#Riot and linguistics

[transingthoseformers]

Okay but this has me thinking about the various reasons why the Autobots and Decepticons have different alphabets, and I'm betting different vernaculars in general as well. All the inside jokes that became frequently used idioms, typos getting copied so much that they become an actual spelling, certain acronyms becoming so commom you forget they were acronyms. Loanwords and calques from various other alien species that perhaps the other faction didn't interact with.

Linguistic drift

[savorynights]

Matilha Maldita

Ó Matilha Maldita!

Por que me deixa tão confuso e desorientado,

a mercê de teu seio quente e maltratado?

Deveria eu me permitir, de uma só vez,

ser por você adotado?

Se o que pobres coitados dizem for verdade, "quem com porcos anda, farelos come", convosco, comerei os porcos.

Talvez, ainda assim, viva desacomodado.

Porém, a partir disso,

um pouco mais saciado.

[longroadstonowhere]

man, i'm really glad i'm getting back into my 'classwork and fanfic in the same notebook' shenanigans

[gemsofgreece]

Most unpopular opinion ever:

it was unnecessary to ditch the vareia (grave accent) in the monotonic system because its rules are super easy and it is essentially still used in our speech.

Okay, before you throw eggs at me, hear me out for a moment!

Thoughts on Greek intonation by someone who's NOT a linguist:

For instance, you stress differently the word “γιατί” in the examples below, don’t you?

Γιατί ρωτάς;

Γιατì θέλω να ξέρω.

In the second example, γιατι and να take the grave accent and I am assuming you do put the stress on them less or somehow differently than in θέλω and ξέρω, right? In fact, γιατι in the second sentence has a somewhat "dragged", "falling" stress while θέλω and ξέρω have sudden rising, emphasizing stresses. The γιατι of the first sentence follows the stress patern of these two verbs rather than its own self in the second phrase!

And in more regular cases:

Ο καλος και σοφος γονιος.

Of course you stress all the words, however if you had to choose one word in this phrase where you feel your stress or pitch should be naturally (and not intentionally or emphatically) raised, which would you say it is?

If you chose γονιος, then check how it would be in a bi-tonic system:

Ο καλòς καì σοφòς γονιός.

Therefore your “instinctive” pronunciation was correct and γονιός is where you go for the acute stress.

And now this. Let's suppose you say the phrase above slightly modified:

Ο καλος και εξυπνος γονιος.

Pronounce this phrase naturally but carefully. Notice your most natural intonation. Does it seem like the "εξυπνος γονιος" part comes out of your mouth a little more emphasized than the "Ο καλος και" part?

If so, check how it would be in a bi-tonic system:

Ο καλòς καì έξυπνος γονιός.

So, once more, you employed the vareia without realising it.

And again. See these two phrases.

Ο έξυπνος καì καλòς γονιός.

BUT

Ο έξυπνος καì καλòς γονιòς θέλει να σε βοηθήσει.

Say these phrases without minding the stresses. And then look at them. In the first one, the words έξυπνος and γονιός slightly overshadow the second adjective, «καλός». In the second phrase on the other hand, the stress in the word γονιος also weakens to the benefit of the second part of the phrase «θέλει να σε βοηθήσει». That is because there is no period after γονιος so it returns to its natural grave accent.

Say the phrases again, naturally but carefully. Doesn’t γονιος sound a little different in the way you say it in each phrase?

If you stressed έξυπνος more than καλός in both phrases and if you emphasised the first and last part in the second phrase more than the middle part, then you did use the vareia!

The rules of the vareia are so simple, you just put it in all words which are stressed in the last syllable and are not followed by a punctuation mark, as the Greek speech is raised in the end and in all non-last stressed syllables. There are of course some irregularities but they are very easy to remember and predict i.e «δεν» would take the acute and not the grave because its whole point is to stress the negation, it wouldn’t make sense to remove the emphasis from it.

One more exception is the ellipsis (…), before which the grave is retained

i.e Είναι ζωηρò… αγόρι.

This example might help you single out better the falling, dragging effect of the grave accent because it is like it happens in slow motion before the ellipsis.

So, the concept of the differentiation between the grave and the acute is extant in the modern pronunciation and it is so easy that even the argument of “unnecessary difficulty” doesn’t stand. I mean, it’s not the same case as with (my otherwise beloved) perispomeni (circumflex) and the spirits which do not exist in our pronunciation anymore (technically psili, the smooth spirit, exists though but it makes no sense to use it as it only implied the absence of the daseia, the aspirate, which is not used anymore at all).

Of course, the differentiation between the grave and acute stress is not anywhere as prominent in Modern than it is in Ancient. On the other hand, the realisation that this is something that does exist in Modern Greek and we take it so much for granted that we don’t realise it (but it becomes clearer when people speak more slowly, carefully and beautifully, with a lot of vocabulary and more complex grammar) might as well suggest that a lot of the theories as to how exactly the stress accents were used in the ancient language border on not being very realistic. I have heard it all; that casual speech had huge pitch and stress transitions like o kalos ke sofos goNIOOOOOOOOS or that if you also added vowel lenth in the equation it was exactly like singing i.e KEH-EH-eh-eh-pos. I mean, that's all very nice, but Greek has very long words and many syllables for this to be entirely realistic in casual everyday speech, unless it took them the whole afternoon to say a couple of sentences. Maybe that's why the Spartans became laconic after all!

Hold the eggs a little more. Please.

The thing is, there is a lot of research in academia about how Greek was an extremely and uniquely musical language which operated with a pitch accent system. Most of the evidence from which the linguists derive their conclusions are Greek authors praising their own language as "pure music". And some Romans, who liked everything Greek anyway. Meanwhile, there is next to none study on Modern Greek intonation, that child of a lesser god. And yet, the wiki page for modern intonation says this:

Variable (phonologically unpredictable) stress. Stressed syllables are longer or louder.

Okay let me weigh in on this. Modern Greek indeed has a dynamic stress system, where the amplitude raises in the stress. However, as I showed above, there are drops inside a sentence as well. Furthermore, syllables in some accents and dialects can indeed be dragged or cut off. Greek is also highly vocally inflected, which means that besides the regular stress of each word, there is also a stress generally in the part of the phrase that has to be emphasized based on the context. That acute is louder than the other acutes and it can also be embellished with sometimes strong musicality, which varies depending on whether the phrase has a question, wonder, sarcasm, anger, tenderness and so on. In fact, Greek is similar to English on this aspect. They use similar notes and patterns to express those emotions. And of course, in order to achieve all this, there is pitch intonation, except it is secondary to the dynamic intonation. In simple words, the pitch is raised in the dynamically stressed syllables and often lowered in the would-be vareia stressed or the non-stressed syllables. However, it is secondary and often overshadowed by the dynamic stress, except in more emotional speech, when it becomes much more prominent. In an unemotional even speech, like reading loudly a book as a chore, it is often too weak to notice. But this might be an explanation about why there are conflicting opinions on modern intonation with many people attesting to modern Greek's expressiveness / melody while others appear condescending that Greek lost its ancient musicality.

Which brings me to some thoughts about ancient intonation. Again, of course it was way more prominent than any pitch intonation Modern may retain. No doubt whatsoever. It was prominent enough that it absolutely needed its own stress marks. This prominence in Modern has been lost on enough that someone has to make posts asking "Do YOU say it like that too?". (That's me.) So yeah there is a considerable difference. But I think the answer might lie in taking the modern intonation and dramatizing it, putting more emphasis on the transitions and lowering the vareia even more. And again realise that researchers blow conclusions out of proportion.

