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thespacebetweenworlds · 6 years ago

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idk if you’ll care about this but your thing about the whole “fiction is just fiction” and “fiction doesn’t affect reality” argument is actually not true at all because let’s just say for example: having lgbt, poc, disability rep in books or media isn’t all that important because it doesn’t affect reality.... when it does? it makes a HUGE impact on people. but yes I see where you’re coming from and as a person who hates incest with a passion, I don’t think u guys deserve these threats AT ALL.

Thank you for not thinking I should die a violent death. And thank you for this ask! I love being asked things. And to respond to your point, that fiction does affect reality, with the example of how representation is pretty awesome: that’s a freaking good point you have there, that I agree with - partially.

This Essay is titled: Fiction and Reality and How the everloving Fuck do they interact and what by nathan wesninski’s underpants does that have to do with fandom discourse?

So, beyond the read more you’ll have a compilation of my thoughts on it (that didn’t take several hours to write and edit). I’ll talk about:

1. Definition Of Fiction, Definition Of Reality

2. (How) Does Fiction Affect Reality?

3. Representation In Fiction

4. Who Judges Fanfic?

5. ”this content is problematic,” says you. ”please don’t mention power dynamics,” replies I

6. Censorship

7. A Brief History Of Why Fanfic Is Awesome

8. Links to stuff that might interest you

I’m just gonna. Quickly do that part in radioactive with the deep breath.

To start this, I want to clarify that in the response I made to transneiljosten’s post, I never explicitly said “fiction doesn’t affect reality” or “fiction is just fiction.”

What I did say is this: “Incest in fiction is just that: incest in fiction. It’s. not. real.” And: “I believe everyone should be allowed to write/create what they want - as long as it doesn’t hurt people in real life.”

But yes, the phrases “fiction is just fiction” and “fiction is not reality” have been used often when discussing freedom to write fanfic and when defending content another might call immoral. Not many people have elaborated beyond that, and to be fair - it’s a super big fucking field of study with so many subjective ways to look at it that it’s difficult to put into words.

But I’m gonna go and explain what people mean with those two phrases anyway.

Disclaimer: Remember how I called this a super big fucking field of study? I am no linguist and I have not studied literature. All my knowledge comes from years in fandom and internet research of the topics I personally found interesting. I may be wrong about things I say here, and I am always learning, so feel free to message me. I try my best to discuss controversial topics thoughtfully, respectfully, considerately and carefully, but I am only human and do not know everything. You are welcome to join the discussion.

1. Definition Of Fiction, Definition Of Reality

Going to https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/ to properly look this up:

Reality: The state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.

Fiction: Literature in the form of prose, especially novels, that describes imaginary events and people.

So I say I don’t study literature (I really don’t) but just a few weeks ago I was in a lecture on the absolute basics of literature science, where I learned this dope sentence:

Die Wirklichkeit in der Kunst ist nur eine auf die außerkünstlerische Wirklichkeit verweisende Wirklichkeit.

Which is German, yes I know. Basically we have the starting point that literature is art, so it’s: "the reality in art is only a reality that refers to the reality outside of art" or, in other words, fiction is only ever fiction and not reality, no matter how close they may seem to be.

In summary, what we can say for sure: Fiction does not equal Reality. They are not the same. Fiction exists because Reality exists.

2. (How) Does Fiction Affect Reality?

Reality affects fiction. But does Fiction affect Reality?

Allow me to quote tumblr user shinelikethunder, who put it very nicely:

“Fiction affects people. And people affect reality.”

Tumblr user muchymozzarella made an important addition (and the blog is really pretty) so to read the post, klick on this link: https://muchymozzarella.tumblr.com/post/167137950299/fiction-is-not-responsible-for-reality

If you read the above post, further reading that might interest you are texts by Immanuel Kant and Arthur Schopenhauer on Free Will. But that wouldn’t be fandom anymore, so like, find philosophy books in your local library and talk to you friends about it.

3. Representation In Fiction

But let’s come back to your question, dear anon: “... the whole “fiction is just fiction” and “fiction doesn’t affect reality” argument is actually not true at all because let’s just say for example: having lgbt, poc, disability rep in books or media isn’t all that important because it doesn’t affect reality.... when it does? it makes a HUGE impact on people.”

You have a great point. Representation in books matters. (If you rec me some nice wlw books I’ll love you forever, there are not enough.)

I am, however, gonna quote my friend of mine, who says it better than I ever could:

“There is a difference between media affecting behaviour and representation in media. Like, violent video games don't actually make you violent. Watching gay cinema isn't going to turn you to the lgbt side unless there was already a disposition there.

People read and write immorality constantly, and even when it's shone in a good light it's usually expected that we as human beings know right from wrong, know fiction from reality. Humanity has explored the happy shiny purity of the universe and the horrific grittiness since... Well probably forever, for a variety of reasons. And in recent years the way we consume media has intensified drastically. Our consumption is interactive, our interaction is globally influenced and sometimes that is good, but we've also given ourselves the right to witch-hunt without a lot of information, or because things don't go as you planned. Real people are always more important than fictional people.

Stand up for representation. Stand up for good representation. But if you're smart enough to understand morality in reality, that isn't going to suddenly go away if you read some incest fics... And hey if you do suddenly want to kiss your brother, that's something for you to deal with and it isn't fan fiction's fault.”

Representation in books matters. Why does it matter? Because the real world is so much more diverse than popular media might make you think. Fight against the patriarchy, not against random people on the internet.

4. Who Judges Fanfic?

Fanfic is written by fans. It’s also written for fans, but more than that, it’s written by fans. I’m not gonna say only teenage girls write fanfiction, because that’s not true. Fans write fanfiction. And everyone can be a fan.

Ozhawkauthor said:

“You are not paying for fanworks content, and you have no rights to it other than to choose to consume it, or not consume it. If you do choose to consume it, do not then attack the creator if it wasn’t to your taste. That’s the height of bad manners.

Be courteous in fandom. It makes the whole experience better for all of us.”

So why are “antis” suddenly here, declaring this ship and those characters off limits and to be hated on?

Specifically, what the fuck are fans that attack or judge other fans on?

To quote shinelikethunder (again): “Fiction needn’t be educational and fiction doesn’t always have clear-cut endorsements of who’s in the right. But the discussion that happens around fiction can include both.”

But to answer the question above: Who Judges Fanfic? Not. You.

5. ”this content is problematic,” says you. ”please don’t mention power dynamics,” replies I

Hypothetical situation:

I write a fanfic. My protagonist is Riko Moriyama, who is, in canon, a sadistic asshole that is so morally black that his own brother, Ichirou, who is also morally black, kills him in the end. It doesn’t matter what I write, or who I ship him with, in this hypothetical situation.

You appear, you read the fic or you don’t read the fic. You say: “This content is problematic.”

I quiver. I know you don’t like Riko Moriyama. I know you don’t approve of my shipping choice. “Please don’t mention power dynamics,” I reply.

“This relationship is toxic,” you say. “There are unhealthy power dynamics at play.”

And like, fuck, I know? I wrote it.

Obviously. Obviously I could reply with that ancient, age old phrase “Don’t Like Don’t Read.”

But I already made a similar post about that.

6. Censorship

I’m writing this post to fight against censorship in fandom. (The day I am typing this up on was the day I went to a demonstration against articles 11 and 17, earlier 13, in the copyright reform in the EU, and to protest for a free internet.)

Censorship.

What does that even mean? The Oxford English Dictionary says:

Censorship: The suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.

Here’s the wikipedia article.

In my opinion, every person, regardless of whether or not they call themselves “anti” who tells someone else that their fanfic is disgusting and wrong and should be deleted, based on subjective ideas of moral, is trying to enforce censorship. So don’t. Don’t do that.

“But,” you might say. “Riko is not a good person.”

And you know what? You’re absolutely right. He’s not. Neither is any of the Foxes.

And this is why none of the antis make sense. In one post, they condemn Roland - a perfectly normal minor character, and in the next post they call Andrew Minyard their soft angel child. Y’all. Not to hate on Andrew Minyard, but he literally drugged Neil? Even though he’s so big on consent, he drugged Neil?

So by saying this and that are problematic and should not be written and the people who do write it should be blocked, you’re kinda hypocritical. Because the All For The Game trilogy is one fucked up piece of media by itself.

And have you ever read a book?

Most books have characters that aren’t completely morally white or morally black, events that aren’t always sunshine, butterflies and rainbows.

And you know what else? That’s a good thing. Because the world isn’t like that either. And more often than not literature addresses topics critically.

Remember The Hunger Games? Exactly.

7. A Brief History Of Why Fanfic Is Awesome

In the beginnings of fanfic and fandom as we know it, slash was illegal in the USA. Fanfiction.net was made in like 1998, and during the first few years when fanfic got more attention with the rise of the internet, restrictions were made.

Much like tumblr in december 2018, except worse, fanfiction.net purged explicit content. Livejournal, the journaling platform where lots of fandom stuff happened before tumblr, is known for strikethrough, a big, unannounced deletion of fannish content. Because of those purges and restrictions, ao3 was originally made. I’m not trying to paint ao3 as the heroes that saved fandom, well I kinda am, and they are doing great things so that fanfiction can exist and remain accessible.

I think fiction is not just fiction. But fiction is just fiction in the sense that it doesn’t have any direct influence on the real world. We are all allowed to write whatever we want.

Disclaimer: We are all allowed to write whatever we want, except when we call for violence towards others in real life. Further disclaimer: Calling for violence towards others is illegal. Hate speech is illegal. Violent threats are illegal. Promotion of self-harm is illegal. Death threats are illegal.

To come back to fandom: Shipping or not shipping something has nothing to do with morals. Hating on people who ship “unhealthy power dynamics/problematic ships” does not give you the moral high ground. It makes you an asshole. For the love of Riko’s stinky socks, use the blocking feature.

My friend iknowwhoyouaredamianos said: “Hating people irl, lashing out against them, that's the real cruelty. That's so much worse than writing about something fictional.”

If you hate on real people, there is no trigger warning. You can’t don’t-like-don’t-read hate. It will affect that person’s life negatively, whether you intend to do so or not. Don’t be assholes, dears.

Thank you to my friend, and to iknowwhoyouaredamianos for letting me quote you and joining the discussion; and to foxsoulcourt for so many reasons.

Who knew that writing over 2000 words on fandom would be fun?

Dear anon, I hope I answered your question.

I’m gonna conclude this post with the Three Laws of Fandom:

I. Don’t Like; Don’t Read.

II. Your Kink Is Not My Kink.

III. Ship And Let Ship.

8. Links To Stuff That Might Be Of Interest

If you read all of the above and still feel like you don’t understand, have this awesome post by destinationtoast: How to not like fictional things (and not be a dick about it)

Podcasts on fandom culture by fansplaining:

Episode 84: Purity Culture

Episode 85: Age and Fandom

Episode 86: The Money Question

Episode 87: What we discourse about when we discourse about the discourse

Fandom positivity posts I reblogged (because y’all need it):

short post on staying positive in fandom

when discourse gets too stressful

important advice especially for those of you younger than 15 (but also older)

Tumblr user freedom-of-fanfic is writing lots of essays on lots of fandom things, here are some those more or less directly relate to this:

On criticising: Free to write whatever, free to criticise whatever?

A post on Fiction & Reality that answers a question very similar to the one I answered,

and Why fanworks are such a convenient social scrapegoat (kinda a socioeconomical discussion of USA-centric fandom)

There is also a very extensive FAQ by freedom-of-fanfic, with lots of very important writings on fandom culture on tumblr.

Unrelated, but if you’re interested in more of fandom, fanfic, and statistics of both:

http://destinationtoast.tumblr.com/stats

Interesting stuff on Fanlore: Purity Culture in Fandom, AO3 & Censorship, The Advantages of Fan Fiction as an Art Form.

An article on the free speech debate in fandom

Dreamwidth’s Diversity Statement, and Ao3’s Diversity Statement

A cool (and unrelated) thing: Femslash can save the world if we let it

Happy reading, and I hope you learned something.

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sweetenoughandfaraway · 6 years ago

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Blind Gossip: A One Direction Speculations Masterpost

(Tumblr took this down ‘cause BG’s legal team is whatever, but I wanted it to live on so I removed the screenshots. I abandoned this in 2013 because the amount of time I spent on it was unhealthy, LOL, but here it is for those that may have wanted to see it)

Blind Gossip: A One Direction Speculations Masterpost (Ace’s “Dark” Period: Added Nov. 8th, 2013)

Alternatively titled “You’re pretty ace, Ace”

Disclaimer: The analyses contained within this post are all personal, so I’m not claiming to be right in anything I say. I am certainly not Ace and I do not have all of the answers. I did, however, spend a great deal of time organizing and researching in order to put this together, so it is my sincere hope that you enjoy it should you choose to read it.

Note: This post will be continually updated as new blinds surface.

Welcome! This post will include my own speculations and educated (or maybe not-so-educated) guesses about certain Blind Gossip entries. It is important before you read on that you are aware that I believe Harry and Louis are in a relationship, and will be analyzing these blinds with that belief in mind.

At the end of the day, it’s your choice whether or not you believe any of this. You are welcome to your own opinions and analyses.

Now, before I begin, let’s explore a little bit about Blind Gossip and how it works.

What exactly is Blind Gossip?

Blind Gossip is essentially a celebrity gossip site that is run by the anonymous “Ace.” The stories featured on the sites are called “blinds,” a word derived from the term “blind item.” A blind item is defined as “a news story, usually gossip, in which the details of the matter are reported while the identities of the people involved are not revealed.“ Basically, posting blind items is a way to release information about celebrities/PR stunts without the risk of lawsuits or otherbacklash because no names were used. However, there is normally a plethora of hints provided, which can usually guide the reader to make an educated guess about the subject(s).

The blinds that the site posts cover a wide range of topics (pregnancy rumors, drug addictions, and PR/closeting, to name a few) and their subjects represent a wide range of celebs (athletes, singers, actors, reality show stars, and so on). BG features two types of blinds - solved and unsolved. When posting blind items, Ace normally does so in the form of a “BG12345,” which consists of 5 blind items being presented, one per hour, beginning at a certain time that Ace will often previously announce. Some blinds never get solved (any unsolved blinds are stored in the “uncategorized” category on the site) and are left to forever be a mystery. Those that are solved, however, can be further divided into two types - those that present concrete proof and those that do not. Sometimes Ace will link a major news source reporting on the content of the blind, or present other evidence that proves the solved blind to be true. When this happens, other sources usually pick up the story and it morphs from a rumor into news. Oftentimes, Ace’s blinds are the first to hint at a scandal in a celeb’s life before it even hits the papers. But sometimes (like many of the One Direction blinds) the blind is solved with no real evidence and you have to take Ace’s word for it. Assuming Blind Gossip is truthful on matters that were never concretely proved is pure speculation, andit is crucial to always keep this in mind before one starts taking Ace’s word as gospel.

It is very important to remember that first and foremost, BG is a gossip site. Its entire point is to get hits and make money, whether that is achieved through exposing the truth or concocting/perpetuating lies. To further your understanding of this, please read the following disclaimer from the site, including crucial parts I have bolded for emphasis:

Disclaimer

1. This is a gossip site. Information published on the site – especially information republished from other sites – may be inaccurate or contain errors. BlindGossip.com makes no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy or reliability of the site’s content.

2. The materials on BlindGossip.com’s web site are provided “as is”. BlindGossip.com makes no warranties, expressed or implied, and hereby disclaims and negates all other warranties, including without limitation, implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of intellectual property or other violation of rights. Further, BlindGossip.com does not warrant or make any representations concerning the accuracy, likely results, or reliability of the use of the materials on its Internet web site or otherwise relating to such materials or on any sites linked to this site.

Secondly, now that we have been properly disclaimed, I have organized some resources below that will serve to explain some things about Blind Gossip’s reputation, and what sets it apart from a typical, trashy gossip site.

This post was originally written by my lovely friend Stefania (she used to have a blog at couldnotspeakasloudasmyheart), and explains a few things about BG’s reliability (scroll down past blog header to read):

Why is Blind Gossip considered a reliable source?

As well as this blind, which demonstrates how seriously Ace takes the content of all blinds & the credibility of BG’s sources:

A Liar Gets Caught

And an ask by gossip-candy that further clarifies Ace’s professionalism:

Gossip Candy

And now that you know what you’re getting into, let’s begin!

This masterpost will serve to organize any and all Blind Gossip entries that may involve certain One Direction members. I will analyze each blind by providing an explanation of any clues that may point to One Direction being the subject(s) of the blind, and which information may signify that the blind is not about them. Clues, you’ll find, can be found both in wordplay and general context. I also provide background for events the blind may be referencing, and try to set a timeframe for any blind that references a specific event/events that happened in the past.

The following blinds have been organized chronologically, and all the titles are linked to their corresponding blinds. On behalf of Ace, I ask that you please do follow the link to read the original blind, in addition to viewing the screenshots I have provided. All credit for any screenshotted blind goes to blindgossip.com.

