#drawings from saint petersburg | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

anyaeras · 1 year

Text

Beg & Call || N.Romanoff

Natasha Romanoff x AFAB reader

Summary- y/n and Natasha are togeter in Russia on a mission yet, Natasha take interest in making her yours.

Warning- Smut‼️ dom!natasha x Sub!reader strap-on , vibrator, fingers, gaging, a bit of boundge (very little), pet names, pet names (and the name slut) , ass smacking. Overstimulation

Psa- I am a Russian speaker, so my simplifications might not be the easiest to translate over. I'll do my best to include meaning/definition in the writing.

My Master list My server

--------

Agent y/n, reporting in Saint Petersburg. Day 81 of mission BW.

Y/n had been working beside the amazing black widow for a few months now, yet that strong red head was like an addiction for y/n drawing them in like a fly caught in a spiderweb.

Tonight wasn't going to be the end of this mission but it would be a breakthrough, tonight Natasha and y/n were to attend a party like event which would not only have hydra members attending, but one of the main leaders of the organization would be attending giving us the opportunity to get the Intel they needed to arrest or take down the agency.

Walking out of the bathroom from the safe house y/n and Natasha was staying at, you watched as Natasha was now dressed in a beautiful black cocktail dress, her beautiful, red hair was hidden behind a wig to keep her from being recognized in what she could call her "hometown"

You were dressed nice as well, in a beautiful cocktail dress following the dressing norms of the event and Russian stereotypes. You watched as Natasha pulled a beautiful fur jacket onto herself before handing you some accessories, Natasha kept you on your toes her sly attitude yet charming personality always kept you feeling butterflies inside your chest.

"You coming darling" Natasha asked y/n heading for the door already causing you to play catch-up, stumbling over yourself to keep up with the Russian spy.

On your way to the event Natasha gave you quick remarks as reminders, to help you perfect your Russian, yet you also knew other than basic Smalltalk you had no intentions of speaking anybody.

Upon arrival to the event you win, along with the mission planned as told, placing the earpiece into your ear and walking and confidently memorizing your backstory. On the other hand, to the famous black widow this was child's play, so she decided to spice up the mission for herself, spending the night teasing you, Natasha was more than aware of the little crush you had on her, and honestly she was ready to use a to her advantage, and let's be honest y/n would look so pretty under her.

After mingling for some time, the man that you were here to gain information on just so happened to approach you.

"привет, ты здесь впервые? как тебя зовут?" (hello, are you new around here? What's your name?) he asked quickly with a sly smirk on his face, you looked him in the eye holding yourself with confidence before responding.

"я тут с другом я Саша" (Im here with a friend, I'm Sasha) y/n played off the questions with a hold of their identity quickly, using a common enough name to blend in. The conversation was going fine, until you felt a hand riding down on your lower back, turning around only to be meant with the sharp features of Natasha Romanoff, she was moving her hand down, lower while pushing herself in the conversation covering up for your Russian, you were a very well trained spy, and could keep a straight face, but the feelings inside you were bubbling.

Going along with your job, you originally thought Natasha was just playing the part of your "friend" but over time tonight she's been all over you, yet of course only you would notice, the black widow never blew her cover. Heading away from the crowd you found a door which specifically read "Не входить" (do not enter) hoping for some Intel you pulled a pin from your nicely done hair, and use the lock pick tool that was built into your bracelet to break into the room being met with an entire lab, a huge score for this mission you were quick to put flash drives where are you could to extract what you can in the time you have.

Rushing out of the room with the Intel you know held, you went to find Natasha to tell her it was safe to leave, making your way to the exit noticing the fake taxi waiting for you guys knowing it was safe to speak in the vehicle, as the driver was a shield agent.

Setting in the backseat you tried to fill Natasha in whom was sitting beside you but her hand slowly riding up on your thigh was mildly distracting, yet you want more so badly. Hoping to get back to the safe house quickly so you could make space between yourselves in hopes to pull yourself together, and be professional.

When arriving to the safe house as the two of you entered the safe house, Natasha pushed y/n's body up against the door as it shut going straight for the kiss, Natasha held that kiss till you both couldn't breathe, before pulling you to the bedroom.

"You were so good today? Being such a good spy hmm?" Natasha teased you with the praise, as she stripped herself from her dress revealing a strap she had hidden under tight dress, the size was shocking, y/n wondered how she could even hide that.You realized right then and there you were hers to fuck, hers to make dumb, you were at Natasha's beg and call.

"Look at you baby already so dumb for my cock?" Natasha comment made you moan softly causing her to chuckle

Natasha walked closer to you, grabbing your jaw with her long fingers holding you in a tight hold "You are okay with this right y/n"

Your rapidly nodded in response "yes, yes please" you didn't realize you were horny enough to beg, but you needed her.

"Strip." That was all y/n needed to strip away of all clothing.

"Aww so pretty for my детка." (Baby) Natasha was now hovering over you, pinning you to the bed, before reaching around to get a soft silky rope to tie your hands above you head, now limiting your senses as Natasha started to kiss you, no need to fight for dominance she already was in control, holding the deep kiss for some time before moving down your body, going for your neck before your chest. Drawing nice moans form your mouth was like music to the famous black widows ears.

She reached down running her single pointer finger threw your folds collecting your arousal

"Princessa you are dripping" Natasha teased before shoving her fingers into your mouth, pushing back cause you to gag a bit giving herself satisfaction in your gags

"You're so pretty for me, you want me to fuck you baby. Beg" Natasha pulled her fingers from your mouth moving the now wet fingers to your clit rubbing soft and slowly prompting you to beg her.

"Shit- Natalia please fuck me, please OH FU-" before y/n could finish as Natasha heard her given name she pushed her cock in quickly now feeling the need to fuck the person lying below her. Starting off at a quick pace not giving y/n much time to adjust, yet the pain would be pleaser full soon

"God I could fuck you for hours, days honey." Natasha grunted out pulling high pitch moans from your throat. She felt your tights try and close around her, as she was getting ready to rip your first orgasm from your body. With a scream you could hold it as you let go around her cock.

Natasha didn't give you much time to recover as she quickly flipped y/n over pushing you ass up in the air getting ready to take y/n from the back

"Mmmm what a good slut you are for me y/n I think we could go again, you can do that for me right darling" Natasha spoke down to you as her cock still was slightly inside your pussy, your hand still restricted above your head, and your face now being pushed into the bed Natasha have you a signal if it got to much, so she could stop.

She felt she gave you enough time to calm down she reached over to grab a vibrator turning it on to hold it onto your clit whole re-entering your pussy again bottoming out real fast. Pounding your cum right back inside you as she pressed the vibrator harder on y/n's clit

Y/n's legs started to shake leading Natasha to slap y/n's ass harshly making them Yelp.

