Le Pied de Momie

[fst] nothing's gonna stop us now (adrian/lucas/cybersix)

2014-11-25T23:33:55Z

I haven't used LJ in years and I'm rusty on all sorts of things and I haven't made cover art for this (one day hopefully) Regardless, please enjoy!

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now
(an adrian/lucas/cybersix fanmix)

SIDE A - ZIP FILE

01. Never Be Free (Garbage)
Cybersix's song

02. Zombie (The Cranberries)
But you see it's not me, it's not my family in your head
In your head they are fighting
(This is a beautiful song with real life meanings. I wanted a song that echoed genocide of the Cybers. I tried.)

03. For The Beauty of Wynona (Daniel Lanois)
Listening to this song is like slowly uncovering a secret and realizing how rare and precious it is.

04. Come To My Window (Melissa Etheridge)
I don't care what they think, I don't care what they say
What do they know about this love anyway?

05. I Shall Believe (Sheryl Crow)
Cybersix keeps returning to Lucas' window not because it's safe from enemies, but because it feels like home.

06. The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face (Roberta Flack)
This might be the song that kept replaying through Lucas' head in Mysterious Shadow.

07. I Hear a Symphony (The Supemes)
Whenever you're near, I hear a symphony
Each time you speak to me

08. Golden Slumbers (K.D. Lang)
Because almost every FST I make ends up having a Beatles song, and K.D. Lang has an amazingly beautiful voice.

09. Strong Enough (Sheryl Crow)
For Lucas

SIDE B - ZIP FILE

01. I Drove All Night (Roy Orbison)
I like the feel of urgency and anticipation in this song.

02. Only You (Yazoo)
Looking from a window above
It's like a story of love, can you hear me?

03. Alone (Heart)
Til now I always got by on my own
I never really cared until I met you

04. The Flame (Cheap Trick)
I'm going crazy, I'm losing sleep
I'm in too far, I'm in way too deep over you
(Lucas' song)

05. Bizarre Love Triangle (New Order)
Because Adrian/Lucas/Cybersix is not the love triangle you expected.

06. Love Walks In (Van Halen)
Maybe Lucas has a thing for rock ballads.

07. Take My Breath Away (Berlin)
(Headcanon) Adrian and Lucas watch Top Gun together. A lot.

08. All Through The Night (Cyndi Lauper)
We have no past, we won't reach back
Keep with me forward all through the night

09. Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now (Starship)
Looking in your eyes I see a paradise
This world that I've found is too good to be true

Extra: Unchained Melody (Cyndi Lauper)
The Righteous Brothers cover song. I really like this rendition.

[photos] Under the Bridge

2010-04-20T16:53:17Z

Under the Bridge

...Well, I don’t ever wanna feel like I did that day
Take me to the place I love, take me all the way

(Red Hot Chili Peppers)

On a rainy day my baby took me to one of his old haunts as a teenager. It was this bridge that was completely covered in graffiti.

[fanfic] A Night at the Opera

2010-03-17T08:30:51Z

Author: hermonthis
Title: A Night at the Opera
Fandom: Storm Hawks
Character: Master Cyclonis,
Genre: general
Rating: PG
Words: 410

Notes: I've stopped writing fanfic for a while since I need my health back in real life. I want to sincerely thank midare_shinami for her fucking awesome Master Cyclonis. Made me think of QUEEN'S Bohemian Rhapsody and Marlene Dietrich.

midare_shinami, I fucking love you. ♥

A Night at the Opera

And out of all the women in this half-unexplored world, this one had to be her mother. Master Cyclonis (empress, daughter, monster, child) stared hard at one of the few remaining portraits of the previous Master Cyclonis: Ruler of Cyclonia for seven days. Dark purple eyes pierced the canvas, almost willed it to life.

The Seven Days Queen. Most history books gave her a paragraph more than her father, if only for the mere reason she outlived him a week before her private execution. A born royal on her knees, surrounded by a less than a fistful of government officials and public correspondents.

What else was she known for? Executed for? Her inability to compromise with Lightning Strike, paper-cut hero of the Republic of Atmosia.

Her name. Lakmé. Carried out the dying wish of her Emperor. Rumoured to have been a conspirator of her own. Born heiress. Queen.

Mother of one.

A much younger Cyclonis surveyed the contrasting black and white portrait with keen eyes. The starkness of the figure, the inborn ability to command. The false symmetry of the woman's face and yet the unusual garment of dark flowers over her right shoulder. Maybe poppies. Almost feminine.

