#it takes all my attention because i have to be reading the translated lyrics as i listen to each song

[kimingyuslover]

Screen time

Synopsis : Soonyoung can only see you on his screen now.

Word count : 905

Pairing : Kwon soonyoung x reader

Genre : angst, lovers to exes

Warnings & note : TEARS, soonyoung's an ass, members mentioned, mention of alcohol, one (1) curse word, a few paragraphs are the literal lyrics lol, this fic does not represent his character in real life!

a.n : reading through the screen time lyrics translation today, WHY IS IT SO SAD???? anw sorry for my bad grammar

“Come on soonyoung, it's been what? 2 hours and you still checking your phone” Jun said while patting soonyoung's back lightly.

It's been a year since they broke up, and soonyoung still can't let you go. The worst of it? He's the cause of the downfall of your relationship.

Soonyoung failed to realise that he's an ass throughout your 3 years relationship, and when he did, you cuss him out and start to pack your belongings.

“I still love her, jun. it hurts" Soonyoung held his left chest, feeling the pain from his heart, tears welling in his eyes waiting to fall every now and then.

Jun gives him a sympathetic look, soonyoung’s other 11 friends are also worried about him, he refused to do anything except checking his phone as minutes pass, and they are aware of the reason.

It’s you.

When they heard about your break up, they didn't dare to do anything because deep down they know, this is the best for you, even though soonyoung have to be a miserable man.

they've seen the way he treated you back then, seungcheol remembers, the way soonyoung don't want to come to your third anniversary dinner even when he say he would come, and he easily lied to you that he exhausted so he sleep early last night even in reality he go to a club with them.

They tried, and they really tried to talk to soonyoung about his relationship. You always have to message them to know about soonyoung's condition.

They saw your disappointed expression when you have to pick up soonyoung the night you're supposed to have an anniversary dinner.

And they know you're done taking soonyoung's shit when you have to pick him up, again, and with the same expression as the night of your anniversary.

So when soonyoung said you both broke up, they're not surprised at all. The least they can say is that soonyoung doesn't deserve you, and he never will.

The night of your break up, soonyoung seems fine, and he always said that to everyone, but as days passed, he seemed to worsen more

His eye bags are prominent, and everyone can point out that he's not sleeping for at least 2 days.

Meanwhile, they can see you grow happier, away from soonyoung. Joshua, along with Wonwoo, are in the same department as you, and he can see the way you would always smile genuinely now. Before your break up, your smile always seemed to be forced.

After 1 month, soonyoung always stared at his phone, hoping that you would update anything, anything to your social media. You blocked him as soon as your relationship ended.

Then, you did, you’re always updating your life through social media, and he can clearly see you look so happy without him. He learned that it was, in fact, true because when he sees your old post, you don't seem to be happier than now.

Soonyoung cried everynight, wanting no more than to have your relationship back, to have your attention back to him.

He missed waking up to your eyes, and now he has to see them on his screen, both of his hands are occupied holding onto your relationship, and he keeps forgetting there is no relationship until the night returns and he gives himself up to slumber.

It's hard to let go of your relationship.

You're living as if nothing happened between both of you, you're colder than he thought, he feels naked and his heart is cold without you.

his worries were in vain, you're doing just fine without him, from your words to your happy photographs, he actually relieved, you're getting better.

Because he knows you're not going to get better if you're still with him.

He always wants to contact you, asking you how have you been? How are things? Is work going well? Are you taking care of yourself? Do you have any regrets?

He can't stop checking up on you. He worries about you everyday and night.

Your smile once an arrow that guided him, now it pierces his heart, he used to hate the attention you gave him, now he misses the attention that you gave.

He knew his regret was meaningless, he's sorry for the time you spent with him.

The days fade into the distant horizon, and your memories rise and fall. It's late, but he's sorry.

In the end, you're both going through different separations.

He wants to ask you another question, are you broken like him? He wants to know what you're eating and drinking these days and what you find happiness in.

He always wonders, what are you wearing today? who makes you laugh, who holds your hands, where you are headed.

He's just curious. This is how he has been, miserable.

“Tell the others we're going to the club, they can join us, i think i need more drinks” Soonyoung said as he got up from the couch and took his jacket, wallet, and lastly his phone.

Not even a minute later, his phone let out a sound of a notification he just set for you, he quickly checked his phone and opened his social media.

It was a photo of you, but you're not alone. There's a man hugging you close.

his eyes finding your caption in a fast motion, his heart breaks, yet again.

my boyfriend is getting more clingy lately

[smilerri]

many thoughts about epic: the musical...

i am once again in the middle of essay writing but plautus is boring and my friend introduced me to this album so u already know I binged the entire thing

(quick warning for spoilers of homer's odyssey? if that's necessary?? man idk whatever)

first thoughts naturally concerned odysseus. i have hated this man with a burning passion ever since I started studying classics - i think he is irredeemably selfish, a liar masquerading as a 'resourceful hero,' and basically just a twat all around. that being said, i respect that epic is not an exact replica. in fact, i like that about it!

readings of odysseus as a loving husband and father, and a man who cares deeply for his crew and fellow warriors is one i would love to see reflected in the source text (though i admit i have only read two different translations so far, so this is subject to change depending on translators choice!), if only because it would be so so refreshing. and epic does that extremely well! i find epic's odysseus to be far more likeable, insofar as he is fueled not by greed for glory (kleos for the nerds out there) but rather the desire to return to his wife and son. (I personally would argue that, while homer's odysseus is indeed fueled by a desire for homecoming (nostos), it is not for the sake of penelope and telemachus, but rather concern over the security of his status and position within the household (oikos))

i also very much enjoy that the love he holds for his family is not an inherently positive trait. in the aeneid, and often in myth, it is achilles' son, neoptolemus/pyrrhus who kills the son of hector and andromache, astyanax by throwing him from the walls of troy - less common, it is odysseus (which i did not know until i googled it just now oops). homer's odysseus does not reject the gods. he is beloved by some, hated by others - he receives their boons and curses as they come. he revels in the attention of the divine, no matter positive or negative, for it is proof of his kleos. epic's odysseus is so much more... human. he doesn't vie for glory that reaches the skies. if anything, he rues it. in the horse and the infant he supplicates himself to (who i assume is) zeus - which is such a loaded act i am genuinely struggling to think of how to articulate it, but boy am I gonna try my darndest.

the act of supplication and guest-friendship (xenia) is a very key theme within the odyssey, and to a point in the iliad also - essentially, if a traveller were to arrive at your doorstep, you were obliged to let them in and provide food, drink, and lodgings to that traveller, no questions asked. in return (because reciprocity is VERY important in homer especially), the guest would provide entertainment, tales of their travels, etc, and would be respectful of their host. the patron of these travellers was zeus. any violation of these terms, on part of the guest or host, would be met with divine scorn. for odysseus to supplicate himself to zeus is therefore meta as hell, but I would instead bring attention to the echoing lyric "hes bringing you down to your knees." 'he,' assumedly, is astyanax. his father, hector, is dead; as is his grandfather, priam, and all of priam's other sons. at this point, one could assume that it is astyanax who is ruling troy, who is now the host of the city that odysseus, a traveller from another land, has entered and ransacked. zeus' 'prophecy' of astyanax growing old and seeking revenge (reciprocity! homeric greece had a 'revenge culture' - essentially 'an eye for an eye' as well as 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours,' though not always so clear-cut), therefore, would be odysseus' punishment for violating the terms of xenia.

supplication, however, is not limited to guest-friendship alone. for example, in odyssey 22, when odysseus slaughters the suitors occupying his home (is that spoilers?), their priest leodes supplicates himself at odysseus' feet, begging to be spared. odysseus takes his head from his neck in an instant. odysseus' kneeling before astyanax, therefore, is no simple act between a guest and his host - perhaps he is begging the infant for mercy, for forgiveness, or perhaps he is positioning himself for punishment; in killing astyanax, odysseus accepts his own death. perhaps this means his fate (which, in case of homeric epic, refers to the time and manner of one's death), or perhaps it is a part of him that has died. in just a man, odysseus asks "when does a man become a monster?" his killing astyanax prevents the boy from ever becoming a man, and spares him from a life fueled only by revenge and the need to regain his glorious birthright, and it turns him into a monster. just as he says he would, he trades in the world where he is 'just a man' for a world where he is a cruel beast, all for sake of his family.

(quick detour but i really like how odysseus' focus is primarily on penelope rather than telemachus. [insert deadbeat dad joke here], but in reality, he doesn't even know the boy. penelope he chose to marry and fall in love with - it's no question that he loves telemachus, but after ten years, it is only natural that he would miss his beautiful, tricky wife with more fervour than the child he never had the chance to love. it shows he is imperfect, even illogical - the son is the father's entire legacy. just as odysseus is 'son of laertes', so will telemachus be 'son of odysseus', the protector of his immortal heroic legacy. yet it is penelope whom odysseus yearns for.)

(another detour but "i'm just a man" is such a juicy lyric, because the entire message of homer's odyssey is that odysseus is not any man - he is a man that the muses deem worthy to inspire great poets to compose epic poems that persist through thousands of years and a million different voices - a hero. but epic's odysseus is not that hero. he is a man, trying to go home, craving comfort and the warmth of the hearth. these 'flaws' humanise him more than homer's odysseus could ever imagine.)

skipping over to polyphemus, odysseus violates xenia once again by killing polyphemus' sheep, albeit unwittingly. homer makes this violation very obvious - odysseus and crew eat polyphemus' cheese and wine while polyphemus tends to his sheep, knowing that the cave is obviously inhabited, and they even wait for polyphemus to return to ask for more. it is worth noting as well that, at this point, odysseus and crew are still jubilant about their victory, and unlike in epic, these 'detours' are purposeful, specifically so that odysseus can scope out the islands for anything of interest he can snatch and add to his spoils of war, adding to his kleos by means of physical wealth (timē) - which makes odysseus' offer of treasure to appease polyphemus all the more baffling in epic. this odysseus is a leader who prioritises the lives of his men over his own kleos, which makes the final lines - "you shall be the final man to die" // "what?" // "watch out!" - all the more heartbreaking. he wants to protect his men, so that they too may return to their families back on ithaca; the prospect of watching them die before his eyes after he already witnessed so many lose their lives in battle must be so utterly terrifying.

polyphemus is so excellently creepy as well! i loved him in the odyssey - this was where I really started to dislike odysseus, actually. he's a cyclops, obviously inhuman, yet he rears sheep and makes cheese and wine and weaves wicker baskets to keep them in, trying to play at humanity. i really did sympathise with him from the first time I read it. epic's polyphemus is similar, so very calm in his anger yet ruthless all the same, and demonstrates great restraint in comparison to his counterpart in the odyssey, who gets filthy drunk after mashing six men dead and allows odysseus+co. to fashion a stake with which to blind him. much of the violence against polyphemus, as well as the violation of xenia in homer's odyssey is 'excused' by the fact that polyphemus is a 'barbarian', to whom concepts of civilised people do not belong.

(very quick detour but polyphemus' first admonishment of odysseus - "you killed my sheep" up to "take from you like you took from me" - makes such heartbreaking parallels to astyanax's murder and the sack of troy. it almost provides a visualisation of the guilt that odysseus must still be battling. i would have loved to have been in his brain when he heard polyphemus say that.)

the mercy odysseus shows polyphemus is particularly interesting - homer's odysseus leaves him alive and tells him his name purely so that his name will spread and his kleos will grow. but epic's odysseus, despite his conviction to kill in survive and to avenge is fallen comrades in remember them, spares him. in part, this is to assure them an escape, so that the cyclops' giant body does not block their exit - but athena's interruption makes clear that this is not all. she criticises him, remarks "he is still a threat until he's dead." no doubt this calls back to zeus' warnings about astyanax, hence his refusal (or inability?) to commit to slaughter. for a homeric greek hero to allow a foe to live on after his allies had been slaughtered is a grave failure of reciprocity, casting shame on both the hero and their enemy. homer's odysseus escapes this with his reputation intact, since as a result polyphemus curses him to face poseidon's wrath - as I mentioned, for a hero, even negative attention from the gods is a good thing as it proves that their reputation/glory is known all over, even in olympus. but, as we have established, epic's odysseus cares not for kleos. the decision to tell polyphemus his name is entirely impulsive and irrational, grieving his comrades, hence athena's outrage.

the relationship between athena and odysseus is founded entirely on the principles they share, described in warrior of the mind (if anyone can lmk whereabouts this song fits in the timeline I will be so grateful, I'm stupid unfortunately :/). they value wisdom, reason, and rationality over brute strength and bloodlust. epic's athena becomes odysseus' patron goddess with the goal to "make a greater tomorrow" and "change the world" - aspirations that are entirely foreign to any homeric god. gods in homer do not care about the wellbeing of humans unless they are directly related to them, and they certainly don't care about the wellness of humanity as a whole. humans are toys and tools of the gods. the amount that athena cares for odysseus, even in the odyssey, is unusual, demonstrative of how much she cares for him, yet epic makes their comradery more obvious, even going as far as to (tentatively) call them friends. my goodbye frames athena's anger as disappointment at an experiment failed - calling back to warrior of the mind, where she claims to have "designed" him - but odysseus' replies to her makes clear that it is far more personal. perhaps, to her, odysseus acting so irrationally is even a betrayal; odysseus is abandoning the principles of reason they both once held and thus is forsaking all that they once shared and that she, as the goddess of wisdom, stands for.

