#& we get some iroh time next chapter which is super fun

[ssreeder]

“He didn't want to think about the ramifications of the Fire Nation successfully flying one of those war-balloons over the Lower Ring… The only protection available for those poor people would fall squarely on the shoulders of those new recruits, and they would have to be ready to carry that responsibility. This situation was already a mess and they were still in the planning stages.”

Can’t believe I ignored this last chapter. Good thing Zuko isn’t in one of these meetings or there’d be a fight. Interested to see if this is a redemption for Iroh though to think of the little people or if everyone is just completely fine with the lower ring being burnt to a crisp. Bato clearly has his mind on other things so someone else needs to step up. Jeez

Bato isn’t the only one concerned about this, Suki is also pretty fired up about it in the next chapter… the tension of the upcoming battle gets heavier as we go along.

Unfortunately, there really isn’t much they CAN do to keep the Lower Ring from experiencing casualties…. but how many citizens survive & how bad the destruction is will depend on how many resources they send down there and what their plan of action will be to save lives. (If they even care about saving those lives… many of them being refugees and ‘lower class citizens’)

I am also curious to see if Iroh shows any interest in trying to help the citizens in Lower Ring or if he keeps his focus strictly on keeping the forces from reaching the Upper Ring (where his precious Zuko is)… chaos in the Lower Ring can keep troops from advancing, and there is limited space to flee depending on how Azula advances upon the city… idk. I can’t see it going well, and even Iroh, as powerful as he is doesn’t hold much authority over what the generals do with BSS… He is a tentatively welcomed guest after all. Haha.

we’ll see I guess!! Haha thanks for the ask!!

#Stick a bunch of middle aged military men in the room and see if they give a fuck about the women and children in lower ring #I’m not saying their all like that but I would think the focus would be on destroying the FN before they can advance further into the city #To where the ‘worthy citizens live’ #Where the architecture they give a damn about protecting is #Hakoda and bato are the ones thinking of those women and children #Because they know what it’s like to have their women and children killed #& they know what FN soldiers are capable of I mean fuck they stole their water benders and locked them in metal prisons #Hardcore… so yeah I do think iroh is a good guy #But I don’t know if his mind thinks of the little guy… not when he was raised to believe the little guys were only there to for kindling #Idk maybe I don’t give iroh enough credit or I give him too much credit and know just because he loves zuko and wants to be the happy goofy #Fun uncle he needs & not still the dragon of the west who chuckled when he talked about burning BSS to the ground #WE WILL SEE I GUESS haha #We are getting clossseeeerrrrr haha #& we get some iroh time next chapter which is super fun #For everyone but zuko haha #Thanks for the ask anon #Liab #ITF #leaving it all behind #ask

[zkfanworkweek]

ZFAW Content Creator Interviews: OwedBetter

Hey everyone! We hope you’re all excited for ZFAW, and to honor (ha!) ZFAW’s commitment to supporting and celebrating fan content creators in the Zutara fandom, we’re going to be rolling out a series of interviews with well-known and widely-beloved content creators over the next few weeks. We’ve got artists and fanfiction authors, some names you recognize as well as a few phenomenal up-and-coming talents, and we can’t wait for you to meet them all!

I’m super excited about this one! For the sixth (incredibly delayed, I’M SORRY) interview in the cycle, we have Jo, aka @owedbetter. Best known for the absolutely iconic Zutara fanfiction “I’m Still Here,” Jo’s works can be found at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12312357/chapters/27990618

Tell us about how you came to ship Zutara. What does this ship mean to you?

To use one of my favourite lines from Jane Austen, "I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun." I started watching Avatar: The Last Airbender when I was just a tiny little baby child at 10 turning 11 years old. I do know for a fact, however, that Zutara had simply always been it for me from the very beginning. I believe it was during "The Storm" that I just knew that there was more to Zuko than what was at surface level. As a brown girl trying to make her way into positions of leadership as a child, Katara's strength, rage, and bravery paved the way for me to survive in the way I have. As a survivor of child abuse myself, Zuko remaining kind and gentle and good was of paramount importance. Together, they were the joining of two souls that met in conflict and chaos but through merit, equal standing, and forgiveness, they were exactly what each other needed. They are not opposites nor two halves of a whole; they are the sky and between them is only the world. Everyone has the need to feel truly seen and understood as they are by another, and Zuko and Katara do exactly that. Other stories come and go, but they're the story I come back to and will continue to call home every single time. I will never tire of them.

2. What inspires you to create Zutara fanworks?

 I've been a professional writer for the last ten years. It's my job to imagine and create stories. I also love consuming stories through every medium possible. The well never dries when you keep it full to the brim. When you do the work I do and you consume as many stories as I do and you've lived a long enough life and paid attention to the life around you as I have trained to do, to be inspired is second nature. For Zutara, however, these are voices that have lived in my brain for fifteen years. When I get an idea for a story, literally any story, it's like my subconscious is naturally attuned to their dynamic that every prompt I come up with is automatically a Zutara prompt. Such is the way. If I ever publish a novel and/or lead my own show/movie, you can bet that it's probably Zutara if you squint.

3. Be selfish - if you could request one fanwork based on your own art/fanfic, what would it be? What would you absolutely love to see someone create? 

To this day, "i'm still here" is probably the single greatest thing I've ever done in my whole stupid life. It would be the greatest honour to see my work interpreted visually. Genuinely, I'd love to see certain scenes as comic panels or something. Katara's realisation at the beach over who she is and she thinks about Yue, her mother, and her grandmother. Zuko and Katara's mutual understanding. The scene that started it all: baby Zuko taking care of baby Azula at the beach. Katara and Iroh talking in Chapter 7. Toph meeting fear for the first time. The entire ending of Chapter 6. As of writing this, I haven't updated the sequel yet but I would love to see visual interpretations of incoming Original Characters because they've been fun to create. I don't even know. If anyone wants to draw something from "i'm still here", I would like to see it. Please let me see it. I will cry. But also, I would like to see visual interpretation of Zutara in my modern quarantine pandemic AU because I would like to see long haired 28 year old Zuko wearing autumn-wear in a public park filled with flowers with 26 year old Katara basically wearing anything I wear because I am projecting in that story for a reason. 

