#i think it’s quite poetic
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
The connection Yukimi and Miharu had to Yoite is so special
#astra liveblogs#nabari no ou#i think it’s quite poetic#the two people most impacted by yoite#coming together
1 note
·
View note
Text
i love when words fit right. seize was always supposed to be that word, and so was jester. tuesday isn't quite right but thursday should be thursday, that's a good word for it. daisy has the perfect shape to it, almost like you're laughing when you say it; and tulip is correct most of the time. while keynote is fun to say, it's super wrong - i think they have to change the label for that one. but fox is spot-on.
most words are just, like, good enough, even if what they are describing is lovely. the night sky is a fine term for it but it isn't perfect the way november is the correct term for that month.
it's not just in english because in spanish the phrase eso si que es is correct, it should be that. sometimes other languages are also better than the english words, like how blue is sloped too far downwards but azul is perfect and hangs in the air like glitter. while butterfly is sweet, i think probably papillion is more correct, although for some butterflies féileacán is much better. year is fine but bliain is better. sometimes multiple languages got it right though, like how jueves and Πέμπτη are also the right names for thursday. maybe we as a species are just really good at naming thursdays.
and if we were really bored and had a moment and a picnic to split we could all sit down for a moment and sort out all the words that exist and find all the perfect words in every language. i would show you that while i like the word tree (it makes you smile to say it), i think arbor is correct. you could teach me from your language what words fit the right way, and that would be very exciting (exciting is not correct, it's just fine).
i think probably this is what was happening at the tower of babel, before the languages all got shifted across the world and smudged by the hand of god. by the way, hand isn't quite right, but i do like that the word god is only 3 letters, and that it is shaped like it is reflecting into itself, and that it kind of makes your mouth move into an echoing chapel when you cluck it. but the word god could also fit really well with a coathanger, and i can't explain that. i think donut has (weirdly) the same shape as a toothbrush, but we really got bagel right and i am really grateful for that.
grateful is close, but not like thunder. hopefully one day i am going to figure out how to shape the way i love my friends into a little ceramic (ceramic is very good, almost perfect) pot and when they hold it they can feel the weight of my care for them. they can put a plant in there. maybe a daisy.
#warm up#writeblr.#i am not going to personally comment on the pineapple debate#some things are too big for me.#maybe we could have everything on earth choose their own names.#wouldn't that be fun#it is a creative writing exercise. okay. ily#''why only these languages?'' ..... bc i dont know every language#sorry :(#PLEASE leave me comments about what words u think are correct. i love learning them#btw! this isn't saying these are the most BEAUTIFUL words for it... just the words that are the most CORRECT#like i quite like the word ''keynote'' as mentioned. it's got a lot of fun sounds in it.#but it is not CORRECT.#''gloaming''' is interesting and fun and poetic but it is NOT correct . evening is MORE correct#but less beautiful.#does that make sense?
12K notes
·
View notes
Text
I’m obsessed with them already
#sram#sramhr#SKAM Croatia#dare I say most attractive noorhelm yet#nora klaric selem#roko maric#Nora x Roko#Now I must explain the song choice#first of all thinking bout you is my favourite song EVER#but I always thought that particular verse was no noorhelm coded#they’re technically not each other’s first times because they both have had experience#as far as I know sram will have that remain the same#unless they change it ?#but I always thought the concept of a first time extends beyond physical intimacy#rather - the first time you’re in love#so in that sense I see this as first *true* love#not infatuation#but pure genuine and deep love#a new feel!!#because it’s literally right out of their respective comfort zones#no cause let’s talk about how they have a mutual fear of love and vulnerability#for different though similar reasons (lack of familial love)#which results in them being quite reserved / introverted people#but their independence/self preservational personalities become a sort of security blanket#because they’re so used to moving through life depending on themselves#until they learn to open their hearts and let love in#and it’s diffcult and messy at times#but it’s worth it#god they really are so poetic when you sit and ponder on it
81 notes
·
View notes
Text
me as an imogen’s selfishness built from her isolation is one of the most interesting things about her truther (which, before someone vagues me on twitter . i don’t think this doesn’t mean she can’t and hasn’t been altruistic but that’s a separate post) + someone who loves when my favourite characters have their lives threatened and/or they die. i am eating well after last night’s ep.
