#and made frustrated posts

[wannursyafiqah74]

Thought Tumblr removed underlined text, it wasn't the case. Anyway this was me getting mad over stupid shit, here's a post I wrote clarifying this

Original text + tags are below

I was trying to express frustrations without putting them in bold text...

I did use bold for a bit, but then I tested. I tried making them big, which didn't work. Then I resorted to underline, which also didn't work. And it turns out Tumblr got rid of underlined text. I was so frustrated that shit didn't help at all. I had to look it up. And a post by codehelp is how I found out. Jesus fuck

[fexjam]

I don't wanna the doctor for my heart

Oh, I wanna try a brand new start

[quitlebee]

oh shit, for real?

[lemonynuggets]

Is it just me

[a-polite-melody]

Considering that there’s another post going around that lands on this conclusion, I think it deserves its own succinct post:

When transmascs share instances of positivity to remind each other that the way we are treated isn’t all bad, it’s then used as proof of the whole of transmasc experiences being this way, and that transmascs are not oppressed as a whole.

When transmascs share instances of harm done to transmascs to raise awareness that transmascs are harmed directly within our societies, it’s used as proof that we are taking up too much room in conversations because the harm we face “isn’t bad enough”.

When transmascs share instances of outright murder of members of our community to show that no, transmasc issues are not somehow “lesser” because “we aren’t dying” because we are dying, it’s used as proof that we are trauma dumping and trying to make other people feel sorry for us—look at these AFABs being whiny and hysterical and trying to portray themselves as victims. Or that it isn’t specific enough to us so we should shut up and let other people speak for us.

Transmascs cannot speak about our experiences without being touted as an example of why transmascs as a whole should shut up.

This is erasure.

[unforth]

As I deepen my study with Chinese, the more I'm struck by how word meanings work. The monolingual USAdians I know or encounter online, who studied only as much as needed to get through school, really do seem to think languages are plug and play: know the word in both languages, and swap.

But that couldn't be further from the truth. There's on Chinese word, 稳当 (wĕn dang), that's really struck me for that. Because my flashcards give three translations for 稳当: reliable, secure, and stable. And in English these words are all fairly different! Clearly related but very much do not mean the same thing. How can one Chinese word mean these three different concepts? Well, of course, it doesn't. 稳当 means 稳当, some fusion of those three concepts we have words for in English but not quite any of them, that makes it appropriate to use in places where English would use any of those three. There are surely shades of meaning, and which interpretation of the meaning is most appropriate to a given context will be understood upon reading.

Now, expand this understanding - that a word doesn't mean (exact direct swap in English) but rather the word means the word, and we approximate it to the closest English equivalent we can - to *every single word in every single sentence in an entire book.*

Then translate that book.

Translation is an art, not a science, requiring tremendous verisimilitude in *both* languages, and an understanding of the story, and a deep familiarity with the culture (social, historical, linguistic, etc.) of the original work, and often knowledge of the authors intent (if possible to ascertain), and a range of other skills. Translation will always be interpretive and transformative, because (word in one language) doesn't precisely mean (word in another language). They're not "the same." If I present you a sentence with 稳当 in it, does it mean stable, reliable, or secure? Well that depends. On what? How it's being used, the surrounding context, other factors, and of course... the reader or translators interpretation.

It drives me insane when I see people present alternate translations as some kind of "gotcha" that one translator got things wrong. And don't get me wrong - of course some translations ARE just wrong, obviously if I translate 稳当 to mean "goldfish" I'm not interpreting I'm just incorrect. But beyond obvious mistakes, a world of nuance exists, and different translators can in good faith reach different conclusions on the most appropriate translation. This is WHY famous books not in English get translated repeatedly by different people, and why a reader would want to read multiple translations of the same work - to see, in different translations, some shadow of the wonderful nuance embodied by the original words that do not, and cannot, simply be swapped 1 to 1 for a perfect English translation. And this is *especially* true of a language like Chinese, which is ancient and beautiful and deeply steeped in understandings of Chinese history and literature.

