#and if they are being blackmailed by russia or something for it

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

So what exactly happened? That's a good question because I have no idea what Zelensky was thinking. This was not a situation where President Donald Trump was beating him over the head or demanding he submit to a specific narrative surrounding the war in Ukraine. On the contrary, the meeting was essentially over when Zelensky decided it'd be a great idea to try to publicly embarrass Trump and Vice President JD Vance in front of the press. The sticking point appeared to be Vance, who was wrapping up the press conference, mentioning diplomacy being a means to end the war. Zelensky, for whatever reason, took great offense at that suggestion and asked the vice president if he could ask him a question. The Ukrainian president then leaned forward and began to dismiss the idea of a ceasefire, citing deals that Russia has broken in the past. That's when things touched off, with Zelensky and Vance going back and forth. 

...

This was a colossal miscalculation by Zelensky. Trump has never accepted the idea that Ukraine is doing the United States a favor by fighting Russia as a way of justifying unlimited aid. Perhaps Joe Biden found that argument persuasive, but Joe Biden is not in office anymore. Russia is not going to invade the United States or any NATO country (if for no other reason than a lack of capability), and using that as a type of blackmail for support was never going to play.  Here's the deal. Fairness or being "right" doesn't factor into a situation like this. Zelensky is in a desperate spot, and Trump had largely acquiesced to a very Ukraine-friendly deal over the last few days (including lowering the repayment amount to just $90 billion). The negotiations were over. All the Ukrainian president had to do was show up, shake hands, smile for the cameras, and sign the deal. His attempt to lecture Trump and Vance for the cameras was an ego move that he didn't have the leverage to pull off.  Trump does not care about the press. You aren't going to bully him into a certain point of view by appealing to CNN or any other legacy news outlet. Whether that's fair or not is irrelevant. What's relevant is the reality of the moment, and Zelensky chose to pick a fight with Vance when it was completely unnecessary. Liz Cheney and David Frum may do performative outrage online, but they are not going to cut a check to Ukraine. Zelensky needed this deal and chose to blow it up for no good reason. What was the point of him even coming to the White House if he was going to publicly denounce any possible ceasefire?  What this really comes down to is how Zelensky handled this. If he has issues with Trump negotiating a deal with Putin, then he should express those behind closed doors, which is something Vance pointed out during the exchange. By trying to embarrass and undermine the U.S. president in public, he destroyed an already frayed relationship. In doing so, he might have cost his country its war. 

Zelensky is a fucking idiot. He doesn't realize he's not dealing with Biden's interns anymore. Trump and Vance aren't going to be awed by his faux-combat gear aesthetic and his tough guy posturing while he play acts as a war general. They don't see Russia as an invincible Sauron-esque boogeyman being held back from world domination by the brave stalwart forces of Gondor Ukraine. They understand that Putin is bankrupting his country failing to fully conquer Ukraine. They know that Russia is having to recommission museum tanks and send them to the frontlines because they're in dire need of armor. Russia is no threat to anyone outside of small, non-NATO countries like Ukraine, and even those countries can put up a good fight. War with Russia is never coming to US shores. The only way American soldiers and Russian soldiers exchange fire is if the US sends troops overseas to fight in another foreign war that has nothing to do with us. Zelensky is so used to western leaders falling over themselves to cozy up to him in the media that he stupidly thought calling Trump out in front of cameras would get him to play nice and take his scolding like a good little Eurotard weakling. But Trump has never played nice for the media. And he's never pulled his punches when it comes to European leaders and the bullshit games they play. If you want to temper Trump, you do it behind closed doors. That's where Trump negotiates. You call him out in public, he's going to Little Rocket Man your ass until you come crawling to him on hands and knees begging for him to stop.

Zelensky is a theater kid playing at being a wartime leader. He's squandered so many chances to end this war and save his people from continued death and he passes them all up because he wants to be the brave leader who beat Putin and conquered Russia. He's a comedian who has no idea what it means to actually be a leader. And when he comes crawling back to Trump, because he will come crawling back, he's going to be lucky if all he has to pay is the $500 billion in mineral rights Trump originally wanted.

[mosertone]

via Volodymyr Vlad Kunko

I’m calling it as it is. I dont care whether you agree with me or not, just check your response with your gut. My gut never lies to me.

I’ve had my suspicions all along about this stooge. He’s not intelligent enough to pull this off by himself. We better hope that all the social security numbers and tax info that Muskrat just uploaded from SSA and IRS from every single american citizens account, doesn’t end up in Putin’s files. Whoever has that info can potentially wipe out every dime we have and can potentially fund a world takeover:

There is something rancid in America, a slow, creeping rot that smells like cold McDonald’s fries, aerosol hairspray, and the unmistakable musk of a country too sedated to recognize its own hostage situation. For years, the idea that Donald Trump was compromised by Russia was dismissed as paranoid fantasy—just another wild-eyed conspiracy theory, another overblown headline in the endless saga of American political dysfunction.

But now, two former Soviet intelligence officers—Alnur Mussayev and Yuri Shvets—are saying it outright: Trump was recruited by the KGB in 1987, groomed as an asset, and remains under Russian control to this day.

And the worst part? He’s already back in the White House.

That’s right, America. You did it. You walked face-first into the banana peel of history, slipped, and fell straight into the arms of Vladimir Putin. Trump was kicked out in 2020, spent four years plotting his comeback, and now he’s returned, like a bloated, orange cockroach that just won’t die. The Kremlin’s favorite stooge is running the country again, and this time, he knows exactly how to stay in power.

If you think this is just another round of the Trump Show, you’re not paying attention. This isn’t politics anymore. This is treason. This is foreign subversion. This is a goddamn coup in slow motion.

Let’s break it down, nice and simple.

Alnur Mussayev isn’t some Twitter conspiracy theorist with a tinfoil hat and a podcast. He’s the former head of Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee, which means he knows exactly how Russian intelligence works—because he was part of the system. And what he’s saying should make every American’s blood run cold.

According to Mussayev, Trump was identified, recruited, and compromised by the KGB in 1987 during his first trip to Moscow. They saw him for what he was: a narcissistic, greedy, attention-starved buffoon who could be easily manipulated. The KGB flattered him, promised him business deals, and planted the seeds of political ambition in his empty little head. And from that moment on, he was their man.

But Mussayev isn’t alone. Former KGB major Yuri Shvets said the exact same thing in 2021: Trump was cultivated by Soviet intelligence because he was an easy mark—too stupid to realize he was being played, too egotistical to care. They saw him as a useful idiot—a man who could one day be nudged into power, a walking, talking Trojan Horse for Russian interests.

And now? The plan has worked. Trump spent four years in office weakening America from within, got booted out, and now he’s back for round two.

If you had told the American public in 1962 that a Soviet-backed asset would one day sit in the White House, they would have burned Washington to the ground before letting it happen. But today? Nobody seems to care.

The media treats this like just another wacky subplot in the never-ending Trump reality show. Congress is too busy fighting over meaningless culture war nonsense to do anything about it. And the American public? Exhausted. Numb. Checked out. Years of scandals—Russia collusion, Ukraine blackmail, classified documents, tax fraud, sexual assault, an attempted coup—have fried the country’s brain like an overcooked steak at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump has done the impossible. He has committed so many crimes, so openly, so brazenly, that none of them matter anymore.

And now, with Mussayev’s revelation that Trump is an active foreign asset, we have finally reached the point where the biggest political scandal in American history is met with a collective shrug.

This is how democracy dies—not with a bang, but with a goddamn eye-roll.

This is the part where the skeptics start clutching their pearls. “Oh, come on,” they say. “If Trump were really a Russian asset, wouldn’t there be more proof?”

To which I say: Are you blind, or just willfully stupid?

Let’s go through the evidence, shall we?

Trump spent his entire first term doing exactly what Russia wanted. He attacked NATO, calling it “obsolete” and threatening to pull the U.S. out. He tried to blackmail Ukraine into manufacturing dirt on Joe Biden, because weakening Ukraine helps one man and one man only: Vladimir Putin. He pulled U.S. troops out of Syria, handing power over to Russian forces. He picked fights with Canada and Europe while cozying up to dictators.

Even now, in his second term, he is more openly pro-Putin than ever. He has made it clear that he will not protect NATO allies from Russian aggression. He is actively dismantling America’s alliances, just as Russia planned. And while Americans scream at each other over whether Target should sell rainbow t-shirts, Trump is quietly selling the country to the Kremlin.

