#legacy of the fire nation critical

[justanotherthrowaway1950]

The author of Legacy of the Fire Nation admitted in a tweet that they weren't allowed to reveal anything that hadn't already been shown on-panel or on-screen. In fact, here is a screenshot for reference.

Imo, I treat it like a post-Smoke and Shadow Iroh upset that Azula took advantage of him pushing Aang to allow her to go on the search for Ursa on her terms to not only almost kill Ursa, but also then become a world-class terrorist bent on turning Zuko into a tyrant like their forefathers before them.

It's like when he said, "She's crazy and needs to go down." after Azula almost killed him and Azula. He could have said it better, but he is human after all, no matter how his stans deify him.

Seriously?! First Iroh pins the blame on Azula and now this unflattering portrait of her?!!!!

Whoever wrote this BS forgot to drink their Respect Women juice.

[therealvinelle]

Can I hear your opinions on rita skeeter?

You know how some stories have that only sane man, the one person who isn't impressed by our dashing main characters or who's living in a different genre and rated story? The one, typically a fan favorite, character who has a fundamentally different perspective. They can also, shortly put, be the "this is stupid and you're stupid" character.

The NBC Hannibal show has Freddie Lounds ("I'm a bad, bad man", Will threatens her. He is then surprised when she runs a feature on the FBI hiring a creep to come to crime scenes and pretend he's a serial killer.) The Vampire Diaries had Elijah (he isn't a great example of this, but legacy fans will remember all the jokes about how the reason the writers never put him in episodes was because he'd have solved all the characters' stupid problems within twenty minutes and there would be no plot for the rest of the season. Elijah was perceived to be living in a different type of show than the rest of the teen drama cast), and there are some who think that this was Snape for Harry Potter.

They are wrong.

Rita, my dove

Let's take a look at a few things Rita prints over the course of canon, where we have an insight into what actually happened and know precidely what she printed. I have my copy of Goblet of Fire with me, it's in Norwegian so I'll be translating back to English but I trust that's alright.

The Quidditch world cup incident

What we know happened:

The British Ministry was responsible for the event. It was highly prestigious, with foreign leaders attending and people from all over the world camped out near the stadion. After the first match there's celebrations, which turns into a riot. Tents are set on fire, people are chased through the camp grounds, and there's total chaos where nobody knows where their loved ones are. The riot soon turns into a homage to Voldemort, with rioters in Death Eater uniforms tormenting the Muggles living nearby and someone putting up the Dark Mark.

Arthur Weasley, who works in the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts (which is admittedly part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement), is sent to make a statement on the Ministry's behalf to the terrified witches and wizards hiding.

What Skeeter reports:

Headlining "TERROR AT THE WORLD CUP" (me translating), with an image of the Dark Mark, Rita Skeeter writes (this is Arthur skimming): "Ministry blunders... culprits not apprehended... lax security... Dark wizards running unchecked... national disgrace..." (original English from the wiki)

A full section (and this is me translating again): "If the terrified witches and wizards who waited for information while they hid in the woods had hoped for any sort of reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sorely disappointed. A department spokesman, who only showed up long after the Dark Mark had appeared, claimed no one had been injured but refused to give further information. It remains to be seen if this statement will quell the rumors that several bodies were seen being recovered from the woods an hour later."

Verdict

All of this is accurate, except the last sentence.

Nobody was killed in the incident. However, Skeeter was acting on the information available to her, and she makes it clear this last part is unconfirmed. Further, I'm going to come out in her defense and say that Skeeter, writing an article critical of the Ministry in a community with a very loose sense of free speech, can't take Arthur Weasley at his vague word and should refer to her own sense of judgement when deciding whether the rumors are credible enough to print or not.

As it is, a riot in a crowded area at night with people who dressed like Death Eaters, where the Dark Mark was fired into the sky, where mass panic erupted, in a world where children can produce deadly magic with their wands, could easily have led to casualties. I don't think it was a far leap for Skeeter that people might have died, and the Ministry didn't want to admit as much.

Notice her phrasing (and yes, I know you're reading my translation) when she talks about the Ministry: "It remains to be seen if this statement will quell the rumors that several bodies were seen being recovered from the woods an hour later." Not, "It remains to be seen whether the rumors that several bodies were seen being recovered from the woods an hour later were true.", or any type of phrasing indicating that the truth will out. Only rumors that may or may not be quelled.

Knowing that the Wizarding World doesn't appear to be a functional nor accountable democracy, that things like statistics likely don't exist (who will be your statistician if there is no basic math education? How will wizards interpret statistics if they don't understand basic maths, what use are error margins and percentages to them? This is important, because without statistics there is also no need to collect numbers - how many students take the core classes, how many are employed after X years, how many citizens die in a given year and of what causes... you see where I'm going with this), and that Arthur gets so defensive when reading legitimate criticism of his Ministry (not even his department or jurisdiction, mind, and Skeeter anonymized him), indicates a fraught understanding of governmental accountability and transparency.

In other words, who can say if anybody died that night. Arthur himself had gone to bed with his family as soon as the chaos was under control, and there was no tally after the riot, no controlled evacuation, nothing. Skeeter wasn't wrong for publishing what she herself clarified was speculation, either way I'm hard pressed to see her as a villain for putting the Ministry under pressure, in fact I have to wonder if this kind of pressure is necessary to get them to admit things they'd otherwise shove under the carpet.

Back to Arthur Weasley. In response to this article he says to his family (me translating again): "Molly, I must go to the office. Killing this is going to take some time."

Now, I know real governments have to cry over scandals that take time to move past as well: however, what are people upset over? What's the scandal?

