Fearless

I have previously transcribed dialogue from “Lost In Translation” and “Romeo Must Die” and translated it for my language courses. I just recently watched “Jet Li’s Fearless” on Amazon Prime, and there is a scene with which I take particular issue, which I would like to transcribe here.

To give some background, this scene takes place after the protagonist (霍元甲, Huò YuánJiǎ) has had his revelation that things that are different are not necessarily better or worse than each other, and has therefore founded his “Jingwu Sports Federation” to teach all styles of wushu: “All styles of wushu are respected equally.” He is meeting with a Japanese martial artist for tea. The following Chinese transcript is taken from the internet, and I have modified according to the version I saw (there are two extra sentences and one phrase I changed, from “不过” to “有” as is said in the version available to me).

田中：霍先生这么说难道当真不懂茶？
霍元甲：不是我不懂，使我不原意懂，我不想将茶分出高低，是茶就好。
田中：可是这茶却有高低和不同品性之分。
霍元甲：什么是高？什么是低？他们本身都是生长于自然当中，并没有高低之分。
田中：看来阁下真不懂，否则的话自然会品出高低的。
霍元甲：先生说的也对。所以在我看来，茶品的上下高低，并不是由茶来对我们说，倒是由人来决定的，不同的人有不同的选择，我不愿做这个选择。
田中：哦，为什么？
霍元甲：喝茶是一种心情，如果你心情中了，茶的高低还有那么重要吗？
田中：哦，安野不曾想过。以先生看来世上的武术派别如此繁多，难道说也没有什么高低上下之分？
霍元甲：我想是这样。
田中：那么先生，安野想请教，既然武术没有高低之分，为何还要比武竞技呢？
霍元甲：我以为，世上的武术确实没有高低之分，只有习武的人才有强弱之别，通过竞技我们可以发现和认识一个真正的自己，因为我们真正的对手，可能就是我们自己！

田中：先生的这番话，使得安野非常的敬佩！ 品茶！
霍元甲：品茶。

The English subtitles are as follows:

Tanaka: Do you know anything about teas, Mr. Huo?
Huo YuanJia: I don’t really want to know because I don’t like categories. Tea is tea.
Tanaka: Each has its own characteristics, hence different grades.
Huo YuanJia: What’s the purpose of grading? All teas are grown in nature with little discernable differences.
Tanaka: Once you learn, you can tell the difference.
Huo YuanJia: Maybe you’re right. The way I see it, the tea is not in a position to judge itself. We should let people be the judge of the tea. As for me, I don’t want to do that.
Tanaka: Why not?
Huo YuanJia: When you are in a good mood, the grade of the tea does not matter.
Tanaka: I’ve never seen it that way. Even with the various Wushu styles, you still claim that no one style is superior to the others?
Huo YuanJia: That’s what I believe.
Tanaka: Then I have another question. If no particular style is superior, why have so many competitions?
Huo YuanJia: I believe it is impossible to claim the superiority of one style over another. It’s just that the people who practice them have different skill levels. Competitions can help us uncover our weaknesses and discover that we are our own enemy.

Tanaka: Mr. Huo, your words are poignant. Please enjoy.
Huo YuanJia: Thank you.

And finally, my translation of the Chinese follows below (though not word for word, as I do for some translations to better assist Chinese learners).

Tanaka: Mr. Huo, how is it said that you really don’t understand teas?
Huo YuanJia: It’s not that I don’t understand, it’s that I don’t wish to know. I don’t want to categorize teas as good or bad. As long as it’s tea, that’s fine.
Tanaka: But this tea does have differing characteristics which are good or bad to distinguish it.
Huo YuanJia: What is good? What is bad? In and of themselves, they grow in their natural environments, without any distinction of good or bad.
Tanaka: It seems that your excellency really doesn’t understand, otherwise you’d naturally be able to tell whether they’re good or bad.
Huo YuanJia: The mister’s [referring to Tanaka] words are indeed correct. So, the way I see it, the quality of teas is not told to us by the tea, rather it is for people to decide, and different people will make different choices. I do not wish to make this choice.
Tanaka: Oh? Why not?
Huo YuanJia: Drinking tea is a kind of frame of mind. If your frame of mind is on the mark, then is it that important whether the tea is good or bad?
Tanaka: Oh, Anno [referring to himself in 3rd person, as is polite] hadn’t thought about that before. According to mister’s [referring to Huo YuanJia] point of view, of the many varied kinds of wushu schools of thought in the world, would you say there is not any categorization of good or bad among them?
Huo YuanJia: I think it is so.
Tanaka: Then, mister, Anno [referring to himself in 3rd person again] would like to ask for your teaching. As wushu [schools of thought] have no distinction as good or bad, why must we compete in martial arts tournaments?
Huo YuanJia: I believe, the wushu in this world truly does not have any distinction as being good or bad. It is only wushu practitioners who have strengths and weaknesses to distinguish them from each other, and through tournaments we can discover and recognize our real selves, because our real opponent is most likely just ourselves!
[Tanaka reflects silently.]
Tanaka: The mister’s [referring to Huo YuanJia] words make Anno [referring to himself in 3rd person] admire you greatly! [Here is a phrase similar to "please enjoy your tea!"]
Huo YuanJia: [Says the preceding ritualistic phrase back to him]

I think my biggest issue here is that the subtitles make Huo YuanJia sound ignorant, as though he really thinks there are “little discernable differences.” But in the Chinese, he is making a pointed statement about his entire philosophy with regards to life, wushu, and, in this case, tea. It also makes him sound like a simpleton to say “When you are in a good mood, the grade of the tea does not matter.” I think he is referring more to being in the right frame of mind to enjoy the tea for what it is, here.

