Post by harper avery stevenage on Mar 19, 2014 19:54:49 GMT -5
HARPER AVERY STEVENAGE
FULL NAME: Harper Avery Stevenage
NICKNAMES: Her cousin and brother call her sparrow.
AGE: 19
GENDER: female
SEXUALITY: Straight.
STATUS: Single.
GROUP: Student.
GRADE: Freshman.
MAJOR: Music
JOB OCCUPATION: Apollo Box Office.
HAIR: Mahogany brown hair that falls just past her shoulders. There is a slight natural wave in it, but she usually tousles it a bit more with serum before stepping out of her front door most days
EYES: Brown
SCARS/BIRTHMARKS: Most of her scars have faded now, but there’re still a few on her skin; a noticeable one being along her jawline when she’s not wearing make-up. It’s about an inch long on the left side. And there’s one on her right thigh from where the amputation happened.
TATTOOS: She has three musical notes behind her right ear and a plain black flower anklet on her left leg. She also has a tiny tattoo of a sparrow in flight on her right wrist. "Our dried voices when we whisper together are quiet and meaningless" on her bicep.
PIERCINGS: Just her earlobes the once.
PLAY-BY: Gabrielle Aplin!
LIKES: writing, jokes, piano, singing wherever she is, writing lyrics, bad take-out, big cities, music, cats, milkshakes, drinking straight from the carton, early mornings when she’s not rushing, doodle art, eyeliner, abandoned buildings, old photographs, guitars, music boxes, lockets, orchids, sparrows, late night phone calls, snow, winter, Christmas, hot chocolate, plaid pyjamas, quotes, journals, C.S Lewis, ice cream, cinnamon buns, sleeping in on weekends, making jokes, finding new bands/singers, believing in the idea of magic and possibilities, optimism, fries, the subway, feeding the ducks, yellow, really minty toothpaste, making friends, Robert Rodriguez movies.
DISLIKES: people staring too much at her leg, those awkward whispers from people, careless drivers, really hot summers, not having a pen when she needs one, pessimism, geese, closed minded people, nightmares, doubt, second skin dresses, overbearing perfume, bad literature, watching the news, politics, getting angry, people being awkward around her, black coffee, aubergines, being stuck indoors, her dad fussing too much, warm juice, getting the flu, tweed, complaining, getting caught in the rain, bubble gum, long queues, grouchy pedestrians, being scolded, writer’s block, overwhelming feelings, Madonna, praline.
FEARS: Driving again, never achieving her goals, geese (one bit her when she was little and she won’t go near one now!)
SECRETS: Sometimes she leaves little inspirational quotes or messages inside random books in the library.
PERSONALITY: Harper is laidback and a very chipper young girl. She’s optimistic because she feels like she’s always had to be. She’s witty and always making jokes since humour is her go-to for trying to make people feel comfortable and also works as her coping mechanism when she feels a little freaked out. She’s a free-spirit and spent most of her life giving her parents grey hair before their time. Harper is creative more than she is academic and that’s always been apparent in her life, but she started to take it more seriously after her accident, really dedicating time and patience to her talents. Her life has always been musical and she herself is pursuing that avenue of interest even now. She’s quite open and honest about everything she can be; Harper doesn’t really see the point in secrets or hiding from something that makes her who she is. She can be blunt at times, but she’d rather get something out there and confront it than dance around it and only make the final blow worse for herself or someone else. She’s sweet and will always have a shoulder to cry on for a friend in need. On the other hand though, if she thinks someone is crying over nothing, she will tell them to man up and get on with their life. Really, someone needs to have a bit of tough skin to handle this little bird, or else she might end up hurting their feelings. As well as being strong, Harper is also determined and if someone says she can’t do something, then she will make the extra effort to prove them wrong, as well as chasing her own dreams. Stubborn is also another family trait that she inherited and while it’s probably gotten her to where she is now, it’s also the reason why she sometimes pushes herself too hard and ends up exhausting herself. She’s not really an aggressive person, but she can get defensive if someone says something about her leg or if she hears too many whispers and sly glances then she might snap after a bad day and make a comment. Generally, she’s a happy girl who can seem a little on the innocent side, though her foul mouth suggests otherwise, too! She is a dreamer who wants to see the world, experience everything and does like the idea of a happily ever after, but only after she’s achieved some of her dreams. She’s not a girl searching for a boyfriend, but if she feels the magic there then she’s usually pretty quick to make her feelings known and get the whole “will he/won’t he” bit over and done with. She doesn’t take life for granted and likes to live in the moment.
MOTHER: Victoria Frances Stevenage, 47.
FATHER: Henry James Stevenage, 48
SIBLINGS: Elliot Henry Stevenson, 22
OTHERS: Alex Fischer, ex-boyfriend and still good friend, 19
Joey Leon Stevenage, 23, cousin.
PETS: Link, ferret.
HOMETOWN: Beaufort, North Carolina.
