Blame the government! Ordinary people are not at fault!
Ordinary people are working at factories and making bombs. Ordinary people are going to the occupied cities to settle there. Ordinary people taking the abducted children for "re-education". Ordinary people doing all the soft power work and whitewash state's crimes. Ordinary people launching missiles. Ordinary people go to newly occupied territories for vacations. Ordinary people do nothing and say nothing about state's crimes even when they have a chance. Ordinary people teach their kids to be the same.
And ordinary people loudly play victims while sending you death threats and calling you slurs. Ordinary people are telling the people their government bombing that they deserve to be bombed. Even if they were claiming they hate their government just a moment ago.
Army consists of ordinary people who decided to go to kill people in another country for some cash.
And some of them even think they should be praised and rewarded for leaving Omelas.
Russian activism is much closer to what a large part of Western audiences are used to than Ukrainian activism or the genuinely heroic and compassionate actions Ukrainians take. That's because Russian activism often shares the same element of privilege that much of Western activism does.
The recent example of the Russian couple holding up an no war sign during a marriage proposal on top of a tower is probably the clearest example of this. It's the kind of thing that easily fits booktok aesthetics and inspires edits where people imagine themselves in that moment, while completely ignoring the fact that it didn't actually help anyone or change anything. In terms of real impact, it's on the same level as posting a black square on Instagram.
There was no attempt to raise money for actual aid or direct people toward organizations that are genuinely helping.
It's simply a nice gesture — an activist version of "let them eat cake", where having a beautiful, symbolic moment matters more than creating real change.
It's a form of privileged activism where actually changing the situation isn't the important part.
The actions of Ukrainians during a genocidal war are the complete opposite. They're focused on actually saving lives, which makes the contrast even more obvious by showing what genuinely helps and what doesn't. For people who are invested in this kind of activism, acknowledging that difference would require rethinking their own beliefs, so it's often easier to simply ignore those actions instead.
Another reason for this is that these Russians are living peacefully in other countries, in circumstances much closer to the everyday lives of Western audiences. They're simply easier for them to relate to than Ukrainians living through war.
I've also often heard Ukrainian activists say that they have to think very carefully about how to communicate with this part of the Western audience. For many of them, almost everything is considered "outside of politics" and the war is reduced to "two presidents having a conflict". Because of that, even lectures about Russia's cultural genocide against Ukraine have to be framed in ways that won't upset people who insist on separating Russian culture from politics, even when that framing directly contradicts the reality of Russia's actions against other nations.
Honestly, it reminds me of how many of these same activists reacted to the protests in Iran.
People whose lives are in danger don't have the luxury of focusing on big beautiful gestures. For them, activism is about survival, not about creating aesthetically powerful moments.
Yesterday, on 2.07.2026, approximately at 2:20 AM a russian missile exploded right next to my flat.
I woke up with glass shards all around me and a door from another room that collided with mine, almost barricading me inside my bedroom. Every window and door in the apartment was blown out by the explosion. My family's car burned to the crisp. The entrance door of the flat was stuck and people have spent 40 minutes trying to break it open with hammers and axes.
Despite great material damage, miraculously, me and my family wasn't injured. Even my laptop and drawing tablet have somehow survived, despite being left right by the window. And, thankfully, I have another place to go to, where I'll be living full-time from now on.
The only thing I want to tell you guys, remember that Russia is a terrorist state. That night dozens of people have died and even more got injured or lost their every possession. I was lucky to only suffer material losses. Attacks like this one have been happening since 2014 on the east side of Ukraine and for four years now all over the country and will continue. Our UNESCO protected landmarks are being destroyed and whole cities are being wiped out by missiles and drones.
Please, be mindful and avoid supporting russian organisations, and don't spread misinformation about the war. This is very important, because info war is just as much of a real part of the war as physical destruction is. If you have the means to, donate to Ukrainian volunteers. Support those who are dear to you.
But even after that life goes on. I still have to collect all of my paperwork for the graduation and applying for uni. People will be going back to work and meeting with friends.
Just saw a russian artist's commission info saying: payment only through Boosty due to the situation in my country.
The "situation" is your country committing genocide against Ukraine.
You can't even be honest on your own Tumblr page. And your clients might end up funding, through the taxes you pay with their money or through your own donations to your country's army (because some westerners quickly forget that a person can actually support their country's actions, especially when they phrase things like this), the continued killing of ukrainians.
For God's sake, at least ask about the political views of a russian artist before commissioning them. If you're from Europe or the US, you're literally paying someone whose country is at war with yours too.
The first of my two contributions to the Reverse Big Bang by @deadbangdetectives is here, featuring this beautiful art by @meips-battteries-are-low! You can read the first scene below, or the whole thing here on AO3.
Relationships: Edwin/Charles; minor Crystal/Niko; past Edwin/Simon
Rating: M
Warnings: major character injury; past unhealthy relationships (not between Payneland); miscommunication
Summary: Three years after the fight that ended their friendship, Charles gets a call that Edwin has been hit by a car and is in the hospital with a badly broken leg and a concussion. With no one else to take care of Edwin during his recovery, Charles has no choice but to step up. In the days that follow, old feelings come bubbling to the surface, and it turns out neither of them are as ready to let go as they thought.
***
When the shrill ring of his phone cuts through his flat, Charles is still half-asleep, lazing in bed with his face buried in his pillow. He snuggles deeper under the covers, waiting for the ringing to stop, because he can’t think of a single person who should be calling him right now. Crystal and Niko know not to call him before noon in the mornings after he works late at the pub. He just talked to his mum the other day, and she usually calls at night, well after his dad is in bed. It’s probably someone trying to sell him something or a wrong number, and Charles isn’t getting out of bed for that. The phone stops ringing and Charles enjoys a moment of quiet before the answering machine kicks on.
