You know, I was squealing about these over in another thread, and I'm going to squeal about them again. The first one hits me so hard in terms of being so deeply a fic that I've wanted to read. And goddamn, you can write a little:
When he is five and she is nearly four, they do their breathing exercises together in the long light training hall, the sun coming in wavy and dappled off the pond outside. They sit side by side, a row of candles in front of them, in and out, in and out. They are meant to breathe together; it is good discipline, although the servants kneeling behind them do not keep time. In the warmth, the mat slippery under him, Zuko’s eyes droop; his head is too heavy, too big, his hands too wide, the ache of his morning training dropping away. He jerks awake. The flames in front of Azula are moving, in and out, higher and higher. Her face is still. Behind them, the servants rustle and whisper. A door slides shut as someone leaves to spread the news. For the next five months, before Zuko makes the candles rise and waver, she is the heir.
YES, I JUST QUOTED A WHOLE PARAGRAPH OF YOUR FIC BACK AT YOU. But it's that fucking great. I love the way you build the scene and structure it so much, and the images, and how you make it turn on those four words. she is the heir. I spent a good half hour squealing in delight, and now, the thing I want most in the world is so much fic about the universe where Zuko isn't a Firebender. At all. And thus out of the line of succession.
Except oh wait, holy fuck, you're good at Airbenders, too. That ficlet is a testament to how good and effective underwriting can be.
Aang and Lobsang looked at each other, shrugged. Appa flopped his tail out, sending the wind-wheels whirring.
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Date: 2010-09-10 12:44 am (UTC)YES, I JUST QUOTED A WHOLE PARAGRAPH OF YOUR FIC BACK AT YOU. But it's that fucking great. I love the way you build the scene and structure it so much, and the images, and how you make it turn on those four words. she is the heir. I spent a good half hour squealing in delight, and now, the thing I want most in the world is so much fic about the universe where Zuko isn't a Firebender. At all. And thus out of the line of succession.
Except oh wait, holy fuck, you're good at Airbenders, too. That ficlet is a testament to how good and effective underwriting can be.
Aang and Lobsang looked at each other, shrugged. Appa flopped his tail out, sending the wind-wheels whirring.
I mean, just. Damn. Damn.