At some point, you have to stop calling it a coincidence and start calling it what it is: treason.

The United States is running out of time. If Trump serves out this term without being removed, America as a functioning democracy is finished.

The media needs to wake up. Enough with the “Trump fatigue” excuse. This is not just another scandal—this is the single greatest infiltration of American power in history. Journalists need to dig into Mussayev’s claims, demand declassification of intelligence files, and treat this like the national emergency that it is.

Congress needs to subpoena Mussayev immediately. His testimony must be public, and every document he has should be reviewed. If there is proof that Trump has been compromised since the 1980s, the American people need to know.

The Justice Department needs to stop pretending that Trump is just another politician. If there is evidence that the sitting president of the United States is working in Russia’s interests, he must be removed from office and prosecuted for espionage.

And the American public? You have one last chance. This is not about Republican vs. Democrat. This is not about taxes, gas prices, or whatever nonsense outrage is dominating the news today. This is about whether the United States remains a sovereign nation, or if we spend the rest of the century as a Russian client state with a golf course.

The sheer volume of Trump's corruption, the blatant nature of his crimes, the mountain of evidence that should have ended his political career a hundred times over—none of it mattered. He survived it all, not because he was innocent, but because he drowned the country in so much scandal that nothing stuck.

But this time, it’s different. If Mussayev and Shvets are right, this isn’t just another chapter in the endless Trump circus. This is the culmination of a decades-long Russian intelligence operation to install an asset in the White House.

There is no coming back from this. If America lets Trump serve out this term without removing him, then the United States as a democratic republic is finished. The country won’t collapse overnight. There won’t be tanks in the streets. Instead, the destruction of democracy will happen in slow motion—buried under lawsuits, propaganda, and corruption so blatant that people stop caring.

If America lets this happen—if Trump is allowed to complete his mission—then Putin wins. The West crumbles. And the people who could have stopped it will look back, years from now, and wonder how they let it happen.

Good night, and good luck. Because if people don’t wake up, America is going to sleepwalk straight into its own funeral.

Hangnailias Nix

18h

Reply

[sweetfirebird]

I keep posting it and deleting it because I feel weird about it. But they are coming for lgbtq *anything* and labeling it porn to make it unreachable, so yeah gay republicans need to stop being shielded by other gays. The protection of the closet??? To people out to obliterate the rest of us??? Why???

[conniejoworld]

Fear and Loathing: Closer to the Edge

There is something rancid in America, a slow, creeping rot that smells like cold McDonald’s fries, aerosol hairspray, and the unmistakable musk of a country too sedated to recognize its own hostage situation. For years, the idea that Donald Trump was compromised by Russia was dismissed as paranoid fantasy—just another wild-eyed conspiracy theory, another overblown headline in the endless saga of American political dysfunction.

But now, two former Soviet intelligence officers—Alnur Mussayev and Yuri Shvets—are saying it outright: Trump was recruited by the KGB in 1987, groomed as an asset, and remains under Russian control to this day.

And the worst part? He’s already back in the White House.

That’s right, America. You did it. You walked face-first into the banana peel of history, slipped, and fell straight into the arms of Vladimir Putin. Trump was kicked out in 2020, spent four years plotting his comeback, and now he’s returned, like a bloated, orange cockroach that just won’t die. The Kremlin’s favorite stooge is running the country again, and this time, he knows exactly how to stay in power.

If you think this is just another round of the Trump Show, you’re not paying attention. This isn’t politics anymore. This is treason. This is foreign subversion. This is a goddamn coup in slow motion.

Let’s break it down, nice and simple.

Alnur Mussayev isn’t some Twitter conspiracy theorist with a tinfoil hat and a podcast. He’s the former head of Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee, which means he knows exactly how Russian intelligence works—because he was part of the system. And what he’s saying should make every American’s blood run cold.

According to Mussayev, Trump was identified, recruited, and compromised by the KGB in 1987 during his first trip to Moscow. They saw him for what he was: a narcissistic, greedy, attention-starved buffoon who could be easily manipulated. The KGB flattered him, promised him business deals, and planted the seeds of political ambition in his empty little head. And from that moment on, he was their man.

But Mussayev isn’t alone. Former KGB major Yuri Shvets said the exact same thing in 2021: Trump was cultivated by Soviet intelligence because he was an easy mark—too stupid to realize he was being played, too egotistical to care. They saw him as a useful idiot—a man who could one day be nudged into power, a walking, talking Trojan Horse for Russian interests.

And now? The plan has worked. Trump spent four years in office weakening America from within, got booted out, and now he’s back for round two.

If you had told the American public in 1962 that a Soviet-backed asset would one day sit in the White House, they would have burned Washington to the ground before letting it happen. But today? Nobody seems to care.

The media treats this like just another wacky subplot in the never-ending Trump reality show. Congress is too busy fighting over meaningless culture war nonsense to do anything about it. And the American public? Exhausted. Numb. Checked out. Years of scandals—Russia collusion, Ukraine blackmail, classified documents, tax fraud, sexual assault, an attempted coup—have fried the country’s brain like an overcooked steak at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump has done the impossible. He has committed so many crimes, so openly, so brazenly, that none of them matter anymore.

And now, with Mussayev’s revelation that Trump is an active foreign asset, we have finally reached the point where the biggest political scandal in American history is met with a collective shrug.

This is how democracy dies—not with a bang, but with a goddamn eye-roll.

This is the part where the skeptics start clutching their pearls. “Oh, come on,” they say. “If Trump were really a Russian asset, wouldn’t there be more proof?”

To which I say: Are you blind, or just willfully stupid?

Let’s go through the evidence, shall we?

Trump spent his entire first term doing exactly what Russia wanted. He attacked NATO, calling it “obsolete” and threatening to pull the U.S. out. He tried to blackmail Ukraine into manufacturing dirt on Joe Biden, because weakening Ukraine helps one man and one man only: Vladimir Putin. He pulled U.S. troops out of Syria, handing power over to Russian forces. He picked fights with Canada and Europe while cozying up to dictators.

Even now, in his second term, he is more openly pro-Putin than ever. He has made it clear that he will not protect NATO allies from Russian aggression. He is actively dismantling America’s alliances, just as Russia planned. And while Americans scream at each other over whether Target should sell rainbow t-shirts, Trump is quietly selling the country to the Kremlin.

At some point, you have to stop calling it a coincidence and start calling it what it is: treason.

The United States is running out of time. If Trump serves out this term without being removed, America as a functioning democracy is finished.

The media needs to wake up. Enough with the “Trump fatigue” excuse. This is not just another scandal—this is the single greatest infiltration of American power in history. Journalists need to dig into Mussayev’s claims, demand declassification of intelligence files, and treat this like the national emergency that it is.

Congress needs to subpoena Mussayev immediately. His testimony must be public, and every document he has should be reviewed. If there is proof that Trump has been compromised since the 1980s, the American people need to know.

The Justice Department needs to stop pretending that Trump is just another politician. If there is evidence that the sitting president of the United States is working in Russia’s interests, he must be removed from office and prosecuted for espionage.

And the American public? You have one last chance. This is not about Republican vs. Democrat. This is not about taxes, gas prices, or whatever nonsense outrage is dominating the news today. This is about whether the United States remains a sovereign nation, or if we spend the rest of the century as a Russian client state with a golf course.

The sheer volume of Trump's corruption, the blatant nature of his crimes, the mountain of evidence that should have ended his political career a hundred times over—none of it mattered. He survived it all, not because he was innocent, but because he drowned the country in so much scandal that nothing stuck.

But this time, it’s different. If Mussayev and Shvets are right, this isn’t just another chapter in the endless Trump circus. This is the culmination of a decades-long Russian intelligence operation to install an asset in the White House.

There is no coming back from this. If America lets Trump serve out this term without removing him, then the United States as a democratic republic is finished. The country won’t collapse overnight. There won’t be tanks in the streets. Instead, the destruction of democracy will happen in slow motion—buried under lawsuits, propaganda, and corruption so blatant that people stop caring.

If America lets this happen—if Trump is allowed to complete his mission—then Putin wins. The West crumbles. And the people who could have stopped it will look back, years from now, and wonder how they let it happen.

Good night, and good luck. Because if people don’t wake up, America is going to sleepwalk straight into its own funeral.

