myrandomfandomramblings

[myrandomfandomramblings]

I made prediction bingo cards for Seasons 4-6 but never got around to making one for season 7. This was mostly because I didn't particularly enjoy season 6 and thus lost interest in making fan works. However, I loved season 7 and was excited to make a bingo card for season 8.

None of my predictions are overly exciting. I kept it simple as my card not only serves as predictions but also wants, and I really just want to see all the characters hanging out and being happy (although I understand this generally does not make for great TV). Nevertheless, I'm feeling good about my chances.

I also included my Season 6 bingo card which I didn't get a BINGO on despite also marking off squares that happened in season 7. I've finally removed "Tim finds out that Lucy and Nolan used to date" and "Lucy reevaluates her interest in UC" which have been on my cards since season 4.

[myrandomfandomramblings]

Lucy's stream of consciousness - a post 7x18 Chenford fanfic

When Lucy wakes up she’s enveloped in a feeling of warmth. Sunlights streaming in the windows, birds are singing and her apartment still smells like an oddly delicious combination of all her favourites. She finds a blanket has been thrown over her and when she gets up a note from Tim on the coffee table. It tells her where to find the food he put away and that he’s gone to take Kojo out and run a few errands but to let him know if she’s up to catch up later.

She smiles to herself and the feeling of warmth intensifies before quickly being caught up in a current of mixed emotions that have become far too familiar. She loves Tim, there’s no doubt about it. She could barely deny it when they were both in other relationships and he was in her chain of command and it only grew once they were together. After Tim called it off that love had been overtaken by pain, anger and sadness. However, it never truly faded and over the last several months it has slowly been uncovered as the negative emotions steadily retreated with each word and action of Tim’s  demonstrating his progress and commitment to self insight and growth.

Although the realization had been brought about by drugs, the sentiment was true: somewhere along the line she had forgiven him. She trusts him when he says he’ll never hurt her like that again and hears what’s written between the lines: he will prioritize her and their relationship, forever, if she’ll let him. And she believes every word. Which is where the mixed emotions start to creep in because if he’s not going to be the one to mess-up their relationship, that just leaves her.

For months before they started dating that fear had haunted her.  Then on a sunny day in the Midwilshire station parking lot she finally just blurted it out, “if we do this and it doesn’t work, I’ll have ruined the most important relationship in my life.” It had felt like the whole world stopped and then he asked her if she wanted to get dinner and for a moment nothing else mattered. Excitement and relief had quelled all her fears. However, no matter how great their relationship was, and it had been great (she’d meant it when she told Tamara it was the most amazing relationship she’d ever been in, and that never changed.) those fears and insecurities always forced their way back in.

Lucy wasn’t sure exactly when Tim had become her person, probably around the time of Jackson’s death, but he had. He was her friend, confidant, and support-system and the thought of losing that only increased as they grew closer once they started dating. Then it happened. Tim ended it. No indication. No discussion. Just a final verdict ruling the relationship over and it had been just as bad as she had feared, maybe worse. Joy, comfort and passion had been replaced with anguishing uneasiness every time she saw him and recurring discomfort and uncertainty every time she had to overcome her automatic response to go to him for anything (everything). She had been so relieved when she realized a couple months ago that the happiness and ease was back. The idea of risking that again made her physically ill and overall she liked where they were. Familiar banter, lively bets, and uncomplicated company and discussion. Yes, she missed the physical aspect of their relationship and she was not proud of her less than stellar excuses to get Tim back in bed (okay maybe she was). But, she knew that the way they were going wasn’t sustainable. She probably couldn’t find a probable reason for a hook-up on every holiday. She was sure she could do something with “trick and treat” for Halloween but was at a loss for July 4th and wasn’t keen on waiting so long in between anyways. Plus, it wasn’t fair to Tim. She could tell he was eager to try this (them) again and really be all in. She wanted to share his certainty but she was still flagged by doubts.

She shared his confidence that he wouldn’t screw it up this time. She didn’t feel the same conviction about herself. In her nightmares, it had always been her that messed it up. After all, Tim had done this before. He had been married for years and always focused on maintaining the relationship. Even when he hadn’t seen Isabel in two years and she couldn’t care less if she ever saw him again as long as she got her next fix, he still cared about her. Lucy on the other hand had never been in a serious relationship. Her longest relationship before Tim was four months. She had no idea how to be in a serious relationship, let alone how to incorporate it into the rest of her life and balance it with her other responsibilities, particularly work. Especially when being a cop and being in a relationship were regularly trying to convince her they were mutually exclusive.

Bishop’s warnings from her early days at midwilshire still regularly echoed through her head warning her about splitting her focus, risking her reputation and sabotaging her career, as did numerous jokes about failed first marriages heard in the station locker room. You add to that the rules against dating those in your chain of command and Lucy’s interest in UC work coupled with Tim’s complicated history with it and you get a constant mental tug of war and related anxiety.

She had told herself the answer was to be proactive, address the potential for problems before they become real issues. She had been worried about potentially transferring to a new station to get out of Tim’s chain of command. What if she had bad hours, difficult colleagues or decreased opportunities that negatively impacted her career? Would she be angry with herself? Regret the decision? Resent Tim or their relationship? But when Tim took the court liaison job instead of relief those worries were just replaced with different ones: what if the boredom came to make him regret his decision? What if that caused him to resent her? So she had been proactive, spearheading the five-player trade to get Tim moved to Metro. She kept it from him, not wanting him to stop her, lest her worries be realized or let him see her insecurities in their relationship.

Her plan worked, however, it had the unfortunate consequence of making an enemy out of Prim. This of course then led to her spiralling when preparing for the detectives exam. Did she make a mistake by orchestrating a plan to get Tim moved to Metro? Did her relationship damage her reputation and sabotage her career just like Bishop warned? Then she took that anxiety out on Tim. Whether just because he was there or he felt safe or because deep down she blamed him for being so irresistible that it led to her putting herself in that position, she wasn’t sure.  She is embarrassed and ashamed of how she acted but at the time the anxiety had taken over. Her worries about the detectives exam pulled with them her worries about her future career and their relationship. What if she never made detective and couldn’t pursue her dream of UC? Would she blame or resent him? Would she come to regret the relationship? What if she did pass and become a UC, would he come to reset her and regret their relationship? She had tried to address (at least part of) the issue proactively but looking back, its clear she was not thinking particularly rationally at the time so instead of dealing with the problem she only really succeeded in antagonizing Tim. Although, they gained a bit of insight about his subconscious reservations that may be helpful in the future it was not relevant in the moment, because in hindsight, it was clear Tim was never trying to sabotage her. He was trying to support her in the best way he knew how and he continued to do so when she her exam score ranked 17th.

Their relationship had returned to normal and Lucy never took accountability for her behaviour. Then Tim blew their relationship up so bad it didn’t matter what her anxiety spiral had caused. But he has since addressed his issues. Has she addressed hers? She wonders that often. Sometimes she still thinks about the detectives exam. Regrets the five-player trade. Wonders if her results had nothing to do with Prim and everything to do with her focus being split, like Bishop had warned.

To cope with the break-up she had turned all her focus to work and it resulted in her making sergeant. Not only getting promoted but finishing first. It was a win she desperately needed and is immensely proud of. But it makes her wonder, could she have accomplished the same feat had she still been with Tim, would she have been distracted? Or did her desire to get back to Tim give her some extra drive to succeed? She’s yet to find a satisfying answer. What is clear is that Lucy is torn.

On one hand she wants to be with Tim. She loves him. He pushes her and challenges her while also making her feel safe and cared for. She can see their future together so clearly: a house, 2.5 kids and a dog. She knows if she doesn’t give it another shot she will always wonder "what if". Will always compare her life with the fantasy she’s concocted in her head. But what if it’s just that, a fantasy. What if they try again and it doesn’t work. Afterall, Lucy just started a new position, with new people and new hours. She’s already exhausted and frustrated and tense. That doesn’t seem like a promising mindset to be in to try again.

Tim’s made it clear he’s ready to commit. The way he talks with such certainty about his intentions almost feels like he’s on the verge of proposing and she has a very foggy memory of him mentioning something about moving in together before she nodded off. She can understand his reasoning and she’s flattered and tempted. However, she can’t imagine being able to handle that amount of change on top of her new promotion, at least not gracefully. She doesn’t want to spiral again. She doesn’t want to hurt him, or herself. The reality is where she is in her life right now, she’’s not ready to try again, and it kills her. She feels guilty. She wants to tell him to wait for her, to plead with him for more time. The thing is she’s pretty sure he would give it to her and that doesn’t seem fair to him either.

She imagines telling him that it will never happen between them in hopes that he would then be able to move on and her heart shatters. She can’t picture him with someone new. It’s not that it makes her sad or angry, she just can’t do it. Like it’s inconceivable that he could be with anyone but her. Probably because she feels that way herself. There’s no one for her but him and she knows he feels the same way. So she’s back to only two options: jumping right back in or asking him to wait.

