#I had to use the Japanese lyrics since there’s so much different english translations of this song and I had no clue which one was correct.

[joyce-stick]

The Beef Stroganoff Song! (arbitrary subtitle discourse edition)

So, you may have noticed here that the subtitles in this clip (from Symphogear GX episode 3) are fairly different from what you're used to seeing when people post this video, and the phrasing in the subtitles is fairly different from what the associated memes often say

For those who don't know, Symphogear got itself released on blu-ray by Discotek, and with that came with a new translation authored by Noelle (@ulsairi on twitter ) who is notable for being the only trans lesbian anime translator I know of off the top of my head.

Her translation appears, in my opinion, really rather polished and very good, and I strongly appreciate the way it's written and how much character it adds to the dialogue by giving everyone distinct voices and adapting things into more natural English. It's also a fair bit gayer. I haven't encountered many people who've seen these subs, but I think most fans of the series would consider these a net positive change. There are some people who are mad about these subtitles, and they can die mad.

Anyway, let's talk about the different phrasing of the beef stroganoff song. I'm mostly going to compare to Crunchyroll's subtitles for reference since that seems to be what most others go off of. Here's a link to that version.

So right off the bat we can see here that while CR's translation appears to be a lot more, for lack of a better word, functional, Noelle's translation tries to apply more dialectal force "it's beef stroganoff/Yes! It's THAT beef stroganoff!" And generally communicate through the tone how excited the girls are to get started. Additionally you'll see throughout that the latter is a fair bit more lyrical, there's a lot more punctuation and verbal tics and filler phrases written into the dialogue to express that they are singing, which makes sense since Japanese tends to omit a lot of the sorts of prepositions that Noelle threw in here,

Like, Yumi (yes I went and looked up her name on the wiki) just says "beef stroganoffu" because it's obvious from context that it is beef stroganoff, she doesn't need to spell it out, at least, not in Japanese

(We know like maybe ten hiragana and 1 kanji do not trust us on Japanese this is all just basic shit we learned from online guides)

So this probably leads to a rushed translator from Crunchyroll (they are notoriously crunched for time) who's just trying to Get It Done probably not really bothering to throw in extra additional connecting letters to express the tone of the character, only doing so when it's required to make basic grammatical sense in the target language. So they likely didn't think to make the subtitles have flourishes like this that aren't explicitly in the original Japanese. Noelle meanwhile had the time to consider things like this and take such liberties in order to attempt to convey the same tone that was arguably implied by the Japanese, even if not explicitly put forth

And that's about all the things I should not repeat I guess, TL;DR, these subtitles are more fun to read because the translator had more time to think about the best way to make them more fun while still being accurate to the spirit of the original dialogue, who'd have thought!

(In case you're wondering, the Commie subtitles say kind of the same thing here, and y'know, it doesn't seem like a wrong translation, but also I really dislike this subtitle styling, orange on pink with that font and that drop shadow is just kinda bad. I appreciate the effort but like. Come on. Please fansubbers, please think about if the font and colors you chose actually work with the image you're putting them on)

Moving on!

horizontal and middle rhyme with each other so you can almost actually sing this, actually let me take a moment to try it right now- never mind, I can't sing. Hahaha. I don't actually think it lines up that well with the melody But I thought it did! Didn't I? That's significant, that this actually reads like plausible lyrics to a silly song someone made up instead of a literal translation of a Japanese song

Anyway, here comes the first major difference!

So in the Crunchyroll subtitles, Yumi says "it doesn't have to be beef" which in English (in my estimation) sounds a tad scatterbrained, like, "oh yeah sure beef but whatever really it doesn't actually matter," while Noelle's subtitles rather say "Got no beef? Don't you worry!" Which implies something different.

"It is recommended to use beef, but you may substitute something else if you are sorely lacking in beef" as opposed to "Oh the beef doesn't actually matter, zoinks lol!" CR's translation is kind of a bit funnier in how it sorta comes from nowhere without this qualification, which probably lead to this phrase's memeticness, but Noelle's translation seems more reasonable to me so yeah again, tada, yay for sensicalness.

Now here's another interesting change:

Again, the flat manner in which the CR subtitles say "finish with salt" with rendezvous only being included because that's literally what they said, is sort of absent any stronger emotional implication,

Noelle's translation meanwhile going with "don't forget them, they need it" imparts personhood upon the salt and pepper. The implication being that the girls are saying, "the salt and pepper are in love, please reunite them, they must be in gay love together." Or maybe you think the salt and pepper cannot be forgotten and must be reunited because they are Only Friends.

Whether you choose to believe that this is the salt and pepper getting married, or merely subtext, or an interpretation, or salt and pepper shipping bait, this is a deeply important tonal indicator because it reminds you that these girls are ultimately playing with their food!

"And there, now you're in for a treat!" I don't think I need to explain this one.

Now, here's an interesting one!

In the Crunchyroll subtitles, it just says the memetic "boys don't know this." With no context, no elaboration, no clarity, no qualifiers. Boys don't know. Did the boys magically get their brains wiped? Are the boys biologically incapable? Who knows. Nothing is said but that.

Noelle's subtitles, on the other hand, qualify this statement by saying "Boys aren't taught to cook, so they may not know" (And note again how, it says "kno-ow" to emphasize, once more, that they're singing, and also this lines up with the long "ooooo" sound they make at the end of this lyric, so cool)

There is now context! Boys aren't taught to cook! Anime and Japan's culture in general still pigeonholes people into gender roles! And an anime translator just wrote you a hidden translation note about it! You might be a boy, you might know how to cook, but certain boys in another part of the world aren't traditionally taught cooking, so they may not know

They may not, but they could!

Trust a trans person to express gender facts with subtle nuances like this in anime translations.

And with that lovely bit of good translation and good writing and good localization of a thing to make it make sense to people

Mew!

[sweetbottletops]

"Alone? Will you be okay?" Koga is a delicate soft marshmallow on the best of days and Aya knows it.

What could go wrong?

Ch. 93

When you're not used to being part of the main plot lines in school it can be easy to just not concern yourself with them at all. You get a non-combatant label and can slip in and out without too much worry.

"Yahaha" "Stop that!" Perhaps not everyone in the room agrees with what is going on? Tabling that until later.

Accidental MC arrives at the scene of the crime.

Of course it was the Maths book. The most untrustworthy of subjects.

"You must be pretty smart writing a whole song in English."

"I bet she used machine translation though. Just look!"

Scanlator later changed that to: "I ran it through a translator. Just look!"

I've seen some people speculate Koga isn't the most reliable with her reactions. So I attempted to look at these lines from at least a more neutral toned angle.

At the most generous that first comment might be neutral in tone (setting aside the whole violation of privacy part...the guy is literally waving her property around) but the MTL line is meant to put her down.

I'm going with negative for both regardless of Koga being potentially unreliable in some of her reactions. And tbh once you've been violated like this any reaction outweighs intent to me. And the intent is sus.

"Hey, is this a love song!?" (They have rewritten the lyrics out in Japanese on the blackboard... not sure why it wasn't translated by the scanlator because Japanese readers were meat to get hints from it, but there are legible phrases there if you use google translate...keeping in mind the kids might have done a bad translation from English to Japanese themselves....)

"You should just give it up." (Was that towards Koga's music or a third party towards the guy waving her stuff around? Unclear.) Scanlator changed it to "Hey man, stop it!" which made it clearer they were talking about the instigator.

"You mean the one in that video was really Koga-san?"

"She gives off a totally different vibe though."

When someone (strangers even) question your abilities, appearance, personality, and motivations like that it can only be negative. And putting it up on the chalkboard and waving it in her face makes it a whole classroom problem.

I'm not convinced there are 100% shitheads in the room, but unless someone steps up next chapter then you all get to be in the shithead bin as well. That's how it works. The Gyaru + Pretty Boy alliance wouldn't be silent for this so let's see if anyone else separates themselves from the mob.

Last week I had been thinking the worst that would come from this was maybe her being volunteered for some school event against her will or having someone find out about her muse since it was likely a love song, but this is exponentially worse.

And I'm not sure I like her side of the relationship getting exposed via poorly translated lyrics on the blackboard. Sure, it's going to advance things quicker, but at what cost?

Kind, green Aya-eyes cutting through all of the black ink that took over the last three pages.

I'm not sure if someone already in the room will come to their senses and put a stop to things, if Koga will finally have her say to those mean faces that's been lurking through her entire school career, if Aya will come back in time to show the extent of her own gap, or if Aya will come back and Koga will just be missing... and force her to realize some things from the evidence left behind.

We know that Aya didn't understand the English lyrics to the song Koga wrote and sang for her earlier. It's been a comment from her lurking in the background the whole time.

Koga might have technically already confessed then. If this is the same song and it's a love song then the translation on the blackboard should be enough to clue Aya in.

As an aside... Are we in the final stretch? I feel like volume 3 should end around chapter 110-ish right? If that's the case and it's the end (no inside info here, just speculation) there isn't a ton of time for relationship and wrapping up the Joe/Kanna/America/Family mystery. But it's also a little hard for me to anticipate a volume 4 since they are almost finished with their final year in school which should be a natural resolution point for most of the drama.

We will see how it is paced next week I guess.

[mythicalartistx]

KH opening Songs are about Soriku -Chikai Translation

KH Utada songs are sung and written in thought of Riku and Sora, Nomura told Hikaru Utada and they went along with it.

The difference between the English and Japanese versions of the songs is that the lyrics are completely different, but for a purpose. It's not like a translation issue.

There is an absolute reason for it. They're two separate songs with different but similar meanings.

Like Chikai doesn't translate close to Don't Think Twice except for the Kiss me Once lines.

We're going to take a look at Chikai since it's the one I'm most familiar with and break it down on how it relates to Riku.

I don’t care much about destiny, but at this point, I cannot but acknowledge its existence

Are you really sure you’re happy with me? Really?

I wish you wouldn’t raise my hopes up too much

The fire line refers to he doesn't like destiny but is forced to acknowledge it chose certain things from events.

It shows that Riku is insecure and shown that through how he acted in KH1. He thought his best friend was going to leave him and he did bad stuff.

In return it made him feel worse about his friendship and he went to castle oblivion and dealt out his insecurities along with the darkness and fear. Then he had to be one with the darkness in 358/2 days.

The line where is stated to not raise his hopes, I think refers to his emotions towards Sora and hope Sora didn't care about his appearance he was still his friend.

It could also refer to he papou fruit.

But it's gay.

Today is the perfect day for a truthful, eternal vow

We don’t need beautiful flowers or witnesses

Let’s wear rings of the same color

The narrator wants to PROPOSE. I assume the narrator is Riku here, he wants to be with Sora and then get married. There doesn't have to be an audience or witness, they can just wear rings of the same color. And then the vow line is just 👌

It probably refers to the promise Riku made to want to protect him/ his friends.

It’s so dang annoying, that I want to fall asleep clinging to you every day

I will not make promises anymore, those things are for pleasing somebody

What I am about to say is not a second hand line, nor a promise; it's a vow

He is shy and embarrassed that he likes him and that he wants to fall asleep next to Sora. This is so cute 🥺

Like he clearly wants affection but is embarrassed like in DDD when Sora hugs him.

Then he says he wants a vow since those are seen as eternal while promises can be broken.

I can’t go back to being the liar I used to be

Our rings shall be the color of the sunrise

Lay your heartbeat on top of mine and let’s dance

Let’s celebrate the fact that we live in this moment

The liar is probably referring to not telling his feelings and how he acted against Sora in KH1 and then felt ashamed for his jealousy. Then he talks about the RINGS AGAIN the color of sunshine. Like dawn and he wants the road of dawn.

This section is just him being gay and wanting to lay with him again. He wants to lay together where Sora's heartbeat is on top of his so he'll hear and feel it. This is a bit too much for me to handle. Then the last line I think probably is Kh2 ending where they are content with each other 😊 😆

The tears that I can’t hold back sometimes, there’s no deep meaning to them

It’s just that I recall the past unexpectedly (Ah, I want to cry)

A light streams in from the opened door

This part breaks my heart. He sometimes cry because of the past and what he did in KH1 and probably insecure about that and feels like Sora deserves better.

The light streams refers to KH2 ending where the door opens from the darkness. And how he is also shown to be light, also Sora being his light.

I want to be with you, for a very long time

Other options have long been gone

Today is the perfect day, for an unprecedented vow, our vow

He wants to be with him for a long time and how he doesn't want to loose him. However that ends up happening in KH3 ending.

Other options are gone refers probably him realizing he might have a chance. Then the line is about their gay little vow.

Like in the games they are into each other and these lines are just so fitting and so cute.

Kiss me once, kiss me twice

Once is not enough

Kiss me once, kiss me twice

Please give me you

You know how I said he's too shy, well he's too shy to do anything and wants Sora to make the first move.

Like he secretly wants to be kissed, hug, touched, ect.. He wants affection from him. Here he wants to be kissed but once isn't enough and he is giving his connected permission to be kissed and wants to make sure he's okay with it too. He's like more needy here since this line pretty similar to the DTW counterpart song.

Kiss me once, kiss me twice

Kiss me three times

Please

The please here adds everything like he really wants it and he is asking for it so much.

Kiss me once,

kiss me twice

Give me you

Repeated line so we're moving on..

Let’s listen to the sound of the sunrise, side by side

Let’s vow to live our lives together

Okay so basically he in turn says let's live vow to live our lives together. It could refer to marriage or just a vow to live together because they like each other. And they'll be by the sunrise referring to Riku like the DAWN he walks the road of dawn.

And that is it.

It's pretty gay and like if you don't ship them fine.

And if you don't see how it relates to them that's okay, however Nomura did mention to Utada to keep them in mind when writing the songs.

And if you ship Sorkai tell me how you think it relates to them instead.

I'm just curious.

DTW and Chikai are vastly different but they are different songs with the same instrumental and beat.

[fallen-stellar]

Beat by beat, a little bit up!

A little bit UP!! by Switch Song Analysis

Lyric Translation from Mia (@/nenosuns on twt!)

Overview: A little bit UP!! is a song about cheering someone up "bit by bit" (beat by beat). To see the magic of Switch ~☆ click read more!

Note: This is an analysis purely from the English lyrics, if there are some easter eggs or much more profound meaning in the Japanese original of the song, I am sorry if I didn't notice it or know it. You could point it out! Discussion of this analysis is super welcomed! I love talking about a song's meaning/interpretation, especially since it's different for everyone!

To understand the song much clearer, let's dissect what story Switch is trying to tell us.

Your heart beats with a thump and you yawn lazily Oh hey, let’s not let today end on a boring note NO NO Just a moment

Our story starts with a persona that the Switch is talking to. The song takes a conversation-type between Switch themselves and the listener or whoever persona you interpret this song with, which is common in Switch songs. The first stanza tells us that this persona is tired of life. This will be clearer as we go.

Close your eyes And sketch it to your liking Just like you used to do when you were little

Switch tells the persona to sleep and enter a dream. With them saying to this persona it was like they used to do when they're little, it means that the persona might be probably older and experiencing (insert every adult/teen problem here).

Let’s be as greedy as you want and coordinate what you wanna do C’mon, just be unbelievably yourself 1000% In the dream, your best cute smile marks the place It’s okay even if you fail to find it ‘Cause for you For us It’ll be our little secret in the dream

This is where it is explained what Switch's relationship with said persona. As a group of magician, they are helping them to "sketch" the dream they want to them.

When you wake up tomorrow Even if you don’t remember it You’ll somehow feel different And no one will know the reason

After the said persona had dreamed, when they wake up, they will never remember anything that happened between them and the Switch in the dream. However, they will feel different.

So, now you know the story, let's dissect every line that I want to focus on and how it became a song about cheering up someone "bit by bit".

