#this sentence would be so concerning if not in this very specific context lol

[ros-is-writing]

More cannibalism in the works, by the way

[tamamatango]

“Keroro Gunsgo To The Polls”: The Possible Behind-the-Scenes of the Ad-nime Short Nobody Expected

A much less existentially depressing display of political campaign buffoonery.

Here’s yet another unplanned post from me. The other long-form ones I was talking about before I keep putting off because of work and also another pretty ambitious project I’m putting together taking my attention—I don’t know how or when to talk about it here juuuuust yet, but it exists in public and some of you already know what it is/have seen it, so stay tuned perhaps.

As you can see from the video link/photo, this post is a writeup about a surprise video apparently commissioned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government that uses the Keroro characters to encourage young people to go out and vote in the upcoming elections for the Governor of Tokyo. It came out about a week ago, but I initially glossed over it because…well, I thought it wasn’t new. After all, the copyright DOES attribute the copyright to 2014 and it looks very similar to the Flash anime at first glance, so…this must be a reupload from the 2014 Tokyo gubernatorial election or something, right?

Upon looking more deeply into it, no. There’s no record of this ever existing before this week, and it was later confirmed to be new via social media channels. Which means this is technically a brand new piece of animated Keroro content, which I pledged I would report on. So here I am. Whoopee.

This post is going to be about the short from a production standpoint, primarily. I’m not going to spend time on the plot (if you want to call it that lol), as it was already pretty succinctly summarized by this post here by @unfo11owmelol , and I can say it’s more or less accurate, so thank you! I will make a comment in that the Dororo ranting about plastic thing seems to just be a running gag he has now—he was always an environmentalist of course, but his hatred of plastic specifically is kind of new; it was even a major punchline in this month’s manga chapter. In fact, this short has the manga’s quirks written all over it. It’s almost as if Yoshizaki himself was heavily involved in it. Oh wait, he was. But we’ll get to that.

The Context

As previously mentioned, this short was commissioned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and posted exclusively to their YouTube channel. This is where I was going to have a few sentences about how it was literally exclusively on the YouTube channel because none of the official social media accounts posted about it, but as I was writing the last 40% of the post, Keroro PR and one of the Tokyo government accounts finally mentioned it. So give a pat on the back to ol’ Kirb’s amazing procrastination abilities. Anyways, for the whole week before they finally decided to acknowledge its existence, it literally just dropped on YouTube with no warning and the only reason anybody on social media knew about it is because people whose YT feeds it popped up on were like hey what the fuck is this.

“What the fuck is this” is a pretty good question. While the fact that it’s about the gubernatorial election specifically isn’t directly mentioned in the video, it was pretty obvious given the timing, as it’s set to occur on July 7. I am not the most knowledgeable about Japanese politics as a whole, but this year’s race for governor is apparently particularly competitive, with over 50 candidates running. Here’s a short article giving a rundown of the race so far. The top issue is unsurprisingly the low birthrate, which has been causing panic over the fate of Japan’s economy for a considerably long time now. That’s why the government is very concerned that the voter disparity is incredibly polarizing, with young people voting much less than the elderly.

Well, what better way to fix low youth vote turnout than with anime? After all, the Zillenials want nothing more than to obsess over fictional characters while the world crumbles around them into inevitable disrepair I’m not projecting at all. The irony here is that, when the anime was originally in its prime at least, Keroro’s target audience was elementary schoolers. Indeed, the short definitely has the aura of a PSA they’d show to children, but obviously children are not voting. There’s even a point in the video where Tamama says going to the polling place is an opportunity to visit your childhood school, which is a statement more relatable to young adults. I guess at this point the main audience for Keroro really is considered to be the people who grew up with it in their child/teen years—unless the actual new anime gets a primetime kids’ TV slot, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Considering this is the most viewed PSA about the election on their YouTube channel by far, I guess it worked to an extent? It’s currently hovering just under 20k views, which isn’t really too much in the grand scheme. But now that it’s been officially shared on social media, perhaps that’ll give it a boost. Will most of these viewers actually go out to vote is the question…

Production staff peculiarities

As with any animated Keroro content following the end of the Flash anime—which until the new show airs has basically just been this, the new project announcement trailer, and some anti-piracy ad they were doing in movie theaters that they ironically scrubbed from the internet—BN Pictures is credited as the animation studio (though the studio Sugarless Factory assisted; they pretty much exclusively do production assistance for various projects). This is interesting because it looks completely unlike anything they’ve ever done. Unless I’m missing something, none of the anime they’ve produced before have been done in a similar Flash-like style.

Now, as we Internet addicts all know, Flash has been officially dead for a few years now. However, it might still be used very rarely in lowkey web animations like this, although a friend who knows more about anime production than I do told me even those are more commonly made using Live2D now. The credits for this short are very…short, but the director and a couple of other animators worked on a particular Flash-animated series called Oshiri Kajiri Mushi (“Bottom Biting Bug”) that first aired on the TV channel NHK in 2012. I’m guessing these staff are freelance, as that show was produced by the studio Kinema Citrus (a team founded by ex-members of Production I.G and Bones), and were possibly brought on to this short because they had experience with the software. If it is animated using something like Live2D, the experience still applies, as it’s apparently more similar to Flash than something more commonly used in anime like Clip Studio Paint. The director also has 3D CG credits and there is a credit here for “motion” that includes his name, so maybe a little of that was used as well. (Wouldn’t be able to tell myself—most experience I have with 3D animation is a one semester Maya course I took in high school lol).

Curiously, despite the potentially similar animation software and very similar artstyle + color palette, none of the animation staff, as far as I can tell, worked on the 2014 Flash anime. That is, except for…Mine Yoshizaki.

On all animated Keroro media, Yoshizaki’s primary official credit is “original creator,” of course. As the series creator, he would of course participate to a degree in most things related to the 2004 series, doing stuff like sitting in on some writing and recording sessions, contributing ideas/concept art here and there, and so on. There’s actually a Newtype article from around the announcement of the first movie I dug up that was officially translated into English, in which Yoshizaki talks about the pressure of being in that role. Most mangaka interviews I’ve seen about their involvement in their works’ anime adaptations are pretty overwhelmingly positive, but he was definitely more mixed. This might be a post for another day, since I have some speculations about his relationship to the anime as a whole. Damn, I need to stop coming up with essay ideas that are probably too big for my pea brain.

Anyway, Yoshizaki was quite a bit more involved in the 2014 series. He served as one of two people responsible for series composition (scriptwriting), though that could be because the Flash anime was a much more direct adaptation of the manga than the original anime, which might as well have been an entirely different series. IIRC, some episodes of Flash were literally 1:1 with the manga’s script…so I guess that counts as writing the anime too lol. He also storyboarded a few episodes and wrote the opening theme song’s lyrics. The next Keroro animation after that was the anti-piracy theater ad in 2021, which he storyboarded for. But you’ll notice with all the credits we’ve discussed so far that he was never involved with the animation proper past the storyboarding stage…until now!

Not only was Yoshizaki credited as original creator as usual, he also did directorial supervision, storyboarding, and was a key animator—the only key animator, in fact! I know it’s just a five-minute short, but the Flash series’s episodes were even shorter than that and had multiple key animators per episode, so this is kind of a big deal. It also might explain why the character designs look just a little bit more on-model to the manga designs than Flash’s did, even though they look almost identical at a cursory glance. It’s easiest to tell by looking at the less-rounded head shapes, plus a few minor details like Tamama’s eye highlights and the bridge of Kururu’s glasses. I am very normal, how could you tell?

So yeah, this makes this short the most Yoshizaki has ever been involved with the actual animation process. I can’t say it gives him the most additional credits, as it’s tied with the Flash series for three extra, but it’s something!

Closing out the staff section, some notes about the cast. As you might expect, the usual actors reprise their roles. Most notably, Mamiko Noto is back to play Mois for what I believe (unless I’m missing a random collab or something) is her first time in the role in ten years, and she pretty much didn’t miss a beat! In addition to Fuyuki and Natsumi’s VAs playing them recently at the Keroro expo, that’s three additional voices besides the Keroro Platoon’s that presumably are still going to be able to return for the new anime.

Otherwise, the platoon sounds pretty much like they did in the anniversary trailer and various other small projects like the anti-piracy ad and Tales of the Rays collab from last year (they each had multiple spoken lines there). Keroro sounds a tad deeper; Tamama has some of the Jibanyan nasal now; Giroro didn’t really talk much but sounds mostly the same; Dororo is also a bit deeper and sounds kinda awkward but I think that’s less the voice direction and more Yoshizaki possibly wrote the dialogue and he speaks more assertively in the manga lol; Kururu sounds literally the exact same because Koyasu is a magic man.

Made in [Insert Year]?? (Ft. A lesson in trademarking)

I mentioned this at the beginning of this post, but for a solid few days, I really thought this video was just an ancient (2014 feels ancient now anyway) reupload. After all, the copyright string says 2014, and only media produced during the Flash series era has that copyright year, so I brushed it off. Here, let me show you all the anime copyright strings per the current anime portal:

There’s no 2004 date on the TV series’s copyright, probably because it covers the entire series from 2004–2011, plus now 2024 onward (and possibly the anti-piracy ad from 2021 as well), and also most anime-branded merch and things. But when the show was airing proper, it was attributed to 2004 (you can see this in the opening credits of any season). The 2006–2010 dates are for each individual movie. And there’s the 2014 copyright that’s the exact same as the video’s, though here it is for the Flash anime, as there’s pictures of it on the anime portal site. As an aside, before 2015, Sunrise was listed instead of BNP. At some point all anime rights got retroactively transferred from Sunrise Inc. to BNP—not sure how or when exactly that occurred. For the movies, there were slight shakeups in the production committee as well (you can see my new project trailer analysis for more on that kind of stuff).

As you can see, copyright strings for the series are attributed to the year each individual “product” came out in, for the most part. But now we know that this ad is brand new. So…does this mean this political ad is counted as part of the Flash anime? They obviously didn’t plan to include this specific video ten years ago (unless Kadokawa bought out an oracle or something, wouldn’t surprise me). Maybe they left the door open to more episodes of the Flash anime proper, but that isn’t what this was advertised as.

Well, I have a theory. A theory that might be totally wrong, but a theory nonetheless. Let’s go on a massive tangent about the Japanese trademark system! (Disclaimer: I have no formal training in the legal field. I just have really weird research hobbies.)

I’m going to focus on two basic principles here. First, once trademarks in Japan are officially registered, they are active for ten years before the copyright applicant must reapply to renew ownership of the trademark for another ten years. Second, trademarks have to be filed under certain classifications that basically tell the JPO (Japan Patent Office) what goods and/or services the applicant plans to use the trademark for. This means that sometimes the same trademark will be filed multiple times for different use classes. The classifications are each given a two digit class number, which is further subdivided into five-character group code(s).

You can actually search through all public patents yourself on J-PlatPat, and the site is machine translated into English (though you still have to type the copyright you’re looking for in Japanese). Let’s take a look at the three different filings for ケロロ軍曹 (just the name of the series itself, not the logo).

I’m on my phone so I couldn’t fit the entire window, but the important information is here. Kadokawa Corporation is the filer for all of these, though Yoshizaki’s name is probably also on whatever application documents they sent, which aren’t viewable. The three versions of the trademark were filed on different dates about a year apart. You’ll see that class 16 is there twice. For the first filing, it was class 16 and multiple group codes designating different kinds of goods (class 28 also contains goods-related things); the second filing covers a single group code protecting “printed matter” (presumably this was to cover any physical distributions of the manga).

