The Sockdolager

bencarignan: So I’m on episode 22 of Planetes. This show is getting really fucking frustrating. I...

Wed, 30 May 2012 20:03:00 -0400

So I’m on episode 22 of Planetes. This show is getting really fucking frustrating. I know the payoff will be excellent, it has to be, but until then, it’s HAAAAARD. Hachi, stop being a fucking dick, you dick?!?!

Oh my god you’re watching it for the first time? YOU LUCKY SON OF A—

Listen I’m going to give it to you straight: Planetes is my favorite. It is so, so, so good.

So.

Good.

You will not be disappointed.

know who else fucking loves kyutaro hoshino

Wed, 30 May 2012 18:21:54 -0400

some moon girl or something I guess

He casually leaves his rocket in the genkan, no big deal. I...

Wed, 30 May 2012 17:07:04 -0400

He casually leaves his rocket in the genkan, no big deal.

I fucking love Kyutaro Hoshino and I don’t care who knows it.

Also: jesus that is some beautiful fucking animation. This show is full of this stuff, seriously, it’s just so amazing.

septimalshenanigans: inspirationaljapanese: submitted...

Sat, 19 May 2012 10:33:37 -0400

septimalshenanigans:

inspirationaljapanese:

submitted by sinousine

I see what you did there.

That’s rough, buddy.

On any Sunday, like the tail of a kite

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:15:04 -0400

On any Sunday, like the tail of a kite

Things I don't understand about Tumblr: 1

Fri, 11 May 2012 14:31:34 -0400

Why can you comment on/reply to some entries, but not others? Why can you only comment on entries from the dashboard?

This one time at the Joe Quesada panel

Thu, 10 May 2012 17:44:43 -0400

@glamaphonic queued up during the Q&A and got the mic and cold asked Joe Quesada and his pals when they were going to make a movie about someone other than a white dude and the whole room burst into applause.

I just now remembered that that was a thing that happened, and it made me smile.

thezombieexterminator: I taught myself how to play Indigo Heir...

Wed, 09 May 2012 13:02:00 -0400

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

thezombieexterminator:

I taught myself how to play Indigo Heir BECAUSE IT’S A PRETTY SONG DONT JUDGE ME OKAY anyways, if the breathing sounds a little funny that’s because I haven’t played my flute in forever, and whoever originally played this part must have had freaking lungs of steel or something

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

………………….

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

YOU GUYS

SHE IS PLAYING A SONG I WROTE

SHE IS PLAYING IT ON AN ACTUAL FLUTE

THAT IS A THING

THAT HAPPENED IN THE REAL WORLD

You gotta fight.

Sun, 06 May 2012 16:26:55 -0400

You gotta fight.

#TeamMasami or #TeamMakorra? Discuss.

Tue, 01 May 2012 15:31:56 -0400

korranation:

#TeamMasami

#TeamMakorra

5/1/2012

For the record, we here at The Sockdolager remain on Team Fuck Love Triangles.

Oh look, it’s Paul, linking to the latest episode of Ze....

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:32:00 -0400

Oh look, it’s Paul, linking to the latest episode of Ze. Must be… any day, ever.

“Why do some people who can’t find comfort in something fairly benign have a tendency to want to take that comfort away from the people who do experience it?”

Good question.

More Thoughts on Republic City and Ep. 4

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 12:31:00 -0400

It’s nice to know I’m not the only person thinking about some of this stuff.

Elsewhere on Tumblr, buetterfliege said:

but then I realized— holy shit, this is a world that has INDUSTRIALIZED bending. Mako works in a factory, in a power plant, doing assembly line work— but it’s assembly line work that only a firebender could do. How many other jobs keeping Republic City running are bender-only? How much better do those pay than jobs not specific to benders? Do they at all? Or is the Equalists’ protest simply a frustrated attempt to pin the blame for a deeper-running employment problem on a class that’s really easy to blame?

This really gets to the heart of the divide in Republic City. Being a bender doesn’t make you automatically rich and powerful, it just means that more doors are open to you, and in the aggregate, that matters.

