#english translation in alt text by yours truly

[daeluin]

guys i was half joking but

peterick en español (versión trap)

[army-of-bee-assassins]

back with more questions regarding image descriptions!!

let's say there is an artwork for a fandom that is specific to one country mostly. (Czechia in this example) since the thing the fandom is based on is in Czech. should I write the image description in English or in Czech?

also I've heard somewhere that proper writing should be used in them, is that true? like if the original text is caps lock I should put it to regular. or when no punctuation is used, I should add it.

i hope these aren't stupid, questions. I'm thinking of adding descriptions to all pictures on my art sideblog and I want to do it right :)!!

hi there! sorry for the late response on this one!

so for your first question, i would write the image description in czech in that case! generally speaking, i would write in the language that most of the post's audience will be using. or perhaps whatever language the op was using. you can also do the image description in more than one language (like english and czech for example) if you want. but one language will generally be sufficient.

in terms of proper grammar in image descriptions, i am not sure that it is vital (tho people are welcome to correct me on this), but i believe that it is preferred by some people. i usually use proper capitalization and punctuation in my ids. but again, any id is better than none.

as for correcting punctuation and capitalization when transcribing text, usually the rule of thumb is to transcribe the text as-is, without editing anything. the main exception would be for an honest-to-god typo (like fully a mistake, not a misspelling that was added for comedic effect) that may affect the post's legibility. in that case, you can usually correct the spelling. but otherwise i wouldn't edit the capitalization, spelling, or punctuation. if something would be truly incomprehensible for a screen reader (like something with a lot of words intentionally misspelled), then you might transcribe it as-is, followed by a "translation"/plain text of what it's meant to say.

when it comes to things that are in all caps - there are some mixed thoughts on this. i think these days most screen readers will read all caps just normally, but certain words may instead be read as an acronym. for example, "it" in all caps might be read as "I-T", like the acronym for "information technology." another thing to note is that no screen reader (as far as i'm aware) will make any note of something being in all caps. this means that when all caps are used for emphasis, a screen reader user has no way of knowing that the emphasis was there. lastly - and maybe this is just a personal preference and doesn't extend to other people - i find it kind of difficult to read a long stretch of text (like, more than a few sentences) that is in all caps. for all of these reasons listed, i often like to transcribe all caps with normal capitalization, just with a note that indicates that it was in all caps. for example: "The sign reads: [in all caps] 'do not enter'". these sorts of notes can also be added when all caps are used for emphasis. however - i'm honestly not sure if there's an agreed best practice on the transcription of all caps text. or if there is, i still need to learn about it.

just as a general note for alt text and image descriptions - a great way to learn a bit more about how screen readers work is to try out the screen reader on your phone! pretty much all modern phones have a screen reader in the accessibility settings, and you can set up a quick shortcut to turn it on and off with ease. for my phone, i just hold down both volume keys for a few seconds to turn it on. once the screen reader is on, swipe left or right to change what is highlighted and being read, and double tap to select what is highlighted. there are more settings than that, but that's what you need for just basic navigation. once you've figured out how to use your screen reader, try it out on different tumblr posts to see what it's like, and try it out on alt text or image descriptions that you write to see if they read well.

thanks for the thoughtful questions again!

[rocketmuse]

I thought I'd share my playlist for the anniversary of the boathouse kiss. :)

Song translations, MANY thoughts, and timeline under the break.

Noise warning for song 19, Hinahanap-Hanap Kita. 4:23 to the end. Loud high pitched beeps.

YouTube music version to be made soon.

Translations for foreign songs:

Ewan [Dunno] — Apo Hiking Society — Filipino/Tagalog

Amour plastique [Plastic love] — Videoclub — French

Panalangin [Prayer] — Apo Hiking Society/Moonstar88 — Filipino/Tagalog

Hinahanap-Hanap Kita [I'm Looking For You] — Rivermaya — Filipino/Tagalog

This is a collaborative playlist made with my friend.

Thought Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy would be a good starter song. Something about the music. Represents a good start of Alec persuing Maurice, like, hey, I can be yours... Whatcha doin'?

I added Puppy Princess because of the chorus but I know some people don't like that song so... You can skip if you'd like. KISS MEEEEE KIISS ME WITH YIIR EYESSS CLOSED . ALL I WANT IS YOU YEAH YOU. TELL ME I'M NOT FUNNY TELL ME I'M LEGIIIIT

Ewan. OH MY GOD this song is so them. Alec cares for Maurice, and doesn't like not being taken seriously or being treated badly and brushed off.

"I don't know why you're like that, you're difficult to talk to and you're a snob" COME ON IS THAT NOT THEM — Just a smile from you, and I'll be in heaven. Please give me a response, anything but "No idea"... What a perfect representation of Alec's continuous persuit of Maurice, always talking, always trying...

I could go on with every lyric.

Edit: I just realised this song fits so well for Alec's letters and meeting at the museum. Must resist the urge to add the same exact track twice.

So about Touch Me... Some of the lyrics apply better in other versions. Spotify just has this version tho. Touch me, just like that.

All I've Ever Known. Maurice discovered so much that night about touch and sharing and being with someone. He wants to be with Alec. "All I've ever known is how to hold my own, but now I want to hold you too. [Hold you close, I don't wanna ever have to let you go. Hold you tight, I don't wanna to back to the lonely life.]" Alec opened up his eyes and he'll never be the same.

Can't Help Falling in Love With You. 'Did you ever dream you'd a friend, Alec? ... Someone to last your whole life...' 'Alec, you're a dear fellow and we've been very happy.'

