The SSSS Scriptorium

[LooNEY_DAC]

Bent and Twisted
A “Stand Still. Stay Silent”/“Avatar: the Last Airbender” crossover fanfic
Part 13
Complete Links to Complete Links post
Prior part

Spoiler: The Third Apocrypha • show

“I fear the blame for that lies with me.” The others turned to look at Onni Hotakainen when he made the bald statement. “I warned her too often about what had happened to the Life-Benders when they first announced themselves to the world, so when Tuuri found that she had the power to Bend emotions in both animals and people, she chose to hide it and deny even the possibility that Spirit-Bending could exist. But it does, and she is a true Spirit-Bender.”

Reynir was looking confused again. “But... I thought you got closer to the Spirit World when you moved past your passions?”

Onni smiled. “Not quite. You get closer to the Spirit World when you move past your self, which usually means letting go of the passions tied to this self. You get closer to the Spirit World not via emotionlessness, but via empathy and opening yourself to others, even at your own expense. Tuuri has tried to run the other way ever since she discovered her abilities, trying to appear as wrapped up in herself as possible, which has hindered her Bending.”

Reynir’s eyes crossed. Then he shut them, putting his fingers to his temples. “So... controlling Spirits and the emotions of others only works when you’re empathizing with them, and thus most likely not to control them?” Tuuri smirked a little at his naïveté.

“Not ‘only works’,” Onni corrected. “Works best. Besides, there are limits on how far a Spirit-Bender can Bend, and any individual with good self-control can overcome the passions that are Bent. Consider a soldier: Bending their fear to the utmost will cause some or perhaps most to flee, but the most battle-tried will not, for they have mastered such fears before.”

“Then how did Tuuri prevail just now?”

“Spirits and animals are far more susceptible to her Bending, for they have no self-control; besides, for all their expertise at whipping up fear in others, those Death-Shades had never felt it for themselves before.” Onni locked eyes with Tuuri. “Also, Tuuri exerted herself far more than she ever had before, both Bending their Lust away and Bending Fear into them.”

“Are those all a Spirit-Bender can Bend?”

“No,” Tuuri answered in a small and quiet voice. It was the first time she’d spoken since Onni entered the bunk-room. “I can also Bend Anger and Anticipation; with Fear and Lust, those form the Wheel of Spirit-Bending.”

“Did you Bend the Tribunal’s apprehension that your Exile was certain?” Onni’s voice was stern.

“Yes,” Tuuri admitted, almost in a whisper. “And I did my best to Bend your fear away, so you wouldn’t worry about us. I didn’t think they’d Exile Lalli as well, but I couldn’t stop it.”

“It was as it was always going to be,” Onni replied calmly. “And speaking of Lalli, I must go and bring him to join Sigrun and Emil in the Temple.” He turned to Mikkel. “While I’m doing that, you can take the opportunity to explain your Bending to them, before someone else does.”

Mikkel blinked in surprise. “By ‘someone else’, do you mean...”

Onni nodded and left the bunk-room.

“Well, then,” Mikkel said thoughtfully, “it seems I have some explaining of my own to do...”

Spoiler: Authorial Notes • show

Blah, blah, blah. Exposition in endless parade.

Hopefully the next part will be a bit less sloggy.

[Buteo]

LooNEY, don't forget that some of your readers are not at all familiar with the Avatar universe; these passages of exposition are as good as any action sequence to me.
And from you, they are really good.

[LooNEY_DAC]

LooNEY, don't forget that some of your readers are not at all familiar with the Avatar universe; these passages of exposition are as good as any action sequence to me.
And from you, they are really good.

The irony is that the stuff in this part is a partial explanation of what's going on to the A:tLA fans, because they have no clue on this, either.

*Waits for Lazy8 to excoriate me for this*

[LooNEY_DAC]

Double-posting for update.

Bent and Twisted
A “Stand Still. Stay Silent”/“Avatar: the Last Airbender” crossover fanfic
Part 14
Complete Links to Complete Links post
Prior part

Spoiler: Judges • show

The weird green mist swirled in an oddly viscous manner around the two boys as they walked through the forest of mushrooms towering over them. Though far from familiar to the boys, this was yet not the Spirit World. Above them, they could just make out the vast bulk of their home-world looming in the sky overhead, even through the convolutions of green around and above.

