#but people may not know any Ukrainians on here and... I mean I really am happy to talk about this

[medicinemane]

Anyway... I've been following this invasion since the lead up to it, don't think there's been a single day I didn't look at an update about it, unless I was just too tired and rolled that update in with the one from the next day

Point is, if you have question I may not have all the answers, but I have a basic understanding and would be happy to answer them

I just think that supporting Ukraine is something important in the same way that knowing about the Iranian people's struggles and supporting them against their government is important

I hope we're all on the same page here, but if you don't support Ukraine I've got a mountain of reasons why I do, and I'm happy to answer questions

[jyndor]

You’re so right about West Papua. Javanese colonizers are in the comments of the original tweet like “you don’t understand, these guys were arrested because they had weapons :( “ while celebrating the Palestinian right to armed resistance. You can’t say that you stand against genocide while ignoring or justifying the one that you happen to benefit from. The West Papuans should be able to resist Indonesian colonization in any way they see fit.

anon, this is one of the most bitter truths about all this, and I'm sorry I don't want to speak out of turn but I think perhaps for a lot of people in the west it can be odd to realize that for many people in the world Palestine is an issue that transcends ideology for the most part.

so even though we in the so-called west are used to solidarity with Palestinians being a leftist thing because ain't no centrist or conservative here giving a shit about them, that's not the norm globally.

obviously the Arab and Islamic worlds are largely in solidarity because they see Arabs and Muslims having been colonized by a western proxy, a settler colonial project that is also very hostile to most of them, even though of course Palestinians are not oppressed because they are Muslim (and Christian) but because they are Palestinians. and Palestine is very diverse - many people racialized in many ways. and as we see with the treatment of Sudanese people in Egypt and other largely non-Black Arab countries, people may hold onto solidarity with one group sincerely while failing another group going through similar brutality.

I think conversations like this are best left to communities to have because they have a better understanding of their communities and these issues than I ever could, but also if we are going to ally ourselves with anti-colonial struggles for self-determination and liberation, that means ALL of them. all peoples, all cultures, no matter what what the governments occupying their homes and oppressing them are doing for Palestine or any other oppressed people.

I am so happy that so many countries are standing up for Palestinians but let's not be fooled into thinking they're just doing it because they care about liberation period - if they do at all, it is because of internal pressure from their peoples. I appreciate South Africa's work on this matter and the decades of solidarity they have had with Palestinians - but South Africa abstained from a vote condemning Russia for its annexation and invasion of Ukraine, which notably puts indigenous Crimean Tatars at significant risk. this is about geopolitics of course, not just morality... and people need to understand that.

a lot of the global south has been... not terribly great on this issue, and I mean I get it because Ukraine hasn't exactly fostered great solidarity with the global south but tbh if people are going to care about liberation, anti-imperialism and indigenous rights it really should not matter if for once the US is actually on the right side of that issue, which is really what it comes down to lbr. Ukraine is a western, white-racialized country that has benefited from white European supremacy (never gonna forget that English reporter going ~bUt ThIs iS EuRoPe~~~ lol) and that is not something that can or should be overlooked by supporters of Ukrainian self-determination as it often is. and then there's the overwhelming support for Israel from Ukraine, which is abhorrent and I know there is also support for Palestine there too. But it's very telling that when push comes to show, that solidarity is lacking.

when it comes to Indonesia and West Papuans, there is no room for ambiguity - it is genocide, it is colonialism, it is occupation. one thing I have learned through this is that cognitive dissonance is a hell of a drug.

people BELIEVE there is a real substantive difference between whatever resistance movement they support and whatever groups that their own governments are oppressing, or that are not geopolitically "aligned" with their politics. as if their politics shouldn't be informed by liberation PERIOD.

every time there is a big post about multiple genocides/atrocities in general, there's always people in the comments going "Well actualllyyyyy x is not being genocided because y" and it's like... how do you know that? how do you know that the uyghur cultural genocide* is not happening???? we literally say all the time that genocide doesn't always mean the complete murder of every single person in a group, why are we being like this??? cultural genocide is genocide, and it can easily escalate into mass murder. how is this up for fucking debate.

anyway, I have to go to work but yeah anon I get it. people need to unlearn nationalism and learn how to critically engage with their governments' histories. all of us. sorry it's coming from a us american but I think I know a little something about that.

*I understand the US is full of shit on this and has pushed some propaganda but that does not mean I do not have solidarity with the Uyghurs.

[nordic-language-love]

(Re)introduction post

I seem to be gaining a lot of new followers atm (migrants from langtwt, I’m guessing! In that case: hello and welcome to langblr!) SO here’s a little bit about me and my blog!

About Me

I mostly go by Victoria online and it's what I prefer

She/her

In my 30s (yes I am a Real Adult with at least some of my shit figured out)

UK born and raised (East Midlands), although I'm moving to Japan soon!

I currently teach English as a foreign language on italki to students of all ages (current age range is something like 5-60), but will be teaching at an Eikaiwa from January

I'm also an aerialist (pole and hoop), which I teach and perform, a stilt-walker and fire performer (you can go visit my sideblog @jo-jenova if you're interested)

I'm also a fan of gymnastics, dance, writing (fantasy/sci fi/general fiction), baking, buying and owning books (and occasionally reading them), vikings (not in a weird white supremacist way), corvids, cats, Star Trek and, of course, linguistics

I’m currently awaiting an ADHD and autism assessment. I’m 99.9% sure I have ADHD and have pretty much no doubts that I’ll get a diagnosis (autism I’m less convinced of, but we’ll see what the experts say)

Languages

My native language is English (British - close to modern RP)

I also speak Norwegian and it is my main love/target language. This year I took the official B2/C1 exams and got C1. I write bokmål and speak a variety of Oslo dialect.

I'm also learning Japanese (current level: not quite N5). My goal is to reach a comfortable N5 level before I go there.

I largely understand Scots (more written than spoken), Danish (more written than spoken) and Swedish.

Languages I love and have some experience with but am not learning right now include: Finnish, Icelandic, Ukrainian, Tswana, Spanish

Wishlist: Korean, Cornish, Irish, Old Norse, Old English, Chinese

I can speak/understand a bit of French because I learned it for like 12 years but I've forgotten most of it (I do appear to be dabbling in it a little again though whoops lol)

I post primarily about Norwegian, Japanese, other Nordic languages, Celtic languages (Scots included as an honorary member) and linguistics, but occasionally I'll post about other things too.

About My Blog

My blog focuses primarily on my own personal language journey. I'm not really about aesthetics (you might get an aesthetic picture once in a blue moon) or pretending to be more advanced than I am. I mostly try to reflect where I am.

Sometimes this means I come across as bragging when I’m proud of myself or attention-seeking when I’m feeling down. That’s not my intention; I mostly just aim to be honest with myself and everyone else.

I post language logs once a week. These are so I can keep a track of what I've been doing and how I feel from week-to-week. They're not to show off how much I did or make anyone feel like they should be doing more. But if they make you feel that way and need to unfollow me because of that, then I understand.

Other things I post may include vocabulary lists, grammar posts, things related to linguistics, challenges and links to things related to my target languages that I find interesting.

I don’t do drama or discourse. I feel no obligation to respond to inflammatory asks and usually delete anything that I think is contentious. This is a language blog and it’s pretty rare that I deviate from that (I have a side blog for all my non-languagey stuff). But of course you can ask me questions about me and my life!

My blog is absolutely a safe space for people from all walks of life regardless of sexual identity, gender identity, ethnicity, nationality, colour, religion, size, IQ, background etc. If you consider that to be an issue, then you know where the unfollow button is.

I’m kinda terrible at replying to messages, so please don’t take it personally if I never respond to you.

My ask box is always open and anon is always on, so please feel free to send me any questions you have! (But uhh like I say I’m bad at replying sometimes so please just give me a nudge because honestly I may have just forgotten)

[loftedlow]

Hello there! My family needs to leave Gaza out of necessity . I suffer from nightmares that are so closely resemble reality that I no longer Differentiate between reality and a dream.Thank you taking your efforts and time in reading my plea. There are no words to describe the horrors unfolding in this place.never expected to find myself in this situation. Because of this horrible situation I have decided to come before you guys for a financial support so that I can evacuate my family from this hell that we are into.The funds will be strictly used for the evacuation . I will personally bear any additional expenses incurred.Your support will make a significant difference in alleviating the suffering of my family ,We urgently need any kind of support before it is to late. As time ticking away translates to lives lost in Gaza I'm here and ready to answer any questions or concerns you may have.Kindly reach out and connect with me

I sadly cannot donate (due to the fact I am a minor and do not have access to any paying apps). I also have no way of knowing if this is a scam or not. But if you can donate to this person, or at least can fact check their account then I heavily encourage you do.

For people similar to me in the case they cannot give by themselves to these people, one way I try to help is finding videos on youtube that are putting all revenue they get into a donation. They say to watch it only three times or so but what I try to do is just keep it playing and sketch a small drawing beside it so it won’t turn off while I do so. The smallest things can count.

I also recommend going to the website freerice.com. It’s a bocabulary game that every time you answer correctly 10 grains of rice are donated to people in need. So yeah multitasking( your helping those in need and also helping your own vocabulary become more vast. 10 grains doesn’t seem like a lot and no, it’s not, but when millions of people play per day and play a lot of questions, it is something, and you can be part of that something too.

I’m just gonna cram all this in here too but also please do not forget about Ukraine. There has been little to no news ANYWHERE about them and they’re suffering. As much as they seemed to be winning when last checked up on, that’s because of the resources being given to them by allying countries. Those are slowly going away to support this war and leaving Ukrainians to fend for themselves, a MUCH smaller country than Russia physically, politically, and military-wise. I also beg of people to do research on the issue in Bangladesh. I of course cannot have an influence on things myself but I can say what I want and I want to say that it is quite honestly horrible and that will get you no where.

