#ALSO SIDE NOTE THESE LYRICS WERE SO HARD TO DO THE TRANSLATION IS SO LITERAL DSGIJSDHGDH

[illdothehotvoice]

MMMMNG Hi here's a cover with some lyrics I made okay bye-

[thestarscanalwayslookatus]

@ashr-321 i love you and this one's for you

This is the mentioned masterpiece, composed by Anirudh Ravichander, written by Danush (who is the actor in the vid (stan a multitalented king tbh)), and sung by Anirudh and Mohit Chauhan.

This song perfectly captures what Kim i-pretend-dont-feel-things Theerapanyakul, must have felt after he left Porchay crying on the floor. Cause fool himself as he might he does have feelings for the boy. I will even go so far as to say this song could even be a direct pov of his.

Okay the background to the song, at the part when this song comes on in the movie '3', our male lead has forced himself to distance himself from his lover/wife (Ring any bells kimchay fam??) . But why you ask? To 'protect the lover' of course. Here, the lead, Ram, has come to know that he has an incurable disease that will surely kill him, but will also drive him mentally unstable and a danger to everybody, even himself. So to protect his wife from his now dark and uncontrollable side he leaves on a pilgrimage (hence the black clothes) after slowly but surely distancing himself from his wife on all levels. He doesn't want her to see him change, he already had lost his temper and hurt his friend (yes, forehead bandage guy) and killed his wife's dog by accident9watching that as a tween was horrible let me tell you). But doing it it hurts him so much. The couple were high school sweethearts(sort of?...does it count if the're not from the same school?) and the love of each others life. I don't think he is hiding because he thinks she'll reject him, but because he doesn't want her to see him like this. He doesn't want to be there when his mind finally cracks and he might hurt the love of his life. So even if it hurts him so damn much he'd rather be separate than make his love witness him turning into something gruesome and even be scared of him.

Now for the actual lyrics, (transliterated into english for ease)(translation by me so take it with a grain of salt)

Po nee po 

-You need to go/leave

Thaniyaaga thavikkindren

Thunai vendam anbae po

Pinamaaga nadakkindren

Uyir vendaam dhooram po

- I’m suffering all alone

-But i don’t need your support, please darling leave

-Im a walking corpse

-But I don't want your life go far from me

Nee thotta idam ellaam

Erigirathu anbae po

Nan poghum nimidanghal

Unkaaghum anbae po

Ithu vendaam anbae po

Nijam thedum pennae po

Uyirodu vilaiyaada

Vidhi seidhaai (or seidhan) anbae po

-All the places you touched

-Burn now, please darling leave

-every minute i distance myself 

- is for you, darling leave

- we dont need this (or) dont do this

- my truth-seeking(questioning)wife, go

-  my lifes fated to be played with (or) my fate is for my life to be played by you ( there is literally a syllable of difference and the pronunciation makes it hard, but it changes everything and is lowkey driving me insane)

Unnaalae uyir vaazhkiren

Unakkaaga pennae

Uyir kaadhal nee kaattinaai

Maravenae pennae

Ithu varai unnudan vaazhntha en naatkal

Marumurai vaazhthida vazhi illaiyaa

Irulilai thediya thedalgal ellaam

Vidiyalai kaanavum vidhi illaiyaa

-Im living because of you 

- only for you

- you showed me the love of my lifetime

-ill never forget

-all the days we have lived so far

-isnt there any way to live them again

-all that is searched for in the darkness

-isnt it fated to see daylight

Podi po podi poo

En kaadhal puriyalaya

Un nashtam anbae po

En kanavu kalainthaalum

Nee irunthaai anbae po

-Go, please go

-dont you understand my love

-this is a loss for you, darling leave

- even though my dreams are shattered

-you were in them, please go

note, the words anbae and po literally translate to dear/darling and go/leave, i've used them interchangeably

Now, I do realize that we don't get to know whats exactly going on in Kims mind at any point in time, but I personally think theres no way Chay was the only one who had his heart broken that day. Kim had already been falling for him when he pulled back. Did Kim pull back because he thought being with him will be dangerous for Chay? or because he did'nt what him to know all sides of him? or was he just shit scared i the face of true feelings and especially true feelings for emotional tornado-god Chay? We can't know.

But we do know that Kim tried to get him back, in his own emotionally constipated, communication lacking racoon songbird style. (it is 1.37 a.m here I might not be the best at describing the characters now, just roll with it pls)

I’m suffering all alone.... Im a walking corpse-But I don't want your life

Kim is, very lonely. Wether it is self isolation or extreme introvertedness, or a combination, Kim is lonely. He does'nt seem to have any friends, just acquaintances and is notorious for not interacting with his family. Chay is the one person who has snuck behind his walls and by pushing him away Kim probably realised his own pathetic state, probably it hit him twice as hard too. Kim writes songs thinking about Chay. Chay's irrevocably tied to his music, which is the life he chose, the life that gives him joy

every minute i distance myself- is for you

Since the beginning , Kim is caught between actually being allowed to feel all that Chay gives him and regretting it. Just as the delulu boy kept orbiting Chay forgetting his initial investigation, he probably, no definitely came up with a way to convince himself that breaking Chay's heart is for his own good.

- my truth-seeking(questioning)wife, go

Need I explain this?

my lifes fated to be played with (or) my fate is for my life to be played by you

Okay two interpretations, one Kim realizing that Chay in in life is only gonna make up more games. Kim knows his fathers true ways best. he is the only one actively suspicious and trying to understand. he has been a player in his fathers board for so long, and Chay on it complicates things so much for him. Or it could be about the sheer emotional whiplash he faced from boderline agressively-affectionate Chay and his own rationality telling him to keep away.

- you showed me the love of my lifetime

Again Chay is the only one who has managed to sneak past Kim's defenses and he also the only one stubborn enough to keep showing him love, even when Kim hems and haws. My boy practically bullies Kim into accepting his gestures of love and Kim will never get love like that anywhere. The kind that he needs.

all the days we have lived so far-isnt there any way to live them again

Two words. The polaroids.

all that is searched for in the darkness-isnt it fated to see daylight

Now this line is particularly metaphysical sounding and can be interpreted in a thousand different ways.

I'm taking it to be about clarity. Kim has never been sure what to do about Chay and his feelings for him. Chay was the sure one but in breaking his heart, Kim fucked that up. Now there is so much feeling and heartbreak and pinning on both sides and they now do not know what it is going to be like, moving forward. All the details and little truths between the lies will never be talked about but left to stew in the common hurt.

-dont you understand my love?

Seems like a direct question from kim, I'll give him a direct answer. "You didnt bloody give him the chance to!"

even though my dreams are shattered-you were in them, please go

Now I'm crying, thx.

But..... did Kim ever dream? about Chay and him?

In case the never got enough time between realizing his feelings and pushing Chay away to daydream about their perfect domestic, music-making life ,this could be about how thoroughly Chay came into every part of his life, his music, his weird normal self and finally his crime world. There is no world for Kim without the tainting of Chay. There is nothing he can do that will not reming him of Chay.

Endnote: I like how this song repeatedly asks the recipient to leave/ go (aka stop caring about the singer) and 'why dont you stay' asking the recipient to stay (as it says on the bottle) . I feel its a neat juxtaposition.Its also reflective of just how conflicted Kim comes off about Chay (telling him to write a love song, trying to get out of being serenaded by said love song; accepting an important token of love and cuddling to sleep, then trying to abscond the second he is left alone; pushing chay away, then sending him a love song about how much he misses him. Like, pick a side my pathetic indecisive wet cat of a man)

Anyway thank you for coming to my tedtalk

I know the intersection of tamil knowing people and thai bl fans must be tiny, but po nee po is a Kim Theerapanyakul song and I will gladly take questions

[twelvegrimmyplace]

I'm so glad you had a good time!! if you can be bothered please give all the thoughts and descriptions!

Please you know I’ll take any opportunity to hear myself talk of course I’ll share my post-show thoughts lol

First Blood Orange was a great opener and I was rly happy the crowd was engaged with the set. They did Best To You and I died and went to heaven. The new stuff sounded so good too. If you’d like evidence of how much I enjoyed it you can head to Elin’s insta and spot me living my best life during the set 😂

The pre-show playlist was so weird but funny. C’est La Vie? Hilarious. Hope he does spice girls at one of my next shows.

It was absolutely one of the more electric harry shows I’ve experienced at MSG so far. The energy was just massive when he first came out and never rly quit. The kiwi bounce was truly Bouncin.

It’s such a bizarre, wonderful feeling to be confronted with Harry’s corporeal form and remember he is real bc he’s standing directly in front of you.

Speaking of which, he was great. Sounded great. Obviously. So entertaining. Ever the master of connecting with the entire room. He didn’t do any chatty crowd interaction idk if there were just uninspired signs (probably) or he was too excited about the golf dad cam to focus on anything else lol but starting it off with the tongue burned soup bit was classic harry charm offensive as was his reaction to forgetting the lyrics to MFASR.

The stage is fucking massive and he rly works it so every side gets a lot of face time.

Wonderful music direction once again by Pauli the god and the band was impeccable as ever

I was curious about Daydreaming as an opener bc I thought MFASR worked perfect but it rly set the mood. Also if moving MFASR further into the set allows us to get it with live horns I’d accept him starting with literally anything bc OMG THE BRASS. What a great addition to the tour. As a former saxophonist, i appreciated its addition as well and I hope he leans into the sax on future music. I kinda wanna hear keep driving with 80s sax now lol

Satellite live was transcendent idk what to say about it other than that my neck hurts today from going too hard during satellite 😂 a real standout.

Honestly the entire run of Satellite, Cinema, MFASR, TPWK, WMYB and LNT was out of this world. I’ve never danced so much at a harry show. I was so exhausted by the time we got to WS I I think I mentally and physically checked out for that entire song lol barely noticed it was happening until midway through

The encore was perfect. No notes, wonderful song choices. Basically jumped through half of medicine and kiwi and I was dead by the end of it.

As for my set list thoughts, I would personally make some changes if I were in Harry and Pauli’s shoes.

Hot take: Golden’s gotta go! I love Golden but I’ve never thought its greatness translated well live. He 100% should switch it out for Lights Up. It is still shocking to me he let LU go. Just doesn’t make sense sorry!!!

It’s well established I don’t like Little Freak but I will say I get it’s inclusion in that it’s an obvious sing a long crowd pleaser. The chorus is v beautiful live and it def sounded much better than the NYC ONO recording. It still wouldn’t make my set list but I get the decision. Kinda sad I didn’t experience boyfriends live vocals but I know I’m probs in the minority in that lol

The sequencing in general feels off to me. I wonder if they got rid of Golden, moved Adore you to #2 and Daylight after, and then added Lights Up somewhere in that first third before Matilda if it would flow better.

LOML isn’t ideal as the final pre encore song. Like I get it in that it’s a sing along anthemic song but I’d prefer something with a little more emotional resonance for me in that spot. A bit more energy esp since he picks back up with SOTT. Honestly I think Lights Up could work there too with that great arrangement Pauli had for it last tour and those big ass drums at the end to give a sense of (fake) finality. Oh are my Lights Up stan colors coming through again oops

[minghaocouture]

Pairing: Lee Jihoon x Fem!Reader Genre: Collage AU, Fluff, the tiniest angst Warning: Minor self esteem issues (from reader), Language WC: 2.9K

A/N: @woozisnoots​​ my sweetie baby! This is your Holiday gift from me!! I wub yoooou and i hope you like this <333 The song mentioned in the fic is Tell me you love me by Bolbbalgan4 and i actually just kept listening to it on repeat while writing this lol, it’s such a cute song, and all the italic words are song lyrics (the english translations)! Also yes i shamelessly name dropped our friend group in this, don’t judge me

“You don’t accept my hi as usual I know you’re popular and handsome  but you’ve always given the cold shoulder Only to me.” 

The lyrics flowed easily from your lips and into the microphone, eyes closed as you felt the vibes of the chorus and attempted to put the right layers of emotion into the song as you did so. The instrumental paused just as the chorus ended you heard the familiar sound of your partner through the headphones.

“Can you run that one more time. Hold that last note a bit longer, and make the staccato in the first beginning a bit sharper.” On the other side of the glass sat Lee Jihoon, and the brains behind the operation despite this being a partnered project. At the beginning of this, you never would have thought that the two of you would have been working together so well. Not with how the project began. 

You gave him an affirmation of your understanding and he began from the end of the pre-chorus, letting the melody and his test vocals fill your ears just before you began again.

When you had first been assigned partners, you were less than enthused. Sure, you had a major crush on Jihoon, his passion for music inspired you and you always loved watching him in class when he would perform. But, he was notoriously a rather critical partner. During the last partnered project in class a close friend of yours, Binu, had been assigned to work with him. She ended up confessing that she didn’t really get too much of a say on anything and that Jihoon did the project mostly by himself. Needless to say, she was much happier with this project being partnered with your mutual friend Mar. 

The recording session wrapped up nicely and you began packing your things as you realized how late it was in the evening and your friends would start to get concerned if they didn’t hear back from you. So you pulled your phone from your bag and quickly messaged your group chat to let them know the situation. As you went to place your bag over your shoulder you heard the familiar sound of a stomach growling.

Your eyes quickly scanned the room and watched Jihoon sigh and sit back down at the recording booth, his laptop still open but he didn’t look like he had any intention of leaving to get sustenance. Much to your own surprise you decided to speak up.

“Hey, I was planning on grabbing some dinner. Did...you wanna come too? We’ve been here for a while and we could probably use some food.” You suggested, an inviting smile plastered itself onto your face. You hoped it didn’t seem fake, after all you had invited Jihoon to eat before and he had always denied the offer. 

Much like all previous times, you saw his rather small head shake in denial.

“Nah, I’ve got some stuff to finish up here. I’ll probably grab something before heading back to my dorms...or maybe I’ll ask Mingyu to pick me up some dinner.” You’d heard about Mingyu before, his roommate who he says he tolerates but you can tell that he does really care about the guy from how he talks about it. 

Most people say that Jihoon is hard to read and closed off, but you know they’re wrong. He just...emotes differently, he has his own ways of showing affection and you can see it in his eyes and the little things he does and says. Being around him like this has honestly only made your crush worse. 

“Well, alright, but you better eat something and go home tonight. I don’t wanna come back here tomorrow and see you in this same outfit cause you haven’t gone home.” Which...had happened on more than one occasion during this project.

He shrugged, not turning back to face you.

“I brought extra clothes this time.”

***

“Seriously? I can’t believe he said no again! Ugh, I hate him and you deserve better than to pine after that short stack!” Rolling your eyes as you listened to Krys ranting once again. 

Since Jihoon refuted your invitation you decided to invite out your best friends. The 5 of you heading to a nearby fried chicken place, crowding into the booth that your friend group had basically claimed (when it was available at least) 

“It’s fine Krys, he’s just really into his work. He’s probably going to be in the studio editing until all hours of the morning.” You explained before shoving some of the complimentary salad into your mouth as you took a break from the chicken itself. “I might even take him some food before I head back to the dorms.”

“Nu-uh! I’m not letting you! That boy doesn’t even talk to you outside of class, he doesn’t deserve your time or your energy!” Krys exclaimed.

“I mean, he kinda does. Talk to her, I mean he waved at her last week.” Maya brought up in between her unsuccessful attempts at stealing the rest of the table’s pickled radish. “We were walking to the lounge and she saw him and waved at him, and he finally waved back.”

“Oh what, after ignoring her for a whole semester? Real nice of him. My best friend deserves better!” She declared, aggressively taking another bite of her chicken before continuing. “If I weren’t already dating the best man in the whole world, I would just date you myself.”

This brought the rest of the table another fit of laughter. It was never a dull moment in your friend group and you were always grateful that you had them in your life. 

“This just in, Krys won’t leave big dick Wonwoo so her best friend can have a good relationship.” Mar joked, cackling at the thought. The laughter seemed to get worse when she realized that Wonwoo himself had just walked up to the table to set down a drink refill for Binu. The male’s face was flushed red, obviously having heard the conversation. Which prompted another round of joyful laughter from the group.

It was a good night, but your mind still drifted back to Jihoon, who was most likely still sitting alone in the studio, hungry yet still hard at work. As the conversation drifted away from you finally, you got Wonwoo’s attention and ordered a small meal for take out with a plan to deliver the food before returning home. Even if Krys would give you shit for it.

