(Untitled)

[genarti]

[continued from part 1 here]

Comments

[derawr]

I love this fic. It's a great look at how Xiao Mei and Mei got to know each other. I love how they didn't get along at first, too. :D

I don't know why it never occurred to me that Xiao Mei could mean little sister. I always assumed it meant Little Mei. Or that it was a bit of a joke evolving from saying xiongmao weird.

[derawr]

I know you can't reply to this yet, but my Chinese is a little rusty and I would appreciate some clarification.

Is xiao mei a more archaic term for younger sister? I have never heard that used for younger sister before. I am burning in curiosity because the more archaic terms are only found in the best of dictionaries. Or in poetry books.

[r_kimono]

Thank you! Considering how canon shows their first meeting (with Xiao Mei biting her and Mei screeching), I thought it would be more likely that their relationship started off a little rocky. ^_^

As for Xiao Mei's name, I confess my Chinese is limited to a very few phrases (mostly picked up from Firefly - hardly a scholarly source). I found the meaning of her name discussed here and here - apparently it's Mandarin, but I've no idea if it's a phrase used currently. If you can figure out any more about it I'd love to know!

[derawr]

Well, I suspected that the characters themselves could have been read as xiao for little and mei for little sister.

But the word for little sister that I know, is meimei. It would be rather incomplete to just use one mei. And a little redundant to use xiao.

I originally thought that it was just xiao for little and the mei from Mei's name. It's common to do in China from what I understand. Like, your father's name is Li and your name is Li, but everybody calls you Xiao Li.

I don't know the actual characters used for her name. And, I suppose since the anime doesn't use tones, it wouldn't matter either way. It means you could interpret the name in millions of ways.

Sorry, I, uh, love the Chinese language. I may suck at speaking it, but I love how poetic the characters can be.

[likeadeuce]

I'm loving all the 'pet' stories in this fest! I love the fairy-tale quality to this, and the humor, and yet there is still an underlying seriousness to the political situation and Mei's complicated family.

I laughed at Mei using the other clan names as swear words -- and CLEARLY "Yao" is the worst.

I also love how Mei is just aware enough of how unconventional she's being, but goes forward with it anyway.

[r_kimono]

Thank you! I'm sure that for a sheltered princess, 'Yao' is the pinnacle of vulgar. Mei crossed a desert in search of immortality with only a panda for company - clearly she does what she wants, regardless of convention. :D

[dictator_duck]

I love this. <3.

[r_kimono]

Thank you so much! :D

[dharmavati]

This was just so very cute! :)

[r_kimono]

:) Thank you so much!