Oh, yes, that the Ministry wasn't able to prevent a riot at a large sports event, flubbed completely once it had begun, and failed to give the people any kind of useful or timely information. All of that is true. The only part that isn't true, would be dispelled if they'd only put out a statement saying "no one was killed". The only reason why one such statement wouldn't work is if Ministry statements are not considered trustworthy - and this is where we return to the above.

So far, so good on Rita Skeeter, and so bad on Arthur who, going by this section, questions the Ministry less than Bellatrix Lestrange questions Voldemort.

Interlude: Percy and the vampires

While the article about the World Cup is read, Percy jumps in with an anecdote about Skeeter.

"That woman is always out to slander the Ministry," Percy said angrily. "Last week she claimed we waster our time fooling around with cauldron thickness when we should be extinguishing vampires! As though it is not expressedly stated in Guidelines for treatment of non-wizard halfhumans that-"

I'm not going to make any guesses as to what precisely Skeeter's criticism was, because Percy is angry and venting to his family, which doesn't make him likely to present her argument fairly. Who knows what, specifically, she criticized and why and what she asked for in her article. What we do know is that she questioned Ministry priorities and resource allotment, and Percy takes it personally, he gets angry about it. Hostility and defensiveness is the gut reaction.

More damningly, "that woman is always out to slander the Ministry" implies no one else is doing it.

Your star is rising, Rita.

Oh no, post got long

And this is the part where I'd go on to her interview with Harry and subsequent articles, and later on Dumbledore, but I'm realizing that would make this post a very long and decentralized mess.

Will cover it in follow up posts: today is for Rita vs. the Ministry and how the Weasleys think Muggles are so quaint with their democracricy and freedom of speech, teehee that's silly.

[burst-of-iridescent]

I've actually seen people say that the line in TSR sounds like Zuko isn't about defending Katara but that Zuko thinks Aang's beliefs are silly, and he doesn't think it's not part of the "real world" or something. How would you explain that part? I hope this doesn't come off as aggressive, I just want to know your thoughts.

i think what a lot of people tend to forget about aang - mostly because the show loves to paint him as Eternally Right and Wise most of the time - is that we cannot take what he says about air nomad culture as the Word of God. this is not to say that his beliefs are wrong or immoral, but that his interpretation and understanding of those beliefs will be naturally influenced by the fact that he's only twelve years old.

we see multiple times in atla that aang's perspective of air nomad culture is contradicted by that of other air nomads. gyatso is found surrounded by dozens of fire nation corpses that he undoubtedly killed. yangchen tells aang directly that his moral and spiritual duty is to kill ozai, regardless of his own feelings on the matter. clearly, then, neither of these two practiced absolute pacifism and both of them have years of experience and learning on aang. that is why simply reading, or studying, or parroting what other, more learned people have told you does not make you an expert on your culture - because the final component of genuine understanding comes from practice, from living and experiencing and putting your beliefs to the test, tempering them in the fire, questioning those that don't hold up and renewing your faith in those that do.

the problem arises from the fact that aang never does this, because he simply does not yet have the life experience to critically think about what he was taught! and that's fine, but it's also why it grinds my gears when people act as though aang was some kind of moral authority in the southern raiders, because he is very much still a child with a child's understanding of his culture.

that is what zuko means when he says that this isn't air temple preschool, but the real world (not a nice or polite remark, for sure, but also not without an element of truth to it). zuko is not calling aang's beliefs "silly", but he is calling out the fact that aang is not in a position to lecture others using beliefs that he himself does not - in fact, cannot - yet fully comprehend since he does not have the time and learned experience necessary for said comprehension.

and there was a much better narrative there about how aang clings to what he was told about his culture because it's all he has left of it, and how truly honoring his people's legacy means critically engaging with his cultural beliefs rather than enshrining them, allowing him to become a fully realized air nomad instead of remaining forever crippled by his grief - but sadly that's not the narrative we got, since aang had to be Unquestionably Right, and that's why we're still stuck dealing with discourse like this.

[probablyasocialecologist]

While enslaved people were mostly overseas, in colonies, out of sight, slavery funded British wealth and institutions from the Bank of England to the Royal Mail. The extent to which modern Britain was shaped by the profits of the transatlantic slave economy was made even clearer with the launch in 2013 of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership project at University College London. It digitised the records of tens of thousands of people who claimed compensation from the government when colonial slavery was abolished in 1833, making it far easier to see how the wealth created by slavery spread throughout Britain after abolition. “Slave-ownership,” the researchers concluded, “permeated the British elites of the early 19th century and helped form the elites of the 20th century.” (Among others, it showed that David Cameron’s ancestors, and the founders of the Greene King pub chain, had enslaved people.)

But as Bell-Romero would write in his report on Caius, “the legacies of enslavement encompassed far more than the ownership of plantations and investments in the slave trade”. Scholars undertaking this kind of archival research typically look at the myriad ways in which individuals linked to an institution might have profited from slavery – ranging from direct involvement in the trade of enslaved people or the goods they produced, to one-step-removed financial interests such as holding shares in slave-trading entities such as the South Sea or East India Companies.

Bronwen Everill, an expert in the history of slavery and a fellow at Caius, points out “how widespread and mundane all of this was”. Mapping these connections, she says, simply “makes it much harder to hold the belief that Britain suddenly rose to power through its innate qualities; actually, this great wealth is linked to a very specific moment of wealth creation through the dramatic exploitation of African labour.”

This academic interest in forensically quantifying British institutions’ involvement in slavery has been steadily growing for several decades. But in recent years, this has been accompanied by calls for Britain to re-evaluate its imperial history, starting with the Rhodes Must Fall campaign in 2015. The Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 turbo-charged the debate, and in response, more institutions in the UK commissioned research on their historic links to slavery – including the Bank of England, Lloyd’s, the National Trust, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Guardian.

