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dreamauri · 9 months

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♪ — 𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗔𝗧 𝗛𝗘𝗥 max verstappen x reader (fluff) “. . . while on a drive, lando's car breaks down and you're the best mechanic in town.”

( my master list | more of lando norris ) ( requests | taglist )

"Now my phone's dead too." Lando scoffed throwing his phone on the leather seat. He's been standing at the side of the blue carbon covered £380,00+ car for the past 20 minutes. He was in the middle of utterly no where, with no cars passing by ( the people that did stop, happen to not speak English nor Flemish Dutch for that matter yes lando tried speaking dutch to italians ).

What a lucky day.

And it was about to get a lot luckier when another car passing by stopped after Norris waved over. "I need help, with the car." He tried saying slowly, switching to Dutch to try his chances.

"I can . . . I can help push it? to uh . . . car doctor?" "Yes, car doctor, that would be great. Thank you." And so after about 2 hours of hard work, the two men ( well one man, one boy lando small ) arrived at a town where several other men came and helped Lando to the mechanics shop.

"Ask kiku. Uhhh . . . Kiku help with car. Very good."

Lando made sure to thank everyone before they left, going through the door. "Un momento per favore." [one moment please]. A female voice shouted through the garage, she was laying on a skateboard rolled under a car.

"Matteo!" she shouted again startling Lando. "Matteo. Porta qui il tuo culo e aiuta quel dannato uomo." [Matteo. Get your ass over here and help the god damn man]. 'Matteo' seemed to have either passed out and taken a nap or walked out. "marcire All 'inferno . . . Cosa c'è che non va nella tua auto?" [rot in hell . . . what's wrong with your car] You asked giving up on finding your co worker.

"I'm sorry?" Lando asked again feeling nervous in this situation, making you pause your tweaking. You rolled from under the car, looking at the British driver. "There shouldn't be anything wrong with your car." You spoke in English, fluently, rolling back under and continuing with the wrench.

"You didn't even take a look at my car-" He was stuttering. Lando was surprised and shocked. It's not everyday you run into a hot Italian women, that can fix cars and speaks English like she's from Chicago or Milton.

"What did you do to it. Were you racing with it? Drifting? Rallying? Or did you completely destroyed it, cause I don't have any carbon fiber or fancy doors and steering wheels."

"No." He replied to all of your questions. "Then it's fine. There's a gas station two roads south from here-" "You don't even know what the model of the car is." He argued, not believing you.

"You're Lando Norris, aren't you? its a 765LT Spider, McLaren." You answered with no hesitation, making the boy zip his mouth. "What do you want, Mr. Norris?" You asked again getting annoyed.

"I was told to look for, uh, Kiku was it?" He said unsurely. You sighed, grumbling a few Italian cuss words under your breath as you finished your current task. Rolling out, you stood up, lifting your tank top and wiping your face dry from the sweat, which in turn smudged some grease on your face.

Fuck not being attracted to Italian female mechanics, you were hot. Very attractive in Lando's eyes.

"I'm Kiku." You told him, handing him the greasy wrench. It was a stupid nickname a few friends gave you as a joke, and it stuck. You looked out at his car hand on your hip as you examined it. "Can you turn it on?" You asked as you approached it, ready to open the back trunk and check the engine.

Lando looked grossed out at the wrench, setting it on a random surface as he unlocked the truck. You examined the car for the next 15 minutes. "I can give it back tomorrow. It's not a big problem. Like I said, you're just out of gas."

"But the measure doesn't say that. And If it's just out of gas, shouldn't you be able to give it back today?" "Yeah. That's the problem, your fuel sender is lying to you and I have to change it." You patted his back, moving back into your garage.

"But I can't stay here forever." "What's wrong with this place?" You asked frowning, looking him in the eye. Lando was going to open his mouth before he closed it quickly. "Nothing I just don't-" why was he rushing? He didn't have places to be at the moment. ". . . I don't have a place to stay?" He answered, more like asked from how unsure of himself he was.

You looked at him for a few seconds. "You can wait over there, just don't touch anything." You told him sighing, nodding towards a few chairs near your office.

★ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"I'm not getting in." Lando refused, looking at your green car. Well it wasn't any green car. It was a classic, a Ferrari 250 gte. Highlight Ferrari. "Yeah, I'm definitely not getting it."

"Suit yourself, the coyotes here would not pass on eating you alive." You joked, not even sure if there were coyotes. "It's not everyday you get to eat a formula one driver, especially a British McLaren driver named Norris." Yea that statement did it for Lando, quickly getting in the car and closing the door after him.

"Good boy." You humed, not really thinking about it as you pulled out the driveway and made your way home. Lando could feel his face redden, hearing your praise, crossing his arms and huffing.

When you arrived at your house, the McLaren diver was quick to jump out first. "Think fast." Lando turned around, quickly catching the keys you tossed. He dropped them once he saw the yellow and black logo with a yelp.

You were laughing at him, moving to his side and picking up the keys, moving towards the house. "casa mia è casa tua." you told him as soon as you unlocked the door. Landor entered after you, copying you as you took your shoes off. The first thing the British driver felt was warmth, your space was giving him solace. This place felt like home.

"You can look around, I'm not going to take long in the shower." You set your bag down on the floor near the couch, making your way to the bathroom. Land did look around, he felt curious. You clearly knew him but he knew so little about you. While scouting for information he found your collection of music discs.

When finally came out fresh, Lando was quick to ask you about a few pictures he found. You two were quickly becoming close with one another. Sharing stories and jokes.

"What about this one?" Lando pointed to one on the grand piano. "Oh yea, I can totally see the picture, Mr. Norris." You chuckled. You were busy with your hands, making dinner for both of you ( you usually ordered out but it world be rude to do that with a guest around so you were putting your heart out in the spaghetti you wee making from scratch, something you knew would impress the McLaren driver ).

Lando picked up the photo frame walking over to you. "Why do you keep calling me by my last name? I have a first name, or did you forget." He chuckled looking at you. "Cause your first name sounds like London." You teased joking. It was out of respect, you did not want to get on his bad side, and it did sound like London just a bit.

Lando smiled laughing. "Well, I'd rather you call me by my first name." "Of course, Mr. Norris." You teased, leaning your forearms on the counter, flicking some flower on his face. He only held up the photo in return. "Oh, I remember this." You hummed, wiping your hand in a towel, taking the photo.

"It was before the last race for the European karting championship. I think I was . . . eleven in that picture?" Lando moved beside you looking down at it. You were in your kart, with your helmet on holding a thumbs up.

You took a moment looking at the photo, your father was sitting beside you on the floor, delivering the kart it's last few tweaks before the race. "You karted?" Lando asked, ruining the moment.

