#czech woman a day

[ajaegerpilot]

thinking abt how my dad's name translated to 'the gold' and 'honey'

#misha speaks #and then his middle name was apparently a apotropaic name... new word for you all.. #its like a protective name. and this one in particular apparently has no known meaning. #wrow and then my mom's name apparently is an old czech name that means woman from sidon which is in lebanon #speaking of my surname apparently derives from the saying 'from where the bell rings' bc way back in the day my ancestors were chased away #by the turks ig.. but nothing's coming up on the internet about that #its just interesting to see how travel factors into my mom's name and my dad's surname. #and how my parents both immigrated to canada seperately.. #you wouldnt tell it by looking at me but migration i guess is endemic to humanity. #i used the word endemic wrong. i mean intrinsic.

[sgtyaraya]

Call of Duty OC

Name: Trudy Saidler

Nikename: Jay

Date of birth: June 01, 1992

Age: 24 (at the time of the events in 2016)

Place of birth: Liberec, Czech Republic🇨🇿

Citizenship: Czech🇨🇿

Nationality: English 🇬🇧

Rank: Sergeant

Specialty: Infantryman

Unit: TF - 141

Family/Relationships

Mother: Adele Saidler (Hofmann) 🇬🇧

Father: Philip Saidler 🇬🇧

Brother: Evan Saidler🇬🇧 ✝️

Love Interest: Gary "Roach" Sanderson🇬🇧💕

Reference/appearance

Trudy on the day she arrived at Credenhill

Parameters

Hair: brown with light strands

Eyes: grey

Pigmentation on the body: freckles

Tattoo: on the left arm

Scars: scratches on the right and left arm, a bullet wound in the left shoulder, suture marks on the right side at the rib level, bullet wounds in the abdomen, cartilage injury of the right ear

Height: 170 cm

Weight: 60 kg

Body type: normal

Equipment

Armored vest: warrior "plates" assault systems

M4A1 assault rifle with a grenade launcher

M14 EBR sniper rifle with silencer for long-range elimination and, if necessary, to cover the group

Pistols: M9 and USP.45

Cold steel: Alpha S D2 knife Tactical Knife and Custom Steel Machete D2 Machete Etsy Knife

Personality

Trudy is a young girl with sociability and good nature. Her attitude towards people depends on how they treat her: if they show a positive attitude towards her, she is a little stubborn. Even so, Trudy is not so trusting, so she does not immediately open up to the interlocutor. Trudy sometimes experiences moments that can cause irritation. And in such cases, she can flare up, allowing her emotions to come out. However, she tries to control her emotions so as not to show them to other people. But Trudy's weakest side is her worries. Everything that she experiences inside herself, she tries to hide from others.

Fears

🔥Pyrophobia🔥is a phobia consisting in a constant, irrational, obsessive, panic fear of fire, fires; an obsessive fear of burning alive, getting burned, or losing property as a result of a fire. (in one of the missions, she almost burned herself in the room in which she was locked, losing consciousness)

Biography

Trudy's parents live in the Czech Republic for most of their lives, they have successfully established their lives in another country, and we can say they have lived in it for most of their lives, and did not want to return to England. Adele Saidler (Hofmann) has opened her own atelier in Liberec, where they now live. The woman is engaged in custom tailoring, previously she was specialized in sewing military uniforms. Philip Saidler is a former infantryman, retired for health reasons, retired, but he helps his wife in the atelier, delivering sewing materials. He also earns a living on the outskirts of the city, but there is no information about his place of work. Before Trudy, they had a son, Evan Saidler [date of birth unknown, died as a teenager, cause of death unknown]. The couple suffered a hard loss, and were very worried about their daughter, who knows about her late brother.

Trudy's childhood, like that of ordinary children, was no different from them. She also had her own hobbies, which her parents reacted positively to, and supported their daughter in every possible way, most importantly. The girl was actively engaged in dancing from the age of 12, from which she developed flexibility, there were even performances on behalf of the school. She also loved to help her mother in the atelier, more often looked after the counter, and thus engaged in needlework, she could also sew some clothes with jewelry. In addition to dancing, Trudy also had hobbies, which she does not mention.

During her student years, Trudy met a girl who was 1 year younger than her, Linda Kovac (Czech). She was always an inconspicuous gray mouse, but Trudy became friends with her on the first day they met, and spent more and more time together. Thanks to her, Linda began to gain self-confidence and even changed her style in order not to fall into the gray mass and stand out somehow. Saidler never sought to attract attention, preferring to wear comfortable and not too bright clothes, and studied like all ordinary students. She needed Czech to learn, so even at preschool age she learned this language, English is considered the main one.

There have been mistakes in Trudy's life, one of them has undermined people's trust. As a student, a guy was in love with her, and he sought her attention in every possible way. The student's infatuation, yes, did not last long. This guy dated her for a joke, enjoyed her trust. After receiving her education, Trudy left Liberec and went to England. After living there for some time, she went to Credenhill, where the selection for group 141 was held. During the trip, Trudy heard other recruits talking about this group, and who is in it, quite big names sounded from the mouths of the guys, which made her interested. Arriving at their base, Trudy did not expect to see the members of the 141 group live. At the time, Captain McTavish was in charge of the selection, and he took up her training in order to make Saidler an experienced fighter. As a rookie, she was sent for additional training to improve her skills and adapt to work in group 141. During her stay at the base, Trudy met Roach, a young sergeant whom she saw on the day of her arrival. At first, things didn't go very well due to distrust, so we gradually communicated. Jay showed a special interest in Roach as a person and wanted to get to know him better, and thus she awakened trust in him. Roach also showed interest in the girl and communicated with her even from a distance. Trudy was very afraid of attachment to people, and hid her sympathy until the last moment, Roach had the same feelings for her. They gradually showed warm feelings for each other.

Participation

Jay began his service under the command of Captain McTavish, took his first part in the Hunting mission, where the goal was to catch Alejandro Rojas, worked in a group with Roach. In the future, she participated in assaults at certain points, provided cover, engaged in inconspicuous liquidation

The history of the creation of the OC

In 2011, I played with COD Modern warfare 2 for the first time. This game has left vivid moments in my memory, from joyful to sad, my favorite mission is "Rock Climber". At that moment, the first character appeared in my head. Since I couldn't draw at the age of 9, I was building a plot in my head. There is an important point, this is the date when I started playing and when I came up with Trudy. This is June 1, 2011, and this date is also Trudy's date of birth.

In her first version, there was no first or last name, I just called her "Emersan", this call sign is taken from another game that I also actively played. As for her appearance, Trudy looked different, not like she does now. In 2018, I visually sketched her portrait, hoping for my memory. Based on this, I decided to change her appearance, and also attached my old works. As time went on, I always wanted to add something, it seemed to me that Trudy was too simple. Although yes, she really was like that. Then, during the redrawing, I already gave her a name. Her name was Trudy "Emersan" Sombra. She later became Jay, the new surname is Saidler. Trudy's redesigns didn't last long, so I changed it again by drawing new references. You can see that she has hardly changed since 2019, there are small changes on her face – freckles and hair color have become darker. Next comes the tattoo. It was a difficult choice, I came up with the first tattoo myself, then I made another, more complex one. The final version was drawn in 2023, and received a reference

Trudy in 2011 to 2022

#call of duty oc #modern warfare 2 #cod mw2 #cod mw2 2009 #mw2 2009 #mw 2009 #oc #oc art #my oc #original character #cod oc #trudy jay saidler #trudy saidler #oc x canon #roach x oc #roach x jay #biography oc

[vs120shound]

We brought you 279 Smoking Honeys since the series began on March 28, 2023. Some were Megaposts! Some had one POTD photo, a few had two or three. Some had video accompanyment!

2023 PHOTOS OF THE DAY EXTRAVAGANZA/REVIEW

★ ★ ★ ★ ★+ | Five-Plus "Stars"

From vs120shound archives | ★★★★★ (13 total: L)

Dual-Media 15-Post, 112-Pack Megapost!

Photo of The Day Debut!

Natasha Anastasia of Smoking-Models.com (U.K.) from lostlighter23 on March 28, 2023, how we introduced the series with Post No. 1

HERE NOW ARE SOME OF THE TOP PHOTOS FROM THE SERIES

Our 30 Best POTD Centerpiece Pictures

As selected by our team ⏤ 10 staff members, 3 administrators among vs120shound, lostlighter23, vs120shound-2 and lostlighter23-darkside

OUR TOP 30 COUNTDOWN OF POTD FAVORITES BEGINS . . .

Arranged in chronological sequence

Quinn from USA Smokers (Arizona, U.S.A.) on April 3

Morgan Lees from Smoking-Models (U.K.) on April 6

Kelly of Specialized Videos (Michigan, U.S.A.) on April 15

Ms. V. Elle Lyon on April 26

Sophia of SmokingModels (Florida, U.S.A.) on May 13

Stephanie of SmokingModels (Florida, U.S.A.) on May 20

Ellie of R.S. (Australia) on May 28

Monique Vegas of Switzerland on June 3 (addendum)

Sophie Hermann of Germany on June 5

Melanie from Lady Madonna on June 10

Laura of R.S. (Australia), but not our No. 1 all-time favorite SF model, on June 26

Natasha Marley of Smoking-Models (U.K.) on June 27

Edona Benovics of Eastern Europe on July 18

Katy of Specialized Videos (Michigan, U.S.A.) on July 26

Skittlez Cano, SF Entrepreneur, on August 3

Krystle (IG@puddin_forlife) of Massachusetts (U.S.A.) on Aug. 19

Janey of R.S. (Australia) on August 24

Sisters Elena and Julia of Spain (FutureSmoke, U.K.) on September 1

Maddy of SmokeVision and R.S. (Australia) on September 5

Annabelle of Nicotine Ladies (C4S) on September 6

Paula Kalinia of Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 15

Valeria Pavelin of France on September 17

Sarah Arnold of Elegant Smoking (U.K.) on October 1

Marina of SmokinBabe.com on October 21

Kriss H., born in Ukraine, lives in Prague, Czech Rep., on Oct. 30

Casondra of Specialized Videos (Michigan, U.S.A.) on Nov. 9

Josee (Real Smoking Girl) of Ontario, Canada on November 10

Sian Hamshaw, formerly of Smoking-Models (U.K.), on Dec. 11

Bree of USA Smokers on December 17

Our Number One-Rated Photo of The Day Post in 2023!

