#it's only printed in korean language but I hope someone can enjoy!

[salarymanwaka]

[sevlgi]

foreigner

requested: no

group: (g)i-dle

pairing: soojin x fem!reader

genre: fluff

contents: foreigner!soojin, airport meet-cute. [29/33]

warnings: none

synopsis: The last person you expect to meet at the airport is a cute foreigner girl.

a/n: uhh i rewrote this like 8 times idk why i still hate it.. for this piece, italicized dialogue is in english! anything else is in korean. ALSO this is not meant to mock foreigners in any way!! i just saw this on a drama and thought it’d be cute :)

word count: 1k

Soojin sort of resented her friends for leaving her hanging. 

Only sort of, though; she knew that Yuqi and Minnie had their own lives and things to attend to in those lives. It was just a bit annoying that she had to visit America without either of her English-speaking friends, only armed with a mediocre translating app and any remaining foreign language skills left behind from school.

The airport in Korea was a breeze, but Soojin was worried out of her mind for the entire flight. It wasn’t as simple as just getting to the airport and convincing a taxi driver to take her to her hotel, either- there were 2 different train stations and several taxi rides to get through before she could even arrive in the right city.

To sum it all up; the scariest thing of her life.

Still, she didn’t expect her first crisis to come just after getting off the plane. Panting and clutching her printed-out destinations in hand, Soojin raced through the lobby, suitcase shaking over the bumpy floor. 

The doors slid open for her, and she sped up to reach the shuttles in time, but she wasn’t quick enough to stop running before she crashed into someone else. “Oh-”

“I’m so sorry!” Her mind barely registered that she was being spoken to in English, Soojin’s eyes widening at the sight of a hand being extended to her. “Are you okay?”

"I... I am okay.” She accepted your hand to stand up, cheeks flushing when she was nearly face-to-face with you and your gorgeous smile. “So sorry for... for hitting you.”

You shrugged, picking her suitcase up for her. “No, it’s fine! It’s really my fault. Where are you headed?”

Soojin’s frown seemed to be enough to cue to you that she didn’t understand you at the speed you were speaking, realization dawning on your face. “I’m going a little fast, right? Where are you going?”

She extended the paper in her hand lamely, hoping that the half-legible notes amidst the Korean on it were enough for you to decipher as she couldn’t pronounce the name of the town. “Ah! Are you Korean?” you suddenly asked, turning to her.

“Yes,” she tested out, smiling when you seemed to understand. “Do you speak it?”

“Not much,” you laughed in response, handing the paper back and starting to walk out towards where the buses were parked. “But I can usually understand it, if you speak slowly. Let’s go together, we’re on the same bus.”

“Ah, really? That’s great,” Soojin grinned, following you to the shuttle. “I’m Soojin, by the way.”

Turning back as your ticket was scanned, you replied, “Y/N. Are you on a trip alone in America?”

The brunette shrugged as her own ticket was scanned, scanning the interior of the bus for seats. “Yeah. I was supposed to come with my friends who speak English, but they were delayed at the last minute. Are you headed to the same train station too?”

“I’m actually going the same route as you to the same town,” you answered, raising an eyebrow with a matching quirk of your lip. Your Korean was a little bit haltering and spoken in fragments, but it was easily understandable to the other girl. “Coincidence or fate?”

Soojin even surprised herself by reaching out to swat your arm lightly. Your knee brushed up against hers as you sat opposite of her. “Aish, Y/N. So greasy, I can see that you’re American.”

“Not all Americans are as pretty as me, though,” you pouted, reaching up to cup your face. The brunette couldn’t help the shy smile on her face, turning to the window as the bus started up and the driver shouted something. “So, Soojin, tell me about yourself. It’s going to be a long ride, and we might as well enjoy ourselves.”

Conversation flowed surprisingly easily considering the language gap; both of you sometimes had to repeat yourselves for the other to understand, but Soojin found herself constantly smiling at the little jokes you made. Sometimes, you tried your best to speak in Korean, though it seemed to be enough just to understand each other.

With conversation, time flowed past, and the two of you got through all 2 train station transfers without incident. You were perfectly sweet, carrying her luggage and opening doors, walking ahead of her when you descended the stairs.

It was stupid how much Soojin enjoyed being with you.

When it came time for you to part ways on different taxis, she kept one leg outside the taxi to say her goodbyes. “So, Y/N, will we be seeing each other again?”

“Depends,” you smiled, rocking back and forth on the balls of your feet. “Are you free tomorrow?”

“Yuqi and Minnie arrive tomorrow,” the brunette explained, hitching her bag up higher on her shoulder. “But I can squeeze some time in before then, if you want.”

The grin that split across your face beamed like sunlight in the mostly cloudy day as you backed away from the taxi. “Great! I know where you live, so I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Don’t say it like that, it’s creepy,” Soojin laughed, hand lingering on the door. “See you, Y/N.”

You stayed on the curb even as the car pulled away, fading into a tiny waving figure. Once she couldn’t see you anymore, Soojin pulled out her phone to respond to the messages her friends had sent.  

yuqi [4:51]   unnie how was your flight?

minnie [4:57]   R u alive??

soojin [5:08]   I’m alive, stop it

minnie [5:09]   ok good!

minnie [5:09]   did u make it through the trains okay?

yuqi [5:10]   sorry we couldn’t be with you!  

soojin [5:11]   I was fine, I found someone to help me :)

As her phone started vibrating faster with messages, Soojin smiled again, finding a new text from you too. 

Y/N [5:08]   see you tomorrow, foreigner girl 

Tomorrow, indeed. 

[dreamescapeswriting]

BTS Reaction || You’re Half Korean [Request]

A/n: I tried to keep this as broad as possible so everyone could enjoy it I hope this Is alright for you sweetie

Seokjin:

The first thing that Jin saw was your hair, he hadn't even seen your face but he knew you were beautiful even from the back of your head and the way you walked he could tell there was just something about you that drew people in.

"Take a picture it'll last longer." Jungkook joked a little too loudly which caught your attention and you turned around to see them looking at you. Jin's ears turned a bright red colour as soon as your eyes connected and you giggled at how shy he was getting around you when you hadn't even said anything to him.

"S-Sorry he's just he was just messing around...You're just-" Your giggling stopped him from rambling on and Jungkook stepped in asking for your number for Jin.

"What he means to say is, can he get your number?" You looked at Jin who was cringing behind Jungkook for being so forward about this.

"Is it true?" You questioned Jin, more than willing to give him your number if he really wanted it and it wasn't just some kind of joke to them both.

"Yeah, it's true. I'm Jin," You smiled to him bowing to greet them both before introducing yourself and getting to know Jin a little more before handing over your number right away.

Yoongi:

When your relationship was first revealed to everyone in the media everyone seemed to want to put their own opinions into your relationship like it mattered what they thought when in reality it didn't.

"Are you reading through articles again?" Yoongi asked when he came back in from the studio that day, you groaned looking up at him when he came over to greet you by kissing you on the forehead.

"You have to ignore it, I don't care what they have to say and you shouldn't either." He told you as he picked up your phone to see which article you had been reading, it had something to do with how you were only half Korean and Yoongi would have been better suited for someone who was all Korean.

"They're just idiots with a keyboard who think they know better when they don't." You knew he was right deep down but it still sucked to have them printing things about you like this and it hurt you a lot.

"What can I say or do to make you feel better?" You shrugged your shoulders and he sat down beside you on the sofa cuddling up to you and leaning his head on your shoulder.

"Movie night and take out?" He questioned making you giggle as he started kissing your shoulder whispering everything that he loved about you in your ear so you would be reminded even though you were having a rough time right now.

Hoseok:

Hoseok knew that you were half Korean and that you grew up in a different country but he had no idea how fluent you were in Korean until you started yelling in Korean one day when you burnt your hand on the oven trying to get food out and he heard curse words flying from your mouth which made him chuckle until he realised you were hurt. Then it was both of you speaking Korean back and forth while he cleaned you up and questioned where you'd learnt your Korean from.

"My grandmother taught me, she told me it would do me some good." You laughed as he wrapped a bandage around your hand to keep a cold compress on the burn on the palm of your hand.

"I learnt from the day I could talk, my house was a mixture of Korean and English words. Sometimes using Korean in English sentences." You laughed and Hoseok smiled as you spoke fondly of your childhood asking to hear more about your upbringing since you were a new couple and were still trying to get to know each other more.

"What do you want to know?" You questioned plating up the food you had burnt your hand on and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Everything." He smiled looking at you walking around the kitchen.

Namjoon:

It was your eyes that made Namjoon fall for you right away, he was walking around a small bookstore looking for something new to read when a book moved from the shelf and he saw you staring down and flipped through the pages before deciding to put it into the basket you were holding. You looked back up and your eyes locked onto one another, you greeted him in Korean and bowed to him before going to find another book. He followed close behind wanting to know more about you and why you sounded so fluent in Korean,

"How do you know Korean?" He questioned as you walked side by side around the store, you looked at him with a small smile. All your life people had questioned you on why you know both English and Korean,

"I'm half Korean so I was brought up with the culture and language because of my family." He smiled and questioned you more on why you were in Seoul right now and what you were doing. Deciding to ask you out for a coffee date to get to know you more, but it was your eyes that made he practically trip head over heels in love with you. He could stare into them all day and listen to you talk.

Jimin:

Jimin knew you were half Korean but he didn't know you knew everything about your culture and lifestyle until he came to yours one night for date night and you'd cooked and prepared traditional Korean meals for you both to eat.

"You did all this by yourself?" He questioned as he noticed you laying the table and you shook your head,

"I called my mum for a little help with the main dish but everything else is all me." He wrapped his arm around your waist kissing your cheek and smiling at everything you'd done for him.

"Come on, before it goes cold." You whined looking at him before going on the hunt to find chopsticks and extra plates for when you needed them.

"I can't believe you did all of this for me." He whispered when you joined him back at the table, you shrugged your shoulders.

"We do things for those we love." Your eyes went wide as soon as you said it and Jimin stared at you from across the table,

"Love? You love me." You nodded slowly not sure what his reaction was going to be but he smiled brightly.

"I love you too Y/n." He said before digging into the food you'd made.

Taehyung:

Taehyung adored the fact that you were half Korean because your home was a home away from home, your family accepted him like their own and he was always welcome there.

"Umma?!" You called out as you walked through the front door carrying the bags of shopping she'd asked you to pick up for her, she told you she was cooking a big meal and you had no idea why you just did as you were told and picked up everything she asked for.

"Umma!" You yelled out as you struggled into the kitchen only to see your boyfriend sitting there with your mother, grandmother and grandfather all of them now turning to look at you.

"Tae? What are- When did you-"

"I invited him over for some food, he looks like he hasn't eaten a proper meal in weeks! I taught you how to cook why haven't you been feeding him?!" The bags were pulled from your arms as she continued to rant on about how you needed to be cooking for him more.

"I do feed him and cook for him, don't I Tae?" He faked a dying sound and prepared a dramatic death scene which made you glare at him before making everyone some tea pretending to listen to everything your mother was saying to you.

Jungkook:

You and Jungkook hadn't been dating that long when he found out that you were half Korean. You were talking with Namjoon in the studios when he came up behind you and scared you making you scream out a curse word in Korean which made him laugh thinking you'd picked it up from him but then you started playfully yelling at him in Korean and he stared at you dumbfounded that you knew that much Korean and hadn't thought to use it until then.

"How do you know so much Korean? Have you been taking lessons?" You and Namjoon started laughing and he looked at you both still confused as to what was going on and where he'd missed the joke.

"Jungkook she's half Korean," You laughed a little harder but stopped once you noticed it was getting to Jungkook,

"I'm sorry baby, I should have told you I could speak Korean." You giggled kissing his cheek and walking with him to go on your date where you spent the entire time switching between English and Korean in your sentences and Jungkook turned it into a game next. The first one to speak English had to pay the bill and he lost.

