#professional translation review

[transcriptioncity]

Comparative Review in Translation Services and Language Services

Understanding Comparative Review in Translation Services Whether you’re a seasoned translator or simply curious about the translation process, this blog offers invaluable insights. Understanding how translations are evaluated is crucial for maintaining high standards and ensuring accuracy. One key method of evaluation is the comparative review, a process that compares multiple translations of the…

[mezzy303]

So I've been rereading skip beat from the beginning for the first time in uhhhhh almost 10 years and I'm going inSaNE over characterizations and development that I have to write it down

At this point I'm only at the Heel siblings arc so I haven't gotten to the Guam or Saena arcs which are very big for Kyoko and Ren's character development and healing which I haven't reread since those chapters came out

Can we just take a moment to appreciate Nakamura for basing Kyoko and Ren's childhood struggles and trauma on very real things that aren't often, if at all, dealt with in anime/manga and also writing them with utmost care (Not only do the traumas inform their personalities, but their healing arcs aren't just a one and done thing!! It's a very slow process) Like starting with Kyoko, her single mother neglected her so much that she was raised by a family friend. On top of that, nothing Kyoko did was ever good enough for her mother, and both of these things are so apparent in Kyoko's character. She attaches herself to fairytales and magic as an escapism and because she relates to stories like Cinderella. She literally cannot function if she messes up and no one criticizes her. She can't properly acknowledge her own talents and beauty without it being attached somehow to fairytales; she never quite believes shes good enough. Similarly, she didn't want to bother anyone with her troubles, so she always dealt with them alone/in private spaces. Pretty sure she also has lowkey abandonment issues. And this is all parental trauma!! Things she already has before the series starts and she gets so utterly heartbroken she swears off romantic love entirely so she can never get hurt the same way again.

(I don't think I'll ever get over how Kyoko told all this to Kuu and he was literally like I'm adopting you. Your mine now. Sorry I don't make the rules ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ And Kuu going home to his wife like hey we got a new kid 😂 Like Kyoko freezing up when she made mistakes and then Kuu showing her love instead of reprimanding her makes me go 🥹😩💖✨😭💝 Kyoko getting all fluffy from head pats🥹🥹 But on the downside she literally can't bring herself to call him dad unless she's in acting mode sjdfhsf)

When I really consider it, I wonder if Kyoko really loved Sho as a person or like.... the idea of him. Like he was just a convenient guy via proximity bc Kyoko needed someone to be her "prince". We haven't been shown exactly why she fell in love, but it would explain why she stuck with dedicating herself to him despite his terrible personality and knowing he never saw her the same way. It's portrayed like the concept of hatsukoi in anime where its ✨pure✨and innocent✨It seems very idealistic. Whereas Kyoko's love for Ren is more mature. She sees every aspect of Ren and doesn't sugarcoat it, she sees him as he is (she does him up on a pedestal but partially bc she admires him but also as an extreme measure to protect her heart and hide her feelings imo)

And REN. trauma to the max. He had to deal with the hardships of making a name for himself when his parents are already famous, extreme racism from being biracial, his friend/mentor dying from an accident he unintentionally caused???? Like boy hates himself so much he's literally disassociating 24/7 he needs a fucking therapist. I get how being Ren has helped him in some capacity but he needs a professional asap. Though deep diving into this is so interesting because Ren/Kuon compartmentalized his issues and the parts that he hates about himself so much he created its own persona ("Dark Kuon"), to the point he's rarely ever just himself. And he buried it so deep that as soon as he cracked the lid open, those emotions just spilled out. He can't even allow himself to be happy, and when he does feel truly happy, his automatic response is acting nonchalant,,,,,,,,,,,, he didn't even realize he was doing it at first 😢

Also the symbolism with Ren's watch makes me go a little feral. I don't remember if it's originally his or Rick's but it obviously stopped when the latter died and Ren keeps it as a reminder of what happened and why he went to Japan. It's a weird item since it grounds him but also represents his heavy trauma, and I think having those two things in one kinda showcases Ren's unhealthy coping mechanisms (like grounding himself to something traumatic isn't... great...). But that scene where he realizes he took it off and he has a moment of whether it to keep it on as Cain Heel or not??? *clenches fist* it was so good. (To recap it, he had his watch so he wouldn't lose himself in the role of BJ and then forgot it in the bathroom after an unexpected trauma response) Ren narrates his thoughts as choosing between Rick or Kyoko but interpreting this, he's choosing whether to keep himself stuck in his past trauma or move forward and let himself be happy AKA stick with unhealthy coping mechanisms vs try something healthy and rely on people he trusts. Kyoko essentially becomes someone Ren grounds himself to 🥺 He still needs therapy though lmao. He's so mentally unstable in this arc,,,

As I'm writing this I'm seeing a parallel between Kyoko and Ren and how they both had an experience that completely and utterly broke them, and it was this that pushed them onto their current paths in showbiz. And they likely would never have met each other again if those things never happened (they had to lose themselves to find each other?? 😭). It's so funny to me that Ren is all like ThEiR fAtEs ArE iNtErTwInEd with Kyoko and Sho when you have to consider the fact that him and Kyoko meeting again was like. a chance in a billion. It was fate 😂

KyoRen is such a poetic ship to me. The fact that they're different people when they meet and don't recognize the other. How Ren starts falling in love AS SOON AS HE REALIZES KYOKO IS THE SAME GIRL HE MET (Ren being gray/demiromantic.... more at 5). Kyoko lowkey starting to crush on Ren when she witnesses a bit of his real personality. These two things happening around the same time??????? And Ren being SO afraid of being Kuon, his true self, because of his bad qualities, but Kyoko pulling out the good qualities without him fully realizing it?? (I'm 100% referring to Kuon being a mischievous little shit and I live for how he teases Kyoko) tbh they treat each other differently from other people without even realizing it lol. And Kyoko being surrounded by toxic and possessive men pursuing her, and Ren being anything BUT. Like my man is a gigantic green flag. He recognizes that he can't seriously pursue Kyoko bc she's a minor and he really tries his best to only be a friend and mentor in her life and keeping her trust and never crossing her boundaries despite the stereotypes of men being "unable to control themselves." Y'all take point this should be the standard at minimum☝️

I have to talk about Sho bc this boy is so fucking toxic but he makes such a fascinating character. As much as I hate how Kyoko got heartbroken in the way she did, I think it was necessary so that she could leave Sho's sorry ass and cut him out of her life. Seriously,,,, he took advantage of her and used her as a servant. she literally dropped out of school, moved to a different city, and took on two jobs for the sole purpose of helping his career and then he threw her away like a used rag (JUST THROW THE WHOLE MAN AWAY). And then he has the audacity to fall in love with her smh. Anyway the fascinating part about him to analyze is how he's so possessive of Kyoko. Like she was a mere fly in his life, but she was always his. Until she wasn't. And I think those twisted thoughts kinda morphed into feelings for Kyoko. Ig in a way he still cares about her, but it could never hide how toxic he is. Anyone who's like I don't care how this person thinks of me as long as I take up the biggest space in their heart is egotistical and narcissistic. BUT he and Kyoko bickering like siblings will always be funny. Like epitome of two people who've lived with each other for way too long so they know how the other ticks and also get on each other's nerves 😂😂Sho does makes a good foil for Ren though. Like he's basically everything Ren is not: immature, temperamental, possessive, vain, the list goes on. His only redeeming qualities as a character is providing good drama and humor and being an example of what Ren isn't.

Skip Beat is really a story about healing and learning to love yourself and letting others love you and Nakamura is such a good story teller 🥺

[morningstartranslation]

Learn Chinese Culture with Us

When two people are of the same mind, their combined strength is like a sharp blade which can cut through metal. 二人同心，其利断金（èr rén tóng xīn, qí lì duàn jīn）For more information, visit https://www.morningstartranslation.com

[mibeau]

[Book Review] 🧕Muslim Women’s Participation in Professional, Social and Political Life (#3 Women’s Emancipation during the Prophet’s Lifetime)🧕

🧮 Score: 3.7/5.0

■ I think the most interesting portion of this volume would be in Chapter 3 -- in regards to women’s political participation. My “ranking” followed by Chapter 1, about women in professional sectors. As a so-called independent woman, these issues picked my interest because, contrary to some “orthodox Islamic belief systems” where a good muslimah must stay confined within their home and their movements should be restricted only to selected occasions and locations. Thus, this volume provides valid arguments and clarity to address these issues.

