#because the novel has no professional english translation

[suv-draws-stuff]

The indomitable gascon spirit and strange rat man (gender neutral), now limbified

[fragiledewdrop]

WHERE NOW THE HORSE AND THE RIDER-Aka how I just had a Tolkien related freak out on the train

I can't believe what just happened to me. As in, it's such a weird chain of events that it has left me a little dizzy.

I was reading "Les Nourritures Terrestres" by Gide, and I got to a point he cites parts of a poem which I liked very much. The notes informed me that it's a French translation of "an 8th century saxon elegy called 'The Wanderer' "

That intrigued me, and, being on a train with a lot of time to pass (plus being a little tired of reading in French), I took out my phone and searched for the poem.

I found it here. It's the lament of a warrior in exile who has lost his lord and mourns the joy and glory of a world that has now disappeared. I was enjoying it a lot.

And then I got to this point:

And my mouth actually dropped open, because what?

Are you telling me that the Lament for the Rohirrim, one of my favourite poems in LOTR, which I learnt by heart at 13 and later took care to learn in the original English, which I sing when I do the dishes and which routinely makes me cry, is Tolkien's translation of an 8th century Saxon elegy?

Well, the notes at the end of the page confirmed it:

"Tolkien's rendition is hard to resist" I bet it is. I love that professional philologists add notes to their work saying "yeah, by the way, this bit here? It's in your favourite fantasy novel, and I am kinda jealous of how well it was translated, but it's Tolkien, the man spoke Old English, what can you do? Carry on, xoxo"

I mean, I had gathered that the Tolkien poem played on themes used in medieval literature, but I had no idea it was based on an actual, specific text. That makes it a hundred times cooler!

Maybe it's common knowledge, but it was a delicious tidbit of good news to me. Especially since I wasn't expecting it in the least, so I was blindsided by it.

Cherry on top? I had ignored the Old English text, since I don't understand it, but at the end I gave it a cursory read , and the line "Alas for the splendor of the prince"? "Eala þeodnes þrym!"

Now, I have never studied Old English, but I know roughly how to pronounce it (what kind of Silmarillion fan would I be if I didn’t recognize the thorn?). þeodnes has to be where "Theoden" comes from, right?

Apparently yes. I googled the "Lament for the Rohirrim", and Tolkien Gathaway has a nice little parapraph in which they explain all this. I don't know why I had never read it before, but it was a lot more fun learning it as an unexpected detour from my French practice, not gonna lie.

Bottom line: Tolkien was a both a nerd and a genius and continues to make my life brighter, and this is one of those moments in which I am very happy I have spent years of my life learning languages.

Thanks for coming to my impromptu TedTalk.

[mask131]

The missing Arthurian knight - rediscovered in 2019

Well the title is a slight lie - the missing knight wasn't rediscovered in 2019, it was earlier than that, but he didn't became public until 2019.

So what's this "missing knight" about? Well as the title says. There was a knight part of the Arthurian myth, and he had been missing ever since the Middle-Ages, and he was only recently rediscovered.

Or rather, to be exact - there was an Arthurian novel centered around a knight that existed and was a famous and well-known part of the Arthurian literature in the Middle-Ages, but that completely disappeared, and was forgotten by culture (as much popular culture as the scholarly one). Until very recently.

This rediscovered novel has been a hot topic of all Arthuriana fans in Europe for a few years now - and yet I do not see much talk about this onto this website, despite Tumblr being a big place for Arthurian fans?

So I will correct this by doing a series of posts about the subject. And this post will be the first one, the introduction post presenting to you "Ségurant, le chevalier au dragon" ; "Segurant, the knight of the dragon". A French medieval novel part of the Arthurian literature (hence the "chevalier au X" title structure - like Lancelot, the knight of the cart or Yvain the knight of the lion from Chrétien de Troyes), the reason this story was forgotten by all medievalist and literary scholars is - long story short - because it never existed in any full manuscript (at least none that survived to this day). It was a complete story yes, with even variations apparently, but that was cut into pieces and fragments inserted into various other manuscripts and texts (most notably various "Merlin's Prophecies").

The novel and the Knight of the Dragon were rediscovered through the work of Emanuele Arioli, who rediscovered a fragment of the story while looking at an old manuscript of a Merlin Prophecies, and then went on the hunt for the other fragments and pieces scattered around Europe, until he finally could compile the full story, that he then published in 2019, at the Belles Lettres publishing house, in 2019.

Arioli reconstructed the text, and translated it in both modern French and Italian for scholarly and professional editions (aka Honoré Champion in France, a reference for universities)...

... But also for a more "all public, found in all libraries" edition - the famous 2019 edition at Les Belles Lettres.

And not only that, but he also participated to both a comic book adaptation with Emiliano Tanzillo...

... and an adaptation as an illustrated children novel!

Finally, just a few weeks, the Franco-German channel Arte released a documentary about the reconstitution and content of this missing novel called "Le Chevalier au dragon: Le roman disparu de la Table Ronde". (The Knight of the Dragon - The missing novel of the Round Table). The full documentary is on Youtube in French for those that speak the language, here. And in German here for those who speak German.

Unfortunately there is no English version of the documentary that I know of, nor any English publications of the actual text - just French and Italian. But hey, I'll try to palliate to that by doing some English-speaking posts about this whole business!

[seashellisinmyheart]

I Never Watch Television: A 31 Minutes Novel

English Translation

Chapter Two: Part One

Happy holidays guys!

“Tulio, have your nerves calmed down?”

Returning from the commercial break for the popular Ratol mouse food. Juanin revives Tulio with the help of a huge fan. Little by little, Tulio comes back to his senses.

“Of course, inept, I'm a professional!” 

“Oh, thank goodness, because we're back on the air!”

“Aaaay!” Tulio panics again. He takes a bottle of Calmatolin painkillers out of the pocket of his blue jacket and swallow as many as he can before the program continues.

The studio lights suddenly come back on and the musical curtain of 31 Minutes opens. Tulio finishes swallowing painkillers and straightens his tie, while Juanin helps him get back on the chair. Once he has him settled, the producer runs off the set to get behind the cameras.

The magic of television works perfectly: once on air, Tulio seems calm and in control. Ready to reveal the famous news extra!

