Discussion report
Ongoing discussions and votes:
- Do we need an article about Avatar Roku's relationships?
- How should we regulate blog posts regarded as inappropriate?
- What should the rules about language be on the IRC channel?
- Should we delete old article and blog comments?
- What format should we use for comic articles?
- Should we use sentence case on titles and headings?
- What should we call sections devoted to appearances on Avatar articles?
Announcements and discussion results:
- No consensus on fanon policy changes
- No consensus for more ops on the IRC channel
- No consensus on a category for non-benders
- No consensus on a category for antagonist characters
User rights report
- PSUAvatar14 is now a rollback user
- Lady Lostris is now a rollback user
- AvatarLover is now a rollback user
- Sirius13 is now a rollback user
- Tara22 is now a rollback user
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Guest editor: Let the games begin! The Ultimate Waterbender |
"Outwit. Outplay. Outlast." — Survivor motto
These three words sum up the atmosphere that's been present here in the past few weeks. Time to get your game face on, because if there's one thing that's been rampant on Avatar Wiki, it's competition. From Avatar Roku's (or AvatarRokusGhost) Fanon Trivia Contest to Natsu's (or Natsu11) Avatar "What If" Competition, it's clear that the attitude lately is "in it to win it."
From searching for pictures and YouTube videos for Sky (Skybender101) and Moon Beam's "Best of A:TLA" blog to refreshing the recent activity page every ten seconds for AvatarLover's Avatar Trivia Contest, users got a chance to face off and show their skills and knowledge of Avatar. I myself have taken or am taking part in several of these competitions, each one done in a simple blog post.
Sure, the victors receive a special userbox on their profile, however, there are benefits beyond these small rewards. These contests have opened up the doorway to communication with other users; participants received the opportunity to talk to others and recognize their skill and Avatar knowledge. The various tournaments have been entertaining and a source of fun and excitement. Avatar Roku's Fanon Trivia blog has been a grace to some fanon writers who wished to have more readers of their series. Natsu's blog has given users the chance to go in-depth and bring out their analytical skills, organizing "what if" scenarios.
I speak in favor of these competitions and anticipate future events.
Side note: I also want to point out that I've noticed the increased creation of quality articles on the Wiki. Pages were created for the Royal Plaza, Farmer and Wife who appeared in "Appa's Lost Days" and Piandao's Castle. I have to say that I'm happy to see the creation of these canonical articles after observing previous articles created being subject to deletion and subsequently removed from the wiki.
I am afraid there will be no fanon review this week, for I have something far more important to convey, and that is maturity and consideration. Recently on Avatar Wiki, new user Buttongoo created a blog about assumed sexual references in Avatar: The Last Airbender. As you may know, a few users found the blog quite upsetting and inappropriate, and as a result, quite a controversial confrontation started between users as to whether the blog was appropriate or not. Now, some of these users, without naming any of them, acted fairly immaturely and in some cases insulted this user. I know that sometimes people can be difficult. That can be very frustrating, but as a community, we need to maintain our composure and set an example for the newer users that see how we act, how we handle conflict, and how we work together to form a community. Certain comments directed at users completely threw this concept out the window. Then, after I thought that the small flaw in the community stronghold had been repaired, I discovered a plethora of comments about a fanon written by an anonymous Wikia contributor, directed at the lack of quality the fanon showed. And these comments weren't constructive comments. They weren't praise. They weren't instructions as to how to fix the quality. Most of them were out right rude, and derogatory. They were insulting to the author, even though there was some kind of mistakening with whom the author was. Avatar Wiki is, or should be, a community. I strongly feel that these recent events have hindered our ability to act together in a positive manner. If we are to continue working together as a community, we need to learn to act in an appropriate manner to set a proper example for the newer community. Now, onto a happier note. I have recently revamped an old fanon blog template. For more information, see here.
1. Q: What, in your opinion, sets you apart from other users to receive this honor? 2. Q: What do you think most urgently needs to be done on the Wiki? 3. Q: What areas of the Wiki do you contribute to most? 4. Q: You’re quite an experienced user on the Wiki (obviously). What do you think of some of the newer, less experienced users? What do you do to help them acclimate to the atmosphere of the Wiki? 5. Q: You’re active on the Fanon portal with your own fan fiction. Do you think it gets as much (or less or more) attention than it deserves? 6. Q: Out of curiosity, what is your opinion on shipping, in general? 7. Q: What most do you want to see in Korra?
