History Sandbox / Derkhan

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[[folder:Verka Serduchka]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dad160b60c1e52574baf857d22cf71a8.jpg]]

Verka Serduchka[[note]]roughly, the name consists of a affectionately vulgar version of the first name Vera and what can be translated as 'the Angry One (female)' -- basically 'Verka the Angry'[[/note]] is a Ukrainian DragQueen and the best known stage persona of Ukrainian singer and comedian Andriy Danylko. She has recorded several studio albums and appeared in various films, with her best known performance being when she represented Ukraine in the 2007 Series/EurovisionSongContest, finishing in 2nd place. Verka has remained very popular with the Eurovision fan crowd ever since.

Verka's music is characterized by using a liberate mix of Russian and Ukrainian known as Surzhyk[[note]]the stereotypical dialect of Ukraine's rural population, thought of a sign of a lack of education among Russians[[/note]], poking fun at Russian and Ukrainian (and originally [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet]]) social norms, as well as catchy beats and easy to remember lyrics, which have made her songs popular at weddings and any outing that might end in general drunkenness.

The persona of Verka Serduchka began life as a bossy and proudly ignorant middle-aged Soviet train conductor, then ditched her train whistle to acquiere a feather boa and sunglasses and become a flamboyant parody of Russia's nouveau riche class. After the political fallout of her 2007 Series/EurovisionSongContest performance, Verka again changed her style, now towards an internationally easier readable but no less outrageous look, and started peppering her lyrics with German and English words.

At some point, Verka also acquiered a sidekick in the form of her wide-eyed "mother" from the village, played by actress Inna Bilokon.

In 2015, Verka Serduchka made an in-persona appearance in the film ''Film/{{Spy}}''.
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!!Discography:

* ''Ya rozhdena dlya lyubvi'' (1998) -- ''I was born for love''
* ''Hop-Hop'' (2002)
* ''Chita drita'' (2003)
* ''Kha-ra-sho'' (2003) -- Surzhyk way to say 'khorosho', meaning ''Good''
* ''Zhenikha khotela'' (2004) -- ''I wanted a bridegroom''
* ''Novye pesni Verki Serduchki'' (2006) -- ''The New Songs of Verka Serduchka''
* ''Tralli-Valli'' (2006)
* ''Dancing Europe'' (2007)
* ''[=DoReMi=] [=DoReDo=]'' (2008)
* ''Alles Gut Mamba'' (2011) -- German for ''All Is Great Mamba''
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!!''Verka Serduchka'' provides examples of:

* BingeMontage: ''Hop-Hop-Hop'' is one song-long montage of people getting ridiculously drunk in an exaggerated, 'typically' Ukrainian manner.
* BoobBasedGag: Verka has an impressive pair of boobs as a comical exaggeration of her Soviet train conductor persona.
* ConceptVideo: Most of Verka Serduchka's music videos are {{Concept Video}}s. Examples:
** ''Chita drita'' has Verka, having become a nationally known star, returning home to the village for a visit, bringing along some hanger-ons and presents. Turns out that with enough alcohol and the right music, villagers and city people can party together like there's no tomorrow, despite obvious visual differences.
** ''Horilka'' has villagers and kosacks come to a peasant Verka's house in search of booth, and the song is about how horilka (Ukrainian vodka) tops anything Verka has ever tasted in the city, be it champagner or coffee. After everyone's passed out, Verka runs off.
** ''Vse budet khorosho (Everything will be well)'' has Verka, the nouveau riche, thrown into jail, where she promptly proceeds to throw a party under the nose of the police.
** ''Tuk, tuk, tuk'' has pop star Verka Serduchka taking her numerous family out to an expensive restaurant, and when asked for a toast, she delivers a song that animates everyone to drink and dance.
** ''Tango'' is an unusual one insofar as it has both Verka Serduchka and her creator Andriy Danylko dancing tango and hashing out via singing who's the one more deserving of praise and fame.
* DragQueen: Of the camp variety, dressing outlandishly to mimic a certain style among the Russian nouveau riche without any sense of fashion. Verka Serduchka is larger than life, snappy, bossy and a diva. It is clearly for comedic purposes only, though, as Andriy Danylko has in the past stated that Verka Serduchka is nothing more than a stage persona.
* FishEyeLens: ''Hop-Hop-Hop'' features a song-long BingeMontage with lots of close-up moments of people's faces when drinking, eating and singing, seen through a fish eye lens.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
* SurrealMusicVideo: When Verka's music videos are not telling [[ConceptVideo some elaborate framing story]], they tend to be surreal. For example, the video for ''A ya smeyus' (And I'm laughing)'' features her in a monstrous winged pink gown in front of an equally pink, vaguely heavenly background with scantily clad and aluminium foil decorated musicians who may or may not be supposed to resemble astronauts. This is completed by a horde of pink-clad dancers in mini dresses with wings and red ribbons where certain delicate body parts are.
* TalkyBookends: Most music videos of Verka's feature an introductory scene with dialogue, and some take more than a minute to get to the music. Often, there's also a concluding short scene, usually showing the aftermath of whatever revelry has taken place during the actual song.
* UnlimitedWardrobe:
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[[folder:Agata Kristi]]
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[[folder:Nogu Svelo!]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/makspokrovskiy.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Max Pokrovskiy rockin' it]]