Then, when Tanaka says “I’ve never seen it that way” in the subtitles, I think the following question, with the words “even” and “still,” make it sound as though his statement of “I’ve never seen it that way” is intended to mean that he absolutely does not agree, as if he said “I do not see it that way.” But my interpretation of the Chinese and his tone of voice there gives more of the impression that the viewpoint he was just presented with is not something that has occurred to him in the past, and that he will ponder it now or in the future.

Overall, when watching the scene and focusing on the English subtitles, I was very confused as to why Huo YuanJia was being so simple/ignorant, and whether Tanaka was truly disagreeing throughout the scene or actually coming to see things Huo YuanJia’s way. With another watching focusing on listening to the Chinese, the scene became much more profound and in line with the overall tone, the overall message, and the flow of the plot of the movie.

There are times when the words that are said are imbued with so much underlying meaning that it is difficult to produce subtitles which can be read in the amount of time it takes the characters to speak the words, especially when speaking in certain styles of Chinese that are very formal and succinct. I don’t know if that’s what happened here, or if this was just an awkward translation that made it through to the final version, but I hope this post shed some light on this scene and helps with the overall understanding/interpretation of the movie.

As a side note: I was trying to figure out what the Japanese character’s name was in Japanese (as the Chinese characters pronounce the Chinese characters in Mandarin rather than Japanese) for the translation, and searched it in Jim Breen’s Japanese Dictionary, specifically the Japanese Names dictionary. Interestingly, the results in order were “Yasuno” for place, surname or female given name, “Anno” for female given name or surname, “Ano” for unspecified person name, and “Aya” for female given name. Among these, then, “Ano” seems like the winner. However, the name in the English credits (which scroll alongside the Chinese credits) is printed as “Anno Tanaka.” Okay, so at this point I’m thinking: there are actually two Japanese men playing the two Japanese characters (as opposed to cross-casting where Chinese women play Japanese women, Korean men play Japanese men, Korean men play Chinese men, and so on (and these are just the examples I came up with in a few seconds off the top of my head), as if all Asians are interchangeable, which we are not, thank you very much), so maybe this could be accurate and the dictionary has simply not added the possibility of “Anno” being a male given name. Then, later in the credits the other Japanese character’s name is simply given as “Mita,” even though in the Chinese credits, his name is “Mita Ryuuichi” (romanized from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters which appear). Now, I realize that the credits really are just done by some random other person involved in the movie. Listening to the Japanese in the movie, I’m unable to distinguish any other form of address Mita uses to address Tanaka other than “Tanaka-kun.” And a brief google search failed to find me any transcripts of the Japanese (so please let me know if you find anything helpful!), though it did give me other English transcripts of this same scene, not necessarily done because the English subtitles presented such a stark contrast to the tone/message I got from the spoken Chinese, but because it is a poignant and important scene. This, of course, makes me all the more sad that the English subtitles failed to grasp the subtleties and the weight of this dialogue.

Science Fiction These Days

So I’m procrastinating taking a break from studying, and I wanted to write something but I’m still not sure how I feel about posting things to facebook. These days I am sort of obligated to be more active on it, but I’m still not sure how far I want to take that. Anyway, so I think I’m going to open myself up to writing more random stuff here, though I do dislike being disorganized, but you can’t organize something that doesn’t exist yet, so.

I obviously don’t have time to do a full translation or any such thing at the moment, but a thought that occurred to me recently was that science fiction these days seems to end on more of a middle note than a good or bad note. Before college, I only managed to read one series (and it was a really long one) that ended on a middle note where “it’s not the end of the world” but it’s also not the best outcome or even an outcome we as readers were hoping for, for these characters we liked so much. As we neared the end all I could think was “no no no don’t let that happen” but then it did, but then the characters sort of figured out a way to cope with it so the bad effects were mostly neutralized.

Now, the “Hunger Games” trilogy (Suzanne Collins) ends on a middle note, with “they’re alive” but also “they’re not really anywhere around the vicinity of happily-ever-after.” The ending for the “Newsflesh” triology (Mira Grant) is on a more positive note than not (whereas “Hunger Games” is probably more negative than not), but also not really completely better because … oh, I don’t think I can avoid spoilers — or at least I don’t feel like putting in the effort to do so — she’s not the original so she doesn’t have retinal KA, which also means she doesn’t have the immunity that she ought to and he really can’t give it back to her the way he originally got immunity from her, and their relationship is kind of unsettling in our current cultural/societal expectations.

The “Infected” series (Scott Sigler) had a somewhat more straightforward ending, I think (it’s been a while since I read it), with a sort of middle ending because the main couple doesn’t get their happy ending, but we saw the deaths of some major characters coming a long way away (this is mostly what I mean by straightforward, as opposed to the previous two examples where the ending was only subtly hinted at but it seemed improbable that the author would actually take us to that conclusion but in the climax or resolution that conclusion was revealed), so I’m not sure if it entirely qualifies as being a middle ending… I suppose by definition it does because you don’t get the full resolution that you want, even though we do get resolution in the sense of plot points being wrapped up. (Sorry, got distracted and momentarily confused about what I was describing.)

