#balkan trap

[zanimljivaekonomija]

Ulaznice za Belgrade Music Week od danas po PROMO cenama – 40% POPUSTA

Sam početak leta u Beogradu rezervisan za najveći festival urbane i popularne muzike, Belgrade Music Week, koji se održava na Ušću od 23. do 25. juna. Ulaznice su već od danas dostupne po PROMO cenama.

Čitava armija fanova trap, balkan trap i urban pop zvuka sa nestrpljenjem očekuje ovaj događaj, koji predvodnici novog muzičkog talasa i kreatori novog lica muzičke industrije najavljuju kao epicentar vibracija koje će izazvati pravi muzički zemljotres!

Nastupi više od 25 ikona modernog zvuka i suverenih vladara YouTube trendinga - Raste, Devita, Voyage-a, Nucci-ja, Crnog Ceraka, Teodore, Breskvice, Henny-ja, Popova, Amne, Mahrine i mnogih drugih tokom tri festivalska dana postaviće Beograd na muzički tron regiona, a čitav ugođaj biće kompletiran savremenom produkcijom, besprekornim zvukom i najnaprednijim scenskim efektima koji diktiraju stadarde live industrije, direktno iz laboratorije Skymusic-a.

Ulaznice možete kupiti putem sajta efinity.rs, aplikacije eFinity, u TC Rajićeva (I sprat) i na blagajni Štark Arene.

[cutecountryballs]

BELARUS!!!

other links

[ratnix]

Hear me out

Balkan Monty

[balteus]

find it a little funny when terminally online americans pretend not to know/be able to comrehend turbofolk like helikopter wasn't an overplayed meme for several months

[lindgoddess]

drugome lepa, ja na sebe ljut

[preservationofnormalcy]

(Pictured above - a map showing the current segmentation of the Burroughs, the People Below's sections of political territory, with annotations showing the leaders of each. Which Burrough do YOU reside over?)

Public Information File 55661: The Molemen/The People Below.

The Office provides this information to the extranormal public in order to educate about our neighbors Below. Let's learn about the Molemen - together!

The Molemen first appeared on the Office's radar in 1965, when one Thaddeus Marsh, an expert in soon-to-be illegal genetic engineering and anatomy manipulation, began to talk to colleagues in the extranormal sciences community about retreating underground. Fearing nuclear annihilation in the Cold War, many of his associates agreed with him.

Using currently-classified anomalous technology, they created a series of self-replicating bunkers deep underground, starting with small rooms that expanded into massive complexes that gradually connected via long tunnels. Railroad systems were established in these tunnels, and by 1971, enough work had been done that Thaddeus Marsh felt confident moving people underground.

The work was quick, but the other scientists, hired workers, and civilians drawn by the promise of safety had not expected Marsh's mental deterioration. All of the personnel who moved underground were trapped and subjected to extranormal genetic and anatomic manipulation to "better adapt" them, in Marsh's belief, to a life underground.

From 1971 to 74, Marsh, now known as the Underking Murmur, ruled with an iron fist. His territory expanded under the lower 48 states, and parts of Canada and Mexico. His madness seemed to grow with his power, kidnapping cavers, miners, and other surface-dwellers to induct them into his army. Developing unimaginably vast factories, he created digging machines capable of moving anomalous amounts of dirt. By 1974, his plan to invade the surface world with these machines became widely known among the People Below.

The organizing body responsible for the incredibly complex logistics of moving so much earth, the Miner's Union, fomented a revolution in the Underground in mid-74. After three months of vicious fighting, the loyalty of the Underking's minions was tested and found wanting. Underking Murmur was deposed, and in its place the Union members created a council. The Underking's territory "balkanized" into 12 loosely-allied "Burroughs" that the Office recognizes as the political authority of the People Below.

With recent diplomatic efforts, the Office for the Preservation of Normalcy has welcomed the People Below to the surface under our Legal Extranormal Persons program.

[ghostboneswrites2]

Barriers

A long awaited request from my mutual who asked to remain anon.

Summary: Turkish polyglot!reader is on a run with Daryl and three new arrivals to find a warehouse rumored to be stocked with food. When the destination is overrun with the dead, it's up to you to communicate with those who do not speak english to get you all home alive.

Warnings: TWD typical stuff. Potential TW for those of you with religious trauma as there is a Catholic prayer.

All dialogue is translated in (red).

Turkish, Romanian, and Spanish is translated by my mutual and their friends.

Romanian is translated using Google translate, as neither of us are very fluent in romanian but we wanted to include a balkan country.

Please forgive any inaccuracies! This was a labor of love and it was much harder than I anticipated, but I'm so glad this mutual asked for this. It was fun to exercise my brain!

Characters and their languages:

Derya: Turkish Maria: Spanish (originally french with the name Marie, but we couldn't get anyone to translate the french lol) Andrei: Romanian Rolf: Dutch

        Tensions were high. The newcomers knew where a large stash of food was and Daryl was sent to help them retrieve it. The only setback was the communication barrier, which was where you came in.

        "Sunt încă la șase străzi distanță. (It's still six blocks away.)" Andrei told you.

        "Six blocks." You repeated to Daryl.

        "We won't make it that far with all them walkers." Daryl whispered, peeking through the boarded windows of the little shop you all holed up in. The herd came out of nowhere. 

        "Trebuie să cunoașteți un traseu mai sigur. (You must know a safer route.)" You pleaded with Andrei. He just shook his head. You sighed and turned to Derya. "Depoya gitmenin başka bir yolu var mı? Mücadele edemiyeceğimiz kadar fazla  kişiyiz. Burda kapana kısıldık. (Is there another way to get to the warehouse? There are too many for us to fight our way through. We're trapped.)"

