#iris fact of the day is that he's a sore loser

[kitwasheree]

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my comfort characters...

[umeberries]

Translation Tuesday #1, or: Why Bakugou Isn’t Just Being a Sore Loser

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I didn’t anticipate vomiting an ocean of drivel for my very first TT, but I did and I’m going to make you look at it.

(Submissions are still open if you’d like to request a translation!)

Rewatching MHA has given me more compassion for Bakugou, and this line from episode 37 (the practical exam) really grabbed me. I mean, the kid’s fighting like a dozen internal battles on top of fighting SUPERMAN HIMSELF. So I’d like to dig into it - and explain why I’d propose an alternate, perhaps more sympathetic translation.

For reference, the original Japanese is as follows:

「折れて折れて自分捻じ曲げてでも選んだ勝ち方でそれすら敵わねえなんて… 嫌だ…！」

Orete orete jibun nejimagete de mo eranda kachikata de sore sura kanawanee nante…iya da…!

The verb kanawanee (敵わねえ, the negative form of kanau) is translated here as “can’t (even) beat you”, but "beat” is not the word I would choose. Kanau has a couple of different connotations depending on the kanji you write it with; here it’s written with the kanji 敵, which means “opponent, rival, enemy”. (Fun fact, it’s also the kanji used for the word “villain”!) With this kanji, kanau means “to make something possible in the way you want” or “to be an even match for someone/something”. Concepts that are related to, but don’t quite equal, victory. 

Even Bakugou must have realized he can’t defeat the strongest man in the country head-on, 1-on-1. He certainly wanted to, and wouldn’t let himself entertain the alternative. But defeating All Might is so clearly impossible - especially by this scene, when he’s wrung out every last bit of firepower - that “win” and “beat” don’t seem like the right word choices to me here. What he wants in this moment, I think, is the dignity to at least have gone down fighting his way.

Bakugou’s idea of strength isn’t simply to win - it’s to completely and utterly dominate, always, to constantly be the undisputed best and never falter. Whearas Izuku admires All Might as the Symbol of Peace that always saves the day, Bakugou is captivated by his perfect win record, his (seemingly) untouchable strength. We see this develop into a very black-or-white perfectionism, where you’re either the Best or you’re the Worst, with nothing in between.

Unfortunately, he’s forced to compromise, and what’s worse, he’s pushed to his absolute limits, unable to produce any more explosions but desperately trying to anyway. And desperation is a far cry from total domination. Sura (すら) means “even”, as in “I can’t even pull this off”. For Bakugou, achieving his unreasonably high standards aren’t an end goal. They’re the bare minimum of what he expects for himself.

And then after all that strain, compromise, and humiliation, he gets stomped anyway.

His reaction? I don’t like it so I won’t accept it. Iya literally means “unpleasant”; it’s often used to refuse or object to something and is a pretty weak form of protest. It has a childish nuance and is deeply subjective (i.e. I know that’s how it is in reality, but I need you to know I don’t like it). For example, if you’re going to a party and you learn that someone you can’t stand will also be there, you might say “What, Irie’s going too? Iya da!”. However, whether you like him or not doesn’t change the guest list - it has no bearing on the outcome. You’re just expressing your objection to make yourself feel a tiny bit better.

Similarly, Bakugou realizes that his approach is getting him nowhere. It’s beyond clear by this point, despite how hard he’s tried to deny it. And he really really doesn’t like that, but he can’t exactly go on insisting he’s right, considering All Might about to knock him out. So he’s basically saying “Don’t tell me I can’t, because you might be right and I can’t deal with that yet so shut up”.

Earlier in the episode, All Might tries to comfort him with the last words Bakugou wants to hear: “You still have so much room to grow!”. Unlike Deku, he isn’t motivated by the thought of fulfilling his potential. He wants to be at his peak already. Anything less is as good as zero. He can’t defeat All Might, which is undeniable proof that he isn’t at the peak - a literally and figuratively painful humiliation. One can imagine he’s struggling against feelings of worthlessness on top of all the frustration, rage, humiliation, pain...and that’s before the general existential fragility of having your core belief system uprooted.

The first kanji in Katsuki (勝己) comes from the more common word for “to win”, 勝つ (katsu). The second kanji means “oneself”. Put them together, and you get what Bakugou wants: to triumph in his own way, victory on his terms. This line is his somewhat childish, agonizing, burgeoning realization that just maybe, his way - complete and utter perfection forever - isn’t actually viable.

So with all that said, my translation would be:

“You telling me that I can’t even succeed my way? Even if I break and break and twist myself…? I hate that…!”

