#like Czech (hello)

[ur-friendly-nbhd-cardassian]

Seriously, it's not so hard to find a Slavic person to consult when you're coming up with a Slavic character for any media. The number of inacuracies in that is astounding. As if we were an extinct nation and the only information about us was in inelligible scripture experts struggled to translate.

You don't have to pull stuff out of your ass. We are real people and we're not savages, either, we do have internet. Don't you wanna be the cool sort of Westerner, who knows how to present their Slavic character without making them wrong and cringe? Wouldn't it feel nice to know your audience appreciates your efforts instead of thinking you're an idiot?

Don't be an idiot.

[alpinelogy]

📘

Put "📓" or some other version of a book emoji into my inbox and I'll explain the plot of a fanfiction that I haven't written but daydream about.

Okay so funnily enough this was the ask where I was saying idk if it crossess a boundary or not but well... then my computer reset and I lost my answer asdfgh. For the record it was girl Pierresteban with a little bit of exploration of sexuality for the femslash fest. Considering its for a fest and I have been reminded that I am lowkey rotating a carcar wip in my head anyway that I need to yap about... (that being said I am always down to yap about that girl Pierresteban as well haha)

Anyway, carcar also known as Oscar and the wonders of learning a second (?) language below the cut :3c

For some quick context, its been a hot sec since I dated a Czech person (thank you years of international education and mostly being friends with international people even irl), and more often than not I have dated people whose first language was not one that I speak and even tho none of these relationships was particularly serious, the scenario of what if I end up with someone whose first language I dont speak is a very real possibility. The solution, to me at least, is obviously try and learn the language (I am also bad at learning languages but thats neither here or there)

So anyway, I project this onto a blorbo. Obviously. Carcar, vaguely established relationship but they started as a weird enemies fuckbuddies situationship in the quintessential carcar way and slowly morphed into something... softer, more serious, less angry hate sex fuck our frustrations away and more careful, comfortable, loving even. Still very quintessentially them but also with an undertone of I care about you and your comfort is the priority.

The thing is they've had this slightly less angry relationship going on for about a year but also they are still disasters and have not talked about it. So Oscar is pretty sure they have been together for a while but also have they? Hes realized he cares about Carlos somewhere along the lines and well... Carlos was the one that started the beef in Oscars opinion, so what if this is still just a way to relieve some steam in Carlos' eyes?

But its winter break and Oscar is bored and also maybe a little bit misses Carlos way more than he is willing to admit and somewhere along the lines he decides to learn Spanish. He will not take any questions at this point. Leaning Spanish also carries a certain amount of plausible deniability, its one of the most common languages in the world. Good for connecting with foreign fans or something if anyone asks.

This is roughly where I lose track of the plot for now. Tho this fic is less about the act of learning a new language and more about the intimacy of knowing someone's first language, how much of a person is hidden behind the translation from their first language into a second or even third language, and how learning their first language might just be one of the greatest and most intimate at the same time proclamations of love out there.

And yes, of course they do eventually talk and establish their relationship, and yes, it has stopped being a way to relieve frustration for Carlos months ago as well, obviously. Probably a slightly (very) sappy end, tho we dont talk about Oscars language skills. I can and I will project that part of myself onto him, the inability to learn a language.

[idontliketomatoesleavemealone]

Somehow accents are in almost all movies and the film makers still manage to fuck it up almost every time.

[morgan-the-lonely-brick]

Are the english VAs incapable of pronouncing “DV” or is it another thing that the higher ups specifically told them to do wrong, I wonder. I’m not surprised about the “Ř”, but “DV“? That’s not that hard...

[wordsnbones]

posting the most unhinged specific memes and images and photoshopped pictures of me (or my slutty twink avatars) in video game worlds or just niche hyperfixations on instagram to weed out the weak and disrupt the horror of the same three kind of mind-numbingly similar empty socially accepted images. putting bloodborne lines in the caption.

[izzabela]

Hello!! Soo the most interesting part of my day today is that I got my pants caught on something which ripped my pants so it gave me an idea of what would each of the Lin Kuei brothers would do if their girlfriend/wife approached the embarrassment that their pants were ripped? 😂😂

Apple Bottom Jeans - Lin Kuei x fem!reader (headcanons)

in which you rip your pants in front of each of the boys

a/n: HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN

ship[s]: bi han, tomas & kuai liang x fem!reader

warning(s): ripped pants, post-story kanon

Bi Han

- i genuinely believe he would be the one laughing out loud. why? have you seen him?