Your heart beats with a thump and you yawn lazily Oh hey, let’s not let today end on a boring note NO NO Just a moment What was crushed can be restored If you ever feel like giving up and turning off the daylight in your life

Based on the lines, we could say that the persona is crushed by the problems of life, tired of existing, and just overall depressed. This is further supported by the line:

I don’t care if there’s a difference between being tough and being smart What matters is that you don’t look like you’re having fun at all

They are at the deepest bottom of their life while Switch managed to get them to smile at the end, it was hard getting there as the persona was heavily sad, depressed even. It's further heart breaking especially they recounted the persona's youth, pushing the idea that Switch had been with them since they were a child, and they were much more different before:

Close your eyes And sketch it to your liking Just like you used to do when you were little

It's heavily supported by how the song has Lesson 1-3 in the lyrics and there are a lot of lines that say "Tomorrow we'll make it much more exciting/better", these are said lines:

Lesson 1 You can also use a bit of magic And when tomorrow comes Let’s make it even more exciting! Tomorrow we’ll give our Best Step! Lesson 2, we want to make you happy I’ve come to see you! Lesson 3 The end of a dream is not necessarily a bad thing And when tomorrow comes Let’s make it even more exciting!

There's a whole stanza about how it was getting already awkward for Switch since nothing seems to be working:

Ah, if we keep it this way It’ll become an awkward loop

This is where the comforting/cheering up someone bit-by-bit (or beat-by-beat, in this case, since it's a song) comes into place. We haven't talked about how Switch is trying to cheer them, which is vaguely explained in the chorus:

Let’s be as greedy as you want and coordinate what you wanna do C’mon, just be unbelievably yourself 1000% In the dream, your best cute smile marks the place It’s okay even if you fail to find it ‘Cause for you For us It’ll be our little secret in the dream If you thoroughly produce this in your own selfish way I’m 1000% sure you’ll be able to see a brand new light You got to be as greedy as you want and coordinate what you wanna do I 1000% can’t believe it, you’re just being yourself now If you thoroughly produced this in your own selfish way I’m 1000% sure you’ll feel your crushed heart being reborn

It's implied here that Switch is helping them to make a dream world they are comfortable with. To produce something that they shouldn't think of anyone else other than themselves, the things they want, the things that could make them happy. Switch is encouraging the persona to be themselves in the dream, even going as far as being 1000%, meaning more than they are showing in real life (we already went on how Switch knows them more because they have been the persona's "magicians" since childhood). Switch is letting the persona's be their playground of their wants and desires.

It is reminded repeatedly that it's the Switch's want and mission to make this persona happy:

In the name of all the magicians Lesson 2, we want to make you happy I’ve come to see you! This is the magic of meeting you in the dream

And they want the persona to rely on them when things get too complicated when life gets hard when things seem to be hopeless. They want this persona to come back in their dreams and have the happiness they want there. Because there, they will always find comfort and happiness that the persona is missing in their life.

Try saying it as if you were me The words will always reach your heart If you ever feel like giving up and turning off the daylight in your life

And as I said earlier, Switch never stops doing it. Over and over again, even though the persona is forgetting what the dream was, there's always progress to be seen every time this persona wakes up.

You can also use a bit of magic And when tomorrow comes Let’s make it even more exciting! When you wake up tomorrow Even if you don’t remember it You’ll somehow feel different And no one will know the reason The end of a dream is not necessarily a bad thing And when tomorrow comes Let’s make it even more exciting!

Because they will fix this persona's problems and take them into the dreams to make them happy, beat by beat, slowly but surely, even it takes a lot of tries, a lot of dreams, and a lot of waking up not remembering anything, they will feel a little bit UP!!

Beat by beat, a little bit up What was crushed can be restored Even if you don’t remember it Hey, now a little bit up!

[koneko-pi]

@thoughtfullyrainynightmare tagged meee for posting ten songs on shuffle from a playlist! I dont have spotify, tho, so I've shuffled my Likes list on Youtube Music! And it is a LONG LIST. With a LOT of different songs. I feel like I'm about to embarrass myself.

1. Blue Rose, by Somo

I did think this would be a good song for Yami and Charlotte. Of course, because of the title and a line "wishing on a four leaf clover". I like the soft beat it has and use this for some of my softer moments i want to write or draw.

2. What lovers do, by Maroon 5

This is from waaaay down on the playlist i dont remember any significance it may have held for me or my ships XD i think it was one of those songs I tend to brainrot to or just play, as with my ADHD I'm always thinking all the time about things and music tends to help me focus.

3. Mgno, by Russell Dickerson

This is one of my feel-good songs. One you play to just get the good vibes and energetic feel to your day! Brings to mind dancing people, bouncing, running, and just having a good time!

4. Mikazuki, by Sayuri

I don't exactly remember why I've had this song? The beat sounds nice, and I can imagine some nice scenes to it. But it must have been way down on the list because I really cant remember much. I must have likes it just for the beat.

5. Choice Scarf, by Signal

This is another song that's a bouncy feel-good tune. These are probably some of my favorites. I have quite a few with this similar theme with the vibrating beats and not many lyrics.

6. September-San, by Radwimps

This link isn't the original song but a cover version I liked more. It's softer and more "cute" sounding with the two girls singing. It is Japanese because I'm a huge nerd. I really like a lot of Radwimps music too, they have made things for a lot of Anime Movies you've maybe seen, one of their more well-known ones being "weathering with you."

7. Used To, by Damper (damperghost)

I really like future bass (‘-‘*) its a music genre I find a lot of music i enjoy. I use it for a lot of things like writing, drawing or just playing casually in the BG

8. Nonsense speaker, by Nekobolo

This is a song I have held onto for a long time, and the lyrics may be triggering for people, so PLEASE LISTEN WITH CAUTION. Heavy themes of depression and more. This is a cover by Lollia and is an english translation. It has similar themes to a song called "rolling girl" which some people may know, i know it was kind of famous in some circles. I use this song as a kind of "theme" (one of many) for my Bleach Oc Sakurana, who did not have a happy and loving upbringing, and it affected through her whole life.

9. Karano Kokoro, by Anly

This song is one of the two I've picked to be an ending theme for Silver Season if it was animated. And would specifically display images of Briar and what her life was like before everything had gone bad; so playing with her sisters when they were little, visiting The Lorelai when she had the chance, and seeing the other fairies and who they were before things took a turn for the worst. There is a short English cover by Liz Robinett if you really wanna appreciate the lyrics and how they play in who Briar is and her development with Nozel.

10. Beautiful, by Treasure

And of COURSE OF ONE MY FAVORITE BLACK CLOVER SONG'S HAD TO MAKE AN APPERANCE. This is one of the ending themes for Black Clovers anime, the 13th one, to be specific. Listening to it play while watching the ending or an AMV someone made to it easily makes me emotional. I am a huge simp and can be brought to tears with this song and Everlasting Shine by Tomorrow X Together. If you haven't seen either, please click the links. The animation is so nice.

Anyone else is free to share their own music shuffle adventures! I wont be tagging anyone since i see everyone else already has been, have fun and thanks for listening!

[djparticle]

Not a General K-Pop Stan, Just a Lee Jung-Hyun Stan.

It's no secret that I used to be hooked on a different video game about 20 years ago. Back then, Dance Dance Revolution was my jam since I first played it in 2000. If I saw a machine in an arcade, I had to play it. I owned all the Playstation/PS2 games up to Supernova 2. Until 2007, I kept my Stepmania up to date with all the newest officially-released steps. I owned 4 heavy-foam insert dance mats for the annual DDR parties I'd run at Anime Detour, Anime Iowa, and CONvergence. I wasn't the best at the game, but I did have a couple 10-footers under my belt back when that was the highest level. Eventually though, so many new releases were happening that I couldn't keep up with the Stepmania updates, and between that and the resurrection of my old 1990s radio show, my fever for the game just waned around 2008-09. What drew me in mostly was the songs, many were hard-driving EDM, which still gets me today, but among the music, one artist stood out for me after I first heard one of her songs played on DDR4+... "Ba kkwo! Ba kkwo! Ba kkwo!...." -- hooked by the hook! Mall of America's first DDR machine in 2001 was a DDR3 Korean v2, which has all the tunes from the original DDR3 plus a selection of popular K-pop from the time. This was the first version of DDR that particular song appeared on, and about 3 or 4 K-pop songs from that version got their Japanese DDR premiere in DDR4+ later. Two of them were by S Korea's "techno queen" at the time: Lee Jung-Hyun. Her first 2 hits from 1999, "Wa" and "Ba Kkwo". They were two of the most amazing songs I had ever heard in my life... at the time. So I had to seek out more. This was 2001/2002, so getting my hands on an actual CD was pretty much out of the question. Luckily, Aimster existed, and I built a nice collection from that, transferred them to cassette, and looped them in my car nonstop (until I got my first iPod, that is) Dana deciding to recently order her first album from iTunes re-ignited my fire for this artist, and as for her image at the time, she kinda filled the gap of "artists of presentation" between Madonna before her and Lady Gaga after her, with outrageous outfits and elaborate choreographed dance moves. But my fave song of hers will always be that song of the gaslit lover who just woke up to the truth: "Ba Kkwo" (which translates to "Change"). It's angry. It's powerful. It needs to be played REALLY LOUD! And last night, I fell down the "Ba Kkwo" rabbit hole, listening to covers, and found one that had English lyrics, but it was a mashup between "Ba Kkwo" and "Wa" done in 2013 by Jason Ray. Unlike some other songs I could mention (coughQueenOfLovecough), these English lyrics actually fit the gist of the original lyrics, but rearranged and reworded for cadence, scanning, and rhyme. It's a process I call "WordFit", named after the same process Viz Media used to do for theme songs of anime shows. However, in the mashup, only the first verse and chorus of "Ba Kkwo" and the chorus of "Wa" were WordFitted. See, one of my holy grails of karaoke is to perform "Ba Kkwo" with full English lyrics. I tried my hand at a WordFit about 15 years ago to no avail. Jason Ray's mashup gave me impetus to try again, since now part of the work was done for me. I did it. Finally. And yes, I have obtained the karaoke track. --------------------------------------------

[Existing WordFits from Jason Ray] What do you want me to say to you? You drive me crazy with the things you do I don't believe your words, and don't know if you're telling me the truth. Quit tryin' to sell me all your dirty lies You know you're guilty and you can't deny Stop pointing fingers, and just think about the things that you have done.

CHORUS Ba kkwo. ba kkwo, ba kkwo, change everything Ba kkwo. ba kkwo, ba kkwo, change all the love Ba kkwo. ba kkwo, ba kkwo, change all the lies Ba kkwo. ba kkwo, ba kkwo, change all our world, ba kkwo!

[Official English lyrics] Thought it was a must to trust you, now I’ll crush you Analyzing my brain, feel nothing but pain The pain inside, I just can't take it no more Now I’ve got to let you go so just…

[Wordfits from me]

All you do now is bring up the past Can't I be forgiven for my acts? If you feel that way, then why did you think this was gonna last? Now I've changed because you hurt me so No longer the naive girl you used to know It's too late now to apologize for how you let me go.

CHORUS Ba kkwo. ba kkwo, ba kkwo, change everything Ba kkwo. ba kkwo, ba kkwo, change all the love Ba kkwo. ba kkwo, ba kkwo, change all the lies Ba kkwo. ba kkwo, ba kkwo, change all our world Ba kkwo. ba kkwo, ba kkwo, change everything Ba kkwo. ba kkwo, ba kkwo, change all the love Ba kkwo. ba kkwo, ba kkwo, change all the lies Ba kkwo. ba kkwo, it's time to make a total change, ba kkwo! ----------------------------------------------- EDIT: I just finished "Wa" too

[WordFits From Me] I didn't want it to end this way, no, my heart can't believe it's real Whatever could have gone wrong with our love, why did we change the way we feel? Although it hurts inside, I can't bear to look your way. 'Cause goodbye would only increase the pain.

[Existing WordFits from Jason Ray] CHORUS How could you play me like a game and walk away Tell me the reason why you act so strange You said you'd never ever play me like this way Now is the time for us to make a change Oh OhOhOh Oh Oh Oh Oh We're gonna change the way we play Oh OhOhOh Oh Oh Oh Oh I won't let you walk away

[WordFits From Me] Too often I've been betrayed by love, thought my bad luck was finally done I thought that you would stay with me forever, I thought that you'd be the one And now I'm all alone, left here crying out in pain I'll never heal from this, never be the same

[Existing WordFits from Jason Ray] CHORUS How could you play me like a game and walk away Tell me the reason why you act so strange You said you'd never ever play me like this way Now is the time for us to make a change Oh OhOhOh Oh Oh Oh Oh We're gonna change the way we play Oh OhOhOh Oh Oh Oh Oh I won't let you walk away

[Official English Lyrics] Back to my fantasy, My own legacy Let me dream on and so on, Let it go on and on Now take me back to my fantasy, My only legacy Let me dream on and so on, Let it go on and on

[humanwheatleyslefttoenail]

why do you ship chell and glados if glados is basically her mom

Okay this is actually a pretty common misconception in the fandom that unfortunately a lot of people have taken as canon, but I’m feeling nice so I’ll answer your question.

Basically, anon is referencing a theory from around 2012 that Caroline is Chell’s mom. The evidence for the theory is as follows:

- The turret opera calls Chell “bambina”, which means “little girl” in Italian

- Chell’s name can be found on a Bring Your Daughter To Work Day science project

- GLaDOS references the possibility of Chell being adopted multiple times

- GLaDOS is significantly nicer to Chell after discovering she’s Caroline 

And, anon, you’re right, it does sound like a pretty good argument at first glance. The problem is that a lot of these points don’t actually hold up to scrutiny.

For example, although “bambina” literally translates to “little girl,” it’s often used in the same way “baby girl” is used in English - it can mean child, but contextually it’s usually a flirtatious term. (Source: Cambridge Dictionary)

For Chell’s science project, it doesn’t work as evidence for the theory because GLaDOS killed the scientists around 1998-ish, when Caroline had presumably been uploaded several years earlier and Cave was already dead. Also, Chell’s in her 20′s, and since we know from Lab Rat/Portal 2 that people don’t age in stasis, and that Doug put Chell at the top of the test subject list only weeks after the takeover, Chell was 28 at the time of the takeover. The science project is really only an Easter egg and doesn’t actually fit into the canon timeline let alone prove anything about Caroline and Cave. 

GLaDOS talking about Chell being adopted is a pretty strong point, I’ll admit, but also it’s important to remember that maybe half of what GLaDOS says is true. And even if we take what she says at face value, she also says there’s a man and a woman in stasis with Chell’s last name, which could not have been Cave and Caroline because they were already dead at that point. And the official book Final Hours Of Portal 2 confirms Cave and Caroline were not married and could not have shared the same name anyway. It was also the 50′s, an an unmarried couple of two likely famous people having a child would’ve been scandalous, and yet we see no hint of something like this affecting their company. 

Also, although GLaDOS is nicer to Chell after the Caroline reveal, that’s not necessarily indicative of a mother-daughter relationship, and neither is any of their interactions. It’s just. GLaDOS being friendlier. 

Finally, when this theory was made (and let’s be honest - it still is happening) Chell was constantly whitewashed to hell and back. 

Chell is Japanese-Brazilian, and Cave and Caroline are white, so it would be a near impossibility for her to be their biological child (and insisting otherwise is kinda. just. whitewashing). And although people will cry “adoption!”, based on what I’ve previously proven, that’s pretty much impossible. This theory that somehow she’s Cave and Caroline’s daughter erases an important part of her identity. [Disclaimer, I am white, but this is what I’ve heard from around the fandom]

With all that said, the idea that she’s the daughter of Cave and Caroline really doesn’t hold weight when you really analyze the canon. It’s surface level analysis that doesn’t hold up. And honestly? The idea kinda cheapens the story. It’s much more powerful that GLaDOS learns to care about Chell and becomes kinder than just. Oh, she remembered she’s related to Chell. 

But to actually answer your ask. 

Why do I ship them?

Well, they aren’t mother and daughter, I think that’s pretty obvious now. But if you actually look at a lot of subtext in Portal 2, without the lens of the mother theory, it’s actually pretty romantic! 

