Soulless, but not Heartless!

     By Alyssa Showalter

     The legend tells us, that all “Ginger” people have no soul, and will steal yours if you make eye contact with one long enough. Being a redhead myself, I would like to confirm this is true, and if you believe me, than you know that gullible is also in the dictionary. If you are redheaded, you know this isn’t true, and in fact, would like to deny that you have stolen anyone’s soul. Let us ask, when and where did this all start? Is it really possible to steal a soul? Sally sells souls on the seashore, because she known seashells are worthless. Diamonds might be forever, but souls have an expiration date of eternity.

     Personally, I have never found the “soulless” jokes to be funny. I don’t bring it up at parties with new people. I like to make the best impression possible. However, if someone does bring it up, I only laugh with them. All while I make eye contact with them, making them feel as uncomfortable as they have made me.

     It is not easy being redheaded. The very fact that we get sunburned in the shade should be a sign that we are not a very tough enemy. The people of Britain believe the South Park episode and fear of being bitten by one of us. Redheaded women get sexual harassed, and the men are treated with very little respect. People with Ginger-phobia, are not really worth dealing with. I mean, considering they most likely carry the MC1R gene and karma will deal with them.

     It was back during the Roman Empire that this prejudice against redheads came from. It was the men and women that reflected pale skin and flaming red hair, which is almost a similar description for “The Devil”. Later on, the rumor and idea that redheads sold their souls to the devil, so to serve him and spread sin. Yes, because the last sin I committed was with a jar of Nutella and Oreos.

Oh, no. They are catching onto the Devil’s plan, to spread diabetes to everyone on Earth. Whatever shall we do?

     The Greeks believed that we would turn into Vampires after we died. There is so much fail in that sentence that I cannot help but laugh. I do need to admit, we are much closer to the vampire race than Edward Cullen was. Not to mention, people are more scared of me than his glittery pasty ass. So, perhaps the Greeks did have a point.

     Do we have souls? That is up for a pointless debate that I will not take part in. What no one points out is that we have heart. Yes, we are fiery and passionate, all the better to fight for our loved ones with. We love with as much as the rest of the world, if not more. We know what it feels to be mistreated and discriminated against.

Red is the new Black

     Fashion and accessories are a form of expression, the same way we draw pictures or write music. Clothes make the person as much as their body language, their choice of words, as well as their actions. What you wear tells people who you are. 

     I have never been very good at dressing myself, but my blonde older sister has always asked for my opinion on most of her outfits through out high school and college. I never thought I had good taste in clothes or what works with what, until someone told me that my sister always looked the best at parties. Then they found out it was me who helped her, which got everyone's attention. After my sister's friend became our roommate, she started asking me too. I was the closest fashion "expert" that they knew, and they trusted my very blunt and honest opinion. So, I thought I only knew how to dress blondes and brunettes, until I realized, redheads are the ones that can wear a potato sack and make it look good.  For years I thought redheads were the hardest people to dress, to only learn that is a myth. In fact, we are the easiest to dress up and can get away with wearing anything. 

     We are truly blessed, because we are the ones that make the dress. If a dress doesn't look good on us, then sorry, that dress is ugly, and shouldn't be worn by anyone. So my fashion tip for all red heads is, wear whatever your heart desires. Clothes are simply cloth sewn together, but redheads make them fashionable.

I usually keep away from animal print, because to me it screams tacky. Not to mention it really clashes with our brilliant red hair. I also stay away from silver and gold, because our pale skin and freckles just get whitened out, and gold looks cheap. My opinion is not meant for every one, and my taste in clothes should be questioned. However, I am simply being honest. 

 

    Myth: Redheads can't wear color. 

    Truth: Oh yes they can! 

    Jessica Rabbit is the sexiest 2-D character we all know, and she was able to pull off a Red dress with purple gloves and purple eye shadow. Imagine a blonde or brunette trying to do that. Yup, redheads can wear any color and any shade of that color because it enhances their hair and skin. To look like goddesses and out of this world, leaving many to turn their head. Trust me, redheads can wear color. Now, there are some colors that complement well with red hair, such as; green, red, and believe it, yellow. 

      One day, a couple of years ago, I decided to be bold and wear a yellow dress. I've never got so many complements before. So many people told me how pretty I looked. You have a yellow dress that you like? Go ahead, make people's heads spin! 

Anyone can wear black, and possibly the safest shade of the light spectrum. What many probably get scared of is the light. Give in to the good side, and wear that white pull over. Wearing white actually makes you look radiant and healthy. All because we are pale naturally, wearing white will make you look like you got some sun. Not to mention, your red hair will look amazing. 

     When I say, wear whatever you want, I mean it. You see that cute purple top, go ahead. And trust me, it will look amazing on you. Enjoy that little black dress, and splash around in pastels. One thing I will tell you is that red heads are trend setters. What we wear is going to make people fall in love with it, and want to wear the same thing. This can also be said for red headed men, as well. I don't have experience with dressing redheaded men, because all the boys in my family have brown hair. However, redheaded men can wear about anything, and dare I contradict myself to say, even silver. 

