announcements
- The Fanon Portal's White Lotus Sentinel newsletter has retired. All fanon articles now publish via The Ba Sing Se Times.
- The 6th Fanon Awards concluded 2015, and winners are announced!
user rights report
- The BSST staff welcomes Deputy Editor AvatarRokusGhost to oversee articles with canon and mainspace content.
- DrachenRitter42 and CombustionNation are now chat moderators.
- HammerOfThor is now a forum moderator.
- PSUAvatar14 is no longer an administrator.
| From the Editor: The BSST Returns in Style! |
It's been a long year for many of you who were waiting for this. Some thought it was the death of two newsletters! But today, we're finally here and I'm extremely proud to present the hard work of our lively community below. A lot of things can happen in a year, even on the internet. Our fanon community surely feels the weight of the retired White Lotus Sentinel, but if you take a scroll below to the fanon side, you'll see that it lives on in spirit.
To those unfamiliar with this newsletter, it's 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 green 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 Reading!
Once upon a time, fellow user Master Ratava teamed up with former fanon admin Rassilon of Old to create a news service on Avatar Wiki parallel to The Ba Sing Se Times, to help users find willing editors and illustrators and to compile valuable information together for the benefit of fanon readers and authors alike. From this idea was born The White Lotus Sentinel. Since the WLS merged with the community newsletter this past April, it is now a part of the wiki's archives, like The Laogai Inquirer and Water Tribe Weekly. Unlike the BSST, the WLS was fanon-themed only, and featured reviews of newer stories, tips on writing, what was going on in the portal and the ongoing adventures of its staff members behind the scenes. While it was around, it left an impression on the wiki like no other, with its colorful spontaneity.
In a typical WLS issue, one would find an array of witty poll choices and urban dictionary definitions. Things were frequently changed up, as six of the seven deputy editors on the staff were also editors at one point or another. Actually, the WLS had two co-editors at the helm rather than one head editor. Entire issues would have themes, normally around holidays, such as Halloween, NaNoWriMo and Valentine's Day, the lattermost of which included submissions of valentine messages from readers, both signed ones and anonymous ones alike. The newsletter even experimented with a quirky magazine format for a couple issues, before promptly reverting to the traditional wiki newsletter style. For the first time, Avatar Wikians were introduced first-hand to some of the adventures of the staff members behind the scenes, as well as those of other fanon portal authors and their fan-created characters for their stories. When the portal was getting less active, regular subscribers of the WLS would read about vanishing characters from fanon stories that went inactive as their authors became distracted, the catastrophe that that occurred when angsty and violent fanon characters were introduced to the authors that made them, the hazards of competing in the annual Fanon Awards, the search for new deputy editors over Halloween and the episode where Lady Lostris visited the WLS staff as a consultant in an hours-long meeting on how to become more efficient and stop wasting so much time. Co-editor Minnichi took over the newsletter one issue only to come to the realization that she missed the way things were and put rest of staff back right for the New Years issue. And then there were the infamous Line Wars. The two longest-serving co-editors of The White Lotus Sentinel got into a long-running dispute over the formatting in between articles on the columns of WLS issues. Minnichi, who was back then a deputy editor for the BSST, wanted the WLS to use the same dashed lines found in Avatar Wiki's community newsletter, but Omashu Rocks was steadfast in his preference for solid lines with no breaks or dashes. When this broke out, the pro-solid line OR and the pro-dashed line Minn tried to resolve it first through rock paper scissors, then with a coin flip and finally with a sword-fighting duel. With the alternating that went on, readers were left wondering what kind of lines the next issue would have. Here is an example of a WLS issue with solid lines, where Typhoonmaster catalogues Minn's ongoing resistance to this. As a deputy editor while OR and Minn were co-editors, I got to experience all of this first hand. Today, I find myself working with OR and Minn once again, but for The Ba Sing Se Times. As our Dai Li Editor-in-Chief has pointed out, the BSST is a very different newsletter than the WLS was. However, in the spirit of the newsletters becoming "merged" and having a staff discussion, we can assure you that the legacy of the WLS live on in this new era, in some ways obvious and in others more subtle. Maybe we'll even see how the Line Wars end. Granted, it is exponentially more difficult with OR as the deputy editor of fanon and Minn in charge of the whole newsletter, but he always has something up his sleeve.