***

“Jihoon, it’s me” You knocked on the studio door as you entered, assuming you wouldn’t be interrupting anything since you saw the light on but heard now sounds from inside. Surprisingly, or rather unsurprisingly, you got no response as you entered. Simply making your way in despite any acknowledgement.

The more surprising thing was what you found once you entered. There, still sitting in the rolly chair with his head firmly planted on the desk in front of his work laptop was Lee Jihoon. Fast asleep, small snores leaving his frame as he dreamed. It would honestly be pretty cute if it weren’t for the fact that you knew this was probably happening because of how much he overworked himself. 

You let out a small sigh, placing the bag on the small coffee table in the room (you didn’t want to set it on the desk with all the equipment) and grabbed his jacket that he had tossed onto the nearby sofa before draping it over his shoulders. You couldn’t really do much more for him without lifting the male up and transferring him to the couch, and you were pretty sure he would wake up if you even attempted that. 

“Night Jihoon.” With that final goodbye you exited the room and returned back to your dorm to get some homework done for a few of your other classes.

It was about 2:30 the next morning when your phone vibrated, indicating a message. Sparing a glance to the device you read the familiar name ‘Lee Jihoon’ as the sender. The message was no more than a simple “Thank you.” but that was good enough for you.

***

As you expected, even being the harmony vocals for the song Jihoon’s talent far outshined your main vocals. You weren’t upset or anything, but you were definitely starting to regret letting him talk you into the main vocal position for this project. You didn’t even really have any commentary to or feedback to give him. His voice fit the song perfectly and you could feel the emotion in his words as he sang. 

When he exited the booth and took a seat on the sofa to take a break you spoke up.

“Are you sure you shouldn’t be the one leading the song?” You questioned, head tilted to the side a bit as you watched him gulp down a bottle of water. Your words took him off guard and he fixed you with a rather confused look, so you continued. “I mean, you have such a great voice and I really think you capture the emotion in the song better than I do. So like…”

“What are you talking about?” He cut off your ramblings before you could continue, his eyes staring intently into your own. “You have an amazing voice, I’m literally blown away anytime you step into the booth. It’s part of the reason I was glad we got partnered for this project.”

It was almost as if your brain had short circuited, you didn’t know what to say. He had never spoken about your singing like that before, much less admit that he was...glad you were his partner. A part of you worried that he was lying just to spare your feelings, but the logical part knew that Jihoon wasn’t someone who would waste the energy to do that. 

“Let me put it this way,” he began again. “If I didn’t think you were doing a good job, if i thought your vocals would get us points docked off, then I wouldn’t have let you sing the Main. Got it?” His gaze seemed to pierce right to your very soul and you couldn’t find it in yourself to argue back and decided to just take his word for it. So you simply nodded a response.

It seemed that Jihoon wasn’t done surprising you tonight, as a smile so tender made its way onto his face. Your heart skipped a beat as you looked into his eyes, you could feel the heat rushing to your face and you prayed that he couldn’t hear the loud throbbing of your heart as he watched you. 

The moment was soon broken by the loud blaring of a familiar pop song, Jihoon’s face dropping at the sound. He quickly grabbed his phone off of the coffee table and put it up to his ear. You decided to be polite and at least try not to listen in, pulling out your own phone and messaging the group chat to see what was up.

“What do you want, Mingyu?” He began, definitely sounding more irritated than before he had taken the call. You couldn’t hear the voice on the other end but from the gumbling that left Jihoon’s lips you wouldn’t have been surprised if his roommate was pushing his buttons for whatever reason.

“No. I’m not and you need to stop asking. I’m working right now.” He paused for a moment, his voice lowering to almost a whisper as if that would make you unable to hear him. “Yes, she’s here too, so stop asking. Mingy-” He groaned as the male on the other end seemed to cut him off, you weren’t too sure with what but now you could vaguely hear the loud voice of his roommate on the line and couldn’t help laughing softly. The sound causing Jihoon’s eyes to flicker over to you, causing your heart to skip a beat as you quickly tried to make it seem like you were just laughing at something on your phone. 

“Shut it. We’ll talk when I get home...yes i’m coming back tonight!” With an irritated sigh, Jihoon ended the call. You weren’t sure he gave Mingyu any time to give a farewell but if you were being honest the conversation had been pretty amusing. 

Setting his phone down on the couch, Jihoon let out a sigh and ran a hand through his thick black locks. A silence falling over the two of you as you typed away on your phone, trying not to make eye contact again. You were so engrossed with your act you didn’t even hear when Jihoon stood from the couch and made his way over to the chair you were currently occupying. 

“Before we call it, could you re-record from the bridge to the end. When I was editing it last night there was some feedback so I wanted to get a better recording.”

“Oh, um yeah sure!” You weren’t sure why he hadn’t mentioned that before, and you didn’t recall hearing any feedback from your vocals when he was recording. But still, you took him at his word and entered the small recording booth once again. 

“I’ll start from just before the bridge.” He said over the speakers once your headphones were pulled snuggly over your ears. You cleared your throat and took a deep breath before nodding and signaling him to start.

“I really like you a lot But do you think we can’t be together? I feel small in my school uniform skirt Looking big on me, Yeah The tall, pretty girls are all around you.  Oh whoa~”

Getting through the bridge you poured your emotions into it. Thinking about your feelings for Jihoon and the longing for him to feel the same for you. Honestly, through this whole process the song the two of you had written was so...cathartic for you. Expressing things you never verbalized, how despite your attempts Jihoon never really spoke to you outside of class but he always seemed so kind when you were working. Or how, because of his looks and his talent he seemed to be surrounded by girls who thought he was wonderful. 

“If you like me, or you love me Just say yes, yes, yes And then I’m your girlfriend And your my boyfriend Tell me you like me.”

The last few chords streamed through your headphones and a silence fell over the room. Just as you were about to take the headphones off you heard a voice come through, the familiar voice of your partner and crush.

“I like you...a lot.” 

You froze like a deer in headlights, almost positive that you had misheard him. Eyes quickly landing on him, watching him through the glass. You couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but through the tint you could see the soft pink dusting his cheeks and the tips of his ears as his eyes stared down at the desk.

“Don’t say anything. I just...wanted to let you know. The reason I didn’t want to sing the main vocals is because I was worried you would be able to tell.” He continued, eyes still not lifting from the table to meet your gaze. “All of the lyrics I added were about you. I just...changed the pronouns.” 

It was unbelievable to think that Lee Jihoon could possibly love you back. He was too...wonderful, and the fact that the both of you had used this song to express those feelings was almost unreal. 

Thinking back on it, on all the interactions you had attempted to have with him outside of class. You realized that he wasn’t ignoring you, his eyes had always met your own but he was just uncertain.  He had lacked the confidence to speak to you despite your obvious interest in him. It made your pinning seem silly now. 

You still honored his wishes and said nothing, simply taking the headphones off and draping them onto the music stand before exiting the booth. Stopping right next to the object of your affections.

“Jihoon, look at me? Please?” Hesitantly, his gaze turned to you and he looked flustered, more flustered than you had ever seen him. “I like you too, a whole lot.” 

Your words had his eyes lighting up, a look of disbelief crossing his face as you continued.

“Could I...would it be alright if I kiss you?” Before today, you had only ever imagined kissing Jihoon. What it would be like had been nothing more than a small fantasy that you thought about, but seeing him nod looking away still flustered, it almost seemed to good to be anything more than a dream. 

Hesitantly, you reached out a hand to caress his cheek, your heart speeding up as he lifted a hand to press over your own. When your lips met, it was like the stars had aligned. 

It wasn’t a perfect kiss, it was shy and soft but the emotion you felt simply from his lips pressing back against your own was enough to cause your heart to soar. It was like two puzzle pieces finding one another how well his lips felt against your own. You decided in that moment that he would get to hear everyday how much you absolutely loved him, he would never need to ask or hesitate again. Cause that’s what kind of love you wanted to give him, and all you needed to do was say it. 

[passionate-reply]

Great Albums is back! This week, we’ll take a look at one of the greatest electronic albums of all time, Kraftwerk’s The Man-Machine, and try to avoid getting sued by Ralf Huetter! Full transcript for the video can be found below the break. Enjoy!

Growing up, my main genre of choice was 80s synth-pop, and while the deep influence of Kraftwerk is as significant there as it is everywhere else in electronic music, I was one of those people who initially saw them as somewhat "intimidating." Today, moreso than ever, Kraftwerk are held up as one of those more high-brow or cerebral groups with a philosophy that transcends mere pop or dance music, which makes them seem respectable, a kind of “model minority” in the world of music outside rock. While I don’t buy into the judgmental quality of that sort of praise, which damns so many of Kraftwerk’s greatest fans and imitators, I did get the sense, as a child, that these hoity-toity Germans, working with primitive equipment way back in the 1970s, might not be what I was looking for in a new favourite band. That was before I heard The Man-Machine.

While it’s certainly true that Kraftwerk were a highly experimental band in their own time, they’re one of those acts whose ideas have deeply permeated contemporary music, to the point where their actual work is extremely approachable and listenable to today’s ears. Of all the fairly early electronic acts, who started making this kind of music before it began to become mainstream in the late 70s, Kraftwerk are almost certainly the ones people nowadays listen to for pleasure the most, and that’s no accident. While their earlier albums like Trans-Europe Express took more overt inspiration from classical music, The Man-Machine was their first great foray into the arena of pop, which I think is key to why it resonates with people. For evidence of that, look no further than the biggest mainstream hit of Kraftwerk’s career, “The Model.”

I think it’s easy to see why “The Model'' became a hit single. Sure, it may not have the most traditional pop song structure, let alone instrumentation, but unlike a lot of what Kraftwerk had done before, it’s got a lot of lyrics and a real sense of narrative. Plus, that narrative we get is about a person and not a machine--a good-looking person, in whom the narrator is sexually interested. It’s the perfect pop material. Of course, I would be remiss to mention that “The Model” didn’t achieve all of its success until the single was re-released in many markets in 1981, and in those few years, the idea of “synth-pop” advanced significantly in the charts and popular consciousness. By the time “The Model” was a hit, Kraftwerk admirers were already taking over: look no further than Gary Numan’s "Cars” or OMD’s "Enola Gay,” two synth-pop classics that, it must be said, are still about vehicles!

That aside, though, not everything on The Man-Machine sounds like “The Model”--in fact, it’s surrounded by tracks that have much more in common with Kraftwerk’s earlier LPs. Literally surrounded, in the track listing. I think that adds to this album’s appeal as an ideal entry point into their catalogue: it has some things that sound familiar, while also preparing you for what else you’ll encounter if you choose to probe deeper into the band. The Man-Machine has the least homogeneous profile of any Kraftwerk album. While most of their other classic albums are highly cohesive “song cycles” that almost blend into one long song when you listen to them in full, The Man-Machine doesn’t really have those repeated melodies and motifs that tie its tracks together. While many people, especially fans of psychedelic and progressive rock, really like those cohesive albums, I think this change is a welcome one. It gives the individual tracks a bit more room to breathe and express distinctive identities, and makes the album feel a bit more pop, even if the material itself isn’t always all that poppy. *The Man-Machine* actually only has six individual tracks; they range in length from the three-minute pop stylings of “The Model” to the urban sprawl of “Neon Lights,” which luxuriates in an almost nine-minute runtime.

Given that the average track length is around six minutes, I’m almost tempted to think of The Man-Machine as six tiny Kraftwerk albums, or at least, musical ideas that could have been expanded into full LPs in another universe. “Neon Lights” and “Spacelab” feel dreamy and easy-going, with floating melodies that draw from the “cosmic music” scene, one of the many emergent styles that began as something uniquely German and spread throughout the world--in this case, becoming an important forerunner to ambient electronic music through acts like Tangerine Dream. Meanwhile, the hard, tick-tocking rhythms of “Metropolis” and the title track point to the newfound focus on rhythm and the so-called motorik beat that made the music of Neu! so compelling.

The Man-Machine can serve not only as an introduction to Kraftwerk, but also as a sort of crash course in this entire period of electronic music, showcasing some of the most distinctive and influential features of the German scene, as well as the shape of synth-pop to come. It’s a complex and busy historical moment with huge ramifications for almost all of subsequent electronic music, and The Man-Machine really creates a microcosm of that whole environment. There’s also the fact that each side of the record has one track from each of my three broad groups, like an expertly-designed sushi platter or charcuterie board for us to sample from, and they both follow the same formula: a pop appetizer, a cosmic *entree,* and motorik for dessert.

*The Man-Machine* also has what is almost certainly the most iconic cover of any of Kraftwerk’s LPs. This is how lots of us still picture them in our minds, and it’s inspired tons of parodies and riffs over the years. I think all of that acclaim is deserved! Emil Schult’s graphic design for the album was heavily inspired by avant-garde Soviet artists of the 10s and 20s, chiefly El Lissitzky. These visual artists used their art to express their hope for a new world, defined by the promise of technology, and their literally revolutionary philosophy--so what could be a better match for Kraftwerk’s electronic revolution in music? Lissitzky used bright, primary colours, straight lines, and geometric shapes to convey the “built environment” of modern cities and man-made architecture, and you’ve got all the same sentiment on display here. The use of strong diagonals really draws the eye and lends this image a lot of continued visual interest. It’s also worth noting the extent to which Kraftwerk’s aesthetics inspired later electronic acts almost as powerfully as their sound. When you picture an electronic band, and get a mental image of stiff and stone-faced musicians behind synthesisers wearing shirts and ties, you can certainly thank Kraftwerk for that, as well.

I also love the title of The Man-Machine! The relationship between people and technology is one of, if not the, most central themes in Kraftwerk’s entire discography, which is full of references to anthropomorphic machines as well as mechanically-mediated humans. The particular choice of the phrase “man-machine,” as opposed to words like “android,” has a fun vintage flair to it, which matches the use of early 20th Century visual art quite nicely.

As might be expected from the album’s stylistic diversity, *The Man-Machine* would prove to be something of a transition point in Kraftwerk’s career. Their 1981 follow-up, Computer World, would return to the song cycle format, but with increasing emphasis on ideas from the pop sphere, championed by percussionist Karl Bartos. By the time of the last classic-lineup Kraftwerk LP, 1986’s Electric Cafe, they had not only amped up the pop, but also incorporated influence from the electronic dance music of the time. Ultimately, Bartos would leave the group, chiefly due to discontent with his treatment by founding members Ralf Huetter and Florian Schneider-Esleben, and their persistent lack of musical productivity.

On a somewhat lighter note, my personal favourite track on this album is its opener, “The Robots.” Per my typology from earlier, I classified this as a pop-oriented song, and it certainly is an approachable one that’s proven to be quite popular. But it’s got just enough more experimental touches to keep things quite interesting. From an ominous, dissonant intro, a slightly more pop form, hinting at a verse/chorus structure, soon emerges and contrasts. I love the groove of the rhythm and percussion here, as well as the very heavy vocoder, rich in texture and certainly a Kraftwerk staple.

While the lyrics can be read as sort of light and silly, I like to think that the robots in question might also be dangerous. The track “Metropolis” seems to reference the seminal 1927 silent film of the same name, which is famous for its portrayal of an evil, mechanical doppelganger. Likewise, the choice to translate the lyrics of the song’s interlude into Russian is likely inspired by another great work of art from this era: the stage play R.U.R.--Rossum’s Universal Robots. Written by Karel Čapek in 1922, it’s the progenitor of the “robot revolution” trope in science fiction, the source of the word “robot” for autonomous machines in almost every human language, and one of the first entries in the illustrious career of an author who helped make Czech a true literary language. While the titular robots take time to assure us that they’re programmed to do what we humans want, should we really trust them...?

[anggecity]

Non-Japanese tries to explain the lyrics of "Black Gold" by otetsu ft. Megurine Luka

Note: I am not a Japanese speaker, so I depend on translation engines, and comments are always welcome.

Black Gold is one of otetsu-P's iconic songs featuring Megurine Luka. It's also one of my fave J-pop songs to listen to, so I got curious on what the lyrics meant...

TL;DR I think the song talks about a breakup, in simplest words. But it is not one that ended because of infidelity.

So first off, I'm checking the PVs if they could have highlighted other elements of the song. The original PV by meola is more of a still, exhibiting the sheen of gold, contrasting on a dark background. Meanwhile, Project DIVA's game video features Luka in a railway station, with black-gold motifs.