"Come on baby, cum for me" Natasha encourage as y/n was a moaning mess reaching their peak and Natasha was pushing them over as she railed y/n.

Y/n came harshly shaking under Natasha, but the black widow wasn't done, she pulled the vibrator away letting it fall but not once she she stop railing y/n's cunt.

"T-to much nat..." y/n whined

"Come on baby one more" Natasha pushed getting herself off as she worked y/n into overstimulation determined to pull one more orgasm from them. Y/n was trembling as nat slapped her ass a few more times as y/n came so hard with a scream around Natasha's cock she collapsed into the bed, Natasha held her close yet she didn't remove the cock from their pussy. Holding y/n in their arms letting y/n whine but also relax.

"Such a good little slut for me, next time I won't be so easy on you" Natasha whispered into y/n's ear

WOW I WROTE THAT, DAMN anyway enjoy you kinky bitches

932 notes · View notes

sgiandubh · 5 months

Text

Far away and long ago

One thing leading to another, I tried to watch A Princess for Christmas yesterday, prompted by my Peleș/Pelișor Anon answer and I have to say I am grinning as I write this post: it is, after all, a Hallmark movie, isn't it?

Maybe if I were drunk and/or in good company, it would have been easier. I was neither, so it was unwatchable. Even with the bits of personal nostalgia, knowing very well all the sets they used: from the two castles in Sinaia, to the Știrbei (princely) House private chapel in Buftea, to the Bragadiru Palace in Bucharest they obviously used for that ball. I finished skimming on fast forward for S and howled at this bit of Imdb trivia, I believe with all my heart to be wishful thinking:

Not only I do not believe ever seeing/hearing such a thing in all the interviews I have read/watched (of which they are a shameless handful), but it would be completely out of character for 'No Ego' 2014 S to declare such a preposterous thing (correct me if I am wrong, for I truly believe I am not).

Anyways. When it looks low budget, it is a low budget (with Eastern European logistics) D-series thing, despite all their efforts. Plot is downright stupid and the painful cheesiness permeating the slightest line uttered makes it unredeemable. Nuh-oh: not even to kill time, not even on a flight from Almaty to Saint Petersburg. No way.

Low budget is particularly apparent when it comes to costumes. This one, for example...

Her dress is ok-ish (heavily insisting on the -ish, here). But his uniform is an operetta reinterpretation of the Romanian Army's dorobanț (infantry) State Protocol uniform. An exact copy of the 1877 Independence War officer outfit (itself a Second Empire French uniform copycat, but that's just the historian in me nitpicking, of course):

The above is a very recent pic (2023 Remembrance Day festivities at a British War Cemetery near Bucharest). I know that place well, spent all my childhood 1 mile away, my grandparents owned a house in that village. It is a small, forlorn plot of infinite melancholy and a striking sight, with its carefully trimmed grass, among what used to be cornfields, circa 1984. 'This is British soil', my grandfather once told me and that made it both absurd and enticing: an alien enclave of sorts, a city of the dead. He was correct, by the way, and that gave our Remembrance Day expeditions a sort of strange, furtive charm. We always brought flowers and he, a former officer and POW, would always salute, bareheaded under heavy rain. But, I digress.

Both that movie and my recollections were far away and long ago. Mercifully so for S, at least. The difference in demeanor, profile and presence is undeniable, no matter what the Disgruntled Tumblrettes would tell you: some pushed the cheapness up to the gratuitous folly of 'he was a much better actor then'. Well, he wasn't: no chemistry with a female co-star who would clearly be more eager to have a dental surgery intervention. And no presence every time a very tired Roger Moore is around, which makes for roughly three-quarters of his part. But unlike many striving wannabes, he managed to pull out of the Prince Ashton (🙄) typecast and give us a very credible JAMMF, when starts aligned and with a surreal bit of luck.

If he could manage to pull out of the JAMMF typecast, I see great things. Until then, I will stand by my words: this is a guy with tremendous, but completely overlooked/untapped potential, who has been repeatedly miscast. And this is why what would immediately happen after OL is of critical importance. Brace yourselves.

On another, completely unrelated note: should I wait for that US copycat, disingenuous McTavish booze circus tour to end, in order to draw a line and my thoughts on his brand? I think I should, but always happy to oblige to public demand :)

66 notes · View notes

des-fangirl · 2 months

Text

!!! MOIST VON LIPWIG SKETCH DUMP BCS IM REREADING GOING POSTAL !!!

pretty guy. love him (still wasn't sure how i wanted his hair to look like here)

pathetic kitten/j (ONLY IN THE LAST MOMENTS OF DRAWING THIS LINE I WAS LIKE "wait he was hanged this doesn't look right-" but nahh i still like it!! whatever!!)

don't remember moist & otto interactions very well + still haven't gotten to that moment rn but i. them. they're both from Uberwald they'll have something to talk about im sure of it!!!

hehe Moist hehe stupid name IM SORRY also the second one is literally "Moist von Saint-Petersburg" bcs i live here

im not sure my handwriting here is readable so

V: I know ur bf better than you. there's gonna be a hole in the ground when we get here. lol

A: nah he can't be THAT obvious...

A: MOIST VON FUCKING LIPWIG you're gonna explain EVERYTHING to me RIGHT NOW or im not gonna talk to you ever again

these two are special i love the first pic dearly it's my favourite out of all of emmm

#i feel a little anxious about sharing this((( awuhhg what if my jokes are too much like i dont want to mischaracterise? is that the word #nahh still posting #desfan-art #discworld #moist von lipwig #going postal #adora belle dearheart

23 notes · View notes

homomenhommes · 1 month

Text

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 … March 21

1804 – The Code Napoléon is introduced in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Monaco, maintaining the "hands-off" attitude of the government toward private, consensual sexual relations.

1901 – Gavin Arthur (d.1972) an astrologer and occultist, was born Chester Alan Arthur III, the grandson and namesake of the 21st President of the United States. He grew up in wealth, but did not pursue a career in the professions, choosing instead to join the Merchant Marines. He later panned for gold and sold newspapers.

In the 1930s he travelled widely and came to know many of the counterculture elite of his day. Among his acquaintances were pioneer sexologists Edward Carpenter, Havelock Ellis and Alfred Kinsey. He was unashamedly gay and a forerunner of gay activism. He helped Kinsey with his groundbreaking research into male sexuality.

In the 1950s he settled in San Francisco and devoted his time to astrology. He began to move in the alternative spirituality and sexuality community that first became known for its identification with beat Zen, and he became well-known as an astrological counsellor. He began to develop a perspective on astrology that, contrary to the mainstream of astrological writing, took account of homosexual and bisexual gender preferences. His ruminations culminated in 1966 with his major writing, The Circle of Sex.

