#bs&t japanese

[porschethemermaid]

This. This is accuracy.

BTS ' blood sweat & Tears Japanese ver mv ' Colours meanings/Code  theory

No one can ignore the strong Colours shifting through BS&T jap ver MV! & of course it’s not Random (BH Do Everything For A Reason)!There are Already so many Great theories regarding symbolism, So Here I will just Write about colours as the title Sets.

I know it’s too late to write about this, But I didn’t find anyone Do a separated article So Why Not? (I’m a New ‘April019’ ARMY HeHe)

Sorry for the long Intro (•^•) …. LET’S START. READY? SET, GO: (its long, brainstorming & All; so Bring snacks)  

Colours that keep appearing on the mv are Blue, Red, Green, Purple & somehow Yellow. let me explain each one of them shortly & then Clarify How do they together interfere with the symbolism!! (let’s assume there two personifications of each member adult persona immature one)

First: BLUE:

Blue represents the Wisdom & stability of being Mature.

Suga & jhope Aura (adulthood)

JHope dancing on a Blue background:

Young jimin looking around feeling unfamiliarity towards adulthood (blue room)

Second: RED:

Red refers to Juvenile joy & pure Passion of youth.

Here is young jimin 

-Young jin Gazing at ‘The crash of the fallen Angels’ painting & His sight is all red (being on pure realm realizing the existence of dark)

The painting actually depicts the rebellious angels dragging Down other angels to Hell.

Young jungkook aura 

Even V :

Jimin dancing on a RED background :

THIRED: PURPLE

Purple is the colour of mystery, symbolizing The unknown complex Feeling of Meeting the devil & Facing maturity Pain! The cruelty of realizing the existence of the Dark realm. Mixing Red (childhood) + Blue (adulthood) → Purple (Between them: Youth)

-J-Hope’s Legend ’ Wings comeback trailer: BOY MEETS EVIL ’ aura portrays it perfectly. Clearly the whole MV is on Purple background:

Jungkook awakes finding purple Blood mark (maturity pain) showing wings (maybe his wings are protruding?)

Jimin eating an Apple (apple symbolizes temptation sin forbidden apple of garden eden)

The scene of Jin suffering  

V dazing, as if he is Drunk?

GREEN:

One of Green colour meanings is ’ Rebirth’. Reminding me of ‘DEMIAN’s Breaking the Egg concept (Demain: a novel by Hermann Hesse the inspiration of Wings album entirely I’m sure you know about this) Green is to Shake Hands with the Devil, to Sin! This colour meaning is the most obvious on the MV & Even clearer on the Original ver (Korean one):

Jimin Here is literally mixing the apple with the juice then it turns into green 

Let’s talk about the most interesting scene (ladies & gentlemen Fasten your Belts!!)

Okay ehm ehm we have a residence on blue light & RM siting so manly on the left side (adulthood) (the residence represents stability)

A Hotel on Red light  & jungkook siting so politely on the Right side (youth) (the motel represents uneasiness of the young)

In the Frame we got a green light as RM is about to offer a liquor to jk (SIN, ruining purity).

(As you see the scene proves my whole theory.)

What happens after jk is forced to drink the liquor?

His surroundings become BLUE & he Looks dazed cause The maturity is hitting him so hard.

Then a yellow light!

(I will explain it further Below)

YELLOW:

yellow = Enlightenment !! the exact moment of noticing the wickedness.

the painting jin looking at is on yellow (the actual painting is colourful) (enlightenment) even the Binocular is Golden LOL

getting back to the very start: jk waking up looking surprised inside a ’ mainly ’ yellow room, even the light above him is yellow!(enlightenment) other colours are green & purple (the pain of realizing the evil is reason he astonished)

On the wall Colours are painted in a way looks as they’re jk’s wings woow!!

-Jhope sits in front of ‘Pietà ’: (a subject in Christian art depicting the virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus) pointing an arrow (if we consider it as pointing to his left symbolizes warding off evil if right protection. both meanings interfere with being on motherhood realm) the lights are purple + yellow

Keep reading if you Don’t wanna miss the real joy! (bring a cup of coffee it’s deepening)

Further Explanation:

Keep reading

[caineinthecorner]

Languages (The Others)

★ Based on my language general hcs + the brothers' hcs.

Hi I am sleep deprived. Behold part two of my shitty hc delusions wooooo.

"Caine you missed some" yeah I'm lazy (+ don't know their characterization well enough). If you want to add hcs for the guys I skipped you can but in the meantime I'll go with the basic bitch options

Gentle reminder I make shit up. (⁠◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕⁠✿⁠)

★ Solomon.

Okay so like I said with Asmo he knows french (and they're both nasty with it)

Basically he rizzed up Asmo in french

Using the dude he was in based out of he also knows English (native probably), Welsh, German, full-ass Demon Tongue and like some latin for magic bs. Idk

(bcs the guy lived nearby those countries in ye old Europe(tm) and something something immortal so why tf not learn languages while at it)

(also of course he learned demon tongue. He wants to rizz up demons and what better way to do that)

He learned demon tongue from random demons and a lot of trial and error

Plus he knows japanese if we are under the pretense that mc is japanese.

So like Solomon tries to use language rizz to get close to you as the other human student in Devildom. So basically using the Asmo trick with you.

... He's kinda painfully obvious with it

(how tf did Asmodeus fall for this shit?)

If you don't speak any of the languages he is fluent in his ass will ABSOLUTELY pick 'em up and be like "hey I want to learn:)"

He uses language as a tool to get what he wants basically

No wonder him and Asmo get along

If you know a language that is not loquar-translatable and he speaks it as well prepare to get secret-talk'd a lot.

Not having people spying your convos is a incredibly valuable asset in Devildom

Especially since you're around the brothers almost 24/7 and they're fucking VIGILANT

Oh also he 100% knows that Asmo fakes being shit at English.

But he's a simp so 乁⁠(⁠ ⁠•⁠_⁠•⁠  ⁠)⁠ㄏ

★ Luke.

FUNNILY ENOUGH. Two things:

Yes he doesn't need Loquar to communicate with you since he's an angel BUT

For some reason (cough your heritage cough) he keeps messing up in which language speak to you with.

Angel instincts are telling him to just use whatever language with you but the thing is that You Don't Know Whatever Language

Which is odd because that's something he only does with fellow angels????

But you are human so

He doesn't think much of it. He's probably just confused because he's around mean demons! >:T

(His basic subconscious instincts are harder to control since he's low ranking and his Angel brain is going "You = angel = language doesn't matter")

But since he keeps somewhat messing up around you he decides to gesture to hell when talking to you just in case

so you get the gist through his mannerisms in case his words get fucky

His least favorite language ever is Demon Tongue. Even outside of Not Liking Demons he doesn't like how throat-y and intensive it is.

↑ that is a popular Angel opinion btw. Demon Tongue in general is just annoying to use for them and barely any Angels use it outside of in-the-moment communication with Devildom natives.

If you ask him his preferred language he'll say some form of Latin since it's the preferred language of most high ranked angels, as well as Michael's.

But it's actually English.

★ Simeon.

Since he is was a high rank angel, he doesn't mess up what language speak to you with. He has real good control of stuff like that that comes with experience and age.

(in fact he's very confused why Luke keeps messing up so bad around you but doesn't think much of it since Luke is technically still a fledgling)

I already said this but yeah his preferred language is Archaic Latin (shared it with Lucifer pre-fall).

Ever since Lucifer's fall he switched to plain English and that's the answer he'll give you if you ask.

Only Angel that isn't bothered speaking demon tongue and will do so at his own leisure.

If you try to learn the demon language he is unironically so helpful because he isn't a spiteful bitch like Lucifer and actually teaches you shit without throwing you into the wolves

In fact Simeon is amused as hell over the fact that Lucifer is making you learn the hard stuff first. That is so him.

He's like the good cop of the learning dynamic. Cool substitute teacher vibes

Simeon finds accents to be the cutest thing ever since it is an inherently odd concept for someone fluent in Everything Ever

He has (jokingly) cooed over Luci's accent when he speaks Latin nowadays. Lucifer is not at all amused.

★ Barbatos.

He knows every language.

... Yeah that's it that's the list

Look at me dead in the eyes and tell me this motherfucker does not speak Sumerian

Ofc he knows every human language ever. And Devildom's. He knows™.

Funniest thing is that he doesn't even need Loquar to talk to you. He just deadass speaks your language with full fluency and you Never Notice

You only notice one day while having a normal convo with him and then Diavolo walks in speaking full deadass gibberish somehow and you're like ????? and Barbatos says "oh apologies I forgot to apply Loquar to you here you go"

Like deadass he would fuck with you so hard when it comes to languages.

Do not go to this man for language advice he will teach you proper stuff in the most incorrect way possible

(Probably! Or probably not! It depends! On what? Who the fuck knows™!)

He's deadass a roulette of proper, legitimate advice or literal shitposting

He wrote the Voynich manuscript. It was a housekeeping journal he was keeping in a dead Devildom idiom that ended up in the human realm by accident

He didn't retrieve it solely because seeing humans go insane over it was funny as hell and he has a secondary copy anyway. That book has nothing relevant in it besides like two recipes.

He did go to check back on it once to write down a meat pie recipe Diavolo's father liked bcs he didn't have on the copy

Barbatos is the definition of "wtf what language was that" "yes."

He and Lucifer have random days where they just pick a language to speak to each other. It helps to maintain fluency.

Barbatos jumpscared Satan once by going, full ass unprompted mid convo, "Oh right you speak Tagalog."

He knows what languages everyone speaks like a white girl knows zodiac charts

★ Diavolo.

Ok so he probably knows English since it is Solomon's native and humanity's current universal(ish) language

Like of course he wants to communicate with humans! Of course he'll learn their language!!!

Unlike Barbatos and Lucifer who are very impressive Polyglots he's realistic in his language stuff. The more down-to-earth of the three

His English is hilarious

Not particularly because he says things wrong but his accent and tone just makes it sound incredibly funny

He sounds exactly like a dubbed-over superhero doing a friendship monologue At All Times

He is so earnest with it that you don't have the heart to explain why you're laughing

Anyhow fun fact:

Loquar for some reason translates what he says in Demon Tongue the most literal ass sense possible for literally no reason

Which is odd(tm) but mostly just funny as all hell

Everyone has been troubleshooting whatever the fuck happens to Loquar Ad Vos with Diavolo but no idea so far.

The phrase "have you tried unpapplying it and applying it again" has been uttered more than once unironically

The working theory is that since Diavolo is royalty and Loquar Ad Vos was created with the sampling of normal demons it works wrong on him since there's something different(tm)

Reverse engineering the Loquar spell to work on him has been in the works for a while. Loquar is drafted like shit since it is an old human-oriented spell (Basically like spaghetti code needing to be rewritten), so it proves a bit troublesome.

You later find that Diavolo speaks in a very uniquely pronounced manner

↑ Think of it like Devildom royalty has a very distinctive Way Of Speaking. Like an accent but also not. Probably magic related in some way(?)

"do you want to consume nourishment" ← Diavolo's ass getting mistranslated

So yeah Barbatos or Lucifer kinda have to lend a hand when you two communicate.

If you're English speaking then you two kinda communicate that way sometimes. You reassure him on his accent and help him along if he gets anything wrong.

(he's fluent-ish in Japanese as well if we are running in the assumption that the reason why MC's canonically japanese is because they needed someone who A) speaks a language translatable by Loquar Ad Vos B) is also a language Diavolo knows and C) is not of the same social background as Solomon)

He will get so unapologetically excited when you start learning demon tongue. You two can!!! Communicate even more!!!!!

Demons will be genuinely mortified if you gain Diavolo's accent while speaking demon tongue. Why does this random ass human speak like royalty ತ⁠_⁠ತ

Very (un)subtle way to tell everyone that you're besties/partner/whatever of the literal prince of Devildom.

Something something dragon being possessive something

[luigiblood]

Really disappointed about F-Zero GP Legend on GBA NSO

Today, as of the writing of this post, saw the addition of F-Zero GP Legend & F-Zero Climax on GBA NSO, two great games, and one of them finally officially available worldwide, even if untranslated.

Putting aside the annoyance that F-Zero Climax is untranslated, on which I still think Nintendo should seriously consider translating some of their retro titles, I want to talk about a real disappointment surrounding F-Zero GP Legend.

The hype before release

Before the release of the GBA NSO update, Nintendo's japanese blog showed that F-Zero GP Legend would actually have for the first time the inclusion of the 20 e-Reader courses, expert ghost data and machines. The Wii U Virtual Console release did not have those, and that's genuinely cool of them!

The original American and European releases of GP Legend actually included the e-Reader machines as unlockables, after they probably knew that e-Reader was just out of the question, however, they never included any of the Ghost Data, or the 20 extra courses (the equivalent of 4 cups in this game).

But for some reason, the American and European NSO releases of the game does not include the e-Reader content. You can probably excuse this as like, the game simply didn't have any support for them and therefore they couldn't hack them for it, but... that's just kind of bullshit actually.

How much effort did they make?

Guy Perfect, who you might be familiar with their recent work of BS F-Zero Deluxe, which is a hack of F-Zero that includes all courses and machines from the original game and the Satellaview BS F-Zero Grand Prix 1 & 2.

He made a few years before the e+ Complete patch for all versions of F-Zero GP Legend:

This patch includes all e-Reader content, all 20 courses and all ghost data for all versions of the game, and unlocked machines for the japanese version.

Why do I mention this? Because this patch was possible because all versions of the game, including the American and European versions still had functional e-Reader support, it's just inaccessible.

Now, I want to say this, Nintendo's modification of the japanese version of the game is still pretty well done, just like the patch I've linked, Nintendo did a similar thing in a different way, where they actually managed to include all 20 e-Reader courses in the same menu, bypassing the limitation of 5 courses, a limitation caused by the limited save space as, yes, the cards actually included the custom course data in them, no unlocks.

This might have required as much effort as Super Mario Advance 4's e-Reader levels which also bypassed similar limitations.

After asking Guy Perfect about the work that was done towards the American and European versions of his patch, it turns out Nintendo didn't need to do that much more to do it on them, porting the modifications from the japanese version would actually not require that much effort, because the e-Reader code is still just there, fully functional, and could just be enabled relatively simply.

To say it simply: Nintendo already did the work for the modifications to add e-Reader content to the game and it would have needed basically almost nothing else on top to make it work on the American and European versions.

The fan patch is not actually doing a lot of code changes to all the versions, proof that it is really not doing that much to add these courses, and that's just sad.

