#so April did what she does best and owned the name

[kattythingz]

Nicknames

(Speaker tags listed below the cut)

In absolutely no particular order, at all (headcanons bolded):

Aoi ⇒ Splinter (the lovely, precious source)

Berry-Blue ⇒ April

Leo-chan ⇒ Usagi

Sensei ⇒ Casey Jr.

Champ ⇒ Raph

Pepino ⇒ Señor Hueso

Nardo ⇒ Donnie

Leon ⇒ Mikey

Blue One ⇒ Casey

[cowboylikelyric]

crystal (journalist!harry x gogo dancer)

Summary: Harry, a serious journalist, is taken to Club Chrome and becomes captivated by a dancer named Clara, known on stage as Crystal. Despite feeling out of place, Harry's flirtation leads to a deep connection and an invitation to walk her home. Their chemistry intensifies, revealing a side of Harry that contrasts with his usual nature.

Word Count: 5k

Warnings: 18+, smut, unprotected sex, oral sex (female receiving)

A/N: i know this isn't harry x reader but it was something that i really loved writing and i hope that you guys enjoy reading it. it isn't something that i've ever read before so i hope that you love it. let me know if you enjoy this because i'm thinking about making it a series.

---

April 10, 1962

I step into Club Chrome and immediately I feel a heat rush over me. People crowd everywhere around and Will nudges at my back to push me further in. 

“C’mon, man,” He takes a grab at my shoulder and directs me toward the bar, “I needed a drink yesterday.” Will wears his shirt barely buttoned and his corduroy flares tight to his thighs. His hair looks like he hasn’t styled it in a week. I look down at my brown suit and tie with my quaffed hair. I’m completely in the wrong environment. I follow William to the bar, not aching for a drink in the slightest. 

“Let me get two Old Fashioneds.” He slaps his money on the bar top and turns to watch the stage, or hanging platform rather.

The lights blare on the high stage, twinkling against the dancers. Do You Love Me by The Contours is the soundtrack to the three dancers' moves. Two of the girls stay in cages as they dance to the beat, while one of the girls remains free swaying her hips devilishly. She wears a silver bodysuit with glittery fringe dangling against the very tops of her thighs. She’s electric as she grabs one of the bars of the other girl's cages, slowly dropping her body down it.

William slaps my side. “What a fox, am I right?” He points to where she shimmies in her knee high gogo boots. Will hands me a drink, “You’re welcome, stud.”

My brows pull together in confusion. “And what exactly would I be thanking you for?”

“Getting your ass out here tonight.”

5 HOURS AGO

Sighing, I stretch against the office chair and drop my pen on my desk. I grab my mug and take a sip of my coffee, trying to find any motivation in the world. 

At 7:30, I hear my apartment door slam shut, shortly followed by the yell of my best friend.

“Har?!” 

“In the office, like every other time, Will!” His footsteps track toward the room until he’s standing at my doorway. He sees my notebook on my desk and that I’m still in my work clothes, his expression automatically dropping.

“Does work turn you on or something?” He shakes his head. “‘Cause I just don’t get your constant need to fuck your social life over.”

I turn my back to him, “Some people like to pay their rent, unlike you William.” 

“Oh, my rent’s paid, Harold,” Not my name, “The ladies pay real nice.” He winks at me.

“Even better, “ I smile with sarcasm, “You’re a whore and a jobless loser.” Sadly, this doesn’t even discourage him, instead he just smirks.

“Being a man of the night, while uncommon, is still a job, Harry.” Yeah, my best friend’s a prostitute. Where have I gone wrong? “Besides the point, you need to get out of that chair and go somewhere that exercises your sex life.”

“I’m not practicing your lewd ways, Will.” I drink the rest of my coffee. “And even if I did want to leave the house, I’m not going because I need sex.” Sex wouldn’t hurt.

Will scoffs, “Well, then get your ass up for a drink, you look tense.” I grind my teeth. It’s not respectable to punch your best friend, it’s not respectable to punch your best friend. 

“If I go, will you shut up?” A smirk paints his face again. Impossible. He nods quickly. I point past the doorway. “Fine, but get out.”

“Perfect, I’ll be here at midnight.” He slaps his own ass before leaving.

“Jesus Christ.”

NOW

“Whatever,” I scoff. I take a sip of the drink and feel the burn down my throat. I don’t fancy drinking, but I suppose some whiskey won’t hurt. Drifting closer to the stage, I leave Will behind. If I’m here against my will, I’m at least gonna try and enjoy it.

The lady on the stage’s eyes scan the crowd while everyone continues to dance and pay no mind to the beauty of the women on the platform. But when she finally meets my eyes, there’s a spark and my stomach drops. A wicked smile graces her face and she tiptoes herself to the edge of the platform.

She shouts down from her spot, “And who might you be?!” The corner of my mouth ticks up.

“Harry!” I yell up to her. She stops her dancing, which saddens me a bit, but she begins talking to me instead.

“You new around these parts, Harry?! Don’t think I’ve seen ya before!” I can’t stop focusing on the way the light bounces off her incredible body suit. She sits herself on the edge of the platform, coming closer so that we don’t have to shout.

“No,” I admit, “This just isn’t my scene.” 

She laughs. “Baby, this is anyone’s scene once you’ve had a few drinks.” She extends her hand out to me. “Clara, but everyone here knows me as Crystal.”

I take her hand in mine and shake it. “Like Clara Bow.” Her smile twinkles.

“Exactly.” 

I point to her fellow dancers beside her. “How come they don’t put you in a cage?” This sinister smirk spreads across her face at my question.

“Nobody puts Crystal in a cage.” Just the way she says it sparks something within me, making me want to reach forward and pull her off that stage and take her home. Clara runs her hands across the bedazzled fringe that covers her thighs. “How could I shimmer behind bars?”

“That’s a good question.” I reach and grab the heel of her white boot. “I guess we’ll never know.”

She smiles. “I like you, Harry.” Clara pokes my dimple that makes a rare appearance. “You’re different from these other fellas.”

“Oh yeah?” I hand my drink to her and let her take a sip of it. She hums and nods. “And how’s that?”

“Well, for starters, most of them are the fuzz and they’re all trying to cheat on their wives.” Then her eyebrows raise. “Please say you aren’t married,” Clara grabs my hand, “don’t be all show and no go, Harry.” 

I raise my left hand and wiggle my bare ring finger. “Nothing to worry about.” She lets out a sigh of relief.

“Phew,” Clara pretends to wipe sweat from her brow, “I didn’t want to have to shoot you down.” I chuckle and she sets my drink down beside her on the stage. “What do ya say we cut outta here?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be dancing?” She places her hands on my shoulders, beginning to slide off of the high stage. I grab her waist and bring her safely to the ground. 

“They won’t mind.” She grabs my hand and starts pulling me further into the club. At some point, I lock eyes with Will and he sees Clara, offering me a wink. When I look back at her, Clara’s blinding me with a smile as she pulls me. “Hurry! Hurry!”

“Why in such a hurry?!” My shoulders keep knocking against others as we finally approach this door in the back of the club. 

“Time is of the essence, Harry!” She pushes the door open and the cold air outside slaps us. Clara finally quits her pulling and lets the door shut behind us, leaving us outside. She reaches her hands up to grab my face, pointing it down toward her. “Why haven’t you kissed me yet, Harry?”

My breath catches in my throat. I rest my hands on her hips and press my forehead to hers. “Wasn’t sure you wanted me to.”

“Of course I want you to.” She presses her lips to mine and my tense body automatically relaxes. I pull her in closer by her waist and she wraps her arms around my neck. Her lips taste like cherries, making me groan.

“Taste so good.” I growl as her tongue skates across my lips, getting access to my mouth. She moans against my lips and I feel the sound in my cock. I try to gently back her up against the brick wall of the building, lifting her leg to wrap around my waist as I grind my hips forward. Clara gasps at the feeling, pulling away from the kiss. She has that sweet as sin smile on her face again.

“We shouldn’t do this out here.” She pushes at my chest before sneaking around me and walking forward along the sidewalk. “Now be a gentleman and walk me home, Harry.” Clara looks back over her shoulder. “Maybe you’ll get lucky.”

I jog up to her and wrap my arm around her shoulder as we continue to walk in the cold night. In return, she wraps her arm around my waist. 

“So what does a man like you do for work, Harry?” I notice how she likes to say my name at the end of every sentence. It makes me smile. 

“I’m a journalist.” When she looks up at me, Clara gives me an amused look. “I know, go ahead. Call me a square. Will does all the time.”

She shakes her head. “No, you aren’t a square. It just makes perfect sense.” She leans to press a quick kiss on my shoulder. “Who’s Will?” 

“The bane of my existence.” Her brows scrunch in confusion. I offer her a smirk. “Kidding. Unfortunately, William’s my best friend.” 

Clara giggles beside me. “And what does Will do that’s so much more exciting than journalism?” 

I clear my throat, not expecting her to ask that question. “He’s, um, a… man of the night per say.” My cheeks burn as if I’m talking of myself. Her brows rise a touch before she bursts out in laughter at the color of my cheeks I assume. 

“Why so flustered, Harry?” I watch as she shivers just a touch. I peel my suit jacket off of my shoulders and drape it over hers before holding her again as we walk.

“Not sure.” I look down and her beauty strikes me in the gut. “You just make me so nervous.”

When she tips her head up to catch my eyes again, something in her gaze digs so deep into my soul. “Well, you make me feel brand new.”

“Brand new?” Clara nods. “In what way?” She stops walking and turns to face me.

“No part of you seems to be bothered by my work.” Her dancing. 

“That’s because I’m not.” I grab her cheek and bring my nose to hers. “Your dancing amazes me.” Her eyes sparkle.

“That.” She emphasizes. “You’ve just made me brand new.” Clara pecks me quickly before looking past my shoulder. “This is mine.” 

I turn around and try my hardest to not let my jaw drop at the house before me. No, the mansion in front of me. 

“Yeah, trust me, I get it.” I look back at her and she nods at my expression. 

“This place is…” 

“I know.” She looks down at her feet. “I live alone.” She pulls my arm to follow her up her driveway. Clara sighs. “Daddy doesn’t really approve of my work, so he pays for me to live somewhere separate.”

“You live alone?” I could never live in a place like this all on my own. Too much of everything and not enough people. She nods softly. 

“Yeah, it has its ups and downs.” When we reach the front door she turns back to me and presses her lips to mine quickly in a soft manner before turning back to lead me inside. I feel a flush on my face at her gesture. 

“What are the ups?” I ask, not seeing how it could possibly be enjoyable to live in a house this big all on my own.

A wicked smirk spread on her face. “I get to be as loud as I like and no one can hear.” She wiggles her brows in a suggestive gesture. 

My cheeks heat as we enter the house and I have to stop myself from gasping. Above us is a large, glittering chandelier and around us is a space larger than my entire apartment. 

But when I look back down to Clara, she’s looking up at me with the same expression. 

“What?” I ask. She shakes her head with a smirk.

Taking a firm grip of my shirt, she pulls me into her. “Nothing. Now kiss me you hunk.”

And of course I can’t say no. I grab her chin harshly and pull her lips to smash into mine. Clara moans against my lips as I migrate my hands to her hips and then her ass, squeezing.

She sheds my suit jacket from her shoulders before running her hands all over my body, all while kissing me. Clara began pulling me toward the couch, pushing me onto it. Before I know it, she's climbing onto my lap and connecting our lips again.

Clara takes complete control over me, and I can’t say that I hate any of it. In fact, I think that it’s making my cock throb even more. 

Her fingers work at the buttons of my shirt as she presses continuous searing kisses on my lips. As soon as she’s got it unbuttoned, she’s throwing it behind her. However, she pulls from the kiss, groaning, when she realizes I’ve got on an undershirt.

“Are you trying to kill me, Harry?” She giggles into my shoulder. 

“Never,” I say, sitting back a bit to peel the tank top over my head, tossing it beside me. “Better?” 

Clara bites her lip with a smile, nodding, “Much.” She runs her fingers over my abdomen, a darkness tinting her eyes. They run all the way up my chest until her fingers grab at my chin, tilting my head to look at her. 

Her eyes are this intense shade of blue that I’m sure only exists in the deep depths of the ocean. They punch me in the gut, rendering me speechless. 

Clara smirks at the look on my face, I’m sure. She then takes my hands and leads them to her back where there’s a zipper waiting for me.

“Be a doll and unzip me, would you?” I nod like a helpless puppy, running my fingers over her skin before reaching for the zipper and slowly trailing it down her spine.Once it’s down far enough, I slide my fingers to the straps, slipping them down her shoulders. Clara helps me out, tugging down the front of the bodysuit, rendering me speechless as her breasts come into view. 

Her tits sit up nice in front of me, her nipples flushed and hard as I reach for them. “So pretty, baby,” I whisper as I pinch her nipple between my calloused thumb and pointer finger.

A sweet moan leaves her lips, making me yearn for more noises. I lean forward and bring my tongue to her chest, licking my way all around her one tit, still using my fingers to stimulate the other. My lips wrap around her nipple, sucking in hopes of hearing more of her pretty noises.

“Harry,” A gasp leaves her throat as she tangles her fingers in my hair. 

“What is it, baby?” I tease before switching my mouth to her other nipple. Her hips have a mind of their own as they begin grinding against mine, causing me to groan against her. Clara uses her hands that are in my hair to pull me from her chest. 

Taking them out of my curls, she uses her hands to push herself off of the couch, before pulling her bodysuit the rest of the way down her body and stepping out of it. My cock twitches as I get sight of her fully naked body, the only thing left on her body is her gogo boots.

I reach forward and grasp the back of her upper thigh, pulling her directly in front of the couch. She looks down with a genuine smile, her hands resting on the sides of my face. 

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I whisper. 

She snickers, “Quite the language you’ve got there.”

I shrug, “Can’t contain myself around someone as stunning as yourself.”

It was sweet, if you wanted to know the truth. The way we sat here in this comfortable silence after meeting only an hour prior. Sweet and sultry. 

Clara takes my hand and pulls me from the couch, before turning her back to me and leading me through her house. It gives me the perfect opportunity to lower my eyes to her perfectly rounded ass. The way she sways her hips as she walks leads me to believe she knows exactly what she’s doing. I can barely pay attention to where I’m going with that thing in my face.

“Right here,” Clara drags me out of my daze as we enter what I assume is her bedroom. It’s a spacious room with not much in it beside a large bed pressed against the wall, an armoire, and a side table. “It’s not much I know, but I don’t need much.” 

I look at her with a smile, placing my hands on her hips, and pressing my forehead to hers. “You know, it’s funny that you say that, because neither do I. Just need you in this moment.” And because I’m too impatient, I lock my lips with hers and begin pushing us in the general vicinity of the bed. Eventually we make it there and Clara tips back as her calves hit the edge. She laughs and pulls from the kiss, pushing herself up the bed. I kick off my shoes and shed my trousers before following after her.

She rests back on her shoulders, her chest rising as she breathes deeply. I unzip her boots and throw them beside the bed. I sit on my knees and rest on my calves as I let my eyes run up and down her dancer body. 

“Hey, baby?” The word makes my heart jump.

“Yeah?”

She drags her foot down my chest to my boxers that hold back my very evident erection. “M’feelin needy.”

I grab her ankle and crawl closer to her, wrapping her leg around my hip. I offer her a faux pout, “Need me do somethin’ about it, baby?” 

Clara nods. I smirk and take her hips, lifting them up abruptly. She squeaks at the movement, soon moaning out as I plant my mouth directly on her sopping pussy. I drag my tongue up her folds, huffing out a laugh. 

“Shoulda told me you were this wet, honey,” I mumble against her cunt. Her chin is dropped to her chest as she watches me lap at her arousal. Bringing my lips around her clit, I suck on it making her groan. 

“Oh my g- goodness,” Her teeth chatter as she speaks out. The desperate tone in her voice makes me thrust my hips against the mattress, looking for friction of any kind. I notice her hips start to grind against my face, moving them to her liking. 

Bringing my fingers to her center, I run them up and down her folds, hearing her gasp. “Want my fingers?” 

She nods, insistently, “Mhm!” I press one into her slowly and her back lifts off the bed, arching. 

“Yeah?” I give her a second one and she’s squealing into a moan. I allow my tongue to continue working on her nerves as I fuck my fingers into her. Her cheeks are flushing as her eyes begin to shut and god, is it a sight to see. 

I curl my fingers inside of her and feel around for the spot within her that will drive her crazy. When Clara gasps out suddenly, I know I’ve found it.

Her legs begin to shake and her cunt squeezes my fingers like a vice. “Gonna cum, Clara?”

“Yes, Harry,” Her eyes wired shut, “Yes!” 

“C’mon, baby,” I keep my fingers at their pace, my tongue flat over her clit so she can ride it herself.

She lets out a stretched out moan, her back arched beyond belief as her hips continue to grind against my face through her orgasm. It has got to be the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Her cries only get louder as my fingers continue to fuck her through that high. When it becomes too much, she grabs my wrist, pushing my hand away. 

I crawl up over her, softly kissing her cheek then down to her lips. “Feel good, baby?” 

She nods and lifts her arms to pull my hips closer to her. “Very good.” Her sneaky fingers tug at the waistband of my briefs.

I pull my face back a touch. “What’re you up to, crazy?” 

Clara bites her lip, trying to hide her suspicious smile. “Wanna make you feel good.” 

I grab her wrists and pin them above her hand, placing my lips beside her ear before whispering, “Oh, trust me, I’m gonna feel real good when my cock is drowning in your pussy.” 

She gasps into my ear, but when I pull back to watch her face, she’s got a wicked smirk on. “Such naughty things you say.” 

“I’m a journalist, baby.” I smile. “Wide vocabulary.” 

I peel my briefs down my legs, kicking them from my feet. I sigh at the relieved feeling my cock experiences as it’s freed. When I look back up to Clara, she’s got wide eyes and blushed cheeks.

“I- I, uh,” She shakes her head, “I don’t know if that’s going to fit in, um, me.” 

“It’s okay,” I bring my hand to my cock, giving it a few strokes with my that’s soaked in Clara’s arousal, “We’ll make it fit.” 

She gulps in the way a cartoon character would, where you can watch the bump travel down her throat. I run my opposite hand up and down her hip. 

“Relax, baby,” I kiss her cheek again.

Clara nods and brings her hand in front of her face, spitting on it, before wrapping it around my cock to join my own. A deep groan travels up my throat as she squeezes it slightly. 

“Perfect,” I growl, “You’re perfect.” 

She shakes her head, “Not a singular person is perfect,” Clara brings my tip to the mess of her wet cunt, dragging it through it, “But together, we could be perfect.” 

She lines me up before I nudge my hips forward, slowly feeding my cock into the tightness of her pussy. Her jaw drops as she lets out a sound I haven’t heard from her yet. 

“Fuck,” I whine out as I continue to slip into the wetness of her. Her arms reach up to rest on my abs while her legs wrap around my waist. 

When I give her the last bit of my cock, submerging myself fully, her nails dig into my abdomen and her voice turns shaky, “Oh my- you’re so deep.”

I took a firm grasp of her hips and started to give her gentle thrust, not trying to overwhelm her too quickly. But, god, was it hard to hold back.

“You feel so good, baby,” I whisper beside her ear, “Nice and wet for me, squeezing me just right.” 

Her face screws up in pleasure as she whines, “More, please.” And of course I can’t say no to her.

I pull my hips back until all that’s left inside her is the tip before thrusting back into her. She cries out, her hips grinding up to meet my thrusts. I move one of my hands to her ass cheek, giving it a tight squeeze as I give her harder thrusts. 

Clara starts laying kisses on my neck, her tongue dragging against the spot beneath my ear, making me growl, “Driving me fuckin’ crazy.” 

She giggles, quickly cut off by a moan, “Good, I like my men wild.” 

“Yeah?” I tease, taking the back of her thigh to push her knee to her chest, putting us in a position that allows me to slide deeper. “Well, I like my women tight and dripping so I guess we’re both in luck.” 

Her brows furrow as uses her fingers to tweak her nipples, moaning softly. 

“Be loud, baby, wanna hear you.” I pick up the pace of my hips and she sure does let go. Her cries grow louder and longer, especially when I reach my thumb down to rub over her clit. 

“Oh sh- shoot!” She shouts, squeezing her tits. I laugh at her choice of words. 

“Such a good girl, aren’t you?” She nods desperately. “Won’t even swear while I’m inches deep in your pussy.” 

She whimpers as I press my thumb firmer to her clit. She also clenches around me and I nearly cum right there. It’s then that I think about the fact that I’m fucking her bare. Fuck. 

Clara’s walls continue to flutter around me, signaling to me that she’s going to cum again. So I keep my pace steady and keep pinching at her clit. 

“I’m gonna-“ Her eyes squeeze shut and her fists clench beside her. 

“Give it to me. And I want you screaming my name when you do.” And scream she does. We may be alone in this huge mansion but I’m sure someone miles away could hear how loud she’s being.

“Harry-“ Her thighs start to shake and I feel a certain feeling climb up my spine as my thrusts begin to lose rhythm. Her back arches as high as it can with her knee still to her chest as I continue to pound her through her high. 

“That’s it, baby,” I talk her through, feeling as my high starts to make its way to the surface soon after hers. My chest rises and falls as I try to control how fast it comes on to me. But it has been months since the last time I had sex, and my hand can only get me so far. 

When her orgasm recedes, I pull out of her, giving my cock the proper strokes as she lays there is a post-orgasmic bliss. “Where do you want my cum at, darling?” She’s a bit slow to answer, saying nothing, just opening her mouth and sticking her tongue out. My cock twitches in my hand at the sight in front of me. “In your mouth?” 

She nods with a smile on her face, tongue still out. I grab the back of her head and lean her face closer to my cock. She touches her tongue to my tip as I stroke it and something about the way she looks up at me with a sweet look in her eyes has me done for.

“Shit, Clara,” I groan as I shoot ropes of cum onto her tongue. She snickers as I do and it drives me insane. I milk out every last drop into her mouth and watch as she enjoys every bit of it. I tap off any last drops then pull away as I start to slowly soften. Clara closes her mouth and swallows my cum before smiling. I lazily lay my body on top of hers, burying my face in her neck. 

She rubs her hands up and down my back, speaking up, “Harry?”

“Mhm?” I barely hum out.

“My leg’s starting to cramp. Could you move it please?” Oh, yeah. I still had her leg folded like a pretzel against her chest. 

“Shit, yeah. I’m sorry I didn’t even think-” I pull away from her, an embarrassing flush coating my face as I let her leg down to hit the mattress. She gets a smitten smile on her face.

“It’s okay,” Clara reassures, “Don’t get all shy on me now, you’ve already done me in.” That is what I’m going to guess is her clean version of saying I’ve already fucked her.

“I know,” I put my face back in the crease of her neck and shoulder, “Just feel like such a square around you.”

She laughs, “Nothing about what you just did to me was square, Harry. And maybe I like squares. Did you ever think of that?” I shrug, wrapping my arms around her waist to pull myself closer to her.

“Explains why you brought me home.” She scoffs, but doesn’t continue the conversation any further. We bask in this comfortable silence for a good while. A romantic silence even. Clara has her hands in my hair, massaging my scalp, and I have my hands rubbing her hips. How come I’d never experienced this before? Every other time I’d been sexy with a lady, she’d kick me out immediately, embarrassed, I assumed. But Clara was in no rush for me to leave.

“I’d like to see you again, Harry.” She breaks the silence. “I’d like to see you a lot.”

I huff out a chuckle, assuming she’s joking until I hear no laugh from her end. I pull my face from her neck to look at her. “You serious?”

She bristles at my question. “Of course, I’m serious. I’m no jokester.” 

