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vqrtualheartss · 4 months ago

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Without Barriers — e42!Miles x Fem!Black!Reader

ᴅ☆ᴇ'ꜱ ꜱᴀʏ|

Hi chatt, unuh miss me? 🙂.

Anywho, part 3 of this thing

I been inactive but I swrr it's just school, I been inactive n shit but I still love writing and adore Spider-verse (I'm still hyper fixated. Helpp.)

Also looks like I have part 4&5 to give after I properly proofread, bye lovess

These past few weeks in Earth 42 have been quite eventful to say the least. Not to mention you breaking the promise to yourself that you'll never fall in love with Miles Morales ever again. I mean, it was inevitable really. Who wouldn't fall in love if someone looked at them like that?

Leading up to school Miles got everything in order for you.

Your hair? Who knew your man was a cosmetologist cause he did you right by that electric blue dye

Clothes? Bought and paid in fulll

He made sure you had common knowledge of everything. Places, people, lingo, social norms even drama, he went as far as teaching you basic fighting techniques.

"I know it may hurt tesoro, but you need to learn. I'm not gonna be there every time to save you."

One thing that had you on ice though was when he brought in fake identification with your new credentials that did not look fake at all. Truly, you didn't want to question it, but your face said what your mouth didn't. Now you looked at the papers then at Miles, back and forth, back and forth.

"I know you have questions, just ask" He spoke up, breaking the unneeded awkward silence when he did.

"I didn't even say anything to you" I retorted

"Good"

That came off with more sass than it should've, from both of you at that.

I hate his attitude at times. "Miles, sit down."

He sat himself where he did before, bracing himself deeper into the chair. "My eyes are up here by the way. "

He laughed when I hissed. Yuh bright bad. Slowly the playful air in the room dissipated, a more serious feel emerging. Miles cleared his throat, he was nervous, okayy. I still kicked my feet while being on the bed, waiting patiently for him to start.

"(y/n)" his leg started to bounce involuntarily

My eyes shifted to him, they already were but this time I looked into his eyes. Lord knows I was not the one for eye contact, so I hid the other half of my face with a pillow. Because, I was ready to giggle, and I don't think it was the time for that.

"You, and I know about how I feel about keeping secrets from each other"

My eyebrows furrowed, but it was true though. Miles told me everything he could remember , his allergies, favorites, dislikes, pet peeves. Even the most personal shit like how the house we shared was a piece of land paid in full by his father before he passed— one for him and another for his mamá. Like I said, everything.

And I never judged him for any of it, no reason to, but right now, I am not familiar or comfortable with this tone. I nodded for him to continue, visibly skeptical of what was to come next.

"And I've been giving you the half-assed truth about what I do. My uncle and I, we work fo- with this man. Kingpin, and the shit we do isn't necessarily good either. I fight, steal, hurt people, a bunch of stuff"

Knowing Miles he would've went on with the list trying to "be transparent" . Drawing an inference he stopped noticing my widened eyes , I wasn't shocked at him. No, it was the insane ass plot twist. In the other dimension it was just Aaron and Kingpin, yikes. Miles gave me my look, my look when I'm signaling for questions or something to make a situation less awkward.

"You kill people? "

He nodded

"Often?"

"They must've sent the feds on my ass"

I wasn't pissed, I swear, but the hitched lip and narrowed eyes inflicted a response from him. He relaxed his shoulders , but he still looked perplexed.

"Never have, almost broke the streak after-" I put up a hand in front of him, stopping whatever he was going say next. I do not care about what you do inside that suit, whatever you want handsome.

I stared blankly, randomly looking over at him when I heard his breathing heavy.

"You're not scared of me right?" He stammered a bit, aw

"Do you plan on hurting me?"

"I know you're not stupid" Just cause yah man nuh mean seh yuh fi wicked

I watch him rest his elbows to the edge of his thighs, I copied his hand placements from before, head in palms, a W over my lower features.

He sighed.

"No, never, nunca baby"

"Then there's your answer: no, never, nunca" Nah call yuh baby too much cause yahv mi siddung like yam inna basket.

--------------

Then came the time when your results for Brooklyn Visions were to arrive. Given that they decided to send the letter a mere two days before school opened was criminal. Already anxious, it didn't help that it was one of those days where Miles was absent for almost all 24hrs.

Your stomach flipped on end, contemplating what to do if you didn't get in, what to tell Miles�� you couldn't just stay here doing nothing for the whole day, waste style that. The what if's had you on edge, not wanting to open the letter, so—... you didn't.

Waking up from an afternoon nap, you felt disoriented with no remembrance of earlier. Somewhat aware of the time difference of then till now you went downstairs looking for Miles and instead went for the letter. Although a delayed reaction you shrieked at the words in bold : You're Accepted!. The lingering decibels drew Miles down frantically observing that he didn't even take off his left gauntlet. Seeming as though you were safe, he went up after a while then came back down— to shower presumably, he hated having you near him after he's gone out.

"I got in!"

-------- (Skipped a few lines cause I'm lazy)

"Miles, stop kissing my face, you're gonna bring out my cheeks"

Any average person would've, but not Miles— he wasn't average.

"(y/n), can you leave me alone to give my esposa affection in peace?"

" 'Esposa', yeah right" I scoffed, rightful title

“I don't know what's going on in that pretty little head of yours but dios mio, sure isn't working right.”

Removing the arm from around my body, he took his phone from his pocket and placed it blatantly on the armrest of the couch. Securing his hands on my hips he moved me to the kitchen island then on top of the counter. I stayed put like a porcelain doll in showcase— not that I hated getting treated by him the way he did. Elevating himself on his palms he rubbed the sides of our faces together then pushed himself into my neck.

“Miles, are you a dog?”

“Whatever you want me to be”

Laying down on the counter, his head was adjacent to my thigh. Wrapping an arm around the width he dragged me closer, diminishing any little space left between his head and my body. Placing kisses along the length, I tangled a hand into his hair, massaging and drawing patterns into his scalp. After some time my neck and back started to hurt, constantly I began to rub them and groan. Miles noticed from the glances he took every now and then. He mumbled something into my thigh.

“I'm sorry, I didn't hear you”

“Can we stay a bit longer—... please”

I passed him a re-assuring smile. Bringing himself back down he brought a hand of mine with him, toying with it and doing whatever. When I felt it lay flat on his face I assumed he had fallen asleep. Still, my body ached but I didn't want to leave him here by himself.

What could I do without him?

Shit.

After (what I thought were) three quiet yawns later Miles woke up, somewhat. I figured he wasn't fully conscious but enough to piece together the fact that I hadn't left even though I was still hurting. Sitting up, he flexed his wrists, arms, and other limbs, gathering strength before taking me off the counter and placing me on his bed. Instead of the usual hug as our sleeping position, he put a hand on my nape and lower back, kneading away more pain than I were aware of.

"Why didn't you leave?" I wonder

"I would've been bored alone"

"C'mon, you'd be sleeping"

I physically can't nor do I want to sleep without you.

Shaking my head, I held onto his shirt, initiating some type of contact before his hands were free. I looked up at him, completely in disbelief that once again, once more I fell in love with Miles Gonzalo Morales. And he's going to be my doom, I know it

Miless p.o.v

One, I don't think she realizes she said that out loud, and two, you know that feeling when your organs get flushed out and replaced with butterflies? That's basically how I felt. And believe me, half of the time I don't know what to say to her, whatever I say, I just do. She's perfect, mine to ruin, but I don't want to do that, I don't want to hurt her.

She's attached to me— deeply. While that may not be a bad thing, it isn't good either. I've studied (y/n) for a while within us being together, she's the 'i love you so that means I'd die for you' type but I can't let that happen. If anyone's sacrificing themself for the other its me— I wasn't raised otherwise, she hasn't taught me to love otherwise. Crucify me after for leaving my beautiful tesoro on the earth by herself, id deserve it. And I definitely think I'm the only one deserving of her.

Props to the jackass that fumbled, forever grateful to you.

Before I could answer, her hand fell flat against my chest, the warmth of it tugging me into sleep with her.

---------------------------------------------––----------------------------------------------

Waking up, I saw a blue sky instead of the black abyss I was accustomed to . This became a regular thing since I started sleeping with her— physically, not y'know, she says she's not ready for that. Often, I had to push back meetings and missions with my uncle because of it.

Shit, speaking of that, today I intend to ask my uncle for at least 2 months of off jobs, and I know he'll come through, hopefully. School re-opens tomorrow, and while it's my first time back, it'll be her first time ever. I can't nor do I want to miss this for her.

Getting up, (y/n) gripped tightly onto my shirt forcing me to stay down. They were just her reflexes coming into play, but I still complied, waiting until she was comfortable to get up. From what happened I do not want to wake this girl up again. She placed her head onto my leg, be it any other day I would've stayed until she woke up, but if I wanted those months off I'd need to get my phone somewhere in the kitchen.

------------------------------------------(6:37pm)------------------------------------------

With minimal back and forth, Uncle Aaron and I settled on 3months no jobs (he'd cover) with me coming in every Saturday 9-10, am to pm to keep overview on plan Burn Brooklyn. I promise it isn't what it sounds like.

Handing me my bag, he went behind his mini- bar and poured out something— Bailey's probably. Man is addicted to that shit. I understand though, kinda. What a time when he let me go through his cabinets after a fight with (y/n), I was a mess. She called me a hot mess.

Draping an arm around my neck, he noticed that unlike times before, instead of slanting downwards his arm tilted up.

"You're growing up, and fast Miles" Using the strength from his arm he turned us around to face the windows. Sunrises never intrigued me, but the sunsets were something else. He took a small swig at the cup before continuing.

"You're finding love, making it out, doing your best" I noticed hand movements from him at the corner of my eye. Uncle Aaron was crying. Uncle Aaron is crying.

"If I found a piece more of myself in you I'd say that you were just like me when I fell for yo—" He cleared his throat, stopping himself.

"You're not just doing this for us are you, she's involved isn't she"

I wasn't going to lie to Uncle Aaron over a question, I didn't even give him a answer to what he already knows. Despite the constant liquor intake he produced a smooth laugh, his hand repeatedly patting my bag.

"I like her a lot Uncle Aaron"

"Like is a feeble word for what you two have, we're happy to see you like this"

"we?"

"Rio and I"

So it's everybody in our business? Cool

--------------------------

I'd prefer above all things walking beside my love to go home like we usually do, but unfortunately he had to call out of school. Typical, atleast he trusts me enough to walk home by myself, and with what I've learned from him I'm sure to be alright.

"Hand in your pocket hermosa, the watch looks shiny and that's what they like out here"

"Walk only where I showed you, if not the safest area but it's safer"

And he's referring to roads nearby Aaron's house so he's always here and there if I need him. It's ironic that a "criminal" makes the city safer for me and not some superficial superhero.

Sudden thuds draw me back to reality, what the hell? I recognize that thing, it's what I came through— a portal.

Fada God.

Action resumes on the road adjacent to me, an escapee of some sort and someone running after them.

My heart and pace speeds up as I stare through my peripheral at the hero of the encounter. Those where they can peep from buildings, street corners and alleyways at the commotion. It's something no one has ever seen, except for a comics con nerd. I'm not one, but I know exactly who that person is— the figure and combat style is just too familiar.

Fada. God. Not today. Abeg. Please.

"Is that Spiderman? And not just any Spiderman… Is that thee fucking Miles Morales?"

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Still re-wrote everything cause life didn't end when Tumblr decided to delete it 🙂.

It's kinda short, but work with it until I can update more tmrw on it 🙂.

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jezabelle9299 · 5 months ago

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Stress Baking; Part 1 S.R X Reader

Authors Notes: Spencer Reid x fem! Reader, fluff, reader is a receptionist or assistant at a police station, this part is mostly set up and introduction. Heavily inspired by me having to get rid of the remainder of my finals week stress baking, some monologuing.

Ok. Got to work 10 minutes early. I can set this stuff down, and make another attempt to get the rest of the flour out of my hair.

You were stumbling from your car, laptop bag and keys in one hand, backpack full of study guides and practice tests resting on your shoulders, and two reusable bags filled with pastries neatly packaged in every foil pan the dollar store had to offer.

“Whoa, Y/N, are you ok?” One of the officers said, holding the door open for you.

“All good, finals week baking.”

“I can see that. Is that flour or powdered sugar up there?” She kind of gestured to your hair, piled on your hair in a high ponytail to keep it out of the way. Honestly it could be either, you’d neglected sleep and eating real meals, opting instead to take out your stress with some, frankly aggressive, stress baking. It helped keep you focused while re-listening to lectures from this semester, and the results served as great apology gifts for the people who had to deal with your bouts of uncharacteristic grumpiness during the week. In response to the officer's question you tossed a vague shrug and walked through the door.

Something was wrong. Like really wrong.

What had happened on your days off? You hadn’t given so much as a thought to the news, as you were too wrapped up in studying.

And your boss was trying to meet you at your desk. So much for fixing the whole flour situation before clocking in.

“Y/N, good, you’re here early. Set your stuff down and get ready. The BAU is on their way now, and I need you to help them get set up.”

“The BAU?” you replied, head tilting with confusion.

“The Behavioral Analysis Unit… of the FBI?” He responded, with more condescension than was strictly necessary.

“The FBI? Here? Why?”

“Really? Have you been living under a rock for the last 3 days? I don’t have time to explain it to you, I’m buried with paperwork over the most recent crime scene, and the governor is expecting a call about all this. Right now I need you to start getting the conference room ready, according to these specifications.” He handed you a piece of notebook paper, containing his nearly illegible handwriting, and a list of what the FBI needs. You finally set your bags down, and grabbed a pen to check things off as you went.