The European could need maybe some translations, but as it is, it doesn't even need any significant work, like, just translating "Card e-Reader+ Cup" is all that's essentially needed, and even then, they could have left it as is and you would just see it in English regardless of the language, it would have still worked and no one would probably bat an eye...

It's just disappointing, you know, this was so close, not much work was needed, it's not like I'm asking the impossible here, the work is already there and could be ported very very easily to the other versions.

This is not an outcome I can easily accept, I can accept a lot of technical reasons for not doing things at times, but not this one.

In the meantime, I guess either use the e+ Complete patch, or just use the japanese GBA NSO app if you really want to play those legally.

[esutonia]

a short tutorial on writing majima-speak

So ya wanna learn how to write Majima-speak, eh? Well, I gotta say, you’ve come to the right place. Or maybe the only place? Dunno how many tutorials’re out there fer this shit. Anyway, sit yer ass down and I’ll give ya the scoop on how to write yer favorite fun guy from Kansai.

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a fluent Japanese speaker. These are all the opinions/observations of an American whose only exposure to the Japanese culture and language has been through anime and video games. I have done my best to research all of these observations before just shoving them into this document, but I probably will make mistakes. Any actual Japanese speakers, please correct me. This isn’t supposed to be an educational guide on the nuances of Kansai-ben. This is only a general tutorial on how to portray the Kansai dialect in English writing.

What is Kansai-ben?

Kansai-ben (or Kansai dialect) is a Japanese dialect primarily spoken in the Kansai region of Japan. Pretty straightforward. Our good friend Majima Goro speaks a version of Kansai-ben that I lovingly refer to as Majima-speak. This is because he doesn’t speak true Kansai dialect—it’s a wobbly mix of Kansai and Tokyo (“standard”) that incorporates elements of both. Ugaki Hidenari, Majima’s voice actor, is from Tokyo himself, and doesn’t speak Kansai-ben natively. However, Majima has a lot of quirky Kansai-isms in his speech that make him stand out from other characters.

Therefore, the focus on writing Majima’s dialogue doesn’t have to be accuracy. We aren’t shooting for a 1:1 translation of Kansai to English, because: 1) that doesn’t exist, and 2) he doesn’t speak perfect Kansai anyway. The point is, we’ve got flexibility.

What makes Majima-speak different from regular Japanese?

There are a lot of cultural and historical nuances that I won’t get into, but in modern Japan, the Kansai dialect is perceived as more comedic or casual than standard Japanese. This is reflected in Sega’s localization of Majima’s voice lines: his are rougher, more crass, and generally funnier than other characters’ lines. If you end up taking nothing else from this guide, at least think rough, crass, and funny when writing Majima. It’s a good place to start.

So how do I write Majima-speak?

There are three tips that I keep in mind while I’m writing dialogue for Majima:

Make sure his lines show more emotion than other characters’ lines.

Use shortcuts wherever possible.

Don’t be afraid to get silly with it.

Let’s elaborate on these tips, shall we?

Make sure Majima’s lines show more emotion than other characters’ lines.

I’d like to use Kiryu as an example here, because he’s by far one of the stiffest-speaking characters in the series. For lack of a better term, Kiryu’s lines are prosaic—they sound more like they were written in a book than spoken by a person. Here’s an excerpt from Kiryu and Majima’s first scene together in Yakuza 2, edited for brevity. Pretend you don’t know what this scene looks like and focus on just the text.

Kiryu: It’s Kiryu. Anybody home? I know you’re here…Show yourself. Majima: It’s been too long…Kiryu-chan! You got any idea how lonely I’ve been since ya got outta the game last year? Oh, but I knew my Kiryu-chan would come home sooner or later! Kiryu: It’s been awhile, Majima-no-niisan. Majima: So, what brings ya here? Kiryu: The Tojo Clan…needs you. Majima: For fuck’s sake…What’s this BS now?! You’re a shitty comedian, Kiryu-chan. Kiryu: I’m serious. The Tojo Clan has never needed you more than now. Please.  Majima: No fuckin’ way. Kiryu: Please. Majima: You’re killin’ me, Kiryu-chan! I can’t stand seein’ ya like this! Kiryu: Please, Majima-no-niisan…the Tojo Clan is as good as dead without the Majima Family. Please!

Notice how Majima’s lines are much longer than Kiryu’s and noticeably sound like an actual person said them because they’re more casual. Kiryu basically repeats “please” three times, but each time Majima’s response is different. You’re able to tell that Majima’s incredulous, then annoyed, then upset at Kiryu’s request by the way he adds extra dialogue every time he says “no.” By contrast, you’re not really able to tell how desperate Kiryu is until he starts begging. The main disadvantage with writing is that you’re not able to convey images as clearly through text, so it requires more work to make a character’s emotions show through their dialogue. Majima’s lines are all about emotion, whether it’s real or exaggerated, so make sure the reader is able to tell how he’s feeling without seeing his face.

Use shortcuts whenever possible.

While conveying a character’s emotions through their speech often requires writing longer lines, this does not mean you should waste space or over-explain. The way you can balance this need for emotion with the need for casual dialogue is by using slang and condensing phrases.

English-speakers do this all the time in common conversation. We use contractions (I am = I’m), smash together words (What are you doing? = What’cha doin’?”), and add slang/idioms (“The hour grows late; I shall soon retire” = “It’s getting late, I’m gonna hit the hay”). The key to writing Majima-speak is to use every shortcut possible and then some.

If it’s hard to come up with dialogue on the spot, try thinking about how a guy like Kiryu would say a particular line. Let’s use the example of: “You always were the one guy I couldn’t read.” Then, think about what shortcuts you could potentially make to this sentence. It’s not much, but this sentence could be cut down to: “Y’always were the one guy I couldn’t read.” Doesn’t that already sound more like Majima said it?

Then, add some more emotion to this sentence: “Y’always were the one fucker I could never getta read on.” It sounds affectionate or aggressive, depending on how you spin it. And there you go! We just Majima-modified (Majimodified?) a Kiryu line. With the power of slang and shortcuts, you too can turn regular dialogue into Majima classics.

Don’t be afraid to get silly with it.

Majima’s a silly guy, so of course he’s gonna have his silly moments. The RGG localization team knows this and takes creative liberties to give Majima’s dialogue more life. My favorite example of silliness in translating Majima’s lines to English is this specific line from Yakuza 2:

Majima says: “Doya, Kiryu-chan? Kakko ee yaro?” Which literally translates to something like: “How’s that, Kiryu-chan? I look cool, right?” This line is dripping with Kansai-ben.

But the localization team chose to translate it as “Whaddya think, Kiryu-chan? Ain’t I red-hot?” Which I love. It conveys so much more about Majima’s character in the same amount of words and even adds some more context from the scene itself. They make a pun on “red-hot,” and while “cool” would’ve worked too, this would have made less sense. The point is, don’t be afraid to get wild with it. If it sounds cooler, is probably is. 

Finally, here’s a few miscellaneous quirks of Majima-speak and pointers that can help you get that much closer to imitating Majima’s style of speech.

Majima rarely uses “you” pronouns, instead preferring to use nicknames and titles like Kiryu-chan, nee-chan, oyaji, etc. This can be substituted for girlie, kiddo, buddy, idiot, etc. 

Don’t replace all the “you”s and “your"s in a sentence with “ya”s and “yer”s. It gets difficult to read if you abuse them.

Majima loves to swear. But again, don’t use them too liberally or you’ll sound like a 12-year-old who just learned what “fuck” means.

Goromi’s speech is a bit more cutesy than Goro’s, but she flips between masculine and feminine pronouns. For the purposes of writing Goromi that’s not terribly important, but keep in mind that she’ll frequently switch between masculine and feminine speaking patterns.

Don’t try to imitate Southern American English (if you aren't familiar with that dialect). I also wouldn't try it in general, but if it helps, it helps.

Edited to add: it's ultimately up to you to decide when/if Majima drops his accent. Personally I reserve it for when he's so emotionally vulnerable he can't keep it up, or when he's being so serious about something he just won't use it.

As a bonus, here is a brief glossary of Kansai-isms that I’ve noticed Majima using, with some examples of their use in context and some suggested translations. Most of these examples are pulled from Yakuza Kiwami 1 and 2, since that’s when he has the most speaking lines and has fully settled into his Mad Dog persona.

Ahō (idiot) = dumbass, bonehead

“Nishida, ya dumbass!”

Beppin (pretty) = stunner, knockout

“Well ain’t ya a rare dish?”

Honma (really) = damn, for real

“For real?! Who are you and what have you done with Kiryu-chan?”

-han (-san)

“Well, now it’s your turn, Legendary Info Dealer-han.”

Akan (not good/must) = gotta be, better not

“That’s why he’s gotta be strong.”

Uchi* (I) = ol’ Goromi, li’l ol’ me

“Just don’t fall too hard for me, okay?”

Ee (good/cool) = badass

“Ain’t I red-hot?”

Ikude (let’s go) = let’s do this shit

“Let’s do this, Kiryu-chan!”

Suman (sorry) = my bad

“This is my bad, Kiryu-chan.”

Anta (you, polite) = ya

“Y’know, up close…you’re pretty damn hot.”

Haw (not really a Kansai-ism but he does like it a lot)

“Haw?”

Nanyatte (what) = what the fuck

“Say what?”

Chau (wrong) = bullshit

“That ain’t what I’m saying.”

Dondon (also not Kansai-ben but he likes this one too. Basically “loud noise”) = clobber, beat the shit outta ya, crack some skulls

“It’s way better if ya fight it out.”

*Uchi is a stereotypical feminine pronoun used in Kansai-ben. Only Goromi uses this one. She also tends to waffle between watashi/ore pronouns.

[ohimsummer]

tw // racism

there’s this person on jjk Twitter who’s been saying racist stuff abt black women and even disagreed on yuuji liking Megan thee stallion and saying some bs on Japanese men only liking their race (basically dissing poc) I’m just spreading this so we can all mass block this clown🤡

https://twitter.com/gothgego/status/1786486565461430683

https://x.com/gothgego/status/1786558172825530469?s=46&t=_1b483ARcjmNSXNEWIFNqQ

link 1 link 2

The like to quote retweet ratio on their acc is killing me 😭 like u might wanna step down bestie 😭😭

Not to mention the account being restricted LMAOO truly just yapping and talking a bunch of crazy talk

[the-disemvoweler]

How would you approach languages like Mandarin or Japanese, where the base components of its phonology are syllables already? Like Kana in Japanese or Pinyin in Chinese. Will you only take out the syllables that only have a vowel component or are those languages obsolete in your system?

Hw wld y apprch lnggs lk Mndrn r Jpns, whr th bs cmpnnts f ts phnlg r sllbls lrd? Lk Kn n Jpns r Pnyn n Chns. Wll y nl tk t th sllbls tht nl hv vel cmpnnt r r ths lnggs bslt n yr sstm?

Considering I know neither of those languages, I feel it would be irresponsible for me to attempt to disemvowel them, especially since their rules are so different from English, so I'm not gonna touch that.

[nenasspot]

finally here to drop on you: some thoughts on the first ep of starlight boys!

the auditions I have something to say about

blood sweat and tears: ke ming kai, li sheng jun and sheng qi

way too hard song choice. I get why so many trainees would choose a bts song, but why this song? please someone point me towards a cover of bs &t that had the same aura as the original, bc at this point i'm convinced it is uncoverable. the pitch of it, too, is so dangerous in the way that if you don't get the feel of that intro right, you're lost immediately...

breathe: syo and ryou kaito

don't like syo's style of singing. japanese vocal style that will need to go. otherwise, I'm actually pretty neutral about it.

darari: kim seong ju

not him going platinum seller with the trainees lmao. I mean, if anything, it proved the guiders right in giving him one star

crazy form: kim seon jae, han jeong woo and choi jun ho

obviously have been trained. something about the intro was way off, idk if it was the pitch or if it was just done monotonously but it got my sibling and me real scared. not necessary though! the rest of it was pretty great!

black suit: shao zi heng

WOW. he's really good, stable, good pronunciation and mindset, BEAUTIFUL too. spoilers include that he's in my top9 right now. I got real shady vibes at first, about the level of humbled he was giving ... felt like an act for a minute there, but it was probably just the nerves!

my house: han gyul, do ha, min jae, yoo jun

the babies did so great... the AURA in this performance was insane. the synchronized choreo at the start?? oh, these are idols, is what you're telling me

fantastic baby: rex, zhang ji jun and yang yan

I did not enjoy this. audition performances need to showcase skill and potential. if part of your potential is showmanship, then great. if you utilize showmanship purely to draw attention, then there was no potential shown. I can get why the trainees might have liked it though (song choice, atmosphere yada yada)

love 119: wang kun, he xi long, ngan chau yuet, float and zhang jing he

pretty much neutral about this. wasn't bad by any means, but I also already forgot all of them except wang kun

really really: nam son, lee da eul, park yeon wook and jeon min gyu

are they giving da eul another came from the bottom narrative? I feel like he should have come on by himself instead..

rush hour: lee jun hyuk

VERY impressive to do as a one-man performance. entertaining, stable

good guy: pentor and kris

so happy to see an sf9 performance! and done this well?? damn near brought tears to my eyes. pentor has a bright bright future ahead, and kris was also not to be forgotten!

answer: duan xing xing, yoo gwan woo and sun ying hao

xing xing is so much fun to watch!! it's obvious he's also having fun, and to be this stable while also being entertaining to look at is a real feat!

other things I need to talk about:

donghwa

I NEED him to do well!! I've missed him so much, the tension in my body any time a solo trainee stepped through that tunnel only for it to not be him was crazy, my sibling is my witness lmao

they put him all by himself, way up there, and I'm crossing all my fingers, and my toes too, that he doesn't let that add to his nerves but I feel like it's inevitable

his nose is still very pretty, he's wearing a mesh turtleneck, he's doing a song that has bodyrolls..... they put him last in the round-up of trainees that still have to go (way at the end of the ep) so let's hope that's a good thing!!

hangyul, baby. I first met you through a survival show, and I was very thankful for it then. seeing as you didn't debut with the unit, I was also glad to see you in px101. but they messed you over, put something in front of you that was the realization of your dream, only for it to be taken away...

the fact that trainees were like "he was in X1!" damn near put me out. I know that you have a shit label, that they're really just looking for viral moment after viral moment to keep the group in the collective memory. but I also know that this might help you to advance once more, get closer to that realization again.

so now that you're back here, and in a context where I'm able to vote for you, please believe that I will. we'll do our damnedest to not let you down, gyul.

