#Russian watchmaking

[velvet-vox]

The russian worker drones family; murder drone's greatest small scale tragedy.

As long as I can recall there has never been in my mind a story quite as painful and heartbreaking and yet quite as engaging as the tragedy of Doll, Yeva, and her husband, who's lack of a clear name doesn't detract from the impact of this story or the death of the other two.

The last time such an emotional impact was left in my brain was with Noximilliem Coxen the Watchmaker from Wakfu, who I will assuredly make a comparison post with Doll, as they both hit extremely similar themes and ideas while still having such different execution and story beats that it almost makes you question why would you even compare them in the first place.

Tragedy is deceptively hard to write right and make meaningful, as just crippling your characters won't do, because at that point it just becomes drama porn and as boring as a low effort pre-schoolers program. Seemingly unfeasible in a show such as Murder Drones; an horror/comedy/romance where an abused child repaired and made friends with a robot only for said robot to cause the destruction of her planet and... something else.

Buckle up cause these robots emotions might not even be considered real inside the fictional setting but our pain allows what would otherwise be a pretty standard horror scenario to transcend into the bane of my existence as we take a look at the small, inconsequential tale of the russian worker drones family.

Yeva

Starting off with Yeva as the oldest member of our family in terms of chronological relevance, we get our first peek into the way this story plays out due to Yeva being seemingly mute by choice or programming, which retroactively sets up the storytelling method used; Yeva doesn't speak a single word in this scene or the one that precedes it, but we still get a clear rendition of her character by her standoffish behaviour juxtaposed with her caring and nurturing nature, it's debatable whether or not her and Nori are sisters, but you wouldn't be blamed for thinking that judging by the way Yeva tends to Nori after the banishment of the solver, being chained up and experimented upon didn't stop her from staying positive in the midst of adversity and could theoretically be the reason why she was the only correctly patched drone in the facility.

During the V attack she sacrificed her own life in order to protect Doll. An act that, in the long run, ended up being whortless, but that cemented Yeva has an unyielding positive influence in a world stormed by negativity and death.

The father

We know jack s##t about this man but that won't stop us from analysing him. The most interesting things about him are his relationship with Yeva and the fact that the picture of V seen in episode 2 was made by him. He's, admittedly, a white canvas for head cannons, but thematically he keeps a recurring motif that this post will touch upon in his final entry:

Doll

And now, for the crown jewel of this family. The protagonist's dark reflection. Not many people can claim to have been messed up as hard as Doll was. Sure, death is still death, but with it comes a certain sense of finality and rest. Instead, by contrast Doll's death is so brutal and devastating because although it's something that she has been calling upon herself since she started to consume other drones for her goals, it's just so heartbreaking because she managed to achieve absolutely nothing despite being one step forward everyone else in the story; she never got better, never reademned herself, made their parents sacrifice worthless, died almost entirely off camera completely alone and scared, and as her last compensation act she managed to give Uzi a barely useful warning before having her probably still alive consciousness eaten by an eldritch atrocity. At the end of the day, she was deemed worthless by the main antagonist and quickly brushed aside.

And we go back to a certain reoccurring theme regarding this family: Yeva never speaks. Her husband is never given a name. Doll is literally a toy name. Their story plays out in the shadow of the main plot. Every single aspect regarding them paints their existence as worthless and inconsequential (classic eldritch horror), yet are given enough spotlight to leave an impact on us, to have their presence felt, and to give us the impression that, despite their bad luck, if they only took certain decisions in certain key moments, maybe they would have survived and received a much better ending than the one they got.

#murder drones doll #murder drones yeva #murder drones doll's dad #murder drones ep 7 #murder drones episode 7 #murder drones spoilers #wakfu nox #wakfu #murder drones uzi #murder drones #murder drones analysis

[poeticcannon]

Star rail 2.0 spoilers! Penacony

Misha's character story has a strong theme of getting stagnated and resorting to escapism. I'm thinking the implications here are that he's the Watchmaker (I had been thinking it had been his grandfather) and he created the dream from his escapism and longing for adventure.

So, it seems he reverted to his childhood form. And could have lost his memories too. Or perhaps he's a memory of the younger self/shard of the whole, and there's an adult Watchmaker going around in the Memory Zone.

Also, Misha is short for Mikhail, the Russian version of Michael. So the young version being called MIsha while the older is called Mikhail could make sense.

Oh, Michael is the angel of Sunday, but nod idea how Sunday connects to this, besides having some means of control over the dreamscape the family uses, and apparently being able to contact the Watchmaker

#hsr 2.0 #hsr 2.0 spoilers #star rail #penacony #misha hsr

[galliversary]

⭐️ STRETCH GOAL UNLOCKED ⭐️

Thanks to your incredible support, we hit our first stretch goal within the first 12 hours of sales!

These A4 prints of Romana & Narvin in Nevernor (by @hyaesia) and Brax & the Watchmaker (by @juliasfanart) will be added to every order of the Heartshaven, Citadel, or Presidential Bundles—so if you want these gorgeous prints be sure to order one of those bundles!

We’ve now sold 30 bundles, so we only need to sell 10 more to hit our next goal!

And don’t forget—if you order any physical bundle by the end of March 8, a bonus postcard will be added to your order!

ZINE SHOP

Boosty for Russian buyers

[deadly-espresso]

(OC: Roch)

yeah i wasn't really a fan of Roch's original design, so here i drew him all over again

also since I've been doing more work on the Honey I'm Home AU that Ezra and his pals exist in, i've redoing some of his lore about since I got a new idea on where to take it. I probably won't share all of it right now since the AU's writing is still being worked on. but some ideas I did that is that i changed him from being a mix of Turkmen and Polish to a mix of Turkmen and Russian (its a more probable mixture since there are plenty of Russians in Turkmenistan), and also I changed his last name from Khalid to Saatchi because I think Saatchi fits his whole engineer/mechanic role better (Saatchi is a surname of Arabic and Turkic origin that means "watchmaker").

#art #digital art #ref #bugs

[myemuisemo]

In the second part of "The Lauriston Garden Mystery," in Letters from Watson, the animal comparisons with people continue. The prior "simian" description of the victim now appears to be in the land of general Victorian biases about looks indicating character, rather than of specific dog whistles. (It's still an idea I'm glad isn't encouraged today.)

Inspector Lestrade, for instance, is given no description beyond "lean and ferret-like," implying he's a wiry, sneaky guy who's good at catching rats. Holmes, by contrast, is compared to a hound -- a classier and more morally noble catcher of vermin.

What the victim has in his pocketses is fascinating.

A Barraud watch is a high-quality pocket watch from the Barraud family watchmaker firm, which operated in the London area from 1727 to 1880 (so, retiring shortly before the story happens), per the British Museum. Holmes reads a serial number -- 97163 -- that may be made up without regard for Barraud's actual serial numbering (watch afficionados get very into Barraud details). Being five digits likely is meant to imply that the watch is newer rather than older.

Gold Albert chain is the style of chain that has a T-bar that slips into the button hole of a vest pocket and a swivel hook that attaches to the pocket watch. They were, unsurprisingly, popularized by Prince Albert, who died in 1861. I can't easily find a source that's specific about how long these specific chains really stayed fashionable, other than that pocket watches in general faded once men's wristwatches caught on in the early 20th century. Having a heavy gold chain at minimum implies the victim is a prosperous and outwardly respectable gentleman who might lean a titch conservative and practical.

Gold ring with Masonic device -- now this raises the BIG question. Are we talking Masons like "Moose Lodge but classier" or Masons like "conspiracy theories"? Even in the 1880s, it could have gone either way. Being a Mason was a gentlemanly thing to do, assuring business connections and a reliable social network when traveling. We're back in an era when everything respectable required an introduction -- gentlefolk who were moving to a new city took letters of introductions with them! -- and simply being a fellow Mason counted. So our victim has upper-middle-class social connections.

At the same time, Arthur Conan Doyle himself joined the Masons at about this time (possibly a bit after the story was written) as part of his exploration of spiritualism and self-improvement. So our victim's being a Mason isn't not a sign he might have deep secrets. (This interview with John Dickie, who wrote a book on Freemasonry, is particularly lively.)

Gold pin -- bull dog's head, with rubies as eyes. Bulldog stickpins or cravat pins were apparently quite popular! This one puzzles me, as the bulldog is ordinarily a symbol for England, but the victim is supposed to be American. And a gold pin is not a cheap souvenir! My next thought is that it's a Yale bulldog, but I'm reaching.

Russian leather card case -- Russian leather was popular for some years before the story because it was durable and resistant to water- and insect-damage. Our victim is willing to pay for quality and/or is taking his card case places where it has a rough life. If the cards only say "Enoch J. Drebber" and "Cleveland," these are his social cards, left when paying calls. (Paying calls was the Victorian equivalent of sending memes to the group chat. You'd go round dropping off your cards at the homes of friends and acquaintances, and a few might be "at home" to invite you in for tea and cakes. Not paying calls was a good way to fall out of contact with society.)

I keep wondering -- why Cleveland? It's a Doylistic question: the American has to be from somewhere, but why Cleveland? An Englishman in the 1880s would have heard of New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Chicago, surely, but Cleveland?

Well. I had forgotten that President James A. Garfield, elected in 1880 and assassinated in 1881, was from Cleveland. Cleveland was in the news. The city was also an industrial powerhouse from the Civil War into the early 20th century, so if the idea is to convey a large, wealthy American city, where society is perhaps less refined than in New York, but not so rough-and-tumble as in "the West," then Cleveland fits the bill brilliantly. Best yet, it was ethnically diverse, with large German and Hungarian populations.

Pocket edition of Boccaccio's Decameron -- it's an era when a man who traveled would carry a pocket edition of some classic book, to while away train trips and nights in hotels. The choice of book should be an indicator of character.

This is probably the 1872 revision of Charles Balguy's 1741 translation, which kept the more ribald bits in Italian. I'm leaning toward thinking that we're supposed to see the victim as a man who liked a bit of the salacious, as no matter how the Decameron is bowdlerized, everyone knows the spicy bits are there (though why is someone else's name in the book? well, someone likes a spicy read).

Letters from the Guion Steamship Company sent me down a rabbit hole of steamship history. This is not a made-up company. This is the JetBlue of steamship lines. Per my plunge into Wikipedia, White Star was known for comfort, Cunard and Inman were known for speed, and Guion was known for transporting immigrants in steerage.

Right around the time of the story, Guion commissioned new ships to try to compete based on speed. This went badly for them, including stranding a couple ships.

Our victim could be sailing Guion as an indicator that he's pinching some pennies, or that he simply doesn't care about White Star-type comforts. Alternately, this could be Chekov's steamship and someone important will later be on a ship that sinks.

Seven pounds 13 is about $300 in today's money. Without ATMs and credit cards, and without a bank book or other financial instruments for a UK bank, this is the money that has to get the victim to Liverpool on the train (there's no train ticket) and cover any incidentals until he embarks. (Or perhaps there's more wherever he was staying?) Depending what he's got to do before leaving, he's decently prosperous.

Whatever point Holmes expected Lestrade to see as "crucial" in wiring to Cleveland (presumably to the police department), I have no idea what it might be.

Holmes' deductions about the murderer are a mix of explainable and mysterious.

Height and shoes are derived from Holmes' painstaking measurements, and Holmes is an expert at identifying cigar ash. (Trichinopoly is an Indian cigar, popular for its mild flavor.) The details of the taxi are from Holmes' examination of the mud outside. (This is definitely not a Playfair mystery where the reader sees the actual clues.)

"Florid face" likely means the murderer drinks, though he could be outdoorsy or have a choleric temperament. The long fingernails must be deduced from the writing in blood, but why were they long?

Victorian nails were kept very short by modern standards, even for women. So "remarkably long" nails might only be half an inch -- but it's a vulgar and exotic detail. I have driven myself into a frenzy in trying to find a fraternal group, religion, criminal activity, or skilled trade where it was normal, symbolic, or practically useful to have long nails on one hand.

In an era with serialized novels and no Wikipedia, readers must have been frantic with asking their friends about tantalizing details. Making all those required calls was doubtless a lot more fun if everyone had read the latest chapter.

So we have a victim who is prosperous and at least surface-respectable, but not quite "nice" and a murderer who sought revenge, has some odd trade, and is likely upset about whatever's to do with the wedding ring.

And what is to do with it? Is it intended for a future bride, taken from a dead one, or left by a runaway?

I'm on tenterhooks to hear what Constable Rance has to say next week.

