#ALSO IF YOU SPEAK RUSSIAN OR JAPANESE PLEASE CORRECT ME SO I CAN CHANGE IT

[writersmorgue]

thanks anon lol i wasn’t exactly sure how to do this, i hope it’s ok

(very) rough translation below cut

bakugo: bullshit

sero: childish behavior

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mina: what is he saying?????

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mina: what

pony: yes! you can also?

kami: yes but it's not good, unfortunately

pony: liar. it's good

bakugo: shut up

kami: Kacchan!!

bakugo: no

sero: no, i'm out

[hitoshiikigai]

Foreign Feelings

anon request: Hiya there Sen!! I love your blog and i would love to read more of your writings. Can i request an imagine for being like a first year european shy student and becoming Nekoma’s manager, she slowly develops a crush for kenma but doesn’t know how to express her feelings because of language and because she thinks kenma won’t return her feelings

‪(o_ _)ﾉ彡☆ a/n 「i made it gender neutral, i hope that's ok and if it's not, i can change it to your liking! also, this is my first romance fic in my whole life, i hope it's satisfactory(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞ i feel like i just forgot the slowly part-」

‪pronouns used: they/them

‪word count: 2.8k

You continuously repeat your introduction in your head as you wait for your turn. It's ok, you can do this, you've learnt this in basic Japanese lessons, it's just a few lines. Nothing too complicated!

The voice of the person behind you breaks the chant in your mind, "I'm Haiba Lev and..." Your thoughts block out the rest of his introduction. Is he a foreigner too? That name definitely does not sound Japanese but you note of his perfect pronunciation- a screech of a chair moving startles you and you're suddenly aware of the eyes of your new classmates staring right at you.

Sucking in a deep breath, you stand up, doing a bow, the Japanese words tumbling clumsily out of your mouth, "I'm (Y/N) (L/N)- no wait- (L/N) (Y/N), please just call me (y/n). Nice to meet all of you." You keep your eyes on your desk as you bow once again before sitting back down. You pretend not to notice the murmurs and sounds of interest about the two foreign students in their class, busying yourself by preparing your things for the lesson.

Mechanical pencil on the right. Pencil case right above your notebook. The ruler-

"Psst... Hey, you're not from Japan, right?" You turn around to meet glowing green eyes that somehow made you feel like you were looking into a cat's eyes instead. You nod and he grins in what you could guess as excitement. However, before he could say any more, he was cut off by the teacher signalling the start of class.

Maybe he's a potential friend?

After a few lessons of trying to keep up with the lessons taught in Japanese, your brain's finally granted with a break from trying to translate and you can't help the sigh that escapes you as you rest your cheek on your table, closing your eyes.

"Hey Y/N! Wanna have lunch with me?" You open your eyes to see your tall classmate looming over you- right, his name's Lev. Or should you call him Haiba?

You quickly weigh the pros and cons of eating with him. He seems like a nice person to be friends with and having a non-Japanese friend in this less-than-familiar country could definitely do you some good, maybe your Japanese can improve faster as well. But... you were planning to just find some nice quiet spot to listen to music in hopes of preventing the growing headache, a result of an overwhelming first day.

Well, there's no harm, you suppose... "Sure, I don't mind," you agree and you search for your wallet in your bag as Lev waits patiently.

Once he sees you're ready, he smiles widely and starts walking to the cafeteria most likely and you follow him, having to walk slightly faster to keep up.

"Where are you from? I'm half-Russian but I can't speak Russian. Oh! I know a few people here already! I visited the school before the school year started and made friends with people from the volleyball team. I'm actually gonna join the team once they start taking in applicants and-" Lev rambles on and you could only hum or nod, insert a few words of your own when he asks a question until you reach the cafeteria.

"Lev! Here! You're late!" You see a student with black messy hair that spikes up everywhere except for the fringe that covers his right eyes waving his arm. Lev bounds up to the table with you in tow and you can already see a few curious eyes examining you. Your gaze sweeps across the table, an uninterested guy playing with a switch catching your eyes a tiny fraction longer than the others before you look down at the floor, shuffling just a bit behind Lev, your current shield.

"This is Y/N, my new friend! They're not from Japan and I thought I could show them around," Lev claps his hands on your shoulders and moves you forward, putting you right in the spotlight.

Oh no. Ok, deep breaths. A simple introduction, no big deal. It's definitely a smaller group, better than a whole class.

"H-hi..." You clear your throat, cursing yourself mentally for the stutter, and repeat yourself with what you hope was a stronger voice. There's a chorus of greetings and before you even realise, you find yourself squished between Lev and a friendly-looking guy with a buzzcut, who you soon come to know as Kai, after a round of introductions.

How did you end up here? In a gym full of flying balls that could accidentally hit your face anytime? With your arms full of water bottles that you just filled up? You definitely did not sign up for this... Ok, well technically you did, you just didn't know what was in store. Try being a manager just for one practice, they said. Somehow, it feels like you were tricked somewhere along the line.

You hand the water bottles to the boys, jolting slightly when your hand unintentionally brushes against Kenma's. He thanks you quietly and you only nod in acknowledgment, avoiding any form of eye-contact with him and quickly moving on to hand the rest of the water bottles out before going back to the sidelines to watch.

It's really amazing watching them play. Everyone seems so coordinated with each other and the teamwork is seamless. Despite that, there are a few individuals that pique your interest: Yaku who seems to be able to teleport anywhere in the court, Lev with his tall and powerful stature, and more importantly, Kenma with his smart plays. It's like he calls the game, dictating where and how the ball goes and it's a whole experience observing him. Of course, the other members are amazing in their own ways, watching the team play is like watching a well-oiled machine working.

"How are you, Y/N?" Kai asks from beside you, wiping his sweat and giving you a warm smile.

You peel your eyes away from the quiet setter to answer Kai, and also to make sure you aren't caught staring at the certain player, "It's..." You try to find the correct words in your brain as Kai waits patiently for your answer. "It's nice... to watch. Everyone's good." You blush in embarrassment at the simple words you used, not having the full vocabulary to communicate what you really want to say. Kai, being the angel he is, makes a noise of approval and gives another warm smile which at least make you relax.

"If you need help with anything, you can ask any of us," he tells you before going back to the courts. You bow to him which he only waves off, laughing amiably.

After attending a few more practice sessions and having lunch with the team almost every break, you've grown a bit more comfortable with them, especially with Kai and Yaku, along with Lev. The team always tried their best to use simpler words whenever they spoke to you and you're definitely grateful for their efforts. However, there's just one person you've barely interacted with:

Kozume Kenma.

The third years obviously noticed the lack of interaction, especially Kuroo and he made it his own personal mision to try to get the two of you to talk to each other more, albeit with many difficulties.

"Come on, Kenma. You don't think I don't notice you paying attention anytime Y/N talks? You're not exactly very slick, you always pause your games just for Y/N," Kuroo nudges Kenmas side with his elbow which Kenma slaps away in irritation.

"Shut up Kuroo."

Kuroo leans in closer to Kenma, "You can't tell me you don't notice Y/N staring at you during practice? Blushing whenever you're 5 metres away from each other? Or when-"

"Kuroo, please just shut up," Kenma groans and glares at his switch, clicking away at the buttons and suppressing the urge to scream in anger as the words 'GAME OVER' flash on the screen. Instead, he closes his eyes, inhaling deeply before letting out a long sigh.

Kuroo smiles knowingly before his eyes shift over to something behind Kenma.

"Kuroo-senpai? Kenma-senpai? Has Kai-san arrived yet? I need to ask him something..." Kenma stiffens as your soft voice reaches his ears. He bristles at the 'senpai' title attached to his name, wanting you to just rid of the honorific altogether. He was supposed to tell you, in fact, he had been wanting to tell you to just refer to him casually just like everyone does but he never got the chance. How could he when your conversations only last 30 seconds long each time?

Jump. Jump. Duck. Ju- GAME OVER.

He pressed down his buttons more aggressively, a frown slowly forming on his face. Why couldn't he be more talkative? Why is talking so hard? Why is talking to YOU so hard? Lev does it so easily, Kai too, and Yaku and... and just everyone in the team but him.

You stare in concern as you watch Kenma play angrily with his game and you look to Kuroo for answers only to be met with a shrug.

"Yaku will be running late, some class meeting or something," Kuroo stands up and stretches, walking out of the gym, "Meanwhile, I'll go get my things."

The sounds from Kenma's game filled up the awkward silence and you take a moment to steel yourself, walking towards Kenma. "A-are you okay, Kenma-senpai? You look... angry?" At your question, Kenma's fingers still and the sounds suddenly stopped.

Kenma looks up at you and places his switch on his lap before looking away. "I'm okay... I'm not angry." He mumbles and you smile in relief at his words. "Do you want to play?" He suddenly offers his switch to you and you blink in shock, never really having known or seen him to ever share his switch with someone, simply rejecting anyone- save for that tangerine boy from another school- who tried to even get their hands on his beloved switch.

Noticing your hesitance, he places the gadget on the bench, between the two of you, letting you take your time. You look back to search for anything that will clue you in if he doesn’t actually want to do this, but finding none, you gingerly take it, careful not to drop it or at least try to not leave any embarrassingly sweaty fingerprints. You feel Kenma shifting closer to you to get a closer look at the screen and you don’t know if you feel lightheaded from him being the closest he has ever been that you can actually feel body heat radiating from him or from forgetting to breathe. Trying to focus on the little digital character instead and your fingers clumsily hitting the buttons, a contrast to the way his nimble fingers moved with muscle memory.

And if you felt butterflies in your stomach as he occasionally positioned your fingers on the correct button, the butterflies immediately flew away the moment Lev walks in the gym and you were left with just tingling fingers.

You cradle the box of apple pie you bought in a rush from the bakery, trying to tidy up the ribbon you tied around it to make it more presentable. You had asked Kai about what Kenma liked because you knew there was no way you could write or even say anything close to romantic in Japanese, so you figured out you could give him little gifts, you know, actions soeak louder than words, that kinda thing? As you think of the many ways you could say something wrong by declaring your feelings to him in a foreign tongue like unknowingly saying something ridiculous, or stupid, or even worse, something dirty! Lev’s incessant teasing and mock-kissing noises only stopped when you reached the gym.

“Oh? Y/N-chan, who’s that apple pie for, I wonder,”Kuroo gives you a knowing look and blatantly stares at Kenma, who just seems unbothered. You try to reason yourself that he was only concentrating on his game. Ignoring Kuroo, you take a tentative step towards Kenma, making sure you’re in his line of sight before thrusting the box to him, “For you Kenma… Uh, enjoy it!” You blurted out before brisk walking to the equipment room to take refuge, not even waiting for his reaction.

You hear the muffled shouts of the boys and you can imagine them crowding Kenma. You wince in sympathy.

During the whole practice, you had to deflect the many looks and questions the boys gave you. Thankfully, Kai managed to stop them before it got too much. A godsend. Before any of them could corner you after practice, you zoomed past the gym doors the moment you were done with your manager duties, forgetting that you had barely paid any attention to Kenma the whole time.

“Lev, do you know who’s this from?” You ask Lev, holding up the canned drink that was left on your table.

“Oh, that’s from Kenma. He came here earlier to place it there. He honestly could’ve just asked me to pass it to you but he said I would lose it or something. How mean,” Lev huffs but you can only focus on the fact that Kenma went through efforts to make sure you received it.

“Thank you for the apple pie yesterday. It was really nice,” Kenma took a seat beside you, on the same bench you first played his switch together.

“T-thank you for the drink! It’s my favourite,” you smile shyly. The corner of his lips curl up, just ever so slightly, which you think was the trick of the light.

Kenma gives his switch to you, now a weekly routine for the both of you on days he finishes class earlier. The distance between you and him grew smaller and smaller until your elbows brush against his at any slight movement.

This is it. This is the moment. You made a mental deal with yourself a week ago. If you win this level today, the one where you always lose, you’ll confess to him and if you don’t, you’ll simply leave your feelings hidden and buried deep in the safe in your heart.

Your eyebrows furrow in concentration, refusing any help from Kenma (Kenma just ignored the tiny sting in his heart when you did).

In the meantime, Kenma takes the chance to watch you, sharp, feline eyes studying your features. The stray baby hairs peeking out after a long school day, the slight sheen on your skin from the hot and humid gym, the determination in your eyes. Determination? To beat the level? He restrains himself from chuckling at your cuteness. This felt very different when he watches Shouyo play his video games. Kenma just really feels different any time he’s around you.

You abruptly stand up and cheer, “I did it! Kenma, look!” You show him the screen with the words ‘MISSION COMPLETE’ flashing repeatedly on the screen. You grinned widely at him and he smiles back in fondness.

Suddenly, you go all quiet, which concerned Kenma. “I have something to tell you.” At that, he tilts his head, urging for you to go on.

“I… IlikeyouKenma!” Your words end up being stringed together but from the widening of his eyes, he mostly likely understood.

“You do?”

You nod with pink dusting your cheeks, your fingers fiddling with the ends of your blouse. You’re prepared to get rejected, maybe even move back to Europe and never show your face to him again. And if not, at least you could quit the manager position to avoid any future confrontations with him.

“I like you too, Y/N,” he replies softly, but it was definitely audible in the quiet gym.

And if all else fails- wait what? This time, it’s your turn to look at him wide-eyed, processing what he just said.

“Y/N! Did you leave me for your boyfriend?!” The doors burst open with Lev boisterously shouting, Yaku walking calmly behind him with a twitching eyebrow.

You backpedal away from Kenma, dropping the switch in surprise and you scramble to pick it up, saying a stream of apologies to him, wiping away the dust and checking for any cracks.

Yaku, being more aware of the mood, kicks the back of Lev’s knees, adding a smack to the back of the head for good measure, hissing, “Shut up, you idiot!”

You make eye contact with Kenma before bursting into giggles, him just letting out a snort. You’re just glad you managed to confess before Lev could confess for you.

[1 New Message]

Kenma: wanna beat the next level after practice? you can come over to my house for dinner

You: yes! i’d love to!

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Tokyo Tower (Part 4) Herzog, Bondarev, MC

It took me a while to figure out what angle I was going to go with this. I hope you enjoy it!

In the Tokyo port area, not far from the coast, the sound of the midnight tide can be faintly heard. The iron tower stands in the rainstorm, a stark and bony giant, silently supporting the sky.

Tokyo Tower.

This tower was once the high point of Tokyo, but now it has been replaced by the taller Tokyo Sky Tree. But looking up from directly below, one can still be amazed at its majesty. The jagged steel supports are more like the skeleton of a giant than a living giant.

"Ukyo, Ukyo, Ruri calling, report your position." Ruri Kazama's voice came over your headset.

"Arriving at the first floor of the underground garage. It's a little strange how quiet it is." Chu Zihang replied.

 "After the Tokyo Sky Tree was built, this place has been forgotten. Who would come to the former tallest tower when you can climb the actual tallest tower to see Tokyo?" Ruri Kazama said, "That's why the King will choose this place for the meet up.”

His voice grows faint. “In the past, it was a Tokyo landmark. It appeared in various manga and movies. Couples saw climbing Tokyo Tower together as a romantic affair, and those who fell out of love came here to commit suicide. This place symbolizes the prosperity and loneliness of Tokyo. In ‘Tokyo Babylon’, there is a dead soul wandering in Tokyo Tower, and she says, "I hate Tokyo, so gorgeous on the outside, but so dirty on the inside.’"

"You don't seem to like Tokyo that much, do you?" Caesar said.

"Not only do I dislike it, I actually want to burn the city down. It's a sad city, like a colorful cage."

Lu Mingfei, next to you, gives you a searching look. “You like this guy?” He whispered.

The two of you were in your sniping positions on a building far from the tower. Your job was not to snipe Masamune Tachibana or Dr. Herzog -- aka King General -- but to control the perimeter to avoid their escape. You’d prepared yourself with rain proof gear and warm underclothes. You’d even brought snacks and a small thermos of tea to drink while you waited. You lay on a small pad to comfort yourself against the hard asphalt roof. It was almost like a camping trip.

To answer Mingfei’s question, you answer the comms. “It’s funny you say that, Ruri. I imagined one morning tilting the whole city into the sea.” You giggle. 

Mingfei’s face twisted in sheer disbelief.

"Sorry to disturb the lovebirds’ very romantic conversation, but I'm wet and cold here in the void and also lonely. That is, needless to say, you guys' warm and blossoming words are driving me nuts!" Fingel's indignant voice came out of the headset, "Will you please shut up?"

 "From my point of view, you are completely invisible, hidden really well. What is your position?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"The northwest side of the tower, about 60 meters from the special lookout. Do you want me to say hello and yell at you a few times? That way you can remember that there is a poor man like me shivering in the wind and rain!" Fingel said viciously "I mean, is this balloon really reliable?"

"It's a dirigible." Lu Mingfei corrected.

He put down his sniper rifle and lifted his binoculars to look at the sky. Following Fingel's instructions, he did see the huge black object suspended in the rainstorm, like a giant whale suspended in the restless sea. It was so close to the color of the sky that it was almost indistinguishable. But poor Fingel was handing underneath it by a rope in the rain.

“That’s a really cool idea, Mingfei. How did you come up with it?” You ask.

