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thedansemacabres · 1 year

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The Wine Industry for Dionysians: French-American Grapes

THE WINE WORLD is almost as paradoxical and complex as Dionysus himself—the industry is a constant pull of old and new, tradition against modernity, and the complexity of art and science. In the centre of this is the debate of French-American vitis hybrids, as products of science for the modern wine industry. These hybrids are a new shoot in the wine industry, as they not only possess the disease tolerance indigenous American grapes do—but also the ability to stand the brunt of frozen winters and climates inhospitable to Vitis Vinifera. Since I am almost halfway done with my degree of Viticulture and Enology, I thought I should begin to share my knowledge of the art and science with other devotees.

As Dionysians, his realm of vines and enology is ours to explore. The wine industry is always adapting and growing—developing new trends and new styles of wine. From this comes new trendy grapes and wines that may or may not last on consumer’s palettes. That is why the wine industry often is afraid to branch out—new may outcompete the old and wine-making is a risky business.

HISTORICAL SUMMARY

French-American hybrids are called French-American as they are usually produced in France or from French cultivars with American grape species. Many hybrids were simply named with numbers, however many now have common names that are usually French. Every year new hybrids are developed with the hopes of a grape worth gold.

In the mid 1800s, due to colonial trade with Europe, settlers brought along pests endemic to North America such as phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae) and powdery mildew (Uncinula necator) to Europe. This devastated Europe’s wine industry as Vitis Vinifera had no resistance to the imported pests. In an attempt to save the wine industry, viticulturists began to cross North American grapes with European vines. The first hybrids of these programs created by breeders like Seibel, Couderc, Kuhlmann and Bertille Seyve were widely planted across Europe, however wine quality was considered disappointing when compared with the traditional European cultivars. Modern French-American hybrids that possess some sense of recognition these days have a flavour profile similar to V. Vinifera.

Ever since, hybrids continue to be developed and breed to produce higher quality wine grapes with the desirable traits of American and European grapes.

ABOUT FRENCH-AMERICAN HYBRIDS

In my venture to become a viticulturist, in my heart has grown a passion for these hybrid vines. My current place of residence is within the high, cold mountains that have a special peculiarity to allow grapes to grow. The harsher weathers are shielded by the even grander peaks of the greater mountains and warm-winds trail through the craigs. Yet, vitis vinifera—the European grape—still struggles to grow due to foreign climates. As one example, since my town’s last freeze, the appeal of cold-hardy French-American grapes has grown.

For those who are unfamiliar, grapevines are under the species Vitis; possessing two subgenera, Euvitis and Muscadinia. Euvitis subgenus are the bunch grapes and Muscadinia are the muscadine loose cluster grapes. The majority of Vitis species are from North America, with others being naturalised to Europe (V. Vinifera, the most commonly used species for wine, originating within West Asia) and Eastern-Central Asia (V. Amurensis).

Some red wine French-American hybrid grapes include:

Baco Noir, a hybrid of Folle blanche and V. Riparia., is known for low tannin content contrasted with deep pigments and good acid balance. Wine flavour is described as “Rhone-style” or “Beaujolais-style”.

Chambourcin, a hybrid with no known parentage and considered the ‘king’ of the hybrid grapes. Produces a dark fuschia red wine with strong aromatics that may be made dry or with residual sugars from fermentation. Chambourcin is a very versatile grape, as it can produce rosé, Beaujolais, or other styles, and medium-to-full-bodied, fairly complex wines, or ports.

Chancellor, a hybrid made from Seibel 5163 and Seibel 880. Chancellor is mostly used to produce a varietal wine with notes of plum and cedar, or used in red blends.

Chelois, a cross between Seibel 5163 and Seibel 5593 with mixed American grape ancestry. While it is likely best for blends, the wine possesses medium-bodied, fruity wines with notes of berry, leather, and earthy aromas.

Concord, thought to be an accidental hybrid between V. Labrusca and V. Vinifera. A common and well-beloved base to grape juice, jellies, or other ‘grape’ flavour products. Many kosher wines are made with Concord grapes, though little-used elsewhere due to most of the market considering the “foxy” flavour of American grapes to be undesirable.

De Chaunac, a hybrid of V. labrusca, V. lincecumii, V. riparia, V. rupestris, and V. vinifera. The berries are loose and blue-black. Produces an intensely coloured wine, though the croppage continues to decrease over the years.

Frontenac, a loose-berried cross between Landot 4511 and V. riparia 89. Known for its cold hardiness, this hybrid can be made into ports, blends, and reds. As a wine, it is known for its deep-colour adorned with cherry, blackberry, black currant, and plum notes.

Marechal Foch, known for its intense deep purple hue, a light- to medium mouthfeel, and dark berry fruit flavours, Marechal Foch exhibits some Burgundian characteristics. Some tasters find that the similarities to Burgundy’s Pinot Noir develop with age.

Norton, also called Cynthiana, is an American hybrid from Virginia of V. aestivalis with small clusters of blue-black berries. The wine made from Norton grapes is very versatile, including spicy, fruity (ranging from “foxy” V. labrusca to raspberry character), black pepper, tobacco, and chocolate flavours/aromas. Wines have intense colour density and can be used in varietal wines, including port style, but is also blended with other red wines.

Some common white wine French-American hybrid grapes include:

Caguya White, a hybrid of Seyval and Schuyler with greenish-yellow berries. Cayuga White wine is versatile, as it can be made into semi-sweet wines emphasising the fruity aromas as well as dry, less fruity wine with some ageing in oak. When fruit is harvested early, it can ferment into a lovely sparkling wine with good acidity, good structure, and pleasant aromas. The wine is reminiscent of many German Vitis Vinifera grapes.

