I've added subtitles to a part of this video made by the National Museum of Ceramics And Decorative Arts "González Martí"(in València, capital city of the Valencian Country) for the temporary exhibition on Valencian combs titled "From typical to stereotypical".
The result is a piece like this:
Images from Del típic al tòpic. La pinta a la indumentària valenciana.
Ornamental hair combs have existed in many cultures. Probably the most famous ornamental combs word-wide are the Chinese combs (梳篦, shubi) and Spanish combs (peineta), though it has also been significant in other cultures such as Japan (櫛, kushi):
Historical images of Chinese women wearing a comb. Source: The New Hanfu. Modern-made Chinese hair accessories from CoolBee.
A Spanish comb from Mercería Rosi. Woman wearing a Spanish comb by Yolanda Luque.
Historical Japanese hairstyle with a comb in the front. Source: The Art Institute of Chicago.
Even though they're not as internationally-famous, the Valencian combs are beautiful pieces. Chinese and Japanese combs are generally worn in front of the bun, while the Spanish combs are worn on the back of the head. The Valencian comb is never worn in front, instead they are worn on the back of the head and smaller ones can be worn on the sides of the head.
Photo of Valencian women dressed in the fallera outfit. Photo by Martin Leitch.
These combs became popular in the 18th century in the Valencian Country. In the 18th century, decorative hair combs also existed in other parts of South-West Europe, but it went out of fashion quickly everywhere except for in the Valencian Country. Here, the combs kept being in use and they evolved in their own unique way.
Since the early 19th century, it was already recognized as one of the characteristic elements of the stereotypical Valencian woman's outfit (we know that because it became trendy for ladies in the Spanish Court to dress up as a Valencian woman for masquerades). Descriptions of the 19th century also mention how the combs were very widespread in both the city and countryside of València to be worn by women in all formal or social occasions.
Nowadays, the only occasion when women wear these combs is during holidays such as the Falles (holiday explained in this post), when some women dress in traditional outfit. There are still artisans who make the combs, following the techniques explained in the video above, since there is a pretty big industry of traditional style clothes for the Falles holidays.
Wish that I could give some of my Miis British accents (playing North American version), both are fictional characters that are canonically from England. I mean they already have it in the game's data, and if you go to your Switch setting and change the region, the accents change with it
So why not let us pick and choose individually? I refuse to accept the answer "its too hard to implement, ooowoooo pwogrmming sho hawd u gais" and I don't accept "oooh but the lingo from other countries will get everyone confused!" (people don't go insane and clutch their heads, when a tv show from another country airs on PBS, and starts talking about stuff specific to that country only) or "but god forbid we have Koreans spending the american dollar in game! Thats offensive!"
Feels like a huge missed opportunity, what with all the work they did to make so much diverse cultural and language options, to be able to make people's islands and Mii's feel more real and diverse. It could even be educational too!
Sticking your nose in a finnish conversation (Mycroft & Reader fanfic)
Contains: Mycroft is visiting Finland and can speak finnish, reader is finnish and can speak finnish, as you can see this is a specific dorky theme for a fic, I am a finnish person myself so I am writing this fic partly in finnish, Reader is younger than Mycroft, reader is Fem, this can be read both platonically and romantically, this fanfic contains finnish and english language and translations in the middle of the text
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You dug through the contents of your backpack, smiling in satisfaction when you pulled out your headphones. Waiting for the bus in the bus stop seemed immediately more fun as you started watching a video while standing up, occasionally glancing at the road to see if the bus had arrived yet.
You were locked in, watching a hilarious animation on your screen. You had waited for a new episode to drop and it was finally here. The plot points were shocking and funny at the same time and your grin widened as you kept watching.
As the antics on your screen got more crazy and hilarious, you couldn't stop giggling more and more. A particularly shocking twist made you burst into laughter and you wiped your eyes as you cackled and wheezed.
Suddenly somebody interrupted you, speaking in finnish.
"Minä luulin, että suomalaiset pitävät etäisyyttä toisiinsa, eivätkä häiritse toisiaan metelöimällä", that somebody said.