[i-identify-tanks-in-posts]

Tank Man, here's a few hypothetical scenarios for you to ponder.

1) Every current service NATO/Western/Western-aligned MBT is pitted against each other, War Thunder/World of Tanks style. Assuming equal levels of crew skill and no other supporting elements (air power/infantry/etc), which comes out on top? Why? Which is the first to die? Why?

2) Ditto as above, but for non-Western aligned current service tanks.

3) Ditto, but all the current prototype/next-gen tanks.

Go!

Well, for part one, you should have known what my answer would be before you asked the question: Leopard 2a7, my beloved. It is, in my opinion, the best example of the 4th generation MBT in the world, and in a "War Thunder" scenario, any advantages gained by other tanks through the nations that field them (i.e. US logistical flexibility and airpower giving the Abrams a boost, etc.) This makes the technology and equipment king, and In my opinion, the Leopard 2 takes the day.

As for who dies first of current NATO tanks? I'm going to say the Challenger 2, because quite frankly, after nearly 30 years in service, the cracks are beginning to show. While it still holds up in most areas, it's armor, both passive and active, combined with its glacial speed and massive size, make the Challenger an ripe target for the more maneuverable modern MBTs.

Non-West aligned tanks? I'm going to go with maybe the Japanese Type 10 or the Chinese Type 99A, because they've both got interesting features, that I think may have the capability to carry them to victory in a battle against largely a mix of disappointing home projects and old Soviet trash. However, that's not to say it'd be without trouble, as the Indonesian Kaplan would put up a fight, and I can see the later T-84 modernizations giving them a run for their money.

As far as prototype tanks go, it's a toss-up between the Abrams X and the KF51 Panther. Both of them are incredibly formidable vehicles, and in a contest between them, it will truly come down to "who sees who first".

(Note: this is all BS I came up with after some research, and I am not an expert in 21st century armored warfare. I would love to discuss with anyone, but please don't be shitty.)

[beautifulpersonpeach]

BPP,

TWO WORDS - PARK JIMIN!!

Look I know you're still processing what we've seen so far right now but I feel like you're the only one that can explain what it really means when a producer like PDogg says

"Park Jimin will end K-pop in 2023"

That is a statement! I mean no pressure, Jimin because he is definitely up to the task, but for that to be said by PDOGG! Please can you use your eloquence to break down fo us how much of a statement that really is in Kpop (or maybe I'm overrating the significance??)

We're down to hours and counting.

*

Ask 2: The new teaser yt short is even more insane than yesterdays?! How is this possiblr?! My hype is so real and my expectations are so high I’m actually scared of beinh disappointed and not liking the full song BPP 😭😭😭 This has never happened to me before ?!! How do I do this how will I cope 😭😭😭 JIMIN WHY ARE UOU SO GOOD AT THIS 😭😭

*

Ask 3: Someone sent you this ask ages ago - on why you don’t bias Jimin when he clearly is you find his visuals the best and you love his dance and his voice.

I’m going to ask again - BPP, are you ready to Bias Jimin now? 😄

But on a serious note, that itsy bitsy teaser is Jimin declaring war. The beat, the drums, the dancers stomping and the Jimin battle cry at the end. It’s a declaration that he is coming for us, not to dominate or conquer us (even though that is going to happen), but instead to make us see, to set US free.

Jimin knows what it means to be an idol. He knows how the Kpop stans are; and I don’t mean the internationally fans. No. I mean the locals, Japanese, Thai, Chinese…I mean, those who consume Kpop content way more than international (US/UK) fans do. He knows the restrictions of the industry. He knows how he is expected to be a certain way. He probably knows everything written about him, reads it, has internalised and battled it. Lived with it, cried about it.

Hence, I suspect this Album is a way to respond to those expectations, for those who will seek a deeper meaning/understanding to it. It his his way to Set Us (his fans, the audience, the people who consume Kpop content) free, From the preconceptions and perceptions we have of him, from the ideas we want to shove on him, from the lenses we see him through. He wants to show us his face, so that we can face him.

I suspect this is Jimin drawing his boundaries through his music.

*

Ask 4: 1) twitter com/jjimlove1013/status/1635659805653352448,,, Fudge! Park Jimin, you're unreal! Can't stop listening to the teaser. It's SO good. 2) I need to give a standing ovation to bts's commitment to dance and synchronization. The unimaginable amount of bs&t (lol) that must've costed them. The dancers in the teaser were ok but I couldn't help noticing their unsynchronized limbs and angles. Reminded me of the dancers in JK's Dreamers stage. Really, I'm in awe of bts every time.

*

Ask 5: Tu sais quoi, tu as toujours eu raison. Personne ne devrait sous estimé Jimin. Et cela se voit très bien durant ces dernières semaines. A dancer today said : the king is coming” et je te jure tout le monde devrait avoir peur.

*

Ask 6: Do you know what the date in the mv teaser or other mvs mean?

Like for Set Me Free teaser it says 2023.03.06 but it was released today and the mv won't be released until Friday.

Also, I live in those 32 seconds now.

Thank you.

***

Hi @ejassy and Anon(s),

Your link, Anon in ask 4.

You know, I don't do this often, but I am prepared to listen to Set Me Free Pt 2, in two states of being today - sober and not. Not to dull my senses but to split or fracture them. With this release, Jimin deserves to have our full attention, and every inch of my consciousness for the first few listens will be focused on Jimin.

I want to be completely and brutally mindfucked by Park Jimin. I'm expecting maximum damage to whatever ideas I've had of him till now. I need his voice of honey-coated serrated steel, of glass and velvet, to render me incapable of speech for 1.4 hours, at least.

@ejassy, it's out of character for PDogg to fanboy like that. That's all I can say, because it's not like he said something we don't already know.

"Park Jimin will end K-pop in 2023."

We know. He's fucking Jimin. The Park Jimin.

PDogg just lost control of his emotions for a sec. That's it.

And maybe, maybe the man is feeling a bit proud of himself. Proud to have created what already sounds like a masterpiece, with Jimin. Maybe it means he is proud of Jimin, proud to know and have worked with him till this point. Sometimes I think about the first promotional clips of FACE, of Jimin lounging about and working on the melody and lyrics, sometimes with PDogg.

(Killer moment for me is 0:44 btw)

*

The above footage includes scenes older than the past year. Which is to say, Jimin has been writing music for a long time. He's had experiences where he "...has internalised and battled it. Lived with it, cried about it." as you say Anon in ask 3. PDogg has been watching this process in Jimin for years, been present for a lot of it, and this album is the result of a relationship they've cultivated for a decade.

I've said before that I rate PDogg as a producer and enjoy his stylistic choices, with some exceptions. He's going to do an exceptional job in FACE, so good in fact that he believes nobody in the industry will beat it for the rest of the year.

And that's a ballsy thing to say. But it's more than doable, because the artist is Jimin.

And so, he might as well have been saying "water is wet."

Anon in ask 6, I don't know what those dates mean. I've seen situations where the date coincides with the release date, but most times that date on screen differs from the release date. I think it's possible for the artist to choose what date shows on screen, but I also think it could be linked to recording or intended distribution dates. But really I have no idea. If any of my followers know please say what it is in the replies.

*

Anon in ask 3, this was so well said:

"He knows the restrictions of the industry. He knows how he is expected to be a certain way. He probably knows everything written about him, reads it, has internalised and battled it. Lived with it, cried about it.

Hence, I suspect this Album is a way to respond to those expectations, for those who will seek a deeper meaning/understanding to it. It his his way to Set Us (his fans, the audience, the people who consume Kpop content) free, From the preconceptions and perceptions we have of him, from the ideas we want to shove on him, from the lenses we see him through. He wants to show us his face, so that we can face him.

I suspect this is Jimin drawing his boundaries through his music."

I agree with you. In this album he's going to describe the world through his eyes. Jimin is the Jimin of BTS - the biggest band in the world. And Jimin is nothing if not direct. That he's using a prison - the most severe and most universally understood representation of 'loss of freedom' - as the metaphor in Set Me Free Pt 2, is already the first indication he isn't here to play around. In the last 10 years Jimin has experienced a life, a world of changes, only a handful of people have ever experienced, and they have happened to someone with as interesting a temperament as his. This song and the rest of his album is a sonic expression of what that world looks like to him now.

It will be beautiful.

I so can't wait.

[yourbestpalpercy]

Put Development notes here: There used to be a 2 headed shark character called Sharah and Chomper but I decided to remove them as I didn’t like how they fit into the story. I made the story with my friend who doesn’t know a lot about Splatoon. 

Literally couldn’t think of anything else to call it.

Setting: Takes place after Splatoon 3

Idea: None of the villains die, just left in a bruised ego state/they retreated away. Yes, Tartar and Mr. Grizz are still around

Characters: Mother Finiona the Seahorse, Papa Clawlin the Japanese Spider Crab, August (their adopted, inked (allegory for mental disorder) stingray child).

Mother Finiona: Defensive and mother bear like. She’s protective of August to the point where she’ll, like- beat up anyone who even looks at August wrong. She’s a no BS lady despite her size. Another thing, she sometimes invents and builds things! Actually, her child, August, often uses the ink bombs she made! They have deep red ink inside of them as not many species in Inkopolis have red ink so August can easily defend themselves if push comes to shove.

Papa Clawlin: He’s much more laid back but he likes August too. He gets a little embarrassed whenever Finiona goes off but…eh, she hasn’t killed anyone yet so..they’re a rather wholesome couple. Despite not having fingers, he’s been teaching August sign language for when they don’t feel like talking (don’t want to talk? Unsure how to phrase this tbh…)

August: No one knows where Finiona and Clawlin found them, they just know that they were involved in a horrible accident that left them inked and slower (mentally) than most kids. They don’t talk that much but they have a soft voice that’s hard to hear. She mainly only talks around those she’s comfortable with. No one knows if they actually have a stinger but no one wants to find out the dead way by making them angry. Their flap (yes, like a cobra) has been dyed from the inking/accident which results in strange, almost hypnotic patterns. No one wants to approach them either (in fear that the ink is infectious). They are bad with faces.

Tartar: After failing to destroy Inkopolis, the consensus is that he died when Pearl’s ‘Booyah’ hit him. In reality, he jumped ship when he realized that he wasn’t going to survive if he stayed. As no one could find remains, most assumed he was obliterated. He’s retreated back down into the DeepSea Metro. August is actually learning about him now in History class! Another thing, he gets angry fast, resulting in blue-green slime leaking from him when he does. So far, he hasn’t attempted to destroy Inkopolis again. He’s in a…some form of a relationship with Mr. Grizz. He’s also anthropomorphized for this story too.

10,045

May (My irl friend’s Character): May is August’s friend. Energetic, sarcastic, loves dark humor (no limits; she basically can’t be offended very easily), short, pale pink axolotl, April’s sister

April (Also my irl friend’s character): May’s bsf, has bandages over her eyes, shy, calm, tall, pale blue olm, May’s sister

June: May and April’s sister, black and purple axolotl

‘First day…’

‘Can’t do this…won’t do this…!’

‘My injury…they’ll take advantage of my injury…’

‘Mother knows I hate new places…’

‘I can’t go to that place…’

August tightly held onto their pillow, wrapping their arms around it and refusing to release it. August didn’t want to get up…never, never, never!

‘...So I won’t. I would need to walk to school anyways…’

August sighed and snuggled into bed more, their sharp tail tucked and wrapped around the blankets. “...August?” Mother Finiona’s voice was easily heard in the quiet house. August was pretty sure their house was the quietest house ever. Not much talking happened in the house, mainly just the sound of droning shows. “...Mhhh…?” August lifted their head. Their tiny, seahorse mother stood in the doorway. “...mother…” August pulled out their frill and carefully whispered to Mother Finiona.

“I’m scared. I look strange. Melty…" August pointed to their frill.

Mother Finiona nodded, cupping August’s cheek, not at all caring about the ink that dripped onto her hand from August’s accident. “August Mylioba, it wouldn’t matter if you were a tuna, it wouldn’t matter if you were a penguin, it wouldn’t even matter to me if you worked for that crazy bear or that…telephone I think it was, you’re my daughter and I will love you no matter what,” Mother Finiona wrapped her arms around August, tangling her tail around theirs.

Mother Finiona always knew how to settle August’s nerves…

Thank the Great Zapfish.

“Now come along, August, let’s get you ready for your first day at a new school.”

The school ground’s courtyard, didn’t matter what Finiona said, this place was still dangerous.

Eels hanging out with eels…

There’s a few rays over there…

‘I see a few jellyfish.’

Were those Deepseaers? That’s definitely an angler fish and a dragonfish. Deadly…

Can’t trust anyone here…

August’s stinger slowly slipped out as August glanced around, watching everyone carefully. Maybe if they kept their flap down…no one would notice their injuries…

“HIII!!!” an energetic voice shouted at them suddenly, apparently from out of nowhere. “Who are you- oh my gosh yoiu’re a stingnray!! I neverever met one before and- you’re so PRETTYYY!!” They seemed to stumble over their words, talking fast, and swapped between sentences, leaving some of them unfinished.

August’s frill sprung out, revealing the ink under it. Upon seeing a strange, pink figure run at them, they nearly stung her! August swung their tail forward before stopping it inches away from piercing them. “You….” August’s frill went back down, pressing tightly against their neck. They squeezed their hands tightly before angrily signing, taking a deep breath,

🚫You scared me!!🚫

August didn’t typically like talking to new faces. Especially not loud new faces.

🚫Next time, please don’t shout. You almost made me sting you…I don’t know any other stingrays but I’m pretty sure we’re deadly…🚫

A thought then quickly came to mind, ‘Aren’t axolotls poisonous to the touch? …I don’t think I’m thinking of a different creature but…maybe.’

“Ack, sorry for startling you!!” they squeaked.

🚫…I’ll live.🚫

August took a sigh before forcing their stinger away.

🚫What is your name?🚫

August pointed at the axolotl as they asked this.

“Ooo, are you asking me a question?! What is it, what is it!! Something about me… my name?”

August quickly nodded and asked the question again before then adding using their voice, “Sign…language…?”

“Oh, oh, oh! Before I tell you my name, hows abouts you tell me yours?” the axolotl said in a more gentle voice than before. “...August…” August soon said, rather quiet. In fact, so quiet that they were almost silent compared to how loud the rest of the courtyard was.

