Bercute&Rinerd

He | 26 | orgullós Català | Fire Emblem | Miraculous Ladybug | BNHA | Pokemon | HxH | Bleach |

[errantsquam]

revisiting a comic i drew in 2022 with a sequel. psx destiny vs destiny dc things

[aera-enfys]

[frigid-moon-fall]

Remake town/dungeon Leon sprite with various other palettes for no real reason other than I love procrastinating

Eternia's palette is surprisingly good

[moretheta]

went from 'i can fix her' yuri to 'i have to kill her' yuri and i'm loving every moment

[useless-catalanfacts]

According to the legend, when the Moorish people felt the danger of the Christian conquest getting near, they hid their treasures in a cave near the El Marinet area, at the feet of the Penyagolosa mountain (Castelló, Valencian Country) and planned their escape.

A Moorish prince volunteered to guard the treasure until the Muslim people returned to the land. The Arab magicians turned him into a bull, which is a noble and fierce animal.

The Christians conquered the lands and heard the story. They hurried to look for the treasure in all the caves, but they never found it. Since the Moorish people could never come back, the bull is still in the cave, guarding the treasure.

People say that, on a calm day, if you listen closely, you can still hear the muffled sounds of the bull, crying for the return of his people.

La Cova Santa ("The Holy Cave") in Vistabella del Maestrat, near the Penyagolosa mountain. Photo by Nacho Gimeno, from De Penyagolosa.

The Catalan Countries, and particularly the areas that were under Islamic rule for longer (the Valencian Country, the southern part of Catalonia, and the Balearic Islands) are full of similar legends about the Moorish people leaving hidden treasures behind, with enchanted magical people guarding them. These legends can be more simple (like this one) or more elaborate with details on how one might retrieve the treasure, if they're ready for the dangerous challenge. Historically, many people have believed these legends, and some have tried to find such treasures. As far as we know, no enchanted treasure has been found... so far.

[useless-catalanfacts]

Why is Prince Charming "Blue"?

One of the recurring characters in fairytales is "Prince Charming": a handsome and well-mannered young prince who rescues the damsel in distress.

In languages like English and French, he is named after the characteristic of being "charming". But in some Romance languages, he's named "the Blue Prince".

Catalan: Príncep Blau

Italian: Principe Azzurro

Spanish: Príncipe Azul

Older texts in French also said: Prince Azur and Prince Bleu

It's easy to tell why he is charming, but why is he blue?

The earliest known documented uses of the term date from the 1850s, but the origin or reason for it isn't clear.

🤴Theory 1: based on a real-life prince

On the Internet, you'll see many people repeat the theory presented by Bernard Delmay, who defended that the expression comes from the House of Savoy, the ruling monarchy in Italy in the second half of the 19th century, since the Italian Unification in 1861. Blue was the colour of this dynasty, plus the prince and future king Victor Emmanuel II wore the blue officer's uniform on the first time that he visited his future parents-in-law. He also had blue eyes. His ancestor Amadeus VI (1334-1383) had been known as the Green Count because of the clothes he wore when celebrating a tournament, and Amadeus VII (1360-1391) as the Red Count either because of the colour of his hair or because he ditched the black clothes he wore to mourn his father for a bright red outfit when he found out his first son had been born. Thus, the same reasoning could go for Victor Emmanuel II (1820-1878) becoming the "Blue Prince", right?

Well, no. According to the Italian Language Academy (Accademia della Crusca), this theory has been disproved. The earliest mentions of "Blue Prince" in any language that still uses that term are written after Victor Emmanuel II's wedding, so that doesn't contradict the theory. However, the earliest known reference to Victor Emmanuel II as "Blue Prince" only dates back to the 1950s, so making the assertion that it must have come from him could be a stretch. And speaking of the earliest mentions: the first attested use in Italian is in a book published in 1898, but one year before that the expression "Blue Prince" was already printed in a book in Spanish published in Mexico.

But when we search all the uses of this term, linguists cited by the Italian Language Academy found that the earliest mentions are in French. Even though French uses the term "Prince Charmant" nowadays (and English took it from French), French texts from the mid-1800s call him Prince Blue or Prince Azur ("Blue Prince"). These uses are documented before Victor Emmanuel II, thus disproving the theory.

