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goodoldfashionedengineer · 2 months ago

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Here is my 6k word Umbrella Academy analysis on Season 1 Episode 1 "We Only See Each Other At Weddings And Funerals"

Hope you enjoy!

(Disclaimer: Spoilers for Season 1, 2 and 3. Some points will come off as a bit judgemental towards certain characters, but I truly like all of the siblings, this is simply my observation. You may not agree with everything, these are just my interpretations)

Episode 1: We Only See Each Other At Weddings And Funerals:

It is really sweet how the other women at the swimming pool are comforting Tatiana while and after she gave birth, bringing towels, petting her hair, holding her hand

It has been pointed out many times but I still love the foreshadowing to Viktor’s powers when Reginald is about to purchase him

I never thought about it but Viktor really practiced alone in the Theatre here. Wonder why. The lights were still on so maybe he just saw it as a good opportunity

Reginald dies late at night, Luther’s clock shows 23:28

When I watched this the first time, I immediately picked up on Luther's body hair growth, like with the wound, how he’s trying to cover it and later when he’s alone so I thought in retrospective that the trash bags are partially filled with hair

The weatherman says “little bit of rain potentially later in the week” and it does rain at Reginald’s funeral, which is only a few days after this! (As he dies on 21st March but Five comes back right before the funeral on 24th March) Great detail!

Diego really just snapped that guys neck

Allison's press photo shoot is apparently for Love on Loan 3, with the logo on the wall!

Allison never covers her umbrella tattoo, it is really visible

Allison looking really forced happy, right before a journalist says “Oh! You’re perfect!”

The poster “Recovery is not short and sweet, it is a lifelong process”

Klaus introduction scene and he already wears his headphones

He is immediately established as charming, people are laughing at his jokes, another off-screen person says goodbye to him. He seems well liked

No matter how many times I watch it I get said when the receptionist says “We’ll see you soon, Klaus”

Klaus-kisses-something count: 1. Object in question: the 30 day coin

Luther's chair on the moon, where the light hits the surface and making it look beautiful. Great hint at a later scene where Allison asks him about the moon!

Diego has no idea what normal is for a family. He throws the robbers against family photos, real family photos, not the annual paintings of the Academy. He throws knives, picks them up and they’re covered in blood. No clue that he looks just like the robbers, how is this family supposed to feel safe?

The transition from Allison leaving the press and looking over her shoulder to look at them one last time to Klaus looking over his shoulder as a police car with siren drives past as he makes his way to a dealer

Klaus-kisses-something count: 2. Object in question: drugs

Viktor looking at the news as Reginald’s death is pronounced. He says “Dad” and the photo on the news showing Reginald shows one of the Umbrella Academy group pictures after their Eiffel Tower mission. Watching that hurt, my heart aches for Viktor here

After the Eiffel Tower picture it shows another Academy picture, but this time with only five kids, hinting at Five’s disappearance

Reginald having lizard taxidermies and skulls

I never could quite make sense of the Academy emblem. An umbrella, a lighting bolt, a skull and a domino mask. And the motto is “Ut Malum Pluvia”, apparently translating to “When Evil rains”?

Shot to the sleep observation notebook. During my first watch, I didn't pick up that the numbers were representing the children, I assumed it were experiment numbers. I don't know what he wrote about Allison, but Klaus’s says “no activity for tonight”. So yay, probably means good sleep for him. I’m sure that line either hints at nightmares, OR, more likely, ghosts, that Klaus sees/hears in his dreams, which we get to see in later scenes. Ben’s says ‘seems to be crying in sleep’ which is just so sad, I want to hug him. And Viktor’s says “activity!!!” can't really make out the rest, but there are other posts transcripting the pages, but here’s another clue that Viktor has powers.

The Academy paintings. On the first one, they look a bit uncomfortable, but mostly okay. In the next, when Five is gone, they look so much more tense. In the next one it shows they hate this and they don't want to be here. They look really strained and depressed and angry at the last painting when Ben died

Diego comes out of the room where Grace is sitting, great hint for when it is revealed that he found the monocle on her

Allison didn't seem to be sure that Viktor would come “You’re actually here”. It is sweet how she welcomes him and says “forget about him” when Diego tells him “What are you doing here? You don't belong here, not after what you did.”

So far, Diego and Allison know that Viktor is there

Viktor says “Hey, Allison” while Allison says “Hey, sis”. Sis, our first nickname in this family

Allison can sure shoot one back, quite snarky and can be quite defensive of others, but in a good way. Shows by criticizing Diego’s outfit/leather harness underhandedly

Viktor really seems to be about to leave after Diego’s comment :( Good that Allison reassured him

So now Diego knows that Allison is there, Viktor and now Luther as well. “What's your secret? Protein shakes? Low carbs?” Diego seems well knowledged in health and fitness, later eating a raw egg and criticizing Klaus for using drugs “My body is a temple”. That's surely one way to cope. That is in complete contrast to what they did as children, with Five pointing out they used to snuck out to Griddy’s and Klaus saying they used to huff paint in the basement in season 3. That fact about Diego already shows here with this simple comment

Diego was the first to know Luther was there (beside Pogo, as Luther talked to him already and was told the monocle was missing. Already hinting that Pogo was involved in Reginald’s whole plan). And of course the first room Luther would go to was Reginald’s bedroom. But then again, it was Diego’s first goal too, with him already having checked it out

Diego pulling away the coroner’s report right as Luther was about to grab it because Diego was holding it out to him. Classic sibling behavior. From this moment I knew that any comment about “They’re not really a family, they’re strangers” is a blatant lie

Diego broke into the coroner’s office before this. He IS shocked that it is just heart failure but he accepted it. Luther, not so much

Diego says this about Reginald: “A sad old man in a big empty house, just like he deserved.” Now he is the one being told by Luther to leave.

Diego says to Luther “Whatever you say, brother.” Brother being so more distanced than sis

Reginald really had everything. Comics up top, a bit below that, a newspaper article but also a framed teen magazine cover

Viktor meets Pogo up next and they hug. Viktor got two hugs in one day, the other being from Allison

Grace calls Reginald “sir” in the flashback

In the flashback, Allison stands perfectly straight in the middle, in the left front we have Ben who is straightening his shirt and halfway already in the office. On the right front we have Klaus who is crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe. In the left back we have Luther, who stands behind his siblings and in the exact same spot as in all the Academy paintings. Next to him is Diego, who has to stretch himself a bit to be able to look past Allison and at Reginald. In the left back is Five and behind him Viktor. When they are urged to leave, Viktor immediately makes his way back, Diego and Klaus follow suit and walk next to each other, next it Five and Luther puts his hand on Ben’s shoulder as they walk back. Allison has to be urged by Grace. She wants attention and it becomes apparent why she would become a movie star

Klaus meets Allison first, she’s the first to know he’s there, in Reginald’s office

Klaus really hasn't seen Allison in a long time it seems, but Allison is really happy to see him as she smiles at his antics. I really believe that Klaus is the “mascot” when it comes to dysfunctional family dynamics and for Allison, it really worked. For those that don't know what the mascot is: “This is the child who learns very early that laughter reduces tension and eases stress, and she or he responds to discord in the family by trying to lighten the mood through humor.”

Klaus immediately goes for the hug. Now Allison got two hugs too! The first she gave Viktor, the second she got from Klaus

Klaus really can lie quickly. He wasn't prepared to meet her there, it didn't sound like he had anything planned when he said that he wanted to meet her anyway, but that “I wanted to get your autograph” really came so quickly after that short pause. He could pawn it and says it in a flattering way.

He is so quick to divert from a question. Instead of answering Allison's question about what he’s doing, he goes for the “oh, we haven't seen each other in so long!”

But Allison points out the rehab wristband. She notices shit

Allison really seems concerned when Klaus says “I’m done with all that”, context being rehab

Klaus saying he only came here to convince himself that their dad is dead and Allison giving him a “really?” look. She didn't believe it for a second

When Klaus clasps “And he is! He’s dead! Yeees!” Allison shakes her head and grins. That was the moment she thought “Yep, he hasn't changed one bit, alright. Klaus is still Klaus.”

Klaus really changes in tone fast, from being cheerful and making jokes about Reginald’s death to angry about how they wouldn't be allowed to be in that room if he’d still be alive

Klaus puts his feet in the desk

Reginald has a photo of himself framed on a shelf, not just the painting behind him

“Get out of his chair” are the first words Luther tells Klaus after seeing each other again. Klaus has meet two people, Allison and Luther and Luther met Pogo, Diego and now Allison and Klaus in Reginald’s office

Interesting that Klaus wants to leave when Luther enters the room.

“Save the lecture” Oh, Klaus is so used to getting lectured

“You guys can talk amongst yourselves * chuckles softly*” He is so hinting at their teenage romance with each other

Luther knows Klaus took something, he isn't fooled by Klaus playing dumb

And Klaus looks around again if anyone is there before he pulls out the box. Don't let appearances fool you, he knows how to stay secretive

Klaus-kisses-something count: 3. Object in question: pearl-inlaid box

Luther is the one to say “Klaus is still Klaus” and Allison is the one to say she finds it comforting. Her life has changed so much, she has started to see that her actions have consequences and to see that some things from the past haven't changed? Yes, I can see her seeing it as a source of comfort. Luther does not give a response, instead redirecting to Diego. So he seems to be less comforted by Klaus’s lack of change

The bit about Diego wearing the leather harness in the shower will never not be funny

Luther AND Allison weren't sure if she’d come to the funeral. She really distanced herself from her past, huh

Luther says shit when Allison tells him that Patrick got custody. He knows how much Claire meant to Allison. Also, Luther swears. I see you, “Luther saying ‘Language!’” writers, but it’s not canon

Luther is quick to suggest Allison should use her power, but he is apprehensive at saying it out loud, indicating that he does know that it is not exactly good

Family meeting! Luther sits on the left couch, Diego on the left armchair, Allison on the right armchair and Viktor on the right couch. Luther seems the most comfortable, as if this were truly his home, Diego sits rather relaxed too, Allison sits straight, hands folded in her lap, Viktor wants to be comfortable but body language indicates that he isn't, he makes himself look really small

Allison has a drink

“None of you ever did that?” When Luther tells that he used to sit with Reginald by the oak tree. Diego looks away, probably thinking “Classic Luther”. At first I thought that Diego thinks that Luther is the favorite, but then I remembered that Diego later tells Luther he SHOULD be angry at Reginald for what he did to Luther, so I think he realizes “So he still thinks Reginald is good and doesn't realize how messed up it all was.” Also, Klaus immediately chimes in “Will there be any refreshments?” Before any of his siblings could answer that “None of you ever did that?” Question, which would just stir up all sorts of emotions. Robert Sheehan said in an interview once that Klaus is rather conflict avoidant and it shows. And again, another point towards him being the “mascot”

So Klaus has a drink, a cigarette and also a trophy?

Luther only points out the smoking, not the drinking. Because “Dad didn't allow smoking in here”. When did he establish that rule? I so want to know the history behind it

Allison seems to be so much more at ease after Klaus’s interruption

Diego knew Luther would still believe that it was murder. Viktor does speak up, using logic that the coroner would know. Allison also finds Luther’s suggestion ludicrous, she sees in that moment how Luther can't live without a mission anymore

“Quelle surprise” Klaus is the most likely out of all of them to use non-English words. French, German, Spanish is what I remember on the spot, I'll look out if he speaks any other languages

Also, Reginald communicated with Luther while on the moon

“Look, I know you don't like to do it but I need you to talk to Dad”. Everyone was aware that Klaus does not like using his power. Klaus even looks shocked at the suggestion, his expression saying “Me?”. Allison scoffs as if she knew “Yeah, not going to happen” or couldn't believe that Luther would bring it up, especially in the context that she thinks that Luther is out of his mind with suggesting it was murder

Resentment slips through when Klaus says “Hey did could you stop playing tennis with Hitler for a while and take a quick call”

Luther doesn't even think about the possibility that Klaus wouldn't be able to do it. “That's his thing”. Luther does NOT know why Klaus started using drugs,for which we’ll get even more evidence for in episode 7 when he says he wants to be Number Four because he seems so carefree. Also Diego looks away when Luther says it, maybe because Luther still puts so much focus on their powers, just like Reginald

Everyone except Diego is so shocked and surprised when it’s revealed that Luther thinks one of them killed Reginald. There was definitely some baseline trust in each other

“Way to lead” Diego rubbing salt into the wound because he knows Luther thinks himself the leader of the group. It definitely strikes Luther, so it worked

All of them work out without another word, except Klaus who tells Luther he’s crazy. Even Allison, whose glass is now empty

Flashback to 17 years ago. They were 12 here and it’s 2002. Five disappeared about 16 years and 5 months ago, so he was only in the public for about 7 months

News Reporter is Jim Hellerman from the news station Channel 2 News

A S.W.A.T team is already at the bank robbery

Bank is Capital West bank at Main at Sixth

The Umbrella Academy only made their entrance at this bank robbery roughly three hours after it started

I love this scene so much. Allison so confidently walking up to the robber, Luther running on the roof and people believing it’s law enforcement, jumping in through a window from the ceiling, immediately hitting a guy and throwing him out of the bank through another window. That's a lot of windows they’re destroying. Diego’s knives land straight in that guy's chest

What did Jim Hellerman do to have been in many hostage situations? Is The City just like that? Is it like Gotham, where crime is just that rapant?

The robber from the beginning is standing on top of the counter, pointing his gun at the kids and calling them freaks. Diego, Allison AND Klaus are standing in front of him. I have never noticed that Klaus was standing there too before this rewatch. Luther is standing by the hostages in front of the vault.

The kids are trolling that guy. Diego saying “Be careful up there, buddy” Allison responding “Wouldn't want you to get hurt.” Five also has this humor with “That's one badass stapler.” He is so youthful here

“Do we really have to do this?” Ben, I want to hug you. He does not want to do this. He first looks at Luther (remember when Luther was the one to guide him away from Reginald’s office?) and then at Klaus.

“*Sighs* I didn't sign up for this” Did I say I want to give Ben a hug?

Five seems intrigued by Ben’s… tentacle massacre and then looks at Klaus, maybe because of the possibility that new ghosts could appear?

“*Sighs* *breathes shakily* Can we go home now?” Voice trembling, covered in blood, I am calling CPS, nothing will stop me, I will enter this TV show just to pull Ben out of this

They come out and are already posing, they trained for this moment. Luther is holding a hand up, Diego is showing off a knife, Allison is standing straight, Klaus is leaning on Five, Five is als standing straight, hand behind his back. Ben is covered in blood and looking down

They were so sheltered and given so little free time, so little time to discover who they are, this bank robbery mission for which a S.W.A.T team was called and ended in Ben being covered in blood made Viktor say “Why can't I go PLAY with the others?”

