#and i hope the translators i used are correct and that the korean makes sense OTL

[clowningaroundmars]

손끝뿐만 아니라!

just boys being boys 🩷

a little gift to @heiibo for being an amazing punkflower artist and as thanks for the holiday gift! :)

i hope i got the korean hangul correct! i've never written any of those characters before ^^;

고마워요 보경! 새해 복 많이 받으세요! 🎆

[sag-dab-sar]

Shinto 神道: Venerating Kami 神 and Jinja 神社

I hope this collection of sources is informative. I tried to keep my comments to a minimum.

Disclaimer: Auto translation was used for basic sections of text on Japanese websites, because I looked topics up using Kanji. I am not fluent in Japanese.

🔴 Jinja 神社 — Shinto Shrine

"Jinja Shinto" 神社神道 — Shrine Shinto. The traditional religious practices carried on in shrines throughout Japan's history, as well as the attitudes toward life which support these practices. At the core of this religion exists a reverent religious experience which has prevailed from antiquity and which leads Japanese believers to experience the will and activity of the gods through various events of everyday life — Basic Terms of Shinto, Kokugakuin University Link

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"A jinja and its grounds are like the home of the kami. You should treat it with the respect you would show when visiting an important person in their home. The entrance to a jinja is marked by a torii. The torii marks the border between the sacred space of the jinja and the everyday world outside, and so many people pause and bow their heads slightly before walking through". — Jinja Honchō English Link | Jinja Honchō can be translated to "Association of Shinto Shrines"

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"[...] terminology relating to the religious institution of the Shinto jinja, customarily translated as "shrine," including its architectural structures and other facilities, ritual implements, and clerical vestments. [...] Present day shrines are ordinarily composed of main shrine buildings (shaden 社殿) together with halls of sacred dance (kaguraden 神楽殿), shrine offices (shamusho 社務所), and other structures in the shrine precincts (keidai 境内). Items such as torii 鳥居 (sacred arches or gateways), komainu 狛犬 ("Korean Lions"), votive lanterns (tōrō 灯篭), and purification fonts (temizuya 手水舎) can be found along the approach inside the shrine. Shrine buildings may include distinct structures such as a the sanctuary (honden 本殿*), hall of worship (haiden 拝殿* ), and the hall of offerings (heiden 幣殿*). The symbolic "kami body" (shintai 神体) is usually sequestered inside the remote recesses of the sanctuary." — Encyclopedia of Shinto, Kokugakuin University Link

"At shrines, worshipers may present offerings to the kami 神 with the purpose of making a supplication, and in turn, symbolic articles may be presented to worshipers as an emblem of divine power (shintoku 神徳). Offerings to kami may include monetary gifts (saisen 賽銭) or a "votive horse picture" (ema 絵馬). When a person's supplication is granted, he or she frequently makes another offering as a sign of gratitude. Other articles presented to worshipers include "good luck charms" (engimono 縁起物) such as "demon-breaking arrows" (hamaya 破魔矢) and bows, and other similar talismans. These may be charms for general good fortune, or amulets for protection and blessing in specific areas of life" — Same as above.

The article did not give Kanji I added them, hopefully getting them correct. Asterisk means I had to utilize wikipedia's Kanji, otherwise they are from Nihingo Master Dictionary Link and Imiwa Japanese Dictionary Link

🔹 Links for image examples of many of the aspects mentioned above: Japan Guide Link; Maikoya Link; Illustrations Link;

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Venerating a specific Kami vs venerating a specific Jinja I have only seen in David Chart's writing thus far. You may want to research further. It makes sense to me as all the Ofuda I possess have the Jinja's name rather than the Kami's name but that might not be universal.

"The first thing that you need to do is to choose a jinja to venerate. Note that you need to choose a jinja, not a kami. Even when the same kami is enshrined at more than one jinja, which is common, you venerate the kami at a particular jinja. You can choose more than one jinja, and, in fact, the standard rule in Japan is to venerate at least two, and normally three or more. You can even venerate more than one jinja that enshrines the same kami, and those venerations are separate from each other." — Shinto Practice for Non-Japanese by David Chart p 29 Link

"Although you primarily venerate a jinja rather than a kami, it is common to choose a jinja because you like the main kami enshrined there. Most jinja enshrine more than one kami, and some famous kami are actually more than one kami. The most important example is Hachiman Okami, who is (normally) Homudawake no Mikoto, Okinagatarashihime no Mikoto, and Tamayorihime no Mikoto. This means that, if you choose a jinja based on one of the kami, you may well get other kami as part of a "package deal"." — Shinto Practice for Non-Japanese by David Chart p 30

It is probably even more common to choose a jinja because it is famous for a particular kind of benefit. Kinkazan Koganëyama Jinja ("Gold Flower Mountain Gold Mountain Jinja") in Miyagi Prefecture is famous for financial benefits, and according to the jinja's story, if you visit three times in three consecutive years, you will never suffer financial hardship. [...] Tokyo Daijing is famous for "enmusubi", which in this case means finding a good marriage partner, and not because its main kami is Amaterasu Omikami. ([Ise] Jingū is not famous for enmusubi, despite having the same main kami.) Kitanotenmangū is famous for academic success, because its main kami is Tenjin-sama, who was the famous scholar Sugawara no Michizane. — Shinto Practice for Non-Japanese by David Chart p 30

🔴 Ujigami Jinja 氏神神社— 'Local Kami' Shrine

Since the middle ages, the ujigami has come to be viewed as the tutelary deity of a geographical area such as a village — Encyclopedia of Shinto Kokugakuin University Link

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Generally, every local community, whether in city, town, or village, has its own ujigami shrine. The Japanese word uji means "clan", and ujigami denotes the clan's guardian kami, the kami who look after family and community life. All the members of a given community are considered ujiko or 'children of the clan,' hence 'children of the clan kami.' [...] From this perspective it may be said that Shrine Shinto has superimposed a kind of archaic kinship system on territorially defined social units. — Jinja Honchō English link

A ujigami shrine is a shrine that enshrines the guardian deity of the area in which one lives, and the people who live in a certain area around the shrine are called ujiko. Originally, it originated from the fact that clans literally worshipped their ancestral deities (oyagami) or deities with a deep connection to the clan as "ujigamisama," and this group of blood relatives was called ujiko. Today, the terms "ubusunagami" and "ubuko" refer to geographical relationships, but the terms ujigami and ujiko have gradually become confused [(conflated?)] when referring to geographical relationships as well. — Jinja Honchō Japanese Link

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Sarutahiko no O Kami is the main enshrined kami of Tsubaki Grand Shrine North America. Ancestor and leader of all earthly Kami. [...] This is the Hokubei Tsubaki Grand Shrine Ofuda of Sarutahiko no O Kami, specific to North America. If you are not sure of your Ujigami 氏神 (Clan Kami), Ubusunagami 産土神 (Birthplace Guardian Kami), or Chinjugami 鎮守神 (Local Guardian Kami), this Ofuda can be used in the role of an Ujigami Ofuda, because Sarutahiko no O Kami is the leader of all earthly Kami. This Ofuda can be used in the role of an Ujigami Ofuda for all of North America. — Shin Mei Spiritual Center Link

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If you live in the continental USA then Tsubaki Grand Shrine [of North America]* and Shinto Shrine of Shusse Inari in America are both good choices. They have English websites, and will ship ofuda and omamori to you. It will also be easier for you to visit the jinja in person at some point. It could also be argued that these are the nearest equivalent to an Ujigami Jinja for people in your position. —Shinto Practice for Non-Japanese by David Chart p 30

*It is now more broadly "North America" and is officially located in Canada. I don't know if they ship items beyond the US and Canada. Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America in Washington State was closed down and the Kami transferred to a shrine at the Shin Mei Spiritual Center in British Columbia, Canada where it is one of three shrines Link. It maintains a similar name "Tsubaki Grand Shrine North America."

🔴 Sūkei Jinja 崇敬神社 — A Shrine special to an individual

Revered Shrines: shrines that people have particular faith in. In contrast [to Ujigami Shrines], a revered shrine is one that is revered due to a special personal faith, rather than due to geographical or blood ties, and those who worship at such shrines are called "sūkeisha 崇敬者" — Jinja Honchō Japanese Link

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Sūkeisha are people who particularly revere a jinja, and who visit it to pay their respects, but who are not ujiko. It is common for them to also support the jinja financially.” — An Introduction to Shinto by David Chart p 112 Link

🔴 Ofuda お札

Ofuda are used to venerate the kami in your own home, and some people say that the kami’s spirit resides in them. Physically, they are tablets with the name of the kami or jinja written on, and they come in various sizes. — Jinja Honcho English Link

"If you visit a shrine, you may receive a sacred talisman or amulet. There are various types of ofuda (sacred charms), including the "Jingu Taima" ofuda of Ise Grand Shrine and oufuda issued by each shrine. [...] Ofuda is enshrined in the household altar to protect the home. Ofuda that has been enshrined for a year is brought to the shrine at the end of the year and burned. Then, as the new year approaches, it is a good idea to receive a new Ofuda" — Jinja Honcho Japanese Link

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Ofuda — These serve as a kind of talisman or amulet and contain the name of the Kami written within a protective cover of paper or cloth. Generally, they are placed within the household's kamidana and serve to incorporate the household into the deity's benevolent graces. — A Year in The Life of a Shinto Shrine by John K Nelson pp 261-262 Link | About Suwa Shrine in Nagasaki

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Jingū Taima are the Ofuda of Amaterasu-Ōmikami:

In early modern Japan, they were typically known as oharai お��� and were understood to be efficacious in warding off evil, as the name suggests. In the modern period (1868-1945), Ise amulets were restyled jingū taima, [...] One [position] held that: they were symbols (onjirushi 御璽) of the Sun Goddess and her unsurpassed virtue (shintoko 神徳) The other [position held] that: amulets were himo-rogi 神籬, namely the most sacred of material objects since, in them, the Sun Goddess was a real presence. These contrary positions were established in the Meiji period, and they are current today. In 2003, there was a major debate on Ise amulets at [Jinja Honchō] headquarters in Tokyo, where arguments in favor of both positions were traded. The symbol theory won through" pp 302-303 [...] "Notwithstanding the official [Jinja Honchō] interpretation of the amulets as "symbols," purification rites in Ise and the rites demanded for home veneration suggest, indeed the very different understanding that the Sun Goddess is present in every one of them." p 305 — Resurrecting the Sacred Land of Japan by John Breen in Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture. Link

Daijingu Temple of Hawaii still describes them as oharai お祓

"Jingu-Taima Oharaisama for Kamidana" — Link

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Sometimes the Ofuda has the Kami's name sometimes it has the Shrine's name. For example, Shin Mei Spiritual Center offers two different "Ame-No-Uzume-No-Mikoto Ofuda" one from their Shrine in Canada Link vs one from their affiliated Shrine in Japan Link.

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If you have a Kamidana you can also use this Ofuda stand next to your Kamidana to hold Gokitou shinpu (special Ofuda [given] at prayer ceremonies) or Housaiyoke Ofuda (Home Protection Ofuda). — Shin Mei Spiritual Center Link

🔹Home Protection Ofuda examples that are available from Daijingu Temple of Hawaii: 1- Protect from Robbery; 2-Maintain Peace, Harmony & Prosperity; 3- Protect from Fire & Disaster. You can obtain them together or each separately here— Link

🔴 Kamidana 神棚

"A household Shinto altar, a facility for the conduct of family rites at home, in which amulets of the kami, an "apportioned spirit" (bunrei 分霊) of the kami, and similar items may be enshrined. The place chosen for installation of the kamidana should be clean, bright, and quiet, in a location convenient for worship and placement of offerings. An eastern or southern orientation is generally considered to be desirable. While kamidana have today become important sites for daily devotion to the kami, the institution of the kamidana itself is not particularly old" — Encyclopedia of Shinto Kokugakuin University Link

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"Kamidama — Shinto altar in a private home. Japanese homes freguendy have both an altar for Shinto deities as well as a butsudan for worshipping the Buddha and honoring ancestral spirits. Shrines sell a wide variety of amulets that are then placed within the kamidana. Together, they serve to link the household to the shrine." —A Year in The Life of a Shinto Shrine by John K Nelson p 357

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"...you should set up your kamidana 神棚 (Shinto altars for the households) at home. To cultivate a sense of reverence, it is important to practise daily worship of kami. By placing ofuda 御神札 (secret tablets) from the Grand Shrines in Ise, your own local Shinto shrine known as ujigami jinja 氏神神社, and other favourite Shinto shrines on the kamidana, offering rice, salt, water, sake and others items every day, and reciting norito, you will feel closer to the kami. This is particularly recommended for those who cannot easily visit Shinto shrines due to time schedules or geographical reasons." —Mediators between Kami and the People: What is the position of the Shinto priests? by Shinto Priest Hirohito Tsuji Link This is advice for prospective priests but is the same guideline for lay people (except for lay people not everyone offers every single day.)

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"Kamidana" means "kami shelf", and that succinctly expresses the two essential elements of a kamidana: kami, in one or more ofuda, and a shelf to put them on. That is all you need, and the shelf can be extremely small, little bigger than the ofuda and fixed to the wall. The important point is that the ofuda must be standing on the shelf, not lying down, and must not be pinned or fastened to the wall or a surface. Stand the o-fuda so that the surface with the writing on is facing away from the wall; imagine that the kami are looking out of that side. You can arrange ofuda next to each other, or one in front of another, with those in front leaning on those behind. — Shinto Practice for Non-Japanese by David Chart p 41

Never get ofuda from anywhere but a Shinto Shrine. I have seen sellers on Amazon, Etsy, and Ebay selling ofuda but its extremely improper and against religious tradition.