        "Galiba burdan çatıya çıkmanın bir yolu var. (I think there's a way onto the roof here.)" She suggested. "Binalar karşıdan atlanabilecek kadar yakın. (The buildings are close enough that we could jump across.)"

        "Daryl, do you think we could jump roof to roof?" You asked.

        "Maybe. Buildings are pretty tight knit." He shrugged.

        "Okay, Derya, çatıya çıkan yolu biliyor musun? (do you know the way to the roof?)" You asked her. She thought for a moment.

        "Binaların arkası çitle çevrili orada bir merdiven olabilir. (Behind these buildings is all fenced off. I think there's a ladder out there.)"

        "Okay. Good thinking, Derya." You patted her shoulder and rushed over to the back exit, peering through the cracks in the wood. "She's right.." You whispered. "Daryl, this way! Andrei, Derya, Maria!" You waved them all over as you unlocked the door and pushed it open. Sunlight poured in as you all piled outside and rushed up the ladder. On top of the building, you could see just how far up shit's creek you all really were. The herd wasn't a herd at all -- it was a massive horde. It filled up the streets of the small town  like a sea of death and decay. 

        "Querido San Judas Tadeo.. Patrono de las causas desesperadas, escucha nuestra oración. (Dear Saint Jude Thaddeus.. Patron of desperate causes, hear our prayer..)" Maria gasped, clutching the crucifix she wore around her neck. "En tiempos de desesperación y desesperanza, guíanos a la luz del amor de Dios... (In times of despair and hopelessness, guide us to the light of God's love..)"

        Daryl looked to you questioningly. 

        "It's a prayer." You mouthed. He nodded. 

        "Y'all ready?" He asked. You nodded and ushered the other three toward the edge of one of the building that lined another. There was maybe a two foot gap between the two. It was doable. 

        "Andrei, tu primul. (you first.)" You nodded to the man, who lept courageously and landed smoothly. "Now, Maria." You looked to the girl. She was young, maybe nineteen, and clearly devoted to her faith.

        She tucked her crucifix into her shirt and took a breath, whispering the rest of her prayer as she geared up for the jump. "Ayúdanos a encontrar fortaleza en nuestras pruebas y a confiar en el plan del Señor. (Help us find strength in our trials and trust the Lord's plan..)" She took a running start and flailed her arms as she flew from one building to the next. She rolled as she landed but she was otherwise fine.

        "Derya, sıra sende. (your turn.)" You smiled to her reassuringly. Out of everyone, you'd grown the most friendly with her, as you were both Turkish. She told you about the warehouse to begin with. 

        She nodded and jumped across, smiling triumphantly back at you after she made it safely. You and Daryl crossed over next. The process continued over three more buildings, all the while Maria still prayed desperately under her breath. "Quédate a nuestro lado en nuestra hora más oscura y llévanos por un camino de esperanza. En tu pasión, intercede por nosotros y lleva nuestras súplicas a Dios. (Stand by us in our darkest hour and lead us to a hopeful path... In your passion, intercede for us and bring our pleas to God..)"

        At the end of the block, you were all drawn to a halt. The next building was at least six feet away. None of you hard faith you could jump that far. The sea of walkers was still raging below, waves of bodies crashing into buildings and obstacles as they swarmed. 

        "Qué vamos a hacer?! (What are we going to do?!)" Maria's panic was becoming more evident.

        "Sólo tenemos que pensar en un plan. (We just need to think of a plan.)" You assured her. You turned to Andrei. "Știi o cale? (Do you know a way?)"

        "Nu.. Mai avem cinci blocuri (No.. We still have five blocks.)" He said solemnly. 

        "Okay." You took a breath. "Do you have a plan?" You asked Daryl. He scanned the walkers on the ground below, his silence answering your question. 

        "şurdaki kütüphane, (That library over there,)" Derya spoke up, one finger extended to point out the building she was talking about. "Arkadaşımız rolf orada. o sadece flemenkçe konuşuyor ama daha önce bize yardım etti belki de tekrar yardım edebilir. (Our friend Rolf is there. He only speaks Dutch, but he has helped us before. He may be willing to help again.)"

        "Do you think we can make it to that library across the street?" You asked Daryl. 

        "Why?" He asked.

        "They have a friend that lives there. He might help us if he's still there."

        "He lives in a library?" Daryl tilted his head. You shrugged.

        "That's what she said."

        "Mm... Maybe." He nodded. "We need to distract 'em, though." 

        "How?" 

        "Dunno.." He looked around. "Ya still got that toy ya picked up for Judith?"

        A lightbulb went off. Of course! The loud toy! You dug in your bag and quickly found it. You turned it on and pressed a button, a loud song ringing through the speaker. You handed to him and he threw it as far from the library as he could. To your pleasure, the toy didn't break on impact. The mindless corpses below slowly turned their attention to the sound, the tune of Old McDonald drawing them in. When enough of them were distracted, the five of you crept down the side of the building and hurried over to the library.

        "Rolf!" Derya hissed, lightly tapping at the glass. 

        " Rolf we hebben hulp nodig! (Rolf, we need help!)" You added quickly. Moments later the doors swing open and you piled inside, Rolf shutting and barricading the door behind you.

        "Wat doe jij hier?! Zie je niet hoeveel van hen er zijn? (What are you doing here?! You don't see how many of them are out there?)" Rolf scolded. You could tell he preferred his solitude.

        "We hebben hulp nodig om naar het magazijn te gaan. Dat is 5 blokken verderop. (We need help getting to the warehouse. It's five blocks away)" You panted, out of breath.

        "Het magazijn? (The warehouse?)" He scoffed. "Jullie zijn gek! (You people are insane!)"