#sherlock holmes #letters from watson

[fromgreecetoanarchy]

[Video] Rare footage of anarchist Pyotr Kropotkin in 1917 at the age of 74

Peter Alekseyevich Kropotkin, (born December 9, 1842, Moscow, Russia—died February 8, 1921, Dmitrov, near Moscow), Russian revolutionary and geographer, the foremost theorist of the anarchist movement. Although he achieved renown in a number of different fields, ranging from geography and zoology to sociology and history, he was eternalized for the life of a revolutionist.

Early life and conversion to anarchism

The son of Prince Aleksey Petrovich Kropotkin, Peter Kropotkin was educated in the exclusive Corps of Pages in St. Petersburg. For a year he served as an aide to Tsar Alexander II and, from 1862 to 1867, as an army officer in Siberia, where, apart from his military duties, he studied animal life and engaged in geographic exploration.

Kropotkin’s findings won him immediate recognition and opened the way to a distinguished scientific career. But in 1871 he refused the secretaryship of the Russian Geographical Society and, renouncing his aristocratic heritage, dedicated his life to the cause of social justice. During his Siberian service he already had begun his conversion to anarchism—the doctrine that all forms of government should be abolished—and in 1872 a visit to the Swiss watchmakers of the Jura Mountains, whose voluntary associations of mutual support won his admiration, reinforced his beliefs. On his return to Russia he joined a revolutionary group, the Chaiykovsky Circle, that disseminated propaganda among the workers and peasants of St. Petersburg and Moscow. At this time he wrote “Must We Occupy Ourselves with an Examination of the Ideal of a Future System?,” an anarchist analysis of a postrevolutionary order in which decentralized cooperative organizations would take over the functions normally performed by governments.

He was imprisoned in 1874 for his ideas but was freed by his comrades in a sensational escape 2 years later, fleeing to western Europe, where his name soon became revered in radical circles. The next few years were spent mostly in Switzerland until he was expelled at the demand of the Russian government after the assassination of Tsar Alexander II by revolutionaries in 1881. He moved to France but was arrested and imprisoned for 3 years on trumped-up charges of sedition. Released in 1886, he settled in England, where he remained until the Russian Revolution of 1917 allowed him to return to his native country.

Philosopher of revolution

Kropotkin’s aim, as he often remarked, was to provide anarchism with a scientific basis. In Mutual Aid, which is widely regarded as his masterpiece, he argued that, despite the Darwinian concept of the survival of the fittest, cooperation rather than conflict is the chief factor in the evolution of species. Providing abundant examples, he showed that sociability is a dominant feature at every level of the animal world. Among humans, too, he found that mutual aid has been the rule rather than the exception. He traced the evolution of voluntary cooperation from the primitive tribe, peasant village, and medieval commune to a variety of modern associations—trade unions, learned societies, the Red Cross—that have continued to practice mutual support despite the rise of the coercive bureaucratic state. The trend of modern history, he believed, was pointing back toward decentralized, nonpolitical, cooperative societies in which people could develop their creative faculties without interference from rulers, clerics, or soldiers.

In his theory of “anarchist communism,” according to which private property and unequal incomes would be replaced by the free distribution of goods and services, Kropotkin took a major step in the development of anarchist economic thought. Kropotkin envisioned a society in which people would do both manual and mental work, both in industry and in agriculture. Members of each cooperative community would work from their 20s to their 40s, four or five hours a day sufficing for a comfortable life, and the division of labour would yield a variety of pleasant jobs, resulting in the sort of integrated, organic existence.

To prepare people for this happier life, Kropotkin pinned his hopes on the education of the young. To achieve an integrated society, he called for education that would cultivate both mental and manual skills. Due emphasis was to be placed on the humanities and on mathematics and science, but, instead of being taught from books alone, children were to receive an active outdoor education and to learn by doing and observing firsthand, a recommendation that has been widely endorsed by modern educational theorists. Drawing on his own experience of prison life, Kropotkin also advocated a thorough modification of the penal system. Prisons, he said, were “schools of crime” that, far from reforming the offender, subjected him to brutalizing punishments and hardened him in his criminal ways. In the future anarchist world, antisocial behaviour would be dealt with not by laws and prisons but by human understanding and the moral pressure of the community.

Kropotkin combined the qualities of a scientist and moralist with those of a revolutionary organizer and propagandist. For all his mild benevolence, he condoned the use of violence in the struggle for freedom and equality, and, during his early years as an anarchist militant, he was among the most vigorous supporters of “propaganda by the deed”—acts of insurrection that would supplement oral and written propaganda and help to awaken the rebellious instincts of the people. He was the principal founder of both the English and Russian anarchist movements and exerted a strong influence on the movements in France, Belgium, and Switzerland.

Return to Russia of Peter Alekseyevich Kropotkin

Events took an unexpected turn with the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917. Kropotkin, by this time age 74, hastened to return to his homeland. When he arrived in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) in June 1917 after 40 years in exile, he was greeted warmly and offered the ministry of education in the provisional government, a post he brusquely declined. Yet his hopes for the future were never brighter, because in 1917 the organizations that he thought might form the basis of a stateless society—the communes and soviets, or soldiers’ and workers’ councils—suddenly began to appear in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

With the Bolshevik seizure of power in October 1917, however, his earlier enthusiasm turned to bitter disappointment. “This buries the revolution,” he remarked to a friend. The Bolsheviks, he said, have shown how the revolution was not to be made—that is, by authoritarian rather than libertarian methods. Kropotkin’s last years were devoted chiefly to writing a history of ethics, one volume of which was completed. He also fostered an anarchist cooperative in the village of Dmitrov, north of Moscow, where he died in 1921. His funeral, attended by tens of thousands of admirers, was the last occasion in the Soviet era when the black flag of anarchism was paraded through the Russian capital.

Kropotkin’s life exemplified the high ethical standard and the combination of thought and action that he preached throughout his writings. He displayed none of the egotism, duplicity, or lust for power that marred the image of so many other revolutionaries. Because of this he was admired not only by his own comrades but by many for whom the label of anarchist meant little more than the dagger and the bomb. The French writer Romain Rolland said that Kropotkin lived what Leo Tolstoy only advocated, and Oscar Wilde called him one of the two really happy men he had known.