Tagline: 

@writingdreamsnottragedies @yoongisdumplingcheeks @snowy-meowl @lynnthevirgo @jooniesdarlingdimples @chimchims-stories-and-tales @fan-ati--c @lyoongx @mitzwinchester @callingmyangel @btsiguess-kpop @rjsmochii

[jasonbehrs]

let me be your guarantee

by airauralintensity (aka me, jasonbehrs!)

"You could stand to be a bit more selfish, you know."

"You could stand to be a bit more courteous in general, so I guess we both have things we need to work on."

fandom: kpop, super junior characters: ryeowook, kyuhyun ship: kyuwook genre: friendship, romance themes: genderbent, rule 63, high school, a day in the life, fluff (arguable) word count: 5.2k

read it below or on ffnet, wattpad, aff, or (new!) ao3

A/N (8.27.2021): I have no heterosexual explanation for the effects Ryeowook and Kyuhyun in drag have on me (or my creative process, evidently).

Rating for mildly suggestive language and graphic depictions of geometry. Title comes from Poster Girl by the Backstreet Boys. Cover art made by me. Thanks to Amy for the beta! (Even though you're already so over high school, haha.)

Uploading this as part of kyuwook month on twitter! I actually was gonna publish it wayyy back on July 21, but I waited so I could participate in ryeonamickyuo's #kyuwooksaturdays event on twitter lol. #marketing

~~~

A soothing chime alarm wakes Ryeowook up before dawn. She lets herself stretch in bed, enjoying the warm comfort of her blankets for a moment longer before getting up for a shower. She changes into the outfit she had prepared the night before: a sparkly white sweater and a pink skirt fluffed with tulle, and she painstakingly dries and curls her long lavender hair just the way she likes it before applying some light makeup. After scrutinising her appearance for another minute, she decides to add a small braid to her hair for fun.

With ease and minimal noise, Ryeowook flits through the kitchen to make enough breakfast for her and her parents. She's feeling like sweet potatoes and tofu this morning. She leaves her parents' portions in the oven to stay warm before serving herself, and she mentally checks through yesterday's to-do list to make sure she's all set for today while she chews.

Her homework is printed and neatly filed in their own plastic sleeves as a sustainable alternative to staples.

The cinnamon rolls she made the night before, with a small batch of gluten-free versions set aside, are individually packed in a tin waiting in the fridge.

After she brushes her teeth and puts on her silver flats, she'll be all ready for the walk to school.

Satisfied with her preparations, Ryeowook hums softly to herself as she washes the dishes after eating. With the sink by the kitchen window, she is able to catch the first rays of sunlight streak across the brightening sky, and she smiles. Today is going to be a good day.

~~~

Today is already a shit day.

The alarm blares once again after snoozing it for the third time just as someone bangs on her door, and the annoying sunlight shining through her bedroom window manages to directly hit her eyes. Kyuhyun frowns into her pillow. She was having an excellent dream about kimchi ramen that is already slipping out of her grasp the more she joins the land of the conscious.

She spares a second to flip the bird in Ahra's direction, knowing full well her older sister won't see it through the closed door, before rummaging through her unruly closet for whatever passes the sniff test. She changes into a pleather bodycon skirt (just long enough to meet the school's dress code, but no longer) and a long-sleeve red crop top in a half-awake daze.

Kyuhyun offhandedly recalls she left her homework in the printer last night. Hopefully she remembers to stuff that in her bag before she leaves.

Not one for morning showers, she simply runs a brush through her silky blonde hair a few times just to get the birds' nests out, wipes the oil off her face, and swipes on a thick cat eye to complete her look.

At the breakfast table, Kyuhyun eats in silence while ignoring the looks her dad gives her, no doubt at her mildly revealing outfit. She gives him a side hug anyway before leaving her dishes in the sink for later. She finishes her morning routine, grabs her keys and homework, and shuts the door behind her when she leaves for school.

~~~

Ryeowook cheerily pushes open the school doors with plenty of time left before the first bell. Instead of her locker, she walks purposefully through the hallways for the principal's office.

"Good morning, Ryeowook!" the matronly receptionist-cum-secretary greets when she sees Ryeowook sweep in.

"Good morning, Mrs. Oh!" Ryeowook chirps. "How has your hypoglycemia been treating you?" she asks as she gathers the paperwork she needs for her homeroom duties.

"Probably better if I remembered to eat breakfast in the mornings," Mrs. Oh responds with good humour, pushing her butterfly-themed sunglasses further up the bridge of her nose.

"I thought you might say that," Ryeowook says while rummaging through her bag. "Here, I made these last night. It's gluten-free, and you can't even tell!" She offers a cinnamon roll from her tin, and she smiles at the way Mrs. Oh lights up at the sight.

"Oh, Ryeowook! You're such a dear!" Mrs. Oh effuses.

Ryeowook bows in acknowledgement and waves goodbye, the papers for homeroom loose in her hand. She finally makes her way to her locker—the inside decorated with magnets, pictures, and a helpful calendar—so that she can get the books she'll need for all her pre-lunch classes.

In the hallways, she is greeted at every turn.

"Hey, Ryeowook! I hope you had a great weekend!" "I did, thanks! Happy Monday!"

"Oh my god, your outfit is completely adorable. It really brings out the lavender of your hair." "Wow, you think? I'll invest in more pink then~"

"Thanks so much for helping with the banner last week! It was a hit at our event; everyone wanted a photo with it." "No problem; I'm so glad to hear that! Like I always say, there's no such thing as too much glitter!"

These microtransactions of joy she gets while walking through the halls energise her like nothing else. She loves being helpful and knowing people care about her enough to say hi. It makes her life as a member of the school's community and as a student leader so fulfilling.

She makes it into homeroom with a minute to spare, sets her stuff at her desk, then places the tin of cinnamon rolls on the teachers' desk for everyone's enjoyment.

The bell rings, and the wattage turns up on her smile. "Good morning!" she calls out, easily cutting through the chatter with her high and bright voice. "There are cinnamon rolls at the front for everyone. Feel free to grab some while I take attendance. The ones swirled in a clockwise pattern are gluten free, so please save them for those with that dietary restriction!"

The typical gratitudes spill out—"Oh my god, these taste amazing." "You're so thoughtful, Ryeowook!" "Please marry me."—and she preens at the praise as she goes down the list in her hand.

It isn't until she gets to a specific name near the top, until she doesn't hear the typical 'Present!' that should follow, that she gives her first frown of the day.

She quickly shakes it off and finishes up, returning to her seat with every intention to rehearse her presentation one more time before the bell ending homeroom rings.

~~~

Kyuhyun steps into school right after the warning bell for first period rings, and she seamlessly joins the throngs of people hustling to their first class.

Well, she would join them, if there were throngs to join. Students stop in their tracks and fall silent as soon as they sense her presence, causing nearby students to quiet in confusion then in understanding such that a bubble of non-motion and non-noise follows her as she walks. The typical morning chatter resumes at a lowered volume from a safe distance of six feet behind her, and she is vain enough to presume at least 40% of those conversations are about her.

The stares go unacknowledged of course. So do the hapless love declarations from desperate freshmen and presumptive date offers from cocky upperclassmen. They might as well have said, "Kyuhyun, I bet you don't have better things to do with your time than stroke my ego and go dutch on an oily dinner at a chain restaurant after school." As if.

While leaving another potential suitor in the dust, a janitor accidentally turns on an industrial fan facing her direction just as she takes off her sunglasses. Coupled with the paused state of her classmates, her languid pace through the hall looks like a slow-motion runway walk that even Naomi Campbell in her prime would envy.

Kyuhyun's locker is empty save for the jacket she just shoved into it, then she goes straight to her first class of the day. She slides into her seat—not all the way in the back; cliche, much?—and, as if on cue, the whispers start.

"Do you think her hair is natural?' "Of course not, look at her eyebrows." "She could be dyeing her eyebrows!"

"I heard she drives to school? I thought only third-years and up were allowed to do that!" "I don't think allowances are all it takes to stop someone like her."

"Cho Kyuhyun in red should be one of the seven deadly sins." "That sin already exists, and it's called 'lust,' bro." "No no no no no. There's lust, and there's Cho Kyuhyun in red."

Strangers referring to you by your full name in some sort of layman's equivalent of a celebrity mononym has such a satisfying, powerful feel to it. Alas, save for a sly smirk, these too are ignored.

The smirk is promptly wiped off her face as soon as the teacher walks in, as if their life's greatest joy is teaching 16 year-olds about Korean peninsular history at 8:30 in the morning, and Kyuhyun already lolls her head back in disinterest.

~~~

Ryeowook snaps her hand up, a lone beacon of preparedness in a sea of bored or anxious faces.

"Thanks for volunteering, Ryeowook! Whenever you're ready." The teacher gestures to the podium with a sweep of their hands, pleased with the student's enthusiasm.

Ryeowook flounces out of her seat to the front of the classroom and loads up her presentation on the laptop hooked up to the projector. "S.E.S. as a Pop Culture Juggernaut" appears on screen in bold letters, and the subtle sounds of rustling fill the classroom as students sit up in interest.

"Good morning, everyone! Today I'm going to present on the seminal idol girl group S.E.S. Through interdisciplinary and anthropological analysis, I will illustrate how the mark they've left on Korean culture at the time of their debut carries ripple effects on the entertainment industry that can be observed to this day."

She takes a moment to look over the surprised and interested faces of her classmates and teacher, then smiles internally. She's going to crush this.

She clicks to the next slide. "S.E.S. is a girl group that debuted in 1997 under SM Entertainment. That may seem like a fairly innocuous sentence on its own; in which case, I'll inform you that they are the first girl group ever debuted in K-pop history…"

When the class learned their Forensics and Communication midterm assignment would be free-form, many of her classmates asked if she'd partner with them for a debate. Their topics were interesting enough. She would have customarily had little problem arguing on the cost-benefit analysis of a college education or the validity of prison sentences served overseas (to name a few).

But she graciously turned them all down. In her heart, she knew she'd simply enjoy it more if she gave a presentation on something more personal… and studies show passion for your work drives results. She expects nothing less than an A+.

Thanks to the confident excitement lacing her voice and a powerpoint that took her two weeks to perfect, she handily grabs the interest and attention of every student in the class, even the ones typically uninterested in idol culture. She winds up leading the class in a discussion on the inherent greater interest the Korean general public reserves for girl groups in contrast to the supersaturated boy band market, and the teacher has to regretfully cut them short to allow for the other midterm assignments that had to be seen that day.

"Thanks again, Ryeowook, for that illuminating and impassioned presentation! Why don't we keep that energy going, hmm? I know it may seem like a tough act to follow, but who's ready to present next?"

Expecting the worst, the teacher is pleasantly surprised when a majority of the class raises their hands to volunteer. The teacher looks over at Ryeowook and sends a quick wink in thanks, and Ryeowook gives a thumbs up in acknowledgement.

~~~

Kyuhyun clicks 'downvote' on a thread in the r/poppunk subreddit. As if Retrieve Me the Skyline has anything on Querying Quinn.

Just then, she senses a presence walk up to her desk. She lifts her eyes up from her phone—hidden behind an obviously strategically upright notebook in a semblance of respect for the teacher—to find said teacher looking at her disapprovingly. She sighs without remorse and puts her cellphone away, not one to fight once she's caught red-handed.

"Thank you, Ms. Cho. Now, as I was saying: Just like how Korean borrows from Chinese and English words, English borrows words from many other cultures. This is part of why their grammar rules are so inconsistent. Therefore, it may be helpful to learn the etymology of certain words to reinforce these rules. For example, 'geese' is the plural form of 'goose' because 'goose' was borrowed from German, and Proto-Germanic grammar does allow for plural forms for their nouns. On the other hand, 'moose' does not pluralise to 'meese' because it was borrowed from an Indigenous American language which did not pluralise their nouns."