■ In the practical, reality of life, women deserve an education, and women deserve rights. After all, when Islam emerged during the Jahiliyyah period, it empowered women! Therefore, women's involvements in workforces and political scenes are a necessity for our ummah to strive successfully, biiznillah. After all, men and women are created to complement each other in running this earth, each of us has our fitrahs to contribute. That is why, to have a smoother society management on all levels, interactions and beneficial discussions among men and women being present in the same place, is inevitable. Of course, at the same, we must abide by the Islamic code of ethics. Islam is easy, there are guidelines for everything. People complicate matters.

■ "Learn from history for a better future." As Muslims, we should always go back to the Quran and authentic hadiths. Then, the fatwas and other Kitabs by our verified, respectful scholars in Islam, in all fields. These sources provide solid and sound foundations and exemplary acts for us to refer to and get inspired. InshaAllah, with efforts and tawakkal, we will find solutions and uplift any oppressions. From this research, we will able to effectively strategise plans to be implemented in today’s issues. I highly appreciate the author’s and translator’s sincere efforts to educate and fix these centuries-old misconceptions. One of the few “pioneer” genres in the scene of English Islamic Books.

■ At the end of the day, the author is also a humble human, and he tried his level best. May Allah swt reward him abundantly for his intentions and good deeds. Having said that, within his content in this particular volume, here and there, there were times his explanations were a bit unclear or confusing. I am not sure whether it is due to linguistic issues due to cultural differences, or the meaning was lost in translation. Or, it was just me who failed to understand his words. Wallahualam.

■ Overall, this volume is recommended for casual readers and slow-paced students of knowledge to gain useful insights. It triggers critical thinking and is a good starting point before we delve into a more serious book. ---

Also read on other platforms:

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[currymanganese]

GUYS, I CAN'T ACTUALLY BELIEVE I'M SAYING THIS, BUT WHAT IF THEY ACTUALLY HAD A GOOD REASON FOR JOHN CENA BEING CAST AS SAMMY FAK?

please bear with me (pun intended) and let me know what you think of my speculation under the cut~

In a mind-boggling case of a seemingly big-lipped alligator moment in season 3 - John Cena appears in a bizarrely over the top (even by the tonal comedic standards set previously by The Bear e.g. Ecto Cooler punch at a kid's birthday party getting spiked with Xanax in Season One) and jarring scene that stretches on and on as he obnoxiously squabbles, blathers and exchanges nonsensical rapid-fire quips with his brothers Neil and Ted Fak as they buff polish The Bear's dining area before a food photographer from The Chicago Tribune arrives to take a photo for a review of The Bear.

In this scene, he also intimidates and threatens to 'haunt' (in a Fak family tradition ( that even the Faks find annoying) - that involves pranking and being an unrestrained nuisance to their loved ones especially when they least expect it) his brother Ted for, "stealing his SD cards"......

This scene and the increased screen presence of the seemingly plot-irrelevant Faks this season is currently being eviscerated by plenty of fans and critics alike.

Edit:

I now strongly suspect that John Cena's role was always in the works ever since S1

..................................

But what if there's a (debatable, but) really good reason for this scene and the increased involvement in Seasons 2 and 3 of the massive numbered siblings family of Carmy's pseudo cousins, the Faks?

See Exhibit A:

In season 2, episode 3, Sundae - after Carmy has already asked Sydney out to Kasama, a husband and wife owned restaurant run by Tim Flores, and Genie Kwon*, ostensibly just to brainstorm and gain inspiration for planning for the new menu, and after Sydney has already gone home and freshened up and changed her clothes, then arrived to Kasama early, despite the meeting only being scheduled for an hour after she last spoke to Carmy at his apartment, Claire calls and interrupts the whole hypothetical shebang with Syd and Carmy at Kasama (the Tagalog WORD FOR TOGETHER) with the words,

"Did you mean to give me a fake number? You do know that I know your entire family [translation: she must know Donna too and Claire assumes that Carmy's folks approve of her - and she's proven to be technically right throughout Seasons 2 and 3 ], right? And I know ALL the Faks! [translation: tee hee! they're bigger than you - to quote Neil and Ted with their Uncle, "We Faks do have a particular shape, don't we?😇" - and they outnumber you, you scrawny punk, slay!😉✨]"

Claire then proceeds to playfully threaten to have said "massive numbered siblings" Faks, which includes Sammy Fak, played by John Cena (a professional wrestler, from an industry that is mixes both bawdy over the top theatre, a performance art that values Kayfabe (legerdemain/slight of hand anyone?) and comedy, and an athletic discipline) that is TALL. BUILT. HENCH. AND BUFF AF.....Claire 'playfully' threatens to have THESE FAKS, beat up Carmy, who is short in stature and cannot fight well from all the previous physical confrontations we've seen him be involved in, despite supposedly being a former high-school wrestler, and who has already been seriously physically abused thrice in the series run thus far (not counting him play fighting or trying to fight with Richie) after being JUMPED by a GROUP of assailants, not once, but TWICE in season one, by the Ballbreaker nerds in the pilot, and the Bachelor Party attendees in the season finale (the first season started and ended with Carmy being beaten tf up, Holy Shit! 🤯); AND AFTER BEING SLAPPED IN THE FACE IN SEASON 2 BY HIS OWN MOTHER, DONNA.

Notice the way Carmy goes from being lost in his thoughts but being completely relaxed after his menu planning session with Sydney, and in anticipation of seeing her on their would be inspiration seeking meet-up (definitely not a date, no Sir! 👀) at Kasama, to being tense and jittery and apprehensive when Claire calls him (after going behind his back and getting his number from Fak).

Notice the way Carmy's voice shakes when he asks Claire if she really knows all of the Faks.....

Notice Carmy's defeated and annoyed reaction after he hangs up the phone.

No wonder Carmy is being so avoidant and conflict averse in his handling of Claire in both Season Two and Three, he has absolutely no faith in himself or his loved ones at present to defend himself should he assert the type of boundaries he may have been desiring to have with them for these past two seasons, after all - who can he count on to fully have his back even to the point of physically intervening for him if he gets into a scrape or is genuinely attacked, by the Faks on account of Claire taking offense at or misrepresenting his words and actions to them, e.g. Claire apparently twisting Carmy's self loathing stream of consciousness confession (that she eavesdropped on) and telling Tiff that they broke up because Carmy said that "Claire will ruin everything good for him?" while he was trapped in the fridge?

What if Carmy knows he has to rip the band-aid and call Claire and apologize for his part in the superficiality and disintegration of their dalliance, but is afraid to do so because he knows in so doing, if he is being fully honest with himself and with Claire, he never truly wanted to be with her in the first place?

And who knows how Claire will take that revelation - it probably won't be pretty will it?

And.....

to quote Neil Fak,

"Claire's the best."

"We love Claire."

"I did that." [setting Carmy and Claire up in Pop)

And.....

Claire. knows. all. the. Faks.....

TL;DR

They cast John Cena as Sammy Fak, and the Faks had a lot of screen-time this season because they are the physical manifestation of being haunted in their family's sense of the word:

and a satirical visualization of Carmy's desire for Syd being cock-blocked ; plus Claire is a Love-able Alpha Bitch, and Carmy is ambivalent towards her, and even a little scared to face her, because her henchmen are the Faks!

If you enjoyed this post, then thank you for reading and I'd recommend that you check out the following meta on the way Christopher Storer and Company have seemingly (and controversially) committed to sticking to the bit of lying to the audience and breaking the fourth wall throughout this entire season:

Richie and the viewer - by @whenmemorydies with my add-on in the reblogs about Richie, not Carmy, potentially being Christopher Storer's author avatar in this series (from a post originally written before season 3 premiered.