I'd Like To Walk Around In Your Mind was added from Maurice's perspective. Perhaps it fits Alec too...

I think Love At First Sight has the double meaning of the literal title, as well as "wouldn't you like to kiss her" perhaps being... Something Maurice would hear.

I Don't Dance. Based on this post/edit. Please watch this video oh my God.

Pink in the Night. Alec yearns for Maurice in the boathouse. He hasn't come. He hears his heart breaking tonight.

Every lyric is perhaps pulled straight from Alec's brain, to be honest. I remember seeing a post with this song in other contexts with them too. So yes, a few meanings.

Amour plastique. Alec reminiscences on the night in the Russet room. Why hasn't he come?

In my mind, everything goes wild. I lose myself in your eyes. I drown myself in the vagueness of your loving gaze.

And at night I cry tears that stream down my cheeks. I think of you only when the days ends, only when my sad demons descend upon my mind, into the bottomless abyss.

Waiting in the boathouse at night, when the day ends.

I ring out in kisses all down your chest. Lost in the avalanche of my heart astray. Who are you? Where are you?

The moments of then repeat in his mind. Where is Maurice?

I suppose Hopelessly Devoted To You and I'm A Fool To Want You are self explanatory. Maurice should really come... Alec really toughed it out, 2 days he spent in the boathouse, really wanted to see Maurice, really knew they had something, and doesn't want to be treated like a dog. Generally, his 1st letter.

Moon Song. My friend said they added it as a general love song. — Why do you treat me like this? Why didn't you come to the boathouse? — Alec's 2nd letter as a whole. Plus bits of 1st.

And you pushed me in, and now my feet can't touch the bottom of you. ... So I will wait for the next time you want me, like a dog with a bird at your door.

Ewan would fit here tbh.

Panalangin. My only prayer in this lifetime: to be beside you, to be together with you, that's my prayer.

"I since cricket match do long to ... place both arms round you and share with you, the above now seems sweeter than words can say."

And this heart won't allow if you will be away from me, my love, please listen.

It also fits the end of museum.

I Want You. Maurice, can you come to the boathouse already? Alec has no power to teleport you there. I hold one card that I can't use.

I found you. I found the door, but when I stepped through, there was no floor. He found Maurice, bit he's not being here for Alec.

You're coming back And it's the end of the world We're starting over And I love you, darling And I am done, dear

Alec wishes this would happen. Also, he does come back later and they love again over, and "it is finished".

Credit for suggesting the next two songs goes to @beatle-capaldi!!! He also wrote was in quotations!

English Summer Rain

The Most Radical Thing To Do

Hinahanap-Hanap Kita. 1st letter, he's looking for Maurice. Thinking about them together.

In my thoughts and dreams, in every turn of destiny, I look for you. Also applies to that hotel/post-hotel feeling. I look for you, even if I try to forget you, saying goodbye, looking back...

Wildest Dreams. They think a lot of each other. They share once more. But they must say goodbye. Alec saw this coming. Maurice hopes that Alec will remember him like this.

I Hear a Symphony. Alec truly opened up Maurice's eyes. Maurice was meant to be with him. He helped Maurice, changed his life. But now Alec is leaving on ship... Or is he? The symphony leads into...

An orchestral sountrack. The Boathouse. Unfortunately the Maurice soundtrack is not on spotify. It's on my personal YouTube music version. I added it because it just captures the boathouse the only way the sountrack itself can.

The Word of Your Body (Reprise). MLM people have moment of romantic tension, which culminates in confessions of love. Just had to add it. "Haven't you heard the word of your body?" perfectly describes Alec gifting and showing Maurice the wonder of truest physical affection and love. He lets Maurice be okay with himself, and again, changes everything. Every lyric is perfect.

Also, sorry JBW, I like other versions more... Too bad Spotify is mean.

I See The Light. Yeah. Every lyric. Maurice is Rapunzel. Movie Blond too. Both the morning at Russet room and the museum. And the world has somehow shifted. All at once everything is different, now that I see you. "By now they were in love with each other consciously."...

Suddenly Seymour. Suddenly see more, yeah? Clive = ass and someone gives him affection for once, wow! Sidenote, I want to sing this with them and their accents... Suddenly SCUDDER...

Helpless. Musical theatre songs seem to be good retellings of their love story. It's why they belong in post boathouse. Summaries and retellings. They're also good at conveying love they'd feel for each other in general, all times ever. Like loving men, retelling a story.

I'll Cover You. Cute love song feat. gays. I like to imagine them dancing around, declaring their love and devotion for each other. Walking and dancing around like in the original scene, sometime post canon. In my own imagination, I thought of Alec as Angel and Maurice (Christopher) as Collins.

Video Games. They must love spending time together. I thought this to be Maurice POV. Only worth living if somebody is loving you I mean, come on.

It's you, it's you, it's all for you. Everything I do. I tell you all the time, heaven is a place on Earth with you.

Un sospiro. I headcanon that Maurice picks up the piano and plays for Alec. Perhaps he picked it up bc of/after Clive, but now can play it for someone who gives a shit.

Something about the melody reminds me of them. And then it gets more intense... A bit like the passions of love, showing up in sharing and touch and more, too.

Liebestraum. I mean, it means love dream/dream of love. I just had to. Also I just like Liszt.

Take Me Up With You, Dearie. This song is just so sweet... So soft... Edwardian to boot... I love how quintessentially 1909 it is. Discovered it in a YT video. The thought of them getting married makes me cry. This song in general makes me want to cry, it's so romantic, tender, and exudes my favourite era...