Kyuhyun barely has the presence of mind to suppress a groan. If this is supposed to be an English class, why is the teacher talking about German all of a sudden? She isn't gaining any more while paying attention as she was while scrolling on her phone! This is why she doesn't bother. It would take her less time and less effort to simply read the textbook.

Honestly, that's how she usually spends her classes. She's not against learning necessarily—if she has to be here, she might as well—but she is against the fluff shit that most teachers feel the need to sprinkle in to keep people's attention or reinforce learning. If it's not going to be on the national exam at the end of the year, it's just a waste of time.

It doesn't help that Kyuhyun's a whole league above the mouthbreathers in this high school anyway. What other people need several hours of studying to understand sinks in for her after a single lecture. She has the makings to be every teacher's dream student, but she's made it very clear: Don't make her participate in class, and she won't eviscerate their self-esteem in exchange. It's an elegant system with an 87.5% success rate.

As her schedule has it, the only class where it doesn't work is her next one. The phys ed grade is almost entirely predicated on participation; and unfortunately for her, the venn diagram of men who have already had their insecurities abused to the point of desensitisation by their superiors during conscription and men who decide to become high school PE teachers seems to be a circle.

Her solution for this class is admittedly less elegant.

Even as the next period is just about to begin and the halls thin out, Kyuhyun still manages to easily breeze past the bumbling office receptionist trying to prevent her from leaving the grounds during school hours.

(Hey, she's gonna get a 0 for participation whether she's wasting time sitting on the bleachers and bored out of her mind or whether she's going to the mall to grab the new Napping with Nixies album. Might as well do the fun one. Bonus: instead of paying the Korean public school system for the rehydrated prison rations they consider 'food,' she can grab lunch at the foodcourt!)

~~~

Ryeowook spends her lunch period like a jetsetting CEO, the precious few minutes taken up by meetings with various teachers, students, and—today—even an administrator.

"Thanks so much for taking the time to meet with me, Ryeowook."

"Of course, Mr. Park! I'm happy to represent the needs of my class. Let me know if I can help with this initiative again later once it gains more momentum."

"I certainly will. Have a good rest of your day, Ms. Kim," Mr. Park replies warmly, his deep voice and barrel-chested physique radiating authority and paternity.

The administrator walks her out of his office, and they bow to each other at the door. The clock in the hallway tells her there is barely any time to make it to the cafeteria and eat a meal, so she sighs and resignedly walks back to her locker to exchange her books with the ones she'd need for her post-lunch classes.

She remembers there is a vending machine along the way to her next classroom, so she pivots her route slightly so that she can pick up a granola bar and a bottle of water. They'll be easy to finish before class starts.

"You know, you'd have time to eat a real lunch and attend your precious meetings if they just expanded our lunch hour to be an actual hour," a voice says from behind her just as she feeds a paper bill into the machine.

"I don't mind. It means we have more time spent in our classes."

She bends at the knee to retrieve her purchases then gracefully hops back up to twirl on her heel, steadfastly ignoring the other's presence as she continues on her way.

"I think we can definitely stand to spend less time in class. Come on; we already sacrifice the most formative years of our lives confined to these 'hallowed halls,' and they can't even let us digest our meals properly?" her nuisance heckles as Ryeowook is followed.

"I bet the Student Council would love to have an impassioned, opinionated person such as yourself on the panel. If you have ideas for change, you're free to share them with people who are empowered to do something about it," Ryeowook comments mildly, gaze trained forward even as the other pulls up beside her.

"The student council is a mockery of democracy and only serves as a mere figurehead for the students' collective political and bartering power to the school administration, and you know it."

Finally, Ryeowook stops. She squares her shoulders and looks her antagoniser in the eye. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't mock an extracurricular about which I'm very passionate to my face, Kyuhyun-ssi."

The taller smirks. "As much as you'd appreciate time to sit and eat lunch with your friends for once?"

They are not alone in the hallway they've entered into. With an almost imperceptible turn of her head, Ryeowook can even see some students eavesdropping on their conversation, eager to hypothesise with their friends what the two most popular girls in school yet for completely opposite reasons are doing talking to each other.

"Hey, isn't that Kim Ryeowook?" "Talking to Cho Kyuhyun?" "Hold up, they know each other?"

If she could hear them, then they could certainly hear her, and that reminder is enough to reign in her annoyance. She allows herself ten seconds to collect her composure.

When she speaks again, her voice is airy and pleasant. "Well, if that's all, I have to go and spend what's left of my lunch period doing something a little more constructive than arguing with someone who'd rather complain than make the best of a situation. If you'll excuse me."

"You should have gotten fig newtons!" Kyuhyun calls as Ryeowook moves around her. Ryeowook counts it as a small blessing that the other does not follow. "They're easier to eat in class! Less noisy."

"You're not allowed to eat food in class," Ryeowook retorts plainly without even turning her head.

She can feel the other's eyes on her as she walks away, but she ignores it as she takes a swig of her water.

(She finishes her bar before crossing the threshold of the classroom, arriving before even the teacher does and finding a half of a sandwich wrap from the deli across the street waiting on her desk.)

~~~

The surface of Kyuhyun's desk is empty save for her arms and elbows organised to support her languid daydreaming. Outside the window, she watches as three red cars pass by.

More so than her other subjects, math just makes sense to her without even trying. There's less up for interpretation, there are consistent and logical rules, and patterns are clearer with numbers.

If she doesn't need to try, then why would she? So she hands in passable attempts at homework, texts throughout lecture, and is generally unresponsive during the class. Ms. Kang would love nothing more than to suspend her for insubordination and churlishness; but Kyuhyun is her best student by far, and they both know it.

"If the altitude of right triangle ABC intersects with the hypotenuse at D, what equation is always true?"

In fact, Kyuhyun would want to skip this class too, but there's just something about its specific learning environment that keeps her attending lesson after lesson.

In her periphery, the student in front of her and one row over hurriedly draws out the question in her notebook to analyse it. She raises her hand in excitement a moment later.

"Yes, Ryeowook?" "AD over AC is equal to AC over BD!"

Kyuhyun suppresses a scoff. The teacher smiles sympathetically, knowing that Ryeowook is doing her best, and says, "Sorry, but no."

Ryeowook pouts. "Aigoooo," she intones as she looks back at her drawing, no doubt trying to understand where she went wrong.

Encouraged by Ryeowook's attempt, more students try their hand at the problem.

"AC over AD equals BD over BC?" "Nope."

"AD over CD equals DB over CD!" "If you bothered to write that down, you'd immediately see why that cannot possibly be the correct answer."

The class lapses into silence, and Ms. Kang begins calling out desperately. "Anyone? Anyone else?" When it was apparent no one else knew the answer, she sighs. "Kyuhyun?"

"AD over AC is equal to CD over BC," she recites boredly, gaze still trained beyond the window. Forget being capable of immediately answering a direct question; if anyone had been observing her during this lesson, they would have thought she wasn't even paying attention at all.

"That is correct," the teacher admits begrudgingly. "Remember class, due to the AA Similarity Postulate…"

Kyuhyun lets the teacher's words drift in one ear and out the other, heeding no further sounds until the bell rings.

The end of the school day is finally upon them.

As much as she looks forward to this point every day, she sits in her chair and lets every other student file out first before packing her things. She's in no rush.

Kyuhyun drops her bookbag off at her locker and wanders the halls aimlessly instead, spending extra time in the art corridor to see the latest student works. The freshmen are working on watercolours, apparently.

After an unfortunate encounter in the bathroom, she beelines for the cafeteria, which happens to be in a completely other building, and runs into the second-to-last person she wants to see right now.

"What are you still doing here, Ms. Cho?" Mr. Park asks with suspicion.

"Just hanging out," she says with a shrug.

"I know you refuse to partake in any of our extracurriculars, but don't you have something better to do than loiter? I'm sure you have homework or some such."

"Maybe if this school started offering a curriculum that actually required me to reinforce what I learned at home, I would."

Mr. Park's eyes narrow in contempt. "Whatever delinquent nonsense you're up to, do it outside of my high school!" he bellows.

Kyuhyun's phone buzzes in her hand just then, and she uses the same hand to offer a sarcastic salute. "Your wish, Mr. Park," she offers in parting before rushing as fast as she can to her locker. She can't wait to get home.

~~~

When her home's doorbell rings its seasonal chime, Ryeowook is several pages deep into her biology packet. She begrudgingly sets down her work and gets up to look out the window.

Her view is exasperating.

"You weren't in homeroom this morning… again," she says in lieu of a greeting, walking back to where she was doing homework in the living room after letting in the guest.

"Babe, don't be like that," the guest whines while she takes off her shoes. "You know that homeroom is a gigantic waste of time. It's just Big Academia's way of—"

"—'Training students to get used to being herded like cattle,' yeah yeah. Tell it to someone who cares."

"Oh? This isn't a suggestion I should take to your precious student council?"

"I don't have time for you right now. I have a whole biology packet to complete before I can start baking," Ryeowook says as she waves said packet in the air for emphasis.

Kyuhyun pouts with her whole face. "Why bother letting me over if you're not even going to pay attention to me!"

Ryeowook sighs and repositions her laptop to rest on the arm of the couch, invitation unspoken. Kyuhyun drops her petulant act immediately and happily trods over to stretch out on the couch and rest her head on her girlfriend's lap. She wiggles in place to get comfortable and pulls out her phone. Ryeowook's typing provides a light, inconsistent soundtrack to her mindless scrolling; and it feels nice.

"How'd your presentation go?" she asks after a while.

"I almost accidentally commandeered the whole period because people were so excited about my topic." Ryeowook tried going for deadpan, but the pride in her voice was unmistakable.

"Well, duh. No one can listen to you talk about something you're interested in and stay indifferent."

"Yeah, it's cool how emotions are infectious," Ryeowook comments offhandedly.

"Sure, but I meant specifically you. You're, like, the most passionate person I know. I bet you had the best topic out of anyone there, anyway."

Ryeowook doesn't reply, but Kyuhyun cranes her neck just enough to watch a grateful and pleased smile cross the other's face.

Satisfied with how awesome of a girlfriend she is, she keeps going. "Did you like the wrap?"

Kyuhyun can somehow feel the change a split-second before she hears it. "It was delicious; thank you; and never do it again," Ryeowook responds with a clipped tone.

Kyuhyun rolls her eyes. "Stop sacrificing your lunch time for things that can be handled over email, and maybe I will."

"I meant skipping class; and don't even try to deny it!" Ryeowook adds as soon as she hears Kyuhyun's sharp intake of breath in preparation for a non-sequitur argument. "I know you. You thought to do it only because you passed by the deli on your way back from wherever truant kids spend their time."

"Napping with Nixies released a new album," Kyuhyun defends.

"And the store would have still had copies for you to buy during the weekend," Ryeowook retorts.

"First day sales are important, Ryeowook!"

"So is your education, Kyuhyun!" Ryeowook parrots back in the same whining tone.

"Spoken like a true cog in Big Academia's machine."

"This sentence probably won't make sense to a self-inflicted lone wolf, but collaboration happens best in person. And I prefer a small lunch anyway." Ryeowook tacks on that last bit like an afterthought. Kyuhyun might have believed her, except she's seen the way Ryeowook packs for picnic dates and knows that statement to be patently untrue.

"You could stand to be a bit more selfish with your time, you know."

"You could stand to be a bit more courteous in general, so I guess we both have things we need to work on," Ryeowook fires back easily.

Kyuhyun strikes the couch with her arms in offense. "I'm plenty courteous! I bought you lunch 'cause I knew you wouldn't have had a real meal otherwise!"

"I meant to people that aren't me!" Ryeowook clarifies exasperatedly.

"Hmph. People that aren't you don't deserve it. It's like Kanye-sunbaenim says: 'Asshole to the world but never to your girl.'"

"… I don't know what's worse: that I'm dating a girl that gets her love advice from Kanye West or the fact that I had to hear the phrase 'Kanye-sunbaenim' with my own two ears."

"Well, what if I told you I also get my life advice from Kimmy K-unnie? That way it counts as women empowerment. Don't you like that kind of stuff?"

Ryeowook finally tears her focus away from her work to eye Kyuhyun incredulously.

Kyuhyun innocently looks up through her eyelashes to meet the other's gaze. "Well if you're not into what I'm posting, don't look."

Mercilessly, Ryeowook shoves Kyuhyun off her lap. "Goodbye," she says as she places her laptop back on her folded legs.

Kyuhyun scrambles up from the floor and looks at the laptop with thinly veiled disdain and jealousy. "Let me back!"

"Not until you're nicer to people."

"I'm nice to people! Today, I heard Yom Syejin gossipping in the bathroom that the only way I could have avoided detention this year is by blowing Mr. Park, and I managed to walk away without dunking her head in the toilet. That seems plenty nice to me."

"Excuse me, Yom Syejin said what?!"

Ah shit, Kyuhyun knew she shouldn't have said anything. This is what she gets for thinking humourous delivery is enough to mask unfortunate content.

"Really, it's not a big deal. I handled it," Kyuhyun maintains.

"I'm sure you did, honey. Come on, help me bake some snickerdoodles," Ryeowook says as she immediately heads into the kitchen.

This would be an excellent idea, except that Kyuhyun can clearly see Ryeowook's biology packet is still unfinished and that Ryeowook's tone of voice sounded disingenuously peppy.

