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aeonghaseyo · 3 years

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Your Trace, My Treasure

Summary: Marc and Nathaniel write and draw, respectively, on each others' notebooks because it's DEFINITELY a couple thing to do.

Word Count: 2105 AO3 link

Relationship/s: Nathaniel Kurtzberg/Marc Anciel Category: M/M Characters: Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marc Anciel, Alix Kubdel (mentioned), Marinette Dupain-Cheng (mentioned), Juleka Couffaine (mentioned), Rose Lavillant (mentioned), Alya Cesaire (mentioned) Language used: English Author's Note: The creators of MLB really need to give the side characters screen time. The love square isn't the only romantic set of ships in the show and there are much more cute ships to write about. And so in my first time of writing a Miraculous Ladybug fanfic, it's about a ship that's entirely not part of the love square. This is my final workshop output from a creative writing class I enrolled in during the summer to get units in advance. Special thanks to my professor and two of my classmates for their feedback; I couldn't have made this work even more wonderful without their help. For the non-love-square ship and this being a successful workshop output thus far, I think I'm gonna give myself a pat on the back and more fanfic ideas to write. :)

Compared to the courtyard at Françoise Dupont High School where the lively chattering of students can be heard and the scrambling of footsteps were a staple, the art room was its own entire world of silence.

It was supposed to be a calming silence in that same art room where Marc and Nathaniel were to work on art-related endeavors of their own, but the former found this unwelcoming and rather deafening. It weighed down on his being that the atmosphere was unbearably awkward, much like he was most of the time even before he met Nathaniel and became his partner in creating comic books about Ladybug, Chat Noir, and their akumatized alter-egos who turned good and served as part of the superhero duo’s akuma-fighting team. Despite a remarkable development from being acquaintances, to newfound partners, and now to a bloomed romantic couple, Marc Anciel, as awkward as ever and still testing the waters on this newfound relationship, couldn’t shake this nagging feeling of inadequacy as someone’s significant other.

It just goes to show him that even though his romantic feelings for Nathaniel had been reciprocated at Day 0, it does not remove the remaining unease that Marc currently feels at Day 1. It was his first time in a relationship, and it was with the boy whose drawings he admired so much from the school paper. Simply put, it was too good to be true.

Unfortunately, the awkwardness Marc felt wasn’t masked enough, and Nathaniel immediately noticed from his place by the table beside his raven-haired beau. How could he not? It was very obvious, from the way Marc’s hand shakily distorted his usually refined, elegant script while writing the next chapter of their comic to the way his expression was contorted as if he was constipated. Nathaniel thought to himself that it was still an adorable sight, but clearly, something was up, and it wouldn’t do well to just ignore whatever troubled his beloved partner. Attempting to break the ice, the redhead cleared his throat, then spoke to call Marc’s attention.

“Marc.”

The novelist jolted in surprise at the utterance of his name. “Y-yes, Nathaniel?”

Leaning in for a better view of the page Marc was writing on, Nathaniel replied, “Your handwriting’s different.”

“W-wait, really?” blurted out Marc, quickly covering the page with his gloved hand. “I d-didn’t know you were p-particular with handwriting.”

Nathaniel placed a gentle, caring hand on his boyfriend’s with a smile aimed directly at him as he clarified himself, “It’s not that, Marc. I’ve seen it and it’s great. Right now, it just looks… wobbly. You’re nervous, aren’t you?”

Even if Nathaniel was a recluse in his own class, he could very well read into the emotions of people, but he doesn’t show it that often. As endearing as it was as a show of concern towards shy Marc, it was also overwhelming for the raven-haired novelist to have been the subject of such deep perception, even from the boy his heart palpitates for.

It was then that Marc’s fight or flight response reminded him in a split-second that he needed some sort of diversion for Nathaniel not to remind him of his own awkwardness.