“August… huuh, pretty cool name! I’m May, and this-” she pointed to a tall, pale blue axolotl that had bandages over her eyes, who seemingly materialized- “is April, my best friend; we’ve known each other since we hatched! She uses echolocation to see- pretty cool, huh?”

April waved shyly before talking in a way less loud voice than May’s. “Hello.”

🚫Echolocation? I…didn’t think any species here used Echolocation anymore.🚫

May’s frills puffed up and out, presumably in excitement.

August silently stared at their own frill, the ink was running down their body slightly. Ack…no, no, stop. August raised their hands rather quickly and pressed against their frill to stop the ink. ‘Cod. No idea why I thought that would stop it. It’s stupid ink…!’ August grumbled to themself a little before turning their focus back to April and May.

“Anyways, want to be friends? We can sit at lunch today and tomorrow and EVERY DAY, like oh my cod, you have no idea how pretty you are!! Have you seen yourself recently?” May was bouncing and shaking with excitement.

‘Mother never taught me to hold my tongue…or- er…my hands I guess.’ August tapped and petted their frill before admitting,

🚫You’re a little overwhelming. Maybe when we get to know each other, better…?🚫

May groaned as the bell rang. ‘...Maybe I should go with them, I don’t know this school whatsoever!’ August’s voice caught in their throat before, rather suddenly, “W-Wait…!”

May turned, and April paused midstep. “Yeah, August?”

🚫Could you help me around? I don’t know this place. I’ve gone to Covelin School all my life. …ReefWell High School is rather intimidating.🚫

August signed to May, mouthing their words as well.

“...I guess we could… What class do you have first?”

🚫Need to grab my schedule first.🚫

August explained, messing with their frill some more. They hated how slimy it felt but…they also liked the chill it brought. It was disgustingly pleasant…I guess.

“Ah, to the office it is, then!” May said, racing away.

April sighed. “I’ll walk you there.”

August joined April's side quickly. “...Thaaank..you,” August nodded.

“Yeah, no problem.” April smiled a bit.

“...What’s…it like being blind…?” August asked softly.

“Well… for one, you can’t see what anyone or anything looks like, and you have to memorize the layout of places…” she didn’t seem comfortable trying to explain what it felt like. “You’re just… surrounded by inky black all the time…”

August, rather quickly, picked up on her discomfort. “...sorry,” August murmured and stood at the front desk as they got there. At the desk was a shark. They looked battle scarred! ..Intimidating…

“Oh hi! Youuu..” The shark squinted a little before adjusting their glasses. “Heh…sorry, I have terrible eyesight, are you a stingray?” The shark asked, “If so…you must be August, correct? I’m Mr. Selach.”

August only nodded. “Here’s your schedule, Melioba,” Mr. Selach handed them a schedule carefully to which they took it quickly.

History with Mrs. Uid (1045)

Math with Mr. Lemon (2055)

Art…

Lunch

ELA…

PE…

And then Biology…

August stared at their schedule before rejoining April’s side, gently poking their tail with their own to signal they were there.

“So, what classes do you have, August?” she asked.

“History, Math, Art, ELA, PE and Biology…”

“Oh, me and May also have those classes, in that order…” April said, and she seemed nervous. August folded the paper up, swaying slightly now. “S-..Same…exact…order??? …Oh no…”

“That’s only a fraction of May’s personality, don’t worry.” April coiled her tail around August’s own. “Trust me. I know that crazy axolotl,” April smiled. “Did you know that she’s my sister?” she asked.

“Sh-..She is? Wow…I’ve never had a sibling…”

“Well, you’re luckier than most. Not me, of course. Others have very annoying siblings.” April pointed out.

“...Do you think I’m in PE because stingrays are…typically fast…??” August gently set down their schedule, pushing it into one of their pockets. August slowly stepped out into the hallway.

The hallways were…really loud…

August couldn’t help but slowly cover their ears. Didn’t stop the vibrations from traveling up through their body. August wished this was evolved out, I mean- stingrays didn’t eat other fishkind anymore, right? What was the point in detecting vibrations nowadays?

“It’s a bit busy today… and every day, but… normally there are… less… people in the halls than this…” April said, her frills vibrating in sync with the footsteps. August shuddered, pushing themself closer to April. “Uhm…there was a place known…as the commons in…” August just stopped talking, too many people…too many sounds–! August’s legs started shaking, their hands weak.

April seemed to sense this, as she said, “C’mon, let’s go to class.”

August made sure to stay close to April as they slowly made their way to the history class. There was a bellringer on the board, ‘What would you do if you were the last one of Inkopolis alive?’

“What’s the board say?” April asked. “I don’t have a braille copy…”

“‘What would you do if you were the last one in Inkopolis alive?’ Sorry I forgot to give you a braille copy, April,” a new voice said, approaching April and August.

An…Inkling! Wow- uh…August had never ever seen an inkling before…

August froze up, wanting to use sign language to ask but-...they couldn’t talk nor sign. They were just stunned.

“And you must be the new student, August I believe?” Mrs. Uid with a smile, gently shaking August’s quivering hand. August only nodded, “m…mhm…”

“I-it’s ok.” April smiled back. “My sister would’ve told me anyway.”

‘A-An inkling???! B-But they’re–...aren’t they always…i-involved in…i-in the sports–?? And…and the uh…turf wars!?’ August’s mind raced, resulting in her just, slowly, walking to the back of the room, in the corner. “Ah, not very talkative, hm? Your mother mentioned you would be rather quiet,” Mrs. Uid began to talk to April, handing her a braille copy of the worksheet for the day.

The bell would quickly ring, almost the very second the entire class was there actually.

Other inklings, a few other deepsea fishkind, a manta ray, some eels. All sorts of fish kind were here…!

April walked to the seat next to May’s, and sat in it, pulling out a little box contraption.

“I’m going to have to apologize to May, I was…a little rude…” Over the sound of the other kids talking, she was barely heard.

May whispered something to April, and the two giggled, but April was focusing on doing something with the box, having opened it, and grabbing several stamps with dots on them from it.

“Uhm…” August turned to April, whispering their apology to her and asking her to give it to May. April nodded and whispered it to May, who looked shocked. “She was rude to me? When?” she yelped. August glanced around April, clearly a little shocked. “I…I was…” August wanted to say more but couldn’t, just staying quiet and only nodding slightly. “...sorry…” August whispered, pressing their frill in more.

May looked shocked still, but accepted the apology with a confused expression.

Mrs. Uid cleared her throat and the class started. “First thing’s first, we have a new student, could someone or maybe everyone tell August what we’re learning in this class?” August pressed themself into their seat quickly. Eyes– too many eyes! August moved their frill quickly over their eyes to try to hide themself.

No one spoke, just watched. Finally, a voice said, “I don’t think the school should’ve let someone with ink running down them into the school. If that Tartar guy we’re learning about shows anything, strange ink running down someone’s face is very evil…” The voice was snide. Had to be the Lionfish.

“Shut up!” April shouted. The room went completely silent, as she never got loud like that, as far as August knew. “She is a good friend, unlike most of you. You should be ashamed of yourself! Judging someone based on their looks! Honestly! If you say stuff like that to her, you say it to me, too!” August couldn’t stop their cheeks from fuzzing into pink. A good pink luckily.

“Yeah! And me!” May joined in. “If you want to get to her, you get through us first!”

Mrs. Uid just sighed and moved onto the slides, “Correct, Leo, we’re learning about Commander Denewiah Tartarus (Or just Commander Tartar) this semester. Now then…”

August slowly dropped their frill back down. Their face was still fuzzy red.

🚫Thank you,🚫 they signed to May.

“If anyone knows, can someone tell me how recent this was?” Mrs. Uid asked before pointing towards August, “August? Perhaps you would like to tell us?” August froze. Di-Did Mrs. Uid have something against her???

August opened their mouth before croaking out, “wh…w-whoo…???” Their old school hadn’t even gotten around to teaching about…whoever Tartarus was. Mrs. Uid looked disappointed, saying, “You weren’t listening, were you?” August just patted their hands on their lap, thinking, ‘I was, you jerk. Pardon me for being brand new to this school…!’ They thought, lowering their head and hiding their face slightly behind their frill.

“Anyways, what this AI did happened just 2-3 years ago. Scary, isn’t it? This is practically new information!” Mrs. Uid explained, flipping through the slides on the board. There weren’t many photos of him up close, but from what August could see, Tartarus was a monster. It looked slimy…and terrifying.

Then the talk of what it did to his victims came up!!!

“Does anyone remember what common household appliance he used to attempt to create what it thought was order?”

Leo raised her hand rather quickly. “...Yes, Leo?” The teacher looked a little annoyed.

“A coffee pot!” Leo said confidently.

Immediately, August’s mind filled with horrific ideas of burns. Coffee was burning hot after all. Reminded them of something from Hook (Genuinely, why did Clawlin think that was a good movie to show August!?). August slowly sat back in theri seat, just quietly taking notes.

Actually, the classroom got…really, really, really quiet…

August dropped their frill a little to take a look around. Everyone was staring hard at Leo. August watched her spines slowly go down, making her mane much tinier and harder to see. “...D-Did I get it wrong…?” Leo asked, in a slightly offended tone.

“You did, Leo. I’m shocked. Regardless, it’s actually worse,” Mrs. Uid changed to the next slide.

A blender.

…A…blender…

August almost immediately felt sick to their stomach.

“Commander Tartar was smart and he, essentially, took on the form of a telephone as it looked almost exactly like an octoling. And, you already know, Octolings are not the smartest. ‘The diligent Octotarians recognize as friends those who look and act like them. That’s why it took the form of an old telephone, whose face was similar to that of an octopus’.”

“...” That’s not where their injury came from, right? RIGHT!? …Couldn’t. That stuff’s green (blue?), theirs was orange. Bright orange actually.

August looked over at May before they slowly wrote something down and passed the note to May. Mrs. Uid didn’t notice. Good.

‘Are we sure it’s dead? I don’t like the idea of an AI blending people up…’ The note read.

‘Don’t really know.’

🚫I’m scared…🚫

August signed to May.

🚫What if he got…🚫

August shook their head silently as the lesson continued to drone on. August made sure to keep notes on everything.

He made a test based hell in an abandoned metro. Deep…sea??

His kill count was 10,007.

Something about sanitizing...

Kamabo…Zzz…

Gosh, August was tired. What time was it? They remembered moving to each of the classrooms and- It was already the final period!? M-My mind was turned off for the whole day- is it really almost time to go home?? August asked May quickly, stumbling a little closer to her.

“Yeah, it is.” May answered absentmindedly.

“I…hadn’t even noticed…” August murmured.

“Hey,” April said, “Since we’re friends now, we probably need a hangout spot.”

“Oh, yeah, we do!” May said.

“Not many places…” August murmured, trying to move away from the crowds. “What kind of hangout would even be nice? For me, I would love some damn peace and quiet right now…”

“Well, for one, abandoned places can have nice views, plus hardly anyone visits them!” May pointed out.

“Abandoned sounds weirdly pleasant…” August mumbled and started to look around as they came to the city square, oddly quieter than usual.

“Hmm, quiet around here today… not many people…”

…Hmm…

“What about there?” August asked, pointing at the entrance to an old metro. “That place hasn’t been used in years…” August approached and carefully climbed over the rails. Their tail got a little tangled before they untied it. “...I feel my sins crawling on my back already.”

“The vibrations here are those of mice.” April observed. “This place is perfect. Untouched.”

“Mice still exist? I thought Judd and Jino and Mr. Grizz were the only mammals left since the humans. …I’ve never seen a mouse. They’re adorable, right?” August started to pick the lock on the gate and open it for April and May.

“Yeah, I have a pet mouse! His name is Jinkles!! He’s soo adorable!!” May said.

“Aw…i-is it soft?” August opened the gate slightly using their tail, already walking into the Metro. “...Oof, I can already feel that this maaay be a mistake…”

“SUPER. SOFT.”

The inside of the metro was damp and rather dark. A dampness that caused August to fully spread their frill for once. By now, they had all traveled quite far into the metro. “Hm! I feel sorry for the Inklings and Octolings, they can’t enjoy water and dampness anymore. I wonder what they do when it starts raining…” August hummed. “I normally would have preferred to stay closer to the surface but this is nice…”

April shuddered. “Do you guys feel that? It feels like footsteps, but not mice’s… more… heavy… bigger…” Her frills were vibrating.

Wobble. Wobble. Wobble. Wobble.

“Hm? What do you mean?” August asked, looking back at April. She froze suddenly. “...Did-..did anyone else see that?” August asked, pointing lightly at something. “...I swear I saw something move into the ceiling far behind us–...”

“..Maybe it was a mouse, though…” August’s frill fell as they instantly became more reserved. “Or a salmon…I heard from my last school that the octolings and salmon have..a deal of sorts. I would imagine they’re common underground…right?”

August hummed as they approached the train waiting in the main hall. “There’s a train here, it looks like it hasn’t gone anywhere for centuries.” August entered the doors and glanced around at the graffiti covered walls. “Hm…I’ve always liked looking at street art, so many ideas…” August smiled and sat down on the ground, just behind the doors. “This old train can be our new hangout spot!!”

“Ooo, yes!! April, you coming?” May called to April, who was just standing still where they entered. “I feel it more now… above us…” she muttered, hardly audible.

“Hm? Oh hi little Sea Cucumber,” August smiled, petting their tail over the tiny, blue, slightly spiky slug. “...He’s not very talkative,” August chuckled and instead picked them up. “Hiya!” Not a word from the slug but it looked nervous somehow.

May giggled. “He’s so cuuuute!! I can’t stand his little- everything, really!” She patted the sea cucumber on the head.

“...Please put me down,” The sea cucumber suddenly spoke in an annoyed tone. “I am very poisonous to the touch…” August squeaked and gently set them down. “I’m actually the conductor of this train, just a moment, there’s still 1 more person that needs to board before we pull out of the station…”

August glanced at May with confusion as the sea cucumber crawled away.

April just stood there, looking at the ceiling. “There’s something here…” she said ominously.

August quickly got up and followed the sea cucumber. “Come on, April! They were probably just leaving the metro. Guess this place is not as abandoned as expected,” May said, murmuring at the end. “Or…at least the conductor is here. Weirdly…”

August, meanwhile, quickly followed the conductor. They gently tapped the conductor on the shoulder. “Uhm…” The conductor turned back to look at them. “Yes?” August’s frill tucked in more before they raised their hands.

🚫Me and my friends were under the impression that this place was…🚫

“Empty? Or…abandoned?” The conductor chuckled at the thought.

August only nodded.