("I thought that finnish people keep distance to each other and don't disturb each other by being noisy", that somebody said.)
Your eyes widened. You turned around. You had company. There was a man standing a few meters away waiting for a bus. He looked like a politician or somebody else clean-shaven and proper. He smiled, eyes glinting mockingly.
He had called you "suomalainen" ("finnish"). That meant that he was not one. But interestingly he was still speaking finnish.
You chuckled neutrally. You could be patient, even if your companion seemed as annoying as a gum in your shoe.
"Hyvin huomattu. On tietysti olemassa poikkeuksia. Harmi, ettei sulla ole mukana omia kuulokkeita, mutta nyt ainakin pääset seuraamaan yhtä tällaista poikkeustapausta ihan läheltä. Saat vaikutelman Suomesta, kun kerran olet tullut tänne asti ulkomailta. Täällä on varmaan aika erilaista. Ymmärrätkö sä, mitä mä puhun, vai-"
("Good job noticing that. Of course there are exceptions. It's a shame that you don't have your own headphones with you, but at least now you get to witness one example of an exception from a close range. In that way you will get an impression of what Finland is like, as you must have come here from another country. It must be pretty different here. Do you understand what I'm saying, or-")
"Ymmärrän kyllä, kiitos. Suomen kieli ei ole niin vaikeaa kuin te luulette. Me 'ulkomaalaiset' olemme kyvykkäitä oppimaan, vaikka te ehkä leimaatte meidät ulkopuolisiksi ja hidasälyisiksi. Huvittavaa, ottaen huomioon kuinka suuri osa suomalaisista ei ymmärrä englantia."
("I do understand you, thank you. Finnish language is not as difficult as you think. We ' 'foreigners' are capable of learning, even if you might think we are outsiders and less intelligent. Laughable, considering how many people in Finland don't understand english.)
"Sä ajattelet ilmeisesti, että olet kaukana hidasälyisestä. Siihen on varmaan syytäkin, kun kuuntelee sun puhetta. Mun ei tarvi hidastaa mun puhetta ollenkaan, kun mä puhun sulle, ja sä ymmärrät näköjään myös puhekieltä ja lyhenteitä. Vai ymmärrätkö?"
("Apparently you think that you are far from unintelligent. Understandably you have reason to believe that, when I listen to the way you speak. I don't have to slow down at all when I speak to you and it looks like you also understand spoken language and shortened words. Do you?")
"Suomen kielen lyhenteet ovat yksinkertaisia moniin muihin kieliin verrattuna. Ei tarvita paljonkaan kokemusta tai päättelykykyä pystyäkseen arvaamaan monien sanojen merkitykset ja pysymään keskustelussa mukana."
("The shortened words in finnish language are simple compared to many other languages. You don't need much experience or intelligence to be able to guess the meanings of most words and keep up with the conversation.")
"Vau... Damn!" you exclaimed, feeling like you were showing too much genuine appreciation for your opponent, but you couldn't help it. But on the other hand, you were getting embarrassed. Did it seem like you were obsessed with finnish? You were also capable of speaking english and you felt a rush of excitement when you imagined testing those skills. You had talked about finnish enough, right? You changed subject. "Tai siis... Mä osaan englantia, by the way."
(Wow... Damn!" you exclaimed, feeling like you were showing too much appreciation for your opponent, but you couldn't help it. But on the other hand, you were getting embarrassed. Did it seem like you were obsessed with finnish? You were also capable of speaking english and you felt a rush of excitement when you imagined testing those skills. You had talked about finnish enough, right? You changed subject. "I mean... I can speak english, by the way.)
"Pystyn kuvittelemaan, millä tasolla pystyt puhumaan äidinkieltäni. En tarvitse siitä demonstraatiota. Sitä paitsi vaikuttaa kiusallisen paljon siltä, että haluat käyttää suomen kieltä englannin kielen sijaan. Syitä ovat luultavasti sokea isänmaallisuus ja sisäänpäin kääntynyt maailmankuva, joka on johtanut epävarmuuteen käyttää englantia spontaanisti."
