#because it wasn't translated in ukrainian

[forestanomaly]

Posting nice stuff I drawn this year untill I caught up with today, day five

Parallels between Hollyleaf and Feathertail live rent-free in my head. Both of them are tied to Crowfeather, both were or supposed to be a part of the prophecies that had gone wrong for them in some way. Both are half-clan kits. Both died sacrificing themselves to protect others.

[dontforgetukraine]

"In response to attacks and accusations being directed at our film, 'Russains at War,' and myiself, I want to be clear that this Canada-France co-production is an anti-war film made atg great risk to all involved, myself especially. I unequivocally believe that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is unjustified, illegal and acknowledge the validity of the International Criminal Court investigation of war crimes in Ukraine. The suggestion that our film is propaganda is ludicrous given that I'm now at risk of criminal prosecution in Russia. I also understand and empathize with the pain and anger that the subject matter may provoke in those who have suffered from this conflict. My mother emigrated to Canada, from Russia, so that we could live in a country that is devoted to freedom of expression and human rights. My hope is that our film can be assessed and discussed based on its scope and not agendas and assumptions beyond its frame, and that ultimately such discussions contribute to the war's end." —Anastasia Trofimova, Director/Producer, Russians at War (Source)

Bullshit. She's a director and producer for RT with most if not all of her films funded by RT. I guess she apparently wasn't vetted by the Canada-France co-producers.

Even if promoting Russian propaganda wasn't her intention, it can't be separated from the content. The damn trailer has soldiers saying propaganda narratives in it. (Kyiv Independent)

"Russia and Ukraine have always been inseparable. I miss the brotherly Union" reinforces the false narrative that Ukraine cannot exist as an independent state, that Russia and Ukrainian history are inseparable. Even Putin has said similar things.

“I came (to war) today so that my kids don’t go tomorrow,” conveying the belief that their military aggression in Ukraine is somehow just.

"An order was given. We went." Ah, yes, I was just following orders. Where have we heard that one before, I wonder. Not only that, it reinforces the narrative that ordinary Russians are powerless and blameless in this conflict. This isn't their war, but Putin's war. Fuck that. We know many sign up willingly such as for the money or a clean slate if they are a convict.

You can't separate the propaganda ordinary russians have been stewing in for decades and don't fight back against from this film, sweetheart. It's part of the damned context and you don't get to ignore that. Either she actually realizes that but doesn't want to say it, or she's a useful idiot. It doesn't matter which, because the result is the same.

"The fog of war is so thick that you can't see the human stories its made of."

Yes we can! This isn't the era of WW2. We can see it on Telegram! All the war crimes that are willingly committed and recorded and posted pridefully! All the ethnic slurs said to Ukrainians! All the interviews between journalists and POWs. The translations by volunteer translators showing what "ordinary Russians" on the street actually think about Ukrainians and the war. Even what the families of russian soldiers think. Never before have these stories been more accessible. That's not agendas or assumptions.

We. Can. See. It.

Just because you don't like what's in the information space doesn't mean it's not supremely relevant to the topic you're trying to shape into a narrative.

[dann-art]

I know that vampire chronicles aren't meant to be historical accurate. Like you read this and you know that all this events can happen in literally any time and space. Like really. The times doesn't really matter there, there are no nuances.

Listen, I'm not a historian, by any means. It's just like a hobby, but I have millions of them so I don't even learn that much.

Also I usually don't give a shit about accuracy in media, like whatever, until it's science do what you want, whatever suits your story

But sometimes it's time to say enough is enough.

So, we need to talk about Armands origin in Kievan Rus'. Okay, that's cool, we don't really explore it, but well whatever, at least we're not messing this up, right? Right?

While I was reading I ignored it. I was reading TVA in polish translation I thought like okay, names and nuances probably got lost in translation. It's a really bad translation tho.

But out of curiosity today I opened the book in English, because this was sticking in my head.

And it appears it wasn't translators fault.

So well, it's like kinda huge mistake. Like no one really checked it? But this book constantly claims that like Kievan Rus' was then in Russia. And suprise, suprise: that's simply not true. Well the term is kinda not right and can mean anything, like back it existed as state it was huge, but (judging on the mention of Kiev itself) that it was like somewhere in that area.

So I'll spare whole history, it's not relevant. We're stop around 1480's, when Armand was born (based on my calculations). And in that time the region was called Kiev Voivodeship (hope I got it right in english), and it was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and stayed there until 1569, when it passed to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (when the Polish-lithuanian commonwealth was created, but both countries were in union since early XV century)

So in the book we have some lines like this

Armand, bestie, I don't know how to break it to you, you're not russian. You never were. You've never lived in Russia (or back then I would use rather the name Moscow, but again I'm not a historian). More of a Ukrainian if so, but also not the world I would use. Most accurate would be rusyn (I think, or ruthenian???? I'm not sure how it works in English, anyway not russian).

Then we have this, and well... Oh boy. Something went really wrong with geography here. First of all, you've never been to Russia (or better say Principality of Moscow, like it wasn't even called Russia, from what I know, but i might be wrong).

So okay, Moscow and Novgorod were in part of Moscow indeed but Cracow!?!?!?? (Known also as my absolutely favourite city in the world). Like Cracow like Never ever has been a part of Russia. Okay, I get confusion with Kiev if you really really don't care about basic research. But Cracow???

Here's the map. Unfortunately it like administrative of Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth in 1619, but well you'll see my point. That doesn't make any sense

Cracow always was polish. Like it's our second capital. And look how far from Russia it is. Even during the partitions it goes to Austria not Russia.

Last thing I want to point out is this one

Like, man, maybe you speak russian, I do not doubt, like during travel to Moscow you could learn I guess.

I'm not entirely sure, but I guess the language there is ruthenian not russian. Like ruthenian is old language which is base for slavic languages such as Belarusian or Ukrainian. And what is also important it was not the language used in the Principality of Moscow, so it's definitely not russian.

Okay, thanks for reading if anyone is still there. I won't bore you any longer. It just was sitting in my head and I had to throw it out because we'll, basic research I guess.

[nadiajustbe]

Quick question because I don't remember castle in the sky: is it specified that Lettie gave birth to the kid? Or it could be very well some crazy kinda plot in which this random kid appears in the lives of the three (justiman and Lettie) and now they have to navigate raising a kid while defeating all society expectancies of non biological child/Lettie and Ben are not really together/Justin and Ben are so gay/Lettie wants to be an independent witch/ what the hell is going on? Because god I'd read a magic comedy with this plot I love people who are not on love and who were not supposed to be devoting parents suddenly having to raise a child without getting together in the end (+ Justin of course the poor boy)

Thanks for the question, you're always welcome!!

Unfortunately, it was specified, even a bit too much to describe, that Lettie gave birth to a child. In fact, when we first see her and Ben in chapter fifteen, she's pregnant. Wich actually a bit concerning because CITA happened exactly one year after the first book (as Morgan, Howl and Sophie's son, is born somewhere in the middle of CITA and he's known to be two in HoMW, time difference between wich and HMC is stated to be three years) and Lettie was seventeen in HMC as she's stated to be one year younger that Sophie who is most likely eighteen there. And that is... not the best math possible, actually.

(also that's probably my personal preference but this scene is so "not it" to be lmao, like that's probably because of the smallest amount of development their pairing had, but it's just feels unrealistic or staged for unknown reason, for me at least)

This moment is stated in the end of the book and is just...there. The only fun joke it leads to is Sophie saying "she knew she was bound to be an aunt" wich is, she is.

(Although with Martha wanting ten kinds and Neil and Mari being technically a part of her family it's strangely hilarious she thought she WASN'T bound to be an aunt?)

The child doesn't even have a name, just being called "a girl with no ill effects at all" and, unlike Morgan, born about the same time, doesn't have any other mentions in the series, at all. The reason for her existence is a mystery for me. There's no plot/practical reason except for "they had a child, cool!"/nonneg

AND THE CONCEPT YOU OFFERED IS SO MUCH BETTER!!

This is something really DWJ-like in this absolutely random group of people having to raise a child no one planned would exist. And probably the only way I'd imagine Lettie being a mother or a wife (I should make a separate post about Lettie honestly I love her so much). She didn't want to be there, but that's what happens when you randomly decided to marry a Royal Wizard for a "why not' reason.

And, according to Ukrainian translation of HMC that described Ben and Justin as "inseparable" (in original it just said "great buddies" wich is also funny but not that much😔) you kinda you get Justin complete with Ben. Just like Sophie and Howl, two-in-one exclusive offer!

As I said that's all Hatter sisters do — defeating social expectations.

(Justin and Ben are really gay I guess If you're not random Ingarian citizen you can clearly see it lol)

Also this lines up with my little concept of Justing running from married life (yes he got married in CITA. Don't ask me how, that was... rather odd, especially because he run from the same marriage canonically a couple of weeks before it happened) and just having to stay with Ben because the Kind would have just destroyed him If he'd returned to the palace. And so they have to just... live together even though Lettie is not the part of the club, she just wants to learn witchcraft in peace.

