#disclaimer: i'm not a latin expert

[zazzander]

Translating the Prophecy of Seven into Latin:

In light of the fact that the current version of the prophecy isn't done very well at all. I decided to try and translate it myself! This is bringing me back to Latin 101 lol, but it's pretty fun.

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,

Septem filii deorum curam respondebunt

The Latin word for "demigod" is literally heros, however, the translation is "halfbloods". This is tricky. A literal version of this would probably be semisanguines, however, I believe the intent is to refer to children of gods (rather than legacies). So I've made this filii deorum, "children of the gods".

I used the word "curam" for "the call". It can mean that they are answering a command / charge (I think). But it also means they might be answering/reacting to:

an attendant, guardian, observer.

anxiety, grief, sorrow

trouble, solicitude

So basically they're responding to this Big Concern or to Hera herself (the "guardian"). I like the ambiguity of it. And the English phrase "the call" is a decent translation of such an ambigious phrase.

To storm or fire, the world must fall.

Aut ab procellae aut ab igni, Terram cadenda est

I had some fun with grammar in this one and learned what a gerundive is - wow! Anyway, this version is less ambigious on what is falling exactly. Because "Terra" = "Gaea", the personification of the earth.

The verb comes from cado, which has several meanings related to "fall" such as "fall in battle", "fail", "loose strength", or "die". This fit nicely :)

I used the term procellae rather than tempestas for storm because the latter is more general and can refer to any type of weather, as well as seasons etc.

So this reads more like: To storm or fire, the Earth must fall. But it's close enough.

An oath to keep with the final breath,

Fidem ad ultimam animam praestabitur

Okay, so I think in the context of the story, this phrase is closer to the concept of keeping one's word. Like "Leo kept his word to Calypso" / "Leo fulfilled his promise to Calypso". And in that case, in Latin", fides is the best term. Rather than the straight-forward sacramentum, which I believe is used in more formal contexts only.

I put this phrase in the passive tense because it doesn't actually say who's keeping the oath. In Riordan's original Latin the sentence adds a mysterious "we" - this doesn't work for obvious reasons.

The translation of "breath" was kind of tricky. In Riordan's version it's spiritu which I think is okay, but on the face of it, anima is better. Anima refers to both "breath" and one's "life / soul". So if I'm right, to give the indication this is a death, anima works better.

Another translation of this is: An oath will be kept with a final breath

And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death

Et inimici arma ad Ianuam Leti ferent

So this really depends on what Riordan meant by "bear arms". There are two meanings:

carry firearms

wear or display a coat of arms

Neither of these really match what I think Riordan was going for. I think his intention was that a battle would take place. The second meaning fits this in a way, armies traditionally "bear arms" when they are about to fit. In which case, it would be signa ... ferent.

However if the idea is simply that they're carrying weapons, then it's arma ferent. I think, based on how it's presented, the second option makes more sense.

I have made a couple other changes compared to the original Latin in the books as well:

It's inimici "enemy, rival" rather than hostes "enemy if the state, hostile".

And Leti not necem. This is because the Doors of Death are named after Letum, the god of Death. It's also in the genitive case now (yay!).

A fun part of this version is that it can also mean both: And foes carry arms to the Doors of Death & And foes endure war at the Doors of Death.

So together:

Septem filii deorum curam respondebunt.

Aut ab procellae aut ab igni, Terram cadenda est.

Fidem ad ultimam animam praestabitur,

Et inimici arma ad Ianuam Leti ferent.

What do y'all reckon??

[echotunes]

Pac's talk about Arkanis

(disclaimer: I'm not fluent in Portuguese so I may have missed or misunderstood something but this is what I gathered)

It's going to be a "survival and RP" series - there's also going to be enigmas and mysteries, but it's also going to have regular Minecraft gameplay like building houses and such

The "first season" of the series will begin very soon ("not like, next week, but soon")

Pac wanted a studio for the series so he, Batista, Tayr, Himaru, and Guhzera made one - Boiss Studios. They've been working on the project for a couple of months now

They have a team of programmers, artists, and actors(!) for the server

There'll be new mods that we haven't seen in Minecraft yet, they're being made specifically for the series

It's going to be a completely original story

There's going to be 20 participants total! So far people who have been revealed (via Twitter here and here) are Meiaum, Bagi, GabePeixe, Guaxinim, Maethe, Choke, Matt, Felps, Pac, and Coreano.