Drawing on his reading of gay writers, Arthur concluded that sexuality needs to be separated from the single need to procreate.

1903 – Vadim Kozin (d.1994) was a Russian tenor, and an openly homosexual man until 1934 when male homosexuality became a crime in USSR.

Vadim Alekseyevich Kozin was born the son of a merchant in Saint Petersburg. His mother was a gypsy and often sang in the local gypsy choir. Their house was frequently full of musicians, exposing Vadim to tradition from an early age.

He began to sing professionally in the 1920s, and gained success almost immediately. In the 1930s he moved to Moscow and began playing with the accompanist David Ashkenazi.

During World War II he served in the entertainment brigade and sang for Soviet troops.

In 1944, shortly before the birthday of Josef Stalin, the police chief Lavrenty Beria called him up and asked why his songs didn't involve Stalin. Kozin famously replied that songs about Stalin were not suited for tenor voices. In late 1944, Kozin was sentenced to five years in jail as part of the repression campaign against prominent Soviet performers and was sent to the Magadan labour camps because of his alleged homosexuality.

He was initially released in 1950 and was able to return to his singing career. Though released once again several years later, he was never officially rehabilitated and remained in exile in Magadan until his death. Speaking to journalists in 1982, he explained how he had been forced to tour the Kolyma camps: "The Politburo formed brigades which would, under surveillance, go on tours of the concentration camps and perform for the prisoners and the guards, including those of the highest rank."

In 1993, being interviewed by Theo Uittenbogaard in the TV documentary Gold – Lost in Siberia, he recalled how he was released from exile temporarily and flown into Yalta for a few hours, because Winston Churchill, unaware of Kozin's forced exile, had asked Stalin for the famous singer Vadim Kozin to perform, during a break in the Yalta Conference, held February 4–11, 1945.

His prison sentence deeply traumatized Kozin, leading to the cessation of his singing career. He even began burning his own records, to the point where his friends were forced to hide their own copies from him in order to preserve them. The Soviet government never officially rehabilitated him and his 90th birthday was celebrated in private among friends in Magadan. He died at the age of 91 in 1994.

1961 – Greg Herren is an American writer and editor, who publishes work in a variety of genres, including mystery novels, young adult literature and erotica. He publishes work both as Greg Herren and under the pseudonym Todd Gregory.

New Orleans-based writer and journalist, Greg Herren has written extensively about the homosexual lifestyle, both in fiction and nonfiction. His work has appeared in a variety of periodicals and anthologies, and his fiction includes an array of horror stories and mysteries, all featuring homosexual characters.

His novel Murder in the Rue Chartres won a Lambda Literary Award in the Gay Mystery category at the 2008 Lambda Literary Awards, and his anthology Love, Bourbon Street: Reflections of New Orleans, co-edited with Paul J. Willis, won in the anthologies category at the 2007 Lambda Literary Awards.

He was also nominated in the mystery category in 2003 for Murder in the Rue Dauphine, in 2004 for Bourbon Street Blues, in 2005 for Jackson Square Jazz, in 2007 for Mardi Gras Mambo, in 2010 for Murder in the Garden District and in 2011 for Vieux Carré Voodoo, in the anthologies category in 2005 for Shadows of the Night: Queer Tales of the Uncanny and Unusual and in the science fiction, fantasy and horror category in 2013 for the anthology Night Shadows: Queer Horror, co-edited with J.M. Redmann. As Todd Gregory, he was also nominated in the Gay Erotica category in 2010 for the anthology Rough Trade: Dangerous Gay Erotica and in 2013 for the anthology Raising Hell: Demonic Gay Erotica.

Openly gay, Herren lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he also works as an HIV/AIDS counselor and educator. He was also a co-founder of the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival.

While not erotic, Herren's mystery novels feature homosexual characters and cater to that audience. His choices have proven controversial on occasion. In 2005, he was invited to speak to the Gay-Straight Alliance at Manchester High School in Chesterfield County, Virginia. However, the superintendent and the school board later canceled his appearance under pressure from the Virginia Family Policy Network, which had organized an e-mail campaign claiming that Herren wrote gay pornography and would not be an appropriate speaker. Herren commented that only a small portion of his writing has erotic overtones, and that, regardless, he hadn't planned to discuss his sexual orientation during his presentation. He said: "I was planning on talking about being a professional writer.… I was not planning on talking about sex." and was defended by the American Civil Liberties Union.

1962 – South African activist Zackie Achmat has been a pivotal figure in his country's response to AIDS. His refusal, from 1999 to 2003, to avail himself of anti-retroviral drugs until they became affordable for the poor brought him recognition from health and human rights advocates worldwide.

In a 1995 autobiographical essay, provocatively entitled "My Childhood as an Adult Molester," he describes the conditions of life for South Africa's "coloureds" during the apartheid era, when he suffered discrimination and poverty. Although of Malaysian extraction, he identified with the country's black population, who were subject to even worse treatment.

The essay also offers a rare portrait of gay male life in the colored community. By age ten, Achmat was aware of his homosexuality. An eager reader, he received a special pass to use a town library ordinarily reserved for whites. However, its restrooms were still off limits. While seeking available facilities, he discovered restroom sex with adult men and took up the life of a "moffie," South African slang for a gay man.

Achmat's political activism began with the 1976 student uprisings against apartheid. He organized youth resistance groups for the African National Congress (ANC) while it was still banned, and he was jailed several times.

In the 1990s apartheid was repealed. The ANC came to power under the charismatic leadership of Nelson Mandela in 1994. Achmat was one of the founders of the National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality in 1994, which advocated for gay rights in the new constitution. In 1996 South Africa became the first nation to include protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in its Bill of Rights. In 1998 all remaining local sodomy laws were declared unconstitutional.

Achmat co-founded the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) in 1998 to address the AIDS epidemic. South Africa then had the highest number of AIDS cases in the world, a figure that would eventually grow to over 5 million. To put a human face on the crisis, Achmat publicly announced his own HIV-positive status and vowed not to take anti-retroviral drugs until they were available to all South Africans. As he later told his group, "The majority of people with HIV—they don't have a face, they don't have a political understanding. They're desperate, they're poor, they're alone . . . I can't look them in the eye when I take medicines and I know they're going to die."

Enduring frequent bouts of illness, Achmat spearheaded TAC's civil disobedience campaign to force the government to promote the use of ARVs. TAC and other groups sued the government to provide Nevirapine to curb mother-to-newborn transmission of HIV. TAC won the support of former president Mandela, who met with Achmat and declared him a national hero.