"No." You sarcastically replied, pushing the picture on his chest. "I flew planes at the age of two." You rolled your eyes. "Did you win?" "Hell yeah, I did. Do I look like some weak ass sissy?" You replied laughing. "That championship was mine. I Literally beat up Albon and Leclerc. "

"Really?" He was interested, leaning forward to listen closely. "What else did you race in?" "Just that really." You shrugged smiling. "Other than the karting track a few blocks down." "There's a karting track a few blocks down?" You looked at him blinking quietly. "I think answered your question before you answered it."

The boy looked away chuckling nervously. "Right." "I can drop you off tomorrow morning while I fix your car." You offered as you gently cooked the chicken alfredo. "Really?" You looked back at him deadpanning. "I mean, I'd enjoy that. Thank you."

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"Hey, I never got to ask, why didn't you continue with racing? You won the championship after all. We could've been competing in f1 together." The sun had already risen again and Lando was unwillingly sitting in your car as you drove through the town. "Not everyone is high born, Norris." You sighed, shrugging. "It's my cannon event. Besides, I'm happy like this."

After finally fixing the lying fuel measure, you drove the McLaren to the karting track, honking the horn to get the attention of the race car driver.

Turning back from the fence, Lando smiled upon seeing you lean on the blue carbon in the car park. "You fixed her!" "Of course I did." You chuckled, tossing him his keys once he was close enough. "You're free to go Mr. Norris." You chuckled getting off the McLaren and patting his back. "I don't need to leave just yet . . . by the way do you have plans next week?" "Why what are you up to."

lando.jpg

lando.jpg lesson learned, always carry a portable car mechanic with you

alex_albon ease my heart and tell me thats not who i think it is ↳ youruser long time no see alex ↳ alex_albon THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPLES YOU ↳ user 💀

charles_leclerc omg ew, kart theif ↳ youruser you're ew, you took my kart first! ↳ charles_leclerc it was a good kart ↳ alex_albon your only win ↳ charles_leclerc THATS MEAN

user who's that ↳ maxverstappen1 a nightmare ↳ youruser hey max ↳ maxverstappen1 BEGONE DEMON

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joachimnapoleon · 2 months

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I was wondering the other day, did the people from Napoléon’s “inner circle” that became rulers ever learned the languages of their subjects? Could Murat speak Italian or did Bernadotte speak Swedish? Did Louis and Hortense speak Dutch/Flemish and so on and so forth? :-)

Sorry for the late response. I honestly don’t have too many details on this. I can recall one reference from a while back about Murat practicing his Italian and Caroline teasing him for his pronunciation (apparently he would accentuate the wrong syllables). Louis Bonaparte attempted to study Dutch but I have no idea how good he became at it; I’d be willing to bet that between the brevity of his reign and how busy he must’ve been, he probably didn’t attain fluency. Becoming fluent at a new language, especially once you’re well into adulthood, is extremely difficult—speaking from personal experience studying multiple languages over the years. (See also Napoleon’s failed attempt to learn English on Saint Helena.) As for Hortense, she was never emotionally invested enough in Holland to even be bothered to make the attempt; in her memoirs, she recounts leaving Holland in 1810: “As I drew nearer France I felt that I was being restored to life… The first custom-house officials we encountered made my heart beat faster because they spoke my language.” And regarding Bernadotte, it doesn’t appear that he ever learned Swedish, but as French was spoken at the court of Sweden at the time anyway (as it was also spoken at the court of Naples and most other European courts of the time), he would’ve done just fine without doing so.

#asks

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maximumwobblerbanditdonut · 3 months

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Where there is too much, something is missing.

The Ostend International Film Festival (FFI) hosted the European premiere of the first two episodes of the TV series THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR, announcing the European premiere of Belgian director Dries Vos' latest work. The FFI announcement noted that the international cast would include Sam Heughan ('Outlander'), Eleanor Tomlinson ('Poldark'), Jessica De Gouw ('The Secrets She Keeps') and Alfred Enoch ('How to Get Away'). with Murder'), who would introduce the series to audiences on Sunday 28 January. Each year, the Ostend Film Festival (FFO) presents a Flemish film professional who contributes to the Flemish audiovisual sector.

Happy Duck Films is based in Flanders, Dries Vos -is the CEO/Producer and aims to produce English-language titles that make use of local talent. However, The Couple Next Door is not a Belgian series and was not produced in Flemish or French language. Amongst this series Driesvos Vos has a Flemish drama “The Day” and the British adaptation of “Professor T. The FFI It's not news to him

Why so much noise, laughter and shouting about 2 actors when 4 main actors star in the series according to the Dutch writer Saskia Noort on whom the series was based? The series is ranked #513 in the English-language lineup and dropped to #4 on Channel 4 TV in the UK, with low online audience engagement, including on social media.

What happened with Jessica De Gouw and Alfred Enoch, the other 2 main actors of The Couple Next Door series, who were not present at the festival even though the FFI announced the 4 actors for this day, they don't deserve a star on the Ostend Walk of Fame or to be known in Belgium? 🇧🇪 Among the 4 main actors, SH is the weakest link as far as anyone knows, he is invisible outside Outlander. What were they celebrating?

Gene Bervoets is a Belgian actor, born in Antwerp. He has performed in more than 60 films. Bervoets won the Ensor Award for Best Actor is an accolade presented by the Ensor Academy of Belgium to recognise cinematic achievement in the film industry and is the highest film honour in the Flemish-speaking part of the country.

The director doesn't know how to wear a belt or his trousers are too big for him, he could at least have left his cap at home 🥴

The director was interested in the "incomparable" SH (his words) and make no mistake, his words did not refer to SH's acting performance 🎭 but to his profitable decorative style.

But we can understand that Vos's favourite actor is incomparable. If we compare it to his style, there is no doubt, SH's style was incomparable. Adulation exists, but now it's incomparably ridiculous to what it was. It doesn't happen often, but this time it is noteworthy.

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bestiarium · 2 years

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The Horse of Malegijs [Dutch/Flemish folktales]

Malegijs, often called Maugris in English, is a character from medieval sagas, who supposedly lived in the 8th century. He was a wizard or sorcerer and played a somewhat important role in Dutch and Belgian folktales because he freed the mythical horse Bayard.

Interestingly, there is also a folktale about another horse which appears at first glance to be entirely unconnected, yet is referred to as either ‘the horse Malegijs’ or ‘the horse of Malegijs’. I suspect the name ‘Malegijs’ was eventually used to refer to wizards or supernatural things in general.

