#because the novel has no professional english translation

[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

[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!

[princecharmingwinks]

Sterek Fic Rec - August 2021. Hello team, can you believe we are already in August? Here’s some more Sterek fics for you. Happy reading.

Relationship Status: It's complicated by kellifer_fic (1/1 | 4,010 | Mature)

Okay, I know this is a huge stretch for you, but can you please pretend you're like, into me?

Can I Steal You? by Rena (1/1 | 4,920 | Explicit) 

One day Derek will learn how to not be affected by a cheeky, barely legal, pick-pocketing brat. Today is not that day.

Shut Up and Kiss Me by Still_beating_heart (1/1 | 1,856 | Teen)

Stiles wakes up in the hospital to overhear Derek speaking multiple languages to the nurse, who is only trying to get him to leave when visitor's hours are over.

Hemingway Can Suck It by orphan_account (1/1 | 10,054 | Teen)

“For those of you who just transferred into this class or simply decided that day one wasn’t important enough to attend, I’m Professor Hale. Welcome to English 346, The American Novel.”

Stiles is pretty sure his mouth is hanging open right now and that his eyes are wide with shock, because holy fuck, he thinks he knows why his students transferred. Hell, if he was still an undergrad, he probably would have transferred, too.

(Or: In which Stiles is a Biology professor and Derek thinks he's a student.)

Note: French translation by the lovely enso-infinite now available (link inside)!

baby, quit stalin and enlighten me by orphan_account (1/1 | 2,189 | Teen)

You had me at tsarcasm.

In which Stiles seduces Derek with bad history puns.

Flying Higher Than Before by amazingpages (1/1 | 4,522 | Explicit)

Stiles has been a flight attendant for six years now. Derek thinks it’s about time they joined the mile-high club.

Professional Werewolf Witch by reptilianraven (1/1 | 5,133 | General)

"Are you going to buy anything else?" Professional Eyebrows says and Stiles would like to buy him. A cup of coffee. On a date.

He just ends up pointing at the crate of whatever the fuck is behind Professional Eyebrows' head and says, "Uh, a box of that stuff."

P.E. turns, glances at the crate, and raises an eyebrow at Stiles. "You want a box of charmed rattlesnake tail?" God, magic is so fucking weird.

"Yeah." Stiles nods because he's making an ass out of himself. The hipster vampire browsing in the corner is not so subtly laughing at him. The sooner he leaves the better.

-

The one where Derek Hale is a Professional Werewolf Witch who owns a magic shop and Stiles fails at being smooth on a regular basis.

Roll In The Hay by werewolfsaz (1/1 | 4,336 | Explicit)

He was impressively built, Stiles could see, grey tank top stretched tight over a perfect chest, every curve and line visible to the point the young man wondered why the rider had even bothered. Perfectly muscled arms, the kind Stiles had often dreamed of on a faceless lover, controlled the reins with easy grace. He saw powerful legs gripping the horse's sides, dark blue denim encasing them all the way down to the dusty cowboy boots. As the horse slowed to a walk, Stiles finally lifted his eyes to the man's face.

Waiting Games by Jerakeen (1/1 | 6,315 | Explicit)

Being an only child and heir to the throne, Stiles had always known he may not have the luxury of marrying for love. When he’d realized he was an omega to boot, things had taken an even more uncomfortable turn for him.

Omegas are rare. An omega as the heir apparent is almost unheard of.

Which is why there is no wiggle room when it comes to the tournament.

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart) by yodasyoyo (1/1 | 5,700 | Teen)

Stiles is six years old when he first hears Derek's voice in his head.

Or what happens if you have a soulmate bond, in a universe where soulmate bonds don't exist?

princecharmingwinks special mention (I looove Boyd in this fic! The Sterek is of course amazing as well but I’m always going to love Boyd getting some spotlight!)

Stiles Stilinski: Your In-Flight Entertainment by loserchildhotpants (1/1 | 2,426 | Teen)

Kristsune on Tumblr sent me this prompt: could you write a little Sterek for me? Pretty please? Derek is a pilot, and Stiles is a flight attendant. Stiles bothers Derek ever 5 minutes, possibly brought some rubber snakes on a plane?

And there we have it! Hope you enjoy these gems. Remember to leave comments and kudos.

[lollipopsub]

gagaoolala subs (official) versus mine (fan)

Neither is more or less correct than the other.

(except for my broken English but that’s not the point)

Yes, they are completely different.

But they are both correct. How, you ask?

Well, hello and welcome to a long-ass rant about why I think it’s important to give a shit as a translator.

DISCLAIMER: I’m not native English speaker, I’m not a professional subtitler (technically), and my subtitles are FAR from perfect. In some instances, Gagaoolala serves better quality translations when we’re talking in terms of delivering a meaning from one language to another. I could write a whole ass essay on this as it is a matter of translation theories.

With that being said,

1. I think part of the reason our subtitles are wildly different is that Gagaoolala obviously gives their translators the script without the actual video and audio.

How do I know?

This ^^^

If the translator had been listening to the audio, they would never have gotten Hira’s name wrong - but Hira’s name can be read as “Taira” (Google suggests Taira Kaima the baseball player as an example), so if you were to just read the script you would have no way of knowing the pronunciation used in the show.

This would also probably be why they can release English subs so fast while I take days to finish mine.

2. The major reason I am adding my subtitles to this series is that I love the imagery Hira uses when he speaks and how some of his best lines are taken directly from the novel. Obviously this makes me want to keep as close to the original wording and imagery as possible - but if you read the above scene about Kiyoi’s influence on Hira, I honestly think Gagaoolala’s subs make it much easier to understand what Hira is actually saying.

However, IMO it takes away from his character.

The dirty stream he’s talking about is referencing back to the rubber duck from episode 1:

Novel version-Hira refers back to Captain Duck a lot by saying things like “I must be like the curly lashed Captain Duck floating along the dirty manmade river” to tell himself to calm down enough to be able to talk without stammering.

You don’t need to know all this to watch the series, and if you haven’t read the book, you probably wouldn’t know at all - and I don’t think Gagaoolala’s translator has. I have though, and I think these images and sentences are a vital part of showing who Hira is and adds a lot of depth to his character. Especially because the series is mostly carried by his monologues. That’s why, even if it’s probably harder to understand, I want my subtitles to be closer to the original Japanese.

Like this scene from episode 4. My translation (right) is translating exactly what he says, but if you get the image, you can’t really say that Gagaoolala’s translations are wrong… I may just be a sappy simp, but I’m a sucker for stuff like this and was sad to see it gone.

The image Hira paints of Koyama becomes much more vivid and warm than Gagaoolala’s subs make them out to be. According to Gagaoolala, he’s just a nice guy, right? And the way Hira sees people is different from how most see them, so I think the description is important to keep.

It’s like when your teacher asks you to read a book and write a paper on it. Gagaoolala’s the student who analyzed and rephrased but didn’t like the book. I’m the kid who was sobbing at 1AM and made my paper 10 pages longer than it had to be just because it’s such a good book.

I hope that if you watch the show using my subtitles, you’ll love it just as much as me.

TL;DR: GagaOOlala didn’t translate wrong, they just don’t care about the story as much as I do.

[shining-magically]

so I’ve wondered this since the trailer came out years and years ago and Chloe defended the movie - was the red shoes teaser written by the same team that made the movie? were they forced to market it like that, was that based on an earlier draft, etc?? not sure if you know but you seem like the leading expert!

Sorry, this is gonna be an absolute novel because you know I’m an animation fan and the history and production of Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs is SO interesting and insane. Like, Tangled levels of insane. Thanks for calling me an expert, no one else was gonna do it so I just kind of took up the helm lol.

Here’s the low-down... The timeline of the movie’s production is an absolute mess and kind of an extremely wild ride. It was in production for ten years, went through a lot of different crew members, and went through at least two other major versions of the story before landing on the final version.

Since there’s not a ton of info on the movie’s production, a lot of this is pieced together from different interviews and context clues, and also a lot of what I’ve read and what I am quoting has been translated from Korean, sometimes pretty roughly. But yeah.

Here’s the story of why the Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs teasers and poster were so, so bad and fatshame-y and the actual movie was so, so good and body-positive. (With pictures and production artwork!)