“Isn’t it weird that our art teacher didn’t come here?” Marc rapidly questioned as he struggled not to look at the red-haired boy beside him. Despite this attempt to keep Nathaniel’s focus off of his disposition, glancing towards the door and not at Nathaniel did not help stop the blood from rushing to the novelist’s fair cheeks. His partner might be tired of this, of him, already, but that light chuckle of pure amusement coming from Nathaniel disproved that thought.

“Hey, hey, settle down Marc,” chided Nathaniel, “he might be running late. It’s okay for us to use the art room so long as it’s reserved around this time. Good thing that he reserved it at an earlier time than usual.”

With innocent green eyes, the raven-haired boy looked his boyfriend in the eye and asked, “H-he can do that?”

“Of course, he can. Let’s just wait for him, okay?” reassured Nathaniel, his left hand making its way on Marc’s right shoulder discreetly. “I’m sure my other classmates will arrive here shortly too.”

A shy smile emerged from Marc’s face as he replied, “Okay, Nath.”

Suddenly, a ringtone from the phone which was in Nathaniel’s pocket sounded audibly enough to catch both the boys’ attention. The redhead immediately fished out the device from his pocket and unlocked it, revealing three unread text messages from his close friend Alix.

Hey Nath! Something came up and I couldn’t swing by the art room. Love troubles again with Marinette. Juleka and Rose are also helping out with me so they can’t come.

I can’t believe that Marinette got invited personally by Adrien to his photoshoot but she can’t even give him her handmade gift or ask him out. Because she’s such a wuss, I got dragged here in the park by Rose because Mari needs all of her girl friends to push her towards Golden Boy Agreste YET AGAIN.

And apparently Alya alone couldn’t do it. Sorry! You’ll have Marc to keep you company anyway. Have fun! ;)

So much for those girls coming over to the art room. Nathaniel let out a sigh as he muttered, just enough for Marc to hear, “I stand corrected. The others aren’t coming.”

Catching on his partner’s crest-fallen demeanor and gazing at his face with sympathetic green orbs, Marc replied, “Guess it’s just the two of us for now.”

The next minutes were spent in silence again, with Marc continuing to finish a paragraph while Nathaniel sketched a bird’s eye view of the Eiffel tower as the background in one panel of the comic storyboard in his notebook. After several minutes elapsed, however, curiosity got the best of Marc, and so, with the tip of his pen lingering on the period of his last sentence, he kept on glancing at Nathaniel and the storyboarding he was working on. Besides the sheer focus that was evident in Nathaniel’s turquoise orbs, the shy novelist couldn’t help but notice the fine, steady strokes his beau’s hand were making with his fine-pointed mechanical pencil. So neat, so pristine. It’s amazing how he didn’t need an eraser to erase certain portions of his drawings over and over.

Marc had seen artist sketches himself of both people and objects, mostly done by his friend Marinette. As someone aspiring to become a fashion designer, she would be engrossed in sketching designs day by day, passion ignited by the sparks of inspiration she draws from around her. However, since Marinette’s sketches had obvious hints of disorder, as it normally is with crude artist sketches, it clearly contrasted with the otherwise structured sketches Nathaniel makes for his comic books. Marc, fully in awe, couldn’t help but take a break from his writing and stare at the red-haired illustrator’s creative process right next to him.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel, thanks to the strong, overbearing feeling of being watched, was getting overly conscious of his work. Keeping his composure to the best of his ability, he quickly turned to Marc and asked, “Do you need something Marc?”

Snapped out of his trance wide-eyed, Marc inwardly panicked. ‘Oh no, I must be staring at him too long! I hope I didn’t spook him too much.’

Scrambling for a sensible response, the novelist stuttered out, “I-i want to write something in your notebook.”

Setting down his pencil while his turquoise eyes were still on Marc, Nathaniel blinked inquisitively. “Oh, why would you want to do that?”

“B-because,” the shy writer reasoned, “I want to write something to remind you of me. T-that is, if y-you don’t mind.”

The red-haired teen averted his gaze from his partner as he remarked, “You know I don’t let anyone write on my notebook, Marc.”

