beckyh2112 | AU Meme

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writing

AU Meme

Give me an AU prompt, and I'll write you something of at least a hundred words. All AUs I've done before, except LaS, Assimilation, Flint, and DotM, can be requested. I might deny some prompts if they involve something plot-centric to the last part of "Bedrock".

Give a character name, then AU prompt. More details make me happy, though I can't promise I'll touch on everything in the prompt.

Three slots for everybody, five slots for

dark_puck,

spyridona,

suzukiblu, and

neldluva. Bonus slots are available if you request Zhao, Pakku, or Jeong Jeong.

I promise to answer at least one request.

MEME IS CLOSED.

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Tortall crossover/fusion? Ozai would make a great Orzone, the Carthaki Emperor- or perhaps the Fire Nation dovetails with the Yamani Isles, and Zuko's been sent as part of the marriage treaty with the Tortallan royalty.

Zuko wished his sister away to the goblins- now he quests to get her back, but is she just as dangerous as the trials he faces?

Shall think of others later.

More drow!AU, anything you want within the Forgotten Realms fusion, but points if there's dwarf!Toph, however he fits!Jet, or anything where Zuko's trying to pass on the surface and it's not a matter of disguise that's tripping him up but culture/mannerisms/Zuko being Zuko that's getting him into trouble.

The music wafted around them, spritely and bright. The tune was right, but the instruments were wrong. It was just one of a thousand little things that made some part of Zuko scream and scream and scream inside his head.

The too-handsome man with ash-and-coaldust hair led him in the dance. His clothes were fitting for a powerful noble or a victorious general. But he danced. He danced, and Zuko danced with him, whirling in his arms. He whirled in the man's arms, and the clock ticked along steadily.

Tick, tick, tick.

Click, click, click. Zuko's dancing shoes struck the marble floor precisely, and the too-handsome man's hands were cold on his skin. But they whirled in a dance together, noble lord and noble youth, and all the dances on Zuko's fan belonged to him.

The clock ticked along, the music played, and they danced.

It was almost the thirteenth hour when the name that had been lost came back to him.

"Azula," he whispered.

The ballroom shattered.

Edited 2010-04-20 02:38 (UTC)

Awesomely floaty and creepy.

Interesting culture bit, that they use fans as dance cards.

Eh, that was more Victorian than Fire Nation. Jareth doesn't play by the local culture rules. He's the Goblin King, after all.

Hahaha, yes, Victorian AU! <3 (Well, not really, but still, <3)

I don't know a thing about Labyrinth but this is mesmerizing. Awesome.

Really? Oh man. Seriously, whenever you get a chance, watch Labyrinth. It's an awesome, awesome movie.

Yeah, I think I should. I just started watching films a bit late, and I haven't watched much of these kind of movies, only if they com from tv or my dad has bought them. He mainly bought bacj then only cowboy, war opr action movies.

I have so many movies I haven't seen... *whines* Yes, I am a movie freak. I go to movietheater at least once a week.

I just came from choir practice. Hungry as hell, there is no food in the house, nomoney and my parents are at the 'big shop' to buy it. Cue: weird mood and babbling. Xb

I don't watch a lot of movies these days, but there tend to be a handful that I view as 'must watch'. Labyrinth, Casablanca, The Matrix, The Lost Boys, the original Star Wars trilogy (without Lucas's later alterations if you can), The Princess Bride, Big Trouble in Little China, The Thirteenth Warrior, Fantasia and Fantasia 2000, the Back to the Future trilogy, Terminator I and II.

This probably says a lot about me.

I have seen first Matrix, Star Wars trilogy, Fantasia 2000 and the Back to the future trilogy.

I truly love movies, there is nothing better than going to movie theater or watching a movie from home couch. Well, expect internet.

Aang glanced at the gilded figure on the dais. Even at this distance, the sheer wealth and power of the Emperor Mage made awe rise in his chest. Tortall had nothing like this; Prince Consort Zuko was Carthaki, one of Emperor Ozai's own sons, but Aang had never seen the man half so finely dressed as his father.

The other members of the Tortallan delegation were conversing with various Carthaki ministers. He saw Katara the Lioness deep in conversation with a general in the gold kilt and blood-red armor of the Imperial Guard, better known as the Flame Legion.

Jin had gotten wrapped up with some of her former colleagues - the handsome Haru who served as Emperor Ozai's host, and the soft-spoken Song who had asked Aang to visit her collection of wild creatures sometime during his stay.

Aang sighed. Momo offered him a grape, chittering softly.

"Thank you," he said quietly as he accepted the grape, then reached out to scritch the lemur behind his long ears.

Appa suddenly began to trill, producing sounds that rose and fell like music. The little dragon stared intently at a spot off to Aang's left, and on a particular note in his trill, a man-sized distortion in the air appeared.

"You should stop," Aang said. "Invisibility's one of the first tricks any mage worth his salt learns, and Appa really doesn't like it. You're really good - I've never seen anyone better. But if you don't show yourself now, he'll knock it, and you, down."

The air rippled; there stood Emperor Ozai.

"I trust he won't knock me down," the man said, gold eyes on Aang. "I would hate to stain this robe on your dinner."

Aang swallowed. Then he glanced sharply at the throne - the same figure still sat there, yet Emperor Ozai stood before him. They were identically dressed in the calf-length, short-sleeved red robe favored by Carthakis. A gold drape looped at his right hip and passed over his left shoulder, the long end linked to the emperor's wrist by a garnet-studded bracelet. Gold dust gilded his hair, gold beads hung thick enough to click softly as he moved. Gold paint covered his lips, his brows, even his eyelids. A stylized golden flame, the royal crown of Carthak, rested in his hair. A gorget studded with black opals covered his neck, rings shown on every finger and toe. His sandals were gilded.