(Cyclonis corrected herself and concluded if the cloth was worn by any other woman it would be considered dully feminine. A sign of weakening beauty. But on Her, it became a symbol of strength.)

The child opened her eyes, took a mental step back and inhaled the picture with the entire capacity of her growing teenage lungs. Strength. Power. Status. If pictures captured a fragment of the soul, then she was trying to absorb it.

Master Cyclonis. Her mother. She was there. And her daughter was here.

Here and there, signs of a female. The beaded headdress, the drop pearl necklace, the fitted bodice. A woman, much too young to die and far too mature for her age, she knew who she had to be.

A silent one-way conversation between a parent and child.

Knew who she had to be.

Hours passed. The hazy, red sun began to set upon the Cyclonian Empire. And the daughter was done here. Nothing else could be learned from the picture other than the hunt for the artist chosen to immortalize the selective memory of a mother.

And when the Dark Ace asked his Master Cyclonis what her day consisted of while he was away supervising the inevitable conquer of yet another Atmosian terra, she replied, "Looking at a mirror of myself." He seemed confused, opened his mouth to clarify the riddle. A finger for silence and no questions. There was no puzzle.

ETA: Written March 17, 2010. 12:22 AM. Feeling a bit rusty on the fanfic. Need to touch-up this one later on.

Sunlight/Dreamworld

2009-08-21T04:23:17Z

August 20, 2009. 9:06 PM

Sunlight

And she missed the way he would touch her face, barely lifting her chin with the knuckle of his index finger, laid it gently against her tanned skin as if taking the greatest caution to make himself invisible even as he stood before her. Studying her. Her hair long, almost too long as it hung in straight, black curtains to confine a naked face - everything was laid bare and quiet when he did that.

It was a quiet that demanded something from both of them like the midnight sky desired company from the twinkling stars. Unassuming. Patient. A different sort of question from the public day when they had to verbally answer to professors or colleagues or most importantly, family. Here, in the early spring of a February morning, dressed in the filtered light of his bedroom, she felt reborn.

[139 icons] Cybersix: episode one (Mysterious Shadow)

2009-05-12T01:40:55Z

Credit: hermonthis
Total: 136 icons

[003] Animated icons
[136] Ep 01: Mysterious Shadow

Ep 01: Mysterious Shadow

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[a/mc] fever

2009-04-16T06:30:30Z

Author: hermonthis
Title: Fever
Fandom: Storm Hawks
Characters: Aerrow, Master Cyclonis
Genre: romance, drama
Rating: PG-13
Words: 226

Fever

And this girl is Aerrow’s lover. This girl is his best friend. Cyclonis forcibly keeps her face down and her feet forward to avoid looking into the eyes of her captors and their misplaced mercy. They think they are saving her; they are only delaying the inevitable.

And there she is, Piper, standing in the middle of her comrades like a bride at the altar, waiting for Aerrow's victorious return. And there she is, walking behind the groom, trapped in his lengthened shadow. It is cold there, and the silent heiress wonders if her current thoughts could be labeled as shame. Because it is one thing to blindly follow the man who saved Atmos, but it is another thing to lie down with him willingly.

Cyclonis sees her dead Talons swaying like restless wraiths behind the Storm Hawks, an imaginary sea of impassive faces. A throbbing hum of anger reverberates inside her skull, and if she blinks she may see a Cyclonian spy snuggled between a pair of uniformed shoulders. They were discovered too.

She almost feels sorry for them, her unemotional hallucinations. It is only their heads and shoulders she perceives through her restricted vision, and just enough for her to handle. As if her failure served as the guillotine for them all. It is the fall of the Empire; therefore, the fault is hers.

[prompt] realization

2009-04-15T18:46:02Z

And it comes to you several minutes after you push open the bedroom door and turn the knob for the lights. You realize what he's been trying to say to you without saying it out loud. And you reacted. Badly. Awfully.

I miss you's meant something more to him than you initially thought. You couldn't figure out why his kisses tasted so sweet: emotionally and physically. Still, you don't know why.

And then your eyes widen in surprise when you finally understand that last night's romp in his bed was more than just play. You even felt it then, but didn't think about it until now. You feel tingly all over. Stupid. Maybe happy. He wasn't making out with you - he was making love to you.

