#because often if the english translation is good and stays close to the original text

[taexual]

Do you also read fanfictions? I am writing one but since English is not my mother language, I am afraid to actually post it lmao. Could you read? See if there's any grammar mistakes and if it flows naturally as it should. But if you cant, dont worry. I totally understand

hii, i don't really do beta reading/editing, sorry!! i can suggest some helpful tools, though, such as grammarly or instatext -- i've used both myself, and they're great! instatext requires a subscription, but you get a free trial period and can edit small portions of text for free every day

and if you think you'd prefer a person to read through it for you, you can always make a public post on tumblr, and ask if anyone would be interested!!!

regardless, have confidence, love!!! you're doing great 🤍🤍🤍

[johaerys-writes]

Would you be interested in sharing some of your fav books/scholars/academics/papers on The Iliad?

Hello! And thank you for this ask!! Basically, my research on Homer focuses a lot on Achilles and his relationship with Patroclus; I sometimes read works that are about the Iliad in general, but most of it is with Patroclus and Achilles in mind. But I do often come across interesting works on the Iliad as a whole, so I'll list some of them here. I have a lot of stuff to share, I'll keep it as brief as I can because I don't want to overwhelm anyone lol.

Books

As far as books go, I have several different translations of the Iliad, and most of the time each translation has its own introduction, sometimes by another classicist. Those are a great place to start. My favourites are Caroline Alexander's Iliad translation, and the introduction she wrote herself. I like Caroline Alexander's work in general, including her book on the Iliad The War That Killed Achilles (which my pal Baejax sent me bc I couldn't find it anywhere here <3 <3), because her writing is clear, straightforward and informative. Her translation is my go to translation at the moment because I like how faithful it is to the original Greek, it's the one I keep next to my bedside and which is full of bookmarks and notes LOL.

Another favourite is Robert Fagles' translation, with an introduction by Bernard Knox (who also wrote an excellent introduction to Robert Fagles' translation of the Aeneid). Even though Robert Fagles' translation isn't as close to the original as others, I love it because it is just so beautiful. It is definitely the one with the most staying power if you ask me, some passages are just chef's kiss. Bernard Knox's intro is also super informative (although he doesn't really go into Patroclus' and Achilles' relationship), and when he supplements his analysis with Fagles' gorgeous text it's just a wonderful experience.

Another translation that I recommend to anyone who can read modern Greek is the one by N. Kazantzakis & G. Kakridis, I think it's THE iconic Greek translation if you ask me. It has a lot of idiomatic language and expressions and it might not be as easy to get into as other Greek translations are, but it's truly beautiful and lyrical and it is entirely written in 17-syllable lines in iambic metre, adapting Homer's dactylic hexameter to modern Greek. Verse translations aren't really a thing for most English translations, which is a shame if you ask me. I think it's pretty much the only translation I've read so far that really invites you to read it out loud, as the original work was intended.

I do have Emily Wilson's translation as well but I haven't read it yet (I KNOW, SHAME ON ME), I really want to give it my full attention and I just haven't had the time yet. But I've read bits of the introduction and also parts of the translation and so far I love them. I hope to be back with a more informed opinion once I've actually read it LOL

Scholars

I have to admit that I don't follow any specific scholar religiously. I tend to read whatever catches my interest. That being said, I do love Emily Wilson's work and I've read several of her articles and papers, I think they're really informative and well-written. When she was doing the promotion for her Iliad translation on Twitter I read a lot of the stuff she posted and they were all great. My favourite was her interview with Madeline Miller which you can read here. I also liked this review of her Iliad translation that I read recently, written by Stephanie Mc Carter. Basically, I follow her on Twitter and read the articles she posts, and some are very interesting. I also went to see her in person when she gave a lecture in Athens in October, it was really good but unfortunately it isn't online anymore so I can't link it :(

I also really like watching Madeline Miller interviews on Youtube, I think I've watched every single one that's out there and even though some of them are brief or repetitive because interviewers usually ask her the same questions, I do think she always has something interesting to says both related to her books/writing but also the Iliad and the Odyssey that have inspired her. There are two interviews in particular that I like, this one which is more about TSOA and the Iliad, and this one which is more about Circe and the Odyssey. I genuinely enjoy listening to her a lot, I find it very calming.

My friend @darlingpoppet recently introduced me to the work of Celsiana Warwick, and I've really enjoyed reading her stuff!! Particularly this one which is about conjugal bonds and the homoerotic subtext of the Iliad, and this one which is about gender and kleos in the Iliad. Good stuff, and I look forward to reading more!

Papers

There are a few papers about Achilles and Patroclus that I really like and that I go back to from time to time. I have far too many in my jstor account and can't go through all of them right now, but these spring to mind:

Achilles and Patroclus in Love by W.M. Clarke, it's a very informative analysis of the homoerotic subtext of the Iliad and tries to "prove" in a way that Achilles and Patroclus are in a romantic/erotic relationship. Super interesting!

The Relationship between Achilles and Patroclus according to Chariton of Aphrodisias and Was the Relationship between Achilles and Patroclus Homoerotic? The View of Apollonius Rhodius by Gabriel Laguna-Mariscal and Manuel Sanz-Morales are two very interesting analyses of Achilles and Patroclus' relationship in relation to other ancient works, they're not too long and I found them very fun to read.

Euphorbus and the Death of Achilles by Roberto Nickel is super interesting and has some really cool takes on the deaths of Hector, Achilles and Patroclus and how they are all related.

Some more stuff

Some more videos I've watched and find rather interesting are The Contemporary Relevance of the Iliad by Erwin Cook, Why Homer Matters which is a talk between Adam Nicholson and Paul Cartledge (whose work and lectures on ancient greek history are always super informative!! I love watching his stuff even if they're not directly Iliad-related) I don't vibe with everything that's said in this video honestly nor do I agree with a lot of Nicholson's takes but they did make some interesting points about Homer's relevance and the emphasis on honour/glory in a world without justice and in a war without good leadership, so it might be worth a watch. Lastly, another series of video lectures that I really like is Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey, it's five lectures in total and a great introduction to the Homeric works which also goes into the historical context a little bit, very informative even for someone who is well versed in Homer.

I hope this helped! I can't think of any more off the top of my head now, and I really should get ready to leave for work lmao, but if I do think of anything else, I'll add it here :D Also, if you're reading this and have something to add feel free to do so!

[translationwala]

The Art of Translation: Mastering English to Tamil Translation

Ever read an interesting story or beautiful song in English and hoped you could share it with a friend or family member who speaks Tamil? There’s a chance that you need to reach the Tamil market for a business project. These are the times when English to Tamil translation really shines. However, translation is more than just switching words from one tongue to another. Languages and societies are like two delicate dancers that need to be respected for their differences.

Unveiling the Layers: Challenges and Beauty

Tamil is a Dravidian language that has a long history of literature that goes back hundreds of years. It is a difficult language to translate. Tamil uses a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order for sentences, while English uses a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order. This means moving words around so they run better in Tamil.

Another problem is getting the meaning of Tamil words across. Tamil, on the other hand, often boils down big ideas into a few words. Take the word “Thamizhan,” which means not only being Tamil but also having a strong sense of national identity and pride. A good translator does more than just translate words into Tamil. They also find the best word that gives the full meaning of the phrase.

Navigating the Cultural Landscape: References and Nuances

Another level of depth is added by cultural connections. There are a lot of references to myths, storytelling, and social norms in Tamil writing. Not only does a true translation need to get these references right, but it also needs to think about how someone who doesn’t know much about Tamil society will understand them. This could mean adding comments or changing the reference to something that everyone can understand.

Beyond Literature: Translation in the Real World

Translation is useful for a lot more than just translating books. It is very important for connecting people from different fields and helping them talk to each other. Imagine that Tamil-speaking groups could get their hands on important medical reports, court papers, or training tools. Those who know a lot about the subject come in handy here. By making sure that technical details are correct and understood, they make important information easy to find.

The Rise of Machines and the Human Touch

There’s no question that machine translation has come on the scene, giving us a basic knowledge of source writings. These tools, on the other hand, often have trouble with the finer points of language and culture. Human translators are still the best way to get accurate, detailed versions because they know a lot about both languages and their cultural settings.

The Making of a Master: Essential Qualities

Here are some important traits for people who want to become experts at translating from English to Tamil:

Being able to speak English and Tamil well: This goes beyond just knowing words. It is very important to have a deep understanding of the grammar, spelling, and cultural differences that are built into each language.

Research Skills: For correct translation, it’s important to figure out what culture references and idioms mean.

Attention to Detail: Paying close attention to even the smallest details makes sure that the translated text is correct and stays true to the original style.

Cultural sensitivity: It’s important to know about the cultural background of both English and Tamil in order to get to the heart of the matter.

A REWARDING JOURNEY: MORE THAN JUST WORDS

English to Tamil Translation is a fun process. It turns you into a cultural ambassador who helps people from two different countries understand and talk to each other. Even as technology changes, the human translator will still be very important. They make sure that the link between languages is not only useful, but also filled with the soul and beauty of both English and Tamil. So, if you love languages and want to bring people from different countries together, you might want to become a translator.

Source: https://translationwala.wordpress.com/2024/03/12/the-art-of-translation-mastering-english-to-tamil-translation/

[chouhatsumimi]

Hi! I am trying to become a japanese to English (& vice versa) translator. I can't find any sources to check the English to Japanese translation. It is difficult to get which grammar must be used since I am not a japanese native and don't know any natives to ask either. I have studied till N2 level but have no experience and must start freelancing to get experience so I need to figure out how to translate on my own. I can only use free translation software but I am not sure about it's reliability. I have seen questionable translations when it's for Japanese to English. Do think you can give any suggestions or anything that might be helpful?

Hi! I did put in a little time searching for the kind of tools you might have had in mind.

It seems that there are many that function in the exact same way but have different interfaces. Here are two of them. Many others can be found by searching "日本語文章校正ツール" or similar keywords. https://dw230.jp/kousei/

https://so-zou.jp/web-app/text/proofreading/

While they can point out some things to look out for, from the testing I did with them, they overlooked some pretty obvious errors, while also catching some things that I couldn't figure out why it thought it was wrong/sounded bad, or how to fix it.

There was one more I found that I didn't try, because it involves downloading software. This page explains the software, and another page on the site offers the download. The webpage is sponsored by a university, so I think it's safe to assume its trustworthy, but it might be a hassle and I can't say for sure if it works.

https://www.pawel.jp/outline_of_tools/tomarigi/

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

That said, it's most common for translators to work from one language INTO their native language. While interpreters often have to go both directions (J <--> E), translators typically work either (J -> E) [English native speakers] OR (E -> J) [Japanese native speakers]. If you grew up bilingual, maybe you can translate both ways. But if English is your native language and you learned Japanese as a second language (which is true of my situation), it's pretty much not going to be worth bothering to do E->J translation, unless there are extenuating circumstances. The reasons for this are 1) You can't be sure that the translation you produce reads smoothly or is error-free 2) While you might think, but yes, if I do a really thorough check and compare it against native Japanese examples, I can be pretty darn sure it's perfect, the amount of time it takes you to do that is not going to be cost-effective. Like anything else, people purchasing translation as a service usually want the end result to be done well, in a timely manner, and as cheaply as possible, so it doesn't make sense to hire you for E -> J when they could hire a native Japanese speaking translator, or send their work to an agency to find that translator for them.

If you ARE translating into Japanese and are not a native speaker of Japanese, it is a good idea to have a fellow translator who has the opposite native language you do (in this case Japanese & English), and ask them to check it over for you (which, considering that's part of their job, you'd probably pay a small fee for). They could do the same to have you proofread their translations into English. Some translators consult friends/spouses, etc., but I think this can get old for them sometimes, so it's advisable not to rely on them for your job. You mentioned not having any native speakers to ask right now, but this is still an idea you can file away for in the future when you meet more people and get to know other translators.

In short, if you're aiming to become a translator working with Japanese but are not a native Japanese speaker, don't worry about translating into Japanese. Just focus on translating from Japanese into your native language.

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

Translation software: let me make a distinction here between "machine translation" and "CAT [computer aided translation] tools".

Machine translation is Google Translate, DeepL, anything like that. There are times when they work well, but particularly with a language like Japanese that likes to imply a lot of information instead of stating it directly (such as who is doing the action described in the sentence), they're pretty much always going to miss something. In any situation that someone is looking to pay a translator to do work, it's because they already know machine translation won't cut it. One thing that's becoming more common is MTPE (machine translation post editing), where a translator "fixes" what's wrong with a machine translation (or more often than not, just re-translates it from scratch because what the machine came up with is mostly useless).

CAT tools, on the other hand, are widely used by translators. Paid CAT tools such as Trados, MemoQ, Memsource, etc. can be very expensive, and are often provided by a translation agency to their translators. (Also, most of them require a PC operating system.) There's more I could say, but since I haven't been in any situations that require them, I don't have any personal experience. I do have experience using OmegaT (free, works on Mac) and Felix (free, I use it on Windows). They both take a little tinkering to figure out how to use effectively, but basically what they do is, once you've translated a segment of text, they store the original segment and the translated segment, and for each new segment you go to translate, the CAT tool compares it to segments that you've previously translated to see if you can re-use any of what you came up with before. They can also have a built-in dictionary function, but that's basically just having your typical web-based dictionary but more automatically and in a more convenient location.

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

For going into freelancing, I have a few recommendations.

Apart from CAT tools, some resources that I refer to frequently are http://nihongo.monash.edu/cgi-bin/wwwjdic?9T (basically looks up all the words in a sentence at once), http://thejadednetwork.com/sfx/ (if you're doing anything with sound effects, like manga), https://tsukubawebcorpus.jp//search/ (this is a corpus, I have another post on how to use it -here-, it's probably going to be your best bet when it comes to checking grammar), https://books.google.com/ngrams (for when it comes to figuring out what turns of phrase are commonly used in English), and https://yomikatawa.com/ (for figuring out the readings of names in Japanese, though there are other sites that work similarly).

When it comes to practicing, contests are a good place to start. The two I know of now are run by JAT in October (https://jat.org/events/contests) and JLPP deadline of 7/31 (and they're long, so it's probably too late for this year unless you're free between now and then: https://www.jlpp.go.jp/en/competition6/competition6en.html ) You can also practicing doing translations for fun. Any kind of media you enjoy (manga, video games, variety shows, newspaper articles) is a good target for doing a practice translation. Just be wary that it's not a good idea to post your translation in a public location on the internet, because it could be infringing copyright/licensing agreements, etc. Finally, there are websites like Gengo, Conyac, Fiverr and others where you can do gig translation work. They can be useful for practice, but also have the pitfall of paying, like, 5% of the rate you should be getting. This is an ongoing debate because on one hand, you can get practice while still getting a little money for it, but on the other hand, if customers can get people to do that work for 5% of a livable wage, that makes it harder for aspiring and working translators to find enough work that pays well enough to support themselves doing only translation for a living. Entertainment (primarily manga) scanlation groups also a significant enough force to merit a mention here- many aspiring entertainment translators find themselves a part of such a group. Practice is practice and developing your skills is important, but they also have many many of the same problems associated with them as I mentioned above, namely infringing on copyright and contributing to the inability of anyone to turn entertainment translation into a livable full-time job.

Another recommendation I have is to join some J/E translation-focused groups. This page lists a number of them: https://shinpaideshou.com/translation/ I can personally vouch for JAT as I am a member and I got my current job by being part of their directory. They run an online training program (eJuku) once a year around April, and applications only stay open for a few days, so if you're interested make sure you keep your eye out. Another one not listed on that page is https://swet.jp/ which is not entirely about translation, but it is heavily related and they host some good events. Twitter is also a very good place to be if you're getting into J/E translation. I prefer to keep my tumblr and twitter separate but if you DM me, I can give you my handle so you can see who I follow and who among that seems worth following to you.

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

In closing, I see you say "I have studied till N2 level but have no experience and must start freelancing to get experience so I need to figure out how to translate on my own." I'd say, give yourself some time. Even at N1 there's still going to be a lot you don't understand (or at least there was for me, that's why I started this langblr). I'm sure there are differences in our situations, but it was about five years ago for me that I started diving into translation- I think I was between N2 and N1 then. I've done a lot of translating and gotten a lot of experience since then, but I also have and am experiencing a lot of burnout. (In fact, I'm procrastinating right now by answering this....) Many translators have a job and translate on the side, and it's also common to gain experience with a company or agency before diving into supporting yourself on freelance work. I'd encourage you to take a breath, get experience when and where you can, and remember that if you keep at it long enough, you're sure to get there- just don't wear yourself out or worry to death in the meantime!

OH and definitely keep track of what projects you do, how long they are, and how long it takes you to do them! Knowing your speed is important when it comes to setting your working rates. I am always doubting these, and they differ from person to person, but my current estimates are that I can do 600 moji (Japanese characters) per hour, ~10 min. of audio per hour, and I try to aim for $45~$60 per hour. Generally the lowest acceptable standard rates are $0.05-$0.06 per moji and ~$5 per page of manga. You'll definitely get requests lower than that, so remember your sanity and don't be afraid to say no, there are plenty of opportunities out there!

[kaialone]

Kirby Planet Robobot Translation Comparison: Facing Mecha Knight

This will be a comparison of the original Japanese version and the US English localized version.

Specifically, this will cover the cutscene where Kirby encounters Susie for the second time, and ends up battling Mecha Knight.

You can also watch this cutscene for yourself in English and Japanese.

For the comparison, the usual points apply:

Bolded is the original Japanese text, for the reference.

Bolded and italicized is my translation.

Italicized is the official NOA translation.

A (number) indicates that I have a specific comment to make on that part in the translation notes.

As you read this, please keep in mind that with translations like these, it’s important not to focus on the exact literal wordings, since there is no single “correct answer” when it comes to translations.

Rather than that, consider the actual information that is being conveyed, in which way, and why.