You see, the thing is Greek in all its eras is structured in a way that makes dynamic intonation make more sense than pitch intonation. That is because Greek words do NOT change meaning with a pitch shift! Pitch accent is really important in languages with very short words, often one syllabled ones, where the pitch change makes people realise the differences in the meaning. Greek has long words. Sometimes really long. And words that are written identically, besides being very rare, CAN NOT take different accents 99% of the time because the accents in Greek obey to grammatical rules based on the word's structure!!! Therefore a dynamic stress can help way more than a pitch one in such cases, which seems redundant.

This makes me assume the pitch intonation in Ancient Greek was mainly stylised and secondarily functional. Besides, all testaments and linguists draw conclusions based on famous authors, aoidoi (bards), poets and rhetors. It wouldn't surprise me if the high musicality and use of pitch was a form of art or used by rhetors EXACTLY because a rhetor's job was to enrapture audiences with his speech. But now, imagine two farmers in the mountains arguing while having to use 10-12 lettered words and apply all rules of pitch shifts let alone all long vowels and short vowels and diphthongs (especially in the way academia likes to imagine them) in rapid successions! Do you understand why I believe it is not realistic at all? And even if the farmers did argue like that, I cannot for the life of me imagine how on earth this noise could sound impressive to anybody. (Do you like the sound of west academia's Greek by the way? Does it sound like it deserves all that ancient praise? If not, maybe it's time for a re-evaluation? Food for thought.)

People had started diverging from it in the 2nd century already. But what if it was not exactly "divergence" but rather, access of more "commoners" to writing and more eloquent speaking, who were the ones to spread the use of a simpler, dynamic intonation at the expense of the musical, pompous (but certainly beautiful), intonation of poets, bards and rhetors of the past centuries? I mean, what if we had the actual regular and previously undocumented speech invade the written high forms of Greek, to the dread of the contemporary scholars who had to come up with the polytonic system to rescue the high language from this "corruption"? It is an established fact after all that Byzantine scholars were trying desperately for centuries to retain archaic forms of the language to the growing annoyance of the public, who as time passed must have naturally had more and more access to literary and scholarly work.

In short, what I am suggesting is that Modern Greek has a dynamic stress yet also a secondary pitch intonation, while retaining archaic elements in a much weaker form. Ancient Greek, especially high Greek, Attic and poetic or rhetoric speech, had pitch accent yet also must have employed dynamic stress secondarily. Colloquial ancient Greek or other less known dialects could be in between with more even use of pitch and dynamic intonations.

And also, that vareia has not died yet! Vareia LIVES… it holds on for dear life but it still lives!

PS: I just found it funny that one argument for Ancient Greek's pitch intonation is that the stresses follow the notes in this ancient song,

because if you read this with the supposedly exclusively dynamic modern pronunciation it absolutely still follows the same notes, especially if you use the phrase part emphasizing and emotional stress I described above. The major difference is in the circumflex. But if you know Greek and listen to Greek music, you will realise that the melodies or the phrases follow each other's intonation very seamlessly.

OK, now you can throw your eggs if that was so... audacious. I am not a linguist, which probably makes my audacity even greater, but I genuinely believe I contemplated this based on common sense. If not, at least throw the egg politely, my object was just to find a truth that seems and sounds realistic enough...!

[ladyylavenderrr]

Currently thinking about the Arcane German dub’s incredible use of the phrase “Im Stich lassen” and going feral. You don’t understand!! That phrase can mean both to abandon someone and to betray someone and the dub uses that one phrase where the English dub used different words!!! And so when Silco says “ich werde dich nie im Stich lassen“ he’s both saying he’ll never betray Jinx and that he’ll never abandon her!!! AAAAAAHHH

[neevedicampelli]

When the lights go out

When the lights go out What will we see? When our true self’s come out And the darkness run free Humanities true nature unleashed We bin driving through the night You, on the passenger’s seat Cowering and hugging your knees I can see the fear But you be following my lead We bin driving past the trees Through the mountains Away from the riots in the streets The last step for humankind this’…

[whencyclopedia]

Embattled Nation: Canada's Wartime Election of 1917

In the midst of one of the most turbulent periods in Canada’s history, Patrice Dutil and David Mackenzie delve into what they deem as the most significant and tumultuous elections since confederation. Their work, 'Embattled Nation: Canada’s Wartime Election of 1917 ', meticulously explores the 1917 election between Conservative leader Sir Robert Borden and the Liberal opposition of Sir Wilfred Laurier.  

Patrice Dutil and David MacKenzie provide a detailed and well-researched account of Canada's political and social landscape during World War I, focusing on the 1917 election and the issue of conscription. The book is commendable for its extensive use of evidence and meticulous documentation of events, offering readers a thorough understanding of the period's complexities. Their use of diary entries and personal accounts from Borden, Laurier, and those around them gives a sense of authenticity to the events being described. The book also provides a thorough context for the period with extensive maps, statistics, election information, and statistics of the war effort that effectively paint the scene of 1917. Finally, this book helpfully contextualizes the existing linguistic and cultural divides between French and English Canada which would aid readers greatly in future discussions.

However, despite its solid evidentiary foundation, the book falls short in convincingly arguing that the 1917 election was the most contentious in Canadian history and that it nearly saw the collapse of the confederation. The authors emphasize the deep divisions between English and French Canadians and describe how conscription became a central and divisive issue. Yet, they also acknowledge that there was majority support for the Union government and conscription, which complicates their argument about the election nearly breaking up the country.

Portraying the election as a moment that almost led to the dissolution of Canada seems somewhat overstated. While the authors provide ample evidence of French-Canadian opposition and the resulting social unrest, they do not fully reconcile this with the broader national support for the Union government and the conscription policy. This oversight weakens their central thesis about the election's unparalleled contentiousness. While it is true that perhaps this election did deepen the divide between French and English Canada, it did not do so to the extent to which one could say that the country was near collapse, at least not with the way this book presented its evidence.

While it is true, by the provided evidence, that much of French Canada vehemently opposed conscription, they did not oppose the country as a whole, with a referendum to succeed, having only marginal support and never actually making it to a vote on the Quebec parliamentary floor. There were indeed protests and riots during the time. Still, they were fed by feelings of alienation and betrayal by the Borden government, not the Confederation, with Laurie receiving much support from French Canada. It is accurate to say that both the Liberal and Conservative governments were almost torn apart, yet, in the end, both parties survived relatively unscathed under the united leadership of Laurier and Borden, respectively.

Patrice Dutil is a Professor in Toronto Metropolitan University's Politics and Public Administration Department while David Mackenzie is a Professor in the university's History Department. Overall, Embattled Nation is a valuable resource for understanding the political dynamics of wartime Canada and the cultural rift between English and French Canadians. It provides an often unexplored context to the First World War in Canada, giving insight into the French-English divide, one of Canada's most prevailing conflicts. To understand the impacts of the First World War on Canada, one must first understand how the war impacted the home front. However, its assertion that the 1917 election was the most divisive in Canadian history could have been more convincingly articulated, given the authors' admissions of widespread support for the Union government and conscription from a majority part of the Country. Perhaps refining the thesis to focus more on the French-English connection rather than the election itself with an increased focus on the protests and riots would make for an overall more convincing argument. Meanwhile, it is accurate to say that the 1917 election was pushed by issues surrounding conscription; the election itself was fairly unanimous thanks to the political maneuvering by the Borden government. With more focus on those aspects and a closer examination of the reactions to said maneuverings, the argument that this period in Canadian history was the most tumultuous becomes more evident and more convincing.

