#oc: marja lalli

[poodlejoonas]

Mia I’m high and curious, in the dad AU what are the wives “best” and “worst” traits in your opinion? This series has given me brain rot

First of all "I'm high and curious" is the funniest thing I've read all day 🤣

But without further adoooo...

Kirsten:

Best: Bright and always in a cheerful mood, textbook definition of "lights up a room."

Worst: As a little bit of a pushover, she struggles to learn how to stand up for herself when she needs to.

Worst:

Milli:

Best: Sees the best in people that they struggle to see in themselves and wants to bring it out in them (i.e., Joel).

Worst: Short-tempered even when she doesn't mean to be and sometimes puts her foot in her mouth.

Jenna:

Best: Literally the best ride-or-die anyone can ask for.

Worst: On the contrary, she's quick to burn bridges (this is a benefit if the friendship/relationship is toxic, but sometimes she'll end a relationship over "little things" and regrets it later).

Riina:

Best: Such a creative spirit who can turn anything into pure art.

Worst: Overly self-critical and sometimes struggles to find something nice to say about herself, which is a side effect of her childhood with her mother and brother.

Marja:

Best: Full of love for the little things in life.

Worst: Hyper-independent and would refuse to accept help even if it were a life-or-death situation (trauma from her abusive relationship).

Hanna:

Best: Extremely patient and understanding with everyone, especially the people who need it the most.

Worst: Always worries that people will point out any possible flaw about her at any given moment.

[poodlejoonas]

Hey Mia! I was wondering, what do the wives in the dad au do for work?

I love this 💕💕

(under the read-more for length)

Milli is a librarian at a public library near the University of Helsinki. She gets a lot of students who come in for a place off campus and they all have an unspoken rule not to treat her any differently just because her husband is famous. But people do love the contrast between the tiny bubbly bookworm and the tall edgy rockstar. Joel himself will flirt with her by saying, "Damn, if librarians are this cute, maybe I need to read more often." But then he complains that he can never win an argument against her because "she cites her sources."

Kirsten is a journalist writing in English, first starting off at Helsinki Times and then moving to Yle News. She mostly writes about art & culture and occasionally big governmental meetings. She's able to work from home if she needs to, especially when the kids are young and when she needs bed rest while she's pregnant with Lukas. She's usually Joonas's go-to resource for whatever news is happening in the country and stuffy Parliamentary gatherings are always her favorite thing to snark on.

Jenna is a chef for a five-star restaurant. She loves cooking and her workplace is very well-run, but she does admit that it gets difficult to work in such a stressful environment when she's pregnant/going home to a newborn after every shift. She has a great support system in Niko, who takes the kids with him to the studio or on outings whenever she needs time at home to relax. Her celebrity status, both on her own and in her marriage to Niko, has earned her a few spots as a guest judge on several cooking competitions.

Marja is a vet tech. It took her a few years to finish her degree because her ex sabotaged her study and career plans, and then she had Miikka to raise and a life to rebuild by the time she left him, so for a while she just works as a secretary. She finally finishes school in her late 30s, and Tommi pretty much becomes a stay-at-home-dad to raise Miikka and Anna so she can go to school with some peace of mind. She loves animals and has a talent for nursing (just like her husband) so it's the perfect combination for her.

Hanna is a child psychologist. This was one of the selling points when she first met Riina and Riina was trying so hard to play matchmaker between her and Aleksi. She never had a desire for kids of her own (until she became a stepmom, of course) but she loves the kids she works with. She was practically married to her work before she started dating Aleksi. She understands Noah's emotional needs and already knows how to communicate with non-/semi-verbal kids.

I hadn't really given much thought to what Riina does other than some kind of office work. It wasn't fulfilling by any means, just necessary to make ends meet because her financial situation was never the best when she was younger. When the work environment turned toxic and her boss refused to make the accommodations she needed when she was pregnant, she and Olli decided it was best for her to become a stay-at-home-mom to put her well-being and the safety of the twins first. She loves being home with their daughters and being Olli's support while he brings in the money because she puts enough trust in him to take her of her too. Their marriage is very 50-50 and they model what a healthy and supportive relationship looks like to their girls.

[poodlejoonas]

I was thinking of your dad!blindchannel serie (as one normally does) and realize that both Marja and Aleksi had a toxic, abusive, violent relationship and a son who's the product of that, and how they could bond through than shared experience (maybe Marja, already in a better place in life with a lot of self grow and a loving husband, could support Aleksi in a way the others can't)

First of all, love that I can provide something to think about 💕

Second, you're absolutely right! @wow-ihateithere and I have talked about it before, and they really do have a bond that's different from the others. Nobody can help Aleksi learn to love Noah quite like Marja can because she was there at one time with Miikka. I do have plans later on in 'complicated love' where I focus more on their friendship. The long-story-short version is: Aleksi, like the rest of the family, pours a lot of love and focus into helping take care of Marja and Anna (because she's born around the time of his break-up), but this is the final straw where he realizes just how rotten of a person Laila is because she only accuses him of wanting to cheat with her. So, when her health recovers and he needs some love and support, Marja pays him back big time.