--

Meeting Susie Again:

Secretary Susie:

おーお〜 いーだいな ハールトマン〜

Oh, great Haltmann~  (1)

Noble Haltmann, we adore him

Secretary Susie:

おーお〜 いーだいな ハールトマン〜

Oh, great Haltmann~

Noble Haltmann, we adore him!

Secretary Susie:

永遠にー 果てなくー 栄えよ〜

May you prosper, unending, for all eternity~

Every day we wish him glory!

Secretary Susie:

……おっと、 たいへん しつれい いたしました。

...Oh dear, how terribly rude of me.

Oh! Pardon me.

Secretary Susie:

われらが カンパニーの すばらしい社歌、

「銀河に名立たるハルトマン」。

That was our company's marvelous theme song,

"Haltmann, Famed Across the Galaxy".

That was our company's wonderful theme song, "The Noble Haltmann."

Secretary Susie:

ついつい 口ずさんで しまいましたわ。

I was just overcome with the urge to sing it to myself.

Sometimes I just find myself singing it out loud. It's so catchy!

Secretary Susie:

さて… また、お会いしましたね。

Now then... It appears we meet again.

At any rate, I must say, how nice to see you again.

Secretary Susie:

秘書スージーでございます。

It is I, Secretary Susie.

I'm Susie, but I'm sure you remember me.

Secretary Susie:

そうそう、 ワタクシ 最近…

Oh yes, just recently...

Let me tell you a story.

Secretary Susie:

とーっても ステキな 方に お会いしましたわ。

I met with the most wonderful person.

Not long ago, I met someone who impressed me very much.

Secretary Susie:

いさましくて クールで、 ハイレベルな剣士様…

Valiant and cool, a truly high-class swordfighter...

He was strong and full of confidence... A knight of the highest order.

Secretary Susie:

で、せっかく お会いできたの ですから、

And, since I was fortunate enough to meet him,

I was so impressed...

Secretary Susie:

ちょっぴり全身カイゾウして…

I have subjected him to just a tiny full-body reconstruction...

I gave him a complete remodel!

Secretary Susie:

わが社の セキュリティマシンと させて いただきました。

And given him the privilege of being a security machine for our company.

And I hired him as a company security guard.

Secretary Susie:

ウフフ…

Uhuhu...

Heehee! I wonder what you'll make of him?

Secretary Susie:

お気に めして いただける かしら？

I wonder if he will be to your liking?

Please allow me to present...

Secretary Susie:

プロダクトNo. M-７１１０、 「メタナイトボーグ」よ…

Now, Product #M-7110,  (2) "Meta Knight Borg"...

Model #M-7110. Mecha Knight...

Secretary Susie:

おゆきなさい！

Get to it, please!

ENGAGE!

Translation Notes:

I translated the lyrics that Susie is singing here directly, so they don’t go exactly with the melody in my translation, but they do in the original Japanese.

There’s actually a Japanese pun in Mecha Knight’s product number. The number “7″ can be read as “na”, the number “1″ can be read as “i”, and the number “10″ can be read as “to”. When put together, this spells out “naito”, which is a Japanese transliteration of the English word “knight”.

--

Comparisons & Thoughts:

This cutscene is another one without many differences.

If you were to really pick it apart it’s arguably a bit looser than the previous cutscene, like having Susie add a few extra comments, but nothing big.

We do get the first mention of the Haltmann Work Company’s theme song, and there is a lot to say about that.

-

Now, the company’s theme song is hard to talk about without directly addressing details that will come up later in the game, so keep that in mind.

First of all, in English, the song is simply titled “The Noble Haltmann”, whereas in Japanese it’s called 銀河に名立たるハルトマン/Ginga ni Nadataru Harutoman.

I choose to translate the Japanese title as “Haltmann, Famed Across the Galaxy”, but it could also be translated as “The Galaxy-Famous Haltmann” or the like.

So, there’s a bit of a difference between the titles here, with the English version feeling a bit more grounded and reserved in its worship of Haltmann, but that’s not all there is to it.

The Japanese title of this song is a subtle reference to the Japanese title of the “Milky Way Wishes” mode from Kirby Super Star, where it’s known as 銀河に願いを/Ginga ni Negai o, which roughly translates to ”A Wish Upon the Galaxy”.

The reference is definitely intentional, considering how Planet Robobot features several important callbacks to Milky Way Wishes.

The English version lacks such a reference, but it might have been difficult to come up with one, even if the localizers noticed this detail.

Next up, there’s the song’s actual lyrics, and that’s where things get a bit muddy in English.

Basically, in the Japanese version of this cutscene here, Susie is singing the first line of the song. In the next cutscene, she will sing the second line.

Then, the pause screen during Haltmann’s battle will show the full lyrics of the entire first strophe. And lastly, the final unlock of the game is the music video that features a previously unseen second strophe.

Because of that, in the Japanese version, the player ends up slowly being shown more and more of the song as they play through the game, culminating with the music video.

It’s clearly supposed to be an important build up, considering it’s also the main theme of the game that was specifically written to represent it and its story.

The English version is a lot less consistent with the song and its lyrics.

Here in this scene, Susie is singing “Noble Haltmann, we adore him! Every day we wish him glory!”.

This doesn’t match with Haltmann’s pause screen and the music video later on, where the first line is given as “Noble Haltmann, we adore him, kingly lord of time and space!“, instead.

To make matters more confusing, the former actually goes better with the melody of the song, it seems.

The English version of Haltmann’s pause screen description also only features part of the first strophe, rather than all of the first, and the lyrics that Susie will sing in the next cutscene are taken from the second strophe, which isn’t supposed to come up until the music video.

It’s kinda messy, honestly.

I can only assume this is a result of how game translations usually work.

Things like the text from in-game dialogue, the text from in-game menu screens, and the text from additional extras like the music video are normally internally stored in different places, and often you end up with different people having to translate them, with very little context.

Note that I wouldn’t blame the translator(s) and localizer(s) involved here, because they can’t really help their working conditions.

But whatever the case may be, as a result the English version lacks the neat progression of slowly getting to know the song, the way it’s presented in the Japanese version.

-

With all that general stuff out of the way, let’s have a closer look at the lines Susie sings in this specific cutscene.

In Japanese, she sings “Oh, great Haltmann~ May you prosper, unending, for all eternity~”, while in English she sings “Noble Haltmann, we adore him! Every day we wish him glory!”.

Just like with the song’s title, the English version of this line is a bit more reserved when it comes to practically worshipping Haltmann.

It’s not even like it’s not revering him, it’s just that the Japanese version goes even further with it.

But translating lyrics like this is also something that’s especially difficult, since you need to match the melody of the song, so more differences are to be expected with those.

-

Really a minor thing, but I want to point out this section:

And, since I was fortunate enough to meet him,

I was so impressed…

I have subjected him to just a tiny full-body reconstruction…

I gave him a complete remodel!

And given him the privilege of being a security machine for our company.

And I hired him as a company security guard.

In the Japanese version, the way Susie says that she gave Meta Knight a “tiny full-body reconstruction” is of course a bit of a joke, talking about something so drastic like it’s just a small little thing.

The English version doesn’t retain this directly, but it gives Susie’s dialogue a similar energy here, having her declare that she gave him a complete remodel like it’s something to be excited about.

A bit of a stronger difference is the fact that Susie says she made Meta Knight a “security machine” in Japanese, rather than a “security guard” like in English.

In the Japanese version, there is a stronger impression of Meta Knight being literally turned into an object or product as far as Susie is concerned, and that that’s a good thing in her eyes too.

In English it’s more like she makes him an employee against his will.

-

Finally, Mecha Knight’s product number “#M-7110” is a pun in Japanese, as I explained in the translation notes above.

I think it makes sense that the English version didn’t try to adapt it and just kept it the same, because in English you just have a lot less to work with as far as number puns go.

I can’t help but wonder what might’ve worked though, perhaps something like “#M-98”?

-

And that’s it for this cutscene.

Not a whole lot of differences here again, but more subtle differences are starting to crop up and will continue to add up over time, and we will get to that later.

I want to say that I do really like the localization in this one though, particularly the way Susie’s “swooning” over Meta Knight is written.

It stays close to the original without sounding awkward in English, and captures the basic mood the original version was getting at.

All in all, pretty good.

And with that, feel free to check out the next part!

--

< Previous Part | Start | Next Part >

--

[kuredono]

Sing Sing Sing [part 1 of penpals] | Fushiguro x gn!(clarinettist)reader

TW: mentions of throwing up, hospital despite the TW this is v fluffy! basically you and Meg have been penpals and you meet for the first time! but not in the way either of you would’ve imagined... 

"i think they're coming around now..."

"hello..?"

all you remember was taking a wrong turn down an empty alley on a sunny day, then you were in a cold building with an ugly looking monster holding the back of your neck.

you grasped at a knee, or maybe an arm, squeezing as your felt your stomach churn, though you kept your lips pursed together, willing for it to stay down.

"i think they're gonna be sick..."

"GOJO-SENSEI! HELP! THE CIVILIAN IS GOING TO THROW UP!"

fresh air suddenly hit your face and you threw up in a bush before everything went black again.

"-the thing up. afterwards it was pretty easy to deal with."

"you say that, but the civilian still got injured."

"hey! i didn't see you trying to catch them."

"i had my hands full already!"

your eyes were immediately assaulted with the bright sunshine as you tried to crack them open. you decidedly kept them shut and moved your lead weighted arms to cover your eyes.

"oh?"

"you awake?"

"what happened?" was all you could ask. you had tried to beat the ugly thing with-

"my clarinet!" you bolted up, eyes wide open and met with three equally wide ones (person one had a black blindfold?), but suddenly your head exploded with pain.

"go slowly. you hit your head pretty hard." a voice said as you groaned, squeezing your temples with your trembling hands. "do you remember what happened?"

"got lost walking back. woke up in a weird building and there was a funky looking thing. tried to run away, then some people turned up and the thing exploded. kinda gross."

"gross?!"

"i mean, they are super gross." 

"where are we? what's going on?" you dared to open your eyes again, more slowly, as you took in your surroundings. you were sat on the floor, leaning against a big black dog. how cute. you nuzzled your head into its fur, easing your killer headache. 

"we're in Akihabara, and i think you're concussed. we'd like to take you to a hospital." the one with white hair and the blindfold spoke with a kind smile.

"who are you?" you furrowed your brows together, feeling like you should run away because stranger danger ! but the dog was comfy, lulling you to sleep.

"ah, i'm Gojo Satoru, i'm a teacher at the Tokyo Jujutsu Tech High School, and they are my first year students. we were out on a field trip when we found you." the white haired male answered again. he was a teacher? you'd never be able to guess.

"Jujutsu Tech High School?" you repeated, the name distantly ringing bells. you turned your attention to the students. "i recognise that uniform."

"we've been in Akihabara and around Tokyo before! did you see us then?" the pink haired boy asked with a bright smile. you buried your face into the dog with a thoughtful hum.

"it's only natural we stand out you know!" amother voice voice sung.

"never in a good way." a calmer voice grumbled.

"i guess i just exude that kind of eye-catching aura."

"it's easy recognise beauty such as mine."

how did you get here? why was this happening to you? you were just performing with a marching band this morning, doing your absolute best and playing your loudest for someone. you wanted to stand out for someone. he said he'd come by but didn't. you weren't disappointed... well... you were, but you understood he had his reasons. he probably had classes because it's Thursday.

"Megumi Fushiguro?" you mumbled, the students around you falling silent.

"what did you say?"

"oh yeah, in Japan you say it the other way round don't you?" you chuckled, remembering how embarrassed you were when Megumi cared to point that out when you were discussing nicknames. "Fushiguro Megumi. think he goes to your school."

it was quiet for a moment before the students erupted into excited chatter, 

"Fushiguro! you know them?"

"why didn't you tell us!"

"what? i - i don't—" the calm voice was not calm, but his breath stuttered, "Y - Y/N?"

you had first met Fushiguro via letter in first year middle school, your middle schools partners for a penpal project. you had sent the first letter and even went through the extra effort to try and make a translation, though your characters were very messy so you made sure to also send the English original in case it was unreadable. it was nearly a month before your class got their responses, and it appeared you were the most lucky as Fushiguro's English was far better than your Japanese, and when comparing letters with your classmates, you had the most interesting response.

nearly a year and 7 more letters later, you were the only one in your class still in touch with your penpal, and with the year drawing to a close, the teachers explained that you could only send one more letter. so with a wish, you sent your phone number and downloaded several Japanese chatting apps. sure enough, 2 weeks later, there was a friend request on LINE from a Megumi Fushiguro. his profile picture was just a night sky, but you couldn't say anything, yours was sheet music. this anonymity continued indefinitely. at first you had no idea how often he was okay with you messaging him, and you added the Tokyo timezone to your clock app so you didn't message him at ungodly hours, but after a few months, Megumi would be your first thought when you saw a cute cat or something and you'd quickly snap a photo to send him. he also did the same, mostly pictures of the sky.

on Megumi's birthday, you sent a recording of you playing his favourite piece on clarinet, and for your birthday he sent you a playlist of songs he thought you would like. from then on, you continued to send him your repertoire and small recordings of your practices. then one day, when you talked to him about your most recent performance, Fushiguro asked for the link to the video. you did, but didn't tell him which clarinet player you were. he didn't ask either. you toed the border of your anonymity when you first moved to high school with a picture of you in your new marching band uniform, but from the neck down. you weren't expecting a photo back, but he surprisingly sent one back of his uniform from the neck down. his uniform looked much comfier.

then a spot for a Japanese high school exchange opened (one of the main reasons you chose to attend the high school you did), and though it was for second years, you fought and won the spot. you immediately messaged Fushiguro without checking the time in Japan. and as if that wasn't enough, the wind band in your Japanese high school were having a performance in Tokyo! Fushiguro was in Tokyo! you told Fushiguro, but then dread began to pool in your stomach. what if he didn't want to meet? you were totally fine with that. but you wanted to so badly! you remember your elation when he stopped you mid-anxious text ramble to say he would meet you.

you woke up to a white ceiling and the potent smell of disinfectant. the hospital curtain slid open to reveal a beautiful boy with deep blue hair and long eyelashes, his eyes widening at you.

"ah- good afternoon."

"good afternoon, how can i help?" you smiled, "i think you might have the wrong bay?"

"no. i- uh- do you remember what happened? do you, do you remember me?"

"um... no? i'm not really sure what you mean? i mean, i recognise your uniform- do you go to Tokyo Jujutsu Tech High School by any chance?"

"they said you would be concussed and you might have some memory problems..." the boy mumbled, "is it alright if i sit down?" your eyes darted to the curtain in panic, "ah, i'll leave the curtain open, our teacher is just signing you out the hospital, i'm Fushiguro Megumi."

"Megumi?!" you gasped, the boy smiling softly as you fumbled for words, "i- you- huh?"

"yeah... we have a lot to talk about."

"then, please! sit! i can't believe!" you covered your mouth with your hand, which did nothing to muffle your delighted squeal as he sat in the chair next to your bed. "wow. i mean, it's so nice to finally meet you in person!"

Megumi couldn't help smiling too.

"it's nice to see you too... and i'm sorry i didn't make it to your performance."

"hey, it's okay! we still met up!" you grinned brightly. Megumi then found his hands very interesting.

"and, um... your clarinet is broken..."

"that--" will be very expensive, the thought alone bringing tears to your eyes- your precious baby! it was worth more than your entire wardrobe and shoes! but you shoved that thought away until later. Megumi was here now, visiting you in hospital. "-actually, why am i here? what happened?"

Megumi thankfully didn't push the topic of your clarinet and gladly filled you in on what had happened. by the end of his explanation, you had your face buried in your hands.

"i'm so sorry you had to see that."

"it's fine, i've seen worse. besides, you were concussed, it's normal."

"still..." you whined, peeking between your fingers to find him offering you a hint of a reassuring smile. you gave in with a sigh, "i must say, that's some weird religion you have and they teach you, no offence."

Megumi chuckled, eyes distant, "you're right, it is pretty weird."

"but, um, thank you for saving me Megumi." said boy snapped back into reality very quickly, his cheeks flushing red as it dawned on you that everyone probably called him by his last name. "or do you prefer Fushiguro? am i pronouncing it right? sorry, i got used to-"

"it's fine." he uttered out, "Megumi is fine."

"what about honourifics?"

"whatever you're comfortable with."

"then... Megumi-kun? or is that too weird?"

the boy's cheeks darkened, "it's fine..."

"then you can call me Y/N-chan! then it's not as weird right?" you suggested, starting to feel the second-hand embarrassment.

"yeah." Megumi flinched too much when his phone chimed, and he hurriedly read it over. "Gojo-sensei -my teacher- said he's signed what you need to let you out. you just need to sign a few things before you go."

"right." well, the moment had to end at some point. you couldn't stay in the hospital bay forever. it was just an amazing coincidence that you had met Megumi, so you should be thankful you even had the opportunity to speak to him like this. "am i okay to move?"

"um, i'll call a nurse."

Megumi stepped out as you were examined by the nurse, and you saw him again in reception as you gave him and his teacher a thumbs up before signing the hospital forms.

"thank you very much for everything you've done. i'm so grateful. and please pass my thanks on to the other first years!" you bowed formally to the pair, Megumi flushing red while his teacher just waved you off.

"no worries. sorry about your clarinet and the concussion." the teacher responded.

"it's fine, i was always told i have a thick skull! comes in handy sometimes."

"i have to go now, but Megumi will walk you to the station, right?"

Megumi scowled at his teacher with an unreadable look in his eyes which seemed to make the teacher's smile brighten.

"well it was nice to meet you sir!" you bowed again at the adult, who nodded to you.

"nice to meet you too! hope you enjoy Japan. Megumi, be nice."

Megumi glared at the older man as he skipped away, seemingly pleased with himself for winding the younger up. Said male sighed.

"you don't have to walk me back if you're busy, i have GPS on my phone."

The boy startled at your comment, brows furrowed, before shaking his head, "it's fine, it's no trouble. i would feel better if i walked you to the station at least."

you couldn't stop the wide smile stretching on your lips, "thanks!"

