Lin and Baatar Jr
Jan. 28th, 2017 09:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizbeeI'm up to Book 4 in my Legend of Korra rewatch (I can't believe it's nearly over!), and I'm struck by the similarities between Lin and her eldest nephew.
Hear me out, it's not just the hooded eyes and cheekbones that make me say this!
They're both authoritarian -- Baatar is an out and out fascist technocrat, whereas Lin is more flexible, but it's still noteworthy that her proposed response to the Equalists in Book 1 is a show of metalbending force. Unlike Baatar, she works within the boundaries of the law -- oh, until her career is undermined and her elite officers abducted, at which point she goes rogue.
(I really must write the AU where Lin joins Kuvira. I swear it isn't just an elaborate ploy to put Lin in the Earth Empire uniform with Kuvira's hairstyle.)
They're also nature's subordinates -- Baatar to Kuvira, Lin to the lawful government of the United Republic. This isn't necessarily a bad thing (except when you're the willing subordinate of a nationalist dictator, obviously), but they're not natural leaders. Well, particularly not Baatar; obviously Lin commands the loyalty and respect of the police force, but she's not a master politician like Raiko, or an innovator like Su.
(On the other hand, neither is Tenzin, who has nevertheless managed to have a successful career in politics. This is something I'm grappling with as I work on The AU Where Lin Becomes President Instead of Being A Cop, figuring out what needs to change for Lin to develop those skills.)
Speaking of innovation -- they're both engineers (I believe it was the Welcome to Republic City game that told us Lin designed the back spools her cops use, and nothing in that game was contradicted by canon, so I'm counting it) but they tend to build on existing ideas rather than develop new ones.
And, of course, they both have complicated relationships with their parents, their ambitions directed by their parents' professions, but feeling that they're in the shadow(s) of their progenitures.
And, in both cases, with good reason -- Su dismisses Baatar's agency, preferring to believe that he only disagrees with her because he's been brainwashed by Kuvira, and Toph regards Lin's issues as "nonsense".
Baatar has the advantage of having TWO parents, so he also resents his father, whose work overshadows his -- Baatar Sr is the "brilliant architect", Junior's just the engineer that makes it all work -- and let's face it, calling the guy "Junior" all his life is a recipe for aggravation.
Finally, they're both angry little turtleducks, and they express it in similar ways -- albeit Baatar is once again more extreme than Lin. Lin spends most of her first day in Zaofu sulking, but she actually growls like an angry cat when Korra says something she doesn't like. When Varrick and Bolin escape, Baatar's whole response is angry cat growls (and also violence).
IN CONCLUSION, I think that Baatar and Lin have a lot of similar traits. It's my headcanon that they're subconsciously aware of this, and loathe each other accordingly, but since we never see them interact, we'll never know.
Hear me out, it's not just the hooded eyes and cheekbones that make me say this!
They're both authoritarian -- Baatar is an out and out fascist technocrat, whereas Lin is more flexible, but it's still noteworthy that her proposed response to the Equalists in Book 1 is a show of metalbending force. Unlike Baatar, she works within the boundaries of the law -- oh, until her career is undermined and her elite officers abducted, at which point she goes rogue.
(I really must write the AU where Lin joins Kuvira. I swear it isn't just an elaborate ploy to put Lin in the Earth Empire uniform with Kuvira's hairstyle.)
They're also nature's subordinates -- Baatar to Kuvira, Lin to the lawful government of the United Republic. This isn't necessarily a bad thing (except when you're the willing subordinate of a nationalist dictator, obviously), but they're not natural leaders. Well, particularly not Baatar; obviously Lin commands the loyalty and respect of the police force, but she's not a master politician like Raiko, or an innovator like Su.
(On the other hand, neither is Tenzin, who has nevertheless managed to have a successful career in politics. This is something I'm grappling with as I work on The AU Where Lin Becomes President Instead of Being A Cop, figuring out what needs to change for Lin to develop those skills.)
Speaking of innovation -- they're both engineers (I believe it was the Welcome to Republic City game that told us Lin designed the back spools her cops use, and nothing in that game was contradicted by canon, so I'm counting it) but they tend to build on existing ideas rather than develop new ones.
