#my favourite Bulgarian poem

[hetacupid]

Hetalia Human Names

NOTE: This is my personal interpretation and the names may diverge from canon and established fanon. Also I might update this every so often to make it more accurate, depending on the information I find.

Table of Contents

The Main Characters

Western Europe

Northern Europe

Eastern Europe

Southern Europe

Western Asia

South Asia

East Asia

Southeast Asia

Oceania

Micronations

Former nations

The Main Characters

Italy Veneziano: Feliciano Vergano

I chose the name Vergano instead as it keeps the essense of the original surname, but is actually Italian.

Italy Romano: Lovino Vergano

Germany: Ludwig Beilschmidt

Japan: Kiku Honda

Prussia: Gilbert Beilschmidt

America: Alfred Franklin Jones

I like the headcanon of his middle name being "Freedom", but Franklin is my personal favourite.

England: Arthur James Kirkland

I came across this in a fic a while back and never looked back. This man needs a middle name.

France: Francis Bonnefoy

Russia: Ivan Braginsky

China: Yao Wang

Canada: Matthew Williams

Western Europe

Austria: Roderich Edelstein

Belgium: Laura Janssens

Liechtenstein: Erika Vogel

Luxembourg: Henri Janssens

I've also used the name Gabriel before, but it doesn't seem to be used much in Luxembourg, so Henri would be more fitting.

Monaco: Louise Bonnefoy

The name Louise and it's masculine variant, Louis, appear a few times in the Monaguesque royal family.

Netherlands: Willem Janssens

Willem appears a few times in the Dutch royal family, and it sounds a bit older than other suggested names, which reflects his age and general vibes imo. I really like this name.

Switzerland: Sebastian Zwingli

Personally I see his name "Basch" as a nickname for Sebastian. It's also easy to adapt to his official languages: Sebastian/Sébastién/Sebastiano. The Romansh variant would be Bistgaun, but the archaic version seems to be Bastgaun, which is more similar to Basch. I headcanon that he goes by the name "Basch" in all languages to make it more cohesive.

Northern Europe

Denmark: Mathias Rasmussen

I'm from Scandinavia myself and I don't know if it's widespread, but I've heard people say "all Danish people are named Rasmus" more than once, so I like to incorporate that into his surname.

Estonia: Eduard Kaasik

Around 50% of Estonia is covered in forest, and one of the most common tree types is birch. Kaasik is a common surname and means "birch forest".

Finland: Timo Väinämöinen

Iceland: Eiríkur Steinsson

Steinsson means "son of Stein (given name meaning stone)",. Also Emil isn't traditionally Icelandic, but it's widely used. Personally though, I prefer the name Eiríkur.

Latvia: Raivis Bērziņš

The surname Galante corresponds with the modern Latvian opera singer Inese Galante, but I couldn't find anything to suggest it's commonly used or that it's Latvian at all. Bērziņš is one of the most used Latvian surnames and means "birch tree", like Estonia's surname. Personally, I don't see the Baltics as siblings, but I think this would be a cute reference.

Also, based on what I read, surnames became common in Latvia around the 19th century, with Bērziņš being one of them. Latvia could have picked up whatever the people around him (Estonia) was using and made it his own.

Lithuania: Tolys Laurinaitis

Norway: Sigurd Bondevik

Sweden: Berwald Oxenstierna

Eastern Europe

Belarus: Natalya Arlovskaya

Bulgaria: Mihail Petrov Isporov

Isporov is the family name and is derived from an alternative name of Asparukh, the first king of the First Bulgarian Empire.

Czech: Tereza Novakova

Hungary: Erzsébet Héderváry

Moldova: Marcel Popescu

Poland: Feliks Łukasiewicz

Romania: Vladislav Popescu

Slovakia: Jozef Novak

Ukraine: Iryna Chernenko

Southern Europe

Greece: Herakles Karpusi

Portugal: João Silva Ferreira

Spain: Antonio Fernandez Carriedo

Western Asia

Cyprus: Stasinos Karpusi

Stasinos was one of the first European poets who wrote the epic poem Cypria.

