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From the Editor: 20 years of Avatar Greatness! |
| Welcome to Avatar Wiki's Community Newsletter! |
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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. |
Most joyous greetings, Avatar Wiki!
First, please disregard the blemish that was The Duke's Digest, which was published on April 1st. If anyone ever doubted that I alone am Supreme Dictator Editor-in-Chief, well, don't. But anyway, that's not what we're truly here for today.
Today is a celebration of anniversaries! 20 years, in fact; for both the Avatar franchise and Avatar Wiki that grew alongside it. It's a wonderful thing to see that both have withstood the test of time and that fans still come together with all the good, bad and ugly of the fandom community experience. Our patience has paid off, too! There are so many new releases that one could only dream of coming. But I'll stop rambling now for you to read more about it in this issue. We hope that our community continues to thrive as the wonderful world of Avatar does!
Happy Reading, folks!
This is a series of questions answered by Judy I. Lin, the writer of the new Avatar Legends novel City of Echoes, which features Jin and her story during the Hundred Year War. It was released on Jul 22, 2025. The Q/A was approved by Paramount.
In some of the novels you have written in the past, especially The Dark Becomes Her, Asian mythology and Asian history take a very important role. How did those elements influence your work on City of Echoes and your vision of the Avatar Legends universe in general?
And speaking of influences, are there any other media, such as films or novels, that significantly influenced City of Echoes?
Was Jin your first choice for the protagonist of your novel, or did Avatar Studios approach you with more of a complete concept for the story? If she was your choice, what made you choose her?
How much freedom did Avatar Studios give you with Jin's story and Avatar lore? Did Mike and Bryan, the co-creators, speak to you during this process?
How would you describe Jin in three words?
If you had the chance to write another novel about a different minor character of Avatar, from any era, who would you choose and why?
The secrecy and the mystery that exists within the walls of Ba Sing Se during the war adds a dark and creepy tone to the original show when it is first presented. Did you include elements of horror into this novel considering this sinister background?
Can you tell us if we will see any more familiar characters in the book?
We know on the wiki that Jin appeared in an old comic in The Lost Adventures, and had a short character profile on the Nickelodeon website. Were these helpful to you, or did you choose to mostly start fresh with her character?
Speaking of material other than the show, there anything that you feel that a Chronicles of the Avatar reader/fan will appreciate more while reading your novel? For example, things like the daofei problem from Kyoshi's time?
What would you say the biggest differences are between the new novel series and Chronicles of the Avatar?
We understand that the novel's timeframe will overlap with some events from the main animated show. How much of a challenge was it to line everything up with what we know from the show? We know that the Avatar universe is big and it keeps expanding with new releases, making it hard to keep track with so many elements and characters. Was the wiki ever of any help for you in this sense?
What new aspects of Ba Sing Se are you excited for the readers to find out about?
And last question... Is there a war in Ba Sing Se?
As a fan of Avatar, and someone who creates fan comics, I found myself constantly running into the same problem: I needed specific information fast, but couldn't easily find it. Sure, the Avatar Wiki is incredible and has everything you could want, but it wasn't built for the kind of targeted searches I needed.
Say I'm working on a story and I need to know about dangerous flying creatures from the Earth Kingdom. With the Wiki, I'd have to scroll, read, and scroll again, all manually. There's no way to just filter and say "show me only Earth Nation flying creatures" or "show me only dangerous animals from all nations." It's a lot of clicking around and note-taking. That's what drove me to create three different web tools that solve this exact problem. The Fauna Encyclopedia: Filtering Made Simple
The first tool I built was a fauna encyclopedia that lets you search and filter all the creatures from Avatar however you want. Want to see only Fire Nation predators? Done. Curious about all the flying animals across every nation? Easy. Need to compare similar creatures side by side? No problem. Everything is still sourced from the Wiki because I didn't want to get any facts wrong, but now it's organized in a way that actually helps you find what you're looking for quickly. As someone who writes fan content, this has been a game-changer for my research process. The Spirit Encyclopedia: Understanding the Other World
The spirit encyclopedia works the same way but focuses on the spiritual side of Avatar. You can filter by dangerous spirits, knowledgeable spirits, or whatever category makes sense for what you're working on. Each entry includes all the lore and background information, but now it's presented in a way where you can actually narrow down to exactly what you need. Both encyclopedias solve the same core problem: the original Wiki is amazing, but sometimes you need to slice and dice that information differently to find what you're actually looking for. The Culinary Generator: A World-Building Revelation
The third tool came from a completely different place. When the Avatar cookbook came out, it hit me that I'd been totally overlooking the food world-building in the series. I always just thought "food is food," but that couldn't be more wrong. Suddenly I realized that sea prunes aren't real. Beetle-Worm soup is made up. Komodo chicken only makes sense in a world where komodo rhinos exist. The Fire Nation's obsession with spicy food like flaming fire flakes isn't just random, it's part of their culture. All of this stuff is carefully crafted world-building that I'd been completely missing. But then I thought: what if you want to mix and match? What if you're creating something new and want a dessert inspired by Earth, Air, and Fire Nation cuisines all at once? There's nothing in canon that really covers that kind of cross-cultural cooking. So I built a culinary generator that combines ingredients and cooking styles from different nations in interesting ways. It's been really fun to use, and other people I've shared it with have come up with some genuinely creative dishes using it. How I Actually Build These Things My process is pretty straightforward. I start by doing as much research as possible, mainly through the Wiki but also by talking to other fans about what they'd want to see in a tool like this. What would make it most useful for them? Then I work with Google Gemini to code the actual web pages. It's really just a back-and-forth process until I get something I'm happy with. But honestly, the most important part is the human feedback loop. I'll share what I've