Avatar fic recs

[sholio]

So, er. I have plunged into Avatar fandom with gleeful abandon. I don't even want to think about how many tabs I have open right now. So far I'm discovering a regrettable shortage of long, plotty, non-romantic fic (... may have to do something about that *looks innocent*), but there's a ton of really good short fic, and I figured I'd share links to some of the stories I liked. Under the cut: spoilers for all parts of the series, lots of post-series fic recs (because that's what I'm mostly wanting right now -- though it's not all I'm reccing here), mostly genfic with a smattering of various pairings. (Note: edited just now to add a few more)


Sweet/Cute/Fun

Puppy for Zuko by phantom-blue is short, unbelievably cute and ... pretty much what it says in the title. Aang, because he's Aang, thinks the new Firelord needs a puppy. (Gen)

Rites of Spring by inlovewithnight - Spring, and a young Fire Lord's thoughts turn to frogs. Pitch-perfect Zuko and Aang discussing ancient Fire Nation rituals, post-series. (Gen)

Love by icybright - They've made an interesting family for themselves. This is a gorgeous post-series ficlet, building off the final scene at Iroh's tea shop. They are an odd little family indeed, but a close one. *clutches heart* (mostly gen with canon pairings)

Lies by Tuna Salad Sonnet - This is set during the early days at the Air Temple; Zuko says he doesn't need a hug, but Toph knows he's totally lying, so Zoku finds himself on the receiving end of two snuggly twelve-year-olds. Toph might be a trifle OOC here, but the adorableness is through the roof and I don't care. (Gen)

Odd Man Out by Smart Alex - Sokka & Toph friendship, post-series. With Suki away, Sokka is feeling left out of all the couples around him, until Toph sets him straight. (canon pairings)

Around the Fountain by CollaneR - Takes place shortly after the Boiling Rock episodes; manly bickering and bonding at the Air Temple fountain. Adorable Sokka POV. (Gen)

The Wrong Kind of Compass by pikabot - Toph helps Sokka look for his sword, after he dropped it from the airship in the finale. Cute! (Gen)

Escapades of the Blind Bandit and Meathead by ArtemisRae - This is a cute series of stories, post-finale: Sokka and Toph hanging out, traveling around, and living in the Firelord's palace where they create all kinds of havoc. (some fics in the series are Sokka/Toph, but most are gen with passing mention of canon pairings; see labels on each fic)

A Matter of Secrets by jalendavi_lady - This is for a prompt at access_fandom's Festibility: "Zuko's never told anyone that he can't see out of his left eye anymore." It's a gorgeous look at Zuko, his trust issues, and his friendships; all the major canon characters appear. (basically gen with passing Zuko/Mai and other canon pairings)

Too Good To Be True by Omoni - Post-series, Zuko keeps expecting things to go horribly wrong as he starts to rebuild his country, but instead it's ... actually working out for a change. (Zuko/Mai, plus everybody else)

Sleeping Close by Swiss Army Knife - Really sweet Hakoda POV on the kids, during their time at the Air Temple after Boiling Rock. I used to love this author's stories back when I was in DBZ fandom, many years ago; I'm happy to find that s/he is still writing! (Gen)

Never Gonna Keep Me Down by glass_icarus - Zuko is a giant failboat, but at least he never stops trying. Bwahaha. Zuko courting Mai, in his typical dorky fashion. (Zuko/Mai)

Following Older Steps by BlackEyedGirl - There's a dragon on the doorsteps of Zuko's palace; Aang must be responsible. Cute post-series friendship ficlet. (Gen)

Disclosure by Rawles - Sex, Zuko had discovered, was a very troublesome thing. Only for you, Zuko, at least to this extent. I can totally see Zuko and Mai's wedding night (and the subsequent week) going down like this -- they're both so *awful* at communicating, in totally different ways. This is sweet and hilarious, and Zuko is totally the dorkiest Firelord EVER. (Zuko/Mai, explicit)