So, if you have holiday parties to go to, and you want to express yourself and be bold. Go for it! I mean it, wear what you will like, because people will talk and tell you that it's not fair that you can make any color work for you, but not them. You can thank your red hair, pale skin, and amazing taste in fashion for that. 

10 Signs of Growing up Ginger

Being redheaded, "Ginger" or even "Pumpkin Spiced" is the trend among young adults and adults of the ages. (No offense) But we natural "Carrot Tops" have something that people can't get out of a bottle or from the hair salon. 

1.     Mixed reactions. Some people loved, and still love, your hair, and others did not. We got used to it. 

2.     Your head was not safe from strangers’ grabby hands no matter what the situation.

3.     As a 90’s kid, you were always “Ginger Spice”. You may have liked Posh or Sporty Spice more, but if you had red hair, you were always Ginger Spice.  

4.     Nicknames that are related to your hair will always be apart of your life. Fireball, Ginger, Carrot Top, Ariel, Firecracker, Strawberry short cake, the list goes on.

5.     Growing up loving Lindsay Lohan, and than after 2005, we ran into our rooms ashamed and heartbroken.  Yes, the moment I heard Paris fucking Hilton call her a "Fire Crotch", I instantly dreaded going to school the next day. 

6.     Having mixed feelings for that  South Park Episode.

7.     Getting sun burned… in the shade.

8.     We grew up to develop a unique sense of humor. We know how to laugh, and it is a very magical moment when we do. That’s how awesome we are.

9. People will always blame our hair for our fiery tempers.  

Last but not least!

10.  We learned very quickly the value of humility and acceptance. We know what it feels like to be picked on because of our appearance. To be discriminated against and bullied for being different. Natural red heads know what it means to want equality and to fight for social justice. We have over thousands of years of being hunted, enslaved and killed, all because of our hair and skin. To be picked on and stereotyped by everyone. Natural redheads are the kindest, most understanding, and accepting people you will have the honor of meeting and befriending. Being a redhead is an honor because we are the ones that grew up stronger and able to handle the social pressures from every single person. Growing up with natural red hair means that you are truly special, inside and out, and no one will ever be able to attain that from a bottle of red hair dye.

The reason WHY I wanted to be a translator.

So, something has finally caught my attention, too many times, that I really want to blog/rant about it.

Recently, I finally broke down and decided to translate A9's new mini album銀河のヲト(Ginga no Woto) from the "English" back into Japanese. Why, because I'm a Japanese geek, that's why, and I really like to keep the original titles. Helps with my kanji and practice reading Japanese.

Anyway, I noticed one song was titled, "Pierrot", which is french for "Clown" and this was fine. Nothing wrong. In fact, the word was not wrong, nothing was truly wrong. It all meant the same thing.
Show(formally known as 将) decided he wanted to title it "Clown". I'm sure he has his reasons.

Here's the deal, fans who donated money to their A9 fan project was able to download their mini-album a week earlier. If you downloaded the songs from the Japanese or even Chinese translations you probably got the original Japanese titles, which is what happened to my friend who lived in Osaka. She of course picked Japanese because, she's living in Japan, can read and understand Japanese. I decided to go with the "Good old American" pass and go English on this project.

Yeah, I've been running into some problems. Which is good! Don't get me wrong, if there weren't any problems, then translators wouldn't be needed.

Back to the song title.
My friend was talking to me about "道化師" and that she enjoyed the song. I, being American and lazy, had not translated the song titles yet, so I assumed she was talking about "Pierrot", which was what the song was titled when I downloaded the album. We went on our way with our conversation.

Want to know what Pierrot is in Japanese?
It's ピエロ
I believe any fan of the VK band Pierrot could have told me that. In fact, Japan loves that word to no end. There's an anime studio called Pierrot. Heads up, Japan loves french anything, and it's so true it's hilarious. But who exactly hates the French, WHO isn't British. (joke, I'm trying to be funny)

Do you want to know what "Clown" is in Japanese?
It's 道化師 (doukeshi)

Now, why on earth would Show translate a word from Japanese to French? Who knows what that man is thinking. I've stopped asking after meeting him a few times. Odds are he wanted to be artistic and look smart.

So, I look back at the moment my friend was asking me what I thought of doukeshi, I now understand what she was talking about. This is a problem. I see this as a problem, because I was on a side of a conversation that was slightly divided from my friend. This SHOULDN'T be a thing.


I'm not blaming Show, or A9. In fact, this has been a problem between Japanese and English speaking countries for YEARS! I mean YEARS!

Let's look at an example.
Attack on Titan. Many hard core fans, or fans who have been watching Anime know it as 進撃の巨人 (shingeki no kyojin) I hope you can see where I'm going. Just a simple title can divide up people between, "You don't speak Japanese" and "I'm on a different level than you. SUCK IT!"
THIS SHOULD NOT BE A THING!