“Friends, what I am going to present to you next is the GGGHHH…” Tulio clears his throat, a pill is stuck and he has to tap his chest with his fist. Cough, cough, cough…

Quick as lightning, Juanin arrives with a glass of cold water and, gulp! Tulio drinks it in one swallow. 

“Sorry, guys. Forgive me if I get emotional. But even I am human, and this is truly the most important news I have ever had to announce in my twenty year successful profession… only comparable to when I announced the discovery of the flushing potty!”

“Ooooh!” everyone in the studio exclaims in disbelief. 

“That's right, friends, not even that shocking technological innovation compares to what I will let you know now. Where's the music, Juanin? We need a news beat!” 

Juanin gestures to the stagehands at the control, who improvise an orchestra that immediately plays music with the necessary urgency.

The camera zooms in on Tulio until it is in extreme close-up, the tension on the set is at its highest! 

“The Titrilquen space agency, AET, will launch into space in a few minutes… THE LARGEST PIZZA IN THE WORLD!”

¡¡¡¡Ooooh!!!!” exclaims every soul of the studio workers in shock.

“Just like you've heard” Tulio continues “The largest pizza in the world will be launched into space today from our own town. Given the international significance of this event, 31 Minutes has been granted exclusive access to the launching pad for the pizza. From there, my niece, Patana Tufillo, will inform us…”

On one of the news screens appears Patana, who has moved extremely quickly to the AET headquarters to cover the news. Behind her, you can see an impressive launch catapult.

“That's right, Uncle Tulio. More then eight hundred hectares of native forest was cut down to create the mega catapult that is behind me. The device will shoot the delicious projectile into space, which has been in the oven for three weeks. Six thousand hectareters of melted cheese, four hundred and fifty tons of juicy tomato; sixty five tons of blue whale pepperoni and six anchovies make this pizza the largest junk food ever to be launched into space. A real pride for humanity!”

“Shocking, Patana!” Tulio exclaims, back at the studio. At his side, he has a special guest.

“And now, our international expert, Dr. Helga Szwazzsenberg, will explain this launch in such a simple way that even I can understand, right, doctor?”

“I'll try, Tulio,” says the engineer, with her marked European accent. Helga is a very Germanic lady with a very bad temper. She wears a white apron and has long blonde hair arranged in two prominent buns, one on each side of her head.

Behind the engineer, stagehands push a smaller replica of the catapult, which they set up on the news desk. A full sized pizza sits on the device. 

Helga begins to explain, pointing at the catapult:

“A pizza like this…”

“Sorry, but weren't we talking about a ‘giant pizza’?” Tulio interrupts, surprised by the humble size of the pizza.

“This is a model, you idiot.” The doctor replies, exasperated. 

“Oh, I knew that.” Tulio lies, trying not to make a fool of himself.

[poomphuripan]

rosyspell doesn’t have the special chapters of pbd. would you be able to summarize them? 💞💞

hi nonnie! of course i'd be happy to (o゜▽゜)o☆

full disclaimer: my knowledge of 188 novels is still limited so i might not cover all of the special chapters, these are just the ones i've been able to read/know due to the handful of vietnamese/english translations i've been accessible to.

so there are generally a lot of official extras: the written word extra chapters, additional material like interview with the characters, official chibi/cartoon au... which is why for this post i'll just focus on summarizing the post-canon extra chapters. i'll also be linking a few translations i found.

Post-canon extra chapters of Professional Body Double

(i read all of these post-canon extra chapters through a vietnamese translation here, you can google translate and get the gist of them)

Daily life a couple: Ming is sulky at Joe for always being so busy with work because he's busy himself but he can always spend time with Joe while Joe has a lot of projects to film. Joe coaxes Ming by agreeing to go on a short trip with him to the beach. They have kinky sex on the beach.

Period of Happiness: Joe surprises Ming by returning home early from his work trip. Joe hears the sounds coming from the bedroom while Ming quickly turns off what he was watching. Joe got curious so he secretly looks at what Ming had been watching, turns out Ming was watching old films which Joe 1.0 starred in. Joe feels conflicted, a bit envy of his old face, is kinda forlorn and down mood. Next morning, Ming notices something's wrong with Joe and apologizes profusely to Joe for watching films of Joe 1.0 while Joe is like it's fine (he was in fact, not fine). In the evening, Joe tells Ming he's gonna take a walk outside but Ming got all paranoid that Joe is still mad at him and starts crying and begging him to stay, promising he'll never watch films of Joe 1.0 again if Joe stays (all this kid knows is how to beg and cry lawd). Joe is like no he's just worried that Ming cannot fully accept his new look compared to his old one. Ming was like no he should be the one worrying here, worrying that one day Joe can get upset and leave him without saying goodbye like Joe once did. Ming does regret that he's never had a picture taken with Joe 1.0 but promises that he only loves the current Joe in front of him. They had hot emotional sex after resolving their conflict.

Injured Xiang-Ge: Joe gets injured on set and broke his rib a little bit. Ming immediately flies home to see Joe and take care of him. Ming expresses his fears and worries about what if one day Joe hits his head and lose all conciousness of Joe 1.0 or if Joe 2.0's soul return to this body. Joe reassures Ming that he will be more careful later on when filming.

New Year Vacation: A snowstorm hit the set where Joe is filming, causing a delay in production. Joe messages Ming to coax him about not being able to come back home in time to celebrate Lunar New Year with him. Ming surprises Joe at the hotel where he was staying to celebrate new year with him.

Jealous Little Gong: Ming is jealous over the news reporting about Joe's new film and dating rumors with his actress co-star. Joe is being sickenly sweet trying to coax Ming.

Summer Limited (adapted audiodrama here): famous actor Joe is invited to Italy for Milan Fashion Week, Ming is somewhere in Europe working around the same time so he received an invitation to the FW by the organizers to walk with Joe. Ming surprises Joe with his appearance and they're all lovey dovey with their public appearance at Joe's hesitance because it's implied that Ming's father still disapproves of his gay son.

Vacation in Munich in 2018 (english tl here): Joe takes some time off acting when he's at the height of his career to travelled with Ming to Germany where Ming is supposed to be working there for some time. They take a walk around the city one day and run into a female acquaintance of Ming. Basically Ming teases Joe about whether he's jealous, they're just being lovey and dovey bantering.