4. Any words for people who are new to the fandom and/or nervous about sharing their work for the first time?Buddy, we're all just a bunch of nerds who are creating things for our enjoyment and the enjoyment of likeminded individuals. Do things for you and because they bring you joy, first and foremost. Everything else can be ignored if you want to ignore it. You're doing great. 

5. What is your favorite Zutara-related thing you’ve made and why is it special to you?

 Again, "i'm still here" is literally the greatest thing I've ever done in my life. Something I get commended for a fair amount with ISH is how I handled Zuko being a child abuse survivor, and his conflicting emotions with his violent abusers because he's still a child who wants his family to love him. That comes from an extremely personal place for me and it means the world to know that other survivors out there resonated so well with it. Also, Masterchef Zuko with that chicken adobo meant me getting a LOT of people saying they tried out the recipe themselves and I can feel my grandmother radiate with pride over knowing I'm so great a cook that I can convince people to want my dish just by writing about it. I'm so proud of everything I did with ISH. I worked really hard on it and I'm so happy to know it means a lot to other people too. 

6. What’s an idea for a fanwork that you have but haven’t gotten around to making?

I have this one modern AU involving dogs that I've put on the backburner since 2017. One day... one day!!! I'm a bit of a workaholic, though, so most of the things I want to do, I just do 'em. 

7. Are you participating in ZFAW? If so, want to give us a hint as to your plans? 👀

I am! I have a draft ready based on one of Hayley Foster's animatics and I'm very excited. Tumblr user hayleynfoster, I owe you my entire life. 

#zfaw #zutara fanworks appreciation week #interviews #zutara #owedbetter

[riceccakes]

Earth, Wind, and Coffee: Chapter One Analysis

helloooooooo :) welcome to my chapter analyses for my fic Earth, Wind, and Coffee. here, i’m just going to be breaking down my writing process, choices, and fun stuff, among other stuff as well. you can read this after you’ve finished the first chapter (i’ve excluded spoilers!) or you could read all 45k words and then come back to these one by one. either way, i’m v excited to be doing this so i hope you guys like it too. lets begin with chapter one, shall we :)

some fun stuff before we start!

every chapter title is modeled after the fic title!

you may have noticed that there are two center line dividers in the chapter(and every chapter after), meaning there are three sections to a chapter. going off of this, i thought it might be cool to title each chapter based on the sections, either of its main topic or my favorite part of it. so, chapter one’s first section is korrasami meeting (hence, Meetings), section two is where i introduced Artist!Korra, and i really love Artist!Korra so naturally i had to name the chapter about her (and the thing that brings korrasami closer, Sketches), and the third section is where their friendship is solidified (i think i achieved this by giving their numbers to each other, but i also just thought it was a cute scene, Phone Number Exchanges) and now we put it all together and get: Meetings (Earth), Sketches (Wind), and Phone Number Exchanges (and Coffee) (pretty cool right??? *wink wink*) the same formula is used to title every chapter afterwards. i usually suck at chapter titles but i thought this was a super cute thing to do and it ended up working fairly naturally :)

i started this fic on sept 23, 2020. chapter one didn’t get posted until oct 15, 2020

so basically, i sat with this first chapter for almost a month before posting (which actually was a good thing, i’ll tell you why later!) i really wanted this first chapter to stand out and be lowkey perfect, so i kept writing and rewriting and rewriting my rewrites. then you know, i’d start reading and then edit and then edit the edits; it’s a vicious cycle but one that i’m used to. i finally decided to post the fic when i read the first chapter through and thought “yep, this is it” 

i was inspired by the fic it’s such a gorgeous sight to see you in the middle of the night by softshocks

mostly for the idea of having a full-length fic in only three chapters. buuut, that was also one of the first korrasami fics i read after finishing lok on netflix and i remember thinking “damn, now THIS is how you do an au” character progression in the story is great and not once during the fic did i feel bored or in a lull. i really wanted to do the same with my fic and tried my best

now, lets get into the chapter itself.

sentence structure:

i used sentence structure to (hopefully) show that something is off with korra. we don’t know what yet, asami chalks it up to working through the night, but just like the summary states, there’s more going on here with our new favorite barista, it’s just a matter of what. even with this being in asami’s pov, i wanted to show a sort of disconnect between her and korra. let me show you an example

“Asami smiles warmly, excited to try the drink. She thanks Korra and watches as the girl nods lightly and walks back over to the counter. She begins cleaning the espresso machine. Asami takes a sip from the mug, lightly moaning from the taste. She feels Korra’s eyes peer up at her for a moment. Their eyes meet and Asami blushes, putting the mug and her head down. She opens the binder on the right side, pulling out the pen tucked into the inside cover. She thumbs through to the next clean page and begins squinting at her sloppy notes, rewriting them neatly once they’re deciphered.“

i’ve italicized sentences that, even while in asami’s pov, describe korra’s actions. in comparison to the sentences around it, the two italicized sentences are rather plain and simple. they’re very subject-predicate - “She (subject) begins cleaning the espresso machine (predicate)” you have your noun/subject and verb/predicate, give or take some words for proper english and action. asami’s sentences are more complex. colored in red is what i’ve donned as my classic form of writing, which basically takes two sentences - “She opens the binder on the right side. She pulls out the pen tucked into the inside cover.” and smushes them together by keeping the first sentence as is and taking away the subject of the second sentence and tacking on an -ing to its verb. i’m not sure how writing sentences like this started but i feel like i always come back to it because it gives sentences just that lil bit of edge. the sentences are not super simple but they’re also not super hard to understand. it’s a nice balance of simplicity and complexity, in my opinion.

now in bold is the combination of korra’s - “Their eyes meet and Asami blushes.” and asami’s - “Asami blushes, putting the mug and her head down” sentence forms. it’s a nice little indication that even with this disconnect from korra, these two girls are going to come together and make magic.

this play with sentence structure pretty much continues throughout the rest of the chapter, have fun finding them :))

next on my list is what i brought up earlier! i saved this lil first chapter in my back pocket for almost a month and you know what, it was a really good thing i did. for one thing, asami’s original “tormentor” we’ll call him, was going to be tahno. the same idea of this character being a soccer player was kept but i changed the character from tahno to iroh for a number of reasons:

1) iroh’s connections to the fire nation throne were a biiiig thing in me deciding to change him. 

i loved iroh ii in lok, i thought he was super cool, but we needed someone in this story to be an obstacle for asami to face. we already have her dad hiroshi, and some of you may be thinking “isn’t that already enough??” and for a while i thought so too, but we needed a vehicle to show how hiroshi is an obstacle asami is facing. and i decided to do that with iroh.