Nogu Svelo! (russ. Ногу свело!; engl. "Cramp in the Leg!") is a Russian AlternativeRock band from Moscow whose style spans IndieRock, PopPunk, plain old PunkRock, {{Ska}} and anything else that looks experimental enough. It was established by SingerSongwriter Maxim Pokrovkiy in 1988 and to this day he remains both the producer and band's face, as well as the author of most of its music and lyrics.

The band's songs are distinguished by their delicate but often highly cynical humour, accessible but seemingly nonsensical lyrics speckled with foreign phrases and almost childishly simple melodies. As it often happens in Russian rock, the lyrics seem to transport a particlar sentiment or veiled message rather than tell a coherent story. Nogu Svelo! was particularly popular in Russia and its neighbouring countries during the '90s, when they kept winning awards for best alternative band.

[[WordOfGod When talking about his band's name]], Max Pokrovskiy has stated that he actively wanted to find a name that would differentiate his band among other bands and would not follow the standard "adjective + noun" pattern. He eventually settled on "Nogu Svelo!"

As of 2018, the band consists of five members:

* ''Maxim Pokrovskiy'': lyrics & music, vocals, bass guitar
* ''Igor Lapukhin'': guitar
* ''Maxim Likhachev'': trombone, harp, timbales, tambourine & other instruments
* ''Dmitry Krichevskiy'': drums, percussion
* ''Alexandr Volkov'': keyboard, synthesizer, musical arrangements
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!!Nogu Svelo!'s studio albums to date are:
* ''1:0 в пользу девочек'' (''1:0 v pol'zu devochek''; engl. ''1:0 in favour of the girls'') (1990)
* ''Капризы манекенщиц'' (''Kaprizy manikenchits''; engl. ''The whimsies of the models'') (1992)
* ''Хару Мамбуру'' (''Haru Mamburu'') (1993)
* ''Сибирская любовь'' (''Sibirskaya lyubov'''; engl. ''Siberian Love'') (1995)
* ''Счастлива, потому что беременна: Синий альбом'' (''Schastlivaya potomu chto beremenna: siniy al'bom''; engl. ''I'm happy because I'm pregnant: The blue album'') (1997)
* ''Счастлива, потому что беременна: Зелёный альбом'' (''Schastlivaya potomu chto beremenna: Zelyonyi al'bom''; engl. ''I'm happy because I'm pregnant: The green album'') (1999)
* ''Каллы'' (''Kally''; engl. ''Callas'') (1999)
* ''Бокс'' (''Boks''; engl. ''Boxing'') (2000)
* ''В темноте'' (''V temnote''; ''In the dark'') (2002)
* ''Идём на Восток!'' (''Idyom na vostok!''; engl. ''Going east!'') (2005)
* ''Обратная сторона ноги'' (''Obratnaya storona nogi''; engl. ''The otehr side of the leg'') (2011)
* ''Съешь моё сердце'' (''Syesh moyo serdtse''; engl. ''Eat my heart'') (2014)
* ''Материки моей планеты'' (''Materiki moyei planety''; engl. ''The continents of my planet'') (2017)
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!!Nogu Svelo!'s music provides examples of the following tropes:
[[/folder]]

Nogu Svelo! (russ. Ногу свело!; engl. "Cramp in the Leg!") is a Russian AlternativeRock band from Moscow whose style spans IndieRock, PopPunk, plain old PunkRock, {{Ska}} and anything else that looks experimental enough. It was established by SingerSongwriter Maxim Pokrovkiy in 1988 and to this day he remains both the producer and FaceOfTheBand, as well as the author of most of its music and lyrics.