[nightingaellen]

King of my Heart | Vladimir Makarov x Fem!Reader

WARNINGS: Flashback of traumas, gunshots, blackmailing, kidnapping, swearing, military inaccuracies, medicine/doctors field inaccuracies and more that audiences may find uncomfortable (approach me if I missed something on warnings.)

NOTES: The plot of the game and mine are different, I chose to have a plot that Makarov is under the guidance of Imran Zakhaev since he was young. On the other hand, I still include some of the happenings of the game to this fiction.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Expect grammatical and typographical errors, english and russian isn't my first language. Bare with me.

Summary: Vladimir Makarov is known as being cold-hearted, madman, callous. But, what if one day he fell in love with a lass who captivated his heart badly, is he really a man that's a stone-hearted?

Chapter 1 | Next Chapter

You finished your medical mission in England and you've been assigned to do another in Russia. You dropped off in Zakhaev International Airport, your co-workers already dropped off because you're in another plane for some reason. You sat near the exit to fix your things and yourself, while doing it you suddenly heard a gunshots that you don't want to hear ever again for the rest of your life. Fears starts to hunt you, knees trembling, eyes shut. You've become anxious and that memory came into your mind, again.

"Honey, come on, let's eat. Your doll can wait. You might not want to miss this dish, don't make me wait." A lady said while preparing the utensils and plates.

"Okay, Mom! Just one sec, I'll fix this first." A little girl said, starts fixing her toys.

But all of the sudden, the little girl heard a gunshots. Her knees starts to tremble, overthinking of what have just she heard. She immediately lock the door and walked to the window. She was shocked and awe for what she have just seen, she saw her mother laying down. Her mother's face is covered with blood.

"M-mom... W-what..." She said, still watching through the window. All of the sudden, she met a boy who looks like having a same age with her. The boy look at her with his heterochromia eyes.

You quickly recovered from the sudden flashback of that memory. A hand hold your arm, you face the owner of that arm and you met that heterochromia eyes again but this time it's sinister and darker than before. His eyes are full of loathing, his eyes are fixated on you, looking deeply onto your soul. Fears are coming back to you again, he held your arm tightly enough to bruised it.

"W-wait.. stop.. i-it hurts.." You said quietly and with a gentle tone but you are screaming inside, you envisage to run and hoping not to get caught by him but you knew that you couldn't.

"Кирил, посади ее в эту машину. Сдел��й так, чтобы она не смогла сбежать, я кое-чего от тебя жду." He said to his comrade using a walkie-talkie, you can't understand what he just said. All you knew that he's speaking russian. ("Kiril, put her in that car. Make sure that she can't escape, I'm expecting something from you.")

Another man came to your gaze and motioned you to follow him, you followed him and looking back inside the airport you saw the heterochromia eyes man and his comrades are firing to the civilians, police, or just say everyone.

"Hey, can you speak english?" You asked the man while you both walked to where the three van parked, he nods.

"Who are you and what's happening?" You said with one eyebrow raised.

He stopped his tracks and face you with arms crossed, "You know, lady, I'm not that very personal with some people. But I guess you can be trusted, Kiril's the name, and we have some things to take care of." You gave him a nod, you can't understand what he meant but you knew that you shouldn't ask anymore.

Kiril look at you and said, "I know you're confuse, I am too. Just obey boss' orders and be careful of your actions and words, he'll not hurt you — and so I am, but we're good. We can be friends."

Something's really off, you know that there's a reason why they will keep you and you feel that there's something with that heterochromia eyes man.

– taglist: @usermncaellen, @livelyinborderland

– credits for the gifs that I used: @cssndra-cain, @animatedglittergraphics-n-more

2022 & 2023 © nightingaellen | Do not repost, copy, steal, translate.

[lilietsblog]

thinking about the world tourism and what it means in soviet (+ post-soviet) context vs the rest of the world

so the soviet union for all it pretended to be a federation - a union, you might say - was absolutely russian empire 2.0, now with bonus totalitarianism.

and being russian empire means that there are exactly 2 (two) modern cities with architecture and culture and history worth visiting: moscow and st. petersburg. and while of course there might be some silly provincials visiting them and gawking (in moscow usually while on a business trip or study trip or something, as moscow is the center of everything as is well known), the only people that MATTER, that get in any way catered or appealed to, culturally or politically, already live in moscow and have been to st petersburg for one reason or another. (they say some people also live in st petersburg but that's mostly mythical cultural icons or something)

what does this leave for tourism?

well, russia might only have two human settlements, one real and one a mythical legend (it's true, just ask any moscowite who has ever posted an address online), but it has a lot of Majestic, Untamed Nature for humanity to conquer!

(what do you mean people already live there? well maybe they do but they haven't conquered it have they. the mountain still stands, so they are basically part of the majestic landscape)

(and of course the rest of the world outside the majestic russia (im sorry i mean the soviet union wink wink) is scary evil bourgoisie, and to even go on a business trip outside the country you must pass stringent background & ideological checks, for yourself and your entire family and friend circle. obviously)

so, the "tour" part of "tourism" does not refer to the tour guide who shows you the local landmarks and gives you a historical lecture, it refers to the thrifty local who offers to show you that path through the woods so you don't get lost. or it refers to nothing at all, and tourists just barge through everything based on maps and some compasses. or go down rivers, which is marginally more reliable. they're not the foreign-language-speaking elderly folk with cameras who stay in the nearest hotel in the big city, they're the band of filthy, tired, cheerful backpackers with whining exhausted children who raid your village grocery store, empty it of pasta, salami, tomato juice and ice cream, ask you for directions to the nearest well or water pump, then for the next landmark they're looking for (which might be right there at the end of the village or over on the next mountain because they took the wrong turn), then collectively tromp off.

theres a song about this, specific to people who do this on weekends in the nearest forest (also apparently dedicated to the time when there was only one (1) weekend) (it's about the bitter rivalry of people who do this with people who farm on their dachas in the same one weekend in the same rural area, competing for space on public transportation and local forage, including sometimes the goddamn fields / kitchen gardens being treated as forage by the damn university kids with no money and no shame)

i was one of those (the mountains kind, not the nearest forest kind) once a year throughout my childhood and adolescence, ever since I was old enough by my parents' reckoning to put a backpack on me and make me walk all day every day for a week, which was when I was five. i absolutely couldnt walk all day and bitched and moaned non stop (unfortunately in a way that made my parents think i was just being whiny and not that my feet are fucked up and i am having aches that a healthy child absolutely should not be having), but nonetheless i loved it with my whole heart immediately and next year there was a whole thing with my parents blackmailing me into doing damn near anything they asked just so they'd take me with them again. (years later, as an adult, i found out that that was the year when i suddenly started peeing my pants randomly and that my mom took me to a clinic and had it politely explained to her that it's out of stress and that she should give up on the battle to make me eat things i feel nauseous even thinking about. so that's how that happened i guess)

i... have been a tourist in the other, civilized sense like four or five times in my life. (three school-organized class trips to neighbouring countries, one study course in England where we spent most of our time on the tour bus getting immersed in the language, and maybe something else i'm forgetting)

but it's not what the word means to me and it never will

(relaxing near a body of water is not tourism. it's when your workplace gives you papers for their sanatorium so you go there for your mandatory paid time off and Rest, for your health. The Resters are not the same as The Tourists at all, as they have 0 interest in local landmarks or going anywhere beyond the nearest two blocks or the distance from the sanatorium building to the shore, they're more or less locals in the first place and go the same place every year since that's where their workplace sends them. it's specifically a different word)

(if you're keeping count, this makes 3 culturally defined ways to spend your vacation or weekend somewhere that's not your home in front of the tv: The Dacha (partial sustenance farming, leaves you more physically tired but arguably healthier, and definitely richer by all the vegetables and fruit you can grow there), The Rest (veg out at some nearby body of water, swim if you're into it, just lie there with a book cosplaying a dead fish if you aren't) and The Tourism (walk paths heretofore untrodden except by all the other tourists, don't make fires outside of places marked on your map that have remnants of previous fires already visible, play guitar badly and sing very loud in the evenings))

(visiting other human settlements (don't tell the moscowites but they do exist) and staying at hotels happens too but it's not vacation, it's Work Trips, and they can be very much competed for in local office politics even in the 99% of cases when they aren't to beyond the iron curtain)

P.S. I just want to make it clear that when I use the words "tourist" and "tourism" for this it's not a case of arbitrary translation confusing two concepts. the words in Russian and Ukrainian are "turist" and "turizm" which you can recognize as excessively literal transliterations of words that were themselves literal transliterations of "tourist" and "tourism". That is literally the words we use for this.