Continue reading...

[gamergirlbonestaskforce141riot]

This is of no one's interest but me but... meh

Background characters of my fanfic (Riot's new squad in the 141, belonging to Bravo Team 5)

From left to right:

Corporal Andrea (Andy) 'Nitro' Williams, demolitionist/linguist (4 languages) - Bravo 5-4

Corporal Remington (Rem) III 'Whistler' Davies, signals and FAC (Forward Air Control), Bravo 5-5

Corporal Edouard (Eddy/Eddie) 'Grizzly' Petit, mechanic/battering ram/tailend charlie (belt-fed machine gun carrier), Bravo 5-6

Corporal Dayo 'Marbles' Ibekwe, nurse trainee/signals, Bravo 5-3

Sergeant Christine 'Riot' Vega, linguist/reconaissance/resident volcano, Bravo 5-1

[mariana-oconnor]

Shoscombe Old Place full

First of all, in my head this story is either called Shoscombe Old Spot*, and is about pigs, or Is a repeat of the Boscombe Valley Mystery. I cannot call it the right name to save my life.

This is all I am going to see for every character in this story. I apologise in advance.

*There is a type of pig called a Gloucester Old Spot.

Sherlock Holmes had been bending for a long time over a low-power microscope. Now he straightened himself up and looked round at me in triumph.

"Since I ran down that coiner by the zinc and copper filings in the seam of his cuff they have begun to realize the importance of the microscope.”

And 100 years later it would be used in flashy, edited montages of pretty forensic scientists also identifying glue and threads from a tweed coat.

"Watson, you know something of racing?” “I ought to. I pay for it with about half my wound pension.”

Did Mary die, or did she throw him out for his gambling addiction and they both agreed to pretend the other was dead because it's Victorian Britain?

“It was when he horsewhipped Sam Brewer, the well-known Curzon Street money-lender, on Newmarket Heath. He nearly killed the man.” “Ah, he sounds interesting! Does he often indulge in that way?”

I would call that neither interesting, nor indulging, but you do you, I guess.

Sir Robert Norberton. Sounds like a great guy.

"He should have been a buck in the days of the Regency—a boxer, an athlete, a plunger on the turf, a lover of fair ladies, and, by all account, so far down Queer Street that he may never find his way back again.”

That took a distinct turn for the unexpected at the end there. Quite the euphemism there. Apparently it just means he has money problems (presumably because of being a horrible person and a gambler) but the joys of linguistic evolution strike again.

Is he... far down Queer Street, or has he just gone a few steps?

“There are the Shoscombe spaniels,” said I. “You hear of them at every dog show. The most exclusive breed in England. They are the special pride of the lady of Shoscombe Old Place.”

The spaniels are now also pigs in my brain. Everything is pigs. It's actually a long con that Lady Beatrice has been pulling for years. 'Most exclusive breed' = they're actually pigs in disguise.

...the firm, austere expression which is only seen upon those who have to control horses or boys.

This absolutely made me laugh. Excellent description.

“First of all, Mr. Holmes, I think that my employer, Sir Robert, has gone mad.”

Really? How could you tell? He seems like such a level-headed and calm person with absolutely no emotional issues whatsoever.

No really, how could you tell?

“Well, sir, when a man does one queer thing, or two queer things, there may be a meaning to it, but when everything he does is queer, then you begin to wonder."

😐😐😐

They did say he was pretty far down Queer Street, my dude. That's probably what the issue is.

This story is already one of the most unintentionally hilarious we've read. I hope it doesn't end with the deaths of horses or children. Or some woman marrying the abusive arsehole. That would ruin the joy.

And ah, we have reached the casual antisemitism. Because of course we have. Money lenders were mentioned, clearly there was going to be some.

"Then there is his conduct to Lady Beatrice!” “Ah! What is that?” “They have always been the best of friends. They had the same tastes, the two of them"

Does she also enjoy whipping people almost to death? Family dinners must be a riot!

“And a bitter, savage, spiteful quarrel at that. Why else would he give away her pet spaniel that she loved as if he were her child?"

"But then, again, what is master doing down at the old church crypt at night? And who is the man that meets him there?”

...I mean... Do we really want to get into that?

There's a haunted crypt? Excellent. Ghost pigs abound.

"So we up when Sir Robert was gone and pretended we were just having a walk like in the moonlight..."

Just a casual moonlit bro walk at midnight in the hook-up graveyard. Like bros.

What even is this story? I don't need to provide commentary, it's all in the text (apart from the pigs).

‘Hullo, mate! who may you be?’ says I. I guess he had not heard us coming, so he looked over his shoulder with a face as if he had seen the devil coming out of hell.

You were in the haunted graveyard. He thought you were a fucking ghost my friend. And if he didn't, he should have done and I will be very annoyed.

"From Dr. Watson's description of Sir Robert I can realize that no woman is safe from him."

Or man. Or non-binary person.

“No, sir, and there is something more that I can't fit in. Why should Sir Robert want to dig up a dead body?”

I feel... like you could have opened with the grave robbery? Maybe. Could be important. Seems relevant, if not to the case as a whole then just to... general interest, honestly.

If he dug up a grave at the haunted hook-up graveyard on Queer Street, man's going to be haunted by all the queerest ghosts. It's going to be Queer Eye for a Live Guy all over that place. Though I suspect Sr Robert is beyond their undead assistance.

"It was all in order, sir, except that in one corner was a bit of a human body.”

A bit... Which bit?

"It was just the head and a few bones of a mummy. It may have been a thousand years old."

Oh wow, is this the thing where people ate mummies for their health or something? There was a massive fad where people were just like 'I guess eating this person who is dead will stop me from dying, that makes logical sense and isn't disgusting at all' nom nom nom. Please tell me one of these people is a cannibal. Not like cannibalism yay, obviously, but that's pretty much the last thing this story needs to become completely epic.

"The creature was howling outside the old well-house, and Sir Robert was in one of his tantrums that morning. He caught it up, and I thought he would have killed it. Then he gave it to Sandy Bain, the jockey, and told him to take the dog to old Barnes at the Green Dragon, for he never wished to see it again.”

Ways in which Sir Robert Norberton is better than Sir Eustace of The Abbey Grange fame: instead of covering the dog in petrol and setting it on fire, Sir Robert just sent it away. The bar is so incredibly low for Holmesian villains.

Also, there was something in the old well-house. Probably a horse. Dog was giving it away so dog had to go.

But he didn't kill the dog. So proud. He can whip men half to death, but he draws the line at hurting dogs, apparently.

“It's the upper condyle of a human femur,” said I.

Hey. Look! Watson did a doctor thing! And it wasn't brandy.

And now they're going undercover.

Part 2

"...refuses to stop at the stables to greet her favourite horse..."

This makes me feel like it's not her favourite horse. We've already been told the horse has a doppelganger. Did the real horse die and now he's got a problem because all his money is on the horse winning the race, but he's only got the rubbish one? Or was there only ever one horse in the first place and it's rubbish? But the bone is a human femur, or so Watson says.