2) i really wanted said character to be a conceded jerk and who better than a well known heir to a nation’s throne? (it really went to his head)

tahno was really already a jerk and pretty ruthless character in lok, which is why he came to mind first. and i’d had him only be a soccer star but that was cause for explaining how he and hiroshi have connections. i was struggling for a bit of how to tie the two together but ultimately realized, “hey hiroshi is a business man, he’s bound to do business in the fire nation. and iroh is from the fire nation, he’s prince! he could be a key factor in pulling strings to get more business there” and so that is why i changed tahno to iroh

3) it doesn’t stop there though! at first, iroh was only son of the firelord and soccer star mvp. he was in asami’s stats class but that was it. i realized he needed a bigger role to have connections with hiroshi, which is why he’s now a business major too

this reason is why it’s great i waited!! had i been an eager beaver and posted whatever the first draft of the chapter was, i would’ve been facing some challenges later on, so thanks past me for giving future me some help! this was the perfect way for iroh to be a conceded dick who’s in asami’s life even tho she doesn’t want him to be. i added on the bit about him joining future industries in section two of the chapter and was suuuper glad i figured it out because it helped me envision the rest of the story.

honorable mentions:

korra was going to be wearing a tee shirt when korrasami met but i changed this 1) so asami could leave up ✨korra’s muscles✨ to her imagination and 2) because gloves are a regularly used trope that someone has something to hide. i couldn’t really find a way to give korra gloves but i thought the next best thing would be covering up, so now she wears a sweater.

i googled different types of coffee. The Avatar is a latte macchiato, it’s a play on an espresso macchiato. espresso is added to milk rather than milk to espresso and features more foam than hot milk. i used this one cause i’ve always enjoyed seeing foam art and thought making aang’s classic arrow in foam would be cool. Aang’s Special is a play on his favorite treat, egg tarts. this one is a vietnamese drink and is exactly as i describe in the fic.

earth, wind, and coffee is very much a pun. one so many different levels though: earth, wind, and fire, esteemed multi-genre singing group, known for songs like september and fantasy. earth, wind (air), and fire are elements that are bended in the atla universe and while this isn’t a bending au, it’s still pretty cool. and now earth, wind, and coffee, it’s a coffee shop au. i mean come on, so many layers, i love myself for creating it but hate myself for how much i love myself for creating it.

anything i would’ve wanted to change?

honestly, no. i think because i’d already did all of the changes before publishing, but also cause any time i read through the first chapter, i just feel satisfied. i achieved all of my goals in that first chapter about setting up what would happen and it’s also just a good read.

have any questions? let me know! wanna comment your favorite things from chapter one? do it !! interact with me !! i demand it.

thanks for reading, i really liked doing this :)) (even tho more than once my writing for this got deleted and it was big sad because i’d gotten a good portion done but whatever we’re still here)

#earth wind and coffee #coffee shop au #chapter analysis #writing analysis #korrasami #korrasami fic #korra #asami sato #lok #ricewrites

[shadowsong26fic]

Coming Attractions!

First Monday of the month (and year. Thank every known deity in the universe.)

...ahem.

Yeah. It’s been a...well, 2020. But it is now officially a new month and year, and time for a Coming Attractions post!

The big news, obviously, is that I actually finished Precipice. \o/ ...well, the first seven arcs, anyway.

As I’ve discussed before, and explained in my very long author’s note at the end of the final chapter on Ao3, the next steps for this AU are a series of seven one-shots which will be released as ‘Preludes,’ covering the six-year timegap before Arc Eight. These mostly deal with Rebels characters (although I’m slightly rethinking one of them because I should probably include Mara Jade in it...), as well as Sidious’ fifth apprentice and possibly Maul.

I’ll also be starting the sequel, entitled either Protectors or Promises (it’s been Protectors for a while, but now I’m waffling? IDK). Anyway, that picks up with arc Eight, Escalation, six years after the end of Precipice. I’ll probably post a preview snippet sometime this month because Why Not.

There will be a hiatus (an actually Planned one this time, lol...). I’m aiming to start posting in April, but we’ll see how things go.

Anyway, moving on to other plans!

Other Star Wars Projects:

our faces like a mirror

I totally planned to start posting that this year <.< On the plus side, I don’t...think the Siege of Mandalore arc (or the stuff from the Mandalorian) really Jossed anything I had planned? Especially given the fact that it’s set from 5 years pre-TPM (I recognize that Lucasfilm has made a timeline decision but given that it’s a stupid-ass timeline decision I have elected to ignore it) to about 5 years post-TPM, so I wasn’t really expecting it to, but it was a vague concern of mine. Anyway, I’ll rewatch to be sure before I post, probably. But, yeah, I’m all the more excited about my girl Bo-Katan now, so hopefully I’ll get some momentum on this.

2021 SWBB:

I finally figured out a general shape of the plot, lol! And I have about...just under 4k of miscellaneous text in this AU (like, actual Story text, not just random notes and scribbles of which I have. A Lot). I need to get another 2k by Sunday, but that shouldn’t be a problem.

