The Chariot Race (detail) by Alexander von Wagner

Me too Jake, me too

fuck marry kill - liam, roman, ryan

"I don't think I've played this game since high school... so this'll be fun. My instinct says to kill Ryan, but that would make Tess sad and she's my sister buuut, boy, does the thought of bein' stuck with that giraffe the rest of my life or havin' him in my bed gives me the heebie jeebies. So I'm real sorry to Tess but he's gone. As for marry... probably Liam. He knows me the best and I do love him. Despite the fact he's not talkin' to me right now... if it came down to it I bet we could be happy. Or at least content. Guess that leaves good ol' daddy Roman for the fuckin'. Can't say I'm upset about it, to be honest." ( @grangerliam @romanwagncr @ryanparrish )

Le château de Neuschwanstein , un château de conte de fée pour de vrai

Nouvel article publié sur https://www.2tout2rien.fr/le-chateau-de-neuschwanstein-un-chateau-de-conte-de-fee-pour-de-vrai/

Le château de Neuschwanstein , un château de conte de fée pour de vrai

starter for @romanrhodes

location: the wagner wedding reception

"Roman, hey," Johnny had finally caught Roman in a moment that wasn't busy with people having finished their dinner well over an hour ago. "I just wanted to say thank you again, the dinner was amazing." He had been complimenting it with many others around the reception before spotting Roman. "I'm not going to be disappointed eating the leftovers by any means." He knew that the leftovers were being packed up for him and Stevie, if they weren't already.

Putin is losing control of his "special operation". His (former?) chef Yevgeny Prigozhin has captured a lieutenant colonel in the Russian Army and released a video of him confessing to trying to kill members of Prigozhin's mercenary Wagner Group.

Wagner Parades Captured Russian Colonel as Feud With Kremlin Boils Over

Dark footage purports to show Lieutenant Colonel Roman Venevitin, reportedly the commander of Russia’s 72nd Motorized Rifle Brigade, being interrogated. With what appears to be an injured nose, the captured commander confesses to having attacked a Wagner vehicle during the bloody battle of Bakhmut in May.

[ ... ]

After identifying himself, Venevitin says in the video that he “opened fire” on the vehicle while “intoxicated from alcohol.” When asked why he’d done so, he answers: “Due to my personal animosity.” Pressed by his interrogator as to why he has animosity toward Wagner, Venevitin appears dejected and says: “I don’t know.”

Venevitin also goes on to confess that he and a group of 10 to 12 of his Russian army subordinates had “disarmed” a Wagner rapid response group, again citing his “personal animosity” as the motivation. “What do you think, does personal animosity have any place at all in war?” the interrogator asks. “No,” Venevitin says. “How can your actions be characterized?” the interrogator replies. Venevitin sighs and answers: “Guilty.”

The shocking clip was published on Telegram hours after Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin released a document accusing Defense Ministry soldiers of planting mines to the rear of Wagner’s positions south of Bakhmut. The letter, dated May 17, goes on to say that Wagner sappers sent to clear the minefields were shot at by a group of soldiers. “They turned out to be servicemen of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation,” Prigozhin wrote in the document, adding that the officer leading the group was found to be in a “state of alcohol intoxication.”

That marvelously sums up the state of Russia's ground forces: A bunch of drunks commanded by idiots shooting at each other because of petty internal feuds.

There is no point to Russia's invasion other than desperate attempts to rescue Putin's damaged ego. A competent and rational leader would have found a minor face-saving excuse to declare victory and then gone home. But Putin is not competent and no longer acts rationally.

Putin can blow up all the dams he likes, Ukraine will not surrender. Continuing the war will only weaken Putin and possibly lead to his downfall.