built with people, and they'll tell me what's working, what's broken, and what's missing. It's this iterative process of improvement based on real user needs. For Nerds: This application is entirely client-side, meaning everything runs directly in the user's web browser—there's no server, no backend code, and no external database. Because it's just a single .html file, it can be hosted anywhere that supports static files. Ideal platforms include GitHub Pages, Netlify, and Vercel, which are fast and often free. It doesn't need any server logic—just open it in a browser and it works, even if the file is stored on your own computer. The app is built with the standard web trio: HTML for structure (buttons, headings, and layout), CSS for visual style (fonts, colors, responsiveness), and JavaScript for all the behavior and logic. The JavaScript responds when the user clicks a button, stops the form from trying to submit to a server, and reads the form inputs. Then it runs the logic to create a custom dish and updates the page's content to show the result. No PHP is involved, since everything happens inside the browser without contacting a server. All the data the app uses—ingredients, styles, and even lore—is stored directly in the HTML file, inside a big JavaScript object called CANON_DATA. This object is like a built-in database, organized by nation and category, with rich details like ingredient types, flavor tags, and rarity. It also includes templates for auto-generating descriptions and lore. Since all this data and code is bundled into one file, the app is self-contained and fully portable. Why This Matters to Me With these three web tools, I feel like I'm actually contributing something new to the Avatar fandom. I haven't seen anything quite like them before, and they solve real problems that I know other fans and creators face too. The Wiki will always be the definitive source for Avatar information, and these tools don't replace that at all. They just make that same information more accessible when you need to find something specific quickly. Whether you're writing fan fiction, creating art, or just exploring the world of Avatar in more depth, having the right information at your fingertips makes all the difference. For me, it's been incredibly satisfying to take something I love and find a way to make it even more useful for the community. These tools help me with my own creative projects, but knowing that other fans can benefit from them too makes the whole effort worthwhile.
Some Bonus ones I've created:
Did you know...?
20 years ago the Avatar Wiki was founded by Howabout1, who was active on the site until early 2009.  |
With much speculation and leaks floating around about the new Avatar series, it sure is welcome news to have some confirmation from Avatar Studios.
Of course, what I'm referring to is the latest announcement at SDCC Comic-Con and the Instagram reel of Mike and Bryan discussing the next instalment of the Avatar animated series. In the video, Bryke show off some beautiful artwork of the new Avatar, named Pavi, along with her animal guide Geet – a cat monkey – as well as a master (presumably an airbender based on the clothing colours) named Jae. The series will be more 'fantasy/otherwordly', and use inspirations from 90s anime and the French artist Mœbius, making the series feel quite different from the other two sequels.
While there is still a lot of mystery surrounding the series, this latest announcement does confirm the direction that Avatar is going with the animated series. Most of the comments I've looked through are either positive or neutral, with people admiring the new artwork or sitting on the fence and waiting patiently for more. One thing that seems to be a little divisive is the art style, with some people claiming there is no difference or it's expected since animation techniques have improved over the past couple decades, while on the other side, fans feel like they miss the older art style and this one looks too clean. With only one image it is way too early to tell, but there is a part of me that agrees that this doesn't quite look like Avatar. Even with the Legend of Korra early art it was pretty easy to tell that it's from the Avatar franchise, whether it's Korra's Water Tribe clothing, or the roofs of the buildings in Republic City. With this new artwork, I wouldn't have any idea that's it's Avatar related just by looking at it. Perhaps the aurora in the sky or the strange-looking crystals on the ground look kind of 'spirit world fantasy' which is the vibe the Bryke have said they were going for, or Jae's outfit kind of looks like a pro-bending airbender one though a little futuristic, but aside from these things it doesn't quite feel like Avatar. And I can appreciate why some fans may not be too keen on the new look based on this. None of this means it will be bad though, and change can be a good thing. But I guess there's a part of me that still hopes it feels like 'Avatar', even if the world it's set in is in quite a different state. With only one image so far it is too early to tell, but I can see why there has been that criticism. With Pavi herself, we also see an Avatar with a darker complexion. There are some characters like Guru Pathik, Prince Wu, and Jargala Omo, who also share these same physical characteristics, and as such, some people have suggested that maybe this new series will also have more South Asian or Indian inspirations too. There are still some uncharted places in the Avatar universe where these characters may have hailed from, and so perhaps the city of Alora is a future version of one of these locations? The name itself seems to be inspired by Ellora Caves, a spiritual place in India today, and even the names Pavi and Jae have meanings in Indian. While this may feel a little left-field for some, it could be a really cool way to keep things fresh and new for the next series. So long as it's done in a way that doesn't compromise the world building, this is something I actually look forward too. Something else that has made me pause is actually Pavi's colour palate. With the purple-ish tinge to her hair, along with the lime green and peach clothing, it kind of looks a bit clashy. I know I know, when you're poor you probably don't care so long as it doesn't have holes in it and is somewhat functional, but as the main protagonist of a series it doesn't quite look as compelling as others have like Korra or Aang. Compare Pavi's first look to the myriad of fan 'Earth Avatars' out there and hopefully you'll get what I mean. Maybe this will change as we go on, or perhaps her more unassuming look will factor into the story somehow? Either way it's too early to form a strong opinion on it, but it's something that has bugged me a little. While this latest news has brought out different views, I think it's always worth being patient and slightly on the fence. There's a while yet before the series will be out, a whole animated movie too, and by then maybe things will be a lot clearer. But for now, it's great to be getting these updates, and with a talented team involved I am hoping for the best and still a little excited to see more. But what are your thoughts on the latest announcements? Let us know in the comments!