“Oh… I got inspired one day.” He lowered the binoculars and looked down at you. “What do you have there?”

“Chocolate chip cookies. Do you want one?” You held up a cookie the size of your hand and Mingfei’s eyes brightened!

Fingel moaned loudly and you grin.

"We have reached the second floor of the underground garage. There’s a problem." Chu Zihang said, "The rainstorm has been going on too long. The area is flooded. The water depth is half a meter. Caesar and I had to wade deep into the garage to find the pipe opening."

You can hear them splashing around and, leaning close to Mingfei’s ear, you whisper. “I think I picked the right job.”

"Basara! Ukyou! Quiet! Unidentified vehicles are approaching Tokyo Tower!" Ruri Kazama's voice came over the headset.

You quickly grab a cookie in your mouth and munch on it while watching through your rifle scope.  A silver vintage Mercedes Benz drove through the rain-swept streets, kicking up a huge wake. It pulled into the basement level parking garage near where Caesar and Chu Zihang were. From there, there was an elevator that would take him directly up to the Tokyo Tower’s observation deck. Sure enough, a few seconds later, the high-speed elevator zoomed smoothly up the tower.

"It's Tachibana Masamune, who surprisingly arrived an hour early and drove himself here." Ruri Kazama whispered.

 "He sounds like a very young man from the sound of his footsteps." Caesar said.

"To be sure, I can see him clearly from here. He has reached the main observation deck and is looking out the window. You are right, he is in a strange state tonight, like a young man. Like the Major Bondarev of old."

“Wow…” You breathe in amazement. “It’s really him.” 

Even though he's far away and standing next to a window that’s running with rain, you recognize his upright and proud posture. You were an older orphan, a well trained soldier. He was always jolly and excited, with a disarming personality, a roguishly handsome face and well muscled body. Everyone was excited when Bondarev arrived.

Even now, you can hear Khorkina’s excited squealing echoing from the underworld. “It's Mr. Bondarev! He’s here!”

He always came with the Lenin. For you, he was like Santa Claus. But he was way hotter. Mr. Bondarev was like Santa the young women in the orphanage dreamed of marrying. Tonight, instead of a kimono, Bondarev wore the black trench coat of the Executive Board, with an open lapel revealing a white shirt with a colorful lining.

“Why are you smiling? This guy killed your friends!” Mingfei hissed.

“I know.” You whisper back. “But I haven’t seen this guy in forever and … this is amazing. He hasn’t changed at all.”

Bondarev fished out his cell phone and dialed. He started speaking in Japanese. “Mingfei, what is he saying?”

“He’s talking to Chisei. They’re talking about Erii. She’s okay.” Mingfei replies. 

“That’s a relief. She was really sad but I comforted her. Don’t worry. She’ll wait for you.” You smile up at Mingfei but Mingfei doesn’t return it. You’re puzzled for a moment but then you shrug. “Don’t feel guilty about leaving her at the Hydras. You did the right thing. You’ll have another chance to go get her. Just don’t keep her waiting too long!”

The lights suddenly went out.

Tokyo tower suddenly turned into a lifeless ruin. Masamune's trench coat was shaking and snapping in a wind that blew in as emergency doors had opened on the observation deck. He showed no fear. His whole body looked like a taut longbow.

"Basara to Ruri! The power suddenly went out in the underground garage!" Caesar lowered his voice, "All the gates are closed!"

“Ruri here, not only is the power out at Tokyo Tower, but the surrounding blocks have gone dark, and the power supply to the entire district has been interrupted."

Ruri Kazama added, "But the lights of the stairs are on."

In the darkness, the iron staircase around Tokyo Tower was lit up. LED lights were installed underneath the staircase, and each step emitted a glowing white light, as if it were a path to heaven.

"After all these years, we're still in the habit of arriving early." A voice with a smile echoed around the tower. That voice came out of the Tokyo Tower's PA system, and there was no need for any listening device. Everyone could hear it clearly.

 "That's the voice of The King General!" Lu Mingfei whispered.

“I know, stupid. I can hear it myself!” A jolt of shock echoed through your entire body. The voice reverberated like a bell, in a pure and recognizable Russian language with an accent native only to Northern Siberia. You hadn’t heard anyone speak your language for weeks and the familiarity by which your mind responded to the words sent sparks of pleasure through your mind.

It wasn’t just the voice of the King General. It was the voice of Dr. Herzog. The Herzog you grew up with, the one who raised you up. His voice echoed through the halls. It encouraged you. Praised you. Spoke your name. For you to hear it through the PA system on your naked ears, unfiltered by your headset… your heart responds as though he were speaking directly to you.

 "Of course, it's always the first one to arrive who takes the first position. How can people like you and I allow each other to take the first position?" Bondarev looked around, "I'm late this time, what have you prepared waiting for me?"

“MC translation please…” Caesar grumbled.

“They’re not saying anything important.” You shake your head.

“Translation please….” Caesar’s voice echoed a bit warningly.

“Yes, sir.”

 You speak in English for all to understand. "What else could it be? Of course it's authentic Red Label vodka and cold ice shipped from distant Siberia. Isn't that what friendship between men should be like? The liquor that burns the veins and the ice that never melts." Through the earpiece, you can hear the sound of vodka pouring straight from the bottle and the clinking of ice cubes. It was like he was sitting right next to you in the dark winter cabins of the north.

You can’t help yourself but smile. You knew this man. Were you not the only one frozen in the ice sea from twenty years ago? This is exactly a scene from your past being played out in real time! 

 "Why don't you walk faster? We have not seen each other for more than twenty years. You’ve gotten old. The world does not have much time for old people. We should seize every minute."

Your voice falls into the same tone and cadence of the King’s manner of speaking. You can’t see either of them now, but you can imagine him holding the glass up. He was probably going to toast to something. He always did.

"How can you not enjoy the overture before the official movement begins? Do you still listen to Tchaikovsky's 'Swan Lake'?" You are translating but it sparked a memory. “That’s right. Dr. Herzog loved Swan Lake. That’s why the port was called Black Swan Bay.”

  "The favorite thing to listen to now is his Sixth Symphony, the swan song he wrote for himself." Your heart sinks when you hear this and translate. After you finish translating you say. “Herzog is dying.”

“How can you tell?” Caesar asked.

“Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony was the last one he ever wrote. After he performed it he died a few days later.” You answer.

“You seem to understand each other’s words very well. I wouldn’t have picked up on that…” Caesar commented.

You don’t answer him. The night before you had already discussed this with him. Even though you had learned a lot from Caesar and had adopted a few of his philosophies, you were still fundamentally the daughter that Herzog raised. It seemed like he still had a hard time accepting that.

"You look a bit ridiculous nowadays, Major Bondarev." 

 "You look a bit scary today, however, Dr. Herzog."

"Do you want to analyze the ingredients before you drink it?"

“You’re not going to poison me.”

 "Shouldn't we share a toast?" 

You huffed. “I knew he was going to do that.’

 "To what? To the once glorious Soviet Union?" You can scarcely hold your laughter. These guys were exactly as you remembered him. It was almost like a scene from a movie you’d watched dozens of times.

You sigh, once again falling into Herzog’s way of speaking, gesturing with the glass like he always did. "There is no need to raise a glass to it. It is dead. Let’s celebrate that we have all survived, that those who survive are the strong, and that the strong raise their glasses to each other."

Your hand pauses in the air with its invisible glass.

“Ah. So is that why we have a third glass here?” Bondarev said.

“You also have seen the girl?” Herzog said. 

You’re so shocked that you forget to translate. You spin so fast, Lu Mingfei jumps out of his skin. You press your eye to the scope. But you can’t really see them any more.

Bondarev is speaking now. “Yes, I have to say, I struggled to keep my composure. Looking at her was like looking at a ghost. When did you see her?”

“I didn’t personally see her. It was reported back to me.” Herzog said.

Caesar’s voice. “MC!”

“Sorry!” You gasp. “They’re talking about me! They’re… they’re raising their glasses… to me. To the … only girl who made it out of Black Swan Bay to study.” Your voice fades and becomes choked with emotion. But not for your dead friends. You felt sad for the little girl you used to be who looked up to Herzog. Herzog was a loving and caring personality that little girl had wanted desperately to please. She had worked hard to the end for his smile of approval. But the whole time, he knew she was going to die.

Tonight, he was forced to give that smile of approval. Despite his plans, you did make it. You steel yourself again against the tragedy, not allowing yourself to cry or even feel sad for long. “Yeah. A toast to me, asshole, I’m going to shoot you in your head for my graduation party.” You snarl.

“I got worried there for a second.” Caesar said. 

“I’m fine. They’re just sweeping the area for bugs now. But they won’t find any.”

 Herzog and Bondarev each took off their outerwear and threw it on the ground, pulling up the sleeves of their shirts, moving neatly as if to admire themselves in the mirror.

"What is the meaning of this? Do old friends meet to strip naked and hug?" Fingel monitored every movement in the special observation deck.

 "No, except for the outer clothing, their clothes are very close fitting, which means they can't hide bulky weapons under their clothes, such as guns. Rolling up their sleeves is a sign that they don't have throwing knives hidden on their wrists, which are no less deadly than bullets at that distance." Ruri Kazama said, "It's a way for spies to show the other side that they are 'clean'."

"What classic old spies!" Fingel exclaimed.

You chuckle. “Right out of James Bond. Oh, they’re talking now. I don’t quite understand what it means. Bondarev is asking Herzog if he wants to ascend to the throne of the world. And he says that Dragons can live over a thousand years and be reborn through… cocooning? What does it mean?”

Chu Zihang responded. “Dragon Kings, when they hatch, create an alchemical device called an ‘egg’. Through a special process, if they get mortally wounded, they can put themselves in this ‘egg’ device and regenerate. So long as they can make their egg, and protect it, they will never die.”

You nod. “It sounds like Herzog wants to evolve into a dragon. Turn into a dragon. He says that’s the only way he knows that he is really existing, is if he’s at the very top of the food chain. If nothing else can eat him then he is truly alive. The rest of the world is just food.”

A soft moan interrupts your listening and translation work. Lu Mingfei is wincing and sighing with his eyes tightly shut. His hand is against his forehead. “Mingfei! Are you alright?” 

He doesn’t answer immediately. He doesn’t even seem to hear you at all. You shake his shoulders. “Mingfei! Are you using a Soul Skill? Is this sequelae?” You try to look into his eyes but they’re closed! “Mingfei!”

Mingfei’s whole body gave a tremendous shiver. Even though the rain was cold, he was sweating. 

You kneel next to him. “It’s okay. I’m here. Are you sick?”

“MC, for the last time, I don’t need you to worry about Mingfei’s panic attacks, I need you to translate!”

“I’m … I’m sorry! Bondarev’s saying. ‘What makes a child whose life is as fragile as a broken candle catch your attention, Doctor?’”

 “Herzog is saying that only one out of 100,000 humans exposed to dragon blood will survive. That he is 1 in 100,000. But also, Bondarev’s daughter is 1 in 100,000! He’s talking about Erii!”

"He says that the power of any evolutionary drug can only end up creating deadpool. The real evolution drug is an alchemical drug and the core ingredient is the blood of ancient dragons, especially the fetal blood of the White King. By obtaining that fetal blood, they have the opportunity to create the perfect evolutionary drug." Your voice rises in panic.

“They’re going to use it on Erii! They’re going to turn Erii into a dragon!”

[goldenkamuyhunting]

I was reading your latest post. Does Ienaga not use gendered pronouns to refer to herself? Or are they ambiguous and you decided to use male pronouns?

Actually...

I stared at this ask blinking like an idiot for a while because, as far as I’m involved, I gender Ienaga as female and it was a while I didn’t write about her so I couldn’t understand what where you talking about and I feared I messed up pronouns again (in my mother tongue we tend to skip them... as a result my use of them in English is... messy to say the least and I have to go through the text twice to make sure I have put them in and put them correctly) until it clicked in.

The convicts list post.

Sorry, I didn’t think at it because the old part is copypasted by the first list I made.

That one... is  a bit of a special case.

Anyway sorry for the digression and let’s deal with your ask.

One of the most terrible problems of dealing with Japanese text is that Japanese is gendered in ways that are different from English (or my own mother tongue)... and manga/anime not necessarily use the most common speech (you can find in manga/anime a large amount of character using ‘ore’, which is actually not so common if you go in Japan).

Back to the problem at hand...

PREMISE

If someone has further information I welcome them wholeheartedly. What follows is what I’ve been able to find and what I’ve asked other people with better Japanese knowledge to check for me (but I couldn’t really demand an in deep analysis of the story from them so something could have gone missing) but this was also some time ago so more material could have come up. Or something could have gone missing or understood wrong. Whatever. If you’ve new INFO just please share.

So now, let’s start.

From what I could find Ienaga uses ‘Watashi’ (わたし/私 “I”).

‘Watashi’ can be used by females (Asirpa, the first client Ienaga had, Umeko, Inkarmat, Sofia (when her Russian dialogues are translated in Japanese)), but also by males (Hijikata, Makanakkuru, Nagakura, Tsurumi [who alternates it with ‘ore’], Sugimoto’s dad).

Long story short... it tells us nothing as it can be used by both sexes as it’s a first person pronoun that merely remarks a certain formality and politeness, which is kind of mandatory in female speech but can also be used in male speech (hence the many males who use it).

I don’t really like to say Noda had Ienaga use ‘watashi’ to make Ienaga’s gender ambiguous.

Ienaga, from the little I could notice and from what I’ve been told, uses usually formal speech (Ienaga also tends to use ‘anata’ to say “you”, or name + ‘-san’ which again, is formal), which just fits with Ienaga, who’s a doctor (and who, to become one should have come from a family well off that could pay all the studies required to get a degree), therefore likely formal speech was the norm to Ienaga.

Are there other things we can use to know if Ienaga defines as male or female?

Well, when working as the ‘Sapporo Murder Hotel’ Ienaga says to her customers ‘Okami no Ienaga... tomōshimasu’ (女将の家永... と申します “My name is... Ienaga, the proprietress”).

‘Okami’ is gendered, it’s a female noun but in that setting Ienaga is disguising as a the hotel’s owners’ son’s widow, so it doesn’t tell us much.

I couldn’t find Ienaga using another gendered noun that we could use to gather if Ienaga identifies as female or as male.

Again this isn’t necessarily a deliberate attempt at keeping things ambiguous, the same would apply for many other characters, we just don’t realize it because we’re confident we know which is their gender because they all present themselves in a way that conforms with the expectations we’ve for them completely or, at least, enough we’re confident they are what’s written on the tin.

On an interesting note multiple characters, when not saying just ‘Ienaga’/‘Ienaga-san’, have referred to her as ‘Jijī’ (ジジイ “Old man”) which is a gendered male noun also in situations where they didn’t need to be rude, with no one correcting them, which seems to imply they weren’t told to address to Ienaga using female nouns.

This might mean Ienaga didn’t ask to be addressed as female.

There’s to say that although Ienaga is always listed as “Ienaga Kano” or, at best “Ienaga Kano (Chikanobu)”, Noda, in a Q&A, said that ‘Kano’ is Ienaga’s ‘gimei’ (偽名 “alias/false name”) and that her ‘honmyō’ (本名 “true name”) is ‘Chikanobu’.

Long story short it’s entirely possible Ienaga continued to present herself as Chikanobu, a male, wearing a female disguise, ‘Kano’, while among the Hijikata group.

This seems to be confirmed by the fanbook which says:

‘Ikken suru to zetsuyo no bijo daga, Hijikata ya Nagakura ni yowai chikai dansei de aru.’

一見すると絶世の美女だが、土方や永倉に齢近い男性である。

‘At first glance, (Ienaga) is a beautiful woman, but (in truth) is a man who is close in age to Hijikata and Nagakura.’

I might have of course missed something, there’s plenty of Japanese text in the fanbook but that’s what I could find.

Men who dressed as females but didn’t identify as such had existed and still exist, so it’s possible this is what Noda was aiming to get when he created Ienaga.

When talking with Ushiyama Ienaga says ‘Ushiyama... you’ve spent your life honing your body, so I’m sure you can understand... when I was young I was so strong and so beautiful. I was even willing to steal from others just to cling to that old, perfect me. What about you, Ushiyama? How long has it been since you were perfect?’

This seems to imply Ienaga’s goals were to have back youth, beauty and strength so as to be perfect again.

The body parts she eat come from both males and females so it doesn’t seem there’s a special tie to a specific gender, but they’re chosen for their purposes, like eating Ogata’s eyes because they can see well, or Asirpa’s eyes because they’re beautiful.

So, if anything, Noda defined Ienaga as a male.

Of course an argument could be made that Noda is talking only of the sex and not of the gender, which might lead people to decide ‘he’ isn’t the right pronoun to use and to go for ‘she’ or ‘they’ when talking about Ienaga.

It’s really up to everyone.

As far as my current interpretation goes I say that I believe Ienaga lived as Chikanobu, a male, and identified as such, up until there was the big convict escape. Then ‘Kano’ was created, at first as a disguise... but ultimately ‘Kano’ slowly became Ienaga’s true identity.

