#like that but also a little like poland and a little like something else

[boycannibal]

i need to move somewhere far away

[wszczebrzyszynie]

can i hear more about the story & world building of your space mining characters it intrigues me so dearly

thats so sweet. im very happy to hear that! well its a bit hard to explain as it has started as an au for hermitcraft s8 + the life series but me and @makowcy (who co-created this au with me) liked it so much we wanted to make it its own thing? so that it wouldnt be tied to the source material, as we both drifted away from the original series a bit in the past year. So story wise i cannot say anything in much detail as were still unsure about what stays and what gets changed (we havent even thought out all the name changes and design changes yet). if you are really curious there is a year old now au explanation post with the plot timeline and other things that is our baseline, though it might get confusing without knowing the characters? it also might not because space mining always was heavily oc-fied. well any way the general timeline is pretty accurate to what we still have in mind, other things not so much. Well Either Way i did went a bit more in depth into the worldbuilding under the read more! hope its readable

First things first i need to say that its space fantasy, not really a sci fi, because there is very little logical science in it? its not meant to be scientifically accurate in any way; while it started as alternative history, we decided it woudlve been better if it were a differently working world entirely - its similar enough to think its alternative history at first, but the more you know the more you realize its something else! familiar and based on our reality but giving me more freedom and room to be vague

In short: people were able to colonize space in 60s or 70s, taking the cold war-like era divide of the world to the outerspace. the entire story is set about 120+ years after that, in a far away galaxy, in the former eastern colonies, about 20 years or so after the fall of the empire, and the setting is generally based on pre- and early post-1989 Poland (the fall of polish peoples republic and the transformation era); its a poor, heavily corrupted part of the galaxy. Its not really lawless, but it could as well be. but its also very cowboy bebop-y, with more fun retrofuturistic elements and the general bounty hunting aspect of it. bounty hunting itself can be "centralized" (done by the police force) or done by individual, unaffiliated bounty hunters and bounty hunting groups; though everything is in a very grey area. The only other life in the universe has been discovered fairly recently; an unassuming rock-like structure, long dead in its most commonly found form, and more fungi alike when alive. Its hidden deep under different planets surface, and is considered to be the most important discovery of recent era, becoming the most sought-after item in the galaxy, despite how little is still known about it and its potential uses

In more... long; because of the crushing debt towards what can be called "the west" (in a political sense; its space, and even though people have left earth behind, that terminology is still in use) and, hm, interesting politics (introduction of capitalism in a socialist state), the poverty was the highest its been since the post-war, which, mixed with poor politics on many sectors and the terror, ultimately causes the fall of what has been up to that point considered simply "eastern colonies" (i imagine the name to be simple; Srebro or Srebro-Kolonia (Silver/Silver-Colony), as mining is an important aspect of space colonization), creating a new space-state (now called -Kraj (country), not colony, though its unofficial names are many); generally considered "lawless" (though it isnt) and corrupted, whose society was left feeling mostly disillusioned, and who has given up. While the circumstances are very much based on real polish history, in the world space mining there was no real... fanfare, no feeling of winning, because i imagine that worlds space to be... generally "slow and cold" - changes happen slowly, and everything is so vast and big, it takes so much time to organise and even send information, that everything is just kind of... made to be slighly disfunctional all the time. Well either way it all paints a picture of the general society both holding a grudge towards and being wary of the govnerment (past and current), and the west, and everyone else; the feeling of being cheated is everpresent, but life goes on, even if it isnt great, and everyone has to adapt to it.

Its no coincidence that mining is even in the name; it became something culturally important, a meaningful pillar not only of the space-world as a whole, but of this silver state especially. Its kind of bound to happen when its such a big and important sector. Thats also why a lot of the characters, both minor and major, were or are miners, or worked in the industry (the main character is, after all, a mining engineer by education). Its a dangerous job, but also something people take natural pride in.

there are different "levels" to space mining - not all mining colonies and stations are equal (in difficulty, in gear needed, in safety - both because of the planets, but due to inside factors as well; the rise of workplace injury, money cuts, loopholes and pay inequality all predate the fall of the old colony. the politics really were poor), so not all miners experiences are the same, especially since the discovery of whats commonly called in the story a "gwiazdnica" (its normal name being Staryt or more english suited Starite); a rock-like structure in its dead form (and a more plant, maybe fungi-like when alive, though thats a bit of a secret). its very... well hidden, deep inside planets and moons, and very hard to extract, requiring special gear (small mining mechs! the only usage of mechs in the world is for mining). it has been the only living organism found in space. Its... usefulness is still unclear - the giant interest in it lies mostly in its sheer uniqueness as well another living organism, but also in its beautiful appearnance. It looks like the starry sky itself, hence the name.

Since there is no real plant life in space (its either ice, sand, or rock when it comes to "livable" ones) and no natural source of oxygen, people live under domes - some small, more "temporary", usually tied to mining or research work, some giant, almost self sustainable, interconnected on the planets surface. They all can look very different depending on the planet, reason for its construction, age, and all the other factors; some more fleshed-out ones are what me and Aku simply call "sad" ("the orchard"; home planet to some of the characters, known for its giant orchard domes, and therefore the fruits. quite a beautiful place! though that is definitely not its actual name), the "old rosa", (known mostly for its size and its many domes; lots of people live there, and its filled with communal housing - the panelaks, blocks, plattenbau, whatever to call it. Few characters live there! right side of the picture below), the living planet (left side of the picture below; a very important setting in the story. Its an unspecified desert planet, with its only notable construction being an old, long abandoned and very small mining station with a broken dome. It would make it generally unlivable without many costly repairs, if it wasnt for the fact that it naturally has thin but breathable air due to it actually being a starite planet), and, obviously, the earth - similar to ours, but different, the origin of human race, and the planet left behind. Its often talked by spacians in past forms, even though its still alive and there are still people on it (many of them in the character cast as well!); earthians generally tend to recognize each other because of the accent, as space colonies have generally standardized language (think esperanto, or interslavic; a constructed, invented language, typical to the eastern colonies, with little deviations in phonetics; mostly in vocabulary), as well as through one another, as earthians are generally very community-oriented.

Due to the lack of natural plant life, and as a "cultural leftover" from the early days of space colonization, when space travel was still new, scary and extremely hard, people living in space have a different diet from those raised on earth; it mostly consists of various (and i do mean various) pickled foods and dishes made from them, sweet sour and spicy, mushrooms, vegetables like potatoes and beets, and as for meat - mostly pork and poultry.

Some people live on spaceships and space stations instead - either beause of work, lifestyle, or circumstance. Living like this can be a lifelong choice or something temporary, though it is something that requires a lot of work and maintance - i mentioned before that space is "slow and cold", and that coldness factor is an especially dangerous one. Its different from coldness as just a temperature feeling or a state - in the world of space mining, "coldness" is more like an energy, a mass, something more tangible and everpersent, that slowly breaks everything down, including the ships and stations. It feels like it "sinks" into the objects and people, and that coldness takes some getting used to. These space stations are usually pretty well maintained and pretty self sufficient, often being tied to mining industry again, as some on-planet stations arent suitable for living and proper colony creation. Id say the most important characters to the story live on the space ships? Including the main character (space ship below). though that thing is more like... living in the car kind of thing.

Another big and important part of the general culture and life is the "bounty hunting" - as before it predates the fall of the colonies, and exists in two forms, the "centralized" (done by police force) and the independent, individual (done by, well, individuals, and independent bounty hunting groups). Its obviously a political tool, especially with the corruption, though it really can pay well sometimes, and some people do make it their main job. That bounty hunting is an all-universe thing, very much not specific to former eastern colonies. Its generally hard to become a bounty hunter, as it requires a lot of knowledge and work and gear maintance, so the centralized form is much more common. On a similar note - a lot of criminal characters are called "terrorists", even though not all of them have commited actual acts of terrorism. its a political tool again

Well thats a bit long. almost 2k words! hope its all understandable. I tried to keep it to the most interesting/important parts, so there are few things i havent mentioned, especially ones that are less important to the world and more to the story itself. Well either way. peace and love

[aureliaeiter]

Polytheists from the US: please stop fear mongering

I wanna start this post by saying that, as a bisexual woman, I do feel for my fellow women and LGBT people in the US, as well as for other minorities. I also fear for all of us around the world, as US politics have a direct impact in all countries.

However, please stop projecting your fears on the gods. If you think the gods suddenly became angry after the elections, after everything the world has gone through this year, that means you think the gods care more about you than they do about everyone else. And that's not okay.