Turkey: Sadiq Adnan

TRNC: Tarkan Adnan

South Asia

India: Rajesh Thakur

East Asia

Hong Kong: Leon Wang / Wong Kulung

Macau: Chen Wang

South Korea: Im Yong-soo

Taiwan: Mei Lin

Southeast Asia

Thailand: Prasert Chakri

Vietnam: Lien Nguyen

Africa

Cameroon: Emmanuel Mawdo Ahidjo

Many of the most commonly used forenames in Cameroon are of French or English origins, such as Emmanuel.

Mawdo means ‘elder’ in Fulfulde.

Ahidjo refers to the first president of Cameroon.

Egypt: Gupta Muhammad Hassan

Seychelles: Michelle Mancham

Americas

Cuba: Carlos Machado Rodríguez

Oceania

Australia: Daniel Kirkland

New Zealand: Zachary Kirkland

Micronations

Hutt River: Christopher Kirkland

Kugelmugel: Leopold Edelstein

Ladonia: Erland Oxenstierna

Molossia: Jacob Jones

"JJ" :)

Sealand: Peter Kirkland

Seborga: Romeo Vergano

Okay listen. I have no explaination, I just really like this name. Also, if the names of the trio is Peter, Wendy, and Romeo, they're all named after characters from literature. I think that's fun.

Wy: Wendy Kirkland

Former Nations

Ancient Egypt: Neferure

References the only biological child of Hatshepsut.

Ancient Greece: Helene

Ancient Rome: Marcus Valerius Maximus

Marcus is the praenomina (given name) and refers to how Romulus and Remus were said to have been twins of Mars, the god.

Valerius is the nomen gentilicium (hereditary name) and means “to be strong”.

Maximus is the cognomen and means “the greatest”.

Germania: Alaric

Holy Roman Empire: Otto Beilschmidt

Personally I like the idea that HRE and Germany aren't the same person, but share the same body.

[fitz-higgins]

LGBT literature of the 1860s–1910s. Part 1

Although homosexual love became more prominent in literature in the 1920s, there were dozens of different novels, poems and essays about homosexual men and women before that decade, and many of them were officially published! Here are ten such works, written between the 1860s and 1910s.

1. Une Femme M’Apparut (A Woman Appeared to Me), by Renée Vivien (1904). A beautiful autobiographical novel about Vivien’s relationship with Natalie Barney and also about her relationship with Catholicism.

[Read online in French or in English (also on Web Archive)]

2. The Green Carnation, by Robert Smythe Hichens (1894). A scandalous novel with characters based on Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie). Bold and delicious, according to The Observer. Esmé Amarinth and Lord Reginald Hastings are followers of “the higher philosophy” and navigate their lives in the Victorian society that doesn��t favour men like them.

[Read online]

3. A Marriage Below Zero, by Alan Dale (1889). This American novel is considered the first English-language novel that portrays a romantic relationship between men. Elsie Bouverie, falls in love with Arthur Ravener and later marries him. However, soon she realises that Arthur is more than fond of Captain Dillington. Indeed, the two are in love and some time later go to live in Paris together.

[Read online]

4. Mikaël, by Herman Bang (1904). A semi-autobiographical story of an artist’s unrequited love for his bisexual student. This novel was later adapted into a silent film Michael by Carl Theodor Dreyer in 1924 which is available with English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Bulgarian subtitles here.

[Read online in Danish]

5. Wings, by Mikhail Kuzmin (1906). A tale of Vanya Smurov who is attached to his mentor Larion Stroop. An aesthete, Larion introduces him to the world of Classical and Renaissance art, and they go to Italy together. This novel offers an interesting insight into gay community in Russia.

[Read online in Russian or buy in English]

6. Poems by Digby Dolben (1860s). Dolben’s poems are plainly homoerotic, even though they don’t specify gender of the author’s love interest. My personal favourites are Homo Factus Est and A Song.