Pac emphasised that "for now" there's only going to be people who speak Portuguese in the series, which made a lot of people in chat wonder if there's gonna be Portugal-Portuguese speakers there, but he didn't say anything else. He also trailed off mysteriously about the "for now" part

Pac said he'd be streaming basically every day. the people are doubtful of this but who knows

There will be "probably weekly" events, maybe some related to specific dates as well

Regarding the story: There's a city called Valigma and it has a mayor named J. The mayor has a Twitter account and "he's very suspicious honestly". He wants to recruit "experts" for their talents, for a purpose that is currently unknown

"What talent does Pac cubito have? I don't know, we'll have to find out."

(paraphrased) "If you're upset that your streamer isn't participating: Who knows, maybe there'll be an event in the future and they'll appear, who knows."

There'll be one central story but every member can create their own story as well

There won't be subtitles like there was with the Qlobal Translator in QSMP because that mod was made for QSMP specifically. Maybe other people will have the Twitch subtitle extension like Pac does, but there won't be anything in-game

It's a mainly stream-focused SMP, and people can make stream highlights if they want. Pac said there'd probably be things posted on his own clips channel

There'll be an official Arkanis Twitch channel that'll "go live sometimes"

"Is Pac on Arkanis going to be the same Pac cubito as in other universes? I don't know! It's possible!"

It's been a very cool thing for Pac to be part of the team working on it, he's very excited and hopes people will enjoy it

It's called Arkanis from Latin "arcanus" meaning "mysterious"

There might be a fanart museum like in QSMP

and then he ended stream. I may have missed or misheard something so if anyone else wants to add on feel free but that's the general gist I got!

[o-craven-canto]

(disclaimer: not an expert on linguistics or etymology, just playing around with dictionaries)

Suppose humanity were to join the Galactic League of Sophonts. What would be the official name of our species? Hopefully the GLS will respect endonyms as much as possible, but the English word "humankind" won't do (I'm assuming English as de facto lingua franca of Earth; not a fan of that but it is what it is): alien species aren't going to have a local translation for "human", and most probably won't be able to pronounce Earth languages. So we need to find a way to translate "human" into roots as planet-neutral as possible.

Now, the English word human comes, via Latin humanus, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰm̥mṓ, which in turn was derived from *dʰéǵʰōm, meaning "earth" or "ground" (humanus could be interpreted as the adjectival form of humus, though in fact the two words derived independently from P-I-E). A suitable English-based but planet-neutral translation for "humans", therefore, could be Those of the Ground. This is also the case for all Latin-derived languages.

What of other major languages? I'd have expected for Hindi to have similar lines, and Hindi manuṣya मनुष्य looks a lot like humanus, but from what I find it seems unrelated, and comes from manu मनु meaning either "man" (with an unanalyzed P.I.E. etymology *mon, from which also "man") or "thinking, wise". Our Hindi-based name is The Wise Ones.

Russian čelovek челове́к comes from a Proto-Slavic word translated as "child of a clan", in turn from two P.I.E. roots *(s)kelh- and *kʷel-, translated respectively as "group of people" and "to travel/roll around". Our Russian-based name is The Wandering Tribe.

Arabic ‘insān إِنْسَان is a nominalized from verb ‘anisa أَنِسَ , which I see translated as either "to perceive/comprehend" or "to be comfortable/enjoy". I assume the first meaning is the relevant one: our Arabic-based name is The Understanding Ones. (Though The Comfortable Ones is also nice.)

Hebrew adam אָדָם also seems related to the ground, though indirectly: the Proto-Semitic root *dam means "blood", and hence refers to red things, such as clay or human bodies. Our Hebrew-based name is The Red Ones ("The Bloody Ones" wouldn't be very diplomatic, though our fellow sophonts might not have the same reactions as us. EDIT: But "The Bloodied Ones" would be different still, and probably fairer to the language.)