1. You're the centre of the world. Please don't be entitled.

As I said, whatever the US does has an impact everywhere. That doesn't mean we need to extrapolate that into religion.

There are two things that have happened this year that would directly impact the gods. One was Mt Olympus burning in August. The other is an Israeli airstrike nearly hitting the Temple of Bacchus in Baalbek. I saw ZERO posts about the gods being angry about that. Or about the gods being angry at all. I understand you can't read the news about every country ever, but at least try to keep up with the country your religion comes from?

To those two things I said, I could add others that don't impact the gods directly like Palestine, Lebanon and Ukraine getting b0mbed; Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Poland, Austria, Spain and many other countries having deadly fires and floods; the rights of Italian LGBT people being set years back by their current PM, as well as LGBT people in some countries not having rights at all; conservative politicians being elected all over the world; WOMEN BEING BANNED FROM SPEAKING IN AFGHANISTAN; Pakistani Pagan tribes being targeted; the whole Gisèle Pelicot case... I could go on and on and on because there's just too much stuff going on in the world.

If you think none of these things would make the gods go angry, but the moment something happens in your country they're suddenly angry then that's an issue. And if you're trying to make this into a collective truth then you're making it everyone else's issue.

2. This is not an Abrahamic religion.

I understand many of you come from an Abrahamic background. I was raised in a deeply Catholic country. In the type of town where people get their favourite apparition or Mary tattooed. So I understand. But you have to somehow unlearn that when it comes to things like these.

The gods are not angry at you. Why would they be? Did you personally do something to offend them? Did you steal from their temple? Did you brag about being better than them in any way? I'm sure you didn't. So why would they be angry?

If you start saying things like “the gods are angry because of this!!” you sound just like the Christians who repeat Christ is coming soon everytime any type of natural catastrophe happens. Please stop. You're making all of us look crazy.

And also, what do you gain from this? Making other people upset? Especially those who just came into this religion and might think the gods are angry at them? It'd be fine if you posted something like “let's pray for our fellow Americans” but this doesn't make any sense. I just don't understand you people sometimes.

Also if you're gonna reply to this post by saying something along the lines of “people are allowed to talk about their feelings” then delete the comment because it shows you have little reading comprehension.

[petermorwood]

Interesting post about costume here.

This paragraph in particular caught my attention...

What we think of as “peasant garb” is actually the product of a game of telephone that travels back from Romantic Revival art, and many of those (urban) artists got their idea of what rural peasants wore from opera costumes. The costumers working at the opera were not going out to the country side to take notes on what farmers actually wore, nor did they want to. Opera is show biz, you want it to be evocative, but not ordinary. Their costumes would have been based on what urban folks were wearing, with extra little touches like a shepherds crook to make it look “rural”.

... because it was Wagner's Ring Cycle that gave us horned helmets.

They didn't originate with the Vikings. They originated with the 1876 costume designs for a bunch of operas, and those designs by Carl Emil Doepler still exist.

For reference, all the horny characters are mortals.

Those helmets were probably based on archaeological finds, even though all Northern European examples are, AFAIK and depending on context, either religious headgear equivalent to a bishop's mitre, or ceremonial headgear equivalent to a crown.

In addition, every single one predates the Viking Age by a period ranging from a couple of centuries to a couple of millennia so - makes vague handwave gesture - they're more appropriate for the sorta-kinda mythic Migration Era setting of the Ring than any Vik who ever inged..

Doepler's designs also feature WINGED helmets, worn by immortals like Wotan...

... and the Valkyries.

Something else I encountered when looking for pics to illustrate this was that other clichéd armour error, the boob-plate.

Here's dramatic soprano Karin Branzell wearing one...

...while here's heroic tenor Fritz Vogelstrom also wearing one.

He's singing the role of Siegfried but wearing the costume of Brunnhilde, at least that's how it looks to an operatic Philistine like me.

Anyway...

Winged helmets are even more historically dodgy - no archaeological evidence at all - yet are actually more feasible as working combat helmets.

The difference is that horns, being heavy, need sturdy mountings so a horned helmet both provides catch-points for incoming blows and handles for an enemy to grapple, while a winged helmet does neither. The wings, being light, wouldn't need solid fixtures so would just shear off under a weapon or come off in an enemy's hands.

I'm well aware that other times, places and cultures - Indo-Persia, Poland, Japan etc. - had helmets with wings, horns and all sorts of other stuff, but this is about how the popular image of Vikings that headgear came from opera.

And went all over the place... :->

[garciaasfluffypen]

for she is mesmerized

r is very proudly of polish descent. what wanda doesn’t know, is that r can speak fluent polish and wow, is it hot in here or is it just her? 

pairing: wanda maximoff x f!reader word count: 1.9k warnings: use of y/n, female leaning terms of endearment, wanda’s falling in love with you but refuses to admit she has feelings (#emo), mentions of wanda having nightmares, mention of y/n's family dying (no description), small descriptions of looks (reader has wavy hair, no color used), reader and wanda are both 19-20 years old

a/n: hello besties, wanda phase!melly is back (everyone say thank you wandasaura!!!). i'm not used to writing for wanda so her characterization *may* be a little bit off, but i'm excited to try and step into her shoes! also, please don't get mad at me if the polish translations are off i literally speak zero polish but wanted to use it because i'm polish and thought it would be cool.

translations of the polish used will be at the end of the post!

if you’ve ever heard of the avengers, chances are you’ve heard of the hiena. she hailed from poland, and made it very clear she had no intentions of succumbing to silly american traditions (except for halloween and christmas, since pepper made her fall in love with decorating the tree in the lobby of avengers tower and she loved the idea of halloween since she was a kid). there was very little that y/n shared about herself, but if she could tell the avengers about her homeland and how much her traditions meant to her, she’d do it. her polishness was something y/n kept close to her chest considering she moved away from home a few years ago after a big explosion killed her whole family. there were things about y/n that wanda wanted to know like she knew the back of her hand. things that only y/n could tell wanda in the solace of her company, when the rest of the avengers had gone to sleep and it was just them two in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to heat up. 

it was probably why wanda started falling in love with her. 

well, wanda wasn’t sure she’d call it love, per se. the slovakian had been a recluse since she first arrived, especially after watching pietro sacrifice himself for the greater good. her feelings had pretty much been turned off since the moment tony gave her the pin to her room. and while the others didn’t understand her need to be alone sometimes, y/n did. wanda appreciated the space she gave her, but sometimes wished that she could get a little bit closer to her. she wanted someone here she could rely on. while she had that in natasha, she couldn’t find herself ever knocking on her door in the middle of the night when the nightmares plagued her. natasha had made it clear that she would be there for her no matter what, but if she were being honest, she was still a little intimidated by the red head. everyone had their stories, and wanda knew she would learn about them in due time. but the one story she wanted to learn was hers. 

y/n was very different from her hiena counterpart. while her avenger-sona - as wanda liked to call it - was very in your face and i won’t take your bullshit, y/n was almost the opposite. she was very much not confrontational, she would tend to sink away when faced with the opportunity to face a problem in the tower head on. she was quieter than one would think, staying towards the back or opting to stay in with pepper and bruce while everyone else went our for drinks and dancing after big missions. it was enamoring how much she changed as soon as the grey and white suit came off and y/n could be herself. wanda always watched her from a distance, never getting too close for comfort. trying to catch her walking down the halls or watching her relax in the library curled up with a book. the way her wavy hair framed her face in the lowlight of the fireplace always had wanda mesmerized. how could someone with so much pent up anger look so angelic without even trying? 

wanda’s phone buzzed with a reminder that read “weekly avengers meeting, 2pm”, which meant she had to leave the solace of her bedroom. with a sigh, she wrapped her cardigan around her midsection before slipping on her shoes and making her way into the hall towards the elevators. the doors opened on the third floor where all the meeting rooms were, leaving her to shrink further into her cardigan and keep her head down as she walked through the halls and past all the closed office doors. as usual, thor was jaunting on about some crazy story, probably fabricating some of the details to make the girls he was talking to flaunt over him more than they already were. natasha, who was standing a few feet away at the vending machine, simply rolled her eyes and grabbed the bottle of mountain dew from the bottom before continuing down the hall. 

as wanda made her way down the hallway, she passed a room with a singular person in it. you. hiena. she had to force herself not to trip over her own two feet as she peered through the crack in the door, biting her thumb nervously as if you knew she was there. wanda had to force herself to look away from you and step out of the way as you paced the room, fearing that you’d see her and know she was eavesdropping. should she be eavesdropping? not at all. she was still so new to the team, she had a reputation to upkeep. but there was something about hearing you talk in your home language so professionally that had her stopping in her tracks.

it almost reminded her of home.

