Tumblr crosspost (22 November 2019)
Aug. 3rd, 2021 12:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anghraineAn anon said:
Got another AU for you! Yakone actually does turn over a new leaf. He genuinely loves his wife and sons. When Noatak and Tarrlok discover that they're waterbenders, he doesn't go for revenge, train them vigorously, or teach them bloodbending. They're one big happy family. How much changes because of this?
I replied:
It’s a little difficult to envision, given that almost everything we see of Yakone is either a) evil crime boss or b) abusive father who warps his originally sweet-natured sons into proto-villains by the respective ages of 14 and 11. But accepting that he did … well, it’d change a whole lot, of course, to such an extent that it’s hard to even say. But here are some ideas.
Okay—I see that final interchange between young Noatak and Tarrlok as a defining moment for both of them, where Noatak finally rejects his role as Tarrlok’s protector and Tarrlok is abandoned over his supposed weakness. Noatak reinvents himself as protector of the vulnerable; Tarrlok reinvents himself as a figure of power and strength. If that moment alone had gone differently, even if it still resulted in Noatak fleeing, I think they would have taken very different paths than in canon. And that’s just one moment among many that shaped them. They’d just be radically different people, and they play such important roles in what’s happening in B1 that it would also be radically different.
We really have to backtrack to little Noatak and Tarrlok, who are adorably sweet kids. We can see that Noatak is already protective and concerned, and we hear that even as a small child, he wanted everyone to be treated fairly. So there’s that. Little Tarrlok is a more ambiguous figure, but under pressure his most noticeable quality is his distaste for causing pain. Without bloodbending driving a wedge between them, I tend to think their most distinctive qualities would influence each other more—Tarrlok would be more egalitarian and Noatak would be more soft-hearted.
That could lead them in a lot of directions, even assuming that they stuck together. For convenience’s sake, let’s say they’re still going to end up in Republic City.
Okay. While AU Yakone doesn’t train them as rigorously, I think their talent—especially Noatak’s—would still be evident. And I imagine that, good-natured as they are, Noatak and Tarrlok would always get a kick out of being good at things. So waterbending would have a completely opposite effect on their lives. They’d be taught to appreciate it in a nurturing way, and it’s also just amazing to be able to do (personally and culturally), and they’re good at it, really good. Waterbending is the best! And they’re fairly driven people, so if they retained that quality, I can see them wanting to learn and master it.
I’d imagine that they ultimately push to study under a waterbending master and Yakone eventually gives in, and they ultimately end up in the NWT capital and study until they’ve fully mastered it. I can imagine them becoming a bit arrogant—Noatak’s a world-class waterbender and knows it, and while Tarrlok is always a bit in his shadow, even roughly keeping up with him at three years younger takes some serious talent, which he comes to realize. They’re very sure of their abilities and very sure of their rightness about everything, while also being gentle and kind-hearted, with nerves of steel.
It’d be a bit funny if they still ended up in vaguely similar positions to canon, or alternately reversed ones (Noatak the politician pushing for change and Tarrlok the pragmatic activist!). But I don’t see a lot of reason for their paths to significantly diverge in this AU. I imagine they’d set out to Make Their Way In The World together, and perhaps Yakone would be just enough himself to like the idea of them rising in Republic City, so he directs them there.
Noatak and Tarrlok could really become anything, but I imagine they’d still care about the Situation that the city’s in, even without their personal issues driving them. It was probably something of a shock for them. Waterbending as pro-benders and triads use it is completely foreign to their relationship with it, and bending used to oppress non-benders is wtf???? They’d just be a) good people and b) on the same side. So I do lean towards thinking they’d be activists of some kind or another.
And it’d be interesting, because when Korra shows up, it’s—I mean, ultimately, the issues that arise around them in canon can be largely dismissed because it’s really about their family drama and also they’re villains. The other seasons largely ignore that they ever existed. But if Noatak and Tarrlok are concerned with the same things and actually super nice people, it’s much harder to just dismiss them, especially if they’ve ended up in a position/positions where they can go around asking the uncomfortable questions (maybe they’re reporters?).
(Asking uncomfortable questions would probably not win them friends among the triads, but like Korra, they’re pretty much fearless and at heart, enjoy a chance to use their asskicking abilities For Justice. I would definitely hope all three get a chance to fight together! :D)
Not sure where it’d end up, except that the non-bender issues and the consequence of the strain over it wouldn’t be shoved under the rug nearly so much. I do like the idea that they’re pretty hostile towards Korra and Tenzin and such at first, but ultimately become allies that she can call on later on, if they think her cause is Righteous. And that, of course, would interfere with the plots of all succeeding seasons, so … it gets even more complex from there.