Caring for an Ofuda:

An Ofuda is a sacred item that should be properly cared for. Please do not request an Ofuda to use as a decoration. To properly care for the Ofuda, place the Ofuda in a Kamidana, or high on the north or west wall in your living room or workplace. If the floor above is occupied, please write the kanji for cloud (雲) and place it on the ceiling above the Ofuda/Kamidana. Offerings of rice, salt, and water should be made (The Member's Handbook has the details). One year after receiving an Ofuda, we recommend replacing it with a new one" — Shinto Shrine of Shusse Inari in America's Instructions Link

"Installation: If you have a Kamidana, please place this Ofuda on your Kamidana, inside the Ita or Miya (small shine) if you have one. If you do not have a Kamidana please place this Ofuda in a sacred space in your home or a central place in your home. Place the Ofuda higher than eye-level and facing south or east if possible. You can take the Ofuda out of its shop bag, but please keep the translucent paper cover on the Ofuda to preserve the Ofuda’s purity. Duration: This Ofuda is your in-home connection to the Kami so it is traditional to replace it annually to strengthen and renew your connection to the Kami." — Shin Mei Spiritual Center Instructions Link

"It is common for the ofuda to face south or east, but depending on the layout of the house, any direction is acceptable as long as it is an appropriate location" — Ise Jingū Japanese Link

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You can buy supplies that are not ofuda or omamori, like an ofuda stand, miyagata, or sanbō from non-shrine vendors. However, keep in mind the money you give to obtain the items from a shrine helps support that shrine.

🔴 Location of the Ofuda on the Kamidana

Info for this section is compiled from Jinja Honcho's Japanese website; Ise Jingū's Japanese website; and Practicing Shinto For Non-Japanese by David Chart.

Order:

'Most important' or 'central' Kami/Jinja goes center or first in a stack

Ujigami Jinja goes to your right or second in a stack

Sūkei Jinja goes to your left or third in a stack

Any additional in order of importance: next to the right, then to the left, etc.

In Japan the "most important" is the Jingū Taima of Ise Grand Shrine specifically according to Jinja Honchō. Not all Shrines are a part of or agree with Jinja Honchō.

"...the center is the highest ranking [...] the sacred talisman (Jingu Taima) of Ise Jingu, the chief deity of the Japanese people, is placed in the center [...] In the case of a single-shrine Miyagata shrine, the Jingu Taima is placed at the front" — Ise Jingū Japanese Link | (for some reason a ton of the text disappeared in that link not sure why)

Outside Japan there is no statement on which is the most important.

If you live outside Japan:

The Jingū Taima ("most important") may seem irrelevant. However, instead of viewing it as solely the Ofuda of Amaterasu-Ōmikami one can see it as "oharai お祓" which are "understood to be efficacious in warding off evil," as Daijingu Temple of Hawaii still describes them for this purpose.

Ujigami Jinja ofuda may literally be impossible. Unless one is in North America and agrees with the concept that Sarutahiko-no-Ōkami can be one's Ujigami.

Ultimately, because no guidance has been issued for Kamidana outside Japan, the order of importance is unique to the individual and one may want to ask a priest for personal guidance.

🔴 Compiled Sources Links

Sources Not Used in Post

Shinto Norito: A Book of Prayers by Ann Llewellyn Evan | Includes Japanese Kanji, Kana, and Furigana; Rōmaji; and English Translation — Link

Living With Kami's Reading List — Link

Sources Used in Post

Links next to quotes give the exact quote location unless it's a book in which case I gave a page number. This list compiles the sources without regard to the specific quotes.

Jinja Honchō English — Link

Jinja Honchō Japanese — Link

Ise Jingū Japanese — Link

Shin Mei Spiritual Center's Shrines: Tsubaki Dai Jinja of North America; Shin Mei Jinja; Kinomori Jinja — Link

Shinto Shrine of Shusse Inari in America — Link

Daijingu Temple of Hawaii — Link

Encyclopedia of Shinto, Kokugakuin University — Link

Older: Basic Terms of Shinto, Kokugakuin University — Link

Mediators between Kami and the People: What is the position of the Shinto priests? by Shinto Priest Hirohito Tsuji

Resurrecting the Sacred Land of Japan by John Breen in Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture.

A Year in The Life of a Shinto Shrine by John K Nelson

Shinto Practice for Non-Japanese by David Chart

An Introduction to Shinto by David Chart

[dearweirdme]

I’m sure you’re sick of this by now, but I wanted to add something in regards to “Jungkook is arrogant”. There’s a BIG cultural and language difference we have between us, and it’s not just kpop vs western industry. Korean and English have so many different nuances in speech and tone, then add into knowing the correct interpretation of the word, because it’s not always 1:1 but a non-native speaker might not know exactly the connotations of certain phrases. There are many times army translators leave notes of *said cutely/jokingly/etc* frequently on things that may otherwise have come across as maybe abrasive. It happens so often with Tae. Go! Billy Korean has a whole series on the BTS members and how they speak and for Tae even he talks about how ridiculously polite he is, which is nuance we don’t get as I-army. I think the whole thing is being blown way out of proportion even for the comments JK has made because I’ve rarely seen a more gracious, hard working person, but there are also so many factors to consider even if you just looked at what he said.

I hope this made sense. I love JK and love his confidence and I think if he continues to be so demonstratively grateful for everyone who has gotten him to where he is and is going, by definition he cannot be arrogant. Arrogance has such a “I did this all by myself and the accolades come to me solely because I deserve them through my own means and talent” tone. That is not the JK I see.

Hi anon!

Great addition! I had been wondering about this, since I know that can be a huge factor, I think someone also left a comment on this at one of my posts. The times I have wished I understood Korean…

I think another thing to consider is that conversations become very unnatural when there’s an interpreter involved. I found the Audacy interview a bit awkward because of the way the interviewer acted. His responses to Jk’s answers were so.. poor. It wasn’t a conversation, it was question, answer, question, answer.. and not question, answer, response to the answer, elaboration, etc.

I’ll make sure to check that series out!

[pearlygirlie]

안녕하세요! 💞

저도 한국어 초보자이지만 이것이 저의 최고의 번역 시도예요. 아래에 설명을 달았어요.

(I'm also a beginner in Korean, but here is my best translation attempt. I put an explanation below.)

번역/Translation

자연수 n의 모든 양의 약수를 a¹, a², ..., aₖ라 할 때. When all of the divisors of the natural number n are called a¹, a², ..., aₖ

[방정식/equation]

이라 하자. This is the equation. (Literal translation: Let's call it that.)

<보기>에서 옳은 것을 모두 고른 것은? In the example below, what are the correct statements?

ㄴ. n = 3ᵐ이면 xₙ = -m + 1이다. B. If n = 3ᵐ, then xₙ = -m + 1.

설명/Explanation

So, the first sentence broken down and more literally is:

"Natural number n's (자연수 n의) entire/all amount of divisors (모든 양의 약수를) when called a¹, a², ..., aₖ" (a¹, a², ..., aₖ라 할 때)

자연수: natural number. I came across a glossary of what certain math terms mean in Korean, so I hope this can help you. 의: possessive particle 모든: all (adjective form describing 양) 양: quantity 를: object marker of the later -라 할 때 약수: divisor. This (to my knowledge) seems to refer to whole numbers another number can be divided with, resulting in another whole number. So 6의 약수 will be 1, 2, 3, and 6. (Source) 라 할 때: 라고 하다 combined with -ㄹ 때. I'm actually not entirely sure about my translation of this part, but I know -ㄹ 때 is grammar used for expressing a certain moment in time. This is also often paired with another sentence behind it. Example: "아침에 먹을 때 저는 행복해요." "When I eat in the morning, I am happy. I'm pretty sure the 라 하다 is used for calling a thing another thing. Combining this with ㄹ 때 gives us A라 할 때, or "when called A." But I've seen this always expressed as 라고 하다 rather than just 라. (Example: "저는 민지라고 해요." Literally: "I am called Minji.") But Papago translates 라 할 때 as if it were 라고 할 때, so I will trust it on that.

The second sentence uses 라 하다 again.

"Let's call it this." (이라 하자.)

이: this

라 하자: 라고 하다 combined with the ending 자. The ending 자 is informal and denotes a suggestion/conveys the meaning of "let's." (Example: "영화를 보자." "Let's watch a movie.") This is a good video on it.

In this context it makes more sense to me to translate it as "This is the equation," as it seems to refer to the equation above (though I'm not 100% sure if that is accurate).

The third sentence is a bit harder, but it essentially asks you to pick all the right answers from the example statements below. The third sentence broken down is:

"In the <example> (<보기>에서) the right things (옳은 것을) all the thing of choosing?" (모두 고른 것은?)

보기: example -에서: location particle where an action is taking place 옳은 것을: 옳은 means right/correct, conjugated into adjective form. Describes 것을, so it has the meaning of "the right things." See below for more explanation on this form. 모두: all/everything 고른 것은: 고른 것은 uses the -은/는 것 grammar form. This is used for turning certain actions into "the thing of doing that thing." 것 literally means "thing." (Example: "자전거를 타는 것을 좋아하지 않아요." Literally: "I don't like the thing of taking the bicycle," or better translated as "I don't like taking the bicycle.") See this and this for more explanation and examples. 고른 comes from 고르다, meaning "to choose," and describes 것. So it literally means "the choosing thing," or "the thing of choosing." 은 on 것은 is here the topic marker.

In this sentence there is no specific verb like 이다 as you would expect (like what "is" the correct answer), but the message gets across the same way. I'm not sure why there's no verb though, but I hope this will help at least.

As for the answers, the first one is straightforward and the second and third one follow the same kind of structure: X이면 Y이다.

-이면 is 이다 combined with the -(으)면 form. This indicates a possibility (in the future) or more simply, an if-statement. (Example: "저는 고양이가 있으면 기뻐요." "If I had a cat, I would be glad.") See this for more explanation.

Combined with Y이다, it's an assumption of what will happen in the future. So this would mean "If X, then Y," or more elaborately, "If X is true, then Y is true."

I really hope this helped you out and that you can solve this math problem! It certainly was a nice challenge for me, and for me to realise I actually know more than I think, so I enjoyed it a ton. :)

열심히 한국어를 공부해요! 할 수 있어요! 화이팅!! <33 (Study Korean hard! You can do it! Fighting!)

Help with Korean?

Can someone help me translate the text of this exercise?(And the answer options?)

I'm trying to solve it, but my Korean level is not good enough to understand what's written.

[tomystars]

dissecting episode 1

(under the microscope. im mostly dissecting jaewon hes so interesting to study as a queer person myself, smiles)

ignoring the very first clip which shows waves and someone grabbing someone else... a bit confusing i dont have many thoughts about this.

ANYWAY ! we first see jaewon sitting on a couch in a office perhaps? with an aquarium (we see this again on the intro of episode 2 and if you see the trailer theres a close up of his face on the same place as well) and a women sits down in front of him and asks him what his worries are. now i cant make much sense of her behaviour cause she suddenly starts laughing? but id think shes some sort of counselor. now this could be for 2 reasons: one. he just left the military after finishing his mandatory time and it might be a thing they do? or two some other reason we dont know most likely. TRAUMA shocking i know.

then we have the restaurant scene. we see jaewon talking with his friends but his face changes when his friends keeps talking about how jaewon has a great life and connections and money and everything he wants and i dont want to state the obvious but... thats clearly not the case which is why we can see jaewon upset with the conversation even though he doesnt say anything about it and even forgives his friend... his relationship with his parents is most likely not the best and we can see that by the messages his mom sends and the way we can just see him in front of his gate but not getting inside.

then. their first real scene. jaewon asks jihyun for a cigarette he goes and grabs TWO which surprises jaewon a little bit and makes him happier probably because thats different not a lot of people would do that. they talk but its very casual like and somehow jaewon mentions a "동생" and gets real quiet, as if something had happened with that person. now, its translated as "younger brother/sister" because thats the only english word that it can translate to EVEN THOUGH (and im saying this as someone with very limited korean language knowledge) its not the most correct one because its just a word that people use to call someone whos younger than them (yes siblings count lol). so is he talking about a younger sibling or someone else? who knows.

when his friends grab him to go home he leaves but he isnt expecting for jihyun to just grab his hand and give him a lighter (it was such an intimate scene as well, very queer coded) and THATS what caught jaewons attention. because at first he was just making conversation, but that small moment changed how the path of their futures (hope im not getting too philosophical), and he even stopped and looked as jihyun left.

fast foward next day, jihyun sees jaewon and goes afterhim but loses him and finds the poster for free bird instead (soulmatism i say). and its at this point i realize i havent spoken much abour jihyun so ill start now. we know hes a small town boy, isnt used to such a big city like seoul and is even confused with all this new stuff hes seeing. thats how jaewon and him are different. to me, jihyuns fear is based on unfamiliarity and the unknown, hes still getting to know all these new things that hes never known before and thats why he later mentions that thats the reason he signed up for the surf club. he doesnt really know how to swim but he wants to try and face this new challenge onwards. jaewons fear is more rooted on past experiences and trauma is my guess. he knows who he is but hes scared or hes scared of the result if he tries something. i think its going to start to get better the more he gets to know jihyun and the more he gets comfortable with him.

the cafeteria. jihyuns eating alone and jaewon is suddenly there and thanking him for the other day (he means it. that second cigarette probably was everything to him at that time) and starts to get a bit bold with him, and asking him why he didnt call and at this point there are so many jihyun reactions where you can just tell how this type of relationship is new to him but also how he wants to explore it and find out where it takes him.

we can see that when he meets jaewon again outside the restaurant and says "if we're going to be friends we need to know each others names" and jaewons truly gets a bit paralysed? confused? about it, he wasnt expecting jihyung to say something like that. tells him his name and leaves.

going a bit back, jaewon is at the same restaurant again. why? because he remembered that it was the restaurant jihyuns worked at and he convinced his friends to go inside with some excuse only to look for jihyun but... he wasnt there. things start to go downhill when his friends mention his ex who he wants to have nothing to do with and just wants to forget and one of them even invites her over! some friend he is... jaewon gets reasonably upset (ill talk about what i think happened with the break up on the ep2 essay bare with me), leaves and jihyun goes after him. in this scene i dont think jaewon is upset with him but it was a mixture of a lot of things, disappointment from not seeing jihyun when he was the reason he went to the restaurant in the first place, anger at his supposed friend inviting his ex who he doesnt like and thats why he says "i didnt see you earlier" with this really empty sort of expression.

and lastly, the very last scene. he sits with jihyun for two reasons: be away from his ex but also because he genuinely wants to continue whatever this relationship with jihyun is. it makes him happy and its different and GOOD something that he doesnt have a lot going around his life...

yea... thats it. my thoughts are all scattered but yea lets talk about it if u want i have so much to say still and i want to hear what everyone else is thinking and i also want to mention how much i love this already it was hook line sinker the first episode it. it just feels so raw and perfect and so queer coded to which is why i want to kind of gatekeep it from people who are just watching bc its u know... a bl (will i be persecuted like the witches used to by saying this... hm)

the playlist is so good as well been on repeat for hours

[studykorean101]

어/아 보다 (시도/경험)

anon asked: I just finished reading your most recent blog and im just confused about something. you give us the translation for boda and bo-eda but why do I sometimes see a different verb beside boda? like meokeoboda? Sorry about the romanization, i dont have a korean keyboard on my phone

Hey! It’s not a problem! If you need help figuring out how to add a keyboard to your phone, it’s simpler than you think! Just go the “keyboard” function in your settings then press “add new keyboard” you should see “Korean” or 한국어. 