P.P.S. the fall of the soviet union has opened other possibilities but id say the words still mostly mean the same thing. its just that The Rest in the sense of going to a body of water has been expanded to possibly be in Egypt or France or something, and to possibly include some landmark walking (controversial within families)

P.P.S. Ukraine has never been as centralized as russia and other cities than Kyiv exist. However it is significantly smaller so it's actually realistic to have friends / relatives / business in all the major cities you want an excuse to visit, plus it has enough nature to maintain the idea of tourism as mostly a nature-visiting activity, just maybe in a car instead of on two feet with a backpack now. and you know the non-nature landmarks along the way as you pass through cities. this is a whole new thing and i dont think theres a distinct cultural reaction to it yet. I will however note that the fourth distinct way to spend your time outside of your place has coalesced: The Volunteering, which absolutely can and does take you all over the country depending on what volunteering event you sign up for. my best friend irl does this a lot and ive been to like two events like this with her and its awesome, though it does require you to have a lot of Youthful Energy and a longing to do some physical labor instead of whatever else you do all day normally. obviously involves visiting places and their landmarks, still not tourism lmao

P.P.P.S tourism in our sense is a fully gender neutral activity, and in fact a common COUPLES thing. everyone knows theres no sex in soviet union, but when there's a tent and two young people in love, well don't ask don't tell as they say amirite. (privacy is thin on the ground when young people are expected to and usually only can live with their parents until at least after they get married since that's the only way to have an apartment distributed to them from the government, or to have their parents exchange their bigger apartment for multiple smaller ones) (there is in fact a whole cultural sub-thing about all-girl groups struggling to recruit at least one boy to come with to Ensure Their Safety to their worried parents and also do manly things like split firewood and carry a marginally bigger portion of heavy things in exchange for a larger portion at mealtimes) (all-boy groups notably dont have this problem and are expected to be able to cook Tourist Porridge for themselves just fine)

also theres another song - admittedly just a couplet - about this meaning of tourism, apparently a parody/corruption of another song: "где бронепоезд не пройдет // не пролетит стальная птица // турист на пу, на пу, на пузе проползет // и ничего с ним не случится!" "where an armored train won't pass // a steel bird won't fly through // a tourist on his bell, bell, belly'll crawl // and nothing'll happen to him" so that probably gives you a bit more of an insight into the cultural attitude there XD

[mariacallous]

It’s no secret that homophobia has become official state policy in Russia. Last November, the country’s Supreme Court banned the nonexistent “international LGBT movement” as an “extremist organization.” Police conduct raids on LGBTQ+ clubs and same-sex couples face jail time for kissing or holding hands in public. Of course, countless queer people have no choice but to live in this new reality, and some of them even hold official positions. The independent media outlet Holod spoke with a gay man who has worked in government for over six years to understand why he continues to collaborate with a state that believes he shouldn’t exist. Meduza shares a translation of his story.

Not long ago, I was blackmailed.

I’d posted a profile on a private gay dating board on Telegram — without a picture of my face, of course. Some guy messaged me. I sent him a disappearing photo of my face in a secret chat. He sent one back. I sent him a picture of my penis. He sent one back.

You can’t take a screenshot in a secret chat, but you can always photograph the screen with another phone. That’s what they did. Then they found my page on VKontakte, where my work is listed in my profile, and messaged me directly: “Send 5,000 rubles [$58], or we’ll send pictures of the chat to your workplace.”

I deleted the chat and blocked the sender. Nothing came of it. It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, so I was relatively calm. But the first time I was blackmailed — when they threatened to tell my mother that I “take it up the ass” — it really shook me up. I couldn't bring myself to go outside for a long time.

I’ve been working in public service for over six years, and before that, my job was also connected to government organizations. In my youth, when I decided to dedicate my life to the state, I already knew I was gay. All this time, I’ve been hiding my relationships with men from my employers. If I go on vacation, I tell my colleagues I'm going with a girlfriend to avoid unnecessary questions.

‘You can’t escape politics’

I went into public service for idealistic reasons: I hoped that in this job, I could do something good. I wanted to fulfill my potential and have an influence on the decisions that were being made. Of course, none of that happened. But at least I, someone without any connections and from a completely ordinary family, achieved what many is the ultimate dream: I built a successful career as a public servant and earn a decent salary. I worked, and still work, in mid-level positions in departments that deal with urban management.

I thought that in the executive branch, I could escape from politics. If, for example, you’re involved in city road repairs, your work doesn’t depend much on whether Putin or Yeltsin is president.

But it turned out, of course, that you can’t escape politics. We’re not forced to engage in pro-war propaganda on social media or put the letter Z on our profile pictures. Our higher-ups are reasonable. But it’s everywhere around us. Recently, I went out to lunch at a cafe, and there was an official who I know is gay, sitting with a young guy. The guy was wearing Balenciaga sneakers, and the official had a jacket with a huge Z pin on the lapel.

‘They never had freedom to begin with’

I have many gay acquaintances who work in government agencies. Sometimes you go to a gay club and see a colleague there. Then you meet them in a work setting, and they act like nothing happened. I’ve noticed that among government officials, it’s often the gay ones who bust their asses to support the war. I see it, and it disgusts me.

There are even federal politicians among my gay acquaintances. Over the past few years, I’ve often asked them how they put up with state-level homophobia and why they stay in their positions. I asked one of my friends, and he replied: “What do you mean? Nothing’s changed.” And I think: “Well of course, you and your boyfriend still go on vacation just like you used to. The fact that gay clubs are closed [doesn’t matter] because you never went there in the first place. You don’t feel all these restrictions because first of all, you’re private people and second, you’re privileged.”

Many gay Russian officials and politicians are married with kids, but they fuck young guys. But they don’t consider themselves gay — just men who occasionally have sex with other men. And since they don’t see themselves as gay, they feel that homophobic laws don’t apply to them. So maybe this extreme zeal and obsession among government employees with promoting homophobic values is actually the behavior of people who haven’t fully come to terms with their own orientation.

Officials are people who already live with a huge number of restrictions. They live by these restrictions. For example, I, like everyone else, regularly submit not only income declarations but also reports on all my social media. And I haven’t posted anything for a long time; I can only share the view from the window or a beautiful sunset because God forbid something happens.

And it seems to me that this is why gays in government don’t see all these homophobic bans as a problem. Nothing has been taken from them because they never had any freedom to begin with. An official is a public figure, and homosexuality has always been stigmatized in our homophobic country. You couldn’t be an openly gay person in government in the 2000s or 2010s. Politicians were never really on dating sites or regulars in gay clubs. They’ve already gotten used to it.

‘This hopelessness is what got to me’

I myself have gotten used to it to some extent. The bans haven’t really affected me much. Well, other than them blocking the website of a sex shop for gays that I used.

I generally consider myself a statist. I didn’t use to worry much about what was happening in the country, even though I saw the growing clusterfuck. But even for me, things have become very uncomfortable over the past two years, and in recent months, I've been thinking about either changing jobs or emigrating. Although not much has changed in terms of everyday comfort, psychologically, it's become harder.

I don’t like it when they intrude into personal matters. I’m not really into gay clubs or loud gatherings, but I want to have the option to go. When I’m stripped of that choice, it bothers me. It’s one thing for me, living in a city with over a million people: there are always places to socialize, drink, or fuck. But I come from a small town. I can’t imagine what kids in rural areas, who are just starting to question their own sexuality, are supposed to do now when all websites with any information about homosexuality are blocked.

But it wasn’t after the homophobic laws were passed that I started thinking about leaving this job, it was after the presidential election. Even though I’ve been immersed in this crap for over 10 years, this was the first election with no oversight whatsoever. Do whatever you want.

It was my first time working on an election commission. I didn’t vote for Putin myself; I took my ballot with me. But I was convinced that the number of people around me who supported Putin was so large that getting his [desired] result in the elections would be easy. But it turned out not to be the case. In my precinct, less than 50 percent voted for him. The rest was fabricated by the commission chair: he rewrote the protocol.