ive always considered athena to be a very interesting goddess. she is a patron of both war, which in homer is only carried out by men, and weaving, the traditional work of women within the household - her very nature is a contradiction of masculine and feminine. although it is ares who is considered the 'black sheep' of the olympians for his brutality in war, epic's portrayal of athena through odysseus' lens paints her as lonely and ostracised - "since you claim you're so much wiser // why's your life spent all alone? // you're alone." It is clear that odysseus here does not view her as his patron at all, rather as a friend - and to that she takes offence, because she is a goddess, eternal and all-powerful. she does not need friendship or comradery; those are mortal concerns alone. personally, I see epic's athena as incredibly insecure. she cuts odysseus off because she cannot bare that a mortal has been able to read her so clearly, to see all the ugly parts of herself that she keeps hidden to retain the facade of the perfect goddess. she knows the paradox within herself - warrior and woman, immortal and alone - and rues that odysseus was able to see it as well. the cruellest part, the most ironic, is that his being able to figure out the true, imperfect nature of a god shows that he has not abandoned the path of the warrior of the mind. in fact, his wisdom extends beyond mortality into the realm of the divine. but athena is blinded by her anger and insecurity, and she says her goodbyes. she disappears from there, only to appear again to try to warn odysseus of his crew opening the bag of winds given to him by aeolus in keep your friends close, once again demonstrating her care for him, despite her anger.

the amount that odysseus cares for his crew is demonstrated time and again throughout the album, yet in the end, he still slowly loses their trust. aeolus' winds are the first sign. his crew betrays his orders upon the first whisper on the wind that he might be keeping treasure from them. the next sign, in puppeteer, is eurylochus' confession upon arrival to aeaea (circe's island), which odysseus brushes off, much as he brushed off eurylochus' concerns in luck runs out. then, in a matter of moments, 600 men are reduced to forty by the wrath of poseidon - which in itself is a significant change. while odysseus in epic is explicitly blamed for failing to kill polyphemus, homer's odysseus takes no responsibility for the deaths of hundreds of his men. it happens when they arrive at telepylos, which, unbeknownst to them, is home to the laestrygonians, a race of cannibalistic giants. odysseus, apparently sensing something off (who tf does he think he is, spiderman?), allows his entire fleet to enter the bay of telepylos while his ship alone remains outside - and when those ships are attacked and trapped, he alone takes his single ship and escapes, allowing twelve ships of men to be ripped apart and eaten by cannibals. an act which he shows no remorse for.

in my interpretation of homer's odyssey, it is this slowly slipping trust that eventually leads to his men ignoring his warnings and feasting on the cows of helios which leads to the deaths of all his remaining crew, including eurylochus and polites (spoilers? idk). so, once epic: the musical catches up to book 12 of the odyssey you WILL be seeing me again I hope ur excited.

there is definitely more i could say here, especially about the circe saga bcs ohhh my god I love circe and I love this circe especially (a female character with actual motive other than being a victim? homer could never) but unfortunately I'm running out of steam and I do in fact have 3 essays due this month (help) so I will probably return to this later !! hopefully its readable bcs I'm not going back to edit any of this ;)

[starskiff]

sundays ultimate role and disposal: a theory

major spoilers for 2.2 below

right of the bat, the thesis is sunday could be in preparation to be absorbed by dominicus in the upcoming charmony festival as planned by the dreammaster and the family.

user ghostlyinvestigator on reddit pointed out the possibility of sunday being appointed as the head of the oak family as a recent ordeal based on the wordings of the letter from oti, and if this were true, it would really make everything so blatantly orchestrated.

hes shoved in a position that limits his time to investigate about death further and would push the family's disapproval of his actions as mere askewed priority. it only gave sunday the illusion of having more access to things that could give him answers, but it only brought more traction to his name. attention.

furthermore, with the heavy emphasis on the need for the charmony festival to undergo smoothly because of the arrival of dominicus but also to appease xipe, its not a bit of stretch to say it almost seems like sunday is being prepped to accept and receive them perfectly. the charmony festival is a ritual after all.

dreammaster is described, as per the loading screen:

could it be that even the adoption of sunday & robin had all been part of his grand scheme, but why them specifically? because they're halovians who eerily resemble ena? how does this all connect?

wellllllll

an incarnation of xipe will bestow blessings to everyone. xipe who absorbed ena, xipe who has the harmonic strings as her embodiments which include dominicus. dominicus whos arrival at the charmony festival is constantly stressed. the harmonic strings, who most importantly, can assume any family member.

when you turn to the lyrics of the odes of harmony, a song of adoration to xipe written by The Family says this

The Family serves the harmonic strings due to the blessing of the gods, im guessing this lyric is why some people believe harmonic strings are emanators of xipe, but they're not. they're facets of xipe, a direct feature of the aeon, not a seperate being that can be graced. they can take on any family member when necessary.

when it says they serve, does it mean they let themselves be used by the harmonic strings in the ultimate form of servitude to the aeon xipe? when it says when necessary, does this include the charmony festival that merits one of them to visit? is the charmony festival itself the music that the harmonic strings will play to honor the great one?

further lyrics of the odes of harmony say this:

rejoice as one. all beings entwined.

the curio family ties could be my final verdict

i want to say this escapee walked into a charmony festival as it's happening but i have nothing else to back it up. but idk. The Family is fucked up, they're in shambles as we are shown in the story, not as united as we may think, but in desperate bids for survival, they unite to praise xipe. im stretching so far im gnna tear.

but why sunday? why him out of all people? out of all halovians? of The Family? why not robin?

aside from the fact that everything alluding sunday is plastered all over the 2.2 leaked boss i have no solid answer abt why sunday. im hoping this is what we would find out in the next update.

with robin, im guessing shes absent from the agenda of the family. she was never a concern. there is another harmonic string who resembles her, constantina the singer of the panacoustic theater, but because she would not be the one to visit, they're not too fussed about her disappearance. all they need is sunday.

ill pull a leg and say someone is aware of this to no ones surprise

gallaghers voiceline abt sunday says:

again, the odes of harmony is a song of adoration towards xipe, too much in fact when you read its lyrics it's too chummy. when gallagher says something real, does he mean to say this adoration does not translate on sunday. could it even be that he was chosen for such a role because of his lack of adoration?

but gallagher also says

this cruel joke fate is playing, could gallagher be pointing out sundays illusion of a family from his adoption to his given role?

probably not. it would mean gallagher is aware of everything and that is a whole new pond to tackle.

now i know how to write formidable essays but its 2 in the morning and i got excited and i just spewed take everything not even with a grain hut a full bucket of salt. that's it im spent

[salty-croissants]

Tu sais je vais t’aimer ( Bullfrog x g/n reader )

It’s been a while since I made a story unrelated to requests … I just felt like doing something a little different since I recently noticed that we have reached 110 followers , which is just - 

Broo !! :,0

I really wanted to take the opportunity to thank you all so much for being so supportive of my little headcanons and stories for Bullfrog and Rayman , you’re all really amazing and kind and you’ve really made me feel like home here on Tumblr …

I may be a bit too busy and ( most of all ) shy to interact much with everyone , but I really do appreciate you guys … thank you so much , I mean it :,) ❤️

Now then , onto the actual story , I’ve recently stumbled upon this beautiful French song , and at some point a random inspiration for a Bullfrog fic hit me : 

what if the reader decided to surprise their beloved frog boy by singing him this song ? Maybe for a special occasion , like the one year anniversary of the relationship ? 

It just seemed too wholesome of a concept for me to let go , so I ended up writing this :,) 

I also added a translation in English for the lyrics , because it’s just so cute and it melted my heart when I read it ;//; 

Hope this turned out okay ! 

Details : use of g/n reader who likes to sing and can play piano ; 

established relationship ; 

no warnings needed 

It had been a very long , tiresome day for Bullfrog …

The last mission the Warden had assigned him and his companions had been filled with complications , and this could easily be guessed by his bruises and ripped clothes .

Even as someone who took pride in his job , he yearned for nothing more than to find a quiet place to rest … hopefully in the arms of his beloved .

He also hadn’t forgotten about what a special time this was , so before going back to you he had managed to pass by a flower shop and buy a bouquet of your favorite flowers : the thought of your smile in front of his gift was the one thing that was keeping him from dropping on the ground for sheer exhaustion .

< I’m back mon amour ! Sorry for being late , this was a much more difficult task than I anticipated … > 

Bullfrog stopped , slightly alarmed by the fact that you weren’t behind the door to greet him like usual :

you were always so happy to see him whenever he got back , so it was quite strange …

He closed the door as quietly as possible and begun to walk , attentive to every single sound to avoid anything sneaking by him .

If something had happened to you , he was more than ready to rescue you and defend you from any possible threat , exhausted or not …

But it was then that he heard it : someone was playing the piano in the living room , and when he finally reached it his eyes widened …

You were there , as beautiful as ever , and as soon as your eyes met you smiled softly at him and started to sing …

< Tu sais je vais t'aimer même sans ta présence 

( You know I'm going to love you even without your presence ) 

Je vais t'aimer même sans espérance 

( I will love you even without hope )

Je vais t'aimer tous les jours de ma vie 🎶 

( I will love you all the days of my life ) > 

Bullfrog wanted to say so many things in that very moment , and yet he was so overwhelmed by joy that he couldn’t bring himself to speak …

He just walked forward , sitting on a chair next to you while listening to the sound of your voice .

< Dans mes poèmes, je t'écrirai c'est toi que j'aime …

( In my poems I will write to you it is you that I love ) 

C'est toi que j'aimerai tous les jours de ma vie🎶 

( It's you that I would love all the days of my life ) > 

He looked up at you in awe , nodding his head to the beat , and as soon as the song ended and your hands left the piano you finally turned around once more to look at your boyfriend .

< Happy anniversary , love ~ 

God , you won’t believe how many months it took to learn how to pronounce everything correctly … buut , I just really wanted to do something special for you , you know ? I hope I didn’t butcher too many words … 

Also sorry for being so quiet before , I didn’t mean to scare you , but I wanted to surprise you and - > 

Worry immediately filled your eyes when you took a better look and noticed the bruises on his face , but Bullfrog shook his head , caressing your cheek with one hand …

< Don’t you think about that my dear , it’s nothing … besides , receiving something so beautiful from you as a gift was enough to make it all better . > 

He smiled at you tenderly , watching you leave a kiss on his palm .

< Thank you , y/n … je t'aime tellement … ~ > 

You let out a little chuckle , unable to stop your cheeks from turning red in front of his loving words …

< I love you too , Bullfrog … I’m really lucky to have you , you know ? > 

Before you could even realize it , the distance between your faces diminished more and more , until eventually your lips met into a much anticipated and needed kiss .

You closed your eyes , letting out a sigh while holding Bullfrog in your arms , and you could feel all the tension in his body instantly melt to your touch as he gladly leaned into it …

Eventually you both pulled away , staring into each other’s eyes and enjoying that precious moment of intimacy .

< We should probably get you patched up now , sweetie … those bruises look painful . > 

< Alright alright , but before that , here … > 

< *gasp* - you remembered my favorite flowers ! Thank you Bullfrog , these look beautiful ! > 

< Don’t mention it mon cher , it’s not quite as good as your gift , but … > 

< Are you kidding ? I love them ! We should put them in some water before they start wilting … > 

As the two of you carried on with your conversations , glad to finally be together , the sun started to disappear behind the tall skyscrapers of the city … some of the nightly neon lights were already starting to illuminate the crowded streets .

It had certainly been a one year anniversary to remember .

[lutiaslayton]

Random update on the transcription of the Eternal Diva novel, aka probably the one that most people don't even care about that much to begin with

(though you should, I haven't translated it yet but I spotted a few words here and there that caught my attention such as Luke mentioning Misthallery multiple times. Also there is in the introduction a novel-exclusive scene with Janice in it, just fyi.)

To those who didn't know, most of my free time as of lately has been put into the transcription/translation website I have dedicated to the Japan-exclusive Layton content that we never got to see, and more specifically I have been transcribing the Eternal Diva novel. Because yes, now you know, Eternal Diva was adapted into a novel and none of us non-Japanese fans got to read it. And boy this novel is going to drive me insane because I have been working on it for literal weeks by now.