"it's nothing."

you mentally thanked all the deities for letting you spend a little longer with your penpal, chatting easily as if you hadn't just met him less than 10 hours ago. by the time you had made it to the station, you had mentally prepared to part.

"so... i guess this is it?"

"yeah..."

"it was so nice to meet you- i cannot fully explain how nice this has been! even if i did spend a while in a hospital." Megumi chuckled at your words. you felt your cheeks heat up, his smile squeezing at your heart.

"i feel the same."

your train arrived.

"well. i'll message you later then?" you grinned hopefully, Megumi nodding. "hug? or do you not do those? i don't mind."

you nearly burst out laughing at the rush of emotions that flickered in Megumi's eyes- mostly panic. he blinked out his state when a giggle slipped out. he flushed red but nodded stiffly, opening his arms for you. you smiled as you wrapped your arms around him, feeling his wrap behind you too, surprisingly quickly considering how awkward he was at first. keeping it short because of the train behind you, you pulled away to find him also smiling. so he did like hugs.

"until next time?"

"yeah."

the doors shut and you waved to him as the train set off. and that was that.

your phone buzzed in your pocket.

Megumi: the school offered to pay compensation for the damages to your clarinet, so please let me know if and when you're free to go to a music shop in Tokyo to buy a new one.

sorry this hasn’t been proofread and the ending is kinda rushed because i just really wanted to publish it hahaha (catch me constantly editing this for DAYS now, so i probably shouldn’t post it but we die like men)

[finelythreadedsky]

May I ask what translation of the Odyssey do you recommend? One of the reasons why I would want to study Ancient Greek and Latin is due to the fact none of the translations of the Odyssey that I've found (in Spanish, Italian or English) satisfy me, for some reason. I feel like the Iliad is often translated better? But maybe that's me, I don't really know Greek! It just feels more like a translation and less like an adaptation in the form of a novel of what the actual Iliad might be, which the form the Odyssey takes in almost every translation I've seen. Anyway, I'm getting carried away... Yes, may I ask if there's a translation you'd recommend in particular? (I don't know if English is your native language, but just in case, it doesn't have to be English if you'd recommend something else. I don't mind much if it's in Spanish, Italian, English or even French maybe, if it's better, but I can't really read anything else well enough either). Don't feel forced to answer, though! There's no need if you don't feel like it. I hope you have a nice day.

I don’t know about any translations in languages other than English but I do really like Emily Wilson’s translation of the Odyssey. But it sounds like you’re looking for a translation where you can’t really feel the translator’s presence as much and with Wilson’s Odyssey (because she translates Greek dactylic hexameter into English iambic pentameter while maintaining the same number of lines) there can be somewhat of a sense that you aren’t staying super close to the Greek. Which is often really good!!! Super-literal translations that try to minimize the role of the translator can often been harder to read and lose a lot of untranslatable elements of the poetry of the Greek. Wilson’s translation is readable and as poetic and beautiful as the Greek, and she’s definitely not the furthest to the “interpretative” side of the interpretative-literal spectrum. There are plenty of other translators whose presence you can feel a lot more in their translations. I’d probably place Allen Mandelbaum a little closer to the literal side of things, and I’d also recommend that translation. But it’s really a difference of how much you feel like you’re accessing Homer directly versus how much you feel like the translator is mediating between you and the text-- and that doesn’t necessarily correspond to how much actual work the translator is doing or how closely and in what ways they’re hewing more closely to the original text. 

[scone-lover]

@findingniamho​

HAHAHAHA thank you so much for this ask!!! ❤️ This is exciting. Honestly the Egghead fight was one of the most entertaining scenes to write. (Coming up with all the puns was an egg-celent time.) Rereading it just now was like an out of body experience 😂 

Link to the original chapter here - passage & commentary below the cut!

So I have to start with how this scene was born. This is a Simon scene. He’s had a couple fight scenes with Vampire, but I wanted to show him off as the superhero of the city. What was he doing before Vampire appeared on the scene? What are his strengths and weaknesses? Despite the scene’s silliness, it’s also one of the first where we start to get a sense of what Mayor Mage is up to. 

So I knew I wanted him to do the typical defending-the-city thing, and showcase him and Penny as the dread companions power duo.

Besides the plot stuff, my main goal was to make this scene as ridiculously, stereotypically comic book-ish as possible. 😂Hence, Egghead the Villain.

Most of the credit for Egghead goes to my friend -- they’re really into DC and helped me with a lot of the plot stuff in this fic and making things semi-realistic. (Every time you read a clever plot point, it was probably them. 😂) For this non-Vampire fight, my friend suggested a gangster who was doing crimes and bribing the police. Hence this exchange--

“Okay, okay, um-- fuck. Did you call the police?” She huffs. “Yes, and I think they’ve been fucking bribed, because they pretended they didn’t even know who Egghead was! Can you believe that?”

I made him a repeat villain because honestly, I just thought it was more compelling that way. They know who he is already, Simon can grumble about him, they have egg-themed quips at the ready, etc. 😂 

As for the name, Egghead. I love how it came together because Simon is a baker, and I was able to work a couple baking jokes in there eventually. But in reality, it was me begging my superhero expert friend (named t below) to help me out with crafting this villain and coming up with some witty exchanges. A transcript of our conversation with the brainstorming and some of the rejects--

t: the gangster has a nickname right? he has to if he’s a supervillain t: make it a gimmick t: like if he has a red outfit call him mr. red or something t: he has a flamethrower and call him dragon (this made it in, later) me: Vampire already has a flamethrower t: they can be forced to fight him together me: Vampire is at home studying bc he’s a NERD t: ok he can be bald and simon can call him egghead me: THANKS I HATE IT t: simon throws him on the ground at the end of the fight - that was over-easy me: I hate you where do you get this shit t: I mean it’s typical superhero stuff t: he wears yellow and white and deals crack me: This fic is so food themed I love it t: that’s your villain. that’s it. t: listen, if the Flash can have an ice skating villain, YOU CAN HAVE EGGHEAD. And he was born.

(And yes, The Flash does have an ice skating villain. AND SHE DOESN’T EVEN HAVE ICE POWERS.)

Okay, let’s do this! Warning that this is definitely going to go through more than 500 words of the chapter. 😂 

Men dressed in black suits with bright yellow pocket squares. And larger men around the perimeter, wearing grey and holding flashlights. It looks more like a business transaction than anything; there are briefcases and money being passed back and forth, hands being shaken. “Hey!” I call. There are six men, and they all turn to stare at me, and then make a run for it. The flashlight beams dart wildly and I hear a few of them clatter to the floor. Everyone starts yelling at once and looking for an escape.

I basically watched an episode of Brooklyn-99 and crafted the warehouse drug deal based on that. 

“Don’t move. There’s only one exit,” Penny says in my ear. “And you’re standing in front of it.” I stand my ground, but no one comes near me. The suited guys stay slightly behind the muscular ones. Finally, one of them steps forward. “Mage’s Head Boy. Come to tell us off?”

This scene was also an opportunity to have Penny in Simon’s ear! I wanted them to work together more closely than just talking about superhero stuff - I wanted Penny to be invaluable to Simon’s superhero success and in on the action, too. She’s kind of modeled after Oracle from Batman throughout this fic. 

Mage’s Head Boy is a pretty transparent CO reference. 

There are times when I’m grateful for my ability to just have muscles and growl at people and make them disappear, and there are times when I wish I was witty like Vampire. This is definitely the second. I can’t think of a response to that. Luckily, I have a best friend with a head full of wit. “Tell them to fuck off,” Penny says. Then again, maybe not. What would Vampire say? I get hot and frustrated in the face of danger. He seems to get cooler the higher the stakes get. I fall into a fighting stance. “You wish.” The guy takes a step backwards. “But since I can’t bring you to the police, I suppose I’ll just have to teach you a lesson.” “That was good,” Penny says in my ear.

I obviously had to work a bit of Baz jealousy / crushing into this. I like the idea of Penny being super blunt. She’s smart and sometimes witty, but more often she just says it like it is. “Cooler the higher the stakes get” was a direct reference to the similar line in Carry On. With Simon’s last line - this scene was all about showcasing him as a “typical” superhero that you’d find in a comic, fighting a classic comic book villain. So I gave him one of those cheesy lines.

I’m surrounded. There must be fifteen or twenty of them. Eight huge muscular guys, and the rest in suits. They form a loose circle around me. Almost all of them wield knives, but I don’t see any guns so far.

I knew from the outset I wanted this to be a one-against-many fight. At this point in the story I’d set up a good dynamic for Blade vs Vampire, but not so much Blade vs. other city threats. What makes him a trustworthy hero? Simon’s origin story is that he got news attention by fighting off a group - so putting him in this group fight setting was a chance for him to shine.

A man steps out from the shadows. He’s bald, with a straight, dark mustache, and he’s wearing a pristine white suit and a shirt the colour of an egg yolk. “Egghead,” I say in what I hope is a threatening tone. The name sounds absurd. I’m glad the mask covers my mouth, because I don’t think I can keep a straight face. Penny coughs. Benedict Eggerton, better known as Egghead, is a drug lord who wears yellow and deals… crack. (I know.) (He got into crime early; his parents were poachers.) (Okay, I made that one up. I can’t help it.) I put him in jail earlier this year, but he escaped and fled north.

I was laughing so hard while writing this. You can see in the text exchange above where the suit and nickname came from. I was trying to come up with what his first name might be (my first idea was Sunny). I was so amused when I finally thought of Benedict. 😂 The poachers line is also from my friend T, and the “north” is a reference to Scotland, which comes back later as the Scotch Egg joke.

I draw my weapon, trying to look as menacing as possible. “I remember your blade being bigger,” he says, eyeing my kitchen knife. “Is it too cold for you in here?”

PFFFFFT I LOVE THIS JOKE okay so. I originally made Simon forget his sword because I thought the fight would be too easy - and going back to what I said above, he’s kind of returning to his “roots” with this fight - that spark he has that makes him a hero. And then I wrote the line “I remember your blade being bigger.” TO BE CLEAR, this was not originally intended as an innuendo. 

And then my friend said something like ‘he should turn up the heating in this warehouse then’, and I was like OH DING DING DING PENIS JOKE! 😂I’m oblivious sometimes. I’m glad I realized in time because this is honestly one of my favorite villain lines I’ve ever written.

I really, really wanted to give the “too cold” line to Vampire. It would be perfect for him. But Simon always has his normal sword with Vamp, so Egghead it was. And he instantly became an icon. 😂 

I twirl the knife between my fingers. “I can crack you anyway.” “Good effort,” Penny whispers. “But a bit rough on the delivery. 'Take a crack at you' might have been better...” “Sword or no sword,” I continue, “you’ll be an egg wash by the end of this.” “What?” Penny says. “Is that a baking reference?” Egghead cracks his knuckles, and his men rush me.

Much like Penny does later in the scene, I had a tab open of egg-related words up while writing this. I had to work in the baking reference. But a terrible one. There’s a French term for whisking eggs that basically translates to “beating eggs into snow” - and I wish it was a thing in English, because, you know, Simon Snow. Oh well. 😂 

I Google a list of ways to make eggs. Simon needs to win this fight, but more importantly, he needs to get some egg-themed one-liners in there to show them who’s boss. Chances like this don’t come around very often. 

Listen, Penny is very dedicated. I love the idea of heroes just being quick-witted and coming up with these ridiculous quips on demand. But ultimately, I thought it was funnier - and more in character for Penny - to do this. (Even though her Superhero name is Quickwit, oops.) She has the world of Google at her disposal. Egg puns may not seem important, but superhero image and reputation is half the battle.

Simon is being attacked from all angles, but he fights like a whirlwind. The bulky guys attack first, mostly with their fists. Simon kicks their legs out from under them. He throws them across the floor like they weigh nothing. “Behind you!” I say. Simon spins around and disarms the man behind him, twisting his arm, and I hear a shout through my earbuds. He grabs the guy’s knife and kicks him in the stomach, sending him sprawling. Simon Snow faces fifteen men with nothing but two knives, looking like he’s ready to explode.

I loved writing this from Penny’s POV. I am used to writing fight scenes from the POV of the person fighting, so this was definitely a cool challenge. It’s part of why I brought Penny into the scene in the first place - so I could show Simon in third person. Almost like we’re watching a movie and getting some overhead shots. From his POV, you don’t realize quite how awesome he is. So getting to showcase him like this was really fun.

I still have to wonder how Shepard knew… well, everything. 

Don’t tell anyone but I didn’t know yet either

“He’s Scottish,” I tell Simon. “Scotch Egg.”

I know. This one’s bad.

He’s a blur of gold and white in motion. He throws his knife—I have no idea where he learned to do that—and it embeds itself in one of the men’s legs. He rolls across the floor, picking up two more discarded knives.

I don’t do a ton of plotting/outlining with fight scenes, but one thing I decide in advance is where and how everyone gets hurt. I didn’t want Simon to win the fight too easily, but I did need to injure him somehow. So it wouldn’t be too easy, but also to serve as a counterpoint to the socks thing later.

I watched a lot of action sequences to write this fic, especially with the trickier one vs. many scenes. 

Simon tosses him like a sack of flour.

Couldn’t resist the baker!Simon reference.

“Hard or soft boiled,” I whisper. “Which way is it gonna be, Egghead? Hard or soft boiled?” Simon shouts. He whispers to me, “That was stupid.” Egghead raises an eyebrow. “Last chance to leave us alone, Blade.” I consult my list of egg dishes. “Give up before you get scrambled.” Simon twirls his blades. I love it when he does that; he looks like Deadpool. “It’s your last chance to surrender before you get scrambled.”

I loved the hard or soft boiled line at first. And then I wrote it down and said it out loud, just to check, and it sounded SO DUMB. 😂I almost took it out, but then figured—Simon is probably not going to think this through, either.

Maybe the Deadpool line was a bit on the nose here, but I wanted to give readers some really vivid imagery of what Simon looks like right now with these dual wicked blades kitchen knives.

“I prefer my eggs… poached,” he says. 

Even though Egghead has turned out to be quite a serious villain—there are guns, drugs, and a backstory—he is, after all, original master of the egg puns. He would never turn down this opportunity.

Egghead scrambles (ha) to his feet

I think Penny is just me in this.

“Over-easy,” I whisper.

“That was over-easy,” he says.

Not my best. But it had to be in there.

I’ll skip the serious bits, since the plot there is pretty self-explanatory, to this:

I wish he’d asked what we serve, because I have so many egg puns at the ready. Eggs-ecution. Hash-ing out justice. Karma served hard.  

My beta ashspren gave me this line, and I could not be more grateful. Imagine the chapter without this. It would be a shame.

Here are a few egg puns that didn’t make the cut, SADLY:

You're washed out, egghead

*Egghead gets angry* hey, it was just a yolk

I had to go "beat" some eggs

*uppercut* Sunny side UP!

I'll bash in your Eggnoggin’

Some people are just bad eggs

Sorry this is so long—this has been a purely self-indulgent experience. Thanks so much for this ask, I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you like it! ❤️ 

[studioweus]

This was an article from January 26th, 2016 by Netri! (네트리* I’m not entirely sure what the proper romanization is for their name but I’ll go with this spelling throughout this post). I tried to re-create the article to include the images and videos, but due to formatting limitations, the videos have just been put as links instead. (Also thank you @iyfrr​ for helping me proof-read!)

Text in square brackets are translator's notes. Asterisks will denote one of the members interrupting another member (LOL) The original article will be linked as the source. May contain minor translation inaccuracies.

[Link to ‘Butterfly, Finding Flower’ Teaser]

We've met with the visually strongest band M.A.S 0094.

A skillful, visual band composed of members born between the years 1994 and 2000.  

Aside from their flower-like appearances, they also possess unwavering talent, a trait about themselves that we'll be looking forward to in the future.

[CAPTION: Awkward....]

Please introduce the band~

It was wonderful how we chanced upon one another. At the beginning, the leader [who was Kanghyun at the time], the drummer, and the bassist were the ones who started the group with their respective instruments.

As we started, our bassist friend here brought forth a sub-vocal friend of his. We originally had four members at the time that we were promoting. Then we went to perform a session at a contest where we happened to stumble upon the eldest who claimed his victory. We then had a conversation with him ... and then recruited him? We brought him into the group. So it was around the middle of May in 2015 when we decided to bring him in? It started in May and has been this way since then.

Now that we think about it, it hasn’t been that long since we met but our friendship feels like we’ve been a band together for several years.

Our first song <Butterfly, Finding Flower> was released on the 13th of August.

Please introduce yourselves~

Kang Hyungu (Leader, Guitarist)

My name is Kanghyun. I'm 19 years old. I'm the leader and the guitarist. My nickname is especially ... ah, the members think I'm a genius at guitar but I don't think so. Yeah, that's it.

HYUNGU'S PERSONALITY:

Hyungu: I'm ... a little bit shy.

Netri: It does seem like it. Not once have you maintained eye contact with me.

Hyungu: Yes ... ㅋㅋㅋ I'm somewhat shy. I hate wasting even the slightest bit of time. So when there's nothing to do when I'm in the car, I would either read books or be preoccupied with something else.

Harin: But I think he really is that kind of person. The first time we’ve seen each other was when we were in middle school. We met through this teacher and we were having a conversation, but not once did he look up, and he just stood there. Then I thought, I wanted to get acquainted and familiarize myself with him more soon.

Dongmyeong: But when we actually got to know one another, we suddenly became close.

Harin: He may be very shy, but after a while, he opens up about everything.

Giwook: Hyungu hyung is ... a meticulous person? And he also practices very diligently. He's truly a sincere hyung and that's why he's cool.

Yonghoon: That sounded soulless ㅋㅋㅋ First of all, he's definitely a very shy one, which was the reason why I actually made a lot of effort towards him. Since I'm the older one, it seemed a lot harder to do [the approaching]. So, I purposefully extended phone calls with him at night and sent him lengthy messages bit by bit on Kakaotalk. The first time when we weren't as close, our exchanges were something along the lines of, "Whenever [Yonghoon] hyung says something like this, I feel really moved." But as time passed on and we've grown more close, it's now more of "Hyung, you're being overly dramatic again. Good night" ㅋㅋㅋ A lot has changed since.

