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WildcatJF's Creative Thread

WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)
Hi! Gonna just dump my various creative endeavors into one thread now that we've moved.

My video game blog LVLS, where I post academic work on games and genre as well as localization and historical essays, alongside more personal articles on games, art and music I dig, and other lighthearted fair...
My book documentation blog The George Macy Imagery, where I post images and history on the publications of the George Macy Company and its descendants...
My art and photography blog Visuals by WildcatJF, where I post my art and photos.
And my general hub site Collection of Goods, which also hosts my non-gaming essays and studies.

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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DSS7VYG?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860


I'm also proud to announce the publication of my first book! Here's the official description:

Stories inspired by the Popul Vuh and the astounding history of the Ancient Maya!

Contained within are two short stories: The first, "Lady Blood's Trick," is based on the major religious text of the Ancient Maya people, the Popol Vuh, retelling the narrative about the first set of Hero Twins from Lady Blood's perspective. The second, "The Cave," is an entirely original work built from the known history and mythology of the Ancient Maya, following the exploits of a teenage girl, Ix Ukab Aqaj, as she ascends to her destiny as a shaman and healer for the people of Calakmul.

Includes an extensive set of footnotes and works cited for both stories for reference and educational purposes, as well as conceptual work following each story that reveal the development of both of these narratives. For the first story, “Lady Blood's Trick”, this features several concept sketches I made along the way. “The Cave” includes several writing assignments designed to develop our characters, environmental descriptions, and the work being performed by them.

Super stoked to have this out there in the world! I've done nearly everything involved with the book; the text, illustrations, book design, and commentary. Only thing that wasn't done by me was my photo on the back, haha.

The book costs $16.00 USD, but international options are available on other Amazon storefronts at adjusted pricing for each region. It is only available in paperback right now.

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I'm working on two more books and have opened a Patreon to help fund their creation! More info can be found on my Patreon site.
 

WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)
More Femicom updates, with a look at women added to the VS. System -
https://lvls.wordpress.com/2020/08/23/femicom-a-quick-look-at-vs-system-titles-that-added-women/

Femicom is edging closer to its content being ready for publication! I am going to add a couple minor characters to the major article list as I begin the revision process, but they have a fair amount of their content already written.

For my upcoming book First & Frequent Fantasy, Maya's interview has been edited by my good friend and fellow TT'er Ixo - https://lvls.wordpress.com/2020/08/02/appendix-iv-j-maya-pre-edit/

The first of the four remaining interviews for First & Frequent Fantasy has been edited and added to LVLS+! This is a good time to send out a reminder that these are being done by Ixo, and I am paying him for his time and attention courtesy of my Patreon!

If 14 people chip in at the $5 level, I will be able to fully pay him from my Patreon income alone! If anyone feels extremely generous and wants to do the $20 tier, you will get a signed copy of First & Frequent Fantasy if done by the end of the month!

I understand this is a difficult time for people right now, but if any of you can contribute even $5 for one month, it would mean the world to me and help me get more awesome books out there!
 

WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)
Ixo has continued to do wonderful work in getting transcriptions done for First & Frequent Fantasy: Mayra's is up for people to check out - https://lvls.wordpress.com/2020/08/02/appendix-iv-k-mayra-pre-edit/

On that subject, today's the last day to get a signed copy of "First & Frequent Fantasy" on my Patreon for a $20 patron tier! Again, that's if you sign up for even one month; you can remove a monthly pledge after it's paid out (which will be tomorrow). Of course, any contributions would be appreciated today if anyone here feels comfortable doing so. 2020 is a very bizarre and chaotic year, so I don't expect anyone to feel obligated to. It would just be a big help to get these books further along than they could be otherwise.

I appreciate your support however you can give it!
 

Vidfamne

Banned
I too like the illustrations' style.
From the small sample I have here, though, the translation is -- while by no means bad -- markedly "embellishing" and sometimes imprecise; I do not find it "absolutely perfect" as that jubilant George Macy claimed. Not just because I'm used to a different one, and in a different language: even the original (Koine) Greek is not rendered very faithfully, near as I can tell (I'm not a palaiophilologist).

Details in spoiler:
Original (transliterated; eta -> e, omega -> o, upsilon -> y (u in diphthongs); "scientifically" I'd use æ w u):
Pólis estì tês Lésbou Mytiléne, megále kaì kalé: dieíleptai gàr eurípois hypeisreoúses tês thaláttes, kaì kekósmetai gephýrais xestoû kaì leukoû líthou. Nomízeias àn ou pólin orân allà nêson. Taútes tês póleos hóson apò stadíon diakosíon agròs ên andròs eudaímonos, ktêma kálliston: óre therotrópha, pedía pyrophóra: gélophoi klemáton, nomaì poimníon: kaì he thálatta proséklyzen eóni ektetaméne, psámmo maltháke.

