и силы дружбы. В EZ Машима так и показывает, что это манга не просто о друзьях и приключениях, автор так и говорит, что времена FT прошли, и он хочет добавить чего-то нового, того, чего не хватало в предыдущей манге.

Лично мне такие повороты в манге нравятся. Хочется видеть больше отчаяния в глазах главных героев, не просто смерть ему близкого человека, этим не удивишь, чтобы они чувствовали не душевную боль и утрату, а физическую. Чтобы конце всей истории читали понимали, как и сами герои, какой ценой они всего достигли и получили.

Насчёт Шики переживать не стоит, я уверен, что этот парень просто так не умрёт. Не знаю, что Машимы выкинет на этот раз, но думаю, что это будет что-то крутое. И надеюсь, что таких поворотов, как в 83 главе будет чаще.

[sashas4t]

Cup of China: Ladies

Wow, were URs and edge calls called here... again? WOOOOOW! Anyways, I actually couldn’t watch this event live so I don’t have impressions of all the skaters... sorry!

1. Anna Shcherbakova - RUS

Anya’s quad lutzes this competition were so effortless! They really looked like triples - perhaps that's because the first one was UR. Her steps and spins kinda seemed off today, and her dress change was a little rushed too but the charisma and effortlessness was still there. I really like her SP actually, she wonderfully portrays a mysterious girl (for those saying her SP has nothing to do with the movie, thank god, that movie is kinda horrifying). I really like how the musical accents are brought out with actual poses. In comparison, there are so many musical accents in her FS, and yet, only like two out of ten are used. Daniil! Why? Anna has such innate musicality and interpretation and honestly I kind of feel like her FS doesn’t match how good she is. But I do like her SP a lot! Those jump transitions though! I love her costume too! The details and the roses? Yes. 

2. Satoko Miyahara - JPN

Oh my god! Tiny queen slays! Her SS are honestly so good and her movements flow so easily. She has such speed and control over the ice and once she steps out you know you’re watching an artistic master. I actually kind of like her SP, its so difference from her usual style and yet she pulls it off nicely. There could be more sass but the step sequence really show how wonderful her SS are. There’s so much speed and ice coverage, especially for such a tiny person. Her jumps though, yeah there were definitely some URs there. But honestly, who cares about jumps when you’ve got good SS, good spins, and good artistry? If Satoko

3. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva - RUS

I have no idea why Liza fell on a 3A. It’s honestly more consistent that her 3F and her 3Lz. Speaking of which, I can’t believe Liza fixed her flip edge so quickly. Respect. Also, what’s up with Liza’s 3Lz, its so textbook and beautiful, but she can’t seem to land it super consistently. Nevermind the jumps, I’m kind of glad Liza brought back her old FS. It was energetic, fun and Liza performed it extremely well. Bummed that her chance at the GPF is gone now. If she had just landed the 3A!

4. Young You - KOR

Again! The 3A! But honestly, I wasn’t expecting Young to land both of them, or honestly even one of them. Her 3A isn’t a very consistent jump. But I can’t believe she fell on her 3F! I like her SP a lot, even though its a basic R&J program I feel like the music cuts work well and the music climaxes with the jumping passes. Young, being a new senior, isn’t the best at artistry, but her ina Bauer is a gift from the heavens! I really reminds me of the Yuna Kim and Mirai Nagasu ina bauers. Its on such a dramatic musical climax too! I love her costumes too! They’re so classy and elegant!

5. Sofia Samodurova - RUS

Um yes! Consistency queen is back at it! Of course we’ve got some URs here and there, but that's not important at all! She was struggling so much at test skates and her first CS event, and I’m so glad that she’s finally gotten her jumps in order. While her programs are rather empty, I still love them because Sonya brings so much energy to her performance. Her Moulin Rouge is actually very well done, full of passion and facials. I can’t wait to see her interpretation grow even stronger throughout the season.

7. Marin Honda

Oh my Marin. You are soooooo good. And yet, those jumps. They just... don’t work. As somebody on Tumblr said “when will Marin’s jumps return from war, they pop in now and then for a visit, but never return consistency.” Her IN has grown so much and both her programs are oozing charisma and joy. Truly a star in terms of PE. I really hope Marin will get her jumps in order because she’s one of my favorite skaters of all time and her programs are incredible. She is incredible. 

Also got to say - BOYANGGGGGGGGGG! That 4Lz was godly!

