what if jellyfish were just, like, really big. all the time
Support a translator of color!
This is an ongoing situation as of 2023.06.24.
My friend Yilin (she/they) does a lot (A LOT) of work translating literature from Chinese to English, among other things. And they allowed me to signal boost this on tumblr since she doesn't have one yet.
The beginning of the thread is here: https://twitter.com/yilinwriter/status/1670305203206385665 and all the tweet images below are not described because they are previews of direct links to the tweets.
Key points: The British Museum stole their translation work and used it, uncredited, in a major exhibit where they "appeared in photos on a giant display, on signage, in a physical guide, in a digital guide, in an audio guide, and in an app that is available for international download. How did NO ONE catch there was no credit?"
The response from the British Museum has been enormously disappointing so far:
"we will not be reinstating the translations in the exhibition that have been removed following your complaint, and therefore you will not be acknowledged in the exhibition as your work will not be featured" - except the uncredited translations are still in the 30,000 copies of the exhibition catalog.
Go check out more updates downthread as the situation develops.
Want to support Yilin?
"If you want to write to them or have written to the BM, you can help convey these demands of mine to them: - credit + public apology everywhere the work appears - proper payment (increased to account for lack of prior permission given & all the time the work was uncredited)"
Boost Yilin's book! "The Lantern & the Night Moths, an anthology of Chinese poetry that I selected & translated, featuring poets incl. Qiu Jin, accompanied by my essays on translation, forthcoming w/ @/invisibooks in Spring 2024"
and the pre-order link: https://invisiblepublishing.com/product/the-lantern-and-the-night-moths/
I'll try to update as more things happen, or you can go camp out on the thread.
update on 2023.06.25~
Here, have a fun(?) video showing an egregious example of what was stolen uncredited: (video may be region-locked, sorry)
And Yilin gave me a heads up about this CNN article about the situation as of a couple days ago, which includes some good reporting about the erasure of translator labor and #NameTheTranslator movement that's been going on for quite a while.
[image ID: article preview that shows a museum exhibit with large scroll paintings, armor behind glass, and wall displays, with the heaadline "British Museum apologizes after using translator's work in China exhibition without pay or acknowledgment | CNN" /end ID]
more as things develop~
update for 2023.06.26
So first: British Museum decided the best response for this exhibit that features poet Qiu Jin was to.....remove both the poet's own words and the translation???? So this poet can't even speak for herself??? [ID: Retweet by @/yilinwriter on June 25, 2023 that says:"So they TOOK OUT the CHINESE and the ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS of Qiu Jin's poetry... almost as, if you know, they want to make sure there are NO words of hers in the exhibit at all"
In response to a tweet by @/ AdriJjy on June 25, 2023 that says "Here's what they have on Qiu Jin now. The screen is a 2 minute loop where the photos come in and out of focus. No text: they erased her words along with your translations. The QR code seems to be broken."
The image is a projection of silhouettes of two people on a wall (there used to be Chinese text but it's gone now), and a photo of an informational panel that reads: "Qiu Jun (1875-1907) Qiu Jin was a revolutionary, feminist and poet who was executed by beheading aged just 31. A transitional figure between the Qing empire and the modern world, she remains a celebrated figure in China today. This presentation celebrates her life and legacy." a QR code below has a caption for an associated audio recording "Scan the QR code or visit britishmuseum.org/china-resources#qiu-jin to read a transcript and find out more." /end ID]
And here, have a new thread of things you can do to support, I'm going to put each tweet below so you can read the image preview and also go to the tweet. Per Yilin (and lawyer's advice), the bigger, the more public the noise folks can make, the better at this point.
And once again you can Boost Yilin's book! "The Lantern & the Night Moths, an anthology of Chinese poetry that I selected & translated, featuring poets incl. Qiu Jin, accompanied by my essays on translation, forthcoming w/ @/invisibooks in Spring 2024"
and the pre-order link: https://invisiblepublishing.com/product/the-lantern-and-the-night-moths/
consider boosting the pre-order link and asking your library to order it once it's out!
will update more as things happen....
Notebook cover of MDZS vol. 5 special edition by Seven Seas
I wanted to put on the piece both past and present of wangxian — the night they met each other (I mean, they met earlier but they closely communicated the first time at night!) and the day they now spend with each other
These are Cloud Recesses, by the way!
suzanne collins is such a genius... the cultural phenomena of her series leading to the hanging tree house remixes, mockingjay being milked for two (bad) movies, the capitol-inspired makeup palettes, the halloween costumes, the explosion of the market for dystopia, the butchering of her characters and removal of disabilities, disfiguration, and racial tension + representation to sell more tickets, the extra gale scenes to fuel discourse, and the audience showing up to cinemas to watch what was pretty honestly marketed to them (the jacob vs edwardification of the symbolic love story and also to watch children fight to the death) it's just so ridiculously ironic i would say you can't write this shit, but she did write about it... in The Hunger Games published 2008
It's just very important to me that you know prairie-style gardens exist.
Ok. Thank you. Carry on.
*makes a pointless throwaway post*
tumblr: 25k notes. this post will never die. 5 years from now you will still be cursing the fact that you made this post
*posts an objectively incredible masterwork, the fruit of weeks of labor*
tumblr: 3 likes, 1 pity reblog from your ride or die
Anybody else got that Evergiven sized writers block
“Where’s the next chapter?!” Well buddy you’re never gonna guess
What’s the comic sans trick?
wingdings' true purpose as a font
(also what's a cool worldbuilding thing you did with trees?)
Oh you’re in for a (small) ramble, dear. I am a little bit insane about trees in worldbuilding. I’d like to apologize in advance.
