#history of chocolate.

[connors-chocolate-history-blog]

Introduction: The Origins of Chocolate

Hello. This blog will focus on the history of chocolate.

The history of chocolate is a bit like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: charming and colorful on the surface but dark and unsettling once you peel back the layers. Most people don’t want to think about colonialism, genocide, slavery, exploitation, pollution, or corporate greed when they break off a piece of that Kit-Kat bar, but Western society’s chocolate habit has always been at the expense of poorer nations. 

We must begin by discussing where chocolate came from: Mesoamerica. Below is a Maya chocolate pot, found in a king's tomb in Guatemala.

All alone I sing to him who is my god. In the place of light and heat, in the place of the world, the cacao has flowered, is frothing, and the drink, that inebriates with flowers. I breathe it in, my heart savors it, my heart is inebriated, in truth my heart knows it: Hail redness of rubber collar! fresh and fiery, you light your garland of flowers, O mother! Sweet, delicious mother, precious flower of roast corn, you only offer yourself, you shall be abandoned, you shall have to depart, you shall remain unfleshed. Here you have come, before the princes, you, marvelous creation, inviting to pleasure. On the mat of blue and yellow feathers here you are set up. Precious flower of roast corn, you only offer yourself you shall be abandoned, you shall have to depart, you shall remain unfleshed. [...] The cacao in flower is already frothing, the flower of tobacco is shared out. My heart if it wished would be inebriated... “All Alone, I Sing” Tlaltecatzin of Cuauhchinanco. Translated by Timothy Ades

Let this poem set the tone.

Chocolate began in ancient Mesoamerica. It was discovered by the Olmecs, refined by the Maya who first called it Cacao, and then given to the Mexica (or Aztecs) who gave it the name "chocolate". Ancient Maya, Aztec and Olmecs created chocolate plantations and were the first to ferment, roast and grind the beans into a powder or paste. And while we associate chocolate with desserts, the Mesomarericans used it as a spice and a drink. The Aztecs named the drink Xocatl, which is where we get the word "chocolate" from. As a drink, cacao was enjoyed by the upper classes of their society, a symbol of wealth and power linking them to the Gods. It was an important part of culture in Mesoamerican society, with the plant playing a significant role in mythology, religion, culture and commerce. They considered it the “tree of life”, and the cacao beverage to be the “food of the Gods”--something sacred to be protected, not a cheap mass-produced snack product the way we view it today. Cacao beans were used as currency and as a tax paid to the government–a 1545 document written in the Nahutl language of the in the Aztec empire shows that the daily wage of an Aztec porter was 100 cacao seeds, a turkey was worth 200 seeds, and a tamale from a street vendor was worth one seed. They were often given as gifts to celebrate births, marriages and initiations into society. Thanks to a funerary bowl discovered in southern Belize, we know that cacao beans were sometimes even buried with dead bodies to guarantee safe passage into the afterlife, much like how ancient Greeks would bury their dead with coins to give to Charon.

Rather than a commodity to be bought and sold, the Mesoamericans viewed chocolate as something more than that. It was food, it was currency, and it was sacred, representing power, wealth, and their Gods. This would change once the Spanish Empire made contact with the Mexica, and discovered the mysterious brown bean that would eventually change the world forever…

[academic-vampire]

𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘯 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦. ☕️

[flowersforfrancis]

[amnhnyc]

🍪 Feeling hungry? Well, despite its name, the chocolate chip sea star (Protoreaster nodosus) probably wouldn’t taste very good. To start, those “chips” aren't chocolate at all… they’re tubercles, or knobs, and they’re unique to each sea star. No two individuals have the same arrangement of tubercles!

Like many other sea stars, this marine invertebrate eats by pushing its stomach out of its mouth, covering its meal, and then digesting it externally. This critter inhabits the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean, where it might be spotted around coral reefs or seagrass beds. It can grow up to 12 inches (30 cm) across.

Photo: woodgreg, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

[izzystizzys]

Fox tags along on a smuggling bust one (1) time and subsequently wishes he’d never been decanted.

Well, he’s arrested the perp a lot more than just one time, actually, but that very first tackle into a chokehold and electrocuffs more than sufficed to turn the fates against him - the fates, and Cody, the insufferable twat. They’re not actually even batchmates, the lot of them, and going by numbers Fox was decanted long before them (long as in seconds or minutes, no one actually knows), but Seventeen put them all in a training room together and then stupid kriffing Kote looked him up and down, nodded, and hasn’t stopped calling him vod’ika since.

“Why is one of the Republic’s most wanted criminals asking to speak to you, vod’ika?”, Cody asks, without any preamble, almost making Fox cut the holocall on principle. He would, if General Kenobi wasn’t right there next to the little shit. “And why do I not like his tone?”

Fox has to resist the urge to close his eyes and scream, making do with a deep sigh instead. Force curse the day Cody decided to adopt-nap him, and Wolffe following suit immediately. “Weequay, shifty eyes, stupid fucking pirate bandana?”

Cody’s eyes narrow suspiciously, and Kenobi’s eyebrows raise simultaneously. It’s more than a little creepy.

Fox rolls his eyes so hard he sees stars. “Tell him he can go space himself, unless he wants me to do it for him. And then tell him that if he sends me fuzzy fucking socks again I might just hunt him down and do it anyways.”

Past the slide of the door, Thorn’s unmistakable cackle reaches Fox. And Cody, going by the narrowing of his eyes. “Don’t tell him that, ori’vod, he’s probably into that”, Thorn calls out, gleefully, and Force Fox really should’ve kept this to himself in the first place.

