History YMMV / TheStalkingZukoSeries

* BetterThanCanon: For those who ship Zuko/Katara, dislike Bryke's creative choices regarding the characters, and/or agree with the author's criticisms of Katara/Aang and the comics in general, the ''Stalking Zuko'' series is often expressed to be this in reviews, as the series takes a lot of time to examine various characters dynamics that didn't get as much focus, arguably rerails characters from the mischaracterization of the comics, gives payoff to the AbortedArc that was introduced in Season 2 regarding Aang's canon feelings towards Katara actually being unhealthy ''and'' to Katara's and Aang's multiple unresolved moments of conflict in the latter half of Season Three, and deconstructs the consequences of Aang disappearing without warning right before Sozin's Comet and the [[DeusExMachina Deus Ex Machinas]] giving Aang an out from having to kill Ozai. It's worth noting that, as a FixFic, the story being this was explicitly the author's goal. Unsurprisingly, given how divided the Avatar fanbase itself is and continues to be on these criticisms, some readers believe the ''Stalking'' series succeeds in being BetterThanCanon while other readers disagree with the author's perspective on canon intensely.

* {{Padding}}: While Zuko and Katara are the main focus of the fic, the fic also includes several other plotlines, and some people who believe they are extraneous to the plot consider them to fall into this trope. On the other hand, greatly expanding the storyline is arguably necessary for Zuko and Katara's relationship to proceed at a realistic pace, especially since there is only one canon episode(a recap episode, at that) between Katara forgiving Zuko and the GrandFinale.

*** Readers who see her as flanderized note that the author effectively discards her canon claims of being TheUnfavorite as a matter of UnreliableNarrator and interprets Mai as selfish and callous to the point of wholly unempathetic rather than how they see her: as a complex, emotionally repressed Unfavorite under a lot of pressure from a family with big social aspirations who does ultimately love Zuko.
*** Readers who see her as rerailed generally agree with the author's reading of her character in the cartoon, citing Mai's callousness in the face of plague or danger to her own family. The reason as to why this group sees this specifically as Re-Railment pertains to the comics, which the fic notably contrasts: the fic's characterization of Mai warns Zuko of the coup and tells him everything she knows about it, [[spoiler:while in the comics Mai directly lies to Zuko about her knowledge of the conspiracy and protects the conspirators attempting to kill Zuko and the rest of the royal family and return Ozai to power since one of those conspirators is her father, and even voices agreement that she thinks Zuko is a bad leader and she has no confidence in him as Firelord.]] Notably, the latter is a canon portrayal [[FanonDiscontinuity hard to square]] with ''both'' of the above interpretations of her character in the cartoon.

** Mai. Some argue that the fic treats her relatively well while still showing why her relationship with Zuko wouldn't work out. Others believe that she's suffered {{Flanderization}} into a one-note even more snarky jerk with little of her canon depth who essentially uses emotional blackmail to restart her relationship with Zuko, still others think she's actually been [[CharacterRerailment Character Rerailed]] in comparison to the comics while still given enough to maintain an element of complexity to her character. Which opinion the reader takes generally relates to how they interpret her character in canon, because Mai is already subject to many an AlternateCharacterInterpretation in the fanbase as a whole. Readers seeing the former note that the author basically considers her claims of being TheUnfavorite to be a matter of UnreliableNarrator and interprets Mai as selfish and callous to the point of wholly unempathetic rather than how they see her: as a complex, emotionally repressed Unfavorite under a lot of pressure from a family with big social aspirations who does ultimately love Zuko. Readers seeing the latter, on the other hand, generally agree with the author's reading of her character in the cartoon, citing Mai's callousness in the face of plague or danger to her own family. The interesting reason as to why the latter sees this specifically as Re-Railment comes in when one considers the comics, which the fic notably contrasts: the fic's characterization of Mai warns Zuko of the coup and tells him everything she knows about it, while in the comics Mai directly lies to Zuko about her knowledge of the conspiracy and protects the conspirators attempting to kill Zuko and the rest of the royal family and return Ozai to power since one of those conspirators is her father, and even voices agreement that she thinks Zuko is a bad leader and she has no confidence in him as Firelord. Notably, the latter is a canon portrayal [[FanonDiscontinuity hard to square]] with ''both'' of the above interpretations of her character in the cartoon.

** Katara: justifiably critcal and frustrated with Aang's idealism and with trying to maintain their friendship despite being really uncomfortable with his nonconsensual advances, or always assuming the worst of Aang because she's too caught up in how frustrated she is with his flaws to recognize validity in his perspective?

* RonTheDeathEater: Some readers view Aang's portrayal as needlessly exaggerating and making up flaws for the sake of [[DieForOurShip anti-shipping.]] He's interpreted by the narrative and author as being self-centered and immature, pursuing his one-sided crush on Katara without understanding that he's forcing his feelings onto her. He's also portrayed as putting his personal beliefs above all else under the argument that he has to preserve Air Nomad culture, which, aside from perceiving this as another exaggeration, some readers do not think was given its due sympathy.

** Katara: justifiably critcal and frustrated with Aang's idealism and with trying to maintain their friendship despite being really uncomfortable with his nonconsentual advances, or always assuming the worst of Aang because she's too caught up in how frustrated she is with his flaws to recognize validity in his perspective?
** Some reviewers do this with Arnook- depending on who you ask, he either willingly [[ArrangedMarriage arranged for his daughter to marry]] [[JerkAss Hahn]] without any regard for her desires, did so while [[BitchInSheepsClothing Hahn put on a pleasant facade around him]] or realized that the marriage was a bad idea but couldn't back out.

* InformedWrongness: Depending on what side of the BrokenBase you're on, Aang can be this. He gets treated fairly harshly by the narrative and the other characters for letting Ozai live, with characters dismissing that 1). his decision succeeded in stopping Ozai from destroying the Earth Kingdom, and 2). it's possible to execute Ozai or imprison him while cutting him off from any possible supporters. Interestingly enough, while Aang gets kicked out of one meeting for reacting poorly to a proposal to arrange an "accident" for Ozai, the characters present rule out that course of action as no longer pragmatic not long after he's gone. To be fair, the other characters have reasons for being dissatisfied with the option Aang chose, but whether these reasons are valid enough to warrant Aang's treatment has created the BrokenBase.

* InformedWrongness: Depending on what side of the BrokenBase you're on, Aang can be this. He gets treated fairly harshly by the narrative and the other characters for letting Ozai live, with characters dismissing that 1). his decision succeeded in stopping Ozai from destroying the Earth Kingdom, and 2). it's possible to execute Ozai or imprison him while cutting him off from any possible supporters. Interestingly enough, while Aang gets kicked out of one meeting for reacting poorly to a proposal to arrange an "accident" for Ozai, the characters present rule out that course of action as no longer pragmatic not long after he's gone. To be fair, the other characters have reasons for being dissatisfied with the option Aang chose, but whether these reasons are valid enough to warrant Aang's treatment is what created the BrokenBase.