helena

• helena/sappho • she/her •

[suffer1nsappho]

probably I should remake my pinned post..

[suffer1nsappho]

if I got paid every time i post something about pathologic on tumblr and someone comes and tries to prove that my point of view is wrong or correct me even though there's nothing to be corrected i wouldn't be super rich but i'd have a stable source of income

and every single time that happens the person who tries to do that is not someone from the english-speaking part of fandom but someone russian, or at least slavic

[suffer1nsappho]

rest in peace daniil dankovsky you would've loved these thermometers

[shmowder]

what I adore most about the ruling families' fathers is that they're all such girl dads despite having sons

Victor? Girl dad with a capital G. Maira orders him around more than the he ever does. He spoiled her rotten and doesn't see a single flaw in that. His upbringing is what built Maria's confidence and self-image to be through the roof.

The world is dangerous, but Maria is more dangerous than anything that might cross her way.

Vlad Sr? Absolute girl dad, although more on the protective and strict side. Capella and Vlad are the apples of his eye, and he'd run this town ablaze if someone touches a single hair on their head. Vlad the younger is clearly embarrassed by the overprotectiveness while Capella plays along just because she worries about her dad and wants to see him in a good mood.

The world is dangerous, so he'll do his best to protect his kids until his last breath.

Alexander? New to the scene, sure, but a girl dad nonetheless. He's learning the ropes of fatherhood and is the type to teach his daughter self-defense & self-reliance first and foremost. In both games, the Saburovs end up choosing a daughter when adopting. It must say something! Not a coincidence! Yes, I know it's because they want a Mistress prodigy but shush.

The world is dangerous, so he'll make sure to prepare his children well.

[pseudoquiddity]

Banging my head against a wall over the concept of Ersher again. Crazy how a single line can add that much more depth. Artemy's already contending with questions of, does he have the right to determine the future of the Kin? Of the other half of town? Of the whole town? And now, he isn't even the original heir. Artemy doesn't seem like a "what if" kind of guy, but if Ersher survived, he'd be the Haruspex; he'd be the one making decisions as the son most likely to become the Menkhu. And for a family that's entrenched enough in cultural traditions, surely that's a weight on Artemy's shoulders.

Artemy's "does it matter?" response is so true in that, whether he's Ersher or Artemy, he's still the Haruspex and the man doing work around town. The title, position and the role matter more than the name. It really contributes to Artemy not expressing his grief very plainly in the game, to stretching himself thin around the town, to his own de-personalization.

And now here I am making assumptions, but the name Ersher sounds more culturally closer to the Kin than Artemy does. I wonder if Ersher more closely resembled Isidor. I wonder if, when the boys occupied the same house for however long that was, they were made into a dichotomy. The Kin-inclined, father's son Ersher and Artemy, whose friends are all from the town and who looks more like his mother. But then Ersher dies, and so does this dichotomy. Now Artemy has to contain them both - or, really, has to choose between one or the other. I wonder if part of Isidor realizing they had to embrace either the past or the future was the death of his son.

(And can you imagine... being Rubin... who has always been Isidor's "second choice," his reserve son if you will, but he's not even that. Artemy not being the original heir makes Rubin feel that much closer to slotting himself into the Burakh family, but he'll never be enough.)

[shogoakuji]

being normal about their energy differences when whispering

[berlogauwu]

some test

[marcheriest]

the earth, the knots, the stone yard

[prairiefa1con]

somewhere in the depths of baikal lake...

[danvolodar]

On lying doctors

The Haruspex has a little joke voice line in Pathologic that is based on a wordplay in Russian, so the English translation omits it entirely: "Ты врач, а я знахарь. Ты врёшь, а я знаю".

Its literal translation would be "You're a doctor, and I'm a medicine man; you lie and I know". Of course, it doesn't make any sense without the Russian context.

First, the Russian noun врач (doctor, medic) can be seen as being formed from the verb врать (to lie) with a suffix -ч (someone who does something professionally) - apparently, the verb used to have a wider meaning, one that included speaking in general, as well as spoken spells (called "zagovor"). Another example of the suffix used that way would be the word ткач (weaver) formed from the verb ткать (to weave).

Thus the word врач, which means "doctor", can be etymologically taken to mean "professional liar" (of course, no native speaker thinks of this when using the word for its intended meaning).

Second and similarly, the noun знахарь (medicine man) is formed from the verb знать (to know). So in Russian it's not's a "medicine man" but a "knowing man".

And this is how the original joke works - the doctor lies, but the medicine man knows.

PS: another profession name that's funny that way in Russian is жрец - a [pagan] priest. It's pretty obviously formed from the verb жрать (to eat greedily and/or messily).

[suffer1nsappho]

yesterday i suddenly remembered that in english a room in a hospital used for medical operations is called operating theatre and now i want to know if there was some kind of pun about it in english versions of pathologic 1 and 2

[nearer-than-the-eye]

i think it’s still hot that daniil’s thinking about artemy’s hands being sensitive and attuned (in a more accurate translation of the text). we can and have made yaoi out of much less

[suffer1nsappho]

okay my english speaking friends I brought you another portion of thoughts about the translation of pathologic, hope you didn't hate the last one about «gentle hands».

btw this time i've checked all the words in dictionaries to avoid inaccuracies so let's go.

last week I watched my bf playing patho2 and there was this line on day 3 in aspity's hospice, some steppe woman said that:

if we'll translate the line to english literally, that will be "The Kin is a family. We're all children of Bodho. We're all relatives anyway". that made me think about that really interesting decision that the translators of patho2 made.