Anyway, Coming from someone who is jewish by ethnicity, war is hell. Especially with so much going on in the world. If you can help this woman, by all means, do it, and others. But if you can’t or choose not to, that’s okay too. I can’t control you or you might have something stopping you which is perfectly fine, especially in time of such financial struggle. But even if you want to, refer to my alternate ways of donating that I know of so far above. I don’t usually, really EVER post abt this stuff because again, I’m a child and I don’t want to be involved in anything. Especially with how controversial specifically THIS war has been.

[trainsinanime]

Over on Twitter I see a lot of self-described “reasonable” people, especially Germans though that may just be my filter bubble, demand, “peace negotiations right now! Stop the escalation of the war!” As far as I can tell, they don’t seem to think at all about what this actually means in practice. So let’s discuss that.

As it stands right now, this war could be ended at any time without any concessions by the Russian government simply deciding to end it and retreat. They’re the ones in Ukranian territory, they’re the ones who have the freedom of choice here. I know there are people who say that actually Ukraine and NATO started the war, but these people are insane, as shown by the fact that neither the current war nor the longer conflict started until Russian troops entered Ukrainian territory without permission.

So then, the fact that there is a war proves that Putin believes that he can reach his goals through military conquest at costs that are acceptable to him. Things like “there’s a war going on”, “Ukrainians are dying” and “Russian soldiers are dying” all seem like things that he’s perfectly okay with, because if he wasn’t, he could just stop that.

For peace negotiations, that means Putin would only agree to a peace treaty under one of two circumstances:

He can reach his goals cheaper that way

He realises that he can’t reach his goals at all.

Option 1 is terrifying for Ukraine, as the massacres in places like Bucha and many others show. Among many other things, Russia is a country with high corruption, no democracy, no regards for human rights, and they made homophobia an explicit state goal. 

Option 2, i.e. fighting the war, is not great either. It causes a lot of death and damage, and the risk of a nuclear strike is always there. But it’s clear that the people of Ukraine, the ones who are impacted by this every day, overwhelmingly prefer this option. I don’t think it’s my place, sitting thousands of kilometres away in Germany, to tell them that they’re wrong. They know better than me. (I don’t think they’re wrong, of course, but my opinion does not really matter either way)

I’m not happy about this. It’s risky, and I’d prefer if this whole thing could end without any further death and destruction. But it seems like that isn’t a realistic option, and that’s strictly because of the choices of the man who some people say we should negotiate with.

Those people are just stupid. I’m all for pacifism, against war, against military, and I am an officially recognised conscientious objector. But sadly it doesn’t work in this case.

In some ways I kind of have more respect for the assholes who tweeted “#NichtMeinKrieg” (#NotMyWar) a few months ago and were like, “why should we suffer high gas prices? It’s not like I care about Ukraine!” They’re despicable assholes, but at least they’re being honest about it. But now, the “peace negotiations now stop escalating!” people are fundamentally advocating the same insane thing, only now they think they’re particularly smart for doing so. They’re truly the anti-vaxxers of this war.

And yes, none of them will see this when I post this here on Tumblr; I’m just writing this because it feels nice to get this off my chest. I hope Ukraine wins, I think Ukraine can win this, and I strongly believe that our government should do way more (specifically: send tanks) to help with this.

[unhonestlymirror]

@forgotten-seas Okay, where do I start.

As a former russian-supporting Ukrainian, I know a lot of russian artists, whom I still find not bad people. I know that most of russians I am personally familiar with don't support "special operation" - despite the fact there is a Huge cultural abyss between us, which I recognized completely after February 24th.

Nevertheless, I don't interact with them at all. I don't reblog russian artists because

If a russian artist lives in russia, they go to the store, cafeteria, pharmacy, barbershop, etc. They go there and they pay for the food and service, because they need to eat, drink, etc. Where do you think those money a service providing place has received go next? Right, the state budget. Now the next question: Where does the money come from for tanks, missiles and other shit? The money for Viagra which is given to russian soldiers for massive rapes of women, children, men and animals? Do you think that all the money is taken out of the air?

I can't forbid all people to support russians, because "I can't control human hearts"(c) But it is in my power to regularly spread information about what is happening in my country. For people like you to write to me "this is hatred of Russians!", to justify yourself in front of your gnawing conscience that you may be financing genocide. It's good. This means my job here is done. (although let's be objective, am I promoting hatred of russians? I'm just sharing information, events, thoughts and feelings of people who are directly in Ukraine. If I was spreading hatred, I would say something like "ALL RUSSIANS ARE NAZI!!! WE NEED TO DROP A NUCLEAR BOMB ON THEM!!! IF YOU MEET A RUSSIAN ON A STREET - RAPE AND KILL THEM IMMEDIATELY!!!💪💪💪👊👊" This is example of spreading hatred (and it's definitely not a copy from russian propaganda)

"Hating a whole group of people based on a few is wrong" - excuse me, do you mean ~80 210 (+~810) russians who came to kill Ukrainians? Is this a few for you? Wow. :/

No one can guarantee that a russian artist doesn't donate to "💪💪👊👊🇸🇰🇸🇰🇸🇰" (I'm sorry Slovakia, it's for the joke) - russian army, or to military family members, etc. Also I don't really get why you mentioned transgender women. (You highlight them as if you want to say that cis people never kill. It's kind of transphobic.) I suppose, if they still active on Tumblr, they weren't mobilized and there is truly a possibility they don't hurt Ukrainians in any way... but can you guarantee it?

Well, a poor russian family gets fridges and toilets from Ukraine, and you may guess what is the price.

Oh, I swear, all Ukrainians don't forget that russians are the real people. And we will not be able to. Never.

I agree there are lot of russians who have family or relatives in Ukraine. And this is why I think dropping a nuclear bomb on kremlin is a bad idea. Also, as someone who lost her home, I genuinely don't think people, who fight in полк Кастуся Каліноўскага or in russian volunteer corps on Ukrainian side, deserve to meet rubles and ashes instead of home. This is soul-breaking. I wouldn't want this for my greatest enemy.

It's only natural that I may sound like an aggressive freak to people who didn't experience genocide. That's why I also recommend you to not talk about russians at all with Ukrainians. Believe me, most of them will seem way more "inadequate" for you - I was slightly touched by war, when many of them were punched. And I don't recommend you to reblog russian artists and support genocide... if you want to have good relationship with Ukrainians.

Also if you know some russians - don't forget to ask them whose Crimea is!

[evilelitest2]

Hi, “tankie" here, and I’m going to be charitable and assume you are well-meaning but ill-informed on your posts. You seem to imply that since American Marxists are critical towards America, they must have neutral-to-positive views on Russia. Not only is this a false dilemma fallacy (acting as if being anti-American and being anti-Russian are the only two, diametrically opposed, options), but is also broadly incorrect. Aside from a few baby Marxists and LARPers, there is a general dislike of the Russian Federation among Marxists due to its leaders (Yeltsin, Putin) being responsible for the illegal and undemocratic dissolution of the USSR. However, you may be confusing something else. As Lenin said:

“For the Socialist of another country cannot expose the government and bourgeoisie of a country at war with “his own” nation, and not only because he does not know that country’s language, history, specific features, etc., but also because such exposure is part of imperialist intrigue, and not an internationalist duty.”

As an American Marxist, it really doesn’t matter if I’m the most pro-Russian person in the country or curse Putin’s name. At the end of the day, the effect I have on the political development of Russia is essentially zero. Rather, I have to trust Russian Marxists to be the ones to shepherd their country in the right direction. Conversely, as an American the effect I have on American political development, while still close to zero, is appreciably more than I have on any other country. Thus, it’s my duty to primarily focus my criticisms on the USA, as it is both the country where my words hold the most weight as well as a country I am intimately familiar with. People who don’t understand this reality may choose to take that as being nothing but an ideology of being anti-American, which is clearly incorrect.

Hello, I hope you are having a good day. The problem with your thinking Friend, is that the world has changed since Lenins time...and also Lenin himself was not the best adherent of that principle. We are in a massively interconnected global community now, and international powers are actively getting involved in other people's politics, you can't just separate one state from the rest. For example, the conflict in Syria directly led to the election of donald Trump, these things are connected.

"Aside from a few baby Marxists and LARPers, there is a general dislike of the Russian Federation among Marxists due to its leaders (Yeltsin, Putin) being responsible for the illegal and undemocratic dissolution of the USSR."

God I fucking wish this was true, but go through the various Marxists blogs i'm arguing with now, so many of them are echoing a pro Putin line, one created from the Russian Federation's propaganda in regards to Ukraine. And it leads to self described communist supporting a far right reactionary anti communist regime. When the default Marxists-Leninist position on Ukraine is inseparable from Tucker's Carlson's position then there is something rotten in your movement

"At the end of the day, the effect I have on the political development of Russia is essentially zero."

You need to pay more attention to Russian politics friend cause that is really not the case

"Thus, it’s my duty to primarily focus my criticisms on the USA, as it is both the country where my words hold the most weight as well as a country I am intimately familiar with."

Your duty as a Marxists is to fight against fascism don't get yourself limited by state borders because what happens with this attitude friend is that you take the typical American Centric attitude towards other nations of "America good, foreigners bad" and just flip it, you wind up with the same basic attitude though. "America bad, foreigners good" is still just as reductivism and America centric, and honestly as toxic. For example, take the 2014 euromaiden uprising, where millions of Ukrainians rose up against there far right authoritarian government and over threw him, something which Marxists should support (and indeed the communist parties in Ukraine did support). Almost any time I go unto Marxist-Leninist sites, they present this as a CIA backed coup which is just...massively insulting to the agency of Ukrainians, suggesting that they don't have any autonomy of there own but only act as extensions of the US. I see a lot of Tankies viewing the conflict in Ukraine with the same blinders that Americans used to view the Vietnam war, not seeing the conditions on the ground or the historical events that led to this, but only seeing it as a front in the global war between communism and capitalism, which is both reductive and self destructive.

