Featured Fic: "Zuko: Crown Prince Chronicles" by FairLadyZ2005

When I become a fan of something, I tend to find fanfiction as interesting as the canon work. It's kind of like reading the comments to an article to find out what other people thought, but it's even better because much of fan fiction is better thought out than most site comments. Like all good fiction, good works of fan fiction have a creative vision and good execution, including structure, characterization, and use of language. It's the pleasure of reading good blog comments and reading good stories rolled into one, a communal and creative activity at the same time.

I've talked about some of my own fanfiction at length here and will continue to do so, but I'd like to talk about other fan stories I've enjoyed, too. These stories caught my interest, inspired me, and gave me new insights not only into Avatar but into writing and sometimes life in general.

( That's why I'm starting a new series, Featured Fics. First up: Crown Prince Chronicles. )

Links
FairLadyZ2005's Fanfiction.net profile - with stories in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Transformers/Beast Wars, Blakes 7, and more.
Avatar: The Last Airbender fan fiction:
Zuko: Crown Prince Chronicles - A "missing moments" series of funny, insightful, and touching stories about Zuko and friends
A Long Night - The Avatar benders' equivalent of socks on doorknobs and falling plaster.
Call Down the Heavens - The anti-bender rebellion begins with tragic consequences, and hope amid the wreckage. Author interview Part 1 and Part 2

The Appeal of Zutara (Zutara vs. The Canon Pairings, 1/3)

Zutara. It's a force that can't be ignored in this fandom. It's been well-established that fans who support the Katara/Zuko pairing are more active and vocal, something a simple Google search seems to confirm. "Zutara," as of this writing, turns up about 485,000 results, while a search for "Kataang" turns up about 303,000 results. There is a similar disparity in Fanfiction.net story searches, with filtering for "Katara, Zuko" and "Romance" turning up 4,834 stories and a filter for "Aang, Katara" and "Romance" bringing up 2,735.

So what, goes the refrain. Katara/Zuko fans have always been more active. In some ways they had to be, since their preferred ship was not sanctioned by canon. Plus, simple popularity proves nothing about validity or quality. Just because more people like something doesn't mean it's better. So what am I trying to prove with the numbers game?

( For this essay, I am interested in WHY Zutara is so popular. )