History FanFic / Embers

* BerserkButton: Lying, for Zuko [[spoiler:and dragons/dragon-descended firebenders in general. Given that dragons communicate with emotions and pictures, (canon examples include Fang touching Aang with a whisker to give him visions, as well as Ran and Shao's rainbow fire), not words, most likely only psychopathic 'dark' dragons would be able to manage it, and]] Azula lies as easily as she breathes, without feeling any emotions about it as far as Toph can tell. If the ability to lie meant someone was evil in some species, it'd start ringing instinctive alarm bells very, very quickly.

** ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': "I am Temul of Shu Jing. I am the blood of dragons."

Please refrain from {{Justifying Edit}}s or TakeThat edits and post on [[FanFic/{{Embers}} the discussion board]] or [[Headscratchers/{{Embers}} the Headscratchers page]]. And, there is a [[Characters/{{Embers}} character tab]], to put place all those [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment characterization and character-specific tropes]].

* WhiteMansBurden: The plot element that puts Zuko in high gear -- and Vathara is ''in favor of'' -- is that after a century of war and colonization, the Fire Nation has pretty deeply assimilated a great deal of the Earth Kingdom's territory and population by hook or by crook. And that forcing the conquerors to make compensation for what they did would do more harm than good, hence the War must continue and ultimately be won for the sake of civilization. The Fire Prince is ''pissed'' that the Fire Nation could lose what he considers to Fire Nation "property" simply because their grandparents stole land and brides. He frames it as the Avatar "taking away [[FeudalOverlord our]] people", and ''never'' considers that anyone ''wouldn't'' want to be part of the Fire Nation. Even Iroh sees it as "The Fire Nation has taken so much from the world. The balance may require that we give it back. Even if it breaks our hearts." '''Anyone and everyone''' who doesn't believe in the Fire Nation's right to what they see as cosmopolitanism(complete with Firebenders at the top of the social ladder) is painted as outrageously racist(Katara, many Water Tribe warriors and people in Ba Sing Se) if not an out-and-out ''terrorist''(Jet and many Earth Kingdom generals).

** ASongOfIceAndFire: "I am Temul of Shu Jing. I am the blood of dragons."

''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5398503/1/Embers Embers]]'' is a popular ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' FanFic by Creator/{{Vathara}} that attempts to [[Deconstruction deconstruct]] the standard story of a [[FiveManBand group]] of [[IdiotHero kids]] [[BlackAndWhiteMorality saving]] the world from TheEmpire, with copious amounts of FridgeLogic and FridgeHorror. Moving the WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender universe on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism (characters had best not try to invoke HeroInsurance, for example), causes the good guys to [[HanlonsRazor seem]] less good and the bad guys to range from AntiHero to pure evil. It also explores things that the TV show had to gloss over for kids, like [[ChildByRape the horrors of war]], [[EldritchAbomination dangerous]] spirits and [[MindRape Azula]].

''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5398503/1/Embers Embers]]'' is a popular ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' FanFic by Creator/{{Vathara}} that [[HateFic attempts to deconstruct]] the standard story of a [[FiveManBand group]] of [[IdiotHero kids]] [[BlackAndWhiteMorality saving]] the world from TheEmpire, with copious amounts of FridgeLogic and FridgeHorror. Moving the WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender universe on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism (characters had best not try to invoke HeroInsurance, for example), causes the good guys to [[HanlonsRazor seem]] less good and the bad guys to range from AntiHero to pure evil. It also explores things that the TV show had to gloss over for kids, like [[ChildByRape the horrors of war]], [[EldritchAbomination dangerous]] spirits and [[MindRape Azula]].

Please refrain from {{Justifying Edit}}s or TakeThat edits and post on [[FanFic/{{Embers}} the discussion board]] or [[JustBugsMe/{{Embers}} the It Just Bugs Me page]]. And, there is a [[Characters/{{Embers}} character tab]], to put place all those [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment characterization and character-specific tropes]].

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Some readers feel the fic isn't spending enough time on the villainous acts of the Fire Nation: characters aren't appropriately horrified by them, or they should be ignoring the Avatar's own actions due to what the Fire Nation did first [[spoiler:or second, or after having been run through the gears of a GambitPileup twice]]. This trope itself appears to be at fault for this – the Fire Nation has committed so many invasions, genocides, war crimes and other actions that people might occasionally be shocked by something really audacious (like killing the Moon) but there's not a lot of real surprise: characters are GenreSavvy enough, and everybody knows what happened to the Air Nomads, so when they do something else it's Just Another Tuesday for Sozin's Fire Nation. On the other hand, when a good guy, much less a pacifist, does something as unexpected as [[spoiler:metaphorically bringing a very dirty warhead to a bending fight when he's the Avatar, and thus by definition powerful enough to have no real need to resort to such a thing,]] WhatTheHellHero ensues.

* LesCollaborateurs: [[spoiler:Ty Lee & the Elders of the non-Byakko Airbenders living in the Fire Nation, aka Azulon's ninja, who killed Kuzon when he rescued some of the air nomad children they'd brainwashed.]]