“przepraszam, nie rozumiem.” you sighed. “nie uważasz, że lepiej byłoby-” you got cut off, sighing angrily. “wiem, co masz na myśli, ale nie do końca się z tobą zgadzam.” another moment of silence. “dobrze. porozmawiam z tony'm.”

you hung up your phone and wanda sprung into action, running away from the door and acting like she didn’t just listen to half of your conversation despite the fact that she understood only one word. she waited a moment before walking down the hallway, pretending that she just happened to pass the room you were in at that very second. 

“wanda!” your polish accent was shining through. “you’ve been settling in okay, i hope?”

“as good as i can,” she started. “it’s um.. a change.” 

you nodded. “i can understand that. it was a lot for me too. you heading to the meeting?”

“yeah uh, yeah.” wanda nodded. 

“can i walk with you? that way you don’t have to go in alone, i know the first avengers meeting can be a bit weird with everyone staring at you.” 

wanda had to stop herself from buckling at the knees.

“that’s very sweet of you.” wanda smiled. “thank you.” 

“of course.” you gave wanda a half smile. “come on, tony doesn’t like it when we’re late.” 

wanda smiled as the two of you started walking down the hallway together. she had to fight every urge in her body to stop her hand from brushing up against yours as you walked towards the meeting room together.

as for you, you could practically feel the admiration radiating off of wanda. you had found it quite cute how she always seemed to be watching you do your mundane little tasks. it might have been the reason you found yourself leaving the comfort of your room more and more lately, trying to catch a glimpse of the younger girl. wanda was young, yet she had been through so much. she was handling it with so much grace and composure, you were surprised you hadn’t heard her break down into tears yet as you walked past her room every night. there was the chance she had magick-ed the walls, yes, but you knew from experience you could only hold things in for so long before the dam burst. it was how you and bruce bonded when you first joined the avengers. he had found you in the midst of a breakdown and from then on became your father figure- more so than tony, who was the one who took you under his wing in the first place. granted, tony was… well, tony. there was only so much you could get out of him before he started acting weird about it.

the meeting went off by without any issues, mainly going over and debriefing the last mission you went on and attempting to tip toe around talking about the battle of sokovia, considering the wound was still pretty fresh for wanda. paperwork was signed, reports were filed and you were ready to get out of there. the weekly meetings were very tiresome, you hated talking over the strategy side of things. you always had an itch to keep moving and doing things when it came to things like this. even in high school, before everything went to shit, you would always look forward to the end of the day so you could go run on the track for a few hours before heading home. bruce had gotten you some fidget toys, saying something about how they’d help, but they only do so much when all you want to do is move around.

the need to be moving all the time was partly why you named yourself after hyenas. not only did your powers give you heightened hearing, the strength you found while training with natasha made you feel as fierce as one of them. the avengers were almost like your pack, even though you could never consider yourself the leader. you had been under tony’s wing for a few years now, and almost considered them family. almost. nothing would or ever could replace the family you had left behind in poland. you talked to them constantly, trying to keep in touch with them as much as you could to make sure they were doing okay after everything that had happened. it pained you to think that they would have been gone if you hadn’t grown into your powers sooner.

“alright, meeting adjourned!" tony’s clap shook you out of your thoughts. “i’ll be in my office if you need me. but don’t need me, actually, i have a lot of things to do today.”

pepper rolled her eyes. “i’ll be readily available if anyone needs anything. you all know you can come into my office whenever.”

“thank you, pepper.” wanda’s voice was quieter than it was earlier.

“of course, sweetheart.”

everyone dispersed relatively quickly, leaving you and wanda alone in the room. thankfully pepper got the memo to close the door behind her, giving you two a barrier from the outside world.

“are you okay?”

“hm? oh um… yeah. i’m…”

“i lost my parents too. a few years ago.”

“i’m sorry.”

“don’t be. shit happens, you know?” you chuckled dryly. “i guess what i’m trying to say is, if you need anything… my door is always open.”

you could have sworn a smile cracked on wanda’s face. “thank you.”

“it’s okay if you’re not okay, yet.” you looked over to her. “i have to remind myself of that every day. i’m still not okay. the independence i got from my family…” you paused. “i could have saved them if i was there.”

wanda reached over and squeezed your hand sympathetically. “there are a lot of things that we could have done differently. we can’t dwell on it.”

“you sound like natasha.” a small smile formed on your face.

“i might have picked up a little bit from her.” she smiled back. “she’s very smart.”

“that she is.” you glanced at the time on your phone. “do you want some lunch? i made perogis and rosół yesterday.”

“perogis sound good. what is ro…”

“rosół? it's a soup from poland. my mom made it for me and my cousins when we were little. a lot of the time when we were sick, but it’s still good even when you’re well.”

“that sounds good too.”

“then it's settled. lunch time, on the house.” you slapped your knees and stood up. “you coming?”

“let’s do it.”

TRANSLATIONS: przepraszam, nie rozumiem- sorry, i don't understand nie uważasz, że lepiej byłoby- don't you think it would be better to // wiem, co masz na myśli, ale nie do końca się z tobą zgadzam- i know what you mean but i don't fully understand // dobrze. porozmawiam z tony'm - fine. i will talk to tony // rosół- a traditional polish soup very closely aligned with chicken soup! typically made with some sort of meat, broth and other garnishings. *thank you to tynix for letting me know i was using the wrong translation of "fine"!

[acesw]

Knowing our Arcanists 10: Rabies

Welcome to entry ten of my series: "Knowing our Arcanists"! This is a series in which I introduce and tell the stories of our fellow characters in Reverse: 1999. Today's character we have: Rabies!

I think Rabies is one of the few tragic characters that gets overlooked by the fanbase due to him being a character of lower rarity. I really like his story, and I hope for this you find a bit of enjoyment to it as well. Lets get started.

Rabies, born Adam Miłosz, is a Polish arcanist who was active in the late 30s-40s in Warsaw, Poland. Born on December 14th, he's currently a living scarecrow, walking among the cornfields as a protector of the crops and a generally docile "creature." But as we see him, he wears the clothes of a doctor and has the mind of an amnesiac. Why is that?

Well, it turns out that underneath the scarecrow is a man, or what remains of one.

In Poland, a rabies endemic had become rampant, and even up until now, there is no exact cure for it. This endemic had wiped out many, as the disease was indiscriminate. No matter how many doctors tried, it was undefeatable.

Adam Miłosz was a young doctor in Poland who was one of the many who tried their best to come up with a cure for rabies. Over the course of his career, he lost many patients to the rabies disease like many doctors did and did not know what else he could do until he received a woman named Alicia.

On February 1st of an unknown year, Adam received Alicia as his final patient for the rabies disease. Alicia was the daughter of a wealthy family, and she contracted rabies from being bitten by her dog. Its implied that Adam and Alicia were both acquainted, and were likely romantically involved with one another.

Out of desperation and love, Adam had decided to make a deal with an unknown entity, and use an unknown arcane skill to directly siphon the rabies disease from Alicia's body to his own, thus curing her, but also cursing himself. He then wrote a final good bye letter to her, before disappearing off of the Earth.

On February 3rd of that year, Alicia had been magically cured of rabies, astonishing the town and leading them to ponder on the identity of which doctor cured her. Meanwhile, Adam had isolated himself away from the city, slowly dying and intertwining with the earth and plants around him.

Eventually, the straw headgear slowly completed its form, and Adam lost himself and became the living scarecrow we know today as "Rabies."

Rabies is a very docile and kind creature, being one to quickly protect the people he cares for and vice versa. He may look and act strange, but his affectionate demeanor and language speak for itself; it makes him a bit better understood by those around him in the suitcase.

However, his past can sometimes haunt him, being reminded of the fact that he's afflicted with the rabies disease. The disease did not kill him, but it entirely transformed him into something animalistic in nature, nor will such harm others.

And because the disease mainly affects the brain, it not only changed his physiological functions, but it also greatly impacted his memories. But he remembers that he did take this risk out of love and to save Alicia.

Its the life that he currently lives with now, but it can be said that he lives with contentment and with little regret. Knowing at the very least he saved the life of the person he loved, he hopes to continue doing so for everyone else.