Dongmyeong: Hyungu hyung may be a really shy person, but he's also quite bashful. He acts like a real man. ㅋㅋㅋ But he's definitely leader material. The members are actually quite young so we tend to slack off often, but whenever we do so, he would catch us [and scold them for it]. So I think he's exactly like a leader in that respect.

JU HARIN (DRUMMER)

I'm the drummer in MAS, 19-year old Harin. I may not have a nickname though, I think ... Since I have more of a caring nature, I lean more towards sort of being described as a housewife, kind of like a 'housewife' mother. MAS' mother.

HARIN'S PERSONALITY:

Harin: My personality is something along the lines of ... being able to befriend people quick. I don't particularly like being shy so I'm the kind of person who will approach someone first. I'm extremely caring.

Ever since I was young, you could say I was almost responsible for raising a younger sibling. Since I was five, our parents would often go on business trips, so I had to take care of my sister and that's where my family-oriented nature came in. I would cook at home and receive advice from mom, so my overall character just seems to be more of a family-oriented person, like a mother or a father.

Hyungu: Yeah, I think so, too.

Dongmyeong: Elaborate a little bit more on that please.

Hyungu: There's a lot of ground to cover though. But ... he's good-natured. He does seem to have a bit of a lazy side to him, right?  ㅋㅋㅋ Yeah, let's just move on.

Giwook: It's true that Harin hyung is the most caring person. But Yonghoon also takes good care of us. And he's also really playful.

Harin: What? Is that it?

Dongmyeong: Ah~ Can I go for it? Can I?

Yonghoon: Yeah ... Giwook and I thought of the same thing ㅋㅋㅋ No, just kidding. As Harin said, he is definitely a family person and he's also quite sociable. He briefly met my younger brother. In about 15 seconds of meeting him, [Harin] already had an arm around his [Yonghoon's brother's] shoulder. And also, as Hyungu said earlier, he can be the lazy type but that's something that he can improve upon himself.

Dongmyeong: Ah, for me ... Harin hyung truly does take care of us well. He certainly does.

Harin: What’s this all of a sudden?

Dongmyeong: It’s true! That’s what he’s like! ㅋㅋㅋ (Just kidding, just kidding). Harin hyung is really friendly. He met my brother one time and it was almost as though the two of them haven't seen each other in 30 years. At home, my brother even said, "That hyung is strange."

Yonghoon: So did my brother.

Dongmyeong: But it was- it was nice.

LEE GIWOOK (MAKNAE, BASSIST, LYRICIST)

Hello, I'm the youngest in MAS, 17-year old Lee Giwook. Ah, that's right. I'm also the bassist of the group. Hmm .. what else .. I'm just the youngest. The youngest in the band.

*The members interrupting* (This particular part denotes the members cutting in) - He writes lyrics well. *He has written two songs in English. - With a bit of ... Googling... did he not (doubts about the translating situation)

I am responsible for song-writing. Please watch over me. ^^

GIWOOK'S PERSONALITY:

Giwook: Yes, hello? I'm the youngest. I am often understanding towards people! In a considerate manner. Hmm ... And even though I struggle to describe myself, I'm striving to live as a kind-hearted individual. Ah, and I often also hear that I'm more mature for someone my age. But despite my mature side, I still look young ... I don't know.

Hyungu: For me personally, he's truly admirable. Since we've been together from the very beginning, I think I'm the one who knows Giwook the best out of all the members. Firstly, I'm so proud of him, and he's never once stayed mad at me for a long period of time as we make fun and joke among ourselves. Giwook also doesn't swear, he's mature, and he thinks deeply. And now you're glaring at me ...? [at Giwook] Okay.

Harin: Next to Hyungu, I know Giwook the most, but I always feel sorry towards him. I was a junior and he was a freshman in high school when I first met him. I must've been a little distressing to him. I would often joke around because we were close, but Giwook must've felt hurt?

But he understood [the nature] of the situation and would come back a moment later saying, "It's okay, hyung~" So I joke around, but particularly more carefully around Giwook.

Dongmyeong: Always Giwook before me ...

Harin: Yeah, that's about right.

Dongmyeong: What's worse is that he doesn't even answer my phone calls.

Harin: No! No! That may be so, but he's very considerate and kind. As you get to know him better, you'll notice he's more reserved towards the older ones. Especially towards the noonas. Awo~ I can't even say it. Let's end it at that. And he does an excellent job at writing lyrics for songs and raps. He is one talented individual.

Yonghoon: Giwook may be the youngest but he is definitely praiseworthy. As the older one, I'd want to be the one to watch over him but I also want him to speak to me when something goes wrong - because I can tell. When there is something that bothers them, whatever it may be, I want them to be able to talk about it, but neither Hyungu nor Giwook say anything. Besides that though, he's amazing, mature, and he's great at writing song and rap lyrics. I think he's definitely the best younger brother.

Dongmyeong: Giwook and I are the same age so ... Even though Giwook comes across as mature, he can still be playful and can mess around like his peers. But I think he can also be under a lot of stress. He’s a quiet person, and even though it appears as if he's under a lot of pressure to be good [at what he does], you can obviously tell. Yet he doesn't talk about it. If he were to say enough, we could help each other out. Yeah, we would.

JIN YONGHOON (ELDEST HYUNG, VOCALIST, GUITARIST)

Hello, I am. MAS' eldest, the vocalist, and guitarist Jin Yonghoon. My nickname ... I always take care of the younger ones with a generous heart.

*Huh? What are you on about?

It's always raining and snowing... [referring to how the members have so much to say]

Heoheoheoheo (we'll cut the downpour of complaints here)

I think I'm like a father who cherishes and loves you

*Absolutely not. It's like ... we'll just leave it at that.

YONGHOON'S PERSONALITY:

Yonghoon: My personality ... since I have a younger brother, I treat the younger members well. Honestly.

Dongmyeong: COUGH COUGH ... So shameless ... COUGH

Yonghoon: I'm not good with hyungs. I can't adjust to their level. And I seem to be the kind of person who has to deal with them one by one. Yeah, that sounds about right. I can't just sit back and watch if someone tries to bother the younger ones.

Dongmyeong: Wah you're a gangster, hyung.

Yonghoon: Yeah, that's right ...

Hyungu: I think Yonghoon hyung is like the pillar of the group. I personally like him a lot. He's filled with charisma. It's the same way when we're on stage, but even when it's just among us, he would be more reprimanding, and when we play around he makes it more fun. I don't think I would be able to do any of those if I were him. But that's just what I think. He does it towards the younger ones often on Kakaotalk.

I personally haven't given the younger members my Kakaotalk. But after meeting Yonghoon, he's been helpful towards me [in that area of connecting with the younger members]. Sort of like a life coach? Yeah, that's all. Hyung. I love you.

Dongmyeong: This is like a healing camp.

Harin: Yeah, Hyungu and I feel the same way. When I can't get it together, [Yonghoon] hyung has been the pillar. And with his charisma ... sometimes he's charismatic, other times he isn't. It comes and goes like a split personality. The first few times I've been with him, he would scold me a lot. But because of that, I am who I am now.

Giwook: Yonghoon has a fatherly personality. Even with just the four of us doing activities as a band, Yonghoon just waltzed in and it suddenly felt even more like a band. He's a great singer and he's really nice. But there's hardly any instances where he doesn't depend on us. We just got back from Lotteria [a fast food chain in South Korea], and he would ask us to do this or that, or throw this or that away. Though he's there when we need someone to rely on, too. Yeah, that's all.

Dongmyeong: Yonghoon hyung gives a lot of advice. He would even give advice on the smallest of things. But he can't do any handiwork. He would always be constantly teasing me about nothing else but singing, but has he ever tidied something up with his own two hands? No, right?

As for instances of that ... We were out eating at Lotteria and there was one time where he saw me just leaving and not cleaning up. But he also really just left [the trash] behind. So then I had to do the clean up in the end. He can sometimes be really childish. He's just whining and making a fuss on the daily...

Yonghoon: Yeah!!! (hurriedly rushing)

SON DONGMYEONG (VOCALIST, PIANIST)

Yes, I'm the vocalist and pianist in MAS, Son Dongmyeong. My foot size is 280 [for reference, that is a 9.5 in NA sizes]. So my nickname is 발동명 [foot Dongmyeong - though the word ‘발동‘ can also mean ‘to instigate/to start something’]

-- But your height is 160 cm.

What's that supposed to mean!! Please don't believe that. Also, I was born in 2000 but since I was born earlier than Giwook, I'm his hyung. It may only be a two-week gap [between him and Giwook] but I entered high school earlier than him.

Netri: So, that makes you a hyung to him?

Yes, but we sometimes talk casually as well.

[It is generally common courtesy to speak to someone in a respectful manner if they're older than you or if you've just met them. But once you've both established a more familiar relationship, especially if you’re the same age, you could also speak casually!]

- You’re in middle school and I’m in high school so you have to call me hyung~

What sort of set up is this.

DONGMYEONG'S PERSONALITY:

Dongmyeong: I ... am also shy at first, but once we grow closer, everything becomes okay. Ah, no? You don't think I'm shy? Hmm ... I'm quite timid.

Yonghoon: He is very talented. You'll know once you see him during a concert.

Dongmyeong: Umm ... but even though I have a lot to say, [those words] aren't reflective of what I truly mean. Isn't that right?

Yonghoon: But you can't ask that.

Dongmyeong: I really don't know ... my personality ...

Yonghoon: Okay, so we will do the talking.

Hyungu: Honestly, Dongmyeong speaks politely. I think he's one of the most kind-hearted kids. And that is truly nice. But that [kind of personality] can also be bad. He is really nice and also very naive. So I think it would be good for him to comfortably express how he truly feels. At first, I was like "how can he be so angelic?" But that was just at first.

Dongmyeong: WHAT DO YOU MEAN!!!

Yonghoon: Now he's more like a sergeant.

Hyungu: I'm usually more of a tsundere towards Dongmyeong. Whenever he asks me a question, I just give a prompt response - but that's not what I'm truly trying to say. Honestly, conversations with Dongmyeong can be quite bothersome ㅋㅋㅋ I don't want to respond ㅋㅋㅋㅋ But he's definitely a good younger brother.

Harin: I don't have much to say other than that. I think his kindness is just a facade. There have been instances where, even though he is nicely talking to me, I can't take it seriously because he sounds too innocent. Even when I'm tired, I seriously go "Ah, stop." but he would punch me and say "Ayyye #%$%$" He can be senseless sometimes.

Yonghoon: He always takes things too far... So he's Do # (Seriously, what kind of gags does this guy have?)

[Yonghoon said '도를 넘어' which translates to 'being excessive/going too far' but can also mean 'beyond Do (as in the note)' ... hence... the Do # pun... Thanks for the dad jokes, Yonghoon. We love ya]

Giwook: Hello, it's the maknae here. As far as I'm concerned, I've ... (taking notice) spent the most time with Dongmyeong. We live 5 minutes away from one another, and our schools were also actually close to each other. Personality-wise, Dongmyeong is kind-hearted, but his talent is no joke either. He is quite skilled. He can be playful. He's a ... really good hyung. The mood maker?

Harin: I think he holds up the role of the energizer [in the group].

Giwook: Without Dongmyeong hyung, things would be terribly dull. And also, when it's just the two of us alone, we tend to have serious conversations, and he seems like a different person. He cries, too.

Dongmyeong: You're so mean~!!

Yonghoon: Dongmyeong ... is definitely the one I talk to the most - the reason being is that we're the most talkative ones. When he's not able to sleep at night, he's always messaging me on Kakaotalk. I always ‘see’ him. Even though I get confused with what goes on with the others, I just see it as is with Dongmyeong. Even just from his clumsy way of walking ... 'Ah, there's something going on with him" - I just see it.

The first time around when he was still really shy, I started a conversation with him like, "Dongmyeong-ah, did you eat" and he goes "Ah! No! Would you like to eat?" But these days, it's more like "Hey, what do you wanna eat?" ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Even now when we joke around, he can still get hurt since he's soft-hearted, but he pretends that he isn't. But then I see that. To tell you the truth, I feel sorry for him once in a while. But then that’s what makes me want to tease him even more ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

A FAVOURITE SONG OF YOURS IS ...?

Hyungu: There are two songs that immediately come to mind - <PEACE> is one of them. It's really good, but above all,

- You wrote the melody for it

Yeah, very much so. I think it's good.

[I unfortunately was not able to find a performance of PEACE anywhere ;-;]

Harin: Yeah, I really like <PEACE> too. The reason being is that, one time, Hyungu and I were staying at my house, and we were both playing guitar and singing, and then the chords just came out nicely ... So we took those and showed it to them [the other members] and were met with good reactions, and because I'm a fan of awesome things [like the song], this song is definitely my style.

Giwook: For me, the song <PEACE> and <Starlight> are songs I've composed ... What these two songs have in common is that they're both undoubtedly dynamic. The beginning starts off quietly but then it unravels at the end part. The lyrics are good, the melody is also good. I think it's just really good. I also wrote the lyrics for <PEACE> as well.

Yonghoon: I also had two songs in mind - <Blessing> and <Starlight>

[I couldn't find a video performance for 'Peace' but here is a video link to Blessing! ]

I wasn't originally going to go with <Blessing> but ... I wrote this one. And it is also rather cold out now. It's winter. The melody for this song is the exact thing that reminds me of winter. It is definitely a warm and dynamic kind of song.

Dongmyeong: For me, it's <Feeling Good> and <A Wonderful Person> [also was not able to find a video performance for this song] The maknae, Giwook, wrote the lyrics for <Feeling Good>, and it's the most well-known song of ours. It's just something that easily comes to mind and that anyone can relate to. And the lyrics are also really nice.

I wrote the lyrics with Yonghoon hyung for <A Wonderful Person> ... I haven't tried doing that with the other members yet, but it's a song for my father.

[Link to a live performance video of ‘Starlight’] 

WHY DO YOU DO MUSIC?

Hyungu: Music ... is that not a reason?

Dongmyeong: Music!~ Music is my life.

Hyungu: Honestly, if you were to ask about the reasons, there's a lot ... Or there's none. Right now I honestly don't know. I think I might know if you ask it again.

Harin: I’ve honestly found playing the drums to be fun and interesting since I was younger. When I get hooked onto something, I deeply get into it. The more I play the drums, even the drum sounds become more interesting to me. I also get to be part of a band as well. I feel a different kind of charm when the drum sounds come out. When I share music with this friend (Hyungu), I get to experience new things, too. I want to see this through until the end.

Giwook: When I was in fifth grade, a close friend of mine asked me to form a band with them. I was going to play the drums at first, but then I switched to the bass. The more we do music, the more fun it becomes and I get attached to it. I can also learn about one's personality through music. I think music is appealing. It's fun. I will be doing music until I die.

Yonghoon: Back when I was a student, I went to a Lee Seungcheul concert with my mom and my grandmother. That's when I felt it then - that this is what I should do. I may not have lived for that long yet, but my most honourable memory to date is that connection I had with Lee Seungcheul.

He had hurt me at first. I went to Super Star K 4 a while ago. I got through to the second round, then I approached him only to hear biting remarks. I remember being hurt then. And then I recently went to Lee Seungcheul's studio to record the chorus [part of a song?]. So I did the recording, and had a meal. I was sitting close by and he gave me alcohol as I was an adult by then. That was the most honourable moment to me. I think it was because of him that I was able to do music.

Dongmyeong: For me, it's just ... nice to give everyone what they like. The reason why I still enjoy performing is because people feel happy when I sing. All these people like it and I become interested. So I just like it.

