#stockholm 2021 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

willescrisis · 18 days

Text

Wille's Crisis : an essay about Kris (1934) and Young Royals (2021)

While watching Young Royals’ third season, I couldn’t get Karin Boye’s novel Kris out of my head. As a fan of Young Royals that feels very chill and very normal about it, I have hence written a five page brain-dump on how Malin Forst and Wilhelm’s characters and worlds are intertwined. (Small disclamers : I’m quoting Amanda Doxtater’s 2020 english translation of the novel and I’m french-canadian, so english is my second language.)

Who is Karin Boye ?

Karin Boye (1900-1940) was a leading figure in Swedish modernist literature and poetry. In 1920, at the age of 20, she studied one year in Stockholm to become a primary school teacher and after graduation, continued teaching, writing, militant engagement and several years of study in related fields. Among all of her works, the most explicitly autobiographical is her autofictive novel Kris (1934). This powerful novel explores the homosexuality and crisis of religious faith of a young woman named Malin Forst.

Malin Forst & Wilhelm

During her studies in teaching, Karin’s 20-years-old alter-ego Malin goes through an existential crisis. She feels completely paralyzed by her guilt due to her selfish inaction in the face of universal suffering, her lack of trust in institutions (educational, medical, etc.) and, worst of all, her doubts about her relationship with God. Kris also deals with Malin’s relationship to her own sexuality with the meeting of a classmate, Siv, to whom she will become passionately obsessed without ever talking to her.

We meet 16-years-old Wilhelm as a first year student at Hillerska. His failures as a royal figure and his complicated relationships to his loved ones make him feel powerless and guilty. He is thrown off balance by his doubts of the monarchic system, but most importantly, by his doubts of his life’s role model, Erik. Young Royals also deals with Wilhelm’s relationship to his own sexuality with the meeting of a classmate, Simon… Are we seeing the parallels here ?

While Malin’s torments lead her to shut down, Wilhelm screams. But both feel paralysed and don’t know how to exist out of the system they grew up in. And it’s the meeting of a same-sex student that leads them to a freer path.

« I want to see Siv. I want to be where Siv is. »

Previously, Malin considered the fusion of the will of the human with the will of God to be the most important of aspirations. Without this reference point, she has no will nor desire… until she meets another student, Siv. Her simple presence rekindles for the first time in the novel a desire, burning and forbidden: “I want to see Siv. I want to be where Siv is.” … And here is how this whole essay has come to exist. While watching season three, I joked endearingly with my friends about the way that Wille’s only hobby is to be with Simon, but I felt sad for him. Until I understood he’s on the first part of his self-discovery journey. His first true desire that stems from inside of him and wasn’t imposed by the system is “I want to see Simon. I want to be where Simon is.”

Interestingly enough, Siv and Simon both become a new manifestation of something that Malin and Wilhelm have lost. We, the reader, meet Malin when she is ‘grieving’ her old relationship to God and deconstructing her understanding of God as a single entity. Amazed by Siv’s ‘perfection’, Malin raises her to a kind of divine position with great powers. Wilhelm, for his part, feels at home with Simon because of the way he makes Wilhelm’s entire being comes alive, weightless and playful… A feeling of joy, innocence and safety he’s only ever felt with Erik before.

Anxious and desperate, Malin and Wilhelm are latching to their comfort person, making them their whole word in a way that has to change for them to grow up. After realizing Siv’s feeling for a fellow male classmate, Malin is shaken : “Only now could she see that she had embarken upon the false path of mistaking a person for what is highest and most beautiful.” Not only does this quote mirror Wilhelm letting go of his idealised conception of Erik, it is also mirrorring his realisation that Simon is not a perfectly stable and unbreakable anchor on which he can blindly rely on : “I have to take responsibilities for my own problem. I can’t drag him down with me.”

Don’t give it a name

An important part of Malin’s journey is relinquishing the power she gives to words, especially regarding God and her sexuality. Throughout the novel, she refuses to name the emotion she feels for Siv. On the day of her meeting with Siv, Malin thinks: “You, lips, I implore you to clamp so hard upon the unsayable, that not a word slips out to assert its malicious pettiness and obfuscation ! Be still, thoughts, don’t interrupt, for you have no idea what this is ! (...) Don’t give it a name, let it be just as it is, here in my blood and my eyes, life and sap ! The wonder of new creation need not be named.”

