#maid in sweden

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Christina Lindberg in "Maid in Sweden" (1971) by Dan Wolman

[liquid-clorox]

[mtonino]

Maid in Sweden (1971) Dan Wolman

Christina Lindberg

[70ssmut4]

[fiiniaofficial]

Fika

Life is too short to not have sweets and cozying up for conversation with your buddies. We all need a little Fika!

Old school alternative.

[luegootravez]

in 'Maid in Sweden' (1971)

Christina Lindberg

[moonyasnow]

🕯️✨~ HAPPY LUCIA ~✨🕯️

So if you didn't know, today, December 13th, is a Swedish holiday called 'Lucia'. It's dedicated to a saint, here known as Saint Lucia/Sankta Lucia, but in other parts of the world she's more well-known as Saint Lucy.

Christmas in general (called 'Jul' in Swedish, pronounced like 'Yule' just with less emphasis on the L sound) is quite a big deal here in Sweden. I've always joked that's because with how harsh and cold and dark the winters can be, people needed SOMETHING to look forward to. And Lucia is one example of that!

The general theme is that one person will be chosen to play Lucia, and then others are chosen for the other roles in the 'Lucia Train' as it's called, and those people will all practice songs which they'll then sing as they walk in procession to a pre-decided place, where they'll then stand and sing the rest of the songs.

The tradition started in the more Western parts of Sweden in the 1800s, with one of the very earliest Lucia celebrations dating to the year 1764 in a place a bit outside of a city known as 'Skövde'.

At first, when most people in Sweden were still farmers with their own farms, it started out as a day where the children of a family would put on the crown of candles you can see being worn by Lisle, here playing the role of 'Lucia' herself, and wake up early to give the parents breakfast in bed.

That's why almost all of them are wearing nightgowns! Since that's what the kids would have been wearing in the morning.

Sweden only adopted the Gregorian calendar in the 1700s, and before that time, still using the Julian calendar, December 13th was the darkest day of the year; in the Gregorian it's December 22nd. And so since a saint, or as we call them here in Sweden 'Helgon', also happened to be venerated on the same day, it just made sense to celebrate the coming of brighter times.

And December 13th was, in the old Norse 'Asa' religion (or 'Asatron'), that is to say the one including the Nordic gods like Odin (Oden) Thor and Loki (Loke), a dangerous night due to the darkness; a night where it was believed evil supernatural forces were out and about. And so All the lit candles in the celebration was also considered a way of protecting against it. And it was a feast day, meaning people got to eat more than usual.

I could go into more detail, but then we'd be here all day ;^^

So here's a link if you want to read more!

And here's one for the Swedish version which does include way more detail on the history, just be aware you'd need to use google's auto-translator, and a few words might not make complete sense.

Parts of the Lucia Train:

The first in the Lucia Train is, of course, Lucia. She can be recognized by the wreath crown adorned with candles that she wears. When kids do it, the crown is fake and made of plastic, with battery-driven lights, but when Lucia is done in Churches, the Lucia still has live candles in her wreath crown.

Lisle's head is not angled in a good way for this; if you were to copy his posture, you'd have candle wax in your hair very quickly.

It's also said the red band around Lucia's waist is supposed to represent her martyrdom.

There's a bit of a stereotype that only the popular girls get picked to be Lucia; kinda like how in places that have proms, only the popular girl becomes Prom Queen. It's basically always someone with long hair, too; usually long blonde hair.

In Swedish, it's pronounced: Loo - see - ah

The three behind Lucia in the train are called 'Tärnor', and it translates to something like 'maids/maidens'. They wear glitter in their hair, at least in the modern day, and instead of red bands they're supposed to wear glitter bands. But I forgot that when making Irina and then just settled on a 'fuck it, we ball' approach.

They carry a single candle in their hand. Sometimes, both Lucia and Tärnor can be at risk of passing out while singing, since the candles and singing both require so much oxygen, and the candles are so close to their mouth and nose.

Victor and Veronica here are dressed as Stjärngossar (1 Stjärngosse, many Stjärngossar) who are supposed to represent the three wise men in the Biblical story of Jesus' birth.

Pronounced: sch - ae - rn - goh - ss - é

And Tomoe and Spike are just dressed as a gingerbread woman (Pepparkaksgumma) and a Tomte

The Tomte was originally a 'väsen' (basically something that exists which is not human and could bring you harm, or be good to you, often depending on how you treated them. Many cultures around the world have similar concepts. A little bit like the Japanese 'yokai', or Celtic 'fae') a little guy who lived somewhere on the farm, like in the roof for example, and helped around the farm. So long as you left a bowl of porridge on the doorstep for him!

