you get the idea anyway). They were just that unlikable together, and the three minutes I got of them actually getting along with each other (and even then, that was more as friends than as anything else) didn't convince me they had any bond that was worth all this angst. And boy, do these two angst. The problem I mentioned before with Aang and his emotional highs is brought back to the forefront with this romance, and much like the flaws of the characters, this gets cranked up to eleven almost constantly. Not only is this relationship, not only is it severely undercooked in the most basic levels of its development, but by the midway point I just stopped caring. Or at the very least, stopped caring in the way o was supposed to. I get that this was probably the point. Aang and Toph have a lot of issues, both with themselves and with each other, but their love is something that can make these challenges possible (not easy;possible) and as such is something worth fighting for. I get that that's probably the point. All the same, you need to give the audience something to latch on to so they can actually understand why they (and by that I pretty much mean Aang until late into the second half of the story) fight to pursue this path. Otherwise, the whole ordeal looks a little silly.
Aang is no picnic to be had here with his emotional frailty, but again, Toph is worse here. She has her decent moments, but then, so did Sozin. They don't quite outweigh the bad (though her faults aren't nearly as bad). In the end, i was so out of love with the two that I had to go back to chapter thirteen after finishing the story and pretend that Aang's break up speech with Toph was the real ending. Not perfect, of course, but given what I have to work with, it's better than nothing. The way things are, I have this much to say in conclusion; the longer I read, the more I felt I was reading some especially angsty soap opera. Not my cup of tea, I suppose.
Sorry for double post and for the long message (phone mischief). I just needed to get my thoughts out. And for the one guy who reads this and agrees, cheers.

It's writing etiquette to begin a review listing off the things you like before getting into the things you didn't, so I'll do that.
First off, your writing style is very nice. It has a poetic charm to it, and it's very versatile emotionally speaking. Keep at it!
Secondly, you did a good job writing Zuko, Katara and Sokka.
... Unfortunately, that's basically about all the good I have to say for this story. Now onto the things I DIDN'T like.

The characters: Toph is just...awful in this story. Awful person, and awful character rendition. It's like you took all her negative attributes, all her angsty moments, cranked them up to eleven and just called it a day afterwards. She barely has any of the good qualities that she had in the original, and what little that does come through is painfully muted. Where's the spunk? The light heartedness in her barbs? The mischief? Why do her problems seem to define nearly everything about her?
It doesn't help that she's a hypocrite and is so toxic to all her love interests. I came for one of my favorite characters and all I got was a muted obnoxious facsimile of her (because darker is always better, I guess).

Aang is better, I guess, but it's not like the position is hard won. Either way, he suffers from basically the same problem. All his angst and all his moping are needlessly taken to new levels, and the qualities he had that made him likeable, that made him more than his problems and more than his faults, are either missing or minimized. He reminds me less of Aang and more of a bad writer's take on Peter Parker with all his crap. Beyond even that, he just stops being engaging with his crap after a while. Imagine the saddest moment in the series. Now imagine that this moment came up again and again in...every...single...episode. Gets a little draining after a while, right? You can't just keep trying to throw emotional high after emotional high at the viewer and expect them to still care after a while. They're bound to get desensitized, and that's exactly the problem I run into with the melodrama. We get maybe two chapters (certainly not consecutive ones) to unwind and then more angst gets thrown in our face. It's exhausting.
The biggest problem with Aang is his entire attitude toward love and his relationship with Toph. It's like I'm watching Naruto with this guy, groaning as the main character swoons over someone that is constantly toxic (and sometimes outright dangerous) to them. I wanted so many times to scream at the guy to move on. SO MANY TIMES.

The Plotlines: Literally nothing that you brought up ever really got much in the way of closure. Parent drama? Just fades into the distance. All that buildup and no payoff. Why bother with that stuff to begin with if you're not going to do anything with it?
Koh? It's a little better. Things get "resolved"...in an exposition paragraph. Again, another important story element that had a direct impact on the characters and his they developed gets jack crap in terms of resolution and anticlimactic, and it feels lazy.