The Hundred Year War is the centrepiece of the series that we all know and love. Without it, there would be no Avatar the Last Airbender, which would be very sad for us. On the flipside, there would also be no genocide of the air nomads and no major tragedies for the characters we love so much. So, it is worth asking, could the war have been avoided? The oldest sign we see of this war is when Sozin proposed to Roku that the Fire Nation “shares” its prosperity with the rest of the world. Roku instantly shut down the idea and succeeded in shutting down the idea for the rest of his life. When he died, that was a different story. So the question now becomes, what was Sozin's true motive? Historically speaking, there have been many reasons to go to war. Rapidly industrialising island nations need a lot of resources (typically coal and iron) that their home isles do not provide. If they cannot trade for these vital resources, they will seize them by force. This was the driving force behind European imperialism, the Opium Wars, and Japan's imperialism in the early 20th century. The Fire Nation seems to fit here – it's a rapidly industrialising island nation that took on a larger nation and we see them exploiting prison labour for coal mining in “Imprisoned”. It is unclear if they couldn't afford to import resources from the Earth Kingdom, if the Earth Kingdom couldn't extract the resources in the first place, or if the Earth Kingdom put export restrictions in place. If this was Sozin's true and only motive, war could have been averted through an Avatar-mediated trade deal that would see the Earth Kingdom export raw materials to the Fire Nation in exchange for Fire Nation manufactured goods. If the Earth Kingdom lacked the resources to excavate its own resources, Fire Nation investment (like we see in the comics) could bridge the gap. There is another potential factor – ideology. At the time, the Fire Nation was far and away the most liberal nation. Women serve in the military, there's no secret police (cringe) and there was no culture of fear. Sozin may well have seen the archaic feudal structures of the Earth Kingdom and took it upon himself to “liberate” the people of the Earth Kingdom. This factor could also be averted if the Avatar had encouraged liberalisation in the realm but as Avatars tend not to be involved in states' internal affairs, this one is much less likely. There are two factors that couldn't be resolved peacefully – fire's innate desire to spread and Sozin being an arsehole. To those, I say that it would have done that every time there was a break between Avatars and it's unclear how much of a jerk Sozin is. Perhaps then, the Hundred Year War could have been avoided if on that fateful wedding night, Roku placed his hand on Sozin's shoulder and said, "if it's raw materials you need, let's work out a trade agreement with the Earth King".