Fourth Wall being broken - by @brokenwinebox and @thoughtfulchaos773

Claire being a possible representation of addiction, being a habit that is hard to kick - by @thoughtfulchaos773 and my and @devisrina 's add-on speculating that Claire may also be meant to be interpreted or revealed as a bit of a mean girl, to reference TVTropes, she (and by extension Season 3) may be a deconstruction/ mashup /send-up / subversion of the: Girl Next Door, the Cute Bookworm, Nerds Are Sexy, MPDG, Yandere, Alpha Bitch, Loveable Apha Bitch, Childhood Friend Romance, High-School Sweethearts, Sickeningly Sweethearts, Getting Crap Past The Radar, Freeze Frame Bonus, Parental Bonus, Viewers Are Geniuses, Give Geeks A Chance, Even Nerds Have Standards, Beauty Equals Goodness, Face-Heel Turn, Cerebus Syndrome tropes etc.....and a subtler mirror version of Donna Berzatto.

Edit: See my reblog add on to @espumado 's thread on the recurrent 'haunting' theme this season and the possibility of the Claire x Carmy x Sydney love triangle being a Lilith x Adam x Eve allegory, and my webweaving about Syd x Carmy's Adam and Eve parallels. sidenote: Lilith is Adam's first wife apocryphally and in Jewish mysticism that left him, and became a she-demon / mother of demons after being impregnated by the archangel Samael - wait is 'Sammy' Fak a Samael allegory?!!

and another reblog add-on of mine to the thread linked above - on The Faks as the living embodiment of all that is fake in Carmy's life, C Storer's handy dandy tools for slight of hand,

you can't spell fake without FAK.

and please see

Clairecarmy as Ann Veal x GOB from Arrested Development

and with Richie's frustrated refrain of, "Who cares?!" whenever Claire and Claire and Carmy's breakup is brought up in 3 -

see the running gag of George Michael Bluth's (from Arrested Development) family's disdain for Ann and his relationship with her.

5. The parallels between The Bear and Burnt by @ambeauty - a post Season 2 post which was proven to be prescient and insightful given the Easter Egg inclusion of Bradley Cooper's character from Burnt on the photo wall of chefs at Ever in the Funeral dinner in the finale.

6. The parallels between The Bear and Boiling Point - a gritty film and mini-series set in a restaurant which features several plot elements and characters reminiscent of certain character archetypes and subplots present in The Bear - seriously think of this IP as The Bear's cynical, dramatic, older British cousin.

Decision to leave by @anderwater

This anon that recommended Boiling Point to me and wrote about its connections to The Bear.

The difference between The Bear and Boiling Point by @theblvckvenus

The similarities between The Bear and Boiling Point in this reblog add-on to @happylikeasadsong et. al's thread.

7. Claire/Carmy and the Walk In - my old post on the parallels between Strange Days (1995), Can't Hardly Wait (1998, and The Bear.

and @ambeauty 's meta on Claire as a representation of the fridge

8. My post on the possible connection between The Bear Season 3 and Andrei Tarkovsky's experimental, semi-autobiographical, psychological Oedipal drama film The Mirror (1975) - a film which was incredibly divisive upon its initial release, but has since gained wide acclaim and re-evaluation as a masterpiece, and that has had a legacy of subsequently inspiring multiple renowned filmmakers.

9. The Bear series' lead actress, and the director of Napkins, one of the only episodes of The Bear Season 3 to receive almost universal acclaim - Ayo Edebiri's trollish sense of humour and assertion that lying is the pinnacle of comedy.

10. And last but certainly not least with the inclusion of a Genie Kwon*'s, of Kasama fame, cameo in the season finale and the prominence of Kasama being key to Syd and Carmy's stymied relationship progression, courtesy Claire, see

The Kasama of it all by @gingerylangylang1979

@mod-doodles @lunasink @vacationship @chansoooo1-blog

@bioloyg @msmoiraine @nerdyblerd @ripley-stark @uncriticalbunny @prowitchazel @msmoiraine @mswyrr @anxietycroissant @turbulenthandholding @tvfantic87 @laryssamedeirss @tejidaepoque @angelica4equity @inalltheirgorgeouscolors @houseofevangelista @glitterslag

@uncriticalbunny @imliterallyjustablackgirl

@bioloyg and @ambeauty please don't say I told you so or welcome back, I'm flabbergasted that I wrote this, but I want to believe! 😭

P.S. If you're still reading this, do yourself a favour and read @brokenwinebox 's post

New Paradigm

and this follow up

Mocktail is a dirty word

and check out her #the magic trick tag!

and also check out these Sydcarmy and Rosalind x Orlando from Shakespeare's As You Like It parallels:

The Bear as a pastoral comedy

First Meetings

Fumbling with your crush

Separation, keepsakes and lovesickness

and also C Storer really did tell us in the music that this season would inspire

Mixed Emotions 🥴

[what-even-is-thiss]

Tips from a former English major and English TA:

Reading the text actually does help you in the class believe it or not and we can tell when you haven’t read it. Sometimes we’re just too tired to call you out on it. Your awkward silence in class speaks volumes.

That being said, if you don’t have time because life happens read at least two different summaries or analysis pages online. Preferably more. One source will rarely mention everything your teacher asks you about.

Other tricks include reading the last sentence of every paragraph or reading every other page

The reason you’re being forced to take an English class when you’re not an English major is to help you come up with arguments when there’s no strict data set to follow and no one correct answer. If your school allows for alternatives to this sort of category like film analysis or art history that you think you’d like better, take it. The goal of GE classes is to turn you into a well rounded and educated person. Not to torture you.

If you’re reading works in translation and don’t want to take the time to learn the language but you also want to get a more accurate idea of the nuances of the original language, read three different translations of the work and compare them. Reading translators notes and reviews of translations by experts is also helpful. In some more rarely translated works translators notes and reviews may be all you have to work off of.

When you’re writing a literary essay you’re entering an ongoing conversation that’s been going on since writing has existed. A tradition that’s existed since before Aristotle. And you’re just as smart as that guy. Add something to the conversation. Participate. Bigger idiots than you have done it.

Chat gbt is really bad at literary analysis and often gets facts wrong. We can tell when you use it.

Everyone has different levels of understanding of the history of literature even within the professional world. People specialize for a reason. Nobody is expecting you to have read everything. An expert in medieval Irish literature isn’t going to have read the same things as an expert in post-colonial west African literature who won’t have read the same things as a general expert in contemporary Asian literature. Being “well-read” is subjective and means something different to everyone. English classes often show you where to start and how to research stuff related to literature and analysis. Especially if you are an English major it’s easy to get overwhelmed early on but you get used to accepting that you can’t know everything. And that’s fine. Just focus on finding your niche. Or maybe you don’t have one and just want to sample everything. Or maybe you’re just here for general knowledge. That’s fine too.

[yuurei20]

Hello! I’ve heard a rumor that there is confirmation in an official book about whether Idia’s hair is on fire or is fire. Do you know if this is true?

Hello hello! Thank you for this question!

In the literal line from the game guide, I agree that his hair is described as being fire! 🔥

The phrasing in the Magical Archives Game Guide (vol.1) is:

テンションが下がっているときは髪も弱火。

I have translated this (and all the game guide translations shared by this account have been reviewed by a paid, professional translator) as:

"The flames of his hair become weaker when he loses interest in something."

"Flames of his hair" might sound a little ambiguous because 髪も弱火 is a little difficult to translate literally 💦

But I agree that it is saying that the fire that is his hair gets a little weaker when he loses interest in a thing ^^

[lintwriting]

I'm making this post to compile the Weibo allegations against Jullian Champenois, the voice actor for Kim Kitsuragi, since I found navigating the screenshots to be a bit confusing. I've translated some of them to the best of my ability and would definitely be open to others reviewing these translations for errors, as I am Chinese American and therefore could be missing some cultural context. I've linked to Chinese definition websites to explain some of the translation choices that are more inferences.

The rest of the translations are from 阿阮 @woon__ton on twitter, who has been in contact with the original Weibo poster to ask for permission for their translated reposts, as well as permission for my repost here.

Outline of the Weibo Post

The allegations originated from a post on Weibo by a Chinese artist. The body of the post contains a summary of their experience, and attached are:

Screenshots of their personal Instagram DMs with Jullian

A screenshot of an older post where they express feeling weary about Jullian's DMs

Screenshot of vent messages demonstrating how this experience has affected their work.

After posting, other commenters chimed in with similar experiences, and this caused the original poster to update the original post.

They first updated it with a screenshot showing them blocking Jullian Champenois

Next, a testimony from a commenter

A second testimony from another commenter

Screenshots of DMs from that second commenter

*Update: Additional testimony from the original poster

The Body of the Original Weibo Post

Below will be screenshots of the body of the original Weibo post, with translations from @woon__ton on twitter.