Ienaga’s goals are told twice, once in the Ienaga’s arc and those are just going back to being ‘strong and beautiful and perfect’ but the other time is during the ‘Inkarmat’s escape’ arc. Ienaga actually strived after her mother, she wanted to become her, perfection for her was ‘getting pregnant and able to give birth’, not just getting ‘strong and young’.

Inkarmat will become perfect because she’ll give birth, not because she’s young.

There’s no mention Ienaga used to dress as a woman before becoming a convict (we’re told Heita occasionally behaved like a woman while in prison but nothing about Ienaga acting as such), yet the ‘Kano’ disguise isn’t discharged when she’s captured by Tsurumi.

I think that’s because by then Kano wasn’t anymore a disguise, it was her and Chikanobu was no more. Maybe, if Ienaga had managed to help Inkarmat to give birth to her baby, this could have helped her further. Part of her denial of identifying as a female was probably due to society expectations but part was also self imposed.

The image of a woman as someone who gives birth was something that was even stronger back then than it is now. Ienaga knew she could never give birth and in her mind this took shape as her never being able to become a woman.

Of course though, this is just my interpretation of how things went for Ienaga, of how for her the story of GK was just a travel toward accepting who she really was and the fact she realized she was Kano happened late in her life didn’t make it less true.

The fanbook doesn’t cover the whole of GK, it more or less stop at chap 224, with Boutarou’s apparition. Characters like Tomoharu or Tanigaki’s daughter aren’t included, so Noda’s description of Ienaga could have been very well not updated to chap 229.

On the other side I can very well be wrong and Ienaga be meant to be just a man who likes to dress as a female... and others might even see Ienaga as someone who’s agender or just be more confortable with genderless pronouns.

Currently there’s enough ground for each of those possibilities... unless someone found info I’m missing.

I’ve no idea where the Japanese fandom stands in this situation and how they view Ienaga... but for them the problem might be simple because they don’t have to use gendered pronouns, so they can comfortably and respectfully discuss of Ienaga without having to discuss about which pronoun they should use.

Still, if someone has info on how they view Ienaga I would be glad if they were to share it. As they deal solely with the original text they surely have a better grasp on it than what I can ever hope to get.

Back to the convict post... that one was poorly worded, yes. Back in the far past that was meant to be a note just for myself saying something along the line of ‘Ienaga Chikanobu’s crime was...’ and so on for all the others and since even back then I believed as long as she had been Chikanobu Ienaga gendered herself as male the sentence was gendered as such. Then the notes were modified and rearranged so as to fit it in the convict post but my not English speaking brain didn’t realize with the changes I made that sentence would become confusing due to the pronoun which now seemed to refer to Ienaga Kano.

Sorry about that and thank you for the head up.

[tarry-a-lot]

French Musical Recommendations/review (Part 2)

I should have mentioned in part 1 but I don't speak French (well a bit but not enough to understand the lyrics unless I’m reading it or something) so if the lyrics aren’t that good my bad I honestly wouldn’t know, 

Also this is in no particular order, I don't think all the shows mentioned in part 1 are better than the ones mentioned here, there will be a part 3 at some point

1789 Les amantes de la Bastille: I think this may be my second or third (ties with Mozart) favourite French musical based solely on soundtrack, it’s about the siege of the Bastille and the days leading up to it with a focus on two lovers Ronan a revolutionary and Olympe Marie Antoinette’s children’s governess (the actress who played Olympe was also Guinevere in roi Arthur musical), my favourite songs are “Sur ma peau” and “La rue nous apparent” it is available in full on YouTube, IMPORTANT: This show has two endings, I don’t want to spoil so perhaps skip what I’m about to write though I will try to be vague: the scene before the song “fixe” at the end, the two characters switch place mattering on which version your watching, one version was done towards the start of the run and late 2013 they seemed to have made the change, the full version uploaded and the dvd have the original ending (I personally prefer the original but the other is not bad as well). also in 2012 when the show was staring with the showcase costumes are really different and you’ll find Ronan is played by Matthieu Carnot who plays Lazare in the full production later on instead because he had vocal issues resulting in getting replaced and given a more minor role (I think he’s great in his new role though, “Maniaque” is a bop)

Non-music: I have yet to see it in full but from clips the lighting is great and really adds to the songs and emotions, the story is pretty straightforward but nice, and the choreography is good from what I’ve seen, also for a “historical” show the costumes aren’t that bad, I would assume not accurate but a good balance of inaccurate and historical looking enough

Japanese Toho ver. (1789 バスティーユの恋人たち) 2016 clips are available on YouTube, the costumes in this version is fun, it’s non-replica but they really went off on Olympe’s costume, I will be honest a little bit sad about Ronan’s yellow jacket being replaced with a dark blue, also one of the Ronan actors (Olympe, Ronan and Marie-Antoinette are double casted) looks too old, especially compared to other Ronan actor who really has the young energetic vibe about him (though if memory serves me correctly his sur ma peau was strangely annoying to listen to)

Takarazuka ver. 2015, clips are available on YouTube if Japanese title along with “宝塚“ is added in search

Notre-Dame de Paris: a musical based on Victor Hugo’s novel of the same name, it is different from the Disney musical, this is another popular French show, if you like Romeo et Juliette you’ll probably like this, it can found in full on YouTube along with different translations/adaptions, I won’t go to in depth on different version on here like I did for R+J but if your interested the Wikipedia page is quite detailed and can tell you about all the casts and cast recording available, I have yet to watch it in full but so far I think Belle and Le temps des cathédrales are my favourite songs (quite basic I know), it’s one of those shows you can’t go wrong with, from the parts I’ve watched and listened I think it could become one of my favourite shows

Non music: From the bits I’ve seen the wall backdrop is really cool, It has nooks and platforms that appear and disappear and it’s just really cool looking, WARNING, this is a bit of the spoiler so maybe don't read what I’m about to write but if you’ve read the book its not that much of a spoiler but there is a hanging scene at the end so if that imagery is something your sensitive to please be wary, it’s at the end (on the YouTube video of the full original show its from 2:03:42-2:03:54)

Don Juan: I love this show (I strangely found parts funny and a bit cheesy which is why I liked it), It’s pretty much about a man Don Juan who is a know heartbreaker who is only into sex drinking and having fun but no love, he then falls in love with a woman, shocker, and conflicts arise from there, honestly I don’t see a lot of content for this show but I think it’s fun, the dancing is primarily flamenco (music is heavily inspired by the dance as well) and it’s impressive, the singing is great, the full show is available on YouTube, my favourite songs are probably “Les fleurs du mal” and “Jalousie,”  It opened in Montreal originally then went to Paris, the full show is available on YouTube (I think the Paris version) and there is also a full 3 and half hour behind the scenes video of the Paris production online, from what I can tell up till the symphony version of 2019 Don Juan and his love Maria has been consistently played by Jean-François Breau and Marie-Ève Janvier (obviously there were understudies and such) the actors are also married/were dating during the show which adds to it when you see them perform together 

Non-Music: a character described with black hair in the song chorus is blonde/brunette and I thought that was hilarious, some strange choreography with Don Juan especially in Jalousie, he walks up and down stage and it’s awkward, aside from weird parts in general the costumes are ok (gets better in later productions), the set is plain but with some fun props, I think the dancing is probably one of the highlights along with the live band present on stage for certain songs (photo from Quebec 2013 production) 

Don Juan (Théâtre St-Denis) 2004 Montreal, also had Canada tour after its Montreal premier in Feb.

France Tour 2005 Palais des Congrès à Paris performance recording and behind the scenes is available on YouTube 

Korean Tour 2006, the French cast touring, non-costume concert versions and actual performance clips are available on Youtube

Korean Cast, 2009 (March~) (뮤지컬 돈 주앙) separate from the tour which was the French cast touring this is an all Korean cast, act 1 and 2 can be found on YouTube (video called “돈쥬앙 1막“ and “돈쥬앙 2막“) though it seems to cut around so It’s like a pieced together version of the acts, other clips are also available, it is a replica production

2012 revival Montreal, from what I read it only had 10 performances? and with it released a cd with new recordings, “nous on veut de l'amour“ and “L'amour Est Plus Fort“ 

Grand Théâtre de Québec 2013 (August 9-18), you could call this a continuation to the revival in Montreal 

Takarazuka ver. 2016 (June+July) (ドン・ジュアン) the page is still up on the takarazuka website for this production, there’s a ad with clips from the show available on niconico (should come up if you search the title in jp and add takarazuka in jp) also this version Don Juan is strangely more touchy with his friend, not mad guess it adds a new tension to the plot, non replica production though it is quite similar to the French one, they don’t stray too far

Don Juan Symphonique 2019 (Feb 12-16): At the Montreal Symphony House they had a concert version with the original cast (or at least the original Don Juan and Maria), along with the OSM (Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal)

Japanese ver. 2019 (August/September + December) it’s non-replica, there’s a trailer for it online but it only features Don Juan, I found blog posts about it but currently while I write this it’s late so perhaps I’ll update with more info later, maybe not

Moscow Concert 2020 (March 17-22) (Дон Жуан or Don Juan) This is still in French with a French cast but this time the leads are no longer the original, Laurent Ban is now Don Juan, supposedly according to a Russian video it was meant to go on tour after Moscow (State Kremlin Palace) but I’m assuming the issue with the virus changed plans, I’m surprised they were going to go on world tour I honestly think it’s not true, the interview with cast can be found on YouTube with bits of songs, however the Russian concert advertisement is only a recording from the 2005 French, from what I can tell it is a replica, I believe it was cancelled before the premier due to Covid-19

The research for this show took me all day, maybe if I was fluent in French it would have been faster, if I’m wrong in parts feel free to comment and correct me and I’ll edit it

Les Trois Mousquetaires: Not to be mistaken with the Broadway/Westend show of the same name and base material from 1928 with the revival in the 80′s or the other three musketeer musical at the North Shore theatre in 2007 (the one with Aaron Tveit and Kevyn Morrow), or the other musical by George Stiles and Paul Leigh, this is an entirely separate 2016-2017 musical that follows the general plot of the literature it’s based on though simplified, it’s ok, not great but not the worst, I probably would rank it lower than roi Arthur, I will admit I haven’t listened to the full show, it’s quite catchy, my favourite song so far is probably “Je t’aime c’est tout,” there is a showcase concert in full, music videos and official soundtracks available on YouTube but I would advise checking out the live versions, the ensemble backing parts are really great and they get cut out in the recording versions which really cheapens the songs for me, In general ok show, really not the best but has its highlights (like the four lads relationship is fun to watch, dancing is great, singing is good), 

Non-Music: Athos the oldest of the 3 musketeers is actually the youngest actor though he is a few year older than the D’Artagnan actor, It’s minor I guess but I didn’t realise who Athos was until looking up the cast list and was shocked, Also Athos really doesn’t sing because Brahim Zaibat who plays him is a dancer, despite this his dancing skills really add to the fight sequences making them very impressive and fun to watch, it’s more concerty in style and a bit interactive with the audience, from what I can tell the sets seem plain and the costumes are really awful (in my opinion) like Athos’ shirt is so revealing to the point he might as well not wear a shirt, also Constance’s outfit is just a no for me

[magistralucis]

5, 6, 27, 46, please

Target Language(s): Russian, Korean (native)

5: Do your friends speak other languages?

Online yes 😂 Offline, it depends where I am. I am not currently near anybody who speaks more than one language, but my MA cohort had about twenty languages between them. Perfectly normal in these circles to know five dead languages and speak five other living ones fluently.

Medievalists are still the best language learners I know, by necessity

6: What’s the most difficult word for you to say in your native & target languages?

Korean: 통팥빵 (tong-pat-bbang, ‘red bean bun’). Quite unusual to see a word with three fairly strong syllables like that. Even for native Koreans it will usually come out like topappang, which is... not correct. 철창살 (cheol-chang-sal, ‘iron bars’) is another. Korean tongue twisters often rely on the fast repetition of heavy sounds like this, or else a lot of sibilance. Might write a post about that sometime.

Russian: взгляд killed me dead when I first encountered it. I’m not very good at sliding between в and other sibilant sounds, I think: всплыть and вспоминать are hard. I have a pretty good grasp on щ, I think, but rapid repetitions like in защищать is still difficult. If it goes over six syllables I stumble. I’ve a long way to go 😭

27: How do people usually react when you mention that you’re studying your target language(s)? Do their reactions annoy you? Make you happy?

There aren’t many Russian learners in the UK, I’ve discovered. It must've been different once upon a time, but it’s basically forgotten now. People seem to think I’m cool for learning it, or else quaint, but there’s not much in the way of detailed feedback. There’s been a huge rise in Russian learners in Korea, though, so their responses would be interesting to see.

(From what I can gather, Koreans find Russian just as difficult as they do English, or any language except for Chinese/Japanese. But the current generation is the first to be able to access Russian resources freely (and without NK associations), hence the popularity.)

46: Are there any cognates between your native and target language(s)?

I don’t know. It would be very difficult to find out.

Cognates show best where there’s been a huge spread of a language family, e.g. Indo-European. It’s easy to find cognate words all across the European continent, but the same doesn’t really apply to Asian languages, except in their far smaller language families. (Oftentimes, a concept/word will sound similar across languages with Han characters, but that’s more of a ‘we pronounce the same Han characters differently’ problem.) Korean is an isolated language, which makes it very difficult to find cognates with any language. There could have been Slavic influences, or from the minority languages of Russia, but I’m not sure how to search for that.

We do have words directly borrowed from Russian, however. In South Korea, Russian loanwords are still mostly used to describe Russian concepts, but in North Korea they’re a part of everyday life. For example, the NK word for ‘pencil’ is 가름다시; it’s pronounced gareum-dasi and borrowed from карандаш (karandash). Other examples are:

‘Pin’ SK 핀 (pin); NK 물라께 (mul-la-kke, from булавка/bulavka)

‘Bucket’ SK 양동이 (yang-dong-i); NK 마드레 (ma-deu-re, from ведро/vedro)

‘Pocket’ SK 주머니 (ju-meo-ni); NK 가르망 (ga-reu-mang, from карман/karman)

And so on. A troubling amount of South Koreans struggle to understand what North Koreans say, so knowing Russian comes in handy there. And as SK-Russian relations continue, similar loanwords will also enter the South Korean language - and with time, who knows? We’ll have to find out. 👀

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy chapter 210: holy shit, this is a chapter that we’ve all been dying for.

Ah yes, chapter 210, you are already a chapter that I’m completely in love with and it shows many of Noda’s strengths as an artist and a storyteller.

The chapter is called “sweet lies” and this is clearly a reference to what Tsurumi has told many people but the focus is on Koito and Tsukishima in particular.  The title page makes it very clear that Koito will be a major focus of this chapter.  I have been waiting for these events ever since Ogata called Koito a bon-bon in Russian and kicked him in the face before escaping.

Koito’s right hand holds his photo of Tsurumi and Tsukishima that he had acquired from Tsukishima back in chapter 101. 

Recall that he was upset that Shiraishi had escaped and he had also encountered Ogata on the airship who helped in the escape.  Tsukishima is in part trying to get Koito to calm down by giving him this very photo.

Looking back at this panel for the first time in awhile, it shows that Koito has a little light in his eyes and he wishes he were born earlier to serve at Tsurumi’s side in the war.  Koito immediately has a pre-cut photo of his own head that he wants to glue on over Tsukishima’s and he tells him to make him some rice glue.

Tsukishima says, no, but based on the title page for 210 he definitely found some glue somehow.

When they were heading to Abashiri, recall that Koito had more doctored photos including this one here:

At some point, he got another photo with Tsurumi in it as well as other commanding officers and he added his own head to all of the men in the photo, longing to have had a chance to serve with Tsurumi.  Koito pre-photoshop - he was pretty dedicated to making his photo collages! 

Now, also recall that this photo has been used for the cover of chapter 147 - Igogusa, where Tsukishima’s backstory and loyalty to Tsurumi was solidified.

Really, all of this is indicating that Tsukishima and Koito are tied to Tsurumi and this photo shows how closely they are tied.  I’ll come back to this in a bit.  Like some of the other dense and intense chapters, I’m going to jump to the part between Asirpa and Sugimoto, that creates a pause and adds to the tension between Koito and Tsukishima.

The quick and dirty about Sugimoto and Asirpa’s separate paths:

The chapter continues to keep us in the dark about the end of Sugimoto and Asirpa’s conversation after the movies.  It is now the night before Tsurumi will arrive in Odomari.  Asirpa reminds us that she’s never actually met Tsurumi, she only knows about him through her interactions with everyone else.  This really does two things for me as a reader - it seems to speak to unresolved issues between the two and she’s musing what type of man Tsurumi is.  Hasn’t she gotten enough information to in part figure this out from what others have said and done?  I’m a little surprised by this statement, she saw what Tsurumi did to Sugimoto’s face with those dango skewers.