Josee, Real Smoking Girl, from November 10

And Our Runner-Up!

Laura, of R.S. (Australia), from September 5

#SF #Hot women who love smoking cigarettes #Smoking cigarettes #Smoking #279 Photo of The Day posts in 2023!

[springsteens]

POLUDNITSA (LADY MIDDAY)

🌾 Poludnitsa (from: Polden or Poluden, 'half-day' or 'midday') is a mythical character common to the various Slavic countries of Eastern Europe. She is referred to as Południca in Polish, Полудница (Poludnitsa) in Serbian, Bulgarian and Russian, Polednice in Czech, Poludnica in Slovak, Připołdnica in Upper Sorbian, and Полознича (Poloznicha) in Komi, Chirtel Ma in Yiddish.

🌾 She is a noon demon in Slavic mythology. She can be referred to in English as "Lady Midday", "Noonwraith" or "Noon Witch". She was usually pictured as a young woman dressed in white that roamed field bounds. She assailed folk working at noon causing heatstrokes and aches in the neck, sometimes she even caused madness.

🌾 In some accounts, she symbolizes the midday star, thereby being the sister of Zarya-Zarenitsa (the morning star; also called Utrenica), Vechorka (the evening star; also called Wieczornica/Vechernitsa) and Kupalnitsa (the night star; also called Nocnica/Nochnitsa); Poludnitsa is the second youngest among the sisters, with Zarya-Zarenitsa being the youngest and Kupalnitsa being the oldest.

🌾 Poludnitsa, who makes herself evident in the middle of hot summer days, takes the form of whirling dust clouds and carries a scythe, sickle or shears; most likely the shears would be of an older style, not akin to modern scissors. She will stop people in the field to ask them difficult questions or engage them in conversation. If anyone fails to answer a question or tries to change the subject, she will cut off their head or strike them with illness. She may appear as an old hag, a beautiful woman, or a 12-year-old girl, and she was useful in scaring children away from valuable crops. She is only seen on the hottest part of the day and is a personification of a sun-stroke.

🌾 Poludnitsa, according to beliefs, loves to dance. If she sees a girl lying down to rest in the field, she will wake her up and begin to persuade her to dance. If the girl agrees, she will be forced to dance until the “evening dawn“. Poludnitsa cannot be beaten in dancing; however, if such a girl is found, the noon spirit will present her with a rich dowry.

#Poludnitsa #Lady Midday #slavic culture #slavic #slavs #slavic folklore #pagan #poland #russia #serbia #bulgaria #czechia #czech republic #slovakia #slavic mythology #posted by me #🔮

[princesssarisa]

The next section of Cinderella Tales from Around the World is devoted to a lesser-known Cinderella subtype: One-Eye, Two-Eyes, Three-Eyes.

*The most famous tale of this type is the German version from the Brothers Grimm. To summarize:

**A woman has three daughters, each with a different number of eyes: One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes. The middle sister, Two-Eyes, is hated and abused by her mother and sisters because she's beautiful and normal-looking. (There's no mention of how many eyes the mother has.) Every day she's sent out to pasture the goat, starving because her family only feeds her scraps. But one day she meets a "wise woman" (i.e. a fairy) who instructs her to recite a rhyme, and then her goat will bring her a table covered with food. She does this every day, until her mother notices that she's not eating her scraps anymore. One-Eye goes out to spy on her, but Two-Eyes sings her to sleep. Then Three-Eyes goes out, and again Two-Eyes sings, but in her lullaby she mistakenly sings "Two-Eyes" instead of "Three-Eyes," so only two of her sisters' eyes fall asleep while the third stays awake and sees how she feeds herself. She reports it to the mother, who kills the goat. But the wise woman instructs Two-Eyes to bury the goat's entrails, and when she does, a tree with silver leaves and golden apples grows from the spot. Whenever the mother or sisters try to pick the apples, the branches move out of their reach, but Two-Eyes is allowed to pick them. One day, a handsome young knight rides by, and the mother and sisters hide Two-Eyes under a barrel. But the knight admires the tree and asks for a branch from it, yet neither One-Eye nor Three-Eyes can break one off. Then Two-Eyes rolls some golden apples out from under the barrel, revealing her presence, and gives the knight his branch. The knight wants to reward her, so she asks him to take her away from her cruel family. He takes her to his castle, where the tree magically follows them, and soon afterward they marry. Some time later, One-Eye and Three-Eyes appear at the castle door, now reduced to beggars. Two-Eyes forgives them and takes them in, and her kindness makes them repent their former treatment of her.

*The other tales of this type that Heiner's book features come from France, Scotland, Denmark, Russia, the Czech Republic, India, and the United States.

**There are three French versions: Little Annette, The Golden Pear-Tree, and The Golden Bells.

*** All three include the heroine's ineffectual father, in contrast to the all-female household in the Grimms' version, and in the first and third tales, the wicked women are the heroine's stepmother and stepsisters instead of her birth family.

***In The Golden Bells, the heroine, Florine, is a princess, and her father and wicked stepmother are the king and queen. In Little Annette, the girl's eventual husband is a prince, while in the other two, he's a king.

***None of these versions include the "one-eye, two-eyes, three-eyes" motif either: in Little Annette, the stepmother magically adds an eye to the back of her youngest daughter's head, which stays open while her own eyes sleep, while in the other two the (step)sister just pretends to sleep.

***In all three, the heroine receives her food by tapping a sheep with a magic wand. In Little Annette, the wand is given to her by the Virgin Mary, in The Golden Pear-Tree by a man, and in The Golden Bells by her dying mother at the beginning. Also, rather than personally killing the sheep, the (step)mother pretends to be sick and insists that only eating the sheep's meat will cure her, so the father kills it.

***In Little Annette, the magic tree that grows from the sheep's remains just bears "the most tempting fruit," while in the other two tales, as their titles imply, it respectively bears golden pears and constantly-ringing golden bells.

***The Golden Pear-Tree and The Golden Bells both continue after the heroine's marriage with a plot against her while her husband is away at war. In The Golden Pear-Tree, the heroine gives birth to twins, and her wicked mother-in-law replaces them with two puppies, which causes the king to order his wife executed. Unfortunately, this story only survives as a fragment with no ending, but presumably the heroine escapes somehow and reunites with her husband and children after the truth is revealed. In The Golden Bells, the stepmother throws Florine into a river. But when she does so, the bells on the tree stop ringing, and the king hears this, realizes something is wrong, hurries home, and rescues Florine.

**In the odd Scottish tale of The Sheep's Daughter, the heroine is the king's secret illegitimate daughter, whose mother is a sheep. (Apparently an anthropomorphic one who lives in a house, although the queen is able to order her slaughtered like any other sheep.) The wicked women are the king's wife and legitimate daughters. The king secretly pays regular visits to the sheep and her child, bringing them gifts, until the queen has her two daughters spy on him. The sheep magically sings the first princess to sleep, but accidentally leaves one of the second princess's eyes awake, so the queen learn's what's happening, and has the sheep killed. The heroine buries her mother's bones, then lives alone in their cottage for five years, at which point a prince gives a three-day feast. The heroine's mother rises from her grave, transformed from a sheep into a beautiful princess: she dresses her daughter in finery, and from there on the story becomes Cinderella, with the heroine attending the festival and losing a slipper on the third night, which the prince uses to find her.

**In the Danish Mette Wooden-Hood, the wicked women are again the heroine's stepmother and stepsisters: the stepmother starts out as Mette's seemingly-kind schoolteacher, who of course manipulates her into convincing her father to marry her. Mette's helper is her mother's spirit, who comforts her at her gravesite and summons doves to feed her. But eventually the younger stepsister, who has an extra eye in her neck, learns this, and Mette is locked up so she can't visit the grave anymore. Mette finally manages to run away, however, and her mother's spirit gives her a wooden dress to wear and a box that will grant her wishes when she taps it. From this point on, the story becomes like Donkeyskin or All-Kinds-of-Fur, as Mette becomes a scullery maid at a palace, attends church in magic finery three times, and on the third Sunday loses a shoe.

**In one of the two Russian versions, Little Havroshecka, the heroine is an orphan while the wicked mother and daughters are her foster family, and in other, Burenushka, they're her stepmother and stepsisters: they're also a queen and princesses in the latter. In both of these versions, "One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes" are the heroine's three wicked stepsisters, in contrast to the Grimms' version where Two-Eyes is the heroine. The animal helper is a cow, who magically spins flax for the heroine in Little Havroshecka, magically feeds her in Burenushka. In the former story, after the cow is killed, a silver tree grows from her remains with golden leaves and crystal apples, which only Havroshecka can pick, while in the latter tale, a berry bush grows on which birds sing, and the birds chase away anyone who tries to pick the berries except for the heroine. Little Havroshecka ends with Havroshecka's marriage, while Burenushka continues with the heroine giving birth to a son, her stepmother turning her into a goose, and her coming back each day to briefly resume human form and suckle her baby, until her husband finds out and breaks the spell by burning the goose skin.