        "Nee, maar we zijn wanhopig. (No, but we are desperate.)" You pleaded.

        "Je komt vast naar mij denkende dat ik weet hoe ik jullie door al deze dingen heen kan krijgen? (You must be to be coming to me thinking I know how to get you through all those things!)" He waved his hands around.

        "Ona kamyonetini sor (Ask him about his truck.)" Derya urged.

        "Wat dacht je van de truck? (What about your truck?)" You asked Rolf. He glared at you.

        "Nee. Absoluut niet! Enkel voor noodgevallen. (No. Absolutely not! Emergencies only.)" He declined.

        "Dit is een noodgeval. (This is an emergency.)"

        "Oh, oké laat me het verduidelijken. Enkel mijn noodgevallen. (Oh, okay, allow me to clarify. My emergencies only.)" He crossed his arms.

        "Is dit niet jouw noodgeval? (This isn't your emergency?)" You raised your eyebrows, motioning your hand to the door. "De hele stad is overspoeld met hen. Je zal het hier niet lang volhouden. (The entire town is flooded with them. You wont last here long.)"

        "Ik red me prima in mijn eentje, dankje. (I do just fine on my own, thank you.)" He insisted.

        "Oh? Ik zie nochtans geen eten of water hier. Hoe lang kan je zonder? Want die dingen gaan daarbuiten zijn voor dagen, misschien zelfs weken voordat iets anders ze weg lokt. (Oh? I don't see any food or water here. How long can you go without? Because those things will be out there for days, or maybe even weeks before something else draws them away.)" You pushed. He thought for a moment.

        "Oké goed. I breng jullie naar het magazijn en dan zijn jullie op jullie zelf. (Okay, fine. I take you to the warehouse and then you're on your own.)"

        A collective sigh of release aired out into the room as he rushed to find his keys. You all followed him to the back exit. He glanced back at the group. You and Daryl nodded at each other and stepped ahead of the others.

        "Jij opend de deur, en wij zullen je beschermen. Sluit de deur achter je. Wanneer je de teuck start, zullen wij de deur voor alle andere en beschermen ze. Vertrek niet tot iedereen in het voertuig zit. Begrepen? (You open the door, and we will cover you. Shut the door behind you. When you get the truck started, we'll open the door for everyone else and cover them. Don't leave until everyone's in the vehicle. Got it?)" You instructed. He nodded, reluctantly.

        You quickly relayed the plan to Daryl and everyone else in their respective languages, then counted down. "Drie… twee… een! (Three... Two.. One!)"

        On your word, Rolf threw the door open as planned, and you and Daryl rushed out, stabbing and beating down walkers left and right. You heard the door slam shut. You peeked behind your to see a nervous Rolf looking overstimulated and overwhelmed at the chaos around him. "Komaan! We hebben je gedekt! (Come on! We have you covered!)" You urged him.

        He stepped between you and Daryl as you strategically kept him safe. Once he was to the truck, he shut himself inside and you and Daryl bade way back to the back exit. The engine revved and sputtered a few times before the truck was up and running, but it didn't take too long. At the sound of the fully started vehicle, you threw the door open and the rest of your crew worked their way through the walkers. Maria, a particularly nonviolent young woman who made herself more useful as the sneaky one, cowered in the center as you all surrounded her and defended yourselves from the threat of the undead. Once everyone had piled inside, you and Daryl jumped in last. Rolf wasted no time putting the pedal to the metal, so to speak, and before long he was pulling up in front of the warehouse.

        "Okay." You sighed. "Worst part's over, right?" 

        "Ik zal op je wachten. Wees snel. (I'll wait for you. Be fast.)" Rolf announced. You tilted your head. "Mijn bibliotheek is omsingeld. Er is niet voor mij om naar terug te keren, als ik zelfs leven binnen geraak. (My library is surrounded. There is nothing for me to go back to, if I could even make it inside alive.)" He elaborated. "Ik help jou een thuis te krijgen, jij geeft mij een thuis. (I help you get home, you give me a home.)" 

        "Okay." You nodded. "Wij kunnen dit. Laat ons gewoon niet achter. (We can do that. Just don't leave us.)" You placed a hand on his shoulder and thanked him with your eyes.

        "Alright, we need to get in there, grab as much food as we can, and get the hell on somewhere before it gets any worse. 's a damn miracle we made it this far." Daryl said. 

        "Okay. María, eres rápida. Si vienes con nosotros, te cubrimos. (Maria, you're fast. You come with us, we'll cover you.) Andrei, vino și tu. Știi ce căutăm. (Andrei, you come too. You know what we're looking for.)" You turned to them. They nodded nervously. "We get in, grab as much as we can, and get out." You continued, once in spanish and once in romanian. 

----

        Back at Alexandria, people were surprised to meet a new member of the community, but mostly just grateful everyone made it back alive and in one piece. The food was just a bonus at that point. You had all been gone way longer than planned.

        After introducing Rolf to everyone and making sure those who didn't speak english had everything they needed for the evening, you and Daryl finally retired to your shared home. Relief and gratitude set the mood, but after you had both showered and found something comfortable to wear, you couldn't help but to pick up on a subtle sense of disappointment written all over his face.

        "We did good." You assured him as you plopped beside him on the sofa. "The food we brought will feed everyone for a week, and we can probably go back in a few days and that herd will have moved on." 

        "Ain't that." He shrugged.

        "Then what?" You asked, brushing his stringy damp hair out of his eyes.

        "'s just..." He chewed at his lip. "Just felt so clueless out there, ya know? Useless. If you hadn't been there, all them people woulda died 'cause I wouldn't know how to talk to 'em." 

        "Well, I was there." You assured. "And they wouldn't have died anyways because you're a badass."

