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From the Editor: The Oogies are never late!!! |
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To those who are unfamiliar with the Ba Sing Se Times, this is a free-for-all submission system that truly relies on you to keep publishing. If you're anything like me, you also wouldn't mind being part of a fancy blog feature on Avatar Wiki's home page just for submitting a sophisticated ramble in style! See those huge, obvious buttons above me? One click is all it takes for your journey to glorified publishing to begin... We WILL see you in our article submission office. We will. You know you want to. |
Happy Valentine's Day, Avatar Wiki!
Yes, we are late but nonetheless GREAT because of you and the talents of our wonderful community and collaborators! Love is forever, not just on the 14th after all. We hope that you made sure your Valentine's Day was lovely - and if not, accept these love letters from us below! Our community poured its heart out to Avatar as it does every year, and the voice actors of the Book 4: Restoration Project have responded to your confessions. Love is in the air and shall be forevermore!
Happy Reading, folks!
╔══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╗
Team Avatar Cast
"Just because it's endgame, doesn't mean it's a good ship" I've said this quote a lot and it comes up a lot in my opinion. Yes, it was clear from the very beginning that this relationship was going to happen. It's the "Jim and Pam" of this series. However, there was very little actually supporting this relationship in the series. Aang's point of view At the very start of the series, we know right away that Aang has feelings for Katara. This is first shown to us when Katara frees him and we get this look at Katara from his point of view. Pretty much all the time we see him blushing, stumbling over his words, or whatever other imagery they need to show us that he's crushing over her. This becomes more evident later on, for example in The Deserter when he accidently burns her. The most prominent times that his feelings for Katara are laid out very clearly are in The Guru, Nightmares and Daydreams, The Day of Black Sun, Part 1: The Invasion, and The Ember Island Players. All of these examples contribute to why we know that this is the endgame ship.
Katara's point of view What those examples do NOT do, on the other hand, is show Katara having ANY feelings for Aang. Throughout the entire series, she never once thinks of him romantically, and if she does its definitely not shown. Heck even in the Super Deformed Shorts they had Katara ignore Aang in that classroom episode. And she is usually shown as a mother figure, both figuratively during The Runaway when Toph points out that she mothers the group, and then more literally in The Headband when she actually pretends to be his mother.
As late as The Ember Island Players, she has zero interest in Aang. Why suddenly does she have these romantic feelings at the end of the finale? It doesn't add up. No Buildup This is what I mean when I say there's "no buildup" for the relationship. There was buildup from Aang's point of view, but there was none whatsoever from Katara. It feels off-kilter. Compare this with another big ship Zutara (Zuko and Katara). Zuko and Katara had so much more buildup together than Aang and Katara ever did. Most prominently in The Crossroads of Destiny and The Southern Raiders we see their relationship build more and more. Then, cut to the finale, when Katara is with Aang. Oh sorry, my bad, I mistyped that. She was not with Aang, the person she is supposed to end up with, but rather Zuko. Their relationship is even further built up after Katara defeats Azula and heals Zuko.
Now to be clear, I do not ship Zutara. I'm just pointing out that them ending up together would've been much more rewarding and it would've made more sense given the mutual buildup between the two of them. Of course people like that Aang and Katara ended up together because Aang is the main character and it's normal to want the main character's love interest to end up with them... but there was no love coming from Katara until the kiss at the very end. Conclusion As I said toward the beginning, Aang and Katara becoming a couple was always meant to be, but the story could've done a lot better at showing that in a more realistic way. Just because one person has a crush on somebody else, doesn't suddenly equate to a mutual or successful relationship. In the comments, share your thoughts on "Kataang" and whether or not you agree with what I had to say!
Here's our latest question for you lovely folks! A big thank-you from the BSST staff to those who participated. We typically reach out on the Avatar Wiki Discord channel to conduct surveys. Missed your chance but want to catch us next time? See you in the chatroom ;)
"What character ship do you find underrated or overrated?"
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Happy New Year Avatar Wiki! Happy Year of the Snake! And Happy Valentines' Day!