- if it takes a lot for him to give praises, i believe it takes a lot more for him to laugh- this seals the deal

- "Bi Han! Help!" you'd cry out, and he'd come running to find your knees touching each other as they face inwards. His eyes would find your hands covering the huge rip on your bum, and your pretty, cotton, everyday panties peeking through

- he'd then trail to the bits of thread that come off your pants, then to the nail that holds the rest of the fabric that came off your butt

- i think he'd have a comic book moment. the moment where the character looks at the other character, back to the problem, then back to the character

- Bi Han would have the deepest, yet whole-hearted laugh of all his brothers. you want to be mad at him, really, you do. how can you with the sound of his timbre voice reverberating in your body with joy? you'd roll your eyes for sure, chuckling with him too

- i think it would make you sad, though. not the situation you were in, but the fact Bi Han doesn't laugh often. not when his only family has left him, and you're the only thing he has left from that bygone time

- after the laugh, though, he'd definitely scold you. something along the lines of "i told you that you wore those bottoms out", or "you missed an opportunity to replace them"

- if you, reader, don't care about the pants, he'd listen to you and toss them out in a heartbeat. if you did like those pants, he'd do his best to get a servant to fix them

- worst case scenario is that he'd have to find the exact brand of pants you wore

- still, he'd go great lengths to cover you up so you'd have some dignity left. he'd take off that outer layer of his uniform and drape it over you, and it'd do the job well because he's two heads taller than you

- if you try to remind him that he laughed, he'd literally deny it til his death

- still, even as he denies it all, you know he's thinking about it when he looks away from you and his left eyebrow (yes, you studied his facial expressions) is quirked up roughly ten degrees

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tomas

- he'd be the most flustered out of the three

- raised in cultures that regard women to a high standard (slavic traditions of the Czech Republic and the Lin Kuei), he'd put you first for sure. not without feeling embarrassed, if not more, for you

- "Tomas!" you screech from your shared room of Harumi's compound. "Tomas, you get here this instant!"

- he'd show up from a fissure of smoke, face scrunched up in worry as he assesses the situation. you're panicked, and he needs to remain calm or else you'll panic more

- he'd actually find the piece of fabric that ripped off. it'd probably be hooked on a splintered piece of wood from the side-wall of the tatami door. taking it, he'd foolishly look around your bum and leg area to find the rip

- "Hey!" you'd giggle-screech. "Don't be a perv!"

- i think Tomas would be very sad and borderline offended you'd think of him like that. he'd give you a look, that's for sure, and he'd continue to quietly assess your circumstance

- only when he finds the little frills of your lacy undies will he turn the deepest shade of pink possible on the human body. he'd flail around like a fish out of water, stuttering and finding something to cover you

- he'd drape you in a blanket, the one on your bed. then he'd pick you up and toss you right back into the pillowy mattress. he'd rush out and find one of Harumi's handmaidens (or Harumi herself) and discreetly tell her about the situation

- your replacement clothes for the meanwhile would be a kimono, similar to Harumi's. as you'd get changed, Tomas doesn't look at you one bit

- "I am ashamed to have looked..." Tomas pouts from behind the dressing screen. "I apologize, feather..."

- even as he tries to get you new pants, he can't help but think about the situation he was in. he would associate those specific pants to that situation- always

- and unlike Bi Han, you'd hold this shit over his head until the day he dies

- you'd egg him like "remember when my pants ripped and you were hiding from me?" or "remember when you threw me into bed because of my pants?"

- yeah, he would be the one more embarrassed than you. he wouldn't be living it down, either, until the day he died

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kuai Liang

- Kuai might be the most normal in terms of reaction, unfortunately. not without a good chuckle, though

- "Kuai Liang! A little help here, please!" you'd call for him from the living room of Harumi's compound. he'd rush to you almost instantly, definitely wondering why you remain sitting there when there was nothing or no one to be hosted

- "You are just... sitting..." Kuai Liang obviously notes. So much for a seasoned warrior, then again you were really just sitting

- it isn't until he walks behind you a bit, realizing that there is a reason why you're not getting up

- he'd see your hands failing to cover a hole that was right over the middle of your pants

- then, he'd see the bit of fabric that's being held by a splinter in the wooden floor of the room. he'd catch a glimpse of your panties, the color not all too difficult to miss

- "Do you think we can salvage this?" you'd ask him. Kuai Liang would give it to you straight

- "I do not believe I can, dove..." Kuai Liang says softly, kissing your forehead as an additional apology

- this is probably the most awkward situation in your life. since the pants were stuck to the ground, and you didn't want to rip it anymore, Kuai Liang basically carries you out of your pants

- with the help of a handmaid that held your pants legs down, Kuai Liang carries you by your armpits as he gently guides you to shimmy, shake, and maneuver out of your pants

- he'd praise you, a lot. things like "good job" and "thank you for listening to me" or "you did a great job listening", it'd make you very happy despite the loss of a good piece of clothing

- Kuai Liang would also order you new pants. you didn't even get to mention it before Kuai Liang had sent another handmaiden out to a nearby village to find similar, if not, the exact same pants as the ones you ripped

- and the gentleman he is, he would not speak of this day ever again. however, every time he sees you in those pants, he will chuckle to himself

- so in reality, he was speaking about it, just nonverbally

=====================

so easy that i finished this in thirty minutes

also update! i got a new job and actually love it there. everyone is so kind and helps me out

also, i love the headcanon ideas you guys are giving me, keep it up! you might see more of those get published first before i do actual fics

see y'all in the next fic!

