#Toph is pissed that her parents did that and also never told her but she can tell they are genuine when they say that isnt them anymore | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

that-was-anticlimactic · 4 years ago

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oKAY BUT AVATAR FROZEN AU (ft. Zukka)

I was listening to Frozen on Broadway in the shower and it literally won’t leave my head y’ALL (sorry this is long, but I didn’t know how to do the read more thing because I suck so if anyone knows how, please lemme know!)

Katara: Elsa

Sokka: Anna

Zuko: Kristoff

Aang: Olaf

Azula: Hans

Druk: Sven

The Trolls Are: Iroh, Toph, Suki and Kyoshi Warriors, Mai, Ty Lee, Jet and the Freedom Fighters, maybe Yue idk yet

(Cabbage Man is Oaken)

Okay, so I know Sokka is the older sibling and Katara has Anna’s trust, but Katara is the last Waterbender in the SWT so

idk I’m still working it out since as soon as I got out of the shower I started typing this, but I think Katara and Sokka were a family ya know with Hakoda and Kya and Katara had her bending but the Fire Nation was still like iffy so they didn’t publicize it

Sokka thought it was SO COOL and always wanted to play with her powers ya know? They probably created Aang together, not sure about that yet anyways

Katara hits Sokka with her powers (ice maybe?) on accident and he’s dying, they go to “the trolls” but what imma call White Lotus and Yue is there or she was but had to give herself to the moon, but the moon spirit saves Sokka, has white strip in his hair like Anna, they wipe his memories of Katara’s bending

Katara is sad and scared and terrified so she shuts herself in her room and will not go penguin sledding or fishing or anything with Sokka and now Sokka is sad

Hakoda and Kya are eventually like Katara needs to learn how to control it or just rid of her powers, let’s go to the NWT and see if there is a good chi blocker or a master for Katara to learn from

they die on the ship, probably Fire Nation

(also, the war is still technically going on but also not? Not as intensely as it was in the show, but like, it’s there)

I’m not sure what to do about the chief stuff, so we’ll ignore that for now

It is Sokka or Katara’s coronation, Sokka is excited because he can leave their palace and Katara is not excited because she still doesn’t know how to bend or control it

Sokka runs into Azula and now let’s talk about the Fire Nation for a second

Ozai is still ruling, Ursa is gone, Zuko was banished and Iroh went with him

Ozai did burn Zuko’s face, probably for the same reason, so Iroh took Zuko and they went to the Earth Kingdom and met up with other people who had been hurt by the Fire Nation and they became a family and Zuko eventually leaves and finds an egg and it’s Druk! They become besties but Zuko leaves kind of for the same reasons as in Zuko Alone

Ozai is pretty pissed at the Water Tribes because they’re thriving or something and wants to rule them so he’s like “Azula, go hit on one of the siblings and make them love you and then marry them and I can- I mean, you can control the SWT and NWT”

and she’s like “dope I shall bring destruction onto their land eventually” because poor girl is getting manipulated:(

So, Azula and Sokka run into each other, Azula is a terrible flirt but so is Sokka and they bond over how terrible they both are at human interaction and Sokka is like “yeah after I turned ten, they never let me leave the castle so I have zero friends”

and Azula is mentally like wait I have no friends too:(... but is like “yeah I feel, I’m only the Fire Nation Princess, but it’s a boys only club, ya know? So no one takes me seriously”

and Sokka is like “you... I like you...” and definitely starts crushing and asks her to do an activity and yada yada yada

someone gets crowned, idk who yet

Azula and Sokka spend more time together and Azula is like “wow he is so starved for affection that if I asked him to marry me he’d probably say yes Father what kind of mission is this this is so easy”

so she tries it out and he’s like “SURE” and they tell Katara and she’s just not having it

“Sokka! The Fire Nation killed our parents!”

“Yeah, five years ago--” (or more, idk timeline yet) “--besides, this would be good treaty-wise and politically, ya know?” (so I guess this means Katara would become chief? Idk how that happens but we’ll figure it out)

and Katara is just “... SOKKA you just met this girl. Also, she’s Fire Nation!”

and he’s like “well you aren’t in charge on me so imma do whatever I want”

and Katara is like ahhhhh and he ends up pulling a glove off and she waterbends and everyone is like hbfvrvunyuibtuy wHAT

and Azula is like “ooh so there really is still a waterbender left in the SWT...”

Katara runs away and accidentally freezes everywhere she goes (for purposes of plot convenience, she goes to the Earth Kingdom without knowing it and freezes that too I guess? She’s pretty powerful, y’all

and Sokka is like “I gotta go after her!”

and Azula is mentally lie death mission, that gets him out of the way “sURE! I’ll stay here:)”

so Sokka goes and runs into Zuko and Druk

“Dragons are better than people, Druk, don’t you think that’s right?”

and he sees Sokka struggling to paddle a boat or something, again, don’t have land and stuff figured out here yet

Sokka basically annoys him into helping him

(and Zuko won’t admit it, but he kinda liked Sokka’s vibe and was like I haven’t spoken to a human person in years is it selfish to want this? He’s not disgusted at my scar...”)

Zuko does not tell Sokka that he is a fire bender, he mentions he used to live in the Fire Nation, though

Katara makes maybe not an elaborate ice castle, but she is like “LET IT GOOOOOOO” when she finds open land and just makes it so pretty and guys imagine Katara in an Inuit-style Elsa dress? Wouldn’t that be the most gorgeous thing??

Maybe she misses home so she remakes her village out of ice, maybe if she’s lonely (because Katara really hates being alone but she’ll do it for the good of her people) she’ll make ice sculptures of people from the village like her mom and dad and Sokka

also ya know what? No, I don’t want Katara to be completely alone. She finds Momo trying to hide from the cold and takes him in so it is Katara and Momo

Sokka and Zuko are riding Druk, but he’s tired so they aren’t super high, and Sokka is explaining what happened to Zuko and Zuko starts laughing because “you planned on marrying someone you just met? From the Fire Nation?”

“You’re from the Fire Nation!”

“yeah, it sucks. Why do you think I left? But seriously? That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in three years!” (because I just decided it has been three years of him alone)

and Sokka doesn’t mention that it’s Azula yet because Zuko was already laughing at him but wait Zuko has a really cute and precious laugh--

they talk a bit and Sokka kind of mentions the strip in his hair and how it happened because he got pneumonia as a child and almost died but the moon spirit saved his lifeand Zuko doesn’t know how the frick to respond so he just “... that’s rough, buddy”

Actually, imma take back something I said earlier, they don’t make Aang, her unleashing her powers shakes the earth or water or something and the iceberg pops up and Zuko and Sokka find it and Sokka is like “Imma touch it”

and Zuko goes “wait no don’t touch i-- you touched it” and Aang pops out and is like “HELLO!”

and they’re like who the frick are you?

and Aang is like “I’m the Avatar, Aang”

and Zuko and Sokka just :0

or maybe Katara and Sokka like created him as a kid or like believed he would come back to save them and that kind of like manifested into what happened? Idk but somehow, and maybe more plot convenience, he knows who Katara is, maybe the monks told him she’d be his waterbending master before he got trapped?

“Katara? you’re looking for her? I’m looking for her too! She’s the most powerful waterbender in the world and I need to learn how to waterbend!”

“Woah cool! You should join us!” says Sokka

and Zuko facepalms because “sOKKA again with the people you just met!”

and Sokka is like “I just met you”

“Fair point”

“besides, you guys are some of the first people I’ve talked to in like 5-8 years!”

and Zuko and Aang get kind of quiet because wow now that Sokka mentions in, that’s super true for him, but also true for the both of them... they’re all lonely

so Aang is like “okay let’s find Katara!” and they talk and stuff on the way and Aang mentions being excited to visit the Fire Nation and see Kuzon and all of his airbender friends and Zuko and Sokka just ??? then it hits them that oh boy he’s been in that iceberg for a long time--

so Zuko tells him and Aang is big sad and goes into the Avatar State or something and idk imma come back to this

plus also more friendship bonding happens and more feelings between Zuko and Sokka happen

they eventually reach Katara and they’re all like wow this is gorgeous

and Aang is about to walk in and stuff and Zuko stops him “maybe Sokka should go first? Since she’s his sister?”

Sokka goes into the village, finds the one that looks like their house / hut / palace, sees Katara and they both start crying and hug each other and Katara goes “I’ve missed you so much”

and Sokka is like “why did you leave? Please come back, I’ll help protect you from the Fire Nation! No one will get to you!”

and Katara is like “that’s not what I’m worried about” and her eyes flicker to the white strand in Sokka’s hair. “I don’t know how to control it and I don’t have a teacher and I’m dangerous.”

“I have some friends who can help you find a teacher! Aang and Zuko!”

Aang hears his name so he runs out and is like “Hi, I’m Aang, the avatar, want a hug? You look sad”

and Katara is like this boy is a sweetie and must be protected at all costs so no hug from em because I hurt those I love:(

and then Aang says “The monks told me about you! It was like a hundred years ago, but they told me Katara would be my waterbending teacher! You’re the most powerful waterbender in the world!”

and she laughs and almost believes him but “No, no I can’t control it. What if I hurt people?”

And Aang is like “we can learn together then!”

and Sokka and Katara talk more, Sokka is like “please come back, we’ll protect you from the Fire Nation and help you find a teacher I need you I miss you” and Katara wants to so badly

but she says no

they talk and Sokka mentions that basically everywhere is frozen and Katara is just ???? and Sokka is like “please, you can unfreeze it and people will see you aren’t a threat!”

and Katara flips out, they argue a bit, she hits him in the heart on accident and screams so Zuko and Aang (who left) run out and see Sokka on the ground and Katara hyperventilating and Zuko helps Sokka up and kind of has to hold him up for a couple minutes and he begs Katara to come with them because she’s his baby sister and he’ll protect her and she’s crying and her hand instinctively touches her mother’s necklace and she tells him no and that if they won’t leave, she’ll make them leave and then Aang and Zuko start begging her too because Zuko just met her but he knows that she’ll play a huge role in stopping the war and that she is incredibly powerful (and also she’s so kind when she isn’t accidentally being dangerous, he thinks-- based off of the stories Sokka had told him and the look on her face after she struck Sokka

Sokka says no and Aang and Zuko stand firm beside him so Katara makes a giant sky bison named Appa or something who chases them out of the village and they all end up falling into the freaking cold water and Sokka helps pull Aang and Zuko out since he’s the best swimmer and we love Zuko but he’s kind of a terrible swimmer

and Zuko goes “thank yo-- what’s with your hair?”

“My hair? We just gout out of the ocean, you should see your hair”

And Aang pipes up with “no, your hair is white”

“Wait it’s what? Does it look bad?”

“... no?” - Zuko

Sokka goes “you hesitated you think it’s baddddd”

and Zuko says “no, no, not like that... it’s because your sister struck you, isn’t it?”

and Sokka thinks and realization kind of dawns on him “I never had pneumonia...” and it hits him and he groans “that’s why she stopped playing with me! We need to go back, I need to talk to her--”

and he falls as he tries to get up

Aang and Zuko share a look and are like “yeah, no, you need help or you’ll actually die again”

Zuko suddenly is like “wait? the moon spirit saved you that one time, right? maybe She can do it again! Come on! I have some friends who can help you!”

while all of that is happening, Azula is planning on assassinating Katara and the people of the SWT and visitors from the rest of the world are freezing so she’s like “I guess I’ll go stop her since she must have killed my fiance”

some others go with her and they find where Katara is hiding out and Azula kills Appa:( and faces Katara with her people

Katara easily get the others out of the way and then it’s her and Azula

“I don’t want to hurt you!” Katara says

Azula puts her hands down and says “I don’t want to either. Just come with us, fox the weather, and we can help you”

“Why should I trust you? Your nation has wanted to kill me for years!”

“mmm fair point”

they fight a bit, Katara ends up getting knocked out and they take her back and lock her up

going back to the trio and Druk, they’re going to the little corner of the Earth Kingdom where the White Lotus is and Sokka’s hair is getting progressively more white and he’s getting more cold and Zuko is starting to panic so he says “I’m going to show you something, but you have to promise not to freak out”

so Sokka nods and Aang is chill with it because he doesn’t hate firebenders like the rest of the world

so Zuko creates a fire and holds it close to Sokka who does indeed freak out and crawls to the other side of the dragon

and Aang is like “wow! That’s so pretty! Can you teach me that? I need a firebending teach too! It was going ti be Kuzon but...”

and Zuko goes to Sokka again and says “I didn’t want you to hate me. I’m not evil or anything like Ozai. You’re freezing, please, let me help you warm up.”

and Sokka is silent then says “I trust you” and Zuko kind of pulls him in and wraps his arms around Sokka to warm him up and Aang looks left out so Sokka tells him to join

and all three are like “wow. This is the most human contact I’ve had in years... it’s nice”

somewhere here I think would be a good time for Sokka to ask about Zuko’s scar and so Zuko tells the story and Sokka and Aang are pissed and ready to kill but before Sokka and piece together that Azula is his sister, they arrive

Zuko is like “hello, Zuko here! But you guys probably knew that, or at least Toph will-- oof!” because Toph runs at him and gives him a super hard hug and suddenly the White Lotus is surrounding him and are like “how are you?” “where’ve you been?” “we missed you!” etc, etc

and Zuko is like “haha I missed you guys too but um, I’m actually here for something else... he helps Aang and Sokka off of Druk and Toph immediately feels the change in their heart rates when Zuko helps Sokka and Sokka leans against Zuko so she goes “you got a boyfriend!”

cue matching looks of horror on the two’s faces and suddenly everyone is interrogating both of them and Zuko is like y’all!!! He needs help! Where’s Iroh?

he is ignored:/

“Zuko looks grumpy and he acts grumpy but really he’s a sweetheart and mushy!” says Ty Lee

“make sure you give him lots of hugs and attention because he will not tell you when he wants it” Suki says

and Zuko’s whole face is red and it’s the funniest thing Sokka has seen and he’s so invested in all of these people and their stories and wants to stay forever but then remembers Katara and Zuko finally is like “IROH!”

Iroh comes and sees Sokka and he’s like welcome back

and like at this point Sokka can barely stand and Zuko is supporting all his weight

and Zuko is like “you helped him when he was younger, please help him now!”

and Iroh is sad “there is nothing I can do, nephew. The moon spirit is generous, but to touch the same thing twice... an act of true love is the only way to fix this”

and Zuko gets sad and says “your fiance”

and Sokka kind of mutters “... yeah... my fiance” because now after spending a week minimum a month max with Zuko, Aang, and Druk, he definitely has feelings for Zuko but he’s confused

and everyone else gets sad and Toph is confused because she can feel their heart rates

but Zuko sucks it up and helps Sokka back onto Druk and they set back for the SWT and all Sokka is thinking is for Katara for Katara for Katara for Katara... was she right? Maybe I was too fast with Azula... but we connected and she wanted to talk to me and... for Katara for Katara...

so Katara is locked up and Azula is like “this would have been fine if you did not put up a struggle. If you surrendered peacefully we would not have to resort to this”

and then leaves because she hears that Sokka is back and Katara is like “I’m a monster, but so is Azula and I need to find Sokka and apologize and fix everything I’ve done, even if I die” so she escapes because Katara is cool like that

Zuko and Azula see each other and it’s awkward, but she sees Sokka in his arms and she realizes that he didn’t die and her idiot brother helped him they make eye contact and Zuko can kind of tell what her plan is in her eyes but Azula feigns worry for Sokka and grabs him from Zuko’s arms before he can stop her and Sokka is like “Azula...” and she’s pretending and stuff and then she sees Aang and her eyes widen at his tattoos and Zuko shoves Aang behind him and says “You aren’t taking the avatar to Father. Just save Sokka, he doesn’t have much time left”

her eyes linger on Aang with interest but she turns and leaves and sets Sokka down in a room and Sokka explains it and tries kissing her but she just laughs and is like “oh, if only there was someone out there who loved you” and in his hazy and near death mind, Sokka understands it all because he may be naive, but he’s clever

“You’re Zuko’s sister”

“I am. You really were so trusting and naive to fall in love with the first person you see.”

“I’m sorry”

“What?”

“Zuko told me about your father... I’m sorry he’s manipulating you.”

and Azula shrieks, lights her hands on fire and is just barely able to stop herself from burning him, makes sure the fire in the room dies, mentions killing Katara and Zuko and capturing Aang, then locks Sokka in the room

and Sokka is crying because he should have listened to Katara and he just wants her to be okay and he can barely move, he can’t do anything to protect her from problems he caused and Aang is going to get hurt and he misses Zuko

and Zuko misses Sokka and Aang is like “okay, something’s up”

Zuko tells him about how Azula is his sister and he doesn’t trust her and that he thinks he loves Sokka, or has feelings for him at least

Aang goes “do you think Azula really loves Sokka?”

“... no”

“then we need to turn around. Druk!”

Azula tells everyone Sokka died because of Katara and that they nee to kill her and his last words were marriage vows

the door handle rattles and Aang comes in and Sokka shakes his head and he’s crying and says “you need to get out of here, she’s gonna kill you”

and Aang is shaking his head and saying “no, don’t worry! Zuko is here and he’s on his way! It’s storming really bad outside right now and he’s fighting off some guards, but he came back for you” and Aang helps Sokka up and out of the room but guards see them and Aang stays behind to fight them

Katara stumbled upon Azula as she tries escaping and they start fighting, kind of like the Agni Kai fight and it’s really epic and cool and stuff and then Azula says something like “stop fooling around and wasting everyone’s time. I am now the ruler of the SWT and I am ordering you to stand down!”

and Katara goes “ruler... where is Sokka?”