I know that sounds ridiculous, but bear with me!

Now - it’s totally okay if you don’t ship them. I get it. Their interactions in Portal 1 and the first half of Portal 2 are toxic if not outright well. Y’know. Murderous. I completely understand why that turns people off from shipping them, and ultimately, shipping is a personal thing. To each his own. 

But before you judge me, let me present my case.

Exhibit A: Portal 

Portal is kinda gay. No, really. Chell and GLaDOS are enemies in this game, but the entire focus is on their relationship (good or not) and the power struggle between them. They are opposites, two sides of the same coin, different representations of opposite ideologies. People have analyzed Portal as a relationship metaphor, or as a metaphor about women’s role in society - either way, the heart of Portal is the complicated dynamic between Chell and GLaDOS. 

That’s not necessarily enough to code a romance, but a lot of popular (and especially popular queer ones) ships begin with opposite ideologies, symbolic powers colliding. Portal cements their relationship as a toxic one, something on the verge of falling apart and hurting both parties in the end. The ending image, of Chell and GLaDOS side by side after the battle, reinforces the symbolic parallels between the two. 

The companion cube is also pretty symbolically important to this interpretation. It’s literally a representation of someone’s heart, and you are told to protect it and preserve it under GLaDOS’ orders, and then you have to destroy it regardless of how you actually feel about doing that. You are destroying GLaDOS’ heart, so to speak. 

There’s also the ending song, Still Alive. The lyrics speak for themselves.

They hint that GLaDOS’ feelings about Chell are more complicated than they may appear (if she’s not being sarcastic...) and she literally talks about Chell breaking her heart (also, think back to the companion cube. Yeah.). The entire song is structurally similar to many a breakup number, with the laments of “I’m glad it happened, but also leave.” 

At the end, we also see that the long promised cake GLaDOS was supposedly lying about was real the whole time. Before Portal 2 came out, it was mostly interpreted as a stinger ending (along with the nicer lyrics of Still Alive) to make you question GLaDOS’ true motives and intentions.

She actually did have a real cake waiting for you. (Side note - not really evidence, but in Argentina, “torta” means cake in Spanish. It’s also a slang term for lesbians. So. Do with that what you will). The cake is what GLaDOS offers you to lull you into the sense that she cares about you, so discovering that “the cake is a lie” wakes you up to the realization that she doesn’t. Except then the idea is subverted one last time, at the very end, showing that the cake is real and at least some of what she said she meant. 

You also see the companion cube. You know, GLaDOS’ symbolic heart?

Now, okay, you might be thinking I’m extrapolating a bit too much. And you might be right. But Portal is not the only game in the series, and if you’re asking me about Cave and Caroline you obviously know about Portal 2.

Exhibit B: Portal 2

If you thought Portal was gay, Portal 2 turns that up to 11.

Even before GLaDOS wakes up, you’re treated to some visual subtext. A few of Rattmann’s drawings representing the events of Portal 2 focus a lot on the relationship between GLaDOS and Chell, with more of the cake symbolism.

In this, you can see a face layered on top of GLaDOS. This could be foreshadowing about Caroline, and likely is, but also resembles his other drawing of Chell. It insists that Chell is a part of GLaDOS, or reinforces parallels between Chell and Caroline, hinting at something either way. 

In this picture, we also see Chell standing on top of GLaDOS, in the same position where the overlay of the feminine face was, again referencing the parallel. It also presents them as opposites, fundamental parts of the same thing and both connected to the same basis, but on opposing sides. 

When GLaDOS wakes up, she returns to her antagonistic role, but there are more hints to something deeper just like in Portal. 

Here, in her awakening lines, she references Chell not unlike an estranged ex. Also worth noting that GLaDOS is pretty much the personification of testing (in a sense, she is testing since she can control all of Aperture like an extension of her body), and insinuates that Chell loves to test. And that she reciprocates that feeling.

In test chamber 10, she says this:

It’s supposed to be threatening, but it does read as almost... sentimental. 

There’s also another chamber with companion cubes in Portal 2. I already talked about their symbolism in Portal, and the same pretty much applies to them here. However, GLaDOS says something interesting about them during this level:

Once again, meant to be intimidating, ends up coming off as “well, GLaDOS, why were you going to give Chell a heart shaped representation of yourself that says ‘I love you?’” And you might think I’m stretching the GLaDOS’ heart metaphor thing a little far here, and I might agree, if the companion cubes didn’t literally sing Cara Mia for you. 

Cara Mia is the turret opera from the end of the game, which is all about how much GLaDOS cares about Chell. More on that later. But the companion cubes play a song called Love as A Construct, and when you get close to them, they sing a specific part of the song that has the tune of Cara Mia. These things literally exist to sing about GLaDOS’ feelings. 

Which makes this line a lot more. For lack of a better term. Tsundere-ish.

Then, right before the escape, she starts talking about the confetti from her fake surprise. 

I really don’t have to explain this one. What else does GLaDOS consider an inconvenience but might miss anyway? Or, more aptly, who else?

Then, during the escape, she teases a (fake) final test chamber in front of you, and forms the panels in the shape of a heart. No, really. 

Up to this point, a lot of the points I’ve presented are interspersed with a fair amount of antagonization on GLaDOS’ behalf, more Foe Yay than anything actually hinting at something deeper than GLaDOS being conflicted about whether she loves or hates Chell. But things really ramp up after Wheatley’s betrayal, when the two of them are forced to team up. (I should also note here that “enemies to lovers” is a pretty classic queer romance trope.)

Here, GLaDOS is put on an equal level with Chell and they have to rely on each other if they want to survive. For the rest of the singleplayer campaign, GLaDOS becomes a lot nicer and even friendly to Chell. There comes a point where she starts referring to Chell as a teammate, calling them “we.” She begins to consider them one unit, two opposites unified. Here’s what she says after the lemon rant:

You can not only see her using we, but actively talking about how her and Chell are going to fight Wheatley together. There’s also that last line - “let’s explode with some dignity.” GLaDOS has fully accepted the very likely possibility that she and Chell might die together. That she might die on the same level, and the same team as Chell. And she seems... surprisingly okay with that, as long as she and Chell go together. 

It’s during the Old Aperture levels that Chell and GLaDOS also discover that they have a lot in common. This is the part of the game where GLaDOS figures out she’s Caroline, that she’s human. Or, that she’s like Chell. And Chell discovers (from what we can tell anyway) that Caroline is kind, that she’s funny and smart and so many of these things she never noticed about GLaDOS before. Now also with the knowledge she is fighting alongside another human being. 

You can also draw parallels between Chell and Caroline, both intelligent women ultimately betrayed by their seemingly innocuous male friends before being trapped in Aperture and forced to team up with one another in a way that will free both of them. We see that really, GLaDOS isn’t that different from Chell - she too has been imprisoned in this place against her will, but in a completely different way. Once again, the idea of two sides of the same coin applies here. 

I’ve written another meta about this before, but I also think the whole idea of repressing a part of your identity and hating it, before bonding with another woman and then realizing that it’s okay to be like her and to be on her side. It’s okay to be yourself and meeting her is what helps you discover this new part of yourself. Is kinda inherently gay. GLaDOS’ discovery of her own humanity just fits so well into a queer realization narrative, to me at least.

Then, Chell and GLaDOS escape Old Aperture and have to get through Wheatley’s tests. 

Here, GLaDOS isn’t just begrudgingly on Chell’s team. She’s actively helpful. She wants to help Chell solve tests, defends her from Wheatley’s insults, and makes jokes to lighten the mood. Things that can really only be explained by her caring about Chell, especially the part about the insults. See below.

After the two escape Wheatley’s testing track, right before the boss fight GLaDOS has a few other things to say.

GLaDOS is not going to betray Chell, because of some kind of conscience. But she could easily ignore that back in her body, and yet? Here she’s deciding not to, and for no good reason. She didn’t have to say that to Chell, but she did, because she cares and she wants Chell to live.

And then, moments before the fight:

The final lines imply that GLaDOS does not think of Chell as an enemy anymore, and that it doesn’t matter what Chell thinks because they are in this together and they are getting revenge together. It’s pretty heartwarming to be honest, to know that even in a fight that will almost certainly kill you, she is there rooting for you and caring about you, even if you don’t feel the same way about her. It no longer matters to GLaDOS whether you even reciprocate - you staying alive, you making it through is enough for her.

So Chell fights Wheatley and sends him into space, all well and good, and at this point, GLaDOS has the option to kill Chell. But not only does she not, she actively saves Chell, and holds her hand in the process. If you don’t believe me:

And not only that, but when Chell goes unconscious from her injuries, GLaDOS sits and waits for her to wake up. It’s also implied that GLaDOS carries her to the elevator, since it’s where she wakes up but not where she passed out. In the scene where Chell blacks out, you can also hear the part of Love As A Construct that sounds like Cara Mia. Yeah. Yeah.

If you think that this cannot possibly get any gayer, you are wrong again, because then GLaDOS makes her final speech. Which is really just a love confession, let’s be honest.

The “surge of emotion?” Do you mean love, GLaDOS? And the idea of GLaDOS considering Chell her best friend, despite everything these two have done to each other? The idea that GLaDOS, out of all people, forgives someone?

Except this isn’t even Chell’s final send-off. GLaDOS writes her an entire opera of turrets, that sing a literal love song. (Note what I said earlier about the use of the word “bambina”).

It really can’t get any more obvious than that. “My (affectionate romantic term here), my dear, I adore you.” How. Is. That. Heterosexual. In. Any. Way.

So Chell goes to the surface, set free by GLaDOS (think of the saying “if you love something, set it free), and you think that’s the end. Until GLaDOS gives you a companion cube so you aren’t alone on the journey, and from the burn marks, you know it’s your first companion cube. Her original heart, her first gift to you, a piece of her that she wants you to carry with you to remind you that she does care about you after everything. It also gives the lyrics to Still Alive a much more genuine meaning. 

Portal 2 ends, and then the ending song, another GLaDOS number plays. Just like Still Alive, Want You Gone is structurally a break up song and very obviously about GLaDOS missing Chell and “counting on” (read: caring about/loving) Chell’s tendencies and quirks. 

She’s accepted Chell completely, and yet also given Chell the one thing she wants most. Only wanting Chell gone can mean GLaDOS not wanting Chell in her life anymore, but can also mean she wants to give Chell the freedom she’s wanted for so, so long. It’s the best thing she can give.

In the co-op campaign, GLaDOS also references still caring about Chell.

And that’s the end of the Portal series. Except. Brace yourself. Despite the games being over, there is STILL more subtext somehow. It gets. Even gayer.

Exhibit C: Supplemental Evidence

Valve has made a lot of extra/cut content for the Portal series, and I’ll be looking at some of it below.

This official valentine from Valve shows GLaDOS offering a romantic partner cake, which as we’ve established before, is very symbolic of GLaDOS’ feelings about and/or relationship with Chell. 

There’s a lot of other concept art and official art that emphasizes their relationship too. See below.

There’s also some cut GLaDOS lines that are even gayer than the source material and again, sound like confessions or references to a breakup:

The idea of “discovering things about someone”... how much more obvious can it get?

The developers have even confirmed a lot of my commentary on Chell and GLaDOS’ relationship in The Final Hours Of Portal 2. See these quotes from the book/this post:

The devs literally describe it as a romance. They use terms like “cheating,” they wanted to write a romantic duet, JoCo purposefully wrote the endings like love songs. It is literally, blatantly said by the creators of the game that their relationship is interpreted romantically. By the creators of the game. 

And if Word of God confirmation isn’t enough for you, have a song written for a cut alternate ending by GLaDOS’ voice actress, Ellen McClain. The song is literally nothing but GLaDOS talking about caring about Chell, about not wanting her to die/leave GLaDOS alone, about wanting to bake a cake with Chell, about waiting for Chell to wake her up. It’s so genuinely sweet and sad, and really, really romantic in the most heartwrenching way possible. 

JoCo also came back for the Portal levels in Lego Dimensions, writing one final breakup song for GLaDOS to sing about Chell. It comes off as GLaDOS not wanting to admit she misses Chell even though she obviously does, trying to replace their relationship but failing, and even explicitly forgiving Chell/wanting her to come back.

Also, the “finally I understand,” as if only now GLaDOS understands just how deep her feelings for Chell are... What else can I say?

In Lego Dimensions, GLaDOS also outright rejects anyone who isn’t Chell.

In Conclusion:

Why do I ship Chell and GLaDOS? 

Well, ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether I ship them. 

Because I think it’s glaringly obvious Portal does.

[hikachin]

Voice Animage: Furukawa Makoto Summary

Before I gave a summary, the context of this interview was about his EP/mini album, "ROOM Of No Name". In here, he talks about each songs that are in the EP/mini album and how it came to be. "ROOM Of No Name" was released in November 17, 2021.

Source:

※Note: I would've translate the whole article if my Japanese skills are smooth, alas my skills aren't that smooth. If I translate an article, it can take me hours if not days to finish. Which is why I decided to make a summary instead. And as usual, I need to warn you that I am not an expert in Japanese and still learning. So some might be inaccurate, but still has the same meaning as the actual sentence itself.

※I personally don't know if this article has been translated or not. But I personally did this for my own sake and interest. I don't mind if you don't find this useful at all~

＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

Title: What Furukawa Makoto wanted to convey in his habit-intensive "craving" mini album *⑴

The interview starts with introducing Furukawa Makoto to the readers with some of his famous roles such as Saitama from One Punch Man and Sherlock Holmes from Moriarty the Patriot.

"The five new songs from the mini album, "ROOM Of No Name" were written by Furukawa-san. Please tell us why you decided to make a mini album with lyrics of your own, following your previous work (album), "from Fairytale"."

➔Furukawa mentioned that the staff mentioned they'll start making new songs, but asked what will they do for the lyrics. Furukawa immediately said "I'll do it" lol.

➔He mentioned that even though he's not good at writing lyrics, he still likes doing it. But this time it was quite challenging for him since he had so little time to do so which was different than when he had to work on "from Fairytale" where he had a lot of time to work on.

"That sounds hard! What was the theme of the album anyways?"

➔The staff said they'll make a mini album instead. When asked what music he wanted to make, Furukawa list down the genres he love/his taste in music. He mentioned he wanted to do light pop, rockabilly, and many more.

➔He was suggested to make a tarot themed mini album, but refused it. He said that if in the future he wants to make a tarot themed album, it will be much more harder to write the lyrics for it.

"There are 78 tarot cards. At what point did you decided on the theme (for the mini album)?"

➔Furukawa said the theme was decided right before recording started. He said he started feeling "entrapped" due to Covid. He wanted to create an image of being "restrained" in a room.

"That is how you came up with the title "ROOM". Are the lyrics written first this time as well?"

➔He said he wrote the lyrics after the song and fit the verses according to the image of the song.

"Do you put the lyrics first?"

➔He said he's never been the lyricist and thought it's a little different when he wrote it and say "This is the kind of music I want you to write". *⑵

➔He said it's smoother to go ahead with the song rather than making few detailed changes to it in the process. *⑶

➔"But if I had the opportunity and time to scrutinize each sound on the spot, I would like to try my hand at the lyrics. It seems difficult, though." *⑷

He was asked to talk about the new songs in the mini album. With Forsaken Kiss being first, he was asked if the lyrics were written in Japanese first with the assumption that it will be translated to English. FYI: Forsaken Kiss' lyrics are fully sung in English.

➔"That's right." He said he was concerned about how the lyrics will turn out in English. He left it to the translators because he believed they would find the right phrases. He said the English lyrics he came up with might not fit.

➔"I want to sing something like this! I'm a little stuck on the number of notes here in Japanese, but I think the magic works in English, so please help me out!"

He was asked how he liked the translated lyrics

➔He said the English lyrics were a lot more wordy than he expected. But he also said the lyrics were more cool and informative than the original lyrics. He also knew it would be tough to sing it.

"Did you have a hard time with the pronunciation in English?"