Anyway, the story goes like this: in 1521, three young girls from Ieper (pronounced ‘Ee-pur’) returned from a trip to the local fair. Their names were Maxima Vanden Driessche, Magdalena Ghijselin and Lucia Larmeson. They were neighbours. On the way home, the three girls found a small horse of exceptional beauty. It had smooth white skin with almost no fur, its torso was decorated with flowers, its tail had a beautiful golden colour and on its sides were decorations that resembled green parrots. It was wearing a saddle made from pink damask. An unassuming servant came running and claimed to be the owner of the animal. He asked whether the girls had ever seen anything like it, which they had not, and claimed that the horse was from Japan. According to the servant, the horse would never let itself be ridden by a man but would exclusively carry women. A charming and smooth talker, he eventually managed to convince the three curious girls to ride the horse. Magdalena, the bravest of the three, sat in front. But they soon discovered that they had been tricked, for the horse did not walk at a slow pace like the servant had promised, but ran away at a dizzying speed.

After nightfall, the horse suddenly stopped in front of a large and mysterious castle. Through its windows shone a weirdly bright light and joyous music could be heard from within. The horse – still carrying its frightened riders – entered through the gate, accompanied by the servant who had somehow arrived at the castle. The gates closed behind them. Within the castle, they were greeted by a lord with expensive and exotic clothes, and his entourage of noble ladies. The lord wore a Turkish hat (with a little mirror on it and gemstones at the side) and was dressed in clothes made from damask. He politely invited the three bewildered girls to eat dinner with him.

Afterwards, the girls wanted to return to their homes, for they had travelled a very long distance and it would take a long time to walk back. But the castle lord demanded that they join him in a game of ‘pand’. I do not know what kind of game this was, and I can not find information about it, but we can assume it was some form of gambling game as the girls lost almost all of their belongings to the mysterious man. Clad in their underwear and having lost their jewelry, they were thoroughly humiliated and wished to leave. The man said “now, let us toast to the horse Malegijs, which has brought these three ladies to our castle in such a wondrous manner”. Immediately after speaking these words, the eyes of the castle’s ladies suddenly flashed with a supernatural light. They were each given a glass with an unknown beverage, but only managed to drink a few drops before they suddenly awoke from what appeared to be a dream.

But when they got up and looked around, the three girls found themselves in a hole in the ground, atop the Kemmelberg (a hill in West-Vlaanderen, which is a decent distance from Ieper). Curiously, they were still half naked. And so they wandered around until they found a poor farmer’s house. It was still night but they woke the man and told him their story and asked for clothes and transport. The man believed them, claiming that the Kemmelberg was haunted by a group of witches. Sometimes he could hear their music and see flashing lights. But his wife disagreed: she claimed that these strange girls from Ieper, who showed up in their underwear at night and told such strange tales, were clearly witches themselves and should be burned alive. Her husband tried to grab the girls but they managed to flee.

The girls came upon an inn and told the owner that they were robbed by bandits (they didn’t want to tell the truth, lest the innkeeper accuse them of witchcraft like the farmer had done). The man took pity on them and offered to clothe them and bring them home. As luck would have it, the man was a close friend of Magdalena’s father. He ordered a servant to prepare his carriage and so they left.

But the innkeeper lost his way, which he assumed to be because of witchcraft, as he had travelled that road many times before and knew the roads like the back of his hand. A black shade appeared and floated over the horses, and they ran through fields, rivers and forests without breaking a sweat. But the sun came up and the shadow disappeared, for it had no power during the day.

It was a long way home, but eventually the three girls arrived at their destination.

The moral of this story is clear: girls shouldn’t travel with strange men. But I don’t think this was a very widespread tale since all sources are nearly identical, down to the grammar of the sentences. Thus, I suspect they were all derived from Wodana 1843 (a 1967 magazine about Flemish folklore and mythology) which is cited by my second source here. It was written by professor Karel Peeters, who is also the author of my first source. I am uncertain how old this tale is, but I doubt it’s a medieval story. If I had to guess, I’d say the story was first told in the 19th or 20th century.

Sources: Peeters, K. C., 1979, Vlaams Sagenboek, Davidsfonds, Leuven. https://www.dekroniekenvandewesthoek.be/malegijs-paardje/ https://www.volksverhalen.be/Ieper_PaardjevanMalegijs https://middelkerke.bibliotheek.be/en/catalog/karel-c-peeters/wodana-1843/book/wise-westvlaanderen_3093016?branch=Middelkerke%2FWestende (image: statuette made by Adhémar Vandroemme)

#Belgian mythology #Flemish mythology #Dutch mythology #myths #mythical creatures #folklore #folktales

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dresshistorynerd · 2 years

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Hiya!

Love your blog! So much cool info here. I don't know if this is the kind of thing you are interested in or know much about but I'm making a cosplay of Mary from the BBC Ghosts. She supposedly died in the early 17th century but I can't find anything on the blue bodice/waistcoat she is wearing. I think it is closer to 19th century stays? Anyway, I get it's not 100% historically accurate costume, just wondering. Thanks!

Hi, Anon! And thank you so much!

I haven't watched the show, but I checked out the outfit and here it is for those who also didn't know it before:

A quick look at the Ghosts wikipage of her tells she was an English peasant.

I ended up falling into a bit of research rabbit hole (which is why it took me this long to answer). The evolution of working class garments from Elizabethan era to 1700s ended up being very interesting and surprisingly complicated. It doesn't make it easier that there's very little info on the subject, especially regarding English working class. It's much easier to find info on Dutch and Flemish working class clothing, as the Dutch golden age/baroque art was very interested in depicting working class people, the style also provides abundance of detail. English artists were much less interested in painting common people.

To make the rest make any sense I think it would be useful to outline the evolution of garments used in 16th to 18th century. In 1500s kirtle (here's a post where I talk about what kirtle is and it's evolutiona mong other things) was becoming more and more structured, eventually it's bodice becoming fully boned. Lower classes wouldn't bone their kirtles but reinforce them with several layers of canvas or buckram. In the first half of the century a short wool coat was sometimes used under the outerwear far warmed called petticoat. It was the Little Ice Age after all. Two boned or highly stiffened kirtles started to be used on top of each other, the first layer being made from cheaper materials and acting as the actual supporting layer, and the one on top of it from more expensive materials, stiffening (not necessarily boning) making sure the fabric is structured and without wrinkles. In the latter half of the century petticoat started to refer to the undergarment kirtle. Petticoats usually were a full dress like kirtle, though there's references of "petticoats without the upper bodies" so petticoats with only the skirt were also used as undergarments.