The year is 2009, and the world is recovering from the great financial crisis. The H1N1 swine flu pandemic emerges, as do the memes (anyone remember the He's Behind You He's Got Swine Flu song?). But on a more serious note, it claims many lives and affects many more. Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip and Hamas committed to a cease-fire with the Israeli Defence Force, ending a three-month war. Barak Obama becomes the first African-American President of the United States. Bitcoin is released in January. A couple of notable air crashes happen, one Air France disaster with no survivors, and another one known as the 'Miracle of Hudson' where there were no casualties. Rachel Crandall Crocker founds International Transgender Day of Visibility, an event still celebrated today. Facebook has overtaken MySpace (anyone remember that?) in the United States, while Microsoft have released Windows 7. The first extinct animal has been cloned back into existence; the Pyrenean Ibex. Sadly, the animal died shortly after birth, but this experiment paved the way for recent events in our current year. A total solar eclipse takes place in July, and the Kepler space mission with the goal of finding exoplanets is launched. Ardipithicus ramidus was discovered by palaeontologists, being described as humankind's earliest known ancestors and pre-dating Australopithecus. Wii takes out the two top spots for best-selling games of the year. Sony releases the PSP, the first handheld device to use digital downloads only. Batman Arkham Asylam earns the Guiness World Record title of Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever. Lady Gaga's debut single Just Dance is still number one on Billboard Hot 100, and her single Poker Face becomes the best-selling single in the UK for 2009. At the Grammy's Coldplay wins Song of the Year for Viva la Vida, Lil Wayne receives Best Rap Album, and Adele Best New Artist. Susan Boyle becomes an internet sensation with her version of I Dreamed a Dream on Britain's Got Talent. 2009 was also the year Michael Jackson passed away just before his This Is It tour. The documentary becomes the best-selling one of all time. And in amongst all these notable events, in our little corner of the internet, the first ever Ba Sing Se Times Issue was released on May 2nd, 2009. Sixteenth birthdays may hold more significance in some countries than others, but whether or not it's a big one, it's still a decent time ago. Most of these events that happened I remember only pieces from, and people younger than me possibly none of it. Yet that's how long the BSST has been running. And so, we want to take a moment to celebrate the wonderful community we have here and the newsletter staff who came before us. We'll be doing a more in-depth History of the Wiki Newsletters in our Issue 100 later this year, but let's take a quick dive into origins of the BSST. The idea for a newsletter was conceived by Joeyaa as a way to keep users around for longer, and brought to the wiki by The 888th Avatar. Many users would come by, read or edit a couple articles, and then leave. But having a community-driven newsletter with updates, opinion pieces, and advertising projects, was seen as a way to grow a more consistent and longer lasting Avatar Wiki community. The 888th Avatar was the first Editor, and led the BSST through the first 45 issues. The first issue looked very different to what we have today:
Much more compact and concise! After the Canon/Fanon merger, a separate tab was created for the latter. From 2010, the newsletter took on more of a familiar form to what we have today, but still quite different. The content included much of what we have in our issues now, with opinion pieces about the series, or funny segments written by users. One thing we've stopped doing is mentioning blocked users or cases of vandalism. Perhaps because it isn't as necessary as it was before, but interesting to see that in the past issues. KettleMeetPot took over as editor until 2015, Issue 59. And after that, our current editor Minnichi has been steering the ship. You might notice the biggest change is the colour and design. Trust Minn to put as much green as possible in the newsletter XD. But on a more serious note, Minn's contributions to not only the design elements but also the community projects associated with the BSST have truly taken this newsletter to another level. Some users may not be aware but a couple other design elements of the BSST actually share a bit of wiki lore. Ever wonder why the 'From the Fanon Portal' section is blue? This is actually a nod to a previous Avatar Wiki newsletter, The White Lotus Sentinel, a predominantly fanon-based newsletter. Oh, and we can't forget about the infamous Line Wars that led to two different formatting choices in each section, with one having dashed lines and the other solid. In more recent times we've tried to venture out and do new things with the newsletter, and also bring back old practices too. New collaborations with the Book 4: Air - Restoration Project and Speeddemonanimation have led to some of our must fun issues yet with the Anonymous Valentines and voice-overs. We've had a good number of interviews with users, creatives, and people working on official Avatar content like Janet Varney and Gene Yang. And we've also celebrated some funny events like April Fools or written ridiculous staff stories to keep the wiki lore going. I know that our newsletter is not as big as others out there or has thousands of readers. But all of us in the BSST really do take pride in creating the best newsletter we can even for just a handful of readers and commenters we might get. And it's been an honour and privilege to be able to do this. So here's to a happy sixteenth (albeit a couple months late), and hopefully many more BSST issues to come!
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 and discussion wiki to conduct surveys.
One of the most common Avatar surveys or questions out there is 'Which Element is the Strongest', which makes sense, giving how integral bending is to the world of Avatar. So for this BSST survey we asked a similar question but with a twist: "Which bending specialised technique is most useful?"'
How useful was defined was up to users. Maybe the focus was on combat and the techniques people thought were most useful and would certainly give you an edge on an opponent? Or perhaps useful was more about how it could enrich society, like metalbending in construction or healing in medicine? Or maybe people just liked the sound of learning airbending to fly? Here's what the community had to say:
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The Duke's Digest commenced on April 1st, 2025. How long did it last, though? Here is a record of the events that followed, written by all four members of your newsletter staff.
... Agent Minnichi, The Editor let out a refreshed sigh and ungraceful yawn, stretched her arms wide, rolled up her sleeves, then proceeded to march down the steps to her beloved newsletter headquarters - CRUNCH. Time came to a screeching halt as Minnichi went deathly silent, and she was completely frozen to the spot in a way that even the negative 40-degree temperatures of Canada could not achieve. She recognized the sickening little crunch under her rock shoe all too well - she'd murdered enough of the little abominations in the humid, hellish summer weather of Texas her entire life. And yet, it was impossible not to turn her foot upwards to examine the bottom of her shoe in a morbid confirmation of the fact that she'd just stepped on the first ever cockroach to escape into the BSST headquarters. Escape? Or…let in?
