[ SECRET POST #2016 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2016 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 065 secrets from Secret Submission Post #288.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

13. http://i.imgur.com/Ib4Xa.png

[(Anonymous)]

Is this a big name fic in the fandom?
*goes to find it because i am so bad at finding out what the ~popular~ fics are in my fandoms*

[(Anonymous)]

One of the biggest. I don't mind it, thought it had some interesting and original ideas, but I find the extent to which some of those ideas have permeated A:tLA fanon disturbing.

[(Anonymous)]

DA
Could you perhaps point out any fics that run with the Embers ideas? I have mostly been reading stuff that I think probably predates Embers getting to be such a Thing. Like, uhm, IDK, what was that one... Stormbenders? Something like that.

[(Anonymous)]

Hah, same. It's kind of like Homestuck in that way.

[(Anonymous)]

I've very recently got into ATLA fandom. Can anyone give me an objective review, or just their honest opinions before I delve in? FF.net reviews usually amount to either "OMG amazing write faster" or "ew not that ship - write my otp, it's way better". Any ships in there?

[angrymermaids]

Ehh... don't read this. It's too long to be worth it, and it's gone so far into AU territory that the canon stuff is barely recognizable. I haven't read it all, but I understand that the writing and ideas start off good, but go off the rails at a certain point (what that point is varies from person to person). I don't know about ships, I think it's gen but either way I haven't gotten that far.

Her AU oneshot "Scarlet and Black" is WAY WAY better. Definitely read that.

[barnabys_bane]

Seconding the recommendation for "Scarlet and Black."

[slr2moons]

I agree with what amanda_violet said, though I genuinely like the fic. ^^

Embers stands out for a magnificent father/son relationship between Iroh and Zuko in the first third or so of the fic. Recent chapters are focused on events rather than characters.

As for ships, they aren't the focus of the story, and are pretty much under the radar. Aang/Katara is in there in a very innocent form. There's a little Mai/MOC, again under the radar. Iroh/FOC, but she's awesome and I approve. ^^

No romance for Zuko. If Embers ends up Zuko/anyone, it will likely be Zuko/Toph. They have this great friendship going on in the fic. If it progresses to romance, I will be pleased. Vathara makes it work! :3

[lady_songsmith]

It has no ships yet (uhm, ok, actually there is Iroh/OFC, but it's not the focus by a very long stretch), and I doubt it'll ever focus on them if they develop.

It's a Zuko-centric fic that begins with a very intriguing premise. The author admits up front that the story got away from her, and she did not intend for it to be as AU as it has become. There is some major world-building with interesting ideas and a lot of research behind it, and a cast of OCs that are generally well-developed. The writing is of high quality for fanfiction.

The cons are that it has become highly AU, and some of the characters are seen as being OOC in order to fit the world-twist. (YMMV on which ones and how much; I'm very bothered by one particular Katara scene, but don't find others commonly pointed to annoying.) The author is frequently accused of redeeming/exalting Zuko at the expense of nearly every other main character. Personally I don't find her sins in that area as egregious as others do; again, YMMV. Zuko is unquestionably the main character of the story and a lot of it is from his POV; it's natural for writing from his POV to exalt his, well, point of view. One thing that does bug me immensely is that, while she has put a tremendous amount of research behind her world-building, she has a tendency to assume a position and go after support for it, and then defend them in author's notes. I'm thinking of two particular things that set my teeth on edge, one raised in the notes from Ch 24 and one which I'm not sure was ever explicitly discussed in a note but keeps coming up in the story (and she discussed in a review reply to me when I mentioned it). (I'm trying to avoid spoilers, let me know if you don't care. )

I agree with the OP to some extent -- the last few chapters have been getting choppy and keep time-and-place jumping without telling us where they've jumped TO for several paragraphs. It's confusing unless you're willing to reread the chapter after you figure out what part of the world you've just been dropped on.

All that said, long, plotty, well-written (technical sense), regularly updated fic is a rarity in any fandom, and Embers is that if nothing else.

[(Anonymous)]

da

spoil me away, what were those positions the author defended?

[dancing_serpent]

I still like it and don't regret reading it, and consider the first 30 or so chapters as the best A:TLA fic ever written - but then, I also agree with a lot of the author's views that garnered outraged reactions, so I'm in no way objective here.

[(Anonymous)]

If you like stories that turn into AUs and explore the world and cultures and differences, with bits of mythology

Then you'll enjoy it.