Let us float, float, float through the clouds, and just have a lot of fun. We'll go up, up, up as two and then come down as one.

Put Your Head on My Shoulder. We Belong Together. I always imagine Maurice and Alec slowdancing to songs that come on the radio together, when the 1950s hits... Alec probably rests his head on his shoulder as this plays and they dance...

I'm using a lot of ellipses, am I secretly Rupert Graves?

Welcome to the 70s and 80s. They love dancing together and being with each other. Now, Panalangin can be a happy song. My only prayer for this lifetime ... To be together with you. And this heart won't allow if you will be away from me.

Just the Two of Us. What a nice, vibey song. Great title, great scenario of them dancing to this...

Tiny Dancer. Your Song. MLM people in the 70s + Radio, being happy and in love with each other. — I just thought I should add some Elton. A different friend, and I, like him. Maurice sings to Alec, "And you can tell everybody this is your song." That I put down in words how wonderful life is with you in the world.

Electric Love. Fun fact: this song got me to share the playlist. Got me thinking about them and their anniversary again. The funky busy instrumental describes well their passionate love. The highs of electric LOOOOOOVE describe the intensity of them.

Alt text continued: themselves together under and the love. And the love. The song has its own tension and it perfectly pictures their own tension. So yeah, this is THEIR song quite literally.

Sorry if my music taste is perhaps basic. I just made it for when I hear songs that are Them.

Falling for Ya. Alec falls for Maurice. "I saw you when you first drove up, Mr Hall..." Something about Maurice, right? Plus really nice vintage vibes with the music. The bit about Into your arms and it's a secure sure sounds like Maurice. Awh, they're falling for *each other*...

Rainbow Connections. Gay and bi people. Marriage. Everything that Maurice and Alec went through to get here, where they were meant to be. Clive. Working for Clive. Leading up to now.

All the things that had to go right, all the things that had to go wrong, that lead us to the place where we were going all along.

On the YT version there's a soft/jazzy cover of Panalangin here. Because they're old and spending time together and being happy. What a throwback, a defined meaning in their lives over time.

Still Into You. After all these decades... Old and grown, together... True soulmates... Two men can defy the world... Maurice and Alec still roam the greenwood. Imagine Maurice meeting Alec's mom in this context. If only.

Postmodern Jukebox cover, because they are a quintessentially 20th century couple. They exude vintage.

Some piano playing for Alec. Soft, tender, romantic, emotional, true. Feels like nighttime. Feels like Maurice and Alec. And a throwback to the pre 1914 world as well. Claire de Lune feels like... A credits of life piece. Time spent in the early 1980s. Nocturne feels like that too, but more romantic. Smidge less nighttime. Ah yes, Gymnopédies. The truest credits feel of them all. None of these actually are credits for Maurice and Alec, but I struggle to find the word for this feeling. But yeah. These all have Them vibes to me. Piano of the time just does I suppose. Glad to be reminded of them at any time.

What a long playlist. Like going through almost their whole lives together. 1:52 hrs. Almost like a movie. Imagine that. A full movie of THEIR lives... But leaving to the imagination was a good thing. Led to this such action. Thank you E.M. Forster.

Timeline:

1. Pendersleigh

4. & 5. Russet Room. Night, then Morning

9. Cricket

10. Boathouse Nights

18. The Museum

20. The Hotel

21. After

23. The Boathouse

24. They Still Roam the Greenwood

I just like to imagine them dancing to songs on the radio, for decades to come...

[dieaprikose]

LESEN AUF DEUTSCH | books to read in German

If you are bored of Duolingo (which I personally dont’t find that useful, but it is just my personal opinion, if you like it, if you gain knowledge by using it, then it is awesome) and other learning apps and if you want to find other ways to encounter your target language, you should READ! It may seem hard at first, it may puzzle you or give you a headache, but I swear it is one the most useful methods when it comes to language learning.

WHY READING IS ESSENTIAL

I know it is because this is how I got my English knowledge on a more advanced level. I actually remember moments when the language have started to make sense in my head, when I started to develop a deeper and wider passive vocabulary. I remember when I was sitting in an English class in school, and I remembered words from my readings. If you read in your target language, you become familiar with phrases, idioms; it will give you an image of the correct usage of language: it is essential when it comes to different registers. Maybe you learn a phrase or a word in a learning app, but reading them in a book makes you understand that in what kind of situations you can use them, to whom you can tell them. In short: read.

(personally, I remember that in 2013, I started to read 5SOS fanfics on wattpad because there were no Hungarian fanfics that time, and it was truly a breaking point in my studies. So even if it is fanfictions, read them. They help).