Do you love protecting the little guy? Preserving nature and being a good 'green' citizen? Then donate to Na Sing Se, the largest insect wildlife sanctuary on the continent! Protect little ones like Jimmy pictured above, who were nearly trampled on by a crazed cockroach-hating Dai Li agent who mistook this beautiful soul for a cockroach. Join our Roach Warrior program today to earn exclusive rewards all while saving the smallest of us! “...BOMOCHU!!!” The enraged Editor kicked off her entire shoe in disgust so violently that it shattered the wall across from her and shook the entire headquarters. But since she didn't know if the roach had brought friends and family, she proceeded to earthbend the broken wall fragments into neat little plates that whizzed around her bare foot and formed a brand-new (even if mismatched and sharper), deadlier-looking-than-usual shoe. “BOMOCHU! DUKE! ARG! Someone will DIE for this if they don't explain themselves NOW…!” ... Bomochu had felt many earthquakes in his time, but none compared to the ferocious, bone-rattling, seismic terror that was Minnichi's rage against cockroaches. "...Uh," Bomochu mumbled. His name had been cried out, along with his fellow deputy's name. After practicing his breathing techniques, Bomochu made his way down the steps. The former Editor-in-Chief Minnichi stood there with the glare of Sozin's Comet. "WHY are there ROACHES in the headquarters?! Hmmm?!" The metalbender simply mumbled something incoherent. But that wasn't all Minnichi noticed; as her eyes darted from her trembling deputies to the rooms around her, she realised that the headquarters had been changed. A makeover. "Where's... all the green?! And agh!" she exclaimed while shielding herself from the lights, "Why is it so... bright?! And corporate?! How did this happen?!" Even the work computers had been changed from Mac to Windows, a travesty upon travesties. It seemed there was no way Minnichi would drop this. Bomochu and AvatarRokusGhost shared a concerned glance. Eventually, the metalbender fessed up. "We uh... have a new Editor-in-Chief. We're no longer the Ba Sing Se Times." The news hadn't sunk in just yet. But soon, the corners of Minnichi's eyes twitched ever so slightly, her teeth gritted, and then, her entire being contorted in a seething rage. "WHAT IN KOH'S NAME IS HAPPENING?!?!" AvatarRokusGhost decided to speak up next – he was immune to Minnichi's physical attacks after all. "It... was the Good Duke." “Where… is… he?!” ... The Good Duke strode into the room, wearing his characteristic blue suit and red cravat (with a black Fire Nation insignia) and barking orders into his phone: “I need pictures, pictures of the Avatar!” and “Flameo is offering HOW much for a sponsorship? What do they think we're a charity or something...actually, that's a good idea, let's spin up a charity and we can be tax-exempt. Delightfully devilish, Duke.” He sighed and looked at his phone longingly. “I wish this dimension had reception too... oh well, I can send a messenger hawk later.” Suddenly, his confident strut stopped, and his cocky smile drooped into a worried frown as he locked eyes with the fuming, deposed dictator. He pulled out his long-since powerless phone and acted out tapping on his screen, “Note to self... run”. He turned tail and jumped out the window. The Good Duke closed his eyes, feeling the air whizzing past his face and accepting his fate as he fell, smiling somberly. “Ah, it was great while it lasted…” There was a sharp yank on the back of his collar that made his body lurch midair - and the Duke suddenly found himself sailing not downwards, but right back up to the window even faster than he'd dropped. “And where do you think you're going?” The Good Duke didn't realize that his fuming predecessor had grabbed him right out of the air mid-fall with her rock glove until he was thrown back inside the room; his body skidded sharply across the cold tiled, corporate floor that he'd polished himself (causing the SCREECH to sound even more prominent) before he struck the wall with a painful thud. “Urgh…” His double vision slowly processed the sight of a peeved Minnichi marching towards him, noting how she whipped out her bare hand to summon the glove back off of his collar - though not before she bonked him over the head with it first. “OW!” The sharp pain caused the Duke to frantically scramble up to his knees. “Minn! Heya -” “Don't ‘HEYA' me, Good Duke - no, Scummy Backstabbing Duke -” The ground crackled beneath Minnichi's feet. “After all these years, you still planned to overthrow me! I thought you had changed!” There was a heavy silence as Duke hung his head; Bomo and ARG, meanwhile, began to attempt to sneak out of the room. “I have changed.” The questionable Duke suddenly found his confidence again, though only to an extent when another roach crept out from the cracks in the ground and was immediately flattened under Minnichi's stone shoe; the tiles were now in pieces. “I, uh - no, Minn, seriously. I have changed. I thought you had abandoned the newsletter and we were running out of funding to keep the lights on -” “FUNDING? We have lanterns. Who even needs funding to convince anyone?!” (Bomo and ARG glanced at one another sheepishly; after such a long hiatus they had completely forgotten that they could brainwash sponsors anytime without having to flaunt their products.) “Hear me out, Minn!” The questionable Duke somehow stood his ground. Perhaps for his life, or because his fear had surpassed all logic in the face of doom anyway. “I have