(This is a beast of a post so I’m putting it under a cut.)

All right, so. After its conception originally as a short story by the South Korean studio Locus Creative in 2009-2010-ish, Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs was being worked on and was set to come out in Summer 2017, as evidenced by this poster at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, featuring a different logo and very different character designs for most of the dwarfs.

In early-mid 2016, the first teaser (in which we see Snow White undress and then two dwarfs recoil in horror at her fatness when she takes her magic shoes off) was released, after the film had kind of been slowly chugging along for 6 or so years. (I am having such trouble pinpointing when the second teaser was released (in which one of the dwarfs basically attacks Snow while she is sleeping to steal her shoes), but I believe it was around the same time.) The teasers didn’t get that much traction because this was a small film from a small indie studio in South Korea.

None of the final actors had been cast yet. At this point in the production, the story was different, one of the many versions that the movie went through. As in the final movie, the dwarfs were actually cursed knights/princes and Snow White switched back and forth between two body types due to her magic shoes, but in this version, the dwarfs needed to steal the shoes from her in order to break their curse (rather than needing “a kiss from the most beautiful woman in the world” like in the final movie).

The weird thing is, I believe they had JUST changed the movie’s story when the teaser came out. I’m almost positive it was released more as a proof of concept than as an actual trailer for the movie. They had just recently combined two separate characters (seen above), a typical pretty, skinny princess character (Snow White) and a cute chubby girl character (’Bonnie’), into one single character that switches back and forth between the two appearances when she wears the magic shoes (also they had just dropped literally half of the movie taking place in the real world, with a magic mirror portal, it was a whole thing). 

They didn’t have the details of this aspect of the new story hammered out yet, and the first pass at presenting Snow’s magically changing body type, was, yeah, not good and super offensive. This was a really inexperienced indie studio making their first film on a low budget, so even the animation and voice acting wasn’t great. I think they just wanted to get SOMETHING out there because it had been 6 years and they wanted to have something to show for it.

But here’s the thing. Despite how the teasers make it seem, this was always supposed to be a movie about body positivity, letting go of appearance-based prejudices, and loving yourself and others for who you are and for who they are, which we see in the final film.

I like to think of our film as a kindhearted one. Our intentions are nice.

- Director Sung-ho Hong

It’s important to keep in mind that this movie was made in South Korea by a 99% Korean crew, and, as I understand it anyway, in Korean culture, ‘fatshaming’ is not really a thing that is seen as overtly offensive. Also, children’s media there seems to have more adult things in it than in the US, which probably accounts for the more risque parts of the teasers. That said, I really believe that at this point in the timeline, the movie was on-track to be bad (or at least not very good) when it was released, and it would have ended up bad IF a few key players hadn’t signed on (which I’ll get to in a moment).

Interestingly, the movie’s producer, Sujin Hwang, said in a 2017 interview:

“[Both teasers] were solely produced to induce curiosity. They’re completely irrelevant to the actual story.”

- Producer Sujin Hwang

I think what she was trying to convey was that neither one is a scene in the actual movie, because while the teasers didn’t reflect the revamped story as it existed in summer 2017 (the time of the interview), they DID reflect the earlier version of the story where the dwarfs wanted her shoes, which is what the story was at the time they were made.

Now that we’re in post-teaser 2016, HERE’S where things start to turn around. After the teasers were released, my guy Disney veteran and native Korean Jin Kim joined the project. He and Red Shoes director Sung-ho Hong had been buddies for about eight years and Sung-ho had been trying to get Jin to come to Seoul and work with him at Locus for a long time, and he finally succeeded.

Jin and his twenty years of Disney experience as an animator and senior designer on films like Tangled, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and Moana, had a HUGE HUGE HUGE influence on the movie. He redesigned almost all the characters, oversaw all the visual development from the moment he signed on, and heavily (HEAVILY) supervised the animation, literally going frame-by-frame through preliminary animations and drawing over them, teaching the inexperienced animators at Locus everything he knew. (Literally almost everyone except him either only had TV experience or had no professional experience because they just gotten out of school.)

From an outsider’s perspective, it really seems as though Jin joining the project (and his gargantuan effort) made the quality SKYROCKET. Not just in character design and animation, but also in things like effects animation, story, etc. After he joined, Locus really started pushing HARD to make a good, high-quality movie, and his influence and experience from being a prominent figure at Disney was absolutely key. The studio also began to really study Disney films and other well-made animated films from other studios to really try and pinpoint what the DNA of a good animated movie really is.

I don’t have any solid evidence, but I’m pretty sure that Tony Bancroft (an animator and the co-director of Mulan) then joined the project because he’s good friends with Jin Kim. He is only credited as the voice director (the movie was recorded in English and the characters were animated to the English dialogue), but I am SURE that he probably also had a pretty big influence on the movie, because like... How could he not? I really really think there was more to his role than his title would have you believe, even though there’s almost no info out there about it.

So now the movie goes through a gigantic metamorphosis. Character designs, visual development, and animation quality are all rapidly improving, the story is tightening, and the themes of the movie (which, again, were always the same and intended to be positive) are being presented in a more sincere way. The movie is becoming the sweet, self-love-encouraging and body-positive movie that was eventually released.

I’m putting a gif from the credits of the final movie here. As we move into 2017, when the giant eruption of backlash occurred, please keep in mind that the story was finalized at this point and that THIS was the movie people were so mad about:

Chloe Grace Moretz accepted the role of Snow White immediately after she read the script and she recorded her lines (I think) in early-ish 2017. Her co-star Sam Claflin also immediately accepted the role of the romantic interest, Merlin, after reading the script and recorded his lines in (I believe) July 2017.

In the summer of 2017, the story and script were more or less the same as in the final movie. Promotional images from that time show that most of dwarfs had been completely redesigned by this point and didn’t have their teaser designs anymore.

They also released a few screenshots that look exactly like the final film. The movie was advertised as coming out in ‘2018′ at this point. Here’s a promo image from 2017 that is MUCH more tactfully worded than the infamous Cannes poster:

So now we’re in summer 2017. The Cannes Film Festival. The movie’s script and story have been basically nailed down, animation is underway, and the Korean film company Finecut is beginning to market and sell the movie to worldwide audiences. They are planning on showing some footage to potential buyers at the festival, and they make a poster to advertise the film there.

Unfortunately, it’s THIS POSTER:

Now here’s where there are some unknowns. By this point, the movie is basically in its final form, which is an adorable, body-positive story about loving people for who they are, loving yourself for who YOU are, and that provides commentary on society’s standards of beauty and how they affect how people are treated/viewed. So why this poster??? All I can really tell is that someone (I think Finecut) really, REALLY messed up and either horribly mistranslated the tagline, or didn’t do enough research to know that this kind of thing is REALLY NOT OKAY in western culture.

The above picture is shared and the internet backlash begins, fueled by tweets from prominent body-positivity activists like Tess Holliday. Even Chloe Grace Moretz speaks out against it, because she of all people KNOWS that that’s not what the movie is about. The internet then finds the old teasers from before the movie was revamped and it makes things worse. Producer Sujin Hwang profusely apologizes and says that that is NOT the message of the movie. Locus pulls the advertising campaign, and takes down the two old teasers.

“Our film, a family comedy, carries a message designed to challenge social prejudices related to standards of physical beauty in society by emphasizing the importance of inner beauty.”

- Producer Sujin Hwang

Voice director Tony Bancroft also tried to explain the situation:

“The truth is the film has a body-positive message as its core theme–it’s the opposite of what reports are saying. The problem is one poorly translated movie poster that has been taken dramatically out of context.” 

- Voice Director Tony Bancroft

And then... There was nothing for a while. The movie didn’t come out in 2018 and was delayed. From what I can tell, I DON’T believe this delay was related to the Cannes backlash. I think it was mostly due to Locus’s limited budget and resources, because as we know, animation is difficult, time-consuming, expensive, and easy to do badly but hard to do well. Also, probably with Jin Kim and Tony Bancroft’s influence, they REALLY wanted to make sure to do a good job with the animation because they now had a great story and they really wanted the movie to be a quality, worldwide hit that would kind of put South Korean feature animation on the map. Just take a look at how nice the final animation was:

The movie was released in South Korea on July 25th, 2019. Unfortunately, the damage was done in the English-speaking markets and it was not released to an English-speaking audience until June 22, 2020, when it was released digitally in the UK. At the time of this post, there is no set US release date, but the distribution rights were recently bought by Lionsgate and the MPAA gave the film an official PG rating.