''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5398503/1/Embers Embers]]'' is a popular, though [[LoveItOrHateIt controversial]], ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' FanFic by Creator/{{Vathara}} that [[HateFic attempts to deconstruct]] the standard story of a [[FiveManBand group]] of [[IdiotHero kids]] [[BlackAndWhiteMorality saving]] the world from TheEmpire, with copious amounts of FridgeLogic and FridgeHorror. Moving the WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender universe on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism (characters had best not try to invoke HeroInsurance, for example), causes the good guys to [[HanlonsRazor seem]] less good and the bad guys to range from AntiHero to pure evil. It also explores things that the TV show had to gloss over for kids, like [[ChildByRape the horrors of war]], [[EldritchAbomination dangerous]] spirits and [[MindRape Azula]].

''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5398503/1/Embers Embers]]'' is a popular, though [[LoveItOrHateIt controversial]], ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' FanFic by Creator/{{Vathara}} that [[DeconstructorFleet deconstructs]] the standard story of a [[FiveManBand group]] of [[IdiotHero kids]] [[BlackAndWhiteMorality saving]] the world from TheEmpire, with copious amounts of FridgeLogic and FridgeHorror. Moving the WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender universe on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism (characters had best not try to invoke HeroInsurance, for example), causes the good guys to [[HanlonsRazor seem]] less good and the bad guys to range from AntiHero to pure evil. It also explores things that the TV show had to gloss over for kids, like [[ChildByRape the horrors of war]], [[EldritchAbomination dangerous]] spirits and [[MindRape Azula]].

''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5398503/1/Embers Embers]]'' is a popular, though [[LoveItOrHateIt controversial]], ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' HateFic by Creator/{{Vathara}} that [[DeconstructorFleet deconstructs]] the standard story of a [[FiveManBand group]] of [[IdiotHero kids]] [[BlackAndWhiteMorality saving]] the world from TheEmpire, with copious amounts of FridgeLogic and FridgeHorror. Moving the WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender universe on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism (characters had best not try to invoke HeroInsurance, for example), causes the good guys to [[HanlonsRazor seem]] less good and the bad guys to range from AntiHero to pure evil. It also explores things that the TV show had to gloss over for kids, like [[ChildByRape the horrors of war]], [[EldritchAbomination dangerous]] spirits and [[MindRape Azula]].

* HoldYourHippogriffs: Many, many examples.

* HopeSpot: Aang seems to finally be getting a clue about how to deal with the mess the war wrecked, and decides to start listening to people instead of just judging them. [[spoiler:Then he encounters the [[OhCrap drowned]].]]

* ISurrenderSuckers: Aang to Zuko in the very beginning of the series. Discussion moved to the Discussion Page.
** Note Azula on that page too. The point being that Azula doesn't have honor.
** This Troper will point out something. Zuko's contention with Aang on this point is ''not about Aang breaking his word.'' It is about the possibility of consequences, and the distinction between breaking a promise and lying in the first place.

** It Got Worse. According to [[spoiler:Teruko, The Fire Nation's]] obsession with geneology and preventing inbreeding is in order to prevent [[spoiler:anyone ending up with too much dragon blood]], since this results in [[spoiler:people like Azula at worst, or the social graces (and all-consuming rage) of Zuko at best.]] Since [[spoiler:Mai is the descendant of non-firebenders and Avatar Roku, she's no more likely to have evil children than Zuko and any other Fire Nation person.]] However, they don't know that, and [[spoiler:the current Fire Nation theory of genetics says that they would, and that's specifically why Azula set them up in the first place. Since that idea didn't pan out, she's considering sleeping with Mai's brother Tom-Tom in order to have children without that inconvenient thing called a conscience herself.]]
*** It was never specifically stated whether Azula was considering pairing herself with Tom-tom, or one of her children.
-->"One half of that equation was dead, but Mai did have a little brother. Perhaps she could just borrow him, once she'd produced a legitimate heir."
** [[UpToEleven It got worse than that.]] [[spoiler:Now ''Min'' is Roku´s great-great-grandson, too.]]
*** [[spoiler:YMMV. The Fire Nation only considers sororal descent (i.e. both ancestors were sisters) as forbidden – fraternal descent is acceptable, at least as long as there's enough generations in-between. As Min is descended from Roku's son, he doesn't run into this particular problem.]]
* KnightInSourArmor: And ''how''. Zuko pretty much IS this trope from the moment he gets involved with the Plague Spirit. Hasn't gotten any better since then.

* [[spoiler:LostColony]]: Fire Nation legends, one of the reasons some spirits dislike humanity and the fact that Ba Sing Se sprung up overnight indicate that the Avatar world may be one.

* [[OurTropesAreDifferent Our Healers Are Different]]: Most particular are the airbending healers. They are most distinguishable by the swords they carry on their backs [[spoiler: such as Eshe of the Touzaikaze]].