(via 阿阮 @woon__ton on twitter)

This text was later edited to update about the additional testimonies and to add greater context. The added context explains how the Weibo poster could tell that Jullian Champenois's DMs were targeted, unprofessional, and sexual in nature, as the poster had gone through a similar situation before with another creator. The updated context is translated below.

* I realized something was wrong so quickly because I had a similar experience at the end of 2019. Scott lobdell, a DC comic writer and screenwriter of Happy Death Day, came back to like my drawings and privately messaged me after I followed him on Instagram. His account at that time was nuked (chinese internet slang for when accounts get banned or suddenly have all their content taken down) [so I can't access the logs anymore], so I don’t remember the content of the chat, but for specific news discussions, you can google the keyword “Scott Lobdell sex harrasment”. This situation is very common in the industry. They deliberately prey on people from their fan lists.

For context, Scott Lobdell, from what I can tell, would hit on young female artists working at the same cons as him, both in person and in text messages, with implications of him holding his position in the industry over them.

Although the Weibo poster can no longer access the log of Scott's harassment of them because his account got banned/deleted (at least, I think that's what the usage of 'nuke' is saying, they could also be saying that their own account got nuked), they note how their chat with Jullian Champenois was reminiscent of the same conversation they had with Scott Lobdell—a man known and 'retired' for his harassment of young female artists.

Lobdell's harassment is a good example for context due to how he demonstrates the inappropriateness of 'flirting' and hitting on young female artists in professional contexts.

1. Screenshots of their personal DMs with Jullian Champenois

Below are the screenshots of the Instagram DMs the Weibo Poster had with Julllian Champenois. Note the profile picture, as his profile picture will look the same across other screenshots with him in it.

Also note the way the conversation starts out polite, focused on both of their respective arts. Then he shifts the conversation to sexual topics, first by mentioning his explicit song, then by suddenly bringing up an explicit art account, @ken_chk, they were both following. The Weibo poster steers the conversation away from these topics.

They also mention this in the comments, but they find the fact that he asked their age, ethnicity, and sexuality afterwards to also be suspicious/sexual in nature. The sentiment being "Why would the artist's age matter?" or "Why would you fixate on me potentially being 17 years old when I've mentioned college graduation finals?" or "Why would you ask that if not for sexual reasons?"

@woon__ton on twitter notes that he is seemingly consistently looking for college aged girls, and other commenters/victims got the sense that the strange insistent questions about nationality were related to "yellow fever."

2. Weibo Screenshot of an older post where they express feeling weary about Jullian's Dms

The next attached photo was a screenshot of a Weibo post the Weibo poster had made in 2023. I'm assuming that in this screenshot that they're talking about Jullian Champenois, since this whole post is about him.

First I'll be transcribing the translation. Then I'll be clarifying the idioms/translation choices with asterisks, before giving an overall summary of the screenshot.

Feel free to skip to the 2. Summary section, as the translation clarification section is a little long.

“It reminds me a bit of my PTSD, the last time I was praised in private [instagram] DMs it was the Scott Lobdell [situation] where [he] later disappeared from the internet for some reason[.] I don't remember the reasoning, but at the time I had suddenly felt that he was kind of creepy so I indirectly lost my interest on Jason Todd(桶 is the Chinese nickname of Todd/Red Hood, Lobdell was the writer of n52 Redhood comic). It was not a good experience haha..." * "I feel that there is a cultural difference where Chinese people may take getting sent private messages out of nowhere a bit harder. It may also be a me problem. Maybe I am a Sakura girl at heart (internet slang, sakura is the culture symbol of Japan so it’s the nickname of Japanese girl, they tend to be a little bit more shy and social in a more careful and polite way to avoid offending anyone, no negative meaning behind this). uneasy desu ('I am anxious' but using the word desu to stand in for "I am")" "I don't remember the timeline, but it seemed like someone in the industry accused him of sexually harassing young female artists." “As a result, even when I am excited, I am still very wary of people because I have become disillusioned."

*UPDATE: I have updated this post''s translation with clarification from the Weibo poster.

I translated a phrase as "pulled up carrot," but it was actually the transliteration of Scott Lobdell's name into Chinese. I translated a phrase as "climbing the wall" "bucket," but it was actually the Chinese fandom term for 'no longer liking' and the Chinese name for Jason Todd.

In addition, I translated Sakura Girl as (slang based on Japanese animation, meaning a delicately stupid young girl) but the poster has clarified that Sakura girl is not supposed to have a deprecating connotation. The focus is on shyness or politeness, not stupidity!

I will keep my first translations in the next few paragraphs in to maintain transparency and to keep some necessary information, but they are no longer accurate. The paragraphs in brackets can be skipped over.

[[[[[The full idiom goes "the pulled up carrot also pulls up mud," or the idea that investigating a criminal who was arrested first can lead to the exposure of other criminals. The same way pulling a carrot out will pull loose some dirt, exposing one person may also dig up dirt on their associates.

With the mention of "later disappeared from the internet," I think the Weibo poster was referencing Scott Lobdell, whose account was nuked and who also had privately DM'd them with praise/sexual advances. The implication could be that the last time they got DM'd like this, it was in a creepy way and they were too afraid to speak out for fear of getting attacked/exposed themselves. Or that he disappeared to avoid getting exposed. This paragraph is a little unclear.

The 'pulled up carrot' situation might also have something to do with the explicit artist, ken_chk, mentioned in the DMs with Jullian. The weibo poster clarifies in a later edit that they didn't censor @ken_chk's handle in the screenshots because ken_chk was also embroiled in a sexual scandal involving targeting his fans.

"*About why I didn't delete the artist Ken mention in the chat history—because he was the reason why I raised the alarm. One of the reasons is that I read something about his character on Weibo about a few months ago. I just forgot to unfollow him on Instagram. I can’t find any evidence about what he did, but the Internet has testimonies, so I won't write it off." "* Regarding the artist Ken, the matter has been issued with the consent of the person involved. According to the person involved, Ken will also select fans to target. Please see the person’s experience for details"

So another implication could be that Jullian bringing up such a shady person in the DMs unprompted demonstrates his shady associations. Jullian is the 'carrot pulling up the mud' by doing so.

For context, the poster had felt the need to disavow ken_chk by clarifying that they had only been still following ken_chk by accident. Jullian still following him and even bringing him up unprompted could be a bad look in light of the similar allegations of misconduct surrounding both him and ken_chk.

I am unsure though, as I am not very familiar with this idiom, nor am I familiar with the allegations against ken_chk listed here. I could be totally misinterpreting this line of the post and the ken_chk edit, as I've had to infer some pronouns and commas that weren't originally there due to the nature of Chinese grammar.

'Climbing the wall,' in addition to cheating, can seem to mean getting over obstacles in various contexts, like getting over the firewall to pirate stuff. However, I've translated it as 'cheating' as there's the word "bucket" that follows it. Bucket is also a word for 'trash,' so it'd make sense to translate it as 'cheating trash.'

Later another victim who responded in the comments accounted that by sexually harassing them, Jullian Champenois was also potentially cheating on his girlfriend that they knew he had at the time, lending more credence to the idea that wall climbing comment is about Jullian, though I am still unsure.]]]]]

2. Summary Section

I think this post was first made right after Jullian first messaged the Weibo poster with the innocent messages about their art back in October 2023, months before the more recent sexual DMs from him on March 30th, 2024.

Despite the polite nature of these October DMs, the Weibo poster was weary of Jullian's DMs in this first 2023 post, mentioning how in the past they had gotten similar DMs from Scott Lobdell, only for those complimentary DMs to later be revealed as openings for sexual advances. Their 'PTSD,' as they put it.

In addition, they note a potential cultural difference between Chinese netizens and Western/English-speaking ones. It might be a bigger deal in China to get send someone DMs. Maybe it's more intimate/intimidating/professional, in contrast to it potentially being more casual in the West.

With the summary out of the way, I do want to say that some Western netizens have responded to the later DMs with the sentiment of "these are not examples of harassment, just flirting in bad taste," but this could be related to the cultural mismatch the poster mentioned here.