It’s going to be in four parts, plus prelude/interludes/coda, because that is the Structure that my brain at like 4AM gave me the other night, lol. While I don’t know the details, I have a general idea of What Happen in parts one, three, and four; except for tying in some Mandalore stuff and making some Decisions about who I want to draw in at various points. Part Two is also up in the air. I know how it needs to end to set up part three, but not so sure about what should actually go in there. Possibly I’ll end up cutting Part Two and just having a three-part story, but eh, we’ll see.

Anyway, I’m having fun with this, especially since I’ve discovered the Plot, so we’ll see how things go from here :)

Other SW Fanfics:

I am...hoping??? to resurrect Distaff and/or the Ventress outline at some point this year, because I’m very fond of those AUs and they deserve some more love. Possibly also another Devoted story. We shall see.

AtLA Fanfic Projects:

As I’ve mentioned a few times over the past few months, I’ve fallen back into this fandom (which was my primary fandom for...like...four to six years????) And I definitely want to write more in it. I’ve already done one AU outline, and I have plans for a couple fulltext fics (...discounting the super-self-indulgent crossover stuff I don’t super plan on sharing outside a very small circle lol). I don’t have much actual, uh, Text on anything yet, but I’m hoping to start posting one or more of those at some point this year, too.

Project One is an Avatar Zuko AU; Aang is around for reasons that do get explained in story; Zuko finds out a couple months before the duel with his father when accidental water or airbending happens (he’s in a sailboat, there’s a storm, I haven’t worked out the details yet). He decides That Clearly Didn’t Happen and proceeds to ignore it...until he manages to accidentally waterbend again when in the infirmary post-duel. At which point he decides he Does Not want to be just...used as a weapon. He figures he has about three and a half years before the comet, he can use that time to figure out what to do next; maybe come back with the comet and Prove his Worth at that point.

He goes to the WAT first, to see what he can figure out about airbending from any texts/mosaics/whatever that are still there; then he heads to the NWT; then he’ll probably pick up Toph because I love their dynamic. He plans to spend a year on each other element (not enough time for mastery but that comet deadline looms large). Obviously, over the course of those three years, his plans change.

And then things get thrown even more off the rails when Aang emerges from the iceberg before Zuko’s year of earthbending is up.

There will be a fair number of OCs hanging around (both to give him someone to talk to at the WAT and I think he’s going to learn from a less-prominent master than Pakku when he gets to the NWT), as well as Iroh trying to find his nephew, and various other familiar faces from the show.

Project Two is about Lu Ten, and a lover he had during the Siege of Ba Sing Se, and what happens to her (and her daughter) after his death. I’ve talked about that one in a little more detail in other posts, I think, hence the comparatively short summary, lol.

Original Stuff:

I am hoping to get more origfic posted this year than I did last year. I’ve got these universes I love exploring, and I feel like they should get more attention, lol.

...I think that about covers it! At the end of last year, I set myself some Goals, which were. Well. 2020 happened, soooo...

Anyway, because I am an Optimist, I’m going to set goals again for this year. And I guess go over how well I did on the ones I had??? A lot of my goals will probably be repeats from last year, because...yeah.

2020 Goals

1. Finish Precipice; complete Arcs 8 and 9 in Protectors/Promises/Precipice II; put out some level of Arc 7.5/Preludes content.           I did finish Precipice! I did not do the other things. 2. Write at least 10k of origfic content.           Not quite--I ended up with 8,129 words. 3. Start posting OFLAM           Nope, that did not happen. 4. Revive a semi-hiatused fic (i.e., Distaff; Auxiliaries; Phoenix!Verse; one of the BSG fics I keep meaning to go back to if I ever actually sit down and rewatch the series; if I add an actual sequel/companion to Deja Vu… that probably counts…)           Did not happen. 5. Finish updating Lux and Farglass Cycle archives; keep them updated through the end of the year as new content gets added.           Nope. 6. At least four AU outline installments of some kind; preferably including a continuation of Ventress and Her Tiny Time-Travelling Conscience and actually writing up the main part of Let’s Go Steal a Crossover; but any outline will count.           I did put up one AtLA outline, as mentioned before; and I also posted a massive timeline for the Jedi of Valdemar AU, but nothing else. 7. Complete BB submission and keep an eye out for other challenges/exchanges.           Did complete BB, and one giftfic exchange over the summer. 8. Write at least one holiday fic (Valentine’s Day; Mother’s Day; Father’s Day; Halloween; New Year’s; etc.) and post on the appropriate day.           Did not do the thing.

2021 Goals

1. Post Arcs 8 and 9 in Precipice!Verse as well as at least half of the Preludes stories. 2. Write at least 10k of origfic content. 3. Start posting OFLAM. 4. Revive a semi-hiatused fic; preferably Distaff; but Auxiliaries or Phoenix!verse or one of the BSG fics would also count (Serenissima, Other Battlestar, For Sorrow Sung rewrite...) 5. Start posting at least one AtLA fulltext fic. 6. Finish updating Lux and Farglass Cycle archives; keep them updated through the end of the year as new content gets added. 7. Find a title and set up an archive for Untitled Intrigues Story 8. At least four AU outline installments of some kind, preferably including a continuation of Ventress and Her Tiny Time-Travelling Conscience 9. Complete BB submission and keep an eye out for other challenges/exchanges. 10. Write at least one holiday fic (Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween, New Year’s, etc.) and post on the appropriate day.

#coming attractions #shadowsong26fic #miscellania

[wanderingthroughwonder]

Miranda’s Fic Recs

I’ve been wanting to do this for a while because I just have a lot of fics in different fandoms that I truly enjoy. These are mostly long fics because that’s what I read the most. Fandoms included: Teen Wolf, Harry Potter, MCU, Star Trek, Kingsman, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Find them below! (Some fanfic spoilers ahead)

So I’m starting with completed fics and then I have a few not completed fics at the end that I’m just really liking.

Embers by Vathara

Rating: Not Rated, Word Count: 704,200 Fandom: A:TLA

Dragon’s fire is not so easily extinguished; when Zuko rediscovers a lost firebending technique, shifting flames can shift the world....

