Embers: Difference between revisions

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{{quote| Pre English conquest, the gravest of all crimes in Welsh law was not murder, but theft. And while armed robbery was considered excusable under some circumstances, theft by stealth — theft absolute — could be a capital crime. Stealing from your own host, who'd taken you in and given you shelter… well. Very bad.}}

 

 

Little fragments of the show's [[Fridge Logic]] are expertly explained—in ways that later become [[Chekhov's Armory]].

Additionally, Vathara updates regularly. If you want to know when the next chapter will be posted, check the last posted date and add three weeks. The next chapter will appear that Friday, usually around noon eastern time. Occasionally, the chapter will be posted the day before in the evening instead.

 

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=== ''Embers'' provides examples of: ===

 

== A-C ==

* [[Achievements in Ignorance]] - Invoked. Toph states that some of her best stuff is because no one told her she couldn't do it.

* [[Adorkable]]: Zuko, oh so very much.

* [[Author Appeal]]: Many. Cultural dynamics, psychology, spirits, ''dragons'', people banging their heads against walls, Iroh & Toph being badass, and Zuko torture are among the most obvious.

** And on a larger scale, politics, [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]], [[Half-Human Hybrid]], [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]], psychic empaths, blood-drinking, and pack-bonding that flirts with the [[Mind Rape]] line appear to be thematic of a lot of Vathara's works in general.

** Vathara also loves military units and the men who command them. Especially when they're accustomed to killing enough to not blink at doing it but don't like it ''too'' much, are extremely dutiful and [[A Father to His Men|fathers to their men]], and their personal senses of duty and ethics come into collision because [[General Ripper|the brass is evil]]. That particular OC appears in a large selection of her work; Embers has a whole sub-plot involving the Earth and Fire versions working together to keep peace in occupied Ba Sing Se.

* [[Authority Equals Asskicking]]: Shidan, lord of Byakko, {{spoiler|grandfather}}, dragon in human form, among most feared/respected Firebenders on the planet, probably a beyond-lethal swordsman, and quite likely one of the (if not ''the'') most powerful bender shown until now... yet it's stated very clearly by Zuko{{spoiler|/Kuzon}} that he could never visit Ozai's court, for he [[Deadly Decadent Court|would]] [[The Empath|slaughter]] the [[Smug Snake]] noble bastards within minutes... and then immediately be killed by Ozai. Say what you will about Ozai and his methods, he ''really'' deserves the title of Fire Lord.

* [[Awesomeness Is Volatile]]: Invoked almost by name by Toph in Chapter 31:

{{quote| Toph: "I'm not saying Aang should be like me. I'm the greatest earthbender in the ''world''. Too much awesome? Could ''break'' something."}}

{{quote| Yangchen: "You don't truly think you would survive if I meant you ill, do you, young one?"}}

* [[Badass Normal]] - The Fire Nation in canon has a disproportionate amount of these, which is justified by the fact that firebenders start bending late (while the others seem to start at birth), meaning they need to start teaching martial arts discipline to everyone, early, before they start throwing sparks. As this story has everyone able to use chi, this makes Piando understandable but still awesome. {{spoiler|the Yu Yan are non-bender chi users founded to fight air bender raiding parties; Zuko points out that Boomerang always hitting where Sokka wants is not (just) skill.}}

* [[Big Brother Is Watching]] - The Dai Li and their brainwashed Joo Dees. {{spoiler|It's implied that at least some of the Dai Li remain with Azula in order to make sure that no one tells her about Lake Laogai. One tells Min that he'll [[Shoot the Dog|kill him]] instead of letting Azula have him, which he's grateful for.}} However, it's very possible that she knows and doesn't care, because she doesn't need it. Without the checks and balances provided by {{spoiler|fire healing allowing rebels to survive and the lords of several domains being willing to gang up on anyone who crosses the [[Moral Event Horizon]] by trying to use it this way, fire loyalty can be used to}} punish thoughtcrime with death, no expensive surveillance system required.

