You've Become Smooth-tongued After Dating Sol.

“I’m beginning a diary of my own. Someone like me, someone who doesn’t open [their] heart to others, needs to talk to [myself] at least.”

—

Tanizaki Jun'ichirō, The Key

alien stage "cure" lyric translations

i've been losing my mind over how poetic the korean lyrics are, so i tried translating them a little more closely to the original! there are so many implications and so much nuance that it's simply impossible to fully convey them in english, due to vocab and syntax differences, so there will be a ton of translation notes below. please cry over this tragic pair with me :")

[ disclaimer: i am in no way trying to imply that the official translations are subpar, because they're actually really good — it's difficult to convey the full extent of meaning while remaining concise enough for closed captions! i just want to share my own take on the original lyrics ^^ ]

r o u n d 6 — c u r e

Please permit me, till the tips of your hands Please permit me, till the tips of your feet I wish for you to melt me within your eyes I don't want to lose you I plead of you, inflict wounds upon me I plead of you, make it so that I am hurting Until not a single drop of me remains I dissolve in you Till these stars, which will crumble Buried within eternity, which will fade into a blur At the edge of your frigid lips Read me, please That's right, me Even the sharp words you gave me Even if they leave scratches beneath my eyes I wish they remain upon your tongue Even if everything is shattered, it's okay Now, please, look at my wounds Now, please, cure me Just so that my unease may be dampened So that I dissolve into you Above these nights, which will be drawn Screaming into the silence, which will collapse Within your pupils that gaze at me Drink me, please That's right, me This song without an end Towards each other, we dance Our story, buried within eternity Till these stars, which will crumble Buried within eternity, which will fade into a blur At the edge of your frigid lips Read me, please That's right, me Above these nights, which will be drawn Screaming into the silence, which will collapse Within your pupils that gaze at me Drink me, please That's right, me

[ translation notes below the cut. ]

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translation notes

"please permit me"

허락해줘, please grant me permission; implying the person Till is singing to (henceforth Mizi, for brevity) has authority over him.

"I wish for you to..." vs "I wish..."

a slight difference in conjugation; Till wishes that Mizi will do that action for him, whereas Ivan simply wishes for things to be a certain way.

"I don't want to lose you"

놓치다, to lose something or someone by missing them or failing to catch them; implies less agency and control than "to let go."

"I plead of you, inflict wounds upon me" / "I plead of you, make it so that I am hurting"

부디, implying an earnest entreaty, a fervent plea. here, the conjugation has Till asking Mizi to give him wounds, and give him pain.

"I dissolve in you" vs "so that I dissolve into you"

there is no exact translation for 물들다 (conjugated into 물들어 and 물들게 in the lyrics), but picture this: watercolour paints soaking into a white canvas, permeating across it, imbuing it. difference in adpositions: Till says 너로, indicating "by" or "with," whereas Ivan says 네게 (너에게), indicating "to" or "towards". so for Till, Mizi is the colour and he is the canvas, whereas for Ivan, he is the colours that are spreading towards Till. difference in conjugations: Till says 물들어, in present tense and active voice, while Ivan says 물들게 [하다], to make a certain state happen (note that this is different from the ~ㄹ 게 conjugation that indicates future intention). Ivan is saying please notice my pain and heal it, so that I permeate into you, which would then quieten my unease.

"which will crumble" / "which will fade into a blur"

the ~ㄹ conjugation here is a future indicative tense; the action it describes will happen, the state it describes will come to be. 무너질, "will crumble;" to fall by crumbling, crumpling, caving in, breaking down. 흐려질, "will grow blurry;" i chose to translate this as the more poetic "fade into a blur."

"buried within eternity"

묻힌, from 묻히다, to be buried; this word can also mean "to be stained," giving the phrase an alternative meaning of "stained upon eternity."