My brows furrow, “Well, why’d you wanna see me again?”

She rolls her eyes as if it’s obvious, “Because I told you, you make me feel brand new. Like I-” She takes a deep breath, “Like I can be who I wanna be.” She bites her lip, getting visibly nervous. 

“Shouldn’t everyone make you feel like that?” I ask.

“They should, but they don’t.” She frowns.

I close my mouth and stare into her eyes. I run my hand up to her cheek, brushing hair from her face. “Then, yes, I’ll see you again. I’ll see you a lot.”

A bright smile takes over her entire face as she plants a peck on my lips, “Cool.”

I nod, “Cool.” 

[reelovesfictionalmen]

Single Dad Simon Riley

A request for Single Dad Simon from @buzzyb33 I hope this is what you wanted, I kinda just went with what my monkey brain came up with.

SINGLE DAD SIMON

Single Dad Simon has twins. A boy who is docile, shy and hides behind Simon's legs around new people. His daughter is bold and boisterous. Sometimes he swears she almost bounces off of the walls. Their mother has been out of the picture since not long after they were born, she pays child support but has otherwise severed all parental support and interactions with the twins. The boy twin is named Theo and the girl is April. The names are the only two things their mother left them with.

Single Dad Simon used to hate her for abandoning their children but in time he accepted it as being the best. Forcing her to stay would likely have just hurt the kids more. Simon gave up his career in the military to take care of his kids and be a present father. He works as a plumber, a pretty good one at that. He makes enough money to provide for his kiddos and put money aside for emergencies and/or their futures. He wants to have enough money put away for them if they decide to go to university. Giving up his career was difficult but it had to be done, he was all they had and he wants to give them a childhood so much better than his own.

Single Dad Simon finds being a dad almost as stressful as being in the SAS and doing all that sort of thing. Raising the twins on his own through their infancy to toddlerhood was mentally and physically exhausting. There were nights when both of the twins were teething, would not go to sleep and just kept screaming where he felt like running away. But he never did of course, our Simon aint a quitter ESPECIALLY when it comes to his kids.

Single Dad Simon is still in contact with 141, they come to visit when on leave. Soap and Gaz like to spoil the twins. April LOVES uncle Soap. She calls him a "pretty princess". She also makes takes Gaz, Soap and Theo out into the garden where she likes to play construction work barbie, digging up the garden and making "roads" for her and her brothers cars. Theo, the sweet little boy really opens up around Price. Something about Price brings out his bolder side. He's always tackle hugging Price and asking lots of questions about the cool planes and other vehicles he's been in. Neither of the twins really believe that their father was big and tough like their uncles. Simon honestly prefers that they don't believe that he was a big bad military man, he tries to keep as much of his personal military career from them.

Single Dad Simon who frets when the twins first go to primary school and after school care. He doesn't like being away from them for such long periods of time, deep down he knows that they will be just fine and they will be safe but the other part of him frets terribly. What if they get bullied? What if they hurt themselves? What if they get mean teachers? After the first year he calms down considerably with his worries but there is a side of him that will never relax and be wary for danger.

Single Dad Simon who finds himself getting lonely as the kids settle into school life and his business does well. He finds himself wishing for romantic companionship and a feminine influence for his children. He worries that only having military men for family will stunt their mental growth. He promises himself to open himself up to the possibility of meeting someone new.

When Single Dad Simon does find someone he clicks with, he doesn't hide that he has kids and is a single parent. But he makes clear that it will take an extended period of time before he introduces them to her. He needs to be sure that he can trust her around them. If she already knows them through some outside of school place, like the bakery they always go to on Sunday or the Librarian at the library where the after school program is held, he will be less wary of having her in their private lives but will still TAKE HIS TIME.

Single Dad Simon is a good dad. He struggles with the stress and isolation sometimes but he has 141 as his brothers and maybe one day soon he might have a lady in his life who will welcome his kids and him with open arms into her own life.

[kaminocasey]

Sacred Woman (Part One)

Summary: You're the First Mate on the Meson Martinet, the ship that Sidon Ithano captains. A few years ago, you all accidentally found Kix, thinking he was the lost treasure of Count Dooku. Instead, you found an even better treasure. Now, you’re searching far and wide in the galaxy for the scientist who could possibly undo the progressive aging gene in Kix's DNA. You'll stop at nothing.

Pairing: Pirate!Kix x (fem) Pirate!Rader

Warnings: 18+ MINORS DNI; Violence, Attempted SA, Blood, Angst, eventual Smut

WC: 3.3K

A/N: I've been working on this since APRIL. I'm so freaking excited about this story! Parts of this were inspired/used from "The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku" by Landry Q. Walker (Free on Kindle Unlimited). Photos found from Pinterest!

Sacred Woman Masterlist │ TAGLIST FORM │ Sacred Woman Playlist

“Look at this, Blitz… A pretty little thing… walking all alone down this dark alley.” A slimy voice purrs and you automatically start to grab your knife out of your boot. 

One of the guys chuckles, obviously underestimating you. His mistake. It’s been a while since you’ve fought someone, but only because you’ve been doing your best to keep out of trouble. 

“She thinks that’s going to do something.” The other guy smirks, glancing at your knife. 

Normally, you’d give a guy a warning. But with these guys… this could’ve been some other poor woman walking down this back alley, so you won’t feel too bad when you inevitably have to slit their throats. 

You wait for one of them to touch you. You wait for them to make the move… 

“Come on, sweetheart.” The first guy starts to touch your jacket.

That’s all you need. You strike first, grabbing his wrist and bending it back, making him gasp in pain. His buddy is taken aback and stumbles back, startled. Good. 

“You bitch.” The one in front of you, growls and you smirk, pulling your knife up under his chin, trailing it down to his Adam’s apple. 

His snarl quickly turns into trembling fear and he automatically starts begging for his life. They always do… Except his buddy starts to grab for a blaster tucked in his jacket and you quickly throw your knife into his wrist, making him cry out in pain. Sending your fist into the first guy’s right jaw, you knock him right out. He drops with a satisfying ‘thud’ and you quickly slide over to the other guy, grabbing your knife out of his wrist and he starts to run away, leaving his buddy behind with no problem. 

A set of footsteps brings your attention back the other way as you raise your knife, prepared for another fight. You’re met with a tall Delphidian holding one of his hands up in a surrendering manner, the other hand holding a red Kaleesh helmet. 

“What do you want?” You ask him, not tucking away your knife. 

He smiles, softly. “I’m Sidon Ithano, the Crimson Corsair.”

“Is that supposed to mean something?” You lean down and wipe the blade on the shirt of the guy who’s still out cold and then tuck it into your boot again before standing up. 

“I’m a pirate.”

“Okay. And?” You ask him, still staring at him.

“I saw those guys starting to attack you and then tried to come help. But you clearly had no problem on your own, there.” 

You shrug. “Did you need something?” 

“I could use some muscle like that on my crew.” He smiles. 

You let out a huff of a laugh, tilting your head. “You want me to join your pirate crew?” 

He nods. “You’re a Mandalorian, are you not?” 

You stare at him, harder. You’ve not called yourself that for a few years now. There weren’t many of you left. 

“Used to be… How could you tell?” You ask, placing your hands on your hips.

“From your fighting. It was a Mandalorian style I’ve not seen in a long time…” 

“Right…” 

“So, what do you say?” He asks. 

You walk past him. “No thanks.” 

Who the hell is this guy? The Crimson Corsair… why does that name sound so familiar? 

“Do you have another purpose here?” He asks you.

You stop, staring ahead. How could he see through you so well? You’ve been on this planet for a few months, temporarily living in a cheap hostel, doing bounty work on the side. Quite a life, you’ve made for yourself, right? Your family would be so proud… 

It wouldn’t kill you to start a new adventure. Or maybe it would. But either way, you can’t help but be curious. 

You turn around, staring at the tall pirate. “When do we leave?” 

Five Years Later… 

“What do you think?” Sidon’s modulated asks you as you both stand over a dead Trandoshan.

The crew is still up in the ship and as Sidon’s first mate, you’re next to him at all times. He doesn’t speak a lot, except to you. He trusts you to do most of the speaking on his behalf.

“Well, it doesn’t look good.” You joke. 

The planet you’re on isn’t necessarily First Order run… but there is a presence here. You’re supposed to be picking this guy up so he could take you to a scientist who you’ve been searching for for two years.

“Should we leave him, Captain?” You ask.

“Do you think someone is leaving us a message?” He wonders, aloud, ignoring your question. 

“Could be…” You shrug in agreement. 

“But from whom?” Sidon murmurs, kicking the guy over onto his back. “There are very few people who know who we’re looking for.”

His eyes are missing, leaving burnt crispy edges behind. Ew. 

The truth is there could be any number of people trying to “leave you a message”. You have a lot of friends, and you have a lot of enemies. So to narrow it down is next to impossible. 

“Tell me what you think.” Sidon tells you, turning back to face you. 

He glances past you at some of the crew peeking out the hatch. When they see him looking at them, they quickly make themselves busy. 

“I think we should leave him.” You answer. “We’ll find another way…” 

He nods, considering it for a moment… calculating… “We’ll leave him.” 

You start to head back up toward the hatch, Sidon only a step behind you. But you feel him pause, so you turn to look at him as he still stares at the body, deep in thought. After knowing the Captain for the last five years, you’re pretty well able to anticipate his moves and thoughts. It feels like you’ve known him your whole life. 

“What-” You start to ask, but all of a sudden, violent blaster fire is raining down on you.

You and your captain run toward the hatch, with you yelling into your comm to start the ship. Only seconds later, you hear the familiar sounds of boosters and engines starting up. Sidon pauses at the closing hatch toward the culprit of the blaster fire and more than likely also the dead Trandoshan. 

It’s always a trap, isn’t it?

“All hands to stations.” Your voice carries throughout the ship. “I repeat, all hands to stations. We are under attack.”

As you make your way through the Meson Martinet, up to the bridge, you run directly into your medic, Kix. Kix is a clone who once fought in the Clone Wars and got kidnapped by Separatists and held in cryo for 50 years. You and Sidon, and the rest of the crew found him a few years ago, thinking it was the lost treasure of Count Dooku. Turned out to be even better than treasure. Though you’d never admit that to anyone. You have a soft spot for the man. He’s also who you were doing all of this for. That Trandoshan was supposed to take you to a scientist who’s supposedly able to undo the progressive aging gene in Kix’s DNA, which once affected all clones.

“You alright?” He smirks. 

You nod. “Yep.” 

“You find the guy?” He asks, falling into step with you as you head toward the bridge again. 

“Yeah, but someone else got to him first apparently.” 

“Dead?”

“Yep.” You reply, popping the ‘p’ sound. 

He considers this as you get into the lift up to the bridge. “Well, we’ll figure it out.” 

“Always so positive.”

“Only because I believe in you.” He grins.

You ignore the warmth spreading through your veins and to your cheeks. 

Get it together, you’re under attack right now, you chide yourself internally. 

When the lift doors slide open, you nod to the medic and approach Sidon. 

“Get us out of here.” Sidon commands Parth. 

“Yes, sir.” He replies. 

The Meson Martinet lurches upwards toward the atmosphere, shaking slightly from taking fire. Yours and Sidon’s eyes remain forward out the windows, until you see the vast blackness of space.

“Hyperdrive. Now.” Sidon commands.

The ship pauses ever so slightly before shooting forwards into the dancing bright blues of hyperspace. You can feel everyone visibly relax once Sidon sits down in the captain’s seat. You stand next to him, looking down at him.

“Where to now?” You ask him.

He gently waves you off, to let him think. With a nod, you walk away to the deck command. 

“Reset the coordinates.” You tell the pilot, Parth, a young Rodian, but also one of the best pilots you’ve ever seen.

“Where for, ma’am?” He asks, quietly.

You glance back at the pondering captain, who still seems to be deep in thought, before giving Parth the new coordinates. It’s a quick split decision that you make. If Sidon decides that it was a waste of fuel, then fine. But for now, you know it’ll be a safe place to go. 

As you walk through the ship, you do your duties of inspecting things, checking the cargo, making sure people are doing what they’re supposed to be doing, helping out when you’re needed. You’ve been Sidon’s first mate for the last four years. It was a hard job at first, but now it all seems to come natural to you.

Kix smiles and says your name from the open door of the incredibly small makeshift medbay when you start to pass by. Stopping to lean in the doorway, you cross your arms with your own soft smile.

You’ll never forget the first time you and Kix locked eyes when he woke up from that cryo-cycle stasis pod. He looked so scared and confused. It made your heart hurt right away, even though you did your best to hide that fact. 

“You don’t understand!” He yelled, his voice breaking as he shoved Reveth, a red twi’lek. “I’m a medic, and I learned something… something horrible… Fives knew. He’s the one who figured it all out after Tup… and it got him killed. But I kept investigating. They said it was a virus…” 

You see out of the corner of your eye Sidon gesturing subtly to Squeaky, a large Gamorrean, who’s surprisingly kind and funny, and Pendewquell, a tall Ishi Tib man who’s been on the crew probably longer than you’ve been alive. The two guys start circling to either side of the poor clone. 

“A chip in our heads. In all the clones’ heads! And an order. A command to betray… kill… and it comes from the Chancellor!” 

Kix had grabbed Squeaky’s outstretched hand and flung him into Pendewquell. The effort is obviously too much for him though and makes him stagger a bit but he keeps talking, quicker this time. 

“The Seppies… captured me. Interrogated me to find out who else knew.” He seems to be sweating and shaking. He looks so sad, your heart is urging you to go to him. 

Finally his eyes land on you and he starts to slow down. 

“I… I never had a chance to tell anyone else what I learned. I didn’t know who I could trust… But I wouldn’t tell them anyway.”

You nod. You’re sure your face is mirroring the heartbreak in this man’s voice. His eyes never leave yours as he continues. 

“So they said… they said they were sending me to someone I couldn’t keep secrets from… To the Sith… the cold… the freezing, burning cold…” He slumps immediately to the ground, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. 

You rush to him, holding him up. His body still freezing cold, you take off your jacket and put it over him.

“Stasis poisoning,” Reveth tells you quietly. “He was trapped in there for too long.” 

“No…! I can still save them. Skywalker…” The clone mumbles intently. “Get me General Skywalker! He’ll help. We can save… save the Jedi… save the Republic!”

“What’s your ID, trooper?” Quiggold, a large nervous Gabdorin, asks him.

“CT-6116.” He coughs. “Kix. They call me… Kix… sir…” 

And with that, he slips into unconsciousness. Reveth hands you a breather to place over his face. 

Kix. You can already tell you’re going to do anything to help this man. No matter what. 

You’d barely made it out of that cruiser alive. A bunch of old super battle droids had powered up and then the ship had started to sink. You’d gone to escape in the escape pods but there had only been one and Sidon pushed everyone into it and then pushed the activation switch, which had launched the crew at a high velocity through the Sea of Sand back on Ponemah Terminal, away from the burning and sinking cruiser. 

You’d stayed nearby for three weeks, camping out, scared to leave Sidon behind if he’d somehow made it. You weren’t ready to be a captain yet. You’d only been a first mate for a year. But supplies had started to run low and a desert planet was a really bad place to be without food and water. 

Kix had recovered, physically. He was of course in deep shock over all the history lessons you’d gently given him. 

You hear your name behind you and find Kix, who was after two weeks out of cryo finally looking a lot better. 

At least, physically. He still woke up every night with nightmares, so you stayed nearby him at all times in case he needed you. Everyone would cast you knowing glances and Q even made the mistake of making a comment, but you threatened his life and he apologized and promised to mind his own damn business. 

“Are you alright?” You ask Kix. 

He smiles that heartbreaking smile and nods. He’s incredibly handsome. Probably the most handsome man you’ve ever laid eyes on. And since you aren’t the type to sleep around or fall in love, this revelation of how Kix is making you feel makes you nervous.

Reveth and Quiggold walk over to you, intent clear on their faces. Well, mostly on Reveth’s. Q just looks nervous as always. 

“What?” You cross your arms.

“He’s gone.” Reveth tells you. You know she means Sidon. “And we might as well have sunk with him. We’ve lost everything. We’re ruined.” 

“I know… I just…” You look at the massive indent of where the cruiser was three weeks ago. “One more week. I mean maybe-”

“Maybe what?” She demands, clearly agitated. “Maybe the captain somehow tamed the giant worm and rode it through an explosive desert of sand and lava? Is that what you’re hoping for?” 

You shrug. Theoretically, if anyone could do all of that, Sidon could. But… you know deep down there’s more than likely no chance and that it’d be best for the crew if you were to pack it in and start to head back to the Meson Martinet.

Except right as you start to tell everyone to pack it in, yours and everyone’s jaw drops. In the doorway, stands the Crimson Corsair. Sidon Ithano. His cloak is in tatters and his red helmet is in desperate need of a polish. But here he is right now in front of you… alive.

“H-how?” Quiggold asks, clearly at a loss of words.

Hell, so are you. You’re so happy, you could cry. 

Sidon waves away the questions and instead tosses a metal cube to Kix. 

“What is it?” You ask him.

He looks from you to the cube. “It’s… it’s a Separatist cruiser’s memory core.” Kix tells you. “These were designed to self-destruct. But this one… it must have malfunctioned.” 

He looks up at you. “This cube carries a complete map to every hidden droid factory ever built by the Separatists. Secret bases. Weapons warehouses. Everything.”

Reveth passes by and takes the cube, whistling appreciatively at it. “This would’ve been impossible to decode fifty years ago. Now? Easy. We track down those installations… that’s our ancient buried treasure! We’ll be rich!”Quiggold whistles. “And we just happen to have an expert in Clone Wars-era military installations and their security systems on hand. Welcome aboard, Kix.” 

Kix turns back to you and smiles, making your chest tighten at the sight. You smile softly back at him. If he wants to join the crew, you’d be happy to let him. But if he’d rather go on his own, then you’d have to be okay with that, too.

“Would you like to join the Meson Martinet, Kix?” You ask him, trying to keep the hopeful tone down.

He looks around at the rest of the crew before settling his back on your own. “I’d like that very much.”

You try to ignore the excitement stirring in your stomach and instead cast your smile toward the alive captain.

“How did you survive? The fire… the sand… the giant worm?” You ask him, unable to help the curiousness.

“You know better than that, love. I’m Sidon Ithano… I don’t die so easily.” 

“You busy?” Kix asks you. 

You glance down the empty durasteel hall and then back at Kix, going inside the medbay, shutting the door behind you and leaning against the door, crossing your arms again. 

“I’m sorry someone got to that Trandoshan guy before we could.” You murmur. 

Kix was already showing some slight aging. Maybe that of a man in his mid 30s. The lines in his forehead form a little more each year, and his beard makes him look a bit older. In a good way. Distinguished. Rugged. Handsome. 

The thought of finding this scientist when it could be too late… 

“I’m not upset.” Kix’s voice is softer than it should be. 

He should be upset.

“I am, though.” You look up from the floor, staring at him, coldly. 

He opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted by Parth comm-ing you to come to the bridge. 

“On my way.” You keep eye contact with Kix as you speak into the small device. 

You and Kix stare at each other for another moment as his brown eyes bare into yours. With a sigh, you turn to go. 

“If…” He starts, making you pause. “If we don’t find this scientist… it won’t be the end of the world.” 

You turn to glare at him. Maybe not the end of the world… but it would be the end of yours… 

“You’ll need to move on-” He tells you, but you don’t let him finish because you walk away, back up to the bridge. 

How could he say such things? Although, it’s not like he knows how you feel. He doesn’t know how you’d tear apart the entire galaxy to find this scientist. He doesn’t know the things you’d do to give him a good, long, happy life. But you can show him. 

When you reach the bridge, Sidon beckons you forward to him. 

“Concordia?” His modulated voice asks, his head tilted ever so slightly. 

You don’t have to be able to see that he’s quirking an eyebrow at you, curiously. He’s basically been prepping you to be captain since you joined the crew. He always tells you what a great leader you’re going to make one day. So, he’s not questioning your choice per se. But he is curious as to why. You know that.

You shrug. “There’s someone that I think could help us.”

“Incoming aircraft, identify yourselves.” A familiar voice says, and you raise your eyebrows at Sidon, waiting for his final okay. 

He thinks for only a few seconds before nodding. You nod once to him before turning back toward Parth and his command deck. 

“Vil,” You say your brother’s name, letting them know you’re not a threat. “It’s me. I need help.” 

It’s quiet for a long moment. Too quiet for too long. When finally…

“Free to dock. Wait to be boarded.” 

“Copy.” You sigh, then look at your crew. “On your best behavior, everyone.” 

You can feel Sidon’s curious smirk as Parth lands the Meson Martinet. 

“Don’t give me that, right now.” You shake your head, amused. 

“Aye, Captain.” He murmurs, teasingly.

TAGS: @twistedstitcher27 @rebel-finn @rexandechosandwich @madameminor @dumfanting @rain-on-kamino @corona-one @tecker @ladykatakuri @brynhildrmimi @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond @zoeykallus @maulslittlemeowmeow @littlemousedroid @arctrooper69 @rexxdjarin @padawancat97 @hated-by-me @sleepingsun501 @idledreams @redheadgirl @themcuwriter @ashotofspotchka @sunshinesdaydream @crosshairsimp73 @ariadnes-red-thread @rosmariner @heyitsaloy @starstofillmydream @high-ct5555 @echos-girlfriend @sleepywych @nekotaetae @justanothersadperson93 @aconstructofamind @book-of-baba-fett @chopper-base @palliateclaw @501st-rexster @dead-poolz @nahoney22 @where-is-my-mind-tho @jediknightjana @erishimoon @witching3 @queen-of-many-fandoms @wizardofrozz  @burningfieldof-clover @rebelsriley

[nnnyxie]

donnie 💜🍇🔮👾☁️

Donnie, who is the first to intercept April’s call that fateful day.

Donnie, who doesn’t know how to feel when he’s made aware of the whole situation. He had answered April’s call with his usual flair, relaxed and amused at the fact that their best friend was still outside in the bitter New York autumn–winter weather; he slurped loudly on his steaming mug of coffee for emphasis. Because he’s a little bastard.

Donnie, who’s the first one out of his siblings to know.

Donnie, who sets his dumbstruck-ness aside in order to put forth what he does best: work and help. April sounded so distressed and that was enough. He could tell she was masking it, though, and that just augments the entire situation. He doesn’t bother saying much – seeing as Leo had been there to hear the main gist of the conversation. The twins move in perfect sync as they prep their individual stations: he’s set in one part of his lab while his robotic arms are in another, and by the end of it, the Med Bay is set up to his impeccable standards; his monitors are set separately with April’s tracker and a loaded screen ready for data collection on another.

He ends up doing a dramatic arm sweep when cleaning off one of his desks– a desk which was previously occupied by a load of junk that Leo had brought in earlier: snacks, a couple takeout containers, comics, a unicorn lovey, a half full pickle jar for some reason?

–and Leo can’t even be mad. He’s too preoccupied in his own mind.

But it’s a funny memory for them to look back on – solely for the way Donnie was so aggressive with it while focusing on something else entirely.

Donnie, who keeps a neutral standing once you and April arrive, but he’s just as worried as everyone else. When you both make eye contact– he feels it. The shiver at the center of his ninpo. The sense of familiarity is strange and overwhelming . . . he’s never met you before. So, what in the name of Ohm’s Law is this?

Donnie, who feels a fickle sense of kinship with you right from the beginning. He won't be the one to tell you that outright, tho. He was far more taciturn in his approach to you; compared to his blue banded brother, at least. He mirrored Leo's tactic of telling you what he was doing before or as he did it, and he moved with the hands of a kind-hearted scientist. Gentle, swift, and efficient. He may not have joined in on Leo's jokes or cute little comments to distract you – but he did give you a sympathetic expression in spite of himself.

