[Bolin's life has been improving after all the terrible circumstances that happened with Opal last month.  He looks more positive, and things seem to finally be clicking into gear.  And it's important too since this month is a much bigger month for a variety of reasons.]

A. [Open - Pro-bending Arena]

[Finally!  It's the event everyone's been waiting for: the Pro-bending Tournament!  The teams have finally been chosen and entered into the huge contest to see who's going to take it all.  And of course the Fire Ferrets have been entered.  They're not the favourites this year, naturally.  After all, Bolin's team had a rather embarrassing loss last year in the first round.  But Yang is a much better firebender than whatever floozy he recruited for the team last year, and so they've got a decent shot.

[Want to give Bo a pep talk before the discs and the elements start flying?  Want to watch the match from the crowd?  Want to greet Bolin after the game?  Spoilers:  The Fire Ferrets will win their first match, so feel free to congratulate him on a job... better done.  The Fire Ferrets are going to be a little rusty because it's their first game as a team, but it just so happened that the other team was even more rusty than they were thankfully.]

B. [Open - Police Station]

[Bolin is checking in at the police station, checking to see if any word has been heard about his brother and Korra.  He's worried sick about them, and the odds are looking pretty bad by this point.  However, like a loyal puppy that's lost his master, he still makes a weekly visit to the station to see if anything's been heard.]

C. [Open - Air Temple Island]

[Though he's been living with Asami Sato in her mansion ever since slightly before the disappearance of Mako and Korra, and he's been spending a fair bit of time there, Air Temple Island is like a second home to him.  There's just something about being in a place with so many memories that stirs him.  Plus, Opal is there pretty frequently, and he's actually gotten a chance to see her every now and again, and that's one of the things that's keeping him buoyed up above all the rest of the drama in his life.]

D. [Closed to Dove - Varrick's Yacht]

[Varrick disappeared a month ago, and with that meant that the mover that they were working on had gotten canned.  There goes Bolin's source of income.  And honestly, without the head man in charge, that pretty much meant that the entire studio was pretty much idle.  Without Varrick, there wasn't much to do.  However, Bolin didn't see that as a reason to just give up making movers.  In fact, he saw it as a possible opportunity.

[So with the help of a rather trusted assistant, he sent Dove a message to meet him on the yacht.  After all, Varrick wouldn't be using it, so why not have a business meeting there?  Like old times.]

I've got a great idea!

[Scarier words by Bolin have never before been said.]

E. [Choose Your Own]

[Have an idea that you want to thread out?  I'm all ears!]

A. Streets of Republic City

[While one could potentially live a fairly comfortable life in the abandoned Spirit Wilds dwellings, one still needed a few basic necessities. Namely, food. Fighing for money could only go so far, and occasionally such a life could leave one a bit short of the necessary funds to feed oneself.]

Stop that kid!

[And sometimes those who are hungry and without money resort to dining and ditching. Today's poor victim? That nice noodle place in the Little Water Tribe district. Nezha, the thief in question, bolts down the street and through the alleyways with agility more befitting an airbender than a Fire Nation native. A shame he doesn't seem to pay much attention to where he's going in his haste to flee the scene...]

------

B. Spirit Wilds

[Those who wander through the Spirit Wilds today may happen upon a young firebender up on one of the higher vines, sparring with some unseen opponent. In truth, this is how he spends most days when he's not in town, scrapping for food money or causing trouble for the police. Should you find him here, he'd be perfectly happy to take time out of his 'busy' schedule for a chat.]

------

C. Catchall

[If you have any other ideas, go for it! He's been squatting in an abandoned Spirit Wilds apartment all this time, so if for any reason someone's actually looking for him, that's where you could find him. If he's not there, you might also be able to find him in some of the seedier districts of Republic City, brawling for money.]