English translations of official AUs

ABO AU - read here Sentinel & Guide AU - read here

[serinemisc]

@youzicha trimming a bunch of reblogs from Pointlessly Nonliteral Translation.

But I still don't like the two examples in my post above. It's admirable when somebody solves a difficult problem in a creative way, but producing "could mankind really be on the verge" is not difficult, you just look at the words in front of you. What made Woolsey so sure that what he writes is better than what the original author wrote? I guess what bugs me about this is that it is disrespectful, in the sense that he only does this because he doesn't respect the source text. If he was given a highbrow novel to translate he surely would not rewrite it, but he thinks this is schlock that doesn't matter. And yet, the game sold millions of copies, and we are still talking about it 30 years later—maybe it was not so insignificant after all.

I think the thing is the thing where you gotta unfocus your eyes and look at the big picture and not the sentences and words, you know?

I just got to a point in Honkai Star Rail where a guy is like "as a senior in the field, I'll give you some free advice" where something like "as the more experienced one" would have worked a lot better. This is the sort of thing that happens when you get too fixated on how to translate sempai (technically the Chinese xianbei but same thing).

I do understand that your point is "you can do a translation without adding in your own interpretation" but my point is that it's actually really hard to do that without making it sound awkward.

Speaking of Honkai Star Rail, it just translated " 'Kindness' is my pronoun" to " 'Kindness' is my middle name". I actually really like that one (Chinese doesn't have middle names). Uh, that wasn't relevant, I'm just playing Honkai Star Rail right now.

To be clear this was just an exercise for learning Japanese, it's not advice about how to do professional translation. But if you try, for most prose text I think it's quite possible to follow these rules and produce something that still sounds like natural English. I think that's a realistic standard to compare other translations against.

I presume you've read a translated light novel? Those read noticeably more awkwardly because they're usually closer or more literal translations. I would assume that avoiding that is the main reason most other translations take more liberties.

I think translated light novels are probably somewhere around the amount of literalism you prefer, so I just want to point out that I at least find them annoying to read in English, and that probably says something about general preferences.

(Why is a translated light novel more literal? My guess is because in a game, the thing you want to preserve is the plot, while in a book, )

To be clear, I definitely don't think that translating literally is obligatory or is an end in itself. I post about the virtues of literalism, but that's because I think the overall discourse is too one-sided and everyone takes it for granted that "literal is bad".

When I watch anime with friends, I like to infodump about the differences between the Japanese and the English subtitles, but usually, if I dislike something, it's usually an attempt to translate a word that could have better been done with a rephrase ("sempai" to "senior", very commonly). So while I agree that both extremes are bad, that informs which side I'm generally pushing for.

I think you sometimes overestimate how much impact the lack of a common ancestor language has, when something is maybe explained by a particular grammatical feature in isolation.

I mean, this is just my experience, finding sentence-for-sentence translations flow a lot better between Spanish and English, than between Japanese and English.

But yeah I dunno, it's not out of the question that my highest fluencies being in English/Japanese/Chinese makes me assume that something like English/German are more similar than they actually are. But I still feel like I'm right. Like, what PIE language would have a chart like this?

[ahopefulbromantic]

What's your favorite Halloween monster?

Oh vampires absolutely, for a number of reasons:

The origins! The cultural significance! The philosophical implications! The connection to Christianity! Especially the mythological ties to Judas! The possibility to explore social taboos! The ties to mental health issues! The solitude! The gore the blood the predatory intimacy! The free will issue! The poetic inclinations!

Gotta say, they are actually very relatable for a Christian: the being immortal (eternal life), drinking blood to live (Blood of Christ that is), being a victim of a curse that makes you sometimes act against your own will and do harm (as in original sin and broken nature), etc.

I love how they are like a distorting mirror to living people, i've always thought vampires are to humans what demons are to angels and this concept fascinates me

They are also relatable for medical professionals cause y'know taking blood hehehe (this is your PSA to please donate blood as frequently as you can, please people need it!!!)

I love to ponder their physiology as the living dead - is their heartbeat and breathing exclusively voluntary? does the blood go into the digestive system at all or straight to the circulation? what are the limitations of regenerative abilities? so many questions!

There's a funny story about the name itself because they actually come from Slavic culture - Polish people knew them as "upiór" or "wąpierz" and when English writers came to Central and Eastern Europe for inspiration they anglicized the name as "vampire/vampyre". But then the English novels came to Poland and instead of translating vampire as wąpierz for some reason they made a new word "wampir" as if it was foreign which is ridiculous but it stayed 😆

Taika Waititi's What We Do in the Shadows is one of my favorite movies ever, it's hilarious

Oh and goes without saying i hate Twilight series (if you enjoy them that's cool! they just aren't for me), i hate vampire romance genre, anytime someone says they wish they were a vampire i cringe internally so hard. No you don't, you really don't. It's hell on earth, it's eternal suffering and loss of self with no hope of comfort or end, that's the whole point. I generally hate overs*xualization of vampires, too, though if it fits the concept and has a narrative purpose i can let it pass

[reiynm]

Hi there!

I just wanted to throw some positivity your way because, while I haven't played the French (I believe?) version of your VN, I played the English one and genuinely thought it was well written and engrossing. For what it's worth, I'm a voracious reader and I write fiction as a hobby, so I read stories all day long, everyday. I don't give you that compliment lightly. I mean it. You have a talent for telling stories, and I loved yours.

I respect your need for space from your project(s), especially after someone has been hurtful about the hard work you'd already poured into it. That said, if you're ever ready to pick it back up, I'm happy to help edit the English script to make you more comfortable with the English version.

I am NOT fluent in French, but I did study it for 6 years, so I have some understanding that could help towards that end.

English is my native language and I have a Bachelor's degree in it with a focus in professional writing. I was a few credits short of a minor in French, but I haven't had a chance to use my French in the 10 years since I graduated, so it's rusty to put it lightly.

If you don't want to take me up on this offer, that's fine. I just wanted to extend it just in case.

Have a wonderful day!

Hello!

