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FireLizardInABottle
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** \\\"Fifted\\\" by AlsoSprachOdin. It should be that the author has run out of prewritten chapters, updates are obviously slower. Still, plenty to read and catch up on for new readers.
** Six-ed by Bufu. This fic fleshes out the already marvelous Avatar verse to incredible heights, with characters\\\' backstories affecting their respective psychologies which in turn have extremely visible effects on the thinking that influences their decisions. Furthermore, even though an alternate continuity, I\\\'m prepared to say that I prefer this over even the already incredible original backstory due to the sheer skill and thought with which it was created. Somewhat deconstructs many parts of the show (not going to mention any specifics due to spoilers) due to this analysis, but I believe it actually is an improvement overall. Check out the fic for yourself to see if it appeals to you as much as it does to me.
** Seven-ed by [dynus]. Honestly, one of the best Avatar fics out there. Very well written. At this point in time the author is now exploring Water Tribe culture and Earth Kingdom culture. Not as in-depth as the Fire Nation\\\'s has been, but that\\\'s to be expected. The author really shows their work by researching the the real world counterparts of the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and Water Tribes.
** The Other Steve says YourMileageMayVary. I loved it at first, but the author\\\'s characterization of Katara is rapidly ruining the story for me. Katara\\\'s stubborn, and the circumstances would have made her even more so, but she\\\'s not retarded. Her characterization just screams [[ConflictBall \\\"conflict for conflict\\\'s sake.\\\"]]
** Eight-ed By jarell88. This is truly the best avatar fic out there due to the authors extremely in depth look into the background of, well, everything in the show. Nothing is left unexamined, leading to a lot of deconstruction and reconstruction of the Avatarverse that is usually taken for granted. To the troper above, yes, Katara\\\'s characterisation is off from canon, but in examining the background of the AU, it actually fits very well.
** Nine-ed by Pepipanda. Looking back over what I\\\'ve read, I\\\'m amazed at how many things, if listed in the summary, would have immediately turned me off to this fic, but were pulled off so naturally and IC that I can\\\'t imagine the story without them. Amazingly well-researched and well thought out. A long complex plot that retains elements of canon but forges its own distinct path.
** PsyckoSama also says YourMileageMayVary. Zuko looks to be well on his way to becoming a CanonSue, while the Gaang seems to be suffering from a serious case of {{flanderization}}.
** LavanyaSix thirds the [[YourMileageMayVary warnings about varying mileage]]. I really enjoyed the early, pre-Ba Sing Se chapters, but Zuko gets to be way [[CanonSue too overpowered]] and the Gaang\\\'s characterization, particularly Katara\\\'s, cross the line from [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation an alternate take on how kids would really behave while tasked with saving the world]] to them just being [[IdiotBall contractually unable to do anything right]]. I will stress that the little details and worldbuilding in the story -are- excellent, such as Avatar Kyoshi being stridently anti-miscegenation, and make the fic worth at least checking out.
** Tenthed by Foxfier as a good story. As the author stresses, one must keep in mind that Zuko doesn\\\'t know all we know-- he makes a lot of assumptions that are flatly wrong or at best very unlikely. A lot of the things that reviewers seem to dislike spring from Vathara explaining cannon actions via cultural reasoning, or [[LampshadeHanging hanging lampshades]] on cannon events. (...clean, washed bison hair?) The Polar water tribes are tribal, including the ugly parts of that, etc. The author\\\'s dialog is good enough that nearly every cannon-based character \\\"sounds\\\" right for the voice actor.
** FireLizardInABottle Fourths the [[YourMileageMayVary warnings about varying mileage]]. I have some problems with the characterization of Katara, and Zuko developing as a Black Hole Sue/Canon Sue. When Zuko isn\\\'t directly in the scene every other character is either 1) Discussing him 2) Thinking about him 3) Psychoanalyzing his previous actions. I know he\\\'s the main character, but this is blown way out of all proportion. I also had a lot of problems following some of the action scenes -- everything is too vague and jumpy to figure out what was going on until the character\\\'s inevitably talk about it in later scenes (whilst analyzing Zuko\\\'s role to the tiniest detail...). Still better than 98% of Avatar fic out there, but please be aware of issues before reading.