He would’ve, actually, but the constant stream of strange presents into Guard headquarters is hard to miss. It was Alderaanian chocolates, last week, which Fox pawned off on the Shinies. A box from a store with a blacked out label before that, which he launched out the window with burning ears before Thire could get a closer look at it.

“Actually”, Thorn continues, happily, “I don’t think it matters much if you do tell him anything - it’s not like the Commander has been the most graceful courtée, and that hasn’t done anything to discourage our favorite smuggler.”

“Marshall Commander”, Fox hisses, because he’s a pissy bitch, and then, because all professionalism has gone out the window anyways, “This is why Stone is my favourite.”

Thorn’s wounded gasp is lost over Kenobi’s thoughtful hum, and Cody’s patented I’m-going-to-do-something-incredibly-stupid-and-you-can’t-stop-me glare. “That would explain why we have Hondo Ohnaka accosting our troopers about your flavour preferences concerning fruit candies. But the one asking to speak to you is Cad Bane, Marshall Commander.”

The string of curses Fox lets out at that is loud enough to have Mauler stick his head in the com room to ask if everything is alright, and Thorn roll on the floor with howling laughter.

Force curse the day he ever slapped electrocuffs on Hondo Ohnaka, and double-curse the one he threw Cad Bane to the floor with a scissor leg takedown.

[invisible-goats]

anyway disabled priveledge is real because i just got back from a holiday where my room was upgraded because the one i'd booked it turns out was only accessible by two flights of stairs

llandudno was fun :-)

[kitebird-hockey]

i can't recall who on here linked to this Player's Tribune article by Mike Bossy (of the Isles four cups, playing career 1977-1987), but it is fascinating and heartbreaking:

Some sections that stood out to me:

Other teams are going to target you, big time. You’ll get jumped from behind. Sucker punched. Completely knocked out by blindside hits. (In the future, there’s a serious injury called a concussion. You don’t know what this is yet, but unfortunately you’re going to have quite a few.)

The abuse will leave a mark on you forever. Your nose will be broken. Your ribs will be cracked. But it will leave a mark on your soul, too. Psychologically, just riding on the bus to games knowing the violence that awaits you is something that you’re going to have a hard time with. There are going to be so many long bus rides when you’ll think, Why am I even doing this? What’s the point? But you have to keep going.

In 1979, you’re going to announce to the press that you’re never going to fight again. That’s it. You’re done with it. No matter what anyone does to you, you’re not going to fight. You think it’s pointless and insane. Oh, boy. That’s going to be an interesting time. You need to be prepared for the names you’re going to get called. You need to be prepared for how people are going to look at you for making a statement like that in 1979. For a guy who is already unfairly labeled as “timid,” this is going to be a big deal. Some people in the hockey world will simply not accept that someone who doesn’t fight can ever be a winner.

[ask-the-roommate-au]

I'm loving how we're starting a war because of chocolate

–🍀💫

Yeah.... why???

[inky-sun]

what i love :

rain, books, museums, hot chocolate, music, poetry, handwritten letters, art, academia, storms, plants, the sea breeze, rings, candles, quoting authors & poems, walking in the forest, history, cosy afternoon at home, jazz

[youling-the-ghost]

Stupid sfth crackship idea: Billy (the guy who was just left at the altar) x the fun police guy from that one guessing game.

So like, in my wild headcanon in a desperate attempt to make sense of this ridiculousness, the two meet at frat boy (aka Sam)'s party and end up getting along quite well. The fun police guy (I'll just call him Clint from now on for simplicity's sake) initially got close to Billy to keep an eye on him in case he was having any fun, but slowly began to genuinely enjoy his company. When the party ends, Clint realises that he completely forgot about his duty. This is the first time that this has happened.

He goes back to work, in shock of what happened, both that he allowed someone else to enjoy themselves and that he allowed himself to have fun. Work is suffocating; he can't focus on the task at hand without thinking about Billy and those tearstained eyes and that ragged dress-shirt. He's so fucked, Clint realises.

Meanwhile, Billy has no idea of Clint's secret identity. He wakes up in the morning and smiles as he remembers the lovely man that accompanied him last night, and he wishes to see him again. Thinking of the man makes the ache in his heart from the empty space next to him on the bed ease just a little bit.

But then Billy finds out about Clint's job, and suddenly that night becomes tainted with new information and lies. Upon seeing Billy's heartbroken face, the fear and sorrow in Clint's heart overpowers his loyalty to his team. The fun police becomes a thing of the past, and the two end up in each others' arms.

[mikeysomebody]

#BodyOfArt × Unfulfilled: Wonderer v.II

[local-redhead-bookworm]

Does anyone want to take a stab at why McGillis seems to constantly have chocolate on hand? I have a few vague half-formed ideas

McGillis just has a sweet tooth

It’s a trauma holdover from growing up starving

It’s a small way to stay connected to Earth, providing a sense of normalcy and comfort

I remember reading that during the Vietnam War, American soldiers often gave candy to local children to build goodwill and humanize themselves in the eyes of the people

Chocolate is surprisingly common in Gjallarhorn like in the US military because it’s durable, it’s good for morale, and caffeine provides energy for the troops

If anyone wants to offer a more articulate or detailed explanation for that though, I’m all ears!

[canisalbus]

While the trick-or-treating comic was very cute, I cannot imagine Vasco not being a little treat kinda guy

Are you telling me he doesn't randomly buy himself candy just for the dopamine and the child-like joy? That he doesn't indulge on halloween spirit and buy spooky candy just for him and Machete?? (who barely eats it but halloween spirit comes first, practically second)

.

[flowersforfrancis]

[insidemyrottenbrain]

[master-of-the-opera-house]

Wdym this is the same man