#The Task of the Translator

[reginalusus]

No fic animation this time because I'm actually writing it, so take this TFZ thing instead, lmao. And, yes, I kept their white hair because I believe in their white, fluffy hair supremacy, yes.

Two bits of the process shown on my dumb Ko-Fi.

Panels it's based on under the cut:

Obviously I had to take some directorial decisions with the dialogue.

[nobuyukikakigi]

転機の三月に

早いもので3月も終わりに近づいてきました。温暖化の影響か、年を追うごとに開花が早まっている桜が見ごろを迎えようとしています。ウクライナでの戦争が一年を超えて続いていることをはじめ、世界を覆い、人々の生を蝕む闇の深まりを感じさせる出来事の報せを耳にすることが多い今日この頃ですが、自然の生きものたちが明るさを増していく風景のなか、彩り豊かに生命を繰り広げていることが感じられる時季は巡ってきます。その様子に心が開かれるとき、少し力づけられる気がします。 新しい散歩道で見かけた桜 さて、この3月より福岡市の南部へ居を移しました。娘がこの地域にある高等学校に進学するのに伴い、家族と同居できるよう、また娘の通学の便がよくなるように、職場の近くから引っ越した次第です。大学へ通うのに時間がかかるようになりましたが、別れ別れの生活を余儀なくされている人々のことを顧みるなら、家族で暮らせるのはありがたい…

[sky-is-the-limit]

Who’s most likely to facefuck their partner?? I’m thinking Price 🫣

𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒋𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔.

𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕. 𝑯𝒆'𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓, 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉, 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆'𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎.

''𝑾𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝒅𝒐𝒍𝒍?'' 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒆'𝒅 𝒔𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒆-𝒄𝒖𝒎 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.

''𝑨𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉, 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈.'' 𝑷𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔, 𝒉𝒆'𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚, 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕, 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆'𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆'𝒅 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒚, 𝒍𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉.

𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎. ''𝑺𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓.'' 𝑯𝒆'𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆'𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆, 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎.

𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒌𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑾𝒂𝒕����𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒌 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒎.

 ''𝑮𝒐 𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒅. 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒍𝒖𝒕.'' 𝑯𝒆'𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒄𝒌, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆'𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒃 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒆'𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒕.

𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒋𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒕, 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆, 𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆. 𝑯𝒆'𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒔, 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒉𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖.

''𝑬𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒋𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒂 𝒂𝒔í, á𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍'' 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒄𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒉𝒆'𝒅 𝒃𝒆, 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒋𝒐𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆'𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆'𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒄 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖.

𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 ''𝒎𝒉𝒎'' 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒛𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒍 ��𝒖𝒔𝒕. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒏, 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓, 𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏, 𝒍𝒖𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕.

[dearorpheus]

"In ways that are often hard to articulate but run through everything, my work has been deeply informed by my own experiences. I have been reading Homer throughout my adult life. Whenever I hear blustering winds and rain-storms, surging rivers or choppy seas, when I watch a flock of geese or a swooping hawk, when I walk through rustling woods or up a mountainside, I know I am inside the world of Homeric similes. Even the most trivial moments of daily life remind me of Homer. I notice that my feet are not "well-oiled" whenever I tie my sandals on. I cannot watch my dog happily rolling in mulch without thinking of Achilles, prostrated in grief and tossing around in the dust. More seriously, the poem gives me a language to understand my deepest emotions and those of people around me. When I weep for my mother, who died recently in a distant land, I remember the grief of Achilles and of Priam. The Iliad is with me always."

— Emily Wilson, in the translator's note of her Iliad

[t-u-i-t-c]

"He needs to kill me."

[captainhysunstuff]

The closed captions for the dub on Netflix describes Light as “huffing” when he’s cornered:

Ain’t that just the cutest damn thing?

[theodysseyofhomer]

I see the original, and my translation, as a promise, or even an enticement, in the first line: Dear Listener, stay with me, because you won't be bored by this character or this poem.  Who doesn't love disguises and schemes? Who doesn't love a long con, at least in narrative? The narrator is promising us, implicitly, that we’ll get an inside scoop on a character whose many layers, turns, names and disguises won’t be visible to everyone he encounters. Uncomplicated characters are a hard sell, if you want the adult listener to stay with you for many hours of story. Complexity, sign me up. I am not the least bit original in seeing the Homeric Odysseus as a complex and multi-layered character, who arouses our intense interest and intense empathy – and who is viewed in very different ways by different characters within the poem, because he contains multitudes. Homeric Odysseus is a very different and far more appealing character compared to the often simpler and often more purely evil Odysseus we find in some other ancient sources (like the scheming sophist of Sophocles' Philoctetes, or the cruel Ulysses of the Aeneid). To me, “complicated” doesn’t suggest either “good guy” or “bad guy”: it’s a promise that this poem doesn’t stoop to those implausible simplifications.