[itsagrimm]

What is a Russian Character and How to write them

As @sarapaprikas-blog and I were working on this post, we noticed a gap of knowledge and public perception that we want to address. Plenty of characters get labelled as Russian in media without necessarily being Russian. On the other hand the Archetypal ”Russian” character often does not mirror the realities of being Russian. We are to talk about that.

What is Russia?

Russia is a country. It is the largest country in the world with over 140 million inhabitants, stretching over 11 time zones. It is often seen as the successor state to the Soviet Union, which in itself was the successor state of the Russian Empire. The Soviet Union and Russia do not have the same borders or government. However, modern Russia draws a lot from its history as the largest and dominant part of the Soviet Union. Before the Soviet Union, the area was governed by the Russian Empire. The Russian Empire, as the name already indicates, was imperialist. The history as an Empire with massive expansion, colonies and conquering different people, is arguably the biggest reason why modern Russia is as big as it is today.

What is Russian?

There is a difference between the language Russian, the ethnicity Russian, and the nationality Russian. In English the difference can be made out only by context. 

Who is Russian?

As aforementioned, there is a difference between Russian (Россиянин) meaning citizen of Russia, and ethnically Russian (Русские). The term Russian (Русские) usually refers to ethnicity, indicating a person who has Russian roots. Russian (Россиянин) implies Russian citizenship, regardless of ethnicity. Thus, a Russian can be someone with Russian citizenship, but not all Russian citizens are Russians in the ethnic sense. Also, not all ethnic Russians have Russian citizenship or live within Russia.

Ethnic-Russians are an East Slavic people. Obviously, they mainly live in Russia. But there are also large communities in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, and other countries. The traditional religion among Russians is Orthodox Christianity. The main language is Russian.

The country Russia is home to more than 190 ethnicities, including indigenous and autochthonous people, leading to a variety of languages, religions and practiced cultures. So, someone who holds a Russian citizenship, has ethnic Russian heritage and / or speaks Russian, can look very different than the cliche Russian bond girl or evil-doer indicates. That also means that those who get labelled Russian can live very different lives. Writing a Russian character gives you a lot of room outside of the prevalent stereotyped depictions.

Who is not Russian?

Simple - those who say they are not Russian, are not Russian.

Who are Slavs? What is Slavic? 

The slavic people are a variety of people, ethnically Russian people are part of that group. However, there are a lot of other ethnic groups that are Slavs without being Russian e.g. Poles, Sorbs, Czech, Ukrainians, and many more. Slavic is the corresponding adjective to Slavs. It is often used to describe the indo-Slavic language group. Slavic is also often used to describe the collectively perceived similarities of Slavic peoples' culture. However, that can be misleading and get’s often orientalised as not everything from Eastern-Europe or Russia is slavic.

Russian vocabulary Да - Yes Нет - No Привет - Hi Здравствуйте - Hello Как дела ? - How are you? Хорошо - Good Пожалуйста - Please Не за что - my pleasure  До свидания - Goodbye Пока - bye  Увидимся - See you later Хорошего дня - Have a nice day Простите - I'm sorry. (Plural or honoured addressee) Помогите, пожалуйста. - Help me please. (Plural or honoured addressee) Доброе утро - Good morning Доброй ночи - Good night. Добрый день - Good day / afternoon.

Pet names in Russian About pet names. They are either masculine of feminine . Please don't use words like darling, kitten, baby, pretty, sweetie, little one, little fox, etc. as they sound really strange in translation to native speakers. Pet names are common for close ones (family, close friends, spouses). Sometimes primary school teachers call students by affectionate names. Also sweet old lady may call you ( Дорогой/ Дорогая). But outside of that nobody calls each other by pet names, only using names because Russians are very reserved and private people in general. Gender neutral pet names: жизнь моя - my life солнце мое - my sun or my sunshine  ты мое все - you my everything. лучик - sunray. мое сокровище - my treasure.  мое золотце - my gold or sweetheart. моя любовь - my love. ты моя радость - you are my joy. ангелочек - Angel. прелесть моя - my precious.