Oh my god, thank you so much for your message. You warmed my heart with your compliments and your kindness 🤗 And thank you for taking the time to write me your opinion, it means a lot to me.

Currently, the French version is not yet online, but unlike the demo, it will be the French version which will be prioritized when my game is (finally) finished.

I think I'll still try to make the English version by myself. After all, this visual novel project helped me a lot to learn English (but maybe I'll post the script for those who are curious or want to translate the game into other languages ​​tho🤔), that said, thank you very much for wanting to help me. Again, this means a lot!!

Have a beautiful day💕

[littledeadpotato]

Dracula rant:)

1st post! This'll be a book review (not very professional, cuz im not a book critic, I'll probably just write down what I liked) of the 1897's novel Dracula by Bram Stoker which I finished last night (running on 3 hours of sleep). I had a Czech translation from the library (because money) and that was Omega version from 2017 (it has a nice cover, Go check it out). This one took me a while to read, mainly because last few months im really tired and go to bed at like 23.00(??), so I read like 15 pages a day. Now to the review ;D

Started: 25/11

Finished: 30/12

Rating: 4.25/5⭐

Fun-ness: 7/10

Lovable characters: 6.5/10

Amount-of-times-I-spaces-out-because-Van Helsing-was-talking-pages-and-pages-and pages: 100000/10

When I started this I had no idea what I was getting myself into (plot wise, I knew there'd be Vampires), but I really enjoyed this book. For a 19th century novel, the characters were really fun (most of them, I couldn't bring myself to be genuinely interested in Van Helsing), I really liked Dr. Seward, Reinfield and Lucy (I liked the rest too but these just stood out to me).

I wasn't a huge fan of the way the Czechs (and other similiar groups) were depicted, it was very "us, english men, Are educated and know science! Those guys, stupid, they believe in Vampires and are crude", very not cool. The way this book describes women is also very funny, Im not saying Bram had some hate towards woman (the opposite, I think he also wrote strong female characters in his other books), but it really shows when this was written, on one page, both the men and the women are like: ,,Oh men are so strong and brave, women are so soft and delicate, they can never be as brave as men", and on the next one, everyone is worshipping Mina (which - fair).

(Spoilers ahead)

I would divide the book in few parts:

Jonathan's stay with Dracula

Lucy

Vampire hunting

Jonathan's stay with Dracula

This part I really liked, I'm part of the problem, because im aware Jonathan was going thru his worst, but cmon, it was a little funny to see Dracula climb down a wall like a lizard and Jonathan describing it in sheer horror. There were few very fun moments, but sometimes when Dracula was talking for too long, I sort of spaced out (-> my fault). I also enjoyed that one time the 3 ladies tried to drink Jonathan's blood and Dracula was just like: ,Get tf out👊'.But it was fun.

2. Lucy

This is the part where Lucy becomes the first vampire our friends have to deal with! This was my favourite part. I just really liked Mina's and Lucy's friendship (or more, I wouldn't mind lesbian vampire rep ;P). The whole events around it were at some point very frustrating, because you know whats happening and what they should do, but Van Helsing is just waiting and then is like "source: trust me bro💪", (speaking of Van Helsing, since my head is still full of Arcane, I kept imagining his voice sounding like Heimerdinger's, im sorry lol) which I understand but it results in things like one of the maids opening the window when Lucy was dead (or removing the wreath, I don't remember). Also all the stuff around the ship and the dog!!! Oh those are my fave parts of the book!!! I'm also pretty sure there were some chapters with John and Reinfield, which I also really liked. I was really dissapointed when Reinfield died cuz I enjoyed him as a character so much and was excited where his character gets (spoiler: to grave) and how his research continues (spoiler: it doesn't), that was my main moment of being pissed at Dracula and also when he started fucking with Mina which was a dick move honestly.

3. Vampire hunting

I'm pretty sure this was the longest part, which makes sense. I found it a bit funny, since Dracula keeps escaping and making his mischevious plans and spending money on shit and then Van Helsing, Arthur, John, Jonathan, Quincey and in certain parts Mina trying to catch him. It was a bit silly when I actually realised those babes are playing mouse and cat and also that Arthur spends shit ton money on this stuff. I dont even wanna know how it would go if neither of them was rich. How I said, wasn't a fan of Dracula being a bitch and making it Mina's problem, that sweet sweet woman didn't deserve it (I'm so glad Mina gets the recognision she should get in the book). ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT JONATHAN??? My poor man has been through the worst stuff possible through the book, he's in his late 20's and got grey hair and wrinkles just from Dracula. Also PTSD and some illness he had after getting out of the castle. Shout out to Jonathan for being the first wife guy and also LIVING THROUGH LITERAL HELL???? We dont talk about this enough T_T. Also here's my favourite fanart (idk if im just bad at looking for fanart, but this book doesn't have that much of it, like Dracula does but the side guys and Mina - Mina has few but most are with Dracula which is ickyyy - and Lucy.)

Credits to @hauntingyourself (I think)

The ending wasn't any revolutionary, it was good tho, also Quincey's death was so out my pocket, but im not complaining.

I'd also say why I liked and enjoyed this book was partially because I didn't take it as seriously, I mean I'll watch some analyses about it and all, but while reading, I was just having fun, and memes and silly fanart also helped with that.

It was a fun book, shout out to Mrs. Librarian who borrowed this book for me from another library 💋

Edit: also if you plan on reading/are reading Dracula I recommend listening to the album Empire of the vampire by Paralysed age :3

30/12/2024

[solradguy]

Sol I gotta ask, when you read japanese, are you at the level where you can read it casually, or does understanding it still take effort? Because even though I've got the basic gist of my second language down, I still would struggle with picking up a novel and consuming it, actively translating the text in my brain takes so much extra effort than skimming words in english 🥲

If it's baby level I can read it just fine haha but longer stuff is impossible without Yomitan because there are just so... many..... kanji......... Picking up a physical novel or newspaper and being able to understand 100% of it is still beyond my skill level, but I am probably at least to a point where I could give like a vague summary of what's happening.