“Why on Earth did you bring that thing?” The voice sounded strange, both linguistically and phonetically. It was still Lalli, but speaking at least an octave higher than usual, and in a weird, sing-song language filled with liquid v’s and w’s and l’s and r’s, utterly unlike the Svensk tongue or that of the Finn’s-Land.

“Sigrun said we needed a mascot; you’re just lucky this gal was strutting around the Temple like she owned the place, or I’d have had to go back and get Kitty.” Emil stopped short at the similarly altered sound of his own voice, almost dropping the hen he cradled in his arms. “I understood you,” he breathed in shock. Then, he added, “What language are we speaking?”

Seeing that his friend was about to freak out, Lalli walked over to the Svensk Fire-Bender, put a hand on his shoulder, and shook. “No time to panic. Only got two hours. Need to find the people here.”

Emil shook himself. “Right.” Then he grinned. “But you have to admit it’ll be pretty weird for us to have a real conversation.”

Lalli essayed his familiar half-smile. “Yup.”

They hadn’t gone much farther when the two boys almost fell over two small people crumpled into little balls of misery in a small clearing. To be fair, these others were dressed in exotic robes that yet blended into the surrounding ‘vegetation’--it was all fungi, hence the quote marks--almost perfectly.

The natives had big bald heads and big liquid-brown eyes that almost made them look like oversized infants. However, they expressed themselves in a fairly adult manner, extending a courteous welcome to the two strangers to their home and explaining why, though Emil and Lalli would be given a warm welcome in the nearby village, the two natives could not accompany them: they had been Exiled.

“I can take you where you need to go.” The voice was calm and self-assured. The speaker was, in a word, regal. Despite having the same semi-infantile features as his fellows, this was one man no one would mistake for anything other than what he was: a king.

The other natives froze for a moment in astonishment before abasing themselves at the king’s feet. “Great Ta! Mighty Ta!”

A kind smile played around Ta’s lips as he looked at his former subjects. “Rise, my friends.” They did, and Ta continued, “How are you?”

One (was his name Oru?) answered, “As well as can be expected, Mighty Ta; but we still have not found another place where the Life-Plants grow.”

Ta sighed. “I did not expect you would, though not by any fault on your part.” He turned to the visitors. “I greet you, pilgrims from the Great Protector. You have been expected, though some had begun to doubt your advent.”

It transpired that there was (or had been? Emil wasn’t sure) another human among them who had occasional Vision and had foretold their arrival. This was a good thing, because there had just been an ecological catastrophe: the Sun had destroyed the entire harvest of the one crop the natives absolutely needed in order to survive, which only grew in one small place.

The king took the two visitors to this place, the Place of Hidden Waters, and the boys looked around, though they were hampered by a strong, sickening, and somehow familiar smell, though neither boy could identify it then. After a few basic deductions which, though useless, greatly impressed Ta with their clarity, the boys retreated to a place with better air.

They had less than an hour left of their original two, and neither wanted to find out what would happen if they weren’t on time in returning.

Emil put his head in his hands. “Why did Sigrun send me here? I’m useless for this kind of thing, but it’s right up Reynir’s alley.”

Lalli punched Emil in the shoulder. “Reynir’s not here; we are, so we’ll succeed. We have to.”

Emil closed his eyes and gathered his composure. “OK. Since you’re a Water-Bender, can you feel just what those springs are bringing up into the plants?”

“Yep, but we already know the plants just take the one thing they need and make it something these guys can process.” Emil’s face fell. Lalli continued, “Good idea though. If any of the plants were still alive, I could feel what they were taking and what they were making.”

A series of squawking sounds pulled their attention to the hen, which was doing what came naturally: laying an egg. Once she was finished, Lalli deftly grabbed it while Emil pacified the hen.

“Why did you do that? And what is that strange stone?” Ta asked.

“It’s an egg, Your Majesty,” Emil explained. “It’s how their kind breed. Were it fertilized, it would eventually hatch--the chick inside would peck its way out. We grabbed it because it isn’t fertilized, and we didn’t want it to go rotten.” He froze in sudden realization of what he’d just said. “Lalli!” he cried so sharply that the other boy almost dropped the egg he was holding. “That’s it! That’s the smell--rotten eggs!”