as someone who cares for the world of exandria and despises everytime ashton opens his mouth about the gods and clocked into ashton and ludinus wearing the same hat a while ago . having to listen to them talk about how they’re better than ludinus because (checks notes) they want to do exactly what ludinus wants to but their motives (the exact same kind of trauma that made him tell ludinus to “grow up” . me BEGGING him to take his own advice) are better ??? i’m not eating as well but what can you do.
my grip on this campaign as a completionist who Is enjoying cr even if i don’t think this is a particularly strong campaign is truly resting on the shoulders of imogen impulsive-and-single-minded temult, fearne “if the world’s burning i want a front row seat” calloway, orym “only member of the group capable of a thought for the ‘little guys’ the party claims to stand for” of the air ashari, and chet who is there for vibes (and to protect his family). also shout out to braius for joining the one party where betraying them would make him easily break into the top 3 morally upstanding members of the party.
#do i think the party has to be morally good? absolutely not. should they be if they’re waxing poetic about how hard they’re trying to make#the right decision while refusing to even look at what it obviously the right decision for more than one second?#yeah i think so#cr3#cr spoilers#critical role#imogen temult#anyway imogen’s stuff DELICIOUS as someone who has a shitty jot note maybe someday essay in my drafts about how imogen was forced to grow#out of the single-mindedness and self interest that characterize a lot of her and laudna’s dispositions towards group choices/commitments#has been mostly prompted by the lack of access and permissibility from the group she has to going off the deep end#versus laudna who remained quite stagnant for much longer because there Was permissibility that she go off the deep end because yk. delilah#fucking Psyched that the Minute imogen has an excuse that is quasi informed by the group that she gives in. because in every other#situation where she pondered giving in bh was encouraging her to fight (tho the cast may have been encouraging her to give in)#i’m just. smiling in laura bailey characters with extremely twisted moral systems that spell out exactly the kinds of people they are#(judgemental but affectionately so)
32 notes
·
View notes
Text
dawg I just had the craziest realization about myself THERAPY IS WORKING!!!! HOLY SHIT!!!!
#spacie spoinks#ooooh#baby steps brooo#it's crazy how my therapist was right about me relying on others for my self worth#I didn't even think about it like that until she told me kfififndjjsbs#every time I go to therapy there's something new I learn about myself and it's like.#I thought this would be a really straightforward process and I'd be out of therapy w/in a year (NOT HAPPENING)#instead my mental issues are like. a knotted ball of string. you pull on one issue#but you can't unravel the whole knot by only pulling on one string#wow...#poetic me....that's quite good#thank you me. let's hug#LOL#anyway#I feel like so mentally terrible but I think if I wasn't in therapy I would be much worse#gobbless gobbless#I think everyone should be in therapy actually
29 notes
·
View notes
Text
so I realized that around this time of the year is already past my 1 year anniversary of being hyperfixated on Rob?? time flies
this is the timeline of how it happened according to some vague memories:
1. i happen to see some random video of The Rerun on like, YouTube I think
2. me: hmm i think that one eyed guy is giving some real gender envy– wait. oh no. its happening. he's the new Chosen One, isn't he
3. im not hyperfixated im not hyperfixated im not–
4. I AM SO FUCKING HYPERFIXATED I LOVE ROB FROM TAWOG HE MEANS EVERYTHING TO ME!!!!!!
5. rob is a major part of my life and my headspace now. i couldn't stop if I tried, because some part of my brain views him as an actual close friend, and therefore abandoning this hyperfixation would feel extremely cruel. i would never do that to him and therefore he will be my imaginary bestie/adoptive son forever. i will never grow out of it. i am perfectly okay with that
#its always been gender envy that gets me hyperfixated on a character. like i dont think its ever been anything else lmao#and by his gender i mean the fact hes kinda just a Funky Creature Thing Whose Species We Cannot Quite Identify. that is the gender#this actually might be the longest character hyperfixation ive had so far... he really is the Chosen One#i used to watch this show when i was in elementary school but i didnt have access to every episode#so maybe thats why i have no memory of him from when i was that young?#or maybe seeing him in that video unknowingly gave me deja vu which is another reason why he initially caught my attention?#5 or 6 years later... the irrelevant forgettable side character from that one weird cartoon crawls out of the deep recesses of my brain#and ends up living in my head rent free#for over a year#and he shows no signs of moving out anytime soon#top 5 comebacks of this past decade-and-a-half (my life)#this is so weirdly poetic in a kinda fucked up but also funny way#wow this whole post is basically just me screaming “I HAVE AUTISM” over and over#rob tawog#tawog#the amazing world of gumball#tawog rob#dr wrecker
68 notes
·
View notes
Text
just scrolling looking at what the crunchyroll algorithm would spit out at me tonight when I came across this category and uh
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/2e366b3f1d9138e85d318258deaf0690/a0f1fbacd5425c1b-78/s540x810/e5bb082ccf863b5abaaf983cfcc3cef87c6ce120.jpg)
... the best huh? Aaare you sure???