We’ll begin our journey with the ever-famous (and my personal favorite) “Boy Banders Are Hiding A Secret,” which was posted to the Blind Gossip site on April 5th, 2012.

1. “Boy Banders Are Hiding A Secret“ - April 5th, 2012

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A fantastic place to start our journey! This blind has been analyzed to death, but if you’re not familiar with it, here is a list of clues people picked up on that clearly hint at One Direction:

"singing competition show" » X-Factor

stereotypes » The Bad Boy (Zayn), The Baby (Niall), The Nice One (Liam), leaving Harry&Louis to be The Gay Ones

"beautiful young men" » What Makes You Beautiful

"one" mentioned 6 times » One Direction

"one has a beard" » Louis was dating Eleanor, Harry was single

"up all night" » name of debut album

To me, this is still the most believable blind to date. I try to always remain skeptical with these situations, and I would have chalked it all up to coincidence… had Ace not thrown in “up all night.” All the hints add up, and the name of their debut album inserted so cleverly in the text really just seals the deal for me. Out of all the blinds, this would be one I’d place a bet on.

2. “Floating Pics of One Direction Singer” - July 23rd, 2012

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I actually have never seen a post about this blind, but that is because I am still relatively new to the One Direction fandom and this was back in 2012.

We don’t even have to speculate that this about 1D because hey look, they tell us right there in the title! Now, as we all know, Harry has been deemed the "womanizer" of the group. So personally, I’d venture to guess that this blind is aimed towards him.

3. “Tease and Announcement“ - October 15th, 2012

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So like I was saying, my blog and I weren’t around in 2012 when this was all going down. But this blind, according to my research, freaked some people out because they thought it was about Louis/Eleanor. I’ve also heard that there was a similar collective freak-out when Eleanor was sporting a fancy Forever 21 ring. So yeah, this is clearly a blind that’s going to warrant some freaking.

This article provides us with the fact that he is a "singer," which at least narrows it down a bit.

Some possible hints that were thrown around:

“one hot young singer” » Surprise, One Direction (This is mostly noteworthy because Ace could have just as easily written “He is a hot younger singer;” using “one” just wasn’t necessary and actually makes the word flow a bit awkward.)

2 mentions of ”beautiful” » What Makes You Beautiful, as well asevery single article known to man referring to Louis’ beautiful girlfriend Eleanor Calder

There’s a lot of speculation on this one and definitely not as many hints. And there’s also the fact that it is 2013 and Louis and Eleanor aren’t engaged or married.

So for now, we’re going to move on. Do not fear, this blind will be revisited in the fifth section. Also, keep the concluding sentence “More later” in the back of your brain.

4. “One of You Will Know The Truth” - October 16th, 2012

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And here comes some heavy speculation. This article is the least specific yet. No mentions of “performer” or “singer.” Just "young man.“

There are a few hints, though:

"teen/tween" » the majority of 1D’s fanbase, as well as their intended audience

“one day,” ”one of you will know the truth” » One Direction

4 mentions of "Tell her…" » 4 mentions of "Tell me" in Tell Me A Lie:

Tell me I’m a screwed up mess… / Tell me you don’t want my kiss… / Tell me anything… / Tell me a lie

(Special thanks to dlr99 on Blind Gossip for pointing out the Tell her/Tell me comparison in the comments… The paragraph originally made me think of Tell Me A Lie but I thought it was too far of a stretch. But now that I see the number of mentions match the chorus, it seems a little more likely that it was planned.)

Now, it’s funny how this came out a day after the “Tease and Announcement” blind. Actually, it’s not really that funny. These articles go hand-in-hand; that much is clear.

And that’s about all I’ve got on this one. It’s incredibly vague (on purpose, I’m sure) and I can’t say anything for a fact. I can say, however, that this blind will also be briefly revisited in the next section.

5. ”Heartthrob Proposed to Girlfriend” - October 22nd, 2012

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I’m sure you know this blind quite well, and you may be wondering why I am including it.

A lot of people threw around Jelena guesses in the comments section of “Tease and Announcement” and “One of You Will Know The Truth.” Justin/Selena were later revealed as the subjects of this blind (and this blind only). Now, it is very important to note the following:

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“While he was not the subject of those blinds”

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Blind Gossip basically just told us that these two blinds are not about Justin. Since he was the biggest contender, this now leaves more room for it to be Louis. But like I’ve been saying, this does not prove anything. All I can say is that one of the popular guesses has been more or less eliminated by Ace.

6. “They Won’t Make It To Valentine’s Day” - December 7th, 2012 (SOLVED)

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This blind is hilarious because Harry/Taylor had JUST been photographed as a "real couple" in Central Park Zoo on December 3rd, and people on BG were already guessing “Haylor” as the answer to this blind, which was posted just 4 days later. Some pretty obvious clues include:

“never, ever admit” » We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together

“trouble fans” » I Knew You Were Trouble

photo » Taylor is known for making her hands into a heart at her concerts

Valentine’s Day » Taylor starred in a movie by the same name

So basically the answer was crystal clear, so no one was surprised when it was solved.

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Ace gives us a few pretty good gems about how fake this relationship was in the following paragraphs, including:

Why did they break up? Well, we’ll let you in on a little secret: These two couldn’t stand each other! That’s right. They didn’t even like each other! Each one thinks that the other is immature and annoying. Frankly, they are probably both right. While holding hands they grimaced in a way that kids do when they think that someone is giving them the cooties. They really didn’t like kissing each other (that New Year’s Eve kiss was staged), and they certainly never slept together. Yes, all that sneaking in and out of hotels nonsense was totally choreographed.

The purpose of this blind was basically just to confirm what we already knew; Haylor was nothing but a pitiful publicity set-up that wasn’t built to last. However, this would not be the last of the Haylor blinds…

7. “Relationship Runway Rant“ - January 15th, 2013 (SOLVED)

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Surprise! Another obvious one. Some clues that pointed to Harry/Taylor:

"a bad actor” » Let’s be honest here, Harry Styles is not a good faker; his facial expressions in the Haylor pics alone were enough to give them away

“his management team" » From what we have seen, whether it’s the rumored romance of Harry/Caroline Flack or the staged Emma Ostilly kiss, the One Direction management loves a good set-up

“needed the publicity” » Taylor’s album “Red” had been released back in October

“sweet, together girl” » Taylor Swift is, after all, “America’s Sweetheart”

“never getting back together” » We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together

Now, at this point in the game, we must remember that it is important to take every Blind Gossip article with a grain of salt. This one was a little harder for me to believe because the quotes in the article are so specific; they would have had to come from a direct source that overheard the entire conversation. However, the hilarious commentary in the “Solved” section dissolved some of my doubts.

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A few notes to Tay Tay, who we hear reads BG:

1. Sweetie, the bodyguards that surround you don’t provide a magic invisibility shield or a soundproof shield. It might help to remember that the next time you are in a public place.

HAHAHA. So maybe a source did actually overhear her, who knows?

Also:

5. Act your age. Date your age. Oh, and try to date straight boys. They might actually like you.

WELL WELL WELL. Ace, are you trying to say that Harry Styles isn’t straight? Hm. How very interesting.

This is just yet another blind that shows the transparency of “Haylor,” while casually throwing in a hint that Harry Styles may not be the straight womanizer he is portrayed to be.

8. “Two Plus Two Equals Bedlam” - November 19th, 2012 (SOLVED)image

This blind actually didn’t do much to hint at anyone in One Direction originally, at least in the usual wordplay way. There were some context clues, but this wasn’t really on my radar until after it was solved. (This is out of chronological order because it was solved after the Haylor blinds, and only makes sense after reading them.)image

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If indeed true, this blind doesn’t do much except to reinforce the fact that One Direction’s management (and according to Ace, Taylor “Because we needed the f*cking publicity” Swift) will do anything to make sure the boys are always on the public’s radar, no matter the personal cost. (And it demonstrates that, to no surprise, Niall is a really great friend who knows when to say no.)

9. “Two Hotties Interested In One“ - January 18th, 2013

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This one’s a funny one. When it was first posted, there were quite a few clues the fandom believed pointed towards this being about Harry/Louis, such as:

"Two Hotties Are Interested in One,” “which one is worthy of her crush,” “which one she would want to marry”» One Direction

"two talented, under-25 performers” » Harry was 18 and Louis was 21 at this point

"just a couple of years” » One Direction officially started ‘working’ together in 2011, which would have been two years ago

There are also a few, less-concrete hints:

"they don’t look alike” » I mean, this certainly can depend on individual opinion. But honestly, Harry and Louis really don’t look much alike. Besides the obvious differences of short/curvy and tall/flat, their hair/eye color/facial structure are incredibly unique from the other.

“Set-ups with girls are fake” » Fresh off the Haylor train, this comes as no surprise.

The one thing that threw everyone off a bit was the pair being popular among the “young adult” crowd comment. Most of the One Direction fanbase is made of tweens/teens. As a young adult fan myself, I can vouch for our existence, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that we make up the majority of the fanbase. However, the blind goes on to mention “young girls" being interested in them. So that disconnect is something to keep in mind.

Now, shortly after this blind was posted, it was updated to say that it was actually about two actors on a television show, and was correspondingly tagged as “actors, television.” A lot of guesses about Harry/Louis had already been thrown about in the comments section, which is probably why Ace added that it was not about any of the One Direction boys. But, BG still threw us a bone with a little side-comment “(although other blinds might be).”

Even though Blind Gossip says that it’s not about One Direction, it doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t. BG has lied before and said a blind isn’t about someone, and then it is solved to be that very person. So honestly, this one is pretty much up in the air.

10. “He Will Lose His Job If He Comes Out“ - January 24th, 2013

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This blind was interesting. One of the biggest context clues is that "The Gay One" is referenced, which of course was introduced in the very first blind "Boy Banders Hiding A Secret." But which one? The general consensus’ reaction was that it would most likely be about Harry, since no girlfriend/beard was mentioned. This article also uses the word ”one” many times, just like many of the previous blinds. So, to review the specific hints:

“The Gay One" »Throwback to "Boy Banders Hiding A Secret" blind

4 mentions of ”one” » One Direction

"He is not the only one in his group of colleagues to feel this way” » Also another throwback to the “Boy Banders” blind, referencing "The Other Gay One" (assumed to be Louis)

"sell an image” » We all know that Harry’s image is that of a womanizer, and his many high-profile setups prove his management wants that image to sell. He is certainly not alone in this, though; most management nowadays is all about image, so this doesn’t necessarily prove it’s about Harry.

"if he goes rogue” » It’s a bit of a stretch, but parsleybabe pointed out to me that this could be referring to Louis’ first band “The Rogue.” If the blind is about Harry, “going rogue” could possibly refer to “going for Louis.”

The rest of it is very general:

"cute, young celebrity" » Harry’s the youngest in the band, and he is certainly cute, but this description could apply to countless celebs

"part of a group" » this certainly narrows it down, but there are other groups out there it could apply to

substantially older management team » The founders of Modest! are “substantially older;” Richard Griffiths has been in the business for forty years, founding his first agency in 1974; Harry Magee has been in the industry for over thirty years, joining his first company in 1982. However, this is still quite general, as other groups may also have an older management team.

The thing that doesn’t sit right with me is the part that says the other members of the group are "content to play the public game of pretending that they are all straight as long as the paychecks keep rolling in." Perhaps it is just me being idealistic, but having been following the boys for quite a while, they’ve never struck me as the type that are just in it for the money. They are incredibly generous with their donations to charity, and are much more expressive about the fact that they are living their dreams, rather than focusing on the money/fame aspect. Personally, I wouldn’t bet on this one.

11. “He Already Has Someone” - January 31st, 2013 (SOLVED)

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This one was so deliciously obvious. First of all, let’s just take a moment to appreciate the crater of a dimple in Photo Boy’s face. Secondly:

“takes her home" » second album name, Take Me Home

"the blonde is just a friend” » The day before, Harry was spotted with his blonde friend Ellis Calcutt, and the next day articles like this were circulating like wildfire around the Internet:

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Lastly, the part that mentions he "isn’t ready to take it public yet" is reminiscent of the "Two Hotties Interested In One" blind, which mentioned "even if they can’t express it yet in public.”

So really, nobody was surprised when this popped up again on August 8th, 2013:

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Now, down in the solved section of this blind is a little blurb about actress Emily Atack admitting to a “fling” with Harry. The whole thing is emphasized to be very casual, never a “boyfriend and girlfriend” kind of deal. This struck me as quite weird, because even though it seemed BG’s intention was to prove that Harry is already with someone and the setups are fake, they still threw in something about a girl he was “seeing” back in the day. Like I said before, I’m not Ace, so I can’t really tell you what that means. It could have been BG’s way of trying to tiptoe around the subject so as not to get into trouble with any big wigs, or perhaps Ace was just trying to stir the pot a little.

What’s important to take away from this is that all of the clues pointed to Harry, and this blind ended up being about him just as we suspected. One might go so far as to say that a pattern is slowly, but surely, being established.

12. “Porny Reputation“ - February 7th, 2013 (SOLVED)

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This one got pretty hilarious, especially within the fandom. When this blind surfaced, the Internet exploded with the name “Jack Styles.” He does certainly resemble Harry, and the sharing of “Styles” is a pretty big clue. Take a look:

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The video in question is years old, from back in August 2009, but a video doesn’t necessarily have to be new to “surface.” And according to my research, Harry’s “look-alike” had been circulating through the Tumblrsphere before the blind was even posted.

A few context clues include:

"one of the world’s biggest young stars" » This isn’t specific by any means, but let’s be honest… Who in the world doesn’t at least know Harry Styles’ name at this point? He dominates the media, and he’s also the youngest in the band. We can assume he is at least a likely candidate. (Also, one of the world’s biggest stars » One Direction)

"a collective heart attack” » Heart Attack, track on the Take Me Home album

Now, if this is indeed about Jack/Harry Styles, BG made a few errors. Jack Styles has been Jack Styles since 2009, so he didn’t name himself after Harry. Secondly, he doesn’t even do porn anymore! According to his profile (WARNING: link leads to mature content), he only did five videos in 2009. (The Harry look-alike pictures come from the video with Sean Taylor). So this one is a bit of a toss-up. The details certainly check out, and in some shots he does very much look like Harry, but one can never be sure.

SOLVED! Well, look at that! Quite out of the blue, this blind has been solved on November 6th, 2013:

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I have no idea why this blind was solved at such a random time. Perhaps Ace was running dry on One Direction news and wanted some hits. Who knows? Anyway, this blind didn’t necessarily need “proof” to be solved, but it does demonstrate that we were right in our assumptions that it was about Harry. Porny case closed.

13. “Publicity Proposal Pending” - February 14th, 2013 (SOLVED May 7th, 2013)image

This one got an interesting reaction. It was posted just in time for Valentine’s Day, which is pretty funny when you consider the very first Haylor blind. No one missed Ace’s clue of “moving in that direction,” soa lot of Elounor guesses were thrown around, as well as Zerrie, and a select few for Payzer. The alliteration in the title was a more subtle clue (Payne/Peazer/Payzer), but it did indeed end up being about Liam:image

Once again, Ace emphasizes the management’s wish for the boys to push a straight image with his description of “Desirable, heterosexual young men.” We can observe that Ace’s comments in the solved sections are establishing a steady pattern of hinting (or blatantly stating) that one or more of the members may not be straight.

Now, do you remember the “Tease and Announcement” blind? It ended with the phrase "More later.“ Look how Ace ends this one:

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"You’ll see soon enough…" Hm. That’s a nice throwback to “More later,” eh? Since “Tease and Announcement” wasn’t solved along with the Payzer blind, and Ace informed us that it was not about Jelena, Elounor is still an incredibly strong contender. With comments like “More later” and “You’ll see soon enough,” it certainly seems like Ace is warning us to prepare for another engagement setup.

14. “Popstar Is Just Pretending” - February 22nd, 2013

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Not much to this one. The timing is hilarious, because Louis and Eleanor had just gone to the Topshop fashion show earlier in the week, on the 17th. If we want to get tinhatty, the girl in the photo is sporting a pretty Eleanor-esque bun. Also, the fact that the listed source is the Mirror is interesting, because we all know the Mirror loves printing any scandalous One Direction story, whether it’s true or not. This one is obviously meant to be pretty obscure, so I’ll leave it be for now.

15. “Boy Banders Are Hiding A Secret Trailer“ - April 24th, 2013

So after more than a year, let’s talk about how BG posted this fan-made trailer, which presents One Direction as the subject of their infamous blind:

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Tell me, why exactly would Ace post this if it was the wrong answer?

Like I said, this blind is certainly one I’d place a bet on. Convinced yet?

16. “They Were Involved Before the Show” - May 22nd, 2013

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I really don’t think this blind is related to One Direction. At all. I’m only including it because it was the subject of some speculation, mostly from people thinking that it may be suggesting that Harry and Louis had dated before the X Factor days. They were at the same Script concert, yes, but according to them, they didn’t know each other at that time. And if they had met and dated two years before the show, Harry would have been 14 and Louis would have been 17. I’m just not buying it.