Donnie, who runs a RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF BACKGROUND CHECKS ON YOU. I’M TALKING METRIC TON WORLDWIDE DATABASE SEARCHES. HE BYPASSED SEVERAL GOVERNMENTAL HEADQUARTERS, PROBABLY ALERTED THE PENTAGON ON ACCIDENT BUT HE’S NOT FOCUSED ON THAT RIGHT NOW–HE KNOWS WHERE YOU’RE FROM, WHO YOU COME FROM (??), HAS ACQUIRED A DIGITAL COPY OF YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE SOMEHOW?? (which, might I note, got completely destroyed in the Invasion and there are literally no known traces of it anywhere else–) His statistics are simply unmatched. Bro’s weird. And terrifyingly capable.

Donnie, who offers his own bedroom to you when Leo and he are finished dressing your wounds. He had spoken with Mikey about what would be the best things to feed you, and after the intrinsic nudge he sensed, left the kitchen to whatever aftermath of thinly controlled chaos his brothers would achieve this time. After all, it's not everyday you come into caring for a whole child.

Donnie, who had kept track of your vitals the entire time you were asleep, dropping everything to check on you when something went awry. He forced April to go with him (though it didn't take much convenience) but blessedly, you didn't rouse to full consciousness outside of twitching in your sleep. He left April to soothe you even further back to slumber, loitering nearby, stiff and simply watching.

Donnie, who isn't good at emotions. At all. Didn't really like them, either. They were something that was difficult for him to properly process through and were unpredictable. But he does swear then and there that, in spite of all things… you were important.

Donnie, who says as much while they all discuss what to do with you at the living center of the Lair. Despite his desperate masking of his very off-kilter emotions, he was an open book.

He grit his teeth, he worried his lip, he returned Leo's incredulous eyebrow ridge raise with a glare so cold you could've put it in a drink and called it refreshing… and found that in the grand scheme of things, he didn't care.

There were much more important things to worry about at the moment.

That's what he tells himself.

That's what he tells himself as he ignores the fact that he's the one who's most adamant on taking you in. That's what he tells himself as he and Leo share a knowing look again. That's what he tells himself as his gauntlet beeps to alert them all that you're fully awake now. And that's what he tells himself as he and April descend the halls to you. To you. You.

Donnie, who doesn't stay around for all the excitement once you agree to staying. He had turned away and immediately went to work at getting the whole process started – and he most certainly did not turn away so quickly so everyone couldn't see the palpable shift in his aura. He would never admit it, but he was excited. And that was scary. He hardly ever knew you! As far as he was concerned, you were just a random street child that his best friend who wore their heart on their sleeve took in. And yes, that's true in every sense of the word, but everything happens for a reason, no?

Donnie, who's excited for change.

Donnie, who's entirely terrified that he's excited. For change.

Donnie, who may be terrified of what he's feeling, and when he can't filter through these new feelings, shoves them deep down to work through later. Much, much later. For now, he puts on his Big Boy gloves and rocks it as the genius he is.

Donnie, a veritable professional in all things [Name]. Albeit the road to get where you guys are now was paved with . . . well. Oddities. In instances, he regarded you as another “project” or living statistic breach. As peculiar as it may sound, this process is what aids Donnie in becoming much closer to you in such a short amount of time.

He wouldn’t consider himself to like kids: they were sticky, loud, nosy, reckless and gross . . . but you? You were an exception. You always are.

Donnie, who doesn’t admit you become his favorite in a first-rate amount of time, but it’s blatantly obvious that you become his favorite in a first-rate amount of time.

When you get over the initial shyness and come out of your shell (HA.) a lot more, you find yourself wandering into Donnie a lot. Be it in his lab — ... where this whole thing started, really. The catalytic incident happened like this: you bypass the extensive security system without a cinch, he nearly unleashed all seven gates of tech-grade hell on you by reflex because you actually scared the Softshell out of him– but when he realized it was only you, he simmered down to a cold and sulky puddle, if only a little tense. Turning you away was on the tip of his tongue but . . . something, something, stopped him.

Long story short, you ended up staying. He set you down on a nearby beanbag after a very lecturing warning to not touch anything, and turned back to his work. It might’ve come off as annoyance, but he just didn’t want you to get hurt: physically and emotionally.

(He just sucks a–word at showcasing his emotions /aff◝(ᵔᵕᵔ)◜ Y’all get there eventually, don’t worry.)

Then you prove your worth! You’re respectful, and though your eyes shine with childish curiosity, you don’t disobey Donnie’s words and stay put. Lookie, no touchie. And that’s probably what catches Donnie’s attention at first– very early on; he doesn’t outwardly show it, and Donnie is not one to be easily impressed, but you? You impressed him. Greatly.

Also, you’re willing to listen to him!! He rambles on and on and you sit there with a cute little expression on your face. You’re invested, despite what may be showing on the outside, and just when Donnie has it pegged as everything he’s saying isn’t registering to you, you ask him relative questions.

He’s pretty much hooked from then on out.

You get privileges that nobody else does! He sets up a little corner reserved just for you in his lab, stocks up on your favorite snacks and drinks, and he creates so. many. things for you! Gift giving is his prime love language after all.

He sees you as a ~fresh mind~ And when you initially don't decline his interests in the sciences, he is practically vibrating with excitement! Proceeds to stuff your hungry little brain chock full of everything he knows, and beyond that!

However, even if you don't have a STEM-dominant mind, it's okay! If you happen to doze off while he's well into another one of his infodump rambles, he doesn't get mad. If anything, he's kind of... endeared?

He might tease you a little, but it's all from a place of love.

Concerning academics, the help from Unca Don-Bon always ensures that you at most get a passing grade for all your science-centered subjects! Not to mention the science projects and fairs. Oh man.

Y'all either dominate the entire school every time, or you come within nano inches of getting expelled every time.

Oh also also— this man scoffs at modern-age technology, you can't tell me he doesn't. You ALSO can't tell me he didn't create his phone from scratch. Heck he might've created his entire family's phones from scratch. Bro has his own OS and — when you come of age to start holding onto your own electronics — everything you own is patented by Genius Built™. Of course.

Don't insult him (or do. just for the laughs) by utilizing said modern-age technology. Just don't. (Do it. His reactions are golden every time.) He can appreciate good technology where he sees it, but it's not often. That's why it's so funny.

The most he did once when you gawked over the PS5 was scoop you up into his arms and give a condescending look so low to the contraption, it had you cackling the entire way as he ranted about the highs and lows of technology.

But hey! All your electronics are one of a kind! You can't ever say that~ Any updates or features that you want, he makes it happen. He completely personalizes it to your tastes to make it as comfortable for you as possible.

Your acquaintances are mad jealous of your cool tech and you can only knifecatmeme.jpeg your way through like a boss. (Golden ref. 🙌🏼❤️)

Donnie, who all too gladly helps you with your homework! April has to stop him from literally doing all your work for you.

—y’all be getting into the dumbest situations fr 😭 Be it conversations or infiltrating multiple high–standing scientific research facilities or simply discussing the economic state of the world or literally what's better: flavorless juice or pineapple smoothies, y’all gone be the main ones. That’s all.

(He gets you something yummy afterwards tho! As a treat. Bonus points if you don’t snitch. He always takes responsibility. He throws in an extra head ruffle or two. But he always, always makes sure you don't get in trouble. He's got your back, you have his. Partners in crime, best way to describe y'all.)

“If Little Jimmy has 12 apples and he gives 5.7 of those apples to his friend Becky, multiplies by the 7 to the nth power, then divides that all by the median of an octagon, how much horsepower was Little Jimmy’s dad conducting the neighbor’s car after 15.5 minutes exactly of installation?”

“. . .”

“. . . .”

“. . . . . Seven–”

“What in the fresh hell are they teaching you at that wretched, poor excuse of a school?”

(And Donnie loves school. That’s how you know it’s bad. Zeep, blatantly dissing the public education system? More likely than you would think!)

Cue April walking into the kitchen in her pajamas, all sleepy-eyed and confused, only to see her best friend and child reciting PEMDAS at the table. You start crying and Donnie sings the Pi Song with his best opera voice in support.

Donnie, who is very, very protective over you. He's the type to show, not tell, but believe me - once you're out of sight, he has a lot of colorful things to say to your offenders . . .

your foster mother being a prime example.

Needless to say, your foster mom is now completely ineligible to foster in the system any longer (as well as any and all forms of careers in all of New York. And the surrounding states. Probably the whole world.)

—and if anyone has anything to say about it, all he sees is the flashing image of a sweet little child, homeless and scared and alone, braving it out on the streets.

He'll never let anyone hurt you. His tech is always on standby when it comes to your safety.

And I mean, all his tech.

Donnie, kooky, scientific and calculating uncle Donnie –

. . . forthcoming, thoughtful, heart full of love Donnie, who may not be the best with his words, especially when expressing how much he loves you, but is one of the beloveds in your corner who says it the most.

“Haha! Aw, man. I love you, Purple Rain.”

“Mhmm. And I do suppose you’re enjoyable at most, my Young Apprentice!”

“Unca’ Don-Bon . . .”

“ . . . Ah, Sweet Galileo. I love you too, [Name], you already know I do.”

🫐‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪🪻 ִֶָ☾.

(we did it boys *passes out on your lap* Donnie Bonnie is doneeee!!! it was under high construction for quite a while, especially after Tumblr ate it, so this is a revamped version! but just as well, no? :'3 hope you enjoy this one, ceejie pie!! 🥰🤍)

ZEEPIE🫀

i’m still a little sick (& delirious) so i’m so sorry if my reply doesn’t make sense—

okay so— as much as i LOVE and ADORE uncle don….

what if…. NOW HEAR ME OUT OKAY?!

WHAT IF ………. it was dad don™️

dad don that ensures a proper education. he’s explaining the (poorly taught) subjects to you better than any teacher ever could. is he a bit aggressive about it? yes. but does he reward you afterwards? also yes!!

dad don who never expected to be seen as any sort of father figure.

it’s donnie who nearly cries when you accidentally call him dad one day.

dad don who raises you to be strong, smart, and independent. dad don who’s so proud of you when you get awarded for any subject.

and donnie— he never expected to adore a child as much as he does you. but— the moment you looked at him and his inventions with such passion and curiosity… he just knew that you would be the only exception (youuu are the onlyyy exceptionnnn). the only kid he’d ever care for.

but going back to uncle tello— he’s the kind of uncle to do illegal pranks with you— especially when it’s towards your school (again, illegal?).

uncle tello can’t even hear you say “love you, uncle” without wanting to burst into tears— not because it’s uncomfortable but— because, he’s so overwhelmed with joy.

uncle donatello that secretly goes to your school on the first day of kindergarten because, he’s so scared that something bad could happen to you. he doesn’t want a ‘purple dragons’ incident (you’re literally 5??).

uncle don and dad don are both so attached to you because, he’s been one of your main caretakers since you were just 3 years old.

donnie has watched you grow into such an amazing person and he can’t help but feel so happy that he was able to witness it all.

teehee (michael jackson style)

(i really hope this makes sense…. i am loopy from meds)

[svmjaeyvn]

sincerely yours, s.jy.

chapter 05. firsts. pairing: idol!jake x afab!reader

synopsis: where they meet once on the subway but he never forgets her or the encounter no matter how much time has passed

"YOU KEPT MY NOTE IN YOUR WALLET THIS ENTIRE TIME?"

"WELL, YEAH? I WASN'T JUST GOING TO THROW IT AWAY,"

05. FIRSTS

previous masterlist next

word count: 4.7k

my tags: @slutforsjy @jaklvbub @whowantshota @addictedtohobi @coolwitu @simjyunnie @kgneptun @graythecoffeebean @143ikeu @zyvlxqht @tesywesy @nxzz-skz @enczen @dreamiestay @ikkeumyluv @v3lv3tsin

a/n: i love them so much i eat up a good speed run into love tbh

— APRIL ‘22

"SO," YOUR VOICE broke the thin air between you two. Picking his head up, Jake flickered his gaze to met yours, a smile appearing on his lips almost immediately.

"So," He repeats, fingers dancing around the rim of his cup. After getting your respective drinks, the latte for Jake and a caramel concoction that was recommended by the barista for you, you two had sat in silence for the past few minutes. For one, it was rather comfortable, able to get yourself suited and sip at the coffee filled drink but for the other, it was notable how after the first minute he began to grow antsy but did his best to remain composed.

And so as you were about halfway done with your cup, it now becoming a tolerable amount of warm to drink without blowing on every sip rather than the piping hot it once was, you felt it was best to begin the conversation. Though, you didn't know what to talk about. You weren’t exactly the best conversationalist when put on the spot, and to be quite honest, slightly nervous because you didn't know what was on and off the table to speak about considering your different lives. He was a normal person but you still wanted to be respectful of his work and not make it seem like all you cared about was his career, because in reality, you honestly didn't.

You pursed your lips, glancing around the small cafe momentarily. The mid-morning rush seemed to die down and with it, the buzz of conversations had lowered significantly. Students seemed to be secluded, typing away or writing assignments while a few elderly couples sat at the booths in the far end of the shop, enjoying their morning coffee while the baristas stood lax at the front counter conversing amongst themselves at ease.

"If you had to choose, what animal would you like to be in your next life?" You speak up, your question lingering through the air for a few moments as Jake tilts his head, his brows pinching together out of curiosity. Noticing his expression, you allow a smile of your own to perk at your lips, leaning back in your seat as you watch him intently. "What? The answer can say a lot about a person,"

Your words cause him to pause, eyes flickering down momentarily as he thinks it over. With his bottom lip being pulled between his teeth pensively, Jake scrunches up his nose. "I feel like a dog is a generic answer, no?"

You shake your head, a laugh leaving your lips. "It suits you," You reassure causing him to send you a bright grin in return. "I'm assuming you're a dog person then, yeah?"

Visibly, Jake's eyes light up and you know you asked the right question. Watching him begin to fumble to pull his phone out of his pocket, he began to ramble out of excitement. "I have a dog actually, her name is Layla," Pulling up a photo, he holds out the device and gestures for you to grab it. As you does, Jake swipes on the screen, indicating for you to follow as it was an endearing album specifically filled of pictures of him and his dog. "She's a border collie, her birthday's on October 31st,"

"She's a Halloween baby," You coo, a smile forming at your lips at the thought causing Jake to nod along. "Layla's really pretty," You add, handing over the phone and him immediately agreeing to the latter statement displaying his obvious affection for his dog causing you to refrain from a snicker at the sight.

"Do you have pets?"

"Ah," A small pout forms at your lips as you shake your head, the expression new to Jake but it only lasted for a second. "My mom has a fear of dogs and we're both allergic to cats so the traditional pets were always out of the question. Besides, I was moving back and forth between here and the states for the past few years so there was no way to get one," Your eyes wandered out the cafe window, lingering after a young girl who seemed to be walking a dog of her own with ease and Jake felt an idea flicker in his mind.

"Jay's allergic to cats too," He threw in, glancing around the shop seeing as no one had remotely paid any attention to the two. Momentarily pausing, Jake quickly began to type along the search engine, his fingers working as fast as the wifi would allow. "Jungwon, Niki, and Sunghoon all have dogs too,"

Nodding along, you soon came to realize that rather than meeting your gaze this time when your eyes fell upon him, he was focused on his phone screen. Leaning your chin against your hand with a small smile of amusement, you tilted your head as you watched the expressions pass by Jake's features as he was practically an open book of readable emotions.

"Hey Jake," You spoke softly, earning a small hum from the boy who still hadn't budged an inch from the device. "Is cereal a soup?"

"Yeah," He responded instantly, voice airy as it was evident he hasn't put any thought behind the answer. With a snicker, you drummed your fingers along the table absentmindedly.

"Thoughts on pandas?"

"..Uh huh, they... cute,"

Refraining from a laugh, you bit down on your lower lip. "Jake," Another hum. "I've always wanted to get a nose piercing, I think I'll go soon to get more on my ears anyway. It'll look good, yeah?"

Absentmindedly, Jake nodded slightly. "You're always pretty," He spoke truthfully, still in his daze preoccupied by whatever was taking up so much of his attention but you had reached your breaking point, laughter bubbling over and loudly escaping from your lips. The sound filtered through the air, reaching his ears enough to cause his head to look up and at the sight of you leant against the table top with eyes as crescents and a wide grin, he took a second to process everything said in the last few moments properly this time. "Oh god," Jake blurts, placing his phone down as he covers face with his hands out of embarrassment.

"You're cuter than I thought," You hum, the amusement still sparkling through your bright expression. Jake had reluctantly peaked at you through his fingers, the apples of his cheeks flushed a tint of red while his nose scrunched up ever so slightly as a small laugh left his lips. Taking a moment to admire his features, you felt your dimple popping out as you sent him a toothy smile, one that certainly wasn't helping with his accelerated heartbeat and flustered expression.

There was a small buzz that vibrated along the table. The noise caused both your eyes to fall upon his still unlocked phone. Although you couldn't properly see the search results that he had been skimming through, you could see the incoming message from a 'JAYJAY PARK😻😻.'

Quickly swiping up to clear the message, Jake felt another wave of embarrassment wash over him, this time at the contact names he had been too lazy to change after the last time Ni-ki and Jungwon had stolen his phone.

Deciding against teasing him further, you glanced the other way, providing privacy for Jake to check the message in peace. He did so, seeing that it was now three texts instead of one. The first was an address, the second was the link to a dog-only pet café, the same as the one provided in the address, and the third was a complaint about how he sent the boys off into a frenzy in both the group chat and at the dorms for asking for help on his not-date with you just a few minutes ago.

Rolling his eyes at the last text, he began to type a thanks but two more gray bubbles were sent through. A picture of Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Heeseung close up staring at the screen. The message that followed read, 'Bring her back to the dorm or you're kicked out of the group ¬､¬ (P.S. JUNGWON SHOWED US PICTURES, SHE'S REALLY PRETTY HYUNG☀️☀️).'

Poking his tongue along his cheek, Jake refrained from letting out a small laugh. Typing back his response, he returned to the directions to the address after taking a quick glance at the website, deeming it fit especially considering Jay was the one who found it himself anyway. Directing his attention back up to you, who at this point were now staring out the window, seemingly people watching with interest before he let out a soft clear of the throat.

Blinking out of the daze, you flickered your eyes back to the warm brown ones already staring at your own. Seeing as how he was now unoccupied and giving you his undivided attention once again, you nodded slightly. "Everything okay?" You question, referring to the previous buzzing of his phone that was now silenced.

"Perfect," Jake hums with a boxy smile. "Did you have other plans for today?"

Raising a brow, you softly shook your head. "Aside from meeting you, no," Watching curiously as Jake quickly peaked over the table to check your now nearly empty cup, paying no mind to his own that was still halfway filled. As he abruptly stood up, which caught you by surprise, your eyes widened as he held out his hand. "What're you doing?"

"Let's go somewhere else," Was what he responds with. Still patiently holding his hand out for you to grab hold of, Jake stood with a boyish gleam of excitement, silently praying that you wouldn't turn him down. "Trust me,"

Glancing around, notably surveying Jake's attire which covered him head to toe from any noticeable characteristics, you hesitated. "Are you sure?" You ask softly, the question not due to your own feeling of resistance but rather for the circumstances and situation. Although you didn't know much about his group, from what Hiah rambled on about and your knowledge of nearly anyone related to the Hybe corporation, they had to be successful and have a large fan base. The risk of him being out on the street, especially with an unknown girl, was sure to brew a scandal if caught.

Jake leaned closer, his excitement dying down but instead the genuine look in his expression seemed to answer your worries. "Trust me," He repeats softly.

This time, you slipped your hand in his without hesitating. Allowing yourself to be pulled up from your seat, you secured the face mask back up on your face. As Jake had begun to walk with a smile and slightly swinging their still attached fingers, you stopped him short.

Carefully grabbing hold of the material that was beneath his chin, you moved it up so it sat in place along his nose, covering the lower portion of his face and hiding his notable features. "Tsk tsk Jake, I don't know about you but I don't have the dream of headlining dispatch today,"

Slipping your hand away from his own, you instead adjusted your grip around his arm, comfortably fitting between the space of his bicep while you continued onward without another word. Instead, you displayed a smile from beneath the mask, seen by your squinted eyes and bright expression.

Momentarily dazed by the skin ship as well as your bold nature that never failed to take him by surprise, Jake allowed himself to follow like a puppy although it was him who suggested the change of plans. Merely being pulled out of the café, barely lifting his eyes to bid a goodbye to the baristas at the front, he felt his stomach do an involuntary flip as your head turned to meet his gaze.

"So, where to next Jake?”

"I WANT TO take him home," You sigh, continuing to cuddle the Samoyed dog to your chest as he snuggled against you. A pout takes over your lips as his eyes shut, seemingly comfortable with the situation. "Eh Haru, what do you say? I think I should just put you in my pocket and keep you," You nod, voice softening as you spoke directly to the dog who let out a small sigh as if he understood.

From beside you, Jake sat leant against the wall, his hands absentmindedly petting the poodle who was more than happy to be getting attention at the moment. You two had arrived at the dog cafe almost 30 minutes ago. After their initial entry fee payment, you having a momentary freak out moment and practically throwing yourself at any dog that showed interest in you on the first floor which consisted of the hyper active and younger dogs, you finally migrated to the second floor of older and calmer dogs for a break.

Jake had ordered the two a set of drinks as well as a shared order of dessert waffles and as you waited in a little cubby in the corner, you two had been visited by the two dogs accompanied by now. The staff was kind enough to answer all your questions, informing you that Haru was actually the senior dog of the shop owner at 14 while Suki, the poodle who had taken a liking to Jake, had been a new addition to the café, merely 5 but rather timid and reluctant to customers however still a total sweetheart and easy to win over with time.

Thankfully, there had been no indication that Jake had been recognized so far. The main population of customers within the shop included young children with their parents or teenage couples on dates on the first floor while the second consisted of couples who seemed to be in their later 20s who enjoyed the peace and company of canines to themselves.

"Are you going to try and steal Layla away from me too on the first meeting?" Jake teases, smiling at how infatuated you were with the senior dog.

Lifting your gaze, you return the expression. "Oh, most definitely," You joke, a small shrug added while Haru places his head down on your lap, eyes shutting to rest causing your mouth to drop open and free hand to furiously gesture at the unsuspecting animal. 'Oh my god,' You mouth, wide eyed and smile shining bright as Jake lets out a small laugh at the overjoyed reaction coming from you.

He silently praises himself for thinking of the dog cafe earlier, making a mental note to thank Jay for his help. The usual calm and collected you had completely been erased, exposing a new side which you would admittedly be embarrassed of thinking back on later but for now, Jake would soak up every moment being the only one able to indulge in it first hand.

"I'm glad you like it," Jake verbalizes, echoing his thoughts while you focus your attention back to him. With your gaze softening this time as you stared back at him, you opened your mouth to speak but were cut off by Suki who interrupted the moment by allowing her tongue to swipe a slobbery kiss along Jake's cheek.

A laugh bubbles from the your lips as you watched the surprised blond jump at the contact. "I love it,"

"ARE YOU SURE this is okay?"

"Are you sure this is okay?" You repeat, gesturing around yourself as the two of you stood outside of the dorm building. "Does your manager people even know that you're bringing a random girl home?"

"When you say it like that it sounds bad," Jake whines, combing his fingers through his hair before placing the hat back on.

Letting out a snort, you shrug your shoulders. "It's the truth,"

He shakes his head. "You're not a random girl. Jungwon, Jay, and Ni-ki know you already, and besides, we met before I debuted so it's like you're a friend from the past," Jake justifies but you remain unconvinced.