Chardonel, a large-clustered grape hybrid of Seyval and Chardonnay. Chardonel is typically produced as a varietal wine and is finished dry to semidry. Chardonel displays characteristics of its parents, king of the whites Chardonnay and Seyval, yet may also possess a high alcohol content. Chardonel also has the potential for fine-quality, dry still wines produced with barrel fermentation and/or barrel ageing. Chardonel is also used as a base for sparkling wines. The wines made from Chardonel have the fruit aroma characteristics of both parents, making it appealing to more European wine tastes.

Delaware, a hybrid grape that was found in the United States within a New Jersey garden and then propagated in Delaware, Ohio. The grapes of this hybrid are used as a prized sparkling or dessert wine.

Diamond, thought to be a cross between Concord and Iona, a V. labrusca and V. vinifera hybrid. Diamond suffers a small yet prized market similar to Concord or Niagara, but it can be made into dry table wines and sparkling blends.

Niagara, essentially the white wine version of Concord. The wines produced from Niagara possess a strong American “foxy” flavour and are usually finished semi-sweet, but can also be made into dessert wines such as cream and dry sherry. Similar to Concord, it may also be used for a white non-alcoholic grape juice.

Seyval Blanc, or known as simply Seyval, is an adaptable variety that can be finished fresh and dry, barrel-fermented with malolactic fermentation, sur lie aged (aged the spent yeast cells), or made into sparkling wines. Wine from Seyval Blanc has appealing aromas of grass, hay, and melon, though the body tends to be thin. Others describe the wine as clean and fresh, similar to Sauvignon Blanc.

Traminette, a lovely cross of Joannes Seyve 23-416 and the German white grape Gewürztraminer. Generally, hold strong spice and floral aromas, a full structure, and long aftertaste. The wine can be made dry or sweet but is usually finished with some residual sweetness. Varietal descriptions include floral, spicy, perfume, and lavender, with some similarity to Gewürztraminer.

Vidal Blanc, a loose-clustered vine with greenish-white fruit along with pronounced, noticeable dark lenticels at fruit maturity. Vidal Blanc is a cross between Ugni blanc and Seibel 4986 and is typically grown as a varietal wine. Akin to Chardonnay, Vidal blanc is versatile and may be used to make a variety of wine styles, from off-dry Germanic-style wines similar to Rieslings, sparkling wine base wines, dry barrel-fermented table wines, and complex Burgundy-style wines. Varietal taste descriptors for vidal blanc include melon, pineapple, lead pencil (I have no clue what this means), pears, and figs. Vidal Blanc has also been used to create late-harvest-style wines and ice wines.

Vignoles, born from a cross between Siebel 6905 and Pinot de Corton. Vignoles is frequently harvested for dessert wines, especially when picked late and overripe in the growing season. The wines from ripe fruit have tropical fruit, citrus-like, and pineapple flavours. Vignoles may produce many different styles of wine, including dry, barrel-fermented, sur lie aged wine, and sparkling base wines.

ENDING THOUGHTS

The modern wine world is dominated by almost the same 12 cultivars, which I find to not only be limiting but also horrid: thousands of cultivars and wine-making styles are under the threat of being out competed by the likes of the classic Chardonnay and Merlot. As a devotee of loud-roaring Dionysus, I find myself wishing to explore more of his realm—which means discovering new wines and strange grapes, all paradoxical just as he is. If you can drink, I would recommend adventuring off into the likes of rare cultivars and hybrids—after all, we tend to discover more when life is a bit unfamiliar.

Bibliography

Goldammer, T. (2015). The Grape Grower’s Handbook: A Guide to Viticulture for Wine Production.

Wine Grape Production Guide for Eastern North America. (2008). Natural Resource Agriculture and Engineering Service (Nraes).

Further Reading:

Wilson, J. (2018). Godforsaken Grapes: A Slightly Tipsy Journey through the World of Strange, Obscure, and Underappreciated Wine. Abrams.

#dragonis.txt #vīnum #dionysus deity #dionysus devotee #dionysos deity #hellenic polytheism #hellenic pagan #hellenism #paganism #pagan #hellenic paganism #witchblr

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the-tmnt-ficfinder · 2 months

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Ficfinder finds: The Neon Void

Chapter 2: Houdini

Rottmnt Fanfic Summary: Big Mama has a surprise guest at the Grand Nexus Hotel.

Houdini: Appraisal and Ratings

(Don't know what fanfic "Appraisal and Ratings" means? Check out my explanation on my Main Masterpost! Looking for a different fanfic to read? Head on over to my Fanfic List Masterpost!)

Disclaimer: This fanfic is completed, and is written by @sugarpasteltmnt, so go show them some love and kindness!

The fanfic ratings are not based on quality, favoritism, or how good I think it is, but rather, how intense a subject may be. Like a movie review, or the tags on Ao3, letting the readers know what to expect.

Plot: 💛💛💛💛🖤

"Plot is four out of five!! Immediately, the plot for this story shows right up. This is in no way a slow burn story, jumping right into the drama at first chance."

Suspense/Mystery: 💛💛💛💛🖤

"Suspense/Mystery is four out of five!! Chapter two is filled with mystery regarding who The Neon Void is, along with the suspense of a good fight!! This chapter will have you on the edge of your seat!!"