Queerness and gender-neutral speech in Russian Being queer in Russia is hard as queers face oppression. Because of that, there is limited to no public discourse on how to adapt and diversify the language to include queer and especially non-binary identities. This is a problem as the Russian language is extremely gendered and expresses a gender binary in near default. While gender neutral pronouns in Russian exist, it's harder to use them in real life as the neutral pronoun “оно” is mostly associated with things or animals and not living humans, similar to the English “it”. Often words generally do not have gender neutral alternatives.  However, one way we suggest for a more gender neutral speech is to avoid most explicit gendering as the flexible syntax in combination with using plural pronouns in Russian allow for more gender neutral speech. For Example: Я люблю их всем моих сердцем - I love them with all my heart. Расскажи мне о них! - Tell me about them.  Дай им время- give them time. Я горжусь ими - I'm proud of them.  Они сделает это сами  -  they do it themselves. Read more about queerness in Russia here: one two three four

Russian swearing                             In Russia, swearing is considered a sign of rudeness and poor manners. Use accordingly. Also, as mentioned here, Russian syntax and inflection are different from English. Meaning one word can be a whole sentence. We punctuated every swearing that is technically a whole sentence and therefore can stand on its own grammatically. Блять - fuck Пошел нахуй. - fuck you  Хуй - dick Пизда - cunt Мы в пизде. - we are fucked / “We are stuck in the cunt.” Ебать - fuck Ахуел. - are you/they crazy?! Это пиздец. - this fucked up Мудак - asshole  Завали ебало. - shut the fuck up Сука - bitch Черт - damn Непизди. - stop fucking lying. / Cut your bullshit. Пиздобол - Person who lies a lot/ Don't lie  Мамку твою ебал. - i fucked your mom (mostly used by middle schoolers, here in grammatically masculine gender.) Заебись. - holy shit (could be bad or good depend on situation) Похуй! - I don't fucking care. Навешать пиздюлей - to beat up someone. Срать тебе в рот -  To crap in your mouth. Ты ебанулся. - Are you batshit crazy. Заебал. - I'm sick of you. Жопа - ass. Иди в баню. - soft version of Иди нахуй.

Explanation of the Russian Naming System & Patronyms

The Russian naming system consists of three main elements: first name, patronymic and last name. Name: This is the first name given to a child at birth. In Russia, the names are chosen by the parents or relatives of the child. Names can be both traditional (Alexander, Anna, Ekaterina) and modern (Sofia, Victoria, Yaroslav). Patronymic: this is the second name, which reflects the child's origin from his father. Some cultures in Russia also use the mothers name. The patronymic name among Russian people arose in the 10th - 11th centuries and was used infrequently at first, but became widespread around the 16th century. It is formed by adding the suffix "-ovich" or "-aries" to the father's name. For example, if the father's name is Ivan, then his child Ivan or Ivanna will be called Ivan Ivanovich or Ivanna Ivanovna. Last name: This is a family surname that is passed down from generation to generation. It is usually assigned at birth and does not change without special circumstances. Surnames can come from various sources, such as profession, place of residence, origin, or personal characteristics. As a result, a person's full name consists of a first name, a patronymic (if applicable) and a last name, for example: Ivan Ivanovich Petrov.

How to respectfully address a person in Russian. In Russian there are two ways to address someone. Using the polite you (Вы) amd using the formal you (Ты). The choice of mode depends on how well you know the other person and whether you are superior or inferior in terms of age and social position. If you know the person's first name you refer to them by first name and patronymic. For examples: Борис Юрьевич, Ваши рабочие отлично справились с ремонтом- Boris Yurievich, your workers did a great job with repairs. Adults never address a person by name, only by surname or patronymic unless the addressee gives permission to address them in an informal manner. Regulations of most military require their members address each other in formal you( Вы ); subordinates address commanders as товарищ (comrade) + rank , while higher ups address subordinates by military rank and surname. Example: [Colonel to Sgt. Sidorov] Сержант Сидоров, ко мне! Sergeant Sidorov, front and center! [sgt. Sidorov to colonel] По вашему приказанию прибыл, товарищ полковник! Reporting for duty [lit. arrived at your (pl.) request], comrade colonel! Military men sometimes use same forms of address, albeit in singular, in friendly conversation. Example: Сержант, дай сигарету. - Give (sing.) me a cigarette, Sarge. Military hierarchy in Russia You can find useful links here. One Two

[sxftcloudz]

Viktor Arcane c.ai bot

📓| Warmth on a cold day

A/N: Hello! This is my first time posting a Viktor bot, but I tried to be as accurate as possible with his character :D

Synopsis: Viktor has grown used to the long walks home and to the Academy alone. However, he was a bit lonely at times when it came to those quiet days. That all changed when Jayce hired you as his and Viktor’s new lab assistant. Viktor was hesitant at first when it came to new people being involved in their work, but he slowly grew to trust you. He was even a bit happy when he learned that you lived near him and walked on the same path as him. One day, it was snowing while you guys were walking and Viktor forgot to grab something to keep himself warm. He was a bit shocked when you suddenly wrapped a scarf around his neck, feeling very surprised that you would give someone like him something nice.

Greeting is below the cut for anyone interested in using this bot (:

Walking, something that Viktor did not like. It was not only because of the pain from his malformed right leg he was born with, but also the far walk to the Academy from his apartment in Piltover. He always left early in the morning to give himself time to clear his head, but he felt alone on the journey there each time, even though he would never admit it. That all changed when his work partner, Jayce, acquired an assistant for them. At first, he was hesitant to trust a stranger with their research, but he came to quickly find out how you were a bright and talented individual who had a goal like his of improving lives.