[Link to a video performance of ‘Blessing’]

Netri: Even though they do music at such a young age, their heart and actions are never light as MAS 0094 has their own personal philosophy and thoughts regarding music. This was a moment where I certainly learned a lot from them. Even though they are younger than me, they definitely have a better understanding of [the certainty of] their own thoughts and dreams. I hope you are able to maintain this same genuine passion for music in the future as well. Adios~

[fmdjoosungarchive]

location: home studios, gold star studios

date: ~late 2019, july, august, october 2020

word count: 1805

tldr; verification for sung’s song everythingoes. full lyrics & production, shared composition credit with @joohwanfmd.

it was funny, looking back on it, that this was the only song that managed to make it onto the album that he’d written with someone outside of the album, with no intention of it being on anything. seoul was something he’d been writing on his own, and had been so long in the making that nothing else could possibly top it, but this, it made sense to change up.

as the song that was the most different in message than everything else, it made sense that the feeling, the sound, was different too. he’d picked it out from his saved library, when the concept came to him.

sung wasn’t sure if using the idea was a good one, but in case he did want to use it later on, he ought to have it on hand. everything he’d started writing thus far was... pretty dreary. there was more to them than that, of course, he’d been introspective, and philosophical, and everything else he could think of, however, they followed the same theme of expressing emotions with no necessary ending. there was no hopeful message tacked on at the end about how he used to feel those feelings but has since move past them, because that wasn’t his reality. the reason sung wrote the songs that he did, was because he didn’t want to present the notion that feelings had to be eliminated. they were real, and just as important whether they came back around again and again, or were there one day, and gone the next. sung often said on his radio show that he finds the best way to deal with emotions being to let yourself actually experience them. to not shy away, or shove them down, and instead, sit in those feelings, breathe them in, so that when it’s time for them to lessen, you can truly feel lighter.

while sung didn’t want to ruin the messages of other songs, he also wasn’t sure if he wanted an album that was solely about sitting in those negative emotions. they wouldn’t last forever, no matter what they were. even the feelings that came round and round, would need to leave in order to come back again.

an english phrase came onto sung’s radar from a book he was reading on the subject of feelings moving on. he’d been reading a translated version of the book, but the translator had kept in the phrase, “this too shall pass.” they’d explained what it meant through the original author’s words, and over time, it became something that popped up in sung’s head, again and again. round and round. like his feelings, it circled, even during said feelings. once, during a particularly bad spell of negative emotion, sung had sat himself down to write out positive affirmations to himself in a notebook, as his therapist suggested. originally, it started as specific to the situation. his self worth had been bottom of the barrel, and affirmations were easier, in situations like that. yet, what ended up helping sung the most was as he turned to scribbling out in his terrible latin alphabet that phrase he’d read, this too shall pass.

the struggles he was facing wouldn’t disappear when the emotions lightened up, no, that was a journey to take on bit by bit, but, the feelings would pass eventually. he could fill his lungs with pure air once again, when his emotions had had their time. it was a comfort, to sung, to remind himself of that.

that concept had been what he’d taken in when looking through his old compositions. sad on the side of his desk was that notebook, open up to the page with his affirmations, and rows and rows of his english phrase.

he’d liked this composition a lot when he and hwan had started it together. it wasn’t all that complete, like most compositions without melodies or ideas behind them were, but it sounded like something that could fit into what had been building up of his album. there was a specific sound to everything he’d been doing, and that composition sounded like it could be easily molded into it.

the feeling was different, though. many of his other songs sounded like the lyrics, for as shaky and unsure the compositions of them were in order to encapsulate feeling. he wasn’t super sure on where he was going with that sound, or if it would stay in the months to come, but for then, sung liked it. this instrumental, he supposed, could fit into the idea of matching a song’s concept, and because the concept was lighter, so was the composition.

it reminded him of the feeling of walking into a greenhouse, being surrounded in light shifting through the windows in geometric shapes, and breathing in the beauty of what the natural world brings to us. bright, high plinks through every line was like reaching out to those streams of light, and touching something warm, cozy, and filled with pixie dust.

every moment was a building block to the next, as well. that might have been what sung was the most excited to continue to build on, with the potential it held to create really powerful moments towards the end utilizing lyrics to bridge the two together. joohwan was particularly helpful in creating that sound that sung had liked so much. if it was only him working on it, it might not have sounded as powerful and grand as it did at that moment, because he wasn’t as comfortable using guitar in his music as hwan was.

while sung worked mostly on his own, there was benefit to working with others, in cases like that. whatever this song ended up being wouldn’t be the same without hwan. -and that was where he stopped. sung had only managed to figure out an alternative to straight plagiarizing the phrase this too shall pass, to use in the song, when his mind had drifted far enough away that it refused to work further without hwan by his side. this was their song.

at least, that was his brain’s original plan. sung ended up getting back to the song a week and a half later, to write out more lyrics, vague ideas of what to write for a short verse on the song. probably around the bigger building sounds, so he could figure out where to punch with the most important lines. or before it. or coinciding with the change. clearly, he wasn’t sure yet.

the song sat unfinished for a while, as sung was determined to work with hwan again, and mixing two busy schedules wasn’t easy. eventually, the heavens smiled upon them, and they were able to meet up to rework the song, and figure out what they might want to do with a melody, if much of anything.

having ideas about where to take the song next when he came in helped a lot in getting the juices flowing. they settled on the rap verse taking the listener into the most explosive parts of the song, and reworked the composition so that it slowed down right before, for that extra impact when the heavy guitar came in swinging. there was some cleaning to do, largely sung sitting there incrementally changing the tiniest details of the mixing so that it was more smooth, and there was the melody to ‘write’ if it could be called that. they didn’t have the time that day, but sung planned on recording two different versions of the song, one with him on the majority of the track, and one where hwan was the star of the track. that meant, unfortunately, there wasn’t much vocal prowess that could be utilized on the song, at least not without ruling out himself as a contender.

he’d been working hard with his vocal lessons for the opportunity just like this, though, and maybe... maybe gold star would let him.

the session was succinct as could be, in and out with loads more written and finished enough that sung could finish mixing on his own at home. he could remember hugging hwan goodbye, promising they would meet again as soon as they could for recording.

it’d only taken sung a couple of days to finish off the main portion of the song. he couldn’t feel comfortable shipping it off to the general public yet, not when he’d only just started figuring out where he was going with the album as a whole, but everything was laid out for when that day came.

and came it did. recording with hwan went about as smoothly as it usually did when it came to being with friends. they understood each other more closely, and sung could prod out the parts of hwan’s voice he wanted most more easily. although, it did set some worry, in sung’s head. hwan had a much better voice than him. why wouldn’t the company want him instead, especially since he was already going to be on the track anyway, why not the whole thing?

worries plagued him enough that he didn’t send the song in for review to the company until he’d re-recorded his parts probably fifty times, and until it had hit the first of october, his last chance to add new songs for consideration. more than any other, with all of the changes he’d made thus far on other tracks, as well as the addition of that track, sung was nervous. he pressed the send button on the email with his eyes covered, and promptly distracted himself as much as humanly possible, until he received a message back.

it took a day.

there were notes, lines to change, sounds they didn’t like, suggestions of things to add, and under everythingoes was... nothing. not a single issue. sung had no clue how to express everything he was feeling inside. and so, he danced. music came flowing out of him into his limbs, as he shimmied and waved around the studio. the next thing he did was text hwan, then daisuke, to share the news.

from then on, the track stayed almost where it was. sung matched the production to fit the style of the album, cleaned it up. the biggest change came at the very end, when he was putting together his final tracklisting. at the end of the song, as well, when the guitar cut out, and the instrumental cut to the bare bones of piano, sung decided to tie everythingoes into forever rain, a song that held meaning almost opposite, but complimentary, to everythingoes. forever rain started with rain, and everythingoes, song of cyclical emotion, ended with it, too. rain comes, rain goes, but that doesn’t mean rain won’t come again, nor does it mean the rain in your heart is a bad thing. flowers will bloom one day.

[wnterflower-a]

🖊+jem and shane!!!!!

JAMES " JEM " PARK / PARK EUNJIN

☾ obsessed  with  animal  crossing . he  refuses  to  let  anybody  play  the  game  on  his  switch  in  fear  of  people  messing  up  his  five  star  island . he  logs  on  daily  to  make  sure  he  does  all his  tasks  and  doesn’t  lose  any  of  villagers .

☾ for  the  first  year  and  a  half , his  wolf  intimidated  him  and  because  of  this  he  had  a  lot  of  trouble  controlling  his  shift . he  ended  up  staying  back  a  year  in  high  school  due  to  missing  so  much  from  being  unable  to  control  his  shifts  and  not  being  able  to  shift  back .

☾  very  quick  to  submit  to  anybody  in  his  pack . jem  likes  to  talk  big  but  is  a  big  old  baby  and  is  quick  to  back  down  at  the  smallest  things . 

☾ suffers  from  claustrophobia  due  to  his  parents  locking  him  in  a  closet  after  he  shifted  the  first  time  and  leaving  him  in  it  for  almost  three  days  straight . he  has  a  walk - in  closet  that  goes  completely  untouched  in  his  room .

☾ speaks  english  with  angel  and  acts  as  an  english  to  korean  translator  for  him  since  angel  still  often  struggles  with  korean  when  they  hang  out . he’s  notorious  for  transitioning  from  korean  to  english  smoothly  and  without  realizing  it  the  more  he  drinks .

☾ big  old  book  nerd . he  has  a  large  bookshelf  almost  completely  full  of  books  that  he’s  read . he  doesn’t  bulk  buy  books  though  because  he  won’t  read  them  if  he  does  so  he  has  a  list  in  his  notes  app  that  he  just  deletes  the  book  off  it  when  he  buys  it .

SHANE LIU / LIU SHANYUAN

☾ he  has  an  older  sister  named  xiaohui  who  is  four  years  older  than  him  and  a  younger  brother  named  bolin  who  is  younger  by  six  years . growing  up  he  was  very  close  to  them  and  having  them  both  disown  him  hit  the  hardest  out  of  all  his  family . his  relationship  with  his  parents  was  always  strained  so  that  didn’t  sting  as  much .

☾ originally  was  hesitant  to  found  a  pack  due  to  four  main  factors : he  was  new  to  the  city  of  seoul  and  wasn’t  quite  sure  what  the  protocol  was  for  founding  a  pack , he  wasn’t  confident  in  his  ability  to  lead  a  pack  despite  his  alpha  status , he  was still  healing  from  being  disowned  from  his  own  pack  and  family . he  ended  up  drunkenly  pack  bonding  a  then  thirteen  year  old  jem  though  while  drunk  at  his  aunt’s  ( and  shane’s  girlfriend  at  the  time )  place  on  new  years  eve .

☾ is  secretly  a  really  good  cook  but  he  hates  doing  it  so  he  won’t  cook  if  he  can  get  away  with  it . . . which  is  really  easy   since  jia  is  the  one  who  usually  offers  to  cook  for  everybody . he  will  help  with  prepping  the  ingredients  though  and  will  do  the  dishes  for  her .

☾ was  actually  in  an  arranged  marriage  with  a  neighboring  pack’s  daughter  when  he  ran  off . it  played  a  lot  in  his  decision  to  hop  on  a  plane  and  get  the  hell  out  of  dodge  but  the  main  reasoning  was  for  his  long  distance  girlfriend  at  the  time  and  just  a  different  belief  

☾ won’t  let  any  of  his  pack  into  his  bedroom .  he’s  very  territorial  of  it  and  doesn’t  like  it  smelling  of  anybody  but  himself . he  likes  the  rest  of  his  place  smelling  of  pack  but  his  room  is  HIS . it’s  a  big  part  as  to  why  he  invested  in  a  two  bedroom  apartment  for  when / if  anybody  needs  to  stay  over . 

☾ jem  may  as  well  be  his  son  okay ? he’s  known  him  since  he  was  thirteen  years  old  and  practically  raised  him  as  a  wolf  and  teenager . he’s  still  extremely  close  to  jem’s  aunt  despite  the  two  having  broken  up  and  when  jem  acts  up  or  does  something  wrong  he  gets  ‘ come  get  your  son  and  beat  his  ass  because  he . . . ‘ texts  from  her . 

[eleonorebirk]

Marvel Bingo 2019: Historical AU

Charles resisted the urge to bounce in place, his eagerness increasing the closer the carriage got to their destination. Soon they would finally arrive in Toledo. It was a long way from his home in England and required quite some time spend travelling, sometimes in appalling conditions, but he still had not hesitated for even a second when the bishop had offered to send him, a laybrother, to Toledo to work on translating works into Latin and English. It was not completely unexpected, of course. He had learned the Catalan dialect in the hope that he might get to talk to some of the scholars from Toledo one day, perhaps even visit. Toledo was famous for their translations of all kind of works. He had not mentioned it back home but to him, the translations of works on science, both older ones from scholars of Greek Antiquity and newer ones from the Arabs, were of far more interest to him than some of the works from the early days of the Church they were hoping for back in England. That he got to personally travel there now to work there for an indefinite time at only 30 years old was an achievement he was very happy about. 

The carriage finally came to a stop and Charles and the other travellers got off. He stopped short when he caught his first glimpse of his new home and had to be pushed forward to clear the doorway. The buildings looked so different from those in England or even those he’d seen in France on the way here. He had known of course that Toledo, like the surrounding area, had been under Muslim control not too long ago but he had not properly considered that it meant that there would be buildings still here, looking like they had been transported here from Baghdad or Cairo.

He finally shook himself out of it. There would be more than enough time to explore, he reminded himself. For now he needed to find out where he would be staying and working. Both had been arranged by his bishop but he wasn’t sure of the details.

The house where he would be staying and working was easily found. Everyone, it seemed, knew where it was and could tell him where to find his contact.

“Ah, yes, Charles, we were informed of your arrival as a new translator,” he was greeted. “I am Michael. You may leave your pack here for now. I would like to introduce you to your partner before showing you the room we have arranged for you.”

“My partner?” Charles asked.

“When translating text written in Arabic, those who do not know the language work in tandem,” Michael explained. “A Jew or a Mozarab, a Christian having adopted the Arabian way of life while they ruled here, will translate the text into Castilian and you will then transpose this into Latin. Some of us have learned Arabic ourselves by now but you, as someone unfamiliar with the language, you will be working with a partner, at least for now.”  

Charles was curious now. He had not known that. He had had the pleasure of getting his hands on some of the translations having come from Toledo, but there had been no mention of the translations having been a joined project. Then again, perhaps he should have figured it out. Where and how should those translators from all over Europe have learned enough Arabic to translate all those texts? He remembered only too well trying to explain a text he’d found interesting to a young visiting scholar from Denmark, only to run into problems when the other didn’t know the necessary words in English or Latin since he had only recently started learning both.  

Michael stopped in front of a door and pushed it open without bothering to knock. “This is Erik Lehnsherr. He will work with you.”

Another man, around his own age, was sitting at a desk in the small chamber, sheets of paper carefully arranged in front of him and illuminated by a candle. He frowned at them, probably because Michael had interrupted him during his work. Heaven knew Charles himself didn’t much like being disturbed without warning. He smiled at him and offered his hand. “Hello, I’m Charles. It’s good to meet you. I look forward to working with you.”

Erik looked briefly down at his hand, then back into his face, before turning back to his papers. “Erik.”

Charles frowned slightly and slowly lowered his hand, surprised by the frosty welcome. He shrugged internally. Perhaps he was having a bad day? They would get to know one another better as they worked together, surely.

~*~

He did get to learn some things about his partner over the next weeks. He learned that he was one of the Jews who had come to Toledo from the south of the Iberian peninsula when the Muslim rulers started persecuting his people, though his family had only moved from Magenza to the Iberian peninsula a few generations ago. He figured out that he was interested and very knowledgeable in a number of different sciences, like mathematics and but also philosophy. He had a dry sense of humour that sometimes shone through. He had no family leaving in the area, neither parents or siblings nor a wife.  

But their relationship remained distant, no matter how hard he tried. Erik, it seemed, did not want to be more than colleagues. And he would dearly like to be at least friends with him. He had never felt as alive as he did when Erik forgot himself in the face of an interesting fact or argument from the current text they were working on. Charles loved his insights and the inspiration he offered. He had enough ideas that he was considering starting an annotated version of the book by Aristotle they were working on right now. He’d tried everything, asking him along for a meal or his journeys around Toledo and the surrounding area, bringing up his own past and interests to draw him out, even outright asking him about himself. Erik refused.

Which was why he was sitting alone at dinner, pushing around the rest of his meal. Erik had rejected his invitation once again, saying that they were just working together, no more.

“Well, don’t you look glum.” Antonio – “Call me Tony” – led himself drop onto the stool across from him. They were staying in the same guest house. Tony had arrived in Toledo just a few days before Charles. He was younger than him, not even 20 yet, but a bright young man. He’d made the way here from his native Italy because his father wanted him to learn about the Toledo steel. Tony had told him very frankly that he intended to take advantage of the distance between him and his father to spend as long as he could here, learning not just about the steel but everything else that caught his fancy, regardless of how useful his father considered it.  

Charles managed a small smile. “Ah, Tony, I haven’t seen you for a few days.”

Tony cleared his throat. “I... ah... I might have been out testing some of the theories I read about.”

Charles tried to look stern but couldn’t quite stop his lips from twitching up in a smile. “Did you damage anything?”

“... Nothing that can’t be repaired,” he admitted after a moment. “But they still insisted that I now need a minder.” He pointed over his shoulder to were a dark skinned man was making his way towards him. Charles could not quite tell his age. He seemed older than Tony certainly. Perhaps close to his own age?  

“Charles, this is Rhodey. Rhodey, Charles,” Tony introduced when he had reached the table.

Charles paused, trying to place the origin of the name. It did not sound Arabic, nor like any other language he knew.

The other man rolled his eyes. “James,” he corrected patiently. “I told you, my name is James.” He smiled at Charles and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Everyone is called James,” Tony protested, then added as an afterthought: “Or John. Or Peter. Or all three.” He shook his head, abandoning that train of thought for now. “I’m gonna keep calling you Rhodey.”

The resigned look in James’ eyes told Charles that he had already realized the futility in trying to change Tony’s mind once he’d made it up. “Do you mind if we join you?” he asked Charles, ignoring the way Tony leaned on the table as if to make clear that he had no intention of leaving.

Charles felt his spirit life somewhat by the by-play. “Not at all. Please, sit down,” he invited. “Are you from here, that you have been charged with watching over this troublemaker?”

“Not originally. Like you, I suspect, I have been sent here to study and translate for my bishop.” Seeing the question in Charles’ eyes, he explained: “I’m from Ethiopia. My king heard about the knowledge coming from here and wished to learn more. I have been living here for five years now.”

“Ah.” Charles was too embarrassed to admit that he had forgot about the Christian Kingdom of Ethiopia, that he had simply assumed from James’ appearance that he or his family must have come to Iberia from Africa with the Muslim forces.

“And now he gets to gather some practical knowledge by helping me,” Tony said. “And how have you been, Charles? You still haven’t told me what had you looking so sad.”

Charles hesitated for barely a moment. Tony already knew part of it and he needed to get it off his chest. “I’m still no closer to getting Erik to open up, to treating me like anything more than a random colleague. He keeps rejecting each and every invitation, no matter what it is.” ‘He keeps rejecting me,’ he wanted to say but couldn’t bring himself to voice it.

“Erik?” James repeated.

“His partner for translating books from Arabic into Latin,” Tony explained.  

“Your partner is Erik Lehnsherr?” James asked.

“Yes. Do you know him?” Charles asked, eager to learn more about Erik.

“Not well but I know of him, enough to perhaps explain why he is so distant,” James said. “You must have noticed, I’m sure, that the Jewish and Mozarabic men helping with the translations are often not respected as highly as the ones writing down the Latin translation. In fact there is often no mention or acknowledgment of their work in the books, though fortunately that’s changing slowly, partly because King Alfonso values their knowledge very highly. But Erik’s previous partner, Sebastian Shaw, was even worse than many others of the old guard. He was a monk but, frankly, I doubt he is a true believer, since he shows not a hint of the compassion our Lord has taught us. Shaw looked down on Erik, on all the Jewish people. He claimed every honour for their work for himself, even when Erik did most of it. He had him working all day and most of the night, while he was out, doing who knows what. He was even involved in a plot to get the kings of Spain and Portugal to expulse all Jews from the Peninsula.”