[Read online]

7. An Anglo-American Alliance: A Serio-Comic Romance and Forecast of the Future, by Gregory Casparian (1906). Get this: an Edwardian science fiction novel set in 1960 about lesbian romantic relationship, although one of them is actually a transmasc character. And they live happily. Be warned, though, that this is still an Edwardian novel, i.e. it’s rather problematic.

[Read online]

8. The Sins of the Cities of the Plain, or, The Recollections of a Mary-Ann, with Short Essays on Sodomy and Tribadism (1881). This book is based on the life of Jack Saul, an Irish male prostitute, or rentboy, and it is one of the first homosexual erotic works. Also includes a look into the Victorian transvestite/drag community.

[Read online]

9. Fridolins heimliche Ehe (Fridolin's Mystical Marriage), by Adolf Wilbrandt (1875). First work in German that presents homosexuality in a positive light. What’s more, the main character claims his soul is both male and female, and he is attracted to both men and women. Another novel with a happy couple!

[Read online in German or in English]

10. The Intermediate Sex by Edward Carpenter (1908). Carpenter, a socialist and gay rights activist, was a significant figure for gay writers of the early 20th century. In this work, he writes about homosexuality, sexual libertaion and gender fluidity.

[Read online]

P.S. One should remember that these books are very much products of their time and, once again, they can seem problematic to a modern reader, often in more ways than one. Nonetheless, they are an important part of gay and lesbian history and would be of interest to anyone who is interested in this subject.

Stay tuned, more books to come!

[museenkuss]

My favourite difference between fragrantica and parfumo (the German website I use) is that the reviews on fragrantica are mostly in the vein of “bought this on sale in TJ Maxx. Worst mistake of my life. Smells like my grandma.” or “very powdery. I loooooove it! Not a save blind buy though” while the parfumo reviews are mostly novel length paragraphs that start out like “it’s a mild summer evening, I’m wearing my red dress. You wrap tender arms around me and kiss the back of my neck. I’m in love with the vanilla-tenderness of you, everyone at the bar turns their heads to watch us go… Nothing could compare to the feeling you give me.” — a very short example, they go on for much longer. There even is a special section called “impressions” or “statements” or something meant for 2 sentence reviews and people leave little pseudo-poems (close to haikus at times) in there: “Bulgarian rose and jasmine // an exquisite powder that melts // into sweet vanilla // my rose-tinted Princess”

sure, that approach can make it difficult to figure out the details of a fragrance, but it makes for an enjoyable and sometimes very funny reading experience.

[stefito0o]

Mid Year Reading Update

Thanks @appleinducedsleep for tagging me 😊

🍃 Amount of books you’ve read so far: 14 books

☘️ Best book you’ve read so far in 2022: I've rated six books with 5 ⭐ but the one that I loved EVERYTHING about was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ❤️

🌾 Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2022: Siege and Storm

🌵 New release you haven’t read yet but want to:  I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys

🌻 Most anticipated release for the second half of the year: I really hope a favorite Bulgarian author will have her second book released by the end of the year, her debut was phenomenal!

🌺 Biggest surprise favourite new author (debut or new to you): Andy Weir

🍀 Newest fictional crush/newest favorite character: Nikolai Lantsov ☺️ @themelodyofspring I still need to finish the Six of Crows duology so I can read Nikolai's duology.

💐 Book that made you cry: I'm pretty sure I cried at some point reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

🌲 Book that made you happy: Project Hail Mary, I loved the friendship between Ryland and Rocky!

🌿 Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received): Poem for Every Night of the Year.

🍂 What books do you need to read by the end of the year?: All my "currently reading" for a start 😂

Tagging anyone who hasn't done this and wants to, because as usually I'm late to the party.

[springkitten]

for the ask set - 10 and 11 🌼

thank you so much for sending this!!!! 