        He huffed a dry laugh. "I dunno. Just wish I had more skills than huntin' and trackin'." He admitted.

        "What?" You scoffed. "You've taught me more survival skills since we met than anyone has taught me in my entire life. You did teach me tracking and trapping, but you also taught me how to be quiet, sneaky, and observant of my surroundings. You taught me how to read people, and how to kill them effectively if needed. You are so much more than a hunter or a tracker." You rambled. His eyes scanned over your features as you went on, silently admiring how you always managed to find yourself on a tangent, no matter the subject.

        "Mm." He grunted. " Still wish I could just... talk to everyone, ya know?"

        "Then I'll teach you." You offered. "Starting tomorrow, with the language of my people. Turkish." You grinned. “Lesson one: Seni seviyorum sen benim kahramanımsın.”

        "Wha's that mean?" He pushed his eyebrows together in confusion.

        "It means I love you, you're my hero."

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[jokeroutsubs]

Bojan: "When I realised what a crucial part of self-esteem it is, that's when I turned off Instagram"

Article and video podcast with Bojan Cvjetićanin and Kris Guštin from 24ur.com, published on 3.10.2023

The band Joker Out are one of the most efficient ambassadors of Slovene, as fans all the way from Scandinavia and Spain to the Balkans are learning the language because of their songs. Before Friday's sold-out concert in Stožice, the singer Bojan Cvjetićanin and guitarist Kris Guštin explained to us the new measurements they are taking with special devices at their hot and very loud concerts and honestly spoke about the impacts of fame and their much-needed abstinence from social media.

A week ago they completed their Nordic tour with five sold-out concerts in Sweden, Norway and Finland, after Friday's concert they are leaving on their Balkan tour. "We were always told that you really cannot find success with Slovene," says Bojan Cvjetićanin, Kris Guštin adds "At each concert fans await us with signs 'Can I please sing the song 'Umazane misli' ('Dirty Thoughts')' and then Bojan goes to the crowds and they always sing it as if they were Slovenes."

Singer Bojan Cvjetićanin and guitarist Kris Guštin. Photo: POP TV

Turbulent changes have been felt by all members of Joker Out after their Eurovision boost and international success. The singer Bojan most intensely felt the changes on social media and at one point opted for a social media fast. "Once I realised what a crucial part of self-esteem it is, I turned off Instagram. On the one hand, social media is very important to us. It's how we promote our music, concerts, but on the other hand I would love to just tell our fans: Get off of there! A paradox - you can't live with it, you can't live without it," say Bojan and Kris.

A sold-out concert in Stožice awaits the boys from Joker Out on the 6th of October. Photo: Miro Majcen

What happens with the bras that fans throw on stage during their concerts? Why does their practice place contain endless shelves with books, and what are the traps of fame and fortune in the musical industry? Bojan and Kris revealed all to Simon Vadnjal in the newest POPkast.

Translation of article & video by @beeoftheanxieties, drumbeat, and two other members of Joker Out Subs

[kvaradonaa]

Hottest players of Euro 2024: Group A and B

1. Germany: Emre Can

Okay, bro looks like my next mistake. If he wasn't a footballer, he'd be a pop musician. And I don't mean your shitty American pop. He would be like Tarkan for the Germans.

2. Switzerland: Granit Xhaka

Okay, this one is obvious. I had to choose his earrings era photo, they really complimented his unemployed Balkan boy swag. He is my ex-boyfriend who stole my wifebeater and my golden chain from me. He listens to the most cringe rap imaginable. He drives a BMW. He will ruin your life.

3. Hungary: Dominik Szoboszlai

Another obvious choice. Look at his pouty lips, massive brown eyes and hairy legs. He is sexy and he knows it. He will thirst trap the camera whenever it focuses on him. He is a whore. He is a gay pornstar. It's a wonder he isn't banned by the Hungarian constitution.

4. Scotland: Kieran Tierney

I didn't really know who to choose. In all honesty, I know very little about this national team. But he seems neat.

5. Spain: Pedri

Sorry for being baaaaasic. To be honest, I don't really find Spain NT that attractive. If I have to choose one, it's gonna be Pedri. I love how flushed his cheeks become after playing for a while.

6. Italy: Giacomo Raspadori.

It was a difficult choice, because most of Italian players are insanely hot. But I let the Napoli fan within me win. Look at his golden eyes and Bambi eyelashes. He deserves a special mention here.

(alternative choices included Di Lorenzo, Meret, Scamacca, Calafiori, Fagioli and Pellegrini)

7. Croatia: Luka Modrić

I don't think I will surprise anyone here. Yes, I love Luka Modrić. I chose this pic of him to tell you what I'd love to do with him. It doesn’t do justice to the full scale of beauty, but we all know how Modrić looks like. Like an angel. Like an 80s mangaka's wet dream. Even as a grandpa with weird facial hair, he still has that flair to him.

8. Albania: Jasir Asani

Okay, I actually fell for him during qualifiers for one and one reason only. I won't lie to you. I mean, he is a pretty guy, but...

Size kink 😭

part 2 part 3

[mask131]

Vampires before they were cool... (2)

In my last post, I left you by the 16th century. But it was the 17th century which was the BIG century for the evolution of the vampire myth.