**In the Czech tale of The Girl Who Had a Witch for a Stepmother, "One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes" are again the heroine's three wicked stepsisters, and the animal helper is again a cow, who spins the heroine's flax for her, as promised by her mother's spirit. After the cow is killed, her remains produce an apple tree and a well full of wine, both of which only the heroine can access. A prince proposes marriage to her as a result, but on their wedding day the stepmother locks her up and sends one of her own daughters disguised in the bridal clothes, cutting her feet to make the shoes fit. But the heroine turns herself into a bird and flies after her prince and stepsister, calling out the truth. Thus she gets her happy ending.

**The Iranian tale of The Story of How Fatima Killed Her Mother and What Came of It, is obviously related closely to the Iranian Cinderella tale shared earlier in the book, The Story of Little Fatima. Once again, we have a heroine named Fatima whom a wicked woman persuades to kill her own mother, and then persuade her father to marry the woman who urged it. But after the stepmother turns abusive and starves her, the mother's forgiving spirit instructs Fatima in a dream to buy a yellow calf, which produces food from its ears. Meanwhile, the stepmother gives birth to two daughters of her own, Four-Eyes and Four-Stumps, who spy on their half-sister when they're old enough and discover her secret. After the calf is killed, the story has various twists and turns that include a "kind and unkind girls" episode, a Cinderella-style lost shoe leading a prince to Fatima, and Four-Stumps murdering and replacing Fatima after she gives birth to a son, only for Fatima to miraculously come back in the end.

**The Indian tale of Lal Badshah, the Red King, or The Two Little Princesses revolves around two sister princesses who are abused by their stepmother. They secretly find food each day on their mother's grave, until their stepmother's cat spies on them and reports it, and the wicked queen manipulates the king first into desecrating the grave, and then into abandoning his daughters in the forest, Hansel and Gretel-style. After many more twists and turns, the two finally live happily ever after, with one princess married to a king and the mother of a son, and her devoted sister by her side.

**Last of all is a Latin American tale called One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes, where as in the Grimms' tale, Two-Eyes is the heroine abused by her cruel mother and sisters. But otherwise, this is a Cinderella story. A prince gives three balls, and Two-Eyes is forbidden to go; but before the first ball, the prince meets and falls in love with Two-Eyes, so he secretly sends her a coach and finery each night. On the night of the third ball, the mother has Three-Eyes stay home to spy on Two-Eyes, and though two of her eyes fall asleep, her third eye discovers Two-Eyes' secret. The next day, when the prince comes to the house to ask for Two-Eyes' hand in marriage, the mother locks her away and tries to offer him first One-Eye, then Three-Eyes. But of course he rejects them both and finds Two-Eyes in the end.

*It's strange that the Grimms, who normally bowdlerized wicked mothers into stepmothers in their tales, offer one of the very few versions of this tale where the heroine's abusers are her own mother and sisters instead of a stepmother and stepsisters. That said, in their footnotes they do allude to other variants where the heroine is a stepdaughter and her helper is her mother's spirit.

I'm almost finished reading this enormous anthology. After this brief section comes the last set of tales: Cinderella tales that don't fit into any of the usual categories.

@ariel-seagull-wings, @adarkrainbow, @themousefromfantasyland

#cinderella #one-eye two-eyes three-eyes #fairy tale #variations #cinderella tales from around the world #heidi ann heiner #the brothers grimm #tw: animal death #tw: violence #tw: murder #germany #france #scotland #denmark #russia #czech republic #iran #india #the united states

[ihopeinevergetsoberr]

the counterpart

chapter 5 — violator

summary: can you guys tell i really want that fucking violator record?????

word count: 2,8k

nsfw-ish, reader is a pining mess, smoking (that's a given at this point, sorry), kissing, viktor is so sweet it makes me gag a little into my mouth. aaaand of course. my beloved heavy dialogue. (i’ll proof read this properly a bit later) —

It starts with a breathy “I don’t want you to go.”

Evolves into a bitter “I don’t want to go either” and lingers, warm and slightly chapped, upon the curve of your shuddering shoulder. And then he’d hold you through your pouts and frowns, kissing sweet tickling redemption wherever swollen lips could reach, each touch a gentle apology for having responsibilities that he had to attend to instead of staying bedridden in your grasp. 

Made you wish the smell of his skin soaked through your sheets.

If only you didn’t smoke that much. 

And then he’d bite you teasingly at each collarbone, taking his delicate, slow revenge — for every claw pulling at his hair, skin and soul. And the room would smell of sex, taunt and laughter: until limbs were finally demerged, cane was rescued from under the bed and returned to its departing owner, goodbye kisses were traded hastily in the doorway. 

He wanted to stay. Whispered you that much before reluctantly crawling out of your room — boneless and marked up, no doubt claimed by you in every possessive way known to man, with a special emphasis on that tangible, purple-ish one coating his neck and shoulders. 

You despised the morning lecture he had the following day as if it were the other woman stealing him away from you. Even made a taunting spiteful comment about that figurative mistress when he came back after attending to her, and your room was filled with jabs until he was gone again, just as reluctant — if not more, actually — as he was the night he first left. Something kept telling you it was going to become a regular occurrence, though. 

A joyful loop — it lasted for a few eventful days, made ‘bed-classes-Viktor’s arms’ your new route of choice. Didn’t even give you the chance to catch when exactly ‘Play chess with me tonight’ has become the new ‘Fuck me senseless’. 

And all the talking. Gods above, the talking — hushed, gentle conversations on the comforter of your bed, or on that famous windowsill; mostly by a smoldering mouthful of nicotine or steaming cups of coffee — an ingenious aftercare both of you cherished deep enough to soak in it for hours. That’s how you found out the meaning behind every single one of those Czech little swears he spilled into your flushed ears. However the less harsh words weren’t revealed to you just yet — he mumbled something illegible and turned away with a strangled cough, which had only confirmed your suspicions about them being obvious endearments. 

And when the exchange would inevitably resolve into a heated destruction of your poor bed (that was now creaking worse than it ever had) — he’d drive you back into madness, the sweat of its breathless aftermath haunting you until both participants stepped into the cramped space of shower and fingerprints soothed the soreness of lower backs wet and slow. You’d kiss the water off the tip of his handsome nose — to help him push it into your soul and investigate. Not only figuratively too: well, if one’s soul is located between their breasts, that is. 

Four slothful days of tender prying — and his cautiousness had finally paid off. You’d listen less and talk more, and his attentive eyes were drawn to you like ones of a doomed man, shining with rejoicement every time you’d fall a tad bit too deep into your thoughts, and your voice would put him to sleep — all calm, deep exhales against the warmth of you. Dark strands poked the side of your face while long arms curled around your waist, trapping you discreetly under his resting form. However, that could never stop him from memorizing every insignificant little something you whispered even through his peaceful snuffling. Needless to mention the things you told him while he was still awake, conversing with you softly while hands stroked a tease up your spine damp and shaky. 

A game of chess requires just as much sweat as a confession or an intercourse. 

And it escalated so rapidly. The literal definition of a Fool’s Mate, and that’s precisely what you were reduced to by his side — a fool, careless enough to make two exceptionally thoughtless moves, letting your whims take over when you first had him, then allowing him to come back for more.

But you were fine with getting checkmated like this. Content, even. As long as you lied sprawled out beneath his pale slenderness, talking him through and after it, then sharing a game of chess over and over again. Until fingers couldn’t gnaw at skin or move the pieces anymore, every limb shook and throat felt sore from speaking or whispering tender filth. 

The lovely loop broke on Friday, when your opponentship reached a week’s mark. 

You skipped both of your morning lectures — being responsible isn’t transmitted sexually, even when one is fucking the most duty-bound person in the world. Especially when the weather was not nearly encouraging enough to crawl out of your precious compact cave: the summer heat had finally built up to a season of lavish August rains, and the droplets were drumming against your window with all their pent up strength. They lured you into staying in bed until noon, dreamy gaze nailed into the wet glass, fingers toyed with a pen in a failed attempt to finish some commissioned essays and dreadful remnants of your own work — anything to find a distraction from inevitably returning to the empty spots of the room where Viktor liked to rest after committing the deed that was now the reason to your freshly obtained slight limp.

So silly of you. To still expect him at your door all ready to proceed with the routine, to overcome all the weather obstacles just for you. 

Eyes flew back to the chess board. It still hosted the crime scene: that checkmate you put him in before he shed you off your clothes to claim vengeance for it. 

The rain kept thudding with rhythmic judgment. He’s not coming today. 

But was it really so bad to wish he did? To lack him — fully, semi or not clothed at all? To miss the way it felt to lie on his side, still warm after he was off to classes? To replay the sound of your name on his accented tongue, uttered through moans, gasps for air and laughter? To long for a boy that knew you so vaguely with a passion of that extent — almost as impressively potent as one of a suitor who hasn’t seen their lover in decades? Whatever he was willing to share — you’d feast upon it, no questions asked – if not for a single plea for addivities. 

So easy to get lost in his endless patience, to confuse the simple crave for tenderness with a selfish crave for him — the first man to treat you carefully in a long time, to make you feel wanted for your brains, then for beauty. And even the latter didn’t involve disrespect or haste — he’d always prefer trembling touches over rough grips, so thoroughly attentive to the detail. 

“I love it when I make you think so hard you frown,” he once whispered with a curt smile, thumb a swipe over the wrinkle on your forehead. You would quizzically pull away from the board, one eyebrow cocked at him in guarded confusion.

“Are you that keen on making me suffer?” 

“Perhaps only a little,” he’d confess, fingers snaking nimbly behind your ear, carefully brushing through a single soft strand — had you almost crushing the pieces with your weight as you leaned into the offered sweetness, lids fluttered as eyes rested underneath them. 

“You didn’t strike me as a violator,” you murmured with a cheeky tilt to the side, caught his lips aiming for the exposed length of neck, let them settle for whatever little skin they could reach from the other side of the board. The check he had yet to run away from was awaiting him angrily beneath the tangle of touches. 

