#well i also mixed in Georgian too

[angelixtreat]

that one panel of girls being girls!!!! theyre great friends!!! best friends!!! friends that kiss once and awhile!!!!

#amy rose #blaze the cat #blazamy #oughhh blazamy #lesbian flavored animals #oughh #i swear they make me wanna DIE!!!!! #tears my hair out #Blaze’s design was inspired #by indian royal fashion #well i also mixed in Georgian too #a bit of armenian #idk shes silly #amy is my gloog #my wee wee worm #anyways #sonic the hedgehog fanart #sonic the hedgehog #ibispaint #my artz

[emmersreads]

Emma by Jane Austen | 2.5/5

I have been sitting on this negative review of Emma for over a year so pls pretend I am charmingly tortured by my mixed feelings for this beloved classic rather than just a little hater.

I decided to read Emma because the Austen girlies are unstoppable. Every day I wake up for my twelve hour shift in the content mines of tumblr.fuck (for the purpose of this sentence we are both grizzled elderly men sitting on a porch just go with it) and find another post about how Jane Austen is the best thing since before sliced bread. Eat your heart out Shakespeare; if only you’d done all your plays about falling in love. These posts are a bit of a mindfuck for me because as much as I love a costume drama, Austen’s actual novels have always been underwhelming. One of my best friends is an Austen girlie. She loves the things. I dunno man, these books do not spark joy. But maybe I was just young dumb and a hater. Emma (2020) is my favourite Austen movie, so when I decided to reinvestigate the author I thought I’d start there.

The movie is better than the book. Shocked gasps; questions asked at parliament.

Emma (2020) is a great adaptation in part because it’s well positioned to keep the best parts of the book. My favourite part of the novel was the dialogue, which the film is able to lift often ad verbatim (“Mother, you simply must sample the tart!”). The patter of conversation is excellent and Austen’s sense of humor comes across just as effectively on the page as it does when spoken aloud. To this the visual medium can add the incredible set design, including the beautiful Regency wallpapers, Emma’s many jackets and little hats, Anya Taylor Joy’s eyes that look like they’re exes trying awkwardly to avoid each other in the grocery store, Johnny Flynn as Mr. Knightley having a romantic tantrum so intense he has to take his pants off and lie on the floor. Relatable. These elements couldn’t be in the book even if Ms. Austen had wanted to describe Mr. Knightley’s buttock-baring emotion.

Unfortunately that paragraph has been my way of damning with faint praise. The inverse proposition of an adaptation that adds a lot of things I liked is the source material without much to like about it. This is a bit of a misrepresentation. I found most of the book to be funny and enjoyable in much the same vein of the movie: a gorgeously decorated vanilla sponge cake. I just hated the ending so much it retroactively ruined all 500 previous pages.

I don’t begrudge Ms. Austen’s choice to hew to the Georgian standards of propriety (hence no ass shots), but this is a safe space for us to admit that those standards have not all aged particularly well, or particularly sexily. I feel like I’ve been infected with terminal bookstagram brainworms. I also don’t want to be here arguing that a book published two hundred years ago is too old-fashioned for me. But at the same time so much of the narrative about Austen is a revisionist history of how all her work was secretly not only meaningful (this is true, Austen’s work is about capturing the atmosphere and concerns of a particular social milieu, which she does effectively; it’s not less worthy of capture because it’s a space exclusive to women), but progressive.

People love Austen. They love romance and they love period drama. They don’t love when that genre is criticized for being dated or regressive. I understand that people do not read these books for the 21st century social commentary or the politics. And I understand that a 21st century moral critique is ahistorical and in poor faith. Trust me, I feel the ‘just let people have fun’ brigade hanging over my head like the sword of fucking Damocles.

But here’s the thing folks, my largely pretty enjoyable read of Emma was soured by just that: important parts of it are dated and regressive and it ruined my day.

The premise of Emma is that the titular protagonist is a rich and witty young woman intent on meddling in the romantic lives of others, at their expense. At the conclusion of the film, Emma realizes she has behaved badly to her lower class friend Harriet by leading Harriet to overlook the farmer Robert Martin (Harriet’s social equal) in order to pursue the richer Mr. Erlton (her social superior). Emma apologizes to Harriet and tells her to reconsider her feelings for Robert Martin, which turn out to be genuine. Finally, when Harriet discovers that her father is a lower class merchant rather than a secret aristocrat, Emma says she will welcome Harriet into Hartfield anyway. It indicates that Emma has outgrown her judgemental nature and preoccupation with appropriate matches to see Harriet as a friend in spite of her being Emma’s social inferior. And they all live happily ever after.

In the novel, this resolution takes much much longer. Emma’s flaw is not that she toyed with her friend’s emotions to arrange a match that amused her, but that she encouraged Harriet to have uppity opinions and to seek to rise above her station. The story resolves with Emma and Harriet returning to their proper social classes, Emma with Mr. Knightley and Harriet with Robert Martin. Emma and Mr. Knightley commiserate over how foolish Emma was to befriend Harriet and how unpleasant Harriet has become now that she is a social climber, and Harriet is revealed to have been naturally ungrateful and grasping and unworthy of a young lady such as Emma’s friendship.

I’m not going to waste my time on whether this sort of thing was just as bad then as it is now or whether it was simple a different time. Austen’s writing is a reflection of genuinely (though not universally) held societal beliefs and she’s not going to rise from the grave to change it now. It is, however, a deeply unpleasant ending. Emma’s problem isn’t that she toys with the people around her for entertainment, but that she doesn’t participate appropriately in the class system. Technically both of these are about becoming more self-reflective and more thoughtful of others, but the devil is in the details. It’s hard to enjoy that as the conclusion to a romantic comedy. I don’t come to Austen for a window into the uncomfortable realities of the past, or really any particular connection to the past. I’m here for the fluffy romance.

Part of the reason talking about not enjoying Austen because of these novels’ dated elements is so frustrating is that the common narrative about Austen is super revisionist. Austen has endured a lot of lumps and I do think it’s stupid to claim that she was a poor writer and was incapable of writing incisive social commentary just because she was a woman writing about the recency woman’s interests and concerns. I also think it’s reductive to claim that the social dynamics of Austen’s world often get misinterpreted due to the modern reflex to see every society preceding our own as nasty, brutish, and short. But this isn’t a critique of Austen, this is a critique of reading Austen in 2023. It’s not just about hating to see a grilboss winning.

On the other hand, why do I feel like I’m trying to placate the ‘just let people enjoy things’ brigade again?

One of the most frustrating things about being generally a romance disliker is the climate of toxic positivity that surrounds any genre that is more about having fun than any ostensibly higher purposes. There is a sense that since the audience of these genres is primarily women and they are often targeted by bad faith misogynistic criticisms, that any criticism of them is inherently misogynistic. I’ve been tying myself up in knots because my observation is that a book from 1815 has some nineteenth century ass ideas about class. This should be self-evident. ‘Just enjoying things’ in not actually my goal when reading, and ‘just letting people enjoy things’ isn’t my goal as a critic either.

Here’s the rub: Emma is a fun and sweet romantic comedy with some of the English language’s best dialogue until the conclusion reminds us that there hasn’t ever been a romantic utopia with the sexy historical codes of practise but not the bad ones. Romance in Austen’s time was a function of the class system, not separate from it. And I don’t know, maybe I’m the patron saint of it really being that deep, but I had a hard time seeing the lighthearted romance in that.

#read in 2023 #emma #jane austen #book review #bookblr #bookstagram #book blogging #classics #romance #books #also its been so long i cant find any of the pics i took of the book so behold my lemon cake

[i-merani]

if you haven't already talked about Georgian food, would you like to share some of your favourite or worth mentioning traditional side dishes and desserts? I'm trying to connect more with cuisine and I only know salad with pomegranate):

Not sure if these qualify as side dishes, we just put everything together at the same time lol but I love Pkhali!! Its like vegetables, herbs and walnuts chopped up and mixed together. Usually we eat it with Mchadi (it's kinda bread but not really? Idk how to explain this lol) and with Georgian cheese. It also comes with eggplant with walnuts. Well it's walnuts and herbs pressed and mixed together and wrapped in eggplant.

This is Pkhali and it can have different colors based on what herbs you use (pomegranate seeds are a must!)

This is walnut paste with herbs wrapped in eggplant (also with fancy pomegranate seeds lol)

To be honest I can't think of much side dishes because everything is kinda its own dish. We also love pickled vegetables (mtsnili/მწნილი) and they come as kind of snacks on the table. My favorite is Jonjoli (ჯონჯოლი), it is very sour.

This is Jonjoli, it doesn't look that tasty but it is😌

More main dish type of food is baked mushrooms with georgian cheese. Usually it is baked on a ceramic plate that you see below and is served with that plate so you have to be very careful not to burn yourself at the beginning.

For the sweets, we don't really have traditional cakes i guess but there are four must know georgian traditional stweets, these are Churchkhela, Pelamushi, Tklapi and Gozinaki.

This is Churchkela. You have walnut or any other nut (usually walnuts) on a string and you dip it in a sort of paste-like mixture made out of different fruits.

Pelamushi is just that paste like mixture but made even more dense in texture, more like a jelly.

Tklapi is also made out of fruits, usually it is either sweet or sour.