🤴Theory 2: based on blood

Most European languages refer to royals as having "blue blood". The explanation given for this is usually that royals were much paler than most subjects, since most people worked outside under the sun while the royals stayed indoors in their palaces (that's also why being pale was a beauty standard and symbol of status in Europe's past, and still is in some countries such as Japan). As a result of their paleness, their veins and arteries were more visible compared to commoners. While commoners saw their own red blood when they got injured, they would also see the blue arteries visible under the royal's pale skin. It doesn't mean they literally believed that the royal family's blood is blue, but it was a way of referencing it.

The linguist Eugen Coșeriu defends that the paleness and veins would be a case of folk etymology, while the real origin of this expression comes from a mistranslation. The Ancient Roman historian Tacitus wrote about the Roman emperors being "caelesti sanguine ortam" (Latin for "born from heavenly blood"), since they were said to descend from divinized figures. Like in many languages nowadays, "sky" and "heaven" were the same word, and many of these languages derive a word for "light blue" from the Latin word for "sky" (like Spanish celeste). According to this linguist, in the early 17th century, Spanish humanists translated the expression "heavenly blood" (which would be "sangre celestial") as "light-blue blood" ("sangre celeste"). This expression became widespread and over time ended up simplified as "blue blood" ("sangre azul"). From there it would have spread to other languages.

But let's go back to the Blue Prince. According to this theory, the Prince is Blue as a reference to being royalty. This theory is okay but quite vague, so there is no piece of evidence that contradicts it, but there is also not enough evidence supporting it to safely make the claim.

So that didn't clear it up. What do you think? Is the second theory plausible? And what do you call this fairytale archetype in your language?

[useless-catalanfacts]

The Valencian Government (controlled by a coalition of the right-wing PP and the fascist Vox parties, both Spanish supremacists) has forbidden all authors and books from Catalonia and the Balearic Islands from the high school (batxillerat) curriculum.

The Valencian Country, Catalonia, and the Balearic Islands (together with the little and rural Eastern Strip) are the three parts of the Catalan Countries that are under Spanish administration. Andorra (an independent country), Northern Catalonia (France), and the city of L'Alguer (Italy) are the other parts of the Catalan Countries, but they're much smaller. We all have the same language and history. It makes no sense to forbid teachers from mentioning it or from studying all our literature and history. Our history, literature, culture, etc is common and historical figures and authors have moved between the regions and influenced each other. It makes no sense to mutilate a part of it out of the story.

So why do they do it?

For decades, Spanish supremacist ideologies have been obsessed with dividing the Catalan peoples. Following the idea of "divide and rule", they don't want us to be able to:

Talk to each other: all regions of Spain broadcast their TV channels to all the other ones, except the Catalonia and Valencian ones which are explicitly forbidden by law from broadcasting in the other areas who speak the same language. This law forbids only us.

Visit each other: if we want to travel inside our own countries by public transport, we have to go through Madrid. We still can't take the train between València and Barcelona!

Know about each other: besides not having media, Catalanophobic associations also bully schools in the Valencian Country to ensure that no books or magazines written by authors from other Catalan-speaking areas are present in school libraries and, in some cases, public libraries. Right-wing city councils have forbidden public libraries from having Catalonia-printed magazines.

Recognise us as part of the same nation: the Spanish supremacist parties are defending a ridiculous conspiracy theory called blaverism, according to which Valencian would be its own language unrelated to the rest of Catalan. This makes absolutely no sense to anyone who speaks any dialect of Catalan, because half of Catalonia's dialects are closer to Valencian dialects than to the other half of Catalonia, and there's as much variety within the Valencian Country as within Catalonia. The line to divide both territories is purely a political line and doesn't match up at all with any dialectal nor accent categories. The only way anyone could believe this bullshit theory is if they have never heard a speaker from the other territory and are blindly trusting whoever is saying this theory, which explains why so much pressure to hide any media from the other places.

And many, many more things which violate the rights recognized in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

Of course, the same blaverist governments also marginalize the Valencian (Catalan) language from Valencian schools, refuse to hire bands who sing in Valencian in festivals and public activities that take place in the Valencian Country, don't guarantee Valencian people's right to access healthcare or education in their language, and have even officially changed the names of Valencian cities to a name translated to Spanish instead of their native Valencian name, and many more infringements on our cultural rights and erasures of our historical existence.