** SquealingSandry: \\\'\\\'Amazingly\\\'\\\' well-written, even for this incredible author, exploring the differences in the cultures or the four nations, how and why they came to be that way, and the reasoning behind all of the characters and events in a way that really, truly does make it BetterThanCanon. Updates relatively regularly, has excellent fight scenes, and some clever humor mixed in.
** {{Robert}}: Could have been great, but is marred by blatant deck-stacking. Zuko is sinking into Sue-dom, and FridgeLogic exposes the seams where the AU elements have been inserted into canon. The author may be aiming for a more nuanced picture of the four nations than depicted in canon, but they\\\'ve overshot that mark considerably, ending up tilted in the opposite direction.
** {{boomslangvenom}}: Zuko may be somewhat Sue-ish, but his additional abilities cause at least as many problems as they solve, often leaving Zuko [[BlessedWithSuck with abilities he cannot use half the time]] that are supposed to make him useful to people who do \\\'\\\'not\\\'\\\' want him around. And frankly, Vathara\\\'s interpretation of the Avatar world is so intrigueing, and the secondary characters, including OCs, so well written that you won\\\'t even care about Sue-like tendancies.
** {{Zeful}}: [[YourMileageMayVary YMMV]] on that last point. As of the last couple of chapters the Sue-like tendencies seem to have taken hold of the character entirely. And with the \\\"[[FanWank speculation]]\\\", it\\\'s creating issues that [[ConflictBall didn\\\'t exist before]] (namely, In canon, Zuko seems to have no problem with Aang escaping him after saying he\\\'d come with. In this fic, it\\\'s such a gross violation of fire nation ideals that Zuko will have nothing to do with him). In addition the \\\"[[FanWank speculation]]\\\" on how the Firenation works (internal politics, history, the reason for the war) all seems like the Author is taking artistic licsence a little too far.
** Six-ed by Bufu. This fic fleshes out the already marvelous Avatar verse to incredible heights, with characters\\\' backstories affecting their respective psychologies which in turn have extremely visible effects on the thinking that influences their decisions. Furthermore, even though an alternate continuity, I\\\'m prepared to say that I prefer this over even the already incredible original backstory due to the sheer skill and thought with which it was created. Somewhat deconstructs many parts of the show (not going to mention any specifics due to spoilers) due to this analysis, but I believe it actually is an improvement overall. Check out the fic for yourself to see if it appeals to you as much as it does to me.
** Seven-ed by [dynus]. Honestly, one of the best Avatar fics out there. Very well written. At this point in time the author is now exploring Water Tribe culture and Earth Kingdom culture. Not as in-depth as the Fire Nation\\\'s has been, but that\\\'s to be expected. The author really shows their work by researching the the real world counterparts of the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and Water Tribes.
** The Other Steve says YourMileageMayVary. I loved it at first, but the author\\\'s characterization of Katara is rapidly ruining the story for me. Katara\\\'s stubborn, and the circumstances would have made her even more so, but she\\\'s not retarded. Her characterization just screams [[ConflictBall \\\"conflict for conflict\\\'s sake.\\\"]]
** Eight-ed By jarell88. This is truly the best avatar fic out there due to the authors extremely in depth look into the background of, well, everything in the show. Nothing is left unexamined, leading to a lot of deconstruction and reconstruction of the Avatarverse that is usually taken for granted. To the troper above, yes, Katara\\\'s characterisation is off from canon, but in examining the background of the AU, it actually fits very well.
** Nine-ed by Pepipanda. Looking back over what I\\\'ve read, I\\\'m amazed at how many things, if listed in the summary, would have immediately turned me off to this fic, but were pulled off so naturally and IC that I can\\\'t imagine the story without them. Amazingly well-researched and well thought out. A long complex plot that retains elements of canon but forges its own distinct path.