#κροπότκιν #kropotkin #piotr kropotkin #peter kropotkin #russia #russian #anarchist #anarchism #anarchy #newsreel #old #old film #old movie #black and white #Youtube

[watchmakermori]

I finished the half life of valery k and my feelings on it are very complicated because like. it’s good! I enjoyed it a lot. I liked it much better than The Kingdoms - the character work is better and the premise, while less initially interesting, is much more cleanly executed. but as somebody who has read all of natasha pulley’s novels, I can’t escape the feeling that they’ve kind of...all been the same. i fell in love with Watchmaker because of its melancholy queer men and ruthless scholarly women and quirky premise, but it feels like that’s all we’ve really seen from natasha pulley in every book since. she’s writing about the same guys in different places and times.

it takes a lot out of me to say this because i love her work a lot, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to go on loving it if she doesn’t shake up the formula a bit. it’s honestly startling how many things crop up in valery k that we’ve seen before in other works. shenkov feels like missouri kite except russian and written more successfully - he’s still the intimidating, violent man who’s done awful things but is soft beneath it. there’s a charming octopus, even if this one is real rather than clockwork. shenkov’s wife is written out at the end of the story so that the male leads can get their happy, domestic ending together, just like in the lost future of pepperharrow.

this last point particularly stings, because the treatment of female characters in her books has probably got worse since watchmaker, not better. grace becomes the incensed antagonist in watchmaker and gets written out so thaniel and mori can have their domestic happy ending (sound familiar?), but at least she does get POV chapters and has goals of her own. we follow her desperation with her experiments and know that she has a life that exists outside of the male leads, because her relationships with her family and with matsumoto are allowed to take up space. I’m not sure any other female character has been given that much space in any of pulley’s books since. pepperharrow is probably the next-best, but her character is still firmly anchored to mori and so much of her arc revolves around him too, to the point that she literally sacrifices herself for him.

i just desperately want to see something a bit different from natasha pulley. her writing is too good to constantly tread the same ground

#natasha pulley #the half life of valery k #it's good that she's got a very distinct vibe but sometimes i just feel like #if i wanted this dynamic again i Could Just Go Reread Watchmaker yknow #i'm losing hope she'll ever write about women let alone queer women #she does have that book in the works where gender has been abolished so maybe that will do something different for me #honestly i'd even welcome a m/f romance from her at this point because honestly!! grace and matsumoto slapped! I loved their dynamic so much #it just feels so much like women are in her books under sufferance and the more books go past the more it bothers me

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

Nine (?) People You Want to Know Better

Thanks @lykegenia for the tag!

Last Song: If singing to myself counts, it was either Stan Rogers' "Free in the Harbour" or David Rovics' "Saint Patrick's Battalion." Listening only, either something by the Great Big Sea—a great, although now retired, Newfoundland folk-rock band—or the song "Phoenix" (no, not that one) that someone made a Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files AMV for.

Currently Watching: Waiting for the next episodes of Unlimited Blade Works Abridged and Fate/Apocrabridged (both arguably better than their source material) and slowly working my way through Star Trek: Enterprise.

Currently Reading: Depending on my physical location, either The Dawn Watch, a personal and global biography of seaman-novelist Joseph Conrad, or The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, a lightly fantastical mystery set in late nineteenth-century London. The novel that still hangs around in my head a good deal is Amor Towles' A Gentleman in Moscow, about a Russian nobleman sentenced to house arrest in a Moscow hotel's attic, and one of the most enveloping pieces of writing I've encountered.

Current Obsession: I bounce back and forth between a few, but at the moment I'm mostly preoccupied by Dragon Age: Origins and the Fate series—mainly the original visual novel, Fate/stay night, and the mobile game, which at least offers ample opportunities to practice rewriting interesting concepts. Fate/Zero did Diarmuid Ua Duibhne unspeakably dirty and I have an ongoing WIP (plus several more fic concepts) dedicated to correcting that, while my BioWare brain time is frequently devoted to making sense of their lackadaisical worldbuilding—sometimes within the bounds of canon, and sometimes by assaulting canon head-on—often at the cost of actually (re)writing the fic that's all theoretically about writing.

Tagging: @swtorpadawan @the-raven-of-highever @trekking-through-life @starknstarwars @ftmshepard if anyone wants to join in on this!

#tag gane

[lizardywizard]

Okay, since you're all super into Goncharov right now (I don't blame you, it's a great film), I want to talk about something that people may not know.

Namely (no pun intended), the story surrounding Matteo, the director. Yes, he had a strange last name; no, it's not because he was a robot or a license plate. There *is* a reason, a tragic one, and once you know it, it illuminates how a lot of the themes in Goncharov were highly personal for him. Matteo only ever gave a handful of interviews, all in Italian, so most people don't know the full story behind this reclusive filmmaker. Hell, I had to dig out my 20-year-old film class notes for most of this stuff; we're talking interviews in Italian magazines from the 70s.

Warning, this tale is a pretty rough one, so: CW for marital/child abuse, (possible) suicide, and (fake) gore.

---

It was the Roaring 20s, and film was the newest medium on the block. Only a few years prior, people had been terrified by these "moving pictures", fleeing their seats when a train came barreling towards the screen. But increasingly, cinemas were becoming the new form of entertainment.

Enter Muschio Albero, the son of an Italian watchmaker, and his Russian wife, Alyona "Soots" Albero-Reznikova. They were fascinated by film and the power it held to transfix and transport-- and horrify-- the audience. Their first film, Cinguettio (1924), was a 3-minute exploration of life and death, opening with a shot of a single bird chirping on a branch ("Cinguettio" refers to the chirping of birds), and finishing with a bird dead on the sidewalk, its chest torn open and spilling out disproportionately-sized organs (believed by scholars to be those of a pig). The use of pig and other animal viscera in their works became a trademark of the short, stark features they made, geared towards packing the greatest amount of shock into the shortest possible running time. From an early age Matteo was given roles in their movies, an experience about which he has never talked much but which clearly shaped his own short career as a director.

Albero was also interested in what made the mind tick, more generally. One of his cruellest schemes, in service of this, was to name their child not with an ordinary name but with an abstract series of numbers and letters, to see if this would affect his sense of identity and personhood. Soots apparently objected to this and, in private, would call the child "Matteo". His name was officially registered as Matteo JWHJ0715 Albero: something that would not normally have been possible in Italian law (even today, you cannot give your child a "ridiculous or shameful" name, or one including numbers), leading scholars to suspect that Muschio had mafia or foreign ties within the court system.