“Sokka? Oh, he returned weak and cold. His heart was frozen. Your brother is dead because of you”

and Katara falls to her knees and cries and Azula is like “ha weakness time to kill”

and Sokka sees Zuko and he’s “running” to him but then sees Katara and Azula about to kill her and jumps in front of her despite Zuko’s pleas and Sokka is frozen and when Katara looks up and sees what happened, she loses control and freezes Azula like she did in the Agni Kai and the storm dies down and Zuko and Aang run to her and she’s clinging to Sokka and crying and so is Zuko and then sibling love and he comes back

Zuko is like “love. It doesn’t have to be a kiss.”

and they hug and Sokka is back to his normal self except his hair is still white maybe, but he introduces Katara to Zuko and Aang formally and they all hug and then the White Lotus comes and Toph and Suki and Mai and Jet are all sad because they missed the fight but are happy that Sokka’s okay and Azula is still kind of there and idk what they do with her, I’ll come back to that, actually, maybe Azula manages to escape

but so it would end kind of ambiguously because Ozai is still there and the SWT is untrusting of Katara still so they have to flee maybe and they return to the White Lotus hide out and Zuko and Sokka have a moment where they are like “hey I think I like you”

then Sokka and Katara have a great sibling moment

and that’s how it ends

okay wow that was long and took an hour and a half to type but y’all this would NOT leave my head!!!! I feel like this doesn’t have enough Katara in it, so know that if I actually made this a thing, there would be a lot more Katara and more sibling moments and Zuko and Aang and White Lotus and stuff but uhhh yeah idk if this has been done before but it was living in my mind rent free (p.s. Mai and Ty Lee do have a history with Azula in this AU and there would be an Azula redemption at some point)

if anyone has any thoughts or feelings or anything to add, please do:) I wasn’t sure if I should make Sokka or Katara Elsa, but I went with Katara because she had the powers and Zukka happening worked better with Sokka as Anna, idk

#avatar the last airbender #frozen au #sokka #avatar sokka #katara #zuko #aang #toph #suki #iroh #azula #zukka #i want to write this so badly #seriously #i might cave sometime #yallllllllll i love this too much #ywikal #you’re what i know about love

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rllymilerlly · 4 years ago

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If they are giving their kids a semi normal childhood (Way more normal than theirs) does this mean they’ll send them to school. Because oh my god what an entertaining thought. Especially bc besides a few days for Aang, they didn’t do school and don’t quite get everything

And god this is completely derailing now but like a part of me believes if their kids go through school. They wouldn’t want anyone to know ‘Hey this is the Avatar and Bei Fong kid’ so they kept it badly hidden. What I’m saying is they def has a ‘wang and saphfire fire’ moment. That didn’t hold up for a long time and everyone practically knew. (Or maybe better yet they truly had no idea until one day Aang roles up Tattoos and all one day on accident). I just find Toph and Aang trying to navigate the school system entertaining.

Also @ ur Tags: Zukki is one of my favs ships now and def my favorite Zuko ship atm. And yes Katara is trying her best right now bless her soul. I’m Glad u like the twist! You got why I wanted to do something like this. I wanted their past to catch up to them bc they def did more than be overprotective towards Toph. This will also further cement for Aang and Toph how they absolutely will not be as parents.

HCs: Taang

Height Difference. This is very important to me, for some reason. Toph’s a little shorter than Aang when they meet, then they kinda even out at 14 – and for a while, it actually looks like she’s gonna surpass him, but then he has a massive growth spurt, and just … doesn’t fucking stop growing again. So, Aang tol, Toph smol.

PDA. Aang is a touchy-feely person. He likes to hug and cuddle and kiss and hold hands, and be hugged, cuddled and kissed. Toph likes all these things, too. In fact, she loves them. Just … not particularly in front of other people. Holding hands, fine, a kiss on the cheek, too, but everything else is reseved for home.

Travels. That’s honestly basically it. They travel, a lot, not only because I’d imagine it makes Aang’s job as the Avatar easier, but also because they both are very free spirits, and the world is big, and there’s much to see and explore.

The Best. I truly believe Aang and Toph are able to bring out the best in eachother; they are able to give eachother what they need, if not necessarily always what they want. Toph helps him to stand his ground, to square up and not back down. Aang help her see that that isn’t always the best way to go about things. He gives her freedom, she gives him stability, things they desperately crave/need when we meet them.

Chores. Aang is much more likely to do most of them; he has more fun cooking, he doesn’t like it if things get too messy, and letting Toph do the washing is not a good idea. Toph helps out when he asks or when she can see that he doesn’t have the mind to do it at the moment.

Diet. Expanding on Aang doing the cooking, I also imagine Toph being mostly vegeterian when they’re together. Not out of conviction, though. If they’re with friends/family she will happily eat meat. But I don’t see her going out of her way to cook it herself when Aang’s preparing dinner anyway, and he definitely won’t serve her steak.

Children. They’d both be pretty hands-on parents, I think. By no means perfect, but doing as best as they could. I can see Toph being a little too lenient, not making that many rules initially (’cuz she had too many), but Aang’s there to somewhat balance that out. (I can’t imagine the Air Temples just being complete chaos; they must’ve had structure and rules, and it didn’t hurt him. There is such a thing as too few rules.) They make a good team. And good parents.

#SAGA CONTINUES: So now FINALLY They are returning back home to their family and Aang couldnt be happier #at this point it has at least been a month and Aang tells Sokka and Suki ‘this is the longest weve been apart since weve been married’#he lowkey agonizes and cant wait for the boulder thatll probably hit him for leaving her behind #Meanwhile Katara and Toph are talking and Kat tells Toph how impressive she is #Beacause she has done a lot being 7-8 months preganat and still kicking that much ass #And Toph smiles and says ‘Honestly sometimes i forget im pregnant. i feel so light sometimes. not like the rock my mom says i was’#And Kats like ‘Do you think-‘ and Toph interrupts ‘idk but i dont want to give Twinkle Toes false hope. we’ll love them no matter what’#(But if she doesnt get at least 1 Earthbender she might lose it) AND THEN SHE FEELS FAMILIAR FOOTSTEPS HIT THE GROUND OUTSIDE #And casually is like ‘ugh finally those slow pokes are back’ but shes smiling so wide Kat and Zuko can see thru her #Once they reach outside Toph is immediately swept up and twirled around by Aang whos practically showering her with kisses #who in a word vomit is like ‘Ive missed you. im sorry i broke my promise. u were right. ive never been happier to see u pregnant still’#And Toph is like ‘If u dont let go the baby will pop out’ and Aangs like ‘Oop sorry T’ and puts her down gently #he immediately then gets shoved by a rock and Tophs like ‘I told u splitting up would be stupid’#And hes like ‘I know i know im stu-What happened to your head?’ and pops back up to examine it closer #And she lightheartedly like ‘Would u believe i ran into a wall’ but its too late she can feel his heavy heart connecting the dots #And before he can speak shes like ‘This wasnt ur fault Twinkle Toes. I dont want to feel your self pity party. im fine the babies fine’#And she grabs his hand and squeezes it and she feel his heart get a little lighter but only slightly #(Meanwhile Zukki is having a great reunion as well as Katara and Sokka having a sibling moment)#Then Tophs parents let their presence be known and evryone gathers inside to get the whole story #Toph is pissed that her parents did that and also never told her but she can tell they are genuine when they say that isnt them anymore #So she does forgive them but they need to srsly have a long drawn out talk soon about everything again and she means everything #after her parents leave the Gaang has a big family dinner and hang out like they love doing #They all decide to stay until Toph has her baby because i mean they are all here anyways and god it seems like itll pop out any second now #And Zuko teases Aang telling him that now that hes back he can fetch all of Tophs wild cravings and Aangs like u dont even know #And tells everyone the time She practically made him go through 5 towns to find a specific dish and they all laugh and have wholesome times #AND Then Finally 2 weeks later Toph goes into labor and U have never seen Aang looked more stressed in his life #He got kicked out of the room at one point bc his anxiousness was getting annoying according to Toph and even Katara they had to focus #But once the baby is actually coming they let him back in and Aang almost loses a hand from Tophs squeezing #AND THEN they get a lil baby girl and there is just this quiet moment of peace and love when they hold her #The rest of the Gaang (Iroh too) Arrive and they all form a giant cuddle puddle and they wouldnt trade this moment for anything. The End

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radishaur · 4 years ago

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can u do a zuko x reader high school au where the reader (female or gender neutral) is part of the gaang's friend group and is a huge nerd? (in math or science or english or everything because there aren't enough nerd readers mam) feel free to do anything you want with that! ty!

As a fellow nerd, I am so in love with this idea! I actually love this idea so I think I’m gonna be turning this one into a series! I hope you enjoy this!

- Zoe

•••

Highschool AU (Zuko x Reader)

Warnings: None

Genre: Fluff, Highschool AU, some angst

Part: 1/?

Summary: Zuko was, by no means, your typical student. He was super popular despite having relatively no friends. He was quite shy and mostly kept to himself. Every girl was swooning over him, but he never noticed. He also was pretty much barely passing every class he was in, besides PE and Theatre. So when the school appoints you as his personal tutor, you wouldn’t say you were surprised. What did surprise you was how well the two of you got along.

•••

The soft sound of the alarm going off brought you out of your sleep. You groaned in annoyance before sitting up. The sun wasn’t even up yet, but that didn’t matter. School started at 7 AM sharp, no excuses.

You swung yourself out of bed and hit the off button for your alarm. Stretching, you found yourself walking into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

It was the same routine every day. Get up and get ready for school. Eat breakfast and go straight to school. Go to your classes as expected and don’t cause trouble. Keep your grades up or else. Look out for your sister because she’s blind and “can’t take care of herself” (total bullshit). Come home and do your homework. Go to sleep. That was the routine for Y/N Beifong.

Having parents in politics meant you were constantly having to meet these insane expectations. You had to be perfect. There was no room to be a normal teenager. Not for me.

I sighed and got dressed before heading over to Toph’s room. She was usually a heavy sleeper and I had to wake her up.

“Toph! Sokka, Aang, and Katara are gonna be here any minute now,” I exclaimed as I turned the lights on in her room.

She grumbled slightly before sitting up. Her hair was everywhere and I giggled slightly.

“Come on. Get dressed so I can do your hair,” I told her before heading to the kitchen to make some food.

I put some fruit into the blender along with some ice and milk to make us both smoothies. I let it mix before pouring them into two cup and handing one to a sleepy Toph who shuffled into the kitchen.

“Rough night?” I asked as I began taming her hair.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” she replied as she hastily drank her smoothie.

I pinned her hair into her usual style. As I was placing the last bobby pin in, I heard a honk from outside. Definitely Sokka.

Toph and I both grabbed our bags before running outside and jumping in the car. The rides to school were always my favorite. We could just laugh and be ourselves. It was incredibly refreshing.

When we pulled into the school parking lot, we all went out seperate ways to class. I was the oldest of the group, a whole grade above everyone else. Sokka and Katara were only one underneath me and then Aang and Toph were both freshman. How is that even possible you might be asking?

Well, both Aang and Katara skipped a grade. They’ve always been slightly smarter than their age group so it didn’t really surprise anyone. As for Toph, pretty much everyone was surprised to find out that she was practically a genius. She didn’t care about school in the slightest, but she was incredibly smart. She had to take special classes because of her blindness, but she was a part of the school nonetheless. Honestly, it worked out great for me. I had all of my friends in the same place, even if I didn’t have any classses with them.

I went about my day as usual, vigorously taking notes and listening to the different lectures. Everything was going by as normal until I was called to the principals office before lunch. My teacher handed me the note before continuing his lecture.

The walk there had been absolutely nerve wracking. I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong and yet I still couldn’t calm down. Mostly out of fear for what my parents would do if they found out I was called there in the first place. I took a deep breath before opening the door to the principal’s office.

“Ah! Miss Y/N,” Principal Williams greeted with a welcoming smile, “Have a seat.”

“Good morning Mr. Williams,” I replied as I sat down.

I shifted nervously in my seat as I waited for him to tell me why I was here.

“Don’t worry. You’re not in trouble,” he prefaced, sending a wave of relief over me, “We’re just waiting on another student to arrive and then I’ll explain why you’re here.”

I cocked my head curiously, wondering what could possibly be happening. It wasn’t maybe a minute long before the door creaked open once more. Stepping inside was the last person I expected to see.

“Mr. Zuko! Late as always,” Principal Williams greeted, noticeably less friendly.

Standing in the doorway stood Zuko. He had a red cardigan with a button up underneath, black jeans, and a brown book bag slung over his shoulders. My eyes flicked to the scar that covered almost the entire left side of his face before looking over the rest of him. His brown hair fell lightly over his face and he shifted nervously in the doorway before sitting like he was told to.

“This is Ms. Y/N. I’m sure you’ve seen eachother around school before,” he said, pointing between the two of us.

Zuko nodded slightly before averting his gaze. I had indeed seen him around before. His father was also in politics and his sister, Azula, was one of the top students in the school and the two were never seen together at school. His scar was the spark of many gossip filled conversations you could hear while walking down the halls. Zuko himself was quiet. He kept to himself and didn’t have many friends.

“Zuko here is in need of a tutor. He’s barely passing any of his classes and his father is paying us to find him a student tutor. Seeing as you’re one of our top students and the same age, it only made sense to pick you,” he explained to me, barely even paying attention to Zuko at all.

“Oh,” was all I managed to say.

I had a million thoughts running through my head. I didn’t even know what to say.

“We’ll pay you for your efforts of course and the school will provide you with library space to work. All you need to do is tutor Zuko until his grades go up,” he continued, leaning back in his chair.

Zuko hadn’t said a word. You could see him blushing slightly out of the corner of your eye, presumably because he was embarrassed. You two had never spoken before and now he was getting bad mouthed right in front of me. I couldn’t help but feel somewhat sorry for him. Principal Williams did really put him in an uncomfortable position.

“When would I be tutoring him?” I asked, bringing my attention back to the situation at hand.

“Every day after school starting today until his grades improve. Then we can adjust the schedule as needed,” Principal Williams said before handing me a sheet of paper and adding, “That’s a list of all the subjects you’ll be covering.”

I nodded to conform I had heard him, but my head was elsewhere. This was a huge commitment I was being thrown into, but I couldn’t really say no. Besides, judging by the list of subjects I’d be teaching him, they were all ones I actually enjoyed. I would have to tell my parents and Toph about the new arrangement though and that wasn’t a conversation I was particularly looking forward too.

“Great. Why don’t you two exchange phone numbers so you can communicate and then you can be on your ways,” he said before ushering us out into the waiting room.

I stood awkwardly in front of him. He was only slightly taller than me, but it was enough to make me feel slightly intimidated. Despite his social awkwardness, he looked like someone you didn’t want to piss off. I shook my head and decided to introduce myself properly.

“So, I know that probably wasn’t the best way to get introduced. My name is Y/N,” I said, giving him a friendly smile.

“Zuko,” he said back.

This was the first time I had heard his voice. In all honesty, it sent a swarm of butterflies off in my stomach. It was quiet and held this almost gravelly tone that made my knees weak.

“It’s nice to meet you. Why don’t I give you my number so I can text you later,” I suggested, shoving the funny feeling in my stomach down.

He took his phone out and looked at me. His amber eyes met my (E/C) one’s expectantly. I repeated my number for him and then pulled out my own to get his. I was putting his contact name in when he spoke again.

“I’m sorry for getting you forced into tutoring me. My family was insistent on having a student tutor,” he apologized, a small blush dusting his cheeks as he did.

“That’s alright. I don’t mind. I’m actually really passionate about most of the stuff I’ll be teaching you anyways,” I assured him as I stuffed my phone back into my pocket.

He hummed to let me know he had heard me but he didn’t say anything else. I looked down awkwardly by my feet, unsure of what to do next. I was scrambling for what to say when the lunch bell rang.

“Well, I better get going. I don’t want to keep my friends waiting. I’ll text you after school,” I said before making my way to the lunch room.

I met my friends and we all got in line to grab lunch. I was grateful that our school provided actual food. Granted, this was a private school. It was incredibly prestigious. You had to either pay to attend or be here on a scholarship.

“So, I heard that you got pulled out of class to go to the principal’s office,” Toph taunted, poking me in the side with her elbow.

“Ms. Goody-two-shoes got sent to the office? No way,” Sokka said, grabbing his tray as we all began walking towards our table outside.

“What did you get called down for?” Aang asked out of curiosity.

We all sat down at the table and I began eating as I answered.

“I’m going to be a tutor for another student. I’m getting paid and everything,” I explained.

“Oh wow! Who is it?” Katara asked as she took a bite out of her sandwich.

“Zuko,” I answered casually.

Sokka choked on his drink and looked at me with wide eyes. Pretty much everybody at the table did besides Toph who just continued eating like nothing had happened.

“You’re going to be tutoring Zuko? Like the Zuko?” he asked in disbelief.

I rolled my eyes. Everybody at school acted like this. Sokka really needed to stop gossiping so much.

“I don’t see what the big deal is. He’s just like the rest of us,” I argued, taking another bite of my food.