Chinese rén 人 is of unclear derivation; I see the main Proto-Sino-Tibetan candidates are *snaj "nearby" (in the sense of "relatives") and *s/k-niŋ "heart/mind/kindness", via Old Chinese nyin. I will pick the latter and assert that our Chinese-based name is The Kind Ones.

Japanese hito 人 runs into a wall: the Proto-Japonic etymology *pitə also just means "person". However, there is an alternate word ningen 人間 of Chinese derivation, which sends us back to the previous.

Swahili mtu is in a similar position: its Proto-Bantu source *mʊ̀ntʊ̀ means either "person" or "someone". However, Swahili also adopted binadamu "son of Adam" from Arabic, so I guess the choice is between the Arabic or Hebrew name. Similarly, Turkish got insan from Arabic.

Indonesian orang, intriguingly, is said to come from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *uʀaŋ, meaning "outsider". Our Indonesian-name based, The Outsiders, comes ready-made. (Indonesian also got manusia from Hindi and insan from Arabic, so if aliens decide to land on Java on account of being the most densely populated major island on Earth, we're set with names.)

[dionysus-complex]

If one wanted to translate the Old Testament from the Ancient Greek do u have any recommendations for where to start

Hi! I think you mean the New Testament, since the Old Testament (i.e. the Tanakh) is in Hebrew with a few passages in Aramaic.

As a disclaimer: I am by no means an expert in Biblical Greek, I'm trained as a classicist whose introduction to Greek was through Attic Greek (ca. 5th-4th century BCE), which is usually the introductory dialect for anyone who wants to learn Ancient Greek. The New Testament is in Koine Greek which is quite readable with a background in Attic, but I know there are also resources more targeted toward Koine (and probably for an audience specifically interested in Biblical Greek rather than Ancient Greek more broadly). A quick Google search suggests that there's some online tools for learning Koine as well; I can't speak to the quality of any of them.

Because of my background, all the resources I have personal experience with and would know to recommend are really resources for learning Attic - I started with Cynthia Shelmerdine's Introduction to Greek, which is fairly solid and generally my preferred Greek textbook but might be easier going if you've had some Latin. A lot of people swear by Hansen and Quinn's Greek: An Intensive Course which is also what my department uses for teaching, but I personally find it a more difficult textbook in that it introduces some of the most difficult grammatical concepts in the language very early. There's several other Greek textbooks out there (Athenaze is one I've heard relatively good things about) but I don't have personal experience with them and can't offer a recommendation one way or the other. Depending on your commitment level, several universities also offer online summer Greek intensive courses which are typically open even to non-enrolled students of that university; here's a decent list including both online and in-person intensives that looks to be fairly current.

Sorry I can't be of more help!

[dark-honeyed-dreams]

An Eccentric Bibliophile's (Yet Incomplete) Guide to Dark Academia Reading, Because Who Needs Sunlight Anyway?

Lo and behold, the inevitable moment has arrived. You find yourself engrossed in Donna Tartt's 'The Secret History' for the umpteenth occasion (it never loses its luster, does it?), and you've diligently explored the whole dark academia canon. Or have you really? I've made this post to collect the lesser-known tomes (because, you see, I'm well-acquainted with the exquisite agony of the quest). So, without further ado, let the revelry commence! Disclaimer: the current version of the list has the links that lead to Goodreads. Also, the current version of the list seriously lacks books written by non-white authors. I hope that we'll collectively gain a cultural momentum and make this list better in this sense. I, personally, would love a recommendation!

Dark Academia Canon

Photo by Giammarco Boscaro on Unsplash

The volumes that are often bestowed with the dubious honor of canonical status, or, simply put, the ones that are most recommended dark academia reads.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

Babel by R.F. Kuang

Bunny by Mona Awad

The Atlas by Olivie Blake

Alex Stern series by Leigh Bardugo

Lesser-Known Dark Academia Titles

Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash

Intellect reigns supreme, arts and philosophy hold us captive, and we can't forget our undying affection for those delightfully lifeless languages. Oh, and let's not overlook the timeless charm of tweed. Simply put, less known but not less great titles that have all the canonical elements of dark academia. I've also added a few words about those that I love most.