Down to the lyrics, I looked up one at Vocaloid Lyrics by user @vaffisuco.

On Vaffisuco's, there are some notes, possibly adding more context to the intended message:

1. Not quite sure what the little 'dot' means between 犠牲 and 代償。Here I just assumed these two were connected to one another grammatically and in context. 2. Unsure if the その覚悟 part connects with the next sentence cluster, and can't tell if the intonation is necessarily going down to indicate the end of a sentence. I decided to translate these sentences as such as to avoid a very lengthy English explanation. 3. Here I assume that the singer is verifying her existence/her failed relationship. She grasps the 'love' and the Black gold ring in order to leave her 'mark'. May possibly be referring to the existence of her ex, but I decided to translate this portion in first person.

Those notes aside, comparing it to DeepL and Google Translate, the human and engine translations mostly have the same translation. For comparison on engine translations, I merged lines per phrase, usually into ones or two whole lines. There is also one line-by-line at DeepL, as the line breaks sort of bring a different context, though still similar.

Altogether, the translations at the first verses present a confusing group of lines.

I was asked to decide which way to go, and I lied. The person who told me to go right went left. (from DeepL, merged lines)

As someone who also speaks Tagalog, I might see that "going left" can translate to "pangangaliwa" or a connotation of adultery/cheating. However, I am not sure if this is applicable in Japanese too. So I thought that it implies more of a backsliding, or a reversal of what was once promised.

To be able to breathe / So that I can live / Having to put it into words (from DeepL, line-by-line)

To me this implies that there had been an end of a connection in good terms, that ironically not staying true (lying) to one's initial words would mean being true to the next.

It must have been hard for you to put it into words, but you were still smiling, covered in scars. (from DeepL, merged lines)

There is a slight difference on translated syntax to different engines, but it is pretty consistent with all three presented translations here. However, for the next line, both line-by-line DeepL and merged lines at Google Translate show the same to who is expressing laughter, but differ to who apparently got the injuries:

You're covered in scars/ I was smiling (from DeepL, line-by-line)

It would have been painful to put it into words. I was laughing with all the scratches. (from Google Translate, merged lines)

And so is for Vaffisuco's and merged lines at DeepL, saying it's the other party that did so:

As I became covered in wounds / You laughed. (Vaffisuco's Vocaloid Lyrics translation)

It must have been hard for you to put it into words, but you were still smiling, covered in scars. (from DeepL, merged lines)

I am not sure which among these translations fit the producer's intended message. Perhaps for one, it is open to interpretation. But I also think that the laugh can connote a "hiding the pain" (no reference intended), or it is more of a relief to one that broke the bond, that it had to be a relief for both.

The chorus translations are very similar. Vaffisuco's translation brings an imagery of, likely a lost possibility, a path that with this became a dead end.

Scared of the things that could separate us, / I averted my gaze and ran away / I stop in my tracks, my vision flickering / I am not prepared to be, or repay the victim* (Vaffisuco's Vocaloid Lyrics translation) *The words translated were "犠牲" (sacrifice) and "代償" (compensation). Per the note, the translator "assumed these two were connected to one another grammatically and in context."

Vaffisuco's translation strikes me that it was a shock for the person, as if they were caught off-guard. At least as how I see it, the persona talks about how difficult something was to let go, and consequently "repay" the compensation that for one, will mend things altogether. I reckon a line confirms it, that they still have a significant attachment despite the breaking away:

I'm so, so scared of being separated, / I just want to be by your side (Vaffisuco's Vocaloid Lyrics translation)

I'm afraid of being separated from you. I'm afraid.　 I wanted to be there. (from DeepL, merged lines)

Where Vaffisuco's (and another translation at LyricsTranslate) repeats with "or repay the victim", the engine translations seemed to show slight differences:

Stopping, hiding in plain sight The sacrifice, the price, I'm not prepared for [it] (from DeepL, line-by-line)

Stopping, sacrificing and compensating to appear and disappear (from Google Translate, merged lines)

The words may have resulted from completely different ways of extracting context from syntax, so here we are. But even so, the connotations share something in common. "To appear and disappear" presents itself in a way that there could be a sacrifice to begin with, to compensate in keeping, and the "stopping" in "[to] disappear". That's how I can interpret what I got from Google Translate. But for what DeepL showed, it could be reiterating the notion of not being able to accept for whatever had to be lost and "sacrificed".

The bridge builds up with lyrics that give a sense of "spiralling down". It likely, vaguely if anything, references fate being cruel.

So, what is the 'truth'? / Is it cold, hard metal? / Look, look at me walking! / Look, look at me walking! / So who was the one that made the decision? / Just where is our God? / Ah, how unfulfilling! (Vaffisuco's Vocaloid Lyrics translation)

What's the truth, what's cold metal? Look at me, I'm looking at you, I'm walking backwards, When did God decide? I don't know where God is, I can't fill it, I can't fill it. (from DeepL, merged lines) *Without the rest of the lines, "埋まらない　埋まらない" becomes "I can't bury it I can't bury it"

I'm not sure what the "cold metal" is about, but a quick Google search of "冷たい金属だとか" showed this (and another random translation):

Could it mean that that the brink of sincerity becomes no more than gold, but that of silver? Could it be referencing the conductivity of silver? Or maybe it just generally refers to metal left in a cool temperature, that literally feels hard and cold to touch?

And down to the last two choruses... the lines changed, going to the song's conclusion.

Separating from you, I go far, far away / To the people who went left / I'll leave your last act of kindness right here / So it won't lose it's brilliance (Vaffisuco's Vocaloid Lyrics translation)

To the one who went away, far away, to the left The last kindness you gave me, I'll leave it here so it doesn't fade away (from DeepL, merged lines)

Both DeepL and Google Translate shared very similar results. As for this, it bears acknowledgement on the other party, possibly memorializing the pleasant memories to be left behind.

What drives people apart / is that resolve for victims and their compensation I grasped the love dangling from my neck / and a black gold ring / So my footprints won't disappear (Vaffisuco's Vocaloid Lyrics translation) *Quoting the translator: "Here I assume that the singer is verifying her existence/her failed relationship. She grasps the 'love' and the Black gold ring in order to leave her 'mark'. May possibly be referring to the existence of her ex, but I decided to translate this portion in first person."

One of Vaffisuco's notes imply for the second last chorus that in times of trouble, people look for compensation and will do anything for it. It might try to say that at some point, vengeance is what pushes a person to act upon something; sometimes, this can be seen as closures, closing things. This is such that they believe that removing something from their live will make it easier, that it is a resolution on their part. (There definitely are more connotations that only human translators and native speakers can catch!)

To be separated from you The sacrifice, the price, the determination With [the] love around my neck and the black gold ring around my neck I'm trying to keep my footprints (from DeepL, line-by-line)

For the last chorus, I agree with Vaffisuco's note, seconding that the song is about a process of separation, when honesty is still honesty, and the difficulty of acceptance for one end (the persona). As for whose footprints are being kept, if it is decided that it was the persona's footprints, the persona wants to be remembered by one who left her. Otherwise, the persona wants to remember the other half, implied by the footprints.

As for the title "Black Gold", it can be interpreted in many ways. For English speakers, the phrase may be slang for "petroleum" as this resource in deposits had made certain countries rich by importation. But in jewelries, "black gold" refers to processed gold so its surface exhibits a black color.

Overall, the song shows itself as mysterious and poetic (especially that I am no Japanese speaker) with how the words are translated, and the implications I get by looking at how the syntax is processed for a language I am a native speaker of.

[captainscanadian]

Love Me Blue | Bucky Barnes x Reader (Poornima)

My Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Summary: Perhaps Bucky Barnes should thank his insomnia for being the reason why he met you. But you should thank the Hindu God of Love and Compassion for bringing Bucky into your life. 

Word Count: 4500+

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Tamilian!Hindu!Reader

Warnings: MINIMAL TAMIL SONG LYRICS (I’m more than happy to translate!) & TAMIL CULTURE, References to Hinduism, PTSD, Insomnia, Endgame References. 

A/N: This is my entry for @bucky-smiles​‘s 3K Diversity Writing Challenge! My prompt was to write a fic with a Hindu reader. I decided to write this fic with a Tamilian reader because I am Tamilian. I was born in Sri Lanka and my mother’s side of the family are Hindu. Although I consider myself an agnostic theist, I do enjoy reading the epics of Mahabhrata and Ramayana. @jalapenobarnes​ & @fafulous​, THIS ONE IS FOR YOU, MY CHELLANGALA! 

It had been five months since the final battle against Thanos and his army had taken place. With Tony Stark’s demise and Steve Rogers’ decision to return to the past, Bucky Barnes found himself trying to reintegrate into society on his own and to the best of his ability. 

Rhodey had been kind enough to offer him one of the spare residential apartments at the Avengers’ compound, and Sam was there to provide him with some counselling for the time being. There had been some talks about a designated therapist being appointed at the facility, but nothing had been finalized about that. It was very much needed though, as all of the heroes had suffered severe amounts of trauma due to the blip. Bucky wasn’t alone in that. 

Even when he had a compound full of the earth’s mightiest heroes to aid him in his recovery, Bucky still felt as though he was going through it all on his own. He felt disconnected from reality and unbelievably lonely in this particular battle. Not to mention having to lose the one person whom he had known his whole life to old age. He really was alone in this battle with his own mind. There was no denying that. 

While the rest of the team were slowly getting back into going on missions, he could not do the same. He had been fighting his whole life and needed to stop at some point. But it was easier said than done. 

Bucky had a much harder time adjusting to life after the blip, considering that he was also trying to cope with more than seventy years of torture along with literally ceasing to exist in a matter of seconds. It seemed as though he could never get a break. 

Needless to say, it was a rarity for Sergeant Barnes to sleep through the night. He would wake up in a cold sweat from some murderous nightmare almost every single night since he had fully moved into the compound. Finding himself unable to fall back asleep, he would pace back and forth in his bedroom until the crack of dawn before joining Sam for his usual workout session at the facility’s gym. 

It was one of those dreadful nights when he had found himself having woken up from a nightmare. Pacing back and forth in his bedroom for what seemed like hours and desperately in need of some fresh air, he decided to step outside of his living quarters and take a walk around the compound. Being cooped up in his bedroom until the morning did not seem all that helpful to Bucky, so he might as well make use of the quietness of the night and sit by the lake for a few hours in hopes that it would calm down his nerves. 

He still hadn’t told Sam about his nightmares, fearing that it might make the rest of the team feel weary about him. The last thing he wanted was for everyone to assume that the Winter Soldier was still buried deep within him. He wanted to forget him and move on with his life in the twenty-first century, even though he couldn’t just walk away from his guilt. 

Throwing on his henley over his sweatpants, Bucky slipped into his shoes and stepped out into the brisky full moon night. He walked across the freshly cut grass, his destination being the lonely bench by the water where he would find refuge until the morning. But it wasn’t until he had reached the boardwalk that led up to the gazebo did Bucky realize that he wasn’t the only one who was up at this hour. 

He saw the unfamiliar woman huddled under an oversized hoodie who sat cross legged on the bench. A pashmina scarf that was patterned with peacock feathers wrapped around her shoulders as she stared out into the moon’s reflection against the lake. 

He stopped for a moment, wondering who she might be. He hadn’t seen her around the compound before, but he did not feel threatened by her presence either. After all, the compound was an extremely private property. Not everyone could easily enter the compound, or stay overnight as this woman was. And if there was one thing that Bucky knew about the occupants of the facility - everyone was meant to be a friend. 

As the full moon reflected against the lake, the woman shrugged off her hood to reveal her thick curly hair that had been tied into a ponytail. A sigh escaped her lips as she pulled her scarf up to her neck. 

She hummed an unknown tune for a moment before singing rather softly, in a language Bucky had never heard before. Yet he could not deny that she had the sweetest voice on the planet.  

Nila malarntha iravinil thendral ulaavidum nadhiyil

Neela nirathu baalagan oruvan kuzhal oodhi nindraan

Kaalamellaam.. Kaalamellaam avan kaadhalai enni 

Urugumo en ullam…

Kaatrinile varum geetham

Kaatrinile varum geetham

Kangal panithida pongum geetham

Kallum kaniyum geetham

Kaatrinile varum geetham

Bucky’s lips curled into a small smile as he gathered up the courage to approach her, taken over by his own curiosity and certainly in need of a distraction from the reason why he had woken up at this hour in the first place. 

The sound of his footsteps approaching had startled you slightly, making you gasp in response and turn around. Your eyes grew wide upon coming face to face with this rather familiar man although you were strangers. If it wasn’t his bright blue eyes or silky long hair that made you recognize him, the moonlight reflecting off of his metal hand certainly confirmed that he was exactly who you thought he was. 

Up until now, you had only read about him in books and watched videos of him in the archival footage from the Second World War. Seven years ago, you had seen him on the news when he had been framed for the Vienna attack. But now seeing him in person, you could tell that he was anything but what the news outlets had made him out to be. He was an innocent man who meant no harm, and that made you feel at ease about his presence. 

The super soldier froze in his tracks upon gaining your attention, his eyes growing wide at the realization that he had startled you. “Uh… hi.” He gave you a rather nervous smile as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. 

“Sergeant Barnes.” You did not realize that you had been holding onto your breath until you exhaled upon saying his name. It was a sigh of relief and gratitude that you hadn’t been attacked by an unknown threat at the witching hour. 

“Bucky.” He corrected you as he walked up to the gazebo. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Oh no, it’s fine… I just didn’t think anyone else was awake at this time.” You gave him a small smile as you shifted across the bench to make some room for him. “And I hate to admit that… recent events have caused me to act extra vigilant at times.” 

“That makes two of us.” Bucky admitted with a sigh, walking around the bench to take a seat next to you. 

You chuckled softly before nodding. “What’s got you up at this hour, Bucky?” 

“Just couldn’t sleep.” He told you, not wanting to disclose the truth about his insomnia to a complete stranger. “How about you?”

“Jet lag.” You shrugged. “A few hours ago, I was relaxing on a farm in India. But now I’m in this highly secure compound that’s home to earth’s mightiest heroes. Sleep seems to be the last of my worries at the moment.”

Bucky was growing more curious about you, but he could not help but crack a smile at your choice of words. “Forgive me for not being aware of who you are, but I… I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.” 

“Oh right, I’m so sorry. I should have introduced myself.” You chuckled softly as you held out your hand for him to shake. “I’m Y/N Y/L/N, former SHIELD Agent and… currently second-in-command to Agent Hill. I’m here to oversee the Avengers while Agent Hill and Director Fury are busy with an undisclosed mission.” 

“Hm… you’re the new boss lady that everyone’s been talking about.” Bucky noted, laughing softly as he shook your hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Agent Y/L/N.” 

“Y/N.” You clarified, laughing softly. “I’m not sure how a mortal non-enhanced inexperienced human being like myself could ever be the boss of the finest team of superheroes. Just hours ago, I was living a fairly normal life on my family’s dairy farm in South India… hiding out from the harsh realities of the world, milking cows and hand churning butter. But Fury plucked me out of there, threw me on a Quinjet and told me that I was meant for something more than being a milkmaid… which according to him was leading the Avengers. Really puts my life into perspective, doesn’t it?” 

He could not help but laugh softly at that, nodding his head in agreement. “Take it from the guy who was raising a bunch of goats in Wakanda before I was yanked  from there and into the war against Thanos. After all that I’d been through, you’d think that I would want to stop fighting. And I do… sometimes, I want a normal life. I want to figure out my place here. But one thing I had to learn the hard way was that normal is relative and the best you could do is… try to find your new normal.” Perhaps, Bucky should take his own advice. “What’s the worst that could happen, right?” 

“I have to be the boss of War Machine and the Falcon.” You reminded him. “Nothing worse could happen to me.”

Laughing softly, he shook his head. “Honestly, I’d pay to see that birdbrain be bossed around by someone.”  He admitted. 

But unbeknownst to him Sam had become quite fond of you after the events of the Battle of the Triskelion and he knew a little more about your interest in his supersoldier friends than the rest of the team. You better hope that he wouldn’t try to spill the beans to Bucky in an attempt to embarrass you. 

“So, what’s your first order of business as the new lady of the house?” Bucky asked you. 