~~~

Ryeowook makes it into homeroom the next day with a minute to spare, sets her stuff at her desk, then places a tin of snickerdoodles on the teachers' desk for everyone's enjoyment.

The bell rings, and the wattage turns up on her smile. "Good morning!" she calls out, easily cutting through the chatter with her high and bright voice. "There are snickerdoodles at the front for everyone. Feel free to grab some while I take attendance. I didn't have time last night to make as many as I wanted to, so I evenly divided the batch into goodie bags for you all! I wrote your names on them too, so please only take one. I'll know if you don't," she faux-threatens with a cute wink.

The typical gratitudes spill out—"You're the best!" "Thanks, Ryeowook!" "Please marry me?"—and she preens at the praise as she goes down the list in her hand.

It isn't until she notices one person in particular eagerly grabbing her designated bag that Ryeowook lets a private smile cross her face.

~~~

from: Kyuhyun-ssi (Geometry) oh my god yom skank-jin just bolted out of my english class like the new galaxy was on sale tf?

from: wookie💜 Maybe if you bothered attending homeroom this morning, you'd have an answer to your crudely-phrased question.

from: Kyuhyun-ssi (Geometry) oh my god what did you do

from: wookie💜 Did you know Syejinnie's favourite cookies are snickerdoodles?

from: Kyuhyun-ssi (Geometry) OH MY GOD WHAT DID YOU DO

from: wookie💜 Bathrooms are for shitting, not shit-talking.

from: Kyuhyun-ssi (Geometry) i am madly in love with you

from: wookie💜 Stop texting me and pay attention in class!

from: wookie💜 And I love you too 💛

~~~

A/N (8.27.2021): Thanks for reading! To prove my thanks, here is fanart that almost made it into the cover photo.

[renlimotroll]

BinTRoLL guidelines!!

Today, I tried to translate (with the help of some friends) the Bintroll guidelines. I've always been meaning to do it but I always forget. 😅 Please read below!

-ABOUT-

�� What is BinTRoLL?

It's a laid-back Let's Play group launched by Siruko.

We won't do anything else but to have fun playing.

We said we won't so we won't.

-GUIDELINES-

■ A Request From BinTRoLL

Please refrain from using BinTRoLL's copyrighted works (videos, images, etc.) beyond the scope of private use.

Let's keep good manners and have fun interacting and creating.

■ About voice actor Hanae Natsuki and Hanae Natsuki channel videos

It is not under the category of the BinTRoLL guidelines.

Please follow the rules of the person himself or of Across Entertainment to which he belongs to.

-Q&A-

These are the questions and answers that have been given so far.

Please take note that we may post the questions from everyone as they are.

Q: What is the extent of private use, distribution and sales? 

A: There are no strict rules as to what private use may entail,

You can make it yourself and enjoy it privately, give it to your family and friends as a present, publish the pictures (images) on your personal SNS such as Twitter, and so on.

Regarding distribution, it refers to the unspecified number of third parties that has been licensed.

Regarding sales, it refers to the act of making profit such as money.

Q: I want to create derivative works using the characters of BinTRoLL.

A: There are basically no restrictions. We look forward to your masterpiece.

Q: I want to distribute and sell doujin works.

A: There are basically no restrictions on doujinshi and doujin goods,

Please refrain from distributing or selling official works or works that can be mistaken as official ones.

Q: I want to create works that partially uses official works such as tracing, printing, and clipping of videos.

A: There is no problem as long as it is for private use without distribution or selling.

Q: Are BL and Ero-Guro safe?

A: BinTRoLL members stated that they don't particularly mind being the subjects (of such works).

However, some viewers may be underage or uncomfortable with it, so,

It would be helpful if you refrain from including R18 elements in public as much as possible.

Q: Why the sudden guidelines?

A: Because we didn't establish our policies, it caused our viewers to have some conflict of opinions.

BinTRoLL doesn't want viewers to feel uncomfortable.

We have created guidelines so that you can have as much fun as possible without worrying about anything.

Click this for the original post!

Author’s Notes:

*Definition of some terms:

Derivative works- anything (like fanarts or fanfiction stories) that has copyrightable elements

Doujin works- you may have heard of doujinshi! 同人 (doujin) literally means 'people of shared interests', so doujinshi means a self-published magazine that caters to a specific group of people. Bintroll used the term 同人作品 (doujin sakuhin).

Ero-Guro- エログロ (eroguro) is a Japanese term based on the english words 'erotic' and 'grotesque'. It mainly refers to works that has elements of horror/gore and sexy/erotic scenes.

*Some additional information: (these are my own words based on previous statements from BinTRoLL)

× Please refrain from DM-ing Siruko-san, as he has said that important messages get pushed down.

× Depending on the streamer's rules, it causes some conflict when you mention BinTRoLL names in other streams. For example, Mintosu-san has strict rules about mentioning other streamers, but Limone-sensei doesn't mind. However, some fans may feel uncomfortable if other streamers are mentioned in the stream they are watching (ex: "Siruko-san started streaming now!", "Siruko-san did this and that!") It's a difficult area to navigate, so for me I'd rather not mention BinTRoLL in other streams as a general courtesy. If the streamer brings it up, it's all good. Still, it depends on the streamer themselves.

× Try not to ask too personal questions. Out of all of them, Siruko-san is the most likely to answer personal questions, but other members? Not so much. Try not to ask Siruko-san for other member's personal information too. A good rule of thumb is to let the members bring up the information then follow up on it rather than outright asking them (do not DM for the love of gods!)

× Believe it or not, people do actually ship BinTRoLL members (like me! teehee!) Some post FAs and fanfiction (believe me, I’ve seen both Japanese and Korean ones) Bintroll shipping is termed "nmmn" in japanese; it’s kinda like they're not just 2D charas and they're real, so shipping is hidden and found only by fujoshi fans. Of course we know it’s just our imaginations, and we know the limitations and boundaries. There’s a thin line of shipping real people, and we know better than to cross the line. That’s why I started this tumblr, after all, because I can never comment on YT or tweet so much about shipping, especially that public. All my shipping posts will be tagged as such and will have warnings, so you can steer clear of that. But just so you know, BinTRoLL said it’s fine to make BL, so if anyone comes to me criticizing my shipping posts, I’ll slap the BinTRoLL guidelines in their face. 😆

× Please, and I cannot stress this enough, do not pressure the members to appear. Remember, they do streaming for fun; they do have lives and work outside of this. I get what you feel, you have a favorite member and you want to see that member all the time, or you want to see them in complete attendance, but don't be greedy. I've been a fan long enough to always see questions like, "Where is this member?" or "This member hasn't appeared in a long time." and some push it to the extreme and DM BinTRoLL (yikes!!) Let the members appear when they want to and be content with it.

Let me tell you my observations. Mintosu-san is not the type to talk about himself, so you might notice he only appears to play games. He has his own MCup with his fans every Saturday too. Then, there was a time when Ichihachi-san was busy with his real life (I call it The Great 18san Drought), and during that hiatus many fans always asked where he was. Even Hakotaro-san gets these questions, and he is the type to prefer working behind-the-scenes.

Now, let me tell you why it's better to let them be from my past experiences. Whenever Mintosu-san appears in the videos, the feeling of great joy from the surprise is amazing. It's like, "Hallelujah! YATTA!!" When Ichihachi-san came back, everyone had a field day and kept rejoicing. It was a party! When you, out-of-nowhere, hear Hakotaro-san's greeting during a livestream, you'll just suddenly go "AAAAAH!!!" and it's the best feeling ever. The feeling of being pleasantly surprised is nice, because you don't expect anything so you were never disappointed. It's better this way, trust me. After all, everyone performs better if they're not pressured, and BinTRoLL are people too like us, so it's better to let them do their own thing and enjoy whatever content we get.

× Siruko-san has mentioned that it's okay to comment or chat in English (or any language), which is great for us international fans! He said that he's not that good in English (although I believe he's good enough) that he may not always understand it though. However, and these are my own opinions, please remember this before chatting and commenting in English.

Use simple english that's easy enough to understand.

Do not use sarcasm. It does not translate well.

Always, always be polite. Choose your words carefully.

Why do I say this? Sometimes I see English spams and I cringe. The difference between cultures can be great sometimes, and Japanese is known for the politest way of speaking, and they are often straightforward with their words. It's better to be careful than accidentally offending someone, right?

× Regarding distribution and sales of official works, this may be a gray area and it's difficult to explain. For example, you can use BinTRoLL character images which are the intellectual property of the creator Hakotaro-san and by extension of Bintroll, to tweet or even to screenshot and DM it to other people to discuss. You can also clip video highlights and share them on your sns. I think that the moment you profit from it, for example, selling keychains and mugs with official Bintroll art, or re-uploading whole Bintroll videos on youtube or other video-sharing websites, is where you violate the rules. As long as your use is for community-base and personal use, you're safe, but when you gain something official from it (like money or subscribers), that's not allowed.

BinTRoLL members are one of the kindest people ever. Siruko-san always hearts and reads comments on their Youtube, and he also used to like or RT every fanart and even follow back his followers (but he can't do it right now as Twitter almost froze his account). They even read the names of superchat donators at the end of each stream even if they don't really have to (and sometimes it takes hours!) That’s why I hope people won’t abuse their kindness. I hope people follow the guidelines (seriously, it's not that hard) and do not cross the fan line so that we can all get along with each other! In everything you do or say, remember to have manners and be kind, and surely you'll enjoy even more. ^^ 🥰

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me! I may not know everything about Bintroll, but I'll do my best! Let's all follow the rules and guidelines so that we can enjoy all the videos and live streams to the best we can. Have fun watching and interacting! Have a nice day~  🌻 Think before you click!

[roseisread]

My Year in Movies: Favorite Non-2018 Feature Films (Part 1)

I watched a LOT of movies this year. At last count, I had logged 229 features and 126 shorts; and that doesn’t count rewatches--only movies that were new to me.

I set a few challenges for myself as well this year. The first one was to watch at least one non-English language/US release per week--this exposed me to so much world cinema and some really amazing filmmakers. Anyone who avoids foreign films because “I don’t like subtitles” is really missing out, and I found myself craving these narratives from voices I don’t ordinarily get exposed to in my everyday life. 

Other personal challenges: Watching as many horror movies as possible in October (with horror defined pretty loosely so I could include entries from silent era and onward, as well as some comedy cult classics that have horror/thriller elements); participating in Noirvember (in addition to attending Noir City in Chicago); crossing off some major blindspots from my list (such as Bicycle Thieves, The Producers, Lethal Weapon, A Few Good Men, Grease, Home Alone 2, Brazil, and Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom); and trying to watch movies and short films from every decade that motion pictures have existed.