Word-by-word by yours truly (and dictionaries), likely also not authoritative:
"A city / is / of Lesbos / Mytilene, / great / and / beautiful: / it has been divided / <postpositive causal particle> i.e. you see / by canals / of from-below-into-running [...?] / of the / sea, / and / it has been decorated / by bridges / of smoothed / stone. / You (2nd sg.) ought to think / <particle of future possibility> i.e. when you do / not / a city / (to be) viewing / but / an island [perhaps glossed by native speakers as a swimming land, connoting artifice]. / Of this / -- * / city / as many as / distant by / stadia / twenty 200 / an acre [i.e. arable estate] / was / of a man / fortunate [which can also mean wealthy], / a property / most beautiful [elative]: / mountains / nourishing wild animals, / plains / bearing grain: / hills / of vines, / pastures / of flocks: / and / the / sea / dashed against / the seashore / stretched out, / [against] the sand / soft (mild)."

* [following up hoûtos, etc. with the article is the regular construction in Ancient Greek.]

Moore's translation:
"The sea flows round Mitylene [!], a fair city of Lesbos, and channels filled by the sea and adorned by bridges of polished white stone divide it so frequently that the beholder, viewing it from a distance, would perceive a group of small islands rather than a city. About eight or nine leagues from this city a rich man had an estate, the finest in the island of Lesbos, containing game coverts, hillsides clothed with vines, wheat-growing fields, pasturage for cattle; and all along the shore the sea washed long reaches of fine sand."
 
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WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)
I haven't read this yet, but I do know that Macy did pick some translators over his tenure that haven't aged well or, as might be the case here, were a bit liberal with the material. Might be interesting to include this in my post (with full credit) if you're okay with that.
 

Vidfamne

Banned
I think you had better run it by an actual scholar of Greek, and include their assessment and credit instead. I've already spotted one silly mistake I made myself: "twenty stadia". It's 200. This was more meant as "fyi", and maybe also beneficial to some readers who are curious about (old) Greek and know nothing about it yet (as said I know not much more). It is a language unusually concerned with euphony in several ways: for instance, a native speaker of English will quickly notice that all words in that excerpt end in vowels, N, R or S. This is a general rule.
 
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WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)

I'm doing a weekly video series for my video game blog LVLS+!

I also did a book one a little bit ago:


Since it's been a bit, I also wrote a really good essay on Beyond Good & Evil and UBISoft I'd like to share:

As well as a new book post:
 

WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)

Decided to write about games I couldn't get into this year a bit early.
 

WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)
Hey, my newest book "Zenobia", a poem from Victorian working class poet Ruth Wills that I illustrated, supplied commentary and designed, is out now for Kindle:
51QzwIRT6YL.jpg


And here's the link to the physical version:
 
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WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)

LVLS+ Weekly V4! For this week, I'm talking about the conflicting interests of game companies and its fans, as well as a holiday shelf tour and a brief look at my non-video game book Zenobia!
 

WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)
I have two videos this week!


I talk about my favorite Game Awards announcements for LVLS+ Weekly (sorry for the sound crackles :( )


Here I talk about my first Limited Editions Club book and celebrate the launch of my book blog's 10 year anniversary!
 

WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)
For this week, I’m talking about Sephiroth’s appearance in Smash, as well as showing off the Fire Emblem 30th Anniversary Edition and Panzer Dragoon Remake for Switch!
 

WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)
My recap of my 2nd half of 2020:

My Best of LVLS+ post:

And my best art and photos of 2020:
 
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WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)
My thoughts on Streets of Rage 4, Donut County, A Short Hike, and Wide Ocean Big Jacket, plus unboxing the collector's edition of Streets of Rage 4!
 

WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)
Here's this month's book video, on several works by French author Anatole France:
 

WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)
On LVLS+ Weekly, I talk about Capcom Vs. SNK and The Last Story (and how both need rereleases)!

 

WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)
Got some new articles on Femicom together today:
 

WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)
Still going, with Princess Claire from King's Knight written up:
And lastly, Annie the Mermaid from The Goonies II (note: mild nudity KONAMI WTF)
 
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WildcatJF

The Season, It's Here
(he / his / him)
My webcomic now continues without Video Game Museum hijinks:
 
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