You looked over at him before letting out a sigh. “My first order of business? Give my best friend the farewell she deserved. She sacrificed her life to save the world and no one even bothered to give her a proper funeral. I’ve made arrangements at the local Hindu temple in the city... to do what I can to pray that she rests in peace. She never believed in any of that, but I do.” 

The next day, you found yourself rearranging the furniture around your living quarters, which was coincidentally adjacent to Bucky’s. You had set up a shrine for Lord Krishna in the corner of your living room, a few brass and wooden idols that you had brought from home arranged on a shelf along with a few oil lamps.

You were certainly grateful that Director Fury had allowed for you to pack your bags before he had flown you out here, considering that you wouldn’t have been able to live without your idol of Radha and Krishna no matter where you went. You may be a high ranking SHIELD Agent, but you were always a devotee of Lord Krishna before anything else. Being thousands of miles away from home was not going to change that. 

A framed portrait of Natasha Romanoff hung in your office, a flower garland hanging around it. A part of you was well aware that she would loathe the fact that you had taken things this far, but you had your own beliefs. She was your best friend, so you would honour her in everything you did. 

“Nick’s never been wrong about anything, Nat. I sure hope he wasn’t wrong about me either.” You thought to yourself, hoping that she’d heard you from wherever she was and that she was rooting for you to succeed in this new job that had just fallen into your lap. 

Bucky had been sitting in the common kitchen when you had walked in. A smile on his lips upon seeing you enter, he kept his head down on the plate of eggs in front of him. He was not one to make small talk during breakfast and usually kept to himself, but that was about to change momentarily. 

“Good morning, folks.” You greeted the team before pouring yourself a cup of coffee and pulling up a chair for yourself between Sam and Wanda. “I was hoping to catch up with some of you before you all went off to do your own things.” 

The Falcon smiled as he leaned over to pull you into a side hug. “I missed ya, Y/N.”

“I’m sure you did, Wilson.” You chuckled softly as you returned his hug. “It is good to be back. I was getting pretty lonely without you guys.” 

“Mornin’ Y/N.” Rhodey greeted you from the stove as he flipped his omelette and looked over at you with a smile. “You want some breakfast?”

“No, thank you, Rhodey. I just ate at the temple.” You told him with a shrug. “But I do have something to ask you… if you wouldn’t mind, could you round up the whole team for a briefing tomorrow morning? As much as I would love to lounge around, I do have work to do.”

“Will do..” 

“So, Fury really did leave you in charge, huh?” Sam asked you with his eyebrow raised. “But why you?” 

“Believe me, I’ve been asking myself the same thing.” You admitted, laughing softly before taking a sip of your coffee. “As far as I know, him and Agent Hill are away on an undisclosed mission and won’t be around to oversee the Avengers. For some reason, he trusts me to do that for him.” 

“To be honest, I’m glad it’s someone we know and love.” Wanda smiled at you. “We wouldn’t take orders from anyone else.” 

“My job’s pretty simple though. I oversee your missions, you report to me. I really hope you don’t put me in a position where I would need to reprimand your asses or have to snitch on you to Fury. I know that the last few months have been rough for all of you… it’s been rough for me too. But we all have work to do so… let’s just… figure out a way to get back into the swing of things, yeah? The least thing I want is to have to be a boss from hell.”

���Yes, ma’am…” Sam gave you a nod before turning over to look at Bucky. “Have you two met yet?”

“Yeah, we have.” You replied, taking a sip of your coffee as you prayed to Lord Krishna that the Falcon wouldn’t spill the beans at that moment. From the look on his face though, you knew he wanted to. “Very briefly.” 

“Have you geeked about your thesis like you did with Cap?” He asked. 

Wanda almost choked on her toast as he mentioned your thesis. “Oh God… not her thesis.” She shook her head, but you knew that she was enjoying this just as much as her fellow Avenger. 

After all, it had been a running joke during your time working with the Avengers to give you shit about your choice of study during your time at graduate school. Tony and Nat were the ones who gave you the most shit about it, and would probably be thrilled to know that their legacy when it came to this had certainly lived on with Sam and Wanda. Perhaps, keeping the joke going would give you all a sense of normalcy, as embarrassing as it was for you. 

“Sam, please don’t…” You shook your head, avoiding the supersoldier’s gaze as you took another sip of your coffee. “I just got here.” 

Bucky looked over at Sam with a rather confused expression on his face. “What are you two talking about?”

“Nothing!” You exclaimed. “Nothing important…”

“Don’t lie to him, Y/N.” Rhodey scolded you, which was followed by a snicker. “He’s going to have to find out at some point.” 

“Come on, Rhodes. You’re not taking their side on this.” You groaned before deciding to give in. As Bucky Barnes had told you last night, what’s the worst that could happen, right? “Fine, Sam… knock yourself out.”

A smirk on his lips as he took a sip of his coffee, Sam Wilson turned over to look at Bucky and wiggled his eyebrows. “Before Y/N joined SHIELD as an agent, she was a grad student at NYU. She taught a history class on the Second World War.” 

“She did her master’s thesis on the Howling Commandos.” Rhodey added. “I hate to say it as it is, Barnes, but she’s kind of obsessed with you.” 

You felt your cheeks heat up in embarrassment and sunk in your seat. The last time you were this embarrassed, Nat had told Captain America that you were obsessed with him and then tried to set you up on a date with him. “It wasn’t an obsession. It was an academic interest. I’m a published academic and I expect you to treat me as such.” 

“She was obsessed.” Sam corrected, causing you to smack him in his arm. 

“Hey, watch your mouth. I’m supposed to be your boss now.” You pointed out, rolling your eyes before you took another sip of your coffee. 

Bucky finally lifted his gaze from his breakfast to meet your eyes, his bright blue ones gleaming with a slight amusement. “You studied history and then started working for SHIELD?”

“History and politics, actually.” You replied with a shrug of your shoulders. “My father was a diplomat, so I always saw myself having a career in international relations. But that just never happened, so I decided to become an agent.” 

“What made you want to become an agent though?” 

“My grandmother. She told me that an Indian girl like me was not meant for a career in diplomacy, and that my place was within the household and not the UN. She said that I belonged in the kitchen, serving a husband.” You replied, chuckling softly. “I just became an agent out of spite, to prove to myself that I was actually meant for something more than just being a typical Indian wife. But I stuck around until the very end of SHIELD because I wanted to do what was right. That’s why I’m still here.” 

That night Bucky found himself tossing and turning in bed once again. Even if he did manage to fall asleep though, the pitter patter of the rain against his bedroom window had woken him up in an instant and caused him to struggle to fall back asleep. He eventually decided to give up on his attempt to get some shut eye that night and climbed out of bed. He just had to admit that his insomnia was going to get the worst of him. 

Stepping out of his living quarters, he decided to head towards the facility’s gym in hopes that working up a sweat would somehow tire him enough for him to sleep it off. But the moment he heard the clashing sound of what seemed like pots and pans coming from the common kitchen, he stopped in his tracks and turned around. 

The whiff of melted butter wafted up his nostrils and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He was unsure if anyone at the compound would be up at this witching hour, let alone cooking up a storm. For as long as he’s resided at the facility, he hadn’t really seen anyone cook. Usually, Sam or Rhodey would make breakfast for the rest of the team. Other than that, the common kitchen was rarely used. 

But Bucky followed the aroma of butter and spices over to the kitchen to see your sleepless self, much to his surprise. 

Dressed in a pair of pajama shorts and an NYU hoodie, you trotted bare footed around the kitchen, your curly hair tied up in a bunch and bouncing on top of your head as you danced around to the music that was playing from your phone. 

Avvaaru nokinaal evvaaru naaduven

Kannaadi mun nindru paarthu kondaen

Ondraaga seithida oru nooru naadagam

Othigai seidhu edhir paarthirundhen

In your own little zone as you stirred a pot of what seemed like rice and vegetables, you paid no heed to the supersoldier who stood against the doorframe and watched as you cooked.  On the counter laid several platters of multiple dishes that he had never heard of and he wondered how long you had been up if you had managed to make that many dishes through the night. 

Edhir paaramaley avan

edhir paaramaley avan

“Y/N?”

You gasped as you turned around to see Bucky standing by the entrance to the kitchen. “Bucky.”

oh.. pin irundhu vandhu ennai

pambaramaai sulatri vittu

ulagunda pervaayan endhan

vaayodu vaai padhiththaan

As you stood there stunned by his sudden arrival, your cheeks heated up in embarrassment yet again. You wondered how long you had been standing there. The song playing from your phone continued on, but as your lips moved along to the words as your eyes stayed glued to his bright blue ones. 

Ingu boologam endroru porul ulladhai

indha poongodhai marandhaal adi

But you snapped out of it before the next verse of the song, and quickly turned down your music. “Bucky, what are you doing up this late?”

“Hi… sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude.” His lips curled into a smile as he walked into the kitchen, eyeing the platters of food you had laid out on the counter. “But what are you doing up this late?”

“I hate to admit it, but… the homesickness is really kicking my ass.” You admitted, laughing softly before you motioned towards the counter. “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to splurge out on some South Indian comfort food.” 

“Hm…” He nodded, looking down at the food and back at you. “Must be hard being back here when you could be relaxing on a farm in India.” 

Turning off the stove and removing the pot of your rice dish from the heat, you set it next to the rest of the food on the counter. “Well, it’s not just relaxing though. Yeah, sure it’s quiet and it’s nice to just… take care of your cows and live off of fresh dairy without a care in the world. But the farm was my home, you know? It’s where I grew up, before all of that chaos with SHIELD and HYDRA...  and Thanos. The farm was my happy place, but it’s just not the same anymore. It’s not the same without my grandmother… and my father” You admitted, sighing. “Change is not something that I was able to get used to.”

“That makes two of us.” Bucky agreed with a shrug of his shoulders. “It hasn’t been easy… trying to catch up.” 

“I can imagine.” You nodded as you cleaned up the kitchen, not wanting to leave behind a mess when Sam or Rhodey came down to make breakfast in the morning. “Then it’s a good thing that you’ve got a history major as your next door neighbor, huh?”

His smile grew wide at your words, and he shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. “I thought you majored in The Howling Commandos, doll. Are you sure that makes you an expert on what happened after the war?” 

You crossed your arms against your chest. “To think that I spent years studying your life... only for you to undermine my expertise a decade later.” You shook your head as you laughed. “Come on, I’m going to need some help eating all this food.” 

“Uh… okay?” Truth be told, he wasn’t going to assume that you were going to eat the entire amount of food you had made since it did seem like too much food for one person. He could not help but wonder if you had figured out his secret when you had offered to share the food with him. “You know, I’ve never had Indian food before. But Sam’s told me that it’s spicy.” 

As you grabbed a few of the platters and set them on a cart so that you could bring it up to your quarters, you turned back to look at him. “I’m sure you’ve had some well-seasoned food in Wakanda though. I can’t imagine your taste buds being completely dead with all of the boiled and unseasoned nonsense that they used to call food back in the forties.” 

Bucky snickered at your words as he lent you a hand on transferring the big pot of rice onto the cart. “You can’t trash the food of the forties. It was the Great Depression, Y/N.” He defended, to which you rolled your eyes. 

“I looked into your family records, Sarge. Apparently you guys owned a car during the Great Depression… which I refused to believe until Steve was able to confirm when I asked him out of utter curiosity. You must have been loaded.” You pointed out, teasingly. “It’s a shame that all that money couldn’t have gotten you any kind of seasoning.” 

“Alright, if you’re going to drag me through mud… then perhaps I might cook for you some time.” He offered. “In return of you sharing this food with me and to show you that I’m not a completely unseasoned man.” 

You raised your eyebrow at him as you walked over to the fridge, grabbing the rolled up banana leaf that you had left in there. “If you insist, then I’ll have you know that Wakanadan lamb is out of the question. I’m vegetarian.” 

“Good to know.” He agreed as he began walking back towards the door, his metal arm pulling the cart of food along with him. “May I know the reason why?” 

“I’m Hindu.” You replied, shrugging. “I don’t eat red meat because my beloved Hindu god, Lord Krishna... was said to be a cowherd. But dairy’s fine though. Krishna loved butter and so do I.”  

Having been raised Protestant in the 1930s, he could not help but feel slightly curious about your religion. He was no stranger to the never-ending battle between the Protestants and the Catholics across the pond, something that he had learned after befriending Steve and meeting his Irish immigrant mother. 

But he never would have realized that there were much more religions in the world when he was a boy. But now in the twenty-first century, all he could do was learn more about the different people in the world that seemed to have shrunk since the Great Depression. He had learned as much as he could during his two years in Wakanda. But he wanted to learn more, to readjust to life in the twenty-first century. So he might as well start with the woman who lived next door. 

[potahun]

Some more Qin Shen Shen moments translations (Part 13/?)

2020 S2 Reunion Edition 4/?

Link to other translations so far.

a. S2E10 Extras: Qin Shen Shen rehearsals onstage. Li Keqin suddenly laughs by himself, making Zhou Shen look at him:

ZS: What is it?

LKQ: I just have to say, I saw you on Weibo in many sorts of different get-ups (likely referring to get-ups and outfits in variety shows)....

ZS: *sighs*

LKQ, touching his arm: Earning money isn’t easy. (ZS: Yes.) 

Both guffaw, and ZS grabs LKQ by the wrist, shaking it up and down:

ZS: YOU GET IT~~

LKQ: And I just thought...! (ZS, completing: “How pitiful, how laughable”) No, I didn’t think it was pitiful. I just thought “earning money isn’t easy”. (ZS: That it’s hard, huh) Yeah, that you had it hard. Now your way of thinking is very....very open.  

(...)

ZS, likely explaining to LKQ about whether he feels stressed on variety shows: No, doing other things is just a bit more relaxed. Because I don’t need to sing. Singing puts pressure on you. For other things, how I play doesn’t matter -- it’s not my profession anyway. I’ll just try to play well. Singing is really intense.

b. S2E10 Extras: Qin Shen Shen backstage interview cuts:

ZS: Three, two, one. 

Both he and LKQ clap to do the clapperboard, then ZS gives LKQ a look.

ZS: They asked me to do the clapperboard, not you. (LKQ: ......)

ZS: .................... ah? (LKQ laughs) No questions? OK, I’ll leave then! *pretends to leave before laughing and returning to his seat* 

Staff: The last time you collaborated must have been during New Year’s eve last year, no?

LKQ: Ah, yes. (ZS: That’s correct) New Year’s eve....My earphone even fell. (ZS: *snorts*) Why do my earphones always fall?

ZS: The problem comes from you, doesn’t it?

LKQ: It’s the earphone’s problem.

ZS: No it’s not, we were at the same time and place, wearing the same earphones, mine didn’t fall, yours did.

LKQ: But it’s not the same person who helped us put it on. (ZS, shocked: Oh!!) *cheekily sticks his tongue out* 

ZS: Okay, fine, then next time we’ll ask the same person to tie our earphones. 

LKQ, making motions: And I was more....more... *clicks tongue* (ZS: Engrossed in the performance.) Engrossed in it, and, and I used more energy, and... (ZS giggles)

ZS: Can you say “yi tiao long /a dragon” now? (one of the lyrics from the Ye Lang Disco they performed in s1)

LKQ: *does the dance movement instead of replying* I still remember that song! (ZS: Can you say it in Mandarin?) “Yi tiao long”. 

ZS, shocked: Oh!! *looks at camera* His Mandarin improved!! *claps* (LKQ: Yeah, my Mandarin improved) Because in s1, from the beginning of this song ‘til the end, he kept saying “yi tiu long”. *chuckles* 

LKQ: Mm. *nods* Yi tiu long. (ZS chuckles again)

ZS, singing the lyrics of Ye Lang Disco: “Zuo bian gen wo yi qi hua tiu long” / “On your left, draw a dragon with me” !

Staff: So it’s been approximately 11 months since everyone’s seen each other. (ZS: Just barely) 

LKQ: We’ve been in contact.

ZS: It’s the 21st century. 

LKQ: We’ve been in contact once. *bursts out laughing*  (ZS: !!!! *joins in the laughter*)

ZS (to LKQ): Don’t give it away. *laughs*

Staff: How does it feel to meet again?

ZS (to LKQ): Eh? It just feels like you haven’t left for a very long time. (LKQ: Nothing changed) I think it’s just...fight when you want to, horse around when you want to, joke around when you want...and when we sing, he still becomes very serious -- Teacher Keqin is always like that.

