down the upstairs

banger fanart by @vjedzma of the cuties as bacteria we love to see it thank you sm 😊✨

Next comes the given name. This is the fun part in my opinion, since in Chinese, names can consist of any mixture of characters, unlike in English where names are easily recognizable as names. To clarify, in English, we all know that Kevin is the name of a male. However, in Chinese, someone can be named Ying (婴), which as a word itself means infant. But in the context of Wei Ying, it is a name. As reference, when naming a newborn, a parent can literally name the child any word they like.

There is also confusion between people with similar sounding names. To clarify, there are four major ‘tones’ in Mandarin. Using Ying as reference again, the tones can be 婴 (yīng), 莹 (yíng), 硬 (yìng), or 影 (yǐng). Note that the tone is always on the vowel and each character can only have one tone. There are a lot more characters with the pronunciation of ying, so I’ll just use these as examples. So as to the confusion with the number of characters named Qing, here’s a short explanation: Wen Qíng (情) uses the character which means affection or emotion. A-Qìng (箐) uses a character which is related to the drawing of a bamboo bow (I’m not too familiar with this particular character, though I’m pretty confident in my dictionary). As you can see, the tones on both the characters are different, so in Mandarin, their names are pronounced differently and have completely different meanings.

Also, just as a little fun fact, the name Ying is actually a very popular name in China, but it is often given to female babies. Examples being 婴 (infant), 樱 (cherry blossom), 英 (brave), and 瑛 (lustrous), all of which have the same flat tone of yīng. So in my opinion, Wei Ying has a feminine name and I bet Jiang Cheng never let him live it down.

The second character of the given name can in essence be whatever the parent chooses. However, many parents name their children so that the final character either rhymes or has similar sounds. For example, my friend’s name ends with 雅 (yǎ) and her sister’s name ends with 燕 (yàn). This of course is also just a choice and is not set in stone. Siblings can also have completely different names that are not related to each other at all.

In Chinese, given names can also be a single character. There are many examples in MDZS, as MXTX chose to make all given names a single character and courtesy names two characters.

Moving on to courtesy names (字), these were usually given to people when they became of age or reached adulthood. So this usually occurred when a man turned 20. Courtesy names were also given to women, though I am not sure of the actual age, perhaps when they were married (don’t quote me on this). So MXTX giving all her characters courtesy names isn’t actually correct, since none of the main characters were of age, as they were all teenagers for the first part of the series. The courtesy name is given by one’s parents or a respected elder, most commonly a teacher, and it usually reflects one’s values. This is mainly an ancient tradition and hasn’t been in use for around a century, so people in China nowadays only have one name, rather than two.

The usage of the courtesy name (字 zì) is expected once one becomes of age, since using the given name (名 míng) after receiving a courtesy name is considered disrespectful. Adults of the same generation and those who are younger than you must address you by your courtesy name. Whereas elders and those who are extremely close can use the given name. For example, Wei Ying’s courtesy name is Wuxian (无羡) and his given name is Ying (婴). Lan Qiren, who is an elder, may call him by either name, but Nie Huaisang, who is of the same generation, must address him as Wei Wuxian, or employ an honorific, like Wei-Xiong (魏兄) or Wuxian-Xiong (无羡兄) to be respectful. Another example would be Jiang Cheng (江澄). Wei Wuxian, who is very close with him can address him as Jiang Cheng, but Lan Wangji, who is not close with him, must address him by his courtesy name of Jiang Wanyin (江晚吟) or use an honorific such as Jiang-Gongzi (江公子).

Another honorific that is commonly used for young men is 少爷 (shào yé), which means ‘young master’. This is oftentimes used analogously to Gongzi and is often used in dramas for the sons of a wealthy household. Like Gongzi, this also uses the numerical system by age, but the eldest is referred to as 大少爷 (dà shàoyé). The second is called 二少爷, etc.

Females can be called 姑娘 (gūniáng) which is the female version of Gongzi and literally means ‘daughter’. It is also used as a suffix with a surname. For example, Jiang Yanli is mainly called Jiang-Guniang (江姑娘).