It gained the connotation of a simple and not very fancy garment, which is why the lower class kirtles started to be called petticoats by late 1500s. Lower classes might also wear two layers of petticoats, often in contrasting colors, probably in cold weather and then one layer in hot weather. The bodice and skirt also could be contrasting colors. The outer petticoat had almost always lacing in the front, but the petticoat under it might have lacing in the back or side so it's fabric could be seen under the lacing over it. At least Dutch and Flemish women would usually have a stomacher of contrasting color under the front lacing if they didn't have a petticoat under. Very wide lacing which showed off the fabric beneath was typical (but not necessary) for those and the German speaking areas. Petticoats would often have attachable or sewn-in sleeves like kirtles since Middle Ages, so that they could be worn as undergarment without sleeves and outer garment with sleeves if necessary.

An example from 1570s England. Two of the three peasant women in the front are wearing petticoats with bodices made from different fabrics.

An example by Flemish painter from around 1560s/70s. The left-most woman is clearly wearing a soft stomacher under her petticoat and the woman in the very middle has attached sleeves as shown by the bulging shift in her arm pits.

Over the petticoats though working class women would often wear a looser sleeved over-garment which wasn't laced. Around Netherlands area it was a short jacket with widening hem at waist often called waistcoat, like on the right-most woman in above painting, though I'm not sure if that is actually contemporary term for it. In late 1500s England the over-garment seemed to be more commonly a full length gown open in the front with short or full sleeves, similarly as the fashionable outer garment of the upper classes but much simpler, but by early 1600s the waistcoat is most commonly depicted in England too. There were couple of important accessories. Partlet was in 1600s most often white linen, while in the earlier century woolen black partlets were also common (the woman in the middle of the Flemish painting above is wearing both). In 1500s and early half of 1600s the partlet had high collar with ruffle like shown in the above paintings and it was usually worn over the petticoat (though sometimes under) and under the waistcoat or similar over-garment. Apron was also very important for working women, and while most often it was white linen, wool and different colors like show in both paintings above were also common. Kercief, a (most often) white linen scarf pinned on shoulders, was also common, especially in England, as shown in the first painting and the one below.

An English peasant from 1582 illustration wearing an open-fronted over-gown with short sleeves.

English peasants dancing from 1620s, while the women are wearing waistcoats.

In the fashion of the upper classes the bodice of the petticoat and the skirt of the petticoat started to appear as separate garments in late 1500s. A separate bodice was referred to as pair of bodies, or bodies, similarly to the bodice of the petticoat was referred to as upper bodies like I mentioned before. The word bodice actually derives from it. For clarity I will call the separate boned bodice as bodies. Like petticoat it was very much an undergarment, though could be used as a leisure wear in private. Like other supportive clothing that could be used as both under and over garments it also often had detachable sleeves. The full petticoat would fall out of use by the upper class by mid 1600s, but bodies wouldn't become universal as the structural layer yet, as the outer gown's bodice would often still be boned and used as the supportive layer. Working class women would use full petticoats till late 1600s, but separate bodies would become more widespread from early to mid century onward. Boning also would get adopted into working class clothing around mid century, though stiffening with fabrics or barely at all would continue to be common the whole century and still continue till early 1700s.

An example of bodies without boning on a peasant woman from the second half of 17th century Netherlands.

Working class woman with boned bodies from 1665-70, also Netherlands.

In 1680s there was a huge shift in the upper class fashion as mantua, completely unstructured garment, became extremely common and stays were developed from bodies to be it's supportive layer. Before that the boning was called stays, which alludes to the increasing distinction between outer and under clothing, as stays would be more of just separate boning rather than garment that could be used on it's own (though it could still be worn on it's own in some cases). In working class fashion the full petticoat fully disappeared by 18th century and the basic set of clothes was petticoat, supportive bodice without boning or stays (which would become almost universal during the century) and bed gown or jacket. Bed gown was short and very jacket-like, but a looser and t-shaped without the shoulder seem. Both were increasingly used regardless of weather.

Stays as outer garment from around 1780s-90s.

I think that Mary's blue waistcoat/bodice most resembles 18th century examples. Specifically, the supportive laced bodices without boning, like in the examples below. Unfortunately I haven't found any info about them. The cut is simpler than stays and actually reminds me most about jackets/waistcoats without sleeves. I've read there was laced under-jackets used in 18th century, so I'm wondering if these bodices relates to that. Maybe likelier origin is that they evolved from the previous century working class bodies that didn't have boning. Mary's bodice however is cut very differently. The neckline is high unlike these 1700s bodices, which purpose was to lift the chest.

Firstly a Dutch painting from first half of 18th century and then Italian painting from 1721.

Because supportive garments became very much undergarments or at least the second lowest layer right after shift, even if nothing was worn on top of it, it really doesn't fit Mary's bodice. Though I maybe found an exception where stays are possibly worn on top of a sleeved waistcoat or maybe bed gown, but it's hard to say and I haven't seen any other examples of that.

A 1713 Dutch illustration of Brabant, Belgium, dress. The bodice part looks like it could be a bed gown or similar loose jacket-like garment with boned stays on top of it. With little detail and no color it's hard to say though. It could be also a boned jacket or jacket on top of stays.

There is actually a fairly well documented style around this era that does have long sleeved garment beneath and sleeves garment over it. In the latter half of the 17th century and more rarely in early 18th century paintings depict Dutch and Flemish working women wearing long sleeved garment and laced bodice or petticoat over it. I haven't really seen depictions outside of them, however it doesn't mean they don't exist, since as said in the beginning there's just overwhelmingly more lower class depictions in Dutch and Flemish art than in any other art. Still, there being examples of this style from 1700s, when it's very outdated and absent in working class and peasant depictions of art from other areas, where depicting working class is becoming more common, suggests to me that it's at least somewhat regional style.

A Dutch painting from circa 1665.

In the above painting the woman seems to wear a full petticoat (the bodice and skirt are same color) with lacing on the front and what seems like a waistcoat under it. It's hard to say if the bodice is boned. This is a nice example as the partlet (the collar had mostly lost popularity by this time) is under garments unlike in most other depictions where it's on top of the bodice. We can then see that the sleeved garment is pinned and has fairly high neckline making it look a lot like the waistcoats of the time. It could be that they are not all the same garment. I would have rather guessed they were full petticoats with sewn-in sleeves before seeing this painting, but some of them still could be, especially the ones that seem more fitted. I haven't found any information about it, except one webside where it was called bed gown, which I think they definitely are not as they come earlier, are sometimes very fitted and often the shoulder seem of the sleeve is shown. Bodies and petticoats with detachable sleeves and waistcoats as over-garments are still frequently found in Dutch and Flemish paintings of the time, which makes me question why would they put especially waistcoat under the supportive layer? My little pet theory is that they need it for the warmth, but they want to protect it with a less expensive petticoat and/or bodies while working.