You thought you could see it in his eyes, and a part of you didn't want to believe it because it's all too soon - but now it might be real. He said it was real. You don't feel the same.

But now, you realize that you knew, and perhaps you always knew.

[fanfic] paying debts - chapter 42

2009-03-17T07:32:19Z

Author: hermonthis
Genre: suspense, drama
Rating: mature
Summary: Aerrow/Piper - To make a fire, a match must be struck. To fan a flame, it has to be fed. Rejection leads Piper to a bad detour, a replacement for experimentation, and the payment he wants in return.

*NOTE: I normally upload it on FFN but login has been disabled.

Paying Debts

Chapter Forty-Two: Movement

In her head she abandoned her post and headed straight towards the jail cell which held the Dark Ace. In her illusion Piper fumbled with her security pass and gripped the metal bars with her gloved hands – pleading.

Her orange eyes widened in the smallest hope that the Dark Ace would give some relief in regards to the ongoing Talon attack. She wished that his mere presence and personal importance to Master Cyclonis was enough for the Talons to take pity on the Condor and refrain from shooting her team out of the sky.

Piper forgot about the danger this stranger possessed. In her mind she nurtured the idea that the Dark Ace would help the Storm Hawks not because he feared for his life, held captive aboard this ship, but help the Storm Hawks simply because of her.

And the man remained seated on the edge of his bed with his hands on either side of the mattress to steady himself. His back hunched over while he bored holes into the familiar metal walls, he rocked and swayed with the ship as the Talon Destroyers attacked the small ship mercilessly.

A smile tugged at his closed lips; Master Cyclonis did care about him if she sent this many troops to retrieve her champion from the hands of the Atmosians. He wasn’t that surprised to be honest, he knew his skills as an aerial fighter were paramount to the young heiress’s design to control the entire Atmos. Both sides wanted him – he fully expected a confrontation before the Condor sailed into skies more heavily ruled by the Sky Council.

It amused him to predict which side would win, and judge his worth to Master Cyclonis according to the persistence of the Destroyers. Time and again the Storm Hawks proved their capability as skilled fighters and fliers and yet the airship was still jolting from side to side. Where was the pilot’s unparalleled skill? Where was the sharpshooter? Where was Aerrow’s trademark battle cry as he balanced on the wings of his skimmer?

He could feel it in the air, a sense of urgency following a severe lack of playfulness. Battles used to be fun for that Sky Knight, Aerrow. Now look at what that kid was doing, running away from a bunch of bullies. In and out the Condor weaved through her enemies, and the Dark Ace noted with amusement that their flight pattern resembled one on the defensive.

A ship followed her pilot, and a pilot followed his leader. What was wrong, Aerrow? Didn’t want to fight anymore? Can’t stand up to pressure when you’ve got a prisoner on board? What was the matter, kid?

Can’t fight anymore?

[15 icons] film: The Piano

2009-02-10T21:04:35Z

Credit: hermonthis
Total: 15 icons
Film: The Piano

The Piano

1	2	3	4

5	6	7	8

9	10	11	12

13	14	15

[icons/header] cowboy bebop: spike/julia

2009-02-09T20:36:10Z

Credit: hermonthis
Inspiration: "Am I Blue?" by Billie Holiday :D

[06] Spike/Julia icons (variations)
[01] Spike/Julia LJ header
[02] Julia headers

Cowboy Bebop

1	2	3

4	5	6

[17 icons] storm hawks; animated (Five Days)

2009-02-05T19:22:53Z

Credit: hermonthis
Total: 17 icons

[017] Episode 38: five days (animated)

Five Days (animated)

1	2	3	4

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9	10	11	12

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17

eta: If there's a certain scene you would like iconed, I'd be happy to oblige. :)

[poetry] moon of mine

2009-01-07T02:34:21Z

Moon of Mine

My dearest child, Sweet moon of mine
Aged eyes see no fault of thine.

The seasons change, The years blow by
A heart's desire; weary with time.

So in this pearl, this song, this dance.
We learn forgiveness, my second chance.

[47 icons] animated, "five days", master cyclonis

2009-01-06T22:47:36Z

Credit: hermonthis
Total: 47 icons

[010] animated icons
[034] episode 38: five days (crack)
[003] Master Cyclonis (mother & daughter)

animated icons

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Five Days

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Master Cyclonis

1	2	3

Note: This whole "past three generations of MC's were female" theory? Only in my head!canon.

