#Latin voices

[travellingwithjasmine]

Mexican Gothic Review

Dates read: June 12, 2023, to June 19th,2023

Before I give my review, I just wanted to give a bit of a preface to why I read this, and how I approached this novel.

I am not a person who enjoys horror, or thrillers. As a person who gets scared quite easily, I tend to avoid watching or reading anything that deals with this genre. However, since I began leisurely reading and hunting down books around 2 years ago, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia always stared me in the face; luring me to read it. I finally got it this April, and I still put it off. But this June I decided to finally give it a chance. So here is my review! Remember it's all preference, but here we go! SPOILERS AHEAD

Review:

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an amazing book. I initially picked it up as a person who loves the use of Mexican history in any form of fiction. However, I was hesitant as I am not a person who loves haunted houses or possession stories.

First, Noemí is one of my favourite female main characters I have read. She is relatable, spunky, smart and stubborn. She stays true to her values and does not shy away so easily. She is a liberating character to read, and you constantly root for her. Although I wish she would have left due to the creepiness of the house, I understood why she fought to stay. Plus as an aspiring academic, it was a joy to decipher the anthropological and historical conversations that were mentioned.

The first ten chapters laid a foundation for understanding the environment, patterns and tendencies of each character and the house as well. It was a fun mystery to uncover in trying to decipher if illness, hauntings or environmental pressures were affecting Catalina. This beginning gave me the same feeling that Get Out gave me. It was intense and weird, but all you could hope was for your main character to get out of there.

The second half of the book is swept in the action and creepiness of Doyle's High Place home. I honestly have no clue how to explain my reaction. When she finally decides to leave, and all that happens between her and Virgil, and the general hostilities of this family...The build-up to the reveal of Howard Doyle's true form absolutely DISGUSTED me. I was not prepared for it. From the incest to the fungus in the air, the cannibalism, the sexual assault and the final realization with eugenics were so heavily brought forward finally made sense. I had to put the book down a couple times, although I just wanted to get it over with because I was so appalled by the truth revealed. Suddenly this book that I thought would be like Get Out turned into this Midsommer-like reality. A cult-like family with aspirations to live forever, a possession of the body, a home that links everyone.

But genuinely, once I got myself to the end, I was so satisfied. I was happy that Francis escaped with Catalina and Noemí, and that they finally broke that tension with the final romantic gesture. I also was very happy that Francis still feared that his blood was still tainted with the fungus or to end up like Howard. It left room for tension and kept a door open for theories.

My only gripe was some of the language used. In some places, it felt a bit clunky in trying to get through the material. It was like a random brick here and there of information that disrupted the flow, but once it picked up it was perfect. That did not fully take away from the experience at least, it only pushed me to find the answers I craved.

I could talk and ramble about this book for a while, but I will leave my overall impression here. A fantastic, creepy novel that did not go the way I expected, although I thought I knew. A book that actually wants me to read more horror books, so in other words, a great intro to the genre.

Rating: 4.5/5

[faceeeeee]

Quick animation with Syringeon :p

(I can't do anything else besides play around w/ flipaclip rn so once I get my hands on my tablet I'm going to draw EVEN MORE SYRINGEONS MUAHAHA)

[nyazaii]

Something I’ve noticed

[antarcticlemonade]

Not me making a whole ass boss oc for SOTE

(to ship with Messmer)

She likes candlemaking❤️

Version without the veil:

[toastydoll]

Man it’s gross how many people went just like mask off racist about clawdeen being biracial in g3. Half the posts I see about “fixing” g3 include making clawdeen “Black again” or “mono racial” and idk I shouldn’t have to explain why that’s nasty. Nor should I have to explain why it’s weird when people say Venus is proof clawdeen could have been “Blacker,” whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean.

Examine your own internal biases. Really think about why clawdeen being “half werewolf” actually bothers you. Is it because you think she’s being watered down? That she’s “less Black” by being half Latina? Because I hate to have to be the one to break it to you, but afrolatina characters are not “less” Black.

[sky-kiss]

Okay I had a thought and you can do with it whatever you want... but Raphael speaking infernal is so underrated. Even in game when he casts spells during battle, he doesn't really verbally say anything which is a shame (but is kinda cool if certain beings are powerful enough to cast nonverbally. Either that or my game is hella bugged). When you had that moment in your latest chapter of him speaking infernal to transform that made me 😳Like the way it'd described of being this harsh language and Raphael speaking it just snapped some part of my brain and I'd imagine it'd do something for Joi/Tav too. Like would Raphael still somehow make it sound beautiful (to quote Mamzelle, "a voice that could make the foulest blasphemy seem the sweetest hymn" or it would he still sound harsh but it's still hot because it's flying out of THAT mouth?

__________

A/N: There’s an actor I used to adore who was German, but often spoke a lot of french. So his German would come out with that gentle French lilt. Gonna channel that.