[Bolin has been busy. In fact, his social calendar has pretty much been jam-packed for about the last month, and it shows no signs of easing. Every once in a while he won't be present in Republic City as he's off to Zaofu with the love of his life on what he thinks ought to be a life-changing field trip, but it actually turns out to be a boring, boring thing since he barely gets to see Opal while he's there. Meanwhile, when he's back in Republic City, he's splitting his time (perhaps marginally unsuccessfully) between training at the arena, getting the Fire Ferrets on their feet for the upcoming tournament, potentially working with Varrick on a new mover idea, and... well, he's helping the poor, needy foreigners by buying food and supplies for them. With the last of these, he's practically prioritising them over himself.

And so, if you catch Bolin, he's going to be looking a little tired, thinner, and perhaps more than a little stressed and frustrated.]

A. At a café [Open]

[You might find Bolin in a small ramen shop in one of the less expensive districts in town. While Bolin's got some money stashed away, it's not like he's making a steady income quite yet with the pro-bending thing or the acting gig, so he's been a little more thrifty on himself, especially since some amount of food is going to help others.

[The meal he's eating will look a little meagre, and while he hasn't asked any of his more well-to-do friends for help (because this is something he's doing on his own for now), he will probably still be a little hungry when he finishes. After all, he's the equivalent of a pro-sports athlete in the middle of training.]

B. Air Temple Island [Open]

[In his few moments of spare time, he will try to get to Air Temple Island, but he'll remember about halfway there that Opal's not at home, and he'll look kind of dejected and sad. There's a lot on his mind, and he could totally use a friend to talk to him, though he's not exactly going to be rushing to perfect strangers to spill his guts.

[That said, he's got his fire ferret Pabu and his adopted turtle duck Kitsi with him, and he'll be feeding them in the attempt to make himself feel a bit better about life. He'll just say that he's taking them out to enjoy nature, especially since the turtle duck seems to have taken a liking to him.]

C. Pro-bending Arena [Open]

[Bolin is working out at the gym. Yang and/or the NPC waterbender that are officially on the Fire Ferrets might be with him as well, and he's explaining how things go. However, he doesn't seem ridiculously into it, and he's just not quite hitting the bricks like he's used to. But the last thing he wants to do is disappoint the fans like last year, his sponsors, OR his teammates, so he's keeping at it, trying to get a rhythm going.

[But he's clearly distracted, and occasionally he'll just miss a target outright. It's not like he's doing overly badly--he still manages to do decently. But it's not his usual thing.]

D. Republic City, near a Pet Shop [Open]

Turtle ducks, turtle ducks for sale! I've got 26 of them looking for a good home!

[Yes, Bolin happens to have a large box full of turtle ducks that had been deposited in his apartment by the spirits' good(?) graces. He's adopted one, the smallest of them, and of course Pabu is on hand to "help" him sell some turtle ducks. But it seems like there's not many takers for them, seeing as how so many other places got plastered with turtle ducks for some reason. And so he's just having one of those moments.

[Help a guy out?]

E. Varrick's Studio/Yacht/Wherever [Closed to Varrick, Dove, and/or Ty Lee]

[And after enough hiatus, Varrick has finally started the plans to make a new mover, and Bolin's of course going to be attending the meetings, you know, since he's going to be one of the stars in the new film, of course. At the very least, there will be talk about what's going to be happening along with a general meet-and-greet with all of the actors. Bolin will be dressed up a little for the attendance (at Lord Varrick's insistence, of course; he doesn't want any low-class people in his presence), and otherwise Bolin will be looking around somewhat awkwardly, waiting to figure out what exactly is going to be going on.]

F. Zaofu [Closed to Opal]

[Bolin is off for his one-week pilgrimage to Zaofu with Opal, and at the very least he'll be travelling there with her. However, Bolin isn't looking forward to it as much as he was the first time last month as, despite their best efforts, Bolin didn't really get to have much Opal time given that she was busy with meetings to actually help run the city. So perhaps Bolin's not going to be quite so fond of the place now. I mean, just how many times can you go around the city appreciating the "fine" "sculptures" created my Skrillex Beifong?