The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte: a 15th-century painting has the key to a Renaissance murder, and the question Quis Necavit Equitem is answered by a modern-day art expert

Cornish Trilogy by Robertson Davies: a defrocked monk, some scholars of a university lovingly called "Spook" and a girl named Maria Magdalena Theotoky try to find out what to do with the vast estate of the recently deceased millionaire and art collector Francis Cornish

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas: a selective admission process gets Ines in an experimental liberal arts school called Catherine House. The alumni of this school became, at their own time, prize-winning authors, artists, inventors, Supreme Court justices and even presidents. But how exactly did that happen?

The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee: no such thing as witchcraft exists in the world. That's probably not the case for Felicity, who is still trying to find out who killed five Dalloway students (supposedly, witches). Enter Ellis Haley, a young prodigy and a literary darling, who writes books about murders by re-enacting said murders...

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Hex by Rebecca Dinerstein Knight

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella

The Cloisters by Katy Hays

In These Hallowed Halls: A Dark Academia Anthology

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Dark Academia Vibes

Photo by Darran Shen on Unsplash

These books might as well be the quintessential dark academia reads, but the only element that isn't bedecked in romanticism is higher education itself. Murders continue to unfold in the most peculiar manner, occult knowledge flourishes, and suddenly, the folks with a smidge of Latin under their belts are the life of the scholarly soirée. Simply put, a book that a dark academic might read and love if they are not that fond of remembering their own school days.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

The Magus by John Fowles

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco

The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson

All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness

All's Well by Mona Awad

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez

Hare House by Sally Hinchcliffe

Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Metropolitan Stories by Christine Coulson

Piranesi by Susanne Clarke

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanne Clarke

The Laundry Files series by Charles Stross

Alchemical Journeys series by Seanan McGuire

The Cadfael Chronicles by Ellis Peters

Dublin Murder Squad series by Tana French

Please, by all means, feel at liberty to append additional entries to the inventory - or, simply put, feel free to add to this list.

[semolinaart]

HOW TO NAME YOUR DRAGON (in Latin)

Disclaimer

I'm not some kind of expert in Latin or anything like that, but I have experience in taxonomy for my dragon project, as well as biology education. Therefore, here I want to share some basic principles that will help you avoid obvious mistakes.

1. Google translator is your enemy, dictionaries are your friends

Google translate is not good at Latin. There you can occasionally check some roots if you cannot use a dictionary, but you should use it with great care and only if you already have some knowledge of Latin. Otherwise, the result is likely to be completely wrong.

I use some online Russian-Latin dictionaries, but I will not give any specific links, because all dictionaries are basically the same.

2. Taxonomy has rules

The scientific name of a species is binomial, that is, it consists of two words: the name of the genus to which the given species belongs, and the second word, called the species epithet in botany, and the species name in zoology. 

The first word is capitalized, the second is lowercase.

Both words are in italics in the text.

The first word is a singular noun; the second is either an adjective in the nominative case, agreed in gender (masculine, feminine or neuter) with a generic name, or a noun in the genitive case.

Sometimes the second word can be a noun in the nominative case, which may not agree in gender with the first word, but this option is not common and I did not use it in my project.

The scientific names of dragons of celestial metals have both parts capitalized (Draco Solis, Draco Mercurii) only as an exception, as their species names refer to astrological Planets, and in my setting astrology plays an important role, however in terms of real taxonomy this is wrong.

In addition, most of my dragons have trinomial names, which is also related to their special position in the taxonomy.

Usually, for the names of species, I used the variant noun + noun in the genitive case, and for the names of subspecies I used adjectives.

For example:

Wyrmis platini regius

Serpens aeris nitentis

Guivrus phosphori niger

It should be remembered that botanical and zoological systematics have differences. In my project, I used some middle option, since dragons belong to a separate kingdom (for example, I used the term “epithet” instead of the term “name”). If your species are, for example, animals, then you need to follow precisely the zoological rules.