🚫Exactly. I do wonder now, where does this train lead? …If you’re not just a kid pretending.🚫

“I feel rather insulted that you would doubt me!” The conductor grabbed one of the levers, “And we’re heading for the DeepSea Metro!” He reached up, grabbing a higher lever.

*WOOT WOOOOOOOOOT!!!!*

The Conductor fell quickly back onto the controls after that, “And the name’s CQ, hope you’re ready for the ride of your lives! Go! Go! Grab your friend, we’re not waiting any longer now!” CQ shoved August out of the room, using horrifically long tendrils to do so.

August stood there for a moment before grabbing April’s arm and pulling her into the train as the door closed behind them. “...Well, guess this place isn’t as quiet as we…had expected,” August murmured softly, scooting closer to April.

“Where are we even heading??” May asked.

“...Somewhere called the Deepsea Metro. …Ring any bells for you guys?”

April was silent, and May shook her head. “Nope.”

It didn’t take long before they arrived at the Deepsea Metro.

All 4 of them hopped off. Wait…4? …No, no, August was going nuts, there were only 3 of them.

There were only 3, right?

“April…do you feel anyone else? I-I can’t tell…” August’s frill tucked in further as their tail swung to their side, ready to strike anything at any second.

April was still, unmoving, as her frills vibrated, probably picking up movement. “Yes… two…” was all she said.

“T-Two!?” August gasped. “U-Uh…” August’s tail quivered behind them, shuddering.

“You guys skkound so scardd, why ccctkome into the metccro if you guys are buncha scaredy-catsssskttt?” A staticky voice suddenly asked from the end of the platform like it was coming from an old device or a radio or a walkie-talkie of some kind. Point was, it wasn’t very clear.

April’s frills went still and slightly pointed towards the sound. “Who’s there?” she said in a loud, stern-and-determined-but-slightly-scared voice. “Who’s talking?”

“Dude, fix your voice..” A second voice responded. “Mmyyyy…?? Orrthg, I-I aww-wee hearr sskkit..” The voice trailed off as the sound of a crank was heard. August stood in front of her friends quickly as the figures began to reveal themselves.

It was a large android with a deep blue button up with long coat tails and a white shirt underneath. Roped around his neck was a black bowtie. He wore gloves on his hands that seemed to be holding/hiding something. He had deeper blue pants that tucked into tall black shoes. …And his face was that of an old telephone…

August froze.

May gasped loudly. “Hey, didn’t we just learn about you in History? What was the name… Tar? Something… Tartar…?” Tartar clapped his hand before turning back to his companion, “I’m being taught in history! That’s definitely something!” He chuckled at the thought.

“...Y-Y-You’re su..supposed to be dead…” August whispered, stepping back more into their friends.

“I’m supposed to be dead, hm? Well! Ain’t that something. I guess Captain, Marina, 8, and Pearl are still petty liars!” Tartar laughed a little louder before taking another step forward. August swung their tail out more, shaking it as a threat.

April gasped quietly, frills quivering. “...Tartar…? Doesn’t he have a… rather high kill count…?” she said in a low, shaky voice.

“Heh, it’s only gotten higher too…” The 2nd voice said, following Tartar out of the shadows and glaring at all 3 of them.

‘No-, nononono- 1 bombshell is enough!’ August covered their eyes. ‘They’re all dead! It’s impossible that there's still–!’ August ducked behind April quickly, shutting themself away mentally behind large walls.

“10,045 in case you’re wondering. Might be 10,048 by the end of the day! Then again, Axolotls and Stingrays don’t produce ink, do they…? I would say stingrays wouldn’t but perhaps they’ve evolved, I haven’t seen one in..eh, a while,” Tartar asked the person beside him, giving them a chance to answer.

“Why would we tell you?” April scowled. “You killed a lot of people.”

“All of them Octarians in case you forgot. You seafood from up above hate them last I checked so why does it matter, hm?”

“I-It matters i-if you try t-to do…!” August trailed off, staring into the cold eyes of the person next to Tartar.

“Hm?” Tartar noticed that August was staring hard at the person before realizing he had forgotten to introduce them. “Oh! Right, may I introduce my little friend!” Tartar patted them on the head roughly. “This is Everest. One of the first humans in the past 100 years.” Everest grinned and stepped forward.

“You bits of blobs thought you could flood us out like rodents, hm? Well, guess what? I’m back…”

“A-a human-! I’ve never seen one before- only in drawings-!” May said, observing Everest from a safe distance. “You’re pretty!”

August poked May with their tail, making sure not to sting her, ‘We shouldn’t be worrying about looks, May! That’s a dangerous AI and an extinct species!!’ August thought, still staring at the two of them.

Everest seemed to be growing bored with the chat, “Are we…going to do anything to them, Tartar? They can’t leave now that they know about you still being alive, CQ doesn’t have any tests prepared, we can’t blend them without the tests and I doubt we’ll be able to sanitize them!!” Tartar…wasn’t moving, just softly making weird noises. “...Oh for the love of Leviathan..” Everest growled.

April hadn’t moved, only twitching her frills and making soft noises, almost like humming. She was also slightly rocking back and forth, but still seemed fully alert. “Could…” she said, but then stopped herself.

Everest tapped Tartar’s shoulder before shaking her head and revealing a golf club. “Guess I need to keep you idiots in check, hm? Well, won’t be too hard..” She tapped the club on the ground, creating a grating noise. “Then again, I doubt any of you would risk the tracks? Trains come in and out of here often so..” Everest shrugged with a smug smirk on her face.

April looked as if she desperately wanted to ask something, but didn’t dare, probably in case they attacked her for asking.

“..Go on,” Everest tilted the club at April, “I can tell you're itching to ask me questions. I answered all of Tartar’s and Mr. Grizz’s questions, I don’t give a single fuck to anyone.”

“M-Mr. Grizz knows…?” August gestured to Tartar. “Of course! They’re business partners. Grizzco and Kamabo, Grizzmabo…Kamaco, Kamagriz, both have a bit of a nice ring together…” Everest chuckled at the thought.

“W-well… I just wanted to, if we’re never leaving… uh, just memorize the layout of the place… I do this with every new place I visit…” she stammered, her frills wavering.

“Ha! I know a trick when I hear one, Olm, no. I guess you could explore the labs with Tartar’s permission though,” Everest’s voice still had that brushing off tone from before. “You’ll have to wait until 1867 over here comes back online though.”

“How did you survive the rising tides…?” August asked suddenly, revealing their face a little.

“Simple, what’s rule number 1 about surviving floods? 1. Get up high, 2. Pray, 3. Stay away from water. Years ago, my ancestors moved as many people and close friends they had into the mountains. And we survived! We survived everything…”

“Everything…” April repeated, awestruck. “I always wanted your kind to come back, and May can vouch for that… I’m so glad to hear that you’re still around…!”

“April! Are you crazy????” August hissed softly.

“Yeah, I guess I kind of am.” April shrugged. “But crazy in a good way.”

“Crazy in a bad way!!”

Everest faked a yawn as Tartar FINALLY came back online, “Oh my Leviathan! Finally!” “Sorry that took so long, Everest. Are they all still alive? Good, perfect!” Tartar claps his hands. “Now, you asked what we should do with them? Hm..I say we could attempt to sanitize them…I’ve improved the primordial goop since last time! I found this little strange, human looking thing with green blood and…a wire tail. It was very weird, his blood healed all injuries in seconds. If my science is correct, that means fast healing for everyone sanitized!!”

“Oh no, that-that doesn’t sound great… or comfortable…” April’s frills puffed up and out. She fiddled with her bandages.

“My test subjects all say the process is completely painless! …So let’s see..” Tartar pulled off one of his gloves to reveal the eerie, blue green, sanitized ink underneath. August quickly swung their tail forward, ready to defend April and May- and their tail bounced off of Tartar’s leg. “...Did you forget I’m a robot…?”

By now, April was across the room, somehow, and she was pressing herself on the wall.

“...RUN! SCATTER!” August shouted and attempted to run. Tartar didn’t wait a second, stomping down on August’s tail, causing a sickening CRACK to echo through the metro followed immediately by August’s shrill scream. “Tails. Such an easy weak point~!” Tartar yanked August close.

“Leave! Her! Alone!” May shouted, tackling Tartar from behind, clinging onto his neck with what looked like a strong grip.

Everest suddenly charged forward, striking May on the head with her club. “GET OFF OF HIM!”

Despite that, May still held on. “Not that easy to knock me out!” she panted. Tartar swung his hand back, grabbing May with the uncovered, slimy hand. “GOTCHA!” He yanked her off, making sure to grab her gills. “I was hoping to get that stingray first but you work just fine…” Tartar chuckled, “All it takes is a touch really…”

Suddenly, a pale blue blur smashed into him, and May wriggled out of his grasp. Tartar hissed and a tentacle shot from his back to throw the blur off of him. August rushed forward to grab May. “Th-This ain’t good–!” They whimpered, already spotting May’s colors starting to pale and change to dark blue in some areas. Everest rushed forward to grab August, only for them to stab their broken stinger up into Everest’s chin.

Tartar’s eyes widened and he threw the golf club at August. “Everest!” Tartar yanked Everest away from August and May, “Don’t you dare die! You’re not allowed to die!” Tartar glared at them before rushing past them and entering a bunker in the ground.

April groaned from the tracks. “Oww…” she got up and paused, her frills vibrating wildly. “Train!” she shouted, ducking into a space beside the tracks. To August however…all they knew was that April was dead.

“APRIL!” August nearly reached their hand down before pulling themself back. “Oh no- no- no- no! TH-THis is awful–!” August began to shake. ‘M-..My fault- a-all my fault! Useless! Broken- sanitized- DEAD!’ August’s vision began to warp, filling with static and bright, kaleidoscope like colors. …August collapsed rather quickly afterwards.

“YOU! Get the anti-venom-! And you-! Stop dithering! You- 198! Why haven’t you wiped that stain off-!? 10,001! WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU DOING!?” Slime ran from Commander Tartar’s seams. “I WILL BLEND ALL OF YOU IF YOU DON’T MOVE NOW!!!” The octarians around Commander Tartar started to flee and scramble for various objects and any kind of anti-venom. “For the love of the professor—!!! 10,007!!! No-, 7! 7!! WHERE ARE YOU!?”

“Yes, yes, I’m right here,” 7 said dryly. “Don’t gotta burst my eardrums trying to get my attention…”

“Get me anti-venom now. Everest got a– a sting ray sting–! Right to rhts tnecck–!” Tartar began to sputter and glitch with panic. “Nooooonnnnee!! O-Of the cotarians—! And getting up oor!” Commander Tartar gestured to Everest, praying he didn’t go offline.

“Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. I’ll go get some.” with that, 7 left.

Commander Tartar brought Everest into a room and rushed to grab one of his blood bags full of his primordial goop. “Y-You’re n-not allowed to die, Everest!” Commander Tartar set the blood bag up. If 7 came too late with the antivenom..I guess he could check to see if humans could be sanitized…

“GOT SOME!” 7 rushed in and handed him the antivenom. “Took me a second to find it.” she panted.

Commander Tartar wasted no time in giving Everest the anti-venom. Despite being an AI robot, he was shaking. “P-Pray we got it in time…also, please shove some of those other, completely useless octarians into the Failed DNA blender. Make sure to drain it afterwards. They’re useless to me if they can’t follow important orders…” Commander Tartar’s knee even started bouncing anxiously.

“Yes, boss.” she rushed out to do what he said, presumably. There was no telling what she would do at this point.

“Oh…and another thing? I heard the train come, could you pick up anyone left behind on the platform? One of the axolotls is dead but the other has been sanitized. If I know anything about stingrays, the ray has already left like a coward…” Commander Tartar muttered, mostly under his breath.

“Kay!” 7 called. “I’ll check!”

August was still knocked out from their panic. Their tail shuddered slightly causing them to whimper in pain. ‘Failure…h-how could I let him–...I’m an idiot…h-how could I strike w-with my tail?!’ August’s eyes began to flutter. April was dead and May was sanitized…August should just stay asleep and pray they didn’t wake up..

“Hey, you’re that stingray that Denewiah thinks ran away because he thinks that you’re ‘too cowardly to stay’,” A voice piped up, snorting. August opened their eyes and saw an octarian with dark blue tentacles that acted as hair.

August could barely register them, most likely because of the orange ink trailing down their face from their injury. Can’t see…can’t see…their tail quivered and twitched as they heaved and tried to get up.

“Woah, let me help ya there….!” the voice said, offering their hand to August. August weakly reached an arm out, still shaking. Their first octarian. They looked..fr-friendly… somewhat…

“h…he broke–..tail..” August whispered rather softly, noticing May’s colors and how she started to stir rather quickly.

“I can see that. It must hurt.” the voice said sympathetically. “Commander Tartar was just- well, I’m sure he can tell you…” the figure shrugged. “don’ttakemetohim–...d-don’ttakemetohim…!” August’s voice hurt as they choked out weak sobs. Their hands tightened around the figure’s. “h-he did something t…to…m-may..” The orange slime fell to the floor with August’s head down.

May- or, what May had become- tilted her head. “Au- you should go to Tartar right away!” She stepped close to August, and looked into their eyes. “We need to ta-take her to him.” she insisted, but she choked out the words reluctantly.

“I-I’m not–!” August pulled away suddenly, quickly stumbling and falling over. “I can’t- I-I can’t!” August covered their eyes. “I-..I don’t wanna get sanitized…”

7 walked over to the train tracks, away from the stingray for a bit as she looked along the tracks. Nothing so far… wait, what’s that? There was a pale blue body in one of the ‘train cubbys’, as she liked to call it. “Huh. must be the dead one…” she picked her way across the tracks carefully, and leaned closer to inspect the body. It was a tall axolotl, pale blue, with bandages wrapped around their face, where their eyes would be. Now why is that?

Upon lifting the bandages to peek underneath, 7 discovered that they had NO EYES. she shuddered, putting the bandages back on, and lifting the body over her shoulder. When she got back, the stingray was still refusing to go to Commander Tartar.

“I-I’m not going down there!” August lifted their tail and jabbed it at May, weakly tapping the point against her. Seems their stinger had broken into dust and shards a long time ago. “I-I’m…n-not facing…” August grew more quiet, stumbling back slowly and still whimpering.

The figure from earlier came back, and August could see them more clearly. No doubt a sanitized Octarian…

Pale green skin, black scleras with blue green irises, terrifying in EVERY SINGLE WAY, deep blue tentacle hair that faded into neon green at the end. Honestly, the only thing that wasn’t petrifyingly scary was the fact that she had no weapon that August could see.