As for your question, I’m going to assume you’re talking about 어/아/여 보다! If I’m not assuming correctly, then please send me another pm or comment on this blog! Hopefully my assumption is correct though!

V ~ 어/아 /여 보다; try, suggest/order (imperative / attempt; 시도)

Conjugate the stem, then add 보다. Not much else to it!

If we attach ~(으)시다 to the grammar point, then we make it a more formal imperative. But if you use intimate style (반말) with your friends, then conjugating 보다 regularly is fine. Here are some formal examples:

치마를 입어 보세요 - Try the skirt on

잘 생각해 보세요 - think about it well

식혜를 마셔 보세요 - try sikhye (Korean rice drink)

Intimate Style:

Sometimes my Korean friends have a hard time saying something in English, and I have a hard time understanding. Usually when this happens, I say, “한국말로 해 봐” which literally just means, “say it in Korean”. If you’re someone who finds it a bit easier to speak informally (like most learners, lol), then here are some other sentences you can use:

When NCT drops another bop and you’re desperate to share it with your friend, say: 잘 들어 봐 - listen well

When your friend is talking too fast in Korean and you can’t keep up, say: 야. 천천히 말해 봐 - yo, speak slower

When your friend has a big test coming up and you wanna support them, say: 공부 열심히 해 봐! 파이팅 - study hard! fighting

V ~ 어/아/여 보다 + 과거 = 어/아/여 봤어요; have tried (experience; 경험)

Here’s where it get’s interesting! If you conjugate 보다 in the past tense when attached to a verb, it talks about past experience. However, this is a very specific example that has happened in the past (usually a distant past, not one that happened recently). Here are some examples:

한국에 가 봤어요 - I’ve been to Korea

감자탕 ���어 봤어요 - I’ve tried gamjatang (Pork Bone Stew)

어렸을 때 미국에 살아 봤어요 - I lived in the US when I was young

If you want to ask someone if they’ve ever done something, or tried something, then just add a question mark!

감자탕 먹어 봤어요? - have you ever tried gamjatang?

노래방에 가 봤어요? - have you ever been to karaoke?

스키 타 봤어요? - have you ever been skiing?

If you want to say that you haven’t done the thing that they’re asking, then add 안 before the main verb. EX. 아니요. 감자탕 “안” 먹어 봤어요 - No. I haven’t tried gamjatang. You can also use “못” instead of “안”. I have used both in the same context and it means the same thing!

V ~ (보다) + (으)ㄴ 적(이) 있다/없다 = have done V / haven’t done V (experience; 경험)

Another way to express experience in the past with / without 보다 is (으)ㄴ 적(이) 있다/없다. 적 is a dependent noun related to time! Here are some examples:

떡볶이 먹은 적이 있어요 - I’ve eaten tteokbokki (Korean spicy rice cake)

서울에 산* 적이 없어요 - I have never lived in Seoul!

With 보다: 

소주 마셔 본 적이 있어요 - I’ve tried soju

한복 입어 본 적이 없어요 - I haven’t tried wearing a Hanbok!

*살다 (to live) is an irregular ㄹ verb, therefore ㄹ acts as a vowel/is omitted in most grammatical instances. Other irregular ㄹ verbs you may know: 만들다 (to make), 알다 (to know), 울다 (to cry), 열다 (to open), 팔다 (to sell), many more!

When saying that you’ve watched something, or haven’t while using 보다 in the sense of “to see”, you wouldn’t say 봐 봤어요 or 봐 본 적--, it’s just grammatically incorrect and honestly, unnatural sounding. You would just say 본 적 or 봤어요. The Korean person you’re talking to will understand the context instantly. Here are some examples to illustrate this:

영화 기생충 봤어요(?) - Have you seen/I have seen “Parasite”(?)

드라마 알랑말랑 본 적이 있어요 - I’ve watched the drama “알랑말랑”

Hope that answers your question! I would say this grammar point is maybe A2-B1! Pretty easy and once you get it, you’ll start to understand some more intermediate sentences a lot better! If you’re still confused, or, again, I assumed wrong, then don’t hesitate to send me another message/pm! I’ll help you right away!

Happy Learning :)

~ SK101

[4dtk]

Hey! Can I request an NCT 127 reaction to their crush being close to another member because they share the same language? How would the NCT member react or try to get closer to their crush? (I hope this makes sense lol)

under the cut bc it’s loooong as always. enjoy! <3 side note have y’all seen the favourite mood sampler. holy crap it sounds so sexy. im thinking about professor johnny in those glasses ARAHREHHRS

hope the chinese is accurate lol my mandarin is RUSTY

→ TAEIL would silently learn your language once it happens tbh. it’s not that it doesn’t cross his mind at first but he’s always so busy with recording and comebacks and practice that he doesn’t have the time to seek out resources… until now. diligently keeps it a secret and tries his back to hold back on seeing you with the other member. sometimes he removes himself from the place but comes back a minute later bc he CANNOT stand to leave you alone with the member. once he feels confident he’ll barge in on the conversation and sends the other away as nicely as he can.

“(y/n)… do you… come here often?” the utterance of your language surprises you, and you have to hold back a smile at how the sentence was structured just a little wrongly. you let him continue with his advances until taeil sighs in defeat, taking out a few cue cards to refer to. where your writing was bad and scribbly, taeil’s unsure but neat writing elicits another shocked sound from you. had he been practicing?

“did you learn this for me?” you ask in broken korean, eyeing the many notes he’s taken down on the cue cards on tones and characters and phrasing that you can’t help but push down the frantic hands looking for the single card that contained his confession. shyly, you lean forward to kiss his cheek just as he finds the card, voicing out the words carefully that garnered claps from you and a proposal for a date and time to take him out. he agreed immediately.

→ JOHNNY would find a way to always be in the conversation, no matter whether he knew the language or what. would pick up cues pretty easily from how your tone goes up and down or the words you use frequently in calls with your family members. piecing together the sentences were difficult but he’ll try his best with google translate and would sometimes interrupt the conversation to show you that ‘here, i’m understanding the stuff that you’re saying!’ except it’s a bit wonky bc yknow… google translate can be wack sometimes. would confess through google translate.

“hey, look! don’t you think this is correct?” johnny animatedly thrusts the phone into your face, interrupting your conversation with kun to show you the poorly translated words on google. kun only flashes a smile in johnny’s direction which johnny childishly ignores, but the leader of wayv only continues with his way of ‘helping’.

mouthing the words (or hanyu pinyin), johnny lights up and the other assumes a neutral expression when your head whips back, confusion building between the two men who seemed like their own devices were more important than you. with a huff, you stand up to leave before johnny shoves the phone that spelt out “wǒ ǎi nǐ”. it’s just slightly wrong and you can faintly here kun whispering “wrong ài! wrong ài!” that you take the phone with shaking shoulders and a laugh to correct a flustered johnny.

(for context the correct character for love is ài, 爱 and not ǎi, 矮, which means short LOL)

→ TAEYONG will let his rational side take over. it’s years of being 127’s wise leader that has taught him so many things which leads him to believe that it was best for you. best for you to be comfortable in your own language. to me, i feel like he would step in only when the member seems to get closer and closer to you, if not he’ll try to push down the uneasy feeling seeing you interact with another. if anything, taeyong will settle things on his end and try not to involve you, bringing the member aside to talk to him instead.

“i overheard you talking to hendery on the phone, is anything wrong?” your frown only makes taeyong think that he’s dug his own grave, choosing to act passively instead of taking the leap and making him yours. but who was he to break off your bond where you felt the most comfortable speaking in cantonese? if you could do that with hendery and be connected to your culture, he wasn’t going to intervene without reason.

taeyong shakes his head with a smile, patting your head that makes your cheeks heat up. his touch always had you flustered, but you wished it would be more. “were you jealous of hendery?” you blurt out suddenly, the other taken aback that he was only brought back to reality with your giggle and a confession that you liked him, too.

→ YUTA would kinda sympathise and try not to let his jealously get the best of him bc he technically once was in that predicament of not knowing who to talk to from the lack of korean. he would try to reason out in his head but i think jealously would get the better of him when it becomes more frequent or when the member makes them laugh or something that triggers him to march up to them. would make up an excuse to talk to you privately and might even confess on the spot with the promise of learning your language.

“yuta-hyung is kinda scary when he’s glowering…” mark makes out, avoiding eye contact with him while you only turn around to wave at him. it makes him soften just a little before he’s already striding across the room, interrupting your conversation with mark.

“come with me.” you have no time to answer until yuta drags you outside with a warm hand that makes you smile a little, although yuta’s confession that came next is something you didn’t expect. “i like you. i’ll learn english for you and i’ll be better at it than mark. and johnny. and maybe a little of taeyong.” your smile is blinding and you engulf him in a hug and a reassurance that he didn’t need to know your language to steal your heart.

→ DOYOUNG fumes and glowers like yuta but doesn’t really do anything about it until someone mentions it. the others mostly like teasing doyoung a whole lot so expect him to storm away before he can even say what he wants to you. it feels like you’re the one to chase after him instead and confirm his feelings for you. if the situation was more private with just the him, the other member and you then it’s likely the member will be the one tease doyoung about it. please save this man he didn’t think he was so obvious in his jealousy.

doyoung grunts when your laugh fills the space, the other member conversing easily with you now that it was break time for the group. he can faintly hear haechan’s voice doing his roundabouts, going from member to member to capture them on haechan cam. he can already taste the sweet defeat that the youngest always manages to pin on him.

it was too little too late, distracted by your side profile and the way your face lights up that he doesn’t hear the maknae sneaking up. the moment haechan screams about doyoung’s undying love for you is when he turns around to smack him and leaves the studio altogether in a rush that he doesn’t notice that you’re trailing behind him. you embrace him in all his sweatiness and he cringes just a little how your face had to come in contact with his perspiration, but he doesn’t regret placing his hand over yours, feeling you reply with twining your fingers with his a second later.

→ JAEHYUN wants to one-up the other person so bad. makes it a competition every time under the pretence that all he wants to do is play a fun game of guessing your words and its meanings. he knows he’s in a losing spot but he wants anything to get you away from the other member. would throw a tantrum when he doesn’t win so you would dote on him. so childish, would stick his tongue out and mock the other member who just sits unimpressed by how much jaehyun struggles to admits to his feelings. if the member wants to get back at him, he’d blatantly and stoically reveal jae’s feelings.

“new word! what does this mean?” you entertain jaehyun’s game, unsure of why yuta only sighs tiredly. jaehyun does a fantastic job of guessing the meaning though, that you pat his head, gathering another spoonful of food to feed yourself. by now the members already had retired to their rooms, leaving only the three of you in the living room where jaehyun and yuta opted to stay behind for your late dinner. well… yuta did, but jaehyun curiously come out of his room to see you talking that he shook off all fatigue to talk to you.

“he likes you, (y/n).” your jaw drops mid-chew and you stare at yuta who offers a yawn and a goodnight, but your head whips back to stare at jaehyun. “hyung, what did you say? hyung? hyung!” he probably already got the hint by your shocked face, but jaehyun’s put in a difficult place now that you’re not saying a word. slowly, your mouth spreads into a smile and you poorly talk through your food to tell him that you feel the same, to which jaehyun’s ears redden like the cherry tomatoes on the dining table.

→ JUNGWOO tries to ease the atmosphere with jokes. he’ll poke his head in the conversation and bitterly deliver them, and the other member don’t know whether to laugh or not since you aren’t laughing from the language barrier. after that earlier interaction, jungwoo generally is reminded of it every time he sees you with the member and has to stop himself from embarrassing his ass again. would probably only confess when alone and will usually wait for the conversation to be over first.

yang yang chuckles dryly at jungwoo’s joke, explaining it to you after a second when you turn to him with a perplexed face. nodding your head in understanding, you flash jungwoo a gentle smile despite the awkward exchange, which he returns nervously before bolting out of there, seemingly nowhere to go in the confusing formation for the ot23 performance. making an excuse to fill up everyone’s bottles, it’s the last you see of him until weeks later when he approaches you again.