[snowbunnywatching]

Hi. Long time lurker of your posts. How many European places have you visited and which countries' potential Africanization excites you the most, other than Scandinsvia? Personally love seeing Poland getting Blacked where the country tries to present itself conservative immigration wise, but their girls seem to love Black men (and many Polish girls also have thick figures from what I've seen, making good aesthetics). Also, Ireland which seemed fairly homogeneous for a long time. Their very pale skins make great contrast against darker tones

It's a midsummer evening in Denmark. All over the country, from the largest city to the smallest hamlet, people are building pyres. The base is made of logs and dry branches, but on top of them something else is piled: Danish flags, books on Danish culture, wooded crosses from the local church. Everyone brings something from their own home to commit to the fire. A little girl, her blonde hair glimmering in the setting sun, gently places a worn children's book of fairy tales by national poet Hans Christian Andersen on the kindling.

As the flames consume the objects of the national culture, a solemn silence descends on the crowd. Thoughts go out to the international victims of the increasingly drastic climate changes, which this little country and its massive oil fields have so thoughtlessly exacerbated.

The next day they start arriving.

Bus after bus filled with Black men. Displaced by droughts, rising sealevels, and extreme weather. They are greeted at the city center by cheering crowds, welcomed like returning war heroes.

Their faces are tough, hardened by the horrors they've seen before arriving here. Their bodies are muscular; only the strongest have made it this far.

They look with contempt at the gifts placed at their feet by their smiling, blue-eyed hosts. If members of this white-skinned nation will so easily part with these possessions, imagine what treassures they keep for themselves.

The new arrivals make up a large percentage of the populating. One third of the Danish population is now made up by young, Black men.

Mixed couples walking hand in hand have become a common sight in the once so mono-cultural lilliputian nation. Never having been with a Black man becomes a mark of derision for Danish girls. Losing your virginity to a Black man is a sign of a progressive, justice-oriented mindset. All over the country, Black skin is slapping against white skin in rythmic fashion.

This is the future. We're never looking back.

[spanishskulduggery]

I've seen the weirdest responses to Guernica's protesting for Palestine and the sounding of the sirens; the stupidest of which said something to the effect of "proof that Spain is still a fascist country"

Like bro the Basque people are historically anti-fascist to the extreme and characterized as terrorists because of it

Most of the autonomous communities tend to dislike the central government in Madrid, and most have suffered some kind of discrimination from the central government, but it's safe to say that the Basque Country and Cataluña are historically the most vocal about it - even in Spain, those two communities are stereotyped as the rebellious anti-monarchy types, or even "whining" or "terrorists" for how vocal they are

I can't blame the average person for not knowing the ins and outs of Spanish politics and history but it really does tell me that certain people's understanding of the European aspect of WW2 is limited to Germany, a little of Poland and France, and the treatment of Jewish people - but have real blind spots when it comes to what else was going on and who else was suffering from the Nazis

It also tells me some people's understanding of WW2 stops at 1945

(And it tells me you know nothing of Picasso... but art, and Picasso in general, is not everyone's cup of tea)

[charleezard]

I wanted to take some time today to remember 3 people.

As many may know, at least if you're Jewish, today is Yom HaShoah. Through the past 2 years, I've lit 3 candles to remember 3 Holocaust victims. Every time I do, I take some time to research them on various databases, so I can learn a little about them. I don't want them to be forgotten. And in this post I want to tell you about them. If discussions of the Shoah might trigger you, don't feel bad skipping this post. Whoever is able will remember them, make sure you take care of yourself first and foremost. The rest of the post will be under the Read More section so you're free to skip if you need.

🕯️Eliezer Kofler

Sadly, not much is known about Eliezer Kofler. We don't know when or where he was born, we don't know when or where he died. We know that before the war he probably lived in Stryj (then Poland, now Ukraine). During the war, we know he was in Poland, we don't know where or at which point. Nothing else is known. Since I could only find him in some databases, it is possible his name has been spelled in different ways that I'm not aware.

Eliezer Kofler was murdered during the Shoah. But he was not forgotten. May his memory be a blessing.

🕯️Julie Fischerova

Julie Fischerova was born in 1884, on the 12th of January. She lived in Prague (then still in Czechoslovakia), and had a son, Herbert Fischer, in 1915. She was transported to Terezín, a ghetto and concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, on 16/07/1942. Her son was also transported there on 20/11/1942. Herbert was, from Terezín, transported to Auschwitz on 20/01/1943, and Julie suffered the same fate on 15/05/1944. She died at approximately 59 years old.

Julie Fischerova was murdered during the Shoah, and so was her son Herbert. But they were not forgotten. May their memory be a blessing.

🕯️Meta Leiter

Not much is known about Meta Leiter either. Meta is predominantly a girl's name, but in the documents I found of Meta in various archives, their gender is always marked as Unknown, and as such I will be referring to them in a genderneutral way.

Meta Leiter was born in 1888, exact date and place unknown. We know that, in the beginning of the war, they lived in Munich, Germany. From there, they were on 24/07/1942 transported to Terezín, just a few days after Julie Fischerova was. From Terezín, they were transported to Auschwitz on 16/10/1944, where they died at approximately 55 years old.

Meta Leiter was murdered during the Shoah. But they were not forgotten. May their memory be a blessing.

It's painful, but a big honor to be able to remember them and keep their memory alive. I did my best to make these memorials as respectfully as I could with all the information I could find in various sources. If I got something wrong, or if you know anything more about them, feel free to reach out.

If you'd also like to be assigned with one or more names to remember and honor, you can do so at Illuminate the Past. Please don't forget them, write them down or take a screenshot. I wish all of you a meaningful Yom HaShoah and thank you for reading this post.

[skiroiski]

oiughhhh i need mroe friends to rp with on discord....... preferably around 14-17 as i am currently 15 going on 16 (i do not feel comfortable roleplaying with adults) like maybe fandom roleplays specifically???? although oc ones would be fine too :3

my style of roleplaying can be a bit silly at times but if you prefer serious roleplays then i'm willing to try ^^ (my style is unfortunately kinda cringe though since it came from roblox fnaf and undertale roleplays when i was like 8-11 so </3)

(fandoms and characters i'm willin g to rp)

Pokemon (especially pokepasta)

- Protagonists and rivals (specifically Red, Blue, Gold, Silver, Brendan, Lucas, and Hilbert, but i'm willing to try other ones :3) - ...that's about as much knowledge as i have for roleplaying pokemon characters BUT I'm willing to do any other character!!!! (also ocs i love making ocs) - (For pokepasta) - Mike - Steven(SR, not champion Steven) - Blake - Frosty Red - Mostly Pokepasta ocs but

Creepypasta

- Literally any male one lmao

Transfur*

- I'm fine with any character specific to something like Changed or Kaiju Paradise but I'd really prefer to do ocs with this one!!

Countryhumans

- Rubs hands, this is the fandom i have most experience roleplaying (besides Pokemon) - USA - Canada - UK - Norway - Denmark - Sweden - Finland - Iceland - Germany - Poland - Russia - Ukraine - Belarus - I'm fine with most characters in this fandom tbf :3

* - I have not roleplayed any transfur thing before

I AM WILLING TO CREATE NEW OCS FOR NON-FANDOM ROLEPLAY :3

Also if u have any other fandom u wanna roleplay I am okay with that if it's something that I know and am into (such as anything else in my intro post)

NOTE: i am not good with roleplaying as girls, only guys, it is also hard for me to roleplay more than one character at once per roleplay, near impossible with more than two, i can roleplay both humans and animals (although with animals it depends, I might be able to roleplay them better if they can talk(like in a warrior cats type of vibe) because dialogue is my saving grace for having no ideas)

BOUNDARIES: Absolutely NO NSFW, especially since I'm a minor, SHIPS ARE OKAY THOUGH, just no nsfw Adding onto that, any yucky ships (aka proships/darkships/illegal comships) are not allowed. Please be patient with me as I do take a bit for some responses and may sometimes do short responses (this varies with motivation and ideas) I would rather be little to no embarrassing situations as i get really bad second hand embarrassment

Preferences: Tupperbox (no pluralkit as we are plural and use it for our system), or if you don't know how to use it or don't like it then just typing on our actual accounts is okay Personal server for it (so dms don't get flooded and if we decide to make more roleplays) YGGDrasil(?) bot for things that aren't 100% guaranteed (example: fighting outcomes,

INTRO POST FOR MORE INFO ABOUT US

I will be glad to discuss characters and ocs :33

EXAMPLE OF MY ROLEPLAY STYLE: (MY CHARACTER IS <USER>)

ALSO EXAMPLE OF THE YGG THING

discord user is "r3iyo" :3

[natriae]

Most beautiful woman ♡

ushijima fic

a/n: this is a ver self indulging fic. I normally try and characteristics of y/n out, but like i said this is very self indulging. It's just a little drabble i came up with while tryna stop be so insecure abt my hair. Also this was supposed to be posted yesterday but i forgot :)

background info:

you and 'toshi met while he was playing volleyball in poland and recently you guys just moved back to Japan (you are not from japan). Also, Kiyoomi is a single dad.