Wilhelm’s complicated relationship to words is shown in the way that he shouts his love for Simon from every rooftop, but does not wish to label his sexual orientation. In season three, he says the word queer for the first time and his voice is seeped with discomfort. He is not claiming this word as part of his identity and rather feels constricted by it, probably in the same way that every other label put on him has made him suffocate.

Furthermore, both Malin and Wilhelm wish to express themselves and experience the world, not through the restrictive lens of language, but through the sensory world. In Kris, after seeing Siv for the first time, Malin’s five senses awaken. A dialogue takes place between the sense of sight and hearing, reminding me of the way that Wilhelm and Simon’s intimacy is developped through the gentle touch of noses, the sounds of breathing, the glow of golden light and fingers lingering slightly above the other’s body… ‘Sight’ says “I’m confused. I no longer know whether I am sight or not. I envelop things and follow them as if I were touch, I hold my breath in quiet anticipation as if I were hearing, I breathe in, like one intoxicated, as if I were smell, and I drink in long, deep, draughts as if I were taste. (...) Could I be standing at threshold of some new creation ?” To which ‘hearing’ responds “ (...) Admit it - isn’t revelation through the senses at the same time the revelation of what lies beyond the senses, of what creates the senses, of the limitless feelings of eternal love ? (...)”

Checkmate

Kris’s narration drastically changes points of view in unexpected moments, moving from the pov of human characters to the pov of abstract entities. The two most important are BLACK and WHITE, two sources of cosmic powers playing a chess game whose game board is humanity.

On the one hand, WHITE represents the norm, also illustrated by threats from nature such as stormy and dangerous waters, cold, humidity and darkness, but also under the traits of the dominant society, whose rules and norms protect human beings while maintaining them in a position of submission and obedience. WHITE uses the anxious desire of his pawns (humans) as a weapon to subject them to the norm. And at first, Wille is WHITE’s perfect pawn : an anxious mess who becomes more and more obediant as season three progresses and whose ‘protectors’ are also the ones leading to his demise. Little (most likely accidental) nods to that parralel : Wille looses to Alexander while playing the white pieces in season two and interrupts his conversation with Simon to scream “The water is cold today !” at his guards on their first date.

One the other hand, BLACK is a chaotic power of life associated with desire, burning fire and passion destabilizing the established order. In the context of Kris, the norm is heterosexuality, while fire is the forbidden desire: homosexuality. This parallel is evident when Malin describes in this way the physical sensations caused by Siv’s sight: “There was no holy, burning voice within her. All that burned within her was a thirst for the forbidden after a single look cast in that direction” And based on that, I absolutely refuse to believe that Lisa put the hallway scene after a BONFIRE by accident.

I also don’t think the placement of the chess game during August’s confession to his friends is a coincidence. First, the board is oriented in a way where August sits at the junction between the black and white pieces, showcasing how the character is in a crucial moment in his journey : will he stay in WHITE’s cruches for ever or will he find the strenght to save himself ? And second, August puts a black king on the edge of the table. Not only does it foreshadow that Kronprins Wille is on his way out, it also indicates that it was a rebel and homosexual ‘power’ that guided him in his quest for self-determination, just as it was for Malin Forst.

I natt gick Gud under or how to make the lake scene destroy me even more

The poem in prose I natt gick Gud under (Last night God succumbed) stands out from the other chapters of the novel Kris, as it recounts the most decisive transformation of the main character Malin Forst. BLACK places Malin naked and at peace on the shore of a sea where she throws the words she denies. Finally at a safe distance from WHITE’s icy waters, she liberates herself from her paralysis to embrace her true feelings.

Last night God succumbed.

Perhaps it was just the hollow shell of name that went under.

But that shell of a name drew with it the power of death. I cast it off.

I see objects as they are, unwitting of the name attributed to them. I cast off their names.

I stand utterly new, on the shore of a sea. Conscience is no longer mine. I cast it off.

The will to life has made me naked. The will to life has made me see. I shall meet whatever comes with naked, open eyes.

Lisa describes the lake scene as almost religious. As he’s swimming naked in the lake, Wilhelm is shedding his crown prince shell. Leaving the waters, he is reborn. When he is standing on the shore of the lake in his white clothes, Lisa says “that is when Wilhelm grows up.” And for me, he’s ready to meet whatever comes with naked, open eyes.

