quick rec list (aka draft i found) before deleting
Just remembered this blog still existed. I’ll be deleting it, but before I do, I remembered I had this draft and figured that even though I don’t really remember some of these, they were good enough for me to take note of and put in this list so here’s to you, both authors and readers! this is still in draft form, but i just wanna post it now and get it out of the way fast for you all who might wanna reblog it before I delete, so ignore the incomplete stuff and enjoy these stories
__________________________________________________
link to first fic rec list (some of the fics have changed a bit in a direction that i don’t really like, but i’ll keep the fic list up here anyway for you guys). This fic list will follow the same format for the most part.
*** NOTE: THIS ISN’T ALL THAT I WOULD RECOMMEND, BUT WHAT I HAD TIME TO JOT DOWN FOR THIS POST– THERE WILL BE MORE IN THE FUTURE AND IF YOU CANNOT WAIT, MESSAGE ME DIRECTLY AND I’LL SEND SOME YOUR WAY***
I’ve included my own summaries that may or may not reveal spoilers because sometimes the author descriptions don’t do it for me. Warning there, you can skip over these and read only the bold, italicized author summaries if you so wish.
Generally, if anything has an M rating, you can skip through the explicit stuff.
Anything with *** are favorite stories of mine right now.
Many of the authors listed have profiles full of other great stories not listed on here, so I have linked all of their profile links as well so you can check those out too. Fastest and easiest way to find more stories!
Finally, most important for everyone to do, REVIEW THE STORIES! So many awesome authors stop writing because there is no feedback from the readers. I have found that even if an author hasn’t updated in years (I’m talking several), as long as you try to review every chapter letting the writer know what you did and didn’t like about the characterization, plot, and writing itself, it is enough encouragement to get them motivated and updating again. So once again, REVIEW!!!
Welcome Heat by cowlicklesschick (Rated T; 33k+; WIP)
This author is super talented, sweet, and also on tumblr!!! @cowlicklesschick
One fire, one collapsing doorway, and one crazy coincidence lead Katara and Zuko to the world’s most unlikely friendship forged through physical therapy appointments and dance classes. Shameless Zutara fluff with a side of angst. AU.
This is a modern day story that starts with Katara delivering brownies to the hospitalized fireman who got injured saving her life, and it just gets better from there. If you guys know me, you know how much I HATE modern AU’s, they usually kinda suck imo. However, this fic helped change my opinion. It is fun, sweet, and it has an element of crime and mystery. Nothing is especially overdone, and everyone in the story (the Gaang, Iroh, etc.) is super in character, something that is usually made more difficult in AU’s, especially modern AU’s. You’ll enjoy Zuko’s journey from constant emo crank to emotionally open sweetie pie, you’ll enjoy the the sweet budding romance of tough but big hearted Suki with the big dorky Sokka, you’ll love Iroh’s meddling and Toph’s sass, you’ll love how perfectly Aang’s job and optimistic attitude are portrayed, and WHo KiLLeD yuE? ThERe iS a PAst?!?! WiTH a GAng?! real good stuff.
Some Love is Found Everywhere by archergwen (FF.NET / AO3) (Rated T; 32k+ words; WIP)
This person is on tumblr, too!!! @archergwen also has a writing tumblr too (check it out!! @archergwenwrites)
The sun and the moon are tied together no matter where you go. … Zutara AUs that don’t fit in the “Jasmine and Souchong” universe.
I think for anyone just starting with writing, whether it be fanfics or not, should definitely check this link out. This author is extremely talented, and offers a ton of one shots, all from different settings, AU’s, etc., and all are creative and fun and feel fully developed. After you read just one one-shot, you want to explore more (and sometimes, we are lucky enough to get Part II’s). If you want a spy AU, a Sun Warriors and Swamp Tribe AU, etc., check this story and this author out. For many other things they’ve written, they expand on fun scenarios (my fav to this day might be the Sun Warrior and Swamp Tribe AU because it is just so interesting and the author has managed to somehow include the same characterization and relationship development between Zuko & Katara, along with the other characters) introduced here and in other fic links, so there’s lots to find with this author!
Jasmine and Souchong (FF.NET/AO3) by archergwen (FF.NET / AO3) (Rated K+, 6k+ words, Complete)
“He wants to stay like this forever. Just her and an empty tea shop, sugar and smoke on her breath.” Zuko’s lone night manning his uncle’s tea shop and doing homework does not go according to plan. Originally a one-shot; now complete
Did you think I was kidding with my last sentence? TEA SHOP AU FEATURING THE DORKS OF ATLA !!!!!