He’s been so patient, taking her lead, respecting her boundaries and although she knows that its all part of him making amends for breaking her heart the idea of asking him to continue on like this makes her feel guilty especially when her reservations have little to do with his narrow-sighted dumping and everything to do with her own insecurities. Although, it’s not like she can just ignore the break-up either. She has forgiven him and does believe he won’t hurt her like that again but that doesn’t mean the wound it created has healed completely.  After all, despite heavily implying it he still hasn’t given her a full, real apology, one that actually includes the words “I’m sorry”.

Even still it feels wrong to ask him to wait, particularly because she doesn’t really know what he’d be waiting for. Until she finds her groove on night shift? Until she’s able to get another assignment with better hours? The fact of the matter is it’s hard to know where she wants to be in her career when they give it another go, when she doesn’t know where she wants to go with her career, period. Unlike her crystal clear fantasy future with Tim she no longer knows what her dream job looks like, and that also scares her.

She loves being a cop and takes great pride in excelling at her job. She doesn’t want to end up neglecting that to pursue her domestic future with Tim just because that path’s clearer. Does she want to circle back to detective and pursue a career in UC? Maybe, but she’s no longer dead set on it. As a way to cope with her Detective exam result she had made a list of all the cons of a UC career and although they were heavily biased, many were also true and worth considering if she really wanted to go that route. Did she want to be a patrol Sergeant long-term? Maybe a TO too? Her experience with Seth made that option pretty unappealing but maybe she’d try again. Tim and Nolan seem fulfilled. Did she want to pursue a specialized field? Maybe. She would get a dog if she joined the K-9 unit, but she’s worried she’ll miss the diversity of patrol.

She’s sure she’ll find the career path that’s right for her but she’s worried about being able to balance that pursuit with a relationship and future family. She’s already in her mid-30s and Tim his mid-40s. She hates to admit it but the biological clock is ticking and she feels decades away from feeling secure enough in her career and life to care for a child. Yet, when she’s joking about it with Tim, she’s confident that’s what she wants. So here she is again: not ready to start but not wanting to wait.

She’s nearly positive if Tim asked her point blank to try again she’d say yes instantly. Which is why she’s been hesitant about having this conversation for months, because although she wants that, she’s worried it’s not the right thing to do, that it will only lead to more heart break.

She takes a deep breath as tears streak down her cheeks and onto the chocolate croissant in front of her. Why does every decision lately feel so heavy? Sometimes she wishes she could just shake a magic 8 ball and have it make the decision for her. Then something clicks: make the decision for her. That’s what Tim and her had been doing: making decisions for the other without their input. Lucy chose to get Tim a position in Metro and to address his reservations regarding UC he didn’t even know he had. Tim decided the best way to protect Lucy was to break-up with her and that her getting promoted was an invitation to have the conversation she’s not quite ready for. As that realization sunk in she almost laughed. What an absolutely stupid miscommunication to be having from two people who at their core are a team.

Whether it was TO and boot, sergeant and go-for, friends or romantic partners they have long shared their thoughts, valued each others opinions and made decisions together. Lucy wiped her tears as she grabbed her phone and opened her text chain with Tim, she knew what she had to do.

“Hey, sorry I fell asleep. I really appreciate all the food. I know we have a lot to talk about and I really want to have those conversations but I need a little more time to get my feet under me with the new promotion. Are you free next Saturday?” 

She hit send and within seconds received a reply.

“Looking forward to it.”

She knew the conversation wasn’t going to be easy and they had some difficult decisions to make but at least they’d be making them together. As a team. As partners. 

[myrandomfandomramblings]

Lucy's favourite foods

Gotta love the consistency 🥰

[myrandomfandomramblings]

Chenford survey - results Part 2

Sorry for the delay but I finally have the rest of the results from the survey showing the relationship between when/why people started watching the Rookie and their opinions on different aspects of Chenford. Overall, there is not much of a correlation. One thing I did notice is that people who started watching earlier were more likely to be "unhappy" about aspects of the show. For example, all the people who started watching during season 4 or later either felt the Chenford pre-relationship was the perfect length or a little too long while there was more diversity of opinions from those who started watching earlier. Similarly, more people (although still only a small proportion) who started watching earlier (season 1 or 2) were disappointed/dissatisfied by how they got together, as well as, by season 4, season 5 and season 7 Chenford. However, the "disappointment level" was more similar between the groups for season 6 Chenford including the break-up. I have selected a few of the relationships to show below. If anyone wants to see more (something specific) or has any other questions they think the data could answer let me know.

Reminder for questions asking people to rank aspects of the relationship the scale was as follows:

1 = very dissatisfied/disappointed

2= somewhat dissatisfied/disappointed

3 = neutral

4 = somewhat satisfied/happy

5= very satisfied/happy

[myrandomfandomramblings]

Just a reminder: I love you - a Chenford fanfic

“He’s so cute,” Lucy gushed as she looked at the picture of Kojo on Tim’s phone screen.

“Yeah, apparently one of the boys had some sort of history project,” Tim explained, “at least that was the explanation I got when they asked if they could dress Kojo up in fashion trends from the last 100 years.” 

“Wait this isn’t the only costume?” Lucy asked, “there’s more?”

Tim nodded. “They sent me at least ten pictures, just scroll forward,” he said handing her his phone.

“What will I see if I scroll backwards,” Lucy teased, “some juicy secrets on your camera roll perhaps?”

Tim laughed, “honestly probably just more pictures of Kojo. I think I also took a picture of the sign the gym posted of their holiday hours. Oh, and Jack stole my phone the last time I was babysitting and took like a hundred selfies looking straight up his nose. So if you’d rather scroll that way be my guest.”

“Tempting,” Lucy countered, “maybe after I admire my boy.”

She started scrolling through the photos. Kojo dressed for jazzercise then in poodle skirt then a flapper dress. Next he was in fedora and trench coat, then jeans a white T-shirt and a leather jacket. In one he was dressed like a hippie, in another as a disco star and in a third as a hipster. Lucy was just admiring him in a matching sweatsuit when a notification popped up on Tim’s phone with a ding. She had teased him many times for never having his phone on silent and always got the same response: what’s the point of having a phone if you don’t know when someone’s trying to contact you?

Tim had obviously heard the ding but made no effort to retrieve his phone. Without really meaning to, Lucy’s eyes went to the notification. It was a calendar reminder. The event was titled “Anniversary”. 

Her first thought was that he still had his and Isabel’s wedding anniversary in his calendar, maybe a little odd but understandable. Then she remembered Tim talking about how they had had a summer wedding (“Would not recommend. Summer in LA is way too hot for an outdoor wedding”) and it was currently early December. Her next guess was that it was something sports related. The anniversary of a Superbowl or World Series win or draft of a favourite player. She was about to tease him and find out when she realized it could be something personal: the anniversary of his father’s death, or the death of one of his fellow soldiers. Maybe the day of his deployment, divorce, or honourable discharge. She was about to hand Tim his phone back and pretend she hadn’t seen it when a familiar song started playing from the nearby food trunk . It catapulted her back in time to this same spot almost a year ago. Almost exactly a year ago. Then it dawned on her.

“Did you put a reminder for our one year anniversary in your calendar?” She blurted out without thinking.

Tim’s eyes went wide, “Shit, yeah months ago. Is that what that ding was?”

Lucy nodded.

“I’m sorry, I forgot. I didn’t mean for you to see it. This wasn’t some weird elaborate plan, I swear,” he continued clearly panicked.

Lucy laughed, “I believe you,” she said handing his phone back to him.

Tim relaxed, “good.”

“So you really thought we’d make it ,huh?” Lucy asked, “to the one year mark?”

“Oh course,” Tim nodded, a pause then, “who could have predicted I would be such an idiot?”

Lucy snorted, “yeah, you really screwed up,” she teased.

“I’ll do better next time,” he stated.

“You better,” she smiled.

[myrandomfandomramblings]

It's Special - a Chenford fanfic

"Any idea why this keeps happening?” Tim asks the bartender after taking his statement about the 3rd bar fight at his place of employment this week.

The bartender shrugs, “People come here to drink, they lose their inhibition, fights break out. That’s just how it goes.”

“Right,” Tim replies shooting him an unimpressed look.

“Look man,” the bartender starts, “I’m not the one starting the fights, just the one calling them in,” he continues, “that’s what you want right? See something, do something isn’t that like the LAPD motto or something. I’m just doing my part.”

Tim shoots him another look of disdain, “What? You want an award for being a half decent citizen?”

The bartender laughs, “I mean a frequent callers rewards program could be one way for the police to improve public relations.”

Tim rolls his eyes but before he can respond Lucy does, “Not a terrible idea, but I’m afraid all we can offer you is a sticker or a lollipop.”

“Tempting,” the bartender smiles, “how about instead, you give me your number?”

Tim immediately stiffens as he watches the smile slip from Lucy’s face as it’s replaced with a look of surprise, “Oh,” she starts.

There was a time Tim would have intervened in this type of situation but now, given their history, it seems inappropriate.

“I don’t mean to overstep,” the bartender continues “if you have a boyfriend or whatever.”

Tim looks around for anything to distract himself and settles on the specials menu written on the chalk board behind the bar. 