Now, none of this is meant to rag on the Crunchyroll translation at all! It’s a really tricky line grammatically, and I’m not saying mine is any better or more accurate. This is all just my interpretation. This scene gave me a bit more of an appreciation for Bakugou, and I had fun thinking through it!

[thepunisher]

Why I think Supergirl season 2 is better than season 1

There’s a discourse™ going on since this season started and while some are raising excellent points, other things being said make me think that a season 1 rewatch wouldn’t be a bad idea, since a lot of people seem to have forgotten what actually happened last year on the show.

Supergirl is by no means perfect. It has a lot of faults and it could definitely improve in many ways. That said, I do believe season 2 is actually doing better than season 1 in several regards:

In season 1 everyone seemed to suffer from the draco malfoy syndrome. What is that, you ask? Simple. Kara was at the center of the universe, and everyone’s lives revolved sorely around her. No one had any other purpose than being tied one way or another to her. They only existed to move around Kara and forward the plot. There’s only a couple of episodes who are an exception to that.

This season on the other hand, we’re experiencing the exact opposite. Now that the characters are established, each and everyone of them have their own personal arc that is completely separate from Kara’s. And I personally think that’s great and it’s an improvement. Yes, this is Supergirl and Kara is the protagonist. But nothing screams bi-dimensional characters more than having them all only revolve around one focal point. This year they still intersect in the middle, but everyone is moving forward on their own.

This season Alex is more than a sister who’s trying to prove her worth beyond that fact, Winn is more than the typical loser in love with his bff, Jimmy is more than someone who can’t decide which girl he loves. 

You may not like where some of these arcs are headed, which is totally fine, obviously, but how can you deny that having separate arcs at all is a good thing?

In season 1 we were reminded every two minutes of how Supergirl was not Superman.

I for one am really really happy that they stopped doing that. I liked that they wanted to emphasize that she was not his cousin and that being a woman made a lot of things different/harder, including hero-ing, but the constant reminder that this was a supergirl show was getting on my nerves. The first 4 episodes (if I remember correctly) were especially full of that. While not being there at all, superman was a huge shadow over Kara in season 1. I really love that despite Clark having appeared on the show, this time around he’s not so predominant in the narrative, and we get to enjoy Kara as she is, without being constantly reminded that a. she’s a woman, b. she’s not superman.

I’m also really happy that we’re getting to see more of Kara as a woman and what it means to be both hero and woman, than simply what it means to be supergirl.

People are complaining that this season is too focused on Kara’s love life/Kara’s potential love interest.

Uhm, excuse you? Are y’all suddenly collectively forgetting that the entire season 1 plot half revolved on a love triangle shoved down our throat? (Which is dc tv’s favourite troupe btw) Literally each episode was focused on whether Kara was going to do something about either Winn or Jimmy, or whether Jimmy was going to pick Kara or Lucy. Every.Single.One.Of.Them. (with the only exception being the episode in which Kara dated ms Grant’s son.)

So, last year it was fine but this year it’s.. not?

Winn’s purpose other than being the comic relief and the convenient IT genius that every DC show needs was to have unrequited feelings for Kara.

Jimmy’s purpose was to share some Superman related wisdom and pine over Kara or Lucy.

This season BOTH of them have a purpose that goes beyond Kara. Both of them have actual lives. Winn realized that he can be more than an IT guy and that he can be a hero in his own way, make a difference even when he’s afraid and doesn’t have the courage that all his friends seem to be showing. (Let’s talk about what big improvement it is for a character who said “You must be a lesbian, that’s why you don’t like me romantically!” back on his first appearance in ep1 s1.)

Jimmy’s arc is what I’m liking even more, cause sure, arguably it’s a little rushed (a lot of things are this season, including sanvers, but the number of episodes is limited and tbh I’ve seen worse on tv to complain) but it’s beautiful and it’s finally doing the character justice. He’s beyond just a love interest now, he has his own arc, he has found purpose in life beyond making up his mind about who he wants to date and he’s trying to leave a mark even without having super powers. He’s also no longer just a photographer, he’s a black man in a position of power and he’s learning what it’s like to stand his ground and be a leader. The only thing that would make this better would be more screentime.  (I would die if we had something similar over at the flash, where three seasons later Iris West is still only treated as Barry’s love interest and has no life nor purpose other than being Barry’s lover.)

When it comes to Alex, I do agree that her relationship with Maggie was a little rushed as well and we’re seeing a lot of their romance rather than Alex’s usual badass self we got used to last season. But the two things are not mutually exclusive and we still have a few episodes left to go in which Alex can be both (as she’s already shown). Also, as a queer person myself, I can’t help but being really happy with how Alex’s coming out story was handled and everyone’s reactions to it (including words like “you haven’t dated much lately.” “this is real, it’s not a phase.” “this is not cause I haven’t found the right man.”) 