That's a lot of happy. I'm sure you're feeling happy now, right? Last year we had some big releases and announcements in the Avatar franchise, and while at a glance 2025 will be a little quieter, there's still heaps to look forward to!
The Netflix series is set to wrap up filming for the second season in March 2025, so it's unlikely that the series will be releasing this year. However, we can possibly expect another trailer, or at the very least, perhaps more news about casting. It's true that the first series did receive mixed reviews, though I'm trying to be positive and hope that it will improve and learn from the feedback. Book Two is my favourite of all the original Avatar series, and so there's a lot of exciting material to work with. Next we have Avatar Studios. The adult Gaang movie is set to release January 2026, and so we can almost certainly expect a trailer this year. Casting for many of the characters has been announced, and there are some rumours/leaks of concept art and other details but they won't be discussed here. There has also been an official announcement of the next animated series after The Legend of Korra. I haven't quite had time to digest the news and form a proper opinion yet, but it's pretty awesome to have that conformation. Either way, we'll hopefully get more details from the new studios, which will be exciting I'm sure! The adult Aang movie is probably a safe bet for the Avatar Studios as these characters are beloved, and if the film is a great success it could definitely pave the way for future series and content to come.
The novels and comic scene is where we'll get most of our releases for 2025. The Mystery of Penquan Island is a Legend of Korra comic set to release this March 4th. The standalone comic features Mako and Bolin as they investigate a missing persons case that leads them to the Fire Nation island of Penquan. Ashes of the Academy is another comic, set in Aang's time, which follows Zuko and his half-sister Kiyi as she attends the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. With concerns over a new headmistress, Zuko asks Mai to become a teacher at the academy to keep an eye on the culture of the school and those Zuko doesn't trust. This graphic novel is also set to release in March 2025, so we'll have some new content pretty soon if all goes to plan. And there's always the free comic book day release to look forward to as well. In addition, the sixth instalment of the Chronicles of the Avatar novel series, The Awakening of Roku,, is set to be release October 14th 2025. Roku's story will be following the same formula as the other novels in that this sixth novel will be the sequel and final book covering Roku. I haven't yet gotten round to reading the first Roku novel, but I thoroughly enjoyed the Kyoshi and Yangchen ones so it's exciting that the novel series is continuing.
The gaming space also has a potential release for 2025. Avatar: Realms Collide is a mobile game that's had its release date shifted a fair bit, but at the moment is tentatively expected to release in February. The fighting game by Max Entertainment has sadly been cancelled, though there may be some further news on the next additions to the table top roleplaying game.
A couple of extras to mention. A new recipe book has been announced for release in September 2025: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Official Baking Book. This one has different authors but the same publisher, and covers baking recipes inspired by the Four Nations. Sadly, I haven't used my copy of the first cookbook a tonne despite having some amazing dishes in there, though this baking one has egg custard on the front so I'm sold. There's also another couple book releases, How to Draw Avatar: The Last Airbender, for anyone keen on the art side of things, and also Bending Academy set for release in July.
And of course, any look ahead would be incomplete without also commenting on our wiki. This year will be the wiki's 20th anniversary! And for the BSST this year (*cough* if we can keep schedule) may also feature our long-awaited Issue 100! This is one we've been looking forward to for a while and have some big plans!
So even though there won't be as many releases as previous years, 2025 will still be a blast and exciting to see updates of what the franchise is cooking up! And we at the BSST want to make this year a fun one for our Avatar Wiki community, so do let us know what you're enjoying, or what you'd like to see us do more of in the future! Flameo Avatar Wikians! And have a flame-tastic 2025 ahead!
In addition to voicing Avatar Korra, Janet Varney also voiced the conjoined frog spirit May-Jim in Book Two: Spirits.