"Let us suppose, Watson—it is merely a scandalous supposition, a hypothesis put forward for argument's sake—that Sir Robert has done away with his sister.”

Did not see that coming. I think I missed that no one at all had seen her other than the maid. I guess it makes sense because if she dies, the estate goes to someone else and then he has no money at all. I have been distracted by horses.

Though the fact that Holmes is saying this implies to me that it's not the case. On the other hand, this is only a two parter, so there can't be that much more plot to go.

“My dear Holmes, it is out of the question.” “Very possibly, Watson. Sir Robert is a man of an honourable stock."

There is so much wrong with this exchange, I don't know where to start.

"Never mind me. I shall stand behind this holly-bush and see what I can see.”

By which you mean whether the 'spaniel' wants to go to its mistress.

Aw, he's such a good boy.

Then they stop in the suspected murder investigation to have a fishing day. That's the thing about the Holmes stories. ACD isn't afraid to say 'and there was nothing that could be done right then so we just had a jolly day out'. Crime fighting is such a leisurely business.

“‘Fore God, Mr. Holmes, it's all right,” said he. “Appearances are against me, I'll admit, but I could act no otherwise.”

A surprisingly reasonable response here from the man that we have been repeatedly told by multiple people likes to punch first and ask questions never.

"Mrs. Norlett, under her maiden name of Evans, has for some years been my sister's confidential maid."

The maid is married!? and her husband's a character?! That Sir Robert knows?! Plot twist!

So she died of natural causes. That's kind of nice. If it wasn't for all the antisemitism, this one would be pretty good.

Except for how the violent gambling addict magically makes good in the end and turns out not to be so bad after all. Though I suppose I should be happy he turned his life around. Maybe a little anticlimactic, but it's a good twist that I didn't see coming because I was too busy thinking of horses.

And pigs.

[imaginefinneganswake]

Where the Buddelaries partisans are still out to mathmaster Malachus Micgranes and the Verdons catapelting the camibalistics out of Whoyteboyce of Hoodie Head. Assiegates and boomeringstroms.

Finnegan’s Wake - James Joyce

ChatGPT4o critical interpretations (Created ChatGPT):

This passage—"Where the Buddelaries partisans are still out to mathmaster Malachus Micgranes and the Verdons catapelting the camibalistics out of Whoyteboyce of Hoodie Head. Assiegates and boomeringstroms."—from Finnegans Wake exemplifies Joyce's characteristic dense layering of historical references, wordplay, and symbolic conflict. It's a riot of historical, mythological, and linguistic motifs, reflecting Joyce’s view of history as cyclical and full of repetition.

1. Historical and Political Conflict: Buddelaries vs. Verdons

At its core, this passage presents a scene of conflict, with two opposing factions—the Buddelaries partisans and the Verdons—engaged in a kind of battle. As is typical in Finnegans Wake, these groups are likely stand-ins for larger historical forces, reflecting Joyce’s cyclical vision of history, where conflicts recur across time.

The Buddelaries are likely a playful corruption of Butler—one of the most famous families in Irish history, the Butlers of Ormonde, who were rivals of the Fitzgeralds (associated with the color green, or the Verdons). The Butlers and Fitzgeralds were two powerful Anglo-Irish families who frequently clashed during the medieval period.

The Verdons, in contrast, may represent the Fitzgeralds or some broader faction aligned with the "green" of Irish nationalism (verdon, derived from verde, meaning "green"). This suggests a confrontation between forces of colonial power (the Butlers) and Irish nationalism (the Fitzgeralds, or the "green" cause), echoing Ireland's centuries-long struggle for independence from English rule.

Thus, the Buddelaries and Verdons could symbolize rival factions in Ireland's long history of civil strife, clan warfare, or even its later nationalist movements. The battle being described is likely symbolic of the historical cycles of conflict that have plagued Ireland, where similar struggles play out again and again under different names and guises.

2. Mathematical and Intellectual Conflict: "Mathmaster Malachus Micgranes"

The reference to "mathmaster Malachus Micgranes" adds an intellectual or perhaps mythological dimension to the scene. The name "Malachus Micgranes" could be a variation of Malachi, referencing both St. Malachy, the 12th-century Irish saint and prophet, and Malachy of Armagh, a figure associated with ecclesiastical reform. The "mathmaster" suggests that this character is someone who seeks to impose order, logic, or structure—possibly through calculation, strategy, or intellectual prowess.

"Micgranes": This could evoke McGrane, another Irish surname, but more importantly, it sounds like Migraines, suggesting that this mathmaster is burdened by intellectual strain or headache-inducing tasks. Joyce often blended mythic or heroic figures with human frailty or absurdity, so this figure may represent both the ambition to master or measure the chaotic forces of history and the futility of doing so.

The inclusion of a "mathmaster" could also symbolize the attempt to impose logic on the illogical, much as Joyce is doing throughout Finnegans Wake with his dense and often chaotic language. "Mathmaster Malachus" might be seen as an ironic figure—an attempt to master history or language that is inevitably doomed to fail in the face of Joyce’s unruly, nonlinear narrative.

3. Violent Imagery and Weaponry: "Catapelting the camibalistics"

The "Verdons catapelting the camibalistics" introduces a violent, war-like scene. "Catapelting" is a playful merging of "catapult" and "pelting," suggesting that the Verdons are hurling something at their enemies with a catapult. The target, in this case, is "camibalistics," which seems to be a blend of cannibals and ballistics, indicating a highly destructive or primal form of warfare.

This phrase might reference both the primitive violence of warfare and a kind of intellectual or cultural "cannibalism"—where one group devours the other, either literally or metaphorically, by imposing its values or beliefs. Joyce's use of violent imagery here underscores the relentless brutality of historical cycles, where warring factions consume one another endlessly.

"Cannibalistics" could be read as a comment on how history often repeats itself in a cannibalistic way, with newer regimes or ideologies consuming and repurposing the old ones, only to be consumed in turn. This idea of cyclical destruction is a central theme in Finnegans Wake.

4. Whoyteboyce and Hoodie Head: Colonialism and Power Dynamics

"Whoyteboyce of Hoodie Head" offers a pun-rich target for interpretation. "Whoyteboyce" is an obvious distortion of Whiteboys, a rural insurgent group active in 18th-century Ireland that resisted landlords and oppressive taxation. They were primarily Irish Catholics who adopted this name because they wore white smocks during their nighttime raids.

"Whoyteboyce" also suggests Whiteness as a symbol of colonial or establishment power (as in English rule over Ireland), while "Hoodie Head" could evoke an image of a cloaked or hooded figure, possibly implying disguise, resistance, or even death (the hood as a death shroud, or a criminal's hood).

Together, "Whoyteboyce of Hoodie Head" might symbolize the conflict between colonial authority and insurgent forces. The Whiteboys, though rebels against English landlords, were often associated with both resistance and chaos, and Joyce could be blurring these roles, complicating the idea of heroism versus villainy in Ireland’s history of rebellion.

5. Sieges and Repetition: "Assiegates and boomeringstroms"

The concluding line—"Assiegates and boomeringstroms"—reinforces the theme of conflict, siege, and cyclical violence:

"Assiegates" is likely derived from the French assiéger, meaning to lay siege. This suggests that the ongoing conflict is not just a battle but a siege, implying a long, drawn-out confrontation rather than a quick skirmish. The idea of siege connects back to the cycles of oppression and rebellion that characterize much of Ireland's history.