Angst/Hurt:💛 🖤🖤🖤🖤

"Angst/Hurt is one out of five!! Minimal angst, mostly action and excitement for this chapter!! ^^"

Fluff/Comfort: 💛🖤🖤🖤🖤

"Fluff/Comfort is one out of five!! Once again, very little fluff, just as there is very little angst. Simply a thrilling chapter indeed!!"

Emotions Conveyed: 💛💛🖤🖤🖤

"Emotions Conveyed is two out of five!! Chapter two of The Neon Void is definitely a thrilling chapter. This chapter is less about the feels and more about the excitement as it plunges right into a good plot!!"

Drama/Tension Level: 💛💛💛💛💛

"Drama/Tension Level is five out of five!! Absolutely, the drama is a five for this chapter!! Between the fight scenes, and the wild craziness of The Neon Void, this chapter has a ton of action!!"

Triggers: 💛🖤🖤🖤🖤

"Triggers are one out of five!! This chapter is minimally triggering. The only thing to look out for, is your classic TMNT violence ^^"

Legibility (Reading): 💛💛💛💛💛

"Legibility (Reading) is five out of five!! This chapter was incredibly fun to read!! The funky fonts used are really fun to look at, and add such a cool element to the story!!"

Legibility (Audio): 💛💛🖤🖤🖤

"Legibility (Audio) is two out of five! While the story itself is good for listening to, the funky fonts mess with reading quality, making it hard to understand. This chapter is much better read than listened to for sure!! Plus, there's fanart imbedded into the bottom of the chapter than you wouldn't want to miss."

Length: 💛💛💛🖤🖤

"Length is three out of five!! Chapter two of The Neon Void takes about 21-22 minutes to listen too!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next Chapter ->

<- Previous

The Neon Void: Ratings and Chapter List

Personal thoughts on chapter below cut (Contains Spoilers)

The design for The Neon Void is such a fun and colorful one!!

There was a loud snapping sound. The yokai glitched. Shuttering in the air—looking like what old 3D movies looked like without the glasses—before coming back into focus two feet to the left from where he just was. Huh—?

I can't imagine how cool this actually looked!!

“SØⱤⱤɎ. ł ĐØ₦'₮ Ⱨ₳VɆ ₮ł₥Ɇ ₮Ø ₱Ⱡ₳Ɏ. ₲Ø₮ ₱Ⱡ₳₵ɆS ₮Ø ฿Ɇ. ⱧɆⱧɆ.”

I have no idea how the author got his effect, but its darn freaking cool looking!!

“…What in sweet Marie Curie’s name was that about?” Donnie was the first to break the silence. Raph was too shaken by the echo of the yokai’s laughter in his head to respond. Mikey dissipated his chains with a sizzle, exhaling a loud gasp. The three brothers sat still for a minute. Stunned.

Random fact because who doesn't like facts? Marie Curie was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She did a ton of research on a cure for cancer!! There you are, fact of the day!!

“I don’t know what he was looking for,” Big Mama sighed, “He was pestering me about some fibble-fabble ‘key’.” Big Mama clearly didn’t notice the boys freezing. Donnie felt the color drain from his face. A…key? A key to what? It could have meant a million things— there were countless possibilities to what it was probably for…the chances of it being that key were practically nonexistent…Right? Donnie’s feeble hope for reassurance from his brothers shattered when he glanced over and saw their faces. He could tell they were wondering the same thing he was.

Right when Big Mama said something about a 'key' my mind immediately jumped to the same conclusion that the brothers came up with. Its kinda fun to realize things like that.

“To teleport, you wouldn’t bend the space around you—you’d have to bend every molecule in your body at the same time. It would be like performing brain surgery, calculating the trajectory of a flying rocket, and folding YOURSELF into an impossible origami shape all at the same time!” He threw his hands up, exasperated, “That, AND there’s no risk of portal-jacking. A perfect, instantaneous, limitless control. ALL while having more power than several atomic bombs! It’s literally the holy grail of transportation! The highest score imaginable!”

The way this concept is explained is immaculate!! How portaling and teleportation differs, how one is easier while the other is dangerous. The whole concept of this is creative, unique, yet draws on knowledge we already have.

#rottmnt fanfiction #rottmnt fanfic #tmntficfinder #ficfinder #ficfinder finds #ficfinder finds: the neon void #rottmnt #rottmnt post invasion #The Neon Void

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murillo-enthusiast · 7 months

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Greetings, father,

It is I, Alfredo Juan de Dios Baylen. You may play cold towards this foreign name, and claim it is no relation of yours, but I must tell you that I am a French patriot, I who, despite the Spanish blood running in my veins, have lived in France since the age of six months, and who, naturally, feel France to be more my fatherland than Spain will ever be. However, as a result of my illegitimate status, my naturalisation has been impossible for my entire life. I beseech you to grant me one wish—that of an affirmation of my origins and habitude, in order that I may live my afterlife as a French citizen. You will not recognise your "mistresses". Perhaps you will at least recognise your bastard son.

((No, not the Foreign Legion—your biological bastard son.))

…

I cannot help you.

I cannot do anything for you.

#the duke of dalmatia's correspondence #correspondence with…

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drhoz · 2 years

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#1930 - Daucus carota - Wild Carrot

Photo by @purrdence while she was in Aoteoroa, where the wild carrot has been naturalised since at least 1854.

AKA bird's nest, bishop's lace, Bee's Nest-Plant, Devil's Plague and in North America, Queen Anne's Lace.