The only clue I see is the ”one really cute couple.” That’s pretty much it. I really don’t think that One Direction is necessarily defined by their X Factor days (I know that’s how they began, but they didn’t actually win), and the blind is tagged as “television.” It’s true that the “Two Hotties Interested in One" blind was tagged as “television” as well, but that was long after it was posted, and may have been an attempt to throw us off. If anything, the rainbow of colors featured in the picture is making me think it’s Glee-related.

I’m not feeling this one, so let’s move on.

17. “Traveling In Different Directions“ - July 24th, 2013

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I am however, feeling this one. Ah, Ace. Could we get any more obvious? Some clues:

"Traveling In Different Directions,” “same direction”» One Direction

Two very prominent "1"s on road sign » One Direction

Salt Lake City on road sign » The following day, One Direction played at the Maverik Center, which is located in a suburb of none other than Salt Lake City

"boy banders" »Lest we forget “Boy Banders AreHiding A Secret!” (Also, none of the boy bands currently on tour have girlfriends who are publicized even nearly as much as Eleanor.)

“They won’t make it to the end of the year” » Reminiscent of "They Won’t Make It To Valentine’s Day" blind

There is no doubt in my mind that this is about One Direction. And since Zayn/Perrie were not traveling together (she left the USA just as 1D arrived) and Liam/Danielle were already broken up, Elounor is the last option left. This blind may as well already be solved.

18. “Winter Break” - July 29th, 2013

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This one is hilariously obvious as well. Ace is throwing us a lot of bones. The blind mentions “boy banders” right off the bat, and then goes on to pile on the hints:

“one of the boys,” “one of them,” “one prefers Speedos” » surprise, One Direction

“a bit more modest” “Forget modest!” » Modest! Management, anyone? With the exclamation point and everything!

It literally could not be more obvious, especially with Modest! thrown into the mix. There are also some speculations the fandom has made about which boy is which:

"one of them wants to hit the slopes” » Harry/Louis took a skiing holiday together back in 2011… Harry tweeted that Louis taught him to ski in Courchevel, so obviously Lou is pretty practiced at it

"the other wants to go to a beach” » Harry literally just said in a q&a on twitter on August 19th that he loves the ocean

“one prefers Speedos" » Let’s be honest, Harry’s never really been shy when it comes to showing off his undies (or what is under them) Here is a pic of Harry on the “pot yacht” for your viewing pleasure:image

"one prefers to be a bit more modest" » We have very few shirtless Louis pictures to speak of, at least in comparison to Harry. Here is a pic of him on the pot yacht as well. Spot the difference: image

If this blind is indeed legit, there is no doubt in my mind that it is about our dear Harry and Louis. The pieces fit perfectly, and the hints about an Elounor break-up are slowly but surely building up. Stay tuned!

19. “Ring Shopping” - August 16th, 2013

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So as it happens, Louis and Eleanor were spotted shopping together in Beverly Hills on August 13th, three days before this blind was posted. And it just so happens that they were photographed in what appears to be a jewelry store on Rodeo Drive.

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I heard many rumors about this picture: that it may have been photoshopped, that they were actually checking into a hotel, or that it was a Rolex store. I’m not sure how any of these theories check out, but either way, people were still freaking out like they always do. So yes, Ace. Of course it got our attention.

There are no wordplay clues in this blind to speak of. The only reason it immediately brings Elounor to mind is because it came three days after the picture was taken.

This blind just reinforces the fact that Ace is watching… Always watching.

20. “Third Time’s A Charm“ - August 21st, 2013

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I have to say that after making this masterpost, I saw this coming.

Ace has stopped using wordplay clues, and started giving it to us straight.

Forced Guy/Girlfriend » Liam/Danielle, as reported and solved in “Publicity Proposal Pending” blind

Ring Shopping Guy/Girlfriend » Louis/Eleanor, as hinted at in “Ring Shopping” blind

Now, the engaged couple is quite obviously Zayn and Perrie. Perrie was spotted with a diamond ring on her finger on August 20th at the This Is Us movie premiere. Sources report that Zayn had asked her the weekend before.

What this blind fails to do, however, is take us farther than that. We know that management was pushing for one of the boys to get engaged. What we don’t know is whether or not this one is a fake engagement.

Ace blatantly states that the Payzer engagement was for publicity, and that Louis/Eleanor are “definitely” not getting married. What Ace says about the newest engagement, however, is only that one of the boys "pulled off the engagement bit" and then goes on to say "Congratulations to the happy couple!”

To be honest, I am not sure where this leaves Zayn and Perrie. To me, it seems that Ace could be saying the two are genuinely and maybe even happily engaged, but that the union was sped up by managerial pressure. However, Ace could also be saying it’s all just another publicity stunt. (But if Ace wanted us to believe it was a publicity engagement, it begs the question: Why was neither Little Mix nor Perrie’s own celebrity image hinted at in the blind? A publicity engagement, after all, would benefit her as well.) We only got two sentences about the newest engagement that really only told us what we already knew. There is no mention of publicity, or the couple not being genuine, or the couple having problems. So what is Ace even trying to say here?

I think this blind was left open-ended for a reason. So let’s keep our eyes peeled for more info.

21. “Double Date Sleepover“ - September 3rd, 2013

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Okay, I literally don’t know why this was posted because there is nothing to figure out here. It’s common knowledge that Harry and Liam were offering an evening out in London to raise money for Trekstock for one fan and a friend. But Ace did throw in "best double date ever" as a hint just in case you didn’t get it. Sooo… blind solved! But will this lead to more? We’ll have to wait and see!

22. “Behind This Gorgeous Young Couple” - September 13th, 2013

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Never fear, Ace is here!! Here we have yet another BG clarification on the difference between real life and publicity.

On August 31, Harry and Cara Delevingne were spotted on a ”romantic theater date,” and reports are now circulating that they are dating and considering “getting serious.”

The photo is a nice starting point for a guess, because the girl is blonde, the guy is dark-haired, and let’s not forget how many pictures there are of Harry in that exact pose, giving a little side smooch to fans, bandmates, etc.!

There aren’t any wordplays in this blind that I can detect, but "hearts breaking all over the world,“ "cute young male performer" and "he has a lot more fans than she does" at least points toward Harry, before driving it home with the mention of "his famous relationship last year with that very pretty singer" and Ace wondering if he’s become a "better actor." This is, of course, a reference to the Haylor nightmare that began last December, and casts Taylor Swift as the "very pretty singer.”

A lot of gems can be found in the fourth paragraph. It makes sense that the two “don’t mind hanging out together,” because Cara and Harry have always got on pretty well. However, the jackpot is found in the mention of their respective reputations being boosted as “a desirable heterosexual celebrity.” Remember this?

If you’re unfamiliar with the above blind, last year there was heavy speculation that something saucy was going on behind the scenes with Cara (model) and Rita Ora (singer, UK).

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To sum things up, the answer Ace is looking for is clearly Harry, Cara, and Taylor Swift. I’m sure there will be more where this came from, so stay tuned.

23. “Faux Couple Photo“ - September 30th, 2013

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Ah, Ace. You never let me down.

So, as we all know, yesterday this photo was posted on Instagram by one waltermartinez3:

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This picture is of Paige Reifler, an aspiring “model” who’s been linked with Harry numerous times, and Harry, in a seemingly comprising position. I’m going to begin with my analysis of the blind. If you are unfamiliar with the background to this picture, please see the corresponding section below.

Beginning with wordplay clues:

"one thing that publicists never tire of” » Up All Night track, One Thing

"private moments” » What could be more private than closet canoodling? Also, could be a stretch, but let’s not forget that Moments is also a 1D song.

"the best staged photos,” “the best ones” » Best Song Ever

“one thing,” “best ones,” “the ones,” “one where” » One Direction (The overuse of “one” seems to be a favorite of Ace’s)

Now, for contextual clues:

The first hint we have is ”young male star on the floor, entangled with his girlfriend in a loving and 'spontaneous' embrace.” Harry matches this description, and he has certainly been linked to Paige enough in the past for her to qualify as his "girlfriend" to the ill-informed. And the embrace definitely does seem spontaneous… For poor Harry, at least, considering his defensive stance. Other (obvious) clues:

"faces cleverly obscured" » by the hanging shirts

his tattoo » Harry’s "Things I Can’t" tattoo is clearly visible on his left arm

Ace ends the blind in classic Ace-style, with yet another insinuation that Harry Styles’ straight, womanizing image isn’t who he really is:

"Are you buying the hetero image they are trying to give him? Well, you shouldn’t. Because the girl in the photo isn’t the true love of his life.”

This blind is tantalizingly specific in its clues, and it was posted within a mere 24 hours of the photo’s posting. Very few media sources picked up on it right away, but we were all anticipating something from BG. This tells us two things: 1) BG knows when to deliver and 2) Ace is always watching.

That’s all for now, but keep a wary eye on BG’s “Solved” section. You never know what might turn up.

BACKGROUND: Now, if you are unfamiliar with this series of unfortunate events, buckle in, because there is a lot to it. The guy that posted this picture, Walter Martinez, is one of Stephen Orso’s crew. If you’ll recall, back in late June/early July, Stephen Orso, Paige, and some friends met up with Harry in NJ. He gave them free tickets to his show and they proceeded to completely shit all over his generosity, taking a video of them in the audience pretending to sleep, filing their nails, and leaving early. Other things were revealed after the fact, such as the awful content of Stephen’s twitter. Harry then tweeted his infamous “You my friend, are not my kind of Pal” tweet. Basically, it was a huge mess for Harry. (You can read in detail about Harry’s first interaction with Stephen and his crew here.)

Now, as for the photo, this picture of Paige and Harry was posted to Stephen’s Instagram on June 30th. As you can see, their outfits are the same as the photo above. It’s definitely Paige, and it’s definitely Harry.

How do we know Stephen was involved in this Instagram pic? The asshole was tweeting the pic to TMZ down in the comments.

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Paige wasn’t having it, and commented the following:

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She later tweeted (her Twitter is private, or I would link it) “Revenge is childish. Hope you’re happy.“ So on Paige’s side, it was made out to be a big revenge plot.

As of now, the photo has been deleted from Instagram.

What I have presented above are just the basic facts of the situation. For more resources, check out gossipcandy.com.

You can also read a bit more about Paige here. In summary, she’s always looking for attention, and worst of all, she got what she wanted. Now that she’s been exposed, hopefully we’ll be seeing much less of her.

And that, my friends, concludes the background section. If you have any questions or need a clarification, feel free to message me.

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ACE’S ‘DARK’ PERIOD

These blinds get their own section because they demonstrate a complete turnaround in Ace, in both writing style and intention, that I am choosing to call Ace’s “dark” period. As of late, Ace has begun solving blinds dealing with very serious/sensitive content with no proof to back up his claims, and has targeted and attacked certain celebrities with absolutely no holds barred.

Brace yourselves, and let’s begin.

1. “Winter Break Is Going Downhill Fast” - October 15th, 2013

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Well, it had to happen eventually… Bad news blind. Let’s get to it. First, the wordplay clues:

“who don’t know what it is going on behind the scenes” » At first I thought this was a typo, but now I’m thinking it could very well be a hint at Louis’ “It is what it is” tattoo.

winter vacation » throwback to “Winter Break“ blind

"the first one,” “one of our boys” » One Direction, as per usual

Now, onto the context. First of all, Ace tells us that the couple’s relationship “has become increasingly difficult to manage.” Having followed their movements, there has been no visible change in behavior between Harry and Louis during these past few months that the fandom has observed. This is not to say there may not be trouble brewing behind the scenes, but I would think that if someone in the relationship truly did cheat, that kind of tension would certainly translate to the stage, subtly or not.

So, who is this other guy? Ace provides us with very few clues, besides the fact that he’s "not a member of the band" and "had a relationship with one of our boys." We also know that the lover scorned is not a big fan of this person, with Ace’s addition of ”Of all the people in the world, why did it have to be him?” at the end of the blind. The most popular guess so far among fans has been Nick Grimshaw. He does fit what Ace seems to be getting at, to a point; Nick and Harry did hang out a lot in the past/still do occasionally, and the media loves to label Nick "Harry’s bff" and speculate whether or not they’re in a some sort of secret relationship. However, Nick immediately coming to mind as the “other guy” in this blind is also due to timing. Earlier this month, Nick and Louis engaged in a bit of a Twitter war.

It began when Louis tweeted this:

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Nick then not-so-subtly commented the following on The Breakfast Show (credit to grincham-n-larry for the dialogue):

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Louis, seemingly having gotten wind of the comment, fired back with this equally not-so-subtle tweet:

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And Nick got sassy:

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It’s clear that Louis isn’t a big fan of Nick’s, which makes the Grims a likely contender for this blind. However, I’m not buying any of it. Why? This blind absolutely reeks of promotion. Not only does One Direction have a new album being released in November, the second season of “Sweat the Small Stuff,” a television program Nick is hosting, premiered on October 15th - the exact day of this blind.

Here are a few things we need to consider before we lend this blind any credibility whatsoever:

Assuming Nick is the “other guy” and even that Harry is the one that cheated is pure speculation. Ace did not give us any specific clues (which he certainly has in other blinds) to point to one or the other; this blind is open-ended. This probably means that we were meant to guess and make a fuss.

The lack of specifics in this blind could mean that the source was lacking in knowledge. The whole thing could easily be bullshit.

Promotion, promotion, promotion! As they say in showbiz, any promotion is good promotion. Ace is not immune to being fed false info, for promotional reasons or otherwise. True or false, BG’s blinds will still get hits.

Ace had implied that Eleanor will be gone soon, but now she is coming to Australia. This blind could be Ace’s way of covering up the fact that his prediction has yet to happen. (Credit to Lisa)

Also, keep in mind that One Direction just signed a new music contract and will most likely be dropping Modest! management when the (suspected) 3-year contract is up at the end of this year. With Harry’s “We don’t need no piece of paper from the city hall” tweet that spurred marriage rumors and the recent tension in the Twittersphere involving Louis’ family, Eleanor, etc., sending false info about cheating to Ace could be one last attempt by Modest! to push the heterosexual images they have worked so tirelessly over the years to perpetuate.

Just like any other blind, this one must be taken with a grain of salt. It is very generalized, and very open to interpretation. It was meant to get attention and it did.

As Ace has promised to “fill us in later,” keep an eye out for an update.

2. “Band Hotel Drama Part 1, 2, and 3" - October 16th, 2013

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After these blinds popped up, it certainly seemed like the “Winter Break Is Going Downhill Fast” blind had ushered in a new era of Blind Gossip that demonstrated a complete change in Ace. As I began to explain in the intro to this section, blinds began to be solved with absolutely no real proof (such as the Monchele scandal or the Jo Bros “Fake Bump” blind) and Ace’s writing style seemed to have changed. The writing even started getting a little sloppy - For example, Part 1 of this series originally had the “Two Guys who shared a room” bit attached to the bottom, when that blind hadn’t even begun to approach that particular topic. It was shortly removed.

But what is even stranger is that these blinds seem to have gotten their info from a rumor post on Tumblr… that went around in March. A Tumblr user (who has requested to remain anonymous) apparently had some personal connections that caused her to be privy to certain information about the boy’s stay in a hotel room in Cardiff, and she made a post about this information back in early March. (The boys were in Cardiff from March 1st-3rd, performing in four matinee performances - beginning with an opening show on Friday, two on Saturday, and ending with one final show on Sunday. {source} )

The original post (now deleted - if you have it on your blog, feel free to send it to me) about the Cardiff hotel incident contained the following info {credit to bromanceshmomance}:

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However, when all 3 of the blinds were released, it seems not everything matched up with what she had been told:

imageimageSo the coke clean-up was incredibly exaggerated (if it even happened in the first place), there were no fans outside, and no rooms were empty, contrary to what Ace claimed.

Now that we’ve covered the content, what about the writing style? There are very few wordplay clues - “one" is used a mere three times in total (one more story, one of the rooms, one bed) but it is not in the usual clever way; in fact, there’s really no other way to word these phrases, so they don’t even actually seem like clues. And that’s it. No other wordplay to speak of. Where is the clever wordsmith Ace, who planted hints in the text left and right, that we knew so well? This writing style just doesn’t match up with the other blinds - Even the “Winter Break Is Going Downhill Fast” blind had a few witty wordplays tossed in. Not to mention the complete lack of mentions of “boy band" that we’ve learned to expect. Hell, at this rate, looks like Ace might have picked up a coke habit too!

We don’t know if Ace found this post on Tumblr (which would be strange as the blogger informed me that it was untagged and hidden under a read more) or was sent some sort of tip about it (either from someone who read the post on Tumblr, or possibly someone who had firsthand knowledge of the incident, which honestly is pretty unlikely as it happened MONTHS ago). I honestly don’t know what to make of these blinds. It’s clear Ace wanted hits, and it’s clear he got them, but as to their credibility, I just really can’t say for sure. The timing is incredibly strange, the content even stranger, and there is absolutely zero concrete evidence. I’m just going to leave it at that.