Thank you ! Thank you to whoever read this far. Kris is a very complex book that, despite having read twice, I still don’t fully understand, so if you have anything new to add to this reflection, you are welcome to do so !

#lisa i hope you're still lurking #wilmon #young royals #wilhelm x simon #young royals analysis #karin boye #young royals s3 #literary analysis #lake scene #lisa ambjörn

149 notes · View notes

slavghoul · 2 months

Text

"VOÏVOD: We Are Connected"

Tobias will be featured in an upcoming Voivod documentary scheduled for release this year, where he was interviewed alongside fellow musician and close friend Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth). Their interview was filmed in Stockholm recently.

TF is an avid Voivod fan and has cited them as a major inspiration on numerous occasions, particularly in relation to his pre-Ghost band, Subvision. As his MySpace bio stated: "With the intention of making something different than the death metal that I had become synonymous with, I wanted to create music with a slightly more melodic/pop edge. The wish was to make something along the lines of Voivod’s Angel Rat." A song off that album ("The Prow") was also included in a playlist he crafted for Apple Music in 2021 featuring some of his most formative influences.

The documentary is currently in post-production and you can help funding its completion by making a pledge on Kickstarter:

The goal is to fund the completion of a theatrical cut in time to screen at festivals and events this summer, and a physical release later on.

The project is a labor of love of numerous Voivod enthusiasts, Tobias included, so consider pledging even a small amount in your support and spread the news around, if you can.

For more information: IMDB, Facebook

Thank you to Felipe Belalcazar for the info.

#the band ghost #tobias forge #voivod #voivod: we are connected

167 notes · View notes

probablyasocialecologist · 9 months

Text

Capping demand from the top fifth, even at a fairly high level, cut greenhouse gas pollution from energy consumption by 9.7%, while raising demand from people in the bottom fifth who also live in poverty to a fairly low level increases emissions by just 1.4%. “We have to start tackling luxury energy use to stay within an equitable carbon budget for the globe,” said Milena Buchs, a professor of sustainable welfare at the University of Leeds and the lead author of the study, published on Monday in the journal Nature Energy, “but also to actually have the energy resources to enable people in fuel poverty to slightly increase their energy use and meet their needs.”

[...]

“The study confirms that energy demand reductions can contribute significantly to climate change mitigation, even as poorer households are lifted out of energy poverty,” said Felix Creutzig, an IPCC author and professor of sustainability economics at the Technical University of Berlin, who was not involved in the study. “High-income, high-education households have more scope and also more capacity in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions – and also carry more responsibility.”

[...]

Studies have shown the global rich – which includes middle-class people in rich countries – play a disproportionate role in heating the planet. In 2015, the top 1% of earners emitted twice as much carbon dioxide as the bottom 50%, according to estimates from the Stockholm Environment Institute and Oxfam. Rich people have more agency to cut their emissions and those of others. A commentary in Nature Energy argued in 2021 that this covered not just how they shop, which the authors stressed was a powerful lever, but also how they act as citizens, investors, role models and workers.

#climate change #inequality #energy

524 notes · View notes

matan4il · 3 months

Text

Update post:

Today marks 123 days since Hamas launched the war in Gaza with its massacre of Israeli civilians.

There were two terrorist attacks today in Israel, both stopped before anyone was injured. The first entails Palestinians from the West Bank shooting at a home in kibbutz Meirav in the Gilboa mountains (where the Israelite king Shaul and his sons died 3,000 years ago), the house was damaged, but no person was hurt. This kibbutz was attacked several times along 2023. The second was in the city of Shchem (you might know it as Nablus, the Arab mispronunciation of the Greek word 'Neapolis,' because Arabic doesn't have the sound 'p'), I'm attaching the pic of the gun and knife which were found on the terrorist after he was neutralized. I found reports about them on two Israeli websites (Ha'aretz and Now14), but both are in Hebrew. The latter also mentions a rock throwing terror attack earlier today, against the car of a woman named Rachel Yaniv. Her brothers, Halel and Yagel Yaniv, were murdered by Palestinian terrorists almost a year ago.