I’m going to take a closer look at the third filing, which was officially registered in 2004. Class 09 covers a shitload of different goods and services, like way too many to list. What I’m thinking is that the first set of goods trademarks filed in 2001 was just to cover the kind of stuff they’d attach to issues of Shonen Ace and volume releases as giveaways—paper goods, board game-type items, and toys/dolls are all covered under it. Then in 2003, in preparation for the inevitable merchandise and collaboration dump the anime would lead to, they opened the floodgates to literally any Material Thing they could think to cover. Like, I’m pretty sure we never got any Keroro-branded egg candlers, fire alarms, or “cigar lighters for automobiles”, but might as well cover all your bases. Wouldn’t want the local fire department handing out emergency gear with your cartoon frog on it without permission, you know.

Included among these materials are some items that might be a bit more relevant to our case here. There’s a number of clauses related to physical and digital film, photography, and other media: “CD-ROM and DVD and other recording media, electronic publications, downloadable music, downloadable image[s]”. Now, while this doesn’t cover “animation” specifically, it can possibly be stretched to fit that definition. This is especially because, in Japanese, the term the MTL output as “images” is actually eizou, which can refer to both images and video.

So, the version of the trademark registered for the brand in 2004 likely covers certain media-related things. There are other classes that include the word “animation” specifically, but it’s possible that those classes weren’t classified the same way back then as they are now, and maybe anything film-related could’ve been interpreted by the law to include animation. Nowadays, though there are specific classifications for animation, specifically “animation available for download.” This subgroup actually happens to fall under class 09, though other classes contain similar items as well, such as class 41. You can search classes by number or keyword if you’re curious about this.

As I pointed out before I presented this data, all of these particular filings are for specifically ケロロ軍曹, not ケロロ. If ケロロ is to be used in isolation, it would have to be specified as such in the registration data, because what’s actually stopping someone else from coming along and trademarking just ケロロ? Now, remember the name of the Flash anime? That’s right—ケロロ. Just “Keroro”, not “Keroro Gunso.” Incidentally, this video is actually not formally titled under ケロロ軍曹 (despite what the thumbnail says). The only name in the title of the actual video is ケロロ.

So here is my theory. Maybe it’s a hypothetical, but I’m going to treat it like it’s concrete for argument’s sake. In 2014, to prepare for the Flash anime and related branding, Kadokawa filed for the trademark ケロロ—individually, without 軍曹. Because it was the 2010s at that point, it’s possible that downloadable animation was more specifically defined in the group codes filed for, even though the Flash anime did air on TV (again, the strategy to this is about covering as many potential use cases as possible for maximum copyright protection). Maybe it was under class 09, maybe it was another class, or even more than one. For whatever reason, the trademark is not publicly available. But because of what kind of animation/video/whatever that specific trademark covers, this little election video is covered under that 2014 trademark.

You might recall how I said trademarks have to be renewed every ten years. Incidentally, it just so happens that 2014 was ten years ago. Most likely, the (secret?) trademark was recently renewed so that stuff like this would be allowed to be made and can continue to be made in the future, independently from “Keroro Gunso” as defined by the 2004-verse and the manga proper. And because 2014 is the original filing year of that trademark, that is the year that is displayed with this project, even if the trademark was renewed in 2024, or some other recent year. By the way, all the ケロロ軍曹 trademarks I covered were also renewed this decade, so Kadokawa can keep on doing whatever exactly they were doing with those. There’s probably even more hidden-from-public-view trademarks, who knows, there’s a thousand potential asterisks here but you get the picture.

Fascinating, isn’t it? As I said, it’s possible that I’m just talking out of my ass and all of this is either way more simple or way more complicated than I’m making it out to be, in which case I just wasted multiple paragraphs of your time. But hey, at least it was a fun lesson, right? I’m not the only one interested in this, right? RIGHT?!?!?!

Okay, I’m just about done here, but I’m going to tell you something plot twisty. Do you know what actually first clued me in to the fact that this was not made in 2014 before it was confirmed to be the case? Not the upload date. Not the fact that nobody ever talked about it prior to a week ago. Not even all the probably useless copyright shit I just spent a whole other post’s worth of words on.

It was this part of the video:

See, in this screenshot, if you look really closely, you’ll notice that Kururu is using an iPhone parody with three cameras. The first iPhones with three cameras were released in 2019. Therefore, this could not have been made in 2014. This stupid detail is what it took to get me to think about this video for more than thirty seconds.

Thank you, Kururu’s crippling iPhone addiction.

So yeah, go out and vote or whatever, wherever you guys are. Otherwise you’ll have to look Mois in the eyes and tell her no, and that will make her very sad, and she might blow up the planet as consequence. Not that the planet isn’t already being destroyed. Any of my fellow Americans want to join me for a screaming session following the last few days of federal fuckery? I’ll bring chocolate-covered pretzels to snack on and we’ll write the names of corporate lobbyists on them, it’ll be fun.

[pygmi-says-hi]

I know you probably get a lot of asks about that injury post but I really need answers for a very specific scenario in my fic (it may have to change just because of how unlikely survival seems, but if you think it's possible then that saves me some trouble lol):

Character A is stabbed through the chest with a big ass scythe (like, the kind of scythe you'd see the grim reaper holding). It's meant to kill. The person who stabbed him would not want to keep the weapon lodged in the body, and pulls it out.

Character B is very closeby and almost immediately becomes aware of the event. He's able to whisk Character A (who, I would assume still has some strength to put pressure on his own wound, and would know to do so) to a safe spot that's just a short walk away, easy to get to, but of course a minute or so would have to pass for the attacker to be out of sight before they're able to escape to this space and all.

As Character A loses his strength, Character B would obviously have to hold the wound down. They can't go to a hospital, Character A is a wanted criminal. But his brother is a doctor that lives nearby.

Would the doctor be able to save him from the injury just using portable tools? How quickly would he have to arrive to the scene? Should Character B do anything more while they wait?

(btw, both of these characters are experienced with injury, it's like.. a hero/villain fic and whatever, Character A is an active villain while Character B is a retired hero so they know what they're doing but it's never gotten this bad before)

SORRY IM ASKING A LOT LOL

yes, I would love to help! and thank you so much for adding in context!!!!!!!!! you would not believe how hard it is to piece together requests when they only give me like two sentences lol. not a problem!

firstly, this sounds like a very interesting story and I would love to know who you are to read it.

secondly, let's figure this out!

Scythes are meant for slicing or cleaving, which means they do thin, deep lacerations. (idk how stabbing would work, some interesting physics right there). Therefore, Character A would defo need lots and lots of pressure on that wound. Lots of bandages and stitches.

Short answer; yes, doctors carry suture kits all the time, and if this doctor brother fellow carried a metric fuckton of gauze and medical tape, he might be stable enough to move to long-term care (not necessarily a hospital but at least a building).

My main concern would be the blood loss - all of your vital organs are in the torso, and so blood flow is concentrated there. Lots of blood loss and possible organ failure...not so treatable in transport. since I'm assuming the blade went all the way through (i.e entrance and exit wound), pressure on one side wouldn't help much.

To conclude, I would hold chances of survival as very very low.

the doctor would have to be on site really for any chance to be salvaged. Character B, if they've got a good head on their shoulders, would keep them awake and jam some mud or wet cloth into the wound. gross, yeah, but if it fits it ships. In that case, the doctor would also need disinfectant and some salves. (you can deal with infection later, blood loss is Top Priority)

But then again, this is fiction and you can manipulate it how you want. Good luck, and I will hope for the survival of this poor fellow!

[cornflowerbluewrites]

Ochako knows that head injuries are serious. She sat through the whole lecture on them Recovery Girl gave their first year after Deku took that rock to the head during one of their training exercises and no one had realized he was concussed until he vomited halfway through the class’s after action report on the lesson and has had one or two concussions herself throughout the years.

for the ask game—I know it’s short but this sentence painted a scene so vividly in my mind, it was like two fics for the price of one

Okay, so, this was specifically inspired by MHA's OVA 4 where Izuku gets hit on the head with a rock and gets knocked out and then a few moments later gets woken up and says he's fine and no one is at all ever concerned about the fact that he gets hit in the head hard enough to knock him out! He has a a concussion at the least! Someone should be concerned about him and his traumatic brain injury!!!

Clearly I'm still having emotions about this, lol.

Anyways, that is specifically what I was thinking about when I wrote this scene and the idea that the reason why they might not have recognized the fact that he had a concussion because none of them knew what a concussion was and how it might impact a person and that after the fact, Recovery Girl sat them all down and went into detail about concussions. I also figured that most Heroes would suffer at least a few minor concussions throughout their careers at some point just because their jobs have lots of debris flying around and also people punching them in the face.

I also thought it was important that Ochako have some kind of context for what she is experiencing in the fic, but not be willing to admit it because if she admits that she has a concussion, then she will have to take herself out of the situation, and she knows that she can still keep going despite the concussion. So she knows what a concussion is, and she knows what one feels like. It's not exactly a healthy mindset, but I can see all of the 1-A kids slipping into it or something like it occasionally. Also, she very much has a concussion, so she's not thinking clearly, lol.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk about this scene and Izuku's very obvious concussion that he got during training, lol!

Ask for more fic DVD commentary!

[moonyinpisces]

Hi! I finally read HDWTOTL after seeing the cover art submissions on my dash for days. I won’t be emotionally the same ever again. Thank you, genuinely. But anyway, I was wondering if I could get some general writing advice?

I haven’t ever finished a story, and my problem is this: I can’t propel it forward. I have ideas for the beginning or middle of a story, but they’re just vague, disconnected scenes or emotions. I can never bring it to an end. And I can’t seem to bring people from location to location in a way that doesn’t feel very awkward.

Sometimes I look back at the writing I’ve done in a day and I realize it’s nearly all dialogue. Is this just my sign to be a screenwriter?

Or is there another angle to telling a story I’m not seeing?

How does one go from being a shit storyteller to a good one?