LKQ: Yeah, I guess it’s because it’s the same stage...so I think.... (ZS: *laughs* So sentimental all of a sudden...*holds his shoulder*) As soon as I step on that stage, all the feelings, all the images just come back. 

ZS: Right! Earlier, as soon as we started singing, I felt like “Eh? Who’s practicing next -- is it teacher Fei, or someone else? (LKQ laughs) You instantly return to the scenery of the 1st season (LKQ: Yes, yes, yes, there’s that kind of feeling) Like you instantly cross over to that time. 

LKQ: Yes, the only thing is this time, there��s not too much pressure, because... (ZS: Because we don’t have to compete) ...it’s not a competition this time~ (ZS claps impishly) You guys have it hard~~We can be relaxed~~(ZS: You can do it~!) You can do it~You can do it~ (ZS, about themselves: How annoying. Do we have to be this annoying?)

(...)

LKQ, about S2: I’ve actually watched a lot of it. At the end of the day, we came from the 1st season, so I watched a major part of it. And also because many guests are good friends. Even...that 25 years old...went to be a newcomer. *breathes in* How can I not watch? Right? (ZS makes a face next to him) So...I think that combination, compared to our season, makes it more...entertaining (ZS: Diversified) Yes. Diversified. 

ZS: You really have all sorts of styles, including the 3 groups in this episode we’re participating in -- they have completely different styles. So it’s really up to what style you like. 

LKQ (to ZS): Which group do you like? (ZS: Whoa!)

ZS: *thinks about it* It’s very hard. It’s really very hard. Because there are some good friends among them for me too. (LKQ: Yeah...) The younger artists, I am familiar with many of them. 

LKQ: Who?

ZS: Xilin -- we used to be in the same company. Tai Yi, we met at another music show--

LKQ: Tai Yi talks very little! (ZS: Yeah, he has very little words!) I saw a lot of him, he always stands to the side and doesn’t say anything. (ZS: Yeah, so today when I went with them for kart racing--) He’s kind of similar to me. 

ZS just lets out a breathless huff and stares in disbelief at LKQ. 

LKQ, guffawing instantly: Hey!! What’s that expression? *imitates ZS’s huff* (ZS keeps staring) 

ZS: In one section of an interview, you said everything he said in one season!! *laughs*

Staff: Shen Shen, you mentioned the kart racing...

ZS: Right. (to LKQ) Why didn’t you come to the kart racing?? (LKQ only stares ahead) Last season you didn’t drive either. (LKQ: B...) Should we do another round just for you?

LKQ: Once you get older, you can’t drive cars that go fast like those...

ZS: Alright, you’re the best at talking *claps in LKQ’s face* (LKQ: Ok, ok, ok) 

(...)

ZS: Oh yeah, for kart racing, I ended up 2nd this time! *cackles* (LKQ laughs) I can’t believe I forgot such an important point! Oh-

LKQ: Songs. This is a music show.

ZS, instantly serious: Alright. What were we talking about?

Staff: Let’s talk about the song you’re going to sing.

ZS:  I really, really like one of them. “Fu Shi Shan Xia | Under Mount Fuji.” (LKQ: Ok, why?) I don’t know why. Just, back then... 

LKQ (to the camera, about ZS): He’s the one who chose it.

ZS, explaining to the staff: I absolutely wanted it. I insisted on it. I just want it. Mm. How to describe it? In any case, I just want to sing the Cantonese version. Because I really like the lyrics of the Cantonese version.

LKQ: I contacted him, and he said ‘aiya it’s been’ how long since we came? -approximately 1 year? (ZS: Mm) ‘what should we sing?’ We exchanged a few songs, and he said ‘this one’. So I said, actually, I do like this one quite a bit as well. But ....many years ago, I sang it already. Do we want to do it again? And he said *imitates ZS* ‘hey, it’s not the same. the duet version we’ll be doing will be different’. *looks at ZS*

ZS: That’s for sure. And in any case, I just really like this one. 

Note: Zhou Shen interrupts Li Keqin while he’s explaining that he sang “Fu Shi Shan Xia” in the past, just to say that LKQ sang the song at a “time when he showed his mouth”, which I initially didn’t get, but I think he means it literally, because LKQ’s mask on “Masked Singer”, in which he sang “Fu Shi Shan Xia”, pretty much only showed his mouth.

(...)

ZS: Anyways, my Mandarin is very good.

LKQ: Mm. My Mandarin (ZS: ...has not improved) is also very ordinary.

[bananban-feature]

My Top Pentagon Songs

I’ve already mentioned before that Pentagon has great songs, personally written by the members themselves. I’m also still not shutting up about their live vocals because they're literally at the top of my list among all the kpop groups I follow. They deserve so much.

I hope you watch all the videos cause they are all great.

1. Daisy (2020)

The queen. This song earned them their first win, and a lot people became Pentagon fans because of this song, including me. This song about fake love and heartbreak was written by Hui and Wooseok! 

Even though I didn’t understand the Korean lyrics, Daisy really pulled my heart and played with my ears the first time I heard it. Watching the MV gave me an even more intense feeling seeing the emotional scenes and the lyrics translation. It’s like I really felt the pain they had. What a powerful song!

Classical & jazz musicians reacted to this, and I love how they explained the technical side of the song. (CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO!) Like one of the reacting musicians said, this song was intelligently written! Great job, Hui, Wooseok, and producer NATHAN. Beautiful arrangement.

Favorite parts: Wooseok’s whole verse (ugh, I can’t stop fangirling about this 0:28-0:38). The drop and the boom before Hui’s chorus (1:01-1:04) and the chorus itself. The part of Yanan’s verse (1:39-1:42). Just the MV, but the silence + eerie sound and then Kino falls (1:59). The bridge where everyone sings! (2:32-2:46)  And the rest of the parts after that, especially Yanan and Hui’s contrast (2:50-2:55).

***Ok, I take back what I said about Yanan’s vocals in my previous post. I really love him here.

Versions (click bold title for link): 

Acoustic Version (<-click for video)- I’ve already shared this in my first post! Their vocals totally shine more, and the beauty of the arrangement shines more. You can hear even the low and rap voices of Wooseok in the bridge. The whole thing is beautiful. (Seriously, even the way Yeoone sighs after his part is beautiful.) I totally went wild after seeing this video.

Rock/Band Version  (<-click for video) - A different feel, but obviously, I love the live versions. They sang really well! They covered Love Sick Girls as well, it’s a good one. 

2. Shine (2018)

This is mostly written by E’Dawn, but other members participated as well. It’s a masterpiece, a very catchy song about admiration and confession of love. The fun sound will dwell in your ears. I love it when they do a fun dance! Honestly, E’Dawn’s charm is accentuated and his vocal rap sound is so good.

Favorite parts: I love the choreo. I really love their dances in fun songs. E’Dawn in this whole thing is a big vibe. The chorus, especially “Jijiri, jijiri” part. The “Yuto da” line also always becomes my favorite in any Pentagon song, and then he did a great rap! Jinho, being the legend he is at 2:49, absolutely beautiful.

Versions:

Acapella Remix - I was seriously mind-blown after watching this. I mean, what other kpop group does it like them? They harmonize so well! Clearly, the best vocals. I’m a HUGE HUGE fan of this, and I think this video is criminally underrated. Since I love it so much, I’m gonna post it below. DAMN that talent.

Acoustic Version - Yes, live acoustic versions of Pentagon are lovely! They actually have a few slips here, but it just proves this is completely live. And they all sound so good live!!!

3. You Are (2016)

This is another beautiful song written by Hui. (I keep telling you, Hui is a genius.)

I honestly couldn’t pick the best video to embed here cause they’re all good. All the videos of this are live performances. But this specific video is so emotional and just shows how good they are at live singing. (There’s a loud backing track of course, but they were literally crying and yet they sounded good.) Jinho, the legend, was crying and he still nailed his high note beautifully. I am in awe.

And to think they were ROOKIES here!!! They literally JUST DEBUTED and this is one of their first songs! Just king things.

Favorite parts: In general, the melody and their beautiful harmonization. Jinho’s high note, obviously.

Not many versions of this song but here’s (another live performance. (CLICK HERE) This one is a fan cam (CLICK HERE).

4. Nostalgia (2020)

*Unfortunately, I can’t add anymore embedded videos to this post, so here are links to the song. They don’t have an MV yet, and not a lot of content on this song since it’s new.

Youtube Link , Spotify 

OMG. This is written by maknae Wooseok. This is a B-side track in the same album as Daisy. But wow this deserves more. It’s a very catchy and fun tune. I really hope they make an MV and more content with this song.

Favorite parts: The whole song is gold, but I do especially like Wooseok’s part from 1:24-1:35. It blows my mind everytime. HE. IS. ON. FIRE. And I always love it when they sing all together.

Versions:

Live Version - I’ll embed it below (the video of 3 songs from WE:TH album in acoustic at a beautiful field of daisies.) The whole video is beautiful!

Concert Version (<-click for video) - It isn’t really a different one from the original, but this clip is just fun. This was from their online concert yesterday. They had finished singing Daisy, and then they came back to do this encore. After a very long and tiring concert performing without seeing an audience, it was really hard for them. Surprise, surprise! The look on their faces when they see Universe on the screen and hearing them sing along is so cute!

WE:TH ALBUM LIVE

(Spotify Link for WE:TH ALBUM) I like the song You Like from this album too.

[stay4stray]

Map for Broken Compass and the Stray Kids Timeline

Recently, Stray Kids have been displaying a lot of performances with literary and/or cinematic themes - often 2 in one (Dead Poet’s society, Game of Thrones).  In the Intro to Levanter video, Chan mentioned inspiration from a book and also a poem, and of course we have the Road Not Taken, referencing Frost’s poem (oh and of course Kung Fu Panda!).  I think these are hints for us, that their MVs have similar allusions - namely, they allude quite a bit to Maze Runner.  After realizing this I did some more research and found that someone else had reached this conclusion long before I did, so watch their video here!  This really makes me want to reread the whole Maze Runner series ‘cause it’s been a while but that’s irrelevant.  Obviously I’m slow catching onto this so I’m not really gonna argue for this as its argument is already established, lucky me!  But understanding this allusion does help with how I’ve come to understand the SKZ storyline through the Map for Broken Compass that was recently released.

The main connections to Maze Runner that I’m concerned with:

dystopia

man vs. society; themes of manipulation

the plot set up as a series of trials, hidden one illusion inside of another (maaaaAAtryoshka? 👀 I kid I think)

the very beginning of the Maze Runner movie has extremely strong parallels to the Hellevator MV)

Note: This isn’t to say that the SKZ storyline is the same as Maze Runner!  It very obviously isn’t, in my opinion.  The villains seem completely different and the overall conflict is likely different (in MR if I remember correctly the overall issue was that the world had suffered from solar flares so it ended up being an environmental conflict?).  I don’t know what the overall conflict of the SKZ storyline is just yet but from Miroh they seem to be setting up a rich vs. poor conflict... Though that might not be the overall issue, just like how MR has multiple layers.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Let’s go back to the Map.  At 3 am two nights ago, I made a super chaotic post about how I think it’s meant to be read, so check that out for details if need be but the main idea is that the motifs from different MVs and the way they reappear in different eras and places on the map is how we can find our chronology.

So in the map image above I’ve labeled various things.  The numbers are the motifs, in no real order, but vaguely in order of their visual placement on the map.  Some have letters, a and b, which are when motifs repeat on the map.  The circles draw attention to some things that I think are likely important but am personally still very confused about.  And then I’ve added some translated lyrics that I think are important to the storyline.

I don’t think Hellevator is the start of the timeline.  I think, like MR, it’s the start of the timeline the boys’ remember.  At that point, I think they’ve already entered their first “trial” or “illusion” - that being, they’ve been given a place to live “happily,” but they’re isolated from anyone except themselves.  The reason they haven’t left is because their way out is labeled Hellevator - in other words, they’re convinced to stay through a combination of contentedness and fear.  However, when they eventually leave, they end up in a field of flowers, which doesn’t exactly scream “Hell,” does it?

In my opinion, My Pace and I am YOU are directly connected and in that order - they almost have to be, based on the MVs, I think.  I believe My Pace is the start of the timeline as we know it - I think it is where the conflict between the boys and society starts, as the boys decide to do their own thing, go their own speed.  This is further confirmed when Jisung takes down the camera in I am YOU, which may be the significance fo the broken camera that I’ve circled in red on the map - even though it’s by the My Pace tunnel, it’s not actually broken until I am YOU!

Similarly, Miroh seems to lead to Side Effects/Yellow Wood based on the MVs.  What’s confusing is there’s a possibility that Side Effects actually happened more than once - that the part where the kids get on the bus did actually happen, but somehow they eventually ended up at the same crossroads and took the other path.  On the map, the elevator connects the two of them, which leads me to believe that Hellevator leads directly to I am NOT/District 9.  

Based on motifs, namely the shopping cart and the couch (both of which are in both IAY and the Hellevator MVs btw), Hellevator is up next.  Notably, the Hellevator motifs are placed near the District 9 bus, so we could reasonably say that I am NOT comes next, based on that as well as the elevator.  I mentioned before that their hideout in Hellevator is a place meant to make them complacent, which is supported by the fact that some of their things, the shopping cart and the couch, were taken from their initial I am YOU hideout.  It reminds me of when you move a pet from one place to another and keep their toys with them so that the new place still feels like home.

Based on the 1.5 moon motif, though, Yellow Wood is up next!  Either that, or Yellow Wood came before I am YOU, which I don’t think is the case.  My thought is, Side Effects represents choosing to blend with society or choosing to rebel, so perhaps at one point they chose to go with society, but they eventually realized they were unable to fit in and rebelled, ending up at Hellevator in the end either way.  That’s also why I think the I am NOT part of the map has the Side Effects drone - it’s another point at which they had to make that choice between society and freedom.

From Hellevator, as I’ve mentioned, we go to I am NOT, video-wise this means the I am NOT trailer and the District 9 MV.  From there, we have the bottle of flowers and the field of purple flowers from Hellevator replicated near Levanter... which we can’t say too much about until tomorrow!  But it should lead to Miroh based on the eagle motif and the walkie talkie motif there-- which, people have probably said this already, but the eagle itself likely represents SKZ while the lion represents society (think Young Wings for the eagle and for the lion, it’s attached to things like the City Jungle and the bus driven by the Miroh dude so that checks out imo for more than one reason).  My suspicion is that the use of so many previous motifs in Astronaut represents Hyunjin getting lost and having to remember the way back to where the rest of the group is... This could mean literally having lost his memory or it could be a more figurative form of losing his way.

Anyway, from Miroh we end up at Yellow Wood, based on the elevator on the map as well as the MVs, and this time it’s more literal than the previous encounters with YW - this time they chose a path and throw away the key, never looking back.  They won’t go back to Yellow Wood again because they’ve made their final decision to truly rebel, there’s no going back (which I think may be why Hyunjin was so stressed in SE).

We find ourselves once again at the Levanter part of the map, with the eagle representing running from Miroh’s City Jungle.  And that’s pretty much all I’ve got, at least until tomorrow!

I will say that I think it’s possible that SKZ infiltrates society a few times before fully rebelling, in order to free more people like themselves and build up their forces.  I think something similar happened in Maze Runner as well.  A part of me wonders if SKZ plays themselves, but also other like them in a sort of metaphorical way (if that makes sense?).

It’s also possible that someone else helped them escape from District 9 - the drone that broke in that Chan found, for example.  Where did it come from?  It could have been their past selves, who anticipated their being stuck with wiped memories!  It could also have been other “stray kids” who’ve already escaped.  Maybe it’s I.N’s “twin?”

Okay yeah I think I’m really going off the rails here so I’m gonna wrap up really quick with one final section here!

Things I don’t know what to do with:

keys - my suspicion is that they are part of yet another illusion set up by society (meaning, society wants them to think that the keys will help them escape but it’s all just another trick/trial), and that’s why SKZ has discarded some of them - for example, taking down Miroh will probably not grant full freedom, because freedom is outside of the map, so maybe they discarded the key to return there.

marbles - I’m guessing they have to do with memories somehow but thus far they have only showed up in Astronaut so it’s really hard to see patterns with these just yet.

elevators - I mentioned that they might show direct connections between MVs, but I’m very uncertain about this, actually.

“ghost” I.N who stayed behind in Astronaut - though I will note that he seemed to have a clone or a twin or something in District 9 so that could explain how one I.N went with SKZ and another stayed behind?