“hey… about that time…” jungwoo patiently waits for you to finish your convo with yang yang. he hates how the other gives him a knowing look for encouragement, but he can’t possibly hate him just for the simple gesture. you’re the last to reply the chinese member who makes his way back to kun before turning to jungwoo. he makes the sweet effort to converse with you in broken chinese to apologise, which you wave off with a simple question: ‘跟我装水?’

(“fill up the water bottles with me?”)

→ MARK would stay back tbh. like taeyong, he feels weird if he interrupts your conversation where you feel more comfortable than the korean or english that you’re struggling to articulate from day to day. awkward when caught alone with you he doesn’t know what to say. he would need some prompting from either you or the members to just take the risk even if your languages differ. learns lesser than taeil does and plans to confess to you with the love phrase he’s practiced over and over but in the last moment panics and reverts back to english.

the dreamies exchanged a look when you trod over to renjun for a translation, which mark watches on sourly. you can’t pinpoint whose door slams in the dorms but you go back to talking to the other soon after, not noticing how jeno, jaemin and haechan subtly nodded to each other. even renjun felt bad for knowing chinese, having grown up being one, but he figured that this was a final push for his hyung to come to terms with his feelings.

“i- uh-“ mark scratches his nape, looking back at the members which hid terribly behind the wall where you could clearly see them. looking on in confusion, your head tilts at the english expletives he was letting out. your smile only makes him more nervous and he ends up dropping the bomb in english altogether before chenle shouts that “he likes you!!!!” (only bc renjun to hesitated at first) only does your eyes widen and cheeks flare up. you accept it in english which makes mark grin.

→ HAECHAN would annoy the shit of the other member, in korean to kinda show that ‘im cool too’ and kinda leaves you out so that you would be like desperate to take part. he’s so mean. it didn’t occur to hyuck that in order to do that, you would have to just consult the member more to understand what’s haechan saying and his plan backfires immediately and would throw a tantrum like jaehyun. whines a whole lot to get your attention even if he doesn’t understand what you and the other member is talking about.

“yo, hyung, have you heard about this? coldplay recently released a new song-“ haechan jumps into the conversation harshly, shooting you a small smile before he goes back to showing johnny the news article of the collaboration with bts. they’re so tall that you have trouble peering over them, prompting johnny to mask an expression of guilt as haechan drones on and on about something he already knew.

“ah! (y/n), didn’t see you there, what were you talking to hyung about?” you’ve only understood your name and the honorific ‘hyung’ that you look to johnny like a lost child, mouth agape at the fast pace that haechan usually talked at. “just continue talking to me, he’ll cave sooner or later.” you had no problem indulging johnny, going back to what you were venting about before as haechan hangs on your shoulder like a koala, missing the way you stifle a lovesick smile in his midst.

[loveyourlovelysoul]

Langblr Reactivation Challenge by @prepolyglot | week 1, day 6

(I kinda cheated and already did day 7, LOL)

Starting as usual from Korean cause I'm a real beginner:

These videos (1 and 2) by TTMIK are my sources for today's goal. I will write most of them and practice on my KR notebook so to work on my handwriting too. But here's today's 3 idioms (dunno if I used them all properly but I hope so):

이 도전은 기가 막혀요 = this challenge is awesome

기가 = energy 막히다 = to be blocked The idiomatic acception makes it either positive or negative. So it can be used to say that something is unbelievably good or... bad. In the video they talk about something tasting awesomely good and their YT channels being awesome.

2. 이 조코 케이크는 진짜 맛있어요. 손히 가요 = this chocolate cake is really good. I can't stop eating it

손히 가다 literally means "hands are going", or something like "hands keep going *somewhere*". One acception of this idiom is: something tastes so good you cannot keep your hands away from it or stop eating it, you keep taking pieces/bites of it (like french fries probably. Yeah I should have used those in my example. Whatever) Another situation this idiom is used in, is to talk about a person who needs constant care (like because they're a bit too clumsy). Not going to write an example here, but I leave it as a note anyway.

3. 지금 놀고 있는 페인트 붓 / 노는 페인트 붓가 있어요 = my paint brush is collecting dust now (not really sure about the correct version, if there's any LOL)

놀고 있다 = object/space that works but is not being used, it's left somewhere collecting dust 놀고 literally means "doing something for fun" (you are not working/studying). It has a literal usage (e.g. when you say you're hanging out with your friends or playing videogames -prob. also sport for fun, if I remember correctly) but also a couple of idiomatic meanings. The one that is not in my example is more sarcastic and generally used among friends and it can be translated as "you're making no sense" or some other (not so) nice words.

__________

And now, briefly in French.

Ne sors pas, il fait un temps de chien! = Don't go outside, the weather is terrible! (un temps de chien = a dog's weather = a terrible weather)

"Rendez-vous vingt heures, 'nôtre' resto?" "Ok, ça marche!" = "Let's meet at 8 P.M. in 'our' restaurant?" "Okay, fine!" (ça marche = it works = it's fine. It's also used in its literal acception "it works")

Si tu as des doutes, dors. La nuit porte conseil. = If you have doubts, sleep. Night is a good conselour. (la nuit porte conseil = night is a good conselour = sleep on it)

[a-pop-of-korean]

i’ve been having a hard time understanding when it is and is not appropriate to use particles. sometimes while creating my own sentences, i’ll give words particles, but after being checked, finding out i either used the wrong one, or it simply wasn’t needed. i’ve taken pretty extensive notes on many of the particles used in korean, using sources like Miss Vicky and some others, but i still have a hard time identifying whether this noun/word should receive x-particle over y-particle in sentences (differentiating between a subject or object, etc) and/or deciding if there shouldn’t be one at all. wondering if maybe you could help 😭😭

I totally get it! I too sometimes still get confused haha. Honestly, if you think you've exhausted your resources and have a solid grasp on the info that you've learned from those resources, then I think it just comes down to exposure and practice. I would recommend reading as much Korean as possible, such as children's books or webtoons if you're up to that level. This is a good way to expose yourself to a lot of different kinds of sentences and get a stronger grip on how each particle is used. There’s also an app where you can read books in your target language called Beelinguapp that I’ve used a little bit, so give that a try too! I find webtoons especially helpful if they have an English translation -- looking at them side-by-side is good for just getting used to Korean in general.

Also, you mention that sometimes words don't have any particles at all. I don't want to make any sweeping claims since this seems like a case-by-case thing, but I believe that just because something doesn't have a particle attached to it doesn't mean that it would be incorrect if it did. Sometimes in casual everyday speech when it's understood what the subject, topic, and object are, particles are dropped. So maybe you're more correct than you think!

I wish I could give you more solid advice, but it seems like you've already done all the right things! In cases like this, especially with particles (which we don't have in English), it just takes practice to grasp how to use them. I also think it's a good idea to regularly review your notes and resources just to keep the rules fresh in your mind. And with more practice, I'm sure you'll be able to see how those rules manifest themselves in whatever Korean content you're consuming if that makes sense. I hope this was helpful -- if anyone has any specific questions related to particle usage I’d be happy to answer them! Thanks for the question! 화이팅!

[kenkamishiro]

Lost in Translation: Choujin X chapter 1

Fun fact, I was planning to do fan translations for Choujin X with a scan group until it could get a simulpub release, though I didn’t expect it to get one from the very first chapter lol. I’m happy though since it means everyone can read it right away and it doesn’t mess up my schedule.

So instead I’ll be making comparison notes between the EN and JP text to supplement the official translation. I’m not doing this because the official TL is bad (I actually think it’s pretty solid and I hope it will maintain this quality) but because it’s inevitable for something to be lost in translation, and it’s nice to have that additional context for theory crafting and whatnot.

If you want to read it on Twitter instead, the original thread is here, but this is the proofread and way more detailed version 😄

This translation isn’t wrong, but there’s an emphasis on それ (which is TLed as ‘it’) that connotes a stronger, “other, that thing” feeling that isn’t present here. The general idea behind this sentence is: That [becoming a Choujin] resembles more of a disease [than a transformation].

Ely talks like a tomboy, she uses rougher speech patterns and the pronoun オラ (ora), a derivative of the masculine 'ore'. But it's a bit old-fashioned (eg. すまなんだ) which makes sense considering her upbringing with her grandfather on a farm. Hence her country bumpkin speech pattern in English.

Not sure if I should use Ellie or Ely? Ellie makes more sense based on the kana, but Ishida explicitly called her Ely so I might stick with Ely for now... (also istg that blond guy with the huge chin is a reference, I've seen him somewhere)

Tokio, I know your teacher is annoying, but it's rude to call her that lol. This is basically the oppai equivalent of paisen (senpai backwards, it’s slangier). Similar thing actually happened with Ely describing her dream hubby as Goldilocks instead of blond; ‘kinpatsu’ (blond hair) was inverted to become ‘patsukin’, hence the translation as Goldilocks.

Kurohara Tokio (���原トキオ) and Higashi Azuma (東アヅマ). Kurohara is a common surname, means 'black fields'. Tokio is in katakana, so it’s hard to say what kanji it could be. 'Toki' could be 時 (time) or 外喜 (outside + delight). The 'o' can be the common male name suffix 男 (boy).

But when I think of Tokio, I think of TK's song called 'tokio'. You can read the translated lyrics here. If these lyrics end up being relevant to Tokio's character development I will eat my shoe lol.

Higashi means 'east'. Azuma (which can also be romanized as Aduma, it’s a softer ‘zu’ sound which is why Tokio called Azuma ‘Aju’ earlier in the chapter before correcting himself) is an archaic form of ‘east’. So...this guy is literally East East. The Choujin X equivalent of Moon Moon 😂

Someone also informed me that Higashi Azuma is a station in Tokyo, though the kana are slightly different (アヅマ／あづま vs. あずま). They effectively sound the same though nowadays, if I have to be honest. It’s like comparing the difference between 애 and 에 in Korean.

Tbh this is minor, but worth mentioning just cause it changes the meaning a bit. Tokio is saying something more like, “Why are we even talking about this [the roly-polies] again?”

I think I heard people talking about how the official TL doesn’t match the original text, but personally I really like how this was translated! Sis is using the expression  「爪の垢を煎じて飲む」, which literally means “boiling the dirt under someone’s fingernails and drinking it”. By taking the dirt/grime under the fingernails of someone that you admire, and boiling it and drinking it like a tea, you can become more like them.

But because idioms don’t tend to directly translate well between languages, translators often have to adapt it so that the meaning still remains the same. In English the closest idiom we have to this is “rubbing off on someone.” The “holding hands” bit was added to replace the physical aspect of “taking the dirt from someone’s fingernails” and also contribute to Sis’s sassy and very informal way of speaking.

So Sis is saying in JP (ignoring her personal speech style for now):

You should take the dirt from under [Azuma's] fingernails and boil it so you can be more like him.

And now in ENG it becomes:

You guys should hold hands or something, then maybe he’ll rub off on you.

It now sounds natural in English, still carries the same meaning as the original text, and also suits the character’s speech pattern.

Moving on, in that same panel the literal TL of Tokio’s dialogue is, “Policeman Azuma got dispatched again today,” emphasizing Azuma’s heroic deeds along with his family connections to the police. Another thing I want to note is that this is the second time Azuma has been called 偉い (erai) so far - noble, and now great guy. I’ll just dump the general English definition of 偉い from Jisho here so you get the general idea:

Great; excellent; admirable; remarkable; distinguished; important; celebrated; famous; eminent

But you can tell from how people describe Azuma as 偉い that others look up to him, think he’s a great person and Mr. Perfect. Always being placed on a pedestal by others. (What are the odds this will affect his mentality after the Choujin serum?)

The meaning is still pretty much the same, but I’ll offer a slightly different perspective. Sis mentions that if she were Tokio, she’d burst from the [Azuma] complex. (Clearly Tokio and Azuma's relationship is gonna crack at some point)

Tokio mentions an idiom about hawks (taka) before recalling his childhood memory about vultures. Vultures are called 'hagewashi', but in the chapter it mentions they can also be called 'hagetaka' (buzzard/condor, literally bald hawk).

The kids call him names like "Hagetaka Tokio" and "Hageo". But Hagetaka Tokio only really works in JP cause Hagetaka kinda mimics his last name (Buzzard Tokio doesn't give the same vibe). Same with Hageo. Hage-o = Bald-o = Baldy.

I also think Buzzard was chosen over another name for a vulture like Condor because Buzzard can pass off as an insult.

I would have translated this as, “I wanted to be a lion too...” but this is just personal preference.

A continuation of the 「爪の垢を煎じて飲む」 expression Sis used earlier. Without the adapted idiom the exchange goes something like this:

Tokio: My sister said I should bring home the dirt from under your nails. Can I have some?

Azuma: ...huh? What for, that’s scary. No way.

Tokio: I have to boil it and drink it, apparently.

Azuma: Don’t even think about boiling or drinking it.

But since the 「爪の垢を煎じて飲む」 expression was modified to make it sound natural in English, it means this conversation has to be modified too.

JP: My sister said I should bring home the dirt from under your nails. Can I have some?

EN: My sister says we should hold hands...so I can be more like you. What do you think?

The “dirt from under your nails” part got adapted to “holding hands”, hence how the 1st line from Tokio becomes, “My sister says we should hold hands...so I can be more like you.” “Can I have some?” makes no sense now in this context now, so it was changed to “What do you think?” as a question to Azuma to keep the similar conversation flow going.

JP: ...huh? What for, that’s scary. No way.

EN: Huh? What’re you talking about? No thanks.

Azuma’s next line is similar enough to the JP text except for the removal of “scary”. I think the reason it was most likely removed is because leaving it as it is could be constituted as homophobic (2 boys holding hands, absolutely nothing scary about it as bible thumpers would like people to believe).

JP: I have to boil it and drink it, apparently.

EN: She said to hold hands so you’ll rub off on me.