[jongace]

shouty team chinguline clearing the waterfall quiz at lightning speed

[finnlongman]

Had the vague sense that I was Doing A Lunch Task, but there was no bread in the toaster, which seemed odd. Put some in. While it was toasting I noticed that the kettle was filled and hot. "Oh," I said. "I'm making tea. Did I know I was making tea?"

Anyway, I made the tea now. No idea when I started that process.

(I really think this is the kind of thing doctors should ask about when you go to them asking for an ADHD referral, rather than whether you run around a lot (no, I have chronic pain and fatigue and I'm a part-time wheelchair user, and also I'm not a six-year-old child). Because this happens to me a lot. And then I make the tea and forget I made it and it goes cold.)

[bibiana112]

"girlie did very much fail at solving a sudoku puzzle to save her life though" NO! SHE ONLY HAD HALF THE NUMBERS YOU CAN'T SOLVE IT LIKE THAT MUCH LESS ON A TIMER

[transtranslations]

Nobody Expects The Japanese Jooster: Some Fun Translation Notes

Hey, guys. Are y'all aware that in the Japanese translation of "Bertie Changes His Mind", the line where Jeeves says "I'm fond of Mr. Wooster" is translated as 「私はウースター様が好きでございます」 (or, "watakushi wa Wooster-sama ga suki de gozaimasu")? Because I'm sure not normal about this.

Tl;dr: this line now reads like a love confession. (If an amusingly keigo-ridden love confession, because even in his internal dialogue Jeeves is physically incapable of not sounding aggressively polite.) More under the cut.

Now, please note that I am not fluent in Japanese, so take all my words with a grain of salt. But I have, at the very least studied it for several years, am currently living in Japan, and have listened to a great number of Japanese love songs. And this is how I would like to share that if you "ga suki" a person, this can and very often does mean you are in love with them.

Technically, "suki" just means "like". If you like apples, you'd say "ringo ga suki". If say, tennis is your favorite sport, you'd say "tenisu wa watashi no ichiban suki na supootsu" - with "ichiban suki" literally meaning "number one like". "Daisuki", or "big like", is the one that is often used for love - but boy is just plain "suki" used a hell of a lot.

Take this translation of "Ano Yume o Nazotte" (or "Tracing That Dream"), for example. Here, the translator has written it literally as "I like you", but contextually the song makes it pretty probable that it's a confession of romantic love. Or have a look at the Project Diva translation of "Suki Kirai" ("Like-Dislike" or "Love-Hate"), which makes "suki"'s usage in romantic love quite clear. There's even a whole conversation about the subject of love confession and translation in The Great Ace Attorney - this links to a fan-translated Let's Play so the original Japanese dialogue is visible, but the conversation happens similarly in the official localized version, though it manifests a bit differently. Regardless, both versions discuss "suki" as used to confess feelings of love.

What I'm saying is, wow, holy shit, Tamaki Morimura made a rather strong choice when using "suki". Because no matter the intent, that potential implication is absolutely going to be present in a reader's mind. And if you're wondering why I know this in the first place, it's because this line is used (in very slightly altered form, as "Wooster-sama" is exchanged for "the young master") in the manga, Please, Jeeves, which in large part uses Morimura's translation for its text, and... well. Let's just say our good pal Bun Katsuta seems to rather leaned into that with the expression.

Yeah.

And this goes in tandem with other aspects of the manga, like an added line that, to my knowledge, is not present anywhere in the original text (certainly not in the story that chapter adapts, "Jeeves in the Springtime"), in which Jeeves says that Bertie's shortcomings do not prevent him from being "beloved as a person". Not to mention the other choices the manga makes, such as having Jeeves wink at Bertie incessantly, or occasionally having hearts float around Bertie when he talks about Jeeves, or the panel at the end of "Without the Option where I swear to God it looks like Jeeves is trying to reach for Bertie's hand.

So, between the official translation and the manga adaptation, I'm not saying we have a Spanish Destiel situation on our hands... but I'm certainly implying it.

(My final note is that this is one of the favorite book series of Empress Emeritus Michiko. Which, with this added context, is very funny to me. I wish she had an open email address so I could ask her if she thinks they're in love.)