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/1288d8d56b0c9eb676f0fb603a38ddaf/a0f1fbacd5425c1b-77/s500x750/07c15439cd3ad39dbb7b6afb3a785edbf3ac8d57.jpg)
Are you really, really sure about that crunchyroll???
#this is absolutely not shiro slander dont get me wrong but uh... my man sure did fuck up some kids didnt he?#blue exorcist#blue exorcist anime#ao no exorcist#aoex#like he did his best and for the most part he was a GOOD dad but... the best???#i wouldn't quite go that far when he recruited one of his kids to be a child soldier and his brothers keeper at age 8#instilling a deep anxiety about living up to expectations and an even deeper resentment for his brother who's protection he was saddled with#and the other that he allowed to grow up thinking he was just a freak of nature destined to destroy everything he touched#when explaining what he was could have come with better coping mechanisms tools and skills to help him live in a world not made for him#& would have definitely helped him not have a mental breakdown when he inevitably found out what he was & was thrust into a whole new world#oh and would have helped him understand why he was being tossed out of the only home he knew now that he was “suddenly” not human#i may or may not have some feelings about how the Okumera boys were raised#ough the tragedy of a parent doing their absolute best they could have but their best not being enough#*takes a drag off a cigarette* poetic cinema
27 notes
·
View notes
Text
dude assad zaman is a good actor. did u guys know this
#assad zaman#just watched the national theatre's east is east recording!!! epic#i need to see if the other production of east is east that assad was in was recorded cuz he was saleem in that one#and abdul and saleem are two quite different characters in relation to the themes of the story#something very poetic about him first playing the art kid middle child who readily rejects his dad&heritage#as soon as he's given reason to#and then going on to play the current eldest child in the family who just cant stop empathising with his parents#and yearning for his home as his only source of genuine community and acceptance#like as much as saleem's view is valid (he comes to these conclusions after his dad beats him)#his black and white thinking of rejecting his dad and therefore rejecting his pakistani heritage as a whole is immature#and yeah abdul's perspective is its own kind of immaturity. but it's also distinctly more grown up#because it's exactly what someone who has gone out and seen the world and been ostracised by it would feel#about his emotionally abusive but still familiar&comforting home life#anyway how does this relate to assad zaman. oh yea there's an interesting duality in the roles#i wanna see how he plays saleem after having seen how he plays abdul#thunder rambles
29 notes
·
View notes
Text
Han's bubble was hilarious today. He accidentally started a movement of stays quitting their jobs because of the weather💀
240614 🐿🫧:
-when I woke up this morning, the sun has already risen and I was melting
-i wonder if it's because it's morning that it felt like I was melting in the bed or if it's because it's hot so i opened the window refreshingly and just breathed in the air but I was shocked. Please just stay at home for today
-because I think it's a good amount of exercise/movement even if you just live today by moving enough to warm up the brain cells, I feel like moving more than that is a luxury
-those who commute to work or school today, please state it firmly that if the weather's this hot then, to let you watch movies and rest at home at least for a day
-say that rather than thinking of it as getting off work/school because it's hot to please think of as a temporary escape in order to find the beauty/romance in this weather for a day
-ah there're maknaes* too then please show them how you're the maknae on top like jeonginnie (*people who are the youngest in the workplace so they can't demand days off)
-who made maknaes not being able to say a thing
-what to do if you get fired? then I'll try to make a place for you in JYP as an honorary STAY employee. Don't worry.
-Payment terms are not in my control so I'll try negotiating it.