* BladeOnAStick: Many Watchers use spears as weapons. Early on, Rillirin notices how particularly confident and comfortable Dalli is at handling hers and becomes envious, because Dalli represents to her everything she's never been able to be: a warrior and a woman able to handle herself. Eventually, Dalli teaches Rillirin how to use the spear, marking the point where Rillirin leaves her past as a slave behind for good.

* JoinTheArmyTheySaid:

* GagBoobs: Verka has an impressive pair of them as a comical exaggeration of her Soviet train conductor persona.

* TheLabRat: Kewa is a member of the Tech Society and attaches herself to Hoku's immediate circle and becomes {{the chick}} of his team. She's always wearing her lab coat and is responsible for explaining scientific matters to everyone else, like the AlienAutopsy.

* FiveManBand: The five members of the FirstContactTeam on board of the ''Theseus'' fall neatly into the roles of the FiveManBand, with Jukka Sarasti as {{the leader}}, Isaac Szpindel as {{the lancer}}, [[UnreliableNarrator Siri Keeton]] as {{the smart guy}}, Major Amanda Bates as {{the big guy}} and Susan James as {{the chick}}. Robert Cunningham fills the role of the {{sixth ranger}} after the halfway point.

* TheChick: Kewa slowly becomes something like the spiritual center -- as much as Hoku is willing to allow, anyway -- of Hoku's immediate subordinates, where there is no constant female presence before she arrives. She secretly believes in [[OurGodsAreDifferent the Kachina]], and despite being tasered by Hoku personally for even mentioning them she insists on staying with the team, where she tries to convince Hoku that he needs to listen more to what his subordinates have to say. Additionally, she lectures him on how emotions motivate people's actions, which is something utterly alien to Hoku.

* TheChick: Susan James, the linguist (in her [[MindHive core personality]]). Siri goes as far as to call her a "congenital optimist" and a "high priestess of the Church of the Healing Word". She's the most emotional of the team and the one who understands concepts like empathy best, mitigating potential disputes by her presence alone.

While the Mireces don't waste time with a SuccessionCrisis by War Chief Corvus [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority simply killing his way to kingship]] and setting out for Rilpor, it turns out that the Mireces have [[TheMole allies]] not only all over the country, but within the royal household itself, where Rastoth, the king of Rilpor, is slowly sliding into madness after the brutal murder of his beloved queen.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Among the [[BarbarianTribe Mireces]], whoever is the toughest and strongest warrior gets to be the War Chief, or even the king. When King Liris is found dead at the start of ''Godblind'', War Chief Corvus doesn't waste any time to let his axe fly and assert who's going to be Liris' successor.

* BarbarianTribe: The Mireces are the war-crazed, AlwaysChaoticEvil descendants of the exiled worshippers of [[ReligionOfEvil the Red Gods]]. They engage in HumanSacrifice and slavery, subscribe to AsskickingEqualsAuthority and RapePillageAndBurn their way through Rilporian villages whenever possible. The Mireces's religious head is the Blessed One, the HighPriestess of the ed Gods. For some reason, they collectively only wear blue and/or black despite living in the harsh and cold mountains west of Rilpor.
* TheBerserker: The Mireces are an entire culture of berserkers, taught to recklessly throw themselves into battel no matter what. This is partly because AsskickingEqualsAuthority for them, but mosty because any blood spillt, including their own, is a sacrifice to the Red Gods and helps tear the veil that's holding those back just a tiny little bit more.

* StuffedIntoTheFridge: Janis, Marisa (also DeathByOriginStory)

* MohsScaleOfViolenceHardness:

* BaldWoman: Major Amanda Bates keeps her head bald on the mission. One "Imagine you are Amanda Bates" segment shows that even before going into space, she used to keep her hair in a buzz cut. She is also the BigGuy of the team and responsible for any combat situations.

** Dom Templeson, the calestar -- the most powerful {{seer}} to be born in generations -- was born in order to oppose the Dark Lady and her brother Gosfath, God of Blood, though the technicalities of what he is supposed to do are rather murky despite his direkt spiritual connection to [[MotherNature the Dancer]]. He eventually figures out that the least he can do is to [[DespairEventHorizon not break]], but naturally, the [[TheCorrupter Dark Lady]] [[MindRape pounces on the challenge]], which drives him to SelfHarm. Deconstructed when it is revealed that due to [[DarkAndTroubledPast his wife's and unborn child's brutal deaths]] he swore a BloodOath to the Dark Lady, making it questionable at best whether his visions really come from the Dancer or actually the Dark Lady, who had her fingers in [[ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne forming the calestar born to oppose her into her own]] UnwittingPawn.