In 2019, I hope to do similar personal challenges with a focus on movies made by women, LGBTQ+, and people of color, in addition to filling in the gaps of my classical/canonical movie knowledge. 

OK, so that’s enough preamble. Let’s get to the list! For this list, I’m excluding movies that were released in 2018--that’s coming but this is for movies released before that. 

50. Linda Linda Linda (2005, directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita, country of origin: Japan)

High school girls recruit the Korean exchange student (Doona Bae, of Cloud Atlas and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance) to join their rock band a few days before the school talent show. This is just a feel good film, recommended if you enjoyed the likes of Sing Street, We Are The Best!, and The Runaways. Unfortunately, it’s out of print in physical form; but last I checked someone had uploaded it to YouTube so you might want to get on that before it’s removed. You can watch the trailer here.

49. The Blue Dahlia (1946, directed by George Marshall, country of origin: US)

This film noir stars Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd, and like any good noir, it deals with dark subjects including murder, blackmail, political corruption, and PTSD. It’s been on my watchlist for a long time, and thanks to Noir City Chicago, I got to see it on the big screen at the Music Box Theatre. For small screen viewing, you can catch up with it via rental on Vudu, Amazon, iTunes... the usual suspects. 

48. Siren of the Tropics (1927, directed by Mario Nalpas and Henri Etievant, country of origin: France)

My dearly departed Filmstruck had a spotlight on the films of Josephine Baker, and this was among them. I fell in love instantly with the lively, beautiful Baker, here playing a woman named Papitou who deals with some super scummy dudes but manages to be herself in the face of all that nonsense. Silent films can sometimes be tougher to engage with for modern audiences, but this one flies by and contains some unexpectedly racy sequences for the time. Its racial politics don’t meet today’s cultural standards, but considering Baker’s parents were former slaves and their daughter went on to become the first woman of color to star in a major motion picture, this is still a landmark film worthy of our consideration. She broke down many barriers and contributed a great deal to both the entertainment world and the Civil Rights movement, and this serves as a nice entry point into her career. It’s available on DVD through Kino Lorber, and hopefully one day soon it’ll pop up on another streaming service that carries on the Filmstruck legacy.

47. I Don’t Feel At Home in This World Anymore (2017, directed by Macon Blair, country of origin: US)

Here’s a film that goes to some unexpected places. I had no idea what to expect from Macon Blair, who frequently appears in the movies of Jeremy Saulnier; but in his debut feature for Netflix, he pulled out all the stops. Hilarious, violent, and intense, with memorable performances from stars Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood, this is a movie about getting in over your head and just going for it anyway. I don’t want to tell you about the plot because it’s best discovered through watching--just go to your nearest device and add it to your Netflix queue. 

46. Song of the Sea (2014, directed by Tomm Moore, country of origin: Ireland)

Absolutely gorgeous animation from the team that previously brought us The Secret of Kells, and a touching story that combines family and mythology. I adored this one. Watch it on Netflix or rent on the usual streaming sources--for a preview, click here. 

45. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942, directed by Michael Curtiz, country of origin: US)

I always watch Independence Day on the Fourth of July; but in 2018, I decided to mix it up and cross this patriotic musical off the watchlist. I’d seen James Cagney’s gangster movies like White Heat and The Public Enemy, but seeing him sing and dance was a whole new joyous discovery. This movie is entertaining, funny, touching, and full of iconic sequences that other films would go on to borrow from. I absolutely loved it. Pretty sure I saw this on Filmstruck originally, but since that’s no longer possible you should be able to find it at your local public library or you can rent it for a couple bucks on Amazon, YouTube, iTunes, and the like. 

44. The Man Who Cheated Himself (1950, directed by Felix Feist, country of origin: US)

This tightly wound noir thriller pits brother against brother against the backdrop of 1950s San Francisco. Lee Cobb plays an aging bachelor and an accomplished police detective who falls for the wrong dame. His younger brother, played by John Dall (Gun Crazy, Rope), has just joined the police force and idolizes his older brother. Trouble strikes when the dame murders her no good husband and needs help from Cobb to cover it up. Naturally, Dall gets assigned to the case and as he begins to piece together the clues, he doesn’t like where they’re leading him. The climactic sequence is one of my favorite endings to a noir film, and I’ve seen a lot of them. Watch it for free if you have Amazon Prime; otherwise, there are a few versions uploaded to YouTube of varying quality or you could wait for it to pop up on TCM. 

43. Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003, directed by Thom Andersen, country of origin: US)

This documentary edits together clips from movies of every era that were filmed or set in Los Angeles, and explains through voiceover narration the significance of each location and the history of the motion pictures in LA. That’s it--very simple concept but also fascinating. I split this up over a couple nights because it’s pretty long, but if you’re a film fan or a Los Angeles native, this is well worth your time. The voiceover is kind of hilariously flat in its delivery--kind of a Steven Wright sound actually--but that sort of adds to the charm for me. Get a taste by watching the trailer, and then you can rent it on YouTube for $1.99.

42. A Simple Plan (1998, directed by Sam Raimi, country of origin: US)

It’s been almost two years since we lost Bill Paxton; I don’t know about you but I don’t think any other actor can really fill those shoes. This year I caught up with three films that showcased his talent: A Simple Plan, One False Move, and Frailty. He plays very different characters in each one but in many ways they all start off with a similar premise: Ordinary guy dreams of becoming more. What that “more” is for each character is what sets each film and performance apart, but Paxton provided a great canvas to paint these unique characters onto. He inhabited the ordinary man better than just about anyone. 

In this film, which I watched during Noirvember, Paxton plays Hank, a college-educated guy working a blue collar job in a small town, trying to make a better life for himself and his family. He’d like to get away from those small town roots, but his socially awkward brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton) relies on him. Unfortunately, Jacob is often accompanied by the hard-drinking loose canon Lou (Brent Briscoe). When the unlikely trio discover a crashed plane in the woods containing a suitcase full of cash, they each have ideas for how to handle the situation. Of course things escalate from there, and the way the movie explores human nature and family ties set this story apart. Available for online rental on the usual platforms.

41. The Iron Giant (1999, directed by Brad Bird, country of origin: US)

Given my obsession with Vin Diesel in the early 2000s, it’s pretty shocking I never saw this movie til now--sure, he and his glorious muscles don’t appear on screen, but he does provide the voice of the title character after all. When the Iron Giant made a controversial cameo in this year’s film adaptation of Ready Player One, I decided it was time I saw the source material for myself. 

This gorgeously animated fable unfolds during the Cold War era, and features an ET-inspired story arc of a young boy befriending an unlikely being that the government is looking for. If you’ve never seen it, this is definitely a must-watch. Currently available on Netflix, but rentable on other platforms too.

40. The Unsuspected (1947, directed by Michael Curtiz, country of origin: US)

I adore Claude Rains, star of this film and supporting actor in Curtiz’s more famous work, Casablanca. Here, he plays the host and narrator of a popular radio show that revolves around tales of murder--basically the Law and Order: SVU of its day. We learn early on that he sometimes draws inspiration for his broadcasts from real life criminals. When people in his own life start dropping dead, the plot thickens and he finds himself at the center of the action. A very suspenseful and well-plotted film noir, which is available from the Warner Archive collection on DVD. I got to see it at Noir City Chicago, and loved every second of it. 

That’s all for this entry--stay tuned for part two of this list, posting soon! 

[ajuimaginary]

Soulmate Woozi

Part of the Seventeen Soulmate Series

In a world where everyone has every lie their soulmate will ever tell them written on their body, people tend to stare a little when someone looks almost blank. Unfortunately, you happen to be one of those people. And summer is the worst: shorts and t-shirts increasing how obvious it is.

You’re used to eyes turning your way: used to the specific considering look even people you’ve known for a while sometimes get on their face, scanning your body as if seeking a mark. Usually, you glance them over at the same time, easily seeing the lines of ink-like writing, peppering arms, extending up the sides of necks, peaking through the knees of ripped jeans.

“Wow, your soulmate must be pretty honest?” someone asks you on a day when you’re particularly tired. “Do you have any marks at all?”

You want to retort “at least I don’t have a cliche lie like yours” when you see the turn of their shoulder marked with “of course you don’t look fat.” It’s one of your least favorite lies, so pointless, so insincere, and worst of all implying there’s something wrong with extra weight in the first place. But you maintain politeness, because you don’t want to expose how worried and bitter you feel about the hidden lie written over your own heart.

“I have one.” you say instead.

“What is it?” apparently they can’t contain their curiosity.

But you just shake your head and turn your face away, unwilling to share.

At night, alone in your room, you hitch up your shirt and stare at your single lie, printed bold across the place where your heart is, and you trace the letters with disbelief. The one lie your soulmate will say to you. 

I love you.

It’s written in Korean, actually. But you had it translated when you were still very young. You know what it says. And it terrifies you. Why would a soulmate ever say those words and be lying about it?

You learned Korean during your teenage years despite your hesitance and worry, to ensure you had a language in common. You almost didn’t want to meet your soulmate if that was what they would say to you. But at the same time, you knew the universe had a way of working out. And there was a chance you had misinterpreted something. There was a chance it was out of context and wasn’t really quite so awful as it seemed. And after all, they were your soulmate. 

And you couldn’t help liking your soulmate already. You liked that they seemed to be very honest- after all, you had often been drawn to honest people. Your best friend was one of them. She wasn’t afraid to say what was on her mind, and if she wasn’t ready to share her thoughts, rather than tell a lie, she would say nothing. 

She found her own soulmate near the end of high school. 

Your school was big enough that there were some people in your year that neither of you had really talked to before. One of them was a tall gangly boy with a sweet smile and an almost blank body like your own. You had exchanged smiles with him in the hall because of that, actually, and knew your best friend thought he was cute, but none of you had properly interacted.

Until, during the last week before you all graduated, he was standing nearby and suddenly dropped his pen, sending it skittering toward you and your best friend. He stumbled over and picked it up. And then, while looking up at your friend with red cheeks, he said “sorry- didn’t mean to do that.” 

Her eyes widened  as if she’d been stung, she laughed, and she pulled up her sleeve. The words were written on her arm (sorry- didn’t mean to do that), and now, having been said to her, they had faded instantly to the color of an old scar, ink black gone.

“Seems like a clever excuse to finally talk to me,” she teased him. 

And just like that, she had found him.

You tried not to be jealous. They really were perfect together. You were happy for them. And you got on well with him too. He was very kind hearted, and understood what it was like to be stared at because of your lack of marks. The three of you were a close knit group in no time. 

But you still couldn’t help the dread that came along with knowing your meeting with your soulmate probably wouldn’t be so perfect and so easy. 

Your best friend’s soulmate was Korean, and a fan of K-Pop, so as a result, your friend’s interest in the music began to grow too. The two of them liked a few different groups, and told you bits about them, and because you were learning Korean for the sake of your own soulmate, you decided to try giving it a listen as well. It turned out you liked a lot of the songs. Even more so when they introduced you to a group called Seventeen.

You couldn’t work out what it was about them, but the song writing felt like it was really speaking to you. Everything about the way the music pulled together was flawless and tugged right at your heart. 

You were busy with school and your language learning a lot of the time, so you didn’t necessarily have the time to become fully invested in all the members (unlike your friend and her soulmate, who knew all of their names alongside the other groups they enjoyed), but you had seen some of their videos, appreciated the pink haired boy in Adore U, admired the choreography too. Your friend also liked to show you things on her phone you would appreciate.

“You know how you like the Seventeen member who does most of the song writing and composing?” she asks you one day.

“Yeah. Woozi, right?” you don’t know all their names well yet.

“That’s the one!” she says. “Look at this.”