* [[Black and Grey Morality]] - While more upbeat than most examples of this, one of Embers' main themes is that people will often find themselves in situations where they will have to do the wrong thing for the right reasons, or the right thing for the wrong reasons. While at first it seems that this is a case of [[Grey and Grey Morality]], or 'messed-up people messing up in a messed-up world', sometimes [[Complete Monster|people]] just have to die, and what divides the characters [[Vathara]] holds up as examples from those she deconstructs is their willingness to admit it when they've done something unethical or are going to for the sake of what they hold dear, right reasons or not.

** Aang definitely counts, despite the Avatar having all the power of the world with no spirit wound. However, instead of being told on his sixteenth birthday, his Elders tell him when he's ''twelve''. Shunned the by his fellow friends at the Temple, this will be nothing in comparison to what the Onmitsu and the descendants of the surviving Air peoples will do to him, should he come near them. Zuko and Shirong don't want to go near Aang despite their duty to the Avatar, and Langxue will definitely have his hope shot down once he meets the Gaang. Really, Aang really has to be the biggest [[The Woobie|Woobie]] in the story.

** In chapter 45, {{spoiler|Shidan}} informs Zuko that Zuko possesses, "The blessing - of no blessing at all." Because he has absolutely no luck, he is, in some unexplained way, invisible to spirits (which apparently gives him power to change the world that he apparently wouldn't have otherwise). Of course, the downside of this is his lack of luck.

*** The Fire Nation cremates the dead, setting up funeral pyres upon which the body is burned.

*** The Air Nomads have their sky burial - they take the body of the deceased up high in the mountains, and render the corpse into little pieces for the vulture-eagles to take care of.

** However, Zuko is pragmatic enough to put the time into learning waterbending (even though he still sees it as a curse) because it's undeniably USEFUL.

* [[Cycle of Revenge]] - What Aang is trying to prevent and everyone else thinks is both inevitable and agrees Aang is the only one capable of stopping.

* [[Dead-Man Switch]]: The real reason Clan Byakko hasn't been wiped out. In the same way Kuei's family protects Ba Sing Se from spirits just by existing, Mt. Shirotora, aka the White Tiger, {{spoiler|is the Avatar universe's equivalent of Mt. Krakatoa. While the mountain spirit is implied to be fond of Clan Byakko, who treat it with respect, it would take more than forty fire sages to forcibly subdue it... until they slipped, and they didn't just have a supervolcano eruption on their hands, but an ''angry'' supervolcano.}}

* {{spoiler|Zuko also plans to do this with Asagitatsu if Aang doesn't accept the idea of his all nation colony}}

{{quote| "A bold lie, from one who would see my nation {{spoiler|drowned}} (destroyed) for one woman's murder." {{spoiler|Temul's}} (The devil's) gaze was implacable as lava. "You'd have us all pay for one man's evil." {{spoiler|She}} (The devil) pointed a long, bony finger. "And who will pay for his? Would you offer ''your'' life, little {{spoiler|waterbender}}?"<br />

{{spoiler|Aang}}(Person 1) gulped. Because of course {{spoiler|Katara}}(person 2) would. {{spoiler|She}}(2) was perfect, {{spoiler|she}}(2) was kind, {{spoiler|she}}(2) was just ''good''...<br />

* [[Distressed Damsel]] - {{spoiler|Amaya,}} leading to a CMOA for Iroh.

* [[Disproportionate Retribution]] - Chin Village doesn't just go after Aang on Avatar Day. Kyoshi Island folks are advised that if it's a choice between Chin Village and racist, potentially war criminal Fire Nation troops, head for the troops.

* [[Doom Magnet]] - {{spoiler|Due to wounds sustained in the defense of Ba Sing Se from a horde of spirits, Shirong is cursed: unlike other Dai Li, he works alone because terrible things happen to his partners. One of the reasons he lets himself get attached to Lee may be the relief he feels when he realizes hanging around him couldn't possibly make Lee's luck any worse.}}

** According to [[Vathara]], any member of Sozin's line is also considered this to some extent.

** Normally, anyone doing what the Fire Nation is doing would get hit by this like a ton of bricks. {{spoiler|Due to Kyoshi's decree, it's not the Fire Nation people who commit genocide for the Fire Lord that end up a [[Doom Magnet]], it's the people who ''don't'', because they're disobeying the Avatar through the Fire Lord. Combine that with loyalty sickness, and it's no wonder that Jeong Jeong was the only (known) person in a century to survive telling the Fire Lord where to shove it. Theoretically, Ozai should be dead meat, since he'd end up with every single soldier's bad karma, except he's got the Fire Sages to protect him, there are some spirits who want him to keep doing what he's doing, and apparently dragon blood helps.}}