And now there's a child absolutely announced. And no one can explain how. Or why.

Yeah, I would pay to read that. Probably even write myself.

[selfaware-bungou-stray-dogs]

So, I was wondering what if there was a language barrier between reader and the BSD Cast...what would the charecters do?

Like reader speaks a language that none of the charecters speak.. for example Korean, Chinese or like Malay ...

This isn't a request it is more like a question..

Also, is it ok to write fanfiction about this AU? With credits ofc .

Hello!

Of course, it's okay to write fanfiction on this AU! I will be happy to read it. 😊

And to the languages

Self-Aware! BSD. World Building. Languages

I was planning to add this one even before I got the question.

Warning: English is my second language.

There are two types of languages, that characters can speak.

First - Cannon language.

Language, that character must speak, based on cannon information, or have a huge chance to know, despite not having any evidence in cannon.

What does it means?

Based on cannon information:

It means, that character from Japan will know Japanese (ADA, Port Mafia, Government, Hunting Dogs...)

Characters from America/England will know English (The Guild, Bram Stoker)

Characters from Russia will know Russian (Rats in the house of the dead, Nikolai Gogol /I will return to him in a moment/)

Japanese language is also 'universal' language, all characters knew Japanese.

Have a huge chance to know:

Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud knew French, because, canonically, they are from France.

Nikolai Gogol knew both Ukrainian and Russian, because real-life Gogol knew both of these languages and were raised, hearing these languages.

But! Languages, that real-life authors learned, aren't familiar to Characters.

RL! Nikolai Gogol could speak French, but BSD! Gogol can't, because it wasn't shown in canon.

To sum up, Characters can speak languages, that they spoke in manga/anime and their real-life prototypes learn since birth.

_____

Second - 'Sponge' languages.

Languages, that Characters... 'absorbed'.

What does it mean?

It means, that characters will absorb the language you read manga/LN on, and dub/sub of the anime.

Also, BSD Mayoi are available in English/Japanese/Korean/Chinese.

So, if you watch anime on Japanese with Korean subs, read manga on Chinese and light novels on Malay, characters will know these four languages.

Doesn't matter, how official dub/sub or LN/Manga translations, characters will absorb the language.

____

And if there are no dub/sub or translation on Reader's language?

BSD Characters will find online lessons, when they gain access to Internet search.

And, they won't try to travel into the real world until they can speak Reader's language fluently.

[ohsalome]

your post reminded me how people on here tried to gotcha on the idea that ukrainians are inherently racist because of the issue with black ukrainian people fleeing and they tried to pin it on ukraine itself when it was literally just poland who didn't want to take them

Mhm, from what I remember, the problem came from the fact that during the first days the evacuation trains were prioritising women, children, elderly and disabled over men. + Not all foreign students are fluent in ukrainian, and not all ukrainian railroad workers are fluent in english. This created a miscommunication issue, where the railroad management failed to explain the students what to do and where to go.

If you've been here, you know what kind of chaos happened during those time period. The tension was fucking high. Everyone was in the survival mode. The infrastructure wasn't prepared to a full-scale war. A lot of mistakes happened on all levels of management.

The people who were in panic and jumping to the worse conclusions (based on their lifelong experience of racism) were given the platform by russian propaganda machine; and those who understood the language a bit better and were explained the priority of saving women and children first, didn't. If you have time and inspiration to bother with translation, here is an artice from March 2022 that includes quotes from both sides of the story.

We need to admit that this event was bad. A lot of people were hurt. But it wasn't a specific campaign targeted at black people. Yet russian propagandists and their lap dogs turned it into an anti-ukrainian smear campaign.

additional rant below

It's sad how easily westerners are ready to eat up anti-ukrainian propaganda, even when it comes from people who sent their mercenaries to commit war crimes in Africa. Y'all really think russia is a reliable source to learn about racism? Really? Ukraine has a black politician, we were represented by black artists in Eurovision twice - by popular vote! - and in russia, people bully brands who use black models in their advertisement into withdrowing the ad and apologising for hurting the feelings of consumers. I know this comparison sounds pathetic, especially if you're from a country with large black population, but keep in mind that we didn't partake in the transantlantic slave trade route, and yet we still do better than russia which has thrice the population we do.

People who don't speak russian don't have a clue about how racist their society is. If you know those fringe internet guys who scream about culture war and throw tantrums about black disney mermaids - this is literally the status quo of russian culture. And THESE are the people westerners have decided to trust on their word in questions of racism?? Really?

No matter how many times we disprove those "ukrainians are racist because we didn't allow black people to evacuate burr burr" claims with facts, they still come up. The rebuttals were there immediately. Yet 2 years later, I still get lectured by usamerican tweens about how all ukrainians are racist by birthright because "i googled ukraine racism and a russia today article told me it was so"

[gryficowa]

Yesterday (on one Polish platform for posting and watching videos) there was a comment from a Ukrainian Jew (Ok, it wasn't a problem, for context, I used Google translate, because unfortunately I don't know Cecylia, so well, that's how I know that the Ukrainian was a Jew, so it's probably the context), so I read it, everything is normal until when the sentence "Arabs crucified Jesus" appeared, it made me delete the entire comment, it's just such a lie, fuck it

No, it wasn't Arabs who crucified Jesus, it was Jews, I don't know what kind of brainwashing you went through, but it must have been strong

If it turns out that Zionists also believe in this, it will explain a lot, but I don't have such information, so it's just speculation, but it doesn't change the fact that it was the biggest nonsense I've ever read, and I'm a fucking agnostic

I didn't make SS because I don't do them much on this website

Yes, it's about this page

(Oh shit, this website is from 2003, so it came out a year before YouTube, LMAO)

But yes, it was quite strange, I can understand a Ukrainian who is a Jew on a niche Polish website, but talking about those Arabs who crucified Jesus is too much

[walrus150915]

Why the kingdom in "Nimona" doesn't have a name: a possible explanation from a literature nerd student

Hey! So, I know nobody has probably thought about why the kingdom in which "Nimona" plot takes place in doesn't have a name, but I, as a person who likes to overanalyze stuff, was wondering about it. Like, it's the name of THE REALM. Why is it nameless? Was this information left out on purpose? Were the creators just lazy?

What if I told you that there's meaning behind it, and it's much deeper than you can imagine? Let's unpack that!

FYI, I'm a literature student who likes to nerd out about things I've studied. Also I'm from russia, so the examples I'm gonna talk about are from my curriculum.

(Have to warn you tho - there will be a mention of Mikola Gogol, who was Ukrainian yet lived in russian empire, don't assume he's russian)

Towns without names are a common trope in the satirical genre of literature. Examples: "The Government Inspector", "Dead souls" by Gogol, "The history of one town" by Saltykov-Shedrin and uhhh literally any short story by Chekhov. Instead of placing the story in a one specific town, writers use "Gorod 'N' " (which literally translates to "Town 'N' ") or don't name it at all.

The reason?

Comedy and satire were often used to mock the government, rich privileged people, people's conservative mindset or all of the above.

Example: in the comedy "The Government Inspector" by Mikola Gogol, the main character Khlestakov is confused to be a, well, government inspector. Mayor and other people in the government try to pander to him and show that honest people rule the town. Shenanigans ensue

It wasn't given a specific name because "The Government Inspector" is a commentary on the government in general. Something something people in power always end up corrupted something something capitalism bad something something Mikola was a real baddie for writing this in the times of tsar russia.

Now. What does a story written by an asexual author like 200 years ago has to do with a queer masterpiece that "Nimona" is?

The whole story is about how prejudice is taught, how people fear something they don't immediately understand.

The kingdom doesn't have a name because it doesn't need one; it's a commentary on the system in general.

It's nameless because everyone all across the world can recognize the issues "Nimona" brings up, bc uhhh we live in the world where everything considered abnormal is considered dangerous and how we need to question everything we've been taught, because, in Ambrosius's words, "What if we're wrong? What if we've always been wrong?"

(Also maybe because kingdoms in fairytales don't have names ("Far far away" typa stuff), but what do I know)

It took longer than it should have but ermmmmm yeah!!! I hope you liked this analysis of something not many people think about!!!!!!

Remember: fight the system, break stuff, live your truth and respect "Nimona" for being a queer household classic :D

[thisonesatellite]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by the amazing and infinitely talented @voylitscope. Thank you so much! 💕💕💕

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

37.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

607,929

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now primarily stucky /MCU.

i got started with CS /OUAT (which i no longer write for), and have also ventured into dramione /HP (where i will go again as soon as i have some time).

i also wrote one Leverage fic, which --- guys, i don't know what happened there. It just knocked on my door and demanded to be written. 🤷‍♀️

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

This is interesting. i would have thought the OUAT fics would grab all top 5 spots, because they've been around the longest, but actually---

we build our lives out of chaos and hope - dramione

Burn To Shine - stucky

The Unexpected Life - CS

break me - CS

if you live by the word, you die by the pen - CS

If you're counting by fandom, well -- i mean, i have exactly five stucky fics so far. That's the top five right there. 😂 (There will be more soon, and then we can see who grabs the brass rings.)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

ALWAYS. Always always always. i love comments. They make my day.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

OK. Like. i don't write angsty endings, OK? i may or may not put my characters through the fucking wringer during a fic, but i ALWAYS HEA them, you feel me.