[watcherwiki]

Found the exact GS25 where Steven and Andrew have their taste test for Round 4 or "sacha" during their night of drinking!!

if you go into street view on Google Maps you can see the details that match the episode

from screencaps of the taste test the downward stairs behind Steven on the left

and the staircase behind Andrew on the right

not to mention the table with the chains in front of it

this is literally one of the greatest finds of any of our Watcher Maps to date! (the Travel Season map will be posted on the wiki as soon as the season finishes airing on yt to avoid spoilers)

[transbutchblues]

it’s so over i just started translating anne carson’s antigonick into french

[breadddsstuff]

Being a Chinese speaker means I laughed every second Andy appeared on screen with his 任务师父 badge on

[puhpandas]

Veering Off Course

(2,305 words)

Gregory and his family get a call that Vanessa, whos in a different state for college, has gotten hurt. Gregory calls Evan, and Evan is able to use the things he's learned about himself since meeting Gregory to help his friend with his emotions regarding the situation.

Its early in the morning on a Saturday when Evan gets the call. It woke him up, so all he does is blink groggily and swipe at the screen blindly while propped up on his elbow until his thumb hits 'answer' on his phone. "Hello?"

"Evan." It's Gregory, and the serious tone to just that single word clears up Evan's brain as fast as lightning. He scrambles to prop himself into sitting up and rubs at his eyes with one hand.

"Gregory?" Evan asks, looking at the little icon he set for Gregory's contact of a picture of Evan and him at an amusement park. "Is everything okay?"

It takes a second for Gregory to respond, and it causes the anxiety that had steadily began to bubble inside of him to surge. "Gregory?"

"Sorry." Gregory finally answers. "I-- Uh... can you..." His friend struggles for words, and Evan tries to be as patient as possible as it becomes clearer every second something is wrong. "Can you come over? Like right now?"

Evan flounders for words for a second, but manages to force his mouth to say, "Of course."

"Okay." Gregory replies, and a surge of worry shoots through his chest when Gregory sounds like he might cry. He takes a breath on the other end, then, "Please hurry."

After that, Evan only lingers enough to respond with a short confirmation and goodbye before hanging up the phone. It takes him record time to shoot out of bed, sling on some shoes, and get down the street a few houses to Gregory's own.

His mind had played multiple awful scenarios of what terrible thing could have happened the entire time, but his worry does not ebb when he makes it to the porch and knocks on the door to a teary eyed Gregory.

Evan's immediately herded inside. Freddy has his phone in his hand pressed up against his ear, and he's pacing around the room. Aunt Chica and Aunt Roxy sit in the living room. Bonnie is sat in a dragged-over dining chair by Freddy and frowning.

It's dead silent in the house; even the TV and seemingly endless energy flowing through and causing bustling noise is snuffed out to nothing. Evan watches as everyone sits completely seriously and quiet, hands held in their lap or thrumming against something.

Impatience, is what Evan first thinks of. They're waiting for something. News, maybe? Freddy is on the phone. It's so silent you could hear a pin drop. Or somebody else's phone vibrate.

Evan's dread and anxiety only get worse when Gregory shuts the door behind him and tugs on him a bit. Evan follows without struggle, thousands of words and questions on his tongue when Gregory leads him to one of the unoccupied seats in the living room; a loveseat.

He sits down with him, and Gregory's face is scrunched up in barely restrained worry. Evan watches his friend, who's been an anchor for himself for so long, tremble and hunch in on himself. "Gregory?"

Gregory's eyes dart to him, and Evan leans down, hunching forward with his elbows rested on his thighs like theyre their own personal bubble. Evan's own brows furrow, and he feels the familiar thickness in his throat just at watching his friend be upset.

Evan grabs at his hand, squeezing it tight and lacing their fingers together. "I'm really worried, Gregory... please tell me whats wrong." Evan pleads. "Please?"

Gregory nods unsurely after a moment, and Evan watches him swallow thickly before turning to him fully. "Dad got a call from the University of Oregon today."

Evan's brows raise, but he nods to keep going. The University of Oregon is the college Gregory's sister, Vanessa, had left home to go attend. Evan hasnt gotten the chance to meet her, yet. She's already been gone two years strong, with a seemingly bright future. Evan's heard Gregory and his family talk about her enough to know her talents.

Gregory's breath hitches, and Evan wraps his other hand around Gregory's, the one he already has ahold of. He sandwiches it in-between his own and hopes it's enough comfort.

"Somebody called us and told us Vanessa got into a car crash today. On campus."

It's like a bucket of ice water is poured on Evan's head. His feet go cold, and his eyes widen to saucers. Fear shoots like an arrow through his stomach. When he stops reeling from the news, he watches Gregory begin to shake and lose the carefully gathered composure he'd put up since Evan arrived.