"Whatever you say," You hum, patting his shoulder momentarily before letting out a breath. Sparing a final look at the building ahead, you nod to yourself before grabbing hold of Jake's arm to drag him along. "Alright, let's go,"

"W-wait!" Jake scrambles, mind fuzzy from the contact but also in a mess trying to stay calm thinking of how disastrous it'll be to have all six of his members together with you at once. "Let's go somewhere else—"

"Nope,"

Unable to resist the gentle but secure grip you had wrapped around his arm, Jake reluctantly allowed his feet to shuffle along the sidewalk. Reaching the front, you waited expectantly for him to unlocked to door, looking away as he punched in the security code, and as you heard a click, you soon came to hear the series of voices that flooded within and heavy footsteps.

On the other side of the door, an unfamiliar boy with orange hair stood, his fox like eyes were wide with surprise before he let out a dramatic gasp. "He brought her home!" He calls out, voice slightly higher than you anticipated but you barely had time to process it before he made his way toward you. Shining a pearly smile that lit up his features and gave off a warm welcoming aroma, he stopped a few feet away to not scare you off. With a shy bow, he stood slightly rocking on the heels of his feet out of excitement. "Hi noona! I'm Sunoo, it's nice to finally meet you,"

Blinking away the surprise, you reacted quickly to the younger boy. "Ah, hello Sunoo-ya," You smile, matching with a slight bow and dropping the formal use of honorifics since he did so already. Before you could speak more, three more heads popped up from around the corner.

"___ noona!"

"___-ssi!"

"You’re here!"

Ni-ki, Jungwon, and Jay all fell into place, crowding the already small entryway and causing Sunoo to pout seeing as his one-on-one time had already been stolen away. The trio bombarded the you two, the youngest stealing you away from Jake's grasp before he had time to protest and already began to lead you through as they rambled over one another.

"Yah, Jungwon-ah, didn't I tell you to stop with the -ssi stuff? It makes me feel old," You whine, a teasing smile placed on your lips as you refer to the conversation held last night and over in the group chat a few hours prior to your meeting with Jake as well. "I've known you for a couple months. We're close enough now, don't you think?"

A sheepish smile fell onto the boy's lips. "Sorry noona," He mumbles, nose scrunching up out of embarrassment causing Ni-ki to poke his side.

As they rounded the corner, you abruptly came to a halt seeing as the final two members who stood waiting in the hall. Glancing toward Ni-ki, you noted that they were the tallest of the group, one with bleached platinum hair and the other with faded pink.

"Oh," You breathe out, taken by surprise by the new faces who looked rather stoic. "Hello, thank you for welcoming me to your home. My name is ___," Introducing yourself, you allow for a bow, being mindful of your manners and mustering up a friendly enough smile to not be overbearing.

For a moment, neither of the two spoke. Their silence and expressionless gazes caused you to feel awkward and rather uncomfortable, turning your head slightly to look for Jake but he was shoved aside to the back bickering with Jungwon for a chance to step closer.

"Stop being weird hyung," Sunoo sighs, softly hitting the blonds shoulder who immediately broke out into a slight smile upon the contact.

Following like a domino, the pink haired one allowed for a laugh to bubble from his lips. Flashing a pearly white smile to you, he bowed slightly and nudged the other beside him to follow in suit, the two formally greeting you.

"It's nice to meet you ___, I'm Heeseung," He spoke.

"My name is Sunghoon," The blond adds quietly, a sheepish expression placed on his features. "I'm sorry, Heeseung hyung said to do that to see how you'd react," He mumbles, throwing the older of the two under the bus.

"Ay, Jay said she was practically unfazed by everything so I wanted to see," Heeseung defends, a smile of apology sent toward you while you merely shook your head, waving off the harmless experiment.

"Heeseung is our eldest," Jay butts in, an arm lazily leaning against your shoulder. "Hard to believe, right?" He whispers, obviously teasing but the older boy raised a brow.

"I understand that," Heeseung scoffs, the words coming out in albeit broken English but English nonetheless.

"Now that you two have played your little joke, can we please move out of the hallway?" Jungwon interrupts, gesturing to the crowded walkway and how you stood in the middle of the group of boys that huddled around you.

"Ah, the food," Jay mumbles to himself, seemingly remembering his previous obligation and making his way to the left while the others guided you to the right.

Barely having time to take in your surroundings, you looked around the living room which was surprisingly tidy for a group of seven boys that lived together. Having your bag taken away to be hung up by Sunoo, you were encouraged to take a seat on the long couch which took up the far end of the wall. As you sat in the middle, the boys filed in around you like puppies.

Jungwon, Ni-ki, and Sunoo opted for the floor, taking a seat on the pillows and blanket that were already sprawled out along the hardwood. Meanwhile Heeseung and Sunghoon filled in to your left side, keeping enough distance to keep you both comfortable. The five boys all focused their attention toward you rather than the TV screen which was displaying a now discarded Kdrama, although the elder two at least attempted to hide their excitement by not staring directly at you as the younger ones did.

Jake, who admittedly got pushed to the back of your mind in the havoc of meeting with the six other members, stood at the living room entrance. He slipped away to his shared room to put down his things but as he came back, he had to refrain from poking fun at the way they were acting to save himself from their teasing that was sure to come.

Seemingly noticing a pair of eyes on you, you allowed yourself to look up and meet his gaze. For a sliver of a second, your stiff posture lessened, relieved to see him as a small smile played at the corners of your lips. The maknae's took note of both these things, suggestive looks being sent to one another as you gesture for Jake to make his way over.

Although you had known Jungwon since February, you also knew that he was still rather timid in being entirely comfortable around you. Meanwhile, you had barely met Jay and Ni-ki the night prior, although they were wonderful, you didn't feel as at ease compared to how you did with Jake around even though it was essentially the same circumstances. Perhaps it was the fact that you had already hung out all morning, yeah, that had to be the reason you were so drawn to him.

"Hey," You whisper, smiling slightly as Jake sat himself down in the open space to your right.

"Hey," He repeats, shuffling to adjust. Feeling the multiple pairs of eyes on you, he lets out a small sigh, reluctantly peering over your shoulder to meet Sunghoon's gaze who didn't look away but rather widened in his cheeky expression instead. "What're you so happy about?"

As you turned to see what Jake was referring to, Sunghoon looked the opposite way, his face dropping void of any expression out of panic causing you to frown your brows curiously. Meanwhile, Sunoo and Ni-ki down below let out small laughs, finding amusement in the older boys antics as he was perfectly fine teasing Jake but not quite comfortable enough to let you know of his endeavors.

The sound of hands clapping progressive got louder until Jay entered the room. Gaining everyone's attention, he stood with a bright smile placing his hands on his hips and a dish towel thrown over his shoulder. "The food's ready,"

The previous attention that was on the two of you along the couch was now forgotten, each of the boys getting up to run in the direction Jay came from. Leaving you and Jake on the couch, he softly cleared his throat to gain your attention.

"Are you hungry?" Truthfully, you had eaten at the dog café, and stumbled upon a street market which led to indulging in more snacks on your way to the dorm, so neither of you were necessarily in the mood to have a full meal. But you nodded anyway, pulling yourself up having figured that since the boys knew you were coming, Jay must've prepared enough food for you all and didn't want to disappoint by at least not having a bite of it.

"Let's have a little," You hum, holding out your hand to help Jake up. Nodding along, he allows himself to be pulled up. Guiding you through to the kitchen, you heard the murmur of voices and plates clattering as you made your way to the other end of the dorm.

"Noona~ come sit here," Sunoo calls out, spotting the two and patting the empty seat in between him and Sunghoon — whom of which eye's widened in surprise as he was in the middle of scooping a mouthful of food in his mouth.

"Ah, okay," You nod, moving away from Jake's side to slip into the seat. Sending Sunoo a piercing look, the red head smiled innocently at his elder member before turning his attention to you who settled in beside him.

"Jay hyung is really good at cooking, but be sure to eat or else he gets sad thinking no one liked it," Sunoo whispers to you, nodding over to Jay who stood at the head of the table serving each individual plate for the members with pride. Humming in response, you made a mental note of it and took a deep breath, preparing yourself to indulge in the meal although you weren’t anywhere near hungry.

Maybe we shouldn't have had all those snacks, you thought to yourself. Glancing around the table, your eyes locked with Jake's, who sat on the across the table one seat to your left. He was rolling his eyes at Ni-ki who was mumbling something to him before he felt your gaze.

A sheepish smile picked up on the his lips. 'I told you,' he mouths, gesturing to the loud room of boys making a ruckus eager to eat. Shrugging in response, a smile takes over your lips, surprisingly not overwhelmed by the controlled chaos.

"___-ssi," A voice interrupts. You turns your head to Sunghoon, who was hesitantly holding out a plate that Jay just finished serving for you. "This is yours," He says softly, you taking note that he was still timid in speaking to you as his eyes awkwardly darted away from yours.

Sending him a small smile, you took hold of the plate. "Thank you Sunghoon-ah," You say kindly in hopes that he lightens up. A slight smile cracks at his lips as he nods back before turning his gaze away from yours once more.

Placing the plate in front of you, your eyes widen at the food. It seems that Jay went the extra mile by making roasted pork belly along with numerous sides.

Silently praising Jay for his culinarily skills, you mentally scold yourself for having too much to eat prior, wishing you’d been able to enjoy the meal properly. Looking around the table, you noticed how he had put significantly less on your and Jake's plate compared to the others.

A small smile peaked at your lips, assuming Jake had let him know prior, the gesture from both causing you to relax. Cute.

©svmjaeyvn

[ettawritesnstudies]

Hi Etta! Sorry if you already mentioned this, but where/how did you find your editors? (If you don't mind sharing)

Don't mind at all!

I know there are companies like Reedsy and the Writers Digest which have databases of editors, but that seemed really overwhelming. At the end of the day, the best way to get resources is to network (make friends, and hope their mutuals like you too).

Last year, I did an interview for Amanda Auler on Instagram and she boosted my account, so months later I ended up doing an interview for Addison Horner. He does editing for indie authors, so I asked him for a sample edit and liked it, but I wanted to get other points of comparison first, so I asked around and came up with a short list of editors. I contacted them, and when I had enough to compare, I ended up deciding I liked Addison best and drew up a contract with him. God moment that I found him so quickly.

But if I had to give this advice to someone else I'd recommend following these steps:

Read books in your genre. Read INDIE AUTHORS in your genre. Review their books. Follow them on social media. Be a friendly fan but don't make it weird.

Indie authors are one person publishing teams desperate for engagement and positive attention. They will thank you for your help and be willing to pay it forward when the time comes.

Once you have a handful of books you like that have similar vibes to your book, flip to the acknowledgements and find the editors name.

Google the editor, find their site, submit your inquiry, email works better than a form.

If you can't find the editor online, DM the indie author and ask "hey I really liked your book and it's a good comp title for my WIP. Who's your editor and what was your experience with them like? Do you mind pointing me their way?" Follow the author's advice. Repeat as needed.

(I've only ever received nice responses to this, don't be anxious. If they don't reply they're probably just busy, not annoyed).

When you contact editors, ask about their availability, rates, and be specific about what type of editing you need. Ask for a free sample edit. Mine were 250-2500 words.

Supply details about your WIP. Mine looked like this:

Title: Runaways

Genre: Middle Grade Portal Fantasy. I'm not labeling it as "Christian Fiction" as religion isn't a focus point of the story, but there are significant underlying Catholic themes.

Premise: When Cecelia goes missing one stormy Halloween night, her older sister, Hannah, must venture into the faerie courts to learn the truth about their past and bring her home. (Linked WIP Page with additional information)

Length: About 86,000 words, 180 pages (Times New Roman, 12pt, double spaced, standard 1in margins formatting). 21 chapters with an epilogue

Style: 3rd person limited, present tense. 3 POV characters: primarily Hannah at first, and then Cecelia and the third added later, alternating.

Status/Timeline/Availability: Currently with a 2nd round of beta readers, and I'll be getting feedback by March 31st. After editing the draft to reflect their feedback and doing my own line edits, I'll be looking for a line/copy edit around April/May or early summer.

Types of edits needed: As I understand, every editor uses "line" and "copy" edit slightly differently, but I'm looking for a combination of both styles if possible: checking for internal consistency, logical choreography, adequate descriptions, minor plot or worldbuilding errors, as well as language concerns like cutting crutch words, making sentence structure more dynamic, choosing the right verbs, etc. Developmental editing not needed. Waiting to do proofreading at the moment

When perusing at the editors site, look for credentials/certifications, their backlog of works, and testimonials

If you don't have enough options following this method, join some discord servers! I'm in a local NaNoWriMo group and a Catholic Writers Guild called Inkwells and Anvils which were both useful. I think there might be some writeblr ones as well. Find the critiques channel and send the same information there^^

Compare sample edits. Who respects your voice? Who supplied the most insightful comments? Do you vibe over email? Are they willing to do a stylesheet? Do they like your book? Can you set up a 15 minute zoom call to see if you vibe and discuss details?

Look at prices. My rate is $.015 a word but that's pretty cheap for the industry. Most of the rates I saw publicly were between $.02-.03/word for line editing.

Pray/sleep on it

Once you pick your best option, set a date to send them the manuscript, sign contracts, and make payment.

Send a polite email to the other editors and say "I regret to say you're not quite the right fit for this book, but I appreciate all your time, help, and advice! I hope to work with you in the future" or something along those lines. Don't burn your bridges.

Celebrate!

This whole process took me a couple weeks, everyone was very punctual and professional and friendly. I ended up going with Addison not only because he was the cheapest but also because he made 3X the number of comments as any other writer, and his comments were specific and useful. He understood my characters immediately, I think in part because his writing style is similar to mine, based on his debut novel, Marrow and Soul. We're both Christians who like YA dark fantasy. It's a good match. He's still taking clients for later in the year if that's your vibes. I also worked with Amber Burdett and Sariah Solomon, who were both lovely.

I wish you the best of luck finding an editor who fits your story! I hope this was helpful and not overly long.

[starssoblue]

miraculous: ladybug & chat noir, the movie | a(n in-depth) review

prefacing this to say that i recognize a lot of feelings about this movie are related to a frustration with experiencing the tv series for five seasons since 2015. i, however, went into this as a brand new fan, having finally tried the series just since april of this year. so those feelings of frustration aren't going to be present in this review and it's coming more from a (somewhat) objective place, considering the film as its own entity. (spoilers abound.)

marinette:

so i'm a marinette dupain-cheng shooter, i'll fight for this girl forever because of how targeted the hate is for her (and leading female characters in general). but i have to say, even though the movie did a good job not having her be the completely messy pre-teenager she is in the show (especially around her crush), i found that the character change was a little strange.

i think, despite how flustered she gets, marinette in the show is a very strong character. she's a child who spent three years being relentlessly bullied by a politician's daughter (chloe) that people she was generally (she has no good friends but she has an amicable relationship with her peers because they all grew up together) friendly with stayed away from her, for the fear of becoming that girl's next target. she tries her best to stay out of this girl's way because of this bullying, and her defense is to keep quiet and not draw attention to herself so she can get through the school day without being harassed. this harassment leads to marinette having intense anxiety and a lack of confidence in herself, despite having strong opinions and being an otherwise passionate person. meeting her new friend alya, who is very self assured, inspires marinette to not allow her bully to walk over her anymore, and when she gets her first win as ladybug she finds the strength to finally stand up for herself. though she remains a target of that bully, this newfound strength helps her not allow that experience to reign over her life and this gives her bully less power.

in the movie, marinette (there was one trailer that implied she was "the new girl" but the movie itself does not really give us this impression—her scared meekness would make more sense to me if she actually were a new girl in school but more on this later) still grew up in paris with those same peers, but has so much crippling anxiety she has no baseline relationship with anyone. instead of it being mere general awkwardness, the film decides to make her especially clumsy to the point of insane catastrophes constantly happening around her (i guess for her entire life?), and this chaos makes the entire school laugh at her and spread rumors about her, so she has no friends at all. (would make a lot of sense if she's the new girl unless the point is the entire school has been making fun of the wasian girl since maternelle that she's still infamous in lycée for it and spent her entire life without a friend until alya filmed chloe harassing her and saved her, which is... concerning. or wait, is it because they've just entered lycée so they're all technically "new" even though she's lived in paris her whole life because they're starting grade 10 together? but what are the chances that no one she knew from collége are in this school with her now? so she enters lycée, is so clumsy and catastrophes happen around her that she develops a reputation for herself and people like chloe know her by name because she's become that infamous that quickly? but in the song 'reaching out,' marinette sings that she always dreamed of calling paris home, which seems to suggest that maybe she's new in paris. but their bakery seems too established to be new... i don't know. tbh this is information we shouldn't have to guess, and this lack of clarity is something i struggled with for this film.)

as an introverted person, marinette's anxiety and fear of leaving her comfort zone resonate with me, but i feel like while this is explained in the show as a result of years of bullying, it's portrayed here in the extreme. i understand that she's afraid at school because of all the rumors and the disasters that follow her, but even on the streets when she was singing to herself, random people would wave to her and she'd (sing) to herself, "i can't show my face!" even though nothing embarrassing or disastrous had even happened. she's just deathly afraid of people. i don't think this in and of itself is an issue, but it definitely needed more explanation or build up. is marinette this terrified and timid because something (worse than what happened in the series?) happened to her here? is it because she's (new to paris? again, they don't really say but it would fit better if it were true) wasian and she feels out of place in largely white paris? is it more about her biracial identity rather than clumsiness? who knows. so i feel just more background and character development would elevate the movie. arguably, she could just be an anxious and introverted person, but the portrayal of these characteristics just seemed a lot more surface level than they are in the show. i guess this is an example of a limitation a creator has with a film—they can accomplish so much more with years of subtle hints in a series and lay the foundation for certain backgrounds and traits, but in a movie they have to figure out what to tell us, what to show us, and how to develop it in under two hours. sadly, i feel with marinette, as a result of this time crunch, some of the film's portrayals ended up being weak.

(there's this scene all over twitter celebrating marinette standing up to chloe after her newfound confidence as ladybug—i am actually very confused why this was pointed out as a difference from the series. once marinette realized through alya and her first success as ladybug that she didn't need to be afraid of chloe anymore, she stopped. she constantly argues with her, doesn't put up with her bullshit, and even is sometimes mean to her (i'm not going to judge her for it—that girl bullied her badly for three years straight sooo...). i like the scene in the movie too, but my point was that it's consistent with the show and not an actual change.)

people love to attack marinette for some instances where the character in the show was used for absurd comic relief, and i appreciate that the movie doesn't do this with her much. i do think the female characters in miraculous, series and film, would all be better written if written by women, but i digress.

i like that while film marinette tries to reject the earrings just like series marinette, she fails because the magic that has chosen her won’t just let her throw the earrings away or give it to someone else. though she doesn’t randomly decide to give the earrings to alya here, she does try to throw them out a window and they kept coming back to her because she was the chosen one. this was a nice change. i never thought it should be that easy for her to just re-gift them to any random person when they chose her specifically for a reason. 

adrien:

adrien agreste in the series is outgoing, full of energy, lonely but eager to make friends, kind of optimistic. his mother has only been missing for six months at the start of the show, while he's in the public eye, working almost full time as a teen model and the face of his father's massively successful high fashion brand. his circumstances, his public image, the fact that not much time has passed and he's still a 13 year old child all lead him to resist being too affected by his grief (he's obviously still affected but it's not a crippling part of his life, and though he experiences loneliness and has moments of being withdrawn and sad, he retains a relatively optimistic and outgoing nature that influences his outlook on life and his interactions with his peers. he's socially inept through lack of interaction with kids his own age and homeschooling, but he's willing to learn and this, as well as his pure heart, are what define this character.

adrien in the movie is different, but in a way that is realistic and understandable given the changes the film made to his background. he's more quiet, withdrawn, lonely but chooses to stay that way and intentionally pushes people away as a coping mechanism for grief. though in both universes his father's role in his life decreases once his mother vanishes, and he essentially loses both parents rather than one, in the show, being a model and the face of his father's brand allows him to continue having a place in his dad's life even though his father treats him like dirt. in the movie, the time period in which his mother has been missing in his life seems to be much longer, and there has been no indication that adrien has anything to do with his father's work. with his grief affecting him for a greater length of time, his age being older, and his dad being an absentee parent for several years rather than a few months, it's no wonder that the adrien we meet in the movie chooses to pull away from people, allows the sad feelings to dominate, and just overall lacks the energy and optimism show adrien possesses. (i'm also not sure if it's even his first day of school or if he was homeschooled his whole life—chloe claimed she wanted to show him around, but nino interacts with him like they've been friends for more than just a day and he's known him for at least a little while).

honestly, i really like the changes here, despite being tv adrien agreste's #1 fan. this insight into his feelings about his parents, his resignation about his constantly deteriorating relationship with his father, his fixation on the piano which was an interest he shared with his mom, how palpable his feelings of nostalgia and longing are for his mother... the way he was a child when she disappeared and now he's a teenager still thinking about her, always missing her... it was such a natural portrayal of love and grief and though you can see which circumstances prevent show adrien from turning out this way, movie adrien is such an understandable and empathetic character. you really feel for him the whole movie. i think his (possible) lack of fame adds to this too (he doesn't seem to be a model in this, he has no schedules and isn't driven around everywhere, there are loads of photos of him at home but they could just be photos parents put up of their only son). at the end of the day he's a teenager with a father who neglects him constantly for his business and his own grief that he feels very alone, and these feelings keep him from wanting to get close to anyone else, either because he's sad or just afraid of further abandonment. i found the character so incredibly relatable and it was interesting seeing a more vulnerable side to this character, a vulnerability show adrien only occasionally demonstrates, a vulnerability more hinted at in the show through chat noir (but this is an essay for another day).

most importantly, show and movie adrien are both total dorks. the essence of this character is portrayed well in the movie, i really didn't mind the changes because in the end he was still recognizable as my sad sunshine adrien agreste, and i hope people look past the surface differences to recognize and appreciate him for who he is.

plagg plays a bigger role in adrien’s life in the series than in the movie. i love their relationship so i missed that here, but i also feel like maybe they didn’t need him to be looking out for adrien and essentially taking care of him (gorilla does this in the series too, and he wasn’t needed in the movie as adrien has the freedom to largely come and go as he wants and use public transport, something series adrien could never do) because of how much less restrictive his life is in this iteration. 

ladynoir:

the film introduces ladybug and chat noir as "two rival heroes." plagg and tikki themselves are called rivals. eventually ladybug redubs them as "partners" after she and chat noir find a rhythm and master fu also tells them they're stronger together, so i am puzzled why they even tried introducing them that way. in the show, ladynoir aren't rivals at al—they've always been a team. and in this movie, despite those initial comments, it's no different. there's banter and flirtation for sure, but the most "rival" these two get are when they first meet and are goading each other into an argument over which hero is better and who is the sidekick (before they've done anything lmao) and that one fun volkswagon ad when they race each other. i love the flirty competitive sparring, the way they tease each other, when they're just messing around and being playful in the 'stronger together' sequence. you really watch these two become best friends, and like the series, chat noir falls in love with ladybug like a thunderbolt (a coup de foudre!) while for her, you see her affection for him grow the longer they work together and get to know each other. i don't think this is as much of a departure from the series as stan twitter would have you believe, but it does spend more time on their dynamic in one setting than any episode ever does (ladynoir is developed over time in the series, little by little, and their cute flirty dynamic is very reminiscent of how they're portrayed in the first two seasons before the guardianship and other miraculous holders complicated their relationship. at their core they've always had great chemistry and a strong connection). i like both developments tbh, but that one scene of them training together and having fun for a significant amount of time was so lovely to see. don't get me wrong—there are some great moments these two share outside of battle in the series too, but it's been a while since we've seen this dynamic there with everything else going on that it felt so nice to return to this, and in such a huge way too.