So who’s to blame? There’s no good answer. You could blame Locus for making those old teasers. You could blame Finecut for the competely tonedeaf Cannes poster. You could even blame cancel culture for raging against the movie based on one poster and two old teaser trailers without researching what the movie was actually about.

All I know is, it’s a damn shame.

[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

[crossdressingdeath]

have you seen this exchange on twitter? the official mdzs translator is blocking people for saying she mistranslated stuff and is having biases. (esp the replies too)

ngl very scared for the rest of the translation

https://twitter.com/evilsqq/status/1501749069869248514?t=kPEdj_Ld6myu8lOIq6GO1g&s=19

I'll be honest, I still don't want to accuse suika of deliberately inputting her own biases into the text and altering the meaning on purpose to suit her own, wildly inaccurate, views of the character and in so doing actively sabotaging the translation, but... I'm not gonna lie! I'm becoming increasingly suspicious that that is in fact exactly what she's doing!

Seriously, this is becoming Such A Thing. This is why you hire a fucking professional. A professional who is also a fan is the best option, but a good company will choose professional over fan every time. A professional who isn't a fan has no biases and no reason to alter the text; meanwhile a professional who is also a fan might have biases, yes, but as a professional they will set those biases aside in order to do the best work they can. That's what being a professional requires. Someone who's just a fan will let their biases get in the way of doing a good job. Also in cases like this they're just kind of a shit translator but that's not the point.

Basically... here's the thing. And it sucks that I even have to say this, because I was really looking forward to there being an official English translation. But... don't buy the second volume. The first volume has made it clear that 7S hired a shit translator who at best is too incompetent to translate properly (leaving entire sentences out, including some sentences that the fans pretty much immediately noticed were missing, is already Very Bad without even getting into the fact that it's just a very poor quality work in general) and at worst is more interested in warping the text so she can claim her own headcanons that the novel itself explicitly disproves are canon by cutting the parts that disprove what she's saying than she is interested in translating the fucking novel. Either way, this cannot be allowed to stand. And the best way to do something about it is to prove that it's not profitable to half-ass the translation. So... don't buy the second volume. If there's no evidence of improvement in it, don't buy the third volume either. Send complaints to 7S directly; I think they're active on Twitter. Make it clear to them that they will not make the profit they want if they don't bring the translation up to a professional standard. Hell, if you want to go all the way make it clear you won't buy any of their works until they improve the quality of the MDZS; if they're willing to half-ass this, how many other translations will they half-ass?

At the end of the day, all fandom drama aside, this is a professional production. 7S is a professional publishing house. Suika was hired as a professional translator. Everyone involved in this had a responsibility to do a good job. They did not. There have to be consequences for that. And the best consequence to dissuade a company from only doing the bare minimum at most is to ensure they realize that that's not profitable.

[ktffansub]

Bijutsu Techo: Boys Love – Interview: Yoneda Kou

This article was first published in November 17th, 2014. Translated from Japanesse to Bahasa Indonesia by kalengjelek and then translated from Bahasa Indonesia to English by KTFfansub. Source: here

When did you first encounter manga?

I was born in a family with three daughters; while my older sister likes reading Ribbon magazine, I like reading Nakayoshi. It was the era of Asagiri Yuu-sensei, when I was in elementary school. My favorite at that time were Kusunoki Kei sensei’s works and Patlabor. When it came to Shonen, I would say I was more into Shounen Sunday. I also loved Kawaraha Izumi sensei’s works. When I think about it, rather than manga that were full of passion, I’d actually prefer manga that had calm and soothing kind of vibe.

Is that so… What about BL?

When I was in Junior High, my older sister showed me Captain Tsubasa Doujinshi by Ozaki Minami and I was dumbfounded, I thought, “So, there’s also a world like this!”. After that, I started to buy BL manga. At that time, the mangaka who left the most impression to me was Nishi Keikosensei. Her works such as Mizu Ga Koori Ni Naru Toki, Tenshi Ni Naranakya have unique openings, it made me reread them many times. Uida Shiuko (now Kano Shiuko) and Yoshinaga Fumi Sensei are also my favorite mangaka.

When was the first time you draw manga?

I seriously began drawing manga in my first year of junior high. At first, I drew a pair of man and woman, but after page three, I felt something was off. So, I tried drawing BL for the next one. Just like the present, I’ve always loved less expressive and less-talkactive main characters (laughs). But the more I draw, then an attentive senpai with good personality and short haired ones like Togawa in Doushitemo Furetakunai also appeared. At that moment I thought, “Oh, this is it!”

You really weren’t embarrassed, are you? (laughs)

Well, it’s because it was embarrassing, that’s why I’m not really open about my drawing manga activity.

(laughs) But you debut as professional mangaka eventually, how did that happen?

Yes, after that… I worked as office lady. I got married not long after, but then, I was getting through a marriage blues. At that time, I was invested in Kakashi and Naruto shown by my older sister along with Comiket catalogue.

The power of moe beats out your anxiety (laughs)

It’s true (laughs). Escaping from reality, I checked a lot of circles and opened some sites. There I found a work from a novelist (now has debuted professionally) that I really liked. This is why I started writing novel at first, not drawing. I have a lot of ways to accommodate my moe needs. I also once drew Doujinshi but due to my inability to use a proper diction, the result wasn’t optimal (laughs). After drawing slowly and more at ease, I got into Katekyo Hitman Reborn fandom and drew a lot of doujinshi for that series. A year later, I was contacted by Taiyou Tosho publisher.

“With that publisher, Yoneda Kou published Doushitemo Furetakunai which has been adapted into a movie. Since the beginning, Yoneda Kou didn’t draw one-shot but serialization. For the movie, even though it only tells a story of daily lives, but the directing, composition and dialogue are impressive. About 4,5 years later, the second volume of Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai that had the yakuza neighborhood setting was released. This has completely different feeling compared to Doushitemo Furetakunai.”

My first work was actually published in Drap, so I had it adjusted to be a less-heavy work. That’s why I ended up switching to another magazine.

Was it a demand from the editor?

Of course I only draw what I want to draw. But without realizing, I always draw them to fit the magazine. And it seems like Taiyou Tosho prefers me to draw more simple work.

So, sensei is the type who pays attention to editor’s suggestion. When you wrote the first chapter of Saezuru Tori Wa Habatakanai, did you already want Yashiro to be the main character (for longterm series)?

Right. I didn’t explain it in the first one-shot, but I always believe that no matter how you look at it, Yashiro really loved Kageyama. And (even though he’s drawn like that) he is actually a neko (uke). I think he is an interesting character. When I drew highschooler Yashiro and others, it had been decided that I wanted to write a serialization for this.

And only then the character Doumeki was born?

At that time, the character Doumeki didn’t exist, but I thought very hard about what kind of partner that would be suitable for Yashiro. I took a break from drawing for about two years. I only worked on illustration during that time, until one morning an idea suddenly came to me, “That’s right! Erectile dysfunction!”. I immediately sent an email to my editor: “A perverted impotent man!” (laughs). Afterwards, I finally worked on the first draft.

(laughs hard) Finally, the combination of Yashiro and Doumeki who are the opposite of each other was decided. What an amazing couple that can even make the readers losing sleep.

I do have this particular interest in people’s decision and behaviour resulted from a contrasting relationship that is full of conflicts. Because there are so many characters in Saezuru, I have this excel file compiling the plot for each character chronologically. Otherwise, I would’ve forgotten about it. If I didn’t seriously research (the setting of my own story), I wouldn’t be able to write anything when I made name. But even though I got through it, drawing a family with no blood ties like yakuza was still difficult. If I don’t focus, the story might turn out like Nagara Sakugyou*. That’s why now I’m just focusing on doing Saezuru.

*) nagara sakugyou: other work that being serialized at the same time

Up until now, Sensei has published 5 volumes and all of them have beautiful covers with varied tones.