She was carrying something, too, a body. A pale blue body with bandages over its face. August blanched. It was April’s dead body. They felt guilty all over again, for not being able to save her in time. “...” August frowned more and turned away. “...I-I’m still not going with you guys…” August kept their frill in, trying to ignore the orange ink that had covered the whole platform.

The octarian looked sorry for August (no doubt a big surprise), and said, very gently, “Well, you have to. It’s how things work here, whether we like it or not.” She said the last bit sourly. “Commander Tartar is… he can be a good person at times…” She shrugged. “Anyways, I gotta go put some octarians in the blender," he says. Oh, and before I forget, I’m 7.” 7 walked away after she set the body down. “You,” she pointed at May, “Guard these two. In case Commander Tartar forgets to ask.”

“He blends people…” August murmured, almost grumbling, “How could someone like that be good..?” August moved a little further from 7, clearly still weary about them. August watched May approach, seeing how much of a trance she was really under. ‘If I tried to talk to her, would she respond? Does she even still recognize me?’ August thought.

April groaned a little, moving ever so slightly. “Ow…” she whispered. August flinched before suddenly, rather tightly, hugging April. “A-April!” August gasped, shaking a little as the hatch into the lab was opened. “I-..I thought–!...” August was shaking, quivering as she slightly sobbed.

“We should try to avoid Denewiah, he’s really angry at you…” May murmured. “I can feel it from here.”

“Yeah, I can vouch for that.” 7 suddenly materialized behind May. “He thinks you-” she pointed to April- “are dead, so, if you don’t want to be sanitized, I would suggest playing dead. Won’t work for you, though, stingray. You should leave. Now. I don’t know how to de-sanitize people, though, so you’ll have to leave her behind.”

May nodded. “It’s for the best. I’ll figure out something.”

“Me, too. I’m getting sick and tired of Commander Tartar ordering me left and right.” 7 scratched her head. “We’ll keep in touch.” She slid August a walkie talkie. “Good luck.”

August nodded, accepting the walkie talkie, before leaving the station as fast as they could. Outside the station, near the first station that tangled them up in this, August sighed and curled up against one of the support beams.

Gosh…how would they explain to their mother why their tail was broken? Would Finiona even believe them when they told her that a crazy telephone was still alive!? Yeah, no, that wouldn’t be happening, absolutely not.

‘..I can’t leave them alone…let’s see, I heard stingrays could change colors..’ August stared at their ruined tail. “I just…” ‘Gotta figure out how to do that…’ August stood up and started trying to change color. Maybe they can try to look sanitized. At least that was their first thought. ‘I doubt Tartar has any other stingrays, he implied I was the first in forever.’

‘I’ve also never had to change colors before. I’ve always been orange actually. I doubt it's evolved out though. I just– need to try harder…’

‘I’ll never forgive myself if I let them die…’

‘A dead axolotl has no use for Tartar. If he doesn’t figure out that April is alive, he’ll probably do something else to her…’

‘I need to get back there…now…’

When August opened their eyes, they were entirely white like snow. They hadn’t seen much of it but they knew that it was bright and was even brighter on a sunny day. ‘...This’ll work perfectly, I just need to sneak in…’

Commander Tartar checked Everest’s pulse carefully. She wasn’t moving at all. Didn’t even look like she was breathing.

…Nothing…

Everest’s body was getting colder. She passed away a while ago.

Commander Tartar growled loudly, shaking as he attached the blood bag to her. “Rrrhghghgrrrr–!!” Commander Tartar clenched his fists tightly. Sanitized ink poured from every seam in his design with a smaller, sanitized tentacle coming from his head. He looked god awful right now.

He roughly stood up, gripping the doorframe and leaving claw marks on the wall. The sanitized octarians ran from him. No one wanted to risk angering Commander Tartar more. “Memassily–..scrrraap of..rggh– seaffoodde–..” He was sputtering and glitching heavily. “Someone–..contacttrhgg- mrrr. Grizzzzzzz…” Commander Tartar didn’t feel like correcting his voice at the moment.

“Alright.” 7 raced off to contact him. “Not..you–..tell meeggh abou..the axoos..” Tartar pointed at 7, barely showing his ruined face. She skidded to a stop. “Tell you about the axolotl? Both?”

Commander Tartar looked to be offline now, unable to handle how angry he was. It was clear he wanted to kill everyone in the building. One of the octarians started to dial Mr. Grizz’s number, using Commander Tartar to do it. When the receiver became completely clogged with sanitized ink, it ran off to just use the normal phone.

7 waited for him to come back online, glancing at the sanitized axolotl. Hmm… I need to figure something out before he gets suspicious…

7 could hear the entry door open. Was someone there? Maybe Mr. Grizz had a planned visit that day? Probably not though…

Commander Tartar grumbled, coming back on before promptly leaning against the wall for support. “Neverrrr been sso-so-so..angerry…” He covered his face a little. “8…?”

“No, sir, it’s 7. You wanted to know about an axolotl?” 7 replied.

“NOT YOU!” Commander Tartar suddenly shook 7 before huffing and holding his head. “Ifgghrg–knead..reeeestt…” Commander Tartar just…slowly walked away. He looked to be taking Everest’s death well.

Did something just pass 7? …Felt like it…

‘That was… weird…’ She turned to scan the area. Huh. Wonder what that was.

“Oof-!” A voice suddenly spoke up from somewhere in the hallway as an octarian hit the ground, equally confused.

‘Okay, that’s definitely not normal, getting bumped by air?’ “Who’s there? Come out with your hands up!” 7 had no weapons, but she could tell she looked menacing, with the other octarians following her lead hastily. ‘Probably my eye color…’

‘Can stingrays change color? No, why would that stingray return? …To rescue her friends! Stingray- no! Commander Tartar will make a coat out of your scales!’ August’s orange eyes met with 7’s before she booked it down the hallway.

I should pretend to chase her… 7 sprinted after her. “Hey! Wait! Stop!”

August kept running though, now rather panicked!! “Mmrhh? ..” Commander Tartar shut back down, deciding to ignore the commotion.

7 kept running after her, eventually cornering the stingray. 7 could feel something jab her..but no pain. Looks like the stingray had forgotten her tail was broken. “Mmrhhg–!” She backed herself further into the corner.

“What are you doing here?!” 7 hissed to her. “You can’t be here! Tartar will make a COAT out of you if you don’t leave!”

🚫I’m here for my friends!🚫

August said in sign language, she looked a little more determined.

🚫I…I can’t just leave them behind.🚫

“Rrrgh, I told you, I will figure something out! You have to have patience!”

🚫Tartar is as trustworthy as a Kelpie! He’ll probably kill them to get back at me!🚫

August crossed her arms.

7 snickered. “Don’t make me laugh! You need to get out of here, now! I’ll figure out something for the axolotls, just go!!” 7 tugged on one of August’s arms, attempting to drag her to the nearest exit. “Come ON!”

“Alright ththaazzz-!” There was cranking noise, “What is the problem!? Why are you all so suddenly loud!?” Commander Tartar hissed, leaving his room and glaring out into the hallways.

“Uh oh. Can you camouflage?!” 7 asked hurriedly. “If you can, do it!” She ran over to Commander Tartar. “I don’t know, why do we do anything?” she asked calmly.

“Don’t you even start, 7…” He hissed, glaring into 7, “There’s someone else here…”

“Well, if there was, I would know, and then tell you. So.”

“...You’re lying…” Commander Tartar suddenly seized her throat, “I know you are…” With that, he started to lift her up by the neck. “Who else is here? Tell me now!” He looked down the hall, silently signaling 7’s fate if she didn’t speak.

“Awrck…! I-I don’t know, I don’t know!” 7 struggled. “I… I would’ve t-told you if I kn-knew! Y-you know t-that!”

“...It’s that stingray, isn’t it? When you’re around as long as I have, you learn plenty. She’s changed colors, hasn’t she!?” Commander Tartar started to look around quickly. The other octarians seemed to have separated and hid in the different rooms. “August…You can’t hide forever, it would be better if you just came out…unless you’d like me to list all the horrible things I plan to do to you after you killed Everest…? I could sanitize you, maybe I could tie you to the tracks and leave you there? I could strip you of your scales and throw you into the sea to burn from the salt, or maybe…I’ll hurt your friends…” Commander Tartar’s voice was colder than ever before.

There was a slight ripple of color through August’s scales on the far back wall. “N-no, she ran a-away, remember?” 7 desperately squawked. “I-it could be so-omeone el-se…!” 7’s vision started to fade out. “I see you…” The world finally faded away, slowly but surely…

“I see you, Stingray…you’ve got a lot to answer for…” August shuddered, their scales changing to their default color. Tartar’s voice was cold and chilling. It felt like spiders crawling across her. It only got worse as Tartar got closer and suddenly grabbed her hand.

“You killed the only human I’ve seen in 12,000 years…words cannot even begin to describe how angry I feel about seeing you in my labs, how angry I am to see you try to help your pathetic friends!” Tartar suddenly threw August as hard as he could into the ground. “I’ve got plans for you, Stingray, and it won’t be quick…”

August hissed, scrambling to try to get up. Tartar slammed his foot down on their back, “Enough trying to escape, August. You were a fool to return here!” Tartar then glared at some of the octarians, “Lock her and 7 up NOW!” The octarians rushed forward and quickly started to drag them away.

August fought weakly against the octarians, attempting to bite them from time to time or even hypnotize them with their frill. ‘7…’ August stared at 7 with worry. They really should’ve ran while they had the chance…oh poor 7… ‘I can’t believe I didn’t run while I had the chance…’

The prison was just as worryingly cold as the rest of the place as they got chucked into the cell with-...with May watching the cage. ‘Of course, Tartar is probably obsessed with psychological torment. He definitely had May watch us on purpose…’

As Tartar passed by to continue his evil talk, he realized that May was still carrying April. “...Why do you still have that dead body with you? If she isn’t dead, I’ll take her to the infirmary and get her healed…” Tartar looked a little disgusted.

“For memory’s sake. She was my sister…” May said, with a tear in her eye. “She was a good sister to me…” she murmured.

Tartar glared at April a little longer before suddenly checking her pulse, “...” He looked a little shocked before taking her and walking away quickly, “Stay there, it appears I have made a very dumb assumption…”

“Wh-...?” May said, but cut herself off, probably so she didn’t sound nosy. August peeked through the bars. For a stingray like them, they could probably sneak right through them… “May?” August started, slipping any part of them back into the prison, “Are you okay?”

“I-I… don’t know… I feel fine, but… what is he going to do to her…?”

“What’s it like being sanitized?” August asked, catching themself before they told May to go check on April which would’ve allowed them to slip out and leave.

“It’s hard to explain… like, you feel a little cold, you have this urge to follow Denewiah… oh, and also, you have quite a bit of hatred towards sealife.”

“..Do you want to hurt me?” August asked, looking worried now.

“What?! No, you’re my best friend!!” May exclaimed quietly.

August only nodded, “Maybe you should go check in with your sister.” August said, noticing 7 begin to stir behind them. “7…?” August approached 7 and started to lightly shake her.

7 didn’t respond, although she was breathing. August only frowned and hid their face slowly. “...” August looked back over, trying to see if May had left. They needed to leave soon…

May was looking to the cage and the hallway and back. “If I leave, then you can’t get out, because I’ll have to find a replacement…” she finally muttered. “Is it really hard to not obey him?” August suddenly asked. May shook her head. “Not really, no. We just really, really feel like doing what he tells us to do.”

“Oh,” August stared at their hands before looking back at 7. “..Are you okay, 7?” August poked her with their tail again.

Again, no response, although 7 muttered something that August couldn’t make out. May looked very worried. “S-she’s not- is she-?”

“She can’t be. Trust me…I’m sure she’s not…” August murmured. ‘I really need to get out of here but May hasn’t been convinced to go check in with April. …Maybe I could sneak out when night comes about. …but who’s to say Tartar sleeps? He’s a robot! …He might need to charge, though. I could escape while he’s doing that…’ August sat down besides 7 and started to doze off. Today had been impossibly long…especially with their tail still HURTING.

A good few hours later, May had left the cell and the new guard had fallen asleep in the dark light. ‘Oh good, finally..’ August wiggled in between the bars and looked back at 7. ‘Sorry, 7…I’ll come back, I promise.’

August glanced down the hall and started to venture down it as quietly as they possibly could. It was…ominous to say the least. Their quiet footsteps were covered up by the sound of the surrounding sleep quarters filled with snoring (who puts sleeping quarters next to prison cells? Tartar apparently). It was shocking that anyone could sleep in this place.

One room was closed up entirely. The doorknob had fresh sanitized ink on it. Most likely from Tartar. Hm…

August slowly and silently pushed open the door, looking inside. They nearly squealed when they saw Tartar before they covered their mouth. Tartar was shut down, clearly asleep (or…charging? Probably charging). August approached him before seeing his desk. It was full of vials of sanitized ink and different tubes.

‘A science station! …I guess. This is probably where he started to make sense of his ink and learned and-...hm?’

August paused for a moment before picking up a big leather book. It looked old. Really, really old. It had way more pages that it should’ve, like Tartar had added more pages over time. August ran their fingers over it, feeling its title before they used the light of the sanitized ink to look at it.

Day Notes - Professor Denewiah Kunshur and Tartar

The name was written in, now dried, ink.

August trailed their fingers over the pages before looking back at Tartar’s charging self. …This book probably had a lot of useful information that August could use against him.

‘…He’s starting to stir. I need to leave now. Right now.’