Having said that, i think militae species amor est (CS) is the one with the least openly stated fluff at the end. (Then again, the title is a quote i ripped off Ovid which means "love is a kind of warfare". Take from that what you will. 😂)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Uh, all of them? i happy end HARD, ok?

If you're going to make me pick, for stucky it's probably a tie between Burn To Shine and a handful of dust. (So far. There will be others.)

For all of my fic across fandoms, it's everybody knows (CS). Which is also by far the most complex emotional character arcs for an OTP i've ever wrapped around an impossibly complicated plot line. And angst abounded here. Such abounding. The ending had to make up for it and consequently will rot every last one of your teeth.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not so far. i once had someone tell me in great detail why they didn't like my writing style, but while i did wonder why they bothered to read my fic in the first place if my style wasn't for them, i don't count it as hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Ah. The eternal question. No, i don't. i don't know how. i don't think there's anything wrong with smut at all, but i can't write it.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

i don't write crossovers. Lots of AUs, but no crossovers. i don't like to cross the streams. 😂

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that i know of, knock on wood.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! My lovely and wonderful friend @mariakov81 translated her birthday fic ad extremum terrae into Ukrainian. i may have cried when she told me.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes. The Sword and The Heart - with the amazing and talented @ohmightydevviepuu. It was one of the hardest and yet one of the most rewarding experiences of my writing life and i strongly recommend the process to every writer out there. The things you will learn about yourself and your writing are immeasurable, and you will emerge a better writer for it.

Also, it was so much fun.

(All the credit here goes to @ohmightydevviepuu, whose patience was infinite every time i went and did A Thing with the plot and the characters. She is the reason we have a fic at all.)

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

i think stucky will always have a place in my heart. (So will many others, some of which i don't even write for, but stucky is my fave, i think.)

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

None. i am a very linear writer. i write one fic at a time. Therefore i never have any additional WIPs cooking, and so i do finish everything i start.

i know. So annoying. 😂

16. What are your writing strengths?

Character development, realistic dialogue, action. (Also probably plot underpinned by emotion. While i'm patting myself on the back here.)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

SMUT. i cannot write it (as stated above). Which means there will always be a sense of the explicit lacking in my fic, and i'm sorry for that. But i can't change it.

And certain popular tropes--- some of them perennial favorites--- do nothing for me, so i am also unable to write them.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i have utilized the fact that i speak more than one language, and have several good friends who speak other languages, in some of my stucky fics. But i will say that sometimes it's hard to keep true to the characters in a different language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Once Upon A Time (OUAT). It's the one that started it all. i was never going to write, you know. And then, one day, i--- did.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

OMG. You're going to make me choose? Between all the blood, toil, tears, and sweat on every page? Yes, i'm being dramatic.

My favorite fic (IF i HAVE TO PICK ONE) is probably we kill the flame (CS). It plays in my favorite sandbox -- cyberpunk dystopia -- and i built an entire world for it. In painstaking detail.

My favorite stucky (so far) is probably despite all my rage - for much the same reasons: World building and cyberpunk dystopia. Also because it has my favorite Sam and Clint.

Honorable mention has to go to Burn To Shine (stucky), which introduced me to the pure and unadulterated fun that is Grumpy!Bucky (who is now my favorite chew toy), as well as the disaster muppet combo that is Scott and Clint, and we build our lives out of chaos and hope (dramione), because i went on a thinly-veiled political tear halfway through it and still cannot believe i got away with it.

.

Absolutely zero pressure tags for @sparkagrace , @cable-knit-sweater, @buckybarnesdeservestobehappy, @wistfulcynic, @ohmightydevviepuu, and @mxaether 💕

[minetteskvareninova]

Republic Of Many Nations - Historical Opportunity for Central/Eastern Europe?

(This is a translation of an exhibition created with the cooperation of multiple Slovak and Polish institutions for the study of history that hanged in the corridors of University of Prešov in late 2023. Consider this an introduction to Rzeczpospolita for all my 1670 girlies. It's heavily biased in favor of Rzeczpospolita, luckily in ways that are neither subtle, nor do they detract from its informational value. I am leaving out most of the pictures and the commentary under them, as well as the quotes included - simply because I couldn't fit them into the format of a tumblr article. The notes bellow in [] brackets are mine, the rest of the text is from the exhibition itself, and the pictures, or something close to them - like the same building from a different angle - appeared on the exhibition panels as well. Commentary on the pictures is also from the exhibition.)

***

Did you know that from the end of the 14th century untill the end of the 18th century a unique republic existed in what is now Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus, which was the biggest state in Europe and which wasn't founded by military expansion, but by a peaceful alliance of Kingdom of Poland and Grandduchy of Lithuania? This republic gradually fell to the pressure of surrounding absolutist monarchies led by the Tsardom of Muscovy [1], but its legacy persists in the ethos of civil liberties, democratic participation and diversity. Legacy of this republic has become a part of the identity of nations in the Middle/Eastern Europe, which for more than two centuries resisted Russian imperial rule and which cling to these values to this day.

1.) REPUBLIC OF MANY NATIONS The beginings of the "republic of many nations" can be traced to the year 1385, when the hand of Jadwiga, heir to the Polish throne, was offered to Jogaila, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, with the stipulation that he should become a Christian. When Jogaila ascended the throne of Poland as Władisław II. Jagiełło, it created a dynastic link between Poland and Grandduchy of Lithuania, which besides Lithuania consisted of lands in today's Belarus and Ukraine. When on the 1st of July 1569 in the Lublin Castle Polish nobility agreed to extend their privileges to the Lithuanian nobility in exchange for Lithuania ceding large territories to the Polish crown, an agreement was born, on the basis of which a dynastic union transformed into a commonwealth, now called Rzeczpospolita, i.e. The Republic. Though initially the union of these polities was motivated by the existence of common enemies - the Teutonic Order and later Russia - the strongest bond between them turned out to be the unique arrangement established by the Polish and Lithuanian representatives. The "Republic" in the name of this polity was supposed to demonstrate that the Commonwealth would be ruled by its noble citizens regardless of whether their mother tongue was Polish, Lithuanian or Ruthenian (common ancestor of Rusyn, Belarussian and Ukrainian). Though Republic was for hundreds of years plagued by numerous internal issues, and by the end of the 18th century it was destroyed by the aggression of its neighbours, in 1791 citizens managed to approve a unique document - Constitution of 3 May 1791, now considered the first modern constitution in Europe...

2.) STORY OF THE CROWN AND THE GRANDDUCHY Even after the Union of Lublin, the Polish Crown and Grandduchy of Lithuania were still separate states, just like they used to be for hundreds of years before that. After all, the rulers of Poland had their own archbishopric and royal title since the early 11th century, struggling for power against the likes of Přemyslids, while the grand dukes of Lithuania, attempting to revive the legacy of Kievan Rus', still hesitated whether to accept baptism from Rome or Constantinople. While many of the differences between them disappeared after the creation of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as the Lithuanian estates adopted the lifestyles of Polish nobility, the grandduchy continued to have their own legislature in the form of so-called Lithuanian Statutes, as well as their own army and finance, and a strong sense of self-determination. However, the connection between Lithuanian and Polish society was very strong - in October 1791, shortly before the final occupation of the Republic by the Prussians, Russians and Austrians both Polish and Lithuanian representatives agreed upon The Mutual Vow Of Both Nations [2], in which they promised that the story of Rzeczpospolita should continue in perpetuity as an indelible federation of the two countries...

3.) THE STORY OF UKRAINE: A MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR THE REPULIC? While its name points to a country "somewhere on the edge", Ukraine was a tempting target for many powers since the Middle Ages. After the fall of Mongolian Golden Horde in the 14th century, it was, as the former core of Kievan Rus' added to Lithuania, which presented itself as a continuation of this great Kievan empire. In this way, Lithuania came into the crosshairs of Muscovy, which held similar aspirations. After 1569 the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania, which in many ways respected the distinct Ukrainian identity and unlike Moscow didn't consider it to be just a branch of the Russian nation, became its protector from the Muscovite incursion into Ukraine. Even the Polish-Lithuanian nobility living in Ukraine identified and called themselves "Ruthenians", and Grand Duchy of Lithuania used so-called Ruthenian as its official language. Cossacks living in the Wild Fields in the Dnipro river basin, who on the one hand didn't accept the autority of Polish-Lithuanian nobility, on the other hand helped to safeguard the borders of Rzeczpospolita from Moscow and the Ottomans, were also bearers of the sovereign Ukrainian identity. In the middle of the 17th century dissatisfaction of the Cossacks with certain magnates and issues of religion grew into the bloody uprising of hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, who in 1654 turned to the Muscovite tsar [1] with a plea for protection. However, among the Cossacks, critical voices towards Moscow could also be heard, especially the voice of Ivan Vyhovsky, who in 1658 made a deal with the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania about its transformation into the Republic of Three Nations with a coequal position of the Grand Duchy of Russia [3] and orthodoxy. Because of the opposition from a portion of nobility, Cossacks and Moscow, the agreement never went into effect, and thus both the Republic and Ukraine missed their historic chance...