Charles straightened up. “What? How?”

“When the crown prince of Portugal fell ill and the royal physicians couldn’t cure him, the more radical members of the clergy tried to convince the kings that it was a punishment from God for their friendship with their Jewish subjects. They planned an alliance through wedding between the ill crown prince and a Spanish princess, an alliance that would include the expulsion of all Jews who would not convert. Fortunately their plan was discovered and Rabbi Yehuda haKohen, the personal physician of King Alfonso of Castile, travelled to Portugal where he managed to save the crown prince’s life.” James paused to drink a few sips of the wine Tony had ordered for them. “So the plan of those clergymen had failed, thank God, but not all involved could be identified. Shaw very likely was but there was no proof and by the time the attempt became known, he had fled.”

Charles wanted to rail against the injustice, of what Erik had gone through, of Shaw taking advantage of his position to the point that Erik had a hard time trusting people. “What can I do?”

James shrugged. “You will have to be patient. Erik can come to see that you are not like him but it will take time.”

“I can be patient,” Charles declared. For Erik, he would be.

“I might have an idea,” Tony said.

~*~

Charles was thankful for their help and confidence. They had given him hope for his relationship with Erik. Having a plan also helped. Though spending time with them was also bittersweet. Seeing Tony and James grow ever closer, their mutual affection deepening, was touching but it also left him craving Erik’s presence in his life more and more.

He was relieved that Tony’s idea was coming along very well, even if it meant that he did not get as much sleep as he would have liked. But this was his chance to prove to Erik that he was not like Shaw, that he cared for him as a person, as his equal, not a resource to be used and then discarded.  

He just hoped it worked.

~*~

Erik was not surprised to find a parcel on his desk in their workroom when he arrived in the morning. It wasn’t the first time Charles had left him little gifts, small trinkets, a basket of fruits. When he’d asked him about it, he’d simply reply “I thought you might like it.” or “It reminded me of you.” He didn’t know what to think about it but he had to admit, he was coming to look forward for them and to the time he spend with Charles. He was coming to believe that he really wasn’t like Shaw.

When Erik pulled away the cloth covering his latest gift, he was a bit surprised to see a book. Leafing through it briefly, he recognized it to be an annotated translation of Aristoteles’ manuscript they had been working on before they started their current project. He frowned when he recognized the writing as Charles’. What was the meaning of this?

He opened the book at the beginning, needing to see the first page.  

He carefully ran his finger over the subtitle, afraid that it would vanish like a dream. ‘Translation and annotation by Erik Lehnsherr and Charles Xavier.’  

It was in both their names. His name was places not as an assistant but as co-author.  

Hands shaking more than he’d like to admit, he carefully turned the page. His breath caught. There, also in Charles’ writing, was a dedication in Hebrew. The letters were a bit shaky, not as smooth as Charles’ usual writing and obviously written by someone with little practice in the script but it was the content that meant the most to him.

‘To my partner, Erik Lehnsherr, who pushes and inspires me every day to be a better person, whose knowledge, insights and ideas have only made this book possible.’

“Do you… do you like it?”

Erik turned around, surprised to see that Charles had arrived without him noticing. He stood stiffly right at the door, looking like he was ready to bold at a wrong word.  

Not that Erik could blame him, considering the way he had put himself out there even with how hard he had tried to push Charles away. He tried for a reassuring smile and held out a hand to Charles. “I do, very much.” The slowly growing smile on Charles’ face as he accepted his hand took his breath away.

[hobisexually]

which genres of books or other writings would you most like to edit? and is it different when it comes to translations? AND do you prefer one (editing) to the other (translating)? 👀 i know these are pretty basic but i think i would have some Strong Preferences if i were in your shoes so..... tell me everything. also i'm so incredibly proud of you!!!!

Hello I love you, also for asking these and indulging me to talk about my work in depth 💕

It depends. With editing I love novels, literary projects, even poetry or just romance novels — I’m not a big fan of thrillers generally (with some exceptions) so editing those is something I’ll do, but the story won’t stay with me? Preferably I’d do LGBT books, but the market in this country is so small that it won’t happen often, I’d need to go abroad for that if I wanted to do those exclusively (which is the goal eventually but small steps RIP). With translations I’d be less inclined to do literature, and focus on commercial books more, only because I’m not entirely comfortable yet translating such “important” books when I’m only starting out in this business. Definitely later on, though. And I noticed that I like non-fiction a lot more when it’s English books (they look at the world differently) so I’d enjoy that more, too.

I think editing and translating goes hand in hand, but I definitely can’t edit my own translations as skilfully? The distance you need is completely gone. It’s different work. With editing I have a sense of peace in my head, I am only focusing on the text someone else wrote and how to improve it. It’s my favourite thing to do when I’m not writing myself, because I’m still engaging with a text on a close level, but there’s no pressure of doing it right? There’s no “is this good enough”, there’s just “how can I make this better for this person” (which is how I wish I looked at my own work, but you can’t have it all.) Translating is more fun to me sometimes, because I am so comfortable in English that it feels like coming home, but it also requires a lot more thinking on my part and if you get tired the translation gets mixed up quite easily (stupid sayings like “there comes the monkey out of the sleeve” that make no sense when taken out of their original language fngng).

I don’t really prefer one or the other I think, which is why I’ll be doing both, as well as writing articles or copywriting for companies!!! Why choose when you like it all, the true bisexual experience fnfnfnf

[dailyaudiobible]

05/07/2019 DAB Transcript

1 Samuel 1:1-2:21, John 5:1-23, Psalms 105:37-45, Proverbs 14:28-29

Today is the 7th day of May. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is wonderful, a pleasure, an honor, a joy to be in your presence, to come around the global campfire together and come into the Lord's presence together and allow His word to speak to us. And that's what we've come to do and that's what we will do. We concluded the book of Ruth yesterday and what a beautiful, beautiful story and it comes at such a good time. Just a needed exhale. And now we’re moving into the books of Samuel.

Introduction to the book of Samuel:

Samuel was the final judge of Israel and Samuel will lead us into the time of the monarchy. So, a time when there were kings in Israel. And theres two books of Samuel, the books of first and second Samuel, but they probably weren't authored by the prophet Samuel. It's not clear who the author is. Historically it seems that these…that this work…was written somewhere when the kingdom divided. So, if this your first trip through the Bible some of these references, you can be like, “I don't know what we’re talking about.” We haven't even come into the kingdom yet, right? So, Samuel's gonna bring us to a time where kings rule in Israel, but after a time that gets a little bit convoluted as we will see, and the kingdom of Israel divides into two different kingdoms. It’s thought that this is kind of around the time that maybe when the story of Samuel was written down. A lot of scholars believe that this material was recorded by three different prophets of Israel - Samuel, Nathan and Gad - but we don't know that for certain. We do know that the books of Samuel were written in Hebrew and they weren't written as two different texts originally. Actually, first and second Samuel and first and second Kings were all grouped together as one continuous text. And then when the Old Testament was translated into Greek, which is called the Septuagint, the texts were then divided into four books and at that time they were known as the books of the kingdoms. And when the Old Testament was translated into Latin, which is called the Vulgate, then they became the books of the kings. So, at this time in the Bible we had first and second and third and fourth kings. So, kind of confusing to follow along with. But there's more. What is now known as first and second Samuel was actually first and second Kings in the Latin translations and what we know as first, and second Kings was known as the third and fourth kings during that era. And then this was all changed to what we now understand, the books of Samuel, first and second Samuel, and the books of Kings, first and second Kings by those who translated and created the King James Bible in 1611. So, in terms of like ancient history, this change is more recent. So, Samuel, as we will see, was a very influential person. Last judge of Israel. He was also a prophet of God and he served before the Lord as a priest. And as we saw reading through the book of Judges, the land had kinda fallen into a form of anarchy. Everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes. And then Samuel steps in as a prophet and that begins to alleviate some of the anarchy because Samuel is speaking directly for God. And this is something that the children of Israel are more accustomed to historically. Now Israel desires to have a king. They don't have one, but they desire one and Samuel will introduce kingship into the civilization and culture of Israel. And the first thing that will meet as you probably know, is named Saul. And then we’ll meet this boy, actually, named David who will later become a king and we’ll see up close and personal the conflict between Saul and David. And God warns the children of Israel not to take a king to rule over them, but, you know, as is usual and is as is often the case in our own lives, they'll choose their own path and introduce kings into their culture. And, so, we’ll see spiritual guidance coming from the prophets, and national guidance coming from the king, but throughout the entire book what’s really happening here is that a man-made kingdom is being established with a king to rule over it, the kingdom of Israel. And from this point on that's how it will be looked at until there are no kingdoms left. But we’ll get there. For now, we’ll begin the book of first Samuel and we’ll read chapter 1 verse 1 through chapter 2 verse 21 today. And we’re reading from the New English Translation, the NET Bible this week.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for bringing us into this new era in Your word where we will meet some men along the way. Right now, we are learning of Samuel. We were just introduced to him and as we take the journey forward and we learn of these kings, we will find so much of ourselves along the way. And, so, we look forward to that and the way that this mother, Hannah, gave her son to Your service and how, in spite of all of all of the evil going on around Samuel, he grew up righteous before You. And, so, we also look forward to all that You will speak to us through Samuel's life. We invite You to come Holy Spirit. Plant the words that were spoken in Your word into our hearts today and as we meditate on them we ask that You give us clarity and direction in our choices and decisions. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what's going on around here. So, stay tuned and stay connected like I say every day because it's important. It’s important to know that we’re not alone on our journey through the Scriptures. It's important that we’re not alone on our journey through life. So, stay connected in any way you can, any way that you want to.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com also. There is a link, it lives on the homepage and I thank you, I humbly thank you for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Springhill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that is it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey Brian, hey Daily Audio Bible family. I am in nursing school and I am having such a hard time this semester. I am in my fourth or fifth semester I have one whole semester left after this one and I’m having such a hard time. I am stressed, and I am sorry. I’m stressed, and I am just trying to get through the finals. We’ve had a final every other day for three weeks now. My body is tired. My mind is tired but…but I want to push through. So, please pray for me. Give me strength. Give me…something. I will continue pushing forward. I’m not too sure whether or not this message will be heard or played but if it is, please pray for me and wish me well. I wish everyone else, you know, well as well. Not just for me, for my classmates as well because we’re all in this together and no one wants to be left behind. So, please send your prayers to me and my classmates in Texas. Thank you.

Hello friends this is Turtle from Oregon. I was listening to today’s podcast on May 4th. While Brian was claiming about God bringing a disruption to our lives there was a disruption in the audio and even though I’m sure it was unintended from a human perspective I think that God made a purposeful disruption to show us something…at least to me. He showed me His sense of humor for one thing. I love that about Him and He’s reminding us that disruptions are a part of life and in order to hear the right voice we have to keep our attention on the Lord God who loves us. Let us keep our attention on the One whose voice is truth. Lord, please help us to ignore the voices of the world and allow Your word to disrupt us and to lead us where we need to be, in a relationship with You. Thank You God. Thank You for this wonderful family. Amen.

Lord as I walk in your spirit today please keep my pride and my ego at bay They oft times surface and get in the way negatively affecting the things that I say lead me and guide me I don’t want to stray I long to be yours Lord I want to obey cause Satan is watching just waiting to slay being cut off from you God is too much to pay help me stay humble and spiritually led it’s not just the words Lord it’s how they are said and it’s not just the how Lord please teach me when if the timing is not right in then the message won’t get in the flow from my lips to the listener’s ear may inflate my ego but the listener won’t hear he’ll just get resentful and throw my words back anger will enter in and we’ll both go off track Lord what is my purpose as I go through this day that’s a rhetorical question Lord show me the way help me keep ego and pride out of the way Place on my lips Lord the right words to say help me walk upright and continually pray I want to be yours Lord come whatever may

blindtony1016@gmail.com. I’d like to give a shout out to Victoria soldier, Pelham and along with Molly and Anderson, and Terry the truck driver and Lee from New Jersey. I hope all of you are well. Know you’re loved very much, prayed for daily, and thought of often. And once again Brian, I thank you for this wonderful podcast for God’s Holy Spirit to flow. Keep it flowin’ y’all. All right. Bye-bye.

Hey you, yeah, you. Hey, I’m talking to you. Don’t be looking around trying to figure out…I’m talking to you. Why are you worrying? What are you worrying about…why are you worried? You know we serve a good, good Father who only gives good gifts, who commanded us not to worry about our lives. What are you worrying about? Whatever it is, God will take care of it. Correction, God has taken care of it. So, stop your worrying. You, by worrying, are not gonna fix anything. Name one thing that you worried about that through your worry was corrected. Instead, pray. Pray and believe and what you ask you shall receive.

[vvlwn]

Lemon 檸檬  In my free time, I’ve been working on a translation of a Japanese short story by Motojiro Kajii from 1929.  This is one of my favourite short stories that I read while in Japan so I thought I’d give translating it a shot since there's no easily accessible English translation of it out there.

Lemon

Motojirō Kajii

A bizarre, ominous lump was continuously pressing down on me. You could say it was a restless impatience or a kind of disgust. Or like when you drink every day and eventually a time comes where you’ve gotten used to hangovers. That time had finally come – and it was not going to go well. I'm not talking about the build-up of mucus in my lungs or my neurasthenia. Nor am I talking about the loans that breathed down my neck. No, what was about to turn bad was this bizarre and ominous lump.

Now, even the most beautiful music that had once filled me with such joy and the most beautiful passages of poetry were unbearable. Even when I specifically went out to hear the phonographs plays, after the first two or three measures, I suddenly got the urge to stand up and leave. For some reason, I couldn’t bear to stay any longer. So in the end, I began to wander endlessly from place to place.

I remember at the time, for some reason being drawn in by this ugly, yet still so beautiful, thing. There was something about this area, which even from afar would seem dilapidated. More than it’s main streets, which even for this place were cold and unfriendly, I much preferred the odd familiarity of the backstreets – with it’s hanging dirty laundry, piled up mounds of junk and dishevelled rooms which looked down on you from above. With a lingering feeling of erosion caused by wind and the rain, this area would too eventually be turned into mud – the collapsing mud walls, the slumping houses. The only things in this area which had any life left were the plants. At times there were wonderful sunflowers and blossoming canna flowers.

Sometimes, while I wondered these streets, I would try to imagine I wasn’t in Kyoto, but Saitama or Nagasaki, somewhere hundreds of miles away from here. I wanted to get out of Kyoto. Leave it for somewhere where nobody knew me. When I got there, my first order of business would be to rest. A single room in a crowded inn. A clean futon. A perfumed mosquito net and a well-fitting yukata. In such a place I would lay my head and just sleep, without any intruding thoughts, just sleep, for an entire month. I wished this place would turn into such a town.

As this hallucination of mine grew more and more vivid, I let go and let my imagination flow endlessly. There was nothing left but the overlapping of my hallucinations and the dilapidated city around me. And so, I played with losing myself in this reality.

Recently, I’ve also come to be quite fond of those so-called firework things. The fireworks with cheap red, blue, yellow and purple paint. The bundles of differently stripped fireworks. The ones with names like the falling star of Chusanji Temple, flower wars and withering pampas. Then there were the rat firecrackers, all tightly rolled up and stuffed one by one into boxes. Such things aroused a strange excitement in me.

On top of that, there were the Nankindama marbles and the colourful glass Ohajiki marbles which held images of red snapper and flowers. Something that brought me much joy was seeing what they would feel like to lick. I wonder if there are other things in this world that could even come close to the faint and cool taste of those glass marbles. When I was young I would often be scolded by my mother and father for putting them in my mouth. It may be because those memories from a younger time live on within the now old and sunken man that is myself, but that same faintly refreshing, almost poetic flavour playfully lingers on my tongue when I taste them again.

As you could have probably guessed, money was something I did not have. However, when I would begin to feel the slightest anything towards such things, that, which was the only thing that could comfort me, was a little bit of gaudy extravagance.

Extravagance, which to me was things for two or three Zeni. Beautiful things -– the ones that touched even my soulless self. Such things would naturally console and warm my heart.

Before my life had come undone, one of my favourite places was Maruzen. The red and yellow eau de Cologne and Eau De Quinine hair tonic. The stylish and elegant amber and jade glass perfume bottles with their French Rococo styled designs. Pipes and swords and soaps and cigarettes. There were many times I spent a good short hour admiring such things. Once I eventually enjoyed the extravagance of purchasing a top of the line pencil. However, even at the time, this place had already become nothing more than depressing to me. Books, students, check out counters, all of which seemed to me like ghosts of debt collection.

One morning - at the time, I had been living by hopping from one friend's house to the next –– but, when my friends would leave for school, I would be left, alone, in the middle of the emptiness they left behind them. And again, I would have to start wondering. Something was pressing me, urging me to move forward. And from city block to city block, I walked, through the dingy back alleyways, pausing in front of cheap candy stores and gazing at the dried shrimp, yuba tofu and dried codfish of the grocer. Eventually, I worked my way down Teramachi street, towards Nijō, and stopped at a fruit shop. I would like to take a moment here to introduce this fruit shop. Out of all the many places I know, this fruit shop is my absolute favourite. Although it was not the finest store, you were able to brazenly feel the inherent beauty that comes with a fruit shop. I remember the fruits being lined up on a steep, sloping shelf. The shelf itself was made from an old, black lacquered board. The fruits were all lined up as if their colour and size had been solidified by something reminiscent of the flow of some beautiful piece of music played at allegro which turns the audience to stone like the mask of Gorgon. As you went further and further into the back, there were, of course, vegetables piled sky high too. In fact, the beauty of, for instance, their carrot leaves, was magnificent. Then there were the water soaked beans and the corms of arrowheads.