As time went on, Muschio became increasingly unstable, and increasingly consumed by his obsession with the dark corners of the human mind, particularly methods of death and killing. The relationship between the couple became bitter, and eventually Soots attempted to flee to Hungary with her son, but was stopped at the Italian border due to suspicion surrounding her passport. She was sent back home, whereupon she took her own life with a pistol placed against her eye socket.

Or at least, that's how the official story goes. Matteo was adamant, until his own self-imposed hermitage shortly after the film's release, that that was what had happened-- though this does clash with the fact that he in fact did spend the next several years in Hungary, and only returned to his native Italy as an adult, making several films before reaching critical acclaim thanks to Scorsese.

Either way, the influences on Matteo's filmmaking are clear from what we know of the duo. The Albero-Reznikovas were fond of the chiaroscuro style, creating the same harsh light and deep shadow that we see in Goncharov. We also find themes of dual-culturedness, namelessness (Goncharov's name is never spoken in the film, and he is only revealed as "Ivan" in the credits), and alienation between husband and wife in favour of homoerotic tensions (Soots was believed to have been bi). Matteo himself never married or had children, perhaps speaking to his past bad experiences with the husband-wife dynamic-- at least, that's what I concluded when I wrote my paper for this, 20 years ago. (Yeah, I'm heavily cribbing from what I wrote there.) But he could have just as easily been gay, or ace/aro. We don't know, and with as little information as we have, it's somewhat pointless to speculate.

The real question that haunts scholars to this day is: Did Matteo stow away alone, following his mother's plan to stay with relatives in Hungary? Or did Soots fake her death to escape the abuse-- explaining the alternate cut where Katya fakes her death, which was never given a wide release, possibly due to fear of Muschio's wrath if he put two and two together.

We will never know. For, two months after the release of his only film to achieve mainstream fame, Matteo retreated from the world at large, isolating himself in what he described as a "social suicide". In his "suicide" note, he explicitly named the catalyst for this retreat: the movie poster's use of his "serial number" as his last name, bringing back into public view a reality that he had striven to escape.

Perhaps he still does to this day. If he survived, he would be almost a hundred now. But no one has ever found his body, nor that of his mother.

#goncharov #the man behind the movie #meta crit #unreality

[aaronburrdaily]

July 28, 1809

Couche 1/2 p. 12. Rose 6. Breakfast at 7. At 8 to the watchmaker’s. He has put in both glasses and mended the hinge of the case, which was not broken by accident but actually worn out. Everything wears out; you will wear out. No, alas! you perish joyless in those infernal swamps. I wear out slowly. Really slowly, as you see. But, for all this watchwork, you will be surprised to hear that I paid only 1 rix dollar rixelt, nominally 3 shillings sterling, but in fact only 1 shillings and 6 pence. To Baron d’Albedÿhll’s just before 9; out; in fact, he was not dressed. To Helvig’s, just to inquire for Louisa; she has not come. The impudent huzzy sent me a message of compliments. Engaged to pass the day with the family at Drottningholm on Sunday. Propose to walk up Sunday night. Home and went to work at Swedish law. Ludert, the handsome young Russian, came in at 11 and sat an hour. Of Romanzow; Cate; disposition of Russian army toward the French; meeting of two regiments and twenty-six officers condemned to be shot; two actually shot; of Russian finances; copper, paper money, depreciation of. Fillibonka at 3. At 5 called on Madame Daily; out. Walked over to Calberg; met la bel. Comtesse Löwenhaupt at the door; walked with her toward the park; three ladies followed; asked la Comtesse in English who they were; one of them addressed me in very good English and introduced the others. Cakes, tea, &c, a very pleasant drink made of small beer, wine, lemons, sugar. Much monde came in. General Cronstedt, ux. et trois enf.¹; Baron or Count ———, who is appointed minister to France; Stul, a young officer, his secretary; la belle Comtesse Bönj, dit the most beautiful woman in Stockholm, and many others. The two belles sang and played, both very fine voices; c’est trop.² Astonishing that two belles should be such devoted friends; very honorable to both and very amiable. Stole off at 8; and have spent two hours in getting the powder out of my hair. Company to supper with d’Aries; invited but decline. My eyes have suffered by much reading; must relax to-night.

1  For uxor et trois enfants. Wife and three children. 2  Literally, that is too much! Perhaps it might be translated: That caps the climax! That beats me!

#tag yourself do you perish joyless in those infernal swamps or wear out slowly #Aaron Burr #The Private Journal of Aaron Burr

[relogioserelogios]

The Racer Jumping Hour GMT is the first wristwatch presented by the Russian independent watchmaker Anton Suhanov! The model features a triple retrograde indication invented by Suhanov, with hours at 8, minutes at 4, and seconds on a 20-second scale at the center; there is also digital GMT indication at 12 and date at 6. Renowned for his spectacular desk clocks, @anton.suhanov was one of the 2016 winners of the young talent award promoted by F.P. Journe and AHCI. Having worked with Konstantin Chaykin for over ten years, he founded his own manufacture in 2019. It competes for the GPHG in the Men’s Complication category. 💰 18,600 Swiss Francs . O Racer Jumping Hour GMT foi o primeiro relógio de pulso apresentado pelo relojoeiro independente russo Anton Suhanov! O modelo traz uma tripla indicação retrógrada inventada por Suhanov, com horas, minutos e segundos em uma escala de 20 segundos no centro; há também indicação GMT digital às 12 e data às 6. Conhecido por seus espetaculares relógios dr mesa, Suhanov foi um dos vencedores, em 2016, do prêmio para jovens talentos promovido por F.P. Journe e a AHCI. Tendo trabalhado com Konstantin Chaykin por mais de dez anos, fundou sua própria manufatura em 2019. Ele compete no GPHG na categoria Complicação Masculina. 💰 18,600 Swiss Francs 📷 @anton.suhanov • • #antonsuhanov #gphg2022 #gphg #madeinrussia #independentwatchmaking #hautehorlogerie #racergmt #jumpinghour #ahci #finewatchmaking #hautehorlogerie #relogioserelogios https://www.instagram.com/p/ChK2JyLuaCP/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#antonsuhanov #gphg2022 #gphg #madeinrussia #independentwatchmaking #hautehorlogerie #racergmt #jumpinghour #ahci #finewatchmaking #relogioserelogios

[versa-zone]

#watch #fashion #russia #Vostok

[honeyleesblog]