A Dutch 1659-60 painting. Here I think the women in red could be wearing sleeved petticoats or separate bodices under their bodies.

For Mary's outfit the issue is the peplum-type hemline on her blue bodice. It's very much absent in this era from bodies both boned and not, weather because the bodies end in waistline, which there's some depictions of like the one several pictures above, or the hem is under the petticoat. But I did find this one garment from the same era also depicted in Dutch and Flemish art mostly on older women. It has the peplum hem, but it's not bodies. All the examples I've seen are pinned close, so not supportive and definitely not boned. They are also cut differently. The shoulders are quite wide and the neckline high. It almost feels like sleeveless waistcoat. I found even less info on this style, so I can only guess.

Dutch painting from circa 1650-55. The waistcoat/bodice has a hem here that extends over the gray petticoat unlike with other garments we've looked at.

Dutch painting circa 1670. In the enlarge image you can just make out the seem of the undergarment.

I think Mary's clothing best reflects this specific style from this period of time. Her partlet also lacks the ruffle as later 1600s partlets usually do. Her apron is also gathered like those in the latter half of 1600s. Earlier aprons are usually not gathered as seen in the couple of first examples. The blue bodice I think is a mix between the sleeveless waistcoat-type garment seen in two above paintings and the separate or petticoat bodices which are not boned. It's laced and has narrow shoulders like the bodices, but it has high neckline and the hem over the petticoat like the sleeveless "waistcoats". The ruffles on her sleeves don't make sense in this time period. They could make more sense in 1700s. Over all it's actually pretty close in time and geographically to the time and place she's supposed to come from, even if it's not the way she'd actually dress if she was from early 1600s England.

#fashion history #historical fashion #historical clothing #historical costuming #bbc ghosts #working class clothing #peasant clothing #dutch golden age art #baroque #baroque fashion #elizabethan fashion #dress history #answers #ask

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oswincoleman · 8 months

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With everything else going on this month (which ought to renamed from September to Jennatember, because it is Jenna Coleman's month), I fear I may have not mentioned Klokkenluider enough. I've not seen it yet, and hope for an international release soon!

After being shown at a few film festivals, Jenna Coleman's new film, Klokkenluider, was released to numerous cinemas across the UK on the 1st of September. Along with the release came a number of new reviews of the film, the vast majority of which have been quite positive.

On Rotten Tomatoes, Klokkenluider currently has a critics score of 91%!

Here are two recent critical reviews of the film:

It’s here Jenna Coleman enters the fray and steals the show as the very sweary journalist that everyone’s been waiting on.

But it's Jenna Coleman, from TV's Victoria, who steals the show, swooping in for the last 20 hectic minutes as Flo, a foul-mouthed news reporter. Crotchety from the day's travel, she speaks in raging, rapid-fire sentences, sometimes oddly poetic, such as, "Long drive, f***ing pounding rain, f***ing shit story? Very angry me!"

#jenna coleman #jenna louise coleman #klokkenluider #klokkenluider film #flo #rotten tomatoes #reviews

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fuckthisshitimoutyall · 4 months

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begging you to recommend me freaky fucked up dutch lit

Ok ok ok,,, so!

I have compiled a lil list for you, here's the thing though. These luckily do have english translations and depending on if you are Dutch/speak Dutch you will probably have heard of these. You will have seen them on the reading lists during high school because although your teacher tries to find something for everything and be a bit more modern,, it’s not all that successful.

sidenote for context:

Oftentimes, Dutch lit is not really for me. this has to do with the high school thing. reading levels in the Netherlands are down, about every year there will be some boomer or other complaining them youngsters don’t read anymore. True, but I vehemently believe this is because of what we had to read in high school. Because although its great if literature is weird, I mean yay artistic expression! Not too handy dandy when trying to introduce a bunch of teens to it to just throw em in the deep end and hope they’ve read them by the end of the year. It’s kind of a IYKYK thing. (it’s a rather complicated matter and this is a very condensed version of it but if I talk about that you’ll get an essay to get my thoughts across instead of what you’ve asked me which is some recommendations.)

Another bit of context: dutch lit doesn’t really shy away from religious, sexual, and sometimes gory themes. Infidelity sometimes feels a bit like the norm. Also lot of it is very straight (incest too). That being said, dutch literature has plenty of great stuff too (kader abdoulah has some cool stuff but is a lot less weird than trad dutch lit)

Having all That out of the way: FuckyWucky dutch lit incoming!:

(I have copied the descriptions from goodreads because I have not read all of these and if I were to go as far as do so this ask would not be answered for another two years)

De avond is ongemak/The discomfort of evening by Lucas Rijneveld

(The first one that reminded me when weird dutch lit comes to pass)

“I thought about being too small for so much, but that no one told you when you were big enough ... and I asked God if he please couldn't take my brother Matthies instead of my rabbit. 'Amen.'

Jas lives with her devout farming family in the rural Netherlands. One winter's day, her older brother joins an ice skating trip; resentful at being left alone, she makes a perverse plea to God; he never returns. As grief overwhelms the farm, Jas succumbs to a vortex of increasingly disturbing fantasies, watching her family disintegrate into a darkness that threatens to derail them all.

De engelenmaker/The angelmaker by Stefan Brijs

The village of Wolfheim is a quiet little place until the geneticist Dr. Victor Hoppe returns after an absence of nearly twenty years. The doctor brings with him his infant children-three identical boys all sharing a disturbing disfigurement. He keeps them hidden away until Charlotte, the woman who is hired to care for them, begins to suspect that the triplets-and the good doctor- aren't quite what they seem. As the villagers become increasingly suspicious, the story of Dr. Hoppe's past begins to unfold, and the shocking secrets that he has been keeping are revealed. A chilling story that explores the ethical limits of science and religion, The Angel Maker is a haunting tale in the tradition of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein . Brought to life by internationally bestselling author Stefan Brijs, this eerie tale promises to get under readers' skin.

Het smelt/The Melting by Lize Spit

Eva can trace the route to Pim's farm with her eyes closed, even though she has not been to Bovenmeer for many years. There she grew up among the rape fields and dairy farms. There lies also the root of all their grief.

Eva was one of three children born in her small Flemish town in 1988. Growing up alongside the boys Laurens and Pim, Eva sought refuge from her loveless family life in the company of her two friends. But with adolescence came a growing awareness of their burgeoning sexuality. Driven by their newly found desires, the children begin a game that will have serious and violent consequences for them all. Thirteen years after the summer she's tried for so long to forget, Eva is returning to her village. Everything fell apart that summer, but this time she'll be prepared. She has a large block of ice in her car boot and she's ready to settle the score...

