#anyways turkish poetry there you go

[waltzing-with-butterflies]

teeny tiny haiku collection:

ne söylenmeli

ilk kovana koşmaktan

yorgun çocuğa

(what should be said to/ the child, ever so tired from/ running towards first hive)

_______________________

serin yağmurun

sesine muhtaç kalmış

kiraz ağacı

(how deeply the cherry tree/ yearns and longs for the sound/ of the cool spring rain)

_______________________

tuza yansımış

erimiş altın damla,

güneş yanığı

(molten golden drop/ takes the form of a sunburn/ reflected on salt)

-stella

[formulafixated]

The 2010 Season: The Greatest Ride

(This is an old blog post from July 19th 2023)

AKA: Niamh yaps about a random F1 advert from 2011. Here's a bit of a curveball.

My original plan for my second blog post (a deep dive of sorts into the mythic nature of being a Ferrari driver) has been momentarily put on hold to make way for whatever this will be. And I have yet to know what this will be or how it will turn out but stick with me, okay!

Some context first. Picture me at 11pm eating some Shreddies as a before-bed snack and finding things to watch on Youtube while I do (because eating without having a video to watch is a fate worse than death), when I come across a video titled "BBC F1 2011 INTRO". I'm instantly like "oh awesome, love me a bit of The Chain", thinking this would be similar to other F1 intros of the 2010s era.

(Try and tell me you can listen to that song without thinking of Formula One.)

I was wrong.

What I was witnessed to instead was enough to make me stop eating altogether. I put the spoon down. My Shreddies were left to drown in the milk but I didn't care, I was physically unable to move as a result of this video. It was a montage of various moments from the previous 2010 season (a beloved season to me), set amongst Hans Zimmer's iconic 'Time' from Inception and over the top was a poem narrated by Eddie Jordan.

"But Niamh, that sounds way more boring and normal than you made it out to be. Shreddies drowned for this?" I hear you say. You underestimate how much a bit of film soundtrack and spoken poetry can impact a girl. I was so impacted, in fact, that I was suddenly fully prepared to pause my planned blog post (which in all honestly I still have yet to find the inspiration for, so maybe this is a good thing!) and write this one instead. I have got to talk about some of these quotes and what they refer to. Think of this as a sort of 2010 season mini recap, but only the most dramatic moments.

Here is the video, by the way. I urge you to check it out.

https://youtu.be/k_hFOC42Qcw

Let's begin!

(A warning: this is all just going to be meaningless drivel from my brain. But you probably already knew that)

“It had charging snorting bulls in the ring tamed only by those two who rode them. Unable sometimes to tame themselves, unable to control their own beast within”

Who doesn't love a metaphor? Obviously this refers to Sebastian and Mark at Red Bull and their tumultuous relationship that had started to develop by the second year of their partnership. Most people think mainly about 2013's Multi 21 incident when talking about the pair's most tense moment, but 2010 had its fair share of these too. Firstly, the wildly entertaining Turkish Grand Prix saw them collide after Seb attempts to overtake Mark on the inside. Due to the angle of Seb's car they made contact and he is sent spinning off into the gravel, with Mark managing to escape being stuck and continuing the race. This moment is so iconic, I think, because of Seb's reaction to it (watch it on Youtube if you haven't already, it's great) and the fact it was the catalyst for the downfall of their relationship. Not helped by the fact that three races later at Silverstone, an incident with Seb's front wing in final practice meant that the team replaced it with Mark's newly upgraded one. Seb then went on to take pole position in qualifying. As a result, talk about favouritism within the team arose. But that's a blog post for another day. Anyway, I love this quote and I think it sums them up perfectly; sometimes they really were unable to tame the beasts within. The way the shot moves from Seb laughing with Britta to Mark in the background looking all solemn and serious? Art.

“It had intrigue and inviting. It had a prancing horse and a rider asked to take a fall”

It's quite easy to wax poetic when it comes to Ferrari, but I think this line is just so good. I love it when Ferrari is referred to as the 'prancing horse', there's something so elegant about it. The lineup for 2010 included newcomer Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, who had already been part of the team for a few seasons. The season before Felipe had undergone surgery due to an accident at the Hungarian Grand Prix, and understandably he had a slow return back to his usual form once the 2010 season began. As a result, by the German Grand Prix, Massa was 31 points behind Alonso and therefore not a championship contender. It was during the last few laps of this race that Massa was ahead of his teammate for a 1st place finish when he received a message from his race engineer Rob Smedley informing him that Alonso was faster. He quite literally said, ‘Fernando is faster than you, can you confirm that you understood the message?’. Felipe let his teammate through to take the 1st place trophy. Ferrari, despite claiming that the incident didn't involve illegal team orders, were fined $100,000 for the controversy. It didn't help that Smedley literally apologised to Massa after the original message... whoops. How many riders of the prancing horse have been asked to take the fall?

"It had those who would not lie down and told that they were not the chosen one."

The term "chosen one" has so much weight to it, right? Obviously this line relates to Mark during his time opposite Seb at Red Bull. Mark frequently vocalised his feelings surrounding the apparent favouritism within the team despite their adamance that there was no such notion. The initial tension caused by the swapping of front wings at the British Grand Prix was soon diminished once Seb took a trip off track and received a puncture, meaning Mark was able to storm ahead and take the win. During his cool down lap he announced over the radio, "not too bad for a number two driver", referring to the idea that Sebastian was Red Bull's favourite. This wouldn't be the first time Mark brought the subject up in a public manner, so it's definitely true that he refused to lie down and accept what was happening. No matter how much they tried to deny it, Sebastian was always Red Bull's 'chosen one'. The chosen one hand picked personally to bring the team to the top after years of disappointing results. And that he did. But God, did Mark try his best!

"It had new and old; new faces, new machines, new blood. And an echo of the past, a name, a memory."

One of the moments that genuinely gave me chills. The 2010 season brought with it five rookies, including Nico Hulkenberg and Karun Chandhok, as well as new teams. There were also new regulations regarding a ban on refuelling, a ban on double diffusers and a collective agreement not to use KERS. But despite the fresh faces and rule changes this season indeed brought several echos to the past. The 2010 season saw the return of a familiar name in Team Lotus, which hadn't taken part in F1 since the 1990s. Their livery even referenced the classic green and yellow colours of the original Lotus cars of the 60s. One of the rookies introduced this year was Bruno Senna, nephew of Ayrton Senna (who even raced for Lotus during his career). I remember while I was watching the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, Bruno's engine overheated and there was a shot of his eyes through his visor. Martin Brundle reacted to the shot by saying, "that scares me, that looks like Ayrton through the crash helmet when the visor is open... it stops me in my tracks." Despite his unremarkable rookie season, I'm sure he brought back a lot of memories for F1 personnel and fans alike. In a similar vain, 2010 was the year that 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher returned to the grid to drive for the also returning Mercedes GP team after retiring in 2006. 2010 was the year of throwbacks and nostalgia.

"It had the spectre at the feast; a falling god now reigning against his own mortality and risking that of others."

Used to talk about Michael, this line was SO interesting to me. Firstly, the description of him as the 'spectre at the feast'. This phrase can be linked to a scene in Shakespeare's Macbeth where the ghost of murdered Banquo appears at a feast, and is used to refer to someone or something that brings misery or sadness to a happy or celebratory occasion. So why was this used in reference to Schumacher? Of course, the legend's return to the sport brought with it a lot of hope and anticipation that he would return to his former glory once he raced again. Nevertheless, Michael struggled to get good results in his first stint back. A new generation of cars and regulations, and a team which struggled to improve upon its previous success (Mercedes GP replaced 2009 constructor's champion Brawn GP), can't have made it easy for him. Thus commenced a season of misery and disappointment for those once hopeful fans. A so called "spectre at the feast". "A falling god reigning against his own mortality"; a god of the sport attempting to reestablish his former glory but unfortunate timing and circumstances meant he had to accept he was no longer untouchable. The last part of the line refers to Michael's sometimes aggressive driving style, specifically the incident at Hungary where he squeezed former teammate Rubens Barrichello against the wall of the pit lane while defending. The dangerous move was punished with a 10-place grid penalty the next race. People often claimed that while Michael never lost his ruthlessness, he had lost other aspects once apparent in his original F1 stint. Whoever came up with that line deserves a Nobel Peace Prize in literature.

And there we go. The 2010 season recapped in the words of whichever brilliant mastermind at the BBC F1 team came up with that poem, and a bit of my knowledge sprinkled in as its one of my favourite seasons. There's just something about art when it's combined with Formula One because the effects it has on a simple girl like me is groundbreaking. I eat it up every time! It turns simple car racing to something much more dramatic and emotional and interesting and I value every person who creates art dedicated to F1.

Please never stop.

Anyway. That was really long and probably quite boring, but I had so much fun writing it. I love talking about old seasons and I'll probably do it again in other posts. I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!

[dangermousie]

An ode to the world’s most perfect man - Turkish TV mobster

Now, if you are wondering what the most ideal fictional type of man is, perhaps you will think a friendly CEO or a good-looking royal or some other type of wealthy law-abiding individual.

WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!! Per Turkish TV, it is indubitably a mobster.

His childhood love for you is as long as his kill list...

He will recite odes to your love with poetry that would make Shakespeare weep

“You were the most beautiful dream I was protecting in this fake world...”

“I touched your hair and you touched my memories. I kissed your lips and you kissed my wounds.”

“Will you really forget me?” “I must first forget myself for that.”

He will kill for you and die for you...

He will forgive any betrayal...

And fight his own family

He will even try to go straight...

Or, alternatively, admire your weapons skills

His only comfort is in your arms

And he’s got zero problem with treating your kid with another man as his

His abs are as hard as the barrels of his guns

And he knows how to throw a wedding

His cheekbones are sharp enough to cut glass...

Oh, and he looks damn good in formal wear.

Anyway...clearly mobsters is where it’s at!

