Discussion Maschenny is "Deep"

[Cinera]

Introduction
In his blog post for Season 3 Episode 103, SIU drew a Maschenny doodle:

Spoiler

He also dropped a short comment on her:

Season 3 Episode 103 Blog Post

Today it's Mascheny after a long time.

I originally drew it for pose practice [fast drawing sfx?]

People like Yuri and Mascheny tend to have charisma, but if Yuri is like a sea full of anger, Mascheny feels like a dangerous lake because she is so deep and dark.

Source


Immediate Takeaways
The main things I immediately note from the blog post are:

• Maschenny (and Yuri) are charismatic by nature.
• Yuri naturally comes to SIU's mind whenever he thinks or talks about Maschenny.
  • She's a character that's strongly associated with Maschenny for SIU.
  • He phrases them as opposites and draws a sharp contrast between them.
  • Perhaps, SIU did intend for Maschenny to serve the role of arch-rival/nemesis to Yuri.

SIU's Metaphors

but if Yuri is like a sea full of anger, Mascheny feels like a dangerous lake because she is so deep and dark.

I've looked at alternate translations of the above, and what seems to be consistent across all of them is that SIU describes Yuri as a wrathful sea ("sea full of anger") and Maschenny as being so "deep" (specifically that she is so deep that she feels like a dangerous lake).

I'm not exactly sure what SIU meant with the metaphor, so I'm not going to bother trying to properly disambiguate it, but I do have some ideas on potential interpretations and would like to share them:

• My reading of the metaphor
  • Yuri as a wrathful sea.
    • The image brought to mind is a turbulent sea with high waves.
  • Maschenny as a dangerous lake.
    • I visualise a lake that is still or calm on the surface (so superficially safe to cross) but is in actuality much more dangerous than it initially appears due to hidden depths.
• Potential symbolism
  • Their nature when they are angry:
    • Yuri gets very inflamed and visibly enraged.
    • Maschenny's wrath is a much more subdued and cold thing.
  • Their personalities in general
    • Yuri is a very passionate and straightforward person.
      • She wears her heart on her sleeves.
      • What you see is what you get with her.
    • Maschenny is a much calmer person on the surface, but beneath that facade, lurks something very sinister and treacherous.
      • She's much more dangerous than she initially appears to be.
      • With Maschenny, appearances can be very deceiving.

Conclusions
There are many layers to Maschenny Zahard, and she's much more than she initially appears to be. If I was to summarise the facet of Maschenny's character that SIU was trying to convey here in just two words, it would be "hidden depths".

The idea that she's specifically (far) more dangerous than initial appearances would suggest is a theme with Maschenny. The sentiment was expressed most powerfully by Jinsung:

Spoiler

Maschenny can perhaps be likened to an onion. Every now and then, I get an epiphany and discover yet another underappreciated aspect of her character.

Spoiler: Tags

@Jubei_Kibagami
@lazybum
@Yhamir ♤♧
@PGT
@Vali x lucifer

 

[Jubei_Kibagami]

{Obligatory joke about @Cinera finding out just how 'deep' Mas is}

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 12, 2022, Original Post Date: Jan 12, 2022 ---

Interesting that translation chose water snek : too-big python as opposed to drek : too-big dragon

 

[Cinera]

Interesting that translation chose water snek : too-big python as opposed to drek : too-big dragon

So I tried to find out what term was actually used in the original Korean, and it seems the comparison was between a baby water snake that just liked to fight and an "Imoogi" that was frustrated because even the sea was too narrow.

Imoogi are basically sea dragons, so that's where the "dragon" part comes from.

The "baby" was only applied for the "water snake" part and not actually for the "dragon"/"python" part.


All things considered, I think Webtoon's translation is more accurate here.

The core idea being expressed was that while Jinsung had mistaken Maschenny for a little/baby/young water snake who just loved fighting, she was actually a massive serpent/dragon that even the sea/ocean was too small for.

She was far, far bigger than he had imagined.

I interpret that as Maschenny being far more dangerous than Jinsung could ever imagine, but that's not the only possible interpretations. Jinsung could also have been talking about:

• The scale of Maschenny's ambition
• The scale of her schemes and machinations
• Her ability

I'm reminded of this doodle that SIU drew:

Spoiler

The doodle was supposed to represent Maschenny and the Ancient Odd Eyed Cobra:

Spoiler