Traditional art dump

These are both "simurgh", a massive mythical bird in persian mythology. All about it could be found in "shahname", a book written by a very important Iranian writer "ferdowsi".

A.Z. Foreman is an amazing linguist who's not only an expert in reconstruction who can personally pronounce even dead languages like a native speaker, he's also a translator and poet in his own right. Even just this little bit is amazing, maybe the best translation of the Shahnameh I've yet seen.

Exordium

Now in the name of God all things extol, The Lord of wisdom and the human soul, Beyond which there does not exist a thing Our minds can ever compass, Sovereign King Of all that is, of every name and place, Guide and sustainer of the human race, The cosmic Lord who wheels the stars of night, Who gave the sun, the moon and Venus light, Above all name or thought or signifying, High artificer of the underlying. You can't make out your Maker with your eye However much you strain it. Do not try. Minds can't grasp Him. He is the overall Being unnameable, unplaceable. It would take more than sapience to attain Things so beyond this elemental plane. Our minds with every word in their command Have only words for what they understand, So none knows how to praise Him as He is. Just bind yourself in reverence. You are His. He measured out the intellect, defined The soul of man. How would a measured mind Contain Him? Could the implements of thought Or soul or language rightly praise what brought Them into being? You need but confess That He exists, and speak no idleness. Seek the right path. Have reverence and awe, And go about with care to heed His law. This is the fact: to know is to be strong. And knowing God will turn the old heart young. But words can never pierce the veil we see. Our mind will never touch His quiddity.

In Praise of Reason

Now that I see the chance for it arise Here let me talk of reason to the wise, For it is greater than God's other gifts. Better its praise than justice. It uplifts The heart. It is life's vanguard, guides the vexed. It is your aid in this world and the next, Your fount of grief and joy, the origin Of every moment that you lose or win. If it goes dark, even the brightest soul Will never live a day of feeling whole Or happy. So a man of eloquence Once said to nourish our intelligence: "Whoever does not pay his wisdom heed Will slice himself to shreds with every deed, Wise men deem him an idiot and a danger As his own people turn him out a stranger." In this world as the next, it keeps you free. The man whose reason breaks finds slavery. For reason is the sole eye of the soul. The eyeless in this world have no control. It was created first, before all else, To brace the soul and the three sentinels Called eye and ear and tongue. These are the three That bring about all ill and good you see. Who can praise soul and reason fitly here? Even if I were fit to, who could hear? Since we're unfit to speak about all this, Let's hear instead how God made all that is. You, authored by the Lord who willed the days, Don't know this world's overt or covert ways. Let those who know show you the way. Go on Throughout this world, and talk to everyone. And when you've heard all wise men have to say, Still don't stop learning for a single day. Then, when you reach the high word-branches, know That knowledge cannot reach the root below.

The Creation of the World

You need to know the truth, as we begin, Of this world's elemental origin, When out of nothing God created matter In order for His potency to matter. From it, the stuff of the four elements Came in no time and with no toil. Immense Fire arose shining, burning into birth, Then wind and water flowed upon dark earth. First, fire was blown to motion. Hot and high It blazed till there was such a thing as dry. Then it was stilled again as cold took hold, And the first moisture grew out of the cold. The elements existed now, and curled Together so to form our fleeting world. Combining and compounding genera Formed the high orders of phenomena. So came the skydome spinning black and blue With wonders at full tilt, forever new, Revealing stars and planets and their signs, Each in its place, befitting His designs. The spheres were shaped inside each other, cast In motion as the structure set. At last, With sea and desert, dale and mountain height, The earth shone like a colored lamp at night. The mountains loomed. The waters coalesced And every sprouting plant reared up its crest. But Earth itself received no place on high. It was the darkling axis. In the sky A starfield's wonders blazoned overhead Lighting the earth up with the sheen they shed. Fire surges up. Water pours down. The sun Goes round the earth to make its daily run. Grass sprouted up with the assorted trees Happily pressing their heads upward. These Just grow and do not move, for they lack all The animacy of an animal. Animals soon appeared. Those moving things Tamed growing plants beneath their legs and wings. They eat and sleep and rest, and so they thrive. Their satisfaction lies in being alive. No speaking tongue, no seeking mind, they're free To gratify themselves on grass and tree. They do not know if they do good or ill. The Lord asks nothing of them. Grants no will. He is almighty, all-knowing and fair, So nothing's hidden from Him anywhere, Yet none of His creations comprehend The way the workings of this world will end.

Reading the Shahnameh like

The Last Fiction

“Just what’s this thing?”,you will ask the question.Spoilers ahead

It’s an Iranian animated movie.

 Based on a chapter of the Shahnameh, Iran’s millennium-old national epic.

When Jamshid, the mighty king of Persia abandons his empire to conquer more territories, Zahak cunningly takes his place. However, something very sinister begins to transpire. Any young man who enlists to work in the palace, mysteriously goes missing and is never to be seen again.

