#translation mine

[exhaled-spirals]

« To mention the global loss of biodiversity, that is to say, the disappearance of life on our planet, as one of our problems, along with air pollution or ocean acidification, is absurd—like a doctor listing the death of his patient as one symptom among others.

The ecological catastrophe cannot be reduced to the climate crisis. We must think about the disappearance of life in a global way. About two-thirds of insects, wild mammals and trees disappeared in a few years, a few decades and a few millennia, respectively. This mass extinction is not mainly caused by rising temperatures, but by the devastation of natural habitats.

Suppose we managed to invent clean and unlimited energy. This technological feat would be feted by the vast majority of scientists, synonymous in their eyes with a drastic reduction in CO2 emissions. In my opinion, it would lead to an even worse disaster. I am deeply convinced that, given the current state of our appetites and values, this energy would be used to intensify our gigantic project of systemic destruction of planetary life. Isn't that what we've set out to do—replace forests with supermarket parking lots, turn the planet into a landfill? What if, to cap it all, energy was free?

[...C]limate change has emerged as our most important ecological battle [...] because it is one that can perpetuate the delusional idea that we are faced with an engineering problem, in need of technological solutions. At the heart of current political and economic thought lies the idea that an ideal world would be a world in which we could continue to live in the same way, with fewer negative externalities. This is insane on several levels. Firstly because it is impossible. We can't have infinite growth in a finite world. We won't. But also, and more importantly, it is not desirable. Even if it were sustainable, the reality we construct is hell. [...]

It is often said that our Western world is desacralised. In reality, our civilisation treats the technosphere with almost devout reverence. And that's worse. We perceive the totality of reality through the prism of a hegemonic science, convinced that it “says” the only truth.

The problem is that technology is based on a very strange principle, so deeply ingrained in us that it remains unexpressed: no brakes are acceptable, what can be done must be done. We don't even bother to seriously and collectively debate the advisability of such "advances". We are under a spell. And we are avoiding the essential question: is this world in the making, standardised and computed, overbuilt and predictable, stripped of stars and birds, desirable?

To confine science to the search for "solutions" so we can continue down the same path is to lack both imagination and ambition. Because the “problem” we face doesn't seem to me, at this point, to be understood. No hope is possible if we don't start by questioning our assumptions, our values, our appetites, our symbols... [...] Let's stop pretending that the numerous and diverse human societies that have populated this planet did not exist. Certainly, some of them have taken the wrong route. But ours is the first to forge ahead towards guaranteed failure. »

— Aurélien Barrau, particle physicist and philosopher, in an interview in Télérama about his book L'Hypothèse K

#quote #article #aurélien barrau #ecology #science #english #translation mine

[txttletale]

'ahem!' 'from this humble little chair i make a passionate plea for world peace!' 'ugh! looks like these days, the vatican, the UN, and my little chair are all as convincing as each other'

#tattletxt #translation mine #mafaldaposting #feels really really relevant

[alwayshappyhoursomewhere]

Grand Prix Final 2023 | Shoma Uno and coach Stéphane Lambiel at the end of Shoma's short program performance

From Shoma's post SP interview [x]: --You also did a fist pump, which is rare. Uno: Stephane gave me a fist pump, so I responded. Stephane was also very depressed after the NHK Trophy. I think he was sad because he saw my daily practice and I performed in the best way possible, but it ended up looking as if it wasn't that way. However, I was really happy that Stephane felt like that, and I am approaching this competition with the hope that I can respond to him with the same kind of performance again from now on. [...] -- Regarding the fist pump, you said it was because coach Lambiel did it, but wasn't it because of your own joy? Uno: It was more like a "whew" feeling than a fist pump. Like, "Well, you did a good job." But I thought it would be nicer for viewers to see a fistpump as an expression of joy. Maybe it will make it easier to write a headline (smiles). I didn't mean to do that, but when it comes to the results, skaters should just be happy. There's no benefit in being too hard on yourself. It would make viewers happier if I smiled even if my performance was bad, or if I was honestly happy if my performance was good, but I don't do that (smiles). [I did it] because I was thinking about how Stephane would feel.