Anyway, I guess I wonder why this is happening. Did we get enough black-and-white from the “Harry Potter” era and now we’re itching for more gray areas? Maybe writers are more interested in exploring nuances, which we should all really be doing more in our lives in the sense of staying away from prejudging as much as possible and looking for the little details that make us all unique instead of classifying people in one group or another (yes, I’m talking about racism, sexism, and the rest of that stuff). So maybe it’s a lesson we should be trying to apply? There’s pretty much always black in white and white in black, and good in the bad and bad in the good, and at least two sides to nearly everything. Remember that.

Buffy: “Lessons”

I may be a little late to this party, but while re-watching the episode “Lessons,” I wondered about the significance of The First taking on the appearance of each season’s Big Bads in reverse order at the end of the episode, and ending with Buffy. That is, it starts out looking like Warren, then Glory, Adam, The Mayor, Dru, The Master, and finally Buffy. So why end with Buffy? She was never the Big Bad, was she? But I have two theories:

• Buffy is the first Big Bad because she’s a Slayer, and the Slayers were given demon power to fight the demons, so she is a Big Bad, in a way.
• Buffy being a Big Bad could also foreshadow the events of Season 8, which saw the Slayers being seen by the general population as evil due to their power. I mean, this is also how people saw them in the past, owing to their demonic infusion.

Also, I think the final shot of Buffy in the season 7 credits is actually The First. I can’t place the shot, but if it is, why close on The First and not Buffy herself, the way the previous seasons’ credits did? If y’all have any thoughts, I’m interested in hearing them!

[Edit:] Thank you, the internet. You have provided Buffy fans with a way to collaborate and put together the entire list of clips used in all of the title sequences ever (like seriously there’s a separate one for “Superstar”). And I was right! The closing shot in season 7 is The First. So, why close on The First instead of Buffy? It doesn’t seem correct that it means that evil is now the star of the show, or that it’s taking over, or something. Hmm, but apparently the Buffy wiki page says that the closing shot of season 6 isn’t Buffy either, and it’s the Buffybot. Maybe Joss is just messing with us. That would be his way, wouldn’t it.

F.I.R. – “让爱重生” (Let Love Be Reborn) Translation

As always, italicized parts are written/spoken in the music video and are not part of the song, and bracketed words in the translation are implied and not part of the literal translation.

哭泣并不只是因为悲伤
而是感受到爱一个人，是如此的美好
于是，擦干眼泪 让爱重生

不想哭
却又哭出声
不想听
传来心破碎声
不应该
让眼泪继续拉扯
答应过的
会好好的

这一次
决定放手了
这一次
我们终於懂了
爱到用尽全力 都是挫折
我想留的 留不住了
幻灭后该怎么抉择

分开的故事
写满了不舍
说好的爱情
没有你怎么完成
明天的故事
收藏好心疼
爱过的恋人
展开各自的旅程
一个人
让爱重生

这一次
决定放手了
这一次
我们终於懂了
爱到用尽全力 都是挫折
我想留的 留不住了
幻灭后该怎么抉择

分开的故事
写满了不舍
说好的爱情
没有你怎么完成
明天的故事
收藏好心疼
爱过的恋人
展开各自的旅程
一个人
让爱重生

经过多少波折
背负沉重苛责
无怨尤的爱着

分开的故事
写满了不舍
说好的爱情
没有你怎么完成
明天的故事
收藏好心疼
爱过的恋人
展开各自的旅程
一个人
让爱重生

让爱重生

Crying isn’t only caused by the hurt/pain
Rather, feeling that loving a person is so beautiful and good
Thus, dry [your] tears … let love be reborn

Don’t want to cry
Yet, again, [I] cry out loud
Don’t want to listen
The sound of a heart shattering can be heard
[I] shouldn’t
Let tears continue to drag [me] down
[You] promised
It’d be okay

This time
[We] decided to let go
This time
We finally understand
Loving until all [my] strength is gone, is totally frustrating
I wanted to stay, but I couldn’t remain
After my hopes vanished, how am I supposed to choose?

The story of separation
Is written full of unwillingness to let go
The agreed-upon love
Without you, how can it be complete?
The story of tomorrow
Hides heartache well
Past lovers
Unfold their own journeys
[As] one person
Let love be reborn

This time
[We] decided to let go
This time
We finally understand
Loving until all [my] strength is gone, is totally frustrating
I wanted to stay, but I couldn’t remain
After my hopes vanished, how am I supposed to choose?

The story of separation
Is written full of unwillingness to let go
The agreed-upon love
Without you, how can it be complete?
The story of tomorrow
Hides heartache well
Past lovers
Unfold their own journeys
[As] one person
Let love be reborn

[No matter] how many twists and turns [we] go through
Bearing heavy criticisms
Without blaming [you], [I continue to] love [you] the best [I can]

The story of separation
Is written full of unwillingness to let go
The agreed-upon love
Without you, how can it be complete?
The story of tomorrow
Hides heartache well
Past lovers
Unfold their own journeys
[As] one person
Let love be reborn

Let love be reborn

I admit to being confused by some of the phrases here, and I attempted to consult the internet, which only reminded me that the internet is full of lies. This video claims to provide a translation, but… oy. And this translation is copied all over the internet (at least in the first few google hits I clicked on)!

