masterghandalf

Embers Review: Part III

To begin our third and final segment of my review of Vathara’s Embers, I once again must apologize to anyone still reading this for how I’ve let time get away from me! In my defense, I’ve had a lot on my plate lately both IRL and online, but that still can’t help but feel like I’m making excuses for myself. Sigh. In any case, it is now, at long last, finally time to wrap this baby up and render our final verdict on this famous – or infamous – fic. In the first part of my review, we gave a basic overview of the fic, discussed what I liked about it, discussed whether it’s really Fire Nation apologia or not (the answer… depends on how you mean that) and looked at some of the fic’s much-vaunted worldbuilding. In the second part, we ran through the fic’s vast cast of characters, both canon characters and OCs (you can also check out my chapter-by-chapter commentary here). Today, it’s time to finally take a look at the fic’s plot (or plots), its relationship to the canon show, its themes, and render my final verdict on it. Fair warning, this part of the review will once again be pretty negative, though not quite to the extent of my take on Vathara’s characters; still, this is where a lot of my criticisms of what I see as the fic’s deeper issues will come in, so if that still interests you, strap in!

( Plot )

( Relationship to Canon )

( Themes )

( Conclusion )

Embers Review: Part II

Wow, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? First, I’d meant to get this review up pretty soon after the first part (here), then I’d meant to get to it shortly after wrapping up my reread/commentary of the whole fic (here, and then that got away from me, too! But, finally, we are here with the long-awaited second part of my Embers review; let’s do this! Anyway, last time on our journey through Vathara’s epic Avatar: The Last Airbender fic Embers, we introduced the fic, discussed what I liked about it, raised the question of whether the fic is really Fire Nation apologism as it’s commonly accused of being, and gave a rundown of a lot of the worldbuilding of Vathara’s version of the Avatarverse. I’d initially planned to wrap things up in two parts, but I’ve since decided that characters deserve a whole section to themselves, because this fic has so damned many of them, both canon and OCs, and talking about them deserves a lot of space. So today, we’ll be discussing that, looking at canon characters first and then at Vathara’s various OCs. I’ll note that this isn’t meant to be an exhaustive rundown of every character in the entire fic, just the ones who contribute something of note to the story as a whole. Next time, we’ll wrap things up by looking at the overall story, the fic’s themes (both the ones Vathara is trying to communicate, and some that I think probably slipped in subconsciously) and the fic’s relationship to its source material, as well as my overall thoughts. If that sounds interesting to you, join us after the cut! For fair warning, this part of the review will be mostly critical, because I rather strongly disagree with Vathara’s interpretations of a lot of the major canon characters and/or what she does with them, and while I like a lot of her OCs conceptually, I have issues with how a lot of them are used in the broader context of the fic. That said, once again I’d like to stress that though I’m critical of many aspects of this fic, it’s not intended to be a personal attack on anyone who does like it; different strokes and all that. With that out of the way, onward!

( Canon Characters )

( Original Characters )

( Conclusion )