Another female honorific is 小姐 (xiǎojiě) which means ‘miss’. It is often used as the female version of 少爷. It is also used as a suffix with a surname preceding it. All of the four previously mentioned honorifics are used in polite speech and are all suffixes which come after a surname.

Two honorifics which are prefixes are 阿 (ā) and 小 (xiǎo). These are not really honorifics in my opinion, but they are oftentimes used in conjunction with a name, so I’ll briefly go over them. These two are used endearingly and are almost always used for children, especially 小. For example, Jiang Yanli called Wei Wuxian 小羡羡 (Xiao Xianxian), which is like a cute nickname. An example of 阿 would be A-Qing (阿箐) and it’s used since she is young and probably doesn’t know her own surname. 阿 can be used for adults as well, but only for close friends. For example, Lan Xichen calls Jin Guangyao A-Yao (阿瑶). This nickname of sorts can only be used by someone who is close to Jin Guangyao. Otherwise, it would be considered impolite.

As a little fun fact, 花花公子 (huāhuā gōngzǐ) literally means ‘flower boy’, but actually means playboy.

Listen my dear berry….

SAME!!!

Madara could bend me over a log and fuck me raw till I’m good a pregnant with his child.

Like he doesn’t even have to ask you to spread your legs, one look at him and your clothes just fly off and your back hits the ground immediately!!!

Getting you pregnant is so easy for him as well since his milky white seed is super potent!!! Oh and there’s a lot of it!!! Expect to be filled, like his cum will be gushing out of you like it does in all those hentais!!! Your pussy is going to be dripping like melted ice cream!!!

Delicious.

Bruises are a thing as well so consider yourself marked. Even if he isn’t trying to hurt you intentionally, it’s going to happen!!!

So tumblr user @asotin got an anon ask speculating on the genetics of the Sharingan and I decided to actually look at this, as someone with biology training. That said, this is a ninja anime, and there’s only so much I can do. Big thank you to asotin for giving me reference information on Sharingan. Another thank you to @dunloth for talking through some of the biology possibilities with me when I hit a wall.

I say pseudo because as we know Kishimoto cannot keep anything in order and there’s so much information that we don’t have that would be useful for more analysis. in this brief analysis I am using man to refer to XY chromosomes and woman to refer to XX chromosomes. This is for purposes of genetic inheritance and illustration - I am in no way suggesting these chromosomes are a requirement to be a man or a woman. they are not. We’ll set this up and say that the regular Sharingan is a dominant trait with first onset around puberty, although there are cases of earlier or later awakening. This is why basically every Uchiha we interact with in the series has a Sharingan. Dominant trait, meaning a Uchiha only needs one allele out of two possible alleles for the Sharingan gene. Here are a few possibilities for the mangekyou Sharingan: Take one: The mangekyou Sharingan is linked to the Sharingan gene and alleles and is a recessive trait in addition. The mangekyou can be activated by a traumatic event, resulting in chemical changes turning on the expression of the associated gene.

b) What the actual fuck did I just watch.

c) I’m always here for little old ladies curbstomping malevolent supernatural entities.

Ok. So I promised a big meta about the dubbing thing and so while I don’t have all the answers YET, here’s a bit of perspective on the differences between Despair and The Truth.

First, a little background. I am a former professional dubbing translator. While I worked on anime series from Japanese to Spanish, rather than in live action ones from English to Spanish, the process is not that different. Also, I worked in Mexico, where Supernatural is dubbed, so that’s why I can make the assumptions I make. Finally, my specialization in college was translation from English to Spanish, so I guess I know what the hell I’m talking about.

So let’s start on HOW you translate something for a dub. Back in the day, you got a ton of VHS tapes with the episodes on them with time codes, and, if you were lucky, a shooting script. This is to say, it was not a transcript of the actual words said in the episode, but the script BEFORE the actors, directors, and everyone else had a hand on what was said and changed. And thus, anything adlibbed? Is not going to be in that script which, at least for the anime side of things? Was a nightmare as the script was usually “And here X actor can say whatever they want” and I had to go and listen to the scene ten thousand times. Now a days, you get either a video file or a streaming link, and sometimes, the shooting script. If you get a script, btw, you can also not get a script in the original language. I know that the person who had to translate Sprited Away to Spanish was working off a German script, not the Japanese one. So yeah, some things can be lost in translation there.