Thanks for the polite response though

[annawayne]

Hello there, I am here for the ask game!!

I dare to answer every single one of them (or at least the ones you didn’t answer yet !!)

Hiii, thank you for asking, and OH MY! This is a challenge, but let's try it!

😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists?

Oh, well, it's going to be in "Wasteland of (our) promises" with Armin being shy and red as a tomato and sneaky-teasing Jean, asking his friend about love affairs

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

The answer is here!

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

Oh, it's that one in BMSS from chapter one, when Armin overhears the made-up (as it turns out) story from Annie, Pieck and Reiner. It was a real fun to write, and I giggled all the way.

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

No…t yet😚

✍️ Do you have a beta reader?

Yes! And I'm really grateful for their help and support with all my ideas, both in writing and drawing.

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

Both are also answered here :)

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

Oh well…I'm proud of you, Ann, that you keep going with your ideas and writing style even if you think it's TOO much and not good enough because it may be only your wrong point of view. But I already answered it here, hahah

💋 First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

ADORE THEM. But do you know what I love even more? Heh, the ✨second✨kiss that happens not right away after the first one.

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

My answer is here!

🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

Oh, this one is also here!

⛔️ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

No because I only have started to write and publish it, so all my WIPs will see the light because I intend to finish all of them!

🙋‍♀️ Do any irl people know you write fanfic?

Yep, and it's only one, but they really support me :)

🍦 What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

I haven't written it yet😂 But I think one of my WIPs could be THE ONE.

🍷 Do you drink and write?

Oh, well, yes. 😅 Sometimes.

🍆 Do you write the spicy stuffs? If so, what's your most popular nsfw fic?

I do! The one that was Porn with Plot is Neverland of (our) desires, and this is the most popular one so far. But I think it may change.

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

Oh, I answered it here.

💖 What made you start writing?

And this one here, too!

💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback?

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. I'm always tearing up when I receive so many kind words about my writing, and I can't even describe how happy I am to see comments, both short and long ones. Every kind word matters.

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

I already answered it, and…my answer is the same, I don't know😅

💲 Would you ever open commissions?

It would be nice, I guess? And I would love to, but I'm not sure if my writing style could be suitable for such things.

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

The answer is here :)

🏆 What's your most popular fic?

Neverland of (our) desires so far.

🎃 Do you write fics for certain holidays? Which is your favorite holiday inspired fic?

I haven't written anything holiday related, but I think I will write one inspired by the Ukrainian "green" week in summer!

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

No, because nobody tried it yet, hahah.

🎨 How do you feel about fan art of your stories?

I never received one but this is the most precious thing ever! To think that the person not only read my story but also was inspired enough to create something…this is one of the greatest compliments ever.

📈 How many fics do you have?

Only two, so far

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

Oh, my long answer is here!

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

Oh, well, okay! So, I'm working on the sequel for "Neverland of (our) desires" called "Wasteland of (our) promises", and also it's going to be the three parts series with the last one called "Dreamland of (our) hopes". All of it is post-canon :)

Also, there's a fic in post-canon, non-related to the previous series, where Aruani didn't get together after the Rumbling, but, sure thing, have feelings for each other. But then during their Ambassadors trips Armin get sick, and, well…something is about to change 😏

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

Not to be afraid! Just do it, write it what you want, how you want! Do it for yourself at the first place!

💞 Who's your comfort character?

Hmmm…Armin, I think.

🧠 Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them.

I answered about Annie here :)

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

Annie! Or Armin?🤔 Aaaah, both!

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

I shared two quite big snippets here!

😬 Which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon?

Bury me in the shadows of spring… Just look at these tags...

🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success?

I don't ask myself about such things because I think it's already successuful if it's written and published, and you have a lot of joy just from the fact that you've written it :)

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

Oh, I already answered it!

📚 Would you ever want to turn writing into a career?

It's an ambitious dream, but I would like to be published and to be able to illustrate my own book with my drawings!

⌛️ How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?

It all depends on chapter. Sometimes, I could write like 40% just in one evening, and sometimes I need the whole month just to outline the things. Now I'm quite slow due to my lack of energy, but I keep doing it because it's better slow than nothing at all.

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

I already answered it, and it's comedy. I just don't know how people write comedy, they're SUPERIOR.

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

All my published fic broke my heart in their unique ways possible, hahah😂

💥 How do you feel about criticism?

It's all about how it's delivered. If I understand that the critisisim is not biased on the subject facts like "I don't like this trope, so your writing is shit", so I'm all ears. I welcome it when it's polite and have arguments.

🤭 Do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

Alongside (Author hates it) tag, it's also Hurt/Comfort because I think this is what all my writing is…

🥰 How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

Oh, my answer is here!

[wind-becomes-lightning]

#StandWithUkraine - Donations for Stories

As many of you may know, Russia has attacked Ukraine on the 24th of February, an unprovoked, unacceptable invasion of a fellow sovereign country that somehow Russian Rulemakers see as theirs. So as Ukraine, a strong, fighting nation, squares up to defend against the oppressors, all the rest of us in eastern Europe can do is watch and wait if we are next. Well I hate that. I hate it so much I could scream all day. So, instead I thought, at least I could donate (and I did) and also, maybe I could get others to donate.

Here is the thing: Let’s do an exchange of goods! I offer my services as your ghostwriter, write you whatever setting, whatever story, whatever pairing you want. It’s practically a commission for a tailor made fanfiction and all you have to do is donate 10€ or the equivalent to one of the four organisations I will link here and show me the receipt. Easy right? We all win.

Here some corner data of what I have in mind:

You donate to either: Voices of Children (which is an org that specialises on trauma of war in Ukraine) | Vostok SOS (which provides humanitarian aid and helps people evacuate) | Caritas Ukraine (provides support for people in need) & then you sent me the proof via DM (why not other orgs? Why not directly to the Ukrainian army? Because I hear conflicting information about that and I don’t want your money (or mine) to go to scams. So I’m playing it safe)

NO ANON MESSAGES. I need to be able to communicate with you and if you are on anon, I can’t ask questions back. You can however contact me over twitter if you feel better not revealing your tumblr to me (or others). Twitter

You contact me via DM and tell me what kind of couple you want, setting you want. You can also outline the story yourself! If you have no direct idea then I will send you an outline of what I have in mind and you can approve or decline. You are the customer and I’ll write what you want (within reason)

Be understanding, please. There are couples that I do not vibe with at all, that I don’t want to put my name to. If you donate and really can’t think of any other pairing that you love, even if I hate it, I will still write it for you. The donation is worth more. However, I ask you to see me too and maybe meet me halfway. (Yes, I’m looking at people who ship Students with Teachers, even aged up,  - please do not make me..)

The story will be at least 1.5k words in lenght, maybe longer! I promise between 1.5 and 2k words for sure though, so it’s not just a drabble. I will spend time on this.

I can adjust my style if you so wish! I have seen that I have a certain way of writing that others do not, but I don’t mind changing things about it if that would be more what you want. After all, I want to make this perfect for you.

Be reasonable with me! I have a full time job and maybe need breaks, I will take a while to get it done. I am a very fast typer (as any of my friends who’ve seen me sprint can vouch for), but I need to know what I want to say to be fast. So if I am still experimenting it might take a bit, but when I have the spark it should be fast.

I’ll send you the finished google doc file for you to check before publishing (or not! depends on you!) and you can look it over to sign it off.

OC’S welcome! I love learning about OC’s. If you have one and want me to use them don’t hesitate to wall of text me in dm’s! I will try my hardest to do them justice.

That is about it. Of course I also encourage you to donate even if you do not like my writing style or do not want anything from me. I’m just trying to give you something back.

I encourage all creators of fanworks that have the time and capacity to do something to join me or do something similar, maybe less time consuming. Let’s help the people in Ukraine in the only way we know we can: Writing about the hot anime men, ehm, I mean, by sharing stories with each other ;) <3

Stay safe out there everyone. I hate this war with a passion. I would like to cry for hours, but alas, this is the world we live in now.

Also, here the proof that I did donate to VORSTOK SOS under cut, name censored.

[cherrydreamer]

Harringrove for Ukraine

Hello! I’m participating in Harringrove for Ukraine! That means I’ll be writing fanfiction in exchange for donations to an organisation that supports the Ukrainian people in this crisis.

I’m asking that you donate money to one of the following organisations in exchange for me posting my work:

The Ukrainian Army

The Ukrainian Red Cross, which does loads of humanitarian stuff, from aiding refugees to training doctors.

Revived Soldiers Ukraine, which funds medication and medical supplies for army hospitals on the front line.

The UN Refugee Agency, which provides life-saving protection to families forced to flee their homes.

Follow these steps if you’re interested!

- Reblog this post and/or the master post both here and on Twitter if you have it so that we can get as much traction as possible as quickly as we can.

- Send me an ask or message to let me know what you'd like me to write for you and how much you'd like to donate. 

- Wait until I reply to your ask/message, then you need to make your donation to one of the orgs listed above.

- Donate!! Remember PLEASE to screencap your receipt – you need to send me this to show you’ve donated so we can all track how much we’ve raised as a group

- Don’t forget to block out any private contact details you don’t want me to see!