“Excuse me?” he countered your tone, letting you slide away from his attack with tactful reluctance. 

“Violator?” It didn’t ring a bell. Only earned you a confused pout and a guilty chuckle. “That one sexy Depeche Mode album?” It didn’t help either. He shrugged, wearing a nervous smile — like a skittish student about to fail a test. A compatibility one, apparently. 

“You’re kidding!” you exclaimed, mouth wide open in exaggerated astonishment. 

“I’m afraid I’m not,” he shrugged again, sharp shoulders defensively angled upwards. Made you ditch the unresolved trap of his king, blocking his view on the board by crawling over it with rushed inelegance. The issue at hand was far more urgent than a possible victory in four moves. 

“You,” a single finger pressed steeply into his chest, “need immediate musical rehabilitation. A very severe one at that.” 

Warm laughter seeped out of him loud and generous, thin body quivered briefly against the firm glance of your perception. Serious cases call for radical measures, and thick eyebrows arched resentfully when you shrunk away from the kiss, uttering a taunting ‘ah-ah.’

“Fine then,” he accepted his penalty with a calm sigh, returning your artful grin. “Rehabilitate me. Do whatever you deem necessary.” 

Pleased with the obtained permission, you allowed him to claim a fleeting peck before leaving his intrigued side. Still had some mercy in you, or, rather, simply couldn’t resist the soft temptation. Crossed the room to tend to the old record player you seized him eyeing earlier, ran through a pile of vinyls to pick out the prettiest one, lovingly caressing the crimson flower on its cover. You took a lot of pride in owning that sacred thing, recalling just how hard it was to get your eager hands on it. 

Careful not to scrape it, you put your precious record under the needle nice and slow — as if it was fragile enough to shatter from the smallest touch. But what a joy it was to finally have it spinning languidly on that dusty platter, to hear the first notes reward you with their rich sound. Couldn’t fight the urge to stop hips from swaying clumsily, hands up in the air as his cried to find your waist and take the lead — yet right leg cramped more than your dance lured in. So Viktor stayed on the bed, smile so spellbound the corners of his mouth almost hurt, and you swore the amber in his eyes shined brighter than it ever had before, struggling to pick a single pretty sight to settle on.

You waltzed into his embrace, letting him catch you after a twirl. Went limp for a second as he pulled you down, then climbed atop him in an already familiar straddle. Stayed still to admire the spill of dark hair all over the crumpled sheets, smiled back at him from the high of your slight raise. So beautiful and all yours to play with — both chess and heart, but you only preferred the former. Showed him that much with a lingering kiss — a sloppy touch of tongue against the pointy shape of his upper lip. Throaty whimper tasted deliciously of submission. Lewd. But not too much. Just enough to send the throb of your pulse straight between parted thighs. 

“I could watch you dance forever.” So luscious. His heart might be safe for now, but yours sure kept inching closer to a stroke with every new sweet nothing he uttered. 

“Is that the only thing you want to do to me?” you were suddenly armed full of taunt again. “To watch me dance?”

“How rude of you to vulgarize my attempts at being romantic.” 

“Perhaps I was hinting at something civil too. Not my fault dirty is the first direction you think in.” 

“You’re insufferable. To think I would ever act upon such obscenity—“

“Oh, so you’d rather I get up? Fine, bask in celibacy for all I please—“

“Wait, no! That’s not what I meant! Come back here—“ 

You chuckled at the memory, sinking deeper into the pillow. Teeth bit at the pen you were still fidgeting with, clenching hard when you recalled just how insistent he was on proving you right. Needless to mention that neither of you got to Enjoy The Silence that heated evening. 

But now there’s a pile of papers lying where he used to, keeping you silent, cold company. And you fucking missed him — bad to the point where it gets concerning, bitter for the way you failed to guard any strings from possible attachment. Though who said you should’ve prevented that in the first place? Was there really some heavy tacit agreement to stop whatever this was from escalating further, from offering you that soft solace? Sure, maybe you could use a change of pace — but was that really necessary when you were always the ambassador of everything rapid and unstructured? 

How does love even come? Was it too big of a word to define that smoldering little thing slowly melting your enclosure from the inside? How much were you actually willing to show him — without creating new obstacles for him to tiptoe around, or covering the sensitivity he finally started to disrobe — only with your consent, so grateful for the little bits of you he finally got to meet? 

Your world wasn’t ending where his started. They could coexist — or merge, even, into an environment full of that scary four-letter-word, if only both participants cared enough to fertilize it with mutual pining. 

And, well. 

One of them already stood chin deep in that formula. At the door of a pitifully longing another. Knocked thrice — politely intrusive as always. Whispered a raspy ‘It’s me’ — as if you could ever confuse that arrival with someone else’s or fail to catch the clack of cane against the scraped floor. 

No lecture, even a morning one you tend to blissfully oversleep, would force you to jump out of bed as fast as you rushed to let him in. Fingers yanked at the handle so hard it slipped out of your excitedly shaking grip, and god was he a mess — soaked shirt clung to the lean frame so tight you could count his ribs through the sheer drenched white. Rain still leaked pointwise out of the ruined waves of his hair, falling to the ground and gathering there into little puddles. Shoes squelched when he stepped inside with a hesitant gentle smile — slightly embarrassed for dripping mercilessly at your parquet floor. So shy all of a sudden, he contemplated whether the chaotic state would dispose him of a greeting kiss, but you dispelled his worries with your lips and savoured the ozone he was now flavored with as a low hum invaded your chuckling mouth.  

What are the odds. Think of the devil. 

“I’m sorry,” the devil purred against your grin. You wiped it off your face with the little damp beads he dropped on your chin.

“What for?” 

Eyes slid to the hand he sneaked slowly from behind his back, sighing apologetically when the content of it was revealed to you wet and tortured. A beautiful ruin of missing petals in the careful hold of his fingers. What should’ve been red to the point of scorching the vision was now plucked out and lacked in life. A single rose left intact among the numerous bare spiky stalks. 

“If only I brought a coat or an umbrella to cover them with… Such a waste — I assure you they looked decent before my foolish omission, but that’s not relevant anymore, I suppose.” 

You cradled the bouquet — or, rather the remnants of it— gently against your chest. Couldn’t care less about the spikes or the rainy spot it instantly stained your shirt with. 

“It’s the effort that counts.” 

“Perhaps, but you only deserve successful ones. And I didn’t manage to accomplish that.” 

How stupid of him to think that mattered to you at any capacity — oh no, you laughed and kissed him hard once again, stealing a pleasant gasp of awe. Tugged at the buttons of the ravaged shirt and pulled them slyly open, hand met the shivering skin of his chest with a delicate tingle. But you didn’t let him get into it while he was still so miserably sodden. Felt him murmur something regretful when you stepped away to swallow some air. 

“How about we hop into the shower before you manage to accomplish a cold?” The offer stood before him with a sheepish wince. As if Viktor could ever refrain from your tempting kindness. 

—

So how does love come? Abruptly? With a twenty four hour notice? Relentlessly? Gently? With a dagger to stab you right in the heart?

Well, yours did with his eyes closed. With water in his mouth and your name on his greedy lips. With enamored moans of rapture and tender praises when both bodies returned to bed wrapped in fluffy towels, sharing secrets and fondness while the inanimate witnesses watched you quietly from their distant corners: thirty two chess pieces, his cane and two lonesome roses — one drawn on the cover of your most precious vinyl possession, the other rested calmly in the sheer vase. 

—

tags: @thehistoriangirl @zaunitearchives @blissfulip @queen-of-elves @vyshnevska

#viktor arcane #viktor x reader #viktor fanfic #viktor smut #no beta we die like men #viktor x reader smut #viktor x f!reader #the cunterpart #viktor arcane fluff

[sirenjose]

Analysis of Anne (Annie) Lester

Annie’s mother came from a “wealthy British family” (likely a merchant family based on Annie’s backstory), while her father was a “nameless painter”. He was likely Czech as Annie’s original backstory mentions being either born into a Czech family or growing up in the Czech Republic.

Whether or not she actually lived in the Czech Republic, her father fell in love with her mother (Wendy), who he apparently saw as his “muse”. Based on what he says to Annie later and how he wants her to be, he apparently loved/admired Wendy due to her “ladylike demeanor”/”lady’s bearing”, “talent”, and beauty, while Annie’s trailer also uses the words “dignified, decent, elegant”.

Wendy really looking forward to Annie’s birth based on the baby room and wooden toys that she purchased for Annie. Unfortunately, she dies on November 29th due to hemorrhaging during Annie’s birth.

Annie’s father is very upset over her death, and even more so due to his view that Annie failed to adequately replace her in terms of talent, beauty, personality, and behavior. Due to this viewpoint, he likely was very strict on Annie, who he likely attempted to train and educate her on how to properly act like a lady and everything else he saw as necessary to be a lady.

This left Annie only 1 hour of free time a day. Only 1 hour where she was allowed to be in the baby room and play with the toys all left by her mother. Only 1 hour where she was allowed to “be herself”. Annie was clearly unhappy over how her father was trying to make her act and behave. Annie loved her mother but she could not perfectly replace her. She was her own person, a person that wasn’t the sort of perfect lady her father wanted her to be. But she had no choice while she still lived with her father, who showed little to no love to Annie due to her continued failure to be ladylike enough to replace her mother. So she used that 1 hour to escape from reality into her own fantasy world.

1 of the toys in that room is said to be “wings for gliding” with it seeming like “its owner was planning an escape with limited materials available”. It is possible she wanted to use these to escape her father, but for now I’m assuming she built them as part of her fantasy rather than actually used them to escape, but it’s hard to know for sure.