-no wait but that doesn't mean that you should just voluntarily leave the company/workplace that you're in
-pls stop for a bit
-what's with this (fast) execution
-no but when did I even lead/encourage you to resign your job, no wait y/n let's think of it again for a bit
-no but those who are students, you can't just come out, you have to listen to the lessons/lectures
-oh
-seems like the ball I shot scattered across everywhere like starlight and spread around
-well since I can't just make it as something that didn't happen
-I'll be escaping
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/b0f3a274bee663a598fdb1b5f2627cb1/0d16badbed2851da-5f/s500x750/b3929f4a153e2cc6200ff3e92bd624635f4c5ec6.jpg)
-Fighting for today, i love you and fighting
Messages translated by skzwithstay8
Stays reaction on twt:
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/db5bb95df7d7e9713777037c18ac10cb/0d16badbed2851da-ac/s540x810/3c66e6314d877272bb9b1a0d0f9fc784659d727c.jpg)
#i think all stays subscribed to him had the same idea when he said he'll get them a job at jype if they get fired for asking for a day off#and went yes king so true im quitting my shitty job and showing up to jype tomorrow to get employed :D#and he panicked lmfaoo#even on twitter in qrts everyone was saying how they're quitting because han promised them a job LMFAO#mfs he just said take a day off!! 😭😭😭#and then the way he dipped after making everyone unemployed 💀#come back sir we're jobless because of you#his starlight message was way too poetic for this situation haha#stray kids#skz#bubble#skz bubble#han jisung#han#kpop
44 notes
·
View notes
Text
supernatural is trending for no reason? on the supernatural website? must be a day ending in y
#supernatural#y'know there's something very poetic about doctor who having a resurgence#supernatural never really went anywhere even four years after it ended#meanwhile sherlock is lost to the sands of time#and as the show that at the time people granted the most literary merit#but that in later years was reassessed and turns out it's actually honestly kind of bad?#i think it's quite fitting that sherlock was the show that didn't stand the test of time
48 notes
·
View notes
Text
is there historical fiction on the Homeric Question? we have so many (bad) Iliad and Odyssey retellings but did anyone write about the oral tradition and the guy(s) who wrote down said epic poems? i think it would be fun
#i don’t really care about the homeric question academically because Homer the poetic persona is more interesting to me than the Real Guy#but i think it would be quite fun to explore this in fiction#greek myth retellings#<- because i’m getting tired of how unoriginal they are#historical fiction#homer#tagamemnon
14 notes
·
View notes
Text
He is the absolute cutest 😭😭❤️❤️
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/21614c927550bf265dc6f9a29aa04bc2/32d5a0b865472d1f-1d/s540x810/baa1c19cd49605e43e0db4929069127895d0da0d.jpg)
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/132d9b4f7517e111f2f1632becb86d88/32d5a0b865472d1f-df/s540x810/1ef133d575c44e2e83586cd6d3bce2cc3b27a00e.jpg)
Daniel Craig at the “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" premiere, Los Angeles, 11/06/2001. Source: danielovemail on X
#hey rachel can i have him ok thanks#i’ll bring him back never#this is such a Him thing to do#do you think his kid made that for him?#or does he just like it?#i’m not sure which is cuter#i’ve been feeling a bit not great mentally and this has cheered me up quite a bit#but then he tends to do that#he’s like anaesthetic#creepy or poetic?#it’s midnight lucy please go to bed#daniel craig#james bond#007#benoit blanc#knives out#glass onion
119 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hi Beans, I’m finally here. Diluting the sad with fun and very OOC.
I don’t really have a lot of ideas about what to write, but I remembered that I shared my idea of Es with the chivalrous Argenti's personality. So. AU in a vacuum (maybe an actors AU, maybe not), where Es thought that it would be funny to surprise the prisoners with the behavior of a knight(maybe Jackalope came up with that idea, maybe just strange sense of humor). What about the prisoners' reactions? (gallantry and compliments to plants attached) I think Mahiru would have joined the drive even if she didn’t really understand what happened. Fuuta would probably say "ugh, cringe" and that would make him a great target for the rest of the day.
YESS ahahaha, this is such a fun idea! I wrote a little scene with a few characters, but honestly it's hysterical picturing any of them trying to figure out how to react to this new and sparkling Es... I went for a version where not even Jackalope was prepared, but I can certainly see him suggesting something crazy like that to shake things up omg. Thank you so much for the request! The original meme was made by Mug, and I couldn't help but do a doodle myself ✨🌹
Amane was the first to witness it. She fled as soon as possible, finding sanctuary in the common room. The others were surprised as she stumbled in, face pale and eyes wide. Very little could frighten the girl; it was not a good sign.