Fed up with the rising taxes and unknown whereabouts of their sons and husbands, people of Jamkard try to protest and inquire. But, their attempts would always be violently shut-down by ruthless guards. More’s the pity, Zahak, unexpectedly, orders to kill all the new-born babies and devastates many families. Among those devastated and angry people, there was Kaveh, a courageous ironsmith, extremely angry with tyranny of Zahak.

 Kaveh forms an army of outlaws to rebel against the ruler of Persia. But he and his army need a champion who isn’t only a skillful fighter, but can also defeat mystical demons. Kaveh finds this warrior, in the rubbles of Jamkard beside the dead body of his mother.

He names him Afaridoun and trains him rigorously. After years and years of rigid martial exercises, Afaridoun, finally is ready to defeat the evil ruler and the supernatural beasts surrounding him. But as the time gets closer, Afaridoun reckons he has to fight a greater enemy, more powerful and menacing; he has to fight his own demons.

See links:

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/the-last-fiction-set-to-become-first-iranian-animated-feature-to-qualify-for-oscars-exclusive-180272.html

https://shahnamehpajohan.ir/%D8%A2%D8%AE%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%AF-%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B7-%D8%A7%D8%B3%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D9%87%D8%AA%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%86-%D9%81/

My say:It’s an Interesting breakthrough from Iran’s animation studios.It won’t let you down:)

It’s based on a legend outlined in Iran’s Millienia spaning Ferdowsi’s collection of epic myths:The Shahnameh(:The Book Of Kings)

With Five Stars for excellent it gets 4,5 of them.

Character, book, and author names under the cut

Andrew Minyard- All for the Game by Nora Sakavic

Neil Josten- All for the Game by Nora Sakavic

Happy Halloween season! Here's another stab at my own take of Carrie White, based on her book description. I'm super happy with how these turned out! I'd love to tackle some of the other characters in the book eventually, especially Margaret!

EDIT:

Now available as an art print here!

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— the foxhole court (2013)

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Bad news about Iranian  Animation(:

This real BAD news,that concerns not only the Present,but the Whole Future  of the Iranian Animation Industry.While the occidental news outlets are going with the approach about “the rights of women”,”equality” they don’t care about an awful news.

Iranian animators attracted to foreign studios over weak local currency: expert. December 4, 2022 - 18:37

Photo below: This file photo shows Iranian animators working at a studio of the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults – Kanoon. (Kanoon/Hamid Tavakkoli)

“Due to a sharp decline in the value of the local currency in comparison to the dollar, Iranian animation studios are willing to work for other countries,” Ali Azizi told the Persian service of MNA.

“These studios were previously selling their productions to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), but I’ve heard that IRIB has not paid them as a result of the precarious circumstances surrounding its funding,” he added.

“Moreover, strict IRIB rules and regulations impose certain restrictions on animation works, while animators want to have a free hand to let them use their creativity. As a result, they are reluctant to work with IRIB,” explained Azizi who was formerly a manager of an animation school.

He has recently quit his job to direct an animation project.

Azizi said there are animation studios in Turkey that are working with Iranian animators who are even allowed to work remotely. Their projects are totally or partly done by Iranian studios.

The Turkish studios pay the Iranian animators less than they pay their local employees. Nevertheless, the wages paid to them are still higher than what they receive in Iran.     He said that some Iranian animators have also been duped and have failed to receive their wages from the Turkish studios.

The animation industry has developed in Iran over the past decade, but the country has failed to exploit its commercial potential.

Ashkan Rahgozar, the director of Hoorakhsh, a major animation studio in Tehran, has frequently warned about the emigration of skilled and even semi-professional people working in the country’s animation industry.

Images below:from the iranian,epic,animated movie “The last Fiction”.

In an interview conducted last year, he said the financial motivations are the key factors in these migrations.

“Iran has not done well on efficiently training human resources in this field, and the professionals’ migration issue has really become serious. We are seeing them going to foreign companies for higher salaries. I see no bright prospect for improvement in human resources here, because even semi-professionals are easily attracted by overseas companies,” said Rahgozar who is the director of the acclaimed animated movie, “The Last Fiction”.

MMS/YAW

My Understanding

This is the Real Significant news.I fear that the iranian animated movie “The Last Fiction” might be a Swan Song!(: “Who’s fault is this?” Not of the iranian regime.It’s of others, who fill us with the unessential claims(yes,claims isn’t the real thing)about human rights,and they passby that the strict sanctions make life harder for the creative people,such as Iranian animators.

Source: https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/479368/Iranian-animators-attracted-to-foreign-studios-over-weak-local

Can you believe they had the nerve, the gall, the gumption to cut when book Peeta says “You here to finish me off, sweetheart?”, one of the most iconic lines that established his flirty personality and cute banter with Katniss?? He’s literally in immense pain, dying from a leg injury, buried under a wall of mud that’s infecting the wound, and still has the energy to tease her. Not to mention the innuendo, come on.

Character, book, and author names under the cut

Neil Josten- All for the Game by Nora Sakavic

Gideon Nav- The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir

📚 Crowley + holding stacks of books 📚