In terms of progress, I have reached the part of the story in which Puzzle 004 is about to start, aka right after the end of the "Layton McGuffinned a helicopter that thinks it's a grasshopper" part. I have transcribed up to page 119 (+ the ending is already transcribed and translated because past me felt like it), and there are now 74 blank pages left for me to fill. And then the translation will come, too. I am totally looking forward to it. Can you feel the enthusiasm in my exciting punctuation.

This is the shortest novel of the list (200 pages if I count the blank ones), and this is the only novel that has furigana everywhere (aka the only one of the four I can actually read somewhat properly). Yippeeeee

Anyway if you want to take a look even though only the beginning and the end are translated for the time being:

You can take a looksie right here!

The reason why I'm going through the entire transcription first and that the full translation will only come afterwards is because, at least in my opinion if I were to view this as a reader instead of as the person uploading the content, this means that you guys get to know the story faster than if I progressed through both the transcription and translation at the same time.

After all, let's see it like this: sure, you can't read Japanese, and for the most part, neither can I. But since it's been transcribed, it means that you can easily copy-paste the Japanese text into DeepL, or Google Translate, or any translator of your choice. Sure, it's more work for you and if you are of the lazy kind you will still have to wait the same amount of time regardless (not saying it in a derogatory way), but at least it gives the choice for the ones who want the whole story to get it somewhat faster.

I don't speak Japanese, and I am not translating things as I go, so I have only a vague understanding of what is going on in the novel (and obviously, the fact that I know the plot of the movie is a huge help). But I can already tell you this much:

We get the lyrics for the ending's song, obviously. This is part of what has been translated so far.

The whole novel is not divided into chapters, but rather into smaller scenes/sections (however you want to call it). Some are narrated by Luke, some others are narrated by Janice (and/or Melina, I guess it depends on the context). Just like the three main novels you may be slightly more familiar with, the narration is in first person.

Since the only narrators who showed up so far are Luke and Janice/Melina, I don't think the scenes from Emmy's POV will be included (aka the one in which she questions Nina's parents, the one in which she is with Schrader, and the one in which she finds and rescues Grosky in the middle of the ocean). Perhaps they are going to appear later in the novel, but I highly doubt it for a number of reasons (number of pages in each section, and titles of said sections).

The novel starts with an exclusive scene under the POV of Janice. It takes place three years after the case, and she is just finished singing for the last rehearsal before the opera she will play in the day after — it is The Eternal Kingdom, which she has not sung in three years, and the next day will be the second time ever this opera will be sung in a theatre with a public. Of course, no eternal life game planned this time. Janice also gets a letter of encouragement from Whistler, which is pretty sweet.

Unless I missed it and it somehow happens in the part I did not yet translate, the intro of the movie in which Luke and Layton solve the case where Don Paolo decided to mess with the bells of Big Ben is not at all mentioned in the novel. Luke in the novel doesn't give the introduction-narration speech that he does in the movie, we jump straight into the scene in which he is shown in Layton's office pretending to be pointing at culprits (and we get a fun little scene showing what led up to him doing it). Go read it, it is translated, and I do not want to spoil for you the opportunity to read Luke being a dork all over again.

We switch to the flashback telling the actual events, and this is the part that has no translation yet. I won't give many details as a result since I don't know the things for sure myself, but as I said earlier, I saw a few words that I recognised here and there: notably, Luke mentions Misthallery on at least two occasions. If memory serves, one of them is when Grosky shows up to "arrest" the puppet, and I think Luke went on a small tangent to give a small summary of the events of Last Specter (aka how he met Grosky), and also mentions Descole (though he does not give his name, since I'm pretty sure that he didn't hear the words "My name is Jean Descole" at the time, and only learned that precisely upon meeting him again in ED). On another time he mentions it, from what I vaguely understood he may be making a reference to Naiya, Janice/Melina's friend who can be found in Misthallery and who is also a singer (she's the NPC who is meant to represent the singer of Paxmaveiti, just like Yuming is meant to represent the singer of Mysterious Flower in Miracle Mask). Pretty inconsequential, but it's always fun to have continuity nods and references to the actual plot of other stories.

Finally, back to three years later, we get an epilogue narrated by Luke which is the exact same scene as the movie: Layton and Luke are listening to Janice's opera, and at some point Janice shows up to say hi. Luke also mentions what happened to the rest of the participants after the case throughout those three years; most are just what we see from the credits, but the novel still gives a few more details in some cases:

By the time of the original trilogy, Amelia is studying abroad at a foreign university, and she recently sent a letter to Layton and Luke, saying that she is grateful even after three years.

Luke is friends with Nina, who comes by at Gressenheller every now and then, and he even considers her a rival of sorts due to Nina having a good memory and studying well. (also what the heck Luke why are you talking about getting to college and how you're worried that she may be admitted to college before you do, you're THIRTEEN)

Celia Raidley and Pierre Starbuck got married "just the other day" (yes, the ship is now officially confirmed beyond just the one image from the movie credits) and the tabloids are going wild over it.

Luke is reading Annie Dretche's latest mystery novel, and he can't put it down. Annie apparently told him that she has been writing faster so that Bargland (the guy who said he did not have much time left due to an illness) can read them at the hospital. Seems like "six months" turned into three years after all, good for him!

Anyway, that's all I have to say for now, I hope you enjoyed the rambling. I hope this will reach some fans of the movie who would be excited to get a few more details!

[vividstardustrevolution]

Haruka Sakurai - Eyes Analysis in MILGRAM

Alright, so let's start with Haruka and his two MVs - Weakness and All Knowing and All Agony.

Starting with Weakness, we see that the victim's face and the mom's face (and therefore their eyes) are blocked out. We can see the victim's expression, but not the mom's. This could be for a few reasons, but I don't think it's dehumanization here, because Haruka, as we all know, adores his mom, and he looks happy with the victim in the left picture.

A lot of people theorize that Haruka is autistic, and these scenes with the eyes plus the faces getting blocked out plus Haruka struggling with eye contact in Trial 1 is one of the many reasons why - autistic people can have a hard time making eye contact and reading people's facial expressions and such. As an autistic person myself, I can speak to my own experience that I personally find eye contact very uncomfortable, and I don't always look at other people's faces when I'm talking to them.

These eyes that keep showing up are symbolism for something. This is just my take on things, but I think these eyes represent both what Haruka wants (for someone to see him, for someone to notice him) and the negative looks and responses he's been getting from being himself and acting in a certain way.

Part of the reason why the faces are blocked out in those scenes with the mom and the girl might be because Haruka can't look these people in the eyes, can't look at their faces, can't read their expressions, but let's dig a little deeper, shall we? Because they're not the only ones who are eyeless in this MV.

Take a look at this scene near the end of Weakness. Haruka doesn't have eyes here, but he's the focus of this MV! What's going on?

Well, as I'll bring up in later posts, like Kotoko's and Mikoto's, there are some MVs where the prisoner involved doesn't have eyes in some scenes. In this scene, neither Haruka has eyes, and my take on why the eyes are gone is that Haruka's kinda unconsciously dehumanizing himself and his victim here. The little Haruka represents not only his younger self that his mom loved, but also the "right version" of him that he's implied exists in both in the lyrics of Weakness ("the right future unfairly chose the wrong me") and in one of his interrogation questions (he said "Everything. Every single thing is wrong." as an answer to one of the trial 2 interrogation questions - "What's the difference between you and someone else?" - according to this translation). We also know now that AKAA has come out that younger Haruka in this scene also represents Haruka's victim - the braid girl. He believes that he's worthless and not worth paying attention to until Muu comes along, and he tries to dehumanize and push down his victim in the same way, but in the end, he can't fully do that. He still sees himself as less than her. Why do I say that? Well, considering that even when he's been told he's in the right, he still thinks "[every] single thing is wrong" about him, some bits from the second trial VD that I only vaguely remember, and considering the lyrics of Weakness and AKAA go deep into self hatred and believing he's "a disappointment," "why was I born like this," "hopeless," and so on, I really don't think he thinks he's any better than his victim.

We sure do see a lot of eye close ups for Haruka, huh? He seems sad or distressed or depressed in a lot of them. There's not much light there, either, but there's enough to where he doesn't look like he's in despair. He's holding onto a little bit of hope that maybe things will be alright again.

Before we move on to AKAA, I just want to analyze one last frame.

Haruka looks angry in this one, and it's the only one where you can see his eyes when he looks angry. In fact, it's right before the scene where Haruka's eyes are missing. It's interesting because he's upside down here, his full expression is angry, not just his eyes, and he's looking at his younger self (who is his younger self, his idealized self, and his victim). He said in this interrogation question that he was envious of his victim, so what do we get from that plus this? Haruka seems to have lashed out at his victim for being what he wanted to be so desperately - the golden child who was loved.

Now, onto All Knowing and All Agony!

Haruka shows a lot of emotions with just his eyes (although his expressions help). For example, here he's looking up at us, curious, and then...

In these shots, we see Haruka being determined to do something. Eye close ups are gonna be a bit of a thing in this MV too.

There seems to be more light in Haruka's eyes in this MV. He has a purpose; he's not loosely sinking into water anymore. This comes through in the lyrics too - "Don't leave me" "I will make you love me again" "I will keep on killing to be a good boy" "I want to be your favorite next." I think this is partly because of the innocent verdict, and he's speaking to Es/us in some of these lines.

This is one of the only shots in AKAA where Haruka's eyes are blocked out, actually. He's dehumanizing himself less (even though he's not portrayed as just a normal person in AKAA; he's portrayed as animalistic, which bothers me, but that's a personal gripe), and it's possibly because of the innocent verdict. After all, we told him he was innocent and forgivable, so he probably took that to mean that he's not totally worthless and less than human, because...yeah, Haruka seems to struggle with that a bit.

One interesting thing that shifts from Weakness to All Knowing and All Agony (that also shifts between half and Cat, but that's for another post) is that someone who didn't have eyes in the first MV now has eyes - Haruka's mom.

She is clearly horrified and afraid in these shots, but Haruka doesn't seem to take her actions and reactions that way, judging by his expressions after she slaps him.

"She slapped me" turns into "she finally noticed me and acknowledged my existence" turns into "she loves/cares about me." Someone should really sit Haruka down and explain to him how affection is actually supposed to work, because it's not like that. But it is interesting how Haruka's eyes shift from having no light in them to being filled with tearful joy. I just want to give him a hug.

I really, *really* want to analyze this shot. They're trying to make little Haruka look like a monster here with the viewpoint and the way his mom looks scared, but if you look closely, little Haruka is (1) happy to be noticed and (2) just wants a hug. He is a child who wants love, but he's being portrayed as wild and scary here. So why would the animators go for this point of view, rather than a different, more balanced point of view? I'll leave that to y'all to determine.

I...think that's about it for my Haruka eye analysis? (Although some of it was more just me pointing things out, but whatever.) I hope y'all liked it! Next up will be either Kotoko's or Kazui's, whichever one I feel like doing first.

Thank you for reading!

[anderscim]

✦ language, sentence structure and footnote #5 in the new DRDT MV

//spoilers for the new “Literature Girl Insane” music video posted by DRDT

//also spoilers for DRDT up to chapter 2 part 1

i think i’m pretty clever for using this frame, am i right? (-∀-)

alright, here is my 2k+ word rant regarding some things i noticed with the word order and translations in the new video—as well as its connections with some of the footnotes.

(take all of this with a grain of salt)

i noticed recently that the DRDT dev pays very, very close attention to lyrics and lyrical structure in japanese—and that is seen in the way they order certain words.

let’s take this screen, for example:

i’m not sure if you all noticed, but in this part, the lyrics show up in a very specific order.

instead of each word appearing in an order similar to how you would read it in english (“look, aside from that, give me the usual medicine”), they do this:

look -> aside -> from that ->the -> usual -> medicine -> give me

and surprisingly, this isn’t random. the words appear in an order that aligns with the sentence structure for the japanese lyrics.

in japanese, the lyrics are as follows:

「ほら、/ それより / いつもの / 薬 / を出して」

if you translate these separately, “medicine” (薬) comes before “give me” (出して, in this context), “the usual” (いつもの) comes before that—and so on and so forth. interestingly enough, the dev subtly threw that detail in the video, instead of just going by the alignment of the english translation.

and, if you didn’t know, in many cases (more often than not), japanese sentence structure wildly differs from english sentence structure—which is exactly what makes it so hard to translate. (;- -)

this also happens in other spots, by the way! here’s another example:

“even if you have a heart full of ambition” appears in reverse order here—but that’s also because of japanese sentence structure.

