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| - If you know anything about me, or would like to know pretty much the only thing you need to know in order to say you know anything about me , it's that I, Minnichi, am the number one, most fabulously obsessive fan of the Dai Li. They're the reason I wrote fanfiction in the first place, thus the reason I eventually found my way into the wiki's fanon portal and later jumped into all sorts of crazy newsletter shenanigans! Anyway, to the main point: I, the most die-hard Dai Li fan you'll ever meet...am traumatized. TRAUMATIZED. By no other than Book 3 of The Legend of Korra. I feel as though no words can truly capture my disappointment with the Dai Li's portrayal, but I will try my best nonetheless to describe it below...
I have to admit that I was thrilled at first. You have no idea what indescribable joy lit up my eyes when I first saw the emerald uniforms flashing across the trailers. You can even ask what kind of enthusiastic insanity I was spamming her with during my reaction I'd thought that I would never see my beloved agents again nor would ever know what became of them after Sozin's Comet. All of the heartache and longing was finally eased as they reappeared in blazing ninja-glory in the latest, high-def animation.
But that joy was not to last.
My happy-bubble was burst almost immediately when it occurred to me: First of all, how on earth did they come back? I was expecting an explanation, every passing episode in modern Ba Sing Se - and it never came. It eventually dawned on me, horrifyingly, that there was no explanation. They were gone one day, anddd ta-da, here they are again. What?! Wait, didn't they betray the Earth Kingdom for Azula and get kicked out of the Fire Nation, rendered homeless? Whose bright idea was it to let them back into the very city they turned on? Who could've even found them to ask them to come back? This stuck out like a sore thumb to me, though sometimes I theorize that the corrupt new monarch had heard the stories of them being able to single-handedly control Ba Sing Se and found them a useful addition to her tyranny... Even so, the Gaang had made it quite known that they're some of the most terrible guys on earth. At which point did they lose touch with Ba Sing Se enough to let the Dai Li waltz right back into power?
Secondly, and worst of all... What happened to the Dai Li's infamous power? Literally - for a group that could supposedly control all of Ba Sing Se by itself, they sure put up a lame fight when the city rioted following the death of the queen. I've never known these guys to panic in the absence of a leader; they work as a group and make their own decisions who to follow, from what we've seen, so couldn't they have pulled it together and worked out a plan at least instead of well, vanishing completely in the absence of the queen? Aside from that, I find issue with how easily Zaheer's group got around in Ba Sing Se. Zaheer's group is about as outnumbered as Azula's trio was in the previous series. Azula, powerful as she and her friends were, knew better than to try fighting the entire organization - so why should Zaheer's group be any different? This is either a gross, unrealistic inflation of power the writers have given to Zaheer - or a lame lack thereof on the Dai Li's part. What happened?
Third of all, have the Dai Li given up brainwashing in The Legend of Korra? Since they've never been a fan of morals anyway, I figured that getting the airbenders to cooperate with them would've been far easier had they used their old tactics from A:TLA. What made them stop brainwashing, and why?
Finally... It seems like the Dai Li disappeared just as randomly as they came back. We never see nor hear anything about them again after the Earth Queen is killed. The same vanishing tragedy that broke my heart after Sozin's Comet has struck yet again, only this time it left me with even worse scars than before. What I witnessed in The Legend of Korra was a sad, watered-down version of the dark, epically powerful Dai Li I once knew, and we have more unanswered questions than ever.
So, what do you think of the Dai Li's portrayal in LoK? How do you think they came back? Where are they now? All we can do is speculate amongst ourselves, because the show itself will never tell us. As much as I love the Dai Li, it has come to my sad realization that one does not simply bring them back to the screen. Ultimately, I now prefer that they hadn't come back at all.
- Fanon authors, readers, and critics alike: lend me your ears! The time has come for us as a portal to come together, celebrate all of our work in the past year, and to crown 2014's best fanons! That's right, the Avatar Wiki Fanon Awards are upon us yet again!
Come one, come all, to participate in the fun, engaging, competitive, and rewarding process that will be the Sixth Fanon Awards on our beloved portal. The Fanon Awards Council has been chosen, so be sure to send your congratulations to the following outstanding users:
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These five excellent contributors to the fanon portal have a very important task ahead of them: to not only oversee the Fanon Awards but to select the preliminary nominees. According to tradition, the Council will decide on a handful of candidates to receive the various awards such as Outstanding Romance Series, Outstanding New Series, Best Villain, Outstanding Illustrator, Best Animal Character, the very prestigious Outstanding Fanon Series Award, and many more!
Your job? To nominate the rest of the candidates and then ultimately vote for each category's winner! By the end, only a few stories, characters, and authors will claim these titles. They could be your favorites, or better yet: you!
The Fanon Awards are the best way to discover new stories, find out which rage you should catch up on first, see which author's to follow, and get your own name out there. You have the freedom to nominate any fanon you see as worthy, and everyone, regardless of experience, age, or any other factor will have one vote and an equal voice, so make your voice heard.
In other news, January's Featured Fanon Series was by , an intriguing Alternate Universe in which Katara and her friends deal with reality, faith, and each other. The Featured Article was the of the of 's series, .
The current month's Featured Fanon Article is the comedy one-shot, by . There is no current Featured Fanon Series, which is why I urge everyone to check out the nomination and voting process.
If you're looking for more ways to either get involved in the fanon portal or show off your talent, try entering a monthly Writing Contest hosted by your very own Fanonbenders, , , and myself. We'd love to see even more entries and authors taking part in the fun.
That's all for me this issue. Until next time, I'll see you around the portal.
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