#Single dad Kristoff | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

maryannecrimsworth · 1 year

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Against All

Pairing: Hailey Upton x Single Father! Former FBI profiler! OC! Kristoff "Kris" Aller

Summary:

Nine corpses, nine burnt buildings, nine victims --- no connections.

The Intelligence unit of District 21st had been unable to find anything. All the clues were dead ends, all the people murdered were different - there was no pattern, no connection.

The only thing in common in all the cases: the modus operandi.

More murders were happening as the unit remained stagnant -- the cases were increasing, and they weren't getting any closer to having even one suspect.

Voight had no choice: he called the most efficient criminal profiler that he knew - who had also left the Bureau after a terrible event.

Kris Aller didn't want to go back, he didn't want to look a monster in the eye ever again, not after what had happened to his daughters.

But the sergeant needed him. This case - all the murders - were linked to the tragedy of his life. A tragedy that Hank couldn't avoid.

A tragedy that only Hailey Upton would understand --- and uncover.

Chapter One: Benjamin Cooper

— God, I hate this song — the teenager complained in a grunt. Even though she was sitting in the passenger seat, she could hear the younger girl singing from the back. — Can you tell her to shut up?

— No way. — The man driving replied quickly. — Amber's expressing herself, I can't tell her off for that.

— So tell her to express herself with another song! I swear to God if I hear — the girl on the back sang loudly: I was good she was hot — Argh! — The teen grunted. — I gave up. My ears will bleed forever.

— Blackhawks won yesterday, let her cheer. — He looked at the girl by his side, worry present in his semblance. — Is there something—

— Billy's here! — Amber shouted, making both the man and the teenager flinch. He stopped the car.— Papa, can I go? Please, I need to talk to him—

— At least she stopped singing.

— I heard that, Tess! — He stared hardly at the older girl before turning to the other. — Yes, you can, Amber, but behave in class, ok?

— Thank you! — She freed herself from the belt, kissed and hugged her father, and held the door of the car. — Bye, papa. Bye, Tessa. See ya later! — she dropped off and ran into the school. Her shirt of the Chicago Blackhawks got the attention of some girls around but she didn't mind.

They watched the little girl go as they waited inside the car in complete silence.

— Oh, no. — Tess suddenly spoke. — Mother Alert, we gotta go.

A woman appeared on the horizon: it was too late, she had reached the car and was already asking for the teen to lower the window.

— you're a terrible getaway pilot. — she mouthed to the man before rolling down the glass and allowing the woman to come even closer.

— Kris! How good to see you! — the woman screamed.

— Hello, Margaret. — only Tess could tell his smile was fake. — How are you?

— Oh, dear, I'm suffering because of you! — Tess widened and moved away from the window. Being between the two now should be her punishment for complaining. — My boys won't stop asking for your pretzels! My house is a mess.

— I'm sorry to hear that. You haven't tried the recipe yet? — Kris kept his hand on the wheels. He wanted to leave as much as Tess did.

— I have, but I don't have the magic hands you do, dear! Would you like to stop by tomorrow and teach the boys how to make it? I think it's the only way to calm them down.

— Oh, no, I wouldn't like to bother you. — One of Kris' hands fell to the gearbox. — I'll bring some more to their training, don't worry. — the car started to move. — Sorry, I gotta go. See ya!

The woman was left behind in sidewalk as both Kris and Tess started to breathe easily again.

— Was she smelling? — Tess asked.

— Don't be mean. It was just some cologne...I guess.

— It's paradoxal, you know. The mothers love a single dad but are crazy to make you no longer single.

— This is the conversation you want to have right now?

Tess' smile faded away. Kris wouldn't miss a thing, would he?

— I don't want to talk about it.

— Okay.

— It's just silly stuff from school.

— If it's bothering you, then it's not silly — he started, and Tess finished the sentence with him, her voice was filled with impatience and discomfort.

— I know, I know. — she sighed. — Still, I don't feel like talking right now.

— Sure. — Kris kept driving. — Do you want to get some ice cream?

— I have class.

— It's okay, we have time. — He turned the wheel to the right and started to look for an ice cream parlor. They arrived at a commercial street very quickly. — Here it is.

— It can't be open.

— It is! — he parked without any problem. At this time in the morning, no one was driving or passing by a street like that, but, thankfully, the parlors and cafeterias were open — still empty, but open.

— So, — he turned off the car. — ice cream?

— I hate when you do this

Kris smiled.

— you hate many things but you love ice cream, don't you?

— yes.

— So let's go.

Kris made her smile — well, she was smirking but it counted —, and they approached the parlor with joy.

The man was about to crack a joke when a man showed up by the empty street corner.

Kris' steps slowed down, recognizing him immediately. He, however, didn't allow Tess to have the chance to look at the other man.

— Tessa. — He turned her over to him. — I'll be right after you, ok? Here, get the one you want. — Tessa noted something was wrong, but she obeyed and walked over to the parlor, keeping distance from the other man.

As she reached the shop, Kris waited for the man to come closer.

— Sergeant Voight. — Kris spoke with a tense voice. He already knew what this was all about. He knew what he was going to ask. That's why he didn't take any of Voight's calls. — How can I help you?

— You know how. — Voight was holding a file. — I need a profiling, off the books.

— The feds would be happy to help you with this.

— No. — Hank stepped closer, — they can't know. We still don't know the length of this and...

— Maybe one of them can be involved. — Kris grunted under his breath. He looked away and remained in silence for many minutes.

— We've got 9 victims so far. — Hank would say whatever he needed to convince the man. — It's a clear M.O but we cannot predict too much besides that. My team and I—

— Okay. — Kris spoke suddenly. This time, when he looked back at the Sargent, his eyes shone discreetly. — I'm in. — His look jumped to the girl in the parlor, now appreciating her ice cream. — With one condition. My daughters have to be safe , no matter what.

— Nothing will happen to them. — Voight handed him the file. — I already spoke with your boss, he said he'll take care of the center until you're done helping us.

Kris laughed.

— You're a step ahead, as always. — Kris walked away from the Sargent. — See you there.

Voight nodded and left.

And Tess was watching everything when Kris finally came to the parlor.

— You're getting back, aren't you? — Tess sounded suspicious. Her hands were squeezing the bowl of ice cream with strength.

— You don't have to worry about it. — Kris said, helding one of her hands in an attempt to calm her down. Her expression slowly softened. — I made sure you and Amber we'll be safe and... — He showed a mischievous smile. — you have your own high school drama to live now, forget about me.

Tess rolled her eyes at his words.

— I'm not telling you anything.

— Yeah? I doubt it. I think you will come up with five profiles by next week.

— God, you make me sound creepy.

Kris laughed proudly and loudly.

— What can I say? It's our family thing.

Arriving at the police station would never be discreet: as soon as Kris left his car, half a dozen officers turned to him. Some smiled, some widened their eyes, but the loudest of all was Ruzek, who cheered and shouted as he came closer.

— Can't believe you're here, man — Adam hugged Kris and tapped his back. — I always thought you'd come back

— Hold on, I'm not back — "yet", Adam whispered, interrupting Kris while they walked to the unit floor — Voight asked for help and that's it. Don't get too excited.

— I'm not, but Kim will be. She's been curious about you since Myk and Amber started playing together.

— But she already knows me… — Kris was confused, he couldn't understand the reason behind Adam's excitement in time

— But she doesn't know ‘Bishop’! — Kris grunted in distress — It's good to have you back, Bishop

Adam walked away laughing as they came upstairs and met with the rest of the unit. Voight, Upton, Torres, Burgess and Atwater stared at Kris immediately.

— Team, that's Aller, former FBI profiler. — Voight introduced him — He’s going to help us with this case, so bring him up to date.

The man nodded respectfully and came closer as Torres stepped in and showed him the board.

— We have 9 corpses, 9 places and 9 crime scenes. All of these men were killed between 9 p.m to 3 a.m, with chains and inner burns.

Inner? Kris frowned at the words and stared attentively at the photos.

— They were cooked. — Kim explained with a choked voice. — Tortured during the whole night. We can’t get why, we don’t have any suspects…We don’t even have images. Only the bodies.

— And we don’t have much more of them, either…They had to be identified by their dental arch.

— It’s cruel. — Kevin said.

— It’s personal. — Kris spoke. — The victims had any enemies in common?

— No one. Nothing, to be honest. — Adam approached the board with the photos of the victims. — Different jobs, different homes, different colors and ages…But the same way of death.

Silence took over the room. Again, confusion and tension paired in the air as the new member of the unit stared at all the data, and all the other members watched him. He was totally still, eyes frozen on one name on the board.

— Benjamin Cooper. — Adam broke the silence with anxiety, pointing at the name that Kris so determinedly looked at. — No criminal record, but he testify years ago in—

— I know him. — Kris cut him off, and his eyes finally moved: his gaze landed on Voight. His expression, even though still as before, focused on the sergeant for too long. — He’s the reason why I’m here.

Voight looked away: the discomfort made him move around the room as Hailey watched them both suspiciously.

— Why do you mean? — Kim inquired.

— I…I worked on the case he testified in. — Aller explained. — Thanks to him…it all went wrong.

— I want you to talk with his family. — Voight demanded. — They know something, but didn’t tell us anything. They’ll talk to you.

Kris crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t take long to agree with the sergeant.

— Is this a pattern? — He asked before walking away from the board. — The other victims were involved in the case too?

— No. None of them had ever testified. — Torres replied.

— Cooper was a dead loss, the testimony was the only thing that could get him killed. — Kris went on. — He might be our connection.

— You heard him. Investigate the man, make a timeline of the night he was murdered, discover every single contact of his and find a connection. Every little detail can be important. — Voight gave the orders as he followed Kris.

They were about to walk downstairs when a strong voice stopped them.

— If Benjamin was a ‘dead loss’ as you said — Upton spoke up — why waste our time on him? The killer might act again tonight and we have to—

— Do we have any better leads? — Voight’s voice was sharp, his reaction was abrupt and harsh. His voice would grow louder if Kris hadn’t held him. — What? — He screamed at Aller.

— Calm down.

— I am perfectly calm for this case, Kristoff, but I cannot bear to see another dead body because of him .

Kris’ expression went dark. He bended over Voight.

— You’re not thinking straight….— Kris whispered. — Stay here. Remember what we talked about. I’m going to talk with the Coopers.

Voight walked back to the unit floor, and, before going into his office, he ordered again:

— Upton, you go with him.

She opened her mouth to protest, but Hank had already shut the door close.

Hailey picked up her coat and walked away with Kris, in complete silence.

They went downstairs and passed by Platt's balcony with a quiet goodbye. Even though the Sergeant clearly tried to talk with Kris, the man walked across the entrance and ignored all her glances.

Again, Hailey watched his behavior in silence and kept her way to the car.