Thank you❤️

oh my gosh, thank you for reading hdwtotl and reaching out!! and yes, i can absolutely help you out, i'll throw my thoughts + advice down under the cut <3

i've always struggled with exactly what you're describing until relatively recently. i could get the barebone structure of a story down (beginning, end, vague plot points, dialogue-only scenes, etc.) luckily you mentioned you have disconnected emotions as one of the building blocks, which is, imo the most important thing you can have as a writer.

all that writing is is having an emotion and using all the tools in your arsenal to make someone else experience that same emotion.

that's all it is. what you're describing re: pacing and progression are all valid concerns, but i think you should remove that from the equation for now and just focus on what certain plot ideas make you feel, and how to evoke that feeling in others. personally, i struggle with properly explaining myself UNLESS i'm writing fiction. like, i can't tell you what i'm feeling, but i can make you feel the same way, and in the end we're now on the same wavelength. i don't think that's THE way to write, but it's the way i approach it and i couldn't do it any other way.

as to how to grow/push past what you're specifically struggling with: i think what helped me the most to develop myself as a writer is write the world around you. if you saw a sunset over farm hills in late october, how would you describe that to depict the feeling it evoked in you? the chilliness, perhaps spookiness, the beauty WITH the context that it's ushering in darkness, the dying plants, the cows huddling for warmth, the sound of a passing train. both the material and the immaterial work together in tandem in fiction -- what does the narrator sense from both? do that until it becomes second nature; if i see something incredible irl, you best believe my mental typewriter is going nuts. (the bentley scene in chapter 11 of hdwtotl had existed in my brain for MONTHS sentence-by-sentence WITH paragraph breaks before i finally got it down lol)

so if i were you, that's what i'd work on first before trying to bring it bigger picture with a beginning-middle-end as i think your pacing will naturally develop from it as well. what do you see, how do you feel, and how can the reader come away with both of those things without having been where you are themselves. also single scene oneshots to get in some practice translating that to fictional spaces.

good luck, i hope you break past this!! we need more storytellers out there

[cesium-sheep]

@crippled-sheep​ I don’t know that I feel up to an actual back-and-forth so it may require further revisiting, but I did want to more clearly explain my actual point of disagreement from the other day while I have the (many, many) words for it.

so first a point of clarification, I strongly strongly prefer the term “neurodivergent” over “neurodiverse”. I know they’re nearly identical and probably come from the same linguistic root but neurodivergent pairs much more clearly with neurotypical, and “neurodiverse” has “handicapable” vibes to it for me. neurodivergent (or neuroatypical, which is harder to parse and less ideal) also still has a connotation of Weird, divergence rather than diversity.* my primary issue with broadening “the neurodivergent/neurodiverse community” to cover the entire mental illness community is that “the neurodivergent community” already meant something specific. the term is already in use. and it’s really really valuable for autistic/adhd folks (and folks with other closely related disorders by internal experience, not by behavior, behaviorists can kiss my grits) to be able to find each other easily. we’re not being offered a replacement term and there wasn’t one already in use, so as an autistic person who required access to community in order to figure myself out, it feels very much like nt mentally ill folks going “mm, no, ours now” and actively taking something away. (also see how useful a quick recognizable distinction is even in this sentence.)

if we had a replacement term in common use it really wouldn’t bother me that much! I’d still have some qualms with it** but I probably wouldn’t bother raising a fuss directly when other people used it.

it’s kinda like how the nonbinary community has moved away from using “nb” as a shorthand for ourselves, because we were told that the black community had already been using nb to mean non-black presumably longer than we’d been using it to mean nonbinary, so our use was causing unnecessary confusion and potential distress.*** broadening “neurodivergent” to mean the whole mental illness community and its offshoots/relatives causes unnecessary confusion and distress, as it was already being used to mean something more specific and losing that specificity breaks up community and muddles meaning (which distresses me lol).

I absolutely do think there should be a destigmatized umbrella term available for the broader community! which I did say even in my initial dissent. but I don’t think it should be chosen by actively taking away from a subcommunity, and I also don’t think a word change will magically fix any prejudice against mental illness. based on my own experiences as an ad hoc practitioner, a mentally ill person, and an advocate, I feel efforts are much better directed at destigmatization of existing community terms rather than finding (appropriating) one that might be more mainstream palatable and pouring effort into widespread adoption while leaving the subcommunity it was appropriated from in the lurch.****

tl;dr: the only actual point of disagreement I have is over recent appropriation of This Specific Preexisting Term as the umbrella term due to the additional harm I see from it compared to using the preexisting umbrella term of “mental illness/disorder”. everything else you said about community and subcommunity and representation I genuinely totally agree with.*****

I hope that makes things a little clearer, even if we still disagree about the relative levels of harm between the two.

---

* (and I don’t think using “neurodivergent” for one and “neurodiverse” for the other would work, as others will definitely struggle to parse the distinction. to the point where I genuinely couldn’t remember which one you used in the original context until I scrolled back to look. you were using “neurodiverse” and I was using “neurodivergent” and we both proceeded as if it was the same word.)

** (mostly demedicalization of some genuine potentially medical concerns to a degree that smells suspiciously like unexamined internalized ableism, which will significantly negatively impact people’s willingness to seek proper support and potential treatment at a time when we already have tiktok folks going “oh there’s nothing wrong with you you’re just a ~star child~” or whatever to audiences of millions. “oh I wouldn’t benefit from medication or therapy or other forms of treatment/support for mental illness I’m just ~neurodiverse~” yknow? which to be fair in my current usage of nd isn’t generally the case, we’re very big on medication and other supports for folks who would benefit from it even though there’s a very strong push for total demedicalization of autism in particular.****** I just feel that’s how I often see it used by people outside that subcommunity.)

*** (altho there is an even older use as a shorthand for “nota bene” often used to highlight important context, which I’ve picked up from friends that have done academic writing and very nearly used a couple times when writing this :v still think the black community wins custody of that one through a combination of both precedent and priority, especially given the “nota bene” use is generally very distinct contextually and not in direct connotative competition.)

**** (like how the disabled community as a whole is pretty firm about using the term disabled, or the chronically ill community is pretty firm about yes really I am Sick.)

***** (I think, to clarify the original original point of contention, the reason most people use “neurodiverse” to mean “autism and adhd” is because. that’s already the subcommunity term that was in use. we’re focusing on our subcommunity because that’s always been what we mean when we say neurodivergent. and the fact that usage is actively in flux seems to be causing distress and confusion for those who mean the broader usage as much as it is for those who mean the more specific usage. there absolutely should be community and resources for the broader usage gathered under an umbrella term, but I just would really prefer it if a different term could be used, such as the preexisting “mental illness/disorder” umbrella. because while I don’t think the specific usage has any distinct priority over the broader usage, it absolutely has precedent, and ignoring the precedent causes harm in excess of the harm I see in deferring to precedent.)

****** (but not the common secondary disorders that can come from existing as an autistic, importantly - I think the distinction is mostly just “treatment” for autism is generally far more harm than good, with some exceptions that are focused on functioning in a neurotypical world rather than actually treating symptoms. which is generally not the case outside of autism, at least for modern outpatient treatment of the mental disorders I’m familiar with as an ad hoc practitioner. also I’m so sorry for putting a footnote in a footnote lol I just have Many Opinions and A Very Large Character Limit)

[protoindoeuropean]

So I started translating Ancillary Justice into Slovene more than a year ago  – no official translation has been published yet, so one can dream lmao; seriously though, it’s unlikely to ever happen, mainly because it’s going very slow (I got through less than 5% in this time, though to be fair I’d also taken a [”more than a year” minus one month] pause until I came back to it recently) – but even if I won’t be the one that ends up translating it, I’m going to throw out some of my ideas, since the book is linguistically very interesting. (And if anyone else can make use of any of these ideas, I’ll be glad.)

Discussion of the neutral use of feminine gender, the orthographic principles in proper names, as well as two specific translations (a neologism pomóž, Gsg. pomoží for “ancillary” and (not a neologism) gospôda for “Lord” in “Lord of the Radch”) under the cut ↓

The most obvious thing to consider is the use of gender: the neutral pronoun is feminine, which is an interesting quirk that really works well in getting you to realize you’re dealing with a different kind of mindset. The book is written in English, but the language of the people in it is certainly not English; my role as a translator into Slovene is then twofold: to translate the English original and to translate the English “translation”. That is, to translate the English content of the story, but also to follow the principles that the author used when transporting the languages and the mindset of the people(s) she created into English (ignoring the fact that the neutral gender of the Radchaai culture is “translated” into a feminine pronoun in English would make the translation into Slovene completely inauthentic, in my opinion). But while in English the feminine gender being neutral really concerns only (some) pronouns – though of course, it’s not like pronouns are rare! – the effect of using feminine gender as neutral in Slovene is far far more all-encompassing: not only the pronouns in third person singular, but besides the pronouns in dual and plural also most of the verbal forms as well as adjectives and nouns.

To use a neutral feminine consistently, all nouns denoting persons, from “officer”, “lieutenant”, “doctor”, “citizen” to “guest”, “local”, “worshipper”, “friend“ ..., have to be transformed from the neutral masculine form in Slovene (častnik, poročnik, zdravnik, državljan, gost, domačin, častilec, prijatelj etc.) to the feminine (častnica, poročnica, zdravnica, državljanka, gostja, domačinka, častilka, prijateljica etc.).  // And it’s happened at least twice that I only caught myself that I’d automatically used the masculine forms after the fact; when talking about “followers” of a religion I automatically wrote verniki instead of vernice and the other was also in a religious context – “saints” became svetniki instead of svetnice. I don’t think it was the religious context though lol, but that these words were only used in the plural, where a neutral feminine is somewhat more counter-intuitive. //

The only noun that doesn’t have a corresponding feminine form (that I’ve encountered so far; I’m keeping a list) – besides the basic “person”, “people”, “human” – is “child”, otrok, and the reason that that is relevant is that the word “children” appears in the same context as “adults” which does have the differentiated forms and thus makes the sentences a bit difficult to parse if you follow the gender agreement as required. I haven’t yet decided what to do about that, really (but it’ll probably have to be substituted by something more general, e. g. “people”).

On to the second issue: the orthography of proper names. The principle outlined above, that my role as translator into Slovene is to follow similar translation practices as the original English “translation” did, means that I can (or rather have to) move away from the English spellings of the names in the book – where that is appropriate, of course. There are a few issues that come up when taking that into account though. English orthography in general is inconsistent, which means that the orthography across the names can be inconsistent too.

At first, for example, I thought that the different spelling of “Mianaai” vs. “Valskaay” meant that the first was to be pronounced with a fully pronounced [ɪ] and the latter with only [ɪ̯] (i. e. [-ɑːjɪ] vs. [-ɑːɪ̯]), but after listening to the audiobook (the US one, for which they consulted the author for the pronunciations) that doesn’t seem to be the case (they’re both [-ɑːɪ̯]). Though the seeming arbitrariness when it comes to cases such as “Kould Ves” with a k vs. “Vestris Cor” with a c for the same sound should’ve made it obvious that spelling isn’t entirely phonetic. On the other hand I doubt “Skaaiat” would be pronounced [ˈskɑːɪ̯jɑt] if it were written “Skaayat” (I’d expect [ˈskɑːjɑt] in that case), so “Mianaai” and other examples with -aai might just be a particular case (in word-final position) where the sequence coincides with -aay and the spelling is ~etymological despite the same pronunciation.

For the Slovene translation, though, this kind of maintainance of orthographic distinctions can probably be put to the side. Slovene orthography is indeed partly etymological, but only when it comes to Slovene words themselves and not really when it comes to foreign names. So far I’ve preserved the kinds of spellings that might be equally foreign yet potentially pronounceable to speakers of English and Slovene (geminated consonants, as in “Ikkt”, and vowels, as in the examples above), I’ve adapted obvious features of English and taken into account the actual pronunciation (y becomes j, sh and ch are š and č, ur can be rendered with a sole r, aw pronounced [ɔː] becomes o* and so on; “Shis’urna” is thus Šis’rna, “Ors” is Orz and “Radch” is Radč; as a sidenote, I was also glad to see that the preservation of d in Radč – following the principle of preserving geminated consonants – comes in handy when it comes to the adjective, which would be raški if the base word were Rač, but remains radški when d is kept in) I’m still not entirely sure how to deal with spellings that are not potentially pronounceable (such as the q in “Breq”) – these will probably be adapted to Slovene phonology (sorry, Brek).

*As a kind of joke of cosmic proportions, “Lieutenant Awn”‘s name is thus rendered as On – same as the *masculine* third person singular pronoun in Slovene ˘  ̮ ˘

Briefly also about another issue that involves both gender and proper names, which is, well, their gender assignment. I’ll probably go with the system I’ve used so far, in which personal names (including names of deities) are feminine (unless indicated otherwise) regardless of their morphological structure – that means that most of the consonant final names fall into the third feminine declension, i. e. are invariable; it also has implications for entities that are named after deities (“Justice of Toren” is thus Torenina pravica and not Torenova pravica, for example, because Toren is feminine); on the other hand, names not denoting persons are assigned their gender based on morphological structure (e. g. Nilt is masculine, Šis’rna is feminine and so on).