Since moving to Japan life has been full of seeing new places and meeting 'Toshi's friends and family. It was a fresh start for you considering you have never been to such a foreign place, but you always felt comfortable when you were with Wakatoshi.

It was his idea to move back and you could see how his eyes lit up at the thought. Since coming back 'Toshi has tried to regularly keep in contact with his friends and plan hangouts. Today was one of those days. 'Toshi was going to be going out with his friend, Kiyoomi, for the night and you would stay in and watch his beautiful baby girl. She had the biggest dark brown doe eyes and perfect curls surrounding her face. While the two men were out. Your night was filled with cartoon toys and a very energetic five year old.

You always heard how smart the little girl was through texts and pictures shared between Wakatoshi and Kiyoomi, but you didn't realize it went pass just academics. While pausing the movie to use the restroom Keiko, kiyoomi's daughter, decided to share something.

"y/n chan... do you like my hair?" The little girl asked. Her eyes got bigger beginning to fill with tears. Getting down on your knees you immediately hugged the small child to comfort her.

"ofc i do. Why wouldn't i," you responed. You couldn't believe these thoughts were coming up, and were worried what they would lead too.

"w-well people at my school have been commenting on it. Saying that it's much different then their hair, a-and my papa has hair like me so he wouldn't get it," You hugged the sniffling girl tighter in your arms as she explained. Your heart felt a little tighter hearing her explanation. "i wish i could just have straight hair like you and everyone else,"

Her final sentence is what hurt you the most. For years you have been straighting and doing everything in your power to keep your hair straight. Even keeping it pulled back and braided when you and 'toshi went to the beach. It hurt to hear the little girl having the same thoughts as a grown women like you. Tears started to pool at your eyes but you wanted to appear strong for the little girl in you arms. Leading down to kiss the top of her head you whispered to her, "oh baby... can i tell you a secret," at that her red eyes peered up at you like whatever you said could make of break her whole night. "my hair is actually a lot like yours. more curly then wavy. i'll show you. Come with me."

The little one trailed behind you to the bathroom. Wiping her eyes every once in a while on the way there. You could tell she was skeptical on you, but she would stay silent because she trusted you. She trusted you. The guilt was already beginning to settle in. "do you have a spray bottle," you asked and you placed her on the white counter.

"yeah, papa keeps one in there when he does my hair," she says as she points to the cabinet below the sink. Low and behold there are plenty of hair products made specifically for those with curly hair. You picked up the pink bottle filled with water and began misting your hair. Make sure to get all of it.

"i have very thick hair so you have to be patient okay," Keiko nodded at that and patiently watched you wet your hair as she kicked her feet gently off the counter. "now im gonna separate, brush, and start putting in the curl cream," Taking the brush you began section your hair, putting the cream in, and begin making small tight curls with the brushes handle. In the corner of you eye you could see the little girl watching in awe. It took much longer then you expected after not doing you hair in such a long time. Finally you finished it off with the curling moose, and showed her the final product.

To say Keiko was happy would be an understatement. Her smile was huge and you could see her missing front tooth as she looked at you like you put all the stars in the sky. "you have to pinky promise me that you will never hide your beautiful curls from the world, okay." she nods st your words and begins to hold out her pinky for you to link with. Both of you kiss your thumbs to seal the deal. You spent the rest of the night playing with Keiko and making sure she didn't have any bad thoughts. You on the other hand made sure Keiko couldn't see that you were just as insecure - maybe even more- then Keiko was about your curls.

You felt like a hypocrite. You spent so much of your time straighting and making sure your hair was dried a certain way so that no one could tell your hair was any different from theirs. You hoped that Keiko would never have to experience the things that were said to you. And a little part of you wished you had someone like yourself when you were younger to tell you how pretty your curls were. Sadly, you couldn't bring yourself to accept your curls and planned to wash and redo your hair before the guys came back. You just weren't ready for such a big jump. 'toshi probably wouldn't think you were as beautiful if you showed him your natural hair. He probably would break up with you because they made you ugly, and find another girl with better hair. After moving to Japan your insecurities skyrocked seeing that the standard was to have straight hair. Very rarely did you see a girl with curly hair.

Lost in your thoughts you hadn't heard the front door begin to open untill it was to late. Two six foot tall men came walking into the small home. It was dark and you were frozen in your spot. Keiko immediately ran to her father happy to see him home early. You on the other hand glued to your seat on the floor and kept your back turned from your boyfriend. "y/n...hey" 'Toshi deep voice traveled through the home to were you were seated on the living room floor.

Slowly turning round you saw your boyfriend with his standard expressionless face, but you knew this wasn't his ordinary deadpan look. He was thinking.

a lot.

Beginning to get worried you stood up and began walking over to him. Ready to explain that you did your hair with a curling iron (toshi knew that those curls could not be made easily with an iron). His mouth opened and closed and then open and closed again like he was trying to say wow. "'toshi it's-"

"you are the most beautiful women i've ever seen, and somehow you just became more beautifuler"

smiling at his response you couldn't help but tell him, "toshi i dont think beaurifuler is a word" giggling a bit at your boyfriend's vocabulary.

"well idk how else to describe you," he responded still with a shocked look on his face but his eyes told you that he was in awe of what he was looking at. "i-is this your natural hair. It's so pretty." You slowly nodded at that pulling in you lips in as you could feel your body heating up. 'toshi made you shy a lot but never this much. looking down you slowly wrapped your self around his waist and pressed your head into his chest. He was your safe place. He always knew the perfect words to say to you, and he definitely had the key to your heart.

Later Kiyoomi came back downstairs after putting Keiko to sleep. "thank you so much. She said you made her really love her curls. Idk what exactly happened, but im glad she's happy with you." Your happy to be with Keiko too. You may have taught her a valuable lesson but she in turn taught you one. You would never hide you curls again, and especially not from your wakatoshi.

[kurwyetorbi]

Jakub Adamczewski x GN! Reader (Part 1)

This story contains: Gender neutral reader, a bit of seggs, alcohol, catholic church, enemies to lovers, swearing, conflict resolution techniques taught to me by my therapist and some Bogdan because he is my favourite character in the show 1670.

Abstract: The reader is a wealthy... something (the profession is not important for the fanfic) who has recently moved to Adamczycha. Their stay at the village would have a 5 star rating if it wasn't for that cunty priest named Jakub. However, as they interact more with Jakub things change. Woah!✨

Word count: 2000 or something like that (I'm avoiding other important tasks in my life)

The story is better than the abstract... Enjoy!

...

Adamczycha was a small town located in the northeast of Poland. Perhaps it was the people, the food or the scenery what made you fall in love with this beautiful place. However, like everything else in life, it also had its disadvantages. There was one guy, a priest to be more specific, who made your stay a little uncomfortable. His name was Jakub, the Adamczewski family's most beloved son. From the day you arrived he treated you as if you were some kind of demon.

"ASMODEUS, SATANAS, LUCIFER!!!" A flashback of one of his sermons came to your mind. He was looking directly at you as he said that. Not very polite of him. "They could be walking among us at this very moment!" You remember how he screamed as he raised his fist in the altar and took another deep breath to keep giving his speech. He was a parody of a priest.

You had to say it, all the encounters you had with him were quite peculiar and every now and then your friends would ask you to repeat these stories. "(Y/n), tell us again about that one story in the church!" In Adamczycha people respected you, at least more than in the previous town where you were living.

"For sure, it was very weird. I was just sitting there on the bench minding my own godly business. Listening to the priest blah, blah, blah. When all of a sudden something in his eyes changes. It looked like a demonic possession. He starts listing all of this demons... and I swear to God, he was looking at me all the time."

"What have you done to the poor little guy?" Asked the moustachioed soldier with a curious look on his face.

"Me? Nothing. But don't be fooled, he is not as innocent as he seems. One day he likes you, another day he blames you for heresy."

"I think you should talk to him in the confessional. When you confess, you may change your mind about him." Bogdan insisted.