WHAT TO READ IN GERMAN | BÜCHER AUF DEUTSCH

There are some pretty good possibilities for beginners/lower-intermediate (A2) language learners.  Here are some suggestions:

1. André Klein - Learn German with Stories - Dino lernt Deutsch (A2) The Dino lernt Deutsch  series is a wonderful and extremely useful book series for language learners. It follows the life of a young guy called Dino, who moves to Germany to find a job. The problem is that he has to learn German because he is a beginner-level. So the book basically introduces Germany, the German language and culture from the point of view of an outsider. The series has 8 part, all of them take place in different cities from Berlin to Zürich. I have only read the first two (Café in Berlin and Ferien in Frankfurt) but I can tell you that they are kinda mandatory for your language studies. All the parts have 10 short stories, and at the end of each story, there is a vocabulary with the most important/mostly unknown words and phrases and then a little exercise which tests your understanding of the text. If you have a Kindle or another e-book reader with a built-in dictionary, I advise you to buy an ebook version as you can check other unknown words immediately. WEBSITE

Café in Berlin

Ferien in Frankfurt

Karneval in Köln

Momente in München

Ahoi aus Hamburg

Plötzlich in Palermo

Walzer in Wien

Zurück in Zürich

2. Language Learning University - German Short Stories (9 Simple and Captivating Stories for Effective German Learning for Beginners) (A1-A2) I haven’t read this book yet, however, I plan to do so after finishing the Dino lernt Deutsch series. As the title already suggests, it includes 9 short stories in German. After every chapter, there is a short summary in English and a short, but useful list of unknown words in English; and then there is an exercise just like in the Dino series. 

3. Roald Dahl - Charlie und die Schokoladenfabrik (A2-B1) Everyone knows the story of the little boy who gets a golden ticket to the Chocolate factory. The German translation of the book is surprisingly easy, maybe I wouldn’t recommend it to complete beginners, but if you are around an A2 level, you can try to read this book. I again suggest an ebook version because of the built-in dictionaries. I have started to read this book, however, I couldn’t finish it yet, but I have no problem with understanding. it. A short quote from the book just the examplify how easy it is:

“Das Haus war viel zu klein für so viele Leute, und so war das Leben darin für alle miteinander äußerst unbequem. Es gab nur zwei Zimmer und nur ein einziges Bett. In dem Bett durften die vier alten Großelten schlafen, weil sie so alt und müde waren” (Roald Dahl).

I don’t think I have to go into details, the quoted part is about how small the house Charlie’s family live in. To be honest, there was only one unknown word for me in that section (äußer). 

4. Mark Haddon - Supergute Tage oder Die sonderbare Welt des Christopher Boone (A2-B1) (rather B1) It is again a translated, originally English book, however, not hard to read for German learners. I have found out about it in a youtube video (just like about Charlie und die Schokoladenfabrik), and it is indeed seems to be a good choice. I haven’t started it yet, but it seems not hard to understand. Maybe it is a bit challenging text than the Roald Dahl’s book, but at least you can learn more words.

5. J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter (B1) This list wouldn’t be complete without Harry Potter. Years ago, my sister found the first part (Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen) in German in a thrift shop,  but I only started to read it this year. Not gonna lie, it is hard, I think, it is the hardest one in the list. I read the first chapter for at least a half an hour, then I got a pretty heavy headache, but I understood (!!!). It was the very first book I have ever read in English, I remember that the first time (summer of 2011 or 2012, not sure), I tried to check every single unknown word for like 100 page. Then I read it again in around 2013, and I loved how easier it became. Now, that I’m reading it in German, what makes it ‘easier”, and why I still recommend it is that all of us know the story. If you read the books a lot, you maybe even know what is coming in the text. I remember scenes, even sentences which makes it easier to comprehend it in German. A pretty lame example is coming:

“Mr und Mrs Dursley im Ligusterweg Nummer 4 waren stolz darauf, ganz und gar normal zu sein, sehr stolz sogar”

I don’t even have to say which sentence it is (the very first, obviously), but yeey, it made me understand phrases and words:  stolz sein auf - to be proud of ganz und gar normal - perfectly normal And I haven’t even had the need to check these words, partly because I already knew the first sentence, and partly because I have a basic knowledge of words and grammar in German. Let’s see another example, just because I love Harry Potter sooo much.

“Fast zehn Jahre waren vergangen, seit die Dursleys eines Morgens die Haustür geöffnet, und auf der Schwelle ihren Neffen gefunden hatten, doch der Ligusterweg hatte sich kaum verändert” (Chapter 2)

That is a bit harder sentence, but if you pay attention, it is not that problematic. I already knew some words from this sentence, but again, there were some which were new or at least I haven’t seen them in these forms yet. waren vergangen - have passed (I only know the word “Vergangenheit (past) from the series Dark).  die Schwelle - doorstep (! in the sentence it is used with der, but it is because of the auf, and the Dativ form of die is der).  sich verändern - to change

Oookay, that last part about Harry Potter was a bit long, but I just wanted to prove you that reading challenging texts can be fun and useful as well. You just pay extra attention if you are not on that level, but you can do that. 

If you have any German book recommendation, feel free to suggest me (and others) some. I love to read and I could only find these so far in German. 

Bis bald,

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: The 6 Best Books On The History Of Manga And Anime

  Say you’re a fan of anime and manga who’s looking to learn more about history or craft. Where do you begin? There’s whatever insight you can glean from the work itself, of course. There’s also a good amount of information available online, from animation blogs to translated manga interviews to personal pieces. But when all else fails, turn to the library. Here are some excellent nonfiction books on the manga and anime industry that I’d recommend to just about anybody. I’ve also read at least sections of every book on this list, so you have my guarantee of their quality!

  Image via Penguin Random House

  Pure Invention: How Japan's Pop Culture Conquered the World reaches beyond manga and anime to encompass Japanese pop culture post World War II. But there are plenty of stories in here that fans of anime and manga might find fascinating: 

  The toy car that inspired top developers at Nintendo

How the karaoke machine led directly to idol culture, as music producers sought to produce music that ordinary people could sing

The manga-obsessed student radicals of the 1960s, many of whom came to work on later anime projects like Mobile Suit Gundam

  Author Matt Alt’s choice of interviewees and attention to detail marks Pure Invention as one of the best of its kind. If you’re a curious reader looking for an accessible (and recent!) popular history, I highly recommend this book.

