karolinium ✨

[efflare]

[karolinium]

I don’t myself let fall easily, but he brings me tea to bed. And he makes me laugh, a genuine, I-can’t-stop-please-you-stop kind of joy. And he tells me it’s okay to cry and no one ever told me that before. But I don’t think love is falling, I don’t think it’s as passive as it may sound. It’s a jump, jump to the other riverbank, a leap of faith. Trusting yourself - that this, that this what you are doing - is the right thing; and giving the other person permission and the power to put a knife through your ribcage and twist it until you don’t know yourself. Love is a choice. It is him kissing me even though I woke up with a stuffed nose. He puts the comforter over my shoulder and reaches for my hand mindlessly when we are watching a series he already watched ten years ago. He twists it and tugs at my fingers, and it’s like a secret language, a conversation no one else can hear.

--- from my substack

[karolinium]

a little something i wrote last month

[aseaofquotes]

Anna Quindlen, Being Perfect

[al-norton]

Some reputable links to help Ukrainian military & civilians

- https://savelife.in.ua/en/

Charity fund Come Back Alive that supports soldiers on front lines and after service.

- https://voices.org.ua/en/

Charitable Foundation Voices of Children, mostly with focus on mental health and development of children in Lughansk and Donetsk region.

- https://www.peoplesproject.com/en/

Ukraine's military and civil crowdfunding.

You can also donate directly to Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, for logistical or medical support. More info here: https://mil.gov.ua/en/donate.html

Please do not ignore individual calls for aid and crowdfunding too! Whether they come in form of patreon links, emergency commissions, etc. I'd say setting up a patreon account to support creators and people in need would be the surest way to help, since things like PayPal, Ko-Fi, CashApp etc do not work in Ukraine (although some people still use them through friends or relatives in different countries). Not all circumstances are dire enough to need organizational help, but even 10$ can really help an individual person who had to evacuate from their town, relocate from a damaged building, etc.

Last but not least: CHECK YOUR INFO SOURCES!! Russia has been on disinformation pipeline since last week, and sowing panic in Ukraine and around the world is one of the worst things to do right now. Like, for real, stop with the WW3 bullshit. The conflict as it is, while obviously hard for Ukraine, is fairly localized and with your help it can very much stay that way.

[anoonimthepoorchad]

About the Russian invasion - how is everyone feeling there? What can we do to help?

Thank you so much for asking!

A little bit of history: it's actually been 8 years since russia first invaded our country. But for the last years it was getting more and more quiet. And now BOOM again

Many people evacuated from the destroyed by war cities in 2014 and some still live there even though they support Ukraine. It's hard to leave your home. So it's emotionally different for everyone. There was a joke that people from Kyiv worry more than people from Eastern Ukraine. Because they have experienced a similar thing in 2014 and now they're more prepared than ever before.

Personally, I'm panicking from time to time, because, yup, it's stressful. Most people don't really speak about the war and evacuation because it's scary. But I feel like everyone's trying to be prepared for the evacuation or fighting. Every night does feel like a last one, after all.

Since the beginning of the war, our people have been giving money to military charity. One of the most famous military charities is "Return alive" (Povernysya zhivim). Many Ukrainians donate here every month. Here is a link for Facebook page of the charity, let me know if it translates to English or if i should make a post with translation:

There is also a charity that helps military. Yana Zinkevych, a Ukrainian politician and a commander of the Hospitallers Medical Battalion, leads this charity. In 2015 she was paralyzed during a mission and since then she has been using a wheelchair. She has personally saved more than 200 soldiers and she's awesome.

https://www.facebook.com/100020149602229/posts/914756185872693/

In her post here she makes a list of needed ammunition and the needed money.

I tried to write about the charities that Ukrainians trust in. They are famous, they have been trusted by people all these years, so as far as I am concerned, they can be trusted.

Here is a post by @everlasting-burnout who provided more links. They seem trustworthy.

All links are from these threads by Ukrainians: https://twitter.com/bluegreymoon/status/1495165689220505606, https://twitter.com/olgatokariu

Thank you so much for reading and I encourage to reblog. Just to remind you, I'm trying to tell about Ukrainian situation as objectively and as truthfully as I can

[kassareo]

hi everyone!

my name is yeliza, i’m ukrainian, living in kyiv. funny story but currently we have a 150k+ army of russians all over the ukrainian borders, as well as an ongoing shelling from uncontrolled territories that has been averaging more than 1000 strikes daily. more fun facts - we are currently in a state of emergency, and it’s of high probability that russians will start a major invasion pretty damn soon. kyiv will be one of the first to be hit :)

i wanted to use this as an opportunity to spread the information about the whole situation, but also ask you to help me disperse it further: you can get the main points about the russo-ukrainian war and current escalation here. also PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING TO OUR ARMY - the link is here. any amount would be helpful - even some of your pocket money. we are in the dire need for the global support, truly.

much love and appreciation for your help!

if you have any question regarding the situation, i’ll be glad to answer as long as i’ll be able to! stay safe!

UPD. The National Bank of Ukraine has also opened a donation account for Ukrainian army, the number of the special account: UA843000010000000047330992708 . Proof here. PLEASE DONATE

[existential-celestial]

Kim Addonizio, from “New Year’s Day,” in Tell Me

[silverystardustt]

[writerestrepeat]

In a seminar for my discipline’s club, I asked the panel of professor’s “how do you know if you should go to grad school?”

Without missing a note, the hardest bitch of a professor I’ve ever known says in his usual soft voice, “Are you done learning?” No.

“Undergrad is what. Master’s is why. PhD is how.”

I want this on my tomb stone.

[vinnyn-blog]

“The Glen“ by Loré Pemberton.

https://www.lorepemberton.com

[natequarter]

trick or treat :)

the word "ghost" has an h in it because a bunch of dutch people came over to england and started adding h into words with g in them. for most of them it didn't stick but somebody put "ghost" in the bible so everyone assumed it was right, and it stuck

[karolinium]

another year, another walk through one of my favourite streets

[karolinium]

i never schedule anything on fridays because they belong to me - walks, farmers’ market, reading, consciously doing nothing

[newvision]

I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.

L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

[karolinium]

first week of the new (in person) semester is behind me now, it was exhausting! but glad to be back

[liter-ellie]

Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple.

J.K Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows