#but i have no idea what to do for folklore

[nostalgebraist]

I feel like I've had the same experience several times now: someone does a new translation of a non-English literary classic, and all the critics praise it to the moon, so I go and try to read it, and it's turns out it's just . . . bad? Like, really bad? And weirdly bad?

A while back, I wrote about the case of Pevear and Volokhonsky. Here's another example, which I encountered while doing background research for my novel Almost Nowhere.

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One of my novel's major characters is a literary translator, famous for his rendition of the Persian epic poem Shahnameh ("Book of Kings").

To help me write this character, I tried to read the Shahnameh myself. I started out – where else? – with the translation that seemed to be the gold standard, and which was certainly the most critically lauded.

Namely, the 2006 translation by Dick Davis, in prose with occasional shifts into verse.

Here's how the Shahnameh begins, in Davis' translation:

What does the Persian poet say about the first man to seek the crown of world sovereignty? No one has any knowledge of those first days, unless he has heard tales passed down from father to son. This is what those tales tell: The first man to be king, and to establish the ceremonies associated with the crown and throne, was Kayumars. When he became lord of the world, he lived first in the mountains, where he established his throne, and he and his people dressed in leopard skins. It was he who first taught men about the preparation of food and clothing, which were new in the world at that time. Seated on his throne, as splendid as the sun, he reigned for thirty years. He was like a tall cypress tree topped by the full moon, and the royal farr shone from him. All the animals of the world, wild and tame alike, reverently paid homage to him, bowing down before his throne, and their obedience increased his glory and good fortune.

And here is the same opening, in the 1905 translation by Arthur and Edmond Warner (which I only discovered much later in the process of writing Almost Nowhere):

What saith the rustic bard? Who first designed To gain the crown of power among mankind? Who placed the diadem upon his brow? The record of those days hath perished now Unless one, having borne in memory Tales told by sire to son, declare to thee Who was the first to use the royal style And stood the head of all the mighty file. He who compiled the ancient legendary, And tales of paladins, saith Gaiúmart Invented crown and throne, and was a Sháh. This order, Grace, and lustre came to earth When Sol was dominant in Aries And shone so brightly that the world grew young. Its lord was Gaiúmart, who dwelt at first Upon a mountain; thence his throne and fortune Rose. He and all his troop wore leopard-skins, And under him the arts of life began, For food and dress were in their infancy. He reigned o'er all the earth for thirty years, In goodness like a sun upon the throne, And as a full moon o'er a lofty cypress So shone he from the seat of king of kings. The cattle and the divers beasts of prey Grew tame before him; men stood not erect Before his throne but bent, as though in prayer, Awed by the splendour of his high estate, And thence received their Faith.

Now, I can't speak at all about the source text. I have no idea how faithful or unfaithful these two translations are, and in what ways, in which places.

Still, though. I mean like, come on.

This is an epic poem about ancient kings and larger-than-life heroes.

This is a national epic, half myth and half history, narrating the proud folkloric lineage claimed by a real-world empire.

There is a way that such things are supposed to sound, in English. And it sure as hell isn't this:

What does the Persian poet say about the first man to seek the crown of world sovereignty?

Excuse me? That's your opening line? I thought I was reading a poem, here, not taking a fucking AP World Literature exam!

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Postscript

Some of the critical praise for the Davis translation, quoted on the back cover of my copy (emphasis mine):

"A poet himself, Davis brings to his translation a nuanced awareness of Ferdowsi's subtle rhythms and cadences. His "Shahnameh" is rendered in an exquisite blend of poetry and prose, with none of the antiquated flourishes that so often mar translations of epic poetry." (Reza Aslan, The New York Times Book Review) "Thanks to Davis's magnificent translation, Ferdowsi and the Shahnameh live again in English.” (Michael Dirda, Washington Post) "A magnificent accomplishment . . . [Davis’s translation] is not only the fullest representation of Ferdowsi’s masterpiece in English but the best." (The New York Sun)

[highlordofkrypton]

I'm super hyped for this game because I think about Modern AUs a lot for Tamlin? It's not normally my genre, but he just gets the muse flowing!

I have a couple variations of MODERN AU that I like for Tamlin! I guess they're more related to scenarios/fic ideas than Tamlin-specific headcanons, but I wanted to share anyway because I'm excited about them.