#figure skating #shoma uno #stephane lambiel #grand prix final 2023 #gpf 2023 #edited from the first version #translation mine #because when i posted this the full interview wasn't out #and as it happens with these two the full story is even more unbelievable than how it looks on the surface

[mysterygrl20]

January 17, 2024 | MaxNat | Two Worlds Q10 The chair may not be as comfy as the lap. Sorry 😳

#translation mine #nat natasitt #max kornthas #two worlds #two worlds the series #thai actors #maxnat

[bubblingbeebles]

when your older lesbian mentor figure has maxed out skill levels in "asking for a friend"

#the moon on a rainy night #amayo no tsuki #volume 6 #translation mine #spoiler discussion: #i was disappointed in this volume for kinda abandoning that plotline after this #given how the last volume ended i thought they'd resolve it and we'd get mb 1-2 more books to conclude the series #but on top of that it introduced a whole new character in the last chapter so i guess kuzushiro's setting up for the long haul #which i have mixed feelings about. like aniyome (same author) works as a long haul because grief takes that long #whereas this is fluffier and the longer it goes the more the disability theme gets diluted #ill still read volume 7 exactly on release day just like i did for volume 6 tho lmao

[sabakos]

These are the memories we have heard, ones that we would not have forgotten, that belong to our childhood. We now return them to our friends, so that they may be shared amongst you.

Okay on the one hand, the concept of forgotten history as childhood that's outlined in the Critias is fascinating, but on the other, starting a story like this is unimaginable cruelty if you're going to stop writing it after the introduction.

#translation mine

[beif0ngs]

alright look, i just wanna know who is the writer that came up with the dumbass idea of replacing the line “Ever since I lost my son, I think of you as my own” with “Lu Ten would have been proud to have you as his father” in this scene for the Netflix live action series???

#atla #Avatar the Last Airbender #atlaedit #animationedit #Zuko #Uncle Iroh #*mine #GIVE ME THE NAME!!!!! #and it's funny how they chose to keep most of the lines almost verbatim in this scene but then replaced the MOST important line... #seriously who in their right f*cking mind thought that was the better line to say in this context HUH??? #the way it was originally written was such an important highlight of this scene too!! #IT LITERALLY SUMS UP IROH AND ZUKO'S ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP IN ONE SENTENCE #like i know certain dialogues can't be translated well into live action and some changes are necessary #but there was absolutely NO reason to change this particular line whatsoever in this specific scene

[222sls]

alone they remain, like flowers of the elder tree alone they collect the leaves of time they close off the forest and remain, like drops of rain knocking on my doors, on my doors... ah time, oh weeds sprawled over these walls, I lit the rose of night upon my book the tower of pigeons is fenced off and high the pigeons have flown off, leaving me on my own, on my own hey you, waiting for the snow, don't you want to come back? cry out for them through the rain, o wolf, maybe they'll hear you... alone they remain, like these old clouds alone, their faces and the dark of the road they are crossing the woods, and in their hands like rain, they knock, and tears knock, on my doors ah time, from the age of the weeds on these walls, from before when the trees grew tall I light lanterns and wait for my friends they passed by here and left, I stayed at my door all alone, all alone hey you, headed for the snow, don't you want to come back? cry out for them through the rain, o wolf, maybe they'll hear you...

–

lyrics come from a poem by lebanese writer talal haider from the 70's – he was living on the southern border of lebanon and would often see a group of young men walking towards the forest on the border, often returning around sunset time. they formed a friendly rapport and would greet each other, but he never asked what they were up to. so then one day when he'd seen them passing by, he resolved to ask them when they return at sunset. however, they never returned, and he later saw a story in the newspaper about a group of young men that had attempted a resistance operation in occupied palestine but were killed by the iof. haider recognized the faces of the young men published in the newspaper.