[sleepykalena]

Ten Songs to Get You Through the Plague (Hallyu Edition)

How dare you all, daring me to make a list even though I declined because I said it was just a whole lotta kpop. :P

@skitzofreak, @crazy-fruit, and @funkygourmetrva-blog apparently REALLY wanna be “enlightened” or something like that so here it goes~

(under the cut because long post is long)

ON (BTS) - This song slaps, and is one of like...three(???) songs that I like from BTS. This is a straight-up fight song- it’s hesitant, a little scared, but embraces a self-professed insanity as a motivation to keep going, and that’s pretty damn inspirational (and also very Jyn, I must say. That’s been on my mind). This song and Mikrokosmos are helping me write Parka. Favorite Line(s): Can’t hold me down cuz you know I’m a fighter / 제 발로 들어온 아름다운 감옥 [translation: Carried myself into this beautiful prison] / I’m alright, bring the pain on, yeah / I’ma fight, bring the pain on, yeah

Mikrokosmos (BTS) - I love a good song that compares feelings of love and companionship to stars in a night sky. This baby got me through writing about half the chapters in Parka, and is gonna help me write the remaining 3-4 chapters before I move on to Scarf. Favorite Line(s):  어쩜 이 밤의 표정이 이토록 또 아름다운 건 / 저 별들도 불빛도 아닌 우리 때문일 거야 / You got me / 난 너를 보며 꿈을 꿔 / I got you / 칠흑 같던 밤들 속 / 서로가 본 서로의 빛 / 같은 말을 하고 있었던 거야 우린 / 가장 깊은 밤에 더 빛나는 별빛 [rough translation: It’s possible that the night is beautiful not because of the lights or stars, but because of us / You got me / I see you as I dream / I got you / in the darkest of nights / The lights we saw in each other / were saying the same thing / A starlight that shines brighter than the deepest night]

Bad Buy (Cover) (Eric Nam) - I was really uncomfortable with the idea of a female minor talking about how she’s the type to “might seduce your dad”, but under the lens of a “guy next door” in his late 20s/early 30s, it seems...more like a strange quirk than some lolita thing. But also, Eric Nam has no business being this attractive and making this super smooth cover. Seriously. No business whatsoever. *fans self* Favorite Line(s): Duh. (SERIOUSLY. That’s the favorite bit. I’m not even joking.)

Double Knot (Stray Kidz) - I heard the English version of this first and thought, “hot damn, these kids go HARD”. And then someone pointed out that they were literally singing about tying their shoelaces and now I can’t stop laughing. I actually have had this in my rotation because it helps me get in the mindset of the show I’ll be working on next (which has a similarly hilarious juxtaposition), because I hear this song and literally imagine a bunch of 13 year olds trying to act hardcore with a song as G-rated as this (I’m still laughing just thinking about it) Favorite Line(s):  Dramatic cutscene every scene is the best of the best / 'Cause my life is a five star movie / I'm not done yet so / Tight-tight, go brace yourself / I tighten my double knot

HIP (Mamamoo) - This song is a huge critique on the kpop industry and their rather restrictive and fat-shamey culture, and I AM HERE FOR IT. Plus these gals are just GORGEOUS. This one got me exposed to Mamamoo and I have zero regrets. Songs like this always make me feel super empowered <3 Favorite Line(s): 논란이 돼 My fashion / 별로 신경 안 써 그저 Action / 자꾸 Click me click me 홀린 듯이 Zoom / Close up close up close up HIP 해 [localized translation: Your controversy is my fashion / I don’t care, it’s just an action / Go and click me, click me, like a stan, you zoom / close up, cuz you know I’m HIP, hey]

Regular (NCT 127) - Pretty sure this has been living in my playlist for most of 2019, and it hasn’t changed much since. Definitely makes me feel like a baller while I (used to) commute in shitty traffic, so listening to it now that I’m practicing social distancing is more about mentally taking myself to a place of normalcy than anything else.  Favorite Line(s): I like shining, you be lying / I be grinding, you waste time / Know you wanna roll with me / Cause you know I put it down / When I show up, I’m the one and only, nah nah nah / Yeah, pull up in the jag / Haters gon’ be mad

Kill This Love (Blackpink) - This is also an empowerment anthem that also helped me get through my (former) commute! When you spend all this time indoors, you’re bound to overthink your life, so it’s nice to have a song remind you that you need to assess those relationships and, if the relationship is hurting you more than helping you, “kill this love”. Deffo applicable to your relationship with yourself (e.g. if you’re wallowing in negative thoughts on a detrimental level), or even with others on a platonic level. Favorite Line(s): 나 어떡해 나약한 날 견딜 수 없어 / 애써 눈물을 감춘 채 / 사랑의 숨통을 끊어야겠어 [translation: What do I do? I can’t stand being this weak / While I force myself to hide my tears / I need to bring an end to this love]

POP/STARS (K/DA) - My previous editor showed me this song at the start of this year before he left for a new show and it slaps so hard that I’m mad at how much of an earworm this is LMAOOOOOOOO (side note: has anyone noticed that I’m picking these songs based on how upbeat they help me feel since I’m stuck indoors all the time?) Favorite Line(s): Ain’t nobody bringing us / Down down down down down down / They could try but we’re gonna wear the crown / You could go another round / Round round round round round round / Wish you luck but you’re not bringing us down

Dr. BeBe (Pentagon) - The song is just really catchy. The lyrics is really possessive in a helpless kind of way, and that’s sort of the flaw with most pop songs, it’s also strangely self-aware of what it’s going through. So meta LOL Favorite Line(s):  너란 벽에 갇혀 몸부림쳐 / 상처 나도 / 벗어날 수 없는 울림 [translation: I’m stuck inside your walls / struggle to escape / and get hurt]

AND THE ONE SONG THAT ISN’T KPOP:

Godzilla (Eminem ft Juice WRLD) - Came for the two folks in Godzilla suits, stayed for the lyrical mastery. I think even my partner was shocked that I liked this song, but honestly? It goes pretty hard, it’s a bit rude and taunting, which is just the kind of salt that I sprinkle in my head. Plus it’s fun to try and get even a FRACTION of the speed that Eminem raps. Favorite Line(s): You're bringin' the killer within me outta me / You don't want to be the enemy of the demon who entered me / Or be on the receivin' end of me, what stupidity it'd be / Every bit of me's the epitome of a spitter / When I'm in the vicinity, motherfucker, you better duck / Or you finna be dead the minute you run into me / A hundred percent of you is a fifth of a percent of me / I'm 'bout to fuckin' finish you, bitch, I'm unfadable / You wanna battle, I'm available, I'm blown up like an inflatable / I'm undebatable, I'm unavoidable, I'm unevadable

Is there anyone left to tag? Making this post was exhausting, so tag yourselves if you want in LMAO

[docholligay]

Talk about Rei's emo song, (titled Sakura Fubuki)

Sakura Fubuki, or, Cherry Blossom Storm, or, Rei is Very Vay and Also Needs to Fucking Chill 

So this is the song Rei sings in episode 23 of PGSM, when she has to put on a mini-concert for the hospitalized children and learn a very valuable lesson about herself. WHile I was watching this I noted how...not light and fun, the lyrics were, and with the encouragement of my patrons, I decided to take it apart. Obviously thi spoke to Rei ins some way as she was going through stacks and stacks of Usagi’s karaoke books (another hilarious in-universe thing is that she’s performing this concert as Reiko Mars, but literally she has just stolen a published song, my god) 

I used three translations to try and construct what made the most sense from an adaptation standpoint, but bear in mind: I don’t speak Japanese, Translation is an art, especially of poetry, and I’m doing my best here. 

Grasping the cool flower petals tightly

I felt as if I saw a break in the clouds

Going on forever

Two dreams

Touching fingertips

I think one of the things that really shines through in this song is the sense of impermanence that runs throughout it. She’s grasping onto those cherry blossoms, something that bloom for a moment and then die, even as she’s holding them, covered by clouds. And then, she sees a break, a light in the gloom that she imagines could go on forever, two dreams, as one, just barely touching. For people named Doc, who are me, this could not be about anything else but Mina, and her sense that maybe the loneliness that has overtaken her, that sense of keeping her head down and working, maybe that could be alleviated with Mina, but their lives are only now brushing against each other, and there’s this sense that it could all go away, so quickly. 

Dancing tears on that spring day

I can’t find any reason for them

Soon they will come to a stop

Can I become strong

Someday?

And Rei, of course, thinking, “why would there be tears” even she can’t really grasp what she knows to be true, that the things she wants go away, and she’s holding on to something that cannot last, something that is only for a short season in time. She can’t give herself the grace of allowing that she can have feelings, she can have tears. All she can do is deride herself for feeling this way, for daring to cry, wondering if she’ll be strong, if she won’t do this, won’t feel this. 

I’ll search forever for the sight of a white angel

I’m sure she’ll descend from heaven

And give me new wings

Rei is looking for redemption, seeing herself as something fallen, and that tracks with the line we see throughout that episode, of her referring to herself as shameful. She’s on the look for someone and something to make her feel like she can fly again, if she ever could. 

A sudden flurry of flowers will take you to the illusory Eden

It seems that only here

I can become a little more honest

One thing that ran through EVERY SINGLE TRANSLATION is the idea of Eden, this perfect paradise, as an illusion. Love it. Living for it. She’s carried to this perfect place by those same impermanent petals that she was grasping early in the song, and this false heaven on earth is the only place she can be honest, the only place she can truly just be. Only with this idea she’s grasping onto with Mina, does she see a chance for herself to be soft in those moments. 

There’s no such thing as God

But I want to believe in something

Now still I don’t want to grow up

A cherry blossom snow storm thinning out

Another thing I loved is that in every single translation, this was sead with GREAT assurance. There is no such thing as God, it’s not a matter of belief, it’s a matter of fact. She knows this to be true, and yet still she wants something to cling to, she doesn’t want to grow up and haver to know there’s nothing out there, even as those cherry blossoms begin to clear away, a symbol of a short time. 

Around the sweet smell of a purple lilac

A distant memory of snow

Washes away with a murmur again

I’ll chase forever

Beyond this deep forest

I know someone’s waiting

The one who will walk along with me

This is again speaking to Rei’s sense of loneliness and how’s she sure, if she can just get through this, that someone is waiting for her on the other side of it all, someone who will see her through the deep forest and she won’t have to walk through it alone. Every thing she mentions comes and goes, the snow, the lilacs, the cherry blossoms, but still the memory of those things stays with her, no matter how long they lasted. 

This brief shower is over

I want to look up into the night sky

It seems that here time stops

I want to stay a little girl

She’s looking up again, but this time she is facing the night, but she wants to look at it, as if she can see something in it that the clouds were covering, a galaxy of possibilities. A place where things can stop and she can believe in something as a child again. 

There’s no such thing as God

But I want to believe in something

That is what I think

On this cloudy moonlit night

As the cherry blossom tempest fades 

There’s no such thing as God

But I want to believe in someone

Now still keep time at a stop

Because I can’t grow up

There’s no such thing as God

But I want to believe in something

That is what I think

On this cloudy moonlit night

A cherry blossom storm fades

I kept the whole bottom part together because I think the quasi-repetition is important. This is Rei’s tension between wanting to stay a child and believe in things, believe that someone is coming for her, and recognizing that the cherry blossoms are fading and she can no longer stay in this world where time stops. It’s an argument she’s having with herself, about how she doesn’t want to go forward, but she has no choice. It’s a song about change, and for Rei I think that’s significant, and I think what’s really significant is that her idea of wanting to believe in something remains even when its separated from desire to remain a child. Even going into adulthood, Rei wants to believe in something and if you ask me, she keeps chasing Minako around because Minako is that something, and of course she’s in for a hard fall when she finds out that Mina is a fading cherry blossom just like the rest.

[sturlsons]

french in 1.5 years anon

Kinda random but I just found out that I’ll be required to be intermediate/advanced in French by the next 1.5 years; ALL I KNOW IS THAT MEIRDE IS A BAD BAD WORD! Idk if you’re a native speaker but I was wondering if you could provide me of any good French language resources (or language in general since I’ll be needing to learn Arabic soon as well), and like tips for language learning and how to go about it? Sorry to bother you haha this is MY stress but I appreciate any help! Have a great day!

HEY. so i really fucking dropped the ball on this one, i’m sorry. 2019 has been one health fiasco after another (or more like the same fiasco again and again) and i kept telling myself i want to sit down and make a proper post for this, until i realised that that’s just never going to happen given the way things are rn. and i’d rather give you a quickly-written post which is actually helpful than never write that perfect bullet-pointed one. 

first of all, i’ve been in your EXACT position (so no, i’m not a native speaker) except i had about...six months to go from je m’appelle teesta to voyez-vous, le problème qui se cache derrière tout ça n’est pas le manque de respect mais la personne dont il s’agit or whatever. i was like, i can so do this. (spoiler: i didn’t, because i was 18 and overconfident and stupid and didn’t actually know how to learn a language.) GOOD NEWS: having learned 3 more foreign languages since then, i am now REALLY GOOD at learning languages REALLY FAST. 1.5 years is a good amount of time, so don’t stress.

i’m going to go generic on this, with some extra tips about french since i speak it, unlike arabic. 

first thing, that typical thing everyone hates to hear but knows is coming from the mouth of an accomplished person (pat on my back) in any field whatsoever: you’re going to have to work really hard and practice like fuck. 

there’s just nothing else that can replace it. i’ve filled up notebooks and notebooks with japanese verb conjugations, once i did like 1800 of them in one sitting. but you better believe that a bitch will never forget those now. resign yourself to putting in at least three hours of your day to this until you get to the level you need. (and three hours is...kind. at my peak i was literally reading through french dictionaries at the library, 10 AM - 8 PM. i treated it like a workday.)

now, what you need to establish is: are you a hands-on learner or a digital one. 

i don’t really care for all the auditory learner and visual learner stuff, i don’t know about anyone else but i personally used those as excuses to avoid certain exercises. unless you have actual disabilities preventing you from accessing certain methods of learning, you can train yourself into anything. it’s a matter of practice. i could barely understand a new song without reading its lyrics first, now i eat up podcasts. 

SO. the question here is different. a hands-on learner, like i used to be more or less throughout my bachelor’s, is someone who absolutely cannot retain information unless they’ve written it down BY HAND at least once. pen and paper. (i’m still like this but i’ve learned to combine it with digital methods to go faster.) if this isn’t a hurdle for you, congratulations. your process is going to go that much faster, at least for french. (you’ll have to spend hours practicing your written arabic however, if you’re not familiar with the script.) 

now, if you’re a hands-on learner, you need to add an extra hour to your daily time. no matter how fast you write, you will take that time. and you cannot shorthand your way into languages. you need to understand how french is spelt, what accents it uses, that they put a space before exclamation points, question marks, and semicolons. (side tip: learn the IPA. it will be useful to you forever in language learning, at least for the romance languages.) i’m not gonna teach you how to make notes since i’ve never benefitted from copying someone else’s style, so if you don’t have a set method start establishing that. you need regularity and rhythm when you learn a language. my grammar notes look the same regardless of the language. i don’t have my french ones since it’s been years and i didn’t take good ones then anyway, but here’s my japanese and russian stuff. 

JAPANESE NOTES // RUSSIAN NOTES

now, it bears mentioning that these notes are NOT the notes i take when i don’t know shit. these are final level notes. they’re brief, idiosyncratic, and only reminders. something to refer to when i’m revising and suddenly forget a rule. the first notes i make are much more elaborate, whether they’re pretty or not. i’ve gradually lost the fucks i had about really going ham on academics so my russian notes are very messy, but my japanese ones from back in the day are magnificent. here’s a look. during lesson one i realised that japanese and my mother tongue, gujarati, are syntaxically similar as shit, and i started taking notes with references in gujarati. it sped up my learning process 2x while my french classmates were still going “BUT WHY IS IT LIKE THAT”. 

