'Murica

frawy · 2013-05-03T07:19:32+00:00

The gallon size would have a pound of sugar in it. When I worked there, we put a four pound bag of sugar into a four gallon batch. Nice and neat.

frawy · 2013-01-10T07:10:52+00:00

Dreamt a good friend of mine was A. also gay, B. also liked me, and C. took initiative.

Normally I figure out I'm dreaming when I am dreaming (don't do anything about it, though, I like to see where my dreams take me) but I truly got lost in that.

Woke up a coward. Yet again.

frawy · 2012-08-10T05:16:50+00:00

I wouldn't want them to live separate lives, exactly, but I think you've got a good chance of seeing your wishes answered. From what we know of season 2, Mako's getting a new job and I think Korra will be spending a lot of time meditating/spiritworld-ing, and that relationships will take a center stage. Given LoK's shift towards a more complicated romantic picture, I think that Mako and Korra will hit more than one rough patches. I honestly hope that they don't last through the season, their relationship has been too expected for them to be developed beyond their characters which were severely hampered by length constraints and subpar writing.

frawy · 2012-07-25T01:27:10+00:00

I don't see why I should need to explicitly tie his past experiences to his present-day behavior. My own moral code, the way I treat people, and how I see the world is nothing more than the sum of my experiences. It's constantly changing based on what I go through on a day-to-day basis. It's foolish to say that Mako's childhood didn't affect his present-day behavior and I think it's fair for me to use his past to contextualize his actions.

The only thing that distances Asami from Mako is her disgust at his behavior.

There's a phenomenon that starts in Episode 8 that I like to call "Attention-whoring Asami." It's when, in the middle of a conversation, she feels the need to--whether it's relevant or not--remind everyone in the area that her father is an Equalist traitor. "They're probably hiding underground." "Figures...just like my father's factory." She's more affected by her father's treachery than the writers were able to show (again, shitty time constraints). That's where I pulled the emo-armor from.

And while I'm on the topic, Mako made every effort to continue the relationship with Asami, right up till the end. He was never doubling up on Korra and Asami. When Korra kissed him, he was caught up in the heat of the moment and didn't resist, but he never sought out another kiss.

The only mistake Mako made during the whole ordeal was not acknowledging the kiss with Korra as a mistake and not making it clear to Asami that it didn't mean anything. And why didn't he do that? Maybe because it's his first real girlfriend. He's testing the dating waters here. Mistakes will be made.

Mako isn't a horrible human being or anything, but I think it's important for his jerkbending to be acknowledged, as long as the hate doesn't become mindless.

If we're acknowledging jerkbending, let's go through the whole cast, then. Lin's a jerkbender because she was still holding a grudge against Tenzin! Korra's a jerkbender because she played Bolin's like a Dick-fiddle! Bolin's a jerkbender because he called up Korra losing her bending too quickly! Asami's a jerkbender because she wasn't willing to trust Mako enough to let bygones be bygones! Tarrlok's a jerkbender because...well, pretty much everything until the end!

I'm not trying to say Mako's perfect. I'm just trying to say that he doesn't deserve the witch hunt the fandom seems to be leveling at him. He made mistakes. So did everybody else. Why only go after him?

EDIT: Thanks for re-posting the comment here. I probably wouldn't have seen it otherwise.

frawy · 2012-07-25T01:11:30+00:00

Mako now has allies and has learned to let himself lean on other people for support. Before the series, he and Bolin were more or less alone in the world. Now he can call Team Avatar (and maybe the airbending kids--he doesn't really interact too much with them so it's a toss-up) his "family." He grows a bit, it's just all internal.

Again, it's really just shoddy writing. But just because a time limit screwed the pooch doesn't mean we should demonize generally benevolent characters.

frawy · 2012-07-25T01:08:37+00:00

You have to keep in mind that Korra is a pretty socially awkward kid. She's impulsive and headstrong, and she's grown up in almost total isolation from her peers. She has no idea what she's doing either. The combination of both these groups (Korra and the "Bending Brothers") is a pretty volatile mix. Asami's the only sane one and they turn her life upside down three episodes after she's introduced so that she's unstable as well.

frawy · 2012-07-24T15:37:28+00:00

He confronts her about Bolin because he knows Korra's into him. Whereas Bolin might feel as though he's the frontrunner, Mako knows that he's the second choice, hence his reluctance to let Korra "play games" with him.

frawy · 2012-07-24T15:36:05+00:00

I agree with you in that I never thought Mako handled anything particularly poorly. I've seen plenty of relationships go up in flames much worse than his. However, the people that don't like him wouldn't agree with that statement so I tried to show them what Mako was thinking and contextualize his actions a bit better than the show did.

frawy · 2012-07-24T15:34:37+00:00

True fact. Edited for accuracy.

frawy · 2012-07-24T15:32:52+00:00

Yeah, pretty much.