Tokio’s response to that is explaining what he meant by his proposal. In the original text he lays out the latter half of the idiom (he doesn’t even realize it’s an expression, poor boy), and in English he does something similar by going into why his sister said they should hold hands (so Azuma can rub off on Tokio).

JP: Don’t even think about boiling or drinking it.

EN: C’mon. That’s not how things work.

Azuma’s then rebuts Tokio’s proposal as ridiculous. In the original text he drops a typical straight man response (don’t do *insert whatever ridiculous thing the idiot suggested*). But since Tokio’s proposal in English isn’t as preposterous, his rebuttal is toned down in response by telling him not to take it literally.

Ultimately, even though a lot of this dialogue was changed, I still think it was successful in maintaining the original’s intent. Tokio takes his sister’s sarcastic suggestion literally and brings it up to Azuma, who dismisses it as silly. It would be nice if we could keep the expression as it was in Japanese, but in instances like this where it’s played off of in multiple lines, that’s easier said than done.

軟体 isn’t an actual word, it’s made up of the kanji soft + body. So kinda like Elastigirl, but Flexi was chosen instead. It doesn’t sound 100% right, but I don’t think I could come up with anything better.

Replacing the しい in 楽しい with the C plus that elongated pronunciation makes Johnny sound even more like a stereotypical Yankee, which is why he sounds like that in English 😂

Random but I found it interesting how Azuma called Johnny a youkai (妖怪) instead of something like bakemono (化け物) or obake (お化け) since they’re shapeshifting monsters.

Tokio is worried that if he doesn't do something right now, he's going to lose his friendship with Azuma. The sentence is fine as it is though.

Azuma’s line can also be worded as, "No hard feelings, okay?"

Bestial = 獣化 (juuka) = beast+change = beast transformation

That’s it from me, if you have questions about the TL feel free to send an ask or reply to this post, I promise I’ll check my inbox more often this time 😂

[hd-learns-korean]

Musical Monday's Week 9

Hey all! I hope you're all doing well and that this week treats you kindly.

Today I'm posting week 9 of musical Monday's, and let me tell you, you're in for a treat with this weeks song!

Notes: As I am not 100% fluent in Korean, they're could be some mistakes, so if you spot any, or a better way to translate, please let me know so I can correct them! Thank you! 😊

Translation: As I am still a beginner, I use Musical Mondays as a way for me to practice making Korean sentences. Therefore I use a mixture of my own sample sentences, Papago translations and help from Naver Dictionary. Where sentences are not my own, I have labelled where they are sourced from.

Right then. Let's get started with today's study session lovely people!

Song: Jogging 조깅

Artist: Lucy

Song requested by: @tell-tale-taeil

My thoughts on the song: Well if this isn't just spring/ summer all wrapped up in a funky little tune, then I don't know what is! This song is so fun and upbeat, I LOVE IT! Definite mood boosting track. I defy anyone to feel sad/ angry after listening to this. It's just so catchy, I can't stop humming it. Overall great great song! 💃💃💃

VOCABULARY:

홀로 alone/ all by oneself/ single-handedly

저는 5년 전부터 홀로 살고 있어요. I have been living alone for 5 years.

홀로 살다 Also implies being single/ To remain single

어제에 유나는 홀로 집에 있었어요. Yuna was home alone yesterday.

홀로 is used mainly in literature or songs 혼자 is more likely to be used in everyday speech.

It also is more formal than 혼자.

홀로 gives the impression of being alone without anybody e.g friends, family, help.

김유나는 홀어미이예요. Yuna is a single mother.

벤 씨는 딸이 넷 있는 홀아비이예요. Ben is a single father/ widower, with four daughters.

한숨돌리다 take a breather/ take a rest/ pause for breath

저는 한숨 돌릴게요. I’ll take a breather. (Papago)

한숨 break/ rest/ sigh

저는 어젯밤에 한숨도 못 잤어요. I didn't sleep a wink last night. I couldn't even sleep last night.

사장님, 괜찮습니다. 한숨을 돌리고 다시 한 번도 하십시다? Boss, It’s okay. Let’s have a little rest and try again? Boss, It’s okay. Let’s take a breather and try again?

돌아가다 return to/ be restored

Present Tense: 돌아가요

Past Tense: 돌아갔어요

Future Tense: 돌아갈 거예요

넌 언제 본심으로 돌아갈 거야? When are you going to come to your senses?

허사로 돌아가다 Prove Futile (Naver)

틀리다 be wrong/ be mistaken

Present Tense: 틀려요

Past Tense: 틀렸어요

Future Tense: 틀릴 거예요

이번 달 급료 수표은 계산이 틀려요. This month’s pay check is wrong. (Lit: This month’s pay check has been calculated wrong.)

저는 음정이 정말 틀려요. I’m really off pitch.

마라톤 marathon

저는 이번년에 마라톤에 나갈 거예요! I'm running a marathon this year!

나는 올해 마라톤에 출전할 거야! I'm going to run in this year's marathon! (Papago version)

그 유명한 마라톤 선수 그들의 오른쪽 다리가 부러져서 금년에는 경쟁할 수 없다. The famous marathon runner can't compete this year because their right leg is broken. (Mine with help from Papago)

단축 마라톤 Half Marathon

핑 round/ circling/ dizzy/ giddy

어젯밤 술을 많이 마셔서, 오늘 아침에 저의 머리가 핑 돌았어요. I drank a lot last night, so my head was spinning this morning.

왜 저는 핑 도는 느낌이다? Why do I feel like I’m spinning?

눈물이 핑 돌다 To tear up (Naver)

저는 눈물이 핑 돌릴 거예요. I’m going to burst into tears.

가끔 sometimes

저는 가끔 바에 가요. I go to the bar sometimes.

미나는 치즈 피자를 가끔 먹어요. Mina eats cheese pizza sometimes.

미나는 가끔 술에 취하면 치즈 피자를 먹어요. Mina sometimes eats cheese pizza when she gets drunk. (Mine + help from papago)

밝다 bright/ light/ brilliant

Present Tense: 밝아요

Past Tense: 밝았어요

Future Tense: 밝을 거예요

저의 겨울 코트는 밝은 오렌지색이예요. My winter coat is bright orange.

유나는 잠귀가 밝아서 쉽게 잠이 깬어요. Yuna wakes up easily because she is a light sleeper. (Because Mina has keen hearing, she wakes up easily) (Modified Naver Sentence)

요즘에 학생들은 앞날이 밝다. Students these days have a bright future.

그 선생님은 숫자에 밝다. The teacher is good at numbers. The teachers is good with figures. (Lit: The teacher is bright with numbers)

저의 상사는 최신의 시사에 밝다. My boss is familiar with the latest current affairs. My boss is up to date with the latest news. (Modified papago)

그 사람은 세상사에 안 밝아죠? That person is not knowledgeable about the ways of the world, right?

그 사람은 세상사에 밝아요. That person is well- versed in the ways of the world.

정보에 밝다 to be in the know/ be informed (Naver)

머무르다 to stay/ to remain

Present Tense: 머물러요

Past Tense: 머물렀어요

Future Tense: 머무를 거예요

이번 주말에서 저는 친구 집에 머무를 거예요. This weekend I will be staying at a friend's house. I’m staying at my friends house this weekend.

스파 호텔에서 하룻밤 머물렀어요. I stayed at the spa hotel overnight. I stayed one night at a spa hotel.

뛰다 run/ jump/ dash

Present Tense: 뛰어요

Past Tense: 뛰었어요

Future Tense: 뛸 거예요

미나는 병원까지 뛰어갔다. Mina ran all the way to the hospital. (Nuance: Mina sped all the way to the hospital. Mina dashed to the hospital)

남친만 보면 가슴이 미치처럼 뛰어요! When I see my boyfriend, my heart races like crazy! (Nuance: My heart beats like crazy) (See misc. notes for more info)

남자친구를 볼 때��다 심장이 미친 듯이 뛴다. Whenever I see my boyfriend, my heart beats like crazy. (Papago version) (Nuance: My heart beats as if it’s crazy)

오늘 아침에 저의 사장님은 화가 나서 펄쩍펄쩍 뛰었어요. 저는 웃음을 멈출 수가 없었다. This morning my boss jumped and down in anger. I couldn't stop laughing. 🤣🤣🤣

MISCELLANEOUS INTERSTING THINGS I NOTICED IN THE SONG THIS WEEK:

The Difference Between 처럼 & 듯이

처럼: Is used to say that an action/ event happens in a way that is ‘LIKE’ how a specific noun would carry it out.

티나는 발레리나처럼 춤을 춘다.

Tina dances like a ballerina

Here Tina’s dancing is likened to that of a ballerina’s.

바보처럼 나는 왜 그의 거짓말을 믿어요? Why do I believe in his lies like a fool? (My version)

Here the speaker is likening themselves to a fool

내가 왜 그의 거짓말을 바보처럼 믿는 거지? Why do I foolishly believe his lies? (Papago version)

It can also be attached to 에서 To explain something happening like it were in a certain place.

비가오는날엔 한국에서처럼 저는 파전 먹고 싶어요. On rainy days, like in Korea, I want to eat pajeon.

듯(이): Is similar to that of 처럼 except that it has the connotation of ‘As If…’

Two ways 듯(이) is used in a sentence:

1.) After 는 것 to give the meaning of a guess.

왜 넌 한국어를 이해지 못하는 듯이 행동하고 있어? Why are you acting like you don't understand Korean? (The speaker guesses that the listener is pretending to not understand Korean. I guess you’re pretending to not understand Korean. It looks like you’re pretending to not understand Korean. It looks like you’re acting that you can’t understand Korean)

In this case the two clauses are connected by the speaker guessing something from the actions.

2.) Directly after the verb stem – No guessing involved. Direct comparison.

Usually when 듯이 is placed directly after the Verb stem, it usually has some sort of metaphor before it.

This type is usually seen in novels, because of the metaphorical language.

E.g He drinks like a fish. He sweats like he’s been caught out in a downpour.

Here there is no relation between the two clauses, as the speaker is not making a guess.

The Difference Between 지금 & 이제:

지금: Used to talk about something that is happening right now

E.G. Now I am eating breakfast

Now It’s 2 am in the morning

이제: Used to talk about something that is happening now, but it didn’t occur in the past

E.G Now I am eating healthy food (In the past I didn’t eat healthy food, but now I am)

Now I am a vegan (I wasn’t a vegan before hand, now I am.)

Two in context:

지금: Now I am studying mechanics (Nuance of: Right now, right this very second I am studying mechanics)

이제: Now I am studying mechanics (With the added nuance of: You started studying mechanics, but in the past you didn’t. Earlier on you were not studying mechanics)

Difference Between 뛰다 & 달리다:

Both can be used to mean ‘Run’

However 뛰다 has the added meaning of ‘To Jump’

달리다 can be used to talk about vehicles such as cars ‘Running’

OLYMPIC SPORTS NAMES:

넓이뛰기 The long Jump (Lit: The Broad Jump)

멀리뛰기 The long jump

제자리멀리뛰기 Standing long jump

삼단뛰기 The Triple Jump

장대높이뛰기 The Pole Vault (Lit: Pole Jump)

높이뛰기 The High Jump

100미터 달리기 The 100 Meter Sprint

1500미터 중거리 달리기 1500 Meter middle distance run

5000미터 장거리 달리기 5000 Meter Long Distance Run

Difference between 달리다 & 달려가다:

달려가다 means to run to a specific location and it can be used when talking about someone else running.

달리다 = mainly talking about yourself running

GRAMMAR:

-보다

It is used to compare 2+ nouns.

The noun placed in front of 보다 is lower than the noun placed after it.

저는 어제보다 오늘 밥을 더 많이 먹었어요.

E.g I ate more today than yesterday. - Yesterday’s amount of food was lesser than that of today’s.

‘In comparison to….’

저는 봄보다 여름에 더 좋아해요. I like summer more than spring.

By adding the particle 더 it emphasises the speakers point.

미나는 샌드위치 보다 피자를 좋아해요. Mina likes pizza more than sandwiches.

저는 양파 보다 마늘이 더 싫어요. I hate garlic more than onions.

Examples in the song:

너는 빛보다 밝게 빛나 You shine brighter than the light

I will be creating a separate grammar post for this in the near future so stay tuned for that! 😄

There we go everyone! Study list complete! Thank you so much for studying with Musical Monday's. I hope you enjoyed listening to this awesome track!

As always everyone,

Stay safe, have a beautiful day, and happy studying! X

Sources: Howtostudykorean.com, verbix.com, Papago translation, Naver Dictionary.

Image sourced from: Unsplash.com, however I have edited it and added text.

Note: Gif not created by me. All credit should go to the original creator. I just searched for it on tumblr.

[commajade]

someone already posted suhyun's entire episode with onew eeeeeeee i'm so excited! i'll be adding commentary to this post for the next hour if i have anything to say lol

-jinki so cute.... suhyun so cute.......

-after akmu's album came out suhyun sent an akmu merch package to a bunch of ppl she likes and she said jinki's reaction made her the happiest because he filmed a v excited unboxing video for her and sent a lot of pics of him wearing it. and he says that he wears the t-shirt and shorts set a lot and uses the bag too in his daily life nowadays. he even showed u to film that day wearing the akmu merch and was surprised his stylist had an outfit prepared for him and that it's a viewable radio not sound only

-i'm regularly amazed at how camera shy and humble jinki is when he's been the leader of one of the country's top bgs for a decade and a half he's wildly famous but does not act like it at all. he says he's the kind of person that doesn't like being the focus but just wants some ppl to be interested in him on occasion and suhyun agreed that that's what he's like. and esp after the military he's v unused to speaking on broadcast and cameras.