This is an Avatar: The Last Airbender rewrite. It’s Zuko centric and it splits off while Zuko and Uncle Iroh are on the run and Zuko learns of healing firebending. The world building is so good and interesting and the whole fic does a great job of reimagining the A:TLA world. You meet a lot of new characters that are super well written and fit the world nicely.

The Debt of Time by ShayaLonnie

Rating: E, Word Count: 715,940, Fandom: Harry Potter, Ship: Hermione/Sirius

When Hermione finds a way to bring Sirius back from the veil, her actions change the rest of the war. Little does she know her spell restoring him to life provokes magic she doesn’t understand and sets her on a path that ends with a Time-Turner.

This fic is so good and I’ve reread it before. I love Hermione centric fics and this is definitely one. When she goes back in time she goes through school again with the Marauders and it’s so good you guys. I think the fic does such a good job of showing her grow with these new people. The relationships in this fic are so intense and I love them.

Hook, Yarn, Sinker by pprfaith

Rating: Not Rated, Word Count: 65,675, Fandom: Teen Wolf, Ship: Stiles/Peter

Stiles is happy with his store, his hobbies, his friends. Peter’s just trying to figure out how to raise his nieces and nephews without fucking them up too badly.

Paths cross.

This is the first in a series of fics. It’s a Human AU with aged up Stiles and friends but with little kids Derek, Laura, and Cora. This fic is a good time and sweet and honestly low stakes which is so nice to have these days. I think a lot of Steter fics are more intense and I enjoy them but this is such a nice change of pace where you really get to know the characters in these fairly different circumstances. The whole series word count is 161,859.

A Sequence That You Never Learned by AnnaTaylor

Rating: E, Word Count: 64,624, Fandom: Star Trek: AOS, Ship: James T. Kirk/Spock 

“Spock,” Jim breathes out, completely overwhelmed by the gesture—not quite believing that Spock knows him so well, that he’s already started researching, that he trusts Jim with a member of his own endangered species.

When Jim gets it in his head to adopt an eight-year-old Vulcan, Spock presents a logical solution to the issue of Jim’s of humanity: marriage to a Vulcan citizen.

This was one of my first Spirk fics and I honestly love kid fics. Vulcan kids are so different from Jim, but I love the idea that Vulcans still love him anyway. This is such a great Fake Marriage fic.

If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out by mia6363

Rating: E, Word Count: 13,232, Fandom: Teen Wolf, Ship: Stiles centric but technically Stiles/Peter 

Commander Stilinski looks like he fell out of a propaganda video, his armor still smoking as he pulled off his helmet and handed it off to First Officer Argent. He had a few bruises down his neck but his smile was bright.

“Glad to see you safe and sound, Mr. Hale. I’d hate for Derek to lose a member of his family.”

“I told you,” Derek snapped at his superior, “he’s not worth this, Commander.”

This is the shortest fic on my list but I love this take. It’s got a Star Trek vibe and I LOVE how everyone is made into these different aliens. Stiles being human here is so interesting and it reminds me of those “humans are the craziest of the aliens” posts. It’s got multiple POVs and I think they’re written really well and do a great job of coming together.

Where Thou Art, That is Home by ShanaStoryteller 

Rating: Various, Word Count: 94,108, Fandom: Teen Wolf, Ship: Stiles/Derek 

Stiles is 10 when he saves the Hales from their burning home and Derek from a wolfsbane bullet, and this establishes a pattern that seems to continue indefinitely.

“Then he’s facing a burning home, and he wraps the hood of his sweatshirt around his mouth before he pushes the door open and steps inside. There’s Mr. Hale asleep - he hope asleep - on the couch, next to - Stiles thinks that’s his brother but there are so many Hales, who can keep track. He rushes over and starts shaking him, can see the rise and fall of the man’s chest so he knows he’s alive, but he’s not waking up. He shoves away his hood so he can shout, “Mr. Hale! You have to get up, there’s a fire! Mr. Hale, get up!” Nothing, he’s not even twitching, both of them taking in deep even breathes like they’re having the most peaceful of rest, and Stiles is going to cry. “Wake up, wake up, wake up!”

There’s a moment where all Stiles can here is the blood rushing in his ears and not the roar of the flames or the creak of wood, then with a violent, silent pop it’s all back and both men are gasping awake, eyes open and jumping to their feet.”

This is another series! It creates a Hales Survive AU and it’s got BAMF!Stiles. The Hales in this fic are so interesting and it’s an expanded family from what we see in canon. Magic!Stiles is written so well in this fic and things get intense but it’s so good.

Counterpart by sara_holmes

Rating: M, Word Count: 217,400, Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ship: Steve/Tony 

coun•ter•part [koun-ter-pahrt] [noun] 1. a person or thing closely resembling another, especially in function. 2. a copy; duplicate. 3. one of two parts that fit, complete, or complement one another. 

Just because Hydra used the DNA of a Captain America from another dimension to create a lab-grown, six-year-old super-soldier, it doesn't mean that said six-year old super-soldier is biologically Steve's, right? 

(Where Steve wants to ban Clint from bringing things home from alternative dimensions, until he doesn't.)

This is an amazing kid fic. Things are so messed up because of how the kids was raised up to the point they find him.I love Tony so much in this fic but also you sympathize a bit with Steve. The kid whose name I will leave out is my absolute favorite. This is also a series!

Fallout by Whisper91 kingsman

Rating: E, Word Count: 164,971, Fandom: Kingsman, Ship: Eggsy/Harry/Merlin 

As far as the rest of the world is concerned, Gary 'Eggsy' Unwin is a registered Dominant. It's on his driver's licence. It's on his National Insurance card. Hell, it's even on his bloomin' GCSE certificates. And the fact that it's all a load of bollocks is a secret Eggsy had intended to take to his grave. 

Course, he hadn't been expectin' a bloody sub-drop to sweep in and knock him on his arse in the wake of the Valentine Massacre. Turns out grief and adrenaline ain't a good combination.