I thought the public was completely gripped by a victory frenzy. It turned out only half were. But the system is willing to do anything to make it appear like there were more. This hopelessness — when a significant portion of the people wants change, but the system crushes this desire — is what got to me.

I wasn’t involved in the falsification; I just didn’t interfere. This is probably where my moral line is. Despite the internal conflict, I think I could have worked my entire life for a homophobic state — provided I didn’t have to participate in anything homophobic myself.

‘I’m stuck in a swamp I can’t get out of’

One of my gay friends started working out six days a week after the war began so he wouldn’t have time to think about anything. It feels like people around me have started drinking and using drugs more. Whenever there’s an external threat, you choose something important and try to ignore everything else. I’m trying to focus my life on personal happiness. When I was in a serious relationship, I was completely absorbed in it and didn't care at all about what was happening around me.

Some of the men I’ve had relationships with were much more involved in government policy than I was. Some even helped enact homophobic laws. But that didn’t bother me because you don’t fall in love with people just for the values they hold. I’ve even dated a man who was married and cheating on his wife — maybe that’s wrong too, but that’s life. There’s an internal conflict, but we live in the here and now.

My friends tell me, “You need to quit your government job, cut ties completely.” But it’s very hard; I’ve spent 10 years of my life building this career. Recently, I tried looking for a job outside the public sector but I couldn’t find anything suitable. I feel like I’m stuck in a swamp that I can’t get out of. I don’t want to become so hypocritical in another 10 years [that I’m] going to cafes with guys and then sitting around talking about Z fascism with a serious face. Either stop fucking [men] or take off the cross.

Yes, I feel uneasy and yes, I have a moral conflict. But it’s not like there’s a warm welcome for me abroad. A Putin official isn’t wanted in Europe. I put myself in this trap and now I’m trying to get out without getting crushed.

[yanderes-galore]

Yandere!Russell Adler (Cod: Cold War) vs Yan!Jason Hudson (Cod: Cold War) with Double Agent!Reader who’s a charming new recruit in the safe house crew?

Reader could be female or gender neutral, I’m not picky. 😊

Of course! Using the right damn name this time because I kept calling Jason JAMES in the last fic I did for him and no one bothered correcting me 😅 I'm so sorry-

Yandere! Russell Adler vs Yandere! Jason Hudson with Double Agent! Darling

Pairing: Romantic - Rivalry

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Very brief mentions of the Cold War, Violence, Manipulation, Blackmailing, Forced relationship, Threat of brainwashing, Possessive behavior mentioned, Invasion of privacy, Stalking mention.

I feel as a Double Agent you'd be danger even if they aren't yandere.

Jason Hudson is the more cold and calculated of the two.

While Russell Adler is the more charismatic and manipulative of the two.

Here's your story based on what I think you meant;

You're a spy for Perseus and have infiltrated the CIA task force focused on finding your boss.

Maybe you were originally from the USA or Russia, either way, you aren't on the side of your yanderes.

These two are very smart which is why they have their job.

Which means they can overlook your charming behavior to see just who you are.

Although, if either one of them knew who you were and what your purpose is, they'd wait until they can corner you.

In fact, the two may try to get closer to you to extract information.

In the process they end up possibly falling for you.

The issue becomes the fact both of them have fallen for you due to their similar goals.

Adler is the more flirtatious one, trying to charm you into giving more info about yourself.

You seem to like using flattery, have a taste of your own medicine.

Hudson isn't the charismatic type and prefers to befriend you then watch you from a distance to see if you give in information.

The two no doubt try to get the other to leave you be.

There's no doubt they know your true allegiance and are just hiding the fact they know.

It's just now they have to deal with the issue of romantic feelings forming.

A conflict of interest.

Maybe one of them wants to deal with you for being a Double Agent, while the other defends you.

Then after that they both fall for you.

Honestly, a rivalry between the two would be more competitive compared to outright violence.

Like, don't expect fist fights.

At least not every time.

They have a more tactical approach to their rivalry.

They try to beat the other to something.

For example, who can win over your trust first?

Who can gain dirt on you first?

Who can claim you as theirs first?

Before you know it, the two not only know who you are... but have blackmail and obsessive tendencies towards you.

They do everything from invading your privacy by searching documents and stalking you.

They never share the information they gain about you, usually saving it for later use.

The arguments they have, physical or not, are usually hard to tell what they're about.

They may be arguing about their missions, but deep down it's resentment and jealousy about you.

The two know how to keep their rivalry under the radar.

They'll make sure you don't know about it until you're cornered.

What's that mean? Well...

Once they have enough info about you to expose you, they have leverage against you.

Hudson could blackmail you into giving up your assignment.

After all, you could be facing death for what you're doing.

Listen to him and you'll be excused... as long as you choose him.

Adler could also blackmail you but could also brainwash you into giving up your job and being with him.

Again, it's that or death, dear.

You probably have no choice in the end, he'll pick for you.

Essentially, if you're a double agent the two will find ways to use that to their advantage.

They'll force you into being their partner while using this information somehow.

Although, the two are going to prevent each other from getting to you first.

They may frame one another or utilize a mission to keep the other away.

Either way, now that they both have ways to make you listen...

It's a matter of who corners you first.

[lovemyage-blog]

There is something rancid in America, a slow, creeping rot that smells like cold McDonald’s fries, aerosol hairspray, and the unmistakable musk of a country too sedated to recognize its own hostage situation. For years, the idea that Donald Trump was compromised by Russia was dismissed as paranoid fantasy—just another wild-eyed conspiracy theory, another overblown headline in the endless saga of American political dysfunction.

But now, two former Soviet intelligence officers—Alnur Mussayev and Yuri Shvets—are saying it outright: Trump was recruited by the KGB in 1987, groomed as an asset, and remains under Russian control to this day.

And the worst part? He’s already back in the White House.

That’s right, America. You did it. You walked face-first into the banana peel of history, slipped, and fell straight into the arms of Vladimir Putin. Trump was kicked out in 2020, spent four years plotting his comeback, and now he’s returned, like a bloated, orange cockroach that just won’t die. The Kremlin’s favorite stooge is running the country again, and this time, he knows exactly how to stay in power.

If you think this is just another round of the Trump Show, you’re not paying attention. This isn’t politics anymore. This is treason. This is foreign subversion. This is a goddamn coup in slow motion.

Let’s break it down, nice and simple.

Alnur Mussayev isn’t some Twitter conspiracy theorist with a tinfoil hat and a podcast. He’s the former head of Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee, which means he knows exactly how Russian intelligence works—because he was part of the system. And what he’s saying should make every American’s blood run cold.

According to Mussayev, Trump was identified, recruited, and compromised by the KGB in 1987 during his first trip to Moscow. They saw him for what he was: a narcissistic, greedy, attention-starved buffoon who could be easily manipulated. The KGB flattered him, promised him business deals, and planted the seeds of political ambition in his empty little head. And from that moment on, he was their man.

But Mussayev isn’t alone. Former KGB major Yuri Shvets said the exact same thing in 2021: Trump was cultivated by Soviet intelligence because he was an easy mark—too stupid to realize he was being played, too egotistical to care. They saw him as a useful idiot—a man who could one day be nudged into power, a walking, talking Trojan Horse for Russian interests.

And now? The plan has worked. Trump spent four years in office weakening America from within, got booted out, and now he’s back for round two.

If you had told the American public in 1962 that a Soviet-backed asset would one day sit in the White House, they would have burned Washington to the ground before letting it happen. But today? Nobody seems to care.

The media treats this like just another wacky subplot in the never-ending Trump reality show. Congress is too busy fighting over meaningless culture war nonsense to do anything about it. And the American public? Exhausted. Numb. Checked out. Years of scandals—Russia collusion, Ukraine blackmail, classified documents, tax fraud, sexual assault, an attempted coup—have fried the country’s brain like an overcooked steak at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump has done the impossible. He has committed so many crimes, so openly, so brazenly, that none of them matter anymore.

And now, with Mussayev’s revelation that Trump is an active foreign asset, we have finally reached the point where the biggest political scandal in American history is met with a collective shrug.

This is how democracy dies—not with a bang, but with a goddamn eye-roll.

This is the part where the skeptics start clutching their pearls. “Oh, come on,” they say. “If Trump were really a Russian asset, wouldn’t there be more proof?”

To which I say: Are you blind, or just willfully stupid?

Let’s go through the evidence, shall we?