The direct ancestor of the cultivated carrot, which is regarded as a subspecies. The Binomial comes from the Greek for carrot, and the Latin via other Greek for carrot. The English name comes from the French ‘carotte’, which, surprise surprise, means carrot. It’s possible they all trace back to the Proto-Indo-European ‘ker’ for horn, referring to the large taproot. Daucus carota subsp. sativus translates as “the cultivated carrot carrot”.

The arms of the umbel curl up into a cage after the flowers are pollinated, and the seeds cling to fur and clothing. Curiously, there’s often a single dark pink flower at the center of the disk of white ones. It’s possible this attracts small pollinators (like the Zorion longicorn here) by pretending to be one.

The wild plant can cause contact dermatitis, and some of its very similar-looking relatives like Hemlock are deadly. The domesticated varieties were originally white-rooted and used as a medicinal plant, an aphrodisiac and to prevent poisoning. On the other hand they may have been using parsnips, since they weren’t entirely distinguished in ancient times. A purple-rooted variety existed perhaps as early as the 700s in Afghanistan and was introduced in Europe by Arabs circa 1100. It was cultivated into the modern orange root in the 17th and 18th centuries in the Netherlands. There are frequent claims that the selective breeding was in honour of William of Orange, but by that time there were already orange carrots, which simply did better in the climate of the Netherlands.

Another myth revolves around carrots and eyesight - they’re certainly a good source of Vitamin A or retinol, via carotene pigments (guess where the name comes from) and hence rhodopsin, the retinal pigment, but it was propaganda during the Second World War that claimed it was carrots that gave English pilots such good night vision. They were really concealing the invention of Airborne Interception Radar. It’s not clear whether the Germans actually fell for it, but they did start feeding their own pilots more carrots, and the British also promoted carrots as useful during blackouts in the Blitz.

#daucus #carrot #domesticated plant #apiaceae #umbellifer

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chronivore · 10 months

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Self-portrait with a cat, ca. 1930s, by Bohemian-minded Japanese born naturalised French artist Foujita Tsuguharu (藤田嗣治, 1886–1968), a.k.a. Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita (1886-1968).

#kitty

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paullicino · 1 year

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The Coronation isn't Funny

Taken from my Patreon, last week.

The Coronation isn't funny.

I can’t deal with it. I can’t deal with the swords and the orb and the special custom screen they’ll anoint the important man behind. I don’t know why this is happening and why anybody likes it. I am at least half a world away, but still I can’t escape this institution because I will have to pledge allegiance to the new King of England as the final part of my Canadian naturalisation. No other person is mentioned in this pledge I will take, not Canada’s people as a whole, or its elected officials, not even the Prime Minister or their office. No, only the monarch.

I have to. It’s not even optional, like the proffered pledge being suggested by broadcasters and organisers back in my country of origin (who are giving the British public the chance to recite their allegiance to King Charles III, his heirs and successors). I can, at least, remove some amount of dignity from this and speak this pledge to the King of England in French. It is, after all, one of the official languages of Canada.

If that seems ridiculous to you, consider then that I first debated writing this entire thing as a farce, filling it with parody and invention. I could invent rituals and objects and people and titles, mix them in with some of their very real equivalents, and it might all be passably funny or passably believable. However, I learned a lesson several years ago: I invented some quotes (as well as some politicians) that referred to Donald Trump for a piece that attempted to satirise double standards and the vacillation that happens when those in office take a hypothetical position they are well aware they may have to change, only to then have people repeatedly and sincerely ask me if what I had written was real.

Pre-election, it had already become difficult to satirise or exaggerate Trump, a man who boasted about assaulting women and mocked a reporter with a disability, among so many other things. His behaviour was so monstrous and melodramatic that it was hard to find much that was funny by building upon that.

Similarly, it has also become too difficult to satirise the coming Coronation, which will involve lords with swords, pieces of what are alleged to be Christ’s cross, a magic stone, the King riding around in a genuine golden carriage and an archbishop who will simply present the orb. It turns out there are a few objects that are given and then taken back. Presented and then put down again. There is a special oil with a special formula. There will be salvoes and salutes fired by guns in London and Edinburgh and Belfast and Cardiff and at sea. There will be multiple flypasts. And did you know there is a special glove? But just one. Just one glove, which is put on for a little bit, before then being taken off again. That part sounds like something from a Michael Jackson performance. Someone will play something called the Weiner Fanfare and I swear to God I am not joking.

Some objects will be borne and some will be presented, each by a different person. Some will have both a separate person assigned to carry them and to present them. The sceptre with a dove (of course there’s more than one sceptre), for example, is carried by one person but presented by another. I don’t know why. I don’t know why members of the clergy will have to turn in each compass direction and hear the assembled audiences there shout back at them.

All this will happen tomorrow, eight hours away from me, and I’m very glad I will sleep through it. Maybe I will wake up to England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom, or the Commonwealth finally getting past some of the extraordinary bullshit it’s been on for a while now, with so many people and services and institutions and organisations that will bend and bow in deference to one person. Seven months ago, the death of the previous monarch brought out a host of bizarre and undignified reactions that included a black and white Funko Pop image of the late Queen, a weird £349 limited edition royal bear and a sombre tweet from London’s Shrek Experience.

And then at least a quarter of a million people decided to spend up to twenty-four hours waiting in a line that reached sixteen kilometres in length in order to get a short glimpse of the Queen’s coffin. If (and this is a big if), on average, those people had spent just eight hours each queuing, that is already two million hours of people’s time, or two hundred and twenty eight years.

