#narrative aus i'm pretty alright at but if it changes the characters i struggle :')

[lesbicosmos]

day 2 of @palasakiweek !!

day 2 prompt: fondness

summary: Crystal comes home from meeting with her parents and she isn't in the best mood. But, how can she be sad when her girlfriend is in the kitchen making cookies?

notes: sorry it's kinda short, i wrote this in like two hours so it's not the best but i wanted to get something out today despite how busy school's getting lately :((

also on ao3!!

i'd be home with you

Crystal was pissed off. She always was whenever she returned from visiting her parents, which she begrudgingly did once a month. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see her parents; after losing her memories of them, all she wanted was a hug from them, to be told that they’d been scared out of their minds when she disappeared, to be told she was loved. But finding out her parents hadn’t even realised she was gone because they were too busy planning an art show hurt. It made her angry. And the fact they still didn’t seem bothered by her disappearance, even after she told them about it, made her even angrier. She didn’t even really think they believed her about what happened, just like how they hadn’t openly believed her when she first told them about her psychic abilities when she was ten years old. No, they only seemed to care about or acknowledge those when they became something they could make money out of, when Crystal could become the Surname-Von Hoverkraft’s Little Star.

Now Crystal knew what she did about her lineage, she wondered why her mother didn’t seem to have the same powers she did. Maybe it was a magical recessive gene and managed to skip a generation, or perhaps she did have abilities but somehow hadn’t tapped into them yet. Either way, Crystal was almost glad her mother wasn’t a psychic. She couldn’t imagine what it would do to her already monstrous ego.

So, when Crystal entered her apartment complex after another conversation with Maddy and Seth that ended up involving more talk about them and their projects than it did their daughter, she was feeling pretty down. She was more than ready to collapse onto the sofa with a tub of ice cream and watch shitty reality shows.

But upon entering her flat, her mood was lifted immediately by the overwhelming sweet smell of homemade baking, and the sound of a familiar voice singing along to a pop song on the radio.

Crystal dropped her tote bag near the door, unlaced and kicked off her boots and hung her coat up next to the bright green one on the wall hooks. Despite the rest of the day being a total shitshow, she couldn’t help the smile that made its way onto her face as she entered the kitchen, and that smile only grew at the sight before her.

Niko was taking a tray out of the oven, her hips swaying to the music as she hummed along. She was wearing her bright pink apron, which was dotted with little purple and blue flowers, over pale orange pyjamas as she danced along in her fluffy hedgehog slippers.

“What’s this?” Crystal asked, walking up behind Niko and kissing her cheek.

“This is cookies!” Niko said excitedly, turning to face Crystal to do the same.

“I can see that, but...for any particular occasion?”

“Well, I know you’re not usually in the best of moods after you go and see your parents, so I thought…maybe this would cheer you up?”

“Oh babe…” Crystal wrapped her arms around Niko’s waist tightly, burying her head in her shoulder. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to. You deserve something good after having to deal with them, and I know these are your favourite.”

“Hmm, yeah, they are,” Crystal hummed.

“So,” Niko said, dragging the word out playfully. “What do you wanna do while we wait for them to cool down?”

“This is good,” Crystal replied, hugging Niko tighter and pressing soft kisses to the spot where her neck met her shoulder.

Niko hummed in agreement and then, without warning, reached behind Crystal to hold the backs of her knees and hoist her up into a piggyback.

“Niko!” Crystal shrieked, laughing.

“What?”

“Give me some warning first!”

“Hmm, no I don’t think I will,” Niko grinned.

Crystal just laughed, resting her head on Niko’s shoulder again.

Niko walked into the living room, Crystal holding on to her tightly. When they reached the sofa, Niko turned around and all but threw her girlfriend off her.

“Oh, that was uncalled for!” she said, the smile on her face letting Niko know she was just teasing.

Niko smiled again, her nose crinkling slightly and her eyes seeming to sparkle despite the dim room they were in. Perhaps it was just Crystal’s imagination – she couldn’t help it, whenever she looked at Niko it was like she glowed, just as she had when they first met, only this time it wasn’t the work of any sprites or supernatural intervention; it was just Niko Sasaki in her natural kind, sweet, gorgeous state.