➔He said he was provided with the English song (I think he meant a demo of it) and practiced it while listening to it. Though he said he practiced, he said it's impossible to sing it at home and said it's too noisy.

➔He practiced while taking a bath and blurting it out in his mask while waiting, but said he wasn't able to practice with a full volume. He gave himself a 50 for his pronunciation and said that it's frustrating. (But you did your best 😭)

The interviewer can't believe he gave a 50 for himself because they thought he did the pronunciation well.

➔He admits he isn't good at it, but he said he's the type to feel comfortable reading English with a good pronunciation. He does look up how to pronounce the words correctly.

The interviewer said they saw the lyrics before it was translated and described it as aggressive and sexy

➔He said that since the Japanese lyrics will not be added in the album, he wouldn't be embarrassed in writing such lyrics so he wrote it anyways. Quote: "I wrote something embarrassing in its own way."

➔He said there was a theory that lines that sounds bad in Japanese will sound good in English. He said although he wrote the lyrics and sang it, it doesn't mean he thinks THAT way. (*ahem*)

➔He wrote it in such a way because he has something to express and assumes he doesn't think that way. That is why he said he can express himself in such ways. He does it under the guise of "this guy's a work of art"

The interviewer mentioned that the next song, "Hai Glass", is THE Furukawa Makoto song. They questioned if the choice of words and other aspects of his musical career have become more defined.

➔He said that he likes music that leaned towards the adult-oriented side and was no longer afraid to write adult-oriented lyrics. He doesn't want to admit that this is a fixed point in his mind lol.

"Are there any other tendencies you were aware of?"

➔He tends to use "Night" a lot. Quote: "There's no such thing as daylight! You can think of it as the exact opposite of the word "midsummer sun"."

"This time, "Hai Glass" had an "adult" feel. But what theme did you write about in here?"

➔When he received the song, he already had a tentative lyric that was based on the image of "a woman who is so greedy that she has become distorted". He had that image when he wrote the lyrics.

➔When he wrote it with that image combined with the music, it goes on and on, and ended up in a "slutty" or "lewd" direction (LMAOOOO)

➔He repeatedly wrote and erased the lyrics in his phone, but would always end up in a situation where he thinks "that's not what I meant". But the more that happened, the image of "Cinderella" came up.

➔He said the has no means of being "open ended" and has a "tied up" feel to it. He goes on to talk about the story of Cinderella (how before she gets her happily ever after, she was bullied by her step mother and sisters). So he thinks of Cinderella as a distorted character.

➔"Featuring her distortion and the process of getting to the ball, I wrote the lyrics about Cinderella wondering if the day would come soon when she would be able to go to the ball."

"The shouts in the middle of the song, for example, bring out the charm of the singer's voice to the fullest, but do you have a particular favorite phrase when singing?"

➔He loved the part where he sang "Utaeya, Utaeya" and "Tonaeya, Tonaeya" *⑸ cause he said it sounds like black magic.

➔He said the hardest part to sing is the chorus itself. It's nice and rhythmical when he listened to it, but find it hard where he needs to put the energy and when to hold his breath. He was told he should've noticed this when writing it and admits he didn't noticed it lol.

The interviewer asked if the song took a long time to record

➔"Nope. There was another thing that was hard."

"We'll ask about that later, but it's about "Yurikago to Clover" now."

➔"Yes! This song is the one I had a hard time with!!"

"The gentle singing style and lyrics of this song are amazing, but what was the part that you had a hard time with?"

➔He continues to say that the lyrics for this song wasn't done until just before the recording started. But even during the recording he felt like something was off and that is why he spent a lot of time in it.

"In what way did you have trouble writing the lyrics?"

➔"The song talks about two non humans; homunculus-like people who escaped and lived a happy and quiet life. Nothing too fancy. But I had a clear vision with this (song) up to the point where one of them pass away. Unfortunately from there, I can't think of a vision of how the person left behind could be happy. I don't want to end the song with a feeling of restlessness/no conclusion. I wanted to show something wonderful to the people who were "left behind" and I want them to move on from that point. So I was very worried about the words I put in."

"You wanted to make them happy, but was it difficult to find a way to make them happy?"

➔ "Yes, I agree. But as for the ending, I came up with the idea to at least give a beautiful "clover view". But it was also difficult to mold the sound to get there. I thought about a few things and chose my words wisely.. like how they eat while they are alone, but there is the fact that they are not human. They are in the state of waiting for the end to come without doing anything."

The interview goes to mention that the song was filled with Furukawa's kindness. They then moved on to "Yuunagi wo Tsurete", where the song talks about "growing older" and asked what were his thoughts when he wrote the lyrics.

➔He mentioned he was worried about getting old (like joint pains, double vision of things, and more). He mentioned how he was a teenager up until he reached his 30s and how everyone around him is also growing up.

➔His parents will one day pass away (his words not mine) and the town he used to live in will surely change. He felt afraid about these stuff.

➔The past has good memories but didn't want those memories to fade away any further. Which is why he wrote the lyrics and it turned up that way.

➔"Time will surely pass even if you do nothing, and you can't keep looking behind you. Time can't be rewound. The lyrics are about living life to the fullest/doing our best to live."

The interviewer asked what he liked about getting older

➔He likes that more of his juniors and people around became more respectful towards him. He is grateful that they're very caring towards him.

This is about "Craving", the last song in the mini album. He was asked what was his first impression on the song.

➔He said that he had an impression of a "galactic railroad" running through the area, but said he can't find cool phrases related to it and gave up on the idea.

➔He could see the image of the song going from dark to light. From there, he expressed his strong desire to crawl out of a world where he's trapped and unable to be fully free due to Covid.

➔"I think the idea of what I want to do myself was strongly expressed in this song."

Is that why the title was named "Craving"?

➔He said he wrote the lyrics with the image of "craving" one's desire from the bottom of their hearts, the type of "craving" that is filled with "hunger". But also said it got closer to his favorite series, "Fate/Stay Night"

➔He loves and admires Emiya Shirou's (The protagonist in Fate/Stay Night) way of thinking and how he grants wishes(?). He wrote the lyrics in hopes of being Emiya and the lyrics ended up sounding like something out of the Fate Series.

The interviewer said they'll listen to it again with that image in mind and thanks him for his hardwork in writing the lyrics for the 5 songs. He was also asked if he had any "companions" when writing the lyrics.

➔He has his earphones that he uses to listen to the songs and humming to it. He said he also had 2 litres of black tea a day. (Ah yes... high-five Makonyan we're the same)

"TWO LITRES!?"

➔His "usual" beverage is now black tea (that is, in the timing of when this article was written). He said he would grab two bottles of black or lemon tea before he goes to his next work. So in total, he estimated to drink about 2-3 litres of it a day. He even drinks tea in coffee shops.

He was asked about the image that was in the album jacket.

➔The jacket was still in theme with the title of the album, so it was shot inside of a room. He wanted to express the idea of being "trapped" so the lighting was made to resemble iron bars.

➔"Not something like "fresh! Fun! Cool!" But rather a look that says "Bored. I'm tied up in here." something like that."

・"How did the shooting of the jacket went?"

➔"It went well.. except for the fact that I went there without being well-rested"

"The limited edition includes a recording of your online live performance in April. How was the live performance?"

➔He said he was excited to sing his own songs and was giving all his energy in his rehearsals. It was up to the point where someone points out he was giving too much energy for the rehearsals. It resulted in throat pains and a painful lesson for him.

➔He said the last song, "For Fairytale" was very impressive.

➔It was an online live and there was no audience, but the staff brought pen lights (light sticks) and waved them around for him (Awwww)

➔He couldn't help but cry and cry because he felt frustrated. The stage was supposed to be empty, but there was light sticks waving in his performance (STAFF-SAN 😭😭)

➔He said the view was really, really beautiful view. He said if there are actual audience, he would cry even more; some ragged tears will come out. He sang as best as he could to return the kind gesture.

"In the recording, we might be able to see Furukawa-san's crying face."

➔If it's possible, he hoped that the frame wasn't pointed to his crying face (or had a close-up of that moment) (I THINK I'LL CRY IF I SEE IT)

He was asked if he had any last messages for the readers.

➔He said the words "anata" *⑹ and "kimi" *⑺ popped up a lot.

➔"If you read it as "the tomorrow I wish I had hoped for," I think you will understand the consistency conveyed in this mini-album."

➔"In "Yurikago to Clover", that tomorrow had died. And in "Yuunagi wo Tsurete", it felt like we're waiting for that tomorrow. That is how I wrote the lyrics. There is no doubt that this is a very expansive album"

➔He goes on to mention that the lineup for this album has "strong habits" in it. He's sure that at least one of the songs from the five will stick out to his listeners.

➔"Compared to the previous full album, the number of songs is indeed lesser, but the content is as rich as it gets, so we hope you will continue to support us. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!"

－end

⑴. I hope I got that translation right 😂

⑵, ⑶, ⑷. I kinda had a hard time translating these parts so it might sound like it doesn't make sense. I'm sorry if that's the case 😭

⑸. These words are translated in my translation of "Hai Glass". "Utaeya, Utaeya": "Sing it, Sing it. "Tonaeya, Tonaeya": "Chant it, chant it"

⑹. "anata" (あなた) means "you". Most foreigners will definitely say this, but in reality, the typical Japanese people doesn't say it that much. In my understanding, "anata" is indeed formal, but it's usually used intimately. "Anata" can also mean darling depending on the context. Like I said, it is based on my understanding.

⑺. "Kimi" (君) also has the same meaning as "anata". "Kimi" is usually much more casual and used amongst friends (in my understanding, that is). But then again, in Japan, they tend to just use people's family name, at least that is what's common.

－end of notes

My personal thoughts: "ROOM of No Name" is a must have/must listen album even for those who doesn't stan Furukawa Makoto. This album has a really "touching" feel in my opinion. There was a roller coaster of emotions put into it. Starting from the upbeat "Forsaken Kiss" to the gentle melody of "Yurikago to Clover" and back to the fast-paced rock in "Craving", you'll be taken into this journey of being "entrapped". My personal favorite out of all the 5 is definitely "Yurikago to Clover". This doesn't mean I don't like the other songs though! I love the other 4 songs, too! But "Yurikago to Clover" had a special place in my heart and will always have. In this interview, I felt like he really gave his all to make sure he was able to convey what he feels in his lyrics. I feel like it did just that. Even if he claims he's not good in writing lyrics, I feel like his skill in writing lyrics are very good, if not one of the best there is. I look forward to more of his music works in the near future!

You can listen to the full mini-album here!

[mobagehelllocal]

“lucky ending” extra notes i & iii

Hi, I said I would do it but then I released ver i so long ago that I felt I shouldn't do this unless I had another version out at least so yay! finally! ... I'll add ver ii here when I get around to writing it... *shifty eyes* So as usual, this is just my thought process and ideas while writing lol.

*please do not read if you haven’t read “lucky ending” ver i (dorm leaders) & ver iii (rook & lilia).

It was inspired by an anon ask and the button tradition from Japanese schools.

The anon ask went like this: First at all, I like do much your writing and I hope you are doing well. Second, I was wondering what would happen if the MC (Fem!s/o I guess) decided to not go back to her world, like she decide stay with her villain? Can you do make headcanons of this for the dorm leaders? Thank you very much. – from Anonymous

The button tradition, as narrated by the first years, is done when one person confesses and the other responds by giving them the button closest to their heart. In most Japanese uniforms it’s the second uniform, but in Twisted Wonderland--I looked at the ceremonial robes and the closest button should be the fifth. Maybe. I could be wrong. 

The songs I listened to while writing this! 

The original dorm leaders (and Rook) was written while listening to “Lucky Ending”, the ending theme of Fruits Basket. The English lyrics (translated by otenkiame!) are: 

“Change is important. I want to do it well,/ but I wanna cry. It's still bad. I wanna cry” 

“The word "goodbye" has disappeared completely from this world/ All that remains is me fooling around next to you/A day you don't laugh won't come anymore”

“I've understood it since being here/ These feelings of wanting to protect you aren't a misunderstanding/ If we can call what connects us bonds,/ everything changes/ everybody changes/ Even if in a different world, it'll never be different/ everything changes/ everybody changes/ Don't change, ever/ Stay here, stay here”

I think it’s obvious why I chose to use this as the title of the series. It’s a story about change but it’s also a story about the things you don’t want to change... And I think it’s not wrong to want to hold onto things. 

I also listened to the same playlist that I listened to while writing “wendy?” “hello peter pan”:

“Can’t help falling in love” cover by Annapantsu, “If you’re not the one” by David Beddingfield, “Who Knew” by P!nk and “All Too Well” by Taylor Swift. 

For Lilia in particular, I was listening to three Beauty and the Beast songs on loop. “Evermore” by Josh Groban, “Days in the Sun” by the live action cast and, of course--”How does a moment last forever” by Celine Dion.

“How does a moment last forever?/ How can a story never die?/ It is love we must hold onto/ Never easy, but we try/ Sometimes our happiness is captured/ Somehow, our time and place stand still/ Love lives on inside our hearts and always will”

Also for Lilia, Tolerate It by Taylor Swift.

“You're so much older and wiser and I/ I wait by the door like I'm just a kid”

“I made you my temple, my mural, my sky/Now I'm begging for footnotes in the story of your life”

Malleus was definitely the first piece finished. Closely followed by Vil’s. I believe there was a gap inbetween them before I did the others? I wrote bits and pieces of Leona, Idia, Kalim and Azul’s. I think I finished Leona, Idia, Kalim then Riddle because I distinctly remember saving Azul for last. 

One of the most important things for me, is that each story stands distinct of each other. So I gave myself a really hard time trying to figure out how each one uniquely belonged to each of the characters.

For the Prologue... I think because it’s set at the graduation of certain characters, I used that to my advantage and implied the stronger bonds between the Yuu!Reader and the entirety of the cast. Because a lot of time has passed and I feel like--regardless of what other people believe, bonds will be made and relationships will have strengthened enough for it to happen. 

Riddle is honestly another really difficult character for me to write. I generally do love him and I enjoy his story, but something about him is difficult and I’m not sure why. 

I think a part of me is also really miffed because from Heartslabyul-Savanaclaw, you could feel that Riddle really cared for Yuu on some level but then he just straight up disappears come Octavinelle chapter. I feel like there was potential to develop their relationship even more. 

He WENT UP AND TIED YOUR RIBBON I REMEMBER I WENT DOKI DOKI OVER THAT. 

I feel like because I’ve established that it’s a Yuu!Reader, it’s impossible for this story to not include both Ace and Deuce. So of course they featured in really big roles for this one, being responsible for telling Riddle the story.

I have to thank my friend, Mes, for bouncing ideas with me. They were the one who suggested what I could do with Riddle’s story by having ADeuce play such a big part!

I also tried my hardest to include Trey and Cater, and I’m pretty happy with their cameo. In a way, they definitely helped Riddle figure out his own feelings for you. 

My favourite lines are: “I think you earned that much. I don’t believe anyone’s ever been in your situation before so—there’s no right or wrong about what you’re doing. It’s all about what you want to do.”

I wish someone would tell this to Yuu in general though. They’re the only one who has ever been in their situation (to our knowledge at least) and like... they’re definitely allowed to be even more selfish. 

Leona is someone who I used to dislike a lot. I never hid that. It’s primarily because of how disappointed I am in the story of Savanaclaw probably. But like, I was always concerned about writing him properly because I thought that it was only right that I did right by him, because there would be people reading these stories who loved him. And I felt like I had to do right by that love. 

I think... it’s wrong to believe that characters... villains... cannot fall in love or “won’t fall in love.” I think it’s wrong also to think that “people don’t change for love.” 

In fact, people do change. You definitely shouldn’t change yourself to be loved, but... people change all the time to be their “better” selves. So whose to say that a good person, who you love, will not make you want to improve yourself? Isn’t that what we want when we meet people? To fall in love with someone who will ultimately make you better and never worse. 

