#von bismarck

[kropotkindersurprise]

November 15, 2024 - Anti-colonialist activists tore down a statue of Otto von Bismarck in Frankfurt, Germany, and covered it in anti-colonialist graffiti. The toppling came on the 140th anniversary of the start of the Berlin Conference, known as the Kongokonferenz in German, which is seen as emblematic of Europe’s 19th century colonisation of Africa. The Berlin Conference was organised by von Bismarck in 1884 at the request of Belgian King Leopold II, and is seen by historians as formalising how European powers would manage the conquest of Africa. [article]

[officialhamburg]

das glaub ich jetzt nicht

[jinxproof]

Tilda Swinton W Mag China Vol.6 ph. Nikolai von Bismarck

[stepmarchen]

Ludovika vs Shuri, a facial comparison breakdown

While it's obvious that Ludovika and Shuri have their similarities, as pointed out by various members of the ASM cast, let's break down some of their differences, shall we?

But before we do, let's address a few things!

ORKA takes design seriously! We can't just chalk up slight differences to "one-off mistakes." As you can see below, she did a study on her OWN designs, micro detailing down to the curve of each character's eyebrows. But to be fair, we will only be using art from recent chapters, as ORKA's style has evolved since the early chapters.

Another reason why we will be only using recent chapters is to avoid differences that may be as a result of Shuri being several years younger than Ludovika. I will also try my best to take this into account as we go.

First things first, let's get the obvious differences out of the way. Ludovika has a lavender hair, parted down the middle and golden eyes. Meanwhile. Shuri has light pink hair parted to the side with green eyes. So you might be thinking, if not for the color differences, they would look exactly the same!

But that's not the case! In some instances, seen from Max or Johannes' POV, Ludovika and Shuri almost seem 1:1. However! We must take into account that given their history with her, they are unreliable narrators, and may show a warped perspective on their memories of both girls.

So why don't we remove all the color! Here we have Ludovika on the left and Shuri on the right down below.

Since we don't have a 1:1 shot, here's the two in similar lighting situations with similar expressions and another with a similar angle.

Here are all the points of differences I noticed below!

Ludovika's long arched brows vs Shuri's downward sloping brows with no arch

Ludovika's long, straight, and slightly wider nose vs Shuri's small pointed, upturned nose

Ludovika's narrow and long face with a distinctly V shaped chin vs Shuri's fuller cheeks and shorter face

Ludovika's full lips, distinctly her full bottom lip but also the way the middle of her upper lips under her philtrum has more volume, often highlighted with a tint on pink (that may be makeup) vs Shuri's thinner, almost pointed lips (almost in an elfy way)

Ludovika's narrower eyes that sit higher on her face as a result of her brow to tip of nose ratio being greater than the top and bottom thirds of her face vs Shuri's larger eyes and 1:1:1 proportioned face (though this may change with age)

It's so fascinating how ORKA illustrates the two to look so similar, yet different. Noticing these small details really shines in on the fact that the two are TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PEOPLE.

We've seen so many members of the cast chasing old ghosts that we're forced to compare and contrast Ludovika and Shuri. In reality, it seems like there are more differences than we initially thought, right?

[aestheticjunkyard]

Peng Chang by Nikolai von Bismarck for Harper's Bazaar France November 2024

[call-sign-shark]

"Happiness was fragile, fleeting, but in each other's arms, they felt alive in a way the darkness could never steal. And every time she laughed, his shadows faltered, as if even they couldn’t bear to dim her light."

notes: this moodboard was done for both "Echo of Shadows" (Aleksander Morozova x Heartrender!OC) and the Peaky Blinders family. I really needed something soft for these two after how dark I've made Heaven's little meow meow in the AU. I mean, I really did them dirty even though they love each other so much so... 🤭

tagging the fam: @justrainandcoffee @mischievouslittlecreature @cillmequick @evita-shelby @peakyswritings @lunarubra @shelbydelrey

tagging Echo of Shadows' readers: @lunawants , @emtaz-art

[stupidneko]

Ludovika, the woman you are 🫠

[voguefashion]

Renée Zellweger photographed by Nikolai von Bismarck on the cover of British Vogue, February 2025.

[oldcountrybear1955]

Dunhill - Met Gala 2023 Fitting Session - Harris Dickinson - Photographed by Nikolai von Bismarck

[kate-jam-and-diamonds]

by Nikolai von Bismarck for Celia Kritharioti

[philosophors]

“Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.”

— Otto von Bismarck

[spghtrbry]

wilhelm/bismarck lovehate yaoi compilation

[vodnoebalo]

Renée Zellweger by Nikolai von Bismarck for British Vogue

[stepmarchen]

Couple Coding in ASM

So there's an interesting thing I noticed about Orka's color coding in ASM and the way it changes between different interactions.

For example, JerShu moments are commonly set during early dawn. There's a cool blue from the moonlight that shades the two, adding a sense of quiet mystique to their interactions.

Maybe it's to invoke a dream-like state where Shuri is stripped bare of her responsibilities and Jeremy is just a boy who misses his parents oh, so much. During the day, there's so much commotion and stress but when they're together at night, it's quiet and lonely, with only the moon watching over them. Because when morning comes, they're forced to return back to their normal lives like a Cinderella story.