Plans, the Making of by impertinence - I'm noticing that I have a tremendous weakness for post-series Zuko & Aang friendship fic. In this one, Aang takes Zuko and Mai hang gliding (it goes about like you'd expect) and Zuko tries to work out how to be a supportive friend. Really cute. (mostly gen with some Zuko/Mai)


Difficult to categorize

Zuzu's Sandbox and Aang's Shaving Kit by Omoni - Two collections of unrelated short fics, featuring all the characters, and exploring different corners of canon. They range from insightful to funny/sweet to heartbreaking; definitely recommended. My favorite of them all, I think, was an especially neat one in which Iroh goes into the spirit world after his dead son. (Gen and various canon and non-canon pairings)

Lessons in Thin Air by Lisse - Still an outsider, Zuko cautiously begins to settle into the routine of the rebels/refugees in the Air Temple. I dithered over where to categorize this, because I thought it was pretty sweet, but he's still such an outsider that it didn't quite fit into the category above. (Gen)


Serious, dark or sad

Pressure by kanthia - In the weeks following the winter, Aang finds that the snow still has yet to melt. Aang and Zuko both struggle with their choices in the finale, and the pressures of rebuilding a shattered world. (mostly gen with mention of Zuko/Mai)

Lucky Seven and Luck by praiseofshadows - Short snippets from Zuko's infancy, reflecting on his comments in S1 that he wasn't supposed to be born. Poor kid. (Gen)

Life on Fire by creepy_crawly - Zuko was born in fire, and, in fire, he will die. A short, introspective fic looking at what firebending feels like from the inside, especially for someone who has a lot of trouble tapping into the wellspring of anger that drives it. This hurt, but it could totally be canon. (Gen)

Sun Blast Your Shadow by pearl_o - Zuko had assumed, somehow, that the hard part would be over. A heartbreaking look at one possible future for Zuko post-series. It's not that easy to put back together a broken kingdom. (mostly gen with some unhappy Zuko/Mai)

Comments

[sheron]

Kind of random but I just heard from my friend that there apparently will be another Avatar series? And it will feature a girl as the lead? That would be awesome!

[sholio]

Yes, there is! "Legend of Korra" -- I'm looking forward to it so much! And apparently it's going to be kind of steampunk-ish, which makes me explode in squee. :D

[frith_in_thorns]

Thank you for the recs! I've now burned through them all :D
Are there any good fic comms on LJ that you've found? I can feel myself being sucked in...

[sholio]

Another one falls! *g* (Wow, I think you watched the series even faster than we did ...)

I haven't delved too deeply into the social side of the fandom yet, because from what I've heard, it's mostly a ship fandom, and the big ships are Aang/Katara -- which is really cute, but not something I'm hugely compelled to read about -- and Katara/Zuko, which is a pairing that I can't really handle, because I like the canon pairings so much. (Aang/Zuko/Katara, on the other hand, is freakishly adorable. But then Mai gets fridged. Aargh. Shipping.)

Anyway, kindoflikeyou is not currently active, but has a ton of really cute Zuko/Mai fic, if that's your cup of tea. There is apparently an avatarbigbang, which is currently at the writing stage, but after glancing over the summaries, I'm really looking forward to some of the fics that are being written! atla_ladyfest is like it says on the box -- fic and art about the women! There's also avatarfic, avatar_vids, and avatar_fans.

Over on DW, white_lotus is a new, general-avatar-stuff comm that seems to be mostly new fans and mostly older fans -- one reason why the mainstream Avatar fandom is so shippy and wanky is that it's pretty young. And there is a DW friending meme!

Welcome to the fandom! I hope you're compelled to write for it, because I'm already running out of stuff to read! :D And I can feel my fingers twitching to write some Avatar-fic for some of the spaces on my h/c bingo card ...

[frith_in_thorns]

Four days! *grins proudly* And I would have finished it in three if my grandparents hadn't come to stay.

And thank you very much for all the comms. I'm checking some of them out right now. Much new fic to read! And I do feel the pull of fics wanting to be written - this comes at a good time since I've recently run up against some not-so-nice things in SGA fandom. Maybe it's time to make a DW account, if a lot of the action is going on over there...