In August 2003, anticipating a victory, Achmat resumed treatment in time to reverse his declining health. In November, South Africa's Ministry of Health finally agreed to a government-funded program to provide ARVs on a wide scale. Although there have been other obstacles to effective treatment for HIV infection in South Africa, TAC has made steady progress

On 5 January 2008, Achmat married his same-sex partner and fellow activist Dalli Weyers at a ceremony in the Cape Town suburb of Lakeside. The ceremony was attended by then Mayor Helen Zille and presided over by Supreme Court of Appeal judge Edwin Cameron. The couple divorced amicably in June 2011

1967 – Philippe Honoré is a French violinist who has been a regular recitalist in France and the United Kingdom. He was appointed Violin Professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London September 2012. He has performed widely in broadcast recitals on French radio and television.

Philippe Honoré divides his busy schedule between solo work, chamber music, as well as leading orchestras. He was a principal player with the Philharmonia Orchestra (from 2005 to 2011). After having received top honours from the Paris Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music in London, he was made Lauréat of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation of France in 1992. He was awarded an Honorary Associateship by the Royal Academy of Music in 2001.

Honoré is a former member of the Vellinger Quartet and a founder member of the Mobius ensemble. As such, he has appeared in some of the most prestigious venues abroad (such as Amsterdam's Concertgebouw) and in the UK (such as the Wigmore Hall and the South Bank in London). He has appeared as a soloist performing Beethoven, Mozart, Bach and Vivaldi concerti, as well as Ravel's Tzigane.

Philippe regularly appears as guest leader with some of the UK's best orchestras. He has made numerous solo and chamber music recordings. His solo violin performances on the Decca album An Equal Music are regularly featured on both Classic FM and Radio 3. The novel of that name by the author Vikram Seth was inspired by and dedicated to him. Vikram Seth and he were at one time lovers in a ten-year relationship.

Philippe's collaboration with the composer Alec Roth over a recent four-year project earned him great critical acclaim. The performances took place at the Salisbury, Chelsea, and The Lichfield Festival. BBC Radio 3 recorded and broadcast these annual concerts, in which, in addition to the world premières of Roth's work, Philippe also played solo Bach and Ysaÿe sonatas. The Times described his account of Roth's solo work in 2007 as “magically played”. A studio recording of Alec Roth's Ponticelli for solo violin, played by Philippe, was released by Signum records in November 2011.

1981 – Brandon Scott Sessoms, best known as B. Scott, born in Franklin, Virginia, is an American television personality, radio show host and internet celebrity who is known for his YouTube videoblogs and website LoveBScott.com. He is also a contributing editor to The Glam Network, and an Ebony Magazine advice columnist.

Scott, who is a gender non-conforming androsexual, has become a popular internet personality through his video blogging and his website, LoveBScott.com. Scott's internet presence has contributed to his ability to interview celebrities such as Mariah Carey, Ne-Yo, Chaka Khan, Aubrey O'Day and Ashanti. Following his Internet-based success, he has appeared in mainstream media, making appearances on The Tyra Banks Show, and shows on Oxygen and BET.

Scott was born to parents of African-American, Irish, Jewish and Meherrin ancestry. As a teenager Scott was selected to attend the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM), a two-year public residential high school.

After graduating from NCSSM in 1999, he attended University of North Carolina and came out as gay and transgender in his sophomore year. He said in a video blog that he had feelings and was questioning previously but when he was a sophomore pre-med, he got his first romantic kiss from a man and realized he was attracted to men, and that he was using the intense pre-med education to distract himself from his sexuality. He stopped efforts to become a physician from the realization that it was a self-invented distraction. Scott graduated in 2002 with a B.A. in Psychology

Scott moved to Washington, DC where he briefly practiced as a licensed realtor in the Capitol Hill area. In June 2005, Scott moved to Los Angeles, California where he continued his work in real estate and as an interior designer. It was during this time that he began his interest in the entertainment industry, while briefly working in print ads as a fashion model.

On January 1, 2007, Scott launched LoveBScott.com which primarily focuses on pop culture: celebrity news, fashion, music, nightlife, and miscellaneous entertainment. The name lovebscott.com was selected in an effort to give his website a readily-identifiable personality with the mission of conveying a positive outlook.

In May 2007, B. Scott started incorporating YouTube videos into his website to personally connect with readers. The videos include personal observations, celebrity news, musical performances, political commentary, interviews and messages of encouragement to the audience. The videos are produced out of his Los Angeles residence. His YouTube channel has over 90,000 subscribers, and has won numerous awards for viewership and subscriptions

1987 – Finland: Pekka Haavisto the first openly gay member of Finnish parliament, takes office. He is a Finnish politician and minister representing the Green League. He returned to the Finnish Parliament in the Finnish parliamentary election of March 2007 after an absence of 12 years and was re-elected again in 2011. In October 2013 he was appointed as the Minister for International Development after Heidi Hautala resigned from the job. He has also been a member of the Helsinki City Council.

2018 – San Francisco renames Terminal 1 at the San Francisco International Airport after slain LGBT supervisor Harvey Milk and installs artwork memorializing the civil rights icon. The name change was first introduced in 2013 by then-Supervisor David Campos who had initially hoped to name the entire airport after Milk but the proposal met with opposition. Instead, an airport naming committee was established, which recently recommended naming SFO’s Terminal 1 after Milk.

11 notes · View notes

hippodamoi · 2 months

Text

A friend said she read Crime & Punishment but wasn't impressed by it. All she recalled was an entitled man killing an old woman and pity party for the murderer's poor tortured soul. This was my response to her, I thought others might enjoy it too.

"It is a staunch criticism, not a pity party. There was this idea of a cosmopolitan man, a Nietzschean übermensch was someone capable of transcending social and moral codes. Prime example being Napoleon, a man without parallel. Them being 'great' would make them invincible to guilt because all actions they took would be something considered beneficial to society - Raskolnikov thought he was one of these men, and by devolving throughout the narrative he realizes he is not one of these "great" men, he is just like any other citizen and there is no excuse for thinking morals and laws don't apply to you. It's a direct message to the students and academic men of the time. The old woman is a horrible loanshark and abuses the woman she lives with, her niece, and he tries to convince himself that killing her would be excusable since he considers her a cancer on society. But he also ends up killing the niece to cover up his crime as she returns and witnesses it - removing even that sliver of argument or defense for his actions. He hoped to 'serve humanity' by eradicating the mean-spirited moneylender, but also had the utilitarian idea that he would steal her money and use said money to further his education, so that he could become a great man and have positive influence and help more people. The whole murder has the spirit of a psychological experiment which fits the theme and craft of the novel. Raskolnikov has delusions of godhood and this is after Dostovyevsky has been in a gulag for 10+ years, so he knows that the young think themselves immortal and anointed, a common misconception of the youth in western education at the time and even to this day,

After killing her he realizes just how much he is not beyond good and evil. Something he previously thought was petty, something for plebians.