Reginald comes into the picture and Luther is again at his exact same position as always, at the top left.

Some other news stations: WURG, CNR, Channel 9 News

Interesting how they wear their scarves. Luther, Five and Ben all seemingly wear their scarves tucked into their coats, Allison wears hears pretty fashionable with one side hanging out to the front, Klaus’s hangs off to the side on one end while the other falls off over his shoulder behind his back and Diego literally just put it around his shoulders, didn't even wrap it around his neck. No wonder that guy later refuses to use an umbrella during the funeral.

End of flashback, back to Klaus trying to conjure Reginald. Looks like he just took off his shoes. Klaus seems to focus so much on the point that they weren’t related. Earlier with him that Reginald wasn’t their real father so they couldn't inherit his cold dead eyes, now with “[...] my sons, adoptedt(!) sons”. It really makes sense that he wants to seek out his birth mother in season 3, he already puts a lot of focus on it in season 1.

“Big angry ghost lecture” again with the lecture, Klaus is used to getting lectured.

"Eternal peace is probably overrated” they kept that in season 3 when he talks with Rachel, his mom, in The Void. Klaus is so interesting, he has seemingly no long term goals, lives fully in the present moment, but is haunted by his past and also thinks the future is shit (as shown when Five reappears and tells them about the future “Called it!”)

Klaus calls Reginald “Reggie”

Diego and Klaus think very similarly of Reginald. Diego uses “paranoid”, “sad old man”, “monster” as words to describe him, Klaus says “stubborn bastard” and “sadistic prick”. No wonder they get along so well

Allison truly is a girlies girl, they recreated that early 2000s girls room PERFECTLY. That little thing to hang up jewelry, the bright colored nail polish, another container for other accessories, teen magazines, posters, kitchy notebooks and decor, those pencils that aren’t even sharpened yet, the one with the thin plastic wrapping that gets everywhere once you do sharpen them and with the cutesy eraser on top which more destroys your paper and smears the writing all over it instead of erasing it. Huuuh, the 2000s

Klaus is now in the basement kitchen. This is where Leonard and Viktor will enter from at a later point (I’m pointing this out because whenever I watched that scene I never knew how they were suddenly in the house, I assumed it was a shop because it didn't look like the house, now I know). There is a table football and a couch and an e-guitar, which Klaus will later hold right when Diego will announce that he’ll leave

Klaus has another drink. And just took drugs, three to be precise. He seems to be not doing okay. “Three? Okay” to which he laughs but right after taking them he seems very sunken

Diego is a knuckle cracker and fidgets with his knives

I think it’s really sweet how Luther wants to make them all feel connected and cheer them up after ruining the mood. Maybe he already realized here he was too harsh. He did turn up the volume to max, he knew what he was doing with putting on the vinyl here. And he is already feeling the music, moving his hands and head

Luther is a record enjoyer, Klaus is most often seen with his tape player (though he also has a record player in his room. I assume that tapes are just more mobile and he can listen to them anywhere).

This dance scene was what made me fall in love with the show

Diego closes the door before he pulls off his A+ performance.

Allison springs onto and off beds

Five begins to reappear, metal things get pulled away. Reginald’s urn almost falls off the table before Klaus catches it. Klaus also says “Daddy?” Sure, we know that ghosts don't manifest like this. But Klaus has been trying to conjure Reginald, his abuser, so it is reasonable why he’d think that Reginald might appear after all, especially when he isn't fully sober and already not doing that good mentally

Luther is the first to put some scientific reasons on the big blue ball in the sky

Diego calls Luther “Paul Bunyan”

When the electricity intensifies, Luther and Diego are quick to pull Klaus behind them. Luther says “Everyone get behind me”, he clearly sees himself as their protector. Diego says “Yeah, get behind us” he sees himself also as their protector, he has some respect for Luther in the sense he looks up to him, wants to be equals rather than Number Two

“I vote for running” Klaus showing conflict-avoidance again. Or self-preservation instincts depending on the viewer

I like how Klaus is the one to say “Does anyone else see little Number Five or is that just me?” With him already seeing things that no one else does. Also, Klaus uses Five’s full name, Number Five instead of just Five

Klaus is rubbing his show and mouth a lot. Could be a nervous tick or could be experiencing dry mouth from the drugs

Viktor and Five used to be close, Viktor being the one to give Five the date and Five remained rather calm when he just said the day when he asked for the exact date instead. He has a lot more patience for Viktor

Five did that a lot, walking towards someone only to blink with Luther saying “Haven't missed that”

Five has seen a lot. He says that the future is shit so resigned. He says he should have listened to “the old man”, putting the blame on himself

“That makes no sense” “It would if you were smarter” Diego immediately stands up, Luther immediately holds Diego back. He will later do this again when Diego is angry at Five when Patch was killed. Luther is all about preserving the peace between them, that's also why he put on the record

“Nice to know Dad didn't forget me” Five does not seem to see the harm Reginald has done to them but based on that line, I believe that in the apocalypse he thought often about how their dad would probably see him as a failure now, since he did what he was told not to do and couldn't even go back. All of them still call Reginald “Dad”

I’m just imagining old Five saying “ballsy”

Viktor full on believes his whole family hates him

Five responds with that there could be worse things. Worse things being that they’re all dead like what he had to go through, already implicating that he doesn't care what his family thinks of him and his actions just as long as they’re safe

Klaus is smoking another cigarette

Pogo says “dear boy” to Luther

Klaus grimaces when Luther pours out the ashes. Could be interpreted in a number of ways. “Oh that wasn't great.” “The old man will not like that.” to throw out a few

Diego’s anger continues to brew as his face twists and and looks up away from Pogo when he asks who wants to speak. The words are already forming for him

Klaus is keeping his feelings about Reginald bottled up, going straight back to his cigarette

Diego begins to look over again when Pogo says “[Reginald] was my master”. Strengthening his feelings about how they weren't children to Reginald, how he saw himself as above everyone

Allison looks down and seems annoyed when Diego says “My name is Number Two” in response to her calling him out. She probably thinks back to Ben’s funeral, where he wasn't all that different. “Classic Diego”

Viktor also cares about Mom. When he first entered the Academy, he said “Mom?” As soon as he saw her, here he says “No, it’s okay, Mom” when she asks if they’d like something to eat. He also thanks her in a later flashback when she compliments his music and is against shutting her down

Allison already notices that something is not right with Mom “Is Mom alright?”, Which explains why she would be pro powering her off

Diego really out here pulling the string cards with calling Luther “Number One”. Luther probably saw it as an offense towards him, but I think Diego said it more as to “Look, he didn't even gave us names! He gave us numbers”

Luther does no go down to that level, still calling Diego “Diego” but he is the one to start the physical fight

Diego calls Luther “big boy” in the fight. Twice

This time, Klaus is all for the fight, chanting “Hit him!”. He did laugh at Diego’s proclamations about their father

Allison seems so disappointed and also resigned in those two when they destroyed Ben’s statue in the “They never know when to stop” sense

This time, Viktor does not back down when Diego says “Got enough material for your sequel yet?” He does not let Diego get to him

Klaus really makes sure that everyone is gone before he says his words to Reginald.

Putting out your cigarette in your abusers ashes in the ultimate “Fuck you” move and nothing will ever top it

Reginald’s quote in the flashback to one of their training days basically boils down to “You are stronger together than on your own.” In the bank robbery flashback he says in response to if he cares about their well being “Of course. As I am for the fate of the world.” I think he knew that an apocalypse would happen but I don't believe he knew the cause. In a later flashback with Luther and Allison in the greenhouse, he isn't angry about them spending time together, he’s angry that they do it outside of their schedule

This is where Diego’s fear of needles comes from, getting their tattoos

Klaus and Allison already got their tattoos, Diego is currently getting his done, so they’re out of order. I thought maybe the last one got theirs first, the first one to make it to the top gets theirs last but Diego was right behind Five on the staircase race. But maybe Luther and Ben managed to overtake him?

I just think it’s really sweet how Klaus is holding Allison in his arms as she’s sobbing while he is also still distressed and in pain from his own one. He cares

Diego doesn't even let himself be comforted by Mom

Luther also seems so agitated about being next, he tries to hide the fear but isn't successful

Ben tries to calm himself down but he’s pretty nervous and as is Five

None of them had any fun here

Reginald raises them by the rule “You are stronger together than alone”. But completely excludes Viktor from all of this. Of course he’d feel isolated. But it also means he sees these terrible things happen to his siblings, like the bank robbery mission and tattoos, and sees it as a game, as a group activity that he is left out of. I do believe he’d take the pain if it’d meant he’d be one of them

It is so freaking creepy how Reginald will just sit on their beds while they sleep and put on the electrodes.

I first thought everyone had their own color for the cables, but some are clearly used twice. Luther has blue, Allison yellow, Viktor’s is white which is a great hint as his comic code name “The White Violin”, Klaus is black (shocking for the guy whose powers revolve around death), Five is red since it’s coming from the staircase leading up top but no idea which colors Ben and Diego are

Luther sleeps on his side, Allison sleeps half on her back, half on her side, Five sleeps on his stomach, Viktor sleeps on his back

I think this is the first time we see Viktor use the pills? Could have sworn it was earlier but I don't think so

Viktor takes his pills and goes back to his earlier mind set, when he did think Diego was right, he shouldn't have come

Viktor really cares about others. He cares about Mom, he tells Pogo to take care of himself, he later compliments Helen

“Dad hated caffeine” “He hated children too and he had plenty of us *laughs* *immediately stops and grows serious*” Again, a sudden mood change from Klaus when talking about their father. Also, it’s really sad how Klaus is telling the truth here, because Reginald literally says in season 2 "I have a deep dislike of children. I do not have them, nor do I intend to have them". So Klaus seems to have a good idea about how Reginald truly was. Rehab did seem to have some effect

Klaus peaks up when Five says he’ll get in the car. Like he knows that Five is in a 13 year old body, so he isn't legally allowed to drive. But he is also so curious.

Klaus is also barefoot. Good reference to his comic version, where he can only use his psychic powers when he isn't wearing shoes

I love that Diego’s and Allison’s love language for each other is roasting. “See you guys in, what, 10 years when Pogo dies” “Not if you die first.” “Yeah, love you too, sis. Good luck on your next film”. We got our first “love you”! Aaand it was 100% sarcastic. Also, Diego calls Allison “sis”!

That “Hope it turns out better than your marriage” comment hit hard for Allison, she immediately left after it

Even though Diego is a pretty health and fitness focused guy, he still takes out one mini marshmallow from the bag that Five left out earlier when he made his sandwich

Diego’s face when he’s in the car and Klaus enters. That screams “Not this again let me have one second in peace”. Diego is used to Klaus but not to his antics. But he doesn't throw him out

So, Viktor left, Klaus knew about it, Five and Allison where in the room when he announced it, Five left with Klaus and Allison still in the room, Diego entered, Allison left, Diego left, Klaus left, Luther saw Klaus and Diego leaving in the car

I love Grace, great character. Often robots in fiction are said to have their own agency, but this show really questions that narrative. Does she? Or is it her programming. But here when she looks at the paintings she mimics that woman in the painting, looking at her with longing and awe. It looks like she wants to be that free, go see the places in those paintings which she never got to do under Reginald

Five’s forced smile at Agnes reminds me of his comic version

Five could have gone anywhere to get a coffee but he chose Griddy’s. A place with memories. Good memories. With siblings he cares so much about. Siblings which he saw dead. “Simpler times”. I think Five thought a lot about them in the apocalypse. Regretted some of his actions. “Shouldn't have done this” “should have done something” “should have said something” “should have told them”. All those should have’s.

On the side of Griddy’s is a sign with “Dunfield Plaza” and next to it is another sign with other shop names. Those being “Dry cleaning”, “Astro Typewriter” and “Grand Mutual” and under it is another LED sign with “Warton’s convenience 24h”

Five’s fighting speaks for itself

Five didn't finish his coffee

Diego is holding the monocle above the water, thinking about Luther’s words. He is conflicted about clearing Grace’s innocence with dropping it. He knows something is up with it. But he also wants to protect her

First time Klaus is referring to himself as “we”, with we meaning Ben and him

Here we have the scene that led to fanfic authors making Klaus obsessed with waffles. Despite “You like waffles?” “Of course you do, everyone likes waffles” and Ben even nodding. But that’s the curse of a character mentioning liking a food once

Diego had the police radio on his car hood so he’d here if something came up

Klaus does drum rolls

Klaus knows about Diego’s vigilante activity “breaking bones and cracking skulls?” which does sound rather negative. He doesn't seem to be in favor of it. Comes with them being raised to kill and him seeing corpses that have broken bones, pieces of them missing, etc.

Diego responds with “Saving lives, baby”

“I guess it’s frozen waffles again” I hope you don't eat them frozen /j

“I could do egg and bacon but I’m trying to cut down on my pig products.” I am leaning myself out of the window and throw a wild suggestion out: Could be interpreted as a hint towards Dave. Dave is Jewish and pork is not kosher

Diego is putting on the mask in the car

“You are so weird” Viktor to Five. Another peak sibling behavior, love it. You have each other back not even a day but you are already back to being siblings

So Viktor knows Five was attacked and that the world will end

“I’ll put on a pot of coffee” Miniscule detail, but he couldn't have known that Five wanted coffee since he already left when Five was searching for coffee in the Academy which led to him driving to Griddy's. I guess the usual person would say “I need a drink” when they find out “The world will end in 8 days” BUT Viktor takes medication, so coffee is probably the next best thing, especially since the day has already been exhausting

And there we go! First episode over!

#the umbrella academy #tua #tua analysis #tua s1 #umbrella academy

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sissytobitch10seconds · 3 months ago

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i am so stupid i just noticed while going through my ao3 inbox and marking things as read that you, someone who till this moment i only knew as my favourite fiktor writer on ao3 also wrote my favourite kazper fic which i read way before i discovered your TUA fics. Funny how things end up working sometimes yeah?

Anyway, hi, i'm the reader with T4T kazper brainrot from Farm Girls and Farm Boys. Love your fics, you're great at what you do, im going to go crawl under a rock out of embarrassment now

I am everywhere, mwahahaha.

I think it's kind of funny that you sent me this ask because only a few days ago I was telling my bf that I'm basically a microcelebrity in the TUA fandom because I wrote the most fiktor fics during the two years between s4 and s3 (I'm also one of the only people to write post-transition Viktor in this fandom which upsets me).

#also!#never be embarrassed when you talk with me #i love getting asks and you're so nice!!!

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sylvie-fics · 2 years ago

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The Weight of a Soul

Viktor x reader, as usual

Word count: 1.2k

Warnings: She/her pronouns. Abuse, drugs, pain, cruel punishments, reader has turned into a funny lil creature.