[jalshristovski]

List of Hetalia ships I cannot fucking stand and why, in no particular order ✨

UsUk: I don’t even think I need to explain this one but I will. They call each other brothers, England raised him, they call each other brothers, ENGLAND RAISED HIM, THEY ARE BROTHERS, ENGLAND RAISED HIM, THEY A-

DenNor: This one I don’t see as problematic, more just my personal views. I see the Germanic Nordics as brothers. All 4 of them. And to add onto that, they have referred to each other as brothers, and I just think it makes more sense for them to be brothers, and not lovers. So this includes DenNor, SuDen, SuNor, and ESPECIALLY ships with Iceland. He is too young. He is a child. Anyway

PruAus: They’re… canonically… cousins… no… just no… they don’t even get along…

TurkGre: No. Absolutely the fuck not. 1. Turkey killed Ancient Greece, aka Greece’s mother, would you date your mother’s murderer? I thought the fuck not. 2. Greece is SO much younger than Turkey is. 3. I am Turkish and we and Greeks do not get along in the fucking slightest so even if the first two weren’t relevant, we literally just don’t like each other

RusPol: If you ship this I will actually avoid you like the plague. Russia has done so much bullshit to us, so the toxicity level in this ship is unreal. It’s toxic AND abusive. Historical context makes this a HUGE no no.

Spamano: No. No. No. NO. Romano was a CHILD. Spain made a child do hOUSEWORK. He was a CHILD. A TODDLER. A TEENY GUY. HE WAS LIVING WITH SPAIN WHEN HE WAS STILL WETTING THE BED. WHY. WHY.

TurkIce: I don’t think this one needs much explaining but here we go: Iceland is a child. He is a minor. His country may be old but he is physically 17. Which means developmentally he is 17. He has the mind of a 17 year old. He is 17. He is 17. He is 17. Turkey is OLD. EW. WHAT IS WRONG WITH Y’ALL???

RusLiet: Have y’all ever read about what Russia has done to Lithuania??? This is abusive as fuck. Period.

RusAme: I just can’t see it. On a world stage, America and Russia are enemies, and have been enemies for a long time. I cannot see an “enemies to lovers” type deal either. I just can’t

LietBel: This one I used to not hate until I figured out what kinda relationship Lithuania and Belarus actually have. I’ve yet to see one Lithuanian person who doesn’t claim Belarus rightfully belongs to Lithuania. Not only that but most of them refuse to call it “Belarus” and will usually call it “Belarussia”, or even more often, “White Russia”. This would be abusive, not from Belarus to Lithuania, but from Lithuania to Belarus.

PruLiet/PrusPol/PrusPoLiet: The only reason I categorise these as one is because I usually see them all lumped together anyway. But anyway, abusive. Abusive. Abusive. Abusive. Prussia had a TERRIBLE history with both Poland and Lithuania, especially when they were one country. The commonwealth and the Teutonic Order were constantly fighting each other, not to mention when you read up on how the Knights would talk about Lithuanians especially, it would be highly abusive. Read any part of the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle. The Teutonic Knights were literally read pro-Teutonic, anti-Lithuanian propaganda poetry to increase morale.

Germano: This is just eh to me. Could not care less. These two haven’t had near enough screen time (both in the show and manga) for this connection, and when they have communicated it wasn’t super pleasant. I wouldn’t call this ship abusive or toxic, not that far, I just don’t believe they’re close enough for this relationship.

BelaLiech: I am BAFFLED at how popular this ship is. Definitely not as popular as UsUk for example, but still concerningly popular. Belarus is 19 in canon, and Liechtenstein doesn’t have a canon age, but the fandom site says 12. I’ve seen people say 15, so she’s 12-15 years old. Aka: A MINOR. A CHILD. A C H I L D. NO.

EstLiet: Not much of the fandom knows this I think just because of his appearance and his mannerisms, but Estonia is 17. His physical age is 17. He is the same age as Iceland. While Lithuania’s canon age is 19, he is still an adult. Estonia I don’t think should be shipped with anyone older than 17, or younger than 16. My personal opinion.

Here are the ones from Balkantalia, aka not canon (mostly) but still relevant enough to include here

BulMace: This shit makes my blood fucking boil. It makes me want to commit a crime (for legal reasons that is an exaggeration). Bulgarians are so fucking terrible to us. Not even as a joke, Bulgarians hate us. They want to claim our country, they want to eliminate Macedonians as an ethnicity and a culture, they recognise Macedonian as a dialect of Bulgarian (we don’t even use the same letters???), and there is laws that prohibit us from identifying as Macedonian.

GreMace: I don’t know if that’s the correct ship name but regardless, this one is CONSIDERABLY worse. I haven’t seen it too much, but the fact I’ve seen it at all disgusts me. Did y’all ever hear about the Macedonian genocide? Did you know Greek neo-Nazis just tried to march in Lerin (the city my Macedonian family is from) to protest our existence? Did you know Macedonians are regularly attacked for being Macedonian on our own ancestral land? That we are not legally recognised as people in Greece? That Macedonians face police brutality in Greece? They want us fucking dead. My family did not flee genocide in Macedonia for you to make cute art of them kissing. Fuck you. Personally, and with full disrespect.

SerbCro: I am appalled at the amount of Serbs and Croats who actually ship this. Serbian and Croatian history is FULL of violence and bad blood, and the things they’ve done to each other historically is disgusting. Not only with the Ustaša and Yugoslav massacres. Not only do I HC the Serbo-Croats as brothers, but brothers who cannot go 5 seconds without fighting. Why? Because that’s how they are in real life. They cannot get along. If I had a dollar for every time I saw a Serb and Croat not fighting, I’d maybe have 50¢.

SerbMonte: No. No ❤️. Absolutely not. At least from the POV of one of my Montenegrin friends who used to live in Belgrade, Serbs do not like Montenegrins. They get bullied, harassed, and they’re considered to be second class Serbs. So no. Absolutely not.

I’m here to remind you guys this isn’t a show like most others, where the characters are fully made up and have no actual context. Hetalia, while a comedy show, is still based on history and culture of actually countries personified to be people. You cannot erase historical, cultural, or social context.

When I see my countries being shipped with their aggressors, or being shipped with people they aggressed, it doesn’t make me feel good. I don’t just “Ope well they’re characters oh well” those are representations meant to show you a little bit of the history.

They’re not always accurate, because one man from Japan who writes manga about countries he isn’t from will not always be right, but these are still representations.

Historical context in Hetalia is crucial. ESPECIALLY when it comes to shipping.

[alatismeni-theitsa]

wrt the nationalism i experienced at my old Greek School, which was part of the larger North London Greek Community even if it was technically just outside London, I remember there were big get-togethers of the various schools for the likes of 25th March. Normal stuff really. I remember we were asked to do some art, and as I was a teenager literally called Peace and with a conscientious objector for a dad, I was pretty opposite in values to the general militarism etc around it, so i slightly... took the piss by drawing Bouboulina anime-fied in a way that was Well Drawn but also Not Reverent.

Anyway, the thing that actually shocked me amongst all this (as opposed to just a bit of discomfort and eyerolling). As a fluent speaker, the teachers liked to show me off by writing speeches for me to give at some events. My tutor had written, very carefully, a big speech for me, and usually I begrudgingly went along with them, but i refused to read this one bit, in which I was expected to declare (cw: self harm, implied suicide, blood): <...κι αν χρειαστεί, δεν θα διστάσω να ανοίξω τις φλέβες μου σαν βρύσες για να ποτίσω το δέντρο της ελευθερίας, ζήτω η Ελλάδα, ζήτω η Κύπρος, ζήτω η ελευθερία>. When I refused point-blank, he looked at me with confusion and said - bearing in mind that i was 16 at this time - so wait, you Wouldn't die for your homeland???? Also bearing in mind this was 13 years ago or so and its still pretty embedded in my memory.

Idk how representative this particular anecdote is but as this was intended for a large event i imagine it wasn't expected to be controversial. He was a little extra I think, probably in part to being a Cypriot refugee himself and therefore having a v different emotional relationship w nationality. Despite module options for A levels (final exams/qualifications for subjects for 18yrolds in the UK) that included Greek Lit and Greek Poetry, he'd only teach Cypriot History and Cypriot Geography, which to me, as an Athenian who generally sucks at any kind of History or Geography, didnt really appeal. I only found out there were other modules when I got to the exam and saw them available. Seeing as they were available, I assume he was something of an outlier, as most kids doing Modern Greek exams would probably have been 3rd-gen Cypriots.

Γειααα! Given the Greek history and how we preserve remembrance, I don't think the sentence you mentioned is controversial, either. But as always, there's more nuance to it, so please bear with me! (quick historical recap for people not familiar with recent Greek history + the psychology of Greeks and Greek immigrants)

Under the boot of the Turks, the Bulgarians, the Italians, the English (and who knows who else) Greeks (and other Balkan nations) quickly realized that advocating for people with the same ethnicity was the only way not to be assimilated at best and eradicated at worst. For centuries Greeks weren't heard by their masters (who also called them "chattel" - "ραγιάδες") at times so after 400 and 600 years they said "if you don't advocate for us, if you treat us like this, fuck you, we are going to become independent". Since 1821 they became an example of revolt for all slaves in Europe and the Americas (without claiming they were the only inspiration) and warmly greeted and aided by Haiti, the first nation to abolish slavery.

I don't need to write much about the Balkan wars, ww1, and the Macedonian struggle, where being ethnically Greek automatically made you an enemy. (without saying Greeks were always on the right side of things or never committed any atrocities), or mention the Greco-Turkish War which ended with the peak of the Greek (Armenian and Assyrian, too) genocide.

Additionally, most of us have heard how the Greeks were treated in ww2 under the Bulgarians and under the Italians and Germans when the country was occupied. Or about the Greek programs in USSR (1937) and Turkey (1955 and 1960) to erase the Greek identity that in many ways still goes on to this day. (Pushing for the Turkish and Russian language and customs only, calling the Greek history of oppression "propaganda", erasing names of Greek villages, etc)

Again, being Greek was pretty much a ticket to punishment and oppression.

Cyprus is included in many of these cases as it suffered long from the Turks until 1878 and then it fell to English hands who filled the citizens with hallow promises (and good ol' colonialism) and let them eat each other alive - resulting in the Turkish occupation of half the island. Although all citizens suffered from the turmoil and the Greek side wasn't a saint, it was mostly random average Greeks who were kicked out of their homes when the invasion happened (1974).

War after war created a generational trauma that cannot be shaken away and that can affect someone when they've lived around people who remember their family getting executed by Turks, or Bulgarians. In that climate, fighting for your ethnos to the point of bleeding became something natural, like bleeding for freedom of speech, worker's rights, for lgbt+ rights, refugee rights, and more.