"Aaaaagh, the mere thought of spending some time alone in a box with him sends shivers down my spine". With that you took a last sip of your drink and headed towards your house which was not far from the tavern. What Bogdan had said made you think about your relationship with the priest. Maybe you should give him a chance. After all, in your previous town, your neighbours made you feel excluded too. Why would you want to do that to someone else? Given that you were inmersed in your thoughts you couldn't notice your name being called over and over again.

"(Y/n)!." You heard a demanding voice nearby. You squinted your eyes in order to see where the voice was coming from. It was no other than the Great Jakub himself, blocking your way home.

"Jakub..." Your face remained expressionless as you muttered his name. The only thing you did to make your hate towards him a little bit less notorious was tilting your fluffy hat like a cowboy.

"You shouldn't be out here at night." Confused, you stopped walking to make eye contact with him.

"Look priest. As far as I know I'm some sort of demon, so I don't think I'll have any problems as long as I stay away from priests." It came right from your heart. All this hatred could not be kept hidden for too long.

"How dare you speak to me like that?" He seemed to be offended by your remarks. "Forgive me inmediately or I'll have you executed tomorrow morning" Oh, you got him really pissed.

"Okay, I'm sorry." As you lifted your arms you pouted your lips to make it seem more convincing. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some import-"

"On your knees..." Each word came out of his mouth slowly as if he enjoyed it. You swear you saw a grin forming in one side of his lips. "Come on, I have to be home! Dinner is waiting." He demanded eagerly. Even if you had become quite rich in the last year, you were not the most powerful person in town.

"Jakub, I..." Your mind went blank for a moment. "What a psycho!" You thought to yourself as you slowly knelt on the muddy floor. When you finally reached the bottom your left knee slipped a little. This action made the priest laugh mischievously.

"Stand up-." He struggled to control his laughter as he gestured for you to get up. Once he regained control over himself he continued. "Anyway, come tomorrow to my church." You noticed him winking at you. Still, you weren't sure if that was real or if you were too drunk. "We have to cleanse your soul... and those pants". He grinned once more and left you there in the mud.

As you saw him walking away in the distance your mind came back to its clarity again. Unfortunately, those thoughts were filled with hate towards the young priest.

"I'll make sure I splash you with holy water you filthy demon..." With that you resolutely got to your feet only to slip and fall in the mud again.

...

What a weird day. Good it was already over. Now you could spend some time bathing and washing off the mud.

"Fuck you, Jakob..." Figuratively speaking. You hated his abuse of power and how he treated you as if you were less than him. It was difficult to stop thinking about him, he had already made an important presence in your life. "Uuuugh..." The smooth rose petals didn't seem to be helping you relax. As much as you tried to inhale their sweet aroma, the image of him pointing the floor so you would kneel was difficult to get out of your head. "Did he wink at me?" You were pretty much confussed since you were receiving a lot of mixed messages. However, you had to admit that you didn't dislike the thought of having him around at that moment. With that, you closed your eyes and slowly massaged your tights underwater. You could feel the heat in your cheeks as you imagined Jakub undressing from his opulent clothing in front of you. Him slowly getting inside of the bathtub with his hard penis. Planting a wet kiss on your lips as he slipped his dick inside you. The thought of being penetrated by him made you want to touch yourself desperately.

"What am I thinking?" You slapped your cheek and poured some cold water over your head ashamed of your actions. As much as you enjoyed that moment alone, you knew it was for the best. Getting laid with a catholic priest was impossible after all. Tomorrow you would confess your sins and maybe then he would treat you with respect. You didn't ask for more.

...

"It's true, I swear!" The tone of your voice sounded weirdly amusing. Your hands were shaking more than usual, making part of your drink spill on the ground.

"Yeah sure, you're telling me that Jakob appeared near your house at night and told you to confess your sins." Bogdan wasn't buying any of that bullshit. "I think you had to many drinks last night!" He forced a smile.

You grabbed him by his collar, checked the tavern and spoke softly. "I swear on my life Bogdan". The seriousness of your voice made him frown. "Either I get laid today or I get killed. I don't care which one of them it is".

"I thought you were happy in here." By his facial expression you could tell he was worried.

"Of course, I just need to clarify some stuff." You placed a hand firmly on Bogdan's sweaty shoulder and headed outside. The priest did not specify when you had to come to visit him. Because of the anxiety you were feeling, you left the meeting for the last moment of the day. That way you could avoid Jakub. A bit tipsy, you moved through the dark alleys of Adamczycha preparing for the worst.

"H-Hello?" Your voice shaked as you waited outside of the giant wooden doors of the church. After a minute or so you decided to head inside the church. To your surprise, the inside door was not closed. "Jakub?" You took your fluffy hat off and dipped your hand in the sink with holy water. You signed a quick cross and walked through the empty aisle. Some of the candles were lit making the statues more visible. At night and without people, it was quite frightening to walk through the church. To ease your nerves, you fiddled with the hat in your hands.

At the end of the aisle, you could see the altar with all its golden decorations. It was more empty than usual. All you could find was a note and a candle. Someone had been remodeling the building. You opened the note and with the help of the candle you read what it said.

"Find me in the confessional." Your voice echoed making you even more scared. You walked carefully towards the wooden confessional and blew the candle once you were in front of it. You were not sure if after all this time he would be waiting for you, but you decided to enter anyway.

"Hm, hm, Father?" You cleared your voice as you said that. If it hadn't been for his heavy breathing, you wouldn't have known he was on the other side.

"Hm, so now you are treating me with respect?" For the fist time, it was a relief to hear his voice.

"I'm sorry, when did I treat you with disrespect?" Calling him Father instead of Jakub was a bit weird, but you thought it was right to do so in his church.

"I know how you talk about me behind my back. My uncle Bogdan told me about it." You could not believe it, Bogdan didn't tell you he was Jakub's uncle.

"Can't I have private conversations with my friends?" Defending yourself seemed more reasonable than begging for forgiveness.

"Never mind, I have also talked shit about you."

"With whom?" As far as you knew, Jakub wasn't the type of person who had a lot of friends, so you decided to attack him with that question.

"With Him." He hummed. "I think it's time you forgive me in front of the Almighty."

"What about you?" Empowerment filled your body as you faced him and his absurd demands. This man was used to people giving him what he wanted right away. After all, he was his daddy's favourite. Having someone face him was still new for Jakub. Before you arrived, this whole town was under his control. Almost. Whatever he desired was granted by God. Well, almost everything. There was one thing he could not get which seemed to be torturing him. Since you arrived in the town, he started feeling uneasy and more weird than usual. He punished himself a lot. All those impure thoughts invading his body. His sexual desires overshadowed his core religious values. He couldn't take it anymore.

"I had enough!" For a moment that felt like years the confessional was filled with silence. You decided to break it as you were starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Look Jakub. I know I shouldn't have said those things about you with Bogdan. I felt like you were treating me disrespectfully so I started doing the same. What I want to say is... I'm sorry, I hope we can start over again." You swallowed your pride with that last line, but you didn't care. You simply didn't want to be on bad terms with him anymore. "What do you say?" You asked yet again, as the confessional was filled with silence.

"Why are you making this more difficult?" He blamed you for his own filthy desires.

"Making what?" You weren't sure what he was refering to.

Suddenly, Jakub's side door was opened. You could hear his footsteps marching somewhere else, so you decided to follow him.

...

To be continued.

[petermorwood]

Here’s a dish from French Cooking Academy, another of my subscribed YouTube channels.

I like the business of stuffing each chunk of beef with a bit of garlic and bacon; I’ve done this with lamb, using garlic and lemon. Another interesting detail is the use of cinnamon, suggesting a way-back-when influence either from the Moors or having access to spices as they passed through from Dpain Spain or North Africa on the way to somewhere else.

Kokkinisto (Greek) and Tajine (Morocco) also use cinnamon - and cloves, and nutmeg, and ginger etc. etc. depending on recipe. I’ve made both, they’re really excellent.

@dduane​ and I got Very Interested because the use of what Mum used to call “cake spices” is also quite medieval and, in DD’s case, adaptable for the Middle Kingdoms project.

The Corsican one recommends rigatoni, cannelloni or similar large hollow pasta (presumably to hold lots of sauce!) For a more medieval approach I’d try Loseyns from late-1300s cookbook “The Forme of Cury” (that’s “cookery” without the k, so “coo’rey” not “curry”.)

*****

These are often regarded as Richard II-era ”lasagne”, though I wonder if there’s also an association with heraldic “lozenges”, easily created by cutting a sheet of pasta dough slantwise...