So Bolin's going to be bored to tears, but he's still going to try very hard for a brief bit to see Opal when she's hopefully less busy. If there's such a time?]

G. Create Your Own?

[OOC: Want to plot? Have I not given you enough options?? Ping me on Plurk. Or send the journal a PM if you like, either or.]

A. Closed to Wan - Nothing stirs Toph's blood like a good training session . . . especially if she's the one doing the training. Wan will find her shortly after dawn in the clearing where she first found him out, camped out and waiting for him. He'd better not be late; Sifu Toph will not approve. More than that . . . she'll come get him.

B. Closed to Bolin - Bolin can probably catch Yin as she's leaving the arena, slipping out into the darkness. She hasn't been around the arena too much lately, so this is a first in a while. With spirits and portals and bending losses, there have been a few other demands on her time.

C. OTA, Backdated - You can find Yin helping out the construction process, but chances are she's showing off a bit -- both because it feels good and because she otherwise gets annoyed with the pace the others are working at. At first she only does it when she knows no one is paying attention, but it escalates easily as she raises and moves whole walls on her own. Totally showing off, probably drawing more attention than she should.

D. OTA, Backdated - The gold, inevitably, attracted a few members of different Triads in the city. It's free cash, after all, just lying there for anyone to take. At one interval in particular, a few members of one of the more well-known Triads try to do something more drastic, driving people off from the coins to claim the area for themselves. If gold keeps appearing, they're certainly going to try to claim the source of it.

It's not really about the social justice . . . that's not really Toph's bent. It's more the fact that the Triads are big guys who believe they're big . . . and Toph can't stand much more ego than her own. She can be found hiding out on the perimeter of the territory the Triad has set up, waiting for the right moment.

E. Closed to Zuko, Wan, and possibly Kiyi - There's a plot afoot. Under the cover of night, two figures slip through the Fire Nation portal, find an appropriate spot, and begin to earthbend a Secret Tunnel(TM) under the Fire Nation palace. They seem to know exactly where to go, making quick, efficient work of it, guided almost as though by a beacon towards the room of the young, sleeping Fire Lord.

"Should be up a couple staircases and down the hall from here." The voice is Toph's just before she breaks the last crust into an unused conference room. "Give it a minute, okay -- there's someone going past the door."

F. Choose your own adventure! Talk to me.

If you could go back in time forty-five some odd years ago, and ask a teenage Bumi what the worst possible outcome of his life could be, he'd tell you:

Trapped at an Air Temple, pretending to be an airbender.

Bumi thinks a lot about this now, as he holds down Air Temple Island as if it were a fort.
With Tenzin and Pema no where to be found, and Jinora and Korra off to a Spirit Portal, Bumi is the highest ranking officer on deck, as horrifying for all involved as that is.

The spirits, it seems, are not without a sense of humor.


1) The Radio Room
With the Barrier down communications that were once off-line are now once again operational, and Bumi spends a few hours here several times a day. Information pours in from the Air Temples and he's been trying to reach the Water Tribes in an effort to find his brother and sister.

Looking to find family, or possibly a crash course in Morse Code? Then this is a good place for you.


2) The kitchen
People need to eat, and Bumi is more than skilled at making the most of limited provisions.
The menu is Hot and A Lot. The ingredients are both vegetarian and...less so.
(Don't worry, he's using separate cooking implements for the meat goods.


3) The meditation pavilion
He's never really been all that fantastic at meditation, or at least the kind of it that involves sitting still and keeping his mind clear, but at this point even Bumi is willing to try just about anything.


4) About town
Times are getting tougher, but there's still a lot to trade and be traded for, and so Bumi finds himself on various logistical missions getting for the Island things that it cannot produce for itself.


5) Other
Create your own, for hours of fun!

[Semi-Closed to Opal / Backdated to the evening of the 7th]

[OOC: Feel free to catch Bolin at Air Temple Island if you want. But the conversation with Opal itself is certainly closed!]