“Hello,” a woman’s crisp voice says. “My name is Vera and I’m calling from St. Vincent’s Hospital—”
Charles rockets out of bed, kicking away the sheets that tangle around his legs. The woman is still talking, but he can’t hear what she’s saying over the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears. Stumbling into his kitchen, he snatches the phone off the wall in a white-knuckled grip. “Hello?”
“Charles Rowland?” She sounds perfectly calm, like she isn’t calling from the bloody hospital of all places.
“That’s me,” Charles manages to say, even though he feels like his heart is lodged in his throat. His mum promised that things were better with his dad since he retired, that Paul Rowland is a changed man now, but Charles never really believed it. But if his dad has finally landed her in the hospital, Charles… well, he doesn’t know what he’s going to do. He can’t make her leave the old cunt; he’s tried and failed more times than he can count.
“I’m calling from St. Vincent’s Hospital on behalf of Edwin Payne,” Vera says. “He gave your name as his emergency contact.”
Charles’s half-asleep brain can’t quite comprehend the words, confusion overtaking the previous terror. For a moment, he wonders if he’s dreaming, if his sleeping mind thinks it’s 1993 and that he and Edwin are still best mates. “Edwin? Edwin Payne? Brown hair, green eyes, mole on his chin?”
“Dimples,” he doesn't add. “And beautiful hands and a smile that makes you want to do anything to get another one out of him.”
He can practically feel Vera’s judgment over the line. “Edwin Anthony Payne,” she says slowly. “Date of birth January 18th, 1973.”
Charles remembers Edwin’s twentieth birthday, the last one they celebrated together three and a half years ago. Edwin and Simon had just broken up for what really seemed like the last time, and Charles had been trying to hide how thrilled he was, because Edwin seemed properly miserable. Charles, Crystal, and Niko surprised him with a nice dinner and a lopsided cake that Charles and Niko made from scratch. It’d been a good night and by the end of it, Edwin was smiling, leaning back in his chair with a glass of wine, cheeks flushed and eyes bright.
And then…
Well, it didn’t matter, did it? Apparently, it had never mattered. Edwin and Simon got back together a month later and not long after that, Charles and Edwin had the blowup that ended over five years of friendship in one horrible night.
“He was admitted here this morning.” Vera’s voice cuts through his reverie. “He’s asked for you.”
Finally, it sinks in that it’s a hospital that’s calling about Edwin. Edwin is in the bloody hospital. “What happened?” Charles demands.
“I’m afraid I can’t share many details over the phone,” Vera says. “But there's been an accident and he’s in surgery now.”
An accident. Surgery.Bloody hell, Edwin hates hospitals. He hates fluorescent lights, loud noises, and people he doesn’t know touching him, and all three of those things are unavoidable in hospitals. The thought of him alone there makes Charles’s heart hurt. And he must be alone, because there’s no way he would have asked them to call Charles otherwise.
Maybe he hit his head. Maybe he’s delirious. Maybe he’ll be furious when he gets out of surgery and finds Charles waiting for him. Maybe Charles should tell Vera sorry and hang up, because this isn’t really his problem. Edwin doesn’t want it to be Charles’s problem. But Edwin asked for Charles, and even if he didn’t really mean it, Charles has never been able to say no to him, not since their first day back at St. Hil’s.
i was watching some of the videos made by 'innocent' russians after the recent Ukrainian drone strikes and listened to all them wail how 'regular people are not involved and shouldn't be suffering', 'i'm so far from politics and am not involved into this war so why am i suffering'
so i decided to sit down and think about how this war that russia started to destroy Ukraine affected me besides the obvious things like suffering from air strikes daily or being force to relocate abroad. so here's the list
- my home town of Kherson was occupied and is now under constant bombings and citizens are suffering from the human safari that russians do for fun and love of suffering
- the theater where i performed and visited as a child - was hiе by a bomb
- the maternity hospital where i was born was hit by a bomb
- a relative of mine was killed by rocket strike
- my uncle's family had to escape their village because russians were coming for them since he was a former military and all military people and their families were primary targets for russians to interrogate, torture and kill
- my godmother's and another uncle's family had to do the same for the same reason
- both of those villages are still occupied to this day
- multiple houses in my neighborhood including my own house one way or another were damaged by shelling or explosions
so yeah, when they say 'i'm not in any way connected to this war' - think again. somebody you know, your family, your relatives, you friends, your colleagues, their families, their friends - someone is one way or another is involved with this war. military operations and supporting infrastructures are not operated by empty rooms or faceless ghosts, or putin's clones. they are all living breathing human beings that KNOW what they are doing. they made a conscious choice to do it and they've been doing it since day one with no remorse. that's why i'm not sorry for them and they are not innocent. and i will never forgive them
the best fanfiction you've ever read was written by a woman in her 40s before she made dinner for her kids. it was written by a teenager after school when they should've been studying for a history test. and a barista came up with the idea while they cleaned the espresso machine and busser fact-checked it on their break and the post-doc edited between writing grant proposals and the nurse apologized for typos in the notes after a long shift and behind every drabble and one-shot and multi-chapter fic there is a person with a wonderful and interesting and chaotic life and it is such a privilege that we get to be apart of it because they decided to do this thing we all share, for fun.
overdramatization and poor life choices @avoiceofnerat - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