The BSST is now relying on us to keep it up and running, and I don’t know about you guys but I look forward to the BSST and it’s sad to see it out this late. Furthermore, every time I get on the wiki now it seems to be barren, less lively. It’s like after the hype of LoK ended and that big Korrasami flair up finally died down, every one seems to have left, but maybe that’s just me.
Now, before I get on my hands and knees and start begging you to add something, start trying to guilt trip you into contributing, start bribing you with promises of user boxes, badges, and a higher ranking on the wiki, I’ve got to address something bigger first. What is the point of even doing this stuff? I remember the first time I started watching Avatar: The Last Airbender. It had been out for a long time already, and I was privileged to be able to binge watch all three seasons on Netflix. I was about eight at the time and it seemed to me that, besides The Chronicles of Narnia, no better kids story had ever been told. I still hold to the belief that ATLA is the best animated kids series out there. I was heart broken when it was over and began to write fan fiction before I even knew that fan fiction existed. But, as these things go, I grew up and Avatar eventually slipped out of my mind until a few years ago when I rediscovered it, and then found this wiki. Ever sense then I’ve been hooked on this place, but should I be? It’s obvious that spending all day, everyday on the wiki would be bad. We can’t neglect work, school, family, or other obligations for the sake of an online community. Then again, is it bad to devote your recreational time to it? I would say not at all. There is something amazing about this place. Something that, for me, brings back all those comfy memories of my younger self enjoying the series. This wiki really sets it’s self apart from the others, and I think is by far the best that I have been on (though I may be biased). It’s a perfect place to get in touch with other ATLA fans, share your opinions, work on writing quality fanfic and, who knows, maybe even submit an article to the BSST (wink wink). Bryke have even said themselves that they use the wiki as a reliable resource for brushing up on there own story! I would say that one can gain a lot from drifting around this place. But, you know, a wiki would be nothing without contributors. Now is that part where I get on my hands and knees and start begging you to add something, start trying to guilt trip you into contributing, and start bribing you with promises of user boxes, badges, and a higher ranking on the wiki. Your real life needs you, yes, but your wiki needs you too. In the battle of Avatar VS. Real Life, maintain a healthy balance, and please, please, please submit an article for the BSST. Don’t you hate there being so much time between issues? I promise you’ll get more user boxes, badges, and a higher ranking if you contribute more…
You are looking at the new Ba Sing Se Times, and suddenly you notice a particular article...
Well hello there! Didn't see you for a minute hehe..... Anyway, HELLO!!! My name is CombustionNation, and you may or may not have seen me around on the wiki. I am not a very old user nor someone who is for the first time on this wiki. I've been around the wiki for sometime, only then without an account....yeah that happens :D Who am I?I have been a user on this wiki for around three months now, and I've learned a lot about how this wiki works and the users on this wiki. It's too bad that I joined the wiki after The Legend of Korra ended, and the wiki wasn't in its prime time anymore; aw well, can't have everything. These past few months really were informative for me, because I learned quite a bit of wiki coding, how certain policies work and I've met some very nice people :D (looks over to AvatarAang7), DaiLaiHeping, AvatarKya and Aang 112. Of course most people are nice but those few are really my so called 'friends'. Where do I spend my time?I spend most of my wiki time over at the Fanon section, by working on the following things: 1. My very first fanon The Red Spirits. 2. My second and currently on hold fanon The Last Combustion Avatar. 3. Some random OS and such. The rest of my time I wander around reading fanons, looking up information about certain topics and some random stuff here and there. That's what you can expect from me. Some very important information regarding Avatar and myselfTo make this clear, I want to address a thing that is a part of the Avatar fanbase and frankly plays quite a big role in it, and my opinion about it. Disclaimer: The following information is my opinion and I do not consciously try to insult you or anything that you believe in or support. This is my opinion and you can disagree. Thank you in advance for understanding. Shippings: A big part of Avatar is this fenomenon that people call 'Shippings'. Well, I'm not a shipper of some sort, which means that for me it doesn't matter if certain people are in love or something else or not. The most reasonable reason for my view on this topic is that I really started to enjoy Avatar after the series ended, meaning that I wasn't there in its prime time, meaning that I wasn't there when the shipping debates were heaviest. I think that is the most reasonable explanation for my view and such on shippings. Who am I in real life?In real life I am a student in a small town in the Netherlands who is still in high school. I enjoy playing video games like Call of Duty, and I also enjoy listening to music. I am also thinking about producing my own music, but that isn't a big priority right now. I enjoy being here on the Avatar Wiki and I hope that I can stay here for as long as possible! Special thanks to the BSST and especially Omashu Rocks for inspiring me to write this article. See ya all around in the chat!