We got the info today on an Iranian attempt on the lives of Jewish leaders in Stockholm, that was stopped in 2021. These terrorists, believed to be linked to the IRGC, infiltrated Sweden under the guise of Afghan refugees, and were deported (rather than put on trial) in 2022. This is a small reminder that the Islamist axis led by Iran, and which includes the terrorist organizations it funds (including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis), as well as countries that chose to align themselves with Iran against the west, such as Qatar, is not anti-Zionist, it IS antisemitic.

In an Israeli TV interview conducted in Arabic, an Israeli journalist asked the right hand man of Palestinian Authority's president Mahmoud Abbas, whether he's willing to denounce the Oct 7 massacre. He didn't. Instead, he insisted that the occupation is the source of all this violence (even though terrorist attacks against Jews in Israel by Arabs predate both the war in 1967, which used to be defined as the start of "the occupation," and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948), and that as long as the occupation continues, so will such acts [as the Oct 7 massacre].

As part of the campaign against the antisemitism and bias at the BBC, an employee who called the Jews Nazis, and denied the Holocaust, has finally been fired.

youtube

Israel's most popular sketch comedy show decided to tackle UNRWA with this funny short vid:

In the segment where the UNRWA teacher shows how he teaches biology, history and English using Hitler's Mein Kampf, on the left side of the wall behind the "teacher" you can see the lyrics of a song titled Fedayeen (a term used for Egypt-funded Palestinian terrorists who attacked Israelis in the 1950's), and the pics of two Hamas leaders who are heading the war in Gaza now, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif ('deif' is a nickname, his real name is Mohammed al-Masri, a last name that literally means "the Egyptian," so guess where his family is originally from).

Jewish singer Montana Tucker proved she's the bravest artist from among countless performers who attended the biggest American entertainment award shows recently, as she wore an enlarged version of the yellow ribbon to bring the Israeli hostages back home to the Grammys. She didn't just speak up for her people, she made sure everyone would hear her. She's been regularly speaking up for Israelis and Jews since Oct 7.

The ceremony also included a nice gesture to the over 400 people in Israel who were either murdered at or kidnapped from the Nova music festival on Oct 7. Taylor Swift broke yet another music industry record, so this is a good time to remind everyone that there are several Hamas leaders who are each individually richer than her. It pays more to kill Jews, than to be one of the most successful musicians ever (her net worth is estimated at about 1 billion dollars).

This is 19 years old Idan Alexander.

His mom Yael recounted how cool he was in every given situation, and how proud his family was of him, when he told them that he intends to leave New Jersey and make Alyiah. Moving to Israel of course meant he'd have to serve in the army, too. On Oct 7, Yael got to talk to him, and hear that he has seen some horrible things already. She knew something was off, because unlike his usual behavior, he sounded stressed. Idan was kidnapped by Hamas, and it took 6 days before the family even learned whether he's alive or dead. He's been in captivity for 4 months now.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

#israel #antisemitism #israeli #israel news #israel under attack #israel under fire #terrorism #anti terrorism #hamas #antisemitic #antisemites #jews #jew #judaism #jumblr #frumblr #jewish #israelunderattack #Youtube

123 notes · View notes

skibasyndrome · 2 days

Note

what do you think wilmon is doing right now at this very moment on april 23, 2024?

oh my god sjkaskdfhdsafkadshf this feels like a math question almost, wait, I am so lost on the timeline.......... happy car scene was 2021, right? Either way THANK YOU, WHAT A LOVELY QUESTION 💜💜💜