Getting flirted with in the DMs is very normal to a lot of people in the West, as 'sliding into their DMs' is synonymous with flirting, but perhaps in China, either this is not the norm or Jullian's type of flirting is not the norm, especially within the context of a professional art account.

If you find yourself thinking the same way as those western netizens, I'd ask you to reframe Jullian's DMs less as a casual instagram DM, and more like a work slack or LinkedIn message from a colleague/client, as the DMs we have been/will be talking about are in the context of their own work or hiring him for work. This should help you get a better sense of why the victims felt uncomfortable.

3. Screenshot of Weibo poster's vent messages demonstrating how this has affected their work

The next attached photo was a screenshot of vent texts. I'm not sure the context of the texts, but the content is definitely about their regrets with Jullian Champenois.

Why shouldn't I just be frank and rant a little? I want to be so woke (as in another way to say clear-headed, not related to American progressive slang) that you'll see me awake, anaesthesia-free on the operating table when they cut me open[.] Do you get me[?] Well Any way you look at it, I'm miserable On top of all this, I've got a big graduation project that's in comic form. That comic was adapting the poem that is currently acting as my temporary nicotine replacement for my disco elysium withdrawals*** So I would listen to [Jullian Champenois's] songs at the time God, it hurts so much Luckily, my nicotine replacement was for another character (they're probably saying that the poem reminded them of another disco elysium character, not Kim Kitsuragi, hence their relief) For a moment there, I was thinking of to talking to him about my graduation project and about disco elysium.

*** So I'm making the assumption that the original poster is talking about a graduation project that they're working on. Since they're an artist, it's a comic that they're making. They then say something about an original poem. They use the word that means "original" in the context of adaptation, like the original book a movie is based off of. So the full phrase is 'the comic's original poem,' which I'm taking to mean that they're adapting a poem into comic form.

This is relevant because I think they're trying to say that the poem is currently the thing they're obsessing over while waiting for more Disco Elysium content. They use the term "meal replacement," which seems to be a Chinese fandom term referring to the content people look at during a fandom drought—like people hitting the end of all the Disco Elysium content out there and deciding to check out Pathologic, since they've heard that game scratches the same itch.

So I think this screenshot is supposed to be them venting their feelings about how this situation with Jullian made them feel. They want to be clear-headed about his actions, even if it makes them feel miserable. And they note how his actions have tainted their experience working on a Disco Elysium-inspired comic.

1. Screenshot of the Weibo Poster Blocking Jullian Champenois

After talking with other commenters, the Weibo poster posted their closing remarks with Jullian Champenois, especially noting how he used their work and their interest in his work as a pretense for flirting with them instead of genuine artistic interest.

2. Next, testimony from a commenter

(translation via 阿阮 @woon__ton on twitter)

阿阮 @woon__ton also notes that "If anyone questions why I didn't release the screenshots, it's because this fan suffered severe trauma and was unable to provide the original chat log."

3. A second testimony from another commenter

Hello blogger, I also suffered sexual harassment from Jullian at the end of last year. Because my friends know that I like Disco Elysium very much, [they] said [they] could give me an autograph. I was very excited and happy at the time. A few days later, Jullian himself said that he could add me on WeChat, so I could directly tell him what I wanted him to sign. I was so happy and felt very lucky. After that, he was always very polite and took the initiative to chat with me, but within a few days he started to sexually harass me. I can't find the chat records from that time, only one or two that were sent to friends. I was very disillusioned at the time…so I blocked him, but he added me on New Year's Day. After I saw your Weibo, I remembered this incident again. He was really disgusting… I loved Disco Elysium so much, but he ruined it all. Okay, I hope you can share this. He is a habitual criminal and has yellow fever, and likes to chat up Chinese girls. At the same time last year, I searched for his name on Weibo and found that many people who followed him on Instagram were greeted by him. Everyone thought he was very nice, but that‘s not the case. When I first added him, I didn't expect him to talk to me a lot. Because it was such a surprise, I expressed a lot of my love for Disco Elysium and Kim. He asked me if I knew about Kim's sexuality. When I told him that I knew, he emphasized that he was a straight man, and then asked a lot about exchanging private information. After he sexually harassed me, I couldn't even tell him off for it because my friend was_____, I was waiting until he left _____ before I could block him. After I rejected him, he was still interested in striking up another conversation. I said that I knew he had a girlfriend, and it was very strange to do this. He said that his girlfriend didn't care and knew that he was doing it, which 'was its own kind of fun.' Made me feel very sick.

4. DM Screenshots from the Second Commenter

This commenter then submitted DMs that Jullian had sent them. The original poster has shared them, noting that the profile pic is clearly Jullian's.

This commenter also commented that the friends they had mentioned also had similar experiences with Jullian Champenois, which could push the number of victims to 4+.

I'd also like to share a comment on the original Weibo post from this same commenter:

"This incident did not affect my playing of Disco Elysium (the voice will be turned off hhh), but I really felt a huge spiritual pain, like my faith was completely shattered, like the statue of the Innocence in the church turned into a smelly rotten rag."

Additions

In addition, there is a testimony from a third person not attached on the post, which @woon__ton posted on twitter. It can be found here, and it outlines how an anonymous user paid Jullian in a professional context to voice for a product for her, only for him to make an unprofessional advance on her. Although the harassment is not directly shown in the WeChat screenshot, his apology for his inappropriate behavior is shown.

This testifier would like to remain anonymous.

*5 Update: Additional Testimony from the original poster on Weibo

The original poster is emphasizing the predatory nature of Jullian's DMs, differentiating them from the "just awkward flirting" narrative that some Western/English speaking people have had in response to these allegations.

First of all, his "yellow fever" aspect of specifically asking about Chinese girls, who are often fetishized to be more shy/submissive/less likely to talk. But in this case, it's also him specifically being inappropriate with people for whom there is a language/cultural barrier, making it harder for them to speak out—either due to a literal language barrier between them and his Western audience, or the plausible deniability of all this being a 'cultural misunderstanding' (which is very unlikely, since Jullian has apparently lived in China and therefore is very aware of the norms there).

Second of all, his usage of a professional/work account to make sexual advances. Again, comparisons to the Scott Lobdell situation should be made, as they highlight why it's sleazy to use their work as an excuse/opening to make sexual advances on someone. Not only does it cross boundaries, but it's also not treating the artist with the respect they deserve as someone just trying to work.

Closing

The Weibo poster would prefer if people not follow them on Weibo over this situation, as they posted the situation on their work/professional art account, and it is painful for them to see too many notifications about this.

They also note that they still love Disco Elysium and Kim Kitsuragi and that the allegations against Jullian Champenois should not reflect on the dev team of Disco Elysium, as there were also women working on the team, etc.

With this post, I've tried my best to accurately convey the sentiments of the original poster of the Weibo without commenting on the proof or the legality or what the ramifications should be or how we should interpret this, etc (beyond a quick mention of a potential cultural clash). I'll update the post with better translations if something comes up or if anybody mentions any suggestions/clarifications.

[centrally-unplanned]

I blogged before about this company, Orange, that is an AI-powered manga translation company. Essentially, their pitch is that most manga is still (officially) untranslated, a ton of manga gets made after all but few become mainstream enough to get ported overseas. They posit the barrier to that is the cost of translation; if they could automate that process, then they can make viable for release what previously was not. That concept rests on two questions - does the tech pan out, and does the economics add up?

Recently they went live, under the name Emaqi, so we can better explore those questions. What I notice on first glance is the pitch seems to have shifted a little bit in post:

You are not the translators of Vinland Saga, Witch Hat Atelier, or Magic Knight Rayearth, very obviously so. They have Sailor Moon in here lol. These are just the official translations being cross-listed into their "manga platform", where you buy it there and it lives, DRM-locked, in their app. Which is fair enough as a model, that is just Kindle, it works. Though Kindle and a dozen others already exist, so their value-add has to be the AI translation stuff right? That is why I would choose this over another app.