I really enjoy the dynamics between the three of them. D/s fics are always so amazingly well built and I love fics like this where they’re hiding their dynamic. I think this fic does a great job of going further with the D/S world and giving it more biologically. I just reread this fic recently because I love how it’s done. 

It’s Insanity But... by rosepetals42

Rating: M, Word Count: 71,477, Fandom: Teen Wolf, Ship: Stiles/Derek 

The doorbell interrupts what had turned out to be quite the epic shoe hunt but, really, he’s grateful for the break. Or at least, he is until he heads down the stairs to grab the door, trips over a stuffed animal of some kind, bashes his head on the wall and barely manages to catch himself from falling down the entire flight of stairs. As with all things, Stiles would like to state, for the record, that this is Scott’s fault. 

Or: Scott and Stiles are raising seven children. Derek is the entertainer they hire for a birthday party (not a clown though, he’s very specific on that fact.)

This fic is such a good time! I love two bro’s raising kids together. It’s a hilarious setup and also just so good for the Stiles and Scott dynamic. Each chapter is like a slice of life. Some chapters are more about the kids and some are about Stiles and Derek. It’s just a fun fic and I love that it’s still got werewolves because I think a lot of fics that focus more on regular stuff go full on human AU. Keeping werewolves is much more fun and it’s so well handled here!

So Wise We Grow by Deastar 

Rating: M, Word Count: 81,248, Fandom: Star Trek, Ship: James T. Kirk/Spock 

”Commander Spock, we have located your son,” the Vulcan lady on the screen says, which would be great, except Jim can tell by the look on Spock’s face that he’s never heard of this kid before in his life. “If it is expedient, the child will be sent to join you on the Enterprise within the week.”

This fic is two long chapters. Again, I love kid fic and this one does such a great job. We’ve got pining and hurt/comfort and all kinds of good feels here. There’s one line about t’hy’la that is just *chefs kiss* so good and hits you hard.

Play It Again by metisket 

Rating: T, Word Count: 63,206, Fandom: Teen Wolf, Ship: Stiles/Derek 

In which Stiles goes along with one of Derek’s plans and ends up in an alternate universe as a result. He should’ve known better. He did know better, actually, and that means he has no one to blame but himself. “Laura wants to lure the kid in with food and kindness and make a pet of him, like a feral cat. Derek wants to have him arrested for stalking. They’re at an impasse. (And the rest of the family is staying emphatically out of it in a way that suggest bets have been placed.)”

This is fairly Stiles centric. It really looks into the emotions of jumping universes. The alive Hale family is so good and it’s magic!Stiles which is always interesting. What I think makes it extra good is that in a lot of universe jump or time travel fics it’s more about adjusting to how things will be now. But this fic does that while also having the new universe with its own problems. It’s just fun to see Stiles deal with all these things.

Happy Lights by LadyShadowDrake

Rating: E, Word Count: 108,237, Fandom: MCU, Ship: Mixed 

An interdimensional portal opens over New York and drops a tentacled alien in the middle of Central Park. The Avengers are called out to investigate, and hopefully return the visitor home. Steve has been brushing up on his diplomacy, but he never expected to be a liaison to an alien in such an intimate capacity, or that the alien would be so friendly, and the unusual visit turns into the world's best team-building exercise.

This is a series that is so much fun. The alien (aka the colony) is so interesting and sweet in the long run. I love seeing the team grow and as you go through the series you really get to see more of them coming together. This is just a playful fic that you can have a good time reading.

Magpie by waldorph

Rating: E, Word Count: 57,648, Fandom: Star Trek: AOS, Ship: James T. Kirk/Spock

Spock met Jim when he was 7 and Jim was 6. It has since been generally agreed that this was a mistake (or: the one where they grew up together and things are simultaneously better and worse for it).

This is such a deep dive of both Spock and Jim. It’s them growing up together and it splits off some as far as events that happen in canon. It ends before they become Starfleet. I think this fic creates such an interesting bond between Spock and Jim. I also really love where it goes as far as Spock not having grown up alone on Vulcan.

These are the unfinished fics. The first two are in progress and the last one seems to be abandoned.

Survival is a Talent by ShanaStoryteller 

Rating: T, Word Count: 353,015, Fandom: Harry Potter, Ship: Harry/Draco 

In the middle of their second year, Draco and Harry discover they're soulmates and do their best to keep it a secret from everyone. 

Their best isn't perfect. 

~ 

“Are you trying to get killed, Potter?” Malfoy drawls, stalking forward. Quick as a serpent himself, he reaches out and grabs the snake just below the head. It thrashes in his grip, but is no longer able to bite anyone. “This is a poisonous snake, and I doubt anyone brought a bezoar with them.” 

Harry glares. He opens his mouth, and feels the beginning the snake’s language pass his lips, and this isn’t what he wants, what’s the point of insulting Malfoy if he can’t understand him – 

Malfoy’s eyes widen. He slaps his hand over Harry’s mouth, “Potter, what the hell–”

This fic is in progress updated within 2020. It’s a rewrite of the Harry Potter series where Harry and Draco are soulmates. As you can imagine, that changes some things. I love this so much, I’ve read it like 3 or 4 times now. The characterization is amazing and I love the differences we see. Harry is Indian in this fic and the way it ties in is so good. You really get to see the difference in culture as well between muggleborns and blood traitor families and the purebloods.   

You great unfinished symphony (you sent for me) by ketchupcrisp

Rating: E, Word Count: 227,792, Fandom: MCU, Ship: Steve/Tony and also the whole Team 

The last thing Steve Rogers ever expected to see on a Wednesday afternoon was his (their) dead submissive tumbling out of a portal and practically into Phil’s lap, very much alive and frantic about Soul Stones and timelines and some other version of the team.

This is an AU but like literally. Tony comes from the universe we know into a D/S universe. The worldbuilding here - again like I think a lot of D/s fics excel at - is so good. It starts with everything a mess and things are intense. There’s multiple POVs which I think is really helpful in a fic like this where the relationships are so tangled. 