In fact, even in real taxonomy, there are some “mistakes” and deviations from the system, which are due to traditions and habits, however, the “it happened” card should be used with caution.

3. Noun gender

Nouns in Latin have a gender. In the dictionary, next to each noun, you can find an indication of its gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter), according to which the adjective should change.

For example:

Draco, onis m

The letter m means that the word is masculine.

The forms of adjectives are also indicated in dictionaries (often only the new ending is indicated).

For example:

niger, nigra, nigrum

ruber, bra, brum

aureus, a, um

Therefore, any option other than Draco niger, Draco ruber, or Draco aureus would be incorrect.

In English, it is difficult to convey the nuances, but in Russian the fallacy of the combination Draco nigra - “Дракон черная” will be obvious to everyone.

4. Parts of speech

An adjective is not a noun. I realize how self-evident this sounds, but it's very important for translating into Latin from English. In English, the word “water” can be both an adjective and a noun, so the spelling “water dragon” is absolutely correct, but in Latin you cannot just write Draco aqua, because in translation it will literally mean “dragon”, “(the) water” . The correct variant would be either Draco aquaticus or Draco aquae

5. Cases

Fortunately for you and me, in the context of taxonomy, we only need the genitive case, the form of which is always indicated in dictionaries (since it determines the declension).

Same example:

Draco, onis m

The genitive form would be “draconis”

6. Don't forget the year and the author

You probably noticed that after the name of a species or even just a genus there are other words. Most often you can see (Linnaeus, 1758) or L. (1753) there. The fact is that the names of taxa are not something given to us by God. They were invented by people, and therefore the full name of each species and genus includes the surname of the person who named it (but not necessarily discovered) and the year when this name was published. Many species were named by Linnaeus, so the examples above are the most common. The first option is used in zoology, and the second in botany. In my project, I used a zoological variant, often referring to Linnaeus and other real scientists, but also inventing new surnames.

7. Additional notation

It often happens that one scientist described a species as part of one genus, and then someone transferred it to another taxon. Or the species name itself has not yet been approved. Or someone described the species in the work of another scientist. Or the name has synonyms. Or is it important for you to specify the variety. Or many other necessary notes.

That's why there are additional notations. Again, they differ in zoology and botany (if I remember correctly, I mainly followed the zoological variants in the Guide), and you can find a complete list of them on Wikipedia under the query “Обозначения, используемые в наименованиях таксонов” (unfortunately, the version of this articles in English are very incomplete)

It is not necessary to add something similar to the name of each species, however, if you have a whole group of creatures, then such additions will bring variety and realism.

Here are some examples from my project:

Guivrus sulfuris vulgaris ined.

Caudaesus silicii bichromus [syn. Caudaesus silicii quarzeus var. bichromus] Sewergin, 1810

Serpens aeris nigra Bert, 1851 ex Tenore, 1849

Serpens ferri arsenicea Morout in Alcorn, 1812

Serpens stanni marina (Linnaeus, 1758) Schnering, 1983

Wyrmis aluminii lotus [syn. Wyrmis aluminii corundeus var. lotus] (Linnaeus, 1758) Wiltse, 1868

8. Other taxa

In addition to genera and species, there are also other taxa. And if taxa below the species are found relatively infrequently, then families, orders, classes, types and kingdoms are a necessary part of taxonomy. Of course, you can always assign your creature to an already existing class or even family, however, if you plan to create your own taxa, you should first check the endings accepted in a particular science.

For example, for orders of animals, the endings -iformes and -ida are used, and for the orders of plants, fungi, bacteria, and archaea, -ales.

That's all. If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them (but remember that I am essentially only an amateur and English is not my native language, so I may not know where to get certain sources in this language)

[kisilinramblings]

What does it means when someone said "white protagonist" like is there any different from other protagonist type? Tbh whenever I watch movies or anything I never really think about the skin colour or who the protagonist so this is the first time I hear the terms like this and also "Black best friend".