Which they do have, though it is kind of buried:

"Only on emaqi" - there is no mention of the translation approach, poor guys! Can't fault the branding decision I guess given the state of the discourse. When it comes to the products themselves, I went through ~6 or so of the sample chapters of different manga, did a few spot checks with the original Japanese, and read the reviews of some others who looked into it. They seem fine! I am cautiously impressed, I think there proofers did a good job smoothing out some edges, it has a "manga tone", and while small issues like the hyphenation the reviewer above mentioned do exist and are legit noticeable, they aren't common and not a huge deal. It has flow issues? Some dialogue should link together in how it is written, but doesn't. But it isn't crazy off or anything. You will not be wowed by these, but certainly if you are someone who reads bootleg scanlations you are gonna have no problems. A lot of manga uses pretty simple vocab and isn't breaking new ground on plot, I can see how a purpose-built tool could handle it well enough.

The economics though...here is where I don't think this case was ever going to pencil out and isn't now. Because I am pretty sure no one here has heard of any of the manga listed above as exclusives. (I saw 90's manga Geobreeders in there, but that was already partially translated in the 2000's, not sure if they did a new one? Setting it aside) Which, of course you haven't, if you had it probably would have been translated! Books are a 90:10 market, most books never get read and some books get read a ton. Anything big enough can justify a professional translation, and the other can't really sell to begin with.

On top of that, their model is mass translation; which means these obscure manga are presented to you with no context, no hype, no build-up. Wtf is The Blood Blooms In the Barrens?? See, if you were like a boutique publisher, selecting "the best of the best" in untranslated manga, you would promote your specific product. Interviews, social media, the value of the brand-itself as a quality seal. Publishing less is more, actually, your value as a publisher is as a quality selector. Or you could be say the porn market, where you max quantity so people can search "foot fetish breeding kink oshi no ko" and get results; they know what they want. But they aren't doing either! And to be blunt a lot of these are not gonna sell on their art alone:

I'm not mocking The Delayed Highschool Life of a Laborer here, that is better than I could do; but if you want to me spend money on a whim the bar is high and these don't reach it. Which of course they don't, they would be professionally translated if they did.

And finally, the price - $5 dollars, for volume 1's, like a 100-200 pages. The cross-listed manga typically sells for ~$10? That isn't much cheaper! If "translation" was this big cost barrier, and all you got is cutting the price of ebooks in half, I don't know if the analysis was so solid. This is a new product, I doubt they are overcharging to make a quick buck right now - this is the "sell at cost to scale" era.

In all of their lead up press they would say things like this:

Orange's process uses AI to read the manga through image analysis and character recognition, then to translate the words into English, Chinese and other languages. The technology is specialized for manga, meaning it is able to handle wordplay and other difficult-to-translate phrases. A human translator then makes corrections and adjustments. The process can deliver a manga translation in as little as two days. Orange will work with multiple Japanese publishers. The company looks initially to complete 500 translations monthly.

But this is missing a lot of context. For one, these manga are simple high school or battle manga that are ~200 pages long, many of those pages have only a few lines of dialogue, etc. Imagine you are a professional translator, and you are given that manga to translate, all the set-up done for you, all you gotta do is write. How long do you think that would take? Not that long! It could probably take like a week if it's actually all you did (calc'd from a 10k word count manga volume, 2k is a typical "good translator" per day count - many manga are shorter than that). And note how they said "as little as two days" - not median two days! Just, you know, aspirationally.

Translation is just not a big bottleneck. You gotta do layouts, lettering, proofs, etc, these can all take just as much time - and are being done by people, they still need wage workers doing all this. But that is small fry in comparison to publishing contracts, author approvals, distribution, all of that. And most importantly, product acquisition - you have to get authors to sign with you! That can be months of work. I am sure they are trying to get bulk agreements with publishers and such, but authors will push back on that, this is not an easy endeavor.

Which is why, in above, they say they hope to have "500 translations monthly". And after a year+ of work, on launch, they have...

...18. As best I can tell at least, their site deliberately obfuscates what they actually translated versus are just hosting for resale after all.

So yeah, as mentioned I don't think the economics pencil out. These aren't worth $5 dollars, they can't actually generate volume that makes "massive economies of scale" actually valuable, and their approach is currently antithetical to the idea of generating traction for any of their individual works. Niche publishing just doesn't work this way.

But it is early days, and hey I respect the experiment! I do think the tech is pretty good, and it is nice to see a company showcase it. It isn't quite good enough yet for prime time, but it could get there. I do want more manga to get exposure and audience; I will give a fair shake to any who try.

[transcriptioncity]

Clinician Reviewed Medical Translation Services

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[f1-stuff]

https://x.com/sainzxme/status/1712924891597414589?s=46&t=kc8Qs1lSmzNPxieZS5PEug <- Carlos talking about his relationship with Charles, I’ll try to translate it as best as I can

“I get to see Charles and spend more time with him when we’re both in Maranello, where we attend more meetings together or get lunch with Fred. We also have a bit more time to talk about other things, or to do some review work and talk about the team since we share the same vision about things. During races, if there’s the time for a padel game we call Lando or some other driver as well and we play. Then on track you attend so many events or do so many interviews together that of course there’s a very good relationship, and that’s the most important thing to me, that we have a good relationship, as well as a professional one by always putting Ferrari first. I must say that we’ve spent some very good moments together and we’ve laughed together a lot, like when you watch our interviews, I think we have a very good relationship as teammates.”

This translation kinda sucks but that’s the best I could do for now

Thank you for the translation anon!

[morningstartranslation]

Learn Chinese Culture with Us

Poor people do not need to learn frugality, and humble people do not need to learn respectfulness. 贫不学俭，卑不学恭（pín bú xué jiǎn ，bēi bú xué gōng）For more information, visit https://www.morningstartranslation.com

[metamorphesque]

when you're translating, mustn't it be difficult not to get distracted by the splendour or pain of these poems? how do you sit down and review things solely academically?

oof that's a good one!

(First, I'd like to preface this by saying that I'm not a professional translator, nor do I have any formal qualifications in translation. Of course, I don't believe that either is strictly necessary to translate, but I wanted to mention this as my answer might differ greatly from what you’d get from “professional and qualified” translators.)

For me, translating poetry is like walking a tightrope between two worlds — the academic and the deeply personal. It’s not just about the mechanics of language or a, so to say, clinical transfer of meaning; it’s about diving into the soul of the work and letting it resonate with you and within you. The beauty or pain of a poem isn’t a distraction—it’s the very essence that guides the translation. The emotional pull isn’t something to avoid; it’s the core that makes the work meaningful.

When I translate, I’m not doing it solely academically. The academic aspect provides the structure, like the bones of a body, but the emotions, the beauty, and the pain are the flesh and blood that give it life. Of course, it’s easy to get carried away by the beauty and tenderness, and in my opinion, it’s only by "losing yourself" to the poem and letting it flow through your veins that you find the right words and sentiments to express the "heart" of the writing. It’s a dance between precision and passion.

Additionally, I think the fact that I’ve spent my life surrounded by these works makes me more receptive and my skin more permeable to them. I don’t know. A great question—a mess of an answer hehe

[uses-for-fics]

Love is Embarrassing | Eric Bouchard

pt. 2 <~~ can be found here

YN stood in the back of the bustling film set, pencil in hand, watching as the crew adjusted the lights and the camera rolled into position. As a storyboard artist for ‘Tecto’, she had a front-row seat to the action, yet her gaze constantly wandered to the man behind the camera. Eric, the director, moved with a sharp precision, directing the crew and actors with an intensity that she admired. He was demanding, yes, but she loved being part of his vision, often on call for his constant script changes and feedback. Those were Eric’s orders.

Every time Eric called her over to discuss a scene or a shot, YN felt a flicker of excitement that went beyond the thrill of the job. It was no secret to herself—she harbored a deep crush on him, a feeling that had grown over the months working together but they never crossed that line. Theirs was a professional relationship, though every shared glance and conversation carried an undercurrent of something more.

As YN sketched, her pencil strokes tracing the sharp angles of Eric’s focused expression, a shadow loomed over her.

“Still drawing the boss, huh?” Adam’s teasing voice broke her concentration. He was the lead actor, playing Tecto, the hero of the movie, and always full of playful energy.

YN quickly closed her sketchbook, a blush rising to her cheeks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, but Adam’s knowing grin made it clear she wasn’t fooling anyone.

Whenever there was downtime on set, YN found herself sketching Eric. It wasn’t like she could help it—he was her muse, his intensity and passion translating perfectly onto the page. She'd captured him in different moments: deep in thought, laughing with the crew, even the way his hair fell messily during long shoots.