June 16 ZODIAC

They can't zero in on only a certain something and they generally make progress toward general training. They are strangely shrewd and delicate, with an incredible ability to adjust to individuals and everyday environments. They need to see, insight and learn everything. They can ably utilize the data gathered throughout everyday life. In any case, they ought to have the option to fulfill themselves. They are persistently at one point and afterward at another ... that is the reason they generally whine about "not having sufficient opportunity." They are uncertain individuals, with activities and cases that contrast from one another, double essentially, dependent upon consistent change. They show a specific triviality in their judgment of others. They are fairly melancholic in disposition, yet they are grasping individuals. Overall they show specific creative and strategic abilities. They are extremely gifted at copying and might want to establish the most ideal connection with everybody. Little bliss looks for them throughout everyday life. The lacking sort is mean, pompous, requests help and backing from his current circumstance. For an egomaniac like this, the main things are joy, fulfillment and solace. June 16 ZODIAC 

 Assuming your birthday is June 17, your zodiac sign is Gemini June 17 - character and character character: faultless, splendid, perfect, insane, melancholic, pernicious calling: mariner, watchmaker, craftsman tones: dark, olive, red stone: golden creature: snail plant: Periwinkle bloom fortunate numbers: 6,21,22,32,37,58 very fortunate number: 29 Occasions and observances - June 17 Argentina: Public Day of Latin American Opportunity Germany: Public Occasion of the Government Republic of Germany (celebrated somewhere in the range of 1954 and 1990). El Salvador: Father's Day Pastry specialist's Day World Day to Battle Desertification and Dry season. Peru: Commemoration of the establishing of the Manor de Valverde (current Ica). Guatemala: Father's Day. Chile: Father's Day. Iceland: Public Occasion June 17 Big name birthday events. Who was conceived that very day as you? 1900: Marდ­a Tereza Montoya, Mexican theater finance manager and entertainer (d. 1970). 1900: Martin Bormann, German legislator (d. 1945). 1900: Hugo Pesce, Peruvian doctor (d. 1969). 1901: Generoso Chapa Garza, Mexican legislator (d. 1969). 1903: Joseph Fontenrose, American researcher (d. 1986). 1904: Ralph Bellamy, American entertainer and vocalist (d. 1991). 1904: Romeo Murga, Chilean author (d. 1925). 1906: Alfonso Asenjo Gდ³mez, Chilean specialist (d. 1980). 1907: Charles Eames, American planner and originator (d. 1978). 1907: Carlos T. Gattinoni, Argentine strict (d. 1989). 1908: Evalyn Knapp, American entertainer (d. 1981). 1910: Augusto Raდºl Cortდ¡zar, Argentine intellectual (d. 1974). 1910: Red Foley, American vocalist, guitarist and entertainer (d. 1968). 1910: Diana Mitford, Nazi aggressor (f. 2003). 1912: Wessel Couzijn, Dutch stone carver (d. 1984). 1912: Wilhelm Fresenius, German researcher (d. 2004). 1914: Juliდ¡n Marდ­as, Spanish savant, humanist and writer (f. 2005). 1915: Stringbean, vocalist and American banjo player (d. 1973). 1915: Mario Echandi Jimდ©nez, Costa Rican lawmaker and president (f. 2001). 1918: Carmen Casco de Lara Castro, Paraguayan lobbyist (f. 1993). 1918: Ajahn Chah, Talean teacher (d. 1992). 1918: Juan Spirits Rojas, Spanish author (d. 1991). 1918: Raდºl Padilla, Mexican entertainer and humorist (d. 1994). 1919: Beryl Reid, English entertainer (f. 1996). 1919: Galina Ustvდ³lskaya, Russian author (d. 2006). 1920: Germდ¡n de Argumosa, Spanish parasychologist (f. 2007). 1920: Setsuko Hara, Japanese entertainer. 1920: Franდ§ois Jacob, French scholar, Nobel Prize in Medication in 1965. 1920: Gyდ¶rgy Nemes, Hungarian footballer. 1921: Efrდ©n Araya Vergara, Chilean appointed authority (f. 2006). 1921: George Luz, US military (d. 1998). 1921: Gil Parrondo, Spanish decorator. 1921: Tony Scott, American clarinetist (d. 2007). 1922: John Amis, English writer (d. 2013). 1922: Jerry Handling, American performer and author (d. 1980). 1922: Felipe Herrera, Chilean business analyst and lawmaker (f. 1996). 1922: Josდ© Martდ­n Recuerda, Spanish teacher and dramatist (f. 2007). 1922: Paul Schallდ¼ck, German author (d. 1976). 1923: Elroy "Insane Legs" Hirsch, American football player (d. 2004). 1925 - Alexander Shulgin, Russian-conceived American scientific expert and drug specialist. 1926: Manuel Enrდ­quez Salazar, Mexican violin player and author (f. 1994). 1926: Josდ© Martდ­n Recuerda, Spanish writer (d. 2007). 1927: Lucio Fulci, Italian movie producer (d. 1996). 1927: Wally Wood, American artist and marketing specialist (d. 1981). 1928: Juan Marდ­a Bordaberry, Uruguayan lawmaker, president and tyrant (d. 2011). 1928: Jacques Delahaye, French stone carver (d. 2010). 1929: Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait. 1929: Luis Calderდ³n, Peruvian soccer player. 1929: Ovidio Fuentes, Argentine entertainer (f. 1998). 1929: Tigran Petrosian, Armenian chess player (d. 1984). 1929: Pensri Poomchoosri, Thai vocalist (d. 2007). 