Why does no one talk about how Hellboy was somehow the toughest, scariest guy on the planet and at the same time he had a gazillion cats and watched cartoons and drank chocolate milk???
Bakugou Apologized and I Have Some Constructive Criticism
So, I read the fan translation for Bakugou’s apology, and I figured I’d analyze it to the best of my ability. Well, not analyze, more like give my opinion on it.
I want to start off by saying that I’m not an anti. I’m I’m a stan either. I’m tagging this as both, though because I want to hear every side, and think about everyone’s opinions so that I can make sure mine is the best it can be.
Also yes, I know it’s fan translated and that the official will probably be different, but I wanted to have fun and do it anyway
Please note that this is my opinion. You are more than welcome(in fact encouraged) to tell about your own opinion in the replies, but please be respectful.
Everything I write here is to be read in the most respectful and kind tone. It’s how I was meaning for it to be read. I’m sorry if it doesn’t come off that way, but please know I am in no way trying to be rude with anything I say.
Now then, let’s get started.
First of all, he starts out with a bit of an insult “you were always far behind me” thats not true, but it’s Bakugou’s opinion. I’m not sure I like how he states it as fact. “You were always so far behind me.” Rather than “I used to think you were always so far behind me.” or “I thought you were so far behind me.”
Bakugou does, however, imply that him looking down on Izuku because of him being quirkless is wrong, and I think that’s awesome.
After this, he starts giving a reason(a pretty illogical one, in my opinion) as to why he bullied Deku. Bakugou felt that Izuku was somehow miles ahead of him. Next he goes into what he felt, why he felt the need to hurt Izuku. It’s because of something he was feeling. And of course, how could you talk about that with someone? Especially being immature and at that age(around five or so). He didn’t have to talk about it, but hurting someone is never the option(we knew this already).
Next he talks about how he was distant. And OK, that’s good. He should have been distant.
Except he wasnt distant.
I can admit that on normal circumstances Bakugou didn’t go out of his way to speak to Midoriya, but when Deku would speak to/compliment him, insults were thrown. Bakugou should have been distant then. Also, “I grew up distant and always tried to beat you down” are contradictions to eachother, imo. Bakugou, back in middle school, went out of his way to bully deku. That’s not distant. Now back when they were small, yes. I’d say Bakugou was kind of distant. He still made fun of Izuku though, so he probably wasn’t as distant as he thinks he was.
In alot of cases, though, Bakugou succeededin beating Midoriya down(temporarily). Physically anyway(the final exam, and when he impaled Izuku with his headpiece).
(Note: A differing opinion has lead me to think differently about this. Bakugou had become distant in an emotional sense, he and Deku weren’t as close as they were before. No longer besties, if you understand me.)
Next he talks about he could never truly be superior to Deku, how he always lost. But this is(in my opinion), unnecessary. He’s giving all these reasons as to how things didn’t work out for him, and that last part being placed well….last kinda makes it seem like because everything didn’t work out right, he’s sorry. I know this isn’t how its meant, but I feel it could have been worded differently. I can’t help but wonder, though, if Izuku had submitted, if Bakugou had been superior in his own eyes, if he’d succeeded, would he still be sorry?
At least, after this, Bakugou explains that he realizes nothing he said really matters. I like that he can understand this, and I appreciate that he feels Izuku is owed an explanation at least. The one thing I hate about this is that his reasoning for doing what he did is longer than his apology. His apology is one line.
It’s just one. If someone told me that they put me through hell because of an idea they’d placed in their own head that was so incredibly far from the truth(like Bakugou saying that he thought Izuku was looking down on him during their first battle at Ground Beta), I wouldn’t feel any better. As a matter of fact, I’d feel worse about it. There is literally nothing Izuku could have done to prevent the bullying. Even if he wasn’t quirkless, Bakugou back then, might not have been able to fathom the idea of someone being even a little better than him. So he probably still would have bullied Deku. Only this time Izuku might have been able to fight back depending on the quirk he would have been born with.
If someone murdered my mother, and stood in court explaining why, far more than being sorry, I wouldn’t be any happier. Yes, the reason matters, but the amount of time you spend explaining the reason should be virtually nonexistent compared to the time you spend showing remorse and sorrow.
I very much enjoy how he understands that Izuku wanting to leave UA and go it alone wasn’t necessarily wrong. I think Bakugou is correct here. Nice Bakugou, very cool.
I’m also very happy that Izuku apologizes for saying that everyone couldn’t keep up. Very cool, Izuku.
Please don’t get me wrong, though. I’m proud of Bakugou for even bringing this up regardless of how he did it. I think that Bakugou apologizing is a huge step in the proper direction. I cant help but be concerned over how he’ll be different in the future though.