HISTORY: Henry and Victoria had known each other their whole lives, but tell them that they would one day be married and have two children and they would probably have laughed in your face. They didn’t get along at all, not until after college was over for them both and they returned home more mature and more patient with each other. Out of curiosity more than anything else, Henry asked her out and she, caught off guard, said yes. Little did either of them realise that the first date would lead to another, and then another and eventually marriage and a pregnancy.
Elliot was their firstborn and for four years had their undivided attention, but Victoria was pregnant again and soon enough, Harper was born. Henry was working with a small law firm at the time and was able to support their small family well enough until Victoria felt like she could leave her children with a minder. She was an elementary school teacher, but wanted to enjoy the time with her children while they were still little and needed her close by.
Harper had a pretty simple childhood. Her brother teased and tormented her like it was his only joy in life, but she grew to fight back, which drove their mother insane. Harper also had a curious nature where she would stick her nose into everything; if a white rabbit appeared in their yard, Harper would probably follow it down to Wonderland without thinking twice. Victoria took Elliot to soccer practice, but Harper wanted something else. She had seen her mom playing the piano in their home and thought it pretty, so soon enough the little girl was tinkling at the keyboard like there was no tomorrow. She expanded her musical talents to guitar when she was eleven. She would breathe music if she could and in school she was forever caught just singing to herself in class while she ought to have been doing her work. Academically, Harper was average. She did pretty well in English at writing, but in everything else she just struggled to find the passion there that she had for the arts. Still, she scraped by with the grades she needed and soon found herself in high school.
She had always been the kind of girl who made jokes to make people feel at ease and when most people find high school daunting, Harper saw it as a new adventure, eager to spread her wings and see what mischief and fun she could get up to. She made friends, kept with her music and had the life most teenagers imagined; movies, parties, silly jokes and Kodak moments that looked like they were right out of some cliché commercial. Basically, her life was good. There were people she didn’t get along with, her brother and cousin, Joey, still teased her most days of the week and bringing a boy home was the equivalent of announcing WWIII in the kitchen. At least it was when she brought Alex home to meet the ‘rents and the brother, officially. Her dad spent most of the night glaring and reminding Alex that he knew the ins and outs of the law, Elliot just kept saying “I will kick your ass if…” over and over and poor Bethany had to stop Harper lunging at her dad or brother and continue to serve the dinner and keep the evening peaceful. The family did grow to like Alex though, but the protective spark still remained with the males of the Stevenson household.
Junior year had just started and sixteen year old Harper was getting ready to go and meet her brother at the airport. He was flying in from UNLV and normally Henry or Bethany would pick him up, but they were both working and Harper was more than happy to take her car out on the drive; she was finding every excuse to take the small, but reliable vehicle out from the second she got her licence! She was a careful driver though after Henry had taken the time to drill the lectures into both of his kids since they were old enough to understand. Harper was driving through the town, on the streets she knew well, when another driver suddenly pulled out carelessly from a blind junction and forced the teenager to swerve to try and avoid the collision. The next thing Harper knew was that she heard sirens and that when she looked up through the smashed windscreen the front of her car was caved in and she couldn’t move. In her attempt to avoid crashing into the other car, her own had spun from the road and smashed into the trees. Harper was trapped and in a state of panic. There was a lot of pain, blood pretty much everywhere, the wheel jutting painfully into her stomach and everything didn’t seem real. That was the point when her mind just shut off and even now she can’t remember a thing about what happened then.
The rest she was told from doctors and family. It took over an hour to cut her out from the wreckage and the man who she had swerved to avoid had been texting his girlfriend at the time and was in police custody. She had a broken wrist, fractured collarbone and a break in her left leg. There were stitches along her jaw and forehead and bruises and scratches covered her whole body; it was agonising to move even the slightest. The worst thing though, was that doctors had been forced to amputate her right leg above the knee. Her leg had been practically crushed in the wreck and the severity of her injury and the blood already lost meant that to save it might only lead to more complications. The doctors needed to act in her best interest and although devastated by the news, her parents agreed that the doctors knew best. There had been some internal bleeding, too, but the doctors found it in time and by some sort of miracle, Harper survived the whole ordeal almost in one piece.
It was hard though; waking up and finding out that she had lost her leg wasn’t on any sixteen year old’s to-do list. Harper had always been optimistic though and whenever she left low or depressed she would remind herself that she had survived and that, in time, she would be able to go home and have a life back. It was a little harder to convince her family to keep that optimistic ideal; especially Elliot who seemed to think it was his fault when he could’ve grabbed a cab. Every time he suggested that though, Harper would throw something at him or hit him with whatever medical apparatus she could reach. She didn’t want anyone to dwell on what ifs and maybes; she just wanted them to have faith in her recovery and help her get through it. Sure, there were nights when she wondered the same things, but she always had a sunny smile in place by time her visitors came around. Thinking about the accident became redundant and there was nothing any of them could do to change it, so Harper forced herself out of those moments and found something else to focus on instead. Alex stuck by her through it all, even when she was at her lowest and just putting on a brave face, but the same could not be said for all of her friends. Some came to visit, some brought cards and made the effort to see her when she was in the hospital but she was shocked at those who barely even checked in on her once any time after the accident. Her doctor introduced her to other teenagers who had lost limbs too and Harper bonded with them and it was nice to have someone her own age who understood and who could answer the questions that kept circling around in her mind whilst she was still stuck in the hospital bed.