“向上/の/心/だって/持ったって” -> “ambition/of/heart/even/if you have” this is a rough translation by the way sorry (_ _;)

i can come up with more examples if needed, so let me know (*´ω`*)

however, this isn’t the only way that the dev is being attentive to specific details in japanese. they also seemed to be aware of some literary references that were legitimately within the lyrics, and put their own spin onto it.

for example, this:

at first, the (turbatus) may seem out of place, but trust me, it isn’t. the original japanese lyrics also reference “ego cogito ergo sum” (i think, therefore i am), but put their own spin onto it—the dev somehow managed to translate the lyrics in a way that kept the same modification.

the japanese equivalent to “ego cogito ergo sum” is as follows:

“我思う故に我あり”

however, the japanese lyrics for bungaku shoujo insane put a small modification to the very end:

“我思う故に悩み”

悩み (nayami) is to be worried/troubled/etc.²¹

but basically, the dev also managed to keep that same modification by adding “turbatus” (which translates to “disturbed, disoriented, upset”) to their rendition of the lyrics. though this is me speaking from personal experience, 悩み usually has a different (more lighthearted and flexible) connotation compared to something as heavy as turbatus—so i wonder if this specific word choice might be telling us a lot more.

…okay that was a huge tangent. moving on. what i basically wanted to say is, well… the DRDT team is very attentive and pays very close attention to minor details in japanese, and a lot of it is actually successfully conveyed in their video. however, this pretty much indicates that anything they “botch” in the translation is intentional.⁵ (i’ll get to that later.)

buuuut before we get to that, how ‘bout i switch topics to something else: there is one specific part that they weren’t able to manipulate the translation, even if they wanted to.

i think you know which few frames i’m referring to.

(the other two have the same issue as well, but these first two are easier to explain.)

the thing is, the reason why there’s no translation here is that there’s no way to translate these lyrics without messing up the original japanese sentence structure.

let me break it down. “革命家” (kakumeika) is the japanese translation for a revolutionary. Xander, as the ultimate rebel, is the perfect image for this. “気取り” (kidori) is used in this context to mean that they’re “pretending to be / having the air of” a revolutionary, rather than actually being one.

“馬鹿” (baka) is “idiot,” “鉛” (namari) is lead (as in the metal), “切符” (kippu) is “ticket,” and “与える” (ataeru) in this context is “to give” (but more in a “feeding something to a pet” context than an actual “gifting something to a person” context). “与えよう” (ataeyou) is just a different tense, as in “let’s give,” and so on and so forth.

however, if you were to translate these two lines into english, this is what you would get (rough translation):

“let’s give the idiots pretending to be revolutionaries tickets of lead.”

my brain is fried so i can’t go too far into details right now, but essentially, the translation completely switches around the sentence structure and jumbles the order of the words. if the dev wanted to specifically distribute the lyrics to those two frames in a way that fit those specific images, they would have to warp existing grammar rules and write something that’s… well, obscure. my horrible attempt at a literal translation with the same structure: “assuming the air of revolutionaries / these idiots, tickets of lead should be given to them.” however, this would be too obscure and it gives this lyric a largely different tone (_ _;) especially since david probably doesn’t want to call xander an idiot (/hj) the lyrics would have been extremely difficult to rewrite while getting a similar message across, it was actually more fitting to instead keep the original japanese lyrics and fit them to the two frames in a way that best mirrors each character. …by the way, this is part of the reason why i was (jokingly) suspecting whether or not the dev was actually japanese. some of their attention to wording, sentence structure… even if they’re not japanese, they’re insanely dedicated. massive kudos to them. o(≧▽≦)o okay this has been plaguing my mind for a little bit, side note and small tangent: Xander (at least, i think it’s him. based on the glove) is holding his assigned weapon, a gun, in the first frame here. however, as we know—Xander’s gun is actually nonfunctional, and does not work. the fact that he’s holding it and having his finger on the trigger, despite it being unable to fire, could actually reference the “air of a revolutionary” in the original lyrics, as he may pretend to be someone that can use action to make change in the world but actually can’t. however, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true. this video is from david’s perspective, so this may actually be more of a reflection of david’s philosophy regarding how the world can’t change, rather than xander himself. this would match the “unreliable narrator” angle i’m seeing in this video—which i’ll get to later. i also unfortunately do not have a clear answer regarding who the person with the envelope is, but my bets are on it being a teacher of some sorts, or one of the adults that formally invited the students (including xander, david, and the rest of the students) to hope’s peak in the united states. after all, they’re handing out a “ticket of lead,” as seen in the lyrics. lead can cause poisoning to the body, and is known to accumulate over time. by even joining this school in the first place, the drdt cast is unknowingly signing themselves up for something that will traumatize them / corrupt their minds for the coming years. and i don’t know if this is just me, but some aspects of the embossing stamp of the envelope (including the justice scales, the shield(?)-esque pattern, the wings), seem very suspiciously similar to a logo for a school like that. i’m done with the tangent for now ( ´ ▽ ` )

what’s incredibly interesting (and ironic) about this frame, however, is the footnote. out of all places to put it, the dev placed footnote #5 in the one place where there isn’t a translation.

for those of you that aren’t aware, by the way, this is footnote #5:

As the translation has been intentionally botched in many parts, it should not be considered accurate.

and, actually—this is true. not necessarily botched, though, just maybe slightly manipulated.

here’s a couple of examples:

switching out pronouns in some of the lyrics (changing “i” to “you,” for example). most clearly seen here:

original lyrics: “今僕は何故泣くの？ / 今僕は何故暴れ出すの？” most of the lyrics are the same, except for one thing: “僕” (boku) is used when one wants to refer to themselves. (in other terms, it should be: “right now, why do i cry? / right now, why do i go insane?”). however, the lyrics use “you” instead. side note: this “botch,” and the roman numerals combined—david spinning the narrative so he’s directing those questions towards others, and not towards himself as a form of deflection? the unreliable narrator theory becomes stronger and stronger （＾ν＾） /j

another example is here:

original: “満足したなら / 消えて行け！” -> “if you are [now] satisfied / go and disappear!”

again, another pronoun switch, but this time it’s flipped—while the original lyrics are directing this at someone else, david (or whoever “???” is) is talking about himself. it almost seems like a response to the original lyrics. either way, this is one thing to think about. there are other examples, and i might bring them up later—but for now, these are the main ones i can think of.

2. verb tenses! specifically, these two frames:

the original lyrics: “大事なものなら / 壊れて消えたよ” this is also pretty similar, except using the ending “た” (ta) at the end of a verb, instead of “る” (lu/ru), puts the verb into past tense. (this is from personal experience, however. take it with a grain of salt)

so in reality, the lyrics are: ”if something was important, / it already broke and disappeared”

which is… interesting. because it actually does imply some things regarding david’s philosophies. given that this was likely intentional, this may be an indication of david manipulating his own thought process—from regretting what he lost in the past, to spinning that into “it was going to be lost anyways, regardless of what happened” (after all, for him, “if something is important, it will break away and disappear”). basically, it loops him into an almost pessimistic way of coping. from his perspective, if something is important to him, it will be lost, no matter what—which is hopeless, yes, but it prevents him from forming any other relationships that are “important” and/or getting emotionally attached to them in the expectation that they’ll get burned away eventually.

3. i don’t even know what to call this… like, re-contextualization? specifically, here:

the original lyrics:

“そうして忘れてゆくのでしょう / はい”

however, despite keeping the same literal meanings, this translation completely reconstructs the context of the lyrics. “はい” in this situation is actually used as an interjection, as in “yeah, / okay,” rather than a direct “yes” or an answer to a question.

additionally, “そうして忘れてゆくのでしょう” isn’t exactly a question—more so, it’s more of a “but then you’ll forget anyways” sort of… i guess “throwaway phrase.” my brain is dead, so sorry if this is a bit unclear. the true translation would be closer to “but then, i bet, you’ll forget about it.”

either way, just one thing is clear: the original lyrics were made with no intention at all to be read as a conversation, yet the translation was intentionally spun in a way to fit that. this “botch” also seems to be very important, especially with the fact that it’s labeled with the 19th footnote—as for why, however, i’m not too sure. it could be an indication that david has the idea that people will forget what has happened (and never try to change it the next time around) so ingrained into his head that it affects the way he hears conversations, events, and certain interactions—or it could be that he’s just an unreliable narrator and this is his way of proving his philosophy even in the most minor of word choices, or both, or neither. to be honest, i don’t know what the exact purpose is. (￣ー￣ )

there’s probably other “botched translations,” but those are all i have for now. but yeah, the fact that outside of these “slips” the dev was very attentive about the translation and sentence structure is what gives clear confirmation that these mistakes are absolutely intentional. they’re likely there to provide some insight into not just david’s character and philosophies, but also about his coping mechanisms and how he spins his own narrative to prove his worldview right.

as for why the corresponding footnote is placed at the one place there isn’t a proper translation in the mv… well…

(/hj) i’ll figure it out soon. (( _ _ ))

either way, feel free to reblog or send in an ask if there’s anything you want to say regarding my noticings (whether that’s refuting them or adding evidence)!

and as always, take this with a grain of salt

[softiecaro]

GORGEOUS — MICK SCHUMACHER

summary: Inez think that Mick was too gorgeous to be real and every time she looked at him she felt like was going to die. Mick wondered why she always ignored him.

pairing: Mick Schumacher x Inez (reporter!reader)

words: 4K

warning: Some swear words, a lot of angst. Also, English is not my native language, so any spelling or writing error is the fault of the translator hehe.

notes: The lyrics of the song are in italics, and these are not in the same order of the song, so i put excerpts that may have some connection with the situations that I am narrating.

MASTERLIST TAYLOR SWIFT SONGS SERIES

Inez Santana is a journalist by profession, who started out uploading videos to tiktok about motorsports and making podcasts about it. Thanks to the success that she had on this podcast, she was given the opportunity to start working for Formula 2 years ago. Despite not having been around for as long as some of her colleagues, she is well liked by the people in the teams and the paddock in general, even by the fans. 

She formed a strong friendship with Esteban Ocon when she signed a short contract for a few months to do some communications work for the Alpine team. When that contract ended, they continued to hang out constantly, even spending a few vacations together. 

She is known for her sweetness and kindness with everyone, for how she talks to people and puts all her attention on them as if they were the only thing that mattered, she made them feel loved. Of course, this happened with everyone except the 23-year-old German driver, Mick Schumacher. 

It's not because she hates him. Quite the contrary. She thinks he is too gorgeous and his presence makes her so nervous that she prefers to ignore him. Every time she can get away from being in the same room with him, she does. Of course, she can't escape her obligations at work and the interviews that she sometimes has to do with Mick after a career. 

Inez, Esteban and Lance were walking through the paddock one morning as they greeted everyone along the way. They were laughing at something the French one said, and by mistake, the girl dropped her coffee cup on the floor right in front of the Haas team space, which luckily was not full. 

They laughed even louder, which caught Mick's attention, who came out to see what was going on. 

—Damn Esteban, look what you made me do.—She joked, still laughing as she stood looking at the mess she made.

—Hey, don't blame me. 

—Hey guys, what happened here?— Mick approached them with an amused smile on his lips. They greeted each other with the typical fist salute that men give each other.

 Her smile automatically disappeared when she heard his voice. Posture uncomfortably straight, lips set in a line, she looked everywhere but at him, except at his ocean blue eyes. If she looked at them, she felt that it would be the end of him. 

—Just Inez being Inez.— Lance says humorously, putting his arm around her shoulders. 

—Are you okay?— Mick asks. She looks at the floor, looks at Esteban and then looks over Mick's shoulder at something, continuing his work of avoiding his eyes. 

—Yes.— She simply says. 

—If you want I can bring you a new coffee.—The blond tells her as he points to Hass's space.— You know, free coffee. 

—No thanks, I have to go.

“You're so gorgeous. I can't say anything to your face 'cause look at your face. And I'm so furious at you for making me feel this way. But what can I say? You're gorgeous”. 

Have you read those cliché stories where the main character gets locked with her love interest in an elevator for a period of time, they kiss, then someone pulls them out of the elevator and they walk out completely in love? That was what happened to Inez, except for the kissing part of it, of course. 

The cars that take the communications people from the hotel to the paddock left at 7:30 a.m. It was 5 minutes before the time limit and Inez was on the 20th floor waiting for the elevator which was taking too long. 

—Come on, please, quickly.— she whispered anxiously as she saw that the elevator was finally approaching her floor.

When the gates opened, Inez couldn't believe how much bad luck she had (or good luck?). Mick was inside in his blue Haas team uniform, who also hadn't noticed the girl's presence since he was too busy texting. 

She quickly entered and went to press the button for the first floor, but seeing that it was already selected, she left her hand in the air. 

Inez looked at the boy out of the corner of her eye, still typing on his phone with a visibly frown. Inez wanted to say hello, but nothing came out of her mouth. So she just looked at a fixed point of the elevator as she held her breath hoping to arrive at her destination soon. 

She suddenly felt the lights on the buttons start to flicker and she approached it curiously. Then, the main light that illuminates there began to blink. She turned around, facing Mick on the opposite side of the elevator, but he still didn't notice anything. 

Silence. 

—Mick?— A whisper of hers barely left her. The blond raised his head automatically and looked at her with those ocean blue eyes just a millisecond before the place went completely dark. 

Neither of them said anything, analyzing the situation. 

—Inez?

—I'm here, Mick.— She answered fearfully as she hugged herself. 

