L.J. Writes

Seeing fanart of gender-flipped ATLA characters got me thinking way too hard about story ideas, about what Zuko's story might look like or how the Sokka/Yue dynamic might change.

This being me, of course, the first thing I started thinking about was names. Whether I write the fic or not I will have my names, damn it. (All portraits are from carrinth's lovely art, linked above.)

( names and sample lines )

This is an extended fanfic note, a section where I discuss fanfiction I've written, in a longer form than is practical to put in the body of a story. I love writing about writing, and there's always more I want to say than most readers would be interested in knowing.

The Alternative was my first Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfic, my first foray into a fandom that had become something of an obsession but I had not written for thus far.

The basic idea was one that I had had ever since I saw Azula in action in Book 2 of the show. I kept thinking: So that's who's going to be Firelord if Zuko doesn't? Absolutely ruthless, lacking in any personal empathy or moral compass, emotionally abusive, a pathological liar, cruel to animals - a classic, textbook sociopath ruling over the most militarily advanced nation in the world?

No. Nonononono. Do not want.

( If I was thinking along these lines, I could bet Zuko was, too. )