* [[Dragon Rider]] - So far, only the canon ones: Roku, Sozin, and Kuzon. Roku's was his spirit animal/guide (as Appa is Aang's), Sozin's {{spoiler|became his wife}}, and Kuzon's {{spoiler|ended up marrying his daughter and becoming Zuko's grandfather.}} Since Embers shows that dragons are very proud creatures and just as intelligent as humans (and very touchy about respect and dominance issues), there probably won't be too many more {{spoiler|even if Byakko's refugee dragon population goes to war alongside the humans.}}

* [[Dragon Lady]] - {{spoiler|Makoto (aka Fire Lady Tejina) was a literal one at one point.}}

* [[Elemental Baggage]] - Mentioned with Zuko's temper and how {{spoiler|Shirong experiences emotional and mental changes, as well as a greater drive and focus. It's noted that it can make you do very stupid things for your goals. Airbenders being flighty, Waterbenders being community orientated, and Earthbenders stubborn}}.

* [[Enemy Civil War]] - {{spoiler|What Zuko believes will happen when Ozai dies, especially if Azula takes the throne.}} He is knowingly {{spoiler|making this more likely by creating another Domain outside of the Fire Lord's control}}.

* [[Everyone Is Related]]: The Fire Nation are always concerned about the family trees of each budding couple and avoiding inbreeding. Usually it's to prevent awkward individuals like Zuko or dangerous people like Azula. And since benders can sense their element in ''nationalities'', they can easily tell if a foreigner has some of their own nation's blood in them, and that often clues them into who may be a distant cousin of who. Sometimes, these are even [[Wham! Line]] worthy.

* [[Evil Plan]]- It's too early to say for sure, but given the fic's track record for foreshadowing, the current state of the cycle, Aang's ignorance, {{spoiler|the blunders of the recent Avatars, the extinction of the yaoren and the swift deaths of any new ones, what Yangchen did to turn the Air Nomads into the 'Air Monks',}} and almost the current state of the world may be consequences of {{spoiler|Koh the Face Stealer's vendetta against the Avatar, especially since characters have often wondered about what it would take to get vengeance on or get rid of the Avatar. To kill the Avatar would require ending the cycle of rebirth, for one thing, and having humanity, or as much as possible of it, be actively seeking to destroy the Avatar too could only be a good thing.}}

** It has been confirmed that {{spoiler|Koh is behind it, and he's not just going after the Avatar: the goal is the destruction of the human race, which would explain the focus on crippling the Avatars: they're the ones most able to fight back.}}

** Amaya - [[Star Wars|Jedi Healer T'raa Saa]]. And a potential alternate for Donghai is Han Solo.

** Lángxuě and Sāoluàn - [[Bleach|Toushirou Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto]]

** Shih and Gyate,a fire nation ex-assassin and his airbending nun lover seem to be Kenshin Himura and Kaoru Kamiya.

*** Considering Vathara's love of Foreshadowing and Chekhov's Gunmen, as well as other tendencies within the story (One Fire-Water Yaoren, one Earth-Fire Yaoren, one Water-Air Yaoren), and Author Appeal, what are the chances that Shih and Gyate will show up again, with Shih being a Fire-Air Yaoren somehow? It makes sense that there'd be a Yaoren of every combination at some point, so as to better show Aang how to combine all of the elements.

{{quote| She who only appears if the Imperial Palace is abandoned. If no king rules here, Shirong recalled. The spirits will not recognize Azula as our ruler. No matter what the cost.}}

* [[Foreshadowing]] - lots and lots, with several hints sprinkled many chapters and tens of thousands of words in advance of each reveal, to the point of [[Chekhov's Armory]].