Tirza/Tirza by Arnon Grunberg

Jorgen Hofmeester once had it all: a beautiful wife, a nice house with a garden in an upperclass neighborhood in Amsterdam, a respectable job as an editor, two lovely daughters named Ibi and Tirza, and a large amount of money in a Swiss bank account. But during the preparations for Tirza's graduation party, we come to know what he has lost. His wife has left him; Ibi is starting a bed and breakfast in France, an idea which he opposed; the director of the publishing house has fired him; and his savings accounts have vanished in the wake of 9/11.

But Hoffmeester still has Tirza, until she introduces him to her new boyfriend, Choukri - who bears a disturbing resemblance to Mohammed Atta - and they announce their plans to spend several months in Africa. A heartrending and masterful story of a man seeking redemption, Tirza marks a high point in Grunberg's still-developing oeuvre.

(also I think believe he has a thing for his daughters)

De donkere kamer van Damocles/The darkroom of Damocles by Willem Frederik Hermans

During the German occupation of Holland, tobacconist Henri Osewoudt is visited by Dorbeck. Dorbeck is Osewoudt's spitting image in reverse. Henri is blond and beardless, with a high voice; Dorbeck is dark-haired, and his voice deep.

Dorbeck gives Osewoudt a series of dangerous assignments: helping British agents and eliminating traitors. But the assassinations get out of hand...

The story of Osewoudt's fateful wanderings through a sadistic universe is thrilling. Is Osewoudt hero or villain? Or is he a psychopath, driven by delusions? It is the impossibility of ascertaining whether Osewoudt was on the "right" side or the "wrong" side - the moral issue of the Second World War in a nutshell - that makes Hermans' novel as breathtaking now as when it was written a decade after the war.

Having given these five recs, this is like the tip of the iceberg

#ask #fuckywuckylit

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slothgiirl · 1 year

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leo messi drabble

It starts raining halfway through her walk. Which isn’t unusual for the Netherlands as far as she’s aware. Or Holland. She was never great at geography.

What matters is she’s in Utrecht for the day from Amsterdam. It’s not far, but given the only two people she knows in the continent of Europe stayed back, it feels like she might as well be on another planet. Another planet with similarly Flemish style buildings and a map the size of a4 paper: the better to hide the most obvious sign of her being a tourist. She doesn’t really have a plan other than exploring the city aimlessly; a plan the rain’s putting on hold.

She shoves her map into her bag, glancing around the street to find somewhere to duck into while the worst of the rain passes.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Last summer when she’d been planning this with Rocio and Yadira it had been the dream girl's trip. A month in Europe going from hostel to hostel before taking on university. They’d fit in museums in the afternoon with late nights bar hopping. Yadira had written some useful dutch phrases, carefully copied from the yahoo page that had taken ages to load.

Then Yadira had pulled out. Her friend had decided to put the money into university tuition over a graduation trip.

And Rocio’s solution was to bring her boyfriend along.

So now she was a third wheel.

Javier was fine.

But it wasn’t the same.

She didn’t mind when they went to museums, even at clubs it was nice to have a guy around, just in case. It was at restaurants when she felt like the odd one out.

Maybe she was being too sensitive.

Ducking into one of the many pubs with their neon colored Heiniken signs and terrace tables filled with smoking patrons ambivalent about the rain. She drags her shoes over the mat, cleaning off her shoes before glancing around.

The place was filled with guys who might have finished school alongside her with questionable hairstyles that ranged from hippie-long to gelled to the point it might hurt to touch. Tourists then, she thought. Or some travel group. She’d seen plenty of those at the Rijksmuseum. It had been a battle of endurance to wait while an entire school group from the states walked down the stairs in the Anne Frank House.

Some were even cute.

With glasses of beer in hand, they were definitely celebrating something.

She beelines to the bar. A coffee sounded amazing but she would settle for a beer. Rest while the rain passes and just enjoy the view of the street. Traveling made even streets interesting. The streets were even cobblestone instead of the cracked pavement and pothole stricken streets around Veracruz.

Still, she’d have traded anything for a taco. Even just the warm tortilla cooked on the woodfire stove would beat any meal she’s had here.

“Un cafe,” she leans against the bar, “coffee, koffie?” The words sounded foreign on her tongue. She usually tried English first, as she was more familiar with it. But years of instruction in school still left her fumbling, the pronunciation garbled in her mouth.

Well, they sounded similar enough.

“Twee vijftien,” the bartender’s an older man, maybe a decade older than her parents with cauliflower ears. He plots the paper receipt in front of her.

It’s a fumble of coins: digging them out of her purse and figuring out which coins were how much.

She sets her euros on the counter, trying to make eye contact to make sure he knows she paid while he helps one of the guys.

His t-shirt is blue with blocky white font reading Argentina. (It’s a safe bet where they’re all from.) The shirt is too large, and his jeans are just as wide legged. She’ll never understand why guys loved to buy jeans that were too large only to get a belt.

His hair was long and mousy brown as he patiently tried to order which was a complicated matter when the bartender didn’t speak spanish, and the guy clearly only spoke in spanish to him.

“Birra. Una birra,” the guy waves his hands trying to communicate.

“Beer,” the barkeeper raises a brow, “Yes.” He points at the pint, “beer.”

“No,” he sighs dejectedly, “de-una caña?”

He had church boy-help old ladies with their grocery bags written all over him.

“Como corona?” She butts in.

It wasn’t rude if she was trying to help.

The guy looks over at her, smiling kindly in a manner that is contagious. “Si. De cristal. Vidrio? Nunca se con eso que el castellano cambia de pais a pais.”

“Verdad!” She nods, mirroring his easy going smile, “o mas bien, che vos.”

He takes her light teasing in stride, looking down at his shoes and laughing. His cheeks turn pink in a charmingly sheepish way.

She tries to get the message across. “Beer,” she mimes with her hand, “in…bottle?”

“Ah,” the barkeep nods, and fetches an amber glass bottle. It’s a random dutch brand, but better than nothing. He also hands her her cup of coffee.

“Leo,” Leo extends his hand like he’s going through motions.

She shakes his hand, introducing herself.

Whatever easy moment passes as he can’t hold her gaze for long, a thread of self consciousness in his stance.

“Are you here with school,” she asks.

This makes him snort, “no-a. . .work actually,” which only seems to amuse him more.

“Really?”

“Well,” he tilts his head. “The world cup. Sort of.”

“Isn’t that next summer?”

“Under 20,” Leo rubs the back of his neck, “but it’s still a world cup.”

“That’s cool as fuck.” She looks him over again, trying to imagine him playing semi-pro, pro(?), either way, it was crazy to think about when he seemed so normal. Football players came off pretty arrogant in the press clips but then again, she didn’t follow any team that closely.