But as public interest in exploring and quantifying Britain’s historic links to slavery exploded in 2020, so too did a conservative backlash against “wokery”. Critics argue that the whole enterprise of examining historic links to slavery is an exercise in denigrating Britain and seeking out evidence for a foregone conclusion. Debate quickly ceases to be about the research itself – and becomes a proxy for questions of national pride. “What seems to make people really angry is the suggestion of change [in response to this sort of research], or the removal of specific things – statues, names – which is taken as a suggestion that people today should be guilty,” said Natalie Zacek, an academic at the University of Manchester who is writing a book on English universities and slavery. “I’ve never quite gotten to the bottom of that – no one is saying you, today, are a terrible person because you’re white. We’re simply saying there is another story here.”

[justanotherthrowaway1950]

Imo, in the best case scenario, I think they intended Azula's character to be irredeemable not because she was innately evil, but because her upbringing plus mental health issues would not allow her to overcome her failures and trauma, especially since by the end of the series she has no one willing to give her the unconditional support and love she would need to heal.

That and to give real consequences to the war since out of the nine main characters, eight of them have happy endings, or at least positive endings.

So by having Azula fail to rise from the shame of her ashes and humiliation, it helps show that there are real, lasting consequences to war and imperialism on both sides of the war.

But in the worst case scenario, it seems like Bryke wanted Azula to be a pure evil villain who we rooted to fail and would gain immense satisfication at her downfall, only for the writers in the TV show to give her depth, depth that caused her to gain a fanbase.

And when they tried "course" correcting in the comics and other extended EU material like Legacy of the Fire Nation, material in which they had way more creative freedom than in the show, said fanbase got angry at them, with them not what to do, especially since they don't seem to hire and/or empower writers willing to push back against against their worst impluses (ex. love triangles).

So IDK what scenario is the real one, but we will probably get an answer soon with the Azula solo comic imo since its nature as an Azula focused story having her deal with her past will force them to elaborate on Azula's inner thoughts and motives.

The worst part about Avatar's writing is that the staff clearly intended for Azula to be a villain that we are suposed to feel good when defeated and at her lowest, but that dosen't make sense, you can't create a whole arc about how every person has good inside of them and that children are victim of their circustances and then say "Oh this character is completelly evil and we won't acknowledge any of her past abuse because she is just that evil"

You invalidate all of your writing, how can you write a story about overcoming your own evil and striving for good while also advocating for moral absolutism ?

Yep, especially when they literally went out of their way to show us a freaking baby picture of Ozai to drive the point home that not everyone is born evil and that everyone deserves a second chance. So then, where is this line of thinking when it comes to Azula? The framing around her character was just really off.

[kataraslove]

hello! I have already seen the opinion several times that everlark and zutara are very similar ships. as a big everlark shipper, I feel that there is something wrong with such an opinion. what can you say about it?

everlark and zutara are similar ships??? how???

zutara has always been given grace from the fandom for as long as i can remember, has always been the fandom preference, while back in the 2010s people despised everlark and wanted katniss to get with gale simply because they found liam hemsworth so much hotter. i directly recall all of my friends being team gale and making fun of me for being team peeta while the movies were coming out. i’m glad that the fandom seems to have done a 180 since the ending of the books and movies; but i also see people taking part in revisionist history by saying that everlark was always the fandom’s preferred choice & i just want to remind y’all that no!!! early everlark stans were in the trenches!

not to mention the criticisms towards everlark and kataang are very similar? i.e., it was forced, katara/katniss didn’t actually love them, aang/peeta coerced their partners into a relationship, aang/peeta isn’t masculine enough for katara/katniss, it was trauma bonding, etc etc. sometimes when i read anti everlark opinions, i get a serious case of deja vu because i’ve heard those exact arguments being used for kataang.

i’ll have to reread the hunger games trilogy for an accurate comparison on the similarities and differences between everlark and the two atla ships. i can, however, offer my two cents based on the following quote:

“That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that.”

and based on what iroh has said about zuko and katara’s dynamic in the legacy of the fire nation, which i think summarizes it perfectly:

“she was certainly the whetstone against which you honed and sharpened your fury, at least for some time.”

“you both shared tremendous passion, but also emotional pains that fueled the fire in your bellies.”

“but her instincts and aang’s advice served her well, as she discovered that vengeance was not the answer.”

this post also provides a great visual summary into how katniss’ monologue applies to katara and aang (rather than katara and zuko):

[restinslices]

I liked the Twilight Lin Keui thingy idk if u watched Succession or Avatar the Last Airbender but can u do tomas,kuai liang and bi hans reaction to either of those shows and who their faves are?bi han is so azula coded

Off topic but do y’all make music playlists for y’all Ocs too? Shit is incredibly relaxing.

Bi-Han

You're so right about him being Azula coded 

Azula has to be his favorite character too. I refuse to take any criticism 

I think when Bi-Han watches anything he's probably on the villains side because sometimes they be spitting. They just have very harsh methods to go about these plans 

His favorite season I think would be season 2

Why? Ozai’s Angels obviously 

Season 3 is their downfall and season 2 is when they're all in their prime 

Plus the Ba Sing Se plot is something I can see him liking 

“See? Liu Kang is just like the king! Incompetent!”

Incorrect but that's an interesting theory 

He's such an Azula defender. He just like me fr 

Least favorite character? I wanna say possibly Commander Zhao because “how are you a Commander but you're terrible at your job?”