Yuno moved to comfort her. “What’s wrong?”
Her eyes went distant with the harrowing memory. “It’s Es,” was all she said.
“Did they do something cruel?”
“No. Worse.” Amane shivered. “They were… nice.”
“They were what?”
Amane opened her mouth, but paused at the sound of heels clicking down the hallway.
She stiffened. “If you need me you can find me in my cell.” She disappeared as quickly as she came. The others, who had been listening in on the odd conversation, gaped after her. They tried to piece together what had been so unsettling. Still, Es’ boots approached.
All eyes landed on the doorway.
And Es appeared. They looked very normal. Jackalope hopped up behind them. All shoulders sagged in relief. Es surveyed the room, slightly surprised to find everyone staring.
Then, they smiled.
It was a genuine, bright smile. The blue-gray of their eyes sparkled with a new light. Their lips parted to release a lighthearted laugh, unlike anything the prisoners had heard from them before.
They glided through the room, heels clicking lightly behind them until they came to Muu. The others stood frozen in place.
Es swept their cape aside with a grand flourish of their arm. They held both her hand and her gaze with warmth.
“Why, hello, Muu! You’re looking as positively lovely as always. Has this fine morning treated you well?”
“Um…” She looked to everyone, her face pleading for a little guidance. They were too busy looking eagerly to her in astonishment. “Uh… yes?”
“I’m pleased to hear it.” They reached behind themself. The room let out a soft gasp as they produced a pale pink flower from underneath their cape.
“For you, my dear.”
They didn’t wait for her to finish stuttering a confused ‘thank you’ before they turned to whoever was standing closest. Mahiru’s own face lit up as Es turned their glimmering gaze her way. Fuuta scoffed, muttering something about this being the lamest, cringiest thing he’d witnessed. Es pretended not to hear.
“Shiina Mahiru… a smile like yours is rare to find in a place like this. I thank you for it.” They pinched their chin and angled their head, thinking. “The meaning of your name has to do with light, correct?”
She nodded, unable to keep the giddiness from her face. The others watched as Es moved their glove behind once more. Surely there was no room for any more flowers hidden there…
Surely they were all mistaken – Es flicked their wrist to present a small gathering of yellow blooms.
“Something radiant for someone as bright as you.”
She fell over herself with gratitude and giggles. She tried to tuck it into her hair, and Mikoto stepped over to help her. The pair raised their eyebrows at each other in disbelief.
This time, Es retrieved their gift before turning to their next victim. A classic red rose. They caught a prisoner’s gaze.
“Oh, no. Nope. No way.” Fuuta held up his hands, as if it could ward them off. “I don’t want your stupid-ass flowers.”
“Now, now, I see you’re playing hard to get, as usual.” They brushed their thumb along the thorny stem. “You know, the rose has a very similar approach.”
Fuuta’s face now matched the flower’s color. “Wha–” He stumbled backward, then took off running to the door. “I don’t know what weird mind games you’re trying to pull, but I’m staying out of it!”
Es only clicked their tongue gently when he disappeared. “Always making things difficult, that one. All part of his charm, I suppose.”
They followed to the entrance. Turning briefly, they flashed their smile once more.“It was wonderful to see you all! I will await our next meeting eagerly.”
With a fluttery wave, they vanished.
Everyone’s attention shot to Jackalope, who had paused in the doorway. No one could understand his voice, but his little rabbit face seemed to say, Hey, don't look at me. I have no fucking idea.