“I don’t,” Lucy stutters almost immediately and Tim cringes. Even though it seems like a purely instinctual response by Lucy to correct an inaccurate assumption it feels like a knife to the heart. 

Lucy continues to ramble but Tim is trying not to listen.

“I’m actually taking a break from dating right now,” Lucy finally sighs pulling Tim’s attention back to her, “to focus on my career.”

Tim should feel relieved. The idea of her going out with this guy (or honestly any guy) makes him physically sick. Even though he knows that’s unfair seeing he’s the one that  put them in this situation. But although there may be a bit of relief it’s overpowered by a mixture of  guilt and discouragement that he didn’t expect.

“Well if you change your mind you know where to find me,” the bartender says.

Lucy just nods and Tim jumps back in eager to wrap up this interview.

 Later when they’re back in the shop Lucy peeks over at him a couple times before speaking up, “Specials at the bar not to your taste?” she asks her tone teasing.

“What?” He replies confused.

“I saw you looking at the specials board and it looked like you wanted to throw it across the room.”

Tim hummed, “oh yeah, too many mushrooms for me.”

Lucy laughs, “the specials were chicken wings, fish and chips and a house lager. Not a mushroom in sight. You’re a terrible liar.”

“Or maybe you’re just too good of a cop to fall for a lie,” he ventures.

“Smooth,” Lucy chuckles, “appeal to my ego so I’ll drop the subject."

“Did it work?”

“For now,” she smiles, “but we’re going to have to talk about it eventually.”

“I look forward to it,” Tim grins.

[myrandomfandomramblings]

Chenford survey - results part 1

Thank-you everyone who filled out the survey I posted last week!

I got 62 responses. Below the cut I have included an excessive number of graphs depicting the results and I will post even more in the next couple weeks.

The first set (posted below) shows the breakdown of answers for each question (google docs made these automatically which was awesome). Overall, there was a great spectrum of why and when people started watching. I was happy to see that new fans are still joining now, seven years in. Surprising to me, although there was a variety of opinions regarding the different aspects of chenford there was a definitive majority for most opinion based question. This was likely at least somewhat influenced by the obvious selection bias (i.e. you are more likely to be engaged in the fandom and thus see and answer the survey if you are overall enjoying the show/Chenford). I also found it quite satisfying to see that even aspects of the relationship that I personally was disappointed in the majority were pleased with.

The second set of graphs (which will hopefully be posted sometime within the next couple weeks) will show the relationship between why/when people started watching and their opinions on different aspects of Chenford. I was surprised to see that overall there seemed to be little difference between opinions based on why/when someone started watching, but I am still analyzing the data.

Thanks again to everyone who participated. I also really enjoyed reading the comments people left.

Set 1 - Individual question, answer breakdown

For the questions below people ranked on a scale from 1-5, how satisfied they were/are with each aspect of the Chenford relationship. 

1 = very dissatisfied/disappointed

2= somewhat dissatisfied/disappointed

3 = neutral

4 = somewhat satisfied/happy

5= very satisfied/happy

[myrandomfandomramblings]

Chenford survey

I always love reading everybody's takes and opinions on everything Chenford and I find it so interesting how much they can differ, especially since there is never a right or wrong.

I have formulated the hypothesis that when and why we started watching the show influences our perception of Chenford so I've made a survey to test it and I'm hoping people will answer it!

There is obviously no right or wrong answers. It should be completely anonymous. You can answer as many or as few questions as you want. They are split up into 3 sections (section 1 has 6 questions, section 2 has 11 questions and section 3 has 1). All the questions are short (multiple choice).

Below the cut is a preview of the entire survey with my answers as an example.

If enough people answer I look forward to sharing the results.

Here is the link PLEASE consider completing the survey!

UPDATE: Thank-you everyone! The survey has had over 50 responses in 24 hours with a good variety. I will definitely be able to share some results. I will leave the survey open for a week (until March 8) and hopefully get the results posted on March 9.

[myrandomfandomramblings]

Nightmare fuel - a Chenford fanfic

Lucy toss and turned in bed as the wildfire once again raged in her nightmare. 

She was back in the fire shelter with Tim, but this time it wasn’t working. Tim screamed out in pain as fire caught his pants and started to travel up his leg. She watched helplessly as it engulfed him. 

“Be happy, okay,” he told her as the flames overtook him, “live a good life. You deserve it.”

“Tim, no,” she wailed, “stay with me. Please stay,” she begged as tears streamed down her cheeks. She reached towards him but there was nothing to grab, just ashes. Panic built in her chest as her fingers sifted through the embers for any trace of him, but he was gone. A gargled scream of pure pain left her throat, startling her awake. 

She was back in her bedroom but she could still feel the heat and dust.

It was just a dream, she told herself.

Her hand shook as she turned on the bedside lamp and freed her T-shirt that was pasted to her with cold sweat. 

It was just a dream, she repeated.

She looked to the door expecting Celina, but she was on midnight shift. Lucy was on her own this time.

It was just a dream, she repeated for the third time.

She got up and went to the kitchen for a glass of water, but she couldn’t shake the images that continued to play through her mind. This wasn’t the first time she had had nightmares inspired by the wildfire but it was by far the worst. Even now, after being awake for ten minutes, her chest still felt hallow. It had felt so real. He was in agony. Then he was just gone. She started to cry again despite herself, despite knowing it wasn’t real. 

He’s fine, she told herself, safe at home in bed.

She wanted to believe it. She knew rationally it was true but the sirens in her mind could not be quieted. She knew there was no use continuing to argue with herself, there was only one thing that was going to end this suffering. She took a deep breath as she hit the contact number at the top of her list.

“Lucy?,” came Tim’s groggy voice over the line, “is everything ok?”

“Um ya,” Lucy stuttered as her adrenaline quickly faded, “sorry I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s 2am.”

“I know.”

 “Were you hoping to leave a message?”  

Lucy laughed and a trickle of warmth started to fill her empty chest.

“No I,” she trailed off.

“Lucy what’s wrong?” Tim tried again, his words dripping with compassion with a pinch of TO edge.

“Nothing I just,” she sighed, no use denying it, “I just needed to hear your voice.”

“Nightmare?”

She nodded then remembered he couldn’t see her, “Yeah.”

“About the wildfire?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve been there. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, not really, not yet.”

Tim hummed, “I have an idea.”

Lucy could hear the blankets rustle as he got out of bed. Then footsteps, retreating then returning seconds later. The bed creaked and blankets once again rustled as Tim settled before he spoke.

“I never had it made, an autobiography, by Jackie Robinson, read by,” Tim paused, considering, “me.”

“What’s happening?” Lucy asked.

“It’s one of the only books I’ve ever been able to get through,” Tim explained.

“So you’re reading it to me?” Lucy questioned, still confused.

Lucy could basically hear Tim shrug, “Yeah. Trust me, it helps.”

“Jackie Robinson helps with nightmares?”

“Not Jackie Robinson,” Tim clarified.

“Are you sure,” Lucy teased, “you seemed pretty convinced a second ago.”

Tim huffs out a laugh and Lucy realizes the edges of the nightmare that had clung to her had retreated and she was starting to feel like herself again.

“It’s not Jackie,” Tim continued, “it’s listening to a book read by someone you lo-“ he cut himself off, “-trust,” he decided, “it’s comforting.”

“Huh,” Lucy said as the pieces clicked and a smile spread across her face, “you listen to the audio books I recorded when you have a nightmare.”

“Maybe.”

“That’s a yes.”

“And it helps,” Tim conceded, “If you want to give it a try. But you know reading’s not a strength of mine.”

“That would be perfect, Tim,” Lucy said, “Thank-you.” 

“For what,” Tim smiled then began to read.

It was slow. He stumbled over words, re read sentences, and struggled to keep any kind of rhythm, but it was exactly what Lucy needed. She crawled back into bed and before she knew it was lulled back to sleep. Tim’s voice bringing nothing but sweet dreams.

[myrandomfandomramblings]

Private eyes post-finale fic

Picks up right where the finale left off

---

“Shit,” they say in unison before staring at each other silently hoping to follow the other's lead.

Shade opens his mouth to say something then closes it again. Angie does the same before they're once again just staring at each other.

“I’m starting to realize the middle of a party may have not been the best time for this conversation,” Shade finally comments.

“You’re just now realizing that?” Angie laughs.

“Well, we had been tiptoeing around it for so long. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I saw an opportunity and I took it,” Shade shoots back a little defensively.

“You know it’s funny,” she shares, “I’d spent so much time building that moment up in my head. It terrified me, thinking how things would change, but now that it happened everything feels exactly the same just a lot less dreadful and a little more free.”

“You’re welcome,” he teases.

Angie laughs, “Oh so you’re just taking all the credit then?”

Shade shrugs, “I’ll give you credit for the kiss. I was going to be a gentlemen and wait until at least after the first date.”

“Shut up,” Angie smiles, pushing Shade again.

“Make me.”  His voice is no longer teasing it has dropped and become husky as he grabs her wrist and pulls her towards him. 