The interpretation that Mary Sue is a character that is idealized to a fault. A very influential interpretation, this one tends to get applied to most discussions. This theory posits that a Mary Sue is an unrealistically capable and virtuous character, one who simply lacks flaws and is depicted in an overly positive light. This tends to draw the most debate, as this model of character is extremely common, and also a lot more accepted than people give it credit for. Charles Dickens, one of the established classic authors, used to specialize in creating characters like this. A lot of characters in both male- and female-centric fiction simply lack meaningful flaws, but are more than accepted because they work as Escapism for the audience. However, both this interpretation and a shift of society as a whole towards cynicism has led to many people trying to mask their otherwise idealized characters with either total non-flaws (e.g. being So Beautiful, It's A Curse and other Cursed with Awesome details), flaws by proxy (e.g. Dark and Troubled Past), or flaws that simply don't play any role in the plot at all (e.g. making a character an alcoholic, but never showing them as impeded by it).”
That’s one of the many descriptions of a Mary Sue from TV Tropes, and I can’t help but notice how most of it fits Asami Sato perfectly. She is indeed an idealized, flawless character in The Legend of Korra, and it is one of the many things I’ve noticed in my dissection of Bryke’s sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender. Don’t believe me? She’s beautiful, intelligent, skilled (so much so that she outshined the bending members of Team Avatar in their initial engagements), rich, and impossibly nice. She can drive or fly pretty much anything, and she’s a seriously competent inventor, a characteristic showcased whenever a literal plot device is needed. Put simply: she’s perfect. Think about it, what flaws does she have? Sure, bad things happen to her, many of which are things that also happen to define a Mary Sue (dead parent/parents, evil legacy, etc.), but realistically, she doesn’t have any flaws that allow for character development, growth, or learning moments. She has flashes of petty jealousy in Book One, but that’s it. There’s nothing she has to learn, nothing inside of herself that she has to grow out of or work against. Click here to keep reading! When compared to the other members of Team Avatar, Asami’s growth is stunted. Korra has development in every new season (with the exception of Book Two, which just rehashed her development from Book One), Mako has had a bevy of flaws that he has had to overcome over the course of the show, eventually leading to a meaningful non-romantic relationship with Korra, and Bolin has made poor decisions in regard to who he follows and his relationships, as well. What does Asami Sato struggle with? What flaws impede her in such a way that she must overcome them to grow as a character? She has none. She’s this perfect little gem from the moment that she’s introduced, and that never changes. She can’t even act as a foil in any way to Korra in the end because she’s such a weak character in terms of writing. It’s as if Bryke decided what her best qualities would be and stopped there, never thinking to give her something from which she can grow and develop. I realize that most of the definitions of a Mary Sue deal solely with the protagonist, but some of them do leave room for other characters to inhabit the position. Asami Sato is a Mary Sue in every other respect, and it bugs the crap out of me that, like so many other elements in The Legend of Korra, she was not given enough time or care to become more than a walking plot device. |
Hello Avatar Wikians! I had the recent honor of interviewing your fellow administrator, Water Spout! Water Spout has been a great contributor over the years. Now is your chance to find out more about how is!
Thank you for your time, Water Spout! This was a great interview and I hope you liked it as much as I did! You are an awesome user and you have helped the wiki for a long time. I hope you keep your good work up and stay with us for much, much longer! Thank you for the interview, this has been fun!