It has three dimensions, his biography, his christian faith (there's several references to the bible and lazarus who he symbolizes) and criticism/exploration of philosophical ideas. Its a direct response to utopian socialism and rational nihilism. He even foresaw many of the horrors of the russian revolution.

The epilogue is not just redemption, but sanctification. Raskolnikov has become a saint. Russian religion at the time was very orthodox and process-oriented, so we follow the steps of his redemption in the narrative. He confessed his sin out of weakness instead of strength, his transformation from the snivelling arrogant youth to a saint is not verbal, its a lived out experience and process. even the title in russian refers to the carrying of a cross, the very first scene is him crossing a bridge from the dirty streets of Skt. Petersburg to fresh clean air of the pastoral. Both foreshadowing and commentary on the squalor most of the citizens live in. as well as the moral degradation of the cosmopolitan cities. Skt. Petersburg was usually described as extravagant and beautiful in literature, while he describes it as smelly, dirty and sort of a wasteland - a hell, you might say.

There's also this dominating motif of christian authenticity that is typical of russian lit. A christian heart will react in a christian way - meaning it will recognize good and evil in a way that a rationally educated mind does not. (especially in reference to that horrible scene with the horse)

Raskolnikov is described as a misanthrope, and alienated from both religion and other people, leading him to commit same sin as Cain, not killing his brother per se, but a fellow human being. that very act transforms him. something in him dies with the moneylender - his common humanity.

out of that death comes a different life, drawing parallel to Lazarus as I mentioned before. It's like a whole hermeneutic event, his return to common humanity starts with Sonia telling him the very story of Lazarus. anyway, enough of me writing novels about novels! It's so convoluted and deep and I genuinely love it. Its a prime example of literature being an educating, moralizing element capable of engendering empathy and inspiring positive social progress."

#the chorus speaks #crime and punishment #raskolnikov #literature

15 notes · View notes

nekomoder · 6 months

Text

Moscow’s and Saint Petersburg’s metro maps from memory (i got the second one very wrong)

Sengoku Turb from October 2018 and my favorite drawing from December 2015 featuring Reisen i did some redraws later, i even posted one here in January or February 2020, i should do one, again

I’m scared to talk about my life in public blogs/spaces and i know i should fear that and not overshare — but life’s okay-ish recently, i am hoping to get a job as a QA engineer, i’m not ready yet, but i will soon. Autumn affects me in a bad way especially looking at other places’ weather reports and seeing how warm it is while i am freezing. I am moving soon and lowering my meds dose (i hope to quit them completely but i won’t do it without talking to my doktor)

I hope to make new friends next year. It already feels like it’s 2024

#text #blog #old art #my art

21 notes · View notes

3dollarbillyalls · 1 year

Text

Part two of my experience, for @myfirstlobotomy

In 2015 Limp Bizkit had a huge tour in Russia and I knew I had to be there no matter what. I bought tix to Moscow and Saint-Petersburg shows and soon after they announced the second show in Moscow 🙄 I KNEW I HAD TO BE THERE TOO. So my plan was kinda simple: go to the venue as early as possible and try to ask someone from the crew for a guest-pass. Yes, that’s possible and yes I got it 😏

Anyway, we go back to the meeting… The first one I met was John after he went out of the club to smoke. I asked him to draw something in my memory notebook as I did with Lethal but John first refused and then made a doodle 😂

Also I have a drawing from Fred’s manager Gabe who was kind enough to give me the guest-pass.

Then Fred arrived but I literally forgot how to speak and he left. Then there was Wes, who chuckled when I shouted to him that I had a present (😭). Dw, me and my friend asked Fred’s wife to pass presents to the band. Wes left too. Here I am with John 🥺❤️

After the show Gabe also was giving out picks and drumsticks. He gave me a pick and I asked for a drumstick too (yeah I know, I know…) He responded “I already gave you a pick!”. I said it was for a friend which was then true. He said he’ll give it to me the next time lmao

Also Fred went out after the show and I managed to get a sign, but no photo cuz my phone was dead.

The second show was the next day, I had to wander around the streets for a night because I had nowhere to go (the last bus to the place I stayed was long time gone 🥲). Gabe gave me and a couple of my friends guest-passed, I gave him a bottle of Karelian Balm (alcohol drink made with berries). I remember he opened his backpack looking like I was handing him a pack of drugs 😂😭

Long story short, the second show in Moscow was over too. I managed to catch Kadaver’s (Wes’ guitar tech) kimono they used on the Halloween show. I still have it lol

The Saint-Petersburg show was a month later… *time passes*

Here we go. I had a friend there who already met the band a couple of times and knew people who could help me to do it.

We went to the Hotel, waited there… First time the guys left and I had no chance to meet them and I was already sad.

I wanna make a disclaimer: stalking is bad and I really hate bothering people but I couldn’t help it…

When Wes went out for a walk me and a couple of girls (maybe there were guys too, I don’t remember) followed him. 😭😭😭

He stopped by a lady riding a horse which was a popular tourist attraction in Saint-P. While he petted the horse, we caught him up. I was in the first row right behind him and went completely numb… The man of my dreams was real and standing right here… Dude… My friend was more adjusted to talking to famous people and simply said “excuse me”. Wes turned back. I still remember his eyes when he saw a bunch of fans.

Man was flabbergasted…

Anyway he was kind enough to give signs and take some pics with us. I also asked him to draw something which he did (sorry for the background lmao)

Also I gave him one of his paintings to sign and he seemed happy with it and told something about the style or something… I was too stunned to comprehend English (or anything I guess), so i didn’t understand him neither the first time nor the second one (I asked him to repeat, lmao).

My friend took a pic. Which, thanks to my stupid phone, looked like this:

(This one is edited by my other friend who was like “Wth did you do with your camera dude”)

I tried to get a sign for my friend who got no money to go… “Her bad” Was replied 😭

Then he said bye-bye, gotta go!

We also met his tech and some guys from the crew he was walking with and went back to the hotel to try and get to Fred (didn’t succeed tho).

One “highlight” of that night was the horse lady. I don’t remember why we stopped near her… Maybe it was a coincidence or something but at one moment I felt something heavy on my foot. I looked down and saw a long leg… That fucking horse stepped on my foot 😭😭😭

I yelled “HORSE IS ON MY FOOT” and the lady said angrily “you shouldn’t have touched it then”. I fucking didn’t… The other girl tried to pet the horse and I suffered. What a life, right?