[a/mc] Liar

2009-01-06T17:29:23Z

Author: hermonthis
Title: Liar
Fandom: Storm Hawks
Characters: Aerrow, Master Cyclonis
Genre: romance, drama
Rating: PG
Words: 179

Liar

“Come on,” he says and rises off his knees before hesitating to help her up. He does. Again, the red cloak around his shoulders moves and reminds of her something it is not, something hot and liquid, and she frowns. Reality is back, and it is colder than before.

All intimacy forgotten, Cyclonis wipes her dirtied cheek with the back of her hand and refuses to follow the Sky Knight. She is fully prepared to remain in her castle and die along with it. She has not been outside for several hours, and god knows what state of chaos her nation is in. To be seen escorted outside by Atmosia’s Messiah is a confident way to secure her death sentence.

“Come on,” he repeats, more urgently this time and perhaps just a little concerned. His green eyes are oblivious to the worry in hers, and it takes a moment for him to release the next few words that will spare her further pain. They are leaving before others will come.

“Let’s get out of here. Piper’s waiting for you.”

[18 icons] lucas/cybersix (fuck yeah!)

2009-01-06T00:48:28Z

Credit: hermonthis
Total: 18 icons

animated icons

1 2 3

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Cybersix/Lucas

1 2 3

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*I'm totally fucking proud of these babies. They're my first attempt to make mini-movies. 8D

[a/mc] grave

2009-01-04T16:19:20Z

Author: hermonthis
Title: Grave
Fandom: Storm Hawks
Characters: Aerrow, Master Cyclonis
Genre: romance, drama
Rating: mature
Words: 303

Grave
I. Adv. and adj. Musical term.
In a slow and solemn manner. Used chiefly as a direction. Italian, from Latin gravis, heavy.

II. Adj., grav•er, grav•est.
Somber or dark in hue.

Grave

Because no one wants to die a virgin. Because she has one hour left to live and she might as well use it. Her arms are skinny and cold, and look as if they belong to someone who did not take the time to go outside and play under the sun. Gloved fingers rub against her skin, up against her arms, but he refuses to kiss her. It is too much of a request anyways. His warm breath upon her cheek is the closest moment where their lips might – and could have - touched.

And somewhere, deep inside, he is still vulnerable. As they come closer to each other she starts to see past the glass he surrounds himself in, the inches of invisible barriers that are greatest around his chest and the slanted shield that protects his somber face.

As she lies down on the ground his hands are at her back to soften her fall. His fingers cradle the back of her skull to protect her head. As she closes her eyes and gasps loudly when he finally enters her, she hears echoes of the young, optimistic boy trapped underneath the layer of desperate adulthood. There is time for Cyclonis to laugh quietly to herself with the realization that the boy she knew is still there, and despite his toned body, Aerrow is a messy lover.

He did not want to be like this, just like she does not want to see her homeland descend in honour, but the transformation is already done. Cyclonis wonders about alternate routes, different circumstances in the moments before and in between this pseudo-love, but loses herself with his rhythmic grunts. Sex, she thinks, is fascinating. Moreso with the majority of their clothes on.

Still, it could be much better if it didn't feel so technical.

[a/mc] carillon

2009-01-03T17:37:55Z

Author: hermonthis
Title: Carillon
Fandom: Storm Hawks
Characters: Aerrow, Master Cyclonis
Genre: romance, drama
Rating: PG-13
Words: 215

Carillon

The natural downward turn of her lips, the distinctive black mole on her cheek just below her left eye, the shades of midnight purple and black she wore. She looked at everything but him, and he looked at nothing but her.

Bells everywhere. The rang in harmony, more often in discord, as the rumbling tower made their hearts beat quicker, the final indication of her downfall. It only served to heighten the reality that Cyclonia was falling apart, and so was her master.

And he held her. Blades that no doubt still had blood of her champion on them, blades strapped to his back and tucked away safely as Aerrow placed his arms around her waist and started to waltz her around the empty throne room. His feet were swift, accustomed to the movement in ways the empress of crystals didn’t know - more revelations and more realizations that the Sky Knight could now beat her at every level imaginable.

“I like your suit.” He raised his eyebrows and indicated the elaborate workings of fabric, leather, and buckles that consisted of her altered wardrobe. In return, her eyes glanced up and down his chest and noted the dark red cloak that hung off his shoulders.