So, yes, your tutor definitely came from this background so I am not surprised he was that way after living through the tensions and being forced to leave his home because he wasn't the "right" ethnicity. His love for his ethnicity differs from the love a native UK or US person has, in the sense that it comes from the side of the oppressed, not the oppressor. (On top of that, he could also be a weird person as a character, since you mentioned he didn't want to teach anything that wasn't related to Cyprus)

There's no coddling up for how much blood was shed, no χρυσό χάπι for what a country does to you when it occupies you. I want to stress a lot how I hate the idea of war and the idealization of war. However, one doesn't exactly speak politely to the new oppressor, who wants to assimilate others and spread their own influence. I haven't seen a nation talk its way out of occupation and the inevitable repression, so to speak. And when the n-th invasion happens for Greece (for our specific hypothetical example) I don't think there will be any change in how things will be resolved. In a way, the school events remind you that, and also that history is a cycle.

With Turkey as a neighbor, things are still politically tense, and many Greeks still fear another invasion. (At the moment I don't think Turkey will attack for many reasons and bc we are NATO allies but I am telling how the situation is) Let's not forget our state has been allied with Russia for a long time and we betrayed that bond with whatever sanctions might come from Russia to us. When Russia invaded Ukraine, most Greek men around me were fearing the draft. From where we stand on the map, we don't exactly feel safe. War is a possibility and many Greeks feel fight-ready psychologically, or jumpy when they hear the news. (I belong to the chill group and still get anxious from time to time) That might color the patriotic statements with an intensity that doesn't feel natural in other nations which may not feel that close to getting a war on their soil.

As for the militarization in the events, the first thing I'll say is that war and the army can be totally rotten and there's a ton of propaganda we must resist, and I'll admit that even the Greek army when doing the defense has crossed the line at times. Buuuut realistically, it's difficult to resist an invasion from - say - the nazis without an armed force. That's why the army has a place in Greek remembrance events.

Thousands of Greeks fought in the frozen Pindus mountains against the Axis force because they all knew what would happen if the enemy got to Greece. And lo and behold, once the fascists took control of my city, thousands were sent to concentration camps where they were incinerated (700 recorded children among them). In just three years, 1/3 of Greece died under occupation. Fighting to prevent that - even if they failed eventually - is objectively valiant. Not to mention, the resisting armies of various countries achieved weakening the Axis forces to the point they finally got beaten.

Of course, there is no need for panic in the present. No objective need or extreme speeches where teens shout "I will shed my blood". I am fully aware of how expressions of the desire to protect what was - again with blood - given can be weird and reach extremes. Such yearly school events are the norm in Greece.

It's worth mentioning that such texts were written (or based on texts written) at the time of the oppression so they are emotionally charged and often carry the bloodshed of war which was very real for the country back then. That's the reason they are not considered controversial. (add to the mix the constant fear of imminent invasion we still live in 2023)

Another reason they may not be considered controversial is that we are used to them but also don't exactly follow them. Such events may be a yearly reality here (multiple times per year) but a kind of mundane one and people go about their lives without so much gravity given to the event statements.

Sure, it's atmospheric and it's good to remember the dead, but it's the usual grind, ya know... We get reminded of the war for a few days in very sentimental ceremonies and then we move on. The majority of Greeks in Greece are unlike your tutor, in spite of taking part in these school festivities and in the school parade. And the teachers are usually chill about it.

It can have negative effects, though. For starters, I believe the student parade accompanying the military was established during the 70's junta where nationalism was often regarded as the solution. So we are not on a good base here 👀

Most Greeks shun extreme militarism (we know what disgusting people lead in our army and what bigoted ideas they hold) and the belief that we are better than other nations. I can totally understand how a 16-year-old could feel uncomfortable when made to read the phrase you were made to read. In Greece, I think most (not all) 16-year-olds would roll their eyes and go along (because we know it's mainly fanfare for the drama 😂) and they wouldn't be phased by it.

For example, my teen self would perhaps read the "κι αν χρειαστεί, δεν θα διστάσω να ανοίξω τις φλέβες μου σαν βρύσες για να ποτίσω το δέντρο της ελευθερίας, ζήτω η Ελλάδα, ζήτω η Κύπρος, ζήτω η ελευθερία" and see some poetry in it BUT I wouldn't actually want to do it 😅 Nobody does and nobody cares, except the few rare radical people, who exist in all countries in equal measure. And we know that the rest of the students just wanted to stay out of class and didn't give two shits about how serious this is supposed to be 😂 We were aware we were preaching to the choir - who already knows this stuff and just wanted to go home. We are kinda desensitized, I think.

But teens also have their own political sentiments, which may clash with how the school festivities are organized, so we should take them into account. The students (and all people) should be free to not partake in events opposite to their ideals. And many teachers, too, are uncomfortable with how these events are conducted and wish to tone them down. There are some teachers here who are more into it so they add more passion and grand statements.

Different areas and families experienced oppression and genocide in various ways, so I don't have a concrete statement fit to dictate how much passion and poetic symbolism they'll use in their remembrance events and how they promise that the same harm will never come to their families again - as long as one doesn't fall into bigoted traps and militarization. Meaning that if the issue makes them sentimental and they want to mention blood and blades against slavery, that's their own thing.

But it also means that you are (obviously) allowed to remember the fallen and celebrate the existence of the nation without bold statements if you don't feel like it. (Or perhaps one doesn't want nations to exist at all so we go to another level altogether, and maybe you don't want a remembering at all, which is another discussion)

Thank you very much for reading all this! I wrote so many things to demonstrate Greek history is quite heavy and complex, which in turn creates complex situations for the people who are left to do the remembering.

Other people who took part in such Greek events, write your opinions down if you like!

[happy-mokka]

Tag Game!!

ˏˋ°*♡➷ get to know me ༊*·˚

(I was tagged by @santacoppelia <3 muchas gracias!)

rule: name your favorite movie, character, animal, drink, song, season, book, color and hobby

Ok, let's do this...on a side-note: I'm VERY bad in making decisions when I like so much stuff equally...you should see me in a restaurant with a huge menu... :)

Movie:

Favorite: E.T. I soooo love movies...if I really have to choose 1 favorite, then it has to be "E.T." (Sorry "Jaws"...it was a close call...). I watched this as a six year old in our small town cinema when it came out 1982 (yes, I'm THIS old^^).

Recent: "Everything Everywhere All At Once" In the recent-section it's definitely "Everything Everywhere All At Once". Breathtaking movie...so many things at once... ❤️

Favorite character:

Aziraphale. (Took 1st place by storm on angel's wings)

Waymond Wang. (Bascially me in asian)

Malcolm Reynolds. (Funny, Goofy, Selfish on the outside but his heart on the right spot.)

Animal:

Dogs (better humans) Cats (when they feel like it, they cuddle the whole day, when not they don't give a shit...sometimes I admire that, even if I can't...not give a shit I mean) Parrots (so intelligent, brilliant therapists when you just need someone to talk to who only replies with "wwwwaaaaak. idiot.")

Favorite Drink:

Coffee. Nothing comes close. Black, no sugar. I also love to collect all kinds of weird cups for that matter... When I'm with my family and closest friends, the coffee comes as a "turkish coffee" (or "mocha" or I believe sometimes "demitasse" in the States?). We're from the Balkans and inherited that from the Ottomans and on top of this my sis-in-law is Lebanese...

Over the day it's otherwise just water or all sorts of teas.

Song:

Oh gosh. Same as with movies. I just love almost all genres and favorites change on daily basis depending on mood, weather, ...

Some picks:

Season:

Spring Everything blossoms and nature just explodes from winter slumber...

Fall / Autumn Colors, colors, colors...sensory overload.

Books

Again sooo tough. But anyway, I'll try:

"The Lord of the Rings" - J.R.R. Tolkien Blew me away when I was 15 and a regular 2-year read since then...

"The Witching Hour" - Anne Rice Was my first Anne Rice and read basically all her work since then and still own the larger part of it in my shelf.

"Good Omens" - Neil Gaiman I must admit I only recently got to him, but currently digging through his other works as well...

Color:

Green, Blue, White

Hobby:

Books Fiction mostly of all genres, some poetry (Shakespeare ❤️)

Movies Going to the cinema regularly. Love to see things on the big screen and the whole package that comes with it incl. the smell of fresh popcorn... Love all genres including subtitles.

Photography Totally unprofessional. Just love to picture moments on a walk in the park or walking home from the office. I see something that captures my eye, I have to stop and take a snapshot... Who's interested, come by my Insta "happy_mokka"...

tagging, without any obligation and with all the pleasure:

@uncleadelheid-will-eat-your-soul @eugenoid-remade @littlelodell

[hexenmond]

gushing about Friday's Engin concert

So I was on the fence about going to this concert for weeks, but long story short, I'm SO GLAD I WENT! 😍

Engin are a German-Turkish band hailing from Mannheim, which isn't very far from where I live, and on Friday they were playing in Reutlingen, which REALLY isn't far. And they were freakin' fantastic! This video snippet is the solo part of "Stillgelegte Tränen" (roughly translatable as "discontinued tears"), and I hope it shows at least a little just what a wonderful live act they are.

So yeah, I came home from that experience with the clear intention to really go out to concerts more (and maybe the theatre) from now on. I hadn't been in ages, and that's a mistake! It was so lovely to spend some two hours dancing and swaying, watching and listening to three fabulous musicians really rock it, and also I was super proud whenever I caught a Turkish word I understood.

Something that struck me at the beginning when the drums started playing – I don't think I've ever heard a drumset sound so, hm, musical. I mean drums usually file as percussion, and their sound to me is closer in range to "noise" than to "melody". But the sound of these drums sure had a sort of full-bodied, richly tonal quality that I found amazing.

In contrast, the bass started out more hard and metallic (the bassist was playing with a pick most of the time) – however, both sounds changed during the concert and during later songs the bass was much more mellow (also played without a pick for a bit). I'm not sure how much of that was influenced by the sound technician, but I believe it entirely possible that these three fabulous musicians just have that range of tone.

