Flamio, my good hotmen! (After all, what other greeting would you expect from a crazy Avatard who's insanely in love with all things Firenation?)

Note: I was formerly known as MinstrelofThelossea, but I decided I needed a name that was more associated with the characters I mainly write about (Zuko, Iroh, Ursa, Ozai, ect). Minstrels sing songs and tell stories, and that's what I'm doing too--just not in person. And my stories are mostly about the Firenation. Thus, Minstrel of Fire.

By the way, my new avatar was made by TrueThinker! ^^

So, time for a page update! I'm a college student who loves to write, and now I've even started writing about my own characters and worlds (finally, since I've been building 'em for years), outside of fanfiction.

But now, let me tell you a bit more about my particular brand of Avatar-loving insanity.

My initial favorite character, and the reason I started loving Avatar in the first place, is Zuko. I love his honor, angst, and dorkiness. But you know...something very strange has happened.

Now I had no intention of becoming an Ozai fan(girl). No, really. But I think I may have tried too well to understand why Zuko was so determinedly loyal to his father (though in a completely different way). So when the internal butterflies happened regarding the Fire Lord, I fought against them. Hard. ("Ack! NO, I will not start swooning over poor Zuko's evil father!") ...I lost.

I still love Zuko, don't worry. I also love Ozai, especially his young self, and that's who I mostly write about--along with young Ursa. Seriously, Urzai has become my One True Pairing. I'm at least as passionate about it as the Zutarians. ;) Which is odd, because while I do like Zutara, my other/secondary OTP is Maiko. I love Mai. Maybe 'cause I'm a goth girl, and that's what they said Mai was supposed to be the Avatar version of on The Drill's commentary (I think?).

Besides Zuko and Ozai, I love Iroh, Ursa, Mai, and even the Gaang (Sokka has a special place in my heart). Recently I've started wanting to write fics about the current generation. Maybe a postar story, or one set in the Water Tribe. I loved the Northern Water Tribe as soon as I saw it. Palaces of ice amidst the ocean and the moon? I'd totally be there...if the Fire Nation hadn't usurped my heart. ;)

One quick note:

For some reason FFnet has elected to get rid of all solitary hyphens, or turn the double hyphens (also known as a dash, oddly enough) into single ones. Which irks me to no end, as I was using said punctuation mark to make spaces between the verses of my poems and the sections of my fanfics. The fanfics are all right, since I use that horizontal line thing too, but now the poems I've uploaded look like they're all one long verse, which they are not. Well, I may try to fix that at some point, but in the future I'll be using the horizontal line to break sections.

Stories I dream of writing eventually:

More poems in those two collections of mine (with non-erasable section breaks, this time...).

The rest of Blood and Flame and Fire lilies.

A sequel to the above-mentioned! In yet another mission (voluntary, this time) involving political intrigue, our favorite couple are impelled to take the art of disguise and subterfuge to a new level...

A post war Urzai fic (I smell redemption... -breathes deeply- Mmm...)

Several AUs, such as:

One in which they're all fire spirits. Prince Ozai gets batwings(!) and Ursa gets mothwings, which is awesome because I like to draw them that way, as you'll see if you visit my devart (BrushstrokesofFire).

A Vampire Knight crossover. Ursa is all in favor of her father's efforts to make peace between humans and the vampire race (also known as all the firebenders), but when the mysterious sons of Blood Lord Azulon grace a mostly-human party with their presence, Ursa may have to watch that pretty neck of hers. (No reason... Just because I love Prince Ozai with fangs...?)

And last but not least, I am collaborating with the amazing TrueThinker to write a young Urzai modern AU. It's called Almost Famous and you can find it on her page. Ursa is a fashion-savvy party connoisseur, and Ozai is awesomely cool--as usual, but this time with a motorcycle! ^^ So, yeah. Go read it!

Warning! Minor spoilers for The Last Airbender!

And now, having just seen The Last Airbender yesterday, I have to say: I loved it! Sure it wasn't perfect, and personally I might have changed some things. But still, it was AWESOME. The Northern Water Tribe was beautiful (as always). The Fire Nation was gorgeous, better in some ways than I imagined it. That golden air and the mansions high on hillsides...it looked like Ember Island, which is my favorite Fire Nation place ever (and that's saying something).