Trump spent his entire first term doing exactly what Russia wanted. He attacked NATO, calling it “obsolete” and threatening to pull the U.S. out. He tried to blackmail Ukraine into manufacturing dirt on Joe Biden, because weakening Ukraine helps one man and one man only: Vladimir Putin. He pulled U.S. troops out of Syria, handing power over to Russian forces. He picked fights with Canada and Europe while cozying up to dictators.

Even now, in his second term, he is more openly pro-Putin than ever. He has made it clear that he will not protect NATO allies from Russian aggression. He is actively dismantling America’s alliances, just as Russia planned. And while Americans scream at each other over whether Target should sell rainbow t-shirts, Trump is quietly selling the country to the Kremlin.

At some point, you have to stop calling it a coincidence and start calling it what it is: treason.

The United States is running out of time. If Trump serves out this term without being removed, America as a functioning democracy is finished.

The media needs to wake up. Enough with the “Trump fatigue” excuse. This is not just another scandal—this is the single greatest infiltration of American power in history. Journalists need to dig into Mussayev’s claims, demand declassification of intelligence files, and treat this like the national emergency that it is.

Congress needs to subpoena Mussayev immediately. His testimony must be public, and every document he has should be reviewed. If there is proof that Trump has been compromised since the 1980s, the American people need to know.

The Justice Department needs to stop pretending that Trump is just another politician. If there is evidence that the sitting president of the United States is working in Russia’s interests, he must be removed from office and prosecuted for espionage.

And the American public? You have one last chance. This is not about Republican vs. Democrat. This is not about taxes, gas prices, or whatever nonsense outrage is dominating the news today. This is about whether the United States remains a sovereign nation, or if we spend the rest of the century as a Russian client state with a golf course.

The sheer volume of Trump's corruption, the blatant nature of his crimes, the mountain of evidence that should have ended his political career a hundred times over—none of it mattered. He survived it all, not because he was innocent, but because he drowned the country in so much scandal that nothing stuck.

But this time, it’s different. If Mussayev and Shvets are right, this isn’t just another chapter in the endless Trump circus. This is the culmination of a decades-long Russian intelligence operation to install an asset in the White House.

There is no coming back from this. If America lets Trump serve out this term without removing him, then the United States as a democratic republic is finished. The country won’t collapse overnight. There won’t be tanks in the streets. Instead, the destruction of democracy will happen in slow motion—buried under lawsuits, propaganda, and corruption so blatant that people stop caring.

If America lets this happen—if Trump is allowed to complete his mission—then Putin wins. The West crumbles. And the people who could have stopped it will look back, years from now, and wonder how they let it happen.

Good night, and good luck. Because if people don’t wake up, America is going to sleepwalk straight into its own funeral.

[ashadowofburnedoutstardust]

So lemme just "connect the dots" here:

So Russia pays for misinformation using bots created by Chinese tech companies creating fake accounts using user information collected from something like Zoom

Managed to help Trump and the GOP "fake news" their way to an election win

Chris ends up a target because he as well as others with a public platform who have spoken out against Trump, who have also been the victim of the same misinformation tactics in their fandoms to undermine their influence on public platforms, Christopher attempts to help debunk this by creating A Starting Point, which honestly seems to be the only thing still running that actually fact checks before publishing unlike mainstream media

His agency that has links to the GOP financially arrange for him to be linked to a racist Nazi (possibly also a scientologist) through the People Magazines sexiest man alive title and resulting PR

Meanwhile the WGA and SagAftra decide to strike and CAA take a massive hit because of the financial involvement and ends up having to sell a massive stake to Pinault to try and cover their losses and to enable the extension of the strike out until 2024 to try and bankrupt the strikers

Rumour spreads about Elon Musk, the guy that owns one of the public platforms secretly collecting info from Tesla vehicle owners to use as leverage and blackmail against famous people who have been filmed in their own vehicles using the tech installed in their cars

Meanwhile they send in the bigger stars like Clooney in with bad advice about what they can use to negotiate with and intentionally make them look like idiots to sow discord within Sag Aftra

(Get your fucking asses on the god damned picket line where they don't want you to be you fucking morons)

In the meantime the Georgia indictments continues while the GOP stalls electing a speaker to try and disable the US govt from being able to do anything meaningful as yet another distraction while possibly paying off a judge to mess things up for them

At this point yet another distraction breaks out in the form of Israel Vs Gaza being instigated by a terrorist group and no governments seem willing to enable a ceasefire agreement despite the continued loss of innocent civilians on both sides and takes over the main story in the media while the GOP continues to stall the speaker election to prevent the US govt from being able to do any more useful work

Meanwhile no one is looking into who is funding the Hamas, because no offence but I've never seen a terrorist group hold a fucking bake sale so somebody has to be funding them

In the meantime no one is looking at what China is trying to do in regards to Taiwan (yes it's called Taiwan, it's what the people who live there call it, it's why my country has two damn names) who also happened to get fucked over in regards to their tech in other countries with selling communication infrastructure

What the fuck am I supposed to do with this information?

I can't even fix my car right now ✌️

I need a new blender and a rice cooker, they both shat themselves last night

The rice cooker fell on the floor and won't cook anything anymore, and the cuff bit holding the blade in place broke on the blender

I like my small appliances

🤍🪽✨

[kyistell]

May we have some NY and NJ hc’s? Like- stuff that they do together and how they act with each other? 👁️👁️

*its fine if not*

Hehe I was super excited to do this one but sadly I do things in order of oldest to newest BUT none the less, here you go, our favorite stupid bastards

New Jersey and New York-

Jersey likes to cuddle and York likes receiving cuddles, so it isn’t uncommon to find the two together in the North living room

Jersey = Jer-bear, York = Yorka-doodle, they never call each other these in front of others

They go skating a ton, early morning public skate and public hockey are mainly what they do

Always fighting when it comes to certain foods, specifically pizza and bagels, otherwise they are perfect with each other in the kitchen

Jersey sends York stupid stuff from Tumblr, York does the same but with Twitter

Impromptu sleepovers in York's room happen a lot, York has sleep problems and as said before, Jersey cuddles, win win sitch

They fight, a lot, technically it’s just arguments but to pretty much everyone except the NE, it sounds like fighting (granted the NE sometimes thinks they are genuinely fighting but shh)

“Murder is illegal”  “You can’t murder people it’s rude” etc. are said whenever they are in the city

Despite not talking to each other for about 40ish years, they went right back to how they were before, if just a bit closer

They both fake hate each other, for no reason other than seeing the shocked faces of the other states while they simply cook breakfast together

Just Dance Night (the other states get flashbacks when ever they hear the Just Dance intro)

They like to just exist in the same space, doesn’t matter if they are doing two completely different things, they’ll continue to hang out VIRGINIA

They bet on everything, who will get to the table faster, who will make breakfast the quickest without messing up, everything

They always think to message the other first when something is happening, doesn’t matter if the sitch doesn’t really need the other, they still will

Since Jersey still speaks fluent Dutch and York has his broken messed up Dutch that Jersey understands, they will ‘gossip’ to each other in front of the other states

When they do that, they are really just talking about dinner plans and what movies they should see, but in the most condescending and judgmental tone they can

Movie dates, any movie whether they think it’ll be good or not

They sometimes come of as very big and little brother coded, York being the older while Jerseys the younger, when in reality it’s switched

Jersey finds it hilarious whenever people think he and York are dating, they aren’t, they consider each other brothers and technically are, York always wants to kill the people who do think they are dating, “Murder is Illegal Yorkie” he doesn’t care

Family dinners are once a month with Jersey’s moms and occasionally not, father, father, and York's grandparents

They have so much dirt on each other that if one says something so will the other, you know the nuclear deal between America and Russia? Yeah it’s basically that but with blackmail

If one’s sick the others clingy, if one's sad the others clingy, if one-

They like to dance with each other, even if there’s no music (it’s mainly spinning without music though)

Jersey has bad English days sometimes, so York will translate, on those days they tend to just haul up in York's room and put on a random Hockey game

[oodlenoodleroodle]

I'm a little annoyed that US has started calling Russian diamonds "blood diamonds" because that term has a very specific meaning which as far as I understand doesn't apply to the war in Ukraine.