Actually, the cover color for Doushitemo Furetakunai should’ve looked like red wine, but it seemed like there was an error in printing so the pink was contrasting into it. But it turned out to be good.

Then about the cover for the Saezuru first volume. It’s so impressive! The stepped-on man! All the people around me also had high appraise for this.

Actually, there were so many things happened in the process. By taking the request (it isn’t clearly explained whether it’s from editor/designer) of “Yashiro sitting alone”, I first submitted that illustration to the book designer. However, I couldn’t throw away the idea of Yashiro being stepped on, so, during the next three days I was stressed out. I’ve finally asked them to keep my idea and that’s how the cover of the first volume ended up the way it is now.

I see! For the second volume, it’s totally different, isn’t it? It’s a scenery, but when you do a double take, there are Yashiro and Doumeki!

I always want to give a different vibe in each volume. Actually I’m also a fan of the way Tsumugi Taku-sensei draws scenery.

Hoo-, sensei is a fan of Tsumugi sensei! Talking abough NIGHTS, when you open the cover, there’s a surprise in it!

Yes, if you look at the rough sketches there were 4 pages of picture that were interconnected. In the end, the desainer took picture number two as the cover and number four to put it on the bottom of the back cover. For Soredemo, I didn’t get any guide from the book designer. I combined the the feel of the story with a touch of water paint. At first, I actually wanted to make Deguchi pulling Onoda’s hand to get out of the train, but it ended up looking like Deguchi forced Onoda to stay (with him). So I decided it’s Onoda who’s getting off the train by himself with Deguchi waiting on the platform.

Do you do the coloring with computer? How about the non-colored script?

I use SAI for coloring but for monochrome I usually draw by my hand until the inking, then I do the tone using photoshop.

Do you self-learned drawing?

Well, I at least bought a lot of ‘pose reference’ books often. When it comes to buy things, it feels great, doesn’t it? But when it comes to manga, we draw to tell our moe concept.. well, I love drawing moe concept, but the thing is- I’m not really good at drawing. I like thinking about moe stuff, I also like to combine colors (inside my head) but when I do, I have no desire to draw I, even though that’s the important part. There are often times when I feel like drawing is a handful. In short, I want to draw something that isn’t too troublesome.

But, isnt it because you’re doing manga seriously that it feels difficult?

Because I’m too serious I feel like the story can be boring. Not only the work but also the author (laughs). I often read comments saying my manga is ‘down to earth’. I guess it’s shown obviously in every each of my works

Sure, there are people who think like, “In real world, there’s no way a wakagashira can be as masochist as Yashiro”, but apart from that, Saezuru still gives an impression of it being realistic. In drawing the important men’s arms and muscles in your work, sensei has done your best. Getting into the story, the characters also put extra effort to look elegant. Despite the young age, in a positive sense, sensei’s works feels like having Showa* vibe.

(*SHOWA ERA: 1926~1989)

I’m no longer young, though (laughs). Maybe this is why my works often get called “JUNE”. Especially Saezuru, I think it really fits (JUNE concept).

Are you an organized person?

I’m actually a person who have no chill (laughs). But I have this side of myself who tend to see things as a whole, look at my surrounding then step on the brake. There is also a side of me that is so energetic in creating my own moe that I turn into a selfish person. I guess that’s also my flaw.

It seems like sensei is the type who has her own editorial meeting inside her head (laughs)

I wish it’s not true, but unfortunately, I’m the type of person who is embarrased to admit that I have a relationship with manga. Even until now I have yet told my close friends about this job (as BL mangaka). I’m not that kind of person who like to share or tell others about my moe situation inside my head. When my moe concept is being visualized in public I would scream, “Don’t look! But if you want to read it, I’d be happy”. Yes, I’m that kind of person.

I wonder if sensei’s works are the manifestation of sensei’s own self-contradictions..

[niseamstories]

10 Lessons on Realistic Worldbuilding and Mapmaking I Learned Working With a Professional Cartographer and Geodesist

Hi, fellow writers and worldbuilders,

It’s been over a year since my post on realistic swordfighting, and I figured it’s time for another one. I’m guessing the topic is a little less “sexy”, but I’d find this useful as a writer, so here goes: 10 things I learned about realistic worldbuilding and mapmaking while writing my novel.

I’ve always been a sucker for pretty maps, so when I started on my novel, I hired an artist quite early to create a map for me. It was beautiful, but a few things always bothered me, even though I couldn’t put a finger on it. A year later, I met an old friend of mine, who currently does his Ph.D. in cartography and geodesy, the science of measuring the earth. When the conversation shifted to the novel, I showed him the map and asked for his opinion, and he (respectfully) pointed out that it has an awful lot of issues from a realism perspective.

First off, I’m aware that fiction is fiction, and it’s not always about realism; there are plenty of beautiful maps out there (and my old one was one of them) that are a bit fantastical and unrealistic, and that’s all right. Still, considering the lengths I went to ensure realism for other aspects of my worldbuilding, it felt weird to me to simply ignore these discrepancies. With a heavy heart, I scrapped the old map and started over, this time working in tandem with a professional artist, my cartographer friend, and a linguist. Six months later, I’m not only very happy with the new map, but I also learned a lot of things about geography and coherent worldbuilding, which made my universe a lot more realistic.

1)  Realism Has an Effect: While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with creating an unrealistic world, realism does affect the plausibility of a world. Even if the vast majority of us probably know little about geography, our brains subconsciously notice discrepancies; we simply get this sense that something isn’t quite right, even if we don’t notice or can’t put our finger on it. In other words, if, for some miraculous reason, an evergreen forest borders on a desert in your novel, it will probably help immersion if you at least explain why this is, no matter how simple.

2)  Climate Zones: According to my friend, a cardinal sin in fantasy maps are nonsensical climate zones. A single continent contains hot deserts, forests, and glaciers, and you can get through it all in a single day. This is particularly noticeable in video games, where this is often done to offer visual variety (Enderal, the game I wrote, is very guilty of this). If you aim for realism, run your worldbuilding by someone with a basic grasp of geography and geology, or at least try to match it to real-life examples.

3)  Avoid Island Continent Worlds: Another issue that is quite common in fictional worlds is what I would call the “island continents”: a world that is made up of island-like continents surrounded by vast bodies of water. As lovely and romantic as the idea of those distant and secluded worlds may be, it’s deeply unrealistic. Unless your world was shaped by geological forces that differ substantially from Earth’s, it was probably at one point a single landmass that split up into fragmented landmasses separated by waters. Take a look at a proper map of our world: the vast majority of continents could theoretically be reached by foot and relatively manageable sea passages. If it weren’t so, countries such as Australia could have never been colonized – you can’t cross an entire ocean on a raft.

4)  Logical City Placement: My novel is set in a Polynesian-inspired tropical archipelago; in the early drafts of the book and on my first map, Uunili, the nation’s capital, stretched along the entire western coast of the main island. This is absurd. Not only because this city would have been laughably big, but also because building a settlement along an unprotected coastline is the dumbest thing you could do considering it directly exposes it to storms, floods, and, in my case, monsoons. Unless there’s a logical reason to do otherwise, always place your coastal settlements in bays or fjords.

 Naturally, this extends to city placement in general. If you want realism and coherence, don’t place a city in the middle of a godforsaken wasteland or a swamp just because it’s cool. There needs to be a reason. For example, the wasteland city could have started out as a mining town around a vast mineral deposit, and the swamp town might have a trading post along a vital trade route connecting two nations.

 5)  Realistic Settlement Sizes: As I’ve mentioned before, my capital Uunili originally extended across the entire western coast. Considering Uunili is roughly two thirds the size of Hawaii  the old visuals would have made it twice the size of Mexico City. An easy way to avoid this is to draw the map using a scale and stick to it religiously. For my map, we decided to represent cities and townships with symbols alone.