During the Middle-Ages, the vampire manifestations were mostly localized in Western Europe: vampire tales came from the British Isles, from France, from Spain, from Portugal. However, throughout the 16th century, these phenomenon rarefied themselves in the West… Only to brutally amplify and multiply by the East. In the 17th century, vampires popped up everywhere in the Balkans, in Greece, in Russia, in the eastern part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. In fact, by the 17th century, vampires had turned so rare in Western Europe that some people (like Voltaire in France) would later believe vampires were “invented” by the 17th century and did not exist prior to this date…

Why such a big shift? Well, sociologically speaking, Eastern Europe was a poor and isolated part of Europe at the time. The great innovations and inventions of the Renaissance had not crossed over to the East, unlike things like the vampire tales, which travelled very fast – and while the bourgeoisie and the city-dwellers of Eastern countries were educated, the rest of the population, the peasants and the folks of the countryside, usually did not know how to read or write. It was a fertile ground for folktales to take root and superstitions to manifest themselves… But there was a second reason that amplified this one: a religious difference. In Western Europe, it was a time of hunts and persecutions of all kinds – be it the Catholic Church and its Inquisition who led a merciless fight against anything deemed an “heresy” or a superstition contradicting its canon beliefs; or the Anglican Church of the Stuarts who caused one of the largest witch hunts of history. These phenomenon caused the disappearance and erasure of the vampire myth in Western Europe… But to the East, the Byzantine-descending Church had a more open-mind and a greater tolerance when it came to local folk-beliefs, even including superstitions in its rites and practices: as such, the vampire myth was welcomed by the religious authorities – a case being the brucolacs of Greece.

The Greeks have very ancient beliefs when it comes to the dead who do not rot and get out of their graves: the archetypal case is the one of the “vrykolakas” (usually re-written as “brucolac”). They were people turned undead because they were not buried in a holy ground (death by suicide, or being excommunicated). However when the legend of the vrykolakas started they were… harmless and pitiful creatures. They were tormented souls who only sought to escape the physical body they were trapped within, and did not harm humans: to send them to an eternal rest, the Church just had to remove its excommunication and their soul would be at peace. However, from the 16th century onward, the nature of the vrykolakas changed with the arrival from the West of these yet-unnamed harmful undeads. And this lead to a confusion with werewolves.

Yes, werewolves: “vrykolakas” was also a Greek term to designate werewolves, who were very present in the folklores of the Balkans or the Carpathians. The werewolf myth was, just like the vampire myth, crystallized by the Christian medieval beliefs. And just like the vampire, it had an “official” recognition: Sigismund, king of Hungary and leader of the Holy Roman Empire (1368-1437) had the Ecumenical Council of 1414 recognize officially the existence of werewolves, and in the 16th century the Roman Church led official investigations on lycanthropy. Between 1520 and the mid-17th century, more than 30 000 cases of lycanthropy had been reported in Europe (in the West, France was the most touched, while in the East they were found mainly in Serbia, Bohemia and Hungary). A rumor started spreading around, about how when werewolves died they turned into “blood-sucking undead”. This led, in the end of the 17th century, to the apparition in popular culture of vampire-werewolves entity. They were found in Silesia, Bohemia, Poland, Hungary, Moldavia, Russia, and of course Greece, where the peaceful brucolacs were turned into bloodthirsty monsters ; and by the 18th century they covered pretty much all of Northern and Central Europe. Every country had its own terms, its own names, and its own traditions when it came to these undead: “upir”, “brucolac”, “blutsauger”, “vulkodlak”… In Slovakia and Romania for example, the “dead that walks” was accused of every misfortune: famines, diseases, disasters and misfortunes were supposedly all caused by them, and it could only be solved by opening their graves and plunging a stake in their bodies. People feared the “strigoi” and the “moroi”, these corpses that got out of their coffins at night to drink the blood of the living, and they were FAR from the glamorous vampire we think of today. They were these fleshy, bloated corpses that wandered around with their eyes bulging and wide-open, never blinking, repulsive monsters with barely anything human left in them. To recognize one, you had to a find a corpse that was still fresh despite being buried for quite some times, and who had nose either on its mouth or nose. Then, you needed to pierce it with a stake, or removed its heart to burn it. In Romania, the families of the recently deceased brought wine and bread on the graves in hope of appeasing them. Slovakians rather sent elderly ladies in the cemeteries to stab graves with hawthorn branches or old knives: five in total, four for the limbs and one for the chest, to “nail” the corpse to its coffin. Eyes were closed with coins so they wouldn’t open, mouths were filled with garlic and wired shut, and if these rituals were useless a special person would be brought to destroy the corpse by decapitation, fire and religious symbols – a holy man, or a “dhampir”, a man rumored to be half-vampire… In Romania, many, MANY people could turn into vampires, not just werewolves: seventh sons of seventh sons, babies born with a caul o with teeth, individuals who had both red hair and blue eyes, and of course all the criminals, suicides and other disgraced people who did not receive proper burial.

All the fuss and commotion in Eastern Europe ended up alerting the capitals of Western Europe. In October of 1694, the French review “Le Mercure Galant” (a courtly magazine for the nobility) had an entire issue dedicated to these vampires of the east. By the end of the 17th century, while the word “vampire” still did not exist, it was a true mass psychosis, an “epidemic of undeads” followed by ferocious “hunts” during which corpses were dug up to be “killed again”… At the beginning of the 18th century, the authorities decided to take measures to calm things down and quiet this upcoming chaos. Though at this moment, the mass panic about vampires still relied on rumors, oral culture and other travel-tales: there was no written text or official report per se… Until the 18th century, when the authorities stepped in.

Cases of so-called “vampires” were studied and mediatized in Austria and Serbia, Prussia and Poland, Moravia and Russia. When the plague hit the eastern part of Prussia in 1710, the local authorities dug up themselves the corpses accused of having caused the epidemic. But two specific cases became the most famous and spectacular ones, making vampirism a full European thing.