There. Everything’s perfect, now you can finally get some work done.

And nevermind. A black SUV pulled up, and out came the FBI, clown car style. 5 of them stuffed into one car, that can’t have been comfortable. They were heading right for your desk in the precinct lobby.

“Hello my name is Agent Hotchner, where can I find your captain?” Said who you could only assume was their boss, as he looked like a child's drawing of an FBI agent, in a full black suit, while everyone else was much more casual.

“Hi! I’m Y/N, the captain’s in his office right now, he told me to show you to your workspace and he’ll meet you there?” He gave a quick nod and a thank you as you did a quick turn toward the conference room, your bright pink skirt flaring out to its full radius as you pivot. You keep talking as you weave through the hustle and bustle of the precinct.

“There are fewer of you guys than I thought, so there’s a few extra chairs in there.”

“There are more of us in the second car, they’re running a little behind after picking up some extra paperwork. Dr. Reid and Agent Morgan will be here momentarily.”

“Alrighty then, the supplies you requested should all be here, and I’ll be around at my desk if there;s anything I can do for you, just let me know!”

Just as you started for the door to get some more studying, and maybe some of your actual work done, a dark haired woman spoke up: “Sorry, but what is that?” She gestured to the small pile of foil tupperware filled with baklava, brownies, cupcakes, and cookies. It felt a whole lot sillier now that you had to explain it to the FBI. You could hear who you assumed were the other agents coming in behind you, but your focus was on the 5 already staring at you, while you tried to formulate an answer that kept you from seeming completely insane. “Oh-uh, I’m a college student, -and it’s finals week -um, when I get stressed I bake, kind of excessively. But-um don’t feel like you have to eat them, I mostly just needed to get them out of my kitchen.”

Hotchner spoke up again, “It was a kind gesture, thank you.”

“Studies actually show that the physical activities and sensations associated with baking are grounding for people with anxiety, as it heightens awareness of the body and presence in the moment; which both reduces stress and improves mood.” Someone spoke from behind you. As you turned to see who it was you saw him. Heaven in a purple scarf.

#dr spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fluff

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bloodyodyssey · 3 months ago

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(Repost) Comms still up with 8 slots, 3 for busts, 3 for half body, and 2 for full body! Each listing also allows for up to one extra character to be added on at half price!

***If you don't want to commission me that's also fine i'd apreciate just a regular kofi dono or just sharing this around bc my finances are low, I've been averaging on $20 a month and struggling to pay hospital bills from earlier this year. i will also be considering opening a google doc or some other order form to allow payments via cashapp if there's any interest. Anyways heres a general breakdown of the pricing system and my will's/wont's under the cut:

So how do I (you, the buyer) choose what I want?

SO when you open up the request form it should look something like this!

We're using the bust order as our example here. At its base price, $15, it is set for the black and white option. If this is what you would like, then you don't have to worry about the add ons at all and you go straight to submitting your request! Now, if you're choosing add ons, it'll look something like these:

The first would be an example of an order of a flat color bust + an extra character bust with flat coloring as well. The color option adds the extra $10 (to match the listed price on the poster for $25), and the extra character with flat coloring adds half of that $25 to the order (well a little less bc i knocked off the .50 cents) which is why it comes out to $37.

The second would be an example of a black and white bust order with an added black and white bust character. This just adds an extra $7 to the price totaling $22.

What will you (the artist, me Brutus) draw?

If you want me to draw your oc or fanart of your favorite character I GOT U!!!

I'm also comfortable drawing blood and gore though I'll have to keep it on the lighter side (I enjoy blood if it isnt obvious by my url though so depending on what you want we might be able to go a little further with that).

I can do characters with armor as well, however I will require a reference of some sort from you, the client, as I'm frankly not going to attempt armor off the dome. I won't design armor myself either.

Pinups (not full nsfw due to how much of a struggle it is to navigate different site policies) and other suggestive works are also a-ok! a tity does not bother me if that wasn't made clear by my commission card 👍🏽

What will you (the artist, me Brutus) NOT draw?

Im not comfortable trying to draw real people as of right now sorry! I'm just not really a caricature or realistic portrait artist but this may change in the future.

I also won't do furry/anthro just because that isn't my forte as I haven't practiced drawing animalistic characters. There r plenty of talented furry artists for you to choose from and I could talk to someone to guide you to a few .

(I CAN do more humanoid fantasy characters however. like mermaids, satyrs, etc)

More extreme gore and body horror is also off the table. (so like spilling guts stuff like that)

I may love mecha but as it is like armor and a bit more extreme, I'm not drawing it sorry. And also as stated above I'm not drawing armor regardless without a good reference.

Certain fandoms are a no-go for me due to my own comfort. A quick list would be: mogeko games, omori, south park, hetalia, attack on titan, mcyt, hazbin hotel/helluva boss. if you're not sure just ask!

I reserve the right to decline any comission request for any reason. Getting paid is nice but my comfort is nicer yknow.

And that should cover everything! If you still need to ask me anything, my messages are open. Thank you so much for reading and a little extra thank you if you decide to commission me ❤️

#artists on tumblr #black artist #black artists on tumblr #commissions open #im hoping ghis isnt too long i tried to keep it as brief as i could #but i still wanted to make sure i explained myself well #but if you still have any questions dont hesitate to ask!

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danandphilplay · 7 months ago

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im going to put my answers below bc i know some of these vids are likely not returning to dnp and i do agree with that i just wanted to do a fun poll abt if you could have another of these vids then which would you choose. ofc like ive said before we have no control over dnp uploads and i fully know some of these won’t come back lol

ok first of all i don’t think pinof is coming back and i think that’s been clear for ages anyways like ten is a nice number to leave it. HOWEVER i do think an april fools dapc pinof would be hilarious. answering crafties questions and whatever they send to craft universe dnp.

same with amazingdan BUT maybe there’s a slight chance of reacting to amazingdan. maybe not since so much time has already passed since pinof reactions (four months …..) honestly out of the options i’m not that bothered about pinof or amazingdan i feel like they’re classic dnp content that’s fine left as it is

ok for the pizza mukbang thing i don’t care for it to be a mukbang video lol like the actual thing was the nice sit down talk vibes pyjama pizza w friends maybe this is exactly what dan means abt being parasocial 😭 but that video is nice so i don’t think the actual mukbang part of it is that important it’s more the sit down talk style vid

i think i would do anything for another day in the life but i feel like it is prob peak parasocial content. would it count as phouse tour probably. do i think there will be a phouse tour no bc it sounds like it is still having a lot of work done 😭 and i honestly don’t really care abt it… i think the sims renovation was fun and an insight into their interior design opinions lol and that is enough for me

i put it takes two bc a lot of people want to see the next bit i like the game but not rly enough. idk it’s been awhile since that first vid and in terms of other games and things from dnp i don’t rly mind about it takes two being ignored 😭

i know baking is not a discontinued thing anymore bc HALLOWEEN but BUT i really believed easter baking would be a thing 💔 dapc had so much put into it that i kind of forgot about wanting a baking vid but 💔 i can’t lie i think i got set on the expectation for it. like the baking vids have always been absolute classic staple dnp content but definitely the cinnamon roll one was like the baking vids to the extreme… the full potential AND THE BAKE WAS GOOD TOO. the vid was also pretty popular. so my expectations for easter were a bit high. ok so if this poll is like magically summon a dnp vid 🪄 maybe id consider baking because i just love it so much like irl as a hobby but also then dnp doing one of my fav things too and it being so fun idk it’s some of the best dnp content imo. i would love them to try a series of making food from videogames but no offence to them i don’t get the vibe that they cook a lot…… so i think it might not happen. but dil is turning TEN in september so maybe dnp special dil birthday cake baking vid 💔 pleaese pleasemaybe

i think tumblr tag is totally plausible although ik the april fools tumblr tag thing 💔 bc the twitter vid happened i think they’ll do a tumblr one at some point. there’s so much amazing art on here not just fanart but written stuff video and photo edits so i’d want them to see all of that as well as the funny stuff. this isn’t like top of my list of things i’d want to see but it’s definitely one of the more plausible things

dapc behind the scenes content its either happening or it will never be spoken of

honestly idk if they would do reactions to the super amazing project. bc like what vids would they choose. maybe i can see them referencing it or discussing it if someone asked or in a live but idk about reaction vids.

ok draw my life would be fun and i’d watch them. i’d watch an updated dil draw my life too. they put so much effort into that dil draw my life. maybe an updated one for dil’s 10th birthday will happen? that would be pretty fun.

i think if i had to choose it would be a ditl vid. top 3 would be ditl, mukbang or literally just any sit down talk vid, and another baking video. ditl may literally just be bc of nostalgia i don’t really see it happening again but who knows. again just a poll about which vid you’d want to see if you could magic up a dnp vid i definitely know some of these aren’t coming back or very unlikely to

#dan howell #amazingphil #dan and phil #dan and phil games #dapg #dan and phil poll

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skunkes · 1 month ago

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I've talked about this before I think but I think "art theft culture" is actually what makes scenarios like this worse... and I Know because I've mentioned that it happened to me before, where a few years ago I was heavily inspired by an artist for a couple of style study drawings without acknowledging them as inspiration, they contacted me after their friends notifed the similarities, and it was resolved as I explained that I had no "plans" for long term theft or passing off as my own, I was just passing by and figuring out what I liked about the style. But I should have just mentioned them!

And that's the point I'm trying to get at here, I feel for a lot of people there's still either shame in using references (I took the upper half of a pose for a recent comm from one of the first memorable google image results for it... How embarrassing!), and there's similar in openly admitting that somebody is currently directly inspiring you, or that you liked something someone made so much you're making your own spin on it.

This is probably because you don't know how people (your audience or the original creator, or THEIR audience) are going to react with regards to """theft""" (which I also feel varies. Like everyone I've seen trying to emulate my style has never gotten close. Which is how it works! Its a good thing! Absorb it into your own! Thats what I do!

But I've also had someone lift every aspect of my art identity and basically try to replicate exact pieces, poses, and dialogue of mine with their characters like oh ok nvm this is kinda weird.) so I get it, because it's scary! It happened to Me, I was a perpetrator LOL and that's that it was style inspiration and not direct copying so I get it... I feel it all the time too, but I wish it wasn't like this in General ykwim. Wish it didn't feel so humiliating to admit influence

EDIT: THIS IS ALSO NOT ME SAYING "you need to list off all your inspirations every single time you post a drawing"

Its more like oh this person is using my exact brushes and exact colors and exact half traced poses and my handwriting and exact dialogue and personal symbols to the point where they're pretending my autobiographic doodles happened to them while pretending they've never seen my stuff in their life, or even shit talking me. Some of these individual aspects are okay (I've literally shared all my brushes with everyone, for example, who cares. My colors are awesome...who cares. 4 petal flower shapes don't belong to anyone, I don't care.) But all of them in combination is what's weird. Ykwim. Like that level of "hey man what the fuck"

I'm about to answer an ask going more into depth about this but I also need to explain that it's hard being on the other end of this too because it really isn't that serious ykwim... I see ppl on twitter get clowned on every day because "you can't steal a style" and that's mostly true. Me and some mutuals "steal" aspects from each other all the time without "crediting" because it's obvious, or we know each other, as well as the "stolen" stuff being something we already made our own thing, so I promise this isn't about that. Art is meant to be shared and inspire and influence.

I'd never point fingers unless it got severe over a long period of time (not adapting it into your own style), with someone who wouldn't talk it out with me but sometimes I wish I could show some of these specific examples, like I promise I'm not blowing up because someone """stole""" uhhhh the little squiggles I add to my commissions. I myself "stole" that from deco sticker sheets. Who gives a shit.

#because if the person im currently talking about had my piece that they lifted from anywhere on their twitter #that would have made it fine...like oh ok you were obviously really moved by it and made your own version #but instead they refused to acknowledge it at all which makes it more suspicious and purposefully ''this was MY idea''#ultimately it doesn't matter if it was a one time thing...its just annoying and symptom of this larger phenomenon ykwim #talkys #long post

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fountainpenguin · 3 months ago

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Riddle watches New Wish - Post #10

Some speculation and feelings now that I've slept after a binge up to "Trial or Hair-or" and took a break, before I start anything else.

I'm not sure when I can next watch episodes, so please don't reply with spoilers.

Background Characters

I was really worried about Whispers Fred. I only read a small glimpse of the story bible / concept art page a year+ ago- I was pretty sure I remembered Winn and Whispers Fred, though I would not have been able to recite their names.

After recognizing them, I was expecting them to be glued to Hazel's hip. I thought I'd find Whispers Fred and his ASMR shtick really annoying, but he's actually totally fine and doesn't bother me at all.

I'm relieved, because "Writers trying to be cool and they think kids want ASMR, and also I'm pretty sure a kid trying to look this stuff up could easily go down an online route they probably shouldn't be going down at their age" has been my mental vision for the direction this show is going for the past, like, 15 months and I thought I'd have issues with him.

I really like him now because you can tell Hazel's classmates all have their own depth and running gags, which is a great improvement on most of Timmy's classmates.

I can definitely look back and name the shticks for Chester, A.J., Trixie, Chloe, Kevin, Elmer, Sanjay, and Francis. We knew them- You could write a 'fic with them in it and no one would question the lack of other characters, because that's a great cast.