And I wonder if less of that time could’ve been spent in deference to a single monarch and more of it on things that would have benefited the wider society that the late monarch wasn’t really part of, but is instead elevated far above. Much as there will be millions of pounds spent on the coronation of this new monarch, who is already themselves spectacularly rich beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, that could perhaps be spent on resources or infrastructure or even just dinner for people in a country that now has over six thousand food banks and “independent food aid providers” serving two and a half million visitors from households who can’t afford to eat, part of the fifth of the nation that lives in poverty. That fifth includes about four million children.

I might be a party pooper if I suggest that at least two hundred and twenty eight years of useful time was lost lining up to pass by a dead person who never knew or thought about most of those visitors. Or that the estimated hundred million spent on the coronation could fund so many more useful things, especially after so much time and money and energy was also spent on lavish Golden, Diamond and then Platinum Jubilees events in succession, each busted out like clockwork to confer even more status. But police in England have been threatening or even arresting people for things as simple as statements of objection or holding up blank pieces of paper, so perhaps I shouldn’t do that. The monarchy is an institution and a tradition and an icon and living history and it brings people together.

In worship.

Tomorrow’s coronation is not funny because it is an act of worship and deference toward those with inherited money and status. It is a celebration of privilege. It further endorses a centuries old system of rulership that has been minimised or discontinued in so many other places. It will again place one family above the rest of a nation, simply because of birth and succession, and consume an enormous amount of time, energy, money and resources as it does so. And I don’t dislike it just because it is a display of pomp and ceremony that descends into the borderline comic, or because it is boring, or because it takes attention away from so many systemic inequalities or overlooks so much royal advantage and special treatment. I dislike it because it is a state sanctioned act of validation and sycophancy in a country that cannot move forward, and it serves only to help England disappear even further up its own arse like a scatological Ouroboros.

In Tom Clancy’s 1987 novel Patriot Games, a team of terrorists attempt to kidnap Charles and his then wife, Diana. At the climax of the story, Charles joins the fight against them and Clancy has the man who was famously flummoxed by the act of signing documents talk about flying fighter jets and dryly utter the line “I am adept with light weapons.” In reality, Charles crash-landed his plane seven years after this book was written, as part of a flight crew found negligent in their duties.

I ignored a lot of things around the Queen’s funeral and I have ignored a lot of things around this coronation. But I don’t want to be silent. I want to be angry about the unfairness in the world and I feel like I keep having to write about the scale of poverty and inequality, particularly in England, because it is being constantly erased, especially by bullshit like this. And I think what will happen tomorrow will be gross.

#writing #England #coronation #poverty #Patreon

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primordialsoundmeditation · 2 years

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• Edmund Dulac (1882 – 1953) was a French-British naturalised magazine illustrator.

‘Little fairies’ 1907 …

Peter Gray's Delightful Vintage Art

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inharmcnia · 1 year

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Basic information

Name: Nora Jazairi, born Noura al-Jazairi

Title(s): None

Referred to as: Miss Jazairi

Nickname(s): None

Age: Forty-one, born 3 February 1882

Gender: Cis woman

Sexual orientation: Biromantic, bisexual

Occupation: Lady’s maid

Nationality: Naturalised British citizen. Previously French Algerian.

Religion: Technically Roman Catholic, but her relationship with religion is complicated. She was brought up vaguely Muslim, but was educated in Catholic school and regularly attends Mass.

Class: Working class

Place of birth: Algiers, French Algeria

Hometown: London, U.K.

Faceclaim: Sofia Boutella

Physical description

Height: 5’5’’

Weight: Around 125 lbs

Build: Slim, long and lean with narrow and sharp edges

Distinguishing marks: None

Hair colour: Dark brown

Hair style: Long, always worn up and pulled back. While shorter hair would be more fashionable, she finds long hair is easier to keep out of the way. Besides, she doesn’t mind resembling a Pre-Raphaelite beauty.

Eye colour: Dark brown

Clothing: What is expected of her. Simple day and evening dress depending on the occasion. While even the clothes she wears on a rare day off are far from showy, they’re always neat and fit her well.

Scent(s): Pond’s Cold Cream, lemon hand lotion, whatever soap she’s using.

Accent: Something between RP and Estuary English. Decidedly English.

Personality

Summary: Both extremely easy to read and nearly impossible to truly figure out, Nora has spent her adult life leading a fairly uncomplicated existence. Her face will betray her if she's expected to lie for any reason, but she knows when to speak and how much she needs to say to avoid any questions she might not want to answer. As much as she would love to be the mysterious, dramatic female hero of her own story, the truth is much more simple; she's a quick learner and knows what is expected of her. Still, she's not some artful manipulator, either, nor is she interested in becoming one. Truly, she's much too soft-hearted for that.

Virtues: Affable, diligent, perceptive, resourceful, self-aware.

Vices: Credulous, indecisive, nosy, short-sighted, single-minded.

Moral alignment: True neutral

Natal chart: TBD

Habits: Emulating and matching the body language of those around her, tidying up and straightening things in her close proximity, fiddling with anything she’s holding when nervous, smiling when anxious or uncomfortable.

Character tropes: Single Woman Seeks Good Man, Idealist vs. Pragmatist, For Happiness, (hopefully) Earn Your Happy Ending

Family ties

Parent(s): Emir al-Jazairi & Rabia Mahrez

Sibling(s): None

Spouse: Has never been married. Has been almost engaged once.

Child/ren: None

Miscellaneous headcanons:

In addition to English, she speaks French and Arabic. Having been educated by Roman Catholic nuns, she also obviously understands a fair bit of Latin.