The line about not letting tears continue is given in the video, in Chinese, as “flow” when it should be “pull” according to the official music video, so of course it is mistranslated, though this is less of a big deal. The first line in the repeated verse about deciding to let go is mistranslated as letting go of the decision, which is quite different from the intended meaning of letting go of the relationship. The next sentence, I translated as “we finally understand” instead of “we finally understood” because I think of it as a newly realized state, so it’s almost like “we finally understand it now,” and you wouldn’t say “understood” in such a context¹. Later, in the bridge, I was not entirely certain how to translate 苛责, but it is a criticism, not a duty. The last line of the bridge contains entirely the wrong Chinese characters (again, compared to the music video), and the final 着 indicates that the verb “love” that immediately precedes it is a continuing, active thing, so the translation given in the video, using it as a noun, doesn’t make sense (I might attempt to translate the characters they gave as “without any chance due to continuing to love”).

Anyway, I guess the lesson is to not go by internet translations unless you’re willing to only get the gist of happy-vs-sad or is-it-about-love-or-life. I can’t promise that my translation is 100% accurate — after all, part of that depends on how you interpret my translation, though I did try to make it as unambiguous as I could — but I hope that it helps.

¹ This is just like in Japanese, when you have 分かった vs 分かってる! The first one is in “past tense” and usually indicates that the understanding has just happened, while the latter is in “present tense” and indicates that the understanding happened a while ago and is still present. The past-vs-present tense of something doesn’t always match when-it-happened-relative-to-now, basically.

Body of Proof: “Going Viral”

Ah, a club. Perfect place for an outbreak. Hmm. Date rape drug?

I’m glad Peter has the sense to recognize the symptoms. But hasn’t he caught whatever it is, at this point, from holding Dani?

It is just too convenient that three new patients show up just as Kate says that there ought to be a lot more sick people. Or maybe I mean, the one person just showed up, but the other two were there before and happened to be in the same isolation unit? That should mean that they recognized the commonalities and did have more sick people — 4 total — and one more person does not suddenly an epidemic make, if 4 didn’t.

They can’t seriously be wearing that protective gear and still be letting their hair down! I mean, at least Kate’s hair is in a reasonable ponytail, but shouldn’t they look more like they’re in surgery, with caps?

Why doesn’t Curtis already see that Ethan has a point? He was Chief ME at some point, so it’s not like he’s some dumb intern or someone without medical training, like Peter.

I feel fairly certain that they don’t have an autoclave there under the bench (who puts an autoclave there?), and even if they did, autoclaves are not randomly portable that way. Seriously.

Kate brings her own blood to the analyst? Why would you let someone who’s potentially infected have the chance to swap out fluids for a negative test result?

“Remind me to never investigate a plague again” is the best line ever, hehe.

May I point out that not everyone on the team may want to be working in BSL-4? Like Ethan??

If the team’s been keeping the news of the deaths and outbreak quiet, how would Youtube know to send it to them specifically?

I wonder if they quarantined or otherwise screened the relatives of the deceased? Also, “will you please explain to him how the internet works?” is also a great line. Delivered just right.

How can Curtis tell Ethan to just relax? Ethan should keep calm, yes, but he should go fix his suit, shouldn’t he?

I am confused why the FBI guy doesn’t even ask for an ETA on the lab results to confirm meningitis before telling her “no we’re not confirming it before telling the public what we think it is.”

Is Kate taking off her gloves without exiting BSL-4? I can’t tell. But I do like the way she’s not telling anyone, trying to squeeze out the blood, looking for blood in her innermost glove, etc, because those are all fairly typical reactions.

I find the interrogation scene with the teenager somewhat unlikely, but his sarcasm is at least on the mark, and the reactions within it sensible and entertaining. And thank you for pointing out why it can’t possibly be airborne, because Megan never explained it to anyone and it didn’t make sense for her to just expect that the non-medical people would get it and believe her without an explanation.

How does being through decontamination guarantee that you won’t catch it afterwards? *raises eyebrow*

I sort of think that the eyes are much more evidently jaundiced than bloodshot. Also why wouldn’t patient zero be dead by now, given that the subsequent cases have all died? Either that or he’s probably recovered. What is the mortality rate on this, anyway?

Why isn’t Kate in on that meeting, anyway? And… the terrorist isn’t still out there, because he’s presumably either dead or recovered and no longer infectious, I would think?

Episode break!

Is the CDC guy not a doctor, and he’s just a researcher? There’s no way.

That sort of makes sense, the way they say it: first some internal bleeding, then more internal bleeding that shows some of the other symptoms they observed (like the purpura that they didn’t re-mention), hypotensive shock, and cerebral/pulmonary edema before death. But why did they make Kate look so shocked as she looks around the isolation ward?

Really? The FBI guy’s going to be the first one to figure out that the terrorist might be dead already?

Go Peter! Also, making progress with syringes, good. And yay Kate for noticing Trevino, because I, at least, find it hard to keep track of the number of days that have passed in a TV show.

It seems sooo unlikely for the terrorist to have somehow figured out a way to stay alive longer without some kind of trial-and-error testing, and for that you’d have seen deaths beforehand. But it is sort of awesome that Trevino is a “walking pharmacy” (on 17 different drugs for various reasons).

Really, are they going to go to a shot of an empty bed (presumably Trevino’s) during the terrorist call just because the ME’s office happened to call right then and name Trevino as their suspect? He’s in isolation! I get that the bar is near the hospital, but how do you expect him to have gotten out, seriously?

Why are they pointing at the two “electron microscope” images as if they indicate that the two samples are clearly from different people? And why do they then point at the images as they mention the interferon and how the one sample’s supposed to have more of it that clusters more or whatever?