"Boomeringstroms" is a mashup of "boomerang" and "storm," implying repetitive, cyclical violence that returns again and again—like a storm that circles back or a boomerang that always comes around. This could represent how conflict, once initiated, tends to perpetuate itself endlessly, much like the cyclical nature of history and narrative in Finnegans Wake.

The boomerang is also a symbol of unintended consequences or the return of past actions to haunt the present, suggesting that the violent and oppressive actions of one group will eventually return to affect them.

Conclusion

This passage weaves together Joyce’s preoccupations with Irish history, cycles of violence, mythology, and wordplay, presenting a scene of eternal conflict between opposing forces. The Buddelaries and Verdons are likely symbolic of historical factions in Irish history, particularly the Butlers and Fitzgeralds, or more broadly, the conflict between colonial power and Irish nationalism.

The references to siege warfare, boomerangs, and cannibalistic violence suggest that these battles are part of a never-ending cycle, reflecting the recurring nature of history, where each conflict seems to feed into the next. Through dense language and layered allusions, Joyce presents a vision of human history as an eternal struggle, where factions rise and fall, only to be replaced by new ones, each feeding off the chaos of the past.

[wickershells]

halloween '24: watched arrival 2016… hm

the parts I enjoyed were enough to keep me engaged and I do love slowness, films that take their time. I think I really liked the twist. but these are, as I like to say, newborn thoughts

deeply american: the ones instigating violence and fearmongering are of course chinese, russian, pakistani, sudanese -- even the clips of riots in venezuela carry with them an undercurrent of something real bitter; the consistent perception of the american military and those adjacent as logical and tactical (if not seeing the fuller linguistic picture, and therefore arguably unfair), and the subsequent perception of those antithetical as violent and inane. there's a lack of gentleness here to the treatment of non-americans, and yet a gentleness to the cosmic aliens, and perhaps that's the point: an inability to see good in or trust one's neighbour. the movie was released in 2016, and I'm not sure how long of a pre- or post-development it had, but presumably trump's campaign loomed large over this. you build a wall with hands, likewise hands tear them down, hold others'. the arrival of those who are alien to you, the reaching out to know them, the refraining from prior judgment, the refusal to accept incomplete judgment. but there's even an american-ness to that absolvement, dismissive of difference and of harm done. at the end of the day it doesn't feel effective: china still communicates to the aliens with language of weaponry and defeat and victory (specifically attached to mahjong, a chinese game), china still backs out first, china still gives an ultimatum, china is the proverbial big-bad right until they're not. whatever this is trying to teach us about perception is made null and void when it continues through with each plot point just as every other hollywood military movie does. sure, it matters that louise connects through being the one to reach out, and speak fluently to shang in his own language. but regardless of what it could be trying to subvert expectation-wise, it is still a gentle white american woman who saves the equally gentle giants from the violence of the east. the barriers of language are so often the barriers of ourselves; a narrative based on that has to end with communicating in the tongue of another -- I guess I respect that, if it is the vision? but there's a flatness to this in execution. if the vision is the ignorance of america it is far too forgiving

speaking of hands, the aliens are of course themselves hands, to touch and write and outstretch. very symbolic and I do like hand imagery. the white floor of the ship reminded me of the texture of fungus, and from there their writing could look like veins, neural pathways, all connectors. very amuse-bouche, of course. the arrival of understandings

palindrome: begins as it ends. linguistic ouroboros

a little interstellar 2014 with it but somewhat less subtle, which isn't a very high bar to cross (still have a soft spot for that movieee). language shapes time and time shapes language and both are the means through which we elucidate our love, like nuclear semiotics: a bridge we build to care for the ones left to reckon with our waste, in which the building of it means having to reckon with it ourselves

if you know me I gotta make it womb-ish somehow so let's get crazy with it. the alien vocalisations are deep rumbles, clicks, almost whale-songlike; akin to the sounds one might hear within the walls of a womb. let's think of the ship as vagina and its entrance as vulva: the extending lift (penis) ushers them all in, whereupon reaching a certain height they are released (ejaculated) from the tenuous grasp of gravity and are thus free à la sperm to move or fly up & through a rectangular letterbox-opening (cervix) where, if they are un-protected, they will make contact with unity; or those who came down to bestow it, anyway. and who is the main character but a mother and what is her journey but accepting the role of motherhood, in its pains, its joys. to know time is to know death and to know death is to know birth: the arrival of a child. I’ve connected the dots "you haven’t connected shit" I’ve connected them

cinematography was kind of whatever. I've got a draft somewhere about the staleness of modern sci-fi, its stiffness, rigidity

that's all I got right now I think. it was this or rosemary's baby and I do wish we had picked rosemary's babyyyy (I think I thought this was more annihilation-like, more horror? not very halloween night of us) but this was fine, I guess

[cathedralresident]

about me :))

hi!! i'm vivica (vee/viv/vivi for short); this is my personal lifestyle blog, i'm kinda treating it like a photo album for things listed below.

🫀 fashion

maximalist style consisting of earthy tones, lots of accesories, patches, layering and bones/bugs/forest motives, influenced mostly by goth, emo, scene and punk subcultures; i've started experimenting with my style in 2020, inspired by alt tiktok at that time, 'fairy grunge' and my own preferences and i've been exploring it ever since; i believe in slow fashion, repairing your already owned clothes and buying second-hand items

🫀 makeup

my looks are mostly inspired by the same things as my outfits, i use makeup as an accesory rather than something to make me more attractive; i love doing graphic eyeliner designs and long twiggy-like eyelashes

🫀 music

goth and post punk (london after midnight, new order, rosetta stone, oingo boingo, depeche mode, lebanon hanover, cocteau twins, the cure, paralysed age, horror vacui, she wants revenge, strawberry switchblade and so many more), as well as riot grrrl, rock, shoegaze and sometimes metal

🫀 queerness

i'm an aroace, aplspec, qenderqueer/genderfluid (tho mostly a girl) person; i find being aromantic very importart when it comes to who i am, i often think about being aro, amatonormativity, relationship hierarchy etc and i might ocasionally post my thoughts about it bcs i love talking about being queer and tumblr is pretty much a safe space for my identities

🫀 hobbies

mostly arts and crafts like embroidery, sewing, painting, drawing, crocheting, sculpting; i love fanfiction, i make a collage on shuffles once in a while, i've been into manifesting and surface level spirituality ever since i remember; i love movies and cartoons, i've been trying to get back into reading and rn my favorite book is 'ghost town' by kevin chen; i like philosophy and linguistics, i'm in a language class in my final year of high school; i enjoy going to art exhibitions

+ additional facts: from poland (unfortunately), struggling with anxiety and depression, hoping to become a tattoo artist, born with a heart disease, fanfic reader, fav animals are pigeons, bats, rats and crows, my fav season is fall

+ link to my pinterest

❗not an nsfw blog❗

[savorynights]

Legatum

O germinar de minha semente teria jamais acontecido se não lhe tivesse conhecido.

A rosa que a tantos encanta já não estaria mais viva se não tivesse sido meu amigo.

Por isso, agradeço por outrora compromisso.

De geração 'A' para geração 'B', me tornei quem sou graças a você.