the one thing i miss is chat noir calling ladybug "milady." it's such a cute thing he does in the series, and though i enjoyed that "insane!" / "watermelon!" banter, i do miss this being what he calls her all the time. (there is a song called 'my lady' that chat noir sings to himself after he falls in love with ladybug, and in the very last line of the song he calls her this, but otherwise it's just not a thing in the movie.) it really doesn't matter, but i still mourned its absence.

adrienette/adrinette:

the first time i watched this film, i did not like the first adrien/marinette meet-cute at all. to be honest, i wasn't being fair. the first miraculous scene in the series that had me completely enchanted was that umbrella scene in origins, and it is the foundation for this ship and why i love them so much. every bit of the original scene is perfection, with the careful finger brush, the soft smiles, the way their eyes meet and marinette hears a thunder clap (an actual coup de foudre) in the distance as the instrumental 'in the rain' plays in the background... that scene was so spectacularly constructed, it was always obvious nothing this movie did was ever going to match that.

and that's okay.

watching the film a second time, i found that while the umbrella scene still is incomparable, there are things i did like about marinette and adrien's first meeting. the way marinette asks for "a little luck" and she follows the light through the bookshelves to see adrien, who approaches her himself because he thinks she might be in need of help, asking her if she's okay or seeing the distressed look upon her face and wondering if she's crying. it's different from origins, but in some ways it's the same—marinette was distressed, adrien approached her first, she's thrown by his kindness and flustered by his beauty. they have some kind of moment and in the end, he offers her an awkward but gentle smile.

but in origins, they already had history. she didn't care and barely realized he was famous or even connected to her dream of becoming a fashion designer. his looks don't register to her until she's already fallen in love with him. and it's his initiative to correct the misunderstanding between them and show her kindness despite her being harsh and unfair to him that makes her take a second glance, and once she does, she falls in love fast. though i do see the essence of that moment—the being drawn to adrien's kindness aspect—in the movie's library scene, it's less impactful. she doesn't know adrien, so there is barely a conversation between them, and other than his concern over her and his offer of a helping hand when she falls, i don't really see what he does that makes her fall strongly in love with him. if it's still his kindness, it just feels weaker. one could argue that her instant attraction to him is because of his cuteness, and this is what flusters her, and his kindness (less impact than the series, but in this new universe, barely anyone in this school has ever shown marinette kindness rather than gossiping and laughing about her clumsiness so maybe to her this is a real moment of kindness) is only secondary. it's not all that clear. either way, marinette is fascinated by him to keep looking at him before she even falls and he offers to help her up, so the meeting feels a lot more shallow (he had noticed her distress and asked if she was crying before, but i don't know... is just asking about her enough kindness to get that reaction from her? it makes sense after he helps her up but the fascination before.. maybe i'm just longing for the impact of the umbrella scene and this was actually fine...?). the scene ends with adrien's confused, soft smile when he says "she's so weird" to himself (they barely interacted, so i don't know if i'd call it a "fond smile" but it's not the malicious thing some people on social media have been making it out to be. in this iteration adrien tries not to interact with many people, so it's a big deal he was kind enough to still reach out to her. this meeting probably stuck out to him as something unordinary and the comment felt more like he was curious about her more than anything else. it ends up being important to marinette because her clumsiness makes people usually mock her, but he didn't do that, so her instinct then is to try to talk to him (and ask him out, probably?). not the big momentous falling in love scene from the series, but it is still a nice moment for these characters as they're established in this universe.

i think one of the reasons this ship feels weak to me in the film is that outside of this moment, adrien and marinette's friendship development is reduced to a musical montage.

if the movie had used this moment to develop their relationship further, i probably would have actually liked the romance here. while ladynoir had scenes of interactions and ladybug and chat noir getting to know each other and becoming comfortable with each other and literally becoming bffs who trust each other as only two people in the world who share a singular unique experience can, all the development adrien and marinette have is shown through one musical montage in the middle of the movie. (they do have a small interaction at the fair, but this is around the time adrien is first coming out of his shell so it’s very brief.) in the montage, you see many shots of adrien and marinette hanging out with alya and nino in picnics and at the movies, and he looks more at ease with each outing. and you also see adrien opening up to marinette specifically about his mom, sharing photos of her, and finally working through his grief rather than withdrawing from everyone. but because this is a five second scene in the midst of a musical montage illustrating the passage of time, we never get the words exchanged, the scene is glossed over and the impact is only felt by fans of the series who know what this means to him. (fun fact: the film has adrien trusting marinette enough to feel so close to her he talks about his mom with her before he talks to ladybug about her and how in his grief he pushed people away before he met her. though ladybug was the catalyst to him opening up to people, i do find it meaningful that he opened up to marinette first. but this is still a crumb and you have to be looking to make those connections in order to see them. the film should have shown adrien falling in love to some extent outside of the mask as well, he’s supposed to have some kind of inner conflict and it’s hard to believe that he does here with all the missing pieces.) i’m not sure if casual viewers would even notice it in the midst of all the other scenes happening as the theme song plays in the background. had we seen more of stuff like this, gotten some kind of explanation that over time adrien had started to feel for marinette too and this montage is proof of it (it shows that they’re friends and he trusts her now to some extent, but it’s so fast it barely registers. you can’t deduce he’s in love with marinette here, whereas in the scenes with chat noir you see ladybug actively struggle with her feelings, develop affectionate feelings for chat noir, and feel bad for rejecting him because of that, not just because it sucks to have to turn someone down), then that would have been fine. but that’s not what happens. after this montage we barely see adrien and marinette together at all until she tries asking him to he ball and he says he’s sorry but there’s someone else. though his rejection was soft, and you do see him look upset he had to reject her, there was no doubt he was going to reject her here. the core conflict—that they’re in love with two people, one they fall in love with like thunder and another that slowly builds in their heart—is so badly illustrated in this movie. you can see the intention is there if you’re looking for it, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. 

though i appreciate that marinette didn't struggle to find her words around adrien in this film, and appeared more realistically flustered and anxious rather than the over the top thing they do in the series, i still feel like the adrinette in the series is overall written and developed better as a ship. in the tv series, you see this initial conflict —chat noir falls fast for ladybug, who turns him down because marinette fell just as fast in love with adrien agreste—turn into marinette forming a friendship with chat noir, whom she then starts to get close to outside and in the mask, as adrien starts to fall in love with marinette. the series is now at a point where adrien and marinette are actually in love, despite never actually falling out of love with their superhero counterparts, so that if it finally leads to a reveal (which it hasn’t yet), it would be incredibly moving.

my issue is, without this adrinette relationship development, the reveal feels less impactful. if you’re frustrated the series hasn’t given you this moment yet, you feel satisfaction seeing it in the conclusion of this film solely because of the progression of the series. without it, looking at the moments in this film alone, it feels halfhearted. though marinette is ladybug, it’s an idealized version of herself she’s created to take on the challenge of being a hero. these characteristics are still hers, but it feels like someone falling in love with a celebrity. though this isn’t wholly true—chat gets to know ladybug’s vulnerabilities too as they get closer—it’s still not fully her the way marinette, as a normal person who now has the confidence being ladybug provides her echoing in her daily life too, is. so her struggling with her feelings, turning chat noir down reluctantly before adrien rejects her, but still reaching out to him once discovering they’re the same person—you just see that she falls in love with all sides of him. but it’s less clear for adrien. you can analyze that montage and make a deduction, but it’s not as explicit. instead, it just feels like he rejects who she actually is for her heroic persona, and that makes the reveal feel one-sided (unless you carry over your feelings of frustration from the series never giving us this moment).

it sucks that adrinette was underdeveloped because as far as scenes go, the reveal is actually quite beautiful. adrien has tears in his eyes when she introduces herself as ladybug and he realizes she liked him all along, but if we knew why those tears of relief and happiness appeared upon realizing the girl of his dreams was marinette, it would mean more. [he’s also at this ball wearing the bow tie marinette made for him that she threw into the trash after he rejected her, and i’d love to believe that this isn’t a continuity error, but it probably is. it’s hard to imagine adrien felt so torn up about rejecting marinette (after ladybug already rejected him??! like it really felt like he’d like to go to this ball that he never asked ladybug to go to alone rather than with marinette, which is…not great ) that he went by the trash, saw his name on a box and opened it up, realizing she made him a gift, and then chose to wear it. he literally doesn’t think about marinette once in this film after he rejects her so this feels like a reach… unless it was intentional, in which case they should have written so much more to make this (and this ship) clear.]

gabriel agreste:

i can't remember if origins explained how long gabriel agreste had the butterfly miraculous and if he used it right away upon acquiring it, but what i liked in the film was that it was clearly explained that he had had that artifact for a while, done research on its capabilities, considered the risks and rewards, and then after a long time of deliberation finally made the active choice to do what he knew was wrong just because he loved his wife so much he would never be able to live without her. ("if chaos is the way, i will burn the world and lose myself to do so!") each time he misuses the miraculous to hurt people, it takes a toll on his physical and mental health, making him look haggard and act more crazy and reckless (this happens in the series as well—season 1 gabriel isn't season 5 gabriel but he becomes more villainous over time).

one thing that confuses me though is that gabriel got a sense of the chaos and terror committed with the butterfly miraculous upon just touching the item, but the series and later on in the film, it's explicitly stated that this miraculous isn't inherently evil. in the show there are many reasons why ladybug and chat noir historically were called to fight, but in the movie it seems to be implied that it's this one miraculous alone that summons them through creating chaos in the world. but it's also allegedly 'good'—this contradiction is confusing (and my friend who had no knowledge of mlb was so lost watching this movie). i don't think the show does much for romanticizing this decision the way the film does, and it certainly doesn't make us believe that gabriel agreste felt forced to make this decision and had doubts he overlooked because he was that desperate. i mean, his desperation comes across in the series in other ways but not in a sad lonely man who is struggling to live without his wife way. the film humanizes this stupid, terrible man in a way the series fails to do so (which makes sense given some of the atrocities he goes onto commit that film gabriel doesn't come close to doing). this softer portrayal works for the movie as many of the things i dislike about m. agreste are never portrayed, leaving him a bit more of a sympathetic villain even as he terrorizes all of paris. he still sucks though, just on a lesser scale. 

when gabriel tells the story about how much adrien's mother meant to him, and how difficult it was for him to face the sadness in adrien's eyes upon losing a parent (tbh he's so dumb. his son finds it hard to cope with one parent leaving him so his solution is to make him lose the second parent too just because it was hard to deal with his son's grief on top of his own...dumbass), he says it was only after she was gone that he learned about the miraculous. does this mean that in this universe adrien actually wasn't conceived using the peacock miraculous and the coma emilie is in at the end is caused by something else? gabriel and adrien both speak about his mom like she's dead. and at the end it's revealed that like in the series, emilie is still alive but in a magical coma. did he just mean that they already knew about the peacock miraculous and what he learned about was the butterfly miraculous and then the wish the ladybug and black cat miraculous combined make? i'm lost. (maybe it's just really huge a continuity error?

i saw a lot of people wonder why adrien in the show doesn't argue with his father or blow up at him the way adrien does in the film. aside from the fact that gabriel agreste in the movie is a lot less criminal than the abusive doucheface he is in the series, it doesn't look like adrien is being controlled by his father if he's a sentibeing here too and the worst thing gabriel has done is be an absentee parent (bad, but it's not the locking your kid up, forcing him to work since he was a child, controlling his every second of every day, having your employees follow him around and spy on him for you, trying to control who he interacts with on a daily basis, forbidding him from hanging out with friends, trying to akumatize him or exploit him in other ways, being emotionally abusive, etc etc). adrien in the series being younger, experiencing his father being an ass only since his mother disappeared six months ago and taking nearly a year to realize his treatment isn't normal and he physically can't resist his dad's orders even if he wanted to... they're in such different predicaments. older adrien with less manipulation and abuse would have an easier time yelling at his father. tv adrien also eventually argues with his dad in season 5, but it takes a lot to build up to that and then the series quickly destroys all this character development because of a hole they wrote themselves into, but that's an essay for another time... i don't think these can be fairly compared. (that said, i clapped hard when adrien told his father he lost his dad a long time ago. his father made a decision not to act like a parent once he lost his wife and it's been a long while since then, he's essentially raising himself at this point.)

it's this change in adrien and gabriel's relationship that allows the end of the final battle to make sense in the movie in a way they wouldn't make sense in the show. tv gabriel agreste doesn't care to hurt his son—you see this constantly explored in different timelines. there is a reason why there's so much fanfiction guessing gabriel would exploit adrien if he learned he was chat noir, or actively try to trade him for his wife. movie gabriel, however, stops right away the second he realizes that the teenager he was ready to hurt was actually his son. hell, even earlier, he called adrien to leave the fair before sending akumas there because he didn't want him to get caught in the crossfire. tv gabriel would never. (i guess show gabriel also does this mid-series sometimes but it's so inconsistent...granted show gabriel doesn't know what his son is even doing most days unless he's leaving the city—the one very aware of his schedule is nathalie sooo maybe it's an issue of knowledge. either way, by season 5, gabriel tries to deliberately put his son into harm's way and even akumatize him sooooo....) so that heart to heart they have that helps gabriel deal with his grief and talks him down from being a supervillain any longer is a beautiful moment (the scene itself has the prettiest animation of those two embracing as purified butterflies surround them), but one that the series would not be able to replicate (that character is really not redeemable there even though they kind of tried).

chloe:

to be honest i don't really care for her in any iteration of this, but i did find it interesting that while she said she offered to show him around (as she does in the show too), we never see adrien with chloe in this movie ever. he doesn't talk about her, he doesn't acknowledge her. i always see their friendship as one created by circumstance—when you're kids and your parents' friends only have the one child you're left to interact with so you become "friends" but that friendship isn't anything deep despite it being one of your first. not going to analyze their relationship in the show because while it's not the best friendship some people in fandom fictionalize, it does have some complexity, but in the movie, i'd honestly argue they barely know each other. chloe mentions adrien on multiple occasions. but he doesn't once talk or think about her. he's already friends with nino (is he new in this? chloe said she wants to show him around, but he's already hanging out in a library when we first see him and he already is friends with nino enough for nino to try to invite him out—is it that he's new but this time it's not his first day we're seeing? i don't know, it's unclear), and they make plans to hang out. you see a montage of him hanging out with nino, alya and marinette later, but nothing on chloe. if she wasn't so extremely anxious, i'd wonder why marinette believes chloe at all when she suddenly claims to be the girl adrien likes. i saw some people say chloe in the film is more redeemable than chloe in the series, and while this is true (because of things chloe does to aid a supervillain in seasons 4 and 5 that can't really be undone) i don't see much of a difference in her relationship with marinette. she's not a "rival" (rival suggests a largely harmless competitiveness—marinette isn't competing with her. she's trying to stay out of her way so chloe doesn't hurt her). the degree of bullying is possibly different (we don't really know. movie chloe threatens to strangle marinette with her own hair, so while she's probably not the sole reason marinette has no friends this time, she's still pretty much an actual bully, though a little more aware of being shamed via the internet for her crimes, though not so much at school in front of people... probably because irl people she can control but on the internet, as a politician's daughter as well as a famous hotel heiress, she is bound to face backlash for herself and her family...?) but it's still not great enough to be claiming this character deserves serious spotlight or a redemption arc (honestly she's hardly in the movie). like the series, i get the impression that there is some racism at work here too, but it's not as strong as it is in the show (marinette being this white girl's main target for no reason, her talking to her like she's inhuman, the way the entire school is so quick to dismiss her whenever she's targeted by lila or chloe without ever investigating anything because a white girl cried wolf, and then chloe's actual comments to marinette's uncle, the way she stresses the 'cheng' part of her surname when she's addressing her, etc. etc. the film doesn't do any of this).

there's a scene where chloe is ordering sabrina to locate marinette so she can harass her, and sabrina finds marinette but chooses to lie and pretend she couldn't find her. though sabrina in the series slowly evolves and learns to listen to her own conscience, i like that outside of chloe's line of sight, she knows what's wrong or right. though this is true of series sabrina too, she doesn't act on this sense of morality. i like the change that she does in the film, at least away from chloe. it's the bare minimum but at least it's something.

the music:

it took me a whileeee to care about the music here, but i still find a lot of the music just largely forgettable. (honestly i was hoping for disney classic level music in this animated film, so i guess i have no one to blame but myself there. it doesn't help that i'm obsessed with the actual instrumental music in the series—'in the rain' is one of the most beautiful songs i've ever heard. also i was hoping for ce mur qui nous sépare, but i guess that was a hopeless dream. i was hoping, if they were excluding it, the song wouldn't apply in the movie because there were less "walls between [them]" than in the series, since it was ending in a reveal, but the film doesn't actually go that route... more on that later.) despite the fact that the music wasn't my favorite part, and i really think the movie would improve if there had been a better balance between story development and music (the film really suffers from too much unneeded music in favor of less story development), i did really enjoy some of the songs and the usage of series throwback musical motifs was excellent. also really enjoyed the usage of 'careless whisper' in this movie lmfaoooooo, comedic excellence.

(unpopular opinion: i really didn't mind that lou sings for christina. it doesn't fit well at all, but i heard about it long before i watched the movie and was just expecting it. it's not the best because their voices are so different, but it didn't really take me out like i thought it would, and i got used to it really fast.)

in the first song marinette sings about believing in herself. the visuals are gorgeous. the film brought to life her sketchbook, evolving the mundane to the most elegant of clothes. honestly would love to see and hear more about marinette's passion for design and her dream of becoming a designer. the film barely touched upon it (the show could go into this more too! they do sometimes but i want moreee), but it would be nice to hear where marinette's inspirations come from, why this dream is so meaningful to her. what i found interesting was, in the show marinette exclaims that gabriel agreste is her favorite fashion designer. but movie marinette doesn't mention him ever. does she know about him? is he less influential to her here? she walks by his showroom on her way to school but that's the extent we see of anything in this vein. curious.

though i don't think the 'you are ladybug' song was a necessity (adrien didn't get a song about becoming chat noir, but i guess he didn't need the extra encouragement, since he was ready to go instantly), i did actually enjoy it. lyrically it isn't strong, but it's a fun back and forth between marinette and tikki, and the way the song pays homage to the miraculous ladybug theme song is beautiful (the entire "i have one job / i'm good at it / i've been doing it for so many years" follows the tune to "another day / i'm back at school / i look at him, he's so cool" in the series theme song, and i especially loved "but why me? / i'm nothing special, bug / wait and see / what you're capable of" sung to the melody of "oh oh oh / he's got me spinning 'round / oh oh oh / my feet are off the ground." just TOO GOOD). the rap where tikki channels lin manuel miranda made me die of laughter, but also i really can't get over her going, "we'll come THISCLOSE to dying and then we'll do it all again!" as a selling point to convince this teenager to put her life on the line for all of paris. the other part of this song i really loved was the polyphony at the end when marinette and tikki sang their own melodies at the same time—not just because it sounded nice but because i died over tikki saying, "i'm about to kick your butt if you don't start to listen" lmao.

my entire theater laughed at hawk moth’s song (the song was okay, but the concept of hawk moth singing took me out lmao). it did have the feel of a classic villain song in movies like anastasia or the lion king, but it wasn’t as memorable. i do think it expressed gabriel agreste’s mental state really well though. 

reiterating that i really don’t think marinette needed 3.5 different songs about the same theme, but the best song lyrically/musically/vocally is definitely ‘courage in me,’ hands down.

maybe it’s because i adore the fuck out of the music drew ryan scott sings as ’christopher wilde’ in the disney channel movie starstruck, but i love the song chat noir sings after being lovestruck by ladybug after their first meeting (sung by the same man). the visuals of him literally singing with his head in the clouds were excellent, the character song fit him so well, and i think the melody had such a dreamscape feel of falling in love. i actually really like the lyrics in this song too (“it’s been a while since i smiled and meant it” adrichat my bb ;A; ) and my favorite part is “then she appears like a dream in a dream!” i think this song also does what music is meant to do in a musical—add to the story so that part of it can be told in song. so we get adrien basically saying he’s been withdrawing from people for sooo long, and this encounter with ladybug in which he almost died is the first time he’s felt something in a long time. this musical interlude leads to him hanging out with his friend nino at the fair (he said ‘whatever’ when nino first asked him to go, but the difference in his expression and the fact that he seems more smiley and enthusiastic in this encounter, and even hopeful enough to ask his dad to actually come to the fair and hang out with him already demonstrates a change in his demeanor), actually having a conversation with marinette, and then a montage of him no longer choosing to deal with his grief alone and finally reaching out to others, so you can see how that moment with ladybug (and all the other moments of them getting to know each other afterward while fighting or training) really did impact his life.

the miraculous title musical montage around the middle of the movie was too excellent and showed the passage of time really well, both as ladybug and chat noir, and as adrien and marinette. this was a great way to develop parts of the story (it also depicted marinette’s character evolution, making her more self confident in her daily life and no longer being an anxious messy creator of catastrophes). it was also nice to just hear a familiar song. (chat noir smiling goofily to himself after seeing ladybug smile at “and when i see her smile, that’s when she becomes miraculous” is my fave—it's just so well done, i love.)

‘stronger together’ is one of those songs that i love the first half of but find the second half too messy. the sequence is gorgeous, the scene is one of my favorites in terms of relationship development and animation in the entire movie. and i am weirdly in love with the part of the song where it pauses before he sings “take my hand!” and the music picks up. it’s so playful and flirty and the essence of how ladynoir are depicted in this movie, and i love that. the vocals are lovely. there’s a musical motif throwing back to one of my favorite instrumentals in the tv series—'the last dance' which serves as the background of so many touching ladybug and chat noir moments in the show—at the end of the song where she ponders the mixed feelings inside her heart before ultimately rejecting chat noir (“what is this feeling now? i cannot fall for him…” / “we could be great, i know / i’m falling for you.”). as a song, this back and forth dialogue feels so random tacked on here but it is a musical so i guess that fits, i just found the whole thing kind of messy. but i love that they did this dialogue to the melody of ‘the last dance’ because it’s such a gorgeous melody and a sentimental throwback. honestly even if i only like half the song, the scene itself is a film highlight and i fucking cry over the cheesy cute “you save the world every day with your mask, but the girl behind it saved my heart” he says to her that causes her to gasp (same).

film additions that are just better:

the animation, obviously. (THE HAIR TEXTURE! THE SCENERY! THEIR EYES? I CRY I CRY.)

i am fond of the fact that their miraculous lights up (flickers? glows? there's light of some kind) when the city is in need of ladybug or chat noir to save the day, and just kind of guides adrien and marinette to where they need to go. this is a big difference from the series where they have to physically encounter the danger themselves (and they do! because in the show, most of the people akumatized are people they know, random adults in their lives or the kids in their class). and at least one of them has to be present to call the other one to appear. this is not necessary in the universe of the movie. it's also more realistic because hawk moth isn't specifically targeting the kids in his son's class, but is akumatizing people at random all over the city.

i also really loved the fact that tikki and plagg use magic to choose their own chosen holders, rather than master fu doing a random test in the middle of nowhere and hoping to attract people of pure heart out on the street. it helps add to the lore that they're actually chosen, and that they're fated and compatible, and i love that a lot. (there is a scene where he, while trying to chase tikki, ends up in the middle of the street in front of oncoming traffic, and marinette risks her life to save him. but this wasn't used as a means for him to choose her for the ladybug role, but rather as a means for identifying that she was destined to be ladybug and tikki had chosen her. i will add that while i love the concept, the scene itself made me laugh because he sounded crazy interacting with her, no wonder she ended up being scared and running away from him.) the fact that adrien spots a black cat that leads him to the black cat ring and marinette spots a ladybug that guides her to the ladybug earrings... *chef's kiss* i'll confess, i wasn't a fan of every single person they choose throughout history being called ladybug and chat noir (in the series, they choose their own names. ladybug is self explanatory but the fact that adrien's mom used to read him a bedtime story about a hero named chat noir and this resonated with him so much he chose to name himself that immediately upon discovering he has powers means so much to me), but this really wasn't a significant change and i only care because i love adrichat so much.

it was a cool detail in the scene where marinette meets tikki that she awakens like the genie in aladdin (she even calls herself a genie in this one rather than a god. it doesn't matter, but i prefer kwamis being called gods. tikki then goes on to talk about how she can't grant wishes, when we know the black cat and ladybug miraculous can grant a wish in exchange for an equal price which is the entire plot of the movie, but this terminology preference is unimportant). the way she noted all the societal changes and how much time has spent since she's been needed to reawaken was very fun.

in the tv series, gabriel agreste akumatizes himself when he thinks ladybug and chat noir might guess his identity as hawk moth, hoping that if he appeared as a victim they'd be off his trail. while this serves its purpose in the show, i thought it was really cool that film gabriel agreste decided his dark heart would be stronger than the people he's been akumatizing, and instead of continuing to sit back and use innocent civilians for his means, he chooses to akumatize those negative feelings he always carries with him and turn into the ultimate villain himself. and he succeeds, becoming a villain that is so strong, he gets the earrings himself and nearly gets the ring. though i liked that he did this, something about this battle still felt really anticlimactic. it's probably a pacing issue because i really did love that final scene between gabriel and adrien, but everything happened so fast it didn't feel as epic as it seemed they were going for. additionally, i know that the point was ladybug and chat noir are only unbeatable if they work together and they were not at all united this final battle because their feelings got in the way, i was still really troubled that the only reason they won against hawk moth is because he backed off. had chat noir's mask never gotten torn, he would not have stopped...