** PsyckoSama also says YourMileageMayVary. Zuko looks to be well on his way to becoming a CanonSue, while the Gaang seems to be suffering from a serious case of {{flanderization}}.
** LavanyaSix thirds the [[YourMileageMayVary warnings about varying mileage]]. I really enjoyed the early, pre-Ba Sing Se chapters, but Zuko gets to be way [[CanonSue too overpowered]] and the Gaang\\\'s characterization, particularly Katara\\\'s, cross the line from [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation an alternate take on how kids would really behave while tasked with saving the world]] to them just being [[IdiotBall contractually unable to do anything right]]. I will stress that the little details and worldbuilding in the story -are- excellent, such as Avatar Kyoshi being stridently anti-miscegenation, and make the fic worth at least checking out.
** Tenthed by Foxfier as a good story. As the author stresses, one must keep in mind that Zuko doesn\\\'t know all we know-- he makes a lot of assumptions that are flatly wrong or at best very unlikely. A lot of the things that reviewers seem to dislike spring from Vathara explaining cannon actions via cultural reasoning, or [[LampshadeHanging hanging lampshades]] on cannon events. (...clean, washed bison hair?) The Polar water tribes are tribal, including the ugly parts of that, etc. The author\\\'s dialog is good enough that nearly every cannon-based character \\\"sounds\\\" right for the voice actor.
** FireLizardInABottle Fourths the [[YourMileageMayVary warnings about varying mileage]]. I have some problems with the characterization of Katara, and Zuko developing as a Black Hole Sue/Canon Sue. When Zuko isn\\\'t directly in the scene every other character is either 1) Discussing him 2) Thinking about him 3) Psychoanalyzing his previous actions. I know he\\\'s the main character, but this is blown way out of all proportion. I also had a lot of problems following some of the action scenes -- everything is too vague and jumpy to figure out what was going on until the character\\\'s inevitably talk about it in later scenes (whilst analyzing Zuko\\\'s role to the tiniest detail...). Still better than 98% of Avatar fic out there, but please be aware of issues before reading.
** SquealingSandry: \\\'\\\'Amazingly\\\'\\\' well-written, even for this incredible author, exploring the differences in the cultures or the four nations, how and why they came to be that way, and the reasoning behind all of the characters and events in a way that really, truly does make it BetterThanCanon. Updates relatively regularly, has excellent fight scenes, and some clever humor mixed in.
** {{Robert}}: Could have been great, but is marred by blatant deck-stacking. Zuko is sinking into Sue-dom, and FridgeLogic exposes the seams where the AU elements have been inserted into canon. The author may be aiming for a more nuanced picture of the four nations than depicted in canon, but they\\\'ve overshot that mark considerably, ending up tilted in the opposite direction.
** {{boomslangvenom}}: Zuko may be somewhat Sue-ish, but his additional abilities cause at least as many problems as they solve, often leaving Zuko [[BlessedWithSuck with abilities he cannot use half the time]] that are supposed to make him useful to people who do \\\'\\\'not\\\'\\\' want him around. And frankly, Vathara\\\'s interpretation of the Avatar world is so intrigueing, and the secondary characters, including OCs, so well written that you won\\\'t even care about Sue-like tendancies.
** {{Zeful}}: [[YourMileageMayVary YMMV]] on that last point. As of the last couple of chapters the Sue-like tendencies seem to have taken hold of the character entirely. And with the \\\"[[FanWank speculation]]\\\", it\\\'s creating issues that [[ConflictBall didn\\\'t exist before]] (namely, In canon, Zuko seems to have no problem with Aang escaping him after saying he\\\'d come with. In this fic, it\\\'s such a gross violation of fire nation ideals that Zuko will have nothing to do with him). In addition the \\\"[[FanWank speculation]]\\\" on how the Firenation works (internal politics, history, the reason for the war) all seems like the Author is taking artistic licsence a little too far.