This really should not be a thing.
Now, I do not see my friend being higher up or more superior to me, since I really like to think we are friends. (Won't lie though, for a short period I thought of her as Senpai.) But after a little time of getting to know her, and her getting to know me, we stand on even level footing.
I mean the only difference or leveling we have is that she's Canadian and I'm American. But even then, we both came from the west coast. We surprisingly do not have too much distance between us.

Now, I'm going to tell you what my ideal translator can do for fans. They translate titles or names so that all fans can stay on the same page and feel connected. I mean, that's why translators have been needed for centuries! I mean it literally too, centuries because we all know what happened in history when translators weren't involved. Bad things. Very bad things happened.

Another set of examples I have is good old Sailor Moon and Pokemon!

American fans knew "Usagi" as "Serena" and "Satoshi" from Pokemon was "Ash Ketchum"
We all know this; and if you didn't know this...sorry. To me, this is a trip up, plus it keeps American fans from fully connecting with other fans from other countries.

Fan: "OMG, I love Usagi she's so cute."
American fan: "haha, have no idea who that is, but I love Serena."
Fan: "..."

See the problem? Please see the problem, because this is where misunderstandings take place. This is where fans and people in general will feel lost and disconnected from the things that they love.

I love Alice Nine, or A9 now, and they have allowed me to make friends all over the world. To learn and understand that America is not the center of this planet. (-cough- Of course I knew that -laughs nervously-)

I love to think that I have good friends from various countries. I've talked with fans from Russia, all the way to South Africa. I have talked with fans from so many countries that I get excited thinking about their homes and countries that all the way over there, they too sit in their room listening to A9 and squeal with excitement over a new single or album. I picture their rooms covered in posters and different characters both internationally known or only popular in their own home country. This broadens my mind and understanding that Disney is not the only company and Coca-cola is not the only soft drink available. I enjoy meeting people from different countries, and I love learning about them and their home country. I want to travel the world some day.
And call me a freak, but I really do believe that music really can bring people together.

You see where translators have a really important job. I want to be a translator, but it's really hard. You are responsible in bringing people together using a common or local native language. You are the reason why someone will say, "Clown" or Doukeshi".
I highly respect translators to no end, and wish their were more ways to support translators, because they are the ones that bring people together. They bridge the gap and can help people understand one another. If you know a translator, go and hug them. They need it, because they get crap from people sometimes and it's not fair.

To All translators:

  Thank you so much for all you do! It's not easy, and I understand that you have to make the choice between one or another, not knowing if it was the right choice.
I deeply appreciate the work you do.

 From me, the American


However, some translators, and no Google Translate does not count, are just not making it all the way. Why would you translate 進撃の巨人 into Attack on Titan? Well, for English speakers, Japanese isn't exactly easy to pronounce. Plus, people simply do not have time to learn a language.
This, I understand. I have no issues.

But, how come you have to translate a Japanese character's name into an English name?
I would think that we know at least how to appreciate that "Usagi" is Japanese, it's an odd name to name a baby, but hey to each their own. Or why couldn't American kids learn to call the main character of Pokemon "Satoshi"? Is it that difficult?
BEFORE! you go commenting away, I know this thing called "localization translation". Where you take something and not only translate it but to give it the local feel. This is why "Joey" in YuGiOh had a Brooklyn accent. That was probably because in the original Japanese dubbing, the character spoke in a unique Japanese dialect or form. That's localization. I know.
I do want to be a translator, but I'm now having second thoughts.

But this is not the point of this post.
I wanted to mention the problem of two friends, who do speak English and one understands a higher lever of Japanese than the other, but the fact that A9 would go so far to translate the song title, what, twice?
(My thought process: 道化師-->ピエロ-->Pierrot)
I can only imagine the thought process on this one title.

Now, I'm getting upset over one song title because I felt lost and confused. I felt left out. I was left out. I may be the only one who things this way, but I don't want any other fans to feel this way. If A9 want to get bigger and do world tours, they are gonna have to step up and hire a translator that is not using google translate to do their job.


Thank you for making it this far.
I shall reward you!

 

NAO! He's smiling and so cute when he's happy. 

-Nihongochick2

「Spiegel」

I am spreading this, not because it's a great MV. (Personally, I think it's ok)

But to spread the  idea of having Alice Nine come back, and demand them to do a World Tour.

They are free from the PSC, and they are their own record company and they control everything they do. So, demand, tweet, stalk, and remind them constantly that they have fans all over the world.

My advice is to tell Shou and Hiroto, since those two have more say in what happens anyway.



Also, demand your country to allow Alice Nine to perform in your area. Tell radio stations, or websites that take band requests.

Please realize, that Alice Nine will not come if there is not enough of you to ask for them. They want to perform for all of us, but we need to demand them the RIGHT way. Not by wishing on a star, but by asking Alice Nine, and your local MTV/Radio/entertainment provider. WHO EVER!

If they see that the numbers are big enough to make them money, they will do it.



Use these hashtags

#A9COMEBACK

#a9tagtheworld

#A9WORLDTOUR

#DEMANDALICENINE



and any hashtag that you want to use.

Now, go out there and get your voice heard.