But I also wanna say Ozai

He could be his least favorite character because ya know, he's an abusive and manipulative sack of shit that turned his children against each other 

But he might understand his ambition and need to continue his family's legacy 

Depends on his mood ig

One of those people that saw Kyoshi for the 0.5 seconds she was on screen and immediately thought “that's my favorite Avatar”

As a kid he crushed on Ozai's Angels 

Because of the clothes alone he wanted to be apart of the Fire Nation but power wise we know that wouldn't have happened 

Oh the brainwashing of the citizens? That's unfortunate, but at least they're dressed amazing 

Pro Hama. She did nothing wrong. 

Thought blue fire was the coolest shit ever and thought Kuai Liang was ass because his shit is boring ass orange 

His favorite episodes are the season finales because it wraps everything up well and that's when the tension is extremely high 

In order it's The Crossroads of Destiny, Sozin's Comet (places 2nd because Azula lost) then The Siege of the North 

As a little bonus his favorite tale in The Tales of Ba Sing Se is The Tale of Toph and Katara 

Why do I think this? I think he likes the characters and also he enjoys watching little shits get what they deserve (the mean girls that insulted Toph)

Kuai Liang

So we're all agreeing that he definitely had a huge crush on Suki, right?

His love for female warriors that could put him on his ass started with Suki then he ends up marrying Harumi

She's a warrior right? 

Doesn't matter. She'll be dead in the next game anyway. MOVING ON-

Bi-Han wants to be apart of the Fire Nation and Kuai Liang wants to be apart of the water tribes 

As a kid he really wanted blue fire but it never happened 

Favorite characters I think would be Suki, Toph and Zuko

He loves all of them but these are his top 3

His favorite season is season 3 because it's the season that wraps up this amazing show from his childhood and it's done beautifully 

Favorite episode I think would be Boiling Rock 

It's the start of Azula's downfall and come on y'all, we saw Suki, Sokka and Zuko team up. Shit was fire (no pun intended)

He also likes The Beach because it emphasizes how broken the villains are and shows that at the end of the day, they were children robbed of a childhood 

Gets the appeal of Zutara but is a Kataang shipper 

Despises Ozai because of what he did to his kids and his people 

Honestly fuck Sozin, Azulon and Ozai

“Your people didn't deserve to live in my world!” shocked his little heart because damn, you still ain't got no remorse?

He watches this show very often as he grows up. It's never a show he forgets about 

Also fuck Long Feng

Forget all the brainwashing, it's keeping Appa that pushed him over the edge 

Definitely showing this show to his kids 

Too bad they won't live long enough to share it with their own children-

I'm done. Sorry 

Favorite tale is The Tale of Iroh 

Because… Iroh

Do I need to explain?

Tomas 

Probably had a crush on Katara 

I have no reasoning as to why. Like, with Kuai Liang it makes sense with who he marries later, but with Tomas I'm just “yeah that makes sense”

Heavily disagrees with people who call her annoying 

Yeah, she has her moments but she's not this terrible character 

As a child he was jealous of Aang because he got her in the end 

Yeah Tomas, just ignore the genocide of his people and the trauma he has-

You FOR SURE wanna be him 

Jealousy aside, he really likes Aang. I can see Aang being his favorite Avatar

Sokka is also a character he loves 

Tbh I think he loves everyone in the Gaang and while his favorite character is Katara, his second favorite switches from time to time 

Favorite season is season 1 because it kicks off this fantastic part of his childhood 

Unlike his brothers, he was fine with the element he has 

Yeah, he's smoke and not really an airbender but it's close enough 

Minus the genocide, they were living a good life (which is a wild ass sentence)

Knows all the ATLA conspiracies 

“Did you guys know there's a conspiracy that Ty Lee is a descendent of Air Nomads?”

“Did you guys hear this theory that Yue was supposed to be the Avatar after Aang but because he was in the ice she never got the Avatar spirit and that's why she needed the moon to live?”

“Do y'all think Sozin and Roku were hunching?”

Skips the Appa's Lost Days episode 

Favorite episode is The Cave of Two Lovers because it makes him laugh 

Everyone hates Ozai but you wanna know who's really on his shit list?

That old bitch that snitched on Haru

Kill him immediately 

The live action movie filled him with such a rage, he didn't know it was possible 

And because of that, he hasn't seen the live action show yet 

His favorite tale is The Tale of Sokka 

Why? It's just Sokka being a goober

[justanotherthrowaway1950]

LoFTN's main problem is that it is essentially that, in-universe, just after Smoke and Shadow Iroh wrote most of it since the author of Legacy of the Fire Nation admitted in a tweet that they weren't allowed to reveal anything that hadn't already been shown on-panel or on-screen.

Though that doesn't change, like you point out, the weird framing choices that Iroh made, which I just points to the lack of care involved in making it.

For how are you going to frame it as a scrapbook Iroh gave to Zuko and not make sure that every "page" in it is something an in character Iroh would write or say?

now that I’ve (unfortunately) been exposed to the comics, the way the family tree in LotFN is done is… kind of baffling???

Supposedly this is being written mostly before Iroh sets off for the Spirit World? and yet the portraits for Ursa’s new family that are used are the ones where Ursa is miserable and in her royal attire, Ikem is… IKEM, despite the fact that Kiyi has only ever known Noren (as have Zuko and Iroh; only Ursa truly knew Ikem and Ozai only kind of confronted him), and the cherry on top is that Kiyi here is older; so why were these portraits and identities used???