Either way, just like before her encounter with Wilk at Abashiri she’s expressing her concerns about what will happen.  She wants to know what Sugimoto will do in the gold hunt?  What will Tsurumi do with the gold?  Most importantly, what will happen to the Ainu, her community in all of this.  Sadly, Sugimoto can’t see the forest through the trees.  His current vision on all of this is “Asirpa vision”.  As long as Asirpa is removed from the hunt for the gold, it will be alright - she’ll be clean and she can go back home to Huci.  As the lovely Merdopseudo has written, Sugimoto is back to his usual habit of “Sugisplaining”, that Asirpa doesn’t need to think about things.  Just be good, give up the code and walk away from the gold, the Ainu and just go back home, safe, clean and pure.  Kiro told Ogata that Asirpa’s time on Karafuto was to mature her - and it has.  I still miss Kiro’s character greatly but he really helped Asirpa see the bigger picture than just her kotan in Hokkaido.

These entire two pages almost fade to the background compared to the rest of the chapter.  Their relationship dynamic has changed.  Both are holding back now thinking about their own concerns and their goals which have shifted or the fact that Asirpa is gaining a new and different goal.  Her new focus is scary for Sugimoto.  I don’t think they are being as honest to each other as they should be.  They aren’t good at conflict - both are dancing around the major issues involved in this entire gold hunt. 

In a way, I like how fucking awkward these two pages are - it really highlights that their reunion wasn’t what either of them expected it to be and that they are currently on different paths.  I love this tension - I’m waiting for it to explode.

Now onto the meat of the chapter.

Koito has put the pieces together and his world view is shattering:

The chapter has a lovely two page spread of the harbor at Odomari as Koito asks Tsukishima a question before Tsurumi’s arrival.  We first see Koito looking at his photo of Tsurumi and Tsukishima that his face has slid off of.  Koito’s brow is very furrowed and he’s really intense looking.  I love how the picture of a steamship is followed by his face shaded and more focus in his eyes.  Tsukishima makes a comment that Koito isn’t at excited and cheerful as he would normally be about Tsurumi’s arrival.  Remember that Koito was in tears as they left for Karafuto as he longingly looked at his Tsurumi bromide!

As Koito speaks to Tsukishima not looking at him, he tells him that Ogata told him something at the hospital in Akou before he escaped.  He first mentions the Russian term for bon-bon.  Tsukishima’s eyes narrow a bit before he continues on.  He goes on to tell him that Ogata (with his face completely shaded in black) tells him that “the next time he meets Lt. Tsurumi . . .”  and then he turns to him and looks at him directly (please get some chapstick Ogata!) to “ask him about the Manchurian railway.”

Tsukshima’s reaction is both one of surprise (as indicated by the light burst) and also one of annoyance and stress.  Tsukishima has stress lines under his eyes, his cap covers part of his eyes and his face is shaded as he’s only able to reply with “. . . .”

Koito then begins to describe the Manchuria Railway as a concession from the Treaty of Portsmouth, meaning it went from Russian control to Japanese control.  This then solidified the Japanese presence in Manchuria under the guise of the expansion of the influence of Imperial Japan and its increasingly aggressive colonial role in the region.

If you have any knowledge of the history of this in the region leading up to the second world war than this doesn’t come as a surprise to you as a reader per se.  The important part is what Koito then adds in.

Koito has additional information due to his background; he knows that one member of the army was quite vocal about the whole Manchuria Railway, Hanazawa.  He is still a shitty father in my mind, but hey, it looks like as a member of the military and Satsuma elite he did think about things from a strategic perspective.  Therefore, Hanazawa was the lone critic about the whole railway situation.

Koito then goes on further to explain that b/c his father was friends with Hanazawa, he also knew about the controversy surrounding the railway and that Koito heard about it in his household.  Koito also knows that Tsurumi connects the bodies of their comrades from the Russo-Japanese war will be at rest on Japanese soil and that it should include Manchuria.  This was mentioned in the flashback that Tsurumi and Tsukishima had in chapter 150 when both were wounded at Mukden.

Tsukishima still doesn’t have a response to Koito’s inquiries as he continues to connect Tsurumi’s goals with what happened with Hanazawa’s death.  Tsukishima’s eyes are barely visible, his eyes are almost completely obscured by his cap and its shadow.  This does NOT LOOK GOOD AT ALL. This looks very concerning and that Tsukishima is thinking about likely bad things.  Koito continues forward and very emotionally asks Tsukishima is there is a direct connection between Hanazawa’s death and Tsurumi.

By the time he’s blurted it out, Koito is nervously sweating, his hair is a bit loose and his stress lines under his eyes are intense.  He’s almost pleading with Tsukishima for him to not confirm what he’s thinking.  Tsukishima looks anything but pleased, his face is deadpan and his eyes are pretty much obscured completely and his face is half shaded.

Koito still doesn’t get an answer from Tsukishima,  so he becomes even more emotional, still sweating and gesturing with his left hand for emphasis.  He throws out the theory that Ogata wasn’t happy with the fact that central put the blame on the 7th and Hanazawa which resulted in his suicide, so he joined with Tsurumi’s plan for the coup.  But since Hanazawa was in the way of the Manchurian Railway, Tsurumi had him eliminated and Ogata found out and defected against him.  The then asks why Ogata would tell him that and we still can’t see Tsukishima’s facial expression well!

When Tsukishima finally looks up and replies to Koito his looks are so robotic.  His eyes seem cold and even though he’s got stress lines his face is deadpan.  He replies that Ogata will say anything to foil their plans and then he turns the conversation around to ask him why he trusts Ogata’s words now.  Koito was ready to shoot the wildcat to kill previously - this is a 180 for Koito’s opinion on Ogata for sure.

With great emotion and intensity Koito then says “Barchonok” the Russian term for bon-bon.  He flat out states that Ogata was one of the kidnappers at Hakodate.  He knows it.  Koito is correct and on the money - he’s not backing down and he needs answers now.

The chapter then transitions to the two pages with Sugimoto and Asirpa to build the tension between them.  Technically they don’t even get a full 2 pages as Koito and Tsukishima are on the bottom here:

Koito looks shocked when Tsukishima deadpan asks what is clearly a rhetorical question. That the bodies were Russian.  Koito was there - he’d know what he saw right?  Eh? Eeeeehhhh? Koito looks so shocked at his reply - this can’t be Tsukishima’s answer to him?  He knows Tsukishima!

He then asks Tsukishima to confirm that he was one of the masked kidnappers too!  Koito is at his limit of patience.  He’s so many emotions at once; upset, hurt, confused, sad, angry . . . a man whom he has trusted hurt him in the past all for Tsurumi’s own personal gain.

Tsukishima’s reply is still dead pan though now he’s lifted his hands in defense of Koito’s aggressive questioning.  He falls back on the idea that Koito, is falling prey to Ogata’s manipulations, while Koito recognizes that Tsurumi made sure he and his father are in debt to Tsurumi.  I love the fact that Koito sees that he and father were set up to be used by Tsurumi and so were Hanazawa and Ogata.

With Tsukishima’s reply that it is delusional, Koito forges ahead in his accusations of Tsurumi’s manipulations. Koito then realizes, he’s getting no where with Tsukishima and he’ll just make sure he and his father ask Tsurumi directly.  I love this facial expression from Koito!  He looks so determined as he’s physically turned away from Tsukishima in a sense giving up on him and moving forward on his own.

Finally, Tsukishima strikes back stopping Koito dead in his tracks. With an absolutely creepy facial expression, not even looking at Koito directly he asks about the fact that the two of them were saved during the kidnapping.  This is such a loaded statement, since it implies that there was a possibility where they weren’t saved!

Yes, if Koito and his father didn’t play along to Tsurumi’s tune during the kidnapping, well it implies that the 27th didn’t need to spare them.  They could have killed Koito and his father during the process!

This stops Koito.  He turns back to Tsukishima with a very uncomfortable “what?” . . . that his brain is trying to process exactly what Tsukishima just said.

Tsukishima then goes on to state that he didn’t realize that Ogata knew of the connection between Hanazawa and the railway.  He thought Ogata’s goal has always been to expose Tsurumi and turn him over to Central Command.  This is a reference all the way back to his shoot out with Ogata in Yubari here.

This confirms that what Tsukishima told Ogata was his own personal theory behind Ogata’s motivations.  I was always curious about it, since I had always though this was something that Tsukishima thought, but I was never sure if this was something Tsurumi told Tsukishima or something that Tsukishima came up with.  With the way that Tsukishima describes it to Koito, I will read that this is a Tsukishima theory - not one from Tsurumi.  I think this makes sense, Tsukishima worked with Ogata long enough that he thought he had a decent read on him - but as we’ve come to expect - most characters never have a good read on him - they still place their own ideas on him to explain his actions.

This continues with his statement that he can’t figure out what Ogata was unhappy with - that Tsurumi gave him the opportunity to kill his father wasn’t enough to please him?

Koito looks like he’s in a state of shock as he asks for confirmation that Ogata killed Hanazawa as a part of Tsurumi’s plans.  His face is covered in sweat drops, his face is shaded he doesn’t really know what to say or do. . . . When Koito was first introduced, he wanted to know why Ogata would betray Tsurumi with his father’s death under the pressure of central command.

Tsukishima doesn’t even stop to confirm or deny this, he just keeps talking deadpan in expression.  He simply states that he was tricked as well and by a very elaborate ruse.  Tsukishima is just short of saying that Tsurumi must have manipulated Ogata into killing Hanazawa or making him believe that this is something that he would want to do . . . .  He can’t outright say that Tsurumi manipulated Ogata to do the actions he’s done - instead, he goes on to state that he was deceived as well.

This seems to indicate that there must have been something between Ogata and Tsukishima - he’s done many terrible things for Tsurumi, but he’s still almost judging Ogata actions as different than his. 

Anyways, back to Tsukishima’s poor explanation for Koito - he leaves out a lot of information that we will remember from chapter 149-150 and instead jumps into state that he met another man from Niigata, Sado in particular in the field hospital during the battle of Mukden, when he angrily then approached Tsurumi but still protected him when they both were injured.  Only much later did Tsukishima realize that there was no way for him to bump into a member of the 2nd, the division that he and Tsurumi were in during the Sino-Japanese war.

Therefore, that man was a plant by Tsurumi to test his loyalty to Tsurumi and his future plans to go after the Ainu gold.  Tsukishima freely expresses to Koito that Tsurumi molded him into the perfect right hand man for him.  He went to a great length to shape Tsukishima and that Tsukishima would do whatever he asked.

The scariest part is how Tsukishima has accepted this.  And it all makes sense how despite working hard and being a dependable individual, that he never seemed to break away from Tsurumi’s influence on Karafuto.

This entire panel haunts me. Tsukishima is stating that he sees no value in his own life.  He’s accepted the fact that he is totally fine with what Tsurumi has done to him.  He won’t even bother getting upset in the first place b/c his life has had little value to begin with.  Therefore, he will follow Tsurumi’s plans to help the 7th.

Most importantly, when a completely wrecked Koito is finally able to ask him if that is all of Tsurumi’s goals - Tsukishima can’t look him in the eyes to reply.  Just that Tsurumi’s specialty is “saving people with “sweet lies”.” and that he has no idea with his final goal is. 

This implies that Tsukishima sees himself as “saved” by Tsurumi and therefore he owes him for his life.  If the reader still takes Tsukishima’s Igogusa flashback at face value and he killed his father and it was of Tsukishima’s own free will that it happened - it returns to the idea that Tsukishima sees himself as a dead man walking and that he’s using his borrowed time to serve Tsurumi. 

I can’t help (along with many other readers) wonder if Tsurumi manipulated Tsukishima into attacking his father so that he could “rescue” him from prison and created loyalty by killing his father.  I mean it is clear that is the method he used with Ogata in 103.

Koito tries to get an answer from Tsukishima on why he’d continue along with this, but Tsukishima simply states it is better to align oneself with an individual with grandiose plans.  In the most detached way possible with a blank face, he states his true desire is to watch Tsurumi’s manipulations all the way to the end.  He seals his fate of going down with Tsurumi like the loyal right hand man that he was molded to become.  Free will isn’t a Tsukishima thing.

He then finally states that Koito must keep all of this information to himself as Koito is sweating, breathing heavily and literally on the verge of a panic attack as he warns him that Tsurumi will kill him and that Tsukishima will be the one to do it.

And keep in mind.  Despite how respectable Tsukishima may look, he’s the man who shot Captain Wada in the head at point blank range!  Wada commands Tsukishima to fire at will, to which he replies yes and shoots Wada instead of Tsurumi.

Tsurumi then mentions Manchuria to the rest of the men of the 27th present when this happens.

Okay, back to the current chapter.

It zooms out to Koito leaning forward, panting as his knees are beginning to give out.  To me it looks like he’s about to have a full blown panic attack.  Readers are used to Koito as being overly dramatic, and he drops to his knees declaring that Tsurumi is amazing.  His fingers are contorted and he looks stiff when he’s on his knees as his eyes almost roll up into his head.

He’s sweating and blushing all over his nose and face, something that we haven’t seen on him before.  He can’t help but scream out that he’s pleased that Tsurumi wanted him to join him so badly.

He does his usual overly dramatic prostration but then spins on the dirt as he declares how impressed he is as being a part of Tsurumi’s plans.

Tsukishima just watches him from afar as this happens. 

Thankfully, Sei Kobiyama on twitter was able to point out a key point during this scene.  Usually, when Koito had a meltdown, he would end up expressing himself in his local Satsuma accent - thus making his screams unclear to the reader and those around him. 

This time, when Koito becomes distraught, his understandable accent is maintained, as mentioned here:

This is a linguistic change that Koito no longer sees Tsurumi as his saviour and someone to look up to - instead, he’s a man who will go to great lengths to get men to serve him loyally. 

The chapter then ends with Tsurumi and the 27th arriving in Karafuto.  Both Usami and Warrant Officer Kikuta are with him.  Usami’s face is obscured so we can’t see his eyes and he’s likely pleased while Kikuta looks a bit sad. He’s likely torn between the recent events in Noboribetsu with Ariko and serving Tsurumi.

This was one hell of a chapter!

What are the major take home points from this:

Koito’s innocence is lost.

With Ogata’s hints, Koito has realized how much of his life has been influenced and manipulated by Tsurumi.  Encountering Tsurumi in Kagoshima when he ws visiting his brother’s grave.  Spllling out his feelings to Tsurumi a nice and pleasant man in 1900.  How the entire kidnapping was to make sure Koito and his father would fall into line with Tsurumi.  He gained access to the navy (necessary for defending Hokkaido from the main island in the event of a coup) and also gained a talented but unwavering subordinate in Koito. 

Koito was raised to be an ideal 2nd lt. for Tsurumi - much better than the very annoying and rule following Yuusaku.  With how elaborate Tsurumi’s scheme was to get Koito to worship him, it makes it even more clear that Yuusaku would have be the largest impediment to Tsurumi’s goals with the 27th.  In this chapter, Koito tells Tsukishima that he’ll call Tsurumi out in front of his father - I am not 100% certain that Yuusaku would have done the same thing - we know he was a rule follower to the end and I wonder if Yuusaku may have said something to a similar effect.  Or the idea that Yuusaku if left alive would also run to his father to expose Tsurumi’s plans.  Whatever the background with Yuusaku - it was clear that he was a non-manipulable individual.

Some people may have thought he faked things or was spazzing out at the end of the chapter - I read it that he’s in part now aware of what he should say but at the same time his own viewpoint is so shattered that it comes out as a bizarre mix of drama, comedy and horror.  The best way I can approach it is from personal experience.  Where something happens and you just don’t know how to react so in part you are almost laughing but crying at the same time but you are a total mess of emotions and it becomes overwhelming.

If we stop and think about it - Koito was manipulated since he was 14!  14!  This is horrible and he’s digesting this in his early 20s now.  Not like this woudln’t upset him at all?  Furthermore, this is all from Tsukishima, a man who he looked up to and felt like he knew and trusted.  Sure, Koito could be rude with him, but this is the man who carried him to a dog sled, who placed him on the sled gently and protected him from Kiro’s explosives.  All of Tsukishima’s actions benefited and protected Koito.  To have that same person threaten to kill you.  Well, that would be a total emotional mindfuck.

This is setting up an interesting dyanmic between Ogata and Koito.  With the flaskback to the kidnapping, it was Ogata who patted Koito on the back while Tsukishima held back.  Ogata didn’t need to be nice to him but he was.  Both men were ignored by their fathers for a “favored” brother.  Once was legitimate despite being younger while the other was older and was supposed to carry on the family honor.  At one point in time, Koito and Ogata were not seen as useful by their fathers.  Tsurumi’s actions got Koito’s father to notice him, while nothing Tsurumi did, could get Ogata’s father to notice him.

I am comfortable enough to throw out the idea that Ogata is acting like an older brother to Koito.  Not an amazingly great older brother, but at least as one who is giving him enough information to see what is happening and maybe change things. Koito’s older brother was kind and had very pale skin tone as shown here from young Koito vision.

We see a sparkle of light in his older brother and the old idea is that he was a very good older brother to Koito.

Ogata is canonically referred to as being usually pale - most obviously here by Shiraishi.

Ogata does not like involving innocent individuals in schemes - when Koito was younger he was still innocent - enough that kidnapper Ogata would be kind to him.

You could try to write this off as Ogata being an agent of chaos - but agents of chaos don’t have a soft spot for innocents.  We know that Ogata has a whole hang up on innocence and purity in the context of those who commit atrocities and who can wipe their hands clean of them.  But, since Koito is a military man who has dirtied his hands, he’s already someone that Ogata can relate to much better than Yuusaku. 