4.) KING IS THE FIRST AMONG US, THE FIRST AMONG EQUALS The creation of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was also a key flashpoint for the transformation of royal power. Since Polish king Sigismund II. August, who thanks to the Union of Lublin became the ruler of Rzeczpospolita, died in 1572 without issue, Polish-Lithuanian nobility in accordance with the original agreement established the viritim election principle, according to which every noble present could elect their own king on special convocational sejms (diets). Ruler elected in this manner had to confirm noble privileges trough the so-called Henrician Articles and a collection of vows Pacta Conventa. Ruler's political power was thus perpetually subject to the rule of law (lex regnat non rex), and if the nobility deemed the ruler's actions unlawful, they could in the case of an emergency even call up a confederation and declare armed resistance. Thus, from then on until the acceptance of Constitution of 3 May 1791, the election of Polish-Lithuanian monarch became subject to the interests of foreign dynasties and local magnate houses. In the 18th century, an era during which the surrounding countries mostly adopted absolutism, the weakness of royal power came to be seen as the fundamental reason for the political decline of the Republic.

5.) NOT A MONARCHY, NOR AN ARISTOCRACY, NOR A DEMOCRACY The name Rzeczpospolita (the Republic) wasn't chosen for the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania by accident. Polish-Lithuanian nobility actually believed that their country can revive the lost ancient legacy of the just polities, and so they considered their Rzeczpospolita, to which they had given the epithet "most serene" [2], to be the third real republic in human history (after the Roman and Venetian ones). Members of the Polish nobility, who were convinced that the noble station brings with itself the duty of civic virtues, thus positioned themselves as the new Aristotles, and considered the so-called mixed constitution, which combined virtues of the monarchy, aristocracy and rule of the people, to be the best way to organize the state. Power in Rzeczpospolita was thus divided between the elected king, the Senate consisting of highest state officials, and a chamber of noble-born representatives, who could use the later infamous liberum veto [4], or the right of individual protest, which especially in the 18th century severely hampered the flexibility of the Republic. However, in the Republic, a specific form of political decisionmaking wasn't practiced only by the parliament of nobles. In Ukraine, the Zaporozhian Cossacks created a very peculiar form of military democracy. In their fortified camps (sietches [2]) the sietch councils formed by direct election, and they in turn elected their military commanders (atamans) and government officials, made decisions about war and piece, economic policy, even legal judgements.

6.) DIFFERENT FAITHS LIVE TOGETHER WITHOUT NEED FOR BORDERS Calling the ancient Republic "Polish" might be misleading, because today the epithet "Polish" is tied mostly to the ethnic nation. However, since in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the nation was the nobility, which based its honour on citizen loyalty towards the common polity inspired by antiquity, the noble "nation" at the time included all members of the class no matter the country they were born in, language they spoke, or the faith they professed. That's why, concerning the question of self-perception in the period, we often see the phrase "I am of the Polish nation, but of Ruthenian birth." This citizenship-based definition of Polish identity was closely related to the unprecedented religious tolerance, as codified in 1573 by the so-called Warsaw Confederation. The fact that the noble "nation" included not only Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, Uniates and Orthodox Christians, but Mennonites and Arians, led to Rzeczpospolita being called "a state without stacks", because the foreigners there didn't end up burned at a stake, but finding a refuge. However, in the 18th century, this fragile coexistence of different denominations was severely disturbed, because the neighbouring great powers loved to use the rights of religious minorities for their own ends. In the 3 May 1791 constitution, all faiths were thus tolerated, but the Catholicism was supposed to be the state religion.

7.) POLONIA PARADISUS JUDAEORUM While the Jewish people were often banished from the rest of medieval European countries, kings of Poland granted many privileges to the arriving Jews. That being not just The Great Charter of Jewish Rights [2] from 1264, but also Privilegia de non tolerandis Christianis, which allowed Jewish merchants to settle in designated communities without Christian competition. Jews gradually gained the right to their own local administration (so-called kahalas) and around the time of the Union of Lublin even to summon their own parliament, called the Diet of the Four Countries [2] (also known as Va'ad). It is therefore no wonder that in the 16th century Europeans started to call Rzeczpospolita "Jewish paradise" and that three quarters of the entire Jewish population of the world lived here. This peaceful coexistence started to suffer in the middle of the 17th century, mainly because of Cossack uprisings, during which thousands of Jews were massacred for being alleged allies of the nobility, while in the 18th century the country experienced general decline in religious tolerance. However, as part of the attempt to save the Republic during the so-called Great Sejm [2] of 1788-1792, a special commission was created to designate the position of Jews within Rzeczpospolita. And when the famous Kościusko uprising defending the independence of Rzeczpospolita and the legacy of the Constitution of 3 May 1791 against the Russian invasion broke out, many Jews didn't hesitate to join the first Jewish regiment and fight in battle for the Republic.

8.) WALLS OF CHRISTIAN EUROPE Noble citizens didn't perceive their Republic as just an embodiment of ancient community, but also a military power. That's why the nobility placed so much value on military virtues and in emulation of ancient Sarmatians, whose descendants they considered themselves to be, they also relied heavily on elite cavalry - the winged hussars, whose exotic appearance and military prowess gained them respect on the battlefield. Polish-Lithuanian nobility, convinced of the exceptional nature of their own Republic, started to perceive their polity as "antemurale christianitatis" - the bastion of Christendom, which protects the eastern borders of Europe from the outside threat. In the 1621 battle of Khotyn the united Polish-Lithuanian army, boosted by thousands of Cossacks led by the hetman of Zaporizhzhia Sahaidachny, a great promoter of cooperation between the Cossacks and Poland-Lithuania, managed to hold back the Ottoman army several times its size. The Polish society connected several such victories to the Divine providence and a faith that the Republic is fulfilling its holy mission in history. This is also the reason why the hussars of king Jan III. Sobieski are to this day considered the saviours of Vienna from the Ottoman siege of 1683 and the madona of Czenstochowa is perceived as the one responsible for the Polish-Lithuanian victory over the Swedes. Though the military glory of the former empire had declined in the 18th century, the enlightenment era reformers didn't forget the valor of their ancestors - the School of Chivalry was established on the prompting of king Stanislaw August Poniatowsky, and among its absolvents was Tadeusz Kościuszko, born in the Duchy of Lithuania, leader of the last stand of the Republic against Russia in 1794.

9.) NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US While the king od France could've said "I am the state", in the Polish-Lithuanian Union the state were its citizens, that being the nobility. Nobility's agitation for their privileges gradually bore fruit - particularly important were the neminem captivabimus privilege, ensuring untouchability of a person, and the nihil novi rule, forbidding the king from issuing laws without the approval of a diet of nobles. Power of the nobility was among other things ensured by the size of this estate, since it made up 8-10% of the population (for comparison, in Great Britain, even in the mid-19th century only 6% of the population had a right to vote). In comparison with other countries, all members of the nobility were absolute equals in the eyes of the law. All of these rules were supported by the specific ideology of sarmatism, according to which were all noblemen, as the alleged descendants of the ancient ethnic group, required to protect the so-called "golden liberties" - set of rights and values which made the Polish-Lithuanian nobility consider themselves the most free nation under the the sun. Besides the exotic clothing [5], sarmatism was also expressed in numerous acts of rebellion against their own king - for example, in the 18th century nobility founded the Bar Confederation, which was supposed to rid the Commonwealth of the Russian influence, but ended up leading to the first division of Rzeczpospolita lands among the imperial powers.

10.) SPLENDOR AND MISERY OF THE MAGNATE FAMILIES Though in the Commonwealth, any use of titles that would distinguish between lower and higher nobility was strictly forbidden, the issue was nonetheless made more complicated by the high economic inequality even among the nobles. Some noble houses were able to create estates so large even the royal holdings paled in comparison. Their dominance rested on their large wealth, high positions in state offices and background influence on politics. This informal class of magnates was most prominent in the eastern part of the country, where a handful of houses amassed giant private armies and sophisticated webs of noble clients, since many of the impoverished nobles voluntarily worked for the magnates, and some even voted in the parliament according to the wishes of their benefactors. These most powerful magnates were thus also titled "little kings", and some of them actually did become elected kings of Poland. The fact that many magnates, especially in Ukraine, were out of the reach of central state power and treated their subjects especially badly led to the outbreak of antimagnate rebellions, the most successful of which was the Bohdan Khmelnytsky Cossack uprising of 1648. However, the magnate activity cannot be seen as black-and-white, because their role also involved foundation and patronage on a grand scale - it was thanks to them that many treasures of Polish-Lithuanian architecture were created.