"read me, please" / "that's right, me"

the official translation says "read my soul," which might indicate the meaning that the creators intended, but the original korean lyrics only says "me." "그래," which i translated as "that's right," can be used in many contexts with varying nuance; it is an acknowledgement and a simple, light agreement. in some contexts, it can be perfunctory, in others, it can be an acceptance.

"even if the sharp words you gave me" / "even if they leave scratches beneath my eyes"

here, Ivan is downplaying the extent of hurt that Till has inflicted upon him. Till may use sharp-edged language, but Ivan describes these words as being given to him, almost as if they are a gift, implying he treasures every word Till throws his way. the word used for "scratches" is often used to describe scrapes left by fingernails; shallow, surface-level wounds.

"even if everything is shattered, it's okay"

부숴, from 부수다, to break, smash, shatter. the official translation says "you can break me apart," which might reflect the meaning that the creators intended, but since the subject and object can be omitted in korean and still be grammatically correct, this sentence doesn't indicate the subject that is doing the breaking or the object that is being broken apart.

"now, please, look at my wounds" / "now, please, cure me"

the word for "wounds," 상처, can also be used to refer to scars, but i chose the former to indicate the open wounds that Ivan wishes Till will cure.

"just so that my unease may be dampened"

그저, "just," implying that Ivan doesn't want for much, he is only asking for this small and simple wish. 불안, unease. it's not quite as intense as "fears," though it can be an indicator of it; it's closer to worries or anxieties. 가라앉도록, from 가라앉다, to sink, to subside, to become subdued.

"above these nights, which will be drawn"

그려질, from 그려지다, to be drawn, like a sketch or painting.

"screaming into the silence, which will collapse"

the more accurate conjugation would be "screamed," but i went with "screaming" for a smoother flow. 쓰러질, "will collapse;" to fall by collapsing, fainting, passing out.

"within your pupils that gaze at me"

translating it as "eyes" would probably read smoother, but the korean lyrics use the specific word 눈동자, meaning the pupil of the eye.

"drink me, please"

the official translation says "consume me," but 마시다 (original lyric 마셔줘) means "drink." it's simple and fluid, not as forceful as "consume" or "swallow." once again, Ivan never uses harsh or violent language to describe Till's actions.

"this song without an end"

i intentionally chose this syntax to emphasise the lack of an end, and to more closely mirror that of the original. it can also be translated as "this endless song."

"towards each other, we dance"

향해, towards, indicating direction. the official translation, "face to face," can be inferred from the word, but i like the idea of them dancing towards each other, going towards each other, as if drawn together in each other's orbit. (also, the irony that in reality, it is only Ivan doing so, only Ivan going towards Till; Ivan sings this line, like he wishes it were the case, like he wishes it were mutual, even as he knows it is not.)

"our story, buried within eternity"

in the previous instance of the phrase "buried within eternity," the object is not specified. here, the clause is completed with 채, meaning "the state of." specifically, this line would be "our story, in the state of being buried within eternity."

[ and that's it — thank you for reading! please note that this is mostly a line-by-line translation, as the original lyrics are composed of distinct clauses that connect in meaning, but not in grammar. the official translation wove the clauses together in proper sentences, whereas my translation mirrors the scattered discontinuity of the korean lyrics. ]

Han Sooyoung potentially the most doomed by the narrative character of all time. She wrote the entire narrative that doomed her. She was a lonely and neglected but otherwise normal child and then at some point in her young teen years she gets possesed by a god that uses her body every night to write the story that will destroy the world. Her mind and body are no longer fully her own, they've been hijacked by someone who is leaving her exhausted and with confusing dreams, someone who is sealing her fate and pushing her along towards her destiny without HSY having a single clue. She will follow the pre determined path this God laid out for her, will go through all the suffering and pain that this God has planned, until it is too late for her to turn back. When she finally realises the truth she will be in too deep, and her only choice will be to continue along this chosen path. She loves too fiercely to choose any other way. She will doom the world over and over again, selfishly sacrificing millions and selflessly sacrificing every part of herself because her monstrous heart is too full of love. This one boy she cares for must stay alive. There is no price she will not pay in order to make that happen.