AMERICANA / HIGH SCHOOL TAMLIN: Tamlin comes from a long line of guy's guys. You know, the typical American dream. His father and his brothers were some kind of sports stars throughout their schooling, then went on to work for their father's company (which was passed down from his father, a lot of nepotism). All Tamlin wants is to take music class, join the school band and maybe take a poetry class because he really loves the arts, but he's build like a Ford F-150 so obviously, he has to be on the football team. Enter the rich kids (the IC). Everyone wants to be them, they're super popular and very cliquey. The leader of the group is the very stylish and spoiled Rhysand. This, my friends, is how we get a classic 90's high school romcom where it turns out both of them are more than what they seem, and they find honest little moments between them hidden away from the prying eyes of their classmates, their fathers and their expectations. Very soft AU.

In most of the Modern AUs, I imagine there's a lot of Tamlin forced to follow in his father's/brothers' footsteps which is always something he isn't passionate about, usually business (sometimes shady, sometimes not).

MERCENARY x RETURNING STUDENT AU / BL-INSPIRED: I don't know if this counts, but it's a self-indulgent headcanon (and fic that I'm writing for myself). It's more urban fantasy, but set in modern times. It's heavily inspired by my favourite BL manhwas. Tamlin's family died in an accident while Tamlin was in university, and shortly after his mother fell ill and into a coma. His father was rich, but dealt in shadier/criminal business, so when he died along with his would-be heirs, his rivals basically tore his company apart and now Tamlin is in a lot of debt. He worked for years to pay back as much as he can, and manage his mother's bills, but now he's in a place where he can go back to school (so he can get better jobs). Moving back into a small college town, he accidentally ends up being roommates with a mercenary-in-disguise (Johan, it's Johan) who initially wants nothing to do with him. Little by little, Johan notices the way Tamlin is struggling to exist, so he helps him out and more and more until they fall in love. In this AU, Tamlin was originally pushed to take business in school because of his father, but he was very passionate about folklore, specifically Fairy folklore (he grew up listening to his mother's stories). When he returns as an adult student, he's in computer science (for the comedy) and sucks at it, which gives room for his mercenary boyfriend to help him. It's very cute. I also love Tamlin being older than all the other students and just not keeping up with the trends.

Anyway, those are my thoughts! Long story short, my kink is writing scenarios/fics where Tamlin is absolutely adored!!!

Welcome to our Tamlin Community game: Headcanons!

Every headcanons post, we'll drop a prompt asking you for your take on the prompt and our beloved Tamlin.

Fun fact: Did you know headcanons posts count as submissions during Tamlin Week? Headcanons are a great way to participate if you don't have time to create more time consuming submission and we love, love, love hearing all the different ways Tamlin is perceived!🤩

This is a space to share your adoration and your creativity, so don't be shy -- reblog or chat with fellow Tamlin enjoyers in the notes!

What are your MODERN AU Tamlin headcanons?

[theamazingannie]

Me before tour began: Honestly, all I need is Cruel Summer and august and I will be fine with whatever else she chooses.

Me after seeing the set list: Wait where’s x???😭

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

writing new characters for supernatural but british and this story wants so bad to say something about the concept of migration and immigration and the consequences of leaving your home and building a new one. And I don't know what it wants to say about that or why

[bookshelf-in-progress]

I've had an odd nostalgia for the Once Upon a Time series of mediocre short-novel-length fairy tale retellings. I've been wanting to read the retelling of "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" from that line.

The trouble is that there is no such book.

Which makes me want to write it.

Unfortunately, the only straightforward traditional retelling of that fairy tale I want to write doesn't fit with that style.

But thinking about it got me excited about that old idea all over again.

[mbat]

[sillimancer]

you see, Your Honor, you HAVE to pay me to live in Ireland, it's research for a magical girl series--

[shinmiyovvi]

Primis Ji Eun as a Jeoseung Saja

This took me a while but here is reaper baby (I don't know what to color for the soul she's holding but let's say the color of the soul is yellow-orange)

Alt versions:

[wlwaerith]

honestly lrb i have had no interaction with mitski fans & i hope it stays that way but the ridiculous bog prince / fae king / etc shit hozier fans have going on makes me feel violent <3

[ghostfartooo]

Countess Orlok and her guards

[spiderrmax]

the urge to start a one shot series where every one shot is based off a track from a taylor swift album grows stronger every day

[snowynightlight]

Remembering the time when I ordered a pack of Taylor Swift stickers and end up with two packs of them

I still have them somewhere in a small box 👀

[kindred-spirit-93]

HOO BOI. i desperately want to write volumes about this topic alone but ill stick to a tag rant because is have so much studying lol.

demeter they could never make me hate you. you were imo the only sensible person in the myth(s) actually and a good mum. fuck u zeus

The story of Hades and Persephone isn't an abduction romance, or even a tragedy of not being able to be in two places at the same time. It's about how fucking wild it would be to have a mother who gives a shit about whether you're dead or alive, and whether you are happy.