They are inches apart when they remember again where they are.

“Shit. The party,” Angie says stepping back and putting some space between them.

Shit. They stare at each other again but it doesn’t last as long this time before Shade jumps in, 

“I mean we really only have 3 options,” he says, “we both go back in, we both leave or we part ways now.”

Angie just nods, “I’m not going back in. I’m not up for having to field any questions from Don or Becca, or any one else for that matter,” she pauses for a second as if in thought, “but you should stay,” she sighs, “this is a big night for Don, he deserves to have you here.”

“So you want to go our separate ways tonight? You’re sure?”

Angie nods again, “We’ve been waiting 5 years what’s another day?”

“5 years huh?” Shade teases, “So you really have wanted me since the day we met. Haven’t you?”

“Don’t make me hit you again,” she threatens but her tone is playful.

“See you later Angie,” Shade smiles as he turns towards the door before he loses the will power.

“Bye Shade.”

And there’s no good night kiss because they can’t take the risk that they won’t stop.

Angie drives home mostly on autopilot, then showers and gets ready for bed. The whole time the events of the evening are playing through her mind. She’s not disappointed they happened. She’s actually relieved and although she’s not sure what comes next for the first time she’s looking forward to finding out. Nevertheless, her brain is having a hard time calming down enough to let her sleep so she finds herself up at 2am scrolling through old pictures on her phone. 

Shade makes it through the rest of the party nodding and mumbling words of agreement without really listening. The events from earlier that night are still playing in his mind on repeat making it difficult to focus on anything else. When the last guest leaves and Don retires to bed Shade picks up his phone as he wanders around the house cleaning up from the party. He clicks the contact at the top of his list and types a quick message before he can overthink it,

You up?

The reply comes not a minute later. 

Is this how Matt Shade sends a booty call? And here I thought you had game. 

Shade laughs and shakes his head as he hits the call button beside the conversation, making sure to keep his voice low.

Angie answers on the first ring, "Hey, how was the rest of the party?”

“Honestly I couldn’t even tell you what happened,” he laughs, “my mind was elsewhere.”

“Hmmm”

“You’re up late. I thought you were heading straight to bed.”

“That was the idea but like you my mind had other plans,” she admits.

“A-ha,” they both sit in comfortable silence for a few seconds internally debating what to say next.

“What are the chances we can just have an easy day at work tomorrow?” Shade asks, keeping it light, “maybe find time for an afternoon nap?”

“I would say pretty slim,” Angie replies, “Zoe already has three new client meetings scheduled. Did you see her emails?” She finishes emphasizing the s on emails.

Shade chuckles, “I haven’t. Do you want to tell me about them?”

Angie rolls her eyes, although he can’t see her. 

“Fine, but we aren’t making this a regular thing,” she says.

She tells him all she knows about the new clients and cases. A combination of information from Zoe and her own research. 

It feels familiar and comfortable as Shade interjects with his usual questions and comments, and it’s not long before Angie feels herself nodding off.

When she wakes up in the morning, the line is still connected and when she lifts it to her ear she can hear him snoring quietly. It may not be the morning after she imagined when she had pictured the day they finally addressed the thing between them. However, it's the first of many and for the first time in this commitment-phobics life, Angie finds that exciting.

[myrandomfandomramblings]

PSA Re: Wild Cards and Private Eyes

Just wanted to throw this out there:

If you enjoyed the first season of Wild Cards and have never seen Private Eyes, you should check it out

If you were a fan of Private Eyes and haven't checked out the first season of Wild Cards, you should

If you have never seen either, you should check them out

Many members of the creative team (writers, executive producers, etc.) worked on both shows so the vibes are very similar. (I didn't realize this until after I finally got around to watching Wild Cards. I would have definitely watched it sooner if I had known as I've missed Private Eyes since it was cancelled in 2021)

Both shows are fun procedurals with the focus on developing their characters and relationships. They have a great balance of heart and humour and well-rounded characters with engaging dynamics.

All 5 seasons of Private Eyes are available through GlobalTV's FreePlay (at least in Canada) - https://watch.globaltv.com/series/684659779608/collection/7f8b6e8c-39c2-11ed-85ed-0242ac110003/

Wild Cards Season 1 is available on CBC Gem (In Canada, but requires you make a free account) - https://gem.cbc.ca/wild-cards?cmp=DM_SEM_Gem_Titles?fromAuth=true

And if you've seen both I'm sure you'll agree we need Cindy Sampson to guest star on Wild Cards. My vote is as an old enemy of George's.

[myrandomfandomramblings]

In which Percy simply has a happy 20th birthday party - A Percy Jackson fanfic

“Close your eyes,” Grover told Percy as he turned onto the road to the Jackson’s cabin in Montauk.

“Haven’t I had enough surprises in my life?” Percy asked, “at this point I’d be more surprised if things just went as expected.”

Grover shrugged, “Annabeth’s orders.”

Percy sighed and closed his eyes. One thing that never failed to surprise him was Annabeth. Smart, beautiful, badass and by some miracle completely in love with him. It was hard to complain about his bad luck when he was lucky enough to call her his girlfriend. 

Percy kept his eyes shut while Grover parked and helped him out of the car. Even without his sight the location was unmistakable with its salt air, ocean breeze and chorus of seagulls. This was his favourite place in the world.

“OK open your eyes,” Grover said.

Percy did and was greeted with a chorus of “surprise” and a sight that made this favourite place even better. Their little cabin was decked out in party decorations: balloons, streamers, and a number of others that he didn’t know the names of, all blue. A large banner read “Happy 20th Birthday Percy”. Or that’s what he assumed it said anyway. He was having a hard time focusing on any one thing and the letters wouldn’t stay still. In front of the cabin stood Annabeth; his mom, Sally and his step-dad Paul who was holding his 2 year-old half-sister, Estelle. They all wore blue party hats and big smiles. Annabeth was the first to break away from the group and come give Percy a hug. She was quickly followed by Sally and little Estelle who broke away from her dad in favour of grabbing her big brother’s legs.

“This is amazing,” Percy said , “but you didn’t have to go to this much trouble.” 

“Of course we did,” Sally rebuted, “you’ve survived two decades as a powerful demigod, that’s worth celebrating.”

Her tone was teasing but Percy knew that there had been many times over the last 20 years that she worried he’d never see this milestone.

“There’s more to see,” Annabeth interjected, “do you want to show him?” she asked Estelle, who nodded excitedly and grabbed Percy’s hand, leading him around the side of the cabin to the beach.

On the beach stood long tables draped in blue tablecloths and topped with all kinds of blue foods. Hamburgers and hotdogs sizzled on a nearby grill, now manned by Paul. Nearby all sorts of backyard games were set up: horseshoes, corn hole, spike ball and paddle ball. Down the beach was a chest filled to the brim with beach toys: skim and boogie boards, goggles and snorkels, sand shovels and buckets, pool noodles and water guns.

“Wow! I don’t even know where to start,” Percy mused.

“Well you can think about it while we wait for all the guests,” Annabeth teased.

“Who’s all coming?”

Annabeth shrugged, “You’ll see.”

“Never making things easy,” Percy mumbled unable to suppress a smile.

“How many people are we expecting?” Paul asked, “will we have enough room in the drive way. Should we move our cars?”

Annabeth laughed, “I don’t think that will be an issue.”

“What do you me-“ Paul was cut off by a large shadow appearing just in front of them. 

Out of it stepped three familiar faces. Before he could even say a word in the way of greeting, Percy was picked up off the ground and enveloped in a bear hug.

“Happy birthday brother,” Tyson sang squeezing Percy harder. Mrs. O’Leary added to the celebration by slathering Percy with big, wet, hellhound kisses. Ella fluttered nearby watching the commotion,

“Tyson missed Percy,” she supplied, “Ella too. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Sextus Propertius (c 54 b.c. - a.d. 2).”

“Thanks guys,” Percy said when Tyson finally let him go, “and it’s good to see you all,” he continued rubbing Mrs. O’Leary’s ears.

“Have fun,” Sally added, “we have lots of food, and games. Help yourselves to anything.”

All three immediately headed towards the food table, quickly followed by Grover, who it appeared was just waiting for the OK to dig in. Percy briefly wondered what Paul saw as a six and a half foot cyclops, a mastiff the size of a tank, a satyr with horns sprouting on either side of his party hat and goat legs protruding from his Bermuda shorts and a harpy with bird legs and bright red wings made their way towards his station. However, his attention was quickly drawn to the sky as a group of pegasi with riders began to descend. Although they were still far away, Percy could already recognize the pair in the lead as the sun glinted off black wings and bright red-hair.

“Hey boss,” Blackjack greeted Percy as his hooves hit the sand.

“Happy birthday,” Rachel added slipping off his back.

“Thanks,” Percy replied stroking blackjack’s nose and giving Rachel an awkward hug, acutely aware of Annabeth standing behind him, who appeared to be holding back a laugh at his uneasiness.

“Any sugar cubes at that buffet?” Blackjack asked looking towards the food laden tables.

“I’m not sure but you’re more than welcome to check.”