- Once I’ve seen your receipt, I’ll start work on your project. (I am writing around a job and childcare of a toddler, so can’t make any firm guarantees on deadlines. Depending on demand, I will aim to have fics done in around a week or two, and will keep you updated if things change.) 

What I have to offer: Fanfiction for donations! Anything up to around 5k words (and very happy to do drabbles/ficlets!) 

What I Like to Write: Fluff and hurt/comfort are my main jams, and I tend towards the soft boys but I am happy to dabble and try some new things! I’m Glitter_Bug on AO3 if you want a look at my kind of thing, or check the cherrywrites tag on this blog for some of my ficlets.

Accepting prompts? Definitely! Be as detailed or as vague as you like. I may decline if it’s very much not my thing, or if I don’t think I could do it justice, but feel free to ask!

Additional Info: I’m not overly experienced with writing smut, but I’ll give it a go! Let me know if you have any squicks/dislikes/preferences. 

Suggested Donation Amount:  $1 per 100 words of a fic. Obviously the more the better - this is such an important cause.

Please reblog and donate as soon as you can - I know it's not in everyone's budget right now but this is a really precarious situation and the faster we can get donations the better! Let's do this!

[russian-soft-bitch]

Hello!

This is kinda about the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, so yeah. The thing is all I see is people criticizing Russia, but really what other option do they have? I have lived in Russia since 2010(i am not Russian) due to my job and have been closely following the situation since 2014, the verbal persuasion for Ukraine to not join nato has been going on since then, but they still seem to want to join it. It's either this war or nato forces on Russian borders, and we all know that USA does not exactly love Russia. The major concern is about the death of Ukrainian citizens, but you give full ammunition to citizens and then do not expect them to be harmed? the same citizens in Afghanistan and Vietnam were termed terrorists by US. I also do not understand how much of this social media news is true, it seems any country that is becoming powerful suddenly becomes evil on here, china is mocked as dog meat eater and Indians as blind cow worshipers and now all russians are being called fascists, when from experience I know them to be the kind and accepting people. As a Russian , what do you think? Am I being delusional and stupid in this situation?

Hi! Thank you for sending me this. The situation in Ukraine is horrible. But I'm not sure if I can trust any information either here or on the Ukrainian or russian tv. But we all know for sure that people are dying and it doesn't matter if those people are citizens or soldiers. Also you are absolutely right about nato. Putin was telling the EU and US that we will treat nato forces near our borders as a threat since 2005. And it is a threat. Nato was created as a weapon against USSR. USSR does not exist anymore but Russia is still a threat in their eyes. And this propaganda exists for over 80 years; that Russia is evil and will destroy them all. I think this is the real problem. Also after what happened in Vietnam, Iraq, Syria and Japan (1945) they have NO right to call us fascists. We were the reason Hitler killed himself, sorry. Maybe Putin is kinda the same, I don't mean the 'invasion', I mean that German people trusted in Hitler at first and he did good for county, later the people who chose him for the first time didn't have any choice but to follow him. We have the same situation in Russia. At first Putin really saved the country, he was a good president till 2014 or so. Nemtsov and Navalny happened and we all watched them being killed and imprisoned. The government changed laws and constitution. We can't say anything about the gov, a couple (or more) of people were arrested just for posting memes online and one got arrested for posting rummstein music video on his page. Police can beat you up and torture you just because you were on the street with a piece of paper. What is happening now in Moscow and Saint Petersburg is awful. Yeah, people are rioting but the gov doesn't listen. People are getting various threads for speaking their minds. They kinda forgot to ask us if we want that war. And of course we don't. Every family in Russia has family members who died either fighting or in concentration camp in ww2. We don't want this but nobody's listening. We are naturally kind people, I may have nothing to eat but I will help those who need it more. And the bigger part of people is exactly like that.

Also yeah, we're not the first economy in the world, but please don't forget that we weren't prepared for ww2. It's not smart to fight with us. We're fucking crazy when it comes to defending our homeland. Me and my friends like to say that only people who was born and lived here are allowed to say shit about Russia.

It would be really safer for everyone to just live in peace.

[sole-cuore-amore-e-droga]

Croatia brings no men in a hamster wheel to Rotterdam 2021

Now could this be the teddy bear uprising invasion Muse has warned us about 12 years ago?

And LITERALLY, these review series make me feel like Croatia is openly taunting me - I watch the days go, I’m losing track of time, and when another day comes, I’m screaming “oh no I forgot to publish a review sooner than wanted!!”. Guess I’m for one glad there’s a time related song this year, hum?

ARTIST & ENTRY INFO

Repping the Adriatic coast nation that got all the sea instead of Bosnia & Herzegovina is some 22 year old Albina Grčić, who first popped up on X Factor Adria back when that was a thing, and got lumped into a girlgroup in later stages, but to that she said “hvala ne” and moved on with her life, getting eliminated just like that. Queen <3 She did get her second chance to compete as a soloist and make a more prominent mark on her career when she ended up on The Voice in Croatia. She did well, placing third overall in the season, but somehow, during the duel stage, her coach initially favoured her fellow Dora 2021 contestant Filip Rudan:

Her Voice success landed her a record deal with the Croatian division of Universal Music, she released a debut single, sometime later ended up on Dora, and here she is now, on Eurovision.

“Tick-Tock” is the song, a standard upbeat pop song, and one of the ones that talks about a girl leaving a terrible relationship and being so well over it that she “found [her]self and [she’s] finally free”, and the “tick-tock” here is used to represent the time passing by, not the sound of her heart, unlike a fellow ESC entry of a similar title. The tune (or its lyrics only) is co-authored by some dude you might’ve heard of from France’s 2018 preselection Destination Eurovision, and that is Max Cinnamon - some half-English guy with a half English song about love (”Ailleurs”) that did moderately averagely in the final... I don’t even know if his influence shows, I just love how 2021 has sort of become revenge of the NF flops but they’re writing other entries instead (Suzi P, “Adrenalina”).

REVIEW

I often don’t really fully vibe with female bops in Eurovision as much as I want to, like, for the most part they’re overhyped, and I let the “yass queeeeen” audience gorge on the everything their favourite bops give them. But this year there are plenty of great ones to choose from, as I think that it’s safe to say that most, if not all, are tucked in somewhere inside my top 20, top 25 at the very minimum. Croatia managed to even do the impossible and land into my top 10.

Why?

Well, the answer is that the song is just so damn good.

I mean, what’s NOT to like about it? It’s a catchy and upbeat song that incorporates xylophones (or whatever is it that sounds like them), guitars and synths; has a good bassline in the chorus; and it’s just... a very good composition overall, like, all the instruments in it are just in their right place and uplift the song massively. I also like Albina’s performance on it, both live and studio, it clearly shows that she’s a very good singer (also shown on her cover of the scandalous Oscar award snubbery “Husavik”). Sounds like a song a common pop loving Eurofan could gear themselves towards. Besides, it also has possibly my favourite pre-chorus section of the 2021 year? Oh wait, there’s also Switzerland, scratch that. “Tick-Tock” has one of my favourite pre-chorus sections of 2021. It builds up so well instrumentally and the way Albina sings it is even better. I obviously like to believe Albina heard those voices from far away that helped her to escape, has found herself, and she’s finally free from her “partner’s” bad lovin’ and restraint. Yas queen go be free you didn’t deserve his tomfoolery anyway!  👏 (Also I admire a section that’s not quite the pre-chorus but is still before the 1st chorus, the one that goes “If you pull me down then I'll come around” - literally just a lot of the parts of the song are full of nice vocal performance and I don’t regret ranking this in my top 10 not a second.)

If it has any drawbacks, it’s just that it gets a tad too repetitive after the halfway mark... like, the pre-chorus before the second chorus is the one to be repeated once again, and no new verse, nothing - but it does launch itself into something extraordinary, and that is a chorus in Croatian, which I assume she would perform in Eurovision because there’s no Eurovision version on the song promo bundle, I suppose. Comparatively the Croatian chorus is not as complex in lyrics as the English language one, and flows slightly differently too. But the song still has a long chorus by the end, and song with too many choruses is never a good sign for those that look for a song that’s constructed well, but I guess it’s a good factor for those that value the song’s catchiness. I guess that’s what one of the two Eurovision 2005 hosts valued the most when writing the Ukrainian 2006 entry “Show Me Your Love”, which if you ask me, is straight up 75% chorus, lol.

So yeah my verdict is that almost everything about this song, I like. I’m just a little devastated that in a usually very easily gorged on category of female bops, this just tends to lag behind in love, like a fellow song I really like this year, Israel. Instead people tend to prioritize Cyprus (which I get because they’ve established themselves as a girlbanger nation since Fuego swept Eurovision) and... probably even Azerbaijan? (which I might also get because Eurovision rarely has this thing called an ethnobop anymore, and it has more ethno than “Cleopatra” did, but still unnecessarily underwhelming lol.) Well then, in a year of female bangers, I would just like Croatia to not be swept under the rug come semis I guess. Yeah “Tick-Tock” may not sound like it brings something totally never seen before in a Eurovision environment (foreign language lyrics, themes about a break up, hell even her dancers looked like they were wearing the same hats as Tamta’s dancers), but you got to have a lot in you to sell a worn out idea to the new heights, and Albina does exactly that in my eyes.