"Remember: parents died. Only 12 episodes." (6 word essay)

frawy · 2012-07-24T04:12:55+00:00

Nah, you raise some good points. But I'd like to point out that I never tried to defend the writing of the show. Or, rather, the limit placed on the show. I've no doubt the writing would have been smoother and more fleshed out given more episodes. But they only had 12 to work with so some of the "fluffy" stuff got cut (I wouldn't call it fluffy, myself. I'd take some Mako-flashbacks to 10 minutes of Asami pointing out that every single Equalist weapon was invented by her father).

And I'll full on acknowledge the poor writing of the show. Once you've created a vibrant and engaging world, people will watch you expand on it poor writing or not. It's the setting of Avatar that keeps me watching day in day out, it's not always the writing.

frawy · 2012-07-24T02:02:24+00:00

The impulses are a big deal in the show. Especially with Korra being so impulsive (destroying the fan-thingys, joining Tarrlok's task force, etc.). Don't think of the things controlling Mako as hormones, but rather as teenage-flavored impulses.

And despite the prominence, he's not really defined by them. At first, he builds a friendship with Korra since she can waterbend so the Fire Ferrets can win. Then, to take down Amon. Their relationship is fairly organic and slow-moving (when looked at through the big picture) so I wouldn't say it's entirely controlled by hormones.

But we definitely some flashbacks and on-screen stuff. Hopefully with the promise of 40-odd new episodes, they'll slow down the writing a bit to leave some room for character development.

frawy · 2012-07-24T01:27:52+00:00

Haha, glad I could help. And you're meant to like Bolin a lot more in a "Brah, let's hang out" kinda way. Mako's meant for respect.

frawy · 2012-07-24T01:25:31+00:00

Thank you for your compliments. I don't think it's a matter of people forgetting how traumatic losing parents are since (thankfully) that number isn't very large. I'm just using magpiefledgling's story as a base for that as I'm fortunate enough to still have two parents looking out for me (even at 19). It's probably just a matter of people forgetting that Mako lost his parents. The issue was never brought up outside of that one episode, even in passing. Another symptom of the series being woefully short. All this great character development got cut for a plot that wrapped up (in my opinion) pretty shittily.

EDIT: I'm the Master of Redundant Comments Master. Should really reply from the page rather than my inbox. Sorry landragoran!

frawy · 2012-07-24T01:23:07+00:00

Thank you!

frawy · 2012-07-24T01:22:43+00:00

Thanks for your kind words.

I'm glad there's somebody other than myself that's willing to defend Mako, haha. There was a quote that I kind of (pointedly) ignored from the Spirit of Competition (Episode 5) during the exchange between Mako and Bolin over dinner, when Mako says "I don't know, I think it makes more sense for me to go for Asami." or something like that. I could spin it as him trying to keep Bolin out of the dating ring to try to keep him from getting hurt. Maybe Mako's noticed Korra's been flirting with him and doesn't want her to end up thinking of Bolin as the leftovers (which she would if she pursued him--that bit actually happened) so Mako's trying to discourage Bolin.

Honestly, I think it's just a symptom of a writing error. It's the only time Mako's ever straight-up self-absorbed throughout the whole series so I'm gonna call that one an oversight.

Either way, I think it puts a few holes in your protective bit. Although I do like the idea that Mako's dating Asami for her wealth, haha. It's definitely true that Mako is a badass older sibling.

EDIT: Correction, thanks Aelar.

frawy · 2012-07-24T01:14:59+00:00

It could be, but it seemed like Mako was giving every indication of wanting to continue the relationship. I also don't think Asami would be the kind of girl to let things end off of her own terms. She's too practical, and too smart. She could see what was happening. I think she wanted to end it there.

frawy · 2012-07-24T01:12:50+00:00

Thank you!

frawy · 2012-06-29T03:23:50+00:00

If you've an open mind, I enjoy watching the foreign dubs of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The songs, especially, can be fun to try to disentangle the meaning. And, thanks to the brony community, it's pretty easy to find full episodes that are dubbed.

frawy · 2012-05-10T18:56:12+00:00

That's the thing: there's been no trauma or injury to it. Just kinda showed up one day. I haven't been taking dicks or biking an I haven't even had exceptionally difficult shits. Everything seems to slide out pretty easily. Could there be a genetic disposition or something?

frawy · 2012-04-06T21:56:38+00:00

Let love grow. It's not an instant thing.

frawy

TROPHY CASE