* {{Pirate}}: Type 1. Definite type 1. In addition to the pirates Katara stole the waterbending scroll from, the Fire Nation historically got invaded by pirate 'kings' called the waegu (whom might have come from the Earth Kingdom orginally), then the Fire Nation's lack of a central government made them a pirate haven, since all pirates had to do to escape pursuit was to cross the border of one of the many, many small domains, and some domains were entirely on the ocean, meaning very little in the way of international waters. This ended in tragedy when [[spoiler:Kyoshi wiped out the wave clans, along with most of firebending, trying to get the pirates that killed her son.]] In addition to that, both Water Tribes used to not only commit piracy but raid Earth Kingdom villages: the Southern tribe used to fence their loot on Kyoshi Island (despite Kyoshi's views on piracy), and mounting a coast guard was one of the things that brought Chin to power.

*** Best part? The part that isn't a spoiler is ''canon''.

*** Actually...it's said within the chapter that the [[spoiler: World-Spirit bid Asagitatsu to erupt, so it was a natural disaster,]] really.
*** Debatable: The show doesn't ever make a noticeable distinction between 'died as a result of dumb physics' (which would include natural disasters) and 'killed by enemy action'. It's the ''dying'' that seems to matter, though they don't ever go into it explicitly. It may be different in ''Embers'', but if so, Vathara has yet to directly state it. (And it would be tricky to work out why ''killing'' has one result that ''dying'' doesn't. It makes sense if there's no distinction -the spirit in charge of the body being dragged into death, maybe -but if the process has to determine that something was done with malicious intent to work, it's a bit iffy.)

* RagtagBunchOfMisfits, ReassignedToAntarctica, ReassignmentBackfire: [[spoiler:Captain Jee's crew.]]

* RefusalOfTheCall: Zuko [[spoiler:is trying to find an alternative to becoming Aang's firebending teacher and yaoren ally,]] after Yue ensured that he [[YouCantGoHomeAgain can't go home again]].

* [[spoiler:ShootTheMedicFirst]]: [[spoiler:According to Yue, there are spirits who think that humanity should be wiped out. They're doing it by taking out (by proxy) the healing benders first, since they're a vital component of humanity's ability to defend itself.]] This is probably why everyone except [[spoiler:The Northern Water Tribe]] has lost their [[spoiler:healers]].

* [[SpaceWhaleAesop Spirit Whale Aesop]]: In-universe. Sort of. With every Spirit attack, a character always comes out of it with more just experience in not getting mauled to death.