Now about the translations of “ancillary” and “Lord of the Radch”:

“Ancillary” doesn’t have a specific translation in Slovene, the adjective that covers its meaning is pomožen, from pomoč “help”. This word, however, is not really suited for use as the substantivized equivalent of “ancillary” because “help” is such a broad term and it could end up being confusing when actual help is mentioned in the text. Pomož is an obvious enough a reference to pomoč and the adjective pomožen, which should make it easier to acquire. An additional reason why I like it so much is that the human(oid) nature of ancillaries is also evoked by the reference to mož “man”, though – crucially! – the word itself is still feminine and follows the same declension pattern as pomoč. As indicated, it also makes it really easy to tie together “ancillary” the adjective that appears in the title (Pomožna pravica) and “ancillary” the noun that appears in the book (pomož).

“Lord” in “Lord of the Radch” has many potential translations, but I’m not going to actually discuss the different alternatives because the translation gospoda is just by far the superior option – for a few very obvious reasons: 1) it’s feminine singular (neutral feminine: check; the unity of Anaander Mianaai: check) 2) but with a plural meaning: “gentry” (the multiplicity of Anaander Mianaai: check), though 3) dialectally (archaically), it can also mean “lady” (the feminine counterpart of gospod “sir”, which is also morphologically obvious) (another check for the neutral feminine and the unity). Like ... *Avril Lavigne voice* can I make it any more obvious ...

[makeste]

regarding Best Jeanist, Dabi, and all of that

@kaleswagdragon​ I hope you don’t mind me posting this comment and my response as its own post, seeing as it quickly got out of hand and sort of morphed into a whole entire essay.

anyway, so! you say that it’s a mischaracterization, but it’s really not, though. I mean, props for bringing up the cultural context of Japan, in which the honne-tatemae culture of covering up anything that might lead to any sort of conflict -- even if it means harming an innocent victim in the process -- is a very real issue. so given that, I understand why so many people are interpreting Jeanist’s statement in a “how dare you bring this family shame to light” sort of way. and Caleb’s “dirty laundry” translation doesn’t help, given the “we’re more embarrassed than actually concerned about this” feel of that particular phrase, which he apparently chose just because of the clothing pun without really giving much thought to any other implications.

but in the actual Japanese, the meaning/context is somewhat different. here’s a link to a twitter thread clarifying the original spoiler translation, and breaking down the actual Japanese dialogue.

I think the meaning here is very clearly “you waited until the public’s faith in heroes was already wavering to bring this down on them as a final blow.” if he was simply criticizing Dabi for publicizing the Todoroki family drama, he would have stopped with that first sentence. the two sentences afterward (“you waited until everyone’s faith in heroes was wavering, when the damage would be too great to handle”) make it clear that what he’s actually calling Dabi out for is the way that he basically weaponizes his story into the perfect political tool to finally take down the heroes. which is an observation that we as the readers can verify for ourselves as being true. look at how he so carefully edited the footage of Twice’s death. look at the contrast between the way he acts in the video, compared with the homicidal glee we see from the actual Dabi in real time.

Jeanist is notably the only one who is able to get the same perspective as the readers here, since he’s the only person who’s physically present in Jakku with the real Dabi, but is also able to hear the video being broadcast. meaning that he’s able to hear both video!Dabi’s calm, prerecorded “I’m just a concerned citizen trying to look out for a society being taken advantage of by the ones charged with protecting it” speech, and actual!Dabi’s “hahaha fuck you Endeavor I’m bringing the whole country down even as we speak, well anyway time to kill you all” reality. he alone can see that stark contrast between the concerned whistleblower act Dabi is putting onscreen, versus his true attitude of “I don’t actually give a fuck, I just want to eradicate the heroes and make my dad suffer.” basically, Jeanist is the only one who can see that juxtaposition, and see Dabi’s reveal for what it really is, seeing as Dabi literally spelled it out for Endeavor and the others. and so he’s calling him out on that.

and he’s not wrong to do so. it’s clear that a lot of fans vehemently disagree with this, but being an abuse survivor doesn’t excuse you from having the same obligation as every other human being on the planet to try your best to be a decent person, which at minimum means not going out of your way to hurt other people. I say this as someone who’s experienced abuse, which shouldn’t need to be a disclaimer honestly, but I guess that’s how it is these days. anyways, though, I have, and I know a lot of other people who have as well. it’s a terrible, awful, exceptionally shitty thing to experience, and it affects everyone in different ways. and every single person who goes through something like that deserves help and support and time to heal, and it’s a tragedy and an injustice that Dabi, from what we have seen, never got any of that.

but that doesn’t excuse him from still being held to the same basic standard of “hurting other people is shitty” as everyone else. it doesn’t mean he gets a free pass. it doesn’t mean that anyone who says “hey, Dabi using his trauma as an excuse to murder people is kind of fucked up” is an abuse apologist. and it doesn’t mean Horikoshi is an abuse apologist for writing him that way, for that matter, because guess what? sometimes people who are abused grow up to become abusers. that’s just a fucked-up thing that happens sometimes. and pretending like it doesn’t is ironically not all that different from that whole “sweeping things under the rug” concept you mentioned earlier. it does happen, and I think it’s important to acknowledge that, because acknowledging it is one of the necessary steps to take in fixing it.

this attitude of “if someone was abused they should be absolved of responsibility for their actions” that I’ve seen in some posts is taking the concept of “abuse often has a profound impact on people’s mental health, and that should be taken into consideration before judging them too harshly for behavior that they can’t always necessarily control”, and twisting it into this nice little loophole that people can use to duck accountability whenever it’s convenient. but being abused doesn’t give you the right to abuse other people, is my point. nothing gives somebody the right to do that.

and Dabi is hurting other people. he waited ten years to tell his story specifically because he wanted to use it to make others suffer. and, putting aside the part where he’s trying to engineer the downfall of society as a precursor to the mass destruction he and his pals have planned, he also broadcast the story nationwide without the consent of the other abused parties involved. which I’m not saying he didn’t have the right to do, mind you, because it’s his story as well as theirs, and he has the right to tell it. and the right to make his abuser’s crimes as public as he wants, if that’s what he decides. but it also ignores the question of what his mother and siblings might want, and the fact is that they’re also survivors, and so in theory should have the same right as Dabi to choose their own healing process, and decide exactly how they want their abuser, who like so many abusers is also a close family member, to be held accountable. anyway, but all of that is obviously very, very complicated and I don’t think there’s a clear right or wrong side as far as this part of it all. it’s not a situation where everyone can be happy, which unfortunately is often how it goes.

anyway, I’ve kind of meandered pretty far from my original point now, so my bad. my points are, basically,

(a) I think the linked explanation does show that Jeanist is chiding Dabi for using his trauma in this specifically scheming and destructive way, as opposed to saying “shame on you for not being a good little victim and staying quiet”, which would be a ridiculous thing for Horikoshi, who’s explored the topic of abuse more thoughtfully than any other mangaka I’ve read, to randomly have one of his protagonists say.

and (b) the people calling Dabi out on his shit aren’t all smug victim-blamers who have no sympathy for what he has been through. the latter point (and a lot of this post, actually) isn’t particularly directed at you btw; it’s more of just a general statement brought on by some of the discussion that’s been going on these past few days.

anyways, I actually like that the fandom is talking about all of this! I just think it’s a very complex subject, and an even more complex situation currently in the manga. and ideally, people would try to acknowledge that complexity when discussing it, rather than simply picking a side and doubling down on it no matter what, or shooting down the whole thing as problematic writing just because isn’t a neat and tidy situation where you can simply say “oh, person A is right and person B is wrong, that’s it, end of story.” it’s not, unfortunately. it’s a messy clusterfuck of a topic that’s only going to get messier as this plot continues, so hopefully we can all just sort of brace ourselves for that lol. this is really just the tip of the iceberg, I think.

[a-pop-of-korean]

Vocabulary: Similar Words

안녕하세요!! Hey everyone! I have a fun vocab list for y’all today: it’s about Korean words that translate to the same thing in English, but are used differently! A lot of these words can be very confusing for learners (I often forget the differences between these words lol), so I thought it might be helpful to make a (pretty long but prob not exhaustive) list of these words and try to explain the differences! 

Also, Talk to Me in Korean has a TON of videos explaining the differences between some of these words on their Q&A playlist, so I strongly recommend you check those out! I’ll also link some specific videos throughout my post since I cite them as a source! They also posted a video about how to distinguish between words that translate to the same thing in your native language a day after I started working on this lesson lol so be sure to check that out too! Let’s begin!!

이미 vs. 벌써: Already

These two mean the same thing! However, 벌써 is used to mean that something happened sooner than expected. For example: 와, 벌써 가을이네요! = Wow, it’s already fall! (as if the summer passed by really quickly and you’re surprised it’s already fall)

새 vs. 새로운: New

새 is used to describe something that is simply new and is the opposite of old: 제 오래된 컴퓨터가 고장 나서 새 컴퓨터를 샀어요. = My old computer broke, so I bought a new one.

새로운 (from 새롭다) refers to something that is new and fresh, like something never done or heard of before. TTMIK uses the example of the computer -- if you were to say 새로운 컴퓨터, that might mean that Apple released a new Macbook or something -- they created something new and never seen before.

파란색 vs. 푸른색: Blue

파란색 can describe anything that’s blue.

푸른색 can mean either blue or green because it’s usually used to describe things in nature: 푸른 하늘 means “blue sky,” while 푸른 숲 means “green forest,” for example.  

기분 vs. 느낌: Feeling

기분 refers to emotions and moods: 기분이 좋아요. = I’m happy. (literally “I feel good,” but refers specifically to your emotions)

느낌 refers more to the atmosphere, or the kind of impression you get from something. Think vibes: 느낌이 이상해요. = I feel weird / It feels weird. (maybe you’re walking in an old abandoned house and you’re getting weird vibes)

걱정 vs. 고민: Worry

걱정 is closer to the English word for “worry”: 걱정하지 마! = Don’t worry!

고민 is closer to something like “concern” or “woes” or “troubles.” It refers to something a little more general, like something that weighs on your mind that you might want to talk to a friend about, while 걱정 gives a more anxious and immediate feeling: 고민을 털어놓다 = to get something off your chest

때무에 vs. 덕분에: Because of...

These two don’t really mean the exact same thing. 때문에 means “because of...”: (from Naver Dictionary) 너 때문에 내가 일에 집중이 안 돼. = I can’t focus on my work because of you.

덕분에, however, means “thanks to...” and is inherently more positive. I think 때문에 can be used positively too, but it can also be negative. 덕분에, on the other hand, is always positive: 우리 부모님 덕분에 대학교에 다니게 됐어요. = Thanks to my parents, I ended up going to college.

좋아하다  vs. 맘에 들다: To Like

좋아하다 just means “to like.” 맘에 들다 literally means “to come into one’s heart.” This is usually used when you see or experience something for the first time and you like it. For example, if you try on a dress in a store, you can say 맘에 들어요 to mean “I like it.” 좋아하다, on the other hand, can be used for stuff that you just like in general: 케이팝 좋아해요. = I like K-pop.

어렵다  vs. 힘들다: Difficult

어렵다 refers to something that is difficult, like a math problem or something: 이 수학 문제가 어려워요. = This math question is difficult.

힘들다 usually refers to a hard situation, like when you’re having a tough time doing something or going through a rough patch in your life. TTMIK’s video uses this sentence: 저 요즘 힘들어요. = I’m having a hard time these days.

힘들다 can also be used for things that are physically strenuous: 제 가방이 무거워서 들기가 힘들어요. = My bag is heavy, so it’s hard to carry.