It took most of the rest of their time, but they found that a truly minute bit of scrambled egg was all that was needed to restore a native to health, so the one egg the hen would lay daily would suffice for the whole village. Ta expressed the natives’ gratitude and confirmed that the two Exiles would be brought back to the village.

Ta spoke again. “And now, we must go to the Hall of the Ancient Ones, where you are expected...”

Spoiler: Authorial Notes • show

So, did I make the rip-off blatant enough here?

I’m not sure how I could have.

In other news, we’re very close to the end here, so I’m just going to push on until it’s done.

[LooNEY_DAC]

And another update, though slightly delayed.

Bent and Twisted
A “Stand Still. Stay Silent”/“Avatar: the Last Airbender” crossover fanfic
Part 15
Complete Links to Complete Links post
Prior part

Spoiler: The Second Book of Chronicles • show

Emil and Lalli almost hadn’t made it back, because carrying a loaded stretcher cross-country is even more difficult than it sounds. Of course, they’d had almost a dozen helpers from the village, so that sped things up; nevertheless, they almost hadn’t made it back. Just as they had emerged from the Portal with their cumbersome treasure, the Portal made at such cost had flickered and died.

Ta had led the two boys to the Hall of the Ancient Ones, a cavern carved into the rock of a local mountain which served as a massive cenotaph where jewels glinted from the walls and ceiling; the stretcher and its bearers awaited them in one of its passages, and they had set off for the Portal immediately. Once the group had reached the Portal, however, the bearers had handed over their burden to the boys and presumably headed home.

Emil looked over to where Sigrun reclined; the youth was more than half afraid that the Earth-Bender (severely drained already from creating the Portal using the knowledge she’d gained from the Elder Sigrun’s necklace) had followed her mentor into the next world, since the Portal’s death and Trond’s expiration--just after explaining what the necklace was and how Sigrun must use it--were so horribly similar. She cracked one eye open and grinned weakly at him. “Be fine. Y’should see t’other guy.”

Reynir babbled something in his weird language, bringing Emil’s attention to the fact that all the others were in the Portal Room now. When Lalli spat something at Tuuri, Emil frowned in disappointment. He’d enjoyed actually conversing with his friend, and there was so much he’d wanted to discuss with him now that the urgency of their mission had passed. They had been in the sky itself! It was nearly beyond any of Emil’s wildest flights of fancy.

Eventually, Tuuri got to translating what Reynir had said initially: “Don’t worry, Emil. Sigrun just needs rest, but she’ll be fine.”

Onni barked out something, glaring at Mikkel. Tuuri translated again: “We’ve heard that there are no Benders of any sort in the Mark of Denn, but that really isn’t the case. Is it, Mikkel?”

Mikkel cleared his throat a few times before a sharp look from Onni had him finally admitting, “Actually, I am a Bender, but instead of one of the Elements, or Life, or Spirit, I Bend Senses.” He spoke first in the language of the Island of Life-Benders, then repeated himself in his native tongue.

“By which you mean Minds,” Onni corrected, Tuuri translating near-simultaneously.

“By which I mean Sight, Scent, Touch, or Hearing, or combinations thereof,” Mikkel riposted. “I believe those are more commonly referred to as ‘Senses’, are they not? I cannot interfere with the processes of reason in another’s mind except via Bending their Senses, so ‘Mind-Bender’ seems a decided misnomer.”

“Yes, I’m sure none of your Bending victims ever lost their reason due to you,” Onni snapped back sarcastically enough that even those who didn’t speak the language he was using felt its bite.

“Not intentionally,” Mikkel said. Then he turned to the others and said, “This was, of course, the reason for my Exile: I used my Bending to pull pranks, and one went awry enough that I had to pay the price for it.”

“But that is only part of your reason for seeking Exile, Mikkel.”

Mikkel turned and stared in astonishment at the shrouded form lying on the stretcher Emil and Lalli had brought back from their travels, which sat up, still encased in wrappings very much like the mummies of the ancient times. It spoke again.

