Tahno Week: Day 6: Tahno in Book 2
“You called Uh-vatar?”
tried drawing wolfbats…didn’t work out so well (__ __ )
Mr. Nubs you asshole. More Majeh stuff; Mr. Nubs is kinda a stray who just crashes at random hotels forcing random people to pat him
then he claws them and moves onto a new victim,
Seriously though getting hit in the face by a cat that big is like a full on punch in the face.
(a bit more experimenting, this time with awkward poses
and way more clothes than necessary)
…ahh, Wolfbats: Shaozu, Tahno, Ming
for nijibug,for kind of inadvertently convincing me that this fabulous OT3 is simply canon
Anonymous asked: What’re some of your headcanons on all the wolfbats?
Since I already posted my Tahno ones, I assume you mean Ming and Shaozu. Ummm…I don’t know that I really have any? They’re like, barely even characters in canon. It’s hard to really extrapolate that much from characters that don’t get a single line (or equivalent form of communication).
Um let’s see. I did have ages for them like a million years ago. Tahno was 22, Shaozu was 23, Ming was 20. In the Chinese Zodiac that’d make Tahno a Monkey, Shaozu a Goat, and Ming a Dog. IDK it was just a random sort of thing.
I don’t really go with the animation error on Shaozu’s eyes, I just consider them gold. But Ming’s looked kind of blue, so he could be part Water Tribe or something? I sort of both play with the stereotypes (earth is stable and steady, fire is temperamental) just to have something to go on, and try to find ways to subvert them, because I don’t want them to just be cardboard cutouts of their element’s stereotype. I think of Shaozu as a little mini-me to Tahno, sort of like a diva runner up, because he has the most ridiculous hair, and Ming as having more practical sense, because he like, catches Tahno when he’s stumbling.
When I’m not writing a Wolfbats-centric fic, I usually try to get Tahno away from his teammates. Sorry, babies! It’s just that it’s a lot harder to focus on Tahno’s ~pain~ when you have two virtual OCs suffering alongside him. I feel bad about it, but basically if you want him to build any kind of intense emotional connection with anyone else, you need to rip away his support structure and isolate him. I really thought after ep 5 when I saw that spoiler cap of him losing his bending that he’d be the only one to lose his, and that’d be what separated him from his teammates, got him out of his comfort zone, and left him a free agent to join the Krew. Just like how when Zuko developed as a character, he was pulled away from his support structures—his ship and crew, then even Iroh. That’s like, “how to make a side-character into a protagonist 101.” You cut all the ties binding them to their old life.
I honestly think most people aren’t going to be as invested in the other two Wolfbats, simply because they’re like, barely characters. And the ones that are probably have their own involved headcanons about them, and will hate how I write them. Actually, I think I even run into that writing Tahno, because there’s so little of him in canon, there’s so much room for interpretation.
But yeah basically I just use them in ways I think will be interesting for the plot. I try to give them personalities and make them feel real when they show up, but I don’t have backstories for them or anything that I carry from fic to fic.
FIC: The Cage, Tahno/Shaozu, Tahno/Ming
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There are three rules.
One: no bending.
Two: no weapons.
Three: you win when your opponent yields, loses consciousness, or dies.
Still trying to figure out pro-bending.
So, pro-bending is similar to MMA (which the creators are fans of) and boxing, which was popular in the 1920s. However, unlike these two things, it’s a team sport, and most of the teams have place names preceding them.
Here’s where I get confused.
Sports where teams represent cities tend to move around what arena they play in, not just play it continuously in the same arena. (Unless it’s like the Olympics, in which it changes city every year?) The sport may have originated in Republic City, but it wouldn’t make sense for it to only ever be played there. Other places would have their own arenas, and either they wouldn’t cross-compete, or the teams would travel around.
We don’t know where most of the places are (like White Falls) but the Ember Island Eel-hounds are mentioned, and we know Ember Island’s all the way over in the Fire Nation. So this is an international event.
So…where the hell do the Fire Ferrets fit into this? They’re never introduced as the Republic City Fire Ferrets, and we never see a Republic City team. Where the hell did the home team go, and why is another team from the same place allowed to compete? We know they’re not the Republic City team, because 1) they’re responsible for funding themselves, and there’s no reason for the Republic City team to be that broke/not have anyone funding them, 2) they can change their name to the Future Industries Fire Ferrets without consulting anyone on it, showing they have autonomy, and 3) they’re described as a rookie team that was never expected to make it this far. You’d think the Republic City home team would be the best of the best.
It’s painted simultaneously as though anyone who can scrape together three team members and the entrance fee can compete…but it’s also an international competition with teams representing cities? Huh?
If the Fire Ferrets were the only local team, they’d be obscenely popular. Not underdog who’s making it popular. Superstar popular. Can’t go out in public popular. I can’t imagine many people would be cheering for the Wolfbats, unless they made the trip from White Falls to do it.
Are the Wolfbats actually from some place called White Falls? If so, then why is Tahno something of a local celebrity? Why does he have a hangout in Republic City plastered with his pictures? He should be a heel, on enemy turf. (This is why I just forget the “White Falls” thing and write him as a Republic City resident most of the time. It doesn’t make sense.)
Basically, this tries to be the Olympics, the Superbowl, and a down and dirty 1920s cage fight at the same time. And I can’t figure out if these teams are really international or if they’re local, if they’re sponsored or work independently, and how the hell the Fire Ferrets fit into any of this.
…maybe the place names are supposed to show they’re teams of scrappy immigrants who came to Republic City to “make it”? But then why does EVERY team except the Fire Ferrets come from somewhere else, and there are no duplicates? What if the team members are from different places? They didn’t become the South Pole Fire Ferrets when Korra joined. I…I don’t get it.