Summary: When Viktor goes to obtain shimmer from Singed, he sees a familiar face. Singed had swore the mutation would survive at all costs… but Viktor never imagined it would be at the cost of you.

Authors note:

ed...ward....

(also you woudnt believe how many people it took to title this fic.)

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“And this is… shimmer?” asked Viktor, studying Singed as he moved from his desk towards him.

He presents the vial of purple fluid, an ominous glow emanating from within it

“A variant,” he responds, “ it should provide everything one needs to survive a violent transition.”

“Will it work on…”

Viktors words trail off, something catching his attention. There within the shadows lived a glowing set of eyes, peeking out from behind a tank– as if stalking Viktor like prey.

Singed was quick to catch onto Viktor’s distant gaze, signaling the creature to come forward.

“No need to be afraid. It’s just Viktor… Do you remember him? The two of you were friends when you were younger.”

Stalking out of shadows hesitantly was a familiar face– though perhaps one Viktor was horrified to see. What was once his dear friend (Y/N), now fully grown. It could be a happy reunion, if not for the unsettling realization of what had happened to you all those years he was away. He felt nauseous at the sight of you, having brought his hand up to his mouth as he suppressed a shocked gasp.

All he could manage was a shaky, “(y/n)...” as he took a step back.

You hastily looked around, searching for another presence within the room. A hand on your shoulder caught your attention– Singed. At the very least, you would recognize him. He leaned down to whisper, “That's you.” before standing upright again, and gently pushing you forward to the vaguely familiar man.

“She has trouble recalling her name these days, one of the side effects, I suppose…”

He knows he shouldn’t, but Viktor can’t stop himself from backing away from you as you approach. You already look terrified, it won't help if he’s scared too.

“Friend… Viktor?” You questioned, your voice rough from the changes your body has undergone. Or maybe it was rough from how much you cried out in pain. You can't remember…

How could this have happened? No… he knows the answer to that. How could someone– how could Singed do that to you. Singed had swore the mutation would survive at all costs… but Viktor never imagined it would be at the cost of you.

You, his most beloved childhood friend, who he spent most every day with. More often than not, the two of you played with Rio– feeding her, or petting her, or playing fetch. On other days, walking alongside the riverside, making shapes out of clouds. Even on days spent apart, the two of you often wrote letters back and forth. After he ran out of Singed’s underground lab that day– terrified at the sight of a dying Rio– he ran out on you too. Maybe if he would have stayed behind, he could have stopped… This.

‘Friend Viktor’... he seems like someone you might know. It’s been so long since you’ve seen him! Probably! It’s been so long since you’ve seen anyone, you think. Though, if someone’s come to visit you now, that must mean they like you, right? You’ve done something right– and that's good! Probably!

You’re just so happy, so overjoyed. You barely even notice your speed picking up as you approach him.

Viktor is sure he’s about to be killed and eaten. You’re bolting towards him at inhumane speeds, your mouth open just enough to show razor sharp teeth. He can only close his eyes and flinch, preparing himself for the pain he’ll no doubt feel as you tear into him.

Just as you’re about to reach him, pain consumes your body. Viktor, despite his best effort, isn’t able to react in time. He watches you fall to the ground as you scream out in pain, grasping desperately at your neck. A shock collar… That’s how Singed is keeping you under control, isn’t it?

“I’m sorry…! I’m… I’m so sorry! Please, Please make it stop!” you plead, knowing how few times pleading worked.

As the shock stops, Viktor glares at Singed. How unphased he seems, as if it's normal to him.

Singed only sighs, placing a remote back onto the table– no doubt the one he uses to shock you.

“Try not to excite her too much... her nature has changed quite drastically.”

Singed moves to your side– picking you up, and placing you in a chair. You struggle to sit up, seemingly out of breath from struggling. It's only now in your stillness that Viktor can see the marks on your arms and legs. You’ve had to be restrained… and recently, too. In between your gasps, you chant your frightened ‘no’’s. Singed seems to be preparing an injection of shimmer.

So this is the type of transition it helps one survive…

“... why would you do this to her?”

“It was never supposed to go this far.” Singed replies, injecting you with shimmer. You immediately go quiet, your breathing slowing as you fade in and out of consciousness. Singed looks over to Viktor, a grim expression across his face.

“She was never supposed to turn into… this.” he continues, “ You think I’m horrible for doing this to my own daughter. I admit– I think so too. You’ll only have a few minutes with her like this, say anything you need to say to her. I’m sure these are her final days of resembling something human.”

Years worth of memories of you he could recount, or tell you about life in Piltover, or even just reassure you that everything would be alright. In that moment, he could only stare– all thoughts leaving his head. You were supposed to be the one that made it out. You were the little girl who would buy a ‘non-cave’ cottage, and have a ‘rio-ranch’. You wanted to make the world a better place. You wanted to have lots of friends, and celebrate, and…

Oh, he’s crying.

“Please don’t cry, I’m sorry for scaring you. I… I understand if we're not ‘friends’ anymore.”

Your eyes have dilated back down to a normal level, and for a moment he sees you. You. Silly, happy, carefree you. The you that could have been.

“I’m sorry for leaving you.”

It's all he can think to say. He’s so overcome with grief, first facing his own death, and now… Sure, you were alive. On a physical level, you were alive. But this was not you. The (Y/N) he knew was dead, and her corpse was a sick sort of Rio puppet.

“It’s okay, you're back now. You won't leave again, right?”

Silence fills the room, realization hitting you.

“Oh…” you whisper, your voice quivering, “I understand.”

With that, a single tear rolls down your face, your eyes closing once more. This time, though, they stay closed. For the first time, Viktor wonders if he should have stepped closer. If he should have given you a hug– or– or told you how much he loved you. Singed hoists up your sleeping body, bringing it back into the shadows. So then, that was his final conversation with you, wasn't it? Leaving you alone in tears… just like last time.

It was the last time anyone saw you, for that matter. As years passed on, those who knew Singed no doubt heard of his deceased daughter– who he missed dearly. Overcome with a sickness, and losing her battle.

Which, of course, had absolutely no connection to the supposed ‘monster’ the Machine Herald kept in his lab.

#arcane x reader #viktor x reader #arcane viktor x reader

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ukrainenews · 2 years ago

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Daily Wrap Up December 8-9, 2022

Under the cut:

WNBA star Brittney Griner was free Thursday after the Biden administration negotiated her release from a Russian penal colony in exchange for an arms dealer, according to a senior administration official.

Russian shelling of a town in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine has left one person dead and two injured, according to the region’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko. At least 12 houses were destroyed by the shelling in the town of Toretsk.

Vladimir Putin mentioned a potential settlement to end his war in Ukraine on Friday while still claiming that his “special military operation” was going to plan.

Belarus told the United Nations on Friday that it would allow, without preconditions, the transit of grain from Ukraine through its territory for export from Lithuanian ports, a U.N. spokesman said.

Russian troops are still focused on conducting an offensive in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine's General Staff said in its evening briefing

“WNBA star Brittney Griner was free Thursday after the Biden administration negotiated her release from a Russian penal colony in exchange for an arms dealer, according to a senior administration official.

President Joe Biden signed off on the trade, which took place in the United Arab Emirates, even though it meant leaving behind Paul Whelan, a U.S. corporate security executive who remains jailed in Russia.

"She is safe, she is on a plane, she is on her way home," Biden said Thursday morning at the White House. "She will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones, and she should have been there all along."

"I'm proud that today we have made one more family whole," Biden said, adding that he will continue to work to free Whelan. "We’ll keep negotiating for Paul’s relief. I guarantee it."

Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, was in the Oval Office with Biden, and the two were able to speak with her by phone, a senior administration official said.

Cherelle Griner, speaking after Biden, expressed her "sincere gratitude" to Biden and several other officials whom she mentioned by name for their work.

Griner will be flown to a medical facility in San Antonio where she will receive care, a senior administration official said. Cherelle Griner will meet her there, a senior administration official said.

The move is one of the highest-profile prisoner swaps between Moscow and Washington since the Cold War, with the Kremlin recovering Viktor Bout, whom Russian President Vladimir Putin has been wanting to get back — and who had served 11 years of a 25-year sentence in the U.S.”-via MSNBC

“Russian shelling of a town in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine has left one person dead and two injured, according to the region’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko.

At least 12 houses were destroyed by the shelling in the town of Toretsk, he said in a Telegram post.

Kyrylenko wrote:

1 person was killed, 2 more were wounded in artillery shelling of Toretsk. Shells hit a private sector, destroying and damaging at least 12 houses. The Russians are again cynically shelling civilians — they are continuing their terror tactics.”-via The Guardian

“Vladimir Putin mentioned a potential settlement to end his war in Ukraine on Friday while still claiming that his “special military operation” was going to plan.

“The settlement process as a whole, yes, it will probably be difficult and will take some time. But one way or another, all participants in this process will have to agree with the realities that are taking shape on the ground,” the Russia president said during remarks at a press-conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

The remarks came just days after Putin appeared to be girding Russians for a protracted war in Ukraine, saying that his military operation could be a “long-term process”. Initially, Russian commanders expected the war would last just a matter of weeks before a Russian victory, according to plans captured at the beginning of the war. It is now in its 10th month and Russia has been forced to retreat for several months.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, Putin claimed that his military operation was going to plan. “Everything is stable. There are no questions or problems there,” he said, adding that information was being given to the public transparently.

Those remarks came a day after Putin appeared to revel in recent Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.

Drinking what appeared to be sparkling wine, Putin vowed to keep battering Ukraine’s energy grid despite an outcry against the systematic attacks that have plunged millions into cold and darkness as winter sets in.

Speaking after an awards ceremony for “Heroes of Russia” at the Kremlin on Thursday, the president addressed a group of soldiers. Acknowledging the targeted attacks by Russia, Putin blamed Ukraine for initiating a trend of attacking civilian infrastructure, pointing to a blast on a key bridge between the Russian mainland and the annexed Crimean peninsula.

“Yes, we do that,” Putin said, of the strikes on the Ukraine grid. “But who started it? There’s a lot of noise about our strikes on the energy infrastructure of a neighbouring country. This will not interfere with our combat missions.”

The video, taken by the Russian state-owned TV channel Zvezda, shows Putin holding a glass while speaking about the fates of tens of millions of Ukrainians.

Ukraine has previously rejected Moscow’s claims that the strikes on its energy facilities were a retaliation for the Kerch bridge attack.

Ukraine’s defence intelligence agency has claimed Russian military units had received instructions from the Kremlin to prepare massive missile strikes a week before the Crimean Bridge attack.

Throughout the war, journalists, independent organisations and Ukrainian officials have also documented Russian attacks on civilian buildings and infrastructure.”-via The Guardian

“Belarus told the United Nations on Friday that it would allow, without preconditions, the transit of grain from Ukraine through its territory for export from Lithuanian ports, a U.N. spokesman said.

Belarus, used by its ally Russia as a staging ground for Moscow's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, said in June that it would let Ukrainian grain go via the country to Baltic Sea ports, if Belarus was allowed to ship its goods from the ports as well. Ukraine did not agree to the proposal.

Belarus Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Ambrazevich met with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York on Friday to tell him that there are no preconditions to the transit of Ukraine grain, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Ambrazevich also "reiterated the requests from his government to be able export its own fertilizer products, which are currently subject to sanctions," Dujarric said in a statement after the meeting.

Belarus, a major global potash producer, has been hit by harsh Western sanctions in 2021-2022 which disrupted its exports of the fertiliser via the Baltic Sea ports.

In July the United Nations and Turkey brokered a deal with Russia and Ukraine to resume Ukraine's Black Sea shipments of grain - stalled since the start of the war - and to facilitate Russia's food and fertilizer shipments.

The United Nations is still working to resume Russian ammonia exports, a key fertilizer ingredient, via a pipeline to a Black Sea port in Ukraine.”-via Reuters

“On the battlefield, Russian troops are still focused on conducting an offensive in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine's General Staff said in its evening briefing.

Zelensky said in an evening address that Russian troops "effectively destroyed" Bakhmut, now another city in Ukraine's east "turned into scorched ruins."

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. defense think-tank, said on Nov. 30 that "the costs associated with six months of brutal, grinding, and attrition-based combat around Bakhmut far outweigh any operational advantage that the Russians can obtain from taking Bakhmut."”-via Kyiv Independent

#Daily Update #Ukraine #Russia #War in Ukraine #Bakhmut #Belarus #donetsk #Brittney Griner

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book-petals · 1 year ago

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Review: Pageboy by Elliot Page

I was so excited to read Pageboy, I think I waited a few months on Libby to listen to the audiobook edition. I've been a fan of Elliot Page since the first time I watched Hard Candy on HBO when I was in middle school. That was the first time I felt empowered, watching someone my age exact revenge on a male predator for their friend. Another favorite movie he starred in is Whip It. That movie started the obsession I had for years with female roller derby teams. More recently, I loved seeing Elliot play Viktor in The Umbrella Academy. I've been a My Chemical Romance fan since Bullets album and read Gerard's comics as a result. Victor's subtle transition mid season 2 was beautifully done. If you haven't watched either of these movies/show or read The Umbrella Academy comics, I highly recommend them!

But this review isn't about movies, I don't have a lot to say about Pageboy. But I do want to talk about the two reasons for why I didn't love it the way I wanted to.

The first reason: the timeline was so confusing. A chapter would start with a few paragraphs about a movie set Elliot had been on and things that happened around filming and then it would shift to a memory of being in the city and doing something as a child. No dates or ages mentioned close enough to the change to understand when the events were happening. Like I said in the intro, I listened to the audiobook, but narrators will still read everything on the page (in this case it was narrated by the author like most memoirs) so I can conclude that dates and ages were just not mentioned at all.

Maybe it wouldn't have mattered if the book were written in chronological order but the timeline we got was just chaotic and made it hard for me to follow. Sometimes I would be well into a chapter before realizing exactly when said event was taking place.

Anyway, the second reason: maybe I'm cherry picking here, I haven't read many memoirs before this one. But Pageboy just lacked depth. It's so clear from Elloit's history and the things he wrote about in the book that he has been through so much. I knew about the hypersexualization from articles I've read, one that comes to mind is the controversy surrounding Beyond Two Souls and how a nude model of Elloit's pre transitioned body was snuck in without him knowing. There are so many examples of this happening in the memoir, but he grazed over them and it just felt like it lacked emotion. I could guess that maybe he didn't want to re open old wounds and still be able to talk about them in a perspective outside his own. But it all felt disconnected for me.