August sped walked silently out of the room, now making their way towards the exit. Their heart was pounding. Absolutely pounding. ‘I’ve never felt this way before. This fear…Great Zapfish- I feel awful…!’ August looked at the exit again as they lifted it and climbed back onto the platform. ‘But it also feels so, so, so absolutely freeing! I-..I feel absolutely excited actually. I’m escaping an evil AI who’s kill count has grown, holding the book with possibly all of its plans, and-...and I’ll soon return with help too…’

‘Enough hiding now. I’m going to–possibly–save the whole world…’

[fratricideknight]

RI WHATS YOUR TOP3 ALBUM OF BTS ?! i desperately wanna know

THIS ASK IS FREAKING EVIL WHAT THE HELL???????? (love it though thank you) uaghghghhhhhh including solo albums as well would tear me to pieces, so i'll stick to group albums. (also i'm listening to born singer as i read this and trying not to sobbbb)

honestly. love yourself 轉 tear is absolutely incredible. like. actually. every single song is an absolute banger. not to mention, the first album (not just bts) i ever received. but ly: her gives me insane nostalgia as well bc it was the album that released around the time i joined the fandom, even though i'd listened to bs&t and save me and stuff before that. AND IT'S SO UNDERRATED!!!!! the summer vibes are immaculate give my girl her props!! the entire ly series is insaneeee but i'm gonna choose love yourself: tear. even though it's tearing me apart wth

of the hyyh albums, young forever seems like the best choice bc it compiles some of the best songs (though i hate that a couple get left behind ;_;) and!! it has young forever (the song) aka the song that makes me wanna live and die every time i hear it. plus butterfly prologue mix and house of cards full length edition. they did not have. to do that. ;_; overall the vibes of the hyyh albums are freaking UNMATCHED. nothing ever can touch them tbh. i remember listening to baepsae, dope, and fire back to back when i first got into them haha, and then discovering the rest was... an experience. my soul leaves my body listening to hyyh to this day

they just. they have so many amazing albums. not at least mentioning the map of the soul albums, wings/you never walk alone, dark & wild, be, and the japanese albums feels like a crime. but listen. we've gotta go back to the start for the last pick. skool luv affair. back-to-back bangers. just. woah. those seven kids did not have to go that hard. like. just one day? tomorrow? spinebreaker? but also!!!! o!rul8,2? ;;;____;;;; we on, if i ruled the world, coffee, attack on bangtan????????? 2 cool 4 skool is also full of bangers tbh but it only includes three fully-fledged songs so.. but i cannot choose between skool luv affair and o!rul8,2? just. the kids they were back then deserved so much more than they got. so much more. the industry failed them so badly. i will choke with my own hands every exec who had a hand in (actively or not) holding them back when they were that good and should have been recognised. the sheer hatred i feel towards everyone who screwed them over (and continues to screw them over) cannot be put into words

tl;dr: love yourself 轉 tear, the most beautiful moment in life: young forever, skool luv affair/o!rul8,2?

basically i am feral and this isn't even a ranking, really, just me screaming and crying about their albums bc they're ALL good and that fact makes me AHHHHHH. i'm so freaking happy bts exists. that they found each other. also i'm catching up with new releases after taking a break from bangtan, and the solo albums are so good??????? I'M LOSING IT THEY'RE SO GOODDDDDDD AJFJDKSFMDSKMFD i just need a jin solo album now please please pleaseeeeeeeee ofc if he doesn't want to work on music the instant he comes back from the army, i fully support that!!! i would cherish a full album though... the astronaut awakened feelings i didn't know i had within me and i .

[denizenhardwick]

WAIT SCREAMING in my personal notes i marked down something called "jungkook's magical sinkhole," which i think was a scene in The Notes when jk saw a huge sinkhole with a crowd forming around it but when he looked back it disappeared, anyway IT APPEARS IN THE BS&T JAPANESE VERSION MV?

[boysplanetrecaps]

The Great Produce 48 Rewatch: Ep 2, Signal Song [Part 1]

In my previous post in this silly yet necessary project, we finished off the auditions, including the ones that weren't aired on MNET. It's time for the girls to move into their dorms and start practicing for their upcoming large-group performance to your favorite song and mine, Nekkoya! Let's do it.

In this second phase of the Produce 48 series, the 96 trainees (well, 94 -- 2 of them dropped out already) are asked to learn the lyrics, tune, and choreography of a song then get one chance to perform it in front of a video camera for their final grade. Did I mention that they have to learn the lyrics in both Korean and Japanese? Also, per AleXa in her interview with Grazy Grace, they had about a day and a half to learn the choreography and lyrics in both Korean and Japanese, and this was the very next day after they filmed the auditions for about 24 straight hours. Seems… like a bad idea. But what do I know?

So, the signal song is called Pick Me aka Nekkoya. The only signal song from any of the Produce series that I actually like is Nayana from Broduce101 -- I remember hearing it playing at Cafe Bene in K-town and just liking it without knowing what it was. But I’m not wild about Nekkoya, even if it is marginally better than Pick Me from Season 1. (I mean, “oh won’t you pick me up?” is the worst, ugh). I do enjoy the fact that Nekkoya sounds extra funny to the Japanese girls, because “neko” is the Japanese word for cat. You’d think that someone would have noticed that already…? 

The girls are told that they’ll get to perform on MNET countdown. They’re so happy, despite the obvious fact that most of them aren’t going to get any camera time. They’re probably just giddy from lack of sleep. As in previous years, those in higher ranked groups will get more screen time -- but it’s even worse this year than in previous years, because rather than having the Bs and Cs flanking the As, they’ll all be stacked behind each other, so that it will probably be impossible to see even the members of the B group, much less the Ds.

The diagram at the top of the post shows the F ranked girls at the very back, but actually they won’t even be allowed on stage. The F-ranked girls, the majority of whom are Japanese, are heartbroken, notably the fashion challenged Mogi Shinobu in her blue furry sleeves. This girl is like a living meme.

We stan a relatable queen. 

The judges remind them that all the grades will be reassigned, and that only someone from group A can be in the overall center, a very desirable position. I genuinely don’t remember who gets chosen, but it also seems obvious that it’s going to be 🌸Sakura🌸….? 

Dorm Move In

The girls move in to their dorm room and find color-coded t-shirts waiting for them. I feel like I can feel the texture of these t-shirts through the screen. You know, those t-shirts that feel like steel wool and hang off you like a burlap sack? But despite being a full centimeter thick they somehow are also see-through and show the outlines of your bra? No thank you.

Miru is happy, but I think she is always happy. Honestly, I’m jealous.

Many of the girls like the colors, but the A girls are especially excited by their shirts, which feature a glittery A on a light pink background. Gyrui, the member of Fromis-9 who rocked a side-pony in her audition, is a bit salty that some of her roommates have pink shirts while she has to make due with orange. 

Meanwhile, the F-ranked girls get gray, just to make sure they feel as bad as possible about their situation. SUFFER, the producers seem to be saying. SUFFER FOR YOUR DEFICIENCIES. 

Suffer more, Ichikawa Manami! Your performance in What’s Your Name means you don’t deserve such a thing as “color”!

The F-ranked girls are joking that at least the F is on the back so they don’t have to see it themselves (unless they turn around really really fast). Goto Moe, who mysteriously seems to have completely recovered her voice, finds a white shirt she plans to wear instead. Doesn’t seem like a good idea, Moe. 

Some of the girls find rules posted in their rooms. The rules, as translated by Google translate via my phone camera: 

Adhere to the class schedule

Maintain cleanliness of accommodation and practice rooms. 

Do not make noise while going to bed.

No unnecessary physical contact.

Compliance with writing a practice journal.

Prohibition of use of mobile phones and communication devices 

Thorough management of the training center facilities 

That fourth rule causes a lot of giggling and “touching” among the girls, and the editors play Knock from Broduce 101 in the background. Uh-oh, no skinship allowed! (Gossip online seems to imply that this is because of certain trainees, but I’m not sure that this is true and I don’t want to put anything out there like that without more confirmation.) This was a new rule for this season, but to the best of my knowledge had been kept in place for later seasons. For example, I remember that it was a rule in Boys Planet as well. 

The girls have trouble communicating with each other, but some translation heroes step forward. Miyazaki Miho, who was in What’s Your Name and who I noticed writing in Korean at the beginning, can speak  Korean reasonably well too, and serves as interpreter in one of the D-class dorms for Kim Minju. 

Multi-lingual queen Miho!

Lee Chaejeong, future member of Alice who auditioned with Roller Coaster, has a little stuffie (that she calls her “chingu”) with her. Cho Ahyeong, who auditioned alongside future Cherry Bullet’s Haeyoon, has a stuffie that is sitting in for her mom. Kim Da Hye from Banana Culture (who auditioned with I Don’t Like Your Girlfriend) has a pink stuffie that is a gift from her mom. Wang Yiren (future Everglow) has a piggie. Strong approval on all that. My Christmas wish list is at least 50% Squishmallow. On the other hand, Sato Minami (who I continue to think of as Sailor Mars) has a terrifying doll named Lemon-Chan. No thank you. 

NO THANK YOU

I SAID NO THANK YOU

1:05:35 Training Begins

Ok, we’re an hour into the episode, so it makes sense that it’s time to do something or another! The girls gather in the big studio wearing their Caste T-shirts (see what I did there? I spelled it caste not cast) and get ready to learn. 

Kindly Soyou says, “You will be practicing the title track starting today. Since it’s the first time that the Japanese trainees are being trained in the Korean way, this may be quite difficult.  But please trust in us, your trainers, and listen to us.”  The girls are excited to learn new things -- we hear from Bibian, with her distinctive baby-doll face, and Nakanishi Chiyori, who had the fluffy pink skirt in What’s Your Name.

So the dance class, led by Psychopath, begins.

You can tell that he’s trying to break down the steps and give specific advice. I don’t know how it worked with the translations -- none of the Japanese girls seem to be wearing in-ear devices, so there must have been someone on a microphone, translating the information into Japanese or this would have been chaos. But it I had to learn a dance with someone speaking a language I don’t know, with a translation following a few moments later, it would be so hard to learn. It’s going really fast even for some of the Korean girls, and the Japanese girls look completely lost. Even Miru looks sad. Oh no! Protect Miru! Then after they suffer for a while, Dance Bae tells them the part they just learned is the “easiest part of the choreo.” Oh no!

It’s time for them to study in their groups. This is their class schedule, with the benefit of my google translate on my phone:

I think “consonant practice” should say “self-practice”. 

The A group and B group both have Soyou for vocals and Psychopath for dance. The C group has Dance Bae for dance and Soyou for vocals.  The D group has Mary J Lee for dance and Jeremy for vocals.  The F group has Dance Bae for dance and Jeremy for vocals. 

So, let’s start off with group C, in their yellow shirts, who apparently did the best at the big group dance instruction. Park Seo Young, the blonde individual trainee, has been elected leader and has the L sticker on her shoulder to prove it. 

They are scared when Dance Bae comes in. 

They go up to do the choreo in smaller groups, 5 or 6 at a time, and Dance Bae’s eagle eye picks out even the smallest mistakes. When they make mistakes, she tells them they have to try harder, which, like, lady, they ARE trying. 

Then she picks out Son Eun Chae and Honda Hitomi to dance on their own -- one Korean girl and one Japanese girl to represent their respective groups. 

They both look great, and Dance Bae compliments them. The other girls think they’ll both move up a rank. 

Meanwhile, in class B…

B group has elected Park Minji -- future Secret Number -- as their leader, perhaps because she has experience from being on the first season of Produce 101.

AleXa is serving with a deep red lip. She understands the assignment. 

When Psychopath comes in, they introduce themselves in unison, and he greets them impatiently. He watches them perform, then tells them they have to be more “bashful” in their dancing, mocking their more “powerful” attempts at the girlish choreography. 

They all love him, saying that he’s a good dancer. Cho Ka Hyeon -- the Starship girl who isn’t Wonyoung or Yujin -- voice overs, “I stared at him shamelessly because he’s so good at dancing.”  

Yoon Eunbin likes him a lot. 

They might also think he’s handsome or cute, for all I know -- he was only 34 at the time of taping, so not necessarily too old for them to have crushes on (though obviously way too old for them to date, to be clear!). I know he’s being relatively nice to the girls and it must seem weird that I’m calling him Psychopath, but I DO NOT FORGIVE HIM FOR WHAT HE DID TO THE BOYS ON BOYS PLANET. It was full on psychological abuse. 

Anyway, the dance practice continues. Miru-chan is trying to keep smiling, but she looks more like she’s crying. Psychopath scolds her, because that’s so helpful, and Jurina comes over to try to cheer her up. 

This choreography is much harder than what any of them are used to.  

Her training diary consists of this drawing and the words, “Today I had my first singing and dancing lesson in B class. I couldn’t follow the choreography during class B. I made the teacher worry. Is there no hope for me?” Aww, Miru-chan!! 

We check in with Team A, who are having a vocal lesson with Soyou. Lee Gaeun from Pledis has been chosen as leader, probably on the strength of her already having debuted, and being the oldest in the group. 

Soyou asks for a brave volunteer, and at first, no one steps forward.

Left to right: Lee Ga Eun, Jo Yu Ri, Park Hae Yoon, Kim Do Ah, Yu Min Young, Miyawaki Sakura, Takeuchi Miyu, Kim Cho Yeon, Lee Ha Eun, Lee Chae Yeon, Kim Da Hye, Hwang So Yeon, Choi Ye Na, Na Go Eun, Kwon Eun Bi

Finally, Na Go Eun (future Purple Kiss) volunteers. We’re reminded that at her audition, Soyou had said of her, “She’s the most promising trainee among the ones we’ve seen so far.” But Goeun, singing acapella, goes slightly off pitch, which is what happens to people who don’t have perfect pitch. I mean, most people don’t have perfect pitch! Soyou tells her that she’s going sharp, and that she sounds like she’s just reading a textbook. I would also find it difficult to put emotion into lyrics like: 

From now on, you’re mine, mine, mine, only mine / Mine, mine, mine (Superstar) / From now on, you’re mine, mine, mine, only mine / Will you tell me? Pick me up

… but I guess that’s why I’m not cut out to be a K-idol. That’s literally the only reason, though. 

Jo Yuri goes next, and has a bit of trouble with the high notes. Soyou tells her that she, Soyou, had fought for her, Yuri, to be in A group (no pressure!) and then tells her she’s disappointed. Kwon Eunbi is next to be insulted for her pronunciation and lack of, I don’t know, spirit (?). 

🌸Sakura🌸 is next, and inspirational happy music plays as she talks about how she has studied the Korean lyrics -- amazing!  She sings completely incorrectly, like the tune is only slightly an approximation of correct. Instead of insulting Sakura and/or expressing intense, soul-destroying disappointment, like she did with every other girl, Soyou kindly asks the talented Miyu to come forward to sing it correctly to help 🌸Sakura🌸 understand the melody. Finally, 🌸Sakura🌸 manages to sing a few notes correctly, and everyone applauds. I get it that the other girls like her, because she’s a nice girl, but even so. What. Is. This. 

Next we check in with D group, who has chosen the multi-lingual Miyazaki Miho as their leader. Good call! 

They are working with Mary J Lee, who many of them know from her Youtube dance videos. They seem a little star struck by her. 

Sweet faced Motomura Aoi, who we met during the Never Ending Ferris Wheel performance, is in the back row and seems to have trouble seeing what’s going on. She knows the other girls are more skilled and is determined to do better.