It’s a post-it from a fan sign, where he’s been asked to define his sense of beauty. His answer is that “beauty lies in honesty.” 

You smile, nod in agreement. 

“Aw, I like that,” you say. “That’s really sweet.”

When the three of you finish college, you decide to take a trip overseas together. Considering their interest in K-Pop, the fact that there are family members of your best friend’s soulmate you could stay with for cheaper accommodation, and your own growing fluency in Korean (plus your tiny fluttering hope that you might meet your soulmate) you all unanimously decide to go to Korea. 

It’s a great trip. And on one of your lazy days in Seoul (which you set aside as a time to just wing it and see what you felt like doing) your friends manage to find three tickets last minute tickets into a Seventeen fansign off a girl who can’t go anymore. They ask you to come with them even if you’re not as invested, and since you like the music, and know you have things you could say to each member, complimenting voices, or dancing, or especially Woozi’s song writing, you decide you may as well go along. After all, you aren’t doing anything else today...

-

Jihoon has been having a genuinely awful day. As much as he loves his job, he does get those days, every now and then. He scratches a lie on his wrist (I’m fine), adjusts his shirt sleeve over it, frowns in the mirror to see that his make up is okay, and then lets out a long sigh. 

“Jihoon?” Seungcheol’s voice calls, with a cursory knock before the leader steps into the bathroom. “The sign’s about to start, so you might want to come gather.”

“I know.” Jihoon snaps. Seungcheol raises an eyebrow.

“How much sleep did you get last night?” he asks.

“Almost three hours.” Jihoon sighs. And then, thinking over it for a minute, realizes he was just rather rude. “Sorry, I’m a bit sharp today, aren’t I?”

“It’s fine. We get why. So long as you don’t get grumpy with the Carats.”

“Of course I won’t get grumpy with the Carats.” Jihoon sighs. “I’m just- eruh- it’s not a good time. Come on. Let’s get this over and done with.”

He pastes on his fake smile for Seungcheol to see. The leader shakes his head worriedly and offers a comforting pat on his shoulder, and then they join the other boys in time to head out onto the stage for the fansign. It’s going to be a long day.

Jihoon does love his fans. He really does. But running on so little sleep, not having eaten a proper lunch yet, and having spent the night before dealing with some security issue of a rather invested stalker trying to steal his personal mail from outside the Seventeen dorms, that love feels a little dull. A little bitter. 

The sign begins, the line starts to move past, and using all his energy, Jihoon is able to settle into his usual self on the outside. He’s pretty sure no one can notice the exhausted edge to everything and the fact that his mind is elsewhere. 

At the other end of the table, you’ve just started making your way down the line. 

It’s nice to meet some of the stars you’ve begun to admire so much, and they’re all very friendly, and very impressed when they find out Korean is your second language, but you speak it so well. 

By this point, Jihoon is fully in robot mode, totally detached from his real feelings. And then you reach him. You slide your book to be signed, and he doesn’t look up when you first greet him.

“Hi, Woozi, it’s so nice to meet you,” you say, smiling. “It seems unfair to the others when I say this, but you’re actually my favorite.”

“Oh, thank you,” Jihoon says with as much cheer as he can muster, in the middle of writing his name.

“I really love your music.”

“Ah, that’s very sweet, I love you.” he says, finally looking up.

The first thing that impacts him is how surprisingly pretty you are- somehow managing to tick every one of his boxes for what he finds attractive. Even boxes he didn’t know he had. His eyes widen a little.

And then right in front of him, right as he finishes his sentence and your eyes first meet, you gasp out an almost pained noise and clutch your chest. Jihoon half stands, hovering in concern like he thinks you’re about to pass out. 

“Are you alright?” He asks helplessly.

Without thinking, you’re popping open a couple of buttons on your shirt so you can feel the air against a weird stinging on your skin.

“I’m fine,” you lie as you touch your fingers to the area right over your heart, cogs in your head turning, realizing the spot that just stung you is your one and only soulmate mark.

Jihoon suddenly lets out a pained hiss of breath, face scrunching, and his right hand flies to clutch his left wrist.

You both freeze, in sync, minds catching up with the situation and the connection at the exact same time. Jihoon’s gaze falls to your chest, where the edge of his words, his throwaway line of I love you, is written on your skin, turned the faint color of a scar now that the lie has been told. Your eyes are on the wrist where his fingers are rubbing his own stung skin. Your words are written there. I’m fine. 

And then you look up at each other.

“Oh my god.” you say.

“You’re my soulmate.” Jihoon breathes.

And then the rest of the world seems to start moving again. 

The commotion you caused was enough that everyone is looking at you now. The  staff at the fansign step up to you, asking quietly if you want to come to the waiting room in the back so you can meet Jihoon properly when he finishes. All of the members are gaping in your direction. Some of the ones you already met are beaming in delight. Seungcheol is standing up a couple of people down, eyes flickering between you and Woozi, looking like he wants to take charge and say something. A little further along, Seungkwan seems to be having the same thought.

You don’t get to hear how the fansign continues. You’re ushered out of the back door, still not even having spoken to your soulmate. Not even having had a chance to touch him. You look back over your shoulder right before the door closes, and meet eyes with him, staring after you stunned and completely lost in a daze, so handsome it makes your heart pick up speed. You had admired him before, of course, but in person, he still managed to blow you away.

And then the door closes.

The staff shuffle around you as they find you a seat in the waiting room back there. Most of them are very nice, though some seem annoyed at the interruption. They don’t have time to readjust the whole schedule, and tell you Woozi will just have to cope with finishing the day. Poor thing.

Then they all end up going back out to the sign, apart from one particularly lovely woman. She talks through some details with you. Having an idol as a soulmate is complicated. Apparently usually, when one discovers their soulmate, they get to know each other in secret (or adjust to their new connection after having already known each other) before making a public announcement together to break the news to the fans in the best way. Fans tend to be happy for them, used to the Universe being something they can’t interrupt. 

However, in your case, because you discovered the connection in front of a bunch of fans, fansite cameras clicking away behind you, you would have to make the announcement over V Live that afternoon. Right away. 

The staff are relieved to find out you have nothing else on your schedule for the day.

And then finally, they leave you alone, to wait for Jihoon’s return, and to absorb what just happened. You send off texts to your family to let them know. You respond to some screaming texts from your best friend, who you realize got to see the whole thing from one seat over, sitting in front of Jeonghan. 

It’s a while before Jihoon gets to come meet you. When he does, he announces his presence with a tentative knock at the door. You can tell it must be him right away, rather than the staff, who come in and out with more confidence. You swallow a tense lump in your throat before calling out “Come in!”

Jihoon swings open the door. 

He looks gorgeous and stressed all at once. His hair (dyed an endearing sort of a lime color) is slightly disheveled from running his fingers through. His sleeve is still unbuttoned, revealing his wrist. The whole outfit, with it’s tight jeans and tucked in look, accentuates the grace in shape of his compact frame. Your cheeks heat instantly at the sight.

“Hello,” he says stiffly, eyes meeting yours, and then darting to the floor, shy.

“Hi, Woozi, I’m sorry, I- I forget what you real name is.” you can hear how stammering and stunned your own voice sounds. 

“Jihoon.” he says, stepping forward, and finally managing to hold your gaze. “I’m Lee Jihoon. What- what’s your name?”

“Oh, sorry, I’m Y/N.” you say, offering a hand to shake immediately. 

He looks a little bemused by the gesture, but he shakes your hand, swallows, and then clears his throat.

“I’m sorry I-” he nods his head to your still unbuttoned shirt, and you blush when you realize how much skin is exposed. “I do love my fans, really. It wouldn’t usually be a lie. But today has been... very hard. I was too grumpy and it made me insincere. I’m sorry I gave you an awful lie like that. ”

“It was a little hard to walk around with.” you laugh, and the sound of it melts tension from his shoulders. “But I don’t mind anymore, Jihoon. Not now that I’ve met you. And besides, it’s the only one I have. The only lie.”

“Really?” Jihoon smiles. “I always knew I wanted to be honest with you. I never wanted to hide anything from you.”

“How many lies do you have?” you ask.

“Only five.” Jihoon tells you. It’s a pretty small number too. “I’ll show them all to you later, I’m sure.”

You reach out, and your fingers brush the lie on his wrist. The one you just told him. He jumps a little at the contact, and then smiles. Your first two fingers land right against his pulse, you stepping closer, in his personal space. He watches your face as you read the words written there.

“I can’t believe this is real.” you say, turning your eyes to his.

You see his breath hitch in his throat again.

“I- I know.” he murmurs. “You’re- uh- you’re incredibly beautiful. I- I didn’t expect that.”

And you know his isn’t lying when he says it. Somehow, the reassurance of that sets something warm off inside you. Your affection for him seems to triple by the minute already.

“Thanks, Jihoon. So are you.” you answer, sincere and awed. Silence begins to stretch. You feel the need to explain yourself. “I, um, I’m actually here today because of my friends, mostly. They’re huge fans. I’m more of a casual fan, but I- something about the music always drew me in. And you were my favorite. Always. I love what you write- what you compose. I admired your spirit. And y-your face too. I guess now I know why.”

Jihoon smiles.

“You know, I wrote every love song thinking of you.” his face is a furious shade of red when he says it, but he gets the words out. “Thinking of meeting you in the future. Thinking of the life we might live together. You’re already more than I even imagined.”

He clears his throat, his eyes drift to your lips, then back up. Your breath catches. You can see the weight of the decision in his dark irises. The slight smirk pushing past his shyness. With a sudden confidence, he cups your cheek, and pulls you in, joining your lips together in the most mind blowing kiss- firm, certain, and somehow speaking of what the future might bring. 

When he pulls away, his smile breaks over his face, and your own beaming happiness bursts out to match.

“Y/N,” he says. Then he pauses a long time. Like saying your name was enough for him. “I’m sorry this will be such a long day for you-”

“I don’t mind!”

“- But are you ready to meet the members now?”

You laugh, feeling suddenly shyer, even though Jihoon has grown more bold. He clasps your hand in his, and with the other he brushes the hair at your temples as you duck your head. 

“I guess so?” you say tentatively.

“I promise they aren’t scary.” Jihoon says. “Don’t tell them this, but I love them more than anyone in the world. They’re the family I always asked for. I know they’ll be nothing but happy for us. And they already adore you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, you’re my soulmate, aren’t you? And the ones who got to meet you earlier can’t stop bragging to the others.”

You laugh. Somehow, he already knows how to reassure you. In a simple, straight-forward manner so very suited to him.

“Okay,” you say. “I’m ready.”

So Jihoon yells out.

“Hey, I know you guys are hovering at the door! Get in here and meet Y/N!”

And as the door bursts open and the room erupts in chaos, Jihoon’s gentle, solid hand, his warm weight at your side, let you know that everything in your life is falling into place.

[98aroha97bangtan94]

Common Language

Paring: Youngjae X reader Genre: Fluff Word count: 1,320 Summary: When Got7 come into the restaurant you work at it turns your world upside down, especially hearing some confessions in Korean. When will you tell them you know?

—-

Hey all here’s some fluff with the sunshiny boy Youngjae! As someone who worked in food I wish something like this would happen lol. Hope you enjoy! ~Mod Phoenix

—-

Another day, another boring shift at the restaurant. You were a waitress at a small restaurant and it was never exciting, easily seen in the empty dining room now. You knew that there was a Got7 concert going on the next day, you envied those able to go to their world tour. Due to the concert you thought it might be a busy shift, but you were mistaken. You sighed as you played with the strings on your apron. After what felt like an hour, which was really only ten minutes, the bells hanging from the door rang happily to announce customers.

When you looked up you were stunned to see none other than Got7. You quickly shook your head to try and clear it and said, “Hello, table for seven?” You automatically grabbed menus as the eldest responded, “Yes please!”

“Right this way,” you said with a smile and lead the way to a large party table. You set out the menus and let the boys get seated,“ I’ll be back to get your drink orders!”