I'm not sure if I would recommend this book to anyone, of course if you're a fan and just want to read it for that sake then, yes do read it. But it was just not that for me, I still love Elliot Page and it doesn't change my opinion of him, I just couldn't get past the timeline and dryness of this memoir.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐

#authors #book #book blog #book review #bookish #books #bookworm #currently reading #goodreads #read #memoir #autobiography #nonfiction #elliot page #pageboy #3 star read

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charbax · 4 years ago

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In The Woods Somewhere

The aftermath of a hunt, and a bond forged in the dark. A Striktor mythical au inspired by Speck’s posts here and here.

A/N: I wrote this two years ago, forgot about it, then dusted it off and decided to finish it just in time for halloween!! Gosh I miss writing these two.

Please like/reblog if you enjoyed!

AO3 link here!

The thirst was the first thing Strix was aware of - it ached in his throat and stomach, carving out something hollow. His tongue darted out and licked dry lips, and he swallowed, trying to wet his mouth.

The next thing he was aware of was the barn ceiling above him. Strange. He usually didn't rest in buildings so close to people- The thought sent a bolt of fear through his heart. He sat up suddenly, then regretted the action immediately afterwards when his head spun. A hand gripped his shoulder, steadying him. "Hey, easy there." A familiar voice said. Instantly, Strix's guard lowered, if only by a minuscule amount. Something pressed against his lips. "It's not blood." Viktor explained. "Just water, drink it slowly." Strix accepted it nonetheless, placing a hand over Viktor's to control the slow trickle of liquid. It wasn't enough to fully alleviate his thirst, but at least the ache subsided to something manageable, something he could think past. Once he was done, he asked, "Where?" "The barn just outside of town. You passed out after we drove the knife into the monster. I carried you here. Well, I wanted to bring you to a real bed but," Viktor frowned. "Apparently killing a monster and saving their children wasn't enough for a decent room. The economy is in shambles." He emphasised the last part with a weak grin. Strix snorted in amusement. Viktor continued. "How're you holding up?" Strix's whole body ached, and had him wishing he was asleep again, but he soldiered on. "Tired, mostly." "Want some alone time so you can sleep?" "...not really." Strix admitted. He leaned back, holding the cup in his lap. "I want to know what happened when I was asleep." And so Viktor told him - after he had passed out, Viktor carried him all way out of the winding caves and back to town, where they had been greeted warmly by the townspeople, who were holding torches, and pitchforks ("I'm being sarcastic," Viktor clarified with an exaggerated whisper). According to the them, they recognised a vampire when they saw an unconscious one, and had prepared if Viktor was underneath its thrall. Luckily, the head of the monster was proof enough to convince that they were harmless, but even so, the townfolk were suspicious of the vampire, the one responsible for the disappearances of the children. "After that, I headed back to your home, where the children were." Viktor raised his hands apologetically. "Sorry. It was the only way to convince people not to burn you while they had a chance. After all, kidnapping's still kidnapping, even if it was to keep them safe." Strix winced as he looked at his lap, but didn't deny it. A hand covered his own. "Hey." Viktor continued. "Once they saw their children safe, they warmed up pretty fast. The village leader just wants to talk to you." "...alright." Strix said. "Right. Be right back." Viktor got up and ducked outside. Strix spent the next few minutes sipping his water and thinking about slipping out of the window while he had the chance. But Viktor's face flashed in his mind. So he only nervously tapped his fingers against the cup and waited. A while later, Viktor returned with the elder in tow. Straightened up, trying to keep his face blank and non-threatening, as if he was just another person and not a creature of the night. "Hello." The elder greeted. At least he wasn't carrying a pitchfork, small blessings. "I believe you were the one who stole the babes from their cribs." For the second time in a short period, Strix avoided the gazes in the room. He looked into his cup and tried not to let shame rise hot to his cheeks. "But you kept them safe from the true monster, so I suppose that explains it." The elder continued. "I wasn't going to keep them forever." Strix began. "Until it moved on. My strength is nothing against the monster's own." "That answered my next question. Was that why you did not go after it yourself?" "My presence cloaked the kids. If I died trying to kill it, then it would come after them." The elder stared at him, impassively, his face giving nothing away. Strix tried not to squirm underneath the slightly narrowed eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Viktor cross his arms and subtly inch closer to Strix. How relieving it was, to have someone like Viktor on his side, Strix supposed. Finally, the village head nodded, seemingly placated. "I understand. You may rest here for a three days as thanks, then take your leave. The others were already fearful of the monster. Do not make them fearful of the child-taker as well.” Strix nodded mutely. The elder gave one more stern look, then took his leave. Viktor turned to him with a grin. "See? Nothing to be worried about." He said. Strix grunted, agreement or disagreement, discretion to the listener. He leaned back onto his makeshift bed - a cloth over some hay, now that he could feel it scratch underneath him - and closed his eyes. "You have plans after this?" He asks, chest lighter now that the main threat was gone. "No idea. Probably head east, to the coast. Then who knows?" Strix hummed thoughtfully. Of course. Viktor seemed the type to be a roamer, no home, no past to weigh him down, a lone wolf borne of man. After all, that's how they met – on a job. Nothing more, nothing less. At least, that’s what Strix was trying to himself since they’ve entered that cave. Seemingly having nothing else to add, Viktor leaned back into his chair and gazed out the window. And since Strix had seemingly nothing else to reply, he let comfortable silence fall over them. Strix continued watching Strix, and wondered what jobs would await Viktor. It didn’t occur to him to think about what he himself was going to do next, save for the immediate need to leave the village as soon as possible. - After all that, Viktor got paid the tidy sum he was contracted for, no more, no less, and that’s how he liked it. He also gets the admiration of the local teens who dream of escaping their little village. That part he’s less pleased with. This isn’t the type of job he’d recommend as a future career – the pay wasn’t constant, the transit depends if he has a horse or not, and not to mention the life-threatening danger of the work is enough to deter mostly anyone with common sense. There’s a reason why there’s not many monster hunters in the first place. Still, he hung around. No reason not too. The money is more than enough to fund his next job, and it’s rare he has some downtime to just enjoy the place, even if it’s just a small town in the middle of nowhere. It gives him more time to actually hang out with one of the less annoying - but just as persistent – village youths. Said youth was leaning back on the tree contently, twirling a small knife as she watched Viktor. “So you really ain’t gonna take me?” Kinessa said with a touch of forlornness. “Told you already kid. This kind of work ain’t for nice young’uns like you-” “Oh yeah? Can a kid do this?” With that, she twirled her knife around one last time then threw it at the opposite tree trunk. It landed with a solid thunk! She grinned at him as he shook his head. “Don’t remember teaching you that one.” “Yeah, got it from-” Kinessa stopped suddenly, her eyes darting fervently. Viktor too glanced around, but the only things listening were the trees and the gentle wind of autumn. They relaxed. “Got it from Strix. It’s one of the few things he taught me while we were staying at his place. Y’know, it wasn’t that bad being looked after him, apart from the cabin fever. He certainly made sure everyone was fed.” Viktor didn’t really know much about what Strix did when he was hiding the children. He only remembered seeing those wide eyes staring at him in fear. He could still recall seeing the openly scared kids huddling behind the sniper’s outstretched arm like a brood to a mother bird. It was only when Viktor lowered the rifle to the floor and raise his hands did Strix take his finger off the trigger. He was shaken from his memories when Kinessa spoke again. “Wonder what’s he doing right now.”’ Yes, Viktor was thinking the same thing – he hadn’t heard hide nor feather from Strix even since then. He was like a ghost of the village, where everyone did their best not to acknowledge that the so-called ‘terror of the night’ was, in fact, a very nice cryptid who just wanted to live in peace. Which the villagers granted him a lot, yes, but only in the physical sense. Reputation wise, it hadn’t changed that much from before, as Kinessa had been telling him. They just also added kidnapper to his extensive repertoire. Which, in Viktor’ opinion, was less than what Strix truly deserved. Viktor’s gaze fell on the woods, and he wondered. – It’s much easier to navigate the deer paths now, in the daylight, rather than the middle of the dark on a morbid mission. The twisting paths are no match for years of hunting experience, so it takes an almost laughably short time to reach Strix’s cottage. Two visits in two weeks, someone’s becoming popular. Bet he’s gonna shock Strix out of...whatever Strixes do with free time and no children to guard. When he knocked on the front door, he had to wait until the door inched open, revealing a pair of amber eyes that were narrowed in suspicion before they widened. “Viktor?” “The one and only. Can I come in?” Strix wordlessly opened the door and let Viktor step into the hideout. He’s still staring at him. Viktor grinned. “Shocking right? I’m capable of knocking on the front door instead of smashing it in during the middle of the night.” The right side of Strix’s mouth twitched. A smile? “What are you doing here?” “You invited me in?” “I mean,” Strix’s smile deepened. “I thought you would have left the village by now.” “Well that was the plan. I can tell you all about it if you want.”

Strix blinked, then nodded. Viktor sank down onto one of the chairs. Strix still hovered by the door. “Do you want to take a seat?"

"That's my line, but I supposed you already answered." Strix said, shaking his head ever so slightly, but he sat down on the other free seat.

Viktor looked around the room, taking note of the cleanliness now there was an absence of missing children. He did, however, note the various wilted flowercrowns and small toys lining the mantle of the fireplace. Something was bubbling away in it, smelling absolutely delicious. "Gifts from the kids?" Viktor asked, nodding to the fireplace.

"Not really. I would go to return them but," Strix paused. "I feel I'm not welcomed at the village. They need time to recover."

Really, in Viktor's humble opinion, the villagers should be showering Strix in gratitude and gold for slaying the beast, but that's him. Strix's voice broke his silent grumblings.

"I doubt that you're here to check on my well-being. What brings you?"

Viktor scratched the back of his head. "Actually, that's exactly what I was doing." Strix blinked at him. Viktor fidgeted self-consciously. "What, never had someone check up on you?"

Strix shook his head, wide-eyed, like an owl.

"Huh." Viktor said intelligently. He leaned back, one arm hung over the back of the seat. "Thought you and that kid, Kinessa..."

"It's for the best she doesn't." Came the terse reply.

Viktor didn't respond to that. Strix continued staring at a spot on the patched wall. "She still thinks of you." Viktor continued.

"I'd rather not talk about this now."

Viktor relented, willing to let it go for now, then grinned as he recalled an earlier misadventure. "Want to hear about how I managed to sneak my way into something called the Thousand Hand guild and stole the leader's sword?"

The troubled look cleared away with a smile, like sunlight parting through stormy clouds.

"...and then that was when I realised, the knight was rescuing the dragon, not the damsel!"

Mirth lit the planes of Strix's planes, warm as the glow from the firelight as it cast dancing shadows over the both of them. Viktor didn't even realise it was nightfall until he was studying the planes of Strix's face in the semi-darkness, how it sharpened and softened it all at once. Supper was a long gone memory, and the mulled wine was sitting heavy and pleasant in his gut. He hadn't had enough to be truly drunk, no, but it was sharing a secret every time he sipped and caught Strix's eye.

Strix had loosened up, as loose as a creature of the night can truly be while looking over their shoulder - he was noticeably more slouched, trying his best to melt into the furs, or into Viktor's side of the bench. Sometime in the evening, Viktor had moved from sitting opposite of Strix to next to him, a warm presence in the dark of the room. "I mean," Strix smirked. "He was wearing a helmet. Maybe he didn't see."

"Nah, he definitely saw. If he didn't, he would've definitely felt when he hefted the scaly son of a bastard onto his shoulder and took off!"

Strix wasn't being silent all the time though. He occasionally spoke up, to put in a wry comment or a interesting fact about some of the monsters Viktor faced, and Viktor found himself nodding along the more Strix spoke. Or maybe he was nodding off because of the warmth from the fire, or the sudden shock of heat to his gut when Strix's eyes flicked to his own.

"Hey, Strix." Viktor said. "Doesn't it get lonely out here?"

Strix's eyes glowed amber in the firelight as he answered, "Sometimes."

Viktor's throat clicked as he swallowed, and he summoned all the courage he had, even more than facing the child-eating monster, to lay a hand on Strix's knee. Warmth shot up his arm and pooled in his stomach. "You don't have to be. Not tonight." He leaned closer to Strix, closer to the intoxicating scent of forest and the night and just him. Still, he hovered just over Strix’s lips, with enough distance for Strix to pull away, in case Viktor had read all the signs wrong.

He didn't. Strix closed the distance with a surge.

Then Viktor didn’t have to worry afterwards.

"They still want me dead, y'know." Strix murmured from his position on Viktor's chest.

Viktor made a rumbling noise of question, eyes closed, too blissed out to properly answer. He felt Strix stroke his jaw with careful fingers. "And you, by association."

Viktor peeked open one eye open at Strix. "Didn't we just save the livelihood of their village?"

"Yes. Also risked your neck for the town's 'ghost monster'." Strix continued, even when Viktor opened both his eyes to frown at him. "Their willful ignorance won't last long. Sooner or later they'll try to run you out for standing up for me. They still blame me for attracting the beast to them."

Viktor propped himself up on one elbow, carefully maneuvering Strix to look at him in the eyes. "Bullshit. You saved their children. They still believe you're still bad?"

"They're fearful of what they don't know."

Strix's face looked forlorn that Viktor reached down to kiss it off and smooth out the frown. Strix definitely looked a lot more calmer once Viktor pulled away, but there was still a concerned wrinkle in his brow. "You should leave this place while you still can."

"Or what, they'll re-fetch the pitchforks and run me out of town?"

Strix gave him a blank look, and Viktor realised that yes, Strix really did mean that.

"Huh."

Maybe Strix had a point. It was high time he moved on anyway, places to visit, people to see, monsters to hunt. "What about you, though? Will you be alright?"

"I had the moniker 'Ghost Feather' for a reason. I know how to disappear when I need to."

'But you shouldn't have to hide,' Viktor thought, 'You shouldn't have to fear for your life, when you take place in this world too.'

He kept his mouth though, and wondered again.

"This is goodbye, isn't it." Strix said.

Viktor hummed in agreement. They stood in front of Strix's cottage, next to the sprawling wildflowers and untamed grass. Even the sun was shining, ignorant of the ache in Strix's chest as he looked over his home.

"Didn't think I would make good memories here. You proved me wrong." Strix came closer to Viktor and clasped his hand with appreciation. "I'll surely remember this. Even when this house rots to the earth."

Viktor smiled at that. "m'glad then." He grasped the back of Strix’s neck and pulled down, tipping his head so he could touch his forehead with Strix’s own, trying to postpone the inevitable. Strix opened his mouth.

"Viktor, I-"

There was the sound of a door being slammed open. "Would you two lovebirds hurry up?" Kinessa called as she hurried up the dirt path, rucksack secure on her shoulder. "Daylight's burning and I want to see the citadel before sunset."