#fairouz #music #translation mine #Youtube

[theywontletmebeprincipal]

* “go-to” doesn’t mean “only”! there’s a bunch of situational signoffs I haven’t put here, this is more about what you use by default

#sanders pollshit #mine is ‘au revior’ #technically translates to ‘until we meet again’ but is also so intrinsically linked to melodramatic french romance films that all my emails #read just a bit like I’m trying to seduce somebody #which to be clear is my goal #my job is being silly so I can afford to get a little silly with it

[doufudanshi]

ON GHOSTS AND DEMONS: Wei Wuxian's "demonic" cultivation?

There are a few big misconceptions I have repeatedly seen in English-speaking fandom about things that are fundamental to the story of MDZS. One of them is this—

Wei Wuxian is not a demonic cultivator.

To prove this, let's take a deep dive into the original Chinese text of MDZS.

(Adapted from my original gdoc posted on Twitter on May 27, 2022. All translations my own unless otherwise stated.)

Demon vs. ghost

Let's start from the very basics. In addition to orthodox cultivation using spiritual energy and a golden core, there are two other forms of cultivation that are mentioned in the novel:

魔道 (mó dào), or “demon cultivation/path.”

鬼道 (guǐ dào), or “ghost cultivation/path.”

To be clear, 魔 mo "demons" and 鬼 gui "ghosts" (and thus their respective cultivation/paths) are not interchangeable because of the in-universe worldbuilding within MDZS. Using the characters in the term 妖魔鬼怪 "monsters," MXTX created four distinct categories of beings, each of which has a strict definition in the novel. From chapter 4 (jjwxc ch 13):

妖者非人之活物所化; 魔者生人所化; 鬼者死者所化; 怪者非人之死物所化。 Yāo (妖) are transformed from non-human living beings; mó (魔) are transformed from living people; guǐ (鬼) are transformed from the deceased; guài (怪) are transformed from non-human dead beings.

And of course, WWX hoards all the ghost-type pokemon monsters at the Phoenix Mountain tournament, and he only exerts control over corpses, spirits, and the like (aka people who have already died). (As opposed to Xue Yang, who appears to have been actively trying to make 魔 "demons" out of living people with those "living corpses" of his, perhaps.) (And, ironically, in order to avoid showing necromancy / zombies on screen, CQL technically does show WWX practicing demon cultivation because everyone is "supposedly alive" even when they're corpses? Which is, funnily enough, far worse morally in the MDZS universe, lol.)

So, intuitively at least, we know that WWX must be practicing ghost cultivation—now let's look at some concrete examples from the book.

Running the numbers

1) 魔道 (mó dào) means “demon cultivation.” As such, it must use living humans.

魔道 appears one (1) time in the novel.

Yes, once. The only time it appears is in the term 魔道祖师 modao zushi, or the namesake of the novel, in chapter 2. This is a title the general public has given him through rumors:

魏无羡好歹也被人叫了这么多年无上邪尊啦、魔道祖师啦之类的称号，这种一看就知道不是什么好东西的阵法，他自然了如指掌。 Wei Wuxian wasn’t called titles like “The Evil Overlord,” “The Founder of Demon Cultivation,” and so on over the years by others for nothing—he knew these sorts of obviously shady formations like the back of his hand.

2) 鬼道 (guǐ dào) means “ghost cultivation.” As such, it must use dead humans. 

鬼道 appears 12 times in the novel.

Here is the first instance that 鬼道 appears, which I believe is the first time Wei Wuxian's method of cultivation is properly introduced. From chapter 3 (jjwxc ch 8):

蓝忘机 […] 对魏无羡修鬼道一事极不认可。 Lan Wangji […] had never approved of the fact that Wei Wuxian practiced ghost cultivation.

Here's another quote from chapter 15 (jjwxc ch 71) for funsies:

蓝忘机看着他，似乎一眼就看出他只是随口敷衍，吸了一口气，道：“魏婴。” Lan Wangji looked at him as if he saw through his half-hearted bluff. He took in a breath, then said, “Wei Ying.” 他执拗地道：“鬼道损身，损心性。” He stubbornly continued, “Ghost cultivation harms one’s body, and harms one’s nature.”

3) 邪魔歪道 (xiemowaidao) means heretical path/immoral methods/evil practices/underhanded means/etc—e.g., lying, cheating, stealing, bribery, and so on.