I'm not sure how many kanji I have memorized exactly... When I started the Begin translation a few years back I probably knew maybe 200 (what was I doing translating books at just 200 kanji?!?) and I'd be surprised if I knew less than 800 now, which is nearly a third of the recommended number needed to fully understand a newspaper (~2200). That's just kanji though, my actual vocabulary is a lot higher than that lol

I'd love to take an actual Japanese class some day... Self study has gotten me REALLY far but, like you, there are a lot of times where I have to translate it into English before it clicks with my brain, and I think I would be a lot more efficient at translating in general too if I had more professional studying. Maybe some day!!

[kebriones]

Translated parts of T. Kallifatides’ “Timandra" (PART 1)

Part 2

part 3 coming soon

Intro:

The book has not been translated to english yet, so this is my (very much not professional) attempt at translating some parts of it, mostly the ones that have to do with Alcibiades.

This is a historical novel, told as a sort of autobiography from the POV of Timandra, an hetaera who according to some versions of the story was there to witness Alcibiades’ death. We know nothing about her, so the author has constructed an entirely new story for her. 

I also have to mention that it was written in 1994 and it’s one of the few books this author has written in greek.

I will not include the original greek text, unless someone specifically asks for it. I have tried my absolute best to not take any liberties and translate it as close to word-for-word as possible rather than try to make the prose sound better in english, to convey it as it is. 

I will include commentary after some parts, for fun :D 

Lastly, the setting of the book is as follows: Timandra reminisces on her entire life on the night of Alcibiades’ assassination, while he is sleeping and she is awake. 

the translations are under the cut! enjoy!

(p.7) He was lying next to me, naked. The reflection of the fireplace’s flame fell on his forehead and made the drops of sweat glow like gemstones. That was exactly when steps were heard. I froze. He was breathing deeply, calmly. “Someone’s coming” I said. “Let them come, whoever wants to” he replied to me. “Twenty five years I wait for them” Then he turned on his right side. A moment later he was asleep. He always slept on the right. “I can’t sleep on the left” he had explained to me. “I can’t sleep on my heart, and my heart never sleeps.” (transl. notes: my mother always told me to avoid sleeping on my heart, in order to sleep more easily and not have nightmares)

(p.20) Luckily Alcibiades was asleep, or we would have a quarrel. “Why must we explain everything?” he would say, lisping, something that meant he was truly angry.

(p.22) Night. The sky was close and the stars shone with a light we were not used to. It was a foreign night. I had seen many nights, in Greece, on the islands, in Asia, in Sicily. Nevertheless, I couldn’t feel at home with them. I always missed the night of Attica, which maintains something from the light of day like an afterglow, like the dull shine of an old mirror. (transl. notes: this is really weird to me because I keep saying, there’s something about the sky in attica. If you’ve lived your whole life here, when you travel elsewhere you really get it. idk what it is. maybe a mass delusion)

(p.43) …that not even their king could manage in bed, so poor Alcibiades was compelled to knock up their queen, whose bastard they called Leotychides but she called him Alcibiades, and as a result, the king’s horns were so large that he didn’t dare go out hunting anymore because he got tangled in the bushes. (transl. notes: in greece if your spouse cheats on you, the saying is that you grow horns)

(p.56, timandra talking about the first time she saw Alcibiades) Ten years old I was when I saw him for the first time, he bewitched me immediately both as he was who he was and because he made me dream. I would imagine we lived together, that he was my brother, that I wasn’t a girl but a boy and that we wrestled or competed together at running, that I would rub him with oil after the bath.

(p.88) He had to sleep. The war had lasted almost my whole life. The first time he took part in battle he was still a teenager. Now he was forty four years old. Twenty eight winters and twenty eight summers he had prepared to be killed, every battle could be the last. Most of his friends and even more of his enemies had already died or fallen in the war. His life was emptying. Around him was the void, in Athens as well as in Sparta. Twenty eight years lasted the war and all those years I was in love with Alcibiades, however I never tried to keep him near me. I never made use of neither tears nor caresses-and I had no other means. Afterall, I liked seeing him wear his armor. The shield, the helmet, the sword. He seemed to me immortal. I know though that he wasn’t. My nails could leave bloody marks on his bare shoulders, let alone a sword. 

(p.92) One afternoon, as I was climbing my pine tree, I found my spot taken by a blonde girl at my age. I knew who she was. She was the daughter of Hipponicus, one of the richest Athenians, who was also Aspasias’ first husband before she got Pericles. They called her Hipparete. I was pissed, of course, even though I couldn’t do anything about it, the pine tree was not my property and so I started to climb down, when Hipparete, with a soft voice that surprised me, said: “We both fit” There was something so polite and mild in her tone that I acquiesced. I climbed up again and sat next to her. She offered me almonds. I didn’t talk much. We looked silently at the spectavle down on the field, when suddenly we saw Alcibiades enter the palestra and I felt Hipparete next to me focus her attention, as I did mine, and I understood that this sweet-voiced, blonde girl was one of my rivals. If only I knew how right I was. I pretended to observe the match and in reality I observed Hipparete. Her face kept changing color. One moment she was ashen, the next beet-red, she clenched her hands as if in adjuration and other times she shut her eyes as if she couldn’t bear to watch. Alcibiades at the palestra was having problems. His opponent was bulky and buff. Alcibiades was trying to slip away but the other had caught him about the waist and was pressing him backwards like a sapling. Looking at Hipparete, I saw she was ready to faint, when suddenly we heard a shout and Alcibiades’ opponent had let go of him and was rubbing his shoulder. “You bite like a woman, Alcibiades!” He said, so loudly that everyone heard him. “I bite. But like a lion” replied Alcibiades, even louder. The old men on the bleachers started laughing, even the bitten one could not help himself. He gave a friendly pat on Alcibiades’ shoulder and they left together for the baths. We saw them wash each other, dry each other up. When I turned again to Hipparete, I saw her crying. (transl. note: I feel like it’s highly unlikely that Hipparete, being from the family she was, would be allowed to do anything like climbing trees to look at boys at age twelve or thirteen that she’s supposed to be here but it’s a cute scene i guess. plus it’s the bitting scene so I had to include it.)