Marburg is not the “bastard cousin” of Ebola. (I mean, calling it a “bastard” makes it sound like it’s engineered, doesn’t it?) Nor is it nastier, if I recall correctly. Also there are more than 3 filoviruses. Also also the mortality rate for Marburg is not as high as they’re making it seem with their “they all died!” statements every now and then. Also also also the symptoms don’t seem as bad as I thought they ought to be for Marburg. They’re definitely not as bad as the symptoms for Ebola, though at least Stafford (the CDC guy) said the words “unmentionable orifices” a little earlier.

That is sooo not adequate consent. True consent means that the subject actually understands the risks involved, and given how quickly Trevino is given the vaccine (behind Megan’s back during the few moments she takes to talk to Kate), it seems incredibly unlikely that he understands the risks.

Stafford’s explanation of why he picks Trevino is totally unreasonable: even if the biology made sense, the math wouldn’t. First of all, vaccines don’t “target virus particles” or anything. But even if they did, his argument that a higher viral load would make it “easier” for the vaccines to “target” the virus particles is only saying that more virus particles would be reached, but the percentage would presumably be similar and there would be more virus particles left at the end, still. And it’s a vaccine, which is preventative, so the earlier you get it, the more chance it has of working. Why does this not make it into anything?

Why is Peter not wearing gloves? I understand that the file is supposed to be clean, but I wouldn’t trust that, with Marburg on the loose….

Ah, closing shot of the terrorist watching the school, setting up for “he’s going to target the kids next! Oh no!” But I wonder what he’s really going to target, because an older, sick man would sort of stand out in an elementary school, and it’s not like kids all play on the same playground toy or anything.

Yay bed bugs. And haha, Megan looks all indignant as Johnson (the head FBI guy) brings Peter along to the hotel but not Megan.

Guys, if you shoot him his blood will aerosolize. (I was wondering, earlier, why Bud was carrying a shotgun when they stormed that abandoned warehouse.)

And now, because they’ve been trying to make us believe that Marburg has a nearly 100% mortality rate, they can’t just let Kate be one of the three out of four survivors (that’s what I recall Marburg’s mortality rate being, anyway). And I guess they’re going to play off the rest of the survivors as “they didn’t actually have Marburg”?

Yay for the inevitable happy ending, though Dani’s death at the beginning was quite a shock. I feel like usually TV shows put the shocking death in the middle or at the end of the episode instead of at the beginning, and I’m not sure whether putting it at the beginning is better (because that’s where you least expect it) or not as good (because you have the rest of the episode to distract you while your subconscious processes most of it for you).

Castle: “The Last Frontier”

The opening sequence is quite cheesy, as desired. Definitely reminiscent of Galaxy Quest.

Did I miss that Castle’s stuff was coming out in comics now? What did Castle mean by mumbling “how far they fall…”? And I’m entertained by Beckett’s “chests” plural, but I assume the trailing “s” was just because Castle had the best look of shocked surprise on his face. And yes, it is hilarious that Castle looked up.

He said “shiny”! Whoo Firefly!

I must assume that Alexis’ Princess Leia outfit was the white one from A New Hope, given that Alexis was little, and also what happens later in the episode….

Doc Ock and Spiderman! The Borg! Cylons! And yes, of course Castle would want it to be Number Six.

Here’s the best part: “I’m sorry — how is Nebula-9 worthy of all this? I mean, they were cancelled over a decade ago. After 12 episodes, which was 12 episodes too many [...] I’m a fan of good scifi: Star Trek, Battlestar, that Joss Whedon show [...]” — let’s see now: Firefly had 9 main characters, was a spaceship show, had 12 episodes (okay, not 14, but sort of close enough, according to the rest of the internet), aired over a decade ago (they had their 10-year anniversary panel a few months ago at Comic-Con), and totally counts as good scifi from “that Joss Whedon guy.” Also, “Max Rennard”? Can you say “Mal Reynolds”?

Oh, Perlmutter. Though I’m confused why he pointed out the lack of blood splatter, since the body could’ve been moved?

Aww, Beckett tries to cover up her fangirlyness about the fansite, but then totally gives it away when she sees Gabriel Winters. Max Rennard ~= Mal Reynolds. Eh? Eh? She is such a total fangirl as she walks up to him, and trying to hide her smile as he’s telling them about how the show was unjustly cancelled, modifies the show’s phrase “may fortune guide your journey,” and so forth. Though, she does seem a little off-put by his “Dismissed” comment at the end, and has a grumpy look.

Oh man, if only someone had been able to get the rights to the show after Fox was done with them. But I think it’s true that if someone had done webisodes of Firefly, I wouldn’t have wanted to watch them.

Aw, Beckett — and her multiple Nebula-9 outfits — got outed. Also, “frakkin’ awesome” — BSG reference?

Perlmutter: I love his “non-detective Castle” greeting in contrast to “detective Beckett.” And Castle’s clearly having some sort of orgasmic reaction to the appropriateness of the style of killing to the situation.

Commercial break! Aaand we’re back.

Why does Castle have a life-sized Boba Fett in his bathroom?? Hehe, Castle’s trying to avoid insulting Beckett, and Beckett’s trying to keep her professionalism and not use the word “blaster.”