  Image via Bloomsbury.com

  For fans abroad, the history of anime begins with the airing of Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy on Japanese television. But this wasn’t enough for Jonathan Clements, a long-time anime and manga scholar who continues to blog on Schoolgirl Milky Crisis. His academic text Anime: A History begins in the 1910s, 50 years before the airing of Astro Boy, in fact, Astro Boy only appears halfway through the book! Clements is concerned not just with the medium of anime itself, but the cultural traditions, historical events, and individual people that brought it into existence.

  One of the greatest obstacles standing in the way of English-speakers seeking to understand the history of Japanese animation — besides, as Clements notes, the haphazard nature of even those resources available in Japanese — is the language barrier. Online writers at sites such as Sakugablog have done fantastic work in making some of this information accessible, but those same writers would be the first to acknowledge there’s still plenty we don’t know. Anime: A History synthesizes countless Japanese-language source texts and interviews about the history of animation, yet Clements is careful to acknowledge that the testimony of individual actors within the industry must be weighed against both their own agenda and the words of others. While Anime: A History would be a valuable text if it was nothing more than a synthesis, Clements’ ambition to build a coherent history of Japanese animation from a production standpoint that thoroughly examines its subject matter and context from all angles is what makes it essential.

  Image via Stone Bridge Press

  Jonathan Clements collaborated with equally prestigious anime and manga scholar Helen McCarthy to produce The Anime Encyclopedia, whose third edition was published in 2015. It’s an enormous text (over a thousand pages long!) that covers everything from summaries and critical appraisals of popular titles to specific themes and tropes to nuggets of cultural history and influence. If I were to criticize this project, I would say that recent anime writing outside the United States exposes The Anime Encyclopedia’s biases; for instance, the magical girl series Ojamajo Doremi only merits a few paragraphs despite its status as a beloved children's series in Japan. Keeping that in mind, it’s an impressive resource that is great fun to browse (and to disagree with)!

  Image via j-novel club

  Mari Okada is one of the most prolific and influential anime writers of the past decade. She’s worked on adaptations, original projects like Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day and KIZNAIVER, and even directed her own films. In her memoir, From Truant to Anime Screenwriter, Okada frankly discusses her personal struggles: her fraught relationship with her mother, her years as a young student when she couldn’t bring herself to attend class, and the process by which she gathered her courage to touch upon her personal experiences in her work. There are chapters of this book that wouldn’t be out of place in an Okada-written drama, which I suppose is the point.

  Okada’s memoir is in part a testament to her work ethic and her willingness to tackle any challenge no matter how difficult or annoying it is. But it’s also a rosetta stone for her work: not just in how it overlaps with her personal life, but in its emphasis on the importance of communication despite how difficult it can be to voice even simple feelings. Whether you’re a fan of Okada or not, I found this to be a great resource for writers nervous of the fraught boundary between fiction and personal experience or for readers who want to know what makes Okada’s work so distinct.

  Image via Stone Bridge Press

  Frederik Schodt is one of manga criticism’s greatest elder statesmen. His book Manga! Manga! put him on the map, not only for its editorial content but also for its translated excerpts of Japanese comics — including what would be, for years, the only available English chapter of Rose of Versailles! Yet that book was published in 1983 and sections can’t help but read as dated now. So I’m recommending the sequel here, 1996’s Dreamland Japan. 

  Like its predecessor, much of Dreamland Japan is devoted to detailing Schodt’s theories as to what manga is and how it works. But the sections of the book I personally find most valuable are the profiles where Schodt writes at length about specific manga artists he either personally enjoys or believes to embody a specific genre unique to manga. The freakish kitsch of Suehiro Maruo; Ryoko Yamagishi’s historical epic Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi (Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun); and alternative artists like Kazuichi Hanawa and Shungicu Uchida. These chapters stand as a stark reminder that despite the recent popularity of manga in the United States, many fantastic comics remain completely unknown to most English-speaking audiences.

  Image via ComiPress

  Finally, there’s Udagawa Takeo’s Manga Zombie! Translated into English by John Gallagher, it’s an eccentric and rewarding text that profiles several avant-garde manga artists from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Udagawa strongly dislikes the market-driven manga hits that would go on to rule the world from the pages of Shonen Jump and fights instead for the careers of authors whose work was published in the pages of pornographic magazines as often as they were in Jump or the alternative magazine Garo. Most of these authors have never been published in English, whether officially or through illicit means like scanlations. If not for the translation of Manga Zombie — or for Udagawa’s further works of manga scholarship — the artists he writes about might vanish into history without leaving a trace.

  The comics detailed in Manga Zombie can be grotesque, ranging from the “fleshbomb style” of artists like Masaru Sakaki to prescient weirdos like George Takiyama. Some might be repelled by the content here; personally, I’m disappointed by the lack of female comics artists featured, although Udagawa (who mentions the girls comic pioneers the 49ers in the foreword to his book) is certainly aware of them. But I love reading folks talking about their favorite work that I’ve never heard about, and Udagawa makes for an idiosyncratic tour guide to some truly unique material. For those willing to brave the world of Japanese exploitation comics, Manga Zombie is a hidden gem.

  What’s your favorite text about manga or anime? Is there an interview you consider especially interesting? Let us know in the comments!