Crystal found herself unable to look away from her, unable to even speak. Somehow, this beautiful person had chosen her as someone she wanted in her life, as a friend, as a roommate, as a girlfriend. Sometimes Crystal convinced herself she didn’t deserve her, but Niko would never accept that, and would spend hours talking, making sure Crystal knew how amazing she was no matter how horrible she had been in the past. With Niko holding her like that, speaking so softly, her voice undeniably full of love and admiration, it was impossible for Crystal to not believe her at least a little bit.

“Come here,” she said at last, just about able to think something other than my pretty girl.

Niko stepped forward, and Crystal reached out to pull her down onto the sofa with her. She ended up sitting on Crystal’s lap, facing her. Both of them immediately erupted into giggles that were only stopped when Niko leaned in, kissing her firmly. She moved to back away, but Crystal only held her by the jaw and kept her there, deepening the kiss. It was still gentle, still so soft and fond, but there was a sense of desperation there, like they needed their lips against each other, or they might die.

The two of them spent the next twenty minutes lying together on the sofa, kissing and whispering sweet nothings and giggling about anything and everything that came to mind. It was just what Crystal needed after the terrible morning she’d had.

Then, all at once, Niko stopped and gasped.

“Cookies! They’ll be cool by now!”

Crystal chuckled, letting go of her waist so she could stand up.

“I’ll be right back,” Niko said, kissing Crystal’s cheek before sauntering back into the kitchen.

Crystal couldn’t quite believe how lucky she was that she’d met Niko. She had so many regrets from her past, and part of her believed she didn’t deserve something this good after all she’d done, but another part of her knew that without going through everything she had, without dealing with David, she never would have met Charles or Edwin or Niko. Crystal would have stayed a mean bitchy rich girl, and Niko would have stayed a shut-in who likely would have died thanks to the sprites feeding off her. Crystal didn’t want to thank that demon for anything, but it was true that he indirectly gave her the life she had now, the life she loved, surrounded by people who made her a better person every single day. She would rather have gone through what she did and get this chance to be better than go back and change anything. She had friends now – real friends, not just people from school she hung around with – and she was in the healthiest relationship she’d ever been in. Sure, her new life came with chasing ghosts and monsters around London every other day, but it was more than worth it for her sibling-like bickering with Edwin, for going out to concerts as friendship-dates with Charles, for coming home every day to her girlfriend, who sometimes happened to be baking cookies in the kitchen.

It was that moment that Niko walked back into the room, a plate in her hands.

“Okay, they’re still a little warm but they’ve definitely cooled enough that they won’t fall apart when you pick them up,” she said, offering the plate out towards her. “You try one first.”

Who was Crystal to deny her? She picked one from the plate and took a bite.

“Woah,” she said.

She might have been a little biased, but she was fairly convinced they were the best cookies she’d ever had.

“Are they good?” Niko asked, slightly worried – for no reason at all.

“Niko these are fucking awesome, oh my god.”

That smile immediately returned to Niko’s face and she sat down, putting the plate on the coffee table in front of them and taking one for herself.

“Oh, they really are good,” Niko giggled as she ate.

“You gotta teach me how to make these.”

“Are you sure you won’t just spend the entire lesson sitting on the counter staring at me baking like you did when I ‘taught you’ how to make brownies?”

“Hey! It’s not my fault you look so good in that apron,” Crystal argued.

“It’s okay babe, I know you just like to watch.”

“You’re pretty when you’re focused, okay? I mean you are all the time, but you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I know,” Niko laughed.

Once both of them had finished their cookies, Crystal pulled Niko in to kiss her again. She tasted like chocolate. The cookies had been great, but Crystal didn’t think anything could ever compare to the taste of Niko’s lips against her own. They were soft and sweet and Crystal felt like she was at home whenever they kissed.