This response triggered the disappointment that Marc had anticipated from the moment that they started continuing to develop the rest of the comic book they were working on together. It was even more daunting for the timid writer that their art teacher and the rest of Nathaniel’s classmates who were usually in the art room with them did not show up at that moment, or even at all. Marinette would tell Nathaniel that it’s a great idea for his newfound love to leave special traces on his personal notebook while Rose, somehow finding this romantic, would gush at this gesture with Juleka mumbling to herself in response. But what would have been the cherry on top for Marc at the moment is that if Alix was there to egg on Nathaniel, pressuring him to give in and let his boyfriend write something in his notebook. At least the comic relief from Alix’s teasing would help alleviate the collective awkwardness the couple felt at that moment. God, if only it wasn’t just the two of them in the art room at that moment.

But alas, he was alone, helpless and daunted, and he was facing the dragon which was Nathaniel, or whatever Nathaniel thought of him at that moment.

However, all of the fears and doubts that plagued Marc left him when Nathaniel continued with a small, endearing smile on his face, “But for you, I’ll make an exception.”

The novelist beamed at his boyfriend, green eyes sparkling with delight. “R-really?”

“In one condition.”

Marc took and held in a quick breath. “Anything, Nath.”

The illustrator picked up his pencil once again and uttered, with an outstretched hand right by Marc’s notebook, “Let me draw in your notebook.”

It was at that moment when Marc could feel his heart flutter, accompanied by the butterflies in his stomach as he opened his own notebook to the very last page and laid it out right by his beau’s workspace.

“It would be my pleasure.”

In a span of 2 minutes while Nathaniel was drawing on the last page of his boyfriend’s notebook, Marc, fidgeting and tapping his pen softly on his chin, racked his brain for a simple yet memorable piece to write on the first page of the illustrator’s notebook, which was left empty out of personal preference by its owner. Hoping to obtain bit by bit of inspiration, he glanced at Nathaniel, then at the empty page, then at Nathaniel, and so on and so forth. This went on, albeit unnoticed by the redhead, until mere seconds after, he scribbled away on the page once he had gotten attuned with his creative writing flow.

After both of them finished leaving their traces on each other’s notebook pages, Nathaniel and Marc gave each other back their notebooks and instantly opened them to where they each left their special mark. Struck with awe, the novelist softly traced the outline of the drawing and his emerald eyes were drawn to Nathaniel’s signature which he left underneath the recently drawn portrait. A tinge of pink formed on Marc’s cheeks as he admired every stroke that constituted this drawing of him done by none other than the boy he once looked up to, now loved, and who loved him back.

“No one’s written me a poem before,” Nathaniel uttered as he perused every line written by Marc on that now extra special page in his notebook, eyes taking in every word written in that distinct elegant script that served as an epitome of beauty that the redhead beheld. One particular line at the end of the writing, however, caught him by surprise: the words ‘Je t’aime’ accompanied by Marc’s signature in that same fancy handwriting the illustrator adored dearly.

Having regained his composure, Marc turned to Nathaniel and asked, “Do you like the poem? I-i thought of it on the spot so it might not exactly be to your liking, but-”

“I love it,” interrupted the red-haired teen breathlessly, wrapping an arm around his significant other and squeezing his shoulder. “Really Marc, you make the most wonderful written pieces.”

An expression as bright as day graced Marc’s features as he replied, albeit with a bit of shyness in his voice, “Y-you really think so?”

Nathaniel threw any single hint of hesitation in his being out the window as he placed a tender, loving kiss on Marc’s forehead. “I do. We’re meant to be partnered together, after all.”

And just like that, the uncomfortable awkwardness that haunted Marc was instantly warded off, and in a flash, he enveloped Nathaniel in a tight, warm, loving embrace and leaned into him in newfound solace. The silence in the art room has never been this comforting as the couple relished in this seemingly endless embrace together.