-they like each other so much.... suhyun says her first impression of him was of a chewy milk candy and her impression was correct, and that jinki is the kindest person she has ever met in her life. jinki replies that he got a first impression that suhyun is a little cold but after talking to her realized that she's very smart and very professional and very caring and has a lot of leadership skill. and suhyun said that she's never really had people say that to her because she works mostly with her brother who's very in his own head.

-suhyun says that she thought she was used to doing shows and working closely with people then saying goodbye but she found that she genuinely missed the sea of hope cast more than usual and jinki was one of the members she missed the most and she realized that they had become genuinely close. and jinki replied that he had a similar experience but also during filming he kept feeling the urge to help her and do random nice things for her when he didn't have to and that he wants to maintain this relationship as it is. he said that he's the kind that's a little reluctant when he a schedule but when the offer came for the radio show guest spot he was excited and said "of course i'll do it!" and suhyun said that her staff was so surprised he said yes and were excited because he doesn't do this kind of thing often.

-before the whole cast met jinki texted suhyun to ask what songs they should sing together and turns out they had v different ideas on what to sing. jinki says that suhyun has no limit to what she can sing but he himself does and that he has a set of songs that he can sing flexibly and well (sad ballads, older songs) but hadn't heard of any of the newer music suhyun suggested

-the staff wrote a super cute skit for them to act out it's so cute 😭😭😭 and it's a loooong script but both suhyun and jinki had long radio show careers and had to do those kinds of skits on the spot all the time and usually submissions. also the staff tried to make a gif/meme happen by putting super cutesy slang into some of jinki's lines but it's so not how he speaks he just changed it but it made the script slightly not make sense.

-they played jinki's main song from midnight sun as the next track and talked about how suhyun went to see it after meeting him once. it was the first filming for sea of hope and suhyun was making small talk like asked him what he's doing lately and he talked about the musical and turns out suhyun is a fan of the movie it's an adaptation of and he invited her to watch the musical. idk how to translate how funny this is by korean social norms tho it makes no sense that she would go see his musical right after they first met there's no reason for that but suhyun just wanted to see it so he got her tickets.

-wait jinki has literally only done 1 interview about his musical at ALL it's wild that suhyun has a whole corner for this i rly appreciate it!! i loved midnight sun i had an amazing time watching it and i love jinki's character haram

question: what kind of person is haram?

jinki: to me, haram is a very innocent/earnest person that knows a lot but isn't pretentious about it, and cputs a lot of care even into his facial expressions when listening to other people speak. and that when there's a surprise or a shock it's usually something he's already considered. and that's how i feel like i am as well, i was able to act in the role very freely and intuitively.

-this is ADORABLE suhyun says that she loved

[o-bella-cia0]

Hey, so I'm planning to start learning French. And by learning I mean in application sense (I've been studying the textbook version of it since years now). I was thinking to start reading French novels. Since you too are reading a new language novel, could you give me some tips for the same ?

Hi, thank you so much for the ask!!

Here are some tips that I can think of regarding reading books in your target language, but I may not be the best source since the book that I've started is literally like, the first full novel in Korean that I've ever tried reading and I'm about 30 pages in. Hope these help:

Try to pick a book that is a bit below your reading level in your first language; depending on your level, I'd recommend books for elementary/middle school level to start out with, and slowly make your way up. (I totally failed this step and picked a book for adults, which means that it takes me quite a while to get through just one page...)

But in that case, don't get demotivated if your reading speed is super slow at first. It can feel like a slog, taking an hour just to get through a few pages, but it will speed up over time. By the time you've read 1, 10, 30 novels in your target language, you'll be flying through them! (I say this like I have experience ㅠㅠ I hope this advice is correct!)

Also, try and pick books that you have already read before in your native language and really like so that you are already familiar with the content. This will help with using context clues and recognizing vocab without having to stop and look it up.

When you come across words that you think are useful/something you would like to start working into your everyday speech writing, save the words and study them like any other vocab, of course. Ideally, you'd want to save every single word you don't know and study them, but that's unrealistic for me so I don't do it haha. (Be sure to be conscious about how/why these words were used, if they're more commonly used in speech vs writing, time period of writing, etc.)

Try and see if you can use context clues to guess the meaning of a word/sentence before looking up, but there's no shame in having to search stuff up! Sometimes I have to plug whole sentences into google translate just to know what's going on, and then have my "oh, duh" moment. Don't worry about completely understanding everything, but if a word or phrase keeps popping up, make sure you know what it means.

If you really want to check your understanding, you can try writing a short summary of the chapter you just read using the new vocab you learned (but I def don't have time to bother with this haha). The easier option would be chatting with your friends in your target language about what you've read!

Maybe try and look for the audiobook version as well so you can get some extra listening practice.

and have fun!!! <3

Of course, reading novels in French is likely a different experience than Korean, because at least for me, diving right into a full Korean novel has been quite difficult for me and a bit of a shock. For you, French novels may be easier than what I experienced, but hopefully at least some of these apply to you. Hope this helped!!

[qawsslate]

newbies

another nct drabble, short story, one shot, scenario? 

genre: fluff probs

tw: none

pairing: Renjun & reader

a/n: idk bro read at ur own risk, i used google translate for a thing but im hoping it makes sense in the context, feel free to interact :)) 

____

"Renjun-ah it’s fine. You, of all people, know how forgiving she is.”

“Ya! Haechan, don’t say it like that. Renjun-ah it looks really nice she’ll love it.”

Haechan and Jeno were gathered in Renjun and Jisung’s shared bedroom attempting to calm the nerves of the older Dream member. He had just finished a painting he had been working on for the last month in prepation for Valentine’s Day. He knew you weren’t expecting anything as in Korea, the traditional practice was for the girl in the relationship to give the guy chocolates, but neither of you were big on the specifics of things like that. You both shared the sentiment of holidays but were also practical in the ways you gave gifts to each other. Last Christmas, Renjun had given you a new winter coat since the one you’ve been using since your teenager years had begun to literally tear at the seam. You often brushed off his nagging of buying a new coat with protests of the coat still doing its job. 

“Renjun, the coat is fine. I’m still perfectly warm” 

“Y/n, I can see the thread that’s keeping the arm sleeve attached to the rest of it hanging off. I bet if I pull it the whole thing would fall apart. Here let me show you.” 

He reached down and pretended to yank the thread which prompted you to gasp in amused disbelief.

“Ya! Don’t you dare! Did you really pull it off?”

You looked down at your arm trying to assess if in fact the fabric on your body was still a piece of wearable clothing.  

He laughed and just embraced you in a hug.

He had followed up the new winter coat with a flower plushie you had commented that was cute a week ago in a shop, his favorite scented candle so you could be reminded of him when he was away on a schedule, a neck massager because he thought you spent too much time at your desk, an insulated bottle so you would drink more water and not coffee, a polaroid camera for the memories and random Chinese snacks you really liked. He was very practical yet considerate, and it made your heart swell. You almost cried thinking all of it was too much and he had to hold your face in is hands and make you look at him so he could tell you that you were worth it. 

What you didn’t know that he also wanted to gift you with a necklace but second guessed himself too much to the point where he took the small box out of the pile of gifts only minutes before he gave you the heap of presents. Mark was the only member he told about the necklace beforehand but Renjun unfortunately had forgotten to inform his loveable hyung of his inaction, a problem that presented itself the morning after Christmas.

“Y/n! Merry-day-after-Christmas! How was Christmas with Renjunnie? Did you like the necklace?”

You, Mark, and Renjun had been sitting at the Dream dorm kitchen table eating leftovers from the small dinner Jaemin had made at 3am. Thankfully the rest of the boys were still asleep so the damage could still be contained. Renjun choked on the green tea he had been drinking but quickly recoverd.

“Neck massager hyung. The Korean word for neck massager is 목 마사지기. Ahhh, it’s because he’s a foreigner.”

Renjun laughed a little too forcibly and tried to signal to Mark as much as humanly possible without bursting a vein that the necklace gift was aborted. By some Christmas miracle, Mark had somehow picked up on the hint and quickly corrected himself. He even added a white lie to support the neck massager fib, quickly sputtering that he had helped Renjun pick out a neck massager with the recommnedations from his mom, his aunt, his grandmother, and his cousin who was some sort of professional massager. You answered honestly that you had yet to put it to use as you forgot to charge it last night. You weren’t sure if it was the happiness hangover or lack of sleep after Christmas Day that made you think Mark and Renjun were acting strange, but you became distracted from dwelling on their behavior as Haechan and Jisung came into the kitchen. The mood quickly shifted and Renjun felt like he could breathe for the first time in what felt like an hour. You had become preoccupied in helping Jisung follow a recipe on how to make American style pancakes and scolding Haechan for handing the gullible maknae wrong ingredients. After a few minutes Renjun had excused himself to check on Jaemin and Jeno, and Mark announced he had to use the bathroom. Once out of earshot from the mess in the kitchen Mark turned to Renjun,

“You didn’t give it to her?”

“No, hyung, honestly I got too scared. What if she didn’t want it? What if she thinks I’m going too far? What if it’s too serious all of a sudden?”

“Well, don’t you want to be serious with y/n?”

“Of course. More than anything. I just don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Renjunnie,” Mark placed his hands on his shoulders, “you are doing great. Do whatever feels right to you. But if you’re only doubting yourself I think it’s still a good idea to give her the necklace.” 

Renjun still looked conflicted and mindlessly opened the door to Jaemin room then Jeno’s. 

The four proceeded back to the suspiciously quiet kitchen to find Jisung sat at the table and Haechan and you making the rest of the pancakes. When Jaemin asked what happened, Haechan responded,

“We wanted to make sure you guys still had a place to live.”

The necklace matter had been dropped and about a month later all those repressed emotions Renjun had came back. It was two nights before Valentine’s Day and both just wanted a quiet evening. Renjun planned to cook a dinner at your apartment and the whole thing felt innocent until he thought about how you guys hadn’t even been officially together for more than a year. He suddenly felt the pressure, the implications, the underlying tone of something like giving you a piece of jewelry. His plan was to just give you a painting. He had carefully recreated the scene of the park where he first saw you. You had been pushing children on the swings. He had thought you were a babysitter of some sort until you waved to the kids goodbye and saw the nearby adults scoop them in their arms and walk away. Then he saw you swinging by yourself. He never revealed this to you during your first official encounter as he didn’t think it would be smooth to open up with, “I’ve been watching you swing by yourself at the children’s park.” He also hadn’t been initially sure if you were the same girl he had wistfully observed, but you had once planned a park date at your favorite spot.

“It’s actually quite near your dorm, we could walk there if you’re up to it? Sometimes I play with the kids. It’s gotten to the point where some of the mothers have recognized me.”

Renjun immediately knew you had been that girl he had observed in what felt like a lifetime ago. He knew that one day he would really have to treat Chenle to a meal for introducing you both. Renjun also knew if he had admitted this to Chenle now he would never let it go and it would somehow inflate the size of that kid’s head even more, but he added it to the list of things he loved about his younger member. 

Renjun had carefully recreated the details from his memories of those days, paying particular attention to that coat you refused to give up on and he had just finished the painting when Haechan decided to burst into his room.

“Renjunnie! Have you ate? Let’s eat.” 

Renjun had been so absorbed with his doubts that the sudden interruption almost made him fall off his chair. Renjun almost gets as easily startled as Jisung, but the magnitude of his reaction made Haechan take a step back and immediately set off his signature mischief.

“Ya, is the innocent and pure boy doing something naughty? You know you should really lock your doors Renjun-ah”

Renjun scrammbled to find something to cover the painting. His tidy desk space provided no aid and his next move was to flip the whole thing over deciding to deal with the consquences of the still wet paint later, but Haechan moved quickly and pulled Renjun’s arms up away from the canvas.

“Ya, what’s this?”

“Nothing. Heachan, please.”

Renjun sighed. He had no problem in any other situation to fight the boy who always tested his limits, but with the awkward sitting position he was in, Renjun knew that there was no logistically sound way to physically fight Haechan at the moment. 

“Oh, it’s just another painting. Why were you so freaked out- YA! Is that y/n?!”

Haechan dropped Renjun’s arms, his first mistake, as Renjun took the opportunity to lunge towards the painting. Haechan proceeded to yank the back of the wooden chair -- his second mistake -- and he called out for reinforcements.

“JENO-AH!”

Jeno was not surprised that the bickering quickly took place, but was also concerned with the intensity of Haechan’s scream. Jeno regretfully entered the space of what would ultimately disrupt the otherwise peaceful morning and listened to the chorus of Renjun’s mild curses and death threats and Haechan’s shameless happy teasing although he was the one in the headlock.

“Ya, you two. Can we just go eat?”

“Jeno-ah, grab that. QUICKLY.”

Curiosity took over and Jeno obeyed. Renjun knew that although Jeno lacked in the desire of fighting members, he made up for with his physcial strengh. Renjun was quite aware that Jeno could quite literally pick him and Haechan up to stop the sqaubble. Renjun gave a frustrated sigh of defeat and sat back down at his desk while Jeno and Haechan sat on the nearby bed to fully observe the art piece.

“Is this y/n? It’s really good.”

“Our Renjunnie is growing up so fast. It’s cute to see you in love.”

The casualness of Haechan’s sentiment in dropping the L word set off alarms in Renjun’s brain but curiously not his heart. He quickly pushed off whatever deer in headlights reaction he showed and calmy took the painting back from Jeno. He decided to just tell the two that it was for Valentine’s Day and mumbled that he wasn’t sure if you were gonna like it. 

"Renjun-ah it’s fine. You, of all people, know how forgiving she is.”

“Ya! Haechan, don’t say it like that. Renjun-ah it looks really nice she’ll love it.”

Haechan sensed it was the right time to get serious. 

“Renjun-ah. Honestly. It’s a really good painting. She’ll love it. That girl loves everything you do.”

Jeno hummed in agreement.