The bonus of this, is that Ogata can deal a blow to Tsurumi’s plans by releasing Koito from his control.  Ogata in addition to his obsession with finding a blessed path, is one of exercising free will.  This may explain why he was upset at Wilk’s role to set Asirpa up as an idol for the Ainu - she does not have her own free will to decide and she was too similar to Yuusaku. 

Thankfully, their showdown in the ice floe really helped to shift some of her thinking in addition to Kiro’s death.

Can the tiger’s curse be Koito having to face his own actions and choose a free will in the 27th?  Realizing that he is tied to the lynx, Ogata and that the two men have much more in common than Koito already knows in regards to their fathers’ friendship?  I think Ogata even respects the fact that Koito is an intelligent man, just that he didn’t apply himself.  He was able to easily catch up to his peers to pass the military exams so Ogata was likely banking on his intelligence to connect the few bits of information that he left Koito with before escaping.  I personally really want Koito to break away from Tsurumi and team up with Ogata.  I think Ogata is working with the partisans and if Ogata re-appears, Sofia will be with him and Koito can talk to Sofia (still banking on both of them bonding by talking in French).

Is there any “hope” for Tsukishima?

Oh man.  This is a hard summary for me here - I love Tsukishima.  When the action moved to Karafuto, I really fell in love with his character more.  I have a meta about how upstanding and respectful he is as a character to others.  He did what was expected of him, made sure Svetlana told her parents what happened, helped up a Russian guy he knocked down in the stenka and kept having all of these “soft” nice guy moments. 

But what began to worry me was his lack of doubt at things.  Koito seemed to be more open to questioning what was happening.  He told himself to shoot a thieving cat on sight - that he had to tell himself facts about Ogata to make sure he’d capture and kill him.  Meanwhile, Tsukishima remained silent. He relayed facts to Sugimoto about the wildcat nickname but he never said anything to get Sugimoto more riled up or less upset by Ogata.  He just did what was required of him. 

He only became pushy once they reached Toyohara where they were to wait until meeting up with Tsurumi in Odomari (next chapter?).  It is almost as though Tsukishima is a example of the trope that one should be worried about the “normal” ones.   He has done his job always with benefiting Tsurumi in the end.  He’ll now follow him to the end even if it means he dies alongside with him.

Noda called him the conscience of the 7th back when he made the character guides at the beginning of the tankobans.  I am beginning to wonder if his conscience is more of the fact that Tsukishima will express a moral doubt or concern only to still follow orders?

I can’t help but look at these eyes here, here he blankly tells Koito he’s fine with his situation in 210.

Are similar to Ogata’s in chapter 103 to Hanazawa.

Both express the emotions - or lack thereof of men who are doing horrible things that are clearly harming them but following through on those actions b/c Tsurumi is leading them to that.

For volume 15 Noda expanded chapter 150 to include how Tsukishima let go of the lie that kept him tied to Tsurumi from the end of the Sino-Japanese war until the Battle of Mukden.

Special thanks to @goldenkamuyhunting for these edited images of the volume version.

While in Otaru, Tsukishima goes out alone in the evening.  He reveals that he’s held onto Igogusa’s hair all these years.  He is a dark figure against the lighter buildings in the harbor.

He pulls the hair the Tsurumi had given him that was folded between some well worn paper, that may even have some of his blood stains on it, indicating he kept it close to his chest when he was in battle.

He stands on the edge of the harbor and holds the open paper in his left hand, the hair in his right as his eyes are completely covered with his hat.  There is a slow motion opening of the right hand as it releases the hair so that it almost slides out.  Not throwing or anything active.  A passive release of the hair back into the ocean, depicted as a black abyss.

We get his own view as the hair falls out of his hand and into the water to dark to see any details of.

As the hair falls into darkness on the next page we see Tsukishima walk back to the 27th barracks and he enters the back of a room full of men.  The two page spread shows Tsurumi removing his bandages in front of his men and the introduction of his face shield.

Tsukishima watches all of this from the back of the room deadpan.  He has let go of his ties to his past and his love of Igogusa.  All that remains is his loyalty and devotion to Tsurumi. 

This is it.  This is the point when Tsukishima dedicated himself full to serving Tsurumi.  He’ll follow him straight to hell if that is how things go down.

In some ways, I’m having a hindsight is 20/20 moment in regards to Tsukishima.  The entire time on Karafuto, Tsukishima has been relatively quiet.  He’s done what he was supposed to do and other than his emotional outburst with Svetlana, he’s been very tight lipped and silent.  This is a parallel with Ogata who was keeping quiet to not reveal his skills in Russian.  Tsukishima hides his devotion to Tsurumi through his banal and normal actions.  He doesn’t give us much to go on, it is easier for him to show nothing - by showing nothing or slight annoyance, others can’t get a read on him.

I would argue that Ogata is much more emotional and it shows on Ogata’s face much more than Tsukishima’s.  His default is to have a blank face when wants to cover, Ogata’s eyes frequently betray his emotions.  They are subtle but his are more obvious that Tsukishima’s.

What all does this mean for the future?

I am still under the indication that Koito will break away from the rest of the group.

I’m still hung up on this image from the end of 180.  We now know that Tsukishima will follow Tsurumi to the end.  Tanigaki has no problem following him as long as he doesn’t have to return home.  Sugimoto sold out Asirpa for 200 yen to Tsurumi.

Cikapasi and Ryu stayed behind with Enonoka and her grandfather.  Koito stands separately.  I thought maybe he’d end up with Enonoka and her grandfather after he found out about Tsurumi.  That could still happen but what if Enonoka and her grandfather are a stand in for Asirpa and Huci and maybe Retar?

He would still be aligning himself with the Ainu, just Hokkaido Ainu versus the Karafuto Ainu.

I want to know what makes Tsukishima different from Ogata?  Both men were involved in the kidnapping of Koito.  Tsukishima continues to come back to Tsurumi despite that he’s in an abusive relationship.  Ogata snapped at something and couldn’t do it anymore?

We know he doubted Tsurumi when he had him kill Hanazawa.  What was it that pushed him over the edge?  Why has Ogata escaped while the rest remain loyal to him.  Granted some of the men are less intelligent than Tsukishima, Koito and Ogata, but the smart ones see what his happening.  Is Kikuta also in this group of the more intelligent Tsurumi inner circle.  So far he’s proven himself to ge a quick witted and smart guy.

What happens if things begin to unravel?  How does Sugimoto think he can get out of this one?  The only reason he was able to escape Tsurumi the first time was with Asirpa and Shiraishi’s help and Tsurumi letting him go.  Now, he’s handing both Asirpa and Shiraishi into Tsurumi’s control - he won’t be able to rely on them being on the “outside” to help him.

Furthermore, Ogata demonstrated that if one escapes (as with Tanigaki in Kushiro) you escape before your watchers get close to the deadline.  The earlier you escape the better since they will become more attentive.  I’m sure Ogata learned this from Tsurumi and Tsukishima will know this.

Sorry I don’t have much more for you guys.  I’m still mulling things over and I’m re-adjusting to my work schedule so that will throw me off for a bit more.

[nikasen]

Hey! Say! JUMP IOth Anniversary Special Individual Interview - Okamoto Keito

It might not be 100% accurate and I still hope there will be someone who willing to sub the whole interview. Correction are most welcome :)

Interviewer: Please give a brief self-introduction.

Keito: I am Hey Say JUMP's Okamoto Keito. Thank you

Interviewer: Please have a seat

Keito: Thank you

Interviewer: Are you nervous? 

Keito: I am not (stammering)

Interviewer: Why don't you take a deep breath.

Keito: *take a deep breath* Keito: I'm fine now

Interview: Let's begin, would you tell us what motivated you to enter Johnny's?

Keito: Since I was a kid, I've always watching my dad's activity. It was quite a shining life but that time I couldn't tell my father that I wanted to enter Johnny's. I went to further my study abroad in England, and when I return back during summer vacation, it was my first time that I went to watch a different stage acting from my father. It was Takizawa's theater that time. There I saw people younger than me in Johnny's dancing, singing and working hard,  I thought I cannot let it just like this, so for the first time I told my dad, that I wanted to enter Johnny's.

Interviewer: So it has been 10 years since you enter Johnny's. What do you think the reason you were chosen to be in Hey Say JUMP? Please tell us based on your own thoughts. 

Keito: Probably because English...I didn't have any experienced in singing and dancing. Other than that, I wonder why would they choose me. Maybe because my experienced studying abroad and I can speak English..or perhaps it might be because I am my father's son..

Interview: You seems to dress modestly today, is it because of the interview?

Keito: Yes! 

Interviewer: And your hair is perfect

Keito: Actually for interview today I thought I would like to wear suits, but the shirt at my home is too wrinkle.

Interviewer: You tell us earlier that you study abroad in England, Were you feel uneasy when you were there? You went to an unknown country. 

Keito: I don't remember that much. But if I would talk about it, I went to an ordinary local school, there's no Japanese around and no one speaks Japanese there. For half year I have been quiet. I didn't know how I could survived. But I gain lots of experience. My host family when I first come there was from Russia, so everyone in the house always communicating in Russian, and I end up remebering Russian first instead of English. 

Interviewer: Even now you can still understand Russian?

Keito: Even now i still can..

Interview: So you can understand the conversation?

Keito: In conversation something like "Привет" it means "hello"...

Interview: You seems to be left behind for 6 months, so for 6 months how you catch up?

Keito: I started to frequently communicating and from there I started to be able to do conversation.

Interview: Have you ever had any dream where you spoke in English?

Keito: I had, I had. Even now I still experience it. There's a time I dream that the members talk to me in English.

Interviewer: After you become Hey Say JUMP, when is the moment that you think you were glad that you were able to speak in English?

Keito: There was once during our Asia Tour, when we had our live performance in Hong Kong and I was able to talk in English, and also during Johnny's world before. I'm happy that at the same time I can be the interpreter for the foreign fans who came. But what makes me glad the most is, the members are really rely on me when we travel overseas.

.

Interviewer: Since the past 10 years of debut, would you tell us things that you have done with your utmost effort and also the difficulties?

Keito: The thing that I have been working hard and also makes me happy which I have been talking about it recently is, I got the opportunity to composed H.our Time which was included in this year's Best Album. It truly makes me happy and I have been working very hard in order to produce it. I did composing before this but I hardly get any OK. So the timing in 10th years anniversary is...

Interviewer: Your dreams come true isn't?

Keito: Yes. However it was also difficult. The song making, is this the right answer? Is this exactly right? Will the member convinced? I had those kind of thoughts. It was also really difficult, to think whether the fan will be pleased with the melody line I created or whether our thoughts are properly delivered to them.

Interviewer: How do you feel, when Hour Time, the song that you made by yourself was performed at the concert for the first time? 

Keito: It was touching. I was really touched. I had number of nightmares, in my dream at night I often seen something like they won't let it included. Like every night. That's why I couldn't believe in myself until the day of Best Album was release. When the Best Album was released, there's no way I can hear review from the fans. So when the song was performed for the first time during our live, there are people who are earnestly listen and also there are people who cried, to be able to see the song I made...I was really touched. It makes me happy.

Interviewer: After this Hey Say JUMP will continue for 15th Anniversary or 20th Anniversary. As for Okamoto-san, in future what do you want Hey Say JUMP to be? What do you want to change?

Keito: Although I would like to say that I want Hey Say JUMP to a big group,  I feel like I want to say that, but I didn't think that we have gone that far yet. Perhaps now there are many people who have known Hey Say JUMP, and perhaps they also known me. Personally I want everyone to know more about Hey Say JUMP. So until I am able do it, it would be impossible for me to say what I want the group to be

Interviewer: Do have any works that you would like to try?

Keito: Since I can use English very well I hope I can interview foreigners, also I wanted try stage acting. Actually, I hardly seen my father's time as an idol. As I watching him doing stage acting, he used great energy, I also want to let out that kind of energy too, so since before I have always wanted to do stage acting. I also have other things that I would like to try too

Interviewer: If you didn't become Hey Say JUMP 10 years ago, what do you think you will be doing now?

Keito: What I would be doing now?

Interview: The 24 years old of you, what you would be doing now?

Keito: Probably I would work in agriculture sector in England

Interviewer: Agriculture?

Keito: The place that I have been before are mostly farms and there are lots of agriculture going on, if I have been staying and grow up there, it is likely I would be one.

Inteviewer: So do you have any question to ask us?

Keito: Question? is it fine to ask?

Interviewer: We will answered briefly.

Keito: What do you think that I am lacking off?

Interviewer: In order to show more Okamoto Keito side, you should put a little bit positiveness when you are inside the group. 

Keito: Thank you

Interviewer: Lastly, Hey Say JUMP will celebrates it's 11 years, please tell us your enthusiasm towards this year activity and also your last self promotion.

Keito: I think 11 years is quite a long time, it might not be good to say more about myself, I love the members and the members have a lot of good points, so I want more people around to know them. And personally, I do not want to waste any minutes or second of my life. There are many parts of me that are still lacking, so I will keep on learning, so that's how I'm going to spend rest of the years.

Keito: Thank you :D

[kasumi-chou]

Your story Pretty sounds amazing, if you ever finish it, I would love to read it!!

Family at Home

Yuuri smiled sadly as he gently brushed thehair out of Yuri’s flushed face. The poor boy was running a high fever and itwas breaking his heart.

The little whimpers of pain that escapedthe sleeping boy was heart-wrenching, especially when he was meant to beleaving for work soon.

Another whimper left the boy, causing himto let out a soft coo while soothing the boy’s hair back gently.

“It’s okay, Yurochka, papa is right here,”he ensured the sleeping boy.

He didn’t know what to do, taking Yuri toschool was out of the question and so was skipping work, he had been called upthe night before from Minako, begging him to take over the part of Siegfriedfor the local performance of Swan Lake after the previous danseur injuredhimself and could no longer play the part.

Yuuri let out a soft sigh while leaningforwards and planted a gentle kiss against the crown of Yuri’s head.

“Sleep well, Yurochka,” he whispered softlybefore standing up and retreating from the room.

Normally he would just call in sick, or getMinako to look at the boy but getting Minako to babysit was out of thequestion, seeing as she was expecting him at the studio in the next hour. Itwas too last minute to organise a babysitter, and he didn’t have enough moneyspare to pay someone. There was no chance he was leaving Yuri by himself, andhe couldn’t bring a sick child to the studio and risk contaminating the other dancers.

Yuuri ran a hand through his hair as he stoodoutside Yuri’s room.

What could he do?

A sudden knock at the front door of hisapartment captured his attention immediately.

Who was knocking at his door at eight o’clockin the morning?

He headed for the front door and opened it afraction, just enough to see who was on the other side of the door.

“Yuuri~” Victor Nikiforov greeted him withone of his stunning bright smiles, causing him to relax and open the doorproperly.

“Good morning,” he responded to the skater.

“I was grabbing my mail and thought I’dgrab yours for you,” Victor declared while holding out a small bundle ofenvelops out for him. He took them with a soft smile, noting that Victor’s eyesglanced behind him curiously.

“Thank you,” he said as he quickly skimmedthrough them, noting that there was only one envelop marked final notices,which was a relief in a way.

“Where is little Yurio?” Victor questioned,causing him to glance up from his mail.

“Yura has a fever,” he explained whilegiving Victor a small smile. Victor stared at him, a look of confusionovercoming his face.

“But,” Victor stared before gesturing tohis outfit, “You look ready to leave.”

“Y-yeah,” he stammered, “I’m needed at work.”

“But Yurio has a fever.” He nodded hishead, earning a frown from the Russian.

“Do you have a babysitter coming or…”Victor asked, his sentence trailing off when he shook his head.

“No, I’m trying to figure something out,”he admitted with a small laugh. Victor stared at him for a moment beforegrabbing his hand.

“I can look after him,” Victor offered. Hestared at the skater in surprise before raising an eyebrow questionable.

“Are you sure? You don’t exactly look afteryourself well,” he pointed out, earning a pout from the Russian.

“Funny,” Victor said while giving his handa soft squeeze, “But seriously, I can look after him. I can take the day offand if Yakov doesn’t let me, I can just take him with me to the rink. I’llbundle him up and keep him in Yakov’s office.”

“I couldn’t-” he started to protest, onlyfor Victor to shake his head.

“Yuuri, please. It is the least I can dofor all the times you have fed me or looked after Makkachin. If I have anyproblems I’ll call you right away,” Victor insisted, even going as far asgiving him the puppy dog eyes.

He stared at Victor for a moment beforeslowly nodding his head in defeat.

“Thank you,” he said, squeezing Victor’s handback.

“Anytime,” Victor ensured him, flashing himanother bright smile.

“Backtrack, you are sort of seeing someone?”

Minako said in surprise while looking athim. He gave a small shrug in response while taking a water break. It was alittle past lunch and Minako had finally gotten out of him that Yuri wasn’twell and that Victor (“Victor? As in Victor Nikiforov? Your childhood idol? Isbabysitting your hellcat?”) was babysitting Yuri.

“We aren’t seeing each other,” he mumbledwhile setting his water bottle back down.