The first was the death of a peasant: Peter Plogojowitz. He died in 1725, but his small village of Kizilova quickly called him a vampire and accused him of having caused eight deaths within the village. Testimonies talked of Plogojowitz being seen in people’s bedroom at night, trying to strangle them. When the grave was opened by the authorities, it was testified that his body had not yet rotten, and that fresh blood was on his mouth. He was quickly staked and burned. The second case was the one of Arnold Paole, a peasant from the small town of Medwegya who died falling from a cart in 1726(27?). He had apparently confessed to his fiancée, some days before his death, that he had encountered what he thought to be an undead… Paole himself was accused of having turned into a vampire, and caused the death of the village’s cattle and four people. His body was ug up and pierced with a stake. The case of Paole was extremely interesting because an authority was sent to study the case: Johann Flückinger, who investigated in his quality of both high-ranked major and army doctor. The result of his presence was the famous “Visum et Repertum” document, a 1731 report of the entire case and his conclusion, cosigned by other doctors and officers, and where (according to Antoine Faivre) the word “vampire” first appeared in the history of written texts, spelled “vanpir”. The “Visum et Repertum” became an object of curiosity for all the ruling classes of Western Europe: we know that Charles VI of Austria and Louis XV of France were both invested in the outcomes of the Plogojowitz and Paole cases. The Paole case was notably described with many details in “Le Glaneur”, a famous Franco-Dutch review often read at the Versailles court (issue of march 1732) – and it was in this “Le Glaneur” issue that the word “vampire” first appeared in the French language, spelled “vampyre”. The very same year and month, an article was published in the “London Journal” which brought over the word “vampire” to the English language.

These two cases also led to a LOT of treaties and dissertations being written about vampires, by both pseudo-scientists and actual men of the Church, which in turn caused intense debates and huge controversies among universities and literary circles. The first of those treaties is from the latter part of the 17th century, published at Leipzig in 1679, “Dissertatio historica-philosophica de Masticatione Mortuorum”, by Philip Rohr. This text tried to explain why the dead would “masticate” in their graves by explaining it was a demonic possession of the corpses. This book caused a huge controversy in the 18th century, splitting people in two sides: either you agreed with Rohr’s supernatural explanation, either you deemed this an ignorant superstition. Another famous treaty was published in Leipzig, in 1728 this time: “De Masticatione Mortuorum in Tumulis Liber” by Michael Ranft. This book opposed and discredited the thesis of Rohr by claiming the devil had no power onto the corpses of the dead, and that while the “undeads” would influence the living, they could not appear to them under any tangible form. Many other treaties would follow, such as Johann Christian Stock’s “Dissertatio Physica de Cadaveribus Sanguisugis” (1732) or Johann Heinrich Zopft’s “Dissertatio de Vampiris Serviensibus” in 1733.

Though the most famous of them all is Dom Augustin Calmet’s 1746 Parisian text, “Traité sur les revenants en corps, les excommuniés, les oupires ou vampires, broucolaques de Hongrie, de Moravie, etc », published in two volumes (Treaty on the undead in body, the excommunicated, the upirs or vampires, brucolacs of Hungaria, Moravia, etc). This Benedictine monk and famous commentator of the Bible wanted to refute the belief in vampires: to do so, he collected and analyzed an enormous amount of trivia, testimonies, folktales and “cases” surrounding vampires. While his work is mostly a naïve collection and compilation of anecdotes, it still held in the future a huge importance for the study of historians, sociologists and anthropologists, as it is one of the most complete catalogues of vampire phenomenon of its time. Other high-ranking members of the Church also tried to express the official position of their religion on vampires: Giuseppe Davanzati (archbishop of Florence, patriarch of Alexandria) wrote in 1774 “Dissertatione sopra i vampire”, and the pope Benedict XIV (Prospero Lambertini) wrote a few pages about vampires to discredit their existence in the fourth book of his enormous “De Servorum Dei Beatificatione et de Beatorum Canonizatione” (1749). Unfortunately, these anti-vampire testimonies were perceived as the Church giving a form of credit and recognition to these undead…

In France, meanwhile, the authors of the “Encyclopédie” (aka the very first encyclopedia ever) were greatly annoyed and irritated by this obsession for vampires. Voltaire, in his 1787 “Philosophical Dictionary”, wrote an entire rant about them, while Rousseau denounced the belief in vampires in a letter he sent to the archbishop of Paris. Both wondered how such superstitions could become so popular in the age of “reason and progress” that was the Enlightenment. But indeed, all these texts and treaties about vampires simply helped spread the legend, making people who had never heard about these monsters learn all about them – and most importantly, it popularized and stabilized the use of the term “vampire”, and its Latin equivalent “vampirus” (though it was still spelled differently depending on the countries and time eras: vampyr, vampyre, wampire…).

However the 19th century would see the end of the actual belief in vampires. While at the end of the 18th century vampires were still the hot talk of universities and literary salons (especially in France and Germany), the actual “cases” and supernatural phenomenon the myth built itself upon were rarer and rarer. The ideas and philosophies of the Enlightenment had finally made their way across Eastern Europe, plus the great era of the plague was over: education and health worked together to erase the vampire from people’s minds, especially as the industrialization of Europe changed heavily the lifestyle of people and the landscape of the countries. There were still cases of vampirism in the 19th century, but they were isolated, and we never saw any mass panic or large-scale “vampire hunt” as there used to be. The vampire was a manifestation of ancient and primal fears in a world filled with superstition, darkness and disease – in this new era of the miracles of technology and wonders of science, dominated by materialism and positivism, the vampire had no place in people’s hearts… The early 19th century still has magazines and newspaper talking from time to time of an Hungarian or Serbian remote village where coffins are opened in quest of vampires, but nobody is interested anymore, everybody focused on gas-lamps and railroads. Nobody dreams of the vampires, except maybe for the Romantics, who are repelled by this era of bourgeoisie and businessmen dominated by obsessive work, absolute religion and social hierarchy, and in the vampire find back this nostalgia of a distant, frightening, fascinating “magical past”…

And thus the vampire would move from a being of religion and science, of superstition and newspapers, to an entity of poems and novels – from Ossenfelder’s poem to Stoker’s Dracula…

[gemsofgreece]

https://youtu.be/-tqop31_bzk?si=r0AQimzbIyjOSS80

What's your opinion about this video analysis about Satti's song showing "the New Greece"?