“Injunnie, it will be okayyy.”

Jeno’s speciality in dorm-only aegyo gave Renjun comfort. It almost brought back a sense of normalcy in Renjun’s emotions. He was also grateful to Haechan although no matter how much the boy made it a sport to annoy him, he could still be mature when it counted. He thanked God that the necklace had been safely hidden in a drawer and considered the many ways the situation could have escalated if the two boys saw that the painting gift was not the main source of his anxiety.

Renjun thought it would be best to change the subject from his insecurities about his love life. Love, he thought, there was that word again. 

---------------

hi i have a tendency to not end my fics well, lemme know what yall think

[jooniperhun]

The End of the Rainbow | ot7 (1)

pairing: tall!black!reader x bts, poc!reader x bts, woc!reader x bts, black!reader x bts

genre: fluff, strangers to friends to (maybe) lovers [later], romance [later], comedy, misunderstandings [later], (slight) angst [later], smut (maybe??) [later], idol!au

rating: PG-14

wc: 2.3k

warnings: swearing

notes: the boys won’t make an appearance until chapter 2 but there is some foreshadowing in there (hint hint); pretend that corona never happened; most of the geographical locations/distances will either be made up or not named because I’ve never been to Korea lol whoops; this reads more like a reader-insert sorry that’s my default writing setting; and the boys’ backstories and such won’t be all that accurate because I’m the author and I say so teehee :)

“Text like this is spoken in Korean.”

“Text like this is spoken in English.”

summary: Your current job as a travelling housesitter has taken you to many places, some strange and many wonderful. When the acquisition of a new client takes you to Korea for three months, you wonder if your self-esteem can survive being around so many other-worldly looking people. Also, not to be paranoid or anything, but maybeperhaps you’re being stalked by the same seven strangers? They’re pretty loud and always surrounded by a tonne of people, so you write it off the first few times.

But this shit is getting excessive, chile. And annoying…

Rhetorical question, but what lies at the end of a rainbow? You hope that it’s a pot of gold, but with the way that your luck has soured, it might just be seven short(er than you), rowdy leprechauns ready to flip your world sideways…

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

Usually, when it came to social outings, ___ would go out of her way to make sure that she looked her best. Her wild mane would be tamed, her makeup would be carefully, painstakingly applied, and her clothes wouldn’t hold a single wrinkle. This, however, isn’t ‘usually’— this is an airport, and ___ currently couldn’t find it within herself to give a single, flying fuck about her appearance after the flight that she had just had. 

That isn’t to say that it was terrible— she was flying first class, for Christ’s sake! Not to mention that she didn’t have to spend a single dime on it (excluding the multiple new outfits and lashes that she purchased for herself because if she was anything, it was slightly vain). But a roughly 18 hour flight, combined with slight motion sickness? It doesn’t matter how comfortably she had dressed, or how attentive the flight attendants were, or how delicious the food was— ___ walked off of the landing strip probably looking exactly as she felt (read: terrible). 

Luckily, the good thing about airports was that she wasn’t the only one. No one paid her any mind, too worried about themselves and finding their respective luggages and families to be giving some rando more than a passing glance. 

She was officially in Seoul, South Korea, and she couldn’t read a damn thing.

Okay— slight exaggeration. Most of the signs had English (and Spanish, and Chinese, and Japanese) translations beneath the larger blocks of Korean, but her damn near-blind ass missed that the first time around. 

The airport looked as airports tended to look— large, modern, and clean. There was a beautiful netting of glass in the ceiling that let gentle rays of sunlight in. The walls were similarly comprised of the netting design and slanted outwards, away from all of the passengers. Statues and abstract constructions divided the masses. People from all walks of life milled around, looking for their luggage or anxiously waiting for their plane to arrive.

Incheon International Airport, Terminal One, Flight DL27. ___ reminded herself over and over of the number of where she would go for Baggage Claim, scanning the area and mumbling slightly to herself. She adjusted her dark shades and hefted her purse (her only carry-on) higher onto her shoulders, following the crush of fellow passengers into the depths of the fragile looking place. 

There were a lot of people walking around with black facemasks and shades on, so she was glad that she wasn’t the only shady-looking sista walking around. Inwardly snorting at her own pun, ___ nearly walked past her destination. 

It was honestly this part of each trip that gave her the most anxiety— that is, waiting for her suitcase to come around on the conveyor belt.

She had heard and read multiple horror stories about too many passengers never recovering their luggage. Either stolen, lost, or dropped from the airplane itself— if it could go wrong, it went wrong. But it’s not like hers’ is particularly interesting to look at. It was a simple, standard black. Only a red, knotted ribbon tied around the handle marked it as her own.

Ten minutes of fretful bag checking later, ___ finally found it. She gave a silent sigh of relief and turned towards the exit. Then, her anxiety flared right back up when she realized that she would have to hail a taxi to get to her destination. 

Honestly, her people-meter was getting a little bit too full for her to actually be initiating direct human interaction right now. 

But she would persevere! Even if her persistence could use a bit of work, she’s faked confidence enough times to make it. 

Getting a taxi to stop for her was like pulling teeth. By the time that she had stuffed her menial baggage into the trunk and clambered into the front seat, her temper had risen a few notches. She’s had a long two days. The flight wasn’t kind on her stomach or her sleep schedule— not to mention the fact that she felt disgusting. A shower sounded so nice right now… She didn’t want to be on the streets any longer than she had to be, dammit!

Donning her ‘Customer Service’ voice (as she liked to call it), she politely rattled off her destination to the driver in Korean. He was on the younger side for the profession (at least, from what she’s seen), with neatly laid dark hair and slightly tanned skin. His dark eyes constantly shifted from the road to her when they were stopped for traffic, but he luckily seemed to sense her mood as he did not say anything more than the polite initial greeting. 

All in all, it was a 30 minute drive filled with determinedly unawkward silence. ___ sent a quick text to her employer to inform them that she would be at the house in a bit, then sent another to her mother to let her know that she touched down safely. Almost immediately, her phone began to buzz.

Rolling her eyes, ___ answered. “Good morning to you too, Ma.” She said as her full lips tilted up in amusement. Upon hearing the English, the driver sent another glance in her direction.

“Hey, baby! It’s night time for us right now (we just got finished eating dinner). How was your flight?” Her mother’s voice gave a slightly tinny echo as she spoke, and the sound of shifting fabric clued ___ in to the fact that she, indeed, was probably on the toilet.

“Tiring. I forgot to buy Dramamine, so it was a fun time for me.” She switched hands with her phone so that she could look out of her window more comfortably. Little snatches of the city flashed by before they turned into a slightly more residential area. The houses here were large and gated, yet closely located. “How is everyone doing? No-one dead yet, right?”

Her mother snorted. “Yet is correct. Turns out, ya’ sister got herself a lil boyfriend—” ___ had to stifle her laugh before she gave herself away, “— and ya’ daddy wasn’t too happy when he found out. Her fast ass is sitting in her room right now, phone taken and everything. Woulda’ gotten an ass whoopin if we found anything triflin’ in it, but she’s clean.” Yeah, only because of her advice. No sending nudes back and forth, no secret folders dedicated to trifling shit, and no conversations going further than normal teen-girl gossip. Those were her three cardinal rules to sneaking around with a boy, and it seems that her little sister had done well to heed them.

“And the lil’ boy? Anyone we know?” ___ asked, playing along. If her parents found out she already knew about him, her ass would be grass, too. 

“Yes!” Ma exclaimed frustratedly. The driver jumped at the sudden loud sound in the otherwise silent car. “That nigga, Devin. Lives a block down from us? You know the one.” She gave the appropriate gasp at the news while rolling her eyes. Devin was a sweet boy who had a good future ahead of himself. There was no goddamn way she would waste her painstakingly gathered advice on someone who wasn’t good for her sister.

“Dam— I mean, wow. You think you know the people you live around...” She caught herself quickly before she cursed. Even halfway across the world, her fear of her ma’s wrath was still very, very healthy.

“I heard that, but I’ll let it slide this time.” Her mother’s tone was amused despite her previous outrage. 

“Anyways, as I was saying… I don’t see anything wrong with Devin. He was a nice boy, last time I talked to him.” From the cover of her shades, ___ watched the driver watch her from the corner of his eye. The car began to slow.

“Tell that to ya’ daddy. He—” Ma began to rant as ___ pulled the phone away from her ear. 

“How much do I owe you?” She asked quietly, hands dropping to rummage through her purse for her wallet as she cradled the phone between her ear and her shoulder. “—Alright, Ma. Imma have to call you back. We just pulled up to the house and I gotta get situated.”

Handing the driver the appropriate amount of Won, they both left the car to remove her luggage from his trunk. “Okay, sweetie. Love you! Call me again when you get settled in.” Her mother echoed as she mouthed a quick ‘Thank you,’ with a shallow bow.

“Gotcha. Love you, too! Bye.” She hung up and grabbed the handle of her suitcase, making it extend before dragging it behind her towards the house that they had stopped in front of.

She couldn’t really see anything past the high, brick walls and iron gate. Spotting an intercom, she quickly checked her reflection in her phone’s camera before she could press the button to call her employer.

Removing her silk head-scarf, she found that her high puff had held up reliably under it. She quickly stuffed it into her purse and pulled out her glasses case to place her shades in. Shoving that back in, too, she smoothed out her black jeans and checked for stains on her yellow top. It was only after assuring that her face was, indeed, clean that she rang the buzzer.

A red light blinked on before a voice answered. So there was a security camera for surveillance? Good. “Good morning! You must be ___, right?” Her voice was smooth and low, like velvet. It hinted towards an older age, especially when compared to the commonly high pitched tones of the youth.

“Yes, good morning.” ____ stepped back slightly to bow. The gate unlocked with a soft click, and she made her way up the driveway. She could only see one car at the moment, but from the size of the house— no, mansion—, she was sure that a lot more were probably in the garages (yes, plural).

The mansion was a modern white with a lot of windows to let in natural light. The lawn was cleanly cut and the rich, emerald grass shined with small droplets of morning dew. There was actually a surprising amount of yard space, which was ideal for pets and children. The only thing that she would be needing to worry about this trip was a dog and some plants, though.

Little solar-powered lights lined the walkway that ___ walked down. They looked nothing like the one-dollar versions from the Dollar Store, and definitely cost a lot more, too. She climbed a few stone steps to reach the porch. On either side of a dark-wooded door, two gold vases stood guard. They were almost as tall as her and intricately carved with little, delicate flowers. The welcome mat that she stood upon was a sensible dark brown and had a looping Welcome swirled across the front in white. 

She rang the doorbell and patiently waited.

A few moments passed before the door sprung open. The lady that answered was small and adorable in her old age. Her dark hair was sprinkled with white streaks, and her large, dark eyes were creased with laugh lines. The same lines were also wrinkled around her mouth, but they did not take away from the traditional beauty that she still held. Her cheeks were rounded and scattered with pink, and her skin was the color of milk. She was dressed in a fashionable black pantsuit and wore black pumps that boosted her height. 

“Good morning!” ___ bowed lowly with a sweet smile. Her eyes, large and slightly too round to truly be almond shaped, disappeared into crescents. With her face transformed so cutely by just a single smile, one would find it hard to believe that ___ had a mean, mean resting bitch face that, when combined with her not inconsiderable height, gave her a naturally intimidating demeanor.

Endeared, the woman bowed back. “Please, come in.” She invited, stepping aside and letting ___ and her suitcase drag in. 

***

She was still getting situated in the guest room when the door slowly creaked open.

Though she couldn’t see anything from where she was seated on the bed, the tell-tale pattern of claws clicking against the hardwood floor cued her in to who was entering— Mickey, a cute, little Shih-Tzu breed with floppy ears and a brown and white coloring. Despite the fact that he was male, Mickey had two tiny, powder-blue bows woven around his ears. His matching sweater creased slightly as he padded towards her.

“Hi, sweetie!” ___ cooed, reaching down to give him a gentle pat on the head, “Are you looking for some company now that Grandma isn’t in?” 

Mickey had been (surprisingly) very calm upon his introduction towards ___. He barely reacted (outside of a few weak wags of his fluffy tail) to her squealings of how cute he was. Perhaps it was behavior that he was used to.

He settled down onto the carpet next to her bed, the ideal spot for her to reach down and pet him if she wanted to. It was a good move on his part, because that was exactly what she wanted to do. 

___ was a huge dog lover— in fact, she just loved cute, fluffy animals in general. Cats, llamas, sheep— you name it. She tolerated reptiles, and if she had to handle insects, it was usually with gloves and a healthy bit of distance. 

The moral of the story is that she adored fur-babies, and until Mickey’s owner came to pick him up or his Grandma came back home, Mickey was her dog.

a/n: Thank you all for reading the first chapter! I really hope you liked it. The fun stuff starts next chapter, so please stay tuned! I have so much planned *evil laughter*

[rq-s]

Title: Falling Down 

Pairing: Xu Minghao / NB!Reader

Genre: Light Angst & Platonic OR Romantic

Word Count: 2.9k+

Warnings: None. However, I do interpret the timeline and meaning of his lyrics loosely. I can’t and don’t claim that it’s the “correct” way to do so; he wrote it to be ambiguous for a wide audience to enjoy. Please watch the Falling Down Making Film for clarity.

Credits: ENG Translation of Falling Down 

Summary: You and Minghao have been consistent penpals since 2004, sharing each other’s cultures, languages, passions, and lives as you both grew up. 2014 came around and letter from him only came in 4 times, and only 1 in 2015. The last this you ever heard from him read he was a bird in a cage.

Notes: Italic = letter  ... = omitted letter content 

My Masterlist

Spring 2004

“How about this one, honey?” Mom handed me a postcard from a spot on the rack that I couldn’t reach. The large font caught my attention and told me it was a landscape picture of the closest national park. Though nothing in the picture was recognizable, it reminded me of camping, which made me smile despite having never been before.

