37th Ukrainian Fashion Week, Project “ORIGINS” (x)

Illustrations to Ukrainian folk tales by Viktor Savyn, 1954

fun facts about ukrainian vampires (opyr)

• opyri can be of two origins: born and made. made opyri are made by witches, who can smear a baby with blood of a man who went to sleep without praying, thus making the child an opyr.

• opyri have two souls. when opyr dies, only one soul goes to the otherworld. this is why they continue living after death. they aren't immortal though, and only live post-death for seven years. you can presume the person who died was an opyr and will return later if right after their death was a great storm.

• they are very merry fellas and are known to sing, dance and play musical instruments. you can see them partying if you go to the village border at midnight. they also can be spotted smoking a pipe while laying in their coffin.

• opyr can turn into variety of different things: a child, a white or a black dog, a cat, a wolf, a horseman.

• if someone sneezes and you don't respond with "bless you" such person can become an easy target for opyr.

• to get rid of the opyr, you must take them into your arms and carry them across the town or village three times. classical stake to the heart works too.

My pretty boi

but sometimes not so pretty...

Crying over this tiny Ukrainian flag amidst ruins after russian strike.

I hope you'll see it, @oldpaintings. What you've done here is not only rude and cruel, it's imperialistic of you to support cultural appropriationd and historical manipulation. By calling Ukrainian artist a Russian you support the cultural genoside. It's your choice as a human on which side you want to be - to support imperialistic ambitions of Russians, who want you to spread disinformation and allow them to steal others cultural inheritance, OR to call Ukrainian art Ukrainian.

By posting Ukrainian art as Russian, you are no better then thiefs. You are participating in it. And many people who'll see your post will believe this artist was Russian. And when it comes to cultutal appropriation, do you really want to participate in it? Do you really want to be one of oppressors, who are trying to erase culture and traditions?

It's just so sad, that when it comes to culture, you and many other trying to show 'Russian culture' with stolen art. If you appriciate Russian culture so much, why don't you post real Russian art? Why you post Ukrainian artist and call them Russian? It's not that you can't find Russian artists, it's something else, isn't it? Maybe hatred, maybe ignorance and cruelty. You just choose to support oppression. I really hope you'll see this post and if you did that just by mistake, I hope you'll have enough compassion to not be a part of cultural and phisical genoside.

Self-Portrait as Pierrot, 1911 by Zinaida Serebriakova (Russian, 1884--1967)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

These Two Characters Where Both Dubbed In Japanese By The Same Voice Actor.

Madara's sharingan

I have a feeling that I might tell about this somewhere, but since I can't remember, I'll still talk about it here.

So, it's considered that Madara get his sharingan that day at the river because he lost a best friend. BUT. I don't think so.

Do you remember this?

Butsuma and Tajima tried to kill each other's heir to inflict as much pain as possible. In fandom this episode is often referred to as a confrontation of equals - parents against parents, Tobirama against Izuna. And I have yet to see anyone mention such a small detail as attempted infanticide.

And then, it was Madara and Hashirama, who sawed their little brothers. They each in their turn repelled the weapon of the best friend's father.

And I think THIS is why Madara got his sharingan. He saw the kunai flying at Izuna. His brother was closer to death than ever before. Madara almost lost it. It was the fear of losing Izuna, the pain and devastation of being killed by his best friend's father that caused Madara so much pain that his sharingan awakened. He wasn't thinking about Hashirama at this moment, nor was he thinking about Tobirama. The only thing he was concerned about was Izuna's safety. In the second it took him to bring that kunai down, he was already reliving the loss of Izuna in his mind. While the rock flew and Madara did not yet know if he had time to save his younger brother, he was already mourning him. He felt this loss. He felt fear, loneliness, sorrow.

Think. He had already lost three brothers (there were 5 of them, right?). Probably, their mother also died at that time. Is the end of a friendship comparable to the grief of losing loved ones? The fear of losing another close person - this is what caused the suffering that awakened Madara's sharingan.

Actually, I think it would be better if we saw that he awakened sharingan when he threw the rock to bring Butsuma's kunai down. What if his sharingan awakened so that Madara would definitely have time to save Izuna?)

However, I still believe that the interruption of communication with Hashirama was not the main reason. Knowing how much Madara loved Izuna, this horrific scene was the last straw. After a grown man ambushes you kids and tries to kill a small child for the advantage in a duel, you will never be the same again.