Maybe one of these days I can make a post about the different friendships between the guys and their friends' wives to show where they can connect with each other.

[poodlejoonas]

Hey Mia! I know I bug you constantly about the Dad AU but I was wondering if you could explain the relationship dynamics and how the couples fit together?

Also I remember in one fic Niko saying it’s not cheating if it’s Marja. Please explain 👀

I am always willing to offer my thoughts 👀

(under the cut for length)

We all know that Joel is a love skeptic and puts his guard up because of his trust issues in relationships, so I wanted to give him someone who would understand and be patient with him. He and Milli are opposites on a lot of visual fronts (librarian vs. rockstar, small vs. tall, bubbly and outgoing vs. broody and edgy), but they are one of the definitions of "opposites attract" and the fact that they are just so in love with each other makes those differences so endearing.

Like Joel and Milli, Joonas and Kirsten are total visual opposites. Their personalities are a lot less opposite though. She loves pastel colors and he never parts from his black clothes, but they're both the same flavor of bubbly, outgoing, and fun-loving that there's never a dull moment between them. Kirsten loves a guy who can make her laugh and he was cracking the jokes from their very first meeting -- how could she resist him?

Niko and Jenna are probably the first couple of this group that are more alike than different. They were first crushing on each other because they were probably two of the only few kids in school who shared the emo/goth personality and interests. They were spending hours every night texting each other as love-struck teenagers, and they picked right back up where they left off as adults. They're one of the two couples who best fit the "soulmates" model.

The other soulmates are Olli and Riina, lifelong friends who knew every piece of each other's lives before they ever started dating. They're both high fantasy nerds and Olli loves Riina's medieval cosplays. Riina needed someone who loved her unconditionally and never expected from her any more than she could give in return, and she found that person in Olli. Having twins is also symbolic that their love was more than enough to handle the challenge of raising them.

Niko and Jenna knew what they were doing when they brought Tommi and Marja together. They have the same small-tall visual as Joel and Milli, but they're both equally very private people. Tommi was Marja's type from their first meeting, but his size combined with his calm and patient personality turn out to be comforts for her. He understands where she was coming from before their relationship, and he's quick to love Miikka as his own.

Aleksi and Laila never really seemed like a match. He's quiet, friendly, and hardworking, but she's loud, rude, and generally entitled to what she thinks she deserves in life. She came into their relationship with her bad reputation and just being around her almost brought Aleksi down with her. They're the only "high profile" couple in their pair, whereas the other guys married non-famous women, and that fame was a small contribution to the problems they had.

Aleksi and Hanna, on the other hand, were meant to be. Aleksi wasn't going to let any random girlfriend around Noah, but her background as a psychiatrist taught her how to connect to him and respect him as an autistic child. She knew he was a father and understood that there would be some some time before she met his son. She takes care of him on all the fronts that Laila neglected, and he returns the favor with all the love he can give.

And now, for the last part 👀 (NSFW, of course)

Niko, Jenna, and Marja have basically been a throuple ever since the first relationship. In college, Marja helped Jenna come to the conclusion of her bisexual awakening. Even now, after she and Niko have gotten back together for good, he knows that they frequently sleep together and occasionally gets treated to surprise pics and videos when he's away from home. They've never been the kind of couple to shy away from a sexy threesome and when Tommi comes into the picture as Marja's boyfriend, they like to switch up the combinations.

[poodlejoonas]

i haven't been able to stop thinking about that ask talking about the similarities between Marja and Aleksi and honestly, id kind of forgotten Marja had this dark past. This may be an odd question, but does it ever affect her relationship with Tommi? and if so, how?

Not an odd question at all!

When I was creating the OCs and deciding on their relationships, I designed them around the personality of whoever I felt was a perfect match with them. I initially chose to make Tommi the group step-dad because he's got such a fatherly energy to begin with that I could see him accepting his partner's kid from another relationship as his own. Marja having a dark past connected to that fact just sprung up naturally on its own. Tommi knows a bit about Niko helping to raise Miikka while Marja lives with him and Jenna but he doesn't get to meet her until later (after Niko and Jenna play matchmaker to get them together). He's already private about his personal life online, so they're both glad they can start their relationship without people watching them. He's a very patient man: he's willing to work with her on building her trust in him, he's willing to wait as long as he needs before he can step up and be a father figure for Miikka, and with his nursing training, he knows how to help Marja calm down from her breakdowns whenever her trauma comes up. He lets her initiate a lot of things in their relationship and goes above and beyond to respect any boundaries she has. Their decision to have Anna was carefully planned out and revolved around her mental health issues (the medication she takes for her anxiety, her PTSD from the emotional difficulties of her last pregnancy, and her eventual health issues and her long recovery from them). So, whenever it does come up, Tommi stays level-headed and knows exactly what to do to help her.