TBA

Wanted plots

Nora might dream of an easier life filled with some sort of wealth, but her loyalties lie with the working class and those with similar circumstances to her. Someone could potentially exploit said loyalties and make her more sympathetic to whatever cause they themselves believe in.

That being said, she does have perhaps unearned admiration and loyalty towards whatever lady or family she's serving. Her devotion and love cannot be bought, but she's not above being bribed with either material goods or social capital. So, please test her. It's going to be torturous for her.

TBA

#about*#tasks*

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artegreca · 3 days

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Statue of Queen Arsinoe II Ptolemaic Period, ca. 305-30 BC. Cairo Egypt Museum Bibliotheca Alexandrina Antiquities Museum

Statue of Queen Arsinoe II identified with Isis, mother goddess and patron of magic. It is considered one of the masterpieces of Ptolemaic sculpture, which combines Greek and Egyptian elements.

The statue is in a traditional Egyptian striding pose. She stands facing forward with her arms lowered along the sides of the body and her left foot forward. Greek influence is evident in the contrast between the covered and bare areas of the chest and the shape of the folds of her transparent garment, which shows the beauty of the smooth body.

The body shape is in the Greek style, based on the details in the abdomen, chest, and legs, which are all soft and rounded. The statue is smooth and well polished. This exceptional sculpture stood in a temple at the city of Canopus.

The dress provides more clues about the identity of the subject: the handling of fabric recalls the marble work of Hellenistic artists showing Aphrodite in “wet drapery”. The folds actually undress the figure more than they dress it. According to the legend, Aphrodite was born from the foaming seas on the south coast of Cypress. One is immediately reminded of the queen who was considered as the earthly manifestation of Aphrodite – Arsinoë II, wife of Ptolemy II.

Found in the undersea remains of the ancient Egyptian city of Heracleion is hoisted onto a boat off the coastal town of Abu Qir, 24 kms east of Alexandria, 03 June 2000. A team of divers led by French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio discovered the treasures that date back to the Pharaohs, Greeks, Romans and early Muslims during two years of exploration and excavation.

Arsinoe seems to have been a genuinely popular goddess throughout the Ptolemaic period, with both Greeks and Egyptians, in Egypt and beyond. ‘Arsinoe’ is one of the few Greek names to be naturalised as an Egyptian personal name in the period. Altars and dedicatory plaques in her honour are found throughout Egypt and the Aegean, while hundreds of her faience oenochoae have been found in the cemeteries of Alexandria.

Dal sito del museo

#ancient greek art

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transmutationisms · 1 year

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mencken as a catholic convert is so interesting, i didn’t catch where that’s implied? but it adds such a good layer to his brand of fascist american conservatism with the 20th century being shaped in part by converts like father john neuhaus or (no convert but still) william f buckley being connected so strongly to the idea of top down hierarchy enshrining the natural order, and the neo cons today being his natural base with their unabashed opposition to democracy. i‘d love to hear your thoughts on that if you have any?

yeah @wechseling asked about this as well

ok so there's a bit of conjecture here, but mencken being catholic is implied by shiv calling him an integralist (the position that catholicism should form the basis of politics, law, and society, ie the total integration of catholic church and state) and by roman sarcastically crossing himself after mencken says that bullshit line about "a well-regulated election is a transmission from god" or whatever. also, possibly further corroborated by logan liking him lmao. i say convert because his name is jeryd mencken dfgdfgdfg like, names on this show are deliberate (wambsgans, shiv, ken doll, and so forth) and 'jeryd' especially screams white american protestant baby-naming conventions, with 'mencken' presumably referring to hl mencken.

also, the 'alt-right' in recent years has had a spate of catholic converts (gavin mcinnes et al) as well as major figures who espoused or were friendly to integralism. so to me it seems like that's what mencken is supposed to remind us of, further confirmed by him being a "youtube provocateur." and yeah the connection between catholicism and fascism/far-right ideology is complicated, but one major appeal of course is that a divinely appointed ruler can't be challenged by mortals (see: the french monarchy prior to 1789), and catholicism also has strong patriarchal elements embedded (god as the father, the replication of aspects of this dynamic in the marriage, &c). this often adds up to, like you said, naturalising hierarchy, which obviously is highly appealing to the right wing. often far-right catholics are also specifically modelling their social and political positions on historical examples of catholic monarchies, like france, where the church was not just a religious institution but also the major provider of education, charity, welfare, hospitals &c. this was a highly advantageous arrangement for both the church (owned fuckloads of land and got major tax exemptions) and the monarchy (didn't have to provide all the services a modern nation-state does). it's ofc absurd to try to replicate this arrangement post-feudalism for a number of reasons, but such are conservative appeals to history lmao.

anyway, there's a certain brand of catholic convert that is notoriously, uh, committed? shall we say? like, it's a thing with converts that a kind of large number of them go down the sedevacantist route because of liturgical opposition to vatican ii, for example. there are plenty of raised-catholics in the alt right as well, but the presence of a large convert contingent is significant and has been especially publicly noticeable in the last 6 or 8 years. a lot of the political writing on succession uses ideological micro-movements to serve characterisation in this way, and characters to advance critique or satire of their ideologies, and it seems to me that this is what the writers are trying to do with mencken and this very specific genre of alt-right catholic convert public figure.

#tripping the light fantastic

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hjemne · 4 months

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On any given day France is only about two steps away from sliding straight back into imperialist nationalism istg

So much goes back to how protective the powers that be are over the French language, and how they constantly construct enemies who are out to destroy their language and colonial heritage.