__________

He comes to her in the evening, this devil she loves, and the scent of cherries, sulfur, and musk hangs about him like a shroud. Raphael prowls about her suite like some great cat, his dark head held high. In the hells, his hellfire eyes will light with their inner fire. On the prime material, he’s softer. Warm brown, a touch of honey, almost sweet enough to make her forget. 

“You’re late,” she says. 

He hums lowly. The natural theatricality of the noise does not rob it of its power; Tav shivers. The devil sees; he knows. He always knows. “Ah, but there is such beauty in anticipation, wouldn’t you agree? Desire honed to a knife’s point.” A turn of his right hand, long-fingered and elegant. “Before one tips over the edge.” 

It’s a fine enough point in principle, but less appealing in reality. Their time is short, limited to stolen moments when their schedules align. She has a city to rebuild. He has the lower planes to conquer. 

Her devil smiles, patronizing. “If you feel neglected, mouse, I have already proposed a solution. You’ve only to accept the offered hand.” 

“Join you in Hell?” He nods, eyes wide and lovely. It strikes her that he has cultivated every aspect of this human skin: the smile is so wide, so open, and so nakedly suffused with guile that it wraps back around to innocence. 

Raphael steps close. The scent again: cherries, sweet and delicate. Her devil, wearing sweetness and silk to hide his uglier underbelly. He brushes the fringe of her hair back from her cheek, touch lingering. “Deny me all you like, pet. It shall make the eventual fall all the sweeter.”

Anticipation. Tav shivers. 

Some nights, they fuck in front of the fireplace or on the chaise. Never in the bed. It’s her stipulation. Raphael crinkles his nose at the coarse language and indelicacy of the location. She deserves better, he says. The phrase always comes with an accompanying hand gesture, as if he's framing her for a portrait. Something pretty he can lock away from the world, point at when he wants to feel superior. Admire his wealth, this wild adventurer he’s collared. 

Most nights, they work. Tav shuffles through requisition orders. Raphael amends his contracts. She watches him work, more often than not, gaze flicking across the elegant script. It burns, and there’s an undeniable elegance to the infernal ruins. Tav reaches out to race a line, mouthing the words. She’s out of practice. Infernal is not a pretty language; it fits particularly poorly in her untrained tongue. Raphael rests his chin in his palm, amused by her attempt. 

“Allow me.” 

The devil repeats the phrase. It may as well be a different language. The words drip off his tongue, the harshness erased in favor of a lilting cadence. Tav chews the inside of her cheek, brow furrowed. “Is that…is it a regional dialect? Something distinct to Cania?” 

“In all likelihood, you’ve only heard the lower dialects. The least baatezu are harsh and guttural. The higher speech has a grace to it, provided one is willing to learn. It is a melody, dark and heady as any wine.” Raphael places his hand, palm up, on the table. “Allow me.” Tav sets her hand in his. “Close your eyes, pet.” 

She does. 

Raphael traces lines across her palm, humming to himself. “There are four tongues, sweetling. Lower, lowest, high, highest. For the sake of your sanity, we shall avoid the dialect of the archdevils. But the language of the courts might please you.” 

“And is there a reason my eyes must remain closed?” 

He chuckles, thumb pressing against the veins of her wrist. There is an awful note of potential in the touch; he could break the fragile bones with half a thought. “Feeling, Tav. Like the steps of the dance, it should fill you, move you.” 

She shivers as his fingers ghost up her forearm, featherlight nerve strokes. Raphael repeats the lines of infernal, his fingers drifting up on the mouth melodic stretches, dipping down when the words adopt a guttural edge. It is never grating, never clipped; some of that is exclusively him, years of experience and language marrying in a distinctive vocal pattern. Tav chews her lower lip. She’s too aware of his heat, pinpricks of warmth dancing across her skin as he plays his game.

It is beautiful and dark, and she feels the words on her skin. Raphael traces the runes. Her mind struggles to translate the higher dialect, flowing until it isn’t, succinct until double-meaning creeps into the terminology. Tav feels drunk in the darkness. 

“And now,” his voice is closer, spoken against the shell of his ear. The devil gathers her into his lap. He smiles into the curve of her throat. “The student demonstrates what she’s learned. Come, pet, impress me.” 

He traces the runes on her thighs. Over the skin of her belly. Between her breasts. And if she loses the thread, if her voice gives way, her devil stops. He’ll suck a bruise into her throat, press teeth until they threaten to breast skin, tease, tease, tease…

Anticipation, she thinks, that earlier word flitting across her awareness. 

And her devil is ever patient.

[taimanzano]

First time in months that I just doodle fanart for the fun of it and it’s because I’m obsessed??? with A Ballad of Scarlet and Wine and in the new chapter the wonderful author did some awesome art for Gato and Lobo’s designs and I fell in love!!!!!!! If it’s your thing you have to read it! 

So... I had to doodle them!

Also I’ve been playing Bloodborne daily and my hunter has the Cainhurst Knights attire and... I love side capes. In all cultures, I love side capes. Love them. 