Why do you think I and many others are studying Chinese for years? For me, it's all so I can read the actual books myself and get that much closer to the story, that much closer to my own interpretation. I'll never have the skills of a knowledgeable translator - this isn't my profession, it's my hobby - but I'll gleen things nonetheless and it's important to me to try.

Too many of yall disrespect those skills so much that you'll throw a sentence of a language you know nothing about into Google translate and then declare the translator Wrong (and sometimes Bad and Malicious) based on that.

稳当 means 稳当. It doesn't mean "reliable." It doesn't mean "the exact translation of 稳" plus "the exact translation of 当". It's a Chinese word with a Chinese definition that we retrofit English on to.

And the hardest part? Look, I'm still a Chinese novice. For all I fucking know, 稳当 actually MIGHT have three distinct definitions. Everything I said about it above might be wrong. I don't know enough Chinese yet to know for sure, and that's a level of nuance and understanding I'll only reach by reading more.

Multiply that by *every single word in both the original language and the language it's being translated into.*

That's what translation is.

Good luck.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The Quest Continues...

(part 1- part 2)

[god-offical]

Man. Fuck PETA

[ganondoodle]

since tumblr always has to suffer my personal vents and breakdowns and rants and annoyances you get the most wips and pics of unfinished stuff, im sure that makes up for it

the (unfinished) shiekah arm concepts that made me want to explode and i dont think im gonna work on again

[milksteakkk]

"noah and alejandro look like brothers"

[tea-cat-arts]

I simply think this fandom doesn't give Wei Wuxian enough credit for the various ways in which he saved Lan Wangji

[kerizaret]

I know i like to joke around that haha tsukasa scared of bugs haha funny loser, but please do remember and be mindful of people irl with fears that might seem silly or petty to you, because you never know how it truly makes them feel

[nyxtickled]

my favorite thing about the tumblr tword community is when i see a post from a lee who is stressed and needs a hard reset on their brain and the only way to achieve it is to be tickled until they can’t speak

like that has always been me but i can never explain it to anyone else. like hey yeah no sorry i am cranky i just have so much homework to do and laundry and i haven’t eaten yet today but the only thing that will alter my brain chemistry in a way that will allow me to accomplish it all is someone throwing me onto my stomach, sitting on my back, pinning my arms above my head and tickling me until i cry

but i guess another cup of coffee will have to suffice

[ilikemicrowaves]

A big batch of skywing designs related to the Royal family, featuring Sky along with it.

From left to right, row to row. As I list them, I rambled about them and their designs and my choices. Feel free to give any comments on them!!

Scarlet

Boy, oh boy, do I love her, Scar shit my beloved. I wanted to make her purple because purple is often associated with the rich and royalty. Funfact! Back in ye olden days, purple was a very expensive and rare color to get with pretty much anything, so the rich and royals often wore it, giving it its regal representation in the present day. Also, I gave Scarlet's horns stripes because I was going for a jester vibe. Might seem odd, but she's such an intelligent villain, yet her rage, selfishness, and greed blinded her, in the end making her the fool.

Canyon

I really enjoyed reading Tailwind's writing about their egotistical brother. Canyon, to me, is a diva, and I'd love to talk more about him. Those glasses? Doesn't need them. He believes they're fashionable, along with his robes and cloths. The only thing I put into his design that has meaning is his mistletoe, since it represents love and romance, and Canyon is a slut like that /heavy j. He's a hopeless romantic to me and loves his big wife. Although it's implied he married Scarlet to just to brag about it, or that's atleats what I interpreted last I read it, I like to think he actually did love Scarlet and would surprise her with new prisoners for the champions to battle before Peril. It's a shame he died before Peril was born. Imagine the Peril having TWO manipulative and evil caretakers. Orange represents arrogance and impatience, so boom, orange Canyon. Also the the stereotypical Canyon is orange, so it fits in that way as well. Note that I just remembered hours after typing this. This is future felix here to say: I based Canyons design slightly off the canyon wren.

