The Avatar_500 Jump Start Posting And Comments Meme

[attackfish]

Alright, I'm unwilling to let avatar_500 go without a fight, so I am going to incentivize participation.  Write and post a fic for Round 65 - Air, and I'll fill a drabble request of yours.  Comment on all of the fics in the round (everybody said they wanted more comments), and at the end of the round, link me to all of the comments and I'll fill a request for you.  Do both, and I will fulfill three requests for commentfic.

The rules for posting to avatar_500 can be found here.

You don't have to belong to avatar_500 or have ever participated in it before to earn a request for commenting, and if you do want to join to post a fic for the round, all you have to do is click the "join the community" button, and you're in, easy.

About which I will not write (so don't request):

Ty Zula
NC-17
Incest
Ships where one party is much older or younger than the other(s)
Rape
Other people's OCs

Other than that, everything is fair game.

The deadline to post fic is Saturday December 1st at 11:00 PM EST.  The deadline to post comments is  Saturday December 8th at 11:00 PM EST.

Fics in The Round So Far:

Marking Boundaries by attackfish
The Need to be Seen by lalunatique
Playtime at Air Temple Island by wolfs_lament 
What Are the Odds? by c3childs
Wrong by chordatesrock
Four Element - Air- Third Stanza byclockwerkchaos
How Tenzin Met Pema by lavanyasix


Fills:

Forwolfs_lament:
   For a story: Hufflepuff Zuko, Secret Tunnel

For chordatesrock:
   For a story: Holding This Breath: the Aftermath of Kidnapping Aang
   For commenting on everyone's fics: Quiet Shadowed Places: the Cooler
   Bonus: Zuko/Toph, all grown up and surviving state dinners

For lalunatique:
   For commenting on everyone's fics: Ty Lee and Suki - Sake

For somariel:
   For commenting on everyone's fics: The Grand Lotus puts out a call

For: c3childs:
   For a story: Hama - Katara wasn't her first pupil  *Warning for violence and death*
   For commenting on everyone's fics: Amon - the vigilante of Republic City
   Bonus:  Yakone - he owns Republic City

For lavanyasix:
   For a story: Lin Realizes Toph is a dirty cop
   For commenting on everyone's fics: Pre-series - Korra encounters prejudice due to being half Northern and half Southern
   Bonus:  Ozai marries his son off into an insultingly low-ranked colonial noble family. Zuko/Kori

Comments

For Comments

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Post here with the links for each of the comments you've posted to the stories in this round, and a prompt/request for me to answer.

Re: For Comments

[lalunatique.livejournal.com]

Placeholder post before deadline, will comment and edit add more links if new entries come in.

For Marking Boundaries (http://attackfish.livejournal.com/111425.html?thread=1359681#t1359681)

For What Are the Odds? (http://avatar-500.livejournal.com/225572.html?thread=710436#t710436)

For Playtime at Air Temple Island (http://wolfs-lament.livejournal.com/790.html?thread=534#t534)

Request: I'm thinking Ty Lee/Suki with the prompt "sake" (the drink), though I might change my mind before the deadline. The additional challenge is to NOT to make the characters all giggly and boozy, and for them not to have a drunken ill-advised romp (though I'm fine with sex per se). Can be gen, though I have a slight preference for slash.

Ty Lee and Suki - Sake

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

So, I checked through, and you had commented on everything, and I've been sitting on this for days, so here you go. I tried, but it didn't turn out all that slashy.

~*~

Suki's head sank lower on Ty Lee's shoulder and her breath came warm and rasping, and heavy with the scent of alcohol. She stumbled on the empty floor, and Ty Lee caught her and kept her from falling. "Come on," she murmured. "We're almost there."

"Thanks, Ty Lee," Suki said slowly, carefully enunciating each word. "I'm sorry."

No, Ty Lee restrained herself from saying. You are not going to start crying again. But She wouldn't have stopped Suki if she did, not really. "It's okay. Let's just get you in bed, and..."

"You're really nice about this, I mean reeeeeally nice. I don't think the oth-" her feet tangled, and she dropped, and Ty Lee scrambled to catch her before she sagged to the floor.