As he cantered away Percy began welcoming the other pegasi and his friends from camp half-blood.  When he finished welcoming the last pair Percy looked around and realized it was starting to really look like a party: Estelle sat on Tyson’s shoulders and clapped as Mrs. O’Leary ran down the beach retrieving a tree trunk Tyson had thrown. Annabeth and Rachel were playing spike ball against the Stoll Brothers. Ella, Grover and many of his camp friends were milling around, chatting and enjoying the food. Paul and Percy’s mom stood to the side in conversation, he could hear Paul asking if they should have bought hay and water troughs. Percy was just about to join them when he was hit by a large gust of wind and a tan-horse appeared beside him. Percy knew who the rider was before he even looked up.

“Hey Hazel, how’s the Legion?” he asked as she slipped off the horses back.

“Much better without active world-ending wars. Thanks for asking,” She joked then proceeded to summon a pile of gold from the ground, which the horse proceeded to eat, “Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks, where’s Frank?”

“He’s on his way.”

“Baby man is slow as-,” Arion, the horse whined, but Percy cut him off,

“That’s not necessary.”

Arion finished his gold and Percy expected him to run off like usual, disappearing over the horizon in 0.5 seconds flat but to his surprise he trotted over towards the group playing fetch. There he was greeted by excited squeals of “horsie” from both Tyson and Estelle, and even more surprising to Percy he let both of them stroke his nose.

“Since when does he let anyone but you touch him?” Percy asked Hazel. 

She just shrugged, “he’s an immortal horse, born to two gods in human form, there’s no use trying to understand him.”

That was fair, Percy thought, but before he could verbalize that an eagle flew down from the sky, landed beside Hazel then transformed into a young man.

“Frank,” Percy said grasping his hand and pulling him into a quick hug.

“Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks, did you fly the whole way here from New Rome?”

“No, just from the airport. I took a commercial flight most of the way, we can’t all have a godly horse or metal dragon.”

“Yeah, poor Frank can only shape-shift,” Hazel joked, “but let the record show I did offer for him to ride on Arion with me.”

“Yeah, no offence but I didn’t trust that he wouldn’t buck me off half way across the country and leave me stranded in the middle of Kansas or Colorado.”

Further conversation was cut off by another shadow appearing beside them. Out of it emerged two teens and over a dozen small, shadow creatures.

“Happy Birthday Percy,” Nico greeted him.

“Yeah, Happy Birthday,” Will added.

“Thanks, and thanks for coming,” Percy replied.

“Are you going to say hello to your own sister?” Hazel teased pulling Nico into a hug.

Nico rolled his eyes but immediately hugged her back.

“And how are all my nieces and nephews?” Hazel asked looking at the shadow creatures.

“The Cocoa Puffs are good,” Nico smiled a hint of adoration in his voice.

“They’ve become super popular at camp,” Will shared, “and enjoyed their summer vacation to the underworld.”

“You went on vacation to the underworld?” Frank asked.

“Just for a week,” Will supplied, “It grows on you, once you get to know it,” he finished addressing their questioning looks and shooting a coy smile at his boyfriend.

“Am I late to the party?,” a familiar voice called capturing the groups attention. “My flight was cancelled after I made a big deal of not wanting to use my Dad’s private jet. Luckily, a friend offered me a ride.”

Percy turned to see Piper alongside Tempest, the equine storm-spirit. He was happy to see her but the scene conjured up an ache in his heart as he was reminded that one of his friends wouldn’t be joining them: Jason. Jason was Piper’s ex-boyfriend and the one who had tamed and made Tempest a part of their group. He died over a year ago now and Percy still found it hard to believe. Part of him wanted to think he was with them in spirit but he knew better. Jason deserved better than being stuck between the land of the living and the dead and he had gotten it: Elysium or rebirth. Either way he wouldn’t be here, but his memory still would.

“Hi Piper, how have you been?” Percy asked

“Good, living with my Dad in California has been great,” she replied giving him a hug, “happy birthday.”

“Thanks.”

Piper began greeting the others, giving them hugs and asking them about their lives, while Tempest made his way down the beach to where Arion and Blackjack seemed to be in deep conversation.

Looking around, Percy noted Tyson and Grover were now playing horse shoes, cheered on by Ella and Annabeth. Rachel was playing corn hole against Estelle and Sally. Paul was still at the grill, serving up food to a line of campers with Mrs. O’Leary laying at his feet creating a puddle of drool the size of a kiddie pool. 

“So who wants to come swimming?” Piper asked.

“I will,” said Hazel.

“Not me,” Nico offered, “Will made me put on like five layers of sunscreen before we came and I’m not about to just wash it off. Plus, shadow travel still takes it out of me I think I need a bit of a break first.”

“I hear you, the flight from the airport was longer than I thought, I’m wiped,” Frank offered, “would you be up for a low-key card game on the porch?”

“Ah-ya-sure” Nico stuttered.

“I’ll grab some food for all of us, then meet you there,” Will offered. 

With that they all went their separate ways leaving Percy standing alone. He was just debating who he wanted to join when a large group came from the front of the house. In the lead were two teenaged girls accompanied by two metallic greyhounds: one gold, the other silver. Behind them came two white horses and at least half a pack of wolves. Percy wondered why the wolves had come with Thalia and Reyna instead of staying with the rest of the Hunters: maybe they had vacation days they needed to use up before they expired, maybe they didn’t trust boys around their lieutenant and felt she required an escort or maybe they just liked to party. It really didn’t matter to Percy, as long as they didn’t eat anyone they were welcome. 

Percy greeted the girls excitedly. Out of all his friends they were the ones he saw the least and he was glad they were able to make it. As they gave Percy an update on their hunt for the Teumessian Fox, Mrs. O’Leary bounded up to Reyna’s greyhounds, bowed and wagged her tail ready to play. To Percy’s surprise instead of their eyes glowing or barring their teeth they both began to wag their tails and looked to Reyna.

“Ok, go play,” she told them, and they took off with Mrs. O’Leary in hot pursuit.

Percy blinked, “They play?”

“Their dogs,” Reyna stated.

“I’ve always thought of them more as highly trained, lie-detecting, flesh-ripping, killing machines.”

At that Reyna actually laughed. She seemed lighter now as a Hunter of Artemis, instead of a Praetor of the Twelfth Legion. It suited her. Percy chatted with them for another twenty minutes before Annabeth came to recruit them for a game of beach paddleball. He was about to follow them when a commotion in the water caught his attention.

“RAINBOW!” Tyson yelled as he splashed and clapped as the Hippocampus swam up and nuzzled him, oblivious to Piper, Hazel and the others in the ocean around them.

Percy went down to the water and greeted Rainbow,  the whole time wondering if his friends and family had somehow managed to send him an invitation to the party or if he just sensed they were there and wanted to say hi. They tried to get Percy to stay for a game of Marco Polo but his stomach was growling and the food smelled too good to resist. 

He had just finished filling his plate when a bronze dragon descended from the sky, carrying a small shipping container in his claws. When the dragon landed he looked right at Percy, made some creaking noises then shot fire straight into the air. 

“Festus says ‘Happy Birthday’,” Leo supplied slipping off the dragon’s back, then helping Calypso down after him.

“Thanks Festus. Good to see you all.”

“You too, man,” Leo said approaching Percy, “sorry we’re late, it took longer than I thought to load everything up.”

“What exactly did you bring?,” Percy asked, “should I be worried about explosions?”

“No explosives this time,” Leo laughed, “just some good old-fashion automatonic pegasus wings.”

Before Percy could ask what he meant, Reyna came over followed by the two white horses.

“One-eye, short-ear, this is Leo, the demigod I told you about. Leo this is one-eye and short-ear.”

Now that the horses were closer Percy could see they weren’t horses at all but the pegasi that had been abused and de-winged by the Triumvirate before being rescued and taken in by Reyna and the hunter’s. Percy had been told the story but this was the first time he was meeting the creatures. Although they now looked healthy he could still see the scars on their backs where their wings were removed and on their flanks where they were whipped. 

“Can he really build us functional wings,” one-eye neighed, “should we trust him?”

“Leo can build anything,” Percy replied to the pegasus, “and you can trust him, right Reyna?”

“You can,” she agreed, “even if he once open fired on my city, igniting a war.”

“I was possessed by an eidolon demon,” Leo groaned and Festus whirred his teeth in support of his friend.

If this worried the pegasi they didn’t let on. Leo opened the shipping container and started to unload equipment. Percy ate his food as he watched Leo and Calypso set up a make shift work-shop and get to work, measuring and fitting the pegasi with their new wings. Half an hour, and a full stomach later, they were taking their first test flights. With the sun reflecting off the bronze feathers they looked amazing and they seemed to work just as well as the pegasi took off and began to do loops in the sky. It wasn’t long before they were joined by the pegasi from camp-half blood, Tempest and Festus, all circling in the sky like a flock of very large, very equine birds. This apparently frustrated Arion who was swearing under his breath about the lack of tall buildings or topography to run up in Montauk. As if just to spite him for calling him a baby man Frank turned into an eagle and joined the fun.

