Burn for My Belief: The Fire Nation and the Courage of Conviction (1 of 2)

* Many thanks to fairladyz2005 for being kind enough to look this essay over prior to posting. Her comments and insights made it a much stronger work.

Ah, Fire Nation, Evil Empire of the Avatar series. What to say about your war-mongering ways and colonialism, your racism and destruction of whole cultures, your red-and-black décor that screams evil in such style?

( In which I try to make my point with fart jokes and shipping rants )

Burn for My Belief: The Fire Nation and the Courage of Conviction (2 of 2)

Previously in Part 1, I have discussed how strong beliefs are the cornerstone of Fire Nation cultural traits. In this part I will discuss the other, darker side of that dedication: The sacrifice that such passion entails.

( Sacrifice in Fire Nation culture, or why Zuko got his face burned off )

Movie Night: Kingdom of Heaven

Movie night this time was with Kingdom of Heaven (2005), dealing with the fall of the first Christian kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187 and the plucky bastard (no, really) who led the defense of Jerusalem against the mighty armies of Saladin. My boyfriend swore up and down that the director's cut was not nearly the confusing mess the theatrical cut was said to be, and since he had gone through all the trouble of finding the version I decided to give it a shot.

( Liked: Ooh, pretty... )