“Didn’t you just say you had been havingdinner with him regularly?” Minako questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes,” he replied hesitantly.

“And didn’t you say that Yuri likes him andVictor seems to adore Yuri as well?” Minako said while giving him a pointedlook.

“Victor likes children,” he muttered with ashrug while stretching his arms above over his head, “Now, where were we?”

“Don’t try and change the topic,” Minakohuffed while crossing her arms across her chest. “Have you gone out on a date?”

“Because that is possible with a child,” hesaid sarcastically.

“I can babysit my own godchild you know,”Minako huffed while crossing her arms across her chest.

“Self-declared godchild,” he pointed out.

“Like you would want anyone else but melooking after your hellcat,” Minako said while sticking her tongue out at him.

“Real mature,” he said with a roll of hiseyes, “And I do currently have someone else looking after Yuri.”

Minako paused before letting out a sigh andnodding her head.

“True, true. But in all serious, I willbabysit if you two ever want to go on a date, or skip the date and fall intobed.”

“MINAKO-SENSEI,” he gasped in horror whilestaring at his lifelong ballet instructor in horror.

“You heard me,” Minako sung, “Now, let’s goover Act 2 again.”

“But Yakov,” Victor whined into the phone.

“No,” Yakov huffed, “I want you at the rinknow.”

“But I’m babysitting,” he mumbled with apout, despite knowing that his coach couldn’t see it.

“Someone trusted you with a child?” Yakovquestioned.

“Hey,” he whined before poking his headinto Yuri’s room to check up on the boy. Nothing much had changed since Yuurileft. Yuri’s fever had stayed steady, showing no signs of breaking anytimesoon.

“Put the heater on in your office,” he saidwith a sigh of defeat before moving towards the boy’s closet.

“What?” Yakov questioned.

“Yurio has a fever, I’m not putting himrink side. So, if you want me at the rink, put the heater on in your office,”he stated simply.

“Someone trusted you with a sick child?”Yakov questioned.

“Yakov,” he sighed.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll turn it on,” Yakovmumbled.

“Geez, and you still expect me at the rink?”he whined.

“Like I believe you have a sick child withyou,” Yakov snapped back at him.

“You have a sick child with you,” Yakov gapedas he carried Yuri into his coach’s office.

“I told you that,” he said while gentlyplacing Yuri down on the big, plush couch pushed up against the far wall besidethe heater.

“You made him bring a sick child to therink,” Lilia asked while getting up from her seat in front of Yakov’ desk, “Lookat those cheeks. A high fever?” He glanced towards the former prima-ballerinaand nodded his head.

“Poor baby,” Lilia cooed while gentlybrushing the hair out of Yuri’s face as the boy slumbered on despite all hislayers. Victor hadn’t known what to dress the boy in, so he had just decided togo with whatever he could find and put on the boy, which only really included at-shirt and a jumper, but he had also wrapped the boy up in one of his trench coatsand a throw blankets to keep the chill air out on their way to the rink.

“Who let your look after a sick child?”Yakov questioned, causing him to pout in his coach’s direction.

“This is Yurio, I’ve told you about Yurio,”he said while gesturing to the slumbering boy. Yakov stared at him blankly,causing him to sigh.

“Single dad lives a few apartments down,Yuri is his little boy. Dad couldn’t get off work and I offered to babysit,” heexplained simply, earning a small nod from his coach.

“What does his father do?” Lilia questionedwhile continuing to fuss over the boy, tucking the blanket and trench coataround him more snuggly.

“A ballerina,” he stated simply, causingLilia to turn to him curiously.

“At Mariinsky?” Lilia questioned and henodded his head, “Who?”

He stared at the former prima-ballerina fora moment before realising that she was trying to figure out if she knew Yuurior not.

“Yuuri Katsuki,” he stated, earning a frownfrom the woman.

“Yuri and Yurio?” Yakov questioned.

“Well, it’s Yuuri and Yuri,” he corrected, “Yuriois a nickname,” he explained quickly with a smile.

“Yuri and Yuri? He named the child afterhim?” Yakov questioned.

“No,” he said with a shake of his head.That had been his first question when he had finally realised that thefather-son duo shared a name. Yuuri had explained that he hadn’t even beenaware of Yuri’s existence until the boy had been dumped on him. Yuuri admittedthat he was completely gay (which had sent his little heart racing when he had heardit), though Yuuri didn’t really notice genders after a few too many drinks. “It’sa long story,” he told Yakov, getting a small nod from his coach.

“Katsuki?” Lilia sudden asked, “Japanese?”

“Yeah,” he said with a nod.

“Must be Minako’s danseur,” Lilia said,though he was pretty sure she was speaking to herself.

“Victor, get on the ice,” Yakov demanded,causing him to pout at his coach.

“But Yakov,” he whined, earning a glarefrom the older male.

“I’ll keep an eye on your little kotik,”Lilia ensured him.

Yuuri let out a small sigh as he unlockedthe door of his apartment, he wasn’t sure what he expected when he entered hisapartment but it wasn’t this.

Victor was seated on the couch with a bookin his lap, with Yuri cuddled up against his side. The boy was awake, even ifit was just barely and was staring at the television with hazy eyes, immersed inthe cartoons that were playing.

“I’m home,” he called out softly, catchingboth males attention.

“Papa!” Yuri called out in a croaky voicewhile reaching out for him.

“Yuuri~” Victor greeted with a smile. Hesmiled as he walked over to the pair, pressing a quick kiss against Victor’scheek, which set Victor’s alight in a soft blush, before he leant over the backof the couch and wrapped his baby up in a tight hug.

“How are you feeling, Yurochka?” he cooedsoftly, earning a soft hum from the boy.

“His fever broke just after lunch,” Victortold him, “But he is still rather flushed.”

“Were you good for Victor?” he asked theboy, earning himself a nod.

“Papa, papa,” Yuri mumbled in his littlecroaky voice, “Victor took me to the skating rink. And I got to watch him skate-”the boy started to raddle off his day, only to be cut off by a rather harshcough that rattled through his body. He rubbed the boys back gentle until Yuricaught his breath again.

He glanced towards Victor who smiled at himsoftly.

“I’m pretty sure my coach has adopted himalready, he was checking on Yurio ever five minutes,” Victor explained, causinghim to smile gentle.

“Is that so?” he asked, earning a nod fromYuri.

“Mister Yakov is really nice,” Yuri toldhim with a nod.

“Is he?” he asked with a smile.

“Not as nice as Miss Lilia,” Yuri correctedhimself.

“Miss Lilia?” he repeated slowly.

“Lilia Baranovskaya,” Victor explained.

“Madam Baranovskaya?” he asked in surprise.

“So, I’m guessing you are Minako’s danseur?”Victor questioned, causing him to nod his head.

“Madam Baranovskaya knows who I am?” heasked, glancing between Victor and his son. Yuri gave a small shrug whilepulling the blanket around him a little tighter.

“Yeah,” Victor said with a nod of his head,“Oh, there is some food in the kitchen for you. Lilia refused to let us go homeuntil we had eaten something and then insisted we take some home to you, so youdidn’t catch someone’s cold,” Victor said while leaning over to ruffle Yuri’shead.

He stared at the pair in front of him for amoment, watching as Yuri whined and weakly tried to lean away from Victortouch.

It was almost like they were a family, likeYuri had two parents who loved and cherished him.

“Yuuri? What’s wrong? You are crying?”Victor asked suddenly, causing him to stand up straight and wipe the tears offhis face with a nervous laugh.

“It’s nothing,” he mumbled with a weaksmile.

“Papa?” Yuri questioned while looking up athim worriedly.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” he ensured the pairwhile leaning down to plant a kiss on top of Yuri’s head while placing a handon Victor’s shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Just, thank you,” he mumbled to the pair,earning two looks of confusion.

“Papa, you are acting weird. Are you sick?”Yuri asked while turning around on the couch and getting on his knees to reachup and put a hand on his forehead. He chuckled softly and gave the boy anotherkiss, this time on his forehead.

“I’m fine, Yurochka,” he ensured the boy.

“I don’t know,” Victor hummed, causing himto turn to the skater in confusion, “I think someone needs some cuddle time onthe couch, what do you say, Yurio?” Victor declared, earning a gasp of delightfrom Yuri.

“Yes! Papa needs cuddles!” Yuri said whilepatting the side opposite Victor on the couch. He let out a chuckle and noddedhis head in defeat, realising that there was no way he was getting out of this.

“Okay, okay. Let me get changed reallyquick and then cuddle time,” he promised while moving towards his bedroom toquickly get dressed.

He liked this, having a family at homewaiting for him at the end of a long day.

Skater Next Door AO3

Skater Next Door AU

[niedolia]

psa for the yoi fandom: russian names & how to use them

Russian guides: masterpost | patronyms | terms of affection | answered asks

I’m going to start by swearing this isn’t me just complaining but a general resource for the Yuri on Ice fandom because I’ve noticed some mistakes in the naming conventions used among the fandom and want to help correct them. Especially in how the fandom treats diminutives. I absolutely love seeing the huge amount of interest in Russian diminutives, etc. in fanart and fics and hopefully this breakdown will help continue that trend and interest and even spur some more ideas in fandom content.

So let’s go through some important details below the cut!

note beforehand: I use the spelling Viktor for transliterative reasons.

the basics of russian names

By now this is pretty common knowledge but I’m going to explain Russian names anyway, using our lovely Viktor as my example.

First name:  Viktor. self-explanatory.

Patronymic: It’s not a middle name. It is not a middle name that gets to be chosen like in America/etc. It is derived from the name of a person’s father and has an ending depending on whether they’re male or female. No Russian character in YoI has a patronymic and I’m going to explain why this really sucks and how we can get around this in the meantime below.

Surname: Nikiforov. self-explanatory. But do know that for females, their surnames will have an -a at the end, ie Mila Babicheva.

- as a side note, just because a character’s surname ends in -ovich or something similar doesn’t necessarily mean they are ethnically Russian. Other Eastern Slavic nations use similar endings on their surnames, so you should be relying more on the first part of a surname than the ending if you’re trying to find the character’s true origin. Georgi Popovich is a good example: his surname is Ukrainian and Belarussian even though he skates for Russia. I doubt this will come up much but it might be a nice thing to know.

the next part is about formality & when to use patronymics. if you’re a modern-based writer & couldn’t care less, go down to the diminutive part.

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patronymics & why YoI has creators screwed over here !!!

I’m sure a lot of us have heard it by now: the complaint rising from foreigners trying to read Russian novels that there are too many names for one person. The reason overall is pretty simple: how you call a Russian person depends on close you are to them. There’s three basic levels on how you should address someone, but the last two mix a lot so we’ll go over that later:

Strangers, formal situations: First name + Patronym

Friends: Diminutive

Close Friends, family, lovers: Diminutive & Pet name

We’re going to go over the first level then go from there in degrees of intimacy between two people. Plus there’s some things wrong with the above basic levels, but for simplicity and understanding sake, we’re going to start here and then improve.

I’m going to say now to those writing modern stuff: you can skip to the next part if you want. I explain why below but honestly it’s just me proving the show got this part right. Historical/Fantasy AU writers, you’re in for the long haul.

This is where this fandom is irreversibly screwed until more information comes. I can only hope whoever reads this doesn’t need to worry. Good luck to those who do.

Side tip: it’s not the best equivalent but if you’re having a difficult time understanding when to use patronyms, think of them as like versions of English “Mister” and “Miss”. Or, if you speak Spanish/French/etc., it’s like the continued name equivalent of using the formal “you”. You’d use these for say, your teacher or friend’s mother, not so much for your friend. I’ve also seen it be compared to Japanese “-san” but I’m not sure how correct that is.

The First name + Patronym structure is used for: formal situations, much older people, your doctor, teachers, and those higher than you career-wise. Notice something? This isn’t used for strangers absolutely all the time until you become friends - unless you’re in a formal situation like with a doctor or interviewing for a job. This creates level 1.5, which I will introduce below.

I’m going to split this in 2 parts, depending on what type of art you’re creating:

Modern: chill, my dude. Patronyms have nothing on you. Thank your dear Russians for that, their understanding toward our customs and adjusting - a lot, actually. While Russians might introduce themselves as First name + Patronymic, this can get dropped pretty quickly with anyone under 40 years old and not your boss/new doctor/etc. This is due to recent shifting trends with Westernization and is especially going to be followed by our Russian skaters when they’re at the GPF, etc.

This is where we get level 1.5: addressing someone by their full name (and by formal “you” but that’s lost in English). No nicknames, no patronyms. It’s casual without being too casual. This is what you use for coworkers, loose friends, etc. This is how Viktor is going to address Georgi.

What does this mean for modern fics?

Don’t worry about the patronymic. Our Russian skaters + Yakov (not Lilia though, Lilia is something else, be afraid) are okay with being addressed by just their first names (though I feel Yakov has no choice thanks to Viktor).

Don’t go to diminutives until characters are closer. Especially if it’s a younger character to an older one - ie. even if Yurio was a completely different person, it would be inappropriate for him to call Viktor Vitya.

Go. Be free. Why are you reading this section? Skip to the next part.

Historical/Fantasy AUs: Patronyms stopped being A Big Deal recently, so basically people under 50 years old no longer use them outside of formal situations. So if your AU is within the past couple decades, just use the modern format and go on with your life. If it takes place a long time ago or is one of those fantasy AUs with princes and whatnot, this is the section for you.

Hopefully you read the modern part because that there is your base. You know now that the First name + Patronym structure is used for formal situations. Historically, the patronym is going to be used in formal situations, by colleagues, by acquaintances, and by those younger than you.

Yes, that means Yurio should be sucking it up and calling Viktor by his name and patronym - twice over, in fact, since he’s a colleague of Viktor’s. Unless your Yurio gets Upgraded to friend, he’s stuck in this section.

It also means that Viktor and Georgi probably address each other with their patronyms, Yakov should be addressed so, etc. Technically Yuuri should call Viktor this way too when they first meet, but this really depends on the AU - whether Yuuri will know this or not, whether Viktor will feel compelled to correct him, etc. Then with time characters can upgrade to just first names and then just diminutives. The pacing depends on how fast your characters are moving.

But Vasilek, we don’t know any of the Russian characters’ patronyms!

I know, fam, we’re not in a Good Way.

Unless you’re writing Yurio, then I have a good theory for you below.

But for the rest, you basically got 3 options here:

Yakov as a father: ngl, I love Yakov as a father figure. So if you want to make it official in your fic and blow off canon, here’s an easy option to getting your patronym. Yakovlevich is the patronym for a son of Yakov. So, Viktor can be Viktor Yakovlevich Nikiforov. Make your own rules. Also as a note: a person can legally change their patronym to distance themselves from their father / recognize their adopted father, so Viktor changing his patronym for Yakov is perfectly okay to do - both in modern and historical/fantasy AUs (see this post for details).

Make it up: yeah. Just pull a patronym and take it. Make your own rules. It’s more accurate than there not being anything at all. And if Viktor’s/whoever’s father’s name is revealed? Just say that the father ditched and the mother picked another patronym. So, to take my middle name as a self-indulgent example, Viktor could be Viktor Vasilievich Nikiforov. Luckily patronyms are more set in their form so they can be constructed easily for males & females (usually -ovich/-evich for males & -ovna/-evna for females) but I’ve explained all of this in better detail + added some more tips about patronymics here.

Leave it out. How unexciting.

This applies to Viktor, Yakov, and every other Russian except Yurio. If anyone has any other suggestions for the patronyms please contact me and I’ll add it, but I can’t think of much else.

So why is Yurio so special??????

Yurio’s special because we know two things about him: his grandfather’s name & some background information from an interview stating that his family is broken. And even then, we know that his grandfather raised him. We can assume that his father is unknown/some similar excuse. According to Russian law, if the father is not known, the mother is allowed to choose any patronymic she wishes for the child - just as long as it’s a patronym.

The most common practice in this case? To use the child’s maternal grandfather’s name as the patronym.

Yurio’s grandfather is named Nikolai. So, unless officially stated otherwise, we can accurately say that Yurio’s full name is:

Yuri Nikolaevich Plisetsky. 

Taking their relationship to a whole new level, huh?

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level two: diminutives

Alright, we’re safely out of the formal atmosphere and closer than just coworkers. We hang out, we know each other fairly well, we met a few months ago. We’re friends! We can use diminutives!

The fandom actually has a pretty good grasp on the diminutives. It’s not just a nickname; it’s not a childhood nickname, it’s not cute or childish or anything like that. Diminutives are used at all ages in casual settings. They’re short and end in -a usually which is how we identify them. Viktor has been called Vitya by his family, Yakov + other teachers, friends (ie Christophe), and even lovers all his life and will remain Vitya to them ‘til the day he dies. When Nikolai Plisetsky asks Yurio to pass the salt at dinner, he calls him Yura. Hell, Viktor could be asking someone new out for a drink and introduce himself as Vitya. It’s just a casual language thing.

Y’all got this part down. It’s some of the details after that that get hazy. I’m going to use Viktor & Yuuri as my example below but do know that these rules apply to the rest of the Russians; ie. Otabek calling Yuri Yura consistently while they’re just friends, etc.

THIS IS THE IMPORTANT STUFF WRITERS !!!