Approval factor: Yeah! There is a lot of it in here for me. Follow-up factor: A great follow-up, not so great in regards to panini but musically it’s just going up and up from what we had in the past few years. I’ve actually not minded “The Dream” for the most part but I knew it was a chanceless plodding ballad and Roko harboured heaps of wasted potential working with Jacques Houdek and having wings as part of his performance, uff. *_* And then there’s “Divlji vjetre” which I also like a lot - a much better male ballad winner choice! If the Dora re-up winners keep being decent imo just like this, I have a feeling I will follow it a lot more often than I did just this one time this year. I am just saying that panini-wise, it was a sucky move from HRT for not allowing their last year’s winner promote his new song with Tijana (from Serbia 2017) on the Dora night, so we sadly only heard a pre-recorded opening version of “Divlji vjetre” to start off with :( Otherwise I think it’s not Dora’s fault in itself that Damir himself chose not to even submit an entry this year because he hadn’t found a good one - much like with Diodato for Sanremo (he was NOT rejected, if you think he still was, shush). But aside that, musically, it just keeps going up for me. Well done Croatia, for you’ve used to be a Eurovision country I don’t necessarily care about, that you brought two pretty damn good entries in a row. Qualification factor: I can absolutely trust in Albina bringing in a little bit of her charisma and well-likedness, and on top of that, a great vocal performance, in Rotterdam. Don’t ask me why, I just do. She doesn’t really perform her song live on pre-parties as much as I’d like to hope she would, but you heard girlie on the national selection, she didn’t win for nothing. Yeah yeah there might as well be female uptempo songs hungrier for the last spot, but I’d like to think Albina is one of the ones ready to devour than to be devoured. Go girl! Take us all dancing!

NF CORNER

To be honest with you, “Tick-Tock” winning Dora caught me by surprise. Ever since its re-up, the last two editions were kind of won by male ballads, and maaaaybe the dancey females were doing moderately well enough for themselves, but not overall? But look, juries were very keen on Albina, probably because she can SANG and she creates one hell of a fancy presence on her performance. And somehow she ended up snatching a win out of the hands of 5G conspiracy theorist 2016 representative Nina Kraljić, who was at first too drunk to care, but too unexpectedly sober to yell all over the soc. media how she was robbed and how the contest was rigged against her with her being on first and all that. Which is a shame that she is one of THOSE people, because her NF entry “Rijeka” is kinda nice? We did have the Balkan-esque ballads coming from Croatia in recent memory, but we haven’t had a truly proudly folksy one at that from Croatia for a long while, if not ever. Nina could’ve very well brought that to Rotterdam (and another mismatched wardrobe choice oops). But instead she was the one screaming “oh no, oh no, oh no”.

Actually I regarded Nina as one of my faves pre-show, and Albina was on her way, though she didn’t really cement the personal fav status until after all performances, thus making Nina and Albina switch spots for me. But truly, the one song that was my top favourite, iiiiiiiiiiis

GIMME AN OCEAN! OF LOVE!

2021 made me realize that damn, maybe anything that’s funky is my favourite music genre afterall. Up until then I vibed with entries like “Tonight Again” and “What’s the Pressure?” that had this sort of energetic flair and very rhythmic kinda sound to it, but 2021 just simply cemented it to me that my music world has probably been about nice and smooth and funky all along. I owe so much gratitude to ToMa first and foremost along the lines of more to have come in this year’s lineups - I just can’t not want to dance to “Ocean of Love”, and ToMa is quite alright at selling it live as well. There are small gripes with some instrument usages but that doesn’t detract from the fact that I love love LOVE funky guitar tunes.

Aside from that, I can give shout outs to Beta Sudar, whose song not only was underrated, but also had an underrated meme format throughout its performance:

My other props go to Bernarda, who not only competed in a national selection singing a song about seeing “Colors” while blind (and ironically there was a song called “Blind” in that same NF sung by a well-seeing guy!!), but also for finally putting this every country’s reject to rest. Seriously. That particular song was passed on to everyone in need of a competitive Eurovision bop, from Poli Genova to Helena Paparizou as of recently. Oh well, at least the song died a honourable death - well performed slice of good typical Eurovision pop (maybe even overperformed a little towards the end), that got a good rank with the regional juries, but somewhat murdered in televote, fellow Boris Milanov composition “Chameleon” style.

This one Mia Negovetić chick was promising too! Her song was written by the Debs and you might be tired of them trying to continue infiltrating Eurovision at this point, but a lot of their Eurovision songs are usually something I enjoy, “She’s Like a Dream” is no exception. Nothing but 3 minutes of pastel-dressed Croatian Ariana Grande doing what she does best <3

Oh and also some dudes tried to play chess on stage too I guess. But their song is not worth looking into, because one of the acts on it is apparently also a conspiracist, and maybe because oft this their entry is aptly titled “Sing, for the freedom has arrived!” lol I wonder what exactly is the kind of freedom you’re thinking of my guy

Was this the “better mood game” Laura was warning everyone about? Beats me

NF CORNER (NON-COMPETITIVE)

• It’s still hilarious to me as to how one of the acts this year, Brigita Vuco, was planning to bring in backing dancers, only for them to show a fake COVID test or something and outright BARRED from coming with her on stage. <3 Whatever she intended to do with them dancers, I have absolutely no idea, but at least she committed to her song being about drunken nights visually by having all these blurry shots

• Nina Kraljić’s greenroom shenanigans, from the “1-2-3, 1-2-3, drink” to numb the sadness over some results (and the 8 she got from the region Rijeka for the song “Rijeka” lmao), to whatever she saw on the phone that made her smile or go neutral

• Greenroom reactions in general. I swear, this year had cameramen in every single corner everywhere just to make sure something covers up for a human audience instead of severals of Zoom screens permitted to act as an audience. Random people in greenrooms were doing some sort of emotions after random acts, and also randomly they ended up pointing a camera towards an act that lost, but the act didn’t treat losing as if it were such a big deal <3

• All the other memes the Croatian Twitter might’ve noticed me for:

seriously Bernarda was locked in a bluelight mathematical dice contraption. how fucking cool is that

ANY LAST WORDS?

I just fucking hope that Albina shatters any doubts that people have had about her song come rehearsals, and somehow Croatia AND Israel slip through, because never too many female bangers I appreciate in the final, if they all are the bangers I appreciate, lol.

[your-dietician]

Over 270,000 people sign petition for France vs Switzerland to be replayed

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/sports/over-270000-people-sign-petition-for-france-vs-switzerland-to-be-replayed/

Over 270,000 people sign petition for France vs Switzerland to be replayed

Switzerland’s goalkeeper Yann Sommer (R) saves a penalty by France’s forward Kylian Mbappe during the UEFA EURO 2020 round of 16 football match between France and Switzerland at the National Arena in Bucharest – GETTY IMAGES

Over 270,000 fans have signed a petition calling on Uefa to replay the Euro 2020 last-16 match between France and Switzerland because “the rules (of the game) were not respected” when Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer saved Kylian Mbappé’s decisive penalty.

Mbappé’s miss resulted in the world champions crashing out of the tournament in Bucharest after leading their eventual conquerors 3-1 at one point in the match.

But a petition was launched by a disgruntled French fan, Pierre, in the aftermath of the penalty shootout, demanding that Uefa replay the tie because Sommer’s feet were over the line as Mbappe struck the ball. Goalkeepers need to keep at least one foot on the goal-line when facing a penalty, otherwise the spot-kick can be retaken.

Neither the referee nor Var intervened on Sommer’s save but more than 270,000 people signed the petition – which has now been closed – despite several different angles showing that Sommer’s foot was on the line when Mbappé kicked the ball.

The hosts of the petition, leslignesbougent.org, wrote that “Uefa had been officially approached to gauge its position on the matter”, and that Pierre had informed the host site that he wished for the petition to be closed after the angles showing the legality of Sommer’s position came to light. “Our servers exploded,” the site added.

The original petition read: “During the penalty shootout of the France v Switzerland match, goalkeeper Sommer was not on his line ahead of Mbappé’s shot. We ask that Switzerland’s qualification is cancelled so that the match can be replayed.

“Sport must be played within the rules and that evening the rules were not respected.”

02:53 PM

Czech Republic v Denmark

Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand says the team is looking to Christian Eriksen as an inspiration ahead of the match against the Czech Republic in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals.

Story continues

Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest during Denmark’s opening game of the tournament. Team-mates were left shaken after seeing him receive emergency medical treatment on the field.

Hjulmand says “we’ll play with that heart of Christian Eriksen once again.”

The winner will face either England or Ukraine in the semi-finals.

AP

02:49 PM

Masterful Jordan Pickford has joined an elite band valued more by his country than his club

Unlike at Everton, when Pickford wears an England shirt he looks like he is sure he belongs out there, the undisputed No 1.

Jamie Carragher’s latest column for Telegraph Sport.

Jordan Pickford celebrating England’s last-16 win – GETTY IMAGES

02:38 PM

The Battle of Rome

Paul Ince’s bloody headband, chaos in the stands – and Southgate’s dark side.

England’s last trip to the Italian capital, in 1997, was another game they could not contemplate losing. David Seaman looks back on that momentous night.

Paul Gascoigne (L) and a topless Paul Ince (R) – GETTY IMAGES

02:20 PM

England get to work…

… with the quarter-final against Ukraine just over 24 hours away.

Kalvin Phillips of England trains during the England Training Session at St George’s Park on July 02 – GETTY IMAGES

Mason Mount of England trains during the England Training Session at St George’s Park on July 02 – GETTY IMAGES

Tyrone Mings shifting some tin – GETTY IMAGES

01:56 PM

Boris Johnson says he has no plans to reduce Euro 2020 stadium crowds

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday he did not plan to order a reduction in crowds attending the remaining Euro 2020 matches due to take place at Wembley.

Crowd capacity at Wembley will be increased to more than 60,000 fans for the semi-finals and final of Euro 2020 under a pilot scheme announced last week.

“Of course we’ll follow the scientific guidance and the advice if we receive any such suggestion,” Johnson said in response to a question at a news conference, alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel who said she was worried about Uefa’s decision to let more people into stadiums.

