Teatime

sometimes I just suddenly get idea to draw Yor and I get something like this 🍎

Sometimes family is just a suicidal terrorist, a tired henchman and a kid with a funny hat

Japanese Linguistic Observations in Spy x Family - part 6

Part 6 – Supporting character musings – Eden kids

In the first three parts of this post series, I talked in detail about how each of the Forgers' specific ways of speaking in the Japanese version helps shape their character. Now I want to analyze the supporting SxF characters in terms of their speech and see what traits we can infer. I'll discuss the Eden kids first, and then the supporting adult characters like Yuri, Fiona, etc, in the next post.

I'm going to start with Damian since I feel he has the most complexity in terms of what can be analyzed from his speech. While there's nothing about his speech that really stands out to me, at least compared to the Forgers, there's still little telling nuances based on his choice of words and honorifics. He uses casual speech for fellow kids his age, and polite speech for (most) adults, which is normal…I say "most" adults though because, while he uses keigo (the standard polite form of Japanese speech) for Eden teachers and the adults in his family, he doesn't use it at all during his first encounter with Loid. He even calls Loid おっさん("ossan"), which is basically "mister" but for middle-aged or older men, instead of 兄さん("niisan"), which is the same, but for a younger man akin to Loid's age.

Later, as Loid's goody-goody act gets on his nerves, his speech becomes a bit vulgar. He adamantly shouts that he "won't hang out with that peasant girl," using the "crude" conjugation of "won't be friends with/hang out with", 相手にしねー! ("aitei ni shine!") instead of the casual 相手にしない ("aitei ni shinai"). He even says うるせー ("urusee") which means "shut up" and is even more rude than うるさい ("urusai"). I'm actually surprised he let himself talk like that in front of Donovan. I suppose it shows how passionate he is about his "aversion" to Anya.

Speaking of Anya, he's never addressed her by name in the Japanese version, opting instead to call her, at best, the casual form of "you," "omae" ("お前") and at worst, some rude name like "temee" ("手前"), the derogatory form of "you."

When it comes to his family, he addresses Donovan and Melinda as 父上 ("chichi-ue") and 母上("haha-ue") respectively. These are more formal terms for the standard polite ones typically used to address your father and mother, "o-tou-san" (お父さん) and "o-kaa-san" (お母さん). For Demetris though, he's more casual. Not only does he use plain speech, but he also calls Demetris 兄貴 ("aniki"), which is a term of endearment, like "Big Bro."

He uses casual speech with Jeeves as well, which makes sense since Jeeves is a butler and thus "lower" than anyone in the Desmond household.

To me, all of this implies that Damian is a fairly normal kid in terms of how he addresses those around him, with the exception being his extreme formality with his parents. Terms like "chichi-ue" and "haha-ue" are mostly used in uptight, flatulent families, and obviously families like the Desmonds match that description. But it also shows how this is forcing Damian to rarely get the affection and bonding he craves from his parents.

As a side note, I don't have much to say about Bill and George, since they're such minor characters and nothing about their speech stood out to me in the few chapters they appeared in. But I found it interesting that they both call Damian "Damian-kun," with "-kun" in this case being an honorific to show endearment for a male equal, similar to "-chan" for females. However, Damian doesn't use "-kun" with any of the other male students, which is another indication of his comparatively standoffish personality.

Ewen and Emile speak similarly to Damian, using casual speech for fellow kids and keigo for adults. The exception with them, however, is that they address Damian with keigo as well. Not only that, but they call him "Damian-sama," which is unusual among friends their age. The honorific "-sama" is more humbling than "-san" and is often translated as "Lord" or "Master." I wonder what Damian has done to make them think so highly of him.

Moving onto Becky, she uses feminine speech in most situations. This speech is defined by adding softening interjections at the end of sentences, like "ne" (ね), "no" (の), and especially "wa" (わ). She also uses a variety of honorifics for the other characters. She calls Anya "Anya-chan," with "-chan" being a term that shows affection between female friends. She uses the feminine "I/me" pronoun "atashi" as well.

Because of her infatuation with Loid, she calls him "Loid-sama," with "-sama," as I just discussed, being a very polite honorific used for someone you're subservient to, or at least someone you look up to immensely.   