She had no other words but to say, “Thank you.”

[a/mc] caustic

2009-01-03T02:46:55Z

Author: hermonthis
Fandom: Storm Hawks
Characters: Aerrow, Master Cyclonis
Genre: general, romance/drama
Rating: PG-13
Words: 306

Prompt: Caustic

Caustic

“You took her away from us,” he said. What should have been acidic and bitter solidified into hardened rock. It wasn't an accusation, but a statement that couldn't be changed. Master Cyclonis looked surprised for the next sentence emitted from his mouth made little sense to her at all.

“You took Piper from us, so I took the Dark Ace from you.”

That wasn't fair. The empress pursed her mouth as her formal reply. True, she had taken Piper and yes, she did change her, but at least the former was still alive. She, on the other hand, had no one – figuratively, the queen ran out of pawns to use, and Cyclonis learned to rely on no one but herself. The loneliness could have overwhelmed a lesser girl, but by this time she accepted the possibility of failure.

The Sky Knight spoke again, and this time she listened closely. The toughened edge in his voice from years of poverty, the pride that cushioned his tongue as the Oracle’s chosen one – things that might have belonged to her, that could have happened to her, but didn’t. Aerrow had seen the world while she remained stationary here in the castle, and supposed she was the reason he became this way. But Aerrow didn't suppose, he already knew.

“I have just one question for you,” he pointed at her with one of his energy blades, and the girl decided that in her last hour she would humour him.

“Shoot.”

An iridescent light twinkled in his green eyes as he chuckled at his enemy’s resolve; a true royal to the end. Before he parted his lips, his mind already decided. Before she spoke, he already knew what to do. There was no doubt about it. And he told her in a deadly whisper,

“Master Cyclonis, do you want to burn?”

[prompt] storm hawks: da/mc interpretion

2009-01-02T06:01:28Z

"You tell me if I'm wrong. I walked you down the aisle the first time. Now, I want to stand next to you for the second."

[fanfic] Solace

2008-12-31T03:47:23Z

Author: hermonthis
Fandom: Cybersix
Title: Solace
Pairing: Cybersix/Lucas
Genre: Romance/Spiritual
Rating: PG
Words: 306

Summary: C6/Lucas. And you have the heart of a human woman after all. Takes place right before "The Final Confrontation."

Solace

And you have the heart of a human woman after all.

The clink of your heels as Lucas takes the slender fingers of your left hand and rotates you on the darkened floor. The comfort you feel hearing the low, rumbling sound of his laughter. There is something so inherently beautiful about him in the evening, with the billowing curtains calling for you against the open window and the shadow of the full moon shining upon his golden head.

The smile on his face makes you wonder if he can hear the imaginary symphony inside your head - the one that comes thundering and tumbling down like a waterfall, Leagues of musical decibels that soften only to be tamed into the soft, velvet kiss of a lover.

You cannot help but smile, for this will be your last night on this earth and you are determined to make it last for as long as he holds you in his arms. For you, this is the end - but for him, it is so much more. A memory that will surpass all fantasy because this is real, because you are real, and these few several hours surrounding midnight are all yours.

Your execution is at sunrise. A combination of sorrow and joy gather in the pit of your stomach, sweeter than bittersweet chocolate, and yet you are grateful for that pain. Everything you have lived for these past few years, everything you have known with the help of this man, you accept and welcome. And despite your short life you are grateful.

There is nothing more. You only have to live. Your lover breathes deeply, he closes his eyes before opening them again, and says,

"The world is handsome."

You nod and reply that yes - Yes, it is. The world is beautiful. And you are too.

[fanfic] The Graciousness of Your Feet

2008-12-30T17:23:04Z

Author: hermonthis
Title: The Graciousness of Your Feet
Category: Fairy Tales/Folklore
Fandom: 1001 Arabian Nights
Genre: Romance
Rating: PG
Words: 275

Summary: How Shahryar starts to love Scheherazade.

The Graciousness of Your Feet

And tonight, she will not die. By your hand, by your choice, you remain still. Pillows piled higher than the heads sacrificed for the throne prop your gilded back, and your paper-thin heart awaits the soft rustle of the omnipresent footfalls that tells you she is near.

A king’s intuition says Scheherazade is smiling underneath her twinkling, purple veil, but for all your knowledge of forgiveness and betrayal cannot recognize that her lips part only in reaction to your own. It is graciousness, you reason, that lets you hold out your hand for her to take as she climbs the seven steps up to the bed for tonight’s adventure.