As Annie grew up, suitors attempted to woo her, though they were not the good type as her backstory describes them as “unscrupulous womanizers hoping to live a carefree life supported by her riches”. This had to do with the fact that, after Wendy’s death, Annie stood to inherit “50% of her estate, including property assets, when she comes of age”. They weren’t the only ones interested in Annie’s inheritance, as her own father, who likely had no real love or care left for Annie after this long, likely decided this money was the only thing of value left regarding Annie.

1 of the suitors Annie meets feels to her to be the perfect man. Considering her trailer mentions “The beautiful flowers, the adoration of the crowd, a gorgeous dress, and a seemingly perfect fiancé” as well as used the word “grandeur”. This could mean she was forced to act like a noble lady, likely including attending parties, which is where she met all these suitors, including the one she fell in love with.

Based on the fact Annie in her deductions says “He seems to know me well. Most importantly, he accepts me despite my shortcomings”, it almost seems less like Annie was interested in marrying and instead simply sought someone who offered her real love with no strings attached. Someone who loved her for who she was rather than desired her to be someone she wasn’t and didn’t want to be. After growing up under a strict father who showed her little to no love, a man who refused to accept the way she wanted to be and only showed approval if she did what he wanted, Annie sought acceptance. But this need made her vulnerable, as right now she was said to be “kindest to those she trusted and was prepared to believe in them implicitly—at least, this is what she used to believe”.

The issue with this implicit trust was that the man she thought would be the one, the love of her life, was actually another liar and scammer. Based on Annie’s deduction 8, Annie’s fiancé had been working with Annie’s father to manipulate Annie into marrying her so they could get their hands on her inheritance.

Considering Annie’s father interest in her inheritance, and based on how Annie’s deduction 2 describes Annie’s father as a “nameless painter” managing to somehow marry into a “wealthy British family”, I wonder if Annie’s father never truly loved Wendy or Annie and only married Wendy due to her wealth, just like the suitors trying to marry Annie for her inheritance now. I wonder how long he’d been planning to steal Annie’s wealth, and if he’d been thinking about it even before Annie’s birth. I also wonder if Annie’s fiancé was actually a friend of her father’s, and that could be why he was able to work with him to attempt to steal Annie’s inheritance. From how Annie says her fiancé knows and accepts her for who she is, I wonder if Annie’s father could’ve told her fiancé about Annie and her desire to give her fiancé a better chance at winning her over.

Based on Annie’s deduction 9, it seems they succeeded in getting that 50% from her. One of her backstories mentions she did get married and had a miscarriage too. Whether or not that happened, after the 2 scammed Annie out of her inheritance, and without Annie’s father financing Annie at all, her financial status fell “under the poverty level”. She also was deeply hurt by the betrayal, and it was only than that she began to not implicitly trust everyone.

Based on Annie’s 1st letter, it seems due to her poverty, she was forced to temporarily live at “Holloway Nursing Home”. While there, the mention of hoping to bring “uplifting” news helps further confirm Annie was pretty depressed after what had happened to her. Her trailer uses the words “Deceived, Manipulated and discarded, Just like a toy”, so this is likely how she felt after the betrayal, while “imprisonment” is how she felt with her father.

In the CN version, it instead calls it the “Holloway Sanatorium Temporary Ward”. A “sanatorium” is a medical facility providing long-term care (usually for treatment for people with chronic illnesses). It is possible she was sent here after her “miscarriage”. On the other hand, Holloway Sanatorium is actually a real place in Surrey, England. It was said to be “for the care and treatment of the insane of the upper and middle classes”. This implies Annie was likely sent here for reasons tied to her mental or emotional state.

She is referenced to have some pretty severe anxiety during the games which she likely developed due to how she grew up under her strict father who didn’t show Annie any love, only seeing her as a failure her whole life, with her backstory implying he made her feel “worthless”.

Her anxiety likely also ties to her toys, as these toys were said to symbolize “comfort, family, and stability, and she only feels when she is around them”. This could imply she developed a kind of dependence on them, as she may have essentially used them as an emotional/mental crutch and tied them in her mind to her mother, who Annie knew had loved her despite never having the chance to meet her, even though her mother was gone. Without any of her toys or safe room, her mental state likely deteriorates to some degree.

Besides her anxiety, there’s also the outcome of Annie’s fiancé with her father betraying her and taking the inheritance from her mother. Annie’s emotional state isn’t described anywhere, but it likely isn’t hard to imagine how this likely affected her.

Annie already had developed feelings of low self-worth, insecurity, and a multitude of other issues due to how she grew up under her father. Then when she was betrayed by someone she felt might finally accept her for who she is, this further devastated her mental state. We know, despite how she grew up, that she still trusted to some degree, and was kind and implicitly believed those she trusted, but this was destroyed following the betrayal, and she likely developed trust issues (becoming more guarded and afterwards not opening up as easily). Besides this, she obviously would’ve felt deep emotional pain, heartbreak, and betrayal after what her fiancé and father did. Anger, sadness, confusion and loss would also be expected, as well as lower self-confidence and increased self-doubts and insecurity.

If Annie had been sent to a mental facility, this could imply she, at least for a time, had extreme emotional instability, and could’ve been shifting between emotions quite rapidly, from sorrow enough to cause her to cry uncontrollably, to panic attacks, or even intense anger. I imagine it had to have been enough to impair their ability to function or threatened their well-being for her to be put there. It’s also possible she experienced delusions or hallucinations due to her distress or deteriorated mental state. At the very least, panic attacks tied to her severe anxiety (which could also reasonably put her at risk of arm) are also fairly likely. She was likely sent to the mental facility to help her stabilize.

While she was there, before she’d stabilized but was recovering, she met Nicholas Oz, an attorney appointed by Wendy to inform her that Annie’s current status had activated a portion of the will Wendy left for Annie, which gave her a different 30% of Wendy’s estate as Wendy had made Annie her “designated inheritor”. This was a 30% that had “remained unrecorded” and had included “Madam Lester's foreign assets and assets entrusted to the care of her relatives and friends, all of which will be inherited by you”. Included in the items inherited by Annie is a “brand new children's wooden aircraft”, which could be the same one she uses in game (and may have been a real life, better version of the wings she’d built herself in the past).

I wonder if Wendy potentially knew a bit of the about how Annie’s father truly was and did all this in advance for this very kind of situation. Maybe that’s why there was a condition in her will that gave Annie 30% if Annie fell below the poverty level, which could imply Wendy had potentially foresaw this happening.

In any case, Annie (now definitely not living with her father if she hadn’t already escaped him before) used the money to build a toy shop (the objects that had helped her escape her miserable reality into a fantasy world where she had real freedom) and pursue her own desires. She also hoped her store would help bring happiness to other children and help grow their own fantasy worlds. Her toyshop is successful, and is said to have helped her regain her confidence. She vows to “get back what she deserves and her dignity”.

The last thing we know is she receives an anonymous letter that promises information on the “two scammers” (aka her father and fiancé who stole her inheritance) and so she decides to go.

#idv #identity v #anne lester #toy merchant #idv anne #idv annie #identity v anne #identity v annie #idv toy merchant #identity v toy merchant #sirenjose analyses and theories

[djuvlipen]

Romani women were assaulted by a man in front of their children in Czechia

(04/01/2024)

On the afternoon of 31 March in Teplice, Czech Republic, a Romani woman named Natalie was assaulted in the presence of her child by a non-Romani man who was unknown to her. Natalie says she, her sister and their children were aggressively targeted by the man, who started shouting at them in a local park.

Natalie described going to the park with her young daughter and several other young children from her family. Her sister accompanied them.

“The children were playing with pebbles, they weren’t doing anything to anybody, and he started shouting at my daughter, so I asked him what was bothering him,” Natalie described how the incident started to news server Romea.cz. The man started shouting very vulgar abuse and the women objected.

“We told him not to speak so crudely in front of the children and he walked right up to me and got in my face. I pushed him away more than once, but he assaulted me physically. He slapped me and then, when my sister came to my aid, he slapped her and it became a fight. The children were crying and in total shock,” Natalie described the situation.

“We shouted to the other people in the park to call the police. Eventually my sister called the police and the man started to run away. My sister ran after him for a moment, but her little boy began to cry terribly, so she came back,” Natalie described to Romea.cz.

Police arrived at the scene within 10 minutes. “They downloaded videos from people who had filmed it and I gave my statement to the police today,” Natalie said on 1 April.

“If the children had been white he wouldn’t have even noticed them, but he started shouting directly at my daughter,” Natalie told news server Romea.cz. Police spokesperson Kamil Marek confirmed to news server Romea.cz that police are investigating the incident.

“Police officers in Teplice are investigating an incident on suspicion of misdemeanor behavior. The operations officer immediately sent a police patrol to the scene. The officers immediately started searching for a male suspect meeting the women’s description, but he disappeared. They have requested camera footage and are continuing to identify the suspect,” Marek told Romea.cz.

A brief video clip capturing the incident was posted to social media. The footage shows a little girl weeping and a man assaulting her mother.

The video was available on Facebook during the evening of 31 March; while the original post was subsequently deleted, the video continues to be shared in various groups. News server Romea.cz has obtained the video.

Czech Government Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs is in contact with the assaulted woman

On the afternoon of the assault, the Vice-Chair of the Czech Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs, Marián Dancso, got in touch with the assaulted woman and accompanied her to the police station the next day. “The woman who was attacked gave a statement to the police today, who were maximally helpful and offered both the woman and her young daughter psychological aid,” Dancso told news server Romea.cz, adding that he was told the police have issued a statewide arrest warrant for the suspect.

Czech Government Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs Lucie Fuková is also following the case. “I do not have detailed information about this matter yet. After watching the video that is circulating on social media I am outraged by this repulsive violence, especially in the presence of children,” she told Romea.cz, adding that she is in contact with the assaulted woman through Dancso.