On it’s own, the phrase 힘들어요 can also mean “I’m tired.”

추천하다  vs. 권하다: To Recommend

추천하다 is used to recommend things like books, songs, and movies. It’s a pretty general word: NCT의 신곡 추천해요. = I recommend NCT’s new song.

권하다 gives the feeling of strongly recommending something, or advising someone to do or not do something: (from Naver Dictionary) 교수는 나에게 유학을 권했다 = The professor advised[encouraged] me to study abroad.

권하다 could also be used when you’re offering something: 맥주를 권했어요. = I offered beer.

-고 싶다 vs. 원하다: To Want

-고 싶다 can be attached to verbs to mean “to want to [verb]”: 저 배고파서 먹고 싶어요. = I want to eat because I’m hungry.

갖고 싶다 can be used to mean that you want a noun -- it literally means “to want to have”: 새 아이폰을 갖고 싶어요. = I want a new iPhone.

You really don’t hear 원하다 that much in regular spoken Korean. It’s more of a poetic word, hence why you hear it a lot in K-pop and stuff, such as in BTS’s “Blood Sweat and Tears”: 원해 많이 많이 = I want you a lot

밉다 vs. 미워하다 vs. 싫다 vs. 싫어하다: To Hate / To Dislike

밉다 and 미워하다 can only be used when talking about people: 그 사람 미워요. / 그 사람 미워해요. = I hate him.

싫다 and 싫어하다, however, can be used for both objects and people: 그거 싫어요. / 그거 싫어해요. = I don’t like that. / I hate that. 

The difference between the verbs ending in -하다 and the ones that don’t is a little more complicated. 밉다 and 싫다 are more passive and describe just you finding something unlikable according to TTMIK. They describe the feeling of not liking something. 

미워하다 and 싫어하다, on the other hand, are more active and stronger. They can be used to mean “hating on” someone/something, if that makes sense. Rather than describing the feeling of not liking something, they describe the action of not liking something.

여러분 vs. 모두: Everybody

여러분 means “everyone,” but can only be used when you’re addressing the crowd. At the beginning of all my lessons, for instance, I say 안녕 여러분 to mean “hi, everyone” because I’m talking to all of you. 

모두, by contrast, can be used otherwise. Rather than using it to address people, you would use it to talk about “everybody” in the third person: 모두가 파티에 갔어요. = Everyone went to the party. 

속 vs. 안: Inside

속 means “inside” and is typically used to describe something enclosed in something else: 제 책은 가방 속에 있어요. = My books are inside of my bag. (maybe your books are inside of your zipped-up backpack)

안, on the other hand, doesn’t necessarily refer to things that are enclosed. It can be used to talk about things like rooms: 제 방 안에서 쉬고 있어요. = I’m resting in my room. 

This rule doesn’t always apply though. TTMIK mentions the example of 산속에 which means “in the mountains.” This doesn’t mean you’re literally trapped inside of the mountain; it means that you’re living in mountains or something. The rule I mentioned is generally speaking, but keep in mind there are exceptions!

전화하다 vs. 연락하다: To Call

전화하다 simply means “to call,” as in to call someone on the phone. 

연락하다 can also mean “to call,” but can also mean “to contact” more generally. If someone says to you “연락해 주세요,” they’re asking you to get in touch them somehow, be it by text, phone, email, etc.

심장 vs. 가슴 vs. 마음: Heart

I answered an ask about this a while ago, so I just stole from that lol:

맘 (shortened version of 마음) refers to feelings. Think of it as meaning “mind.” (ex. From Naver Dictionary: 마음이 따뜻하다 = to be warm-hearted; 마음에 들다 = to like (literally “to come into one’s heart))

심장 is used to refer to the organ the heart. (ex. 심장병 = heart disease)

가슴 means “heart,” either metaphorically as in feelings or literally as in the organ depending on the context. But it can also mean “chest” or “breast” as well. (ex. 가슴이 행복에 가득 차 있어요. = My heart is filled with happiness. 가슴이 뛰어요. = My heart is racing. 밋밋한 가슴 (from Naver Dictionary) = flat chest)

춥다 vs. 차갑다: Cold

춥다 is used only to describe the weather: 오늘은 날씨가 정말 추워요. = The weather is really cold today.

차갑다 is typically used to describe objects that are cold: 차가운 물을 마시고 싶어요. = I want to drink cold water.

지금 vs. 이제: Now

지금 just means “now”: 지금은 5시예요. = It’s 5 o’clock right now.

이제 is used to show some sort of contrast between then and now: 어렸을 때 한국에 살았지만 이제는 미국에 살아요. = I lived in Korea when I was young, but now I live in the US. 

I hope this list helps you guys out! If you want to practice writing and reading Korean with others, join my Discord chat here and my Tumblr chat here!

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If you would like to donate and support this blog and my studies, check out my Ko-Fi! Thank you for your generosity! See you next time! 다음에 봐요!

[tl-notes]

Kobayashi’s Maid Dragon S2 Episode 11 Notes

This is ラジオ体操 radio taisou, lit. radio exercise(s). Basically it’s a short series of light stretches intended for general health. It used to be broadcast over the radio (and I guess still is), but is also on TV and internet these days too.

It’s generally popular as a morning thing to kind of get the blood flowing—some companies (apparently around 1/3rd) even have a few minutes in the morning set aside to have everyone do it. Some neighborhoods will hold outdoor public gatherings during summer break, as a morning routine thing for children while school is out. It’s also a kinda stereotypical old-person thing to do.

There are two “sets,” known as radio taisou dai ichi, and radio taisou dai ni (basically “the first” and “the second”), and each has a standing version and sit-down version for improved accessibility.

“Pound (shoulders)” here is 肩たたき kata-tataki, a type of shoulder massage that involves lightly bopping the recipient’s shoulders with the bottom of your fists. It’s a stereotypical thing for kids to do for parents/grandparents (remember the shoulder massage tickets Kanna gave Kobayashi for Father’s Day in ep 8? same thing).

I honestly have no idea how effective it is.

小林さんは安く済ませようとして、色々物を買ってしまうタイプなんでしょうか？

For clarity here, the idea is less that Kobayashi tries to buy lots of stuff for cheap, but that she wants to solve whatever problem on the cheap, and ends up wasting a bunch of money on several cheapo purchases that don’t really help.

Another angle on it might be like:

“Could she be the type who tries fixing a problem cheaply, but ends up paying more for less?”

Just a bit of trivia, but in the manga Elma answers this question about computer chairs by saying “Yes, a good one costs as much as 1,000 cream buns.” 

That’s our Elma.

Takiya’s word for “logic” here is 理屈 rikutsu. Rikutsu does mean “logic,” but it has another use too: referring to something that relies excessively on “theory” vs. practical application/real experience, or a kind of “forced” logic. 

Basically here he’s saying this out of modesty, not like “the solution was only logical.” 

This “concerning” is 危うい ayaui, an adjective describing something that’s in a perilous situation, kind of like something you’d say “balanced on a razor’s edge” of. It’s typically for less immediately physical types of danger (which would use 危ない abunai instead).

In this case, while it’s true such situations are typically “concerning,” he’s not saying this because he’s concerned per se; he’s saying that situations like Tohru’s, where emotions run high (e.g. romantic relationships), are often fragile because of that strength of emotion.

For “a little hard,” Tohru says グサッと gusa-tto. (“Sharp” was 鋭い surudoi, which is basically one-for-one.)

Gusa-tto is one of those sound effect words mentioned in previous notes, used to describe a heavy stab or pierce (literally or figuratively). (If you’ve seen that anime/manga visual gag where someone says something and the words/speech bubble “stab” the other person, that’s a more light-hearted use of this.)

I mostly bring it up here because the “he’s sharp”→”what he said cut deep” was a good pairing of evocative phrasing that we didn’t really get in the English.

この程度でいいですか？　kono teido de ii desu ka? この程度でいいよ。　　　kono teido de ii yo.

Kobayashi’s answer here is repetition of the question, but changing the “question” marker for a declarative one. Like “Is this enough?” “This is enough.”

I bring it up here for two reasons. One is just because I mentioned the whole repetition thing in a previous episode’s notes, so as an example to help drive that home.

The other is that I have a bit of an issue with the choice of the word “perfect.” Kobayashi is generally a lowkey person (with some exceptions), prone more to understatement than overstatement, so a relatively strong word like perfect is a little out of character for this scene, I would say—especially given the Japanese.

The use of the particle で de in these two lines is also worth noting. In this context (where you’re talking about whether something is what you want), de ii and ga ii have two distinct meanings. With de, it’s “good enough.” With ga, it’s not just enough, it’s actively what you want. If you’ve seen romance shows where one person has low self-esteem, you’ve likely heard a question like “boku de ii?” answered with ”kimi ga ii.”

If there’d been some sort of twist to the phrasing like that, “perfect” might have been a good choice, but as it is I’d have probably stuck with something like “Yeah, this is plenty.” (if maintaining that sentence structure anyway)

そういうもんですか？ そういうもんだよ。 分かりました。そうします。

Just one quick note for clarity on this exchange; the “that/this” they’re talking about is the “what Kobayashi wants” topic, not specifically this tail-chair thing or how fast the tail-vibrations are etc. You likely got that anyway, but I figured I’d mention just in case, since the Japanese wording felt more obvious about it.

Notably here Daddy Tohru says 知り合い shiriai, which is very explicitly a level or two removed from “friend.” (it’s often translated as “acquaintance”)

They might actually be friends and he just phrases it that way because tsundere, but either way I don’t know if I’d use “friends” here.

If you’ll recall from the Elma episode, “clairvoyance” there was 千里眼 senrigan. This is actually not that, but instead 未来視 mirai-shi, which is more or less literally “future sight.” It probably won’t really come up again(?), but just as a world-building thing I guess, know that this guy and Elma don’t actually have exactly the same power (at least in this instance).

The word for “lost control” here is 暴走した bousou shita, which does basically mean that.

I would, however, like to point out that he’s not necessarily saying Tohru lost control of herself. Bousou means that [whatever] is running wild, but that ranges from a runaway train, to someone going berserk, to someone acting rashly without consulting others.

My point in bringing it up is that “lost control” sounds like Tohru had little/no agency in the decision to storm the enemy’s home ground, which is not really the case and not necessarily implied in the Japanese.

When Kobayashi responds here, she says she, Kobayashi, will be the one getting looked after by Tohru, not the other way around. She flips it 180 degrees from how Dad here says it.

(Since, y’know, Tohru’s the maid and everything.)

Example alt text:

“Make sure you take good care of Tohru until your lifespan runs out.”

“Yessir, I’ll have her take good care of me.”

It’s supposed to give this very heavy and serious scene a bit of levity to end on.

(For the Japanese students: she says [面倒を]見てもらいます, meaning that Kobayashi is having Tohru do the “looking [after].” If she was the one doing the looking after, it would be something like 見させてもらいます instead.

When you stick もらう or いただく after a verb, it’s you having someone else do that verb, not you doing it, so to make it work for “you” being the verb-doer, you have to flip the verb to a passive form. It’s kind of like the difference between “please [verb]” and “please allow me to [verb]”.)

どうしてトールがうちに来てくれる気になったのか

Two small things about this line. First: the “came here” is うちにきてくれる uchi ni kite kureru. The two words I want to mention are uchi, which is like “my/our place” (like “wanna come to my place?”), and kureru, which is used as a helping verb to denote that a verb was done for someone else.

So basically the Japanese adds two extra layers of… emotion(?) to the “came here.” That is, “here” is specified as Kobayashi’s home (vs “here” being more vague and could just mean “this world”), and the “came” is conjugated in a way that expresses Kobayashi sees Tohru’s .