[haarute]

here's my recording of kouji wada performing butter-fly at a convention i attended to in 2010. hypest moment of my life btw.

[useless-latin]

mellifluens, -entis, adj. whose eloquence is sweet as honey, Aus.

[movietonight]

Notes from the two Spanish dubs of Psych:

I finally found a stream for both versions and immediately watched Lights Camera Homicidio in both.

Both versions struggled a lot with the premise of the episode and I have so much sympathy for the poor dubbing script writers. This must have been hell on earth to script. Also the script translator having to annotate everything.

The Castilian version just kept some of the jokes (like Shawn making fun of the name Jorge and using words like "dangerioso") which just makes him look both really idiotic and mean. His main problem is also not that Gus watches a telenovela but that he watches a Mexican telenovela. I guess Castilian Spanish Shawn just doesn't like Mexican people?? One of the few changes I caught is Lassie saying "me gusta tequila" instead of "queso" which is funny as hell.

The LatAm version changed some of those jokes but not all of them. Shawn instead makes fun of Jorge wanting to be called "Jorgito". Instead of saying he learned his Spanish from Love Boat, he learned his acting from Love Boat. He just speaks regular Spanish in the scene where he is supposed to slip into English, which means he just seems really bad at improv and acting?

Neither version changed anything about the bit where he runs out of Spanish words and just says words like "playa" and "cerveza".

This is just because of how Spanish pronunciation works but I always love when they pronounce the names differently like Gus is more like Goose and Spencer obviously becomes Espencer.

I wonder if it felt weird to audiences to suddenly hear a Spanish intro out of nowhere.

I'm not a native speaker so it's entirely possible I missed something.

[sketchyandsketches]

Giving you baby-faced Miguelito (was too lazy to put his lips down a little)

[thepradaenchilada]

O.J. Simpson, free at last

Actors who are also OJ sympathizers are my target audience.

[rustedhills]

Merobiba's Etymology: A Classical Discussion

The most likely place you've seen the word 'Merobiba' is Drawfee on Youtube - which has coined it as the name for a goofy little puppet-Merida from the hit film 'Bwave'.

Fig. 1: A screenshot from the original Drawfee video, posted Feb 2, 2023.

They pulled the word (among others) from the twitter account Weird Medieval, which posted this (Fig. 2) on Dec 6, 2022.

Fig. 2, the original 'merobiba' tweet, accessed via proxy

Weird Medieval sources the word (and others in the thread) to The dictionary of syr Thomas Eliot knyght, written 1490? - 1546, according to the University of Michigan Library [via the Early English Books Text Creation Partnership].

But where did syr Eliot acquire the word?

Fig. 3: the cover of Plautus' Curculio: Revised Edition, With Introduction and Notes by John Wright, which is what I'm currently using for class.

It was likely in a contemporary transcription of Plautus' Curculio, a Roman comedic play published around 200BCE. - Specifically act 1, line 77 (though different versions have slightly different numbering):

Transcribed from Plautus' Curculio: Revised Edition, With Introduction and Notes by John Wright:

77 - PH. nomen Leanaest, multibiba atque merobiba.

78 - PA. Quasi tu lagoenam dicas, ubi unium Chium

79 - solet esse. PH. quid opust uerbis? uinosissuma est;

The two characters - Phaedromus (PH), a young man madly in love, and Palinurus (PA), his sassy, unimpressed slave, are discussing an enslaved woman in the supporting cast (ancilla). Merobiba references her ability to drink very strong wines, and multibiba references the amount. As T. H. M. Gellar-Goad translates it in Plautus: Curculio: "she's a super-drinker and stupor-drinker" (pg. 10) [multibiba atque merobiba]. Phaedromus goes on to state uinosissuma est, which Gellar-Goad translates to "She's winetastic" (pg. 10). Phaedromus may not have game, but he has... a way with words...?

Gellar-Goad goes on to state that "Plautus has coined [multibiba and merobiba] by smashing together smaller, familiar words. ... Plautus' plays are chock-full of this sort of inventive, fast-and-loose wordplay, and it's a challenge for translators to keep up" (pg. 11).

Given Plautus' propensity for creating weird, cognate words for the sole purpose of sounding silly, it's highly likely that this is the truly first use of the word 'Merobiba'.

So, next time you hear "I'm merobiba!" and chuckle sensibly, remember:

You are keeping a 2200 year-old word alive. Thank you.

Note: If you've read to this point and think you've got an even earlier version--probably also in the colloquial/comedic Latin literature tradition--please rb with your findings!! And if I forgot a source pls lmk.

[doodliver]

Every year for my birthday, I draw something about stuff that are meaningful to me (usually from my childhood), this year is one of my all time fav cartoons and an episode I consider very touching c:

[vinyl-artwork]

Voices In Latin (1968)

[taddymason]

maybe one of the reasons why Jay is my favorite in the old seasons is because of his spanish voice idk