***The One with Different Cultures*** by archergwen (FF.NET / AO3)(Rated K+, 5k+ words, WIP)
Where a Sun Warrior and a girl from the Foggy Swamp meet on a wild ride that just might end up saving the world… (First two parts originally uploaded as part of “Some Love is Found Everywhere”)
No, really, did you think I was kidding? This starts off with an annoyed Swamp Tribe member caught in the traps of the Sun Warriors, and sassing off to an even more annoyed and steaming Sun Warrior, and then just escalates when the Swamp Tribe member’s friend appear on a flying animal to “save” her, and theN A TON OF STUFF HAPPENS I WON’T SPOIL IT!!!!!1! Definitely one of my fav stories at the moment. I hope it goes at least past 50k+. This is super awesome and has the potential to be a stand out in the fandom.
***Subterfuge*** by Smylealong (Rated M; 14k+ words; WIP)
In a war torn land where loyalties are ever shifting, a disillusioned prince finds himself allying with people he spent a lifetime looking down upon. However, even allies can’t be trusted for who knows what lies beneath the masks everyone wears. AU. Zutara.
Every once in a while, you need a good “I’m undercover and going into enemy lines” story, and this fic has that. It starts off shockingly, immediately drawing you into a story that is not like many others. It’s an AU in which everyone is in their twenties, and the war is still going on as normal for the most part and it shows us in a way where the Gaang and others would be had ATLA picked up later in their lives. Zuko is a frustrated Fire Nation Military leader attempting to simultaneously break Earth Kingdom lines heal his men who are dying from what seems to be poisoning on a mass scale. In his desperation to heal them, he calls upon a Water Tribe healer who the audience finds out is actually there to spy on and possibly take down the Fire Nation. Katara and Zuko’s interactions are very interesting to read, as they are arguably closest to their season 1 stages, but have obviously matured in some ways as individuals now in their adult years, so seeing them interact with some characteristics that seem to draw on inspiration across all books is very cool. We also find out that Katara basically wormed her way into the spot, pissing off lil misogynistic Hahn (someone she has to work with), freaking out Aang (who finds out about her leaving for the Earth Kingdom to help out the Tribes after he returns from a long journey away to ask for her to marry him), and causing a ruckus in the Water Tribes. We also see Sokka dealing with politics at home, Toph just being introduced (likely spying for the Earth Kingdom, but at this point, no one knows who are what she is doing when she appears), and Suki possibly about to be captured by a certain fire princess while on a mission…. sneaking through her rooms. Overall, super fun and creative and the tension, adventure, suspense, and action are handled well. I hope the author goes far with this and makes this a long story with a high word count, because the potential is there and they have shown they’re capable of it this far.
***Scarred Bonds*** by Smylealong (Rated K; 14k+ words; Complete)
What starts as an exchange between two friends slowly morphs into something that neither was prepared for. Sometimes bonds that last a life time form over a scar. Post-war Zutara. Two-shot
Immediately post war angsty fluff. Starts from Zuko’s coronation party and evolves into Zuko and Katara’s letters, along with stuff they are personally dealing with in the Fire Nation and Southern Water Tribe, over the period of about a year. Really nice stuff. In character depictions, a great exploration into their thought processes, and I live for stories with Iroh and / or Sokka meddling, and Sokka does quite a bit of that. I also love Zuko and Katara just pouring their souls out to each other and realizing that they are closer with each other than with anyone else. The author does a good job of just showing how strong their friendship was and then how that makes a good foundation for a romance, which is honestly cute with their dorkiness. It is angsty and heartwarming and an overall solid story.
Broken Hearts and Shattered Breaths
Of Birds, Bees, and Tsungi Horns by Smylealong (Rated K, 1k+ words, Complete)
Fire Lord Zuko faces his toughest challenge yet- giving the Avatar the ‘birds and bees’ speech. To make matters worse, Sokka is ‘helping’. How can it be anything but a disaster?
Super fun time with Aang, Sokka, and Zuko. I love their ridiculousness, and even though they’re adults in this fic, I’m happy to see they’re still just as hilarious when in the same room with each other. Sokka pulls Aang into Zuko’s office for what he intends to be an educational experience on the birds and the bees, but Zuko is uncomfortable and awkard and has no idea how to do ANYTHING, Sokka is a Dingus Supremus, and Aang is simultaneously the smartest and most naive guy in the room. The last sentence is my favorite from the whole story. Every ATLA story should end with this sentence, regardless of the context.
***Princess and the Badger Cat*** by Kyra Rivers (Rated K+, 44k+ words, Complete)
Crack!AU. In a land never torn apart by Sozin’s War, the sixteen-year-old Avatar Aang is best friends with Crown Prince Zuko, Toph is engaged, Katara is kidnapped, and Sokka is a badger-cat. Yeah, he doesn’t understand why either. Full summary inside.