And, of course, they both have complicated relationships with their parents, their ambitions directed by their parents' professions, but feeling that they're in the shadow(s) of their progenitures.
And, in both cases, with good reason -- Su dismisses Baatar's agency, preferring to believe that he only disagrees with her because he's been brainwashed by Kuvira, and Toph regards Lin's issues as "nonsense".
Baatar has the advantage of having TWO parents, so he also resents his father, whose work overshadows his -- Baatar Sr is the "brilliant architect", Junior's just the engineer that makes it all work -- and let's face it, calling the guy "Junior" all his life is a recipe for aggravation.
Finally, they're both angry little turtleducks, and they express it in similar ways -- albeit Baatar is once again more extreme than Lin. Lin spends most of her first day in Zaofu sulking, but she actually growls like an angry cat when Korra says something she doesn't like. When Varrick and Bolin escape, Baatar's whole response is angry cat growls (and also violence).
IN CONCLUSION, I think that Baatar and Lin have a lot of similar traits. It's my headcanon that they're subconsciously aware of this, and loathe each other accordingly, but since we never see them interact, we'll never know.
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Date: 2017-01-28 05:40 am (UTC)Hey. Even if it were, this would be undesirable how?
(Would she have to grow her hair?!)
This is a great post and I have loads to say so I will be back.
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Date: 2017-01-28 06:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-28 10:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-28 10:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-28 05:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-28 06:35 am (UTC)(It's so nice to be able to make fannish posts without feeling like I'm just making everyone exercise their scrolling fingers.)
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Date: 2017-01-29 06:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-28 10:35 am (UTC)...actually, I feel like flexibility and altruism are significant differentiators here. That and the fact that she has 30 years on him.
Unlike Baatar, she works within the boundaries of the law ... [until] she goes rogue.
Ah, yes. Lin and her conviction that no one can operate righteously outside the law - except Lin Beifong. In fairness, when she breaks bounds, it's to rescue and protect people in situations where her power might not otherwise reach.
Baatar would argue that he's in no way outside legal bounds, tyvm. How can he be, when he and Kuvira are making the laws?
they're not natural leaders ... [but] neither is Tenzin, who has nevertheless managed to have a successful career in politics.
A commitment to service can flip around into a great leadership quality. Lin takes her duty to the city and to her subordinates seriously. Not everyone will respect that, but enough will. Tenzin's got that plus he's a natural community builder, so he probably does pretty well when he's not being undermined.
(I'm pretty sure Zaofu runs on service, on some level - to and from according to needs and abilities and so forth - mentorship and paying forward and - well, I have a lot of headcanons, but this is tangential.)
Baatar has the advantage of having TWO parents
Twice the aggravation! Double the resentment!
they're both angry little turtleducks
There is/was a lazy fandom thing of making Baatar Junior a soft nerd muffin with delicate nerves and I'm like, have any of you met the guy?! He will fight you.
Junior's just the engineer who makes it happen
Case in point, imagine his reaction to this sentence.
Anyway. Shorter me: I agree, much similar many parallel, and the two of them would absolutely get along like fingernails on a blackboard.
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Date: 2017-01-28 10:46 am (UTC)I CAN'T BELIEVE I MISSED THOSE FACTS!
But yeah, and Baatar's weakest moment is when he tells Kuvira, "Welp, Korra said she'll keep us apart forever if you don't surrender, so let's just go back to the Earth Empire and heave each other."
LIN WOULD NEVER DO THAT, SHE IS ALL ABOUT THE SACRIFICE. Especially if she can sulk about it later.
Ah yes. Lin and her conviction that no one can operate righteously outside the law - except Lin Beifong.
All the Beifongs are hypocrites to one degree or another! ALL OF THEM. (Except Huan and the twins, that we've seen, they seem like nice young people.)
A commitment to service can flip around into a great leadership quality.
That's pretty much where my President Lin AU takes me, yeah. Baatar doesn't seem to have that particular selfless quality.
BUT ALSO, TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR ZAOFU HEADCANON! Because I don't see it as a sustainable society? Like, it's a technocracy based on one subsection of bending, I can see why Su created it, but I'm not sure how sustainable it is. I mean, for one thing, we see very few kids in the crowd scenes!