My favorite fanon on this wiki is Alone. Recently, two chapters written by Dragon of The West came out. That sparked my interest. Here, I'm going to do a prediction of what will happen in this story! From what I've read, Leah somehow meets up with Sierra again. Perhaps after she ran away, she went and got her, though I'm not sure how. What happens in between, I'm still not sure but I'm guessing they go to an Airbending colony in New York, from the chapter "Learning to Fly" and the image for it. I guess the Airbending colony is near the twin towers, and Morgan blows it up, to kill Leah because I guess something bad happened to him because of her at the end of Negotiations. Therefore, she'll die a similar way to Joel. If he fails, he will die and I think the story may continue. But if he succeeds, the story will end, at a heartbreaking place. In the next issue of the BSST, I will write what I think happens, once I have read the released part of Book 2.
 Zhao was a commander in the Fire Nation. He was a master Firebender, and he wanted complete power. He was delighted when Prince Zuko was banished from the Fire Nation. This gave him the chance to become even more powerful, perhaps the next Fire Lord. Zhao was being promoted to admiral by Ozai when he decided he wanted to capture the Avatar himself. It became an almost never ending battle between him and Zuko trying to capture Aang. To find the Gaang, Zhao basically followed Zuko, taking advantage of his knowledge. Zhao planned to kill Zuko, leaving only him to capture the Avatar. Zuko luckily made it out of Zhao's death plot alive, but now he wanted revenge. Zuko began traveling to the Northern Water Tribe to find Aang and take revenge on Zhao.  Zhao had a first attempt at capturing Aang, in which he was successful... at first. Aang had been searching for medicine for Katara and Sokka when Zhao's men had captured him. He sent a message to the Fire Nation delighting in his deed. But Zhao's cocky attitude wouldn't last long. Aang had used his airbending-flexibility-stealth like skills to escape Zhao's grasp. Zhao became furious and had to reveal his shame to the rest of the nation.  After more failed attempts, Zhao traveled to the Northern Water Tribe to kill the Moon Spirit and take over the Water Tribes. Aang had become furious with Zhao after he successfully killed off the "magic fish". Later on in time Zhao had his last battle with Zuko and then was somewhat killed by the Moon Spirit. In conclusion, Zhao was an average Fire Nation leader. Cold-blooded, hard-headed, and power hungry. He took advantage of people, conquered nations, and made a fool of himself. I'd have to give Zhao's character a B+.
Dear Reader, Dear Katara, Dear Aang, Dear Sokka,
Moon Beam wrote an article in a previous issue about the “withouts” in Avatar. So, here is a continuation of it: Iroh Ozai Roku Suki So, if any of the characters, even the major ones, were not there, the series would never be as good as it is now. The Ba Sing Se Times needs YOU. |
Editor's note: Watching this episode through while reading this column is recommended. Chapter 13: The Blue Spirit Previously in Avatar: Emotions running W-I-L-D, and that’s to you, my “beary” wild friend. Aang needing a hug. Zuko needing a . . . well . . . imaginary hug. So Zhao has once again found the Avatar. I’m sorry, how ridiculous is this? Okay, okay, let’s think for a second and assume that hey-ho Zhao’s not using Madame Lulu like Count Olaf, but that it’s just another coinkydink. No. Seriously. Ridiculous. Well, in the midst of all this ridiculousness, we get to see the very amazing Yu Yan Archers, also known as the most bad@$$ characters the Avatar world has to offer. How to become a Yu Yan Archer? It’s easy.
Aang, while stumbling around in the forest, can’t find gingerroot, thus failing the quest. He has a right to complain; it’s not his fault the local fox antelopes weren’t dropping what he needed. Instead, he finds a mysterious treasure chest; opening it, he reveals— Ta-da! Well goodness gracious, what could that be? Surely it’s not a— It’s a map! See, I told you to listen to the Consultant. In the meantime, Aang is not at all concerned about finding a cure until holy diet shnapple Katara’s sick! Gotta run, gotta panic, gotta run around in a circle, gotta go cure Katara daangit! Well, monkeyfeathers. He has to go cure his love interest. Well, it’s Angela the Herbalist and Solembum, except Solembum is lookin’ purdy darn shabby. While We’ll see those next episode, silly. In the meantime, however, Angela is a Zutarian, so instead of giving Aang a cure, she sends him off, hopefully to die. What she doesn’t realize is that we’ve just entered the terrifying world of Zaang Shipping. “It’s been over an hour, and you haven’t given the men an order!” How dare he! Clearly, Zuko has to go around giving orders every three seconds. It’s how he makes himself feel better. Some people prefer talking to friends; some people prefer kissing; some people prefer watching others suffer and laughing in their faces, also known as And trust me, if living with an Azula isn’t enough, I’ve also got an Ozai and a Zhao with whom to contend. Even Mai gets the drill. “You know what would make you feel better? Ordering some servants around!” Now, the eternal question. Which girlfriend? The clearly canon Mai or the clearly-not-into-him Katara? [listens to the Zutara fans] [sighs] Can’t you all just . . . shut up or something? Just, like, do us a little favor? . . . No? Yeah, I can’t shut up about Kataang either. [snarkles] Mai gets the drill. [wipes tears from eyes] See, at this point all the rage was between Kataang, Zutara, Hatara, and Jetara, not to mention Sokkatara and Motara, the only understandable ship in the entire show! Well, well, well. Katara isn’t the only character capable of reproducing, and Aang’s had his ships, too. Maang, Kokaang, Kataang, On Jaang, and so on. Zuko, as well. Throughout the series, we had Jinko, Zong, Maiko, and Zutara, though, of course, the most common ship was Fanko—that is, Zuko and a fangirl. Well, well, well. That’s all about to change. Why? Because this episode introduces my favorite crackship. Note. Crackship. As in, it’s a joke. I don’t actually ship it. Just saying it by way of disclaimer. Did you hear me? I. Do. Not. Ship. Zaang. That’s to you [cough cough the person who assumed I ship Zutara because of a single phrase in ABCLAF, a clearly Kataang fanon cough cough]. Okay? Okay. Phew. That’s right, little kiddies. This episode introduces . . . Zaang. Which, sadly, has more proof than Zutara. Take that! See, Zuko’s the emo boy, and Aang’s the “pink boy”. They’re obviously meant for each other. Why, you can see it clearly, can’t you? [desperate rabid shippers’ voice] Can’t you?! Well, here we meet the Yu Yan, also known as Avatar’s Chuck Norrises, not counting Zuko, of course. These guys are so bad@$$, they went back in and both fathered and mothered themselves. And while they’re at it, they are also the direct reason for why you exist. One day, one of the Archers used the restroom. From that stream of urine came you. That is how insignificant you are to the Archers. You are made of their urine. Their freaking name means jade eye. I mean, come on! Okay. I want you to take a look at that picture really quickly. What does that look like to you? I don’t know, but to me it doesn’t look like anything. So let me tell you what the Yu Yans are up to. Er. To what the Yu Yans are up. And don’t correct me, KFAJ. Don’t you dare. That is a completely vertical cliff. Completely. Vertical. Spirits, the music is enough to make you terrified, but oh my my my. They are falling down a vertical wall, and they look like that. The archers then fire rope-arrows into the trees and just start swinging. And their faces never change. It’s like a bad rerun of Transformers: Energon, except that at least those had two expression: Mouth open and mouth closed. Expressions don’t believe in these guys. So these guys don’t believe in expressions. In fact, most things don’t believe in them. Like, hm, fear. Or anxiety. Or pain. So they don’t believe in them, either. Okay. You are running away from Princess Monoke arrow demons and some other ostrich horse poop—if you catch my drift—and you have several choices.
Cha, I lied. What Aang does is actually the best option. Tee hee. Thank [insert deity here] that Yu Yans don’t exist in our world. You know, here we just have to deal with the CIA, James Bond, and Canadian Mounties. [stares at Canadian Mounties] On second thought, can I join the Avatar world? Pweash? Do you see that face? I promised Art I wouldn’t make another joke like this, but I have to. Wolverine really likes to run around and pick fights, but he’s immortal. He’s allowed to do that. This guy? That slimy little salamander toad up there? He shouldn’t pick fights. He might die. [hint hint spoiler spoiler cough cough nudge nudge wink wink] You know, via drowning. [hint hint] By the Ocea— Never mind. What? Me? Who? I didn’t say anything. You must have me confused for the other TAD. You know. Tobacco Acquisition Disorder. Yeah. Uh-huh. [twiddles thumbs] Zhao insults the crap out of Aang. Zhao insults the Air Nomads, for monkeyfeather’s sake! Seriously, Zhao?! Zhao: And no one is coming to rescue you. Alert! Alert! Famous last words! [grabs an AK-47] [climbs into TV]
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Special mentions
- Rassilon of Old, for maintaining a high moral integrity even when discussion breaks into argument.
Suggest users for this to the editor now! Recipients of special mentions may also use {{User special mention}} on their user pages.
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Technical updates The 888th Avatar |
This report outlines any notable technical changes made by Wikia and by Avatar Wiki admins in the last two weeks.
- Image cache issues, such as those encountered when re-uploading an image or choosing a new avatar, have been fixed by Wikia. If you are still seeing problems, try clearing the entirety of your browser cache first. (This can be done in your browser options, usually in the same dialogue that is used to clear browsing history.) If this doesn't work either, you should contact Wikia with specific details.
- Comment highlighting has been fixed for good by yours truly. The CSS that the highlighting is based on contained a mistake that meant that browsers that allow for fewer coding errors, such as Chrome (this is actually a good thing), would sometimes highlight non-admin comments.
- Anonymous users are no longer marked as "A Wikia contributor". This is intended to be less confusing, as a more objective term is used.
- Log warnings have been given coloured backgrounds by yours truly, a minor change. An example of where these are displayed is when users edit a protected page.