Here’s the thing: Even early in the first season of ATLA, we were constantly encountering important, capable people without bending. The Kyoshi Warriors, the Freedom Fighters. Sokka, for god’s sake. It was more than enough to give the impression that, despite the inherently uneven distribution of bending ability, people basically coexisted.

But in Republic City, we have criminal gangs run entirely by benders, explicitly using their power to oppress non-benders, and the only parts of the police force that seem remotely capable of dealing with them are also benders. In “The Voice in the Night,” there’s a government raid on non-benders, who are training in the only ability that could possibly begin to give them parity with the groups that are oppressing them. Their only crime was training under a poster of a guy who’s politically unpopular. Is there no right to assemble in Republic City? It’s not like I want to be asking these questions, but what choice is there when this is the text of the show?

Who speaks for the non-benders of the city, especially those without an obvious cultural affiliation?

In a reply to the post I cited above, wanderingoff said:

[…] if Tenzin is on as a representative of the Air Nomads/Nation then… who else? Other bending masters? Representatives of pre-unification political units (a Firelord, Earth King, King of Omashu, etc?). And as the old nations were defined by bending… We have to ask the question, Are there non-Benders with political power?

We now have part of the answer to that question; Tarrlok is from the northern water tribe, and he’s a bender. He vaguely implies that the other council members are benders, too, though that’s not certain. We are indeed still forced to ask whether there are non-benders with political power. So far the answer is not an unequivocal “yes.”

wanderingoff continues, discussing the police force:

We’ve so far seen 2 beat-cops: both are displayed as over-weight and ineffectual (Korra has twice evaded them). But we’ve also seen the chief of police and those who are stationed in the airships: ALL BENDERS. The entire upper echelons of the police force are not only benders, they are benders who can swoop down from the sky and bind you up with their minds. Benders (like Korra) can fight that. Non-benders, not so much. That kind of power differential does not make for a noble and equality-serving force.

Indeed it does not. And now we have evidence that anyone learning chi-blocking—and in Republic City, there seem to be many reasons why you’d want to learn it—runs the risk of being the victim of state-sanctioned violence. The raid on the Equalists training facility was terrifying. Interestingly, Korra did almost nothing other than freezing a couple of gas bombs in mid-air, and her reluctance to use violence against people that have not definitively done her (or anyone else) harm says good things about her. But the measures used by the rest of Tarrlok’s task force are terrifying: people frozen bodily in blocks of ice. Remember when Katara did that in the film that shall not be named? I was aghast then, and I’m aghast now.

How are non-bending natives of Republic City participating in their own government? We have no idea. There was a great comment over on plus4chan that I’m just going to quote in its entirety, because it was so great:

The pre-release info has confirmed a suspicion I’ve had that the United Republic’s power structure is constitutionally flawed in a way that practically invited a politically alienated non-bender movement.

The Council is made up of five representatives, one from each organised nation (Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, interestingly both Northern Water Tribe and Southern Water Tribe, and the Air Nomads). I would guess that each community elects its own representative, which is electorally dubious enough since the least populous nation gets two representatives and Tenzin, being leader of the Air Temple and the world’s only Airbending adult, effectively has his own pocket borough set up on his private island.

What makes this more problematic is how this division of electorates weighs on the chosen representatives. The nations with the higher proportions of benders are disproportionately weighted, and when it comes to the other nations one has to wonder exactly how the constituencies are decided in as diverse a melting pot as Republic City. Which electorate do Mako and Bolin belong to? Does your bending style determine your constituency? If you belong to a mixed family and don’t bend, who decides for you? The system assumes that the communities would remain distinct and organised, but the only organisations and hierarchies that would remain so distinct in Republic City’s hodge-podge would be the bending schools, and the whole structure seems geared toward granting them an undue level of influence.

It’s a system badly in need of reform, and if Tenzin is as much of a traditionalist as his background info says he is, leaving aside his own conflict of interest in having a seat on the council based on a constituency of four, then he may be the biggest impediment to change in Republic City right now, besides that slimeball Tarrlok standing up from his seat there.

Here’s my fear: That the creators of this show invented a world more complicated and nuanced than they realized, and were unprepared to narratively engage the genuinely difficult social issues that their creation faces.