“You’re insane, Y/N. Zuko is the mysterious hottie that everybody wants to date. Do you know how many people would kill for the opportunity you were just handed?” he exclaimed, waving his hands out to gesture to the many students milling around.

“Don’t tell me you’re crushing on him or something. Are you jealous?” I teased, kicking his leg slightly under the table.

Everybody laughed as Sokka scowled.

“Haha. You know I’ve had my eyes on Suki since day one,” he sighed, looking off in the distance dreamily.

We spent the rest of the lunch period like usual, just discussing our days and making plans to hang out this weekend. I went through the rest of my classses more anxious than usual, though. Normally I would be completely focused, but I couldn’t get my mind of tutoring Zuko.

His awkward demeanor did nothing to hide his look. I hated to agree with the opinion of the student body, but he was undeniably good looking. I also couldn’t stop thinking about how I had to spend the next however many hours trying to tutor him. I was nervous to see if I would be any good at it. What if we didn’t get alone well?

I was brought back to reality by the final bell. My heartbeat began to accelerate slightly, but I forced myself to calm down. I texted the group chat I had with my friends to remind them of my tutoring session and then made my way into the library. It was completely empty save for Zuko. He was already sitting down at a table and was fidgeting nervously with his sleeve. He had headphones in and I made sure to walk in front of him so I didn’t startle him.

“Hey,” I said, sitting down in the chair next to him.

He plucked the earbuds out of his ears carefully and turned to look at me. He gave me a halfhearted smile before shoving his headphones into his bag.

“Hi,” he mumbled.

“So, I feel like I should preface this by letting you know I’ve never been a tutor before. I’m not really sure how this is supposed to work,” I admitted sheepishly.

“Oh,” he said quietly.

I pulled my textbooks out of my bag and set them down on the table. I thought for a moment before deciding on what to do.

“Why don’t we get to know eachother better?” I suggested.

His good eye widened a bit in shock before his expression changed to one of confusion.

“Aren’t you supposed to be tutoring me?” he questioned me.

“I will. I just think it would help if we actually knew a little bit about eachother. That way we aren’t just total strangers,” I explained, turning my chair to face him.

He shifted nervously before finally facing me. He was definitely incredibly awkward. Luckily for both of us, I found it endearing. Besides, growing up with Toph you kind of have to learn to adapt. She’s not exactly known for being the most social.

“Alright,” he agreed.

“Great. I guess I’ll start. Ask me anything you want to know,” I said, leaning back in my chair.

His brows furrowed in thought. I had to hold back at laugh at his determination. He was taking this very seriously it appeared.

“What uh.....what do you do for fun?” he asked finally.

“I actually love to read. That’s usually what I do after school if I’m not hanging out with my friends. I also love studying environmental science,” I answered honestly.

“Oh. I’m not very good at either of those,” he admitted sheepishly, his cheeks growing pink.

“What are you good at?” I asked.

“I guess I’m good at sports. I used to take martial arts when I was little. Now I mostly just um......” he trailed off before mumbling something under his breath, his embarrassment growing clearer and clearer.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear the last part,” I admitted.

“I uh......I really enjoy theatre,” he admitted quietly, averting his gaze from mine.

“Oh! I didn’t strike you as a theatre person. That’s cool! My sister and I used to sneak out and watch some local plays before we got caught,” I admitted, laughing at the memory.

Toph used to insist on going, even though she couldn’t see. She said it was a good chance for her to practice her version of seeing. At first, I thought it was ridiculous, but she surprised me like usual. As long as her feet were on the ground she could sense where everything was.

Zuko was surprised. He had expected you to make fun of him, but instead you seemed completely unfazed. Theatre, as his father said, was for girls.

“You don’t think that’s weird?” he questioned, testing the waters.

“Why would that be weird?” you asked, your head cocked to the side in confusion.

He seemed to be relaxed slightly by your answer and for the first time, a genuine smile graced his features. It was small, but even that sent a small flutter alight in your stomach. You smiled back and continued to get to know him. After a while, you finally began tutoring him. You spent almost 2 hours there before you two decided to call it a night.

Now, you were laying in bed. Normally you would be out like a light, but tonight you couldn’t get a certain someone out of your head. You guys had clicked almost instantly after Zuko relaxed. You guys had more in common than you would have expected.

You sighed and turned on your side to look at the stars. As you drifted off to sleep, you couldn’t help but be excited to see him again.

#zuko x reader #zuko #prince zuko fanfic #prince zuko fanfiction #prince zuko fic #prince zuko #highschool au

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sarcasticmirage · 4 years ago

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The thing is that the earth kingdom didn’t win the war, neither did the water tribe, no land was ceded, and no real power changed hands. Some of Team Avatar probably would say that they had won the war for their respective homes but either way they had no official sanction or troops with them during the final battle of the hundred year war. The Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes didn't win the war, Aang, Sokka, Toph, Suki, Katara, and Zuko did.

In the fire nation, the war was never lost, Azula was almost crowned before she was defeated after breaking the bonds of an Agni Kai, by the rightful heir to the throne who then ruled that the war would end, not that it was lost. When Zuko would in the future talk about the end of the war he would refer to it as such, as much as he may have viewed it as defeating his father, his right to rule depended on him having performed a coup rather than be a conqueror.

In the rest of the world the label of conqueror is all that allowed Zuko to keep his throne. At the end of the war, Zuko was a traitor, banished from the fire nation and was the teacher and ally of the Avatar. He and Katara defeated the next in line to the throne and installed Zuko as the new leader of the country. To the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes Zuko had taken power in the Fire Nation through defeating the previous leader as a conqueror.

Sokka gets a letter in Republic City, on his twenty-second birthday, from his father and after the regular birthday wishes and questions about his sister, his father tells him that he has an offer for Sokka to come to the south to be considered for chiefdom. Sokka almost tears the paper in excitement, before he calms and writes his father that while he would love to he might need to stay in Republic city for only a little longer while it settles and postpone his consideration. Sokka receives a letter back quickly saying that he could postpone it for quite a while but if the situation changes they need him at the ready. The message fills Sokka with intrigue, him not only wondering what this situation could be, but also why his fathers writing feels relived.

He tells Toph about this in few months at a party, the council hall is decorated and Aang and Katara are over at the food in the corner talking to a delegate from the Northern Tribe, Toph snorts before laughing and then falling silent for the amount of time it takes for Sokka to be about to yell about how he would make an incredible chief thank you very much, before she sighs ”huh i guess they do each want one of us” she turns to leave but pauses and angles back to him for a moment ”thanks though, for giving us a little more time ” at his silence she steps a little towards him ”wait, Snoozles do you not get it? I mean I guess I had to be told too but you’re the strategy guy. Sokka we won.”

Toph gets her first proposal the day she turns 18 and its on the finest paper she’s ever held, so fine that she feels no doubt when the messenger reads “cordially, his majesty King Kuei of The Earth Kingdom.” There is surely no doubt in her heart when she slams through the wall of Kuei’s inner chamber before asking him what the hell he’s thinking. The man is shaken but still gripped with the propriety of a raised monarch. He asks if she would calm for a moment while they move to a more reasonable and private place to have this conversation. She’s pissed but she knows as well as any aristocrat that only privacy breeds truth so she agrees.

As tea is being brought out he explains, Toph is one of the few people in the would who can claim winning the war, she is the child of an extremely powerful and wealthy family with historical pedigree, as well as being a strong force on her own he is quick to add. He explains that the Earth Kingdom is a monarchy and that marriage and adoption are truly the only ways to become a part of its leadership. At this Toph stills and asks “leadership?” He continues to say that a leader’s victory is the kingdom’s honor. She feels a sinking feeling and understands “the war huh?” he nods and continues that while he understands why she does not want to agree to his proposal and that he himself does not have any romantic inclinations toward her, that she should think of the benefit to the kingdom as he had. At her increased glare he retracted a bit to say that she could take all the time she needed to think but to at least consider it, she growled “fat chance” and left.

As she was going though a man approached her in the hallway blocking her way and intoning “Lady Beifong, I know you might be bothered from your conversation with his majesty but I recommend you return and tell him that you will need time for your decision but you are amenable to a long courtship”

“Really asshole? And what do you think you can do to me if I don’t.“

“Nothing of course my Lady, but I will remind you that marriage is not the only way into the royal family, adoption will work just as well, unfortunately you have two healthy parents.“

“Unfortunately?“

“ah must have been a slip of the tongue.“ the silence was almost cut by the severity of their glares until the man relaxed his shoulders and raised his arms with geniality ”ah! but of course nothing could happen to the Lord and Lady Beifong, especially since their daughter is so beloved by the king, why I even heard they might be courting, no need for marriage right now of course but its good to know if situations change they’ll already have such a strong foundation“

Toph’s hands were shaking as she growled out “what type of situations?”

He laughed “perhaps if there were ever a specific Chief in the south”

Toph stills her hands and walks back towards Kuei.

#ive never posted fic before but god i cant stop thinking abt atla #Avatar fic #atla #zuko #sokka #toph #toph beifong #avatar the last airbender #fanfic #fanfiction

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carnistcervine · 6 years ago

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Air Nomad Conquest AU

AU where the Air Nomads take over the world. I know that, it's been done a few times, but every time I see it, the Air Nomads are violent and cruel, and I just??? I mean, nothing against other people's AUs and interpretations, but the Air Nomads are literally the only pacifistic nation in the show and I still have yet to see an AU that takes advantage of this. Especially because brainwashing and chi/energy manipulation are canon. But, I guess I gotta make it then. :'D Because they are non-violent, they'd probably see themselves as justified and pure, bringing their fucked up version of peace to the world. :'D

-The elders at the Air Temples start to receive troubling visions of doom and fire. As a result they tell Aang he's the Avatar soon after he turns twelve and receives his tattoos. Just like in canon, he doesn't take the news well and runs away when they threaten to ship him away.

-However, this time, they had a back-up plan. They manage to piece together that the Fire Nation is planning to use the great comet to annihilate them. So, armed with this knowledge, they set up an ambush of their own.

-When the comet arrives, the firebenders are surprised to find the temples abandoned? They assume that the airbenders must be hiding deeper in, so they go, only to find the air becoming progressively thinner. They realize their mistake too late, as they become too weak to move let alone firebend. The comet passes over, with the fire army only having enough air to survive, the calm, watchful eyes of air masters watching from the tall ceilings above.

-The eradication of their Air Nomads was a massive failure. The Fire Nation fears the worst as months go by with no word from the generals and soldiers that went to assault the temples.

-Only, much to their surprise, they return, on the backs of sky bison too. Everyone sent to eradicate the airbenders comes back unharmed. Or so it seems.

-Physically their all fine, but they seem... detached. Their eyes a little glazed over, with a mysteriously calmer disposition to match.

-The Air Nomads are a peaceful people, all pacifists with no military. And yet all of Sozin's best generals and firebenders were no match for them. For whatever the airbenders did to them.

-When asked, they merely reply that the monks showed them the ways of peace and harmony.

-Rather than retaliate, the Air Nomads claim that they just want to speak with Sozin. Maybe come to some kind of peaceful agreement. Sozin doesn't want to, but with the airbenders decisive victory when the firebenders were at their strongest, he has no choice but to relent.

-Sozin comes back from that talk, a changed man. Suddenly the Fire Nation is demilitarized and there's an Air Nomad overseeing the Fire Nation.

-Most of the Fire Nation is just happy that they can live in peace again, but a very vocal minority is PISSED.

-They manage to burn a few airbenders before "mysteriously" changing their attitudes.

-Now the Fire Nation is scared. Just what on earth are the airbenders doing to these people??

-Basically the Air Nomads are brainwashing them. Painting smiles on their souls if you will.

-Seeing the Fire Nation weakened and demilitarized, the Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom decide to exact vengeance on the Fire Nation.

-The airbenders attempt to dissuade the other nations from attacking, but they won't listen.

-Fearing that the other nations may be just as vicious as the Fire Nation, the Air Nomads decide to implement the same solution they did with the firebenders.

-If they won't listen to reason, they'll force them to understand.

-All life is sacred after all. (ʘ‿ʘ✿)

-None of the nations have militaries now, and the Air Nomads have more-or-less concored the world, seeing as they either control or have people set up in powerful positions for all of the major governments.

-With the exception of Ba Sing Se, Kyoshi Island, and the Northern Water Tribe, but they all have a mutual agreement of non-aggression and isolationism.

-The different nations become further isolated from one another.

-The Air Nomads develop their own version of the Dai Li, they call themselves the 'Peacekeepers'. Their job is to uphold peace around the world. By overseeing the different nations and their peoples. And brainwashing dissenters. :'D

-A century later, Aang is freed from the iceberg.

-At first Sokka doesn't trust the strange airbender that Katara freed from the ice, but comes around when the boy shows genuine confusion about the whole 'Peacekeepers in the south'.

-Katara trusts Aang immediately, because he really doesn't come across as creepy or 'Peacekeepery' in any way.

-Naturally, Aang is very confused and doesn't at all understand what the siblings are going on about.

-When Katara takes Aang back to her village, he can't help but get major creep vibes from the local 'Peacekeepers'.

-Since the Fire Nation never stripped the Southern Tribes, Katara has already mastered waterbending. Although, she does feel an intense pressure to run away because both her parents have already been brainwashed and she is afraid that she's going to be next. As much as it hurts Sokka to abandon his dad, he shares the sentiment.

-Aang helps them escape in the dead of night.

-Toph's backstory is mostly the same, only she now also has the pressure of her parents considering having on of the Peacekeepers come "talk" to her.

-Because the Fire Nation never lays siege to Ba Sing Se, Lu Ten is alive and Iroh is Fire Lord. Azulon is still alive, but he's Mcfreakin' ancient and has recently retired as Fire Lord. Iroh isn't brainwashed, but that's only because he's already pretty chill and easy going. Iroh's brother, Prince Ozai, is the leader of a secret rebellion that looks to overthrow the airbenders(and finish the job Sozin set out to do). Ozai's son, Prince Zuko once snuck into one of the meetings. When someone talked about how the airbenders had no right to enforce their will upon the Fire Nation, Zuko spoke out about how the Fire Nation started the mess and that the Air Nomads may have been wrong in their actions, but they did have a point about not forcing violence upon others.

-This royally pissed Ozai off and Zuko was challenged to an Agni Kai. Forgetting that this Agni Kai would be done under Ozai's secret society rules, and not under the watchful eyes of the Peacekeepers, Zuko accepted. Zuko realized his mistake far too late and refused to duel, begging his father for mercy. His face was singed in front of a cheering audience. All at the tender age of thirteen.

-Both the Peacekeepers and Fire Lord Iroh were horrified to find Zuko badly burned. They tried to get answers out of him, but Ozai had Zuko convinced that if he told, he would get into trouble. So Zuko insisted that it was a nasty accident, his own fault really(it's not actually his fault). And really, Zuko did honestly believe that his father burning him was his own fault.

-Azula taunted and bullied Zuko in secret.

-Zuko eventually withdrew and become bitter and grumpy. Feeling like no one can protect him, he eventually runs away after turning sixteen. Resolving to find the Avatar and put a stop to this whole mess.

-Aang doesn't want to believe that his people are bad, and desperately clings onto the idea that there's something that everyone is missing. However, in his travels he finds that what his people are doing is totally and utterly wrong. Yes, peace is a good thing, but they have no right to enforce their will onto others. This leaves Aang to confront the idea of his own people, the people he loves, are the bad guys.

-Also, one more thing. His friends have no idea that he's the Avatar. :')

Gonna have fun writing this, lmao.

If I can ever get around to it. rip

#ATLA AU #ATLA #Avatar #avatar: the last airbender #someone stop me I'm having fun #My Take

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seyaryminamoto · 7 years ago

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May I ask, why does Azula make you passionate? Not a lot of people has the capability to empathize (NOT sympathize) with the antagonists, or a lot don't have the power to share or sense clearly their thoughts and feelings (for many reasons) as they do with the protagonists. Most people are mersiless toward them, even if they were understandable.

Uh, well, if you want the very honest answer? I saw myself in her. But if you want an in-depth answer, click the Read More.

I didn’t mean to, no. I didn’t go looking for myself in her character, I was uneasy about her, even somewhat worried, in her first episodes. She had been characterized very deliberately as colder, more scheming, more efficient than her brother or Zhao, the only Fire Nation villains we knew so far. She hadn’t quite succeeded at anything yet, but there was no tantrum after her failures, no self-pitying act: she simply kept going relentlessly.

She wouldn’t stop at anything, and after watching her convince Mai so easily that her brother wasn’t worth trading over a king, it’s kind of natural to wonder if she’s really devoid of a conscience… No lie, though, it also reflects heavily on Mai that she agreed so easily. It especially looks like Mai has less of a conscience than Azula, since it’s her brother we’re talking about, and it doesn’t really look like she was scared of contradicting Azula: she had only ever complained about her family ever since she showed up on-screen. In short, I thought they were all weird and mean and morally incorrect! :’D

But I have had a penchant to grow interested in characters who are strong, who are driven to the ends of the earth. I used to think I favored tsundere-types of female characters back when I was in my anime-heavy phase, but soon enough I realized that wasn’t quite right: I was interested in female leaders instead, characters who were often tsundere because they bury their feelings deep down, because their main interests are professional, or academic… basically, they were ambitious people who sometimes went too far in dragging others into stuff they hadn’t signed up for (Ritsu Tainaka, Haruhi Suzumiya, Misaki Ayuzawa, Kyoko Mogami, Natsumi Tsujimoto, and so on…).