— I'm sorry about Voight. — Kris said before getting closer to the passenger side. — This case is…. complicated to him.

They got into the car and Hailey asked:

— Yet, he won't tell us anything about it.

— It's a confidential case. — He argued.

— So confidential that you think everyone involved in it's a target. — She started the car.

— You need a connection. That might be it.

— Is this your profile? Or just a guess?

Kris responded with a snort.

— You're better off without knowing much about this case, believe me. — He shrugged in his seat. — Are we going to the Coopers or not?

Hailey grunted and drove away from the police station.

The house of the last members of the Cooper family was simple and humble. The garden looked abandoned, the grass was tall and the fence was almost completely broken. The car parked in the open garage was lowered, with empty tires and cracked windows.

They did not look simply poor — they looked like they had given up on life itself.

— I think it’s better if you stay here. — Kris spoke before Hailey could exit the car. Luckily or not, she froze for a second, giving him time to leave and walk over to the house.

After collecting herself, Upton got out of the car and ran after him.

— Excuse me? — She grabbed his arm and made him turn to her. — Who do you think you are?

— Look, don’t make this personal. Just — He cut her off before she could argue back — Just look around. They won’t talk to you.

— But to you they will? You're as arrogant as any shrink who's never been in the streets.

Kris watched her speak in silence: with his hands in his hips, he only waited for the woman to be done.

She stopped talking very quickly — after all, it was useless to say anything to his blank, strained expression — and the man enjoyed the silence of the street before finally replying:

— They will talk to me because they know me. — He stepped back. — Now, if you excuse me…

Ignoring his arguments, Hailey followed Aller close behind. He didn’t utter another word to her, and finally knocked on the house’s door.

— Anna? — Kris called. — It’s Kristoff. Can we talk?

Unlike the reception Upton and Voight received a few days ago, the woman answered him quickly and promptly. Her eyes were widened when she opened the door, but she frowned at Hailey. Anna’s face dropped, and she muttered to Kris a few words.

Kris signed to Hailey and they both followed the woman into the house.

— Can I see Benjamin's room?

— She already did — Anna replied before Upton could — They took all his gadgets and notebooks.

— I know. — Kris smiled gently. — I just want to check one thing up

Anna stared at him for too long — her gaze was heavy, not suspicious, but, somehow, sad. It carried so much guilt that she eventually showed him the room.

— I'm waiting in the kitchen. — she told them before opening the door of Benjamin's bedroom.

Kris stepped in as Anna walked away.

— As she told you, we already searched in here. You won't find anything useful.

— Maybe not. — Kris replied with a whisper, his whole being focused on analyzing the room. The walls were empty, and so was the bed and the dressers. — Looks like a prison cell.

— Or he was just minimalist. — Hailey argued. — Cooper's never been in jail.

— Yes. — Aller came closer to a drawer. — But he also had three records for criminal harassment. He was a stalker. — Kris wandered through the drawer and collected a few flyers. — Here it is.

— What?

— Our connection.

He didn't give Hailey time to question — Aller stormed out the room and came to Anna.

— Thank you for your help, Anna — He held out his hand to her. — We're already leaving.

The woman shook his hand and blinked slowly, as if gathering courage to say something.

— I have to tell you something. — Anna admitted.

Hailey saw Kris' expression drop — he stepped back and prepared to leave right away.

— You'd already told everything you needed. — He tried to be polite, but Hailey purposely stood in his way. He stomped on the detective and was obligated to stop.

— I did thank you. — Anna came closer, but Aller didn't look her in the eye. — But I never apologized for leaving you there. I shouldn't—

— It's okay. — He cut her off. — You don't have to. It's already gone. I don't resent you.

He smiled at her for a brief moment — only enough time to make her feel forgiven and understood.

Then he shook his head and left the house after saying a quiet goodbye.

Hailey stood there without understanding much — where was 'there'? What was Anna talking about? why would she thank him?

Upton followed him keenly — she wasn't going to stay in the dark again.

The way to the police station was silent: the tension stretched the air, making the atmosphere too heavy to even breathe. Kris shifted in his seat, his eyes were either moving to the window or to the driver's side. Hailey, on the other hand, kept her gaze on the streets.

When they parked and got out of the car, Platt was already waiting for them — for him.

The look that the Sargent gave Hailey showed her why the garage was completely empty. Trudy was furious.

— Have you gone mad? — She stomped over to Aller, and the man stepped back immediately. — What are you even—

— I guess your best ability is pissing the sargents off. — Hailey’s smile dropped as soon as Platt's gaze landed on her.

Kris spoke before Trudy could shout.

— This isn't the best place to talk about this. — He made Platt look at him again. — And you don't have to worry about it. — He held the sergeant's shoulders. — No one does. No one knows.

— Voight shouldn't have called you. You shouldn't be involved in any of this—

— Trudy, please— His eyes, shining with exasperation, turned to Upton for a brief second. — Don't—

— You can't help him! — She screamed.

And Hailey was watching and listening to everything. Maybe the whole station was.

— I can. — Kris' voice was still low, stable. Serene, the complete opposite of his face. — I will. Please, you—

— Aren't you thinking about your girls? How can you? He did—what he did was monstrous! — Platt would not stop. She could not stop. — He spanked you.

— I know. — Kris whispered as his arms involved the older woman. She was trembling under his hands.

— He raped you. — Platt sobbed, her tears were falling nonstop. — And you're being used again, you're ruining your life again for what? For him?

— I'm going to be fine, Trudy. I can do it.

— Voight's using you. — She pleaded again: — You can't—

— It's okay. — He hugged her tighter. — It's okay.

They stayed in the garage until the Sargent was able to stop crying. Until she was able to stop trembling.

And Hailey stayed there too.

She now had — at least a few — answers for all her questions about him.

#hailey upton x original character #hailey upton x oc #hailey upton #adam ruzek #hank voight #kim burgess #kevin atwater #original female character #single father #single dad oc

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cryptidkeepp · 3 months

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(evan peters) [THE FIXER]. Please welcome [FORREST BANKS (HE/HIM)] to Huntsville, WV. They are an [34-year-old [RESIDENT] who lives in [TOWN]. You may see them around working as a [OWNER OF PETE’S GARAGE]. Poor unfortunate soul. We’ll see if they survive.

GENERAL.

full name: forrest william banks

nicknames: for, tbd

title: the fixer

hunter/gatherer: hunter

birthplace: huntsville, west virginia

gender / pronouns: cis male, he/him

age / birthday: 34, may 27th

orientations: bisexual, biromantic

occupation: mechanic and owner of pete's garage

location: town, resident

status: single

family: tbd banks ( father ), tbd ( mother ), beckett banks ( brother ), beryl kingston ( step-sister ), tbd banks ( brother )

strengths: hard-working, friendly, simple, diligent, protective

weaknesses: forgetful, indecisive, restless, vague, self-destructive

character inspo: brock (pokémon), samwise gamgee (lord of the rings), charlie swan (twilight), kristoff (frozen), matt saracen (friday night lights), marshall eriksen (how i met your mother), glenn rhee (the walking dead), ben scott (yellowjackets), finn (star wars: the last jedi), coach beard (ted lasso), evan (superbad)

BIOGRAPHY.

tw: death, accident, divorce

his childhood was a happy one, for the most part. he was the oldest of three boys living in small town west virginia. his father was strict but not cruel, and his mother was nurturing and sweet. both parents loved their children. it was unfortunate that love didn't spread to each other. or at least if it did, it didn't last.

divorce wasn't the end of the world, worse things could've happened but it still was a rift in the otherwise fairly normal childhood forrest had up until that point. he didn't like having to choose to live with one parent or another. in the end he stayed with his dad where beckett had stayed because he didn't want to leave him.

his brother was his best friend, sure he had other friends but forrest was an awkward kid that wasn't ever sure how to talk to people or how one made friends or anything else. the people he did have in his life that weren't bound to him in blood he couldn't tell you why or how they ended up there but he was forever grateful for those friends.

he tried his best to split his time between his mom and dad, but it was hard. more often it ended up in regular phone or video calls with mom, spending holidays and summers with her and his brothers and step-family. that's when his guilt started to grow, trying to be in two places at once. it was hard to ignore.

his dyslexia made school difficult to say the least, but he did his best. not the best at sports, he joined the basketball team but spent most of the time on the bench. he made it to graduation for the sake of his parents, siblings, and if nothing else, to say he did it.

after school he travelled a bit, went to spend some time with his mom and see something outside of huntsville for once. it was out there that he met his first real love. noah was everything to forrest for awhile, he was a glimpse into independence, another life, and filling a void of what was lost when his family split apart and siblings went off to do their own thing. it was short-lived, only a year until it all came crumbling down and noah died in a freak motorcycle accident.

after that, forrest made his way back home. with beckett deployed and still grieving, he found himself doing the same thing he'd done back when he was younger. he worked on cars. it was therapeutic to him in many ways, just fixing things in general, when he was younger he helped his uncle build and fix cars all the time. it just stuck with him. this eventually led to him working at, then buying pete's garage after it was rebuilt.

when the storm came he'd only been home for a year, it was terrifying and honestly he sometimes questions how he survived at all. for the first few years it felt like that's all he was doing, surviving. but when beckett came home and later beryl showed up, it was relieving to have family back. and to have his best friend back. but he's always felt guilty being happy they're there because now they're cursed too.

these days he does his best to help out around town wherever he can, hunts during seasons, and primarily wants to be there for his siblings. and hopefully, find a way out of that town or fix whatever happened so things can go back to normal again.... someday.

QUICK CONNECTIONS.

childhood friends

exes

people he fixes things for

clients at the garage

employees at the garage

people he doesn't get along with

close friends / confidant

HEADCANONS.

forrest is dyslexic so he's slow with reading in general, beckett helps with the paperwork at the garage because of that.

despite being sort of a pacifist before the paradox, he comes from a military family and knows how to handle firearms and other weapons quiet well. that is why he opted to help with hunting when it came down to it.

he still wears a necklace with an ' n ' on it that he'd bought when he was with noah.

more coming soon to a theater near you

#forrest.intro #huntsvilleintro

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naivesilver · 2 years

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Crowsourced ideas for the EAH/OUAT crossover because I can't get it out of my fucking head apparently and I need to write them all down in a single place

Apple -> takes the place of baby Neal as Snow and Charming's second child, exacerbating Emma's bitterness because like, if you're a bit jealous that your parents are raising and doting on a baby like they couldn't go to you, that feeling must multiplicate tenfold if said baby is a little girl with blonde hair

Raven -> Regina's baby with Robin. Implies that Cora never dosed her daughter with an infertility spell and also that the whole Zelena pregnancy shebang was avoided somehow PLEASE I need this for my sanity. Has magic blood but ON GOD, Regina will bash Rumple on the head if he comes near her kid with weird power-teaching ideas

(when I made the first post about this I completely forgot that Sparrow Hood is a guy that exists in EAH, but it's fine, we can pretend he doesn't OR Regina can have twins - Raven and Sparrow are names that go so well together, after all! And the prospect is hysterical! Surely nothing could go wrong with those two in the same nursery!!!!!)