The next day was a show. As always I came to the venue very early. When I saw a bus going to the back door, I ran there. Catch! Fred, Wes and John! I briefly asked Wes for a new photo since the first one was you saw what. He murmured “sure”.

I don’t know what’s with my face, I’m sorry 😂 still better pic than the first.

Fred was taking pics too, I remember that security guy was telling me to get off and I replied to him in English asking for one photo.

Fred heard me.

The same problem with my face but whatever you know 😂

Aso I accidentally photobombed someone’s picture with the band

I look very fashion model, don’t I?

The show was hella great, I remember when I was taking a pic Fred pointed to me… I’ll post this pic separately since I can’t add more here.

Also Gabe finally gave me a drumstick which is still with me since me and the dude I was going to give it to are not friends anymore:)

I also briefly met Sam in 2020, I posted a pic here.

I LOVE THESE MEN TO DEATH ❤️

#limp bizkit #wes borland #fred durst #john otto #sam rivers #fangirl #story

37 notes · View notes

orthodoxydaily · 9 months

Text

Saints&Reading: Saturday, August 5, 2023

august 5_july 23

THE ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD "JOY OF ALL SORROWING" ("WITH COINS")

The Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” (With Coins) was glorified in the year 1888 in St. Petersburg, when during the time of a terrible thunderstorm lightning struck in a chapel. All was burned or singed, except for this icon of the Queen of Heaven. It was knocked to the floor, and the poor box broke open at the same time. Somehow, twelve small coins (half-kopeck pieces), became attached to the icon. A church was built in 1898 on the site of the chapel.

ST JOHN CASSIAN-THE-ROMAN (435)

The Monk John Cassian the Roman, as to the place of birth and the language in which he wrote – belonged to the West, but the spiritual native land of the saint was always the Orthodox East. John accepted monasticism at a Bethlehem monastery situated at a place not far from where the Saviour was born. After a two-year stay at the monastery, in the year 390 the monk with his spiritual brother Germanus journeyed over the course of seven years through the Thebaid and Skete wilderness monasteries, drawing upon the spiritual experience of innumerable ascetics. Having returned in 397 for a brief while to Bethlehem, the spiritual brothers were ascetics for three years in complete solitude, but then they set out to Constantinople, where they attended to Sainted John Chrysostom. Cassian was ordained to the dignity of presbyter in his own native land. At Massilia (Marseilles) in Gallia (Gaul, now France) he first established there two coenobitic (life-in-common) monasteries, a men’s and a women’s, on the order of monastic rules of Eastern monasticism. At the request of Bishop Castor of Aptia Julia (in Gallia Narbonensis), the Monk Cassian in the years 417-419 wrote 12 books entitled “De Institutis Coenobiorum” (“On the Directives of Coenobitic Life”) from the Palestinian and Egyptian monks and including 10 conversations with the desert fathers, to provide his fellow countrymen examples of life in common (cenobitic) monasteries and acquaint them with the spirit of the asceticism of the Orthodox East. In the first book of “De Institutis Coenobiorum” the talk concerns the external appearance of the monastic; in the second – pertaining to the order of the night psalms and prayers; in the third – concerns the order of the daytime prayers and psalms; in the fourth – concerning the declaration of renunciation from the world; in the eight remaining books – concerning eight chief sins. In the conversations of the fathers, Saint Cassian as a guide within asceticism, speaks about the purpose of life, spiritual discernment, the degrees of renunciation from the world, the passions of the flesh and spirit, the eight sins, the hardship of the righteous, and about prayer. In the years following, the St. Cassian described another fourteen (or else twenty-four) “Conversations of the Fathers” (the “Collationes Patrum”): about the perfection of love, purity, the help of God, the comprehending of Scripture, the gifts of God, about friendship, about the use of language, about the four levels of monasticism, about solitary hermetic life and coenobitic life-in-common, about repentance, about fasting, about nightly meditations, about spiritual mortification – this last given the explanatory title “I want not to, yet this I do”. In the year 431, Saint John Cassian wrote his final work, “Against Nestorius” (“De incarnation em Domini contra Nestorium” – literally “On the Incarnation of the Lord, against Nestorius”). In it, he gathered against the heresy opinions of censure of many Eastern and Western teachers. In his works, the St. John Cassian grounded himself in the spiritual experience of the ascetics, meriting the admiration of Blessed Augustine (Comm. 15 June), that “grace far least of all is defensible by pompous words and loquacious contention, by dialectic syllogisms and the eloquence of a Cicero”. In the words of St. John of the Ladder, “Great Cassian discerns loftily and quite excellently”. Saint John Cassian, the Roman, reposed peacefully in the year 435.

HEBREWS 9:1-7

1 Then, indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service. An earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; 3 and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, 4 which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; 5 and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things, we cannot now speak in detail. 6 When these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. 7 But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance;

LUKE 10:38-42; 11:27-28

38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her. 27 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!" 28 But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"

#orthodoxy #orthodoxchristianity #easternorthodoxchurch #originofchristianity #spirituality #holyscriptures #bible #gospel #wisdom #icon #sacredart #saints

13 notes · View notes

jinxvsw0rld · 1 year

Text

I started doing Pokémon commissions if anyone’s interested :)

#pokemon sword and shield #pokemon swsh #pokémon scarlet #pokémon violet #Pokémon scarlet violet #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon scarlet fanart #pokemon violet #pokemon scarlet #pokemon oc #Pokémon gym leader #pokemon trainer #bulbasaur #mimikyu #sewaddle #appletun #commission #commission info

34 notes · View notes

romanticoutcast · 1 year

Text

“…It ain’t too late to change your mind, Tom.”

Thankfully, Tom’s back faces Aunt Polly as his eyes nearly succeed in rolling to the back of his head. He continues folding stacks of clothes and packing them neatly inside his trunk. “I ain’t fixing to change my mind,” he replies in a level voice. He aims a brief and yet very deliberate glance at her before adding, “We’re going, Aunt Polly.”

We. Polly can’t imagine Tom and Huckleberry Finn fending well for themselves on the solitary countryside, but that’s what they’ve set out to do. Or perhaps it’s only Tom’s abilities that she doubts. Huck has always done a fine job of making it on his own for years, the poor motherless thing. But Polly’s pity for him does not stretch so far that she refrains from vehemently protesting the whole idea.

Tom said they were leaving together to pursue some kind of business venture. Planting crops and selling livestock; farming or something of the sort. Whatever it is exactly, they had picked out a piece of land far away from Saint Petersburg—or, far enough.