Okay well I'd like to believe that they are currently taking a little evening walk through Stockholm (where both of them study at university). They're meeting Felice for dinner later and, responsible as they are (mostly because Simon will not let Wille get in the way of his studying, pretty and kissable and right there as he is), they've already finished their reading and assignments for the next day back at the library (a good place for studying because there's less risk of giving into the temptation of having a very pretty, very kissable boyfriend right there). They're holding hands. Wille has taken Simon's hand and buried it in his coat jacket while still holding onto it tightly because while he'd love to swing their hands around between them (he will normally never miss an opportunity to show the world that this is the guy whose hand he gets to hold) he knows that Simon does not enjoy the cold one bit, and he will do anything to keep him warm. It means they can't walk quite as briskly as they normally would and it also means that they keep bumping their shoulder into each other, but that's honestly not a problem, in fact that makes it just a little bit more fun (because, with that as well, Wille will never miss an opportunity to show the world that this is his boyfriend and that he is Simon's boyfriend and he's very happy to be that couple hogging most of the space on the sidewalk). They're enjoying the last minutes of sunshine, both because it makes the cold a little more bearable (Simon doesn't mind having to squint, give him every last ray of sun please) and because, in Wille's opinion, Simon just looks extra beautiful in the golden light (like it's not actually the sun, but him that's glowing). Simon pulls his hand out of Wille's grasp to fix his beanie and pull it further down, hiding his ears from the relentless wind and Wille gets that, but it's really hard not to pout when he's suddenly no longer able to touch Simon. And like he can read his mind (every day it gets a little more difficult to believe that Simon doesn't actually have psychic abilities), Simon turns to give Wille that look, lips curling in the corners of his mouth like he's trying to keep that beautiful, wide grin that Wille knows so well from breaking out, eyes crinkling in the most adorable way; that look that means you're unbelievable, you're such a sap, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, you make my heart ache. And Wille, knowing full and well that he is a sap (and that Simon loves it), bites his lip so he doesn't start giggling (no, years later he still hasn't gotten over those butterflies that flood his chest when he can see his own love and adoration mirrored back in Simon's eyes) and that's all it takes for Simon to slip his hand back into Wille's coat pocket and to intertwine their fingers again as they continue on their path.

(a photo I took on a walk in Stockholm for the ~mood~)

#wilmon #WELL THAT ESCALATED #sorry Martina you truly bring out the worstbest/bestworst in me <3 #themarsbar #answered #young royals

58 notes · View notes

sometipsygnostalgic · 25 days

Note

i'm losing my mind how are there STILL ACTIVE CATRA HATE BLOGS it's been FOUR YEARS how are you still this mad about a female abuse victim!!!!!! how do you STILL not get it!!!!!!!!!!

I have been in enough fandoms to understand that some of the people who stick around the longest are those who act the most scarred after watching the media. It's like stockholme syndrome. Or it's like hating the thing is what gives them drive in the world.

I have also been on the other side of this. I remained a Homestuck blog for a whole four years after the ending made me depressed about Terezi Pyrope, even lasting an additional year and a half after the dogshit epilogues released, through to the demise of Hiveswap and Homestuck^2, before I realised enough was enough and let Adventure Time give me sanctuary again.

But Homestuck had its Gamzee fans who hated the comic and fandom, Adventure Time had its Lemongrab fans who hated the show and fandom, and it seems She-ra has its fair share of antis.

The She-ra antis consist of the following groups, from my observation:

Former fans who got obsessed with some other show and have to bash She-ra because it ain't cool anymore. Usually Owl House fans but can be from anywhere. Their hate is universally connected to propping something else up, and is never done in isolation.

Hordak fans who hate Catra and maybe every other character and crew member and the show. There are a lot of the reverse, Catra fans who hate Hordak, which is part of why this group is so persistent, as a "counter" to this Hordak hate. However, the Catra fans who are Hordak antis MOSTLY do not hate the show (they are just... out of touch with it and generally have bad takes). I've seen one or two extreme cases of Catra apologists accusing Adora, Scorpia, and even Entrapta of abuse, but they were completely alone in their feelings. The Hordak fans who hate Catra tend to also hate Glimmer, Mermista, Adora, Bow, and say that the show is ableist or whatever, but they do not actually harbor much love for Entrapta. Her victimisation is an excuse for their behaviour and they have no understanding of her chaotic character. Do not interact.