WITH: @romanwagncr LOCATION: the mall

Michelle had tried therapy. In fact, she was still in therapy. And every week, when she got on with her therapist of five years, they would end up inevitably discussing her divorce. She would start off calmly discussing the various ways that Connor had screwed her over and inevitably, it would turn into a tirade against her ex-husband. Which was why this Sunday morning, rather than spending an hour yelling into her therapist’s ear, she chose another sort of therapy. Retail therapy. The only type that would surely improve her mood. Especially when she knew that the funds she used would come from the settlement of their divorce. He might have been a hot shot, but Michelle had paid her fair share in lawyers’ fees to ensure that she showed him what it meant to be a gold digger that he’d claimed she was in the bitter end. As she mindlessly flipped through the hangers lining the racks, she felt a tiny body collide with her leg.

While nurturing wasn’t the first word one might associate with Michelle given her exterior and demeanor, she adored children. Which was why as she peered down at the little girl staring back up at her, eyes slightly moist, she crouched beside the blonde. Giving her an up and down, she imagined that the reason she was upset was because she was lost. And naturally, Michelle would help her find her parents. But first, “are you crying because of your outfit? Because I would be too.”

The Chariot Race (detail) by Alexander von Wagner

Roman's house

@romanwagncr

     "It was way too easy." Both hands pressed against the frame of the doorway, Milena offered a bored look to the man that had hired her on a consultant basis. The reason for her being there was to test the security measures of his system at home and for a hacker of her level, it was child's play. Almost always blunt and to the point, unless there was something to play at, Lena said it how it was and that was in her own characteristic fashion. "Granted, most people trying to break-in wouldn't be anywhere near my skill level," it wasn't a brag, simply facts, "if you want my help in making it better just say so. Or, you can continue on and try to figure it out your way." Even then, there hadn't really been anything that had the ability to keep her out if she really and truly wanted in anywhere. It was why top government agencies around the world knew of her name and had her on their special watch lists. Since she'd been last pulled in for interrogations she'd fixed her mistakes and stayed hidden like the wolf in sheep's clothing she was.

Jan Costin Wagner - Einer von den Guten.

Jan Costin Wagner - Einer von den Guten. #Psychogramm #Rezension #Lesempfehlung #BenNeven #Pädophilie #Kriminalliteratur #GallianiVerlag #JanCostinWagner #EinervondenGuten #AmrotenStrand #SommerbeiNacht #Lesejahr2023

Mit “Einer von den Guten” ist nun bereits der dritte Band der Reihe um den Ermittler Ben Neven erschienen und einmal mehr kann man diesen feinfühligen, hochsensibel geschriebenen Roman aufs Wärmste empfehlen – es ist so viel mehr als ein Krimi, es ist ein spannendes Psychogramm… Continue reading Untitled

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tage in sorrent

roman von andrea und dirk liesemer

erschienen 2022

im mareverlag

isbn: 978-3-86648-601-0

(von tobias bruns)

wir schreiben das jahr 1876 - friedrich nietzsche nimmt die einladung der schriftstellerin malwida von meysenbug an, eine zeit mit ihr und seinem freund, dem philosophen paul rée und seinem assistenten albert brenner im süditalienischen sorrent zu verbringen. auch sein “wahl”-vater richard wagner ist vor ort. aufgrund seines gesundheitszustandes mit unerträglicher migräne, augenproblemen und vielem anderen freut er sich auf den aufenthalt, von dem er sich auch heilung seiner leiden verspricht. abgesehen davon wollen die drei in sorrent an ihren werken arbeiten und mit von meysenbug über die konkretisierung der idee zur gründung einer “freien akademie” an diesem ort sprechen. vor allem die alte dame von meysenbug ist überglücklich, diese illustren jungen männer um sich zu haben. doch der start ist holprig. noetzsche und wagner überwerfen sich (u. a. aufgrund wagners neuen stücks und seinem ausgeprägten antisemitismus), woraufhin wagner erbost abreist - es sollte ihre letzte begegnung gewesen sein... doch die drei männer bleiben noch einige monate länger in denen es aufs und abs ohne ende gibt, planungen, suche nach orten für die akademie, unzählige anregende unterhaltungen und diskussionen am kamin...