I mean yeah Ursa’s connected to Ozai in the family tree for Zuko and Azula, but they also have young Iroh in the family tree while using a very disheveled Azula. Then again, younger portraits for other characters are used, such as Sozin and Azulon and Ursa’s parents, and Roku and Ta Min. So idk what the theme was lmao

[ego-meliorem-esse]

Ok but what if another turning point for the world power dynamic was the Suez Crisis of 1956. France and England were adamant that they control the canal while the US and USSR were (surprisingly) collaborative in their demand for a cease-fire in the region. I can just imagine Alfred storming into a meeting room with a storm in his eyes yelling at these two raggedy fucks to quit their dumb-ass behaviour. Giving them an eloquent lecture in front of the world. The room full of nations, still recovering from all the events of recent years, going quiet while both Arthur and Francois (for probably not the first time) start reevaluating their roles in the evolving global landscape.

Arthur would likely have felt a mix of anger, embarrassment, and surprise. He had grown accustomed to being an influential world power, and being confronted so forcefully by Alfred, especially as his son, would have challenged his sense of authority and superiority. Despite his pride, Arthur would also have acknowledged a sense of resignation, knowing deep down that the world was changing and that his empire's dominance was waning.

Arthur has a complex relationship with his children, and Alfred holds a special place in his heart as his favorite child (I'm sorry but it's true). He might recognize Alfred's achievements as a reflection of his own influence and guidance, feeling a slight mixture of satisfaction and pride in seeing his protege step into a position of power. Seeing the United States, a former colony, rise to prominence and challenge the established powers could evoke a sense of pride in Arthur as he recognizes the legacy of British influence and ideals that have shaped the nation.

Arthur does recognize the accomplishments of his "wayward son" to a degree. (what a loser)

Francois would definitely feel anger. Even stronger than Arthur, I think. The failure and backlash of the crisis would have strongly wounded his pride. He would display a certain stubbornness and reluctance to accept the changing dynamics of power, more so than Arthur. His pride and desire to assert France's influence might have led him to defend his nation's actions during the Suez Crisis, even in the face of mounting criticism and geopolitical realities. (huge loser)

The Suez Crisis, a focal point of tension, becoming a catalyst for transformation, shaping the dynamics of power and diplomacy for generations to come. In that meeting room, the world witnessed the birth of a new era, where old empires bowed to the demands of a changing world.

[mariacallous]

Little did wannabe warlord and catering magnate Yevgeny Prigozhin realize his short-lived mutiny would result in his demise, leaving behind a legacy—and admirers—far beyond Russia’s borders, particularly in China, where Prigozhin has become a cult figure on closely monitored social media.

Prigozhin’s following among top military bloggers on Weibo, one of the largest social media platforms in China, mirrors that in Russia. From Moscow to Beijing, Prigozhin is seen as the embodiment of a more vigorous and genuine patriotism, a man who prioritized the motherland’s interests over his own life. He is celebrated as a man of the people, despite the wealth he generated from the Wagner Group’s operations.

His blunt criticism of Russia’s top military leaders bolstered his image as a truth-teller willing to risk his life. This resonated in China, where a purge of top military officials in the People’s Liberation Army is underway due to accusations of corruption and of betraying the ideals of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Amid rising tension between Beijing and Washington, many Chinese military bloggers suspect U.S. involvement in Prigozhin’s death, despite there being no evidence of this. A poll on Weibo, limited to 1,000 respondents, showed a majority asserting that the United States orchestrated Prigozhin’s plane crash to incite civil war in Russia. A smaller number of voters pointed the finger at Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating that allowing Prigozhin to walk away unpunished could set a dangerous precedent.

Affection for the Wagner Group is seen by the CCP as a double-edged sword in online Chinese debate. On the one hand, it illustrates the need for empowered Chinese private security companies that protect Chinese citizens and infrastructure abroad. On the other hand, it raises the specter of heavily armed security professionals pursuing a domestic political agenda.

China’s leading security pundits—academics, former military officials, and amateur bloggers—are enamored by the Wagner Group’s bravado and attitude of getting things done no matter what. They argue that the current Chinese approach to the protection of Chinese interests overseas is passive and advocate for more assertive, Wagner-style tactics. The setbacks in counterterrorism operations in Mozambique and the recent slaughter of Wagner operators by Malian Tuareg rebels have largely gone unnoticed. Some bloggers, with several million followers each, see Wagner as the model for Chinese private security companies protecting Belt and Road projects and infrastructure across the globe in high-risk areas.

From Asia to Africa, Chinese overseas workers are facing rising threats, with kidnappings and deaths becoming more frequent. In March 2023, nine Chinese nationals were killed when gunmen attacked a mine in the Central African Republic. Just a year later, in March 2024, five Chinese engineers were killed in a suicide bombing in Pakistan, and another such attack occurred this month, leading Beijing to call for more security. Moreover, Chinese security bloggers’ praise of Prigozhin and his mercenaries as liberators who were a more effective fighting force than the Russian military in Ukraine amounts to a veiled stab at top managers of China’s military-industrial complex, who were fired for accepting bribes and producing low-quality military equipment.

Therefore, it appears likely that China’s strict social media filtering allows such commentary intentionally, as it aligns with the government’s agenda. However, the boundaries of acceptable online discourse can shift suddenly, posing a risk for bloggers if Beijing’s stance on Wagner or the military changes abruptly.

Registered by Weibo with their government-issued IDs and legally responsible for the blogs, the pundits and analysts reflect one strand of government thinking. China’s Great Firewall keeps references to Wagner focused on Ukraine, but the group’s activities in Africa and the Middle East are also mentioned.

Online Chinese discussion frames Wagner’s African operations as support for decolonization and the countering of the West’s neocolonial approach and influence on the continent—basically copy-pasting Russian rhetoric. One commentator, blaming France for turmoil in Mali, took the West to task by asserting that Wagner combats “terrorism and separatism and embodies humanism.” Another microblogger suggested that China would be better off having a Blackwater equivalent rather than a Wagner Group one because “reputation is more important than anything else” and Chinese nationals would not be allowed to perpetrate the kinds of atrocities attributed to the Russian group.