Or so that’s how I try to write the Twisted characters when they fall in love... With an understanding that “morally” the person they are falling for is “kind” and “good” and how a part of them might just want to be better just for that person. (Especially Leona and Azul). They don’t necessarily have to be nice to everyone, but if they can be better for one person... We stan healthy character growth.  

But yeah, Leona is driven by understanding that he’s a very selfish person. But that he’s also very unfortunate and he doesn’t want tie you with someone who, he thinks, is actually worthless. He probably, deeply, thinks you deserve more.

Though his selfishness eventually wins out and well... Won’t you forgive him for it? :) For tying you down to this worthless second prince? 

I think his own self-awareness does make him try harder. Not for everyone or everything... but for you. Just for you. I think that would be Leona’s love language--spending time with you, trying for you.

He’d appreciate if you didn’t call him out on it though, that would be very embarrassing. 

Looking back, I’m surprised that it was the only version where none of the other boys from his dorm showed up lol. Which means Ruggie is the sole character who has yet to appear in the “lucky ending” series, huh.

My favourite lines from his story that still leaves me breathless and patting my past self in the back: ““I’m home—” you said—even if a part of you felt that home should have been two green eyes, a cocky smirk, and a warm patch of sunlight on the grassy ground.”

Like honestly, what was I on? Who was she?

Azul is, like Leona, someone who is so keenly aware of the things he’s lacking. In fact, he’s someone who thinks he’s lacking when he’s probably perfect in some aspects. He might act proud but a part of him--I think--thinks its not enough. It’s never enough. He can certainly do better still.

In that light, it’s why he thinks he’s undeserving of a partner. Especially one who is “kind” and “understanding.” While ultimately, Azul deserves people in his life who are that and “accepting” of him--I think he still thinks he doesn’t. 

And thats why he lets go of the Yuu!Reader. It’s why he doesn’t “chase” after her like Leona did.

It’s because he’s selfish, because he wants her--that he forces himself to let go. 

Azul needs someone who’ll tell him that he is worth something and that he’s definitely worth the effort. So please praise him a lot until he’s crying in happiness. I’m sure it’s the one thing he’s always wanted to hear from people around him.

Also my Poly!Octavinelle Agenda has never died and I am pleased Past!Ai got away with so much Poly!Octa hints in this story lol. But honestly, regardless of wht Octavinelle says... god, you can tell they genuinely care about each other.

I recently rewatched Octavinelle’s chapter and... by god, the amount of things I missed out on first watch. Jade’s concern when he realized Azul wanted to get rid of that photo... The fact Floyd was so willing to drop the fight to return to Azul too... Anyways, Poly!Octa Agenda for life.

Favourite lines: “Azul’s pathetic whimpers turned into guttural sobs. His fingers spread to cover his eyes—and his glasses slid off his face, down to his lap and then to the ground—at his actions. His whole body shook as he cried his heart out.”

It’s not as poetic as a lot of my other favourites, but for some reason these lines always get me when I reread them. There’s something so visceral about it. 

Azul’s piece is probably the least visually stimulating out of all these stories? His was so emotionally driven compared to the others and I worried a lot about that.

I think I remember I was crying so badly as I was writing this. 

Kalim is really hard for me because I feel like I struggle a lot with finding conflict in his character? He’s such a genuinely nice person, I find it hard to believe that the Yuu!Reader would feel alienated from him or something. So I brought in “environment” to get in the way. 

My use of celestial imagery for Kalim is because of the Scarabia trailer! I really loved how it put Kalim as the sun and Jamil as the moon. I definitely will take advantage of that when I get around to writing for Jamil.

So because I wanted to use the sun, I chose to use the idea of comets for Kalim? I think I remember something about how meteors are drawn to the gravitation pull of the sun and can “escape” it or “be destroyed” by it. Haha, hot. 

Jamil is someone who ultimately cares about Kalim too and I had fun writing his banter with the Yuu!Reader. I think I wanted to decribe the shadows licking his face reminscent to the marks from his Overblot but... I felt like doing that would give Jamil too much focus so I ultimately decided against it.

It would’ve been hot though. 

Oh yes, one thing I wanted to talk about is Kalim’s rushed proposal. I remember people talking about it in the tags, comments... even in asks at that time. The reason he does it is because he’s someone who didn’t realize his feelings until you spelled out your own. It was a sort of: “Oh. Right. That is the word I’d use to describe my feelings.” 

My favourite lines from his story is: “How does one bid goodbye to the sun?” and “No one ever willingly bids goodbye to the sun.They spend the rest of their lives trying to find the right way back to it.”

My god, who was this genius.

Vil is probably the most visually stunning out of all these stories. I feel like my stories go from super vivid imagery and setting to just complete emotional disasters lol. (Vil being the former and Azul’s being the latter... not that it’s bad, it actually suits the characters). 

Oh man, I remember thinking that Vil is such a hard character to write because we don’t know what his motivation for perfection is. All we knows is that he wants to be the best but, why? 

It’s like, for example, Idia. His motivations could be otaku-related. He doesn’t want to go to class because he’d rather go play or something. That sounds in character--but Vil was so hard because he wanted perfection.

But we already see him as such a perfect character, so what else did he need to be even more perfect? In that light, Chapter 5 did a really good job on presenting Vil’s motivations. 

But honestly, I think I can comfortably say that the Vil I’ve written so far is pretty accurate? To his character. I’m really grateful I read his chat lines because his comment about intelligence really got me thinking about his possible motivations. It made it really easy to understand that Vil wasn’t like majority of the real world’s influencers. 

One other thing that I was really happy about with his story is the use of the flower language. It’s something I hope I can use more because it’s so beautiful. 

Oh! And the roses the Yuu!Reader talks about are double delight roses. They are specifically bred to have two colors--yellow in the center and pink on the outside. I thought it fitting that the Yuu!Reader breed special roses for Vil.

They can be called... err... Vil Roses?

My favourite lines from his story is:  ““My happiness will not be dictated by others—no, Vil Schoenheit is a person who will grasp happiness with his own hands.” [...] “I’m giving you this button because I’ve already found happiness by your side.”” 

This line was actually inspired by Zelda C.W.’s MYth series. Specifically Hera’s story, Will. 

Idia ...for him, I somehow had a very hard time imagining him trying to tell the reader to stay. Like that didn’t compute for me? I felt like his version was better approached in a more comedic light somehow. 

I also felt that it would be cuter if the Yuu!Reader had already chosen to stay and Idia would need to hastily retrack his confession... Unfortunately, Yuu!Reader won’t let him. 

Honestly looking back on it, I wonder how much of Chapter 6 is going to make me scream and want to rewrite Idia’s part? 

My favourite lines from his story is: “He was never particularly good at lying—nor was he good at keeping secrets from you. You were a person he considered a dear friend—and he was always the type of person who ended up spilling everything to you. He liked being able to talk about the things he enjoyed—he liked that he had found someone who wanted to hear him out.”

A lot of my interpretation for Idia is closely linked to personal experience as an anime, manga and gaming fan. It was just a couple of years ago where people would actually be bullied for liking these things--but nowadays its become a norm. It’s... stunning actually but it makes me happy to know that maybe nobody will be judged for loving anime.

That being said, Idia’s longing to find someone he can talk to is something I really relate too--back then, it was so difficult to find someone to talk to about my interests... So I interpreted Idia as much the same. That what he enjoys about the Yuu!Reader is their ability to simply sit and listen to him talk. 

Malleus... man, recently I’ve been starting to fall in love with him all over again. He was my first oshi ever... Anyways, moving on. You think I’ve talked enough about immortal x mortal but nope, we are not done. I love this theme in general, romantic or platonic. 

I will never shut up about it you can’t make me. 

Sebek having a good enough friendship with Yuu!Reader is such a delicious concept. Like mutual respect and Sebek understanding that Yuu!Reader gives Malleus a different type of companionship that Sebek, Silver or Lilia couldn’t... 

And also, ultimately, Sebek and Yuu!Reader do love Malleus. In different ways, but I like the thought of Sebek respecting that and respecting the Yuu!Reader.

Me realizing just now that Silver joins Ruggie in the: “has never appeared in a lucky ending fic club.”... Sorry Silver, I swear soon. Once we get more content on you.

Celestial themes for Malleus are primarily, again, because he only ever seemed to meet you at night. And I thought it would be wonderful, if you were a bright spark to him. 

Favourite lines are definitely:  “Oh, bright light… I would prefer to live the rest of your life by your side… rather than spend centuries contemplating what it could have felt… to hold you in my arms.”

I am, always, going to be such a big sucker for the idea of immortals constantly remembering and loving mortals. Always holding them close in their memories, because in that way--their lovers have become immortal with them. 

I also like to imagine that he eventually figures out a way to connect your worlds together so you can still talk to your friends and family from that world. He is one of the most powerful magicians around, I’m sure its possible.

Rook was honestly the most difficult piece for me to write because he’s so hard(?) for me to understand. He’s a mess of contradictions honestly and I... guess I’m excited to see what he’ll do come Chapter 6. 

I actually rewrote his story so much. I got about 500 words with a different idea/plot in mind before deleting that completely and restarting from scratch. 

I feel like Rook is someone who talks big and talks about love without actually knowing what it truly might feel like. He’s someone who doesn’t understand it and ends up mistaking it for his fascination. 

Aside from me enjoying inserting other characters from the same dorm as much as possible, I felt that Vil was the perfect person to snap some sense into Rook.

Epel’s appearance there is basically to reflect how much I really hope the first year kids get really close to one another. 

Rook is also someone who I think, doesn’t try to explain himself too much. He’s someone who I think talks a lot, but if people don’t understand him then he doesn’t need to be understood? That’s my impression. Lol, when “lucky ending” became a character study. 

I also really loved the idea that Rook was fine with people running from him--to him that makes it all the more thrilling. But then you start running away from him and that just ends up making dread pool in his stomach. 

My favourite lines from his story: “‘When something ends, it must be sad. So, tell me then, how an ending could be so beautiful?’ [...] .‘But there was one ending that was beautiful, non?’ [...] ‘That’s right. ‘They lived happily ever after’—are those not the words that define a beautiful ending?’”

I used the dusk metaphor for Rook. My idea is that he starts seeing dusk as an ending and how he can’t fathom how any “ending” is beautiful. When a story ends, it’s not beautiful to him, humu. But when that ending is the happily ever after then... That makes all the difference. 

Lilia was actually easier than Rook’s but also fairly difficult. I had written the middle of Lilia’s piece while stumped on Rook’s actually. Lilia’s was probably easier because I love the idea of immortals and mortals.

I don’t really like the idea of mortals becoming immortals. Like, yes, it’s certainly sweet and spending eternity with a one true love is definitely the best possible ending but... I think there’s so much weight in an immortal choosing to love a mortal while knowing that they will ultimately lose them.

The biggest theme for Lilia is definitely time.

Thinking about it now... There’s been a lot of things in real life that’s just... Made me think about how we have less time than we actually think we have. And I think I ended up channeling that through Lilia... Though I feel like it is ultimately things Lilia would think about though. 

The most important imagery would probably be the stars.

I honestly wanted to avoid it because I used celestial imagery for both Kalim and Malleus but the words just flowed out in a way that I felt that I couldn’t replace. So I went with it. 

Lilia is no stranger to loneliness. One of the reasons he feels less alone is because he has family now and he doesn’t want to rob you of that. Family is so important to him because they are people who are meant to be with you--they are people who will make you less lonely--or so thats how I think? he thinks. 

My favourite lines from his story: “He would relish in the way—You made the world pause. You made a moment extend into an eternity. You made an immortal crave just a little more time.”

I’m so immensely proud of this one? I don’t really have much else to say. There’s something so raw about it that I love. Also the part where it continues on to say that  “Because there is never enough time.”

Me realizing my extra notes is just half me simping over these characters, half sharing headcanons, have actually giving good advice? perspective?, half song lyrics, half character study/analysis?

“lucky ending” is about change. Whether we want them to happen or not it’s... the human condition to change. For better or worse, we change--day by day. I think we all operate under a small panic about how everyday things are changing...

But “lucky ending” is also about the things that don’t change. Won’t change. Will never change. The things worth holding onto, the thing worth fighting for... or so I’d like to think.

[guro-giri-letters]

Arms wide open : Dabi x reader!

- By Guro. ♡

/After Dabi admits struggling to bathe because he’s in pain, you decide it’s time you give him a hand. Another wholesome fic! Hope you enjoy and thank you to the anon who sent me this ask! ♡/

/Tags l Tw ; No warnings, Dabi is stubborn but appreciative, established couple, request fill. ♡/

Water sloshes around the tub as Dabi moves again, using his elbows on the lip of the tub to rearrange himself. “Christ-“ he grumbles under his breath before settling back down into the water, his lower back fitting between your legs. “-it stings.”

The little radio, propped up precariously by the cracked window in hopes of a better signal, plays a slightly frosty version of an old pop song in the otherwise quiet room. Every so often the station changes without anyone touching it but you don’t mind. It’s just some background noise.

“You’ll get used to it,” you reply quietly, ignoring the narrow-eyed glance he directs over his shoulder at you. “You just need to stay in a while, you’ll adjust to the heat.”

“Mm. Whatever.”

You roll your eyes slightly at that, scoffing. But really you understand; Dabi’s only in a mood because he’s uncomfortable and hurting. It had taken you longer than you’d like to admit to realise something was wrong with him, honestly, but your fellow League member does tend to keep to himself. He doesn’t like voicing things often, not even to you, especially concerning himself and his own well-being. If you hadn’t been with him earlier, and seen his hand shaking as he tried to light up a smoke, you doubt you’d have caught on at all.

“Trust me, this’ll help,” you assure again, running a hand back through his wet hair to pull it out of his eyes. You’d taken the liberty earlier that day of going out and buying a bag of Epsom salts for the bath. It may sting at first but you’re sure it’ll ease the pain along his stapled skin. Actually convincing Dabi to get in the bath had been a challenge of its own but he had agreed eventually, only after you’d conceded to join him of course. You hope it’ll help ease the pain he constantly seems to be suffering. It’s not fair that he should always hurt.

Strangely, Dabi seems to have gone quiet now, his head hanging forward as you cup hot water in your hands and pour it down his back. Maybe he’s finally relaxing a little, you hope, dipping a washcloth in the water.

“Does it feel any better?” You ask him, before the stretch of silence between you both gets uncomfortably long. You’re dabbing the wash cloth lightly across the line of staples that comes up under his right arm, over his left shoulder. A non-committal grunt is all you get in return, which really gives you no answer since you can’t see his face. “How long did you say it’s been since you bathed?”

“Don’t know... a while,” he’s watching the surface of the water as you run the washcloth down his spine, tilting his head. Muscles move and stretch beneath his skin, drawing your eyes across the sharp planes of his shoulder-blades. Everything about him seems so sharp; the jut of his bones beneath his skin, the lines where his grafts meet his natural flesh, his staples. “Why? Grossed out?” He sounds amused, but you think he may be putting it on to cover his discomfort. Ignoring the question you lay a hand over his shoulder and draw him back gently, only stopping when his back is resting flush against your chest. A noise that sounds almost relieved crawls up Dabi’s throat, his head rolling back to lay on your shoulder.

You don’t even need to look at his face to know he’s watching you; blue fire eyes trail up the side of your neck, over your face, taking you in. Ignoring the warmth rising to your cheeks you soldier on, clearing your throat.

“What?” You ask after a moment, wringing water out of the cloth before running it lightly over his chest. Taking care over his sensitive, prosthetic skin.

“You’re soft on me,” his gritty voice almost vibrates through you now that he’s laying against your chest, his words making you half-smile unintentionally. “You like me too much.”

“I happen to think I like you just the right amount.” Cupping his chin you tilt his head back a little further, his lips pulling into a smirk at your words. You keep your hand under his chin as you bring the cloth up his neck, his Adam’s apple bobbing under your fingers. “You know, you are quite likeable Dabi.”

“Shut up.”

“No.”