I have already briefly mentioned this video in a post I made in Greek about Marina.

I found the video exceptionally perceptive, as rarely it is when it is a foreign, American in this case I believe, exploration of anything modern Greek. The YT channel is called “Overthinking It” and, no lie, some extra effort works wonders. He’s incredibly accurate for a man who hasn’t done research on Greek culture and society prior to his analysis of Marina Satti’s song and its reception. I was honestly impressed.

It might not be 100% correct but that doesn’t mean much, even some Greek articles in newspapers were not totally “there” in my opinion.

My biggest objection would be the title “Marina Satti is showing Eurovision the New Greece”, which is not so much a mistake on his part as even in Greece the terms we use are, say, Neo Hellenes instead of Modern Greeks, for example. But in truth Marina is not showing the “New Greece”. Marina was showing a facet of Greece people don’t know or care to know about. That’s totally different.

Whereas we say that foreigners only know about Zeus, the Parthenon, philosophy, that’s not entirely true. Several foreigners know Syrtaki, feta, souvlaki, bouzouki and enjoy those things more, and those are parts of “New Greece”. Some maybe conventionally perceived as such, even. But even those things are too few to represent accurately the “mosaic of Greece”, new or old or whatever.

In Marina’s words, that is. She said in an interview that she wanted to present a glimpse of the mosaic. She wasn’t trying to show a “New Greece”, as in an entirely new entity separated or opposite from an old one, but the Current Greece, as in the “how Greece is faring” as we speak, which interests very few and it is a little odd to have people nitpick even the slightest detail of your history millennia ago but the entire population could self combust into thin air right now and nobody would bat an eye. The American understands more of that in the video, it’s just the title that is slightly odd but it’s also attracting clicks.

I would also however like to comment on Greeks and Europeans’ short memory: Marina is not the first to try this. Many Greek entries were attempting to show more of the “mosaic”. But she is the first in the latest years, when the world has started caring about Eurovision beyond the borders of Europe. It is new to these people for sure.

The juice here is not that Marina tried something supposedly novel. Not at all. The juice here is in WHAT she chose to present. She chose the more heavy-duty Balkan and the more-heavy duty oriental and she mixed it with modern urban rap/ trap culture. This is what the problem was for these people. She is showing something that many Greeks try to reject. THAT is the issue. But she is right. This too is a part of the mosaic.

Greeks just care too much how they look to outsiders. They are constantly afraid that a part of their culture / art will not be appreciated and thus rewarded.

I believe we must be left to do our thing without any poisoning afterthoughts. Some things will definitely not translate well to the global audience. But who cares? Even that is better than sending something that is not true to yourself.

Look at other countries. They send joke entries all the time. We only sent SAGAPO (and even that wasn’t intentionally a joke entry) like 20 years ago and we still can’t recover from the shock. Now we wouldn’t take this lightly either. We just take ourselves TOO seriously.

But if we just do our thing with calmness and confidence and openness to a potential bad result, we will build our own following. I mean. Greece already has a considerable following in Eurovision. Its noughties legacy remains strong and people are rediscovering now the very underrated 70s and 90s. In fact, Greece might be the country that gets the most pressure by Eurofans to send something about Greek culture. I legitimately have never seen comments or nowhere near as many anyway of European people being disappointed at other countries’ entries as much as they are repeatedly at a Greek entry, because it doesn’t have a Greek sound or Greek lyrics. I think this pressure from the Europeans in combination with the mixed receptions once Greece complies has really confused the Greek delegation and the Greek artists.

It seems what the Greek delegation forgets is that it obviously doesn’t have to only be Greek in the lyrics or the instruments. It also has to be, you know, a good song lol

I do think we generally fail to communicate our music very accurately in this contest. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s what I said, we are too scared what others will think and try to “adjust” our music to make it either more Western European or more stereotypey Greek in the monolithic way foreigners view Greece. And hence even the mosaic attempt sometimes falls flat. But even with all those problems, I believe we have our own signature. I just want us to reinforce exactly that. Do it more, do it better and do it UNAPOLOGETICALLY. Zari is nowhere near the ideal attempt but it is an attempt nonetheless, a new start that thrives on the unapologetic part.

PS. So far the best example of the Greek mosaic attempt being successful was Alcohol is Free by Koza Mostra and Agathon Iakovidis in 2013 which finished 6th and it could have been higher if so many Europeans had not clutched their pearls at the notion that their kids watching would think alcohol is offered freely at the time 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Different times I suppose. Now everyone is fine that every other entry is basically a strip show 🙃

PS 2. In any case I think it is Marina’s success that Zari caused or, rather, bared the social phenomenon that it did and that even foreign YouTubers are trying to decipher and explain what happened.