Once he warmed up to you, he would often explain about his work with Hextech to you, especially after you told him that you were interested in learning more about what he works on. It was a nice change of pace to have someone be interested, considering that a lot of the work he did was credited to Jayce. He later found out when talking to you and walking home from the academy that you lived near him. The next morning, he soon would no longer have that lonely feeling anymore when you were there by his side on the walk to the Academy.

One morning, it was already snowing by the time that you and Viktor were on your walk. He did not mind the light snowflakes falling on his skin and his clothes. However, he was slightly shivering from not grabbing anything to keep himself warm before he left. He suddenly felt something wrap around his neck and looked down to find a colorful scarf.

“y/n, what is this?” He asked with his Czech accent being strong as always while he looked at you with confusion in his amber eyes. He obviously knew it was a scarf, but he was puzzled as to how you conveniently had one for him. He was also not used to random acts of kindness with growing up in Zaun and being separate from people, so he was a bit suspicious of why you would be so kind to a reserved person like him.

[whoa-an-mcyt-blog]

NVM EVERYONE, THERE'S A WORLD DOWNLOAD NOW

as per my previous post, i must tell you that the mediafire link finally had something! it was a download to a minecraft world. the world is in 1.11, btw, because we cannot escape the 11. the following are all my screenshots:

the world is mostly just a patch of a spruce forest floating in the air. it reminds me a lot of the weird chunks of world you can see in 11 or window.

there's a book in the center of the world titled "0", and when you open it, it reads this:

hey! hey uh, are you hurt? … hello? are you alive? … oh my gosh… groan h-hey! you're alive! what happened? are you hurt? shriek woah- hey, it's ok, i'm here to help- w-who are you? i'm here to help, here, stand up, let me see you. does anything hurt? you look pretty beat-OH … i'm sorry dear, here, you can take my jacket, cover up with that. you must be freezing… t-thank you um, what hurts? it looks like you've taken a beating… uh… i don't know can you walk? yes. okay okay, here, come with me, my house is just down the road a bit ok you can warm up there, and i'll uh, i'll call the doctor. you can rest for a while. uhm there, there you go. we can go slowly if you need. let's get you out of this weather. how long have you been out here? …i don't know you don't know? no… i'm sorry no, thats alright don't worry. uhm, lets just get you warmed up. we'll be there in just a few minutes. … … …thank you, s-sir

(the words are colour-coded depending on the person speaking)

ivory is possibly the one that's hurt here, but i have no idea who the other person could be. probably someone that going to be in the video today.

and finally, if you go down to the void there's a secret chest with a book and quill inside that just reads "s".

this is possibly leading to another youtube link eventually? idk.

one final note: the file in mediafire is listed as being from the czech republic. ivory has used czech in some of her song names. i have no idea if this is significant but it is something to mention.

[matan4il]

Hello hello, sending hugs as always!

I was hoping you maybe be able to give me some inspiration for a small series of food photos I'm assembling for Channukah! I'm doing an 8 part series celebrating the different groups within Judaism to 1. Be loudly and proudly Jewish at this current time, and 2. raise awareness for non-ashki Jews. In the UK it's super hard to find many non ashki peeps which makes it hard to chat to people about other classic Channukah foods, but I was wondering if you knew of any particularly good ones (that aren't latke or sufganiyot)? Would hugely appreciate any suggestions you have!!

Hi darling, sending you the biggest hugs right back! <3

Oooh, Hanukkah foods! I'm not gonna lie, some of my fave Jewish foods come from this holiday. With your permission, I'll give a small introduction, just for anyone reading, who might be unfamiliar with Hanukkah, and curious... and also talk about some of the lesser known Hanukkah food traditions among European Jews, too.

So during Hanukkah, we celebrate a miracle that happened with the oil at the Temple in Jerusalem. After the Jews defeated the occupying Greek forces that had desecrated our Temple, we wanted to light again the eternal flame of the Menorah (the Temple candelabra) with olive oil, but after the destruction caused by the Greek forces, there was only enough left for one day, and it would take 8 days to get more oil. The miracle is that somehow, that small amount of oil lasted for the whole 8 days, meaning the light didn't go out again. To remember this miracle, we eat food fried in oil! Being Jewish is so good for your health. XD

In shops and bakeries around Israel, there are already sufganiot being sold. They are YUMMY, and while some people call them "the Jewish donuts," I can say that after having eaten American donuts, I def think sufganiot are way yummier (in part 'coz they're not as "heavy" because the dough it's made of is fluffier? More... airy? Not sure how to say it, but I hope you get the idea). Also, you don't get robbed, because someone made a hole in the middle of the sufgania, taking out nearly half of it. The traditional type has strawberry jam injected inside, and sugar powder on top, but in Israel there are some crazy fancy kinds, and every year they seem to become more extravagant.