1930: Richelieu Levoyer, Ecuadorian military and legislator. 1931: Joao Lyra, Brazilian legislator. 1933: Harry Browne, American legislator (d. 2006). 1933: Christian Ferras, French violin player (d. 1982). 1933: Maurice Stirs up, American b-ball player (d. 1970). 1935: Josდ© Marდ­a Gil-Robles y Gil-Delgado, Spanish legislator. 1936: Ken Loach, English movie producer. 1937: Cristina Bajo, Argentine author. 1937: Jorge Edgardo D'Ascenzo, Argentine footballer. 1937: Egle Martin, Argentine entertainer, star and vocalist. 1937: Ted Nelson, American humanist and rationalist. 1938: Grethe Ingmann, Danish vocalist (d. 1990). 1938: Satoshi Miyazaki, Japanese karate ace (d. 1993). 1938: Josდ© Manuel Fდ©lix Mourinho, Portuguese footballer. 1938: Darდ­o Silva, Colombian minister, essayist and columnist. 1939: Krzysztof Zanussi, Clean movie producer. 1940: George Akerlof, American financial expert, Nobel laureate in financial aspects in 2005. 1940: Marcel Aubour, French footballer. 1940: Mდ¡ximo Honorato, Chilean association pioneer. 1940: Hurl Rainey, American bassist. 1942: Mohamed el-Baradei, Egyptian lawmaker. 1942: Alberto Santofimio, Colombian lawmaker. 1943: Newt Gingrich, American lawmaker. 1943: Barry Manilow, American artist. 1943: Vicente Pelechano, Spanish clinician. 1943: Ramდ³n Pellდ­n Garcდ­a, Spanish radio personality. 1943: Burt Rutan, American architect. 1943: Luis Guillermo Vდ©lez, Colombian lawmaker and financial expert (d. 2007). 1944: Santiago Lდ³pez Castillo, Spanish columnist. 1944: Bill Rafferty, American entertainer (d. 2012). 1944: Marდ­a Teresa Ramდ­rez, Colombian essayist and antiquarian. 1945: Straight to the point Ashmore, American entertainer. 1945: Rosa Marდ­a Calaf, Spanish columnist. 1945: Tommy Franks, American general. 1945: Ken Livingstone, English government official. 1945: Swirl Merckx, Belgian cyclist. 1946: Eduardo Camano, Argentine government official. 1946: Ernie Eves, Canadian government official. 1946: Salvador Ordდ³nez, Spanish geologist. 1946: Alun Armstrong, English entertainer. 1947: Linda Chavez, American essayist. 1947: Juan Antonio Rubio, Spanish entertainer. 1947: Paul Youthful, English artist and performer, of the band Miserable Cafდ© (d. 2000). 1948: Joaquდ­n Almunia, Spanish government official. 1948: David Concepciდ³n, Venezuelan baseball player. 1948: Sho Kosugi, Japanese combative techniques warrior. 1949: Tom Corbett, American government official. 1949: Alda Lazo Rდ­os, Peruvian social scientist, minister and legislator. 1949: Snakefinger, English artist, of the band The Inhabitants. 1950: Josდ© Luis Garcდ­a Martდ­n, Spanish writer and artistic pundit. 1950: William Gდ³mez, Costa Rican columnist (d. 2012). 1950: Lee Tamahori, New Zealand movie chief. 1951: Starhawk, American essayist and extremist. 1951: Paul McGuinness, Irish German ability chief. 1952: Sergio Marchionne, Italian finance manager. 1954: Imprint Linn-Bread cook, American entertainer. 1956: Edgar Jones, American ball player. 1957: Phil Chevron, Irish guitarist (The Pogues) (d. 2013). 1957: Pedro Romo, Mexican entertainer and jokester. 1958: Jello Biafra, American artist. 1958: Bobby Farrelly, American producer. 1959: Nikos Stavropoulos, Greek ball player and mentor. 1959: Adrie van der Poel, Dutch cyclist. 1959: Kazuki Yao, Japanese entertainer. 1960: Adriდ¡n Campos, Spanish Equation 1 driver. 1960: Thomas Haden Church, American entertainer. 1960: Jan Wouters, Dutch footballer. 1961: Joaquდ­n Parra, Spanish footballer. 1961: Koichi Yamadera, Japanese entertainer. 1962: Gabriel დ?ngel Manor Vahos, Nominal Cleric of Ocana. 1962: Michael Monroe, Finnish artist, of the band Hanoi Rocks. 1963: Christophe Barratier, French producer, screenwriter and artist. 1963: Greg Kinnear, American entertainer. 1963: Joaquდ­n Otero, Spanish government official. 1964: Rinaldo Capello, Italian hustling driver. 1964: Michael Gross, German swimmer. 1964: Fabio Manes, Argentine writer and TV have (d. 2014). 1965: Josდ© დ"scar Herrera, Uruguayan soccer player. 1965: Mario Duarte, Colombian entertainer and artist. 1966: Christy Gully, American pornography entertainer. 1966: Aitor Etxaburu, Spanish handball player. 1966: El Turco Naდ­m, Argentine entert0ainer and jokester. 1966: Jason Patric, American entertainer. 1967: Javier Barrientos Grandon, Spanish legal advisor. 1967: Terry Davis, American ball player. 1967: Eric Stefani, American artist, of the band No Question. 1967: Tori Welles, American pornography entertainer. 1968: Luis Barbat, Uruguayan soccer player. 1968: Luka Paviე‡eviე‡, Serbian ball player. 1968: Mari Sano craftsman, Japanese charanguist. 1968: Minoru Suzuki, Japanese warrior. 1969: Ruth Infarinato, Argentine entertainer and moderator. 1969: Roberto Laiseka, Spanish cyclist. 1969: Claudia Pavlovich, Mexican government official. 1969: Ilia Tsimbalar, Russian footballer. 1969: Daniel Peredo, Peruvian games columnist and storyteller. (f. 2018) 1969: Paul Tergat, Kenyan long distance runner. 1969: Alberto Undurraga, Chilean government official. 1970: Will Specialty, American entertainer and screenwriter. 1970: Popeye Jones, American ball player. 1970: Sasha Sokol, Mexican artist and