But hating on Catalan people and the Catalan language seems to be the easy way to gain votes in many places 🤦

[useless-catalanfacts]

The past 48 hours have been very busy!! The teachers' unions, associations of writers, cultural and social associations, and more have been at work without a stop, and they've achieved... something.

As a result of the pressure, the Valencian Government has taken a step back. They have removed the ban, but will leave the subject of Valencian language and literature up to each individual high school. This means that there is no unified curriculum and each teacher will have the responsibility to take the decision which means they can receive pressures from the parents, school directors, or external groups (and we know blaverist associations are experts at that!). It also has the consequence that, since there is no guarantee that all students will learn about other varieties of the Valencian-Catalan language and literature, these authors cannot be included in the national exams at the end of high school (selectivitat), which is what the last 2 years of high school are heavily focused on. If it's not included in the exam, it's very likely that many schools will pressure teachers to drop it so they can focus on what will be on the exam.

And once again it shows that Valencian/Catalan is not treated with equal respect to Spanish. It would be unthinkable to leave out key elements of Spanish literature from the subject of Spanish literature, but if Valencian-Catalan is treated like this they don't care.

This resolution means that 1) pressure works, and 2) this decision is not enough, we need to keep working.

But there's always so many open fronts, it almost feels impossible to tackle them all! For example, today, the same day as we got those partial good news, we also see that the Spanish Government's Ministry of Transport (PSOE party) is changing the highway signs in Catalonia and the Valencian Country to replace the native Catalan names for the Spanish translations. This goes against the law, because the cities and towns are officially recognised with their native names. But apparently, according to the Spanish government, it's okay to skip the law if it means erasing Catalan from public view and imposing Spanish instead! And we don't forget when some years ago they said that Catalan names in signs cause accidents 🤦

And that's just an example. It feels like every day there are more cases! It is exhausting, but we have to keep going. Consider joining an association or donate to the ones fighting the good fight. If you live in Menorca, consider lending a hand to Fem-ho en català (who took the Eivissan government to court when they wanted to put the street signs in Spanish and has managed to keep the signs in Catalan). Everywhere, consider joining language volunteering (Voluntariat per la llengua, Xerrem junts, or whatever your local casal/ateneu/entitat might be organizing!), and from anywhere in the world consider making a donation to Plataforma per la llengua, La Bressola, Òmnium Cultural... And most importantly, wherever you're from, speak your local language and don't give in to imperialism!

[useless-catalanfacts]

Clothing for the Catalan traditional "dance of the Devils" (ball de diables) made by Judit Morera. All the photos were posted by Judit on her Instagram account El Cosidor de la Judit.

Each part of Catalonia (particularly the Southern half, where the tradition is very popular) has its own clothes for this dance. They're all made of a thick material that cover all the body to protect it from the fire, and they're hand-painted with devilish designs (references to fire, horns...), but the specific designs vary for each group of participants. Outside of these characteristics, there is a lot of space for creativity and each person can make their own design.

One day, Judit uploaded to her social media a photo of a coat she had painted for a friend of hers, and devil dancers from all around Catalonia loved it and started commissioning her to make or repair their dancing clothes as well. Thanks to that, she could start her dream of opening a shop to become a seamstress of clothes for Catalan devils' dance.

[useless-catalanfacts]

Lluita del bac, a traditional form of wrestling from Southern Catalonia and the Valencian Country

Bac is a fighting sport that was common in the Terres de l'Ebre area of Catalonia (and it used to be in some places in the Valencian Country) until about 50 years ago, when it stopped being transmitted to younger generations like many other traditional games and entertainments, with the arrival of private cars and TVs.

In the Valencian Country it has gotten lost, but in the Terres de l'Ebre it lasted for longer and many elderly people know it and have taught it. Now, some practising groups led by four karate schools, are helping it make a comeback.

There is evidence of bac fighting in Terres de l'Ebre since the late 19th century (interviews from elderly people who practised it and from folk songs), but it's difficult to know how old these things are since Terres de l'Ebre is a rural area that had a low literacy rate and this kind of topics aren't always written about. In the local dialect of Catalan, the word bac means "to fall down hitting oneself against the ground", but it's unknown if the fight gave a name to the word or if the fight's name comes from a pre-existing word.