1. Since Russian, Japanese, and English all work differently, Viktor’s probably going to tell Yuuri when he’s okay with being called Vitya. That timeline is up to you, but realistically, I bet Viktor tells Yuuri straight up that he can start calling him Vitya. And knowing Yuuri, Viktor is going to be the one to initiate this. Give me all of the permission scenes, I love them, please.

2. Once Viktor tells Yuuri he can call him Vitya & Yuuri agrees, don’t have Yuuri switch back to calling him Viktor! Unless they break up (ha), there’s no going back. Viktor is Vitya now, permanently. And knowing Viktor’s Extra-ness, he’d probably be devastated if Yuuri backtracked on that after calling him Vitya. Keep consistent. Viktor - agreement to call him Vitya - Vitya. - Exception: office AU and the like. If Yuuri and Viktor are in a business meeting/in some other formal setting then, and only then, is it chill for Yuuri to switch back temporarily. Otherwise? He’s Vitya now.

3. Viktor is ‘Vitya’, not any other diminutive! No, he is not Tora or any others of the like. (Pet names are another matter, but can have the same rule). Viktor is canonically called ‘Vitya’ as a diminutive. He probably wouldn’t answer to the others, that’s not how he introduced himself as. I know there’s a lot of cool diminutives but seriously, remember that consistency is key for level 2. It would be the Russian equivalent of someone named James and goes by Jim suddenly being called Jem. Diminutives are usually chosen by the parents so Viktor will have grown up hearing Vitya and not, say, Tora. It’d be weird and possibly inappropriate to use something else if you accidentally grab an affectionate diminutive. And just to give you an idea of how permanent a diminutive can be: some parents will decide on their child’s diminutive before deciding their full name (ie Anna and Anastasia have similar diminutives so the parent will have to choose between these two for their already established diminutive). - Exception: Vitka is okay on level 2.5.

4. For those of you with some drama in your fic, I did get a very interesting question: how would Yuuri address Viktor when they’re fighting? If they’re in the Vitya stage already and it’s not a big fight, Yuuri could switch back to using Viktor during it, that would get his point across. If he’s still calling Viktor by his first name and/or it’s a big fight, go for the full Viktor Nikiforov. Leave out the patronymic. Remember that the First name + Patronym is considered respectful; that’s not what you want. But using the First + Surname when Viktor is right there is considered rude and would produce the right effect. It’s like when your mom calls you because you’re in trouble.

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so what the heck is level 2.5 vasya ???

Level 2.5 is colloquial diminutives. This is Vitka instead of Vitya.

Colloquial diminutives are for really good friends, this is for your bromance, now with an extra -k. Yep, these ones are recognizable by the k present in them (so Viktor - Vitka, Anna - Anka, etc.). So if you think Viktor and Christophe are real chill buds, Christophe’s probably gonna call him Vitka sometimes when they’re hanging out together. Or if Yuuri wanted to show that he’s at that stage with Viktor, he can start using Vitka; since they’re already at the Vitya stage and it’s pretty obvious when you’re bff’s with someone, Yuuri could start using this without Viktor’s permission once he felt like it.

In fact, Viktor would probably freak out in joy if he does.

The context for when Vitya vs Vitka should be used is kinda weird to explain in English because at some level they’re interchangeable. The closest we have is the James - Jim - Jimmy name tree, following the Name - Diminutive - Colloquial Diminutive in this case. So think of it like this: diminutives are casual & colloquial diminutives are hardcore casual while also noting that this person is your bff all in one. You wouldn’t introduce your best bro as Jimmy or Jim (unless you’re Cpt. Jim Kirk trying to charm the ladies) to a stranger, you’d start with James. Then when they get to know each other it’s Jim. Then a few years later you find James and the stranger playing Super Mario w/e with the stranger yelling “get out of my way, Jimmy” at the top of his lungs. It’s casual and intimate, more so than Jim, without getting into romance terms either.

Now this scenario, playing a video game, would fit Viktor and Christophe perfectly and demonstrate a natural time for when to use Vitka. It could also fit in for when Yuuri and Viktor are watching a movie alone, etc.

Diminutive vs colloquial diminutives are highly interchangeable and it’s going to depend on the mood of your scene. If you use it, just make sure the two people are close friends and in a casual setting (ie at home, the park, what have you). Because it’s basically an even more intimate form of Vitya without getting into pet names, and a hardcore mode of Jim vs Jimmy. It’s also a much smaller step than going from Viktor to Vitya; it’s more of an acknowledgment of the stronger friendship.

Tread carefully with these! If two people aren’t that great of friends it can be seen as an insult, as belittling. So if Yuri is mad at Mila, he’s going to call her Milka. - This goes back to historical times when a person would refer to themselves to a superior by their colloquial diminutive - ie peasant Viktor will call himself Vitka when talking to the Tsar. But the same connotation wouldn’t carry over to peers - fellow peasant Christophe could call Viktor Vitka too and it would be alright, just a way of communicating their friendship. - Modern times are a bit different; Vitka is still seen as being lower. So even though it can communicate friendship, you should go easy with it and only use it in extremely casual situations. In other terms, you’re not going to call your friend “Jim-boy” just anywhere.

When in doubt, stick with the plain diminutive or upgrade to a pet name.

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level 3: affectionate diminutives / pet names

This level can get weird and confusing, ngl.

Pet names are reserved for really close friends, family, and lovers (and children like Yurio. children are referred to as their diminutives/pet names fairly often). That’s it!

It’s also worth nothing that teachers do not use these. They will use diminutives, but not colloquial diminutives or pet names with their students. This illustrates just how close Yakov and Yuri really are for Yakov to call him Yurochka.

Pet forms are pretty easy to recognize, I won’t get into that. I’m going to tell you all the other scary stuff.

This is the level where Yuuri probably shouldn’t expect an invitation to call Viktor Vitenka, unless Viktor is being Extra. But I think after the kiss, it should be pretty obvious that they’re at level 3. This is gonna vary by your fics: general rule of thumb, if they’re dating & know it, go for it. That’s not the hard part.

The hard part is knowing when to switch between diminutive/colloquial/pet form. That is all in the atmosphere of your fic. And while my general rule of thumb is to stick to one diminutive and one pet name for simplicity’s sake, the truth is Russians do use more than one pet name. Get rekt, right? Luckily pet forms are just for people the character is really close to such as spouses and family (ie both Nikolai Plisetsky and Yakov are going to call Yuri Yurochka). Otherwise, you should be avoiding these.

There’s a random string of exceptions to this last rule. While you generally should avoid pet forms unless they’re really close, they can be used on a friend’s birthday or when a character is doing something nice for a friend. For example, Viktor might call Yuri Yurochka on his birthday and then probably get murdered afterwards. Just use pet names carefully.

So should Yuuri be calling Viktor Vitenka all the time then? Nah, and I doubt Yuuri would feel comfortable with that (though Viktor might like it lol). Natives obviously have it down more but there’s some general patterns for when to use pet forms for a spouse:

Holidays (Valentine’s Day, lol), birthdays, when expressing their love, during great emotion in general (ie when Yakov calls Yuri by his pet name after he skates). Probably also for when a character really wants something from another (ie if Yuuri wanted Viktor to do something for him, he could switch to Viktor’s pet name), kind of like how Americans will say “Honey dearest, can you x for me?” to their spouses.

Now if you said something like, “Vasyusha, pass the salt.”, I’d probably question it. That’s where you should be saying just the diminutive or maybe colloquial diminutives. In fact, spouses/etc. tend to stick to the plain diminutive (ie Vitya) until given a reason otherwise like expressing love or great emotion (I can give further examples but I think Yakov and Yuri above sum it up well). It’s a very personal name is what I’m saying.

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vasyka for the love of ice just sum all that up

So to give some sort of pattern for us non-natives, this should be the general timeline for what Yuuri calls Viktor:

Viktor + Patronym: too formal and outdated for modern

Viktor: when they first meet onwards / if Yuuri is in a softcore fight with Viktor after they’ve reached Vitya level

Vitya: they’re friends & invites Yuuri to & usually from then onwards

Vitka: they’re in a very casual setting (ie alone)

Vitenka / Vityasha / etc.: they’re lovers & Yuuri feels like it’s the right time to call Viktor this

Viktor Nikiforov: they’re in a fight and Yuuri’s pulling out the big guns

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DIMINUTIVES

Here’s some Russian diminutives for Viktor, Yuri, and Yuuri (by popular demand). Please keep in mind that Vitya is canon and you should not go changing that out for another diminutive (which is why I’m not providing any others for Viktor). Since Yuri & Yuuri are phonetically close, some do use Russian diminutives for Yuri for Japanese Yuuri - personally I don’t see much wrong with that and Viktor Extra Nikiforov would probably do it anyway, so feel free to have Viktor call Yuuri any of the diminutives/pet forms below. Since not all of these diminutives are in common use, I’ve italicized the most common ones. These come from some Russian websites so if you want me to transliterate any other diminutives (ie for Mila) feel free to message me!

Viktor Pet Forms: Vitenka (Витенька), Vityusha (Витюша), Vityasha (Витяша), Vityacya (Витяся), Vityakha (Витяха), Vityosha (Витёша), Vityulya (Витюля), Vityunya (Витюня), Vityucya (Витюся), Vityukha (Витюха), Vishuta (Вишута), Viktorka (Викторка), Viktucya (Виктуся), Vitasha (Виташа), Vitunchik (Витунчик)

Yuri / Yuuri Russian, Diminutives: Yura (Юра), Yurik (Юрик), Yusha (Юша), Yurchik (Юрчик), Yurok (Юрок), Yuka (Юка), Yurka (Юрка), Yurets (Юрец) Pet Forms: Yurochka (Юрочка), Yuronka (Юронка), Yuranya (Юраня), Yuracya (Юрася), Yurakha (Юраха), Yurasha (Юраша), Yurchenya (Юрченя)

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but vasyusha, this made no sense / i have more questions / i have something to contribute to this post !!

Message me, my dude !!!  I’m open to answering more questions and I’ll do so to the best of my ability or at least hook you up with some resources. Don’t be afraid to ask me, my life is this language, I welcome questions!

Also!! Shout to to my two beta-readers, @nihonlove & @dokurochrome  for reading over this, asking questions and for clarification, and encouraging this post! You two are amazing <3

[kelolon]

On “Agape”

(Or, The Closest I’ll Ever Get to Meta, Probably)

This is like some kind of weird, disjointed masterpost on why I love Agape. It’s not particularly deep or thought-provoking and it has a lot of bad words (sorry) - I’m not the best at this stuff. But it’s something I felt like writing about, so here we are. Enjoy! (Or don’t, see if I care.)

6/22/17: Updated with info from the guidebook!

So. Agape.

Where to even start? I love everything about Agape. The song, the choreography, the overall message - it’s far and away my favorite program. Please allow me to talk about it at unnecessary length.

Yuri: “Damn it. Who cares about agape?”

Me, that’s who.

The official stuff

The guidebook has this to say about Agape (this is a somewhat rough translation - feel free to correct!):

With unconditional love as its theme (in opposition to Eros) is the impressive "In Regards to Love ~Agape~", with its boy soprano overflowing with the feeling of translucence. When he was assigned the song by Victor, Yuri said "this innocent image makes me wanna barf," but during his mandatory trip to a waterfall, memories of his time with his grandfather surfaced, and he put those feelings into the program. He had realized that the feelings from when he was very young and he skated to see the joy on his grandfather's face were agape. From the choreography, it was said to be "made in the image of things like a white bird or something holy (Miyamoto)", so it feels light as a feather, and yet you can also feel the strength of the will of someone who has something to sacrifice.

There's beauty in the limit of what can only be done "now" with an androgynous appearance. It's an earnestly flexible and delicate program, but the jump composition includes two quads in the second half, putting it at a high level and prompting Yuuri to name him "a beautiful, ever-evolving monster." Although the triple axel is in the first half, you could say that the program composition is challenging for Yuri, who is still young and lacks stamina. Also, in the same way as Yuuri's "Eros", the filler between components is strong, making it a difficult program as well. With a firm foundation in ballet thrown in, movement is in the orthodox Russian skater way, and the costume can't be overlooked.

The concept

What is agape? baby don’t hurt me Okay no, this is serious shit. It’s one of at least four Greek words for love, two of which should be immediately recognizable to YOI fans (the other being eros, of course). The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a lot to say about love, including agape-flavored love:

Agape refers to the paternal love of God for man and of man for God but is extended to include a brotherly love for all humanity. [...] Agape arguably draws on elements from both eros and philia in that it seeks a perfect kind of love that is at once a fondness, a transcending of the particular, and a passion without the necessity of reciprocity.

Beautiful, right? Almost brings a tear to your eye. Or maybe that’s just me. Anyway, I feel like this sets the stage pretty well. Agape evokes certain themes: purity, selflessness, clarity, innocence. Not necessarily traits that embody Yuri as a character, but that’s what makes it interesting, isn’t it? (I’ll go into this more later.)

The song

Yuuri: “It’s very clear and innocent, like someone who doesn’t know what love is yet.”

Holy shit. I really, really love this song. I can listen to it over and over and have done so many times. It’s just gorgeous. I do enjoy Eros, too, but something about Agape just really resonates with me. I’m going to punctuate this liberally with lyrics (fun fact: music with lyrics wasn’t allowed in ISU competition until 2014), which I have taken from the YOI wikia in the case of the Latin-English translation. The Japanese-English ones were done by me.

Since my life is only temporary, it desires ardently the eternal love

The translation of this line from Japanese to English (rather than Latin to English) is somewhat different:

This life, driven by passion, is like the briefest flicker I pray for an eternal love

The addition of “driven by passion” is fitting (as opposed to the Latin’s use of “desires ardently”). It makes it seem a little more forthcoming, which is very appropriate for Yuri, who is very obviously driven by passion.

I will believe, I will give, I will wait, I will honor I will work, I will give thanks

Here, too, the Japanese-English translation differs slightly:

I believe, I sacrifice, I seek, I revere, I bear it and I give thanks

I feel like these lyrics in particular do speak to him at least a little. When you remove the religious connotations (whether or not he’s actually religious at all seems to be up for debate - personally, I take the giant, gaudy cross necklace he wears in WttM with an equally giant grain of salt), a lot of these words ring true. Sacrifice? Check. This kid provides for his family, who he rarely gets to see, and has little in the way of friends. Work? Double check. He’s been busting his ass almost his whole life. The waiting part is iffy, but I guess I have to give him credit for holding off on doing quads while still in the junior bracket, even if that was only to get Victor to choreograph his next program. It totally counts.

And at the end, opening doors hidden to us, solemn and famous, it will take care of us to us, solemn and famous, it will take care of us

And the Japanese version:

At last the hidden door is exposed God's great spirit appears, bringing with it pure healing

Clearly, the second is more explicit when it comes to the religious themes. I think in some ways the Japanese version kind of expands on the Latin version, which seems a little more vague.

One can certainly speculate that there are death themes at play in this song, with death presumably being the “hidden door.” The final two verses can be interpreted to be a reference to death as well (the Japanese version is not much different, so I’ll only share the Latin):

The grand, grand Mercy. Ah! I hear your voice My freedom is near! My life with love, the peace of benevolence That this is the eternal happiness, I pray.

The only real difference between the Latin and Japanese versions are that "Mercy" is replaced with "god's love" in Japanese. Whether this “eternal happiness” refers to something like the afterlife is probably subject to interpretation unless there’s some translated commentary floating around that I haven’t seen (which is certainly possible).

On the other hand, it could just be some kind of reference to opening your heart to God’s love or whatever. Who knows? Not me, clearly. 

Yuri: “Switch them! That piece isn’t me at all!” Victor: “You have to do the opposite of what people expect. How else will you surprise them?”

Yuri makes it no secret that he doesn't care for this song. He's Not Into It. When Victor plays it for him and Yuuri for the first time, he proclaims that "this innocence crap makes [him] want to barf." He wants Eros, but of course that's not how Victor assigns them and he winds up with Agape. This is the part where I admit I'm really glad, because Yuri is my favorite character and Agape is my favorite program. What can I say.

The choreography

How do you take a song (and concept) like Agape and a character like Yuri and make it actually work? The program itself, of course. Choreographed by Victor (as he originally promised), it does a fantastic job of turning an angry little hellspawn of a teen into the embodiment of the highest form of love.

(Please excuse my extremely fake photoset - tumblr will not let me do what I want. Thanks tumblr.)

The program begins with him facing the ground, and then reaching up towards the sky. Possibly to a higher power? As the program comes to an end, he’s got both arms extended upwards, hands clasped together as if in prayer. That makes it a little less ambiguous, especially considering the song closes with the words esse oro, or “I pray.” 

The program composition is as follows, according to the official guidebook:

Triple axel Flying sit spin Change-foot camel spin Quadruple salchow/triple toe loop Quadruple toe loop Step sequence Combination spin

It also notes that the planned components were not changed for the Grand Prix Final.

You can watch the choreography as performed by a real person on the second BD, and you can also watch Johnny Weir do part of it on Instagram!

The costume

Yuuko: "It's the see-through costume of legend from Victor's junior days! I never thought I'd see it in person! It's so beautiful..."