(p95) The rest of them did not want anything more than that. And so, Alcibiades stopped Hipponicus, greeted him respectfully and suddenly slapped him across the face. Hipponicus was lost for words, tried to say something, regretted it and walked away, as fast as his age and dignity would allow. Alcibiades won the bet. At the same time, he fell in the Athenians’ esteem, who could forgive a murder in cold blood, but not the slapping of an old and respected citizen. There were some limits, that not even Alcibiades could surpass without punishment. There was nothing left but ask for forgiveness. Something he did, but in such a way that the Athenians would talk more about the repentance than the offense. Early the next morning, he stood himself outside of Hipponicus’ house, waiting for him with his head bowed. To those who asked what he was doing there, he replied that he wanted to ask for forgiveness from Hipponicus. Why didn’t he go inside? they asked him. No, he wasn’t worthy of stepping food in that house. Athenians, always fond of shows and curious, smelled that something was cooking and started gathering in the corner. It is not known what crossed the mind of Hipponicus, when he saw all those people outside his house. Eye witnesses said that he was terrified and turned to go back inside. But Alcibiades ran and pleaded with him to stop. After that, taking off his chiton, he stood in front of him completely naked. Someone was saying later that his beauty doubled the light of day, someone else was saying he looked like Eros himself. Complete silence fell and everyone could hear Alcibiades’ raspy voice, who spoke way too slowly, like all who lisp. “Hipponicus, I behaved insolently towards you and I ask for your forgiveness and as proof of my repentance, I hand over my body to you, to whip it or do whatever else you consider fit. Hipponicus had not become this rich without eyes or tongue. “Alcibiades, son of Kleinias” he said. “I am not so small-souled (mean-spirited, petty?) as to whip you and unfortunately I am way too old to do to you what I consider fit!” The mass around them broke into laughter and some not quite seemly comments were made.

PART 2 COMING SOON

[don-dake]

一些含糊字義 a few ambiguous characters & meanings

A few characters that has perplexed me and had always been at the back of my mind, which I finally looked more into recently thanks to the Chinese novel I was reading. This has more to do with Traditional (繁體) than Simplified (簡體) but there is some overlap.

Definitions taken from various sites which I'll name but not link because Tumblr's funny about posts not showing up under the appropriate tags if a post has links it deems “unsafe”. I can't remember all the sites I referenced anyway.

I will not elaborate on example words because that will make this post much longer than necessary.

Summarised/paraphrased/translated into English by me.

-------------------------------------------

Difference between 「夥」 & 「伙」

When used to mean “companion/partner” or “a gang of people”, both can be used interchangeably in Traditional today. But 「夥」 was originally from a rural dialect that just meant “many” or “much”.

「伙」 is actually “more correct” in keeping with the meaning of “companion/partner” or “gang of people”. 「伙」 has its origins from the military of ancient times, where soldiers will have meals round a campfire together. 「火伴」 (literally “fire companions”) evolved to become 「伙伴」, and that's why 「伙食」 (“mess meals”) is always 「伙食」 and never 「夥食」.

[Ref.: Wikipedia/Wikitionary]

Both are pronounced the same in Cantonese and Mandarin.

🇭🇰🇲🇴 fo², 🀄 huǒ/ㄏㄨㄛˇ

Taiwan's (Traditional) interpretation:

Apart from 「伙食」, 「家伙」 and 「獲益甚夥」, 「夥」 and 「伙」 can be used interchangeably. But according to current dictionary recommendations and real world usage, 「夥」 is more dominant.

China's (Simplified) interpretation:

Apart from where the implication means “more” (basically, 「獲益甚夥」), 「伙」 is used for all other meanings.

[Ref.: 「知乎」]

-------------------------------------------

Difference between 「凶」 & 「兇」

Generally, they both mean the same thing: some kind of negative/aggressive situation. And if you're focusing on only Simplified, good news! You just have to remember one: 凶.

But in Traditional, there is 凶 & 兇, and more nuance involved. Both are pronounced the same in Cantonese and Mandarin.

🇭🇰🇲🇴 hung¹, 🀄 xīong/ㄒㄩㄥ

凶 — Inauspiciousness; bad year for a harvest or bad vibes. In short, more to do with bad luck, inauspicious, unfortunate circumstances beyond one's control.

e.g.：(inauspicious/misfortune) 凶多吉少、吉凶難卜、逢凶化吉、凶耗、凶兆、凶事、凶終隙末（交友有始無終）、凶神惡煞；(bad year for a harvest) 凶年饑歲；(bad vibes/premonition) 凶氣。

兇 — ferocious, aggressive manner. In short, more to do with a person's temperament, actions and intentions, or a fearsome power/aura that may or may not be man-made.

e.g.: (ferociousness/aggressiveness) 兇惡、兇狠、兇猛、兇橫、兇悍、兇殘、兇險、兇相畢露； (aggressive intentions) 兇手、兇犯、兇徒、疑兇； (power/aura) 鬧得很兇、雨勢很兇。

Differentiation — where mistakes are commonly made is when 「凶」 is erroneously substituted with 「兇」. For example, 「凶耗」 is written as 「兇耗」, 「凶多吉少」 is written as 「兇多吉少」.

And the idiom 「凶神惡煞」 should not be 「兇神惡煞」.

[Ref.: 「豆瓣」、「痞客邦」]

-------------------------------------------

But it's still not that clear-cut! I also came across several instances in the book I was reading where I thought 「兇」 should be used, but 「凶」 was used instead, namely, 「行凶」. And it was repeated consistently, several times throughout the book for it not to have been a typo.

Another one is 「凶案」 (not in photo). I thought it would be 「兇案」 but my book has consistently shown 「凶案」! ༼⁠⁰⁠o⁠⁰⁠；⁠༽

I can only conclude that 「行凶」 and 「凶案」 was used in the book because 「凶」 has more room for ambiguity (i.e. misfortune that may or may not be violent) and was what the author and translator wanted to convey, whereas 「兇」 just clearly indicates intended violence involved?

Edited-to-add: Noticed in another book I have (with a different translator), 「凶」 is used in 「凶手」 now! ༼⁠⁰⁠o⁠⁰⁠；⁠༽ ↓↓↓

If anyone can shed more light on this, please do!