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Writing and storytelling is such a personal endeavour that receiving feedback can be... daunting. Saddening too, especially when plans have to drastically change. However, it can also be crucial to writing stories and be such a lifesaver. Having a different perspective and fresh set of eyes can honestly change a story for the better. Its why authors have beta-readers and editors. But what about times were advice can be hard – or even impossible – to implement? Or it requires such a drastic change to aspects of a story? I want to share two examples of advice I received for my latest fanfiction The Legend of Korra Book 4: Cycle to illustrate this point. One which prompted a drastic change to the story, and the other, one that I couldn't actually follow but still made changes in light of that feedback. I will be sharing pretty big spoilers so keep that in mind. It's crazy to think about it, but I started working on this current project eight years ago. At the time, Mage was my beta-reader. Those of us who knew Mage while he was with us remember how he was an accomplished writer, an all-round funny and awesome human, but also how he was the biggest Legend of Korra critic I knew. So who better to ask to beta-read my LoK fanfiction right? My initial plan was to have a four-part 'extra' finale to Book 4, taking place in the Fire Nation, where the remaining Earth Empire stage an invasion to enact retribution. The four-part series would feature the Fire Nation – barely seen or mentioned since the first series – and feature some epic battles. It would also include a resolution to the Red Lotus, which was something hinted at in the last episode of Book 3. All in all, I was pretty happy with what I was writing and sent the first half to Mage to look at. And then he told me that the story didn't really work. In a nice way of course. Characters kind of appeared haphazardly. The 'cool' parts I enjoyed writing were out of place and not as exciting as I'd hoped. And a lot of the plot just seemed too bogged down with the extra characters I was adding and rather out of the blue. The only thing Mage thought was good were the interactions between Korra and Asami as their relationship developed.
At the time I was kind of lost. Mage had some really good points, but I had already worked out so much of the story that I couldn't see a way forwards. Eventually though, I decided that if many parts of the fanfiction where jarring or came out of nowhere, then perhaps I could build these ideas up over a longer period of time. I could write my own 'Book 4'. It was scary though! No one wants to make a drastic change and see it fail and all that time wasted. And while it has taken me a long, long time to finally be ready to publish, it was honestly the best advice I could've received. My story now is less a reaction to my dissatisfaction of Book 4's ending and more about writing my own story with a different character arc and themes that I could explore fully. I've been able to build up the Earth Empire and Red Lotus storylines and (hopefully) have included them in an interesting way, because I've had all those extra chapters. I've also been able to expand upon ideas briefly mentioned in the original like Raiko's politicking, and although I find 'fixing' projects are kind of interesting, I feel like this version of my fanfiction is way healthier as it's more about exploring Korra's character and deeper themes that I want to and less about simply writing my own version of the original.
So there's an example of advice that was difficult to hear at the time, but honestly, was exactly what I needed to hear. And I'm super thankful for Mage's input, and hope that what I've written could've been enjoyable even by the biggest LoK critic I knew. But what about advice that can't be listened to? Should we just toss that aside or ignore it if it is incompatible with our own goals? Well now onto my second example, which is exactly that. Funnily enough, my dad actually offered to beta-read part of my story as I started fleshing out this Book 4 project. He read the first twenty or so chapters, so all of Part 1, which focuses on the Earth Empire and Kuvira, but still introduces the Red Lotus. When I asked him what he thought about including both the Red Lotus and Earth Empire as two separate antagonists, he said that they should be in a sequel instead. That it was fine to introduce the Red Lotus, but resolve the Earth Empire plot first and leave the Red Lotus out of it. Now my dad was only vaguely aware of the Avatar franchise and had no idea that Book 3 was about just that; it focused solely on the Red Lotus and their agenda. So for me to follow his advice was actually impossible as it would go against the spirit of the story I was working on. I wanted a Book 4 that dealt with both antagonists for the sake of Korra's arc, and if I only were to include the one, then it would be too similar to the original. So what does an author do in this situation? The first example with Mage's feedback was difficult for me to accept, but rewriting the story and expanding it was still possible. The second example of feedback was something that went against the spirit of why I was writing it. All things considered, the advice I received still shed light on what the reading experience was like of my story. So I had to ask myself questions. Why did the Red Lotus not also fit in the story? Was there not enough build-up for both antagonists? Or was the plot/cast too bloated? Was there enough time spent integrating both storylines together and developing them separately? And these questions led to some important changes. I wanted the readers to be aware of the Red Lotus' presence right from the get go, so there wouldn't be any disappointment of them being another secret Earth Empire sect or anything like that. So in the prologue, there's a letter penned by the Grand Lotus that serves both as an introduction but also confirmation. I also made sure that even though the Red Lotus were present, they aren't very active until Part 3, as this makes the story less convoluted and focused more on Kuvira and her rise to power in the first half.