Either way, here’s “Tasting History with Max Miller” (subscribed of course!) having a go at Loseyns, which turn out like mac & cheese with extra spices.

Max ended up eating them with a stick because forks hadn’t been introduced yet, but IMO a better utensil would be the historical eating pick, like one of these.

...or even a spoon, especially if the loseyns were cut small with that in mind.

However eating pasta with the fingers - like many other foods - may have been done in the 1300s; it was certainly recorded in paintings from the 1600s...

...right up to the 1800s...

...though I don’t think these were dressed with anything more than oil or butter and some grated cheese, and the potential for messy eating was still pretty high. Eating small pasta rather than dangly strands with the fingers was probably much tidier, especially if diners knew the proper etiquette for doing it...

Finally, here’s something from our own store-cupboard, bought out of curiosity during a recent visit to Polonez in Dublin.

This is pasta cut into little squares; both the front and the back of the pack calls them łazanka...

...and according to Google Translate, this just means “pasta noodles”.

However...

Can any followers tell me if "łazanka” has any relationship to “lasagna” or “lozenge”? An enquiring mind wants to know! :->

ETA: @seriously-mike​ says “...łazanki were brought to Poland in 16th century by queen Bona Sforza (so) the relationship with lasagna might be there.” See his Reply for more info.

ETA (2): A little bell went off in my head about the shapes in the bag and I suddenly remembered seeing them as something call “torn pasta” - the Italian word is “maltagliati“ - which were made using re-rolled scraps of dough from “formal” shapes; more info at that link.

[sollannaart]

Józef Poniatowski’s women.

Part V. The rest of ladies who might have been of some interest to him

Good day everyone and let me share with the rest of information I possess on Prince Poniatowski's love interests. (Though, I have to admit, the ladies from this list were the least likely - from all the mentioned in these series of post - to have some kind of affair with Pepi.

To start I would like by Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen of Prussia.

On the right - unidentified artist, miniature portrait of Prince Poniatowski, 19th century. On the left - portrait of Queen Louise by Giuseppe Grassi, 1802.

Prince Józef had the opportunity to meet the wife of the king Frederick William III at least four times, because the royal couple visited Warsaw - which had become a part of Prussia as a result of the third partition of Poland - three times, in 1798, 1802 and 1805. And in 1802 Poniatowski himself had to go to Berlin, to settle the matter of the inheritance left by his uncle Stanisław August.

According to Juliusz Fałkowski, while at Warsaw Prince Józef "…gave a ball and a dinner in the Copper-Roof palace in their honor [the King and Queen of Prussia - A.S.] and was flirting with the Queen everywhere", for which he received the star of the black eagle, although he rather "expected something else from the beautiful queen." After the departure of the royal couple, "he longed a little for the crowned beauty who had easily won his heart in passing."

An Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun painting of Queen Louise, c. 1801

The second source that mentions the relationship between these two is the book by Marian Brandys "Kozietulski i inni", which states (without giving sources, unfortunately) that during Pepi's visit to the capital of Prussia "… it was also said that the beautiful Queen Louise fell in love with in a knightly Pole."

However, if you ask my opinion about the likelihood of an affair between Pepi and the Queen of Prussia, I will say that in my opinion he was "flirting" her to make it easier to solve the inheritance problem. As for the fact that she could also be in love with the prince, I have no opinion because my knowledge about Queen Louise is not very great.

The second lady in today's list will be prince Józef's first cousin once removed, Anetka Potocka (née Tyszkiewicz, the daughter of Konstancja Poniatowska and a grand-daughter of prince Kazimierz, the oldest of the Poniatowski siblings).

On the left - Poniatowski's portrait by Franciszek Paderewski, on the right - Portrait of Anetka Tyszkiewiczówna, Giuseppe Grassi, 1796.

Born in 1779, she was 16 years younger than Pepi, and she remained unmarried for quite a long time, becoming the wife of the Count Aleksander Potocki in 1805. (Marian Brandys, in the biography of Anetka's uncle prince Stanisław, states that some time before 1791 there was an idea to join all the Poniatowski estates marring Stanisław to his niece, but it was eventually abandoned.) The marriage brought them three children, but after 16 years Anetka asked for divorce and then wedded Colonel Stanisław Dunin-Wąsowicz. During the times of the Duchy of Warsaw, she was a frequent guest at the Copper Roof Palace, visited Paris, witnessed Napoleon's sojourns in Warsaw, with all of those events been described later in her memoirs.

Portrait of Countess Dunin Wąsowicz, Anna née Tyszkiewicz, 1836.

As for her relationship with Prince Józef, it were her own words that made Fałkowski write that "the beautiful prince fell in love with Anetka" although "it was a platonic feeling".

"… Mrs. Aleksandrowa (Anetka Potocka - AS ) herself half-admitted thisin her old age. ''On disait alors que le Prince Joseph avait pour moi un sentiment plus tendre que l'amitié (it was said that Prince Joseph had for me a feeling more tender than friendship),' she would recalled with a dreamy expression on her face."

The second thing that leads historians to believe that Pepi could have distinguished this cousin of his from other relatives is the provision in his will, according to which she was to receive, after the death of the prince's sister, Teresa Tyszkiewicz, his favorite palace in Jabłonna near Warsaw. And when this did happen, Anetka ordered a triumphal arch to be built in the park in memory of Prince Józef.

The palace in Jabłonna, 2019

The triumphal arch from Jabłonna's park, 2019

And collage of mine is an illustration to the part dedicated to the rest of the women, whose portraits I wasn't able find. And honestly, the evidence that they might have been Prince Józef's love interests is very weak. But, since historians from time to time do mention these ladies' names, I thought them worth being included as well…

For example, in the prince's testament, together with Henriette de Vauban, Zofia Czosnowska and the above mentioned Anetka Potocka, there was mentioned Elżbieta Merlini, the daughter of Dominique Merlini, an Italian architect, the last main builder of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. But such concern for the architect's daughter may have been explained by a sense of moral debt to her father, which the prince Józef inherited from King Stanisław with the rest of the things.

Then, the list of Pepi's women sometimes complemented by another "Elżbieta" - Cichocka (although her real names were Emilia Karolina - or Katarzyna) née Bachmińska I° voto Szymanowska, II° voto Cichocka, III° voto Abramowiczowa. It is said she even sojourned in Jabłonna before 1810, until being apparently forced by Zofia Czosnowska to leave the place. After that Madame Cichocka went to Vilna, where she married her third husband. However, what IMHO should be taken into account in regards with this lady is that her second husband, Michał Cichocki, was an illegitimate son of Stanisław August, which might have made Prince Józef consider her a relative and thus take care about.

The same can be said about Madame Kicka - Józefa Martyna Rozalia née Szydłowska, who was a sister of Elżbieta Grabowska, another mistress of King Stanisław.

Sometimes the names of women who were friends and companions of Madame de Vauban are also included to the list of prince Józef's love interests. Those are: Anna Krasińska, a relative of general Krasiński and the wife of Mikołaj Oppeln-Bronikowski; Salomea Wielhorska née Dembińska; Anna Trębicka née Czerska, future wife of general Kamieniecki, and Józefa Potocka née Sollohub.

PS. As the regular visitors to the Copper Roof Palace are as well mentioned two ladies of the surname Walewska: Józefina née Lubomirska, the wife of Adam Walewski and the future wife General Witt, and Maria, the wife of Anastazy Walewski. The first of them was known for her kind of loose behavior, so presumably she might have at least flirted with Pepi; the second one is the famous Maria Walewska, but all I know about her makes me think her love for the emperor left no room in her heart for other men.

Portrait of Maria Walewska by Robert Lefèvre

[nothorses]

Hey I might be 1) misreading his post and 2) misreading your attached article but I think you’re responding to something anshelsgendercrisis didn’t actually say. I think what he’s talking about is the way people tell Jews to go back to Poland (or their “second home in NY” - something I’ve seen people say). Obviously the article you posted is also true, and reflects an unwillingness among Israelis to admit to the scale of what has been done to Palestinians. But I don’t think Avi is saying “actually the state of Israel is fine as it is,” he’s saying “telling people to go back to where they came from denies both the intermarriage making that relatively impossible and the general impossibility of moving millions of people somewhere else.” I don’t think his reply to that commenter is denying the idea that colonization is happening but rather that the commenter saying that on a post about the weird combo of racism and antisemitism mixed Jews get is just the wrong place to vent that. And goy isn’t a slur. Emotions are probably high and I think you’re likely in agreement.