10. most enjoyable swear word in your native language?

kldklfjd i really don’t like swearing in my native language tbh, i do English most of the time cause i think our swear words are ugly af. That being said, and very regretfully, майка ти мръсна which is literally translated to “your dirty mother” klfjkrfjdkl i never say it in front of mom tho, she Does Not Deserve 

11. favourite native writer/poet?

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! look, look, i can’t write poetry in Bulgarian cause our poets are the best thing in the whole world, i love them so so so much. So my fave(s) are Nikola Vaptsarov, Hristo Smirnenski (!!!!!!), Debelyanov, Hristo Botev, ........Yavorov (dude has a poem about the duality of man kfjkldjf) 

[boxjellyfish87]

Сърце на сърцата    O love, I am not but love.    Shelley Алпийските вършини с леден поглед намръщено се взират към Лагорн, о чийто цветни брегове морето се гали и со ромон тих им шепне най-свидните си блянове, родени в таинствените негови недра. Вей тих вечерник, песен насамотен рибар отнейде с себе си понесъл; а надалеч, към дрезгавия запад разпръснати, рой бели ветрила, подобно леки пеперуди, тънат на небосклона в огнените скути. По стръмний бряг дружина чужденци се спущаха, подзели буйна разпря. Един от тях, комуто во очите бе сякаше огледано небото, към другите извърнат проговори: "О, вярвайте, честит е само онзи, сърцето на когото е олтар, де пламъка на истината грей - и осветлява разумът." През реч преварил, други се обади там: - Блян на поета! Истината в него е враг на всяка истина в живота. Во истини що из сърце изхождат, намит щастье и наслада само на мисълта безкръвните аскети... Бъди Монблан! На висини възмогнат, обвий се с лед и с леден поглед гледай, това под тебе в мрака що гъмжи. - Но, в него взрян, ръка подигна Шелли - на горди думи с по-горд отговор: "Монблан да бъда? Съм! Но друг съм аз. На слънцето лучите, чойто чело що милват - искам с отблеска им аз да стопля туй, което смръзва той!... Туй който иска, нека дойде с мен. Към всякой връх по стръмен път се ходи и не една въздишка, не едно натякванье водача ще да чуе, от пътници, по него що вървят; но що от туй? Exselsior! Сами те благодарствен поглед ще обърнат към тебе - с теб на висини възйети." Сияеше во модрия му поглед таинствена и строга мощ. Безмълвно другарите вървяха подир него, залисани от гордия му порив. Невидимия дух на вдъхновенье, челото му засенил, с горд възторг говореше през неговите устни: "От суетните - суетна присъда! Присъда друга има: който сам е себе си постигнал, той живее во вечността и малко ще да знай, какво ще каже времето за него. И нека ви не плаши мисълта, че бъдещето ще повтори пак лъжите, неразбиранщините вети. Со смъртните и смъртното умира. Туй що на Лета тъмните вълни погълнат, няма да се върне вече со своя рев живота да смути. Век подир века в пъстра върволица ще се изнизват, нищо от предишний в послешний без повтора да намери... О, не! На дните в безконечний ход, едно, едно ще се повтори пак - към с в е т л и н а възвишений купнеж, към в и с ш е т о стремленията чисти и гордий, властен жад за и д е а л! Ще се повтори онова, което, в световните промени непроменно, е будило в човека человека и смисъл му е давало в живота. Честит е тоз избраник, чийто дух, като ковчегът Ноев, пренесе от прежний свят в послешний онова, което е в промени непроменно. Той подир смърт от себе си оставя най-чистото, най-хубавото - жица от царството на сенките безплътни, която ще го свързва с тоя мир." Те бяха слезли на самия бряг, там, дето ги възчакваше готова, люляна тихо над вълните лодка. Во дрезгавата далнина небото, с вечерний си лазурно-тъмен плащ, застилаше заспалото море, като сестра заспалия си брат. При сетнята раздяла се обърна пък друг сега и тихо проговори: - Небесен блян на земен син. Не всякой тъй над света, извърнат от света, високо би можал да се възмогне. - На рамото му сложи с горд замах ръката си, и тъй отвърна Шелли: "Домогвай се до себе си - и възмогнат ще бъдеш ти на тази висота! Грей божий плам на всякого в душата и му целта висока осветлява. Не се възпирай; дето простий смъртен смутен се спира - там хероя почва." Во лодката се отделиха трима. Под равний мах на леките весла тя тихо се понесе по морето; и галяха я тъмните вълни, тъй както галят блянове високи тям поверений, с тях възвисен дух. Другарите, там спрени на