My newest blorbo! They're a doppelganger with a bunch of different forms for a "Monster" campaign. The dragonborn is their main form which is why that one also gets a full body drawing.

Katenka

NO ILTW ☹️ but i did see this photo on my twitter feed ☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️ andwas reminded. of her

Chimelong has announced that Katenka gave birth to a male calf on December 1, 2023. At birth the calf was about 2.3 meters long and weighed about 200 kilograms. The calf is naturally breastfeeding, has a "lively and active personality", and is in good health.

https://h.xinhuaxmt.com/vh512/share/11824631

photo by Katerina Katenka

“have you come for me, andrey? i had hoped it would be you.” “forgive her for me. i seem to have given her all i’ll ever give.” “funny, i seem to have misplaced my watch again.” “wouldn’t it be grand, katenka? to be strangers again?” “how about it then? one last smoke with an old friend?”

i texted katenka saying ‘my friend from tumblr kins u lmfao’ and she said ‘Что? 💀 :*’ (i just copy and pasted what she said)

I am not gonna bother translating but tell her I am her biggest fan

Katenka. October 2021. Shot on Canon 30.

Not gonna lie, it's pretty wild seeing how quickly pro-cetacean captivity people went from constantly reminding others not to judge a facility's quality or their cetaceans' welfare based on short clips uploaded to social media to... universally praising Chimelong Spaceship's (the latest captive orca facility to open in China) quality and their orcas' welfare based entirely on Chimelong's official posts and short social media clips from visitors. It's just baffling to me how the same people who constantly criticized anti-cetacean captivity people for willfully misinterpreting out-of-context footage to fit their agenda (which is undeniably something anti-caps have been guilty of on numerous occasions) are now doing the exact same thing. It's just as inaccurate when a pro-cap sees a ten-second video filmed on a smartphone of a bunch of orcas swimming around their tank and claims "look how happy the babies are interacting with each other in a Totally Natural Social Structure! look how enriching their wave machine is! don't worry about the one lying motionless and skewed on its side at the bottom of the tank, it's just resting" as it is to see that same video and claim "captivity is making these orcas lose their minds! look how they endlessly swim in circles; that means they're depressed and suicidal!"

It really just goes to show that a lot of pro-caps (I'm not accusing all of them of being this way, though; I try to avoid making sweeping statements about people based on their ideology) aren't willing to think critically about this new wave of captive orca facilities that are opening up; instead, they're just so relieved that orca captivity isn't destined to die out in the next decade or so after all that they immediately throw their support behind any new orca facility. Apparently, a wave machine and bubble jets in the tanks render null and void the much broader concerns about the impact of captivity on these animals, as well as the lasting trauma of their capture, which must not be forgotten about and needs to be kept in mind whenever any footage of these new facilities comes out; it's essential context. Additionally, I haven't seen anyone take the horrific animal abuse and wild capture of elephants perpetrated by Chimelong International Circus and other parks owned by the larger Chimelong company into account when evaluating whether Chimelong Spaceship is a place they feel comfortable supporting. Chimelong Spaceship is in a building shaped like a giant sci-fi spaceship and has robots and fictional creatures as decorations; none of those features impact animal welfare, of course, but they demonstrate that people clearly aren't going there expecting to learn anything about animals or about conservation. It's like saying a visit to Frontierland at Disney World inspires people to care about the history of the American West. Marine theming is not proof of an underlying conservation ethic or message. The orcas are just another theme park set piece and are presented as such. People aren't becoming magically enlightened about the plight of our oceans and the majesty of marine mammals by watching them swim in a tank for a few minutes before going back to riding roller coasters. You really can't claim to be totally opposed to wild captures and then support a facility that paid for the wild capture of orcas just a few years ago and has not given any indication that it wouldn't do so again. Supply and demand exists, and if these new captive orca facilities do well, new ones are going to open, and it's really not possible to breed orcas quick enough (even if they are bred far too often, as Katenka has been) to meet the demands of the market for more orca facilities without wild capture. I don't judge people for being pro-cap, because while I find that opinion borderline morally indefensible, I used to be pro-cap myself so I understand where they’re coming from. Also, I try to respect people’s opinions as long as they have had thought put into them, rather than being snap judgments. I also am not trying to condemn or pass judgment upon people who praise Chimelong; everyone is capable of experiencing cognitive biases, including myself. I just wish people would realize that their stance on cetacean captivity never renders them less likely to be biased.

i do not care for dancing. ♔. from the hoard : 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔰𝔞𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔰𝔞 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔞𝔩𝔱 ( @acataelepsie ) , accepting

when the dead come : do not speak to them. do not look back. do not leave the door open. his own adamantine decrees turn to ice-melt for a single exception: salt. his greatest loss. his darling detriment. the ghost who fells him in the field a thousand times over. and a thousand times again he'd let her drive a bullet through his heart for a chance to hold on to even the shortest breath of another moment with her. it makes him a fool when she forgets, but strategic when she remembers.

the battle roars on in the distance ; an endless, dissonant song that fills the tomb-like ballroom she no longer recalls nor cares for, but that he's led her to regardless. ❛❛ no one cares for dancing during a war. ❞ the tsar's orotund voice echoes, outwards and outwards. and still the room feels too quiet. too removed. ❛❛ . . . but we did once. ❞ he regards the scene with a statued stillness: bone-bare columns curve like protruding ribs, the windows are painted red, black curtains hang like torn sinew, and ancient chandeliers tremble from the bombard. he could almost lament the years spent romanticizing the horror of it all.

indeed, she wasn't the only one who'd forgotten the true beauty and joys of life. it's for her sake that he tries to conjure that memory into a mock-reality. the glamor begins to spread from the sole of his military boots. like golden fingers, it stretches and polishes the floors; straightens the mayhem; adorns white-stoned walls with aurelian trims; and brightens the grand space with sunlit candles, filtering and fracturing through hundreds of suspended diamonds.

