beckyh2112 | Fuck It. AtLAland Secret Santa Gifts

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Fuck It. AtLAland Secret Santa Gifts

They are in the comments. There are a lot of them. Because I wrote a fuckton for this.

suzukiblu was my giftee.

dark_puck and

spyridona are my buddies.

crystaldrake, and

banditjoeykuba are also my people.

chameleon_pete and

takatohedgehog got random things written for them for various reasons.

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Spirit Masks

***

The Spirit World is and is not a mangrove swamp. It is. Many of its denizens prefer a mangrove swamp, however, and so it seems to be one.

Prince Iroh slogs through it. Some part of him is aware that he does not need to slog through the swamp. It is the Spirit World. Travel is no more real than water or trees. Perhaps less real.

But he does not know where he is going. He is seeking Lu Ten, but he cannot find his boy, why can't he find his son, don't they know who has come here, where is his boy?

Movement catches his eye, and he turns sharply, placing himself side-on to the threat.

A spirit of darkness perches on one of the great mangrove roots. Its face is a leering blue demon-shape, and it grins at him. A sword rests across its back, but the rest of it is shadow-stuff. Only its grotesque face is clear.

Iroh turns to face it fully and bows respectfully. "Greetings."

The spirit cocks its head.

"I am seeking Prince Lu Ten of the Fire Nation. Do you know where he might be?"

The spirit's head tilts in the other direction. "Dead."

"Yes. I am aware of that," Iroh says, shards of patience still in him. "I am still seeking him. He should not be dead now."

The spirit laughs softly.

Iroh feels anger building in him, but he has no flames here, nothing with which to strike this insolent creature. "Thank you," he says through gritted teeth and turns away.

The spirit stands in front of him. It smiles, reaches up and lays black hands on its face. Then it pulls its face off.

A mask.

Perhaps.

Underneath, there is a man. That is all Iroh can say. There is a man with a massive red burn scar across his left eye.

"Live for the living," the spirit says, dropping its mask carelessly. It grins for a moment then sinks down into the water that barely comes above Iroh's knees. There is not even a ripple to mark its passing.

The mask floats on the water, grinning blue.

-End-

I know none of these are for me, and I'm a bit unsure about the etiquette of me posting anything, but I just had to squee at this. Wow, wow, wow, I love this, and then it's all grown up Zuko and... I love this!

On a side note, given that I'm his assigned gifter, and so I know what I wrote, I'm wondering if someone else, anyone, wrote the guy something that doesn't take place in the spirit world. At least yours isn't creepy and depressing.

Man, I will never ever say no to people telling me they like my stuff. <3

Spirits are way too much fun for me to write sometimes. You get to be all fluid and metaphorical with them. So much chance for imagery and philosophy. Love, love, love it!

Well, Rin wrote him something Toko! So that is good.

Oh, Iroh goes to the spirit world, one of my favorite plot points that sadly never got developed on the show. ;) I like this--it's mysterious and sad but also hopeful.

Thank you! I actually prefer that the plot never got developed. it would have put too much focus on Iroh, and as much as I love the various adults, the story isn't about any of them.

Plus, I can play around with it myself.

*purrs*

You can't write enough Spirit World for me. Fics that involve the Spirit World are easily some of my favorites. Creepy and depressing are even better. ;)

This is excellent! Seriously, it's exactly what I wanted. I haven't read any interpretations of Iroh's journey to the Spirit World, despite it being the single most fascinating hint dropped in the first season, so just the fact you used that as a premise has garnered you internets and win and cake and whatever other old memes I can find (Chuck Norris?)

The icing, though, is the foreshadowing of future!Zuko. My love of metaphors knows no bounds, nor does my love of foreshadowing, so this piece was just perfect. Your language is beautiful, evoking that spiritual mystique that appeals to me so much (and hence why I like the Spirit World), and the incorporation of the Blue Spirit was masterfully done. Thanks so much for this; I really do love it. :)

You're welcome! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Ooooh, Chuck Norris! I shall love him, and squeeze him, and call him Chuck.

Metaphors and imagery and metaphoric imagery are some of the things that make spirits really fun. (Also, them trying to eat you, but the Blue Spirit isn't hungry for fire right now.)

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