Seems like even between professional translators/translations, there is no standard on when to use 「兇」 or 「凶」？¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[xslytherclawx-writes]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

stolen from @thebreakfastgenie - if you want to do this, consider yourself tagged!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

508, not including anon works

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

1,779,933

3. What fandoms do you write for?

uh... lots? i think i've written in upwards of 70 fandoms. mostly currently Harry Potter and Star Trek (Voyager & Lower Decks). Occasionally I'll toss in a Miraculous fic. My top 6 by works are: Harry Potter (187), Yuri!!! on ICE (62), Chronicles of Narnia (39), Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn (18), The Umbrella Academy (TV) (12) - tied with Original Work (12)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Total Agony of Being in Love (Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston)  Two of A Kind (Howl Series - Diana Wynne Jones) La Magique étude du Bonheur (Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling)  i bloom just for you (Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston) enough contrition to spare (Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to! but i do have over 100 comments in my inbox so perhaps i am not like... the best at it haha

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I think maybe either: (for you) i would ruin myself (Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling) or: Death Date (Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling)  OR: like my parents never did (Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling)  but like i write a LOT of angst lol

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I've written so much fluff so I'm just going to plug relationship advice (Miraculous Ladybug) (written for @nemaliwrites actually haha) because I think it has enough stakes for the ending to count as truly happy instead of just. fluff all the way through. (though it is pretty fluffy)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

yeah. i wrote aged up characters once and got called disgusting like ok thanks you're the one who took the time to click on it and leave a comment. but ok. i also was told very rudely that sirius was ooc in a fic for not being fanon sirius. again: ok. read the books.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do, pretty often, actually. I've written F/M, F/F, M/M, F/M/M. I'll be posting some F/F/M soonish too.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Not often? I think the craziest one I've written was Star Wars PT / Buffy the Vampire Slayer: friends in highly low places 

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not just that, but I had a fic ripped off for a professionally published novel. not that i'm still bitter, or anything.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Введение в дипломатию by lyomna, translation of an introduction to diplomacy (Narnia) From English to Русский

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Sure have! Mostly in Yuri!!! on ICE

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

don't do this to me. I genuinely don't know. all-time?? Jill/Eustace and Polly/Digory have stood the test of time better than anything for any of my other fandoms tbh. But like favorite???? I can't pick. Some evergreen ships: Katniss/Peeta (THG), Remus/Lily (HP), Drarry (HP), Hyacinth/Gareth (Bridgerton).

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i mean the entirety of the cat café universe is probably not being touched again. uh. beyond that? not one for being let down (Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling) - I should probably just put an epilogue on it and call it done a matter of diplomacy (Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis) - I really do like this one, but my brain is just not giving me many more ideas for it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

dialogue and character voice!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

detailed description

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I did it before bc I was a pretentious ass and continue it in Ravenclaw AU for consistency's sake, but I probably wouldn't do it again, unless it was a language I spoke fluently (so French or German) and didn't want my POV character to understand, and even then... eh.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter, officially, but I wrote out some Halloweentown fanfiction in 3rd grade and submitted it for an assignment, so does that count?

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

making me choose a favorite child. jk it's probably Lost Causes (Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling) or, in a completely different vein, the proof is in the pudding (literally. no one tested the pudding.) (Succession (TV 2018)) 

[mareenavee]

Hi there! I was wondering if there's anything you're happy to share about your original writing? I'd also love to hear about your writing process in general, from first conception through to finished product, and how it varies for you for fic vs original writing. Thanks so much for your time! 🌻🌷

Oh hello new friend :D Thanks for asking!

So I can talk a bit about what's been happening with me lately lol I think it can be important for a lot of us, especially in kind of the climate we're in as creatives right now. And while the story might not seem very happy at first, I am still happy to share so others might not feel alone if they're wandering, too.

Something about my original writing:

So I went to college for Creative Writing. I had started in English Edu, and switched about halfway through for many reasons but suffice to say if I didn't do what I loved, that degree would still be unfinished. My goal was to get into editing, if I could, and eventually write a book. After college, my full time, in-office jobs at first had nothing to do with writing. I was doing things like tech support, sales and data entry until I got into advertising. And I was editing, using my degree, but I was also more using my skills from sales. And here we stumble into something of a burnout problem. I was working so many hours on unrelated nonsense that I simply did not have the energy to stay awake half the time, let alone write. And I was away from the desk for so long that when I returned, I felt couldn't manage a single good thing. I kept trying even during the dumpster fire the last few years has been collectively.

I'll time skip for the sake of the story. The cure for burnout is simply rest, regardless of it's professional/career burnout or creative burnout or a combination of the both of these things. One doesn't always realize this in the middle of the issues, though. So here I was barely writing anything that I'd be willing to share, frowning terribly at the blank page every opportunity and just being down on myself and my work. I wrote a couple flash fiction pieces, and plenty for dnd but I'd kind of lost track of my goal of writing THE BOOK, ya know? So I decided I was done with feeling so, I guess, unmoored about it all and I wanted to return to longform projects without second guessing myself at every turn. And I broke the spiral, because it was a spiral, by returning to fandom and starting my fic.

So my original writing, long story short, is short form for the most part! And I want very much to finish a novel. I'm giving myself the space to practice again with fic and prove to myself what I am capable of. It's a slow process, healing, but I am and it translates back at every step. I don't tie my original works to this screenname but a few of my fic writin' and Skywind writin' friens have read a bit here and there of both my dnd and my original short stories. It feels good to not feel bad about them as loudly anymore and to have people interact in a positive way with what I've done. I lost a bit of that after college, and writers really ought to stick together. It gets lonely and difficult without friends otherwise. (:

Something about my writing process:

I am a planner and a fragment writer! This is a result of my schooling. When I was younger and didn't hear a different way, I would pants the entire story. Now I suppose it's about 85% planning, and 15% finding ways to cause problems on purpose for my characters and running with a scene idea. (and cutting it if it doesn't work, saving it for later of course.) I outline plot points usually and if I have specific details I want to elaborate on, I have in-depth pages for that in the planning docs. I tend to treat my character sheets sorta like dnd without the build stats. Just break down into sections describing how they'll look, and their backstories. I also really enjoy the tumblr asks regarding OCs, too, because a lot of that ends up in my planning docs too, where it hadn't been thought of before. I like to really KNOW my characters and where I want the story to go as I proceed, but again -- sometimes I just cause problems on purpose for them and for myself (: But that's the fun of it. There's room for unmitigated creativity if you let go of all the headspace nonsense whenever possible.