let's start with the fact that in the context of pathologic "the Kin" and "Уклад" are proper nouns, they refer to the fictional society of the steppe people. in real life these words are used in different meanings.

oxford and cambridge dictionaries provide similar definitions to the word "kin"

so yeah, the word "kin" is mostly about relations, I'd even say about consanguinity. kin are the people you're related to by blood. this version of the name of the steppe people emphasises the idea of their relation.

this is why in english version that woman in the hospice says that. relatives are relatives, The Kin are kin. there are also fictional words "khatange" - the kin, the indivisible whole, where everyone is connected, and "khatanger" - a single member of this indivisible whole.

in russian this society is called "Уклад" (/uklad/). in the context of this line we're talking about, we can't say by analogy with the english version "Уклад - это уклад".

in ozhegov's dictionary (the most popular dictionary of russian language) we can find this definition.

"уклад" is a an established way of life, and I can't find any word in english that means exactly the same. the closest translation I could think of was, as I already mentioned, "a way of life". (if you have any other ideas, welcome to the comment section).

morphologically the word "уклад" has nothing to do with the idea of relation. the root -клад- is used in the verb "класть" - "to put" (i know they look different, it's just russian language)

there are other words with this root or it's other forms.

"укладывать" - to lay (tracks, concrete, smth like that) or style (hair).

"складывать" - to fold (paper, for example) or put (same as "класть")

"клад" - a buried treasure (because someone put it in this place)

so the idea of the root -клад- is giving something a certain shape, placing something in a certain place.

there's a phrase in russian: "так исторически сложилось" - "it happened that way historically". "с-лож-илось" is a past tense form of the verb "с-клад-ываться" (the roots are even more different, but what can I say, it's just russian language)

and this phrase is about that something is usually done in a certain way now because of some historical events in the past. for example, why the hell the words "сложилось" and "складываться" share the same root even though they are spelt completely different? так исторически сложилось.

why do people of the steppe care that much about the mother earth? why do they call each other khatange, think of the kin as of something connected, inseparable? why do herbal brides dance almost naked? так исторически сложилось - it happened that way historically.

this is where we get to the main idea of the word "уклад". "уклад" is something that stays the same and has no intentions to change. of course, it can be changed under some circumstances, but most importantly, "уклад" is a habit that is established in people's lives and minds.

so do the people of the steppe. they care a lot about their traditions, their culture, they speak their native language. it's their уклад жизни - way of life, and they don't want to change it, because they got used to it.

and in fact, I really like both russian and english version. the meanings of the words are completely different, but both of them are correct because they focus on different aspects of steppe life.

[suffer1nsappho]

what if there's this warm, bright and cosy stillwater and there's soft and beautiful eva who lives in it

and then she commits suicide and the stillwater becomes dark and scary

[flow-of-forces]

SHABNAK-ADYR (šab, шаб 'night' and ад 'demon', 'hell') is an evil, feminine spirit said to be made of clay and bone. She devours people and spreads the Sand Plague. She is infamous among the townsfolk.

[screemnch]

In the Russian version of Patho2 Artemy’s nickname is literally “Bear” not “Cub”. It doesn’t have the same slang connotations in Russian tho, so that’s not what I wanted to point out (although it does remind me of that one Russian play/film called “Ordinary Miracle” where one of the main characters is literally a bear and everyone calls him that please watch it it’s free on Youtube with subtitles, people need to watch more old Russian films ok propaganda over). Murky’s name in Russian is “Мишка” which (besides being the short-diminutive/nickname for Michael) is what people often call teddy-bears.

They are literally.

Bear and Little Bear.

[meirimerens]

as much as eva's suicide impacts me and how much it grips me and how much i think about it and love to go over her character with the lenses that this is (one of) her end(s) i cannot help but like. smile a little in an evil and ironic way when it is farkhad's cathedral she ends up throwing her soul into. farkhad's cathedral she chooses as a vessel for her soul to light. imagine being andrey and this guy, who you had a weird toxic gay unconsummated thing with going on, who your brother had a weirder gay unconsummated thing with going on (because your brother does not quite do the consumption in the way you do but he's inclined to the weirder ways to do it), who you killed out of artistic differences, artistic jealousy, an all-consuming desire to protect yourself and your brother as this man('s creations) threatened your existence(s) (through threatening your own artistic works), and you believed killing him would keep you and your loved ones safe, ends up stealing your girl away from you because his stuff is just that good. he doesn't even fw women like that so he wouldn't want your woman in any other way his stuff is just that powerful. i'd dig him out and kill him again. why's that grave empty

[meirimerens]

same for the Stillwater when she's still alive tbh imagine you're this bi guy you got yourself a beautiful thoughtful dreamy blonde bi shawty and then she wants to stay in that evil house. at least once maybe you're like "babe do you want another house we can make it comfy for you" but nooo she wants to live in the gay house that hates you. the gay house that, last time you slept in, had a candelabra drip hot wax seminally on your face and then a hole in the ceiling spat on you while you were sleeping. a house with a piano inside even as you had confided in its maker you fucking hated pianists, and the piano was not there before he died, a house with a door you might or might not have a key to, behind which something groans and growls and vibrates with anger as you pass by. you're like come onnnn sweetheart and she's like nooo I want the weird building that might or might not have a corpse in it... I love it it's so dreamy... like what can you even do man. she wants to hag for the gay house that hates you. you can't come between such a bond. what can you do.