changed. I wasn't just trying to take over the BSST - well, I mean, I did have to take over, but I mean, it was for the community this time. I didn't know another way to publish and get user engagement. I'm happy to hand the newsletter back over to you now. I have changed, see? No hard feelings.” He was being earnest about handing over the BSST. However, too much damage had been done. “‘No hard feelings?'” the reinstated Supreme Dictator repeated. “No hard feelings?” she screeched. “It's too dang bright in here, it's as lifeless as Koh's Realm, you installed MICROSOFT and, of all the places to get funding from, you chose a ROACH sanctuary?!” AvatarRokusGhost glided forward slowly. “Actually, I didn't like that idea at first, but I tried be open-minded. Did you know there are many high-quality recipes with roaches in them? Even chocolate-covered roaches. They're an acquired taste, but I now like them better than ordinary candy.” Like Candy Crush chocolate, roaches also multiplied endlessly and consumed everything around them. “Here, why don't you try one?” He stopped short, noticing the Supreme Dictator's lack of amusement. ARG knew he would have a rock glove around his throat if he weren't in his transparent form. Meanwhile, Bomochu gulped. He began to back away, ever so slowly, through the doorway. "Well, at any rate, that one wasn't my idea." The (Good?) Duke gazed over Minnichi's shoulder at a petrified Fanon Deputy. “...Is that so?” Bomochu began shaking his head at the (Good?) Duke rapidly, placing his hands together in a prayer-like fashion, silently pleading. “Yeah, it's so. That one's on Bomochu, mate.” --- Bomochu couldn't believe what was happening. He had worked harder than anyone else to procure sponsors, even set up the whole Na Sing Se roach sanctuary himself. And yet the Editor-in-Chief (although unclear whether he still was) was throwing him under the bus? "Tell me, Bomo," Minn said calmly. But not a sort of tranquil calm, but rather, the kind of calm like a moment of quiet before a volcanic eruption, "how did this happen?" "Uh... well..." 1st April, 2025 It had been a peaceful day thus far for the BSST headquarters. A productive day of writing, a couple submissions to work with. Slow, albeit, but peaceful nonetheless. Bomochu strolled down the path from the greenhouse towards the main building. He supposed AvatarRokusGhost would be in the Candy Crush mines right now, so the headquarters would be empty. Minnichi was on holiday after all in a place called 'Canada'. With the premises to himself, he'd start trying out his opera since the green marble walls had a nice acoustic to it (even if the opera itself was sub-par). But while Bomochu mi-ma-ma'd into the foyer, he heard sounds coming from outside. In burst a horse – not an ostrich horse but a regular one – with a regal looking man atop the saddle. "Tally -ho, the Ba Sing Se Times! I heard you were in trouble, but I cannot think of something that rhymes!" Bomochu stared blankly. "Say, where is the other deputy, the one a ghost of past times?" "AvatarRokusGhost? Well, he's currently in his Candy Crush mines." The man leant forward, "Say you're pretty good at this!" At the mention of his name and cringy rhyming, the ghost of candy appeared. The regal-looking man continued, "Excellent. Now that you're both here before me, we have much to discuss. Your newsletter needs a hand, a task not too big for the three of us!"Bomochu and AvatarRokusGhost glanced at each other. "Your schedule is often delayed, and we can do something about that. I will be the new Editor-in-Chief and... uh..." "Wear a fancy hat?" AvatarRokusGhost added. Bomochu simply shrugged. The man was less than pleased and whipped out a tablet, "Note to self... newsletter needs more creativity." As… kind, although strange, this man was, there was a glaring problem; the BSST already had an editor. "Minnichi is our current editor, so if you have any concerns maybe take it up with her,” Bomochu said. "She is the editor of the Ba Sing Se Times, but this headquarters will start publishing a new, bolder, and more impressive newsletter. The Duke's Digest!" "Yeah, I don't think she'd like that," Bomochu replied. "Hey Bomo, do you reckon this guy looks like that user the Duke of Skibbington?" Bomochu tilted his head to the side, "Y-yeah, he kinda does. That user that tried starting a coup all those years ago?" "That's him." The man shifted uncomfortably. "Ah... no... you see well... you're mistaken! Because I am in fact the Good Duke, not a Duke of Skibbington!" The two deputies weren't convinced. "I also brought scientific rock candy to bargain with." While AvatarRokusGhost swooped forward at the mention of candy, Bomochu wasn't convinced. "But how can it be 'scientific' candy? Like, that doesn't even make sense – oh... wow." As Bomochu beheld the sparkling candy, chemical equations floated in his vision, as if the sugary treats held all of the universe's mysteries inside. "See, this is what I can offer, should you choose. So let's start a new newsletter, what do you have to lose?" "Y'know, Bomochu, I think this guy is legit. Let's just let him stay." "I agree, AvatarRokusGhost. He's pretty cool." While the two deputies were led away with stars in their eyes, the Good Duke began planning for his next steps in taking over the wiki newsletter. Bomochu mumbled something about starting a cockroach sanctuary, while the Good Duke assured him it could be done…... ... “So… I guess it was my idea… heh,” Bomochu admitted. Minnichi went deathly silent for a moment as it