(i also have to ask, since his identity gets revealed on a large scale and the newscasters even announce that it was him the whole time, does he actually get consequences? like he did back off, but he was still terrorizing the whole city for months... if he's exposed, shouldn't there be ramifications? i can't tell if he went to prison. the movie did not say.)

where the series shines more:

to someone who has never seen the series (i watched this initially with a friend who knew absolutely nothing about mlb), the powers are confusing. in the series, origins explains really well what cataclysm and lucky charm do, how they can only use them once before given five minutes before detransforming and needing to re-transform to use the power again. the series makes use of this, creating tension with the five minute rule (which is explained to only apply to them while they're children, so once they "mature" the time limit will disappear and they'd be able to use their powers over and over without fear of exposing their identities). while the movie does not need to stress over the time limitation (as the film aged up the characters from 13 to 15/16, so i guess they've already hit 'maturity'), it spends no time on explaining what a cataclysm is (a power chat noir doesn't even use until the final battle, and NO EXPLANATION IS GIVEN. WE'RE JUST SUPPOSED TO KNOW HE ALWAYS HAD THIS ABILITY HE NEVER NEEDED TO USE UNTIL HAWK MOTH WAS READY TO KILL HIM) and there are no lucky charms.

actually, the entire battle format makes little sense. in the show, ladybug and chat noir have to figure out what object hawk moth akumatized to turn civilians into his supernatural army, break the akumatized object, free the butterfly, and then purify it. in the movie, all they're really told is that they're meant to fight these beings, and after they win, ladybug can purify the butterfly. there isn't an explanation for when the butterfly leaves the akuma—no objects are being broken; they're literally just fighting until the monster can exist no more. this is strange to me because these fights have no rules. it's just, literally physically defeating a creature until the magic can no longer hold it.

i don't know how i feel about this, but i liked how the series does it. because it's an emphasis on physical strength, the movie lacking lucky charms makes sense, but what i always liked about that was 1) it called back on ladybug being the embodiment of good luck that her power would be chance, and 2) it was specifically marinette's time to shine. her strength in the series is her creativity, her creative approach to problem solving and use of her clever mind is what sets her apart and makes her the best ladybug in the series no matter who else has worn the ladybug miraculous. without this, i felt like a big essence of the character was missing. (the film does call upon her intelligence and creative mind in some scenes, like in the first battle where she uses her yoyo somewhat strategically to stumble her way through traffic and save chat noir, but it wasn't enough for me. i guess it was supposed to be implied that she planned the gargoyle to get hit by the train and the collision released the akuma, but the film is so unclear about this. it looked more like a happy accident rather than marinette using her brain to save the day.)

in the show, ladybug also has the ability to undo akuma damage when she throws her lucky charm into the air and shouts "miraculous ladybug" at the end of each battle. since lucky charms are absent in this iteration, it makes sense this isn't a thing either. (i guess it could also be tedious to show this in the movie after every single attack whereas once an episode is fine, but they could have just shown it once and implied it always happened. instead, what they implied was that after every battle, the damage to the city was actual damage and the city had to deal with the infrastructure hawk moth damaged until after the final battle, when ladybug gave master fu the butterfly miraculous. upon reclamation of that miraculous, fu told her that she, as the holder of the miraculous of creation, could (now, i guess?) use her power to rebuild the city. instead of it being a lucky charm thrown into the air with an incantation that creates a swarm of butterflies spreading over the city for an immediate cure, it's marinette directing her power slowly to every corner of the city and actually creating to undo the damage. this made for a very pretty scene that i really liked, but imagine how awful paris would look if in the series, none of that damage was ever fixed and it would have taken til the end of season 5, ten months after hawk moth started terrorizing the city, for anything to get restored (actually this wouldn't even happe if the show universe worked the same way because they don't reclaim that miraculous at the end of season 5).

so one of my main issues with this film is that a lot of the major themes and didactic messages are just constantly shoved in your face rather than learned by the characters. i think the series—because it has the time—does this better than the film because it allows characters to fail and learn things on their own, rather than having the message delivered in big "life lesson" quotes to the characters all the time that it doesn't at all feel natural. (so the film constantly tells rather than shows.) for example, on her way out of the bakery, marinette randomly asks her mom, "how do you make your dreams come true?" this conversation comes out of nowhere (they were talking about her embarrassment from her dad's antics and her lack of friends right before), and it's followed up with a lesson in believing in herself. it might have made sense had her mom encouraged her to embrace who she is and related that to her reaching out of her comfort zone to consider befriending some of her peers, but that doesn't happen. (it does lead to a song about believing in herself and how if she did so she'd reach her true potential, which is nice, but feels so disjointed from the conversation that happened before it, it was a bit jarring.) when marinette meets master fu on the street, he randomly says to her "who saves a life saves the world" and scares her. but then moments after, she ends up somewhere a ladybug leads her to the same words written on stone. we really didn't need master fu saying this to her when she was going to encounter the message anyway (especially as it comes into play significantly at the end of the movie in the final battle when fu reiterates the quote).

i cringed so hard in that scene after their first fight where master fu appeared out of nowhere just to say “before you discover who i am, you must first discover who you are.” like... okay?

similarly, this is how i felt about the "stronger together" theme. i love that this message is important to the plot—chat noir and ladybug literally are stronger together. but this is constantly being stated rather than the movie trusting the audience to realize it on their own. in the show, ladybug and chat noir work best as partners. their teamwork and trust in each other makes the entire show. here, they work best together also, and their powers even amplify during the moments of teamwork rather than when either of them try to take on a fight alone. i thought this was an interesting change (i love both), but i really like the two of them discovering this on their own through trial and error rather than having master fu mention it to them once and they just spend the entire movie constantly thinking about it.

the one “life lesson” that i thought was more naturally expressed was when chat noir, before being a cute goofball and teasing her, realized ladybug was a little hesitant to accept the mission, and he said, “i understand you’re afraid, but failure is not your enemy—your fears are.” though his delivery was lighthearted, the message stayed with her and she even parrots it back to him later. this is how a film expressing such “life lessons” should do it—through natural progression rather than a bunch of fortune cookie quotes thrown at you over and over again. (though the scene is different, it was reminiscent of the scene in origins when ladybug panics because of how they messed up their first fight, and chat noir reassures and encourages her, inspiring her to continue being a hero despite her being afraid of making more mistakes. this is another example of the film having corresponding but distinctive scenes that i still really enjoyed even though they were different from the series.)

actually, that scene towards the end of the film when tikki reminds marinette that she's ladybug even outside of the mask was really well done too (as well as its reference to the earlier "you save the world every day with your mask, but the girl behind it saved my heart" scene). i loved seeing marinette muster up all the strength she has to try to free chat noir from hawk moth's grip. that one shot of her tackling him out of the way of hawk moth's attack as herself untransformed is so beautifully animated.

overall:

honestly, ignoring all those tweets arguing the movie is better than the series (they're incomparable—there are things the film does better, but overall the development of the series spread out over a hundred episodes is way better than a movie limited under two hours with way too much music), i found that the movie was fun if it wasn't taken seriously. as much as we all hate astruc i don't think it can replace the series even with the things it did better, but i don't think it was meant to (despite what tons of great marketing tweets by fans have claimed). it's just another way to enjoy these characters that mean a lot to us, another iteration of a story we cherish. i do hope the writing improves and the lessons come more naturally in the sequel, but even if it's just a continuation of this i'll eat it up every time (especially now that the movie approaches territory the series has never come close to: marinette and adrien know their feelings for each other and their identities, a fanfiction reader's dream! and maybe they can retcon the adrienette and explore whatever was meant to be conveyed via that montage so that the relationship works on both sides of the mask). i hope anyone familiar with miraculous (and those even curious about it) go and enjoy this film on netflix because it's still a fun ride, and i'm really glad i had the opportunity to experience it at the cinema and laugh and cry all the way through.

[farfromharry]

Beth [ 4 ] | Dad!Eddie Munson series

Four, The birthday girl

Word count - 6772

Warnings - nothing i dont think 

a/n - after this part theres lots of timeskips that just show important moments, but after the series is over im planning on doing a blurb night thing for any small moments anyone wants to see :)

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April 1990

Even after all the struggle he went through, balancing a baby right as he finished school, his life plans having changed and the difficulty that came with raising a child, he wouldn’t change a thing. Four years later and his baby girl was the most important person in his life. He would do anything for Beth, any single thing she asked. His plans might have had to be altered, but they certainly weren’t going to change altogether. As soon as Eddie had made enough money from his diner job, he’d planned to be out of that place and living his dream with Beth by his side. But for now, he was enjoying the time he spent with her in Hawkins surrounded by his friends. 

The morning of her fourth birthday was one of much excitement. Eddie had been woken up with the girl bouncing on his bed, rousing him from his sleep. He groaned quietly, trying to see the clock on his wall to see what time it was. Beth had pretty much no concept of time, so it could be four am or it could be ten. He prayed for the latter, but knowing her it probably wasn’t. 

When he cracked open an eye he noticed she wasn’t looking, so slowly he reached for her waist, startling her when he pulled her down onto the bed. She broke out into a fit of giggles, growing louder when Eddie began to tickle her too. “Daddy, stop!” she laughed, the sound truly music to his ears. 

He let her catch her breath as he sneaked a glance at the time, noticing it was only nine. He had to give it to her, she’d actually let him sleep for once. “Happy birthday, sweet girl.” Her smile was wide like it always was as she cuddled into her dad’s chest. He found it so hard to believe that she had already been in his life for four years already, she was growing so much so quickly. He wished time would slow down. 

Her head was tucked under his chin, his hand rubbing her back. He was surprised she didn’t fall asleep again in his arms, but he knew his next words would shake any remaining sleep from her body. “I got you something,” he told her, poking her stomach as he got up from the bed. She tried to contain her excitement, but she was practically exploding with joy as she waited for him to grab whatever it was. He’d kept it wrapped under his bed, somewhere he knew she wouldn’t bother looking. 

He placed the large box in her lap, watching as she ripped open the paper after she got the okay from her dad. His wrapping wasn’t the best, but he tried his best and he thought he deserved a pat on the back for it. It did the job. 

“A guitar!” she gasped, looking at her dad with wide eyes. Every time Eddie had pulled out his guitar in the last year, his little Beth had made a comment about how she wanted a guitar of her own, so he’d saved up and bought her a miniature version of his own for her birthday. “It looks like yours,” she noticed. That piece of information only made her love the gift more. She was a carbon copy of her dad in almost every way and she certainly loved music in the same way he did, knowing she’d be able to play a guitar that was the same as his was thrilling.

“It does,” he said, flickering his attention to his own guitar that hung on his bedroom wall proudly. “Now we match.”

She peered up at him with those doe eyes that made his heart weak. For those eyes he would do literally anything. “Will you teach me how to play?” she asked. There was no way he would ever be able to turn her down on that offer, even if he was sure she would find it a struggle to succeed with some of the songs he knew how to play. Luckily, the song she was named after was easy enough. “Course I will, but not today. We gotta get up and ready for the zoo, birthday girl.”

She nodded, allowing him to stand up before practically throwing herself into his arms. From there he would carry her to the kitchen so the pair could have breakfast. She’d taken him a little off guard when she jumped at him, so naturally he thought to pay for that he had to toss her over his shoulder. Her laughter was loud as she kicked her legs, playfully begging to be let down. But the two of them both knew she loved it. 

In the beginning, Eddie had been scared of nearly every move he made as a dad, he now found it all came natural to him. He didn’t need to overthink every single decision, and he didn’t have to worry about if he wasn’t being careful enough. In fact if you looked at him with Beth now compared to how he was four years ago, you’d think Eddie was two completely separate people. Four years ago he never would have been caught dead tossing his child over his shoulder, it would have made him fear for his life. And now, well…

“Okay, you go sit down,” he said, letting her back down to her feet. She stumbled for a second from the sudden dizziness as she tried to regain her balance, earning a laugh from her dad. Once she was stable she basically sprinted to the couch while Eddie rummaged through the almost empty cupboards. “What does the birthday girl want for breakfast? We’ve got frosted flakes or cinnamon toast crunch.” 

She hummed loudly as she tried to decide, thinking over her options in her head before she finally came to a conclusion. “Frosted flakes, please.” Usually he wouldn’t even give her the option between the two considering they were two of the most sugary cereals he bought and his little Beth on a sugar rush meant hell, but her birthday was a special occasion, so he supposed it was okay just for today. He poured her a bowl of her choice and decided he would join her in it too, bringing the two bowls over to the couch where he dropped beside her. He made sure she had a good grip so he didn’t end up with milk all over the couch again (it had happened on more than one occasion and Wayne hadn’t been incredibly happy). 

The two watched whatever cartoons were on as they ate, not making much conversation. They were both as invested in the colorful show playing as the other, despite the fact that one was a toddler and the other was a twenty-four year old man. But it was only another thing they could bond over so none of them were going to complain. 

After breakfast it was time for them to get ready, the dad letting his girl pick out what she wanted to wear for the day. He usually let her do that, Eddie couldn’t put together an outfit to save his life, not for a little girl anyway. She always made herself look much cuter than he could. If he was given more than just an old band tee and some jeans (his go to) then he was helpless. For herself she picked out a pair of denim overalls and a light coloured jumper, he’d force her into another jacket over top so she didn’t get sick also. 

Eddie was dressed mostly as normal, though he’d tried to make a bit more of an effort for her. He’d swapped out the band tee for a polo shirt Steve had convinced him to buy a long time ago, however had still paired it with his signature black jeans, chains and leather jacket (plus his jewelry).

Obviously he thought she looked much cuter than he did, hence why he had to take the annual birthday picture of her. There would probably be a lot of pictures throughout the day and he didn’t care that it made him look like an overbearing mom. He didn’t have many pictures as a young child for him to look back on, though that changed with Wayne, but he wanted Beth to have those.

When the picture was out of the way he only had one other thing left to do, the bird's nest she called hair.

“Let’s tame that hair, huh?” he muttered, brushing his hand over the top of it. This was one of her least favorite parts of getting ready. She always whined that Eddie was brushing her hair too recklessly and that it hurt, even though he was trying to be as gentle as possible. But her curls, an exact match to his, just made it impossible. However, he always gave her an incentive. If she let him fix her hair with minimal complaints and restrictions, she could choose how he styled his hair for the day. “What style do we want?” 

“Pig tails!” she squealed, already prepared with her answer straight after he asked the question. He smiled, grabbing two hair ties from his dresser. He wasn’t the greatest at hair by far, but over the years he’d gotten much better, he just couldn’t braid at this point, she’d surely surpass him in her own talents soon anyway. “Want you to have the same,” she said. 

He didn’t necessarily mind. He would do anything for his Beth, even if he was probably going to get laughed at by his friends for showing up with his hair in two low pigtails. “Whatever you want, your highness.” Through the mirror he could see that she was beaming, happy she had gotten the answer she wanted. There wasn’t a large part of her that expected him to reject her suggestion, but it was still pleasant to know that he wanted to match with her as much as she wanted to match with him.

Once her hair was done he moved to do his own, following a similar method until the pair looked like twins. She found it very amusing, giggling loudly as the two kept their heads next to each other in the mirror. “Y’look so pretty, daddy.”

He grinned, turning his head to press a smooch to her cheek. “So do you, my sweet girl.” There was a couple minutes where she couldn’t help messing with his hair, tugging on the pig tails until he shooed her hands away, poking at her stomach instead. “Come on, Steve and Dustin should be here soon.” 

He gathered their stuff, making sure her jacket and backpack were on firmly before leading her out of the trailer. She held tightly onto his hand as they reached the steps, the same ones she insisted on jumping down all the time just to prove that she could. He always cheered for her when she landed on her feet at the bottom, telling her she did a great job. However, what he wouldn’t tell her was that without the death grip she had on his hand then she probably wouldn’t land it. He was the only thing preventing her from hurting herself.

The two waited for the familiar BMW to show, not having to go too long until it was pulling up in front of them. Dustin climbed out of the passenger seat, already anticipating the love he was about to receive from the mini Eddie.

“Dusty,” Beth called, rushing into his arms where he welcomed her into a hug. “Baby muns, I’ve missed you.”

Eddie watched from the bottom of the trailer steps with a warm smile as the pair reunited. With Dustin busy with his senior year he hadn’t seen his favorite baby Munson in a couple weeks. She had certainly missed him and he had missed her, so he was happy to have a break where he could spend her birthday with her. The same went for Max who was heading over from her neighboring trailer. Although, sometimes when Eddie had to quickly run out, he’d leave Beth under the watchful eye of a studying Max for just a few minutes. 

Once the little girl realized her favorite redhead was also in her presence she was even more excited, rushing more than her little body could handle to give her a hug. “Let’s wrap it up kiddos, we need to get moving,” Steve called from the front seat, trying to usher them all into the car. The male teen moved to climb back into his seat once their reunion was over, only for Eddie to scold him and tug him back by the shirt collar. “Where d’you think you’re going?” he asked.

He didn’t like that he’d tugged him, so he got his own back, yanking on one of the pig tails in Eddie’s hair. “Uh, back to my seat?” It wasn’t appreciated by the older man, a scowl finding its way to his face as he pushed Dustin’s shoulder as payback and then fixed his hair. 

Beth was watching them both with curiosity. “Nuh-uh, the adult is here now. Get in the back.” 

If it was anyone else Dustin would have probably tried to argue. But he knew he wouldn’t get anywhere with how irritably stubborn Eddie Munson is. It was so much easier to just accept things than make it a fight that dragged out for hours. At least if he sat in the back he’d be able to talk to Beth a little more. Max could be heard snickering from behind as she took the seat on the other side of the little girl. 

In the car the three kids were lost in their own world of conversation, which worked out well

for Steve and Eddie because they found themselves in a very fond one discussing you. Steve had brought you up, asking if his friend had grown the balls to make a move yet, but the other just pretended like he had no idea what he was talking about. The topic was quickly dropped, but the redness that had gravitated to Eddie’s face was still there for a while. It was an awkward silence hanging around the car for a little bit until Beth asked if they could put some music on, and of course all four of them would do anything for her. 

The rest of the ride was filled with the soft sounds of angel eyes by ABBA playing through the car's speakers, as well as the quiet conversation that was made between Dustin and Beth every so often. She could be speaking complete nonsense to him, but he was happy to entertain whatever it was she was talking about.

Upon arrival at the zoo, Beth naturally drifted towards Robin, the two having had an odd connection that began the day they met for the first time. There was something about the older girl that just provoked a sense of calm in the toddler. The pair walked hand in hand for the first ten or so minutes around the zoo, equally giddy about all the animals they were seeing, specifically the snakes. They liked making fun of the fact that Eddie was certainly not a fan of them, keeping his distance from the glass. Around the same time the girl had complained that her bag was heavy, Eddie taking it from her with a smile and carrying it on his own shoulder instead. It earned a few laughs from Dustin and Steve who really thought the pink, sparkly backpack completed the look he’d started with his pig tails. 

Beth looked in awe of every animal she saw, but she spent the most time gazing up at the penguins with a childish wonder that was just precious. At each exhibit after the snakes Eddie would be crouched behind her, holding her tiny body and reading off the facts on the information cards on the glass. He didn’t even know it was possible for her to be more amazed, but upon finding out the black and white creatures could become makeshift sleds by sliding on their bellies on the ice, her eyes grew wider than he’d ever seen, a large toothy grin on her face.

“Daddy, can we try that?” she asked, cheerfully. Eddie turned fearfully towards his group of friends, silently asking them how he was supposed to respond to that kind of question. He didn't want to go full dad mode and say no, but it was April and near freezing, she would a hundred percent catch a cold if she tried. But he also wanted to let her have fun. “Tell you what, B, in summer I’ll get you the fastest water slide we can find, huh?”

Thanks to her skewy conception of time, she didn’t know that was still months away, and hopefully for Eddie’s sake she will have forgotten by then, but it was good enough to tide her over for now. “Good save,” Robin muttered. 

He rose to his feet, smiling proudly to himself as he thanked her despite the obvious sarcasm her tone was drenched in. Beth ran to another one of the group members while the dad was distracted, finding herself tugging on the end of Steve’s shirt to ask silently if he would pick her up. One thing the toddler loved was being held, whether it was for cuddles or being carried around, she just adored it; she was almost never out of someone’s arms, mainly Eddie and Steves. 

The Harrington boy carried the girl anywhere she wanted to go, and her next stop had to be the monkeys. Even the man was amazed as he gazed at them, him and Beth sharing the same expression of wonder. Eddie was so enamored with the smile on his baby girl’s face that he knew he had to take a picture. He ushered them into a stance where he could see both them and the animals behind them. 

“Show me that pretty smile,” he said. His eyes rolled so far into the back of his head as Steve grinned brighter rather than his daughter. He almost physically facepalmed. “No, not you Steve, I meant Beth.”

The second best part of her day apart from seeing the penguins, had to be the gift shop. Of course it was, how could it not be when she managed to swindle Steve out of money and take him for the sucker he was. Eddie was such a proud dad at that moment even if Harrington was basically steaming with rage. At least it made for an amusing memory for everyone else. 

It started when he stole her away from the group after he spotted a pretty girl with some friends in the shop. It was coming towards the end of the zoo trip so Beth’s sugar crash that had been building since this morning was making her tired and compliant. She wouldn’t wake up again until she got the ice cream she’d been promised on their way out. At first the group thought he was just offering to carry her because she was tired, but they understood there was an ulterior motive when he sped off and struck up a conversation with some woman. Eddie had sighed, but it wasn’t the first time he’d had Steve pretend she was his daughter to try and pick up women. She was used to it, as was he. Even though he’d told him a hundred times to knock it off, it continued happening. 