Again, all these arcs may not be perfect, but I’m liking a lot how they’re taking these characters to the next level and towards different directions, rather than still have all of them only attached to Kara.

On karamel and Mon el in particular, I have a lot to say, especially cause a lot of people in the fandom have gone crazy over it, have started harassing fans and have forgotten the basic decency of tagging their hate. (Also, a lot of these people insulted Chris Wood appearance as a reason to hate on the character.... like, wow, a++ argument there buddy, now I’m definitely going to take your very serious argument seriously.)

I do agree that having Kara do a 180 when it comes to her relationship with Jimmy was really weird and poorly executed (especially since season 2 takes place the day after season 1.) That was bad writing on the authors part, especially since they really went overboard with the pining last year, so have her suddenly not being interested felt really odd. I did not ship Jimmy/Kara (I have a hard time liking ships that are presented as triangles and I really hate when a man makes two women suffer cause he can’t decide what the fuck he wants) but I can understand the shippers frustrations at that predicament and I understand that part of that anger is based on the fact that it seems like a black man has been replaced by a white one. What I don’t understand is the collective hate towards Mon el as a character rather than take offence with the authors, and the use of the word “abusive” when it comes to describing Mon el/Kara’s relationship. (People like to throw that word around, apparently.)

In what universe is that ship abusive or Mon el a manipulator?

I think the introduction of his character was actually very well constructed. It’s really telling that they decided to bring him in as he is in a season where they finally introduced Clark Kent. We have on one side the epitome of the perfect man and perfect hero by anyone’s standard. And on the other hand we have a seemingly dudebro who comes from a planet of fratboys and is adjusting to a life in which he's learning that he can be more than what he’s used to be cause he meets a woman.

I’ve seen a lot of discourse™ going around and people mad that Mon el seems to be interested in the hero-ing business only cause of Kara (as if there’s something wrong with that). If you look closely and if you look at the bigger picture, you’re going to notice how the whole season is build around “being a hero” and “doing the right thing” and why. Kara’s reasons are not M’gann’s, are not Winn’s, are not Jimmy’s, are not Mon el’s. They’re all trying in their own way and they all have different reasons on why they do what they do, did what they did. No two reasons are the same. And yet we do not question them when it comes to other characters. 

I especially like the comparison between M’gann and Mon el, cause they both come from people who are often described as “bad” (obviously for very different reasons) and the show is clearly trying to say that where you come from and who you’re supposed to be cause of that should not define you and what you can become. M’gann did that already back on Mars and J’onn accepted it after some reluctance and has seen past his prejudice. Mon el is getting there (and I think we’ll have more of that to see, since they’re clearly building up towards the big reveal of him being the prince of Daxam.)

I don’t really see what’s wrong with Mon el deciding he wants to be a hero cause he met a woman that showed him he can be more. I’ve seen a lot of complaining on how Kara is being “used to forwards a man’s growth” and I’m ???Jimmy and Winn are doing the exact same thing and I’m sorry people, but where do you actually live that you don’t get inspired to do/be better by the people that are in your lives? I mean, if that doesn’t happen to you, if you don’t have those kind of friends or significant others that just by their presence inspire you to be better, you should get out more and meet more people. Kara has inspired a LOT of people since season 1, same as Cat Grant and her cousin inspired her. 

The most beautiful relationships (and I don’t only mean this only romantically) are built on becoming better cause someone showed us that we can be more.

Also, again, this season shows the different reasons behind why being a hero and not everyone does it for the same reasons as Kara or Captain America. Are any other reasons any less valid?

That said, I really like criticizing the media that I consume, so I can really understand people doing the same. What I don’t get is why some people who ended up clearly hating the show are still watching it. Been there, done that, it’s pointless and only lead to bitterness. And just cause you don’t like a character or a ship, accusing a show of promoting abusive relationships (seriously?!) is beyond ridiculous when you present absurd facts at a base of your hate.  You’re perfectly entitled to hate whatever you want, but when you start spitting lies to justify your dislike and accusing fans of liking twisted things, that pisses me off.

If you’re no longer into where this show is going, you should maybe consider moving on. Or, you know, stop attacking people for still liking it. Or better yet, start tagging your wank, so we can all block it. 

Like what you like and hate what you hate, but leave people be, leave them free to enjoy what they want. You’re not better cause you criticize something that other people like.