2. “Backstage with Sniffy“ - November 4th, 2013

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*heavy sigh* Again, with the coke rumors.

Not much to this one, either. There are two references of “one” (one young singer and one of those fans), the reference of “in a private hotel room with friends” (probable throwback to the “Band Hotel Drama" series), and the picture of the very green, very Harry Styles-esque eyeball.

Upon first reading the blind, I immediately thought it was about Justin Bieber. But Ace clearly couldn’t have that, so he threw in the hint at the bottom that it was not the Biebs. The few clues we do have are at the very least pointing in Harry Styles’ general direction - Especially with the huge green eye staring you down.

However, I don’t give any of these blinds credence until I am presented with actual proof. (And I’m no drug expert, but I imagine a serious cocaine addiction would begin to show in Harry’s features/behavior on stage.) When Ace gets some actual evidence to support all these coke rumors, then we’ll talk. But for now, like any unsolved blind, it’s all up in the air.

NEW: Here’s an interesting theory by smokesandyou about Ace’s sudden personality shift, beginning with the “Winter Break Is Going Downhill Fast” blind all the way through “Backstage with Sniffy.”

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OTHER/MISCELLANEOUS

Blinds where Harry is mentioned:

The Seven Celebrity Dwarfs [Part 3] - August 23rd, 2013

Moody at the VMAs - August 26th, 2013

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Other past speculated blinds I did not analyze:

“Boy Bander Is Undecided“ - April 12th, 2012

This blind came shortly after “Boy Banders Are Hiding A Secret.”

“Beware of the Grouper” - April 23rd, 2012

Ish. My bets are on this being about someone from The Wanted. They’ve actually admitted to shit like this.

“Fake Relationship Starts Next Month“ - July 9th, 2012

This was speculated to be about Niall/Demi Lovato, but that ship never sailed!

“Pop Star Should Watch the Waistline” - October 2nd, 2012

Lol. Oh, Niall.

“Boy Bander Has A Secret Lover“ - December 3rd, 2012

I guess since the guy in the picture resembles Niall slightly, everyone thought this blind was about him? Who knows. If Niall was bedding a porn star back then, I’d give him props.

“Pop Star Can’t Decide” - April 8th, 2013

This one is much too general to properly analyze, but I’m including it because the source is listed as the Daily Mirror (of UK origin), which led to many people guessing the 1D boys.

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So there you have it, folks! Keep an eye out for future updates. And if you have questions, comments, or want to submit a blind for analysis, feel free to message me!

xoxo, sweetenoughandfaraway

#blind gossip

23 notes · View notes

luck-13 · 7 years ago

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Thank you so much for all the information.I knew about the director, but not about Christa Winsloe, who wrote the original play, or the fact that the writer was a lesbian. I will look for your blog, as I am interested in learning more about this film. I really appreciate if you recommend readings related to Winsloe's lesbianism and the fact that her play was inspired by her own life. Also, When the play was first published and whether there is any translation of it into English. I am sorry, if I am asking much, but I am really interested to read more. I watched this movie 11 years ago, and rewatched it recently. I wonder why I couldn't see how special it was before. I also wonder if it was inspired by Clemence Dane's novel, Regiment of Women (1917), or maybe vice versa, in case that the original play was published before 1917? I see much similarity between the two story-lines, and scenes, and characters, though the essence of the love relationship between the pupil and the teacher is completely different in these two works, as in Regiment it is manipulative, abusive, and non-mutual. Have you read Regiment, or any article discussing the connection between the two works? I also love the music so much. One of my all time favorites, or maybe the best. I never get tired of watching your video. :)

(Source: another comment to my video (Mutual Love at First Sight - Mädchen in Uniform https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bJVYYV3dLE) by Xena Gabrirlle.)

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Hello again :D

At first, sorry, the title of the book in German is Das Mädchen Manuela, and this is the tag on dorothea-wieck but the link in description is correct.

Warning. The answer is very long, and it's muuuuch longer than I thought. I suppose, no complains from both sides (my writing and your reading of this is/will be enjoyable.) Mädchen in Uniform is my yyyeeess, but Christa Winsloe /with or without MiU is so much yes.

Also, sorry for the long links, but I think about shitty redirecting which Tumblr uses and if it's wrong all the links are not links.

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Yes, I can recommend you something. I'm one of lucky owners of Christa Winsloe's autobiography, but it's in German. (I have almost no German, but I've read a little with 100% help of Google translate and some other sites.) You can be a lucky owner too. eBay has the best variants to chose from, so search for Auto-Biographie und andere Feuilletons. (Yes, it's also about Christa's love of cars.)

Also, I would recommend Christa's (semi?)-autobiographical book Girl Alone about her lesbianism (including a way of finding her real lesbian self *(me) waving by pride flag*), but Amazon has no copies *Whyyyyy??? T_T* If I'm not mistaken it's in English originally (!!!). Winsloe was giving English lessons in her early 20's, so I think writing in English was easy for her.

SEARCH HERE: www.amazon.com/GIRL-ALONE-Christa-Winsloe/dp/B006G3YZB0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530739149&sr=8-1&keywords=Girl+Alone+Christa+Winsloe

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NOW, ARTICLES (not too much details, or it will be endless):

1) "The fact that her play was inspired by her own life."

Hertha Thiele's (Manuela) interview with a little bit about Christa. The article starts with info about the film, about Thiele & some info from two interviewers about Thiele's opinion on MiU, etc.

It has my most favourite Christa's quote (the only one known apart from what she wrote???) This is also about me. "The experience (life at boarding school Stift) is one which I had to write from my heart."

tlweb.latrobe.edu.au/humanities/screeningthepast/reruns/thiele.html

2) It was found via Tumblr. How first of two known Christa's partners/lovers/girlfriend's, Dorothy Thompson fell in love with Christa Winsloe and about their relationship. That Fateful Christmas, 1932 (my title.) There's also a few pictures with Christa. However, her portrait with autograph (!!!) is on another site too. I've found the photo a few years ago via Google, but source was different.

http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2012/12/dorothy-thompson-and-sinclair-lewis.html

3) Yesss, the photo with autograph is part of short biography in German

http://www.fembio.org/biographie.php/frau/biographie/christa-winsloe/

4) A little bit similar to #2. This is where I found my most favourite Christa's photo which is profile picture on YouTube.

http://thisrecording.com/today/2014/7/10/in-which-dorothy-thompson-could-not-forget-vienna.html

5) I suppose I stumbled upon this article long ago, but I don't remember reading it. At least, I remember this user. https://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/2112318.html

!!!!!! 6) There somewhere were 2 parts of a very rare article. . . I have to find the parts again . . .

Yesss, Google search querie Christa Winsloe Erika Mann (the last played Fräulen von Attems who taught girls how to play in 1931 movie version) gave what we need, but the second part.

Title: Maedchen in Uniform. From repressive tolerance to erotic liberation. Author: B. Ruby Rich

So, here are both parts:

https://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC24-25folder/MaedchenUniform.html

https://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC24-25folder/MaedchenUniform2.html

7) Oh, and don't forget to read Wikipedia (Christa and MiU):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christa_Winsloe

German version is probably more detailed, but (I forgot to mention) it has Christa "Kate" Winsloe. LOL, Käte is Manuelas Mutter in the book. Therefore Christa made part of herself related to Manuela through mother. (I can talk about this and other similar "coincidences" forever, just ask for more.)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mädchen_in_Uniform

Articles found after "asking" Google. I've never read them before or completely now.

8) Mostly about Christa + MiU, and a little about a few years after.

http://www.lesbengeschichte.de/Englisch/bio_winsloe_e.html

9) The movie (and the book) is based on the play "Gestern und heute" (Yesterday and Today). Something about it (15 pages).

https://www.academia.edu/1780103/_Yesterday_and_or_Today_Time_History_and_Desire_in_Christa_Winsloe_s_Mädchen_in_Uniform_._In_German_Life_and_Letters_65_2012_457-471

There are much more (something new, not repetitions), I suppose. You can simply search Christa Winsloe on Google, but I think this long list is enough.

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"When the play was first published and whether there is any translation of it into English."

Going back to article #1, "Winsloe was a lesbian. She wasn't even sixteen when she married Baron von Hadvany (There's an) - the marriage only lasted two or three days, yet they both remained in contact for a long time. I met the Baron shortly before Christmas in 1930 on the occasion of the Leipzig theatre premier of Rittner Nerestan (which I later called Gestern und heute - Yesterday and today)."

Sorry, I don't remember where I read it, but I distinctly remember that the first version of the book (Rittner Nerestan, as we can say judging by Thiele's words) had been written during Christa Winsloe's marriage.

Somehow another articles says that Christa had been married for years. In one article was info that she left Ludwig von Hatwany and moved ??? (place was mentioned). Anyway, I suppose the info that ex-husband helped Christa by money is true. Christa is a great sculptor and artist (drawings), so I'd like to use second part of a pun found on Tumblr (about her marriage). "The details are sketchy."

Christa was born on 23.12.1888, so she turned 16 in 1904. Therefore, according Hertha Thiele this can be the year.

However, the play on the stage was in 1930 (because it was a year before the movie), and final version was probably written in 1933 as Amazon says https://www.amazon.de/Das-Mädchen-Manuela-»Mädchen-Uniform«/dp/3861995387 Despite of this, my memory gives 1932 as the year. Maybe it's just the difference between finished book and publication.

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The book yes, is translated, but I have no idea if the first play survived ever the way as it was in German.

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"I am sorry, if I am asking much." LOL, don't be sorry, another Christa's new fan. Honestly, because of my habit of trying to talk (to almost everybody who asking/commenting about MiU which has happened rarely) about Christa, I suppose there are ~5 of females who became her fans, and you are the 6th :D

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"I watched this movie 11 years ago, and rewatched it recently." Wow, 2007??? You were lucky.

I watched it on 11.24.2011 only because I wanted to watch teacher/pupil, but couldn't believe this was possible. Then I found MiU on one of the lists on Wikipedia (lesbian movies, not LGBT ones, I'm sure). Happily, it's not tragedy, so I decided to watch.

I've watched parts too many times to count, and even listened to parts as audio. German pronunciation is sooooo beautiful.

" . . . and rewatched it recently. I wonder why I couldn't see how special it was before."

Agree 100% with part since "how". The reason why MiU is special for me is it's higher rated, boarding school-included (instead of public one), more emotional (Manuela's part before she tried to end her life) version of my since 11 to 13 y.o. past.

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"I also wonder if it was inspired by Clemence Dane's novel, Regiment of Women (1917), or maybe vice versa, in case that the original play was published before 1917?"

Hmmm . . . We both have no idea now. If Hertha were right, The play was written in 1914, so . . . maybe?

Honestly, I haven't even heard about this book. BUT it's seems like a challenge forms to try to turn "manipulative, abusive, and non-mutual" relationship into completely opposite. *rubbing hands in anticipation*

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regiment_of_Women Ooooh YES, yes, yes, this book is very similar to MiU, and now I have some ideas even before reading. Thanks :DDD

● Update: YAY, I’ve found Regiment of Women by Clemence Dane on Play Books (complete and free), thanks to gutenberg.org 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁 (This is also a separate post with main tag #XenaGabrielleAsk)

Also, I've found (accidentally) own post and your mentioning the book probably solves the mystery I've been unable to solve until now. Manuela is in love with the Headmistress??? Yes, you read these words exactly. (Sorry, my English wasn't good then, and I can't correct the post :( ) http://dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com/post/58436934031 (Whole part of an article with my comments.)

ALSO, later update: http://middleagedwomen-curves.tumblr.com/tagged/tell-me-your-story/chrono It's females' stories about their crush/love, and a lot are teachers ❤ It's sooo interesting and also some can be used as ideas.

Ooooh, thanks to Instagram there are some similar great pictures, but Google found one as text also. Imagine Fräulein von Bernburg's doing this to Manuela. "Before you kiss a girlーgrab her waist, pull her closer to your body, look into her eyes, look at her lips while you're biting yours look back at her eyes again, grab her face gently, then slowly lean in and kiss her. It'll drive her crazy, I promise.

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Since you're MiU fan, I can recommend you something better than a manipulative teacher.

1) Have you watched Cracks? LOL, I have a blog about this too (but it hasn't been updated for a number of years.) http://cracks2009.tumblr.com No spoilers, except I'm 1000% sure main girl will never abandon her dearest teacher. Also, it's based on a book by Sheila Kohler. My long search gave nothing, so I had to buy this book. Somehow, eBay had a cheap brand new one.

2) How about Loving Annabelle? The info everywhere is that it's ~ based on/similar to/remake of MiU 1958, but nothing about 1931 version *angry* But it has some wonderful f/f scenes :DDD Alternative end is the only reason for YES, instead of *why the Hell it ended this way?*

3) Bloomington is about a student and college teacher, but it has f/m in between because of almost "I hate you" (not at the same time), and split up in the end :(

4) Olivia, 1951? It starts almost like MiU when main character is a new pupil at boarding school. BUT no teacher/pupil kiss, only pupil/pupil. However, the girl loved her teacher so much, and was looking at her (when she was reading to the girls) almost like Manuela.

I watched it once in 2012? (and maybe rewatched lesbian parts later), but it's what I remember about lesbianism there.

● Update 5) I've found a post here on Tumblr and remembered Matilda by Roald Dahl Great Children's book. There's also movie, but I've not watched it completely yet. (No spoilers, if you don't know, but it's the happiest ending of sll teacher/ pupil f/f if a few I've ever read or watched.)

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"I also love the music so much. One of my all time favorites, or maybe the best."

YES?! YES? I thought of commenting that it's probably my most favourite classical piece. GREAT.

● Update: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZdiY1pTaR4 is the video the music is from.

Aaaand: https://dorothy-zbornak.tumblr.com/post/57970831013 This is version as a song in Polish :D I added original lyrics and translated it in English (I understand all (except one line) finally.)

Oh, also there were periods in the past (during a few years until a couple of years ago) when I listened to song version many times + music version too (but much less times) on repeat and am listening now too *happy*

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"I never get tired of watching your video. :)"

THANKS. I tried (but there's one grammatical error, unfortunately).

I thought I did it in another video, but this one has it more than one timeーlonger kiss.

Part from Hertha's interview, "When the film went to Romania, a letter came from the distributors there, asking `Please, twenty more metres of kissing'." I wanted this too, since the moment I'd read these words, and I found a way (not 100% realistic as it's clearly a freeze frame at least one time, but yes, it IS longer.)

You can look for more MiU-related videos on my channel. I have some fan-fictions/drabbles about Elisabeth (von Bernburg)/Manuela too.

http://dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com/tagged/fanfiction (there are some that aren't mine, though), but I can look and give link to each if you need.

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Oooh, have you ever watched Anna and Elisabeth? The same Wieck and Thiele as lead characters. My 2nd of top 3 lesbian films (and I wrote fan-fictions too; because these two must be happy together as characters).

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● Update: The end of your first comment, "the maker/director was a woman and as some scholars suggenst probably a lesbian herself." I forgot about it/forgot to comment. Yes, you're right about Leontine Sagan (Schlesinger // Wikipedia confirmed I remember right.) I read about it somewhere. Also, she played everybody's favourite E.v.B on stage. There are 2 posts from her book Light and Shadows (bought and upload by a girl from East Russia.) http://dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com/post/114300921565 http://dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com/post/114397860189

She's much better looking than masculine 50 y.o. Meltzer? in the very first version in 1930 on stage in Leipzig (Hertha Thiele was chosen by Christa Winsloe for stage, and for the movie probably too, but there were many girls who tried, so Thiele wasn't sure (she would be chosen for the movie too).

I don't know if I'm the one, but Sagan as Bernburg look like combination of Dorothea Wieck and Christa Winsloe (oh, the director of the movie playing E.v.B. on stage look like E.v.B. in the movie + MiU's author). Great.

Also, once I went a little too far and . . . (AU visual story (with terrible proportions due inability to correctly combine wide-height of original and new part(s)) based on Thiele's interview) http://dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com/post/87629548774

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Hope we'll talk more soon.

You can send me an ask (but it won't allow much of a text) http://dorothy-zbornak.tumblr.com/ask, or send a submission (longer) on dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com (I made ability to submit only there), but it will be answered on dorothy-zbornak.

If you have any better ways, I'm ready to think about any.l

#XenaGabrielleAsk #ask

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the-foxwolf · 7 years ago

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A Treatise on the Mediums of Magic Story Conveyance

I have returned with a Treatise to start off the new year! It’s good to be back. I’ve been quiet for a while, but the wait is over. I’ve graduated from Texas A&M University.