The next thing that happened was the elevator made a loud noise that caused Inez to gasp in surprise. She suddenly felt a pair of icy hands touch her face in delicate touches, to which she cringed.

—Here you are.—Now he was touching her shoulders as if looking for something specific, then went down her arms slowly until he reached her hands. His touches were so delicate, as if she was going to break. He gave her chills. 

—Hey, are you okay?—She gave a little startled cry at his touch and her closeness, a sound that Mick took as a sort of nod to his question. His hands felt so soft and perfect on her.

“And you should think about the consequence of you touching my hand in a darkened room."

—Let me call someone on the team.— So he unlocked his phone and the light from it lit up his face. 

—Don't be scared, I can feel your heart beating so fast. Try to calm down, we'll be fine.—Now he had pulled his hands away from her and stood beside her, feeling his left side against her right side.

—It can't be, I don't have a signal. 

—What?—She exclaimed, turning in his direction.

—I was joking, sorry. I've always seen that happen in the movies.— He laughed a little as he dialed a number. 

Inez started to reply but before she could think of anything to say to him, Mick spoke again. 

—Kevin? Hi, you're not going to believe this but I'm stuck in the hotel elevator.

She stirred in her place and suddenly remembered the car that was supposed to take her. She took her phone and looked at the time. It marked 7:45. The car had already left without her. 

—No, I'm not alone, I'm with Inez. Yes, Esteban's best friend.— She felt Mick say the last thing with a different tone that caught her attention.— Uh-huh, yes. OK thank you. See you mate. 

Inez sends a message to her boss explaining the situation and saying that she will unfortunately be late, hoping that he will believe that she got stuck in the elevator, although it sounds a bit false.

Maybe Esteban hasn't left yet and she can go with him to the paddock in his car, so to make sure, she texted him too to ask if he's already gone. 

—Hey, don't worry, it won't take long for them to come for us.— Mick told her softly when he saw the girl's worried face. 

—It's not that.— She locks her phone so the place is bathed in darkness again. 

—What happen? 

—Nothing.— As soon as her word left her mouth, and in an unkind tone, she regretted it. 

Silence again. 

The closeness of his to her sides disappeared as he moved away from her. 

—Why do you hate me?

Inez's heart sank. He thought she hated him? Silence again. She didn't know what to say. 

—Mick, I don't hate you. 

—Then why are you always like this with me?

—What do you mean? 

—Whenever I'm getting close, you run away. Plus you never look me in the eye. You're always ignoring me and... 

Suddenly a voice from the elevator speaker startled them both. 

—Guys, we're about to get you out. The elevator will make a small jerky movement. Don't be scared, it's part of the process. 

Only a couple of minutes later, in which neither of them had said anything else, the elevator doors were being forced open and two big men could be seen through the small space on the other side. Behind them, some familiar faces of some people from the teams, including Lance and Esteban, who were laughing. 

—You first.— Mick told her. So Inez quickly made her way out of the small space with help from the men. Then Mick came out. 

—I can't believe you got locked in an elevator.— Lance was still laughing at the situation. 

—How long were you in there?

—Like 30 minutes.— Mick replied. 

—30 minutes?! And what did you do during all that time? 

—Nothing dude. I have to go, see you.— Mick smiled at the three without showing his teeth and left. 

—Inez?— Esteban spoke to the girl after seeing her in a kind of trance.— Are you okay?

—Yes, I'm perfect. Why?

—You're red as a tomato, are you sure nothing happened in there? You know you can trust us, come on. 

—I swear to you. Now come on please, my boss is going to kill me. 

…………………………..

On a Saturday after a race, Inez is preparing for the press round with the drivers. She had already interviewed Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris and now she was with Esteban. 

—And moving on to the next race, what do you think about Hungary? 

—Yeah, I can't wait. Great memories of course from last year. So hopefully we can fight in full force.— He simply answered.

—That's all Esteban, thanks. See you.— They finally say good-bye, but as the French boy was walking away, he whispered something to Inez that didn't help her for what lay ahead of her.

—Mick is next.— Followed by a wink. 

Just hearing his name made her stomach turn. She then saw him slip from the previous reporter until they were face to face. He gave her a toothless smile and her blue eyes met his. 

"Ocean blue eyes looking in mine, I feel like I might sink and drown and die."

She was silent for a few seconds until she reacted when noticed the expectation on the face of Mick and his communications assistant. 

—M-mick, we saw that the race had some problems, sorry about that. Because in some way, you were unfortunately a victim of the crash between Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso. How much was your race compromise by accident damage?

“Did I say everything too quickly? Why is he looking at me like that? Do I have something in my teeth? After the rain of thoughts that attacked her, she felt the blood begin to pool on her cheeks, and felt the temperature rise even more when she watched as Mick lapped her lips with his tongue. 

—Yeah, there was quite a bit of unfortunate damage that affected some specific areas of the car.— As he began to speak, he leaned slowly between the grid that separated them and Inez tried to appear as if that movement didn't affect her. As if having him so close to her didn't make her heart burst.— Obviously it was something that got out of hand but I think that, looking on the positive side, at least we were in a good position to give the team points. 

—And speaking of the performance of the vehicles, what do you think are their strengths and weaknesses and do you think they will be able to continue on a good path with this one?

—Yeah, I mean I don't see any reason why it shouldn't. I think our car. And we are aware that there is a constant battle with teams like Alpha Tauri, Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo. So all we care about is finishing the races and collecting as many points as possible in the coming weekends after the holidays.— He finishes with a smile. 

—Thanks for your time Mick, rest and have a nice vacation. 

—Thanks Inez, see you around. Goodbye.— Giving her one last look and a characteristic German smile, he walked off in the direction of the next reporter. 

Inez. Inez. Inez. Inez. Inez. Inez. Why did his name sound so nice when it came from his lips?

 ……………………………………. 

That same night someone organized a party because after this race there would be a short vacation before returning to the tracks. It would be a lie to say that Inez hated parties, because she didn't. But she really wasn't a big fan of crowds, so this was what always discouraged her from going. Both Esteban and Lance tried to convince her to go but they couldn't. 

She preferred to stay in her hotel room watching some romantic comedy movie on netflix. She changed into comfortable clothes, made herself some hot tea, and lay back in the comfort of her bed. 

Before the movie started, she took a picture for her Instagram stories and then put her phone aside and played the movie. The sound of the notifications caught her attention so checking the phone she saw responses from some fans, from Lance, from some people she knew from the paddock, but what mattered most to her was Mick. 

“Guess I'll just stumble on home to my cats, alone. Unless you wanna come along." 

@mickschumacher won't you come to the party? 

@inez.santana nope :( 

Immediately the three dots appeared in the chat indicating that Mick was typing, only to disappear later. She then blocks her phone but was left waiting for her reply message. The ring rings again, she picks up the phone, but it wasn't Mick. 

@landonorris GURLLLLL are you really going to lay down and not come to the party? 

@inez.santada BOYYYY, yes

@landonorris sent an audio note “Come on Inez, how dare you miss out on the best party of your life? DJ Lando will liven up the place. I'm still at the hotel, so I'm not going to let you stay here alone with yourself. Tell me your room number and I'll pick you up in 20 minutes, see you muac” 

Inez was left thinking. Maybe she should just give him on seen and he´d never find her room, but he probably ask Esteban and Lando would come banging on her door until she came out. 

@inez.santana 621 floor 10. 

She quickly got up from her bed leaving her computer on the desk along with her tea. “I'll come back for you” she thought looking at her drink. Then, in record time, she dressed in white cloth pants, a bright green top and boots. "Yes, this will be fine." 

A little makeup, a little shadow on her eyes, mascara and matte lipstick on her lips. She grabbed a purse and had minutes to spare before Lando showed up at her door.

—I thought you wouldn't come out.— He said when Inez opened the door for him. 

—I thought about ignoring you, but then I figured that one way or another you would know my room number and you would be knocking on my door desperately all night, so… 

—You guessed right.— Lando laughed as they both got into the elevator. On the way to the party they were both talking about random things and laughing. When they arrived, Lando opened the door to hus car and helped her out. Then they came in laughing with their arms crossed. 

—Lando, there you are! Get up here.— Someone yelled at him. Lando looked at Inez and she nodded so he knew she was going to be okay. 

—Go, I'll look for Esteban. 

So he gave her a little hug and walked away. Inez's mind said that she would search for her best friend Esteban in the crowd, but her heart began to search for Mick. She can't find him, and in fact for some reason she can't find any familiar faces. So she just walks over to the bar, orders a drink and sits there. 

From Inez to Estie bestie: Heyyyy! Guess what, Lando brought me to the fucking party. Where the fuck are you? I can not find you :( 

Then she put away her phone again, took a drink as she continued to scan the room. Until she saw him and her heart stopped like it always did when she saw him. But this time it was different, now he is with a girl. They are both sitting across the room talking. Mick said something to the girl while he pointed to the crowd, seconds later Esteban appeared on the shot and sat next to the unknown woman, leaving her in the middle of it. 

“If you've got a girlfriend, I'm jealous of her. But if you're single that's honestly worse 'cause you're so gorgeous it actually hurts (Honey, it hurts)”. 

Inez wanted to go, but she couldn't, she didn't want to, not with Mick and that girl there. But then Esteban checked his phone and automatically started looking for his best friend in the crowd. Until he saw her and began to beckon her to see him. She pretended she didn't see him, so the French one got up and went to look for her. 

—Inez! I've been waving to you for a while. Come on, we're over there with Mick and Emma. 

Inez wanted to ask her who Emma was and why she was with Mick, but she kept quiet. 

—I'll be there in a moment, I'm fine here. 

—Something wrong? I'm staying here with you, no problem sweetheart. 

—No, please go. I'm going in a minute.

Esteban looked at her doubtfully, then she gave him a smile and pushed his shoulder in a friendly way to unconcern him. 

—Okay, we'll wait for you there.— She took one last glance in the blonde's direction only to meet his gaze already on her. He smiled at her and waved, but she ignored him, took the last of her drink, got up and went out to the terrace of the place. 

From Mick's perspective, he felt his heart break more and more at the attitudes she held about him. He constantly questioned his own actions, wondering if he had ever done something wrong that upset her.

—Where are you going bro?— Esteban asked Mick when he saw him get up. 

—I'm going to get some air, I'll be right back.— Mick was adamant about her goal, clear things up and for her to tell him why she hates him. 

—Hello.— Inez jumped in shock. She didn't need to turn around to know who he was because she recognized that voice anywhere.— I thought you told me you weren't coming.

—I know, I didn't come of my own free will. Lando made me. 

—Oh. 

Finally she dared to turn to look at him and gave him a small smile. 

—Can I sit with you? 

—Sure.— She replied immediately. 

They didn't speak for what seemed like an eternity. Both looking towards the horizon. But both wanting to look at each other. 

—I understand if you don't want to talk about this, but that day when we got stuck in the elevator, I felt like the conversation was on hold. Because it is a topic that is very important to me and I need to know the answer, if there really is one… 

—Oh, that. Do you want to know why I'm ignoring you?— Suddenly she felt a wave of confidence. Maybe it was the alcohol… or desperation. 

—Hmm…— Mick nodded. 

It took Inez a while to collect her thoughts to see what she wanted to say to the boy next to her. With so many thoughts in her head she became dizzy and felt like she was going to pass out. 

—I ignore you because…because you're so kind and respectful and caring and generous and funny, and you're so damn gorgeous that I can't even look at your face, because look at your face.— She finally blurted out, regretting it the second she was done. That was like the vomit that her heart needed to release. 

—What? So…so you don't hate me? 

—No fucking hell Mick, I'm in love with you and I'm ignoring you because you make me so nervous.

Silence. 

Only the music from the party and Inez's heart breaking into a thousand pieces could be heard. 

—Look at me. 

—Mick… 

—Please look at me. 

Inez knew what was coming now. Mick was so nice that he would probably give her some compliments like how she's beautiful and smart but he didn't reciprocate that feeling. He would ask her to start being friends, probably. 

Already emotionally prepared, she turned to see him, trying to hide her nervousness and the tears that asked to come out of her eyes. She tried, but she couldn't hold his blue gaze for more than 2 seconds, turning to her own hands as she played with them.

Mick raised her head taking her chin gently so that she looked into his eyes again. 

—What would happen if I told you that I'm in love with you?

—What are you talking about? 

—I said what I said, what would happen?

—I wouldn't believe you.

—But it's true.

Inez hadn't realized the closeness between them and her breath caught in her throat. 

—Mick…— She said barely.

—Can I kiss you?— He whispered inches from her lips, still with his hand on her chin. 

"Ok, I'm going to pass out right now." she thought. 

She licks her lips and looks into his eyes, and swore it were even more beautiful up close. As if his eyes could illuminate the dark place they were in at the moment. 

—Do you want to kiss me?— She asks, still not believing what was happening to her. 

—Yes, do you want to?— Now he had shifted his hand from her chin to her jaw. 