* [[Fridge Logic]] - Zuko claims the murder of Katara's mother was a crime even by Fire Nation law, and Katara is justified in seeking vengeance. But that fire bender wasn't there to kill Katara's mother, he was there to kill "the last southern waterbender" - Katara - as per the [[Just Following Orders|Fire Nation waterbender extermination policy]]. Becomes [[Fridge Brilliance]] because Katara's mother "wasn't" a water bender; intent means nothing for the Fire Nation, thus the killing was unjust.

** Nuanced in Chapter 60, where the [[Fridge Logic]] disconnect between Puppetmaster (where waterbenders were captured, not killed) and The Southern Raiders (and the death of Katara's mother) is Lampshaded: Fire Nation policy was to capture waterbenders. Either the orders changed for some reason, or Yao Rha decided he didn't want to bother. In which case, it was straight-up murder. (Not to mention, defying his orders.)

== H-J ==

* [[Hanlon's Razor]]: A major theme of the fic is why 'sufficiently advanced stupidity' can be mistaken for malice and vice versa: because ignorance can stack up just as much, if not more, of a body count as outright malice. At least malice knows what it's doing and keeps the collateral damage down. {{spoiler|Of course, in the case of Koh's plot, the collateral damage to humanity was practically the entire point, it turns out...}}

** [[Healing Shiv]] - To (almost) everyone who's ever been on the wrong ''or'' right end of a Fire Nation's attack and see firebending as a dangerous tool at best.

* [[Hard Work Hardly Works]] - Aang and Azula have this in common, as Zuko points out. Embers examines the logical consequences of this: one of the reasons for Aang's [[Idiot Ball]], as Toph points out, is that while Aang is a prodigy at bending and many other things (due to his past lives), he's never had the opportunity to learn ''how to learn'' concepts that are new to him. So while everyone agrees he's a bending and tactical genius, that has actually stunted his ability to learn and adapt. Most people can't learn bending at his level without mastering learning: Aang could.

*** {{spoiler|The Dragons who used themselves as bait to lure Avatar Kesuk to Asagitatsu and the Air Nomads and Bison who tried to save them when they tired.}}

* [[Hero Secret Service]] - The Gaang, complete with explaining some of Aang's behavior in canon as him wanting, on whatever level, to drive them away so they'd be safe, not wanting them to die for something he considers all his fault anyway. In addition, {{spoiler|the yaoren appear to function as this for the various Avatars - Yangchen's 'dear friends' committed a group [[Heroic Sacrifice]] alongside her, and Langxue gives their job description as holding the line against the current threat until the Avatar can get there to solve the problem.}}

* [[Hidden Elf Village]]: In addition to {{spoiler|Byakko}}, Sokka questions why the Northern Water Tribe didn't help out the Southern, or anyone else for that matter. {{spoiler|Given that they're protecting the world's only surviving healing benders behind those walls...}}

** In canon, the Sun Warriors were this: [[Vathara]] has not decided whether or not to include them. Byakko may be a subversion: they're a popular tourist destination due to having one of the few mountains in the Fire Nation high enough to have snow, and they bought the amount of not isolation but insulation from Ozai's power they have by {{spoiler|the rulers giving their daughter Ursa to Ozai, and never even getting to meet their grandchildren, at least not yet}}. They have very good reasons for keeping under the radar: {{spoiler|according to Teruko, they're hiding dragons, who are supposed to be extinct, people on Azulon's 'execute on sight' List, firebenders who haven't sworn loyalty to Ozai since they came into their power after the age at which the Fire Nation stops testing, and given the description of the mountain monks in an earlier chapter and the Air Monk letter in Chapter 31, they may also be hiding airbenders.}} It's not so much hypocrisy and disgust at the world as a deliberate plan {{spoiler|to provide a refuge}}, likely by Kuzon. Zuko {{spoiler|seems to have the same idea of creating a place to preserve both Fire Nation traditions and, explicitly, the freedom which is necessary for airbenders to be born.}}