Fans!! Where do I begin? There’s an albino Wookie who has a face that more resembles a Tusken Raider and only speaks Mersatonain, a fan who’s “not that fluent” in Mersatonian, a woman with mysteriously adhesive leaves (oh, poor Javi looks like he’s going to pass out when she walks away with fewer leaves on her boob and his pen), and a girl who’s supposed to be speaking lingo from something else, I assume, but she doesn’t pull off the lingo the same way that Fray does; that is, when Fray speaks, it’s understandable with context and you can really believe that the English language has evolved over time, but with this fan, there’s only a few words that are different and the writers seemed like they were having a hard time figuring out what they could change while still making her comprehensible.

Yes, Beckett, I’m sure you have to interview Lt. Chloe and aren’t looking forward to it. Though, I feel bad for her when the actress totally slams the show, and she looks all queasy, and then rolls her eyes at the actress’ new cardboard cutoff figure with that stereotypical Hollywood pose of showing her backside and holding a gun.

Poor Castle! Alexis looks awesome, though (although I think her hair looks more messy than messy-glamorous). So while mention of “Princess Leia costume” in the context of a scifi con tends to evoke images of the slave Leia outfit from Return of the Jedi, this is why I assumed, earlier, that this was not the kind of Leia outfit Alexis wore when she was little.

“As you wish” — Princess Bride reference!

Poor Beckett, with Gabriel Winters calling the fans “lunatics.” And that he had “a burning desire to see his doctor.” Eww.

Yes, Ryan totally seems like the kind of guy who’d do tabletop.

Creavers! “Evil alien race from Nebula-9. Nasty creatures. They’ll eat your face off while you’re still alive, and then, serve your organs to their young.” Sound like reavers, anyone?

Armin Shimerman! Quark (and also Principal Snyder from Buffy)! And he’s wearing a “han shot first” T-shirt, hehe. “So what can I interest you in? A Klingon bat’leff, perhaps? Cylon laser pistol? A double-bladed lightsaber?” Castle is so excited about the double-bladed lightsaber, as am I. And Shimerman’s character says that Beckett has good taste for wanting a Thorian blaster.

Uh-oh, Castle wasn’t wearing protection when he fired the laser… oh noes, what about radiation? Poor Castle is all worried and “tingly.” Mentions of the Hulk, the Thing, the Leader, and Dr. Manhattan.

Anabelle made the show popular again, and so “they” were talking about rebooting the series, maybe even making a movie… well, I’m glad Joss got to make Serenity, and that some of the other stories (like Book’s) got told in comic form.

Aw, Castle is adorable, trying to imitate Patrick Stewart. And of course he would want to know if Beckett’s dreams of being in the Nebula-9 were sexy ones.

Beckett’s explanation of what the show meant to her is lovely and heartwarming.

Audrey is so short; how could she have stashed the body in the Oracle pod?

Given Winters’ calm and sarcastic reaction, he must know something about the blaster. And he does!

“Mark of Claderesh,” “Andorian empath,” “May fortune guide your journey.” But of course his “it’s a lot easier when the stunt guys do it” is hilarious. And Castle seems to have come around to Nebula-9, or at least appreciates rubbing in the cheesiness of of the show to the actress.

Beckett’s bait-and-switch is awesome. That is all.

Buffy: “Earshot”

I re-watched the Buffy episode “Earshot” today, and made two interesting observations:

• At one point, Buffy is worried about getting infected by a demon, since Giles said “infected” and provided detail that she’d be getting an aspect of the demon. Well, Buffy, sorry to say, but you already are “infected” with demon-ness, given that your power derives from them. (See: “Storyteller” in season 7)
• During Jonathan’s interrogation, Willow grills him on whether he fantasizes that people would notice him more, that they’d think he was super-awesome and such. Well, apparently he really does, or maybe he just got the idea to fantasize and eventually do something about it from this interrogation. (See: “Superstar” in season 5)

月亮代表我的心 (”The Moon Represents My Heart”) Translation

你问我爱你有多深
我爱你有几分
我的情也真
我的爱也真
月亮代表我的心

你问我爱你有多深
我爱你有几分
我的情不移
我的爱不变
月亮代表我的心

轻轻的一个吻
已经打动我的心
深深的一段情
教我思念到如今

你问我爱你有多深
我爱你有几分
你去想一想
你去看一看
月亮代表我的心

轻轻的一个吻
已经打动我的心
深深的一段情
教我思念到如今

你问我爱你有多深
我爱你有几分
你去想一想
你去看一看
月亮代表我的心

你去想一想
你去看一看
月亮代表我的心

You ask me how deeply I love you
How much I love you
My feelings are real
My love is real
The moon represents my heart

You ask me how deeply I love you
How much I love you
My feelings are unmoving
My love is unchanging
The moon represents my heart

A soft kiss
Has already touched my heart
A period of deep emotion
Teaches me to think of now

You ask me how deeply I love you
How much I love you
Go and think about it
Go and take a look
The moon represents my heart

A soft kiss
Has already touched my heart
A period of deep emotion
Teaches me to think of now

You ask me how deeply I love you
How much I love you
Go and think about it
Go and take a look
The moon represents my heart

Go and think about it
Go and take a look
The moon represents my heart

F.I.R. – “需要你的爱” (Need Your Love) Translation

This is a duet, so Faye’s lyrics are in red, Xin’s are in blue, and the parts they sing together are in green (per traditional Chinese karaoke coloring).