брегът, изпращаха им сетньо сбогом, шапки размахали в издигнати ръце - докле се татък лодката от поглед в дрезгавината вечерна изгуби. * * * Тъмней нощта. В вълшебна тишина спят небесата, слени с долний мир; и глухий шум на тъмните вълни един сред тая тишина говори - на бездната со говора злокобен. Кат блянове на всесветовен сън, блестят и гаснат ясните звезди, огледани во бездната лазурна. Попътний вятър лодката влече. Безшум се плъзгат пуснати весла и тримата другари, в разговор унесени, нехайно там седяха, без да съгледат облаците бурни, на буйна рат подобни, как прииждат и сбират се и трупат в небесата. Възлегнат на кърмилото един с въздъх към Шелли се така обърна: - Да; да не бяхме слаби! А защо, с това съзнанье, ощений се рвем да бъдем силни? Де е тази сила, що би могла и нази да окрили? "Тя в нас е! Бягай в себе си - живей в сърцето, като жрец в свещений храм, и твоя дух ще бъде окрилен!" - Утопия това е, Шелли. - "Утопия! И тъй да е - в живота утопиите само дават цел и человека во човека раждат. Утопии сърцето възродяват, превръщат го на рай цветущ, където мирът върховен свива свойто гняздо... Към идеала поглед възведи - не на умът, а на сърцето рожба - и знай, че той едничък е надежден компас в ревът на бурите световни. Тоз, който само с ум на тоя свят живей е жив мъртвец; и чужди са за него и радости и сълзи на ��ивота, - защото няма той човешко чувство, защото нему чужд е дух човешки!... Що значи твоя страх, другарю мой? Къде си тъмен поглед устремил? Утопията проникни - и страх не ще намери твоето сърце!" - Над нас се вие буря! Или ти, унесен в своя блян, не виждаш нищо? Не бъдеще сънувано пред нас е - со мрачен поглед дебне ни смъртта! - Но го прекъсна Шелли, поглед сам към облачните небеса възйел: "През мрак и бура плавам с песен аз и нищо ми сърцето не смущава! На идеала фарът грей: кърмчия е любовта ми - дето и да съм, знам, ще изляза на честитий бряг!... Честитий бряг са бъдащите дни. Световните промени и несгоди ще мина аз - и няма те да хвърлят в сърцето ми отсянка... Никой вихър свещений плам на идеала няма да угаси - от божий дух е искра той: божий дух, из мрака битието що е извикал - в светлина живот да заживей... Другарю, то е блян, утопия - нали? Та нека бъде! Во знойната пустиня на живота, където всичко крей и мре, от билка най-дребна, до сърцето человешко, - живителна роса е тя, която запазва всичко в дивната му свежест. Пустиня е сърце без идеал: едничкий верен страж на любовта - а тя, и само тя, е на човека призванието висше на света." И бесен вихърсе над тях изви; като че звяр, изтръгнат от вериги, се хвърли той над тъмните вълни и гис бесът си зарази. Раззина зловеща паст настръхналата бездна, и оглуши тя с дивия си рев вселената... То беше мимолетен въртеж на бура ненадейна. Скоро премина той, и всичко пак утихна. Пак трепнаха звезди на небесата. Но мятаха се още все вълните и тласкаха там лодката разбита: ту мигновено в зиналата паст на бездната низвъргната летеше, ту навъзбог възйемаше се тя - и носеха я стръвните вълни към бреговете на незнаен край. * Пак бяха сбрани всичкиту другари на морский бряг. И сбрани бяха те пак да изпращат Шелли - но сега за сетен път - на път към вечността. Морето бе на пясъчния бряг изхвърлило избраната си жъртва: - на ниска клада сложен, буен плам обгръщаше останките му смъртни. В дълбока скръб, безмълвно там стояха другарите, унесени през мисли во онзи мир, во който през живот бе погледа му вдъхновен обърнат. Амфора во ръка еди издигнал, от час на час обливаше мъртвеца со благовонно вино - и подзети отново жадно пламнали езици обжегваха безжизнения труп... От вятъра отвяван, към морето се черний дим разстилаше полека... Огънят свърши своята отреда - на пясъка лежеше супа пепел с петна червено-тъмни; тук-таме береяха се кости.                     Изведнъж към пепелта един се спусна бързо и грабна из жаравата гореща опазен къс от трупа. Разтреперан издигна той ръка си обгорена - трептеше там сърцето на поета. ---------------------------------- На гробищата протестантски в Рим, при урната на Цестия, лежат сърцето и световний прах на Шелли. Сребрист ясмин над гроба му расте, и пази сянка с тъмните си листи над мряморната плоча с златен надпис Cor cordium - Сърцето на сърцата. - Не е смъртта за него смърт. Пренесен в друг мир, живей той в нашите сърца и пази там, като весталка, чистий вълшебен плам на вечната любов.