[poodlejoonas]

I’m debating whether I see Kirsten as a blonde or a brunette. I don’t really know about Marja or Hanna but I’ll think of something.

Also, do you mind sharing your thoughts about how you picture them?

You wouldn't be too far off with Kirsten! I kinda have a hard time figuring out Marja too but I know she would just look Extra Small next to Tommi. And I have ideas for Hanna, I just haven't really found a good moment to introduce her yet.

Pics with visuals under the read-more! Some of these were picked out a few months ago in collab with @wow-ihateithere but I'm always down for hearing what others imagine.

Jenna: This pic + the whole energy of this TikTok

Milli:

Kirsten:

Riina:

Marja: This picture + this TikTok

Hanna:

[poodlejoonas]

🖊 and tommi & marja 🥺

Tommi and Marja, everyone's favorite odd couple! But in reality, there's nothing odd about them except their heights. When Marja was living with Jenna and Niko and recovering from her last relationship, dating was the last thing on her mind. She wanted to focus on healing and raising Miikka, not alone of course since she had their support. When she finally expressed interest in dating again, the first person they knew she had to meet was Tommi. His chill nature and general teddy bear attitude are what draw her in, and when he's barely affected by the fact that she's a single mom, she knows she can't let him go. They're set up at Niko and Jenna's wedding, when Marja is the maid-of-honor and Tommi is a groomsman, and they've been inseparable since then. He was driven by how cute he thought she was (and still is) and a desire to make her feel adored. He's her type: tall, relaxed, handsome, caring, and funny when he wants to be.

So it has been decided, over the last month or so, that Tommi and Marja ultimately have four kids. They have: Miikka, Marja's child from her previous relationship who's later adopted by Tommi; Anna, their first daughter; Kaisa, their second daughter; and Arttu, their youngest son. Marja loves being a mom but they thought they wouldn't have any after Anna was born 5 weeks early. Tommi didn't want to put her through the same health problems she went through with Anna. But after a few years, she managed to sway him over to have one more, but then surprise! Kaisa and Arttu are 11 months apart! Despite the fact that the last two weighed over 10 pounds, she was happy that she was finally able to have healthy babies. And she couldn't be happier with her little bear family. She latches so hard onto the theming of them being a family of bears thanks to Tommi's long-time "teddy bear" reputation. She loves to make as many bear references as she can, having a dresser drawer full of bear onesies for all of her kids and nicknames for all six of them.

[poodlejoonas]

🖊 Jenna and Milli’s friendship (or just how the moms interact with each other)

I'll do a run-down of the big relationships in the group, starting with Jenna and Milli!

Jenna and Milli: The two biggest cheerleaders for their friends, husbands, and kids. They're also the two smallest and they have the funniest arguments about who's being taller on a certain day. They first began hanging out after they got into their separate relationships with Niko and Joel a couple months apart, really getting to know each other while the band is on tour in Europe. As two of the best cooks in the group, they work together to churn out huge family dinners. Jenna spent the most time with Milli during her pregnancy with Enkka, and Milli returned the favor for her both times (but nobody can hold a candle to the love Marja lavishes on her). They love to bond over roasting old pictures of their husbands online. When they're together, it's pure delightful chaos, and their friends joke that it's exhausting just watching them talk so breathlessly. But together, they're a lot of fun to be around.

Jenna and Marja: Two friends who are closer than sisters. They've known each other since kindergarten and have been inseparable ever since. Marja was there for her entire first relationship to Niko and was basically a third part of it. They moved to Helsinki together and tried their best to keep in touch after college, even when Marja's ex Vaino tried to drive a wedge between them. When Marja left him, Jenna was the first person she turned to. She was pleasantly surprised to see that she'd gotten back together with Niko and they resumed their old dynamic, this time with baby Miikka in tow. She stayed with them for years, even after they got married, and they were more than happy to help her heal, including going as far as to introduce her to her future husband. The Moilanens and Lallis raise their kids together, all six of them calling the four of them Isä and Äiti. Hell will freeze over before these two ever let each other go.