Não-obstante, não o perdoo por ser quem é.

Traiçoeiro, rato, asqueroso, proveniente do mais sombrio e profano fosso.

Grato, eu sou.

Em paz, jamais estou.

[sixty-silver-wishes]

Tumblr's Guide to Shostakovich- Asides- Ivan Sollertinsky

So, in addition to my weekly posting for Tumblr's Guide to Shostakovich, I decided I want to do a series of related "asides" posts. These will be posted irregularly (as opposed to weekly) and cover aspects related to Shostakovich that don't fit neatly into one post focusing on one part of the chronological timeline. In this case, I want to talk about Ivan Ivanovich Sollertinsky, specifically his role in Shostakovich's life and music. Sources I'll be citing include Elizabeth Wilson's Shostakovich: A Life Remembered, Shostakovich's own letters to Sollertinsky and Isaak Glikman, Dmitri and Lyudmila Sollertinsky's Pages from the Life of Dmitri Shostakovich, Pamyati I.I. Sollertinskogo (Memories of I.I. Sollertinsky), and I.I. Sollertinsky: Zhizn' i naslediye (Life and Legacy), the latter two both by Lyudmila Mikheeva. Photo citations include the DSCH Publishers website and the DSCH Journal photo archive.

(Dmitri Shostakovich and Ivan Sollertinsky, Novosibirsk, 1942.)

Ivan Ivanovich Sollertinsky was born in Vitebsk, present-day Belarus, on December 3, 1902. He was a polymath, excelling in humanities fields, including linguistics, philosophy, musicology, history, and literature- particularly that of Cervantes. He specialized in Romano-Germanic philology, and spoke a wide range of languages; sources I've read vary from claiming he spoke anywhere from 25 to 30. (He specialized in Romance languages, but I can also confirm from sources that he studied Hungarian, Japanese, Greek, Sanskrit, and German. I've heard it said that he kept a diary in ancient Portuguese so nobody could read it, but I haven't seen this verified.) He had a ferocious wit, which he used to uplift friends and skewer enemies (there's a hilarious anecdote where he once saddled a critic opposed to Shostakovich with the nickname "Carbohydrates" for life), and worked as a professor, orator, and artistic director of the Leningrad Philharmonic. And yet, this impossibly bright star would burn out all too soon at the age of 41 due to a terminal heart condition, leaving his closest friend devastated- and inspired.

Dmitri Shostakovich first met Ivan Sollertinsky in 1921, when they were both students at the Petrograd Conservatory. While Shostakovich claimed he was at first too intimidated to talk to Sollertinsky the first time he saw him, when they met again in 1926, Shostakovich was waiting outside a classroom to take an exam on Marxism-Leninism. When Sollertinsky walked out of the classroom, Shostakovich "plucked up courage and asked him":

"Excuse me, was the exam very difficult?"

"No, not at all," [Sollertinsky] replied.

"What did they ask you?"

"Oh, the easiest things: the growth of materialism in Ancient Greece; Sophocles' poetry as an expression of materialist tendencies; English seventeenth-century philosophers and something else besides!"

Shostakovich then goes on to state he was "filled with horror at his reply."

(...Yes, these are real people we are talking about. According to Shostakovich, this actually happened. And I love it.)

Later, in 1927, they met at a gathering hosted by the conductor Nikolai Malko, where they hit it off immediately. Malko recalls that they "became fast friends, and one could not seem to do without the other." He further characterizes their friendship:

When Shostakovich and Sollertinsky were together, they were always fooling. Jokes ran riot and each tried to outdo the other in making witty remarks. It was a veritable competition. Each had a sharply developed sense of humour; both were bright and observant; they knew a great deal; and their tongues were itching to say something funny or sarcastic, no matter whom it might concern. They were each quite indiscriminate when it came to being humorous, and if they were too young to be bitter they could still come mercilessly close to being malicious.

(Shostakovich and Sollertinsky, 1920s.)

Sollertinsky and Shostakovich appeared to be perfect complements of each other- one brash, extroverted, and confident, and the other shy, withdrawn, and insecure, but each sharing a sarcastic sense of humour and love for the arts that would carry throughout their friendship. In Shostakovich's letters to Sollertinsky, we see him confide in him time and again, in everything from drama with women to fears in the midst of the worsening political atmosphere. When worrying about the reception of his ballet "The Limpid Stream," Shostakovich writes in a letter from October 31, 1935:

I strongly believe that in this case, you won't leave me in an extremely difficult moment of my life, and that the only person whose friendship I cherish, the apple of my eye, is you. So, write to me, for god's sake.

And, in a moment of frustration from August 2, 1930 Shostakovich writes:

"You have a rich personal life. And mine, generally, is shit."

(Famous composers, am I right? They're just like us.)

In addition to a friendship that would last until Sollertinsky's untimely death, he and Shostakovich would influence each other greatly in the artistic spheres as well. Sollertinsky dedicated himself primarily to musicology after meeting Shostakovich (his first review of an opera, Krenek's Johnny, appeared in 1928, after they had become friends), and in turn, Sollertinsky introduced Shostakovich to one of his greatest musical inspirations- the works of Gustav Mahler. Much is to be said about Mahler's influence on Shostakovich's music, to the point where it deserves its own post, but it goes without saying that without Sollertinsky, Shostakovich's entire body of work would have turned out much differently. Starting with the Fourth Symphony (1936), Shostakovich's symphonic works began to take on a heavily Mahlerian angle (in addition to many vocal works), becoming a permanent fixture in his distinct musical style.

(Colorized image of Shostakovich, his wife Nina Vasiliyevna, and Sollertinsky, 1932. One of my absolute favourite photographs.)

Shostakovich's letters to Sollertinsky, from the 20s to early 30s, are characterized by puns and literary references, snide remarks, nervous confessions, and vivid descriptions of the locations he traveled to during his early career. However, as the 1930s progressed and censorship in the arts became more restrictive, signs of worry begin to take shape in the letters. This would all culminate in January 1936, with the denunciation of Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District in Pravda. I'll go further into detail about the opera and its denunciation in a later post, but for now, I want to focus on its impact on Shostakovich and Sollertinsky's friendship.

As one of the first world-famous composers whose career began in the then-relatively young Soviet Union, targeting Shostakovich proved to be a calculated move. Due to his prominence and the acclaim he had previously received, both in the USSR and abroad, the portrayal of Shostakovich as a "formalist" meant someone had to take the blame for his supposed "corruption" towards western-inspired music and the avant-garde. The blame fell upon Sollertinsky, who was lambasted in the papers as the "troubadour of formalism." To make matters worse, Sollertinsky had long showed a fascination with western European composers, such as the Second Viennese School, and had previously praised Lady Macbeth in a review as the "future of Soviet art." An article in Pravda from February 14, 1936, about less than a month after the denunciation, stated:

“Shostakovich should in his creation entirely free himself from the disastrous influence of the ideologists of the ‘Leftist Ugliness’ type of Sollertinsky and take the road of truthful Soviet art, to advance in a new direction, leading to the sunny kingdom of Soviet art.”