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous tales of ladybug and cat noir #miraculous fanfiction #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #mlb fanfiction #nathaniel x marc #nathaniel kurtzberg #marc anciel #marcnath #mlb fanfic

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pen-emue · 3 years

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Underappreciated Dream SMP animatics recommendations

So I was re-watching my favorite dreamsmps in a vague order playlist as I sometimes do, and I decided to make a post to promote the videos from the list that are CRIMINALLY underrated. I don’t personally have much of a reach, but I figured as long as I show a couple people new favourites, I’ll be happy.

There are so many talented artists in the community, but animations in this playlist are my all-time favourites. It contains all the big boys like SAD-ist and the like, but this post will be for those with <100k views at time of posting.

Dream SMP War Animation // The Fine Print - Survivian

Do you wish there were more animatics about early L’manburg / the first war? Well do I have a treat for you. The animation is so colourful and fluid, and it tells the story of that arc in such a fun jazzy way. I love it so much!

Dreamon Hunters op [Dream SMP Animatic] - Ballesta

Currently unlisted, so I almost didn’t put it here, but there was nothing in the description to indicate the artist hates it or doesn’t want it shown. (I actually removed another animatic from the playlist for this reason.) Even if they think it’s scuffed, I refuse to stop loving it. I don’t know if it’s the colours, or the way they draw Dream, or the fact that arc is way too underrated for how fun it was, but I always find myself re-watching this animatic.

Vow of Nonviolence || Technoblade ft. Ph1lza || Dream SMP Animatic - tinkruwu

Good animation of an iconic scene. Cool anime style. If you watch the playlist it’s obvious I have a thing for animatics that are just animated versions of scenes I like, and this is one of those. Manages to be both badass and hilarious, just like Techno himself.

DREAM SMP: Bad Decisions [ANIMATIC] - skywerse

You know how I mentioned that I love animated version of my favourite scenes? Well, let me introduce you to skywerse my beloved. I think they’re going to show up a few times on this list, and that fills me with deep rage. (Though I relish to opportunity to gush about them.) They do these awesome, movie-scene versions of all the best scenes. After their Techno vs Quackity one blew up I was hoping they’d be less underrated, but alas. Not only is their animation amazing but their sound design is always top tier.

"Forever Lost" | Doomsday war (Dream smp animation) - MIRU

As of posting this masterpiece has less than 10k. I am genuinely upset by this. If you watch one animatic from this list let it be this one!!! For an animatic with full colour, smooth animation, and impeccable sound design to be this underrated... it makes me want to yell. Also, there are way too few animatics about Doomsday compared to other events, and this is my favourite that I’ve seen by far.

The Eggpire - (dsmp Animatic) - Jak

A little more storyboard than others on this list, but I wanted more Eggpire on the playlist, and I love the sound design and the bit where Bad changes costume is so good. Also I love when Bad monologues to chat like he’s in a Shakespeare play.

Thus Always To Tyrants [Dream SMP Finale] [Animatic] - NA [Redacted]

To be fair, this one is pretty new. But it still has wayyyy too few views! It’s my favourite animatic of the disc war finale I’ve found so far. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking, and tells the story of the finale so well.

DREAM SMP: Easy to Forget [ANIMATIC] - skywerse

Another banger from skywerse, the icon. Relive an awesam scene in all its animated glory. Sam and Ranboo are two of my favourite role players, so any scene they’re in together tends to be a fav of mine.

The Egg Speaks to Ranboo [Dream SMP Animation] - Rusty_Courage

I know I go on about sound design a lot, but no other animatic on the playlist shows how important it is like this one. What the artist has done makes an already good scene 10000x times better. Just trust me and watch it.

DREAM SMP: Prison Visit [ANIMATIC] - skywerse

Having trouble properly visualizing the brutal child murder? Well, as always, skywerse has you covered. No but seriously. Dream and Tommy crushed it in that scene, as always, and the animation makes it even better.

Ranboo Confronts Sam [Dream SMP Animation] - Rusty_Courage

Hey, another one from Rusty_Courage. They might be a new favourite of mine. Did I mention how much I love Ranboo and Sam? Because I love Ranboo and Sam. Watch to cry.