“You are wondering why you are here and who I am. Almost a century ago, the Balance of Bending tilted too far, and my predecessor, the Avatar Nguyen, was hurled into the Spirit Realm and beyond; it has taken a very long time for the Avatar Spirit to return so that it could be reborn in me. Now, with the emergence of the other Bending Wheels, all is in place for the Balance to be Restored, and I have emerged to resume my place as Avatar. You have each been Called here, four representing the Old Wheel of Bending and three representing the New Wheels, that you might be my tutors--and friends. One of you has already known me well, but to the others, I say this: I am Michael Madsen, Mikkel’s twin brother, and I am the Avatar.”

Spoiler: Authorial Notes • show

Please note: Michael actually is the Avatar.

I know: it took me long enough.

[Lazy8]

I have a thing!

*flees*

[Róisín]

Windfighter: that's a clever twist!

LooNEY: this is interesting. And I agree with Buteo; the exposition is useful to me, since I have only ever seen one episode of Avatar myself.

Lazy8: I remember the idea of a Roman gladiator AU being floated some while back; glad you did something with it. And that you remembered the lead! Sigrun as Spartacus, hmmmm....

[LooNEY_DAC]

Lazy8: I remember the idea of a Roman gladiator AU being floated some while back; glad you did something with it. And that you remembered the lead! Sigrun as Spartacus, hmmmm....

Lazy8 and Aliax have been discussing Lazy8's doing the story in AO3 comments back-and-forth on their fics for a while now; I'm also glad it's come to fruition.

[Róisín]

I think I have missed most of that discussion, will have to see if I can find and read it.

[wavewright62]

Flying visit to drop off chap. 24 of the Reynir superhero fic:  http://archiveofourown.org/works/6610714/chapters/21616964

Some growing competence, and some lack thereof.

[Róisín]

Good chapter!

[Elleth]

A quick thing for the Femslash February Music Box challenge over on tumblr:

Compromise (Agneta/her Dalahästen colleague, Teens)
Agneta is stuck at home after one close call, now she’s having one of a different kind.

[Lazy8]

I have a new story for the song challenge, and I'm really satisfied this time!

Dangerous Game
Summary: AU: Emil has been a space gladiator for several years, but he is playing a dangerous game, as he discovers when he realize he has to fight against someone he knew long ago.
Rating: T
Genre: Sci-Fi/Tragedy

Inspired by the song Dangerous Game by 3 doors down.

and since it's a Windy-story I guess it's not too much of a spoiler to say that someone dies in it...

Are gladiator AUs a new fad now? Anyway, I was listening to the song as I was reading, and you really managed to capture the overall feel of it - and as a synesthete who often has trouble wrapping my head around other people's song visualizations, I do not make that statement likely. Nice!

(Also I kinda want to go and somehow mash our AUs together now...)

[Windfighter]

Are gladiator AUs a new fad now? Anyway, I was listening to the song as I was reading, and you really managed to capture the overall feel of it - and as a synesthete who often has trouble wrapping my head around other people's song visualizations, I do not make that statement likely. Nice!

(Also I kinda want to go and somehow mash our AUs together now...)

...apparently they are. Sorry, I missed the discussion about you other people writing gladiator AUs! (Although mine is Space gladiator, totally different ;P)

and thank you for the nice words You can see why I'm really satisfied with it!

(also, you do that, I bet it'd be fun!)

[LooNEY_DAC]

Oh, look. Another update.

Bent and Twisted
A “Stand Still. Stay Silent”/“Avatar: the Last Airbender” crossover fanfic
Part 16
Complete Links to Complete Links post
Prior part

Spoiler: Proverbs • show

Lalli didn’t like the Fox Spirits nosing around the Air Temple, but Emil seemed to be the only one who noticed the effect those Spirits had on his friend.

Sigrun was either recuperating in deep slumber or setting her recovery back by making more and ever more memory stones like those in the Elder Sigrun’s necklace; her stated goal was to make a set for all seven Tutors to the Avatar, though Emil disliked how she was putting her eventual recovery at risk in order to do so. Either way, she was too caught up in other matters to notice Lalli’s uneasiness whenever a Fox Spirit slinked by.

Tuuri and Onni were going back and forth to the Spirit Realm like two yo-yos; sometimes the Fox Spirits accompanied them, but just as often they didn’t. Emil was starting to feel rather annoyed on his friend’s behalf that they ignored him so, but Lalli himself seemed quite used to this treatment.