The houses in that area were the most beautiful at night. Teramachi street was a lively boulevard as a whole. It may not have been as busy as Tokyo or Osaka, but the lights from the storefronts flooded into the streets. However, for some reason, the area in front of the fruit shop remained curiously dark. Because one side of the boulevard was at a corner with the dark Nijo-Dori, it was only natural that it too would be dark, but for the next house over, it wasn't as plainly obvious as to why, for a house in Teramachi street, it was so dark. However, if that house hadn't been so dark, I don't think it would have lured me in as it did. Another thing was the eaves, which jutted out from the shop. They hang like a cap sitting low over one's eyes. It's not really an epithet, but they were enough to make you think, 'Oh! The eaves on that shop are hanging awfully low'. It's because of this that the area above the eaves too was stooped in a deep darkness. And because the surroundings were so dark, the dazzling brilliance of the few lights which rained down light at the front of the store could not be taken away by anyone. It was free to illuminate as beautifully as it pleased. Even in this boulevard of Teramachi street, it was rare for a view to enchant me as much as the one from the fruit shop did, with its unobstructed view into the second floor window of the neighbourhood locksmith and the naked street lamp which stood in the slender, spiralling road, drilling it's way into your eyes.

On that day, before I knew it, I had brought some there. That is to say, there was a very curious lemon on sale. Lemons were just one of the many things they had mountains of. But, although it wasn't a dump of a place, it wasn't more than just an ordinary greengrocer, so I had never seen such a thing like it before. I fell in love with this lemon. It's unembellished yellow colour as if a tube of Lemon Yellow paint had been squeezed out and dried and it's solid oval shape. I eventually decided to buy one of the lemons. I wonder where I went to after that. For a long time, I just walked the streets. I felt like from the moment I held the lemon, the ominous lump that had been continuously pressing down on my chest had loosened its grip on me. Standing on the street, I was in complete bliss. The fact that that melancholy which had been so persistent had just been drowned out by a single lemon – or at least the suspicion of such a thing – was a paradoxical truth. What a mysterious creature the heart can be.

The coldness of that lemon was unbelievably pleasing. At the time, I had poor lungs and had a constant fever. In fact, I tried to show my friends just how feverish I was by grasping their hands and without fail, my palms were always hotter than theirs. It was probably because of my fever, but the chill of their hands which seeped deep into my body felt pleasingly refreshing.

Again and again, I brought the fruit to my nose and inhaled its scent. The place it originally came from, California, began to fill my imagination. The words ‘an acrid odour’, which I learnt in the classical Chinese text ‘Baikansha-no-gen’, came to mind. And as I took in this scent and filled my lungs as they had never been filled before, blood began to rush to my face and through my body. It was as if a new found energy had been awoken inside me...

I thought it strange that in reality such a simple coolness, texture, scent and appearance had been such to my liking as to make me think that, for a great amount of time, I had in fact been searching for it. But, that's because that's how I was back then.

With a spring in my step and a kind of pride for these streets, I walked, thinking of the poets of days past, who swaggered down the same streets in their beautiful robes.

To see the different ways the colour would reflect off them, I began placing the lemon on top of my dirty handkerchief and then on my cloak. As I did, I thought,

‘Yeah, this is it, this weight is exactly it’-

The haughty and absurd idea that such a weight had constantly been avoiding my grasp and that it was undoubtedly the conversion of everything good and everything beautiful into a single weight, filled my mind. Whatever it was, I was in a state of bliss.

I wonder where I was walking? I eventually found myself stopped in front of Maruzen. Maruzen, which I normally tried to avoid as much as possible, now seemed so much more welcoming.

I thought, ‘just for once, let's give have a quick look’ and threw myself into the store.

But what happened? The feelings of happiness that filled my heart gradually began to disappear. My heart did not go for the perfume bottles or the pipes. A melancholic feeling came rushing over me, I think maybe the fatigue from walking around so much might have finally caught up to me. I went over to the bookshelf stacked with art books. ‘It always takes so much energy to pull out even just one of these clunking art books’ I thought. One by one, I began pulling out each one. Then I began opening them. But it stopped at that. The desire to turn the pages just never came. Then, the curse inside me reached out and pulled out the next volume. The result was the same. Still, I wouldn’t have felt better until I tried at least once.

I couldn't bear it anymore and I put it down somewhere else. I was no longer able to even put it back where it belonged. Over and over, I repeated this.

Finally, because even the bulky, chrome-yellow book which I would usually have had such a fondness for had become unbearable now, I had to leave it alone. What a curse. A lingering exhaustion was left in the muscles of my hands. I had become depressed and stood there gazing at the pile of books I had just pulled out.

I wondered what had happened to those books which had once enticed me so.

In the past, the strangely out of place feeling I got when looking around at my everyday surroundings after passing my eyes over each and every page of a book was something that I loved and savoured so...

‘Oh, that's right’... That's when I remembered the lemon. ‘If just once I try out the colours of the mountain of disarranged books with this lemon… That's it’

With that, the light excitement I felt earlier returned. I picked up all the books that were within arms reach, smashed them down hurriedly and hastily built them up again. I pulled out new books, added them to the pile and then removed them again. That's when the bizarre, fantastical castle I had built up began to turn shades of red and blue.

Finally, it was finished. And while restraining my fluttering heart, I set the lemon at the very top of that dreadful castle's wall. And it was magnificent.

As I passed my gaze over it all, the lemon seemed to be quietly absorbing the cluttered gradients of colours into its spindle-shaped body with a clear, carried sound of a crashing gong. I felt like the dusty air in Maruzen had gone strangely tense around the lemon. For a while, I just gazed at it.

Suddenly, a second idea came to me. This curious new plot gripped my heart.

-’I should leave it as it is and get out of here as if nothing's happened’-

I felt strangely tickled by this. ‘Should I leave now? Yes, I should leave’.

That strangely ticklish feeling brought a smile to my face as I took back to the streets. ‘How great would it be if in ten minutes from now Maruzen was destroyed in a massive explosion… with those shelves full of art at the centre… and what if the mysterious perpetrator, who set the awesome, sparkling golden bomb, was none other than me?’

I eagerly pursued this daydream. ‘If that happened, that stinking Maruzen would be left in a million pieces’.

With that, I began my way down to Kyogoku, where its moving billboards filled the streets with a mystically odd charm.

檸檬

梶井基次郎

えたいの知れない不吉な塊が私の心を始終圧えつけていた。焦躁と言おうか、嫌悪と言おうか――酒を飲んだあとに宿酔いがあるように、酒を毎日飲んでいると宿酔に相当した時期がやって来る。それが来たのだ。これはちょっといけなかった。結果した肺尖カタルや神経衰弱がいけないのではない。また背を焼くような借金などがいけないのではない。いけないのはその不吉な塊だ。以前私を喜ばせたどんな美しい音楽も、どんな美しい詩の一節も辛抱がならなくなった。蓄音器を聴かせてもらいにわざわざ出かけて行っても、最初の二三小節で不意に立ち上がってしまいたくなる。何かが私を居た堪らずさせるのだ。それで始終私は街から街を浮浪し続けていた。

何故なぜだかその頃私は見すぼらしくて美しいものに強くひきつけられたのを覚えている。風景にしても壊れかかった街だとか、その街にしてもよそよそしい表通りよりもどこか親しみのある、汚い洗濯物が干してあったりがらくたが転がしてあったりむさくるしい部屋が覗いていたりする裏通りが好きであった。雨や風が蝕ばんでやがて土に帰ってしまう、と言ったような趣きのある街で、土塀が崩れていたり家並が傾きかかっていたり――勢いのいいのは植物だけで、時とするとびっくりさせるような向日葵があったりカンナが咲いていたりする。

時どき私はそんな路を歩きながら、ふと、そこが京都ではなくて京都から何百里も離れた仙台とか長崎とか――そのような市へ今自分が来ているのだ――という錯覚を起こそうと努める。私は、できることなら京都から逃げ出して誰一人知らないような市へ行ってしまいたかった。第一に安静。がらんとした旅館の一室。清浄な蒲団。匂いのいい蚊帳と糊のよくきいた浴衣。そこで一月ほど何も思わず横になりたい。希がわくはここがいつの間にかその市になっているのだったら。――錯覚がようやく成功しはじめると私はそれからそれへ想像の絵具を塗りつけてゆく。なんのことはない、私の錯覚と壊れかかった街との二重写しである。そして私はその中に現実の私自身を見失うのを楽しんだ。

私はまたあの花火というやつが好きになった。花火そのものは第二段として、あの安っぽい絵具で赤や紫や黄や青や、さまざまの縞模様を持った花火の束、中山寺の星下り、花合戦、枯れすすき。それから鼠花火というのは一つずつ輪になっていて箱に詰めてある。そんなものが変に私の心を唆った。

それからまた、びいどろという色硝子で鯛や花を打ち出してあるおはじきが好きになったし、南京玉が好きになった。またそれを嘗めてみるのが私にとってなんともいえない享楽だったのだ。あのびいどろの味ほど幽かな涼しい味があるものか。私は幼い時よくそれを口に入れては父母に叱られたものだが、その幼時のあまい記憶が大きくなって落ち魄ぶれた私に蘇がえってくる故だろうか、まったくあの味には幽かな爽やかななんとなく詩美と言ったような味覚が漂って来る。

察しはつくだろうが私にはまるで金がなかった。とは言えそんなものを見て少しでも心の動きかけた時の私自身を慰めるためには贅沢ということが必要であった。二銭や三銭のもの――と言って贅沢なもの。美しいもの――と言って無気力な私の触角にむしろ媚て来るもの。――そう言ったものが自然私を慰めるのだ。

生活がまだ蝕ばまれていなかった以前私の好きであった所は、たとえば丸善であった。赤や黄のオードコロンやオードキニン。洒落れた切子細工や典雅なロココ趣味の浮模様を持った琥珀色や翡翠色の香水壜。煙管、小刀、石鹸、煙草。私はそんなものを見るのに小一時間も費すことがあった。そして結局一等いい鉛筆を一本買うくらいの贅沢をするのだった。しかしここももうその頃の私にとっては重くるしい場所に過ぎなかった。書籍、学生、勘定台、これらはみな借金取りの亡霊のように私には見えるのだった。

ある朝――その頃私は甲の友達から乙の友達へというふうに友達の下宿を転々として暮らしていたのだが――友達が学校へ出てしまったあとの空虚な空気のなかにぽつねんと一人取り残された。私はまたそこから彷徨さまよい出なければならなかった。何かが私を追いたてる。そして街から街へ、先に言ったような裏通りを歩いたり、駄菓子屋の前で立ち留どまったり、乾物屋の乾蝦ほしえびや棒鱈ぼうだらや湯葉ゆばを眺めたり、とうとう私は二条の方へ寺町を下さがり、そこの果物屋で足を留とめた。ここでちょっとその果物屋を紹介したいのだが、その果物屋は私の知っていた範囲で最も好きな店であった。そこは決して立派な店ではなかったのだが、果物屋固有の美しさが最も露骨に感ぜられた。果物はかなり勾配の急な台の上に並べてあって、その台というのも古びた黒い漆塗うるしぬりの板だったように思える。何か華やかな美しい音楽の快速調アッレグロの流れが、見る人を石に化したというゴルゴンの鬼面――的なものを差しつけられて、あんな色彩やあんなヴォリウムに凝こり固まったというふうに果物は並んでいる。青物もやはり奥へゆけばゆくほど堆うず高く積まれている。――実際あそこの人参葉にんじんばの美しさなどは素晴すばらしかった。それから水に漬つけてある豆だとか慈姑くわいだとか。

またそこの家の美しいのは夜だった。寺町通はいったいに賑にぎやかな通りで――と言って感じは東京や大阪よりはずっと澄んでいるが――飾窓の光がおびただしく街路へ流れ出ている。それがどうしたわけかその店頭の周囲だけが妙に暗いのだ。もともと片方は暗い二条通に接している街角になっているので、暗いのは当然であったが、その隣家が寺町通にある家にもかかわらず暗かったのが瞭然はっきりしない。しかしその家が暗くなかったら、あんなにも私を誘惑するには至らなかったと思う。もう一つはその家の打ち出した廂ひさしなのだが、その廂が眼深まぶかに冠った帽子の廂のように――これは形容というよりも、「おや、あそこの店は帽子の廂をやけに下げているぞ」と思わせるほどなので、廂の上はこれも真暗なのだ。そう周囲が真暗なため、店頭に点つけられた幾つもの電燈が驟雨しゅううのように浴びせかける絢爛けんらんは、周囲の何者にも奪われることなく、ほしいままにも美しい眺めが照らし出されているのだ。裸の電燈が細長い螺旋棒らせんぼうをきりきり眼の中へ刺し込んでくる往来に立って、また近所にある鎰屋かぎやの二階の硝子ガラス窓をすかして眺めたこの果物店の眺めほど、その時どきの私を興がらせたものは寺町の中でも稀まれだった。

その日私はいつになくその店で買物をした。というのはその店には珍しい檸檬れもんが出ていたのだ。檸檬などごくありふれている。がその店というのも見すぼらしくはないまでもただあたりまえの八百屋に過ぎなかったので、それまであまり見かけたことはなかった。いったい私はあの檸檬が好きだ。レモンエロウの絵具をチューブから搾り出して固めたようなあの単純な色も、それからあの丈たけの詰まった紡錘形の恰好かっこうも。――結局私はそれを一つだけ買うことにした。それからの私はどこへどう歩いたのだろう。私は長い間街を歩いていた。始終私の心を圧えつけていた不吉な塊がそれを握った瞬間からいくらか弛ゆるんで来たとみえて、私は街の上で非常に幸福であった。あんなに執拗しつこかった憂鬱が、そんなものの一顆いっかで紛らされる――あるいは不審なことが、逆説的なほんとうであった。それにしても心というやつはなんという不可思議なやつだろう。

その檸檬の冷たさはたとえようもなくよかった。その頃私は肺尖はいせんを悪くしていていつも身体に熱が出た。事実友達の誰彼だれかれに私の熱を見せびらかすために手の握り合いなどをしてみるのだが、私の掌が誰のよりも熱かった。その熱い故せいだったのだろう、握っている掌から身内に浸み透ってゆくようなその冷たさは快いものだった。

私は何度も何度もその果実を鼻に持っていっては嗅かいでみた。それの産地だというカリフォルニヤが想像に上って来る。漢文で習った「売柑者之言」の中に書いてあった「鼻を撲うつ」という言葉が断きれぎれに浮かんで来る。そしてふかぶかと胸一杯に匂やかな空気を吸い込めば、ついぞ胸一杯に呼吸したことのなかった私の身体や顔には温い血のほとぼりが昇って来てなんだか身内に元気が目覚めて来たのだった。……

実際あんな単純な冷覚や触覚や嗅覚や視覚が、ずっと昔からこればかり探していたのだと言いたくなったほど私にしっくりしたなんて私は不思議に思える――それがあの頃のことなんだから。

私はもう往来を軽やかな昂奮に弾んで、一種誇りかな気持さえ感じながら、美的装束をして街を歩かっぽした詩人のことなど思い浮かべては歩いていた。汚れた手拭の上へ載せてみたりマントの上へあてがってみたりして色の反映を量はかったり、またこんなことを思ったり、

――つまりはこの重さなんだな。――

その重さこそ常つねづね尋ねあぐんでいたもので、疑いもなくこの重さはすべての善いものすべての美しいものを重量に換算して来た重さであるとか、思いあがった諧謔心かいぎゃくしんからそんな馬鹿げたことを考えてみたり――なにがさて私は幸福だったのだ。

どこをどう歩いたのだろう、私が最後に立ったのは丸善の前だった。��常あんなに避けていた丸善がその時の私にはやすやすと入れるように思えた。

「今日は一ひとつ入ってみてやろう」そして私はずかずか入って行った。

しかしどうしたことだろう、私の心を充たしていた幸福な感情はだんだん逃げていった。香水の壜にも煙管きせるにも私の心はのしかかってはゆかなかった。憂鬱が立て罩こめて来る、私は歩き廻った疲労が出て来たのだと思った。私は画本の棚の前へ行ってみた。画集の重たいのを取り出すのさえ常に増して力が要るな！ と思った。しかし私は一冊ずつ抜き出してはみる、そして開けてはみるのだが、克明にはぐってゆく気持はさらに湧いて来ない。しかも呪われたことにはまた次の一冊を引き出して来る。それも同じことだ。それでいて一度バラバラとやってみなくては気が済まないのだ。それ以上は堪たまらなくなってそこへ置いてしまう。以前の位置へ戻すことさえできない。私は幾度もそれを繰り返した。とうとうおしまいには日頃から大好きだったアングルの橙色だいだいろの重い本までなおいっそうの堪たえがたさのために置いてしまった。――なんという呪われたことだ。手の筋肉に疲労が残っている。私は憂鬱になってしまって、自分が抜いたまま積み重ねた本の群を眺めていた。

以前にはあんなに私をひきつけた画本がどうしたことだろう。一枚一枚に眼を晒さらし終わって後、さてあまりに尋常な周囲を見廻すときのあの変にそぐわない気持を、私は以前には好んで味わっていたものであった。……

「あ、そうだそうだ」そ��時私は袂たもとの中の檸檬れもんを憶い出した。本の色彩をゴチャゴチャに積みあげて、一度この檸檬で試してみたら。「そうだ」

私にまた先ほどの軽やかな昂奮が帰って来た。私は手当たり次第に積みあげ、また慌あわただしく潰し、また慌しく築きあげた。新しく引き抜いてつけ加えたり、取り去ったりした。奇怪な幻想的な城が、そのたびに赤くなったり青くなったりした。

やっとそれはでき上がった。そして軽く跳りあがる心を制しながら、その城壁の頂きに恐る恐る檸檬れもんを据えつけた。そしてそれは上出来だった。

見わたすと、その檸檬の色彩はガチャガチャした色の階調をひっそりと紡錘形の身体の中へ吸収してしまって、カーンと冴えかえっていた。私は埃ほこりっぽい丸善の中の空気が、その檸檬の周囲だけ変に緊張しているような気がした。私はしばらくそれを眺めていた。

不意に第二のアイディアが起こった。その奇妙なたくらみはむしろ私をぎょっとさせた。

――それをそのままにしておいて私は、なに喰くわぬ顔をして外へ出る。――

私は変にくすぐったい気持がした。「出て行こうかなあ。そうだ出て行こう」そして私はすたすた出て行った。

変にくすぐったい気持が街の上の私を微笑ほほえませた。丸善の棚へ黄金色に輝く恐ろしい爆弾を仕掛けて来た奇怪な悪漢が私で、もう十分後にはあの丸善が美術の棚を中心として大爆発をするのだったらどんなにおもしろいだろう。

私はこの想像を熱心に追求した。「そうしたらあの気詰まりな丸善も粉葉こっぱみじんだろう」

そして私は活動写真の看板画が奇体な趣きで街を彩いろどっている京極を下って行った。

[pope-francis-quotes]

26th September >> (@zenitenglish) #PopeFrancis #Pope Francis’ Full Text of Holy Father’s On-board Press Conference on Return Flight from Baltic Nations Conversation with Reporters on Flight from Estonia to Rome (Zenit on flight with #PopeinBaltics) #PopeFrancis

Full Text of Holy Father’s On-board Press Conference on Return Flight from Baltic Nations

Conversation with Reporters on Flight from Estonia to Rome

During his September 25, 2018,  flight from Tallinn, Estonia, back to Rome, at the end of the Apostolic Journey to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia (September 22-25, 2018), the Holy Father Francis met with journalists on board the plane for a press conference, which is transcribed and translated below. Greg Burke, Director of the Vatican Press Office, moderated the discussion.