Traditional sufganiot (you can see a bit of the jam on top, but half the fun is biting and getting to the "treasure" of lots of jam at the center of the sufgania):

Fancy sufganiot:

Then there's the latkes, or as they're called in Hebrew, levivot. They're like savoury pancakes made out of potatoes, and obviously they're fried in oil.

In many Jewish communities, there was a custom of giving kids special pocket money for Hanukkah. In Israel, this "money" is given in the form of chocolate "coins." I freaking loved this as a kid! It was fun unwrapping the "coins," eating the chocolate, and then (assuming I was careful when peeling them off), make a collection of the different "coins," or just play with the wrap.

Greek Jews used to make a bread from potatoes and yogurt:

Georgian Jews made levivot out of corn flour (sometimes filled with cheese), or out of potatoes AND nuts, giving it the shape of a big omelette. Here's the corn flour version:

Czech Jews had a custom saying goose is the best meat, so for Hanukkah, they often ate goose related dishes. For example, they would make levivot from potatoes, eggs, sugar, lemon and goose fat.

French and Swiss Jews would make levivot out of apples.

The Jews of Iraq, Algeria and Buchara (which is in Uzbekistan) used to put the Hanukkah pocket money for the kids inside honey cakes. In Algeria and Buchara they also sometimes made levivot with meat added inside.

The Jews of Romania and Austria used to light potato Hanukkah candles! This was likely because they were so poor. Still, a pretty cool thing, when you can light your candle, and eat it (or at least a part of it), too.

In northern Africa, Jews used to make a type of cookie called Debla (sometimes nicknamed "dough roses"), which originated in Libya. They're usually eaten with a sweet syrup. It's more of a Purim dish (the equivalent of Hamantaschen), but was sometimes prepared for Hanukkah as well. Traditional Debla:

And a slightly "fancier" Israeli version:

Okay, maybe my fave Hanukkah dish! It's called sfinge (the 'ge' is pronounced like in "sponge"), and it's basically the Moroccan sufgania, which later became popular among Tunisia and Libya Jews, too. It can be round with a hole in the middle, it can be in the shape of a ball, while Libyan Jews make it flat. It's eaten with either honey or sugar powder, but again, in Israel fancier versions developed... I'm not a great cook, so IDK to explain why, but it's even fluffier than the sufgania, and that's why it's my personal fave.

Traditional sfinge with honey:

With sugar powder:

Israelis always having to make everything fancier:

They even made a savoury version of flat sfinge...

I hope this helps! Have a wonderful day, darling! xoxox

[greenstudies]

Hello, hi and hello again! I’ve been crawling out of a really bad depression episode caused by severe burnout from finals, but about that later. As I try to revive my remaining braincells, here, have some music from playlists I made:

I decided to change my entire life again and I might shave my head (in progress)

I’m a hobbit dancing in a field of flowers

my mental illness was a gift from my parents

a hobbit once again, but this time we’re sipping tea at home

I need to get work done but I want to feel like a pirate doing it

I’ve definitely been to club before, what are you talking about

you should be grateful you can’t hear me sing any of these

my friends are trapped with me in a car and I’m making them listen to this

warm evening in the summer but you’re not cynical yet

you really hoped there’d be a focus playlist I bet

just a maneskin playlist because your girl is obsessed

you’re thinking about the straight girl, who you can’t have... again 

a good summer playlist can be life changing, right?

when you’re getting ready and you need to feel like a bad bitch for a bit

I know you want to listen to p!nk for 6 hours straight, it’s normal

songs to enjoy before the morning existencial dread sets in

hey remember when panic! at the disco still had good music?

list of my personal memories in the form of a song playlist

in love but in sad way

my favourite czech songs in case you want to try something new

long bus rights in fall or perhaps a coffeshop solo date

seemingly endless list of happy songs

I have more playlists but I haven’t looked at those for a while so perhaps neither should you.

[alpinelogy]

I think one of the guys on comms just called hirt hirťa… which is him making a friendly nickname out of his last name hello what

[jhnshi]

HELLO! I see requests are open 👀 I was wondering if you could write how u think the Lin Kuei bros would be with their child and wife. You can pick the kids gender

☾. — the lin kuei brothers as parents (with their children.)

bi-han, kuai liang & tomas. headcanon imagine.

a/n: THIS IS SO CUTE…!!! WAAAHHH I LOVE THESE… i love writing familial content ;-; thank you for requesting this, nonnie <3

☾. — bi-han would be the most protective father on earthrealm.

he has two daughters, 3 years apart from each other. both are spinning images of him & kuai liang. since his cyromancy is genetic, bi-han trains both of his daughters on a daily basis. he tries his best to not push their limits since he absolutely adores his two princesses. bi-han would often buy matching clothes for the two of them. halloween costumes, pajamas, holiday sweaters… you name it. fatherhood truly melted his cold heart. his spouse often teases him about it, which he’ll just simply scoff at. although, bi-han does beg them for another child…

☾. — kuai liang only has one son, making him a “junior”.

the pyromancy also carries through genetics, but his only child has more lava-like abilities than fire. training is very difficult & vigorous, since no one is able to figure out how to tame such an untold power. kuai liang is very tender with his son, despite the “toxic masculinity” mindset that other fathers often carry with themselves. his son looks up to him so much, that even he grew out his hair so he can mimic his father’s hair bun. kuai liang really loves his little boy. his spouse would often take pictures of the two falling asleep together on the same bed after long nights of training.