Basically, I’ve been appealed by characters who share Azula’s reckless determination, but when I approached Avatar I had also moved on mostly from anime, and I found myself, instead, writing an original story where my protagonist was a princess, hailing from a western nation she was supposed to rule one day. This princess was very determined, physically powerful to the point of being beyond human (then again, she was a literal descendant from gods :’D), with a terrible relationship with her family (in particular fighting with an older half-brother who wants to prove he’s more suitable for the throne than her). Said girl’s priority, first and foremost, is her nation, and she’s willing to go to whatever means she must in order to protect it (even resort to magic, which is frowned upon in her nation of warriors).

Now, after I exposed that character’s main traits to you, don’t you think there’s a few too many similarities with Azula? :’D yep, I thought so too as I continued watching ATLA. Tbh it freaked me out how similar they actually were, since I hadn’t watched the show or been influenced by it at all. I didn’t even know Azula existed!

Anyways! I’ve gone off the rails a bit, but back on track: why did I identify with Azula?

First off, I did start getting the feeling she was similar to those characters I loved, despite she was, obviously, meant to be a villain. But what REALLY did it for me?

It was the scene in Zuko Alone, when Iroh’s gifts arrive. Azula’s dear brother gets something mind-blowing while she gets something pathetic, generic, that someone assumed was going to please her because she’s a girl. Because girls like dolls, right?

Well, in my case, I got play make-up instead. I had a trauma with make-up since age 4, and if people had bothered knowing me, or even talking with my mom about me, they would have known that. They didn’t. It didn’t matter to them either way. Meanwhile, my brother’s gifts were incredible! :’D all sorts of action toys, new Hot Wheels, even remote-controlled cars. And when I wanted to play with them? I got a big ole’ NO from him, along with my parents telling me, often, that the toys were his and that I should let him play instead.

Heck, there was this one time he got this ship-in-a-bottle crafts as a present for his birthday from someone who worked at MY school. When I asked where was mine? Oh, there wasn’t one. My birthday was the day before my brother’s, the guy who made it worked at MY SCHOOL, but he would make a gift of the sort for my brother and not for me. I don’t remember if he even lied saying he’d make one, but fact of the matter is, I never got a handcrafted, special boat-in-a-bottle with my name on it. He did.

Let’s just say… when I saw Azula getting that disappointing doll while Zuko got the incredible knife, my jaw dropped. I literally dropped all my defenses against her along with my jaw, too. I saw that and damn, it put her character in a completely different perspective for me: it made her REAL, her experience with her brother resembled mine so much that I was in genuine shock. The salty “You’re not even good!” comment when he was playing with the knife, spoken with the intent to mask her interest in the weapon and her jealousy? The way she takes the knife later too, smirking and teasing her brother, yet letting him have it back because she knows it’s not supposed to be hers? Anon, I swear that was 100% the way I acted in countless similar situations. And I know, it may make me sound like a very bad sister (in Azula’s defense she’s actually a better sister than I am, in my brother’s defense he’s a better brother than Zuko could ever hope to be), but it’s still how it was.

From there onwards, a lot of my interest in Azula came from seeing how she suddenly stepped out of her “supreme villain overlord” role to prove she was really just a teenager like the rest of the cast. We’re talking about a girl who imitated her brother for shits and giggles, just to amuse herself at the expenses of a completely confused Aang. A girl who made a pun about the Avatar’s fangirls. Her sense of humor, no doubt, is kinda weird and not the sweetest? But she has one! It’s there, and no lie, I laughed my ass off with those two occasions at least.

Eventually, I just found myself more interested in her to the point of recklessly supporting her in the show. Yes, I knew the Gaang would win, and I didn’t mind, I liked them too! But I was slowly and surely loving Azula more with every passing episode, as she proved she was the one villain worth respecting in this entire franchise. And she was a fourteen-year-old girl with zero social skills, self-esteem issues to the ends of the earth, a turbulent relationship with her parents and her brother, and the frankly adorable wish to know if people might like her if they didn’t know she was a princess.

Another big selling point for me, as already stated, was her relationship with her brother. While my brother is a little less of a drag than Zuko can be (meaning, my brother can be happy once in a while :’D he even makes jokes… though seriously bad ones .__. maybe he shouldn’t make them...), their relationship was so similar to ours that it freaked me out. I’ve been competing with my siblings since forever, but when it came to outdoing my oldest sisters I seriously just couldn’t do it (honestly, no 3yo can expect to compete in regards of anything with a 10yo, or can she? :’D and yet I was such a pig-headed brat that I did it all the same). Meanwhile, my brother, only two years older than me, was an easier target to surpass, and I set myself on the task of doing that. Whenever he was better than me at anything, I ridiculed him (remember the knife scene?). Whenever I was better than him at anything, he would try to outdo me again and usually fail, then get annoyed and say it was a stupid thing anyways.

As we grew older, the conflict in our relationship grew a lot uglier in the sense that we didn’t really just snap at each other about toys now. I seriously got so pissed off by how entitled he was acting once that I locked myself up in the bathroom, punched a wall out of sheer frustration and damn near broke my hand in the process. No lie, that helped me vent my frustration real easily :’D

Basically, I’ve experienced the sibling relationship Azula did. My brother is far more popular than I am (well, in regards of people who live in our environment, at least), so everyone flocks to him, and when Azula’s friends betrayed her for Zuko, well… you can imagine how that stung for me :’D I’ve had friends who haven’t quite betrayed me for him or so, but they’ve stopped being my friends and become his, instead. How about that?

Anyways, Azula most likely wasn’t built up to be relatable, she was built to be a rounded character instead. There are more obviously relatable characters in the show, Katara is relatable for most the fandom, Toph is relatable for natural tomboys, and so on. But even then, none of these characters were built to be relatable. They were built to be real and believable, and in being built that way, they became relatable. And that’s what happened to me with Azula.

Honestly, I think I can’t really relate or empathize with Zuko a lot because of my own experiences too. I will judge him harder because yep, I’m biased :’D but I’m not trying to say he’s all bad and Azula is all good or anything. Truth be told, secret I’ve kept to myself for a long time… The finale depressed me for a day or two because I kept wondering if that was the only outcome for someone like Azula. Because in a sense, it looked like the show was saying that was kind of the outcome for someone like me. It felt like it was saying the world would judge me as impossible to save, while my brother got every success I could only dream of.

And... who knows? Maybe that’s what’s happening indeed. He’s certainly doing better than me these days. All I can safely say is I’m glad he is. Despite things were bad between us, they’re not so bad anymore. So if I’m to be left unsuccessful and he’s off to shoot for the stars, I’ll congratulate him instead of holding grudges about why he gets that and I don’t.

Anyways, the finale freaked me out, but I distanced myself from the character to a degree so I wouldn’t project on her so much. Still, the way her ending wrapped up bothered me, and I was very much unwilling to see her life end that way. As the comics have been building her up either for a very bad downfall or for a very long redemption that still is barely beginning, I lose my patience often as I keep wanting something better for her ASAP. Not a lot of positive stuff has happened yet to her… but that’s what fanfiction is for, for me. Ever since I opened FF.net’s ATLA archive, the first thing I did was search for Azula getting happy endings xD

And thus, that’s why I write her as I do and connect with her as I have. Azula seems to gather most the traits of characters I loved, but on top of that, she had an eerily similar sibling relationship to mine with my brother. A lot of my own eternal chase towards polishing and developing my talents came from a rather toxic place of thinking that having lots of skills was the only way I could be valid, somehow. I’m not exempt from self-esteem issues myself, see :’D

Anyways, I realize the majority of people won’t find Azula relatable, acceptable, likeable in any way. I don’t mind, I don’t really think it’s that odd, the show very obviously featured her as a problem that needed to be dealt with. But I’m not one to stick with supporting only the heroes in stories. Very often I’ve liked villains better, whether because they’re complex and worth exploring, as Azula is, or because they’re simply more interesting than their heroic counterparts. I guess I could have said this from the start and spared you the insanely lengthy insight into how my mind works, right? :’D

#anon #boy that got long #sorry about that @_@

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destiny-smasher · 7 years ago

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So I did the “get to know me” meme on Twitter but because of how Twitter functions now it’s a hard to follow mess of a thread. Decided to post it all here -- and hey, if any of ya’ll are curious, feel free to read.

1) When I was 10 my abusive stepdad threw a spray at me. I ducked -- it scraped my head. Sent to school bleeding b/c he was too stoned to realize it'd get noticed and I'd get pulled out of that environment immediately. This moment changed my life, left a scar on head.

If I hadn't ducked, would've hit my stomach. No cut. Whole childhood would've been different. My first Butterfly Effect Moment.

2) I started writing fiction about Pokémon. First-person, from the Mons perspective. Rotating point of view each scene.

3) I moved on to crazy crossover fanfic where I constructed an entire war, personal and political motivations, so many ideas I still like?

4) Part of this involved detailed drawings of Mario-themed Keyblades I wish I still had.

5) Paper Mario 1&2 are some of my most influential inspirations. expanded such a simple world so much so fluidly. (Harder than it looks)

6) When I was a kid my sister would wake me st like 6am to watch dubbed Sailor Moon. Bothered me they all sounded like same person.

7) I can recognize voices very well and even specific sounds and songs. Couple years back my roommate ran a test - playlist of 100 NES tracks, he'd play the first NOTE, singular, and I could recognize exactly where it was from if I'd played the game.

8) My first computer was a PC I bought w/$ saved up during an entire summer of custodial work in HS. Had no Internet.

So I'd use the public library's very slow connection to download things to floppy disk and copy them over.

Eventually, I was able to graduate to a USB. Obtaining music was hellish so I treasured each song I could download -- most from OC Remix.

9) We had this tiny rabbit ears TV that could get WB and Fox sometimes if it was set up in a specific corner of my sister's room

And so I would desperately use it to try and stay up to date on Pokémon and Digimon, it was so bad

10) Teen Titans was arguably the most influential piece of media for my teenage mind. It formed the base of so much I care about re:stories

Fleshed out, varied protags who grew together and each had their times to step up and step down. Action w/character dev context.

Fantastic themes important for growing humans; awesome moments "between the panels" instead of all comic book melodrama and action.

Then everything changed when TT GO attacked and pissed on everything smart and thoughtful because MONEYYYYY

11) Cowboy Bebop was the first "good" anime I ever saw and blew my mind open about what animated stories could do -- i.e. Not just kid stuff

I don't like "anime" in general because most of its common tropes but the shit out of me even worse than most western toon tropes

And yet like 50-75% of my most favorite shows ARE anime because thoughtful animated storytelling has so much potential.

11) I predicted months before Last of Us came out that you'd play as Ellie but when it happened I had to stop, cry happy tears.

I predicted the second I saw the Left Behind trailer what was going on w/those two and again, still had to stop and cry happy tears.

(I seem to have pretty good gaydar now but I also don't like, ship everyone together all the time)

It just hits me so hard when actual canon queerness happens in mass media and is done well, but we're still so bad at following through.

12) Favorite m/m ship: Troy and Abed in the Morning. Favorite w/w ship: Max and Chloe BFF Pirates 2008.

ATLA ships: Tokka the most, also Katang, also Smellershot. ATLA makes me more open to shipping than any other series?

Like, Zutara makes me feel kinda gross and some of the crack ships like Sokka/Azula scare me but otherwise I'm pretty chill w/ATLA ships?

13) When I was a kid, and we'd role play, I always wanted to play the girl characters. I was surrounded by boys so they always were weirded.

It was weird to me, too, honestly.

Now it makes perfect goddamn sense.

14) Apparently I was kidnapped as a baby by some mobster or something but it's hard to tell with my mom what's real or not.

15) Smash Bros. Melee was the first game I ever got genuinely hype over before launch. I still remember being startled to discover it --

-- existed via E3 trailer on GameTrailers back on my goddamn dialup connection in 2001. I had to wait all fuckin' day for that thing to load

And when it did, it was GLORIOUS (and had FZero music, which at the time I did not recognize) and I was FLOORED.

The screenshots made the game look too good to be real, and I was instantly sold on the GameCube, the first time I NEEDED new hardware Day 1

I got SSBM as an Xmas gift before my grandpa's GCN present arrived, so for a week or two all I could do was stare at the box/manual/disc

That game kind of changed my life -- SSB64 was the first time I'd gotten so invested in a multiplayer game, and SSBM crushed it.

A fire was born in me -- competition, something I'd never been much interested in w/games before, not against actual humans.

Those months between E3 2001 and finally getting to play SSBM felt like forever. And thus did I post online fiction for the first time.

That's actually how I met @SDiDuro , my first 'Internet friend' and what I'd consider to be my first proper 'reader.'

16) After college, I ended up working at a call center because it was the only job I could find and I needed to support my disabled wife.

DURING college, I gave up on writing fiction and had focused on gaming editorial through a site where I'd engaged with an online community

But that empty space between phone calls eventually got filled in by writing fiction on a notepad, with a pen, inspired by Street Fighter 4.

Eventually, this evolved and radically changed into what is now (still in dev) DownRight Fierce.

Back then, I had no idea I'd be motivated to DO this, though -- write original fiction -- but the fire had been re-lit.

I wanted to write.

I was sickened by my "naive" adolescence crossover fics and wiped them from my http://FF.net profile and started anew.

Having just come off of ATLA 1st time, I knew I wanted to explore that world/characters more, so I wrote a story about Toph & puberty.

That serving as "practice," I then went on to write SRU, and...well, that...changed EVERYTHING.

17) My biological dad (who I have never met) has OCD, to the point where he apparently washed his skin raw trying to avoid germs?

So as soon as I showed enthusiasm in gaming, my parents FREAKED and worried I was exhibiting OCD and they brought the hammer down.

They made me feel BAD for writing about video games when I wasn't playing them, but they never READ anything I fucking wrote.

Even now, my mom tries to comment on what a good writer I supposedly am, yet when I ask for her thoughts, I ask what she's read?

Silence.

I wasn't writing fiction based on games because I was THAT addicted to games.

I did it because a storyteller was awakening within me --

-- and I told stories through the worlds and characters I was familiar with.

(And my first genuinely "serious" fic was Teen Titans, anyway)

But even now, it really hurts that my parents will sometimes try to guilt me over not calling or whatever the fuck, when they never READ

never supported, and actively DISCOURAGED my writing, my storytelling, refused to understanding why I loved games.

18) I never watched Avatar until after college (years after it had finished), and I watched it because of the live action movie.

I watched halfway through the season 1 of the cartoon to get "read up" on it. Then the movie. Which was horrible. Then the rest of season 1.

At that point, the movie utterly baffled me. My wife and I proceeded to marathon the rest of the series. And it became my fav story ever.

But I ironically owe it to that terrible live action movie. ^_^;;

19) My taste in music is really weird. I couldn't tell you what my favorite genres are, and even fav musicians is hard.

Like, every year my top three fav musicians "change" because I just add more to the pile and spend the year focused on their music.

But music inspires my storytelling more than any other medium, I'd say -- in terms of me actually planning and growing ideas.

I didn't just give Nishiko and Seiko last names of my two fav game composers as tongue-in-cheek. In fact, that's not why I did it at all.

I gave them those names because I wanted some element of their very design to express how Japanese composers inspired me in my teen years.

#get to know me #personal

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raybansandcoffee · 7 years ago

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In the Heat of Los Angeles - Chapter Thirteen: A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More “Touch Me” (Fall Out Boy)

If you have missed any of ITHOLA find the first twelve chapters HERE

He opened his arms, bags still in hand, allowing me to wrap my arms around his waist. I buried my face in his chest as I hugged him, taking in his scent, I loved the way he smelled. Who would’ve thought just a few days away from him and I would’ve missed the way he smelled? I had always been busy enough in life that I never missed a boyfriend when we were apart. But here we were after like a week and a half together and I wanted to cry at the feeling of his arms around me.

“I missed you,” I whispered.

“I missed you too.” I leaned back and he smiled at me. “Are you crying?” I nodded. “Why are you crying?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure what’s going on. It feels so foreign. Like I can’t control it.” He let go of me quickly, opening the backdoor of the car, throwing his bags and guitar in before shutting the door and hugging me tightly. He had bent down so his arms were beneath mine.

“I missed you a lot too.” He was speaking pretty quietly and right into my ear. “I’m really glad you finally asked me to come. I would’ve hated to be away from you any longer.” He moved back and kissed me. In that moment I felt what had to be a million butterflies start flapping their wings in my stomach. But they felt like a million giant bat sized butterflies. I moaned slightly. “You can’t moan like that standing outside the airport. I can’t have the reaction I want to.” I started to laugh.

“Get in the car,” I replied. He kissed me one more time before opening the driver’s side door for me and then going around the car.

“Did you rent this?” he asked.

“No, it’s Grace’s. I’m pretty sure that she’s going to end up making me pick the boys up from school in a few hours.” Before putting the car in gear I leaned over and kissed him again.

“So do we go to your Mom’s now?” he asked.

“Well, that’s where everyone else is, except Eliza. We dropped her off at her parents’ house when we left the airport this morning. Should be interesting now that she and Joe are hooking up. I don’t imagine him wanting to stay at her parents’ house this weekend but you never know.”

“That’s so random that they hooked up.”

“You’re so relieved, don’t lie.”

“I am a little,” he said as I pulled out onto the road. “So you’ve been home obviously?”

“Yeah, just barely. I was able to put my bags in my room, hug my Mom and take her keys. Dad will probably be home when we get there. Are you ready to meet my whole family?”