The fight is done by 2 rivals. The objective is to throw yourself at the other in a way that looks like hugging, with the objective of pushing your rival to the ground. In the modern sports modality of it, the winner is the player who gets 4 points. You get 2 points when your rival falls on their back to the ground, and only 1 point if they fall only on their side.

It is officially recognized as a sport by the Government of Catalonia. Bac championships are held in different towns as part of local festivals and fairs, like the Deltebre Rice Planting festival and the River Festival in Sant Jaume, Amposta Market, and more.

Back in the day, it was transmitted from fathers to sons, but it was uncommon to teach it widely because it was prized as something almost secret, the more useful the less people knew about what exactly you would do.

Nowadays, bac is taught in four martial arts schools in Terres de l'Ebre. People who join classes learn the bac fight and the traditional forms of self-defense, done using the tools that people used to have at home, like farming equipment, and to protect oneself fighting against them.

Sources: Tornaveu, Miquel Castro (president of the Karate Association Kushin-Kai of Deltebre and member of the Lluita del Bac Association) on the podcast Enjogassades. Photos from Associació de la Lluita del Bac de les Terres de l'Ebre, A Prop Ebre and Traditional Sports. GIF from this video by Canal 21 Ebre.

[useless-catalanfacts]

Adoration of the Shepherds, painted around the years 1365-1375 by the Serra brothers' workshop (Catalonia). Egg tempera and gilt on wood.

This splendid panel belonged to a retable of large dimensions, other parts of which are yet to be found. It is a rendering of the theme of the Adoration of the Shepherds, who appear kneeling on the left, added to the elements normally associated with the Nativity scene. In the middle of the composition we see the Newborn in a wooden manger, together with the elderly figure of Joseph and the Virgin, who crosses her hands over her breast in an attitude of reverence. Behind her a female figure appears that may be one of the midwives who, according to the apocryphal tradition, assisted her during the birth.

National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC).

[berkut-rigel]

You know they are cooking when I an OG Queen Bee stan is cheering and full in focus with the direction where Zoé's character writing is going🍿

Please continue this way writers

[variablyvick]

i think they should team up

[metamorphesque]

Petition: Formally recognise the killing of Armenians in 1915-1923 as genocide

We are calling for the Government to formally recognise the killing of an estimated 1.5 Million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915-19

At 10,000 signatures, government will respond to this petition

At 100,000 signatures, this petition will be considered for debate in Parliament

[harminuya]

@British followers pls sign 💜

[useless-catalanfacts]

Clothes for the traditional Catalan dance of Devils made by Núria Fortuny, posted by her on her Instagram account nuriafortunyart.

The Devils' Dance (in the Catalan language, ball de diables) is a very popular traditional dance from Catalonia. It is documented since the Middle Ages, when it was used to tell the story of Good vs. Evil. People from the town or neighbourhood (non-professional dancers, just whoever wants to participate) join the groups and freely dance it on the streets for the holidays of festa major and Corpus. They carry maces with spinning firecrackers on them and dance to the sound of drums (as you can see in this post).

The clothes are made of a thick brown material that covers as much of the skin as possible, to avoid getting burned. The clothes are painted with devilish symbols that usually involve fire. In these images, you can see the clothes that groups commissioned to Núria Fortuny, which she painted in her artistic style based on the traditional motifs, mythological beats (bestiary figures also take part of the festa major dances) and her reinterpretation of them.

You can find more of her art (not just devils' dance clothes, also mural and canvas paintings, often also based on festa major holidays dances and figures) in her Instagram: nuriafortunyart.

[eirikrjs]

KAZUMA KANEKO'S TSUKUYOMI ART: JINMA GALLERY I

OK, here's the one y'all were probably waiting for; these are basically just SMT demon designs that never were. The game calls them "Jinma"/神魔, literally "god demon." Not the easiest thing to localize with a succinct, one-word term. This Part One gallery includes (and use the ALT text for clarification on identities if needed):

Arahabaki

Bái Hǔ

Fionn mac Cumhaill

Balam

Fènghuáng

Cerberus

Inu Hariko

Katō Danzō

Aillen

Macha

[JP game wiki]

[Character gallery I, Character gallery II]

[rainbow-arrow]

every time a miraculer abuses their miraculous i actually get so so excited. it fuels me. fuck yeah use that magical power for your benefit. i did ask for it to be messier and i am loving it

[useless-catalanfacts]

Aquest blog es una joia💝

Moltes gràcies! ❤️