I do rather like Zuko/Mai. I found Mai rather hilarious from her very first introduction. I think I could like Zuko/Katara, too, just because I could see them working together in that way, although I do hate breaking up canon pairings. The thing is that I find Aang rather boring as a character, in comparison with the others anyway. Probably because you know right from the start that he's going to go through some trials but then triumph and come out and save the world - whereas all the others have more interesting (and often unexpected) character progressions.

H/C bingo would work so well! I can't wait to see what you come up with! Will it be Zuko h/c? You know you're my very favourite fic author, right? ;)

[sholio]

Oh, SGA fandom. *smacks it* I must admit that I'm really appreciating a break from it right now; I'm sure I'll wander back eventually, but it's just so nice to be able to get that delightful fandom squee-high without having to deal with all the baggage that SGA fandom has for me. (And now I'm kinda curious what happened, but ... knowing SGA fandom, I think I can probably sort of guess?)

I was actually pretty lukewarm on Zuko/Mai for awhile -- I really liked Mai, and was of course head over heels for Zuko, but I thought they were mostly just killing time with each other -- right up until she betrayed Azula for him. "I love Zuko more than I fear you." And then they were so cute at the end ... yeah. I tumbled right into it. And there's some really good fic out there for them, celebrating their dorky and emotionally stunted love. *g*

I like Aang, but I think that I like most of the others more, if only because, as you said, Aang's character trajectory is fairly predictable. He's the hero, and he has the standard hero's journey. But he's awfully cute.

Will it be Zuko h/c? You know you're my very favourite fic author, right? ;)

Awww! Thank you! *blushes* Of course it's Zuko h/c. What else is there?

ETA: Also, I have DW invite codes, if you would like one?

[frith_in_thorns]

(Deleted and reposted because I replied in the wrong place)

I adore dorky and emotionally stunted love! :D But more yay for Zuko h/c! I really liked the idea you had in the fic you wrote, with the ongoing damage from Azula's lightning. He's just such an angst-magnet. Now I'm remembering the, "It exploded in my face! LIKE EVERYTHING ALWAYS DOES!!" line and giggling.

What else is there?

There's Toph h/c! Or at least there should be. *thinks*

An invite code? Ooh, yes please! I didn't realise I'd need one, that would be very useful :)

Um, um, I can tell you the SGA stuff in a PM. It can be a very stupid fandom at times.

[sholio]

PM me your email, at least, and I can send you an invite code. (I'm sure I have your email around somewhere, but my inbox is a giant disorganized pile of suck.) And you're totally welcome to PM me the details if you want to, but only if you want to; I don't mean to be nosy.

On a happier note, d'awwww, icon love! ♥ And there really is not enough Zuko h/c out there. Or, rather, let me rephrase that, since I spent last night wading around in ff.net and it's not that there's a severe lack of Zuko h/c, it's that there is a severe lack that isn't goddawful. (My very favorite summary -- and by "favorite", I mean "run away, run away screaming" -- from the sea of A:tLA badfic that I slogged through last night: "Zuko is crushed by an overly affectionate Appa. Aang just happens to be walking by." And yes, it is absolutely as terrible as the summary makes it seem.) Anyway, I'm definitely eyeing some of the squares on my bingo card speculatively.

[frith_in_thorns]

Aww, thank you! I started making AtLA icons and have now mostly run out of icon space - some reorganising is in order. Anyway, they're free for grabbing. In the far future I may even make enough for a post.

That is a *lovely* summary. You should keep them. I have somewhere an entire word document from when I first discovered FFN of CSI (and probably some Stargate) fic summaries which never fail to cheer me up.

PM'ing you my email now :)

[frith_in_thorns]

I've just realised that I have 'electrocution' on my h/c bingo card. And others which fit AtLA so well!

Also I've just had a look at the page on FFN. I'm facepalming at whoever came up with 'GAang'.

ETA: I'm rapidly going off Zuko/Katara, reading these! Also, this is my favourite summary: "Zuko breaks Toph's heart and so she drowns herself in liquor to try to fix it..."