This time, I’ve brought a little bit of a different type of article for yall. Normally, I focus on Character Development or Story Progression. But today I’m going to talk about something just as important, if not- dare I say it- more so. The conveyance of the Magic Story is just as important as the story itself. What’s the point of having a great story if no one’s around to enjoy it? How a story is conveyed is vital to the survival and value of the story itself. So today, I’m doing to talk about the different mediums of Magic Story’s conveyance.

Gather `Round! It’s Story Telling Time!

Introduction

Magic: The Gathering brings people together. Cliché, I know. But it’s true. It gathers people around to play a game. And in some cases, it gathers people around to talk about the characters in said game. That’s the nice thing about Magic. You don’t have to pick and choose. Recently there has been a lot of effort to marry the story with the cards. I think it’s really showing. These days, whenever the topic of Liliana comes up (and around me, it comes up a lot) lots of people, regardless of their gender, know her only for her looks. But when they see “Oath of Liliana” or “Liliana, Death’s Majesty” or “Dramatic Reversal”, they start to wonder. Inevitably, someone makes the mistake of saying something along the lines of: “Did she change her dress?” “What’s she doing in the desert?” “What’s that thing on her head?” “Wait, is she a good guy?”

*shakes head*

The poor fools never see it coming... Their innocent little question reveals a passion that usually ends with people coming over to my place to play Commander or with them wanting to ask and learn more about the other characters and the other worlds. Most of the time, it’s both. So let’s talk, then, about that fun stuff that brings us all together beyond just the gameplay itself. Let’s talk about the mediums of Magic Story conveyance.

The Art

The biggest way for the masses to receive the Magic Story is through the art. It’s literally a single glance’s worth of effort and the information it conveys is expressed in ways that our human brains have mastered recognizing throughout our existence. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and I think that it’s a true statement. Our brains are literally hardwired to take a single glance at something and assess its threat potential. Imagine two glances. Imagine how much you can learn while hold that glance, captured onto a piece of cardboard, and holding it in your hand for several minutes at a time. It’s basic psychology. Art is the quickest form of information distribution possible.

I’ll try and stay on topic and only discuss Story, but we have to at least acknowledge the truth: Brand Recognition Is A Thing. And Art, obviously, is key to that. Tell me honestly. Who can forget the brand of Shaving Cream Dotson used in Jurrasic Park (the first one) to ship the dinosaur embryos? I can’t. Shoot, I use it two to three times a week. But enough of that. Returning to the subject.

Let’s take a moment to illustrate the value of art in Story Distribution. When you look at the following image, what do you learn about the Magic Story?

Chandra is involved in the act of hugging someone

The expression on Chandra’s face is one we rarely see in other art, indicating that whoever this person is, that they’re privy to the deeper and more intimate parts of Chandra’s life.

Judging from the appearances, the person Chandra is hugging is in an age range that would place her in the approximate age range of what we expect Chandra’s mother to be.

This older person has tears rolling down her face, but her expression is not one clearly indicative of anger or sadness or pain- all of which have very recognizable features.

Judging from the art alone, and these four features by themselves, a casual observer could easily come to the conclusion that these two are possibly mother and daughter reunited. From the art alone. Yes, there are other things it can be. But this exercise is meant to illustrate the value of art in Story Telling. No matter your perspective, you would be hard pressed to argue that this image doesn’t evoke the words “loved one” and “reunion”.

The Flavor Text

Another big player in Story Distribution is “Flavor Text”. “Flavor Text” is a term that has been appropriated by gaming culture as a whole. Every game that I’ve played that involves a sentence or two of story revelation on a card refers to that little blurb as “Flavor Text”. Agricola. Terraforming Mars. Arkham Horror. So many games that use small bits of text that reveal story information call them “Flavor Text”. So it should come as no surprise to any of you when I say that Flavor Text is one of the biggest means of story distribution. If you were to take the entirety of the Shadows over Innistrad and Eldritch Moon flavor texts, you would be able to read a story almost as detailed as someone who actually read the weekly releases.

To say that Flavor Text plays a big role in Story Distribution would be an understatement. While the art is unavoidable because it occupies half of the card itself, the text box occupies the other half, where you would find the Flavor Text. A clever scheme that makes it practically impossible to play Magic without getting at least SOME exposure to the story itself.

As before, let’s do an exercise to illustrate the value of Flavor Text. Look at this screenshot of the Flavor Text. What do you learn?

Whoever this text is referring to is involved in an embrace, in a hug.

The term “their” implies that there are two people involved in this reference, as opposed to a single person hugging a non-person entity. This isn’t definite, as there are circumstances where the term might be interpreted differently. But to a casual observer, the term “their” used in this context, would lead the casual observer to believe there are two or more people involved in whatever it is that is being reference by this text.

Whoever, or whatever, it is that is embracing has been separated from the embraced by great lengths of time

Whoever, or whatever, it is that is embracing has been separated from the embraced by enormous spans of space, or even dimensions.

The embrace involved in whatever this text is referring to is one of great intensity and possibly emotion.

The term “collapse” implies that there were barriers or walls constructed between the relationship of the two.

This flavor text alone gives us an understanding of: “At least two things are hugging. These two things have been separated by time and distance for a long time. They’ve met up at last.” I find it hard to believe anything could imagine themselves successfully arguing with me on at least that much.

The Card Names

Naturally, names also play a vital role in Story Distribution. Names are the words by which people refer to cards to one another. Sometimes, even parts of names can be enough to depict to another player what card is being referred to. Let’s illustrate. Pay attention what comes to mind when you read the following names?

You know exactly what I’m talking about. The fact that there have been several versions of Liliana doesn’t matter. The fact is that by simply saying: “Lili”, every single person I know who has played Magic for any amount of time knows that I am referring to Liliana of the Veil in particular. I concede that you can argue that’s just bias because of who I am. But the truth still applies to all the other words. In Commander, I literally only need to say the word “Path” and they know to start looking for a Basic Land. I can see my friend Austin reeling at the very mention of the word “Delver”.

Why is that? Here’s why. Because humans categorize things along lines of thought. Tags and labels, just as on Tumblr, define how humans remember things. You ever heard the meme that jokes that people can remember all the Kanto Region Pokemon better than the Periodic Table? There are SOOOOO many reasons. Pokémon names have memories, and art, and behavior, and sound, and so many more labels to attach to it. How are people supposed to remember the Atomic number of Francium when they’ve never even seen it? Just numbers and letters.

But in Magic, the name of a card carries with it so much information. Let me give you a painful one here.

How many memories of Magic Story came to mind? The image of Sorin umaking Avacyn, an expression of pain on his face. Those thoughts then lead into the memory that Sorin created Avacyn. That Avacyn went mad. That Emrakul is to blame for the loss of so much we loved. And so much more. All the battles you’ve played when your plans get ruined by a well timed Anguished Unmaking come to mind. The times when you top-decked it when you needed it most. ALL OF THESE MEMORIES....

I brought these back to you with two simple words.

Names are powerful entities. Let’s illustrate now using a Magic Card, to recall the value of names as methods of Story Distribution.

The definition of the term “Cathartic” is: an attribute that induces catharsis. “Catharsis” is defined as: “A release of emotional tension after an overwhelming vicarious experience, resulting in the purging or purification of the emotions.”

The definition of the term “Reunion” is defined as the act of “Reunite”, a term which is defined as: “To unite again”.

You cannot, I don’t care how stubborn you are, argue to me that this title doesn’t express that some kind of emotional reunion is happening.

Story Spotlights

Another way that the cards themselves can carry story heavy relevance cards is by the Story Spotlights. The Planeswalker sigil I used as the introductory image to this article.

In my opinion, it wasn’t until Ixalan that they truly started nailing the Story Spotlights correctly. Early on, they made mistakes believing that only Rares could have the Spotlight. They fixed that in Amonkhet. But I don’t feel like they finally nailed it until Ixalan. If I were to take all five of the Story Spotlights, I should see all the beats of the story. If rumors I’ve heard are true, that they’re going to start putting numbers on the Story Spotlights, then that’ll be a snipe-shot direct into everything a Story Spotlight needs. Even as it is, it’s doing a great job. Wizards, or at the very least Rosewater, has talked about how Cathartic Reunion should have been a Story Spotlight. But that was during a time when the idea was young and unexplored. But, if they could go back, I’m certain they would mark it as one.

Official Literature

Then of course we come at last to the most direct medium of story telling that Magic currently employs, their official literature. These days, that refers to the Short Stories they produce every Wednesday for most of the year. Here, we receive all the juicy little nuggets our fandom loves to talk, share, discuss, and rave about. I mean... their official literature is....like...Literally. Telling. Stories. So... yeah. It counts as a story telling medium.

Conclusion

Thank you all for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, hit that “Like” button for me. For more from me at Story Telling Time, hit that “Follow” button. Feel free to open up discussion on the reposts. Hit up my inbox. Or just shoot me a chat. I’m happy to interact with yall.

If yall would like for me to tag you in future Treatises, let me know in the “Replies” section and I’ll add you to my Mention List. Unless told otherwise, I’ll use the current Mention List and any requests I get in all my future Treatises.

If you’ve been tagged, it’s because you’ve been tagged before or have requested to be tagged. Please let me know if you’d like me to remove your tag from the list.

@askkrenko @foilmountain @vorthosthewillis @vorthosjay @actualborossoldier @unexpected-phyrexian @nantukohunk @gatewatch-central @sarkhan-vol @sheoldredsecrets @flavoracle @kytheon-hero-of-akros @chelsea-beleren-vess @hopelessly-vorthosian @magic--the--memeing @mtgfan @the-gitgud-toad @jori-en-ruin-diver @yawgmoth-lord-of-sin @bobstropajo @obi-one-drop @odric-master-swagtician @zomburai @baldore-of-the-boros @klarel25 @brandnewera @brandychan @animar-smol-of-elephants @commandtower-solring-go @commandtower @hereitsallalright @ecurps @iamafireplace @mazes-end @augur-of-colas @avacyntheangelofhope @wizardsmagic @elspethknighterrant @arkouchie @god-pharaoh-greg @teanecromancer @jedimb @luckystampede @hanzo-kirishima @kreetn @death-burst @livefromtheloam @perpetuallyfallingover @shorewall @kefnut-the-threski @thescorpiongod @the-nerdy-necromancer @pepperapb

See yall next time!

#treatise #premiere article #special issue #mtg #magic story #storytellingtime #story telling time #premiere issue

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cullinankatsudon · 7 years ago

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Let’s get super damn real about representation/education and coded protection

So this is a series of asks I just got, which is actually one ask, which I can’t answer publicly without only answering one, so I just screenshot the whole mess and now I’m “answering” by using this as a jumping off point and going from here. And when I say GOING I mean fucking going, because JFC do I have some goddamned thoughts. There is so much to unpack here, both the stuff said and the stuff which is unsaid, which the asker may or may not have been thinking, but I know other people are so I’m just going to say it and everyone can either listen or leave. I don’t really care. The title of the blog is Just Here For The Ships and it is true. Please skip this and go back to the pics of Victuuri being awesome if you like.

I am not 24. I am 44. I am the author to over 25 published novels of LGBTQIA romance, many of which have won awards and have been translated into...I’ve lost count of the languages. Like, five? Lots. I’m not Big Shit but I’m not some peon who doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I write about sex, though, and sensuality. I have written an asexual romance, and BDSM romances, and moderately sexual romances, and a romance with an autistic hero, several with heroes with anxiety/depression, May/December relationships, and a great number of new adult novels, which is basically the next step away from young adult, and often features 18yos so basically I write, often, teenagers having sex. And as I have said, I am 44, so I guess from the perspective of a 24 year old I am an ancient old creaky person perving like fuck. But we will cover this more in a moment.

I am also by identification a queer woman. No one has any right to that information whatsoever, it is none of your business. But I am public about it and I volunteer it for a specific reason which I will also underline later in this conversation. Now to the answer to the ask.

The incredibly short answer to this ask is, if you don’t like what other people are doing, don’t look at it. Don’t read their shit, don’t read their blogs, don’t engage. I keep quoting @fencer-x in this discussion because her opinions and mine align, and I respect her way of dealing with frustrating topics: she blocks people when she knows their views and hers clash and interactions with them will only make her angry/frustrated. My god, what an adult reaction. She doesn’t chase people down and harass them (not adult). She simply says, “This will make me ranty. I’m going to end this before it can start and go on with my happy ways.” Incredibly proactive because she has high-volume interaction on Tumblr.

But this ask isn’t a harassment, it’s an honest ask: why would an adult want to read about two teenagers having sex. I find it a frustrating ask, but I’ll honor it because I’m in a waiting-for-email loop and anyway, I’ve been seeing this go by my feed for months, Fencer keeps hammering at it and why should she have to keep saying the same thing? I’ll take an axe swing for the team. Just be ready because I am here with some fucking receipts.

Answer A: Assuming that adults people are reading about teenagers having sex because they are getting off is incredibly juvenile and reveals shallowness of comprehension of literature in general.

I don’t have hard sales on YA romance in front of me, but I’m a member of Romance Writers of America and could probably get it pretty quickly with a few emails; what I do know is that YA romance is doing fine, more than, and it’s not being read by only teens and whatever magical cut off is considered not-gross in legal adulthood. I don’t have any comprehension over what moment that is, when an adult human becomes old enough and now reading about teenagers is gross--is it simply always someone younger? Am I not allowed to read about thirty-year-olds fucking?--but whatever this is, I don’t care, because I don’t subscribe to it, largely because I know that readers of romance in general but especially young adult romance are rarely reading for sex alone. There are some people, yes. There’s nothing wrong with those choices, but they’re rare in any event, and we’re not talking about them yet.

My new adult novels, however, while they are read by some college age people and some high school students, are largely read by adults, many of them my age or older. For the queer identifying reader especially, the books featuring young protagonists starting out in life often move them to write me passionate letters which in turn make me cry. But the heterosexual readers will often feel just as strongly.

Why? Because it will possibly surprise (or depress?) a number of twenty somethings to discover that when people hit their thirties or especially forties/fifties, they look back at their twenties/youth and feel nostalgia, regret, and sadness over possibilities lost, time slipped away, and in the case of many women and queer youth, opportunities never granted. For many bi/pan people in particular of my generation, we quietly slipped into a heteronormative path because it seemed like the only choice, and while we may have made happy marriages, there are parts of our selves which never got to see the light of day, and that hurts. These books, these explorations, are ways to have those moments.

Writing fiction is an even more empowering way to explore those same themes--and not everyone wants the hell of chasing down a publishing career, so fan fiction is a nice alternative.

Perhaps you’re about to say, “But Heidi, those straight women are FETISHIZING!!!!!!!!” Oh, sure, maybe some are? I don’t know. I imagine you’d like to point them out to me? I suspect you have a list prepared. I bet you know who alllll those bitches are, eh?

Let me tell you a story.

In the publishing world, people do the same thing. Readers and published authors alike loooove to play that game, imagining who is entitled to do what, and every so often someone decides to go on a witch hunt. Now sometimes there are truly people who have been deceiving others and the betrayals are horrible to see unfold, and they always break the community. And then sometimes--several times in my tenure--I have watched people go after “straight” women who have “dared” to step wrongly in queer romance...and all the while I have known that these women are in fact not straight, but rather are simply not out. I have done what I can to help, but there isn’t much to do, except that I keep a list--a real list--of the people carrying torches and I do not engage, do not highlight, do not give oxygen in any form, ever. So be very careful when you make your judgments of shippers FETISHIZING!!!!!!!! because you might be completely wrong, even if the bio on that person’s blog says they’re straight. If you don’t like what someone is doing, you should probably take Fencer’s approach and simply block them.

One of the reasons I am out--though only one--is because it is more uncomfortable for me to think about being jumped by assholes from my own team wanting to accuse me of appropriation than it is being accosted by an antigay bigot. I would like you to think about that for a long time before you ever approach someone about being allegedly straight.

But even the straight shippers have plenty of agency to enjoy writing about teenagers having a relationship which may include sex. That brings us to the next answer, though.

Answer B: women have a lot of unpacking to do in this damn world about sex, and in nearly every culture they are saying, over and over, romance between male same sex pairings helps them do this work. Including young pairings.

This answer comes with a ton of controversy and has taken me eight years of being published to come up with, and my way of speaking to it is ever evolving. While it is true that I have many gay male readers and nonbinary readers for my books which are largely about gay males falling in love, I also have many female readers of all orientation, though a large chunk of those are straight. This phenomenon has been the butt of jokes and point of ire depending on who is writing the article or asking me questions over my years as an author.

This is a whole other essay, gnarly and deep, but the main gist is that women’s sexuality is so fraught and politicized that many women--worldwide, across cultures--feel more comfortable exploring issues about sexuality when the pairing is between two men than a woman and a man or two women. Now: personally, I want us to move beyond this and evolve, to move to two women as well as two men, to add in some heterosexual pairings but have the man be different as part of a trope--but we aren’t there yet, clearly, for so many reasons. I think it’s important we keep pushing and trying, but it’s going to have to evolve there, not be shamed there or rammed there.