This story is so much fun. There are evil pirates, mischievous wizards and witches, lots of fun actions scenes, and an overall enjoyable story that mainly focuses on Toph, who is attempting to her restrictive, high society life behind to help a badger cat – who won’t shut up about finding his sister, Katara – back to human. They have to evade and fight evil guys who are attempting to collect benders for a dark and dangerous ritual, and meet up with a bubbly airbender, a super serious fire prince, and eventually Katara and other people from ATLA. There is more than one plotline (until they all join at the end for the big battle), and they’re each so fun and interesting that I never want to skip through one perspective to get back to another (…which I do quite bit in other stories…). Although Zutara takes a backseat to Toph and Sokka’s journey, it is still present and it is fun seeing Zuko blush around Katara and Aang making fun of him. There is also some Taang here for you Taang lovers!
When Destiny Keeps Calling by Crazyache (Rated K; 1k+ words, Complete)
***The Bottom of a Swimming Pool*** by d-dulcet (Rated T, 36k+ words, WIP)
This talented sweetheart is also on tumblr! You can follow her beautiful face at @lagooony !!!
There comes a moment after the war ends, when Katara opts to stay in the Fire Nation with Zuko, that she realizes his body is healing but his mind is not, and not every wound can be fixed by her touch. [AU]
You want a hug and then a punch to the heart, followed by another hug and punch to the heart, followed by another set until the end of time? Because if so, here’s the fic for you. You won’t only get a full range of crying from sadness and happiness, you’ll get some of the best writing of a character EVER!!! Seriously, this author gives characters from ATLA justice, portrays them accurately, and even gives them a depth that Bryke decided to slate last minute when cutting the fourth season of ATLA (in favor for that awful movie…. I’m looking at you, Mai). If you’ve read any meta reblogged from my stupid tumblr, you’ll see where characters such as Mai really didn’t get developed well by Bryke, or in other cases, great and developed characters are reduced to OOC depictions, if they appear at all! This author isn’t having any of that, and is instead going to give you a great post war fic that allows us to see the frustration, pain, happiness, etc., that the characters would have to endure when coming to terms with each other and the state of the world immediately after the war. The author fleshes out everyone, no matter who the character is, fantastically. Just the beautiful descriptions of their feelings alone make them seem real and human, it is feels like you are going through the same emotions as they are. It’s honestly really beautiful, tragic, heartwarming, and just fantastic writing in general. I find that it is successful in every way a story should be: people are in character, their actions are believable, their emotions feel valid, every little bit of plot is important, and the way the author writes a sentence is beautifully constructed. If you want to better your writing and simply just compare the way Bryke and this author present certain scenarios and character portrayals, this could definitely benefit you (again, Mai!!!! So well done and complex and layered here!!!! That alone should be of interest!!!!) I could write fifteen chapters on how perfect it is, but I’ll stop here so you won’t waste any time and can get to it to see for yourself
Alternate Uses for Bathtubs by espadachina (Rated T; 5k+ words; Complete)
Katara finds a big fish and takes him home.
Have you ever asked yourself “I wonder what Zuko would be like as a disgruntled mermaid?” Because Katara has to deal with this injured, angry, magical dork that washed up near her home. Thank goodness for wheel barrels and no investigating grandmas, amirite?
***Nautilus*** by maddeve
***Our Fortunes Together*** by NomDeGuerre
Haunted by Advocaat (Rated T; 9k+ words; Complete)
Immediately postwar. Katara is dead. But that doesn’t mean she’s gone. Join Zuko as he struggles through day to day life as Fire Lord with his very own phantom menace. Zutara. Oneshot.
“What if Katara or Zuko died at this point” fics will forever be the bane of my existence. Moreso than student debt. This fic, however, is different. I won’t spoil the ending, but Zuko is seemingly haunted by the spirit of Katara, who enjoys playing jokes on him and overall just being a nuisance if she isn’t trying to reach out and be someone he can lean on (not literally, thought – she still not in physical form so…). You will wonder during most of the story if Zuko is crazy, because for some reason, only he can hear and see Katara as she disrupts his governing, with the rest of the Gaang wondering if he’s suffered a mind break. As everyone tries to figure out what’s going on, he and Katara grow extremely close, and you’ll discover something huge is going on with Katara. No angsty ending, only happy endings.
As if Death Itself Was Undone by archiveidiotjello (Rated T; 1k+ words; Complete)
Z/K Finale AU “'It’s not right to linger like this,’ says the Death Spirit. 'I don’t want to leave her,’ Zuko says. 'They never do.’” After being struck by Azula’s lighting, Zuko rejects death.