Oh and the lyrics! Much of Engin's original songs are in German, but they did play a lot of Turkish songs as well, and I don't know how many of those were traditional or covers and how many were their own. I did love all of them and the singer gave a little context for many of the songs which was lovely, and like I said, I was so proud of myself whenever I understood a word. And I should add that I didn't understand half of the lyrics in German either! (too fast, too much music going on, lyrics too out of context to catch it all) Their song lyrics generally lean towards poetry, which I personally love but isn't always easy to understand when you hear it for the first time.

There was one song that was about growing up in between between languages, between cultures, between homes, something I can relate to a bit because of my half English heritage (I had a few teenage years where I was totally out of sorts and wishing I'd grown up on the British isles instead of Germany). It's not entirely the same of course. My ear caught four words – "blond genug für Sympathie" ("blond enough for sympathy"), and I thought, oh wow. White passing privilege and on the flip side, never being fully at home and welcome anywhere, in four simple words.

Anyway! You know, I woke up on Saturday morning at around half past four, my mind racing with the whole experience and I lay awake thinking about what I was going to write until about six, when I fell asleep again 😄 and now it's Sunday evening and my brain has shut up a little. But I'm still writing this because a) I want the world to know about this wonderful band, and b) I want to get back into the practice of writing regularly. I have this five part, long form fanfiction that I WILL finish!

So here's some links for all of you who are interested in super danceable tunes, multicultural music and lyrics, and/or absolutely rocking sound:

Engin's website (in German only, sorry, but you can just click on the videos)

my absolute favourite song in German: Echt ("genuine")

my absolute favourite song in Turkish: Gurbet ("foreign place", very melancholic)

[icantgetnosatisfaction]

20th

ıts been almost a month. I have been going t hospitals a lot nowadays and yes, still no schedule there is that I follow.

I met somebody. I didnt really met tho, but I talked to him, had several dialogs. He was a nice man. It feels such a shame I didnt get to interact with him anymore since he deleted his account. Well, He was a kind, sensetional, intellectual, funny guy. Havent seen him, no clue. He had a distinguish voice tho. Heard it in the group chat. He liked poetry, He written some. He had a good music taste. I felt he would be a nice person to hang out in real life. Yet, he is not even on the app anymore. I dont like this feeling. The feeling you lost something good. Like that time I met that friendly and pretty girl on a cosmetic shop. I should have gotten her number. Damn it. It feels like similar. Anyway I dont know why I told about this so much.

In the last month, I hanged out witch friends a few times. Meet a new guy. Sang the godfather theme music with whistles. It was nice. both of us werent really good at it. What else... Well, I almost had a sexting phone call with a horny german turkish guy who has guilty a conscious about masturbation. I still cant manage to fucking study. I think I am a moron. Undisciplined af. I wasnt supposed to be like this. It wasnt supposed to be that way. Everything was not meant to be.

There is no fate, no higher will. Nothing was meant to be. Maybe not even that. EVERYTHING IS SO, SO DAMN RANDOM. JUST RANDOM. Yet, We think there is a meaning behind all this shit.

There is a cause behind everything. But cause doesnt mean reason. Causes arent the reasons. Two complete different things. Thats the fault. We think causes are the reasons. No. You were born cuz your dad fucked with your mother. Thats a cause but not a fucking reason why you exist. We dont even know all the causes, how to get the reasons?

I am an anime trapped in an animal body. Living through between 2 madness. Mental and physical. Cursed in between. Obliviousness and happiness are only drugs

Lastly, russian novels doesnt help. Make sufferer suffer even more. Not in bad way tho. In a poetic way.

[hydralisk98]

Klara "Olive" Kér (my ideal self) Personalized Moodboard #1

Man, that music rocks. I'd imagine even Loona and Octavia from Helluva Boss would dance to it. 👍

Extra stuff for this...

Well, I want to participate so I will.

Movie: Look, I am quite the sucker for "Alien The 8th Passenger" (prefer the look of Alien Isolation however) & the first Terminator (aka the originals) aesthetically speaking. "Wakfu" and "Helluva Boss" conceptually speaking. Most of my mediatic appreciation stems from video games and other immersive experiences, see later about that...

Hobby: Life-long learning, writing vast abundance and designing / iterating on speculative worlds (aka the activity of documenting and worldbuilding); Also chatting with a bunch of internet comrades about spiritual matters...

Animal: Turkish Angora housecat, the type of cat that I envision Shoshona to be...

Character: "V" from V for Vendetta. He is a INTJ just like myself but I do want to craft some new character / agent to replace such in this list in due time because I feel like we deserve more... constructive and empowering representation as far as the story arcs and overall message going across is concerned. Hence how I see Kate 'Olive' Kér as both a character and a self-insertee standing for myself.

Could have mentioned somebody more iconic that I do appreciate too but I really go on lengths to despise and avoid Disney and the other multimedia franchises that disrespect us so yeah... (*Looking at Magneto and Wednesday Adams*)

Colour(s): Beside black and white stark contrasts, I am overtly fond of olive green, amber yellow/orange and rust red (teal cyan is where I draw the limit for my palette focus tbh). So pretty much soft warm yet mute and naturalistic colors. (You see enough of such a color scheme here anyway)

Place: I appreciate the mixture between contemporary architecture and the public park life so close to my household. Not even two minutes of walk away. And public libraries... they are my weakness.

Season: I do like winter most, but I really do enjoy Fall as well as it is really nice for its whole Halloween / Samhain trends year-long.

Song/Album: My tastes are quite diversified so I could say Deutschland from Rammstein. However, I love Sabaton more due to the special way it connects power metal and history. I am a hobby historian lady, can`t you tell?

Food: I like to eat Pork with potatoes. But the winner really is the traditional meat pie they make in my paternal family's region... (Tourtière du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean)

Computer game: Sid Meier's Civilization V (+ FreeCiv) by so far... (other simulationist games and frameworks still come somewhat close)

Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Historical Figure (not fictional): Pedro II of Brazil (& Richard Stallman as well because I stand my ground for FOSS software)

And no, I won't tag anybody yet.

Other details:

Light+Dark Gruvbox, very dark night with dim yet soft & warm lights, Shoshona the black Angora housecat, solarpunk, 16^12, witchy coven commune, walking her way to her own home library, forested library location, night, hoof shoes, black gloves (giving the blackhand surname), relaxing 45rpm 7" vinyls' music, bell thousers, jackets / blouse, black lipstick, white hoof shoes, daybreak / dusk, black sun, stargazing, retro warm grunge look with black white and amber tones, large backpack, amber polka dot patterned identity card, libre cyberware & libre bioware, GLOSS (gratis, libre, open source software / culture), olive & black net socks texture, soft woolen rug texture, notepad at her hand, soundscape of a forested park library with some river nearby, cozy vibe of curiosity and knowledge-seeking...

Some majestic Lisp poetry & code booklets on the shelves, puffy layered turtleneck shirt and bell cap trousers, Olive Synod Mixnet library card, autistic fem symbol talisman, keychain charms, analog medium, retro computers, axis victory?, anti-Wilsonism, Strasserism, Shoshoni language, conlangs, alternate technologies, mysticism, communion, community building, honest humble living, witch coven, STEM ladies, Chronokinesis, True Polymorphs, Toymaker, open culture, public domain, copyleft, desktop environmental storytelling, REPL feedback loops, Lisp symbolic computation machines, addventure, neo-brutalism, systemic change, historical retrospective, from grim dark to bright solarpunk, Konrad Zuse, factions, far far away future foresight, van hexcrawl, encyclopedic knowledge, life-long learning, Zettelkasten, Markdown, Argdown, DolDoc, Parade FS, DocBook, HTML, XML, SVG toons, Common Lisp, Worker Cooperatives, KDE_Plasma's Kate;

Neue-Geo-Syndicalist constructivist empowerment worldview, Lisp program forms as Lisp-y poetry, mysticism, geofiction realms & speculative paracosms, constructed languages' jargon / dialects and technological systems...

So let us imagine a multimedia (game? movie? book?) project around the fundamental prompt / question of "Regardless of context, what does it take for us to bring forth the future we deserve?".

Maskoch, Shoshoni Union... May 4525; INTJ (Kate Kér, sapient-tier human Shoshoni self-insert) & ENFP (Ava, synthetic-tier android blonde lady) duet, with Nil the camera-person perspective.

Harmony, Progress, Liberty, Knowledge, Transparency, Copyleft / Open Culture;

Ok, so let's imagine a animated film where Kate literally records comforting memories of herself alongside Ava and Nil, reading books and just living their best lives.

[crescentmp3]

Tell us about Turkish poetry! :)

HII <33 HI HI HI <33 HII THANK YOU HII

ok so !! in turkish poetry there is "ahenk unsurları", which roughly translates to "factors of harmony" . these are used to create harmony and aesthetical pleasure in poetry . these have existed in our poetry even before islam ! thats about before the ottoman empire was a thing , to put it into perspective

firstly i'll go over "aruz ölçüsü" ! this is one of the main things in divan edebiyatı ( divine literature ) , in its poetry characterized by using complex language full of arabic and persian words , being written in couplets , and using the aruz ölçüsü . the aruz ölçüsü consits of syllables that end with a constonant ( close ) and syllables that end with a vowel ( open ) . these will follow set molds and keep this mold in every couplet !

then there is "hece ölçüsü" ! this is one of the main things in halk edebiyatı ( folk literature ) , in its poetry characterized by using simple spoken language , being written in quatruplets and using the hece ölçüsü . this follows either the 5 , 7 or 11 rule , in which every line follows that number for how many syllables it has . my favorite literature type to write poetry in is the folk literature ^^

we have very strict rules for rhyming — for the end of word stems ( we have many particles added to words so stem is important ) there is the kafiye / uyak ( same thing two names ) ; if there is only one letter they share its a half rhyme , if two its a full rhyme , if three or more its a rich rhyme ! if its two words that sound the same with different meanings its a cinaslı rhyme , and if its two words that sound the same with the same meanings its a tunç rhyme !

then we have "kafiye şeması" ; rhyme scheme , in which you pick what order you rhyme in . these are done by looking at the last letter of the first line and assigning it a letter , then looking at the next one and assigning it the same letter if its the same sound and a different letter if its a different sound . the scheme will decide what order the rhyme goes

let me take a quatrain from one of my poems to demonstrate this ^^ //

gümüş gibi parlayan sevdalı Ay,ㅤㅤㅤa

tatlı tatlı parlayan o yıldızlar...ㅤㅤㅤb

geldi yine bugün aydın Dolunay;ㅤㅤㅤa

ninni söylerler Gökkübbe'de onlar.ㅤㅤㅤb

// i have also added colors to the ends of the letters to demonstrate ! this quatrain here uses the cross scheme , which goes abab .

we also have straight scheme ( aaaa , aaab , aabb , etc. ) , knitted scheme ( aba , bcb , cdc , etc. ) and spiral scheme ( abba ) .

in traditional folk literature , cross , straight or spiral scheme will be picked and be stuck to for that quatrain , but it rarely may change between quatrains , though that may take away some harmony . knitted scheme was introduced later after west influence

anyway !! next up is alteration ; using two or more constonants in a quatrain / couplet more often than others to create harmony ! here is an example from the poem "çile" by necip fasıl kısakürek //

sokaktayım, kimsesiz bir sokak ortasında,

yürüyorum, arkama bakmadan yürüyorum.

yolumun karanlığa saplanan noktasında,

sanki beni bekleyen bir hayâl görüyorum.