My initial read of the post was that it was understanding the conversation around decolonizing Palestine to be about "sending the Jews back to Poland" (or some variation thereof), and the comment screencapped and responded to also demonstrated, to me, a misunderstanding of what a "colonizer" (vs. a settler) is.

I reblogged it with that article by Palestinians working towards decolonization because I felt it would be an effective way to communicate a number of relevant points- what Palestinians have actually said they want, what "decolonization" actually means in that context, and a little bit of what it means to be a "settler"- while also leaving ample room for the possibility that I was misunderstanding something as well. It was intended to be informational in a way that centered Palestinian voices in the conversation about their own colonization and decolonization efforts.

If the OP is just speaking to a thing non-Palestinian goyim are saying about Jewish folks, esp. in the context of decolonizing Palestine, there's plenty of room for OP to point to that same article as supporting their point! If goyim are using the colonization of Palestine to argue that Jewish folks need to be "sent back to Poland", particularly in a way that frames them as either "white colonizers" or "brown enough to be Basically Indigenous", that's erasing Palestinian voices & working against decolonization efforts just as much as the zionists arguing that decolonization would be a violent displacement (or genocide) of Jewish people.

[cringecompanionapologist]

Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma: Chapter 2

This one's called Duo, because it's the beginning of Turlough and Juras working together. Other than that, I only half-understand a fair amount of this chapter.

This chapter gives us more of Turlough's PoV than the first. He's been visiting various ancient ruins on Trion and one of its moons to learn about stuff that I'm still not sure how it ties into everything else he's doing.

First, brief vocab definition:

The Old Regime is when the Imperial Clans were in charge. The Revolutionary Regime was Rehctaht's little reign of terror. The New Regime is the congress/parliament/whoever is in charge with Rehctaht overthrown.

There is a bit of insight into the Old Regime here. This particular moon of Trion has a poisonous atmosphere. Apparently the old Trion scientists sent animals to the moon in hopes that they'd adapt to the atmosphere, but they all died. This shows a bit of the Imperial Trion "Science above all else" mindset, since it's a bit cruel to do that to so many animals. I guess it's not as bad doing it to people, but it feels a little disturbing.

After finishing his moon research, Turlough meets up with Juras again and invites her back to his house. It's apparently his house from before his exile, so you'd expect like a palace or something, but it's only described as a house. Other, later depictions of places Turlough lived during his childhood tend to go with palaces.

Earlier research I did about this book said that Turlough lived in a rainforest, but this is not that at all. Interestingly, the place is given a latitude of 50 degrees north. We don't know the exact size of Trion compared to Earth, but we can see what sorts of places are 50 degrees north on Earth.

That line would be here:

So around the border between the US and Canada as well as going right through the middle of Germany and Poland.

Here's a climate map:

The climate of this entire latitude line is naturally gonna vary, but we're mainly looking at Dfb with a bit of Cfb thrown in.

You probably don't know what that means. Most people don't spend as much time staring at maps as I do.

C and D both refer to temperate climates with distinct seasons. The main difference is that, while it can snow in some C climates, the temperature of every month averages above freezing. D climates have winter months where most days are below freezing.

The second letter is about dry seasons. In some parts of the world it rains/snows far more in one half of the year than the other. The "f" means there is no dry season.

The last letter is about how hot the summer gets. Climates with "a" get hotter summers than climates with "b".

So, a Dfb climate has warm, but not too hot summers, cold, snowy winters, and no dry season.

Cfb has warm, but not too hot summers, coldish, sometimes snowy winters, and no dry season.

The descriptions of the summers around Turlough's house staying cool and the winters bringing regular snowfall would fit with a Dfb climate. Very far from what could be called a rainforest. It's more like Toronto.

Look, I got distracted by geography because this chapter was hard to read. The talk of physics and engineering makes me feel dumb so I switched to something I can be smart about.

Anyway...Turlough and Juras talk about what Turlough's been up to. She still doesn't get why he's visiting ruins instead of going into politics.

There's still a lot of exposition going on and a lot of it is in dialogue.

Turlough is studying Trion's past because he's found a weird connection between Trion and Earth. The New Regime's main allies are people called the Gardsormr. If that sounds vaguely Norse to you, it did to Turlough as well. On Earth, he heard of a myth about the Midgardsormr and the myth was very apocalyptic, making him suspect that the Gardsormr, who apparently also worked with Rehctaht, are up to no good.

His reasoning isn't Science enough for Juras' liking.

Also now it's four years away. It was two last chapter and the number will continue to change.

Turlough has one more set of ruin to visit: Slotsruin.

So, as well as Trions, Trion has another intelligent species called the Slots who are (spoilers!) descended from the Laima, who were the ancient astronauts who visited Trion and ate people back in ancient times. The Slots don't eat people, though. They have an island to themselves and they mostly keep to themselves.

So Turlough stops by Slotisland to visit Slotsruin.

So was Turlough previously pronouncing "Slots" the way it's spelled? The correct way is apparently Schlootz. Okay.

So Turlough checks out more ruins, mostly of a giant monument with a forcefield around it so nobody can learn what it is.

Once he gets home, Turlough spends a few days trying and failing to contact Juras again, but she's gone AWOL. So he gets into his own personal spaceship (a small ship meant for around four people) which he's building a new engine for: one that travels in time.

Turlough had helped the Doctor with TARDIS repairs and was able to learn a bit of how the TARDIS worked. So now he's building his own time machine. Not a TARDIS, just a small time machine. Previous Trion attempts to figure out time travel all failed at the last minute and it's suspected that the Time Lords might've been involved. So, Turlough worked in complete secrecy to avoid his work being sabotaged.

Turlough reflects a bit on not knowing whether he can trust Juras or not and how Rehctaht sucks, in his opinion.

You'd think they'd give Thatcher-Spelled-Backwards some more upsetting dictator shit to believe in but she apparently genuinely believed in egalitarianism of some sort and rich boy Turlough complained about it until he got exiled, something he apparently hasn't learned anything about. Considering that Rehctaht is Thatcher-Spelled-Backwards in 1986, we're probably not supposed to like her. Turlough is supposed to be the good guy who stood up for what he believed in, but this really isn't making him look good.

Apparently, another thing the Imperial Clans believed in was sharing knowledge. Everyone told everyone else what they were working on. But, Juras, while working for Rehctaht, got involved in secret projects.

So the Clans believed in the superiority of a minority of the majority based on genetics, valued scientific progress above all else, and didn't believe in the right to privacy. Okay then...

But this does create a sort of interesting insight into Turlough's perspective on secrets and lies. For such a dishonest character, he came from a society that didn't really do dishonesty. He was apparently a good, dutiful, Imperial Clansman who was driven to keep secrets and tell lies. He probably felt like he'd abandoned his principals in order to survive well before he met the Black Guardian.

Turlough's thoughts about Juras are interrupted by finding out that Juras stowed away in his time machine, so now they kinda have to have a conversation. Juras, an engineer, fangirls over Turlough's stories about the TARDIS for a bit and then the subject switches back to politics and the Gardsormr. The Gardsormr are the New Regime's first allies and nobody is gonna believe they're evil. They won't even listen to the evidence.

So...uh...wow. Turlough was almost driven to murder by exile. His main conflict in Planet of Fire was being afraid that he'd face exile again if he did the right thing. And now he doesn't care. He just wants to make Trion the way it was again and he doesn't care if he'll be exiled again trying. After all that trouble, he doesn't care.

Yeah, I don't buy it.

Anyway, there's going to Earth to test the time machine because Turlough apparently left some stuff at Brendon that he wants to retrieve. He still doesn't get what the Doctor likes about Earth so much and assumes that he knows something about this Planet in the Middle of Nowhere that makes it interesting.

My guess is that the story is going to imply that Turlough is right when the truth is that the Doctor's first companions whom he learned morality from were from Earth. He did, in fact, just like the inhabitants.

So, they get the time machine together. Turlough does some physics technobabble, Juras does some engineering technobabble, I fail to keep with it, and it can easily be summed up as, "Turlough and Juras, with their knowledge of two different fields, work together to build a time machine." And that's the chapter.

So, still a lot of exposition with a lot of characterization coming out as variations of : "X, I know that you have, Y personality trait!". The characterization we can see is a tad questionable. When it comes to characters like Juras, who were made up for this book, I don't have much to say. But, yeah, Turlough's characterization definitely doesn't feel quite right, though we're still early in the book and this could go in a better direction later.