From a Western perspective, this situation may seem perplexing because Blackwater, following the Nisour Square massacre in Iraq, had a notoriously terrible reputation. However, in China, Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, partnered with the state-owned financial giant CITIC to establish the security company Frontier Services Group in Hong Kong. As a result, the widespread global outrage and discussions surrounding Blackwater employees’ killing of Iraqi civilians never reached the broader Chinese public.

The online discussions highlight the fork in the road in which China has to determine the future trajectory of its private security companies. Influential military bloggers with millions of followers see Wagner as a model for the Chinese military and private security industry. They argue that Beijing must develop more assertive companies capable of protecting overseas Chinese nationals and investments. At the same time, there is concern that private security personnel could become an armed, uncontrollable force when they return from overseas service.

This dichotomy between ambition and fear is reflected in the portrayal of Prigozhin as a cult figure in online debates. A nuanced reading reveals Chinese netizens’ concerns about and interests in the Russia-Ukraine war, highlighting several peculiarities. Notably, Prigozhin is seen in China more as a successful CEO than as a wannabe warlord or military strategist, as is often the case elsewhere.

The Chinese public tends to prefer a businesslike approach to the militarization of security functions. In China, rising from humble beginnings to become a billionaire, despite the CCP’s call for moderation, is often viewed as a sign of tactical acumen and shrewdness. Unlike in Russia—where bloggers focus on debating Prigozhin’s military strategies—in China, Prigozhin’s business success remains a key attraction for his followers.

Supporters of the Wagner model still perpetuate the group’s aura of invincibility. One blogger recalled Wagner rescuing Chinese miners in the Central African Republic in July 2023 at the request of the Chinese Embassy. The group found the miners in a forest and “provided them with food, shelter, and security protection” before escorting them to the capital. Chinese public opinion largely matches the view that is prevalent in the swath of land stretching from the Central African Republic to Niger, inundated by Russian propaganda and disinformation that makes no mention of mass slaughters and gender-based violence, and perceives Wagner mercenaries as liberators rather than oppressors.

In life, Prigozhin served Putin by keeping the military’s top brass in check. In death, the Prigozhin myth in Russia is a useful catalyst that directs anger at the military instead of the president and inspires future Wagner recruits. In China, even among Wagner’s biggest boosters, Putin’s description of Prigozhin as a “talented person” who “made serious mistakes in life” remains a warning for Chinese private security entrepreneurs not to cross the party’s red line.

Years ago, a similar debate erupted on Weibo, calling for reforms in China’s private security sector, inspired by the rise of Blackwater. These reforms never took shape—and they are unlikely to materialize now as envisioned by Wagner fans. Even with Wagner’s perceived success, the CCP guards its monopoly on force tightly, with the Maoist principle that the party must control the gun still firmly in place.

The myth of Prigozhin, even within China’s strict narrative control, serves a dual purpose: It fuels ambitions for a stronger, tightly regulated Chinese private security sector while also acting as a cautionary tale about the dangers of contractors turning on their own leaders.

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Promethium bound: New study uncovers rare earth element's properties

Scientists have uncovered the properties of a rare earth element that was first discovered 80 years ago at the very same laboratory, opening a new pathway for the exploration of elements critical in modern technology, from medicine to space travel. Promethium was discovered in 1945 at Clinton Laboratories, now the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and continues to be produced at ORNL in minute quantities. Some of its properties have remained elusive despite the rare earth element's use in medical studies and long-lived nuclear batteries. It is named after the mythological Titan who delivered fire to humans and whose name symbolizes human striving. "The whole idea was to explore this very rare element to gain new knowledge," said Alex Ivanov, an ORNL scientist who co-led the research. "Once we realized it was discovered at this national lab and the place where we work, we felt an obligation to conduct this research to uphold the ORNL legacy."

Read more.

[akiizayoi4869]

Yep. They just ruin his character by doing this.

Iroh: *learns to firebend without hatred and aggression after being found worthy by the dragons*

Also Iroh: *Commits imperialistic violence against the Earth Kingdom for decades culminating in a 600 day siege of Ba Sing Se*

Truly an example of how firebending can be used without hatred or aggression and how he proves himself worthy to the dragons.

[imb3rs]

⊹₊⟡⋆   kaylee   kaneshiro   +   they/them   ⊹₊⟡⋆   blasting   back   in   black   by   ac/dc   through   their   airpods   is   HARLOWE   SAITO-BRENNER   .   oh   ,   you   don’t   know   them   ?   they’re   the   twenty7   year   old   musician   who   just   went   viral   for   getting   into   a   physical   altercation   with   the   paparazzi   after   a   camera   got   a   little   too   close.   talk   about   a   catfight!   .   yup   ,   the   one   that   drives   a   triumph   scrambler   1200   .   i   hear   they’re   pretty   +resilient   ,   but   others   have   claimed   that   they’re   quite   -blunt   .   that   makes   sense   ,   considering   they’re   often   labeled   as   the   deadpan   snarker   .

[  ✰  ]  WANTED  &  ESTABLISHED  CONNECTIONS  (  WIP  ).

penned  by  HECATE  (  she/her  ,  21+  ,  pst  )

001.     ↻     BASICS  .