“I will keep monitoring the situation,” Fuková said. The ROMEA organization has sent the assaulted woman contact information for the In IUSTITIA organization, which legally aids bias crime victims.

#Czech Republic #Roma #male violence #anti roma racism

[hartage]

gimme mother (erzsi)

i am trying my best not to turn this into a long-winded aushun post, but aushun is one of the central ships that i focus on & hungary is a huge component in my own canon / historical hetalia stuff ?? 

but here a few things i think about:

the relationship between both rodi and ersz​é​bet is very complex and runs deep -  the two of them know each other incredibly well, but that doesn’t mean that they weren’t like cat and dog in their younger years. 

ersz​é​bet genuinely saw rodi as a means to an end when she married him, and vice versa. the 1848 revolution i think was a turning point for both of them. before, hungarian nobles did convince the hapsburg government that they were a “...special unit of hapsburg land and had to be ruled in conformity with its own special laws.” but, it was clear that rodi didn’t take that seriously, and worked for cultural hegemony rather than accepting erszi for who she is. a central theme to all of is this is that erszi is a victim of her own soul searching. she desperately wants to be accepted for who she is, and all of her-- not just bits and pieces. 

erszi is a woman who’s brash, rude, ‘unladylike’ (in victorian standards at least), and a non-conformist. she is a beautiful representation of being the complete opposite of rodi, who constantly seeks to keep the status quo. erszi had always known that rodi did things for his own interest, and out of his own self-preservation. but she saw him as a means to an end, that to dabble with rodi was the only way to give herself autonomy. 

rodi is a complex man himself, and i could go into his own thought process later, but its clear that rodi’s self-preservation cannot allow any provisional ‘thorns in his side’. he’ll get what he wants, even if that means ruining whoever or whatever is trapped in between. 

however, post 1848, rodi was at a point where he knew that the situation between himself, and the rest of europe was dire. rodi performed horribly during the deutscher bruderkrieg (austro-prussian war), and now with the aspect of ludwig (a young child at this time) being a central theme in gilbert’s motivations, it meant that rodi and erszi had to act fast. marriage for them was their only solution.

i think people often like to say that both of them hated each other throughout their marriage, and that rodi’s marriage to erszi was the last of his ‘political marriages’, which the latter is true. 

however, a political marriage does not mean that there wasn’t any mutual feelings between the two. the complexity of keeping a relationship during the mid 1800’s-- a time of significant societal and political upheaval, is central to how ersz​é​bet changed. i think erszi became a completely different person between the time of 1873-1914. i say 1873 rather than 1870, or even 1867 because there was a bit of time where erszi intensely loathed rodi, and throughout their marriage felt a tad bit of remorse for being the ‘preferred one’ compared to her counterparts like nikoleta (czech), or other nations in the empire. she went from a complete life of struggle and hardship to a luxurious lifestyle that made even some of the biggest world powers envious. her lifestyle back allowed her the comfort to let those things go to her head.

however, during the fin de siècle, i believe rodi’s attitude began to bother ersz​é​bet. she saw him go completely neutral during crimea, and it left her hopeful that rodi had grown from the militarism that dominated their relationship in the early days. however, after the mayerling crisis, and the assassination of empress sisi, ersz​é​bet began to see roderich’s attitude change wildly. he became obsessed with revenge, to the point where erszi grew arguably a terrible coping mechanism-- forcing herself to become indifferent to rodi’s worsening mental health issues, and ignoring his abysmal actions in the balkans. 

 much like the PM at the time (istván tisza), erszi was originally opposed to the war. i think at this point, specifically during the july crisis, it brought erszi to realize that rodi once again was only doing this for his own self-interest, that his selfishness was not sagacious, nor was it even resourceful to the betterment of their peers at all. tisza is quoted with saying "it was a difficult decision to take a stand to propose war, but now i am firmly convinced of its necessity", while still being against the annexation of serbia. it was clear that erszi had become parsimonious with her opinions, because even if she didn’t solely believe in the things rodi was doing, she perpetuated it. she never spoke up. 

erszi probably would argue with people like nikoleta that she was afraid to speak up against rodi at the time, but i think it’s quite obvious that erszi wanted to have the best of both worlds-- the luxurious lifestyle she gained from rodi, coupled with the idea of holding enough power to never be controlled again. 

“tough to those above and humane to those below" is the best way i could explain erszi in one sentence, but this sentence doesn’t mean that erszi was always like that. she fell victim to her own ego, like many of us do.

in 1918, woodrow wilson was intentionally vague with his tenth point, “the people of austria-hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development.”

wilson saught compromise between the two goals that he had. to keep stability-- but also giving each nationality the choice to decide their fate; a wink towards revolution, and the beginning of the end to ersz​é​bet’s relationship with rodi and the emergence of her (and other nations’) independence.

#hetalia #aph hungary #hws hungary #hetalia hungary #aph austria #hws austria #hetalia austria #historical hetalia #hartrambles #aushun #kahlotus23

[unhonestlymirror]

Lithuania: Oh, Giedrė would love this salad.

Czech: Who's Giedrė?

Lithuania: ...my 7th wife.

Czech:

Hungary: Your what

Germany: But I don't remember anyone from us having such a name?? Do we have a new state? I'm not teaching you, but don't you think it's a bit weird to marry a micronation for an old state like you?..

Lithuania: *sigh* She was mortal.

Everyone at the lunch table:

Ireland: Wait, wait, let me guess it - your 7th wife was mortal? Just like all the previous ones?

Lithuania:

Belgium: Jesus Christ.

Italy: Looks like someone forgot to tell him that having a relationship with mortals is a moveton in our little community...

Scotland: Lmao, I knew that guy never gave up on polygamy.

Lithuania, smiling with hidden irritation: I am sure we have more interesting topics to talk about than my 12 mortal wives, who were NOT married on me all at the same time, God rest their souls.

England: I agr-

France: NO, WE DON'T! I NEED to know everything about your 12 mortal wives, my dear Lituanie, right now!

Greece: Yeah, I'm also interested, like, dude, why did you decide that marrying mortals so many times is gonna be a good idea? At least you could have just making them your lovers, nothing more, why to put so much effort

France: You know that we can't have human children anyway :P

England: No one asked your opinion, orgies organizer

France: You're not a saint either, Mr. Le Bordel🖕🖕🖕

Lithuania: At first, I did that not out of romantic feelings and absolutely nor for sex. Poland had demanded that I must have married him in order to establish Commonwealth better. Although the pact was already legal, I wasn't ready for that, especially considering that the Catholic Church doesn't allow divorce... I didn't want to lose my independence completely, I didn't want to kill Poland to break the possible marriage because that would be really gross, considering that it was me who came to Poland first, I've lost Ruthenia and Smalensk by my own stupidity. Being on the peak of my power, I've fallen down like Lucifer. The day before, I was an empire, and the next day, I was nothing but a colony. I was miserable, and I had no right to complain. But one day, a woman approached me in a pub and asked me half-jokingly: "Doesn't your mother need a daughter-in-law?" And then it dawned on me. "Actually, she does," I answered. We got married the next day. The problem was delayed because, thankfully, Catholicism can't stand polygamy.

Lithuania: I can't say I've fallen in love with Milda at first sight, but she made my life less miserable.

Sweden: And she never questioned why her husband never got old?

Lithuania: Well, she never complained. 😆 As well as the others... *blushes a little*

Liechtenstein: I suppose it hurt when she died...

Lithuania: It always hurts when someone who lives in your heart dies. At least, she was gone with peace. I made sure she was buried properly.

Lithuania: That's when I've realised I didn't want to come to the empty house for eternity.

Lithuania: Later, I've usually tried to marry widows or single mothers: someone who was the outcast for society and who wasn't really able to protect themselves. I've thought it was not fair. After all, I can't just wander around like a ghost, if I am the personification of my people, at least I could have tried to make someone’s life a bit easier. To some extent, I perceived it as a sacrifice for Milda.

Japan: I'd say you have a fetish if only what you're telling didn't sound so sad.

Bulgaria: At least, the children could be proud of their vampire step-father! :D

Romania: Bulgaria, shut up. Just the mention of vampires makes me sick.

Finland: If you watched your wife dying every time, no wonder you seemed so depressed.🫂

Lithuania: 🫂

Lithuania: So I've come through the Commonwealth partition and russian empire, but the tradition remained.

Everyone: *silence, many have watery eyes*

France: 😭😭😭

England: You're the weirdest freak of Europe. After France. No offence.

France: Ugh, what can a cold-heart like you know about the pain of true love loss😭😤😡 This man's married 12 TIMES! TO MORTALS! You could never.

Lithuania: Well, sex was also nice.

Czech: Ew.

Greece: Now that's our guy🤌🤌🤌🤌

Latvia, completely unimpressed: Well, if to be accurate, 13 times if to count his marriage with his sister.

Lithuania: It was PURELY POLITICAL, SHORT-LASTING and it was A SHAM MARRIAGE, to receive funding from the Vatican and save our land from Teutonic Order invasions, you little shit💢 I've never felt anything more than platonic respect to her

France: I NEED DETAILS!!! :D

Bulgaria: A little bit of Monica in my liiife, a little bit of Erica by my siiiide

Latvia: A little bit of Rita's all I need, a little bit of Tina's what I see

Bulgaria: A little bit of Sandra in the sun, a little bit of Mary all night long

Latvia: A little bit of Jessica, here I am, a little bit of you

Together: makes me your man!!

Lithuania: I'm going home.