And finally, traditional new years sweets that every home makes for new years is Gozinaki. It's roasted nuts glazed in honey.

As you can see Georgians love all sorts of nuts😌😂😂 we use them in lots of dishes.

This is all i could think about but my Georgian mutuals can add some too because there's definitely more stuff.

#tumblr crashed multiple times when i tried to answer this🥲 #asks

[iantimony]

tuez

yayyy

listening: release radar: i get it now (sammy rae) (wauuughhhh. emo. i miss my partner) come over (cat's pajamas) stuck (scene queen) nerima (raspberry pie) never me (penelope) beirut (rob blivion) rule #34 (fish in a birdcage) bourgeoisieses (conan grey) milk town/mr carter (nep) doppelganger - lullaby (ethan bortnick) my baby loves to dance (kenya grace) horror night (starcourt) (@delta-orionis, you will like this one)

some from last week that i forgor to note down: tiny human (elohim), some type of skin (aurora), chukotka (otyken), training season (dua lipa, chloe caillet mix), georgian spirit (equbeats), online (twrp), someone else (kenya grace)

aaaand formentera/formentera ii again.

podcasts: wtyp on the francis scott key bridge collapse, and jim gordon must die podcast of all time

reading: i started reading 'bunny' by mona awad because it came up as a recommendation in libby when i was returning mdzs. i am going to be valiant and give it one more chapter but i do not like it. it feels like its trying very hard to emulate a certain type of vibe that i already don't find super appealing in fiction so the trying-vibe of it makes it even more uninteresting to me. the premise is a girl at a mfa program in nebulous New England Private Liberal Arts School(tm) which like, fine, dark academia or whatever; there are four (five?? i literally cannot remember which, lol) other girls in her cohort who are a weird clique and call each other 'bunny' and are rich and sheltered but harboring a Dark Secret Club. sure. the first few chapters ooze 'not like other girls'-ism, the 'bunny' characters themselves feel flat and like caricatures in an unappealing way, main character's other friend ava also is a caricature in a boring way, just very uninspiring. like i said i will give it another chapter or two but if it continues to bore me i will return it.

i finished the scum villain extras! very charming.

watching: keeping up to date with dunmeshi, yay, and also been continuing to watch endeavor with a friend. it's good! i love a mystery show! it is impossible to watch without subtitles though because they are So British. relatedly i am going to terf island for two weeks in june (london and then edinburgh) so if you know any recs for food, places, etc i am all ears!

playing: this weekend was going to be 3 dnd games in a row ... then monday was postponed to next monday ... but my sunday group, which is normally every other week, has decided to play next sunday as well bc we skipped a few weeks ... so Next weekend is the 3 day dnd combo lmfao. i don't mind too bad.

making: pottery!!! some bisque came out and i am soooo chuffed (<- endeaver tv show britishism rubbing off on me) this will be its own post with more images because i want to @ the inspiring artist, jbbartram-illu on tumblr (shop); i am obsessed with the cave painting mugs from a few months ago that immediately sold out so i was like fuck it i wanna make my own. and i am obsessed with my lil fat horses. i put amaco ancient jasper on the inside and just a matte clear on the outside. hopefully it is matte enough. i also put little hands on the handles and now i want to make some more cave painting mugs that are just the hands, i could cut out some templates to sponge underglaze around maybe...

my beautiful cracked-the-code bowls and two maybe teacups, post-trimming:

and also trying a new glaze technique: bisqued underglaze and then liquid latex over top! that way you can slather a background on and just peel it off after without painting around the details. im ngl peeling off the latex was soooo satisfying. background is laguna celadon froth.

i've also glazed my citrus juicer, just a plain warm yellow color, looking forward to that :3

glaze: mother's day gift (planter, it's. fine. idk. she'll like it i hope), and also some fixed stuff! didn't bother taking pics, the black eye bowl from feb 6 tuesdaypost is now food safe on the inside because i sanded down the kiln medium bit that got stuck in there and re-glazed it. i also tried to fix the bowl from march 12 tuesdaypost by just lightly sanding the inside and slapping some laguna celadon froth over it...it looks exactly the same now, just with some sort of float-like blue splotches lol. no pictures of it but eh. might give it away, we'll see.

eating: Spicy Clam Pasta With Bacon, Peas and Basil Recipe (NYT): tasty. idk about 'spicy' but definitely yummy.

misc: definitely in a weird spot brain-wise...the anxiety and tummyache link/feedback loop is very real for me now, so i am going back on an extremely low dose of ssri about it, and even though i have been on this med before in much larger amount i am still experiencing aaa about it. i keep going between "going back on this is a good idea" and "or i could just keep taking ~10mg of cbd every other day bc that felt like it was doing something, even if it was just placebo i had a noticeable difference in mood" so like. bluh. idk. i wish i could just Know what the best course of action is instead of having to fuck around and find out. such is life. i am literally taking the world's babiest dose rn (breaking the starter pill in half) so it will be fine. as long as i dont get bad side effects im willing to do a few weeks on it and see what happens.

#tuesdayposting

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

have you listened to the jesc songs? which is your favourite??

I HAVE NOT BUT I SHOULD. you know what. i'm gonna listen to them in the bus and you'll get my live opinion on them:

-Albania (Bota ime - Viola Gjyzeli): Love the harmonies! It really sounds like an esc Albanian song huh. Very epic and such.

-Armenia (Do it my way - Yan Girls): OH LOVE THE VIBES FOR THIS ONE!!! GIRLBAND GOODNESS !!! Also I love they still sing in Armenian even if there's bits of English there :) I am sure it has a sick choreography but alass i'm hearing them on spotify

-Estonia (Hoiame Kokku - ARHANNA): ooooh this one sounds so powerful!!! Love the chorus with the two voices! It's definitely a serious topic, sounds like it has a strong message

-France (Cœur - Zoé Clauzure): I am sadly not inmune to french singing. It just sounds too good I have no option but to stan 😔. Oh that little 'ay ay ay' in the chorus is so familiar to me but I couldn't tell you why. The high notes !!!!

-Georgia (Over The Sky - Anastasia & Ranina): I was sad the song started in English but now they're singing in Georgian which :) THE HARMONIES !!!!! THE LITTLE SCREAMING PARTS !!!!!

-Germany (Ohne worte - Fia): Uuu I really like her voice. It sounds kinda school? I don't know how to explain it. Not much else to say tho, the song is fairly simple. Not that it's a bad thing tho.

-Ireland (Aisling - Jessica McKean): Is that Irish I'm hearing ????? If it is big slay from Ireland in jesc exactly !!! If it's not I'm so sorry I cannot understand anything </3 Nevertheless, love her voice and how whispery it is!

-Italy (Un mondo giusto - Melissa, Ranya): OHHH THAT RASPY VOICE ONE OF THEM HAS !!!! INSANE !!!! It's sounds so epic !!! Why do they sing parts in English tho :( The chorus is insane !!!

-Malta (Stronger - Yulan): This one also sounds pretty epic, I can see this one playing in the radios. Love the voice as well. That last part !!!! And the highs !!!

-Netherlands (Holding on To You - Sep & Jasmijn): Love to hear Dutch! It sounds so good in song !!! Uuuu love the vibes with this one honestly!!! THE BEAT OH MY GOD IT'S SUCH A BOP

-North Macedonia (Kazi Mi, Kazi Mi Koj - Tamara Grujeska): We love a Balkan ballad exactly !!!! She has such a beautiful voice! Quick question is it a requirement for a percentage of the song to be in English??? Cause tons are mixing English in there and I cannot say I love it. Anyways. Classic Balkan ballad with folk elements, what's not to love honestly.

-Poland (I Just Need a Friend - Maja Krzyzewska): wait why is this one so depressing ??? a very pretty voice tho. it's just very :( the bridge is cute

-Portugal (Where I belong - Júlia Machado): her voice singing in portuguese is quite possibly the cutest thing i've ever heard omg 😭 too much English tho :( once again her portuguese is sooooo

-Spain (Loviu - Sandra Valero): okay polyglot queen I see you !! These lyrics are so cute actually 🤧 in general the song is so cute!!! You were not wrong this song is actually good :)

- Ukraine (Kvitka - Anastasia Dymyd): ooooh I do love me an ethnic song yesss!!! Love the beat for this one! THE SCREAM!!!

-UK (Back to life - STAND UNIQU3): This one is also super radio friendly. And is this another girlband??? Cause if then massive slay for them! The tune is catchy enough

OKAY CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW EVERYONE (EXCEPT I GUESS MALTA) SUNG IN THEIR LANGUAGES ???? EVEN IRELAND ???? WHY DOESN'T THIS HAPPEN IN ESC

anyways. after this first listen I think my favourite is Netherlands! of course as with esc the scenography and live vocals are quite important so this might change. but yeah. for now Netherlands is the one for me :)

#ask #jesc 2023 #jesc #this took two days oooops #but it was fun so thank you <3

[princelythirsts]

Are you still answering the f/o crossover thing? 👉👈 if so

F/o is Lucille Sharpe from crimson peak, S/I is Ianthe (undisclosed last name)

Relationship dynamic: rocky start, as Ianthe was a high society friend of Ediths from America. Things improve(? Kinda of) when they travel to England on their way to visit family in Europe, and offer to hire workers to repair Allerdale hall. They end up getting snowed in and things turn out differently than the movie lol

Occupation: s/I is a painter from a wealthy family (that's actually a crossover with another self ship universe lol) and Lucille is unemployed because women weren't expected to work in the same way

In short, s/I also has a dark secret related to their families wealth, so when they discover Lucille and Thomas's murder thing, they kind just shrug. The incest was weird, but again. Family secrets, I guess.