      Adam W is a Features Writer at Crunchyroll. When he isn't reading weird fantasy novels and horror fiction, he sporadically contributes with a loose coalition of friends to a blog called Isn't it Electrifying? You can find him on Twitter at: @wendeego

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a feature, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Adam Wescott

[aragornbang]

The One True King Of Anarchy, May He Be The Last

Aragorn wrote a sneering obituary of Bob Black the minute he stopped being useful; it's only fair that Bob Black now write Aragorn's obituary.

Let's get to it.

The infamously boring would be patriarch of the east bay anarchist scene sometimes claimed the name "Aragorn" was the unchosen result of hippie parents, but still occasionally got mail to Aaron Mosner. Due to this uncertainty over what name was truly Aragorn's adopted name or a parental narrative he reaffirmed, to be safe we'll just refer to him as The One True King from here on out.

The two central claims of this essay are:

The One True King sought power and control through manipulation and viciousness as a would-be "Rupert Murdock" of anarchism and patriarch of a small east bay scene.

His chief campaign was to undermine No Platform, repeatedly fighting to let reactionaries, eco-extremists and national anarchists into anarchist spaces.

The One True King largely avoided making his own positions clear, opting instead to use people and ideologies as pawns and cover. He preferred when other people were set up for conflict so he could delight in the carnage, utilizing gossip from afar. He'd back a noxious individual not so that they'd win but so that in their fight they'd still crack the Overton Window further and make more acceptable his own positions. His other favorite maneuver was sharing articles of his adversaries, specifically ones selected to serve as punching bags for his audience. Because of this curated selection of adversarial content his flagship holdings like LBC, Anews, Anarchy101, and TheAnarchistLibrary all kept up a thin veil of nonpartisanship to the new or naive, some of whom even thought The One True King's adversaries were themselves submitting content. He loved a deniable joke; one vicious enough to devastatingly imply something but hard to describe if anyone was so unwise as to take offense publicly. Hashtags, vaguebooking and implicit damnation by conjunction with an image were his specialty online. Misrepresentation by omission or plausibly deniable implication a specialty in person.

While it is possible his own opinions or preferences changed over time, most who observed him over the years couldn't help but notice an opportunistic pattern: He was always about the idea that was popular among a new group of people he wanted to grab. One year he was hostile to an idea, the next its best friend and champion. He'd even pivot in the same week with different audiences. Because he was a notorious for burnt bridges some would initially miss this politician's flexibility within the circles he was currently using as a base.

The One True King framed himself as fighting for ideological diversity against entrenched leftist scene police (a crusade that justified literally anything, no matter how underhanded). The narrative he pushed was that his noble personal sacrifice and work ethic was all that was protecting green-anarchists, post-leftists, and individualists from the Bookchinist boot and crushing conformity.

This increasingly turned to parody as The Leftist Enemy soon became figures like John Zerzan.

In fact by the end of his life there was no more zealous scene police than The One True King. Even the lightest association with those deemed "enemies" could get you scrubbed into a person non grata, pushed out of projects and circles. His personal sweetness could so easily turn to viciousness because he trained those under his wing to tolerate it as mockery. What's a little caustic ribbing behind your back? And then one day the unseen ribbing would turn to outright conspiring, pressuring, even lying about you.

Of course to many he remained studiously sweet. There is no doubt that he sincerely cared for a number of people in his inner lair, and he could certainly be magnanimous. Although when traveling this often came across as entitled.

His personal life was complicated. But then who among us hasn't left children behind in the midwest to run a creepy cult for young punks in Berkeley? Who hasn't ducked accusations of improper behavior in sexual relationships? The two house "compound" was inherited by one of his partners, and when mixed with the tech money The One True King had access to, provided him with virtually uncontested power. Well, virtually uncontested, occupants of the compound would sometimes get back at him behind his back in petty or sexual ways.

What did The One True King actually believe? What were his actual goals? While he gave several accounts and others have alleged a variety of claims, it's hard to tell what if anything was ultimately behind his crusades. What is uncontested is that he lost friends over his hard work to platform "national anarchists," a uncontestedly fascist current. When Andrew Yeoman launched Bay Area National Anarchists it was The One True King who included BANA members in the Berkeley Study Group (a project he tightly controlled). The One True King also allowed Yeoman and national anarchists into anti-politics.net, a site he administered and, at the time, THE forum for individualist, nihilist, egoist, and post-leftist currents of anarchism. He let friendships within the post-left burn rather than expel these fascist entryists.

This is a pattern that would be replicated almost a decade later with Individuals Tending towards Savagery.

Much ink has been spilled by this point about ITS. What matters to us is the prevarications and obfuscations. ITS had explicitly abandoned anarchism, started claiming murder for sport, and targeted mexican anarchists for murder when The One True King decided to pick up a project by Abe/Art Caberra (exposed as an alt-right catholic-trad paralegal who went to Berkeley named Arturo Vasquez by 325). Caberra had run a website named "Atassa" as the english language press office of ITS (doing their translations, championing them, getting messages from them, and trying to collect texts to defend their ideology). The One True King offered to publish a book version of the website through Little Black Cart, with Caberra as editor. Caberra posted a spattering of ITS memes on Facebook interspersed with alt-right memes. These posts were often liked by The One True King and he would even at points tag The One True King, referencing their friendship. Meanwhile support for ITS had flowed strongly across all of The One True King's captured platforms.

When ITS' actions (an infoshop bombing and one claimed femicide in particular) reached wider knowledge in the north american milieu The One True King was forced to backpeddle and paint his platforming as innocent consideration on the marketplace of ideas. This was his most awkward pivot because many had by this point overheard The One True King praising ITS and because of his personal ties with many explicit ITS supporters.