"They said..." Gregory's brows are furrowed so much it looks like it hurts. Theres a clench in his jaw and a wetness to his eyes Evan isnt used to. "They said she's already been taken to the hospital and is in surgery." He frowns, and theres a twist in his lip that Evan is so familiar with. "They... a-all we can do is wait. They told us they'd let us know any updates."

The house is thrown back into such jarring silence after Gregory stops talking that Evan's ears start ringing. Which makes it clear as day when Gregory's breath turns harsh beside him.

Evan tears his eyes away from the floor and ignores the twisting feeling in his chest to look at his friend. He has his face buried in the hand that isnt held by Evan and is shaking in a way where you can tell theyre trying so hard to keep it together. Gregory's angled away from him, but Evan can see the panic on his face even from where he can see.

Evan's breath hitches, and the thickness in his throat begins to turn into burning as he scootches closer to Gregory on the couch and sets a hand on his shoulder. He tugs a bit until Gregory gets the message and let's him wrap his arms around his middle and hold him close.

Gregory makes some sort of horrible, upsetting hitching noise that causes the dam to break for Evan, before he sort of flops against him and brings up his own arms to clutch at his T-Shirt. Gregory's head thumps against his shoulder, and it's one of the only times Evan really becomes aware of the height he has on his friend.

"Its okay..." Evan says into Gregory's shoulder, because it's all he knows to do in the moment. He glances around and sees that Gregory's family has shifted to the dining room, leaving them alone. Evan finally feels the tears slip from his eyes as he presses closer, hugging him like his life depends on it. "Its okay, Gregory. It'll be okay."

"It's--" Gregory says, and Evan can hear how much his voice shakes with barely contained tears. "Its not. I can't-- We can't even go see her. We can't go and wait for her to wake up, or anything... we just have to--" He cuts himself off, and Evan feels Gregory shake harshly against him.

"We just have to sit here." Gregory says, voice thick. "I dont know what to do, Evan. I don't know what to do."

And its only that sentence that causes Evan to grapple at what to do, if his friend can't. And all he can think about is how himself would react if it were Gregory getting hurt.

All he'd be able to do is cry, he realizes. He wouldnt be able to do anything. Just wait and be scared.

But that's what Gregory is getting at, isnt he? He can't do anything. That's the thing. Evan has known Gregory long enough to get him. To know, him. Evan knows that Gregory doesnt sit around and cry like Evan does. He prefers to get up and do something about whatevers wrong.

Hes a problem solver instead of waiting around. A fighter instead of a crier. No wonder hes so bent out of shape about this. To have a loved one in danger, and when you're so used to getting up and making a plan to fix a problem and are forced to sit in standby...

Evan eases them down against the cushion of the couch, not once untangling themselves from eachother. Gregory shakes, but he does not cry. "So what would you do if you could?"

The hair from Gregory's bangs brushes against Gregory's neck as he moves his head. "I'd... I don't know. I'd at least try to get to her." Gregory says, voice unbelievably quiet. "At least get to her. Then figure it out from there. Just so I'm not waiting on phone calls."

Evan nods against him, his chin scrunching up Gregory's hair. His tears have long since stopped falling, but he knows he has dry tracks on his cheeks. "You have a plan."

Gregory makes some sort of noise that would sound like a snort in any other circumstances. "I would if I could." Gregory replies, squeezing his arms a bit tighter. "But I cant" He sighs, shuddering and heavy. "I just have to wait."

Evan hums. "You're worried, and you're stressed." He makes the same noise Gregory just did. "I know how you feel... I really do. Maybe not your exact situation, but... I get what it's like to feel helpless." He says. "You know what I would do?"

Gregory hums this time, questionative. Evan rubs circles into his back. "I'd sit there and wait, and wish for it to different. And when it wouldnt be, I'd cry."

Gregorys head shifts against that crook between Evan's chin and chest, almost like hes trying to look him in the eye but the hug prevents him from being able.

"All I ever did was cry." Evan says when Gregory doesnt respond. "Its the only thing that I could do to cope."

"...So..." Gregory asks, and his voice is thick again. "You mean..."

"You're stressed." Evan answers. "You're stressed and you're worried. So... why dont you let it out?"

Evan, out of anyone, knows how valuable emotions can be. He didnt, once upon a time. When everyone would just tell him how annoying it is. How useless it is. How he's asking for it. How he should have toughened up by now. When instead of comfort, he'd receive ridicule and prodding.

That's changed. Ever since a certain someone entered his life. He doesn't think of his emotions, himself so little anymore. So worthless. So maybe that's why Gregory perks up ever so slightly in understanding.

And that's all it takes.