(Also Edith and Thomas are happy and in love in my ship-verse. With the company of S/I, she learns that she isn't 'losing' Thomas to her and while they don't exactly get her explicit blessing, she's more comfortable accepting Edith as family)

From @vampyrolesbos

YEA I’m still taking these! I just take a long time to answer them bc I tend to overthink them 😅 I haven’t seen the film in a while

I love this turn of events, and I’m sure Edith and Thomas are glad for it too. Lucille especially for getting someone sweet who looks past some of her… past choices.

This is a fun one to put in the Harlots verse due to all the juicy relationships - I think there was a lot more pressure for upper class women to marry in the Georgian era, so people might find it odd that Lucille would stay single and have an artist in her employ after a fateful winter.

Then again, their family is pretty isolated, so people might not hear about it, or care enough to gossip. I can see Ianthe taking wealthy clients for portraits.

I think most likely I could see their paths crossing if Phemie and Charles wanted a portrait and ended up spending some time with the artist and their … very generous patron. Who they live with and want to spend the rest of their life with.

There’s also the option of them all meeting on a fancy holiday to France or something.

Phemie would leap for the chance to connect with them - he is a noble too, it’s only natural they’d get along!

… There’s also the very delicious parallel between Phemie and Lucille as people who claim nobility (or even are nobility) but have to pretend to not be broke as hell. Phemie copes by getting a rich boyfriend, at least. I don’t know if it would ever be revealed - ie their double lives when it comes to wealth / reputation - but Lucille might not take kindly to Phemie’s advice to just get a sugar daddy, of course.

I typically have Phemie as a Connection since Charles is Social, sure, but less so, and very sheltered. I think Phemie and Ianthe would both be used to mixing with people across class lines in a way that Charles and Lucille wouldn’t. (Courtesans 🤝 Artists)

I am intrigued about the dark secret with Ianthe’s wealth, I’d like to see how it could factor in here!

Charles isn’t exactly hiding where his wealth is from, but if they’re meeting in another country where he’s not well known (and is currently trying to change for the better), he might not advertise exactly what his business is.

So they’re all very posh rich people with dark secrets who appreciate art! I’m not sure what 1700s tourism was like in Europe but they could go to operas and art galleries together, maybe share some gossip on the way

Tell me about your selfship and I’ll tell you what it would be like if our ships interacted in a crossover / AU!

#thirsty ramblings #vampyrolesbos #proship selfship #selfship ask Game #others’ ships #THANK u in advance for your patience I am slow as hell #phemie posting

[wyverber]

50 Likes!

It's beautiful. Lol.

It also took a while to make it but I think it's special so U guys get a big ass Headcanon about everything my mind made up so far so, yeah thank you <3

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Creepypsasta Headcanon special

Mansion/Manor

An Mansion would be to big. Listen Slenderman is old and he lived alone for many years, so when you live alone you don't need a big fat Mansion. And Mansions are near the city? So a nice Manor is enough.

The Manor is also not rlly that deep into the woods cus well in the Underworld there's not rlly a reason to hide especially for the one and only Slenderman. Like yes a 30 min walk into the woods and you're there.

Well- now there's only one Question left. Who lives in there because there is surely not enough space or the will from slender to have all the pastas in there.

Dr. Smiley and Ej because of their medical education or experience. Sally because the Man of the house likes Children and has a weak spot for her and Toby. Ben because he is somewhat of an internet source.

That's it, the others live near the Manor in an apartment like Jane or in some cabinet in the woods. LJ as an example lives in whole as house near the forest.

So now that we had the residents as a topic, let's move on to their Headcanons shall we?

Jeff the killer

Listen he lives in an Apartment with his brother- wich causes some issues but that's for another post.

Jeff has an Eating disorder. He was chubby as an Child and teenager (one of the reasons why he got bullied) and his Father would never stop saying something about his weight. He stopped eating right. That was years ago- after he stumbled across Slender who'd helped him, he has a somewhat okay relationship with food.

Not only has he an ED but he is just so focused on everything else he forgets to drink or eat (one reason why he doesn't live alone)

Sassy bitch- but the more sass the better. When he likes you he's a pain in the ass, like you wished he would hate you and stop with the stupid comments.

He's okay- with Liu, he actually hated living with his brother, but only because of Sully and Liu is overprotective so yeah pretty annoying in the eyes of the crusty chicken Killer.

Bye the way Jeff LOVEEES Chicken 🐓 like damn these thighs rawr.

Thigh guy, even tho he can't say no to fine ass (on the chicken or on the reader no one knows)

Dragon ball fan. There I said it. I needed too

Bisexual, and is actually better giving head then eating u out. Lol

Can't cook, and doesn't rlly know how to learn it.

Rlly bad at loosing. Will have an Aggressive behaviour towards the person whom had beaten him? Was that correct English? Idc.

Switch but more on the Dom side.

Its funny how I mix these, but he has a pet snake named Jefferson the third.

Eyeless Jack

Has Georgian roots. Because I had the feelin' moved as a teenager to the USA and still speaks English with an Accent.

Silent man, sometimes even quieter than Slender. He just likes to observe his surroundings and when your talking you can't really do that can you?

But he is also just introverted and has slot of trust issues like everyone else in 2022

He somewhat lives with Slender- but actually his working place is just ins Slendermans basement. He just overworks himself so he sleeps in his office alot when he sleeps (I don't think demon really NEED so much sleep like a human. So it's easy to stay up a week even if it's tiring.

Plays Chello

That's it- I. I don't have so many headcanons for him rn. Sry:/

Tim/Masky

Listen I was a simp back in 2017-19 I have sooooooo many

Chainsmoker ofc, what shocking news right?... No ( both Masky and Tim)

Tim tried to hit himself (Masky) cus he wakes up at random location. And he just a normal life.

Masky loves to mess with Tim in every way possible. Like I said he will go to sleep at random locations, will when some girl is flirting with him stalk and creep Tf out of her and just come out in the worst situations possible.

But they both like Apple pie 🥧 caugh basic bitch caugh

Alabama. Just Alabama idk what city cus lol do I look like I'm from the US? But he's givin' me the Alabama vibes.

Homophobic ass fuck. Sorry- He is just Straight. I don't see him gay. Neither, not Tim or Masky. Tim is tolerant but Masky will Beat you. I'm sorry.

Domestic. Tim loves it and so does Masky.

Masky love a good little House wife. One who doesn't complain about anything. One whom he can Manhandle how he desires.

Tim just likes submissive Women. (I'm so sorrrrryyyyyy but it's just my headcanon so yeah, still sorry)

Tim is Vanilla in bed. Just kinda rough

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Well thank u guys for your support and everything I'm done for now.

See ya later or not lmao ;)

#50 likes #tumblr milestone #creepypasta headcanon #creepypasta x you #ben drowned #slender brothers #slenderman #slenderman x reader #ben x reader #creepy pasta #creepypasta #ej creepypasta #masky headcanons #masky x y/n #masky creepypasta #marble hornets #headcanons #creepypasta incorrect quotes #eyeless jack x reader #eyeless jack #ben drowned x reader #jason the toymaker

[riddlesandlies]

I'm feeling snackish and we have a pack of kinda spoiled yogurt in the fridge, which means it's time to make and rate

My momma's pancake recipe

Actually, it's a crêpe, but it doesn't roll off the tongue as nicely as pancakes. Also, I like them thick, so pancakes it is. This variation is more commonly known as* *blini (singular - blin, rus. блины [blʲi'n[ɨ]]) (good luck with the phonetics on this one), or as we call them in Ukraine - mlyntsi (singular - mlynets, ukr. млинці [mlɪn'tsʲi]) (same root as mlyn (ukr. млин [mlɪn]) - the windmill, cause that's where you get the flour for them). There is also an absolutely delightful name in western, more poland-influenced territories - plyatski (singular - plyatsok, ukr. пляцки ['plʲɑ:.tskɪ]), which is just so pleasant. Like, yeah, they do the plap and the plyap and the plop! You were so right for this, West Ukraine! Anyway, onto the recipe.

For me, this recipe is a way to get rid of whatever spoiled milk produce we have. First, take an egg beat it with some sugar, about two to three tablespoons. Then add whatever spoiled milkstuffs you have (it's usually some old yogurt for me) (you can skip this step tho) and approximately the same amount of flour. It will serve you well to sieve all the flour you add into the batter. Add up to half a liter (or two glasses) of milk and start mixing in more and more flour until the batter becomes thick like cream. Don't overdo the flour, lest you end up with sourdough. I like to test my batter by simply making a test pancake, and adding more milk or flour if needed. There is even a saying for this - первый блин комом, or the first blin is always a lump, as in it's okay to fail on your first try.