As for fragments -- sometimes scenes come to me out of order or in ideas that don't have a place in my current project. I keep idea docs and an idea notebook on hand almost always and write down stray thoughts either as more of an outline, or just a jotted down piece of a thought -- OR something more. Like a whole in-prose scene. That's what I mean by fragments. I've found, especially lately, considering what I wrote above, that if inspiration strikes, let it distract you from everything whenever you can. Write that shit down and save it for later. (:

The last part of it, of course, is the editing process. I try to fire the editing brain for drafting purposes and then go back in to proofread and then do editing passes two or three times before I post / consider a piece to be finished enough to possibly share. I enjoy that part of the process so much. It's like finishing a good jigsaw puzzle lol. That said it's not always sunshine and rainbows, it can be a brutal difficult process. And I am not always right. It's different looking at editing your own work than others' just due to how close we can be to our own writing. Worth it, though, all the struggle (:

Is it different in my original work than fic?

Nope! I mean I suppose the glaring difference would be I need to spend more time in original with worldbuilding than I do in fic, as fic kind of has a bit of a safety net in that department. That said, there's still plenty of worldbuilding to do, lots of hcs to write about, and lots of planning how the pieces will interact. And asking -- why tell this specific story? (Always the fun part for me.) The process, regardless, still remains the same. Plan, write, cause problems on purpose, plan around those problems, write more and EDIT, EDIT, EDIT. (:

Thank you so much for asking this!! I hope this was insightful!

[ultramarine-spirit]

Hello Mari, how are you?

I would like to ask you something about the novel because one of your posts confused me a little. From what I understand Hari and Athy meet in the novel, at least in the version that I read, when Athy goes to Ijekiel's school, after Claude lose his memories, they meet and get along. But in one of your posts you said that this was in the first version of the novel, so now I don't understand if what you meant was that only in the first version of the novel was the interaction between them and not in the final version Or that in the first version they had more interactions and that those were eliminated?

I feel like there are so many different versions of the same novel that it's quite confusing to know if what one read is the right one or not.

Hello!

Ah, yes, I can see how this topic would be very confusing.

Before WMMAP's novel was published in a more "professional" manner, so to speak, on Ridibooks and Kakaopage (so, before it was picked up by an editorial house and all that), it was published by Plutus on a different website (I don't recall the exact name right now, I can try to dig it up later. This happened all the way back in 2016). This first version was slightly different than the one we can buy and read today, and because there are so many unofficial, partial translations of the novel, this created different English versions (some translations have the chapters about Hari, and some others don't). The changes were pretty minor when it comes to the plot of the novel (according to Plutus' Naver blog posts, the edits were made around 2017), with the important exception of Athy going to Arlanta's Academy and meeting Hari and Cabel. In the new (current) version of the novel, this has been edited out and only a very small cameo remains (Athy hearing the -implied- voices of Hari and Cabel arguing) (but Athy still meets Cabel later when the Arlanta delegation comes to Obelia).

That's about it. If you ask me, I believe Plutus changed this because it created an inconsistency with BOTB's novel (written after WMMAP): Hari couldn't have studied at Arlanta's Academy, because that school doesn't accept girls. So it didn't make sense for Hari to have met Athy there as a student. In BOTB's novel, there's only a small reference to lucathy's wedding, with Hari thinking that Obelia's princess must have a great life.

That last part is just my educated guess though.

[inapat16]

Similar stories of girls in uniform: 2. Olivia

When Mädchen in uniform was released in 1931, it reminded one woman of her adolescence. Dorothy Bussy was a spectator of that movie and realized it was possible to tell stories about women who love each other. So, in 1933, the 68-year-old novelist and translator decided to write her own story about her teenage years in boarding school in France. It took form through the book Olivia, which was finally published in 1949 with a mysterious way of signing it as it stands “by Olivia” to highlight the autobiographical aspect of Dorothy Bussy’s story.

This book was a huge success and was translated into seven different languages. The French director Jacqueline Audry decided to adapt it on screen as early as 1950 under the same title.

Around 1880, Dorothy Bussy went to one of the only French all-girl boarding schools at the time called “Les Ruches” in Fontainebleau. It was managed by Marie Souvestre and her partner Caroline Dussaut. She transposed her experience through the character of Olivia, a young English girl who comes to study in France and gradually becomes attracted to the boarding school director called Mademoiselle Julie.

Like in Mädchen in uniform, the movie adaptation of Olivia almost has an all female cast. The well known French actress Edwige Feuillère incarnates the fascinating Mademoiselle Julie while the heroine Olivia is played by the young Marie-Claire Olivia (who obviously had a fated name). The movie director Jacqueline Audry wanted to be clear about the homosexuality aspect of the story, even if the characters never end up together. There is even a scene where Mademoiselle Julie confesses her love to Olivia, before her departure. Because the movie is so transparent about it, it was criticized by some of the critics, especially in France. Its American release was even censored and done under the title The Pit of loneliness, reminding the novel Well of loneliness written by Radclyffe Hall, which was famous for its depiction of a lesbian passion. But as always, the fact that a teacher and director takes advantage of her position to seduce teenage girls is not something addressed by the critics of the time, even if it’s what remains shocking to a contemporary spectator. 

If this movie has a lot in common with Mädchen in uniform, it is singular by its representation of a school where the students are encouraged to develop their critical mind and to pursue a professional career (while in Mädchen in uniform, the girls were attending classes to become good housewives). So the feminist engagement of the original boarding school Les Ruches is well respected and was truly pioneering, especially for this establishment that existed from 1864 to 1883.

Olivia was beautifully restored in 2018 and put Jacqueline Audry’s work back in the spotlight. This cinematographer was one of the rare women to direct movies in France in the 1940s and the 1950s. She brilliantly directed almost twenty movies, often with a female perspective and feminist engagements. If her work later lost its appeal when the French New Wave started in the 1960s, her movies still remain a precious heritage to be preserved and rediscovered today, and maybe you should start with Olivia!

Zoé Richard