 6)  Realistic Megacities: Uunili has a population of about 450,000 people. For a city in a Middle Ages-inspired era, this is humongous. While this isn’t an issue, per se (at its height, ancient Alexandria had a population of about 300,000), a city of that size creates its own set of challenges: you’ll need a complex sewage system (to minimize disease spreading like wildfire) and strong agriculture in the surrounding areas to keep the population fed. Also, only a small part of such a megacity would be enclosed within fantasy’s ever-so-present colossal city walls; the majority of citizens would probably concentrate in an enormous urban sprawl in the surrounding areas. To give you a pointer, with a population of about 50,000, Cologne was Germany��s biggest metropolis for most of the Middle Ages. I’ll say it again: it’s fine to disregard realism for coolness in this case, but at least taking these things into consideration will not only give your world more texture but might even provide you with some interesting plot points.

 7)  World Origin: This point can be summed up in a single question: why is your world the way it is? If your novel is set in an archipelago like mine is, are the islands of volcanic origin? Did they use to be a single landmass that got flooded with the years? Do the inhabitants of your country know about this? Were there any natural disasters to speak of? Yes, not all of this may be relevant to the story, and the story should take priority over lore, but just like with my previous point, it will make your world more immersive.

 8)  Maps: Think Purpose! Every map in history had a purpose. Before you start on your map, think about what yours might have been. Was it a map people actually used for navigation? If so, clarity should be paramount. This means little to no distracting ornamentation, a legible font, and a strict focus on relevant information. For example, a map used chiefly for military purposes would naturally highlight different information than a trade map. For my novel, we ultimately decided on a “show-off map” drawn for the Blue Island Coalition, a powerful political entity in the archipelago (depending on your world’s technology level, maps were actually scarce and valuable). Also, think about which technique your in-universe cartographer used to draw your in-universe map. Has copperplate engraving already been invented in your fictional universe? If not, your map shouldn’t use that aesthetic.

9)  Maps: Less Is More. If a spot or an area on a map contains no relevant information, it can (and should) stay blank so that the reader’s attention naturally shifts to the critical information. Think of it this way: if your nav system tells you to follow a highway for 500 miles, that’s the information you’ll get, and not “in 100 meters, you’ll drive past a little petrol station on the left, and, oh, did I tell you about that accident that took place here ten years ago?” Traditional maps follow the same principle: if there’s a road leading a two day’s march through a desolate desert, a black line over a blank white ground is entirely sufficient to convey that information.

10) Settlement and Landmark Names: This point will be a bit of a tangent, but it’s still relevant. I worked with a linguist to create a fully functional language for my novel, and one of the things he criticized about my early drafts were the names of my cities. It’s embarrassing when I think about it now, but I really didn’t pay that much attention to how I named my cities; I wanted it to sound good, and that was it. Again: if realism is your goal, that’s a big mistake. Like Point 5, we went back to the drawing board and dove into the archipelago’s history and established naming conventions. In my novel, for example, the islands were inhabited by indigenes called the Makehu before the colonization four hundred years before the events of the story; as it’s usually the case, all settlements and islands had purely descriptive names back then. For example, the main island was called Uni e Li, which translates as “Mighty Hill,” a reference to the vast mountain ranges in the south and north; townships followed the same example (e.g., Tamakaha meaning “Coarse Sands”). When the colonizers arrived, they adopted the Makehu names and adapted them into their own language, changing the accented, long vowels to double vowels: Uni e Li became “Uunili,” Lehō e Āhe became “Lehowai.” Makehu townships kept their names; colonial cities got “English” monikers named after their geographical location, economic significance, or some other original story. Examples of this are Southport, a—you guessed it—port on the southernmost tip of Uunili, or Cale’s Hope, a settlement named after a businessman’s mining venture. It’s all details, and chances are that most readers won’t even pay attention, but I personally found that this added a lot of plausibility and immersion.

I could cover a lot more, but this post is already way too long, so I’ll leave it at that—if there’s enough interest, I’d be happy to make a part two. If not, well, maybe at least a couple of you got something useful out of this. If you’re looking for inspiration/references to show to your illustrator/cartographer, the David Rumsey archive is a treasure trove. Finally, for anyone who doesn’t know and might be interested, my novel is called Dreams of the Dying, and is a blends fantasy, mystery, and psychological horror set in the universe of Enderal, an indie RPG for which I wrote the story. It’s set in a Polynesian-inspired medieval world and has been described as Inception in a fantasy setting by reviewers.

Credit for the map belongs to Dominik Derow, who did the ornamentation, and my friend Fabian Müller, who created the map in QGIS and answered all my questions with divine patience. The linguist’s name is David Müller (no, they’re not related, and, yes, we Germans all have the same last names.)

[drwcn]

If you’re inbox isn’t open then please ignore this.

In many Chinese novels, I see many males changing their wordings into third POV ( 本宫、 本公司，本王、本座 ）to highlight their higher standings— or to simply be more arrogant. I was wondering if there are alternatives for females? I’m writing a plot where the female is in a high position （霸主天下）in the jianghu and simply using 本姑娘 or 贫道 wouldn’t cut it. While I’m not sure about 本座 since it doesn’t have any male characters underlying it but it’s usually used by males.

Is there any other vocative that I can use that fits the situation? If I’m not mistaken, there are some that I remember hearing about but that maybe within the translations since my language closely tied with the Chinese wordings and phrases.

Thank you.

Hi friend,

I can't answer your question without addressing some misconceptions first. The use of third person POV is really not meant to be a show of arrogance or self importance. In fact, third person POV is used by both those of higher rank and those of lower rank. Every language has its quirks, and Chinese just so happens to use third person POVs in their speech. English doesn't, so I can understand why people would misinterpret it, but arrogance really isn't the main purpose.

It can be that third person POVs are used because two individuals are not as close and need to be more formal with each other. It could be that one person is trying to show respect to another person. Or, it could be a show of rank as well. It is not simply to be arrogant. Especially the terms you listed (本宫 - this one is actually used more by women、 本公司，本王、本座) - they're all really benign third POVs. All it is is formality, but that's doesn't mean the people using them are trying to be arrogant. A similar idea in English is this: when I'm doing research with my attending physician, and we're not in front of patients, I call him by his name (and he expects me to as well), but when we're in front of patients, I call him Dr. ____ (and he expects me to call him by his professional title). Is he trying to be arrogant? No. We're all just trying to be professional.

本公司 - literally means "this company/our company", like ... it's not even a third person POV, that's just how you say our company.

As for your ask, females can absolutely use 本座 or 本尊, it's fairly unisex. I've seen female characters use it in xianxia/wuxia shows. 本宫 is more for imperial harems and not what you're looking for. I mean... third person POVs are tricky. Even if the person you're writing is female and of high position, she may choose to use different third person POVs depending on who she's speaking to. Sometimes she may lower herself when speaking with an elder, or a friend, or someone she looks up to.

I'm not trying to tell people what to do. Ultimately it's your fic, you can do whatever you like. The way I see it, your readership falls into one of two categories 1) non-Chinese speakers, for whom the third POVs add no value and may even be confusing if not properly explained, or 2) Chinese speakers who will be immediately put-off if the third person POV is awkward and not done right. I know for myself when I see a fic that's obviously written by a non-speaker and they add a lot of third person POVs and it's used incorrectly or overused, it just.. it puts me off and takes me out of the story even if the writing is good.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[srbachchan]

DAY 4831

Jalsa, Mumbai                   May 20,  2021��                Thu 9:14 PM

Birthday  - Ef Gopi Sheth .. Ef Aish TVM .. Friday, May 21 .. our greetings and love on this special day .. be safe be well and be protected .. ❤️🌹

A dear friend sent me this article .. I thought it was a very good read and so thought of putting it here :

Write Tight

What is poetry? Etymology provides more questions than answers.

T. S. Eliot, who once famously called National Poetry Month the cruelest, was also one of many to point out the hopeless semantic tangles that ensue because “poetry” has two opposites. Poetry can be the lined stuff, often with rhymes, as opposed to sentences and paragraphs; poetry can also be the good stuff, as opposed to the plodding or simply informational. But if good prose can be poetic, a novel can be “pure poetry,” and poems can be prosaic, then it’s not clear what anyone is talking about, really. Or rather, it’s clear except to theorists trying to come up with definitions. Poetry is what’s thrilling, while a poem is that poor thing with eleven readers, eight of them members of the poet’s extended family.