It appears ~24 times in the novel.

I mention this last term because it is often used to refer to Wei Wuxian's cultivation, but as a pejorative. Every instance of 邪魔歪道 is said by or to quote someone looking down upon Wei Wuxian’s cultivation (Jin Zixun, Jin Ling, etc.) and referring to it derogatorily, whereas every instance of 鬼道 guidao/ghost dao is said by someone discussing it neutrally and/or factually (Lan Jingyi, Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian himself, random cultivators at discussion conferences, the narration, etc.). Here is a pertinent example with Jin Ling (derogatory) and Lan Jingyi (neutral) in chapter 9 (jjwxc ch 43):

金凌怒道：“是在谈论薛洋，我说的不对吗？薛洋干了什么？他是个禽兽不如的人渣，魏婴比他更让人恶心！什么叫‘不能一概而论’？这种邪魔歪道留在世上就是祸害，就是该统统都杀光，死光，灭绝！” “We are discussing Xue Yang,” Jin Ling said angrily. “Am I wrong? What did Xue Yang do? He’s scum that’s lower than a beast, and Wei Ying is even more disgusting than him! What do you mean ‘don’t make sweeping generalizations?’ As long as those practicing this kind of demoniac, heretical path are alive, they’ll continue to bring disaster. We should slaughter all of them, kill all of them, annihilate them once and for all!” 温宁动了动，魏无羡摆手示意他静止。只听蓝景仪也加入了，嚷道：“你发这么大火干什么？思追又没说魏无羡不该杀，他只是说修鬼道的也不一定全都是薛洋这种人，你有必要乱摔东西吗？那个我还没吃呢……” Wen Ning shuffled around. Wei Wuxian gestured at him to stay still, only to hear Lan Jingyi also cut in loudly, “Why are you getting so riled up? It’s not like Sizhui said Wei Wuxian shouldn’t have been killed. All he said was that people who practice ghost cultivation aren’t necessarily all like Xue Yang. Do you have to go around breaking things? I didn’t even get to eat any of that yet…”

Tl;dr—Wei Wuxian does not 修魔道 practice demon cultivation. When Wei Wuxian’s craft is discussed in a neutral and factual manner, it is referred to as 鬼道 ghost dao. 

In fact, Wei Wuxian’s imitators are also referred to explicitly as 鬼道修士 ghost cultivators.

魏无羡早就听说过，这些年来江澄到处抓疑似夺舍重生的鬼道修士，把这些人通通押回莲花坞严刑拷打。 Wei Wuxian had heard a while back that over the past few years, Jiang Cheng had gone around snatching any ghost cultivator suspected of being possessed or reborn, detaining them in Lotus Pier to interrogate them using torture.

So why the confusion?

Of course, there is the matter of the novel's title, which I will get into in a second. But the real issue is a matter of translation.

The idea that WWX uses "demonic cultivation" is a misconception in English-speaking fandom due to issues with the translation of terminology. Of note, EXR actually did translate 鬼道 guidao as "ghostly path" most of the time, though there were at least 3 instances of "demonic" and 1 instance of "dark," especially regarding the first few.

However, this misconception was perpetuated (and arguably worsened) by 7S's official translation, which not only mistranslated additional terms as "demonic cultivation/path" (at least in book 1), but also consistently mistranslated every instance of 鬼道 as "demonic cultivation/path."

So why is this book called 魔道祖师, commonly translated as "Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation?"

One possibility is one posed in Chinese-language meta online, which often cites that WWX himself is a sort of 魔 demon. While this may be true—after all, he can hear the voices of the dead—it doesn't quite explain the fact that the title sets him up to be the 祖师 or "founder."

My take is that this novel is very much concerned with hearsay vs. truth. This is one of the many monikers WWX is given by the public, who collectively view him as evil. (Also of note is that the non-cultivator public is not aware of all the nuances that cultivators learn re: distinctions between the 妖魔鬼怪 monsters.) In the quote from earlier, note that the first title we're given is actually 无上邪尊 “The Evil Overlord,” then 魔道祖师 "The Founder of Demon Cultivation." Like, what can that be other than MXTX telling us, "please take both of these with a HUGE grain of salt, lol."