Ruby and Dorothy were implied to do some travelling together in the show, right? Maybe they could find the remains of a wolf pack like that of Ruby's mother, except all that's left is VERY mistrustful wolfblood young sisters Ramona and Cerise in severe need for adult intervention. Time for Red Kansas to become chaos moms and break some walls the girls have built, I guess

if Jefferson already has one daughter, there is no reason why he couldn't have TWO daughters! Enter Madeline/Maddie, AKA Grace's mad (honorific) little sis

Cinderella is already called Ashley in OUAT so I'd be loath to keep her daughter as Ashlynn but...Lynney? Lynette? Something? Anyway, a glorified Alexandra LMAO same for Hunter, though - for one, where would Graham get a son, and for two, would he name that son Hunter? Nope. Definitely not. Needs workshopping

other kids I have floating around are Briar (but Aurora is already pregnant in canon so whatever that's easy), Crystal (technically as the daughter of the Snow Queen she should come from Elsa or Ingrid's line, but that doesn't sound likely...maybe Anna and Kristoff instead?), Alistair Wonderland (probably Alice and Cyrus' offspring, but that would mean not interacting much with the rest of the crew), Lizzie Hearts (Cora has no right to a third daughter, so what's the closest thing to the Queen of Hearts? Anastasia the Red Queen? Idk??????) etc etc

and now the actual protagonist in my heart, Cedar Booth Wood

so because of Jojo's intervention, her backstory is established as such: she's the result of one of August's pre-canon flings that ends up in Storybrooke when she's quite young. That narrows the window of time where she could have been conceived before her dad was either wooden/a third grader/being a whole dumbass, but I wanted her to be about the same age as her friends and that means keeping her at about 5yo upon her arrival (timelines are wonky because OUAT's timeline IS wonky, but hardly anybody will even read so far, so ssssssh)

August is her nearest relation available, so that's why he gets a handful of child so suddenly. He is...a bit in shock, but he ends up loving her once the surprise wears off. Marco is OVER THE MOON because it's free granddaughter. Archie is just begging that at least ONE member of their family has a kid in a plain, normal way at some point in the future

then the angst kicks in because it turns out daddy's enchanted tree genes are just a little too strong and they resurface quite vehemently once Cedar steps foot in Storybrooke. Maybe she starts turning into wood, or has an averse reaction to lies, or both, I don't know I'd love it to be both, but I'm scared that I will get yelled at for torturing this child any further

the central point is - I was discussing this topic with @bewilderedmoth the other night and she had a STRONG hand in helping me reach the conclusion that a) this is probably the Blue Fairy's fault, so fuck her b) since Cedar is so young in this AU not only would August be desperate that she gets...cured? Un-cursed? Something, but he'd also realize that...shit. He wasn't much older than her when he got thrown into his personal hellscape. That's fucked up. Who thought it could be a healthy learning experience (see point a)? Unhand his kiddo RIGHT NOW or so help him

finally, this unreasonably funny concept from yours truly, to send you off on a lighter note

#ouat #once upon a time #eah #ever after high #sometimes I feel like that post about op consulting the michael jackson amulet in their pocket before ordering food #except instead of mj I'd carry around an effige of august booth #he speaks to me and ruins my life with these senseless ideas #anyway august as cedar's dad so they can both find catharsis when #au: ever after storybrooke

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welldonekhushi · 2 years

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How would Arjun react if Kristoff showed up one day at base with a toddler in tow who turns out to be his daughter Dahlia, and Kristoff is currently a single dad (ex wife bailed out after he caught her cheating on him when he was deployed and resulted in divorce). How would Arjun babysit this sweet but rambunctious toddler if Kristoff asked for help whenever he was struggling 🥺

This is not from the Arjun ask game, but already an asked question from the sender, so I apologise for answering it so late 🥹

Oh god whatever happened to Kristoff is so horrible! I hope he's doing okay.. it's hard to be a single father, and I feel him :(

But, even if Arjun has NO babysitting or parent experience, he'll try to be one for Dahlia as possible. He will make sure to not let the child be uncomfortable and fulfill its needs till Kristoff comes back. Arjun didn't have a child yet, so it was quite tricky for him to take care of the Major's daughter.

But, in the end? Kristoff would find the two sleeping on the couch ever so peacefully while Arjun wraps an arm around her body to protect her <3

So, that's how it goes! Thanks for asking!

#thanks for the ask!#stargazing-sapphire #oc #oc ask game #cod oc #call of duty oc #captain arjun

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ninawolv3rina · 2 years

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top five creed of gethin side characters

Ooh, I'm gonna answer this as written and include characters from the unpublished books 2 & 3

1. Gethin, of course

2. Kristoff Lange, an ex-priest of gethin and the love of my life

3. Constance

4. Harriet (I can't help myself I love to hate her)

5. Lord Jan Hagen (from Lyric, a sweet sad single dad)

#id include arvin but i feel like hes a main character #same with maryska #they were such fun side characters they got an upgrade #anon #ask #my characters

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punkpoemprose · 4 years

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Single Bells- A Kristanna Oneshot

Rating: G (General Audiences) Universe: Modern AU, Librarian Anna, Single Dad/ Firefighter Kristoff Length: 8239 Words

A/N: Merry (day late) Christmas Val! @val-2201 I’m sorry I got a little bit behind. As per the usual the word count got away from me a bit so I ended up needing a little time to finish, haha. You said you enjoy single parent AUs so I hope you enjoy this little piece about single Dad Kristoff needing to solicit assistance from a very nice red headed librarian! I hope you had a wonderful holiday and that your New Year will be full of joy!

Anna wasn’t supposed to still be at work, but if there was one thing she couldn’t say no to, it was a kid with a research project. Especially a first grader with beautiful blonde ringlets dragging her frazzled looking father to the information and research desk that Anna had been staffing for the day. Normally she worked only as the children’s librarian, but since two different librarians were out on maternity leave, she’d been willing to shift gears and wear many hats.

They’d come to her desk within the last five minutes of her shift, but Anna hadn’t mentioned it. It was two weeks from the last day of school for the winter holiday, and if her suspicions were correct, the father and daughter were working on a particular project for which she’d assisted four other families in the last few days.

Teachers loved to assign festive work before the holidays, but sometimes she wondered if they really thought through the fact that heavily parent involved projects were sometimes more stress than they were fun. She'd helped quite a few families try to determine what their ancestral traditions had been. Some, she was happy to report, did have legitimate plans to include them in their celebrations after the project conclusion. That at least made her feel like some good was coming out of the stress.

“I have a presentation to do!” the little girl announced with a smile that revealed a missing front tooth.

She was dressed in the brightest green coat she'd ever seen and her little hat, that she'd already pulled away to reveal static filled curls, was made to look like a reindeer. She couldn't help but feel that this was going to be another kid who insisted upon celebrating a newfound tradition. If she was, in fact, working on that project.

Anna grinned in return, noting the child’s enthusiasm for the project she was in the library to work on. She’d said it perhaps a bit too loudly for some of the other librarians’ tastes, but for Anna there was nothing like the boisterousness of young children. She supposed there was a reason that her office and the children’s area in general had been relegated to the basement. Being upstairs still felt strange.

“That’s due tomorrow,” the father said, sounding a bit miserable but looking mostly defeated.

He had a bit of scruff to his chin, and the bags under his eyes told Anna that he probably hadn’t slept well in weeks. It was a common sight with parents around the holidays, exhaustion and uncharacteristic scruffiness. Not that she really knew whether his scruffiness was uncharacteristic, having never seen him before in his life.

“Uh oh!” Anna said, directing her attention at the child rather than the father, knowing that she was much better at working with kids than adults, “We’ve got to work fast then, huh? What’s the presentation about?”

The little girl nodded, “It’s about Christmas traditions! I told Daddy on Monday that we needed to do it, but he forgot.”

When Anna looked toward the father out of the corner of her eye, she saw him flush. It was Thursday, so she imagined that they’d had some time to complete it. She wouldn’t judge him for the timing of course, she barely could keep herself on a schedule somedays, let alone a six-year-old. She also made a conscious effort to not judge any of her patrons, even the ones who came in asking about unique topics.

She’d once had a woman come in asking for an entire book on just Guinea pig costumes, and she wasn’t sure whether she should be more concerned for her guinea pig or that the library system had not one, but six books on guinea pig costuming. Last minute project fell somewhere toward the bottom of the judgement list.

“I didn’t forget,” the dad said, sounding very tired, but not particularly upset, “I’ve just been busy, and I didn’t realize it was Thursday.”

Anna smiled and then looked at the dad, “It happens to all of us. Can you two narrow down the kind of Christmas traditions you’re looking for?”

The dad looked embarrassed again.

“She needs to pick a specific country to look up traditions from and she wants to pick the one my family’s from.”

“Oh, that’s easy enough,” Anna said with a nod, “Where is your family from, and we’ll go from there!”

“That’s kind of the problem,” the man said with a sigh, “I don’t know.”

***

They were in the children’s area, on one of the library’s iPads at one of the kid sized tables. The little girl, Ivy, was in her glory. She’d spent more time commenting on the posters on the walls and snowflakes on the ceiling than she had focusing on the task at hand, but Anna didn’t really mind. It was easy enough for her to hold a conversation with both the girl and her father as she searched for clues about the man’s heritage. Really all they had to go on was his last name.

Bjorgman. Kristoff Bjorgman.

“I think that my parents were maybe immigrants. I was adopted when I was just a little older than Ivy, but I��d been in the system since I was maybe two or three? I don’t remember them, and I was never given any records. My birth certificate was created when I entered the system, so it doesn’t have either of their names on it. Just mine, and that was just because it had been pinned to my shirt when someone dropped me off.”

Anna couldn’t help but feel as though that was terribly sad, but the man, Kristoff, and his daughter didn’t seem phased by it. It was just another detail of life for them she supposed, but she couldn’t imagine not remembering her parents. All she had of them now was memories, and a few knick-knacks that had managed to be saved after the house fire.

She tried not to think about that though, and it was easy enough to direct her attention back to the man sitting across from her.

He was much too large for the table, and he made the child’s chair he sat in look comically small. He was handsome, and by Anna’s estimation, not much older than she was. He was maybe 26, tops, and she couldn’t imagine having a kid of her own.

“Your adoptive parents don’t know anything?”

He shook his head, “No more than I do. The information just doesn’t exist I guess.”

“She didn’t want to do her Mom’s family’s traditions?” she asked, fishing only a little bit.