"Maybe you shouldn't talk right now." Ty Lee propped her back up. "Maybe you should just concentrate on walking." She pushed the sliding door out of the way and half dragged her leader into the room.

Suki just grunted, and when Ty Lee layed her out on her futon, she patted Ty Lee's cheek. "I mean it." Her hand slid down to Ty Lee's throat, and stayed there, as if she were unaware of it, still there at the end of her arm. "You're soooo nice about this. The other girls would laugh."

Ty Lee cupped the hand on her neck in her own and peered down at her leader through the darkness. Her leader. She had never seen Azula so vulnerable. She had never seen Mai or Zuko so vulnerable either. She couldn't remember letting anyone ever se her so vulnerable, reliant on a friend to carry her to bed and tuck her in. "I wouldn't laugh at you," she said seriously.

"See?" Suki said, closing her eyes and smiling. "Nice."

Kneeling beside her in the dark, Ty Lee saw Azula's face for a moment, instead of Suki, saw her her as she had let Ty Lee see her, without weaknesses or imperfections, so, so perfect that she never could quite believe it wasn't real until after Azula was gone again. "I guess."

Ty Lee was nice because she wouldn't laugh. Right then, she wanted to. She wanted to laugh, and laugh, until she started crying, and then she wanted to disappear. This woman was her friend, and she was so sure, so completely confident the worst her friends would ever do to her was laugh.

Somehow, she felt touched.

Somehow, she felt lost.

Maybe she should have stayed in the Fire Nation, with Mai and Zuko, with people who at least, above all else shared with her the bone deep hard taught knowledge that moments of weakness were just tools for others to use against them.

"Stay?" Suki whispered in the dark.

"Of course," Ty Lee answered her. Suki trusted her. This was what trust felt like. And she wished with everything she had that she could trust back. "Of course."

Re: Ty Lee and Suki - Sake

[lalunatique.livejournal.com]

Aww that is so cute, and the underlying darker message about vulnerability and trust is poignant. It's like biting through sugary soft cream into the bittersweet dark chocolate at the core. Ty Lee is fascinating to me because of the way she crosses boundaries, those of cultures, nationalities, and enemy lines, but in a way this story shows her to be an eternal wanderer, too wounded to stay at home but too wary to be comfortable anywhere else.

Re: Ty Lee and Suki - Sake

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I think of Ty Lee as a girl who has worn a shell of normalcy so long she doesn't know how to take it off. She's very damaged, more than she shows, but she's also very resilient, and I have a feeling she'll be able to trust again someday. I don't think she'll be a Kyoshi Warrior for long though, maybe a few years. I'm pretty sure that as you said, she's a wanderer and has a hard time settling.

Re: For Comments

[chordatesrock.livejournal.com]

My comment on The Need to Be Seen (http://lalunatique.livejournal.com/28869.html?thread=225221#t225221)

My comment on Marking Boundaries (http://attackfish.livejournal.com/111425.html?thread=1367105#t1367105)

My comment on Playtime at Air Temple Island (http://wolfs-lament.livejournal.com/790.html?thread=3094#t3094)

My comment on What are the Odds? (http://avatar-500.livejournal.com/225572.html?thread=712740#t712740)

If someone posts another fill after this, do I have to post another comment? And if I post a fill, do I need to comment on it? Are AUs allowed for this challenge? And will you do this again next time?

My request is for the Quiet Shadowed Places verse, whichever of the following appeals to you most:
1. Crossroads of Destiny
2. The initial meeting of Zuko and Aang at the South Pole or something from that first episode
3. If it happens in QSPverse, then the episodes set on the Rock; otherwise, whatever was happening at that time instead
4. Going and learning from the dragons

(ETA: Oh, and I can't read your format guidelines. LJ gives me an error message.)

Re: For Comments

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Sorry it took me this long to answer. I had to get to an actual computer instead of my cell phone, so I could send you links. The rules and format guidelines for posting an entry to an avatar 500 round can be found here: http://avatar-500.livejournal.com/profile . Yes you do have to post comments to any new fills for this round, and post links to them here.