// here , k and s have been alterated between for this quatrain . they have been highlighted for easier viewing ! you can see they're used more frequently than other constonants . this creates harmony

next up is assonance ; the same as alteration , but now with vowels ! here is an example from "eski şiirin rüzgârıyla" by yahya kemal beyatlı //

dünyada ne ikbâl ne servet dileriz

hattâ ne de ukbâde saadet dileriz.

// this poem has assonance with a and e !!

we than have choruses , which is what you'd think it is ! repeating a line in a poem for harmony . here is an example from "dostlar beni hatırlasın" by âşık veysel , a well known poet ! //

uzun ince bir yoldayım

gidiyorum gündüz gece

bilmiyorum ne hâldeyim

gidiyorum gündüz gece

// the bolded line is the chorus , which is repeated as you can see !

next is voice flow , which refers to the tone one reads a poem with ! this includes putting oneself in the shoes of the character the poem is spoken by ( can be the author themself , can be a character ) and is done to get the theme across . this is pretty simple , and would need an audio sample to show , so i will not give an example .

i'll leave it right here since this got way too long ^^ hope that doesn't bother you !!

[365days365movies]

March 21, 2021: Orlando (1992)

Tilda Swinton...confuses me.

Like, in a good way. Because Tilda may be the most versatile actor working today. I mean, look at the goddamn filmography, and you’ll see what I’ve mean. I’ve seen Tilda Swinton in a lot, surprisingly, and I don’t think anything I’ve seen was bad. For example, I am an ARDENT defender in the portrayal of the Ancient One in the MCU.

I understand the controversy here, but I actually think this is excellent casting. Especially considering...being comic book-accurate would NOT have been a good idea with this role, if we’re trying to AVOID controversy. But Tilda Swinton FUCKING KILLED IT in this role, and I will always be happy for this choice.

Let’s see, there’s Jadis in the Narnia films, as shown at the top, there’s Snowpiercer, as Mason (an amazing character, and an acting job that Swinton disappears into), Moonrise Kingdom as Social Services, The Grand Budapest Hotel as Madame D., and Gabriel in Constantine. Which is a good segue to the next talking point...

Gabriel is pointedly androgynous, and honestly, Tilda Swinton kind of is as well. You may have noticed that I haven’t used any pronouns in referencing to Tilda Swinton, entirely out of respect. Gonna be a little hard to keep up with, so I’ll be using she/her from here on out, only because those are the pronouns that Swinton’s most recently promoted for herself. She’s also referred to herself as queer of some variety, as well as being famously gender non-conforming.

Which is fitting, given that a lot of that public image began with today’s movie, one of her first big roles. I’ll be revisiting Swinton in the independent movie scene in a couple of months, but this may be a good introduction. Instead of spoiling anything off the bat, I’m gonna jump right in. And so, I present: Orlando. SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

We begin with a young man named, well, Orlando (Tilda Swinton), a young man with a feminine appearance and a good upbringing. His name means power land and property, but all he really wants is company. He writes and rests by a tree in the day, but falls asleep by mistake. When he wakes up, he runs back to where he’s meant to be, with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth I (Quentin Crisp) playing in the background. And that’s a REAL song, by the way, actually sung in the 1600s for Elizabeth! Very neat.

A title screen flashes, reading “1600: Death”, and we see where Orlando is meant to be. He speaks poetry for the Queen and her court, but is interrupted by the aged queen, who asks whether or not his poem is appropriate for her presence, as the poem is about youth, and Queen Elizabeth is not that. Orlando’s father (John Bott), who is serving as host to Elizabeth, intervenes on his behalf. However, it doesn’t seem to matter to the Queen, as she invites Orlando back to England to serve as her “favourite”. He accepts, and soon lives alongside the Queen. She quickly promises Orlando much land and property, for him and his heirs, but on one condition: that he does not fade, wither, or grow old. 

The same wish cannot be applied to Elizabeth herself, nor to his father, as both grow old and die soon afterwards. Fast forward 10 years, and it’s a cold winter in England. Visiting Orlando’s vast estate is a woman from Russia, named Sasha (Charlotte Valandrey), and Orlando quickly falls for her. This is to the dismay of Euphrosne (Anna Healy), his fiancée? I’m not sure, to be honest, but they’re definitely involved, and she’s definitely upset.

However, this is also a scandal for everybody else as well, not just because Orlando’s already engaged, but also because Sasha is Russian, during a particularly poor economic period for the country. Euphrosne angrily throws his ring back at him, and Orlando speaks directly to the audience, telling us that a man must follow his heart. The two go to his private cottage, and they start to make out, when Orlando suddenly comes down with intense melancholy.

Because this is such great happiness that he feels, but this happiness too will one day end. Which is, like, the most emo-shit I’ve ever heard, but I’m kinda here for it. And yet, that happiness does indeed end, when Sasha is forced to return to Russia, despite Orlando’s pleading for her to stay. He asks her to meet him at London Bridge, so that they may elope together.

Later, Orlando happens upon a performance of Othello, noting to us that it’s a terrific play. This is as the death of Othello is being played out, so that’s probably foreshadowing, right? Anyway, Orlando leads two horses through the thick fog, waiting for Sasha to arrive and come away with him. But as a storm sets in, there is no sign of Sasha. And Orlando stands there in the rain. Said rain, though, soon becomes ice, underneath his feet, floating away down the river, along with his hopes of a happy future with Sasha. The treachery of women, according to Orlando.

Over the next week, Orlando languishes in his bed, asleep for the entire time. Increasingly more servants are brought up to try and rouse him, only for him to remain asleep, no matter what they do. But then, he wakes up, noting that he can only conjure three words to describe women, none of them worth explaining.

Forty years later, and the title screen cries “Poetry”! And Orlando looks exactly the same. Guess he really took that whole “don’t grow old” thing from Elizabeth to heart, huh? He speaks to a poet, Nick Greene (Heathcote Williams), and gushes about his poetry, which is a pursuit that he loves greatly. But Nick is...well, Nick is kind of a dick, to be honest. Orlando wants only to share his love and his poetry with him, but Nick’s only in it for the money. Not a true artist, and he mocks Orlando’s poetry, which he reads only after Orlando offers him money. And then, he writes a poem mocking Orlando further, which angers Orlando...but doesn’t stop the money flowing to Nick.

Orlando moves onto his next pursuit, in 1700, in the next section: Politics. Now over 100 years old, Orlando becomes an ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and travels to Constantinople. There, he receives a somewhat rough and awkward greeting, which Orlando is not helping with. They share some Turkish coffee, Orlando has trouble drinking that Turkish coffee, they drink a LOT of Turkish coffee, and they toast to multiple things, including the “beauty of women, and the joys of love.” Orlando pauses at this, and reveals that he is still suffering quite a bit of heartbreak. His Turkish friend, the Khan (Lothaire Bluteau), bonds with him about this.

After 10 years, Orlando has fully retreated into life as a Turkish man. This is interrupted by a British emissary, sent to bring him news of a new appointment and power from the Queen. However, something goes wrong when the Khan arrives and takes Orlando hostage. The city is under attack, and the Khan asks Orlando if he will help against their enemies. Orlando agrees, and gives them arms, and heads to help himself at the walls. There, he witnesses a man dying, and it shakes him greatly. And just like before, he sleeps it off for seven days. And then...she wakes up.

YUP. WHAT.

Yeah, um, Orlando is now a woman. Like she says: “Same person, just a different sex.” Which is a very interesting premise, not gonna lie. Looks like Orlando now has to live life as a woman, which is going to be...difficult in 1700s Turkey. Or England. Or anywhere. Or any time.

Still, Orlando approaches this new life with aplomb, and without really any needed caution. Parading in some awesome dresses, she greets fellow nobility as the lady Orlando. However, the emissary from earlier, Archduke Harry (John Wood), begins to recognize her as similar to the lord Orlando.

In speaking with a group of poets, however, Orlando learns EXACTLY what men think of women in this society, and it’s not even a little bit good. She leaves, enraged and embarrassed. Harry also speaks with her, assuming that she was a woman all along. However, Orlando’s in EVEN MORE shit, as she’s quickly served with papers that are an attempt to take away all of her property and titles, because Lord Orlando is legally dead, and Lady Orlando is a woman, which one of them says is basically the same thing. FUCKIN’ YIKES, BRUV.

Ah, but Harry tries to help by proposing to her ON THE FUCKIN’ SPOT. He believed that Orlando was perfect as both genders, and is happy to do it. However, Orlando understandably refuses, and after Harry tells her that she will die as a spinster, alone and dispossessed, she runs into a nearby hedge maze. And while in the hedge maze, time passes, and her outfit changes to match the period accordingly.

Forward 140 years now! The year is 1850, and a new chapter begins: Sex.

And as she runs from the maze, she runs into who else...but Shelmerdine (Billy Zane), a man who...Shelmerdine? SHELMERDINE? What fuckin’ witch cursed his entirely family line to have THAT name? That’s the kind of family that was named AFTER a bridge, not the other way around! WHAT KINDA NAME IS FUCKIN’ SHELMERDINE?