当你选择拉远了距离
就这么自私做的决定
穿破天际飞去
排山倒海崩塌的回忆
无时无刻袭击我的心
痛得不能自己
或许你
以为把这一座城市抛开
就可以终结伤害
却不明白

我需要你的爱
不管多少阻碍
不求什么未来
不管命运会怎么安排
我会用眼泪洗去所有的不堪
狠狠地把心痛了断
深深地把一切重来
我需要你的爱
像掉进了深海
也像坠落悬崖
找不到地方可以逃开
别让那些谎言把爱给活埋
当心碎成一块一块
当爱碎成一段一段
我会等待
你的爱

排山倒海崩塌的回忆
无时无刻袭击我的心
痛得不能自己
或许你 (或许你)
以为把这一座城市抛开
就可以终结伤害
却不明白

我需要你的爱
不管多少阻碍
不求什么未来
不管命运会怎么安排
我会用眼泪洗去所有的不堪
狠狠地把心痛了断
深深地把一切重来
我需要

我需要你的爱
像掉进了深海
也像坠落悬崖
找不到地方可以逃开
别让那些谎言把爱给活埋
当心碎成一块一块
当爱碎成一段一段
我会等待
我会等待
我会等待

别让那些谎言把爱给活埋
当心碎成一块一块
当爱碎成一段一段
我会等待

When you chose to pull away, widening the distance [between us]
Just such a selfishly made decision
Pierced the horizon and flew away
The memories that collapsed, turning my world upside down ¹
Timelessly attacked my heart
Hurt so much, I’m beside myself ²
Or maybe you
Thought that throwing out this one city
Could just end the pain
But [you] didn’t understand

I need your love
No matter how many obstacles
Not asking for any kind of future
No matter what destiny has planned
I will use [my] tears to wash away all that is unbearable
Resolutely making [my] heart hurt until it breaks
Deeply starting everything over

I need your love
Like being dropped into the deep sea
And like falling off a cliff
[I] can’t find a place where [I] can escape from [it]
Don’t let that lie bury love alive
As [my] heart crumbles into pieces and pieces
As love breaks into parts and parts
I will wait for
Your love

The memories that collapsed, turning my world upside down ¹
Timelessly attacked my heart
Hurt so much, I’m beside myself²
Or maybe you (maybe you)
Thought that throwing out this one city
Could just end the pain
But [you] didn’t understand

I need your love
No matter how many obstacles
Not asking for any kind of future
No matter what destiny has planned
I will use [my] tears to wash away all that is unbearable
Resolutely making [my] heart hurt until it breaks
Deeply starting everything over
I need

I need your love
Like being dropped into the deep sea
And like falling off a cliff
[I] can’t find a place where [I] can escape from [it]
Don’t let that lie bury love alive
As [my] heart crumbles into pieces and pieces
As love breaks into parts and parts
I will wait
I will wait
I will wait

Don’t let that lie bury love alive
As [my] heart crumbles into pieces and pieces
As love breaks into parts and parts
I will wait

¹ The idiom 排山倒海 refers to the mountains toppling and the seas being overturned, and is commonly translated as “earth-shattering.”

² To be honest, I’m not sure what to make of this line, exactly. The words:

• 痛: hurt, pain
• 得: “that”
• 不: <negation>
• 能: can
• 自己: myself

So I … don’t see the verb there. The second character can also mean “to get/obtain” or “should,” but I don’t think those interpretations solves my problem. So… I just translated it sans verb. If anyone has any idea(s) on this one, let me know in a comment!

[2/24/2017 Edit: Apparently 不能自己 means that you're beside yourself or that you can't control yourself, so I altered the translation above according. Yay learning!]

F.I.R. – “我们的爱” (Our Love) & “把爱放开” (Let Go Of Love) Translations

This first song is one of the most painful I’ve ever come across, and I was surprised that it hadn’t made it onto this blog yet. But I’ve just remembered that I had done the translations for both of these songs on my old website (which doesn’t exist on the web anymore), so while Iron-Blogger was going on, it felt like cheating. But it really should be on the interwebs, and Iron-Blogger has concluded its run, so here you are.

The first song is “我们的爱” by F.I.R.; the title is translated as “Our Love.” The italicized parts in the lyrics/translation below either appear on the screen or are spoken by either the male or female lead, if indicated, in the music video (which you can find on youtube, though they don’t appear to have an official channel, so I’ll not link to a particular upload instance).

末日将至
我们天真的以为
只要在一起 什么都不怕

回忆里想起模糊的小时候
云朵漂浮在蓝蓝的天空
那时的你说要和我手牵手
一起走到时间的尽头

从此以后我都不敢抬头看
仿佛我的天空失去了颜色
从那一天起我忘记了呼吸
男：你不怕吗？
女：跟你在一起我什么都不怕
眼泪呵永远不再
不再哭泣

我们的爱过了就不再回来
直到现在我还默默地等待
我们的爱 我明白 已变成你的负担
只是永远我都放不开最后的温暖
男：不怕
走啊
快！快！
你给的温暖

女：是谁
能让你付出生命的全部
不管明天
终点在哪里
我们不知道
只要飞向时间的尽头
天空就蓝的好像不会变黑

从此以后我都不敢抬头看
仿佛我的天空失去了颜色
从那一天起我忘记了呼吸
眼泪呵永远不再
男：生日快乐
不再哭泣

我们的爱过了就不再回来
直到现在我还默默地等待
我们的爱 我明白 已变成你的负担
只是永远我都放不开最后的温暖
你给的温暖

不要再问你是否爱我
现在我想要自由天空
远离开这被捆绑的世界
不再寂寞 喔

我们的爱过了就不再回来
直到现在我还默默地等待
我们的爱 我明白 已变成你的负担
只是永远我都放不开最后的温暖
你给的温暖

还是要在一起
即使全世界与我们为敌

We’ve arrived at the last day
We naively believed
As long as we’re together there’s nothing to fear