We have a patriarchal culture; it’s no surprise that to undo this women pit two men against one another and attempt to undo the power structure by domesticating it, by rewriting it (literally), by remixing it on their own terms. Now--speaking as a queer woman, I do think we must, especially when writing gay men, be respectful and be aware we are writing about a marginalized group. However, this is a marginalized group writing about a marginalized group--women/gay men--and especially if the pairing is about white men, it’s an even power match. Gay white men in fact can seize more power than white women, if they want it--they must deny their orientation, but the choice is there.

It’s true that women writing about gay men can and have been sloppy, that descent into rape fantasy and feminization harm the relationship between gay men and women of any orientation. It’s also true that there are gay men quietly reading those same tropes the same way women in the 70s and 80s read rape fantasy and rescue fantasy in romance as part of their own evolution to claiming power (and yes, that is a thing).

But wait, Heidi, you say, what the hell does this have to do with teenagers having sex?

Plenty.

Because we’re talking specifically about Otayuri, yes? Yurio having sex with Otabek, who is not an adult, but is for some reason to some people, and we’re talking about adults reading about this. They are a gay pairing. And unlike Victuuri, they are not canon, not yet, maybe not ever, and this is very important right now, because there is more power in a non canon ship when you are writing them yourself, because you are creating the link. When you write Victuuri you’re celebrating a couple the creators literally put rings on. When you write Sterek or Sheith or anyone else who is not in their actual fictional show a couple, and when you are taking straight men and queering them up in a pairing, you are claiming power. I don’t care what your orientation is. You are taking a big dildo and aiming at the patriarchal system of the world through fiction and you are saying, “I am going to fuck with this, literally.”

To do that with young men is another statement on top of that. I don’t know, do people bitch about Sterek? Are there people freaking out about TEEN WOLF, TEEN Sterek and the older guy, the mentor, the adult graduate jailbaiter who gets shipped with him? I don’t have a problem with it at all, but if you want to go legally by the show, those are the terms. Why do people do it? Because there’s something in that power play that speaks to them. Something specific about Styles, who appears weak and young and vulnerable, and Derek, who is older and powerful but has a vulnerable side.

Derek is the patriarchy, and Styles is how you bring him down. It’s more complicated than that, nobody thinks like that, but if you want to get deep as fuck with it, and I do, that’s what’s happening, and why it’s important. Styles is a kid, technically. As an actor I get that he’s an adult. Maybe that’s why there’s no freak out?

Okay let’s go to Sheith. Shiro is 24 and Keith is 18. Legit no legal issues here, plus they’re in space and in the future, but still youth is on board, and we have an age difference. Age differences are powerful. May/December is a thing and they’re heady in gay romance. Boy do people love the idea of a younger man bringing an older man to heel through love. This is not May/December, 24/18, but that age gap is enough to make people feel the pull, and the power dynamic is another. Shiro is the leader. Patriarchy. Keith is the feisty underling. You want to know why that ship is hot? That right there. Staid patriarchy needing feisty youngling to fuck it from underneath and get it to unlace.

You want to know why gay romance is so alluring, why people love gay ships, especially with straight characters? Because we are so goddamned desperate to change our culture and it won’t change and we don’t know how to do it and we feel like we have no power, and materially we don’t have a ton, but what we do have are these stories and a few hours a night to read or write subversive literature.

So I did everyone but Yurio. Let’s talk about Yuri P. Yurio is fifteen, a baby, a precious baby. He is not a baby. He tells you over and over he is an ice tiger. He got an upgrade in the BD where he explained how he wanted to dress himself and do his own music and he got his friend boyfriend to help him get dressed and pick a song and choreograph a new skate overnight, and then when he saw Victuuri was going to one-up him he came up with something to top them on the fly and it was hot and sexual and not at all contrived. The boy bled sex all over the ice, and if he had skated that routine up against Eros and Chris’s ass grab he would have won the competition. The boy is not a boy, he’s a young man and he is aware of his sexuality. He gets to play with it and claim it.

And people get to play with it too. It is a real thing, it is there, and it is ripe for the exploration. It is valid and on the table. Which brings us to the last answer (except there are about fifty more, I’m just only going to give one more because this is long as fuck and I have a family and I”m getting bored of this)

Answer C: Sex is fabulous and it is okay to like sex (and okay to not like sex)

Okay at the moment I am answering this in the theoretical, as a hysterectomy and PTSD over a past trauma regarding sex and way too much work-related stress have made the actual having of sex not something I’m interested in personally, but theoretically I find sex to be a wonderful, beautiful thing, and I’m currently going to therapy once a week to get my shit straight so that someday I can have it again because I do like it a lot and I believe in the power and beauty of sex and everyone’s right to have it and enjoy it (or not) in whatever way that pleases them so long as it is safe, sane, and consensual. I’ve written books that open with a blow job (true story) and books that are described as about “fisting cowboys full of feels” and also books with nothing more than two kisses and make out sessions holding hands and books where the sex is awkward and books where the sex mostly fades to black and everything in between.

This includes sex by and for teens, because they have it. It’s okay for them to have it and it’s okay for me to read about it (and watch shows where they have it) and find it hot if it is because there is not an age limit where this happens. It’s an amazing thing, but I read books and find things hot or funny or sexy or scary or happy or sad and I don’t feel they are happening to me personally. I don’t feel that I am now that person. I don’t think that I am entitled to that character’s life, and I don’t mistake that I am suddenly that age.

Nobody, by the way, would ever say this of someone about a horror novel for teens, or anything else for teens, and amazingly, nobody would ever and has ever said this about men reading fucking Lolita, a “literature” book about a goddamned girl and the pedophile who ogled her. Well, women. But people usually tell them to shut up because literature. Nobody says this to Woody Allen or the other men who have done all kinds of nasty shit. We are talking here, in a coded way, about “older” women reading about young men having sex. Because that’s a dirty act.

It is not. I am not old. I am older, yes, and so much wiser, and I can argue like this all damn day.

But I might not do it every day because I also have a lot of work to do. Really, to sum it up: if you don’t like it, don’t look at it. Absolutely nobody on here is the morality police and nobody is entitled to protect anyone. The odds are really good you’re fucking up and hurting a lot of people if you try.

Just be here for the ships. Your ships. And everything will be fine.

#asks that are too long to actually answer #otayuri #shipping

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krasnaya-ledi · 8 years ago

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Rhetorical Analysis: “What You Eat is Your Business”

(I was quite proud of this homework assignment, so I’m posting it on tumblr.)

If one should ever desire to read an article charged with narrow-minded ideas about the injustices inflicted by government regulations and rules, this would be that exact paper. While its author, Radley Balko, clearly has experience writing and researching sources and events in order to back and support his own ideas, he has a reoccurring tendency to never address counterarguments or even refute them. Instead, he riles the reader to his side by painting whatever position stands in opposition to his own as some oppressing evil. To his own credit however, even if his conclusions and comparisons seem a bit far stretched when bluntly stated, for the most part, his build up to them remains simple to follow, allowing the reader to, at the very least, understand why he has arrived at such conclusions, even if the reader doesn’t fully buy into them.

The ultimate idea that Balko supports is basic enough to be stated simply as the notion that it is not the place of the government or governing officials to try to control the wide spread epidemic that is obesity. However, he breaks it down into specific key points and positions that both explain why and also reveal his own personal beliefs on the matter. For starters, Balko is very clearly against the idea of socialized medicine and health care, and states as much almost verbatim in various forms throughout his essay. Just as well, he equates obesity and personal health in general to being purely about personal choice and responsibility. Therefore, in that light, the government should have no right to interfere with the personal choices of the individuals. He then claims that regulation makes the “food companies responsible for the bad habits of unhealthy consumers” (par. 6). In that light, he also then believes that the current fashion that the government has adopted is not only “the wrong way to fight obesity” (par. 3), but that the optimal way to fight obesity is to “remove obesity from the realm of public health” (par. 8). He even goes as far to state that certain laws that socialize health care are “a huge entitlement … which effectively removes any financial incentive for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.” (par. 4). Ultimately, his issue seemed to be with the notion that government mandates should inconvenience or financially burden anyone other than the sole person who has health problems.

A significant portion of Balko’s support for his claims stems from him name-dropping particular politicians, the activists, and the platforms that they have either supported or pioneered themselves. He then proceeds to use their own articles or statements against them, then provides his own, one-sided analysis of the error of their ways without adding outside support for his own claims. In this exact form, he references an ABC News special where journalist Peter Jennings investigated the leading causes of obesity in Americans in a segment titled “How To Get Fat Without Really Trying.” Without giving any details of what was actually contained in, or said in the special, Balko summarizes the whole of it as an attempt to “relieve viewers of responsibility for their own condition … with an impassioned plea for government intervention to fight obesity” (par. 7). He uses this same tactic when addressing a rather long piece that Hillary Clinton wrote for the New York Times that apparently claimed a demand “for yet more federal control of health care” (par 4). He never once even gave a word to the reasons contained in that article, or allowed a moment to step up to the challenge and refute whatever reasons could be contained therein; he simply summarized the entire work into a mere sentence to paint whatever logic or reasoning that could have been stated there as irrelevant and just plain wrong. Balko uses this device as a standard method for using outside references as supposed evidence to support his claim. However, this approach seems to only weaken the validity of his argument, since he fails to provide any actual solid support for his own reasoning since he only makes vague analyses of his sources and then uses his own analysis to tear them down in merely a sentence or two.

However, he does present his own logical conclusions quite well. Almost every single claim he offers, or stance he takes, he is able to logically explain a support for that idea on his own merit. He does this mainly by using if/then statements that oversimplify the problem into black-and-white scenarios, excellently crafted so that it nearly goes undetected. However, almost every paragraph in the article can be simplified and reworded to fit this mold. For example, Balko offers a hypothetical situation when talking about personal responsibility stating that “If the government is paying for my anti-cholesterol medication,” then “what incentive is there for me to put down the cheeseburger?” (par. 5) This pattern of using if/then statements and hypothetical situations reverberates throughout the whole of the essay as his own way of trying to present his claims in seemingly logical ways. However, this does allow for hefty fallacies to creep into his own words as he places his assumptions. His largest fallacy that he doesn’t address or qualify is his notion that good health or obesity are purely the results of good choices. This does not allow any room for diseases, syndromes, or genetic factors that present things such as obesity or generally poor health as symptoms. This rather egregious oversight on Balko’s part puts a severe dent in his claim that obesity should not be the responsibility of the government or public health.

With such a fallacy and a rather clear avoidance of daring to address opposing views, readers who carefully analyze this paper and his claims are quick to start to discredit his claims. Despite his seemingly impressive credentials, Balko’s only real appeal to instill a sense of credibility to his words lies in his strategic choice of name dropping. Despite using what can only be loosely described as sources due to his poor utilization of their contents, the fact that he does include names of authority or familiarity and their works, allows him to appear to be well researched and read on the topic. Particularly, he name drops famous food companies such as McDonald’s, Safeway, and Kroger, giving off the appearance that he is not only well read, but in touch with the common man. These very illusions are shallow and fall apart with further study.

A rather critical mistake he makes when trying to establish a reason to believe, let a lone listen to him is when he creates almost an air of contradiction. Throughout the article, his views on minimizing governmental influence in healthcare and his distinct choice of aligning the Democratic political party with socialized medicine – something he is explicitly against – he creates the implication that he aligns himself with more conservative, or Republican ideals. While this easily can earn him some credibility with those who identify themselves to a similar political affiliation, he makes a near fatal error. Balko claims “It’s difficult to think of anything more private and of less public concern than what we choose to put into our bodies” (par. 8). While this does support his individual claims of the right of choice and personal responsibility, it aligns as a far more Democratic ideology that what goes with our bodies and what goes into them is an individual choice – such as with the topics of women’s reproductive rights and health and illicit drug use. Ultimately, that statement, when tied to his pointed attempts to place obesity under the personal choice and responsibility category discredit him from being able to fully win over any credibility via political party alliance.

To his credit, upon first read, Balko quiet effectively rallies the reader to his side with what feels like a near war cry against the evil that is in allowing the “government between you and your waistline” (par. 1). He continuously attaches words with distinctly negative connotations to the opposing side, leaving the reader bitter towards and soured against the idea of having the government regulate and control any part of the food industry and subsequently, our right to choose to be fat. He refers to regulation a manipulation or intervention (par 3), and even refers to socialized health care as a “huge entitlement that requires some people to pay for other people’s medicine” (par. 4). Put into that light, it automatically pits the reader against the idea of government mandates, for who wants to be manipulated or be forced to pay for someone else’s health care? Similarly, he paints the idea that anyone who buys into “a society where everyone is responsible for everyone else’s well-being is a society more apt to accept government restrictions” lacks intellectual distinction and is merely a brainless follower, poisoning the metaphorical well. This not only creates a subliminal insult to the intelligence of those who have an opinion contrary to Balko’s but picks at the reader’s sense of pride and fear so that they then either deem themselves more wise by siding with him, or that to side against them would equate them to being seen as dumb.

He continues to blatantly refer to those who stand in favor of government regulation as “a growing army of nutritionist activists and food industry foes” (par. 7). Ouch. For those undecided about the topic, this then implants the idea that to side with the opposition to his platform would make them some sort of loathsome member that only follows because of a shared mob mentality. Balko continues to perpetuate this rather skewed view in almost every other sentence, giving the article overall a rather bitter and angry tone that rallies the casual reader to Balko’s side much like hate-filled speech full of propaganda.

Balko throughout the piece continues to come across as a man trying to write a research paper, but in reality, almost the entirety of the article, reads like an opinion piece. Balko continuously fails to provide hard evidence to any of the claims he makes, relying solely on his purposefully skewed diction and appeals to faux relatability to attempt to sway his reader into rallying against having the government regulate our right to be fat. For such a polarized and unresolved topic, the lack of real insight this provides is ultimately disappointing.

Works Cited

Balko, Radley. (2004). What You Eat Is Your Business. Cato.org. Cato Institute.

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lovenerdywinnerbouquetfan-blog · 7 years ago

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Is there a site that tells you the new insurance groups of cars under the 1-50 rating instead of the old 1-20?

Legal question about car insurance?

I bought a car off of my coworker a few months back, and everything is in my name. I had paid for insurance but I was going through a rough patch and it lapsed. My mother, whom is living with me, decided to be nice and pay for a month of insurance, through a new company. This is a new policy, as my old one had lapsed. Recently though, my mother and myself have had a falling out. She's holding my car over my head. She says since she paid for a month of insurance she has free reign over using my car. The car is in my name, and as far as I'm aware based on documents the insurance is as well. The only difference is she paid for that one month of insurance for me. And that month she paid for is still active. So like I said, she is holding the car over my head. I left my house the other night with my car key so she couldn't use it - This is after everyone I asked that I knew told me to take the keys. She is also living with me, I am renting the home. She is making threats through text messages saying that if I don't return the car key she will cancel my policy. Is that possible for her to do? She just paid for a month of insurance, and I believe I'm completely in control of my policy. I don't believe it can be cancelled through her calling. Is that possible? Anyone know? So not only do I own the car, I also rent the house. Legally I don't believe she can hold my own car over my head. Also, to add... After taking my keys, I left my home and went to a my girlfriends to get away for a while. Since I have taken my car keys, she has taken and hid my car battery to insure that I am unable to remove my car from my property. She refuses to give it back because she paid for my one month of insurance to start my policy again... So my questions... 1. Is it possible for her to cancel my insurance is the car is in my name, and if the policy, I believe, is also in my name? 2. Legally, can I call the local police department and have her surrender both my car, as well as it's car battery to me? I don't have my registration information on me, she removed that from the car as well. But a quick look up on my license, as well as my car insurance card that I have should be enough to validate it is indeed my car, correct?""

Need help with my car insurance. . . ?

i need some help cos i'm pretty confused so i bought a car at the start of the year, took out a loan to get it, etc and I have been having no problems paying it off so that was going fine. than two months ago i had a huge crash which totalled my car. It wasn't deemed my fault or the other person's fault. I did have full comprehensive insurance, but i missed two payments. I remember recieving a letter saying if i kept missing these payments then my insurance would be cancelled. Than when i put my claim in to get my insurance on my car through after the crash, they said i had recieved a letter syaing that my insurance had been cancelled due to lack of payments. I'm confused, i didn't get that letter. now, i have no car and am still paying off that loan. Is there any way I can fix this. I don't think i would be able to get another loan for another car, and i don't want to put myself into that much debt, but i really do need a car help?!?!?!""

Insurance License transfer?

I work as a Insurance salesman and I have life, health, property and casualty licenses. My boss paid for the training and the test, I am a 1099 and appointed to his agency and I am considering leaving his office, do I get to bring my license or is it onl valid under him? I work in california.""

What will Insurance company do?