#milgram#es#muu kusunoki#mahiru shiina#fuuta kajiyama#featuring others#asdfsadfs its so silly i love that for them 😂#i hope i wrote them alright -- i dont usually analyze that character type for writing too much 😅#i think yuno and muu would be suspicious at first since theyre used to fake people but would see it was all harmless and accept es' kindnes#haruka and mahiru are super flattered all the time <3 mikoto enjoys it but doesnt really take the compliments to heart#fuuta is downright disgusted but YES it makes him the biggest target 😂#shidou and kazui dont quite understand#but theyre both poetic guys and would probably nod along and muse on what es is saying about flowers and beauty#i wrote amane uncomfortable for the comedy but honestly i think shed enjoy it too after getting over her confusion#kotoko just tries to talk to es as normal#theyll give her a poetic speech complimenting her only to be met with#'yeah i know but thats not important. now as we were talking about...'#no one knows where they keep getting all these flowers from#asdfsdf the art had me cackling the whole time -- if you post yours lmk!!! it was so perfect omg#drabbles
44 notes
·
View notes
Text
Kiawe do you like boys that look androgynous and are kinda bookish and will say things that perplex you... does that charm you
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/a1b4dfca3563e649210685ee5d4198e2/155ca286893687ac-f4/s540x810/f35c3e0e0d6d88389efeeee407dd8dc1d7ff34e6.jpg)
Btw this is a version of kiawren I have fun thinking about, where Kiawe used to date Ilima (or it was sorta a no labels thing but pretty much a relationship) and they broke up and are on awkward terms. I mean Ilima lives on a whole other island. But maybe they dated right before Ilima left to study in Kalos for a semester. NOOO KIAWE DONT FALL FOR THE BOY THAT'S NEW TO ALOLA AND GOING TO STAY FOR A SEMESTER ONLY. THEY'LL HAVE TO LEAVE AGAIN. ARE YOU CURSED
That's why after Ilima he probbaly was like yeah he's chasing his academic dreams I should also focus on my cultural ones. No more Romance. ok maybe this boy with the pikipek is an exception
Also I just mostly copied ilima's face from the concept arts that's why his eyes are not my style...so he looks like a puppy
#Kiawren#For some reason I feel like he likes nice looking hair#I dunno I think from observing the movement and aesthetics in dance#Somehow that made him subconsciously pay attention to the way people wear their hair as a show of their personal flair#And he's not a good talker#He's quite awkward at it#So maybe the way il.ima speaks very princely intrigued him but he doesnt match that eloquence#While wren also speaks awkwardly... But will slip in abstract and poetic things that crossed their mind then play it off humourously#And that. Just. intrigues him#il.ima's dignified manners make it hard to penetrate a certain politeness and talk to him more candidly#But with Wren he can also speak at ease and lightheartedly#And then well. He realises he's into people that think in artistic ways#But sometimes they seem a bit too intellectual but he's not the best at communicating on that level#But wren is also kinda awkward about it... and would explain to ki.awe or tell him he's not missing out on anything becuz their thoughts ar#also really jumbled- and ki.awe just says it's ok i want to hear what you have to say#So... yeah they like to talk and listen to each other :)
11 notes
·
View notes
Text
Chapter 622
#naruto#madara#madara uchiha#uchiha madara#hashirama flashback#+ hashirama#[FBI looking through my laptop voice] why the fuck have you been looking at this and crying for the past 3 hours#Also fun fact: I used to not really like the language of ''revealing your guts'' I felt it was just very ugly and un-poetic phrasing#But I've come to appreciate it in the sense that it conveys a pretty thorough idea of vulnerability that reveals a lot of how Madara#perceives it.#His phrasing of revealing vulnerability is incredibly visual; people quite literally opening themselves up for him to see. Related is how#his greatest discomfort is people standing behind him. You know. where he can't see them.#Also most Uchiha characters having common motif threads related to their eyes.#In Madara's case they're tied specifically to how he'd like to have full awareness and understanding of what's around him; and by extension#he'd like to have a measure of influence over them.#Something standing where he can't see it though he knows it's there is the most vulnerable position he can imagine himself in.#In multiple different ways! In this particular panel it's mostly related to trust and emotional vulnerability.#Which is a very fun character trait to have when you grow up in the conceiling yourself and backstabbing profession#And you are also very fatalistic and under the impression that people just can't change#you WOULD think the only solution would be if everyone could just magically rip themselves open
48 notes
·
View notes
Note
So so indebted to u for posting those lovely illustrations from Cyrano <333 & even more so for yr tags!! I'm completely in love w yr analysis, please feel free to ramble as long as u wish! Browsing through yr Cyrano de Bergerac tag has given me glimpses of so many adaptations & translations I'd never heard of before! I'll be watching the Solès version next, which I have only discovered today through u ^_^ As for translations, have u read many/all of them? I've only encountered the Renauld & Burgess translations in the wild, & I was curious to hear yr translation thoughts that they might guide my decision on which one I buy first (not necessarily Renauld or Burgess ofc). Have a splendid day & sorry for the likespam! 💙
Sorry for the delay. Don't mind the likespam, I'm glad you enjoyed my tags about Cyrano, and that they could contribute a bit to a further appreciation of the play. I loved it a lot, I got obsessed with it for months. It's always nice to know other people deeply love too that which is loved haha I hope you enjoy the Solès version, it may well be my favourite one!