After all this you'd think she'd be furious at this God but how can she? The god is her, just a version of her further along the narrative who cannot change her nature anymore than young Han Sooyoung or old Han Sooyoung can. The god will write and write to keep this boy alive without ever getting to see him or talk to him, and in the end she will flicker out to be nothing but a part of HSY's memories. Every version of Han Sooyoung is tied to this narrative, there is no one point where you can stop and blame a version of her. They are all guilty and they will all do it over and over again. They are too full of fierce, selfish love for any other alternative.

ideas for interesting platonic dynamics:

older siblings trying to maintain a cool persona to impress younger siblings who idolize them 

character avoiding their landlord cause they’re late to pay rent 

neighbors who have grown weirdly accustomed to each other and don’t feel right if the other person isn’t home 

following the same idea… one of them finally moves out and the other neighbor deliberately scares away potential new inhabitants cause they can’t stand the idea of anyone else living next door 

alternatively, shenanigans between neighbors who cannot stand each other and are each trying very hard to get the other to move out 

adult characters bonding with their friends’ children 

characters who are just sick of each other for no particular reason, they’re just weirded out by how often they coincidentally end up in the same places 

character stalking another character, but solely to use their extensive knowledge about them to avoid them 

long-lost friends/relatives reunited after many years who now have to get to know each other all over again 

doctor/therapist/other health care specialist frustrated with a chaotic patient who keeps getting themselves into awful situations 

tension between characters of different religions, but not hateful!! there’s just a lot of confusion about each other’s beliefs as they get to know each other 

parents trying very hard not to play favorites with their children 

children trying very hard not to play favorites with their parents 

teachers trying very hard not to play favorites with their students 

business partners become business rivals 

business rivals become business partners 

friend groups where pets are also considered part of the group (thinking of scooby doo) 

bitter enemies teaming up against a bigger enemy 

mentor/apprentice, but the mentor doesn’t know what they’re doing at all, they’re just winging it 

mentor/apprentice where it turns out that the apprentice is actually more skilled/knowledgable than the mentor 

ex-villains slowly learning to trust their old enemies 

ex-villains trying so very hard to persuade their old enemies that they are not villainous anymore 

friends who’ve grown unhealthily attached to each other keep putting off an inevitable goodbye 

overachieving classmates who barely know each other and have no intention of furthering their relationship, but they enjoy working together because they make a great team 

adoration between villains and their henchpeople 

feel free to add on as many as you please

If any of you ever feel like what you're doing for Palestine isn't helping anything, I'll tell you right now it's helping me. I know it is fortifying all of us who have been in this fight for years to see so many people willing to speak up. It has never been like this before.

The tide has already turned. The fact that #free palestine will have new posts everyday, that helps me. It helps my mental health knowing that Palestinians are less alone now than ever.

Yesterday I read some verses from the Quran talking about how "the blame" is not with those who wish to help but cannot, but with those who CAN help and do not.

Truly I do not care if all you do for Palestine is post in that #free palestine everyday, that is still more than many people with the means to do even more would do.

We see you. We see you standing in solidarity with us and with Palestinians. We love you. Thank you.

Lorelai Gilmore x text posts

biblically accurate arlecchino !!! 🥀

He will warm up to you eventually.

Gilmore Girls | 4.21 “Last Week Fights, This Week Tights”

Emily: could you imagine if dinosaurs were still alive today? 

Reid: if dinosaurs were still alive today we would most definitely end up dead. 

Emily: i’d have a brontosaurus as a little pet.

Reid: the human race would be eaten alive.

Emily: its name would be Bronco. 

Reid: i don’t think we’d survive at the same time as any omnivore species. 

Emily: come here, bronc-ee bronc-ee. mamas got a snacky wacky for you. and he’s got three phds which means there’s plenty of brain to-

Reid: ok, that’s enough.