My brother got hit by someone while driving. He and this other person exchanged information and the other person agreed to write him a check, but never followed through. He isnt sure if the person who hit him had insurance, but has a feeling they didnt. He reported the claim to his insurance company, but decided to sue(small claims) the person who hit him on his own for the deductible. When he arrived to court he found out the person who hit him filed a counter-claim for damages done to their car, but they are the ones who hit him! Can he get the insurance company to give him a release letter to sue on their behalf or will they take over? I dont know what to tell him or how to help him. Help please!!!""

Do I need rental car insurance?

I need health insurance?

i am a student in college from the ages of 18-26 looking for a affordable health insurance..

Insurance company won't let me upgrade to Fully Comp. Why not?

Hey Guys, I'm a new driver (23 yo) who has a 3rd party fire & theft policy under Kwik Fit Insurance. I went for this policy pretty much because it was the cheapest because I'd spent all my money on the car, haha! After a couple of months I've finally managed to sort my finances out and I'm ready to upgrade to fully comp. I drive around 30 miles a day to work and back and would just like that little extra knowledge that incase anything does happen. So I email KwikFit (who take 2 weeks to get back!!) to ask them what the deal is. How do I do this? To my dismay, I got the following email back: In response to your email, I can confirm that your policy can only be upgraded if you are making another permanent change to your policy eg a change of vehicle/address/driver, alternatively your policy would need to be replaced to another insurer. Are they within their rights to do this? Surely upgrading to fully comp means an extra wad of money from me monthly? Thanks :-)""

Average car insurance for 17 year old male?

An average second hand car, In the UK.""

Car insurance victim?

last year i had the police turn up at my door saying that i had hit a car roof with a claw hammer i didn't no what they was going on about i did not get arrested and they left, few days later i got a insurance letter thur the post saying that i had collided with a bmw and drove off leaving the seen, there insurance paid him out 5000, i spoke to my insurances and said i don't no what is going on they asked for pictures off my car i sent them, i phoned the police and asked them they said there is no further action is to be taken as the person as dropped the chargers, so i phoned there insurance and they said we are waiting for police reports, i said the police are not taking it any further as the person as he had dropped the chargers, they did not believe me and wanted me to pay 3500 in 14 days i said no, i lost 3 years no claims and my premiums went up, i just had to wait for months :( i got a letter today off there insurance saying we have had the police reports and there is no further action against me or my insurances... ok what will happen to the person what made up this lie to his insurance as he told the police one thing and his insurance another??????""

Premium return life insurance?

What is the big bennefit of premium return life insurance policies?

What are the listings for African American or black owned auto insurance companies and agents.?

I want to support my people,because no one else is going to support us. Many immigrants only support their business owned by their people,but we blacks have very few businesses. We need to unite and support each other to survive in this every changing country. It feels as if we are second class citizens in our own communities. We have to do business and pay for services of people who dislike us,because we have no alternative. We blacks need to control,manage,and build business in our own communities. P.S. I love America USA is # 1""

Car Insurance?

If I hit a car that is totaled and the owner does not have insurance should I still go through my insurance company?

Is there a car insurance that will give a young driver a reasonably quote?

i recently purchased a mk1 ford fiesta. theres no mods to the car and tax wise i think its a classic. its a 1984. i have wanted a mk1 fiesta for years now and its the car i want to drive. im 17 and the cheapest quote on any car ive been given is 2000. are there any companies that will give me a good quote on my fiesta

I can't afford my car insurance...?

I need transportation so I can work. But why should I have to choose between car insurance or food and medicine? Shouldn't the Government come up with a single payer plan for automotive insurance too! Its not fair that I have to pay for this out of my own pocket.

Is my life insurance cheap or expensive?

I pay $4 a week and I get $30,000 insurance and I'm 22 years old, male, is this a good or bad deal?""

I got an unbelievably low quote from Response Wordwide Auto Insurance.Should I switch from StateFarm?

Their quote is about 1/2 that of all others

What value car would you recommend Comprehensive insurance?

What value car would you recommend moving from Third Party Fire + Theft insurance to Comprehensive Insurance?

""My Insurance paid out too much, do I have to give it them back? (UK)?""

After a solicitors firm managed to draw out a car insurance claim for 18 months I finally settled 50/50 on the incident, instead of refunding me 50% (400) of my excess the solicitors paid me 100% (800). I verbally informed them of the error before they issued the cheque and they still proceeded, now they have noticed the error they are asking for me to return the money. Am I legally obliged to do so and how far are they likely to pursue this if I do not?""

""Insurance , real estate, law question?""

if a person drive a vehicle :D, the vehicle is under the other person name H, H buy the car insurance, the D doenst have the car insurance, and D get in the car accident with K, K is the one who is false, Who is the one false in this situation, it is D or K. Because K are false, will K insurance company pay all the fee in the accident and hospital? Will K insurance company pay for the damage K cause for D? Will K insurance company pay for D health injuries? Even if D doesnt have the insurance, D drive under the vehicle that belong to H, H has the vehicle AND INSURANCE UNDER HER NAME, AND D is H sister.""

I need a cheap car insurance?

car insurance

If a company is self insured (medical) that doesn't mean the company owns the ins. co. does it?

What could make my car insurance cheaper?

I am currently 19 years old and I want to buy myself a new car. It would be about 200 dollars a month for the current car i'm driving for car insurance but it is in my fathers name so I only pay 80. Now pretty much any new car I am choosing the quotes are over 400 a month. Would have car insurance in my name for my current car at 200 a month for 6 months until the policy is over make the quotes for the new car cheaper? Or is the quotes based off of how long I've had my license?

What would each insurance company pay?

The business is insured for $6,000,000 by Landa Insurance and for $4,000,000 by Epitome Insurance. The company experiences a fire loss of $60,000. Landa insurance must pay $________. Epitome insurance must pay $________""

""Looking for a good first car, one with low insurance rates preferably?""

I just turned 16 and am currently in the market to buy a car. I am looking for something in the price range of around $2,000, possibly a small four cylinder pick up, or a japanese sedan. Does anyone have any sugestions for a good first car, and if any one has expeiriance with insurance can you tell me a price range of what I would be looking at for isurance, I have good grades and looking for a minnimum policy in Florida. Thanks if anyone can help me although I know I probably wont get much help with the insurance part.""

Life insurance question?

If someone were to get life insurance in their twenties, how would that benefit them later in life when their old?""

How much will her insurance likely go up?

my grandma pays about 65/month for her car insurance, she is 59 today she didnt see my car and backed into the passenger side leaving a dent. I have full coverage for my car. she has liability on hers. I dont just not want to do anything. i want it fixed. but i dont know if i want to call my insurance company. cuz if i say it was her fault, which is was, idk how much her insurance will go up. if its ten dollars a month its no big deal i wouldnt think. but i dont want it to be a lot. if i say it is my fault, then i have a 500 dollar deductable and my insurance goes up. and i cant afford that. im 17. she also said she would try to pay for it to be fixed. but idk if it is cheaper for her to pay for it or for her insurance to go up.""

Where could I get some cheap but good health insurance?

We need health insurance really bad but everything seems way too expensive and when I google it a hundred different sites come up and its hard to decide which one is for real and which one is going to be a lisas of crap. my husband doesn't make but about 400 dollars a week and I am currently unemployed and In college. Help me!!!

Home owners insurance check made out to mortgage company and me?

Evidently my insurance co made out the check to both myself and my mortgage bank (too bad I didn't realize it before I deposited it at the ATM this morning...) for siding and roof hail damage. I was on hold for over 40 minutes today waiting to talk to a rep at the mortgage bank (PNC). I hung up and will call back tomorrow when I have more time to listen to bad music. What's the normal procedure for handling this? The check was only for $6800. I may hold off a bit on some of the repair, and do some of it myself. I've already made arrangements for a window replacement ($900 vs the $450 the ins co gave me). There's a PNC Bank just down the street. Any ideas on whether they can handle it there?""

Auto insurance troubles. ..?

My car insurance expired on 6/19 at 12am so that same day we went to our insurance broker and purchased a new full coverage policy at 2:30 pm. They took pictures of our minivan which was in great condition. By the time the transaction was completed the time on the receipt said 2:46 PM. At exactly 4pm we were in the center lane of a 3 lane one way street and the lady on our right decided to make an illegal left turn in front of us and didn't give us enough time to stop, so we crashed. She was of course at fault but is taking her sweet time to make a statement so it has been over a week and her insurance won't take liability until she gives her statement, and now our insurance is trying to say that we weren't covered until 4:40 pm. Can our insurance do that? And the funny thing is we don't even have the details in our policy because they were supposed to mail it to us.""

Am I still eligible for unemployment insurance if I move out of state?

I currently receive bi-weekly unemployment checks. I live in California, but in a few months, I will be relocating to Texas. Basically I just need to know if I will be receive insurance from another state. Thanks!""

Do I need rental car insurance?

Mexican auto insurance for Americans?

Anyone have any idea what is the best Company out there which gives the cheapest auto insurance rate for Americans in Mexico. Also if their service is good or bad compared to the other insurance companys when claims are made ?.

Credit life insurance?

My mom passed away in sept. of cancer. She had a $100,000 balance on her mortgage loan. Now I just recieved a letter stating that her credit insurance had gone through and a check had been sent to her mortgage account number. I have never even heard of credit insurance, does this mean the remainder of her loan is gonna be paid off??? If so I am in shock.""

Car insurance on a subaru impreza wrx sti!!?

About how much would it cost me for car insurance for a subaru impreza wrx sti? I am looking at a 2005. I am 20 years old with 1 speeding ticket.

Will CT speeding ticket effect my NY insurance?

I have recently received an out-of-state speeding ticket in CT, and the state's policy is that if you just pay the ticket (pleading no contest) there will not be any points added to your license. The policy for my home state, New York, is that the state does not record out of state moving violations such as this one. My question is that if I were to just pay the ticket so I wouldn't receive points, would my insurance company in NY still be able to raise my rates for this? Would they even find out? Anyone with a simalar experience between these two states would be extremely helpful""

Does california law require insurance on motorcycles?

I know the law requires proof in financial liability in the case of accident or injury, and always requires insurance for cars, does it require ins. for motorcycles?""

What is the cheapest insurance for a teenager?

I'm currently 18 looking for the cheapest possible insurance on my car

Car insurance?

there are 5 people in our family and we all have vehicles of our own and pay for separate insurance but somtimes we might need to use each others cars/vans for what ever reason is there an insurance that we could get that would allow us to drive each others cars.

Is unemployment insurance really an insurance?

1. What other insurance allows people who are guaranteed to be unemployed to be on it (such as actors, waiters, other short term employed workers)? 2. What other insurance is mandatory? Or, specifically, unlike car insurance, who is actually affected by being uninsured if one is unemployed?""

""An insurance company will insure a $200,000?""

An insurance company will insure a $200,000 home for its total value for annual premium of $650 .If the company spends $25 per year to service such a policy ,the probability of total loss for such a home in a given year is 0.002 and you assume that either total or no loss will occur ,what is the company's expected annual gain ( or profit ) on each such policy.""

Does anybody know of a cheap insurance company for eighteen year olds?

I just turned eighteen and I'm looking for car insurance since what I'm paying right now is really high ( 290 for minimum) Everywhere else I look wants like 1000 dollars a month for minimum coverage thats crazy how can anyone afford that? Are there any good companies in specific for someone in my position?

How high will my Florida Homeowner's insurance go?

""I am staying in Italy,but i want to know much a car insurance will cost me for a year?""

I am staying in Italy,but i want to know much a car insurance will cost me for a year?""

Buying car insurance?

Do you have to buy car insurance before you get a car from a dealership? Can you drive home and then get the insurance when you're home? Does the dealer provides temporary insurance?

Is there a time limit for a auto insurance claim to be completed?

I was in a fender bender with another car in a parking lot a month ago. I filed a claim with the other guy's insurance agency the same day as the accident and have yet to be told if the claim was approved or denied. I spoke to my adjuster last week (as well as the week before) and they were still waiting on photos of the other vehicle. Is a month normal? The auto insurance company is Wawanesa. So my questions is...is there some kind of legal time limit for an insurance agency to approve/deny a claim in the state of California? Or might I end up waiting months to hear anything? Thanks.

Car insurance for an ocassional driver..?

I am 17 years old and I am getting my g2 class license in a week. I plan on going as an occasional driver on my moms car which is a 2002 or 2003 Ford Cougar. Does anyone know what the price of insurance would be a year approx? I know she pays about $120 for car AND house insurance... for an occasional driver on a red 2002 or 2003 Ford Cougar (red sports car) how much would insurance per year be? Any help would be great thanks!!! :)

What is the average auto insurance rate for a 17 year old ..female added to her parent's insurance?

What is the average auto insurance rate for a 17 year old female added to her parent's insurance?

Where to shop for health ins when my cobra expires?

I've been under a company subsidized cobra plan for my wife and I for almost 18 months. The premium is going from $394 to $1150, which I cannot afford and will have to let it ...show more""

Where can i get the cheapest car insurance?

i've recently passed, need car insurance but every quote i get is just too much do you now anyone(company) who could maybe do it for less than 500""

Car insurance for minors?

Abt how much would insurance cost me. Am 17 wit a drivers licence and I live in Texas ? Thanks:)

Looking for health Insurance?

I'm looking for affordable health insurance with good coverage and options for doctors. A PPO is okay but I'm looking for quality AND affordability. Dental and vision would be a great plus. Can anybody out there help me!?! http:// pilih .cn /health-insurance.html

How to appeal declining application on Health insurance?

I just received letter from Blue Shield of California on my recent application for health coverage, I am asking for any suggestion on appeal and my rights in this process. My COBRA is running out, and this recent application took 2 months before they turned me down. I considered myself fairly healthy other than a monthly low dosage cholesterol prescription. Any help or suggestion is appreciated.""

What is the cheapest car insurance in queens ny?

2 accidents and an oui how much will my insurance be now?

i hit a parked car while backing up 2 yrs no one was harmed my cars rear bumper needed to be replaced and the other cars front fender ago and then 2 weeks ago i hit my car on a tree and totaled it and i got an oui my insurance was $100 a month before how much will it be now like a guess?

Renter's insurance. are these really needed?

never used them, but is considering of using them one day. how much do they cost on average per month?""

What kind of insurance (if any) will cover AI pregnancies?

I know this sounds a little odd, and I know you're probably thinking that I shouldn't have gotten AI if I can't afford the medical bills. But I'm serious, and need recommendations. I need to find an affordable insurance company that will help cover the expenses of an intentional pregnancy. I'm not talking about the actual Artificial Insemination process, but rather the doctor and hospital bills that will occur during pregnancy and at the actual birth. Thank you so much! I really appreciate the help!""

Do I need rental car insurance?

Where can I get affordable group health insurance?

I am a college student who has alot of anxiety right now due to the recent divorce of my parents. I would greatly benefit from having psychological treatment right now but I have no insurance & it is expensive. Does anybody know of an insurance that would cover this?

Where can i find insurance for a barber shop?

what are the best insurance companies for barbershop insurance? where should i look?

Motorcycle Insurance question?

I recently bought a motorcycle and i'm just about to buy insurance but i am abit confused, I'm thinking of getting the Third party fire & theft insurance, which means i wont get no claim if I crash my bike but what if the other drive is at fault? Does their insurance cover my damage or what? thank you""

""How much money do you pay for insurance, and what is your age?""

I am 21 years old and I just got my license.I use to be a listed driver on my mother's geico policy a couple of years ago.But, I got caught driving without a parent in the car and my learners permit wa suspended. I now live in a diffrent state and have a license. I went on geico.com and my quote was $155 with the license violation included. I am pretty surprised because I thought people my age pay well over $200 for their policy. Maybe it is low because I was once an insured driver under my mother's policy?""

Who'd rather have health insurance than Free National Health Care

Despite the imperfections in the system (and there are plenty) I'll keep what I have rather than Micheal Moore's fictitious nirvana of government run health care.

What is average cost for auto dealers insurance for a year in NYC?

What's the purpose of medical insurance for students?

I'm in Australia and I need medical insurance which is very costly and it doesn't even cover anything like dental checkup. I don't think I'll ever a use a single penny from that insurance. Why are they robbing us of our money for no reason? If I get ill, I'll use my own money to pay for treatment. And I heard they don't get any interest from the money so where does all that money go? In the air?""

Is it illegal if someone else pays for my health insurance?

I lost my job last month, and I need to know if there would anything illegal or wrong if say a relative paid for my health insurance until I get a new job? The insurance is through this new Affordable Care Act program.""

Learner car insurance?

I will be supervising a learner with a provisional licence, i have been driving for more then 5yrs and hold a full Uk license.. Do i have to have the car insurance in the learners name too?""

Car insurance excess?

My car is now only worth between 200 - 300 so if it was involved in an accident I doubt the insurance would repair...& write it off. Insurance is due for renewal & I have a 250 voluntary excess, which means that I would end up with nothing in the event of a crash. If I increase my vol. excess to 500 the premium goes down by about 30 which looks like a good idea to me but. If my car was written off due to an accident with another vehicle would I still have to pay the 500 vol. excess towards repair of the other vehicle or does the excess relate only to my car in this situation?""