She thought that maybe given the level of flustered he seemed to be exuding might be indicative of him being a single dad. She hoped not on the one hand because that was such a difficult position to be in, but also he was the first cute dad she’d run into that wasn’t significantly older than her. So she wanted to make sure if she was ogling him in the chair it was something that she could do with a clear conscience.

“No, and even if she did, we don’t really know anything about hers either. She’s passed on. It’s just us.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry…”

He shook his head, “It’s alright.”

He looked over at his daughter then, smiling at her softly as she pushed her little chair back and walked over to the bookshelf to grab something out of the easy reader bin. She’d looked bored for a little while and was now clearly determining that this was grown up work that she didn’t want anything to do with and therefore was free to explore.

Anna couldn’t help but grin when she saw her pluck out a Mercy Watson book. She loved those. She must be reading a little beyond her age group to be reading it for fun.

Turning her attention back to the ipad, and away from the little girl who was eagerly plopping herself into a beanbag, she looked at the search results she pulled up with his last name. The information on the screen was pretty much what they already knew. His first and last name were Nordic of some kind.

“So we’re looking at Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, or Iceland. We can make an educated guess based on where you lived when you were a kid based on the census data from that area as most immigrant families move to areas with other people from the same country, or where there’s a strong presence of the culture they’re familiar with.”

“Well… I was born here, I think. Or at least this is where I got put into the system, which is why I moved back here a few years back.”

Anna lit up, she didn’t have to do any more searching. Any vaguely Nordic last name in their town generally meant one thing.

“I can say then, with 90% certainty, you’re Norwegian. Not that it helps right now, but have you ever thought about taking a DNA test? Kids tend to just have more heritage questions as they get older and if you both take one it can help with any genealogy research."

"That's a lot of certainty for just a last name and a town," he said, looking surprised as he met her eye.

"Oh, well I mean Arendale was named for the Arendelle family and was founded by Norwegian immigrants so most of the population is descended from Norwegian families. Most immigrant families from Norway still settle here when they come over from the states. I mean there’s a little Norway downtown."

"Oh," he said, "You just knew that? I guess it's probably something that comes up often…"

"Yes, but well also I'm an Arendelle. It's been drilled into me since I was born. We turned the family manor into a museum a few years ago. I used to give tours when I was in my master's program."

"That's…"

"Extremely boring,” she interrupted, not wanting him to trouble himself to find something nice to say, “Except on field trip days. Which is how I decided working with kids was for me. Adults, eh. No offense of course."

"None taken,” he replied, grinning, “Why do you work at the research desk then?"

"I'm actually a children's librarian," she said happily, glancing over at his daughter who had looked up over her book at them with interest as they talked about information valuable to her project again. Anna motioned with her hands like she was opening a book and then gave her a thumbs up which the girl returned with a grin.

"I'm just helping out because a few of the librarians are out on maternity. If you want to see what I usually do you should come for my ornament making sessions. I'm doing them every day after school and then in the mornings on the weekends until the day before Christmas Eve."

He looked almost impressed.

"Daddy! We have to!"

"Now she's tuning in," he said with a sort of shy smile that was quickly accompanied by a shrug. "Come here sweetheart, you have to pick a tradition. We're pretty sure I'm Norwegian."

"And I know so many traditions!" Anna told the girl brightly, "we don't even have to search!"

“Hooray!” she said with a grin, carefully sliding the book’s ribbon bookmark into the page she had marked with her thumb before running over to where her father was seated.

She crawled up on his lap, book still in hand.

“Can we pick one that talks about food?”

He laughed and as he tucked the little curly head under his chin he mouthed, ‘bottomless pit’.

Anna couldn’t help but feel that before she left for the evening, she’d be processing a minor and adult card sign up and checking out a Mercy Watson book and perhaps even a Norwegian cookbook.

“No! Wait! One about ornaments! I love ornaments!”

Maybe, she thought, a craft book too.

The dad rolled his eyes playfully from up above where his daughter could see and Anna did her best to stifle a giggle. These were the moments where she loved her job most.

***

They'd come for her craft time the next day, and Ivy had told her how well she'd done at her presentation and how she'd been proud to already know a bunch of the other Norwegian traditions other kids had shared.

Now though she was busying herself with playing with the other kids, the usuals that Anna had introduced to her by name.

Her blonde head was bobbing along in a conversation as the kids built a large block tower together, and she could see her dark little eyes gleaming with mischief as they discussed knocking it down when they were all done. Anna had never in her life been more grateful that they had foam instead of wooden blocks.

“She looks just like you."

Her hair was just a little lighter than his, and her eyes a little darker, but there was something in her features, her expressions that was an identical copy to her fathers. Even only having met them the day before, she could tell that she definitely took after him.

“I hear that a lot, and it’s funny… Not like really funny, I mean, it’s just interesting because Ivy’s not mine,” he said quietly as the little girl played with the other children.

Most of the other parents had been content to talk amongst themselves. They were regulars and they were comfortable together, being mostly moms. Anna noticed that they were occasionally glancing back and forth between the two of them surreptitiously. Or at least as close to sneaky as a group of nosy 30-something women could be.

“I usually don’t tell people that. I don’t know why I told you that.”

“It’s par for the course for librarians. We’re like bartenders, just with books,” She replied a bit too quickly.

He looked down at his feet for a moment then met Anna’s eye again, smiling a bit nervously, like he’d worked something out in his head, and then took a deep breath.

“I mean legally speaking she is mine, just so you don’t think I stole a kid. After her mother died, I adopted her. Genetically she’s got another Dad out there somewhere, but her mom, Evelyn, she never mentioned him. I don’t think he was ever involved.”

“Oh,” Anna said, feeling her face grow hot at the misconception, “I’m sorry. So Evelyn was your…?”

She knew she was probably just digging herself a deeper hole, but she felt a warmth flutter to life in her heart. He’d mentioned before that Ivy’s mom had passed on, but she’d assumed that he was her biological father and that was why she called him Dad. That he’d been adopted, and then he’d adopted a child after meant a lot. That made her realize that her interest in him, regardless of how new and how impossible, was rooted in more than looks.

“Neighbor,” he said quickly, like he was afraid of her saying anything else.

She stared at him, surprised by the answer, watching him blush under her gaze.

“Sorry, I’m just used to people thinking we were… you know, together. She was just… she was so young. I wouldn’t have been with her like that, she was just a neighbor and a friend. I think she had a rough life. She didn’t talk about it much, but when she moved in next door to me she was working a bunch of odd jobs with crazy hours and Ivy was two. Evie was eighteen. I think her parents might have kicked them out or something, so I would watch Ivy on my days off because Evie didn’t have anyone and it was just me and my dog anyway, so I had plenty of free time."

He took a breath. Before Anna could find the words to say, he kind of sighed and shrugged, deciding to say more. Anna just focused on his eyes while he talked. There was a deep love there and she could tell it was for Ivy.

"I started taking extra days off here and there with my vacation time because Evelyn started to not feel well and she would go to the clinic a lot. Sometimes she would wait for hours for someone to tell her she was stressed or whatever. When they found out it was cancer it was too late. It was less than a year before she was gone. When no family came forward for Ivy, I did. She was three then. I’m the only dad she knows. The only parent she knows really. I didn’t have many pictures of her mom, because she was my neighbor and I didn’t think to take some when we found out she was sick, but we talk about her.”

Anna thought she might cry.

She was no stranger to loss, but she’d never heard of anyone doing anything like that before. She tried to step up for strangers and community members a little but each day. She donated to charity and worked with the economically disadvantaged, but she’d never changed her life forever just to help someone else. She’d never been able to see herself stepping up that far.

“You adopted your neighbor’s kid.”

She let her eyes tear up, her throat felt tight.

She could certainly see that beneath the sort of gruff exterior he first offered, there was a kindness that ran through him. She could see it now, as she had before when he’d been focusing on helping his daughter. He had a lot of love in him, and it was obvious when he glanced back over to where Ivy was playing and smiled.

“Well I fostered her first, but yeah. I mean my parents did it for me, and I guess I didn’t want to roll the dice and hope that someone else would be as kind when I had the means… at least financially. I’m three years in and still working out the rest. I just feel lucky everyday they let me adopt her with my work schedule and everything.”

“I think,” she said quietly, trying not to cry, “I think most parents are. Even the ones who’ve had their kids from the start.”

“Thank you for saying that. I don’t know many other parents, so it’s always a guessing game about whether I’m doing the right thing.”

He looked back from Ivy and caught a glimpse of Anna’s expression. She saw him frown and look genuinely concerned. She wanted to tell him not to worry, but he found the words quicker than she did.

“I didn’t mean to upset you, sorry. I’m not great with people.”

He held a hand out to her, paused for a moment like he was wondering what he should do, and then rubbed the back of his neck with it.

Anna shook her head and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, giving the moms staring at her openly her best and most polite look of “it’s fine, but also mind your own business”. They seemed to get the picture well enough, returning to their own conversations with only a mildly mischievous and conspiratorial gaze at each other. Anna was sure she’d have plenty of texts later from the library mom chat asking what she and the “hot dad” had been talking about.

“No, you’re fine. I’m kind of an emotional person. I’m just happy for you two. She loves you so much, I can tell. She deserves to have someone who loves her just as much.”

He smiled softly and then nodded, putting his hand back down at his side and appearing to relax slightly now that the topic was back to just Ivy. He still looked as tired as he had the day before, especially now after she’d accidentally worried him.

“She’s a special kid. She’s not like me very much, even though I’m raising her. She’s so optimistic and brave and sort of stubborn… which I suppose she could have gotten from me, but really she’s great and I’ve been so lucky to have her."

Anna nodded in return, wiping the tears away on her sleeve.

“Yeah, I can see that. And I don’t mean to pry but… you look a little tired. I hope she didn’t make you pull an all-nighter on that project.”

He sort of chuckled at her lame joke, and she appreciated the attempt at acceptance of her levity. She was never particularly good at intentional humor. Most people just laughed when she accidentally tripped over something or had chocolate on her face and didn’t notice.

“No, no all-nighter. I’m just exhausted.”

“I hear parenting does that to a person.”

He nodded and then sighed, giving her a sort of nervous look before looking beyond her to Ivy.

"I don't mean to tell you my life story. Even though, I kind of already did, but… I just feel bad when I can’t give her the world, you know? Like, I finally wanted to do a big at home Christmas for her this year. We were going to go home to see my family like usual, but my Dad just had some pretty serious back surgery and even though he loves the kids my sisters and I agreed not to flood the house while he’s recovering.”

She nodded along some more, knowing that he probably didn’t have anyone to vent this sort of thing to. She wasn’t a parent herself, but working with so many young children meant that she talked with plenty of parents, and she at least comprehended a bit of what it was like. She couldn’t pretend to understand fully, but she didn’t mind listening to parents when they needed to breathe. She particularly didn’t mind listening to Kristoff.

He looked back at her with a sort of exasperation that she was familiar with. He looked like he’d just run a marathon in his head. He looked like her after inventory day.