About translations, I'm touched you're asking me, but I don't really know whether mine is the best opinion to ask. I have read... four or five English translations iirc, the ones I could find online, and I do (and especially did, back when I was reading them) have a lot of opinions about them. However, nor English nor French are my first languages (they are third and fourth respectively, so not even close). I just read and compare translations because that's one of my favourite things to do.
The fact is that no translation is perfect, of course. I barely remember Renauld's, but I think it was quite literal; that's good for understanding the basics of the text, concepts and characters, but form is subject, and there's always something that escapes too literal translations. Thomas and Guillemard's if I recall correctly is similar to Hooker's in cadence. It had some beautiful fragments, some I preferred over Hooker's, but overall I think to recall I liked Hooker's more. If memory serves, Hooker's was the most traditionally poetic and beautiful in my opinion. Burgess' is a whole different thing, with its perks and drawbacks.
Something noticeable in the other translations is that they are too... "epic". They do well the poetic, sorrowful, grief stricken, crushed by regrets aspects of Cyrano and the play in general, but they fall quite short in the funny and even pathetic aspects, and that too is key in Cyrano, both character and play. Given the characteristics of both languages, following the cadence of the French too literally, with those long verses, makes an English version sound far too solemn at times when the French text isn't. Thus Burgess changes the very cadence of the text, adapting it more to the English language. This translation is the one that best sets the different moods in the play, and as I said before form is subject, and that too is key: after all, the poetic aspect of Cyrano is as much true as his angry facet and his goofy one. If Cyrano isn't funny he isn't Cyrano, just as he wouldn't be Cyrano without his devotion to Roxane or his insecurities; Cyrano is who he is precisely because he has all these facets, because one side covers the other, because one trait is born from another, because one facet is used as weapon to protect the others, like a game of mirrors and smoke. We see them at different points through the play, often converging. Burgess' enhances that. He plays with the language itself in form and musicality, with words and absences, with truths masking other truths, with things stated but untold, much like Cyrano does. And the stage directions, poetic and with literary value in their own right in a way that reminded me of Valle Inclán and Oscar Wilde, interact with the text at times in an almost metatextual dimension that enhances that bond Cyrano has with words, giving them a sort of liminal air and strengthening that constant in the play: that words both conceal and unveil Cyrano, that in words he hides and words give him away.
But not all is good, at all. Unlike Hooker, Burgess reads to me as not entirely understanding every facet of the characters, and as if he didn't even like the play all that much, as if he had a bit of a disdainful attitude towards it, and found it too mushy. Which I can understand, but then why do you translate it? In my opinion the Burgess' translation does well bending English to transmit the different moods the French text does, and does pretty well understanding the more solemn, cool, funny, angry, poetic aspects of Cyrano, but less so his devotion, vulnerability, insecurities and his pathetism. It doesn't seem to get Roxane at all, how similar she is to Cyrano, nor why she has so many admirers. It does a very poor job at understanding Christian and his value, and writes him off as stupid imo. While I enjoyed the language aspect of the Burgess translation, I remember being quite angry at certain points reading it because of what it did to the characters and some changes he introduces. I think he did something very questionable with Le Bret and Castel-Jaloux, and I remember being incensed because of Roxane at times (for instance, she doesn't go to Arras in his version, which is a key scene to show just how much fire Roxane has, and that establishes several parallels with Cyrano, in attitude and words, but even in act since she does a bit what Cyrano later does with the nuns in the last act), and being very angry at several choices about Christian too. While not explicitly stated, I think the McAvoy production and the musical both follow this translation, because they too introduce these changes, and they make Christian as a character, and to an extent the entire play, not make sense.
For instance, once such change is that Christian is afraid that Roxane will be cultured (McAvoy's version has that infamous "shit"/"fuck" that I detest), when in the original French it's literally the opposite. He is not afraid she will be cultured, he is afraid she won't, because he does love and appreciate and admires those aspects of her, as he appreciates and admires them in Cyrano. That's key! Just as Cyrano longs to have what Christian has, Christian wants the same! That words escape him doesn't mean he doesn't understand or appreciate them. The dynamics make no sense without this aspect, and Burgess (and the productions that directly or indirectly follow him) constantly erases this core trait of Christian.