The One True King's public maneuver was to retreat behind an LBC collective statement and public renunciations of ITS by people in his circle cleaner than him. An inveterate shit-stirrer he delighted in the backlash (just when he was looking marginalized in anarchism thanks to picking fights with antifa groups), here was an excuse to rally the troops against the leftist scene police! But the defense that ITS had interesting ideas "in the anarchist family" didn't work as well as he hoped. Nor was anyone familiar with the situation or the people able to swallow his new narrative pivot that Atassa was totally different from ITS.

"Some defend the publications and discussions (or trolling, as it were) they engender because while perhaps they don’t agree with killing people, the analysis ITS presents is intellectually stimulating and worthy of consideration. If ITS did kill her, Lesvy Rivera can surely appreciate that her brutal murder was found intellectually stimulating for some." --Scott Campbell

Attempting to claim hegemonic control of the green anarchist milieu with "Black Seed" (a struggling but much hyped newspaper printed and delivered on The One True King's tech money) had been rough going. Green anarchists across north america started distancing themselves from ITS and condemning (to varying degrees, in private or in public) LBC for their embrace of Atassa/ITS. The One True King censored the most damaging instances from Anews, and it helped him that IGD was disinclined to publish some particular nihilist figures who turned on LBC.

Even the main person behind TheAnarchistLibrary departed the project in protest of The One True King's control over it to start a competitor that wouldn't host ITS.

The One True King couldn't back down -- he had to pray that "the leftists" hadn't captured enough of anarchism to shut him out. Or that his latest pivot (loudly embracing indigeneity after years of platforming racists and sneering at "idpol") would buy him a new base. And he hoped that the more stable roster of now hated vocal enemies -- like John Zerzan, William Gillis, Alexander Reid Ross -- would take the bait with the second issue of Atassa. Unfortunately they did. But this boost of internal party discipline wasn't enough. In addition to IGD completely marginalizing Anews, LBC was getting banned from bookfairs and quite serious international insurrectionary groups were turning on them. In desperation LBC started tabling American "Libertarian" conventions.

After a meteoric rise and reign for over a decade, The One True King appeared chastised and surprised. He loved inflating the threats and opposition he faced, picking fights with the infoshop that hosted his Berkeley Study Group and then exclaiming about "graffascists" when the lock to his office was glued, or inflating the costliness of getting his tires changed when they were slashed. Such minor attacks were too many to count, just as his enemies were. But towards the end of his life he started to realize he'd made actual enemies, who'd chosen sides and gotten organized.

In private he was certain that this antifa fad would burn out. "We're down today, but we'll be back up tomorrow. There's a lot of anarchists who disagree with that No Platform stuff."

In reality all he had left was an echo chamber. He had overthrown the "leftism" of (early post-leftist) Chuck0 censoring the comments of Infoshop.org, and instead popularized a website where he could sometimes remove comments attacking him or rebutting his side, but at least he would always let people say the n-word and post MRA shit.

Without of note to say himself, and too timid to create anything truly "incendiary", The One True King could only throw the stale regurgitated vomit of other people. How's the saying go? When the only tool you have is a hammer, you interview the national anarchist Keith Preston on your podcast. Previously at Richard Spencer's National Policy Institute, next up on The Brilliant.

An anonymous writer at Crimethinc claims that what launched The One True King's crusade was being put on a house chore wheel to do the dishes. If true this would truly make his life a sublime tale of manarchy. If he did the dishes more often maybe his servers would have been cleaner and less full of exploits that allowed anyone to look at the logs he said he didn't keep.

Also it was really mean that he didn't provide a private security detail to protect me from people upset that I've snitched repeatedly, tried to get Ramsey deported, and was even caught on the roof of Modern Times with gasoline trying to burn it down. That was totally unfair and definitely the worst thing Aragorn did.

Signed, Bob Black, pigfucker

[euro3plast-fr]

How SaaS companies can succeed at international SEO strategy

Don't limit your SaaS brand - the do's and don'ts of international SEO

We live in a world of nearly 200 countries and thousands of different languages, so why should your SaaS company limit itself just to English speakers or a North American audience? Asking this question, many SaaS companies will embark on a journey to expand their international visibility, only to realize that international SEO can be a strange beast. “If you build it, they will come,” does not apply if no one can find what you have built. 

Brands can find greater success within international markets if they understand how search engines, like Google index, retrieve websites for international audiences. With this understanding, your SaaS company can build a strategic approach to capturing international traffic by following international SEO best practices.

So, start studying abroad — no passport needed! — with this list of do’s and don’ts for international SEO.

Download our business Member Resource – Running International Marketing Campaigns Guide

The guide shows the key issues to focus on for the digital elements of international marketing campaigns. It also shows how integration with offline activity should be managed. It will review the key challenges, asks the key questions and lays out a practical guide to answer them when running international marketing campaigns.

Access the Running international marketing campaigns guide

Don't spread yourself too thin; do approach each localization carefully

Every single language and/or country you decide to create a localized company website for deserves individualized time and attention. You may want to start small by targeting a single country or language to expand to, focus on those efforts, and then take the lessons learned as you expand your reach further.

The last thing you want to do is try to publish 30 different sites at once without regard for best practices. This approach will result in a poor experience for users and likely a complete lack of visibility to search engines.

So, start small, focus on the details and then scale your approach as you learn more about what works and what doesn’t. Remember that it is often easier to target a language like Spanish, which is spoken in dozens of countries throughout the world, rather than targeting an individual country.