—I do.— That was all it took for Mick to close the space between them. 

At first it was just a chaste kiss on her lips, to test the waters. Seeking to affirm something, she put her hands on his chest and squeezed his shirt as if wanting to bring him closer to her. 

It was then that he lowered her hands to her waist and found hers again on his lips in a relaxed movement, full of love that they had hidden for far too long. 

She could easily have melted in Mick's arms and she was glad they were sitting because her now-jelly legs would probably have betrayed her. With her arms also made of jelly, she reached for Mick's neck and her hands buried themselves in his blond hair pulling him closer to her, as if that were possible. 

Leaving his left hand on her waist, Mick ran his right hand up her arm as well, leaving a trail of fire all the way to her head to smooth out some strands that were bothering the kiss, and then continued. stroking his head lovingly. 

When they felt that it was too much, both separated from the kiss, still with their hands on the other. 

Inez didn't want to open her eyes, she didn't want to wake up from this perfect dream she was in. She thought that she had actually ignored Lando and stayed in his hotel room, had fallen asleep and now she was having a wonderful dream with Mick. 

But finally she relented and met the ocean blue eyes that always took her breath away. It hadn't been a dream, Mick had really kissed her. 

—In case it wasn't clear to you, I'm in love with you too.

------

Tags:

@primadonnasdream

@midnightric

[caffeine-addicted-catlover]

Obey me! Brothers as songs in my 300+ track spotify playlist.

(Based on both: meaning and vibes.)

(A lot of Mitski songs, unsurprisingly for me)

Lucifer

My body's made of crushed little stars

by Mitski

Of course I had to have something with stars in it...

Cannot say that the meaning fully fits him, rather the desperation in the vocals does. Also I feel like it covers his workaholism a little.

Regret message

by Mothy (AkunoP)

This one is a little cheaty from me, since it is from the Evillious Cronicles, which also have the 7 deadly sins (and this song is from the pride arc), but I just couldn't leave it out. Reflecting on stuff you had done blinded by your selfish desires is so Lucifer.

SCARLET OBSTACLE -Shriek of the Melodies-

by Zemeth

This one is more vibes based. Since it is mentioned that besides classical music Lucifer likes metal of some kind, I had found a combo of both. I really enjoy this genre hehe

Mammon

Stop Nagging Me!

by Owata-P

The whole song is about constantly getting criticized for everything you do, having all your mistakes pointed out, being the scapegoat and taking it all, letting it happen untill you're absolutely sick of it.

This song is so Mammon I don't know if I can even put it into words. Seriously, go read it's translation on vocaloid lyrics wiki.

You're a Useless Child

by Kikuo

A song where you're told that you are worthless and unable to do anything properly.

I think this needs no explanation.

YKWIM?

by Yot Club

I think that this one shows him, probably, considering himself annoying. Especially in

"Sometimes it seems like I'm in your way"

line.

Leviathan

INTERNET YAMERO

by KOTOKO, Aiobahn

Ah yes, Needy Streamer Overload, the most Levi game in existence (to me ofc). The tune itself reminds me of him a lot. He probably would be a Kangel fan.

Better Than Me

by The Brobecks

Inferiority complex: the song. It is literally in the title.

I Feel Bad

by I Hate Myself Because

A song about being conflicted whether or not you can handle company of a certain person and fearing loneliness.

Satan

Yukiko-san

by Midori

The lyrics might not particularly make sense to me, but the vocals and music just scream Satan. Especially "Destroy!" lines. To me it seems like something he would listen to while trying to cope with his rage.

Ussewa

by Ado, syudou

The song is originally about Japan's corporate culture, but with Ado's incredible vocals and overall sarcastic, furious and mocking tone of the song it fits him quite well in my opinion.

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

by Set if Off

I feel like he'd enjoy this song. It's overall nature fits Satan's untrusting worldview. He would, perhaps, dedicate the very last verse of it to a certain demon...

Asmodeus

Brand New City

by Mitski

"But if I gave up on being pretty, I wouldn't know how to be alive..."

FVN!

by LVL1

It's just a chill song about having fun and s3x in the car, literally. With it's overall sounding, I think it not only fits Asmo by vibe, but also is something he'd listen to.

Primadonna

by MARINA

A song about craving attention, staying in the spotlight, getting all you want, but being unhappy deep down, since all this masquerade is to fill the void.

Beelzebub

Francis Forever

by Mitski

I feel like the general theme of this song fits him the best. Someone is gone from your life and now it seems empty, as if there is no point in doing things, since the person won't see it.

Close to You

by niki

As the description states:

"The song is about watching someone's lover die in front of them with a smiling face, and how they mourn and try to accept their death."

But I feel like you can interpret the figure of lover as a different, non-romantic close person.

Servant of Evil

by Mothy (AkunoP)

Yes, another song from the Evillious Cronicles. I can't resist it, sorry.

The plot of the song is a brother sacrificing a lot (including his own life) for his twin sister. The ending of this song is him literally going to execution instead of his sister by switching places and clothes, since they're identical twins.

Belphegor

Child Psychology

by Black Box Recorder

This is more vibe oriented pick, but some of the lyrics might fit him. The overall blunt, uninterested tone of the vocals seems very much him.

Let's Take Some Medicine and Go to Sleep

by Mochiutsune

The song's main point is probably about escapism through sleep. Whenever talking about any kind of problem the narrator decides to take some meds and go to sleep, just like the title states.

I Hate Everyone but You

by Elita

This one is about constantly being tired to the point of staying in bed all day and being criticised on it in the past, yet now there's a person who understands you and it doesn't bother them. While you'd grown resentful towards every other person ever, this one is fine.

Thanks for reading this mess!

[gemsofgreece]

https://www.maxmag.gr/politismos/archaies-ellinides-mystika-gyro-apo-ti-zoi-toys/

Found this article about the lives of women in Ancient Greece, and i liked for a chance that they didn't only mention how confined they were in houses (mostly yes). Fortunately they mention that many women were able to go to schools like men and have high education and been taught even among the best.

The sad thing is that history often forgets to mention them. In schools they don't mention at all the women philosophers, mathematicians that broke the stereotypes, which is a shame. If we want an equal society, children should be taught the same about these great women. They were and still represent half the population after all, they contributed to society just as much.

Agree! While I am not as optimistic as this article, I too had expressed some time ago my confusion that women's significance and pivotal role in Ancient Greek art, mythology, literature and theatre do not exactly agree with how bleak historians describe their place in society.

The link is in Greek so I translate some main points that I could also "confirm" in other sources:

In the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, there is a gravestone on which is inscribed the name: ΑΘΗΝΑΪΣ ΘΕΟΦΙΛΟΥ ΚΕΚΡΟΠΟΣ (Athinais Theophilou Kekropos). Also inscribed on that ancient tombstone is the following epitaph: “The whole world of Athens cried for me, for my youth, my ethos, my virtue, but mostly because I was taking so much care and attention for my education and wisdom. The tears could not stop flowing from my father’s eyes, who lost the joy of his life and also the loving hands that would have been next to him taking care of him in his old age. My age at the time of death: 20 years old.” This shows that there were women who earned the community's respect through their love of education and knowledge and that the loss of a young woman could make the city grieve. The epitaph is clearly written by the heartbroken father.

Basic education for little girls included writing, reading, lyric and epic poetry, dancing. Teenage girls were taught by their mothers household management, weaving, handicraft and decoration. Rich girls could also attend private lessons to study music, singing and string instrument playing. Pythagoras and Epicurus welcomed women in their communities and academies, and we have found the documented attendance of at least two women in Plato's academy. Women could also get educated in the medicine schools of Kos, Knidos and Alexandreia.

Women took care of their appearance with fashion, make-up, elaborate hairstyles and the production of perfumes. Beauty pageants were taking place in some cities.

They had a lot of rights and influence in religion, they had some rights and presence in secular events. They didn't have political rights but women earned those very recently in time worldwide.

Noble women by birth had a status respected as much as that of their noble male relatives. Several very big and / or luxurious tombs of women have been found.

Important women you should learn about are: Aglaonice of Thessaly, Agnodike, Axiothea of Philus, Arete of Cyrene, Arignote, Theano, Damo, Hypatia, Themistoclea, Phintys, Lasthenia of Mantinea.

Professor Terry Brown, of the Faculty of Life Sciences at Manchester University, has argued the traditional takes of historians on the extreme Ancient Greek patriarchy reflect their own misogynistic views rather than the exact historical truth.

[entomophagouserisian]

Incoming: some weeb shit I've folded one of my favorite math things into (permutations)

So I recently went back to Revolutionary Girl Utena because my girlfriend hadn't seen any of it yet and I hadn't seen much beyond season 1 (I know it's a foundational work of sword lesbianism and regret not having gone harder on it before).

I was kind of laughing with her about how edgy the translated lyrics of Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku (Absolute Destiny: Apocalypse, the song that plays during the scene where Utena climbs up to the arena every episode) and I noticed that there wasn't a translation for a chant at the end of it that hits my ear in a very pleasing way.

The chant in question:

Mokushi Kushimo

Shimoku Kumoshi

Moshiku Shikumo

The reason there is no translation is that it's mostly gibberish. They took the word "Mokushi" (Apocalypse) and rearranged the syllables in all possible ways to create this particular piece of poetry. The repetition of syllables in this way ends up feeling really good to my brain when I hear it and I have therefore been alternating between trying to memorize it and analyzing its structure for the past few days.

Unfortunately in order to present my process for this analysis I'm going to have to teach you some basics of the mathematical conception of permutations.

(The following aside into math is actually wholly unnecessary to my overall analysis, so feel free to skip to the clearly marked conclusion at the end if it feels like too much or you just don't feel like engaging with it)

A permutation is any reordering of a set of objects. Note that it's just reordering, it doesn't include deletions or the introduction of new elements or new copies of old elements. Commonly if we want to analyze permutations directly, and more specifically to talk about the permutation where the first object goes to 2nd position, second object to 3rd, third object to 1st, we use (123) (read as 1 goes to 2, 2 goes to 3, 3 goes to 1). As well, if the 3rd object stays put and the first two swap places, we would use (12) (read as 1 goes to 2, 2 goes to 1) to describe that. If no change is made, we usually just use (1) (read as one goes to one or the identity) to describe that. (This is very much lacking the rigor and generality that I would've preferred, but this post would've been substantially longer if I'd gone into that much detail, so I'm kind of hoping someone can come in with just this much explanation and understand what comes after)

So my first step in my analysis was to try to record how each of the "words" related to the base/actual word Mokushi (this is admittedly where it would be quite useful for me to change over to hiragana, but I don't know it and don't have a keyboard downloaded for it and don't feel like downloading one just for this post or copy/pasting the hiragana repeatedly, sorry to those of you who study/enjoy Japanese)

So, rewriting the chant as the permutations applied to Mo-Ku-Shi (written this way to emphasize the 3 objects being permuted):

(1) (132)

(123) (12)

(23) (13)

It was fun but didn't get me anywhere (other than verifying every possible ordering was present, but I was already pretty certain of that) so I instead chose to look at what permutation is happening at each step in the sequence rather than just how they compared to the original:

* (132)

(132) (13)

(132) (132)

Here, we see a much more obvious pattern. For all but one transformation, we are permuting by taking the first syllable and pushing to the end, moving the other two toward the beginning of the "word". To hear it, it is very easy to recognize the 2-syllable repeats happening throughout that first pulled my attention. However, this one permutation couldn't be done exclusively if they wanted to cover all possible permutations, as applying (132) 3 times brings you back to the original word, so the third Permutation is instead (13) which just reverses the syllables in this case since there's only 3 of them, but this also notably changes them to a "word" not yet seen which can bring us to the two we are still missing by applying (132) two more times.