[  ✰  ]  full  name:  harlowe  yumi  saito-brenner

[  ✰  ]  nickname(s):  n/a

[  ✰  ]  age:  27

[  ✰  ]  date  of  birth:  10/31

[  ✰  ]  place  of  birth:  los  angles,  ca,  usa

[  ✰  ]  ethnicity:  japanese,  white

[  ✰  ]  nationality:  american

[  ✰  ]  gender:  non-binary

[  ✰  ]  pronouns:  they/them

[  ✰  ]  orientation:  bisexual  /  biromantic

[  ✰  ]  language(s)  spoken:  japanese,  english,  spanish

[  ✰  ]  mbti:  ESTP

[  ✰  ]  element:  air

[  ✰  ]  zodiac:  scorpio

[  ✰  ]  character  inspiration:  johanna  mason  (  catching  fire  /  the  hunger  games  ),  haley  graham  (  stick  it  ),  stiles  stilinski  (  teen  wolf  ),  tory  nichols  (  cobra  kai  ),  donna  troy  (  dc  comics  )

002.     ↻     BACKGROUND  .

NOTE:  this  is  a  quick  summary  /  tldr  of  harlowe's  background  .  for  a  more  detailed  bio  ,  please  CLICK  HERE  !

born  into  a  legacy  of  professional  athletes  and  entertainers  in  los  angeles  .  harlowe  saito-brenner  starts  their  acting  career  at  age  5  as  one  half  of  the  saito-brenner  siblings  that  often  made  appearances  in  various  auditions  and  landing  themselves  in  small  roles  before  getting  their  big  break  .  they  later  gain  fame  after  being  cast  as  jenny  humphrey  in  gossip  girl  ,  alongside  their  brother  .  while  initially  successful  in  acting  ,  harlowe’s  passion  for  music  took  over  ,  leading  them  to  form  their  band  ultraviolet  .  the  band  eventually  gains  critical  acclaim  with  its  first  two  albums  .  and  after  a  brief  hiatus  to  attend  juilliard  ,  harlowe  has  returned  to  music  full-time  ,  with  their  band  now  based  in  los  angeles  .

003.     ↻     HEADCANONS  .

NOTE:  this  is  a  work  in  progress  so  more  will  be  added  at  a  later  time  !

career  claim  /  inspo:  taylor  momsen  /  the  pretty  reckless

obtained  a  bachelor’s  in  music  with  a  focuses  in  composition  and  piano 

started  their  band  ‘  ultraviolet  ’  at  the  age  of  16.  initially  was  the  drummer  ,  lead  singer  and  songwriter  for  the  band  but  has  transitioned  to  being  just  the  lead  singer  and  songwriter

owns  a  european  doberman  named  kenzo  and  a  black  cat  named  makkuro

did  japanese  jiu  jitsu  as  a  kid  and  continued  into  adulthood  .  they  currently  have  a  blackbelt  !

picked  up  judo  sometime  in  their  teen  years  and  more  recently  kickboxing

collects  vintage  weaponry  (  heavy  emphasis  on  knives  and  daggers  )  and  butterfly  knives

speaking  of  butterfly  knives  ,  always  has  one  on  them  and  honestly  uses  it  as  a  fidget  toy  whenever  they  want  to  keep  their  hands  busy

[ya-world-challenge]

Book Review: The Conqueror's Saga by Kiersten White (🇷🇴  Romania)

[image 1: book trilogy covers: And I Darken, Now I Rise, Bright We Burn. On each cover a spear slashes through an object: a flower, a necklace, a pomegranate; image 2: map showing modern Romania; image 3: the view from Poenari castle in Romania - the walls of a stone fortress drop away to a steep mountainous landscape covered in green; source: wikimedia]

And I Darken; Now I Rise; Bright We Burn

Author: Kiersten White

YA World Challenge for 🇷🇴 Romania

I've seen some criticism of this series by Romanian reviewers, one of which is Lada's name (which I agree is odd), and others that are to be expected when you take a national hero (Vlad the Impaler), gender-flip him, and write him in love with the leader of an empire that oppressed your nation for centuries. So it's important to acknowledge this series as pure fiction. It did have me flipping through Wikipedias of the the real historical characters mentioned, many of whom I had never learned about before.

While much of the series (1 and 2 especially) take place in the Ottoman Empire (modern Turkey), the series follows the point of view of two siblings from Wallachia, a historical region of the modern state of Romania.

Review

Lada and her brother Radu are left as hostages of the Ottoman Empire as children to keep their father "loyal" as a vassal. I loved Lada's character from the beginning: strong-willed, possessive, brutal even as a child, and "ugly". The character-building was expert and the way the author weaves relationships and motivations in a complex tapestry, against a backdrop of a rich world.

And I Darken builds the siblings' relationship with the future sultan Mehmed, setting up that messy love triangle, and a scheme to get Mehmed on the throne. While Radu falls for Islam, Lada is never not wholly dedicated to Wallachia.

With Now I Rise, oh lord, the gay angst!... dear Radu. With Lada gone off to find support for her kingdom, Radu is left with his angst. We see the battle of Constantinople, and interconnected politics around Eastern Europe as Lada raises her army and searches for allies.

Bright We Burn, and Lada is ready to go full-on Impaler. The action was great, until... the entire climax and ending. I felt the finale really cheated Lada and did not serve her character. I didn't feel that book 3 lived up to its title. (And god, what a cringe epilogue!)

I have such mixed feelings about this series because it is incredibly well-written and engaging throughout, with an epic world and depth of character. But I dislike the ending the more I think about it. Without spoilers, I can just say that I think the whole feminist theme built up through the book fell apart in the end.

Books 1-2 I would have rated 4.5 stars, but Book 3 ultimately pulled the rating down.

Other reps: #muslim #gay #m/f #lesbian side characters #orthodox christian

Genres: #alternate history #drama #romance #adventure #war

★  ★  ★    3 stars

SPOILER rant under the cut:

In Book 2, the gunpowder lady said something to Radu - that Lada would be the type to go out with fire. With a title called Bright We Burn, I fully expected to see Lada going down as brightly and destructively as a meteorite, taking herself out with everything. What a disappointment.

