schneefink

Soo I was gonna wait until Thursday to rec this, to finally participate in Reccing Thursday, but the author usually updates very quickly and right now the story is at a good stopping point even for people who don't like to read WIPs, since the prologue (basically book 1) just finished:

Towards the Sun by MuffinLance (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
53k, gen, canon-divergence AU, WIP
Summary: Zuko botches his escape on the day of the eclipse and sits out the war in prison. What will the Gaang do with a new Fire Lord they can't trust?
Why I love it: SO MANY FEELINGS. About Zuko, mostly (among other things, he needs more hugs), but also Iroh and Azula and the Gaang and the palace servants and politics and the entire Fire Nation. Zuko is not in a good place at the start of this fic (mentally and physically) and it gets worse before it gets better – well, most of the getting better hasn't happened yet, but the author promised that it will!
In the meantime, there are several moments that felt like a punch to the gut - all spoiler-y and you really want to read this one un-spoiled but come talk to me once you've read it! To balance it out a little, there are naps on Appa. The fic also made me think about some aspects of canon I hadn't considered before, which I always appreciate.
Canon knowledge required: Yes

The author also has two other very good Avatar:TLA WIPs:
Little Zuko v the World – 70k, gen, AU where Aang wakes up immediately after Zuko is exiled at the age of 12 and there are a number of shenanigans and it's both touching and extremely hilarious, updates near-daily
Cheating at Pai Sho – 16.5k, gen, AU where Aang manages to convince Zuko that he's just a normal airbender, updates about monthly