* DoomedHometown: The nameless Watcher village Dom calls his home is attacked and burnt down by a Mireces war party in search of Rillirin shortly after Dom rescues her and takes her there with him at the start of ''Godblind''. PlayedForDrama because when the survivors accuse him of being responsible for it and kick him and Rillirin out of their company, Dom is very aware of the fact that he could've known of the attack in advance had he either demanded the information from Rillirin rather than being afraid to scare her himself or not run away from the [[{{Seer}} knowing]] he knew was about to come which he avoided at all cost because they are always painful.

** Dom is first seen fishing with a spear out in the woods, only to drop it in a hurry and slosh praying for the shore because he can feel [[{{Seer}} a knowing]] coming. He doesn't make it and [[FaintingSeer drops unconscious]] in the cold water, establishing how the visions sent by the Dancer can come at any time and how Dom himself isn't too happy about it.

On the other side of the border, a Watcher -- a member of the civilian warriors guarding Rilpor's western border -- named Dom Templeson sets out for a vaguely defined quest given to him by the Dancer to recover the HarbingerOfImpendingDoom coming down the mountains, for Dom is the [[TheChosenOne calestar]], the most powerful {{seer}} to be born in generations.

** The main character's severe autism means he's the only one able to [[AwesomeByAnalysis objectively synthesize]] all of the information and determine just what the deal is with the {{Starfish Alien}}s they discover. Of course he's also unable to bond with other people or empathize with them, so...[[BlessedWithSuck downer]].

* AssShove: '''[[PrimalFear Not]]''' PlayedForLaughs. One version of the Mireces HumanSacrifice involves driving a big nail through the the still conscious male victim's [[GroinAttack genitals]] and into his rectum as a final flourish.

* ActionGirl: [[GenderIsNoObject Most women among the Watchers can fight]], but Dalli in particular is almost always either fightinh, training or carrying messages through enemy terrain.

* AlcoholicParent: Sand's father Red Jimmie is [[TheAlcoholic a functioning alcoholic]]. He has his life more or less together, does his part of the work in the pueblos and even finds the time to [[TheMole spy on the them]] for Hoku and [[spoiler:on both factions for the Reed]], then goes home and [[DrowningMySorrows drowns his sorrows]], [[spoiler:likely due to being sick of the Fifth World]]. He's not as much of a funtioning parent, though. He never touched Sand and even tried to be some kind of father for her, but he was abusive towards Pela, especially when coming home drunk at night, for the entirety of their marriage and Sand hates him for the scars he left on her mother's body.

* RedOniBlueOni: Hoku, who is headstrong and temperamental and tends to jump to conclusions and into action, is contracted to [[TheLancer his lancer]] {{best friend}} Homikniwa, who is levelheaded and tends to advise caution and to second guess both Hoku's plans and the pueblos' motives. Hoku is often shown to secretly fume because he's made mistakes ''again' while Homikniwa remains stoic throughout despite regretting much bigger things.

* TheLeader: Hoku is the headstrong and -- as Sand unwillingly admits -- charismatic mother-father of the Tech Society and the lowlanders fanction. He isn't as much of a genius as a leader as he'd like to be, and [[TheDreaded far from being the most admired leader]], but everyone agrees he's better than the previous mother-father. He is [[RedOniBlueOni a bit too passionate and has to be reined in]] by his [[TheLancer lancer]] Homikniwa, but towards the end he finally learns to to listen to his subordinates and to not jump to immediate conclusions.

** [=SandGreyGirl=] is called simply Sand by most people InUniverse, largely as a term of familiarity, and only Hoku calls her my her full name, though most of the time their conversations consist of Hoku threatening Sand.

* EvilPlan: The Hopi suspect that the Reed's plan is to not honour the deal the Hopis' ancestors made to terraform the Fifth World in exchange for ownership of it and that it will attack them as soon as the planet becomes hospitable enough to be profitable for the Reed. Early on the book make sit obvious that the Hopi are right in that.
* FightingForAHomeland: This is actually the sentiment the book ''ends'' on, after the lowlanders and the pueblos have have managed to [[DividedWeFall resolve the conflict between thems]] and are gearing up to face the Reed together if -- or rather when -- their warships arrive, since no matter what lifestyle they prefer, the Fifth World has become their home.