“You know I never realized how much my mom did for us for the holidays, you know? It’s one more week of school, and then I have to find a babysitter for the days I’m not off during her winter vacation. I barely managed to negotiate for Christmas off at the firehouse as it is, let alone to find all that time. The guys are great and sometimes I can bring her to work if I don’t have anyone to watch her because someone usually stays behind or one of the guys will have their wife or older kid there for a visit, but around the holidays… there’s a lot of fires you know. Not really a place to bring a kid. I have shopping to do, wrapping, we have to get a real tree because she really wants one, and then there’s cookies to bake, and God I’m just glad she hasn’t asked about those elf things because I don’t think I could pull that off too.”

“That seems like a lot.”

“It is, and that’s not even the half of it. We have to get a wreath to bring to her mother’s grave, and it’s so hard to find in the snow because it’s just a small grave marker so it’s really a whole day affair. I don’t mind, but I don’t want to run out of time to do everything else. She wants to go caroling and see santa and make ornaments… which thanks for this by the way, it was nice. She’s very proud of her star. It’s just with work and everything it feels like there’s not enough time.”

Anna nodded. It was a common concern with the other parents, but most of them had more hands to help, less work, and more practice at it.

“I can help.”

She didn’t think before she spoke. She was absolutely shocked by her own words even as she said them. They were practically strangers, and he was venting about his difficulties as a single dad while she was trying not to notice how perfectly chocolate brown his eyes were, or how easy it would be to imagine him in a firefighter’s calendar. Or rather, trying not to let herself wonder whether AFD had plans to put out a firefighter’s calendar this year.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“You weren’t,” she said, watching as some of the moms began to get their kids ready to leave, knowing her window of opportunity to get her thoughts out was closing by the moment, “I offered. I’m great at wrapping and I love to shop. If you’re looking for help I’m happy to give it.”

He looked at her for a long moment, until Ivy ran over and pulled on his pant leg.

“Daddy,” she said, “Can I have some candy? Danny’s mom brought candy canes and she said I had to ask you first.”

He looked to Anna for a moment, and she understood the concern in his eyes.

“Oh, you mean Mrs. James! She’s so nice. She brings candy for us all the time. She’s been bringing Danny here for storytime and crafts since he was just a little baby.”

She could understand his concern. She was always a little worried herself when the parents brought things to share, especially if the parents were fairly new. It was one of those fears that was mostly irrational, but one really never knew.

He looked back to his daughter and gave her a stunning smile that made Anna melt on the spot.

“Yeah sweetheart that would be fine. Please and thank you, right?”

“Always!” she said, running off in the direction of Danny’s mom who was waiting with a cheeky smile, staring again at Anna and offering her a wink.

“Were you serious?” Kristoff asked, breaking her concentration as she tried to give Mrs. James a ‘please don’t interfere’ look in return.

Not that it would do her any good.

“About Mrs. James? Of course. I’d never encourage anyone’s kid to take candy from a stranger I couldn’t personally vouch for.”

“No, I…” he was flushed again and Anna realized that she’d missed a point. She was making him ask her, just like she’d said he didn’t have to.

“I meant about the help.”

“Oh, yes! Of course I meant it! I love the holidays and I’ve been working a little more than usual but I still have plenty of time.”

“Your boyfriend wouldn’t mind? I’d hate to take time away that you could be spending together around the holidays.”

“I… I don’t have a boyfriend.”

She was almost certain that there was a look of interest in his eye when she said it, but as quick as it was there, it was gone.

Maybe, she thought, she wasn’t the only one interested.

“Then I’d love the help,” he said with a nod, “For Ivy’s sake.”

***

Anna wasn’t sure she’d ever enjoyed anything so much as she did being Kristoff’s personal Christmas elf. She’d given him her mother’s family recipe for Norwegian butter cookies, an answer to Ivy's now rampant desire to learn about those traditions, and she’d picked up stocking stuffers and amazon packages and bits of this and that. She’d wrapped gifts and brought them to the fire station for safe keeping. Somehow, she’d managed to mostly do so when Kristoff was out on a call, or when he wasn’t working at all.

It was unfortunate as she wanted to see him, so she was pleasantly surprised when five days before Christmas she’d received a text message from Kristoff inviting her to help him and Ivy go tree shopping. She’d seen them at two separate decoration making events before it, so she supposed that it was only right for her to help them select the canvas on which to display Ivy’s beautiful work.

Ivy had, of course, been on a mission during the trip.

“Color, smell, and needle retention,” she’d said in her little, but very certain voice.

Anna had later learned that she didn’t actually know the meaning of the word retention, and that she’d learned her tree picking skills from a YouTube video, but she had been nevertheless impressed.

She’d helped Ivy pick, and then she’d helped, with mixed results, to strap the six-foot tree to Kristoff’s car. He’d mostly brought it inside his apartment himself, but when Anna had turned to leave, Ivy had caught her hand, and Kristoff had shyly offered her some hot chocolate. They'd sung Christmas carols, lead by Ivy and decorated the tree together with some ornaments that his friends from the firehouse had given them and the ones that Ivy had made herself. Anna wished she had her old childhood ornaments. Ivy, she knew, would have loved one.

The rest of the week passed much the same until, two days before Christmas, Anna found herself finishing her last ornament and story session with the kids before the holiday. It was a bittersweet thing, being swept up in the excitement of children looking forward to Christmas but knowing that she wouldn’t see them again for a while after.

Ivy, who had been in attendance, was busy playing with her new friends, and Kristoff, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Anna for the whole session, was speaking with her again.

Anna couldn’t help but note how quickly they were getting to know each other. She couldn’t help but blame the holiday in part. Not only was she doing more story and craft sessions in the evenings than she normally would, but she’d also been helping him make the holidays for Ivy. She supposed it was inevitable that they would talk, and in their conversations get to know each other a bit better.

The topic of conversation now, was a wrapping accident on one of Ivy’s “little” presents, a slime kit. It was from Santa, but Anna had accidentally wrapped it in the paper she’d set aside to wrap gifts from Kristoff in. The tag though, still said “from Santa”.

“So you’re sure you don’t mind,” she said quietly, low enough that they kids couldn’t hear her, “I know some kinds are just really perceptive, so I don’t want her to see that dad and santa have the same paper and realize what happened.”

“If she notices I’m just going to tell her that Santa accidentally ripped the wrapping paper coming down the chimney and had to rewrap it in some of my paper to keep it a secret until Christmas morning.”

She nodded. It was a brilliant plan.

“That’s so smart,” she was thoroughly awed, “I come up with a lot of little fibs around the holidays to keep the magic for the kiddos, but that one’s just genius.”

He laughed and shook his head, “Maybe I’m better at this than I thought.”

“You really should give yourself more credit.”

His smile softened then, “As should you. I can’t believe that you just offered to help a stranger put Christmas on for their kid and then actually followed through with it.”

“Need I remind you that you adopted a neighbor’s child without hesitation? What I did was nothing in comparison.”

He was close to her and stepping closer. She could practically feel the eyes of the moms as they lingered in the room, just to see what was going to happen. Her eyes drifted down to his lips and she felt herself flushing at the thought of kissing him, even though she told herself that they couldn’t, that it wasn’t going to happen. His previous stubble, the ball he’d had to drop to keep his daughter on schedule was now even more pronounced, but in an intentional sort of way. She could imagine how it would scratch against her.

“I wouldn’t call that nothing,” he said quiet, so low that she could barely hear it. “To us, it’s everything. I don’t think I can ever thank you enough.”

She focused for a moment on breathing as she’d realized that she’d been holding her breath ever since he leaned in. It was easy, she thought, to let him take her breath away.

And then the giggling and “goodbyes” of children broke Anna’s focus, and she turned her head to see moms giving her subtle thumbs up, and kids donning coats.

Ivy was skipping towards them, candy cane in one hand and her popsicle stick star in the other. Glitter was flaking off the craft as she bounced towards them, and Anna knew she’d be spending at least the next hour vacuuming. She almost felt bad for the parents who were about to have their houses covered in poorly glued sequins, glitter and foamies.

Almost.

“Ms. Anna!” the little girl said with great excitement, “What are you going to do for Christmas?”

The question caught Anna off guard. The kids had asked her before, but it had never felt like a big deal to tell them the truth. Kids understood more than adults most of the time, and they felt things stronger and they were more open with it, so Anna was more open with them. With Ivy and Kristoff though, just having gotten to know them, and having all sorts of confusing feelings in her chest for him, she wasn’t sure she could take the pitying eyes.

“Well hon,” she said quietly, waving to the other parents and kids as they drifted out as both a politeness and a distraction, “I’m not doing anything. My sister is my only family and she lives far far away.”

“Oh,” the little girl said, looking sad.

Anna couldn’t look at Kristoff, but she could tell he was giving his daughter the soft but chiding look he’d given her a few times in the two weeks she’d known them. The look that said he wasn’t mad at her, but that she’d said too much or her manners were lacking. She thought it was a nice way to remind kids of their behavior and had filed it away for her own use.

“Like Grandma and Grandpa.”

“Yeah,” Anna said in response, “But it’s okay, I’m used to being by myself. I’ll read a book and make myself dinner.”

She knew she didn’t sound particularly believable. She wasn’t even buying it herself. Truth be told her whole apartment was decorated for Christmas, complete with a tree, and she always made herself sad around the holidays thinking about how she’d had so much fun as a kid, but now spent them alone. She always thought that there was an unfairness in showing that to a child though, in showing them that the holiday was anything but magical for some people, so she tried to keep a stiff upper lip.

“That’s okay Ms. Anna,” the little girl said, grinning broadly at her with little tears sparkling in her dark eyes, and stepping close to grab her hand, “You can have Christmas at our house!”

She felt like crying again.

“Oh Ivy that’s so sweet,” she said, her throat feeling tight, “But it’s your family Christmas. You don’t want a stranger there.”

“You’re not a stranger,” Kristoff said softly, reaching for Ivy’s other hand and giving it a soft squeeze that made the little girl’s smile brighten.

She seemed glad for her dad’s backup.

Anna forced herself to meet his eye, and she found in it a sort of shyness. He looked at her like he was uncertain, but also like he was excited by the prospect. She noted the twinkle in his eyes despite his furrowed brow, the gentle upturn of his lips as he looked at her for an answer.

“I don’t want to intrude…”

“You wouldn’t be. Ivy invited you as her guest. I’d… I’d also like you to come as my guest if you don’t mind. I know you’ve only known us for two weeks, but I think we’d both really like it if you came. Right sweetheart?”

Ivy squeezed Anna’s hand tightly and then nodded, bouncing a bit on her heels as she did so like her whole body was agreeing with her dad.

“Well then,” Anna said quietly, “How can I refuse?”