It turns out that there is actually a gaming aspect of The Legend of Korra and The Last Airbender that is either unknown or largely ignored. My birthday was in July, and the regular $15 USD price of The Legend of Korra game was reduced to $4 USD. I wanted to give it a try and see if the games were worthwhile, so Mum bought it for me, and I downloaded and installed it. I then booted it up. No, I didn’t kick it, I started it up. I was greeted with an annoying start-up message, telling me to use an Xbox 360 controller. I pressed enter and it went away, and the regular PC controls worked just fine.
The plot slips perfectly in between Books 2 and 3. Basically, you are Korra, a female protagonist, and you seem to bugger off for a whole week after winning a pro-bending match by yourself. For some reason, she didn’t bring her friends, probably because they were knocked out at the very start of the match. Korra loses all of her bending after an ambush by Equalists and resorts to beating them up with her fists. Fun stuff. You have to fight loads of chi blockers and clones of three members of the Triple Threat Triad, some of which are just colour swapped with a ridiculous palette. It’s not quite relevant, but whenever Two Toe Ping jumps into the fray, it plays music that sounds like it must be accompanied by Lo Wang from Shadow Warrior spouting some racist rubbish. It turns out, some chap named Hundun (Hoon-doon, not huhn-duhn) and his Siamese twin want revenge on the Avatar so they bring back enemies to use as cannon fodder. He succeeds in that manner, but is absolutely thrashed by our female protagonist. The rest of the story is just Jinora popping up and saying, “Hey, I think you can get your earthbending back if you beat up this mecha tank,” or “I think you’ll get your airbending back if you run away like a wuss.” Now combat is fun. The only thing more pleasurable than spamming hurricanes around and kicking up all the useless chi blockers is blocking one of them and throwing them across the room, or stunning them then finishing them Doom 4 style (they glow blue and you smash their heads in). Fighting mecha tanks is hard but if you block them while they charge, you can mash your left arrow key and send them back to Hiroshi. The thing is about the combat is that it had to sacrifice accuracy for gameplay. You can pull a stone out of a suspended wooden platform. You can bend water without a source, you can even ride a waterspout on a stone. Inaccurate but fun nonetheless. Last and somewhat least, graphics. I don’t really care much for graphics, but this was like when I booted up Heretic II in 2006. “Wow,” I yelled, “these graphics are really realistic.” Realistic graphics? How so? It’s a blooming cartoon? It’s very realistic for a cartoon; it felt like I was watching the show and controlling it to some extent. Well, that’s it for today. The game, I rate: great out of eight. Enjoy it, mate. So in answer to Minnichi’s question about the games, “Did you like it? Love it? Flushed it down the toilet?” I have to say that I loved it. If you are interested in sharing your opinion about this game or any other Avatar game, do not hesitate to contact either me, Minnichi or Omashu Rocks. |
If there's one thing I've learned from my time on Avatar Wiki, it's that almost everyone unanimously agrees with and adores my opinions. Whether in reference to my eloquently-stated, thought-out, fact-based convictions regarding politics, ice hockey, Avatar, or, most especially, the goings-on of our wiki, I cannot turn a corner without millions of users asking- nay, begging, me for my valuable input. "Please," the admins would plead with me, "post another blog trying to link the Avatar World to your take on U.S. politics."
