#you have no idea HOW common it is for russians to hate their Ukrainian relatives and to actively root for their army to destroy us

[folklorespring]

I love when "not all russians, it's putin's war" westerners face the reality

[unhonestlymirror]

It's a shame that I, as a Ukrainian, never wrote what I think about russia's name in hetalia.

Because it's so damn lifeless. XD I see plenty of people referring to Ukraine as Katyusha (nickname made from russian Yekaterina, has nothing to do with Ukraine) and to Belarus as Natasha (russified nickname, which appeared, according to russian sources, in the 18th century, and according to American sources, in 1965, has nothing to do with Belarus) - but, for some reason, Great Russia doesn't want to have 100% russian name:

Ivan is the name of ancient Hebrew origin, which translates as "Mercy of God." It is formed from the ancient form of Ioann. This name is definitely older than russia itself. This name is commonly used in Ukrainian and Belaruthian folk songs, this name is used to refer to Ivana Kupala celebration: the name arose at a time when the Christian church wanted to replace a pagan holiday with a new religion.

Not even England has such an average name: it's like if they used John Brown instead of Arthur Kirkland.

Now about the surname: and I will use quotes from russian(!) sources:

The surname Braginsky belongs to a common type of Jewish surnames.

The Jews of the Russian Empire began to be given surnames at the end of the 18th century, after the western regions of Belarus, Ukraine and the Baltic states were annexed to the Russian Empire - after the partition of Poland.

Then Catherine II "acquired" along with the western regions a huge number of Jews who historically did not have surnames, but only a first name and patronymic, for example, "Moishe, son of Shmelke."

And my favourite:

"So, the surname Braginsky owes its origin to the urban settlement of Bragin - at present, it is the regional centre of the Gomel region of the Republic of Belarus. The settlement was founded in the 16th century."

Gomel region? The region from which locals like to joke that they use Ukrainian with Belaruthian letters? (Lots of my relatives are from there, and some of them even identify themselves as Ukrainians).

What an interesting name for personification of russia to have. Especially considering how much russia hates both Jews, Ukrainians, and Belaruthians. This name literally screams: "Look, I am not a nazi." And I really doubt Hidekaz Himaruya, who clearly isn't versed in never-soviet countries' culture, would choose this name without influence from his sponsors.

If russia loves its culture so much, why did they choose what they chose? Why doesn't its personification have a perfectly russian name? I will even translate some of the greatest examples for you:

Dalis - Да здравствуют Ленин и Сталин!Long live Lenin and Stalin!

Delezh — Дело Ленина живёт! The deed of Lenin lives!

Deleor — Дело Ленина — Октябрьская революция! The deed of Lenin -- October Revolution!

Dazdrasen — Да здравствует Седьмое ноября! Long live November 7th!

Avtodor -- Общество содействия развитию автомобилизма и улучшению дорог. Society for the Promotion of Motoring and Road Improvement

Agitprop -- Отдел агитации и пропаганды при ЦК ВКП (б). Department of Agitation and Propaganda under the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks

Glasp -- гласность печати. Publicity of the press.

Karmiy -- Красная Армия. Red Army.

Kid -- коммунистический идеал. Communist ideal.

Kravasil -- Красная армия всех сильней!The Red Army is the strongest of all!

Kukutsapol -- "Кукуруза — царица полей!" Corn - the queen of the fields!

Piachegod -- "Пятилетку — в четыре года!" "Five-Year Plan - in four years!"

Revvol — революционная воля - revolutionary will

Revdar — революционный дар revolutionary gift

Yurgoz -- Юрий Гагарин облетел Землю -- Yuri Gagarin circled the Earth

Zamvil — заместитель В. И. Ленина -- Deputy of V. I. Lenin

Idlen -- Ideas of Lenin

Vidlen - Great ideas of Lenin

Vinun — "Владимир Ильич не умрёт никогда" -- "Vladimir Ilyich (Lenin) will never die"

Lunio – "Ленин умер, но идеи остались" - Lenin died, but the ideas remained!"

Lelud — Ленин любит детей -- Lenin loves children

Lengenmir -- "Ленин - гений мира!" -- "Lenin - the genius of the world!"

Lestak - Lenin, Stalin, communism!

Pofistal – Победитель фашизма Иосиф Сталин -- "The winner of fascism, Joseph Stalin."

Yausyaukh – "Я устал, я ухожу" - "I'm tired, I'm leaving."

Porof - Позор российскому футболу - Shame on Russian football.

Motevsor - мочить террористов в сортире - kill terrorists in the toilet.

Dogzeb -- "Догзеб – Доллар – грязная зеленая бумажка" - "Dollar is a dirty green paper"

And it's only a little part of what exists. If there are so many great, purely russian names, why to name russia after "stupid khokhols" (russian slur about Ukrainians) or "bulbashi" (russian slur about Belaruthians) or "zhydy"(russian slur about Jewish)?