I also needed the storylines to play off each other when both antagonists were established. Because of the Red Lotus attacks on Republic City, President Raiko is forced into a temporary truce with the Earth Empire. But this causes even more unrest in the public since the Earth Empire have, you know, annexed the entire Earth Kingdom, and the Red Lotus use this unrest to fuel the fires of rebellion. So after being established, both antagonists interact with each other, tying the story together in a more cohesive and less complicated way. All in all, while I couldn't follow this advice directly, it still gave me pause to think about what changes I could make.I've received similar feedback on other works too. I entered The Last Firebender into a writing contest and got feedback that it needed more 'action'. While this kind of baffled me as the story was not an action-centric story at all but a more contemplative one that dealt with spirituality, purpose, and loneliness, the feedback did make me consider my word choices and sentence structure. Maybe I could've used faster-paced language in places? Or choppier sentences? Maybe there were ways which I could foster more excitement and interest even in a more passive story like this one? At the end of the day, you have to write something that you are happy with; there's no way I could've worked on this project for eight years otherwise. But that doesn't mean we should ignore advice and feedback that doesn't align with our initial goals. And feedback given in good faith always gives a window into the reading experience of your work, so it's worth considering and acting on, even if it can't be implemented as is. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this piece, and if you have any examples like mine of times when you've received feedback and how you responded then please do share in the comments! And I wish all my fellow authors a prosperous 2025!
Here you'll find the latest fanon news and requests from the community. You can also visit the FRRS for an interview or technical review, or the Fanonbenders for help.
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the moment you told me you didn't love me anymore. How could you tear us apart? I cried for weeks for someone I would've died for and mourned our relationship like it was its own person. Growing depressed as my feelings worsen, I saw you yesterday at the party with someone new. The dagger, still lodged in my heart, continued to cut through. I felt nauseous, my heart sank, and my eyes swelled with tears. Plenty of sorrows and drowning myself in beers. But in half a year, I'll be fine. I will have no fear; I'll shine. I'll be ready for a new love. Maybe someone whose favorite flower is the foxglove. One, I can look for inspiration, a new muse. Someone who won't find it boring to visit a museum and see statues. Ironically, I'm thankful you plunged daggers into my heart because I'd never find the one. I no longer have a nagger or someone who put me down a ton. The pain and anxiety was well worth it, I finally moved on, dating what you could've been–all in one.
Check out some recent artwork from our very own community!
Original Artwork by Bomochu
Original Artwork by KingBumisHeir
Original Artwork by Yukari (Discord)
 For this issue I decided to go back and feature a completed fanfiction that I really enjoyed a while back! My Imago, by Kyoshidude, is a collection of short one-shots that explore the characters of our favourite elderly twins, Lo and Li. What stuck out to me even when reading again recently was the quality of the writing, the word choice, and just how thoughtfully this story was put together. Lo and Li are pretty unknown in the show as we don't see a lot of them, probably with Ember Island having the most screentime. And something I love about this story is that it really does change the way you view the characters. Have a read of the synopsis below! My Imago
Synopsis Imago: an idealised concept of a loved one, formed in childhood and retained unaltered in adult life. Lo and Li are twins sisters, and share a special connection. My Imago is a collection of one-shots, based from the views of many, which explores the sister's connection. Throughout the collection, the sisters' ideals of love, family and sacrifice are tested and perhaps, after a lifetime of turmoil, the two will turn out smoothened.
Need your mindbender fix? Check out our newsletter games below!
Avatar Jigsaw What's a newsletter without random time-killing puzzles and games? This here is an interactive puzzle that allows you to move the pieces of the image around until they all click together. Find out which iconic image we've pulled from the series, and see who gets the best time! Click here to complete the interactive jigsaw.  Avatar Wordle Our Avatar take on an internet classic! But beware; while guesses can't be proper nouns, answers can be! Think you have what it takes? Click here!  |
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