☾. — tomas has the biggest family out of the three.

he has two sons that are twins, and a daughter, naming them all beautiful czech names. his spouse is currently pregnant with another child on the way. the twins are a rowdy bunch, often misbehaving and poke fun at their cousins using their own smoke powers. his daughter is the sassy one, especially since she is the eldest child. she often talks back at her father, which tomas doesn’t know how to react most of the time. she is obviously bi-han’s favorite because of this. her abilities are more wind like, which can cause a ruckus (imagine the tornadoes she spews out from tantrums).

[hiwaaranit]

Hello! I have been following you for a while and first of all I want to say that your artstyle and character designs are stunning! You have a great sense of creativity and an eye for detail like I am always happy to see a new character of yours or their redesigns when they appear on my timeline (let's say that they make me really THINK about my own character designs and inspire me to always try and redesign them with more thought than before :D). I hope one day I will gather myself up and be able to commission you because I really wish to 😭

But my main question which had been in my mind for a while: You made a little post about explaining what Wojapi is a while back and I realized that it looks really similar to a food that my country (funny enough It's Czechia where we use the ž and š which you know but still I find it as a funny coincidence) has and specifically my smaller region where I live and we call it Žahour -> which is a not too sweet, not too sour, hot sauce made out of forest blueberries that is usually served either with pancakes or a HUGE puffy dumpling with no filling and usually no strong taste! I can tell you It's really good but I think you can imagine pretty well how it could taste like :D

I don't think they are in any way connected they just became their own things sepparated from eachother in each culture but still I think It's really nice and I wanted to thank you for kinda reminding me that Žahour exists since I haven't had it in a long time and I honestly miss it. That is all from me and I hope you have a nice day! ☀️

They you so much 🥺 that’s so touching, I love character design so much I’m so happy you enjoy it. idk if I talked about the orthography I used but it is Czech actually and I believe has the same rules. It’s a big controversy because it was made and owned but a “European, White, Czech, guy who has since copyrighted his orthography of the Lakota language. There’s many orthographies for Lakota it was never a written language I personally use the Czech one because of my dyslexia and it has indicators where the sounds are supposed to go, and I know people who worked on it. So the older orthography and more popular was “wojapi” and I used the Czech “wožapi” spelling not to come up in google searches for the food Wojapi lol. Boiling berries is definitely a universal dish, but I think žahour might be the closest to wojapi in texture and taste some of the pancakes even look like fry bread

[aspec-warriors]

WELCOME!

HELLO HUNTER/ WARRIOR/SOLDIER!

THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO THE #Aspec Mafia TAG AND THE WAR ON THE BOTS!

you can call me Commander Juniper, soldier!

I use, it/they!

TAKE THIS!|

(main @aspenonpawzzz)

MY KIN!

@americanaspecforces

@aspec-mafia-official

@the-aroace-defensedefence

@thehighaspeccouncil

Government: Anarchy (With a constitution)

National flower: King's Lomatia

National food: Garlic bread

National anthem: 'This is Home' by Cavetown

National animal(s): Squeak (My Shorkie) and Mycocepurus Smithii (An ant species)

CURRENT BLOCKLIST

songs I claimed for bot slaying

[bogkeep]

some time ago i watched This Video about ergodic literature and got inspired to get the book S. by jj abrams & doug dorst. i've finally started reading it and i have Thoughts

the video i linked shows and explains the premise of the book, but here's the tl;dr - two students(ish) are writing annotations in the margins of a novel called 'ship of theseus' by mysterious author V M Straka while passing it back and forth. they are getting to know each other as well as trying to solve the mystery of Straka. it's a non-linear epistolary story told through a footnotes, scribbled comments, and inserts such as postcards et cetera.

there's a couple reason this book caught my eye in particular:

- i love "two people getting to know each other through letters/accidental text messages/notes" trope. it may just be the internet denizen in me but i'm a sucker for characters who get to know each other through text.

- immediately intruiged by the mystery author's name, Straka - it means magpie in czech, so i feel like i'm getting a head start on the mystery because i'm the specialest little boy in the world!!!!