Alas, it has come to a time in which I can no longer look down from atop my throne of moral and intellectual superiority upon the confused and lost masses among Avatar Wiki. That is why, in a stroke of compassion and selflessness, but most importantly extreme humility, I have decided to bring about the genesis of a life-altering new series in my BSST articles: On My Radar. As the Deputy Editor whose vast domain of authority covers the Fanon Portal, I have come to the conclusion I should write about fanons. It seems like an obvious enough answer, but there I was in my dim study, the light from a full moon shining through a stained glass window, pacing the floor and hoping I would learn what to write about, perhaps through divine illumination. Fortunately, I did not have to wait long. I received an email notification on my phone, alerting me that my own fanon had received a comment on our very wiki. With the calmness and casualness all authors display when they receive a comment on their work, I gazed upon a delightful and kind message the from Katrinasforest, which then included the following: O RLY?! How very interesting! In an additional comment, it was suggested to me a second time that I check out said fanon by a girl I can only assume is named Katrina or was a forest destroyed by a devastating 2005 hurricane. It was her type of self-promotion and subtle advertising that made me see myself in her, such promise! I eagerly obliged, appreciating and thrilled to see the same level of shameless fanon-plugging that once drove at least 75% of my page views. So, I did in fact check out Powers Saga, and after reading the plot descriptions, I was already intrigued. The tale is a post-ATLA fanon, but not like any you've read. The plot begins by establishing an alternate universe in which Zuko, after being struck by Azula's lightning, was not revived by Katara but rather paralyzed indefinitely. That was, until Avatar Aang was able to put into motion a desperate plan involving his ever-intriguing ability to energybend. Aang switches Zuko and Katara's elemental allegiances, granting the former prince of the Fire Nation the ability to waterbend. Oh, and to bloodbend. With his newfound control over his own body, Zuko is able to heal his paralysis and proceed to claim his country's crown, but life isn't so simple. For the Fire Nation had established a law that all Fire Lords must be firebenders. As the author puts it on the fanon's main page: Zuko is "forced to either hide his abilities or give up the throne." Unique plot? A return to our beloved original Avatar characters? An AU in which Katara and Zuko's bending is switched? Political drama in the Fire Nation? Count me in! I didn't hesitate to click the link for the first chapter, and I was not let down. Katrinasforest is an adept writer, unlike a certain BSST Deputy Editor whose name may rhyme with Romashu Ocks. Her pacing is on point, there are no issues with grammar or vocabulary (a topic for which there is no need to discuss, as the author is clearly past the necessity to critique such items), and the first chapter found that magic equation to make me hungry for the next. If you are looking for something new to read, something fresh with a completely unique plot, and something from a strong, new author on the wiki, this fanon is for you. Let's face it, our portal has been lacking as of late, but with the Fanon Awards drawing lots of attention, and new stories such as Powers Saga popping up and filling a void, perhaps hope is not lost. The best part? This brand new story is only eight chapters in, which means you can catch up in no time at all! And so, born out of the desire to tell our readers about this new fanon is my On My Radar series. These are not fanon reviews, nor are they interviews with the author. I intend these to simply be semi-frequent installments of my musings regarding different fanons I happen to come across on the portal. I will try to keep them as entertaining as possible, most likely by masking my immeasurably dry personality with feigned, forced attempts at humor. I will not be accepting recommendations/nomination/requests for fanons to put on my radar, as I am perfectly capable of using the functions on the wiki's fanon portal main page. However, if you think you can be creative enough to sneak in a promotion for your fanon inside a compliment sandwich on my own fanon page, I may admire you for being a go-getter. On a more serious note, I am not actually trying to be an egotistical maniac with my introduction. I simply felt like poking fun at myself for my history of controversial opinions throughout my time here (although I can't hold a candle to some of our all-time most accomplished trolls.) The truth is, you don't need to care about my opinions to enjoy a new, fanontastic fanon! I hope to use this series as a platform for authors who I feel deserve a chance. *NOTE: In the original article, I failed to mention that Powers Saga is co-written by Raptorrowan. This was a major mistake on my part and I apologize to the two authors who both deserve credit for this promising story.
Good afternoon, fellow fanon portalers! It's a new year, still post-Legend of Korra, and as expected, the overall activity on the wiki is slightly lower than what it was when the series was airing. Never fear, though. There's plenty of stories on here, more are being published and read and commented upon each day, so the fanon portal on Avatar Wiki is much as it has always been. With the main series over and the comics still very much in the works, we even have new kinds of fanons popping up, such as post-finale stories (the modern equivalent of after-the-war fanons, which were the mainstream genre for ATLA stories for a long time) and canon-related Korrasami fics. Not that there had never been romance or Korrasami fics before, but when a ship officially becomes canon there's naturally more activity around it, and the extra chance for inspiration to develop certainly doesn't not help.