Trees are important in my world. They were the very first living inhabitants of the earth, so they’re pretty much the eldest folk to live on earth. In a way they are everyone’s origin.
They are said to have their own language, one they share with the wind. Te’an Trea, the ancient fae language, is inspired by it, that’s why it’s called language of trees. Legend says the trees themselves taught the ancestors of the fae how to talk it.
Among the trees, there are six special ones, the first to ever grow. Alder, ash, Aspen, Willow, oak and birch. They are called the mighty trees, but they are so much more than just that.
These six trees are the columns of the world, of creation even. Together they keep the balance of the world and it’s inhabitants, without them the natural order would get destroyed. They basically hold up the world, metaphorically speaking. They hold it together.
What exactly these trees are is hard to describe, they are kind of deities. Forces that are like the goddesses in might, yet different. They are definitely divine.
Their physical manifestation is in form of giant trees and can be found in the fae realm. Their roots, so it’s said, connect the mortal realm with that of the fae. But the trees also exist in a metaphysical space. They have souls (spirits), that exist in the third realm of the world, the dream realm.
As you can imagine these trees are powerful and magical, if you can find a way to connect to one of them it makes you far more powerful as well. That’s what the Alderking did. And that’s why he had to be cursed instead of killed, because his soul was connected to the Alder and killing him would’ve meant hurting it.
Another cool and important thing about the mighty trees is that the first fair fae were born from them and for them. They were supposed to protect the mighty trees from harm. Which is kind of ironical when you think about what the Alderking did, even though he was one of them.
That’s why my fae courts are named after trees. Each court is named after their “mother tree”.
And this was my ramble about trees, i tried to keep it short cause it’s late already xD
Thanks for this ask as well, it was fun talking about my beloved trees! <3
Which path should he choose?
The path of the warrior, the path of the scholar, or the path of the artist?
he should wander away and have a picnic while he thinks about what path to choose
Great idea! But where should he have the picnic?
Under the tree, or under the old fort?
By the sea, so he can enjoy the sound of the waves
A lovely choice!
Should he build a sandcastle to pass the time? Or perhaps go fishing?
Perhaps he could collect shells he finds interesting
Sounds fun!
Which shell should he pick up?
This one
That's not a shell, it's a tiny earpiece.
Should he listen to music? Or to the mysterious pre-recorded message?
He should give it back to the crab in the largest shell, they thought they had lost their wave-pod and are grateful he found it!
The crab wants to give a gift in return.
Should he accept the gift of power, or the gift of knowledge?
the gift of friendship :)
Friendship acquired!
Should they celebrate with pizza or ice cream?
The crab friend cannot eat either of those! Let's split a nice seaweed salad instead. :)
So many options!
Should they get tossed salad, wiggly salad, or spiky salad?
Seasar salad
Nothing beats getting it straight from the source
Should they use scissors or claws to cut the seaweed?
What about that sword in the first panel?
The circle is complete.
Through choices, friendship, and salad, he found his way to the path of the warrior. But he won't walk it alone.
Their path is just beginning, but this story is over.
Thank you to everyone who participated!
This is somehow both the epitome and antithesis of "yes, and" and it FASCINATES me
"No, and"
if anyone needs me i'll be frothing at the mouth thinking about the origin of language and interspecies communication. happy wednesday.
how did we learn this? who taught us this? is it coincidental? is it observational? is it that something in the source of these sixteen languages stems from the same animal instinct that causes each of these species to call out to their own kind? I Am Going To Lose It.
it’s kind of deeply depressing that there exists this entire vast subculture of progressive-learning 15-19 year olds online who are legitimately filled with anxiety over their media consumption diet and closely monitor themselves and others to make sure nothing they consume is Problematic™ lest they be ousted from their social circles. at the exact age where it’s actually good to have a varied media diet and be able to critically engage with harmful elements, too
straight up if you are high school or early university aged and you’re spending time feeling significant guilt and anxiety about what you choose to read or watch because of your online peers and shaping your media diet based on fear, you do not have to be around those peers anymore. there is a vast world outside this kind of person
Doctor: $140,000 a year
Furry artist on Patreon: $160,000 a year
trilllizard420
i think you’re lowballing the furry art amount tbh
I’m sorry for the inaccuracies, Doctor Yiff
trilllizard420
no matter how I respond to this I don’t look good, well played. i walked right into that
boob-a-chu
Well, furry artists are typically more competent and courteous than your average doctor, so I can see that.
Did you just legitimately tell me that a person who draws wolf ass is more competent than a dude who spent 8+ years in a university to give you your lung transplant?
bog-dweller-official
doctors are bullshit and furry artists perform an infinitely more valuable service to society compared to them
You will die in 7 days
It took doctor’s like 10 years to diagnose what was wrong with me, some insisting I was faking for attention while a furry artist I knew just went “that sounds like crohn’s” after hearing me complain once and ended up being right
Also I can’t go to a doctor and ask them to draw Rouge the Bat wider than she is tall with tits to match, now can I
You could if you weren’t a fucking coward
World Heritage Post
Art by coolfrogdude together at last
[ID: a comic illustrating the above thread as if it was happening in a theater. The users are mostly shaped like their icons, pukicho is a pikachu and hokuto-ju-no-ken is a gengar. The last panel is gengar looks back where a speech bubble comes out of the crowd to say, “you could if you weren’t a fucking coward.” /end]
I can’t believe I’m actually seeing this post
Magic of tumblr,
I am morally obligated to add the YouTube video whenever this thread crosses my dash
I’ve seen this thread more than a few times. But this is the first time I’ve seen this video. So thank you for your service.
*survives the horrors by being such a silly goofy guy that my presence fundamentally changes the genre*