Born From the Earth by venusm 

Rating: E, Word Count: 277,602, Fandom: MCU, Ship: Tony Centric, Steve/Tony 

Tony Stark's born an omega in a world where that means he's supposed to follow certain social rules. He becomes Iron Man anyway: Fuck biology.

If only his biology (and the world) would quit fucking him back.

To start off, some warnings: this fic gets a bit messed up. It’s an Omega verse in the worst possible way at certain points. It’s not a fluffy fic. It also doesn’t get that far into the Stony stuff because it’s unfinished. Honestly I’m worried this writer has died and I’ve gone through the comments and looked for them online to see if they’re out there and just not writing but I haven’t found any proof of that. BUT ANYWAYS. This fic is intense but it’s such an interesting take on Omega fics. It gets pretty dark but that darkness is pre-Steve and I’m hopeful that one day it might get finished so I can see where it was going to go. 

#written #fic recs #harry potter #teen wolf #spirk #marvel mcu #atla #kingsman #shayalonnie #wordsformurder #mia6363 #shanastoryteller #captn-sara-holmes #whisper91 #petals42 #metisket #lightshadowverisimilitude #waldorph #ketchupcrisp

[emletish-fish]

Worst Prisoner Swamp notes:

ff.net

ao3

Notes:

This chapter covers the swamp to the start of the blind bandit.

So the swamp shows you people you love, irrespective of time (ie Aang seeing Toph in the swamp before meeting her. Hands down, I thought they were foreshadowing eventual Taang and I was so pleased. Much older Toph and Aang could actually be so good for each other. Aang needs grounding and Toph needs someone to help smooth those super abrasive and defensive edges and brave enough to climb over her defensive walls.)

Katara and Zuko first bonded about their mothers and I wanted to elaborate on a conversation about that, but I couldn't really find a place for it in book one. I felt like it would be perfect here as a flashback. Mostly because the swamp brings up a lot of issues for Katara, but also because by this point, I missed writing my drama llamas together.  Just look at them, they are beautiful together.

Zuko's mum: So I think Ursa tried. However, I think she would have enjoyed Zuko's company more. Hands down that woman loved both those kids, but one of them was infinitely easier to be around than the other.  She probably concentrated on teaching Zuko more, because he was receptive. Whereas I think Azula got more scoldings from her mother.

The flipside of this, and goodness have I seen it countless times, is that when there are two or more children, and one is very challenging – the “good one” is put under enormous pressure to always be “good”, because the adults don't want to deal with two difficult ones. I think that Ursa would have been quick to correct any behaviour Zuko showed that she didn't like. She would have done this lovingly, but she would have still done it, because she needed one “good” and “manageable” kid.

I am not at all with the Azula apologists who blame Ursa for 'withholding affection' and that's why Azula is the way she is. In the flashback we see Ursa scolding Azula a lot and that is because Azula's behaviour is deserving of a scolding. Ursa is trying to set boundaries. Azula is not an easy kid to raise right, but lordy is that woman trying. Azula is a product of her environment while also being responsible for herself and her choices.

I think Azula loves Zuko and her mother, deep down, in one big, hellish tangled ball of complicated feelings – which I will delve into when we get to it.  Katara sees them as complete opposites, because in her mind Zuko = good, friend and Azula = evil gremlin. She doesn't want to see any similarity between them – but those two have more than a nose in common.

I can see Ursa trying to give them a more rounded knowledge of the world and an appreciation of the things she loved, like music. I chose tacky dramatic plays – because my goodness, both Zuko and Azula are ridiculously dramatic. I hate the comics and pretend they don't exist. I think rather than Ursa being a common actress, she was a noblewoman who was just really into the theatre.  Zuko and Azula both learned that being super dramatic got their mother's attention and brought her amusement.

I also think the Ember Island Players were always that terrible.

Anyway, Zuko can remember a lot more fine detail about his mother, purely by virtue of being older before she vanished. Katara was young when her mother died. She was what? Seven? How much can the average person remember from when they were seven? I think this is why Katara couldn't interact with the vision of her mother more completely and why there was no sound/dialogue between them. She doesn't exactly remember what her mother's voice sounded like.

It's also really clear to me that Katara and Sokka don't really talk about her together. Katara brings her mother up will all and sundry random dudes, but Sokka looks really taken aback whenever she brings up Kya around him. I can't even say it's because it's old grief, as Katara is still hurting. My best guess is that as Katara assumed a more motherly role in Sokka's life, they talked about Kya less. Tragically, I think th thing Katara remembers the most clearly about her mother is how her mother died, because it was traumatically burned on her memory.  Poor girl.

So the shared dream – give me this tacky trope lovely readers. I know, I know. It is tacky. But ATLA had gifted me a magic “everything is connected” tree and I am going to use it. That's why I had Zuko explicitly mention that he was sleeping under an banyan tree last chapter – because the trees are connected and...the trees know they miss each other and give them a dream hook-up, and...spiritual mumbo-jumbo, etc. Just give me this tacky, romantic trope.

So Zuko has given up/lost nearly everything. He's had to completely give up his identity, and his quest and everything he defined himself by. It just makes sense that his bending would be affected. So I have brought his season three storyline forward.  Iroh's wisdom from under lake Lagoai is also brought forward. So Zuko will be on a quest to find what really matters. You go, you soft little bean. I’m sure it will be fun for you.

The thieving vigilante bit:  I think this was an important milestone for Zuko, and while he didn't steal Song's ostrich horse in the last chapter, I still think he needs to get his vigilante on and explore some of his lower impulses. He's low-key ashamed of it (because his mama raised him better than to be a common thief, and that is why he is always lying to Iroh), but he is learning a lot about himself through it.