PRACTICAL GRAMMAR // THEORETICAL GRAMMAR

if you plan to learn more languages in the future, this will be so valuable. sometimes a phrase i learn in russian doesn’t make sense in its french explanation, but a phrase in english might use the same logic. bam, put down the translation in english then. you get what i’m saying? the more languages you learn, the easier it gets to learn languages. 

now if you’re a digital learner, i’ve got great news for you. duolingo and anki are your best friends. duolingo’s memed to hell and has a system that might not work for everyone, but they’ll do the brunt work of compiling grammar notes for you in the beginnings/ends of their lessons. note those down and transform them into anki flashcards, and you can learn grammar concepts without doing 20 exercises. (do those exercises if you can, though, nothing beats mindless practice.) now anki is an intimidating-looking but actually super intuitive app that basically builds digital flashcards for you and shows them to you in a rhythm based on your own learning speed. it’ll show you the front of a card, let’s say merde. you say the english translation out loud, shit, and hit enter. correct! was that easy? anki’ll show it to you in 10 minutes. hard? it’ll show you in 1 minute. super easy? merde won’t come up again until tomorrow. eventually you get so good at it that you can bury a card for 2 months. anki will also show you the same cards reversed, which is harder but trains you better. you’ll see shit and have to remember what it’s called in french, which is more difficult than you’d think it is. 

you can use anki for more than just vocab, like i mentioned. it’s a little tricky learning to convert grammar concepts into front/back flashcards, but you can do it. for example, here’s a sample of one of my russian grammar cards: 

front ^^

back once i hit enter^^

see? not that difficult. now don’t be an idiot like me who manually entered every single flashcard into anki. you can find pre-made packages online (but you can’t guarantee they’ll be correct) or you can make your own without killing your fingers. what you wanna do is open up a spreadsheet and make two columns, A for front of the card and B for back. it’ll look like this:

then you’re gonna save that spreadsheet as a .CVS (comma separated values) and import that into anki. bam, your flashcards are made for you with half the effort. there’s also a script floating around somewhere to make excel translate words automatically for you, but i don’t recommend that unless they’re really easy words. google translate can fuck up. reverso is your friend. 

you need to review your anki cards every day. it’ll take less and less time as you go along. i can review 300 russian cards in 15 minutes now. but you need to keep the rhythm going. download ankiapp and sync your cards, review them on commutes or in the hallway or whatever. trust me, it’s magic. 

apart from this, if a traditional textbook helps, go for that. i’ve always used textbooks and workbooks, more as supports than as principal methods, but it does help. it’s structured and organised and these people know how to train you. bescherelle is a good go-to for french. 

media is always a great way of immersion too, until you get to the country itself. it’ll show you how french people speak french. when i first came to france i didn’t have that experience and even though i spoke an arguably decent amount of french when i got here, it was like, if this is french then what the fuck was i learning in high school. if you like watching movies this is your chance. watch the classics first so that you can get an idea of french pop culture. amélie (though the pop culture aspect here is about shitting on it) and les intouchables, for starters. watch your favourite films, first subbed, then subbed and dubbed, then just dubbed. i watched all ten seasons of friends with french subs, it was wild. with music you want to start off with some indie-ish singers since they will universally sing softer and slower, making things easier to understand than idk, la tribu de dana. (if you’re into bts there’s a hilarious video of their baepsae choreo set to la tribu de dana.) anyway - angèle, cœur de pirate, céline dion, fréro delavega, uhhh that fucking french sufjan stevens. what’s his name. VIANNEY. don’t fucking listen to biglo and oli or like, fatal bazooka right away. you will not understand shit. i barely understand it. white people are wild. ooh listen to stromae. orelsan too, he’s a rapper but he has a relatively clean diction imo. he also sang the french opening for OPM. they call him orelsan-san in japan.

last but not the least: if you have the opportunity to interact in french with people, DO IT. native speakers will do their best to help you and be kind about it. people who learned french might sometimes be assholes from experience. it’s a whole superiority complex thing, and very hypocritical. anyway - online or IRL, wherever you can practice your french, do it. it’ll be immensely helpful. there’s nothing like the frustration of not being able to express simple things to get you motivated to get better. do your best to immerse yourself - changing the language on your devices can make a difference too. 

i think that’s all i have and again, i’m sorry for taking this long to finally deliver, thanks for your patience! if you have any specific questions don’t hesitate to hit me up, on anon or not. 

good luck - it’s not going to be the easiest but nothing is as gratifying as beginning to understand the workings of a language. you’re gonna love it!

[ryuukia]

[Translation] Tsukiutaya Tokuten Short Stories - Koi Wasuregusa ver.

Happy Birthday, Hajime~! I was thinking days ago what I could do for his birthday then I remembered I had these short stories. 

They’re some tokuten you could get if you bought the smartphone case/bag/pouch from Tsukiutaya. Each item has a different short story, and even on the original paper they’re marked as vol.1, 2 and 3, but I put them together here. The first one is from Hajime’s point of view, second one from Haru's and third back to Hajime. Look forward to a short story each month, because I’ll do it until December.

Assistance and proofreading: @moonlit-manifesto and @ryota-kunstranslations. Rui also helped me a bit with some lines~

Please don’t repost/reuse my translations.

Koi Wasuregusa ①【Hajime】

“ーThis is a new song about you.”

Or so I was told yesterday. Ever since I had been handed the lyrics of my new song, I’ve been continuously gazing at them.

There’s heavy usage of unusual kanji which, paired up with the riddles hidden between the lines that require a careful reading, turn the song into something with a rigid narrativity.

The person in charge of composing my songs is determined to imbue every single word written on the paper with emotions.

With that in my hand, I’ve been thinking all along.

(In this song, a heavy, profound, and passionate love is being painted.)

Unfortunately, I’ve never thought about someone in such a manner until now.

I wonder if I can ever deliver this song perfectly the way I am now.

“Forget love, there’s only passion[1], huh?”

“Eh?”

Unaware I was muttering, I ended up saying those words out loud unconsciously.

Haru, who was on the other side of the room, tilted his head almost as if he was asking “What?” to which I answered “Nothing” and waved my hand dismissively.

“Eh, you made me curious.”

“I said it’s nothing.”

“If it’s nothing, then tell me more. Even though Hajime's the type to just say words as he thinks of them, in reality, there's actually a deeper meaning to those words!”

“Is that so?”

“It is. Aren’t you aware?”

“Not really.”

As Haru smiled in his attempt to figure out what was so intriguing for me, I suddenly asked him the question that’s been on my mind.

This new song is my duet with Haru.

Haru also knows about these lyrics.

That’s why……

“Have you ever fallen in love in such manner?”

It was a topic rarely brought up and would normally go ignored, but I brought it up anyway.

They say singing means experiencing new emotions and expanding your horizon.

(Ah, that’s right.)

Sometimes, having this kind of conversation is also good.

Koi Wasuregusa ②【Haru】

“Have you ever fallen in love in such manner?”

At hearing that question, I was at a loss for words, which is rare for me.

ーTalking about love.

(In this case, the conversation is not about Gravi’s mood maker, Koi[2], but rather about romantic ‘love’, right?)

My thoughts scrambled at such an unspoken thing. The shock was that big.

(A conversation about love. Discussing romance. Love talk, lo-, love talk!?)

It’s one of the most common topics for people our age.

However, I was surprised to see that the other party consisted of my combi partner, who always brushes off these topics.

(No way this is coming from Hajime! Love talk!)

It’s probably hard enough to talk about this with regular people.

But in any case, I want you to understand this is something very, very unusual. That’s why I was so surprised, and in that moment I felt some puzzling emotions.

After all, this is a conversation about love with the king.

“...Haru?”

“Ah, yes, yes. Love, huh, love…”

(Whaa, I’m talking about love with Hajime. About love! Talking about romantic love with Hajime...)

To be honest, the impact of that question was too big, and my brain stopped responding.

However, as that gradually faded away, curiosity unexpectedly took over soon after.

Unconsciously, I leaned forward.

“Since you asked me… Of course you will respond as well, right?”

“Me? … I don’t have any significant memories of love that I can talk about...”

“Now, now! I think you’ve been confessed to a lot of times, right? It must have happened at some point when you were secretly working part-time, too? There should be a dramatic story at least?”

“Aren’t you getting worked up over nothing?”

“Then I’ll get even more excited to talk. When do I ever get to have a conversation about love with you?”

“Conversation about love? …... Is that what is it?”

“......Then Hajime, what on earth is this talk supposed to be about?”

“About my song. We’re talking about music.”

“Still, it doesn’t change the fact we’re talking about love.”

“Don’t say it flatly like that...... Okay, well, I’m still asking you more about it.”

“Sure, sure. If I talk about it, you also have to do the same.”

Alright, let’s talk about love as well.

Koi Wasuregusa ③【Hajime】

I took in the glory of the shoot setup, my body wrapped in an extravagant costume that could dazzle the eyes.

And in one corner of the studio where they were showing us around, a tatami room with red walls was recreated.

(Is this where we come in wearing these outfits? That is…...)

“How should I put this…it’s flashy in many ways.”

“Indeed, isn’t it?”

Standing beside me, Haru laughs with ease.

As our outfits are being worked on, the two of us are side-by-side, looking at the set.

The part of the room brimming with various set pieces created an eccentric atmosphere beyond my imagination.

They don’t look cheap, and they actually aren’t cheap.

My eyes fell on the deep red fake wall for a few moments.

(The art is also fairly well-made, too.)

While thinking about those things my eyes shifted to my side, and there stood a profile of Haru you rarely see.

“You forgot your glasses.”

“Today I won’t need them. I’ll be wearing contacts to fit the world view.”

“That’s unusual.”

“It’s been a long time, so my eyes might hurt a bit.”

While we were talking, it appears the costume check had ended.

I was passed a flower branch and Haru received a pipe.

“Passion daylily[3], huh?”

“I understood something from that strange[4] conversation about love we had the other time: we have yet to experience a love as passionate as the one from the this song, don’t you think? Or rather……”

“Yeah, I understand, Haru. It’s impossible for us to comprehend it the way we are now. That’s why it’s better to devote ourselves to solely getting into this world, without thinking too much.”

“Right? …… Well, in fact, I think love is not something you feel with your head to begin with.”

“...... You say that as if you understand what it is.”

“I wish that were the case.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

Even if Haru laughs so nonchalantly about it now, I wonder if someday he’ll fall in love that intensely.

(...... And how about me?)

Maybe one day I’ll be able to give myself up to love, just like in this song.

ーOne day.

T/N:

“Forget love, there’s only passion”[1]  = lyrics from their duet song (”Ai wasure, koi dake”)

Koi[2] : There’s a thing here. Koi’s name (恋) means ‘romantic love’ in Japanese, so if I have to be more literal, Haru said “the conversation is not about Gravi’s mood maker, Koi, but rather about ‘koi’ as in renai” (恋愛/renai→love; love-making; passion; emotion; affections). I think it's understable even without this note so you can ignore it, this is aimed more for those interested in the Japanese part~

Passion daylily[3] = the title of the song, Koi Wasuregusa (恋忘れ草)

strange[4] = Haru uses 慣れない (narenai) which can also be translated as ‘unfamiliar’ or ‘unaccustomed to’

[wandernic]

My SPOILERY Be More Chill review

In honor of tonight’s opening, I wanted to put together my impressions of the show, brought to you by five off-Broadway and four Broadway preview viewings. I will divide things up by scene/song to better order my thoughts. Please DO NOT read if you haven’t seen or don’t know the story well already. 

(In that case, here’s a mini-review for you: GOOOOO SEE THIS! Okay now do yourself a favor and close this window.)

More Than Survive:

I like the change to Mr. Heere just eating cereal in his underwear, and unable to drive Jeremy to school. This better conveys Jeremy's real frustration with his dad being mentally checked out than the (admittedly funnier) off-Broadway scene, which just made Jeremy seem grossed out by him.

I miss the Chloe-Jake breakup scene a bit, but it didn't really add much to the narrative other than seeing them as a couple for a brief moment. The next mini-scene where Jenna addresses the breakup with Chloe accomplishes what's needed, plus adds to Jenna's narrative as the girl everyone goes to for the dirt and nothing else.

I Love Play Rehearsal:

I would shower Stephanie Hsu with multiple Tonys for this scene alone. Her Christine is equal parts adorable and batshit, and we can easily see why Jeremy finds her so much more fascinating than the conventionally attractive popular girls at school.

Minor gripe: BRING BACK JAKE'S DAB. That shit was hilarious, and in a simple move showed how Jake, while trying to live up to the cool jock everyone knows him to be, has the same amount of dork inside that everyone does.  

The Squip Song:

Ugh I get they're trying to clean this up for a staid Broadway audience, but Rich drawing the penis on the wall and brazenly peeing in front of Jeremy are both missed. Not just for the humor, but because without it Rich just seems like his Squip made him merely mean, instead of confident. That confidence would presumably be what Rich was seeking with a Squip, not to become a garden variety bully, so it loses something in the translation when Rich isn't displaying that through his inappropriate jokes.

I do appreciate Rich's bullying of Jeremy being stepped up, because it's important we get a fuller idea of Jeremy's suffering. Off-Broadway, it just came across as "I can't get the girl I dig and a boy at school sometimes says shitty things." Though certainly emotional bullying is awful, its pervasiveness over a long period of time is hard to convey in a few short scenes. Having Rich also physically intimidate Jeremy makes you feel Jeremy's fear in a palpable way, which leads you to sympathize more with him.

Also can we give Gerard Canonico a Tony merely for the "It's from Japan!" scream? I think, yes. Seriously, his performance in this role is so iconic, it's hard to imagine another actor playing Rich.

Two-Player Game:

The perfect scene for conveying the true dynamic of Jeremy and Michael's friendship. That dynamic being, Michael is a much better friend to Jeremy than Jeremy is to Michael. This is one of the challenges for Will Roland in portraying Jeremy: he is not an easily likeable character. Yes, Jeremy is bullied at school, but he also makes everything about him, his needs, his pain, etc. There isn't a moment in which Jeremy checks to see how Michael's doing (lest we forget Michael is also bullied - the backpack prank was pulled on him, too.) So this song works as both a fun bop, and as a display of the unequal nature of this friendship.

Also, on the whole I *love* Chase Brock's choreography. Especially in "Halloween" and the utterly phenomenal "The Pitiful Children." The one exception is when Jeremy and Michael get up from the bed to finish this song; these moves are clunky and not sharp. It's hard to tell if executed more crisply, they would work better for me, or if the actors are intentionally sort of keeping it loose to demonstrate that these dudes are not as cool as their peers.

Be More Chill:

Jeremy's Squip being activated and the ultimate dramatic appearance of that Squip is one of my favorite moments in the show. My God, the evolution of the Squip from last summer has me floored. It was always good, but what Jason Tam is doing with this character now is must-see. This Squip is like an emotionally abusive partner. He coldy points out what he sees as your flaws, then smooth talks you about your amazing potential, and you forget that you were ever hurt or mad to begin with. Rinse, repeat. He also reminds me of the current administration, in that he'll say something totally out of bounds, then quickly walk it back to where he really wanted you, and you're temporarily swayed by the dial-down that he's not so bad after all. Fucking masterful.

If this man isn't nominated, seriously fuck the Tonys.

Do You Wanna Ride?

What I love most about this besides its hilarity is that it shows a bit of quid pro quo in the seemingly one-sided Chloe/Brooke friendship. While Chloe pretty openly treats Brooke poorly on multiple occasions, when Brooke wants an assist in trying to get Jeremy to say yes, Chloe immediately jumps to her cue and joins in. This is actually more than Jeremy ever helps Michael with anything in the entirety of the show, which is pretty fucking sad when you think about it.

Katlyn Carlson and Lauren Marcus have perfect chemistry as the best frenemies we'd love to hate if only we didn't kind of totally love them so damn much.

Be More Chill Part 2:

I liked the staging for this better at Signature. It serviced the choreography much better when they didn't throw a mall fountain mid-stage that forces them to redirect the dance moves in a less visually striking manner. I especially miss the hoveround rolling down center stage with the mall shoppers trailing behind it. We've already been to Payless and the food court; we know it's a mall. The fountain is unnecessary. Also, can we give Troy a better alter-ego when he goes on? The Starbucks get-up just looks like Michael went to work at his mall job and for some unknown reason put a wig on.

Sync Up:

I love the expansion of the supporting roles in the show, something this song supports to great effect. I don't have a lot more to say on this scene since it's new to Broadway, and I don't remember as much as the other scenes.  Also I believe before this song is when Jeremy ditches his glasses, and I like the change from first preview in how that was accomplished (though I did laugh at the Spiderman rip-off that first night).