Developing a language-specific approach may, therefore, offer more efficient returns than a country-specific approach unless you are trying to directly target a single country’s market.

Don’t Rely on Auto Translators

Another critical mistake companies make - deciding to simply dump 100% of their existing copy into a translator tool and then paste this into a “localized” website. For one, translator tools will always be imperfect compared to a human translator. These programs commonly fail to recognize nuance, context or idioms present in the language.

Second, not everything translates directly from one language to the other. Otherwise, we would not have co-opted words in English like “reconnaissance,” which would translate directly from French to something like “the regaining of understanding.”

For this reason, a keyword like “best SaaS payroll tool” may have a completely different alternative in your target country, so study their search habits.

Ensure that both On-page and Off-page elements contain targeted keywords in the chosen language, including:

H1s and other headers

Title tags

Meta descriptions

Alt text

Body content

Other things that may not translate directly are your business hours, currency and other regional-specific factors. Research schema markup tags that you can use for language/country specific pages so that search users there do not see something that confuses them, like business hours that correspond to the middle of the night.

Do Work With Someone Who Speaks the Language and Understands Regional Expectations

Poorly translated sites usually do not rank well on SERPs. So, your first step towards writing in a new language is to hire someone who speaks the language fluently. You can outsource this job to a freelancer, but you will need to check the quality of their work with someone else who is bilingual.

You are better off hiring a dedicated bilingual project manager/creative director if you are serious about creating an experience that translates well into your new target market. They should have an enough grasp on local culture and expectations of businesses to be certain that your design and language approach produces the desired effect.

For example, a website design that is successful in America may not find success in Japan. Look at Moz’s example under Myth #12 of their related article showing how the beauty company Lush has a completely different site design approach for Japanese audiences. The Japanese site trades out minimalism for dense, colorful imagery while making the chat widget more prominent. 

Similarly, businesses launching services in Germany must be no-nonsense with their branding, and they must project a stellar, professional first impression if they are to be regarded on the marketplace at all. Germany also requires a fairly specific boilerplate site imprint for all business websites, else the host could face up to a €50,000 ($58,652 USD) fine. Knowing requirements like these are key to a successful international brand launch.

Don’t Take Your Domain Structure for Granted

While you are working on design and copy for your new website, you can already begin to form an international SEO strategy.

Your first order of business is to decide on a domain structure. You have several main options:

ccTLD (Country Code Top Level Domain) — “examplesaascompany.fr”

Provides the strongest ranking signal to country-specific search engines

Requires you to completely rebuild your domain ranking authority almost from scratch

Best for an all-in approach from companies seeking to run dedicated international offices

Expensive to maintain

Subdomain — “france.examplesaascompany.com"

Provides a fairly strong ranking signal to foreign search engines

Can often help share your domain authority, giving momentum to international SEO

Less-expensive to maintain

Used by a surprising amount of multinationals, including Apple and IBM

Subdirectory — “examplesaascompany.com/france”

Sends weakest ranking signal to foreign search engines

Cheapest option with the least amount of needed hosting resources

Often easier to structure/strategize since it can be incorporated within normal site map

Best for small operations or businesses just starting to branch out internationally

Note that your company can also use hreflang tags to help search engines understand that a site page can also be accessed in a different language. Adding these tags to the page code can allow search engines to index the translated page based on the search user’s current country and browser settings.

An example tag for a French homepage would look like the following:

<link rel="alternate" href="http://examplesaascompany.com/fr" hreflang="fr-fr"/>

This page also needs an hreflang tag for the French page back to the English page for the search engine to be able to index properly, so always reciprocate.

Do Be Prepared to Optimize Your Approach Through Feedback

As you begin to create new pages tailored for the language/country of your choosing, you can use analytics data to determine areas of needed improvement or extra effort. Google’s Analytics tools, for example, can reveal data on search volume and trends from certain countries or languages. It can also reveal the pages that are most popular by language/region.

You should also continually verify your organic search visibility using available tools, like Google Search Console and SEMRush.

Don’t be frustrated if you fail to appear organically at first! You can verify you did everything right by checking Moz’s checklist for international SEO. Even if you do accomplish all of the recommendations, organic rankings can take weeks to improve depending on the market and the keyword competitiveness.

A Successful International SEO Strategy Looks at the Long Term

As your company grows and your international audience grows alongside it, you will need to regularly revisit your SEO strategy. Try accomplishing things like the following tasks monthly or quarterly:

Flesh out your international language pages to have more depth and cultural context.

Review your technical SEO aspects to ensure you have the proper meta-tags that serve as signals for search engines.

Take note of analytics data revealing popular pages, keyword use and inbound traffic sources.

Differentiate your global SEO strategy from your operations on home soil by making your international pages more unique and contextualized.

Review word choice and phrasing with a native speaker.

  Just like running a SaaS platform, finding SEO success on the international circuit is an ongoing process. Treat it like a full-time project, return to it continues to make improvements, and above all else make it your goal to truly, meaningfully connect with customers abroad.

Only when you commit to making their experience great can you be seen as a true international partner — someone who is trusted just as much abroad as they are back home.

Thanks to Nick Sawinyh for sharing their advice and opinion in this post. Nick is Product Manager at Seomator. He is a Proud father, husband, and corgi-owner. I've been working in SEO Industry for more than ten years now. You can follow him on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.

from Blog – Smart Insights http://www.smartinsights.com/search-engine-optimisation-seo/multilingual-seo/saas-companies-can-succeed-international-seo-strategy/