Kirsten and Riina: They were the "founding members" of the sisterhood, when Kirsten was dating Joonas and Riina was dying to date Olli. Kirsten listened to Riina mindlessly ramble on about how much she loved Olli and wondered when they were ever gonna get together. Riina helped manage a lot of the loneliness she felt when she was pregnant with Sohvi, essentially being her voice of reason when her parents were trying so hard to convince her to go back home and leave Joonas. They're the two calmest of the group, bringing the right amount of relaxing energy and drawing everyone else to them when they just need a listening ear.

Kirsten and Milli: These two also got to bond for the first time during the guys' 2022 European tour, when Sohvi was a newborn and she could use all the help she could get while Joonas was gone. They lived with their boyfriends while they were still neighbors, so Milli was over almost every night to hang out with them and help take care of Sohvi. Milli also practically lived with her the summer before Lukas was born and the band was doing their "tour before a new baby" tradition. They did hit one snag a few months later, when Kirsten questioned when they were going to be parents even though they were trying their best. But they buried the hatchet a long time ago and don't speak of that incident. When Lukas and Enkka are playing club hockey together, they coordinate taking them to and from their practices. They're strong-willed women, being married to the first set of (t)error twins and then accidentally bringing a second set into the world, but they wouldn't have it any other way.

Jenna, Marja, and Riina: Okay so this is kinda a funny one because of how they all manage to connect back to Joonas. All three of them were also from Oulu but Jenna and Marja didn't get to know Riina until later on. Riina, as Olli's longtime friend, also knew both Joonas and Tommi and came bearing gifts of embarrassing childhood stories for Kirsten and Marja to laugh at their husbands. Jenna knew Joonas from high school, but she mostly knew him as a massive party boy with a reputation and plenty of embarrassing moments. Marja didn't go to the same high school as Jenna, but her first introduction to Joonas was him being FWB for a few months with one of her older sisters. Joonas was happy to know that Niko was happy with Jenna, but he didn't realize that his old fling's sister would end up married to his best friend. And although he's glad Olli and Riina finally figured their shit out, he wishes she'd stop encouraging Kirsten to ask her to pull out those cringey middle school memories.

Hanna and Riina: Riina was Hanna's first point of contact to the group via a community knitting club. She tried so hard to play matchmaker for several years, eventually succeeding when they were both ready to date. Poor Olli's ear was talked off about how perfect she would be for Aleksi, how great she is with the twins, how much everyone adores her and wants Aleksi to finally take her out on a date. As Olli once described their relationship to Joel: "Oh that’s Hanna. Riina keeps threatening to leave me for her."

Everyone and Milli: I'm making this one its own category because Milli has a fairly even relationship with everyone in the group. She's fairly even with the love she shares with everyone, making sure no one feels left out, but she finds new and unique ways to show that love. She never forgets a birthday and she understands the kinds of gifts that matter to her friends. She was open and up front with them about how long it took her to get pregnant, and in return they all absolutely dote on her. Jenna comes over to cook for her twice a week and Kirsten is knocking on her door every time she's craving brownies and ice cream. She doesn't mind when Joel or the guys have to leave while she's pregnant because that just means she gets to be in the middle of a cuddle pile with her girls and binge-watch her favorite shows (because she can never get Joel to sit down and watch more than one episode at a time). A running theme in their group with Milli is that she gets unreasonable amounts of baby fever and they all have to step in and hand her a baby for a few hours so she won't convince Joel that they need to have a second one. But it's okay because the mom of said kid can have some time to relax while Milli gets to indulge in all the baby snuggles she wants.

[poodlejoonas]

This is probably a weird question but do you mind telling us how you see the moms wedding rings? I’ve been really curious about that.

It's not weird at all! I'm down for just about any kind of engagement for this AU.

(under the cut for pictures; in order of when they were married)

Joonas buys Kirsten a ring with a heart-shaped pink stone to match her overall pastel aesthetic and go outside the norm of a typical diamond ring. Also, it's totally canon now that he saves up his money to buy her a ring from a US jewelry store on one of their days off, and he drags Joel along to help him find the right one.

Jenna gets a black stone ring that's a little on the smaller side but she prefers that because it's one of the only actual pieces of delicate jewelry that she wears on a regular basis.

Joel was the absolute least subtle about dropping hints that he was going to propose soon, so he bought Milli's based off vague answers that she gave him: she gets a smaller vintage-style ring made with her birthstone (emerald).

Olli and Riina love their fantasy worlds, so Riina's ring reflects that. For fun, I'm gonna toss in Olli's here too because I love these nerds so much.

Marja was fine with having something simple because she couldn't imagine Tommi shelling out a ton of cash just for her (despite how much he actually wanted to spend on her). She loves her small ring because it doesn't get in her way on a daily basis.

Finally, Hanna had to be convinced to even consider a ring just because she hates wearing jewelry (other than earrings) but Aleksi insisted on spoiling her so she agreed. Hers is another simple one and she can at least remember to put it on before she leaves for the day.