-> But yeah, we didn't really know much about personalities or what they do, and many of those characters I listed faded away in later seasons. I like how we're starting off strong. It makes it feel very planned. We know Whispers Fred has a podcast, even. Impressive.

Throwing this out here because it's still hilarious, but there are at least two kids in Timmy's class who are confirmed godkids - He sees them at Cupid's party - but they were both mysteriously absent when Doombringer came in as a sub to start fairy hunting and it cracks me up.

And that was all the depth we got to them, because it was never played up (and let's be real, they were thrown into Cupid's party from the character stockpile folder).

I like how Hazel is befriending people in her class. Some of them aren't fully fleshed out yet, but they don't need to be. We're getting enough that if I wanted to write a 'fic, I could way more easily play with the personalities of Hazel's classmates than Timmy's, and I love that.

[cnt'd below cut - Very long post, including things I wouldn't truly call negativity, but my vibe is discussing the things I like and the things that aren't working for me personally.

This post leans into things that aren't working since previous posts have been about what is working. Heads up for discussions of child abuse and nostalgic comparisons to the OG show. Proceed at own discretion

Reminder, I'm only up to "Trial or Hair-or" at time of posting this]

Would I Be Watching This If It Wasn't Claiming to be FOP?

The show is very enjoyable; let's start with that. I like Hazel. I like Cosmo and Wanda. I like the set-ups and the kids.

I like watching the show, but... It doesn't feel like FOP, in the sense that I'm not seeing the things that draw me to the original show (Like... the child abuse? Or Crocker? Or the risk of losing your fairies? Or Timmy's struggle to keep his secrets from Vicky, his parents, and his friends?)

Hazel's made a vague mention that she has to keep fairies a secret, but we have no proof Cosmo and Wanda would leave her. No memory wipes either.

Maybe it's just me, but FOP without child abuse is... a WILD concept to me. lol. Dev seems to have issues and I suspect he's being set up for a future plot that delves into them, but it's still funny that our main character is, like... chillin'. No self-hatred? No dissociative issues or anxiety attacks? No sneaking around? Are you sure you're in the right show?

Okay, I guess Dev is bullying her, but he's not been nearly as bad as Francis, who caused physical harm. Heck, Tootie caused Timmy more stress than Dev's causing Hazel. Trixie literally treated Timmy worse than Dev is treating Hazel- she was launching him across the room when he spoke to her.

I'm liking the show, and I see potential in this world where I could set a 'fic... but what would that 'fic even be about? This place is fluffy; Hazel's not struggling much and there's not a lot of meat here for me to dig into.

I'm not seeing stakes, and I'm kinda "hm" about it.

And I'm kinda worried I'm watching a watered-down show that's been made more palpable to an audience looking for found family fluff. Which is fine! ... It's just that I'm here for Fairly OddParents vibes. Where's my child abuse?

I'm nostalgic. I miss my boy who kept a scrapbook with pictures of him in therapy. I miss the jokes that the court once got involved and appointed the family a child psychologist. I miss how he broke down in front of Trixie, wailing that he'll always love her no matter what his therapist says. He had a lot going on that we never saw onscreen, only the implications, and I love him <3

This was the boy who literally froze time for 50 years and told no one; he was messed up and they were not afraid to paint him that way.

I'm the target audience for "people who like seeing tiny details from the OG show brought back," but I'm not the target audience for fluff or sweet and innocent characters, so if that's what we get, I don't think I'll get giddy about it.

And I'll be 100% okay with that because I enjoy watching the show anyway even if it's different, and I'm just super grateful we've got something nice for the series after so many years of a difficult slide.

I write my 'fics and I've made worldbuilding posts for 8 and a half years, but I rarely main-tag anything, and I have unique blog tags for each character so they're harder for people to stumble on, because I was trying to lie low and avoid fandom negativity I kept seeing when I ventured into the tags. So... as much as I'm nostalgic and as much as I have my fingers crossed for the things I want to see, I'm super grateful this show is very enjoyable and seems to be bringing a wave of positivity and new viewers into the fandom.

Let's be clear- I'm REALLY enjoying watching this show, but I'm waiting to see if it adds stuff that fits my interests, that's what this post is.

Threats to Cosmo and Wanda's safety?

I want to start by saying I appreciate how Crocker isn't Hazel's teacher and her dad is not obsessively trying to catch her fairies. Danny's parents trying to catch ghosts worked perfectly fine in his show, but I'm glad this one is a different direction. It's nice to mix things up and not fall into a previous formula.

It's hilarious that her dad is like, seriously doing his paranormal job and it doesn't even affect Hazel, Cosmo, or Wanda yet (where I've watched up to). That's hilarious.

I'm hoping that it's going to come back, because I haven't seen a strong sense that it will. Hazel's dad has speculated there's a ghost in his house a little, but he's not investigated at all and we've not seen any tension regarding this. I hope we're setting up a big plot with confrontation, but there's not enough there yet to make me believe we are, so I hesitate to trust the pay-off is there.

Unclear how Cosmo and Wanda meet Hazel in the morning. Do they stroll over? I assume not- Her parents would think that's weird. They're not in animal form because they're neighbors, so are they poofing over? Do they wake her up like they used to wake Timmy?

Thus far, we've not seen signs that Cosmo and Wanda could be in danger. Jorgen's made an attempt to take them away, which was their fault for claiming a godkid they had no right to take tbh. I don't mind taking a break from Crocker's obsessions, but I do miss the tension he brought us. I miss the danger. I miss the angst implications- This show is pretty fluffy so far, and I can appreciate it, but that's not "FOP vibes" for me.

Jorgen implied Cosmo would get hurt when he fell off a tower, but otherwise we've not seen signs that Fairies can be hurt or killed. And I don't know if that's even a thing that carried over in this universe, so I have to treat it as 0 risk of death.

It would be 100% reasonable for Hazel's dad to shake C and W's hands and ask to interview them, which is fine - It's a new vibe than Crocker, Doombringer, and Leadly and we could probably use that - but I think I'd be disappointed if that was the payoff for emotional investment of implied danger.

C and W haven't expressed any fear in Hazel's dad since Episode 1. I really liked Episode 1 - a lot of thought went into it - but the rest of the episodes seem like they're using Episode 1 as a diving board, but not circling back to what we established there. Which is actually super frustrating right now.

You hooked me! ... So, where's the stuff you hooked me with?

We're no longer getting C and W fumbling around the human world, we're no longer getting miserable Hazel, we haven't had any awkward neighbor interactions between C and W and the parents, and we're no longer getting the threats to C and W's safety. I feel a little cheated and I hope we see more threats later.

Please give me an awkward dinner party with the neighbors. Give me one of the parents coming over to borrow sugar and C and W have to poof away from Hazel and rush back home to maintain their facade.

Give me neighbors wanting to come to a party at C and W's and they have to protect everyone from accidentally wandering into Fairy World or using dangerous Fairy equipment. Give me C and W getting put in charge of a neighborhood event they don't know anything about. Give me Hazel's parents asking if C and W can babysit and they're so paranoid that they call constantly to check in while C and W try to act like everything is normal and they're not running around doing magical things.

I feel like we've given personality to the schoolkids, which is fine... but I'd love to see personality for the neighbors. To me, living in the same building as fairies who don't know how to be human is a fantastic plot set-up, and they're doing nothing with it.

In other words, I'm glad Hazel is delved-into as a character, but I feel like we've not seen anything about what's going on with Cosmo and Wanda.

-> Hazel's in her school arc right now, but maybe we'll have a summer break arc?

Here's my thought on that. Bluey does a really good job of balancing what's going on with the kids and what's going on with the adults. Yes, the show focuses more on the kids, but it's always clear what the adults are doing, like Bandit trying to talk to his friends while Bluey complains about him taking too long, and Bandit feeling sad when his friends leave so he can take care of Bluey.

Early in the series, we see the kids playing in the park ("Shadowlands") while Chilli and her friends talk about TV shows they like in the background. There's a constant sense in that series that Bandit and Chilli have interactions with other people- Heck, we even get an episode of Bandit struggling to make a new friend (and struggling with Bingo getting in the way of that).

I'm not getting that here. C and W do have personality, but do they have friends? Or coworkers? Or stakes? I didn't see a lot of depth to their brief interaction with Jorgen, nor does Cookie seem to be someone they know in any way.

For this show to win me over, I need them to interact with their neighbors and environment in a way they're not currently doing. Right now, they're just giving Hazel magic... but I'm starting to think they could be sexy magic lamps. I don't remember struggling with these feelings in the OG show, although back then I binged like 4 seasons before making any posts.

- It is not to their favor that they can easily spend an episode in object form and just chill. We used to have Crocker trying to sniff them out even in object form, and I kind of miss that. And yeah, they're retired, but I hope we get to see more character depth and relationship involvement in the future. - In the early season, we had background conversations like Wanda trying to lure Cosmo to the doctor, Wanda explaining to Cosmo that their "special alone time" wasn't meeting her needs and she wants more snuggles, or Cosmo being a pushover when Wanda's dad came around, or Cosmo sneaking his mom into their guest room, or Wanda blatantly telling Cosmo that she still thinks Juandissimo is intriguing. I miss the up and down of that dynamic. It's nice to see them fluffy, but... they're kind of flat. I liked the mail scene and how Wanda hugged Cosmo after he rescued Hazel in Episode 1, but again... it feels like most of their characterization happened in Episode 1. I have my fingers crossed we'll get some of that in the future, like Cosmo and Wanda cheering each other on when they learn things about the human world, or Cosmo sacrificing himself to save her from the Pixie takeover, or showing that when he stands up for his family, he's extremely powerful. tl;dr - I hope we get Cosmo standing up for Wanda. I'm glad they love each other, but I'm not seeing a lot to interest me in their ship. I'm more interested in Hazel's parents, tbh. They've got stuff going on in their "breadwinner therapist vs. paranormal investigator" vibe. And they play with Hazel and hold hands in the background. They're cute, and I want more of that for C and W. - Actually, Timmy used to get called out by his classmates for being "That weird kid who talks to inanimate objects." There don't seem to be any risks for Hazel yet. - If you were to ask me what the biggest threats are to this godparent relationship, I'd say it's either Cosmo and Wanda overstepping past Jorgen and upsetting him, or Hazel's dad finding out. But I'm not sure we're going to push those plots further, which saddens me. Holding out hope, though. - That is actually hilarious I don't see Dev as a threat to her right now, since that was Remy's whole thing. Good for him? Like, he's mildly annoying her in the background, but he's not a true danger at this time. - Jasmine has implied she's sus about Hazel, but it's been brushed off twice without her investigating. I don't think we're delving into it more, which is a shame. I want Jasmine to be weirded out.

Episode 1? Absolutely not lamps- Cosmo and Wanda were involved, they had depth, and there was tension. And the other episodes are fun, but their personalities have taken a backseat.

You can tell there was a ton of thought put into how Cosmo and Wanda interact with the human world in Episode 1. That seems to have gone away now, and they're even in reboots of their old outfits instead of their human disguises, so... it's nostalgic, but I kind of wanted to see how they'd changed over time. If you're going to give them new outfits, why not use them?

If C and W were, presumably, aging while on their time travel vacation that lasted 10k years and they look the same, what on earth was Jorgen doing that makes him look so aged after just a handful of years? I'm unclear where we are in the timeline.

We've had some nice Cosmo-Wanda-Hazel moments (like the seahorse and princess game where they were playing together), but I'm thinking the "Cosmo and Wanda nitpicking at each other" problem has been solved by taking away their conversations with each other- they're really just here to talk to Hazel.

That's fine, I guess. I just want to see more of them interacting with each other. Because I miss them.

It reminds me of when I critiqued Sparky vs. Chloe, because I felt Chloe fit really well in the dynamic while Sparky was interacting with Timmy, but not really Cosmo or Wanda. Chloe was a great balance of changing the entire dynamic (so was Poof).

I feel like this will probably change in the future when we're not pushing the "Gotta show Hazel is a well-rounded character and focus on her above everyone" direction, but since I'm liveblogging, I need to cite where I am and what I'm looking forward to.

I'm not seeing enough fairy biology going on. I like what Cosmo gave us regarding stretchy skin, but... what is life like for these people? Do they have to avoid touching humans?

Do Cosmo and Wanda pay rent? Do they pay taxes? Do they know their neighbors? Do they see other kids and get nostalgic for their past godkids? (I have to assume yes, since they took in Hazel).

-> I like the implication in "A Dinosaur in Dimmsdale" that Cosmo and Wanda have been around long enough to be familiar with the special event held at that time. I'd like more of that, but also deeper. And maybe that's asking a little much since the show is for kids and of course it's focusing on the kid... Idk, maybe I'm reading into this too much.

I like how Cosmo has twice struggled to hide his crown. That's a step in the right direction, but unfortunately I can't remember if his second time was also in the first episode.

That first episode was beautiful- everything I wanted. But the others don't meet the expectations and story hooks that lured me in.

I think what I'm trying to say is that my vision of Cosmo and Wanda in New Wish relies heavily on what I got from the OG series. I don't think I've seen much in New Wish to give them enough personality to stand their own.

I'd really like to see Juandissimo or Mama Cosma shake things up. I think by this point in the OG series(?), we'd seen them split in "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Apartnership." We knew Wanda wanted to be an author, we knew Wanda had friends in town, we knew Cosmo was a mama's boy, and we knew they were goofballs who were rarely apart and would totally crash into things when they were looking at the other.