On the other hand, NoShu moments are bright like a burning sun. It's a passionate watercolor of orange, pinks, and reds that bloom as they stare into each other's eyes.

It's pure romance the way you couldn't be sure whether the burn on their cheeks was because of the warm heat of the sun or because of something else. For a couple individually driven towards death, Nora and Shuri are experiencing living for the first time, when they're together. The way the light gleams on each other like they're always discovering new things about one another is just so perfectly lovely.

And then there's TheoShu. Theo and Shuri often interact in the morning, like a icy shock to the system. For a man plagued with too much guilt to sleep and a woman trapped in her nightmares, what's a more eerie wake-up call?

TheoShu as a morning motif is so interesting because we're faced with Theo who acts like he's still stuck in a dream where he's fated to be with Shuri and Shuri, who is trying to run away from those dreams and move on with her day. They're never quite on the same page, like the feeling you get when you're debating on getting up on a Monday morning.

Finally. RiShu. I find that Richelieu and Shuri are always in a strange state of limbo when they stumble upon each other. A space that only they know, where the light doesn't shine until Shuri walks in.

Richelieu is a man that exists in the shadows, lurking around in the dark underbrush. But he can't help but be drawn to that woman intruding upon that dark forest he lives in. She gleams like a holy light piercing the black darkness. Shuri knows what it's like to die in that forest and Richelieu wants to know what path she took to get there.

[justrainandcoffee]

Struggle & Scrabble.

Just another weekend in their lives...

"That's not even a word and you know it, you fucking cheater. What the hell is that?" Rose said looking at the unpronounceable word that was over the board.

"It's a German word, Coldwell, I won." Amos said enjoying the victory "But, here's another word that start with S that I know you know: sore-loser."

"Funny, considering that you're still crying over the Jenga the other night. Did Heaven buy you another box of tissues?"

"Whoa! That's because your hand is tiny and mine isn't. You had an advantage. You were the cheater there."

"Are you kidding me? Who the hell can cheat the jenga?!"

On the other side of the penthouse that Amos and his girlfriend had, Heaven and James were on the sofa eating ice-cream and watching a movie. "Next time we can play solitaire," he said.

"Even there, they'll find a way to annoy the shit out of the other. We should invent something like who can stay the longer in silence. If it's about winning, Amos would make a vow of silence for years," the beautiful girl said.

"Rose, too. Can you imagine a weekend in silence?"

Both blondes exchanged glances before paying attention to the movie again. It was like a good plan, indeed, considering that in the background their dark haired partners were now arguing about something that happened two months ago when they played Pictionary.

"Nah, I don't like it." Heaven and James said at the same. Those moments together will never be the same without the laugh their arguments caused on them.

"I hate you, Von Bismarck."

"I hate you, too. Do you want ice-cream?"

"Yeah!" she accepted with a smile, before both of them headed to the comfortable sofa where their loves were waiting for them.

I couldn't stop thinking about this since yesterday 😂. I adore them, please.

Both Amos and Heaven belong to @call-sign-shark.

[call-sign-shark]

Happiness Therapy

summary: Pairing Modern!Darkling x OC || Amos x Heaven (PB)

Who would have thought that true love and the Christmas spirit could be found in a mental hospital? Certainly not them.

Content: words, tooth rotting fluff. Mention of graphic physical violence. Aleksander’s modern Identity is Amos.

notes: Look at the end of the post. No proofreading we die like men.

The relentless buzzing sound of the neon lights hummed low in the sterile air of the psych ward. Heaven, sitting cross-legged on her chair, was absent-mindedly tearing the corner off her Styrofoam food tray. The muffled voices from the night warden's radio murmured softly in the corridor, creating a background noise she didn't mind. She hadn't eaten much today —her appetite was always a fragile thing—but her eyes had noticed something when the nurse slid the tray in front of her. It was something beneath the plastic cutlery. At first, she thought they had mistakenly given her an extra napkin, but then she saw how it had been carefully folded.

Her heart missed a beat when she realized what it was, a small smile creeping across her chapped lips. She unfolded it with her slim fingers.

"Love is the angel disguised as lust, Here in our bed until the morning comes…"

The doll's face widened, turning from a timid, exhausted smirk to a wild grin full of teeth. "Amos," she murmured, shaking her head with amusement. Across the common room, Amos leaned lazily against the wall, his raven-black hair perfectly styled except for one untamed lock that fell on his forehead, and his dark eyes piercing even from a distance. When she caught his gaze, the smirk that tugged at his lips deepened.

They had met in group therapy months ago — not the most romantic meet-cute, she had to admit. She had been sitting in the farthest chair, trying her best to blend into the wallpaper and dreaming about the peacefulness of the isolation cell, while Amos had occupied the seat dead center. He exuded confidence when he talked:

"Eh, I just smashed a guy’s head into a sink," he’d said casually like he was recounting a grocery list. He purposefully forget to mention that the man lost all his teeth and that he would be disfigured and disabled for the rest of his life just because he crossed him. "Don’t remember it. Psychosis, y’know?" He shrugged, and some people flinched but Heaven didn't. She’d simply tilted her head, intrigued.