There is/was a lazy fandom thing of making Baatar Junior a soft nerd muffin with delicate nerves...
OH PLEASE, he's the Zaofu equivalent of G_merg_te. He's a Silicon Valley techbro. HE IS RICHARD SPENCER AND VARRICK HAS EXTENSIVE FOOTAGE OF HIM BEING PUNCHED IN THE FACE.
Which is to say, that interpretation is only valid if it's Suyin's perspective.
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Date: 2017-01-30 11:05 am (UTC)Is it a family curse? Or a byproduct of just being really intense? In which case Huan probably doesn't escape, he's just quiet about it. The twins might still be OK!
That's pretty much where my President Lin AU takes me, yeah.
President Lin. *chinhands* This is the same one where the characters are miserable? I hope you are having fun even if they are not.
BUT ALSO, TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR ZAOFU HEADCANON! Because I don't see it as a sustainable society? Like, it's a technocracy based on one subsection of bending, I can see why Su created it, but I'm not sure how sustainable it is. I mean, for one thing, we see very few kids in the crowd scenes!
I had not noticed that specific demographic thing! But broadly, I share your concerns. A lot of my future speculation assumes Zaofu isn't sustainable, in its Suyin-approved form, though it's usually more a matter of values drift than total failure. Well, sometimes it's total failure. Suyin as a small-scale hippy-technocrat Ozymandias has a certain appeal.
(My default future!Suyin is not a happy bunny. At all. Sometimes I feel bad about that.)
Things about Zaofu I would really like to know: how many people live there, and how much of it Suyin owns outright. Any thoughts?
I might do actual Zaofu headcanons in their own post tomorrow, if that's alright. They're being difficult.
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Date: 2017-01-31 01:46 am (UTC)Does staring at a Word doc, wondering how to make sentences, count as having fun?
Right?! I'm not even sure Zaofu is saveable post-Kuvira -- she's stripped the domes, and probably a lot of other resources, plus it would be hard to rebuild trust between Su and the citizens, what with Su having mentored Kuvira and the citizens then acquiescing to Kuvira's invasion.
Beifongs/suffering is a perfectly cromulent OTP.
I figure that Zaofu is probably mostly owned by Su, and run as a collective/commune/company town. Does it derive income from innovative patents and metalwork?
It's a bit rich that Su considers it separate from the Earth Kingdom -- like, it's basically the equivalent of the Principality of the Hutt River, right? Conveniently, Wu's decision to let the Earth Kingdom states remain independent permits Zaofu to continue in that vein -- at least until Su dies and her heirs have to decide what to do with the inheritance. (Or ... whatever the legal status of the Beifong fortune is -- does Toph control it? Is Su living off a very large trust fund? Or is the bulk of the wealth held in common? I don't know nearly enough about Chinese inheritance and property law.)
I'm looking forward to your headcanon!
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Date: 2017-02-03 12:16 pm (UTC)Ah. Sympathies.
Beifongs/suffering is a perfectly cromulent OTP.
I swear before LoK I didn't even do OTPs. Now I have three, apparently.
Hutt River was a fascinating read, thanks for the link!
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Date: 2017-01-28 02:02 pm (UTC)... but really, this post has reminded me that the show correctly spelled the name "Baatar," when I'd thought they'd spelled it "Bataar" because they pronounce it incorrectly. (It should be BAAH-tar, not ba-TAR. Though they also pronounce Saikhan wrong, probably because Cyrillic transliteration is annoying! These have been fun facts about how to pronounce what I'm guessing are Mongolian-based names correctly.)
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Date: 2017-01-30 03:49 am (UTC)I don't know about that -- in the Yakone flashbacks in Book 1, some random Acolyte is representing the Air Nation on the Council. So Tenzin isn't the only option -- but he clearly feels drawn to a leadership role, if not politics per se.
I didn't realise they were probably Mongolian! But yeah, the westernised pronunciation of names in this universe is frustrating. See also: Mai.
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Date: 2017-02-01 01:35 pm (UTC)