("I can imagine the level on which you can speak my first language. I don't need an demonstration of that. Also it seems embarrassingly much like you want to use finnish instead of english to speak. The reasons for that are probably blind patritionism and inwards turned worldview, which has lead to uncertainty in regards of using english spontaniously.")
"En mä menis noin pitkälle! Sä liioittelet mun huonoja puolia! Ihan sama! Mä tykkään puhua suomen kieltä, koska se on kaunis kieli! Säkin varmaan tykkäisit kuunnella sitä, kun mä puhuisin englantia, mutta voi voi! Sä sait kuulla sitä vain silloin kun mä sanoin 'damn' ja 'by the way' ja se saa riittää. "
("I wouldn't go that far! You are exaggerating my bad qualities! Whatever! I like to speak finnish, because it is a beautiful language! You would probably be happy to hear it too, if I spoke english, but boo hoo! You were only able to hear it when I said 'damn' and 'by the way' and now I'm finished with that!")
"Siinä on aivan tarpeeksi demonstraatiota, kiitos. On kiinnostavaa nähdä, kuinka sinä esittelet itsekkäitä puoliasi tuntemattomalle ihmiselle. Olen tähän mennessä kuvitellut, että oma persoonallisuuteni olisi esimerkki tyypillisestä itsekkyydestä, mutta sinä teet uuden ennätyksen siinä kisassa. Olet niin itserakas, että se saa sinut käyttäytymään kuin harhainen. "
("That's quite enough demonstration, thank you. It's interesting to see how you are showing your selfish qualities to a stranger. Up until now I have imagined that my own personality is an example of typical selfishness, but you are making a new record in that competition. You are so egoistical that it makes you delusional.")
"Harhainen? Jaa, että millä tavalla?" you asked and reminded yourself to calm down, slowing down your breathing.
("Delusional? Oh yeah? How?" you asked and reminded yourself to calm down, slowing down your breathing. )
"Se käy ilmi siitä oletuksesta, että luulet englannin ääntämyksesi olevan niin vaikuttavaa kuultavaa, että minä voisin nauttia siitä, mikä on tietysti väärä oletus."
("It's apparent from the fact that based on your assumption you think that the way you enunciate english would be so impressive to hear that I would enjoy it, which is of course a wrong assumption.")
That was shocking and weird at the same time. You were not sure if you felt rejected or challenged.
"Wow..." you said, your voice neutral. The man might have thought that you were hurt from how short your answer was. Or he might think that you were unbothered and just thinking of what to say, because your expression was calm.
You stayed silent for awhile. You stared across the street and glanced at the man every once in a while.
When you opened your mouth, it was an insult.
"Kahjo", you said.
("Wackjob", you said.)
"Typerys", he answered.
("Stupid", he answered.)
"Älykääpiö."
("Shit for brains.")
"Rääpäle."
("Squirt.")
"Kusipää."
("Pissbrain.')
"Idiootti."
("Idiot.")
"Ei paha! Vaikka 'idiootti' on melkein sama kuin englannin 'idiot'", you admitted, grinning a little.
("Not bad! Even though 'idiootti' is almost the same as 'an idiot' in english language."
"Huomasit siis sen", the man said, looking up in the sky. He seemed to actually agree, even if reluctantly.
("So you noticed", the man said, looking up in the sky. He seemed to actually agree, even if reluctantly.)
"'Rääpäle' oli hyvä. Siinä ei ollut yhtään epävarmuutta kun sä sanoit sen'
("'Rääpäle' was great. It didn't sound at all unsure when you said it.")
"Finnish has a rather satisfying curse word vocabulary. It would be shameful to mock someone in an insufficient fashion, when you could insult them so fiercely that they feel it in their bones", the man said in english.
"Just niin! Wait, are we using english now? Do I get a chance to impress you with my skills?
("Exactly! Wait, are we using english now? Do I get a chance to impress you with my skills?")