Some of those requests of yours, I've actually filled for other people.

First episode Zuko and Sokka meeting at the South Pole (Aang and Zuko's meeting is pretty much identical to canon): http://attackfish.livejournal.com/65620.html?thread=692052#t692052

Firebending Masters: http://attackfish.livejournal.com/65620.html?thread=665428#t665428

Re: For Comments

[chordatesrock.livejournal.com]

It's like Christmas came early, except that I still get to have Christmas next month! :) I guess you'll pick from 1 and 3 then?

Re: For Comments

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

I'm about to make Christmas even better then, because I've also got Zuko finding out he's blind: http://attackfish.livejournal.com/65620.html?thread=697684#t697684 Zuko teaching Aang at the Western Air Temple: http://attackfish.livejournal.com/69433.html?thread=758841#t758841 and Zuko and Azula's Agni Kai: http://attackfish.livejournal.com/65620.html?thread=666196#t666196

Yes. I have Plans for #3.

Re: For Comments

[chordatesrock.livejournal.com]

My comment on How Tenzin Met Pema (http://avatar-500.livejournal.com/227534.html?view=714958#t714958)

My comment on Four Elements - Air - Third Stanza (http://avatar-500.livejournal.com/226680.html?thread=714616#t714616)

Quiet Shadowed Places - The Cooler

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Zuko breathed out a thin stream of flame that curled like ash in the freezing air. In front of him, the fire glowed on his senses, spinning and spiraling until it touched the boundaries of his prison. He felt it lapping at the wall, fluttering against it like a living thing, or like a piece of himself, and he held onto it.

His breath flew out of him in a rush and coated the walls in a wave of fire, seeking, mapping, bright in the way he could almost see it. It flickered and danced up the walls, finding the ridges and bumps of the bolts he had to unfasten, and then climbed higher, to the cooler's flat ceiling before he let them dissipate, leaving the tiny room ice cold again.

And he held that picture in his mind, of what the room had to look like, and what it had looked like to him under his fire, but without the fire, it felt suddenly suffocatingly small, and dark, and very, very cold.

He sighed and grabbed the wrench Sokka had passed to him. The heat from the other boy's hands had long since vanished, and Zuko's own hands stung as he held it. He braced himself against the wall and bit off a curse at the cold that raced into him from that tiny point of contact. But he had a job to do. He wasn't just in there to shiver away until the guards decided he had been punished enough. He had put himself in there. This was his choice, and by his will. He left his hand against the wall, and let heat roll down it, and loosened bolt after bolt until the icy wall itself grew warm under his hands and lit up in his senses again.

Re: Quiet Shadowed Places - The Cooler

[chordatesrock.livejournal.com]

This reminds me strongly of canon, in that it seems they're using approximately the same plan and Zuko seems to feel about the same way about it. Interesting.

Re: Quiet Shadowed Places - The Cooler

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Yep, this is definitely one of the "the more things change" bits of this verse. It's really more about how Zuko learned a few things from Toph and the dragons.

Re: Quiet Shadowed Places - The Cooler

[chordatesrock.livejournal.com]

So this represents an improvement in his ability to use firebending to navigate? Very cool. :) When I made the request, I was thinking about whether people would consider him an easier target and try to pick on him, but I like this scene.

By the way, what's your policy on podfic and other transformative works?

Re: Quiet Shadowed Places - The Cooler

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Probably not navigation per se, except in very small spaces when he's alone, but he's figured out that he can tell surface details of something if he can blow fire at it. Go Zuko!

No one has ever asked about podfic before, but I have had people do translations of my fic, and I think that policy works well here too. I don't mind at all, and am in fact very flattered. I just like to be credited and told where it's posted.

Re: Quiet Shadowed Places - The Cooler

[chordatesrock.livejournal.com]

That could be very dangerous in wooden buildings. Aside from the cooler, it's only really useful around metal and rock, in situations where he can't just touch things. I don't think he needs to avoid leaving fingerprints anywhere, so it's basically down to learning about the ceilings of buildings in the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom.

