I Live In A Part Of The World When I Hear A Loud Bang, I Assume It’s Fireworks And Not A Gunshot; I

This caption will be long but important.

First of all, to remind (or tell) you who I am and where I’m from.

I am Ukrainian, and I lived in Ukraine, Odessa my whole life. Until early March or 2022 when I had to flee my home because of war.

Since then my life has been a whirlwind. To sum it all up briefly – me, my mother, my grandma who is 82, and our dog fled to Romania, moved multiple times traveling through the country with the help of the kindest locals, and after another month and making good good friends on the way who helped us on the level I'm still struggling to comprehend I was finally sure the situation for my family is stable.

The hospitality of Romanian people is also the reason for this post to have exactly this one art piece.

And because Romania is beautiful too.

Should I tell you I dreamt about seeing mountains? It came to life. But I hate the circumstances of this dream coming true. I can only wish to come back to Romanian Carpathians while not running from war.

Why “to come back” would you ask? Because after that month I moved further, but on my own. To France.

Yet worry not, I’m not alone here! (Though I’d still appreciate help from locals in terms of information and such. Please feel free to message me if you can spare a minute or two to talk about daily life 🙏)

What am I up to now? Looking for an on-site job in Paris as a game artist. Taking in freelance offers in the meantime (giving preference to commercial). If by chance you can help with my job search – you know what to do 🙌🏻 my DMs are open.

If you want to support me – my pa🌳on and other ways to help/donate are linked in bio. I have to warn I can’t promise any constant updates of my content though.

I of course want to thank the people who helped me through all the way♥️ Both with advice and donations they (you all, when you read this!) supported me immensely, literally keeping me going. You are the most amazing human beings, I’m grateful to you eternally, and I’m still astonished by how many you are.

I could have said much more, but for now it is what it is. Thank you for sparing a minute to read.

Small addition – I now have a life profile with pictures on Instagram – @joycetakespics. If you want, you can stop by and look at my yet-to-be magnificent collection of flower pics.

Another important part.

You might think I’ve come through a lot, but I'm in fact incredibly lucky compared to way too many other people in Ukraine.

⁉️What you can do to help not only me, but my people⁉️

First of all: Spread the information you see about war. Keep talking about it.

Both luckily and unfortunately we live at the times when awareness in social media is the greatest weapon, and the lack of it – even more so. It’s the part where you choose sides.

Secondly, donate.

There are hundreds of ways, destinations and options. Don’t ignore it if you have a coin to spare. There are reasons people ask for help, there always are.

If you won’t mind a hand at figuring out where to donate, I’ll try to share smaller Odessa volunteer accounts on insta stories (or twitter) when I can.

The internet isn’t full of stupid people. The WORLD is. The internet is just the proof.

Reposting for @jhara-ivez 's response...

Being American, I am most familiar with temperatures in °F, but I can relate certain °C values with no need for mathematical gyrations:

15°C: Nice! I might consider a light jacket

20°C: Perfect for any outdoor activity, no jacket, no shoes, no problem

30°C: I am wallowing in a pool of my own sweat and am poised to lay waste to anyone who vexes me

And,

1) check if your store has specific hours for people in the sensitive demographic (for clarity, those over age 60, with compromised immune systems, and/or respiratory disease). If you are not, don't shop during those hours.

2) if you know of someone who is sick or otherwise unable to shop for themselves, ask them for a shopping list and get stuff for them. Do the transaction without direct-contact with them for their safety and yours.

3) if you're sick, stay home and reach out to family, friends, neighbors, the grocery store to shop for you.

Now, more than ever, clear writing matters.

I know this place…

Fictober19:  Day 2 Prompt:  “Just follow me, I know the area.” But I had to diverge a little because the one story I could think of for this exact prompt was fluff that relied in large part on work by @daedric-prince-of-pasta and others who contributed to the “is it a date? If not, make it one!” posts, but I didn’t have time to ask them about using it… so no fun fluff this time. Warnings:  well, it’s about the seductiveness of depression, the liar, so maybe…

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I know this place...this never ends well for me...

Just follow me, it whispers gently... a lover's beckoning call.  It pulls coyly at the hips; fingers trailing down the spine.

But, I know this place, and this never ends well...

Just follow me, it sighs wistfully... a delusion's longing coo.  It claws hungrily at the thighs; breath caressing familiar curves.

... I know this place, and this never ends well…

Just follow me, it cries beseechingly... a liar's pleading press.  Waves crashing on the shore, mesmerizing, metered steps to the abyss...

I do know this place, and it never ends... Until I end it.  Wake up!

Was tagged by @iamaweretoad to spell my name in song titles.

This was way harder than expected. I need a much longer name to do justice to my music library!

Digging in the Dirt - Peter Gabriel

Resolve - Foo Fighters

Altus Silva - Big Blue Ball

Gravity's Angel - Laurie Anderson

Over the End - Aram Zero

Northern Pastures - Two Steps from Hell

Sing Sang Sung - Big Phat Band

Brooklyn - Young Blood Brass Band

A Castle on the Sea - The Aviators

Road Less Traveled - Fringe Element

Bron yr Aur - Led Zepplin

Not even close

Millenials get blamed for a lot of societies problems but last I checked not a single millenial was serving in congress

Well, shit... guess I'm desperate

me, staring down ao3: ok i’m desperate for fic about this pairing but like… how desperate

Love big Burms... they're the Yellow Labs of snakes... big, dopey, docile, snuggle-bunnies. Retics... they are the wolves... always thinking, testing, checking out every opportunity (and I love them, too).

people who are afraid of snakes are fuckin’ WILD, like dude, just carefully step over these fat babies’ sausage bodies and gently move the burmese python chillin’ against the door, then you become unfathomably rich. i would do this for $10. i would do this for FREE. 

This is the best thing I've read all day!!

I used to feed the crows on campus every day because it was easier than making human friends (I had one already - and Robin likes crows as much as I do). Pretty soon, they figured out where I lived and would alight upon my dorm windowsill and watch me. I offered them only healthy things, like leftover fish, hard boiled eggs, nuts, suet, and dog food. They were already habituated to humans and had no fear of us, and I figured it was better to feed them real food instead of the french fries they’d get tossed.

It only got weird when people began to notice that crows would follow me to class. Two in particular would fly alongside me as I walked across campus, landing and cawing for treats and keeping pace with me. Sometimes people would try to scare them off and I’d have to explain that Heinrich and Fatima weren’t bad omens signaling my doom, just spoiled little brats.