Before I start, here's my usual disclaimer because I am setting foot in something I don't personally live, but gains from it as a White French Québécoise living in Québec, Canada. What I will be saying is the result of what I have read on the subjects and my observations.

And as always, if you are a PoC, feel free to correct me or add your voice to the discussion. Thank you!

---

White usually refers to caucasian people. It englobes a lot of people from European descent while excluding anyone who doesn't fit the standards imposed by some group of people who consider themselves to be the dominant class even when their number doesn't represent them as the majority inside a nation.

Also while it mostly look at the skin color, the term can also be employ to discrimate someone who look white while they have a different religion or language than the dominant class. We can think of the Jews or the Irish people for example who were or are still discriminated. In my own province, in Quebec, before the Quiet Revolution (1960-1970), French Canadians working in the English workshops and factory would often time be ordered to "Speak White". In other words, speak English which was the only official language allowed by the English bosses.

In Media and Fictions, the term "White" refers to the biais that -- unless specify otherwise -- the character has caucasian skin and features. Basically, White is considered the default and you have to bold and highlight when a character is actually supposed to be a PoC (People of Color) or biracial.

If you hear the term "Whitewash", it means that a character who was originally designed to be a PoC or inspired by a real historical PoC figure is either : a) Played by a White actor b) Has their racial features tone down to make them appear "White" and thus more appealing to White people financing or consommuning the adaptation product. c) Has their cultural background only be akin to be White. Stuff like clothes, food, language, values and traditions.

Another problem that seems to be caused by this White/PoC divide is that, due to the lack of POCs narratives to begin with in American and European fictions and History, when there are main characters who are supposed to represent Black or Indigenous or Middle Easter or Asian or Latin@s or even biracial people, they get scrutinize to meet a standard... even though you cannot expect one character to meet all the narratives people in lack of representation are looking for.

Funny thing is a lot of vehement defenders of "diversity" often are the ones to shut down any voice from said diversity. People who are White, but want diversity often time end up being racist by the standard they impose a non-white character to meet and pretend to be experts on genetic while reality and actual genetic experts would tell you : "it's more nuance and complex than that". (But it's human nature to dislike nuance and complexity, especially on social media).

As for the Black Best Friend, it's a stereotype or cliche. TV trope called it the Token Black Friend. And I'm really not the best to explain it, but basically, it can occur if you are not careful when your main character is White while their best friend is Black.

On itself, there is nothing wrong in showing diversity and inclusivity inside a group of friends. Though you could ask yourself why you don't as often see the other way around in media. Most of the times, the intent of the author isn't harmful or just didn't consider it that much. But you have to keep in mind there is an actual imbalance between the number of stories of White MC with Black BFF and Black MC with White BFF. (Spoilers alert, the White MC Black BFF is the most common).

Where the trope is harmful is when it comes down to how the MC and BFF interacting with one another.

The trope becomes harmful when said Black friend has no agency or has one, but it became irrelevant as soon as the MC is concerned. It depicts the Black Friend as loyal to their White friend to the point they serve and follow them Friend everywhere, always ready to help them, but when the situation is reversed, the White MC doesn't get themselves involve or talk or get their Black BFF out of the situation. There are some roots behind that trope (even if they are subconscious) that comes out from slavery.

The harmful trope is basically the Black Character who serves to elevate the White MC.

Of course, if it just so happen that MC is White while their Best Friend is Black but both are relevant to the story, have their own interest and agenda and do help each other or call each other out (basically, if the relationship do show them as equal and the narrative support it) then that duo doesn't fall into that trope.