A Guy That I'd Kinda Be Into:

I MISS THE PART WHERE BROOKE NODS HER HEAD ALONG WITH CHLOE WHILE LECTURING CHRISTINE. This is in all caps because that shit was comic gold; why take it out? It also demonstrated how in tune with Chloe's whims and emotions Brooke is, which is to say, too much. If I can't have this back, I'm going to at least need someone to explain why it was taken out.

I believe this scene is where the Squip puzzles over the person Christine is, and I love both that she's entirely confounded him, and that post-song, she ultimately defeats his carefully constructed plotting just by being the unpredictable person she is.

As for the song, this has been unchanged that I can see, and that's because it does exactly what it needs to do well.

Upgrade:

One of the best changed scenes from Signature. It was fine there, but is much more fleshed out now, and gives more insight into many of the characters that is needed and appreciated. I especially appreicated the added dialogue between Jeremy and Brooke, in which we get Brooke's insight into her self-doubt, and how Jeremy's seeming interest moved her.  

I did prefer how the Squip insinuated himself more in this scene at the first preview. When he was trying to get Jeremy to get with Brooke, he pretty much physically climbed on him to push him into her on the bleachers. In a future preview, the Squip stood completely away from them onstage, directing Jeremy with hand motions, and I didn't think that worked at. All. Last Sunday, he stood near them and physically pushed Jeremy with just his hand to kiss Brooke; while an improvement, it still wasn't as effective as the first preview for two reasons.

One, the complete disregard for personal space is just much funnier. Two and more importantly, when the Squip was literally pushing Jeremy's body into Brooke's with his own (imaginary) body, it demonstrated an important aspect of the Squip's control of Jeremy. What looks like the Squip being physically seductive is really a demonstration of his seduction of Jeremy's mind. This is significant, because Jeremy ends up doing a lot of things he doesn't particularly want to do, but the Squip seduces him into thinking he does. I found that incredibly effective.

Loser, Geek, Whatever:

My gripe with this otherwise effective scene is the singing of the song itself. Every time it starts to build steam melodically, it's cut off by Jeremy saying/shouting so many of the lyrics. The build-up then has to start again, leaving the song to finish up not as impactful as it could be. This could be a barn-burner Act 1 closer, and instead it's just pretty good. Also I don't know how Will Roland takes that loooooong end note up and down and back again, and still belt as powerfully at the end of it as the start. The show must be using some new can't-even-look-it-up-on-the-internet technology to pump air into his lungs from backstage. This actor has taken on a very difficult character and pitched it just on the line of where it needs to be to work. So impressive.

Halloween:

Love the song. LOVE the choreo (lookin' at you, Chase Brock.) Love LOVE the addition of the Squip front and center. This makes so much sense, because by manipulating Jeremy he's really manipulating all of them, and his inclusion in the midst of the party instead of on its periphery demonstrates this incredibly well.

I don't love the substitution of a pumpkin candle for a gas can. What even was that thought process? That sucks up the drama of that moment almost entirely. What level of foreboding does one accomplish with a pumpkin?

This scene contains my only major problem with the show, and that is Jake's sudden and unexplained loss of interest in Christine. Are we to infer that they slept together once and that's all Jake was after? And that all of his character development in Act 1 was bullshit? In which case what was the point of developing his character at all? This whole thing could be easily fixed by a line or two where Jake realizes he still has feelings for Chloe, but that never happens. I haven't seen the show since last Sunday (when multiple people told me it was locked in), so I hope since that time they've unlocked it to fix the one glaring flaw, either clarifying Jake is a dick, or Jake misunderstood his own feelings. In any event, Britton is absolutely CRUSHING IT with the nuances of Jake, and I can't wait to hear him on the Broadway cast album.

Do You Wanna Hang?:

Katlyn Carlson is a comic genius. All the little touches she throws into this hilariously awful attempt at seduction are amazing. The only part of this I liked better at Signature is when Jeremy asks her if she's jealous, and in this version she's crying while saying "obviously not." (Or at least she was on Sunday). I think this works better if she immediately *stops* crying at that point, playing it like it's the most absurd possible question Jeremy could ask.

Michael in the Bathroom:

Alternate title: George Salazar at the Tonys

Michael is quite simply the beating heart of this show, an odd role for a supporting character. As played by George, he is that quirky, too weird to be popular but too sweet to not love friend that if we were very lucky, we had growing up. Michael is so important because to be frank, Jeremy is kind of a self-involved dick. That would make the show entirely dependent on Will Roland's ability to make us relate to Jeremy through those trials he faces that we've all experienced - and he does an amazing job. But he also gets a Herculean assist from George, who so convincingly relates how steadfast and loyal to Jeremy Michael is, it makes us believe there's something special in Jeremy that warranted this devotion.

A Guy That I'd Kinda Be Into (Reprise):

During the couch scene between Jeremy and Christine, they've cut out Christine's very valid explanation as to why she can't date Jeremy (it involved getting to know herself better first). This is a problem, because it doesn't make sense at the end of the show when she likes him - we never see why she made that leap, so we're meant to assume she likes him for doing the bare minimum of correcting his own mistake. The way it was at Signature, we find out at least that she just isn't in a head space to date someone on the heels of her breakup with Jake, which shows she could be interested in Jeremy once she gets past that.

The Smartphone Hour:

Easily one of my favorite scenes. Tiffany Mann as Jenna is a delight from start to finish, and this is her moment to shine. Her comic sensibility is perfection. Lauren and Katlyn chime in with equally hilarious support.

My only complaint in this number is the slight lyric change to "Jake's house." For pity's sake, we just spent three or four songs at Jake's party; I promise you, we grasp who's house it is. And the change ruins the flow of the song a bit.

The Pants Song:

Okay yes this song is sweetly funny and does exactly what is needed to advance the plot here. But I just want to talk about Jason SweetTooth Williams overall right now. HOW IS HE A REAL PERSON THAT CAN SO EFFORTLESSLY JUMP FROM ROLE TO ROLE WITHIN SECONDS WITHOUT MISSING A BEAT. Mr. Reyes and his delusions of grandeur is my favorite, but Williams brings equal skill to all his roles, including Jeremy's dad. What a talent.

The Pitiful Children/The Play:

This may be my favorite song. Especially with the song, choreography, and performances here, this show is firing simultaneously on all cylinders. I also love that Jeremy and Jenna have an extended conversation that lets us know her a little more. Tiffany Mann gives a heartfelt authenticity to this that is lovely.

I think this is the scene where these critiques go (apologies if not). I wish Jeremy didn't tell his Squip "you were supposed to make Christine like me!" One thing I love about Jeremy is that he is not really into the popular girls, but the most interesting girl. He digs Christine because of all that she is.

When he says this line, he is upset because the Squip didn't make Christine do what he wanted, meaning he now wants her to change to like him. I think this would work better and make Jeremy come across as less of an incel if the line were more like, "you were supposed to make me someone Christine would like!" It was, after all, himself that Jeremy was looking to change - not Christine, who he loves as she is. That is this character's saving grace, and this diminishes it a bit.

That said, I do think there was an overcorrection in trying to make Jeremy more likeable. In the three previews I saw before Sunday, Jeremy tricks Jenna into drinking the Squip-spiked drink. In the last version I saw, he actually tells her what it is, and she immediately drinks it. It's pretty unrealistic that she would do that. Worse, it conflicts with Jeremy's "you were supposed to make Christine like me!" outburst. If we must allow for the fact the Squip has gained so much control of Jeremy he no longer cares that Christine likes him of her own choosing, he's certainly not going to care about respecting Jenna's need to consent to taking the Squip. Given the choice, I would either change Jeremy's line about making Christine like him, or his choice to tell Jenna what's in the drink. Back-to-back, they don't give us a good sense of how much control the Squip has of Jeremy at that point.

After Jeremy and Michael battle everyone and Jeremy makes his final choice, as the result becomes clear, Michael bizarrely explains what is happening on the spot. This makes little sense, especially in light of the fact that at the hospital, he asks Jeremy how he knew what would result from what he did. Um, he didn't know, you literally explained it to him in the middle of the last scene, bro. I would omit Michael's inexplicably instantaneous explanation from the Play scene and let the audience sit with the aftermath a moment, before having it clarified in the hospital scene.

Voices in my Head:

Not a fan of the lyric changes here, which seem to water down the edge of the teens ("she probably thinks that acne is hot") to morph them into Stepford children ("we got your back 'cause we are your squad" - vomit). Otherwise, this scene wraps everything up well and leaves you satisfield with the weird, wild journey you just went on.

What a score (my #1 favorite in all of musical theater history), what a cast, what a show! If there are not multiple Tonys thrown at this masterpiece, any significance the Tonys have is null and void.

In short, GET THERE or you’re missing the show of the year!

[kanasmusings]

[Translation] ROCK DOWN bi-Color Series Vol. 12 - morganite - Cast Interviews

I’ve finished with most major things I have to do IRL so I’m kinda de-stressing myself with translations~ My queue’s also re-organized now and is full with a lot of things~ Please do look forward to them as well!

Thank you to @rubymikun for sharing the TsukiPro info issue with this interview~!  On another note, if anyone has the cast interview for Hematite, please do share it with me to be translated if you want to ^^

※ Please don’t re-post and re-translate this interview under any circumstances. If you want to translate it to your native language, I can provide the kanji I transcribed from the scans ^^

Under the cut, enjoy~!

ROCK DOWN bi-color Series Vol. 12 – morganite – Cast Interview

Koumoto Keisuke (Nadumi Ruka) x Shingaki Tarusuke (Mamiya Takaaki)

Q1: Thank you for the hard work on the recording. The (bi-color) series’ main point is a drama where we can hear two characters interact. First, please tell us something about your partner (in the drama CD).

  KOUMOTO: I thought that Takaaki-kun was very mature. He’s only ahead of Ruka year-wise about 3 years but… It feels like he’s so much more mature than that. As expected from someone trusted enough to be VAZZY’s leader. I resemble Ruka much more, like, I’m the type who flails around so, looking at it through Ruka’s eyes as I acted him, it made me think, “Man, it’d have been great if I grew up to be like this guy,” when looking at Takaaki-kun. Together with Shingaki-san, I acted while thinking that I wanted to leave a huge impression like that as well. He really is a cool adult.

SHINGAKI: Thank you very much. (laughs)

Q2: How was Ruka in your eyes, Shingaki-san?

  SHINGAKI: At the start, I read through the story thinking that he was an energetic boy. Even during recording, I felt that he was a bit similar to VAZZY’s Naosuke who just arrived with a bang but, he has an energy that’s a bit different. He’s (Naosuke’s) a really nice kid but Ruka’s a bit different…. How do I put this? He talks so brightly and yet he manages to be considerate of what’s important for the other person. I thought that he’s a kind of genius who knows how to differentiate between himself who acts on stage and himself who can connect with other people.

I guess that’s why he’s very popular and gets a lot of support from his fans. He can act well in great works, and can make a mediocre work appear great, too. Well, as Takaaki who’s probably the most sensible person in VAZZROCK, he might be confused if it’s actual genius or just lack of common sense (laughs). It’s interesting, isn’t it? Even though he’s supposed to just be a bright and free-spirited character by appearance, I think he’s an attractive character that can look at a person’s soul.

Q3: Ruka and Takaaki, if you would describe their relationship with a few words, what would they be?

KOUMOTO: Last time, I talked about a good “tuna” analogy regarding Ruka with Masumoto-san who plays Gakkun. Like, how Gakkun is his place to go home to or how if Ruka was a ship, Gakkun would be the port he’ll always return to. If it’s with Takaaki-kun then it’s… [Tuna and the Sea] or something… Like, he’s the mother sea maybe… (laughs).

SHINGAKI: Are we in a seafood series now? (laughs)

KOUMOTO: Ruka’s the kind of earnest kid who’ll probably die if he stops moving the way a tuna does if not in water but, Takaaki-kun is the type who, no matter how much Ruka moves around, he’ll always be ready to accept anything that comes to him. Though, I think that Gakkun has a different tolerance level from Takaaki-kun.

SHINGAKI: In this drama, there’s a part where Takaaki suffers a bit but their relationship is probably like [a dog who got out of his leash and an owner who runs with all his might to chase after it]. I feel like I have to chase after him with everything I’ve got. Like, “Geez~ That boy ran so far ahead again, really~” or something (laughs). Kinda like an owner who, even though I know that he’ll come back on his own-- I trust that he’ll be able to do so but, I still get worried about him so I’ll go chase after him.

Q4: Next, please tell us something about the music. First, Koumoto-san, if you have any impressions on the solo song [Sweetie Sweet] or if anything happened during recording, please tell us.

  KOUMOTO: I gave my all to what it resulted to. I drank about 1.5 liters of water during the recording for it, too (laughs). The lyrics are written with the image of Ruka being a 2.5D actor as well so, I could feel the weight in every single part of the lyrics. I thought that Ruka’s feelings would be conveyed if the song is listened to. I did sing but, the impression I had when I read the lyrics were more of how I wanted to convey the message properly so I sang with all my might. For example, the lyrics “zutto zuto… shiyou yo (Forever and ever… Let’s do it?” or the “zutto zutto… miteite yo! (Forever and ever… Please, just watch over me!)” in them. But, it really made me think of how long of a “forever” or how strong of a feeling did he have while I sang it. I thought about that earnestly while having fun singing it.

It is sweet, but that sweetness would never be a lie… I thought about how Ruka would sing it without doubt and hesitation. The chorus has a part that says something about taking my hand and I did my best to portray that emotion for everyone. It made me really red in the face though.

Q5: How was the duet song?

  SHINGAKI: It’s an easy song to listen to that feels just as free as Ruka’s character. Takaaki had a very mature atmosphere in his solo song but, being able to sing together with Ruka made me feel somewhat bright and refreshed. It made me glad to think, “Wow, even I can be this refreshing, too, huh~” as I sang. It’s not only bright and refreshing but, there’s also a hint of sorrow in it that people would really like to hear.

KOUMOTO: When I received the material and the demo for the song, I thought that the title and the lyrics were really pretty. The part that goes “hansha de yokogao utsukushiku teraserete (Your profile looked beautiful as it reflected.)” felt so dazzling, didn’t it? If the listener felt that way while listening then I’d be really glad. It can make everything in front of our eyes shine. As long as we have someone we treasure by our side, everything will seem so bright. And to think that I get to sing this song with Takaaki-kun! Ruka and Takaaki-kun are different characters so obviously, they’d have different views on “love”. It’s kinda exciting to think about how they’ll tackle it in their duet song.

Q6: Lastly, please say a message to everyone who’s reading.

  SHINGAKI: VAZZROCK is composed of VAZZY and ROCK DOWN. And as such, they’re full of 12 completely unique individuals. It’s no doubt that no matter who each of them will interact with, they each have their own feelings of wanting to do better, wanting to enjoy more, wanting to make themselves shine brighter, and stuff like that. These characters who have each of their own goal are facing the same direction together and it makes me want to cheer for them more.

This time, in Ruka and Takaaki’s drama, Takaaki appearing with Ruka is not a negative thing. It’s done with the thoughts of wanting to do more. Ruka, in his own way, gives a straightforward message to Takaaki, and I think that seeing these characters tackle each of their own struggles is a wonderful thing. We did our best singing the duet song too so if you can, please listen to it again and again together with the drama tracks.

KOUMOTO: It’s finally the last lap for the bi-color series! Doesn’t it make you want to try getting to know Ruka more during events and stuff like that? Either way, the CD is on sale currently. Ruka is generally energetic no matter who he’s with. He’s lively, and pulls everyone along with him but, I noticed that it’s different depending on who he’s with.

Specially the previous one with his childhood friend Gakkun as the partner. This time, it’s with Takaaki-kun who he doesn’t interact with much so he shows a different way of trying to get along. With a lot of different [character] combinations, it’s possible to enjoy the series in a lot of different ways, too. I think that’s one of VAZZROCK’s good points.

And then there’s the duet song that talks about “love” and the cover illustration has Ruka looking all manly instead of his usual energetic face. Please enjoy this work that shows Ruka’s other sides and please continue to enjoy VAZZROCK’s world as your views change with listening to the final volume [of the series]. I’ll do my best more so that I could be able to say “Thank you for going on a date with me today!” like Ruka during lives so please, continue to cheer us from here on, too.

※ Please don’t re-post the English translations without permission.

If you enjoyed this, please consider buying me a ko-fi here to support my work if you want. (o^▽^o)Thank you!!