After you prepare the batter, heat a dry pan (can be oiled! but only if you know what you're doing!) on low to medium heat (medium heat for extra thin ones, low heat for extra thiccc), and lay and spread the batter on in a thin layer (anywhere from paper thin to finger and a half).

The thinner edges will be prepared pretty much instantly, so you can start lifting them up to prepare for the flip. In my experience, the bottom is perfectly prepared if it's practically any color darker than the original batter, but after the upper part is never going to be fully colored, unless you flip it when the top is still liquid, which is problematic. Illustrated - the flip and the dip:

Also, another photo of a lightly done blin from the bottom:

If you feel the process in your heart - your blini will be soft and delicious, with the crust appearing only where and when you want it.

Onto the review part: this is an incredibly versatile food, which - duh, it's a variation of simple bread. You can remove the sugar to make it more neutral, or add different jams to the batter to make it sweeter. You can roll it, fold it like an envelope, add whatever toppings you can think of, and it's not greasy - so you can easily imagine a sandwich and make it a reality.

They don't keep well for too long - in two days they are gonna dry up, in three - slowly let out the remainders of moisture and oil, and start smelling sour. I prefer to make a small batch, eat some immediately and keep some for breakfast or lunch.

On accessibility - I didn't try any flour other than fine wheat flour, so if you try something else - tell me, I'm curious. As said above - sugar is optional. Egg is purely to bind stuff better - just use more flour if omitted. I use lactose-free milk every time - it doesn't affect anything much. If you use water instead of milk - that's just georgian or armenian flatbread, depending on the thickness.

Final rating - best bread ever.

#sweets #food #food review #recipe #food cw #hey a video with my hands and voice #i'm not conscious about this not at all #but really this is the best snack ever #my mom gifted me this pan #it's just perfect

[foodreceipe]

The Cure for “Thinking Too Much”!

Posted on May 28, 2014  by  Pamela Starr Dewey

It was well-known in Victorian times that thinking too much was a health hazard for women. What a relief, then, that John Pemberton came to the rescue of the Weaker Sex with his new Miracle Brew that did indeed “Relieve the Fatigue that comes…from Over-thinking” as promised in the advertisement below.

During the late to mid-19th century, medicines promising to cure multiple ailments from “foul breath,” “irregularities incidental to women” and everything in between proliferated. Many times these bogus medicines were mixed with ice-cold carbonated water and served as cheaper and more refreshing alternatives.

In the spring of 1886, John Stith Pemberton, a Confederate army veteran, had created one of the most elusive and important recipes of all time. This Georgian native mixed sugar, water, kola nut extracts, coca leaf extract, and other secret ingredients into a syrupy concoction that would become the base of the world’s most prolific soft drink the world has ever known. Mixed with soda water, the drink was extremely powerful with cocaine from the coca extract and four times the amount of caffeine of the modern syrup mix. The original recipe of 1886 has since been lost in time. Pemberton’s business partner and Union army veteran, Frank Robinson decided to name the new beverage Coca-Cola. The name derived from its initial selling point: “containing the properties of the wonderful Coca Plant and the famous Cola nuts.” At the time of the drink’s inception, cocaine was a commonly used substance, but was later near-completely eliminated in 1903. [Source]

In the 1880s and 90s, the company utilized lithographs of the young, beautiful, and wealthy. Giving the impression that anyone who was willing to spend a measly five cents could live like the rich for the time it took to enjoy a glass of Coca-Cola. [ibid]

Yes, even if you couldn’t afford the type of shopping trips of the beautiful and wealthy young ladies shown above, you could window-shop-‘til-you-dropped, and then stop by the soda fountain to be “revived and sustained”–and imagine yourself chatting over your glass of Coca Cola with the Rockefellers and Carnegies…before going home to your tenement!

At first the models for the Coke ads were anonymous beautiful and wealthy young ladies. But it didn’t take long for the Coca-Cola company to realize the value of celebrity endorsements.

Singer Hilda Clark became the first celebrity model for The Coca-Cola Company. Also known as the First Coca-Cola Girl, Hilda’s image was used on cardboard signs, tin trays, trade cards, bookmarks, drink tickets, and calendars from 1899 to 1903. [Source]

The many moods of Hilda Clark, from prim and proper to a tad sultry graced Coke ads for several years.

Coke calendars became wildly popular around the turn of the century, and Hilda loaned her pretty face and poofy hair to those too.

I don’t know what happened to Hilda, but by 1904 she was replaced by a more regal celebrity.

From 1904 to 1905, Lillian Nordica became the new face of Coca-Cola. Born Lillian Norton in 1857 in Farmington, Maine, Madame Nordica was also a singer who had performed with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as well as in many major musical venues in Western Europe and Russia. Early calendars and other promotional items featuring the divas of the time not only launched the popular Coca-Cola Girls advertising platform but Clark and Nordica items had also become some of the greatest hits with vintage Coca-Cola collectors over the years. [ibid]

It would be almost 30 years later before Coke introduced the ultimate celebrity endorser, shown here in 1932 in his very first appearance in a Coke ad.

https://ameripics.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/the-cure-for-thinking-too-much/

#Coca-Cola

[bluemooncove]

The exact make up of the kingdoms of the world is something that is being created as needed because with a project like this that can be part of the fun of world building. I also think drawing an inspiration from history can be a create source of ideas and a way of distinguishing culture. In the particular case of Elbeth this is a world meant to emulate a specific period of history so it's notably important. I have never, however, been a particular fan of just doing fantasy counterparts of real world cultures. I feel that makes the point of a fantasy setting redundant and has some unfortunate implications. For that reason I prefer a bit of a mix and match method.

My normal way of doing it sees a 3-4 mixture. Generally I start by choosing an anchor that serves to the basis for the language and naming schemes of the kingdom. Generally that means a specific land and a specific period (I'll have an example a bit later). Then I attempt to find a totally different place in the world that I feel has developed quite culturally differently but that has underlying similarities to the anchor. With that you have a reference for how things could have developed differently and can begin blending the two to form unique ideas. In addition to this I then try to chose a region fairly close to the anchor to draw additional naming schemes or rules from. Often the historic interaction between two regions leads to show linguistic and cultural synergy that you can use to get an idea of how both's cultural traditions can evolve and change. Finally, I sometimes also try to work in another period of history from the Anchor in order to bring in ideas that are (generally) similar to the anchors but practiced in different ways.

I'm not sure if that explanation was too clear, so here are some examples of some of the places I'm working on here. These are all places that haven't come up yet but are relevant as the homelands of some characters in the works.

Goshima uses Sengoku Japan as its anchor. Samurai have become quite relevant in modern fantasy and the Sengoku as a conflict fits well for the world of conflict and adventure Elbeth is meant to be. For that reason I definitely wanted to fit in. Goshima was chosen as a name primarily because of its historic name of Yashima (eight islands), I was envisioning a place with five large islands and a few smaller ones between them so a name that meant "five islands" seemed quite fitting. I then let that meet with the British primarily Georgian era Britain. Here the primarily similarity I was drawing upon was both being island nations that became naval superpowers. In addition to that I personally see a similarity in Ireland/Wales/Scotland having being united under the rule of England as akin to the many disparate regions of Japan (and later Okinawa/Hokkaido) being united under their emperor and shogun. The reason I favored the Georgian era was primarily my preference for the fashion of that time. As far as somewhere nearby to the anchor goes I'm still searching a bit but I'm presently favoring Indonesia, I'll need to crack open my books though on Indonesian history to determine if there's a specific period I want to use as refrence. Finally for another point in the anchor's history I'm also choosing to draw from the Kofun Period due to me thinking their enormous tombs being really cool to me with a tiny bit of the Jomon period because I really like dogus.

On the other hand Galla uses a mixture of Hundred Year War and the end of the Capetian Era of France as my anchor. Given their influence on romantic/chivalric tales it seems quite relevant to include somewhere highly influenced by France. Galla references its name from the Latin name for the region Gallia but is meant to also invoke Gala a public ball. For its similar but different region I chose Ming Dynasty China. The similarities I was drawing from were that both France & China rank among the most famous of empires and spent significant periods as the main powers of their region. Each saw the construction of many historic landmarks across their various dynasties. Each had the basis for their absolute rule from it being granted by Heaven. I chose the Ming Dynasty primarily because it is contemporary to the Hundred Year War and saw the power of the emperor become more autocratic like the later Age of Absolutism. As for the geographically similar region I chose Medieval Ireland. This overlaps with the next section but the celts had a history within France (and much of western Europe) before winding up primarily in Ireland. I think drawing from that shared history has a lot of potential. Which is why, additionally, as a separate era for my anchor I'm looking towards Celtic France of 300 bc for some additional ideas.

Anyways I heard news about the new 2hu album is out so I'm gonna go look at that now! Goodbye O/

#after hours ~ ooc #connoisseurs guide ~ headcanons #guild policy ~ administration

[apexart-journal]

Jevijoe in Tbilisi, Day 8

I did a yoga class this morning. I'm not a morning person, but I forced myself to wake up like I used to do in New York for work. Dynamic yoga was intense, and I plan to do it more regularly in my personal time.