We also knew Cosmo and Wanda had issues with being mistreated ("A Wish Too Far"). They were also goofballs who struggled to pass as human ("Transparents") and joke around ("Tiny Timmy"), and they'd make their own assumptions even if they weren't what Timmy expected (Stealing an alien prince in "Spaced Out" instead of making their own monster). Cosmo even pretended he was about to explode in "Same Game" to joke with Wanda, so she didn't believe him when he was actually close to exploding.

AGAIN... I am not far into New Wish. On one hand, it's great that Hazel's not mistreating Cosmo and Wanda, so we don't need an episode like "A Wish Too Far." I think we'll be getting more depth later in the series, but I'm liveblogging my thoughts so we can see if my opinions change.

-> I don't feel like we've learned enough about Da Rules. They were a big deal in the OG series and I'm very unclear on what Hazel does or doesn't know. I'm unclear which of the Big Rules are still in play. In the OG Season 1, Cosmo and Wanda had to grant wishes when Timmy talked in his sleep. I'd like a bit more of those rules showing up here.

-> Unclear to me if Cosmo and Wanda stay in Hazel's room at night.

I just still think they're a little "sexy lamp" for me and I want this to change. As annoying as they were (affectionate), I'd love to see Mama Cosma, Big Daddy, Blonda, Schnozmo, or Juandissimo mix things up. Because Cosmo and Wanda both have drastically different reactions to each of those people.

Maybe that's what's missing for me, because I've been writing 'fics where they ARE interacting with these people, so I'm used to seeing them have to juggle other people? In which case, that's unfair for me to judge, lol.

Blonda only had 2 episodes I think, and one of them was a cameo where she wasn't interacting with Wanda. It'd be super interesting to see her return and play a role as large as Mama Cosma's or something. I miss her too.

I am REALLY looking forward to seeing more of how Antony plays into Hazel's life. It's incredibly obvious that she cares for him (even sleeping in a bunk bed and wearing his hand-me-down shirts), so that's fantastic.

tl;dr - Cosmo and Wanda are just kind of there (imo). I'm pretty sure the episodes after the first would be basically the same if Hazel had no fairies, but was a witch who could use magic on herself.

I'm not seeing anything that makes me say "Yes, this definitely needed to be a show about godparents and not just any show about kids with magic." Give me a reason why we couldn't have a show about Hazel being a witch, having spy gadgets or tech, or having a genie. I want Fairy World! I want misery!!

Fairy World and Jorgen

I'm putting my faith in the idea that we'll return to Fairy World. I can't imagine that we wouldn't, but I have to say, our first glimpse of it didn't look too magical or dramatic.

I like how the OG series sets Timmy up as believing Fairy World is glittery and magical, so Cosmo and Wanda must goof off all day. In reality, Fairy World is big on rules and discipline. I think we take Jorgen for granted as a character since he's been around for 20+ years. It's easy to forget how funny it is that we have a big, buff, military-attitude fairy bossing people around a glittery magical world. That's hilarious!

Think of how "Old Black Magic" gives us a street made of playing cards or how "Odd Squad" gives us purple grass and cars without wheels. Some of their streets float and twist around each other. Their world should look "exciting and unfathomable to the human mind." We haven't seen the Rainbow Bridge either, really.

I have no drive to revisit Fairy World after "Department of Magical Violations," which was the 2nd episode. It didn't look magical or fun. You can tell Jorgen still has his characterization (Being strict but also liking to party), but... he wasn't contrasted against the magic of fluffy Fairy World. Without the contrast, he's just a guy.

I hope we see him again and he gets another chance to show his depth, because even though I went in knowing full-well who he is, I felt like we weren't given enough. I don't even remember seeing his giant staff.

-> He debuted in short episodes in the OG series, so it's not an issue of not being double length. I just think he wasn't utilized as well in such little time.

Give me the guy who used to turn Cosmo into a monkey during drills. Give me the guy who uses a jet pack because he cut his wings off. You don't even get to see his back in his debut, so it's totally possible new viewers might think he still has wings 😔

-> That might seem like a silly thing to be disappointed in, but after the effort that went into showing us details like Hazel's house number or how Cosmo and Wanda crawl across the floor, I feel like Jorgen didn't get the same fully in-depth treatment. He should be someone we're totally hyped to see, but he's... there.

-> Even in Season 0, we were introduced to Jorgen in a way that subverted expectations: the big, scary fairy who was such a contrast with the idea of a friendly godparent was intimidating his godkid (making him wish to live)... AND he's dating the Tooth Fairy. I just haven't had expectations subverted yet in this show and it makes me kind of sad, because that's Jorgen's biggest "selling point." He's funny in contrasting environments.

Maybe he just needs the right person to bounce off, like Binky.

I will say, I think there's nothing wrong with Jorgen not playing all his goofy cards in front of a stranger. He has a job to do and he's good at his job. But I miss him. I miss the doofus who cried for weeks when the Tooth Fairy broke up with him because she didn't like how he tried to forcibly remove Timmy's buck teeth for a wedding present.

I miss the guy who cried when he lost his job, and tried so hard at the other jobs Timmy set up for him, but he was bad at them because all he knew was to set expectations so he kept spoiling movies while selling tickets... and putting people in the hospital with his muscles.

I miss the guy who found out he was standing "in the same room as his cousin," looked at Cosmo, and then went full steam ahead into "Please let it be my invisible cousin Leonard!"

I miss the guy who used to throw pixies at his dartboard or chase them out of their own building because "He's the only one allowed to cause pain to fairies." I miss the guy who put grenades and barbed wire on pizza and gave it to a child. I miss the guy who works in his nana's cafe and covers his niece's shifts at the pet store. I wonder if he still does game nights with Mama Cosma.

I miss the guy whose idea of a good house pet disguise was a rhino in a fishbowl. I miss Jorgen. I love him, and I really hope we get to see more of his funky, goofy side, because he's such a great character.

I've only seen one episode with him, so I'm probably judging too harshly. I just think he has one of the strongest characterizations that's easy to work with because he's hilarious against a glittery Fairy World backdrop, so I miss him and I don't think the DMV was the best showcase episode for him. I'm nostalgic :(

The abuse & trauma?

I really like how the OG show plays with abuse. Yes, Timmy is an abused kid. We know this. It's made very, very clear without it being too scary for a little kid. The OG show is full of things that appeal to me as a kid (slapstick humor) and as an adult (Watching what Timmy's going through and the clever ways the show plays with the abuse angle without being too scary).

- I'm not seeing why Hazel is miserable? Which is okay, because as I said in a previous post, Cosmo and Wanda came out of retirement and befriended her of their own choice (defying instruction), so they're in a gray area with the usual gameplay rules. - I'm just unable to detect if the "godparents lose their fairies when they're no longer classified as miserable" rule is still a thing in this universe. Or "Hazel will lose her fairies when she grows up or reveals them." It's okay if those rules are gone- I'd just like to know so I can adjust my perception of what the stakes are. - Hazel avoided revealing magic to Jasmine in "Fearless," but it wasn't explicitly stated if she was told the rules or if she's just trying not to scare Jasmine with magic.

I'm a little confused that the writers for this show seem to have toned down the abuse and trauma, yet upped some present-day horror. Like, I legit would not suggest a friend watch "Fearless" or "28 Puddings Later" without a warning.

- Those were some VERY scary spiders for a kids' cartoon, especially compared with the goofy spiders from the OG canon. We had onscreen trypophobia (I think? - Not sure if there were enough holes in the cheese, but there were holes) and I used to have a friend who would've struggled with that part of the episode. And I get that swiss cheese is going to have holes- I'm just a little surprised we didn't go the route of making Jasmine a relatable character for someone with trypophobia and instead she faced all her fears as if they were nothing...? Or is that relatable- I'm not sure. I mean, it's a cartoon, so... idk what I expected. I know I wouldn't love being forced into a bloody environment, and a friend violating that after I told them no would possibly be a deal-breaker (and has been, actually, since I've had ex-friends ever since I was a kid stop caring about my boundaries and try to show me blood and/or purposely try to upset me with blood when they lost interest in me as a friend). But also, Jasmine is 10 and if she wants to try facing her fears, she can. I don't have issues with that. - "28 Puddings Later" had red lighting on the bodies and faces in a way that was a little much for my hemophobia, and I think I'm not going to be watching that episode again unless I do some prep. I was trying not to look for most of it.

It's... weird? Usually the Hartman shows go fine for me, although "T.U.F.F. Puppy" has like 2 episodes that jump my hemophobia, but they were... not drawn-out like this. Those were legitimately spooky things to watch (Saying this as an adult who wasn't genuinely scared, but was analyzing the execution and comparing it to other cartoons I watch). I think that's a great thing that sets the tone of the show... but that's not the tone I really want?

It's totally fine for New Wish to be its own thing, but it's not the FOP that drew me in years ago.

- I want more psychology- and trauma-themed underlying jokes, like Cosmo panicking when Timmy's parents babysat Poof because "Those two have no idea how to raise a child!" followed by panning over to Timmy. - I want more bits like Timmy standing up to Imaginary Gary and saying "When I was 8, I learned what a real monster was like" and introducing Gary to Vicky. I want to be asking "Kid, are you okay? Hey, what was that??" and gushing over implications. -> I've seen the tiniest taste with Dev so far, but not enough to catch my interest this early on. I'm hoping that goes somewhere, but if I'm struggling to see the depth in Cosmo and Wanda, I don't have the highest hopes. Like, childhood trauma was a huge thing in the old show (I would argue it's the main theme), and every time those glimpses of Timmy's genuine struggles came up, I lost my mind. I'm not seeing that with Hazel. I like this show for the magic, sure, but I really liked this show for the underlying trauma themes that made you want to explore character backstories with a 'fic. And I'm sure there are plenty of people who want to explore Hazel's relationship with her brother with a 'fic, and Dev seems to have stuff going on, but Hazel doesn't do for me what Timmy and Chloe did. I discussed Timmy above, so let's talk about Chloe. Chloe had serious mental health struggles. She had multiple dissociative spirals. She committed fraud. She broke into Timmy's house to steal from his dad's toy collection because she was jealous. She lied to authority figures for literally no reason except to make herself look better (Not even to cover up magic- She just straight-up lied). When she was upset, she would pull all-nighters and plot revenge (And that was like, her 3rd episode). She lived in denial even when things went wrong. She also wouldn't stand up for herself sometimes, so Catman pushed her around. She also stole from Kevin Crocker while he was passed out (lol), went on power trips, bribed people (including Crocker) to like her, sold out her friends for extra credit, backstabbed Timmy by turning him into a monster who couldn't speak so he couldn't unwish the wish, and it was very clear why she needed godparents. This child mostly raised herself on Fair Bears cartoons for 50 years of the frozen timestream. She has parents who are rarely home, and when they are, they completely violate her boundaries. Timmy literally has to stand up to them for her at one point because she's spiraling into her second dissociative episode since her parents came back to Dimmsdale- she was strugglin'. Chloe's canon is that without Cosmo and Wanda, she would've led a gang (giving us one of my favorite lines in the series, "I can't believe you found 6 kids with eyepatches"). She couldn't handle watching kids for 1 day without screaming at them, calling them "monster children with evil in their hearts," and making them so miserable, all 3 kids got assigned godparents. At the end of the series, she nails Crocker's bed to the ceiling. She's... a lot. On some level, I enjoy that Hazel is not suffering abuse right now. Hazel is very likable, but I feel like the show is going for a different vibe than what I'm looking for in an FOP show. I miss the trauma undertones. That's why I like this show and why it's deeper for me than many cartoons. This is a show that's been a massive part of my life for 8.5 years, so... I miss those hooks that draw me in. I hope we get something like that for Hazel (or Dev?), but I'm not seeing anything that would draw me into this show if it weren't advertised as a continuation of a show I already really liked. It reads like a show I would put down and walk away from. Well, things did draw me in, but... I don't see them being carried through.

And going back to "Fearless" and "28 Puddings Later," I get it, about the spook factor. It IS pudding. I get the joke we're making here, with how funny it is to think of it as a zombie apocalypse. I'm totally onboard- It's not them, it's me. You just can't make my brain settle down, because it sees what it sees and I have to deal with that.

This feels like FOP without all the things I like about FOP.

I'm just... Where's the kids' show I liked to fawn over because it was fluffy and slapstick on the surface, but secretly playing with trauma underneath? I enjoy the ride New Wish is taking me on, but I think I'm only watching this show because of its FOP connection. If this were some non-reboot (just a brand new Nick show about a kid with some kind of magic), it would be kind of "meh" to me so far. I don't think new viewers or kids would be bothered at all, but I miss the OG.

New Wish kind of gives me Star vs. The Forces of Evil vibes. I enjoyed that show's first season, so I don't say that as a bad thing- I just mean "Star had her own wand and didn't need godparents." Except Star got to explore the responsibility and danger of having a wand and Hazel's not giving me that either.

I like how we've gotten callbacks to the OG series. I get excited by the references and I'm very grateful we finally have a reboot that's taking the show seriously and with love. I hope we can lay it to rest when New Wish is over so it ends with a pleasant memory for people.

I like it, but it's not one of those hidden gems I've stumbled on in the past that I've gotten hooked on (Ex: I randomly stumbled across the Carmen Sandiego 2019 reboot, All Hail King Julien, and Kick Buttowski, and every single one of those blew me out of the water as a hidden gem I fell in love with). But... I feel like I'm watching New Wish more to avoid the risk of someone spoiling it for me (and because I want to see allusions to past episodes) than because I'm truly captivated by it, which is a shame.