What is the best way to find cheap auto insurance in california?

How much would insurance cost?

For a Yamaha YZF125 in a detached house with a secure gate and the bike woul dbe kept in a shed with a a lock? :P

I'm getting sued from an old car accident? will my insurance pay?

two years ago i was involved in an accident with another vehicle. we filed a police report and we each reported the accident to our insurance companies. i filed a claim with my company, but the insurance companies had us each pay our own damages. we both walked away from the accident. two years later, i receive a certified letter that i'm being sued for $10,000 (within my liability limits) for medical damages and other losses. i need to appear in court or have a lawyer. it's been two years, will my insurance company still cover this after such a long time? and, do i have to find my own lawyer, or will the insurance company help me? (they're a very good company) i just found out and i contacted them, but they can't get back to me til monday while they find the old adjuster's files.""

Am I paying too much for my health insurance?

I'm 23 year old and non smoker, I got my health insurance from my company's employee benefit, and I'm pay $29 a week for this coverage: $20 office visit $115 ER They pay 80% I pay 20% Deductible $470 Out of Pocket Max $3500 Am I paying too much? How much would I be paying if I get this benefit by my own and not from my company?""

Choosing a good car which has cheap insurance---I live in CANADA?

Car choosing help--I LIVE IN CANADA.? I need help choosing a car that is going to be low insurance for me. I'm 22/female/college grad/part time worker/full insurance G / Went to driving school. Thanks in advance.

Insurance for teenage mustang driver?

Ive made enough money from my jobs. I have enough to buy a newer mustang (definitely not the newest one but over the 2005 brand) with help from my parents and grandparents. They are all throwing in 2000 dollars for me. But anyways, some backround information, I'm a teenage girl, have taken the driving defensive class, drivers ed, and also get higher than a 3.0 grade average. Would insurance be very high still?""

What car insurance do you have?

Im trying to find one that's cheaper I recently have 21st Century. What's the name of your car insurance and do you like it?

Question about car insurance?

I know it's a broad question - but what is the average rate for car insurance for someone over 25 who is a safe driver?? Also is it possible for your car insurance to drop $100 in 6 months??

Where is the best place to get life insurance quotes?

i am trying to get life insurance quotes but it is so many places to look. could someone give me a good starting point

Buying a used car and purchasing a car insurance in Tucson?

Hi. Im going to study in tucson for the next 2 years as an international student. I want to buy a car, and I am looking for a place that would be known to sell used cars at a fair price (I am not looking for something more than 7-8000). It would also be nice it those car would come with a warranty. Do you know good places for that? Also if you can advice me with car insurance that would be nice. Thank you a lot!""

I hit my neighbors parked car and it's going to cost $2400. How much will my insurance go up?

I have Geico Insurance. 22/m and out of school. 1 at fault accident already on my record from 2005 and a ticket that should be off my record but shows up on motor vehicle report. Just got Geico Insurance about 2 months ago. Paying about $1150 every 6 months. Would it be better just to pay the guy off?

How do doctors actually pay for liability insurance?

On studentdoc.com, the salary survey stated that the average OB/GYN made roughly $238000 a year, but some sites I have looked at show that they also pay $50000 a year (in florida, that rises to $100000) for malpractice insurance. Even for other practices, such as pediatrics and internal medicine, the rate is usually $30000+. This is a huge amount of money and really, after paying student loans, mortgages, taxes, and etc, how much money do doctors actually take home? Surely not all doctors actually pay for their premiums. Specifically, how much would a pediatric surgeon pay in malpractice insurance in California or Illinois? Just some food for thought.""

""First car what should i get for like a money saver at the pump, and any ways to save money on insurance =]?

im turning 16 in a couple months and I will be getting a 7$ and hour job so I wanna know how much to save up=]

Car insurance rates depending on a car?

If i'm getting a new car I dont really understand insurance. What will make my insurance rise. I have been hearing it is the model or how new my car is because im looking into a few new cars. Thank you.

Car accident and switching insurance?

Hi, I was with insurance company A and was planning to move into company B in the next few days. I finalised the quote and premium amount and even received the new set of insurance documents from company B and informed the company A of cancellation. But today i met with a minor accident due to rain puddle leading to my car skidding and causing damage. I have filed a claim with company A but I want to understand how this will affect my premium rates with company B. Do I have to inform them beforehand? What will be the best course of action?""

Do I need rental car insurance?

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-does-obamacare-make-health-care-more-affordable-when-john-burch"

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divinecollectordinosaur-blog · 7 years ago

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M5: Reflective Blog #4

Because I mainly focused on the positives on the state of transparency and communication in education in my discussion post, I’ll focus on the negatives here. Professor Lopez’s response to my post got me thinking: how beneficial is transparency when it comes to online, social media based outrage? Does most of it not lead to witch hunting? How much of the news that we hear or read about is actually true?

With the advent of the age of social media, apps like Facebook and Snapchat have given us the option to read “quick news” as we scroll through our friends’ posts, videos, and cute dog/baby photos. Most of this “news” consists of rumors or clickbait. They’re more or less the online version of the tabloids you see in line at the grocery store, except for the fact that you don’t face as much social backlash/criticism when you read them in the privacy of your own home or on your phones or computers as you do in a public setting. When we open up YouTube or Facebook, we see a number of top videos or shared articles with headlines like “President Obama refuses to leave white house after Trump elected” or “Putin reveals that Clinton cheated with Sanders.” These clickbait videos and articles are obviously falsified, but how much of it is believed by the “common person?”

https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/21/clickbait-fake-news-and-the-power-of-feeling/

An article I recently read by Engadget titled “Clickbait, fake-news, and the power of feeling” emphasizes the prevalence of fake news dominating post-election headlines. Aaron Souppouris, the author of this article, questions why people are so “duped” into clicking clickbait stories. The answer is that psychologically, a “headline has more chance to be successful if the sentiment expressed in its text is extreme.” It has been identified that the most popular falsified news articles in 2016 appeared across three distinct periods: February to April, May to July, and August to Election Day, and that Facebook users on average were actually sharing more fake stories than real ones.

This leads us to the importance of sourcing. If people were capable of falling for such blatant, falsified propaganda during an important a time as the 2016 elections, imagine the number of fake articles believed outside of the elections. The age of social media as quick news has made us become even more gullible. We are quick to read and absorb headlines without actually reading articles or seeing if said articles are credible. Although this was clearly done in the past through newspapers and monopolized news sources, it has become much easier and much faster to absorb false information today than it has been in any other time period in history. Speed is favored over accuracy, and this applies to every website or app, from Reddit and Snapchat to Fox News and MSNBC.

It makes me wonder how catered the information given to us will be in the future, especially with algorithms giving us “what they (think) we want to see.” Thinking about it, going online to see a machine curated selection of news is no different from watching Fox News all your life. You are only fed a specific viewpoint, and are unable or not given the opportunity to open your mind up to other perspectives.

This extends to education. As we mentioned in class last week, students today are becoming less and less rebellious in their teenage years. Could this perhaps be because they feel as if they have nothing to fight for? Students in the past were given more or less the same type of news. Students today are given news catered to their beliefs, and surround themselves with those with similar beliefs and mindsets. How will this affect our future as a society? Will future generations become more and more apathetic due to their disinterest? Will we be segregated mentally in “liberal” and “conservative” bubbles throughout the nation? I’m not so sure, but I also don’t truly believe that the future will be so bleak.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/09/the-politics-of-american-generations-how-age-affects-attitudes-and-voting-behavior/

This is due to the positives of transparency in education. Students are more connected than ever, and even though many of them do fall for things like clickbait or fake news, they are also more exposed to different perspectives in a different way: social media. Log into Instagram, YouTube, or Facebook and find a moderately controversial post or video. You’ll find that the majority of them tend to have a clear divide in support, mostly between an older, more conservative demographic and a younger, more liberal one. According to this Pew Research Center article, in a survey of more than 10,000 Americans, the oldest Americans tend to fall into Republican groups while the youngest fall into socially liberal groups. This is something that most of us have known for quite a while now. In nearly all societies, younger people tend to be more liberal while older people tend to be more conservative.

So how does this apply to youth today in regards to education? Although I do agree with Sherry Turkle in that many of today’s younger generation are “compromising [their] capacit[ies] for self refection,” I don’t think that we should be too harsh on them. Connecting online is a new form of education that I think we should learn to adapt to. It allows for mass collaboration and conversation, and although there is potential for mob mentality or hive minds there is also a lot of room for growth. I don’t believe that kids are as gullible today as we think they are. I find more and more dissenting opinions on sites like Tumblr or Reddit every day. If anything, being a little more “anonymous” allows kids to freely express their truest thoughts and opinions on an international forum. I feel like even though transparency can lead to witch hunting and false claims/outrages, it also leads to integrity and a new form of social growth. Kids and adults alike are able to much more easily find those who share the same passions or beliefs as them, and therefore are able to develop and build stronger connections with people around the world, who speak different languages, live different lives, and who are raised in different cultures from their own. This allows for increased social productivity in an “age of networked intelligence.” There are many fears and worries in regards to transparency, but there are many benefits as well.

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timothyakoonce · 8 years ago

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Why Linkable Content Wins and How To Create It?

Why Linkable Content Wins and How To Create It? written by Guest Post read more at Duct Tape Marketing

There’s no escaping content if you want to survive in the digital marketing realm. Whether you create content or curate it, you have to ensure that it serves a purpose. Irrespective of the industry, the content that you create has to increase brand awareness, generate leads, boost sales, make an impact on the target audience, trigger reactions, and enhance search engine rankings.

But there’s no “one content to rule them all.” If your content doesn’t strike the right chord, it’ll simply be a waste of resources. Content saturation is a real thing, which is evident from these numbers provided in an infographic by Adweek:

An average social network user processes – 63% text content and 37% media content.

54000 words are not only the length of an average novel but are also a number of words dumped on a user daily. The number is 443 minutes for video content.

Ergo, to rise above the rest, your content must make an impact. This can be done in two ways –

Create Sharable Content Create Linkable Content Sharable content is quickly consumed and triggers user interactions such as – likes, shares, reactions, tags, hearts, mentions, retweets, reposts etc.

More often than not, sharable content is fun, witty, compelling, inspiring, trendy and engaging. It often resonates with what people know or would want to know more about.

It gives them something to talk about and connect with their community.

Memes, quotes, quiz, short snippets, pop culture articles, short videos, recipes, listicles are examples of sharable content. There are lots of visuals in the content and offer easy readability. Catchy headlines that grab users’ attention is another trademark of such content.

Buzzfeed, Cracked.com, Reddit, Tumblr etc. have plenty of sharable content on their platform.

Linkable content, on the other hand, is a highly-researched resource. It needn’t necessarily be a source of quick information or entertainment and is often, serious and in-depth.

Creators of linkable content are seen as people who have authority and credible. Even though it may not attract much in terms of user interaction, the content is often used as a reference point and cited within other content or posts. Even though the content gets fewer shares, it never loses its value.

It caters to a niche audience and never loses its importance.

Tutorials, podcasts, demos, eBooks, resource guides, white papers, detailed infographics, case studies and even websites are examples of linkable content.

While sharable content can be blatantly self-promotional, linkable content is more on the useful side. It can be entertaining, but at the same time, it also answers many questions that the reader might have.

For instance, take the example of The Oatmeal website, which is anything, but serious. However, it has a comic called How To Be A Writer. But what you see (in the headline) is not what you get! It can work as an ice-breaker sentence in a long-form content that gives tips on writing and so, it is placed within the content as a funny reference. And it can be used even after five years for now, in some or the other content due to its high entertainment factor.

Also, the importance of linkable content is clearly seen in a study done by Moz and Buzzsumo, in which they analyzed 1 million articles to analyze the relationship between shares and links:

Over 50% of the posts had 2 or fewer interactions on Facebook. Over 75% of them had no external links. This points out to poor content and people don’t know how to give their content a boost.

Although 85% of the content published (excluding the videos and quizzes) is below 1000 word-limit, long-form content that is over 1000 words long gets consistently shared and linked to than content with low word count.

The format of the content matters too. For instance, entertainment videos and quizzes have a greater probability of getting shared but not linked. List posts and why posts achieve a higher number of referring domain links than other content formats on an average.

The first image here is a snapshot of link data of a post from Pew Research center and the second image is the link data of a post from Social Media Examiner. Both the posts were published in January 2016.

Though the post of Pew Research Center has fewer shares as compared to post from Social Media Examiner, the number of backlinks it has created are way ahead of the later.

Actionable Tips For Creating Linkable Content for Your Business

Highly Researched Data Will Never Let You Down

When people look forward to a credible content source, they skim through it to search for relevant data. Unique, original data will ALWAYS get your content linked as it contains a set of information that can prove to be useful for citation. And if the data is presented in a way that’s easy to comprehend by the readers, consider it as a win-win situation.

The Fallen Of World War II is an interactive documentary laced with data, which explores the human cost of the biggest World War till date and how there’s a decline in battle deaths ever since. Created by Neil Harollan, the documentary is in the form of a website and the data will continue to be updated.

Come Up With “How-To” Content

According to Google, as many as 91% of smartphone users use their devices to complete a task or instantly look for information and guidance. Even the searches related to “how to” on video-sharing channel YouTube are growing as much as 70% every year. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that over 100M hours of how-to content has been consumed in the USA in 2015 alone!

However, not all “how-to” content falls under the category of linkable content. For instance, a Lifehacker write-up “How To Turn Your Bike Into A Pokemon Go Machine” is more of a sharable content because it is something that people will not search for, but most likely stumble upon on a social media channel. On the other hand, another Lifehacker write-up “How To Jailbreak Your Kindle” will be hailed as a linkable content that people can refer to.

Use Striking Visuals

Let’s face it. Visuals do have an appeal, at least for some of the target audiences. Whether it is infographics, maps, charts, or visual guides, you can be assured that the content will not only be linkable but also, offer greater readability. It can also be in a fun, video format that gives a message to the viewers.

One of the best examples here is that of Dumb Ways To Die, which is basically an Australian Public Service Announcement to promote rail safety. Instead of being all “preachy”, they made a list of all the “dumb ways in which people can die”, created a visually striking animation video and used a really catchy jingle that’s easy to remember and fun humming too!

Similarly, informative infographics like this one showing Gender Pay Gap, How Big is Snapchat and Oscar Outfits Worn, guarantee many views apart from increasing the value of a content.

Create Web Pages

Creating websites or web pages that offer to-the-point, useful information to the readers is another way to make sure that you have linkable content. Take a cue from The Refugee Project, which documents refugee data provided by the UN and contains the record of the refugee crisis in the past 40 years! You can also build a website that offers a single, but crucial piece of information such as – It’s Not Its, which puts to rest the age-old confusion related to the difference between “it’s” and “its”.

Additional Tips

CREATE A TOOL like the Title Generator by Hubspot.

RECORD INFORMATIVE VIDEOS such as TEDx Talks.

WRITE AND GIVEAWAY FREE eBOOKs on your website.

WRITE COMPELLING WHITE PAPERS like Shiny New Things by Adage.

ATTEND CONFERENCES and write about it.

Different forms of linkable content

The first thing to remember while creating linkable content is to make sure that it will add value to the content in which it is linked. Keeping this in mind here are three types of linkable contents.

Insights

Research and insights are the most preferred content by writers to link to their content. People tend to believe research more than theories as they provide a concrete proof about the opinion made by the writer. Also, research provides data collected from masses which makes them even more trustworthy.

Product review

A detailed product review which provides all the necessary information of a particular product can be used by writers to back their opinion about a product or service. Instead of writing all the points in the content body, a link to complete review can help writers utilizing the content without affecting the flow of the content. It is for this reason, good product reviews can be valuable linkable assets.

Opinions from thought leaders

People always look up to thought leaders as someone with immense knowledge in their field. Interviewing a thought leader and collect their opinion can be highly valuable as there are high chances that people will not just share it but also link it to back their own opinions.

Also linkable content comes with its own benefits of getting discovered on search engines. With each Google search update, it is clear now that Google is giving more importance to quality content and link buildup. It is for this reason that linkable content wins the race when compared to sharable content as Google algorithm does not consider shares as ranking factor but considers a number of backlinks as ranking factor.

Conclusion

Creating linkable content is a continuous process. You can’t just make one great piece of content that gets shared all over the internet and stop at that. You have to keep creating content that makes not only the readers take notice but also get the influencers interested and involved. But most importantly, it retains its importance as a reference point for a long time.

About the Author

Jaykishan Panchal is a content marketer at MoveoApps, a mobile app design and development company. He enjoys writing about Technology, marketing & industry trends. He is a tech enthusiast and loves to explore new stuff. You can follow him on Twitter @jaypanchal8.

from Duct Tape Marketing https://www.ducttapemarketing.com/linkable-content/

#Duct Tape Marketing

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