Well, I’ve looked it up now, and it is apparently a real name. So, if any Shelmerdines are reading this...I mean, I’m sorry, but also, FUCKIN’ SHELMERDINE? OK, back to Shelmerdine. He’s twisted his ankle falling off his horse, and Orlando is now taking care of him. She reveals, in the process, that she’s about to lose everything. The reasons for that aren’t quite said, but Shelmerdine offers a place at his side, back to the great free land of America.

After having a conversation about the roles of men and women in the world (which is interesting given the context of the film in general), the two fulfill the chapter’s imperative. And we never see the act, but we do get some interesting angles and hand-holding. But the next morning, this post-coital reverie is interrupted by the lawyers from the Queen. The lawsuits have been settled, and Orlando has been legally declared a woman, meaning that unless she has a son, all of her possessions will be lost.

Shelmerdine (I swear, every time I say that name, a fairy gets chlamydia) leaves as well, with the southwest wind. As he heads back to America to fight for freedom, Orlando stands in the rain, facing an uncertain future, and broken fully by the politics of the time period.

And then...the sound of planes overhead. Looks like a new time period once again, heading into the periods of World Wars, and Orlando is now...heavily pregnant. OH. FUCK. Welcome to the next chapter: Birth.

We jump past the period of World War II, and to the 1990s! Orlando is presenting a book to a publisher, and he believes that the book will sell. With her young daughter in tow, she finally goes back to her old mansion, now finally able to go back after losing it 100 years prior. The narration from the beginning repeats, recontextualized for Orlando’s new life. She is over 400 years old, and finally, FINALLY...she is happy.

And that’s Orlando! I think I loved it. Real talk, this was a fascinating movie, and I’m into it. I’m very much into it. I’m sure there’s more to be gleaned from this film, but I’m glad I watched it regardless. More in the Review, though! See you there!

[michellewebster]

𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙚

real name — michelle angelica webster. no one ever calls her michelle; even her tombstone reads ‘shelly’. single or taken — canonically engaged. abilities or powers — as a ghost, shelly possesses typical ghostly abilities. invisibility, telekinesis, perception control, etc. while stuck in the physical realm of purgatory, she has the capability to speak with mediums, or those with an inclination to reach the other side.  eye color — pale blue. hair color — brown, with a slightly reddish hue in the sun. family members — brian and mary webster (both deceased). claire webster, her older sister by three years. claire is now a nurse living in chicago; she and shelly call every week. pets — a turkish angora named gabriel. shelly originally believed gabriel to be a male cat, but nope! she’s a mother. something they don’t like — people’s acceptance of things that could be changed, and should be. hobbies / activities — photography, sewing (lmao), dancing, botany, witchcraft, reading, writing poetry, rollerblading (occasionally). ever hurt anyone before — not intentionally, but probably. ever killed anyone before — no. animals that represent them — cats, crows, ravens, doves, butterflies. worst habits — picking a hill to die on, and never letting it go. role models — her mother, mary wollstonecraft, mary shelley, diane arbus, dorothea lange.

sexual orientation — bisexual. yes, many of shelly’s relationships have been with men; this doesn’t discount her attraction to women, however! shelly has been aware of her attraction to other women since she was fifteen years old. neither of her parents were aware of her sexuality, though they would have been accepting of their youngest daughter. claire is aware, though shelly didn’t tell her sister until the latter was in her sophomore year of college. thoughts on marriage / kids — yes to both. style preferences — it varies by season! in the spring/summer, shelly wears mostly sundresses and skirts; breathable and flowing fabrics. color wise, she sports primarily whites and pastels. in the autumn/winter, her dresses switch to a heavier material, and lean towards blacks, reds/maroons, purples, and other dark hues. denim is a consistent year round; jeans are a popular go to while shelly is working, and she frequently accessorizes with denim jackets.   

favourite drink — sangria. favourite place to spend time at — the loft she shares with eric, or her grandparents’ cabin. swim in the lake or the ocean — shelly has never swum in the ocean before actually! she has swum in lakes, however. their type — physical appearance doesn’t matter much, though shelly will pay attention to a person’s eyes and smile. what shelly’s looking for is: someone that’s compassionate, with good morals, that can make her laugh, that sees all of her little eccentricities and accepts them anyway, that will let her do things for herself, even if she’s doing it wrong at first. camping or indoors — camping.

tagged by:  @lazcrus tagging:  @draeven, @eritvita, @caracarnn, @hauntuned, @soleiltm, @wretchedwaters, @perceives, & you!

[fanficflaneuse]

One Day - Part 9

A/N: Hello, magical tumblr friends! We’ve reached part 9! I can’t believe it. Thanks for sticking with me through this wild ride. Thing are getting really good here. Today I realized I have like 70 of them. Can you believe it? I never expected to have followers lol. Thank you all. 

For this chapter, all I want to say is that I don’t hate Astoria. I really don’t. Thank you for your turkish telenovela plot twist ideas lol, I’m definitely going to write something in that fashion sooner or later.  

Also, the novel I’m referring to (both in with the quote and the comments) is called “Normal People” by Sally Rooney. If you haven’t read it, I very enthusiastically recommend it. I couldn’t put it down. And now I can’t stop thinking about reader and Draco’s relationship to be a bit like theirs (better written and without a lot of the tragic subtext, of course). 

Anyway, let’s do this! 

Draco x reader (she/her pronouns) Word count: 1874 Summary: One day AU. Post-war. Since The Battle of Hogwarts, Draco and y/n meet one day a year.

Masterlist  

Enjoy! 

3 May, 2007

“You really don’t want to sleep, do you?” Draco cooed at his son.

“Da-da,” the eight-month-old baby babbled as he made grabby hands at his father. The blond man melted and took his toddler out of the crib, cradling him in his arms.

“What am I going to do with you, Scorp?” he asked as he nuzzled his nose. The boy giggled in response.

Draco tried to be the most loving father. Whenever he wasn’t at the hospital, he was pampering his son, playing with him and making him feel loved. Draco lived for Scorpius’ cute little chortles and he vowed to do everything in his power to keep his son laughing without a care in the world.

The day Draco held Scorpius for the first time, he was invaded by a bliss he had never experienced before. Draco realized that he had finally done something good. He had helped create a little person, a pure and wonderful little person. He, Draco thought, was his second chance in life. Even if the nightmares and the guilt still haunted him, Scorpius’ tiny self reassured him. And so, the boy became his everything.

This week, though, Draco had to admit he was exhausted. Astoria had moved to the Greengrass estate for a few days to take care of her sick mother. 

“Nothing too scandalous,” she had explained when he asked about the symptoms, “but she still needs her daughters’ care”.

If Draco had noticed something suspicious in the defensive tone she adopted, he said nothing of it. Astoria’s family emergency left him alone to take care for their toddler. Since she hated every minute of living under the same roof as Narcissa and Lucius, they had moved to a flat in muggle London. His parents hadn’t yet forgiven him for that. Throughout the week, it was Molly Weasley who had come to his aid. Much to her delight, she took care of Scorpius – as well as her grandchildren – while he worked. As he did his rounds, though, his son was in the back of his mind. Scorpius had never been without at least one of his parents before and Draco hated the idea of him thinking he had been abandoned. He’d floo back and forth from the hospital to the Burrow only to find a very smiling Scorpius crawling around with Albus and Rosie.

Thankful as he was for Molly’s help, the whole ordeal drained him. He was working double shifts and then going to their empty apartment to feed his son and play with him before he could even think about hitting the sack.

Regardless of this, every time Astoria owled him he insisted it was fine. Ever since he found out Astoria was pregnant, Draco made an extra effort with their relationship. Even before Scorpius, they had turned cold and awkward with each other, but Draco loved and cared for Astoria and by Merlin did he try. He was gentle and kind, he took her out for dates, asked with genuine curiosity about her day, bought her gifts and was as accommodating as he could possibly be. She had an agitated social life, with weekend getaways with her friends and constant dinner dates with her sister, but even if at times it meant sacrificing his own social life, he wouldn’t complain. Draco could even say they were happy.

At times like these, however, he couldn’t help the intrusive thought of what all of it would all look like with (Y/N) by his side. He’d supress those ideas immediately, thinking about how Astoria was the best mother Scorpius could ever have. Yet, an overwhelming sense of how incredibly plastic and sterile his relationship with Astoria was would still linger for a while, filling him with dread. He’d then try to push it back and shower their son with as much love as he could possible give him.

Tired as he was, Draco realized it was very late. Scorpius was still giggling in his arms. As he sat in the library, Draco grabbed (Y/N)’s latest book in one hand and held his son cautiously with both arms.

“I’m going to read this novel to you, young man,” he said, “And you’ll understand none of it. But hopefully I can enjoy it for a while and you’ll fall asleep. Deal?”

Scorpius’s glimmering eyes lit the world for Draco. He kissed his son’s forehead before starting to read out loud:

“Sometimes she felt like saying: Would you miss me, if you didn’t have me anymore?” Draco gulped before continuing, “She had asked him that once on the ghost estate, when they were just kids. He had said yes then, but she’d been the only thing in his life at that time, the only thing he had to himself, and it would never be that way again”

As he carried on, he couldn’t help but think that this novel was written just for him to read. It was, after all, about two friends whose relationship status changes throughout the years. He felt his heart heavy, wondering if (Y/N) ever thought about him not caring for her. Because he did. He cared for her very much. And he missed her. She had been living in Paris for the last four months and she’d come every now and then, but he still missed her. At times, he felt like he always missed her, even if they were in the same room.

“I did choose your godmother well, didn’t I Scorp? You’ll be nothing if not a well-educated, perhaps even a bit snobbish, lad,” he teased.

Much to his satisfaction, Draco noticed how his son was now peacefully sleeping in his arms. He walked to the nursery and put him on the crib, leaving the door ajar just in case. As he was about to crawl into bed, Draco heard a crash on the living room. He grabbed his wand and hurried out, determined to protect his son.

“Leave now, please,” he heard a hushed, almost panicky, voice say.

As he reached the living room, Draco faced something he never thought he would. A wide-eyed Astoria stood in the middle of the room. She was giving her back to him and, instead, faced none other than Theo Nott, Draco’s old classmate. He had a determined glint in his eyes.