Polly is quiet for a moment, unsure of what she could possibly say to persuade Tom. She says nothing, because she knows nothing will work. Just as she has been persistent in her imploring, he has been just as persistent in denying her. She knows he gets his stubbornness from her, but would never confess to it.

Instead of kicking up dust and fussing anymore about how she knows “what’s good for him and what ain’t,” she releases a wistful sigh and traces her fingertips against the sheets of his childhood bed. She won’t cope well knowing that as she goes to sleep every night, he won’t be just a stretch of a hallway’s walk away anymore. She won’t hear the sound of his window opening and shutting in the dead of the night, and then the groaning of the frame of his mattress as he settles in. Of course, she always knew who he had spent these nightly excursions with. But there was no use scolding him for it any longer. He was getting too old for it, and showed no promising signs of being deterred.

“…Tom?” she finally peeps.

Tom spins on his heel to face her, trying hard not to grimace or glower as he braces himself for whatever she had to say. “Yes, Aunt Polly?”

She clasps her hands together and wears a jaded smile on her lips. “It’s only that…Well, I just reckoned you might have found someone awful nice to…spend your time with. You understand?”

Tom’s face is unreadable.

She knows she is failing already. Still, she rises from the edge of the bed, straightening her posture as she approaches Tom. She looks deeply into his eyes and tries to gauge what he is thinking, though she knows it is entirely beyond her and always has been. She tests the waters by placing a gentle hand against his cheek. When he does not draw away or even bat an eye, she begins to explain: “Huck’s a good man. More good than I gave him his due for when you was just children, I suppose. I only wish you knew how well things would get on for you if you stayed here.”

***

Unbeknownst to her—only because she could simply never imagine; his poker face has failed him now—Tom is beginning to understand. She is reverting. She likes Huck just a little less everyday that he proves to be less of a boyish novelty and more of an actual distraction from Tom leading a meaningful life. Why of all people does Tom latch onto him with such strength and conviction? He knows she wonders this often, and he would be lying to himself if he swore it didn’t rattle him, even a bit.

But then, she could simply never imagine.

#tom sawyer #aunt polly #huck finn #huckleberry finn #sawyerberry #twain tag #fanfic

21 notes · View notes

no-phrogs-in-hats · 1 year

Text

If I Could Turn Back Time

Larissa Weems x Fem!Reader

A/N: This fic is cross-posted on Wattpad and Ao3

Chapter 3

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

First period had started ten minutes before as I rushed into the building. The halls were void of students and staff, and the only sound was the squeaking of my coffee-sodden shoes on the white tiles.

Every head in the classroom shot up from their phone as I burst through the door, setting my bag down and taking out the soaked papers to dry. “I am so sorry, guys!”

“Miss Foster,” one kid said. “Is that coffee on you?”

I paused and stared at them like a deer in headlights. “Um–uhh…yeah.” I began to set up my desk–booting up my computer, filing away papers, trying my best to not cry at the feeling of wet socks–while simultaneously trying my best to form a coherent response. “Little accident at the Weathervane. I ended up spilling all of my latte on me…and another customer.”

I took a deep breath and fixed my shirt, sighing as I tried to gather my thoughts, but something–her–she lingered in the back of my head. Larissa. Not even ten minutes together and her eyes, her smile, her very person was already imprinted in my mind. “Okay–uh…what class is this again? First period? Right, okay. Where’d we leave off yesterday?”

“The intro to the Russian Revolution of 1917,” a girl in the back answered.

“Right!” I moved to the white board and took a marker, drawing a long line with dashes here and there. When the timeline was built, I began to lecture the students, smiling to myself when turned away from them, knowing that they had no clue I had first hand experience with the subject at hand.

“Okay, the Russian Revolution…” I started. “As we learned yesterday, the revolution was initiated in February of 1917. The first revolt was centered around the capital at the time, Petrograd. This would later become Saint Petersburg. Tsar Nicholas II eventually stepped down from the throne after being convinced by the high ranking military officials that in doing so, the mutinies and turmoil would subside. This would allow the new government, led by the Russian Duma, to take over, and this becomes the Russian Provisional Government.”

I looked across the sea of students all looking at the board, some taking notes, and one trying to not fall asleep. “Can anyone tell me what was a major contributing factor to the 1917 revolution?”

A girl in the back shot her hand up quickly. “Oh! The Russian Revolution of 1905.”

“Good!” To know that at least one of my students was paying attention and that I wasn’t talking to the wall always filled me with hope–especially in a town like this. “As we learned last week, the events of Bloody Sunday caused a lot of upheaval. If you turn to page 276 of your textbook you can see a primary source image of propaganda from 1905, and if you turn to page 301 you can also see a comparison of the multiple revolutions Russia had pre-World War One and throughout…”

The soft glow of lamplight encases the living room as the TV plays quietly in the background. I scan over tests, marking each incorrect answer and unfortunately recording more D’s than A’s.

I glance at my phone. It had been an entire day since I spilled coffee on Larissa. I had no idea who she was or what she did for a living, but scenarios crossed my mind as to why she hadn’t reached out yet.

What if she was just being polite?

What if she wants nothing to do with me?

I barely know this woman and I’m already craving her approval and attention.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I don’t even know her last name and I’m already clinging to her.

It had been three days since the incident and now I was convinced Larissa wanted nothing to do with me. I stood in line at the Weathervane, staring off into space. As I stepped up to the counter, I smiled and placed my order before moving off to the side to wait. But once again I was a complete idiot.

“Wow, I really need to start looking where I’m going,” I huffed after running straight into her.

The softest smile from her sent butterflies through my chest. It was incredible, the effect this woman had on me. “Well, at least there was no coffee this time.”

Larissa’s giggle was the sweetest sound to grace my ears.

“Oh, by the way,” she continued. “I just wanted to apologize for not messaging you sooner. I’ve been quite busy recently.”

I smiled back, relieved it was all in my head. “That’s fine! I completely understand. I’m a history teacher at Jericho High School, so I’m well acquainted with ‘busy’.”

Larissa paused for a moment. “Would you want to sit down with me? I have some free time so I didn’t order my coffee as takeaway.”

“I would love that,” I said after taking a second to think. “But, unfortunately, I have to be at work in fifteen minutes.”

I could’ve sworn there was a look of disappointment in Larissa’s eyes. The blue hue grew ever so slightly darker and her smile faltered briefly before widening. “That’s quite alright. Your students come first.”

“Well,” I chuckled. “More like my need to pay the bills comes first. The students can be a pain in the rear, but you do have a point. The students are our future. And to have a better future they need a good education.”