Romance: The romance is easily the worst part about this. I hated every single romantic soliloquy Aang and Toph went into, and not because it was poorly written, but because it was unearned. We get maybe two or three scenes of the characters getting along semi decently and being a good friend to one another, and that's supposed to be the foundation for this pit and melodrama? Are the sex scenes actually supposed to be the foundation for this romance?
This romance was at once overdone and undercooked in my opinion. That on its own is a problem. But when you have two characters like Aang and Toph who are so bad for each other, all the drama revolving around them becomes unbearable. Despite knowing that this wouldn't end this way, I wished Aang would find someone other than Toph to spend his life with (not that I'm even of the opinion that this broken facsimile of the character I know is ready for a relationship, but

LOVE THISSSSS. I'm a toko (tophzuko)fan but I honestly love taang as well and for taang, I accept zutara. taang is such a sweet and fun pairing. the rollercoaster of emotions, THE TENSION, it's so good. Your characters are written so on point as well and it's all very original. I love it and how it's not a forced love story. but one that happens gradually, with realistic emotions and things I can actually picture toph and Aang going through as they grow. the fic was written so maturely and not childish, I loved it. you really captured them as adults ,conflicted, desperate, lonely and everything . I really enjoyed this alot

This was such an emotional roller coaster, I haven't been so invested in a story emotionally in such a long time. It took me a day and a half to finish your story and there was so much turmoil and moments of unpredictability that it had me react physically, clenching my fists, shallow breathing, and inwardly cursing. You have such a precise and analytical view on Toph and Aang that it's amazing how in tune they are together.

The relationship between them kinda reminds me of my wife and I right before we started going out, there was a lot of baggage on my part emotionally and she didn't want to get hurt so she distanced herself from me, granted the cat and mouse between us didn't last as long as Toph and Aang but it just resonated with me on a personal level. It may be me projecting my life but it still doesn't take away how well written this all was.

I have been trying to find a good mature take on a Toph and Aang 'what if' story in a realistic setting and you have definitely stood up to the challenge, this particular fandom and ship on this site has left me disappointed, not to shit on other authors it's just the way they have these two characters fall in love so effortlessly really perturbs me for some reason.

Love between two people especially when someone so emotionally distant and the other is a passion driven mad man there will be clashing and brutal fights, you can't ignore the hardship and heartache these two are willingly participating in, there's a brash tenderness that needs to be taken in serious account.

But I'm ranting, sorry, I just really enjoyed your story and I would love a sequel, and I usually don't bother reading those to be honest. But to view into the lives of two characters that fought tooth and nail to stay away from one other but failed; there's a poetic justice to it all.

Anyways! I gone on long enough, thank you again, I see you have so much more to read so I'll try not gush over every story you write. Till next time, I hope.

Great storie. I'm happy I experienced it. I gotta say though that when I read the part where aang popped the question my heart skipped a beat. But dang if you didn't wrap it up together with a strand of gold. I can't wait to read more of your stories. Keep up the good work and thanks for your story.

I. I am just so moved by this. And like you said "shit finally". They just stopped thinking and doubting everything and just let all the pieces fall into place. Just amazing.

Ah! As much as I love these stories so things the back and forth of , I wanna be together, I don't want to be together, gets so frustrating... Other than that great chapter.

Great chapter. The lemon scene was great. And I hope that they stay strong. Keep up the good work.

I haven't seen the theory could you please direct me to it.

Ps. I love the storie so far and I can't wait for some aang and toph fluff.

Wow great story! I can't wait to read the sequel :)

If she was a waterbender, she couldn't be a past life of Toph, an earth bender.

Fuuuuck. Yes. I'm very glad that ended happily.

God that was such a rollercoaster. I generally like fairly complex characters, but yours may honestly be too much for me.

Toph is just so fuckin brutal, particularly early in the fic. She seems to mellow out a bit later. Still abrasive and rude, just not as bad.

Aang seems.. a little fragile to me, but I guess that's fair. War fucks with adults, I imagine children wouldn't have a great time of it either.

You can really write.

one of the best fics I have ever read.

woah so Tophs bi in this?