I love it as a reboot, but I don't think I'd watch it as some standalone show that just dropped. And that's probably fine, because it's not trying to be a standalone- it's trying to be a nostalgic reboot with a fresher take, and that's totally okay.

- But consider... Send the toddlers back to Lightning Walrus Hell while Foop begs to be spared and frantically tries to claw his way out of the vortex after Poof's been vaporized, then rewrite time so they never existed. THOSE were stakes, and THAT was the messed-up stuff I love. lol. - (Do not actually do this- new things are good and if Poof and Foop had to relieve their own childhood trauma regarding the Hocus Poconos, I would die. Also, that was the Season 8 finale and New Wish is only in its first season with chill episodes, so it would be wild to expect that much drama straight out of the gates. Also, it takes time to establish things before we can have that kind of drama. I'm willing to be patient.)

I will say, I do think we're matching some early-series vibes. We had episodes in the early days where Timmy bonded with his friends, and I really like that Hazel's taking her time to meet new friends (something we didn't get to see with him until Mark Chang's Season 2, 3, and 4 appearances). I think that's going 100% fine. I like what I like, but I'm getting increasingly anxious about the things I miss.

I do feel nostalgic for Remy. I miss Juandissimo and Mama Cosma and Vicky and Mark. Nothing wrong with not pushing them in if Cosmo and Wanda have moved past that life drama, but I still want someone or something to cause tension. Shake things up.

-> They don't have to appear personally, but I miss The Vibes.

I will say, I love that Hazel hasn't had a love plot yet. We have no clingy fans like Tootie (or that newspaper girl from "Fairly Odder"), and Hazel's not in love with someone who hates her. I won't be mad if we get a romance plot, but I hope it's something fresh (and not one person pining after the other despite being told that person's not into them, which I find uncomfortable especially in a kids' show if said show plays it as cute or "kids will be kids" without going into how frustrating it is to be the person who wants to set boundaries).

-> Please let me live vicariously through a main character who's not dealing with "Just give them a chance!! :) They really like you! They may seem creepy, but they're probably nice!" vibes.

It's also really nice that no one's immediately attracted to the new kid when she's only been here a few weeks or months. It's nice that she's building friendships. If a relationship blossoms over time, that's fine, but I'm glad no one is currently in love with her and pining for dates (as in, straight out of the gates).

-> I genuinely cannot figure out who they're setting Dev up to be, so if he's a future love interest, I hope he does some serious work on himself. He's got issues and he's mean, and Hazel also seems to think he's mean, so based on my current understanding of his character vibes, it'd be weird if she conveniently forgot how mean he is and developed a crush on him. I need to see more facets of him.

But it's very funny that he follows people and tries to make bigger and better things. That's exactly what a bratty 10-year-old Dimmadome would do. And honestly... I think I can see him developing a crush on her over time. Like... I genuinely do think that would make sense for his character based on what little I know about him right now.

I think Dev is super jealous of how Hazel just arrived and is gathering friends- which I really like, because we're seeing how it takes Hazel some time to make each new friend, and Dev has the same amount of time and opportunity, and is choosing to be a jerk.

It really showcases this idea that Hazel is making an effort to learn to be nice (and even needs to learn not to try changing people to be what her brother was to her). She's working hard on herself and she's trying to make friends. She didn't show up and have people fawn over her immediately. She's here, she's nice, and she's working to understand friendship and boundaries.

And Dev, who is used to things coming easy to him or just buying what he wants, HATES that.

I think jealousy is fueling Dev right now, but Hazel IS a nice person. I can totally envision him growing more fond of her someday and letting down walls. I can tell he's important to the writers, but I'm wary he's being set up as a future love interest and I don't currently know anything about him that would justify Hazel being attracted to him because all I've seen so far is him being grumpy and her glaring at him.

-> Also, I'm getting the feeling that Dev doesn't have a healthy understanding of relationships, family life, or boundaries, and I would be afraid for Hazel.

I think I forgot to say it, but everyone's phones had a D logo implying they're a Dimmadome product, which I like.

I feel like Dev needs some healthy relationship modeling from Cosmo and Wanda (or Hazel's parents). I'll be curious to see if we go in that direction.

Where are we in the timeline?

I love that this is a show about Hazel. I'm really enjoying this- I think I'm glad we're not getting a "children of the main cast" cliche (and we didn't get a total reboot where we redo Timmy's childhood and pretend the OG series didn't happen). This is very funny for me.

Since Dale was older than Timmy, I'm getting the vibe that we're a few years before Tommy and Tammy get their godparents. So... are they gonna show up, or is Timmy gonna be single with no kids if he ever appears, which I'm betting he will eventually. Or do I have my timeline wrong?

"Channel Chasers" future is canon in my Cloudlands AU, and this is generally the accepted future for the series. Keep in mind that's the angle I'm talking from here.

Assuming CC is canon, it's confirmed Timmy has his kids really young (20 years after he buries the time capsule at age 10, his kids dig it up and they seem to be close to his age, so somewhere between, like... 7 and 10), so Timmy would've been 20 to 23.

It's not unreasonable for Dale to have his kids at a much older age, so I will totally accept Hazel being either older or younger than Tammy and Tommy; it doesn't matter to me (although if they're retconned out of existence by having Timmy show up as a childless man combined with clearer timeframe confirmation, I'll be surprised).

I also want to be clear upfront that my canon for Timmy's future in Cloudlands AU is that he has his kids with Molly ("Wishing Well"). They later split, leaving him open to marry either Trixie or Timmy (but it's ambiguous in my 'fics so the reader can decide). That way, I get to enjoy Molly, Tommy and Tammy get to be in a rough patch when Cosmo and Wanda show up, Timmy's struggling emotionally but he's not a terrible dad long-term, and fans of Trixie or Tootie can have the endgame because I don't mind. tl;dr - Timmy has been shipped with Tootie in some other spin-off media, like the "Fairly Odd Summer" trilogy. I don't treat that trilogy as canon in my 'fics, but we know from "Channel Chasers" that it's implied Timmy has Tommy with a black-haired person or Tommy's adopted, and the latter seems unlikely since both kids look so much like him. So if New Wish has Timmy show up and heavily implies he's with either Trixie or Tootie, that's totally fine within Cloudlands AU canon. But he does flirt with Molly in my 'fics and they are so cute and making her Kevin's step-sister was one of the best ideas I've ever had because it makes family vacations fantastic, so get wrecked <3

But I feel like they're really baiting us with Timmy stuff (Showing several adults that look like Timmy, but confirming behind the scenes "That's not Timmy," putting him on posters, using him as a school mascot, etc.) It's very in-character for this universe since even in the OG series, Timmy's likeness was sometimes used by other characters, but... I'm a little nervous.

Cosmo and Wanda didn't seem to look back on their time with Timmy as fondly as I would've expected. I'm glad we're getting a fun cartoon with a new person, but I hope we're not going a "nudge, nudge, Timmy was a horrible person and fans are dumb for looking at him fondly or wanting him around" angle.

-> That kid was 10, working through childhood trauma, and struggled a lot in life. That's literally the point, and expecting him to be as well-adjusted as Hazel would be asking a lot of him- Their backstories and home lives are very, very different.

I'm getting the sense that we're making allusions to the old show (even obscure ones that surprised me, like a Flappy Bob cameo, super specific Fairy interior design details, or "Terrible Twosome" throwback). The writers have done a good job of picking out the parts they liked and using them as their canon, but I get the feeling we're not going to have references to Sparky, Chloe, Roy, or Viv.

Which is fine, because I understand they were late in the series and a lot of people didn't receive them well (Me included). I just hope they're not treated like they're dumb or something to be erased from history, y'know?

I have absolutely no issues with them not showing up. I do expect a Timmy cameo someday, but it would not bother me at all if we didn't see Chloe. But like, I don't want them written out of the canon IF we specifically look back at the canon. If for some reason we recapped every godkid Timmy had interacted with and we were mysteriously missing Chloe, I'd give you a really weird look, slkfdj.

-> If our canon is that Roy and Viv didn't happen, I'm fine with that because it's a spin-off. But Chloe was mainline canon and this show has already made clear it's grabbing canon from across the whole series (including seasons as late as 9) and not just focusing on the early seasons, so... I'll just have some questions if we write her out of existence, lol.

New personalities? Anti-Fairies?

Where I'm at in my binge, there have been no Anti-Fairies. I'm expecting them to show up because it seems likely we'd get a Friday the 13th episode. I feel like the Anti-Fairies have regularly been the most popular characters of the series in the fandom and they played a big role in later seasons, so I'm sure that writers who have done so much research that they've found details I consider obscure to the average viewer are gonna give us Anti-Fairies. I can't imagine they wouldn't.

And I'm NERVOUS, lol.

So, one thing that I've always thought is that Anti-Fairies were planned to be one-off characters. After their Season 2 debut, they don't appear until Season 5. My personal thought is that Anti-Wanda got slapped with a "cheap and easy" personality without a lot of thought behind it; compare her recolored design with Anti-Cosmo's fully detailed fleshed-out design. I'm super curious to see if she'll get rebooted to be a better parallel of Wanda.

I've played her in my 'fics as being grubby to parallel Wanda's mob upbringing. I still write her with what from the outside may seem like lower intelligence, though in my 'fics I specifically have her being raised in an Anti-Fairy zoo enclosure until her young adulthood, and grew up fluent in her people's native language. It's not that she's stupid, really... She just grew up with limited contact with the outside world, so converting her thoughts for a bustling society is a struggle. I try not to make her a statement of intelligence, though she can be self-deprecating when she compares herself to others.

Like, I can literally see this going either way. I would be totally in favor of giving Anti-Wanda a reboot, because I love her very dearly and tbh I kind of prefer her over Anti-Cosmo... but I will always support taking a second look at the "idiot Southerner with a drawl" stereotype. If she gets freshened up so she's not played as so dumb, or still dumb but less Southern, I'd be fine with that. It's... not a great trope.

Nerd alert incoming - Yes, it's mostly me rambling about how much I love the Pixies & Gary and Betty because I want my feelings written down before any chance of them showing up.

-> Once upon a time, I would not have dreamed my faves might show up, but now that we've gotten a Flappy Bob cameo, I have to prepare for anything.

Okay... so. It's Anti-Cosmo whose potential reboot personality concerns me most, and for purely selfish reasons 😂. In my personal opinion, fanon Anti-Cosmo is surprisingly different from canon Anti-Cosmo. I'm pretty sure they're going to reboot him as a sexy evil villain, because that's what the majority of people think he is. Even though he's a total dork and rebooting him as a suave, confident smooth-talker feels incorrect to me.

Riddle's unpopular opinion: The personality I've seen many people portray Anti-Cosmo with in fan content feels closer to the personality the Head Pixie has than it feels to Anti-Cosmo. If H.P. were younger with the exact same personality he has in the OG show, people would give him the "sexy bad boy" treatment they give Anti-Cosmo. They just don't because he's old </3

Yes, H.P. is ALSO a goofball. He likes cosplay, breakdancing, and he's often either at a rave or bemoaning that he's not at a rave. He only has a few episodes and his love for raves and clubbing comes up in at least 3 of them. But he's the one doing the classic "evil villain" stuff like signing contracts, pulling puppet strings, torturing people with shock collars, and finding loopholes.

H.P. sets up long-term plans. He's calculating, meticulous, and he's one of the sassiest and most confident characters in the entire series. Happy Peppy Gary and Betty literally have a direct phone line to Sanderson, presumably under H.P.'s influence since he's the boss.

Like, that is explicitly canon and it's my favorite background detail in the show. The Pixies thought ahead and gave them a phone. Gary and Betty were in on the plan and knew about magic. At bare minimum they knew they were working for people called Pixies.

Sidebar: Even in their episodes before the Musical, it's implied Gary and Betty know more about magic than the average human. They had laser-eyed unicorn mobiles that formed cages. They somehow got from Florida (implied by Gary's use of the word "gator" and confirmed by this episode's script) to California (Dimmsdale's confirmed state) before end of workday, implying they returned through non-human means. -> Also in their debut episode, they literally went to outer space with Mark, were chill about it, and offered him snacks; idk what to tell you. They're my everything. H.P. seems to have meticulously set up a lot of things and it's so funny to me. -> Also this is very non-canon in the finalized series, but in the OG script of the Musical, it's implied Gary and Betty took the Pixies hostage, and also they seem to be friends with Imaginary Gary. They're heavily implied to sing his villain song with him (where he blatantly reveals he's Imaginary Gary), and it's HILARIOUS. Can you even imagine? He was their boss in that version of the script. I can't deal. That's so funny; he's like 5. Was he even paying them or did they just think he was fun? I just need all the lovely new followers I've gained since I started posting about New Wish to understand how not normal I am about the Learnatorium crew. If you've ever wondered why I write about them so much... I just think they're neat! <3 -> Btw for anyone wondering, you can find some early-season scripts on Fred Seigbert's Scribd. It's painfully difficult to navigate, so I suggest Scribd's search bar instead of his profile. For easier reading, I keep screenshots of the things I find most interesting on my blog, tagged #original script. I figure if you've read this far, you might be into quirky FOP lore, so run... be free. I think I've read them all, so all the funny moments are on my blog. There are some lovely gems in there... There's a deleted scene from "Totally Spaced Out" where Gary and Betty tried to ditch their jobs and flee to Mexico, a deleted scene of Mark and Vicky lovingly holding hands in the nursing home while he's in squid form, and a deleted scene from "Oddlympics" of Jorgen, Anti-Cosmo, and H.P. dressing up as cowboys and in dresses. Juandissimo has early lore about his fear of Cosmo. There's a storyboard for "Anti-Poof" in there somewhere.