I've been reading various decrees from my most hated and despised enemy l'Académie française and its absolutely mind-boggling how they wrote about how they could "defend" and "save" French through the standardisation of English. They say standardisation would create a new language (a global English) which is no longer a "language of culture" (and so no longer a threat to their precious french i guess???). And then they IMMEDIATELY turn around and go 'and we must return to the "purity" (yuck) of French, and so l'Académie française needs to dictate and control how French is used.' My guys... how is that not reinforcing the standardisation of language which you think will kill English??? Oh wait I forgot it's because the french language* is the "unique instrument" which can bring world peace and is the most specialest of languages. *the French of France

The future of the French language is in Africa, no matter how much the Académie wants to pretend they can maintain control over it. In the words of Ahmadou Kourouma, 'the French have their language. They have violated many peoples but they would like their language to remain pure. This is not possible.' The Académie's insistence on 'preserving the purity of French' blablabla because its oh so important that it can be used to express (Western) art & science is a deeply conservative and imperialist stance that serves to reinforce France's power over its former colonies. What good does the language serve if it won't allow its speakers to express themselves, their cultures, and their lived realities? African religions cannot be accurately expressed in 'standard/proper' French, and gender queer people (& women tbh) simply cannot exist within the French language when the Académie continues to call gender-inclusive language an "aberration" which puts French in "mortal danger" from other languages which will 'prevail' at French's expense. Which really shows that institutionalising and promoting la Francophonie isn't actually about facilitating inter-group exchange via a shared language; it's about giving France's cultural, political and economic control over former colonies the façade of being something other than neocolonialism.

And I really cannot stress enough how much of France's cultural identity is based around its imagined superiority and exceptionality (which is literally baked into French law!!). Like so much of French political rhetoric is based around this need to fight back against some existential threat posed by The Other. You've got the extreme right Reconquête party (REconquest, jfc) calling mass 'remigration' & has the backing of 7-8% of voters (and the far-right FN party getting another 30%). And then ''''''centrist''''' Macron calls for 'demographic rearming' (not via easing immigration rules, but by pushing for more French babies to be born) and talking about the need to create a 'society of vigilance' against the 'Islamist hydra' and ceding to the far right in order to pass his immigration bill (1/3 of which was deemed unconstitutional or legislative riders, including a section which would've required foreigners to live in France for 10 years (!) before becoming naturalised citizens.

This is a country where every single child is taught to internalise that 'the masculine takes precedence over the feminine' and is 'neutral'. Where a national sporting hero is loudly denounced as a reverse racist for pointing out that there is a cultural belief of white superiority in France, meanwhile 9/10 black people in France say they've faced racial discrimination.

France uses the rhetoric of 'not following republicain values' as a cudgel against those who are inherently excluded from its white, bourgeois, male & catho-laïque* conception of 'universalism'. If you don't - or can't - conform, or dare to speak out against the unyielding assimilationism, it's labelled a sign of communautarisme, which according to the right, is basically the same as being an organised, hostile, separatist faction working to destroy the pure and noble Enlightenment values and heritage of the République. There is no room for multiculturalism. In france, you have the freedom to conform to its narrow definition of universalism. And if you don't follow along, well, clearly you're too uncivilised to know how to use your freedom properly, because there's no way you'd use it to criticise France, a country which is perfect.

The rhetoric being used and the policies being implemented in France are incredibly concerning, as is the massive support for extremely far right political parties. I don't know what's going to happen in French politics in the next few years, and in all honesty, I'm scared to find out. What I do know, is that the process of fully decolonising if a long, long way from being complete, and we need to be ready to think critically about things we feel attached to or assume are politically neutral.

*laïcité = secularism. In theory it's about separation of church and state, but it relegates all 'ostentatious' symbols of religion to 'private' life, so in practice it's used as an excuse to increasingly exclude religious minorities (especially young muslim women) from public spaces. You're not allowed to wear in public schools religious head coverings (e.g. hijab, kippah) or long skirts (only if the school thinks you're wearing it for religious reasons. you can for fashion reasons. France is valiantly protecting young women from ;;;;misogynistic radical islamist extremism;;;; which tells them what to wear, by telling them what to wear, don't you see).

I'm using catho-laïque to mean that, despite the emphasis on laïcité, secularism in France is effectively secular Catholicism. Catholicism underpins French culture and is taken for granted as being the neutral default. 6/11 of their national public holidays are Catholic religious days of observance/celebration, meaning the whole country shuts down for a week each year so the Catholics can observe their religious calendar, and it's never brought up as a potential conflict with secular politics.

The French language itself also has this same Catholic cultural bias too, making it hard, for example, to discuss African religions or cultures in Académie-approved 'proper' French language. Ahmadou Kourouma (from the Ivory Coast) wrote an essay about the difficulties of expressing his reality in written French when there's no word that truly encapsulates his God, religious practices, and the oral culture of his native language malinké. He called for an open, multicultural and equal francophone world, which can only be done by accepting 'africanised' or other non-standard uses of French, but this is firmly rejected by the western arbiters of French who very much do not want to decolonise and decentralise the French language. I wonder why.

I love this quote from Kourouma because it summarises everything so succinctly: 'We cannot be totally free if we do not possess the language which allows us to express ourselves completely.' It should be fairly clear at this point that 'liberté, égalité, fraternité' all take on very specific and restricted meanings in the context of the French state, but I still think it's worth pointing out the hypocracy and neocolonial implications of the French ideals vs how they're used in practice.

I'd definitely recommend his novels, which you can find here in both English and French.