The second, more minor, is that it seems like the English took the 気になった ki ni natta and changed it from talking about Tohru to talking about Kobayashi.

Ki ni naru can mean to take an interest in something (“I’m curious”), or when attached to a verb, can mean “got the will/motivation to do [verb].” In this sentence, it’s attached to the verb phrase uchi ni kite kureru, so meaning more like “why you chose to come here.”

(That said you could easily leave the “curious to hear” part there in the English too though, since that still makes sense for her asking a question like this.)

(Basically the English reads like a translation of どうしてトールがここに来たのか気になった instead of the line in question.)

So like as an example alt:

“I’m curious what moved you to come live with me.”

Which still doesn’t fully grasp that kureru, since that’s a hard thing to just “slip in” in English, but does hit a few other relevant notes and should still be okay length-wise (cursed subtitle restrictions!).

The phrase for “[move] to the big city” here is 上京 joukyou. It combines the characters for “up” and “capital” (of a state/country) and is used as a verb for moving to the capital—these days, specifically Tokyo.

(It used to mean moving to Kyoto, and I’m told it annoys some old-school Kyoto-ites if you use it to say moving from Kyoto to Tokyo, lol.)

[marcilled]

[this is gonna be a big long post about minecraft youtuber drama... press J to scroll past this if you don’t care about that. lol. sorry]

idunno if anybody took my post the other day as me “cancelling dream for cheating in a videogame”, i posted it mostly out of bemusement of the whole situation, and because that video was really well put-together. (context: his 1.16 speedruns were disqualified by the minecraft speedrun.com moderators & there was a video & document explaining why).

I definitely don’t correlate cheating a speedrun w/ ableism, racism, etc etc. I already knew about a lot of nasty shit dream has done, like the video he did with Notch, and how all of his early content was about pewdiepie, just further normalizing those two to his young audience. I’ve always disliked him for those things, which I’ve been aware of pretty much as long as I’ve known of him, and he has never apologized for those things. It’s why whenever I posted about him before (which was... maybe once or twice?), I always say “don’t stan him or anything he sucks”.

I had no idea there was so much more to it honestly. It’s kind of galling seeing the full context now, because whenever I’ve seen any kind of criticism against him, it’s been him presenting it in an apology. I dunno why I wasn’t suspicious of this given what I already knew about him, but the guy seems to be very clever with how he damage controls any sort of possible controversy regarding him. He presents a really heartfelt, honest apology for whatever happened and gives a few cherrypicked examples of things that people said about him and says how wrong he was and how he doesn’t want to alienate his viewers.

The fact that it’s Dream presenting the evidence of his controversies, means that he gets to control how the conversation goes. Instead of a popular “mcyt” stan account getting to control the conversation, pointing out the shit he’s said and done, he addresses it in a livestream, and does not provide the original context. Huh, I wonder why. It’s almost as if he doesn’t want everyone to see that his mistakes are more than just little “oopsies”, it’s him being actively malicious and getting so defensive that he tells off anybody who could possibly disagree with his view of things.

While his actions and words are pretty horrid on their own, I think the thing that has me most concerned about Dream is... He seems pretty fuckin’ good at manipulating peoples’ perception of him.

-----

After the video about his speedruns being cheated came out the other day, he had this to say on twitter (this is his second, “personal” account):

Now, as I said before, cheating in a videogame isn’t at all comparable to racism or ableism. What I’m trying to point out here is his response to any sort of criticism.

The video he’s referring to is this one, published by Geosquare 2 days ago (dec 11th). What’s interesting to note here is how he singles out Geosquare specifically in this tweet. If you click on the video, the first few seconds establishes that it’s a video made by the entire Minecraft java edition speedrunning mod team (which is made up of a team of over a dozen people). The video and document was a true team effort from every single one of them, and it only got posted to Geosquare’s account (& got his narration) because he’s already a youtuber with a pretty comfortable amount of subscribers.

So, instead of pointing his ire (and those of his many, many fans) at the whole speedrun mod team, instead, he points it squarely on Geosquare, so that people have a convenient name to latch onto. He then accuses Geosquare of using his name as “clickbait” in order to get “easy views”, sowing the seed of this idea that Geosquare is doing this in an opportunistic grab for personal gain. If you clicked on the video and saw the description/pinned comment, you’d see that not only did Geosquare disable monetization on the video, he disabled monetization on his entire channel for as long as this drama goes on (and he knew there would be drama, dream made extra sure to threaten the mods with a video of his own in retaliation if they ended up banning him).

Then, in a reply to the first tweet, he says that there are “multiple moderators” messaging him saying the verdict was “biased” and that they may quit the mod team. He provides no evidence for this. However, if you click on the tweet and view any of the thousands of replies from his fans, it doesn’t matter that he gave no evidence, his word is enough. If you’re wondering, Geosquare and a few other mods have stated many times that it was a group decision on their part, and nobody had any question in their mind that Dream must have cheated. So... Dream, who are these “mods” that are messaging you? He won’t say.

Lastly here, I want to point out that in his next tweet on the matter, he makes this very bitter comment about how useless it was for them to investigate a “16th place run”. It’s a minor detail, but I think it’s worth mentioning; this kind of downplays how impressive his run was at the time. At the time he submitted his sub-20 minute speedrun, it was a top 5 run, in a very competitive category of speedrunning the game. In the 2 months since, several people have passed his time using new strats, but that doesn’t diminish the fact it was a pretty amazing “run”... if it weren’t cheated of course. But, I’m just rambling on about how petty I am about him cheating at this point so let me get back to the main point here.

If you see the numbers on these tweets (hundreds of thousands of likes), you’ll understand why this is pretty scary for those speedrun mods. The same day this happened Geosquare joked around “I’ve only gotten one death threat so far!”. Dream’s fanbase is unparalleled in minecraft youtube, and incredibly sizeable for a youtube channel overall. If you’re not familiar with this new wave of “mcyt” minecraft accounts, it’s... it’s pretty much exclusively because of Dream’s fame. He’s the driving force of minecraft youtube content right now. Any youtuber who even breathes near the guy blows up in subscribers & views. His minecraft server, “Dream SMP”, is like... it has a legitimate cultural impact, whether that sentence disgusts you or not. Especially for young gen Z kids.

The point I’m trying to make is, ever since he came onto the scene in early 2019, he’s grown and grown at exponential rates, and I can’t understate the kind of influence he has on not just his own fans, but the fans of like. Pretty much anyone who is plugged in to anything minecraft youtube related right now.

People have discussed this before, but Dream’s sudden rise to fame happened shockingly quick. So quick that it’s almost impossible it were by accident. He’d spent something like a year or two studying how the youtube algorithm works, how famous youtubers grow their popularity, etc. He spent a lot of time studying, and it paid off for him. It makes me wonder if he’s studied how youtubers deal with controversy as well. Because it seems like he’s doing everything right to keep his fans “loyal” to him.

So I think it’s not unreasonable to say that it is pretty goddamn concerning when he reacts to criticism like this. His immense fanbase, who are often worryingly obsessed with him, of mostly impressionable kids... It’s a recipe for disaster, in the hands of someone so entitled and immature.

I think what really has me worried, though, is a video he published to his second channel the other day. Recently, he published a video about his “stans”. The entire video essentially boiled down to him disputing claims that “dream stans” were toxic, or that stanning people or “stan culture” was creepy/unhealthy. He spent a lot of the video comparing stans of content creators to passionate fans of football teams, and expressed repeatedly how he thought it was normal and OK to be totally obsessed with a content creator and engage in “stan culture”, as long as you weren’t being a legitimate stalker. He pretty much only talked about the positives of being a Dream Stan, and how positive the “community” is. The whole video painted this really idealistic image of what it means to be a Stan of a person, and fandom in general.

Now... I don’t know about everyone else reading this, but I found that video to be... incredibly creepy and weird. It completely ignores any actual arguments about how stan culture can be unhealthy, and how engaging so heavily in parasocial relationships can be quite damaging, especially to younger people.

But, mostly? It seemed like the whole video was basically designed just to reinforce the most unhealthy impulses of his stans, and reward them with the positive encouragement that he actually enjoys it when they are obsessed with him so much that they can’t imagine he could ever possibly do anything wrong.

And that? That is fucking dangerous for a person with such a huge fanbase to be peddling to their fans.

Surely, he must know- a great deal of his fans are so obsessed with him, that they think they know him as well as, if not more than, a personal friend. So that when he does something disagreeable and wrong, and he claims “no that’s not how it happened, they’re biased and trying to cancel me because they’re jealous”, they just take that at face value, because why would he lie? He’s so honest and genuine in his videos and livestreams!

This sort of behavior from Dream, along with his tweets I posted earlier, reads to me as if he knows exactly what he’s doing. I think he is purposefully insulating his fans from the truth of his actions, so that he can present this idealistic picture of him in their mind, so that it seems absurd that he would do something wrong.

I think it’s only a matter of time before it comes out he’s done something much worse, honestly. What it is, is hard to say- he’s already done so much that anyone reading this should rescind their support for him, imo. But, I know that none of this matters to his millions of fans. While I worry for them, I also worry for anyone who becomes a target of Dream. I could see this speedrunning drama being the start of a downward spiral for him. Things could get real ugly with all that minecraft clout getting to his head... I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

TL;DR, dream sucks, and not just because he cheats at videogames.

I apologize again for writing a multi paragraph post about a minecraft youtuber. I will not post about this anymore (probably) please do not unfollow me .

[thosearentcrimes]

Intelligence

On a recent post I was pretty glib about the notion of intelligence, to the point of outright denying that it is measured by IQ, and even doubting its very existence. On reflection, this is a bit of an unusual position, since the existence of intelligence is almost self-evident, and certainly I routinely behave as if intelligence were both real and variable. As such, I feel like I should clarify my position a bit.

Intelligence is a term so vague as to be effectively meaningless, unless it is very precisely defined for a particular context. Intelligence research both does not precisely define intelligence, and contains mutually contradictory definitions. Because I really really hate Charles Murray (may his collaborator Herrnstein rest in piss) and his pile of racist and classist vitriol “The Bell Curve”, I will be picking on the Bell Curve apologetic letter to the Wall Street Journal (lol) “Mainstream Science on Intelligence“ which was signed by 52 (out of the 131 to whom it was sent) "experts in intelligence and allied fields". Fun fact: One of the signatories of this letter is Hans Eysenck, possibly the most monumental scientific fraud of all time, who claimed that lung cancer is not caused by smoking but by bad vibes. Other fun fact: He is by far not the worst person to have signed this tripe (that is, to my limited awareness, J. Philippe Rushton).

The first point made by the article is that intelligence is “A very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience.“ This definition is actually significantly more ambiguous than even it concedes. Apparently not satisfied with the lack of clarity in that sentence, the author of the letter later described intelligence as ”The ability to deal with cognitive complexity” which is frankly laughable. I will happily concede the central conceit, that these activities require roughly the same general qualities of a person, because it is at the very least plausible. Instead, I would like to note that this definition does not specify whether or not intelligence involves the ability to do any of these things (except for learning) quickly, which it really should, for reasons we will come back to. To address specific components of this “general mental capability”, is intelligence the ability to solve a wide range of problems in a satisfactory manner, or is it the ability to solve problems that few other people can solve, or is it the ability to find particularly good solutions for ordinary problems? If it is all three, then to what degree do you weight these things? Which problems are admissible here? “Physical dexterity” is largely the ability to estimate center of balance and calculate ballistic curves. Given that, is hitting a moving target with a ball “intelligence”, and if not, why not? We could claim that hitting moving targets with balls is something that is learned through experience, but learning from experience is a part of intelligence as well! If my complaints concern problem-solving, it is because it is the only one of these that can be assessed quantitatively and at scale, the others only being measurable by way of problem-solving itself if at all. Some of the others can be assessed individually and/or qualitatively, but that is incompatible with the theory and practice of intelligence research. Now, I believe all of the questions I posed can be answered both ways, depending on context. In fact, if all we want “intelligence” for is a contextually-dependent blob of generalized cognitive ability, then I have no objection, beyond its somewhat limited utility as a concept and tendency towards tautology.