Since it somehow became a problem and I see that not everyone aware or that fact that Ukrainians were called русини (Ruthenians) until XX century, I will live here some sources:

For Ukrainians

Article on the website of the Institute of History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

Book from National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Institute of art studies, folkloristics and ethnology of M. T. Rylskyi

Wikipedia for the laziest ones (you can read the sources below the page)

For non-Ukrainians, eng source

Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies's article

Also for both: I still recommend Beauplan and Merimee, because they lived trough that times.

So, what I want to say. Yes, there are modern Ruthenians, which are self-name of an ethnographic group of Ukrainians living on the border of Transcarpathian Ukraine, Slovakia, Poland, as well as in Vojvodina. Because they preserved the ancient self-name of Ukrainians, that is, the people of Kyivan Rus. Until XX century worldwide, Ukrainians were known as Ruthenians, which shows Beauplan's and Merimee's history studies, for example. Nowadays, Ruthenians are an ethnic group of Ukrainians, but not all of us. But in the times of Kyivan Rus' and long after, all Ukrainians were called Ruthenians.

It's not good, it's not bad. It's just... It was history. Besides, it would be incorrect to call Kyivan Rus' people Ukrainians in history-AU because by that time there was no modern name 'Ukraine'. Yes, in fact they were ancestors of Ukrainians, but Ukraine was called (Kyivan) Rus' and at that time natives didn't call themselves Ukrainians. Like many other countries and nationalities changed their names through time. But name doesn't change US. We have history and there is nothing strange that Kyivan Rus' changed its name, it was more than a thousand years since.

Because series made me to think about this canon again

For years, I was confused about how to feel about Armand's book backstory.

Like. He's from Kyivan Rus', BUT at the same time from 15th century. Kyivan Rus' was feudal monarchy that existed from probably IX (at least we assume so, because it was mentioned under that name in 852, tho it's not popped from the air, you know) to 1240. From ~1240 to 1349 the country was Rus' Kingdom. After that, Ukraine was splitted between Poland, Lithuania and Moldavian principality. Tho, Ukrainians were called Ruthenians (Latin name for former nation of Kyivan Rus') up until 19th century. I've read Beauplan's and Merimee's works about Ukraine, and they call Ukrainians both Ukrainians and Ruthenians.

SO.

When was Andrii (yes, this is how you would pronounce Ukrainian variation of Ανδρεας or Andrew)? He was Ruthen from Kyivan Rus' or he was Ruthen from 14th century Rus' Kingdom? Or he was even later? Book says he was born in 1481. So, later. A lot later.

We also know that he was kidnapped and enslaved by Mongolians. Mongolians entered Kyiv in 1240, it was a 13th century, not the end of 15th.

AND I HAVE A THEORIES.

Vampires live very long. So, probably it could be a mistake. Maybe Armand is simply older. Maybe he was around in 1240. He was just a child back then. Probably centuries later he was like 'yeah that Mongolians they sold me... so... it was... um... 15th century... yes? no?' Maybe it's just miscount. And then he never bothered to fix that.

The book is written by Daniel if I remember correctly. Perhaps Armand was like 'dude I was in orthodox Christian church I didn't know what year it was, I almost forgot my name and appearance in the catacombs under Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra'. And Daniel asked Marius when he met Andrii. And Marius... Well, if you are around for 2 thousand years, you can remember things incorrectly. So, Daniel, who is American and know nothing about history of Ukraine, and Marius who maybe knows something about Kyivan Rus' because it was a huge and powerful country back then just made that. They counted and assumed that it was 1481. And it was wrong.

Armand is a liar. How we can know that his real name is Andrii? Maybe he had a friend who's name was Andrii and Armand stole it. Maybe he was Taras. Or Bohdan. Or Oleh. How we would know? And maybe he never saw Mongols. How we would know? How would Daniel know? Maybe it was just his grand grandmother who told she saw Mongolians and how they burnt Kyiv. And little Andrii (we can say he was a weirdo all along) was just 'wow I want that! how cool it would be!'. And then he was kidnapped. And assaulted. And sold as a slave. And little weird Andrii just wanted a little comfort in his misery and a cool story. And when Marius asked how Andrii was captured, he made up this cool story about Mongols. Maybe in reality it was something more... Common. Dark and common. Everything could happen. Maybe he was sold by his parents, and he denied it. Maybe it was abuse in that church. Maybe he ran away from church and somehow ended up on the slave market.