“Sure.” Was all I said, and I followed her as she pushed our full shopping cart to the register and began chatting with the cashier.

Like usual, I quickly put the postcard on the conveyor belt along with the groceries. As soon as it was empty, I went to the bagging station and put the scanned and bagged items back into the cart. Making sure to the boxes and cartons together neatly like Tetris, careful not to squish the bread.

“What a diligent little kid you have!” The cashier spoke, her voice worn with age, but with a sense of joy that reminded me of a stereotypical grandmother.

“She always says I do it wrong.” Mom joked, smirking at me. She never did let go of my “If you want it done right, do it yourself.” attitude I had even as a kid.

 Mom finished paying, and we went put into the chilly morning air of the parking lot that was made even colder by the shadow of the supermarket. I once again moved the bags from the cart to the trunk and brought the cart to the nearest drop off spot while Mom started the car.

The ride home was mostly silent, save for the sound of the road beneath the wheels and the hum of the heater.

“Thanks for letting me do the penpal thing, Mom.”

“You’re welcome, but remember the deal; you get more chores to do. You’re 7 years old now, you can handle doing the dishes by yourself, right?” The tone of her voice was completely serious, but I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’ve been helping with the dishes for years, and I’ve learned from the best. I’ve got this!”

 When we got home, I scoured the bags for that postcard, and luckily it was only bent on one corner. I wrote down bit of info about that park - whatever Google told me, and set it aside. I grabbed the template application from my school binder and filled in the blanks. 

Hello! My name is _____________, I’m __ years old, and I am from ________! I am learning Mandarin, but I’m still a beginner. I hope to learn more about your culture and language as we exchange letters!

For now, I will tell you a bit about myself. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Along with this letter is a postcard and other information about where I am from!

I hope to hear from you soon!

Signed,

_____________

It was a pretty basic template that we had to copy from, and in retrospect, it was cringy as all heck, but it had to be formatted juuust right and follow the guidelines exactly, or the penpal program admin’s wouldn’t accept it.

From what I was told, someone from China who’d also applied and been approved would be paired with me, based on age and interests. Only this first letter was prewritten. Once we were paired up, the letters themselves and the mailing of them was up to me and my family. 

I was lucky I got a match at all, most of the kids in my class didn’t. I learned pretty quickly why: I was the only one who put “dancing” as an interest.  

Summer 2007

...

This was a frog I found at the lake! Mom got mad that I touched it, and when it jumped out of my hands and back into the water, it got mud all over us!! 

Later we had a barbecue and some other campers came buy, but their kids were teenagers and didn’t wanna play with me, so here is a picture of me pouting in the tent instead of having fun. 

...

This is the last one, when we finally got home from the long car ride. we all were sunburned really bad, but it looks like you can see freckles on my face because of it! 

Whenever either of us would go on trips, even just to the water park or to a festival, we’d take Polaroid pictures to send. Most the earlier pictures Minghao sent were of him at tournaments, then they turned into selfies from after dance practice. It wasn’t until they were in their teens that he began to take more artsy pictures, with the occasional selfie thrown in. He’d always put at least one polaroid in each envelope, and photography quickly became one of the many things he excelled at. 

Winter 2010

…

And I still can’t believe you were on TV!! Twice!!! All these letters… I can use them as blackmail someday when you’re a superstar! Muahah!!

I’m not nearly as good as you still, but Miss Lilly says my footwork has gotten a lot better! I wish you could teach me, but words don’t have the same effect as seeing it. I doubt I’d get it even if you tried to explain… and don’t even think about trying to teach me any martial arts, my brain will melt!!

…

My letters were always a bit longer than Minghao’s, and were full of run on sentences and unorganized thoughts. He was always clear and concise, yet sensitive. He always gave strong and encouraging advice on my Mandarin, but my English tips barely seemed to help him. I always cared more about getting to know him and telling my own stories than about practicing. Though, I don’t know what stories I had worth telling as a 13 year old. We contrasted each other a lot, and Mom said it made us a better fit for each other.

It wasn’t a weekly thing, but we always wrote when we could and has a steady back and forth. Sometimes the envelopes were thick, with many pages, postcards, candies, cool leaves or rocks we’d found, songs we had been listening too; things we cared about and wanted to share. But sometimes they were thin, barely a page long, with hastily written characters and a sincere apology. Both made me smile the same just the same – both showed how much he cared.

 Spring 2012

Perhaps it was because we were the same age, and despite not meeting, had spent so much time together. He somehow always understood me, and never made jokes when I was opening up about the less fun sides of life. He went at his own pace, and it took quite some time, but he eventually felt comfortable doing the same.

…

I’ve worked so hard for this, I know I’m capable, but I’m genuinely terrified. But I’m excited, too. I feel so overwhelmed and I don’t feel like I can tell anyone, they’ll worry, or they’ll tell me I shouldn’t do it.

I want to try. I want to be on that stage and in that tournament and I want to come out having earned something.

…

 Fall 2012

 Congratulations!! Now I can brag that I know THE Xu Minghao who won 8th at a WORLD DANCE COMPETITION!!!! I knew you’d do great. Yeah, you were nervous, but your hard work showed through!

As soon as I read the news online, I was so happy. Eight is a good number, right? I think It suits you. Even when you're laying down, you have infinite potential! That’s you, Xu Minghao, Number 8, my best friend.

Come to think of it, it's been about 8 years since we met, hasn’t it? it must be some sort of prophecy!!! Haha I’m kidding, but seriously… That’s more than half our lives. We’ve spent knowing each other half of the time we’ve even been on this Earth!

I’m really glad I know you, Minghao. I’d be lonely without your letters, I think. I hope I make your days brighter, like you make mine. I hope we never forget about each other.

 It was rare for me to get so sentimental, but he needed someone to be his fan, and I wanted to be the best fan of Xu Minghao I could be. Not to say I was the first, like I would joke about doing, but because he deserves it. I knew it from the way he talked about training, that he’d make himself a star someday, no matter what.

Because of this, though, it was this letter and onward that we stopped doing the copies and corrections. I noticed myself missing his teasing marks on my papers, or the cheeky smiley faces he’d draw when I did well. We stopped sending trinkets and polaroids too, so each envelope felt a lot emptier.

 Spring 2013

I’m really going to Korea now… The flight is in a few days, I’ll send you another letter from the new address as soon as I get there, so please wait for it!

…

I had bad dreams back then, about how things would be different, slower and distant. His letters were a significant part of my life, and I was afraid to lose that. Yet I was surprised he was even allowed to keep sending me letters. Retrospectively thinking though, it wasn’t like he wasn’t allowed to write to his family.

Was I like family to him back then?

 Winter 2013

I’m sorry for not writing you back sooner. The company has been really busy with Seventeen TV starting. I’ve been practicing a lot, I barely have time to eat or sleep, let alone sit down and write. There’s barely anyone around who knows Mandarin, and I’m still just learning how to make sentences in Korean, and they call me Myungho… Those who I can talk to are all boys, but they’re my friends, and possible group members, so I shouldn’t mind.

I miss your handwriting. Sometimes I reread our old letters, and notice that we’ve changed so much. But I keep every memory, did you know that?

I always feel better quickly. When I think about being on a stage, having fans singing with us and cheering for me… It makes me so happy that I cry, sometimes. But then I can’t help but think, “Will it ever be me? Or will I just dream of being there, and someone else will get the chance?”

That’s usually when I find one of your letters. The one you sent on my birthday a couple months ago, that you sprayed with that citrus scent? It’s my favorite, I relax so much when I read it. It reminds me of home, somehow.

I’ll try to write more often, I’m sure you’ve been patiently waiting. Let’s exchange pictures again, it’s been a while, right? I just really miss you.

 Was he like family to me? No… I think, back then at least, it was something special for me.

Summer 2014

Hey! I haven't heard from you since April! I miss you a lot, but I know you must be really busy. I’ve been trying to watch the previous Seventeen TV episodes when I can, the other boys seem funny and nice. I hope they all take care of you, like you say Junhui has been.

I’m always wishing you sweet dreams, I worry about how you’ve been. I wish I’d have asked for your phone number or email or something before, but now that you’re so busy and under a big company… I just hope these letters and postcards reach you well.

…

Fall 2014

…

Also, they’ve been saying I’ll qualify to be on SeventeenTV soon. The others are hoping it’s a sign that we’ll get to debut soon. You’ll watch it, right?

Things are looking bright for me and my brothers here, but I can’t help but feel full of dread. I can’t pinpoint why. Junhui said it might be stage fright, but I don’t feel afraid.

I know they all support me, and I support them, but I feel like I might disappear, and not even you would remember me. I know its not true but it’s what I’m feeling.

…

Winter 2014

I SAW YOU!! I watched it as soon as it released, I didn’t understand what most of them were saying without English subtitles, but I could understand you, and I saw you! I’m so proud of you Minghao, you’re an official member of Seventeen!! You’ve been working so hard, I’m sure you’re exhausted. Please try and take time to rest and heal before debut, all of you need it!

…

Spring 2015

May 26th 2015. That is the day I debut. I know we haven't talked much, but I hope you’ll be there in spirit. Thinking about you cheering for me makes it easier to handle. I’ll fight for you, for me, for them, and for us. I’ll try, even though things feel like they’re ending.

I’m going to be busier than before. I’m not sure about the contract, but I’ll try to still get letters out. For now, have this. Thank you for everything.

A layer of grey I can't escape Walls built of fear are colored all over with red Who will listen to the sound from the bottom of my heart at the end of the world(/day) There's no one by my side Flee Flee

The world is collapsing, shattering, breaking I can't find love at all So why why why (Where will I ) fall, where Hidden by the dark clouds, helpless and pitiful Can't feel myself, light is lost Before the end of the world(/day), (I'm) yelling, sounds of pain But there's no one by my side Flee Flee

The world is collapsing, shattering, breaking After I disappear completely, (you) won't realize I once existed Why why why (Where will I ) fall, where Falling endlessly, falling in silence What did I ever do wrong

Missing someone you’ve never met is an entirely separate kind of heartbreak. I began to doubt every single thought and feeling I had, every single word I wrote, everything began to bleed between imagination, ideal, and reality. 

The Minghao I watched on the screen wasn’t the Minghao I knew, and I started to wonder if I ever truly knew him in the first place. I felt like a fool, and even then, I continued to be foolish. I wanted to believe I knew what he meant; that I understood him, but as the years went on, I got more and more lost.

They won awards, they went on variety shows, they released albums, they went on tours. They traveled, they worked, and they grew. I needed to believe I knew him, but Minghao and The8 are not the same. And as I grew to love The8, Minghao began to fade into the back of my mind. When I watched him try to express himself beyond his stage persona, each time I saw flashes of a beautiful bird locked in a rusted cage.

I always kept the letters.

They’re my private collection of memories between he and I. They were the only way I knew it was real. I could run my fingers over his handwriting, feel how he sometimes pressed too hard and left marks in the paper. I could see how the paper and ink warped when he accidentally got tears on it. I could look at his pictures from his childhood and know what he was thinking as he took it. 

I knew him.

Summer 2020

Hey, Minghao. It’s me, do you still remember my handwriting? Maybe it’s changed... No, I know it has, because I’ve changed as a person. It feels strange, I know what you’ve been up to, but you might’ve even forgotten my name. But I feel in my heart that you havn’t. Maybe thats wishful thinking.

Anyway, I’m so proud of you Minghao. You’re a superstar, just like you dream of being back when you first started dancing. You’ve become part of a family, and have so many fans cheering for you every single day. Congratulations!!

…

5 years. Does the smell of citrus still remind you of home? Of me? Maybe it just reminds you of the hard times you had back then. But I guess you’ve been reminiscing about that a lot lately?

I watched the video as soon as it came out, and I was shaking as soon as I heard your voice. That song isn’t a special piece of yourself that you shared with me anymore, but it’s part of your story for the whole world to see, and you told it so well.

...

I miss you.

It was finally time.

It was a fairly thick envelope, inside were many postcards of where I’ve been, quickly written notes as I reacted to songs and memorable moments, and full-length letters that never got sent.

It was so surreal to sit in front on him at this panel. He looks just like he did as a kid, but more refined, stronger inside and out. His aura intimidated me like I was seeing a skyscraper touch the clouds for the first time, and yet he maintained eye contact with me like I was a dandelion about to be blown away with the breeze.

“It’s me, Minghao.” The words barely drifted from my mouth, but they struck him like lightning as realization stealing his breath away. For a moment I saw his eyes twinkle, and the corners of this lips twitch.

A member of staff took the envelop away from him; he barely was able to read the label.

My time would be up soon.

His fingers intertwined with mine and he opens my photobook to his page with his free hand, looking down for only a moment to sign it.

The next Carat was nudging my shoulder already.

“Not yet.” I whispered both to them and to him with a squeeze of his hand. He did the same, like a beat of the heart, and then released. I watched his chest rise and fall with a deep breath as he gave the next fan the same focus and care he gave me. 

I forced a smile on my face as I scooted over.

Did he truly realize it was me? Why could I feel his heart beating faster from the tips of his fingers? Did he want to contact me all this time, or had he chosen to stop and was scared to tell me? Did he miss me too?  

My smile was only fake for a moment, though.

I was meeting his second family for the first time, after all, I needed to make a good impression. After years of keeping up with the group, it should have been easier to feel comfortable, and to be happy like the others.

Yet my hands continued to shake, their faces blurred and the sounds around me went quiet. My senses went in and out of focus like waves reaching and leaving the shore.

The warmth and the texture of his hand stained mine, and as i stared down at it after going back to my seat in the crowd, it felt alien. His hands are same hands that have been writing my name on every envelope for so many years...

I felt like I was falling.