* TheBait: Zuko deliberately puts himself in harms way to protect first Iroh and then anyone he considers his people.
** [[spoiler: This seems to be a trait common to dragons. They played target for Avatar Kesuk's rage and Shidan plans to do this if a spirit is involved in one of his people's disappearance in Hama's village. Technically he'll be doing it twice as if any supposed spirit is strong enough to to defeat him then it is a threat to the entire Fire Nation.]]
* TheDeterminator: Zuko and [[spoiler:his previous incarnation, Kuzon, who didn't let even death stop him from trying to find and help his friend.]] Chapter 32(?) has both Sokka and Toph agreeing [[spoiler:Aang needs to learn how to do this.]]
** The Yaoren [[spoiler:are chosen and [[NearDeathExperience survive]] because of this quality.]]
** Embers also implies another reason for Zuko's determinator status: [[spoiler:his [[HalfHumanHybrid prey drive]]]] which (luckily for Aang) seems to stop after the [[spoiler:Search, Eye-stalk, and the Chase aspects, whereas Azula prefers the Kill Bite.]] Aang might also have intuited that Sokka's description of Zuko's behavior [[spoiler:"He was hunting us."]] in Chapter 34, seems a little... off. (But not inaccurate.) [[spoiler:Aang's different preconceptions about what hunting means might be helping him out in this case.]]
* TheFourGods: Given that the blue dragon is her symbol in the original series, Azula, the female version of Azulon, likely does mean Azure Dragon: the Azure Dragon is associated with the East, which would explain the opposition to the Dragon of the West, Iroh. To that Embers adds Byakko, the White Tiger of the West as Kuzon's [[spoiler:and Ursa's]] clan name and domain. It is unknown if Suzaku or Genbu (the lion-turtle of the north?) will feature in the fic. Byakko is associated with the season of autumn and the element of metal: in Avatar [[spoiler:autumn is associated with the element of air, and it's been conformed that Byakko's been sheltering airbenders since before Kyoshi.]]
** Confirmed in Chapter 46. [[spoiler: Meixiang reveals the names of death: Kurokame (lit. "Black Turtle" being Genbu), Akitori ("Red Bird" being Suzaku), Shirotora (we all know what it means), and finally, Asagitatsu (has to be Seiryuu).]]
* TheGodsMustBeLazy: At this point, subverted. [[spoiler:The 'good' spirits are basically all in on the action (with the exception of Tui, who is actually spreading the result of the Avatar's actions at the north pole), and it's been shown that rather than the spirits sitting back and letting the Fire Nation get this far, they're actually been involved in this from the beginning... although mainly the ones on the other side.]]
* TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil: Aang's well-meaning but ignorant idealism, Zuko and the Dai Li's willingness to do things they know are wrong for the sake of protecting others, and Ozai.
* UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar: Codified by the Fire Nation: the Earth Kingdom obeys theirs (neither the Earth Generals nor Ozai have problems with going after civilians, even though that's a violation, among the many canon Fire Nation violations), the Water Tribes have their own, and the Air Nomads don't have any since they're pacifists (and there are hints they were Combat Pragmatists when they weren't.) Notable examples:
** Among the Water Tribes, women and children don't fight and are therefore exempt from combat. Among the other countries, there is the more general category of civilian (especially since all [[MamaBear Fire Nation women are combat-trained]]), which can include men. Attacking while disguised as a non-combatant is a war crime because it forces soldiers to treat the real innocents as potential threats and can get them killed. [[spoiler:Zuko's ship, which was not part of the war, was attacked by some Southern Tribesmen and was forced to defend itself, in some cases lethally.]] So, the Water Tribes view the Fire Nation going after women as a violation (like Zuko thought Kanna was a valid threat in his introductory episode), and the Fire Nation have the same opinion of the Water Tribes going after civilian men.
** TheLawOfReprisal: the only law mentioned by name in Embers, but it's the one that really underlies all the other laws of war: '"Don't use what you don't want thrown back in your face." For instance, don't disguise your troops as civilians unless you want the other guys to do it to you, on top of having to kill some of your actual civilians in self-defense. And now you know what happened to the rest of Jet's guerrillas.
** WeaponOfMassDestruction: According to the Embers universe's equivalent of the Geneva Convention, a bender summoning a spirit to possess them and turning it loose is a serious war crime. This is because said spirit will not distinguish between one side and the other, soliders and civilians, combatants and those trying to surrender; they only recognize worship. (Yep, she noted the Water Tribespeople might not have been spared/would not (since they'd failed to protect it) if they hadn't hit the ground.) They do not give quarter, which is in itself a war crime. Not to mention the fates of those killed by spirits can often be AFateWorseThanDeath. Using one near a populated city is the equivalent of launching a nuke next to that city, since there's the well-known risk of the spirit deciding to destroy it as well. Aang's use of the Avatar Spirit doesn't qualify, since the Avatar is still a human and capable of making those distinctions. The way he unleashed the Ocean Spirit was. While he was undoubtably right to protect the city and clearly didn't know he was violating the Generva Convention equivalent, Aang still did it, and [[CultureClash doesn't grasp that he needs to apologize and make it clear to everyone he won't do it again.]] Even Zuko admits Aang was right to protect the city; the trouble is even if Aang hadn't had other means of doing so, using a nuke near a populated city for good reasons doesn't change the fact a nuke was used. [[spoiler:To make the metaphor even more explicit, there's even a very deadly "residue" left behind: Chapter 31 both states this and starts to show some of the consequences.]] The Fire Nation might be a Japan-analogue, and using nukes on Japan may have ended that war, but it looks like it will only be making this one worse.
* MessianicArchetype: The Avatar, with much attention paid to what this implies. For instance, originally the Fire Sages, who were the priests of Agni, served the Avatar, as the voice of Agni on earth. This meant that [[spoiler:Kyoshi's decree]] carried the force of a divine commandment and, given the mechanics of Fire Nation loyalty, [[spoiler:for a Firebender to turn against the Fire Lord would require foreswearing their loyalty to them, the Avatar, and Agni, the source of firebending himself.]] So it is, in a sense, a very good thing for Aang that modern firebenders don't like him, much less have loyalty to him or regard him as The Messiah in the first place. It's likely that the Fire Sage who helped Aang in canon either [[spoiler:nurtured loyalty to Agni in place of Ozai in order to survive loyalty sickness before Aang came along, since all (known) firebenders are required to swear loyalty to him, or was able to hold it off long enough to help Aang, as Zuko did, and then died offscreen.]]
** [[spoiler: As he's been rescued from the Boiling Rock prison to serve as Aang's Firebending teacher, either this or he became the third Firebender in the past century to survive loyalty sickness without healing fire]]
** [[spoiler:It's confirmed that he considers ''Iroh'' to be the true fire lord, because Ursa killed Azulon that should discredit Ozai's claim to power by Fire Nation laws. Sokka points this out that what Ursa did was technically legal, since Azulon was a dark dragon and therefore it was the ''responsibility'' of his family to remove him from power. It's made clear that the Fire Sage has deliberately ignored this fact for the sole purpose of staying loyal to Iroh. Since Iroh wants the Avatar well, the fire sage can help Aang.]]

* TheRevolutionWillNotBeVillified: Played with. While Embers calls for the complete destruction of the Fire Nation government, Zuko acknowledges that [[spoiler:by creating a hidden refuge he's basically going to be sitting back and allowing the rest of the Fire Nation to be massacred, if not egging it on]], although he and Iroh both agree that it deserves it for a certain value of deserves. On the other hand, it's implied that that the Avatar's actions at the North Pole are deliberately being kept secret by Water Tribe elders and Earth Kingdom officials in order to prevent him from being seen as other than The Messiah (and prompting the Fire Nation to try it with a Fire Spirit) [[spoiler:even though the massed bad karma has already started to kill innocent bystanders; some kind of warning would certainly lower the body count.]]