THEN you get to translate. BUT you can’t just translate word by word. You have to adapt it so that it will sound like something a person will say, and sometimes, literally is not the way to do it. And in particular, Mexican dubbing has a reputation to uphold as the “Neutral” dub that is send to most Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, so we can’t use certain words (I don’t have the list at hand, but I remember that I couldn’t use “Llanta” for Tire, and so I had to use “Neumatico”. And no “sweaters” or “hotcakes” or stuff like that), AND we have to match the lips of the original video. Which is like, the worst nightmare ever because of what we call “labiales”, that is to say, the letters where lips close.

I can’t tell you how much we all loved when a character gave a long winded speech with their back to the camera due to those damned closed lip letters.

All this is to say that sometimes, the line could be “We are all in this together for good or bad”, and the translation become something more like “Estamos en esto, por las buenas o las malas” (We’re on this, the good way or the bad way) or “Estamos juntos en las buenas y en las malas” (We’re together in the good and the bad), depending on the translator, dub director, and voice actor.

Depending on the client, that is, the original owner of the series, sometimes they will review the translation once it’s all dubbed and edited. I know that in the Avengers movie, a Disney rep was present on the cabin and forbade any changes from the script, which resulted on a couple of awkward lines in the end result. I don’t know if that’s the case for Supernatural, but I honestly doubt it. Still, translators can’t make huge changes for the dialogue. One couldn’t just ADD a relationship that wasn’t there, no matter what.

(As an aside, due to the very conservative mindset of some tv stations, it’s more common that gay relationships become more ambiguous, by changing “I love you” to “Te quiero” which can be more of a filial love than a romantic one. And well, that one case in Sailor Moon where a gay character was changed into a woman because the dub director honestly thought the character was a woman. But that was in the nineties)

Now, let’s go to how Castiel’s speech was translated.

The original, according to Superwiki, went like this:

Castiel:  You’re the most caring man on Earth. You are the most selfless, loving human being I will ever know. You know, ever since we met, ever since I pulled you out of Hell, knowing you has changed me. Because you cared, I cared. I cared about you. I cared about Sam. I cared about Jack. I cared about the whole world because of you. You changed me, Dean.

Dean: Why does this sound like a goodbye? Castiel: Because it is. I love you. Dean: Don’t do this, Cas. Cas.

And the translation, as it was aired, went like this (And people, you have no idea the war flashbacks transcribing this gave me, so I hope you appreciate it):

Castiel: Eres el hombre mas amoroso sobre la Tierra. Un hombre sin egoismo; el hombre mas generoso que haya visto, y que jamas vere. Sabes que desde que nos conocimos y desde que te saque del infierno, el conocerte me ha cambiado. Porque a ti te importa. Y a mi me importa. Me importas tu. Y me importa Sam, me importa Jack, me importa todo el mundo. Y fue por ti. Tu me cambiaste, Dean.

Dean: Porque suena esto a despedida?

Castiel: Porque asi fue. Te amo.

Dean: Yo a ti, Cas. (The empty appears and Billie opens the door) Cas…

Castiel: Adios Dean

Dean: No!

Ok. So… At first glance, they’re pretty much the same until we get to the I love you. BUT let’s dissect it a little bit.

Cas begins with a “Eres el hombre mas amoroso sobre la Tierra” which is not how I would’ve translated “The most caring man on Earth” since “caring” is more like “Cariñoso” rather than “amoroso” which would be “loving”, and yes, there’s a difference. Plus, “el hombre mas amoroso” sounds a bit clunky, so Personally, I’d have gone with “Eres el hombre mas cariñoso en la Tierra”, that would’ve given us more time for the rest of the speech, but I wonder if the translator choice for Amoroso instead was more due to the fact that “amor” (love) is more clearly romantic than “care” (cariño, in a sense, more on this later) and so it foreshadows the end.