In the afternoon, I explored the Saburtalo district. These post-Soviet architectural buildings are post-apocalyptic utopia. The design structure looks like those new buildings in gentrified Brooklyn and Queens, but the living situation is very surburbs, look like parts of New Jersey, Washington Heights, and the Bronx, in which you can still feel an organic structure of building and repairing things and also a sense of community. I got mixed feelings with these post-Soviet buildings. There was a promise for the working class for a better living condition, but that never happened in reality. These buildings are not well maintained, but the good thing is that the locals owned the spaces. In New York, there is always a feeling of uncertainty and displacement since most people rent and don't own space or housing.

On my way back home, I noticed that my apartment building was blocked off with too much security and police. The president of Georgia and the president of Iceland are meeting today with a press conference and traditional Georgian welcoming ceremonies. I felt like I was a diplomat since me and the president are actually neighbors, and they did the ceremony in front of "my" building.

I felt very experimental today, so I decided to eat some exotic food. I ordered a "boiled tongue" today at the nearby restaurant, and it was literally a boiled tongue ofan animal that I did not know. Without any seasoning, it was cold and seemed uncooked. I think food is an acquired taste, and I'm not going to be a big fan of this particular dish!

I went to Praktika People's Cafe, and I observed too many young people chilling out, hanging out, playing games such as chess and board games, probably students from nearby universities. I ordered white wine, which is 5 Georgian lari, cheap compared to other places I've been. I think that is part of the "mass" appeal of a commune- everything should be affordable with shared profit. I noticed the word "working class cafe" at the window and also some iconic merch from Antonio Gramsci, the Italian Marxist philosopher.

I decided to go for a 30-minute walk to my next destination, just to explore the other parts of the city.

It's been a physically exhausting day today, but very productive.

#jevijoe vitug #outbound to Tbilisi

[ladylenacat]

cauliflower songs (2022) - Minty REVIEW

"and we'll dance and we'll sing and we'll laugh until our faces are wet and we'll eat and we'll hug we'll do everything we were once so afraid of"

‘cauliflower songs’ is the fourth officially bandcamp-released album from georgian experimental folk artist, Minty. After releasing three albums throughout 2021—including the somewhat rickety ‘delectat’ which featured a few  interesting concepts—I was interested heavily at the prospect of seeing another release from her in the future, and that prospect presents itself here with her 2022 record, which I would pretty easily consider her most consistent array of tracks to date with some of her most touching and powerful songwriting.

‘open’ greets the listener with some pretty electronics, a nice pitter of a drum machine and some other whirling instruments, Minty herself here establishes her incredibly airy and soft vocal performances which will remain a key part of the music’s identity further into the tracklist. With these vocals we can see the beginning of the consistent topics for songwriting emerge as well, with Minty seemingly awaiting some kind of reprieve from something which is wrong through the presence of another person. I really like this opening a lot, it establishes enough about the coming direction of the album without revealing too much. After this comes ‘song for the exaltation felt as all your guilt washes off of you’ which has some of the most beautiful and sweet hearted lyricism on the record, accompanied by some great instrumentation with some pretty guitar plucks which sit alongside these rising keys and later a strange computerised voice spelling out letters which form the word ‘wonderful’. There are some incredibly tasteful passages on this track too, such as how it opens with;

“you saw the abyss

and you stared until it filled your periphery

I know you felt

as if you'd been robbed of all your agency.”

There's this level of increased shyness in the vocals here in comparison to the track that proceeds it, which I believe further establishes a lot of Minty’s musical identity, and while for the less acquainted ear this change may lead to a loss of enjoyment—due to the fact that Minty is not what most would call ‘professionally trained’ in singing—as someone who values a vocal performance’s ability to capture a sense of emotion, authenticity and character in music, I found that this sort of vocal work added a significant amount to the music and its identity. There is also an endearing usage of repetition in the writing during the second half which transitions cleanly into the next song being the instrumentally focused ‘"someday"’. This track is a favourite of mine with the rough and tumble guitar and sputtering electronics really feeling like an excellent way to sonically portray longing, with the repetitive lyrics backing them. I think the risks this song takes pay off massively and it is a very interesting experience. It also eloquently moves into the very soft and long winded ‘please don’t leave (i’ll take your last name)’, which while very pretty and enchanting is a song I have less to say about than I’d like to—given the really direct personal lyricism on this track which do sing to me in a lot of respects.

With that in mind I would love to draw attention to the proficient nature of how this album sequences itself. Tracks just so smoothly move into one another, and it makes the experience of listening to this record just so enveloping and seems incredibly well thought out. Continuing from this last track, however, is the somewhat eerie but charming ‘if you ever wish you could hurt me…’, which has a cross between spoken word and Minty’s, now trademark, airy singing. This is a very emotionally conflicting track, the almost spectral-like whirring of the electronics in the mix give a sense of unease, but Minty’s vocals and guitar playing are so warming and down to earth that it feels at odds with it, like receiving an endearing hug in a graveyard. However, as much as Minty’s manner of speech may feel like an embrace, the tone of the lyrics turns eye-widening-ly dark in the second half, where she pictures someone doing great harm to her in a way that I feel is too triggering for this review. I can definitely see the sort of emotional odds that this song provides being turn offs for some, but I really did find a lot to appreciate with this track in spite of, or in some ways, because of this emotional disparity and it has since become another favourite.

The record is then treated with a nice interlude, featuring some pretty chimes before moving into the lengthy ‘whispering your name to myself to dream of you every night’, this is a slow burning, 8-minute beast of a song which there are definitely some things to say about. The first half sees Minty very much admirably stretches her vocal ability, singing a very interesting tune about attempting to almost summon this individual they have become infatuated with inside of a dream by whispering their name before sleeping. The instrumental progression here is arguably the most subtle on the record, which may make the length daunting to some, but the beautiful keys and electronic runs on the second half make it more than worth it to me. This album has a really good sense of when to focus on letting its atmosphere speak for itself and this track is a perfect example of that. The song that follows it ‘“all”’ is another really great demonstration, with its otherworldly electronic splashes overpowering the soft vocal balladry of Minty vocalising on a desire to have her body be taken in by beautiful things from another's sight. The levels of lyrical abstraction which are present here on ‘cauliflower songs’ are really well equated, allowing this gorgeous level of poetic touch to seamlessly sit alongside some more direct phrases. The track ‘cauliflower’ after which, is enveloped with more familiar and conventional folk beauty which let it serve as a truly emotionally warming moment after the sonic abstraction of the tracks that preceded it. The album closes with ‘flutter’, a song that begins with these beautiful chattering keys before incorporating a piano in the back of the mix and even the computer voice from ‘song for the exaltation’, making a return again to spell out ‘wonderful’. Minty’s vocals here are some of her most beautiful and well performed, with her asking who can only be assumed as the person she has been singing about for most of the record, if they would be upset if she revealed she had done all this for them, and that if in that person's shoes she would be. And though she continues to vocalise on awaiting, she also mentions towards the end of the track, a desire to see this person for everything of which they are as opposed to the

“perfect ray of sunshine”

she has illustrated them as. I think these sentiments are some of the most mature and touching on the whole album, truly insightful notes on the nature of infatuation and incredibly powerful too. 

All in all, Minty’s new project here feels to me not only a truly formative moment for the young independent artist, but also a collection of beautiful and noteworthy folk songs that contain a really excellent array of musical achievements. With its beautifully poetic songwriting and sonic experimentation, I strongly believe that there's a lot to get out of ‘cauliflower songs’.

9/10

Favourite Tracks: open, song for the exaltation felt as all your guilt washes off you, "someday", if you ever wish you could hurt me..., "all", cauliflower, and flutter.

#music review #music recommendation #indie music #indie folk #experimental folk

[craftystudentbouquet]

Oil Painting For Beginners - How to Get Started in Oil Painting

One of the more frequently asked questions from beginners in oil painting is: How do I get Started? To get started in oil painting is relatively easy. There are some basic supplies that you will need and some basic guidelines to follow. This article will discuss how beginners can get started with oil painting. This article will not teach you how to become a good painter however. In fact, no one can make you a good painter. You can only be taught certain things and it is up to you to take what you have learned and apply it.

Many beginners who are new to the oil painting medium, generally have the same questions. So let's cover those questions now so that you can begin your painting journey right away.

Oil Painting Supplies

The first thing you will need to do is purchase a few supplies. You need not spend a ton of money on expensive oil painting supplies. Start with the basics as you are only a beginner right now. The goal at this point is to get used to working with your support, brushes, paints and other materials. So expensive supplies will be wasted during this stage.

Supports

You are going to need a support to paint on. There are a number of different supports that can handle oil paint, but for now, start with canvas. Many beginners often ask if a canvas needs any special coating or priming for oil paint. The short answer is yes, but you need not worry about that either. Any local art supply store or online art supply store will have canvases that are already primed and ready to be used.

Oil Paint

Next, you are going to need paint. You do not need an expensive brand of paint. That would again be a waste for beginners. There are less expensive, good quality paints on the market that will work beautifully for your painting needs. Here are a few oil paint brands to test out: WINSOR & NEWTON Winton Oil Colours, GRUMBACHER Academy Oils and DALER-ROWNEY Georgian Oil Colours.

For those of you who may be concerned about the potential hazards associated with oil paints, have no fear. Introducing water miscible oil paints! These paints are fantastic. They can be thinned with water as opposed to using dangerous solvents like turpentine. Here are two brands to try out if you are interested: GRUMBACHER Max Water Miscible Oil Colors and WINSOR & NEWTON Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colours.