You weren’t going to let them know you were an ahgase, rather you wanted to treat them like other customers. Jackson looked up at you and joked, “It seems like your the only one here!”

You laughed, “Well basically, there’s just me, the two cooks, and a manager.” The others started to speak in Korean, which they had no idea you also knew Korean. You had been studying it since high school and continued with taking classes in college. You almost felt odd listening in as you made your way back to the hostess stand where you could see all the boys interacting.

They talk started normal enough, just asking what some of the items on the menu were. But then you heard Youngjae’s voice stand out, “She’s really cute!”

This was followed with Jaebum asking, “Then why don’t you try talking to her?”

“I can’t speak English!” He exclaimed loudly.

Your breath was caught in your throat, he thought you were cute! You let out a long breath before heading over with your small notebook and pen in hand. You smiled, trying to look like you hadn’t understood the small exchange, “Can I get your drinks?”

You quickly jotted down their orders and smiled, “I’ll get those out right away!”

Before you walked away you heard Youngjae ask in Korean, “Wait what’s her name, what’s her name?”

“Ummm…” Jackson thought, “I didn’t see her name tag…” Mark responded that he hadn’t either and BamBam hadn’t payed attention.

As you went and fixed their drinks you couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of this situation. You balanced a tray full of drinks and handed them out. Once everyone had their order you asked, “Are you guys ready to order or do you need a few minutes?”

“Uhhh…” Jackson responded looking at the others repeating the question in Korean. “I think we need a few more minutes.” He was obviously looking for your name tag, which you had tagged to the pocket of your white apron. You couldn’t help but laugh and question, “Are you looking for something?”

“Oh! Sorry, I was looking for your name tag.” He responded, slightly embarrassed.

You pulled the pocket up and tapped the tag pinned there, “I guess it is out of sight.”

“Ahh, Y/N!” He grinned and said, “Thanks for waiting on us.”

“No problem, it is my job after all!” You replied happily as you went back to the stand.

“Her name is Y/N,” Jackson stated in Korean, turning to Youngjae.

The sunshiny boy grinned, “Y/N… A cute name to match a cute face!”

Yugyeom groaned, causing BamBam to imitate being sick. Jinyoung smacked the table to get their attention, “We need to have our orders ready, so figure out what you’re getting, then you can talk as much as you want.”

They quickly became quiet to look at the menu, only asking what things were. As you glanced up you caught Youngjae staring at you and when you locked eyes he quickly looked down. You could feel the heat rising in your face as he groaned, “She caught me looking at her!”

BamBam couldn’t help but laugh, “Smooth dude, smooth.” This caught him a quick slap on the arm. He then went on a tangent about how cute he found you, especially your smile.

You came back over and asked about ordering and Jackson ordered as well as BamBam. Mark listed off off his, JB’s, Jinyoung’s, and Yugyeom’s orders. You looked at Youngjae with a grin, “And for you?”

“Wait, what’s happening? Mark, I told you what I wanted!” Youngjae asked in confusion.

Mark simply smirked, “You can talk to her now, tell her your order.”

His eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of his head and it took everything you had to look confused at them speaking Korean. “Umm.. I want.. Uhh… Personal pepperoni pizza?” He stammered with an obvious accent, which made him even more adorable.

You nodded with a grin, “Got it, I’ll go put these in and hopefully they’ll be up soon!”

“What was that for?“Youngjae immediately demanded.

"It got you to talk to her didn’t it?”

“Well yeah, but you didn’t have to put me on the spot! It doesn’t help she’s cute let alone I can’t speak English!” He put his face in his hand, “I wish I could talk to her!” He sighed as he leaned back, “If only she knew Korean…”

You chuckled to yourself, ‘Oh man if only you knew, this is too much fun! I’ll let him know when they’re about to pay.’ You nodded as you made your decision, making your way to the food window to wait for their orders.

You brought back their food and so they were back to loud conversations. Youngjae later started talking to the others, “Guys, how do I talk to her? Should I ask her out? If I do though there’ll still be the language barrier… She’s just so cute,” He sighed wistfully. “I just want to know her…”

“If you ask her out, I could go as a translator,” Jackson offered, nudging the younger boy playfully.

“Wouldn’t that be awkward though?” He countered.

“I guess…”

All of the guys wracked their brains on how Youngjae could ask you out with the language barrier. They were very concentrated, debating ways until they had finished eating. You had to hide your face from time to time due to unstoppable laughter, this really was too fun. They didn’t know you were a fan of theirs or that you knew Korean, you couldn’t wait to see the surprise on their face as you printed the check and made your way over.

You smiled and stated in perfect Korean, “Here’s your check, not sure who to give it to so I’ll set it here. Did you guys enjoy your meals?”

“YOU CAN SPEAK KOREAN?” They all yelled in astonishment. “Wait, so you could.. understand us this entire time?” Yugyeom asked, specifically looking towards Youngjae, who looked absolutely stunned.

“Yeah, Yugyeom, every word! I’ve been learning Korean for probably five years?”

“Wait you know us too?” JB questioned, obviously shocked.

“Oh yeah, I’ve been an ahgase since you guys debuted!” You chirped.

Youngjae finally spoke up, “So you heard everything I said… about you?”

You smiled, “Yeah, you’re very flattering!”

“Well since it’s out there, even though I feel totally embarrassed, Y/N, do you maybe want to grab coffee tomorrow morning?” Youngjae asked, rubbing his neck nervously as he looked up at you with shining eyes.

“I’d love to!” You exclaimed happily. You took out your notebook and scribbled down your number, handing it to him. “Here’s my number, call or text me so we can plan.” He took it happily and nodded, who knew you’re boring day would end like this?

[edmtranslations]

BLING Magazine - Justice Interview [Documentation]

Yes, this is relevant.

First of all, the actual creation process. What I like the most about this is that the text had its own background.

Post-cleanup preview. The three dark boxes at the left-hand side, followed by a little bit below the main heading, is where all text in this interview goes. (There’s the photographer credits at the right, too, I suppose.) And because of that, there actually wasn’t much to document in the first place. It was literally erase the text, paste new text on top, and hey presto - you have an interview translated at the ready!

I will say that picking the right colour for the text here was a bummer. I’m usually quite good at selecting colours by eye, but I had to resort to an image colour picker for this one. Not to mention that the translation there turned out a lot longer than the original text, by almost twice the length. That was bizarre, because this was not the case with the main text.

The yellow text here was easy to pick out by eye, though. And it had to be lighter than the heading. Took some trial and error to figure out the correct colour distribution in the interview.

And that’s what I mean by the interview length - the red highlight is roughly how much of the second ‘box’ was left over by the time I was done. I can’t transfer a bit of the next section there because there’s not enough room, and because it just moves the problem to the next box over. Thankfully this box blends into the background enough that I don’t think this is too big a problem, but it always makes me wary about my textual and font face/size choices whenever this happens.

And the preview of the final piece!

But all of that isn’t actually the point of this documentation post. The BLING Magazine interview contains some references that are only obvious if you know quite a bit about Korea, or even the Korean Justice fandom. I’ll explain.

I guess the food is the simplest thing to go over. I think a lot of people know about kimchi, but yeah, basically: fermented spicy cabbage. Can be eaten as it is, or be used as an ingredient in stew. It’s a core Korean food and not the easiest texture/taste to get used to, so I’m honestly surprised they liked it.

The next thing is a little more cryptic. The original text quotes ‘Korean barbecue’, which I’ve kept in the in the translation, about halfway through, and I can think of two foods that that could correspond to. The first is samgyeopsal (삼겹살). Take a look. 

[ Image source: (x) ]

What usually gets made into bacon around those parts is grilled without seasoning or marinade in Korea and eaten straight off the grill, usually accompanied with lettuce leaves, rice, chili paste, and such. The Korean text goes straight for this interpretation, but me, I’m not so sure - I don’t get the impression that samgyeopsal is particularly heavy, or even that interesting in flavour, though I don’t doubt that they must have eaten it. It’s that common of a food in Korea. I will never know the backstory for what they said and how the magazine determined that it was samgyeopsal - if it turns out Justice actually meant that, well, boo to me - but I wonder if they might not have meant something closer to tteok bulgogi (떡불고기), which is what they’re shown to be eating in the title image. Look and compare:

[ Image source: (x) ]

These white things (tteok) are rice cakes, which are also in the title image, and bulgogi does often come on a grill as well. It is a food that certainly fits the definition of a barbecue, as much as samgyeopsal does, is the thing - and I would consider it a heavier, more spicy food than the latter by spades. I’ll never know the truth, but there are my suggestions. And makguli/makgeoli is just rice wine. It’s milky coloured, and goes very well with meat dishes in general, and sometimes you use it in ancestral rites. Again, I’m pretty happy that they like it. A bit of an acquired taste, that.

Now for the ‘military jacket’ thing. I actually devoted an entire post to this when I was posting in my older blog so that the reference could be explained, but it needs reiterating in more detailed terms. That military jacket isn’t a real military jacket in the fashion most people might be thinking of, but is closer to army underwear. It looks like this.

It’s like a snowsuit or a light parkha that you wear when the weather gets cold and it gives you some extra padding. There’s a bottom, too. It’s called 깔깔이 (’kkalkkari’).  Now why this got given to Justice in the first place has to do with a sect of the Korean Justice fandom. There’s a Korean site called DCInside, somewhat like reddit and somewhat like 4chan (in that there are subsections of the site devoted to various things, just that DCInside calls them ‘galleries’), and the ‘Electronica Gallery’ there follows the work of EDM artists everywhere. Think of it as like... r/EDM or something. A braver man than most of us got to meet Justice in person via a lottery-determined fan meeting when they came to South Korea for Global Gathering 2010 (mentioned also in the translation), and they were a poster in this gallery. (Apparently he even went to meet them at the airport, which shows his dedication.) During the meeting, they uh... handed them this.

Apparently called it ‘Korean army underwear’ too, when he was handing it over. There are no words. The text written on that kkalkkari is:

일갤 (’ElGal’ - short for ‘Electronic Gallery’) 라드 (’Rad’ - the fan’s DCI username) 젖티너무조아 (’I rly luv Justice’)

I can’t believe I’m writing this out in full. This is super immature language

I honestly don’t know if what happened next was the poster’s intention, or if the text was explained to Justice at all. If someone gave me clothing in a language I can’t read, I’d sure want to know what it says first so that I’m not offending anybody. But what we do know is that Justice then proceeded to make history in Korean Justice fandom by actually wearing the army underwear onstage.

Again, I don’t know why this had to be on army underwear specifically. But yeah. That was a thing that happened. Justice continues to be very popular in Korea and them wearing the kkalkkari became pretty memetic for a good long while, it really caused a stir. I really hope that Justice remember this incident as fondly as we do, for sure!

And that’s the end of the post. I hope you all enjoyed the interview and documentation - future interviews where things need to be explained via a translator’s note or several will do so via the documentation post. it won’t always be the adventures of me messing around with Illustrator layouts. It was great fun working on this!

Disclaimer: The original text of this interview, given by Justice and printed in BLING Magazine in 2012, is not copyrighted by this blog nor by the author of this post. Therefore, the original Korean text will not be distributed here. The author claims ownership of the wording of this translation, which does not deny nor seek to possess the existence of other translations. This translation may be subject to changes in the future. Images with defined copyright have been linked to the source.

[kp0p-whxre]

Ever since being a child, I’ve had a growing interest in languages. I took French for many years throughout primary and secondary school and picked it up rather easily and always liked how Spanish and Italian sounded. Yet it was only the beginning of this year that I really found my passion for a language. As my love for South Korea grew, so did my love for their language. I was intrigued by how it sounded, so alien at first. And so, that’s when my journey to learning Korean began.