Glimmadora fans (the ones who purely seem to exist to make 'Spop Is Abusive' posts). Why the fuck Glimmadora fans hate the show so much, I do not understand. But these are probably the most In-Your-Face of these three groups. While the Hordak fans mentioned above have a lot of similarity to Homestuck Gamzee fans or Adventure Time Lemongrab fans in the weird way they'll hate on the show for doing their blorbo wrong, Glimmadora fans don't have that evidence because they don't really care about Glimmer or Adora. They have absolutely nothing to say about the show, other than that it is Bad. My theory on these Glimmadora fans is that they really liked the Glimmer and Adora ship on a superficial level, and then the show decided to have its Deeper Themes and give Catra and Adora a messy, complicated relationship. There was a lot happening after season 3 where people went "CATRADORA IS REALLY ABUSIVE AND CATRA IS HORRIBLE AND YOU SHOULDNT SHIP HER WITH ANYONE". This period was SO fucking harmful to the fandom that it never recovered, so much work was lost and deleted from AO3. People would say "Glimmadora is a much better ship anyway". But then when season 4 rolled around and, uhh, Glimmer was acting like a little shit all season (for good reason but she really fucked things up with Adora), and Glimmadora crumbled into ash? Well the Glimmadora truthists felt like the show was working against them and that Season 5 was a grand conspiracy to make the Abusive ship Catradora canon!!! The funniest part of this is I sympathise a lot with these feelings. I used to be a Glimmadora truther myself when I watched the show in fall 2021. I was like, "wow, look how nice this ship is. And they go with catradora in the end?? Fucking HOW???". But then seasons 4 and 5 happened and.... yeah, I was disappointed with how Glimmer and Adora's friendship ended up, but I was ENAMORED by the messiness of Catra's character and how raw her and Adora felt about each other even in spite of all the bullshit. I never made excuses about the show being abuse apologising. I analysed it purely in how believable the relationships were and what the intentions of the characters are.

Of these groups, the ones responsible for the most actual SPOP Anti blogs are undoubtedly the Glimmadoras. The only time I've seen something similar, so many antis appearing, was because of Steven Universe ship wars. You have NO IDEA how petty people feel about Lapidot, Amedot, all the dots, all the amethysts. A crew member was chased off the internet over it, or left the internet over the show's own decisions, depending on whether you believe the """screenshots""" that were taken of Zuke's ""private blog""".

#she ra #spop #catradora

62 notes · View notes

operafantomet · 3 months

Text

Phantoms appearing in both replica and non replica production

COLM WILKINSON: Principal in the Sydmonton try-out version 1985, principal in Toronto 1989-1994.

JOHN OWEN-JONES: Principal in West End 2001-2005, 2010-2011, and again from 2015-2016, principal in the Restaged UK Tour 2012-2013.

EARL CARPENTER: Standby in West End 2003-2004, principal in West End 2005-2007, and again in 2011-2012, emergency cover in West End in 2015, principal in the Restaged UK Tour 2013, and principal in the West End revival 2023.

BEN FORSTER: Principal in West End 2016-2017, principal in Thessaloniki and Athens 2020.

TIM HOWAR: Principal in West End 2018-2019, principal in Athens and Thessaloniki 2023.

JOEL ZERPE: u/s in Stockholm 2016-2017, principal in Kristianstad 2020 / 2021.

JOHN MARTIN BENGTSSON: u/s in Stockholm 2016-2017, alternate in Copenhagen 2018-2019, standby in the World Tour 2019, principal in Kristianstad 2022 / 2023.

ADAM ROBERT LEWIS: u/s in West End 2018-2020, emergency cover in the West End revival 2023, and in concert at Guernsey. Also the phantom appearing in The Crown's POTO segment, plus the revival ads 2022.

JOSH PITERMAN: Principal in West End 2019-2020, principal in the Restaged Aussie Tour 2022.

RAMIN KARIMLOO: u/s in West End 2006, principal in West End 2007-2009, anniversary Phantom at RAH 2011, principal in Trieste and Monte Carlo 2023.

GERÓNIMO RAUCH: Principal in West End 2013-2015, principal in Madrid 2023-2024.

Anyone else to add? (and no, i have not forgotten about Love Never Dies Phantoms or those appearing in two different non-replica productions, I just tried to stick to the main theme)

#phantom of the opera #colm wilkinson #john owen jones #earl carpenter #ben forster #tim howar #john martin bengtsson #adam robert lewis #josh piterman #ramin karimloo #geronimo rauch

86 notes · View notes

wolveswolves · 1 year

Photo

Sweden’s biggest, controversial endangered wolf cull has started but campaigners fight on

February 2023 - Hunters have already shot dead 54 wolves in Sweden’s largest ever cull, while scientists warn that wolf numbers are not large enough to sustain a healthy population

Hunters have shot dead 54 wolves in a month in Sweden’s largest and most controversial cull of the animals yet, prompting fury from conservationists and satisfaction among farmers who consider the predators a threat to their livelihoods.