The entire day I couldn’t stop thinking about her. It got so bad to the point where I actually had to give one of the classes a free period. “I need to catch up on grading,” I told them.

What a lie.

I spent the entire time thinking about Larissa. How her hips swayed when she walked. How her perfect red lips would curve into the sweetest smile. And how her eyes could tell you every emotion she ever had.

“Miss Foster?”

A voice brought me from my trance and I looked up at the girl. How long had she been standing there? “Oh god. I’m sorry, Macy. What can I help you with?”

“Well, I just had a question about this section of the assignment you gave us yesterday…”

As she explained her problem it was hard to focus. Out of the corner of my eye I could see my phone screen light up with a text. My heart practically burst at the unknown number and suddenly, for the time ever, I didn’t want to help a student.

But, I did. I answered her questions, and I helped her answer an essay prompt about the early civilization lesson we were going over. As soon as she sat back down I picked up my phone, and sure enough it was Larissa.

‘I was just wondering if you’d be available to go to dinner tomorrow night? A new restaurant opened up in the square, and I’ve been meaning to try it.’

Dinner. She does want to go to dinner.

‘And what about the dry cleaning?’

‘The lady said she couldn’t do anything about it. The fabric was too light.’

Figures.

‘I’m available anytime after 4.’

‘Is 5:30 okay?’

‘Sounds perfect. I’ll see you then.’

I don’t think I had ever been so impatient in my life until then. It was less than a day away and my heart was already fluttering uncontrollably, and it felt like years before the final bell of day had rung, dismissing the students from class.

#larissa weems x reader #larissa weems #wednesday #gwendoline christie

32 notes · View notes

the-world-annealing · 10 months

Text

A lot of discourse around 'russian trolls' frames them as like, committed ideologues. But of course these people are just operating out of some office building in saint petersburg, gray carpet, nondescript artwork on the beige walls, perhaps a water cooler. They're regular nine-to-five corporate workers, not some specific class of people with the Troll Nature. Maybe a bit more cynical, a bit more morally flexible, but surely no worse than mid-level finance employees, primarily in it for the paycheck as all workers are.

If the organization just wanted the same X links promoted it could write up a bot for that: presumably the humans add something, presumably there's something they are supposed to add. But how to make sure they actually do that?

You can't measure how well they're shifting public opinion: even if you could, you can't trace that back to individual agents. So you fall back on more obvious metrics. How many followers are you drawing in? How many people reblogged your posts? Did you get a blog shut down for 'suspicious activity'?

Except by that point, you're not running a propaganda farm anymore, not really. You're paying a hundred misaligned posters, who are supposed to sway elections or whatever but incentivized to do Normal Popular Tumblr User stuff, and they will actively resist the former insofar it prevents them from doing the latter, because it's the latter that is easily measured!

There's not really a conclusion here, just a general meditation on the difficulty of aligning complex intelligence with your own goals.

7 notes · View notes

romanov-ramblings · 2 years

Photo

More of the paintings of the Palisandre Drawing-Room of Her Majesty at the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo In the Palisandre Drawing-Room of the Empress, there was a multitude of paintings, watercolours, pastels and prints. Most of the paintings were hung along two particular walls - the wall leading to the Lilac Cabinet and the wall leading to the Maple Living-Room. The two most well-known of these paintings still reside with GMZ Tsarskoe Selo and have recently been reframed with recreated wooden frames to match the originals which were lost during the Second World War. Gosfond (The State Museum Catalogue of the Museum Fund in Russia) has a wealth of a collection that spans the entire country with a range of objects ranging from drawings, photographs, sculpture, paintings, portraits, miniatures, vases, etc. GMZ Pavlovsk is the major keeper of what was evacuated from the Alexander Palace during the war. In its collection is 1,078 items which vary from paintings, fabric hangings from the rooms, sculpture, art glass, etc. Of these, I was able to find six paintings which up until 1941 hung on the walls of the Palisandre Drawing-Room of Her Majesty. From the 1928 Catalog on the Alexander Palace-Museum (Furnishings) by I. Yakovlev and translated generously by Stephen R. de Angelis (available via www.bookemon.com), are the titles that correspond to these ten paintings: "The Annunciation." Inscription: "Ave Maria Grazia Plena." Granitsch, S. Circa. 1895. "Madonna and Child." Thumann, P. German School. Date Unknown. "Portrait (waist-high) of the Princess Helena Victoria - cousin of Alexandra Feodorovna. Copy from Swoboda, J." Kobervein, Terell G. Circa. 1897. "Portrait of Alexei Nikolaevich in his youth." Trifonov, I. Member of the Saint Petersburg Painting School and the Academy of the Arts from 1866. Circa. 1906. "Child's Head." Makovskii, K.E. (1839-1915). Russian School. Date Unknown. "Old Boyarin." Pelevin, I. Russian School. Date Unknown. "Atrium at the last sunbeams." Bakalowicz, St. VI. (1857-1928). Russian School. Circa. 1896. "Spanish Scene." Gallegos, J. Italian School. Circa. 1899. "Monastery Hospital." Topham, Frank. W.W. Date Unknown. "The Interior view of the Cathedral in Seville." Gallegos, J. Italian School. Circa. 1898. ________________________________________________________________ Please enjoy these images, and If you’d like to share them elsewhere, you can download them yourself and if you do so, PLEASE remember to credit the institution/news source/author/photographer - in this case Gosfond, GMZ Tsarskoe Selo, GMZ Pavlovsk, V.I. Yakovlev, and Stephen R. de Angelis, appropriately! Thank-you. ________________________________________________________________ Sources: Gosfond (State Museum Catalogue of the Museum Fund of Russia) GMZ Tsarskoe Selo (Tsarskoe Selo State Museum Reserve) GMZ Pavlovsk (Pavlovsk State Museum Reserve) ”The Alexander Palace in Detskoe Selo,” - V.I. Yakovlev. Circa. 1927 (Republished in 1928), translated by Stephen R. de Angelis. Link of courtesy: www.goskatalog.ru https://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/yakovlev-the-alexander-palace-1927/545267 Also, if anyone is interested, this is the original text which Mr. de Angelis translated from, which is free for download via this website: http://elib.shpl.ru/ru/nodes/42498-yakovlev-v-i-aleksandrovskiy-dvorets-muzey-v-detskom-sele-ubranstvo-vmesto-kataloga-detskoe-selo-1928#mode/grid/page/27/zoom/1 (This is the republished catalogue, Circa. 1928)

#alexander palace #tsarskoe selo #gmz tsarskoe selo #gmz pavlovsk #romanov #imperial russia #empress alexandra feodorovna #palisandre drawing room #paintings #fine art #russian archival material #gosfond #obscure books

16 notes · View notes