11.) LEGACY OF THE REPUBLIC OF MANY NATIONS The Republic of Poland-Lithuania was erased from the map in 1795. However, its tradition remained in the ethos of fight "for freedom yours and ours", which was echoed by the participants of many antirussian uprisings in the 19th and 20th century. This ethos called back to the tradition of free republic, which, unlike the Russian Empire - that forced subjugated polities to adopt the samoderzhavie [6], orthodoxy and russification triad - supposedly enabled different nations to keep their freedom and "unity in diversity". Although the ethnonationalism of the 20th century has dimmed the memories of their common legacy and caused plenty of bad blood among the different nations of former Rzeczpospolita, the idea of confederation or close cooperation against Russian imperialism was returning in their consciousness, whether during the 1863 uprising or shortly after World War I. In the communist era, the writer in exile Jerzy Giedroyc famously prophesized that Poland can be truly free only when so are Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine. For Ukrainians and Belarussians, who have been threatened by the imperial idea of Greater Russia and the vision of a unified "Russian world" even after 1991, are heroes (like prince Konstanty Ostrogski or hetman Sahaidachny) and famous moments in the history of the Republic fundamental symbols of their national sovereignty and belonging to the European civilizational space. They will never cease to remind everyone that the Republic is not dead while we are alive and believe that the ties of mutual civic loyalty are stronger than differences in language, faith or ethnic origin, stronger than any enemy that would attempt to tear these ties of our values.

***

[1] - Russia. They are talking about Russia. Y'see, the etymology of "Russian" in Eastern Slavic languages is kinda confusing; originally, it meant all Eastern Slavs, but later on it came to be associated with the largest and most culturally dominant group - which is to say the predecessors of modern Russians under the rule of Princedom of Muscovy. Eventually, Ivan IV., the Grand Prince of Muscovy got himself crown the Tsar of All Russians, which was a bit presumptuous considering a whole lot of people who very much weren't under his rule also identified as the Rus'/Russians. Still, it stuck, and when Ukrainians and Belarussians wanted to define themselves against their Russian overlords, they abandoned the label "Russians" altogether. Calling post-Ivan the Terrible Russians "Muscovites" is a bit of antiquated terminology that would be common in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

[2] - Literal translation, because I don't know what it's called in English-speaking historical literature.

[3] - Used here in the older sense of the word, i.e. Eastern Slavic in general (see [1]). In this case, the Eastern Slavs in question are clearly mostly Ukrainians despite being called Rus'/Russians (YES I KNOW)

[4] - Okay, so have you seen the first episode? The whole "One of us was against. End of story. We have a democracy." thing was... Barely an exaggeration to be honest.

[5] - Compare the shit Jan Paweł and his friends wear to normal 17th century male clothing (to which Ciesław and especially magnate's son come pretty close to) and you'll get the gist.

[6] - rus. autocracy, or rather the name for specific absolutist tradition of Russian tzars

***

Notes on the pictures:

1.) Map of Rzeczpospolita from the first half of the 18th century (most likely around 1739), made by the cartographer Johann Baptist Homann.

2.) Tapestry with the coats-of-arms of Poland and Lithuania - The Union of Lublin led among other things to the joining of Polish and Lithuanian coats-of-arms, so the new state coats-of-arms combined the polish royal eagle on red field with the traditional symbol of Lithuania, the Pogoń (Vytis in Lithuanian), or the armored knight on a horse, which to this day is part of the legacy of the Grandduchy in modern Lithuanian and parts of Belarussian society.

3.) Battle of Orsha (1514) in which the orthodox prince Konstanty Ostrogski, claiming to carry on the legacy of the Kievan Rus', led the united Polish-Lithuanian forces and destroyed the Muscovite invasion army despite being outnumbered, saving the independence of the Grandduchy. After 1991 the day of the anniversary of this battle was celebrated as a holiday of the Belarussian army. The holiday was later abolished by the Lukashenko regime, one can currently end up in jail for celebrating it. In 2017, a common Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian brigade was named hetman Ostrogski.

4.) Royal Castle in Warsaw - Since the late 16th century, Warsaw became the new center of power in the Republic. The Royal Castle, originally the medieval seat of the dukes of Massovia, was rebuilt in the new baroque style. During World War II, the castle was completely destroyed. For a long time, the communist regime was refusing to greenlight its reconstruction, and its restoration based on old engravings and pre-war photographs was only made possible trough the massive public pressure.

5.) Painting of the French artist Jean-Pierre Norblin portrays a traditional part of the political life in Rzeczpospolita - a session of the so-called sejmik (Polish diminutive of sejm, a.k.a. diet). On these local assemblies of nobles of the given region, deputies for the meetings of the central sejm were elected and instructions for these deputies were agreed upon.

6.) Kruszyniany - Presence of the muslim Tartar community is part of the legacy of Rzeczpospolita. Tartars live on the territories of today's Lithuania, Belarus and Poland continuously since the 14th century. They have proven their worth as warriors in service of the Republic. Original Tartar mosques can be found especially in Podlesie in today's northeastern Poland and in Trakai in today's Lithuania.

7.) Ceiling of a synagogue reconstructed for the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, which in 2015 was awarded the title of Best Museum in Europe. It is in this modern museum that you can learn the most about the Jews of Rzeczpospolita, the largest Jewish diaspora at the time.

8.) Sobieski at Vienna - Painting of Jan Matejko depicts the Polish king Jan III. Sobieski, who after his famous triumph over the Ottoman Turks in 1683 sent a letter to pope Innocent IX., in which he writes that the Christian Vienna was saved.

9.) Casimir Pulaski, later national hero of the United States, escaped Poland after the failure of the Bar Confederation in 1769-1772. The confederation was one of the last attempts to free the country from the increasing dependency on Russia.

10.) Zamoćś - Renessaince city founded by an exceptional person. Jan Zamoyski came from a not very wealthy noble family, but trough his own merits eventually became the richest and most powerful man in the Republic. The town hall of Zamość on the photo.

11.) Adam Mickiewicz could be the symbol of the common legacy of Rzeczpospolita. The greatest poet in the Polish language literature was born in today's Belarus (1798) and always felt like a citizen of Rzeczpospolita. His most important work begins with a line "Lithuania, my fatherland!" It was Mickiewicz who was remembered by the pope John Paul II., when he proclaimed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the predecessor of cooperation of the entire continent within the European Union ("from the Union of Lublin to the European Union").

[dymdrimluga]

promise me

This is already a bit old art, although many arts I made a little more than six months ago are perceived as old for me. These two characters are NPCs from the Victorian Chronicle. The girl (Owen) is a Salubri healer, and the young man next to her (Isaac) is a Tremere with humanity level 9, who freed her from the Chantry and ran away with her, despite all the trouble he could get for it. The relationship between these two is purely platonic.

Owen is very emotional and energetic, Isaac is calm and kind. They protect each other, and managed to survive to modern nights. Not least because Isaac's mentor Moira seems to likes him, in her own way, and wasn't actively looking for them. They are one of my favorites NPCs. I was very inspired to draw by the song "Promise me" by the band Odyn_v_kanoe (Один в каное - Пообіцяй мені)

I think this song suits these two very well. This is a song by a Ukrainian band, and it's in Ukrainian, but here's a translation:

Promise me

How long one can pour, how long one can nurse words?

They are not children!

Through the concrete slabs the grass is struggling-crying:

“I’m alive”!

Give it your hand, give it access to the light, give it the water!

I saw, I understood the sign:

Everything is vice versa, everything is wrong,

Even you!

Refrain:

Promise me, promise me

That there will always be light in your window.

Promise me, even if it will fail,

That “tomorrow” will immediately and inevitably take place!

Promise me...

Right over they’ll turn off the water, and I’ll have again no time to wash away the sin,

Yesterday’s sin.

It will cut my freedom in half, throw it to feet,

To your feet.

This is the world of things and things are ill!

And you’re already here, in that choir!