Actually, I tend to 3rd. Isn't it a western movie where little talented boy paint so beautifully that Prince Michael (Mykhailo II of Chernihiv I assume) orders one of his icons, but on the way he and his father are interrupted by Mongolians. Also, it was said that Andrii suffered an amnesia due to his trauma caused by life in a brothel. He even starts to learn how to paint from the start, like he never knew how to paint before. So, was he at Lavra at all? Was he an icon painter? We would never know. He could just go to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, point at some old icon and say he drew it.

Or maybe some part of the story is true and some - isn't. I would speculate that Armand had an education. He wasn't a son of a hunter, no. He knew about Mongols. He knew who was the knyaz in 1240. But in 1481 Yurii Paz was knyaz. Mykhailo would be long dead by that time, obviously. So, how would little poor Andrii Ivanovych from 1481 know who was knyaz back when Mongols burnt Kyiv?)) A hunters son could not, he would not have an education, he would not know how to read or write, so history? Oh no, no way.

So, simply, we do not know who is Andrii. Is he Andrii at all? Was he born in 1481? Was he even 17 when Marius was thinking he was? Was his father a hunter named Ivan? Was he an icon painter at Lavra? probably yes and Ann Rice just didn't research enough

I just was thinking about it for years since I have read Vampire Armand. All these years I was wondering how he end up stolen by Mongols in 15th century...

Tho, it would be hilarious to see Armand's icon in Vampireverse Lavra. Imagine that. By the way, Lavra still have catacombs (I was there on tour). Maybe in Vampireverse some of Andrii's friends are there. Literally, their mummies as saints. He would arrive in Ukraine, in Kyiv and like 'oooh let's go see my old friends'. 'Look, Daniel, this is Marko, I knew him. Oh, and this is Illya, he looks better now, actually'. And then he would see his icon. And like... You know how it feels to see your artwork after some time. It's just not that good anymore, you know. You can do better now. Yes, this is how he would feel. It was a masterpiece in 1490s, he painted it for a year and a half. And now he can draw photo-like detailed art on his graphics tablet.

If you read this, thank you for the attention! Love you!

Christian Griepenkerl (1839-1916) ~ Death as a Rider, 1897, oil on canvas

Why Uchihas go blind from using sharingan?

I was thinking why is that so, why Uchihas go blind while Hyuga feel no side effects from using byakugan? (Aside of that fact that Kishimoto loves Uchiha clan, so they expirience the most angst and suffer)

And I have had one semi-biological conclusion.

So, some of you may be familiar with the theory that people have a lot of diseases that develop with age or appear in old age because that's how evolution and natural selection work. In other words, most people manage to pass on their genes to the next generation (that is, become evolutionarily successful) before they get diseases that most often appear at a certain age. Evolution filters out those mutations that are incompatible with reproduction, because it is through reproduction that all living things fix useful traits and pass them on. Accordingly, evolution has almost no effect (or it happens by chance) on traits that do not prevent a person from successfully surviving to pass on their genes to their children. If an individual lived to have children, it is already a biologically successful individual. Then you can die. Evolution is cruel and unempathetic.

I looked at the sharingan from this side. From the evolutionary side. Sharingan as a biological trait should take a very long time to form, mutate and change in the process of evolution. He would improve due to the fact that the Uchiha with the stronger sharingan would successfully survive and reproduce. But at the same time, evolution would no longer affect what would happen to the Uchiha's eyes after they would produce offspring at a young age. Since the genes have already been passed down, the next generation will have the same trait as the parents. Regardless of what happens next with the parents. So since blindness was not a trait that would have prevented the Uchiha from living to reproductive age, it was not weeded out by evolution in any way. In conclusion, we have a biological trait that was evolutionarily strengthened and developed, because the ability of the Uchiha to survive depended on the power of the sharingan. Uchiha with a weak sharingan died before they could have children. But the gradual loss of vision did not interfere with the clan's survival, so it was not evolutionary screened out. In this way, the sharingan was formed, which is an incredibly useful and powerful trait, but at the same time, evolution did not affect the subsequent loss of vision. Blindness isn't biologically disabling, so the Uchiha's DNA doesn't have to mutate to compensate for it. Uchih's eye blindness is just a biological process, a consequence of the fact that there was no evolutionary stimulus in their eyes to compensate for it. The Uchiha with the strongest sharingan became reproductively successful, but subsequent vision problems did not affect this. Evolutionarily, there was no need for the sharingan to find a middle ground between power and not straining the eyes and going blind as a result. Evolutionarily, their eyes improved the power of the Sharingan, but did not improve endurance. Therefore, the Sharingan is an incredibly powerful force, but there is no mechanism to overcome the consequences of using it.