She’d grown careful about it, always making sure to keep her distance, never letting on that she spent every spare moment drawing him but the feelings that poured into those sketches were impossible to ignore. For YN, it was a quiet way of expressing her affection for him, an outlet for what she couldn't say out loud.

Adam, of course, was more observant than YN had given him credit for. During one particular scene change, he had seen her sketching again, eyes focused solely on Eric. He teased her relentlessly about it, but this time, he took it a step further. When YN left her sketchbook on her chair to head to the restroom, Adam couldn’t resist.

With a mischievous grin, he flipped through the pages. His eyes widened as he saw drawing after drawing of Eric, each one capturing him perfectly. Chuckling to himself, Adam pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures of the sketches. He knew just what to do. “Looks like you have a secret admirer.” He signed as he sent the photos to someone.

Moments later, Eric’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Eric was in the middle of reviewing a shot when he checked his phone, only to find a text from Adam. Attached were photos of YN’s drawings—of him. At first, he blinked in surprise. He had always appreciated YN’s artistic talents, but he hadn't realized she’d been using him as a subject so often.

A warm feeling stirred in his chest as he flipped through the images. The attention to detail, the way she had captured him so vividly—it struck him that YN had been quietly admiring him all this time, just as he had been doing with her.

He scanned to her usual spot. She was gone. Without thinking too much about it, he picked up his phone and dialed her number.

“YN,” he said when she answered, “I need your help with something urgent. There’s a script change I’d like your input on. Can you meet me after we wrap up today?”

YN was puzzled by Eric’s call. Script change? It wasn’t unusual for him to ask her for help, but there was something different in his voice this time. Nonetheless, she agreed, and after the day’s shoot ended, she met him at the quiet corner of the set where he waited.

“So, what’s this urgent change?” she asked, trying to sound casual.

Eric hesitated for a moment, his usual confidence wavering slightly. “It’s about a new scene I’m considering. A date scene, actually.”

YN blinked in confusion. “A date scene?”

“For you and me,” Eric clarified, his eyes meeting hers, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips. “Off the script.”

Realization dawned on her. Her heart raced as she realized what he was saying. She hadn’t expected this, not after months of keeping her feelings hidden.

“I thought… maybe we should give it a shot,” Eric continued. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and, well… after seeing those sketches, I figured it was time.”

YN’s face flushed with embarrassment, but also a surge of excitement. Adam! She would have to thank him—and yell at him—later.

“Well,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady, “I think I’d like that.” She covered her face with her hands. “I just can’t believe Adam would send you those sketches! It’s so embarrassing.”

Eric removed her hands from her face and smiled. “Love is embarrassing but it’s worth it no?”

Their date that night was the first of many. What had started as a quiet, unspoken attraction finally blossomed into something real. On set, things didn’t change much, at least not for the public eye, though there was a new spark between them that even the crew began to notice.

Adam, ever the troublemaker, couldn’t resist teasing them both. “You know, YN, I should start charging for my matchmaking services.”

YN only rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t deny it—Adam’s sneaky plan had given her the push she needed, and now, she was living the scenes she’d only sketched in the past.

[torahoes]

(IDOLiSH7) Torao Mido - Drama Collection 2 Summer Rabbit Chat

Please note that I am not a professional translator. If you come across any mistakes, feel free to let me know and I will make the necessary corrections.

Torao Mido: Good work today. I watched the Kokona movie you mentioned the other day

Nagi Rokuya: I have been eagerly awaiting your message, Mido-shi.

Nagi Rokuya: Now, let's hear your 5★ review that will impress even professional film critics. How was "Magical Girl Magical★Kokona ~A Great Operation in the Galaxy of Love~"? X-D))))))

Torao Mido: First, let me apologize. I was misled by the character design

Torao Mido: This was totally a profound and intense human drama.

Nagi Rokuya: OH… I am deeply moved right now.

Nagi Rokuya: I heard the sound of you falling into the Kokona swamp.

Torao Mido: What kind of sound would that be?

Nagi Rokuya: Plop…

Torao Mido: That's a rather soft sound lol

Torao Mido: Firstly, the character setup was straightforward, so I could enjoy it even as a first-time viewer. You have the space queen aiming to conquer Earth and Kokona who bravely stands up to her.

Nagi Rokuya: YES! It's made so that even those who haven't seen the anime can enjoy it! The attention to detail is superb. The staff are brilliant too.

Torao Mido: Also, I felt I absolutely had to talk about this

Nagi Rokuya:

Torao Mido: The scene where Kokona, despite being battered from repeated attacks, mustered her last bit of strength to cast a spell was incredibly intense

Torao Mido: I never expected such a heartfelt scream from a character that looks like that…

Nagi Rokuya: "As long as there's love, magical girls are eternal!"

Nagi Rokuya: And then the godly OP starts playing. You can't watch it without bursting into tears.

Torao Mido: I get it. That direction is just unfair

Nagi Rokuya: I'm shaking your hand passionately in my mind right now, Mido-shi.

Torao Mido: You're not going to do it in person?

Nagi Rokuya: Hm, I'm not opposed to that.

Nagi Rokuya: Anything else? 🥹

Torao Mido: Let's see… Kokona always loved people. No matter how much she suffered, she never hesitated to reach out a helping hand. She never forgot to have a sympathetic heart

Torao Mido: Kokona — she's a great woman.

Nagi Rokuya: OMG

Nagi Rokuya: Just how much potential do you possess, Mido-shi? Please come to my castle, the IDOLiSH7 dorm, immediately!!

Torao Mido: Can't it be tomorrow? We'll be together for the interview anyway

Nagi Rokuya:

Nagi Rokuya: Oh, right! I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts in person tomorrow X-D))))))

Torao Mido:

Torao Mido: Changing the topic, there's something I wanted to ask you as well

Torao Mido: Remember we talked about preparing a return gift for the bouquet of origami flowers we received from the child actors? What are you planning to give them? I'd like to avoid giving the same thing

Nagi Rokuya: It was a lovely gift to commemorate our acquaintance, wasn't it? I’m preparing handkerchiefs with embroidered parasols, inspired by the drama 🏖️

Torao Mido: I see. I’ll steer clear of handkerchiefs then, thanks

Nagi Rokuya: So even a playboy like you struggles with gift-giving, huh?

Torao Mido: Haruka said, "They used gold and silver origami, so you need to think really carefully about your return gift," which instantly raised the difficulty….

Nagi Rokuya: OH… just as Isumi-shi said, gold and silver origami are very rare and precious because there are so few sheets ;-(

Torao Mido: Yeah, seems so…

Torao Mido: I know we shouldn't just gift something expensive without much thought. I’ll think about it a bit more

Nagi Rokuya:

Nagi Rokuya: Talking with you like this, Mido-shi, I feel that the contrast between you and your character isn't that stark.

Torao Mido: Really? I'm not that laid-back though, right? I played a photographer, so there were a lot of instances where I just wandered off with my camera

Nagi Rokuya: I thought you were similar to your character in how thoughtful you are. In the vacation scenes, your character was the one who was the most attentive to the kids, showing them around various places, after all

Torao Mido: Thanks. Doesn't feel bad to hear that

Torao Mido: Thinking about it, I might have been the most sensible one in that chaotic group of four. Striving to capture memories, saying, "I want to capture everyone's laughter and the scent of the sea breeze in this one photo."

Nagi Rokuya: I agree. It really pained my heart to have to say, "Look, I've graciously decided to carry you. You should consider it a great honor," to the tired kids in such a haughty manner in that one scene ;-((((

Torao Mido: That was a funny scene. Your face was covered in sand, yet you still managed to maintain that posed look

Nagi Rokuya: I've had my fill of sand for a lifetime. I'm done with the sea now ✋

Torao Mido: Oh, right, you don’t handle hot places well. You're quite the opposite of your character, huh

Nagi Rokuya: I didn’t have the power to change the drama's setting from a tropical beach to a frigid land, so I just resigned myself and gave my all for the role ; -P

Torao Mido: I'm glad you didn’t have the power

Nagi Rokuya: Do you dislike winter?

Torao Mido: I don't dislike it. I've come to appreciate the warmth of a kotatsu. But if I had to choose, I prefer hot weather over cold.