[swiftiephobe]

grammy predictions/hopes/thoughts

i did this last year and it was fun to look back after the actual ceremony and see how many of my predictions and/or wishes came true so let's go for round 2! disclaimer i am not an expert and have not listened to everything nominated in the categories i'm talking about lmao this is just about vibes and for fun

best new artist: i will be shocked if anyone other than olivia wins this, she is such a shoe-in for this category this year

record of the year: full disclosure i am fully here for another billie sweep because i adore happier than ever (song & album). so yeah. drivers license is also a strong contender imo and i think silk sonic are a potential winner here too

song of the year: again, i'd love billie to win this with olivia being my second choice. for some reason i don't think silk sonic are as big of a contender in this category as they are for roty but i cannot explain why lol

album of the year: sorry swifties but once again i am rooting for billie... i don't really see sour taking it? as much as i think it would be tempting for the grammys to give olivia the billie-style sweep since she's up for all general field categories but i just don't really see sour as quite reaching aoty standard (just quietly i don't think evermore is either sorry) i think planet her or montero are other ones to look out for

pop solo performance: again. olivia or billie.

pop duo/group performance: i don't really see any major standouts here? i would like to see doja get a nod and from what i know of the songs in the category this would probably be a good category to give her (even though it would mean dr luke getting one too 🥴) it would be nice to see tony bennett get a grammy here since it'll be the last one he ever gets and it would be a nice way to round out his legendary career but i see it being more likely for traditional pop vocal album rather than this category.

pop vocal album: although i don't think sour will win aoty i think it's a very likely contender for this category

alternative music album: really nice to finally see halsey get a nom! against popular sentiment i'm fine with her not getting an aoty nom, would be nice to see her win here though but i'm not sure how likely it is - jbrekkie, arlo parks and even st vincent are all pretty well lovedalbums in critical circles i believe?

r&b performance: i have no actual insight on this category but LMAOOOOOOOO @ JUSTIN BEING HERE.

latin pop album: selena got a nom!! i'm obviously rooting for her even though i don't know anything about the other nominees.

children's music album: teletubbies not being nominated here is the biggest snub of this grammys i'm aghast

producer of the year, non-classical: could this FINALLY be jack antonoff's year?????

music video: i don't really care about mvs but i think montero would be good pick for this one

i think that'll do!! i always enjoy being humbled when i scroll through the nominations list and realise just much music i am totally ignorant of

[zazzander]

So we know that the Prophecy of Seven was originally in Latin, right? And Riordan gives us some of the "original" Latin.

With that in mind, I wanted to translate it into English. Because like, what does it actually say, you know?

"Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus," he chanted. "Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem." (The Lost Hero)

Here's my best reckoning:

So that we might swear an oath of allegiance with a final breath / The enemies of the state will bring the regalia to the death gate.

Interestingly, in terms of timing this works a bit better than the original since the Doors of Death thing happens before the Final Breath. However that's basically the only thing.

It begs the question, who is "we"? What oath of allegiance is being made? It could also be "with the next breath" though that doesn't really work either.

Translation notes:

Cum spiritu postrema

with the next breath, with the last breath

Sacramentum

An oath of allegiance

Ut ... Dejuremus

So that we might swear

This is the subjunctive mood which is tricky. But I did my best to translate it.

Et hostes

This one has a few options: the Enemy, the strangers, the enemies of the state, the hostiles. I went with "Enemies of the State" / "the Enemy (of Rome)" since that's what the Seven are. It could also be (hostile) strangers though, referring to how a Giant and a Titan aren't usually friendly towards demigods.

That means that the mysterious "we" are the Romans. Thus it's the Romans swearing an oath. Potentially we could say this refers to how the Romans side with Reyna. Not that anyone makes an oath of allegiance in Blood of Olympus.

Ornamenta

Regalia, jewels, decorations

In terms of the original translation, this would be the wrong word. However, if we say "regalia" that could refer to the Sceptre of Diocletian. In which case the word works. In this case, the hostes are Jason, Frank & Hazel. The Romans who broke the ancient laws.

Addent

They will add, they will place, they will add to, they will bring

This is honestly the wrong word. Yeah it can mean "bring" but it's like "bring to the pile", rather than "bear arms".

Ad ianuam necem

To / at the death gate

I didn't capitalise this because it's the wrong word for Death! Necem comes from Nex, not Mors or Letum which is the name for the Death god in Latin. Furthermore it's not in the genitive so it's not the "Doors of Death". Yeah. Nothing I can do about that.

But anyway, that's what I came up with! I hope you enjoyed my little thought project.