[monsterblogging]

"I know JK Rowing is a terrible person but her books are so good-"

You sure about that?

I mean, just for a start, have you taken a good look at her fantasy creatures lately? A whole bunch of them are straight-up based on malicious and dehumanizing stereotypes about actual people.

Remember the werewolves? And being a werewolf was made into a kind of metaphor for having AIDS?

And you know how AIDS was first associated with gay men? And how conservatives back in the day were claiming gay men were preying on children in order to convert them to gayness?

Remember how Fenrir Greyback preyed on children in particular? Yeah, she put that subtext in there. She was an adult in the 90's. She knew damn well what she was doing.

Remember the house elves? Remember how most of them loved to serve and needed to have a home and a master or else they just wouldn't know what to do with themselves?

Did you know that's literally what slavers in the American South said about the Black people they kept enslaved? Go look up the happy slave myth.

Do I even need to get into the goblins and the antisemitic tropes they're based on? No, folkloric goblins were not gold-hoarding bankers waiting for their chance to stab humanity in the back.

"But the characters are so good!"

Are you kidding me?

Most of her characters are pretty one-dimensional, including Harry. Her idea of making a morally complicated character is giving a tragic past to a bully. Numerous characters are little more than stereotypes. (Looking at Fleur right now.) Literally anybody, including you, can easily make dozens of characters just as good, if not better. (It doesn't exactly take a lot of character designing skill to go, "hey, actually, having a sad backstory doesn't make it okay to bully children" or "hey, maybe I should not base a character on the first stereotype that pops into my head.")

"But the rest of the worldbuilding!"

Sorry, but her worldbuilding is just as basic as her characters. Magical castles and secret passages are stock tropes. Magical people who keep their true nature secret from humanity is the premise of pretty much every White Wolf TTRPG. Most of her fantasy creatures are just common European fairy tale and folklore creatures with shitty stereotypes projected onto them.

I'm not saying "basic worldbuilding bad." I'm saying, you could do just as good, if not better, with minimal effort.

Also there's her magical bioessentialism, where only Harry's abusive blood relatives could provide him with supernatural protection from Voldemort. Rowling thus effectively declared that non-biological family isn't quite real family, and that abusive biofamily can give you some essential thing that a loving, supportive family that isn't related to you just can't.

The Hogwarts houses are one of the most insidious elements of her worldbuilding. The idea of being sorted gives you a little dopamine hit because wow now you have a li'l niche where you belong!

But the actual function of the houses and sorting system and the House Cup is teaching children to see each other as rivals, and ensure that the most toxic views of the upper class get passed on to every new batch of kids sorted into Slytherin.

Hogwarts effectively prepares children for a dystopia where magic serves to distract its citizens from how nightmarishly awful it is. Economic inequality is so bad that people like Arthur and Molly Weasley can barely afford to put their kids through school, casual sadism is just an accepted norm in everyday society, and non-humans are second class citizens. Rowling sorta acts like she thinks this is a bad thing with certain lines she gave to Dumbledore, but in the end, her special boy protagonist becomes an auror; IE, a defender of the status quo. So.

If you've never seen it, Lily Simpson's video goes into even more detail on how the worldbuilding of Harry Potter is actually incredibly fucked up, and how it betrays small-minded attitudes on Rowling's part. There's no separating the art from this artist, because Rowling's rotten values pour out of nearly every page.

Yes, there are many things in Harry Potter that evoke feelings and inspire people, but there's absolutely nothing in it that this series has a monopoly on. You can find those same experiences in much, much better media.

[diah-the-demon]

I rlly need to come up with a middle name

[squimoo]

Apparently one of my newer hobbies is watching long form youtube videos on theology and understanding and absorbing about 10% of what I am being taught but enjoying them anyway.