Anyway, the point is, I enjoy H.P. a lot. Listen, I've been a huge fan of this guy for 8 years; I love him to death. He's very sassy. He purposely messes with Jorgen's head and Jorgen loses his temper over it. He jumps through hoops to do things right, he wields loopholes to do things wrong, and he tortures people because, in his own words, "It's hilarious."

-> In my mind, HE is the manipulative schemer that Anti-Cosmo often gets remembered as. Where's my sexy bad boy H.P. fanart? Surely it was someone's job to show me that /jk

And there is nothing wrong with portraying A.C. as a sexy bad boy. They can both be sexy bad boys. I'm explaining how I read him in my incredibly specific take, but others might not read him this way. A.C. does a good job of pretending to be a sexy bad boy, but I personally enjoy when he's also portrayed as a dork and I want to talk about that because it's my post.

So, honestly... I think Anti-Cosmo is scared of Jorgen. He never challenges people directly, instead using disguises or hiding behind social events like the "Oddlympics." He lets H.P. take charge in his own castle. He can barely discipline his own son (and when he does, Foop ignores him). A.C. throws temper tantrums on the ground, kicking and shrieking and breaking stuff when things don't go his way. And I LOVE him for it.

But he's not a suave bad boy in my mind, lol. I mean, he tries, and sometimes he pulls it off, but he's definitely not sweet or charming. He's a tantrum-throwing baby who yells at his wife <3 and only holds her hand during "When Nerds Collide" if you pause in time to catch it.

You know how I said Jorgen is a twist on expectations? Anti-Cosmo's whole thing is that people think he's cool and smart, but it's a façade. In his debut episode, Timmy outsmarted him very easily. It doesn't surprise me at all that Anti-Cosmo took a step back in later seasons and Foop became our main Anti-Fairy. Because it's totally in-character for Foop to go looking for trouble, and it's totally in-character for A.C. to... not do that.

A.C. is an introvert who needs a reason to leave the house. Foop likes running around, causing trouble. It's great. You can see so much of Anti-Wanda in Foop and it's funny to me.

I like how A.C. sometimes wanders off and forgets what he's doing. I mean, that's how Timmy defeated him in "When Nerds Collide"- His friends coaxed him into meandering off on his own. He charges headfirst into things despite consequences. He throws things, including his wand. He runs away from confrontation. He jumps on tables. He makes paper airplanes. His wife mocks him for having dorky X-ray goggles he bought from the back of a comic book. He's a goofball.

Again, they are both goofballs- A.C. and H.P. Every villain is a goofball: Norm spends his time out of his lamp eating ice cream and getting his dry cleaning handled, H.P. likes to party, A.C. can't sit still, Sanderson prioritizes music above villainy, Crocker is more silly than spooky, Foop is a baby who needs naps and playtime, and Kevin ping-pongs between self-deprecation and giddy overconfidence.

Anti-Cosmo does come across as a bad boy sometimes. I'll be very surprised if we don't see Anti-Cosmo's return since he's a popular character and I think people are into his British bad boy vibe, but like...

Since it's my speculation post, I just really need to say that if they change his personality so he's now super charming and sassy with no signs of the temper, dorkiness, or cowardice that's always lurked in him, I'll be sad... because I like my tantrum-throwing baby who shakes his wife up and down when he's stressed. And this man was not the sharpest tack when it came to sass, sdfklj.

I totally suspect New Wish will reboot him as a total sexy, suave villain because honestly, that's probably the way he's remembered. Which is okay, but if he does return, I will miss my silly comics-loving geek who can't stand up to a newborn, writes notes with brightly colored pens he changes every sentence, and jumps on tables during fancy dinners. He's so goofy. I hate him (/affectionate).

-> And if we bring back Anti-Fairies, but throw the Pixies aside because "Eh, they're boring," it will be a crying shame. I will accept it, but you will find me standing with a confused look on my face as I swing my hands to gesture between Anti-Cosmo and H.P.

-> There's nothing wrong with bringing back A.C. and not H.P.! The Anti-Fairies are beloved and stick in people's memories well, I'm sure. But also, H.P. is my favorite in the whole series. He's incredibly sassy, manipulative, meticulous, and hilarious.

Where else can I find an old man who drops the line "The only thing you'll be eating is my dust!" before jumping on a scooter and blasting off with a shout of "Later, dude!" Or the old man who gets distracted because he'd rather be at a rave. Or elbows Timmy in the side with a smug smile and asks if his pizza tasted better than "Jorgen's slice of pure rabbit droppings."

This is the man who danced and sang "Go me, go me, it's my birthday." It's heavily implied the main reason he's a villain is because he's too obsessive compulsive to watch the world fall apart around him. That's hilarious. He literally took over the world and the first thing he did was go home and get drunk. He's a fantastic character and I should say it.

-> I'm not gonna be mad if we get an Anti-Cosmo reboot and kick the Pixies into the sun. I'll just be /pensive emoji about it. Also, I rambled about this mainly because I've gained a surprising amount of new followers recently, and if you're new here... I just think you deserve a warning about what you're getting into with my blog. I love him so much.

In conclusion... IF we get the Pixies and H.P.'s been reduced to a dull and boring stereotype who lost his snark and love for parties, I'll be devastated and I'd rather have them not show up :')

... Also if H.P. is dead and Sanderson is now in charge because it's "the future," my head will be in my hands. If that happens, you can unfollow me right then because it's all I'll talk about /lh. I want my super sassy bossman, please and thank you.

I would miss the old H.P., but I would also be grateful for any Pixie scraps I'm given because they're my favorites. I cannot believe we got a Flappy Bob cameo in New Wish. Definitely not on my bingo board.

Well... There we go! My thoughts so far. I'm looking forward to seeing where the show goes, and I hope we get to see more of the things I want. These are very early thoughts!

Again, please don't spoil anything since I'm only up to "Trial or Hair-or," and please no grumpiness in my replies or inbox.

These are personal liveblog opinions from a long-time fan who's been avoiding spoilers since New Wish was hinted over a year ago. My opinions may change later if the show goes a new direction. I AM enjoying the show, but I also wanted to share what I like about the OG and what I'd like to see in New Wish's future.

Thanks!

#Riddle watches FOP #New Wish spoilers #Pending Hazel tag #Pending Dev tag #Dragonfly parents #ridwriting #personal #Goth Girl and Blubber Boy #The toughest tag #The bat with the hat #I'm wasp dad trash #screenshots #FAIRIES!#Long post

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loveroftoomanyfandoms · 1 year ago

Text

Cooking Up Love, Chapter 14

Pairing: Chef!Matt Murdock x F!Journalist!Reader

Rating: T

Story Summary: Here

Warnings/Tags: Hallmark levels of fluffy, cheesy goodness (and speed that their relationship develops, lol), no use of Y/N, Matt is not a vigilante, idiots in love, revenge is sweet 😉

Word Count: ~3800

A/N: A heartfelt thanks to everyone who has read, liked, reblogged, and/or commented on this not-so-little self-indulgent Chef AU of mine -- like Chef Matt, I appreciate each and every one of you.

I would be remiss if I didn't give a special shout-out to the OG members of the Traumatized Irish Catholic Boys Discord server for the encouragement and cheerleading while I was writing this story -- @souliebird, @theradioactivespidergwen, @mattmurdocksscars, & @bellaxgiornata -- y'all are the reason Chef Matt even exists and for that I can't thank you enough.

While this may be the end of the main story, like every good (and some not-so-good, tbh) cheesy Hallmark rom-com, there's lots more to this tale! Chef Matt and Reader don't want to let me go, so I have more planned for them. Whether it winds up being several smaller one-shots or another multi-chapter thing remains to be seen, however, so stay tuned!

As always, thanks to @theradioactivespidergwen for the divider!

Tag List: @yarrystyleeza @hailey-murdock @mattkinsella @bellaxgiornata @danzer8705 @chezagnes @shouldbestudying41 @thepunisherfrankcastle @mattmurdocks6thscaleapartment @roseslovedreams

"Girl, you should have seen her," Skyler said as she filled you in over the phone on everything that had happened that morning at the Bulletin . "When she first walked into the office and saw all your stuff missing from your desk she got this smug-ass look on her face -- she was so sure you had either quit in embarrassment or had gotten fired over that article. God , was it satisfying to watch karma bite her in the ass."

You huffed out a laugh. "So then what happened?"

"Ellison had asked me to let him know when Kelsie had made it in, so I texted him and he immediately called her to his office,” Skyler continued. “She thought for sure that she was getting reassigned to Features so she made a big production of having 'no idea' as to what Ellison wanted then took her sweet time going to his office. Little did she know what was actually in store."

She chuckled. "She was fuming by the time she came marching out of there. First she tried denying the whole thing, then once Ellison showed her the proof we had gathered she accused you of trying to frame her, then she accused me of trying to frame her, then by the time she had packed her desk and was being escorted out of the building by security she had accused Ellison of trying to frame her and was threatening to sue the Bulletin for wrongful termination. I'm so glad you waited until after she had left for the weekend to move your stuff over to your new desk because the moment she realized that her little scheme hadn't worked and you had just moved to a bigger, better desk was priceless."

You sighed and shook your head. "Well, at least it's over and I can just move on with my life."

Skyler was quiet for a moment. "Still haven't heard from Matt?"

Your heart squeezed. You were still hurt and angry that he would believe that you would stoop so low as to pretend to get close to him in order to write a tell-all article full of false information simply to further your career as an investigative journalist, yet at the same time, you missed him. You missed the way he had waited with bated breath as you tried one of his culinary creations, as if your opinion was the only one that mattered to him. You missed the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled at you. You missed the way his hands had felt on yours when he had taught you how to identify fresh fruit and vegetables, the soft caress of his fingers as he had traced your face so he could draw a mental picture of what you looked like, and the way his breath had fanned over your lips as he had leaned in to kiss you.

You sighed and shook your head. You had spent the past 3 days crying over him, so the best thing to do now was to give up and move on. "No, he hasn't tried contacting me. He probably deleted the follow-up email I sent him trying to explain everything the second he got it and blocked my email address."

Skyler hummed. "Mmm, I wouldn't be so sure about that."

Your brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Just that I don't want you to pass up the opportunity to be happy either."

Suddenly there was a knock on your door. "Oh, hold on, Sky, there's someone here."

"I'll let you go so you can get that."

You nodded. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"By the way, you're welcome."

"I'm welcome? For what?"

"Nothing, talk to you later, byeeeeee!"

Before you could say goodbye, Skyler hung up.

You shook your head with a fond smile as you went to answer the door. You were lucky to have a friend like her.

You opened it and sucked in a shocked breath at the sight of Matt standing outside of your apartment. “Matt?”

Matt smiled nervously at you. “Hi.”

You stood blinking at him for a few seconds. Finally you asked, “How do you know where I live?”

Matt bit his lip. “Oh, I um, I went by the Bulletin but you weren't there, so Skyler gave me your address. I know I probably should have called before just showing up at your home, but I really needed to speak to you and didn't think you'd answer my call, so may I, uh, may I come in?”

You hesitated a moment, then stepped out of the doorway. "Okay."

Matt walked in, then turned to face you as you closed the door behind him. "Thank you.”

You debated on whether or not to offer him a seat, but ultimately decided against it. Instead, you wrapped your arms protectively across your chest. “What do you want, Matt?"

Matt fidgeted with the container you had belatedly noticed he was carrying. "I owe you an apology for my actions on Friday. I should have known that something was off with that article and given you the benefit of the doubt instead of automatically assuming the worst and accusing you of using me in order to further your career. Not that I'm trying to make excuses for my behavior, but it wouldn't have been the first time that it had happened."

Your brow furrowed and you uncrossed your arms. "What do you mean?"

Matt took a deep breath. "A couple of years ago I met this woman named Elektra, who was a restaurant reviewer for a small online magazine. We started dating and she eventually asked me if I would be okay with sitting down for an interview with her. Naturally I said yes, but when the interview was published it turned out to be a scathing review of both my restaurant and me as a person. Elektra had taken my words and twisted them to make it seem like all I cared about was becoming famous and that I was using my visual impairment to try to get a network deal -- and not only that, but she also strongly insinuated that I hadn't actually earned the Michelin stars that Nelson and Murdock had received and that the food at my restaurant was subpar."

He shook his head. "The whole time we had been dating Elektra had been trying to get a job with a national publication and figured that an exposé on me would be her ticket in. Needless to say, we broke up after that but the damage had already been done. Her article had been picked up by The Hand , which absolutely tanked our reputation as a gourmet restaurant, forcing us to close Nelson and Murdock and nearly destroying my & Foggy's friendship.”

While you didn't know much about the culinary industry, you did know that The Hand was the premiere magazine for restaurant goers and their reviews were treated like gospel. “So that's why you don't trust journalists.”

Matt nodded. “After I found out that Elektra had used me I decided that I would never get involved with a journalist or do another interview again, but business has been struggling at Daredevil ever since we opened a few months ago so Foggy took it upon himself to schedule me for an interview with the Bulletin during Restaurant Week to try to drum up some business.”

He paused. “I was originally told that it would be with the writer for the food and restaurant section, so I hope you understand my… hesitancy at first.”

You huffed out a breath. “Yeah, it was supposed to have been Kelsie but she was actually out sick with food poisoning at the time, so it was reassigned to me. Oh, and by the way, it turns out that she wrote the exposé I accidentally sent you. She lured me away from my desk while I was in the middle of sending you my real article and swapped the attachment out in an attempt to sabotage me.”