** [[UnfortunateImplications Sooooo...]] LonersAreFreaks?
*** Nope. Loneliness causes psychological pain, and pain over time drives people nuts. (Chinese Water Torture, anyone?) A lot of cultures have ''weaponized'' this in the forms of shunning and solitary confinement in order to force people to comply (for instance, this is one of the many reasons people born Amish are probably going to stay trapped in the Age Before Internet). As a waterbender, Katara is even more vulnerable to this form of torture [[spoiler:and has been constantly suffering it since her mother died.]] On the other hand, being surrounded by people you can't get along with (alone among enemies, and trapped underground) is even worse for tribal humans, so an actual loner, one who withdrew with society, would be a lot saner than someone who spent their life alone in a crowd, trying to please people who didn't care about them. So, loners are generally choosing the less painful of two evils. And one of Embers' themes is that the lesser of two evils is still an evil.
*** She realizes that [[ThisLoserIsYou insults]] a [[{{Otaku}} significant number]] of her audience?
*** You mean people that actively sought out a work written by another human being to read? Otakus aren't loners, they're ''losers'' (I kid, but that sums it up). They still need and want to interact with other people (or media produced by other people), even if they can't do it well face to face. People literally can not deal with loneliness – if they are truly isolated, they'll start [[CompanionCube personifying things]] or investing emotionally in fictional characters. And remember, we're dealing with pre-modern, tribal, and Asian-inspired cultures. All of these cultural categories are far more collectivist and conformist than modern day America. Loners are disturbed freaks in tribal cultures simply because being a loner in a tribal culture is ''suicidal''.

* TheWarOnTerror: One of the many things the fic gives social commentary on. [[spoiler:Sozin made the populace think that they had suffered an unprovoked attack by the Air Nomads, a common staple of 9/11 conspiracy theories. They then started a war that made everyone hate them.]]
** [[WordOfGod Jossed]], complete with another bibliography.
* WhamEpisode- Chapter 45. [[spoiler: Not only are the Touzaikaze revealed, but one of them is an ''air-healer''. What's more, they offer themselves as potential candidates for brides to the Earth King. Looks like there will be some shipping in the Emberverse after all...]]

*** Chapter 88. [[spoiler: Ursa. ALIVE. ''With paired dao at her sides''. In front of Azula.]]

** Veers into FridgeLogic when she knows more about the Fire Nation than Aang does, when she's going on overheard conversations and he's actually been to and had friends in the Fire Nation (and this is all ''before'' she befriends Zuko in Ba Sing Se).
*** Some of the later chapters may help this make more sense. Also, to agree with an in-story statement , Aang is very good at only hearing what he wants to hear. He is consistently and repeatedly shocked whenever someone thinks something to be morally right or justifiable that he thinks is wrong.

* [[spoiler: YouAreGrounded: Aang's [[CrazyEnoughToWork (oddly effective)]] way of dealing with Koh, once and for all.]]

* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Zuko [[spoiler:once Yue makes him a Yaoren]], and Aang's clinging to the hope of reestablishing the peaceful, idyllic Air Nomads just the way they were [[spoiler:despite all the hints that something was very wrong there...]]

*** Chapter 76. [[spoiler: After Hama busted herself out of prison, the other surviving Southern waterbenders decided not to go back to their tribe in the South Pole. Shamed and disgraced and abandoned by one that was their responsibility, they made their home in Lituya Bay.]]

During their travels in the Earth Kingdom, Zuko - [[ForWantOfANail instead of]] resorting to banditry to survive - reveals a Firebending technique he learned from his mother: Fire-''healing.'' [[spoiler:This draws him into a millennia-old conspiracy spanning both the living and spirit worlds - to wipe out all healing benders, cripple the Avatar by eliminating the yaoren, who were meant to train him in dealing with spirits & combining elements in the same way that his other teachers taught him about the four forms of normal bending, and, eventually wipe out the human race.]] Oh, and there are dragons too.