** Justified. You know how the title is Avatar: The Last Airbender? The fact he's the last of the Air Nomads is a big part of Aang's identity, and since he is the last, if he ceases to be an Air Nomad then his people will cease to be, and it will be all his fault twice over. However, according to Embers, the Avatar is NOT a member of the people he is born to: Roku not really being Fire Nation and therefore not feeling what everyone else around him knew instinctively is a plot point. Instead, it is the Avatar's job to try to understand all the cultures without ever really being a member of any of them. Aang ran away from Gyatso in the first place to be able to stay with his 'family' and remain a normal Air Nomad. Throughout the original series and Embers, he's been holding on to his airbender identity so that his people can live on. [[Idiot Ball|The pacifism and other ideals]] Aang espouses are a fundamental part of being an air nomad. If he were a normal air nomad, they'd be the right way to be. As the Avatar, being in denial about who he is (and therefore isn't) and rejecting his responsibilities to the world is one big [[Idiot Ball]]. Trying to pry it out of his hands is a big part of the fic, and necessary to world peace, but [[The Woobie|man, you have to feel sorry for the kid.]] On the other hand, they also need the ideals; everyone needs to do a balancing act between having to kill the [[Complete Monster|Complete Monsters]] like Azula, and stopping a [[Cycle of Revenge]] in its tracks.

** According to [[Word of God]] in review responses, Aang is absolutely right about something else too: {{spoiler|the air nomads as he knew them will cease to be as a consequence of at least one of his duties as Avatar.}} Is it really an idiot ball if carrying it is necessary to achieve your goals?

* [[Irony]] - Back when the Fire Nation was divided up into warring clans they thought Air Nomads to be a bit touched in the head for being friends with them, and with the other clan they have been at war with for generations. {{spoiler|Chapter 54 has Aang doubting Kuzon, because Kuzon was friends with him, and with Temul, someone who Aang considers to be a bad person.}}

* [[I Surrender, Suckers]] - Aang to Zuko in the very beginning of the series. Discussion moved to the Discussion Page.

"This isn't a spirit-tale, Uncle!" ''The hero doesn't always win. As if we were ever heroes.''<br />

"Is it not?" }}

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]] - Aang allowing the Ocean Spirit to possess him in defense of the Northern Water Tribe {{spoiler|was [[Plan|planned]] by Koh.}} At least Ocean didn't massacre the Northern Water Tribe too since they knew to hit the dirt praying, but {{spoiler|spiritual pollution has spread all the way from there to Kyoshi Island, and the uncremated Fire Nation dead are going to be incredibly angry and vicious due to the way they were killed, meaning the Northern Water Tribe may be under the sort of attack that caused Long Feng's rise to power.}}

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Herod]] - Sozin's goal wasn't to wipe out the Air Nomads: it was to kill Roku's reincarnation. {{spoiler|He arranged for thousands of people to die in a way that implied the Air Nomads had acted callously, at best, and Aang was going to repeat Kyoshi's massacre, at worst. It's likely Plan A was for the Air Nomads to produce Aang so that he could be put on (show) trial. When they couldn't do that, well, that 'proved' either the Air Nomads has been callously negligent, at best, or Aang was going to repeat Kyoshi's Massacre, at worst.}} Admittedly the '''Fire Nation's''' goals, and propaganda, were for destroying Air Bending so another Avatar could never call down a hurricane again.

* [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain]] - {{spoiler|In chapter 51 Sokka realizes Zuko did this at the North Pole. If Zuko wasn't there Iroh might not have been there and Yue wouldn't have known she could save the Moon. That is debatable. What is not is this: If Zuko wasn't there no one would have dragged the meditating Aang across the ice, meaning ''he would have been there when Zhao showed up''.}}

* [[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished]] - Kuzon {{spoiler|reborn as Zuko}} and how!

** Kuzon trying to save the airbenders. Most of Kuzon's family die. He makes an oath that requires him to frequently desert what's left of his family to pursue what turns out to be a hopeless quest. He is betrayed by people he trusts. He is killed in revenge for some of the decisions he made at the time.

* [[Scars Are Forever]] - Amaya can heal lethal wounds, massive spiritual trauma and create alternate personalities for people. However, revomoving the scarred skin on Zuko's face is beyond her.

* [[Secret Police]] - The Dai Li, and this fic manages to humanize them.