Go toward my voice,

Go toward my voice...https://lyricstranslate.com

[exhuastedpigeon]

20 Questions for fic Writers!

tagged by @rosieposiepuddingnpie, thank you friend :)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

139

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

551,651

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Actively, Buddie (and I'm still holding on to Steddie with both hands but my brain hasn't cooperated lately). Inactively (hopefully I'll return one day) - Sterek/Teen Wolf, DexNursey, SamBucky, JayTim, Pynch

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Queer Robins Club - Batman, 4.9k kudos Dustin's Dad(s) - Steddie, 3.5k kudos On the Ropes - Sterek, 2.3k kudos Like James Dean, Only Sadder - Sterek, 2.1k kudos I'm Yelling Tinder - DexNursey, 1.5k kudos

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! There was a couple years where I wasn't really writing for fic or reading it and I kind of just ignored Ao3 and came back to like 500 comments that I didn't respond to, but I read all of them and loved them. I respond to all of them now though and did before I went inactive.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't typucally write angsty endings. I typically write fic because I want a happy ending. I did write a very angsty, very short first person fic from Stiles POV at the end of Teen Wolf? I guess that would be it. With a Wimper is also my least read fic in terms of hits lol.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

ALL OF THEM! I write happy endings baby! If I had to pick just one I'd probably say my favourite Steddie fic I wrote - Baby on Board just because it's a prequel to a very happy fic and the end of BoB is also happy and hopeful.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not recently. Back in the days of a very active Sterek fandom I had some, usually from people who didn't ship Sterek. It was always wild to me because that meant you intentionally commented on a fic for a ship you didn't ship just to be mean?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do, but not as often as I used to. Typically my smut ends up also being sappy, but sometimes I dabble in bandage or light D/s stuff.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

One time I wrote Stiles Stilinski/Jason Todd and it was very fun for me and hopefully for the like 500 people who read it. - if you're interested it's Back Alley Deals lol

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

yeah, but it got taken down after

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I've had some wonderful folks translate some of my fics to Russian, Mandarin, and Ukrainian and I think a few other languages I'm not rememebring

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, I did the jaytim WIP exchange which I think counts as co-writing. We just wrote in shifts lol

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Probably Sterek simply because I can always go back to it like a warm little blanket and because I was so in it for so many years.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

probably my Buddie double timeloop fic :( maybe one day i'll finish it

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think dialogue and being able to capture a character's voice

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Conflict probably - I just want everyone to get along so I really struggle to write it, but I do write it and that's what counts

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I struggle with it because I'm only English speaking. I think if I get better at French or Spanish I'd be more comfortable with it, but for now I don't like relying on Google translate.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I think the first fic I ever posted was harry potter, posted on some random HP message board in the very early 2000s

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

oh this is hard!!! I'm gonna cheat and give you favs from 6 ships I've written lol Like James Dean, only Sadder (Sterek) wet your lips (and smile for the camera) (Buddie) It's Always You (SamBucky) Baby on Board (Steddie) Baby give me S'more (Jaytim) Hey Now You're a (NHL) All-Star (DexNursey)

tagging (no pressure) - @thewolvesof1998 @loserdiaz @monsterrae1 @eddiebabygirldiaz @daffi-990 @spotsandsocks @devirnis @acountrygirlsfun @forthewolves @generatorcat @anxieteandbiscuits @inell @clotpolesonly @weewootruck and anyone else who wants to share

[nadiajustbe]

On those nights when Morgan was still a very young baby and lying in his crib (and he was never quiet by nature, he's a combination of Howl and Sophie, you can only expect a walking hurricane of chaos), he would, as is typical of all babies, often scream in the night. It was very rarely a request to be fed or the cause of any pain: both parents quickly discovered that he was just waking up in the middle of the night and wanted to be naughty.

Therefore, it was usually Howl who went up to calm him down. Not because he wanted to, by any means: no one wants to get up in the middle of the night for a screaming baby, and he could have slither out of that, too, if he wanted to, but Sophie started cursing at him and forcing him out from under (their shared, mind you!) blanket. And maybe, just a little bit, he really wants to be a good father - unusual, stupid and cowardly, but still a good father.

Normally, Howl would just lean over the crib and start singing the one and only lullaby in Welsh that he remembers from his childhood: people love to sing lullabies in their own language, no matter how widespread it is. I love to remember how many Ukrainian lullabies have survived precisely because of how often they were sung at night from the heart of a parent's love.

Sophie didn't understand a word of it, but it worked surprisingly well: Morgan was falling asleep in seconds, and she found herself beginning to drift off to sleep as well. Howl would come back to bed looking like a winner, and Sophie wondered how he managed to do it every time with the same song. Especially in a language that was rarely spoken in Morgan's household: it was easier to speak English when both the child's father and mother knew it.

There were also days when Sophie was given the "honour" of calming her son. Usually, it was when Howl came home drunk from a rugby meeting or had some late-night work commitments. There were, of course, times when Sophie simply decided that she loved him enough to let Howl keep his precious sleep for one or two days.

Then she would sing a lullaby that she had inherited from her mother, which she remembered through her father, but now they were both dead, so, well, the song was rightfully hers. It certainly wasn't the mysterious Welsh notes, and it took Morgan a little longer to fall asleep, but Sophie must have been a good singer because it worked in the end. She returned to the sleeping Howl, thinking that, after all, she had two children. One is not even a year old, the other is a couple of years away from turning thirty.

One day, she decided to ask him what the lullaby he was singing was all about, and when Howl shared the translation, they were both surprised to find that the two texts had quite similar motifs: they both featured a shooting star, ancient fields, and stormy winds. Howl joked that shooting stars would never let him go, not as a child, not now.

The most interesting twist to this lullaby story came when, at around 1+ years old, Morgan started adding Welsh words to his vocabulary as he learned to speak, mixing languages. Howl thought this was a great addition: after all, not all people in Wales speak Welsh, let alone boys from parallel worlds. Sophie was not so optimistic: she was certainly happy that their child was learning new words and picking up his second native language quickly, but she did not want to ask for a translation of what her own son was saying, not even from Howl, and certainly not from Ben.

Howl assured her that with age he would learn to distinguish between them and that English would come to the fore, willy-nilly: again, there were barely two people in his environment who knew Welsh, even if he visited Megan often. Sophie would like to understand him right now, but for now she just has to accept the moments when her son points to an object and makes an incoherent set of sounds, and Sophie has to guess whether it is just childish chatter or just another Welsh word.

[duckduckhjonk]

While I wait for the debate to clear in my head, here's chapter 1!

I don't really have a title for this- uhh let's just call it

The Mystery of The Cyclone!(Working title)

| Next | First(this is the first)

Word count: 2,469(nice)

Note: I never saved the translation for the Ukrainian part. This might be ooc because it's my first time writing these characters, please be patient with that. It's an Everyone Lives/No One Dies AU.

The vote was unanimous. The St. Cassian's Chamber Choir voted for Jane Doe to be revived. She had a whole life ahead of her. She had a whole life to discover who she was. It was the best decision.

Karnak nodded slowly. "Well done children," he began, "It seems you have all learned valuable lessons. Lessons of fear, of passion, of love, of dreams, of sympathy, and of acceptance. I have not long left in my life, but I will reward all of you. All six of you will be revived."

The choir kids all looked at each other with unbridled joy. This wasn't the end of their lives or their stories. A second chance to live! All six kids cheered and shared hugs.

"But," Karnak continued, at severe risk to kill the mood, "you will not survive unchanged. Remember to love each moment of life as it is a beautiful gift. Be kind to one another. Goodbye."

And just like that, a swirl of lights and sounds flooded all of their senses. They were falling again. All six kids falling through the air to their doom once more. Had it merely been a lie?

All the lights and sounds stopped as they hit the ground.

~

The monotonous buzz of florescent lights was the first thing she could hear. That was the first of her senses to come back. Soon she regained some feeling within her body, and with it minimal movement. As her eyes fluttered open, so did her memories.

Ocean slowly began to wake up. Even slower, she sat up within the hospital bed. Everything still hurt. Everything felt like she was still falling. Ocean grasped the sides of her bed, trying to convince her body she was on the ground. Safe and alive.

She looked carefully around her. Surrounded by curtains, but the feeling of other people within the room. Could it have been the rest of the choir?

Ocean took a shaky breath. She was alive alright. She felt bandages wrapped around almost her entire body. Some still soaked with blood. An uncomfortable brace sat around her foot. It must have broke in the accident.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the tapping of heeled shoes and clicking of non heeled ones. It must have been two employees at the hospital. They spoke in hushed voices, but they were loud enough for Ocean to hear.

"It baffles me," one voice, a gruff voice of an old man, "what kind of miracle did it take for all six kids involved in the accident to survive?"

"I'm unsure, but they're due to wake up and day now," the nurse replied.

The doctor made a "hmph" type noise before beginning to peak through a few curtains. At last he arrived at Oceans and drew it back gently. The two made eye contact for an awkward time.

"Ah, I see you're awake..." The doctor said.

Ocean nodded, voice still struggling to return to her.

"I did not mean to frighten you. Please, would you let me check how you're feeling?" He asked in a soft voice.

Ocean nodded again, not in any position to reject the doctor's offer. He got to work quickly, but gently. He hummed to himself as he took her vitals and inspected some bandages. The nurse handed him clean bandages, and he began unwrapping some of the bloodstained ones. The unwrapping stung but quickly faded.

"That's enough of that," he mumbled. After a brief pause, he slowly exited the room, resealing the curtains. Leaving Ocean alone once more.

It was boring being the only one awake. Hours felt like years to her. Luckily there was a pen and notepad nearby, so those few hours she was only one awake for she spent drawing. Mostly of what happened to them. Drawings of Karnak, a rat, her and her friends, and of Jane Doe.

Jane. Was she here? Was she alive? Would she have her memories back? What about her head? And her soul? Even her name?

The string of questions was shut down quickly. Of course she was alive. Karnak promised. The doctor said six kids were in here. Jane had to have been here.