"Spare me from baring witness to that. Ovatko kaikki suomalaiset näin huomionhaluisia?"
("Spare me from baring witness to that. Are all finns such attention-seekers?")
"Sä aloitit! On sulla otsaa kommentoida miten kaikkien suomalaisten pitäisi käyttäytyä kuin hiljaiset erakot, kun sä itse aloitit tän keskustelun ilmoittamalla kovaan ääneen sun mielipiteen mun läsnäolosta tällä bussipysäkillä!"
("You started it! Holy cow, you really have the audacity to comment on how all the finnish people should act like quiet reclusives while you yourself started this conversation by announcing loudly your opinion of my presence on this bus stop!")
"Taidat unohtaa, että pakotit minut puuttumaan asiaan kun häiritsit minua lapsellisella naureskelullasi. Sen lisäksi muistutan sinua, että olen ulkomaalainen ja suomalaisten sosiaaliset normit eivät siksi koske minua", the man said, leaning down on your eye level to smile at you annoyingly.
("You must have forgotten that you forced me to intervene when you disturbed me with your childish cackling. In addition I will remind you, that I am a foreigner and therefore the finnish norms don't affect me", the man said, leaning down on your eye level to smile at you annoyingly.)
An expensive looking car drove to the bus stop. The man stepped towards it, ready to go inside. He opened the door and looked at you. You sneered at him playfully.
"Onpa siinä hypokraatti. Oletko sinä tullut Suomeen, koska palat halusta päästä haastamaan riitaa ja sen takia huutelet normaaleille ihmisille bussipysäkeillä?"
("What a hypocrat! Have you come to Finland because you are itching to fight somebody and that's why you are yelling at normal people on bus stops?")
"Siinä on yksi syy. Ja toinen syy on se, että pääsen kutsumaan sinua rääpäleeksi."
("That's one reason. And the other reason to come here was so that I would get to call you "rääpäle".)
You almost burst out laughing, but grinned impishly at him instead. But you had to set something straight before he would leave.
"On mulla oikea nimikin. Se on (Y/n)."
("I do have a real name. It's (Y/n).")
"Mycroft", the man introduced himself. Your eyes widened. You were delighted that had actually given you his real name. Mycroft looked at you appreciatively and nodded.
Mycroft stepped inside the expensive car and soon he was gone. You stayed on the bus stop, humming to yourself. You felt giddy.
Art by unknown, if you who it is from, please warn me and I'll give the proper credit
This outfit featured in the drawing is traditional from the North East region, which is the one I'll be rambling about since is the one I know the most
This outfit isn't used for day-to-day and casual ativities, but mostly for special events.
The dress' name is baianinha
Before going into more details, it is important to highlight how the country, and specially the North East part of it were influenced by african culture.
The Africa is a wide and huge continent, full of the most diverse cultures, some of which, due to the diaspora, were bought here.
The Brazilian culture is, fundamentally, a mix of indigen, african and portuguese culture. Our language was a contribuition of the Portugueses, and many of it was also influenced by the Tupi (one of the most spoken indigen languages in the territorry), from which we have many many many words. The enslaved black people bought here also bought their cultures, and that was a big influence for the cuisine, the dances, the kid games and the clothes. We all know what Europe looks like and their culture doesn't differ much so we know what portugueses bought (some influence in the cuisine, the clothes ofc, the dances and stuff).
Dependong of the area of the country you're in, some specifics aspects of the culture may stand out. For some historical reasons (I won't be explaining here becaude it would make this way longer), the european imigrants from Modern Era went mostly to the South, and the black enslaved and no-more-enlaved were concentrated in the North East; the native people (indigenous brazilians) managed to stay in the North, and as so you can see a larger influence of White Culture in South and South East, a larger influence of Black Culture in the North-East, and a larger influence of Indigenous Culture in North.
The baianinha outfit has its roots bonded to afro-origined not only culture, but religions, like the candomblé and ubanda, in which the praticers use similar clothing. In Bahia (North-east), one of the most black influenced states of Brazil, this one is quite of a symbol.