Oh, and spotting rocks being bent at him. If he kept his fire going all around himself, then when a rock came toward him, it would reach the fire and he'd know to dodge.

Re: Quiet Shadowed Places - The Cooler

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah, it's a skill of only mild utility, but you put together enough skills of mild utility, and suddenly... Also, it's faster than trying to feel around with his hands.

And yes, it would make fighting easier. Earthbending makes a noise. When he hears it, he can send out a circle of fire, and where it stops tells him where the rock is. You just have to get clever with this kind of thing.

Re: For Comments

[somariel]

Lavanya Six
clockworkchaos
chordatesrock
c3childs
wolfs_lament
Lunatique
attackfish

Iroh, Kindle the Wind

Re: For Comments

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Since Kindle the Wind is still open, and I'm trying to fill those in some semblance of chronological order, could you ask for something in a different verse (not Ice Flows Through, as that's still ongoing)

Re: For Comments

[somariel]

Iroh, Season 3

The Grand Lotus puts out a call

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

"I cannot stay long," Iroh told him as he stood in the window of his friend's grand estate. Piandao supposed that if one were going to escape from prison, there were far worse places to retreat to. "I only came to ask you to help me spread the word."

"Of course you did." Piandao shook his head ruefully. "Old friend, it's funny but we never talk anymore except when we have to."

"I'm sorry." The steam above Iroh's cup made small spirals in the mountain air. "If this goes well, there will be all the time in the world to renew old bonds."

"And if it doesn't?"

Iroh smiled sadly.

Piandao away from his friend towards the door. "I have to go into town." He turned around. "We'll meet at Ba Sing Se."

"We will," Iroh said, and Piandao knew he would be gone by the time he returned.

Re: The Grand Lotus puts out a call

[somariel]

Nice. I see we have the same headcanon about Iroh staying with Piandao for a bit after he escapes from prison.

Re: The Grand Lotus puts out a call

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

It's a good headcanon, I like it. Glad you liked.

Re: For Comments

[c3childs.livejournal.com]

Comments:
1)clockworkchaors: http://avatar-500.livejournal.com/226680.html?thread=721528#t721528
2)Lavanyasix: http://avatar-500.livejournal.com/227534.html?thread=717774#t717774
3)chordatesrock: http://avatar-500.livejournal.com/226185.html?thread=721801#t721801
4)wolfs_lament: http://wolfs-lament.livejournal.com/790.html?thread=790#t790
5)lalunatique: http://lalunatique.livejournal.com/28869.html?thread=217541#t217541
6)attackfish: http://attackfish.livejournal.com/111425.html?thread=1361473#t1361473

Request: Amon - the vigilante of Republic City

Amon - the vigilante of Republic City

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

The protection money sat hidden behind his counter in a neat little stack, wrapped in brown paper, and it had been sitting there, wrapped up and ready, for six days. Akako was starting to think nobody was coming for it.

"What are you going to spend it on?"

The voice jerked her out of his reverie. "I'm sorry?"

Hyo pointed to her hand behind the counter, absently touching the packet of yuans. "They haven't come to my shop either," her neighbor told her.

"They'll be back." Akako whispered, taking her hand off the money. "Zolt doesn't need his firebending to cause us misery. He'll figure that out again."

Hyo sighed in exasperation at the old glassblower. "But nobody's even seen him since Amon-"

"Don't talk about that man!" Akako's eyes narrowed at her neighbor. Everyone was so thrilled with the absence of the Triple Threats, with the fear Amon had put into the hearts of the city gangs, with the man who had done it. "Are you here to buy, or are you just here to gossip?"

He sighed again. "Come on, Akako, I'm sure Amon's anti-bending is all talk. Look at who he took out." He waved his hands. "The man went after criminals. He's not going to muck around with little old lady glassblowers. Take the money out tonight and enjoy yourself, and stop worrying."

Akako huffed. The air in her shop had grown chilly, and she longed to feel a fire curling in her palm just to assure herself she could.