Like I haven't heard of Russia conquering Ukrainian diamond mines, these diamonds come from mines located in Russia, right? And the diamonds aren't being sold to fund the war, it just happens to be a product that Russia exports. So to my ears calling them "blood diamonds" really cheapens the weight of the term. Like the word "blood" in real "blood diamonds" refers to real blood of real humans that really were killed so that the insurgents/invaders could sell the diamonds to further the conflict. It's not an abstract idea that means "diamonds mined in a country that has started a war." Russia isn't a warzone. And again, if these diamond mines were in the parts of Ukraine that Russia has invaded, then "blood diamond" would be an accurate name.

And I have an added icky feeling about this terminology coup specifically because real blood diamonds come from Africa, and there is some sort of weird race thing vibe going on here, where a conflict involving white people takes a term from conflicts that involved Black people, except the situations aren't comparable, so it feels like yet again white people coopting Black pain, or something. Like it smells like they are taking this really emotionally charged word to try to morally blackmail people into sanctioning Russian diamonds.

Like for once could you just use a different word for different things? You are already at financial war with Russia so you can just go ahead and sanction the diamonds and be done with it. Making people like me feel icky about your choice of words is only harming your cause.

[wahlpaper]

Thistlefoot Review

Thistlefoot by GennaRose NetherCott

CW: Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Death, Genocide, Self-harm, Suicidal Ideation, Swearing, Toxic Parental Relationship, Money Problems, Homelessness, Possession, Child Death, Drinking, Blackmail, Gore, PTSD, Self Loathing

5/5

I have found in my attempts at using dating apps that the media/entertainment recommendations of my matches tend to stick with me a lot longer than the people do. I say this to be funny, not for pity. Months ago I matched with a book-loving girl who gave me the perfect book rec. I told her about my blog being Queer and Jewish-based, and she immediately suggested Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott. It took a while for it to get to me on Libby, but it was absolutely worth the wait!

Thistlefoot is about two magical siblings, Isaac and Bellatine Yaga. They are left a living house from their great-great-grandmother, Baba Yaga. Isaac and Bellatine are young adults now and haven't seen each other in 6 years. They don't trust each other, but they're willing to work out what to do with the house. Isaac has some debts he wants to clear and Bellatine wants the freedom that comes with a house that can walk. So they decide to continue their family business of puppet shows for one year, adding a stage to the house. Unfortunately, the house wasn't the only thing Baba Yaga left them. The past is coming back through an old enemy who wants the house destroyed.

Folklore, the past, and the concept that the body remembers trauma are all very important to Thistlefoot. Nethercott did a lot of research on folklore while writing the book. She looked into her Russian roots and quite a lot of American stories. She incorporated as much as she could into the book and wrote her own in as well. Folklore also affected how the story was told. Most books in third person have a narrative to explain what's happening outside of dialogue, but it's rare for them to feel like a character. In Thistlefoot, you aren't just reading a story, you're being told one. Perhaps it's Nethercott inserting herself into the story. Throughout, you also get interjections from Thistlefoot, the house, as she tells you interesting, but misleading information about the past.

I absolutely loved the experience of reading Thistlefoot. I didn't really know what was going to happen as I went through, even down to the last page. Every bit of the present, past, and history unfolded when the time was right. The story centers on a group that doesn't want to care about each other, but can't help themselves. Isaac and Bellatine are joined by a musical trio that just wants to fix the world and a girl that Bellatine brings to life with her animation powers. Basically, everyone has something about themselves that they aren't sharing, and that absolutely includes the house. Some pieces are revealed more cinematically than others, but they all contribute to why this book is so popular.

Despite the fact that Baba Yaga is not traditionally Jewish, I think it was a smart move to make that her religion. Russia's history of pogroms and antisemitism plays an important role in the story. There are many happier aspects of Judaism incorporated as well, such as traditional names, the use of Yiddish, and a shofar. Alongside the Jewish representation is queer representation. Bellatine has a romance with another woman, Baba Yaga was happier as a widow than married, Isaac had complex feelings for his best friend, and Sparrow the musician is non-binary. More diversity than this is included in Thistlefoot, making the book that much more relatable.

Nethercott spins an epic tale and race against time in Thistlefoot. If you're looking for a cinematic book that you can feel like a part of, I highly recommend this one. Puppetry, folklore, and memory come together to tell a tale you won't forget!

[evermorehqs]

CATCHING MY BREATH, STARING OUT AN OPEN WINDOW

Dimitri Kramer is based on Dimitri from Anastasia. He is a 34 year old gifted human, insurance scammer, and uses he/him pronouns. He has the power of temporary reality. Dimitri is portrayed by Casey Deidrick and he is open.

CATCHING MY DEATH, AND I COULDN’T BE SURE

When people go missing, Dimitri is one of the first people to notice. Some would say he was nosier than he should be, sticking himself into people's business when no one wanted him there, but he couldn't help it. Ever since he was a kid, Dimitri had a knack for being places he shouldn't, hearing whispers that were never meant to be heard and packing them away in a drawer deep in the back of his mind for safe keeping - and possible blackmail if he ever needed it. In an ideal world, Dimitri would get paid to putting these skills to use but no one wanted anything to do with a young man who never went to university, barely scraped by in school, and who claimed to be able to find any missing person if you gave him enough time...and they were right to be suspicious because he was full of it. Dimitri knew how to spin a tale, put in the work to build a con that would fool practically anyone as long as they didn't dig too much or look too close. It helped that he had a way, a gift, to make people believe whatever reality he told them was true - for a period of time anyway.

Mysteries have always been something Dimitri cannot get enough of and, while he might make up scams and cons like it's his job, he couldn't make up his obsession with trying to solve them. One in particular has always been a favorite - the disappearance of a daughter of one of Russia's richest families. No one knew what happened to her and he had a particular interest since she was only a few years younger than him. After some theories surfaced online about where she was, how she was still out there, Dimitri decided to take it upon himself to find her. What could possibly go wrong? He scammed his way through every town and city he went through until he got to Evermore. Every conman needs an escape route and his was cut off at the waist. He couldn't go anywhere and worst of all, he couldn't remember why he was even in this town. He had notes upon notes about the Russian heiress and he knew it had to do with that and that the answers to the mystery, and many more, resided within Evermore.

I HAD A FEELING SO PECULIAR

❀ James Hook: One of many people Dimitri has scammed in the past so he tries to keep a healthy distance while scrounging up the money he owes him ❀ Amelie Potts: When Dimitri was scrolling incessantly about a new mystery, Amelie noticed and from that day, the two have exchanged theories non-stop ❀ Bea Pelletier: A new mark that Dimitri is interested in possibly adding to his roster of scams. Although, the more he learns about her though, the harder it is for him to follow through

THAT THIS PAIN WOULD BE FOR EVERMORE

[jasonsutekh]

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

An American spy and a Russian spy have to team up to prevent a surviving Nazi column from accessing nuclear weapons.

 Unlike much of the earlier series on which this film is based, it justifies the protagonists’ involvement with the CIA by presenting cooperation as the result of blackmail, thus distinguishing him from the many CIA war crimes and making him a little more likeable. It combines the traditional enemy elements of Russia and the US creating conflict and resolution. It’s also appealing that it ties the story in with established real world events.

 Most of the plot is fairly basic although confusing at times and not in the way that later justifies itself by having a clever twist or conspiracy. Some of the more significant absences from the movie were the references to the source material, like a cameo from David McCallum. It also fails to make good, or even proper hints, at the clear gay subtext between the two partners, which felt necessary to call out Russia’s long-standing anti-gay policies, something that should be done on reflex by 2015 standards. The cast felt largely wasted as there were some good talents in there that didn’t get to show much, if any, range.

 There’s lots of action to cater to the lowest level entertainment crowds but it’s not innovative, just shooting and cars. The budget looked about as high as one would expect a modern Bond film to be although the directing didn’t quite reach the same gravitas. The story is fed directly to the audience so it at least works if you don’t have the brain power for even usual spy films.

 The confusing parts come when the music cues are so out of place that it makes the scene feel bizarre and the multi-shot action sequences where one doesn’t know quite where to look. All this isn’t helped by the occasional yellow subtitles when they’re presented on a bright background. The ending is unsatisfying because it doesn’t built up to a big finale, they squeeze in a solution they’ve already prepared and there’s the obligatory betrayal in there which doesn’t really come good because it’s excused by being a betrayal to a different opponent, which isn’t much better in terms of trust.

 3/10 -This one’s bad but it’s got some good in it, just there-

 -The footballer, David Beckham, has a cameo as the projectionist near the start.