Strix sighed, a warm breath of affection and annoyance. Viktor said, "Hey, you wanted to being the kid along, that makes her your protégé."

The side of Strix's mouth ticked upwards. "And you?"

"...that makes me yours too. Whatever of me you’ll want, it's yours.”

They both steadfastly ignored the retching noises Kinessa was making behind their backs. Viktor took Strix's hand and grinned at him. "Ready?"

Strix smiled back, brighter than any gold. "Yes."

And together, they stepped out into the sunlight.

#striktor #strix ( paladins )#viktor ( paladins )#Paladins: Champions of the Realm #paladins champions of the realm #pcotr #charwriting #charedit

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truthseekerastrology · 4 years ago

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Chiron Chronicles, Volume 3, August 24, 2020: Mars Retrograde in Aries … No Pain, No Gain. Period.

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

― Viktor E. Frankl

Hey Truthseekers, and welcome to the third (and very late) installment of the Chiron Chronicles. Before you dig into this piece, I encourage you to read the first and second installments of the Chiron Chronicles. Also, check out a piece I wrote on Chiron back in 2018 called “Chiron Meditations, Part One.” As always, I welcome your comments and impressions, particularly if you, like me, are in the throes of your Chiron return, or more generally, are actively pursuing your own personal journey toward wholeness, growth and evolution.

Let me begin this installment by sending a (late) shout out to transit Mars, who returned to his home sign Aries, in late June 2020. It’s worthwhile to note that transit Chiron has been hanging out in Aries since early 2019 (The Master Teacher will leave Aries in 2027 and move on to Taurus, the sign in which he was discovered in 1977). At this writing, Mars is slowing down to a station. On Wednesday, September 9, 2020, he will station retrograde at 6:21 pm EDT at 28+ Aries.

The chart of the moment follows (link to the ascendant’s Sabian Symbol here):

The question on the table is this: Are you ready to journey inward and re-examine the ways - good and bad - that Martian themes play out in your life?

For instance, you may ask yourself what is it that triggers my sexual desire, and how do I react when those desires don’t get met?

Or, you may ask, what drives me to conflicts with others? Is it because I feel unheard or overlooked? What resides at the root of this?

Or, you may ask yourself what and who inflames me to the point of anger and aggression, and why? Or you may find yourself asking, why do I allow myself to be provoked to the point and degree where I’m ready to pull out the swords and demolish any and all perceived threats?

Simply put, this is time to pause and reflect (and no, it won’t be a time of gentle introspection), in the space between (negative) external stimulus and our response, to determine the ways and manner in which we respond to contentious situations.

And then we must take it one step further…. We must ask - and answer - if our responses ultimately contribute to our growth, or only serve to not only irritate and inflame our wounds and unresolved hurts, but get in the way of reaching for and achieving harmony and cooperation with others.

One more thing: over the next few months, Mars will have to negotiate a second and third time with the stellium of transiting planets in Capricorn (Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter), challenging us to make some executive decisions about how we’re going to channel this fiery energy in more productive ways.

It’s also a useful time to reflect on what was going on for you two years ago, in 2018, when Mars retrograded through the sign of… you guessed it … Capricorn.

By the time Mars stations direct on November 13, 2020 at 7:36 pm EST at 15+ Aries, it will become readily apparent if we are truly in control of our choices and reactions to the negativity going on out there… or if we are truly okay with allowing ourselves to be tossed to and fro by circumstances out of our control.

The chart of the moment Mars stations direct, follows (link to the ascendant’s Sabian Symbol here):

By this time, we will know if the ways in which we handle our Martian energies promote freedom and growth, or keep us enslaved, like the Devil card in the tarot.

In the meantime, how do YOU intend to use this long retrograde period of Mars to fuel your personal journey toward wholeness? I want to hear from you!

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i-like-writing-stuff · 2 years ago

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hey, I don't mean to be rude, and trust me you don't have to post this one out there or something. I just wanted to tell you that in your fivexreader fic, "retirement", you used viktor's dead name.

I understand that it might just be a silly and out-of-habit mistake. but could you change it?

I know it seems silly to protect a fictional character like this but as a trans person myself, the presentation of viktor was one of the clearest and most representative things, and I, myself relate to him loads and it hurts when people don't acknowledge it.

hi! I didn't mean to be rude or insensitive for using viktor's old name, I did question myself when writing, but I only used his old name because the scene I had in mind for the fic happened in the tv show before the transition! I apologize if it came off as ignorant, I absolutely loved that the writer's wrote on Elliot's transition as I love him as an actor personally and Viktor finally getting to be himself was truly one of the best parts of the season

i was inspired for "retirement" by the scene at the end of the first episode where five luther klaus and diego were having chinese and we had the iconic line of the Luther mountain hehe, which was before the transition

but I shall change it!

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deniscollins · 6 years ago

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How McKinsey Has Helped Raise the Stature of Authoritarian Governments

If you were a McKinsey consulting firm executive, would you accept a contract to advise — which is wholly owned by the Russian state, intertwined with Russian intelligence and under United States sanctions — to develop its business strategy, which helps shore up President Vladimir V. Putin’s autocratic leadership: (1) Yes, (2) No? Why? What are the ethics underlying your decision?

This year’s McKinsey & Company retreat in China was one to remember.

Hundreds of the company’s consultants frolicked in the desert, riding camels over sand dunes and mingling in tents linked by red carpets. Meetings took place in a cavernous banquet hall that resembled a sultan’s ornate court, with a sign overhead to capture the mood.

“I can’t keep calm, I work at McKinsey & Company,” it said.

Especially remarkable was the location: Kashgar, the ancient Silk Road city in China’s far west that is experiencing a major humanitarian crisis.

About four miles from where the McKinsey consultants discussed their work, which includes advising some of China’s most important state-owned companies, a sprawling internment camp had sprung up to hold thousands of ethnic Uighurs — part of a vast archipelago of indoctrination camps where the Chinese government has locked up as many as one million people.

One week before the McKinsey event, a United Nations committee had denounced the mass detentions and urged China to stop.

But the political backdrop did not appear to bother the McKinsey consultants, who posted pictures on Instagram chronicling their Disney-like adventures. In fact, McKinsey’s involvement with the Chinese government goes much deeper than its odd choice to showcase its presence in the country.

For a quarter-century, the company has joined many American corporations in helping stoke China’s transition from an economic laggard to the world’s second-largest economy. But as China’s growth presents a muscular challenge to American dominance, Washington has become increasingly critical of some of Beijing’s signature policies, including the ones McKinsey has helped advance.

One of McKinsey’s state-owned clients has even helped build China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea, a major point of military tension with the United States.

It turns out that McKinsey’s role in China is just one example of its extensive — and sometimes contentious — work around the world, according to an investigation by The New York Times that included interviews with 40 current and former McKinsey employees, as well as dozens of their clients.

At a time when democracies and their basic values are increasingly under attack, the iconic American company has helped raise the stature of authoritarian and corrupt governments across the globe, sometimes in ways that counter American interests.

Its clients have included Saudi Arabia’s absolute monarchy, Turkey under the autocratic leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and corruption-plagued governments in countries like South Africa.

In Ukraine, McKinsey and Paul Manafort — President Trump’s campaign chairman, later convicted of financial fraud — were paid by the same oligarch to help burnish the image of a disgraced presidential candidate, Viktor F. Yanukovych, recasting him as a reformer.

Once in office, Mr. Yanukovych rebuffed the West, sided with Russia and fled the country, accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars. The events set off years of chaos in Ukraine and an international standoff with the Kremlin.

Inside Russia itself, McKinsey has worked with Kremlin-linked companies that have been placed under sanctions by Western governments — companies that the firm helped build up over the years and, in some cases, continues to advise.

It has consulted in many sectors of the Russian economy, including mining, manufacturing, oil and gas, banking, transportation and agriculture. A McKinsey official sat on the Russian government’s energy board. Former McKinsey consultants have gone to work in the Russian companies they once advised.

In August, VEB Bank — which is wholly owned by the Russian state, intertwined with Russian intelligence and under United States sanctions — hired McKinsey to develop its business strategy.

There is no indication that McKinsey has violated American sanctions, which prohibit only certain transactions with targeted companies and individuals. But the larger question is whether the company, in pursuing legitimate business opportunities abroad, is helping to shore up President Vladimir V. Putin’s autocratic leadership.

Other consulting companies serve similar clients, but none have the stature to confer credibility quite like McKinsey, a confidant for 92 years to many of the world’s most admired companies.

In China, it has advised at least 22 of the 100 biggest state-owned companies — the ones carrying out some of the government’s most strategic and divisive initiatives, according to a review of Chinese-language material by The Times.

While it is not unusual for American corporations to work with China’s state-owned companies, McKinsey’s role has sometimes put it in the middle of deeply troubled deals. In Malaysia, the company laid out the case for one of Asia’s most corrupt leaders to pursue billions of dollars from China at a time when he was suspected of funneling vast sums of public money into his own pocket, drawing tens of thousands into the streets to protest against him.

McKinsey defends its work around the world, saying that it will not accept jobs at odds with the company’s values. It also gives the same reason that other companies cite for working in corrupt or authoritarian nations — that change is best achieved from the inside.

“Since 1926, McKinsey has sought to make a positive difference to the businesses and communities in which our people live and work,” the company said in a statement.

“Tens of thousands of jobs have been created, lives improved and education provided thanks to the work we have done with our clients,” it added.

“Like many other major corporations including our competitors, we seek to navigate a changing geopolitical environment,” the company said, “but we do not support or engage in political activities.”

Still, some analysts, veteran diplomats and experts on global governance see McKinsey’s role in a different light.

While the United States pulls back from international cooperation and adopts a more nationalist stance, major companies like McKinsey are pursuing business in countries with little regard for human rights — sometimes advancing, rather than curbing, the contentious tactics of America’s biggest rivals.

“It is more likely they enable these regimes and likely become complicit,” said David J. Kramer, a former assistant secretary of state. “They don’t want to alienate regimes, or they would lose business.”

Oligarchs and Autocrats

His bona fides included two criminal convictions and a rigged election that, many assumed, had finally doomed his presidential ambitions.

So it was a bit surprising when McKinsey helped polish the battered image of Mr. Yanukovych and pitch him as something else: a forward-thinking leader with an economic vision of a better future for all Ukrainians.

McKinsey’s role in resurrecting Mr. Yanukovych’s political career has been lost in the clamor surrounding the conviction of Mr. Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman, for secretly taking millions of dollars to help the Ukranian leader win the presidency in 2010.

But McKinsey was financed by the same oligarch who backed Mr. Manafort, and it wrote an economic plan that Mr. Yanukovych wielded to disarm his critics — before discarding much of it after becoming president.

VERY LONG ARTICLE CONTINUES

#McKinsey

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maximuswolf · 4 years ago

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A Belarus Masterpost: Euromaidan II and a History of Western Lies via /r/communism

A Belarus Masterpost: Euromaidan II and a History of Western Lies

I’m sure everyone in this sub has been following the events in Belarus recently. Belarus isn’t new to attempts at a color revolution. Being the only former SSR not to have used “shock therapy” on its socialist economy, and therefore having more than half its economy be state-owned, it has long been a target for regime change by the US and the NATO Bloc as a whole. This post is intended to be a summary about Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus, and color revolution attempts in the sovereign state.

What is the Sound of a One-Armed Man Clapping?

I remember the first time I learned about Belarus and President Lukashenko was through the Ig Nobel Prize, a satiric parody of Nobel Prize. In 2013 they awarded Lukashenko and Belarusian authorities the Peace Prize for allegedly banning clapping in public and arresting a one-armed man on those grounds. In Western media the first report of this came from the Christian Science Monitor from their Moscow-based correspondent Fred Weir. This report came out on 8 July 2011. On 9 July Radio Svaboda (Radio Liberty) reported on the man, Konstantin Kaplin, being arrested with no mention of the charge being that he was clapping in public. Radio Svaboda is the Eastern European chapter of CIA-fronted Radio Free Europe and was previously involved in promoting Euromaidan in Ukraine. A follow-up article was issued clarifying that Kaplin had a prosthetic hand and was not one-armed. Radio Svaboda continued to bring up this case over the course of nine years to denigrate the Belarusian government, the same tactics used on the DPRK.

The arrest of Kaplin occurred on 3 July 2011, Belarusian independence day. On that day protests occurred across the country with the largest being in Minsk. Kaplin was in Grodno and Fred Weir was is based out of Moscow. The follow-up from Radio Svaboda specifies that Kaplin was specifically arrested on Sovetskaya Street in Grodno. I began looking for information about the 3 July protest in Grodno and I found this post from an opposition blog based in Grodno of an account of the events that occurred in Belarus on the night of 3 July, timestamped. There is no mention of Kaplin or any disabled people being arrested in Grodno. The opposition blog did mention Kaplin thrice weeks after the 3 July protests. In one of the posts it also asserts that Kaplin was arrested for clapping in public. That post can be viewed here. In their post they cite an article from opposition paper Nasha Niva. The Grodno Spring blog never linked to the Nasha Niva article, so it was up to me to find this article. The article in question, seen here, does say in the headline that Kaplin was convicted of clapping in public, the body of the article specifies that Kaplin was convicted of participating in an illegal protest. The only fact of the story that comes close to that is that apparently, according to Nasha Niva, the police officer who arrested Kaplin wrote down that he was clapping in his report, which was how the protesters were voicing opposition to Lukashenko. So, it’s clear that Kaplin was arrested for participating in an illegal protest. Not for clapping. Lukashenko was cracking down on the protests yes, but he never banned clapping. Searching for sources about a clapping ban from webpages and articles published around the time yield results like this 4 July article from the New York Times where they speak about protesters clapping in unison but nothing actually saying that Lukashenko moved to ban public applause.

Fred Weir reports from Moscow and yet in his article he mentions that Kaplin was arrested in Minsk, this in spite of the fact that it is known that Kaplin was arrested on Sovetskaya Street in Grodno. Surely if he himself had covered the protests, he would know if he were in Minsk or in Grodno. Weir doesn’t mention a source for the Kaplin story. He does however mention a source for a related story about a deaf and mute woman supposedly being arrested for shouting anti-government slogans. Weir cites Svetlana Kalinkina of opposition paper Narodnaya Volya. Founder Iosif Syaredzich and other Narodnaya Volya staff frequently appear on Radio Svaboda, the aforementioned CIA propaganda front and the other outlet to report on Kaplin’s arrest at the same time as the Christian Science Monitor. In addition, Radio Svaboda already had a reporter, Galina Abakunchyk, stationed in Minsk on the night of 3 July, and in Grodno was Belsat reporter Alexander Denisov. Belsat is owned by Polish state television and operated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Additionally Belsat receives funding from the NED, another CIA front.

