The Dragon-King's Temple
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Dragon-King's Temple |
| Author(s): | Kryal |
| Date(s): | Published: 27 Dec 2011 Completed: 27 May 2013 Published to AO3 in March 2016 |
| Length: | 196 311 words (12 chapters) |
| Genre(s): | Crossover, Adventure, Sci-Fi |
| Fandom(s): | ATLA, SG-1 |
| Relationship(s): | |
| External Links: | AO3, Archive, FFN |
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The Dragon King's Temple is an Avatar: The Last Airbender and Stargate SG-1 crossover fanfic by Kryal. It is considered a fandom classic and was one of the top fics by hit count in the AO3 ATLA tag before the 2020 ATLA Renaissance.
The story follows Zuko and Toph after they wake up on a Goa'uld base, escape with several members of SG-1 to Earth, and try to communicate with their new allies and find their way home. It featured several extensions of firebending and earthbending that became common fanon, particularly fire-healing. The story is also notable for it's comprehensive chapter endnotes discussing linguistics, worldbuilding, and the author's explanations and headcanons for both the fanfic and the original canons the story draws on.
Summary
Through the spite of the spirits or plain rotten chance, a door that would have been better left untouched has opened. On the other hand, with Fire and Earth as one's allies, sometimes escaping is the easy part.
Development, Narrative Choices and Inspiration
This article or section needs expansion. |
The title comes from a "Chinese proverb meaning, “You can be harmed by the things you control."[1]
One inspiration for the story was the fic Rampage, Archived version, another ATLA and SG-1 crossover by AvocadoLove.
The fic also has minor references to other fandoms: quotes of jokes Girl Genius and Tom Lehrer, the character Heather Dyne is a reference to the Heterodynes of Girl Genius (maybe specifically Agatha)[2], and character Sanura was heavily inspired by theOathbound series by Mercedes Lackey.[3]
Fan Responses and Reviews
The fic received a large positive response, with many praising its complex wordlbuilding, blending of the two canons to make sense with each other, and compelling character interactions. Many fans noted that they had not seen Stargate in a long time (or at all) but were able to follow the author's explanations of Stargate-related history, worldbuilding, and technology.
!!!!!!!!!!!!
I went into this only barely remembering AtLA and nother knowing anything about the SG-universe and it was thoroughly enjoyable anyway.
I loved how whole the new shared universe felt, how logical and we'll explained the co-existence was. It just radiated so much "That Makes So Much Sense OMG" all the time. My science geek was in heaven every minute.
I am in the middle of my third consecutive rereread, it's that good.
My favourite part is everything about Zuko's and Toph's relationship, how they react to the danger and unexpected discoveries and how well they get to know this crazy new world, just by paying attention and being AWESOME.
As a reader one of my biggest enjoyment is when I get to see my favourite characters through new eyes, getting to know them through different lenses and this delivered so amazingly .
I am not sure I'll ever be able to fall into SG fandom after this, this was a "Headcanon Accepted" fic.Szors, 2016 [4]
This is the most amazing, complex, intricately executed, out of left field crossover I've ever read. I devoured this fic in less than 24 hours (with time spent sleeping and working). The whole thing is just beautiful. Atla and SG1 are shows with such different genres, but everything worked so beautifully that I can totally believe the world that's been created here. Every chapter introduces new twists and threads that somehow all make sense by the end. Even if you don't have much base knowledge of SG1, the story develops so easy that I don't doubt you'd still come to know and love the characters and their world. What a fabulous fic to end my 2016 on.silversky, 2017 [5]
Brilliant fic! Language translation difficulties for most of it, interesting spirits, and EXCELLENT characters interacting with each other.jkbat, 2021 [6]
Kryal’s The Dragon-King’s Temple is brilliant at the start late/end early thing, cannot recommend it enough as a source to study. (Also it is my firstest and favoritest Avatar fic, so I will hereby shamelessly plug it for those few of you who haven’t read it.)Muffinlance, 2019 [7]
Characterization is faithful to the source materials, the added world-building is creative and works really well to blend both series together, and the writing style and pacing are both excellent. All in all just a really enjoyable page-turning gen-fic if you like both series ^^.[8]
Fandom
- Podfic: Podfic announcement, Archived version by Dr_Fumbles_McStupid, in progress as of May 2022.
Fanart
- Tyrant Queen of the Mutant Were Lemurs, Archived version by MarbleGlove -- and illustration of Sokka's daydream from Chapter 6 about what would happen if Toph had to fight mutant were-lemurs.
Recursive Fanfiction
- Turn Your Faces to the Wind, Archived version by the_rck
Other
- hardcover book binding, Archived version by moth-time, 2022
Influence on other fanfic
- "the Gate language mumbo-jumbo is inspired by the linguistics of The Dragon King's Temple," author's note of Hidden Truths and Open Doors by RoryMarx (AuroraKant)
- "Oh, and a several concepts are borrowed from an *excellent* A:TLA/Stargate story here on AO3, The Dragon-King's Temple. Go check it out, it's *amazing*." author's note on Still Waters Run Deep by Laina_Inverse
- "So, if you guys haven't read The Dragon King's Temple by Kryal, do so. It's fantastic, and asks a bunch of questions about how bending interacts with the world that it also answers, and in a very intriguing way. Those questions inspired a lot of this fic, and after that all I had to ask was 'who's the most likely member of the Gaang to survive a fight with Palpatine other than Aang?' And the answer was Toph, obviously." author's note on Order by ThunderStag
Links
References
- ^ Chapter 1 endnote.
- ^ comments from a reader and author Kryal on ao3, Archived version. Posted 12 March 2020.
- ^ Author's note to Chapter 7, Archived version. Posted to AO3 on 2016-03-13.
- ^ AO3 Bookmark, Archived version by Szors, 6 August 2016.
- ^ AO3 Bookmark, Archived version by silversky, 1 January 2017.
- ^ AO3 Bookmark, Archived version by jkbat, 10 December 2021.
- ^ do you have any tips on how to make a good story outline?, Archived version. Tumblr Ask, posted by muffinlance, 22 October 2019. Accessed 28 June 2022.
- ^ "The Rec Center #402". Archived from the original on 2024-07-24.