She's actually never called Yor by her name – at first she calls Yor 奥さま ("oku-sama"), which is a polite way of addressing someone else's wife, typically translated as something like "honorable wife." But after she sees how strong Yor is and "officially" decides to be her mentee (in her mind anyway), she calls Yor 師匠 ("shishou") which means "master" or "teacher" in a trainee to trainer sense.

But despite her high social status as a Blackbell, Becky uses the most childish terms for her mother and father, "papa" (パパ) and "mama" (ママ) respectively.

It's not uncommon for very young kids to address their parents in such a way, but it is ironic that everything else about Becky makes her seem like she wants to be more "grown-up" than she actually is, but she's still just a kid deep down, at least when it comes to her relationship with her parents.

<- Return to Part 5

bolesławiecka Miku... pracowniczka na stempelkowni czy innym malowaniu. okej to by było na tyle z miku trendu

I drew this sketch a while ago and thought it would go well with the new chapter 🌼

More Anya

yaay damianyaweek 🎉 Day 1: prom

Damianya Week Day 2: office AU

After what seemed like an eternity, we're finally having another Yor/Garden arc! And even though it's only been one chapter, so many major reveals have already happened...

First off, it's revealed that the SSS has been working with Garden, seemingly giving them undercover jobs on behalf of the prime minister. I always thought that Garden could potentially be one of the SSS's targets, similar to WISE, since both Garden and WISE are doing their own form of shady dealings without government authority. But this reveal completely changes that...now we know that the already corrupt SSS and government have a working relationship with Garden to do their secret dirty work.

This makes my previous thoughts from chapter 114 about a potential Briar sibling reveal even more intense, since now we know that the two organizations work together and intermingle on a somewhat regular basis. It doesn't seem like Wilker knows that Yor is part of Garden, since the assassins' identities are kept a secret, but a chance encounter with Yuri definitely seems more likely now! I wonder if lower ranking SSS members like Yuri know about the boss's dealings with Garden.

We also learn a lot more about Shopkeeper in this chapter. He appears to be someone who treasures the "old ways" of the country. He speaks fondly about the 16th century mansion that Garden has their meetings in and seems exasperated by all the East-West friction happening in the current times. He makes it clear to Wilker that Garden's main purpose is to protect the nation, not do whatever petty job a politician gives them. He rejects a job to interfere with a soccer match against the West, but eagerly takes on Wilker's other job that involves what Shopkeeper calls "imperial lands," and the deer they're told to protect "divine beings." So yeah, it's pretty clear he values tradition and the past culture of the nation, which is a good thing to know about a character who's been shrouded in mystery for so long.

Another thing we learn is that Belle, the seal from chapter 103, also has a connection with the SSS and prime minister. The way Wilker talks about her to Shopkeeper gave me the impression that they had spoke about the topic before, so maybe Garden was involved too? When does the corruption end, lol.

And the other big reveal in this chapter is...new Garden members!

There's Gympie (who appears to be an actual child and my first thought upon seeing him was "I don't remember this kid from among Naruto's classmates" 👀) and Hemlock, who has some kind of antagonism with Yor. Another member, Thistle, is mentioned though doesn't actually appear. It's interesting how all the Garden members' names are related to plants somehow. Guess it makes sense for an organization called "Garden" 😅

By the way, in case anyone is wondering, Hemlock is a man. I wasn't sure at first, but he uses the male pronoun "ore" in the Japanese version.

Also undefeated assassin Yor being afraid of bugs but not a ladybug...guess we all have things we're weak to even if it doesn't always match our skills 😂

Good call here from jules about Mitera being the same place where Damian and friends did their treasure hunting in chapter 104. Could Yor's mission somehow lead to more Anya backstory on top of everything else?!

But out of everything that happened in this chapter, Hemlock intrigues me the most - I wonder why he has such a thing against Yor, and why Shopkeeper had to specifically remind him that they're supposed to protect the deer and not harm them. I look forward to learning what his deal is in the coming chapters. Perhaps some backstory about him and Yor in their early days at Garden? And of course, having Yor do a job with a male coworker who seems to be close to her age, even one who doesn't like her, opens up the potential for jealous Loid maybe? Not likely since I doubt Yor or Hemlock would allow themselves to be seen by anyone on their job...but it's nice to dream 😅 Regardless, I haven't been this excited for the next new chapter in a long time! Cruise Arc 2025, let's go!!!

He said something unintentionally funny