* [[WalkingTheEarth The Walking The Earth Kingdom]] Arc: After the confrontation in Theft Absolute, Iroh talks Zuko into wandering the Earth Kingdom posing as a healer. Along the way they [[spoiler:fight a plague spirit, acquire a team pet in the form of a cranky, attack-happy ostrich-horse,]] and Zuko learns how to fake waterbending with very hot water. Iroh makes the mistake of praying to Yue, and Zuko and Katara work together to save Iroh after Azula's attack, causing the Gaang to question what they know about Zuko, Iroh, and firebending. Chapters 1-7.
* The Ba Sing Se Arc, Part I: Zuko continues to pose as a healer in Ba Sing Se [[spoiler:with the help of Amaya, who Iroh's contacts discovered is using her waterbending to hide Fire Nation refugees, although she is unaware of the White Lotus]]. This is made easier when Yue takes the opportunity to grant Iroh's prayer for a means to bring about peace by [[spoiler:temporarily killing Zuko to make him a yaoren, meaning either the Fire Nation will fall apart when Azula takes the throne, or Aang gets a new yaoren. Or both.]] Zuko begins to open up, but [[spoiler:between a young firebender, the Dai Li eying him as a potential recruit, and man-eating spirits,]] it's clear these peaceful days won't last long. Chapters 8-18.
* The Ba Sing Se Arc, Part II: Canon begins to interfere with a vengeance. A Dai Li agent informs Zuko that [[spoiler:they have Aang's bison, and he needs help breaking him out: Zuko recruits Toph to assist.]] Katara is temporarily captured very dishonorably [[spoiler:by Zuko, strengthening her animosity for him.]] It ends with a showdown with [[spoiler:Azula,]] and everyone running for their lives. This is where the fic becomes controversial. Chs. 19-24
* The Beach Arc: Zuko assists Katara in healing Aang's lightning trauma, while more is revealed about [[spoiler:the nature of firebending, dragons, and a lot of foreshadowed stuff.]] Katara not completing her healing training at the North Pole has terrible consequences [[spoiler:for herself, not Aang.]] Meanwhile, Kuei and other refugees hide from Azula in the catacombs under Ba Sing Se, awaiting rescue. Chs. 25-30
* The Shipboard Arc: Zuko and Iroh escape aboard ship, the Gaang travels with Hakoda's fleet, and [[spoiler:Katara's lack of training is remedied during a vision quest by Yue, who also reveals the true scope of the conflict, and what needs to be done for balance to be restored.]] Meanwhile, Yue arranges for additional assistance [[spoiler:in the form of a third yaoren]] and it is revealed that [[spoiler:even though Toph accidentally prevented Iroh from finishing her off, Azula didn't escape the fight that ended the Ba Sing Se Arc unscathed...]] Ch. 31-36
* Exodus from Ba Sing Se arc: Zuko, Iroh and [[spoiler:Shirong lead Earth Kingdom citizens out of Ba Sing Se via escape by amphibious train. Azula and Ty Lee are headed back to the Fire Nation for reinforcements which include getting the Fire Sages to take care of the restless spirits of Ba Sing Se and thus making her its ruler. Kuei is in hiding with Bon and Quan. While trekking a forest, Jet and his Freedom Fighters attack Zuko and his people, only to be countered by Langxue and Shidan, Zuko's dragon grandfather/Kuzon's dragon friend]]. And now, a tense gathering takes place between Zuko, Iroh and [[spoiler:Shidan...]] Ch. 37-46
* The Fire Nation arc: As of Ch. 47, Aang has [[spoiler:left for the Fire Nation]] with the Gaang in pursuit, and [[spoiler:Makoto]] has finally appeared. She attacks [[spoiler:Azula]], who fights her off, which may have only furthered her {{plan}}. Sokka and Aang spend time having a "manly" talk, while Azula gets some sorely needed healing from Shidan. [[spoiler: The Fire Lord is less than amused when he learns that Azula has had contact with her grandfather, and Azula's loyalties are tested once she meets her father.]] Katara meets the Painted Lady [[spoiler: where she and the rest of the Gaang learn to tread lightly with spirits]], who points out Shu Jing to them. This is where the Gaang ends up next, home of the retired Fire Army major, Piandao [[spoiler: and Kuzon's ghost mate, Temul, who teaches them about ground fires and how Sky bison treading on their fields is bad news for farmers]]. In the Earth Kingdom, Kuei learns more about the Touzaikaze and how they survived in the desert [[spoiler: both airbenders and sandbenders living underground]]. Zuko, Shirong and Langxue go off to find Asagitatsu to stop the volcano from erupting [[spoiler: by fighting off Makoto and Koh. They win]]. While here, Aang finally learns of the tragic fate that befell his good friend, Kuzon [[spoiler: who was killed by airbenders, trained by none other than Aang's own Temple mate, Ja Aku]]. Currently, the Southern Water Tribe fleet has caught up to Zuko and his crew, and are now in the Northern Air Temple. Ch. 47-55
* Under the shelter of Dragons' Wings: Everyone is planning for the Invasion. In the Fire Nation capital, Azula and Mai take care of some dirty business [[spoiler: that is, wrapped around a dead Fire Sage's body]] before Azula plans with the Fire Lord [[spoiler: who gives her Shidan's request for help]]. Zuko and his allies explore their new home, and come to some mortifying revelations [[spoiler: Avatar Kesuk, walking-whales/Sea serpents, and Koh]], and decide that these things need to be kept secret from Hakoda and Tao. Meanwhile, with the Gaang, they meet Shidan [[spoiler: who helps them put an end to Hama and her reign of terror]]. The good news is, the Gaang lives. The bad news: [[OhCrap the Fire Nation knows about their plans to invade during the Day of Black Sun.]] Ch. 56-64
* The Invasion: Avatar Aang and his allies attack the heart of the Fire Nation: the Caldera. However, Azula has known about their plans months ahead of schedule, and has planned to ambush the Avatar's ambush accordingly. Zuko's trusty ship crew (Kyo, Rikiya) are sent to interrupt Fong's little march towards Dragons' Wings. When Aang goes to face the Fire Lord, he finds a nasty surprise: [[spoiler: Makoto]]. Ch. 65 to 69.

