the fact that we can’t drink sea water even tho its the most common type of water just bc its 3% salt yet we can safely consume multiple forms of literal poison and even benefit from doing so just blows my fucking mind
There is a genie in lamp hidden deep in a cave. This genie loves finding the loopholes in what everyone says and exploiting them in the worst possible way. They’ve made an art of it. Nobody gets what they want and they usually die if not worse. The genie is so good at this that over hundreds of years nobody has ever been able to claim their third wish. But someone is rubbing on the lamp again, and this time they aren’t the typical lamp-seeking adventurous type. In fact, they are a lawyer.
On the 23rd of August 2018, this memorial was officially opened. As you can tell by the name, it was built to commemorate those 22,000+ civilians (as well as serving officers) who died in an unknown place/time after the Soviet Union (SU) occupied our country.
Whether they were arrested and killed for being a threat to the new regime, deported to various prison camps across the SU territory or they didn’t make it through the long, treacherous journey in a cramped up train wagon (meant for animals), which took them away from their homeland, they never came back and their relatives have no idea when or where they died…
Well, now the victims’ friends and family have a place to go and commemorate them. I visited this memorial 2 days after it was opened to the public and will now share some photos I took to show you what it looks like.
This is the entrance from the outside, which is surrounded by two tall black walls. On the inside of these walls are the 22,000+ victims’ names, inscribed on plaques. If you enter it, you are going on the Journey.
The Journey through these walls symbolises the merciless power of the totalitarian system. It’s supposed to make you feel.. how should I say this?.. Oppressed. You’re surrounded, but you sort of want to break free from this tight space, right? Well, the thing is you can’t, because your freedom has been taken away from you. You can’t break free, not until you come to the end of the Journey. The names on either side of you remind you that not everyone survived this ordeal.
Once you finish the Journey, you reach the Home Garden. I quote: “The Home Garden is a place where dreams, memories and the yearning for home are intertwined. Apple trees and honeybees are the symbols of the Home Garden.” (X)
When you move closer to the wall, you can see the honeybees spread across it in bigger or smaller bunches, trying to protect each other. This idea came from a poem entitled “Ta lendab mesipuu poole”, written by an Estonian poet, Juhan Liiv. It’s also been made into a song, which is usually sung during our annual Song Festivals.
The lyrics have a very deep meaning behind them (which is why a lot of the singers cry when they sing this). In a literal meaning, it talks about how a family of bees works hard and some of the workers may die while on duty. But when their home (the honeycomb) is in danger, they hurry back to protect it without hesitation, not caring whether they die in the process or not.
As I interpret/see it, this actually represents Estonians and our love for our country. How we work together through better or worse so we could all live in peace. And when our homeland is being attacked, we come together and defend it with our lives.
Once you walk past the honeybees and up the stairs, you reach a long row of information texts and location stones (these reminded me of coffins) running along the wall. They contain detailed facts about what happened during those 50 years of communist terror, the stones name the locations where deportees/prisoners were taken/died (along with a map of the SU, showing the locations). I took pictures of every board, but you can all read the texts here.
At the beginning, I mentioned that there’s a part of the memorial that commemorates the serving officers who were murdered. Now we reach the final part, and this is what it looks like: bullet holes on the side of the wall. If you peek inside, you will see that most of them contain an old photograph of an officer, who was among the victims.
To me, this memorial also stands as a reminder of why Estonians are on their toes when it concerns our eastern neighbour, Russia, whose “public secret” is that they wish to restore their former glory (i.e. they wish to reconquer Eastern Europe and regain more power in this region). Have you heard what happened to Georgia in 2008? Do you know what’s been going in Eastern Ukraine since 2014?
This is why I hope to live long enough to see the day when Russia apologizes and takes responsibility for its war crimes. These are the reasons why we must never forget – for if we do, we will let history repeat itself.
In conclusion, I’ve read many more historical posts about how/why nazism is bad on this site, but rarely (if at all) have I come across a similar post about communism. The stories that smaller cultures/people/nations have to share about their history aren’t as “popular” or don’t get the attention they deserve. Yet it’s the minorities who we should stand up for and protect.
Please, if you think that others should know more about the history of my people, of my country, then I urge you to reblog this. This will not look ugly on your blog. Thank you for reading (and sharing)!