Mikkel and his brother had a rather thorny relationship, when it wasn’t outright contentious. Mikkel claimed not to believe Michael’s claim of being the Avatar, though sometimes even Reynir could tell Mikkel was lying about it.

Reynir. The youth from the Island of Life-Benders was another complication in the net around Lalli: alike but opposites, in a way that reminded Emil far too closely of his own relations with Lalli; the only reassurance there was how Lalli barely tolerated Reynir. To be sure, Lalli respected Reynir’s abilities, but just couldn’t stand his foolishness otherwise.

All of this was exacerbated by the fact that they were stuck on the Air Temple as the Air-Benders that inhabited its hallowed halls took it to what they called “the Lake of Awakening” (which also confused Emil, as Michael seemed perfectly awake already to him). They had been decent enough to bring the vehicle that had sheltered their six visitors along, but said visitors had almost nothing to do, and were beginning to get a bit stir-crazy.

The Fox Spirits had begun nosing around the Air Temple a day or so after their journey began. Emil wasn’t sure where they came from, but the others seemed unsurprised by their advent, and, with the noticeable exception of Lalli, unperturbed.

One of the so-close-to-identical-as-made-no-difference Air-Benders entered the space the visitors had been allotted and said portentously, “We have arrived.”

*

They had disembarked at the entrance to a gargantuan Temple to the Avatar, and Michael had said, “It is here that I must assume the Mantle of the Avatar by entering the Avatar State; for this, I shall need your aid.”

There were people in the Temple; they were actually more of the folk Emil and Lalli had met in that other place. Michael said something-or-other about what they actually were, but it went right over Emil’s head; or at least it did then.

There were certain portions of the Temple where only the Avatar and the Templars were permitted, and the severity of the tones in which this was said convinced Emil that it was Important.

“Hey! If you come with me, we can heal Sigrun up right now!”

Emil looked up from his doodlings to see a Fox Spirit standing at the door leading from the sleeping area to the rest of the vehicle, its body tensed in readiness to be off. Something about it was utterly convincing, so Emil put his materials aside and followed after it.

They went into the Temple, and through a byzantine labyrinth until they debouched into a wide and ornately bedecked corridor. The Fox Spirit kept sprinting ahead and slinking back, urging Emil ever onwards.

Emil stopped as he realized where the corridor led. “I’m... not supposed to be here,” he whispered, but the thought of Sigrun well again meant he could not make himself turn back; nor would he go forward, as to do so would betray his hosts. He struggled within himself over what to do for a long moment, the Fox Spirit ahead of him egging him onwards, but eventually, he shut his eyes and turned around, though his heart screamed in anguish within him.

Ahead of him was a dark figure. How he knew the androgynous form was that of a woman, Emil didn’t know, but he knew it all the same. His footsteps slowed as he approached her; she was standing before one of the innumerable side-passages off the corridor, utterly motionless. She was waiting for him.

“She will die.” The words carried both a cold certainty and a horrible glee.

Emil’s stomach turned; he was certain who the dark figure meant, but asked anyway, “Who will?”

“The red-haired Earth-Bender,” was the measured reply. “The Gnorr Earth-Bender who dared to thwart me. She will die, and never will she be gathered back to the bosom of her people, and I will hold her soul in torments indescribable.”

“No,” Emil whispered. Then, louder, he said, “No!”

“And you will aid me in this, Fire-Bender,” the dark figure continued as though Emil hadn’t spoken. “You killed my Sonew; now you shall take his place, or you shall die. But the red-head shall die regardless.”

“NO!” Emil shouted, trying to summon the fire within him as he leapt at the dark form. But his hands met nothingness, no matter how he flailed in his rage; and a horrible, deathly chill fell over him, smothering his fires.

Emil was not aware of breaking away from the Dark Spirit, or of running pell-mell down the corridor; black despair had engulfed him in a sea of hopelessness, and when Lalli found him, the Svensk was curled up into a sobbing ball of misery near their base camp...

Spoiler: Authorial Notes • show

Sometimes things just work, without your even attempting to plan them that way.

Lalli distrusting Fox Spirits is, of course, because of Puppy-Fox, but it fits just about perfectly with the perfidious and villainous fox in the source of this last bit of plotting.

More is coming, hopefully soon.

The end is near.