“I keep waiting for it to feel real but even benched for Barca,” he shrugs because Leo can’t put the feeling into words. It was bigger than that.

“Did you win?”

Leo meets her wondering gaze. His amber eyes twinkle with mirth, “just a little.”

“Ha! Trying to be humble?”

“It was close,” he says seriously, “I’d rather be honest than humble.”

“So you play pretty well?”

“I love football.” He shrugs as in a what can you do about it before taking a long drink of his beer.

She wets her bottom lip, before remembering her own drink and looking away.

“And you?” Leo fidgets with the beer cap in one hand.

“Just. . .touristiando. Taking in the sights before I hit the books.” It sounded woefully inadequate compared to playing at any level of a Fifa world cup. Had she already failed at life? She was only eighteen but already she was falling behind.

Her grip tightens on the coffee cup.

“See anything good?” He asks leaning into her.

The pub feels cozy now. Not as loud as when she entered. She doesn’t mind having to put her walking on hold.

“The canals. Some ancient tower. I think this isn’t a tourist centric city. Must be why it’s a day trip,” she tells him truthfully. “I had lunch in the park. That was really nice. It’s been nice just to wander around.” Not every vacation day had to be jam packed.

“Do you want to get dinner,” Leo says suddenly, going still. “With me.” He swallows.

It was nice, skipping the whole song and dance and just getting to the point. She liked that about him. She liked Leo. And she was on an entirely different continent. Why not?

She was an adult. She was going to start uni soon.

Her gaze kept flickering over Leo. Like an optical illusion, he looked like a guy she might have shared a class with yet more attractive than any guy she knew.

Why not?

“Okay.”

She giggles.

Leo ducks his head.

She was glad it had rained on her day trip.

#leo messi #lionel messi fic #leo messi imagine #the first creative thing ive written in months and im not happy about it #i feel like i shouldve just written it all in spanish ngl

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f1-disaster-bi · 1 year

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Max teaching Eloise Dutch. He told Lando he teaches her because she need communicating with her Belgian cousins but in reality it’s because Max wants to have secret language with his little bestie

I love this 🥺

Lando only speaks a little Dutch and a little Flemish Dutch. Not enough to pass onto Eloise so he doesn't

But Max loves teaching her Dutch. Whenever he babysits her, he reads his favourite Dutch fairytale and stories to her and chats to her. At first she only has a few words but then she starts putting together sentences and Max loves it. He loves getting to have this little secret with her, and Lando loves seeing Max and Eloise bonding, and even starts to brush up on his Dutch so he can help Eloise when Max isn't around

He tries to talk to her in Dutch once but he gets a "no daddy, that's for me and uncle Maxy"

Max is 100% smug about it to the others, teasing George because "you don't have a secret language or favourite uncle position", Charles tries to teach her French but uncle Maxy has told her to "ignore Uncle Charles when he speaks his language"

#single dad lando au #single parent lando au #uncle max

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bonesandthebees · 7 months

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Yeah Dutch has a lot of loan words form English, but also French, German and Spanish. There’s also a lot of bastardised words, but I don’t know if that the correct term in English (or Dutch for that matter). Linguistics are very interesting here because there’s differences between Flemish Dutch and Dutch in the Netherlands even though both schools they AN aka Algemeen Nederlands aka general Dutch. And at the same time Waals French is slightly different from French in France (and probably also a little from French in Brussels). Which is how you get Belgisims in French which are essentially Belgian versions of those French words they French won’t exactly get.

Example: if you go to a French backers in France and ask for un pistole. You are very much asking for a gun (see: a pistol (similar to the Dutch: pistool)), but if you use that term anywhere in Belgium we know it to be the little round bread buns.

And I’m rambling but I just really like linguistics. Also, I’m trying to remember the difference between loan words and bastardisation and I think it’s Loan words are directly copied or borrowed from the mother language while bastardised words then get taken and changed to fit the language. So a loan word from English would be a pen -> een pen. Where a bastardised word is pistol -> pistool, changed to fit the spelling.

These words then also tend to get classified by the language they come from. So words from English are Anglisimes. Form German are Germanismes. And I don’t remember the exact French term. (And yes what had to learn and clasify these words in high school Dutch classes, which is how I know all this).

Taking words from these different languages also causes a lot of confusion. Like we use bellen to mean calling, coming from Alfred Bel aka the guy who invented the Telephone and whose first name I may or may not have gotten correct. This gets confusing when you learn German because there Bellen means barking, as in a dog barking. And they use telefonieren to mean calling except we also use telefoneren it’s just more formal and less commonly used but mean the same thing.

This post is brought to you by the Flemish education system and the general mess of languages that is Belgium. (I know like several people who speak 5-6 languages because our school system teaches you at least Dutch, French and English with optional German and Spanish in later years + whatever home language(s) someone may speak aside from that.)

Hope you enjoy the ramble!

-🌲

oh yeahhh my friend who's belgian has told me a bit about the languages there. I know that while flemish dutch and netherlands dutch are mostly just have different accents (with the flemish accent sounding much nicer in my opinion) you guys have a few differences between them. similar with waals french. I think my friend told me that unlike france french which has the dumb numbering system of calling 75 soixant-quinze (which is technically like saying sixty-fifteen) and 85 quatre-vingt-cinq (four-twenties-five) etc etc, the waals french just has proper numbers for numbers in the 70s and 80s? I could be misremembering but I think she told me that one time and if that's true you guys are based the four twenties thing is so dumb

pistole is a very fun one though I love that. could be quite the mixup at the bakery lol

oooo that's interesting that you had to learn so much about linguistics in high school! makes sense since you live in a country with literally 3 different language regions. you got a lot of language stuff going on there.

also you were close but the guy who invented the telephone was named alexander graham bell. that's very funny though that bellen means two completely different things in dutch and german, especially again, since you literally have both those languages in your country

ty for this ramble I definitely enjoyed it!! love learning about the linguistics stuff especially with a country that has such an interesting language situation like belgium from both you and my belgian friend :)

#ask #spruce anon

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kleefkruid · 2 years

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Hi! I am Lora. I live in Belgium. I speak Flemish, which is just Dutch with extra funny words. I'll get into what I'm about and what I post on here. But let me start with a quick summary so you immediately know you're at the right adress or not:

Mental health, mental ilness, D&D, art, biology, bugs, Belgian/european news/politics, queer shit, my cats, my aquarium, school,...

Now, let's get into the details!

What's my identity? I'm very loosy goosy with this. all pronouns are fine, I don't use any gender label, although I've jokingly refered to myself as 'gender disinterested'. I just don't wanna play! Sexuality is ehhh, people. I use bisexual in my daily life bc that is easier. I'm also not monogamous.