The ending and Lada's forced 'submission' to Radu, by him taking away every last thing she had, under the guise of *compassion*, quite rankled me. It took away all the independence of her character that the series had built up from the beginning, and replaced it with nothing.

And. The. Kid. That epilogue. No, just no. I hate that such a promising series had to end with the cisheteronormative notion that "you must bear progeny to have a legacy". Fuck that. It completely threw away everything that Lada was just to have this "oh cute she acts like her mother" moment. 🤮 That and Radu vandalizing the church floor with his weak, misogynist scratchings.

It could have been so much better.

[lok-repository]

10 year anniversary article from IGN. Has quotes from Joaquim Dos Santos, Lauren Montgomery, Bryan Konietzko, Michael DiMartino and Janet Varney. Discusses Korra as a character, her villains, her legacy, serialized storytelling, and using technology in Avatar Studios.

On Korra: ...there was a simple choice to her character that made The Legend of Korra special — the series allowed Korra to make mistakes. Sure, Aang got in trouble constantly, but it wasn’t like he personally caused the genocide of the Air Nation or gave powers to the Fire Lord to start a war. With Korra, we see her make big decisions that affect the entire world, many of them mistakes. She trusts the wrong people, acts too hastily, and lives to see the consequences of her errors and learn from them.

Take the end of Season 3, which shows Korra in a wheelchair following a fight with the villain Zaheer, a plot point that carried on throughout Season 4 as she dealt with PTSD. "We wanted to age up the tone of the show together with the character and the audience," Konietzko says. "We never wanted her to be a typical American cartoon character who is just perfect and perfectly likable."

"By allowing Korra to be flawed, vulnerable, and weak at times, the show made her incredibly strong," adds supervising producer Lauren Montgomery. "A big misconception in animation and media these days is that a female character needs to be smarter and stronger than anyone else to be strong, and Korra's imperfection and character arc is what makes watching her rewarding." --- As an aside, I don't think the end of B3 is an example of Korra because she deliberately took Zuko's advice and acted quite selflessly in trying to save the air nation. I also do find it a bit odd how people tend to be overly critical of how to write women protagonists when we don't see similar hand-wringing with male protagonists. --- On the villains: "We wanted each season to have a villain that reflected a different aspect of Korra that she had to deal with," DiMartino says. "They forced her to deal with her black and white view of the world and the whole point of Avatar is balance, so we have these interesting characters that took their ideas to dangerous and unhealthy extremes that unbalance things. It doesn't mean they are pure evil, as they even have ideas that overlap with the protagonist, but they are out of balance and dangerous." On Avatar Studios:

Given the legacy of the two shows and the lessons taken from their productions, Konietzko hopes the next step for the franchise is using the technology that wasn't available a decade ago to tell new and exciting stories.

"The Avatar world is still really fertile ground creatively for us and our collaborators," he says. "What is exciting is now we can think of how to push this in different directions simultaneously and how it all links with separate productions. We're just looking at all the ways that technology can help us tell better stories easier and more efficiently."

[justanotherthrowaway1950]

I don't think Iroh was wrong for not trying to make Zuko feel sympathy for Azula during the show since there was no way of reaching her while Ozai was still in power and any hesitation on his or Zuko's part would lead to them being in chains or dead.

But no, Iroh doesn't have a model for treating two kids fairly, and to be quite honest, there is a strong argument that Iroh never cared for Azula since he viewed her an obstacle to Zuko to getting Ozai's love, and then, after his redemption arc, to becoming the savior of the Fire Nation.

i know i literally just wrote a post about it, but it’s just earth-shattering to me that… ok, so even with all the kindness and love he offers zuko, iroh still regards parenting two or more children still as a matter of showing favouritism, right? it wasn’t as if he tried to even be polite or sympathetic towards azula; he encouraged zuko to see her as an obstacle to overcome, he validated those feelings of resentment and jealousy without also ever trying to encourage him to look at her sympathetically, without an “I understand, but remember your sister has had a difficult journey too,” without encouraging the sympathy & compassion required to navigate sibling conflict, and ultimately fuelled that competitive sibling dynamic for the worse.

and for a while i thought - like a lot of people - that was weird. probably motivated by misogyny on some level, but I didn’t really get it for the longest time, and just thought it was a weird oversight of the writers for the sake of “haha this 14 year old girl most terrifying thing ever” comedy - which don’t get me wrong, is funny, but they leaned into it a little too much (at the expense of characterful writing).

but actually all iroh is doing is mirroring literally every parental relationship in the fire nation royal family. he’s showing blatant favouritism to one child and disregarding the other. just like ozai did to his children, just like it’s implied azulon did to his children, (and I would not be surprised if sozin was the same in this regard either). there’s a key difference in that he shows genuine love, support, & care for zuko, but ultimately iroh still wants to give his favoured child everything. iroh still wants zuko to seize the crown, and in order to do that he needs to be able to take down azula without hesitation. there’s no space for mediation there. it’s one or the other, in his mind.

like, it just hit me, that i honestly don’t think iroh has a model for treating two kids fairly, and it might literally just be outside of his understanding. I don’t know if he can conceive of a relationship in the royal family not being marred by competitiveness and toxic rivalry, with one having the crown and the other scrambling for scraps. it’s always been like that. like he literally can’t imagine it.

and yes that’s a deep failing on his part, his inability to even show a scrap of sympathy for azula is really damning, but oh god it just points to how deeply fucked up the fire nation royal family is. nobody has any clue what a healthy relationship between two (or more) siblings looks like.