Our only featured story for the month of January is The Lost and the Found a by experienced fanon writer Katherine Rebekah for featured fanon articles, as a chapter of her hit series The Legend of Kyo. Meanwhile, our most recent featured fanon series back in October was I Am the Solution by EskaDesna21, who has written quite a lot on here and even won a couple of the writing contests. Both the featured fanon series and the featured fanon article are displayed on the main page for the whole of the following month and will therefore represent the creativity and quality for the fanon portal as a whole. Nominations and voting for February are already open, so if you know of something you feel is deserving for next month, stop by the page. On another note, it's been almost two years since the Fanonbenders began releasing monthly contests. Well into the double digits now, the tradition of having a new prompt and contest each month has come a long way, with a total of 83 entries, a winner (and sometimes honorable mentions) each month and several regular participants who have kept coming back. Hopefully this will continue for a long time to come. Not too long ago, there was a rule change that was agreed upon giving members of the fanonbenders the right to "opt out" of the judging for a month and compete for the title themselves. In other words, fanonbenders and potential fanonbenders need not miss out on any of the fun. Tono555 joined the team earlier in the year, as did former admin PSUAvatar14 before he became inactive. Should you be interested in applying to be a fanonbender, you may apply on the respective page. They were not the only user group who welcomed new users this year, either. As of recently, positions have opened up in both the Fanon Review Squad and Fanon Fact Finders. Those wanted to evaluate and critique fanon stories on here or conduct interviews with fanon authors had a chance to apply with tests in blog format. The groups are different, but the procedures are somewhat similar, as applying entails writing and publishing a test review or interview to tryout for the respective group. The fanon to review was Crossfire and the fanon to interview for was Inheritance. Bomochu became the newest FRS member and Tono555 and Duke of Skibbingtom joined the interviewing ranks. Meanwhile, the Fanon Illustrator Insignia also gained DaiLaiHeping as a new member. Lastly, as I'm sure most of you are aware, the Sixth Fanon Awards have taken place and all the winners given templates. Among other changes, the Outstanding Editor category was eliminated this year, but the fourth edition of the User Awards still had a category for Best Editor in the Fanon Namespace. There's no definite date for the Seventh Fanon Awards yet, but when there is one, the BSST staff will do our part to keep you posted on that!
Lately, there has been a thought running through my mind on several occasions: why isn't there a Fan Art portal/hub on the Avatar Wiki?
In my imagination, it would be the visual version of the Fanon Portal, but for the artists and Illustrators of this fine community: where competitions and challenges would be held, and where paintings, drawings, digital artworks, cosplay designs and comic-strips would exist for the fans on our wiki to share and enjoy. My question to you is: is this something you would like to see here on the Avatar Wiki? Would you take part in it's competitions and/or see yourselves as an active user in this Portal? I'd like to gauge your interest before pursuing this idea further. You can let DaiLaiHeping know you're interested by voting in the Poll below. |
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the premiere of Avatar Wiki's This is a match like no other: a live battle between two original characters from the stories you all know and love in our fanon portal. Each OC here is written authentically by his or her respective author, no differently than how you would encounter them in their fanons. The parent authors have taken turns responding to each other's literary attacks, adapting and adjusting to strike back with anything their writer's imaginations can come up with! It's an epic war, a clash of authorship - and today, a test of who can pull it off while incorporating original rap songs!!! As you read on, keep track of who's writing by following their ID color! (Minnichi writes in green, and Bomochu blue.)
Based on the fanon series Spirit of the North by Bomochu, and Silent Hero in Emerald by Minnichi This is a test run of a new idea: authors challenging each other via their original characters to a writer's showdown in public. The goal is to give users a chance to showcase their writing skills by featuring it here in a very raw, genuine and riveting format that gives readers a true essence of who they are as authors. The editor hopes to continue this column, and will do so for as long as there are two willing competitors. How does that work? Simply declare "I challenge (any active fanon author of your choice)" in the comments below if you dare face off with your fellow writers. Those who have battled before may challenge or be challenged again, but not with the same user. Be aware that participation requires both users agreeing to the battle. Come see what you're capable of writing under crazy conditions! Find out who will win the crowd! Battle arrangements for any declared challenges will be taken care of by BSST staff; just write, and let us do the fancy fliers and publishing. May the best pen win. And if you guys are all too chicken to keep a column like this going, then we hope you enjoyed the battle today! Current Challengers!