He chuckles now, the sound very loud in the small room. The thin smile on his face sends a little thrill up your spine. Still holding his chin, you turn his head just enough to press a kiss against his temple. Another pleased noise escaped his throat at this, his eyes shutting. Grinning, Dabi lifts his arm as if to cup your cheek only to hiss, laying it back down quickly with a wince. Worry rises up in your chest quickly, a frown crossing your face as you release his chin. “Dabi?”

“It’s fine,” he grits out, sighing and squeezing his eyes shut. “I’m fine.”

You’re entirely sure he’s not but you relent anyway, huffing a sigh of your own and resting your chin on his shoulder. With his arms still propped up on the lip of the tub, you can easily slide your own around him, wrapping them loosely around his torso. The radio has picked up a different channel and you’re surprised to hear a song you recognise vaguely, your brows lifting a fraction.

“I know this,” You murmur, watching Dabi’s eyes squint as he strains to hear the lyrics. The song is in English though, and he gives you a slightly puzzled look. You know he can speak some English, but not quite enough to follow the song with you. Relaxed by the familiarity of the song you lean back further into the tub, hugging his body a little closer and singing the lyrics to him in his own tongue.

“With arms wide open, now everything has changed,” Dabi’s brow quirks, amused at your slightly off key notes. You just smile back, pleased you’re distracting him again. “I’ll show you love, I’ll show you everything. With arms wide open...” you carry on singing, a little clumsily as you translate from English to Japanese in your head. Dabi’s face has gone calm once more as he watches you, lips quirked up. “You like it?”

“The music is cool,” he drones, lifting an arm slowly and scratching at his scalp. You brush his hand away and replace it with your own, working your fingers into his thick, dark hair. The noise he lets out almost makes you giggle; an near guttural groan of appreciation. He sags back against your chest with all of his weight, huffing our a slow breath. “...thanks, y/n.”

You make a pleased noise yourself, which quickly turns into a  giggle as Dabi turns his head, pressing a noisy kiss beneath your ear. “That tickles-” you snort, squirming as he presses loud smooch after smooch against your neck. “-and you’re welcome, Dabi. Stop it!”

“No,” he snickers, and you can feel his grin against your neck. The radio changes again and this time it’s a song you both know. With your arms around Dabi, just for a few minutes as it plays, everything feels perfect.

[ryuu-to-sobakasu-hime]

Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle) Novel | English Translation | Chapter 4

**This is a machine translation. I put it together by extracting text page-by-page from a .pdf version of the Japanese novel, and running it through Google translate. I have only minorly edited some of the more confusing lines to make it more read-able. It is still a very rough translation, but it’s good enough to understand what’s going on. If there is anyone out there who wants to properly translate the novel, I am more than happy to edit it, if you’ll contact me.**

———————————————

Chapter 4: U

I went home and opened my MacBook. While shivering in the cold, I clicked on the link sent by Hiro-chan. The letter "U" slowly emerges on a pitch-black screen with a wave-like sound. ".......U?" My tattered face covered in vomit was illuminated by the light of the monitor. The invitation page will be launched and a message will be displayed.

[ "U" is another reality

"Az" is another you

Reality cannot be redone

But with "U" you can start over

Let's live another you

Let's start a new life

Let's change the world ]

I forgot about the cold and was looking forward to it. The smartphone placed next to it was linked and the app started automatically. A registration screen appears on my MacBook monitor. It says "NAME".

"Name...."

I hesitated. There was a feeling of resistance. However, contrary to my feelings, I reach out towards my keyboard.

"S" "u" "z" …….

I type in steadily.

"U".

At that moment, a strong anxiety arose. I impulsively press the delete key. I slammed the keys to erase it and closed my MacBook.

[............]

I curled up and sighed, shivering. "I'm next to Luka" I found Luka on the bench in the courtyard. The girls are gathering together and surrounding Luka-chan. The first grade is almost over, so it seemed like everyone was going to take a picture.

"Mr. Watanabe's Yokozaro"

"Eh~? No fair!"

"I like Luka-chan's soba." Ako was envious of the shining Luka-chan from behind the pillars of piloti. I was jealous of the girls who could be photographed with Luka.

"Mr. Watanabe, look over here. I'll take a picture," urged the girl who played the role of the camera, and Luka looked in front of her. Then she waved towards us as she suddenly noticed.

"Ah. Suzu-chan!"

"Eh?" Luca beckoned to me, who was scared.

"Suzu-chan is also included!"

The girls looked at me all at once. Why? Is written on the face. I'm in a hurry

I hid in a pillar, then I looked a little and turned my palm.

"No, no, I", but Luca continued to beckon me.

"It’ll be fast!” Later, the image was sent. A group photo of girls with cute V signs, centered on Luca. There is my face full of freckles mixed with it. The position just behind Luka. Like the spirit behind her, I have an awkward V sign. When I tried to register for "U" again, I was asked for a photo of my face. I don’t have a photo of my face. I don't bother to point the camera at myself.

So, I used the image at this time for registration.

Face recognition markers are displayed on everyone. Which one are you? I moved the cursor and selected the freckled face behind Luka.

The text "A / I automatically generates a new Az" appears. At the same time, there is an annotation, "What is Az?". << The name of the avatar in "U" and another you >>

Another you.

Soon, the rendered Az was displayed.

"That ...?" There was a terrifyingly beautiful Az, far from me. You can say it's just like Luka-chan, not me. "Luka-chan? Why ..."

AI was confused with Luca, who was right next to my image. If so, what an awkward artificial intelligence! While the difference must be corrected. I hit the back button repeatedly.

"No. Back, back. Cancel ...", but suddenly I stopped pressing the button. Red spot-like patterns were clearly drawn on both cheeks of the Az.

"Freckles ..." I put my hand on my cheek. Isn't it my freckles? "Maybe I .....?" I slowly typed in each character in the "NAME" field of the registration screen. This time it's not "Suzu".

"B" "e" “l” “l” “e”

"Bell" = “Suzu”

When I decide on the name "... Bell", the Az in front of me suddenly seems to be adorable. "Cancel" and "OK" buttons are displayed on the screen, prompting you to make a selection.

"What should I do..…"

To make this beauty Az me, I'm not courageous and I'm afraid. On the other hand, no matter how far she is from me in reality, I also think. Rather, it is the world of the Internet that is far away. There are many examples of flashy names and icons on SNS.

"U" is a virtual world and Az is a virtual personality. Privacy is strictly protected. It claims that anonymity is strictly guaranteed. Then no one should blame you. Then, at the next moment, I'm at a loss. In the first place, why did AI of "U" automatically generate such a beautiful Az for me? Is it just a coincidence created by uncertainty? Or is it deep inside my heart? Are you seeing through your true desires? Or ...

It's time to select "Cancel or OK".

A late-night study room with only desk lights. In front of the MacBook screen, I decided to take a slow breath and trim. --Now, let's live another you-in my head, the message of "U" was refrained. "Click" I clicked OK.

At that moment, as if you were preparing, the "U" app on your smartphone started automatically. You can hear the announcement of a calm tone voice.

"Please attach the device"

As per the instruction screen, take out the earphone type device from the case and take it out. I put it on my ear.

"I'm reading your biometric information ..."

The letter "U" on the device glows blue and shimmers. With just one vise, you can get all the information about human beings as living things. It seems that you can do it. And in a very short time. "Done," the announcement said. Then I continued as if I was checking.

"Start body sharing"

It sounds like something is spinning at high speed. Head circumference. There was a feeling that the surroundings were covered with dense air. It seems that it was brought about by the strong magnetic field developed by the device, and perhaps because of that, the hair lifts up softly as if it were in a weightless space.

"First, vision comes under control."

The feel of the magnetic field seemed to concentrate on the back of the head. I slowly open my eyes. "Ah!" A dazzling white light rushed into my eyes.

It's a cloth. White cloths that were more than 10 meters long overlapped, fluttering and fluttering in the wind. I looked at my body as if I were checking my body, and was shocked. My feet are floating in the air. The announcement echoes, as if it were an announcement from heaven.

"Other cognitive functions and deep limb sensations come under control."

What do you mean? There were no words in that unrealistic space. Sweat gushes from the whole body, and the heart beats.

"The feeling of physical independence and physical possession moves to your registered Az." Something slowly approaches from behind. Pink hair. It was the "shadow" of Az that I registered earlier. However, it’s face is flat and white like a plate with nothing on it.

[.........]

I'm just stunned. "Shadow" overlaps. The feeling that another body gets inside me is unpleasant. The shadow of Az was fine-tuned by moving the position back and forth so that it would be in focus, but it fits perfectly immediately. Immediately, the discomfort I had just disappeared somewhere. Beyond the fluttering white cloth, I saw a large white door. I reach out my hands as I slowly approach. The announcement announced. "Welcome to the world of 'U'"

I pressed my hands against the door and opened it vigorously. When I jumped out, I saw a group of skyscrapers that filled my view. "Ah!" On the bustling boulevard that intersects three-dimensionally, a large number of people, not humans, Az-- are floating in the air. Az that imitate animals, insects, marine life, vases and set squares, Az that imitate bicycles, half-beasts and goddesses that are likely to appear in fiction, Az that imitate warriors ... , Az in all kinds of shapes are flying around while chatting loudly. When I look up at the night sky, the lights of countless windows blink, not from the twinkling stars, but from the skyscrapers hanging upside down. Another reality. Another world. Is this "U"? Powder snow is dancing. It's a little chilly. When I opened my hands to take the powder snow in the palm of my hand, I saw a white arm and long, thin fingers in my eyes.

[...]

I was surprised at the difference in physical sensation and looked as if I was checking my body. Her slender body and long legs are wrapped in a white dress that looks like a newborn.

Is this me?

Let's live another you.

The message of "U" was refrained in my head.

[............]

There, I noticed multiple eyes and looked forward. Some Az in the crowd are looking at me. However, as soon as I glanced at it, I went there. You may be a little beautiful, but this is "U". To that extent, nothing is unusual here. That was convenient. No one cares. Then you might be able to do what you've always wanted to do. When I raise my face, I take a deep breath and try to speak out.

The voice was undeniably my own voice. It's much more relaxed than I expected. I tried humming so that the nasal cavity would resonate instead of stretching. Sounds smoother than I imagined. Is it conveniently corrected because the body is virtual? But I don't feel that the sound is far from my consciousness. Is it because the scanned biometric information is accurate? Anyway…

I can't believe it. "I could sing ...!"As the powder snow dances fantastically, my voice rebels against the skyscrapers. It is echoing. How many years has it been since you sung properly? It was irresistible that I could immediately make a voice as I imagined, even though there was a blank and I hadn't done any preparatory movements. It feels like I've got a lot of freedom, and at the same time I'm a little scared. How is biometric information transformed into this output? What is Az? Anyway,

"Oh, I finally sang ...!"

I was very happy about this. I decided to sit down and sing a song with the lyrics properly. Of course there is no accompaniment, but is it okay?

[ I want to see a world where such a small melody pierces through a happy song

I wake up every morning and look for a future without you

I don't want to imagine the unpleasant singing ]

The lyrics translated into various languages ​​around me. Many languages, it surrounds me as a belt. Gaelic, Thai, Persian ...

All languages ​​overlap. If a song is detected, will it be displayed automatically without any settings? In addition, the synthetic voice singing in some languages ​​sounds faint, although the types are limited. Maybe because of that, "Hmm ...?"

Az and others who should have ignored me, suddenly look back and look at me.

"Ah ...?" Many Az in the building area are standing in the air one after another. I didn't mean to do that. I was just trying to check the condition of the technology called body sharing. However, it seems that more Az are gathering and listening than I expected. It's very embarrassing to think of myself as a street musician in a virtual world. However, it cannot be stopped on the way. Let's sing to the end, for myself. I continued thinking so.

[But I don't know the correct answer anymore.

It seems that it's going well except for me. Will it still come tomorrow?

Song, guide me, whatever happens, song, beside me, love, approach ]

From the Az who were listening, balloons displaying comments one after another appeared.

"What is this?" "Who is singing?" "Mysterious song"

At first, the content was cautious, as if watching the situation.

However, it gradually became less reluctant. For some reason, the only people who made comments such as "noisy", "strange songs", and "don't be pretentious" were Az with a cute appearance that I couldn't say such a thing. Wearing a frilly pink dress, a little animal, or a baby holding a teddy bear.

"Her looks aren't bad" "What's that freckled face (laughs)" Various tweets fly while singing. I do not mind. I'm singing for me. However, I was hurt by the words thrown at me. It ’s hard to say that only a small number of people will say

You can see it from here as well. hard. It may have appeared on the face. Furthermore, the words escalated. "I feel bad" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" I managed to finish singing before my feelings broke down. The noisy Az sighed and sighed, sighing and leaving. I had no choice but to see them off with disappointment,

"Belle"

Called my name, I looked up.

"……ah"

Something slipped in, "Eh? ... Ah," once I sprinkled the glittering scales, and once I went all the way down, it slowly stopped on my hand. It was a mysterious Az, like a white fairy, like an angel, like a clionidae. If you look closely, you can see that the body is transparent with the delicacy of warabi mochi. While swaying the wings of both hands, he said in a slightly traumatic tone.

"You are wonderful. You are beautiful."

That said, I felt saved.

"....... Fufufu. Thank you."

When I woke up, it was morning. Before I knew it, I was lying on my bed. Was last night a dream? It still has a fresh feeling. I looked at my smartphone to make sure. I have a profile page for Belle. It wasn't a dream. If you look under the bell icon, there is a column showing the number of followers.

《Belle: 0 followers》

That number is zero.

"There are no followers ....." I muttered while staring at the screen. "The world doesn't change anything." I didn't ask for it, but I felt a little disappointed.

When I thought, a beep sounded. The number of followers became "1" in front of me. That angel Az. A comment balloon appears. It was a blank space with nothing written on it. I laid down my smartphone, lay on my back on the bed, and remembered last night. There were many unplanned things. However, "But I finally sang ..." Above all, my heart was refreshed. The light of the winter morning looked dazzling. It's been a while since I've had such a refreshing feeling. Then there was a second follow-up notice. It was Hiro-chan. A cute bird-shaped Az with a round hat.

In the comment of "Re: I tried it for the first time"

<< This is Hiro. Belle is the best. I'll do anything >>

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

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dcx2NedPVBEdbfQaU-WC0pJMRmn20ASn7HSC0KY9R7E/edit?usp=sharing ~ Google Doc of the English-translated novel.

ryuutosobakasuhime.wordpress.com ~ English fan-site for Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime where translations, scans, and other content is posted.

[unpopularwiththepopulace]

Here Lies Jenny: Bebe Neuwirth’s under-remembered masterpiece?

While Bebe Neuwirth is often remembered foremost for her presence in worlds like Chicago, Cheers or Fosse, there’s another piece in the tapestry of her work that brings many notable threads together and is equally significant to her.

Here Lies Jenny is the somewhat under-discussed piece of theatre that in fact has connections to all three of these aforementioned things, because of the people she worked herself on creating it with, and deserves to be brought up with slightly more comparable frequency. 

A moment then to explore some of the history of this elusive but important show.

Here Lies Jenny, recalled as a “surprise off Broadway hit”, opened at the Zipper Theatre in downtown Manhattan in May 2004 and ran there for five months.

The show was an interpretive revue of the music of German composer, Kurt Weill, born out of an idea Bebe had herself. It was shaped by collaboration with close friends – with its initial genesis assisted by Leslie Stifelman (the show’s pianist, who she’d worked with on Chicago), direction by Roger Rees (who she’d long known and worked with since their time on Cheers together), and choreography by Ann Reinking (who was Bebe’s closest dance companion in the Fosse universe).

Set in a dark and shadowy looking barroom, the piece followed Bebe as the central, amorphous female figure named ‘Jenny’, supported by three male cast members and a pianist, through an evening of carefully selected Weill songs. Alongside Bebe and Leslie on stage were Gregory Butler and Shawn Emamjomeh, as two rough denizens of the bar, and Ed Dixon as the general proprietor.