[decordreamscom]

French couturier and founder of her own fashion house Sonia Rykiel. Sonya Rykiel was born on the outskirts of Paris on May 25, 1930 in the family of a Romanian watchmaker and his Russian wife. Sonya's first husband, Sam Rykiel, was the owner of a knitwear store: she created her first knitted dresses, replenishing the range of the family store. In 1962, a sweater model appeared in a horizontal white-black-red-pink stripe — it had long sleeves and a short, tapered hem. A year later, Poor Boy Sweater ("Poor Boy's Sweater") hit the cover of Elle magazine (the aspiring singer Francoise Hardy posed in it) and popularity came to Rykiel. Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve and Audrey Hepburn appeared among Sonia Rykiel's loyal clients, and after some time she divorced and, on the advice of her ex-husband, founded her own fashion house Sonia Rykiel in 1968. Rikel' s business was very successful, and she was not afraid to take on new projects She was called the “queen of knitwear,” but Ms. Rykiel also designed interiors for the Crillion Hotel in Paris (1972), a collection for a mail order catalogue, children's clothes, accessories and perfume. In 2010, the fashion house Sonia Rykiel announced the creation of a collection of interior fabrics, in the same year an exhibition of Rykiel's drawings was held in Paris. Mah Jong sofa model, designed by Hans Hopfer. Roche Bobois. Upholstery and carpet by Sonia Rykiel Maison. Chic home textiles are produced in collaboration with the famous French publisher Lelievre: in the collections of upholstery fabrics of bed linen, towels, pillows and blankets with the SR monogram, there are always bright saturated colors, a clear print and an original ornament. Sonia Rykiel 2015 advertising campaign. Underwear advertisement for H&M brand. H&amp lingerie advertisement ;M. In 2009, Rykiel was awarded the Legion of Honor for her contribution to the French fashion industry. In the same year, the brand launched a lingerie collection with the H&M brand. In 2010, Sonia Rykiel announced the creation of a line of interior fabrics, and in La Gallerie Catherine Houard hosted an exhibition of Rykiel In 1995, having begun to suffer from Parkinson's disease, she appointed her daughter Natalie to the post of General and Artistic Director of Sonia Rykiel. Fashion house Sonia Rykiel has been owned by First Heritage Brands, an investment fund of the Chinese Fung group, since 2012. Natalie Rykiel remains a consultant to the company. A year ago, Natalie Rykiel published a book describing her relationship with her sick mother and "the day your mother becomes your child." “I dedicated my life to building the image of my mother, — Natalie writes. — I know it's now a myth and a fashion icon. Her incredible fate is part of history. Sonia Rykiel Spring-Summer 2014 advertising campaign. Photographer Craig McDean. "She built her universe from the very beginning, with her own attitude to detail and sewing skills, — says Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. — She had her own view of woman and femininity, which did not separate a woman from society. Sonya Rykiel has always welcomed the initiatives of young designers. She and I have always believed that clothes are not only decoration, but also a manifesto. Her design — it's a bridge between fashion, literature, and activism."

[kristabella]

Freres Rochat Gold Bird Box

This stunning gold box was created by Frères Rochat circa 1820. At first glance, it may seem like a well-crafted, beautifully designed snuff box with a pearl floral motif on top. However, it holds a hidden surprise - a technical marvel of a singing, rotating bird! The button on the rim opens up the lid to reveal the intricately crafted bird that sings and rotates. It's a wonder how the complex mechanical mechanisms fit into such a small space. This antique box is truly extraordinary and a testament to the skill and craftsmanship of the Rochat brothers. About Freres Rochat: Frères Rochat is a Swiss company that was founded in the early 19th century by Antoine and Samuel Rochat, two brothers who came from a long line of skilled watchmakers. The company quickly gained a reputation for producing some of the finest mechanical timepieces and automata of the time, including singing bird boxes, which they became particularly renowned for. The Rochat brothers' innovative designs and engineering prowess made them highly sought after by wealthy collectors and royalty alike. They were commissioned to create bespoke pieces for many high-profile clients, including Napoleon Bonaparte and the Russian Tsar, Alexander I. In the mid-19th century, Frères Rochat was taken over by another watchmaking family, the Favres, who continued to produce exquisite automata and timepieces in the same tradition. The company continued to flourish, with many of their creations being displayed in museums around the world. Today, Frères Rochat is still regarded as one of the foremost names in luxury watchmaking and mechanical automata. Their antique singing bird boxes are highly prized by collectors and connoisseurs, and the company continues to produce exceptional timepieces and other mechanical creations to this day. About Bird Boxes: Gold musical bird boxes are a type of mechanical music box that was first created in Switzerland in the late 18th century. They were usually made of precious metals, such as gold or silver, and featured intricate designs and ornate engravings. The boxes were typically small and compact, but contained complex mechanical workings that allowed them to produce the sound of birds singing and chirping. The birds were often crafted from finely detailed feathers and would move and rotate while singing, creating a lifelike effect. These musical bird boxes quickly became popular among the wealthy and were considered luxury items. They were often given as gifts to royalty and other important figures, and many were created as one-of-a-kind pieces for wealthy collectors. Today, antique gold musical bird boxes are highly sought after by collectors and can fetch high prices at auction. They continue to be appreciated for their intricate craftsmanship and unique musical capabilities, making them a fascinating piece of history and art.

#aesthetic art #Box #19th century

[katandsquad]

So I never really Post anything on here but I have some thoughts i just cant let go.

I really really loved the Watchmaker of Filigree Street books. I really loved all 3 of them

For christmas I got The Kingdoms and The half life of Valery K

I enjoyed The Kingdoms, even though it wasnt as good and the book focused too much on a weird kinda stalky romance imo

But i still liked it and the premise of the book was interesting

Few days ago i started to read the half life of Valery K and boy. I read chapter 7 and to be honest I dont know how anyone was able to read further after that. I checked all the 1 and 2 Star reviews on goodreads and most of them either finished the book or dropped after like 30-40%

How?

I didnt even manage to read 1/4 of the book

I really adore Natasha Pulleys writing and her ideas but the fuck did she think while writing this one?

I'm german, with polish ancestors (like great grand parents)

My grandparents lived through WW2

You cant make me like a character that has worked with/for fucking Josef Mengele

I felt absolutely sick when I read that name

I already didnt feel good after reading the title of the chapter, because i already knew where this was going to end.

You cant just mention the gruesome experiments that this Person did in such a casual way.

What the fuck is wrong with you.

And yes I know that Valery feels bad about it, but the way that scene is handled is poorly at best.

Shenkov telling him "you were only 19 and you were just following orders"

Alot of people """just followed orders"""" during WW2 but that doesnt make the shit they did any better

They are still guilty

And so is the main character of this book.

I feel so mad, sick and depressed because of this book.

I have never dropped a book/manga/comic because of it's questionable content before. I have read comics that made me feel bad but I was still able to finish them.

This book and specifically chapter 7 damaged me in some way. I had nightmares through the whole night.

I didn't dare to read the 5 and 4 Stars reviews on goodreads, but my sister did and i have one question

Are you people okay?

Most of the comments were something along the lines of "its such a good slow burn romance 😍"

Like excuse me??? ARE YOU PEOPLE OKAY???

This book feels like Natasha did barely any research on russian and german culture.

Didnt properly research anything regarding the cold war and ww2

I'm shocked and severely dissapointed in her and i'm not sure if i'm ever gonna touch a book of hers again.

#the half life of valery k #natasha pulley