Critics who had initially praised Lady Macbeth had begun to retract their positive reviews in favour of negative ones, and a vote was cast on a resolution on whether or not to condemn the opera.  According to Isaak Glikman, their mutual friend, Shostakovich spoke with Sollertinsky, who was conflicted on what to do, beforehand. Although Sollertinsky didn’t want to condemn his friend, he supposedly told Glikman that Shostakovich had given him permission to “vote for any resolution whatsoever, in case of dire necessity.” When denouncing the opera (supposedly with Shostakovich's permission), Sollertinsky had commented that in order to develop a “true connection” to the Soviet public, Shostakovich would have to develop a “true heroic pathos, and that Shostakovich would ultimately succeed “in the genre of Soviet musical tragedy and the Soviet heroic symphony.” After Shostakovich’s second denunciation in Pravda of his ballet, “The Limpid Stream,” and the withdrawal of his Fourth Symphony- arguably the most Mahlerian of his middle period works- the Fifth Symphony, easily interpreted to follow these criteria, had indeed restored him to favour. Sollertinsky’s reputation, too, was saved.

(Aleksandr Gauk, Shostakovich, Sollertinsky, Nina Vasiliyevna, and an unidentified person, 1930s.)

In 1938, Sollertinsky contracted diphtheria. Ever tireless, he continued to dictate opera reviews and even learned Hungarian while hospitalized, although he became paralyzed in the limbs and jaw. Shostakovich wrote to him often with touching concern:

Dear friend, It's terribly sad that you are spending your much needed and precious vacation still sick. In any case, when you get better, you need to get plenty of rest.

By the time the letters from this period break off, it's because Shostakovich was able to visit Sollertinsky in the hospital, which he did whenever he was able.

While Sollertinsky was able to recover, their friendship would face yet another test in 1941, due to the German invasion of the Soviet Union during WWII. Sollertinsky evacuated with the Leningrad Philharmonic to Novosibirsk, while Shostakovich chose to stay in Leningrad. However, as the city fell under siege, due to the safety of his family, Shostakovich fled with Nina Vasiliyevna and their two children to Kubiyshev (now Samara) that October, having spent about a month in Leningrad during what would be one of the deadliest sieges of the 20th century. It was in Kubiyshev that Shostakovich would finish his famous Seventh Symphony (which, again, will receive its own post), before eventually moving permanently to Moscow (although he still taught for a time at the Leningrad Conservatory).

During this period of evacuation, Shostakovich's letters to Sollertinsky are heartbreaking. We not only see him pining for his friend, but worrying for his safety and that of his family, including his mother and sister, who were still in Leningrad at the time. Still, he reminisces of their time together before the war, with the hope that he and Sollertinsky would be back home soon. In a letter from 12th February, 1942:

Dear friend, I painfully miss you, and believe that soon, we will be home, and will visit each other and chat about this and that over a bottle of good Kakhetian no. 8 [a Georgian wine]. Take care of yourself and your health. Remember: You have children for which you are responsible, and friends, and among them is D. Shostakovich.

In 1943, Sollertinsky arrived in Moscow, where Shostakovich was living at the time, to give a speech on the anniversary of Tchaikovsky’s death. At long last, they finally were able to see each other, and anticipated that soon enough, their long period of separation, made bearable only by letters and phone calls, would come to an end: Sollertinsky, living in Novosibirsk, was planning to return to Moscow in February of 1944 to teach a course on music history at the conservatory. When he and Shostakovich said their goodbyes at the train station, neither of them knew it would be the last time they saw one another.

Sollertinsky's heart condition, coupled with his tendency to overwork, poor living conditions, heavy drinking, and added stress, often left him fatigued. On the night of February 10th, 1944, due to a sudden bout of exhaustion, he stayed the night with conductor Andrei Porfiriyevich Novikov, where he died unexpectedly in his sleep. His last public appearance had been the speeches he gave on February 5th and 6th of that year- the opening comments for the Novosibirsk premiere of Shostakovich’s 8th Symphony.  A remarkable amount of telegrams and letters from Shostakovich to Sollertinsky survive and have been published in Russian. Some seem hardly significant; others carry great historical importance. Sollertinsky took many of them with him from Leningrad during evacuation; those letters were considered among his most prized possession. His son, Dmitri Ivanovich Sollertinsky, was named after Shostakovich- breaking a long tradition in his family in which the first son was always named "Ivan."

As for Shostakovich, we have letters to multiple correspondents detailing just how distraught he was for months after receiving news via telegram of Sollertinsky’s death. To Sollertinsky’s widow, Olga Pantaleimonovna Sollertinskaya, he wrote:

“It will be unbelievably hard for me to live without him. [...] In the last few years I rarely saw him or spoke with him. But I was always cheered by the knowledge that Ivan Ivanovich, with his remarkable mind, clear vision, and inexhaustible energy, was alive somewhere. [...] Ivan lvanovich and I talked a great deal about everything. We talked about that inevitable thing waiting for us at the end of our lives- about death. Both of us feared and dreaded it. We loved life, but knew that sooner or later we would have to leave it. Ivan lvanovich has gone from us terribly young. Death has wrenched him from life. He is dead, I am still here. When we spoke of death we always remembered the people near and dear to us. We thought anxiously about our children, wives, and parents, and always solemnly promised each other that in the event of one of us dying, the other would use every possible means to help the bereaved family. ”

Shostakovich stuck to his word, making arrangements for Sollertinsky's surviving family to return to Leningrad after it had been liberated, going through the painstaking process of acquiring the necessary documentation and allowing them to stay at his home in Moscow in the meantime.

 In 1969, he would write to Glikman:

“On 10 February, I remembered Ivan Ivanovich. It is incredible to think that twenty-five years have passed since he died.” 

Furthermore, Shostakovich recalled:

Ivan Ivanovich loved different dates. So he planned to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of our acquaintance in the winter of 1941. This celebration did not take place, since the war had ruined us. When in our last meetings, we planned the 25th anniversary of our friendship for 1947. But in 1947, I will only remember that twenty-five years ago life sent me a wonderful friend, and that in 1944 death took him away from me.

And yet, there was still one more tribute left to make. Shostakovich had already dedicated a movement of a work to Sollertinsky- a setting of Pasternak's translation of Shakespeare Sonnet no. 66 in Six Romances on Verses by English Poets- but after Sollertinsky's death, he completed his Piano Trio no. 2 in August of 1944, a work that had taken months to finish. While he had started the work before Sollertinsky's death and mentions it in a letter to Glikman as early as December 1943, it would since bear a dedication to Sollertinsky's memory.

The second movement of the Trio is a dizzying, electrifying Allegro con Brio- and probably my favourite work of classical music, ever. Sollertinsky's sister, Ekaterina Ivanovna, was said to have considered it a "musical portrait" of her illustrious brother in life, with its fast-paced, jubilant air. The call-and-response between the strings and piano seem, to me, to reflect one of Shostakovich and Sollertinsky's early Leningrad dialogues- the image of two friends out of breath with laughter, each talking over each other as they deliver witty comebacks and jokes that only they understand. For the few minutes that this movement lasts, it is as if Shostakovich and Sollertinsky are revived, if not for just a moment, the unbreakable bond that defied decades of hardship now immortalized in the classical canon, forever carefree and happy in each other's company.

And then comes the pause.

It is this silence between the Allegro con Brio and Adagio that is the loudest, most powerful moment of this piece as eight solemn chords snap us into reality, like the sudden revelation of Sollertinsky's death- as Shostakovich said, "he is dead; I am still here." These eight chords form the base of a passacaglia, the piano cycling through them and nearly devoid of dynamics as the cello and violin sing a lugubrious dirge. The piano- Shostakovich's instrument- seems to mirror the stasis of grief, the inability to move on when paralyzed by loss.