processed. "The roaches." "Um, yeah." "Your idea." "Y-yes." The Supreme Dictator slowly turned around so that only her back and her wide-brimmed, pointy hat were facing them. In the silence, one could hear the little scuttle of hundreds of the little abominations running for their lives, as if even they could sense that a 100-year extinction was approaching. "Minn, here's the thing," the Good Duke began nervously. "To be fair, the roach sanctuary gave us the most funding -" "Kill them." "But -" "Kill them all." Minnichi wheeled around on her heel, causing thousands of cracks to branch out into the walls. "Destroy them with your bare hands! And I mean you, Bomochu! You should've known better than this! Their guts shall be on your hands!" Bomochu's eyes widened in horror. It wasn't as if he had a particular liking for roaches, but they were starting to grow on him and he didn't have the heart to kill any of Earth's creations. "And YOU, Duke," the fuming Editor added, "You will throw out every PC you've brought into headquarters, pay out of your own pocket for Mac desktops, and to make sure you know that MACS are superior, to emphasize that further, you are now ordered to cater a massive Big Mac Mcdonald's luncheon for the BSST staff!" "Minnichi, you can't!" cried the Good Duke. "So much data that we could use for blackmailing is in those computers -" "I don't care! Brainwashing is easier than blackmailing, anyway!" Minnichi shot back. "Now, all of you, get to it or else those computers and roaches won't be the only things that are broken!" The Good Duke and a sobbing Bomochu (heartbroken that he'd brought doom onto the roaches himself) darted away. It took a moment for Minnichi to realize that AvatarRokusGhost was still floating awkwardly behind her. "So, uh, do I get a pass?" he asked. "None of this was my idea - the computers and critters, that is. And for the record, the chocolate-covered roaches didn't sell very well." Minnichi sighed and rubbed her temples. "ARG, you and I have been working in the Avatar Wiki news scene the longest… Have we had enough, I wonder?" "Heh, it's been a while indeed," replied her fellow Fanon Portal veteran of over a decade. He was a little surprised at her sudden mellowness. Minnichi gazed into the distance, reminiscing. "You know, I was actually thinking recently that those two hooligans (namely, the Fanon and Discord deputy editors praying for their lives) could be our successors one day…until THIS." She gestured at a pile of roach carcasses that she'd already been kicking into a corner. "This blasphemy makes me want to throw them into the lake. What were they thinking?!” "Ah, but Minn…we didn't always make rational choices back in the day, either," the Ghost of Roku replied pleasantly. "The White Lotus Sentinel is a ghost of our flawed choices, no matter how painful it is to admit. Sure, the fresh faces you just scared to death might've brought the BSST down the same way, but here we stand. Still a team, and still the longest-standing newsletter with a legacy like no other." Minnichi couldn't help chuckling and nodding, ever so slightly. "They're trying their best and, at the very least, we did get funding." AvatarRokusGhost shrugged. "Lots of spending money is in a new vault that the Good Duke installed and locked with an absurdly complicated layer of CSS." "What'll we even spend it on? We've always had everything we need." "Hmm…what about upgraded lanterns? Solid 18 karat gold bases, not brass. Encrusted with diamonds."
ARG had no choice but to watch her rip her entire sleeve off and stomp the roach inside flat; his translucent hands couldn't help her. He waited until she was done huffing and puffing. "So, uh, what do you say we give those two another chance?" "Make sure every single roach and every trace of Microsoft is gone. Then we'll talk." … The Good Duke followed through with the McDonald's luncheon the next day. Bomochu's eyes were still red and puffy from the genocide of thousands of innocent roaches. The luncheon was a tad awkward and tense, but the team reforged its trust over fries and cool, refreshing soda. At the end of the day, it was just newsletter tradition; every so often, chaos would ensue and the Supreme Dictator would stomp it flat. All was well.
Check out some of the latest fanart from our Wiki and Discord community!
Original Artwork by EvyReturns20 |
For this issue's From the Archives, we'll be sharing a segment that appeared twice in 2011 – Ask Iroh/Sokka. In this segment, a user would answer questions as Iroh or Sokka, and the responses are pretty funny!
We hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane, and keep an eye out for future segments reliving the past!
From the Archives entry no.2 2011 Ask Iroh – by Courage the Cowardly User The former Fire Nation General Iroh answers all of your questions in our newest edition. If you have any more questions, leave them by our headquarters in the Inner Ring!
My brother, my so called "friends", and my own father all betrayed me! Do you have any ideas to get back at them? I was thinking hiring an assassin to poison them. But then I thought that was too merciful, so I thought burning them to death. But again, it's too merciful. I'm wondering why Im even asking you! My so called "Uncle"! You let them throw me in the crazy house! You let them take my throne! YOU LET THEM TAKE ME AWAY! I SHOULD BE RULING THE FIRE NATION RIGHT NOW! *Editors Note: The rest of the note is not readable, it's burned, but I did see some of the words little and something foul.....very foul.