The changes in pronunciation took some getting used to, but I decided I really liked it because in a way, it gave all of Avatar that certain Eastern mystery I tend to associate with the Fire Nation (especially pre-series). I'm tempted to start referring to Iroh as "EE-rroh" now. XD

Speaking of whom, Iroh was indescribably awesome and delightful. I loved him. Zuko's scenes were really cool, especially the agni kai flashback (my favorite sequence in Season One). That backstory of his was just as heartwrending/angsty as always. The Storm episode is what made me love Zuko and thus Avatar, so it has a special place in my heart.

And have I mentioned how awesome it was that Zuko had that portrait from The Beach?!? I love that episode, so I was very happy to see them referencing it.

And Ozai... Well, I do miss his long hair. But from the moment Cliff Curtis appeared on screen, I was blown away. It's amazing how his portrayal gets a lot closer than the series does to how I characterize Ozai's younger self! o.O Somehow I'm less afraid of people saying the way I write him is farfetched, now. Bring on the classy attitude!

Now I want to see the movie again!

Illustrations I've done for my fanfiction:

With Hope Rekindled:

Chapter 1 illustration (This one is of Iroh and Zuko in the Agni Kai arena, just after the latter has fainted into his uncle's arms. The words near the bottom of the page are a quote from the story--I like to add them sometimes to my picturs. In case you can't read it, it says "Don't let me lose another son!" Unfortunately, I couldn't remember what Iroh's beard looked like at this point, so I drew it more like it is toward the end of season 2. But anyway, I'm pretty happy with it even so. Hope you are, too.)

Chapter 2 illustration (As I remember, I might have been thinking of the part where Zuko first wakes up while drawing this one. Poor thing--I love drawing him with his bandage over one eye. Also, I'm even happier with how this one came out, though of course I don't mean to brag or anything lol. Hope you like.)

Chapter 3 illustration (This is when Zuko wakes up from his nightmare. It has another quote from the story--"I failed him! I was weak and I failed!" Poor thing... Then the other words beneath that say "Fire-Haunted Dreams," which is a phrase i came up with and which will probably appear later in the story. Here I guess it could be counted as the title of the drawing. Btw, the reason the link says "illus4" instead of "illus3" is that it's the fourth one I drew--I don't always draw them in order, lol.)

And here is the link to my deviantart account, where I post a lot of fanart that isn't exactly related to specific fanfics (at least not so far), but it tells you basically how I imagine the characters, or puts the characters in similar situations to my fanfics.

Inspired by TrueThinker, I created a playlist for Blood and Flame and Fire Lilies, so here it is so far.

Ch. 1 (Spectacle)--Japanese Spring, by Karunesh. It sounds so Fire Nation to me. ^^

Ch. 2 (Royal Enigma)--Are You the One by Within Temptation (like half the songs in my list lol)

Ch. 3 (Fairytale Ending)--A Dangerous Mind by "

Ch. 4 (Brotherly Intervention)-- Haunted by Evanescence

Ch. 5 (Sunny Diversion)--Be My Bad Boy by Cascada

Ch. 6 (Perilous Enchantment)--Hysteria by Muse

Ch. 7 (Turning Point)--Ravenheart by Xandria (LOVE this song, and it seems so Urzai-ish)

Ch. 8 (Dust, Sand and Lights)--I'm With You (Dam* Cold Night) by Avril Lavigne

Ch. 9 (Forbidden Dance)--Anywhere by Evanescence

Ch. 10 (A Prince's Ransom)--Hand of Sorrow by Within Temptation

Ch. 11 (At High Risk on High Seas)--It's the Fear by "

Ch. 12 (In a Dungeon and a Tower)--All about Us by tatu

Ch. 13 (Whom the Stars Crossed)--This is How I Disappear by My Chemical Romance.

This chapter (The Darker Side of Honor)--Leave Out All the Rest by Linkin Park.

Next chapter: Shot by The Rasmus