As Astoria turned around to face him, Draco noticed a sense of complicity between the two of them. He gulped, realizing what was going on. The blond man blinked tears back as he noticed his wife sported a series of love bites he had certainly not printed on her skin. They were both dishevelled, lips a bit swollen. Draco also realized Astoria was wearing a man’s sweater.

“Draco, it’s not what –“

“We’ve been seeing each other for a while, mate. I love Tori. We’re happy together and I am tired of hiding,” Theo’s deep voice interrupted her.  

“Draco,” Astoria said, her voice sounded muffled, as though they were underwater, “Draco, listen to me.”

Draco stared at his wife as though she was a total stranger. The shock made him experience everything in slow motion, to the point in which he only realized he was actually crying when Astoria tried to wipe the tears. Draco pushed her away very softly, barely even touching her, and just turned on his heels. He stumbled towards his room, scantily registering what was going on around him.

For a second there he thought he was dreaming. He closed the door and put up a charm. Draco collapsed on the bed and finally heard himself sob. His heart felt genuinely broken. He heard the knocks on the door. Draco picked on Astoria’s conversation with Theo, maybe they were even fighting, he couldn’t tell. He didn’t care either.

As many times before, Draco felt empty, small and pathetic. And, as many times before, his thoughts went to (Y/N), wishing she was there to console him.

…

On the other side of the English Channel, possessed by coffee induced jitters, (Y/N) sat wide awake in her library. It was late and she was very tired, but she couldn’t bring herself to sleep. She decided to read Hermione’s letter, which she had postponed for a couple of days already.

Dearest (Y/N/N),

Four months gone and I still cannot believe you’re living in Paris. What a dream! I am really happy for you, dear. We have all agreed that a change of ambience could benefit you greatly, even if it means we won’t be able to enjoy your presence as much. Don’t make our great sacrifice of depriving us of your company be in vain. Remember you’re in the city of love, so you better not be glooming on your desk all day.

All jokes aside, please take care of yourself, (Y/N/N). I would be lying if I didn’t say I’m worried. Molly is worried. Even Ron – at times so daft and oblivious – is worried. Sleep well. Eat at regular times. Don’t overthink…too much. This whole poète maudit behaviour might be very fancy and bohemian, but it is, without a doubt, unhealthy. And we all want you – no, we need you – healthy and happy.

Lovely, I devoured your latest novel. It is an absolute hit. It feels so…so real, so visceral and heart-breaking. I cried thinking about how much of it is inspired by your real-life experiences. I have never met someone who experiences life the way you do, someone who has this way of conciliating the world through words. My heart goes to you, (Y/N), along with my admiration. I hope distance can mend your heart, so you can finally write some lighter poetry, like you did when we were children.

I am very busy with work, looking forward for a promotion over the next couple of weeks. With Ron we have also been talking about the possibility of having more children. As an only child, I would love my Rosie to grow up with someone by her side, although I must say she’s practically attached at the hip with Albus and Scorpius. However, I still cannot decide, you know? I feel like my ever-growing responsibilities at the ministry might get in the way of me giving my child – and potential other children – the attention they deserve. I do not think I could adapt as easily as Ginny did. She is doing great at her new post, by the way. But I do not see myself anywhere else. I know maternity is far removed from your reality right now, but I would love to know what you think about this. I already know Ginny’s perspective. I also talked about it with Molly and my own mom. I have read a couple of books as well.

Anyway, I will not bother you anymore. Please write back whenever you see fit. Do not isolate, (Y/N). We are all here for you. We miss you. We cannot wait for you to come. As soon as we have vacations, we will visit you as well. I am hoping for the day in which we can finally stroll together through all of those bookshops in Paris – muggle and magic.

Love,

‘Mione.  

tags: @fandomscombine @okaydraco @naomi02hook @iliketoast23 @hopplessdreamer @winnsmills @oldfashionedlovergirlsblog @animelover09556 @happycomb @xtrashmouthxtozierx 

[fangirl-screaming]

gündelik düşler fırtınası by canozan and damla eker radiates ASTRONOMICAL LEVELS of sullivatoro vibes

iN THIS POST I WILL...

...explain because why not? (i doubt that anyone who has a healthy amount of brain cells will actually read this but i want to try my chance)

here are the full lyrics if anyone wants to follow through the song as they listen because i'm only going to analyze bits and pieces of the song. recommend you listen to the song before reading this!!

also, before we begin, I have a few disclaimers:

i'm in no way, shape or form a professional translator.

translating song lyrics/poetry is harder than translating normal text. therefore, i may make grammatical mistakes and/or say stuff that doesn't really make sense in context of english. for that i'm sorry. but i'm trying my best so keep that in mind :)

like i said, translating poetry/song lyrics is HARD because there are idioms and expressions and words that don't have equivalents in both languages etc, so some of the "poignancy" may be lost/i may not be able to give The Feeling i want to give. i apologize for that as well :)

these are just my opinions, so of course you don't have to agree with them and i totally understand if you don't :)

pretty big spoilers for the whole series.

oKAY LETS GO!!!

☆

a) the song's melody!!

it's just so gentle yet bittersweet and whenever it comes up, my heart gets a little flutter because it's just. so. cute, yet so sad??? and there are no additional instruments; it's just a guitar and the voices of two people. i feel like those capture the tenderness and the strength of the "end of the world love" and the "young naive love" mix very well.

b) some of the lyrics!!!!

"sert konuş zaman geçmiyor başka türlü

içinden geçenleri korkma söyle"

those are the first two lines from the first verse, and they roughly translate to "talk harshly because time doesn't pass any other way/don't fear, say the things you keep inside"

uH HELLO???? this parallels june's habit of talking too harshly sometimes and the way jack still loves her despite that TOO WELL in my opinion.

"aynı rüyadayız biz, sen umursamasan da"

the first line from the chorus, roughly translates to "we're in the same dream, even if you don't care about it"

i'm pretty sure this is meant to be taken off more figuratively, but the finale of book 3 brings this A WHOLE NEW meaning. when rezzoch possessed jack and the rest of the gang went in his dream, THEY WERE IN THE SAME DREAM!

you can find the original/figurative message in this as well: you're not alone in this dream life. in the song, the two singers sing this together and i feel like this is a way of remarking the promises they give each other--that they will never leave the other one by themselves.

when jack went off to fight rezzoch, he left his friends behind. in the context of the song, i feel like this is june reassuring jack and saying that he's not alone in this dream/fight and she will always be by her side.

june really wants to find her parents, to the point that she's ready to leave her squad behind to go and look for them. throughout the whole show (and especially in book 3), jack promises june over and over again that they will eventually find her parents. he says that she's not alone in this dream/fight and he will always be by her side.

you see the parallels here?

"bırak gitsin, zaten saçmalar hepsi"

fourth line from the third verse, roughly translates to "let him/it go, they all talk nonsense anyway" (the reason i used multiple pronouns there is because Turkish doesn't have gendered pronouns and i couldn't figure out what to put lol)

this may be alluding to june comforting jack about thrull and his betrayal, telling him to "let go" of thrull/his rage at thrull and comforting him, saying that rezzoch and her followers "talk nonsense anyway".

"saçmalasam da ara sıra, iyiyimdir aslında

biraz kendini bana bırak"

the last 2 lyrics from the 4th verse, these roughly translate to "even though i babble sometimes, i'm good/let me take care of you for a while" (i'm not really sure about the last line because it's not the word-for-word translation, but the idiom used here is roughly the same meaning as this so i decided to use this one instead.)

even though the woman [damla eker] is singing this, i feel like this applies to jack more. he does babble a lot--which seems to annoy everyone at times--but he doesn't do it with bad intentions. in the song, [damla] sounds sounds like she's apologizing for it; which parallels jack again, since he has done throughout the series many times. and the "leave yourself to me" part can be because jack thinks june's pushing herself too much sometimes, and is offering to help her take care of herself.

"kader ağlarını ördü hiç sormadan"

first line from the fifth verse, roughly translates to "destiny spun its web without asking."

the apocalypse. neither of them asked for a monster apocalypse, yet here they are. though, they are together; they are ready to face the unforgiving new world, and none of them are going to leave each other's side.

☆

and wOW that was a VERY anticlimactic ending explanation.

anyway, if you've come this far and didn't lose any braincells along the way, thank you so so much for reading me ramble!!

also, if you liked this song, i really recommend checking canozan's other songs as well! honestly he's just super super underrated and even though you don't speak/understand, his songs are just as amazing.

and again, thank you so much for reading!! 💛

[callioope]

Questions Meme!

Hello, yes, this HAS in fact been sitting in my drafts for ages and ages. Thank you to both @crazy-fruit and @ruby-red-inky-blue for tagging me and for waiting forever for me to answer (oops)! I’m sorry I took so long, but y’all ask really good questions and I had to think about some of them!

Question Set 1

1. How are you?

Oh, I’m doing alright! Thank you for asking. The earlier part of this year was rather rough, but therapy has been helping. I’ve been rather busy these past few weeks with traveling, and my schedule going forward is rather busy, too, so while I’m excited for those things, I’m also excited for the eventual moment I can just relax.

2. What would you say are your talents?

Writing. Making fancy color-coded spreadsheets. I’ve been told that my super power is getting random (annoying) songs stuck in other people’s heads. Does that count as a talent? 

3. If you had the chance to start your life again, would you take it?

NOPE. No thanks. I like where I am at right now, and I would not want to relive my awkward years. Er, at least, my more awkward, younger years. Cuz I’m totally still awkward. Just less awkward. I hope?

4. Which language would you like to speak instantly? 

HMM. ALL OF THEM. It’s really hard to choose! 

Language fascinates me, and in another life I feel like I would have devoted a lot more time to learning more of them. Unfortunately, I really hated German class in high school because of the teacher’s tendency to put people on the spot -- I think that is sort of inherent in a language class, but I get anxiety speaking in public. 

Anyways, I suppose I’ll answer Turkish to this question, since spouse and I keep saying we’re going to try to learn Turkish via Duolingo. For the record, my HS offered six languages, which was the most I’ve ever heard of an American school offering, and I was always quite happy with my choice of German. (The others were Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese, and Latin.) I do wish I had maintained my German better, and I that I had more time to learn Spanish. 

5. Where would you like to be right now?

Honestly? I’m pretty happy when I’m at home. But if I had to answer where “else” would I like to be right now, out of the whole world? Being back on safari in Botswana is a top contender, as are a variety of places in Turkey, and also Munich. 