In blurry memories of my childhood
Clouds drift in the blue sky
The you of that time said that you wanted to, hand in hand,
Walk together to the end of time

After that time I had not the courage to raise my head
As if my sky had lost its color
From that day forth, I forgot to breathe
Male: You’re not afraid?
Female: With you, I’m not afraid of anything
My tears, oh, will never again
Will never again fall

Our love, having gone, will never return
All the way until now, I’ve still been waiting silently
Our love, I understand, has become your burden
It’s just that I will never be able to let go of the last bit of warmth
Male: Don’t be afraid
Go!
Quickly! Quickly!
The warmth you gave

Female: Who is it
That can make me give all of my life
Without caring about tomorrow
Where our destination is
We don’t know
As long as we fly towards the end of time
The sky is blue, just as if it will never turn black

After that time I had not the courage to raise my head
As if my sky had lost its color
From that day forth, I forgot to breathe
My tears, oh, will never again
Male: Happy birthday
Will never again fall

Our love, having gone, will never return
All the way until now, I’ve still been waiting silently
Our love, I understand, has become your burden
It’s just that I will never be able to let go of the last bit of warmth
The warmth you gave

I don’t want to ask you again whether or not you love me
Now I just want a sky of freedom
Leaving far behind this bound world
To never be lonely again, oh

Our love, having gone, will never return
All the way until now, I’ve still been waiting silently
Our love, I understand, has become your burden
It’s just that I will never be able to let go of the last bit of warmth
The warmth you gave

We still have to be together
Even if the world opposes us

The next song is a sort of sequel, as it appeared on F.I.R.’s subsequent album and sampled the original song. It’s called “把爱放开,” which means “Let Go Of Love.”

男：看到她的崩溃无助
惊觉这是一场错误
还是试炼
我们终究没有回头
我第一次感到害怕
关于毁灭一个人

如果还能双手紧握
我只给自己一次后悔的机会
而我们 谁也没有回头

当你开始追寻你要的自由
放开我们紧握的手
带走我的爱和天空
我不知所措
我以为我会董
我们的爱 我们的爱

当我独自走到时间的尽头
回忆和我擦身而过
带走你的爱和笑容
我无力承受
最后的一点心痛
我们的爱 我们的爱

把爱放开 把手放开
如果你的心已不在
把爱放开 不再等待
你的温柔是一片空白

把爱放开 把心打开
这次我决定走出回忆重来
就让我彻底的伤再彻底的醒过来
就让我彻底的伤再彻底的醒过来

女：这是我们第一次知道
什么叫通彻心扉
我的世界没有罪恶
他的世界没有誓言
我在他的眼神中
看到另一个世界

当我独自走到时间的尽头
回忆和我擦身而过
带走你的爱和笑容
我无力承受
最后的一点心痛
我们的爱 我们的爱

把爱放开 把手放开
如果你的心已不在
把爱放开 不再等待
你的温柔是一片空白

把爱放开 把心打开
这次我决定走出回忆重来
就让我彻底的伤再彻底的醒过来

终于明白爱已不再
从今以后再也没有什么能去依赖
我还有什么期待

把爱放开 把手放开
如果你的心已不在
把爱放开 不再等待
你的温柔是一片空白

把爱放开 把心打开
这次我决定走出所有回忆重来
就让我彻底的伤再彻底的醒过来
就让我彻底的伤再彻底的醒过来

Male: Helplessly seeing her falling apart
I fear this is a mistake
Or is it a failed try?
We eventually won’t have times-to-come
For the first time, I feel fearful
About destroying a person

If we can still hold our two hands tightly
I will only give myself one opportunity to regret
And we…no one looked back

When you started to pursue the freedom you wanted
Letting go of our tightly held hands
Taking away my love and sky
I didn’t know where the wrong was
I thought I would understand
Our love, our love

When I walked to the end of time alone
Memories brushed against me and passed me
Taking away your love and smile
I don’t have the strength to bear
The last bit of heartache
Our love, our love

Let go of love, release it from your hands
If your heart is already gone
Let go of love, don’t wait any longer
Your gentleness is so emotionless

Let go of love, open your heart
This time I’ve decided to walk out of my memories once again
Just let my complete pain wake completely again
Just let my complete pain wake completely again

Female: This is the first time we understood
What it means to completely understand one’s soul
My world didn’t have crime
His world didn’t have promises
In his eyes, I
Saw another world

When I walked to the end of time alone
Memories brushed against me and passed me
Taking away your love and smile
I don’t have the strength to bear
The last bit of heartache
Our love, our love

Let go of love, release it from your hands
If your heart is already gone
Let go of love, don’t wait any longer
Your gentleness is so emotionless

Let go of love, open your heart
This time I’ve decided to walk out of my memories once again
Just let my complete pain wake completely again

I finally realized love will never be again
From now on, there will never again be anything dependable
What more do I have to look forward to

Let go of love, release it from your hands
If your heart is already gone
Let go of love, don’t wait any longer
Your gentleness is so emotionless

Let go of love, open your heart
This time I’ve decided to walk out of all my memories once again
Just let my complete pain wake completely again
Just let my complete pain wake completely again