#hetalia headcanons #hws lithuania #aph lithuania #fruk in the background #hwe france #hws czechia #hws england #hws greece #hws romania #hws bulgaria #hws italy #hws germany #hws japan #hws latvia #hws finland

[princeznajasmina]

https://www.instagram.com/princeznajasmina/ 💖✨

#me #myself #princezna jasmina #jasmina #princeznajasmina #ootd #outfit of the day #black on black #overknee boots #boots #black hair #brunette #czech girl #czech woman #curvy girls

[transenbyconfessions]

At the moment, I live in the Czech Republic, where the official language is Czech (obviously). The only reason I hate Slavic languages is because they are too gendered. If you speak at least one Slavic language, you know what I mean, but if you don't, let me explain: in these languages, verbs in the past tense have a different ending. For example, in Czech, the phrase "I said" will be "řekl jsem" if you are a man, and if you are a woman, the same phrase will sound like "řekla jsem". And it's the same with adjectives - in Czech, for example "good" would be "dobrý" if it's a guy and if it's a girl it would be "dobrá".

The problem is that I hear from others misgendering me on a regular basis, I am forced to talk about myself as a woman just because I am forced to do it (I'm in closet). I hate my life because of this, I hate the fact that literally all the languages I know (I know Russian, Ukrainian and Czech, I'm also learning English and German) are Slavic, and I am forced to misgender myself in literally every sentence. I can't even talk at home to my relatives about how my day went without mentioning myself in the feminine form (I try to use more neutral sentence forms, so as not to misgender myself, but I don't always succeed). I get misgendered literally everywhere, and it has even passed into my brain in the form of obsessive thoughts. The only place I talk about myself in masculine terms is in my personal diary...

I can't stand it. Sorry, I just can't. I can't come out because I'm not safe (my surroundings are transphobic, I can't risk). I tried to come out at home, but my mom ignored it. I can't stand it.

Submitted May 13, 2023

#transgender #trans #enby #nb #nonbinary #non-binary #non binary #trans masc #transmasc #trans masculine #transmasculine #trans man #trans boy #transgender man #transgender boy #trans guy #transgender guy #ftm #afab #misgendering #czech #gendered language

[sanctaignorantia]

hi! since you're doing the tremendous task of identifying all actors who seem to be part of the show atm, i need to put smth out here because i've also been keeping tabs on who's following who on ig, and i've noticed something interesting that istg might just be me going insane but also... who knows... there's this woman on ig that everyone is following: diatta_emilie and taking into account that a lot of people are fancasting fka twigs as akasha, when i saw her i immediately thought about a possible casting. im going anon on this one because tbh with this particular thing i do feel a little tinfoil hat but i HAD TO tell someone. Have an amazing day!

Ohhh yes you are right Anon! I noticed that too, but didn't pay full attention and ended up leaving it out. I did a little research and she is an actress too! When I saw her I was paralyzed because she is soooo beautiful! I'll add it in the next update, but for now:

"Born and raised in France, Emilie Diatta moved to Czech Republic when she was 13." (source)

Bring on more discoveries, I love this investigation and it helps us kill time until season2!

#ask #iwtv s2 cast #iwtv cast #iwtv s2 #iwtv #interview with the vampire

[princesssarisa]

In Cinderella Tales from Around the World, I've now finished reading the variants from Spain and Portugal.

*There are two Spanish versions in this book, which are almost identical to each other. In both, either two or three days in a row, the heroine's stepmother sends her out of the house with some tedious task to do (a bag of beans to shell, or either rice or seeds to sort), but each time, she meets a kind woman who does the task for her and gives her a different type of nut. Each nut produces finery, which the heroine wears first to church, then to the Promenade, and then to a royal ball (or just to church and a ball). In one of these two variants, the helper is an old woman, while in the other, more religious version, she's a saint, although it doesn't say which one.

** The motif of Cinderella getting her finery from a nutshell also appears in one Italian version and one French version each. Of course this motif will most famously appear in the Czech variants that inspired the film Three Wishes for Cinderella.

*There are three Portuguese versions: The Hearth Cat, The Maiden and the Fish, and Horse-Skin.

**The Hearth Cat starts out like the Italian versions. The heroine convinces her father to marry her seemingly kind schoolteacher, who turns cruel after the marriage; she's sent out to pasture the cow and wind thread, but the cow winds the thread for her; when the stepmother finds out, she has the cow killed; the heroine finds a golden ball in the cow's entrails. But then it takes a detour into a Mother Holle-style "Kind and Unkind Girls" tale – the girl drops the golden ball into the well, goes down after it, and finds herself in a house belonging to three fairies, which she tidies up. For this the fairies give her blessings, including a magic wand. When she comes home, the stepmother sends her own daughter to the fairies' house, but instead of cleaning it she messes it up, and as punishment the fairies make her ugly. Soon afterward, the stepmother and stepsister go to a horse race (that's a first instead of a ball or church!), the heroine uses her wand to dress in finery and go too, and from then on, it's a Cinderella story, where she marries the king in the end.

*The Maiden and the Fish is like a cross between Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast with an aquatic twist. There's no stepmother, but just a loving father with three daughters, two spoiled, one kind. The youngest is again called "the Hearth Cat" by her sisters, but she's not forced to work as a servant, she just does the work that her sisters are too lazy to do. One day the father catches a golden fish, which the heroine finds too pretty to cook. Then the fish speaks and urges her to throw him into the well, then follow him down there. She does, and finds herself in a golden palace, where the fish gives her finery so she can go to a festival to which her sisters have gone. She goes, she loses her slipper, and the king, despite being a widower much older than the girl, resolves to find her and marry her. Meanwhile, she goes to back to the fish's palace, and the fish asks her to marry him. When she finally consents, the fish turns into a handsome prince, and reveals that he's the king's son. Later, when the slipper fits her, she declines the king's marriage proposal and reveals that she broke the prince's enchantment, and the king is so happy to have his son back that he gladly lets them marry.

**Horse-Skin, as the title might imply, is really a Donkeyskin variant, and interestingly it doesn't include any magic. A cruel king locks his three daughters in a tower and abandons them because the princess he wants to marry doesn't want stepchildren. The two older sisters die of starvation, but the youngest is finally rescued and, dressed in a horse-skin garment, she becomes a servant to an old woman who works for the king. But she keeps a chest that contains both her sisters' elegant dresses and her own, and eventually she wears those dresses to attend three balls at the palace. The young king falls in love with her and at the third ball gives her an engagement ring. After she runs off yet again, the king becomes gravely ill, but Horse-Skin drops the ring into a bowl of broth that's being taken to him, when he sees it he sends for her, and so they reunite.

@adarkrainbow, @ariel-seagull-wings, @themousefromfantasyland

#cinderella #fairy tale #variations #cinderella tales from around the world #heidi ann heiner #spain #portugal #tw: violence #tw: starvation

[archduchessofnowhere]

What books about Sisi do you recommend? 😄 Which ones are the best in your opinion?

Hello! I'm sorry for answering this so awfully late. I already recommended some of these books always before, but I tried to give some new recomendations this time!

BIOGRAPHIES:

Elizabeth, empress of Austria by Egon Conte Corti. The first biography of the empress based on primary sources; this work is to this day a point of reference for any historian who wants to write about Sisi. The book, first published in 1934, is however outdated and slightly biased (the children of archduchess Marie Valerie were the ones who opened up the family archives for Corti after all). Translations available in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Hungarian, Slovak, Polish and Dutch.

The Reluctant Empress, by Brigitte Hamann. The most well sourced biography since Corti's. Hamann's book departed from the fairy tale princess image that had been established since the 50s and depicted Elisabeth as a complicated and far from perfect woman. The book, first published in 1982, is however slightly outdated and biased (Hamann just hated Elisabeth lol). There are translations available in English, Spanish, Hungarian, French, Italian, Czech, Polish and Romanian.

Sisis Weg: Vom Mädchen zur Frau by Martina Winkelhofer. I made a full review of this book last month but in short: a refreshing study at Elisabeth's childhood, teenhood and first years as empress that rely on newly available primary sources. I wouldn't recommend this book as your first approach to Elisabeth though, since Winkelhofer assumes the reader is already familiar with the "Sisi myth" and doesn't tend to give much historical context outside the necessary, which may be confusing if you aren't familiar with 19th century European history in general. Translations available in Italian, Polish and Czech.

PUBLISHED DIARIES, LETTERS AND MEMOIRS:

Das Tagebuch der Lieblingstochter von Kaiserin Elisabeth edited by Martha and Horst Schad. Archduchess Marie Valerie's diary from 1878 until 1899. I own a copy of this book and I've been slowly reading it, maybe one day I'll finally finish it. There are translations available in Italian, Hungarian and Czech.

Briefe Kaiser Franz Josephs an Kaiserin Elisabeth, 1859-1898 edited by Georg Nostitz-Rieneck. A compilation of the emperor's letters to his wife. Available (as far as I know) only in German.

Lieber Rudolf: Briefe von Kaiser Franz Joseph und Elisabeth an ihren Sohn edited by Friedrich Weissensteiner. A compilation of letters that the imperial couple wrote to their son Crown Prince Rudolf between 1860 and 1878. Available (as far as I know) only in German.

Das Tagebuch der Gräfin Marie Festetics: Kaiserin Elisabeths intimste Freundin edited by Gudula Walterskirchen and Beatrix Meyer. The diary of Elisabeth's lady-in-waiting Marie Festetics. Available in German and Hungarian.

Kaiserin Elisabeth ganz privat: Briefe an ihre intimste Vertraute Ida Ferency edited by Beatrix Meyer. All the surviving correspondance between Elisabeth and her reader and confident Ida Ferenczy. Available (as far as I know) only in German.

Unsere liebe Sisi: Die Wahrheit über Erzherzogin Sophie und Kaiserin Elisabeth edited by Gabriele Praschl-Bichler. A compilation of letters by archduchess Sophie regarding her daughter-in-law and also the life of the imperial family in general. Also available in Czech.

