#printed image

[stemmmm]

group therapy

[lotus-pear]

he's so crazy we can't take him anywhere 😭🤣

[monstergirls-and-men]

Cunty V1 isn't real and can't hurt you...

I'll be honest, I haven't been able to do much cause I'm still busy packing (will be for a while 💀)

Uuuuh anyways hyperfixation bla bla something something pin up posters of v1 something something maybe I'll make prints if I learn backgrounds bla bla bla

[loopnoid]

that loustat redraw meme that was making rounds a few weeks ago but i made it claudeleine

[hinamie]

new official illust of them with puppies healed something in me

[archerdepartures116]

Tried giving him a splash art like the hsr ults but forgot I don't possess that type of skill level

edit: transparent PNG and closeup of his face (I will literally cry if anyone uses this without my permission I WILL BE MAKING MY OWN MERCH)

[wearenotjustnumbers2]

This baby remained under the rubble for six hours. Read it again. By some miracle, he survived and he was rescued. But his mother who was holding him didn't. He looks like he's in shock, you can see tears coming out of his eyes but no expression or any sound to indicate his pain.

We are not numbers. Make an effort to end this.

[batty-n-bratty]

In love with this framed print I bought today

Original work is The Tempest by Henry Courtney Selous

[outro-sagitariano-no-mundo]

[tempo-takoyaki]

Memories of the past.

[hehe-etc]

thank you @buggachat for not so formally bullying us into drawing this! it was really fun!!

[tiredemmet]

I spent four hours tracing two different pictures of the Best Wishes poster spliced together in order to make a better picture since no high quality renders exist. I took a few liberties but I think it turned out pretty good.

[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.

----

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!

----

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)

[cypresswood3]

I've seen several people post about it and I'm so happy this is a thing because.

Jon having a historical crush on Jonah Magnus is my favorite flavour of jonelias. S1 Jon naming docs he doesn't want to work on 'do it for Jonah Magnus'. S1/2 Jon speaking to Jonah's portrait in his office when he needs to think out loud. S1 Jon looking through statements and going, "what would Jonah Magnus think about it?" Having embarassingly extensive knowledge about Jonah Magnus' lore. Finding his first 'letter to Jonah Magnus' statement and feeling his heart flutter as he tries to comprehend that Jonah Magnus read those exact words and held that letter in his hands. Idolizing Jonah Magnus to a point he's more of a fictional character in Jon's head than anything else.

Elias Sees and Knows and drinks it all in and it's blissful.

[citrussmoke]

you fw Willsker?!?!? based as hell. please draw then napping in the lab (because i fear they'd do it regularly)??

ok i might've gotten a little carried away

[dirtydata16]