The Stockholm government has authorised the shooting of 75 wolves in its 2023 cull, more than twice last year’s figure, despite warnings from scientists that wolf numbers are not large enough to sustain a healthy population.

“Wolves are a threat for those of us who live in rural areas,” said Kjell-Arne Ottosson, a Christian Democrat MP and vice-president of the parliament’s environment and agriculture committee. “We have to manage that. We have to take this seriously.”

Farmers say more than 340 sheep were killed in 2021 by a Swedish wolf population estimated at about 460. The predators, which in the 1960s were thought to be extinct in Sweden, are also resented by hunters, who say the dogs they use to track and drive deer and elk are regularly attacked.

“This cull is absolutely necessary to slow the growth of wolves. Sweden’s wolf population is the largest we have had in modern times,” Gunnar Glöersen, predator manager at the Swedish Hunters’ Association, told public broadcaster SVT.

However, the scale of this year’s planned cull – only 203 wolves have been shot in total in Sweden in the 12 years since authorised hunting resumed – has alarmed conservationists. “It’s tragic,” said Daniel Ekblom of the Nature Conservation Society. “It could have consequences for a long time to come.”

Scientists have said that to sustain a healthy population, the wolf population roaming Sweden and Finland should not fall below 500, and Sweden’s Environmental Protection Agency has said at least 300 are necessary to avoid harmful inbreeding.

Led by centre- and far-right parties, however, Sweden’s parliament voted two years ago to cap the wolf population at 270, while the Swedish Hunters’ Association wants to go even further and lower the limit to 150 animals.

Wolf numbers fell steeply in Sweden after 1789, when a law was passed allowing commoners to hunt. That led to the decimation of the deer and elk populations, prompting wolves to prey more on livestock – and the state to pay a bounty for every wolf killed.

The population shrank to the brink of extinction and the predator was declared a protected species in the 1960s. Numbers began growing again 20 years later, however, when three wolves from the Russian-Finnish population migrated to central Sweden.

Conservation organizations in the country have attempted to overturn the wolf hunting mandate but have been unsuccessful.

Groups used the Bern Convention as their main argument. An international treaty agreed upon in 1979, the convention seeks to protect both wildlife and their habitats. Actions to do so are taken in the name of conservation.

“Wolves as top predators in the food chain are a prerequisite for biodiversity. Killing a quarter of the population through hunting has negative consequences for animals and nature,” Marie Stegard, president of Swedish anti-hunting group Jaktkritikerna told the Guardian.

“It’s disastrous for the entire ecosystem. The existence of wolves contributes to a richer animal and plant life. Human survival depends on healthy ecosystems.”

The European Commission has previously opened infringement proceedings against Sweden, warning that the annual cull falls foul of the EU’s habitats directive since “the wolf population has not reached a level that guarantees its conservation”.

“It’s astonishing that Sweden keeps on making these decisions,” said Marie Stegard Lind of the anti-hunting group Jaktkritikerna. “The commission has been very clear about its opinion that these hunts are, in fact, illegal,” Lind told AFP.

This year’s cull began in early January and ends on 15 February, although several regional authorities have already called it off having reached their quota. Experts have said the government’s planned national total of 75 wolves may not be reached.

Under pressure from farmers and hunters, the government authorised limited annual culls again in 2010. Since then, the wolf “has become a symbol of the conflict between the city and rural areas”, Johanna Sandahl of the Nature Conservation Society told AFP.

Sources: [x], [x]

#wolf #wolves #wildlife #animals #wildlife conservation #sweden #news #article #hunt #cull #trigger warning #population control

283 notes · View notes

mambamode · 2 years

Photo

Quick question..Can you smell it? Can you feel it? The weekend is finally finally here! Spring seems to have arrived and Stockholm is waking up! Can’t think of a better time to assemble the Embassy crew for some hot hot hot fire at @trädgården🔥 Other pics are from our session @kungl.konsthogskolan and Sonic Insurrections👌🏿 🔥🔥🔥 Saturday: Embassy @trädgården main floor! 22-03! Hot hot fire! You don’t want to miss this one! ❤️❤️❤️ Over and out! Have a fire weekend! Xoxo Mamba! 🐍🐍🐍 #mambamode #dj #djlife #djlife #house #disco #deephouse #stockholm #gelatosthlm #technomusic #housemusic#vinyl #2021 #producer#spring2022 #dancemusic #electronicmusic#trädgården (på/i Stockholm, Sweden) https://www.instagram.com/p/CdNU7dnuLr9/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#mambamode #dj #djlife #house #disco #deephouse #stockholm #gelatosthlm #technomusic #housemusic #vinyl #2021 #producer #spring2022 #dancemusic #electronicmusic #trädgården

0 notes

am-i-the-asshole-official · 10 months

Note

Did I ruin a friendship/relationship I had with an ex-friend? AITA?