To conclude this section, it seems clear that due to the presence of CIA linked outlets throughout Belarus on the 3 July 2011 protests, this incident in Grodno was intentionally portrayed as the Lukashenko government arresting a one-armed man for clapping so that it would be a propaganda smear against Lukashenko that the opposition and Western media could bring up time and time again nearly a decade later, and it clearly worked. Let this set the stage that Belarus, not unlike the DPRK, is prone to the rumor mill in Western media, which brings us to the current protests.

Euromaidan II

On 9 August 2020, Belarus held their Presidential election. Official results had incumbent President Lukashenko as the victor with over 80% of the vote with his main challenger, Svetlana Tsikhanouskaya, receiving just 10% of the vote. Based upon a 26 May poll conducted by Radio Svaboda which showed Tsikhanouskaya as the top candidate, and an online ballot database run by various opposition figures, she declared victory in the election. All opposition candidates filed protests with the Belarusian electoral commission. Opposition protesters flooded the streets after state media declared Lukashenko the victor and Tsikhanouskaya declared herself the victor. Tsikhanouskaya was detained for seven hours before being released, after which she immediately fled to Lithuania, where she assembled her transition team.

The Tsikhanouskaya transition team, or Coordination Council as she calls it, has 51 members in total and can largely be broken down into two categories: conservatives from the national bourgeoisie and CIA assets. One of the most important right wingers is Ales Bialiatski. Bialiatski founded the Belarusian Popular Front during the Soviet era. The BPR was a far right anti-communist organization who advocated for the secession of the Byelorussian SSR from the USSR. An associate of his, Andrey Strizhak, mysteriously left the country for Ukraine a month prior to the election and is also on the transition team.

A number of the members of this transition team are associated with the United Civic Party. This includes their Chair Nikolay Kozlov, Alexander Dobrovolsky, and film director Yuri Khashchevetsky. The UCP platform includes calls for mass privatization of the state, even including media and healthcare. The UCP also calls for the promotion of the Belarusian language over Russian. This was also a campaign proposal of Tsikhanouskaya that has since been removed following her self-declared victory and increased media attention. Kozlov is also described as “confidant” of Tsikhanouskaya. This proposal to “restore” the Belarusian language and its presence in Belarus echos the Ukrainian far-right’s calls to restore Ukrainian during Euromaidan. Opposition figures, such as newspaper Nasha Niva, also support reversing 1933 orthographic reforms to Belarusian because it is considered a “relic” of the Soviet era.

In addition to UCP figures, both co-chairs of Belarusian Christian Democracy are on the transition team: Olga Kovalkova and Vitaly Rymashevski. The BCD platform also calls for mass privatization and the restoration of the Belarusian language. Their platform also explicitly calls for the flag of Belarus to be white, red, white with the Pahonia emblem on it. That flag is used extensively by Belarusian Nazis. They call for the national anthem to be a song called “Mighty God” written by Nazi collaborator Natalya Arsenieva. She later worked for Radio Svaboda. BCD is also opposed to same-sex marriage and adoption and desires to greatly restrict abortion in Belarus. Finally, their platform also calls for the dissolution of the Union State, Belarusian accession to the EU, and the country’s withdrawal from the CSTO. While BCD claims they wish to have neutrality with Russia, they suggest the creation of a commission to recruit the Belarusian diaspora to return to Belarus, specifically suggesting Belarusian Americans. This, combined with the fact that they see EU membership as part of the future of Belarus, would suggest that they would most likely turn towards the NATO Bloc.

As for their leadership Kovalkova is described as the other “confidant” of Tsikhanouskaya. Rymashevski is associated with a far right Belarusian youth movement called the Young Front. While there’s no official connection, YF members in Belarus typically end up joining BCD, so in essence it is a youth wing of BCD. The YF’s founder was Pavel Sevyarynets, another associate of Bialiatski and a BPF member. In 2014 the YF participated in a demonstration in support of Euromaidan in which they held up a banner venerating Nazi collaborators from the former USSR.

The rest bourgeois group is mostly just capitalists who have businesses. Some of the notable ones are Evgeny Livyant – a tutoring center owner who received a grant from Microsoft, Alexy Shchurko – a telecommunication executive who has an office in Boston, and Svetlana Alexievich – a Nobel Laureate associated with social democrats in Belarus who has received funding from Viktor Babariko, an opposition candidate whose strongest position was the withdrawal of Belarus from the CSTO and the dissolution of Union State.

Babariko’s candidacy brings us to the second group on this transition team, NATO Bloc assets. These members of the transition team are figures in the Belarusian opposition who are associated with Western states and are working with them for the purpose of undermining Lukashenko and the Belarusian government. For example, Babariko campaign manager Maria Kolesnikova. Another member is Center for European Transformation director Andrey Egorov. The CET is a think tank which has been working with the OSCE for the past ten years to bring down the Lukashenko government. The CET is also part of a consortium known as EuroBelarus which works with the EU to facilitate Belarusian European integration. Vladimir Dunayev works with the Bologna Committee of Belarus which has the agenda of changing Belarusian еducational standards to be in line with those of the EU, and pushing European integration in Belarus in general. Yuri Gubarevich is another 2020 candidate. Gubarevich leads a group called Za Svaboda which says EU accession is its top priority. He is also a former member of the Belarusian Popular Front and an associate of Ales Bialiatski.

The team also contains two members of the Belarusian Economic Research and Educational Center (BEROC): Director Pavel Daneiko and senior researcher Dmitry Kruk. BEROC is part of a network known as FREE Net which is ultimately funded and run by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. BEROC’s agenda is to finally institute shock therapy and “transition” Belarus’s economy to being fully capitalist.

A number of figures in opposition media are also on the transition team. Svetlana Kalinkina, the Narodnaya Volya journalist and Radio Svaboda contributer from the “one-armed man” story, is on the team. Another member is a screenwriter named Andrey Kureichik. Kureichik also previously worked for the US State Department. The transition team has a heavy presence of figures associated with Belsat. Belsat is a Belarusian TV channel owned by Polish state television and is operated by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Belsat correspondents and contributors include economist Sergey Chaly, Andrey Baustunets, Andrey Vitushko, and Anna Sevyarynets. If that last one sounds familiar, it is likely because Sevyarynets’s brother Pavel was the founder of the far right Young Front.

The transition team isn’t the only body helping Tsikhanouskaya organize the coup against Lukashenko. 2020 Presidential candidate Valery Tsepkalo set up a fund called Belarus Future for the purpose of collecting funds from the west for the purpose of aiding the opposition. Tsepkalo was formerly the Belarusian ambassador to the US. Tsepkalo is also a business owner involved in bringing high tech industry to Belarus. One of the members on the board is Stanislav Bogdankevich, the former head of the Belarusian central bank, the former head of the UCP. Sources aren’t clear but Bogdankevich seems to have represented Belarus at either the IMF or the World Bank, both of which have suggested that Belarus “restructure” its economy. Another member is Anatoly Lebedko, another former UCP leader who addressed both the US Senate and the OSCE calling for sanctions against Lukashenko back in the 1990s. The other two members of Belarus Future’s board are the aforementioned Svetlana Alexievich and Svetlana Kalinkina.

In summary, the opposition dates back to anti-communists during the Soviet-era. It is largely right wing to far right, and it consists of members of the Belarusian bourgeoisie who are in active collaboration with the CIA, the foreign ministries of several NATO Bloc members and US-aligned countries, and the European Union.

This Isn’t the First Time

Considering that the Belarusian opposition consists of figures who have been organized since the 1980s and who originally coalesced to oppose and undermine the USSR, it should be no surprise that the US has long worked with the opposition to remove Lukashenko following his rise to power.

As stated earlier over half of the Belarusian economy is state-owned. A July 2005 US diplomatic cable from Minsk showed that approximately 80% of banking in Belarus was state-owned. Four out of the six largest banks in Belarus in 2005 were majority state-owned and the other two had a minority stake by the Belarusian government. The US diplomats’ primary qualms with the Belarusian banking sector were that the government required extensive documentation of banks’ financial activities, that banks were occasionally directed to give loans to enterprises, private ones in addition to state-owned, for the purposes of ensuring those enterprises’ solvency and ability to pay out salaries, and that the government would occasionally step in and ask that financial institutions grant leniency to debtors struggling to pay. For these reasons, the State Department officials characterized Belarus’s financial sector as being “underdeveloped”, and yet, Ambassador Krol was left scratching his head as to why, under Lukashenko’s government, Ruble deposits grew by 74% in the year 2004 alone.

For more proof of the successes of the Belarusian economy thanks to its past history as part of a socialist state and its modern status as an economy with heavy government participation, one needs not look further than Belarus’s HDI. On the Human Development Index, Belarus ranks as Very High. In that regard Belarus is similar to the other former Soviet republics of Russia and Kazakhstan. When adjusted for inequality Belarus outranks Spain and Portugal and is comparable to Greece and Croatia. Heavy industry makes up a large sector of the Belarusian economy. Belarus has a larger industrial sector percentage-wise than Bulgaria, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, and Romania, just to name a few. Belarus’s economic composition is most similar to that of Poland and whilst Poland does have a higher GDP, both nominal and per capita, than Belarus and a higher HDI, Belarus’s GINI coefficient, the measure of economic inequality, is lower than Poland’s. In fact, Belarus has one of the lowest levels of inequality in all of Europe, only lower are Czechia and Slovenia. 18.2% of the Polish population lives below the poverty line compared to just 5.6% of Belarusians.

In spite of Belarus’s relative poverty compared to Western Europe, Belarus has managed to have economic success in terms of having a highly developed and stable economy with very low economic inequality. This is largely because when Alexander Lukashenko became President of Belarus not long after the dissolution of the USSR, he never implemented the shock therapy policies that Poland and Russia did which allowed for the bourgeoisie to swarm back into their economy like a school of hungry piranha, quickly transforming SOEs into private enterprises and ultimately claiming all of the new available capital and productive means as their own at the expense of the workers. One effect of shock therapy is that countries which implement it as a means of transitioning from socialism to capitalism is that there is a drastic spike in unemployment and wealth disparity. The obvious benefit, for the capitalists, is that a new reserve army of labor is created rather quickly. The ensuing chaos often forces smaller countries to turn to larger capitalist countries for “help” which results in them becoming new client states, as is the case with Poland and NATO. Western bourgeoisie did not get this opportunity in Belarus thanks to Lukashenko. As such, Belarus immediately became a target of US diplomacy.

The earliest records of this date back to 2005 in the run-up to the 2006 Presidential election. At this time, according to a March 2006 diplomatic cable, the US State Department and the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs were funding Ales Bialiatski’s firm Viasna in their mission to distribute Western propaganda. The embassy then polled Belarusians who both had and had not seen the propaganda. They found that majority of Belarusians – 54% of those who hadn’t seen the propaganda and 47% of those who had – wanted to preserve the current situation in Belarus – compared to 37% and 45% who wanted change, respectively. The poll also found that 60% of Belarusians who hadn’t seen the propaganda did not trust the opposition parties, as well as 50% of those who had seen their propaganda. Even in the targeted group, only 33% actually responded saying they did trust the opposition. The rest were undecided. 55% of non-targeted respondents said that they supported the re-election of Lukashenko. Finally, the poll found that 60% of non-targeted respondents approved of Lukashenko’s leadership as did 50% of targeted respondents. The US’s data clearly showed that Lukashenko was a fairly popular president. He even had a higher approval rating than Bush did at the time according to the US’s data.

With that background information out of the way, let’s turn to 30 September 2005. The State Department and the Czech MFA were working with Belarusian opposition to organize a congress to nominate a single candidate to run against Lukashenko. Ambassador Krol details that this congress was funded and organized by two wings of the NED: the IRI and the NDI. Krol noted that at one point Sergey Kalyakin, the Belarusian Left Party’s candidate, asked Krol directly if the US could send more money to help the congress acquire a printer for making posters. Krol took him aside and informed him that US funding would come through the IRI. 3 October Krol sent a summary of the events of the congress to DC. The two primary candidates were Anatoly Lebedko, the UCP leader who is now working to funnel money to the Tsikhanouskaya transition team, and Alexander Milinkevich, the BPF candidate. Milinkevich seemed to be preferred by the US. He had a long history of connections with the NED and other US-connected NGOs. In addition Milinkevich made his first visit to the US in 1994 and had a number of connections with agencies with the US government by 2005 when he ran for president. The IRI even paid for one of his kidney operations in Warsaw earlier that year.

In Krol’s summary, he explains that Milinkevich, in spite of being a weak public speaker, was widely reviled by the general population due to the fact that he was nominated by the BPF and that Milinkevich was seen as being something of a far right nationalist. Milinkevich won the congress’s nomination by a 1% margin and overall did not even have a simple majority of the delegates. However perhaps the most stunning detail from the cable was that the security for the congress, which again, was largely organized and funded by the CIA front the NED, was provided by a group known as The Right Alliance. The Right Alliance was the youth wing of the now-defunct Belarusian Freedom Party. On their surviving website remnants, one section is a post mourning the death of David Lane, the American Nazi who coined the “Fourteen Words”. My discovery of this in Krol’s cable was a nail in the coffin to me with regards to all of the connections between US-backed organizations and Nazi groups in Belarus. One who is willingly obtuse could simply dismiss these appearances as coincidences due to having mutual interests in removing Lukashenko. This, however, is an example of a US-led event making use of wannabe Hitler Youth as convention security. In my opinion this is proof beyond a shadow of a doubt that the United States knows that it is supporting far right Nazi groups in Belarus, and in Ukraine for that matter. For more evidence, Ambassador Krol sent a cable on 21 February 2006 cable where he outlines embassy officials meeting with both the Young Front and the Right Alliance again. The cables at this time mention the Orange Revolution as a blueprint for the US’s attempts to remove Lukashenko in 2005 and 2006, just as Euromaidan is clearly being used as a blueprint for Belarus now. On that note, a prominent Freedom Party member, Vasily Parfyankou, was very active in the 2010-2011 protests in Belarus, for which he was arrested. When he was released in 2014, he moved to Ukraine where he joined the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and Tactical Group Belarus, a paramilitary division under the far right Right Sector in Ukraine, where he began fighting in the War in Donbass.

On 7 October Krol sent DC a cable outlining a list of foreign policy goals in Belarus and how the embassy officials felt they could be achieved. Perhaps one of the most important goals stated was “NGOs, independent media, and political parties are able to operate effectively and shape opinions despite [government] repression.” If one reads the diplomatic cables, openly available through Wikileaks’s Public Library of US Diplomacy, a common theme is that the State Department works with all sorts of NGOs to push their foreign policy goals in targeted countries. Very briefly, Krol outlined a six month strategy between October and April to try to strengthen the opposition enough to try to get a color revolution in Belarus following the 2006 election. Krol outlines the funneling of $800,000 to “pro-democracy” NGOs in Belarus, including the NED. He also speaks of giving $250,000 to “independent media”. Another proposal was using USAID to make a high-profile humanitarian aid delivery to Belarus for the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl Disaster. Finally Krol stated that the State Department needed to keep American media focused on Belarus and that the US and EU needed to drive a wedge between Belarus and Russia.