To Percy’s surprise the rest of the party went off without a hitch. He expected so many demigods in one place to attract every monster in a 100 mile radius but none showed up, so he just enjoyed himself.

He watched Nico and Reyna cream Frank and Leo at spike ball. He and Piper taught Grover and Will how to skim board. He teamed up with Thalia for a corn-hole doubles tournament and came second only to his mom and step-dad (the only mortals there). He watched all the Cocoa Puffs listen intently as Ella read them a book and what appeared to be an equine vs. canine soccer/handball/water polo game, with a ball being thrown between pegasi, wind-spirits, hippocampi and godly horses on one side and wolves, hellhounds and automatonic greyhounds on the other. He swam with Rainbow and Tyson. He was excited when Coach Hedge stopped by with Mellie and baby Chuck. He laughed with Chuck and Estelle as they followed Coach Hedge’s example excitedly destroying the sandcastles Percy and Annabeth had helped them make. He joined everyone dancing as Grover, Piper, and Austin from the Apollo cabin as well as some of his siblings put on a show. He made crafts with rocks and driftwood with Rachel, Calypso and Hazel. When Chiron stopped by, he had a heart-felt conversation with him over a game of checkers and watched his mom hold back tears as they talked, clearly about Percy as they kept glancing his way. He skipped rocks with Nico and Frank and went all out in a water fight, becoming unstoppable by teaming up with blackjack. As the sun set he was chatting with Leo as they prepared a campfire, when he noticed a large silhouette approaching in a small boat. As the boat hit land a silver haired titan stepped out.

“Bob,” Annabeth yelled tackling him in a hug. Percy and Annabeth had only seen the Titan once since he was rescued from Tartarus by Nico and Will after having sacrificed himself so they could survive and escape Tartarus and being trapped in a permanent regeneration cycle by Nyx as a result.  Although Bob forgave them for leaving him behind to save the world they still struggled to forgive themselves. Nico and Will were the next to greet the Titan, followed by the Cocoa Puffs, then Percy himself. The other’s weren’t sure what to make of him having never met him before but once Tyson broke the ice introducing himself and inviting Bob to join their card game, he fit right in. After a few minutes small Bob popped his head out of Bob’s overalls and padded over to greet Percy, Annabeth, Will and Nico before deciding to entertain himself by swatting at Mrs. O’Leary’s tail that wagged in her sleep. One of the young wolf pups saw the ghost cat and tried to chase him but small Bob went skeletal then grew into a full-grown sabre-toothed tiger which put a stop to that pretty fast. 

Once the sun set they roasted marshmallows, made smores and had a sing-along around the fire. They tried ghost stories but as they had all lived through multiple wars none of them scared easily so they ended up just listening to Ella recite the classics. Mrs. O’Leary, small bob and the Cocoa Puffs fell asleep in a pile and Percy had never seen a cuter pile of monsters.

As it got later guests began to leave in groups. His friends from camp, including Rachel and the pegasi left first; followed by Nico, Will and the cocoa puffs; then Reyna, Thalia and their pack; Leo, Calypso, and Piper (who was going to spend sometime at camp) on Festus, left next; then Hazel on Arion and Frank on Tempest; Rainbow swam back into the ocean, followed by Bob and small bob in their enchanted canoe; Tyson, Ella and Mrs. O’Leary were the last to leave with lots of hugs and promises to see each other soon. Percy’s parents and sister had already turned in for the night leaving just him, Annabeth and Grover. They stayed up playing games, talking, laughing and reminiscing about old times. Grover was the first to fall asleep just after 1 am. Percy and Annabeth left him on the patio couch and headed for a walk down the beach hand-in-hand, looking at the stars.

“Hard to believe it’s been four years since the end of the Titan war,” Percy finally said breaking their comfortable silence.

“Sure is, a lot has happened since then,” Annabeth sighed.

“Too much,” Percy laughed.

They fell into another comfortable silence just enjoying being together.

“Happy birthday seaweed brain,” Annabeth finally broke the silence, “and happy four year anniversary.” 

She smiled before pulling him into a kiss. And that- that moment. That kiss. That day. - was exactly why Percy turned down immortality on that date, four years earlier: because things could always get better, and if things got better than that, that would really be something to see, and he couldn’t wait.

[myrandomfandomramblings]

A professional partnership and strong friendship that is built on such deep mutual trust, respect and admiration that it becomes “unique” and nearly “undefinable.” Although, those watching are quick to reduce it to romance.

The guy thinks and acts with his heart. His outgoing nature and incredible sense of humor make him so charismatic that it borders on cocky. Although his passionate nature can make him prone to irritation and acting before he thinks, it’s more commonly demonstrated in his kindness, generosity and empathy for others. His loyalty and unwavering confidence in his partner coupled with his humor truly define him.

The girl thinks and acts more with her head. She’s incredibly clever, resourceful and smart but can also get too much in her own head and struggle with self-doubt and self-confidence. Nevertheless, she exudes a bubbly cheerfulness, and her passions bring out her driven and entrepreneurial nature and a strong, confident, bravery. Although she’s more careful and cautious than her partner she can easily match his quick wit. She’s a born leader who seeks to lift up everyone around her with her generosity and kindness. Her intelligence, passion and humility truly define her.

--

Who am I talking about? If you’re a Canadian or figure skating fan it probably sounds like VirtueMoir. If you’re a Miraculous Ladybug fan you probably imagine LadyNoir (although, interestingly, probably not the other sides of the love square). If you’re both (like me) you’re probably amazed by the similarities between the two. 

-- 

I got super into VirtueMoir in 2018 but didn’t start watching Miraculous until 2020 so I totally missed the similarities until I was watching Tessa and Scott’s Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame Induction the other day. Then I had to make this post. The matching colour schemes and the fact that Moir and Noir are spelt as if they should rhyme are fun bonuses. 

P.S. The picture of Tessa and Scott when they were around Adrien and Marinette’s age (14/16) makes me so happy.

[myrandomfandomramblings]

The Power of Love (Always so Strong) - A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic

Summary: I always envisioned the final (or penultimate) battle coming down to an identity reveal and the power of love winning out. So I wrote (and drew) it!

Note: canon compliant until late season 5 (then divergent) so contains season 5 spoilers

Ladybug and Chat Noir’s day had started out like many before it: with the defeat of Mr. Pigeon. 

“Pound it,” they smiled at each other, watching the de-evilized akuma fly away. That’s when their day took a turn for the unfamiliar.

Argos and Kagami appeared on the roof beside them, bringing with them information: that Monarch was none other than Gabriel Agreste.

Chat Noir looked like he was either going to break down or break the world. He paced the Parisian skyline while Argos and Kagami told their story with the aid of a senti-projector Argos called Once upon a time. 

When they finished Ladybug had about a thousand thoughts flying through her head but the only one that seemed to solidify was, “What about Adrien?”

Chat Noir stopped his pacing to stare wide-eyed at her. Then his shoulders slumped. “What? You think he’s working with his father?”

“What! No!” Ladybug almost yelled, “Adrien’s a good person. He would never. I just mean- will he be OK?” Chat perked up then and tentatively approached Ladybug.

“He never deserved how Gabriel treated him,” she continued, “But know this. I- I just don’t want to see him dragged into it. He’s already going to be so hurt when he finds out. And if he really is a- a-“

“Senti-being,” Argos offered.

“-then can Monarch- Gabriel- force him to take his side?”

“Gabriel can’t control him anymore,” Kagami assured her, “we got his amok from Gabriel and gave it to Adrien for safe keeping this morning. As far as if he will be OK- I’m not sure,” she trailed off.

Chat Noir had been looking down at his hands, wringing them as if fiddling with a ring that wasn’t there but when Kagami stopped talking he looked up with an expression of pure resolve, “he will be.” 

Ladybug had little time to contemplate why Chat sounded so confident about another persons emotions because just then the Parisian sky filled with portals and through them sparkling dust began to fall, covering the city. 

She had even less time to wonder what was happening before she was hit by paralyzing fear as her worst nightmares played like a montage in her mind.

She was broken out of the trace by Chat Noir’s voice, “What’s happening M’Lady?” He asked, his face contorted with pain, and Ladybug got a sense he was also experiencing his worst fears, “what did I do to you? I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” she offered, temporarily distracted from her own distress, “I’m right here. I’m fine,” she finished placing her hand on Chat’s chin and lifting it so he could see her.

She watched him blink and shake his head, seeming emerging from his nightmares.

“What’s going on?” He asked, his voice now laced with confusion, rather than pain.

“I don’t know?” Ladybug offered as she fought off another wave of terror threatening to overtake her, “nothing good.”

“Everybody looks miserable,” Chat said staring off the rooftop to the streets below.

Ladybug joined him at the edge and took it all in. All the Parisian’s below them were clearly struggling with invisible threats. They were either weeping, hiding, shaking, rocking, yelling or doing a combination of the above.

No matter which direction they looked citizens were suffering. Even once upon a time was effected, projecting a montage of the saddest movie scenes ever written.