With the recent conclusion of the Sixth Fanon Awards, the five Award Councilors who hosted the ceremony would like to express their sentiments about the unique, untraditional course of events of this round.
 It was great fun to run and take part in the Sixth Fanon Awards this month, and to have such great participation from the fanon community, even as the site itself is as a whole less active than it used to be. With the constantly changing nature of the wiki, it's pretty rare to have sixth annual anything, all the more reason to keep the ball rolling. Having been on the council a few times already, I almost sat out this time, but after the blast we all had and showing how vibrant the community still is, I'm glad I stepped up. There were a lot of deserving nominees up there and for many of the categories it was hard to choose; it was nice seeing Sparkstoaflame nominated for more awards than any user since the Second Fanon Awards. Of course, the awards are not just about the nominees and winners, but also about every fanon writer and the community as a whole, as a celebration of Avatar fanon. Thank you to all who participated and congratulations to all award winners and nominees! Even though I've been around for a short while here, I had never actually experienced a Fanon Awards ceremony until now. Of course, one could just look back over the past ceremonies on the various archive pages to see what it would have been like, but there is still something really special about actually being part of the awards themselves. The searching for nominees, excitement as the voting plays out, and getting a chance to read stories that I wouldn't have otherwise known about are just some of the things that I personally loved about the awards. Since I was a newbie to the awards it was a little daunting volunteering to be a councillor, but I think one thing that convinced me to try was that I've always wanted to help the community activity on this wikia. There was a time when the Avatar Wiki was bustling with users and stories, but unfortunately since then we have seen many dry spells. But what was awesome about these awards was the participation from the community, and that's something to be proud of. I do hope that we can use this momentum and keep the portal active throughout this year, and to anyone who is even considering applying to become part of the council for the next awards, I would tell them that it is a whole heap of fun and definitely worth it. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners! This awards was the first to skip a consecutive year after the previous, and there were many things done untraditionally. I apologize that you all had to wait so long to see the Fanon Awards come back. But I'm thrilled to see that despite the slow start and extreme tardiness on my part, I felt the same spirit in the competition as I did for all the previous award ceremonies I'd been a part of. I'm stoked that inactivity here did not mean a lack of good fanons to recognize. In the end, memorable authors and their readers still made the air vibrant with anticipation and celebration - which is something the council can't take credit for on its own. You guys rock for your willingness to participate all the same despite our epically long postponement! As part of the council anyway, my favorite part was just handing you guys your virtual winners' ribbons. Thanks for keeping that unchanged! With fanons here that still move me and especially with the emergence of new ones that can still have me fangirling, I'm more than happy to stay and celebrate good writing around the wiki wherever I can. Write on, epic authors, and congratulations! This wasn't my first Fanon Awards, but it was my first time as part of the council, and I gotta say, seeing the amount of work behind the scenes has given me a new appreciation for the Awards as a concept. As Minn mentioned, yeah, we skipped a year. But while we do the work 'putting on the show', as it were, it was really down to the amazing authors and readers on the Wiki that made this Fanon Awards what it was. It was amazing seeing, as opposed to every other year I've ever witnessed (and a few I hadn't), the vast array of different stories, authors, and characters that were nominated this year. I look forward to future award ceremonies, and want to both thank my fellow council members for their tireless efforts, and congratulate the winners and nominees of this year's Fanon Awards~ I'll just be honest here. The Council, the entire procedure and all was something new to me, and I can't say I wasn't surprised when I was chosen for it (let alone when two of my creations were nominated). As someone not involved too much in all that community stuff around here, I can't and won't say anything about the idea behind Click here to keep reading! the Fanon Awards, or activity (and lack thereof) or whatever, I'll just say that it's nice to see such an appreciation of, say, high-quality fanon, and writing overall. Though it took us, the Council, forever to come to any conclusion, though we had our, let's say internal struggles, and though I myself could (and certainly should) have done more (especially preparing), I believe it all ended up rather well, and I think we did have our fun, at times. And now, without further ado, I shall thank all participants for, well, participating, the other councillors for the cooperation, and, of course, congratulate the nominees and winners! Keep up the good work! |