[Bolin had known that Opal had been worried about Zaofu for a while now. What with the Earth Kingdom in abject chaos and her not knowing what had happened to the rest of her family, it wasn't any surprise. And try as Bolin could, there was no way that even he could remove that worry from her, even if he was doing his best to keep her calm and otherwise happy in the interim. Nonetheless, when word came that the barrier had finally peeled back and vanished, Bolin knew that Opal would already be making plans to head out.

[And so he's off to Air Temple Island to go visit her. Tenzin isn't around and neither is Meelo to provide any sort of real trouble with him visiting, but nonetheless Bolin still sneaks through the hallways... you know, just in case they've appointed someone else. After all, he didn't want a stern lecture today, not when he might not see Opal for a few weeks. But nonetheless, he makes his way to Opal's room and knocks.]

Opal? You there?

[Closed to Wan / Backdated to a few days after the Fire Ferrets tryouts]

[Bolin had been dreading the day of going off and meeting up with his future teammates, though mainly because he knew that, once he got some yeses, that would eventually mean that he would have to tell a lot of other people no. But at least the easy part was first, right? And that meant finding all of the people that had done miraculously at the event. And first, he was going to find "Long," a.k.a. Wan, who he certainly had a personal bias for... and had done reasonably well at the tryouts.]

Heya... "Long," [Bolin says with a rather knowing look. What can he say; he really likes these codenames!] So... uh... about the tryouts?

[Closed to Yang and Katara / Backdated to shortly after the above]

[Well, after getting rejected by Wan after finding his own plans to create a new team—won't that be fun??—Bolin goes off to plan B.  He's seeking out Yang and "June" out in hopes of recruiting them to the team.  Of course, he at least got how to contact them, so he'll be making personal calls upon them before posting up the list.  So off across Republic City he goes to hunt down the hopeful recruits to the newly reformed Fire Ferrets!  He'll step up to the door where they're both living and give a knock.]

Helloooooooo?  Anybody home?

[A: Pro-bending Arena / OPEN]

[Bolin has finally posted the results from the Fire Ferrets tryouts.  There are two names scrawled on it.  Yang's name is clearly on the list, and the waterbender is probably someone no one has heard before, whether it be "June" or someone else, depending upon how the former felt about it.  Nonetheless, someone will likely catch him putting the results up.  Someone will likely hunt down Bolin and ask if that meant that they weren't on the team, and Bolin would be dreading that conversation.  Or someone else might catch him practicing and want to have a serious talk with him.]

[B: Volunteering / OPEN]

[Asami talked to him about it much earlier when all these strange people started appearing in Republic City, along with the Spirit Barrier, and something really connected with Bolin.  He had a chance to offer something back to Republic City.  He could really make a difference and make some in-roads here.  That really spoke to him, especially after all these trips Bolin has taken with Korra in order to change the world and defeat all these horrible bad guys.  So Bolin will be volunteering and helping the poor; after all, he knows exactly how that lifestyle was.]

[C: Make up your own / OPEN]

[OOC:  Seriously, Bolin could practically be anywhere.  If you've got a different idea in mind, let me know!]

( THAT MORNING.... // Closed to Yang Xiao Long. )

----

LATER THAT DAY....

[A. What's this? Little Ruby... actually found herself a job? That's great!

Well, if you like being dressed up in a chickencow suit and dancing around in front of a restaurant in order to hand out flyers.

She sure is working hard for her money. Who knows, if you come at the right time, she might be actually handing out dumpling samples! Most of the time though, she will be doing a variety of various dances in order to grab your attention!]

Hey! Come on down and get our world famous dumplings! The noodles are just divine! [...] Watch me break it down, so you can break your fast~!

[Now she's busting out the big moves. Please stop her before she tries spinning on her head.]

----

EVEN LATER THAT DAY....

[B. Okay, now there's screaming. And flailing. And things are on fire again.]