Ocean heard the doctor return and speaking to another kid. Someone else had woken up. Most likely within the curtains next to her. Ocean listened in.

"Hm, you're very lucky to be alive," the doctor said, "that neck injury was bad enough to where it could kill you."

The kid did not verbally reply. Ocean assumed that they were still not awake enough to speak like she was. The doctor continued speaking to the other kid.

"If you wouldn't mind, one of your fellow choir members is also awake," the doctor explained, "would you like me to pull the curtain away so you two can keep each other company?"

"Please do so," replied a meek voice. Ocean recognized it. It was Jane Doe! Or well... She had a name. Penny Lamb.

The doctor peeked in to Ocean's small part of the room to get confirmation from her to pull the curtain back. Ocean was quick to agree. The curtain was pulled back and the two girls made eye contact.

"Ah, Ocean," Penny said quietly, "it is good to see you again."

"You too," Ocean replied, "do you remember anything?" Her question was kept vague in case the whole experience was just a fucked up dream only Ocean had.

"I do. I remember my life. I remember who I am. Thank you, Ocean," Penny answered with a kind tone.

Ocean let out a sigh of relief. "So that whole experience was real..."

"Yes, I believe so. It still feels strange feeling my face not be made of plastic," Penny muttered, "but it is nice to remember myself."

The two girls continued chatting. Ocean learnt a lot more about Penny than she ever did before the Cyclone. Ocean found out just how much the two had in common. Neither got into the topic of the accident or even what happened with Karnak. Instead the girls spoke about their lives, their hobbies, and even their families.

It wasn't until the nurses came in to tell both that it was nearing midnight that they stopped. Even then, as they neared sleep, Ocean felt an emotion she never felt before wash over her. Was this a true sense of joy? Of companionship? She wasn't sure, but it was a nice one.

~

The sun began to rise, and as it did, so did Ocean. It seemed her internal clock was still working well. It was 6am on the dot. The room was eerily still. She hoisted herself back up into a sitting position and looked around. The rest of the curtains were still up aside from the one connecting her and Penny.

It wouldn't be long until the doctor who had tended to her the day before came to check on the two girls. Seeing as Penny was still asleep, he figured not to bother her. Instead he just did a few check ups on Ocean to monitor how she was healing.

"Ahm," the doctor began, writing a few things down, "you're still on track to be discharged within two weeks. Hopefully your friends follow suit."

"Ah, thank you," Ocean said with relief. She knew she couldn't miss this much school and not fall behind. She had to get back as soon as she could.

Without another word the doctor left. Merely moments later, a nurse came in and handed Ocean a tray of breakfast food. It looked stale and gross, but she ate anyways. The nurse left swiftly and Ocean began eating. The look of the food was very correct. It was stale and gross.

As she nearly finished eating, she could hear a groan from across the way. She figured someone else was waking up. Unfortunate timing, they missed breakfast. The doctor was quick to return upon finding out the other kid had awoken. A conversation immediately began, this one much louder than either of the girls.

"What in the? Where am I?" The kid asked.

Ocean could immediately tell just by the way he talked who it was. The doctor explained to Noel the situation and what happened but was cut off rather quickly.

"Yeah I know about the rollercoaster," he said in a slightly annoyed voice, "I was not expecting to be in the world's smallest hospital room though."

"It's only a small portion of it," the doctor explained, "we figured it best to put all six victims of the disaster in the same recovery room, but, uh, if it's alright with you, I would like to check on how you're recovering."

"Is anyone else awake or am I the first one?" Noel asked.

"There's two others who are awake currently," the doctor replied with a hum as he worked. "If you would like, I can open the curtains so you can talk with them."

"Sure, why not?" Noel answered.

Just like that, the doctor opened the curtain, showing a fairly bandaged up Noel. He was directly across from Ocean, so the eye contact between the two was immediate. Ocean tried not to say anything, hoping he wouldn't either.

"I will take leave now," the doctor stated still in a hushed tone, "please let me know if Penny wakes up, I need to check on how she's doing." Without another word, he left.

Ocean and Noel remained silently in a staring contest for quite some time. Both knowing the first words out of either of their mouths would likely be an insult. Neither even blinked for a solid few minutes.

After what felt like ages, the stare down was broken by Penny waking up, or, well, interrupting their silence with a sneeze. Noel and Ocean immediately broke eye contact and turned to look at Penny. She was sitting upright still blinking sleep out of her eyes.

"Oh, uh, Penny," Ocean said awkwardly, "did you sleep well?"

"I did," Penny said with a yawn.

"The doctor was looking for you," Ocean said, "you should probably press that button to let him know you're awake."

Penny did so. The button beeped for a moment before falling to silence.

"Ok, while we wait for mister doctor man, tell me," Noel began in an exhasperated tone, "did we all go through that fucked up dream hellscape or was it just me?"

"All of us did," Ocean replied.

"I'm not sure whether to feel relieved about that or not," Noel grumbled.

Their conversation was interrupted by the doctor re-entering the room. "I heard the button, is everyone alright?"

"Yes, I was just told to let you know I am awake," Penny explained.

"Ah, yes, thank you," the doctor replied softly, "I just want to check on how you're recovering."

~~

It would be days of the three choir kids being the only ones to be awake. It became quite boring very quickly. None of them had much to do. It was only a few days later that Noel's mother came to visit, although she was only there for a few hours.

It was maybe a full week until Constance joined them, and soon after Ricky woke up too. All five kids managed to keep each other entertained well enough. For a choir that spent years together, none of them knew as much about each other as they thought.

It had been a full week since Ocean first woke up. The only one who hadn't awakened yet was Mischa. Given the gap, the choir had begun to be concerned about him. Noel even asked the doctor if he was ever going to wake up.

The five kids began playing games with each other. It went from truth or dare, to word association, to improv games, even to spin the bottle at one point. As the afternoon sun casted very little light into the hospital room, a noise began to stir the peaceful room.

The sound was of grumbling. All five kids guessed it was finally Mischa waking up. The doctor was there almost immediately to check on him. As Mischa regained some consciousness, he began to speak to the doctor. As much as the other kids probably shouldn't have listened, what else was there to do?

"How long was I out for?" He asked.

"About four weeks," the doctor replied, "the rest of your friends have all woken up by now."

There was an awkward silence for a moment before Mischa spoke again. "Where is my phone?" He sounded alarmed.

"It was destroyed in the accident," the doctor explained, "don't worry, your relatives were informed about this and are aware of what happened."

"No, no, I need to tell Talia I'm not dead," Mischa explained, his concern increasing, "she must be worried sick..."

The doctor paused, seemingly debating something. "I can offer you my phone to call her, but please be quick about it."

"Oh, you have my thanks," Mischa said in relief.

Immediately Mischa began dialling a number in and the phone began to ring. Ocean could hear him begging under his breath for Talia to answer. Finally, the faint sound of a voice could be heard on the other side.

"Алло? Алло? Тальє, це ти? Ти тут? Це Міша. Вибач, що так довго не відповідав. Я потрапив у жахливу аварію. Я дуже за тобою сумую. Обіцяю, що якнайшвидше отримаю новий телефон, щоб ми могли більше спілкуватися. Так, я одужую. Лікар каже, що я одужую добре. Не знаю, як довго я тут пробуду. Я не знаю, які саме у мене поранення. Я щойно прокинувся. Я кохаю тебе, моя божественна Талья. Я буду говорити з тобою, як тільки зможу довше. Люблю тебе."

The excitement and relief in Mischa's voice was palpable. The voice on the other side shared the same emotions. The call was quick. A message to Talia that he was alive and would get in better contact as soon as he could. As he hung up the phone, Mischa let out an audible sigh of relief.

Neither him nor the doctor spoke another word until the doctor finished. He gently opened the curtains before leaving. At last all 6 kids were together again. As soon as the curtain opened, Noel was quick to make a comment about how surprised he was that Talia was actually real.

"Of course she is real," Mischa replied, "you thought she wasn't?"

"We kinda, uhh," Ocean stammered.

"We were concerned you were being scammed," Penny explained.

"I see," Mischa mumbled, "perhaps soon I will introduce you all to Talia."

"Ooh that'd be fun," Constance chimed in.

"How long are we, uh, trapped in here?" Mischa asked, changing the subject.

"The doctor said for a few of us only a few more days," Ocean explained, "The rest have a few more weeks until they're out though."

[ohsalome]

That story…the weird derogatory comparison of the kid to a siberian…????

If I understood correctly, this is talking about Fedko-brigand story? Ok, thanks for bringing your concerns up, because I wouldn't have considered the word choice needs explanation, but the it really does and it's a shame the translator didn't do it themselves.

So, this is the paragraph anon is talking about:

Here is an important cultural context: both soviet union and imperial russia used a practice of sending prisoners to far east, especially to Syberia. If you'll allow me an analogy, Syberia was the same thing for russian empire as Australia was for the British one. Sometimes people who got deported were no criminals at all, but rebels, or innocent victims of the governmental repressions (like, for example, during the wave of mass deportations in 1947). So, because for a contemporary ukrainian Syberia was only brought up in the context of prisoners and criminal punishment, the word "сибіряка" which is translated here as a "syberian" gained a meaning of "criminal, villain". And, really, the last two words would have been a much better translation.