“More than ready, I’m excited.”

“I’m glad. Mom is excited too.” He grabbed my right hand and laced his fingers with mine. “So did you have a nice flight?”

“Photographers were at LAX as usual. I appreciate that you had Sam pick me up.”

“No need to worry about getting there. I’ve got a driver who can do that.”

“You’re like my Sugar Mama,” he said laughing.

“I do my best.”

“How was your flight?”

“Good, I didn’t sleep at all on it. I was too excited to come home. Everyone else slept, I think the hangover from Wednesday was still kicking our asses this morning.”

“How are you holding up?”

“I’m fine. I am much better off without him than I ever was with him. If I was still with him I wouldn’t be with you.” I glanced at him and smiled.

“I’m very happy about that,” he replied. He pulled my hand to his lips kissing it softly. “Have you heard from Drew?”

“He texted me yesterday morning to tell me to go fuck myself. I’ve decided not to respond because it’s just not worth it. The only thing that will happen is I will get pissed off and scream and yell and I don’t want to do that. I’m in Chicago. You are here. We are here together. I’ve got my Mom and Dad in the same house as me for a few days. I’m not going to let anything ruin that.”

“I’m glad. I hate that you had to go through all of that and that I wasn’t there. I’m sorry Joe invited him out.”

“He is too.” I started to laugh. “I think Nick and Joe called him yesterday when Eliza took me to get coffee and basically ripped into him. They were both so pissed that he cheated on me, that he made me out to be the bad guy when our relationship ended and that he didn’t think better of accepting Joe’s invitation out. I feel bad. They’d all been friends for so long because of how long Drew and I were together but I’m not sad about him not being part of my life anymore. Them knowing means that this shit won’t happen again.”

“I’m glad he’s out of your life too. The sound of you crying over the phone, knowing I couldn’t get there to fix it, it ripped my heart in two.”

“How did I get so lucky to find you?”

“Technically, I found you. James by the way says you owe him.”

“I’m not surprised. I actually got a call from Ben yesterday. He wants dibs on you when you go to perform on late night. Says he doesn’t care how long it is from now or if you are singing nursery rhymes that they want dibs to be your first late night talk show appearance.”

“When I told James that we wanted to do dinner with he and Julia, Ben got a little jealous.”

“We can all do dinner together. If you want we can invite them over to the house and I’ll cook. Let them see that I have a domestic side and not just the side that bullies them into booking my artists.”

“That would be nice.” I pulled up to the house and turned into the driveway. “This is your house?”

“It is,” I said as I pulled into the garage. I saw Dad’s car in the stall beside us which meant he was home. “It’s affectionately known as the Wrigley Mansion. The family that owned The Wrigley Company that makes all the chewing gum and is the namesake of Wrigley Field once owned the house. We’ve been here since I was nine and in all honesty if they were to ever sell the house I’d probably find a reason to move back to Chicago.”

“It looks beautiful from the outside but so different from your home in Los Angeles and your father’s place in Malibu.”

“Mom and Pops are very different, this is just the most visual sign most people see.” I took one of his bags so that I could hold his hand as we walked into the house. Just as it had been when I arrived earlier there were people running around like crazy.

“It’s very busy,” Harry said quietly.

“Yeah, it’s a big party tonight. Mom usually has an army of people.”

“Where is The Circus?”

“Probably downstairs. There’s a game room down there, it’s where Ty and Joe’s room is. It’s also the safest place in the house right now. Upstairs is a mess of decorators, caterers, and staff.” I left Mom’s keys were they had been in the foyer and lead Harry upstairs.

“I feel like I’m a mini version of Hogwarts with the staircases and the wood everywhere.” I giggled a bit.

“Yeah, I had a pretty badass Harry Potter party here when I was younger. So I can see that.”

“Please tell me somewhere there is a picture of you dressed up as Hermoine.”

“There is. Though I begged to be Luna.” He started to laugh at me.

“That doesn’t surprise me in the least bit.” Before going to find Mom I took him into my bedroom so we could put his bags down. “Your bedroom is nice, very big.”

“Yeah, this was what I got upgraded to as the boys took over downstairs. The second floor has the master bedroom and three other rooms, as there were more babies I got moved. I sort of imagine at some point Jonny will try and take over the room that Kammi and Nick are staying in so he can get off the same floor as Mom and Dad but it makes it awkward to have a guest bedroom that shares a bathroom with Mace and Toph.”

“That makes sense. This house is really stunning.” He walked over to the dresser in my room. I saw him eyeing the framed pictures, he picked one up. It was of Mom, Dad and I at my graduation from Northwestern, I was still in my cap and gown, diploma in hand. Mom had barely stopped crying long enough to get the picture taken. Dad was beaming with pride that his girl had graduated college, he couldn’t even manage to look at the camera for any of the pictures. He was just looking at me with this grin on his face that almost made me cry every time I looked at it. There was one with my Pops and I as well. He looked proud and relieved. He was glad I’d graduated and relieved that I was moving to Los Angeles shortly after. There was a picture of the boys and I that was more recent. It was last fall when I came home for a Cubs game. We were all huddled together in our hoodies and caps with the Wrigley sign behind us that was lit up to say CUBS WIN! We took one of these pictures at every game we went to. If Harry dared to open the frame he’d seen them dating back to the first game that I took Jonny to by myself when we were kids. “You don’t have this many pictures up in LA.”

“Mom put them out here. She wants reminders of me when she comes in here. Dad says that sometimes when she misses me he’ll find her asleep in my bed. That sort of stuff makes me wish I’d stayed in Chicago. My Mom is my best friend.”

“Let’s go find her then,” he said. He kissed me sweetly first and then followed me out of the bedroom and into the ballroom. “You weren’t kidding about a ballroom.”

“Nope,” I replied as we walked across the floor. The door was open to the small balcony that overlooked the park and the lake. Mom was outside on the phone.

“Marie, I have to go. Evie just got home with Harry.” She smiled brightly. “Of course, we will see you, George, Eliza and the boys in a little bit. Bye.” She slid the phone in the pocket of her designer jeans and stepped back into the house from the balcony.

“Mom, this is my boyfriend Harry Styles. Harry, this is my mom, Grace Ferrera.”

“Grace, it’s nice to finally meet you in person.” It took all of two seconds after he finished speaking for her to embrace him in the biggest hug.

“I’m so glad you came. I’ve been anxious to meet you.” She hugged him tighter and I heard her whisper to Harry, she was trying to prevent me from hearing her but I did. “I needed to meet the man that made my Evie take a minute to slow down and breathe.”

“I’m glad I could finally meet the woman that made her the incredible woman who she is so I could thank her.” That was the moment that I knew this was for real. This wasn’t just going to be something fun that lasted a few weeks and kept me entertained. This was the real deal. This was the guy that wanted to be part of my life with my family.

“Everlee Mae Scarcello!” came the booming voice of my Dad out of the service kitchen upstairs. I looked to see him in the door and took off running through the ballroom, dodging people setting up tables before I jumped into his arms. He spun me quickly before setting me down and hugging me tightly. “I’ve missed you bambina.”

“I’ve missed you too Dad.”

“They are so dramatic when they see each other for the first time,” Mom said as I heard her heels on the floor. “She barely had time to hug me when she got home before asking to borrow the car. Her Dad, he gets bear hugs and sprinting.”

“Oh Mom.” I gave Dad a kiss on the cheek before turning to hug her. “I cried when I saw you. I just had to go pick up Harry from the airport. Priorities, lady.”

“I know,” she replied as she finally hugged me again. “You know I just like to give you and Dad crap for your dramatic greetings.”

“Dad, I want you to meet my boyfriend, Harry Styles. Harry, this is my Dad, Marco Ferrera.” Harry stuck his hand out to shake Dad’s.

“It’s nice to meet you sir.”

“You don’t need to call me sir. And son, in this family we hug,” Dad said. He pulled Harry into one of his famous bear hugs. My Dad was shorter than Harry but he was one helluva strong man after the years of lugging shit around kitchens and restaurants. “If you make my little girl as happy as she looks right now, you’re family already.” As their embrace ended Harry pulled me into his side kissing the top of my head.

“I do my best to make her happy. I haven’t quite figured out yet what I did to deserve her though.”

“When I go through my crazy moments where I mumble to myself in Italian about the shit that I’m doing you’ll wonder what you did to deserve me then too.”

“You mean you haven’t had the crazy moments?” He gave me a pretend concerned look which had both Mom and Dad laughing loudly.

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” I said standing on my tiptoes to kiss him softly.

“So did you get settled okay?” Mom asked as she pulled out a seat at one of the tables. There were decorators setting up couches and seating areas around. This was going to be some super sweet sixteen level stuff tonight, it looked as if we had part of the room set up as a dance floor. Any excuse to throw a lavish party Mom took.

“We got my bags into Evie’s room. She said it was okay that I stayed there.”

“Yeah, we have run out of guest rooms with Joe deciding to tag along,” Mom said. “And we both know she’s practically moved into your house. You’ve been away from each other most of the week, I wouldn’t punish you to make you sleep in separate rooms. Just remember to lock the door. I hear that Ty still tries to climb in bed with her in the morning.”

“Good to know that there is a lock here. She doesn’t appear to have one in Los Angeles, makes for an interesting wakeup call to have her roommates all appear in the bedroom before dawn. I’ve got it on my to do list to get Evie a lock when we get back home.”

“I love that she lets you call her Evie,” Mom said.

“Me too,” Dad added. “That name doesn’t get used outside of the family.”

“Oh I’m aware. Her father’s girlfriend called her Evie. I had to remove the sharp utensils from the table at the restaurant we were at.”

“Evie,” Mom exclaimed.

“I got back at her. Called her Jessie the entire night, she hates that. But she was lucky Harry kept me under control. I wanted to drown her.”

“You know that’s not the way to do it,” Dad said. I laughed. We always made jokes to play into the stereotype of Italians and the mafia though I was pretty sure that some of our family who was still in Italy probably was in the mafia.

“I know but she sat there, in front of me, hitting on my boyfriend. She was touching him while I was sitting there.”

“You are lucky Harry calmed you down,” Mom said. “You don’t take too kindly to the women in your father’s life for starters, if they are hitting on Harry I’m pretty sure you’d reach a new level of bitch.”

“I did. I threatened to cut her fingers off. Pretty sure Jimmy wasn’t too happy about that.”

“You should try to be nice to them,” Dad said. “You would never speak to me like that.”

“You also wouldn’t hit on my boyfriend.”

“Wait until I’ve been drinking for a while. Now that I see him in person I see what Mom says about him and the dimples you appear to be a fan of.” I laughed as I grabbed Harry’s hand off his lap and laced my fingers with his.

“So did she take you anywhere on the way back from the airport?” Mom asked.

“No, she was too excited to get me here. I can see why. You have a very lovely house.”

“Thanks, it was a labor of love for a while but now it’s just the place we raise our kids,” Mom said.

“And throw insane parties,” I added. “How many people are you expecting tonight?”

“The usual crowd and Jonathan invited several of his friends from school. I think most of his baseball team and that group of girls he hangs out with. Sorry Harry, I would’ve avoided teen girls if it was at all possible but a 16 year old boy doesn’t really care if his Mom’s friends are at his party he just wants to invite the cheerleading squad.”

��It’s okay,” he responded. “I’m used to the occasional teen girl coming to say hi at events. But I’m sure that everyone will be more excited about it being Jonny’s birthday than me being here. I’m just here to celebrate my girlfriend’s little brother.”

“Did you want to pick him up today?” Mom asked.

“Called it!” I said as I looked at Harry laughing.

“She had guessed that you’d ask her to pick the boys up.”

“I was planning on it,” Dad interrupted. “But you know that Toph will be so excited to have his sister pick him up.”

“I know and I will pick them all up. Jonny doesn’t have baseball practice?”

“Not today,” Mom replied. She stood up to get back to work causing all of us to stand up too. “I’m so happy you’re both home. Go spend some time together and then get your brother. Maybe you can take him on a tour of Chicago.”

“We will save that for Monday. We have to head to see Nonna and Papa so it makes more sense to do that then.”

“Well then go take a nap. You look like shit,” Dad said. I flipped him off before we took off to my bedroom. I kicked my shoes off and laid down on my bed before Harry laid down facing me.

“Your parents are wonderful.”

“You’re the wonderful one.” I slid closer to him and kissed him softly. His arms wrapped around me.

“It feels nice to be laying next to you,” he said. “I’ve missed you a lot.” He kissed me again and as the kiss got deeper the door flew up. “There’s a fucking lock here. Why didn’t we lock it?”

“I don’t know, but you should’ve,” Kammi said as she came bounding into the bedroom. Nick followed behind her and laughed as she tried to climb onto the bed in between Harry and I forcing us to let go of each other. “We missed you, Curly.”

“I can’t say that I missed you crawling in bed with us. But I missed all of you as well.”

“Babe, get out of their bed,” Nick said.

“Babe, it’s so comfy. Grace must’ve upgraded all of the beds.”

“Good to know, get out of theirs.”

“He’s such a fun hater today.” Kammi had turned to look at Harry who couldn’t stop laughing. “So what are we going to do until the party starts?”

“They looked like they were enjoying alone time until you interrupted,” Nick said.

“They don’t mind.”

“We don’t?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Ugh, fine! Pick sex over me.” She started to move towards the foot of the bed.

“Okay,” I replied laughing as she left the room.

“Sorry about her. She took a nap and now is ready to take on the world,” Nick said as he shut the door. I moved back over to Harry and into his arms. He kissed me softly.

“We probably shouldn’t just hide in here all afternoon, huh?” He was kissing down to my neck at this point.

“Probably not,” he mumbled into my skin. “But I’d rather like to.”

“I know. Me too. But the whole circus is here and I’m sure Mom needs help. And if nothing else you should see the entire house.” He kissed my lips again.

“House tour. I want to see if I can find the Room of Requirement.” I started to laugh really hard. “There is one isn’t there?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied laughing. I kissed him again. “You’re too fucking cute for your own good.” I pushed him onto his back and straddled him looking down at him.

“I like this view.”

“I know you do.” I bent down to kiss him. “Just wait. Late tonight. Feeling tipsy. You can get me out of my party dress and into this bed.”

“I’ll be dreaming of that all day now.” He kissed me again before I stood up on the floor and helped him off of the bed. I opened the door to find Kammi and Nick sitting in the hallway on the floor.

“I figured she killed the mood and you two would be out of there soon anyway.”

“Sure did,” I replied.

“She’s taking me on a tour of Hogwarts.” He grabbed my hand in his as Nick and Kammi stood from the floor laughing.

“The place is a little Hogwartsy,” Nick replied.

“Well obviously in there is my bedroom and bathroom. This one is Nick and Kammi’s. There is a guest bath here since there are events, which remind me to give you the key to our room.”

“Key?”

“Yeah, because of how many parties Mom has all of the bedrooms have keys. That was perhaps because she once found someone passed out in Toph’s room when she went to put him to bed. So we lock the bedrooms for parties. Means only the guest bathrooms get used and people stay out of my shit.”

“Ev, suggested the keys. There was someone who riffled through her purses once when she was in college and tried to steal one,” Nick said.

“Do your parents have poor taste in friends?” Harry asked.

“No, it was a holiday party for the staff at Dad’s restaurants. One of the girlfriends of a bartender had met me a few times, knew I had expensive taste in handbags, tried to steal one of them.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Here's the giant closet and the kitchen. And you’ve seen the ballroom, which still has Mom trying to decide on linens.” As we’d gone into the kitchen Nick and Kammi snuck down the stairs, probably going to find Joe in the basement.

“She’s going to drive me crazy before she even takes time to get dressed,” Dad said as he stood next to us watching. “Giving him the tour?”

“Yeah, she promised me that she’d show me the Room of Requirement.”

“Did you tell him that you call your Mom’s office that?” Dad asked. I shook my head. “You’re clearly well meant for her if you can guess she makes stupid Harry Potter references a lot.”

“I picked that up quickly. She referred to her laptop as a horcrux.”

“You probably have stored a portion of your soul on the hard drive hoping it won’t die.” Dad was laughing so I just slugged him in the arm. “You still pack a punch.”  “I’ve been boxing, though the last week I’ve sucked and not gone to the gym much.”

“Run tomorrow?” Dad asked.

“Yes! We can show Harry the Lakefront Trail.”

“Unless we are biking I’m not doing the whole thing. Even catching the L home at the end of the trail is too much for a Saturday morning post party.”

“I’m not that stupid. And don’t even think I’m setting my alarm for as early as we normally run on Saturdays.”

“I raised you right,” Dad replied.

“Okay now back to the tour. There is a balcony off of the ball room that looks out onto Lincoln Park and Lake Michigan. It’s perhaps the best view in the city if you ask me.” We headed back to the stairway and I showed him the main living area. All three of my brothers’ rooms, which were surprisingly immaculate, Mom must’ve threatened them within an inch of their life. Even their hangout space that was a huge hallway big enough to be a small family room was clean. Mom and Dad’s room as always was perfect, nothing out of place. Even the books were staged perfectly on the nightstand with a pair of glasses rested on them. You’d think it was a movie set. We walked through the closet and into Mom’s office which was above the front door of the house and was probably a porch of some sort at one point. “Welcome to the Room of Requirement.”

“Your Mum’s office?”