Aah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I don't know what's going on!! Why me?!

[This time, it's a huge stack of flyers that she was assigned to hand out. They're all burning and Ruby's trying hard to put them out, but-- wait. No! That'll catch the suit on fire! That suit costs a month's pay!

Help?]

----

COMPLETELY LATER THAT DAY....

[C. Well.

She tried.

It was a valiant effort to make her own money, but Ruby had been sent home for being "hazardous to her working environment" or whatever. She has an hour or two to kill, so she's making her way to the park and flopping down next to the Korra statue, face in her hands, sighing loudly...]

Why is life so hard? I might as well have caused an explosion...

[Oh, no. She's SAD. Cheer the young girl up, maybe?]

----

(ooc. COMPLETELY OPEN. Say hi, take a flyer, make fun of her in the suit, idegaf. Please help this beautiful disaster. She doesn't know why firebending is a thing she is so lost oh my god.

Oh, and even though I have brackets here, if you prefer prose, just reply as that. I will follow suit. :3d)

A: Park Fountains

[ During her stay here in Republic City, Jin had been doing a little exploring to get herself familiar wtih this new city. One of her favorite places she'd found was the park, or rather a particular place in the park. The park had fountains that just seemed so beautiful and it reminded her of home.

It was such a peaceful place to sit and relax, so Jin found herself sitting on the edge of the fountain with her feet in the water just kicking at it and enjoying the chilliness. She wasn't even bothered by the strange stares she was getting from people.

What's the fun in enjoying a fountain if you couldn't get a little wet, right? ]


B: Spirit Wilds

[ The Spirit wilds were certainly a big attraction in Republic City to someone who wasn't used to this place. Jin knew from the warnings of people and from the newspaper articles that it could get really dangerous to roam too close and get too curious about the spirits, but it was hard to resist. When you lived in a time where spotting spirits didn't happen every day, it was a little exciting being able to watch.

So Jin stood at a far enough distance from the wilds, just watching some of the spirits scurrying around in fascination. ]

They're surprisingly cute...


C: Little Ba Sing Se

[ Despite the fact that things seemed so hi-tech in this area, it really just gave her a big blast of home. All the colors, all the shops it was all like little parts of Ba Sing Se were pushed all the way over here in Repubic city. She was wandering around to all of the shops after work, mostly just window shopping and taking in the familiar feeling of home.

She had a small basket under her arms full of flowers she bought and anyone she spotted while she was window shopping with a frown on their face, she gave them a flower to brighten up their day before running off to explore more.]

[EDIT:  OOC:  This post is mostly private for waterbenders and firebenders as they're the only people that would actually be trying out.  However, if you want to interact with some of the others (and Bolin would be okay with you being there -- feel free to ask me if you're unsure!), feel free to pose in, either for Bolin or with the other people involved.  Sorry for the complicated rules and whatnot, but I figure it'd be worth it to be inclusive as opposed to exclusive!]

[Private-ish to firebenders and waterbenders]

"Alright, Pabu.  It's time to get the Fire Ferrets back in action!  Are you with me?"

The fire ferret squeaks in approval as he sits atop Bolin's shoulder.  Bolin nods back with the biggest grin, and he pushes open the doors into the gym where no doubt several candidates were waiting to join his elite crew.

"Welcome, everyone, to the official Fire Ferrets team tryouts.  I might not have met each of you personally, and you might have instead just found one of my many fliers instead, but my name is Bolin, team captain and previous pro-bending champion!  Also, I'm a mover star and the earthbender of the team.  I hope you've all brought your A-game to this event, because only the best of the best can be on the Fire Ferrets, and this year we're going to show all those other teams what we're made of and take back the championship!  I'm not going to go easy on you, and I definitely want to make sure we're taking on the right people.  Some of you will go away disappointed, but two of you will ride with Pabu and I to victory once again!  To each of you, I wish you all the best of luck.  Let's get started!

"So first up today, we have..."

