and now, a few words about the© ultimate™
so this has absolutely nothing to do with anything (except it's 817); but i just need to admit to someone that every time i read the dmbj fandom wiki description of "the ultimate," i wind up wheezelaughing:
"The Ultimate can mean something ominous or horrifying. "
…yes…yes it can…it can and it does…[gulps in fear]…
The Zhang Family wanted to keep it hidden to avoid disturbing the world, while the Wang Family want to make it known to everybody to warn them. Zhang Qiling said that it is "the end of all life". [citation needed]
"disturbing the world" listen the lack of hozier putting out an album of traditional irish ballads is disturbing, the fact that i can't find cotton capri leggings that also have pockets is maybe disturbing, i really think we need a stronger word for "that which will extinguish all mortal existence and crush our very souls from their bodies"
"citation needed" lmaoooo right, because THEE zhang qiling is gonna give you even half a dozen extra words to CITE HIS SOURCES, that's bloody likely (i should probably know where this line comes from in the novels but i don't, honestly unless it's gay or involves some dramatic zhang-style weapons fighting i tend to tune it out, especially if it's disgusting insects or fart jokes)
Translating 终极 into "The Ultimate" may render a non-contextual rendering of the word into English from Chinese. After looking at two characters separately:
终: end, finish, all, expiry, whole, death, demise, decease, depart, get over, total
极: extremely, extreme, utmost, mighty, bitterly, top
—and every time, EVERY TIME this absolutely SENDS ME: "expiry." it's not the conclusion of all human sentience! it's not the termination of life itself! it's not some howlling slavering chtulthuesque* void-shaped horror that can be neither named nor even spoken aloud!!
it's just…a little past its best-by date, that's all. like mayonnaise that's gone a bit funny. you can probably still eat it, even. maybe. i mean, it depends on whether you have to be anywhere tomorrow.
*(sorry i never learnt to spell cthulhu. oh wait that was it wasn't it)
Other more idiomatic, contextual translations can include:
"total death"
"final demise"
"irrecoverable end"
"complete extermination"
AHAHAHAHA OH WELL HEY, IF THAT'S ALL THEN, gosh! not even a problem! no biggie! xiaoge's totally got this covered! it's just him, his little elf-prince sword, and his remaining (somewhat depleted) qilin blood, i'm sure he'll be FINE! why worry?? i bet wu xie would have been okay in there, probably! for a decade! facing, you know! COMPLETE AND IRRECOVERABLE FUCKING EXTERMINATION—
[lies on floor wailing, bc she is a simple xiaoge girl]
in conclusion i just have one more thing to say and that is that i think we, as a fandom, really need to talk about this more. because,
have we talked enough about this? because
i really feel like we should all be talking more about this:
yes it is swiped off xhs no i don't know op's username other than the watermarked numbers, yes i realize xiaoge did not spend a decade sitting around awkwardly not-making-conversation with a giant fluffy baby chicklet. and yet! i would much rather that he had! so let's pretend he did. just sort of wandering around inside the bronze gate, occasionally picking up weird things and examining at them, with the giant fluffy chicklet sort of lumbering around behind him. this is far preferable to Utter Obliterative Annihilation or whatever so i'm going with the chicklet. plus when xiaoge comes out, he'll have to explain to pangzi that he spent a decade with the character on his underpants.