On 28 October Krol sent another cable explaining that Milinkevich was requesting a financial infusion from the US. Milinkevich gave an update on the campaign stating that the Left Party’s leader would be his manager whilst Lebedko was going to be the policy coordinator. This pleased Krol and the other state department officials, as outlined in a 1 November cable, because Lebedko has more of an Austrian and libertarian bend economically speaking which they felt would be better than had Left Party leader Sergey Kalyakin headed policy. It should be noted that Krol stated that Milinkevich’s own BPF felt that the economic policies of Lebedko and the UCP were too left wing. Again, this is just further proof that implementing shock therapy is one of the US’s top priorities in Belarus. The 1 November cable also had an anxious Krol who was becoming impatient with the lack of volunteer mobilization by the Milinkevich campaign.

19 March 2006 was the election which Lukashenko won with over 84% of the vote compared to Milinkevich’s 6%. The attempted color revolution began on 20 March when Milinkevich organized a protest with approximately 10 thousand or so attendees. By 23 March Krol was expressing disappointment in his cable that the opposition wasn’t more effective in leading demonstrators against Lukashenko. Krol’s following updates noted the continued dwindling of the opposition protests and basically had stated that hopes for an “Orange Revolution” in Belarus had all but disappeared.

So what are the takeaways from this? Between 2006 and now protests would pop up and dissipate and then life would return to normal. Opposition in Belarus is always looking for opportunities to plot and to meet with the US. To them, the embassy’s door is always open. Likewise the US is always closely monitoring the situation both through their embassy and through a network of NED-connected and ultimately CIA-backed NGOs. They want to find any opportunity they can to exert their influence and diminish Lukashenko’s power, even by a bit. The US isn’t picky with who they meet, and they have a close working relationship with far-right nationalist groups in Belarus. This troika of Western imperialists, Belarusian national bourgeoisie, and far right nationalists will strike whenever the moment is opportune and they will try to copy and paste plans from neighboring countries’ color revolutions into Belarus. As is happening now, US media will broadcast it and entire new cohorts of Americans who may not had heard of previous putsch attempts will learn about Lukashenko and his “dictatorship”. They will hear about how Belarus “suffered under communism and Soviet rule”. They will hear about how Lukashenko did ridiculous things, such as “arresting a one-armed man for clapping in public”. Finally they will see some face of the opposition rallying masses of people in the name of “freedom”, all the while they wave white-red-white flags, some of them bearing the Pahonia emblem, and Americans will talk about the need to help this “poor country” and give them the freedom they deserve. Should this current attempt fail, I predict Tsikhanouskaya and her allies will return to the plotting stage, and they shall serve as advisers and middlemen between the next opposition candidate and the US, all the while trying to hide the deep Nazi roots of their movement. However should it succeed, I fear that under a Tsikhanouskaya regime, Belarus will see mass privatization of SOEs, a sharp rise in unemployment, and economic contractions. Belarus will leave the CSTO and will be admitted to NATO, likely slowly at first and then all at once. If by the end of her two terms, before handing off power to a successor who will give the illusion of choice and change, Belarus is not already in the EU, it will certainly be in the process of joining it. Western media will praise her, whilst Belarusians face a much lower quality of life and are consigned to working service jobs, or as mechanics and plumbers, in richer EEC countries. That is not a future I desire to imagine, because it is so easy to see, given the history of countries subjected to this fate by the US, just how possible it is.

Submitted October 04, 2020 at 07:24AM by I_have_a_poodle via reddit https://ift.tt/2GAw4tq

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armeniaitn · 4 years ago

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As Lukashenka Turns To Geopolitics, The West Faces Learning Curve In Belarus

New Post has been published on https://armenia.in-the.news/politics/as-lukashenka-turns-to-geopolitics-the-west-faces-learning-curve-in-belarus-51800-24-08-2020/

As Lukashenka Turns To Geopolitics, The West Faces Learning Curve In Belarus

With hundreds of thousands of protesters flooding the streets of Minsk in recent days as Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka put the military on high-alert warning of a foreign-backed plan to oust him, the standoff in Belarus shows no signs of subsiding.

The embattled strongman has been back-footed by the massive, unprecedented demonstrations demanding he resign in the wake of the August 9 presidential election the protesters view as fixed.

And with nowhere else to turn to, he has gone looking to the Kremlin for support.

Lukashenka — in power for more than a quarter-century — has in recent days even accused European Union countries of plotting a “color revolution” to topple him and warned that NATO is massing troops on Belarus’s western border.

The military alliance flatly rejects the charges in what appears an attempt by Lukashenka to elevate his full-blown domestic crisis into a geopolitical one reminiscent of standoffs between Russia and the West across the former Soviet Union.

Despite Lukashenka’s rhetoric, the events in Belarus remain domestically driven.

EU flags and ambitions of Western integration have not been a factor in the demonstrations that have spread across the country, with protesters and opposition figures such as exiled presidential candidate Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya repeating that the protests are motivated by the desire to freely choose a leader and are not part of an anti-Russian or pro-Western movement.

But with poor relations and high suspicions between Moscow and the West, the EU and Russian responses to ongoing developments in Belarus are being shaped — for better or worse — by past experiences in Georgia, Ukraine, and Armenia.

“Everybody knows the Russian playbook after 2014 and is concerned about it, but the West and Russia are being far more careful now than before,” Paul Stronski, a former director for Russia and Central Asia on the U.S. National Security Council who is now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told RFE/RL. “The protests in Belarus are not geopolitical and the West isn’t looking to change that.”

Walking A Tightrope

European leaders have been quick to express solidarity with the protesters, but the EU has offered a calibrated response to the crisis that suggests the bloc’s leaders are wary of antagonizing the Kremlin to avoid military intervention by Russia on Lukashenka’s behalf.

While eager to defend democratic values, fair elections, and the rule of law, European leaders have hedged their response. EU foreign ministers have called the election results fraudulent, agreed on sanctions, and demanded the release of protesters unlawfully detained, but have not backed the opposition’s call for new elections.

Instead, the bloc has urged dialogue between the government and the opposition to foster a “peaceful transition of power.”

“The tone from the EU suggests a clear acknowledgement of a Russian role in the outcome and that there is still some hope that it’s possible to engage with Russia constructively,” Joerg Forbrig, the director for Central and Eastern Europe at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin, told RFE/RL.

Crisis In Belarus

Read our coverage as Belarusians take to the streets to demand the resignation of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and call for new elections after official results from the August 9 presidential poll gave Lukashenka a landslide victory.

Finding a constructive solution with Russia on the stalemate in Belarus would involve the EU overcoming the lack of trust that cratered relations with Moscow following its 2014 annexation of Crimea and the ensuing war in eastern Ukraine.

But the events in Belarus vary markedly from those in neighboring Ukraine in 2014, which were a direct response to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to abandon European integration and reforms in favor of the Moscow-led Eurasian Union. This led to the EU and Ukraine’s future political orientation becoming a central factor of the protest movement that led to Yanukovych’s departure and Russia’s intervention.

In Belarus, the situation remains different, with the focus on the erosion of rights and opportunities during Lukashenka’s 26-year reign as president.

This has led some commentators, such as former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, to argue that the 2018 revolution in Armenia — where mass demonstrations led to the resignation of longtime President Serzh Sarkisian — is a more instructive example for Belarus.

In an August 18 op-ed, Bildt said Armenia offered the best template for current developments in Belarus, where fresh elections could pave the way for a new government. While Armenian protests pushed out Sarkisian, the new administration led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has retained the country’s pro-Russian policies.

“To ensure a smooth process, Belarus’s external orientation should be kept off the table,” Bildt wrote. “The election and broader struggle must be solely about democracy within the country, and nothing else.”

“Russia doesn’t always intervene if a previous partner loses an election. They can live with power transfers and Armenia is the best recent example of that,” said Forbrig. “Russia is still shaping its approach in Belarus and has shown in the past it can be adaptable.”

Looking For A Toolbox

But unlike Sarkisian in Armenia, Lukashenka shows no signs of leaving office on his own accord and shouted at protesters during a visit to a factory that “there will be no new election until you kill me.”

Despite the nationwide protests against his rule, Lukashenka still appears to enjoy overwhelming support among the military and security services and, unlike in Armenia, the Belarusian authorities had no qualms about using force against their citizens, violently breaking up demonstrations, detaining people in mass, and reportedly torturing protesters.

With Lukashenka making it clear he intends to hang on to power and no clear path towards a political transition on the horizon, the EU has few other policy options than the sanctions and support that it has already offered.

Maryya Sadouskaya-Komlach, a Belarusian journalist and program coordinator at Free Press Unlimited, told RFE/RL that she believes the EU was not making enough use of the preexisting mechanism it already possesses, in particular the European Endowment for Democracy (EED), an organization founded by the bloc to support civil society and political activists. The EED has been notably quiet during the weeks of protest in Belarus, which Sadouskaya-Komlach thinks sends a signal of indifference to the protesters.

Meanwhile, sanctions appear to be the main option in the EU’s toolbox, but with Belarus being sanctioned in some form or another by Europe since 1997 and not having changed course by now, the utility of the sanctions seems limited. “The EU wants to use targeted sanctions as a symbol of its tough actions against Lukashenka, but it is instead a symbol of its policy failure,” Sadouskaya-Komlach said.

A Confused Kremlin

The current situation is also a policy conundrum for the Kremlin.

Regardless of how the current situation ends, Moscow will retain significant influence in Belarus.

The economy relies heavily on Russia, which effectively subsidizes Minsk with low-cost oil and gas shipments and the two countries are well-integrated — a union that the Kremlin is keen to deepen.

Furthermore, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lukashenka have a famously tense relationship, with the Belarusian president eroding his own standing with the Kremlin by resisting Putin’s push for deeper economic union.

But Lukashenka’s dominance of Belarusian politics creates a quandary for Russia.

Unlike in Ukraine, where the Kremlin has spent decades cultivating pro-Russian politicians, parties, and oligarchs, Belarus has few alternatives for Moscow to support. Similarly, Tsikhanouskaya, who is in exile in Lithuania, and her campaign, which allowed members of Belarus’s traditional Western-funded opposition to dominate the postelection Coordination Council, are viewed with suspicion by Moscow.

“This can’t be a situation like Armenia because Lukashenka won’t give up,” Angela Stent, a former U.S. national intelligence officer on Russia and a professor at Georgetown University, told RFE/RL. “I can’t see him giving up peacefully, let alone negotiating him leaving the country or holding new elections.”

For the time being, Moscow appears to be backing its problematic partner in Minsk as he tries to cling to power.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently warned that the situation in Belarus was a “continuation” of the tug-of-war between Russia and the EU over Ukraine in 2014 and claimed that the thus far very peacefully protesting opposition wants “bloodshed.”

“No one wants a repeat of Ukraine in 2014 and no one wants to do anything that will provoke Russia,” Stentsaid. “There is a very limited toolbox for the West here.”

Read original article here.

#Armenia #Politics

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woodentrain · 7 years ago

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So much going on- OBSABH chapter 4

You kill the lights, I’ll draw the blinds (this is bad advice. I have already tried both of those and my kids are still yelling and smacking each other and will not go the fuck to sleep)

Guess what? I had started this off with ‘I don’t have that much to say about this chapter’ but then I wrote this and thought hmm, looks like I kind of do, so… let’s get down to business. There are a few themes I picked out from this chapter:

Confused

Everyone is really confused at this point. There’s a lot of transition going on right now in terms of both Yuuri’s and Viktor’s feelings. Kaz’s ask answers pinpoint the end of this chapter as the point when Yuuri has really fallen in love with Viktor (unless I remember wrong? Feel free to correct me if anyone knows differently). We know he’s still a long way from realising this, but his feelings have definitely changed. And Viktor? Well his feelings are just all over the place. He still loves Yuuri and he’s not trying to change that, but he’s trying to content himself with their relationship being nothing but casual sex. He’s not doing very well at this, and to be honest he doesn’t really seem to be pursuing this idea with much conviction. He tells himself that he’s going to be content, but telling yourself and it actually being true are two different things, and it never seems like he really believes it. He gets such mixed signals from Yuuri (because Yuuri doesn’t know his own feelings, let along Viktor’s) that it’s hardly surprising. It’s all very... complicated.

Exploring don’t talk

The repercussions of ‘don’t talk’ really start to come through in this chapter. After reading it Viktor’s future actions (and inactions) start to make a lot more sense. You know all those times you (probably) wondered why doesn’t Viktor ever say anything about how he feels? Firstly, you have to remember that after saying ‘don’t talk’, Yuuri left as soon as Viktor said his name, and Viktor came to the conclusion that Yuuri left because he talked. In this chapter Viktor decides to have one last go at working out ‘the mystery of Yuuri’s hatred’, and by not answering Yuuri inadvertently cements the whole ‘don’t talk’ thing in Viktor’s head. ‘ “Don’t talk”, he had said, and it was clear that that was the single rule of their strange, half-relationship the one law that Viktor had to live by if he wanted this to continue’. Viktor acknowledges now that the ‘rule’ is not, literally, ‘don’t ever speak’- what’s forbidden is ‘talking about the relationship, about feelings, about what this all meant’. So it’s no wonder Viktor never dares to say anything. He continues to get mixed signals from Yuuri as the story continues, so of course he continues to worry about ‘don’t talk’, about thefact that Yuuri doesn’t want to talk about feelings and so on. He’s worried that if he says the wrong thing Yuuri will flee and not come back.

The other lovers

Just thought the Other Lovers are worth a mention because I think it’s clear by now why Viktor thinks that Yuuri has Other Lovers. There’s no single thing which led him to this conclusion- it’s more a combination of factors which all suggest that Yuuri wouldn’t not have other lovers. Things like Yuuri’s (apparent) casual indifference to Viktor after their illicit encounters, which leads Viktor to conclude that he’s just one of many for Yuuri. And the way that Yuuri manages to portray himself as confident and therefore experienced. And comments like ‘there are a lot of people in the world who would kill to have Yuuri Katsuki come to their bed when they call’ (we have Chris to thank for that one).