[floaromanights-archive]

22 and 24 for Tori

my baby girl

22. What is their relationship like with friends/acquaintances/rivals?

Friends

Bella: Tori’s best friend. They’re sort of childhood friends, as they’ve met when they were 8 and talked online until they day they both started travelling together. Bella’s 9 months older though, so she had to do some things on her own in Hoenn but as soon as Tori turned 10 she left for Kanto. Their personalities sometimes clash, as Tori is extremely energetic and reckless whereas Bella is (or considers herself to be) more mature and levelheaded, after all… after I wrote her I thought her voice would 100% be Pile/Maki’s. But most of their conflicts happen because they’re both too stubborn for their own good. Despite this, they’re both very supportive of each other and when they had to separate because their dreams were taking them in different directions they cried for hours.

Gabbi: they met while Serena and Shauna were visiting Kanto. Since they’re both energetic and loud, they get along very well. When Tori started her gym quest in Kalos however, they also began a rivalry while Gabbi was rechallenging the league.

Wade: close childhood friends and travelled together through Sinnoh. Tori compliments Wade’s shy personality well, by standing up for him when people are rude and often encouraging him to break out of his shell more. Wade has a crush on Tori, but she’s unaware.

Ebony: another very close friend of Tori’s. Despite Ash and Iris meeting often due to their champion roles, Tori and Ebony never got a chance to meet. It wasn’t until Tori first came to Unova when Iris suggested that they travel together and so they did. They get along well and they hardly argued, as Ebony is an excellent problem-solver and knows how to avoid conflict in most cases.

Jackie: since the Weisses and the Ketchums are family friends, they always visited the Veilstone gym to catch up. Tori and Jackie bonded quite well through teasing Tarran, and since Maylene was away when Tori wished to challenge the Veilstone gym, she actually had a battle with Jackie and won 3 vs 2. 

Acquaintances

Sierra: they have mutual respect but they never really got a chance to form a close friendship. Since she’s Tarran’s best friend she often visited the Ketchum residence but they mostly had awkward small-talk and resumed to doing their own things.

Brooke: similarly with Sierra, despite the Ketchums and Sketchits being family friends their personalities just don’t bounce off one another. 

Elijah: only met a few times while in Kalos when she met with Tarran.

plenty of other acquaintances she met by travelling.

Rivals

Tarran: wants to consider him a rival anyway. Despite the fact Tori is a better battler (makes sense since Tarran’s dream isn’t to be a trainer) she has huge amounts of respect and looks up to her older brother. In fact, she made him promise that one day they’ll meet in the finals of a league. Tarran wanted to keep her promise, but he’s never reached a high enough position in order to fight her in the finals. However, in the Sinnoh League (and Tarran’s final gym quest), they got a chance to battle against each other and Tarran felt like his promise was somewhat fulfilled and after the battle he told Tori about his actual goals.

Anthony: rivals in contests. Since Anthony’s an extremely passionate coordinator whereas Tori focuses on gyms a bit more, she has yet to surpass him. Though she can be a huge sore-loser, she sees him as motivation to improve. 

Amy: Tori’s biggest rival to date. Though Amy has a different approach to training than Paul did in his younger years, she’s just as skilled. Being four years older also meant she had a lot more experience, but she was impressed with how Tori came close to being equal to her. 

Elliot: became rivals in Sinnoh after Elliot teased Tori as being “daddy’s little girl” and “failed Ketchum”, mostly because he expected more of Ash’s daughter since he’s a big fan of his. Those accusations caused tension between the two and indirectly between him and Tarran despite never having formally met because if that’s what he thinks of Tori (the more successful sibling) then his opinions of him would’ve been harsher. Over time, they begin to be more friendly as Tori proved herself as being a competent trainer every time they met and taught Elliot to not judge someone from first impressions alone. (originally my ship for her but I think she deserves better.)

had other rivals that aren’t fankids of main protags. 

Other

Kedrick: never met, but saw him on TV. 

24. How do they get along with their parent(s)?

Very well! They all have a healthy relationship as a family overall. However, Tori bonded a lot more with Ash but she still loves Dawn, obviously. 

Dawn is able to give Tori more honest constructive criticism and she never misses any of her contests and calls after every gym battle so she knows the result. Ash and Tori have a more friend-like relationship (with inevitable cringy dad jokes though) but he’s often her biggest cheerleader too (you should’ve seen him at the Indigo&Sinnoh leagues…. the whole stadium could hear him when Tori and Tarran were on). I think I’ve made a more in-depth post about it, but after her first league loss, which she took incredibly hard, he’s the one who told her to see losses as chances to learn instead of feeling angry, etc.