Tourmaline

TOURMALINE!!!! MY GIRL!!! MY BADDIE!! I love Tourmaline and her confidence so much. It shows how strong she was when she realized she was not the dragon who she'd been for 7 years because of an enchantment, as soon as she figured it out she came to terms and did not have an existential crisis, or atleats not around Peril. ( Or Tui didn't really think about how much that would fuck up a person lol ). Nothing in her design has symbolism that I purposefully put in. She's orange like her father and has curved horns like her mother. She also has Canyon's face shape with somewhat of Scarlets nose Bridge and nose. Scars from training combat.

Vermillion

omg this gay ass mother fucker. I fucking hate him /heavy j. Anyways, Vermillion is interesting to me, I guess. I haven't really looked deep into his character other than what's on the surface, a victim of being a child of Scarlet and under her rule. To me, he is very fashionable, including his gold band of amazonite. Not only does baby blue look good on him, but it symbolizes empowerment, which he has. And I ship Cherrylime ( Chameleon x Vermillionv) as well as Vermillion x Chameleon x Mastermind.

Ruby

Heh, get a load of this guy /ref. Anyways, for a hc, enchanted dragons' irises turn a certain color, skywings being pink, which is why Ruby and Pyrites eyes are pink. I gave her harlequin diamond patterns since they symbolize the gap between two metaphoric worlds and the forced silence by others. The first part is that she is two dragons in one and that she is quiet. Although she has the ability to speak up, the power hanging over her head like a guillotine stops her.

Cliff

he's literally just a guy. Though I did add one thing "evil" to him; I gave him Scarlet's eyes. Even though that horror is long gone, anytime Ruby looks her son in the eyes, Scarlet will be staring back at her. But in canon, I don't think she will ever see it that way unless Cliff's personality begins to develop in a negative way, then shed begin to worry and see the illusion resulting from her anxiety. I gave him bits of orange from the reccesive genes she carried from Canyon and from Cliff's father, who I hc to be orange. Also, to symbolize his optimism.

Peril

In the books, she's described as bronze, which i feel is such a loss when her book cover and gn design is a hot cheeto. ( No hate to her Canon design. It looks really cool imo, i just miss bronze Peril. ) The point of her being bronze was supposed to be the fact that she's so different from her tribe other than the obvious. Brown Peril ftw!! She does have stripes of reds, oranges, and greens on her legs and tail, but that's not visible in her headshot, unfortunately. Wanted to throw in Chameleon's genes in there for funzies. Ik in canon Soar is physically a completely different dragon with different genetic makeup, but I think it's more fun to do this, and it's not like I'm hurting anyone lol ( I say this because when I first posted my Peril design I got a on hate for "shitting one canon." Which like ???? Go touch grass instead of telling me I can't be creative. ) ( Here's my 1st post of my Peril design, and then my 2nd slightly tweaked one. )

Sky

I hate how the Fandom treats sky honestly. It's a shame they just dumb him down to "cinnamon roll baby." That's a full adult dragon. Stop acting like he's a child just because he grew up outside of Dragon culture and civilization. Made him pink n brown and gave him a little swirly scale on his cheekbone. Or well above his cheekbone, actually.

Pyrite

I put a bunch of details that yells, "Hey, this is secretly an icewing." Like her spikey scale patterns, antler like horns, and deep colored eyes. Enchanted icewings have red eyes, so I just made them a deep maroon Ish pink, thats why it's not a shade of pink like Ruby's. I have a post planned in my brain, not even in my drafts yet, so it might be a bit, but it's about Hailstorm n Pyrite's relationship and how I think Hailstorm would have handled himself afterwards.

And that's all for these guys!! There's a chance I'll draw other skywing characters or other characters that surround this bunch, like Hailstorm, Chameleon, Kestrel, Tailwind, and maybe how I imagine Cliff's father But thank you for reading if you read all of this! This took up a lot of time, but I enjoyed all of it :33

[ancillaryjurisprudence]

don't worry this question will be answered over the course of the next 30 episodes in exquisite detail

[fictionadventurer]

Fun Catholic Lord of the Rings trivia for you:

Tolkien had a devotion to St. John the Evangelist (which should not have been surprising, given his name).

Traditionally, the symbol of St. John the Evangelist is an eagle.

There's no indication it's intentional allegory, but it does add a very cool layer to those scenes.