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I don’t have that many followers, and you probably don’t either. But I still want to do what I normally never would and ask you to reblog. Giving less known artists even a tiny bit of extra exposure is good for everyone. It encourages them to make more great art for the community, and it takes the pressure off well known artists to always keep up with the happenings. So give them a watch and a nice comment.

#dream smp #dreamsmp #mcyt #mcyt animatic #dreamsmp animatic #not even sure if links will show in the tags but here goes nothing

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ryttu3k · 3 years

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Some thoughts on Zombieland Saga, 2.08!

The first part takes place in autumn of 1881, the bulk of it summer 1882. Yugiri dies that December. I'm going to assume Kiichi and Itou are somehow involved (I am very suspicious of Itou!!). Also, historically, Saga was revived in 1883, just one year later.

Yugiri's always been a bit of an odd one with the rest of Franchouchou, Tae aside. The other girls are from within forty years of each other (Junko died in 1983, Lily in 2011), but she's from nearly a century and a half earlier. So I'm guessing the reasons for her resurrection were different? Like it's not just 'she was famous in her time', it's personal. Kiichi is voiced by Mamoru Miyano as well, it's... probably a fair guess to say he could be Kotaro's ancestor?

The grandfather is straight-out credited as Jofuku/Xu Fu in the credits. Is the bartender him, still around and kicking? Did Kiichi grow up to inherit his looks and powers (if they're not biological relatives, it could be passed down via other means); did Kotaro inherit those powers too? He said last season he owes Yugiri a lot - if he's the grandfather, I have a suspicion that Kiichi is going to get into trouble, Yugiri takes the fall for him, and is executed in his place ;_; Alternatively, if the bartender IS Kiichi, same scenario could happen only this time it's specifically that she saved his life. This seems more likely, given that the grandfather has already lost his hair and the bartender hasn't. If they're not biological relatives, maybe the grandfather recognised the same kind of spirit in Kiichi and knew he would become the New Jofuku?

From Reddit:

"I think she's going to end up taking the blame, as a scape-goat. "Former star courtesan foments revolt" makes for a more convenient excuse than "country bumpkin stirs up the genuine aggrievement of the people".

She will realise who Itou is, where this whole things it leading, and sacrifice herself to save Kiichi."

Re: the cameos - I think the shots of the girls were either ancestors or just easter eggs. Romero, on the other hand, may literally be the same dog XD He's a zombie and introduced in the same breath as the necromancer grandfather, that is an old dog!

Oh right, confirmed on the subreddit:

"According to the end credits translation : all the lookalikes are just "women that looks like X " so saki is "babysitter looking like saki" and romero is literally just "romero" so I think it’s the only one that is the same"

The hard time limit - could Kotaro lose his necromantic abilities, like the grandfather did? If Romero is the same dog, at least they won't die again, but maybe they could lose regenerative abilities or... something? Still not sure about that one. Another theory I saw is that Jofuku's powers are tied to Saga's fate - if his powers wane, so does Saga. If Kotaro inherited those same abilities, he could see the impending loss of his abilities also meaning the end of Saga as he knows it.

The note at the end was translated on the subreddit too:

"Cant really read it since it is like early modern japanese and it is kinda hard to read

Part that make sense is

1. People who agreed with the target is gathering

2. Unable to confirm its current target

3. Possibility of its expansion in the future is high

4. (unreadable ) Order

Seem like the guy is doing some investigation, from the way he talk about the government, he probably belong to some underground group"

So looks like Kiichi is getting into some shit, which does lead credence to the theory that Yugiri will step in to protect him :-\

Yugiri herself - I want to give her a hug ;_; She seems so... lonely. I loved the scene under the cherry blossoms with the pinwheel, it was just this sweet moment of her getting to be a teenager for once.

Alas, her death is impending :-\ And unlike the other girls, this appears to be more... deliberate. The others were all accidents, but given how she's getting involved in politics (and Itou knows she helped Kiichi with the pamphlets!) and her single scar, she was likely beheaded and I am not emotionally prepared for that!