Well, why would I be worried about this? Because he’s shown promise before, but soon after goes back to being pretty rude. Bakugou explained to that child that looking down on others would prevent him from realizing his own weakness “If you keep looking down on everyone, then you won’t notice your own weakness.”(My Hero Academia Episode 80(sub): Relief For License Trainees -16:00). Yet, he continued to look down on others in a sense, even as recently as the Endeavor Training Arc. Bakugou’s arrogance continues, even when he realizes that looking down on others is wrong. He claims that Todoroki could never notice something he didn’t already notice(My Hero Academia Episode 103(sub): One Thing at a Time -7:18). And when he claims that Endeavor, the Number 1 Hero, is ripping off of his style “He’s copying my Explosion” (My Hero Academia Episode 103(sub): One Thing at a Time -6:50).
Truly, I hope Bakugou’s arrogance and negative confidence will subside, and we’ll be able to witness him being blatantly and openly kind to others. I’m not asking Bakugou to change his character, he could become an Inosuke(Demon Slayer) of sorts. He could even become a more obvious Tsundere, with the narrative showing his thoughts and agreeing with him actually caring in a more obvious fashion.
But, that’s just what I think
Once again, feel free to comment your opinion on my criticisms of Bakugou’s apology, or even tell me what you think about it! I love hearing differing opinions.
Going back to the start of your solo chapter, you went into debut album stomachaches with the mindset of, ‘I’m doing this record for me.’ Now, what – or who – is your solo music for?
“Well, it’s funny… I would say up until 2020 then that holds true! I can’t, I guess, pander to anybody else – that’s a cardinal rule, and once you start doing that you’re already dead in the water. But now, because of 2020, a lot of opportunities have come in to write for other people, and that was something that I never really thought about doing before, but life has dictated what projects have come in. And I’ve found it to be a pretty intriguing and fulfilling undertaking. If nothing else it’s an exercise in how to write songs and music, and how to make people feel a certain way. With a project that just came in, they gave me an idea of, ‘This is the type of song that we want, and this is what we would like you to convey. Can you write a song like that? Oh, and by the way, you have three days!’ And it’s like, ‘Oh shit, okay!’ So you figure out how to do that: to write a song in a restricted amount of time that checks all these boxes. And hey, if it works out then they could want it and use it for something, but if not, whatever, it’s a song that I wrote. But I love the challenge of it…”
Has writing for other people taught you anything that you will take with you into future material?
“Yeah, I think so. Different chord changes evoke different emotions, and I love playing with people that are from different backgrounds than I am, and even have different playing abilities. It makes your brain think in different ways. If you want to become a better basketball player, you should play with people that are better than you, or different from you. With anything that you want to get better at, you have to work those muscles and you have to train, and that kinda stuff throws a curveball and it makes it fun – sometimes you forget that you’re even doing work!”
I don’t know. Knowing Frank is writing music for other people makes me feel delighted for him, because I know how fundamental writing songs is to his very existence. I suppose that’s where his career path is naturally leading him, but knowing there’s potentially material out there that he wrote that isn’t going to be coming out from him makes me sad.
I guess I feel like, even though it’s hypocritical of me, I have to say something.
I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole lately with a band I very much love and admire and their members’ romantic relationships. Healthy relationships, dysfunctional relationships, quiet relationships, angry exes lashing out because of failed relationships, and even speculative relationships within the band. (Go ahead, fucking guess who.) I hit a wall today, though, after finding an old live journal post with links to at least two dozen short YouTube clips as this user’s evidence for their master post, and I realized a few things.
Who fucking knows. Like really, who knows? They do, and that’s for them to know and us to stfu about. Not speculate about — shut the fuck up about.
“Famous” people don’t get to have relationships like we do. So yes, maybe they make decisions that we say to ourselves/each other: “I would never do that,” or “What were they thinking?!” or EVEN “How wholesome.” They do what they can to make things work in their world, and when things don’t work, we can’t really judge, because it’s pretty much impossible for us to empathize. Even when things do work, we can’t usually relate.
They’re people too. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read about people who supposedly stan certain entertainers drag them/their (former) partners through the mud for doing things we’ve all done. Imagine your worst moments. Now imagine your worst moments being thrown in your face over and over for years by not only the people who hate you, but who claim to love you, on a global scale!
Some entertainers don’t know how to handle things the way the average person does, because they’re not the average person. Maybe they got famous too young or too fast. Maybe they never got to date because instead of working some shit job or going to college, they were touring the country. Or maybe romantic love is not their priority. Whatever the situation, maybe when love does comes their way, they don’t know how to handle it.
We, as fans, shouldn’t let these things change our opinions of them. Unless it’s something terrible, like convicted or blatant assault.