There was no linear storyline to the show and no spoken dialogue, but Bebe described how the evening unfolded “in a very logical and emotional, fulfilling way.” All of the songs presented “[described] the interaction between these five people there, that make it necessary to sing the next song.” Rather than taking a group of songs by a particular composer and imposing a narrative on them, the songs were interwoven together to create an “impressionistic and realistic painting of this person’s life.”

To give a summary of the show’s arc, Jenny initially descends the wire staircase into the bar, with little more than a frightened expression and a small bag of wordly possessions. Accosted by the two forceful patrons, she’s flattened down both physically and emotionally. The men depart and return throughout, and the emotional core of the piece fluctuates from song to song as each number evokes a different picture and interpretation of a circumstance or feeling. As reviewers put it, “she’s sometimes bold, sometimes reticent, until she leaves…with what seems like a modicum of self-possession and hope,” and “climbs that long staircase on her way into the world again.”

The idea for creating Here Lies Jenny came out of Bebe’s own desire to put together a piece of theatre and an evening of performance of her own. It was a notion intensified by growing external interest, or as she recalled, “people have always said to me ‘Do a show, do a show, do a one woman show!’”

But for a while the form the piece would take was unclear. Bebe knew she “didn’t want to do a revue”, and she didn’t want “the usual cabaret thing… [or] ‘Bebe and Her Boys.’”

“I generally hate one women shows,” she would remark, “unless it’s Elaine Stritch or Chita Rivera or, you know, Patti LuPone.”

According to Bebe, she’s “much more comfortable as a character doing something. I'm not comfortable just being myself and singing in front of people.”

On and off for around two and a half years then, Bebe had been considering how to approach this matter while putting together some music, predominantly that of Kurt Weill, with musician, conductor and friend from Chicago, Leslie Stifelman.

Leslie suggested bringing in a director, so Bebe turned to Roger Rees – a person she regards as “not just a great actor,” but also “a fantastic director”, with a “very interesting creative mind.” Showing Roger the songs, he “realised that they all described women, or aspects of women, or different times in women’s lives.”

Roger thought it would be interesting then to combine all of these varied sentiments and have them channelled through one specific woman, in one specific location, to present a complex but diversely applicable tapestry centred around the emotional interiority of one tangible female force.

The show is “fragmented, prismatic…less narrative than poetic,” according to Roger. It’s not prescriptive. Rather, it evokes strong feelings and allows the audience to interpret them into their own individual and personal narrative for this woman. It poses questions and provokes thoughts. Who is this woman? Why is she here? Why is she here now? Is that a child? Or is that just a wish for a child? What did she have in this life before we meet her and what has she now lost?

It is indeed an unusual entity, and atypical from other more standard revues, cabaret acts, or works of theatre. A “self-described Japanophile”, Bebe explained how it played in the “Japanese aesthetic concept known as wabi sabi.” Of this she would elaborate, “There’s no direct translation, but it’s about the beauty of things as they age, embracing what’s painful in life as well as what’s joyful.”

It is certainly a piece that contains beauty as well as pain, which itself is a complexity and dichotomy often ascribed to Kurt Weill’s music.

When initially finding and working on songs for what was to become Here Lies Jenny, Bebe noticed being drawn to the work of one composer most strongly.

Like Bernadette Peters talking about how she gravitates to selecting Stephen Sondheim’s material for her concerts, Bebe would say simply, “all of the music that I loved the most was Kurt Weill music.”

A revue in 1991 called Cabaret Verboten (also with Roger Rees), that sought to recreate a Weimar Republic cabaret and re-conjure some of the decadence of pre-Nazi Germany, increased Bebe’s exposure to Kurt Weill’s music and was where she “first became captivated by the composer”. Building on this strong connection and deep appreciation in the years since then, Bebe would assert of his music, “it resonates for me.”

“Neuwirth knows Weill’s music isn’t for everyone,” one reviewer wrote, “but she won’t apologize for it.” She sees its capacity to be “appreciated on many different levels,” and has described it on varying occasions as “unflinchingly honest”, “very fulfilling to perform”, not just “arch and angular and Germanic…[as] many people think”, but as having “great lyricism and tenderness”.

Bebe feels a strong affinity for Weill’s music in part because of its “ability to convey the truth completely and fearlessly and without artifice”. For example, “If you're talking about heartbreak, [his music] goes to the absolute nth degree of what that really means. The way he shows that is with fearless lyrics and the bravery to make the music as beautiful as it can be.”

“Maybe the way I appreciate it speaks to the kind of person I am,” she would say. “I’m very bright but not an intellectual. I like things in a visceral, passionate and spiritual way.” And to Bebe, Weill’s music certainly provides that – which was why devising this show was of such importance and significance to her.

 Bebe said also that “the show offers the broad range of Weill's songwriting talents.” This is indeed a truism, with the work of no fewer than ten different lyrists being showcased across the nearly two dozen songs during the evening, including Berthold Brecht, Ira Gershwin, Alan Jay Lerner, Langston Hughes, and Ogden Nash.

The different styles and languages of Kurt Weill’s music mirror Weill’s own history and geographic progression through the world. Born in Germany, “Weill, a Jew, had to flee the Nazis at the height of his popularity. He fled to France and then to the United States, where he became a citizen in 1943.”

His songs reflect the world in which he was living. For instance, ‘The Bilbao Song’ is a tale of sometimes gleeful, sometimes regretful nostalgia and comes from a collaboration with Berthold Brecht in German. It is performed here only in English through the use of “Michael Feingold's now-accepted translation”. The Brechtian-ism is a feature of this production as a whole that was remarked on at the time, being appraised there was “more than a dash of an alienation effect at play,” with material being sung for example behind grilled windows or facing away from the audience.

His French material is alternately reflective of the musical identity Weill tried to devise while having to reinvent himself from scratch in France. Bebe performs one of these French numbers here, entitled ‘Je ne t'aime pas’, which has its own poetic lyricism, and indeed mournful significance, given the translation of the title as ‘I don’t love you’.

Alternately, jazzy, Broadway glamour is comparatively evident in some songs like ‘The Saga of Jenny’ from musicals that arose in America on the Great White Way out of the era of Golden Age of the American musical in the ‘40s to the 60’s.

This show was ambitious then, in its mission of exploring a wide range of the composer’s musical contributions across multiple decades, countries, styles of music, and lyrical collaborations.

Beyond his own musicals, Kurt Weill’s music has been notably seen elsewhere on Broadway or in the theatre world via interpretations such as songs in concerts with Betty Buckley, Patti LuPone, Ute Lemper; or full stage productions with Donna Murphy as Lotte Lenya in Hal Prince’s 2007 Lovemusik; or Lenya’s recordings herself.

Much of Kurt Weill’s legacy lives on through his wife, Lotte Lenya, who was seen as his “chief interpreter… [and] largely responsible for reviving interest in the composer” after his death.

Like Lotte with her “whisky baritone”, Bebe is able to convey meaningful interpretations of Weill’s music through her vocal richness and skilled acting choices, carefully controlling factors like timing, pronunciation and syllabic stress.

An example. Bebe does the most satisfying version of ‘The Bilbao Song’ I have heard. There’s a line in this song that states: “Four guys from ‘frisco came with sacks of gold dust,” in which the last portion of the phrase is repeated a further two times. Bebe emphasises the third “SACKS, of gold dust?!” in the dramatic manner stylised through my punctuation in attempts at recreating its phonology, which contrasts against the two previous readings. This gives the line a salient narrative purpose. It conveys not just an observation, but a tale of surprise and incredulity – who on earth would walk into a bar carrying entire sacks of gold dust?

It may be seemingly just one small detail, but it has a large impact. Other versions that intonate all three repetitions of this line the same miss this engaging variation and feel flat in comparison.

This song would justly so later become a staple of her concert material – along with others like ‘Surabaya Johnny’ and ‘Susan’s Dream’.

But there is unfamiliar territory traversed in Here Lies Jenny too. The rendition of Ogden Nash’s lyrics with ‘I'm a Stranger Here Myself’ is ‘new’ – and it’s exquisite, in its melodic, lilting and playful but darkly seductive swirling sentiment.

Another notable number in need of individual mention would be ‘The Saga of Jenny’. There are two Kurt Weill songs most strongly associated with the ‘Jenny’ moniker – this, and the also well-known ‘Pirate Jenny’ from The Threepenny Opera, which Bebe had done a production of in 1999. The latter was trialled in early versions of the show but ultimately didn’t “serve the piece as well as other…moments could,” so was taken out. Fortunately, Bebe would later work it into her concerts.

The former made it in, and provides the exciting opportunity to get to hear Bebe’s take on this song as made well-known by a number of respected performers. ‘The Saga of Jenny’ appeared initially in Weill & Gershwin’s collaboration for the musical Lady in the Dark in 1941, starring Gertrude Lawrence. The song has since gone through innumerable reiterations, such as via Ginger Rogers in the 1944 film adaptation of the same name; Julie Andrews’ big-production performance in the Gertrude Lawrence biopic Star! in 1968; and other high-profile concert performances like via Ruthie Henshall, Christine Ebersole, Lynn Redgrave and Ute Lemper; along with Lotte Lenya’s own recordings.

Further extending the song’s life was ‘The Saga of Lenny’ – a version devised with new lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, performed by Lauren Bacall for Leonard Bernstein’s 70th Birthday in 1988. All of these are on YouTube and I would testify are worth a watch.

In this show, Bebe performs the number with the bravado of a war-time songbird. She strides around with an old-school 1940s microphone back and forth across the stage as she progresses through the song’s distinct chronological sections, grounding the show centrally back to its identifying moniker and characterising an eponymous, engaging and multiply varied ‘Jenny’.

When not bound to microphones, Here Lies Jenny also involved the use of Ann Reinking’s “minimal but inventive” choreography to create striking visual images. Though perhaps not resembling the fast-paced, razzle-dazzle of Chicago, these patterns of movement are at times no less impactful. Bebe is dragged fluidly across a countertop, rolled sinuously down pairs of legs, centred in a dark tango (that one review likened as a potential metaphor for a ménage à trois), or spun backwards upside down onto Emamjomeh’s shoulder in the air – to name a few notable moments.

Not a dance show by any strict sense, all of these demands are nonetheless physically taxing. This is a matter of importance given the timing of the show.

What Bebe had long deemed a “peculiar” hip from her early twenties, begun causing notable pain when it “went from peculiar to downright bad in 2001” during Fosse on Broadway. It was recorded the “pain continued during [this] high-concept Kurt Weill revue” in 2004, such that performing this manner of movement in the show can have been no trivial feat. The next three years brought subsequent arthroscopic surgery for cartilage removal, and then total hip replacement.

That being considered, the show was able to run in the highly demanding manner it did for five months straight because of Ann Reinking’s assiduously crafted choreography.

The Zipper Theatre was the “funky downtown Manhattan space” that housed the show for that time. The timing of the production and the nature of the theatre played integral parts in the piece’s characterisation.

Roger took Bebe to see the theatre when they were devising the show, and to Bebe, it felt right. “There is this creative gesture that we are making and the gesture is completed if it’s in this place.” Not in some new, shiny theatre; but here, with a darkness and sense of history that created an evocative mood similar to the tone of the whole show “as soon as you walked into the building.” This was aided by the show beginning at 11pm each night – “absolutely an artistic choice” – given that what “happens between these five people, happens very late at night”, in a shadowy time of day filled by darkness and secrets.

Here Lies Jenny ended its run in New York in October 2004. But this did not mark the end of the piece. Bebe and her troupe took the show to San Francisco in the Spring the following year – after a seven month interim that included filming thirteen episodes of Law and Order: Trial by Jury, the aforementioned hip cartilage removal, and subsequent recovery.

The show was not deemed flawless by everyone who reviewed it. Some thought it too dark or wished for less abstraction and ambiguity. But as one article would conclude, “Faults aside, it’s hard not to recommend a show devoted to Kurt Weill,” ultimately providing a “unique and polished evening at the theatre.”

Roger Rees would reflect on the show, “Weill & Neuwirth work so well together” because Bebe’s “high standard of performance” means she is able to “delve deeply and go on forever” into material he likened to being as complex as Shakespeare.

It “demands a great deal from a performer, and she is equal to it,” Roger said. “She’s very deep in herself. There’s nothing made up about [her], which is a rare and beautiful thing. The match between performer and material is exquisite.”

 This would likely mean a lot to Bebe, as the show itself meant a lot to Bebe. And still does several years later. She would cite it in 2012 as the “role she wish[ed] more people had seen”, as to her, it “was a beautiful, unusual piece of theatre”. Altogether, it was something ineffable and “bigger than the sum of its parts”.

“It’s something I've wanted to do, and I did instigate it,” she said, of putting the show together. But that’s not to say it was easy to helm matters. “For me to be in charge, makes me very uncomfortable.”

That the show got made at all then Bebe would recognise as “a testament to how deeply I love the material and how inspired it makes me.” Her trust in people like Leslie, Annie and Roger enabled the creation of such a project from the ground up that wouldn’t have otherwise existed. Thus, to borrow a phrase from Stephen Sondheim, it was the combination of both personal drive, and also the shared collaboration of four people who all “love each other very much” that ultimately ‘made a hat where there never was a hat.’

It was even further an important show to her, because it was “a very private thing.” She’d describe Jenny as a very physical and emotional role – “the most personal of anything I've done.”

It clearly holds a special place in Bebe’s own heart. Undoubtedly, it would be poignant to revisit again. As we look to the near future of theatre with shows that could feasibly be staged as events start coming back, in tandem with the publicly expressed desire of people wanting to see Bebe back on stage again, this pre-existing, modestly-sized, inventive piece would be no bad suggestion.

How about a Here Lies Jenny reprise when theatre returns?

[centuriantalevevo]

A list of my MANY Draco Headcannons

Draco had an older sister who died a few weeks to a month before his first hear

His sister gave her life to save him, had she not done so, he would've been ran over. He watched her die in the hospital, after a few weeks of being in a ventilator (his father making them take her off of it), meaning he can see Thestrals.

He's bisexual and GNC (No! N O T Nonbinary. He's gender nonconforming, meaning he doesn't conform to gender roles), and is supportive of trans people, he has a younger cousin (the youngest of all his cousins) who is Trans (MtF) and woukd protect that girl with his life.

He finds Harry hot, and is jealous of him, but would not date him because he also hates him.

He can speak MULTIPLE languages, and is fluent in Japanese, he can speak conversational Japanese and can translate advanced slang. He can translate MASA songs, that tells you everything.

He has 3 different accents, he was born in Scotland grew up there for a time, then moved to Australia as a child, and then to Britain so he can do a Scottish, Australian and British accent. However, he cannot so an American accent and hates even attempting it.

He has a lot of exotic pets, a lot of tarantulas, snakes, even a few scorpions. He also has a dog, cat and horses. Of course he'd have horses, my mans he is filthy rich.

We're setting my headcannons in modern day setting, meaning like 2000s era, because it makes my life easier. With that said, as much as he makes himself out to hate all things muggle related, secretly he doesn't hate muggle things, he enjoys them but pretends he hates them because his father forces him to. He has a YouTube channel is amazing at using UTAU, Vocaloid, and other VSynths, he also works on his own VSynth and his own UTAU banks, he also is good at MMD.

If anyone dares misgender a trans person especially a trans person that is his family or friend, he will start a war

His mom is supportive of him and is the better parent. Draco favorites his mom over his dad

Megurien Luka is best girl to him and he would absolutely marry her if able to

When in around 3th year, some Icelandic kids asked him to help them start a language club, for those who wanted to learn languages, etc, because he knew the most languages, he agreed.

He's definitely had his fair share of boyfriends

Even though his father doesn't approve, he says fuck it down with approval

He more than likely finds Lil Nas X a little hot, same with CoryxKenshin and MacDoesIt, even if his gay cousin disagrees. I said what I said.