Got another AU for you! Yakone actually does turn over a new leaf. He genuinely loves his wife and sons. When Noatak and Tarrlok discover that they're waterbenders, he doesn't go for revenge, train them vigorously, or teach them bloodbending. They're one big happy family. How much changes because of this?
I replied:
It’s a little difficult to envision, given that almost everything we see of Yakone is either a) evil crime boss or b) abusive father who warps his originally sweet-natured sons into proto-villains by the respective ages of 14 and 11. But accepting that he did … well, it’d change a whole lot, of course, to such an extent that it’s hard to even say. But here are some ideas.
Okay—I see that final interchange between young Noatak and Tarrlok as a defining moment for both of them, where Noatak finally rejects his role as Tarrlok’s protector and Tarrlok is abandoned over his supposed weakness. Noatak reinvents himself as protector of the vulnerable; Tarrlok reinvents himself as a figure of power and strength. If that moment alone had gone differently, even if it still resulted in Noatak fleeing, I think they would have taken very different paths than in canon. And that’s just one moment among many that shaped them. They’d just be radically different people, and they play such important roles in what’s happening in B1 that it would also be radically different.
We really have to backtrack to little Noatak and Tarrlok, who are adorably sweet kids. We can see that Noatak is already protective and concerned, and we hear that even as a small child, he wanted everyone to be treated fairly. So there’s that. Little Tarrlok is a more ambiguous figure, but under pressure his most noticeable quality is his distaste for causing pain. Without bloodbending driving a wedge between them, I tend to think their most distinctive qualities would influence each other more—Tarrlok would be more egalitarian and Noatak would be more soft-hearted.
That could lead them in a lot of directions, even assuming that they stuck together. For convenience’s sake, let’s say they’re still going to end up in Republic City.
Okay. While AU Yakone doesn’t train them as rigorously, I think their talent—especially Noatak’s—would still be evident. And I imagine that, good-natured as they are, Noatak and Tarrlok would always get a kick out of being good at things. So waterbending would have a completely opposite effect on their lives. They’d be taught to appreciate it in a nurturing way, and it’s also just amazing to be able to do (personally and culturally), and they’re good at it, really good. Waterbending is the best! And they’re fairly driven people, so if they retained that quality, I can see them wanting to learn and master it.
I’d imagine that they ultimately push to study under a waterbending master and Yakone eventually gives in, and they ultimately end up in the NWT capital and study until they’ve fully mastered it. I can imagine them becoming a bit arrogant—Noatak’s a world-class waterbender and knows it, and while Tarrlok is always a bit in his shadow, even roughly keeping up with him at three years younger takes some serious talent, which he comes to realize. They’re very sure of their abilities and very sure of their rightness about everything, while also being gentle and kind-hearted, with nerves of steel.
It’d be a bit funny if they still ended up in vaguely similar positions to canon, or alternately reversed ones (Noatak the politician pushing for change and Tarrlok the pragmatic activist!). But I don’t see a lot of reason for their paths to significantly diverge in this AU. I imagine they’d set out to Make Their Way In The World together, and perhaps Yakone would be just enough himself to like the idea of them rising in Republic City, so he directs them there.
Noatak and Tarrlok could really become anything, but I imagine they’d still care about the Situation that the city’s in, even without their personal issues driving them. It was probably something of a shock for them. Waterbending as pro-benders and triads use it is completely foreign to their relationship with it, and bending used to oppress non-benders is wtf???? They’d just be a) good people and b) on the same side. So I do lean towards thinking they’d be activists of some kind or another.
And it’d be interesting, because when Korra shows up, it’s—I mean, ultimately, the issues that arise around them in canon can be largely dismissed because it’s really about their family drama and also they’re villains. The other seasons largely ignore that they ever existed. But if Noatak and Tarrlok are concerned with the same things and actually super nice people, it’s much harder to just dismiss them, especially if they’ve ended up in a position/positions where they can go around asking the uncomfortable questions (maybe they’re reporters?).
(Asking uncomfortable questions would probably not win them friends among the triads, but like Korra, they’re pretty much fearless and at heart, enjoy a chance to use their asskicking abilities For Justice. I would definitely hope all three get a chance to fight together! :D)
Not sure where it’d end up, except that the non-bender issues and the consequence of the strain over it wouldn’t be shoved under the rug nearly so much. I do like the idea that they’re pretty hostile towards Korra and Tenzin and such at first, but ultimately become allies that she can call on later on, if they think her cause is Righteous. And that, of course, would interfere with the plots of all succeeding seasons, so … it gets even more complex from there.