Nagi Rokuya: I see, now that I know you're a haughty man who likes summer, it might not be an exaggeration to say I played you, Mido-shi 😂

Torao Mido: You playing the role of me, huh. Not bad.

Nagi Rokuya: OH! That was an unexpected reaction. Well then, in order to play me, you will need to study Kokona more

Torao Mido: Was that the deal!?

Nagi Rokuya: I've graciously decided to lend you my entire DVD collection. Be grateful.

Torao Mido: Yeah, I'm not really into that idea

Nagi Rokuya: Same here 😂

Nagi Rokuya: Anyway, I'm eagerly anticipating tomorrow. Let's discuss with the fervor that rivals the tropical sun X-)))))

Torao Mido: Yeah. I've encountered a great piece of work. Looking forward to it

The End.

[charlosvibesonly]

Racing Hearts - Part 3

Pairing : Max Verstappen x fem! reader/ driver

max and y/n are only growing closer. they like each other. but would that be enough?

Part 1 | Part 2

it's a little long this time, i got carried away ;) your comments and support mean a lot, they motivate me to keep writing :)

Max and your unprecedented range of events were further heightened by the media. Everyone talked about you two. This wasn’t rivalry or friendship. This was something the world of Formula 1 had never witnessed before.

Instead of shying away from the media frenzy, you decided to face it head-on, braving a whirlwind of interviews, appearances, and photo shoots. 

As the interviews rolled on, the playful banter between you and Max took on a life of its own, stealing the show every time. One moment that had everyone in stitches was when an interviewer asked about your daily routine. With a sly grin, you shot Max a mischievous look before answering, "Well, it usually starts with me crushing Max at some virtual racing on our gaming consoles. He's got nothing on me when it comes to video games." 

Max playfully rolled his eyes, "Yeah, right. I let you win, it's called being a gentleman." 

You couldn't help but laugh, "A gentleman who can't handle losing, more like it." 

From there, the conversation took off, touching on everything from your favorite travel destinations to your go-to karaoke songs. When Max couldn't resist teasing you about your high notes, you fired back, "Oh, please. You're just jealous that I can hit those notes better than you hit the apex." 

The interviews may have been hectic, but with Max by your side, you were having the time of your life. Laughter became a constant companion, with inside jokes forming during every appearance. Fans started to notice the chemistry that went beyond mere rivalry.

The whirlwind continued with a series of photoshoots, where the chemistry between you and Max translated effortlessly onto film.

A photoshoot in progress, capturing moments frozen in time. You and Max couldn’t help but turn it into a playground of laughter. The photographer took a break, and Max seized the opportunity to unleash his mischievous side. As soon as the lens turned away, he pulled faces that ranged from exaggerated expressions of surprise to comically pouting lips. Your attempts to keep a straight face fail miserably, and you burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Max, seriously, can you tone it down for a moment?" you plead through giggles.

He feigns innocence, "What? I'm just adding a touch of drama."

The photographer returns, oblivious to Max's brief stint as a comedic actor. However, you can't hold back your laughter, and the moment is captured on film - a snapshot of the behind-the-scenes hilarity.

As you both reviewed the photos later, there was a shared sense of satisfaction – not just from the stunning images but from the genuine joy that radiated through each frame. The glossy images weren't just snapshots of professional racers; they were windows into something that had blossomed amidst the high-stakes world of Formula 1.

The marketing machine wasn't satisfied with just interviews and photoshoots; soon, Red Bull Racing suggested a joint podcast to delve even deeper into the personalities of their star drivers. 

Max grinned, savoring the opportunity to steer the conversation toward more personal territories. "Alright, Y/N, let's make it interesting. If you could relive any moment of your life, what would it be?"

You raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the unexpected turn. "That's a tough one. Maybe a childhood memory. You know, the carefree days before racing became my entire world. How about you, Max?"

He leaned back, adopting a thoughtful expression. "I'd probably go back to my first race win. The rush of emotions, the taste of victory."

It was your turn now, “Any race that is your favorite?”

"Remember that one race in Monaco?" he mused, a playful glint in his eyes.

You grinned, "Oh, how could I forget? It's not every day you get kissed in front of the entire world."

Max leaned in, his lips dangerously close to your ear, "And yet, here we are, still making headlines."

As the race weekends unfolded, the media attention showed no signs of waning. Every shared podium appearance, every victorious celebration, and even the occasional post-race kiss fueled the narrative further.

“We had my shoey. And now Max and Y/N’s kisses seem to be a new tradition. You know I’m all up for it. If I’m on the podium, I’ll be kissing Max too.” Daniel said playfully in an interview.

During a particularly tense race at Spa-Francorchamps, you and Max found yourselves wheel-to-wheel in a fierce battle for the lead. The high-speed duel captivated fans, but what happened after the race added an unexpected twist to the tale.

In the cool-down room, Max approached you, a genuine smile on his face. "You pushed me out there. Good race."

You grinned, "Likewise. But what was with that risky move at Eau Rouge? You almost sent me off the track."

He chuckled, "Gotta keep you on your toes. Can't let things get too predictable."

Needless to say, your cheeks turned red fast.

Amidst the chaos of media attention, race weekends, and public scrutiny, you and Max found a moment of respite in the city where it all began – Monaco. 

The evening started at Max's house, a chic and cozy penthouse overlooking the harbor. Soft jazz music played in the background. The scent of a delicious homemade meal wafted through the air, as you and Max stood side by side in the well-equipped kitchen, aprons on, ready to embark on a culinary adventure.

"I hope you're prepared for a taste of my secret recipe," Max teased, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he handed you a chopping board.

"Secret recipe? Should I be worried?" you replied with a playful smirk, taking the chopping board from him.

"Okay, maybe 'secret recipe' was a bit of an exaggeration," Max admitted, his laughter echoing through the kitchen. "But I promise, it'll be the best pasta you've ever had."

The aroma of the simmering sauce filled the air, blending with the smooth jazz playing in the background. 

While chopping vegetables and stirring pots, Max stole a playful glance at you. "You know, Y/N, I've never had this much fun in the kitchen before."

You smiled, with a playful glint in your eyes.

As the final touches were added to the meal, you and Max set the table, the anticipation building for the culinary masterpiece you had created together. 

After dinner, you sat on the balcony. The night was beautiful and calm. 

As a gentle breeze rustled, Max reached for your hand, his touch conveying a silent assurance that, at this moment, it was just the two of you against the world.

"You know," Max said with a soft smile, "I never thought cooking together could be this much fun."

"Surprising, isn't it? Maybe we've discovered a hidden talent for culinary collaboration," you replied, intertwining your fingers with his.

He chuckled, "Or maybe it's just the company that makes it special."

And then, in a tender yet passionate moment, Max leaned in, his eyes locking onto yours. "You know, Y/N," he murmured, "there's something magical about moments like these."

You felt your heartbeat quicken, a gentle flush warming your cheeks. "And to think only a couple of months ago we were hell-bent on tearing each other apart " you teased.

As his lips met yours, the world outside the penthouse faded away.

It wasn’t like those kisses you had before. They were fueled by adrenaline. But here it was just pure calm, and genuine happiness to be with each other.

But a storm was brewing quietly. 

Headline: "Max Verstappen's Soft Side: Is Y/N Taking Advantage?"

In recent weeks, Max Verstappen's performance on and off the track has raised eyebrows among fans and pundits alike. The usually fierce and competitive driver seems to have softened, and many speculate that Y/N’'s influence is the cause. As their unexpected relationship unfolds, questions arise about whether she's leveraging their connection for personal gain. With Y/N now on the verge of a potential championship victory, concerns grow that Max's focus on the track may be compromised, jeopardizing his chances at the championship.

Max sat alone in his dark room, his anxious eyes glued to the screen of his phone as he scrolled through the endless stream of news articles. The more he read, the more uncertain he felt, and his mind began to race with worst-case scenarios. The words on the screen seemed to taunt him with their tone, and he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by doubt and fear. 

Suddenly, his phone rang, shattering the eerie silence of the room. He saw that it was you calling, and his heart raced with anticipation. Should he answer? The temptation was too great to resist, but he couldn't bear the thought of what might come next, so he hit the reject button.

His doubts had won. 

It was race day.

“Max is back! Oh Y/N would not have liked that. Hurts being taken out from the race by your own boyfriend.”