eine schicksalhafte reise, diese reis nach sorrent, die nicht tage (wie im titel) sondern monate dauern sollte. nicht nur die letzte begegnung zwischen wagner und nietzsche, auch der wandel nietzsches selbst auf dieser reise wird von dem autorenpaar toll nachgezeichnet. man kommt dem großen philosophen in diesem roman sehr nahe und schein tatsächlich diese “tage in sorrent” mit ihm in kompanie gemeinsam zu verleben. schon die zugreise nach italien - man hat das gefühl, man steigt direkt mit nietzsche ins abteil - und weicht danach nicht mehr von seiner seite. eine lebendige erzählung, die auf tatsachen beruht, deren spuren man noch heute in sorrent folgen kann (dazu gibt es einen hervorragenden artikel in der faz, den man immernoch online abrufen kann). philosophie kann so unterhaltsam sein. sollte man irgendwann einmal daran gezweifelt haben, dass es möglich wäre, das zwei personen gemeinsam an einem roman arbeiteten, der dann auch noch gut werden würde, dann haben andrea und duirk liesemer diese zweifel mit “tage in sorrent” zweifelsfrei aus dem weg geräumt! es ist schwer zu sagen, warum es sich so anfühlt - vielleicht, weil die geschichte im süden spielt? - doch es ist irgendwie das perfekte buch für den sommerurlaub.

Hello, I really don’t want to be rude or anything like that but I would love to know any more information about the Christians in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria like, is it true Gaza had family lineages dating back to Jesus Christ? Asking because Ziocucks love making it seem as if Christians don’t exist over there

omg not rude at all, actually this is my favorite thing to talk about (it was a major focus of this blog prior to Al-Aqsa Flood) it's a huge topic so I'll link a ton of resources, but to answer your main question: yes, many Palestinian Christians in Gaza and elsewhere can trace their family history with Christianity back to the 1st century. the Christian community in Gaza is said to have been founded by the apostle Philip. the first bishop of Gaza was the apostle Philemon, the recipient of a Pauline epistle. a core zionist myth is the idea that contemporary Palestinians only arrived in Palestine in the 7th century or even the 20th century (see the links for debunking). but there's plenty of documentation of continuous Christian (and Jewish) presence in Palestine before, during, and after the emergence of Islam. Palestinians (and Levantine ppl more generally, but esp Palestinians because of the totality of their colonial dispossession—stories are often literally the only heirlooms refugee families have) typically have very strong family oral histories going back many centuries, so if a Palestinian tells you their family has been Christian since the time of Christ, take their word for it. community continuity is also about more than family trees—even if someone's family came to Christianity later, they're still part of the continuous living heritage of their community. the continuity of Palestinian Christianity is also evidenced by Palestinian holy sites. because Christianity was illegal in the Roman Empire until Constantine took power, dedicated churches weren't built until the 4th century, but many of these churches were built around existing sites of covert worship—for example the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was built around a grotto that was already venerated as the site of Jesus' birth, the Church of St. John the Baptist in 'Ayn Karim (a forcibly depopulated suburb of Jerusalem) was built over a 1st century rock-cut shrine marking the site of John the Baptist's birth, and the Church of the Multiplication in Al-Tabigha (a destroyed and forcibly depopulated village on the shore of Lake Tiberias) was built over a limestone slab believed to be the table were Jesus fed the multitude. throughout the Levant there are also many ancient shrines (maqamat) that are shared sites of prayer for both Christians and Muslims; in Palestine many of these sites have been seized by the occupation and Palestinians are prevented from visiting them.

Palestinian Christian communities who are able to travel to the villages they were expelled from in the Nakba will sometimes return there to celebrate weddings and holidays in their ancestral churches, e.g. in Iqrit and Ma'alul (x, x). of course because the occupation heavily restricts Palestinian movement this isn't possible for most refugees.

here's some resources to get you started but feel free to hmu again if you have any more specific questions! Zionism and Palestinian Christians Rafiq Khoury, "The Effects of Christian Zionism on Palestinian Christians," in Challenging Christian Zionism (2005) Mitri Raheb, I am a Palestinian Christian (1995) Mitri Raheb, Faith in the Face of Empire: The Bible Through Palestinian Eyes (2014)