"A simulacrum," the Emperor Mage said, glancing at the figure on the throne. "I mastered the art for state occasions. They don't really want me here, just a figure to awe the emperor's guests. With this, I can move around freely without unduly upsetting my ministers. May I sit down?"

"It's your couch," Aang said without thinking. He winced as he realized what he'd said. He might talk to Queen Mai or Prince-Consort Zuko that way, but Duke Sokka had impressed on him that he must not speak so familiarly to the emperor. "I'm sorry, Your Imperial Majesty. I should bow, but I'd upset Momo and the fruit."

"Let us not upset Momo and the fruit," Ozai murmured. "This is the creature you dived so impetuously into the river to save?" He smiled as Aang felt his cheeks heat. "It was a kind deed. The world needs more of those."

He seated himself, and Aang suddenly felt a strange sensation in his magic. He thought it might be warmth, but he'd never sensed the Gift as heat before. It was always as light and color.

'With luck, this won't come up. But if it does... Ozai,' Jin had said seriously on the ship, 'is a master of fire magic. Not simply in the obvious ways, either. He can split heat and light from flame, and use all three separately. That's not going into the rest of what he's learned, but he'll always reach for fire first.'

Aang bit his lip and glanced at the figure on the throne again. "Can't your mages tell that's not you?"

Ozai snapped his fingers, and gold flames rose around the throne, hiding it from view. "No, I am very good at it. I tried to teach your master, the former Lien, how to do it, but she never was as adept as I am."

Aang ignored the jibe at Jin, and instead craned his head as he tried to look through the golden flames. "Really? Can it do magic or look like it has magic?"

The emperor looked at him, gold eyes thoughtful. "No. The fabric of the copy won't hold the chain of spells that would give it the seeming of my Gift."

Jin could do it, Aang thought but didn't say. If the Emperor Mage didn't know that, Aang sure wasn't going to tell him. Though, he wondered if the problem wasn't that Ozai didn't have the power and skill, or if Ozai's Gift was just strange.

Even Jin's Gift shown in a beautiful, deep jade-green. But Ozai's Gift was heat.

"Why did you pardon her?" Aang asked impetuously. "Why let her come back to Carthak if you're still angry with her?"

"My dear boy- No, you don't like that, do you?" His mouth curled in amusement, though Ozai wasn't looking at Aang at all. "Aang, if I refused to let everyone I was angry with into Carthak, I wouldn't have a functioning government, much less an empire."

"Oh." Aang reached up to scritch Momo behind the ears again. That... was oddly reassuring. Spirits knew he got angry at people sometimes, especially over how they treated animals, and he didn't have a hundredth of the power Emperor Ozai had. It was nice to know the emperor didn't hold grudges.

A slave appeared, kneeling to offer Ozai and Aang a selection of fine cheeses. Ozai selected a wedge and divided it neatly, gravely handing one to Aang.

"Try this," he said. "It's a honey-cheese from the east."

Aang nibbled on it politely. It really was tasty, but- "Um, Your Imperial Majesty? I heard your birds were sick, and- That's why I was asked to come. Everything's been really busy and no one has said anything, but are they better? Do you not need me to look at them anymore?"

Ozai's expression softened. "I thought after your long journey you might prefer to rest, Aang. It seems too much to ask to have you look at them the night you arrive."

"Keeping me here while you have sick animals is too much to ask," Aang said with a grin.

He didn't quite know what to make of the flash in Ozai's eyes. It wasn't anger, he was sure, but it wasn't... Well, it wasn't something he quite trusted.

"Of course," the Emperor Mage said as he stood. "Do you mind if I veil us? Otherwise we'll never get anywhere."

Aang glanced at Appa, who grumbled but did not otherwise seem to object. "It's all right." He glanced around, trying to spot one of the other Tortallans but no one else seemed to be around. "I really should tell one of the others..."

Ozai glanced down at the slave with the cheese tray. "Inform Duke Sokka of the Tortallan delegation that Master Aang is going to look at our birds. Send the mage Song to attend us in the aviary."

The slave acknowledged formally and left.

The emperor offered Aang his arm, and Aang didn't see how he could refuse without seeming rude. Carefully, he rested his palm on Ozai's forearm as he had seen the court ladies do at home.

Beneath the cool metal of Ozai's gold bracelets, the Emperor Mage's skin was hot.

Oooh. Hadn't quite realized Aang would be the Wildmage, and that so fits. Lovely images.

Thank you!

When I sat down to think about how to do this, Aang was the only one who fit as the Wildmage. ^_^

You're welcome, glad you enjoyed it. This will be an interesting 'verse if I ever continue it. Ozai does not have the sheer hubris Ozorne does, so I have no idea how things will turn out.

This ficlet has singlehandedly made me want to reread the entire Tortall series. There goes all of my free time upon my return! ;)

But seriously, I loved it. :) This Aang is adorable. Also, Ozai being awesome and magical and COURTEOUS, even if it's just for pretend...

Tortall is so much fun. *is rereading the entire Immortals quartet after rereading Emperor Mage to get this piece down*

What would be really fun is if I continued this, because Ozai has never struck me as having the sheer hubris that Ozorne does. So I have no earthly idea what would happen in this 'verse.

I look forward to anything else that you choose to write in this 'verse. I mean, I love crossovers and alternate universe ESPECIALLY when they don't follow "canon" timelines/events/plots/whatever. That's what makes them FUN! So it would be super-awesome if Ozai was what makes this plot deviate from the Tortall one. :)

I'll only be writing more if I get requested to do it.

Though rereading Emperor Mage has made me want to write some Tortall fic. That ought to go over interestingly.

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AU Meme

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