The reasons are therefore, really, mostly the same reasons why Yuuri assumes Viktor is sleeping with other people. I think a lot of us thought there must be more to his thought process because we know that most of Yuuri’s reasoning is born out of his anxiety and insecurity, not actual evidence. So it made sense to think ‘Viktor must have some evidence! He’s cool and calm and wouldn’t jump to conclusions!’. But we underestimated how hard Viktor has fallen, and how differently he would interpret Yuuri’s actions (which, of course, made perfect sense when we read his point of view- even if we often didn’t agree with him). Viktor’s interpretation makes perfect sense, too- now we’ve seen his point of view. And it all adds up to give a very different picture of Yuuri. Turns out they’re both as insecure as each other in their own ways.

The R-word

Relationship. The first time Yuuri thinks about himself and Viktor in the context of a relationship is in chapter 13, when he discusses his newly-acknowledged feelings with Phichit. He thinks of what they have had until that point as a ‘strange not-relationship’ (he’s not wrong about that) and discusses with Phichit what he will do if Viktor doesn’t want to be in a relationship with him. It’s a big moment, because he has never thought of himself and Viktor in ‘relationship’ terms before.

But Viktor? He’s way ahead of that.

‘…their relationship was still a long way from that kind of teasing’ He could have meant friendship here, but he doesn’t use ‘their friendship’- he uses ‘their relationship’. That matters.

‘…the single rule of their strange, half-relationship’. That’s still half a relationship more than Yuuri thinks it is

‘…talking about the relationship, about feelings, about what all this meant’. That’s getting pretty deep.

Chris sums up Viktor’s attitude: “You know this isn’t a real relationship, Viktor, so why are you treating it like one?”

‘…if that was all the relationship that they would ever have, it would be an equal one’

Now I know that ‘relationship’ can mean a lot of things. Relationships can be friendships, rivalries, family ties, professional relationships, all sorts of things. But Viktor isn’t thinking of those types of relationships. And it’s the second quote that confirms this. You wouldn’t talk about anything other than a romantic relationship as a ‘half-relationship’. You wouldn’t use that to talk about friendship, or rivalry, or a family member. Viktor is definitely not just thinking in the abstract, of the general relationship between them. He’s thinking of A Relationship (or as much of one as he can get, at least). Despite all his assurances to himself that he’s done with this, that he will be content with scraps he’s been given… he’s not. He’s still thinking of A Relationship.

So that’s chapter 4! And it’s not long to wait until chapter 5. At the time of writing, the wait is 64% over. So with that happy thought, let’s end on a lighter note… the words Viktor never said, except in my head: “You’re so beautiful. Beautiful when you skate, and beautiful like this, sitting on a counter in a hotel toilet with your cock out”. Obviously.

#of bright stars and burning hearts #obsabh #rivals #fanfic meta

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toosicktoocare · 8 years ago

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Okay. But think about Yurio taking viktor's Russia jacket when he doesn't feel well because it's comfortable. Then also think about Yurio also being nervous he would ruin the jacket if he were to throw up. But it's so comforting to wear he doesn't take it off.

I’ve never written for Yurio, but I can tell you that he is my son, and I love this prompt! (Also, I really hope Viktor’s Russia Jacket is the red and white one because that’s what I wrote!)

Yurio would never tell anyone if he were feeling unwell; he didn’t see the point. So, when Viktor suggested they go skate together for a bit, Yurio agreed despite his stomach flipping uncomfortably.

The walk to the rink was cold, not surprising being in the middle of one of the notorious Russian winters, and Yurio picked up his pace as small shivers wracked his slender frame. When he reached the rink, he slipped out of his jacket and swapped his sneakers to skates before meeting Viktor, who was already out on the ice.

The two skated together in silence, twisting and twirling around each other for an hour despite Yurio’s stomach churning violently all the while. But, he never uttered a single complaint, and he kept his face neutral. Skating with Viktor wasn’t something that came by often, and he wanted a chance to show Viktor what he was capable of.

“Okay, I’m going to show you a routine I’m working on. I want to know if you have any changes or additions to it.”

Yurio’s eyes went wide for a brief moment because he wasn’t aware that Viktor valued his opinion. But, he shot Viktor a quiet “whatever” before skating off the ice.

He plopped down onto a bench as Viktor started the routine. He wanted to put his complete focus towards the way Viktor angled his arms or the smooth transitions from jumps to spins, but he was having trouble concentrating thanks to the chill seeping into his bones accompanied with this twisting stomach. He rubbed at his bare arms, glancing around until he spotted Viktor’s white and red jacket tossed over a bag.

He leaned over and grabbed it, sliding his thin arms into the warm sleeves then wrapping it tightly around his shivering frame. He breathed out a sigh of relief, turning his attention back towards Viktor’s routine.

He watched intently, trying hard to ignore his knotted stomach, but, just as Viktor was reaching the climax of the routine, his stomach flipped violently. He hopped to his feet, wrapping one arm around his stomach as he staggered out of the stadium and towards the closet bathroom.

Once he reached the bathroom, his stomach seemed to settle slightly, and he leaned against the wall, shivering hard and breathing harshly. He was so very cold and felt utterly miserable, and he knew he should take Viktor’s jacket off in case he actually did throw up because he didn’t want to risk ruining it. But, Viktor’s jacket seemed to be the only comforting aspect of this entire situation, so he kept it on, relishing in the warmth as he waited to see what his stomach decided to do.

It didn’t take long until his stomach had him shoving a bathroom stall door open and dropping to his knees in front of the toilet. He heard the familiar squeak of the main bathroom door opening just as his stomach churned, forcing him to press up on his knees just before he began to heave violently into the toilet.

“Yurio!”

Yurio felt cool hands brush against his neck to hold his hair back, and he shivered at the touch. He realized as another wave hit that he hadn’t eaten much in the last few days. He had thought it was simply because he wasn’t hungry, but now he’s clearly thinking otherwise.

“Oh, Yurio,” Viktor cooed, and Yurio rolled his eyes as his stomach settled. He flushed the toilet before struggling to his feet.

“I’m fine,” he spit out, turning to push past Viktor and exit the stall, but Viktor stopped him with a hand on his chest.

“Is that my jacket?”

Yurio glanced down suddenly with wide eyes, afraid that he might have ruined it, but everything appeared crisp and clean albeit a little wrinkled. He moved to take it off but stopped when Viktor grabbed his wrist.

“Why are you wearing it?”

There was only worry and curiosity coloring Viktor’s tone, and Yurio sighed, eyes dropping to the floor. “I don’t feel well,” he muttered. “And it’s comfortable.”

Viktor cupped his chin, and he moved his face up, meeting Viktor’s wide, worried eyes. He closed his eyes as Viktor pressed a palm to his forehead.

“You’re warm,” Viktor said gently. “You should have said you were feeling ill.”

Yurio shrugged, stepping around Viktor to exit the stall. He again moved to slip out of Viktor’s jacket but stopped when Viktor’s hand fell down onto his shoulder.

“Keep it. I’m sure you are feeling terrible.”

Yurio glanced down, allowing his hair to mask his eyes. He nodded once, wrapping his arms around his slender frame as his shivering picked back up, but he quickly snapped his gaze up just as Viktor snaked an arm around his waist.

“Let’s get you home, okay?”

He nodded once more, leaning into Viktor’s warmth as the two started out to gather their things.

Yurio felt terrible no doubt, but Viktor’s jacket was, in a way, its own medicine. And, he briefly wondered if Viktor would allow him to keep it forever as the two started out into the biting Russian wind.

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cvrnewsdirectindia · 5 years ago

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Lawyer Confirms Multiple Whistleblowers With First Hand Info In Donald Trump Probe

Donald Trump largely stayed out of public view, spending Saturday at his golf club

An attorney for the whistleblower who sounded the alarm about President Donald Trump’s pressure on Ukraine said Sunday that “multiple” whistleblowers have come forward, deepening a political quagmire that has engulfed the president as well as several of his Cabinet members.

The news comes as House Democrats are accelerating their impeachment inquiry and subpoenaing documents related to Trump’s efforts to push foreign countries to investigate one of his political opponents, former vice president Joe Biden.

“I can confirm that my firm and my team represent multiple whistleblowers in connection to the underlying August 12, 2019, disclosure to the Intelligence Community Inspector General,” the whistleblower’s attorney, Andrew Bakaj, said in a tweet. “No further comment at this time.”

Mark Zaid, who also is a member of the original whistleblower’s legal team, confirmed to The Washington Post that the team is now representing a second whistleblower, someone who works in the intelligence community. The second individual has spoken to the inspector general of the intelligence community and has not filed a complaint.

“Doesn’t need to,” Zaid said in a text message, adding that the person has “first hand knowledge that supported the first whistleblower.”

News that the original whistleblower’s team is representing a second person was first reported Sunday by ABC News.

The crisis, which began last month with media reports revealing the original whistleblower’s complaint, has quickly metastasized across the Trump administration, ensnaring senior officials such as Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who came under further scrutiny over the weekend.

Trump largely stayed out of public view, spending Saturday at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, and Sunday at the White House. In tweets, he attacked Democrats and some Republican detractors, including Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, whose ouster he demanded Saturday after Romney criticized him.

He also appeared to directly link the 2020 presidential race to his efforts to push Ukraine to investigate Biden, contrary to a tweet on Friday declaring that “this has NOTHING to do with politics or a political campaign against the Bidens.”

“And by the way, I would LOVE running against 1% Joe Biden – I just don’t think it’s going to happen,” Trump tweeted Sunday, arguing that Biden and his family were “PAID OFF, pure and simple!”

“Sleepy Joe won’t get to the starting gate, & based on all of the money he & his family probably ‘extorted,’ Joe should hang it up,” Trump added. “I wouldn’t want him dealing with China & [Ukraine]!”

Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates responded by calling it “puzzling” that Trump would claim to love the prospect of a matchup against Biden, “seeing as how he just sent his administration into a tailspin by trying to bully a foreign country into spreading a comprehensively debunked conspiracy theory about the vice president.”

Biden’s son Hunter served for nearly five years on the board of Burisma, Ukraine’s largest private gas company, whose owner came under scrutiny by Ukrainian prosecutors for possible abuse of power and unlawful enrichment. Hunter Biden was not accused of any wrongdoing in the investigation.

As vice president, Joe Biden pressured Ukraine to fire the top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, whom Biden and other Western officials, including Republicans, accused of not sufficiently pursuing corruption cases. At the time, the investigation into Burisma was dormant, according to former Ukrainian and U.S. officials.

On Saturday, Perry’s discussions with Ukrainian officials came to attention amid reports that Trump told Republicans on Friday that he made the July 25 call with the Ukrainian president at the request of Perry.

Asked about Trump’s comments, which were first reported by Axios, Energy Department spokeswoman Shylyn Hynes said in an email that Perry encouraged Trump to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky to discuss energy security.

Pompeo, who was scheduled to return to Washington on Sunday, is facing growing pressure from Democrats seeking Ukraine-related documents.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Pompeo, who had spent much of the past week in Europe, missed a Friday deadline to comply with a subpoena for information about the State Department’s dealings with Ukraine. Pompeo asserts that a letter sent to the committee constitutes the department’s initial response.

The whistleblower complaint accused Trump of asking the Ukrainian government to help him with his reelection bid by launching an investigation into Biden. Democrats are also probing whether Trump’s decision to withhold nearly $400 million in military assistance from Ukraine was linked to his push for the government there to pursue political investigations that could bolster the president’s reelection bid.

Text messages between State Department officials, revealed by House Democrats last week, show that there was at least some concern that Trump was pursuing an improper quid pro quo.

“As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” diplomat William Taylor wrote on Sept. 9 to Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.

Sondland, who has denied that Trump sought a quid pro quo, has agreed to meet privately on Tuesday with the three House panels – Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight – spearheading the probe, according to a committee aide.

On Friday, those three committees subpoenaed the White House for documents and wrote a letter to Vice President Mike Pence demanding that he turn over documents related to his talks with Zelensky.

Speaking at a Republican event in Louisiana on Saturday, Pence criticized Democrats but gave no indication about whether he would comply with their document request.

“Do-Nothing Democrats launched a partisan impeachment inquiry in a blatant attempt to overturn the will of the American people in the last election,” he said.

On Sunday, Trump’s campaign announced that the president would be traveling to Lake Charles, Louisiana, to hold a rally on Friday. The president will also have a rally on Wednesday in Minneapolis.

No White House officials made appearances on the Sunday morning news shows, leaving it up to congressional Republicans and Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to defend the president in heated interviews during which they offered at-times-contradictory explanations for the president’s actions.

In a combative exchange on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” host Chuck Todd urged Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., to explain why he told the Wall Street Journal about his concern in the summer that Trump had sought to link Ukrainian military aid to an investigation of the Bidens.

Johnson repeatedly declined to answer, instead raising a conspiracy theory and criticizing the media before finally stating that Trump had “adamantly denied” any quid pro quo.

Johnson also at one point said he does not trust U.S. intelligence agencies. “Something pretty fishy happened during the 2016 campaign and in the transition, the early part of the Trump presidency, and we still don’t know,” he said.

“We do know the answer,” an exasperated Todd responded, adding: “You’re making a choice not to believe the investigations that have taken place.”

Giuliani issued a defiant defense of Trump in an interview on Fox News Channel’s “MediaBuzz” in which he argued that the president “has every right to ask countries to help us in a criminal investigation that should be undertaken.”

Giuliani was named in the whistleblower’s complaint and in a rough transcript of Trump’s phone call with Zelensky as being a key intermediary in back-channel efforts to pursue the allegations against Biden.

But other Republicans sought to play down Trump’s comments, including his exchange with reporters outside the White House on Thursday in which he urged China to investigate Biden.

In an interview on ABC News’s “This Week,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, echoed a suggestion on Friday by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., that Trump’s China statement was not “a real request.”

“George, you really think he was serious about thinking that China’s going to investigate the Biden family? . . . I think he’s getting the press all spun up about this,” Jordan told host George Stephanopoulos.

During the interview, Stephanopoulos repeatedly sought an answer from Jordan on whether he thinks it is appropriate for Trump to ask China and Ukraine to investigate Biden. Jordan dodged the question more than a dozen times.

Democrats on Sunday defended their party’s efforts to pursue an impeachment inquiry.

In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., a member of the Intelligence Committee, supported Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s view that no vote by the full House is necessary for an impeachment inquiry to move forward.

She added that she thinks the House “will have to take a serious look at articles of impeachment” based on the evidence that has emerged.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, N.Y., a key member of House Democratic leadership, said on “This Week” that “the evidence of wrongdoing by Donald Trump is hiding in plain sight.”

“The administration, without justification, withheld $391 million in military aid from a vulnerable Ukraine,” he said. “The president then pressured a foreign leader to interfere in the 2020 elections and target an American citizen for political gain. That is textbook abuse of power.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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from CVR News Direct https://cvrnewsdirect.com/lawyer-confirms-multiple-whistleblowers-with-first-hand-info-in-donald-trump-probe/

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