I don’t know what to say here. It’s pretty. Look at it. (It’s my phone case.) I do think it’s worth noting the vague cross shape over the chest and the fact that the shoulders look somewhat like angel wings, tying into the religious themes of the song.

The part where I ramble aimlessly

Yuuri: "Everyone's drawn into Yurio's agape performance. I can tell it's completely different from what I saw in practice. No one can look away from this beautiful, ever-evolving monster!"

I think the fact that Agape is at such odds with Yuri's personality has a lot to do with why I enjoy it so much. He's called "a beautiful monster," and aside from the implication that his off-ice persona is quite different from what he typically exhibits on the ice (with the obvious exception of Welcome to the Madness, which is basically him going “hahaha, fuck you” and finally doing what he wants - I highly recommend reading @ice-tiger-kitten​‘s fantastic WttM meta!), Agape (and Allegro, I guess) really embodies the “beautiful” part of that, whereas the monster comes out in WttM. Agape is very ethereal and angelic, playing into his “Fairy” nickname quite well. Which he undoubtedly hates, but hey. I happen to enjoy it. In the end, the “Punk” nickname comes out on top, anyway - WttM cemented that pretty solidly.

Yuri: “Agape... unconditional love. To me, that means grandpa.”

With that said, I don’t think Agape is that outlandish a choice for him. He did find his “agape” in his grandpa, after all. It takes him a little while to realize it - and even longer to really embrace it - but it’s a perfect example of unconditional love. It’s when he’s with his grandpa that we get to see what he’s like underneath all the prickly bullshit. He may not form relationships easily, but I think when he loves someone, he really loves someone. Maybe not unconditionally, but it’s obviously a mistake to think he doesn’t feel things besides anger and arrogance. Aside from the scenes where he’s with (or thinking about) his grandpa, he also shows this side of him when he goes out of his way to bring Yuuri pirozhki on his birthday and in his friendship with Otabek, who he actually roots for in spite of their inherent rivalry. Honestly, that’s a post of its own for another day, but I think it’s worth mentioning.

Yuri: “Sorry, grandpa. I'm too busy trying to skate the program to really think about agape at all!”

At Yuri’s first performance of Agape at Hasetsu, his performance is technically correct, but the “agape” feeling isn’t there, and he winds up losing to Yuuri. The next time we see it, at the Rostelecom Cup, he’s thrown off when he discovers his grandpa can’t stay to watch his performance and becomes angry, falling on a jump he hasn’t screwed up in a long time. In his inner monologue, he claims that he’s “not feeling agape at all.”

Despite the initial difficulty getting into it, though, Yuri nails Agape during the Final and manages to break Victor’s world record short program score. If he was simply going through the motions, stringing together jumps and spins, he would not have scored as highly as he did. This isn’t to say he doesn’t employ strategies to maximize his points (like backloading programs and doing Tano/Rippon jump variations, aka the thing where you raise one/both arms in the air), but there are elements of IJS scoring that focus on presentation - the program components score, which includes the following:

Performance/Execution: Performance is the involvement of the skater/couple/teams physically, emotionally and intellectually as they translate the intent of the music and choreography. Execution is the quality of movement and precision in delivery.

The performance aspect of this score includes “style and individuality/personality.” In addition, choreography is scored based on things like “purpose (idea, concept, vision)” and interpretation is based on the following:

Effortless movement in time to the music

Expression of the music's style, character, rhythm

Use of finesse to reflect the nuances of the music

Needless to say, if Yuri wasn’t able to pull off the concept of Agape, his scores would have suffered. It can certainly be argued that it’s just the performer in him that gets the job done, but I think the fact that he becomes able to infuse his own feelings into the program is what closes the gap.

Lilia: "His short program will have 'agape' as its theme. I believe he's found an entrance to 'love' through his many encounters with others. People shine brightest when they seek to understand what kind of love sustains them."

He may not like it - indeed, when left to his own devices, he does things like WttM, which could not be more different from Agape - but it works. They both do, somehow. He really does make Agape his own, and it’s completely believable.

...Well. Mostly.

[rfassholes]

Hey! Could I request how the RFA+V+Saeran would react to an MC who was learning Korean as their third language and is still pretty choppy/needs them to talk a bit slowly? Like I've known Japanese and English since birth pretty much, and I might learn Korean in the future, so maybe something like that if it makes sense? You don't have to use those languages btw! Sorry if that's too specific! I love your work so far, and I hope I see more from you soon, have a nice day!

Hell’s yeah I can! Don’t apologize either, sweet person, you have done no wrong. Also, don’t worry about how specific it is; it helps me understand what you’d like to read! I think it’s pretty rad that you’re learning another language, too! Thank you for supporting what I write and enjoying it. I hope you have a nice day, too; much love!

Yoosung:

He had to take a couple English classes to gradate highschool and get into uni, so he completely understood if you weren’t 100% fluent!

If you were pretty good at reading it, he’d lend you some random books so you could get practice

Wouldn’t pressure you to speak Korean in public either

that shit’s scary sometimes

He was really excited that you could speak Japanese, too

languages are really scary sometimes, okay?

Yoosung would brag to people on and off campus about your ability to speak multiple languages

He’s just really hyped that you’re really smart

He’d want to learn really cheesy phrases in Japanese and English

Extra excited if you wanted to learn Korean ones

Would be really nice to correct you if your grammar or pronunciation was off

8/8 would try to learn another language with you

“Yoosung, I’m already trying to figure out one right now” “But it’d be fun!” “You’ll probably stop practicing after a couple of weeks” “Well you’re not wrong, but-” “Yoosung, no” “Watch me”

Now he would say random things in Italian because sOMEONE missed the opportunity to when he signed up for a class

Jaehee:

You knew that Jumin probably had her be somewhat proficient in a couple of languages for business affairs

She might’ve only dealt with that for less than three years, but Jaehee wanted to enrich herself anyways

Then she found out that your Chinese was really good on top of your Tamil

Jaehee was happy that you were fluent in some of the languages of the countries she dealt with the most (no, I totally didn’t google what countries south korea imported and exported with the most)

You two became the couple that spoke different languages at home than in public

However, your Korean wasn’t as close to fluent as you’d like

I mean, she could tell from phone calls early on by your accent that Korean wasn’t your native

She really liked to sit by you while you were translating something aloud and she was working

Those were her favorite nights

Especially since you usually got her to pause working to help you work out a sentence or two

Then it turned into encouraging cheek kisses

Then she couldn’t completely focus

oH WELL

guess you both just have to….be….cute..what..a….tragedy

She would also buy you cute-looking books that were in Korean

It may or may not have been so she could get more of those nights 

Zen:

He’s probably had some scripts that weren’t completely in Korean, so he’s familiar with some language patterns and can say “je suis un pomme”

dAMMIT, ZEN

Okay, so you were just slightly offended, because he thought he was saying he’s a prince

You’ll admit that knowing English and French then deciding to move to Korea was a bit odd

But c’mon, man

“…you do realize you just said you were an apple, yeah?” “No, I called myself a prince’ “We’re speaking in English right now” “That’s correct” “It’s literally prince in French” “Well, how was I supposed to know” “Dumbass”

You wouldn’t let him live that down for weeks

Zen then tried to get you to speak a bit more Korean when you were on set rather than confusing people

oh shit

my cover’s blown

Well, now you were the one getting made fun of

“You called me a table” “That may be true” “A tABLE, MC” “At least I said you were a pretty table?” “You called me a moist table, MC” “Okay, okay, you see-” “Mhm” “Shut up, pretty boy” “I thought I was a table?” “That wasn’t even funny” “…” “You’re still a dumbass”

Nobody in the rfa chats knew what you meant by calling him an apple

Then Zen just had to talk about The Table Incident

MC has left the chat

cue him running into the living room

“but, bAAAABE” “Leave, you apple” “MC, love meeee” “I already do” “Can I at least get a hug” “Nope”

MC has entered the chat

He then tried to get take the phone while you were typing out The Apple Prince Incident

You got Seven in on it to change his name in the messenger to je suis un pomme for a week

Seven: (slight route spoilers, but I changed it a bit anyways)

blah, blah, taxes, blah, author of several books in Arabic, blah, likes cat

w a i t  j u s t   a   d i d d l y d a r n   s e c o n d

Arabic? And Portuguese?

aww yisss

This was probably when he approved you and went straight to V

Plus cats?? That was a bonus

He really liked talking to you with the messenger even if your grammar was a teensy bit off

may or may not have recorded a few phone calls to hear your accent

Once you had gotten to meet him at the apartment

whoo, boy

He was getting on your nerves just a bit

You snapped just a bit and kinda sorta went off on him in Arabic and he just sat there

“You done?” “Yes, was there an issue?” “Yeah, it was kinda hot”

*narrator voice* He realized he had Fucked Up right Then And There

“You didn’t hear that” “Sev-” “Good day”

This time he wasn’t staying away to protect you, he just didn’t want to turn as read as his hair next time he had to see you

He finally had been able to hold a conversation after staying stonefaced in an attempt to forget

You didn’t tho

After everything had gotten sorted out and you had understood why he was acting like that, it was pretty okay

Neither of your dumbasses realized that you were both speaking Portuguese during the Incident, so the only time he heard your Korean was on the phone

He’d take breaks from working whenever you wanted to practice the language

I mean, if he could be fluent in seventeen, so could you

Seven regarded your ability to speak Arabic as something “holy” and was ecstatic that you were one of the few that didn’t need his help to get home

Jumin:

Once he found out that you could read and listen to Korean, but not speak it all that well, he immediately found a tutor

He’d like when you’d hold short converstaions with him in his native

However, Jumin just didn’t know that you were fluent in Russian and German

It took him a couple of weeks until you greeted him as “dorogoy” (my dear) when he came home from work one night

Jumin knew a fair bit of other languages, so you both spoke to each other in this odd Franken-language (lmao but that’s German already)

He really loved it when you’d forget a word in Korean and looked confused for a second before saying it in German

Would always help you with a word or slang phrases

just because he had to look them up does not invalidate this

Definitely would buy you so many books

You’d probably end up with the same book as multiple copies in other languages

He just wanted the best access to literature for “mein liebling“ (my beloved)

Would be the Softest if you had a question or wanted to carry longer conversations in Korean

V:

So! Supportive!

Since he’s traveled so much, he knows how to ask and follow directions, ask how someone’s doing, and general things like that in a variety of languages

Once he found out you spoke Dutch and Hebrew, he wanted to learn more about the languages

You’d lean against each other on the couch at night and ask questions about each others languages

“How do I call you my moon?” “Mijn maan” “I like that; it suits you” “How do I call you my star?” “Naui byeol” “I think that suits you, too”

If he ever went to a country where many people spoke either languages, he’d ask you to come

Definitely took photos of you interacting with people and reading plaques at exhibits

Was kind of an excuse to take you on a vacation

V would also would carry both a Dutch to Korean and a Hebrew to Korean dictionary for you if you couldn’t remember the word to say something to him

Started having you write descriptions of his work for exhibitions so he could broaden his market

Would 784282/8 continuously help you if your speaking was a bit choppy and lessen any anxiety you had about it

Saeran:

“Just buy some dictionaries” “Yeah, well, what if I don’t want to?” “Then google translate” “But then I’d end up saying something stupid” “You always say stupid things, though, MC” “Don’t be an asshat” “Suggestion taken” (haha, what? me? use google translate for the languages I don’t speak for this post? pssh)

He’d be the ones to leave passive aggressive sticky notes in other languages if you weren’t paying attention

Also the one to label things if he didn’t understand the yelling in Haitian Creole

he’s trying, okay?

Saeran may speak multiple languages but not whatever that spewing was

“Saeran, that was Korean” “Yeah, and I’m a cat” “Hey, at least I tried” “You asked me if the parakeet gave a prophecy, MC” “…That’s besides the point”

Would correct you bluntly

Would continue with the sticky notes on everything

started learning Greek and Haitian Creole so he could add proper translations to things

One morning, he woke up with a sticky note on his forehead that labeled him as “내 사랑, αγάπη μου, doudou mwen”

He ended up keeping that in a drawer on his nightstand

I’m sorry that I write this at several different times. I’d be glad to fix any of these if you don’t like them. Especially Seven’s. I did horribly with his. I hope that they were semi-decent, though, and that you enjoy a few of them!

Please correct any mistakes I made with the languages. I can only vouch for the ones I speak, the rest were google translate. If there’s any other issues, I’d be glad to fix them as well!

[doxampage]

Book Printing: Designing in a Multitude of Languages

Two associates of mine are a husband and wife print book production team. They do a lot of work for the World Bank and NATO, which means their publications go around the world and are printed in a multitude of languages, from English to Spanish to French to languages I’ve never head of.

This is exciting. But as I listened to one of my associates go through the process of changing a print book from one language to another, I realized just how complex a job this is.

Background on the Print Books

Periodically my associates ask me to critique and hopefully improve their layout or cover design, color usage, fonts, etc. So I have a grasp of the overall kind of work they do.

Most of the books are perfect-bound texts upwards of two hundred pages in length, with an 8.5” x 11” format (or the closest international page size). The book interiors are text-heavy, but they do include numerous charts and graphs as well as some photos.

When I was speaking to the husband (of the husband and wife team) this week, he told me how he had to remake the charts, graphs, and tables when recreating books he had initially designed and laid out in another language. He described the following steps:

He had created InDesign style sheets and “tags” for the word processing document such that importing text into an empty duplicate of the initial book design (lets say in French) would yield a “mostly-accurate” version of the new text flow, with the headlines and body copy in the appropriate fonts and type sizes.

His replacing and reflowing the text copy (let’s say in Spanish) did not include automatic, accurate formatting of “bullets” in lists. Therefore, he had to manually correct all of these in the new InDesign file.

He had to replace all of the text blocks in charts and graphs. (Keep in mind that all but one of the languages are not his native tongue.) He had to do the same for the tables. Obviously, all replacement text had to be accurately placed, which was no simple task. Keeping track of which text blocks from the original word processing file (in any number of languages not his own) had to be placed in the charts and graphs (and in which order) was challenging.

InDesign allows a designer to anchor photos and graphs to certain paragraphs. Clearly this is a benefit, since text in World Bank and United Nations print books often references graphics, making the proximity of the graphics to certain paragraphs of high importance.

That said, it often takes either more or fewer words to say the same thing in one language than in another, so (in simplest terms) my associate’s print book text will often reflow (in the InDesign file) in rather dramatic ways when he replaces text of one language with that of another. This might mean that a table or chart that was on one page spread might migrate to another, either causing a disruption in the overall page design (balance of text and graphics) or separating a graphic from its associated explanation in the text of the book.

Other languages often use other alphabets. For instance, the Cyrillic (used for such Slavic languages as Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Ukrainian) or Kanji alphabets (for Chinese and Japanese) don’t even vaguely resemble Engligh, and even French has certain diacritical marks or accents absent from English. All of this requires buying new software that totally remaps the computer keyboard. It also requires careful attention in reformatting print books from one language to another.

Then there are the country-specific conventions and taboos. These might be as simple as a color choice. In some countries, the color white has certain connotations, whereas in other countries the cultural meaning of the color white could be the exact opposite. Moreover, something that might be harmless in one country (even on a merely visual or graphic level) might be an insult in another country.

What You Can Learn from This Case Study?

The first thing I would learn would be to avoid this work. However, my two colleagues have been doing this happily for a long time, and they find it quite lucrative.

So if you find yourself in a similar situation, consider the following:

Proofreading is essential. It wouldn’t hurt to do it the traditional way, with one person reading the text out loud to another. After all, you can easily get hypnotized by the work and make an error without realizing it.

Make sure your client has submitted a clean word processing document. In all cases, highlight and then copy and place text. Avoid retyping text. This is where errors occur.

Expect to buy additional software to support your client’s work.

Assume that extra characters, from accents to typographic ligatures (two characters that are smooshed together) may not come across correctly in translation from the word processing document to the InDesign document (i.e., when you “place” the copy). (This means you should look for errors in places they will be most likely to occur.)

Initially, place or reflow all the copy in the book or in a chapter to see where any “anchored” graphics will fall (that is, those graphic elements that are tied to a particular paragraph). Expect to massage the design a little, making some photos larger or smaller to ensure a pleasing balance of text and graphics on the page (when compared to an edition of the same book in another language). Expect the work to be in flux for a while. Expect to make changes. However, don’t be tempted to change spacing between paragraphs and sections just to make everything fit.

Always use “style sheets” available in InDesign. This will ensure consistency and accuracy, but it will also make it easier for you to fix any errors.

Find someone who understands the cultural norms and taboos of the country of origin. If you’re transferring the overall book design and text from a French to Spanish treatment (for instance), it will help to have a colleague who understands the culture check your work (graphic treatment, cover design, color usage, and so forth).

Expect this to be really, really tedious work (as my associates have noted). They make sure they take breaks, go outside, walk around, and listen to music. Beyond their own comfort and sanity, this avoids their falling into a hypnotic state (like the highway hypnosis you slip into when driving long distances on the Interstate late at night), and hence it minimizes errors.

Expect to get paid a lot for this kind of work. Consider it hazard pay. Unless of course you like it. Then, more power to you. It is necessary and highly valued work.

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