***

Her arms were full of presents and chocolates when she came to his door, so she had to tap the wood twice with the toe of her boot to knock. She’d been battling herself the entire drive over, trying to decide whether this was the right thing to do and whether she should really be feeling as giddy about the whole thing as she was.

She was basically crashing someone else’s holiday, and she knew that she should feel bad about taking them up on an offer made out of kindness and sympathy, but she didn’t. She didn’t feel bad because she really liked Ivy and wanted to help make Christmas a little more special for her this year. She didn’t feel bad because she really liked Kristoff and even the idea of pretending for a few hours that he felt the same made her heart flutter.

She’d never fallen for a patron before. Nor had she ever been so sure that she loved someone so quickly. She’d had bad luck in the past with similar feelings, but this time she had faith in the rightness of the feelings and the positivity of the situation. Kristoff Bjorgman was a good man, and whether anything more came from it, she was happy to be his friend and to share his Christmas.

She thought maybe if she could have written a letter to Santa though, she would have maybe wished for more. If it wasn’t too much to ask.

She hadn’t so much as put her foot down after tapping the door than Ivy opened the door and ushered her in. Kristoff was watching from just a few feet back, letting her know with a smile that Ivy had been so excited to open the door that she’d been waiting for the knock. She wondered if she’d been waiting for her since she called to let them know she was arriving.

“I waited to open my presents from Santa until you got here Ms. Anna,” the little girl said with zeal, “I wanted you to see!”

Kristoff stepped forward then, helping Anna with her parcels while telling her quietly that she hadn’t needed to bring them. He whispered into her ear about how excited Ivy had been about Santa and how she’d been even more excited to wait for Ms. Anna.

She thought that her heart might pound out of her chest. Less at the thought that Ivy had wanted to wait for her, and more at the fact that Kristoff hadn’t told her not to. That he’d just whispered in her ear, and that he was making it extremely evident that he wanted her there from the very start.

“Ivy that’s so sweet. I can’t wait to see what Santa brought you!”

“I hope I got a Pokémon stuffy!” she said excitedly, running towards the tree that they’d decorated together.

It felt strangely domestic, like she belonged there because her touch was in the tree. Like she was family, and not just a new friend they’d invited to share their holiday.

“You know what?” Anna asked, feigning ignorance, “I don’t know if he did, but I’m sure you’ve been so good this year that you deserve it.”

Kristoff raised a brow at her, and Anna got the message. “Good cover.”

In fact she knew that Ivy had two Pokémon plushies under the tree, one from Santa, one from her Dad, and Anna also knew that there was one more in the box Kristoff had taken from her labeled with the little girls name and Anna’s own.

Being an elf had its perks.

“But first… if you don’t mind, I have a couple special gifts for you two to open.”

“You really didn’t have to,” Kristoff said, giving her a soft, but appreciative look that she knew she would treasure in her memories for as long as she lived.

She knew that she didn’t have to. But they didn’t have to share their Christmas with her either.

And also, she’d already fallen in love a little bit with them both, and she knew that for now presents were a good way to demonstrate that.

“I have a special present for you too Ms. Anna!”

“You do?”

“Yes!”

She looked over at Kristoff, who looked almost as surprised as she did.

“You mean the one we got her at the store yesterday sweetheart?”

“Nope! A special one! I made it, Mrs. James told me how!”

“Huh,” he said with a shrug, “I guess I’ll be as surprised as Ms. Anna then.”

“Would you mind if I gave you yours first?” Anna asked, excited to know what Ivy had made her, but more excited to give the little girl and her father the special gifts she’d gotten them first.

“Okay!” she said excitedly and ran into the apartment proper as Kristoff and Anna managed the process of her removing her outerwear, hanging it up, and him helping her bring in the gifts and treats.

Once Ivy and Kristoff had settled themselves on the small loveseat near the tree, and Anna had brought them their gifts, she settled into the well worn high back chair that served as the only other Livingroom seating.

“Okay. I have some other presents for you guys too, but these are the most important ones, so I want you to open them first, alright?”

Ivy was already tearing into the paper on the box. Not needing to be told twice.

She held up a little soft ornament, and then held it to her chest.

“It’s Mama,” she said in the quietest littlest voice she had ever heard her manage, and Kristoff quickly looked between Anna and the ornament.

It had been easy enough really, to look up Evelyn Taylor. She had a Facebook before she passed, and some friends on the page who mostly lived out of state. There wasn’t much that Anna could find on the page without sending a friend request that she knew, sadly, would never be answered, but there were a handful of photos that she had access to. One of her and Ivy, confirming that she had the right Evelyn Taylor in the first place. The little girl had been two or so at the time the picture had been taken, but her little face had even been then, so strikingly like Kristoff’s. Evelyn even looked a bit like him she thought, like a cousin. The others she’d found included some pictures of the girl with high school friends, a few shots of her looking brave in photos where she’d moved into her apartment, a photo or two of her without hair when she’d been going through chemo.

Anna had gotten them all printed, every single one she could find, and put them in a small box that was under the ornament. The ornament had been a last-minute project. She’d run to the store and picked up printable iron on paper and felt. She printed the photo of Ivy and her mother onto it, ironed it onto the felt, and did her best to channel her mother’s creativity to make a small Scandinavian style embroidered felt plush ornament. It was shaped like a heart, and on one side she’d managed to layer on felt and little stitched snowflakes, while the other held the image on white felt.

She felt a bit bad, of course, about not asking Kristoff if it was okay first, but she thought that the soft look he was giving her may be proof that sometimes it’s better to try for the surprise.

“How…?”

“I’ll tell you later,” she said before Ivy could even get to the box below, “You still have a box to open.”

He looked between her and Ivy for a long moment, like he wanted to say something else as the little girl was excitedly hugging her little ornament, but ultimately, he looked down at his own gift.

“Go on,” she said, eager to see if her surprise gift for him would be met with such excitement.

He opened his gift with less speed, but with equal interest.

She held her breath as he pulled out a small box and a small book.

“Is this… is this a DNA test?”

She felt tension return to her body. He didn’t sound upset really, just surprised, and she hoped that she hadn’t just crossed a line.

“I mean… it’s just… you know, if you ever want to. They’re expensive usually so a lot of people don’t do them, but my sister is in business and she happened to know a guy who knew a guy so I was able to get it for you for nothing. So it’s just if you want to dig in and do some research. You know because I’m a librarian and all. One track mind.”

“Anna…”

“I’m sorry if I crossed a line, I just thought…”

“Anna.”

She looked at him and saw he was smiling, a little bit teary eyed.

“Anna, thank you. I was going to buy one after the holidays. That project Ivy did… it made me realize that I want to know where I came from.”

“Oh… good. I’m…” she sighed, letting the tension leave her, “I’m glad, because I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

He smiled, and then looked at the book.

“But… uh, what’s Hygge?”

She laughed at that, feeling happy in a way she hadn’t ever remembered feeling outside of work, and she saw Ivy smiling brightly too, hopping down from the couch to go grab something from under the tree.

“Hygge is a Norwegian and Danish concept… it’s just, you know, since I hope you’re Norwegian like me. Hygge is just that cozy mood that we can’t put into words. I think you feel a lot of hygge when you get a moment to breathe when you’re with Ivy, and I thought you’d like the book. There’s another one I ordered you too, but it won’t come in for a while. It’s all Norwegian fairytales. I thought you might like to read them together.”

He grinned broadly and stood from the couch, walking over to her and taking her hand, “Anna this is…”

But Ivy cut him off before he could finish.

“Ms. Anna! I have your present, are you ready?”

“Of course! I’m so excited,” she said, giving Kristoff an apologetic smile and turning her attention towards the child who was holding something behind her back.

The little girl grinned in response and held up a picture she’d drawn in crayon. There were little green leaves and little white berries. It was immediately obvious to Anna what it was meant to be, and depending on how things turned out, she was either going to ban Mrs. James from the library, or send her a fruit basket.

“Is that?” Kristoff started.

“Mistletoe.” Anna finished.

She felt her face go hot, but then when she looked over at Kristoff, his hand still in hers, she saw him clearly doing some internal negotiating.

“May I… may we?” He asked.

“It is a tradition,” she said quietly, looking over at the little girl and giving her a bright, if not a bit embarrassed smile to let her know that she did in fact, love the drawing.

And before she could say anything else he was helping her off the chair and into his arms. She giggled when he kissed her, his stubble, now an almost beard tickling her skin.

Ivy, ever the encouraging an delighted audience, was jumping up and down.

“Santa must have gotten the letter I hid under the cookie plate last night!” she said delighted, “I knew Daddy liked Ms. Anna!”

Kristoff, ended the kiss a bit abruptly to look over to his daughter, a deep blush on his cheeks that Anna was sure was mirrored in her own.

He didn’t release her though, still holding her close, his touch tender but firm.

“Santa didn’t get a letter under the cookie plate last night,” he whispered low into Anna’s ear as Ivy took back off toward the tree, leaving her drawing on Anna’s chair.

Anna couldn’t help but giggle at his bewilderment. She thought that it was most likely that Ivy had simply dreamed writing the letter. Some kids her age had a hard time remembering what they had and hadn’t done when they woke in the morning.

“Well either the big man is more real than we thought, or Mrs. James has more connections than I thought. Or you know, she just dreamt the whole thing.”

He grinned broadly.

“Well someone must have gotten my letter too,” he said, a little louder, “Because Ivy is right. I do like you. I know it’s fast but…”

“I like you too Kristoff,” she said quietly, “And we can take this slower from here, but for now…”

He leaned in again, kissing her gently. She let her hand slide up, her palm cradling his stubbled cheek.

When they broke the kiss, they rested their foreheads together, the sound of tearing paper and Ivy’s excited cheering behind them.

“Merry Christmas Kristoff.”

“Merry Christmas Anna.”

She’d never been so grateful for a reference desk query in her life.

#kristanna #kristannasecretsanta2020 #librarian Anna #Single dad Kristoff #Firefighter Kristoff

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ahtohallan-calling · 5 years

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Okay, AU: Month You Were Born - Coffeeshop Kid fic

As far as occupational hazards went, she supposed this one wasn’t too bad.

“Miss Anna?” the little girl lisped, brown eyes wide. “Did you bring Poppy with you?”

She was really supposed to be memorizing the story she and the little pink polka-dotted mouse puppet would tell on the next episode of Poppy’s Garden Tales, but it was the kids she loved, anyway, the reason she had started doing the show in the first place, and so she smiled and slid out of her chair, kneeling to be at eye level with the child. “Not today, I’m afraid,” she said kindly. “She’s having a nap in her garden. But I’ll tell her you said hello.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Of course. It’s no trouble. And here,” she said, grabbing a napkin from her table and pulling a pen from behind her ear, “let me give you our address so you can send us a letter, and she can say hello back, okay?”

“I can’t write, Miss Anna. I’m only four,” the girl said, holding up three chubby little fingers and, for some reason, using both hands to do so.