If AU's and worldbuilding arn't your thing, then you won't :U


I personally adore AUs and worldbuilding - especially without shipping. So I quite enjoy it, but it may not be your cup of tea

SPOILERS HERE! Don't read if you don't want 'em!

[slr2moons]

I miss the early and mid days when the fic focused on Zuko's self-discovery and figuring out waterbending. The middle arcs with the escape from Ba Sing Se and setting up Dragons Wings were exciting.

But now, with all the time given to Aang and company, and Azula, I find it less interesting. Mostly because I don't like Aang much, nor Azula. Though I do enjoy what's going on with Sokka. I keep waiting for him to gain Fire Nation subjects now that he's a Noble. ^^

tl;dr: I've lost interest now that Vathara is paralleling canon, what with the Invasion. (Or rather, paralleling canon as much as she ever does!) I'm looking forward to the return to more original events. :3

(Yes, I have read Embers twice, and save each new chapter to my hard drive. What? I like it!) :D

Re: SPOILERS HERE! Don't read if you don't want 'em!

[dancing_serpent]

Agreeing to pretty much everything you said here. *g* Have read and re-read multiple times by now (and I'm saving it to my hard drive, too.) and I still like it a lot.

Re: SPOILERS HERE! Don't read if you don't want 'em!

[slr2moons]

Glad to see I am not alone! :D

[kallanda_lee]

Is it any good?

[(Anonymous)]

DA from any above...

I really liked the first part of the fic - it was an interesting take on the characters and fairly well written. After a certain point, though, it got so convoluted and overdone and, imo, OOC for certain characters that I ended up really disliking it. And it felt like the author really disliked certain characters and carried that over into the story itself. I still go back and reread the first 1/2 or so (1/3 now, possibly) every so often.

[dancing_serpent]

I loved it dearly up to the point where she seemed to cave to reader's demands and started to hurry up and move forward with the plot.

The first half of the current chapters really take their time, and it's beyond awesome - I think it's exactly the way an author should do it when she wants to get her readers to understand why a character undergoes so drastic changes: it's all there slowly developing from chapter to chapter.

But then then the reviews turned into a constant stream of "we've spent X chapters on the beach, just move on already", and there were RL time-eaters on the author's part, and now she takes rather large leaps with each chapter that leave people thinking/guessing even when they've recently re-read all the earlier chapters.

Anyway, I still think of it as one of my two favourite fics in A:TLA fandom.

[dancing_serpent]

Yay, Embers!secret. :)

I'm still reading and liking this fic, and I still do understand/keep up with what's happening. But I really miss the "old times", where Vathara would spend several chapters on Zuko-introspection and talking to others about his decisions before jumping into the action.

I hope all those reviewers who kept telling her that she wasted so much time in Ba Sing Se or on the beach are happy now - this is what we've got now. :(

[tephra]

I miss the days when Vathara could update once a week with a long, really long, chapter. I enjoy world building porn and now most of that is getting cut out. :C

[dancing_serpent]

*g* You started with it way earlier than I did, then. When I found it, Vathara was already on a every-three-weeks rhythm. But yeah, they were a lot longer then, too.

The world building and the cultural conflicts, that's what really hooked me, and I'm missing it fiercely.

[(Anonymous)]

Pretty much why I read it - no idea what is happening or where it is going, but damn if i'm not enjoying the journey!

Kind of hope vathara does something similar with LoK. I'd love to see where that could go too

[(Anonymous)]

Stopped reading this fic ages ago because I hate being preached at by a writer. If I don't agree with her characterization of someone, if I don't hold the Fire Nation blameless and condemn the Air Nomads for her fictional idea of how the war REALLY began, and more importantly, even if I dislike Aang as much as she does, I don't think he was in control when the whole Koizilla thing happened, I think the Avatar State itself was. Which means that Zuko's attitude (and, by extension, the writer's author's notes condemning Aang for it), are downright obnoxious. Reading Embers usually leaves with me a ragey feeling that can last for days, if not a good week, simply because of the author's notes. I understand that she is writing an AU, but Vathara seems to have started believing that her fanon is actual canon and actually getting offended when someone questions it, which is, in my opinion, the ultimate mistake of any fanfiction writer. /opinion

[(Anonymous)]

The Koizilla thing - I thought Aang most definitely was to blame for that long before I even heard of and started reading Embers. Vathara is not alone in their opinion here.