[badasscaptain]

Mariska Benson’s Story

Captain Mariska "Mar/Mari" Benson heads up the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. Mariska is fluent in several languages, which include English, Italian, Spanish, French, Polish, Italian, Irish Gaelic, Czech, Scottish Gaelic, Hungarian, Latin, Portuguese, Basque, Danish, Chinese, Japanese, Bulgarian,, Slovenian, Dutch, Hebrew, latin, german, Russian, Ukrainian, Moldovan, Greek, Filipino, Belarusian, Turkish, Swedish, Polish, Slavonic Languages(Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Porto-Slavic, Eastern-Slavic, Southern-Slavic, Western-Slavic, Slovak), Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Romanian, Gagauz and Sign Language.

Prior to becoming a cop and working for the NYPD/ At SVU. Mariska severd in the US Navy for 16 years. from 1981-1997, when she retired and came home to the states that December of 1997.  She joined the Navy and enlisted after high school at the age of 17, in May of 1981.  She also worked her ass off in high school and got  a full scholarship to Cornell University , took it and while in College and enlisted in the Navy , fighting a broad and serving her country / protecting the USA from threats, Mariska multi-tasked and simultaneously studied  during her time in the Navy and attained both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees at the same time, and triple majored in criminal justice, law enforcement and Ballistics & Technical Sciences, with minors in several languages, history, literature and creative writing - poetry. She later graduated from Cornell , while still in the Navy , after only three years studies in May of 1984, a few months after her 20th birthday, while still abroad and fighting in the Navy and serving her country at the same time. 

She is a decorated US Navy Veteran, with multiple Awards and Honors. Mariska exited and retired from the US Navy and military life, in April of 1997 at the age of 33, after serving her country and a Navy- Military career of 16 years, and upon retirement from the Navy was a Vice Admiral. During her time in the US Navy , Mariska was a part of the Navy's elite special forces team , known as SEAL TEAM 6. Upon retiring from the Navy in  late May of 1997. 

Mariska came home and returned to the states, and attended the New York police academy and took their program to become a cop within a few short months, after graduating early from the NYPD academy in July of 1997, a few months after studying to be a cop at the NYPD academy that same year. She  first began her law enforcement career as cop, that July after her graduation not long after independence day 1997. 

In the beginning of her law enforcement career as a cop , with the NYPD, Mariska started out low in the ranks, and was transferred quite a bit during hr first two years with the NYPD, working in serval different department, before she made Detective 2nd grade in the winter of 1998, just a few short months before joining SVU ing March of 1999 and being transferred for the last and final time , while working for the NYPD.

Prior to taking over SVU, Mariska worked as a SVU detective and to this day is still partnered with Det. Elliot Stabler, they've been partners for over 12 years. After Elliot's leave of absence for a year. Mariska partnered primarily with Nick Amaro, before his return to SVU in 2013 after about a year of being away due to having to handle issues with his family and personal affairs. The year after that, in 2013 Elliot was forced to retire from SVU due to hurting Mariska again, as he had done in the past. This time Fin caught him sexually assaulting her in the nap area of the SVU precinct, used by SVU to rest, now and again when they get tired and can't think straight, during precinct lockdowns, while they're working huge complex cases. 

Shortly after he returned, they became partners once again, before Cragen the old SVU captain , her ex boss retired  after the Lewis case in late 2013... he fired Stabler's crazy ass and the NYPD took his shield for good, in the early summer of 2013. Which Stabler hated, never getting his way, though any one who has a brain and common sense, knows you don't always get your way, and or aren't always right all the time, or perfect. 

In late fall of 2013 after the lewis case was wrapped up, and Mariska and all his other living victims were safe. Mariska became a Sergeant and took over the SVU unit from Captain Donald Cragen in late October of 2013. Coincidentally at the same time her co-worker of several years John Munch, also announced his retirement as well from the NYPD in late October of 2013, the same Cragen announced he was retiring from the NYPD. Then after being a Sargent for about 7 months after Cragen's leaving SVU and putting her in charge.

 she took the Lieutenant's exam and aced it, and became the Lieutenant of the SVU Department. She continued to be the head of SVU after she became their Lieutenant. She stayed as a Lieut. As Lieutenant and the head of SVU for some months, Then in late 2019 Mariska was promoted again, this time to Captain of SVU. Mariska does her best to head up and keep her squad a tight knit bunch and working well together, with little to no issues as possible. 

While balancing in time with her son Noah Porter-Benson, comes ahead of her job and love life. She does the best she can, to balance her job, family, friends and dating, Although she is still in love with one particular woman, but she has no idea if she'll ever come to see it or not, so she tries to push through the pain and move on without him as best she can and focus on the positives in her life.