“Let’s see how far the threat extends,”Ladybug said as she threw her yoyo and took off over the rooftops with Chat Noir in pursuit. As they made their way through the city things got worse and worse. Not a single corner of their beloved Paris seemed to be spared the effects of the nightmare dust.  They saw a few people escape their nightmares briefly, but they were quickly pulled back in. Just when Ladybug thought things couldn’t get worse her and Chat’s miraculouses started beeping.

“We’re going to transform back soon,” Ladybug said having forgotten that they had used their powers while de-akumatizing Mr. Ramier, earlier. 

“Well there doesn’t seem to be any immediate threat,” Chat pointed out, “we can just retransform, feed the kwamis then transform again.”

No sooner had those words left his mouth then portals once again opened in the sky all across Paris, but this time instead of dust, out of them came akumas, hundreds of thousands of them, sparking with dark energy.

“You were saying,” Ladybug offered as the akumas began to descend.

“Come on,” Chat said pulling her into the nearby subway entrance, “we need to detransform and retransform so your magic ladybugs can fix this when it’s all over.”

“I don’t know if this can be fixed,” Ladybug whimpered as the crushing walls of defeat closed in.

“It can be,” Chat said defiantly, “there is no way I’m letting my fa- Monarch win.”

His confidence gave ladybug the strength she needed to follow him down the subway tunnel. When the tunnel split they went on either side of the wall and detransformed, filling the tunnel with red and green light.

“What do you think we’ll be up against when we get back up there.” Adrien asked while Plagg gulped down his Camambert.

“I don’t know,” Marinette admitted, “all those negative emotions from that nightmare dust is probably like a buffet for akumas, people won’t be able to fight them.”

“Then we’ll just have to defeat the akumatimed villains one by one,” Adrien smiled, “Plagg, claws out,” he finished as he once again became the leather clad hero.

“Tikki, spots on,” Marinette followed suit, transforming back into ladybug.

When they left the subway tunnel they were met with absolute mayhem. Akumatized villains of every shape and size were running around Paris, causing mass destruction. 

“Ladybug, Chat Noir, come out come out wherever you are,” one called.

“Just hand over your miraculousness and the terror will end,” shouted another.

“Sounds like they’re looking for us,” Chat offered, “we should keep a low profile until we get a better look at the entire situation.”

“Agreed,” Ladybug nodded as she followed him through the hidden routes around the city.

Everywhere they went akumatized villains, some familiar and others new were wreaking havoc and still more akumas filled the sky, waiting for their chance.

Just when Ladybug was starting to think they were the only two people in Paris not akumatized a light caught her eye. They made their way towards it, curious of its source. When they got near it they hopped up on a low roof to get a better view. That’s when she saw Alya, she was talking to Nino. They were both still themselves and they both held the charms ladybug had given them, which glowed in their hands emitting the light they had followed.

“You are the bravest person I know,” Alya said to Nino. “You defeated Anansi and saved my life and helped defeat a bunch of other villains, saving Paris numerous times. You’re also a rocking’ DJ and king of pop-culture trivia and most importantly the best boyfriend ever. I love you and I know you’re strong enough to resist the akumas.”

“I love you too. You're the coolest, toughest and smartest person I know and it’s an honour to call you my girlfriend,” Nino returned as he took Alya’s hand and the charms in them produced a blinding light that wrapped them in a kind of light force field, pushing all the akumas that were fluttering around them away.

“Wow that was awesome,” Ladybug said without thinking.

“Mar-Ladybug,” Alya smiled turning towards her, “the charms are working.”

“Only for you two it seems,” Ladybug responded jumping down from the roof top when she’s sure the coast is clear.

“You just got to power them with positive emotions, dude” Nino offered. 

“Those aren’t so easy to come by these days, it seems,” Chat offered joining the group.

“People just need to be reminded of the good,” Alya said, “leave it to us. You guys do your thing.”

“Viva la resistance,” Nino yelled as they ran off down the alley.

So Ladybug and Chat Noir tried to do their thing. They defeated akumatized villain after akumatized villain. Broke the item with the akuma in it. De-evilized the akuma. Sent out the magic ladybugs. Gave the victim a lucky charm. Then detransformed and retransformed to do it all over again, but each time, despite the charm, a new akuma came and re-akumatized the victim. So after nearly 5 hours and over 20 villains de- and re- akumatized Ladybug was starting to lose hope. 

They were on the rooftop of their usual meeting spot trying to re-group.

They’d thought of trying to face Monarch directly but the akumatized villains got more and more numerous the closer to the Agreste Manor they got. They were protecting him, and if Ladybug and Chat Noir hoped to get anywhere near him they’d have to deconstruct, meaning de-akumatize, his army first. The only problem was, that was proving far more difficult than they imagined. In fact, at this moment it seemed impossible.

As Ladybug’s hope faded she could feel the nightmares closing in and see the akumas start to flutter closer to her.

“We can’t give up M’lady,” Chat said from beside her, but it lacked his usual confidence. He too looked discouraged and the akumas were starting to approach him.

“I just don’t know what else to do,” she admitted, “nothing’s working.”

“Except that,” Chat smiled as he pointed to Alya and Nino’s glowing force field. It’d grown exponentially in size and now housed not only Alya and Nino but nearly 20 other familiar faces. Adrien recognized most of his classmates, as well as some of their siblings and parents. He also saw Felix, Kagami and Once upon a time in the force field. As they watched, the group approached Guitar Villain, with the Couffaine twins in the lead. Guitar Villain tried to penetrate the force field but nothing happened. Those in it did nothing to fight back but Ladybug could see their mouths moving. She couldn’t hear what was being said but before long Guitar Villain was no longer attacking them. Then he’d seemingly renounced the akuma as he once again became Jagged Stone, and his damaged lucky charm glowed with light as he joined the group in the force field.

“Maybe so,” Ladybug sighed, “but they’ll never be able to get to every citizen in the city,” she sighed again, “and even if they do we can’t live in a force field forever, and there is no way I can de-evilize every akuma” she finished, looking up at the portals through which more akumas continued to come. The akumas inched towards her as she said it, feeling her negative emotions grow.

“There has to be a way,” Chat pleaded.

“Maybe not this time, Kitty, we had a good run,” she smiled sadly as the akumas closed in.

“No!” he shouted, “Cataclysm!” he lashed out at the akumas closest to her vaporizing them just before they were able to make contact.

That caring act was just enough to make Ladybug remember that not everything was wrong with the world, she still had an awesome partner, the best there was. And he believed in her, even if she didn’t believe in herself. That was enough to force the akumas back a couple feet.

“Please M’lady, don’t give up,” he begged, “Paris needs you. I need you. And I know that you- we, can do this.”

Ladybug may not have believed in herself, at that moment, but she believed in Chat, so she nodded.

“Ok, what do you suggest?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe try your lucky charm, it usually helps.”

As if sensing that Ladybug and Chat Noir were no longer being dealt with by akumas directly, akumatized villains started to make their way towards them from all directions.

“Alright Kitty, here goes nothing,” Ladybug smiled at him.

“No matter what we finish this together,” Chat smiled in return.

“Like Always,” she confirmed, “Lucky charm!”

Ladybug threw her yoyo into the air where it spun, shooting out shapes of red. Then a small object fell landing in Ladybug’s hands.

“What is that?” Chat Noir asked looking at the red and black polka dotted object. It looked oddly familiar to Chat, like a bracelet or keychain made of beads but he couldn’t quite place it.

“It’s- It’s a lucky charm, of sorts,” Ladybug said, “but I’m not sure what to do with it,” she offered looking around for a clue. 

The akumatized villains started to reach them then and Chat and Ladybug began to reflexively reflect their attacks as they continued their conversation.

“A lucky charm?,” Chat asked, “like the ones Nino and Alya are using to create that force field.”

“Not exactly,” Ladybug said, still looking around frantically, as her and Chat defended themselves “this one doesn’t have any magic. It was made for me by a friend. Actually he’s my boyfriend now,” she blushed.

Something in the back of Chat’s mind told him that that should mean something to him, as he asked her, “do you have it with you?”

“Yeah- ah- I think so- I don’t go anywhere without it,” she admitted as her blush deepened and she reached into her yoyo while Chat defended her. 

“Here it is,” she offered showing the beaded bracelet to Chat. As soon as his eyes landed on it he froze. Once it was in colour he recognized it instantly. He had made it. And given it to-.

“Marinette,” he gasped as he was nearly impaled by an arrow, and the charm started to glow, “-it’s -it’s you. I can’t believe- But I guess I should have known. Smart, kind beautiful-.“ 

As Chat continued to talk the charm glowed brighter and brighter and the villains started to fall back, seemingly repulsed by the glow. It’s a good thing too because Chat was completely distracted and Ladybug was staring at him dumbfounded.

“What- How-,” she managed to stutter.

“It’s me,” Chat began, then figured it’d be better to show her. He opened his staff, reached in and pulled out a beaded lucky charm of his own.

“A friend made this for me too,” he offered, “she’s my girlfriend now,” he finished with a smirk.

Ladybug just stared at him blinking, “Adrien?“ she finally managed to get out.

“The one and only,” he said with a bow.