Although the modern concept of the 'Tomte' has basically just been mashed together with Santa Claus, and nowadays you say 'Gårdstomte' (something like 'estate tomte') if you're referring to the old variation of Tomte.

Gingerbread people and santa claus are obviously not part of the original Lucia train. But nowadays people like to dress up as them too, especially in kids' Lucia trains.

Pe - ppar - kahks - goo - ma

Or, for the masculine variant: Pe - ppar - kahks - goo - bbé

And Tom - teh

Songs:

Here are just a few of the songs you'd hear a Lucia train sing! My own personal favorites, mostly. But I do have links to the albums I got them from!

Album

Album

The 'Staffan' here, refers to Saint Stephen. A lot of saint have different names in Swedish.

Album

Also please listen to more songs by Tommy Körberg! He is definitely one of my favorite Swedish artists! My favorite song by him ever is 'Stad i Ljus' (city in light)

I really wanted to share this aspect of my culture with people today, because I really love it, and I hope you found it interesting!

And once again, have a happy Lucia! ^^

So, as we say in Swedish...

@another-random-paradise @thehollowwriter @faefum @cactus13-rolloflammesimp @beneathsakurashade

@nyx-of-night @theolivetree123 @babyghoul138 @skibidibabygirl @screamintoad

@gingacat @buttholesparkles @angelwishess @scint1llat3 @gimmeurmoneyagh

[fanficfish]

hetalia thought: the older they get, the more "fuck it we ball" the nations get

let me give examples.

-italy bros are at the least gonna hit 2000 soon. Both are bumbling idiots who are more here to have a good time then anything. I'm convinced they're stronger then they make themselves to be (they caught England with a hole. Yes he dropepd in there but how did they get him into the cell? Venezianobbeat up Turkey once, too, and i think that was when turkey was stronger....and if you think about it, veneziano pretending to be an idiot means he can get away with everything. Literally. Even if he sneaks into a meeting room, him yelling about pasta is enogh to make the others go "ah hes at it again"

-China lmand the maid dress cosplay. Enough said.

-the Nordics, who are all over a thousnad and most are prob older. Denmark doesn't give a shit anymore, Norway goes along with everything becauae why not it's entertainment, Sweden is a memelord. Finland is probably a bit younger so he's a little more grounded, and so is Iceland- they follow the rest but i think they haave a bit more sense of not letting time just go by completely. -America and Canada are young and you can see it- they try to fit in with the rest but over or underdo it and are surprised at things like weekends passing by in a blink of an eye. Germany too, the three of them are babies and just don't quite get the joke sometimes, not for lack of trying.

-England is also up there and i mean. England and his brothers made up English TCG pokemon whatever

-france has long since accepted the idea of being a free spirit. He exists and contemplates and does his thing, knowing time will pass and he might as well try to do the little he can.

-we all know russia was hit one too many times by General Winter. Ukraine surprisingly seems to have her head, but Belarus definitely let the age get to her....just a little. I have a bet she's spent so long chasing Russia she doesn't really know how to stop.

-Poland also doesn't give a shit he just wants his ponies. Man's embraced modern life and decided to just take things as it goes. Lithuania would be dead from stressing at him if he wasn't immortal.

-japan is also pretty old but he is an outlier as far as im concerned becauae this man is a boomer whose besties are a bunch of gen Zs and he might as well be one of them. i think he's done better at the aging thing at least.

-not gonna touch on spain and olive oil. -or Austria's entertainment source being infuriating to his hosts and then marrying everyone.

-or Prussia who's kinda just gone awesome

-or Switzerland who saw the world as said fuck all lf you (cue the red cross) yall need therapy (adopts a sister) why am i the sane one here (puts up security cameras)

-and then ofc there's Greece, who long ago philosophiciEd tok hard and now knows the only things that matter in life are sleep, cats, and occassionally hanging iut with your best frenemy.

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Maid in Sweden (1971) by Dan Wolman

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[melusiiine]

The dinner with Terzo is uneventful, but it also marks Omega’s formal introduction as part of his daily routine, which isn’t much. Terzo follows a loose pattern of boredom, wandering through the penthouse to find different distractions. The apartment is filled with maids and staff that appear whenever Terzo wants something, and he’s so indifferent to their presence even their weak mimicry of life seems unnecessary. Food arrives when Terzo is hungry, books or newspapers when he’s bored, and he barely notices who provides it for him.

But at least one empiric, Omega notes, is almost always skulking close by. The servants are part of the woodwork but the empirics stand out, too wrong to ignore. If they were present during the short attempt to leave the penthouse, Omega can’t say for sure. They have no scent, give off no warmth, offer nothing he can sense or track. Terzo is untroubled by their presence but Omega chafes to feel their constant watching. He sticks with Terzo, always aware of the pressure of their gaze; Omega is certain he can hear their long, thin fingers creaking as they curl and uncurl, wanting to wrap around Omega's throat.