Пенчо Славейков, Сърце на сърцата

[fivehole]

#42, could you write something in your native language? 😊

some very extreme bulgarian for you + my favourite poem

[vickittyy]

Tag Game

Tagged by : @sunhumbird thank youuu so much <3

Name: Viktoria

Middle name: Stanislavova

Zodiac sign: Aries

Height: 5′4 (164-165cm)

Language: Bulgarian, English, French (and a little bit of Italian)

Favorite fruit: WATERMELON <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Favorite scent: mmm...

Favorite color: black and lilac purple and green but the darker shades of the green.

Favourite fictional character: too many... - Arima Kishou( TG), Griffith (Berserk), Kamishiro Rize (tg), Furuta Nimura (tg), Amon Kotaro (tg), Eto (tg), All of the The Lord of the Ring and Harry Potter, also Hobbit and many from Bleach - Ukitake, Ichimaru Gin, Rangiku Matsumoto AND AIZEN-SAMA, AIZEN- SAMA <3 <3 <3 <3

Favourite candy: idk honestly, i really like chocolate bonbons

Favourite holiday: Christmas

Songs on repeat: right now PLEDIS Girlz(플레디스 걸즈) - 아낀다 (Adore U)  and Sanctify - Years and Years

Average hours of sleep: a lot... like 10-11 even 12

How many blankets sleep with: 1

Dream Trip: Japan, Korea, France and England

Dream job: ughh...it should be something artish like organization of events or working in a creative media team

Grab the nearest book, page 23, line 17:

(records of guinness XD) there isn’t line 17 but line 7 is : ‘‘On the picture you can see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) in the region of the Grand Slave Lake in the northwest part of Canada.

Have you ever had a song or poem written about you?

Yes, it was in 6-7th grade when I liked one boy and one of my bff-s wrote a mini poem about me and him. It’s really funny and I still keep it.

What’s a sound you hate and a sound you love?:

Hate: some awfully annoying motorbikes and yeh, my alarm

Love: Rain and thunders, birds, fire

Do you believe in aliens?: Of course I do! I am one! ;) ok no joking, it’s not possible to be alone in the Universe.

Do you drive?: i don’t really want to drive

What’s the last book you read?: The third part of a Bulgarian historical novel by Dimitar Talev - ‘‘The Iron Candlestick’‘ - Ilinden ( like the day of Ilin, idk how to translate it)

Any current obsessions?: playing world of warcraft, yeh, i am so obsessed with that game...since like 6th grade ;;;

Do you hold grudges against those who wronged you?: Everyone makes mistakes, i am a really good person so I forgive to most of my friends but I also remember what bad they have done to me.