You’ve know him since he was a home-schooled student in fourth grade. A werebear trapped in his transformed state a hundred percent of the time, Abel has always been shy and reserved around you. Even when the other wereanimals came out of the bag, he rarely left his den, which hasn’t changed much since high school. In fact, his parents have moved to another house up the street while you and another roommate rent the upstairs bedrooms and Abel acts like a live-in landlord.
He’s listened to your problems, been the shoulder you’ve cried on when your parents divorced or your boyfriend dumped you, or when your best friend of ten years stopped talking to each other completely.
You’ve seen him lift a car one-handed, yet his pet chinchilla, Cumulus, has never gotten even a minor scratch on her when he holds her.
All this flows through your mind as you stare at him, sitting on the floor doubled over with his paws over his eyes, his face probably beet red beneath the dark brown fur.
“W-what?” You ask.
Taking a deep breath, Abel repeats what he said, “I love you. I know it can’t go anywhere, and probably shouldn’t, but… i just wanted you to know. Now if you’ll excuse me, i’m going to go hide in the shower.”
He gets to his feet and lumbers quickly to his bathroom before disappearing inside.
He easily outweighs you by two hundred or so pounds, has long claws he can’t trim, and has layers of overlapping muscle and fat that fill in his large frame. He’s terrifying to everyone he meets which has ended a few not so nice dates before they got out of hand and yet… you can’t feel even an iota of fear.
Cumulus hops into your lap and nuzzles against you. She’s a pray animal; he’s an omnivore predator, yet she’s not afraid of him. You put her back into her cage so she doesn’t eat his computer wires again, before quietly entering the bathroom.
He’s sitting on the floor of the shower, letting the steady stream of hot water pour over him. The pit of your stomach turns over; he’s even more massive out of his clothes. His nose twitches and he glances over as you step inside the shower, equally as naked.
As you come to a stop in front of him, you ask, “When did you know?”
He glances away shyly, “Remember that surprise birthday party i threw for you after your boyfriend dumped you and you… kissed me?”
You smile and approach him, “I… might have known a little before that to be honest.”
He blinks before staring at you bug-eyed, “You–”
You lean close and kiss him, awkwardly because of his snout, but he soft groan of acceptance makes you more bold. You run your hand along his jaw, and down to his chest; his breathing hitches and you feel the faint pounding of his heart. Pulling away, you carefully sit down on his thigh, before leaning into him. His fur is thick and sticks to you because of the hot water, but as his arm closes around your shoulders and his smell and heat hit you, you sink your fingers into his fur.
“A-a-are y-you…” he swallows, “are you sure you…”
You smile, “If you’re worried about your parents, i’m still going to pay rent.”
He swallows again, “That’s not why i’m worried. I’m stuck like this, remember? Are you sure you want people talking behind your back or giving you those glances or–”
You lift your hand to cup his cheek before gently turning his head towards you, “Yes. Because then i can claim you as mine. Cause then i can make people wonder why i’m with you; maybe even if the sex is good–”
You feel him tense, “Sex?” he squeaks.
You bite your lower lip, “You’re still a virgin, aren’t you?” you ask. You make sure your voice carries no judgement or criticism.
He nods, “Lisa… she refused to fuck an animal.”
You blink and feel anger boiling up inside you; Lisa is his ex-girlfriend, a nightmare that felt jealousy over every female friend he had and would rarely let him leave her sight. Being like he was, you didn’t find out about any of it until until he ended the relationship and you and your roommate had to physically throw Lisa out of the house when she started throwing dishes at him as he cowered in a corner.
You see the insecurity and pain in his eyes; he could crush someone with his bare hands but his heart was fragile. You figured it was why some guys were assholes; they had their own Lisa’s, or had seen other Lisa’s and didn’t trust someone wouldn’t turn into her.
You carefully stood, “Well… since you’re not an animal that just makes her dumb. On the plus side… that also means i can make your first time better, right?”
You see the bottom of his stomach drop in his eyes; he’s absolutely petrified. You smile, “But not tonight. Tonight… i just want to see what sleeping in the same bed with you is a like.”
He swallows, “O-okay.”
************
This is me working on something else so i can return to two other stories and not feel burned out. no worries.
MonstersinBlackSilk 