Tomorrow, there are hands. The creases and dimples on her palms are so numerous one cannot tell where one line starts and the other ends; so many rivers in a land thirsty for new life. Long painted fingernails scratch the thinness of the organza and your ears scream with memories of women in silk. And you think this Queen of Persia is the last of these women, and the beginning of you.

There is freedom in her words, illuminated by the light in her eyes which reflects the lamps of this room. You know as well as she there is more truth in her stories than any artist’s picture. It is because you start to believe - and while you still need this storyteller to pass the days and nights in timeless succession to carefully stitch the wounds your first love tore open, the Vizier’s daughter holds her life towards you like a cup of water collected in a banana leaf.

And you really do believe.

[fanfic] Passacaglia

2008-12-30T17:13:24Z

Author: hermonthis
Fandom: Storm Hawks
Characters: Aerrow, Master Cyclonis
Genre: romance, drama, general
Rating: PG-13
Words: 230

Summary: A/MC. Corrosive beginnings precede an unknown end. Warnings for a darker!Aerrow.

Passacaglia

“You killed my best knight.” The first words out of her mouth, the blank stare that suffocates the disbelief hidden inside her chest; the boy whom she cannot accept as a man holds his blades downward by his sides and provides no reply.

A standstill, a moment of dim light and creeping darkness as he remains two paces away from the stone archway and watches her slide off her metallic throne to greet him. Everyone is abandoning them. She is not sorry for her loss of the Dark Ace. In some ways, the girl who is now a young woman retains some of her teenage innocence. The tragedy is Cyclonis does not know it. He stands at the ready and thinks either she kept her head in the crystal clouds too long or –

“I knew this was coming.”

He has known her for years and watched her grow. Such indifference for a child who came to the throne at the impressionable age of fourteen, what a lack of passion for one who swore one day to rule the Atmos. For the first time since their meeting in the black castle, he speaks. A smirk that is all too familiar slides onto his face and makes it home there. The girl almost gets a shiver down her spine – almost. At least she thinks she should.

“Oh?”

And the primeval bells of the citadel ring.

* * *

Passacaglia:
(Italian, from Spanish passacalle, or pasacalle: “street song”), musical form of continuous variation in 3/4 time; and a courtly dance. The dance, as it first appeared in 17th-century Spain, was of unsavoury reputation and possibly quite fiery. In the French theatre of the 17th and 18th centuries it was a dance of imposing majesty. Little is known of the actual dance movements and steps. Musically the passacaglia is nearly indistinguishable from the contemporary chaconne; contemporary writers called the passacaglia a graver dance, however, and noted that it was identified more frequently with male dancers.
Source: Britannica Online Encyclopedia

[fanfic] The Tragedy of the Second Child

2008-12-29T17:25:19Z

Author: hermonthis
Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender
Pairing: Ozai/Ursa
Genre: romance, family
Rating: Teen
Words: 937

Summary: And sometimes, she loves this man who is too blind to see alternate truths. Their daughter’s birth brings about the end of her mother.

The Tragedy of the Second Child

When he first meets her, he thinks her ancient name is the only thing that supports her pretty frame.

A smart mind, a sweet mouth, and a soft face should not, and does not belong to a daydreaming scholar. His young heart cannot understand, and for the next four years still cannot comprehend that something so beautiful can grow out of a life of relative poverty. He is right in thinking there is remnants of royal blood in her. And so he takes her name and her family back into the good graces of the royal family, and marries her.

He wonders what she thinks of his heritage, worries whether she retains any doubts as he shares his bed. After all, the life of an aristocrat must different greatly from than of an almost working-class girl, the oldest and only daughter of a wealthy merchant. The next descendant of the Avatar.

Hot blood comes to his temples quickly, and despite her best attempts to sooth his temperamental outbursts of paternal favouritism with her cool, rain-like hands, all she can do is fold her fingers into the shape of a temple and bow her head. Life in the palace is not what she imagines it to be, and it hurts her heart to admit the experience holds little promise of getting better.

The life of the second prince and his Cinderella wife catch the attention of the court when Ursa declares her pregnancy. Their first child. For some unfathomable reason, Ozai is furious with his brother, General Iroh of the Fire Nation military, despite her in-law’s best wishes for his first niece or nephew. Once, while they are sitting in the gardens taking tea, the man she welcomes as her brother expressed his aged desire to mend the rift between brothers.