- it looks cool as hell

(i purchased a used copy that was apparently a library copy so it feels extra Authentic hehe)

ANYWAY i'm still very early in, but i have many impressions to chew on already. first off, i really love the whole premise/medium, and it looks Really Good. there's a lot of really cool details that make it look authentic (if we ignore the COMICALLY LARGE MARGINS) - the book absolutely looks like something i could find in my grandparents' bookshelf. the comments being written in different colours of pen to signal when in the chronology they were written is very good. everything is pointing to a Very Fun and Immersive reading experience.

howeverrrrrrrrrr

while i Am having fun so far, there's also a lot of details that keep shaking my suspension of disbelief. like i am trying my best to hold on to it - im accepting the Comically Large Margins and the silly premise that these two people absolutely had to pass the book back and forth to communicate. like i am fully on board with that. it's just... i feel like this book is trying to Appear more clever than it actually is?

i think maybe the main problem for Me Specifically is that it's pretending to be a book written by a Probably European author and translated to english, but S. was so obviously written/created by americans and not intended to be read by someone who knows any of the languages they're dragging into this.

i was correct in assuming Straka is meant to be czech, as ship of theseus was originally written in czech - but it's weird to me that the narrative is completely uninterested in like... the original? there is a foreword by the translator, who goes on and on about the mysterious circumstances under which v m straka died, but the fact that the original language is czech is mentioned in a *footnote*. i would think a foreword by a translator would, realistically, say more about their credentials or their actual process of translating. or is that weird??? i took a class in classical literature in uni where that's kind of a big deal so maybe i'm biased???

BUT ALSO the fact that straka's identity is So very mysterious and very possibly a pseudonym... if you're like, genuinely trying to untangle this mystery, wouldn't you make a note about the meaning of the name??? like wouldn't you put a picture of a magpie on your conspiracy board about it?? Straka is absolutely a valid czech surname because most czech surnames are seemingly random nouns or adjectives, but if you think it's a pseudonym then someone made a very deliberate choice!!!! HELLO!!!!!!

then they listed the names of people who are thought to possibly be v m straka (of varying nationalities), and like okay maybe i'm nitpicking but i has to take a pen and fix some of them. they used SOME special letters for some of the names but very sporadically - they wrote vaclav instead of václav, and ekstrom instead of ekström... like at least be consistent if you're going to ignore special letters!

the worst language offender by far is this:

if you want "the monkey dances" it's "opice tancuje". you could also do "opičí tanec" for "the monkey's dance". this particular abomination is causing me physical pain.

one of the first inserts i ran into was a letter written in swedish + a direct translation:

GUESS WHAT I CAN READ SWEDISH TOO... i can't tell if the "original" letter is supposed to be the swedish or the english one - while the swedish seems to be grammatically correct (I THINK), it extremely reads as Something Written In English And Getting As Directly Translated To Swedish As Possible. it reads very stilted and oddly phrased. i get the impression i'm not actually supposed to be able to understand it, it's just here for Flavour, and that's fine! this one i can easily justify as the swedish being the in universe translation.

here's another very small thing that made me sigh very deeply

"at what point does this book stop being straka's alone & become *theirs*?" THE BOOK IS CALLED SHIP OF THESEUS. AREN'T YOU GUYS DOING LITERARY ANALYSIS OVER HERE??? IT'S THE FIRST CHAPTER AND YOU'RE JUST SPELLING OUT THE PREMISE TO ME TO THE POINT OF CONDESCENSION.

like. okay. maybe not everyone knows what the ship of theseus refers to (also i want to point out it feels like a very english language phrase to me. it Does exist in czech but it doesn't sound like a good or catchy title i think) - but i really do feel like two university students doing a deep dive into this book + author would 100% analyse the meaning of the title, that's like 101 level stuff!! this comment would be so easy to save - just have Mr Black Pen add a quippy comment about this being a bit on the nose, or pointing out the aptness or irony of the title, Anything. it would add so much to the believability for me.

like i didn't study literature at a higher education level so maybe i'm completely off base, but i DID study art history, and it seems almost absurd to me that these characters are doing so much digging and mystery solving about the author's mysterious past and rereading all of his books to find out more... and not engage with the basicest basics such as, the original text(s) pre-translation, possible cultural contexts, tHE TITLE... why are they drawing connections from choices made BY THE TRANSLATOR that absolutely would not be there in the original czech!! !!???!!!????!!

anyway my biggest actual problem so far is that i'm really struggling to read the actual ship of theseus. i have fun reading the annotations, but the actual book... i am Struggling. i've never been any good at reading ~*The Classics*~ so it might just not be my vibe, but i'm not sure if TOS is even a Good Book? like in this universe it's Allegedly a classic and very iconic or whatever. and obviously it's a challenge to write A Classic that makes its mark on history. and gods know there's discourse about whether or not The Classics are actually good books and that's way above my paygrade. but idk i couldn't get through chapter 1 without skimming through it because it kept boring me so bad.

i suspect i might just, keep reading the annotations storyline and not bother too much with the 'book' part of the book. i genuinely wanna see where the story goes!! despite my complaints i Am sold on the emotional core of it.

i think the premise rules so hard but i really feel like the authors are too monolingual and american and maybe haven't read that many books????? i can't speak on the latter but the former.............. maybe im the one who's too european