We should stop digging for this shit. If they want to give us a view into their private lives, that’s cool, but it’s more likely than not just a teeny tiny window, not an entire glass house. If they don’t want to give you shit, then they don’t want to give you shit. That’s cool, too. The important thing is to let entertainers entertain you and end it there.
I’ve realized that one of the things that bothers me about Jem and Magnus and now Aline is that none of them have Asian last names, and they’re all half-Asian, which to me just says that Casserole wanted to make their non-white heritage as invisible as possible.
To clarify the half-Asian point: mixed race people are full inheritors of their non-white heritage, and the fact that Cassie doesn’t bother to try is very telling. Mixed Asians are Asian, and should be portrayed as such, but white authors like Cassie treat them as discount-white.
I have a mixed-race SEAsian protag in one of my own WIPs. But the difference is I’m writing him as actually mixed-race, with all the emotional baggage that comes with rediscovering your culture after being raised away from it. Cassie just slaps a half-Asian label on her characters and calls it a day. And not only that, she made sure that all of them have Asian mothers, so that in her fantasy patriarchy, they would have white last names from their fathers.
And sure, it doesn’t need to be the focus of the story, but it’s NOT THAT HARD to drop hints, like mentions of an altar or the lingering smell of incense, or always having a platter of fresh tangerines on the sidetable. Where are the mentions of doubling up on holidays? Of mixed feasts with turkey and potatoes and fried rice and roast pork? I think Cassie has them drink tea a few times, but could you get any more stereotypical?
tl;dr: Mixed-race PoC deserve to be represented with just as much nuance and grace as any other PoC, not used as shields so a white author can claim to have representation without putting in any effort.
Adding a slight correction: there’s one more Asian character, Divya. She’s the only Asian character to have an Asian last name. Which… i really don’t want to get into all the fucking baggage of East Asian women marrying white men in this post.
This is her entire entry in the fandom wiki. What the fuck does she actually look like?
I mean, why would CC put any thoughts into it? Why would CC in her 900 page book of unnecessary sex, and steamy scenes, and horny white teenagers take the time to describe divya a little bit? I mean an Indian woman? Of course she’s going to be quite. Of course she’s going to be the perfect, sweet, inncent girl, shy girl. Why would CC show am Indian girl fighting, kicking some ass, being sassy, sarcastic and intelligent? I mean that’s only reserved for whites isn’t it? Indian woman? Of course the only thing that describes her is her nose stud. And of course brown woman exist only to prop up and support white protagonist.
Fin.
@CC and the fandom
The only other full blooded Asian in CC’s books in Shinyun Jung from The Red Scrolls of Magic, and later she is revealed to be the villain. This really says a lot doesn’t it. There wasn’t even any effort put into her character, the only signs of her Korean heritage are her bringing up which dynasty she used to live in, but other than that she could’ve been white for all i know.
Shinyun,,, is not, as far as I know, a particularly Korean name. Like, maybe very technically? Can someone korean confirm or deny this?
Hi, I’m half Asian.
Mixed Asians are mixed, meaning we all have different identities, personalities, cultures, heritage. Some of us grew up with both/multiple cultures, some of us with only one. For my case, I am more of the latter as I was born and raised in a European country, and the way I was raised, I wasn’t much in touch with my Asian heritage. But there’s nothing wrong with that! I know who I am and it’s all that matters, I don’t need any labels. Mixed Asians are not just Asians who you can all portray the same way. You can’t paint all of us with the same brush.
I personally think that Jem’s mixed heritage was very well portrayed in the books, but that’s just my personal opinion.
I will not comment on that shadowhunters wiki page as it’s fandom content and yes I agree it’s pretty cringy, but… Y’all keep forgetting my girl Lily Chen! She’s also a full blooded Asian.
Def not Korean sorry, but I’m pretty sure Jung Shinyun is a Korean name. (what even is a ‘not particularly’ Korean name?) Jung is a common Korean family name and you can find notable Koreans named Shin-Yun / Shin-Yeon with some research.
Characters who can do only One Thing, making them literally about That Skill
“Coming of age” stories, those are always praised like the theme itself makes the story exquisite
Fantasy parallels to real world where the whole fantasy is just a metaphor for a thing in the real world (what’s the point of the fantasy then? Just flair?)
Bad Things happening in stories to remind us that We Cannot Escape the bad things irl (as if we’re 3 year olds who don’t know this already? We all live in this shit world every day)
Disabled characters overcoming their disability and then being lauded as inspirational Heroes for that
Copy-pasted fantasy settings because authors believe those settings are inherently Popular
Class struggle stories which are done in a melodramatic way but don’t actually address the issue, nor do they pass judgment on the oppressors (calling them “just one side of the same coin”)