She was here because she’d killed five men. Or so they said.

She had glanced at him through her curtain of snow-white hair, and he’d noticed. His immediate reaction had been to smile at her. Not the kind of smirks he threw at the nurses or the thin, dismissive smiles he gave the doctors. This one was softer, almost curious.

Now, weeks later, they were inseparable. The staff didn't even bother trying to keep them apart more than necessary. Somehow, Amos and the killer doll were an odd but sweet pair. — Sharing headphones during downtime, scribbling notes and poetry on napkins, sometimes just sitting quietly in the corner together. He made her laugh with his dry, deadpan humor. She softened him with her quietness and her divine touch. At least, none of them were violent when they were around each others.

"Christmas is coming," Amos said one day as they sat in the common room, looking at the light snow that was falling outside, barely visible through the grated windows.

Heaven looked up from the sketchbook she had smuggled from art therapy and shrugged, "Is it?"

He blinked, "What do you mean, is it? It's the most wonderful time of the year." The dark-haired and black-eyed man seemed seriously outraged.

She laughed softly in reply. “I haven’t celebrated Christmas in years.”

“Why not?” He replied with a frown.

The doll shrugged. “My family used to love it. But after they…” Her voice trailed off and her hand tightened so hard around the pencil that her knuckles whitened. “It just didn’t feel right anymore.”

Amos was quiet for a moment, watching her. Then he leaned closer, his voice low and teasing. “You know, I could make you love Christmas again..."

“Oh, really?” She retorted, skeptical but amused.

“Absolutely. I’m like Santa Claus, but... hotter.”

The little remark was so unexpected that she burst out laughing, and for the first time in what felt like forever, the sound didn't feel foreign to her.

Amos left the hospital two weeks later.

It was sudden.

One day he was there, and the next, he wasn’t. Something cracked inside her when they kissed and hugged goodbye.

“You’ll be fine,” he’d whispered into her hair, humming her sweet perfume and fighting against the anger leaving her behind triggered in him. “I’ll get you out of here. I promise.”

She wanted to believe him, but she knew he wouldn't.

On Christmas Day, the hospital was quieter than usual. Most of the patients were subdued, and the staff seemed distracted, eager to get home to their families. Who could blame them? No one wanted to spend this sacred day trapped in the dull hallways of a psychiatric facility . Heaven was sitting in her usual spot, staring out the window at the snow-covered courtyard as she cuddled with the hoodie Amos had left her. It still faintly smelled of him, but that soothing scent was slowly fading away and this was enough to send her to the very edge of mental crisis.

“Lavey.” A cold, placid voice suddenly boomed in the main room. She turned, startled.

One of the nurses was standing in the doorway, looking vaguely annoyed. “You have a visitor.”

A visitor? Her heart skipped but she didn’t let it see, only answering to the bored nurse with a raised eyebrow. Getting up, she put on the sweater and nervously played with the long sleeves as she walked toward the visitor’s room.

And there he was.

As he promised.

Amos stood in the center of the room, his black coat dusted with snow and a mischievous grin lighting up his pretty face. Startled by the sight of him in clothes other than tracksuit, the killer doll bit her juicy lower lips.

“Missed me?” The tall darkness teased, a roses bouquet in one hand.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, her siren voice coated with surprise and her far too pale eyes wide open.

“Bailing you out,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Her jaw dropped, not quite sure she had heard well. “You—what?” Heaven asked in disbelief, wondering if it wasn’t the voices that told her so.

“Rich family, remember?” He winked, and his smile became even more irresistible. During her stay he had told her that he came from an influential family, but somehow it had slipped from her brain. “Pulled some strings, promised my dad to talk to the procurer for your case and boom: You’re coming with me. Well…” His gaze flicked as did hers when a nurse knelt next to her to strap an ankle monitor on her leg. “Sort of. But it’s better than jail and psych ward.”

She didn’t care — it was a fair deal for a convicted murderer, even though the circumstances and the big conundrum her case was played in her favor when paired with one of Amos’ very pricey lawyer.

“Fuck me, you’re joking right?!” Wasting no time, the crazy angel threw herself into his arms, a feeling of warmth blooming in her chest. He welcomed her with glistening eyes, sparkles of shy tears making his void-black eyes glisten with emotion. One sole arm wrapped itself around her, the other trying to keep the flowers safe.They left the hospital together, stepping out into the snowy evening.

The city was alight with Christmas decorations, twinkling lights strung across streets and shop windows like millions stars stolen from the dark veil of the night. Clinging to Amos’a side, the white-haired girl buried her face in his shoulder to hide her tears. Tears he had never seen, even in her worst tantrum. His soft voice, warm with affection, whispered in her ear.

“I told you I’d make you love Christmas again,”

Notes: Masterlist Echo of Shadows (Grishaverse)

taglist: @justrainandcoffee @cillmequick @mischievouslittlecreature @evita-shelby @lunarubra @peakyswritings @jjovin3221 @shelbhey

For the Grisha fandom: @lunawants, @emtaz-art, @lightinbug @kmc1989