Oil Painting Brushes

Having good quality brushes is important. While a good quality brush will not make you a better painter, a cheap brush will only wind up frustrating you. When you use cheap brushes you will see why. Cheap brushes have a tendency to shed hairs that get stuck in the oil paint, which is extremely annoying. Good quality brushes should have stiff hairs and snap back into place when you run your fingers through them. They should be well crafted and sturdy.

You do not need that many brushes for oil painting. I personally only use two types of oil painting brushes: flats and filberts of various sizes. I do have a few rounds and a fan brush on hand, but I almost never use them. I would also recommend that you use hogs hair brushes as opposed to the softer synthetic hair brushes. The synthetic brushes are just too flimsy to handle the oil painting medium in my opinion.

Cleaning your brushes is important, so don't be careless in this area, especially if you are working with high quality brushes. Many artists recommend turpentine for cleaning brushes, but I simply cannot bring myself to use this stuff. I use a much safer brush cleaning product called "The Masters" Brush Cleaner and Preserver.

I clean my brushes right after a painting session with this product and it works wonderfully. It may take some time to really get your brushes clean, but it is worth the effort. If the brush cleaner does not remove all of the paint, then I use a bit of odorless mineral spirits. I find this a much better alternative to turpentine.

Oil Painting Mediums

What about mediums? Do you need to mix the oil paint with anything or can you use it straight out of the tube? This is another common question amongst beginners. The answer? You do not need mediums to paint with. They are not a requirement, but I find them to be quite helpful.

Most oil paints that I have worked with are simply too stiff right out of the tube for my particular style of painting. Mediums will help dilute the oil paint and make the paint flow better, which means you will be using less paint. Using less paint, means you will save money.

There are many different kinds of mediums that are used for different reasons, like speeding up the drying time of paint, improving gloss, etc. Do not be overly concerned with mediums right now.

I like to start my painting using thinned down acrylic paint. I first tone my entire canvas with a neutral color. I then draw in my composition using different values of the same color. I let this initial drawing dry over night. I then apply the oil paint using the fat over lean oil painting method.

Lighting

This is a very important part of oil painting. Without proper lighting, you will not be able to accurately see your colors. The best kind of lighting is natural sunlight, so if you have the opportunity to paint in a well lit room or outdoors, that would be ideal. Of course not everyone is blessed with this type of situation, so the next best thing is to use lighting that mimics natural sunlight.

This type of lighting is referred to as "full spectrum lighting". There are number of different full spectrum lighting products available. Just do a search on Google for "full spectrum lighting" and you will find a number of websites on the topic.

Safety

Oil painting for beginners can be hazardous if you are not careful, so it is important to take the necessary precautions. Make sure you work in an area that has good ventilation and airflow. Wear disposable latex gloves while painting. Read all manufacturer warning labels carefully.

Some Final Words

As you sit down to start your first painting, remember that you are just a beginner. Your main goal right now is to have fun and get used to working with your oil painting materials. Do not be overly judgmental about your own work. If you do so, you will only wind up getting frustrated. Your first, second, third or even tenth painting may not turn out the way you wanted it to. This is completely normal so do not get discouraged. Oil painting is a difficult medium to master. It takes perseverance so hang in there.

for more guide Comprehensive Flagship Advanced Oil Painting Techniques

I wish you all the best! God Bless

#oilsketch #oilpaint #acrylicpaint #oilpainter #allaprima #oiloncanvaspainting #oilcanvas #acryliconcanvas #oilpaintings #oiloncanvas

[the-world-that-was]

Medieval Georgian Baked Apples

As the autumn comes to a close, and the cold of winter sets in, I figured it'd be a great time to make a simple savoury treat from medieval Georgian cuisine - stuffed apples! Though savoury stuffed apples are commonly found in the Caucasus region, this isn't exclusive to Georgia! Armenia, and parts of north-western Iran, western Turkey, and Azerbaijan also have regional variants of this dish!

In any case, let's now take a look at the world that was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above! If you like what I make, consider supporting me on Patreon!

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

4 large tart cooking apples honey ground cinnamon ground nutmeg water 1 cup rice butter

Method 1 - Prepare Apples To begin with, we need to prepare our apples. Do this by slicing the top off of about 4 large apples, before carving out the middle - leave about a finger's width of a wall.

Drizzle some honey in here, and sprinkle a little ground cinnamon inside. Honey was used in the civilisations of the Caucasus for millennia, and was an important part of many people's diets in the medieval period.

2 - Prepare Filling Next, pour a cup of rice into a bowl, and pour some water over this. Rinse the grains until the water runs clear. When it's cleaned, keep the grains just about submerged, and bring the pot to a boil. Cook your rice for a few minutes until they fluff up. When they're done, let them cool down a bit, before mixing in a handful of raisins or sultanas, along with some freshly-grated cinnamon, and some freshly grated nutmeg, or mace.

Both of these spices were commonly found in the kitchens of the region in the medieval period, thanks to Georgia's proximity to the silk road and spice trade.

3 - Assemble Stuffed Apples Take your hollowed apples, and fill them to the brink with your rice stuffing. Place a dollop of butter over this, before placing the lids of your apples back on top.

Place your apples onto a deep tray, and pour about a cup of water into this. If you want, you could add some more aromatics or spices in here - such as mint, rosemary, or cloves! Then put the tray into an oven preheated to 350F or 175C for about a half an hour, or until the apples puff up and turn golden.

Take your apples out, and serve up alongside some roast meat and vegetables! Spoon over some of the baking liquid, to rehydrate the rice a little too!

The apples are quite tart, but with a deliciously sweet undertone. The flesh is melt-in-your-mouth, and pairs very well with the texture of the fluffy rice. This pairs really well with roast lamb and pork, and is a fantastic (and easy) side-dish for any feast you're preparing for!

#the world that was #Medieval Food #medieval cooking #medieval history #medieval #medieval recipe #Georgia #kingdom of georgia #caucasus #ancient cooking #ancient history #edible history #edible archaeology #history of food #history of cooking #history #recipe #vegetarian #vegetarian recipe #baked apple #apples #honey #spices #side dish #armenian #armenian recipe

[formulatrash]

As someone who is half russian and has family and friends living in Russia I think people on tumblr and the wider world need to acknowledge that there are a significant amount of Russians who are in favour of Russia invading Ukraine or simply don't care. My papa is very pro invasion and lots of other family members are too. Its frustrating to sit behind my phone and see people acting like every russian is anti invasion. The sanctions are harsh but banning (specifically in this context) russian drivers isn't necessarily a bad thing because the truth is you will never truly know their thoughts on it because lots of Russians are brainwashed by properganda just like we are here in the west and they agree or it's dangerous to speak out. I know the situation surrounding banning athletes is very nuanced this is just my take feel free to ignore. Just feeling very frustrated with everything at home and online. Slava Ukraini.

I totally understand that; there are lots of Georgians (the prime minister, for one) who are in favour of the invasion and I find that truly staggering but I guess once you are in the mindset of Putinism you are in there.

Definitely when I'm saying there is Russian resistance I don't mean a blanket statement of all Russians oppose Putin; if they did, he would have no cronies and it takes a background level of passive agreement in the population as well as active support. The bloodthirstiness of the takes that Russians need to be punished in order to turn against Putin is what disturbs me more - there are lots of people in the UK with extremist views about Brexit who fully back Boris Johnson, the more we are cut off and the worse things get in the UK, the more they back him even though he's doing it.

So, yes, you're right to say this and thank you for sending it. There is always a mix. My anger or like, general frustration is more that people seem to want to turn on ordinary people instead of asking their own governments to do things like shut off the Nord Stream and seize oligarch assets or whatever - like there's so much energy to want to ban Russian athletes but we are buying gas that is propping up the Russian state. It will be very inconvenient to us if we stop buying it but much more effective than excluding a handful of athletes or imposing things like the US ban on Russian vodka - when almost all vodka in the US comes from France.

There's also, if we're being fully nuanced, a hell of a lot of extremely terrible groups in Ukraine and some major civil and human rights issues there. None of which justifies a massively cruel invasion by a much worse government, obviously but like. If we're looking at everything in a fully holistic way.

Hope you're able to stay as ok as it's possible to be at a time like this, anon.

[cincinnatusvirtue]

The Battle of Karnal 1739: Persia’s Nader Shah alters the history of India in 3 hours on the battlefield...

The 16th century saw the, rise, zenith, conflict & coexistence of the three Islamic Gunpowder Empires, so called for their major use of gunpowder based firearms and artillery:  The Ottoman Empire (Turkey), Safavid Empire (Persia) & Mughal Empire (India).  These empires had similarities & differences abound and while on the surface all were Muslim dynasties with some level of overlap they also came from different origins and had oftentimes competing self-interests.  By the 18th century all shared a similar downward trajectory in terms of political fortunes.  We’ll detail how those trajectories started to fan out and how one episode in particular hastened the fate of one of these empires, in the aftermath of another...