[hartage]

gimme mother (erzsi)

i am trying my best not to turn this into a long-winded aushun post, but aushun is one of the central ships that i focus on & hungary is a huge component in my own canon / historical hetalia stuff ?? 

but here a few things i think about:

the relationship between both rodi and ersz​é​bet is very complex and runs deep -  the two of them know each other incredibly well, but that doesn’t mean that they weren’t like cat and dog in their younger years. 

ersz​é​bet genuinely saw rodi as a means to an end when she married him, and vice versa. the 1848 revolution i think was a turning point for both of them. before, hungarian nobles did convince the hapsburg government that they were a “...special unit of hapsburg land and had to be ruled in conformity with its own special laws.” but, it was clear that rodi didn’t take that seriously, and worked for cultural hegemony rather than accepting erszi for who she is. a central theme to all of is this is that erszi is a victim of her own soul searching. she desperately wants to be accepted for who she is, and all of her-- not just bits and pieces. 

erszi is a woman who’s brash, rude, ‘unladylike’ (in victorian standards at least), and a non-conformist. she is a beautiful representation of being the complete opposite of rodi, who constantly seeks to keep the status quo. erszi had always known that rodi did things for his own interest, and out of his own self-preservation. but she saw him as a means to an end, that to dabble with rodi was the only way to give herself autonomy. 

rodi is a complex man himself, and i could go into his own thought process later, but its clear that rodi’s self-preservation cannot allow any provisional ‘thorns in his side’. he’ll get what he wants, even if that means ruining whoever or whatever is trapped in between. 

however, post 1848, rodi was at a point where he knew that the situation between himself, and the rest of europe was dire. rodi performed horribly during the deutscher bruderkrieg (austro-prussian war), and now with the aspect of ludwig (a young child at this time) being a central theme in gilbert’s motivations, it meant that rodi and erszi had to act fast. marriage for them was their only solution.

i think people often like to say that both of them hated each other throughout their marriage, and that rodi’s marriage to erszi was the last of his ‘political marriages’, which the latter is true. 

however, a political marriage does not mean that there wasn’t any mutual feelings between the two. the complexity of keeping a relationship during the mid 1800’s-- a time of significant societal and political upheaval, is central to how ersz​é​bet changed. i think erszi became a completely different person between the time of 1873-1914. i say 1873 rather than 1870, or even 1867 because there was a bit of time where erszi intensely loathed rodi, and throughout their marriage felt a tad bit of remorse for being the ‘preferred one’ compared to her counterparts like nikoleta (czech), or other nations in the empire. she went from a complete life of struggle and hardship to a luxurious lifestyle that made even some of the biggest world powers envious. her lifestyle back allowed her the comfort to let those things go to her head.

however, during the fin de siècle, i believe rodi’s attitude began to bother ersz​é​bet. she saw him go completely neutral during crimea, and it left her hopeful that rodi had grown from the militarism that dominated their relationship in the early days. however, after the mayerling crisis, and the assassination of empress sisi, ersz​é​bet began to see roderich’s attitude change wildly. he became obsessed with revenge, to the point where erszi grew arguably a terrible coping mechanism-- forcing herself to become indifferent to rodi’s worsening mental health issues, and ignoring his abysmal actions in the balkans. 

 much like the PM at the time (istván tisza), erszi was originally opposed to the war. i think at this point, specifically during the july crisis, it brought erszi to realize that rodi once again was only doing this for his own self-interest, that his selfishness was not sagacious, nor was it even resourceful to the betterment of their peers at all. tisza is quoted with saying "it was a difficult decision to take a stand to propose war, but now i am firmly convinced of its necessity", while still being against the annexation of serbia. it was clear that erszi had become parsimonious with her opinions, because even if she didn’t solely believe in the things rodi was doing, she perpetuated it. she never spoke up. 

erszi probably would argue with people like nikoleta that she was afraid to speak up against rodi at the time, but i think it’s quite obvious that erszi wanted to have the best of both worlds-- the luxurious lifestyle she gained from rodi, coupled with the idea of holding enough power to never be controlled again. 

“tough to those above and humane to those below" is the best way i could explain erszi in one sentence, but this sentence doesn’t mean that erszi was always like that. she fell victim to her own ego, like many of us do.

in 1918, woodrow wilson was intentionally vague with his tenth point, “the people of austria-hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development.”

wilson saught compromise between the two goals that he had. to keep stability-- but also giving each nationality the choice to decide their fate; a wink towards revolution, and the beginning of the end to ersz​é​bet’s relationship with rodi and the emergence of her (and other nations’) independence.

[sakotisssss]

How would be the yugoslavs on social media/internet ?

croatia would be an influencer. thirst traps, aesthetic feed, wouldn’t follow back anyone. probably one of the best insta feeds and is really annoying about it and if you hang out with him he’ll make you take 1,000 pictures without posting any.

bosnia and herzegovina would both be facebook parents. herze would post the classic balkan parent images like this :

meanwhile enis just shares insane conspiracy theories usually related to turkey and poorly made ai drawings he thinks are real

serbia would be typical gaser and make a separate account to bully ppl about kosovo

janez would be the no profile pic no posts kind of guy with an occasional story

makedonski otkrili internet

don’t think monte knows what social media is

[lindgoddess]

istina, napred nemam s kim dok tebe imam u mislima

[the-old-mayhem]

In a couple of interviews they said they hated Scandinavia,do you think they still be living there nowadays?

I think they would.

Their main issue with Scandinavia was the weather, cold, and the fact that "Scandinavia doesn't have a scene". They were too rebellious for the peaceful countries they felt trapped in.

Necrobutcher stayed in Norway, I believe Øystein would, as well. Especially after the said scene developed, with their help. I even think Pelle would remain in Sweden/Norway, despite his constant bitching about wanting to live somewhere else, that is, in the Balkan area.

Being from the Balkan area myself, it's a bit laughable to read his stuff and how he fantasized and romanticized this area of Europe. I think he would have been disappointed if he had time and money to travel here. There's nothing particularly spooky about Balkan wilderness or villages. Maybe he would have liked it here, maybe he would not, but I don't believe it would manage to charm him enough to actually pack his bags and relocate here for good