* The Search for the Fire Sage: Zuko climbs aboard and joins the Gaang to search for the arrested Fire Sage to teach Aang Firebending. [[spoiler:An encounter with a sea serpent possessing Katara leads to Zuko fighting for his life and ending up in Byakko.]] Ch.75 to 80.
* Sozin's Comet: The Fire Sage has been located. Zuko has fulfilled his obligation to the Gaang, [[spoiler: Shunned Aang, basically the Temple's version of Banishment, ]] and is returning to Dragons' Wings. Meanwhile, the Fire Lord plans to use Sozin's Comet to invade [[spoiler: the Northern Water Tribe]], and the Gaang must figure out a way to stop him. Ch. 81-91/End.

Please refrain from [[JustifyingEdit Justifying]] [[TakeThat Edits]] and post on [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/remarks.php?trope=FanFic.Embers the discussion board]] or [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustBugsMe/Embers the It Just Bugs Me page]].And, there is a [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/Embers character tab]], to put place all those [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment characterization and character-specific tropes]].

* [[spoiler:AncientAstronauts]]: Inverted. Instead of spirits [[spoiler: actually being SufficientlyAdvancedAliens, humanity may have come to the Avatar's planet from another world.]]

** (RootingForTheEmpire entry moved to YMMV page.)

* [[WizardsLiveLonger Benders Live Longer]]: If a powerful bender dies before their hundredth birthday, it probably wasn't of natural causes.

** What binds ([[TheUnfettered or not]]) the Air Nomads has yet to be clarified.
*** The most recent chapter suggests that, interestingly, Air Nomads[[note]]Or at least the onmitsu[[/note]] are bound by ''truth''.
*** Air Nomads are bound by piety--the unquestioning acceptance of what they are taught by older Airbenders.

* [[ButForMeItWasTuesday But For Them It Was Tuesday]]: Some readers feel the fic isn't spending enough time on the villainous acts of the Fire Nation: characters aren't appropriately horrified by them, or they should be ignoring the Avatar's own actions due to what the Fire Nation did first [[spoiler:or second, or after having been run through the gears of a GambitPileup twice]]. This trope itself appears to be at fault for this – the Fire Nation has committed so many invasions, genocides, war crimes and other actions that people might occasionally be shocked by something really audacious (like killing the Moon) but there's not a lot of real surprise: characters are GenreSavvy enough, and everybody knows what happened to the Air Nomads, so when they do something else it's Just Another Tuesday for Sozin's Fire Nation. On the other hand, when a good guy, much less a pacifist, does something as unexpected as [[spoiler:metaphorically bringing a very dirty warhead to a bending fight when he's the Avatar, and thus by definition powerful enough to have no real need to resort to such a thing,]] WhatTheHellHero ensues.
* CainAndAbel: Vathara notes in author's notes that there's a definite theme of this in Fire Nation Royalty: Zuko and Azula, Ozai vs. Iroh and Ursa, and adds to it by making [[spoiler:Ilah, Azulon's wife, Roku's daughter.]]
** And what about the similarity in names between [[spoiler:Xiangchen and Yangchen?]]

* [[spoiler: [[ChekhovsVolcano Chekhov's Volcanoes]] ]]: [[spoiler: The [[FourIsDeath four great water volcanoes]] of the Avatar world, each on a [[TimeBomb different timer to blow]], and each on its own [[EarthShatteringKaboom having more than enough potential]] to wipe out a [[ApocalypseHow damn good chunk of the human population should they explode]]: first in the fallout by breathing in the ash, and then by starving out the survivors thanks to the damage to crops and farmland. And of course, this destructive genocidal power is a prominent feature in Koh's grand plan to KillAllHumans.]]

*** See ISurrenderSuckers for an explanation of this.

* CrazyCulturalComparison: All over the place.

-->"A bold lie, from one who would see my nation [[spoiler:drowned]] (destroyed) for one woman's murder." [[spoiler:Temul's]] (The devil's) gaze was implacable as lava. "You'd have us all pay for one man's evil." [[spoiler:She]] (The devil) pointed a long, bony finger. "And who will pay for his? Would you offer ''your'' life, little [[spoiler:waterbender]]?"\\
[[spoiler:Aang]](Person 1) gulped. Because of course [[spoiler:Katara]](person 2) would. [[spoiler:She]](2) was perfect, [[spoiler:she]](2) was kind, [[spoiler:she]](2) was just ''good''...\\
[[spoiler:She]](2)... wasn't saying anything.\\
[[spoiler:Sokka]](Person 3) stepped forward. "I would."\\
For [[spoiler:Katara]](2) to agree would be to possibly open the door to giving up [[spoiler:her]](2's) life to [[spoiler:Temul]](the devil), which is likely why [[spoiler:she]](2) stayed quiet. However, [[spoiler:Sokka]](3) did speak up, opening that door, and [[spoiler:Temul adopted him]](the devil took advantage of that offer in an unexpected way), so that [[spoiler:his]](3's) life is no longer [[spoiler:his]](their) own.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: And how.
** This is a major source of the FanDumb over this fic, inserting modern sensibilities into a medieval world where Katara is clearly old enough to be married (the engagement necklace was assumed to be hers), and there are honor duels to the maiming, if not the death.
** Averted in a meta-example. We the readers think [[spoiler:being part dragon is awesome and a mark of being special.]] However what Vathara is writing is that the [[spoiler:other nations would not see it that way. They would most likely view the Fire Nation as being animals, either partially or fully--beasts that need to be put down, and all around easier to dehumanize.]] Named characters don't view it this way, but individuals are smart, people are dumb.