Not everyone had seen it before though. Dustin was watching with deep curiosity, trying to decipher what was going on. “What do you think he’s saying?” the kid asked Eddie, eyeing Steve as he cradled Beth and spoke to the woman in front of him. She seemed as though she liked the sight of the man with the child. 

“I’m King Steve, I’m pretending this adorable baby’s my daughter, please go out with me because I’m a fake single dad,” he mocked. The curly haired boy looked at him with a furrowed brow and a slightly opened mouth, shocked to hear such a condescending tone coming from Eddie. He grew defensive upon earning that look, muttering a quiet, “What?” 

After Steve, actually successfully for once, got the lady’s number, he let Beth back down to her feet, bending down to her height. The sleepy toddler was beginning to wake up a little and was slowly gravitating towards Erica who had joined them. Those two, despite their prevalent age gap, got on like two peas in a pod. 

“Look, if you don’t tell your dad about this, I’ll buy you any plushie in here you want,” he told her. He thought the odds were good considering she was only four, but she had been spending way too much time with Erica and Dustin to settle at that– mainly Erica. Beth hesitated, looking over her shoulder to where Sinclair was watching. The older of the two shook her head, essentially telling her Steve’s offerings were shitty and he needed to do better. 

He watched the exchange, but was curious as to what she’d come up with. “Two plushies,” she said, glancing at Erica to check that was okay. The teen only raised her eyebrows, encouraging her to continue. “And five dollars.” With a final look casted back she had earned the approval of the youngest Sinclair, a grin creeping its way onto her face now that she knew she did good. 

Steve’s jaw gaped, scoffing in disbelief that he was actually standing here bargaining with a four year old. This wasn’t the first time he’d been swindled by the specific Sinclair either. “Y’know what Munson, fine. You got a deal.” He shook her tiny hand, pulling a five dollar bill from his wallet to hand to her. Then it was time for her to pick out two animal plushies she liked. Her selections ended up being a penguin and a lion. “But I seriously miss when you couldn’t talk.” 

She was beaming as he handed them to her, and she didn’t stick around long as she rushed off to find her father. Eddie was more than happy to scoop her up in his arms when she reached him, letting her rest on his hip. “What are these?” Eddie asked, feigning shock as if he hadn’t just witnessed Steve buy them for his daughter. She delved into the story about what the Harrington man had been doing, as in using her as a way to pick up women; even if he failed. Although he’d made her promise not to tell her dad, she couldn’t help herself, she told him everything. 

She held up the penguin plushie first. “This one’s mine. It’s a penguin.” Then with her other hand she held up the lion, her father’s soon to be favorite zoo animal.  “This one’s yours. A lion ‘cause you have the same hair,” she laughed. As a kid he’d never really had the chance to pick one he liked that much, but now that Beth had made that comparison, it was pretty solidified which one he loved now. “I got them from Stevie in the deal we made.”

Steve just watched on with a feeling of betrayal in his chest, cursing the entire Munson name. “Oh, and he gave me five dollars. Can we use it to get ice cream?” Eddie had never been so proud of the girl. He didn’t approve of Steve using her as a pickup line, and the guy knew that but did it anyway, so he was at least happy in the knowledge that if he was going to continue to do it against the dad’s wishes, then his baby was working hard and getting something out of it too. He’d have to remember to thank Erica later for helping her out. 

“Of course we can.” He waited until Steve was in ear shot to make another comment. “Isn’t Steve so generous, buying us all ice cream.” He earned himself a middle finger, one that made him gasp dramatically and reach to cover Beth’s eyes. 

Robin tutted mockingly at Steve. “Not in front of the baby, Harrington. No ice cream for you.”

He rolled his eyes, trailing behind the group the entire way as they approached the ice cream cart just outside of the zoo. He had a scowl on his face as Robin kept to his word and refused to buy him an ice cream despite the fact they were using his money. At the least though he could acknowledge that the happiness all over Beth’s face was adorable, especially when she had the sugary treat smushed all around her mouth. 

The joy he’d felt throughout the day was quickly returned with the little girl’s laughter, the group of seven absorbing the final bits of excitement that came along with their day out before they made their way home. She was certainly going to be exhausted tonight. Eddie was expecting her out like a light by eight at the latest. 

When the pair returned home they had plans to watch a movie with Wayne, the man having taken a day shift for once so he could spend time with his granddaughter for her birthday. Eddie told him he didn’t have to, but he did greatly appreciate it after seeing the smile on her face when she got home. She was straight into the older man’s arms, telling him all about all the animals she’d seen and showing off the plushies she’d got. 

He entertained her ramblings while Eddie slipped the video into the vhs player, gathering some snacks and stuff for them from the kitchen.

As expected the girl was falling asleep halfway through the movie, and to be honest so was Eddie. She was laid across his lap, her head resting on the arm of the couch where her eyes were fighting invisible weights trying to stay open. He smiled down at the sight of her, brushing his thumb over her cheek as his own eyes drooped. “Y’tired, sweet girl?” 

She nodded. “Let’s get you to bed.” Since she had outgrown her crib the girl had been sleeping in Eddie’s bed while he took the couch. It wasn’t the most comfortable place for him, but he put her comfort over his own anyday. He’d surely find a better solution at some point, but for now it worked and that was all that mattered.

It was difficult getting a sleepy toddler into pajamas, but he managed it in record time, helping her under the covers one she was ready for bed. “Y’got your penguin?” he asked.

She showed it to him, nice and cuddled in her arms. “Did you have a good birthday?” he asked, stroking her hair as she clutched the stuffie Steve had got her. She was too tired for words right now, so she just nodded in response to his question. He was glad, all he’d wanted was for his baby to have the best birthday he could give her. “Well, get some rest, y’look like you need it, baby.” 

She smiled, nodding her head again. “G’night daddy. I love you.” 

He leaned forward and placed a kiss onto her forehead, pulling the blanket all the way up to her chin. “I love you too.” 

The day after her birthday he was due back at work, promising the little girl he’d see her that night around closing time. She never liked it when he left her for that long, they were basically attached at the hip at this stage in her life. He left at midday and wouldn’t see her again until almost midnight. He was always amazed she even managed to stay awake that long, but a quick nap in the afternoon would have her energetic enough to greet her dad after a long day, only to crash on the way home. 

He was itching to see her again even the second after he left her, but of course he had to deal with customers all day long first, and of course he had the worst possible luck. 

The first table of the day he had of course housed Jason Carver and his old friends. They noticed him right away, familiar evil smirks growing on their faces, it seemed as though they hadn’t changed in the four years they hadn’t seen each other. “Ah, freak, see you’re still in this shithole.” He thought he had escaped the basketball team at graduation. They had all taken off to different colleges around the country on various scholarships and such, giving Eddie a little bit of much needed peace from them. 

He ignored Jason’s taunting, pulling out his pen to take their orders like he would do with anyone else. “What d’you want assholes?” he asked, trying to hold back the eye roll. He knew he was supposed to treat the customers kindly so his attitude didn’t reflect badly on the diner, but he would never have that kind of patience with this group of people. Plus if he called you over he knew you would be on his side anyway. 

Jason scoffed, feigning disgust. “Is that anyway to speak to a customer?” 

You were watching from behind the counter as the four guys tormented poor Eddie. Unlike him, you didn’t know them, hadn’t met them within the halls of Hawkins high or had the pleasure of disagreeing with them like he had. You didn’t really know what they were capable of or what to expect, so you planned to keep an eye on them and how they treated the man.

After he took their order with their minimal awful things said about them in his head, he headed back over to the counter where you were wiping it down. You heard him let out a deep sigh as he tore off the page in his notepad to pass back to the kitchen. Then he was heading towards you to complain, as both of you did whenever there was a particularly rude customer. 

“God, I hate them,” he said, leaning his forehead against your shoulder. He heard you laugh, which was accompanied by you abandoning your task so he could feel your hand tangling in his hair. “I can kick ‘em out if you want. I am the manager after all.” Although it sounded like a very promising idea, he knew he wouldn’t live it down as long as they were still in town. They’d probably go around and tell anyone that would listen that Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson had let someone else fight his own battles by kicking them out of the diner. 

“Can’t I just spit in their food or something?” He was probably joking, keyword probably, but you did believe if you gave him the okay then he would go and do it. That was why you had to outwardly deny that he could just in case. “No, but we’ll get ‘em back somehow, Ed, don’t you worry.”

He trusted you, continuing to do his job serving them their food no matter how much he wanted to hit at least one of them in the face. It seemed as though they just became more and more unbearable as seconds passed. He was honestly amazed at how they were managing it. In the span of the less than an hour they’d been there, from start to end he’d argue they were a thousand times less tolerable. 

He was still grumbling to himself when he came back saying they wanted their check. They’d clearly rattled him considering he’d been pretty happy when he started his shift earlier, so like a good friend would, you offered to take it and sort it out. What you didn’t tell him at first was that you planned to leave a pretty generous tip for him paid for by Jason. You felt it was the least he could do after the way he’d treated your friend. It didn’t take much, just a bit extra added on to their meals and such and they’d never know.

Eddie was confused when you sent them out with a wave and a smile on their way out, but the evil grin on your face told him you were scheming.

“What did you do?” he inquired, eyeing you and your suspicious demeanor.

You handed him some of the dollars you’d been given by his rival, laughing at the crease that appeared between his brows. “It’s for you. Jason left a very kind tip for his old friend.” 

His jaw gaped. “Y/N, isn’t that like, illegal?” he asked, glancing down at the money in his hand to the cash you were putting in the register. He watched you shrug, letting out a loud laugh. “It’s not like he’ll notice. It’s probably daddy’s money anyway.”

He sighed, letting his lips finally curl into a grin at the knowledge you’d risk committing an illegal act just to get back at someone for him. You were a little shocked when he placed both his hands on the sides of your cheeks, leaning in to place a loud kiss to your cheek as a thank you. “You are a badass.” 

The rest of your shift panned out as normal, the two of you even sharing a milkshake at one point after neither of you could be bothered to make a second one. All you were waiting for was when closing would hit and you got to see the precious smile of that little girl you adored so much.

Beth usually came in after or around closing time. Wayne brought her over, her hand firmly clutched in her grandpas as they entered the diner. She didn’t see her dad at first considering he was in the kitchen, but she let out a squeal when she saw you, rushing in your direction. You briefly greeted the older man before turning your attention to the small child. 

“Hey kiddo, missed seeing you yesterday.” You leaned over the counter so you could ruffle her hair. She scrunched up her nose as you did so, giggling quietly as she shooed your hand away and smoothed her hair back down. Wayne helped her up onto one of the barstools, meaning she was now much closer to your height and she could see you better. 

“We went to the zoo!” she cheered. You gasped, “You did? Did you have fun?” You were moving around behind the counter like a second nature, sliding a plate in front of Wayne with his regular late night snack that would keep him going for the first few hours he worked. He thanked you quietly, not wanting to interrupt the story his granddaughter was telling. When she was excited like this it was never wise to cut her off for anything. She was like Eddie when it came to all the sass she had. 

The father came out to the front of the diner near the end of her story, grinning at the sight of his daughter. He didn’t cut her story off, just placed a kiss on the top of her head and let her continue. Subconsciously, she leaned back on her chair so she was resting against his chest, letting him know in her own way that she knew he was there. 

“So, I heard, it was a special little girl’s birthday yesterday,” you began, trying to bite back your smile. You didn’t yet want to give away the surprise you had for her, the one that even Eddie didn’t know about. He watched the two of you interact with a warm heart. Over the years you had formed a bond with the little girl that he adored to see and in turn his feelings towards you had grown tremendously from when he first met you. “And I got her something.”

He wouldn’t say it in front of Beth but he’d definitely tell you later that you didn’t have to do that. For you it wasn’t that you felt like you had to, but you’d wanted to. She’d been the light of your day for pretty much three years and you wanted to do something nice for her birthday. You disappeared into the kitchen for only seconds, coming back with a decorated cake that had a ‘4’ candle lit on top.

She gasped as you set it down in front of her, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the pretty decorations. You’d learned from Eddie that she had a bit of a thing about tulips since she was a baby, so you worked hard with some icing to make some pretty good looking different coloured tulips. “Make a wish, sweetheart.” 

As she blew out the candle the three of you clapped, cheering quietly for her. She bathed in the attention happily. That was all quickly followed shortly by Wayne’s departure, work calling. You offered your goodbyes before moving to cut a slice of the cake for the eager little girl, you and Eddie deciding to share one after the food you’d already sneaked today from the kitchen. 

Now that Beth was distracted you turned to talk to the man. Business had picked up towards the end of the night and you had barely had any chance to communicate for hours. You loved talking to him while you were working, he often made shifts more tolerable and vice versa. At first he was too busy complementing your baking skills to even realize you had been planning on saying something, but he grew bashful when he noticed your amused stare. “Sorry, go on.”

“Did you have fun at the zoo?” you asked while she dug into her slice of cake. He grinned, leaning on the counter opposite you. “I did, we had a little daddy-daughter day, plus some friends. Thank you for the day off.”

He saw the way your face contorted, your features scrunching in a look of confusion. As he thought over what he said he didn’t know which part could have caused a misunderstanding, but he was sure he was about to find out. “Wait, wait. She’s your daughter?”

“Is this a joke? Are you playing with me?” he asked.

You shook your head, your entire face looking like you had just had the biggest revelation the world had ever seen. It should have been obvious– it was obvious now that you thought about it, but for some reason you had just never put two and two together and now you felt a little bit dumb. Heat was rising to your face as you hid behind your hands, listening to the sounds of Eddie’s amused laughter as he realized you were being serious. “I thought she was your sister or Wayne’s kid or something,” you weakly muttered. His smile only kept growing, despite the lingering fear in his chest that now you knew he was a dad things would change between you two. He didn’t know if he could handle your friendship becoming awkward, especially not when he was already struggling with his blossoming feelings. 

The feelings between the two of you went unspoken for the sake of your jobs, plus a little bit of fear. “That’s not– It’s not a bad thing, right?” You could tell from his tone that he felt like he was trying to tread lightly when he asked. 

You jumped in quickly to reassure him. “No, no of course not. It explains a lot actually. You both have the same puppy dog eyes.” The tips of his ears tinted pink at that. It wasn’t the ‘compliment’ itself that made him blush, but it was the fact you had taken enough time to look at him to notice the kind of eyes he had. He liked the thought of you looking at him. 

Now that the fear was pushed aside, he could focus on the fact that you were still clearly embarrassed over your mistake. He pulled you into a hug, still chuckling as he rested his chin on the top of your head. Your face was firmly hidden in his chest, not wanting to be seen by anyone at all for the next five years. “You’re adorable,” he said. The cake was long since abandoned on the counter, and Beth was watching the two of you but didn’t really care to question the sudden burst of affection. 

You supposed you learned something new everyday, and with this new found knowledge it actually only made their relationship ten times cuter. It made him a little bit cuter too..

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beth taglist - @ches-86 @kiszkawagnerwhore @eddiesrealgfsara @leftcloudparadise @aereth @destielbuckyboy @eddiesaws @whatawildone @husherstan @chickensinrainboots @spencestyles @simonsbluee @naivences @eddiemunsongffff @shreklover123 @stevesred @mcueveryday @spencerstits @ajeff855 @strawberrykittey @little-diva-gurl @deydeyyyhhh @what-a-strange-constellation @psychdelephantt @slytherinintj13 @lovesleepybearwriter @cherrypieyourface @sincerelli @lj127 @that-80s-chick @bloodyxheaven @bva14 @1800letmesleep @taramaria @boomhauer @eddie-the-angel-munson @soft-munson-hargreeves @eddiesviolet @welikeicecream @eddiemunsons-sweetheart @paintmekala @audge-podgeee @s0fia-14 @asthetic9646 @urmomashleyyy @chrissysgf @hazydespair @tvserie-s-world @andreead @ily-jupit3r @certainlynotasimp @spideysbae @taz-devvil @shotoskitten @idontfeelanythinganymor3 @lexi-2004 @ilovereadingfanfics @mlktea13 @jvmisvu @munsons-sweetheart @aureatopia @crabbygabby @pikispixies @lethalbeautiful @angie1djonasgg @phantomxoxo @graywrites20 @thesundrop @yeah-seems-legit @wydmonday

[wingedcupcaketimemachine]

Scattered Remains (TMNT 2012 and Rise! Crossover)

Summary: After April’s enhanced psychic powers destroy Donnie, she attempts to bring him back to life. But, the purple turtle she finds is not her own

Warnings: Spoilers for TMNT 2012 Season 4, Episode 22

A/N: I’m finally done with the first chapter! If this does well, I might create a comic based off of it on my art account!

Fic starts below cut

TMNT 2012 Masterlist

Rise of the TMNT Masterlist

Main Masterlist

“Red, is that really you?” Casey asks, as he cautiously approaches April.

“I think so. But Donnie,” she says with teary eyes, “What have I done.”

The group stands still for a moment before Leonardo breaks the tense silence.

“It’s not your fault April. You had no control,” he says.

“But it is!” she gasps, looking up at him through her tears, “It was all me in a way. If only-”

She pauses for a moment, focusing on the broken crystal shards.

“Donnie’s not gone! He wasn’t really destroyed, just molecularly scattered,” she says as she faces the turtles and Casey, “I can bring him back.”

The boys watch in anticipation as April’s powers hone in on Donnie’s energy. If she can bring him back, she can make her family whole again.

She has to bring him back.

The turtles and Casey watch as blue sparks fly through the air, forming the silhouette of a body.

The turtles watch, full of anticipation. Their brother wasn’t gone. He was coming back!

Their excitement quickly turns to horror as they realize the figure in front of them is not Donatello.

Though not their missing brother, April still managed to bring another mutant turtle to the place where Donnie had been vaporized minutes before.

This turtle seemed younger, maybe by a year or so.

Raphael breaks the stunned silence as he holds a sai against the neck of the unfamiliar turtle.

“Who the hell are you? And where’s my brother?”

“Woah, Raph! Chill out dude!” says Michelangelo, pushing his brother out of the way, “He’s just a kid. And he’s scared.”

Michelangelo was right. The mystery turtle was still pale and shaking even as Raphael released him from the ground.

“It's ok mystery dude! We’re not gonna hurt you…anymore,” says Michelangelo, glaring pointedly at his hotheaded brother.

Raph rolls his eyes in annoyance.

“What are you doing Mikey? This is some random mutant that April brought here with her freaky crystal powers. We have no idea what it’s capable of.”

“Mikey’s right,” says Leo after a long stretch of silence, “This turtle is just a lost kid. He was brought here with April’s powers, which means he’s our responsibility. We have to take him back to the lair.”

“Are you crazy Leo? We have to focus on finding Donnie. Our brother is lost somewhere and you're focused on a random mutant we found on the street!”

Before another argument could break out, the mystery turtle interjected.

“Your brother’s name is Donatello?”

The group of teenagers looked over in shock. Michelangelo was the first one to respond.

“Yeah, dude. He disappeared when April got possessed by a freaky alien crystal.”

“The same crystal that brought you here,” says April in shock, “I was trying to find Donnie, but it brought you instead.”

“So that means…you’re Donnie?” asks Casey.

“Yes,” says the other turtle, “Just not your Donnie..”

“We have to get back to the lair and talk to Master Splinter. We’ll come up with a plan to find our Donnie and get this Donnie back home.”

“Seriously Leo?” Says Raph, “You’re gonna believe him just like that? Even if he is a Donnie he’s not our brother. We can’t just take him to the lair.”

“Think about it Raph,” says Casey, “If April accidentally brought the other Donnie here, our Donnie is probably stuck wherever he came from. Trustingthe other Donnie is our best bet.”

Raph huffs, but doesn’t argue any further.

“That’s it then. We’re headed back to the lair,” said Leo, “April, you should probably come with us. Maybe you can help Donnie replicate the research that you and Donnie did on the crystal.”

April and other Donnie both nod in agreement.

“I might be able to use other me’s research to try to replicate a similar

kind of technology that could get me home,” said the alternate Donnie, “If all goes well we should be able to find your brother too.”

The group looks to Raphael, gauging his reaction.

“Fine,” he said after a beat of silence, “But that doesn’t mean we trust you. All we need you for is to get Donnie back.”

The group sits in tense silence as Raphael stalks off towards the Shellraiser.

“Don’t worry about Raph little dude!” says Michelangelo with a small smile,

“He’s just worried about Donnie. He’ll come around.

“Mikey’s right. It’s nothing personal…probably,” says Leo before looking over to the Shellraiser, “We need to get back to the lair and tell Master Splinter what happened.”

“It’s late, I should probably get home,” Casey finally speaks up, “Let me know if you come up with any ideas on finding Donnie.”

The group watches as his figure retreats into the night before following

Leo into the Shellraiser.

[gornackeaterofworlds]

Has Leo always known what April had been planning, or when did he find out?

Spoilers and meta analysis of my own work🤢 below

I'm on mobile, so image limit:/ but using this as the excuse to dissect my intentions behind the meeting scene. What is April's motive? Information. Information and honesty. She wants data, she wants to stop not knowing things. And when the people you're befriending need secrecy to survive, you're going to clash quite a bit at first.

Leo comes in, on time, behind Mikey and Raph. At this point, Raph wants to make quick work of a problem, especially a problem that had the goal of hurting Mikey. He doesn't know who she is, and he's hesitant to start a fight with Leo when he doesn't know their time constraint either. He breaks some space between his two brothers and takes a long quiet look at April. She's scared, she's backed as far into the wall as she can get, quivering hands full of a broken taser. He needs to get her to stay quiet about spotting them, especially to her father as the consequences the boys will face are less than savory. He hopes to intimidate as it'd be the easiest choice here.

He shifts up behind her and pushes her. He's using physical force as a display. He could've spoken to her standing, but he wanted to be rough with her. Make her assume he'll do worse. And the difference in height will hopefully create even more of a power shift. He makes sure they have the time for chatting, Leo is not looking to play around.

He gets in her space, uses a pet name to make things uncomfortably intimate, presses roughly into her face and jaw while she's disoriented from the push. He's using his ninpo to simulate something he thinks she'd find scary. Even as tense as she is, she can see the lower half of his face, and has a bit of leverage herself, knowing he can't kill her. She's unaware they're owned by her father, but Leo knows he can't kill her.

April's not having it. She pushes him out of her space, makes a critical unserious remark. She still doesn't know them, or what they're doing. She's unused to true danger at this point in her life. So Leo pushes back. He grips her hand, and the silly lick is 1. another display of teeth and 2. his continuous attempts to make her as uncomfortable as possible. He's banking on the typical human behavior on Neo Edo of avoiding confrontation and just agreeing to appease. When she snatches back, he playfully hurts her head. He can't leave scars, especially not on her face. He doesn't appreciate the jab at their profession, and switches to his normal finger to keep her head tilted back, while trying to indirectly tell her they do straight up kill people.

These threats are completely empty, unbeknownst to April. I think it's a bit obvious now that they're not treated the best by their researchers, and he is fully aware that if he harmed April, despite Dr. O'Neils lesser sadistic tendencies, it would be the death of him and his brothers. Or severe torture, at worst. Raph is waiting out the damage, Mikey is extremely anxious, and visibly fidgeting. Raph knows they can't kill or hurt April, Mikey does not. In a dumb display of bravado and bluff-calling, she makes one more attempt at trying to pick and pry. Leo is very frustrated. He knows she won't stop causing a fuss until she gets what she wants, so he gives her the tiniest crumb of info. He's also keeping track of the time and moving towards the wall where sensors will let them into the inner lab's rec room.

