Tumblr crosspost (9 November 2019)

I reblogged some meta I'd written back at the end of Sep 2012.

Rambling About Amon (emphasis on rambling)

I really don’t see how Amon’s history as Noatak “ruined” him. Maybe it’s because I’m that weird person who thinks that the backstory actually did far better by him than Tarrlok, and that it’d be predictable, thematically dull, and less coherent if he had been the “good” brother and Tarrlok the naturally assertive, power-relishing one. But I keep hearing people say that the backstory’s content (if not the pacing or the dialogue) makes Tarrlok more complex and interesting, but completely wrecks Amon’s character as established earlier, especially in “The Revelation.”

Um. Maybe I was hanging out in completely different fandom spaces, because for most of the series, the two things I heard over and over and over about Amon were:

(1) Amon is badass and complex and fascinating. A villain who a substantial portion of the audience can’t help but fundamentally agree with—however much we deplore his methods—is considerably more intriguing than someone whose motivation comes down to BURN KILL DESTROY (looking at you, Ozai). Amon is compelling, he makes good points, he has bucketloads of charisma, he’s scary, he has incredibly creepy powers, and holy genre savviness, Batman! <3

(2) All that stuff he said in “The Revelation”? Totally lying.

( Read more... )

Tumblr crosspost (10 November 2019)

An anon asked:

Continuing off of the ask about the Equalists killing Tarrlok, would Noatak still be able to be Amon and keep moving forward, or would he just not be able to function anymore? Also, what would Tarrlok's funeral be like, and would Amon/Noatak make an appearance?

I replied:

1) I think he’d certainly try, but … well, I headcanon that taking Tarrlok’s bending is part of what drives his downwards spiral in canon, so I would imagine that something so much worse than that would make him far more self-destructive. He’d make terrible choices and be pretty readily defeated IMO.

2) I’m trying to remember if we ever saw any funerals in Avatar? I’m not sure what they’re like. I’d tend to think that, if it takes place before the mass escalation, it would be pretty over the top, as Tarrlok would have wanted. It would make a certain amount of pragmatic sense to turn him into as much of a martyr as possible, even for people who personally disliked him.

3) I imagine that Noatak would try, at least, though it might be too secure for him to succeed.

Tumblr crosspost (10 November 2019)

An anon said:

I read your posts about how SW fandom considers Luke as 100% Padmé, and I think it’s due to their relationships with ANAKIN specifically: the faith in Vader’s goodness, the refusal to side with Obi-Wan to kill him, the forgiveness towards his evil deeds (even if she was Force-choked and he lost his hand), the “please come with me” posture, the refusal to Rule The Galaxy™ as father/son or husband/wife, etc. Most people see Vader w/ Padmé and Vader w/Luke and think Luke = 100% Padmé because of it.

I replied:

Yeah, I also think that’s the main reason—reducing their entire characters down to that and ignoring that their similar convictions in Vader’s goodness come from pretty different places and through different reasoning. notbecauseofvictories has a good post touching on it (in the conclusion) here.

Tumblr crosspost (10 November 2019)

An anon asked:

Do you think Noatak would ever go wandering around Republic City, no mask and no makeup, just existing? Taking a break, browsing shops, getting something from a street vendor... maybe, just by chance, running into the avatar, who's excited to talk to another tribesman...

I said:

I definitely think he’d go out in the impenetrable disguise of himself, if only to get groceries. I mean, he has to eat. I don’t think he would indulge himself much, but I can see him wandering out to get small things he needs or can turn to some use (face paint!). I do kind of love the idea of him just casually running into Korra, but I think he’d be too careful to speak to her.

(It’s a bit funny—I was just writing fic about my headcanon that he used the ‘disguise’ to wander about picking fights and practicing bloodbending as he was figuring out his de-bending technique. Not quite the same thing, though!)

canallynwrite replied:

i came across a fic with this premise once (maybe on ao3?) but i can’t find it now and that makes me sad bc it was SO good

I said:

There was an Amorra fic with it that I really liked! I remember it was called We Were Friends and I really enjoyed it, but I’m not turning anything up right now. :(

WAIT, I found the original ficbending version here: https://ficbending.livejournal.com/1766.html?thread=1484518#t1484518

(I think the author revised it for the official post later, but it’s basically the same.)

Tumblr crosspost (10 November 2019)

cafait suggested that Noatak and Tarrlok both privately resent the hell out of Aang for not dealing with Yakone more effectively.

I reblogged my old reply:

Headcanon accepted! I definitely think Tenzin and Tenzin’s perfect happy family grates on Tarrlok (it’s basically what I wrote about here, in fact #7). I was just telling pulpofiction the other night about my theory that the two rallies revolve around the people that Noatak is specifically, personally after: the most powerful mob boss in the city (surrogate Yakone) and the airbenders (surrogate Aang, as well as Korra, obvs). Whatever his conscious beliefs, and I think it’s quite clear that he legit hates bending, his personal vendetta is a huge part of what drives the revolution.

To his credit, I guess, he never pretends that it isn’t. He lies about what the vendetta’s for, but the truth isn’t far off. He says that bending destroyed his family and scarred him for life, and now he wants other benders to suffer for what happened to him, to feel what he did.



The time has come for benders to experience fear.

Tumblr crosspost (10 November 2019)

catmemj on Tumblr responded to a gifset of Korra fighting with Tarrlok's gifset, saying that they wished the subplot weren't dropped.

I said:

Yeah, this and the triad subplot are probably the ones I’d have most liked to see more of. Especially with Tarrlok and Korra looking prettttty conciliatory there at the end.