[OOC: Bolin will be pairing up potential candidates into 1v1 or 2v2 matches.  Feel free to find a friend with the opposite element and fight some NPCs, or find a competitor of your element and have a duel with one another?  Or have a more personal "interview" with Bolin... and you can try to get to know Bolin and the rocks that he throws at people better?  Or all of the above!  While you do need to impress Bolin, feel free to have fun and show off your bending to your competitors too.]

The girl making her way through the city probably wasn't anyone's image of Toph Bei Fong, and certainly not the image of the statue standing near the police station. She was small, verging on scrawny (an effect compounded by oversized clothing), face marked with at least a couple of layers of dirt. In that clothing, her features obscured, she might even have been taken for a boy -- were it not for the heavy braid trailing down her back.

Frankly, Toph didn't mind the whole arrangement. The makeshift disguise let her explore the city pretty much as she pleased -- or at least the parts she was currently interested in seeing. No one paid much attention to a street urchin, and there were some benefits to being blind; it tended to make others look away, and by the time they thought something of a blind girl wandering around the city by herself, Toph was gone.

So far, she had a good thing going, except for the lack of idol worship.

( Choose your own adventure: Pick an option! )

The White Swanfish Gala is this evening - A VIP-only event where invitations are only sent to the likes of the heads of industry, Mover stars, avatars, and their guests. The host is Wil Zan (Slade's affable civilian alter ego), and he is dressed in a fine white and blue silk nehru, smiling broadly and chatting with what seems like every patron there, one at a time. He has brought in the finest chefs to provide an unlimited stream of fine food and drink, popular musicians provide entertainment and lively music to dance to, and this gala is sure to be an event worth talking about for years.

Interestingly, Zan has set up some rather unusual security measures. Though your average riff-raff will be kept out, he has intentionally left strategic security gaps that can be bypassed by the bold and the cunning. Zan actually has men covertly watching these gaps, but instead of stopping these party-crashers, their instructions are to inform Zan. (This serves as a sort of test for potential apprentices that Slade may try to recruit in the future.)

((NOTE: This is an event log, so not every reply has to be toward Slade. Feel free to write what your character is doing at the party or how they snuck in, etc. "Zan" is likely to give you his attention, but others can too.))

This is a post to keep track of all the tags in game. This way, before you've used your tag, it will still show up in the list. You can basically ignore this post. Bury it with other posts.

It was a bright and sunny normal day in Republic City. Children were playing, spirits were chirping about, and everything was going along like normal. Well at least that's what everyone seemed to think. That is until so many people seemed to be appearing out of nowhere. For some reason Republic City seemed to be more lively and the crowds bigger.

The spirits have grown restless as if something important was about to change, and to try to fix that change, the spirits with their big long tree like limbs dragged people into the world left and right. Even the vines covering Republic City seemed to help. Although the spirits had the best intentions in mind, some people were more affected by the grab than others. There's talk that people in this city don't even know what this place is. People who have never heard of the words "bender" or "non-bender."

Welcome to Republic City! And to those who already live here: Happy Saturday. Please make yourselves at home and don't mind a little spirit gunk. It's mostly harmless. Go enjoy yourself a classic mover. Maybe you're the athletic type. If that's the case, come watch a few Pro-bending matches or form your own team. Just watch out for any Satomobiles. They can be deadly no matter how pretty the driver is.

Please remember to enjoy your stay and don't cause too much trouble. The Republic City Police don't need more riffraff to take care of. And don't stray too far. To make the the peace is kept, there's a huge spirit barrier around the perimeter of the city. It seems pretty strong, but it won't be able to last forever. Still, it's worrying. Radio signals and telegraphs don't seem to be getting past it.

[ OOC: The game is officially open! From this point on, feel free to make any posts you want or tag into this. Please remember to tag your posts with Canon: Character. Finally, although the game has no real network, you're free to respond with prose or brackets, whatever you're comfortable with. With that said, have fun! ]