6. What name would you give yourself?

I’ve always liked my actual name (Elizabeth). I know I go by Liz; one of my HS friends was quite stubborn and I’m a bit stuck with it now, but I don’t mind it. There are worse nicknames that come from Elizabeth. I used to go by Fiona online; I’ve always been fond of that one. 

7. What is something you’re currently learning?

OOF, what a good question. I sorta blanked on this at first, and my first thought was uhhhh learning how to cope with my OCD??? I’m doing exposure therapy right now, ish. Emphasis on the ish. Also mindfulness. Does that really even count? I started a beginner’s knitting project several months ago that I never finished, does that count? (I just need to seam it, that’s what I’m putting off. I have knit plenty of scarves; however, this is my first hat.) I’m sort of teaching myself ukulele although I haven’t really learned any new chords or songs in awhile. I would very much like to take more photography classes with a focus on wildlife photography. That involves buying a new camera and... signing up for classes. 

Question Set 2

1. What is a detail in a piece of art/a text that you like that you really admire?

This was very difficult, at first because it was like looking at a bin full of loose things and just seeing an assortment of color and being overwhelmed by it all, and then because once I did start digging around, I kept finding different ideas and it was too hard too choose.

Character-building: In the A Song of Ice and Fire series, when Arya starts working for the House of Black and White, Martin stops using the name “Arya” as she dons different identities. For example, he uses “Cat” for a bit, among other names. It shows she’s trying to be someone else, but the caveat is that there are still little mannerisms and such that show she hasn’t really left Arya behind (I think maybe she bites her lip or something? I don’t remember specific examples because it’s been over 5 years since I read these books, but I do remember really appreciating the general technique at the time). 

Music: In The Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” I love those repeated arpeggios, over and over, building, intensifying, as the white noise comes in and you can just feel the heaviness of desire, of want... (and then I love how it just breaks so suddenly! And I know it wouldn’t have been intended this way because that’s the end of side one, but since I listen to the whole album on spotify, then those bright chords of “Here Comes the Sun” come in and god Abbey Road is the best Beatles album)

Writing: the poetry of Florence + The Machine’s “All This and Heaven Too,” obviously, since literally the title of my blog comes from that. I’d quote that whole song honestly. There’s something that speaks to me about the incapability of language to fully encompass just... everything. I mean, love in specific here, but also just everything. Words are just these little boats we put meaning on and we hope they make it to the other side but everyone takes ‘em a little differently. 

Like, look at this: 

And the words are all escaping, and coming back all damaged And I would put them back in poetry if I only knew how 

And this: 

Words were never so useful So I was screaming out a language that I never knew existed before

Anyways, there’s also something just incredibly soothing about the music, too, and how she sings the song. There’s another line, from Sara Bareilles’ “Miss Simone” that goes “How does she know what a heart sounds like?” which pretty much sums up how I feel about “All This and Heaven Too” (and also many of Sara Bareilles’ song, especially that particular album, but I digress).

Anyways I did have some art examples, but I think I’ve rambled long enough.

2. Is there an idea that you really liked but had to discard because you couldn’t get it to work?

If I really like an idea, I don’t really “discard” it so much as put it on the shelf to attempt later. Out of recent fic ideas, I’ve really struggled with “How to Lose a Spy in 10 Days.” I first thought of this in late spring 2017, and for awhile I couldn’t stop thinking about it, but I was working on Whatever I Do at the time, and wanted to wait before starting another WIP. By the time I got to writing this, the inspiration well had sort of dried up. 

I really like the idea of a fun cat-and-mouse rom-com idea where Jyn and Cassian keep outsmarting each other, with a whole lot of competency kink, some “oh shit we actually work well together!” and maybe some battle couple. And I was really looking forward to both the moment when they both finally let their guards down around each other and the big confrontation when they actually find out each other’s identities. But it involved more mission writing than I was prepared for, and I really struggled with it. I think I need to start over but that involves a lot of working, so it’s unfortunately shelved for now, and I’m working on a “You’ve Got Mail” concept instead.

3. Is there something fandom-related you would like to be able to do (i.e. I’d like to be able to make gif sets but can’t)?

Oh, yes, absolutely! Really anything that’s not writing related, lol. Gif sets, art, etc. But most of all, I have a music video idea for the song “So Close” from Enchanted--like I have a whole story board plotted out in a google doc. But I don’t have any video editing software, don’t even know how you get the scenes for a music video, etc. I have made videos before, but not since high school, and I don’t even have the cheap, basic video editing program I used back then. Sometimes I think I should just attempt make a gif set instead, but there are so many lyrics! and scenes that go with the lyrics! that I don’t know how to consolidate it into that format anyways. 

4. What is a skill you’ve acquired through fandom work?

Hmm, this was tough. I’m going to say HTML. I’m not up-to-date on webdesign at all, but back in my early fandom days, I ran a few fansites. I still sometimes use HTML while leaving comments or to edit posts on dreamwidth or w/e. It’s super basic, but it has helped me at work at a variety of jobs. I take it for granted that people my age should know basic HTML, but a lot of them don’t, and then a lot of people I work with now are older and definitely not tech savvy. 

5. Do you think anyone can learn to create great art, or does it take talent?

Well, I’m going to cheat a little. I do think think that anyone can learn to create great art, but I also think that everyone has a talent at something, and part of learning to create great art is recognizing your skill sets and honing those. If that makes sense? I’ve sort of seen both sides to this. I’ve seen naturally talented people create great things, but I also think that they’re probably cheating themselves if they’re not learning and honing their craft and trying to get better. But I’ve also seen people who started out making things that maybe you wouldn’t call great, but they worked hard over and over again, and looking at their work now, you’d say they were talented without ever knowing the difference. Great art = talent + learning + passion. Did that even answer the question? ...moving on

6. Do you prefer AUs or in-universe? Why?

I prefer to write in-universe, for sure. I find modern AUs more challenging, mostly because--and I feel kinda bad saying this--it’s very difficult for me to tap into Jyn and Cassian’s characters without some kind of tragic background. Their experiences and how they coped with them shape their personalities, and it’s really hard to separate them from those. My WWII was easier because, hey, it’s war, not so different from in-verse. But I initially tried to write Learning Curve in a modern AU and I was just totally bored. Putting it in universe made it more interesting to me, especially having to finagle a happier plot inverse. IDK, it might even be that I generally struggle to make up any conflict in modern AUs that feels interesting.

THAT SAID, lol, I definitely read either. So it’s probably strange for me to be hung up on it because I’ve read nice fluffy modern AUs and found them perfectly engaging.

Tagging: @theputterer, @magalis, @allatariel, @mythologicalmango, @threadsketchier  MY USUAL DISCLAIMER APPLIES: no pressure if you just don’t wanna, AND if anyone sees this and was like “aw hey i wish she’d tagged ME” well guess what, I wish I did too! so go ahead and do it and let me know and then i’ll know to tag you next time, too :-) 

Questions:

When you suffer a setback or a series of setbacks when creating (writing, drawing, knitting, any kind of crafty project thing you work on... even work), what are some strategies you use to cope with that stress and move forward?

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to create/make and what did you learn from it?

What part of a bicycle would you be?

What’s a helpful writing (art/crafting/work) technique you’ve learned?

What’s a piece of art that made you see things differently?

You’re a new addition to the crayon box. What color would you be and why?

What was the last board game you played and what did you like or not like about it?

*sorry these came out rather writer heavy!

[gellavonhamster]

Hi! Sorry if I’m bothering you, but I was wandering if you could recommend (if you feel like it, obviously) some lesser-known Russian books. Maybe some not-world-famous classics, or just some books you like? Thanks in advance

Hi! And don’t worry, you’re not bothering me in the slightest - I am always glad to be aggressively Russian on main :D I’m afraid I haven’t been reading that many Russian books lately (and not as much as I probably ought to), so this will probably be a pretty basic list… anyway, here are some book recs:

anything by Nikolai Gogol. I feel his like books could be counted as lesser-known Russian classics because it seems to me that outside of Russia/post-Soviet countries it’s mostly Tolstoy this and Dostoevsky that. My favourite is Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka - a collection of short stories set in Ukraine in XVII-XIX centuries and inspired by local folklore. Some of the stories are scary, some are hilarious, but all of them are very poetic and an absolute joy to read. His novella Viy is also creepy and beautiful (and its screen adaptation is sometimes called one of the first Soviet horror movies). And his plays are also great and clever and funny - The Government Inspector might be my favourite, but the rest are excellent too

The White Guard and A Young Doctor’s Notebook by Mikhail Bulgakov - the first one is about the life of a family in 1918 against the backdrop of the Civil War, and the second one is, well, exactly what it says on the tin: stories about the experiences of a young doctor in a small village at the beginning of the XX century. Everyone knows The Master and Margarita, and the fame of this novel is well-deserved, but I personally find these Bulgakov’s books just as excellent

literally any short story by Anton Chekhov, you can’t go wrong with these, all of them are pure gold and so witty and funny

if you love poetry, the Silver Age (late XIX-early XX centuries) is your friend. My all-time faves are Vladimir Mayakovsky and Marina Tsvetaeva but honestly, most of the poets of this period are amazing, I only dislike Igor Severyanin 

not sure if The Dawns Here Are Quiet by Boris Vasilyev is translated into English but I simply have to recommend it because it’s an incredibly moving book about women soldiers in WW2 and it will break your heart

I haven’t read any contemporary Russian literature for ages but iirc Dina Rubina’s books are pretty great

if you’re in a mood for something more lighthearted, try Boris Akunin’s detective novels about Erast Fandorin. They could hardly be called Great Literature, and like it often happens with long book series, the latest ones are meh, but everything up to and including The Diamond Chariot is quite good, in my opinion, and definitely entertaining. The setting is the XIX century, the main character is basically a Gary Stu tragic mixture of Sherlock Holmes and James Bond, there are murders, mysteries, spying and what not. The Turkish Gambit and She-Lover of Death are probably my favourite. Be prepared for the love interests changing with every book though, also the Bechdel test what? In other words, these are, like. Not great. But still a lot of fun

This must be all I could think of off the top of my head. Russian followers, feel free to add your recs!