Matt shook his head. "By the way, I did wind up reading your real article and I really appreciate all of the kind and wonderful things you said about me."

You shrugged. "I just wrote what I felt was the truth at the time."

"'At the time'?" Matt bit his lip. "Does that mean you don't still feel that it's the truth?"

You sighed. While you were still a bit hurt and upset that Matt could have thought so little of you, you could now understand the reasoning behind his thoughts.

You shook your head. “No, I do. I still believe everything I wrote.”

Matt huffed out a relieved breath. "Thank you. I um, I wanted to give you this.”

He held the container out towards you. “I promise it's not poisoned.”

You huffed out a laugh as you took it. “I believe you.”

“I also wanted to let you know that the butternut squash risotto, pesto pasta, cremé bruleé, and tiramisu will all be going on the menu at Daredevil next week.” Matt bit his lip. “I hope you'd still want to come by to get some.”

You nodded. “Yeah, I’d love to.”

Matt smiled. “I'm glad. And actually, how about --”

"Foggy, Foggy, Foggy, Foggy…"

Matt groaned as his phone started ringing. "I'm sorry, I should get this. It might be an emergency with the restaurant."

You shook your head and went to put the container of what you assumed was tiramisu in the refrigerator. “It's fine. Go ahead.”

Matt tapped at his screen. "Yeah, Foggy. Wait, wait, slow down… What? They are? How? You're kidding… Wow, okay, yeah, thanks for letting me know. I gotta go though… Yeah, I am. Okay, I'll talk to you later. Thanks. Bye."

"Big news?" you asked as Matt hung up the phone.

Matt nodded. "Kingpin lost its license this morning due to multiple health code violations and has been permanently shut down, effective immediately."

You bit back a smile. "Really? Wow."

"Yeah, they failed a surprise inspection and --" Matt's brow furrowed. "Wait, you already knew. Did you have something to do with it?"

"Not directly." You grinned. "Skyler may have called the health department a couple of days ago and anonymously reported a case of food poisoning that originated there last week." You shrugged casually. "After all, Kelsie was dating the sous-chef and ate there right before she got sick. But how did Foggy find out so fast?"

"He and I have a friend at the health department -- Brett Mahoney. He keeps us apprised of goings-on -- not when we're going to be inspected, of course, but of shutdowns and such." Matt shook his head. "So wait, the food writer for the Bulletin is dating Wesley?"

You nodded. "Yeah, they've been together for a while, although I didn't know anything at all about ‘James’ except for his first name until Friday when Skyler did a deep dive into Kelsie's social media and found his profile.”

Matt shook his head. “I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that he and Fisk were also somehow involved in her plans. I have a sneaking suspicion that they had been driving potential customers away from Daredevil.”

“You're probably right. They had to have known that Kelsie had been planning on covering Kingpin for the Restaurant Week kickoff, but then she got sick right as Foggy contacted my boss with the offer of an exclusive interview with you and by the time she had recovered enough to come back to work, it was way too late to try to convince Ellison to switch the story back over to Kingpin.” You shook your head. “At first Kelsie tried to fill my head with doubt about you, saying that you would do anything to try to salvage your reputation and that you were pretending to be interested in me while I was writing my article and would ditch me the second it was published.”

Matt shook his head, a slight smirk spreading across his lips. “Oh I can assure you, sweetheart, my interest in you is very sincere. Apologies if I didn't make that clear before.”

Your breath hitched at the term of endearment. The whole time Matt really had been flirting with you.

“I've never felt so comfortable with someone so quickly before,” Matt continued, “and have genuinely enjoyed getting to know and spending time with you this past week -- going to the farmer's market together and being able to make breakfast for you at the restaurant, having you come with me to the soup kitchen and Fogwell's then over to my place for dinner, getting your honest reactions during the blind tasting, finally knowing that you were just as beautiful as I had thought…”

A small smile crossed his face. “I'd really like to keep getting to know you, if you're interested.”

Your heart fluttered. “Yeah… yeah, I'm definitely interested.”

Matt grinned. “Then how about dinner tonight? My place, 7 o’clock?”

You nodded. “Yeah, I'd like that.”

“Great then. It's a date.”

You smiled. “It's a date.”

Matt shook his head. “You know, now that I'm thinking about it, Kelsie must've been the person I spoke to when I went by the Bulletin on Tuesday.”

Your brows raised in surprise. “You went by the Bulletin?”

Matt nodded. “Yeah, I had wanted to talk to you about the blind tasting Monday night -- well, actually, what happened after -- but you weren't there and the woman I spoke to said that you were out on assignment and working on a big scoop, and she also said something else about you being one of ‘those investigative types’ who were always looking for a good exposé even if you had to make it up.”

You shook your head. No wonder he thought I had written that article. “Yeah, that was Kelsie, all right. I actually had gone home early that day -- I didn't sleep well Monday night because I thought for sure you were mad at me for rushing out of Daredevil on you.”

Matt shook his head. “Actually it was the opposite. I thought my advances had been unwanted and that I had made you uncomfortable, so I went by to check on you and apologize.”

“No, your advances were definitely wanted, I just…” You sighed. “When Foggy walked in and interrupted us I panicked and began overthinking everything.”

You shook your head. “I guess when Kelsie wasn't sure if planting seeds of doubt between us was working fast enough she decided that straight-up sabotage was the best way to go and wrote that fake exposé since it would hurt both me and you professionally rather than just personally. Luckily I caught it before it went to press and was able to swap it out with my real article, so now that I think about it, it's probably actually a good thing that you went off on me because otherwise I probably wouldn't have known until it was too late."

Matt winced and shook his head. "No, I should've realized that you probably hadn't written that article and calmly asked you about it instead of being an asshole to you, I --"

You shook your head. "It's okay. I forgive you -- this time. But don't think you can just make apology tiramisu for me every time you screw up, no matter how delicious it is."

"Of course not." Matt bit back a grin. "There's also apology cremé bruleé, and apology crepes, and apology --"

You swatted at his chest playfully. " Matt --"

You let out a soft gasp as Matt caught your wrist and pulled you to him, your heart thumping erratically in your chest.

Matt reached up and caressed your jawline with his thumb. "You know, I don't know if I can wait until our date tonight to be able to finally kiss you.”

You shook your head. "I don't think I can wait until tonight either."

A bright grin bloomed on Matt's face. “Well then, I guess there's only one thing to do.”

You melted into him as his warm lips pressed against yours.

You'd had no idea what you'd been in for when you'd first gotten your assignment, but you'd definitely hadn't known just how much it was going to change your life for the better.

One Year Later

“Matt, honey? You in here?”

Matt turned towards your voice as you walked into the kitchen at Daredevil. “Hi, sweetheart.”

You huffed out a light laugh. “I should've known. You're supposed to be out in the dining area celebrating, Matthew, not at work in the kitchen decorating pies.”

Matt set the piping bag he had been holding down, feeling slightly guilty despite your playful tone. "I just needed to pipe the whipped cream onto these before they went out."

You walked up to him and took his hand. "The kitchen staff has it handled, love. Come on, everyone's waiting."

Matt followed you out to the dining area.

"Hey, there they are!" Foggy said, handing Matt and you each a glass of champagne. "The couple of the hour!"

Matt shook his head. "This is just as much of a celebration for you as it is for me, my friend."

"Ah, yeah, but you have a bit more to celebrate than I do, don't you, buddy?"

Matt grinned. "It has been quite the week, hasn't it?"

Foggy huffed out a laugh. "That's an understatement. I think we need a speech!"

"Yeah, speech!" Karen added. "Everyone, may I have your attention? Matt would like to say a few words."

You gave Matt's hand a gentle squeeze. "You've got this, sweetheart."

Matt nodded and cleared his throat. "First off, I would like to thank everyone for being here tonight. To our vendors -- thank you all for your patience with us as we got things up and running. I know I can also speak for Foggy when I say that you're not just our vendors -- you're our friends as well."

He turned to Foggy and Karen. "Foggy, you are the best sous chef and the best friend I could ever ask for. We wouldn't be here celebrating our first Michelin star for Daredevil nor our James Beard nominations if it hadn't been for you sticking by my side. Karen, same goes for you. Foggy and I are happy to welcome you as an official partner."

Next, he turned to you and took your left hand. "Next, I'd like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to my beautiful fianceé."

He paused for a moment, his thumb caressing the diamond ring he had placed on your finger during a surprise dinner date the night before. "I am so grateful that you wound up being assigned to interview me for the Bulletin."

"You're welcome!" Ellison called out from the crowd.

Laughter rang out from throughout the room.

Matt turned towards Ellison's voice. "Yes, extra thanks to you, Mitch."

A framed copy of your article hung proudly in the lobby next to a photo of Matt, Foggy, and Karen outside of Daredevil the day they had opened. After it had run, business had picked up almost immediately, with the restaurant being constantly packed and reservations being booked months in advance. He, Foggy, and Karen had had to hire both extra servers and kitchen staff to help keep up with demand and had recently signed a contract to expand the restaurant into the empty business space next door.

Matt smiled and gave your hand a gentle squeeze as he turned back towards you. "I'm also grateful that you were willing to give me a second chance after I was an asshole to you during our initial meeting, and a third chance once I had screwed up yet again.”

He nodded towards Skyler, who stood next to Foggy. “And Skyler, thanks for your help with that. ”

Skyler chuckled warmly. “You're welcome.”

Matt had been cautiously optimistic when he had gone to the Bulletin to apologize for (wrongfully) accusing you of writing the fake exposé that you had unintentionally sent him, only to find that you weren't even there.

“Where is she?” Matt asked Skyler, recognizing her voice as the person he had initially spoken to the first time he had gone to the Bulletin to apologize to you. “Will she be back in today?”

He could feel her studying him. “No, she took a personal day,” she replied. “She needed it after everything that's happened over the past few days. You really hurt her, you know that?”

Matt‘s shoulders slumped dejectedly. He nodded. “I know. I was hoping to be able to apologize in person and explain myself.”

Skyler was quiet for a moment, then gave him an address. “Hers is apartment 3-B.”

A broad smile spread across Matt's face. If Skyler was willing to give him your home address there was at least a chance that you'd forgive him. “Thank you so much… Skyler, right?”

“Mmhmm. You’re welcome. Just don't make me regret it.”

Matt shook his head. “I won't, I promise.”

He had hurried to your apartment, where luckily for him, you had not only accepted his apology and forgiven him, but had also told him that you reciprocated his feelings and agreed to a date, and then the two of you had kissed for the first (but certainly not the last) time.

He cleared his throat and focused his attention back on you. “I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you, sweetheart. And congratulations once again on becoming the newest Assistant Editor of the New York Bulletin -- I'm so proud of you.”

He turned back towards the crowd. “And finally, to everyone here tonight -- Each and every one of you have contributed to Daredevil’s success and we can't thank you enough. I'd like you to know just how much each and every one of you are appreciated.”

He raised his glass of champagne. “So eat, drink, and enjoy. Cheers!”

“Cheers!” rang out throughout the room.

Matt pressed a kiss to your forehead as everyone toasted to the restaurant's success. “Love you.”

You hummed happily. “Love you too.”

As Matt continued to celebrate with Foggy, Karen, and you and the rest of their guests, he couldn't help but be filled with a sense of rightness. Daredevil was thriving beyond his wildest dreams, he was engaged to the woman he loved, and as an extra dose of karma, Fisk had recently been indicted on charges of tax fraud, racketeering, and money laundering uncovered as a result of the surprise health inspection closure.

Had you told him a year and a half ago that this would be his life, he'd have never believed it.

Now, however…

Well, he couldn't wait to see what life cooked up for him next.

#lotmf writes #Cooking Up Love Masterlist #Chef!Matt Murdock x Reader #matt murdock x female reader #matt murdock x reader #matt murdock x you #matt murdock x fem!reader

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idv-sunsxin3 · 8 months ago

Note

Hi I love you r99 writing so much and I was wondering if you could do separate Horropedia and Diggers soulmate au fic or hc where both soulmates can see what the other is writing/drawing on their skin, they would be chatting with the reader and they learn that the reader is from a different era like the reader is from the 1990s for Diggers and for Horropedia, they’ll be from the 1970s (it seem like horror films peak from then). The boys finally meet their soulmate when they got either recruited or summon by Vertin. Hopefully this was easy to understand I’m bad at explaining things

Horropedia, Diggers // Soulmates AU

Notes// JSBDHDBDB I love this AU idea, It's pretty cool. I can't stop thinking about it--- also Vertin kinda third-wheeling in this one unintentionally JDFJFBB/lh

___

It's rare to see him believing in the idea of having a soulmate-- being pretty used to enjoying his comfort hobbies by himself when no one is willing to hang out with him. Being absorbed into everything that thrills him in solitude was simply a bliss for him.

But of course, sometimes it can be a bit lonely that he would talk to himself about all the things he wants to ramble about his opinions. Even these ideas he wants to express them to someone about a movie or a novel he start to take fond of it - but no one was there to listen, only him.

Horropedia is very observant, but sometimes, he also happens to be the one to trigger events by accident and takes a moment to realize, which seems funny in my head---

For example, he once realized that he had a lot on his plate and forgot his notepad to write down a to-do list for the day... in order to go on with the day without forgetting the small details, he took out a pen or soft marker before scribbling on his arm with a small handwriting----

That's when you came into the picture - I mean, not entirely, but - yeah🤔

You start to notice your skin getting marked with a writing when you were having a drink at a diner with your friends - no hand nor marker can be seen other than the scribble forming.