I'd also definitely recommend checking out the icon that is Lilian Thuram who has suffered more than any tumblr user at being accused of pissing on the poor by people who misread the title of his book La pensée blanche and call him an anti-white racist. He also wrote Mes étoiles noires which is also a good read.

Thuram is just such an incredibly interesting guy. He talks a lot about how he wasn't born black, but became black aged 9 when he moved to Paris from Guadeloupe (a French territory in the Carribean), and became aware that other people had assigned him a category based on his skin colour which marked him as lesser. He uses Simone de Beauvoir's framework of how she wasn't born a woman, but became one through socialisation to talk about race which is super interesting. Also, it's why he told the biggest figure in the French far-right, Jean-Marie Le Pen, "personally, I'm not black" when Le Pen was bitching about the French national football team not being white enough. King shit, even if it went over people's heads. He's so cool, go read his interviews. He is fighting an uphill battle, but oh boy is he fighting. (here's his anti-racism foundation's site in French).

You can read an incredible discussion about race, politics and football in this book (p.177-194). When I tell you that a footballer getting a red card for headbutting someone had real implications for the discussion of race & immigration in France, I'm being dead serious.

This is the sort of reaction that Thuram gets btw

"oh wouldn't Africa have been better off if it kept you [i.e. 'you should have stayed in Africa if you hate white people so much'], what a shame..."

He's literally french!! from the caribbean!! oh my fucking god how do you not see this is literally the type of racist thinking that he's talking about ahhhhhhhhgghhhgg

"he was praised in 1998 [after he won the world cup] by all of France, and no one made any reference to the colour of his skin. He's ruining this beautiful memory with his racist ideas."

OH MY GOD THIS IS SO FACTUALLY INACCURATE. i think they said this just to piss me off in particular. What do you mean that no one talked about the 1998 French team's skin colour? That's all they talked about for years. You mean to tell me that the incredibly famous slogan 'black-blanc-beur' [black-white-arab] was not about ethnicities??? And Thuram is only now bringing up the topic of race? Get so fucking forreal. Boohoo your memories of the 98 victory are being ruined by racism? You know who else's were? Thuram's.

And you know how i can be so so certain that it wasn't just leftist academics who were talking about la France black-blanc-beur? You know who cannot stop bringing up the French team's skin colour? Jean-Marie Le Pen [OG far-right racist politician]. You know who else goes on about how the media would not stop telling you about the racial diversity of the team and how everyone in France was talking about the team's skin colour? Eric fuckin Zemmour [current extreme-right political shithead]

(no translation, it's all just racist bullshit. It is funny how close he gets at times tho. 'lots of young, aspiring football players after 1998 felt like they'd experienced social exclusion, and football was an area which they felt they could thrive in and escape the misery of growing up in the banlieu.' YEAH MY DUDE. he's so close to putting the cause & effect together for why marginalised ethnicities from disadvantaged areas are overrepresented in professional football. but no, he has to go on about how these new plays weren't like Zidane (the golden boy of assimilation via football), they sucked because they rejected all authority by eating... halal....hmm....) (Zemmour also takes the time to bitch about how 1998 was also when the anglicism 'coach' entered popular use in France, because he has to really emphasise how the world cup victory was part of the 'suicide' of the French nation in any and all ways possible. It's honestly just pathetic more than anything at this point. He just cycles through the same 4 scapegoats overe and over (I can only assume it's because he's allergic to all forms of diversity) )

Like..... absolutely everyone is in agreement that the ethnic diversity of the 1998 team was a huge talking point. This is the one thing that everyone across the political spectrum can agree on. So WHY would you make it your argument that 'no one made any reference to his skin colour uwu'. The team was THE example of the successes of French integration. And yeah, it sucks to realise things weren't as good as you thought they were, but Thuram has every right to turn around and ask why the acceptance of his 'frenchness' by society was conditional on the team's success. Why whether he (& other non-white players) was 'worthy' of representing France (which he has done in more matches than all but one player ever in French history) was not just a question of football abilities, but also about whether he was 'dignified' enough to be French. And why talking out against inequality and injustice made him less deserving.

There are definitely other , smarter ways of fighting against the stupidity/foolishness of certain spectaters [referencing the fact that Thuram discussed the many many times that spectators made monkey noises at him & others during football matches]."

Ohhhhhhh my god Thuram is literally examining at the systems in society that led people to make such blatantly racist gestures. Does this guy think he should go to racist football fans one by one and tell them nicely to stop?? The description of it as 'bêtise' is also driving me up the wall because its so dismissive of how serious and horrific these overt and public displays of racial hatred are. 'J'ai fait une bêtise' is I did a whoopsie, I did a dumb thing. Also the fact it's qualified with 'certain' spectators. 'Oui okay something bad did happen, but it wasn't that many people, it wasn't that big of a deal, and you should be dealing with it in a different way because talking about structural racism makes me uncomfortable.' Killing you with my death ray. Do more introspection and less historical revisionism.

Also Thuram has literally addressed this

« J'ai l'impression que l'on parle du racisme avec superficialité. Comme si c'était un phénomène individualisé, de personnes "pas gentilles". Non, c'est une idéologie politique qui a une profondeur historique ! »

Anyway.... long long rant over. there was a documentary on netflix about french football and black blanc beur back in 2017 ish and if anyone knows how to track it down i'd love to rewatch it. Also here’s a link to some articles on the topic if you want to read some more.

#jesus christ i've been doing this all day #france #decolonization #l'academie francaise my worstie i hope u blow up and die #rambles #lilian thuram #ahmadou kourouma #emmanuel macron

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