It was after all of this that I properly noted that that middle step reversed the previous "word" and I mentally zoomed out to notice

~~~~Conclusion~~~~

the chant is set up to mirror itself. The pairs 1&6, 2&5, and 3&4 are all the reverse of one another, ordered such that for all but one pair heard in sequence, there is a 2-syllable repetition when moving from one word to the next. (Yes it took me this long to notice it was mirrored. No all that permutation work was definitely not necessary, but forgive a [likely autistic] math nerd for her indulgences.)

It's just a silly chant in a cartoon but it made me happy to see permutations in it and I am sincerely moved by the poetry of making gibberish out of a dark and serious word like apocalypse by listing off anagrams.

[hikachin]

"Place Your Bets" Translation

After quite a while of not translating (around a year), I am back. This time I translated Makonyan's new single, "Place Your Bets". The jazz and rock melody really grabs your attention and showcases his maturity.

This single is released to celebrate his 5th artist debut anniversary. As a way to give back to his fans, he brought us "Place Your Bets". Yes, he did write the lyrics.

According to Seigura July 2023 issue, this a parallel of "Miserable Masquerade". With the theme of it being "counter attack". It is about a man out for revenge. I will not try to explain too much cause I'll probably TL the article when the copy is in my hands.

Rainy Day is also another song he wrote the lyrics for. I'll most likely TL Rainy Day, too.

Before you start reading the TL, please do note a few stuff. I am no expert in Japanese and I am still learning it. I am sorry in advanced if there are any mistranslations. With that being said, please enjoy this masterpiece 🙏

"Place Your Bets" ~ Furukawa Makoto [古川慎]

Oh Lady, ready? Crazy, I don't miss you

In an unforgettable flavor

My heart is beating for avenge it

The curtains open to a showdown-like frenzy

The dress that wrapped around the scarlet memories

The lies that burn to ashes, a trampled resolve *⑴

A fragile relationship (visage) ignored *⑵

(Let's) Start this game like a kiss *⑶

A yearning gem

The hand that can't reach the cry of the past

The messiest, sweetest room

(An) unravelled spell

"Place Your Bets"

(I) love you so much to the point that it destroys (me)

The night blooms as you ridiculed me with a "it's been a long time" *⑷

The captured, traveling innocence that was imprisoned *⑸

Stirred up fakeness

I've gone insane as I'm being exposed

Sepia painted endorphin

Daring lips, the wheel of reunion

The needle that moved will not be able to stop

(Break this, your jail

my oath, my faith)

The misérable noise of the bell

That surrender

Never disappearing mutterings

"Goodbye masquerade"

It's beautiful because it doesn't satisfy at all

The poker face facing the table

The unavoidable, undeceivable final blow of the last phase *⑹

A raise of intertwined gazes *⑺

Destroying each other until we're mad

I've arranged one of the best parting gift *⑻

Right in the middle of your heart,

I just stabbed it

The game is over

Notes:

⑴ 「踏み締める」means to harden by treading. I use trample just cause it's easier for many to understand. It's also not too long, unlike the original definition.

⑵ This starts the saga of "Furukawa Makoto using different furigana than the actual furigana of the kanji". 「関係性」is read as 「かんけいせい」(kankeisei). But the furigana says 「カタチ」(katachi). From what I have found, 「カタチ」means visage. Take this information as you will. I believe the visage of the relationship is the one that's fragile.

⑶ Similar situation to ⑵, 「勝負」is usually read as 「しょうぶ」(shoobu). But in here, it's written as 「ゆうぎ」(yuugi). 「ゆうぎ」can be written in kanji as 「遊戯」and 「遊技」. First one meaning "play" and the other meaning "pasttimes". Again, take this info as you will.

⑷ I did my best with this one. But this is just how much I can translate the sentence.

⑸ Same situation with ⑷, this is just how much I can translate the lyrics.

⑹ 「トドメ」here is written purely in katakana. So no kanji or anything which made it confusing. Other than translating to "final blow", it could also mean "stab".

⑺ Same situation as ⑷ & ⑸. This is seriously the best I can do for this sentence.

⑻ Has a similar situation here where he used straight up katakana [ハナムケ]. Further confusing which kanji it is. In the end, the only fitting meaning I found is a "parting gift". The other meaning has something to do with a horse's nose.

If you'd like to support me, you can do so by donating to my Ko-fi down here ^^

[actual-lich-queen]

Ghost History: Hammer of Doom IV (debut ritual)

Five days after Opus Eponymous was released by Rise Above Records, Ghost performed their first ritual on October 23rd, 2010 at Hammer of Doom IV[1]. It was not the most auspicious of beginnings. Set to go on stage at 1:30pm [2], Papa Emeritus I and the Nameless Ghouls arrived on stage 15 minutes late and 10 minutes later suffered the loss of one of their guitar amps[3].

Some, hearing Ghost live for the first time, had their doubts.

“In short: even though the band got back on track towards the end with their hit “ritual”, they could live up to their previous praise. [Papa Emeritus’s] charisma on the microphone was simply not tangible enough for that; The band has to make a lot of progress here, because especially when they appear so distant due to their self-imposed image, the lack of communication simply has to be replaced by the aura of the musicians.” -Patrick Müller via Google Translate[3]

“[On the whole] the material couldn't really convince me, the dusty Seventies Rock sounds too toothless and arbitrary. The reactions in the hall were very ambivalent, so some celebrated GHOST with their theatrical appearance with inverted crosses, [mitre] and a lot of incense as the hottest shit since the invention of the electric guitar, others on the other hand withdrew with a smile towards the beer counter, because the performance there provided better entertainment.” -dekleenenils via Google Translate[4]

But the devil worshiping ministry’s mission to spread their unholy gospels[5] is targeted towards “individuals who have a void in their life perhaps caused by some form of emotional trauma or upset [...] so that in time the easily manipulated will come to share the views and goals of the Coven’s ministry and can prepare their own plans for the downfall of humanity.”[6]

Not all in that first crowd were unreceptive to Ghost’s ministry.

“Musically, I can only say that I really enjoy the mix of seventies rock, progressive parts and a large amount of NWoBHM*! This organ! Hammer! The biggest surprise of this kind. The satanic lyrics that the band [...] want to bring to humanity are the most lovely melodies and the clear, beautiful vocals! Now the term “Powerpop,” which they advertise on their MySpace page, finally has a meaning. Very contradictory, but absolutely convincing as a whole package! [...] I also had no luck with the [buying of] the T-shirt. I first wanted to wait and see whether the band could  convince me musically and when I went to the merchandise stand after the gig, it was completely sold out.” -Chris via Google Translate[2]

And it only takes a spark to light the fires of hell. The ministry of Ghost had only just begun.

“Our mission is not as much about conversion as it is about underlining which path you have chosen to go, and where it will ultimately lead you,” declared Ghost in a rare communiqué. “We are the file playing back in your digital earpiece while you are carelessly approaching the end.”[6]

*Common abbreviation of New Wave of British Heavy Metal

[1]Ghost Concert Setlists (page 90) | setlist.fm

[2]Festivalbericht HAMMER OF DOOM IV (amboss-mag.de)

[3]Obliveon :: Metal und Gothic Webzine (archive.org)

[4]Hammer Of Doom IV - 23.10.2010 - Würzburg, Posthalle @ Bloodchamber.de

[5]Ghost – “Ritual” - Stereogum (archive.org)

[6]Ghost's 'Opus Eponymous' To Receive U.S. Release In January - Blabbermouth.net (archive.org)

Read More:

Decided to start cross-posting the work I was doing for my fansite because I am vain and like attention to help preserve it against the careless history (or lack thereof) of the internet.

[glassprism]

how would you rank all the international* productions? for me, my fave would've been the OG german production and the least is the hungarian. *international = foreign language ones!

Oh anon, that's a bit of a tall order considering just how many international productions there, and that I have very little information on some of them. Assuming that "foreign language" means "non-English", then that eliminates London, Broadway, and all the US and UK tours, of course, but also Toronto and the Canadian tours, both Australian tours including the most recent restaging, all the World Tours, and I don't know if you intended this, but you've also cut the Helsinki and Gothenburg non-replicas, the Greece non-replica, and the Sydney Harbour non-replica. But I'm going to pretend you did not mean to do that and include them. Also, I will be lumping several productions into one, including ones in the same country (so Hamburg, Stuttgart, Essen, Hamburg revival, and Oberhausen, you are all one item now) and revivals (Poland, you have probably had a dozen revivals but as far as I'm concerned you're one thing).

Also, why so low on Hungary? There are so many weirder ones out there... Anyway, I can't exactly go and pick a top favorite, so I'm going to imitate my favorite actors list and rank them in tiers, and then only list the rest chronologically. To keep it simple, my tiers will be:

Favorite (the best, would pay to see over and over again)

Love (more solid than transcendentally great but doesn't disappoint, would pay to see at least once and probably go back)

Meh / Not Enough Info (okay, no strong opinions, willing to watch it once OR don't know enough about it to judge)

Dislike (if you took me to see this version live you would have to pay and I would still sit in disgruntled silence for the entire show)

Objectively it looks bad but emotionally I need to see it (this looks absolutely wild, I must see it, take me to it, I will pay you)

Favorite

Germany (Hamburg + revival, Stuttgart, Essen, Oberhausen) - While this should technically fall under the "consistently good" category, it is so good at it, that it kind of ended up rising to the favorite category. Love the casts (save for a few here and there), love the wigs and costumes, love how dang fast the chandelier drops... apparently it's translation is not great, but everything else is, and I just really love all the German productions.

Mexico City, Mexico - It had a great cast (again, save for a couple members), strong visuals, and all that, but what I really love was just how much freedom everyone was given in the role. You see it the most with Saulo Vasconcelos, but even other members of the cast seemed to have been given a ton of leeway in how to interpret the roles, and I just adore it.

Copenhagen, Denmark + revivals - The production that is just so strong in every measure: the costumes, the cast, the singing, the energy of everyone involved.

Moscow, Russia - A long time ago, I remember reading that the production deliberately changes Christine's wig between 'Point of No Return' and the 'Final Lair' to one that is messy, long, straggly, as a symbolic way of showing the turmoil she is undergoing, and I think that little detail shows just how much attention went into this production. And it's just so pretty.

Love

Japanese sit-down tour - Big points for being the first international production, for being so long-running, for being possibly the only production closest to the original, and for forcing me to come up with the term "sit-down tour". Negative points for a pre-recorded orchestra in most stops and their casts being unmemorable because they have to stick so strongly to that. But the good strongly outweighs the bad.

Vienna, Austria - This one is everywhere for me. The orchestrations are incredible. The tiny changes to some of the lyrics is gorgeous. The translation is better than the one in Germany (or so I've heard). They have some awesome cast members - Alexander Goebel is just wonderful. But then there's Colleen Besett and her refusal to change her expression, and Alfred Pfeifer was apparently a dull Raoul and a worse Phantom, and I don't like a lot of their costumes. But you know what? Minor nitpicks! Still love it overall.

Stockholm, Sweden + revival - Kind of love the original more than the revival (Mikael Samuelson and Elisabeth Berg > Peter Joback and Emmi Christensson, though Christensson is pretty good), but both are good, strong productions.

Scheveningen, Netherlands - Not too much to say here, just another really good production that doesn't quite make it to the top of the list (though Joke de Kruijf is divine).

Antwerp, Belgium - Pretty much the same as the above. The trio of Hans Peter Janssens, Inneke van Klinken, and Michael Shawn Lewis is a power trio.

Seoul, Korea + revival + tour - Would almost fall under the "not enough info" page if not for bootlegs. Love the cast (the original slightly more than the revival), they used the World Tour sets, costumes, and wigs and I generally like those, the original translation was supposedly not good at all but they changed it a lot during the show and then after, so... yep, another good one.

Budapest, Hungary - Mixed to positive feelings. On the one hand, they stick pretty close to the original in many ways, which benefits the overall show. On the other hand, it's almost not original enough because of that. Great sets, like the variety of wig colors, costumes are hit and miss, and so is the cast for the most part (some favorites in there and some that I'm really not a fan of). Also had the oldest cast ever though, so points for that.

São Paulo, Brazil + revivals - Like the others, a really good production that does everything right. The existence of Thiago Arancam in the revival does drag them down though.

Prague, Czech Republic - Similar to the Budapest production, its similarity to the original is both helpful and hinders them. In general, another decent non-replica that plays it safe by emulating the original for the most part, until it decides to do something absolutely buck wild like their entire 'Point of No Return'.

Oslo, Norway - A non-replica that I actually like without having to say that it's because it's so close to the original! Basically took the template provided by the Bucharest production and improved on it in every way, resulting in a non-replica that keeps to the spirit of Phantom while also making a lot of interesting changes. Also, best chandelier crash ever.

Greece (Athens + Thessaloniki) - Mainly a clone of the above, so it goes here by default. Not happy that they toned down the chandelier crash though.

Sydney Harbour, Australia - Another great non-replica, may be tied with Norway as my favorite, one that is clearly modeled off the original but makes enough changes to be fresh and novel. Phantom flying down in a chariot? Awesome. Christine getting ripped out of her Aminta dress to reveal her wedding dress? Bold move. An actually tasteful 'Point of No Return'? Hell is freezing over. The entire cast performing in the rain? Kudos just for that.

Meh / Not Enough Info

Madrid, Spain - I used to like this one, but now it's just... fine? Nothing to write home about, I suppose. Visuals are fine, cast is fine. I like the amount of proshots that got leaked, at least.

Buenos Aires, Argentina - Lands somewhere between "meh" and "not enough info", because there really just isn't a lot out there of this production. The cast was very pretty, at least?

Estonia (Tallinn + Tartu) - Reviews of this production make it sound incredible: more contemporary aesthetic, a love triangle where Raoul and Christine are unequivocally the OTP, a version where Christine only kisses the Phantom on the cheek? Sign me up! But alas, there's only a couple of audios and no video footage of this production aside from promotional clips. Not enough info.