  So swamps typically symbolise low points in character's  journeys and places where a hard truth is learned, or properly understood. Poor Zuko is getting pretty close to rock bottom at this point. I think it would make sense that he would resist his Uncle's hopeful musings – because he has no hope and he thinks there is no point in being optimistic. There really isn’t much more left for him to lose. Soon we will see Zuko beginning to build himself back up, from scratch, away from his abusive environment and discovering things that really matter to him. He'll regain his sense of identity and purpose away from the terrible influence of his father and sister.

Honest Confession time: I think Yang Chen and Kyoshi were the bomb, and also infinitely better at being the Avatar than Roku and Kuruk.  Both those women were so competent.

Look at her! Look at what she did!

If Aang can commune with his past lives, Kyoshi and Yang Chen would serve him much better as mentors. Because, hands down, Roku could have made life, the universe and everything one thousand times easier for Aang if he had just had the gonads to do his duty. Aang is very different from Kyoshi, but goodness does she have wisdom for him.

I think Kyoshi and Yang Chen had the best wisdom for Aang. I didn't like how he dismissed her in Sozin's comet. I thought it was a bit disrespectful to be honest.  I don’t think Aang means to, but it has cornered himself into favouring letting a tyrant live and thousands of others die, because he doesn’t want to do his duty for personal reasons (just like Roku). 

If Aany only draws wisdom from one source (Roku) it becomes rigid and stale. Aang needs to learn from his other past lives. I wanted Aang and Kyoshi to have a conversation, and get to hash out their differences and come to understand each other better. I wanted Aang to see the human side of Kyoshi, and her to thaw a little towards Aang and give him a break and encourage him.

When Aang confesses he didn't want to be the Avatar, I think Kyoshi would have known exactly how that feels. It's a pretty mixed blessing being the avatar. Anyway, I've always wanted to write a more philosophical conversation between those two, and so I am indulging myself a bit here, but I hope you enjoyed it.

Next Chapter: TOPH!!! (she needs the caps).

#the worst prisoner #Emletish rants #emletish writes #emletish fic #Azula #Zuko #Katara #Zutara #Sokka #Aang #Toph #taang #Iroh #Kyoshi

[zutara11thyear]

September Zutara Fic List

Here we go again. These are a few of the fics I read this month in between dying studying for midterms. Enjoy!! (Also I make the notes as soon as I finish a fic, so sorry for my 2am garbage grammar.)

• Dancing in the Dark  by damagectrl  7chps

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15713832/chapters/36525009

Post-Season 2 AU: While in Ba Sing Se, Katara and Toph hear a rumor about two tea servers in the lower tiers of Ba Sing Se and sneak away go to investigate only to have their suspicions confirmed. On her personal time, Katara tries to teach herself to dance and fails so badly, a masked man takes pity on her to try to help.

I think it's pretty funny and overall vv sweet.

• The Road They were destined to take.

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/3131749/1/The-Road-They-Were-Destined-to-Take,

Summary: Separated from Uncle Iroh and left for dead, Zuko is found by the Avatar and ough Katara can mend his body, can she help him heal his heart from past wounds and can their new found feelings for each other survive the battles ahead?

I really like this story. There are some small grammar things, but I honestly just cant explain how much I enjoy reading this one. Kind of cliche, but not overly so. This was made in 2005ish so some things arent accurate to the canon-verse so unintentional AUish season 2 fic.

• FireWater Rose:  By kerella 8 chps

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/2936335/1/Firewater-Rose

Summary: Zuko is imprisoned on Zhao's ship. When a new prisoner is brought on board, can Zuko overcome his prejudices and learn a thing or two about real strength? Rated for dark themes in the first chapters. Zutara, eventually.

Im pretty sure this one made me cry. Like honestly it's kind of dark the first couple of chapters. Like the author is not lying in the summary fam.

• A Matter of Appearance  by ChromeKnickers

https://archiveofourown.org/works/416516sec

ONESHOT. Summary: Iroh has Zuko and Katara serve tea at his shop, which consequently leads to Zuko and Katara getting shamelessly hit on. Their solution to their pervert woes? Pretend to be a jealous couple in order to scare off the grab-happy folks of Ba Sing Se.

I thought it was pretty funny. It's not very deep or sad, just a fun little fic. 

• No Turning Back Now :  27 chps Boredone32

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/6268452/1/No-Turning-Back-Now

Summary: Zuko joins the Gaang in Ba Sing Se and faces many obstacles on the road to redemption. Will he find more than forgiveness while helping the Avatar save the world? What happens when he starts to develop feelings for a certain waterbender? Seq. discontinued

Okay, so this is a pretty standard 2010 Zutara story. Lols people really wanted Zuko to not be a dummy and join the gAang rather than be with Azula. (Me though)

• An Earlier Intersection:  17 chps Casa Circe

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/6809040/1/An-Earlier-Intersection

Summary: Starts early in Book 2. What if Fate decided to make their paths meet earlier than any of them ever expected? When Zuko and Iroh suddenly join the Avatar's group after "The Chase", they all need to settle their differences somehow. But what happens next?

This is another season 2 AU so basically I'm obsessed with this like idk it makes me soul happy. Especially after Physics just beat me up with an axe.

• Avatar: The Fall / 16 chps HakushoRurouni.

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/7145501/1/Avatar-The-Fall

Summary: Even the shortest amount of time can make the biggest difference. The smallest gesture of trust circumvent an entire saga. And yet there is no change without consequence, no life without death.

Okay this a pretty crazy story. I feel some people will like it, but I'm personally on the fence. Like things get super serious real quick, and I'm more of a slowburn girl. Also graphic content warning lols. (PS the orignal note that was attached was not for this story)

That's all for this month!!! It's kind of hard to find multichapter fics for Zutara. There's a ton of one-shots though. So I'll include some of those next time (the super long ones only tho). Feel free to reblog listing some of your own fave Zutara fics!! See you in October!!! Also there might start being WIP instead of only complete stories, but I won’t list any abandoned fics that’s no bueno. 

#zutara #zutarafic #ficrec #zutaraficrec #otp #zuko #katara #i really enjoyed this #myship #longreads #multichapter #read #ficlist #zutararec #fanfic #zutara fanfiction