The second point of the article is where it all really breaks down. "Intelligence, so defined, can be measured, and intelligence tests measure it well.“ Intelligence tests basically means IQ, as far as I can tell. The article operates further as if it had said IQ here, and the Bell Curve operates using IQ as its test of choice (IQ being a test designed to produce the normal distribution whose shape gives the book its name). If we compare a popular IQ test like WAIS to the definition of intelligence we have already given, we find that it is inconceivable that it measures intelligence at all. The “vocabulary” section does not measure speed of learning, it measures total learning performed and memory, and memory isn’t even a component of intelligence as defined! Neither is it clear why general knowledge questions would reflect any of the components of intelligence as given. I am willing to grant that spatial reasoning is a component of intelligence but it is less clear to me why this section is timed, given that the only thing intelligence as defined explicitly requires us to do quickly is learn. There is an entire “working memory” section to the WAIS. Unless we count rote short-term memorization as learning, and we should not, then there is no reason to consider any of this relevant to intelligence as it has been defined. Additionally, at no point is the participant required to hit a moving target with a ball, or construct a stable structure of some sort. This would be reasonable if it had already been specified that these sorts of tasks do not fall under intelligence, but it wasn’t. As such, the claim the letter makes, that intelligence tests measure what they have defined as intelligence, is blatantly false. Intelligence tests measure familiarity with academic test-taking environments and strategies, compliance with test-giver commands, memorization, spatial reasoning, general knowledge, pattern identification, and mathematical problem-solving. Only a small component of that is what intelligence was defined as earlier, and entire fields of what intelligence was supposed to be are missing in this evaluation.

To get a good run-down of some of the many problems with The Bell Curve in particular, see Shaun’s excellent video. For more writing on the folly of intelligence measurement in general, criticisms of bioessentialism, excellent writing about biology in general, and also baseball, read basically anything by Stephen Jay Gould.

[rigelmejo]

march - just some thoughts

i have read more this month than any other month? and its not slowing down its only 3/12 so i have 2/3 of a month to go and i’ve read 26 chapters. even if these chapters are ‘short’ at 10 pages, if i wanna count by ‘20 page’ chunks i’ve still read 13 chunks so far. and i’ve still got more time in the month left. most other months i’ve managed to read ‘a lot’ i read 10-20 chapters. so i’m doing really good.

grammar is a weird thing? in reading i feel like its quite easy now to understand. when listening or watching - same. and yet if asked ‘why do i say/type X’ or ‘why is it written/spoken like X’ i have absolutely no explanation in my head. i could not explain the grammar if prompted. this puts me in a weird place and i feel like i SHOULD go over a grammar guide again just so i can WORD what i’m intuitively understanding.

this is a bit bizarre to me because within the first 6 months of study i DID read through an entire grammar guide just to get an idea of what i was about to look at, and it hardly made sense once actually reading/watching/listening. i understood the guide fine, but actually Seeing chinese i was still confused. i would reference AllSetLearning’s Chinese Wiki on some basic points, then after 6 months i just stopped. now its been what 1.5 years and - reading is so easy, listening is so easy, grammar wise. none of the grammar confuses me. but i no longer ‘explicitly’ have any idea what the fuck the grammar is. i used to. i studied it explicitly before trying to read/listen. and yet now that i can read/listen, i have no idea how to explain the grammar. i can listen to a podcast and i don’t think about what the grammar is i just get it. i read and just know what i’m looking at. its like english - i cannot fucking explain it. Which makes speaking/writing a bit hard. Because when i try to check if i’m right i have no fucking clue HOW anymore - i just say/write what comes to mind and HOPE it makes sense. i have no way to conciously check for errors except ‘does this feel right’? And that’s not good enough for me lol. So I definitely do need to eventually read a grammar guide for explicit explanations again.

Technically I think “English and Chinese Grammar Side By Side” grammar book would be an excellent one to use. Because i read the first 50 pages of it and it compared it to english (so it explained english too), and it was very easy to understand and started basic then got more involved. 

I’m probably gonna use my very old Chinese Grammar Self Taught by Thimm book instead. Just because I really like that book. Then I guess use another after (probably Basic Chinese Sentence Patterns since its modern and perfect for ‘catch your own mistakes’ study and much shorter than Eng+Chinese Grammar side by side). 

Anyway I’m in a very weird place right now lol. I know i’m understanding grammar that is stuff I never even studied initially in the grammar guide, but unable to explain what it is, and a lot of stuff i did explicitly study in a grammar guide i completely forgot the explanation for. My reading and listening is GREAT, because all my effort only has to go into learning new words lately! its relaxing! Its the only part i need to do! But my writing/speaking i am very concerned about because being able to check myself for mistakes is something i’d like the ability to do.

how grammar is presented really makes a difference in how well i get it. there is some serious benefit to ‘show simple first then build up what you know’ that text books tend to prefer. versus like grammar reference books that may start with some in depth stuff.

i tried to read a japanese grammar guide the other day and 1 it was great but 2 it covered some ADVANCED stuff i never learned in genki 1+2, and so it was Explicit grammar description of stuff i had literally years ago been immersing in japanese and Still not conciously known about. So i felt. Overwhelmed lol. I felt so confused. I feel like I might switch to Tae Kim’s grammar guide primarily just because its structured with basics covered first. and i feel like until the basics are again glued into my brain, seeing even more advanced stuff just confused me so much i had no idea how to remember it. which is funny because? my usual strategy with grammar guides is to just read it and let what sticks stick and what is confusing be moved on from, in the hope i will later see it again and understand it better. so like based on what i usually do i should’ve just been able to read through it (and i’m gonna try anyway lol). but truly japanese grammar just... my mind does not like wrapping around it and remembering it. (chinese grammar is so much easier for me... so much easier....;-; )

i have been tempted to just Restart Nukemarine’s LLJ (Lets Learn Japanese) memrise decks, because I KNOW they worked for me last time really really well. And they include Tae Kim grammar lessons. And I know if i did it then maybe i’d get back to where i was years ago pretty fast.

I tried Earthlingo app. Its a cool idea, I don’t think its worth it though unless you planned to get Rosetta Stone (since Earthlingo is FREE). Earthlingo features 1000 words per language, taught to you by exploring video game worlds as an alien. Its a cool concept, but since all words seem to be nouns then you aren’t even learning the most common verbs/adjectives. And 1000 words is not a lot. And you could learn 1000 quite fast if using srs flashcards like Memrise or Anki (think weeks if you push yourself, and a month or two months if going at a regular pace). Earthlingo you have to slowly explore the worlds so that eats time, you have to choose to test yourself (so you don’t review nearly as often as flashcard apps), and one test includes walking around the world clicking the object which you’re given the word for (takes time to find the right object). All this means a word that might take maybe 15 minutes to study over a few weeks, might instead take much longer to study and learn. I don’t use duolingo because it generally covers so few words (usually 2000-4000 i think which is good for a beginner resource but you have to do the WHOLE course to get to all those words and i take so long on duolingo that could take YEARS for me versus a month on a flashcard app or clozemaster). Duolingo I also don’t use because it very slowly paces learning material (it takes me months/years to get through 1000 words on duolingo - just personally i go so slow on it, i think faster people would find a use for it). Likewise Lingodeer takes me AGES to get through (and i think covers 2000 words nowadays? I’m shocked Duolingo has more words for the japanese course tbh). However, Lingodeer is by far the best ‘app’ for Japanese grammar lessons in app practice form. Even if basically all the apps feel pretty slow to me in how fast they give you new info. Earthlingo is cool that its free, and for learners 12 and under i think it would be super useful as a way to engage them and keep them studying (since what child likes flashcards? whereas as a child i would’ve loved this). But as an adult Earthlingo is sooooo slow on how fast you can learn words, and it does not even offer very many words (1000 is a nice bare minimum but without verbs/adjectives it can only be a supplementary learning tool for beginners at best).

Link about Lingodeer having 2000 words in a course. (Since its SO hard to lookup how much vocabulary lingodeer includes :c )

Nukemarine’s LLJ memrise decks (which I’m considering going through again but ToT agh flashcardssssss.... they sure do work though agh)

http://www.chinese-grammar.com/beginner/ - this is the site I read a chinese grammar guide on at like Month 3. I am rereading it now maybe it will help me remember wtf grammar explicitly is. ToT (A tip, read Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced sections). Last time I visited the site you just clicked a section, then saw each fully explained grammar point and clicked ‘next’ it was nice. Now its laid out a little less ideal for me, but its still got all the same nice info! (Also honestly if you are a beginner I really DO like this grammar guide... it introduces basic info first, gradually gets more complex, and i could follow its logic knowing like 200 hanzi and 100 words ToT. its very easy to understand even if it takes a while to apply that info).

im probably gonna read hanshe more today. i’m at the point where either i know enough vocab, or the writers style has just ‘clicked’ idk. but now i just am not getting bogged down by unknown words and am just. speeding through enjoying the plot. Also rip me this novel has 155 chapters and im only on chapter 30.

watching japanese lets plays is really fun! i feel like im 3 years old cause i just see nouns i can learn pretty easy in context cause i know the game well, and hear some vaguely familiar verbs, but its fun! also it helps i know kingdom hearts 2 like by heart so. a lot of it makes me instantly cheerful and nostalgic. roxas’s voice is so cute in the japanese version.

oh i almost forgot: I found a book recently for chinese that for it’s like 10 page grammar guide summary at the beginning ALONE i think is more than worth the 4 dollars it costs to get. It has a ton of compound words and its a reference book in mandarin and cantonese (it has pronunciation for both, all characters are in traditional). I got it initally because it as a bunch of compound words and I’d like to get better at knowing a lot of common ones. But the intro to the book has a page explaining sentence structures in chinese, then examples. Its so straightforward and to the point. I love it. The book is “Understanding Chinese: A Guide to the Usage of Chinese Characters” by Rita Mei-Wah Choy. (There is also a companion book for individual hanzi, which is nice but this book specifically I’m finding more useful).

what i really like about Listening-Reading method, and reading, as study activities: no matter how I do them it is only improvement. I have a tendency to ‘redo’ material i don’t feel i fully mastered, or refuse to move on. So when i have duolingo, flashcards (sometimes i can move on if i ignore reviews/make myself do new stuff), books, grammar guides, self guided classes - i have a tendency to redo the material. over and over. and not progress and challenge myself. whereas with reading - every time i look up a word its useful because its new or something i clearly Need to review (not something i’ve actually learned and can move past reviewing). so whether i reread material or read new stuff, as long as i run into things i find somewhat challenging (feel the desire to word look up), i know i am running into new material i can learn. Same with listening-reading method: whether i finish a book or just skip to random books, any new chapter i do will give me new words to learn/remember (until i’ve reached a point of perfect listening comprehension which is a WAYS away). There’s no way for me to mess it up. I can give up a book im bored with, i don’t have to stick to one resource to the end. 

someone tell me why professionally made chinese audio books almost NEVER line up to the chapters???? whyyyyy ;-;

Even More Notes lol:

So I read so much in Pleco, which auto pronounces, I have COMPLETELY forgot. 得 地 - for these two, when they’re attached after a description like 淡淡 慢慢 高兴 etc, when are they pronounced di versus de???? i’m pretty sure  得 is pronounced de when its an adjective like ‘-ly’. but for  地, i don’t remember if when part of a describer if its pronounced di or de????