I loved the first two episodes of this show so much. I hope it turns things around.

Korra: "A Voice in the Night" reactions

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:49:00 -0400

So yeah, wow.

Time for some more worldbuilding and plot criticism! With a bit on how charming these characters are.

It was really hard to watch Korra’s haunted reaction to Amon’s power; if he’s telling the truth about being able to permanently remove bending ability, or if Korra thinks he’s telling the truth, that would certainly keep her up at night. The poor girl. I knew she was going to have her cocky joie de vivre undermined, but I didn’t think it would happen so fast.

Aside from Korra’s entirely understandable fear, I’m confused at the overall response to Amon’s threat. Tarrlok’s proposal to form a “task force” (a term that struck me a strangely anachronistic) makes sense as far as it goes, but Korra returned to Tenzin at the end last episode claiming to have seen a man’s bending taken away from him permanently. Wouldn’t the logical step be to ascertain whether that was even possible? Wouldn’t Aang have left accounts of his conversation with the lion turtle and subsequent mastery of energybending behind for the next avatar to learn from? If the characters believe there’s even a modest chance that Amon truly can remove bending ability—a development that strikes at the heart of society in this world—wouldn’t their top priority be to understand the nature of that threat, and to then develop some kind of defense or answer to it?

I’m genuinely perplexed that Korra comes back to Tenzin, says “omg this dude can take bending away,” and Tenzin’s response is basically “That’s crazy! Only the Avatar is supposed to be able to do that! Oh well, let’s practice airbending some more.” Shouldn’t he… I don’t know, be more worried? I mean, he opposes Tarrlok’s task force (which makes sense; it’s an obvious power grab) but he offers no counterproposal whatsoever.

Also, halfway through the episode I’d convinced myself that Tarrlok WAS Amon, but by the end of the ep I’d revised my opinion such that I’m merely convinced that he and Amon are either in cahoots, or Tarrlok is being unwittingly manipulated by Amon.

Other stuff: I love Asami already, but I found myself experiencing a bit of whiplash at the rapidity of her romancing of Mako. The whole story seemed sort of perfunctory, from their bog-standard meet-cute, to the progression that led Hiroshi to sponsor the Fire Ferrets. I couldn’t help wishing for a more organic progression; if Asami is such a huge fan of pro bending, wouldn’t she have heard that one of the teams to qualify for the championships was having trouble raising the money? And if we assume that most pro bending teams have to pursue the sport full-time in order to be competitive, why are the Fire Ferrets the only ones short on cash? Do the other teams already have sponsors, and if so, why doesn’t Mako immediately seek out sponsorship when they can’t front the entry fee themselves? Their come-from behind underdog status is pure gold, plus the AVATAR IS ON THEIR TEAM, so who wouldn’t jump at the chance to sponsor them? Wouldn’t it have been much more organic for Asami to just approach Mako with the opportunity, take him to meet her father, THEN realize he was kind of dreamy and ask him out on a date? (Incidentally, I do love that she took all the initiative.)

Bolin’s scene with Korra was great, and Bolin is my favorite. “No big deal, are you serious? I was totally freaking out!” Ugh, adorable.

Tarrlok’s strongarming of Korra was admittedly pretty clever, but it hinged on Korra and Tenzin not having come up with any kind of strategy on how they were going to deal with Amon, which again: Makes no sense. They should have at least been talking about it, such that if Korra were asked “So, what’s your plan?” she would’ve been able to say something. As it was, the reporters badgering her about her lack of action actually had a point. Korra DOES have to deal with Amon, and Tenzin’s inaction made it possible for Tarrlok to force her onto his side.

This whole thing smacks of clumsy writing, where characters do things because the plot requires them to. The plot requires Korra to reluctantly side with Tarrlok and participate in a raid on the Equalists, so Tenzin displays an inexplicable lack of political savvy. The plot requires Hiroshi Sato to sponsor the Fire Ferrets, so his daughter hits Mako on her scooter.

All the basic elements for a much more organic, subtle version of this story are here. They just require more finesse than they’re getting, so far.