Gregory's trembling turns into shoulder shaking sobs like the snap of a finger. He cries, open and unadulterated, and Evan just hugs him close and rubs his back, offering reassurances like Gregory has done for him so many times.

His own eyes burn when his best friends sobs are heard so openly and he can feel every shudder of his body. Evan's chin scrunches, and the tears fall right along with Gregory as Evan hugs him close, tucking his face into his hair.

"Im--" Gregory cries. "I-Im just so worried about her."

"I know." Evan responds, his own voice breaking as he pets Gregory's hair. His shirt is damp with tears but he doesnt care. "Itll be okay. It'll all be okay."

They stay like that for a while, and Evan can tell Gregory needs it. He needs it. The worry he felt that morning doesnt ever really leave, and it stays ever-present as Evan watches his friend fall apart. They stay stuck together like magnets, eventually only shoulder to shoulder with linked hands on the loveseat, and none of Gregory's family try to peel them apart when they eventually wander back into the living room.

They stay in a state of constant agonizing limbo all day. At 8:00pm, Freddy calls it a night. Gregory protests immediately, but Aunt Roxy calms him down almost seamlessly and convinces him to go to bed.

Of course, Evan follows him. He cant imagine a world where he doesnt. The air mattress stays deflated in Gregory's closet as it has been most of the time nowadays. All Evan has to do is kick his shoes off since he left home in his pajamas anyway and they're wrapped around eachother, tucked in Gregory's bed under his comforter in the dark.

Gregory is silent all throughout the night, even though Evan knows he's awake. Evan just hopes that... he did the right thing. Something knows is that suppressing how you feel isnt good. It never works. No matter how much you want it to.

Gregory taught him that. He just wants to return the favor. Not because he owes Gregory, no. Gregory has long since hammered it into Evan's thick skull that he has nothing to pay him back for. That his kindness is not a deed to Evan, but rather that Evan himself deserves to be treated kindly.

Gregory does, too. Evan knows this with all his heart. Gregory is his best friend and has done more for him than anyone else ever has.

Evan... all Evan did was change. Change for the better. And hopefully he helped the most important person in his life with the things he learned. The things that person taught him.

He hugs Gregory's middle a little tighter, not daring to break the silence. Gregory needs time, but doesn't want to be alone. Evan understands. He does. He just hopes to convey what he truly feels through the one action.

Thank you. I'm here for you. I'll always be here. You're my best friend. I'm so glad you trust me. I trust you as well. So much.

Gregory himself wraps his arms tighter around Evan in turn, and Evan feels like the single movement lso has a deeper meaning he cant read.

They dont speak. They just lay in silence until eventually they fall asleep, stuck together like two puzzle pieces.

ao3 link

[doctornilayxaksoy-esfahani]

📜𝙽𝚒𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝙱𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚢 & 𝙰𝚗𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚘 𝙱𝚎𝚕𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗

After fainting at the museum again, her boss had set their foot down and demanded that she goes to the hospital before taking the rest of the week off to rest. It was annoying, frankly, but her boss wouldn't budge when she tried to argue with her on it. Well... She supposes that this could give her the time to be with her girls and the cats more. And if she felt restless, she could work on getting her next video ready. So as she got into the elevator that would lead her to the floor her doctor was in, she grabbed one of the books she'd been reading for a video she was planning on making from her bag, along with a highlighter and pen. She got to reading, her book covering her face. The elevator had stopped, letting another person in that she nodded at yet didn't look to see who it was, before taking off again.

Unfortunately, the elevator stopped abruptly. Nilay steadying herself against the wall she'd been leaning against, finally looking up with furrowed brows. "Ma koreh?" she asked softly. The anthropologist turned to look at her companion, her lips parting to ask if they knew what was happening, when her entire being froze. Her blood running cold and her heart all but stopping at the sight of Antonio Beltran. "Please, remain calm," a robotic voice over the intercom said. "Help will be with you shortly." And then, the elevator music began to play again. She nodded, looking away from him and at the doors. Well... Suppose this was going to happen, eventually, one way or another. "So..." Clearing her throat, she tried to think: how do you talk to one of the people your partner greatly hurt years ago yet isn't taking the responsibility to make amends? Especially when her last conversation with Roman had gone so smoothly. "If you had to choose a song to replace the elevator music, what would you choose?" It wasn't good, but dammit, she didn't want to stand there in silence until... whenever this situation is fixed.

𓂀 𝚠𝚑𝚘: @tonibeltran

𓂀 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎: 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚋𝚘𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕 ; 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚕 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎

𓂀 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗: 𝚜𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟿𝚝𝚑, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