The final movement of the Trio, the Allegretto, seems to speak to a wider form of grief. By 1943, the Soviet Union was receiving news of the Holocaust, and the Allegretto of Shostakovich's Trio no. 2 is among the first instances of Klezmer-inspired themes in Shostakovich's work (not counting the opera Rothschild's Violin, a work by his student Veniamin Fleischman that he finished after Fleischman's death in the war). The idea that the fourth movement is a commentary on the Holocaust is the most popular interpretation for Shostakovich's use of themes inspired by Jewish folk music, but other interpretations include a tribute to Fleischman (who was Jewish), or a nod to Sollertinsky's birthplace of Vitebsk, which had a substantial Jewish population until the Vitebsk Ghetto Massacre in 1941 by the Nazis. (While I haven't read anything confirming that Sollertinsky was ethnically Jewish, the painter Marc Chagall and pianist Maria Yudina, both carrying associations with Vitebsk, were.) Whether the grief expressed here was personal or referencing the larger global situation, the quotation of the fourth movement's ostinato followed by the final E major chords suggest a peaceful resolution after a long movement of aggressive tumult and grotesque rage.

Shostakovich would continue to grieve and remember Sollertinsky, but the ending of this piece- composed over the course of about nine months- perhaps implied closure and healing. In the following years, the war would end, Shostakovich would form new connections (such as a lasting friendship with the composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg), and, as he had done through tragedy before, would continue to write music. Sollertinsky was gone, but left a mark on Shostakovich's life and work, his memory carried in every musical joke and Mahlerian quotation that found its way onto the page.

(Shostakovich at Sollertinsky's grave, 1961, Novosibirsk.)

(By the way, check the tags. ;) )

[eccedeus]

The vile hatred being spewed at these terror riots across Britain the past few days is another step in line with Islamophobic and anti-Arab racism that has been manifesting for decades now. The acceleration of Israel's genocide of Palestinians since October last year was a very clear turning point in how much more blatantly visible this hatred has become, but western powers have been building it for decades. Bush Jr and his team in particular created a vocabulary of hatred to serve Islamophobic and anti-Arab discourse, and the cultural production of orientalism in Europe since the 1800s served to script this vocabulary. The many diverse people living in South West Asia and North Africa were colonized physically and linguistically, subjectified into a monolith "deviant Arab" and then into "terrorists".

As white people, and white Europeans in particular, we have a duty to deconstruct this vocabulary within ourselves and our peers. We have to continuously question how we view and represent and talk about Islam, about Muslims, about "terrorism", about people who identify themselves as Arab and those who are perceived as such. Learn about Arabic, about SWANA history, about the Quran and Islamic practices, about the people cultures languages and religions that do not fit the narrow preconceptions of those targeted by this vocabulary of hatred. And talk about it! We can do more and we have to do more!

[cerinelle-stellarium]

Seinen Stories to Start With

You would not believe the insane amount of effort I went through to do this thing. Made from the results of this poll. All series here 100% guaranteed to stay wholesome/consistent through their runs. If you're looking for something sweet, a good story or a combo of both, you will find it here!

All series listed here are from the 2000s-2020s.

ACCA: 13 Territory Inspection Dept.

Accomplishments of the Duke's Daughter

Airmaster

Alice and Zoroku

The Apothecary Diaries

Arte

Barakamon

Binbou Shimai Monogatari

Blue Period

Bocchi the Rock!

Bokura wa Mahou Shounen

A Bouquet For An Ugly Girl

Boys Run The Riot

Chibisan Date

Chio's School Road

Chi's Sweet Home

Children of the Sea

Coffee and Cat

Dad, tthe Beard Gorilla and Me

Dance Dance Danseur

Delicious in Dungeon

The Demon Girl Next Door

Dinosaur Santuary

Don't Hurt Me, My Healer!

Dungeon no Osana najimi

Emma: A Victorian Romance

Engaged to the Unidentified

Fastest Finger First

Forest of Piano

A Galaxy Next Door

Gekikou Kamen

Genshiken

Getsuyoubi no Tawawa

Gingitsune

Girlish Number

Girls Und Panzer

Gohan no Otomo

Gochika

Go With The Wind, North-By-Northwest

Granny Girl Hinako-chan

Heaven's Design Team

Heterogenia Linguistics

High Score Girl

Himouto! Umaru-chan

Hinamatsuri

Hito Hitori Futari

Hoshikuzu Telepath

Hozuki's Coolheadedness

Hyakunichikan!!

Hyouga Mono

Ichigeki Sacchu!! Hoihoi-san

If My Favorite Idol Made It tto the Budokan, I Would Die

Insomniacs After School

Interviews With Monster Girls

In This Coner of the World

Is Kichijou the Only Place to Live?

I Want Your Mother to Be With Me!

The Kawai Complex to Manor and Hostel Behavior

Keep Your Hands of Eizouken!!

Kokou no Hito

Kotaro Lives Alone

Kowloon Generic Romancey

Kuro (Somato)

Kutsuzure Sensen

The Last Uniform

Love Me For Who I Am

Love Roma

Magical Meow Meow Taruto

The Magical Revolution of the RReincarnated Princess

Manga ni Tsukurikata

Maomarimo

March Comes In Like A Lion

March Story

Memories of Emanon

Mimia Hime

Minami-ke

Miss Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles

Mokke

Momokuri

Mushishi

My Brother's Husband

My Girl (Sumomo Yumeka)

My Neighbor Seki

Natsuiro Kiseki

Nicoichi

Nobunage no Chef

Noramimi

O/A

Odd Taci

Oh, My Sweet Alien

One Punch Man

Otome Youkai Zakuro

Our Dreams at Dusk

Pan de Peace!

Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt (Literally the only ecchi magical girl parody I'll allow on the list)

Penguindrum

Please Tell Me! Galko-chan

Pluto

Police In A Pod

Pop Team Epic

Psycho Staff

Read or Die

Re-Kan!

A Room For Two

Run with the Wind

Saint Young Men

Saturn Apartments

Sekai Maou

Shadows' House

Shiharu Genesis

Shiori Experience

Shounen Note: Boy Soprano

Shrine of the Morning Mist

Silver Nina

Sing "Yesterday for Me"

Sketchbook

Skip and Loafer

soianin

Sora no Manimani

Space Brothers

Space Patrol Luluco

Steins' Gate

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale

Suicide Girl

Sweetness and Lighting

Tadakoro-san

Tekkonkinkreet

Thermae Romae

This Art Club Has a Problem!

Tiger & Bunny

Tonari no Kashiwagi-san

Translucent

Twin Spica

Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari

UdUmi Monogatari

Uncle from Another World

Under Ninja

The Unpopular Mangaka and the Helpful Onryo-san

Velvet Kiss

Wa ga Na wa Umishi

Wakako Zake

Wandering Son

Wave, Listen to Me!

The Way of the House Husband

What Did You Eat Yesterday?

Whispered Words

Wife and Wife

Witch Hat Atelier

Ya Boy Kongming

The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting

Yasashii Sekai no Tsukurikatta

Yomigaeru Sora - Rescue WingsY

You Are Being Summoned, Azazel-san

Young Ladies Don't Play Fighting Games

Youth Forger!