Kim Minju, one of the Very Pretty Girls, is having a lot of trouble with the dancing. She’s self-conscious, looking at everyone instead of focusing on herself. She’s acutely aware that the others are better than her, and she’s taking it to heart, crying in the interview chair. We see her showing up in the dance practice room when no one else is there to practice some more. 

In what may or may not be the next day, we check in again with the B girls at 1:21:48. Kim Sihyeon, future Everglow, and Lee Seunghyeon, who I’m going to just call Riina from H1-Key, interview that their group has Americans (AleXa), Chinese people (Wang Yiren from Everglow, Wang Ke of the red polka dots), Japanese people (Iwatate Saho, Miru from Dancing Hero, Juri, and Jurina), and of course, Koreans. So it can make communication tricky.  

We see Jang Gyuri (future ex-Fromis9) and Lee Chaewon (future Le Sserafim) trying to get Jurina to understand that they want to practice the Japanese version of the lyrics together, using mostly English, but Jurina doesn’t seem to understand.

Husky-voiced Kim Hyuna (who did that excellent audition with My House by 2pm -- did you watch it yet?) encourages everyone to come watch the dance on the tablet, and the Japanese members, who don’t understand at first, come over later, when there’s already a big crowd. 

Jurina interviews that the Koreans crowd around so much that the Japanese trainees can’t see at all. She is obviously frustrated. 

What we see in the video, though, is that the Japanese trainees’ method of trying to see the video is to just stand there looking sad and wishing that the video will magically come closer. We don’t, for example, see them tapping anyone on the shoulder and pointing at the tablet with a hopeful facial expression. They just STAND THERE. I know it’s a cultural thing, but toxic passivity drives me nuts. 

Quick story time. A few months back, I was flying somewhere for work, worried I’d miss my connecting flight which would cause serious issues with my job. I was seated in an aisle seat, and I noticed that boarding was taking a really long time. There was a woman standing in the aisle wearing a big backpack that kept smacking me in the face as she spun around trying to let people pass her. She apologized when I pointed that out, and I was like, it’s ok, but why don’t you just sit down? And she said, well, there’s someone sitting in my seat. I asked her which one was supposed to be her seat, and she pointed to the aisle seat in front of me. I was like, just say something, and the woman was like, oh no, I can’t, I don’t want to be rude. Meanwhile, people were still trying to board. The woman with the backpack was trying to duck into chairs that are open to let people pass, but there were hardly any open seats left and so she was really slowing down boarding, making everything really difficult for everyone. And all because she doesn’t have the chutzpah to either (a) tap the person on the shoulder and say “I think you’re in my seat” or (b) at least ask a flight attendant for help. So then I had to be the one to tap that person on the shoulder. Turned out she had sat in that seat KNOWING IT WAS THE WRONG SEAT because there was someone in HER seat, which was the window seat. So then I had to tell the person in the window seat that SHE was in the wrong seat. Like here I am just trying to get the plane to take off on time so I don’t miss my connection and no one has the ability to speak up about the simplest of things. The woman in the wrong window seat realized she had just made a mistake, and she apologized and moved up one row to the correct seat, and everyone got seated. But like, my GOD. What was your endgame, backpack woman? To just stay in the aisle the whole flight? URGH. I get it, some people are shy, but sometimes if you don’t speak up, it’s actually irresponsible and rude. And it’s even worse if you then make the other people out to be the bad guys. 

Sorry, this is a pet peeve of mine. Deep breaths. 

The four Japanese members sulk about how no one is “letting” them see the video, without ever, I don’t know, pointing to it? Walking over and gently taking it out of someone’s hands? ANY FUCKING THING? If I had to deal with people that passive I would evaporate. Just boil away into space. 

Finally, husky-voiced Hyunah grabs Jurina by the arm, drags her over to the side of the room, and begins teaching her the choreo. Jurina realizes that the Korean girls who know how to dance learned the choreography first, so that they could teach it to the other girls, and regrets the misunderstanding. 

H1-Key Riina helps Saho learn the choreo.

Saho interviews that in Japan, the girls typically work by themselves, but in Korea, the girls work together as a group, which makes her really happy. What I’m learning from this show is that Korean culture is superior to Japanese culture. Thanks, MNET editors! Thmeditors. 

We see some of the Korean girls using English to talk to AleXa. Cute!

Choi So Eun interviews, “It feels like we’re communicating telepathically.” 

We end the segment on this shot of the girls all crowded around Juri and Jurina -- looks like maybe Juri had been crying and then everyone in the whole class came over to cheer her up? Maybe? Anyway, it’s cute. They’re working together. This is my favorite thing about shows like this. 

At 1:24:20, we switch over to watch the A girls at their dance practice. Gaeun shows off her dancing, and she looks great, of course. She’s so cute! 

Behind her, you can see, left to right, little Lee Ha Eun, the “little Chungha” girl; Kwon Eunbi, looking a little different with her hair pulled back; Lee Da Hye from Banana Culture; behind Gaeun, you can see a tiny bit of the short, talented Miyu; Jo Yuri, of the yellow Chewing Gum; and Yu Minyeong of the mint green polka dots in the Celeb Five performance. (We’ll see Minyeoung dance in a little bit….) 

As Gaeun finishes her performance, we get to see Hwang Soyeon, the “little Sunmi,” show off her teleportation skills! At 1:24:45 she’s standing by the wall next to 🌸Sakura🌸, calmly applauding for Gaeun. 

Psychopath praises Gaeun, saying that all the details of her dancing are very neat and precise. 

At 1:24:57, Soyeon has teleported to be sort of behind Gaeun. Dahye from Banana Culture is still near the wall -- but she’s out of breath and is pumping her t-shirt back and forth to cool herself down. Jo Yuri and Miyu seem to have disappeared. Soyeon has charged the part in her hair, and also seems out of breath. Gaeun’s hair is much messier, too. 

And at 1:25:00, Soyeon has teleported back to her original position next to 🌸Sakura🌸, with her hair put back to its original part. 

These are some talented girls, my friends. 

Look, obviously this is just some bad editing, but it wasn’t an accident. For whatever reason, they wanted it to look like Psychopath was praising Gauen alone. Maybe he was, but maybe he wasn’t. This is all just to go back to one of my key points about this show: It is edited with such a purposefully heavy hand that it might as well be fiction. 

In the next group, though the editing wants us to focus on Choi Yena, my eye kept getting drawn to Kim Doah, future Fanatics/GP999 contestant. She’s just so expressive there! 

Left to right: Eunbi (권은비), Doah (김도아), Dahye, Yena (최예나), and Minyoung (유민영). 

Psychopath reminds Yena not to let her fingers go in her mouth in the “tap near your mouth” part of the choreo. It’s interesting to think about those little details. 

Many of the girls have their turn, and then he asks Yu Minyoung to come out to the center. He calls her “Celeb Five,” not by her name, even though she’s wearing a huge name tag.  He called Gauen and Yena by their names, but not Minyoung! She makes quite a few mistakes. We see a flashback to the very first dance rehearsal, something we’ve never seen before -- Dance Bae pulling Psychopath aside and asking why on earth did Minyoung get an A. Honestly, I wondered that too at the time -- I said I would have given her a C.  Psychopath reminds her that Minyoung was part of that Celeb Five performance. Back at the A-team’s dance rehearsal, Psychopath, showing his true nasty colors, says, “I think it was a really good idea to do Celeb Five back then. But you have no charisma now. You’ll end up in lower classes.” She just sort of says “Yes, I understand.” She wants to stay in A class, but I think she knows her skills are just not up to the task given her short training period. 

This next segment, which begins at 1:27:35, is probably my favorite part of the whole episode. Jeremy just actually teaches the D-grade girls to sing. Instead of insulting them, or scolding them, or telling them that they have to “try harder,” or rolling his eyes and asking if they even want to be here, he just teaches them how singing works, physically. It’s a delight to watch. He has them do something that my vocal teacher taught me, an exercise to open up your palette. You start by being super super nasal, making a sound fully through your nose, then sort of make a “nnnngg-gga” noise that clears the sound out. It’s hard to explain in words, but it’s something I do before I sing a note, even alone in the shower. He even explains it to them in Japanese, since there are so many Japanese members of the class and the Japanese girls are especially nasal. Is he or is he not the most lovable of people? 

He has Minami (owner of the Lemon-chan doll) lie flat on her back to learn how to engage her abs while she sings, and afterward, she can hold a note without wavering unpleasantly. You guys, this is what learning to sing is all about. The segment is only about 2 minutes long, which is a shame -- I could watch this for a long time. I like watching kindness in action! If you want to watch, here’s a Youtube clip. 

And that's as much as I can fit in one post, so I'll have to cut it off here! I hope you're at a temperature you like to be at, and that you have the right number of Squishmallows nearby. Take care and see you in the next one, when we finish off their preparations for the signal song evaluation!

[tariah23]

jinkei_bunny did make a follow up post in response to some of the vitriol they got some I'm hoping they aren't letting it bother them *too* much. Thankfully there's alot of positive comments as well

https://x.com/jinkei_bunny/status/1730565491947872550?s=46&t=5gcJdlrDeccXtIqrgQQwSw

What can you ever expect from white weebs who idolize Japan to and almost orientalist level until an actual Japanese person says or does something that they personally don’t agree with. The fact that a popular Japanese artist saying that they enjoy drawing Black people and that seeing comments from Black fans of theirs mentioning that it made them happy to see us represented in a respectful manner for once, could send white people into hysterics just like that, will always be so standard to me. Stuff like this shakes their entire world for some reason like, they are so fragile. And don’t let the person be an American Asian. They’ll just try to pull the “well, it’s not like YOUR opinion even matters anyway!!! You’re not from the motherlands! You were born here so you DON’T understand the CULTURE-,” BS. Insane thing to say to someone of that ethnicity. I don’t want to talk over any Asian folks but I’ve seen it happen so fucking many times over the years, man. They like to act as if they know more about the culture and people than the actual people of that ethnicity; as if they were born and raised in Japan themselves and it’s just so…? Like… you’re white af………………………………….. The audacity. One thing about WP, just as long as they have a tongue, they will talk, talk, and TALK. That includes talking over poc whenever they get the chance and thinking that they know better than we do.

I feel bad that the artist is still getting an immense amount of hate thrown their way but like you mentioned, it’s still nice to see tons of people coming out to support them through this!

[kisssatoru]

୨୧ ୨⎯ ABOUT ME ⎯୧ ୨୧

✎… i like to spend my off days reading or writing. sometimes i’ll jump back into an old show like supernatural or vampire diaries (shhh don’t judge me).

✎… i love to sleep, too! once, i slept like 16hrs straight? it was crazy. when i woke up, my entire body hurt but it was worth it (never felt better honestly LOL).

✎… as strong as i tend to come off, i am deathly afraid of confrontation. however, if i have to defend myself, i will. buttt…pretty girls keep the nails ON, okay (plus, my gf fights for me most of the time so shsjsj).

✎… oh! speaking of which, yes. i am pansexual and yes i want gojo to pound me until i’m babbling nonsense, crying and creaming all over his cock.. i just think irl men are gross half the time lol. half are sloppy, hate women and are majorr cheaters. yawn. where’s the women!

✎… i like anything horror and sci-fi. from venom and jake from avatar to ghost face and big papa jasonnn (want them all to absolutely destroy me).

✎… my music taste is just a mix of everything. i’ve noticed as i get older, i tend to listen to more rnb/alt rnb and lofi songs. like pnd, nbdy, yo trane, summer walker, her, sza, bryson t, the wknd, 6lack, nobu woods, rohan, aaryan shah, etc! (notable mentions of tyler the creator, sabrina claudio, dvsn, jhene aiko, lvndvn, asiahn, etc). if it’s not rnb or lofi, i’ve got a lil classical on or even rock. i’m all over the place, but i’m now more of a vibe person heheh

✎… outside hobbies consist of playing tennis, traveling, shopping, swimming, taking scenic pictures (be on my photography bs sometimes—below are some pics i’ve taken btw), dog walking (used to do it all the time ughh can’t wait to get another dog and take them out lots), a little yoga (very relaxing), meditating, etc! (i’m a lil boring but i vibe with a lot of other things, just don’t feel like doing a whole lot all the time shshsj).

(first three are from cali, i miss the beach so much :( and the last one was from…idk but isn’t it niceee, love scenic pics)

✎… currently don’t own any pets (mom has a cat but she’s ofc not mine), but i do want to get a cute little frenchie, a pomeranian, possibly a poodle and def two cats! (thankfully my gf’s cool with lots of pets bc i adore them sooo much).

✎… i also love going to the movies, and eating different foods (one of my favorite foods is japanese/korean food—10/10 chance i’m obsessed but it hasn’t been proven yet so erm…yeh…). love me some italian and mexican food too, oo weeee (can also buss down on some african food, don’t get it twisted!).

✎… on cloudy/rainy days, i like to turn on some good kdramas or japanese dramas. sometimes i’ll find a good bl drama i like, too!

✎… oh, some miscellaneous things about me, i also collect figures, manga, books, etc! i like coffee, tea, rainy/cloudy days, fall & winter, stationary stuff, plushies, makeup (only some since my skin is sensitive to a lot of products hhh), press ons (iykyk), collecting japanese swords, plants, uhhhh and a lot of other stuff i can’t think of right now shjsjs

✎… this is a little collage i made to visually show what my kind of vibe is, ty for reading!

KISSSATORU © 2023. do not copy, modify, or translate my work, and do not post ANY works of mine outside of tumblr.

[taylorcasey]

⭐️ about me 🐛🌷

☂️ she/her 🌈

🏔️ nau 📚 psych bs 🧠

🖍️ florence dussuyer, eric roux-fontaine (banner), malcom t. liepke (profile picture)

🎧🫀🎼 shins, war on drugs, sufjan, alex g, japanese breakfast, tyler burkhart, micah preite, elliott smith, lowertown, rilo kiley, fiona apple, phoebe, mazzy star, bcnr, charlie martin, diiv 💿🎸📼

⭐️🌞🌩️ vinyl, cd, cassette collector

📖✏️ the bell jar, kindred, girl interrupted, the adventures of sherlock holmes, on the night i consider coming out to my parents, red dragon, american psycho, picture of dorian grey

📺 📽️ hannibal (tv), queen’s gambit, house md, fleabag, what we do in the shadows, xanadu, the endless, silence of the lambs, psycho

🕸️🔪🥩 phantasmagoric & queer horror lover 🕷️🗡️🪓