His first crush was a guy, back when he was about 9 to 10. That crush was his best friend as well, and a muggle at that. Unfortunately, the boy (who was also around his age), died of cancer. The boy was technically his first kiss. While in the hospital, the boy wanted to kiss a boy before he died, because that boy DEFINITELY knew he didn't like girls, Draco carried that for him. I made it sad didn't I?

His older sisters name was Alice

His cousins names, Oldest to Youngest, are Dominic, Darla, Demi and Jamie. Dominic is Gay, Darla is a Lesbian, Demi is Ace, and Jamie is a trans girl. Dominic and Darla are twins

Narcissa is SCARY when mad, and Draco is more likely to listen to her over Lucius

Draco loves playing Apex Legends-

He can speak Scots

This mans goes to Japan like every summer, he has some Japanese friends there, and goes to see Magical Mirai and NicoNicoCho Parties-

He likes playing VR Chat and often talks to the Japanese players, but also the French and Spanish players

He's trying to learn Chinese but is very butchered in the language

Since Hermione is a muggle, she definitely plays the game, and Draco has seen her in there over 100 times, and is often times speaking in Japanese when that happens so she never realizes.

He likes to insult her in game in various languages

This bitch made a freaking VTuber model you can't change my mind

He's good at math, and learned from his sisters friend Rowan (MAY OR MAY NOT be a reference to Hogwarts Mystery-)

He's Bipolar, has a hell of a lot of trauma, suffers from depression and has ADHD

He HAS been put in a mental facility quite a few times, and has tried to kill Lucius in his sleep

He has sleep paralysis

He definitely finds Blaise Zabini hot

He is unable to be canceled, he comes back from the grave

He hates Ron because, unlike Draco, Ron actually has siblings still (minus I think.. Fred dying, but Draco couod sympathize with George on that feeling), he's jealous if Ron because he still has his brothers and sister

My mans hates his dad so much holy crap

I plays a LOT of Project Diva and can complete a lot of songs on EXTREME and EXEXTREME mode

Common World Domination- he likes that song

His theme song(s): Rolling Girl, My Immortal, Unhappy Refrain, Unknown Mother Goose, Two-Faced Lovers, The Lost Ones Weeping, Futaride (The Two Of Us), World Is Mine

He loves Weekender Girl, Sadistic.Music♾Factory, and This Is The Happiness and Peace of Mind Committee

He definitely knows all the English Lyrics for This Is The Happiness and Peace of Mind Committee

He really wants to have like a Miku Expo or Magical Mirai esque show in Higwarts with nothing but the banks he has and holograms of them. Please just let him have holograms of the UTAU, VOCALOID, and SynthV Voicebanks he has- let this man's have a concert

Fuck you. Un-Dracos your Draco-

He absolutely goes to Pride and wants Hogwarts to have a Pride Month type of thing

He's a whole Atheist

I may or may not be projecting onto him

He's good at horse back riding

He plays piano

He for a while thought he was trans but just realized he's just GNC lol

We hate JK Rowling in this household

The Draco picture belongs to Anyeka, I just added the Bi pin and the background...

That's my lockscreen btw-

[cto10121]

Thoughts On Aimer (Multilanguage)

Back into another Aimer hyperfixation, so here’s some meta on the translations of various versions! Note that this comes from the perspective of a non-native speaker of most of these languages (except for Spanish) relying on English translations. I’m mostly basing my analysis on the lyrics, not so much the arrangement or singers. And so, in no particular order:

French: The simplest but purest expression, almost to the fault of triteness. That said...weirdly enough...it’s still the best version. I really can’t say the other versions do it better (except perhaps the Hungarian). I think it’s the juxtaposition between Romeo’s light/heaven/flying imagery vs. Juliette’s the time/life/fire/burning imagery that works so well—it even forms part of the imagery in the Shakespeare as well, even in the equivalent scene in the play. I’m so amazed Presgurvic had picked it up even in translation. The other versions do not quite understand this (even the Hungarian mixes it up) and when they do, it’s not as powerful. Otherwise, I’m stumped. Maybe it’s the power of the infinitive? French being a Romance language? The privilege of being first? The D&C dream team? That splendid Chorus backed with the power and might of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra? All of the above?

Hungarian: The best apart from the French, no question. Faithful in both translation and intensity, while resolving some of the repetition of the French. That new Chorus verse before the Juliette one is super nice, and R&J not singing it really works. That “Nincs szebb, égni e tűzben!” line especially hits so. damn. hard. The only thing that maybe makes it not surpass the French is that it’s a little too smooth and lacks a bit of emphatic punch that the French gives. YYMV. Also, show-wise, after the showstopper of La Haine in-show, it does feel more of an anti-climax. Still my most revisited version, and even the covers are a bop.

Spanish: The most faithful of all the translations—that Hector King had it so easy, I’m crying in envy. Probably too easy, though: A lot of it is grossly simplified and awkwardly kiddish. First of all, I would have translated it as “Amar” instead of “Te Amo,” frankly, since the latter is much more awkward to sing; we don’t do that nifty Italian trick of using contractions so “T’Amo” is out. Also “Amar” is much more impressive in the infinitive. “Y soy como un ave en vuelo” (And I am like a bird in flight) is probably nicer than the French equivalent, (And touching the wings and birds) but Juliet’s “Et brûler au cœur d’un volcan” (And burning in the heart of a volcano) is turned into “Y quema en mí este fuego” (And this fire in me burns), which is just lamer. Their shared verse is inferior to the French. I would have been much more adventurous; at least the Italian had “E brucia nel desiderio”—“y quemar en su/mi deseo” would have worked. King obviously wanted more of an intimate address, but the infinitive works just as well in Spanish as in French, right??? It’s only in English that the direct “you” has more power. And “Aimer,” despite being a love song, is just not an intimate one. It’s emphatic, triumph, occasionally sweet and longing…but not intimate. But at least it’s coherent and they kept the “paying the price” part!!!! They’re the only version that manages this and I am so grateful. I always do like my foreshadowing.

German: The Austrians are always professional, though Michaela Ronzoni’s translation is uneven in the Austrian (her Les Rois is especially lame). I do like her Liebe, though. They use the united/binded motifs to especially good effect at the end especially, which is always strong in Germanic languages. It’s only too bad they had that slowed-down concert-hand-wavy arrangement—no doubt they were inspired by that Production That Must Not Be Named.

Dutch: Always awkward with the zijns, which the German managed to avoid, but there is at least some good lines, namely “Liefde—haar kraft zu leven.” I’ve always liked the sound of Dutch, those nasals are attractive, but overall it’s definitely one of the weakest of the official versions.

Russian: It’s hard to judge this because they went in a way different direction, pretty much writing original lyrics more in the lines of a wedding vow song. In general I prefer this direction over others the Italian one, but it could have been much better done. There is intensity in the “Give us, in the name of all lovers” and “Time, prolong this moment!” lines, (hardcore) but the beauty, passion, fire of their love...it’s all gone. :/ Can’t say I prefer it. Exchange vows as you like, but where is the love??? One amateur Russian production had lyrics closer to the French; no idea if they were better, but the Russians seemed to approve if the comments are anything to go by. It at least sounded less strange.

Japanese: Again, this is part of the Russian-Japanese-Romanian trio that make it more of a wedding vow song. The first half is very weak, a too-simple paraphrase of religious wedding vows, but it does get better and the last two choruses do deliver the intensity needed and they fit with the soaring melody. So it does redeem itself somewhat, but it’s still the weakest sung. But I do have a soft spot for the Toho, and Japanese does have a kind of pure sound that is apropos for the song and lyrics.

Romanian: Pleasant surprise with this one, introducing a pinch of Hungarian into the mix (with the hearts and the flying) but otherwise going its own way. More eternity motifs, and a nice imagery about two dewdrops always united (dos pequeños rocíos...your Latin is showing, Romanian). It’s not as developed as the Hungarian, though; Romanian’s Latin may have impeded it from following the Hungarian too closely, or perhaps they wanted a purer imagery on the song. They may have done better just by going with the French.

Italian: Not the worst, but by far the biggest disappointment. “Love and change the world” is especially lame; it sounds like a self-help slogan. Love and change and the world! Light up the darkness! Shout out your presence! Learn how to be your best you for only $29.99! I feel like ReG are trying to sell me something. They could have been much more faithful to the French imagery, frankly, which is much more impressive. At least “Ama” is a good starting note. “T’Amo” could have been another option. I remember there was an amateur Italian version on YT that began with “Cosa ti fa sognare?” Still remember it after these years, so maybe they were on to something. (Ed: Found it! YMMV, but it doesn’t sound too bad. Much smoother than the Incenzo and less dry, but it does lacks punch). Overall, it feels much more shallow than most versions, which have at least some gravitas.

Korean: Never mind, this may be the most faithful translation yet, as far as I can tell. Incredible for an Asian language. I like how the Chorus obscures the subject until the last line—gives it more punch that way. Def one of the nicer versions.

English: Hi, we interrupt Romeo and Juliet to bring you National Geographic: The Musical! The worst, hands down. Nature metaphors /= love. Don Black actually has a good track record with translating otherwise tricky French songs (re: Legrand’s Les parapluies de Cherbourg as “I Will Wait For You”), but he was obviously too out of it or just too old to do a decent job with Aimer. This is a song that really does not tolerate much deviation from the original meaning or even the original arrangement. I would have assumed he would have at least glanced at the Shakespeare or did an indirect translation with the same theme. Not...whatever the hell this is. The best that can be said for this is the meme-level quotability; once you hear British Romeo shout-sing THESE ARE MY MOUNTAINS!! you can never go back again.

[putschki1969]

2021/02/20 Tweets by KEIKO staff

How did you like the first episode of 【けいこ部屋/KEIKO’s Room】？🎥🎉We apologise for the inconvience caused by audio malfuntions🙇‍♀️We are currently trying to find the reason so we can fix the problem🙇‍♀️Be sure to watch the archived video of this evening’s broadcast ☺️The next episode will air on Friday February 26 at 19:00 (JST) 🌸

Source

From today onwards KEIKO herself will start posting blog updates for her very own YouTube Community. 🙌💐 What kind of posts will it be...It’s very exciting🎵 Be sure to subscribe to her official YouTube Channel so you don’t miss any updates🕊🌸

Source

2021/02/20 Community post by KEIKO

Good evening, this is Keiko. The channel is titled “けいこ部屋/KEIKO’s Room”. For this occasion I would like to use my name in hiragana. The community is meant to be full of music, it’s a place where everyone can come together when you feel lonely or when you want to have fun, here I can connect with all of you... I think I would like it to be this kind of safe haveb 🍮

By the way, did you all enjoy the first live broadcast of KEIKOo Room"? Apparently there was a sound issue caused by the streaming environment. I apologise to all my viewers. I also noticed some comments about that during the live stream. We will continue to improve the quality in the future, so please have some patience, thank you.

My mind was spinning because this was my very first time doing something like this. I am already sleepy because it was quite exhauting. Or maybe it’s because I ate a boiled egg ... as I am writing this I'm still stuck on the sofa in the studio.

Since the live stream took place on a Saturday at 18:00, many people were able to watch from home. I am very happy that my opportunities to chat and connect with you have increased considerably since last year. I'm still not great at picking up comments in the chat so please bear with me, I'll continue to do my best! Thank you for your support.

On a side note ... I would like to talk a little bit about today’s song “Waratte Yaru” ... it was composed and arranged by Kosuke Oshima who I first met when we worked together on "Akane" which was also composed by him. The first demo tape I received from Oshima-san contained complex English songs. I thought they were really cool so I felt drawn to them. “Akane” sounded like a movie theme song. How would I be able to song it? What if the lyrics were Japanese? My interest was piqued. When I actually sang "Waratte Yaru” for the first time in pre-production I realised that the song came easy to me, I had no troubles with it and didn’t really worry about anything. I remember being relieved because my producer Yoda-san (P-chan) and his assistant felt the same way and agreed that it worked perfectly. You get a strong sense of girliness from the song, we all felt it. Everyone was excited to make the lyrics about love and relationships so in our song order for Oshima-san we asked him to come up with lyrics that were half in English and half in Japanese. After going back and forth for a while the song was finally debuted at my Zepp live on December 16 last year. The music production process is always different depending on the composer but the songs always take shape while P-chan, all the staff members and I are discussing how to proceed. Today's "Waratte Yaru" feels quite different from my performance at my Live 002. I hope you enjoy this version by a consantly changing and utterly imperfect Keiko.

See you...

Keiko

Summary of KEIKO【けいこ部屋】Vol#1

KEIKO starts by singing “Waratte Yaru”. I love her little improvs. And her outfits is kinda cool. Typical Wakana style XD Either way, she takes at look at the YouTube comment section on the phone but she accidentally turns on the sound and can’t manage to turn it off again for quite a while which leaves her a little flustered. Everyone wants to know what kind of program/channel this is gonna be so she provides a little introduction. People are also pointing out that there is no sound on the left speaker/earphone but there is really nothing that KEIKO can do about it. Then KEIKO goes on to explain that she thought long and hard about how to name her channel. She wanted something nice and fitting. One day she came up with けいこ部屋 and sent the idea to her staff members who immediately had to think of infamous “sumo heyas”. In front of those heyas or stables you would always have a sign written in kanji showcasing the name of the heya. KEIKO was adamant about writing one of those for herself which explains her little calligraphy session a while back. As content for this program she has mostly planned music and everything related to it. But she also wants it to be a place to be connected with everyone. Basically what she wrote in her blog post.

She steps close to the camera and points out that this is a very intimate setting. The fans agree that she feels very close. And since the concept of this program is to have a relaxing environment, she also brought a drink from Starbucks, a grande sakura latte in a fancy sakura cup. She also wants it to be super casual when it comes to her outfits and behaviour. KEIKO assumes that most viewers will be at home at this time of day. Before she talks a little about the song she would like to use the opportunity to chat with everyone. Of course she has to mention the pudding she ate for breakfast this morning, she really can’t get enough of pudding and she watches a ton of jiggly pudding videos. While she prefers firm puddings, there is something very fascinating about watching pudding jiggle.

Then it’s time to talk about “Waratte Yaru”. She mentions that she calls her producer P-chan which is super cute. Then it’s pretty much just what she said in her blog post so please refer to my translation above. Someone points out that it has already been 15 minutes and the broadcast is technically scheduled to finish at this time. She asks to continue for a little while. Future episodes will be around 15 minutes though. She mentions her YouTube community and how she would like to make it a sort of blog.

[sharonaparadox]

spoilers for the whole series + turn on cc for english translation!

fandom: Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure focus: Cassandra and Rapunzel (Cassunzel) audio: “mad at disney” by pinkarakiri (salem ilese cover) overlay credit: BloodSisters Tutorials program: Sony Vegas Pro 13

i stumbled on this cover through pure luck earlier this month and knew i just had to edit it to my new favorite disney lesbian. i don’t actually like the original song very much, so a cover that keeps the disney callout part while completely changing the lyrics (bc it’s in a different language lol) and melody was a dream come true for me

when it came to the translation in the subtitles, i adapted several lyrics from the original english (including the one i used for the title) but i used online translators for the chorus bc i realized that it was completely different from the original. i’m not fluent in japanese, but i consulted a few different translators and an online dictionary so the translation might be a little stilted but hopefully not inaccurate. i also only used the lyrics that were actually in pinkarakiri’s video as text bc of my unfamiliarity with the language, so please let me know if the subtitles need any improvements!

there’s not really much to say abt the vid itself, other than that it turns out it’s really difficult to condense a relationship between main characters into such a short vid! i focused on a lot of angsty scenes with some cute moments to go along with the lyrics, but i guess next time i vid a major ship i should pick a longer song haha. i also did the coloring entirely myself, which i never find fun, but i didn’t want to use someone else’s coloring since the vid honestly didn’t take very long to make

i’ve got a lot of vid concepts in mind and hopefully i make more than three vids this coming year… i hope everyone who sees this enjoys the video and has a lovely end of the year :)