Two small confessions. Their mother, Fire Lady Illah, was also a firebender. Back in her day, her blood was considered foreign to the throne. His late wife, a princess no one remembers, who lives in the bright eyes of his only son.

That night Ozai rages at her for daring to bring up such a subject. It is painful for him to talk about siblings, and what does it matter? Ursa suffers no brother or sister. She only has her peace-loving grandfather. But look at the wonderful life he brought her into, does she take all of this for granted?

The princess wrings her hands and swallows her tongue. Sometimes, she loves this man who is too blind to see alternate truths. Ozai turns his golden eyes upon her, full of shadows and tormented by monsters, and says maybe their firstborn should be an only child, too.

Their daughter’s birth brings about the end of her mother. In a land that cannot see a woman’s loneliness despite her privilege, the arrival of her daughter makes Ursa cry. This is not the world she wants her baby to grow up in; this is not the grandfather she wants her child to be named after.

Ozai holds his infant daughter like he used to hold his son. It is painfully obvious to them both which child they each favour, and which child will replace them in the royal fire nation timeline. As the years grow, caresses lessen, and now the only thing that binds them together is the love for their children. For the sake of forgetting something that once might have been love between a man and a woman, Ursa is the first one to announce her transformed life is the result of an arranged marriage.

She does not write it down or shout it. Instead, she whispers it into his ear just before retiring to bed. It is Ozai’s turn to take care of his daughter. Between them, it comes as no surprise when she moves back into her former chambers in the palace – closer to Zuko, and father away from them.

It is not he who misunderstands, it is she. He loves his title in a way she has never understood, and his ambition to prove to his father the child of his old age is more than just a waste of hot breath. In his confusion, he places the blame on the mother. To choose one baby over another, to isolate one child and break up his perfect royal family – it hurts him in ways he does not know. It is not envy nor is it anger, but Ozai identifies this emotion as a deep, profound sorrow.

His daughter is asleep. The only female grandchild to Fire Lord Azulon, and the last baby his estranged wife will give him. And in that thought, he immediately decides it is a blessing Azula did not inherit the sadness in her mother’s eyes, a realization that comes several years too late.

He will attach himself to this child like Ursa does to Zuko, he will raise her in his likeness and she will learn to love the throne. She will be everything her mother is not, he will spare her the years of subtle treacheries (memories of making love to Ursa in their bed) and he will teach his young daughter, yet to learn how to walk, to become one of the best firebenders in the world.

And he thinks that with this sleeping baby in his arms, the curse of the second child will be broken. For several generations it is sons, not daughters, whose decisions shape the world. He will break the chain and release the royal family from the curse of foreign women. Azula is different; she is his.

And he thinks that is good.

[84 icons] pixar: up, wall-e

2008-12-19T19:36:14Z

Credit: hermonthis
Total: 84 icons

[39] UP: trailer icons
[45] WALL-E: Burn-e short, X-mas icons, A Robot's Tale (illustrations)

(Psst! I started a fan comm for Pixar's next film, "Up!" It's called 78balloons, hope to see you there!)

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Screencaps for "A Robot's Tale" goes to momorina

[brainstorming] storm hawks: "paying debts"

2008-12-16T06:57:45Z

There's a chance and I will take it. This desire I can't kill.
Take my heart, please don't break it. I will crawl to your foothill.
I'm frightened but I'm coming. Please baby, please lay still.
Oh no, oh no. Not coming for the kill.

(Daniel Lanois, The Messenger)
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic9e3AzXrlY

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Please forgive me if I seem naive
I would never want to force your hand
But please understand, I'd be good for you
...I'd be surprisingly good for you.

(Madonna & Jonathan Pryce, I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You)
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6HE34gMYKI

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Come to me now and lay your hands over me.
Even if it's a lie, say it will be alright,
and I shall believe.

(Sheryl Crow, I Shall Believe)
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbFI0HV4rSk

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It was a Monday when my lover told me,
"Never pay the reaper with love only."
What could I say to you except, "I love you."
And "I'd give my life for yours."

(Bif Naked, Lucky)
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r_AGKjGpTE

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How do you numb your skin
After the warmest touch?
How do you slow your blood
After the body rush?

(Jann Arden, Insensitive)
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaSDEUITIfk

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