Reason for url: it’s from one anime I watched 2-3 years ago - Dantalian no Shoka OVA - Ibarahime (literal meaning Sleeping Beauty; Thorn Princess; Briar Rose ) tho in the anime it was something like ‘‘ The Black Princess)

I tag: I’d be curious to see what i don’t tag anyone because idk anyone else who would do this ;;;

[ygreque]

Michael Ashkin’s “Were it not for”

...is probably my favourite photobook of the year. I was gifted it for my birthday a few months ago after following the photographer's practice on Instagram and quickly realising it's a piece I find very visually appealing. I think its subject matter, while geographically very far detached from my project, is deeply relatable to the feelings of a significant part of Bulgarian society, mine included, towards the state of the country.

It consists of two major parts - naturally, one is the sequence of images, depicting scenes from derelict and empty parts of the Mojave desert, juxtaposed with a poem that follows the format of "Were it not for..." followed by a short phrase, relating to a potential cause of the scene depicted alongside it.

It’s a comparatively large body of work that takes a multitude of different representational approaches in its visual strategy, showing a mixture of details and wider environmental images, some of which are shot in a similar matter to the approach I’m taking on for “Exemplary Home”.

It really made me think a lot about creative sequencing, rhythm and the relationship between text and image, and the selective absence of either one of those components.

[orange8886]

May I ask you to answer 1 and 15 from that "Hi, I'm not from the US" ask set? ( I didn't just want to write 1 and 15 and then I was unsure if you posted another ask meme and now this ask sound very posh I am highly confused)

EDIT : now I realize you only asked for 1 and 15 instead of 1-15 but I already wrote all those answers so have as well lmao sorry!

It’s actually very good that you specified which ask meme you had in mind because there was exactly 0 chance I would’be guessed otherwise lmao

and sorry for replying so late but here we go :)

1. favourite place in your country?

There’s a sea camping site that I love and I used to spend every summer as a child there but greedy assholes have ruined it the past several years. But still, it holds a special place in my heart and there isn’t really another place aside from this (and where I live / used to live) that I have any particular affections for anyway.

2. do you prefer spending your holidays in your country or travel abroad?

In my country. I love travelling abroad but not during holidays. I prefer spending them at home. I don’t need a special occasion to travel.

3. does your country have access to sea?

Yes, to the Black Sea. 

4. favourite dish specific for your country?

I don’t have favourite but I like banitsa, sarmi, Bulgarian moussaka, gyuvech, mekitsi. I also like kebapche and lukanka but they’re not exactly dishes on their own.

5. favourite song in your native language?

Can’t say I have one really

6. most hated song in your native language?

I don’t have one but I dislike a whole genre.

7. three words from your native language that you like the most?

There are phrases that I love because they don’t really have English translations. And there’s the word “takova(m)” which can be used in so many occasions and can mean very different things based on the context. 

8. do you get confused with other nationalities? if so, which ones and by whom?

In general I think Bulgarians get confused for Romanians and Italians (?) mainly in Western/ Central European countries. In UK, I’ve been confused for a French and for an Italian. 

9. which of your neighbouring countries would you like to visit most/know best?

I know Greece the best and I want to visit Romania since it’s the only one I haven’t yet been to.

10. most enjoyable swear word in your native language?

We have swear phrases and sentences as well as swear words lmao I don’t have a fav tho. Swear words in English sound less crude so I like them better (even tho I swear in Bulgarian. It’s a habit I’d like to get rid of even tho I don’t do it in public)

11. favourite native writer/poet?

Aleko Konstantinov 

12. what do you think about English translations of your favourite native prose/poem?

I haven’t read any English translations of Bulgarian literature.

13. does your country (or family) have any specific superstitions or traditions that might seem strange to outsiders?