“Well, give this to your mommy and daddy and they can write it for you, okay?” Anna replied cheerfully, writing down her fanmail address and signing her name beneath. She glanced up then, a small frown appearing between her eyebrows. “Where are your mommy and daddy, sweetie?”

“Mommy is in a better place now,” the child explained matter-of-factly. “Nana said it’s called Las Vegas. And Papa’s in the kitchen.”

Anna felt her face pale. “In the kitchen? Are you here by your–”

“Alice!” a deep voice called, sounding panicked. “I thought I told you to stay close!”

Anna looked up– way up, and then back down as the broad-shouldered man in a flour-covered apron crouched down next to the little girl.

“But Papa,” Alice said pitifully, “It’s Miss Anna.”

“What are you–”

For the first time, the man glanced at her, recognition dawning over his features. His handsome features, Anna realized, a blush creeping over her cheeks. “Hi,” she blurted out. “Your daughter is lovely. She, uh, she looks just like you. Same eyes, I mean. Not the– the height. Or hair. Or anything else.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “You really are her.”

“Of course I’m her. Well, I’m me, I mean.”

“I watch with her. Every Saturday at seven,” he said, rising to his feet and lifting his daughter with him. Anna stood, too, trying not to blush harder when she realized she was back to tilting her head up to look at him.

“Well. I’m glad you like it. Or that she does, in any case.”

He shrugged. “I don’t mind it much.”

“You flatter me,” Anna said, and to her surprise he began to flush too.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “Not trying to be rude, just– Alice gave me a scare here, and I’ve, uh, I’ve never really met a celebrity.”

“Well, lucky for you I’m not one,” Anna said. “Poppy’s the real star of the show.”

The bare beginnings of a smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. “Did you bring her with you, by any chance?”

“I already asked, Papa,” Alice said with a pitiful little sigh. “But I’m gonna write her a letter.”

“Are you now?”

Anna nodded quickly and held out the napkin she’d scribbled the studio’s address on. “Send it here, and I’ll have Poppy write back soon as she can.”

And two days later, when a letter arrived written in pink crayon, Poppy did write back, and when a folded scrap of paper with ten digits written in ballpoint pen fell out of the envelope, too, Anna sent a message of her own.

I’m free tonight. And don’t worry, I’ll leave the puppet at home.

#ok tbh the thing about 'i'm only 4' came from an actual little kid i know #who is the FUNNIEST little girl and doesnt even know it #and yes kristoff is single dad who owns his own coffee shop bc why not #drabbles #thelastworlds #coffee shop au

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annas-hair-donut · 8 months

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She Holds a Candle

Fandom: Frozen Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Anna/Kristoff, Kristoff & Sven, Ryder Nattura/Sven Characters: Kristoff, Anna, Transfemme!Sven, Ryder Nattura Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Retail, Flirting, Second Chances, Father-Daughter Relationship, Teen Romance, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Trans Female Character, Queer Themes, Gender Dysphoria, gender euphoria, Single dad Kristoff, Kristoff Lets Down His Guard, Pansexual Ryder Nattura, Ryder Nattura is a Sweetheart, Mild Transphobic Bullying Summary:

Kristoff goes to Oaken's Bath & Sauna Works to buy a gender-affirming Valentine's Day gift for his 14-year-old daughter Stephanie (trans femme!Sven), who's barely spoken since her crush broke her heart and humiliated her in front of the whole school. He's lost until a salesperson named Anna helps him find his way around the store.

What's the harm in a little flirtation? She's only being nice so he'll spend more money, anyway. It's all good fun until a candle gets involved.

🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵

Chapters 1-4 Now Posted!

Chapter 1: One and Only Chapter 2: Lavender Dreams Chapter 3: Peppermint Snowflakes Chapter 4: Fresh Cut Grass Chapter 5: Marshmallow Hearts - COMING SOON!!

Read from the beginning at AO3.

#frozen #frozen fanfic #kristanna #kristanna fanfic #she holds a cancle

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 3 years

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IOTA Reviews: Gabriel Agreste

So, according to Astruc, I guess rich fourteen year blonds can change their ways for the better, as long as they look like Adrien.

Let's get into the twentieth (chronologically the ninth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Gabriel Agreste

We start off with—oh for the love of—WHY DOES EVERY EPISODE FOCUSING ON GABRIEL NEED TO HAVE HIM TALK TO HIS WIFE'S BODY?!

We get it, Emilie may or may not be dead, but is the only way we can see Gabriel in his civilian life? It's just a cheap way to get exposition out of the way.

So like Gabriel just said, Adrien's aunt Amelie and his cousin Felix, as in that evil son of a bitch who had the balls to be angry at him for daring to not come to his dad's funeral when he needed emotional support from his family, are coming over for some event Gabriel is hosting. Felix is watching a video on Alya's superhero blog, the Ladyblog, all about what a Miraculous is (obviously neglecting to share the information she knows from being Ladybug's confidant because she's not an idiot), all while providing this picture of Hawkmoth and Mayura.

They look like they're about to drop the sickest supervillain rap album in history.

I also love the picture the animators use of all the heroes, where half of Vesperia is cut out.

It's like even they realized how nonexistent Zoe is as a character.

Cut to Adrien giving a bedridden Nathalie some lunch while talking about how Gabriel won't let him invite any of his friends to the event because I guess it's just for the 1%.

Sure wish we could see how important they are to him given he hasn't made a single attempt to hang out with any of his friends all season. I can get what the writers are going for, but this Angstdrien Depreste moment just doesn't work.

In one of the most haphazard ways of forcing her into the plot, we simply cut to Marinette being surrounded by her friends where Alya got writing duo Marc and Nathaniel to help her confess her feelings to Adrien. Because yeah, obviously two people who are skilled at writing know all about how to help Marinette get together with Adrien in an unscripted way, right? And they draw up a little visual for how they can help Marinette.

Okay, this is a problem I have with shows and movies that do these kinds of things in general. Why does switching the genders in a damsel in distress situation automatically make it okay? The entire situation where a princess is saved by a handsome prince has become such a cliche in storytelling, you can't just change one minor detail like the roles and expect praise to come from it. It's like getting a new paintjob for your cheap car and expecting it to work better. Yeah, it looks cool, but the car won't automatically stop breaking down at random.

Compare this to Tangled and Frozen, two movies that focus on the standard damsel in distress but still change certain things about it to make them seem different and subvert several fairy tale and Disney cliches. Tangled focused more on how mentally stunted Rapunzel can be with how unadjusted she is to the outside world thanks to the mental conditioning from her emotionally manipulative “Mother” who only wanted to use her for her magic hair, while the main conflict in Frozen revolved around Anna, the supposed damsel needing to be saved by an act of true love, but even though they built up Kristoff as the love interest to Anna, it was ultimately an act of sisterly love from Elsa that saved her life. While the basic formula could be seen in both of those movies, there was enough changed there to make them seem unique in their own ways. Here, all the writers really do is stick Marinette in a suit of armor and Adrien in a dress and expect to be praised for breaking boundaries.

And why did Marc and Nathaniel even draw those pictures in the first place? Yeah, I get that it's a visual for Marinette “saving” Adrien, and yes, they are very detailed, but why exactly did Marc and Natheniel need to draw them in the first place where all they had to do was tell Marinette they were willing to help? Wouldn't it make more sense if this was an actual plan they were drawing visuals out for, which would better justify what happens later on? And why are they meeting in the art room at school? If You'd think seeing Gabriel is hosting an important event where several of the rich kids will be there that it'd be on the weekend, so why are they at school? Wouldn't it make more sense to discuss top secret plans about Adrien with Marinette in private? And wouldn't you know it, Chloe is here to spy on them. Why? Other than to advance the plot, I have no idea.

So yeah, Chloe got a video of the pointless fantasy drawings that Marc and Nathaniel drew, so obviously, she can just upload it to the internet and wait for it to rack up views so Gabriel can notice it and take Adrien out of school after seeing how weird Marinette is even though she didn't even actually do anything, much less commission the drawings.

Or she could do that, because otherwise, the other characters can't stop her and we wouldn't have a B-plot in this episode. But hey, it’s nice of the writers to let Plaggandadrienbondingisthebest write a scene for them, because this isn’t out of place in the salt fics she’s written about Marinette.

Now I could talk about how the writers are once again ramping up all of Chloe's negative traits to the point where she and several characters remind the audience that she's always been evil, heart blacker than Don Cheedle in this episode by constantly insulting her to her face and behind her back, but instead, I'm going to focus on something else for her appearance this episode, because this is easily the biggest problem I have with her this season. Even as a villain with no excuses to give her any sympathetic moments, the writers have no idea what they want to do with Chloe.

Say what you will about how Chloe was portrayed in Seasons 2 and 3, or whether you thought she deserved to be a hero or not, but at least she was somewhat consistent. She still acted like the same bully while occasionally helping others and going on about how awesome she is as Queen Bee, and generally felt like the same character. This season, the writers keep changing her personality and evil plans in every episode she has a major appearance in. In “Sole Crusher”, she goes on about her family ideology about using their expensive shoes to step on the weak while selfishly throwing innocent civilians into harm's way to save herself, in “Queen Banana”, she's back to using her influence to get what she wants before cutting off all ties with Adrien, and in this episode, she and Sabrina are using technology and cheap gadgets like bungee jumping gear to spy on Marinette and her friends, and gloats about how devious she is while getting dirty laundry on Marinette because she wants to ruin her chances with Adrien. Yeah, she's the same mean girl throughout, but the writers can't seem to make up her mind on how she tries to get what she wants. Even in Season 1, she mainly used her influence to get ahead in the world while occasionally lying to soak up attention, and she was still more consistent there. It honestly feels like the writers had no idea where to take Chloe's character after “Miracle Queen”, so they decided to have her go back to her Season 1 self because they thought that's when people liked her best just like how they recycled the umbrella scene to reignite interest in the Love Square.

And once again, despite it serving as the crux of a lot of this season's conflicts and is one of the reasons Marinette is Guardian in the first place, the writers are ignoring what Chloe did in “Miracle Queen”. If you want to confirm Chloe is evil and a traitor, why not focus more on that instead of petty squabbles like what's happening in this episode?! You would think for all Astruc talks about how irredeemable she is, his team would make a big deal about her betraying Ladybug, and by extension, all of Paris. This is one of the biggest problems I had with “Miracle Queen” and Chloe's “damnation arc” that was supposedly planned from the beginning as a whole: Even though it could have been a big moment, it's treated more like a joke than an actual betrayal, and doesn't even have any lasting consequences for Chloe to deal with this season. In fact, does anyone even know Chloe sided with Hawkmoth?