Christ at the Checkpoint: Theology in the Service of Justice and Peace (2012) Faith and the Intifada: Palestinian Christian Voices (1992) The Forgotten Faithful: A Window into the Life and Witness of Christians in the Holy Land (2007) Faith Under Occupation: The Plight of Indigenous Christians in the Holy Land (2012) Palestinian Christians: The Forcible Displacement and Dispossession Continues (2023) Donald E. Wagner, Dying in the Land of Promise: Palestine and Palestinian Christianity from Pentecost to 2000 (2003)—can't find it online but worth checking your library for

Pre-Zionist History James Grehan, Twilight of the Saints: Everyday Religion in Ottoman Syria and Palestine (2016) Ussama Makdisi, Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East (2008) Kenneth Cragg, The Arab Christian: A History in the Middle East (1992) Christopher MacEvitt, The Crusades and the Christian World of the East: Rough Tolerance (2007) John Binns, Ascetics and Ambassadors of Christ: The Monasteries of Palestine 314-631 (1996) Derwas Chitty, The Desert a City: an Introduction to the Study of Egyptian and Palestinian Monasticism Under the Christian Empire (1966) Aziz Suryal Atiya, A History of Eastern Christianity (1968) Michael Philip Penn, When Christians First Met Muslims: A Sourcebook of the Earliest Syriac Writings on Islam (2015) Early Christian Texts The Acts of the Apostles (1st century, Palestine. yes I'm recommending the bible lol but I promise I'm not trying to evangelize, it just really paints a good picture of the birth of Christianity in Jerusalem and its early spread) The Didache (1st or 2nd century, Palestine or Syria—the earliest known catechism, outlining how Christians were supposed to live and worship) Cyril of Scythopolis, The Lives of the Monks of Palestine (6th century) Sayings of the Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers (early Christian monastics)

for more resources specific to my tradition, the Maronite Church, see this post. for other misc Syriac tidbits see my Syriac tag. this is just scratching the surface so again, if you (or anyone else who sees this post!) have more specific interests lmk and I can point you in the right direction

I'm now reading another of Heidi Ann Heiner's fairy tale collections. Sleeping Beauties: Sleeping Beauty and Snow White Tales from Around the World. Since I enjoyed Cinderella Tales from Around the World so much, I couldn't resist opening another of Heiner's books.

The first part of the book is devoted to the different international versions of Sleeping Beauty, the second part to the different versions of Snow White. This is followed by other tales of "sleeping beauties" that don't fit nearly into either category.

We start with the medieval Sleeping Beauty prototype tales from the 13th and 14th centuries.

*The earliest known prototype of the Sleeping Beauty story is the Norse and Germanic legend of Brynhild (a.k.a. Brunhild, Brunhilda, Brünnhilde, or other variations). This legend first appears in the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda, and the Volsunga Saga from 13th century Iceland. It also appears in the German Nibelungenlied (although that version doesn't include the enchanted sleep), and its most famous modern adaptation is in Richard Wagner's four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. The figure of Brynhild also inspired the Marvel superheroine Valkyrie.

**The Sleeping Beauty-like portion of the legend is this. The beautiful and strong-willed Brynhild is one of the valkyries, the warrior maiden servants (and in some versions daughters) of Odin (or Woden, Wotan, etc.) who preside over battlefields and bring the souls of fallen heroes to Valhalla. But Brynhild disobeys Odin by saving (or trying to save) the life of a warrior who was marked for death. (The man's identity, why he was meant to die, why she defends him, and whether she succeeds in saving him or not varies between versions.) As punishment, Odin banishes her to the mortal realm, pricks her with a "sleep thorn," and places her in a castle (or just on a rock) surrounded by a ring of fire, condemning her to sleep until a man brave enough to venture through the flames arrives to wake her and become her husband. (In some versions, she has attendants and servants who all sleep along with her.) Many years later, the fearless hero Sigurd, or Siegfried, succeeds in passing unharmed through the flames and wakes Brynhild by cutting off her valkyrie armor (or in later retellings influenced by Sleeping Beauty, with a kiss). The couple doesn't live happily ever after, however: their further adventures and eventual tragic fates are a story for another day.