For example, here is a recollection where our national poet, Taras Shevchenko, is called by his contemporaries a "syberian" - he obviously wasn't born in Syberia, but he was sent to east (not even to Syberia, but to Kazaksstan) as a punishment for his anti-tzar activism.

On top of this, the subtle difference between "syberian" as a name for a person from Syberia and a "syberian" as a synonym for a criminal is in one letter in ukrainian, that is totally lost in translation: "сибіряк vs сибіряка"

Fun fact that is really disturbing if you think about it - if you look at ethnic map of modern russia, you'll notice that in Syberia there are a lot of people with suspiciously slavic background as opposed to more asian you'd expect from the region. Wikipedia states that as of 2010, at least half of the syberian federal district are ethnic ukrainians (although, from what I've heard, they are completely russified). That is not natural - that is the result of russian and soviet criminal systems.

In the end, I feel like I should apologise. I did share the story without reading the translation through - just relying on my own memory of the text (from reading it in ukrainian) and a recommendation from twitter. I should have been more thorough and I carry part of the responsibility.

[aroacemisha]

[Updated OCs & world/setting info post]

The universe these characters are in consists of our regular world and a magical realm, with travel between the two being possible, increasingly so in recent times. Some people and descendants of people originally from the regular world live in the magical realm, enough to populate at least one city.

(Here's some info about various characters)

Yevgeny "Zhenya" Tsaritsyn (he/him, she/her, it/its): early 20s, Russian, ambiamorous pan aegosexual, demiboy. ADHD.

He comes from a religious conservative family, and as a teen, he was kicked out of home when his parents found out he was queer and an atheist. Through pure luck, Lev happened to come across him and brought him to the magical realm and helped him get a place to stay, where he still lives to this day. Meanwhile, Lev has become a mentor and a father figure to him.

At one point later in life, Zhenya lost his entire left arm, which is now replaced by an advanced prosthetic. He has been working out and doing combat training for a while now, and after losing his arm he has been training both with and without the prosthetic, so if he ever has to work without it, he doesn't become lost, not knowing what to do without both arms.

He also plays bayan (a type of accordion).

Joseph "Joey" Lebedenko (he/him): early 20s, Ukrainian American, omni demisexual, cis. Autistic.

He's studying culinary arts, and he's also good at drawing. He speaks Ukrainian fairly well and loves to visit his Ukrainian grandparents. He's also Jewish, and he plays ukulele. He's friends with Zhenya.

Lev Sapozhnik (he/him): 40s (technically much older), Russian, achillean arospec asexual, trans. Autistic.

He's a powerful magic user, who was born in the mid 1920s and used to be a Soviet supersoldier known as the Red Hope (ru: Красная Надежда; translit: Krasnaya Nadezhda), mainly serving during WWII. He defected in the mid 1950s and later went missing during a storm at sea. He was presumed dead for decades, until he was found in the late 2000s in a sort of "frozen" state and then unfrozen. The reason he wasn't found sooner is because he was only searched for in the regular world, while he actually ended up in the magical realm.

In present day, he's not affiliated with any nation state in the regular world, and he lives in the magical realm. He explicitly opposes the current Russian government, which they are unhappy about, since they want him back in their military, and they don't want him to potentially inspire currently depoliticized Russians to actively oppose the government.

He's fluent in Russian, German and English, can speak some Georgian, and is learning Spanish. He also plays guitar and is skilled at drawing and sewing. He's a regular at the cafe Cyrus works at and is friends with him.

Desmond Yang (he/him): 40s, Chinese, bi, cis. ADHD.

He's a mage. He's multilingual. He's a historian and a linguist, and he's the owner of a library in the magical realm, which contains books in several languages. He has translated multiple books into other languages, and he has some original writing projects of his own. He's also friends with Lev.

Marco Gromov (he/him): 31 y/o, Russian Argentinian, bi aceflux, cis. Autistic, ADHD.

His name is technically Marcos, but he has largely dropped the 'S' at the end. He wears glasses with purple lenses. Technology and clean/renewable energy are big special interests of his, and he's currently trying to create more efficient solar panels, being quite skilled with tech. He's also dating Luna.

Luna Rosado (they/them, she/her): 30 y/o, Dominican, pan, transfem non-binary. Autistic.

They're a mage, and they're also a pretty good artist. Their special interest is astronomy, and they know how to find out what position stars and planets were in at different points in time. Another interest of theirs is plants, particularly flowers. They have a few fidget necklaces. They're also dating Marco.

Reynaldo Rosado (he/him): early to mid 50s, Dominican, aroace, cis. Autistic.

He's the father of Luna. He realized he was aroace after he and Melania already had Luna, and while they chose to get divorced, they remained friends. Luna largely stayed with him, and he's a kind and supportive father to them. He's also good at cooking.

Melania Espinosa (she/her): early to mid 50s, Dominican, straight, cis.

She's the mother of Luna. She remained in Luna's life after the divorce. She eventually got married again, and her new spouse turned out to be a trans woman. They chose to stay married, since both still found their relationship fulfilling, and she still loved her wife despite not normally being attracted to women. They have two daughters together.

Lilah Swift (she/her): late 40s/early 50s, Australian, sapphic cupiosexual, trans. Autistic, ADHD.

She's the wife of Melania, who she has two daughters with. She chose not to do voice training and has a higher masculine voice. History has always been an interest of hers, and she has a PhD in it, but in recent years she has also become interested in specifically Russian history, in part due to meeting Lev.

Samantha "Sam" Espinosa (she/her, they/them): 14-15 y/o, Dominican Australian, omni, demigirl. ADHD.

Daughter of Melania and Lilah, half-sister of Luna and older twin sister of Viv. She works out, and she likes to play fight and compete with her cousin Howie.

Viviana-Rocio "Viv" Espinosa (she/her): 14-15 y/o, Dominican Australian, sapphic, cis. Autistic.

Daughter of Melania and Lilah, half-sister of Luna and younger twin sister of Sam. Wears braces. She loves frogs and is generally interested in learning about nature.

Cyrus Swift (he/him): mid to late 50s, Australian, gay demiromantic asexual, genderqueer/genderless, intersex. Autistic, ADHD.

He's the older brother of Lilah. He can shapeshift into a cougar. He retains his sharp fangs and ability to purr even in human form. He has scars on the right side of his face and his right arm, which he got during a fight in his cougar form. He's partners with Steven and they have two children together. He works as a bartender at a café, and he sometimes performs as a drag queen.

Steven E. Burns (he/him): mid 50s, Jamaican, pan acespec, trans. Autistic.

He's Cyrus's partner. He has been living in the magical realm with Cyrus and the kids for many years. He enjoys working out and is still in good physical shape. He works as a P.E. teacher at a local school. He also plays guitar.

Kimberly Swift-Burns (she/her): 18-19 y/o, Jamaican Australian, lesbian, genderqueer. Autistic.

She's the daughter of Cyrus and Steven. Her main interests are history and literature, with her picking up the former from her aunt Lilah.

Howard "Howie" Swift-Burns (he/him): 16 y/o, Jamaican Australian, achillean aroacespec, cis. Autistic.

He's the son of Cyrus and Steven. He has an interest in mechanical engineering and tech. He works out and is practicing hand-to-hand combat. He also plays guitar, having learned it from Steven.

Melissa "Missy" Ito (they/them): 28 y/o, Japanese American, bi, genderqueer, intersex.

They're a journalist working for a reputable small to mid size left-leaning outlet, and they are also a good photographer. They have interviewed both Lev and Marco before.

Harley Fisher (they/them, ze/zir): early to mid 20s, Canadian, aromantic bisexual, transmasc genderfluid.

They're a small to mid size streamer, mainly streaming video games. They're also Jewish.

Andreas Marinos (he/him): 31 y/o, Greek, ambiamorous gay, cis.

He can transform into a mermaid, and he has water powers (hydrokinesis), as well as magical singing. He has a passion for theater and is himself an actor/performer. He's also dating Lorenzo and Ozan.

Lorenzo D'Amore (he/him): 30 y/o, Italian American, polyamorous omni, cis.

He's fluent in both English and Italian. He's a singer and theater actor/performer, working alongside his boyfriends Andreas and Ozan. He also plays the saxophone, and he's into 70s fashion.

Ozan Yilmaz (he/him): 31 y/o, Turkish, polyamorous gay, cis.

He's mainly a DJ and generally works with sound equipment, though he is also a singer and theater actor/performer. He works alongside his boyfriends Andreas and Lorenzo. He's a lover of light up shoes and tacky colorful clothes.

Brenda O'Connor (she/her): 50s, British, aromantic, cis.

She has healing powers. She's also a highly skilled surgeon, specializing in several kinds of surgery. She was the one who performed Lev's top surgery.

[This post may be updated later]