If Astruc wanted Chloe to be a villain who sided with the big bad, they should obviously do something about it. I don't think I'd be nearly as angry at the writing if anything meaningful came from this turn of events other than replacing Chloe with her sister who everyone loves. Just this episode had Gabriel mention how tough it is doing stuff on his own, in his civilian life and as Shadowmoth, so why not groom Chloe to be his new assistant to parallel Marinette trusting Alya with the knowledge of her identity? She already hates Ladybug, so why can't the writers take advantage of that and have Gabriel capitalize on this opportunity? They already dumped Lila in favor of making Chloe the bigger threat (until the season finale where the writers remind the audience Lila exists), so why can't they actually commit to making Chloe a full-blown villain?

And one more gripe I have is that it makes no sense for Chloe to be back to tormenting Marinette when “Sole Crusher” and “Queen Banana” obviously built up her as an antagonist to Zoe instead. With how many scenes Chloe got expressing her hatred for her sister for getting more attention than her in those episodes to the point “Queen Banana” ended with Chloe saying she'll get her revenge on Zoe, you would think her next major appearance would capitalize on that setup. Not only is this just a wasted opportunity, it still makes no sense why Chloe would even do this when Zoe is in the room with Marinette and doesn't say a damn thing.

Chloe managed to convince Audrey to not let Zoe go to the party for some reason, so she can't stop Chloe, but Marc and Nathaniel come up with a plan to dress Marinette up like a butler to sneak in. Okay, why does Marinette have to be the one to go incognito, when once again, she didn't even do anything? Again, It was Alya's idea to recruit Marc and Nathaniel to the cause of the Love Square, so why aren't any of them taking responsibility? Better yet, seeing how Zoe has proven herself to be a great actress in the last scene by convincing a butler to not go to the party so Marinette can take her place, wouldn't it make more sense for Zoe to dress up like a butler and try to get Chloe's phone to delete the video, and actually give Zoe something important to do? Between Marinette not even doing anything to cause this, Chloe not just putting the video on social media, and Marc and Nathaniel's stupid plan, this entire B-plot is the very definition of the writers doing whatever they can just so Marinette is at the party to transform into Ladybug.

So at the party, the robotic staff gets to work while Gabriel welcomes his guests, who proceed to put on white and gold masks.

Damnit, Astruc's going to go on about how Squid Game somehow ripped off his show on Twitter, isn't he?

Chloe tries to show Gabriel the video as she enters, so Marinette responds by throwing back the box she was carrying at her, which could have hurt her unless Adrien caught it. Well, Marinette's already trespassing on private property, so I guess wouldn't be too far of a stretch to add attempted murder to her rap sheet. Gabriel ignores Chloe, and because the episode can't work if Chloe remembers texting/email is a thing, she's thwarted for the time being. But before she takes her phone's SD card out with the video's data on it, she talks with Felix.

Look, writers, you can make all the jokes you want about the subject at Chloe's expense (even if all the time spent insulting Chloe this episode is overkill even by Astruc's standards), it doesn't change the fact that you're obviously reusing Adrien's character model and voice actor for Felix.

Speaking of, while Gabriel sends Adrien to his room to spend time with Chloe and Kagami, he asks to talk with Felix. He asks why Felix stole his ring in the first place like he forgot how important it was to his mom, but Felix seemingly gives it back while making a copy for himself... only for Gabriel to immediately figure out it's a fake.

“I've stared at her corpse more than enough times to recognize her ring from a cheap copy!”

Nathalie makes the obvious suggestion to just akumatize Felix to force him to confess, but Gabriel, having one of his rare moments of competence, points out Felix would realize he's Shadowmoth if he did that. Instead, Gabriel transforms into Shadowmoth and creates a Sentimonster copy of his civilian self to confront Felix.

We cut to Adrien's room where Chloe demands to get a phone to put her SD card into, and once again forgets how far technology has come by not even considering the option to upload the video onto Adrien's computer because the only thing keeping this plot from falling apart is scotch tape and a lot of prayer. Instead, Chloe uses a box to pretend to be one of the robotic help in an attempt to get her phone back, with Marinette in hot pursuit.

Just... what is even the point of this? We have an episode focusing on the main villain of the series, and we're wasting time on what looks like a scrapped Season 1 B-plot. Why not use this episode as an opportunity to dive into the origins of how Emile fell into her coma and why Gabriel became Hawkmoth in the first place, like what so many people thought would happen as soon as the episode title was revealed? We're four seasons in, we know next to nothing about Gabriel as a character other than who he knows, and they're sitting on a chance to help the audience get to know him more.

One thing of note does come from this scene. Adrien offers Kagami a drink... and Kagami scowls at Adrien.

Oh my God, it's almost like Kagami should be pissed at Adrien because he was a terrible boyfriend to her. It's brief, but after almost an entire season where she just bowed down to the Love Square for no reason, it's nice to see Kagami actually having a little resentment for Adrien after how poorly he treated her in “Lies”.

We cut over to the actually interesting stuff where Felix is close to figuring out the entrance to Shadowmoth's lair, but is caught by Sentigabriel. Felix initially plays dumb, but Sentigabriel says he knows the ring is a fake, demanding Felix give him the real one, which is in a safe place. Felix also tells Sentigabriel he knows he's Shadowmoth after seeing the Peacock Miraculous under his tie earlier in the episode, and must have some real balls to stand up to him, until...

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Yep, it's not enough that Adrien is all but said to be a Sentimonster, but now Felix may be one too. Was he created by the ring, and that's why Gabriel wants it back, so he can control Felix again? The dialogue implies that even Amelie doesn't know, and that just raises even more questions. I just don't get why the show is acting like this is a huge mystery when we all know Gabriel has snapped his fingers to get rid of Sentimonsters in other episodes like “Optigami” and “Sentibubbler”. I don't think the audience is going to assume if Gabriel snaps his fingers, he'll get his bodyguard to run in and beat the crap out of Felix.

So while Felix is distracted by Sentigabriel, Shadowmoth tries to akumatize Felix, yet for some reason, he is able to resist the Akuma easily. It's funny how Shadowmoth is supposed to be the new and improved form for Gabriel, yet it's been three times this season that his victims have broken free of his control. Hell, at least Alya and Chloe looked like they were struggling, but all Felix says is that he doesn't need Shadowmoth's power, and just resists the Akuma and runs away. In response, Shadowmoth akumatizes Sentigabriel into the Collector.

I talked about him briefly in my Top 10 Favorite Episodes list, but I really love the Collector's design. The jet-black suit with the shoulderpads and touches of red and white looks so awesome, and the eccentric personality Gabriel comes up with to make it look like he doesn't have a lot of control just makes him all the more memorable. His powers are to capture people and objects into his book, but here, it's updated for his tablet and also forces people to tell their deepest secrets, obviously meant for Felix. Overall, a solid set of powers that makes him honestly far more formidable than Shadowmoth in combat in my opinion,

So while Kagami gets Adrien to a safe place so she can fight off the Collector with the help of the butler and Adrien's bodyguard, Adrien and Marinette transform into Ladybug and Cat Noir respectively. The two think about how to stop the upgraded Collector while getting Felix to a safe place. Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, a trampoline, which she and Cat Noir use to bounce several plates from the catering van off of so Cat Noir can throw his staff to knock the tablet off the Collector's hands, which Ladybug immediately breaks with her yo-yo. What, no Cataclysm needed to break something as delicate as that?

Ladybug de-evilizes the Akuma, uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the stuff the Collector collected with his tablet, Sentigabriel pretends to apologize and gives Felix the real ring, and Ladybug gives him a Magical Charm. Also, Bob Both deletes Chloe's video from his phone because she was too stupid to back it up onto her computer because the writers know nothing about what we can do with modern technology. Aren't you glad that B-plot was resolved in such a satisfying way?

While Gabriel plans to study the Magical Charm (leading to the Megakuma in “Dearest Family”), We find out that Felix realized Gabriel was lying because he cut Sentigabriel's pants earlier, and didn't see the cut in the real deal's pants, hinting that he'll return again. And so the episode ends with the revelation that Marc and Nathaniel deciding to make a comic all about what Marinette had to go through because of them without even apologizing.

Woooooow, you two really suck, don't you? This whole B-plot happened because of your stupid drawings, and you two have the balls to make a manga about what she had to do to clean up her mess? If Marinette was the one to ask for their help, I'd understand, but Alya recruited them off-screen and just told Marinette they were going to help, so once again, she had no reason to risk doing any of this. If Gabriel actually saw the video, all she could have said was that she had nothing to do with their stupid plan and point out she didn't even agree to let them write the next Love Square D&D campaign or whatever. Suddenly, I don't feel as bad that Marc is probably going to be written off in Season 5 because of real life stuff.

In case you can't tell, this episode really got dragged down because of the B-plot. As usual, none of Marinette's friends apologized for forcing her into this situation, and even compared to the other B-plots this season, was just pointless.

This really could have been more of an origins episode for Gabriel that gave him some much needed focus and backstory. But instead, we got a pointless B-plot where Marinette dressed up and snuck around without actually doing for the plot. Seriously, you could cut out all of Marinette and Chloe's scenes in this episode, and nothing would really change. Honestly, it would make the pacing a lot better and less tonally jarring. Hell, an easy way to improve the episode is to keep the stuff with Gabriel and Felix the same, but instead of the scenes with Marinette and Chloe, pull an Arrow by having flashbacks to when Emilie was still around and focus on how her condition got worse to give Gabriel talking about her ring more weight.

I'm also not entirely sure how I'm supposed to feel about Felix in this episode. I joked about him being more sympathetic at the beginning, but he didn't really change. Yeah, he still had a reasonable motivation to find out more about Gabriel being Shadowmoth, but the narrative never made it clear if he was going to use this information as leverage against Gabriel, steal his Miraculous from him, or just alert the authorities that his uncle is a crazy magical terrorist. The only reason he was more heroic was because he was actively opposing Gabriel instead of working with him as Shadowmoth, and was scared of Gabriel potentially killing him. If they're trying to make him more of an anti-hero, I can understand that, but it feels jarring to go from making him out to be a real asshole, to giving him more sympathy in his second appearance.

According to Astruc, this episode was supposed to be about making the audience like Felix.

And I'm just here reading this, thinking to myself... WHAT?! How and why is Astruc suddenly okay with Felix now when he spent SIX YEARS insulting fans for liking him, and by extension, the PV? What caused this sudden change of heart? Was it an executive mandate? Did some of the other writers on his team come up with this? Was he seriously playing a long con this whole time? And again, what makes him more sympathetic than Chloe when in his last appearance, he also worked with Hawkmoth? How is he any different from her by Astruc's logic?

Other than those parts, the episode was just okay. The fight with the Collector was rushed (only lasting a little over a minute), but the battle of wits between Gabriel and Felix was pretty interesting to watch, and I think if there was more focus on the latter, I'd like this episode a lot more. But I guess compared to “Glaciator 2” and “Ephemeral”, I'd still take this episode over those two.

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