She knows how easy a false confession can be to obtain, and is wary. Leo opens up his sensor, and Mikey follows. He is unsure, and feels that just copying Leo would be safe for him. April now knows they work for her father, and her bravery is renewed. She wants an interrogation. She looks him up and down, asks about their outfits, very atypical for Neo Edo fashion. Leo's being a stubborn ass, and she rolls her eyes, crosses her arms like a bored teen. She won't get anything else out of him, especially now that they're leaving.

He makes another pick at her, one of his last attempts at trying to get her to say yes to being quiet, out of appeasal. Now that she knows they can't kill or hurt her, and Leo won't give up anything else, she is using it as leverage to attempt to pry more information in the future. Leo only grows more frustrated. She's making a desperate attempt at a mutual relationship, offering something she doesn't know they don't need. Half of Donnie's job is media control. But still, Raph and Mikey look to Leo. She's not giving up, she's not shutting up, and she wants to interact further. It's something they haven't encountered yet.

And where is Donnie's intro!! He's been listening. He appreciates a hunger for knowledge, but there's something a bit deeper here. As hinted in the turtle tots extra piece, he's treated the best out of his siblings. He's everything the researchers wanted, he's smarter, quieter. He would suffer least if it's found out that April spotted them. He has the least to lose, and so he thinks it'd be fun to help April. He doesn't need help on his work, or he doesn't think so, at least. But he's playing at Leo's desire to aid his brothers. Raph doesn't know jack shit about this side of their work, and he's curious why she wouldn't want nothing to do with them. Mikey is uncomfortable being referred to as a killer, and Raph is uncomfortable owing someone anything, due to the treatment he's received. You wouldn't know this yet really, but Donnie is a lot weaker. Not his muscles, he's about as strong as Mikey in that regard. But his bones. He wants to go sit tf back down and is urging them to wrap this all up.

Donnie is comfortable in his ability to keep her words contained if need be. As evidenced by the end, he's already in her tablet. If they don't want to talk to her, she won't have a way to reach them. This is less of a jab at her, though, and more of a reminder of this fact. Despite how bad their relationship is, she plays up her relation to the doctor to 100, and it makes Leo even more uncomfortable as a reminder of this entire mistake. He threatens her again, still empty, using yet another smoke configuration. Knowing that route will go nowhere, Donnie just gives her the information to reach them and a time, much to Leo's chagrin. And an extra: Mikey waves back at her after Donnie seems comfortable with her. He looks up to his older brothers for everything, after all.

[this-daydream-is-dangerous-13]

Daylight MV by Harry Styles - why was it not the unreleased Two Ghosts MV 2.0? A timeline.

This video, released on July 19, 2023, is jam packed with Blondie and Haylor references. I think it was almost the sister project to the never released Two Ghosts MV…until it wasn’t. And I have an idea as to why.

Don’t believe me that it’s Haylor AF? Go read this amazing summary by @womanexile at whose request I am writing this timeline.

As we know, Harry was filming the video on and around May 10 and 11, 2022, based in articles and pap/drone photos from the time, like this Daily Mail article:

Let’s review the timeline:

April 22, 2022 - Harry performs at Coachella weekend 2 in Indio, CA.

April 26, 2022 - OW is onstage at CinemaCon in Las Vegas when she is served custody papers. H is not there.

But where is H? According to the article - circus training!

Late April/early May - Harry starts training in Kent, England with family-owned Sanctus Circus.

From the article:

“A source told [the publication]: Harry has spent weeks being taught circus skills for this video — he wanted it to be a real spectacle.

'It is probably his most expensive video yet because as well as all the rehearsals, it was a huge set with loads of extras and really extravagant costumes'.

The source revealed to the publication that the singer pushed himself to the limit in order to perform the stunts. Adding: 'It's been a real undertaking and the finished product will prove why he's one of the biggest pop stars in the world.' “

So late April - May 11 - circus stuff. Which is part time and on-and-off, I imagine. Then filming. And this was an UNDERTAKING that would have required a lot of planning.

He even arranged to have live animals, as outlined here in an article with the horse and parrot handlers:

Some take aways:

- he was supposed to the riding *the WHITE horse*. And when that didn’t work, he ensured the white horse remained in the shot.

- they only had a short time to teach him with the animals, but he listened and did exactly what they said.

- the legendary Styles charm extends to grumpy parrots named Poppleguy. “He's a little bit picky and he went straight on Harry Styles' shoulder, the sign of a good vibe," [his owner] said.”

Who can resist this man?!

But he HAS to know that he’ll get questions about the song title, since it shares a name with a song by Blondie. And he gets photographed making this video - articles about it start appearing May 12, 2022.

So what does he do next? Creates a smoke screen! Good thing two of his best friends—Ben Winston and James Corden—run a late night show known for outrageous bits with musicians. And he has a long history of doing crazy things with them, so no one will bat an eye.

He heads off to NYC for Harry’s House promo and ONO, but first — he has a DUPLICATE video to shoot.

And it’s hilarious, watching him shock and delight a quartet of Brooklyn residents and their friends:

And look at the clapperboard to date it:

Bottom right - MAY 17/22.

The next morning, May 18, he is on air with Howard Stern who immediately brings up Blondie (look at H’s usual TS grin!!). And watch him evade:

“You’re reading too much into it…I know you’d like me to tell you ‘you’re spot on’ but…yeah, you’re not.”

But you know who thinks Howard actually is Spot On? Harry’s Mom!!

The Late Late Daylight video airs on May 26/27, 2022 (depending on your time zone). And here is Anne’s IG story when she watches it:

And then - Harry keeps the circus video in his pocket. For FIFTEEN MONTHS. And makes and releases other videos.

There’s background speculation that the still images captured (Birdrry) might be for a Daydreaming or Grapejuice or other video, despite the bird. After all - we already have a Daylight MV!

And then, on July 18th, 2023 at his penultimate HSLOT concert in Lisbon, Harry has the bird image shown on the screen as he finishes singing Daylight.

After the concert, we learn that the video will drop in July 19th at 5pm UK, 12 pm Eastern.

And while the As It Was video promo stated: “It’s just us”, this one proclaims “It’s just a video, just for you.”

Which naturally leads us to this parallel:

And it is followed by the 10-minute 2nd encore piano ballad at the final HSLOT concert on July 22, introduced in Italian by saying “I wrote this for you, just for tonight.”

**My theory - its release is another in a long line of grand gestures designed to remind and assure Blondie of his ongoing, perpetual love and devotion.**

[wthelvetica21]

Mystery Skulls Animated Headcanons (Part 2)

🏵 Cast

Lewis

His birthday is October 27th (Ghost MV’s release date). Allegedly he was born somewhere near Calcasieu River in Louisiana but he doesn’t know for sure.

He’s creole with his former surname being Dubec. While he tried to dig deeper Lewis has found very vague leads so while alive he just quit because to him his adoptive family is more important to him.

He not only is a skilled and self-taught vocalist and violinist but also knows plenty about other instruments.

When alive he barely if ever cursed at all unless for stressful situations. But as a ghost he loses that filter entirely and can’t go one moment without saying some variation of ‘fuck’.

Also as a ghost Lewis is alot more sardonic and quick tempered compared to when he was alive.

His deadbeats are paradoxically both an extension of Lewis’ subconscious and their own entities who form a symbiotic relationship with him as their ‘boss’ of sorts.

Arthur

His birthday is April 16th (Freaking Out MV’s release date) in Tempo. He barely knew his mom aside from her name ; Gwendolyn. And has a very astranged relationship with his father Pen.

Arthur’s full name is Arthur Pendragon Kingsmen XIII. He wholeheartedly believes that alone makes him prone to bad luck.

While he isn’t aware of it, Arthur has some level of clairvoyance. He didn’t like investigations because he was skeptical of any paranormal activity. He thought there was going to be a time when something really bad would happen.

Arthur has known Lewis a bit longer than he’s known Vivi. He’s known him since kindergarten while the two of them met Vivi early in middle school. When they started dating he didn’t know how to feel about it since he wanted to confess to him about how he felt but didn't work up the nerve to say it.

He has night terrors of that incident with the cave. Sometimes they end with a feral Mystery looming over him while others is an obscure silhouette of Reverb taunting him.

Vivi

She was born on October 13th (on a Friday no less and Hellbent’s Release Date) in Odessa to a stern and perfectionist anesthesiologist Dr. Aoi Yukino and yoga instructor Mimi Thomson Yukino. They moved to Tempo for work related reasons.

Vivi‘s been one of the best batters in Tempo High School’s softball team.

Her apartment has a room fashioned as a personal archive which consists of boxes of photographs, tape recordings and artifacts from prior investigations.

She runs a supernatural blog that used to be called ‘The Yukino Yuurei Archives’ before forming and rebranding the Mystery Skulls after getting Lewis and Arthur on board.

The reason she isn't as scared by paranormal activity is because it’s a special interest to her. One of her most prized possessions she has is a book on yokai given to her by Grandma Yukino as a birthday gift.

Mystery

He’s a kit between two kitsunes from rival clans ; Hikari and Kage. Both of them didn’t accept him into their fold. As a result, he mostly wandered and did as he pleased.

After his fight against Mushi and Shiromori’s sudden betrayal he formed a contract with the Yukino clan. For what reason I’m going to go into my fanon section in Part 3.

While Vivi’s memories where altered by Lewis's inexperienced and unconscious use of magic after his spectral spark was ignited, Arthur’s were mostly suppressed by Mystery who had more experience.

Mystery did have a humanoid form but has been out of practice with his invite shapeshifting abilities since his tails were cut.

He can telepathically talk but simply choses not to so he wouldn’t blow his cover.

While his spectral spark does not have a particular elemental affinity it’s very potent to the point it can have the potential to create new life (I.e. Shiromori.) What that is something I’ll cover in my fanon next post.

[caspersscareschool]

imagine im sending all the emojis under Character Specific - i love when u talk about the versions of the turtles that exist in ur mind, theyre canon to me (has never watched the show or any movie)

you are the realest one out there I'm so serious. under cut because that's a lot of questions

first of all: she/her leo, he/it raph, he/him donnie, any/all mikey but mostly he/him unless the situation calls for it

🥊 Does Raph have anger issues? If so, how does Raph deal with his anger?

i guess you could say that it does, but its issues have more to do with the guilt and fear associated with feeling or expressing anger on any level. he relies a lot on leo's constant emotional support

🧶 Does Raph knit?

no, but yoshi sews. raph's hobbies include raising butterflies and stag beetles, planting herbs and then forgetting to water them and crying when they die a week later, basketball, and lacrosse (but only with leo). he also has a hamster named daisy whom he would kill himself for without a moment's hesitation

🗣️ Is your Leo the leader? Has he always been?

...there's not really a "leader" since that's not how families work in real life, but she's generally the dubious voice of reason and the one who carries everybody's water bottles and medications and whathaveyou. she resents this position a little but doesn't have the self awareness to confront it

🔥 Is Leo accident prone? Especially in the kitchen?

no ❤️ she's not good at cooking because she is too afraid of failure to put any effort towards building skills that don't come naturally to her, so if it was her job to cook dinner she'd just dump a bunch of hot sauce and tuna and jelly and cheese and gravy in a pot and go heheheyhehheehhehehe Soup👍

🔬 Is Donnie only interested in Tech?

I'm not entirely clear on what this question means. he has other interests outside stem, but in my verse his focus is much more on computer science and mechanical engineering than any other field of science, so he kind of doesn't gaf about biology or anything organic or "squishy." if that was the question. other interests include grindcore music, transformers, my little pony (the toys), swimming, gambling, arguing on forums, sculpting, 3d animation, girls, and other things.

🤖 Does your Donnie have a robot child?

Grins really huge.

🎨 Is Mikey the artist of the family?

yes but he's best at cartoons and graffiti and abstract designs. he also makes his own music (mostly experimental hip-hop). donnie is a far better representational artist, but he doesn't consider his work "art" since he doesn't have mikey's imagination or eye for color and he pays mikey disgusting amounts of dubiously-sourced money to draw his pngtuber rantsona. mikey in turn spends this money on fancy cheese

😈 Is Mikey a little shit?

what more is there to say. Yes

🐀 Was Splinter a human or an animal before he was mutated?

human. but don't worry about it

🧑‍🍼 How does Splinter raise the boys?

Jesus. i really don't know how to get into this without copy/pasting 3 pages of backstory from my notes doc. he did his best that's all i can say

💏 Does/Did Splinter have a significant other?

he had a weird bisexual thing. which is different. i can't disclose more at this time

🎤 Is April a reporter?

april is a first-year undergrad majoring in journalism and minoring in environmental science. she interns at her college newspaper, and lately has been going to dangerous lengths to uncover her "big break" so they'll let her do more than edit the crossword

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Is April considered a sibling?

she's like. okay. april is an integral part of their family, AND. she's also really not a surrogate/adopted/found sister in a literal sense. yoshi isn't her dad, and her relationship with the turtles is quite distinct from their relationship with each other as siblings, but it's still just as important, because she's family. like, found family outside of any traditional nuclear family roles. she's their best friend and they're her home away from home

🏒 Does Casey play hockey?

casey is such a minor character in my verse right now that it's actually kind of hysterical that they'd be on this list. they used to play, yeah.

🦸 Is Casey a vigilante?

they are a serial murderer.

[starlitangels]

Headstone

Pups AU. It’s been a bit. This one also draws heavily from my “Not-Yet Alpha, Not-Yet Mate” short story featuring David’s parents. Enjoy! 1.6k words

CW: discussion of previous canon character death

—

David had been silent for the last few minutes of the drive. The moment we’d crossed into the cemetery, he’d stopped talking completely. He claimed it was because Dahlia’s cemetery was big and complicated—which was undoubtedly true—but I knew it was because this place made complicated feelings rise up.

We got to the narrow road closest to our destination and David did his best to park on the edge of it. This time of day it was mostly empty anyway, but these roads weren’t made for cars.

“Daddy, where are we?” Natalie asked, craning her neck to try to see out the window, but her carseat wasn’t quite tall enough.

“We’re at the cemetery,” David replied, unbuckling his seatbelt and opening the door.

“Why?”

Yup. She was in that phase.

To be fair, she’d been in the why phase since she was about fifteen months old. Or so it felt. She wanted to learn. David and I didn’t fault her for that, but sometimes the endless stream of questions was mildly exhausting. I always told Davey he was better at being patient with her than I was, and he always said it was because he had plenty of practice with Asher and Milo growing up.

He opened the backseat door behind his and started to help her out of her carseat.

“Because there’s something I wanna show you here,” he answered.

“Okay,” Gabriel said as Natalie opened her mouth again. Probably to ask why again.

I got out and helped Gabriel out of his booster seat. He wrapped his arms around my neck and his legs around my waist once he was free. He was plenty big enough to walk on his own, but the kid never turned down even an extra opportunity for cuddles.

Natty clung to her dad’s neck too. David always said the kids got their ��touchstarved need for cuddles” from me. Our children were very much not touchstarved in any way, shape, or form considering how much cuddling they already got—from me and the rest of the pack in general—but that was the joke he liked to make.

Davey and I carried our kids carefully through the maze of headstones. Gabriel narrowed his eyes at a few of the ones we passed, and I could hear him sounding out last names under his breath, trying to read each one. Natalie—who had inherited my tendency to be loud—half-shouted for all of Dahlia to hear her asking why there were “weird marks” on one of the headstones. After David’s patient explanation that it was written in what appeared to be Arabic and different languages had different writing systems, she seemed to understand.

Ducking under the somewhat-unkempt branches of a spruce tree, Davey set Natalie down. I put Gabriel on his feet just behind her.

Hidden under the drooping branches of the tree was a single headstone. “Shaw” was written in large capital letters at the top in the middle. Directly underneath, “Married April 3, 1991,” was carved into the dark grey stone. In a box of lighter-colored granite on the left was “Gabriel Richard—December 18, 1966-September 3, 2017.” The box on the right said, “Annalise Jean ‘AJ’ Hendrickson—November 14, 1967-July 1, 1997.”

Below both names was the simple phrase, “We’ll see.”

“Is this… Grandma and Grandpa Shaw?” Gabriel asked, looking up at David while wrapping his hand around as many of my fingers as he could. David crouched and nodded.

“Yeah. This is where my parents were buried,” he said. “That’s Grandpa Gabe, and Grandma AJ.” He pointed to each name. “Grandma AJ got sick when I was younger than Natty and she passed away when I was about three. Grandpa Gabe got in a car accident when I was in my mid-twenties.”

“Gramma has the same middle name as me!” Natalie announced.

“Mmhmm,” David agreed. “We gave you her middle name to honor her memory.”

Natalie blinked owlishly at him, but for once didn’t ask any questions about what he meant. “Why does it say, ‘We’ll see’?” she asked instead, kneeling in front of the headstone and tracing the letters with her tiny five-year-old fingertip.

Her kindergarten teacher had been very impressed at how well she’d already been reading back when school started. I’d been quick to give David the credit, given he’d read to her almost every night since she was born, and often taught her how to read, if just a little bit, himself. Because she wanted to learn. And she’d inherited his stubbornness and wouldn’t let him leave until he’d taught her a little bit.

David sat cross-legged in the mostly-dead, patchy grass that couldn’t get enough sunlight around the spruce tree’s needles. “Because that was what my parents always said to each other. One of them would make a guess about their future together, and the other would always say, ‘We’ll see.’ Grandpa Gabe told me they were the last words Grandma AJ said to him before she passed. He said he hoped she’d be waiting for him on the other side and she said she was ‘planning on it, but we’ll see.’ So, when she passed, Grandpa Gabe put that on the headstone.”

David blinked tears out of his eyes—and didn’t protest when Natalie stood up so she was eye-level with him and wiped them off his face. He gathered her to his chest and held her there, squeezing tight, but not too tight. She made a strained little groan, but didn’t squirm or yelp for release like she would have if he was hugging too hard.

“Grandpa picked this plot under the tree because he said he and Grandma loved sitting under the tree in the backyard of their house and watching me, Uncle Ash, and Uncle Milo chase each other around when we were toddlers.”

Gabriel stepped carefully closer to the headstone and brushed a few loose spruce needles off the top of it. “You miss them.” It wasn’t a question.

Davey gave our son a sad smile. “I never really knew Grandma AJ. It was hard to miss her. But I miss Grandpa Gabe very much. He taught me everything I know about being a dad. And all I’ve ever been able to hope for was that he taught me enough that I can keep being a good dad to you and your sister.” He kissed the top of Natalie’s head, right on the part between her pigtails.

“You’re the best, Daddy,” Natty said confidently, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on as tight as she could. David sighed with a quiet relief and gave her another hug.

“Glad you think so, baby girl,” he whispered.

Gabriel let go of my hand and carefully approached the headstone, sitting down in front of it and looking it over. He carefully traced the carved letters with his own fingertip, head tilted slightly to the side. He twisted and looked back at me. “You never got to meet even Grampa, right?”

I shook my head. “No. He passed before I met your dad,” I replied.

Gabriel frowned and his eyebrows tilted in sadness. He had more empathy in his little finger than a lot of adults did in their whole bodies. “Sorry,” he said to David. And me.

David ruffled Gabriel’s hair. “It’s okay. If I hadn’t met my mate when I did, I don’t know that we would have ended up here—with you two.” He met my eyes. “They helped me heal from my grief and the walls I put up to protect my heart that were only hurting it more.”

Natalie leaned back from where she’d been hugging David to meet his eyes. “How did you carry the walls with you all the time?”

I couldn’t help it—I burst out laughing. David chuckled too. “Not real walls, Natty,” he said. “Figurative walls.”

“Figura… what?”

David thought for a moment. “Pretend walls. In my head. They made me grumpy all the time.”

Natalie stuck out her bottom lip. “Don’t be grumpy, Daddy. Being grumpy is no fun.”

David chuckled again and met my eyes over our daughter’s head. “Gee, I wonder who she sounds like,” he said.

I smiled. “I’m so proud,” I replied.

David tugged lightly on the end of one of her pigtails. “How about you and your brother sit here and be good, and I’ll go with my mate to grab our lunch out of the car?”

Natalie nodded. Gabriel did too when David met his eyes.

He stood and held a hand out to me. I took it and we headed back for the car to grab the cooler.

—

Natalie glanced over at the tree trunk, smiling as a familiar head of pink curls quickly ducked behind the trunk out of her view. “I know you’re there!” she whispered—loud. Gabriel was reading the headstone again, intently, and didn’t notice.

Caelum poked his head out from behind the trunk again and pressed a finger to his lips. He grinned and giggled. Natalie copied his gesture, nodded, and giggled herself.

“What are you doing here?” Her whisper was quieter this time.

Caelum snuck out from behind the tree. “Making sure you and your family are happy,” he whispered back.

He popped a kiss on the top of Natalie’s head, the way her dad had done, and disappeared as he took a step back.

[marshmallow-biscuit-blog]

New Allen reference. I also didn't really add stats for him before, so here.

Name: Allen Beera

Gender: Male (cis)

Age (At beginning of the game/show): 39 (April 2nd, 1891)

Species: Root Beer (Irish Glass Mug)

Sexuality: Gay (Closeted except to Sunne who's dead)

Kids: Rooty Beera Float

More info/backstory: Allen's really quiet and tries to keep to himself. He met his "wife" Sunne as a teen, and they hit it off as friends quickly. Allen hadn't had a friend until then. Or anyone who wanted to even interact with him. So, he ended up loving her, but differently than she loved him. He loved her as a best friend, she loved him with a crush. However, Allen didn't realize he had a platonic love for her until their first kiss, and it didn't feel quite right. He explains his feelings, and she understands. However, their parents would never understand, and due to speculations on Allen, they force the two to get married. Jokes on them, Allen and Sunne are 100% okay with being besties and living with one another. Forever sleepover.

Though one day, Sunne brought up the fact she wanted a baby. Not that she wanted him to be the dad, but just it was one of the things she wanted some day in her life, to be a mom. Despite the time's surrogacy having to be one-on-one, he offered to be the surrogate dad. Soon, they find out the news about Rooty and are actually excited. Scared, worried, but excited. And who better to raise a kid with than your best friend? That is, until you don't get to raise that kid with your best friend, because she's no longer here. When Sunne passed away after having Rooty, Allen felt like he lost a piece of himself, but also gained one. Did he have any clue what he was doing as a dad? No, absolutely not, not on his own. But he wasn't about to just give her up; he had to try.

Despite his job being dangerous for what it's worth (Coal miner) and literally being the death of him eventually, he kept at it until he physically could not anymore. At that, it barely was enough to feed him and his kid and pay the bills. (Sometimes he pickpockets to get dinner on the table, a trick Rooty caught him doing and learned herself.)

That being said, he's constantly tired, hungry, and just wants to take care of Rooty. Though, that means he rarely has any moments to spare to actually bond with her. He feels guilty for it, even though he's trying his best.

Before he does pass away from black lung, he does get to see Rooty get married, and meet both of his grandbabies who he loves very much.

Extra: Tw: Physical Discipline (one hit)

One day that sent him in a downward spiral even more so, was when he had no energy, no patience, and complete fear. Rooty, being six at the time, was playing with her friend (Flower) On the side walks. However, she had lost track of time. Allen's rule was she was inside before the street lamps came on. It was well past that time (like an hour) and she only realized when the sky turned a darker blue and she could hear her dad's worried voice hollering for her. She quickly ran home, but was greeted by her dad grabbing her arm and dragging her inside before hitting her and scolding her. After his adrenalin rush died down, his heart shattered when he saw the crack on her neck on tears as well as fear in her eyes. He never forgave himself for hitting her like that.

ALL OF ROOTY'S OTHER CRACKS ARE NOT FROM ALLEN, THEY ARE FROM HER OWN MISHAPS AND CLUMSINESS