--

How has it been seven weeks posting this story already? Time flies when I'm giving Omega and Terzo a Terrible Time.

[sissymike80]

Pride festival here in Sweden 🇸🇪 and I’m going too nights party like a maid

[milaisreading]

Hetalia AU, April fools episode:

Iceland, flustered: Why did you order a maid dress?!

Denmark: Woo-hoo! Can I see you in it first?!

Sweden,grabbing him by the shoulders: Stupid.

Norway, poking his cheeks: You can be so immature

Yn, equally embarrassed: I didn't order it! Someone sent it to me saying they will expose a picture of mine if I don't wear it

Finland: What?

Yn, showing him the picture: I don't know how they got in my house, but they took this of me while sleeping.

Yn, distressed on what to do while the other 5 are plotting murder.

Finland: Time to take out my trusty rifle again~

Norway: I will locate the person, I just need that latter (Y/n) got

Denmark, grabbing his axe: Tell me when we are going

Iceland: Mr. Puffin will make his talons of use again~

Sweden: Can we burn the costume while he are at it?

[t0talbra1nd3ath]

OMG OMG ISRA AND HAWK LORE PLEASE?? and thank you <3

Thank you for the ask!!! This is going to be a post for Isra, I'll post Hawk separately.

Hope you enjoy!

Isra Lore + Fun Facts

(May contain spoilers for Death by Mixer)

Ok to begin with, let's talk about Isra's family.

His family is anything but average. Isra's full name is Isra Rausin. His father is an oil magnate that comes from old money, his mother was a rising star runway model, but had to quit once she got pregnant with their first child. Isra has an older sister. They have about a 9 year gap between them.

She wants nothing to do with their father, running off to go to film school in California when she was 19. She is now a successful director, using the stage name "Dallas Heaven", and only visits her family to see Isra.

Dallas is quite affectionate towards her younger brother, but Isra approaches her with contempt, seeing her as a traitor to the family.

Now that we got the surface level information on the Rausin family out of the way, let's talk about the less public side.

Although officially the Rausins deal in oil that isn't the full extent of their business. They also have heavy ties with illegal practices such as drug and human trafficking.

That is the main reason Dallas tried to distance herself, but she still ended up being hooked back into the business once she became a director. Isra, on the other hand, never even thought about disobeying his father.

Now it's time to talk about Isra's childhood.

It's safe to say that it wasn't easy. His mother hung herself when Isra was a toddler, barely able to speak, because she could not stomach her husband cheating on her with every single housemaid they employed.

Despite that Isra was a lively, happy kid, at least up until his sister ran off to pursue a life among stars. That incident was the boiling point for their already cruel father. From that point on the head maid of the house was ordered to punish Isra for any minor fault with whipping.

The old head maid was used to dishing out cruel punishments to children as the father of the house often ordered her to punish Dallas by depriving her of food and water.

She continued to carry out Isra's punishments and he quietly endured them until his thirteenth birthday. That day when he was once again dragged off for a whipping he snapped and killed the old maid by crushing her wrinkly neck with his bear hands.

Despite what you might expect, Isra wasn't punished for this, in fact, he was rewarded. The day he first killed was the day when his father first saw Isra as his son.

After that Isra was sent off to Sweden for school while Rausin Senior dealt with covering up the murder. Isra quickly became popular in his new boarding school. He has a silver tongue and a certain aloof charm about him. He graduated a year early and entered university, soon earning a bachelors degree in finance and returning to his family home to learn the ins and outs of the family business.

He still visits Sweden a few times a year to retreat to his very own luxurious cottage in the Alps. Such a quiet place away from prying eyes is perfect for all kinds of fun...

Ok now it's time for fun-fact-rapid-fire-round-up!

Isra is not a natural blonde, he gets his hair done every month.

He showers + washes his hair twice a day always finishing the shower off by wiping himself down with rubbing alcohol and moisturising.

He wears make-up. A little bit of lightweight foundation, tinted eyebrow gel, mascara and a tinted lip balm.

He washes (or if he can't - disinfects) his hands every hour.

He loves alcohol, his favourite drink is whiskey aged at least 15 years.

If he is going out to eat or drink to a place he is not familiar with he will bring his own silverware.

His philosophy is that the body and mind can only either be born pure or be truly purified through pain.

He is incredibly classist, he sees anyone poorer than he is as filthy.

I love all my children equally but good god do I hate Isra.