Back around 2021, we met through a mutual interest of ours, and all started out pretty well! He was sweet, he'd made me laugh, he'd shown time and time again that he's very caring, so we hit it off very well. I'd learned he dealt with an inability to read tones and felt himself unable to use empathy, which I related to - I had trouble with that too.

So everything was going well at the start. Then, we'd moved to a different website, if I recall it was Instagram, and that's where the issues began.

He'd begun learning about me, too. I felt I could trust him, and so I told him about a few issues I'd faced, how I could be people-pleasing at times thanks to me feeling inferior/disposable to others. He didn't like that whatsoever; he said in the angriest tone I'd seen him use; "I HATE people pleasers. God they piss me off."

Even after that, he seemed pissed at me. I'd shrunk. This passively reinforced my feeling of inferiority, hell it even established fear, so I begun apologizing and nodding along for me to feel safe again. It was odd, and I couldnt lie, I was a little scared of him now, but hey: "it was a one-off incident. It wouldn't happen again!" I reasoned.

But no, of course after that it begun to get worse. From time to time he'd shown even more of this behavior; He'd casually insult me, call me a coward, a doormat, say that I'm "too nice" for just talking to other friends. He'd even got mad at another friend for just calling me their bestie, and accuse me of "replacing him" because him and the other friend had two similarities to each other. I didn't have any intentions of doing so, and I made sure to tell him that, but he insisted. It got to the point where I couldn't talk to the other friend much anymore.

So later on, this progresses. I'm isolated from pretty much every friend I've made. He took up my every waking moment, from sunrise to sundown, I'm assuming Stockholm Syndrome was setting in at this point because I never linked him with how miserable I was. I'd tell him how I'd felt and he'd brushed me off multiple times, even getting mad at me, so I stopped talking about it.

He comes to me, says he's upset. I ask why and he says something along the lines of "I feel like you're not putting in as much time as I am with this relationship.

I'm too tired to protest, to tell him that he already consumed my life, so I nod along. At this point I'm miserably subservient, I can't bother to tell him how exhausted I am so.. I just, follow his demand. He begun telling me how miserable he felt around me, how I've been just messing everything up for him, how me attempting to comfort him and ask him how I could help has been pissing him off. I'm sure he even compared me to an abuser of his. I was heartbroken but I'd nodded along per usual, I was too afraid to do much else.

Around the end of this, we'd just started to send mail to one another when suddenly out of the blue, he'd blocked me. I was upset, but I understood: he'd said he wished to block me sometime soon (but I couldn't block him no, that'd make him mad), so I'd accepted it and just sucked it up.

Two days later he contacts me. He calls me a whore, slut, every name in the book, and outright says "I'd tell you to kill yourself but you'd probably just report me."

I asked him why he was so mad and he said he'd seen how active I was with other friends, since I was reconnecting with them. Turns out he thought I blocked him because his messages weren't sending through (which for the record, was because I was showering and wasn't on my phone.) I told him I didn't, and I guess that's when things clicked for him.

Yet he didn't apologize whatsoever. He said he wasn't sorry for how he treated me. After we'd talked he'd blocked me again after he commands me to stay away from his friends, maybe because he was afraid of me taking them away or telling them how he'd treated me, and to not post anything in the communities I was in. No, not just posts about him - legit, anything. Now the places I went to for comfort weren't comfortable anymore, especially with him still active there, so.. now I'm here.

Even now, almost a year later, I feel like I'm crazy when thinking about it. The shit he'd done feels like it was ripped from the craziest toxic YA romance/thriller novel ever put on paper. I'm willing to accept I fucked up somewhere but I feel like I can't be the only one at fault here, right? Or was he right and should I just.. suck it up? I don't know but I need the closure.

Am I the asshole?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

120 notes · View notes