By the early 18th century all three Islamic Gunpowder Empires were reeling from conflicts, whether they knew it or not, their once great heights and good fortune had begun to decline or was on the edge of collapse.  For the Ottomans power was checked after two centuries of continual expansion, the disastrous Siege of Vienna (1683) saw their defeat at the hands of the Holy Roman Empire, Poland-Lithuania, Russia, Venice and other European powers.  By the conclusion of the Great Turkish War (1683-1699), the Ottoman Empire was forced to give up significant areas once under their control or influence, most notably Hungary which saw them pushed back to the Balkans and would start unknown to many at the time, a two and half century decline culminating in its collapse post World War I (1914-1918).

The Safavids, a dynasty originating from a Shia Sufi Islamic religious order of mixed ethnic Kurdish, Georgian, Turkoman, Circassian & Greek origins restored “native” Iranian rule to Persia (Iran) (by virtue of their Kurdish origins) for the first time in centuries following foreign rule by Arabs, Turks & Mongols.  Yet, despite foreign rule Persian language, administrative acumen & culture, particularly in the arts persisted, becoming the de-facto language of poetic tradition in Islamic tradition.  Persian culture throughout the Islamic world was widespread, being used and taught by their Ottoman rivals and the Mughals to their east.  The Safavids were major patrons of the arts and pushed a Persian renaissance from their rise in 1501 until their end, peaking under Shah Abbas the Great who reigned from 1588-1629.  Their empire extended from parts of Anatolia, the Southern Caucasus & Iraq to Afghanistan and from Bahrain to Central Asia.  Their greatest rival was the Sunni Ottoman Empire to the west, the Safavids faced alternating periods of dominance & loss of Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan Georgia & Turkey with an ever shifting border thanks to multiple wars with the Ottomans as well as some wars with the Russians and the Uzbek khanates on their northern borders.  Additionally, European maritime powers like England & the Netherlands and others dominated trade in the Indian Ocean and this cut off Iran from crucial overseas trade routes which hurt the economy already strained by repeated rebellions & raids from various Turkic and other Iranian groups.  To add to the mix following Shah Abbas the Great for the most part, Iranian court politics became dominated by competing figures from the Shah’s harem, alongside religious clerics & other interested parties.  The infighting and domestic upbringing of many of the subsequent Shahs ensured their political weakness and ineptitude, leading to a lack of strength in government affairs.  In the early 18th century this came to a head with its sudden collapse in 1722 from the Pashtun tribal Hotaki dynasty which arose in rebellion from Afghanistan and marched towards Iran’s then capital Isfahan and overtook the Shah Husayn who abdicated and recognized Mahmud Hotak as the new Shah ruling over Iran.  We’ll return to the fallout from the collapse of the Safavids as it will play into the Mughals decline too.

The Mughal or Moghul (Persian for Mongol) dynasty descends from both the Turco-Mongol ruler Timur (Tamerlane) and Genghis Khan himself, it was known as the Timurid dynasty originally, having come from Central Asia a ethnic mix of Turk & Mongol and culturally influenced by Persian, Turkic & Mongol traditions, the Mughals overtook parts of Afghanistan in the 16th century before supplanting the Delhi Sultanate in 1526 and making Northern India its new center for a rising empire.  Islam had existed on the Indian subcontinent for centuries but the Mughals were its epitome.  They were influenced by Persian language, architecture, horticulture and arts and synthesized it with native Indian influences among others.  Through gradual military conquest and administration, the Mughals spread their control over the mostly Hindu populace of India, though conversion to Islam and Islamic culture increased in its reach.  Examples of the Mughals influence are reflected today notably in the many forts they left like the Red Fort of Delhi, Agra Fort & in the mausoleum the Taj Mahal alongside ornate & symmetrical Persian influenced gardens.  

By the late 17th century into the first decade of the 18th century they had their peak of geographic control under Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal Emperor who reigned from 1658-1707.  Aurangzeb was a devout Muslim who depending on the source was either relatively tolerant or fairly intolerant of other religions unlike his ancestors who despite their faith had a more or less tolerant approach to Hindus, Sikhs and other non-Muslims of India.  He engaged the empire in a seemingly endless war to conquer the Deccan Plateau in West Central & Southern India, opposed to him were the former vassals of the Mughals, the proudly Hindu Maratha Empire.  The Maratha were a warrior caste of former farmers from the Marathi people of the Deccan Plateau, they had gained prowess for their determination in battle alongside guerilla style war tactics and while they controlled many hill forts that could be subsequently taken over by the Mughals, they would simply take control of new forts or strike the Mughals overstretched supply lines prolonging the war interminably..  The war alongside Aurangzeb’s large army and floating war camp of great size was expensive to maintain and left the Mughal economy once incredibly wealthy and robust still sizable but much reduced.  Aurangzeb died in 1707 having conquered much territory but unable to subdue the Marathas.  Following his successor's death in 1712, the Marathas crossed the Narmada River and began a gradual pushing back of the Mughals becoming the new rising superpower in India.

In the aftermath of the rise of Marathas, the Mughals faced many internal challenges besides an economy in ruins, many Mughal governors and nobles began to carve out power for themselves in local areas which decentralized power alongside corruption and an antiquated military system meant the Mughals were unable to always coordinate a mutual defense for the whole empire and when they did, it was slow moving, awkward and outdated.  This took power away from the Emperor, Aurangzeb being the last absolute ruler of the Mughals whose power commanded virtually all.  It is in this environment of a receding Ottoman Empire, collapsed Safavid Empire and fracturing Mughal Empire that our story takes shape and the collapse of the Gunpowder Empires is perhaps best crystallized in the 1739 Persian invasion of India by one Nader Shah.

Nader Shah (1688-1747), as I have mentioned in a previous article of mine rose from being a peasant in Khorasan region of Northeastern Iran to a local warlord.  Nader was of a Turkoman ethnic background but was culturally Turco-Persianate.  Nader was a very powerful local warlord at the time of the Safavid abdication in 1722 overthrown by the Hotaki dynasty which now sought the allegiance of all warlords and nobles in Iran, only Nader refused to swear fealty.  This lead to him siding with the Safavids in exile lead by Tahmasp II alongside the Qajar Turks (future Shahs) in a war against the Hotakis, he defeated them in Afghanistan and then marched towards Isfahan driving them out and restoring the Safavids under Tahmasp.  Rewarded with a governorship and marriage to Tahmasp’s sister, Nader’s profile rose greatly.  He then turned back the Ottomans and Russians who had carved out Iranian territory for themselves in the chaos of the Hotaki uprising.  

Nader’s tactical prowess and diplomacy made him a rising star as the premier general of the restored Safavids.  However, the Shah Tahmasp II was envious of his top general’s prominence and while Nader continued the war with the Hotakis (resolved in 1738) in the east, Tahmasp lead a failed campaign against the Ottomans and signed a treaty undoing Nader’s earlier gains.  Nader decided to remove Tahmasp from power himself.  Getting the Shah drunk on alcohol in public and in front of his court following his recent defeats which brought shame to the nation, Nader used this as a pretext to create a essentially a vote of no confidence in Tahmasp’s leadership and he was forced to abdicate in favor of his son Abbas III who was a child and making Nader the young Shah’s regent, becoming the ruler of Iran in all but name.  Nader resumed the war in 1732 against the Ottomans and initially it went bad being defeated at Baghdad.  However, this was to be his only defeat and a series of victories followed culminating in the 1735 victory of Yeghevard fought in Armenia which undid the Ottoman resolve and forced them to sign a peace treaty the next year giving up Northwest Iran, Azerbaijan & Armenia, the Russians would also sign a treaty withdrawing from the area.  

The same year as the treaties with the Turks & Russians, Nader decided to make himself Shah in name.  This was suggested on a hunting trip with Iranian nobles in the Moghan plains between Azerbaijan & Iran.  He called a qorotai, a Mongol & Turkic tradition of calling the leading nobles to a conference where they signed a document affirming their approval of Nader’s ascent to the throne officially making him Shah in the same tradition of Timur and Genghis Khan to their respective ascents to power.  Nader removed Abbas III from his nominal kingship and officially ended the Safavid dynasty for all time.

During Nader’s earlier days as a warlord & general and now as Shah of Iran and founder of the Afsharid dynasty (named after his Turkic tribe) had always instill military reforms.  The first of which was to upgrade the importance of the infantry, using gunpowder based firearms, he developed several corps of reformed and well drilled infantry, the most elite and often decisive in battle were the jazayerchi who fired a musket of heavier caliber than the European equivalent of the day, it was also capable of greater range and accuracy.  Nader’s jazayerchi corps drilled constantly in terms of marksmanship and speed.  Nader also believed in elements of meritocracy and promoted the top marksman to lead regiments.  The musket infantry was important in securing the defense of mobile artillery and cavalry, freeing up these two arms of the military to maneuver less impeded in battle than in previous iterations of the Persian army. 

In terms of cavalry, the horses which previously were the personal property of the horsemen were now state “issued” and trained in all kinds of tactics, flanking maneuvers (a favorite of Nader’s), encirclement, feigned retreat, fighting in the steppe warrior tradition but no longer with bows and arrows, instead a combination of swords, lances, pistols & muskets allowing the Persian cavalry, a mix of Iranians & Turks to become more tactically flexible, serving as scouts and skirmishers.  Additionally, a royal bodyguard numbering in the thousands in service to the Shah himself was considered the most prestigious horseback regiment.  