Etymology doesn’t help—it only highlights that the apples and oranges here are how the thing is made and how it moves. Poetry is from the Greek poiein, “to make”: a poem is something made, or in English we would more naturally say crafted. Yet everyone agrees good prose is well crafted, too. Prose means, literally, “straightforward,” from the Latin prosa, proversus, “turned to face forward” (whereas verse is all wound up, twisty and snaky, “turned” in every direction except, apparently, forward). Yet we all know that poems can be clear and direct, too, especially when they’re songs.

Sidelining sonnets and quarantining quatrains in the poetry ghetto does produce a certain clarity. But of course it also creates problems when translating from languages that gerrymander poetry differently. In German, for example, writer is a word even more literal than the English “someone who writes”: it’s Schriftsteller, a put-down-on-paper-er (Schrift = “writing,” stellen = “to place, to put”). Autor is a word used a bit less often for pretty much the same thing, unlike in English, where there’s a difference: author expresses a professional and financial identity (there are no “unpublished authors,” unless maybe the manuscript is finished and the contract is signed), while a writer is someone pursuing an activity (published or not, paid or not, read or not).

And then there’s a Dichter, usually translated “poet” but meaning a creator of poetry in the grand sense. The verb dichten means “to write poetry, ” and a poem is a dichten-ed thing, a Gedicht, but dichten means more generally to write poetically and well. The good stuff. The writer as hero of the spirit. How do you say that in English? We don’t have heroes of the spirit.

At least not according to Grimm’s German Dictionary—the equivalent of the Oxford English Dictionary, and started by those same Brothers Grimm who brought us “Little Red Riding Hood.” It gloats that dichten means “to create poetically, filled with a higher intelligence,” and that “the word does not exist in French and English: they work around it with s’adonner à la poésie, faire des vers; to compose a poem, to make verses, to versify.” The OED can fire back all it wants—pleading that dight had “an extraordinary sense-development” in Middle English from its original “senses of literary dictation and composition,” to become “one of the most widely used words in the language”—but its efforts are in vain. From that whole extraordinary range of meanings we use exactly none anymore.

“To understand the word,” Grimm’s poetically goes on, “we must go back to an earlier time …” Dichten originally meant to write something down so it could be read or sung, something that had already been worked out in the mind (from the Latin dictare, “to say, to dictate”). It swerved into meaning the mental working-out, too, the originating creative act. A sixteenth-century saying already plays on the same double meaning that causes ambiguity in English: “A good enough rhyme-smith, but hardly a poet” (Reimschmiede genug, aber wenig Dichter). But from there, the word left the confines of verse. In German, you can still call someone a poet in the grand sense without consigning him to the poetry ghetto.

So what is a Dichter in prose? I have caved on occasion and translated Dichter as “poet,” in cases where the character in question may or may not be a poet (e.g., Robert Walser’s story “Letter from a Poet to a Gentleman”), or happens to be a poet even if that’s not really the point. Goethe was a poet, so the title of his autobiography, Dichtung und Wahrheit, can be translated as it usually is, Poetry and Truth, even though the book is not particularly about verse as opposed to other forms. His topic is actually Imagination and Truth, but imagination set down on paper. To put it anachronistically: Creative Writing and the Truth.

Sometimes, though, “poet” risks being downright misleading. A twentieth-century German writer named Uwe Johnson, known as the Dichter der beiden Deutschlands (the Dichter of both East and West Germany), wrote only prose. Call him the “poet of both Germanies” and people will think he’s a poet. He is more like “the voice of divided Germany,” or even “the bard,” despite being neither a songwriter nor Shakespeare. In English, we can get the grandeur (voice) or the job (writer, author, novelist), but not both.

There are cognates of dichten, from the same Latin dictare, but they never took on the same soaring spirit in English, at least since the demise of dight. Very much on the contrary. Our closest cognate, indite, “to put into words, write, compose, give literary form to,” was more or less completely swamped by what was once the same word, indict, “to write up charges, bring legal action against.” (Probably under interference from indicare, “to indicate, give evidence against”; and indicere, “to declare publicly,” compare Italian indicere, “to denounce.”) To translate Dichter as “inditer” won’t do. Even our least sarcastic Dichter is sarcastic about that: “Perhaps my best moments I never jot down; when they come I cannot afford to break the charm by inditing memoranda”—Walt Whitman.

Coincidentally, dicht in German also means “tight,” as in watertight or airtight (from Old Norse þéttr, apparently completely unrelated etymologically to dictare), and the verb dichten is also “to seal, caulk, make impermeable,” as well as “to make more dense or compact.” Ezra Pound played on the pun in his second most well-known slogan for what poetry does (after “Make it new”): dichten = condensare. An imagist manifesto in twenty characters: to write poetry is to condense and supercharge language. (Pound attributed the equation to the poet Basil Bunting “fumbling about with a German–Italian dictionary”; actually, Bunting knew what he was doing, and wasn’t exactly fumbling. Pound = condescendere.)

This may not be a less ambiguous definition of poetry, but it is a good challenge for the Dichters in our midst, in poetry or prose. Don’t just make it new: make it tight.

with admiration for the ones that read and feel read ..❤️

Amitabh Bachchan

[remmammie]

Any baking hcs for Aqua?

Awh, Aqua, my beloved <3 I finally get to write about something I have experience with after working in a bakery/cafe, and with one of my favourite characters! I get to crack open my BBS novel too for context! Enjoy!

Aqua Baking HCs

So, the English translation of the BBS novel actually talks about Aqua having baking as a hobby!

She likes to make desserts more than anything else, mainly because that's what everyone assumes baking is, but also because Master Eraqus has a rather sweet tooth! Every now and then, though, she'll make something more on the savoury side or muted sweetness for Terra: something with "wild nuts and big almonds."

Before Ventus arrived, she was only baking for these two and their awkward taste buds, but one of her first interactions with Ventus was offering him frosted cake and the boy ate the whole thing so...she'd found new motivation to keep baking sweet things.

As for the process, Aqua herself is as neat of a baker as she can be! She's learnt how to keep her workspace tidy and always washes up while things are baking to keep efficient and on top of it all, but the electric mixer can be a bit precarious sometimes and some of the batter will end up on her face and sleeves. From experience, I know she'll end up smothered in icing sugar if she always makes frosted cakes and cupcakes because it really does get everywhere. Terra and Ven always get a little confused when she walks in with a cake coughing up white powder.

I like to imagine she had a custom apron she sewed herself - a lovely light blue one with a Wayfinder design on it, surrounded by worlds and stars...She ties her hair up, disinfects her counter, and washes her hands - like a professional baker!

It's the other two that make things messy! If she's not careful, the sound of Aqua's mixer (a birthday gift from Master Eraqus) will attract the two curious boys and they'll definitely pop their heads into the kitchen with starry eyes. From that moment on, Aqua knows it will be a fight to keep them from eating everything before it even gets in the oven.

"Ven! You'll get sick if you eat raw batter! Terra! Stop trying to throw flour at me!" And Master Eraqus likes to watch from a distance as his three students laugh together. That, and he also came to steal icing from under Aqua's nose.

She definitely has a small collection of heavy baking books with all different kinds of baked goods from all kinds of different worlds: Galettes des Rois and éclairs from La Cité de Cloches, spooky cupcakes from Halloween Town, sea-salt ice-cream from Radiant Garden, scones and teacakes from Wonderland, tsuoreki from Olympus, knafeh from Agrabah; the list goes on! It keeps things interesting for her taste-testers.

Post-KH3, I think Aqua would really enjoy frequenting the bistro in Twilight Town to get some real kitchen experience baking with Remy! She finds it awkward working with a rat at first, but Sora instils enough confidence in her to trust him, and Aqua loves it! There's so much she didn't know! And she's eager to learn more, after all, Terra and Ven deserve treats after all their time spent apart. And now she has even more friends to bake for so she'll have to start making some bigger batches.

There's no challenge Aqua can't handle.

[tentative-wanderer]

🧜🏻‍♂️ Danmei Book Recommendation: 人鱼陷落 Merman’s Fall by 麟潜 Lin Qian

(Edited)

Spoiler-Free Introduction:

• Short and attention-grabbing blurb (reminds me a little of the blurb of another novel, “The Person I Buried Alive”):

我必须把他抱回家养殖起来，家里没有浴缸和大盆，于是不得不把他暂时放进洗衣机里。

一个小时后我才重新记起这件事，此时他已经被洗得很干净。

My translation:

I just had to carry him home and keep him. There was no bathtub or big basin at home, so I had no choice but to temporarily put him in the washing machine.