'Consent papers to the Foundation... 'IT' movie night... Paperwork for tomorrow... party patroll on Tuesday.. Talk to Vertin...? Who is Vertin?'

Obviously, you don't know anyone who knows this stuff. Or even someone named Vertin- the theory of you knowing what this is being already out of the window.

You didn't honestly know what to do with these scribbles until you got back home- you took out a paper and wrote down what you managed to read from the messy scribble before testing the waters a but; scrubbing a bit of the marker from your arm-

On Horropedia's side, it took a moment to realize something is wrong-- After finishing a task, he was about to cross the first bullet from his list only to see that it's already getting scrubbed off.

He raises an eyebrow in bewilderment before taking out his marker and occupying the empty blank with a tiny doodle of a ghost. (Lol)

You notice that.

Someone is drawing your arm.

A drawing of a ghost??? Is that a ghost drawing on your arm???

'Who are you? A ghost?' You wrote on your arm, wondering if they can see the message.

"Oh- OH."

It's the glasses guy's turn to get shocked--- so it's not him for sure!!! It's... what is this phenomenon???

"Ehm..." He scratched his neck, trying to find what to say before writing. Despite feeling weirded out, he gotta have to try and write back to see if something changes again.

'Call me Horropedia. Who are you exactly?😶'

Oh????

'Horropedia? What an interesting pen name. I'm Y/N.😯'

Horropedia chuckles, you sound silly..- you must confused as he is--

You slowly introduced to each other, still shocked by this strange encounter. Horropedia eventually seems to notice that the situation rings a bell. It's almost as if it comes from some sort of a fictional novel or a movie -

He quickly comes to the library to find a book that describes something similar---- a book about soulmates by fate.

"That's... very cheesy." He grimaced at the title but still reads it anyway (I see that coming/ih)

Once he finds out what this is about, he later wrote to you about it.

Turns out you both write to each other at the same hour, same day of the calendar, maybe even at the same weather - but here's the shocking part... you both don't come from the same decade, nor year to be more specific.

Horropedia finds out that you're from the 70s, and you learned that he's in the 90s. It's a pretty huge era gap even.

You both honestly decided to become friends at first, like pen pals. The thought of being soulmates despite being from different eras gave you two some skepticism. So you both end up writing to each other more often while getting to know each other.

Horropedia is aware that the 70s was infamously known for the making of many iconic horror movies. So, seeing someone who watches them as well makes him eager to yapabout them as he scribbles a lot on his arm like he's texting except he is writing/lh.

He won't spoil you about the future films that would get released after though, he'll be fair about that(unless he did by accident before you knew you were from the past...--).

At some point, you eventually became so close that you both would look forward to writing each other when their hands aren't busy. Even making each other's day by doodling silly doodles of monsters and characters from funny scenes.

Even took some initiative to talk about other kinds of interests... questioms like 'what's your favorite food? What things do you like to do? Would you like to camp someday?' And much more.

It slowly came back to your thoughts about the soulmates. Thinking about them made you feel emotional now, knowing you couldn't get to see your goofy but sweet pen pal with your own eyes.

'Oh, Horropedia... do you think what we have is impossible?'

'In what way impossible?'

'That we can talk like this, but never get to see each other - I won't get to see you... right?'

'I mean, everything can be possible! And even if i say it because i'm really dying to meet you someday-'

'Oh please...- '

'I'm serious, Y/N! I still have faith in us... I think i won't ever give up on this any time sooner, either.

'I don't want to put you on the spot, Y/N, but i just want to ask... would you run away if you ever get to see my face?

'What are you, Leatherface? Michael Myers? 🤨'

'Yeah nah!!!'

{When getting recruited}

It got a bit more gloomy after a few days of not receiving a response from your dear pen pal.

Yet, It was a surprise that you finally met the owner of the certain name you have first seen written on your arm before; Vertin.

You never thought the world and time would be this small to allow you two to cross paths at a bus stop.

"I've heard a couple of things about you from a friend." You remember hearing her say that.

"I- you know him?"

"Mr. Horropedia? Yes. The same man who invited me to investigate an infamous camp known for phemonenon cases once."

"Ah, yes. That does sound like him."

It's confirmed, you really met the "Great Vertin" Horropedia mentioned about.

The thought of finally seeing the face of your pen pal surprisingly made you more nervous than you thought you would be--- you are excited, wondering how would he react wheb he sees you as well after so long-- or did he forgot about you ever since he stopped writing? It may be possible, but who knows.

By the time you both got to the Ark,Vertin was observant enough to notice your worried look, so she lightly place her palm on your hand to give it assuring pats, "It's going to be alright." She calmly says.

It didn't take a while for you to hear multiple voices ringing, hinting that there are multiple people walking around the place and talking to one another.

'It must be the other crew mates.' You internally noted.

The crowd reminded you of the times you used to sneak away from friends' house parties just to have more time to write to Horropedia about night brainrots... It seems you can not run away from social events here anytime soon this time.

Just as you were about to look away with a slightly sad look from the memory, you catch the glimpse of a gloved hand waving to your direction from one of the groups. You look up more to see these mesmerizing hazel eyes of that peron, who slowed his hand to stare at you back.

A tall man with brunette hair, a lower ponytail and light grey sweater , and a golden pin, dark gloves, dark pants, a belt that holds gadgets that can be hardly seen from afar--

And... these x monkeyman glasses he is wearing that decorates his cute face nicely- Why is it ringing you a bell from somewhere?

No noise has been done besides the muffled voices. Vertin started speaking before you get to realize the guy is now walking towards you two.

"Oh, It's time to properly introduce each other." She monotonely says as she turns to look at you before motioning you to the approaching man. "Horropedia, this is -"

"Y/N." Horropedia breaths out as his eyes quickly flicker to you, then Vertin, and then back to you. His face holds multiple emotions that can be hardly read at once. His footsteps only stopped when he was at least 5 feet from you

"Horropedia." Your statement almost sounded like a question, as if wanting to be sure that the man in front of you is the pen pal you have been writing before you can even remember.

"Yes." The man responds as he slowly brushes the front of his hair back, still intrigued by the encounter, "I. It's me...! I- I..."

Everyone in the room stops to watch him, noticing this rare stuttering the well-known horror nerd is displaying. Telling that something is going on.

Horropedia doesn't feel bothered by attention, unlike you--- but being this close to you, seeing you and breathing the same air as right here right now is-

'You know what, screw it-' he said to his mind before suddenly trapping you in a big hug. Making you softly gasp as you feel the soft fabric of his sleeveless cardigan once your hands rest on his torso.

"Oh, Y/N..." Horropedia mutters through your hair as he spills all his no longer secretive longing into his hold on you, "I'm so glad to have met you."

"Me too,,," You whisper back as you slowly lean into the hold, "I miss you..."

"Is that why you haven't responded to me?"

"Oh?"

Horropedia slowly but hesitantly pulls alway from the hug before raising his arm towards you. You were about to ask why until you notice the scribbles that seem new on his arm.

"I've been trying to write to you too, but you stopped responding since for a while---" you explained before a thought crosses your mind, "It stopped working."

"It must be because now that you are both in the same place and time. It doesn't have to function now." Vertin explains, remimding you two that you guys aren't alone and several eyes are watching.

"Eh- Would you mind??? I can continue with my theories on the Halloween movie if you guys want-" The moment Horropedia's straightforwardness comes back, the others start to walk away or mind their own business immediately,

"Sheesh... curious much." He sarcastically says in a teasing manner, wearing a not-so-impressed look before goung back to smiling at you, "Anyway-"

You start to giggle quietly by the event that you just witnessed, making Horropedia look at your face in awe as you try to cover it.

"I saw that!" He starts trapping you into his arms again, the contact becoming more easily adjusted to it.

"No, you're just imagining things,,,;;!!!" You try to pull alway and go for a run, but the way his hold becomes firmer than ever tells you better he has enough strength to drag you down for a moment.

"Don't you dare hide those giggles from me, Y/N!" He laughs lightly as he rubs up your head, "You can't run away from me!"

"Oh, i won't," You reply, "Because i love you."

"What."

"What?"

"Say that again? Plz?" He says as he put his ear closer to you, looking like he is teasing you now.

"..." You only smile quietly at him as you brush 3 dots on his arm, him knowing you would not to repeat but rather use the silent treatment back like you always did when you were writing each other.

"Okay, just kidding! I love you. I love you lots."

"Love you lots?"

"Yes." 😭

"Good, i love you too, and lots."

He doesn't say anything further, yet you can already tell there is a red blush spreading from the tip of his ears.

Vertin looks at the two of you, not looking surprised, yet there is this feeling of delight she is bringing when seeing you reuniting for once.

___

It's interesting. Very interesting discovery.

There was a day when Diggers tried to use henna tattoos on his left harm from hand to shoulder---

You got scared the few minutes you realized your left arm is getting covered by brown flower tattoos. Chill to the touch -

You even tried to come to a friend and talk about the sorcery, but they only remarked a "Oh, nice Henna tattoo."

"Henna tattoos???"

"Yeah, one of those temporary ones. It'll wear off slowly. "

"O. Ohh."

Now you feel a bit silly. But well, you learned something new.

That still doesn't add up to the way you feel this tickling feeling in your skin as more drawings are being scribbled on your arm.

You're not complaining, though. The ghost or whatever entity that is messing with your hand is doing a pretty good job in your opinion--- The art seems carefully done.

Days later, you just got a new phone number for your phone at the local store, but you did not have the heart nor energy to try and get rid of the drawings on your arm nor ruin it.

So, instead, you ended up quickly scribbling your new phone number on your hand before you forget without wasting time on taking the nearest napkin--

And that moment was a huge coincidence.

Diggers was merely taking a leisure time playing with his guitar as he watched grassfields dancing through the wind from the back of his van. The second he looks down to adjust the position of his fingers on the strings, he didn't bat an eye the way he cayches a glimpse of scribbling on his other arm, so he looked up.

He quickly snaps his head down again---

"..Oh?"

A phone number is written on his arm.

....That's... interesting.

'I wonder whose phone number is this.' He asks in his mind.

He took some time to come back to the nearest street where he could find a phone stand. Opening the red glass door before pushing the same numbers from the ones that are on his skin.

No response.

"Mmm..." Diggers arches his brow, does this number not exist here?

But even if so, he finds it strange that its scribble om his arm.

Wait a minute-

"Oh, i see now...!" Diggers mutters as he takes another look at the mark, realizing it. His face is looking as confused until it softens with an eager smile. "About time i get to meet you, soulmate,,!"

It was not weird for him to approach you with messages on his arm after, and it didn't take long to clear up the confusion -

You eventually became more like friends. You are still finding it hard to believe soulmates connected through skin can be possible, but here you are. Writing to someone from the 60s while being in the 90s.

Diggers just happened to know because he has heard from some folks and friends who have common interests.

It wasn't hard to start conversations with someone this friendly and laid back like Diggers. As he is a whole new character in your life.

Diggers eventually grew this trust and confidence to draw a small drawing of his face so you can know how he looks like. He has a lot of time to share things about himself and lots of time to get to know you.

When you responded with a small drawing of you next to his, he couldn't help but squeal and giggle to himself,,,;;;

A few minutes after staring at the drawings, he later put a small heart above them... Now it's your turn to get a heart attack---

{When getting recruited}

"Before you get inside, i want you to meet someone." Vertin tells you as she walks outside, showing a yard that seems to have recently stopped raining.

Underneath a tree, there is a huge blanket with someone laying on top of it, as if taking a nap with a guitar next to it.

As you closely walk to where the familiar person is, you slowly realize who it is.

He looks exactly like the ones in the drawings.

"Diggers..?" You ask as you now start to hurry your steps toward his sleeping form.

The sounds of grass lightly rustling through the footsteps as they approach made the sleeper wake up from his slumber. Taking his time to try and fund his glasses as he notices the shadow of one's upper body hovering him as if they just sat next to him.

"Who is it... Vertin?"

A hand slowly but softly brushes over his face. It's warm, soft, but trembly.

That's not Vertin.

"If you touch me like this, Y/N will not like it;;;" Diggers whines sleepily as his eyes remain heavily close. His hands were trying to gently put the hand away from his face.

"But Diggers... it's me." You giggle quietly.

That's when you finalñy seen his eyes wide open. Almost as wide as the shape of plates.

"...!" He turns his face from his laying position to see your silhouette, looking up and down your figure as if in disbelief.

"This dream... it looks too beautiful to be real."

Oh, this man;;;

"Silly you,,,," you giggle more, remembering the times he wrote you about his sleepless dreams about meeting you. "You're not dreaming this time."

The hipster didn't waste a second to jump and hug you into a bear hug. Not wishing to let go any sooner.

"Y/N,,, my dearest." He trembly says, "I miss you."

"I miss you too.." You say before slowly helping Diggers put his glasses on when you find them, "I'm here to stay now, thanks to that young friend of yours."

This cue for Diggers to notice Vertin, who is now standing from not so far away, smiling before walking away to give the couple some time alone to catch up.

"I gotta have to thank her later."

The male admits before planting a soft kiss on your forehead before cuddling you once more.

"Please stay with me longer..." He whispers to you as if pleading, sounding as if he is about to doze off back to his slumber for a bit.

"If you do the same for me, sure."

"...Always."

#r1999 horropedia #r1999 diggers #r1999 x reader #r1999 #reverse 1999 horropedia #reverse 1999 x reader #reverse: 1999 #reverse 1999 #reverse 1999 diggers

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