(And not only the title, but the very first line—"魏无羡死了。" / "Wei Wuxian is dead."—is a lie.)

I think the title is genius, honestly. It intentionally makes readers come into the novel with preconceived notions that Wei Wuxian practices 魔道 demon cultivation and evil techniques—just like the public in the novel. What better way to tell a story warning about the dangers of how easy it is to fall for misinformation and jump to incorrect conclusions?

(Though, in our case, perhaps it worked a little too well.)

#魔道祖师 #mdzs #mdzs meta #mdzs translation #wei wuxian #wwx #demonic cultivation #ghost cultivation #mine #doufudanshi translation #crossposted from twitter #(sort of)

[beaulesbian]

One Piece || Eustass Kid & Killer in ep. 942

How cruel. He was forced to eat the Smile fruit and was given a mask of laughter that he can never take off.

#one piece #opgraphics #one piece wano #eustass kid #opedit #killer one piece #kid x killer #kidkiller #i wanted to make this gifset for some time already. but only now got around to it #again its mostly manga translations - especially the last gif bc the 'buddy' in anime just doesnt do them justice lmao #let them be partners (or more you know. but partners is nice and its that way in the manga so i used it here) #mine #gif:one piece #gif:op anime #wano spoilers #kinda #massacre soldier killer #eustass kidd

[exhaled-spirals]

A book is a piece of silence between the reader's hands. The person who writes it is quiet. The person who reads it doesn't break the silence.

Pascal Quignard, Petits traités

#quote #pascal quignard #books #reading #silence #english #translation mine

[obsob]

one thing u can count on me for is being normal about Some Guy

process under cut where u can see me losing my mind trying 2 figure out what i was doing in real time! :3

#mine #cats #original #i started colouring this last night and could NOT . get my brain to work #i like knew the vibes but i couldnt translate that into an actual physical colour palette AOAUGH #but i did kind of pop off w this one ngl. anyway #ive been listening to you cant do that podcast very good very funny hockey girls !! #i do need to listen to a boring white man podcast though so i can get . information . and not just who has been the most cunty nhl player #what else happened today. my tamagotchi evolved ! i love them so much #and i completed sm more crochet blanket! maybe i should post pictures of that bc its going to take years off my life i might as well get #sm clout for it

[alwayshappyhoursomewhere]

Grand Prix Final 2023 | Shoma Uno and coach Stéphane Lambiel's smiles after a fall during fs practice ♥

"Although I respect Stéphane's skating, I really like his personality. When it comes to figure skating coaches, as it was the case with Mihoko, it's not a business relationship, it's more like a relationship based on affection. I'm attracted to Stéphane's kindness towards students and the way I can feel his emotions." (x)

#shoma uno #stephane lambiel #figure skating #grand prix final 2023 #gpf 2023 #i appreciate both the need to film shoma's starfish from two different angles #and the cut to stephane's smile #please can they be any sweeter i can't deal with this #translation mine

[mysterygrl20]

January 17, 2024 | Leave for a while and rest my heart ✌🏻🌎 | Two Worlds Q10

#gun thapanawat #two worlds #two worlds the series #translation mine #thai actors

[bignostalgias]

Translations Chapter I: Heimr

The coast disappeared when the sea drowned the sun / I knew no words to share with anyone — Different Names for the Same Thing, Death Cab for Cutie

HiJack Language Barrier AU

Read on AO3

—

The biggest warmest thank yous to @envy-of-the-gods and my sibling for beta-ing and reading despite their busy schedules, it means the world that you’re willing to put up with my beloved cringe crossover slash. And a million thank yous to @alkalinefrog for the cringe nights and constantly inspiring me throughout the writing process. Y’all are amazing ❤️

#I’m gonna trans your lations #mine #fic: translations #translations au #hijack #frostcup #jackycup #jaccup #httyd #rotbtd #rotg #my posts aren’t complete without a pretentious lyric copy paste #death cab for cutie plans album I’ll never be over you #I’m fucking. shaking #as I post this. here goes