-In both this film and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) Jared Harris’ character clears a crowded area by just raising his hand. Both films were by the same director.

-Delivered to theatres under the title “Waterloo”, a reference to the character nicknamed Napoleon.

[andreasgypsysoul2020]

**Updated to included links to sources***

I’m calling it as it is. I dont care whether you agree with me or not, just check your response with your gut. My gut never lies to me.

I’ve had my suspicions all along about this stooge. He’s not intelligent enough to pull this off by himself. We better hope that all the social security numbers and tax info that Muskrat just uploaded from SSA and IRS from every single american citizens account, doesn’t end up in Putin’s files. Whoever has that info can potentially wipe out every dime we have and can potentially fund a world takeover:

There is something rancid in America, a slow, creeping rot that smells like cold McDonald’s fries, aerosol hairspray, and the unmistakable musk of a country too sedated to recognize its own hostage situation. For years, the idea that Donald Trump was compromised by Russia was dismissed as paranoid fantasy—just another wild-eyed conspiracy theory, another overblown headline in the endless saga of American political dysfunction.

But now, two former Soviet intelligence officers—Alnur Mussayev and Yuri Shvets—are saying it outright: Trump was recruited by the KGB in 1987, groomed as an asset, and remains under Russian control to this day.

And the worst part? He’s already back in the White House.

That’s right, America. You did it. You walked face-first into the banana peel of history, slipped, and fell straight into the arms of Vladimir Putin. Trump was kicked out in 2020, spent four years plotting his comeback, and now he’s returned, like a bloated, orange cockroach that just won’t die. The Kremlin’s favorite stooge is running the country again, and this time, he knows exactly how to stay in power.

If you think this is just another round of the Trump Show, you’re not paying attention. This isn’t politics anymore. This is treason. This is foreign subversion. This is a goddamn coup in slow motion.

Let’s break it down, nice and simple.

Alnur Mussayev isn’t some Twitter conspiracy theorist with a tinfoil hat and a podcast. He’s the former head of Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee, which means he knows exactly how Russian intelligence works—because he was part of the system. And what he’s saying should make every American’s blood run cold.

According to Mussayev, Trump was identified, recruited, and compromised by the KGB in 1987 during his first trip to Moscow. They saw him for what he was: a narcissistic, greedy, attention-starved buffoon who could be easily manipulated. The KGB flattered him, promised him business deals, and planted the seeds of political ambition in his empty little head. And from that moment on, he was their man.

But Mussayev isn’t alone. Former KGB major Yuri Shvets said the exact same thing in 2021: Trump was cultivated by Soviet intelligence because he was an easy mark—too stupid to realize he was being played, too egotistical to care. They saw him as a useful idiot—a man who could one day be nudged into power, a walking, talking Trojan Horse for Russian interests.

And now? The plan has worked. Trump spent four years in office weakening America from within, got booted out, and now he’s back for round two.

If you had told the American public in 1962 that a Soviet-backed asset would one day sit in the White House, they would have burned Washington to the ground before letting it happen. But today? Nobody seems to care.

The media treats this like just another wacky subplot in the never-ending Trump reality show. Congress is too busy fighting over meaningless culture war nonsense to do anything about it. And the American public? Exhausted. Numb. Checked out. Years of scandals—Russia collusion, Ukraine blackmail, classified documents, tax fraud, sexual assault, an attempted coup—have fried the country’s brain like an overcooked steak at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump has done the impossible. He has committed so many crimes, so openly, so brazenly, that none of them matter anymore.

And now, with Mussayev’s revelation that Trump is an active foreign asset, we have finally reached the point where the biggest political scandal in American history is met with a collective shrug.

This is how democracy dies—not with a bang, but with a goddamn eye-roll.

This is the part where the skeptics start clutching their pearls. “Oh, come on,” they say. “If Trump were really a Russian asset, wouldn’t there be more proof?”

To which I say: Are you blind, or just willfully stupid?

Let’s go through the evidence, shall we?

Trump spent his entire first term doing exactly what Russia wanted. He attacked NATO, calling it “obsolete” and threatening to pull the U.S. out. He tried to blackmail Ukraine into manufacturing dirt on Joe Biden, because weakening Ukraine helps one man and one man only: Vladimir Putin. He pulled U.S. troops out of Syria, handing power over to Russian forces. He picked fights with Canada and Europe while cozying up to dictators.

Even now, in his second term, he is more openly pro-Putin than ever. He has made it clear that he will not protect NATO allies from Russian aggression. He is actively dismantling America’s alliances, just as Russia planned. And while Americans scream at each other over whether Target should sell rainbow t-shirts, Trump is quietly selling the country to the Kremlin.

At some point, you have to stop calling it a coincidence and start calling it what it is: treason.

The United States is running out of time. If Trump serves out this term without being removed, America as a functioning democracy is finished.

The media needs to wake up. Enough with the “Trump fatigue” excuse. This is not just another scandal—this is the single greatest infiltration of American power in history. Journalists need to dig into Mussayev’s claims, demand declassification of intelligence files, and treat this like the national emergency that it is.

Congress needs to subpoena Mussayev immediately. His testimony must be public, and every document he has should be reviewed. If there is proof that Trump has been compromised since the 1980s, the American people need to know.

The Justice Department needs to stop pretending that Trump is just another politician. If there is evidence that the sitting president of the United States is working in Russia’s interests, he must be removed from office and prosecuted for espionage.

And the American public? You have one last chance. This is not about Republican vs. Democrat. This is not about taxes, gas prices, or whatever nonsense outrage is dominating the news today. This is about whether the United States remains a sovereign nation, or if we spend the rest of the century as a Russian client state with a golf course.

The sheer volume of Trump's corruption, the blatant nature of his crimes, the mountain of evidence that should have ended his political career a hundred times over—none of it mattered. He survived it all, not because he was innocent, but because he drowned the country in so much scandal that nothing stuck.

But this time, it’s different. If Mussayev and Shvets are right, this isn’t just another chapter in the endless Trump circus. This is the culmination of a decades-long Russian intelligence operation to install an asset in The White House.

There is no coming back from this. If America lets Trump serve out this term without removing him, then the United States as a democratic republic is finished. The country won’t collapse overnight. There won’t be tanks in the streets. Instead, the destruction of democracy will happen in slow motion—buried under lawsuits, propaganda, and corruption so blatant that people stop caring.

If America lets this happen—if Trump / Krasnov is allowed to complete his mission—then Putin wins. The West crumbles. And the people who could have stopped it will look back, years from now, and wonder how they let it happen.

Good night, and good luck. Because if people don’t wake up, America is going to sleepwalk straight into its own funeral.

Oh and don’t forget about Elon Musk, he was buying rockets from Russia and has business dealing with them!!

-https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/fbi-agent-who-helped-launch-russia-investigation-says-trump-was-n1239442

-https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/global-trends/us-news-was-donald-trump-a-secret-russian-spy-in-1987-codename-krasnov-ex-soviet-spy-alnur-mussayev-makes-sensational-kgb-claim-putin-trump/articleshow/118555667.cms

-https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/russia-recruit-donald-trump-as-agent-krasnov-a-kgb-spy-35-years-ago-alnur-mussayev-soviet-intelligence-2685175-2025-02-25

-https://www.cbsnews.com/news/irs-identity-theft-online-hackers-social-security-number-get-transcript/

-https://www.gtlaw.com/en/insights/2024/4/irs-notifies-thousands-of-taxpayers-that-they-were-victims-of-a-data-breach

-https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/03/02/trump-kgb-operative-krasnov/

-https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/was-donald-trump-a-secret-russian-spy-in-1987-ex-kgb-officer-reveals-shocking-allegations/articleshow/118528224.cms

-https://thehill.com/opinion/international/5162890-assessing-new-allegations-that-trump-was-recruited-by-the-kgb/

-https://m.economictimes.com/magazines/panache/was-donald-trump-a-russian-spy-in-1987-bizarre-allegations-by-ex-kgb-officer-will-surprise-you/articleshow/118487146.cms

-https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42493918

-https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/senate-russia-report-proves-trump-was-wrong-mueller-was-right-ncna1237743

-https://thehill.com/opinion/international/5162890-assessing-new-allegations-that-trump-was-recruited-by-the-kgb/

-https://youtu.be/R5c_NcjxpWk

-https://youtu.be/oXJ-fVksf9M