Because, she was, really, wasn’t she? Her home wasn’t with her parents, the people who raised her but didn’t really know her. No, her home was right there in Niko’s arms, surrounded by people who knew her better than anyone else ever had, who had been there for her through some of her worst experiences. Home wasn’t a place, it was a person; it was three people. It was why she’d felt the most comfortable she ever had when they were in Port Townsend, despite the ongoing threat of David and the overwhelmingly emotional caseload – because she’d found them.

Crystal Palace had finally found her home, and she wasn’t letting go of it any time soon.

[shesus-crisp]

To be honest I really dont want them to remake ATLA. I get that its a pretty old show by now, but I dont think something like an AU version would fit here. Also, I dont think that big changes to the main narrative would be recieved very well by fans.

Of course, more LGBTQ+ rep would be great (although I'm still afraid of the possibility that Nickelodeon won't allow it), so what I would love to see is the TLOK comics animated. As someone who hasn't read any ATLA comics yet, I would really enjoy a series focusing more on Korrasami and I really want their relationship to be more obviously shown, which as we saw with Kipo or She-ra is very much possible.

What I don't really need is to see a new Avatar's journey. First of all I don't want to have to deal with TLOK characters dying, and second I feel like it would be a bit repetetive. We would either get another journey to becoming the Avatar while fighting one main villain, another fully realized Avatar struggling to accept their responsibility or a mix of both, and we already got all that. I personally don't need to see it again.

For more LGBTQ+ representation I of course would love to see the Kyoshi Novels as animated series. It would show this amazing universe how it was before the war to a larger audience, and at the same time give us a 'new Avatar journey' that a lot of fans don't know.

I do think that an expansion series focusing on the old Gaang would be cool, but I honestly don't want it to be too much. TLOK basically told us what all of them did after the war. Take those concepts and make maybe one or two seasons out of it, and done. Maybe give a little more shown backstory to some other ATLA characters like Ty Lee or Mai, too, and finish at Aang's Death.

Another thing I desperatly want and I feel like isn't impossible is an Azula follow-up story or kind-of redemption arc. Maybe this could be wrapped in a Where Are They Now-series for the Gaang, but I could also see this as an entire show on it's own.

Alright I 've been talking for to long, so thanks for reading, and to an animated Kyoshi Novel show!

Things I Want Out of Avatar Studios

More LGBTQ+ Rep: With Legend of Korra, we were treated to the beginning of Avatar's wlw representation. We got Korra, Asasmi, Aunt Kya, Avatar Kyoshi, and Kyoshi's girlfriend as sapphic representation. With their own studio now, I can only hope we'll see even more inclusivity from Bryke, especially rep that expands beyond two girls kissing.

The Avatar After Korra: This one's a no-brainer, with the revival of Avatar content, fans are of course eager to see what the next chapter in the Avatar franchise will be. Whether this is Korra's immediate successor or just someone down the line, this Avatar should probably be an Earthbender or a Firebender, and frankly, an openly gay boy who gets crushes on boys and exclusively boys is the kind of progressive upfront representation I crave. No ambiguity, no beating around the bush. Just open and unapologetically progressive.

A Former Avatar: Whether we get a movie or series for avatars we've met like Roku, Kiyoshi, or Wan, or we're treated to a new avatar entirely, the benefit of this option is that we get to see a pre-war Avatar world that can show us things like the oasis in its full glory, or Ba Sing Se before the creation of the Dai Li.

Expansion on Established Characters: We could get a movie showing Katara and Aang raising their three kids, Toph reuniting with her parents after the war, the life of Katara's Gran-Gran or Mother, or the reign of Firelord Zuko. The benefit here is that we get to take characters already established and show more of their backgrounds, lives, or aftermath of shown events in the series.

Remake Old Material: While it's pretty hard to improve on perfection, there's always the chance they may take the opportunity to remake Avatar the Last Airbender. This could be expanding on side content, fleshing out secondary characters, making a more "mature" version, making the characters more diverse (ie incorporating more LGBTQ+ characters) or altering the world in an AU setting, such as changing the evil nation to the Water Tribe, or making Zuko the Avatar.