“Yes, everything you could ever imagine needing is in here. Books on the history of nearly every artist imaginable, sketchbooks, paints, a blanket, a pair of slippers and snacks,” I said as I found her secret stash of crackers hiding beneath her desk. Because it had light on three sides it was Mom’s office, Dad wanted her to use it as a studio to paint, her first passion. It was rare but it did appear that she had something she was working on sitting on her easel in the corner.

“It has a gorgeous view. Does your mother paint or are these set up for Christopher?”

“That’s Mom’s style,” I said looking at what was the beginning sketches of a painting. “I’m glad she’s painting, she’s sane when she does that.”

“What keeps you sane?” he asked.

“You,” I replied smiling. He kissed me softly.

“You’re lying but it’s cute.”

“Music. Thus why I’ve been overly stressed. I have only been listening to demos. I haven’t played in ages. I haven’t sat down with my vinyl in weeks.”

“Well, we will have to do that soon,” he said as we walked out of Mom’s office and headed down the main staircase to the foyer. “Yup, Hogwarts.”

“It sort of is and I’m okay with that,” I replied. We turned to the living room and I showed him that and the study. There was a small piano in the living room that was tucked into the corner, the ballroom had a baby grand that I’d been given when I was younger. We’d originally thought about having it on the first floor but it took up so much space and was perfect to have upstairs, Mom usually hired a musician to come in and play piano during the evening of a party. It usually sat tucked beside a small stage in the corner. I was assuming that for tonight there would be a band or something and dancing considering there were not tables right near the stage.

“The flooring is really cool in here,” he said as we stood in the study.

“It is. I love it. Dad works in here a lot if he’s home. They turned the little nook off of the living room into a reading space for me. I liked being close to everyone when I just wanted to snuggle up with a book.” The kitchen area was massive. There was a butler’s pantry, pantry and what at one point would’ve been a housekeeper’s room off of the kitchen. That had become a smaller dining room for more intimate family dinners and was occasionally covered in the boys’ school books. There was a formal dining room, a parlor, and a solarium as well. We finally made it to the basement with it’s game room, wet bar, wine cellar and the noise of The Circus.

“Harry!” Joe and Ty yelled.

“Hey guys,” he replied, still holding my hand tightly in his.

“Did you have a good flight?” Ty asked.

“It wasn’t too bad. Getting here was definitely better.” He bent down and kissed me. The affectionate behavior was probably going to annoy my friends but I didn’t care. I had missed him and hadn’t gotten my fill of him yet.

“I forgot to ask how meeting the parents went?” Kammi asked. I realized all of them had busted into the wine cellar and there was an open bottle in the middle of the room.

“It went really well, they seem to love him so far.”

“Parents always love me,” he said as he took a seat in an arm chair and pulled me onto his lap. I got comfy as we fell into conversation with my friends. I hadn’t ever really imagined what it would be like to bring a guy back to Chicago to meet my parents. So far, every serious relationship I’d had was with someone who had been based in Chicago. For some reason I guess I always assumed I’d find someone in Chicago because everyone in LA appeared to have an ulterior motive or agenda. No one felt real. But from where I sat on Harry’s lap, slouched down in a way with my head resting on his chest near his shoulder I could tell he was real. I could hear his heart beat and feel the rhythm of his breathing. “I’m getting mentally prepared for the brothers. We are picking them up from school.”

“We?” I asked.

“If you have to go pick them up I might as well go with. Gives me a chance to meet your little brothers. Is that okay?” I nodded.

“I’d like that a lot.”

“You two realize there are empty chairs in this room right?” Ty asked.

“Yes, we do but sharing is okay too,” I replied. “Give me this time to recharge my boyfriend bank before I have to be surrounded by a ballroom of people. So either deal with the fact that I’m going to sit here in his lap or leave.” I winked at Ty.

“I’m just not used to this,” Ty said.

“It’s nice,” Joe added.

“You wish Eliza was here,” I giggled as I said it.

“Maybe but also we’ve hooked up a couple times. We aren’t necessarily going to turn into you two and start planning our wedding after a week.”

“No wedding plans,” I said.

“Yet,” Harry whispered making me laugh. We sat hanging out with everyone until it was time to go pick up the boys. Jonathan had an earlier out than Mason and Christopher so we got in the car and headed to pick him up first. Mom and Pops had made the decision when I was a kid to put me in Catholic Schools for elementary school and I’d attended Saint Clement until I was ready for high school. When it came time for high school Mom, Pops and Dad let me decide. I chose to apply to and was accepted into Lincoln Park High School’s Music Program. Jonathan had decided to follow in my footsteps, he was unbelievably smart and was able to take a lot of advanced placement classes while he was in high school as well as play football and baseball. Mom and Dad were starting the journey of choosing a high school for Mason. I had every belief that he would choose one of the high schools in the city with a culinary program. He’d known since the first time he picked up a spoon in the kitchen that it was where he belonged and Dad encouraged it. There would be someone to take over the family business someday when he was ready to retire. “So is this where you went to high school?”

“It is. Eliza and I both went here. They have an incredible performing arts program. So we both came here for that. Jonny is likely the only of my brothers that will come here, Christopher could surprise me because he can take art classes out of school but Mace will get accepted to one of the schools with a culinary arts program.” I parked the car where I knew Jonny would see me and opened the sunroof. The students started to pour out of the school so I stood up and looked out the roof. Harry was laughing from inside my Mom’s Escalade as I waited for my brother. “Jonny!” I screamed as I saw him. He looked to the car and started laughing at me.

“Evie, Mom will kill you for standing on her seat,” he yelled back. I got down and opened the door, he walked across the street and embraced me into the biggest hug.

“You’ve grown again.”

“6’2” now,” he replied.

“I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too. Oh look at that you brought your boyfriend,” he said as the passenger door opened and Harry got out of the car.

“I did. Jonny this is Harry.”

“Nice to meet you man,” Harry said.

“You too,” Jonny said as he man hugged Harry. “Sorry, was that weird? Dad is a hugger and I’ve just grown used to it.”

“I’m well aware that your Dad is a hugger and it’s okay. I don’t mind. You’re Evie’s family which means you’re important.”

“Evie, huh? You haven’t murdered him for that yet?”

“Nope, I sort of like it.” “Guess he gets to stick around for a while. The last one to jokingly call you that got chased with a baseball bat.”

“It was KB that called me that, not a boyfriend. And he did get threatened, with his own bat actually.” Harry laughed a little. “We gotta go get the boys. I just wanted to get you first.” I hugged him again. “I’ve missed my little sidekick.”

“You’re the little one now, Evie.”

“I know. But let me still pretend you are. It’s a big sister thing.”

“Let’s go get the littles. You’re at least still taller than Toph.” Jonny climbed in the back and threw his bag on the floor. “So Harry, you’ve met Dad.”

“I have. Both your Mum and Dad as well as Evie’s Father.”

“And you haven't been scared off yet?”

“No, everyone has been pretty great.”

“Mom said Jimmy was an ass for a bit.”

“I’m not surprised,” I replied. “He took the news too well but I’m going to go with it for now.” Harry grabbed my hand as we were driving and pulled up to Saint Clement to pick up the boys. This was the pick up lane fiasco I often had to listen to Mom and Dad talk about. Parents too concerned with their cell phones to pay attention, Mom had nearly been rear ended a few times. We finally got to the point where I’d get the boys and they climbed in before realizing I was driving.

“Evie!” Christopher yelled as he jumped towards the front seats to hug me.

“I missed you Toph.” I kissed his cheek. “Hey Mace.” I looked in the rearview mirror to see him on his phone.

“Hey Evie,” he responded.

“Mason James, look up from your phone.” He glanced up at me and smiled. “Hey Mace, how was school?” I asked.

“Good,” he replied leaning forward to kiss my cheek. “Hi Harry.”

“Hey Mason,” he replied. “Hi Christopher.” He turned to look at my brother in the middle of the back seat.

“So how crazy is the house?” Jonathan asked.

“Beyond crazy. Dad was already running the kitchen. Mom has her poor decorator about to have a breakdown. You know, normal afternoon before a party. She texted me as we were leaving and told me that your clothes for tonight are all laid out. Christopher, I’m supposed to help you do your hair.”

“Can Harry help me do my hair?” Christopher asked. His hair was getting a bit shaggy in comparison to how he usually kept it and he appeared to be embracing the curl he got in his hair.

“Sure,” Harry replied. “Your hair sort of looks like mine did when I was Jonny’s age.”

“He’s the one with the best curls in the family,” I said.

“You’ve got a bit of natural wave to yours.” Harry reached over and tucked some of that wave behind my ear.

“Yeah, but Toph has gorgeous curls.” It wasn’t long before we were home and the car parked. “Boys be careful the house is full of decorators,” I yelled after them as they ran towards the house. “Don’t just throw your backpacks in the family room. Put them in your closets so if someone needs to see the house Mom doesn’t freak out.” Before I’d even finished they were in the front door.

“They are all pretty cool,” Harry said as he pulled me into him as I shut the garage door.

“I know. After school is a pretty delicate time. They all have to burn off some energy first. You’ll get to know them better, I promise.” He bent down to kiss me.

“They were great. Your whole family is. I know why you are so incredible now.”

“How did we end up here?” I asked looking at him.

“Here? Well I got on a plane and you got on a plane and we met here in Chicago.”

“I don’t mean that and you know it. I mean how did we end up here? Like I’m calling you my boyfriend to my family and I’m missing you when you’re not around. This started out as two people who had too much to drink and made a bad decision.”

“I don’t think it was a bad decision. I think it is the way that a lot of things happen for people our age. And it’s not like we randomly met each other in a bar. We have a lot of people in our lives that are connected. Maybe it was fate, I mean I don’t really believe in that shit but if it will get you to stop second guessing what we are then I’ll believe in it. Fate decided that I needed to find a new manager and the one I was going to find was going to be this brilliant woman who was fucking beautiful and put up with my shit.”

“You put up with my shit too.”

“Not hard to do. Your shit usually makes me laugh.”

“I know. I’m a bit crazy.”

“I like your crazy.” He kissed me again. “Your crazy often times leaves your brain and finds it’s way into my bed.”

“You like the crazy there huh?”

“Hard not to like your crazy there and everywhere.”

“We should probably go inside and help the boys get ready. And get ourselves ready.”

“Or we could stand here for another minute by ourselves.”

“We could do that.”

“Are you making out in the parking lot?” Eliza called as she walked up to the house. She had a garment bag in one hand that had a pair of heels hanging from the hanger.

“Yes, it’s the only place with silence,” I replied.

“Until now,” she answered. Harry and I removed ourselves from our hug and as Eliza walked up he hugged her. “How have you been?”

“Good. Missed my girl. I’ve missed my coach too.”

“How did yesterday’s audition go?” she asked as we started to walk towards the house.

“Good. I haven’t heard anything yet unless Everlee is hiding it from me.”

“I’m hiding nothing. You’ll know as soon as I know anything because we all know I won’t be able to hide my emotions if I get a call. I am either sad that my boyfriend didn’t get the role or there will be a rollercoaster of emotions that involve pride that you got the role and heartbreak because you’ll leave me for like two months.”

“I’ll make sure you survive,” Eliza said as she put her arm around my shoulder. “So how did the meeting the family go?”

“Really well,” I replied.

“I got hugs from everyone.”

“That’s a good sign,” Eliza said. We walked towards the house. When we went in the door and headed upstairs I saw Mom running around with her hair in a towel. “Hi Grace.”

“Eliza Joy, how are you?” she asked as she hugged her tightly.

“I’m good. I’m happy to be home. Though the house feels crowded with all of us home the same weekend.”

“Houses full of boys are always loud,” Mom said as you could hear Jonny’s music cranked in his bedroom with Mason’s competing from his. “I swear if I didn’t love them so much I’d be crazier than I already am.”

“Mom said she was going to come over early to help you finish getting ready. I figured Ev and Harry might need some sanity with The Circus all hiding downstairs.”

“Don’t lie, you want to go hang out with Joe,” I replied.

“You and Joe?” Mom asked.

“Maybe. I don’t really know yet. We’ve been friends for a long time so it’s weird territory.”

“You’d be cute together,” Mom said. “He’s a good guy. And you deserve to be happy, Eliza Joy. You’re like my second daughter. I want to see you as happy as I see Evie Mae.”

“Maybe someday. She might have the market cornered on adorable new couples right now.”

“I have no market cornered unless it’s cute couples involving this guy. Then maybe I have the market cornered.” Harry laughed behind me. “So EJ want to help me get the boys dressed?”

“Sure.”

“I’m doing Christopher’s hair,” Harry said.

“Really?” Mom asked.

“Yeah, he asked if I would help instead of Evie. My hair used to look a lot like that. I can handle the curl,” he replied.

“Well, good luck with all of them.” Mom went back into her bathroom and we went to the boys’ rooms.

“Alright boys. Time to get ready,” I yelled. The music suddenly getting turned down in all of the rooms. “You’ve got three helpers. H is helping Toph. Mace, want me or EJ?”

“EJ!”

“I knew you were my favorite Mace,” she said as she headed to his room.

“Christopher’s room is at the end of the hall.” I pointed to the door and Harry bent down kissing me. “Good luck.”

“I think you’re the one that’s going to need it.” I followed Harry’s glance behind me to where my brother stood making a face about what Mom had picked out.

“Oh Jonny,” I said laughing.

“What is she thinking? It’s my 16th birthday. I am not wearing this.” Mom really did normally have good taste in clothes but she was obviously trying to prevent herself from realizing that Jonny was 16, not 6. There was a sweater vest involved.

“I don’t know but I’m not letting you wear this.” I went into his bedroom and opened his closet door. I found a pair of black dress pants that I’d helped him pick out last fall for homecoming so I knew they were a bit more fitted. “Do these still fit?”

“Yeah, they were a little long when you bought them.” I threw him the pants and searched through his closet for a white dress shirt. I handed it to him. “Why do I need to be dressed up so much?”

“It’s your birthday party. I guarantee you that Dad will have a suit on or at least a dress shirt."

“What happened to birthday parties that involved pizza and too much cake?”

“That’s not Mom’s style. Do you remember my 16th? I was in pink tulle and pink tulle was not in style then. At least you have me to get you dressed.”

“That was funny,” he said. I glared at him. “Except when it wasn’t.” He pulled his jeans off and put on the black dress pants before the t-shirt flew into the laundry hamper in the corner and the dress shirt went on.

“Don’t button it all the way up,” I said. He stopped with two buttons open at the top. The tiniest bit of chest hair that a 16 year old boy could have showing. “Do you need to shave before tonight?”

“No,” he said. “I want to look manly.”

“You look like you have peach fuzz on your face.”

“Shut up,” he replied laughing.

“Tie or jacket?” I asked.

“Jacket?” I handed him the black blazer I’d bought him for homecoming and finished the last touches on getting him dressed.

“You look cute.”

“I don’t want to look cute, Evie. I want to look hot. Half the cheerleading squad is going to be here.”

“You’ll look hot. I promise. I just can’t call you that. You’re my baby brother.” I kissed his cheek. “Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks. I’m glad you could come home to spend it with me,” he said hugging me tightly. “I can’t wait until Sunday. The weather is supposed to be nice.”

“I know.”

“Does the boyfriend get to come to the game?” he asked.

“Do you want him there?” I was a bit nervous that he’d say no and I’d have to figure out what to do with Harry.

“Yeah, he’s not too bad.”

“I don’t think he’s too bad either. Now for your hair.” We went to the boys’ bathroom where Harry was finishing up with Christopher’s hair. He had on a blue shirt and blue tie. It perfectly matched his eyes.

“Why did she put the little guy in a better outfit than she put me in?” Jonny asked.

“I don’t know. But I fixed it. Right?” He stood there staring at me. “H, what do you think?”

“I think you dressed him the way I would’ve dressed myself so you’re good J. The cheerleaders you were talking about will definitely be impressed.” I turned to look at Harry and mouthed out ‘thank you’. “What are you doing to your hair?”

“I don’t know. Evie appears to be my stylist today,” he replied.

“I’m done with Christopher. Why don’t you let me help?” Harry asked.

“Much better than my sister.”

“Fine, I’m going to go upstairs and get myself ready,” I said. I left the boys in the bathroom with Harry and checked on Mason and Eliza. He was in a bow tie and looked adorable. He was letting her style his hair so I hurried up to my bedroom and found the black lace dress I’d decided on. I hung it up in the bedroom before going in the bathroom and touching up the curls in my hair before doing my makeup. Rather than doing a touch up I decided to just redo the makeup all together. I was just finishing up my eyeshadow when I noticed Harry standing in the doorway to the bathroom. “Did you get them all ready?”

“I did. Turns out the sweater vest was your Dad playing a joke on Jonny.” I started to laugh.

“That doesn’t surprise me. Though Mom did really make me wear something very tutuesque for my 16th so I wouldn’t be surprised.” Harry moved behind me and his lips found my neck as I was started to go through my lipsticks.

“Do you want to have kids?” he asked.

“Yeah, I do. Being the oldest of four and once you see us all together you’ll get this, the oldest of eight I have always wanted kids. Maybe not four or eight but like two. It was lonely being an only kid with my Dad. I got substitute siblings whenever someone he was dating or married to had kids. Like Rach, I got her and her sisters but I never felt part of those families. I wouldn’t just want one, it’s too lonely. What about you?”

“Yeah and I’d take four if someone would give them to me. Eight might be pushing it though.” I laughed a little. “You look beautiful.”