Another key moment of Christian Burgess butchers is the scene in Arras in which Christian discovers the truth. Burgess writes their discussion masterfully in form, it's both funny and poignant, but it falls short in concept: when Cyrano tells him the whole discussion about who does Roxane love and what will happen, what they'll do, is academic because they're both going to die, Christian states that dying is his role now. This destroys entirely the thing with Christian wanting Roxane to have the right to know, and the freedom to choose, or to refuse them both. As much as Cyrano proclaims his love for truth and not mincing words even in the face of authority, Cyrano is constantly drunk on lies and mirages, masks and metaphors. It's Christian who wants it all to end, the one who wants real things, the one who wants to risk his own happiness for the chance of his friend's, as well as for the woman he loves to stop living in a lie. That is a very interesting aspect of Christian, and another aspect in which he is written as both paralleling and contrasting Cyrano. It's interesting from a moral perspective and how that works with the characters, but it's also interesting from a conceptual point of view, both in text and metatextually: what they hold most dear, what they most want, what most fulfills them, what they most fear, their different approaches to life, but also metatextually another instance of that tears/blood motif and its ramifications constant through the whole text. Erasing that climatic decision and making him just simply suicidal erases those aspects of Christian and his place in the Christian/Cyrano/Roxane dynamic, all for plain superficial angst, that perhaps hits more in the moment, but holds less meaning.
Being more literal, and more solemn, Hooker's translation (or any of the others, but Hooker's seems to love the characters and understand them) doesn't make these conceptual mistakes. Now, would I not recommend reading Burgess' translation? I can't also say that. I had a lot of fun reading it, despite the occasional anger and indignation haha Would I recommend buying it? I recommend you give an eye to it first, if you're tempted and can initially only buy one.
You can read Burgess' translation entirely in archive.com. You can also find online the complete translations of Renauld, Hooker and Thomas and Guillemard. I also found a fifth one, iirc, but I can't recall it right now (I could give a look). You could read them before choosing, or read your favourite scenes and fragments in the different translations, and choose the one in which you like them better. That's often what I do.
Edit: I've checked to make sure and Roxane does appear in Arras in the translation. It's in the introduction in which it is stated that she doesn't appear in the production for which the translation was made. The conceptualisation of Roxane I criticise and that in my opinion is constant through the text does stay, though.
#I have a lot of opinions about translations in general tbh but this is not a semi clear case like in Crime and Punishment#in which there's one detail that a translation must do for me to recommend it (it used to be the one but now in English several do it)#I wouldn't recommend Burgess as a first approach to the play‚ but having already read the play and knowing the text and characters#and how Burgess may modify it‚ then I wouldn't not recommend it because it is the best in form in many aspects#And while he fails in direct concept‚so to speak‚ form is particularly important in this play and in conveying concept and characterisatio#So idk personal taste is it I guess? Again I am not an English or French native#I vehemently recommend reading the play in French if you can and haven't done so already#Even best if you want a translation to read the translation alongside the French text#to see how the translation bends the play in form and subject#Anyway... Sorry for the long delay and the too long reply. I always end up talking too much#Oh by the way I think I saw you talk about the blood/tears motif in the act IV in some tags? It's not just act IV#The tears/soul motif is repeated through the entire text linked to Cyrano and is opposed to the body of Christian#That's why the culmination in the last act and the tears in the fourth hit so much#Like the constant of Cyrano being linked to the moon and the darkness while Roxane is the sun and the light#And also I would argue the 'pearled perfection of her smile' is not an unidentifiable trait or intangible#It's poetic and metaphoric but it's a description of her teeth. Small‚ straight‚ white. Perfect teeth. That wasn't so common back then#It's quite common in classic literature to find poetic references of good teeth spoken of in these terms#Anyway...#I hope you'll find some use in this that would make the insufferable wall of text worth some of the time at least#After all time spent is a little death. I would have hated to kill a fragment of you for nothing haha#Cyrano de Bergerac#Did I tag asks? I usually delete them after a while so I think I didn't? I never recall#I talk too much#That will suffice#Hmmm it's useless in any case. I think I've talked for over twenty tags before tagging that#A wall of text and somehow I ramble in the tags nonetheless ugh#I will reread this in a bit to see if it's coherent enough. The little screen of the phone always makes me lose track of things when I writ
11 notes
·
View notes