This matter only came to mind again an hour later; by then, he’d already been washed to squeaky cleanliness.

• Genre/setting/key words: sci-fi, ABO, superpowers tied to different animal/plant/object characteristics, secret service/special ops, combat involving firearms—very interesting combo

• This is the online book cover + character design pic, commissioned by Lin Qian the author from artist 黑芝麻糊再战一年戚顾本. Source: https://m.weibo.cn/5309242436/4541771297595368 (Lin Qian’s Weibo post on 25 August 2020, saying that it’s a Qixi present for everyone)

• A very long book, the DPUBFTB, 2ha, TGCF kind of long

• Fight scenes everywhere. Reading them in Mandarin takes a significant amount of effort, so for the first time ever, I wish to read some scenes in an original danmei book in English.

• I like the protagonist! He’s a bit gangster-ish; the mocking, smiley kind of teasing; and vulnerable in the best way (he’s been through a lot). He’s very strong (well duh, he’s the protagonist). He’s needy and indulgent towards his significant other, and thinks the world of him. Practises gender equality (in addition, he literally works in an organisation founded on achieving ABO gender equality). He’s the top.

• Love interest: Merman who can and does eat everything—including metal and plastic—and acts like he’s God. Very strong. Not at all interested in using thinking skills—“mind over matter”? More like “might over matter”. Somehow, he’s still cute.

• Plotty

Spoiler-free comments after reading 85% of the book:

When the love aspect of a very plotty book with advanced world-building and many colourful characters makes me cry, I know I’m gonna stick this book in the highest section of my danmei rec list (unless a literary mishap happens towards the end of the novel). Merman’s Fall has met this bar. I have some way to go before I get to the end of the book (it’s a long book), but if all goes well, I’m going to be very satisfied.

I love the themes in this novel. Humanity and the way we justify or fix the horrid parts of it. Self-interested, destructive capitalism that feeds into the arms race. Trying to fit in as an outsider whom many find repellent. Fitting in anyway and finding that you are loved more than you had thought. Environmental damage. Gods, these are hot topics nowadays.

Didn’t think I’d read an original ABO novel but here I am. ABO goes exceptionally well with sci-fi, superpowers, and lots of combat. (Oh yeah, if I must nitpick, one downside of this book is the lack of beta characters. So far, in this book I’ve seen even less “named betas” than “named women with significant societal power”—which, as everyone knows, are an unjustly rare species in danmei and media in general.)

Bai Chunian is now one of my favourite protagonists and top 3, uh, ♂️ tops. His personality really hits the right spots; an interesting mix of teasing, gangster/rule-breaker, professional, kind, coarse, and soft.

At the start of reading the book, it looked like Lan Bo/Rimbaud the dumb (I’m sorry but it’s a true descriptor in a way) merman love interest was gonna be responsible for most of the cuteness in the book. Bitter gangster-like Bai Chunian didn’t fit the bill. I was wrong. Bai Chunian is at least as responsible for the production of cotton candy. (This is not really a spoiler, because the author says in the blurb: Bai Chunian acts cute.)

Going off on a bit of a tangent: seems like if a name in a danmei book contains 白 Bai and/or 楚 Chu, it has a relatively high chance of being an elegant name and those words may make the name 20-60% prettier, especially if there is a special meaning behind the name.

Yes, I like Bai Chunian’s name. A pretty name for a pretty cat. He’s the sweetest.

I will end this with some lines from the book:

• (translated by me) “Now I’m the strongest rabbit on Aphid Island” —Lu Yan the strongest rabbit on Aphid Island

• (proclaimed in English with much showmanship and gusto) “I’m Eris! I’ll beat the shit out of him~” —Eris

• (translated by me) “Gracious, getting suspicious over a mere [redacted to avoid spoilers]. Does [redacted] sound so unimaginable to you? You should stop going to school, save some education resources for the kids who can’t afford to go. Your contribution to the country is punier than the contribution of someone else letting out two farts less to slow down the greenhouse effect.” —Bai Chunian

• “Randi mebolu jeo?” —Lan Bo

***

This post has been updated as best I could. Notably, I have grudgingly changed “mermaid” to “merman”. “Mermaid” came more intuitively to me, because it’s the default in English and the ABO genders are more significant in this book than the female-male binary. But “merman” is the more appropriate term for Lan Bo, so merman it is.

Let me know if this rec was fun to read/useful :3

My book rec list: https://tentative-wanderer.tumblr.com/post/624449567085248512/danmei-book-recommendations

***

Adding on: thoughts about some characters and events (contains spoilers):

除了甜点师之类活得苦、死得也苦的实验体，我觉得全书最可怜的角色是魔使。妈妈被人杀，他则被送到一个让他受尽折磨的地方，然后被那个杀他妈妈的人买回去当奴隶。就算李妄让他出去“逍遥”，并在他完成任务后赏他东西，只要昼无法违抗李妄的命令，只要李妄能够逼他留在自己身边（还违反他的意愿去摸他——换位思考一下，如果有人这样对你，你一定会感到非常反感），黑豹就是奴隶。

昼好像没等到他期待的黎明，只等到李妄期望的一天天。他的束缚和白楚年/兰波、厄里斯/尼克斯的羁绊不一样，因为他是抗拒的，而且抗拒无效。我为他感到憋屈，也无法喜欢李妄，因为这个恶人没有恶报。不知道有没有一天能看到因果报应的故事，看到黑豹获得真正意义上的随心自在。

P.S. 不相关，但我也想看萧驯大杀四方，让歧视他的（族）人被啪啪打脸😆他的确已经打了几个人的脸，但那只是几个人啊！其他人都是间接倒下的，不是他一个个揍/狙击的！我要看萧萧在众人震惊的目光下大——杀——四——方！！！ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[queen-haq]

Hello Queen! My name is Xenia. IM 33 years old. I am writing to you from Almaty, Kazakhstan, yes, yes, this is not a joke, I really read you from here) I want to apologize in advance for the mistakes in English, because my native language is Russian and I am just learning to speak and write in English. I wanted to say that I admire your talent as a writer! I really enjoyed your fanfiction A Woman Scorned and A Woman Reborn by the Billy Russo fandom. I found you on "Archive of Our Own beta" and was blown away by the beauty of your work, it's very professional. I fell in love with Billy even more and I was pulled into the sensuality of your world. I think your works will become one of my favorites and I will re-read them many more times. I'm really looking forward to the sequel! I love your storytelling style and the atmosphere you create, the feeling of seeing the characters alive. You are great, such an easy, charming language, weightless and at the same time literate, rich in variety. Billy...God, my beloved Bill, you have him so alive, real, and most importantly canonical, Beautiful bastard) I read and as if I see it in front of me, as if I can reach out and touch it, you make it so real. I liked your work so much that if I could, I would send you a bouquet of flowers, you gave me emotions that I have not experienced for a long time, thank you for that! Separate bravo for the bed scenes, it's very erotic!

I myself write fanfiction and publish on a Russian site called "The Book of Fanfiction", which is the largest and most popular resource in the Kazakhstan. I just love The Punisher and I really hope that you continue to write for the Billy Russo fandom, your works are by far the best among English-language fanfiction. To be honest, I missed the beginning of the relationship between Billy and the reader, so I want to read about their acquaintance and the beginning of the novel in more detail. Do you have such an idea in the future? Do you plan to write a prequel to Forsaken, say in the style of the first 50 Shades of Gray book for example?