“I don’t even have my dress on.”

“Doesn’t matter. Still look beautiful.” He kissed my neck again. “What do you want me to wear tonight?”

“Whatever you want. I’m in that,” I said pointing over to the dress hanging on the closet door.

“Alright. I know what to do then. Do you have an iron?” I nodded.

“It’s in the closet.” I put my lipstick on and went to the bedroom to put my dress on. As I reached to zip it up I felt his hands meet mine and zip the dress up.

“It won't take me long to get ready. Do you need help?”

“No, I’m just going to go check on the room and make sure everything is set up.”

“Okay, I’ll come find you when I’m done.” He kissed me softly and went into the bathroom to start getting ready as I pulled on my heels. I walked out of the bedroom and towards the ballroom to find it empty of staff setting up for the party. I could hear some noise coming from the kitchen so everyone must be in there.

The room looked perfect. There were white couches and chairs in areas of the room to create different sitting environments. A bar in one corner looked fully stocked and one in the opposite corner looked full of kid friendly options like energy drinks, soda and water. There were high top tables and rounds set up so that people could sit for dinner or stand depending on what they wanted. I loved seeing what my Mom put together. She’d started out as an event planner before I was born until she finally landed her job as a curator when I was three. She still had it in her and often times put together some of the larger events at the Art Institute.

I ventured over to the side of the stage where my piano was sitting. It was obvious a DJ had come in at some point and set up their equipment on stage. I sat down at the piano and lightly touched the keys. I goofed around on the piano for a while playing random songs. The acoustics of the room were amazing and one of the reasons we’d opted to have the piano put here. After a few minutes, without even thinking about it my fingers started to move across the keys playing a song from memory. It had been my favorite song since my piano instructor had taught it to me. It was in reality a sad song, sad enough that Mom cried the first time I played it for her, but if I was alone at this piano and played it I became happy. I glanced up midway through the song and saw my Dad standing in the door of the kitchen watching me and smiled at him. It was then that I noticed in the doorway that lead to the stairs and the bedroom that Harry was standing. He was smiling at me as well, but his smile was different than Dad’s. I finished the song and they both started clapping.

“Nice to know you’ve still got it, Evie,” Dad said before walking back into the kitchen. Harry started to walk towards me and the way he looked at me made me blush. He sat down next to me on the piano bench.

“You’re incredible,” he said.

“No, Beethoven is incredible. He wrote it. I just played it.”

“You just played Moonlight Sonata flawlessly from memory.”

“I did. It’s one of my favorite songs.” He leaned forward kissing me.

“When we get home I’m making you perform a recital for me.” I started to laugh. “I have that piano in my house. You are going to use it.”

“How do you know I haven’t already?”

“Because you haven’t been there without me and I haven’t heard the piano.”

“That’s true.”

“Play me something else,” he said.

“Like what? Something else classical?”

“Sure, whatever you want to play.”

“What are you a fan of? Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Bach, Chopin?”

“Whatever you want,” he said laughing at me. Rather than go the classical route I started to play a piano arrangement of Lovesong by The Cure. I’d played it as part of my senior recital in high school. It was a beautiful song and one of my favorites to play. Without even asking he started to sing over the song. This time when I looked up from the keys and I looked at him smiling at me he nodded towards the opposite wall. There watching us together were my parents, Eliza’s parents and brothers, and The Circus. I hated performing in front of people, it was why I’d not pursued music in college despite my parents pushing me to. I took a deep breath and just kept playing. I knew this song well enough that even with an audience I could play it fine. I finished the song and Harry leaned towards to kiss me. “You are amazing.” I heard Eliza’s Dad whistle.

“Ev, you never should’ve quit playing,” Marie said. I stood to go hug she and George.

“I know. Mom gets on my case all the time.”

“Missed you,” George said hugging me next. Eliza’s three brothers engulfed me into a giant hug.

“I missed all of you too. Alright everyone, this is my boyfriend Harry. Harry this is Marie and George Richards, Eliza’s parents. And her three younger brothers Marcus, David, and Alex.”

“It’s nice to meet all of you,” he said as he shook everyone’s hands. He got to Marie who pulled him into a hug.

“We are so excited to finally meet you,” she gushed. “Grace has told me all about you and how happy you make Everlee.”

“Evie, makes me pretty happy too.”

“He passed the Evie test?” Marie’s eyes had grown wide.  “He did.” I leaned into him. Everyone found seats in one of the couch areas. I was on Harry’s lap just as Mom was on Dad’s. We all talked for a while until we knew guests were nearing arrival. Dad went to the bar and grabbed a bottle I was all too familiar with.

“What’s that?” Harry asked in a whisper.

“Limoncello, it’s the Ferrera family recipe. Family tradition to start and end every party with limoncello.”

“Okay.”

“You’ll be okay,” I replied. Dad poured enough small glasses for everyone except my brothers.

“If you survive the night,” Dad said looking at Jonathan. “You can have one at the end but the last thing I need is your friends telling their parents your breath smelled of booze.”

“Okay,” Jonathan responded. Everyone took a glass.

“16 years ago on this very day I sat beside my wife in the hospital as she gave birth to our first son. It was a helluva day, J. Your Mom threatened to divorce me about 12 times. Evie cried because Mom wouldn’t stop crying. Then about 20 minutes before they told us if you didn’t show up Mom was having a c-section you decided to grace us with your presence. You’ve always functioned on your own timetable which drove your Mother and sister nuts. You’ve grown up to be a great kid who makes us all so proud every day. So let’s all raise a glass to Jonathan, happy birthday.”

“Salute!” I said as I heard Harry’s accent say cheers. I threw back the glass before watching Harry take the drink and watched him make the same face he’d made with the scotch the first night.

“That burns,” he said quietly. I laughed a little.

“Yeah, it does. You’ll get used to it.”

“Why didn’t you warn me?”

“Because it was funny to watch.”

“You’re lucky I think you’re so cute.” He kissed me before I stood up off of his lap. He headed to the bar to get us drinks and Mom pulled me into a hug.

“It’s nice to see you with someone who isn’t afraid to show the room that he loves you.”

“Love is a strong word, Mom.”  “You’re right it is. But mother’s intuition says that it’s the right one.”

“I agree,” Marie said.

“Same,” Eliza and Kammi both chimed in.

“The way he watched you as he sang along when you played piano. Yeah, the boy is head over heels already,” Kammi said.

“Whatever. I’m not going to worry about it. We are having fun. That’s all that I need to know right now.” I left the group of women and headed over to where Harry was standing with my Dad. I took the glass of wine from his hand.

“Sorry love, I got to talking and forgot I had your drink,” he apologized.

“It’s okay. I know how Dad can get when he gets to talking.”

“You’re dating a Packers fan,” Dad said. I started to laugh. “I couldn’t be more proud.”

“And I couldn’t be more disgusted,” George retorted.

“You’re contractually obligated to say that,” I barely got out through laughter. “If I finally have a boyfriend that can watch a game with my Dad or I don’t know maybe even go to a game with me and not hate on Rodgers then I’m good.”

“I’d love to come back in fall and go to with you,” he replied.

“You’ve just made me so proud,” Dad said kissing my cheek. I laughed. Of course it was the little things like this that made my Dad act silly. Something as easy as finding a boyfriend he could talk football with.

“You knew this,” I said. “Jonny couldn’t shut up about how awesome it was to see Harry in his Packers jersey on stage at Soldier Field when he went to the concert.”

“I remember that now! He text pictures to Evie and I from the concert.”

“He was texting you from a concert?”

“Yeah, he’s my brother he thought it was awesome that you wore a Packers jersey.”

“Did you ever see me in concert?” he asked.

“Maybe,” I replied.

“You did! When?”

“Years ago. I had a friend living in Toronto at the time. I went to see her and we went to see you.”

“And you’ve hidden this from me?”

“You stalked me on the internet before you met me. We will call this even.”

“Fine.” The room started to fill with party guests. My parents’ friends, Jonny’s friends and family. I knew that I’d need to find the right time to introduce Harry to my grandparents that were all here. Grandma and Grandpa Fazio had arrived early in the evening and I knew that it would be a bit longer before Nana and Papa Ferrera arrived, they had to drive down from Wisconsin today. They typically sat together at this stuff so it would be best to wait until everyone was here to introduce Harry. I saw Nana and Papa arrive and went to find Harry talking to Eliza’s brother, David.

“Ready to meet four of six grandparents?”

“Sure,” he said. I took his hand and lead him to the table they were sitting at. I bent down to kiss each of them before sitting next to Papa Ferrera.

“Alright everyone, I’m sure since Mom and Dad both have big mouthes and spill every secret ever you already know about this. But I wanted to introduce you to my boyfriend, Harry. Harry these are my grandparents.”

“Hello,” he said waiving a little.

“Alright left to right we have Frank and Gloria Fazio and then Sophia and James Ferrera.”

“Very nice to meet you all,” he said as he extended his hand past me to shake theirs.

“He’s cute,” I heard my Grandma say to my Nana.

“Very and he has a nice accent,” Nana replied.

“You’re British,” Papa said.

“Thanks for stating the obvious, Papa.” I couldn’t stop laughing.

“Well did you move to England to find this one?” he asked.

“No, he walked into my office actually.”

“Work finally did something good for her,” Grandma said. She was the hardest on me about how much I worked. She watched my Father ruin the marriage he had with Mom because of work.

“Work does a lot of good things for me Grandma, but this was an especially nice benefit.”

“You’re the one that my youngest granddaughters watch on the television, right?” Grandpa asked.

“I probably am,” Harry responded, he smiled big enough that his dimple took up his entire cheek. “I was in a band for several years. Evie is helping me with the launch of my next phase.”

“She’s the best there is from what we here,” Papa said.

“She is,” Harry replied. “I can confirm that.” We sat talking with my grandparents for a little while before it was time to sit down for dinner. We were thankfully put at a table with The Circus instead of family. Normally I’d be stuck with a great aunt or something but Mom must’ve felt like Harry shouldn’t have to endure that today. “I’m going to go grab another drink. Would you like one?” I nodded and he kissed my cheek before standing up from the table.

“How are you holding up?” Eliza asked me. She’d somehow also gotten out of sitting with her family.

“He’s met the grandparents now. This is exhausting. I can see why people don’t do it all in one day.” I laid my head on the table and she started to pat my back while laughing.

“At least tomorrow you aren’t doing family day all day,” Kammi said.

“I know. Mom wanted all of us to do brunch tomorrow. And then I figure we can be lazy and nap or something and then tomorrow we go out. I need a night out with my friends where I don’t have drama.”

“I’m still sorry about that,” Joe said.

“You’re fine, it’s okay. I just want a chance to have all of us hang out without any chance at drama. Just fun.”

“Fun we can handle,” Nick added.

“All of you get to have extra fun and I’m all alone,” Ty whined.

“I would tell you that I’m sorry but really I’m not,” I replied. “I just want to be alone and naked in bed with him. Which I have a feeling is going to be difficult tonight based on how many people are here.”

“And how many of the women here are flirting with him,” Eliza said. I turned to see him at the bar posing for selfies. I felt bad but he was a pro at it. Some of the women here were flirting with him enough that I could see it from the other side of the room. I saw him say something to one of the women hold up my wine glass and gesture towards me. They waived and I waived back before he hurried over.

“I don’t know which is worse, your Mum’s friends or the cheerleading squad,” he joked. The whole table laughed.

“For you probably even. Joe and I skew towards the girls in the room that are daughters of Grace’s friends who bitch about having to come here because they aren’t Evie’s age but they are older than Jonny.”

“I get some of the older women,” Joe said.

“I’m just going out on a limb and saying that I’m walking nowhere in this room without Evie tonight.” We all laughed.

“She was just talking about taking you to her bedroom and getting naked,” Ty spilled.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea. Can we do that?” Everyone laughed.

“Sadly not yet. Maybe we can sneak away after dinner.” Dinner was finally served and as always the food was amazing. The menu had turned out perfect based on what Dad and I had picked. They'd decided to do it family style at each table rather than buffet. There was salad, bread, a penne with vodka cream sauce, meatball appetizers, and toasted ravioli.

“You didn’t warn me about the love parm,” Nick said.

“I didn’t figure Dad would put it on the menu. It's a pain to make for catering purposes.”

“It’s so good though,” Nick responded as he moaned at the mouthful of food.

“It is good,” Harry added before leaning in to whisper into my ear. “Not as good as yours.”

“I appreciate that.” I kissed him softly. After dinner the lights got turned down and the DJ started to play music that Jonny and his friends were dancing too.

“Do we get to sneak away?” Harry asked softly in my ear. I nodded and he followed me out of the ballroom, down the hall and into my bedroom. I quickly unlocked the door, let us in and then locked it behind me.

“We have to be fast.”

“I can handle that. I haven’t been able to touch you the way I wanted to since Monday night. I don’t know that I can manage more than fast.” I laughed at him as I slid my panties off underneath my dress, leaving the heels on. Harry unbuttoned his pants and they dropped to his ankles before he sat down on the bed. I grabbed a condom from my bag that was near the bed and before I knew it I was on his lap moaning loudly. “It’s a good thing the music is so loud.”

“I know because later we will have to be quiet. Old house, thin walls.”

“So I’ll need to gag you to prevent you from screaming. You don’t do quiet well,” he said before biting my lip.

“I can do quiet. Well, I used to be able to.” He snuck a hand into the front of my dress, pinching my nipple. “Fuck.” I started to ride him faster.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you. Fuck I missed this.” A hand ventured under my dress, his thumb finding my clit and coaxing my orgasm out of me faster. “What are you doing?”

“I’m close and we are running out of time. Your watch has buzzed more than once. I can feel it against my shoulder since you have your hands in my hair.”

“Fine, fuck. Let’s do this.” We both moved as fast as possible before I yelled out with my orgasm. I stood up and went into the bathroom to clean myself up, Harry following me. I pulled my panties back on and looked at him. He was fixing his hair in the bathroom. “You did great today with all of my family. I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Me too.”

“I’m really happy. You…you make me really happy.”

“You make me unbelievably happy too,” he said as he came over to hug and kiss me. We got ourselves put back together and exited back to the party. I found Kammi and Nick standing over by the wall.

“You really just snuck away to have sex, didn’t you?” Kammi asked.

“How can you tell?” I replied.

“Your hair.”

“What about my hair?”

“It looks like you just had sex, Ev,” Nick replied.

“It does not, I looked in the mirror before we left the bathroom.”

“You look beautiful. They are just fucking with you, love.”

“I hate you all.”

“You love us,” Nick said.

“I do and I’m glad we are all here.”

The cake was eventually wheeled out with tall sparkler style candles. The whole room sang to my little brother. I could tell Mom and Dad were really proud of him. He was so smart and so talented that he was going to go really far in life. We all knew it. I even joked that if he didn’t make it as an athlete and would rather be on the back end that he could always come to work for me. There was a pile of gifts in the corner that he would get to tomorrow afternoon. I saw the various sizes of items and one caught my eye.

“That wasn’t your guitar,” I said to Harry as we stood together eating cake and sipping on champagne at one of the high top tables.

“What do you mean?” He was trying to be coy, his dimples were giving him away.

“The guitar you brought off the plane with you. That wasn’t your guitar. That was your gift for Jonathan.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because the case is sitting over there with a giant red bow on it.”

“You sounded really excited to get him a guitar.”

“You didn’t need to get anything for him. I put your name on the watch I gave him.”

“Good thing I put yours on the guitar then too.” I wanted to be angry with him. I knew the style of guitar case and that the only acoustic guitars around his house were Martins. It wouldn’t have been a cheap gift. I’d already spent a small fortune on Jonathan’s birthday and here he was doing something that added to the amount but was also the sweetest gesture ever. I leaned towards him and kissed him softly.

“Thank you for being so amazing.”

“You don’t have to thank me for it. I wanted to do something nice for him and for you.”

“Can I take a picture of us together?”

“Of course. I’ve done that without your permission.”

“I know. But I sort of want to post this one on Instagram.”

“You know what, I think I’m okay with that.”

“Okay.” I grabbed my cell phone from his pocket where I’d tucked it when we left my bedroom and took a picture of us together. No giant cheesy smiles. No kissy faces. Just two people who were unbelievably happy to be with each other.

everleemae: Happy Birthday @jonnyferrera17! Thanks for giving @harrystyles and I the best excuse to spend a long weekend in Chicago and for being a kickass little brother. #sweethomechicago #hbdjonny

“We look cute,” Harry said as he watched me type on my phone.

“Do we look too coupley?”

“I mean we look cute together. Do you have a problem if we look coupley? We are a couple.”

“But should I not post it online. You are typically really private about your personal life. I don’t want to cramp your style.”

“And you post everything so I don’t want to cramp yours,” he replied laughing. “It’s fine. We look cute. And if people have questions about our relationship I don’t have to answer it…you do.”

“Ugh I hate you,” I said as I hit post. The night started to wind down. The crowd cleared out. The Circus had wandered to their rooms, Ty claiming he was sleeping on a couch in the game room because Eliza followed Joe to the basement. In the end it was my Mom, Dad, Harry and I sitting in a circle in the middle of the floor passing a bottle of champagne and eating from a giant piece of cake. “You did good, Mom.”

“Thanks, I think Jonny liked the party.”

“I didn’t mean on the party. I mean you did great on that. But you did good, Mom. We are all turning out pretty okay.”