What's up with my brain? I'm diagnosed autistic, currently checking for ADHD. I have spend a lot of time in mental hospitals, dealing with depression, generalised and social anxiety, panic attacks, all the classics really. I spend 12 months on a ward that specialises in emotional regulation disorders, where I received dialectical behaviour therapy. I'm only back in 'the real world' for a few months now, so this comes up often. I'm working towards becoming a certified life experience avocate, a sort of middle man between patients and mental health/disabiliy workers. That's why I'm very open about this, but I always want to mention that you don't have to, and that it can make you a target to people who don't mean well.

What do I study? I have a degree in Graphic design, but based on my elective it would be better to say that I have a degree in illustration. I also went to art school in high school so I have a basis in a lot of things, like film, theatre, webdesign and so on. My comics are on instagram (english, Dutch) and in 'my comics' tag I also did 1 year of a biology bachelor and 1 year of social work, because I was a bit lost over the years. Right now I'm about to start a degree in applied psychology.

let's put the rest under a cut!

D&D I've been following Critical role for a long time, just getting into Dimension 20. I tag cr spoilers for anything relatively new, about 3 weeks or so. I usually tag with 'critical role' or 'Dimension 20' and then the name of the campagn so you can block these tags to avoid spoilers for specific campagns. I play myself but I don't have a group currently since I moved and pandemics and hospitals happened. I play a human druid, circle of the moon, who is bug themed. You all have official permission to talk about your PC's to me at all times!

Pets I have two cats, Marcel and Oskar, who are very sweet and very dumb. There's also a couple of strays that live on my roof, mother and daughter who I call Michelle and Kotelet. They continiously broke into my appartment to steal food so I started to socialise them. It's been going pretty well. I have a big planted community aquarium. It's a self cleaning eco system with a side sump. I have Giant danios and golden danios, amano shrimp, a mix of neo caradina shrimp, corydora's, apple snails, malasian trumpet snails and sulawesi snails. I had a giant african landsnail called Gertude, but she passed away very recently. I also have a box of powder orange isopods who used to be in the big terrarium with Gertrude. And a pot of springtails. I'm trying to turn the old terrarium into a paludarium (riparium to be exact) but I'm waiting on the next hyperfocus wave to finish this. All the stuff is currently in boxes in my livingroom, sighhh. Other hobbies man I widly swing from one to the next. Right now I'm doing crepe paper flowers. I do origami and paper crafts. I embroider. I read. I keep up my house plants and a bunch of stuff on my balcony. I cook. I sketch. I like fashion, make up and skin care. I love to research random shit. I've acted in a few things. I have a guitair I can't play. I bookbind.

Dutch - Belgium I sometimes post in Dutch. I will add the relevant translations in the tags. It's mainly regional jokes with other Belgians and Dutch people, so I can't always properly explain. I also blog a bit about local news. Belgian stuff gets tagged as Belgiumposting and everything relating to Europe or the other countries in it gets tagged as Europosting.

#about me

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emmashouldbewriting · 1 year

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I’m the Belgian anon. I’m an immigrant (moved to Belgium while I was still a child tho) so maybe I have a different vision than other people. But Belgium is a divided country and not in the way people think the US is divided.

Belgium while small has a language border. In the north you have the Flemish who speak Dutch and in the south you have the Walloon who speak French. There’s very little holding the country together, each federal election it takes longer and longer to form a government and that’s because the north tends to vote more right wing (the northern part is also significantly richer) and the south tends to vote more left wing. Moreover the two largest parties by votes in the country are Flemish parties who favour a republic and an independent flanders. The south doesn’t really want to split but it doesn’t exactly get along with the nort. Since belgiums inception the French speaking part have oppressed the Dutch speaking (who make up the majority of the country), you didn’t have any higher education in Dutch, Flemish people were sentenced for crimes they couldn’t even understand as all judiciary was in French even if the court was situated in the Dutch speaking part. Brussels was originally Dutch speaking but over the decades it became French. There’s as a result a lot of resentment. Belgium didn’t even have the constitution in dutch until the late 70s despite the fact 60% speak dutch in the country. Since the 60’s there have been a lot of constitutional amendments (which were brought about by Flemish protest) that transformed the country from a unitary state to a federal state. Now the Royal Family is seen as Belgian when a lot of people don’t feel Belgian but identity more with their region. Also the RF speak French, queen fabiola barely spoke a word Dutch despite being the queen of a country where 60% speak that language. The current king and queen did send their kids to Dutch speaking schools which was a first (I think). But there’s not much connection with the rf.

We don’t have really a lot of pomp and ceremony (not in the way the British do, which I btw love 😂). So they aren’t really visible and yet seem to be taking a lot of money (which they totally are). We don’t have a soverings grant or anything, the government pays for the palaces and transport and the like but they also get a lump sum of money that’s considered a ‘salary’. In 2019 the king got around 13M€ of taxpayer money and the former king and queen and the siblings of the current king also receive a salary. So It’s like if Edward and Anne got salaries aside from their expenses (for representing the monarchy). The current king’s brother is also an absolute asshole. He once showed up in military uniform in a Chinese embassy party without the government approval, his salary as a result was lessend that asshole went and complained how his human rights were being violated. He actually went to European court of human rights!! And that’s not all he made several political moves with countries that were violating some serious human rights. He also was making shady deals (sounds familiar doesn’t it).

There’s also the whole mess with Albert II. He and his wife, Paola were estranged for a while. He had affairs and Delphine was born. He didn’t abandon her but playe daddy for a good number of years before his marriage rehabilitated and he completly refused to acknowledge her. She had to sue him and he wouldn’t recognise even then.

To me the royal family doesn’t do anything important for the country except leech of taxpayers. The majority in the north actually prefer to abolish the monarchy, we don’t really have a class system as in the UK so the idea of the monarchy seems just outdated. Also the king does have some influence in politics which is why I dislike it even more.

Most people are just kinda apathetic towards the monarchy. There aren’t really fervent monarchist in the way there are in the UK. Lol the people who show up at the mall every year for TTC wouldn’t happen in Belgium.

I read this when it was sent in and meant to post it yesterday but erdemgate happened, so y'know LOL

thank you so much, belgian anon! this was really interesting, and lines up with a couple of belgians i know who are quite apathetic about the royals there. i only really know princess elisabeth but that's just because she turned 18, and i doubt i'd know she existed if i wasn't here. i knew there were two languages but didn't realise there was such a divide politically, and i'm going to deep dive into this!!

i understand to an extent, wales is very divided between the north and south for political reasons (there's even two variations of welsh, but most people don't notice it) and we in the north often joke about breaking off and joining england lol

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