I’ve yet to watch Amber Glenn but I’m kind of excited, people have pointed out similarities between her and Masha Sotskova and I LOVE MASHA. 

[zimadoch]

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐓 ( repost, don’t reblog ! )

𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐬

FULL NAME.  Sasha Gurin - Volkov ; Courier Six NICKNAME.  Masha, Six GENDER. female HEIGHT.  5′8 ft. AGE. 38 ( verse dependent ) ZODIAC. Aries SPOKEN LANGUAGES.  English, Dead Horse, Latin, Russian, Sorrows, misc Northern dialects

𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬

HAIR COLOR. Charcoal black EYE COLOR.  Sea green SKIN TONE.  Fair, cool undertones. BODY TYPE.  Lean, athletic   VOICE.  :ow and casual, lazy with vowels. DOMINANT HAND. Right. POSTURE. Tall, proud; military posture. SCARS. Bullet scar between brows, scar through lips; other misc across body. TATTOOS. None. BIRTHMARKS. None. MOST NOTICEABLE FEATURE(S). Bullet scar

𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝

PLACE OF BIRTH. Polebinsk, Rus territories. HOMETOWN. Polebinsk, Rus territories. SIBLINGS. Unknown PARENTS. Unknown.

𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞

OCCUPATION. Courier of the Mojave Express; Defacto leader of the Federation. CURRENT RESIDENCE. Mojave, Nevada. RELATIONSHIP STATUS. verse dependent. FINANCIAL STATUS.  Not applicable DRIVER’S LICENSE. Not applicable CRIMINAL RECORD. None. VICES. Wrath, pride.

𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬

CHARACTER’S THEME SONG. Don’t Get In My Way by Zack Hemsey HOBBIES TO PASS TIME. Reading,repairing / cleaning gear, hiking PERSONALITY TYPE. INTJ-A, the architect ALIGNMENT. Chaotic Neutral PHOBIAS. Claustrophobia VIRTUES. Quick and strategic mind, self-confident, independent, decisive, hard-working, determined, open-minded, jack-of-all-trades VICES. Impatient, moody, short-tempered, impulsive, aggressive, arrogant, judgmental, overly analytical, loathes highly structured environments, clueless in romance

[m3inkl3inesh3rz]

so i’ve been thinking about all of this situation between russian ladies and..............i wasn’t asked but i still will answer

so some of russian figure skating stans (idk i think they don’t even know this word because they are like..........elderly) are really stupid

why? because they hate zhenya for going to worlds like what the fuck did your last brain cell die or what ??? do you think she made rusfed choose her ??? of what ??? i don’t even know ???

and also i like liza very much she’s my queen empress but......... the tweet about her inner kid being killed was cringe like what the fuck??? where were you last season when we had two broken and exhausted girls and one that wasn’t even fucking noticed (masha i’m so sorry i love u ur amazing) this is sport and the tweet had only encouraged stupid people to hate zhenya

the crazy part of rus fs fandom is reallllllllly toxic. they start blaming them after one fall what doesn’t really helps them and it only gets worse and worse

also sports.ru is really toxic because of its stupid commentators and some unbelievably stupid articles. they don’t know how to support skaters, how not to blame them for any fucking thing, how to respect everyone’s choice and etc. it’s almost disgusting and disappointing.

but!!!!!!!! i’ really proud of being zhenya’s stan because we have so much power! did you see 10k hearts we left in the comments on instagram under “i see fire” photo???? UGH THE POWER WE HAVE IS UNLIMITED 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

[anewbeginningagain]

Ouch poor Polina and Masha )': Shout out to the Rus nats audience though - they've been so wonderful and supportive of everyone!

Polina has great jumps which are sometime UR but the worst thing is that she keeps popping them, that’s her downfall. And it’s just not Sotskova’s season, poor girl.

[xmas95]

Eating earth |  Aarde eten

Posters design for the two-days event within PIMBA. CLOSING THE GAP project by artist Masha Ru. The project is a part of Masha’s bigger research on MUSEUM OF EDIBLE EARTH.

summer 2018

[noblehcart]

Masha: That's a bad idea, Rus.

Rus: It's a terrible idea, Masha but I have faith in myself

[walkingshcdow-a]

“Oh, Ruslan, you’re so brave and impetuous!" (ok but rus retelling a story to masha)

"Uh huh."

Masha goes back to putting away dishes. They clatter into cupboards and she is quiet for a long time.

"I'm sorry, but... impetuous?" she finally echoes. "Who uses that word? Not that it's not accurate but..."