You've got problems. -Your Dear Friend Iroh
I took my girlfriend to the best restaurant in Ba Sing Se, but things didn't work out so good and I accidentally-inadvertently called someone prettier than her and she didn't like it so much, I think I apologized just fine.....but when I accidentally-inadvertently did it again, she got a bit mad. Now I'm sore and she won't let me down from the tree. Do you have a solution? -The Sarcasm and Meat Guy
You apologized right? Well you did just fine until you idiotically did it again. I suggest you do something nice for her....if she ever lets you down. I had a girlfriend like that once. She attacked me when I did the same thing. A week later, the Fire Nation Royal Guards finally found me and took her down. So....are you royal? That may help. If not, run while you can, preferably when she's asleep. Love, Iroh
In an effort to clean my hair for the first time, my friend (who shall remain nameless) thought it was a good idea to drench me to the bone. Naturally, we had a fight and-well, you run the newspaper and know the outer ring lost lots of money in damages. Anyway, I wanted to know a way to make it up to her. I think I got her madder the way I tried to make it up to her.....I won't say how, but I'll tell you I bought her an poodle monkey that wasn't too happy. Sincerely, The Blind Bandit
I'LL SAY IT COSTED A LOT! YOU DESTROYED MY ENTIRE SUPPLY OF TEA LEAVES, WHY DO YOU THINK I TOOK THIS STUPID JOB YOU LITTLE- ahem. I mean, you should probably apologize. If that doesn't work you shouldn't be her friend. Be mine and PAY IT ALL BACK YOU- *(Editors Note: At this point, Iroh had to be sedated. I'm sorry, Blind Bandit, but you got him a tiny bit mad....hope you get that problem fixed.....)
I was bought a baby moose lion for my birthday, and I am not sure what to feed it. When I asked the pet store owner, he said "we shouldn't talk about it." So anyway, what does a baby moose lion eat? Your friend, baby moose lion owner.
Dear baby moose lion owner, I am not sure what baby moose lion's eat, but when they grow up, THEY WILL EAT ME! Yeah, I was buried in a hole, a cute little baby moose lion walks up, then not so cute adult moose lion tried to eat me! I mean, what is it's problem! Yes, I tried to eat it's baby, but that is no reason for IT'S NONSENSE!! From Sokka.
I was just wondering, why is your sword so fancy? Perhaps to make up for something less than extravagent? Perhaps, your fighting skills? From Unknown Person.
Stop sending me letters. From Sokka.
Dear Sokka, A few months ago, I was taken by an ex-girlfriend to a fountain in the middle of Ba Sing Se. With the candles lit, and the moon shining, the fountain would look quite uh, cool. Anyway, recently the moon has not been sitting in the sky at the right, proper position, and I'd like to take my current girlfriend there. What could be done to fix this? Regards, the scarred lord.
THE MOON, IS DOING THE BEST JOB IT COULD POSSIBLY DO! HOW ABOUT YOU TAKE YOUR STUPID, GIRLFRIEND, TO SOME OTHER PLACE WHERE 'DA MOON DON'T SHINE! GO AND TAKE THE FOUNTAIN, AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR --- I'm sorry, wait... NO! I meant that! From Sokka
A lot of my memorable reads on the wiki are stories that have sadly been discontinued. But I still want to share one today that I read the first chapter of a while ago. Altered Perception is a story featuring adult Toph and her quest to solve a missing persons' case. The adult who vanished? The father of her firstborn child, Lin. While the premise is certainly intriguing and something different, it was actually the first chapter that I read which left an impression. It's a short chapter, but so eloquently illustrates Toph as a mother and her struggles and desires to see her child. Yet even with this heavy burden, there's so much love radiating from Lin. I love this take because we see this in the series; Toph is often fine being blind, even using it to joke around with her friends. But in a handful of instances we do see it cause some underlying hurt, like in Tales of Ba Sing Se. And seeing this similar sentiment appear during motherhood feels like a consistent and moving way to flesh out her character too. But the rest of the chapters are really well done too, and so despite being discontinued, I'd highly recommend giving the story a go! Have a read of an excerpt below from chapter 1! Altered Perception,
Excerpt "Black. That's what Katara had told her. Just like her own hair. The waterbender had also told her that Lin's skin was a gorgeous tint of peach. Her eyes were emerald green, one of a kind gems. Lastly, her lips were full and pink. Black. Green. Pink. Three cruel words that meant absolutely nothing to her. If she were somewhere else, Toph would have said something along the lines of seeing is for the weak. But when it came down to Lin, the chief of police could admit to herself, and only herself, that there was nothing in this world she wanted more than to see her own daughter." Read more of Altered Percetion here!
Here you'll find the latest fanon news and requests from the community. If you'd like any requests or offers listed then contact one of the BSST staff. You can also visit the FRRS for an interview or technical review, or the Fanonbenders for help.
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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