roses r red, violets r blue, it's deja vu @barcarolerose - Tumblr Blog

“bits to use in everyday conversations”

I often think about that post that was a fake dating profile for a cat that was all about chickens, like wanting someone with posable thumbs for opening chickens.

notogdenjesse

This is one my favourite things the internet has ever made.

barcarolerose

that's the cutest thing i've ever read

suratan-zir

Some time ago, I received a question about how people in the russian-occupied territories of Ukraine live. My mother called today (she lives in Donetsk). It's a miracle she's still able to call me with a VPN. She shared news of my hometown. She had to close the window to say all this, despite not actually saying anything criminal. Because that's what life is like there. Everyone is scared.

Everything we knew in that town all our lives has pretty much ceased to exist - and, mind you, the town is not on the frontline. Nothing there has been destroyed, it's just been under occupation since 2014. Now our industrial bakery, meat processing plant, and coking plant - they all have stopped production under the glorious russian governance. Our steel mill - the main town employer (it's a monotown, everything is dependent on that mill) - has been put on "hot conservation," which basically means it's kept operational but produces nothing.

She says at all the border checkpoints (and there still is a border between the "DPR" and russia, despite them proclaiming it a part of russia in 2022), they check everyone's phones. Every phone has spyware on it, and every conversation is being listened to. She says sometimes she'll be talking to my father on the phone and then hear other voices commenting on what she has said, or just chatting in the background. I can't tell you if it's true or not, but I believe her.

So there you have it: personal accounts of what life there looks like.