I started thinking about the possible nature of an Amon/Tarrlok conspiracy, and the sweep of it (if I’m right) is depressingly clear. In this scenario, Amon actually is merely power-hungry, and is using anti-bending sentiment as convenient fuel to enable his rise to power. He’s playing populism off of an extant oppressive government (which he’s also manipulating) in order to install himself at the top. The problem with this scenario is that it could allow Korra to defeat him and “save” Republic City without ever truly addressing the inequality that’s there whether Amon’s taking advantage of it or not. I truly hope that whatever happens, the show doesn’t make the mistake of equating the defeat of Amon with the solving of inequality.

I’m not sure what to make of the flashback wherein we see an older Sokka, Toph, and Aang, other than OH JESUS CHRIST, MY HEART.

My final thought concerns the opening narration of the show. “Only the Avatar can master all four elements, and bring balance to the world.” In all honesty, what does mastering all four elements have to do with this conflict? Republic City has deep inequality written into its basic makeup. One person who can bend all the elements is… just one exceptionally talented/fortunate person. Barring as-yet-unrevealed new abilities, she’s not particularly qualified to solve this problem, and I don’t understand why the story is requiring it of her.

Ultimately it hardly matters how clumsy the plotting or worldbuilding is. My basic love of these characters is going to keep me watching.

n-a-s-a: High Cliffs Surrounding Echus Chasma on Mars Credit:...

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:49:25 -0400

n-a-s-a:

High Cliffs Surrounding Echus Chasma on Mars

Credit: G. Neukum (FU Berlin) et al., Mars Express, DLR, ESA

I don’t like reblogging uncredited artwork, but this is so...

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:04:22 -0400

I don’t like reblogging uncredited artwork, but this is so appropriate for a couple of people I know that I felt morally obligated to.

Well! Yes. Ghostnotes.

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:21:00 -0400

Well! Yes. Ghostnotes.

FEE IS THE BEST. I even remember her Japanese line here:...

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:20:00 -0400

FEE IS THE BEST.

I even remember her Japanese line here: it’s 吸いまくってやる / “Suimakutteyaru,” which is an example of one of my favorite verb conjunctions: v-stem + “makuru.” “Makuru” is a suffix that indicates reckless abandon in the performance of whatever the verb is, i.e., to verb the living fuck out of something. Conjugating makuru into the te-form and adding yaru adds additional nuance to the verb, giving it a sense of confrontation or performance, vaguely equivalent to adding “just you watch me!” in English.

So in what can be considered a single word, Fee manages to say what amounts to “I am gonna smoke the fuck out of a cigarette, just try and stop me!”

Fee Carmichael is flawless.

Eventually I’ll go back to posting things that...

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 01:04:10 -0400

Eventually I’ll go back to posting things that aren’t Ze Frank or Korra, but in the meantime this is what you get.

Got a couple friends I hope listen to this song. I hope they know I’m thinking of them. I hope they know I think they’re great and they’ll be okay.

I’ll be okay, too.

Do you think the friction behind the bender/nonbender issues in Korra stems from the fact that with the war gone, Benders are no longer arrayed against each other, and with their own people, no longer have effectively guaranteed employment due to the war being over, and are being supplemented in some areas by technology?

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:36:33 -0400

I think that yes, the war provided a huge and constantly-hungry “market” for bending talent, and that it certainly seemed like most of the benders in the world were engaged in activities that related to the war.

The Hundred-Year War was about as long ago in the Korra universe as WWII is for us, so we’re now dealing with second-generation descendants of the veterans of that war. We’re being treated to a vision of a world not occupied by an omnipresent global conflict, and I think you’re right (if I’m understanding your implication correctly) that the socioeconomic ramifications of unequal distribution of bending ability were probably hidden by the fact that during the war, benders were mostly busy with war stuff. Now a couple of generations later we’re seeing just how much better the world is if you’re one of the fortunate minority and there are no particular expectations (i.e., military or public service) placed upon you.

I’m not going to repost every episode of Ze Frank’s...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:00:38 -0400

I’m not going to repost every episode of Ze Frank’s new show. But I’m definitely going to repost some of them. Like this one.