* [[Sea Monster]] - {{spoiler|Man-eating Seahorse dragons, leeches that can give hell to the Unagi, and (by chapter 43) something huge that makes Sokka think twice about pentapi. All stem from the Ocean Spirit's ongoing revenge, and they probably aren't the only things that we'll see.}}

** Add to that list, the Isonade, or shark monster, that {{spoiler|Azula faced as she was battling with Makoto.}}

**** ''Not'' the onmitsu. {{spoiler|Tai Lee's}} guiding principle is the will of her family, and being taken from them is the horror that sets her against Aang and {{spoiler|has ''Azula'' promising sincerely to protect her.}} Who knows by blood, but culturally they're fire as well as air.

**** How can the onmitsu not change? {{spoiler|The Onmitsu are the only Air group that still practice mindbending. Aang, luckily, is not, but ought to change the old Air Monk rules. Once the day of the Invasion happens, more than one brain is going to break. If Aang and Ty Lee happen to meet Langxue (and maybe the Yamabushi, if Aang can get allies), there's no way they'll leave that fight without dying from curiousity. Those Air Nomads over there? They're not the ones that Aang and Ty Lee know about, which sets the question of "Where in the world are the rest of the surviving Air Nomads? Who are they, and why are they so different?" It may just lead to Ty Lee questioning her upbringing, which may cause her to be dragged back to the Onmitsu elders to be reprogrammed, if her thoughts run heretical. Not that Azula's willing to let them get ''that'' far, of course...}}

* [[Shonen]] - Embers could be summed up as 'what if Avatar was a shonen series staring Zuko?' The most obvious influence is Rurouni Kenshin, which [[Vathara]] has also written for (some characters introduced in 31 may be expies from it, according to some), what with the retired badass who is still badass (Iroh) and the Fire Nation being made that way with good intentions but ending up an expansionist and racist dictatorship (like the Meiji government).

* {{spoiler|[[Shoot the Medic First]]}} - {{spoiler|According to Yue, there are spirits who think that humanity should be wiped out. They're doing it by taking out (by proxy) the healing benders first, since they're a vital component of humanity's ability to defend itself.}} This is probably why everyone except {{spoiler|The Northern Water Tribe}} has lost their {{spoiler|healers}}.

** Zuko: Indirectly, learns something of overcoming his fears and [[You Should Know This Already|trauma]] when Shirong shares one of his own inner demons, {{spoiler|which is being haunted by the night he was attacked by something close to an actual demon and its hatchlings}}.

** Katara: Never EVER take the guise of a spirit, particularly if said spirit is from the Enemy's homeland. Do not make any offhand remarks about what you think you know about the Enemy while said spirit has taken over your body.

{{quote| "You seek justice, Avatar? Better for your friend if you do not! She is naamacaura! Justice would be her drowned body washed ashore, liver eaten, to show all I am not mocked! Ask Tui and La, if you think I lie."}}

* [[Spirit World]]: In cannon the only ones we see visit the Spirit World are Aang and Sokka (even if he doesn't remember any of it). We never actually see Iroh there all though it is known that he went there in search of Lu Ten.In Embers,Zuko and Langxue are both dragged there after dying to receive yaoren abilities. The second time occurs in Ch. 53 when all the yaoren voluntarily travel there so that Zuko can speak to Asagitatsu.

 

== T-U ==

* [[Talking Animal]] - Subverted. Dragons don't use words, what with the fangs and wrong-shaped tongue and all. Instead, as in canon, they communicate via images and telempathy. {{spoiler|While they can shapeshift into human form and learn to speak, it's not very natural for them; it's implied dragons have a big difficulty with the fact that a lot of human communication is white lies or saying one thing to mean another, and this lack of aptitude for human speech and communication seems to get passed down to their descendants, resulting in not just [[Angrish]] but failure to not only understand words but the idea that the mouth noises might mean something while operating on instinct. Humans with the traits of dark dragons, on the other hand, are consummate liars, which makes sense given how hard it would be to fake belief and ''feelings'' in a story well enough to lie telempathically.}}

* [[Team Dad]] - As his character page notes, Zuko became this in canon. In Embers {{spoiler|he spends a lot of time and energy avoiding being forced into Aang's nakama, and it looks like the position will be taken by Hakoda.}}

** Confirmed in Chapter 46. {{spoiler|Meixiang reveals the names of death: Kurokame (lit. "Black Turtle" being Genbu), Akitori ("Red Bird" being Suzaku), Shirotora (we all know what it means), and finally, Asagitatsu (has to be Seiryuu).}}