When all of those “what if Zuko or Katara died during the battle with Azula” become too much of a hopeless tear fest, this fic offers a route to that, as indicated by the title. Zuko died protecting Katara, and with the assistance of an entity from the spirit world, he is given the chance to see Life After Zuko. Paying particularly close attention to Katara, we see with Zuko how she never fully healed from the trauma of losing him in battle, and the subtlety in which the author shows her grappling with it and trying to deal with it (unhealthy if we are being honest) is both beautiful and sad. You see the rest of the Gaang noticing how she seems to try to recreate certain things and project parts of Zuko onto other people, and a ton of other things too that are honestly super sad, until Zuko has enough and decides to do something about it. Good stuff, makes you just love Zuko that much more.
***Dreams of the Dragon King*** by Void (Rated M; 6k+ words; Complete)
Drabble series; Zuko POV; AU. The Fire Lord dreams of fire and ash and oceans. It’s not going to get any easier.
I’m still emotionally recovering from this. It’s a few years post war, and outside influences trying to keep Zuko and Katara apart are too powerful.
***She Moves with the Sea*** by Void (Rated T; 7k+ words: Complete)
Companion to “Dreams of the Dragon King.” Katara POV. What it’s like to love a man who’s struggling under the weight. (Final update! Story is complete.)
Just as the summary suggests. My goodness my heart just breaks from these two pieces. Just the last chapter alone makes me want to hug Katara and bat everyone away.
***Spirits*** by lady wisp (Rated T; 11k+ words; WIP)
The water witch obtains a spirit bound by vow to protect her. Shaman!Katara. Spirit!Zuko AU
One of my favorite stories so far for its creativity, great writing, in character depictions (leaning on Season 1 Zuko and Katara personalities at the moment). We see the story mostly through Katara’s eyes, which is awesome because it gives us a limited viewpoint. What? How is that a good thing?! Because that and the AU setting for this story creates a sort of mystery for us readers. Based on what I have read so far, the Northern and Southern Tribes are at war, and Katara has no idea that bending is a thing (her idea of it is “magic”). She is thought to be a sort of connection to the spirit world (because, again, she and possibly the rest of the tribe have had little to no contact with the outside world and believe it to be an aspect of her “powers”), and she is trying desperately to find a way to help the depleting numbers of SWT people, so when she comes across a being that is clearly not Water Tribe and is insisting he is Fire Nation royalty, she thinks that this is the spirit’s answers to her prayers. He is initially hostile and rude, but once he learns more about her, Zuko comes up with a plan and suggests a deal for Katara that allows him to find someone powerful and important and he would help her and her people win her war. As it continues, it seems that no one sees or hears Zuko besides Katara, and it seems like Zuko may be lying about who and what he is… Overall, it’s great. I also love seeing how Zuko is starting to like Katara and catch himself thinking that she isn’t so bad looking. Really funny, fun, interesting, developed, creative, in character, well written stuff. The interactions between Zuko and Katara is also adorable because of how sassy they are and how it is obvious that they appreciate each other
Lewilder – EVERYTHING IS GOOD BY LEWILDER and they have a tumblr i think follow them. fav stuff by them, ‘specially that one where they can’t speak each other’s languages gooooooood shtuff yeeeeeee
nonsensicallyrics – mhmmm!
@archergwen on tumblr and fic sites – VERY NICE. A+.
Through Ice and Fire (FAV***, space and planets and good writing and interesting interactions with enemies to friends to lovers and BETRAYAL?! Confused dumb boi Zuko tries making decisions and tries not liking confused dumb gal Katara) -> https://archiveofourown.org/works/4489671/chapters/10206627
SHIPWRECKED (FAV***) Fire Nation occupies world, Zuko stationed at water tribe and he doesn’t want to be there, katara and WT having to deal with colonists and Zuko and Katara seeing they aren’t one dimensional propaganda characters -> https://archiveofourown.org/works/10379577/chapters/22922994?view_adult=true
ON A DISTANT SHORE -> (FAV*** sadly only like two chapters must review) Zuko And Iroh shipwrecked at South Pole and forced to rely upon SWT, Zuko is season 1 and angry they need to rely on water tribe, katara cute
https://archiveofourown.org/works/6628840/chapters/15168373
________________________________________________________________
Note to those still reading these rushed notes (also mad props because i couldn’t even do that): check out others for good analysis and writing and questions regarding the show. people who worked on the show talked to others A LOT more than me, they’re easy to find.
also much love to @araeph follow them for anything atla or lit related and anyone still sending me messages about atla should be funneled to this classy and intelligent and kind human being. honestly go to them for info on the show too.
same with @kohthefacedealer @lagooony @articianne class A babearoonies love them.