**Even though it's a well-known fact that in "the original Sleeping Beauty stories," the prince (or his counterpart) impregnates the sleeping heroine and she wakes after she gives birth, no such thing happens in this earliest proto-version. If we assume that this really is the Western world's first tale of a heroine in an enchanted sleep, then it seems as if that sordid detail was a later addition.

*Next in Heiner's book come several medieval French Sleeping Beauty tales, mostly from Arthurian romances. These are the tales where we first see the motif of the heroine's love interest raping her in her sleep and fathering a child. Since few of them have ever been translated into modern English, the book simply summarizes them instead of printing them in full.

**The best-known of these stories, which most resembles Sleeping Beauty as we know it today, is the tale of Troylus and Zellandine from Le Roman de Perceforest, an Arthurian romance from 14th or 15th century France. In this tale, a knight named Troylus loves a princess named Zellandine. Then learns that while spinning, Zellandine has suddenly fallen into a deep sleep, from which no one can wake her. With the help of a spirit named Zephir and the goddess Venus, Troylus enters the tower where she lies and, at Venus's urging, he takes her virginity. Nine months later, Zellandine gives birth to a son, and when the baby sucks on her finger, she wakes. Zellandine's aunt now arrives, and reveals the whole backstory, which only she knew. When Zellandine was born, the goddesses Lucina, Themis, and Venus came to bless her. As was customary, a meal was set out for the three goddesses, but then the room was left empty so they could enter, dine, and give their blessings unseen; but the aunt hid behind the door and overheard them. Themis received a second-rate dinner knife compared to those of the other two, so she cursed the princess to someday catch a splinter of flax in her finger while spinning, fall into a deep sleep, and never awaken. But Venus altered the curse so that it could be broken and promised to ensure that it would be. When the baby sucked Zellandine's finger, he sucked out the splinter of flax. Eventually, Zellandine and Troylus reunite, marry, and become ancestors of Sir Lancelot.

***This tale provides some answers for questions that the traditional Sleeping Beauty raises. In the familiar tale, the king, the queen, and their court know about the curse, so why do they keep it a secret from the princess? Yes, they avoid upsetting her by doing so, but the end result is that when she finally sees a spindle, she doesn't know to beware of it. Why not warn her? And why is there a random old woman in the castle, spinning with presumably the kingdom's one spindle that wasn't destroyed, and why, despite living in the castle does she not know about the curse? (It's no wonder that most adaptations make her the fairy who cursed the princess in disguise.) Yet in this earlier version, there are no such questions: no one except the eavesdropping aunt knows about the curse, because it was cast in private, so no one can take precautions against it. Another standout details is the fact that Zellandine's sleep doesn't last for many years, and that the man who wakes her already loved her before she fell asleep. Disney didn't create those twists after all!

**The other medieval French Sleeping Beauty tales are Pandragus and Libanor (where Princess Libanor's enchanted sleep only lasts one night, just long enough for Pandragus to impregnate her), Brother of Joy and Sister of Pleasure (where the princess isn't asleep, but dead – yet somehow the prince still impregnates her – and is revived by an herb that a bird carries to her), and Blandin de Cornoalha (a knight who, refreshingly, doesn't impregnate the sleeping maiden Brianda, but breaks her spell by bringing a white hawk to her side).

*All of these early Sleeping Beauty tales are just one part of bigger poetic sagas. Maybe this explains why Sleeping Beauty is fairly light on plot compared to other famous fairy tales (i.e. we're told what's going to happen, and then it does happen, and it all seems inevitable from the start). Of course one argument is that it's a symbolic tale: symbolic of a young girl's coming-of-age, as the princess's childhood ends when she falls asleep and her adulthood begins when she wakes, and/or symbolic of the seasons, with the princess as a Persephone-like figure whose sleep represents winter and whose awakening represents spring. That's all valid. But maybe another reason for the flimsy plot is that the earliest versions of the tale were never meant to stand alone. They were just episodes in much longer and more complex narratives.

@ariel-seagull-wings, @adarkrainbow, @themousefromfantasyland