“But at the moment… the position is very clear in the UK, which is that we have certain events which we can put on in a very careful and controlled manner with testing of everybody who goes there.”

01:34 PM

England fans in Rome

The first pictures are beginning to filter back home…

Fans gather in Rome ahead of Ukraine v England – Rome, Italy – July 2, 2021 – REUTERS

12:20 PM

Germany’s Kroos announces retirement from international football

Germany midfielder Toni Kroos has announced his retirement from international football after his team’s exit from the European Championship, the 31-year-old said on Instagram.

The 2014 World Cup winner earned 106 caps for his country, contributing 17 goals and 19 assists.

Kroos said it was clear to him “for a long time” that he would not be available for the World Cup in Qatar next year.

He said his priority now would be to focus on his club career with Real Madrid and spending time with his family.

Reuters

12:16 PM

The eight defining games of Raheem Sterling’s England career

From scapegoat to star man, Sterling has been the object of anger and criticism but is now England’s most experienced player and one of Euro 2020’s pre-eminent players.

Here, Sam Wallace runs down the eight matches that have defined his international career to date.

England’s forward Raheem Sterling celebrates the first goal during the UEFA EURO 2020 round of 16 football match between England and Germany at Wembley – GETTY IMAGES

12:00 PM

Emma Hayes signs new Chelsea deal

A revealed by Telegraph Sport in May, Emma Hayes, who has starred as a pundit at Euro 2020, has signed a new deal to remain as manager of Chelsea, the Women’s Super League champions have announced.

The 44-year-old has been with the club since 2012 and guided them to four WSL titles, two FA Cups and two League Cups. Hayes’ side were also Champions League runners-up last season.

She said on Chelsea’s official website: “Everyone knows what this club means to me.

“The work we’ve done together over the last nine years has been hugely rewarding, full of growth of the women’s game, accompanied with winning, which is one of the club’s key values. I really look forward to keep building on the successes we’ve already achieved and I’m delighted to have extended further.

Emma Hayes the manager of Chelsea Women lifts the Barclays FA Women’s Super League trophy after the Barclays FA Women’s Super League match between Chelsea Women and Reading Women at Kingsmeadow on May 09, 2021 in Kingston upon Thame – GETTY IMAGES

“It’s been a year and a half without fans, so I can’t wait to welcome them back to our home and share with them the wonderful team we’ve built together.”

Having retained the WSL trophy and the League Cup in 2020-21, Chelsea fell short of adding the Champions League as they were beaten 4-0 by Barcelona in the final in Gothenburg.

That was a first appearance in the final for the Blues – who reached the semi-finals in 2018 and 2019 – and the first by an English club since Arsenal, who had Hayes as assistant manager at the time, won the competition in 2007.

11:24 AM

Some more Premier League news…

Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour has joined Norwich on a season-long loan deal.

The 20-year-old impressed for Scotland in a goalless draw against England at Euro 2020 on June 18, before then having to self-isolate after returning a positive Covid-19 test.

Following his performance at Wembley it was reported that several Premier League clubs were interested in signing Gilmour on a temporary basis.

Newly-promoted Norwich have won the race for his signature and Canaries boss Daniel Farke feels Gilmour is a “perfect fit” for his Canaries team.

“We are really happy to have brought Billy in,” said Farke, who saw midfielder Emiliano Buendia leave for Aston Villa for £33million last month.

“We must say a big thank you to Chelsea and all those involved for making this deal happen. I think it helped that in the past we have shown that young players with potential are in good hands here at Norwich City.

Billy Gilmour – GETTY IMAGES

“He will help us to achieve our targets. We still have to keep in mind that he is an unbelievably young guy and that he hasn’t played regularly on this level. We have to give him some time and space to improve and find his rhythm.”

Gilmour made 11 appearances for Chelsea last season, starting three Premier League matches.

The former Rangers youth player was an unused substitute in both the FA Cup and Champions League finals as Thomas Tuchel’s side lost the domestic showpiece to Leicester but beat Manchester City to become champions of Europe.

PA

11:10 AM

The England team Gareth Southgate should pick to defeat Ukraine

Telegraph football writers pick their XIs – and you can too, by clicking here.

We have asked our writers to pick who they would like to see face the Ukrainians, especially bearing in mind that four of the England squad are on yellow cards.

10:50 AM

How England can beat Ukraine and take another step to glory

What do we know about England’s opponents? What are their strengths and what are the areas to exploit? Who are the players to watch out for?

Telegraph Sport spoke to Ukranian football expert Andrew Todos and former Norther Ireland manager Michael O’Neill, who masterminded a win over Ukraine at Euro 2016.

You can read our big match dossier by clicking here.

Graphic depicting England and Ukraine’s star players

10:30 AM

England at full strength for Ukraine

Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad all trained on the eve of England’s Euro 2020 quarter-final against Ukraine.

The reward for Tuesday’s 2-0 last-16 win against Germany at Wembley is Saturday’s clash against Andriy Shevchenko’s side in Rome.

The Three Lions fly to Italy on Friday afternoon and the full squad trained at their St George’s Park base that morning.

Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell were among those in action, having left isolation on the day of the Germany match after coming into contact with Chelsea team-mate Billy Gilmour, who tested positive for Covid-19 after playing for Scotland against England.

Harry Maguire, Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips and Phil Foden are a booking away from a suspension heading into the quarter-final.

Manchester United defender Maguire, who was named man of the match on Tuesday, is set to join manager Southgate at Friday evening’s press conference in Rome.

10:23 AM

Captain Kane reporting for England training

JULY 02: Harry Kane of England trains during the England Training Session at St George’s Park on July 02, 2021 in Burton upon Trent, – GETTY IMAGES

10:08 AM

In Premier League news…

From our reporter, Mike McGrath.

09:44 AM

Achilles

No, not the Trojan war hero, but the cat that lives in St Petersburg’s Hermitage museum. He chose Spain while attempting to predict the result of tonight’s quarter-final.

Probably no need to play tonight now – the cat’s called it…

Achilles the cat, that lives in St. Petersburg’s Hermitage museum, chooses Spain while attempting to predict the result of the UEFA Euro 2020 quarter final match between Switzerland and Spain during an event in Saint Petersburg, – REUTERS

Achilles the cat, that lives in St. Petersburg’s Hermitage museum, chooses Spain while attempting to predict the result of the UEFA Euro 2020 quarter final match between Switzerland and Spain during an event in Saint Petersburg, – REUTERS

Achilles the cat, that lives in St. Petersburg’s Hermitage museum, chooses Spain while attempting to predict the result of the UEFA Euro 2020 quarter final match between Switzerland and Spain during an event in Saint Petersburg, – REUTERS

09:23 AM

De Bruyne and Hazard

Belgium boss Roberto Martinez will give Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard until the last minute to prove their fitness ahead of tonight’s Euro 2020 quarter-final clash with Italy.

Manchester City star De Bruyne suffered an ankle injury during Sunday’s 1-0 win over Portugal, during which Real Madrid’s Hazard also limped off with a muscle problem, and neither was able to train with the rest of the squad on Thursday morning.

However, speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of the game in Munich, Martinez said: “We all know that we are fighting against time, but we’re going to take until the last minute to make the decision.

“Every day that goes by, every time they can sleep and get three meals and get some treatment, we see an improvement, and then we’ll see [today] if they can be involved or not. Unfortunately at the moment, we cannot make a decision.

“Obviously it will be difficult for [today] – a soft tissue injury in Eden’s case, maybe is difficult for a game like tomorrow, and for Kevin, having a ligament problem maybe is a bit different.

“But it’s more a medical decision. At the moment, it’s not a football decision; [today]it will become a medical decision in the afternoon and then we’ll make a football decision after that.”

De Bruyne left the pitch looking dejected in Belgium’s win over Portugal – GETTY IMAGES

Martinez could do with having all his most potent weapons available for a clash with an Italian side which is unbeaten in 31 matches, while both teams are bidding to become the first to win 15 consecutive European Championship matches since the start of qualification.

PA

09:06 AM

In case you missed it…

Neil Diamond told The Telegraph yesterday how “thrilled” he was that England fans were singing his famous ‘Sweet Caroline’ song at Wembley.

“Well, I hope you can do it again – here’s to England”, he told The Telegraph.

The 1969 song has featured in every England victory celebration at Euro 2020 and was a high point of celebrations after the team beat Germany 2 – 0 in the round of 16.

After the match, striker Harry Kane and coach Gareth Southgate both told the media how much they enjoyed hearing fans belt out the song in unison.

08:52 AM

Tournament odds

The bookies have England now as Euro 2020 favourites – even at 2/1 in some outlets.

Then come Spain (3/1) followed by Italy (4/1), with Ukraine the outside shot with bookmakers at 33/1.

08:41 AM

Magic Monday

A look-back at the day that proved internationals reach parts that the club game cannot.

As if Spain 5 Croatia 3 wasn’t enough, Switzerland and France also served up a classic on Monday night. What made it so memorable?

Read Thom Gibbs’ excellent breakdown here.

08:30 AM

RIP Charlie

08:16 AM

Predictions for this evening

Let us know in the comments below!

I’m going Spain and Italy to progress… just.

08:14 AM

Alvaro Morata

As Sam Dean writes, Alvaro Morata has scored 21 goals in 44 appearances for his country. He has won 14 major trophies in club football. He has played for four of the biggest clubs in the world and he has been transferred between them for a combined total of more than £170 million. If he finds the net against Switzerland on Friday, he will become the highest scorer in Spain’s European Championship history. Everything about his CV, and his list of accomplishments by the age of 28, suggests that Morata must be one of the continent’s elite forwards. And yet, for many people, the former Chelsea striker still seems to be regarded more as a punchline than as a top-level predator.

Read about how Morata has emerged from the darkness in a bright, dangerous Spain side.

Spain’s Alvaro Morata celebrates after scoring his side’s fourth goal during the Euro 2020 soccer championship round of 16 match between Croatia and Spain at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen – POOL GETTY

07:59 AM

Can Switzerland do it again?

A reminder of how the Swiss got there in the first place.

They knocked out the world champions, France, on penalties, after fighting back from 3-1 down.

Refresh yourself on events in Bucharest by clicking here.

Kylian Mbappe missed the crucial penalty for France – GETTY IMAGES

07:35 AM

The Swiss are back!

Remember this bloke?

Swiss fan reacts to their victory over France

Topless and fully clothed, desperate and ecstatic: a Swiss football supporter has become a viral sensation after cameras zoomed in on his rollercoaster emotions watching his team beat France in the Euro 2020 tournament.

Found by Swiss media after images of him yelling and grimacing during Monday’s match went round the world, Luca Loutenbach has already amended his Twitter account to describe himself as the “Nati’s official meme since 28.06.2021.”

The Nati is the nickname for Switzerland’s national football team.

Loutenbach, 28, told Switzerland’s Blick TV that he was “just a normal fan”.

But those filming the game thought otherwise, zooming in on him several times during the play as he perfectly encapsulated Swiss fans’ ecstasy, dejection and frenzied joy – starting off wearing the Swiss red shirt and ending up topless and screaming.

The images quickly went viral, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeting one with the comment “man of the match”.

“A star is born,” Swiss public television RTS said.

“Thanks for all your messages, what is happening to me is unreal,” he wrote Wednesday on Twitter.

“I’m actually quite discreet, even if that wasn’t on show during the game. So this is fun for one or two days, but I hope it will ease off a bit after a while,” he told Swiss TV.

Such is his fame that Switzerland’s airline Swiss has gifted him a free ticket to Russia to see his team play Spain in the quarter finals on Friday in Saint Petersburg.

The country’s tourism agency has also contacted him via Twitter to offer a relaxing weekend away in Switzerland.

07:18 AM

Good morning!

Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s live coverage of the build-up to quarter-finals day, with the first two last-eight games kicking off tonight. Switzerland face Spain in St Petersburg at 5pm before Belgium take on Italy in Munich at 8pm.

England midfielder Jack Grealish said captain Harry Kane is the best player he has ever played with and tipped the Tottenham Hotspur forward to break the Premier League scoring record.

Kane drew a blank in each of England’s three group games at Euro 2020 but scored the second goal in Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Germany which put them into a quarter-final clash with Ukraine in Rome on Saturday.

Grealish said Kane, or “H”, was a deadly finisher but also praised his work outside the box.

“No one here would ever doubt ‘H’,” Grealish told British media on Thursday. “He’s the best player I’ve ever played with.

“He’ll break the Premier League record and the England one but he’s not just a goalscorer. He’s unbelievable when he drops deep and finds passes and puts it through people’s legs.”

Alan Shearer is the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer with 260. Kane is seventh on the list with 166.

Grealish came off the bench to play a role in both goals in the win over Germany but the 25-year-old said he was uncertain if he would start against Ukraine, given the attacking options at coach Gareth Southgate’s disposal.

“It’s difficult. I’m always playing every minute at Villa. I have to be realistic about myself and the talent that we have, especially in my position,” he said.

“You’ve got six players that play either side of Harry that, in reality, could play for most clubs in the world — myself, Jadon (Sancho), Marcus (Rashford), Raheem (Sterling), Phil (Foden) and Bukayo (Saka),” he said.

“That’s scary how good us six are. That’s not being big-headed. That’s just the truth.”

Reuters

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[flaneuriste]

Ten things I’ve learned from watching the ‘Von Trapped Family’ (that’s what the Gilmour family is calling themselves) livecasts:

So....David’s wonderful wife, Polly Samson, was supposed to be doing a book launch of her latest “A Theatre for Dreamers” but, of course, it was cancelled ‘cause of COVID-19. Instead, we’ve been getting several livecasts on Facebook. They are sheltering together at their country home with all of their children except for Joe (at least Joe doesn’t show up anywhere). Son Gabriel built a backdrop that looks like a Greek taverna (the book is set on the Greek island of Hydra). Oldest son, Charlie is the 'interviewer,” reading questions and comments, Polly answers most of the questions and does readings from her book, Charlie’s wife Irina occasionally reads one of Leonard Cohen’s poems (Leonard is one of the major characters in the book) in between taking care of their baby. Romany, David and Polly’s daughter, plays harp and sings absolutely heavenly duets with her father. David plays background guitar, singing occasionally and commenting even more occasionally.  ONE   This may be the only time I’ll get to see David live...who KNOWS when he’ll come up with another album and tour and even then, I think it highly unlikely he’ll ever tour N. America again so....I haven’t given up hope but I am really grateful that I get to watch this.  TWO  UTTERLY charming. The whole bunch of them.  THREE   I LOVE POLLY. No, I mean I really love her. To paraphrase @glorious-blackout​ “Ma’am, I am a simple heterosexual, quit confusing me.” She is so lovely, unaffected, funny, kind, brilliant - she’s an absolute darling. I probably wouldn’t have known anything about her if she and David hadn’t married but she impresses me to no end.  FOUR   Every single one of this family has a beautiful speaking voice, Irina is from somewhere middle Europe - Ukrainian, perhaps? Damn, I adore that accent. She’s very quiet but when she read that poem. WOW. Charlie has that exact pronunciation and modulation you expect from a very eccentric, very educated, very literate sort and I am totally here for it.  Polly has what I can only describe as a warm voice, David too. They have such warm tones in their voices. She’s doing the narration for the recorded book version and David is doing the sound production for it, so you KNOW it’s going to be good.  Romany’s going to have her own paragraph and so is David.  FIVE  There is always at least one dog in the room. The dogs are very much included in everything. I remember that moment from “Wider Horizons” when David was walking by and greeted their old doggie (who is gone now), “Hello Mr. Khan.” He does the same thing with their present dogs. This family LOVES ANIMALS (be sure to Google Charlie’s whole experience with Benzene, his pet magpie).  SIX  Everyone is invited to submit questions on the Facebook feed. SHE ANSWERED ONE OF MY QUESTIONS.  But aside form that, I have to admit that I get really annoyed at both the repetitiveness and, frankly, the disrespect for the occasion in a lot of the questions. It’s HER book that they are launching and they don’t mind answering other questions but, as you can imagine, tons of them are: “Will you and Roger ever play together again?” (really? Really? REALLY?); “When will you be touring again?” “Come back to ____ (fill in location)”  Anyone who knows A N Y thing about David knows that he gets so fucking tired of the same thing AND that he has way too much respect for his wife than to turn it into a PF thing.  SEVEN   I really want to read this book. Leonard Cohen had a big impact on me, since I was about fourteen or fifteen. Polly thinks he is one of the greatest poets of our time and I have to agree with her.  EIGHT   Romany. She. looks. so. much. like. David. Just a tiny bit more feminine but SO MUCH. She plays the freaking harp for pity’s sake. He plays guitar, she plays the harp, they harmonize together like a couple of freaking angels. Chrrrrrrrist. Someone asked if she were going to pursue a career in music and she said, “NO!” Who can blame her? I feel bad for the offspring of famous people who try to go down the same path for all the obvious reasons. Anyway, she’s other-worldly beautiful, as you can imagine. She’s into acting (theatre) and photography.  And Polly said that when she is deep in the writing process and driven by it, Romany delivers cups of tea and snacks to her desk.  NINE  David and Polly. So not only can any of us who wish to find a man ever find a man who really compares but goddamnit, they seem to have one of the nicest relationships I can imagine. I am SURE it’s not perfect (in fact, I know that one of their songs rose out of a fight they were having “What Do You Want From Me”) but it looks really good.  Keep in mind these livecasts are very unstructured and sort of goofy, like you just dropped around to visit them and you have to take what you get. And they just casually say things like this:  David: “It’s a privilege to work with someone who is as great a writer as Polly” Polly: “David is in all of my books”  The way they look at each other.     Sigh. TEN  David. One of the questions was about who cooks the most and what is your favourite dish of that person. Polly said David cooks the most and her favourite creations of his is “posh cheese on toast” (this is also known as Welsh Rarebit OR Welsh Rabbit because the people of the British Isles like to confuse the rest of us). Apparently he adds the leftover brie, which sends it right over the top.  He speaks the least of anyone, unless someone asks him a direct question, which is usually Polly. He noodles about on the guitar, mostly Leonard Cohen songs. Charlie calls him Papa. I am convinced this man is living his best life. He looks so content and mild. His speaking voice just gets better - lower, richer. His singing voice is as good as ever. People hound him about touring and so on. Honestly, why would he? He loves his home, his family, his studio in the barn, cooking, puttering around the garden. Why go to all the trouble? He might still but I don’t think he has any desire for big tours anymore and I can’t say I blame him. He’s been there, done that.  FINALLY   Yes, of COURSE I wish they would adopt me. Okay, that’s not true ‘cause I am lucky enough to been born into a loving family -  but I wish they would be my best friends! How I would love to drop around to the farm and find out what fruit trees David has planted and which roses Polly likes the best. There are no perfect families. There are no “well-adjusted” families. There are always traumas and secrets and regrets. But this one seems to be doing a fairly good job. Best wishes to David, Polly and all of their brood.  And a special hi to Barbounia and Random Dog - extra cute. 

[pinkcake]

Hi! Just wanted to thank you for creating and sharing screenshots of you aesthetically perfect Stardew farms and telling about their inhabitants. These are hard times for so many people, these pictures really bring joy into everyday life. If it's not too much to ask, could you please share more about Annie and her farm? And also Marina, it was so nice and heartwarming to see a non-demonized Eastern-European character. I love you, have a great week!