Kristianstad, Sweden - All I know of this production is "red-head Christine" and "full-face mask for the Phantom". Would love to know more about it.

Dislike

Poland (Warsaw + Białystok + revivals) - The idea of basing a production off the 2004 movie was a choice, but they couldn't even do that right; the costumes look terrible! Tempo is too slow, the cast was constantly emulating the movie cast (though at least they grew out of it), and what is that second unmasking scene? But hey, epic chandelier crash. Also, bondage Raoul.

Helsinki, Finland + Gothenburg, Sweden - Well, it has good sets. Um, the heavy metal aesthetic is... bold? And you have to admire the bravery of using a papier-mache chandelier, a deformity that rivals the 2004 movie's, and directing the Phantom to sing 'Music of the Night' to the audience with no movement whatsoever.

Bucharest, Romania - Everything about this production was improved in the Norwegian and Greek productions, but thanks for being the prototype. Also, Phantom please stop casting people who won a singing competition on TV.

Objectively it looks bad but emotionally I need to see it

Belgrade, Serbia - Look at this minimalist, peak modern set. I must see it, for I crave going blind at the sheer scarlet overload of it all. Also, flower crown Christine.

Sófia, Bulgaria - What is this production.

[hoodssery]

Recommending Video Essays #8

In lieu of any thoughts on video essays I'm gonna recommend an album, but not change the title because I think it's funny to mislead people.

Recommendation: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is an album that I can almost guarantee that you've at least heard of if you've spent enough time on the internet to be a part of the few people to see this post any time in the next six months. It's an album that gained a shocking amount of reverence in the late-aughts and 2010s, and has remained a cultural touch stone for people who's online activity descends, in some form, from boards like /mu/ and websites like RateYourMusic. It's an album that's filled with words that form barley intelligible surreal paintings for your ears. An album, filled with buzzing guitars that push the limits of whatever cheap equipment the album was recorded on. An album that very clearly push the limits of front man Jeff Magnum's vocals for a majority of the track list. An album I would guess most people (myself included) have to listen to at least 10 times before really understanding what it's even about. It's also proof that sometimes the most pretentious, annoying parts of the internet are right.

Listening to In the Aeroplane Over the Sea as many times as I have, I have come to the conclusion that you just have to listen to it at least once. So for those who haven't listened to it, I implore you to listen to the album, look at the cover art for the 40 minute run time, and just visualize. If I was reading this right now, I might be turned off by that ask, because assigning homework is a really annoying thing to do when recommending an album that's supposed to be great. But, if you're interested enough to read the rest of this, and you haven't listened to the album before, you should listen to it.

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is one of the most fucked up albums I've ever listened to in my life. It is also really hauntingly beautiful. While there are certain ideas about the album, what that idea is used for I think is probably going to be different from person to person. This is usually a down fall of media in my opinion, because what was originally intended gets largely lost in abstraction, thus making that underlying thing that the themes all wrap around, generally unknowable. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is still legible, even where the lyrics of the album suggests it's not.

From my point of view the album is mostly about faith, in the spiritual sense. What drives us as people to have a faith? The conclusion that the album very loosely comes too, is that it's an answer for feeling used. King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1, the first track on the album, explores the start of the cycle that leads to both faith and feeling used. Just as the lyrics point to in the abstract telling of sex, the two characters of the song use each other and “learn what each other's bodies were for,” just as they would “lay and learn” from the unhealthy and abusive relationship their parents left out for their children. This continues further into the next track, King of Carrot Flowers Pts. 2 & 3, where just as their father dreamed of all the ways to die, they're left waiting for the salvation of Jesus, entirely separated from the world, and using their mother as a guide. I guarantee that after listening to this album, you have a different take on just these two first songs. But if you've been paying attention to the lyrics there are absolute core ideas that translate between your read and my read on the songs. This is what truly makes this album great to me. Managing to make a very thoughtful and human story through absolutely insane abstraction, while making all the potential thoughts of the listener coherent with both the album and other peoples thoughts. And that example I gave is just the first two songs. I'm not even going to take the time to delve into where ideology and faith thematically intersect in Communist Daughter, or where the tackling of the separation between life and death in religion separates the character's own life in Two Headed Boy, or all the other essay length topics present in the album.

The only downside to the album is that you'll probably have to listen to it a lot to get the bigger picture, and fully form your own thoughts and ideas on the entire album. Fortunately, this album boasts incredibly beautiful songs that are still ringing in my head to this day.

In my opinion, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is one of the oh so few albums out there that completely lives up to the hype it's given. There isn't a single down moment or worse song on the album, and each song (excluding the instrumental track The Fool) has enough to chew on for years of listening. Genuinely a modern masterpiece.

[boysplanetrecaps]

Boys Planet Episode 7 recap part 4, Limousine

Ok! It’s time for another recap -- this time, I’ll cover Limousine! Click Keep Reading and let’s go!

Huta announces the next team by trying to describe the song, and I love how they show white people in the audience who have no clue as to what it could be. 

The boys come out waving, and Jihoo is in the leader position, which is interesting, because when we last saw this group, Anthonny was the leader. (Side note: my autocorrect keeps removing his extra N, so forgive me if any “Anthony” spellings creep into my recaps.) 

Huta asks him if they had any difficulties rehearsing, and he says, “It was quite difficult, but I chose it because I wanted to express our sincere feelings to the Star Creators.” Everyone thinks he’s cute. And now it’s time for a flashback.

But first, here is a list of our chauffeurs: 

Trainee name (rank)   Star Level test / Challenge 1 /age final star level

Anthonny  (19) Glitch Mode / Love Me Right - G / 19 ⭐⭐⭐

Krystian (37) Call Me Baby / Back Door - G / 23 ⭐⭐

Park Ji Hoo (44) Freak / Hot Sauce - K / 16 ⭐⭐⭐

The boys are at rehearsal, and the judges find out that 16 year old Jihoo is leading, not 19 year old Anthonny or 23 year old Krystian. They ask why, and it’s time for a flashback-within-a-flashback! Flashbackception! 

We see the boys on the first day, when leader Anthonny felt a little lost and Jihoo stepped up. What we haven’t seen before is that Anthonny was worried he wasn’t doing a good job and bestowed leadership on young Jihoo. 

One of the judges deliberately needles Krystian, saying, “So Jihoo is leader and Anthonny has the killing part, and you’re not upset, Krystian?” That’s rude, judge. Krystian smiles and says he’s fine.

The judge says he’s become an innocent sheep, and Krystian holds it in at that insult. We get a flashback of Krystian begging them not to take the killing part away, just in case you forgot. 

Bobby from IKON is still there giving feedback, and he tells them that the lyrics are kind of all over the place and that they should make them clearer. 

We find out that each member’s lyrics talk about different things, and they show the lyrics on screen. I did my translating them, but I’m very very far from fluent and this was largely google translate.

It’s hard to tell because they don’t translate most of the lyrics and my Korean is nowhere good enough to help with that, but I’ll just trust Bobby when he says it doesn’t make sense, and that their message is getting lost. 

So, the team decides to change their lyrics “again” -- I guess they’ve already changed them a few times. Krystian and Anthonny agree that the lyrics don’t make enough sense. Jihoo says he wants to write about what they experienced at Boys Planet. This is a common thing we’ve seen on this show -- I’m remembering Kamimoto Kotone (who by the way is now in that giant group, TripleS) on GP999 who did the same thing when she did VVS. (“Where did my air time go? No one knows that I exist.”) And every time it happens, it gets attention, so, go for it, Jihoo. Smack ‘em down.

Anthonny has a lot to say but it’s so hard for him as a non-native speaker, so Jihoo helps him tweak his lyrics to make them more accurate and more rhythmic. Jihoo seems to really have a good sense for lyrics, especially considering his age. He stays up late at night trying to make the lyrics even better.

As he explains in an interview, he and his long-time friend Han Seo Bin practiced and prepared for Boys Planet together, but then their audition “Freak” wasn’t aired, and though Seobin was chosen for Love Me Right, he didn’t survive the first elimination. (He finished in 60th -- so close). 

All we ever saw of Jihoo in episode 1 was Hui challenging him to a singing contest for Chair 1 - and there’s a lot more to this kid than that. Anyway, Jihoo wants to write about missing his friend, and just generally be stressed out being on this show, and I say go for it!

I love how MNET has the unmitigated balls to play sad piano music over Jihoo’s commentary about how his audition wasn’t aired in episodes 1-2. You’re the ones who did this, you dumb dumbs! You’re the ones who didn’t air it and now you’re playing sad piano music and I can’t, I just can’t.

As the performance starts, the judges seem excited to see Jihoo perform. (No one cares about Krystian or Anthonny, of course.) 

The performance 

I found this link with English lyrics on top of the performance! It’s good -- check it out. 

My take

Wow. This was so good. While I was writing this section of the recap, I just let it play over and over again because I liked it that much, and now I’m adding it to my playlist. 

I genuinely did not know that Anthonny and Krystian were such good singers. This show, you guys. This SHOW. ARGGGGH.

Krystian has such a nice raspy vocal color -- I’d listen to him sing a whole song, honestly. There’s no way in hell that Korean voters will ever forgive him, so he’s never going to debut on Bepler, but he’s really really good here, and I’m glad we had to chance to see him really shine like this. I knew that he has a long history of being on shows like this and making a big splash, but his Star Level Test wasn’t great, but I suspect he just can’t hit high notes, and I do not care about high notes. He was so much more relaxed here and really, I’m a fan now. I assume he’ll go back to China and I hope he can debut there, if nowhere else. 

Anthonny got noticeably ahead of the beat for the first few lines but then seemed to notice it and get back on the beat. His voice isn’t quite as good as Krystian’s but it’s really good too. He put a lot of emotion into the delivery of his rap lyrics, too. I still don’t feel like I “know” him but I now see what he’s good at. And hey, he’s at Yuehua, so we’ll probably see him again eventually, I hope!

Jihoo obviously put the most emotion into his rapping and wrote the raps for his teammates and just pulled this whole thing together. He also has a nice singing voice. 

The staging worked, their chemistry worked, the whole thing worked for me. I would have pressed A for all three of them, and if forced to vote for only one, I’d have voted for Jihoo if I’d known about him writing all the raps, but I would have voted for Krystian otherwise because I really, really loved his singing voice. 

Look, I don’t need all my idols to be the nicest, most put together people on the planet. It’s ok with me if Krystian still needs to work on his emotional intelligence. Just keep singing like that, ok, buddy? And it wouldn’t hurt if you kept kind of… looking… like you do. 

The editing 

They focus a lot on Anthonny’s small mistake at the beginning. I do like that we see a few trainees noticing how beautiful and emotional Krystian’s voice is. They focus a lot on Jihoo’s “subversive” lyrics, probably more on him than on anyone else, but really all three trainees get a bit of focus, so I’ve seen far worse edits on this godforsaken show.

Also, it seems that the other trainees are seriously touched by the performance. 

The judges say that Jihoo won’t get edited out this time. They also pick up on how Krystian rapped about his anti-fans, who apparently waited for him outside!?!? I cannot get over that kind of behavior. So you don’t like his personality, cool, don’t be his fan. But don’t threaten his well being. I’m sure no one who reads my recaps would do that, so I won’t rant any more on that topic here since I think we’re all already in agreement, and other people have already said it better than I could. 

The voting

They head backstage to sit in the folding chairs of pain. 

Krystian really does seem at peace. It might be an act, who can say, but that’s how it seems, and I am happy with that. I think he really does like his team and I think they can all genuinely connect and sympathize with one another, despite their different life experiences and nationalities. Honestly, it’s shit like this that I watch the show for, as much as anything else. I know some people “ship” the trainees with each other romantically, which, I mean, as long as you keep that shit to yourself it’s ok, but for me I just enjoy seeing friendship in action, because friendship is magic! 

Anyway, it seems pretty obvious that this crowd will vote for Park Jihoo, and they do  -- he wins with a super high 795 votes, which beats the previous high score Kim Gyuvin got in Love Killa.  His team is sincerely happy for him, and it seems that so is everyone else

Someone on a forum I visit sometimes said that she was there at the taping and that they showed a video before each performance with some backstory, which really makes sense with what we know about MNET. So while I can’t be sure that her story is true, it is interesting to wonder if the crowd voted for Jihoo at least in part out of respect for his leadership. But if they did, that’s fair. 

I both think and hope that Jihoo will make it through the next elimination, but I neither think nor hope that he’ll debut in Bepler. I am much more interested to see him regroup with Han Seobin and maybe put together a rap-based group that’s something like Stray Kids or IKON, where they write a lot of their own stuff and control a lot of their own fate. They’re still both so young now and there’s a lot of time for them to get there. 

I wish we could find out how many points everyone got, but I guess not. I hope that Krystian and Anthonny got a lot of votes too, but I bet Krystian got something absurdly low like 200 votes, all from the Chinese visitors. Aww, Krystian. I’m on your team. 

And look how much my niece Kayylee likes the t-shirt I got her!

Well, that’s the end of this recap!   Up next is the Feel Special recap, which seems like it’s going to be Rush Hour Part 2.