One day, whilst bored at home, I googled the Korean alphabet and expected it to be super difficult. However, it took me under a day to master it and be able to write it comfortably. For a week or two, I practised non stop, writing out the alphabet and highlighting it, doodling around it, anything to help it stick in my brain. And here I am 3 months later, 안녕하세요 여러분!

My first tip to learning Korean, or any language for that fact, is take your time and research. Take a look at all of the resources you could potentially use. Look inside the books if you can, see if you can understand what’s being said, if it’s explained well enough for you, or listen to podcasts, online course testers to see if it’s the one for you. If you find that the explanations are too hard, or too in depth, or even not in depth enough, take your time and look around. I began my study with howtostudykorean.com and as I progressed further, I found the explanations more difficult to understand. I then moved onto koreanclass101.com which was potentially a fantastic site to learn from but at the time was not ready to commit to paying for lessons. This is when I finally came across talktomeinkorean.com.

The resources I use. 

Talk To Me In Korean offer a huge selection of books, PDF’s, online courses, Ebooks and podcasts. I recommend to anybody who is on a budget to check out this website because everything that’s in the textbooks are on the website as free PDF’s. They offer everything you could possibly need right from beginner to intermediate Korean. I started off using the free PDF’s but decided that I’d prefer to have the actual textbooks. 

I cannot express to you how much these books have improved my knowledge of Korean, even if it is a little. (And that’s ok, because you can’t learn a language over night.)

The textbooks and workbooks. 

The way the textbooks are written are like non I’ve seen before. They are easy to understand, and quick to the point. They use the Korean alphabet the entire way through so that your brain gets used to reading it and they also have sample conversations where they introduce new vocabulary and conjugations of the sentences. At the end of every lesson, there’s a few quick questions to make sure that you understood what was explained throughout the lesson. The workbooks are designed to work alongside the textbooks, with more in depth questions and activities regarding the lesson you just learnt.

      Now that I’m starting to venture deeper into the language, I decided to buy the Korean Verb Guides. These are two small books that have 100 essential verbs (each) and all of their conjugations in. These books absolutely come in handy. Learning how to conjugate verbs by yourself is essential but if you need a helping hand then these are perfect. I didn’t realise how much I’d value these books until I got my hands on them.

My Korean dictionary is one of my most recent purchases as I’m now starting to compose my own sentences/paragraphs entirely in Korean but, of course, I don’t know every single Korean word. It’s good to just have it on my desk ready for when I need it. I also use it for vocab learning, which I’ll get onto in a little bit.

Ebooks

I have several ebooks from Talk To Me In Korean because when I’m studying, I like to have something up on my computer screen to refer to whether it be an ebook, or a lesson, vocab etc. I have a review kit of level 1 which has a bunch of vocab/expressions in it that are used throughout level 1, a picture dictionary as I’m more of a visual learner, dialogues from other levels that I like to read through and try and translate, and a book of flashcards. These are fun to read through when travelling or like I said in conjunction with learning.

Another great tip for learning a language is dive head first into everything around the language. The culture, the history, the music, the tv. The more interest you take in the language you are learning, the more you’ll enjoy learning and actually enjoy and look forward to learning.

How I study/my learning schedule. 

It took me a while to settle down into a schedule regarding my learning because when I first started, it was hectic and I was doing bits here and there, which wasn’t very productive. And some weeks, I don’t even stick to it because that’s the great thing about self study; there are no rules. You study when you feel like it, you study when you want to.  And to some people, that lack of discipline may be a downside, some people need a teacher to tell them what to do and how to learn but I find that I learn better when I can sit down and learn at my own speed, even if it takes me double the time it takes someone who’s taking actual classes. Let’s jump into how I learn.

I split my learning day up into 3 parts:

Vocab

Grammar

Reading

I start off by reviewing the vocab I learnt the day before. I test myself by writing out the words and their English translations. Once I’m happy that I’ve learnt the words, I move onto grammar which is when I get my textbooks out and get any podcasts/videos up on my pc that go alongside the lesson to help me to understand and visualise it more. I try to limit myself to 1 or 2 lessons a day as even though they’re small lessons, it’s easy to forget what you’ve learnt and rush ahead. I make notes in my notebook, using a blue pen for general notes and black for any Korean/examples that need to be written. I take my time with grammar lessons as some of the concepts can be quite difficult for an English speaker to comprehend and make sure to note down a lot of examples from the book and even make up my own.

I then go ahead and get all of my reading materials out. There are many, many ways to do find reading material in Korean. Some of the ones I always recommend are print out lyrics to your favourite Korean songs and read through it with and without music, even if you can’t understand what’s being said. Find children’s books online and read through those. Print off articles from Korean websites and read them. The possibilities are endless. Remember the point of why you’re reading; to familiarise yourself with the Hangeul (Korean alphabet) and be able to read comfortably. It takes me a few hours to complete all of these but because I look forward to learning and enjoy learning, I find myself completely engrossed in my studies and time passes super quickly.

Apps

There are thousands of useful apps to speed your learning up, made with everyone in mind from beginners to people who speak intermediate Korean.  Some of my favourite apps are:

HiNative

HelloTalk

Naver Dict

Learn Korean by Codegent

Memrise

Learn Korean by Bravolol Limited

Just to name a few. If you have any questions at all, you can ask me in the comment section or through my social media. I hope my post about how I learn Korean motivates you as when I see people who learn, it motivates me to learn. Bye for now!^-^

  How I’m Teaching Myself Korean Ever since being a child, I've had a growing interest in languages. I took French for many years throughout primary and secondary school and picked it up rather easily and always liked how Spanish and Italian sounded.

[erstwhilesupine-blog]

I stumbled upon this article and I hope you guys find her story interesting and encouraging.

Enjoy!

****

How I Fell In Love With Kpop

A long story short -- My Korean best friend in elementary school showed me a video of H.O.T, I couldn't take my eyes off of Kangta (literally! I wanted to rewatch that video all day at her house!) and since then, I was in love ^.^

Learning Korean

I really want to be an inspiration to foreign Kpop fans struggling to learn Korean, thinking it's impossible to learn and master a language from scrap -- because it's not.

I never received any encouragement to learn Korean. My parents thought it was useless and wondered why I spent so much time listening to and singing in gibberish -- and it really was gibberish! I had no lyrics or romanizations. I was just listening to and repeating whatever my ears heard. With no internet, no money, and no outside access whatsoever, I spent about 3 years listening to the cassette tape my friend recorded for me of H.O.T.'s first album. I knew nothing about the music industry, and it never occurred to me that this band would be actively releasing new music. One day, I went on a trip to China. In a random CD store, I saw H.O.T's 5th album! Imagine my surprise. I asked my mom to buy it for me right away. The purchase of this CD was my first exposure to written Korean. I still remember this moment in my life, clear as a shiny glass reflection, lying in bed at night with my ears plugged in and the CD booklet in my hand, I decided it must not be that hard to figure out at least what one or two of these characters sounded like by listening to the song and following the written lyrics at the same time. About 3 seconds into the song, I realized it was impossible. The song was fast, I had no idea how the characters were broken down, and I didn't know where one sound ended and the other began. For some reason, I felt really annoyed. It bothered me that I couldn't figure it out. All I wanted to do was to sing along! There was this burning frustration from not being able to do something that I loved so much. I decided -- I was going to learn how to read Korean. By this time, I had a computer and Internet at home. I found a website that taught the Korean alphabet online, and spent the next 3 days literally doing nothing but reading the lessons and learning the alphabet. The moment I was able to hold up the romanized lyrics in front of myself and sing along properly to each and every single word I heard -- it was pure joy. I also began practicing how to read Korean by printing out the Korean lyrics, and writing the English romanization above the lyrics. Eventually, I also started to print out translations too. I would glue the Korean lyrics on the left side of a notebook, and the translation on the right. It was in this way that I started to figure out the meaning of certain words by seeing the matching romanized and translated lyrics over and over again. I realize being able to sing along wasn't enough -- I wanted to know the meaning of the lyrics as well and made that my new pursuit.

Since the day I picked up that CD booklet, I've never been satisfied with my Korean. I always had a goal, and every time I reached that goal, I'd always form a new one. More on this later.

Learning Korean is Not Impossible!

To end on a more encouraging note, I would like to finish my story of learning Korean.

Most people assume that the webmaster of Aheeyah.com is Korean. I am not. In fact, I am 100% Chinese. I was born in Hong Kong, moved to, and raised in Canada since the age of 6. I am currently employed in South Korea as an English teacher and am spending my 4th year here.

I just want to prove that all you foreign Kpop fans out there who are either too lazy or discouraged or think that you don't have the resources to learn Korean from scratch without paying loads of money are absolutely wrong. You don't need to pay big bucks. You don't need to spend hours over a textbook. You don't even need to live in Korea. You don't need to be talented. You don't need to be a genius.

Today, most people who hear me speak Korean can't even tell that I'm actually not. When I, or my friends, say, "You know, she's actually not Korean?", they are always shocked, and then ask the inevitable question of 'How did you learn Korean?". I'm really not trying to boast. Heck, I usually try to keep it a secret (because of my job -- and please, if you are my student who has actually read all the way to here -- first, you must be a stalker!; second, please just pretend you know nothing). What I'm trying to say is, I am the same girl who was looking at that H.O.T. booklet desperately wanting to sing along but being unable to read the Korean alphabet. Yes, that was once me. How did it happen?

Passion.

That's it. That's all there is to it. Anyone who wants to learn a language, you just have the passion and you will learn it. If you have no passion, even if you are the smartest person or the lamest low-life with hours on your hands to kill, you will not learn the language. Passion will drive you and teach you to no end. I admit that being exposed to Korean since I was in elementary school helped. Taking Korean in university also helped. Living in Korea definitely didn't hurt. However, do you really think that if I didn't have the passion and drive to constantly expose myself to the language, that I would really be where I am today?

When I was young, all I had was the same H.O.T. album to listen to over and over again for three years. Lots of people take languages in university and forget it the moment the class is over. Some of my coworkers have been working in Korea for 3-4 years and still can't read the freakin' alphabet.

Let me give you another example. I'm a huge Starcraft fan. I played it so much in high school I almost couldn't get into university. The moment I found out about the professional gaming industry in Korea, I couldn't get myself over it. This was in the middle of my first year in Korea. I had been learning Korean in university for 6 terms (1.5 years), which provided a good foundation, but if someone had asked me for directions on the street, I would be so nervous and tongue-tied I'd pretend I had absolutely no knowledge of Korean and tell them I spoke only English (this actually happened to me before >.<). So even though I had no idea what they were saying, for months, I spent literally every spare moment watching these Starcraft games. On weekdays, I'd watch it for 4 hours. On weekends, I'd watch it for 6-8 hours. When I had time, I'd even go watch it live at the broadcast gaming stadium. I'd have it on constantly. I'd have it streaming on my laptop while playing it on TV as well. It was on while I was cooking or doing my laundry. I'd watch it in between breaks at work. Even after I left Korea and went back to Vancouver for a year, I was still downloading it to watch. One day, as I was sitting in my living room in Vancouver, 6 months into this Starcraft obssession, it just washed over me like a sudden epiphany that I understood every. single. word. that was being said. I immediately got up, ran to my brother, and said 'OMG! You know what? I understand every single thing they are saying, but I had no idea what the heck they were talking about before!' (and my brother just said '...Cool'). I know it sounds totally weird -- how could you not realize you understand something you watched every single day?

Same answer.

Passion.

I know it sounds totally corny. Passion will drive you to learn a language. But it's totally true. I enjoyed watching these Starcraft games so much that it didn't matter to me whether I understood it or not. As a result, I didn't even realize as I started to pick up what all the jargon meant. I loved H.O.T. and their music so much that I didn't care that my parents didn't like my Kpop obsession and I still sang along in gibberish. Now, my pronunciation can pass as a Korean. I had such a burning desire to be able to translate songs, that I ran Aheeyah for over 10 years and could finally produce my own translations.

Those were the things I did to pursue the language I wanted to learn.

What are you going to do?