I think Bulgarians share a lot of our superstitions with other countries, especially with out Balkan neighbors. And many of them are popular only to specific regions. Some of them are:

- spilling water before leaving home for good luck. It’s done only for important things like the first schoold day or the day you start a new job etc. My mom used to do that for me for every first school day

- opening an umbrella indoors = bad luck

- knocking on wood after saying something you hope to happen so you don’t tempt fate of jinx yourself. Also, the knocking is done on the underside (of a table) or on a door or whatever. But not on the top of a table (or anything else really) because then the devil will hear.

- black cat crossing the road = bad luck. In the town where I grew up we apparently countered that by spinning 3 times but it was only popular among the kids and I bet it was hella weird looking at the street and some random kid just spins in the middle of it lmao

- accidentally breaking a glass = good luck

- flowers should be given in odd numbers. Even numbers are meant for the dead only.

- bird pooping on you = good luck

- returning home immediately after you left to get something you forgot = bad luck

-  pretending to “spit” on a baby (or a child) if you’ve praised them so you don’t bring them bad luck. The “spitting” is either just a sound that imitates spitting or you pretend to spit on the ground.

wow now that I’ve written so many I realize that we have a lot and we practice them daily even if a person is not particularly superstitious because they’re just part of everyday life and our culture. And it was super fun writing about them! We also have many traditions and customs based on superstitions.

14. do you enjoy your country’s cinema and/or TV?

Not particularly. I don’t really watch Bulgarian movies and TV. There was a TV series that I liked a lot a couple of years ago but that’s about it honestly. 

15. a saying, joke, or hermetic meme that only people from your country will get?

WHO???

It’s a meme that originated from politics. I’m not sure how popular it is in general but my family loves it. It’s used when something not particularly smart is being done and you don’t know who did it. 

[dream-of-wanting-me]

Hey! 3, 8, 5, 29, 17, 30, 11

3. does your country have access to sea? Yep, I live at the Black Sea. The climate is mild, thank you, sea. In the mountains of western Bulgaria it’s super hot in summer.

8. do you get confused with other nationalities? if so, which ones and by whom? People don’t know enough to even confuse us with others. People in the west don’t know how many Slavic nations there are and how many are on the Balkan peninsula. We like to joke that when the US and the UK decided to bomb Sofia during WW2, they had to find us on the map for the first time.

5. favourite song in your native language? Who knows… The first that comes to mind is Паша Христова - Една българска роза.

Good evening, my young friendGood evening, comradeWelcome to our city, welcome to Bulgaria

On this beautiful day, take a Bulgarian rose from meLet it tell you in its fragrant voice Of the Balkan Mountain, of the seaAnd of all of us

It makes me tear up every time I play it, I’m not sure why?

29. does your region/city have a beef with another place in your country? The folks in Sofia think we don’t speak right. In fact it’s the folks in Sofia who have bad pronunciation. It’s млЯко, not муекО. Catch a train from the Black Sea coast to Sofia and witness literate Bulgarian dying little by little with every new passenger that gets on :P

17. are you interested in your country’s history? I wish I had time for that. I should be. I’m particularly interested in the 7th and 8th century. The official story is that the “Proto-Bulgarians”, who loved horse milk and had Asian eyes, and worhipped Tangra, and wore furs, came from somewhere in Asia. And in these Thracian lands they found a whole lot of handsome blond Slavs in white robes who worshipped Perun. And decided to mingle. The research has disproved this. It’s just a fairy tale.

30. do you have people of different nationalities in your family? No.

11. favourite native writer/poet?Peyo Yavorov. This is a part of his poem “Night”:

Затварям пламнали очиала напразно — няма сън;не мозък, а олово сякашв разяден череп се разлива…Възглавието — камък същилеглото тръне и коприва.

I close my burning eyesin vain - there’s no sleep;in my corroded skull it’s as ifI don’t have a brain but lead.My pillow is like a rockand my bed like thorns and nettle.