[allypacino]

I always log off when I see discourse about parasocial relationships because I feel a lot of the discussion on here lacks nuance and it quickly divulges into people mud slinging and getting onto their high horses. Also no offense to others on here but as a black woman in fandom (particularly this one), racism (both in show and in fandom) has always been more concerning to me and it does hurt that it rarely gets addressed (like I hear about parasocial relationships every other week but I'm lucky if people here ever discuss racism even once a month). It's like wow white people can post essays and link videos about parasocial relationships but can barely put together a sentence about racism

I agree with what you say so much, as a poc I think that the spn fandom more than anything has made me realise how racist the fandom environment is and always has been. like for example when the cw campaign happened most people were talking about destiel not going canon as homophobic? ignoring castiel is erasure for sure but the cw had so much more concerning behaviour, like when the Black writer for superman and lois was fired after calling out racism and sexism in the writers’ room. I think that the show itself centers whiteness with such thoughtless ease that it makes it easy for the audience to not even concern themselves with any race issues at all.  

I don’t know about the current spn demographic but I’m going to assume that while the fandom has more poc than before, it’s still predominantly white. and the post-nov 5 makeup of the fandom in particular are especially like, very young and the internet has changed so that media consumption is less about self-indulgence but interrogating the meaning and context (which is fantastic). this means that parasocial relationships are easier for white people to talk about because it affects them, and it’s exacerbated by the fact that internet communities favour the memetic type of content that’s repeated and repackaged again and again. parasocial relationships are very common experiences in everyone’s life, and is mostly benign. racism is also experienced by many people but not everyone, and it’s always deeply traumatic and harmful. i think a lot of white people are uncomfortable to talk about race. i would love to see more discussions around racism in the fandom beyond a glib remark or two when backing up statements about spn’s homophobia, bc racism is the most severe issue in spn without a doubt. 

i will say that part of my wariness when talking about parasocial relationships (and in particular, the nature of spn conventions) comes from the fact that as a poc i do not believe that these are safe spaces for us. there’s a specific tone in these environments which i find hard to describe - it’s like, in order to levy criticism and/or adoration we must offer up personal trauma, expose the abjection we experience etc. and i think it’s a much more validating experience for people who’re seen as “normal” by society who can come in here and be like no i actually experience so-and-so!!! like to be queer or neurodivergent, to a certain extent, means that there’s erasure and invalidation and the internet is built in a way to let people validate themselves by having that be their visible identity in bios and usernames etc. meanwhile it’s far less validating for poc whose identity is already 100% visible just from our faces and skin colour in real life, and it’s a different kind of discrimination, and i think that’s why some poc don't like doing it as much. 

(i love talking about race with my irls or on twitter but i always feel like i cannot do it on tumblr bc i always feel like spn tumblr is such a distinctly vulnerable place for white queer people and I'm infringing on their property lmao. which is a wild belief i have but i can't shake it away)

in the end i think it’s a very smart choice to disengage with unnecessary discourse, and thanks for this very good ask <3. sorry for using it to ramble for so long lol. to summarise i do think that the spn fandom has racism problems and i do understand people’s different reactions to it. i’d like more discussions about race. as for parasocial relationships - nothing wrong with it inherently unless it’s affecting your life negatively tbh. i’d like to see more nuance and more well thought out discussions about this though, i’m not very well versed in it. 

[completeoveranalysis]

TRC Translation Notes Volume 13 (Chapters 91 - 99 + Omake)

The wondrous third installment of the new Translation Notes from @giniroangou, now looking at Volume 13. I can’t believe how far we’ve come, this still feels so recent. 

Highlights include: that’s so love, secret drugs, justice for Syaoran’s detective skills, improved Kuroparents, and cuddle pile!

Chapter 91

p.11-12 - Just for fun, the word that’s been translated as “love birds” is “raburabu”/“love love,” which is frequently used to indicate that two people are lovey dovey together, so to speak. Mokona continues to use the word “rabu”/“love” throughout her proceeding comments. First she says, “It’s love! It’s love!,” then she turns the word “love” into an adjective (so, “But it was so romantic” becomes literally, “But it was so love”), and finally, “Isn’t love nice?”

p.15 - Since a commenter asked, this world’s name rendered directly from the katakana is “Rekoruto.” I think the fan translation of Lecourt works the best as a country name, but I’ve always liked how the original name is reminiscent of the word “record” given all the libraries, so I can understand the use of Recort as an alternate translation. As far as I know there are no right answers here - I don’t think CLAMP has officially clarified? - but in fandom you’re probably most likely to see people using Lecourt.

P.22 - The translation has switched from “Daddy” to “Father” but the original Japanese is the same as it’s always been. As I mentioned earlier, this was “Otou-san,” for which “Father” would be a more accurate translation.

When Fai says that they’re “not permitted” to sell the swords, he’s really just saying they shouldn’t sell them. I’m pretty sure if they actually wanted to they could.

Chapter 92

p.31 - As a bit of trivia, Kurogane calls his mother “Hahaue,” which is a more formal and old-fashioned word for “Mother” than the commonly-heard “Okaa-san.” It’s something you’d be unlikely to hear from anyone today, but fits right in with the apparent time period of Kurogane’s Nihon. (Likewise, a little later he calls his father “Chichiue,” the equivalent word for “Father.”)

p.33 - In the translated version Kurogane’s father calls him a “brat,” but the term he uses is “wanpaku bouzu,” different from both words Kurogane has used for Syaoran (“gaki” and “kozou.”) While I think “brat” works well for the exchange between Kurogane and his father, normally I’d interpret this phrase a bit more warmly - it’s like he’s calling him a little rascal. Not that brat can’t be said fondly, of course.

P.34 - Following up from the previous note, Kurogane’s “I’m not a brat!” can be interpreted along the lines of “I’m not a kid!”

Kurogane’s father is referred to as the “ryoushu” (領主) indicating that he is a feudal lord, but the extent of his holdings isn’t necessarily as large as a daimyo (though it very well could be!) From the tiny bit of research I’ve done, ryoushu seems to be a fairly ambiguous term, so we have some leeway in interpreting his position. If anyone is well-versed in historical Japanese terminology and/or has more information on this, feel free to step forward!

p.35 - The translation of “kusa” as “grass” here is unintentionally hilarious - that is a legit translation of the word, but in this context “herb” would be more appropriate. (Either way they’re suddenly sounding like pot farmers though, HELP.)

p.38 - It seems like you may have misinterpreted the speech bubbles from your tags, but the parent who Kurogane is said to resemble is his father rather than his mother, much as I love the image of baby Kuromama climbing trees (though who’s to say she didn’t!)

Chapter 93

p.51 - Kurogane’s “I want to protect Suwa and everyone in it,” is spoken first as, “I [want to protect] Suwa,” then clarified to, “I want to protect everyone.” You could interpret this the way the official translation did, or you could say that to Kurogane, Suwa is equivalent to the people there.

More significantly, Kurogane’s vow of protection is, “I want to protect Mother and Father, who protect everyone else.”

p.59 - Now that Kurogane’s grown up a bit, he calls his father “Oyaji.” This means “Father” as well, but it’s used primarily by men - it’s rougher and more casual than “Chichiue” or “Otousan.” In English translations it’s often rendered as the colloquialism “my/the old man.” We see later that he still uses “Chichiue” when speaking to his father directly, though.

Chapter 94

p.67 - There’s nothing here I would consider a mistranslation, but I’d like to clarify some nuances in the dialogue. Kurogane’s “I’d rather have you feeling better!” is, “It’s fine as long as you get better.” When his mother responds by calling him a good child, the word she uses is “yasashii,” meaning gentle/sweet/caring. I really love this word choice in juxtaposition with Kurogane’s actions - he’s yelling, but his mother clearly recognizes that it’s coming from a place of care and concern.

p.68-70 - This is getting into nitpicky territory and I’m too lazy to write out the specifics, but please take my word for it that in the original text it feels clearer that Syaoran is actually in the process of figuring things out and heading towards a conclusion rather than just summarizing information he’s already said, lol.

p.79 - Since “You people...” sounds kind of alienating in English, I’ll clarify that Kurogane’s saying, “Everyone…”/“All of you…”

Chapter 95

p.87 - I don’t think it’s clear in the translation, but Kuromama tells Kuropapa that he mustn’t take Ginryuu with him without calling for her first (to bless the sword, as we learn shortly after.)

p.88 - The tone of this exchange is different as well - it’s not about demands being made but about the actions each of them choose to take. Kuropapa says, “You’ve always been like this. You keep pushing yourself too hard,” and Kuromama replies, “I could say the same of you.”

p.90 - A little elaboration on Ginryuu as the “Dragon of Water” - the original text refers to Ginryuu as one who rules over/controls the water.

Chapter 96

p.107-108 - I’m not certain that Kuromama’s final words are a request for Kurogane to protect Suwa. It’s difficult to tell because she’s speaking in sentence fragments, but she’s using the same structure for both “Suwa” and “You” (“Suwa wo...” “Anata wo...” vs “Anata ni/ga…”), and there is no pronoun associated with the following “Must protect…” This leads me to believe that she’s still struggling under her own obligations here, feeling that she must protect both Suwa and her son even as she dies.

p.120 - A clarification so Amaterasu doesn’t sound totally irresponsible here: She says she led her army in assuming that monsters would invade Suwa, the implication being that she came as soon as she could after hearing about Tomoyo’s dream.

Chapter 97

p.133 - Amaterasu isn’t trying to reason with Kurogane, as it appears in the translation. She’s speaking to the people with her (or the readers, however you want to see it), saying that he’s lost himself and that it can’t be helped, but she has to stop him. My interpretation would be that she’s ready to put him out of his misery here, tbh, hence the look of pain on her face. It’s brutal, but she believes it’s the only thing to be done at this point. Tomoyo literally saved Kurogane’s life here.

Chapter 98

p.142-143 - Since this became a topic of discussion, the “U” noises Kurogane makes here are indeed a sort of animalistic groaning noise (at least that’s how I would interpret them.) The Japanese “u” sounds like a shortened English “oo,” so just imagine he’s alternating between short and long versions of that sound and you should have an idea of what it’s supposed to be.

p.150 - I’m pretty sure this came up near the start of the manga, but as a reminder this castle is called “Shirasagi,” not “Shirasaki.”

p.153 - When Kurogane says his name here it’s “...Kurogane” rather than “Kurogane…” There are far too many weird punctuation-based tonal shifts in this translation, let me tell you.

p.156 - SPEAKING OF WHICH… Mokona’s line should end in an exclamation mark (“Syaoran is crying!”) and the ellipsis comes at the front of Fai’s line (“...He won’t let go.”) I don’t always point these out or even notice them but they’re deeply frustrating. As subtle as the changes may be, they still affect the way these lines come across.

Chapter 99

p.165 - It’s actually quite likely that Syaoran led with “I think I saw your past” - the language Kurogane uses in the original text implies that he’s confirming something that was already speculated/assumed. I don’t think it lessens the moment at all, though.

Omake

p.177 - What’s been translated as Yuuko telling Mokona to find a good place to stay was originally, “You need to make sure you get enough sleep.”

p.179 - Mokona’s actually saying here that everyone’s going to sleep together! Canon cuddle pile! :D

[sweetenoughandfaraway]

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