* [[The Gods Must Be Lazy]] - At this point, subverted. {{spoiler|The 'good' spirits are basically all in on the action (with the exception of Tui, who is actually spreading the result of the Avatar's actions at the north pole), and it's been shown that rather than the spirits sitting back and letting the Fire Nation get this far, they're actually been involved in this from the beginning... although mainly the ones on the other side.}}

* [[Useful Notes/The Laws and Customs of War|The Laws and Customs of War]] - Codified by the Fire Nation: the Earth Kingdom obeys theirs (neither the Earth Generals nor Ozai have problems with going after civilians, even though that's a violation, among the many canon Fire Nation violations), the Water Tribes have their own, and the Air Nomads don't have any since they're pacifists (and there are hints they were Combat Pragmatists when they weren't.) Notable examples:

** Among the Water Tribes, women and children don't fight and are therefore exempt from combat. Among the other countries, there is the more general category of civilian (especially since all [[Mama Bear|Fire Nation women are combat-trained]]), which can include men. Attacking while disguised as a non-combatant is a war crime because it forces soldiers to treat the real innocents as potential threats and can get them killed. {{spoiler|Zuko's ship, which was not part of the war, was attacked by some Southern Tribesmen and was forced to defend itself, in some cases lethally.}} So, the Water Tribes view the Fire Nation going after women as a violation (like Zuko thought Kanna was a valid threat in his introductory episode), and the Fire Nation have the same opinion of the Water Tribes going after civilian men.

** Earth King Kuei. Clearly, his majesty keeps getting [[Character Development|more and more awesome]] with each appearance he makes, especially {{spoiler|where he accepts Eshe, knowing where is duty as Earth King lies}}.

* [[Troperrific]] – Clearly. Became even more so once Vathara ''found out about'' this page.

* [[Unreliable Narrator]] - It is often mentioned in the ANs that Zuko is this, due to his preconceptions about the Fire Nation and the morality of its actions, [[Culture Clash|amongst other things]]. Some of her fans miss this.

** Practically everyone in the story is an Unreliable Narrator, having their own set of cultural and personal blinders that prevent them from understanding the words and actions of those from other cultures. This [[Culture Clash]] is one of the main points and themes of the story. Much of the controversy over this story revolves around whether this is done in a way that smoothly meshes with the characters’ canon personalities and behavior, or just shackles them to some form of [[Idiot Ball]].

== V-Z ==

* [[Viewers Are Geniuses]] - Even with bibliographies to help. Despite being a fic about how things aren't black and white, a certain number of readers can't get out of the trap of seeing it in black and white.

* [[Vision Quest]] - Apparently one of these, with guides of all four nations, is another requirement for {{spoiler|becoming a yaoren if another one isn't around to help.}} Katara has her own, {{spoiler|where she is trained to control her wild empathic powers by Yue, but does not become a yaoren.}} On the other hand, given that the most powerful benders are those who learned from the sources of their bending styles, this may end not just compensating for {{spoiler|Pakku's sabotage}}, but making her significantly stronger.

** [[Word of God|Jossed]], complete with another bibliography.

* [[Wham! Episode]]- Chapter 45. {{spoiler|Not only are the Touzaikaze revealed, but one of them is an ''air-healer''. What's more, they offer themselves as potential candidates for brides to the Earth King. Looks like there will be some shipping in the Emberverse after all...}}

** Amisi and Eshe of the Touzaikaze. They were sent by their tribe to forge an alliance with Kuei, and are not going home, unless they want to go back in disgrace.

* [[You Didn't Ask]] - There's a fair amount of this going on due to all the [[Culture Clash]]. Vital information or basic assumptions that are seen as too obvious to mention by people of one group often aren't obvious at all to others. This turns into a multi-directional pile-up as the eclipse approaches and it comes to light that many of the people involved with or aware off the impending invasion have very different ideas about what this involves and how it will be carried out.

** Wouldn't that statement, coupled with what the fic has already done, make it more of a Ghost Apocalypse?

*** {{spoiler|Not Ghosts. Chapter 53, definitely zombies.}}