only then does koschei turn to face the dead tsaritsa, a picture of the past and present warring for dominance until a uniform becomes a black and bronze-epauletted coat. he offers a warm hand, jeweled and kind. only he sees the tendinous rot beneath the magic. ❛❛ put the gun down, katenka, ❞ he murmurs, and an old, familiar waltz plumes through the air around them. only he hears the faraway cries of dying soldiers. ❛❛ let me help you remember. ❞

I haven't clocked it on my first viewing of the film, but it's insane how Sofia is the only person who gets to call Katya "Ekaterina" now and again, trying to place a flimsy boundary of formality between them, yes, but also granting Katya respect of the full name, recognising her as an independent person and not just an infantilized trophy wife as outsiders seem to treat her. And with all that being opposed to Goncharov's affectionate, but, imo, somewhat condescending "Katenka"? Goncharov might love Katya but he will never understand her as Sofia does.

WIP WORD SEARCH GAME

tagged by the lovely @setnet who gave me the words:

river | help | often | shimmer | interests

I really only have one big WIP, so we’ll see what I scrounged up 😁

river - from “The Golden Slipper,” original

Katenka never thought she would feel sorry for a fish. Yet, when Papa handed her the bucket, she felt a stab of sympathy. The gleams of green scales circled continually against the dark wood planks, and when she saw how the pike-perch’s long striped fan of a fin knocked against the side of the bucket over and over again, Katenka knew she was going to be hungry tonight.

Mother peered over Taisiya’s shoulder, looking into the second bucket. “Osip, how much did you waste on these?

“Nothing, my love.” Papa grinned, his nose red as his lips. “It was actually in return for a favor. I lent a fisherman a hand last spring, hauling up his catch from the river, so he gave me these fish as thanks.”

Mother stood up, hands on her hips. “You worked for someone without getting payed!”

Papa shook his head and laughed. “It was just a small little favor, my love.” He grabbed Mother and kissed her. “We get what we give.”

help - from untitled Jonsa fic, ASOIAF

Her mother had taught Sansa how to swim when she was still too small to be scared. She remembered her mother taking Sansa into her arms, and lowering them both into the waters of the hot spring. Her small feet kicked out, as she explored the feeling of weightlessness. Sansa held her mother’s hands while she treaded water, helped up by both the water and her mother’s grip.

Catelyn showed Sansa how to float, to lay back and gaze at the frame the trees of the godswood made against the sky.

Sansa used to practice holding her breath, spending long moments completely below the surface. Curling her feet up, she wondered.

often - from “a poison tree,” HoTD/F&B

Cousin Rhaenyra may have Syrax, but she never goes anywhere on the dragon, not really, not like Lady Jeyne who always has the dust of somewhere else on her, with her steady horse and coin for ships. She was always going to and fro on her own business, from Maidenpool to Duskendale to Harrenhal and back again. She may go wherever she likes, even to Gulltown, simply because she wants to, and there is no one tell her different.

Alyssa thought she might very much like to travel, if it was in the company of Lady Jeyne, who never laughs but smiles often.

She had told her father that she might like to be a widow, and he had laughed. “Already plotting to do your poor husband to-be in? That’s the sort of thing you might get in trouble for.”

shimmer - from “a poison tree”

It was a child’s harp, made from a pale golden wood, with ravens carved up the pillar. Alyssa ran a hand along the strings, listening to the shimmering sound. “Is this for me?” she asked in wonderment.

“Indeed, it is,” Lady Jeyne said with warmth in her voice. “It is the same one I learned on as girl, and it’s been gathering dust at Harrenhal for years now. I thought it might be worth making it sing again.”

“Thank you, Lady Smallwood. But,” she said, frowning, “I do not know how to play.”

“I thought I might be the one to teach you.”

interests - from “a poison tree”

“I have never sought the crown, Rhaenyra. I have no taste for ambition, not for myself or my child."

“Nothing is final, as you said, Uncle. Have you not told me before that you had my best interests at heart? Your daughter is a Targaryen, a princess. She should be married to one of our own.”

Great fun!

tagging @cappymightwrite, @woodswit and @notbloodraven with the words and variants:

 salt | crackle | soft | hover | run 

Earlier today Chimelong Spaceship for the first time uncovered the underwater viewing window looking into Pool C, one of the orca exhibit’s back pools, for the public debut of Katenka and her calf, together with Katniss and Loki. However, a curtain has been installed in front of that window, so it can be closed off to give the whales rest and privacy if needed.

http://xhslink.com/cLOsoy

http://xhslink.com/dgnSpy

https://weibo.com/2131427820/4984753261122203

Last night I dreamed that I was running an RP for a friend of mine who RP'd as Dante from the Devil May Cry series, in which he was basically reenacting the Tanker Chapter in Metal Gear Solid 2. As Dante. Olga Gurlukovich was inexplicably replaced by "Katenka [some other Russian last name] from Chainsaw Man", who had the appearance of Noi from Dorohedoro.

Now, I don't know anything about either manga (or, well, I've just started reading Dorohedoro now) beyond the fact that Chainsaw Man has antagonists with names in the form of "The (x) Devil", and so in the dream, Katenka tried to persuade Dante to join her or whatever, but he resolved not to trust her on the basis that she was one such named devil.

“You are rich,” “we are poor” — both the words and the ideas which they connoted seemed to me extremely strange. Hitherto, I had conceived that only beggars and peasants were poor and could not reconcile in my mind the idea of poverty and the graceful, charming Katenka.

— Leo Tolstoy, Boyhood

photo by Katerina Katenka