zaporizhizhia. the view on dnieper hidroelectric station from water. the mermaid is reading the news. couple of days ago a rocket fell on the khortytsya island - the only part of my hometown i actually love. it’s both a historical and cultural memorial and a natural reservation.
Hi there! I’m back and I owe all of you a story. Probably the most wonderful and ineffably magic story of my life, created by the team of the kindest people I could ever have dreamt of meeting.
That’s the story of support, love, empathy, true friendship, and real miracles.
We arrived in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, UK a week ago after staying for almost a month in Berlin and a week in Ramin, Germany. We’ve travelled across 5 countries and finally we are here. Still can’t believe we have made it)
Hi to all of you, good people))) That’s finally me, Halyna aka IneffableChocolateCheeseCake. Sorry for being silent or partially silent. I’ve read all the comments and tried to answer. If I haven’t still answered — I’m sorry, I will) I am really and deeply grateful to all of you who have donated and who support me and my little boys — my son Bohdan and Crowley the kitten. And my gratitude beyond measure goes to @scrapheapchallengeand@conniekottmannart and @starryfull13, who have organised the fundraising. And Sarah Newton-Gray, who helped me to deal with ineffable British bureaucracy, talks to me every day and waits for us)
Oh of course, the big miracle of that Easter Monday was Neil’s @neil-gaiman and Michael’s retweets. And the donation from some mysterious Mr. Fell. Suspiciously too Welsh.
Also there was a miracle from the UK Home office — my British visa was approved. But there’s one more miracle I would ask the Creation to happen. My son is waiting for his visa. And I’m just praying for that one more little miracle.
But the biggest miracle of it all is that I have suddenly realised that I have a huge family. And it is scattered all over the globe. The Ineffable Family. Up to this moment I thought it was just me, my son and the cat. But, oh, how wrong I was! And luckily for me I was.
We are safe now) We are staying in Ramin, Germany, that’s the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. We can stay here until May 29. The people here are very kind to us, but they can’t keep us any longer than May 29.
I was able to start working again. But I still can’t draw. Well, I hope I will draw again in a few days. But now I look at my own works and feel like it was someone else who did them.
This was the pic I started just before the russian invasion had begun. I had never finished it, it’s just the line art. This has the parallel with WWII, but goes back into Ukrainian history of long resistance to russian occupation (this war started long before February 24, 2022). Here Crowley is the leader of the division of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, and Aziraphale is either the school teacher or the librarian — one of those who had to keep the heart of the Ukrainian nation — its language.
For me that was the hardest thing I ever did. I started it on the eve of the first day of war, of the open invasion of Russian army into my country. The war has been going here for 8 years now, but it was in a background. Now it’s the 9th day of this absolutely absurd and brutal war which has it’s final aim to destroy Ukraine completely. And I was surprised to know that it’s Friday! That’s how things changed for us — we can’t tell the days of the week, but we’ve started this new countdown. The countdown of unseen bravery, strength and hope. And integrity. That’s why War is fighting for us. That’s why Aziraphale is so cool with his sword. And that’s why Crowley is ready to throw Molotov cocktail (Bandera smoothie, as we call it here). To stop Armageddon right now they, and all of us have to fight. We didn’t want to. But we just want our life back.
Aziraphale: “But there doesn’t have to be a war”. It’s my B-day today, and I’ve decided to do this. I was never going to put my favourite characters in any kind of political intercourse, but I think the situation is really serious and @neil-gaiman will forgive me. And ok, Aziraphale’s wings are in colors of the Ukrainian national flag, and Crowley’s are in the colors of the Ukrainian Resilience Army. Adam wears embroidered shirt, vyshyvanka.