Artillery also underwent crucial changes with Nader.  He created permanent production factories, cannon foundries churning out guns and cannonballs for his campaigns.  He also developed mobile workshops to build and repair artillery while on campaign.  Another innovation was the zamburakchi, a corps of mobile artillery using small swivel guns mounted on the backs of camel which suffered short range and accuracy issues but when fired in mass compensated by devastating enemies at close range.

By the late 1730′s Nader sought to finish off the Hotaki which still rebelled against his rule and by 1738 he defeated them as an entity though a number of them escaped from Afghanistan into modern day Pakistan & India, then part of the Mughal Empire.  Nader asked the Mughal Emperor then Muhammad Shah (reigned 1719-1748) to turn over the convicts as treasonous criminals in Persia.  Muhammad Shah refused, supporters of Nader will argue that Muhammad Shah’s reluctance was unfounded and a simple request to comply with.  While others with less sanguine views of Nader argued Muhammad Shah likely had little ability to comply. with a decline in central authority to act on the request and given the large territory the Afghan rebels could hide in, it was deemed not very practical to apprehend them.  On these grounds, Nader Shah declared war against the Mughal Empire.

Muhammad Shah of the Mughal Empire saw in his three decade reign a rapid decay in the empire’s stability, decentralization & corruption were rampant and any chance at meaningful reform went unheeded due to lack of cooperation and coordination among the Mughal nobility.  Additionally, the Marathas through war was gradually chipping away at Mughal territory.  The Mughal military though large was not formally coordinated and was in fact armies who were raised locally at the behest of the local nobility and governors and not the emperor, rank and file troops and their equipment were of decent but varying and uneven quality but the leadership was divided by personal rivalries and ambition.  Many cannons for example were large and best use as siege guns but not field guns and were therefore antiquated and ill suited for pitched battle.  The Mughals did make use of the Indian elephant as a beast of burden and weapon of war but there were largely of psychological than just practical value. 

Nader departed in 1738 for India through Afghanistan and he captured Kabul and using a flanking maneuver from an unexpected direction outfoxed the Afghan tribesmen waiting to ambush him in the Khyber Pass.  His army entered the Punjab region of flowing rivers centered around the Indus River and he pillaged along the way reaching Lahore but the local governor paid off Nader with a large ransom in order to spare the city and procure his position as governor following the Persian conquest.  The Persian army of 55,000 on the ready and 160,000 strong reserve was made up of Iranians, Turks, Kurds & even Georgian vassals of Iran.   

Nader’s rapid advance caught the Mughals off guard and realizing the invaders were going for the Mughal capital at Delhi, Muhammad Shah had to organize a resistance.  Calling on the Mughal nobility he was able to organize a counter force of 300,000 strong with thousands of camp followers.  Due to their massive size, the Mughal force with antiquated weapons and divided leadership faced many logistical issues leaving it to lumber northward until it reached the city of Karnal near the Alimardan & Jamna rivers.

Nader’s Persian army arrived and encamped near the Jamna river to the east end of the area while the Mughals were in the west at Karnal.  Nader scouted the Mughal position and realized he was outnumbered nearly 6 to 1 as he could easily field 55,000 ready to go against the Mughal force.  To offset the numbers issue in favor of the Indian force, Nader chose instead to use his faster mobility, discipline and ground of his choosing to lay a trap for the Mughals.

Placing the Persian battle line in a north to south line in a valley before the village of Kanjpura (southeast of the Persian camp), Nader planned to have a scouting force of cavalry lure the slower moving Mughal forces to pursue him in a feigned retreat.  The Persian force was divided into three bodies, one just north of Kanjpura was commanded by his son, this was the center of the army.  The northernmost body was commanded by Nader’s trusted general Tahmasp Khan Jalayer.  Command of the southern flank was divided among two other commanders.  

Nader sent out a cavalry force to “scout” on the morning of February 24th and Mughal commander Sa’adat Khan arrived to pursue, he had just reached the Mughal camp earlier and had thousands of men still arriving.  He immediately gave pursuit towards the skirmish that had begun with the Persian scouts.  The Mughals poured more troops into the skirmish and the Persian cavalry began to rout which only encouraged the Mughals more to pursue.  Muhammad Shah was cautioned against making any uninformed decisions but was so encouraged by the news he egged on his commanders to give pursuit of the Persians but without any grand plans, instead they would rely solely on their superior numbers to reinforce the army at the front.

Nader hoped to direct the Mughals towards his waiting center and left (southern) wings around Kanjpura.  As the Mughals chased the cavalry, he prepped by having his camel zamburak artillery and jazayerchi musketeers get mounted to reinforce a massive initial volley.  In the center of the Persian line, the scouting cavalry force that had acted as bait cleared out of the way to reveal a Persian line of muskets and artillery loaded and waiting, they fired into Sa’adat Khan’s men who simply braced and endured the volley which took several lives in an instant.  To the south another Mughal column marched right into the environs of Kanjpura village and found themselves facing a similar trap and were now ambushed by a combination of musket and artillery, the ferocity of which dizzied the Mughals.  Many Mughal nobles and commanders were wounded or killed in the early volleys, the Persians kept up volley and volley like clockwork, their bullets piercing the armor of the Indian elephants on which the Mughals were mounted.  The alarm raised and confusion in these volleys, the Persian right flank under Khan Jalayer now launched its attack from the north hitting the Mughals in the side and rear as it cut off their retreat.  Sa’adat Khan surrendered on the spot and others did the same or made a break for it.

News of the disaster spilled into the Mughal camp by retreating troops who made it to safety, the emperor himself was faced with the disbelief that his top commanders were captured or killed and that his men were slaughtered wholesale.   Estimates of the killed and wounded Mughal troops range from 8,000-30,000 while the Persians suffered around 2,000 dead and 5,000 wounded, a very lopsided victory.  It was all over in three hours.

Muhammad Shah was forced to meet with Nader to discuss surrender.  In one fell swoop the Mughal army was defeated thanks Nader’s military reforms and tactical & strategic prowess.  The meeting was described as initially tense but ultimately respectful as the two emperors met.  Nader and the Persians accompanied Muhammad Shah and accompanied the Mughal court back to Delhi.  The Mughal troops were allowed to return home throughout India in an act of magnamity from Nader.  The occupation of Delhi lasted a few months while Nader Shah was installed in the palace and decided on terms of his departure.  

The occupation began on March 20th, 1739, the next day the Persians celebrated Nowruz, the Persian new year.  While sending out troops to negotiate bread prices, small bands of locals formed a mob and attacked the Persians.  Quickly an ultimately false rumor of Nader’s assassination spread through town and a general uprising commenced in which Persian troops all around the city were killed in isolated pockets.  Upon learning this Nader sent out his most disciplined troops to quell the rebellion which they executed in overwhelming fashion.  Over the course of several hours in March 22nd, the Persian soldiers are said to have massacred or driven to death by suicide 30,000 citizens and burnt and looted large swaths of Delhi.  Hindu and Muslim alike were not spared nor man, woman or child according to some sources.  Nader then ordered a halt to the violence and immediately his troops obeyed his orders.  Nader decided to place blame on Muhammad Shah for the uprising and as such he exacted a heavier price than originally intended.  The Mughal treasury was looted, tax collections from the poor and rich alike were taken.  Mughal princesses related to Muhammad Shah were taken as brides for Nader’s sons, generals and himself.  All the Mughal lands west of the Indus river were likewise ceded to the Persian Empire.  Many Mughal crown jewels including famous diamonds, emeralds & rubies were looted and the famous and ornate Peacock Throne of the Mughal Emperor was carted off to become a symbol of Iranian royalty ever after until its disappearance.    When the Persian army departed Delhi in May 1739 to head back to Iran, they left with roughly the equivalent of 8.2 billion pounds sterling in modern currency.  Nader and the Persians acquired so much wealth it was carted out on thousands of horses, camels & elephants and most interestingly, it replenished the Iranian coffers so much that Nader cancelled all taxes within his empire for the next three years.  He now had enough state revenue from just Delhi loot to finance new campaigns and run the state expenses for those next three years.

For the Mughals the humiliating defeat of Karnal & sacking of Delhi did not immediately end the Mughal Empire but it sent psychological shockwaves through the empire and left scars to its people figuratively & literally.   The losses to the Persians in Nader’s 1739 invasion of India also sent messages to the enemies of the Mughals just how weak they had become.  The Marathas exploited this taking over all Mughal territory in the coming decades save for Delhi where the Mughal Emperors became little more than a puppet ruler controlled by the Marathas, the Afghan Durrani Empire and ultimately and most impactfully the British.  The British East India Company took note of Mughal weakness following Karnal and begin their century long march in the mid-18th century to outright conquer India straying from their isolated trading posts to full on expansion in Bengal and elsewhere.  In time the Mughal Emperors would come under house arrest as ceremonial puppets of the British until their abolishment following the failed 1857 Indian Rebellion in which the Mughal Emperor was blamed for encouraging the revolt against British rule.

Karnal again did not cause the second end of one of the once great Islamic Gunpowder Empires but it certainly sped it up.  By shattering the last vestiges of tangible Mughal power, reducing the emperor and his empire to one in name only and setting in motion the events that lead to the eventual British Raj overtaking all of India. 

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