I want to ask how you feel about the fact that I tried to translate your fanfiction into Russian and publish them indicating your authorship? I can post them on my account with links to your Archive of Our Own beta profile. Ben Barnes (especially Billy Russo) has a lot of fans among Russian-speaking people and I think many would be interested in reading your work. I also have an account on the social network VKontakte and Twitter and I could advertise fanfiction on the network among Ben's fans. Unfortunately now I'm sitting with a small child and I don't have much time for writing, so the chapters will come out as soon as possible, but I was inspired and I'm determined to devote my free time to translating and advertising fanfiction. If you don't mind my proposal, then I still have questions about work and I will be happy to discuss them. I don't use Tumblr because it's not popular in Kazakhstan, I signed up here just to write to you. But if it's convenient for you, we can chat on Tumblr. It was a pleasure to meet you and I will be waiting for your reply. I kiss and hug you and wish you great inspiration! P.S my akkaunts

vk.com/id181184249

https://ficbook.net/authors/1108143

https://vk.com/public156921067

https://twitter.com/Reygram?t=mjUYAVthD4rRUuVI8wLGfQ&s=09

Hi Xenia, thank you for the sweet, kind message. I really appreciate your kind words and how you took the time to leave me such a wonderful comment. Thank you :)

At this time, I have no plans for a prequel. I love this universe but it's been over a year since I've been writing them and I don't think there's much more left to explore between them. Plus, I have other plans for a new fic :)

As for translating the fic, as long as you give me full credit and link to my A03 I'd be happy. I'm happy to have others enjoy the fic :)

Please also drop me a link once you've posted because I'd love to read the comments on my own.

[omoi-no-hoka]

Problematic Language Gender Divide in Japanese

Today I stumbled across a very interesting article about the language gender divide in Japanese and how it impacts women in the Japanese workplace.

Here is the link to the full article.

This article touches on a lot of things I have felt living in Japan as a woman, so I thought I’d share it with everyone.

“This is not just a matter of linguistics: these gender-specific forms, with their different levels of assertiveness and politeness, and the societal expectations behind them, put women at a huge disadvantage against men, in life and particularly in the workplace.

Beyond specific words, gender language differences in Japanese are evident in how and what women say. Women are softer spoken and use more euphemisms. Unwritten rules around women's language reflect the acceptable features of women in Japan: never direct, always respectful.”

Can you imagine how difficult it would be to conduct a business negotiation while remaining “indirect” and unassertive? 

This article touches on a point that has ALWAYS ground my gears not related to the workplace.

“Interestingly, Nakamura observes that the Japanese female language is most prominently represented in the Japanese translation of women's remarks in Western literature. For example, Hermione in the Harry Potter wizarding novels sounds much more ladylike in Japanese than a girl her age in Japan today would. In fact, Hermione speaks as briskly as her male peers in the original English.

But the translation sends a subliminal message that all women, even Western ones, should be speaking demurely. Intellectually we know that this is not true. Western professional women are much more outspoken, but they are not any less charming for that.”

This feels like hyperbole to type, but I would honestly say that 100% of the Western female characters I’ve seen translated into Japanese have been hyper-feminized. Hermione’s character is built upon her independence and her self-assertion. It feels wrong to translate her dialogue into such demure speech. 

Has Japanese Always Been Genderized?

Contrary to what Japanese people are taught in their Japanese classes at school, onnna kotoba (female speech) and otoko kotoba (male speech) has not always been delineated. 

Many Japanese people are taught in school that Japanese has been genderized since the 4th Century AD, with court ladies, Buddhist nuns, and geisha speaking differently. Sounds so romantic and beautiful, that this historic, refined way of speech is preserved and upheld by women to this day!

HOWEVER, that is blatantly untrue. The delineation actually took place in the late 1800′s!

A linguist named Orie Endo was one of the first people to demonstrate this. He did it by comparing two literary works, one from 1813 (“Ukiyoburo”) and the other from 1909 (“Sanshiro”). The truth is that before 1887, when people started noticing feminine language, males and females spoke the same; differences in speech patterns were based on social status, not gender. Endo found that males and females used the same sentence-enders in “Ukiyoburo,” but these were split between men and women in “Sanshiro” (just 96 years later). The sentence-enders ぞ (zo), だぜ (da-ze) and ぜ (ze), for example, were used by both males and females in “Ukiyoburo” but only by men in “Sanshiro.”

This excerpt was taken from an older but fascinating article from The Japan Times that you can read here.

How/why did this change take place?

The Meiji Era (1868-1912) was the catalyst. Feminine language was initially frowned on by male intellectuals. The sentence-enders てよ (teyo), のよ (noyo), and だわ (dawa), in particular, got a lot of attention. This “vulgar language” (now considered a long-lasting and beautiful tradition) was blamed on hicks and lower-class Japanese.

Two big things helped feminine language go from vulgar to accepted tradition. The first was the philosophy of ryōsai kenbo (good wife, wise mother). This was encouraged by the government and showed up in a lot of women’s magazines — written by women who spoke in the new feminine form. This type of woman was shown as a member of the ideal middle class. As a result, other women emulated them. Feminine language became widespread, and necessary — if you wanted to be well-educated, happy and all the things a woman “should” want to be.

The other big transformation that helped embed gendered language in Japanese was the rapid modernization and Westernization of the Meiji Era. Change was occurring so quickly that it seemed as though Japanese culture was disappearing — that Japaneseness was being lost. People began seeking out traditions they could hold on to. One such “tradition” was feminine language; to be Japanese — and, more importantly, to be unique from Western cultures — meant speaking in a gendered language. This was just one of many “traditions” that sprang from times of rapid transformation (it happened again post-World War II, during the Allied Occupation, with the Nihonjinron (theories about the Japanese studies).

Do You Need to Conform to These Norms as a Non-Native Speaker?

This is entirely my own opinion and experience as a foreign woman in Japan. What I believe may not be what you believe, and that’s okay. 

I use feminine speech in Japanese. My pronoun is “watashi,” and I do end sentences in “dawa” or “nano” like a Japanese woman would. It would feel downright weird or wrong to change my pronoun to a masculine one like “boku” or “ore.” I do use masculine “zo” or “ze” to end sentences when I’m kinda joking around or fired up about something.

However, I have long been aware of the inherent deference that lies in the polite “watashi” and the lack of assertion hidden within “nano,” etc., and I am not a demure or unassertive person by nature. 

It’s for this reason and a couple others that I often temper my demure feminine Japanese by using more casual Japanese instead of desu/masu. I’m not going up to the client and speaking to them like they’re my bros, of course. For them I always use desu/masu and observe all societal norms. But around my coworkers and people that know me, I will use casual Japanese. 

By using casual Japanese, I do the following things:

I attempt to show, “I think of you as on the same level as me.”

I attempt to express the camaraderie and warmth I have for the person I am talking to. (In English, a more warm and casual way of talking is seen as friendly and polite, and I consciously hold that mentality when speaking Japanese, despite knowing Japanese doesn’t operate under the same logic. I’ve also explained that mentality to my Japanese coworkers.)

I attempt to show that...hmm. For lack of a better word, I’m not gonna take any shit from anyone. haha.

Caveat 1: Even though I tend to speak more casual Japanese, I still ALWAYS put -san at the end of every coworker’s name. Without fail. Not adding -san would be very rude and putting them beneath me, which I do not want to do under any circumstance.

Caveat 2: While I do speak mostly in casual Japanese, I do everything in my power to say things directly and honestly but with tact.

A regular Japanese person maybe couldn’t get away with this casual Japanese in the workplace. But since I’m a gaijin, I get a sort of pass. “Ah, she’s an American and they speak their minds.” Or “Ah, Americans do that thing where they speak casually to people they are comfortable with.” 

I believe that this strategy has worked in my favor. Nearly everyone in the project comes to me for advice on...well. Damn near anything, at one point or another. Things I’m not even remotely related to. I think they do this because they know I’ll give their question a hard think and a genuine answer. This could be reflected in my personality, but a large part of our personality is illustrated by the way we speak.

Just some food for thoughts. How do you feel about the distinction between feminine and masculine speech in Japanese? How do you use it?

[rudjedet]

I sometimes help a friend of mine, who likes to write sometimes, with translations because she's not fluent in English. It's not my native language either but I'm pretty decent at it. Generally she writes her stuff in English and has me proof read it. She has been working on a spy novel. So she gives me the text and tells me that she could not remember the word for some things. She described the main character as a "professional stalker". She forgot the word "spy". I suggested leaving it like that but she was sadly not on board. A little out of the blue but this made me laugh and I wanted to share it.

omg I absolutely love that. Professional stalker. I’m calling spies that from now on, please thank your friend for me, and tell her good luck with the novel!