When she was first allowed home it was in a wheelchair, until her right leg recovered from the break. Still, it was good to be home and to start learning what life would be like. Harper was still a little sore and stiff, but soon the doctors decided that she could start using the crutches and build up the strength in her right leg again before they moved onto fitting her with the prosthetic limb. She saw a therapist too during this time to make sure that any psychological issues were addressed. Harper could barely remember the accident after she swerved and caught a glimpse of the smoking car and the blood. She got a lot from the sessions though and the therapist gave her the number to call if anything should come back to her that she needed to talk about. The whole process was a long one and Harper missed quite a bit of her junior year healing and regaining her strength in the rest of her body before the focus turned to the space where her right leg used to be.
Almost four months later the doctors finally handed her the prosthetic leg that would give her back almost all of her independence once she learnt how to walk with it. The physiotherapy was gruelling and there were days with no progress at all when Harper just felt like crying, but she persevered and dreamt big. Step by step, she got there and walking became something she no longer took for granted.
Throughout her time at hospital and when she was stuck at home recovering, her passion for music grew even more and lyrics started finding their way into all the journals she bought whenever she went shopping with friends. Now that she had a chance at a future, she wanted to pursue the thing she loved the most and not let anything hold her back. She had always been a dreamer but now Harper wanted to chase her dreams and live in the moment; she didn’t want any lost chances. Too many people were telling her to take it slow, to think about doing other things with her life and it just worked to motivate Harper more. She didn’t see her disability as anything that should hinder her dreams and after surviving such a horrific ordeal the last thing she wanted to do was fade into the background and spend her life with regrets and wishing she’d done something more.
Eventually, she returned to school, but she would graduate a year later. Some people stared and asked questions, but Harper had overcome the accident and would often joke about her false leg and call it silly names or say something to try and make people feel more comfortable around her. She wasn’t ashamed of losing her leg and if she wanted to wear shorts or a dress then she did. If people wanted to say something then she had a voice and she could use it. Most of her friends were used to it, but most were also not at school and even Alex was working at one of the hotels in town so for the duration of school she was on her own. Harper was strong though, especially after everything and did her best not to let things get her down, even taking to an assembly one day to talk about her accident and everything she had been through. The principle thought that it would motivate and encourage the students, but Harper just wanted to raise awareness of everything from her prosthetic to the dangers of careless driving.
Finally, Harper graduated with the required grades for most colleges, but it was safe to say that she wasn’t about to be a lawyer or a doctor. Harper didn’t quite know how to tell her family about the choice she had made, knowing that there would be protests and concerns about her wellbeing. Her heart had decided though and Harper couldn’t hang about in one place for the rest of her life just wishing and hoping to find magic. She had a position waiting on the music course at NYU and she predicted the backlash from her parents until Elliot pointed out that their cousin Joey lived in the city and not too far from the NYU campus. Reluctantly her parents made arrangements and almost like a sign of fate, there was a ground apartment for rent in the same building that Joey called home. Harper wanted to do this by herself, but at least she had Joey nearby just in case she did need something. Unfortunately, leaving Beaufort also meant leaving Alex. She loved him, but she needed to do this and long distance just spelt out trouble. She kept in touch with him and her other friends too, including the ones she made when she was at the hospital. There were promised trips out to the city and plans to meet up soon and Harper intends to make sure they all happen.
By the time she finally made the move, Harper had been an amputee for two years and now it was just her way of life and she didn’t think twice when she attached the prosthetic in the morning or picked up the crutches of an evening. The building owner agreed to a few modifications for Harper’s ease and once they were done, she was set to live on her own. She had been as independent as she could be since the accident and reassured her parents that everything would be fine, even letting them “keep watch” for a few nights until she proved her point. Joey drove her to the store for food and to her hospital appointments, but for the most part, Harper was capable of handling herself with cabs and the subway. She really did make a point of proving that she could do this and she didn’t want to be mollycoddled for the rest of her life. There was an emotional goodbye when her parents did leave, but Joey has always been there for her if she felt homesick and he checks in on her more than enough to see if she’s managing okay and so far there have been no problems.
People still stare and some are still uncomfortable, but if Harper can make a joke about it and get on with her life without dwelling on what other people have to say about her leg, then all is well. She has a job in the box office at the Apollo, keeps on time with her check-ups and medical appointments and is just waiting for school to start up. She’s determined to prove people wrong and show that she can achieve those dreams she had when she was still a little girl learning how to play the piano.
YOUR ALIAS: Kim.
RULE WORDS: kidnappedbykim.
WHERE YOU FOUND US: In a galaxy far, far away.
SAMPLE:Nein.