Early Life and The Beginning of her Career with SVU

Mariska and her identical twin sister Olivia were born, Mariska Renée Benson and Olivia Margaret Benson, On January 23, 1964, Nassau County, Long Island, New York. Mariska and her identical identical twin sister Olivia "Liv" Benson, were the products of the rape of their mother Serena Benson in 1963 by a food salesman named Jacob Holmes, who later committed suicide. At the time of the rape, Serena had been working in the cafeteria of Columbia University. 

Mariska's mother, Serena was an alcoholic who tossed aside her one daughter Olivia, Mariska's identical twin sister away and left her daughter Olivia in the adoption/foster care system as a baby, to grow up there. Meanwhile Serena decided to keep and raise her other daughter Liv's twin sister Mariska, as a single mother, and also emotionally, physically, mentally and verbally abused Mariska throughout her childhood, adolescent years growing up. Her mother Serena even went as far, to hide from Mariska, that she had a sister out there, being raised in the system, not just any normal type of sister... but an identical named Olivia.

 Mariska for most of her life, was always suspicious that there was more to her story , of how she was conceived and brought into this world by her mother Serena, then what her mom Serena lead her to believe for all those years, when she was growing up, even after joining the Navy after high school, as she did. Then after her exiting the Navy after a 16 year stint in the service, and Navy life. 

She knew in her gut, that there was more to the story of their family, then what her mom Serena told her, however back in the day, it was much harder to prove or dig up stuff about those in the system, and long lost relatives, plus kinship analysis was stiff a very new DNA test the law enforcement and health care fields had just developed. Mariska though, continued to question her life, and formative years growing up in long island as she did as well as, her mother Serena’s secrets. 

That is until Serena passed away not long after, Mariska joined svu as a 2nd grade detective years ago. Serena died from injuries sustained in a fall when she was drunk, in early 2000, After which it left Mariska still questioning the feeling in her gut, that she had more family out there, she didn’t know about all her life, and she wanted answers. Mariska did want to know if she did have siblings out there, or any cousins, etc. 

So she asked her then boss Captain Don Cragen, and her trusted coworkers during those days, her early ones at SVU as a detective.... to help her get and run a kinship DNA analysis test on her. Which they helped her do an keep hush hush, the kinship DNA test, came back positive and did show results  that she had a sibling out there, not just a sibling, but a sister. However the records of her name were sealed and closed, the only other thing that the test results showed was the sister, also grew up where Mariska did in Long Island, and that she grew up in the system. 

Which left Mariska more curious, and anything to find out, who this sister was, she  had, her name, etc. At the same time the passing of their mother Serena, left Mariska, even more deeply angry, as well as, a bit saddened, due to the fact that she never got closure with her mother Serena before she passed away, never got to tell her crazy mom how she felt, how much she had her hurt, etc. 

While investigating a case called (Payback) in 1999, Mariska and Serena seemed to care about each other a great deal. Serena was worried about Mariska working in the Special Victims Unit. Then also months later in (1999) while investigating a case labeled Wanderlust, Mariska said to her good friend ADA Casey Novak, that her first love was an older woman and that she "couldn't have loved her more". 

Then months later while investigating a case called Taken (2000) Serena dies as the result of a fall down the subway stairs across from a bar. Mariska says Serena was a drunk. Then later that same year also, while investigating an Abuse case in (2000) Mariska becomes involved with a child who was neglected by her parents that way Mariska felt neglected by her mother. 

Then while investigating a case labeled ; Intoxicated in (2005) Mariska tells Casey Novak about an incident when she was 16. An older student of her mother asked her to marry her and when she told Serena that she was leaving, her mother who had been drinking flew into a rage and went after her with a broken bottle.

During her brief visits to Philadelphia and Florida (2007) Mariska finds out about the man who raped her  and her twin sister Olivia’s mother, and others. He knew about his daughters and kept track of them both. He once tried to call Mariska but got Serena instead. Mariska Graduated from Cornell university. She admitted to her SVU teammates in 2007 while they were investigating a case then , they labeled (Stalked).

[anoonimthepoorchad]

One of our distant relatives, born in Ukraine and deployed in russia during ussr, stayed there chasing better life and military ranks until he got retired. Then, when the full scale invasion began, he decided to gain money and "war glory" by coming back to military and choosing to kill his people in Ukraine. He came back to destroy his home and kill his relatives just for money. He got killed here, eventually, still made us feel shame for having such a heinous person in our family tree. So it is true about seemingly regular people getting their minds messed up by imperialistic dreams, to the point they feel like they have the right to do anything they want.

I love when "not all russians, it's putin's war" westerners face the reality