“Thanks Evie. I’m so glad you were able to come home. Both of you,” she said as she reached next to her to Harry’s hand. “Harry, all I can say is after tonight, welcome to the family.”

“Thanks,” he replied.

“You survived grandparents, aunts, old friends and the Lincoln Park High School varsity cheer squad,” Dad said. “I think that was quite a gauntlet for going home with your girlfriend for the first time.”

“It’s all worth it.” I smiled at him before taking a swig from the bottle of champagne and passing it to him.

“We leaving on our run at 8:00 or 8:30?” Dad asked.

“8:00 is fine with me. How about you baby?”

“Sounds perfect. Then we can do brunch after like Grace wants.”

“Do we get girl time tomorrow?” Mom asked.

“What if we do girl time on Monday?”

“The boys don’t have school though,” Mom replied.

“I can hang out with the boys,” Harry said. “You two can go have mother/daughter time.”

“I’m off Monday too,” Dad said. “You two go have a bit of girl time in the morning and we can all spend the afternoon together as a family.”

“I like that,” Mom said. “Alright hubby, take me to bed.” Dad stood up and helped Mom off of the floor. Harry did the same for me. “Love you, Evie.” She kissed my cheeks and hugged me.

“Love you too, Mom. Love you, Dad.” I hugged him and kissed his cheek.

“Love you, Bambina.”

“Thank you for being here, Harry,” Mom said hugging him. “We love you too.”

“The feeling is mutual. I love your whole family as well. Thank you for welcoming me into your home.”

“We wouldn’t have it any other way,” Dad said. We said our goodnights and they headed down the stairs. Harry grabbed my hand twirling me towards him.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” I replied.

“You look tired.”

“I’m exhausted. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I’m not just in this for sex. And even if I was, you snuck away from a party to have sex with me in your bedroom. There are few boys that don’t have that fantasy as a teenager.”

“Glad I could fulfill it for you. Because tonight’s fantasy better be your 25 going on 80 year old girlfriend who needs carried to her bedroom because her feet hurt and she’s tired.”

“That is absolutely my fantasy.” He started to laugh as he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I laugh, this was just how we started. Only that time he bit my ass. Oh wait, he did that just now too. He stopped at my door, fished the key out of his pocket and carried me into the room. He put me down on the bed and laid down on top of me kissing me. I slid his jacket off and dropped it on the floor. “I thought you were tired.”

“Not anymore.” He laughed at me before bending down to kiss me again. This truly was the fantasy.

 Okay...so I'm falling in love with Evie's family 100%! And I love how easily Harry is fitting in with them. I love the way her whole family interacts with each other and that they are so easy to pick on each other. A sweater vest for a 16th birthday party, way to go Marco! Evie seeing her Dad for the first time is something I've been imagining in my head since I decided in the very beginning that Evie's parents were going to be divorced. She is very close with her Mom and Dad. I also love that her whole family wants to hug Harry, including the Richards family which are basically like an extension of her own family. I have a few favorite moments in this chapter. Obviously, them seeing each other at the airport for the first time is huge to me. Meeting all of her family members is a big deal. Her Dad's humor. Her Mom's comment about him loving her, Grace and her mother's intuition. Harry helping her little brothers' get ready for the party. But the thing I've been imaging for a few chapters is when he finds her playing piano. I'd originally not planned him singing with her but it only felt appropriate as I started writing it. That the first song they played together was Lovesong by The Cure. Yup. Melted. If you don't know the version of it look it up it's from the Vitamin Piano Series, I love that version of that song and if I ever get married want to walk down the aisle to it. Chapter title!! It's only appropriate that it's a Chicago band! And Fall Out Boy had a song about Sixteen Candles so it wins! All of the Chicago chapters will feature bands that came out of Chicago. When I was in college the Chicago pop punk scene defined my life. So it's fun to reminisce while naming chapters. I sincerely hope you've enjoyed chapter 13. It came much easier to me when writing than chapter 12 had. It was fun to write these moments and have Harry and Everlee reunited and both appear to be so ready to just slide headfirst into this relationship. I can't wait to hear what you think of this. I will probably not sleep for like a day (I'm currently less than 2 hours out of the album release on Apple Music so we know I'm not sleeping until I hear that). So please comment and let me know what you think. I can't wait to hear your reaction. xx AM. Tumblr Twitter Instagram (I have recently started using the instagram account for my writing a lot more so head over and give me a follow. You can keep up to date with where I'm at!) Here is this chapter's house listing. Grace and Marco's house is MY FAVORITE! I sort of imagine that they bought it in a state similar to what it is currently and restored it, gave it love and made it perfect for their family. https://www.trulia.com/property/3209079-2466-N-Lakeview-Ave-Chicago-IL-60614

#in the heat of los angeles #in the heat of los angeles fan fic #in the heat of los angeles fanfiction #in the heat of los angeles fanfic #harry styles #nick jonas #joe jonas #ashley benson #shay mitchell #tyler blackburn #troian bellisario #harry styles fan fiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fan fic #harry styles fanfiction #fanfic #fan fic #fanfiction #fan fiction

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knightofbalance-13 · 8 years ago

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http://dudeblade.tumblr.com/post/158821156544/rant-on-yangs-nonexistent-recovery-arc

I wanna preface this before I begin: I really do think yang needed more screentime this Volume. She got shafted in Volume 1 and 2 and here it was a souring experience to see her sidelined. Now I am not blaming Jaune: That guy had about a third of the screen time to himself than Yang. If I were to blame someone in the series, I’d blame Blake for hogging an entire episode to herself or Tyrian for taking up ending time that could have been used for Yang. But my honest opinion? I’m optimistic: If the writers show that Yang ahsn’t gotten over the PTSD in latter Volumes I will actually be very happy. Nothing is more insulting than underplaying the lasting effects of a mental illness, making it seem easy to get over. I didn’t get that vibe from Yang considering she had to be depressed for around nine months considering it was fall when we saw her after Beacon, it was winter after that and a minimum of six months have passed since that point. It’s entirely possible for Yang to recover in that span of time, especially if Volume 4 was told out of order.

I am saying this now to put what I am about do in context: I am a Yang fan, my main complaint with V4 was that she got too little screentime and I have an aversion to mental illnesses being downplayed. By all rights, I should agree with @Dudebblade right?

Well...

IF YOU WERE TO USE THE SAME TECHNIQUES SHOWN IN RWBY ON A PTSD VICTIM, YOU WOULD BE CALLED OUT ON YOUR INSENSITIVITY!

This isn highly hypocritical as Dudeblade has in the past said that Taiyang was wrong for breaking down after Summer’s death....his team leader...and the mother of his second daughter and caretaker of his first...after losing Raven, his first love and mother of Yang...all in about four years time...leaving him a single widower of two, a job meant for to people at minimum. It’s hard raising a kid I know, I’ve been hearing my mom state the hardships for years. And quite frankly, I wasn’t that hard of a kid I didn’t go around challenging demonic wolves or attacking bars and as much as I love my mom, Taiyang is a better parent than both of them and suffered even more than her. And Dudeblade calls this insensitive but not a widower. Yeah, he’s not allowed to talk.

I don’t give a shit if the arc was “Too hard” to write. You set yourself up to make a recovery arc. You should deliver. If it wasn’t as easy as you thought it was, then you should tough it out, and do it. Otherwise you failed to deliver on something that you promised.

You promised to be my friend and then betrayed me three times. Again, Hypocriticial.

It’s like if the RWBY writers promised that there would be LGBT representation, but refuses to point them out… Oh wait… That’s actually what’s happening right now.

You now, I have an LGBT friend named @mageknight14 and he’s just as sick of this as I am. I am starting to think they SHOULDN’T have an LGBT character if you keep bitching. You don’t hear me bitching for Asperger’s representation even though Autism is synonomous with “Brain damamged” in the world and the closest thing I have to a representitive is Sheldon Cooper.

Alright, something I’m going to have to do, is to compare this show’s PTSD recovery arc, with another show’s recovery arc. Not to be a dick or anything, but the only other well-known show that did a PTSD recovery arc well, was Legend of Korra. Not to compare RWBY to a show that has had an entire team of writers, professional animators, a previous series that was well-received, and an epic premise to undermine it or anything, but hey. Miles did say that the Season three of LoK missed the line by an inch, and found it “Meh” (Yep. Bringing that one back.)

Oh so people’s personal opinion is something you are allowed to judge them on? Okay then, you like Raven ergo anything you have to say about parental characters ever is disregarded. And unlike you who has stated their opinion as fact, Miles stated his opinion as ONLY that. And if you’re gonna pull that, how about I start comparing your DB chronicals to Miles’ writing? Let’s see: Pandering to LGBT demographic with Tifa and Yang, crappy reasoning for not using Goku or Superman which hasn’t been addressed, under usage of the Villians, under suage of Vegeta, directly copying and pasting Godzilla Vs. Gamera ect. Doesn’t feel to good huh? Maybe next time you could learn some empathy?

Hey, if Miles wants to criticize a show, and claim that “missing the mark by an inch” makes the finale “Meh”, then I can say that missing an entire plot by a light year is INFURIATING.

And I can point out the bullshit in your crap without an inch of regret or remorse. Funny how that works.

It’s almost as if it was the most insulting piece of shit that I have had to watch since reading poorly written fanfics that were clearly meant to troll people.

You emna like basic pandering, random and lazy fourth wall breaks, expecting us that Deadpool would be friends with you, under using 90% of your cast, making some deity look after you and making Yang and Guts look similar when they share like three basic things together? Or how about yang remembering Carolina ahs Pyrrha’s voice but the snarky AI in her suit that sounds like her father? Nope, nothing to see there. Also, TYang knows RT but doesn’t know a single person from RvB because...plot?

I’m getting off-topic here. Legend of Korra Book 4 handled PTSD with an ENORMOUS amount of seriousness, respect, and time. Not only was this a case of a timeskip being used in a manner that was actually the right way of using it, but they showed that Korra was struggling. While she could always blame it on the mercury poisoning, it showed that Korra wasn’t merely “moping” (I will never let that line go), it showed that she was terrified. She wanted to get better, but she had to go at her own pace.

Yeah and tehw riters of Korra had a shit ton more experience, payment and less pressure considering they could coast off of the original’s success. Which they kind of did seeing as I have heard a shit ton of non-LGBT people call bull on Korrasami.

Okay then, I will never let anything yousay go then as well. Have fun with that: My specialty is turning one’s words against them.

In fact, she had to be the one to decide to get the mercury out of her system. She wasn’t guilt-tripped into doing it, she did it because she was ready. It had nothing to do with someone calling her a burden. It was because it was at that moment, that she had recovered. There’s a reason why this episode stands out from most. It was because, through the help of Toph, Korra managed to overcome her fears and doubts, and remove the mercury herself.

Okay...is Yang Korra? No? Then they will NOT handle this situation the same way. Unless they are carbon copies of each other or at least have the same basic experiences, your point DOES NOT stand. And since you just expect us to take your wrd for it after insulting Taiyang, Miles and later on you will use Shane and Monty to attack RT, I have no good will.

Hm, let’s go through this again shall we?

Terrified...Guess that Adam dream or the PTSD flash never happened...

Choose to get the Mercury out of her system...Not how the body works...And taiyang didn’t stitch it on neither did Yang have to deal with her fault at letting her sister be in danger. Yeah, If Taiyang is a bad father for breaking down, Yang is a worse sister because she broke down longer, with no one to help Ruby, over less pain and had support all unlike taiyang.

And is RWBY over yet? ... No? Then I’d bet you’ll be eating your words sooner than latter.

RWBY just rushed it. Yang wasn’t given time to actually decide to put the arm on, her father heavily implied that she was a burden, she overheard it, and felt guilty (Seriously, how did she hear that? Is she some kind of rare half-breed or something?).

Like all children are: it’s a fact of life get use to it. Whether or not the child or parent think that way, iyt is a fact. Just as well: We only have your word on that. You, who have proven you are projecting your own parental problems onto Taiyang. yeah, you are the definition of Unreliable Narrator.

But hey, let’s take a look at Berserk. Let’s see what would happen if we were to use RWBY’s techniques on Casca. Hey, Casca! I know you got assaulted by the man you used to love romantically and everything, and that he violated you in ways that we probably couldn’t even begin to comprehend, but how about you get over it? - And now, I have been bifurcated by Guts for saying something like that. Why? Because Casca from Berserk has PTSD! She’s not going to magically get better by getting some heals or shit like that! She has PTS FUCKING D! You either treat it with respect, or don’t set yourself up to write it out to begin with.

Pardonnez-moi, mais vous n'avez aucune idée de ce que vous dites.

Okay then, let’s use your method of parenting on Guts shall we?

HEY GUTS! DUDEBLADE SAID YOU’RE A TERRIBLE FATHER FOR BREAKING DOWN AFTER TEH ECLIPSE AND CASCA’S RAPE, THAT YOU DESERVE EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU, THAT YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO BE CONSIDERED GOOD AGAIN AND THAT YOU ARE WORSE THAN YOUR OWN FATHER AND GRIFFITH!

Oh look, he’s pretty pissed. Hope you enjoy having a crossbow shoved up your neither regions.

Also: Is Yang and Casca the same person? Have they faced the same troubles? Do they even share one event in the past? NO. So how about you stop using stupid examples and I might stop Guts from shoving his sword up your uretha?

Then Tai said, “Looks like you lost some brain cells along with that arm of yours.” Keep in mind that both Port and Oobleck were shocked at this. It shows that Tai crossed a line there, and in all honesty, if Yang hadn’t laughed, they would have been scared shitless for Yang’s mental health. Something that they didn’t really consider. These are supposed to be her teachers and parents, but they don’t do anything to actually help Yang get better mentally. Not to mention that Miles and Kerry said that writing the PTSD recovery arc was “too hard.” is rather insulting considering NOTHING HAPPENED! I don’t give a shit about that. I don’t give a single shit if it was “Too hard.” or not. You have to do it in a respectful manner, or you become one of the most insensitive people ever. to the point where I think that this becomes appropriate:

Oh so you’re insensitive for telling one joke but not for directly insulting someone when they are trying to help you? Because Yang did EXACTLY that! remember this line?

“I lost a part of me, it’s gone and it’s never coming back. You can’t possibly understand how that feels.”

She says this to man who lost both of his lovers, lost his team, nearly lost his kids twice with one comatose and the other depressed and hurting him for trying to help, had to wake up every day for six months wondering if his brother in law, daughter and friends were all dead. It’s like bitching about a hangnail in front of Guts: Not comparable in the slightest. If I were Taiyang I would have walked up to her, got in her face and recounted everything that I have lost to her and make her see just how much she actually lost.

Not enough? How about Ruby, her younger sister who lost more than her, was comatose for it and preserved still? Or Qrow, who lives with misfortune over his head 24/7? By far: Yang is the BEST one off so by your logic, she has no right to complain and neither do you!

Yeah. People who treat PTSD as insensitively as the writers did should be fired from breathing.

... You are telling them to die over a fictional character...

You know what is even more insulting dudeblade? Using suicide baiting right in front of a formerly suicidal person. Fuck you in every sense of the word.

Before anyone says any bullshit about how Red vs. Blue had the character ripping on each other, so that this is “okay.” - I’d like to point out that in the scene where Doc’s split personality O’Mally, roasts Grif for having to take care of his sister because his father left, and his mother was in the circus. Nobody really laughed. And when Doc snapped out of it, he apologized. None of the Reds or Blues ever hit that close to home, and when it did happen, they treated it seriously. It wasn’t a joke, it wasn’t a punchline, it was an actual serious thing.

Yes itw as a joke. It’s called Black humor and the narrative treated it as afailed attempt at Doc’s peace which was the real punchline. And the same guy also insulted his own sister several times throughout the BGC.

And what about getting shot by a tank, being told you’re worthless, being said you won’ta mount to anything, being forced off to die several times and take the blame for everything? That’s the entirety of the BGC’s thing.

And it was treated seriously as a way to break the ice and unlike Grif, YANG WAS OKAY WITH IT. And unlike Doc, Taiyang KNOWS YANG. HE RAISED HER! How convenient for you to not mention these factors huh?

The really infuriating part was the fact that it started off so well. Yang nearly had a panic attack when she dropped the glass, she was having nightmares about Adam, she openly said that she felt as if “A part of her was missing, and it wasn’t coming back.”, she had gotten used to using only one arm- It was going so well! At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if the current writing team for RWBY would be unable to write a respectful, and realistic PTSD Recovery arc to save their lives. The writing’s become shit since they booted Monty’s wife, Sheena and Shane off the team. I’m sure they REALLY appreciate it.

(Growls deeply)

You wanna know what is really fucking sick, as in, I can NEVER forgive, that I have deemed people horrible for, that has truly made me hate them?

Using a person’s death or mental illness for their own gain, usually attacking friends and family with it.

Like you have done with Monty and Shane.

I hoep you’re happy because you have crossed so many lines. I hope you’re happy being hateful and pessimistic because you know what? You are no better than those people at Yang Haters Haven for threatening Ben and Chad’s lives. In fact, you are WORSE than them. You are essentially digging up Monty’s corpse to beat his friends, his grieving friends who shared so much with, with it. Congratulations, you are what you hate. Except they can always say “I never used a dead man for my own gains.”

I have no respect for you, no hope for you, no kindness for you.

You are worse than most people in the rwde tag and that is saying a lot considering their suicide baiting and death threats.

Enjoy the fucking hole you dug for yourself, I’ll be sure to fill it up and put you out of your misery never.

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