* HealItWithFire: Premise of the fic. What Zuko and clan Byakko are able to do.
** HealingShiv: To (almost) everyone who's ever been on the wrong ''or'' right end of a Fire Nation's attack and see firebending as a dangerous tool at best.

* HateFic: ''Everyone'' except the [[RootingForTheEmpire Fire Nation]] in general and [[DracoInLeatherPants Zuko]] in particular(though the [[SecretPolice Dai Li]] also get a few inches of whitewashing) is absolutely brutalized. Strangely for a Zuko-centric fic, [[LauncherOfAThousandShips Katara]] not only doesn't end up falling for the [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys brooding Fire Prince]], but gets tortured ''even worse'' than every character save [[TakeThatScrappy Aang]](whose Nation is {{Retcon}}ned to be EvilAllAlong and his canon relationship with Katara is [[BrokenPedestal severely damaged]]), stated ''InUniverse'' to be punishment for hating Zuko.

* WorldOfBadass: Need we say any more?

** Wouldn't that statement, coupled with what the fic has already done, make it more of a Ghost Apocalypse?
*** [[spoiler:Not Ghosts. Chapter 53, definitely zombies.]]

* TakingYouWithMe: Ty Lee tells Azula about Yangchen [[spoiler: taking down Subodei and Xiangchen at the North Pole.]] Talk about {{Badass}}.

''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5398503/1/Embers Embers]]'' is a popular, though [[LoveItOrHateIt controversial]], ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' fic by Creator/{{Vathara}} that [[DeconstructorFleet deconstructs]] the standard story of a [[FiveManBand group]] of [[IdiotHero kids]] [[BlackAndWhiteMorality saving]] the world from TheEmpire, with copious amounts of FridgeLogic and FridgeHorror. Moving the WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender universe on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism (characters had best not try to invoke HeroInsurance, for example), causes the good guys to [[HanlonsRazor seem]] less good and the bad guys to range from AntiHero to pure evil. It also explores things that the TV show had to gloss over for kids, like [[ChildByRape the horrors of war]], [[EldritchAbomination dangerous]] spirits and [[MindRape Azula]].

* BrickJoke : Chapter 27 has this exchange

In chapter 91,

*** The dragons, including [[spoiler:Shidan]] interpreted the airbender genocide as acting against deserters. In other words, if there had been Embers-verse dragons in America IRL during TheSixties, they would have helped UsefulNotes/RichardNixon ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings slaughter every protester at Kent State.]]'' If they'd been... [[GodwinsLaw elsewhere]]... a [[WorldWarII couple of decades earlier]]... And in both cases, ''some'' of them ''might'' figure out that they'd committed atrocities ''decades'' later. Let's just say that dragons don't make good neighbors for humans.

* [[BrickJoke]] : Chapter 27 has this exchange

---> '''Zuko''': Yeah, right. [[Spoiler:Only if she's blind.]]

** Professor Wen: [[IndianaJones Professor Henry Jones Sr]].

*** That could just be the fact that [[spoiler:Kuzon]] was so familiar with them. After all, they were sort of like adopted children. Shirong probably had less than a few days to analyze [[spoiler:Ty Lee]]'s fighting style.

** Min Wen & Jia are [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Xander and Cordelia]]: there's some speculation that Suyin is based on Willow, or that she and Jinhai are [[RurouniKenshin Kaoru and Yahiko]].

** Shih and Gyate, a fire nation ex-assassin and his airbending nun lover seem to be [[RurouniKenshin Kenshin Himura and Kaoru Kamiya]].

** Vathara has a ''huge'' thing for claws. Has given them to people in ways that involve Zuko (and Kenshin, in two other universes) being part dragon, some [[FanFic/ProjectTatterdemalion AU space version]] of the Manga/{{Bleach}} cast becoming [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot octopus-cat-alien-hybrid]] survivors of TheVirus, some ''bizarre'' gene-sharing with Godzilla, [[NomDeGuerre Battousai]] being a psychic dragon-tooth demon sword which possesses the mild-mannered [[RurouniKenshin Kenshin]], genetic tampering on the ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' cast by [[Series/StargateSG1 Goa'uld]], and a ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' AU in which Zack and Cloud [[SerialEscalation become part griffin because of a conversation Aerith has with a sentient gargoyle]]. These are all considered good things.

* ShownTheirWork: Waterbenders being considered blessed by the spirits is a plot point, but not an invented one: [[http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Writing_in_the_World_of_Avatar#Bending the Canon pinyin for the bending arts]] translate so that Earth and Fire are "abilities," while Air and Water are divine.