(quick note — i actually saw this ask quite awhile ago!! i loved it so much and was so happy, i wanted to give a long answer, but unfortunately i got busy with some school work so i left it go for a little while! i’m sorry anon that it took me so long, but i hope you understand and i hope you still enjoy hearing about my farmers ~)

this actually makes my day anon omg 😭 i am so glad my little stardew blog could be so uplifting... this game got me through some tough moments too so i’m really really happy i can be part of sharing it with more people and making them smile! 💞

it’s definitely not too much to ask haha, i love talking about my farmers! each of them are so special to me, they are born out of many different parts of my life that are meaningful to me ~! this will be under the cut, i got a bit carried away... 😄🌱🍓🌷🌱

so annie is actually a fairy by birth! she used to be very tiny, have wings, and she lived in a fairy hollow community very deep in the secret woods. she had always felt drawn to the human world, and after doing some work as a “crop fairy” her desire to become human was cemented. on her 18th birthday, she chose to forfeit her wings and most of her magic in order to become human, worked among the city lights for awhile at joja (which she strongly disliked, as she would put it), and eventually took over lavender farm west of pelican town from another aging fairy-turned-man. as a fairy, she had significant magical abilities that made growing plants and flowers a breeze… because of that, she’d always taken the process for granted, but upon more time spent observing the human world, she became more interested in their processes of agriculture and floriculture. she still has some powers left over that make crops grow a little bit faster and a little bit higher quality, but most of it is just hard work on her hands and knees in the beaming sun! her goal is to create a floral sanctuary… she specializes in flowers, teas, and honey + wax! her farm is overgrown and the stardew valley times newspaper may be a bit judgmental of how she keeps her land, but anyone who ducks into the lush sanctuary of lavender farm is immediately soothed and fascinated by its natural beauty. even annie’s farmhouse is bursting with potted plants and insect terrariums!

i created annie because the small, seamlessly-integrated sparks of magic is such a cool part of stardew valley to me. i loved that a game that was based in realism could still have elements like fairies, wizards, witches, mermaids, and monsters..! i wanted to get deeper into that part of the game ~

(bonus: i did not initially have a plan for who annie would marry and i considered even just having her single, but after some cutscenes with elliott, the concept of him being a merman-turned-human hit me! merman elliott just makes sense to be… he lives on the beach, he is a romantic, he’s got that long luscious red hair, he is deeply worried about ocean pollution, he’s a little awkward... once it was in my head i couldn’t get it out! i didn’t even realize it was an infamous theory haha. i just thought, how wonderful would it be for these two individuals who shared a similar journey — leaving behind their homes, changing species, moving to stardew valley and trying to fit in — to form a bond, fall in love, and create a life together in a world that is new to both of them? <3 annie/elliott is easily one of my favorite farmer/bachelor(ette) relationships i have! i could truly talk about them all day~ )

marina was born out of three things — 1.) my desire to play stardew valley expanded, 2.) my interest in sdve’s bachelor victor and how he has a name that is very popular in russia, 3.) my interest and appreciation for eastern european culture…

personally, my family is south-central european and i have grown up in the USA. aside from being trained as a ballet dancer all throughout my teenage years and hearing about vaganova, bolshoi, mariinsky theatres + having two russian kids as classmates and friend in primary school (one was named victor, haha!), i didn’t know much about russia or eastern european culture growing up. we didn’t have many opportunities to learn. anything i learned was more about the government’s problems, not the culture, which i find extremely sad… a government’s actions should not define or generalize a whole country or region of millions of citizens, especially when said citizens don’t have a lot of power. citizens, for the most part, are just people who are living.

in the city i currently live in, there is a “little russia” and “russian hill”, both of which i have visited many many times with my boyfriend who lives near there and who is eastern asian. everyone who lives there and 95% of the people shopping + eating there are eastern european immigrants. every shop there is authentic — most of them have everything written in cyrillic alphabet (usually russian, sometimes ukrainian) or occasional central european languages (polish most common) or balkan languages (croatian is common — my favorite market item is elderflower fanta soda, which is a croatian drink!). one of my favorite stores has music CDs and movies, signs, snacks, children’s books, and even birthday cards all in russian! there are grocery stores that only sell things that would be sold in an eastern european market, none of the labels in english (which can be difficult if you are looking to buy something for the first time without understanding the language), but it is such a neat thing to have. i remember always thinking, i’m so glad that this is here for the people who are moving away to a brand new country, so that they can always have a taste of home. i began realizing when visiting there just how massive eastern europe really is, how many countries and languages are a part of it, and how much culture and rich history there is to be found there. i played SDVE briefly with a different farmer and when i met victor, he immediately stood out to me as someone i might meet in that neighborhood. i head-canoned him as mixed-race: part eastern european and part eastern asian. he reminds me a lot of my boyfriend… a bit unsure and nervous about kickstarting his future but incredibly gifted and intelligent, and olivia reminds me of my boyfriend’s parents, who came from strict communism and poverty in china and now live in the USA taking full advantage of capitalism/consumerism (lol!), but are just a bit oblivious to their son’s mental health as it isn’t something they are familiar with. i saw a lot of parallels to things i’d seen in my life in victor, and i really wanted to create a farmer that could fit into this narrative with him. all these things combined… marina was born! i wanted to be sensitive when envisioning her, and settled on the stories of real people from eastern europe that i’ve met — she was quite poor, overworked, and didn’t have some of the freedoms she desired, and decided to move to stardew valley for a better chance at success. i wanted to portray that living in eastern europe’s economy can be very difficult, but the culture is still beautiful and should never be let go of just because of immigration… immigration doesn’t mean changing your roots or being ashamed. marina is just a sweet girl who was struggling to get by and needed a change of scenery and new opportunities… but she’s not letting go of her past or her culture, because there is no need to!

feel free to ask about any of my farmers... i will try to be more succinct next time 🤪 definitely, definitely got carried away haha! 

[cyclone-rachel]

Also what do you think Brainy's exact thoughts were when he was talking to Lex ? (and being 1000000% done with that bald bitch)

alright! let’s get into this

Lex: Director Dox! Long time no see.

Brainy, internally: yes, and it was far easier for me to work on ways to stop you when you weren’t here.

Lex: I come bearing gifts- a pysanka. Gifted to me by a Ukrainian holy man on my world tour. It brings love and wealth, and of course fertility.

Brainy, glancing down at the gift in scrutiny: is this my punishment for giving Winn dirt two years ago. is there a bug in this useless thing. what can I really do with it. I doubt it really brings those things, and besides they’re hardly relevant to me for a number of reasons.

Brainy, not even looking at Lex as he types: Does it also bring the end of Leviathan?

*turns away, considers looking at something that I’m not sure about under a microscope, before turning back to look at Lex*

You were meant to have gotten the location of their ship, so we can implant the mortality code.

Brainy, looking into the microscope anyway because he’s there, might as well: if you can’t do your job, how do you expect me to do mine?

Lex: I can’t push them.

Brainy, looking over at him like “what. really.”: you pushed Red Daughter, and Lena, and Eve, and are pushing me. And others I don’t know. why can’t you manipulate people who aren’t younger and more vulnerable than you for a change?

Brainy, absolutely done already: This delay doesn’t have anything to do with you using Obsidian Platinum for your own ends, does it? Alex Danvers called me. She wants me to help her track Obsidian users that she believes are being lured into some type of coma. By you.

Brainy, internally: And even though I’m not supposed to, technically, I still want to help her. She’d do the same for me. Probably.

Lex: While it is utterly predictable that Alex Danvers would call you, it’s not me behind your missing users, it’s Leviathan. Scout’s honor.

Brainy: I was never part of any type of scouts, or the equivalent on my planet, so your promise means nothing to me.

Lex: I found out from Gemma Cooper.

Brainy: Then help me find them. You have the Q-wave cube from Winn’s ship.

Brainy: just one more thing I have to apologize to him for. Along with everything that happened before and during the Fort Rozz mission, not being able to save him from Pestilence’s virus quick enough because I didn’t give him the right antidote, ignoring him when he and Lena and I were on the Legion ship working together, bugging his dirt, giving him a hug he was uncomfortable with, making him leave his family and friends behind when he was especially just getting back to knowing his mother, sending him to the future to fight my battles when I couldn’t, not being a good Trivial Pursuit partner at first, and possibly messing with the timeline. who knows about that last one. at least I did tell him I was sorry for bringing him here in the first place, on your orders no less.

Brainy: I can use it to track the lenses, find the missing people.

Lex, intent on making this difficult: Ah, well, I gave the cube to Lena. And if you involved her, Leviathan would kill her.

Brainy: that’s awfully convenient.

Lex: And as much as I’d like to help you, I can’t. Leviathan would find out, and then I’d be their enemy.

Brainy: I think you may be overestimating Leviathan.

Lex: And as you know, the long-term success of our plan relies on me being the opposite.

Brainy: You’re lucky we have to work together, or you would be my enemy too. And you are, just not right now.

Lex: But by all means, you should help them. I know how important your friends are to you.

Brainy, knowing he’s being used: you don’t get to speak about my friends at all, they’re too good for you. and I am only helping you because I am not.

Brainy: Okay, Lex. How shall I help them? There’s nothing at the DEO that could track Q-waves.

Lex: Why don’t you ask Supergirl?

Brainy: Great idea for any other situation.

Lex: I’m sure there’s something at that fortress of hers that could help.

Brainy: Are you suggesting that I ask Supergirl to get something from the Fortress of Solitude so she could indirectly help you. also hasn’t the Fortress gone through enough.

see also this gifset