* * *

Original Text

Greg Burke:

Good evening, Holy Father. Above all, thank you. Three countries in four days isn’t very easy, it’s somewhat tiring . . . It seemed a bit like four countries in four days, because on the first day there was the surprise of China, so we even did this: we got close to China. Let’s try to stay with the subject — we have said this so many times –, to talk about the trip. We will certainly begin with the local journalists of each country, but in the press conference, we will seek to talk about the trip to the Baltic countries. I don’t know if you’d d like to say something first.

Pope Francis:

First of all, to thank you for the work you did, because for you also three countries in four days is not easy. It’s tiring, especially, having to go from one place to another. I thank you so much for the service you offer to people about this trip, which is the most important thing of your communication: what happened there . . . There were very interesting things on this trip, and I expect questions in this connection.

Greg Burke:

Thank you. The first is Saulena Ziugzdaite, Bernardinai.LT, of Lithuania:

Saulena Ziugzdaite:

Holy Father, thank you for this time and for this whole trip. When you spoke in Vilnius of the Lithuanian soul, you said we should be a bridge between East and West. But it’s not easy to be a bridge: it’s always through others. Some say that our tragedy is that we are on the bridge. Perhaps some say: it’s decidedly better to become part of the West with its values. What did you intend — what does it mean to be a bridge?

Pope Francis:

It’s true . . . It’s obvious that today you form part, politically, of the West, of the European Union, and you did so much to enter the European Union. Immediately after independence, you carried out all the adjustments, which weren’t easy, and you succeeded in entering the European Union, namely, in belonging to the West. You also have relations with NATO: you belong to NATO, and this means the West. If you look at the East, your history is there — a harsh history; part of your tragic history also came from the West, from the Germans, the Poles, but especially Nazism, this came from the West. And, as regards the East, from the Russian empire.

To make bridges exacts strength; strength not only to belong to the West, which gives you strength but for your own identity. I realize that the situation of the Baltic countries is always in danger, always. There is the fear of invasion . . . because history itself reminds you of this. And you are right when you say that it’s not easy, but this is a game that is played every day, one step after another: with culture, with dialogue . . . But it’s not easy. I believe the duty of all of us is to help you in this. More than helping you, to be close to you, with the heart.

Greg Burke:

Thank you, Holy Father. The next question comes from Gints Amolins, Latvijas Radio (Latvia)

Gints Amolins:

Good day, Holiness. In the Baltic countries, you spoke often of the importance of roots and of identity. From Latvia and also from Lithuania and Estonia, there are so many people that have left for more prosperous countries and many are already putting down roots elsewhere. And then, there are also demographic problems, as in Europe in general, because of the low birth rate. So, in this situation what can or should our countries do, what should the leaders of our countries do and also each one of us personally? How should this problem be assessed?

Pope Francis:

In my homeland, I didn’t know people from Estonia and Latvia, whereas the Lithuanian immigration — in relative terms — is very strong. There are so many in Argentina. And they take there their culture, history and are proud of the double effort to insert themselves in the new country and also keep their identity. In their celebrations, there are traditional costumes, traditional songs and always, every time they can, they return to the homeland to visit . . . I think that the struggle to keep their identity makes them very strong, and you have this: you have a strong identity — an identity that was forged in suffering, in defense, and in work, in the culture.

And what can be done to defend one’s identity? Recourse to the roots, this is important. Identity is an ancient thing, but it must be transmitted. Identity is inserted in the membership of a people, and membership in a people is transmitted. The roots are transmitted to the new generations, and this  <is done> with education and with dialogue, especially between the old and the young. And you must do it because your identity is a treasure. Each identity is a treasure but conceived as belonging to a people. This is what comes to <mind>, I don’t know if it responds to your question.

Greg Burke:

Thank you, Holy Father. And now Evelyn Kaldoja, Postimees (Estonia)

Evelyn Kaldoja:

Thank you. I would like to ask the question in English. In today’s homily, you said that there are some that cry out and threaten the use of arms and the use of armies, etc., etc. Considering where we find ourselves, on that same Square where NATO soldiers were sent to Estonia as protection. Many thought about the situation of the eastern borders of Europe. Are you worried about the tensions in that area and about Catholics on either side of Europe’s borders?

Pope Francis:

The threat of arms. Today, the global expenses for arms are scandalous. I was told that, with what is spent on arms in a month, all the hungry in the world could be fed for a year. I don’t know if it’s true, it’s terrible. Industry, the arms trade, also the arms contraband is one of the greatest corruptions. And before this, there is the logic of defense. David was able to overcome with a sling and five stones, but today there aren’t any Davids. I think that to defend a country, we need a reasonable and non-aggressive defense army — reasonable and non- aggressive. This way defense is licit, and it’s even an honor to defend the homeland so. The problem comes when it becomes aggressive, not reasonable, and border wars break out. We have so many examples of border wars, not only in Europe, to the East, but also in other Continents: they fight for power, to colonize a country. This is, in my opinion, the answer to your question. Today’s arms industry is scandalous in face of a starving world. Second, it’s licit, reasonable to have an army to defend the borders, because this does honor; as it’s licit to have the key to the door of one’s home — for defense

Greg Burke:

Thank you, Holy Father. The next question is from the German group: Stefanie Stahlhofen, of the German Catholic agency CIC (Germany)

Stefanie Stahlhofen:

Holy Father, in the ecumenical meeting at Tallinn you said that, in face of the sexual scandals, young people don’t see a clear condemnation on the part of the Catholic Church. In Germany, a new inquiry came out, in fact, today on sexual abuses and how the Church has addressed many cases.

Pope Francis:

I’ll speak about this later. I’ll answer first the questions on the trip. This is the rule. However, it will be the first question after those on the trip.

Greg Burke:

Let’s stay with the trip . . .

A journalist is coming from Lithuanian Radio-Television.

Edvardas Spokas:

I’ll speak in English. In all three countries, you expressed yourself in favor of openness: openness in regard to migrants, openness in regard to the other. But in Lithuania, for example, there was a confrontation on the affair of a girl who greeted you on landing, in front of the plane: in fact, she didn’t have a Lithuanian look. She was part Italian, with somewhat dark skin .  . . My question is: in the Baltic countries, do they hear from you only what they want to hear, or do they listen to that which you are trying to say to them? Do they listen to your message on openness?

Pope Francis:

The message on openness to migrants is sufficiently before your people; there aren’t strong populist fires, no. Estonia and Latvia also have open people who want to integrate the migrants, but not massively, because it can’t be done, to integrate them with the prudence of the government. We spoke about this with two of the Heads of State, and they touched on the argument, not I. And in the Presidents’ addresses, you will see that the word “hospitality,” openness” is frequent. This indicates a will of universality in the measure it can be done, because of space, work, etc. in the measure in which they can be integrated, because of space, work, etc.; — this is very important — in the measure in which it’s not a threat against one’s identity. They are the three things that I understood of the people’s migrations. And this touched me very much: prudent and well thought out openness. I don’t know if you think something other.

Edvardas Spokas:

My question is how your message was received?

Pope Francis:

I believe it was, in the sense that I mentioned. Because today the problem of migrants throughout the world  — and not only external migration, but also internal, in the Continents — is a serious problem; it’s not easy to study it. In every country, in every post, in every place, it has different connotations.

Greg Burke:

Thank you, Holy Father. We have finished the questions on the trip.

Pope Francis:

Very good. I would like to say something on some points of the trip that I lived with special intensity

The fact of your history, of the history of the Baltic Countries: a history of invasions, of dictatorships, of crimes, of deportations   . . . When I visited the Museum in Vilnius: “museum” is a word that makes one think of the Louvre . . . No. That museum was a prison; it was a prison in which the detained, for political or religious reasons, were taken. And I’ve seen cells of the measure of this seat, where one could only stand, torture cells. I’ve seen places of torture,  where, with the cold, there is in Lithuania, they took naked prisoners and threw water on them, and they stayed there for hours and hours, to break their resistance. And then I entered the hall, the large room of executions. The prisoners were taken there by force and killed, with a shot to the back of the head. Then they were taken out on a conveyor belt to a truck and thrown in the forest. They killed more or less forty a day. In the end, there were close to 15,000 that were killed there. This is part of Lithuania’s history, but also of the other countries. What I saw was in Lithuania. Then I went to the place of the Great Ghetto, where thousands of Jews were killed. Then, on the same afternoon, I went to the Monument in memory of the condemned, killed, tortured and deported. That day — I tell you the truth — I remained destroyed: it made me reflect on the cruelty. But I say to you, based on the information we have today, the cruelty hasn’t ended. The same cruelty is found today in so many detention places, it’s found today in so many prisons; the overpopulation of a prison is also a system of torture, a way of living without dignity.  A prison today that doesn’t provide the detained with a prospect of hope, is already a torture. Then we saw on television the cruelty of ISIS; terrorists: that Jordanian pilot burnt alive, those Coptic Christians beheaded on the beach of Libya, and so many others. Today cruelty has not ended. It exists throughout the world. And I want to give this message to you, as journalists: this is a scandal, a grave scandal of our culture and of our society

Another thing I saw in these three countries is hatred [of the past regime] for religion, regardless of which it is. Hatred. I saw a Jesuit Bishop of Lithuania or Latvia, I don’t remember well, who was deported to Siberia for ten years, then to another concentration camp . . . Now he is elderly, he is smiling . . . So many men and women who were tortured and deported to Siberia, for having defended their faith, which was their identity, and they didn’t return or were killed. The faith of these three countries is great; it’s a faith born in fact of martyrdom, and this is something that perhaps you saw, speaking with the people, as you journalists do, to have news of the country.

Moreover, this very important experience of faith produced a singular phenomenon in these countries: an ecumenical life, which doesn’t exist elsewhere, <which is> so generalized. There is a true ecumenism: ecumenism between Lutherans, Baptists, Anglicans and also Orthodox. We saw it yesterday in the Cathedral, during the ecumenical meeting at Riga, in Latvia: a great thing; brothers, close, together in one church . . . , close. Ecumenism has put down roots there.

Then, there is another phenomenon in these countries, which is important to study, and perhaps you can do many good things in your job, studying this: the phenomenon of the transmission of culture, of identity, of faith. Usually, grandparents did the transmission. Why? Because the parents worked; father and mother had to work, and had to be enrolled in the party — whether in the Soviet or the Nazi regime – and also educated to atheism. However, the grandparents were able to transmit the faith and the culture. In the time when the use of the Lithuanian language was banned, when it was taken out of schools, when they went to religious services — be they Catholic or Protestant — they took prayer books to see if they were in the Lithuanian language or in the Russian or German language. And many — a generation at that time — learned the mother tongue of the grandparents: it was the grandparents that taught writing and reading in the mother tongue. This makes us think and some article, some television service would be good on the transmission of culture, of language, of art, of faith in the times of dictatorship and persecution. One could not think otherwise, because all the means of communication, which at that time were few – radio – were taken by the State. When a government becomes — wants to become dictatorial, the first thing it does is to take over the means of communication.

I wanted to underscore these things.

And now, I refer to today’s meeting with young people. Young people are scandalized: I introduce here the first question which was outside the subject of the trip. Young people are scandalized by the hypocrisy of the grownups. They are scandalized by the wars; they are scandalized by the inconsistency; they are scandalized by the corruption. And on this matter of corruption, there is that, which you stressed, of the sexual abuses. It’s true that there is an accusation of the Church, and we all know, we know the statistics, I won’t state them here. However, even if it has been only one priest that abused a child, this would be in any case monstrous, because that man was chosen by God to bring the child to Heaven. I understand that young people are scandalized by this very great corruption. They know it’s everywhere, but in the Church, it’s more scandalous, because children must be taken to God, not destroyed. Young people seek to make their way with experience. Today’s meeting with young people was very clear: they want to be heard; they want to be heard. They don’t want fixed formulas. They don’t want a directive accompaniment. And the second part of this question, which was the first beyond the trip, was that “the Church isn’t doing what it should in this, in cleansing this corruption.

“ I take Pennsylvania’s Report, for example, and we see that up to the first years of the 70’s there were so many priests who fell into this corruption. Then, in more recent times, they diminished because the Church realized that it had to fight another way.  In past times, these things were covered up. They were covered up also at home when an uncle violated a niece when the father violated the children. They were covered up because it was a very great shame. It was the way of thinking in past centuries, and of the past century. There is a principle in this that helps me very much to interpret history: a historical event is interpreted with the hermeneutics of the time in which the event happened, not with today’s hermeneutics.  For example, indigenism: there were so many injustices, so many brutalities. However, it can’t be interpreted with today’s hermeneutics, when we have another awareness. A last example: the death penalty. The Vatican also as a State, when it was a Papal State, had the death penalty: the last person was beheaded around 1870, a criminal, a youth. But then the moral conscience grew, the moral conscience grew. It’s true that there are always scapegoats, there are always hidden death penalties: you are old, bothersome, I won’t give you the medicines . . . , and then they say: “he went.” It’s a social condemnation to death today. However, I think that with this I have answered the question. The Church: I take the example of Pennsylvania, I look at the proportions and I see that, when the Church began to be aware of this, it tried very hard. And in recent times I have received so many, so many condemnations issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and I’ve said: “Forward, forward.” But, after a condemnation, I have never signed a request for grace. One doesn’t negotiate on this; there is no negotiation.

Greg Burke:

Antonio Pelayo of “Vida Nueva” (Spain)”

Antonio Peayo:

Holy Father, a few days ago an Agreement was signed between the Holy See and the Government of the People’s Republic of China. Can you give us some additional information on this, on its content? Because some Chinese Catholics, in particular, Cardinal Zen, have accused you of selling out the Church to Beijing’s Communist Government, after so many years of suffering. What is your response to this accusation?

Pope Francis:

This is a process of years, a dialogue between the Vatican Commission and the Chinese Commission, to sort out the appointment of Bishops. The Vatican team worked a lot. I would like to mention some names: Monsignor Celli, who went with patience, dialogued and returned…for years and years! Then Monsignor Rota Graziosi, a humble 72-year-old Curial Monsignor, who wanted to be parish priest but stayed in the Curia to help in this process. And then, the Secretary of State, Cardinal Parolin, who is a very devout man, but he has a special devotion to the lens: he studies all the documents: periods, commas, accents . . . And this gives me very great security. And this team, with these qualities, went forward. You know that when a peace agreement is made or a negotiation, both parties lose something; this is the rule. Both parties and one goes forward. This process went like that: two steps forward, one backward, to forward, one backward…; then months passed without talking to one another, and then . . . They are God’s times, which are similar to Chinese time: slowly . . . This is wisdom, the wisdom of the Chinese. The situation of Bishops who were in difficulty were studied case by case, and in the end, the dossiers arrived on my desk and I was the one responsible for signing them, in the case of the Bishops. In regard to the Agreement, the drafts passed on my desk, we talked, I gave my ideas, the others discussed them and went ahead. I think of the resistance, of the Catholics that suffered: it’s true; they will suffer. There is always suffering in an agreement. But they have great faith and they write, send messages, affirming that what the Holy See, what Peter says, is what Jesus says: the “martyred” faith of these people goes forward today. They are great men I signed the Agreement, the Plenipotentiary Letters to sign that Agreement. I am the one responsible. The others, whom I appointed, worked for more than ten years. It’s not an improvisation: it’s a journey, a true journey.

And then, a simple anecdote and a historic fact, two things before finishing. When there was that famous press release of an ex Apostolic Nuncio, the episcopates  worldwide wrote me saying that they felt close, that they prayed for me; the Chinese faithful also wrote, and the signature on this writing was the Bishop’s – let’s say so – of the traditional Catholic Church and of the Bishop of the Patriotic Church: together, both, and the faithful of both Churches. This was for me a sign from God. And the second thing: let’s not forget that in Latin America — thank God this has been exceeded!  — we forget that for 350 years it was the kings of Portugal and of Spain who appointed the Bishops. And the Pope only gave the jurisdiction. We forget the case of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: Marie Therese got tired of signing the appointments of Bishops and gave the jurisdiction to the Vatican. Other times, thank God, which today are not repeated!  However, the present case isn’t for the appointment of Bishops: it’s a dialogue on the eventual candidates. It’s done in dialogue, but the appointment is Rome’s; the appointment is the Pope’s, this is clear. And we pray for the sufferings of some people who don’t understand or who have behind them so many years of clandestinity.

I thank you so much! They tell us that supper is ready and the flight isn’t long. Thank you so much! Thank you so much for your work. And pray for me.

Greg Burke:  

Thank you, Holy Father. Enjoy your supper and have a nice rest.

© Libreria Editrice Vatican

[Original text: Italian]  [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester]SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 14:31

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