Aus den letzten Jahren der Kaiserin Elisabeth by Countess Irma Sztáray. The memoirs of Elisabeth's last lady-in-waiting, from the time she entered service in 1894 until the empress' assassination in 1898. Currently in the public domain in German so it can be read for free here; available also in Hungarian, French, Italian and Czech.

OTHERS:

Das Poetische Tagebuch edited by Brigitte Hamann. Elisabeth's edgy poetry. Historians drag her writing style through the mud while simultaneously using her poems as if they were her private diary. Waiting for a translation in English or Spanish to read them, available also in Hungarian and Italian.

Elisabeth: Stages in a life edited by Brigitte Hamann and Elisabeth Hassmann. A nice short book about the different places Elisabeth lived and traveled to, full with pictures. Available in German and English.

My Past by Countess Marie Larisch. The memoirs of Elisabeth's controversial niece. I don't actually recommend them for learning about the empress since they are very unreliable, hence why I din't put this book in the previous block. I do recommend reading them to double check which heavily accepted facts about Elisabeth and her family originated from here, since many historians repeat her claims uncritically, sometimes without even citing her as the source. In the public domain, you can read it for free in German here and in English here. Also available in Hungarian, French, Italian and Czech.

Tagebuchblätter by Constantin Christomanos. The diary of Elisabeth's Greek teacher from 1891 to 1894. Just as with Larisch' memoirs, Christomanos' book is a mix of fiction and reality, so you should take it with a grain of salt. You can read it for free in German here and in French here. Also available in Greek, Hungarian, Italian and Spanish.

I hope that I could help you!

#btw the only ones i've read from the published letters etc. block is valerie's diary and unsere liebe sisi (which i also haven't finished) #but i wanted to bring to as much primary documents published as possible #empress elisabeth of austria #asks #book recs

[homomenhommes]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … February 2

1711 – The great Austrian statesman Prince Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz (d.1794) was born in Vienna. He was an Austrian-Czech diplomat and statesman in the Habsburg Monarchy.

A proponent of enlightened absolutism, he held the office of State Chancellor for four decades and was responsible for the foreign policies during the reigns of Maria Theresa, Joseph II, and Leopold II. In 1764, he was elevated to the noble rank of a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Single-handedly he engineered an alliance between traditional enemies France and England.

Eccentric, arrogant, conceited and always happy to hear the sound of his own voice, he is said to have had a virtual harem of young men.

1859 – Havelock Ellis, British psychologist and sexologist, born (d.1939); Ellis's monumental seven-volume Studies in the Psychology of Sex (1897-1928) was not only of the greatest importance in changing Western attitude toward sex, but has influenced almost all writers ever since. Given the nature of his major interest, he was more than entitled to a full-fledged fetish all his own.

From the beginning, his marriage was unconventional (Edith Ellis was openly lesbian), and at the end of the honeymoon, Ellis went back to his bachelor rooms in Paddington, while she lived at Fellowship House. Their "open marriage" was the central subject in Ellis's autobiography, My Life. According to Ellis in My Life, his friends were much amused at his being considered an expert on sex considering the fact that he suffered from impotence until the age of 60, when he discovered that he was able to become aroused by the sight of a woman urinating. Ellis named the interest in urination "Undinism" but it is now more commonly called Urolagnia.

Ellis's Sexual Inversion, the first English medical text book on homosexuality, co-authored with John Addington Symonds, described the sexual relations of homosexual men and boys, something that Ellis did not consider to be a disease, immoral, or a crime. The work assumes that same-sex love transcends age as well as gender taboos, as seven of the twenty one examples are of intergenerational relationships. A bookseller was prosecuted in 1897 for stocking it. Although the term 'homosexual' is attributed to Ellis, he writes in 1897, "`Homosexual' is a barbarously hybrid word, and I claim no responsibility for it." Other psychologically important concepts developed by Ellis include autoeroticism and narcissism, both of which were later taken on by Sigmund Freud

1916 – Xuân Diệu (d.1985), was a prominent Vietnamese poet. A colossal figure in modern Vietnamese literature, he wrote about 450 poems (largely in posthumous manuscripts) especially love poems, several short stories, and many notes, essays, and literary criticisms.

In 1943, he joined the Viet Minh and became one of the leading poets writing to promote resistance against the French.

Although well known for his love poems, he was married for only six months without consummating the marriage before divorcing from his wife and died a bachelor.

Many people believe that he was homosexual along with his lifelong friend the famous poet Huy Cận, as shown through his many poems about love dedicated to (and apparently addressed to) various men. These poems include "Tình trai" ("Man's Love", about the love affair between the French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine) and "Em đi" ("You leave", a heartfelt poem dedicated to a younger man with whom the poet shared a house for several years). In his memoirs published in 1993, the writer Tô Hoài confirmed that Xuân Diệu was reprimanded while in the Viet Minh for molesting other men in bed.

1946 - J. E. Freeman was an American actor (d.2014), often cast in tough guy roles.

His first movie appearance was in the early 1980s actioner An Eye for an Eye in which he played a tow truck driver who minces words with Chuck Norris.

Freeman was especially known for his menacing characters roles: the evil gangster Marcello Santos in David Lynch's Wild at Heart, the terrifying Eddie Dane, ferocious gay hitman from Miller's Crossing, and the infamous scientist Wren in Alien Resurrection. Other notable apparitions in : Ruthless People, Patriot Games, Copycat and Go.

Freeman was openly gay. At age 22, he admitted his sexuality to the United States Marine Corps to avoid being drafted to the Vietnam War, leading to his discharge. He was HIV-positive from circa 1984. In 2009, he published a letter to the editor on sfgate.com, detailing his reminiscences of the 1969 Stonewall riots. He wrote poetry and had a tumblr blog (Freedapoet) dedicated to his poetry.

Freeman retired from acting in 2004. He died in the evening of August 9, 2014. He was 68.

1970 – Casey Spooner is an American artist and musician. He was born in Athens, Georgia and resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Spooner is openly gay. While attending the Art Institute of Chicago he met Warren Fischer. The two went on to cofound Fischerspooner in New York in 1998.

Spooner has submitted works for Deitch Projects and an album by R.E.M. A promotion for Fischerspooner's second album included an art Salon/Art Exhibition of all the images used in making of the album, this has since been linked to Warhol.

Casey joined experimental New York performance ensemble The Wooster Group in 2007, taking on the role of Ophelia's brother Laertes in their production of Hamlet (which featured two Fischerspooner songs that were composed for the show). During this time, he also began work on a third Fischerspooner album (with Warren Fischer). Entertainment was released in North America via the band's own label FS Studios on May 4, 2009, produced by Jeff Saltzman (The Killers, The Black Keys, The Sounds). An American and European Tour, known as Between Worlds, continued all through 2009. Like in other Fischerspooner's performances, Spooner was the main figure of the show.

In January 2010, Spooner distributed online his first solo work, the song Faye Dunaway, as a preview of a 2010 solo album entitled Adult Contemporary. He served as the opening act for Scissor Sisters on their North American tour. This was possible thanks to the funding provided by his fans through Kickstarter, the crowdfunding online platform. Currently, he is at home in NY after releasing his solo album, Adult Contemporary.

1979 – David Paisley is a Scottish actor, his best-known for roles are midwife Ben Saunders in Holby City and Ryan Taylor in Tinsel Town. Openly gay himself, both his characters were controversial due to their sexual orientation - a lingering kiss with his on-screen boyfriend in Holby City led to 400 complaints to the BBC.

Paisley grew up in Glen Village near Falkirk. At 15 he went to a gay youth group where he eventually met his first boyfriend. At 17, he went to Glasgow University to study physics, during which time he appeared in a community workshop and then later he went to Caledonian University to study Optometry. At 18, Paisley finally came out to his family who were supportive and helped in his efforts campaigning against the Keep the Clause campaign, a British anti-homosexual movement.

He had a long-term relationship with Alex Mercer, (with whom he shared Britain's first on-screen gay threesome scene in Tinsel Town). David also had a part in the film adaptation of David Leavitt's While England Sleeps.

He has been voted 'Britain's sexiest man' by readers of Gay Times magazine.

He appeared in the BBC Scotland soap opera River City as Rory Murdoch until December 2008, a part to which he may return.

David recently starred as Gary in the play The Back Room by Adrian Pagan at the Cock Tavern Theatre in Kilburn, London. David also starred in the successful stage production of Mumah in early 2009. October 2009 has seen him take to the stage again in the UK Tour of Over The Rainbow - The Eva Cassidy story, in which he plays the part of 'Danny Cassidy'.

In 2010 David made his directorial debut with the play The Lasses, O at the Edinburgh Festival.

2005 – Austria: Transgender Europe (TGEU) is founded in Vienna during the first European Transgender Council. This NGO works "to support or work for the rights of transgender/transsexual/gender variant people." It also runs the Trans Murder Monitoring project, which records and reports the many people who are killed each year as a result of transphobia.

2009 – The Justice Department undid a small part of the damage that top officials caused in a scandal of politicized hiring and firing during the Bush administration. The department rehired an attorney who was improperly removed from her job because she was rumored to be a Lesbian.

NPR first broke the story of Leslie Hagen's dismissal in the previous April, and the Justice Department's inspector general later corroborated the report. Now, Hagen has returned to her post at the department's Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys.

In 2006, Hagen was the liaison between the main Justice Department and the U.S. Attorneys' committee on Native American affairs. The chairman of that committee, Tom Heffelfinger, described Hagen to NPR last year as "the best qualified person in the nation to fill that job." Hagen's performance evaluations had the highest possible ratings—"outstanding" in each of five categories. The job came up for renewal every year. After the first year, Hagen was surprised to hear that she would have to move on.

NPR's Ari Shapiro notes that "it is not a perfectly happy ending for Hagen" because "nobody official from the department ever apologized to her for what happened" and she still owes thousands of dollars in attorney fees that the Bush Justice Department refused to pay.