Again, with the literal clunkyness we have “Un hombre sin egoismo” (A man without egoism) which sounds weird no matter what language you speak, and it should’ve been “Un hombre dadivoso” (A giving man) or “un hombre desinteresado” (a selfless man) although the second could be mis-construed as “a man without interests” so “dadivoso” would’ve better. But the more puzzling is that the Spanish separates the selfless man from the next, which is REALLY confusing as the English is “the most loving man”, which would be “el hombre mas amoroso” making it quite redundant, so the Spanish changes it to “the most generous man”, “el hombre mas generoso”. To add to this, Cas continues with “that I have seen and I will ever see” instead of “That I know”, because it’s far more poetic. And loving.

So yeah, Mexican Cas is basically saying that Dean Winchester is made of love and puppies.

Ahem.

The next part “You know, ever since I pulled you out of hell, you’ve changed me” is more or less word for word, and the only thing that changes is that the English sounds more like a question and the Spanish one is an affirmation. YOU KNOW that ever since I pulled you out of hell, you changed me.” Little verb tense play, that doesn’t change much except Cas’s resolution to say what he has to say.

And then we get to the part that made me squeal out loud. Because we go from

“Because you cared, I cared. I cared about you. I cared about Sam. I cared about Jack. I cared about the whole world because of you”

To

“Porque a ti te importa. Y a mi me importa. Me importas tu. Y me importa Sam, me importa Jack, me importa todo el mundo.” Which at first glance is the same, but NOPE.

First change: The original is in past tense “I cared”. Spanish version is in present tense: “I care”.

Which is a little non important thing except when you remember that simple present means “immutable absolute truth that won’t change with time”

Second, the choice of word for care.

I mentioned before that Care can be Cariño, as in filial, non romantic love (Or romantic love pet name, as it can also be Darling. It’s one of THOSE words). Other translations for care include “cuidado” (as in attention, concern, keeping, and worry), and of course “interesarse” (Which also can be care), “preocuparse” (care, bother, trouble, mind, fuss), and yes, “importar” but “importar” ONLY translates to English as a verb as “import”, “matter” “amount to” and notice how none of those words include “love”.

Mexican Cas is not saying “you love the world, and so I do”. Mexican Cas is saying “The world matters to you, and thus it matters to me, but my feelings for the World (and Sam, and Jack) are not in the same league as my feelings for you.”

And then Dean asks “Why does this sound like a Goodbye”, just like in English, in present tense…

And Mexican Cas replies in PAST tense. “Porque asi fue”. And THIS is important because it means that everything he said before WAS the goodbye, and not what comes next. All the rest? Is in the past. “Because it was”. Not “Because it IS”. And the next part? Is their future.

I love you.

Te amo.

Simple present. No ambiguity like “te quiero”. Spanish Te amo is for romantic love. Not brotherly, not family, not bro-mantic. ROMANTIC.

It’s like “I’m IN love with you” (Although that’d be “Estoy enamorado de ti” and I doubt that would’ve fit in the time Misha spoke)

And of course, the answer. “Yo a ti, Cas”. Not “And I, you” as I’ve seen it before (And I also thought it was, until transcribing the scene) but a simple “I, you, Cas.” Which ok, pretty cave-speak, but the meaning is pretty clear. Dean Winchester loves his gay angel.

It is also telling that the empty doesn’t appear until AFTER Dean confessed, so no, Mexican Cas is not “happy with the saying”, he had to get to the “happy with the having”.

And when Billy appears, it does seem as if he wants to say something more, but Cas is a love-sick selfsacrificing dumbass and so we all get our hearts broken.

Spooky stuff? Check

Unnerving stuff? Check

How-did-they-get-away-with-this stuff? Check

(Cw for blood, torture, suicide, disturbing imagery)

We all believe that this scene here is very important, it captivate us and show us viewers how much Uchiha Blood is in Sarada and she has inherit many traits that her father has in the past.

OHHHH MANNNN…..I was so excited to whipped out my phone to snapchat this with a caption that goes….

“UCHIHAS…..”