“This whole time,” Ladybug shakes her head, “with the puns and the showmanship-.”

“-and the loyalty and the partnership,” Chat defended.

“And that,” Ladybug smiled, and the charm in Chat’s hand continued to glow brighter.

“I’m so glad it’s you. That it’s always been you,” she said pulling Chat into a hug. “My boyfriend is also my best friend,” she laughed.

“My first love is also the love of my life,” Chat offered, “the only girl I’ve ever loved.”

“I love you too,” Ladybug said before pulling him into a kiss.

As they kissed the light from the charms grew brighter and brighter until it was blinding, then it continued to grow and grow sending light across the entire city, de-akumatizing every villain and de-evilizing every akuma in its path, leaving the streets full of confused citizens and the sky full of white butterflies. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir were too preoccupied to notice any of this. In fact, they had been too preoccupied to notice that for the last several minutes their miraculouses had been blinking and beeping warning them of their imminent detransformations and that those detransformations were currently taking place as they continued to kiss. 

So when they finally pulled apart they weren’t staring at their superhero partner but instead their civilian love.

“Ah- Marinette,” Tikki asked pulling the lovebird back to reality, “are you going to clean this up?” She finished gesturing to the ravaged city around them.

“And give me some cheese,” Plagg added, addressing Adrien.

“Together?” Marinette asked Adrien as she held out the spotted lucky charm.

“You got it Bug-a-boo,” he responded taking her hand.

“Miraculous Ladybug,” they shouted together as they threw the charm into the air and watched the magical ladybugs swarm out to repair the damage.

“So now what?” Adrien asked.

Marinette shrugged, “We’ll have to face Monarch eventually, but-“ she cut herself off, “I’m sorry, I- I wasn’t thinking,” she finished as she remembered that although Monarch was a supervillain and terrorist he was also Adrien’s father.

Adrien just shook his head but Marinette could see tears forming at the corner of his eyes, “It’s Ok,” he said, “he made his choices and now I get to make my own,” Adrien continued playing with a pair of rings, Marinette hadn’t seen before, “And I choose to build my own family. One where we love, care about and respect each other. One where we actually value each others happiness,” Adrien gave a small smile, “and I think I’m off to a pretty good start,” he paused looking at Marinette. “So when the time comes I want to be right by your side, and I know we will win. Together.”

“Always,” Marinette confirmed pulling her boyfriend into a hug.

She knew it wasn’t going to be easy but as long as they had each other they could get through anything.

THE END

[myrandomfandomramblings]

In which Plagg's aversion to Adrienette's sweet talk leads to an Identity Reveal - A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic

“You’re so cute,” Adrien smiles reaching up to brush ice cream from Marinette’s cheek.

“Not as cute as you,” she blushes.

“No, you’re the cutest,” they say in unison, “Jinx,” they continue their harmony then break into giggles.

“Double jinx,” they once again say at once then divulge into laughter.

Once they’ve recovered Marinette looks at Adrien, “I love you.”

“I love you more,” he retorts.

“I love you most,” she counters.

That was it! Plagg had spent the last two hours sitting in Adrien’s gym bag listening to him and Marinette gush about each other endlesslessly. He couldn’t take it anymore. That much sugary sweetness was sickening. So he figured before he lost his temper, and accidentally destroyed the world, it would be best to simply remove himself from the situation. The kid would be fine without him for an hour. 

As he flew from Adrien’s bag, he was already picturing the Camembert he could “borrow” from a nice shop just across the square from where they were sitting. Consider it a tax for all the times he’s saved Paris.

He was so distracted by his fantasy he didn’t notice that the sweet talk, he was trying to escape, had suddenly cut off behind him,

“Plagg,” Marinette gasped as she stood up stumbling over her words,

“I’ve got to- stay, you- go- here. Something to do. Be back right,” she yelled as she ran after Plagg, waving to Adrien as she left him sitting there, alone and confused. 

“Plagg,” she whisper yelled as she caught up with him in the alley behind the cheese shop. “What are you doing here? Did something happen to Chat Noir?”  

It took a second for Plagg to realize what was going on. 1) Marinette had noticed him fly across the square. That made sense because unlike other humans that catch a quick glimpse of a kwami, assume it’s a bug or bird and think nothing of it, Marinette is a miraculous holder and guardian, meaning she is acutely aware of kwamis and their presence. 2) Marinette doesn’t know that Adrien, her boyfriend, is Chat Noir, her superhero partner. Meaning she doesn’t know that Plagg is simply there because that’s where his holder is. She thinks he’s there to find her because there is some sort of emergency and his holder is out of commission. 

Now, he’d like to just tell her the truth, let her get back to her sickly sweet date and let him get back to his cheese hunt, but of course it’s not that simple. Because Marinette and Adrien, or more accurately Ladybug and Chat Noir, can’t know each other’s secret identities without putting the entire world in danger. Blah Blah Blah. Always the dramatics. Plagg’s at least 50% sure the world would be just fine if this revelation were to come to light. And if not? Well, Plagg’s seen the world end before. It’s not that bad. Exciting even. Anything beats listening to more Adrienette date conversation. But Tikki’s peaking out of Marinette’s purse shaking her head at him and he can’t disappoint his sugar cube.

“Chat Noir’s fine,” Plagg reassures her, “I’m just here for the best Camembert in Paris,” he finishes gesturing to the cheese shop beside them.

“Oh- ah- alright then,” Marinette nods as her adrenaline starts to dissipate. “But you should probably stay closer to Chat, you never know when he’ll need to transform.”

“Can’t, he’s on a date with his girlfriend and all the lovey-dovey stuff is making me sick,” Plagg gags, earning a stern look from Tikki.

“So his relationship is going well? He’s happy?” Marinette asks the kwami.

“Ya the kid’s doing good,” Plagg confirms, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with some cheese,” he continues disappearing through the cheese shop wall.

“Plagg,” Marinette hisses after him, but he’s already gone.

----

“Everything Ok,” Adrien asks as Marinette sits back down beside him.

“Ah- ya- false alarm. I thought I saw a friend in trouble. Ah- but he’s fine,” she stammers.

“So who’s Plagg,” Adrien asks fixing her with a knowing smirk that’s oddly familiar, “you called his name just before you ran off.”

Marinette pales, “Plagg? Plagg who? I don’t know a Plagg. I know the bubonic plague. It’s bad,” she finishes laughing nervously. Then through her panic a second thought hits her: How does he know WHO Plagg is? That HE’S a WHO at all. Anyone that heard Plagg would think plague: Black Death, ancient pandemic. Anyone except those that have held or guarded the black cat miraculous and thus met it’s kwami.

When she looks back at Adrien he’s still looking at her with that same familiar teasing expression, and the pieces fall into place in her mind: A black mask falls across his eyes as black ears poke out of his messy blond hair.

“Kitty?” She breathes and his entire face lights up.

“It really is you, M’lady,” he beams as he tackles a still stunned Marinette into a hug.

 “I know it’s supposed to be a secret, but when you ran off and I realized you were chasing after Plagg, who you recognized and knew by name, well, all the pieces just clicked. All the similarities between you and Ladybug. And I just-had to know for sure. That my girlfriend and best friend, first love and true love were one and the same.” He’s standing with his hands on her shoulders, staring at her in absolute awe, but as he finishes he pulls away. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have dropped that all on you, I should have considered the dangers of us knowing each others secret identities. I just- got excited,” he finishes rubbing the back of his neck as he sneaks a peek up at Marinette. 

Marinette is trying to listen to Adrien. The concerns he’s voicing are valid and she’s spent most of the year reinforcing them, but she can’t really focus on anything he’s saying because she’s using all her energy to keep herself from laughing, and failing miserably.

“What’s so funny?” he asks.

“I just can’t stop thinking about how we kept rejecting each other because we were in love with each other,” Marinette laughs, “and I know that’s not the important take away here.”

Then Adrien laughs too. “Or the times we thought we were protecting each other but were actually just preventing the other from transforming.”

Marinette laughs harder, “Oh my gosh, we were such disasters.”

“On the contrary,” Adrien smiles, “we made a pretty good team… No matter the combination.”

Marinette nods, “Maybe that’s why I’m not scared anymore. Whatever the consequences of us knowing each other’s secret identities are, we will figure them out. Together.”

“Like always,” Adrien replies holding out his fist.

“Pound it,” they say in unison as the fist bump morphs into a kiss.

[myrandomfandomramblings]

Miraculous Ladybug Lovesquare

It's pretty crazy how much development ALL sides of the love square have seen over the last 5 seasons (especially in season 5).

Exhibit A: canon kisses for 3/4 pairs.

[myrandomfandomramblings]

"Good things take time, as they should. We shouldn't expect good things to happen overnight. Actually getting something too easily or too soon can cheapen the outcome." - John Wooden

On the last day of Chenford week I offer this simple picture as a reminder of how far Chenford has come over the last 5 seasons 🥰.

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Chenford Week 2023 Day 7: Free Day (July 17)

Free choice! Create whatever you’d like or take today to catch up on one of the previous days’ prompts.