Finally, from Reddit:

"This episode is set in 1881-82. Modern Saga Prefecture was created in 1883. Seems like Kiichi is going to get his wish, just not the way he'd have wanted.

EDIT: Wait a second....that means Saga itself is a land that was killed and resurrected. Saga was the zombie all along. Zombie Land Saga."

Edit: Theorising how That Scene will play out:

megastarstrike — Today at 12:44 PM Tbh I wasn't thinking about her death method, just anticipating it ;-; ryttu3k — Today at 12:47 PM I don't think we're actually going to see her head get chopped off because that's a bit dark, but like - maybe Yugiri kneeling, she catches Kiichi's eye and smiles serenely, closes her eyes, there's a flash of the blade, and then we're back in the present day ;_; If they want to be really horrible we hear a thump first ...or two thumps Nooooo ;_; megastarstrike — Today at 12:48 PM I'm gonna predict your clairvoyance powers are coming to you again bc this sounds exactly like what they're gonna do ryttu3k — Today at 12:48 PM It's what I would do if I was storyboarding it, so. We'll see XD;; Can I add this to the post? megastarstrike — Today at 12:49 PM Yup Tbf that is very anime ryttu3k — Today at 12:50 PM Yeah XD

We’ll see in a week, I guess!

#zombieland saga #zlsspoilers

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operafantomet · 3 years

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I’ve seen some amazing “storyboard” type drawings on your page that Maria Bjornson did. Preliminary ideas and notes for different images and scenic ideas for planning the original production. They’re incredible! Are there any more sketches, or ideas that were never realized? And are those storyboard sketches published anywhere?

The storyboard ones? They are indeed amazing!

I think those storyboard sketches are somewhere between conceptual, to draft out the main ideas - because they contain things that never was included on stage - and a sort of early “shooting script”. They are later than the super conceptual ones which are more inspired by German expressionistic cinematography, but earlier than the finished set and prop design, which is super detailed.

The collage under shows the descend to the lair in concept sketch (left) VS storyboard (right):

It’s the same idea, with the zig-zag downward staircase, inspired by this one in the lower floors of the Palais Garnier, here with Sarah Brightman from the Vanity Fair shoot:

But as seen in the storyboards, the idea got more abstracted, so the downward zig-zagging is only indicated by one single bridge, the travelator, which moves down one side at the time.

As such it’s a long way from the Garnier staircase to the concept art to the storyboard and to the final stage look. Yet, the main idea is the same. The Phantom and Christine is descending in a zig-zag pattern, and for Maria Bjørnson this was meant to symboliz a descend into the unconscious. The finished stage version only fully make sense when you see it in action, when it forms the same zig-zag pattern. I guess that’s some of the magic of the scene. You can’t really show one photo and do it justice, you need to SEE it.

The conceptual sketches and the storyboards shows ideas that were never realized on stage. But the moments themselves has been kept. I.E. the chandelier crashes, but the Phantom didn’t axe it down, and didn’t ride down on it either, as seen in the first photo. So large lines has been kept, but details might have been cut.

In the collage above the figures are mostly indicated, and the mood more important than the details. But they were eventually drafted out in great detail, as here in a costume design by Maria Bjørnson:

(the figures also exist in solo poses)

Bits and pieces of the design has been published, in official books and souvenir brochures, in costume exhibitions, in books about stage design and online. Sometimes the context and the details has been explained, but usually not. And there has never been one single publication showing all of it. Alas!

#phantom of the opera #maria bjørnson #jonathan allen #phantom of the opera design #stage design #gina beck #ramin karimloo

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gunterfan1992 · 4 years

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Episode Review: ‘BMO’ (Distant Lands, Ep. 1)

Airdate: June 25, 2020

Story by: Anthony Burch, Adam Muto, Hanna K. Nyström, Jack Pendarvis, and Kate Tsang

Storyboarded by: Hanna K Nyström, Iggy Craig, Laura Knetzger, Anna Syvertsson, & Adam Muto

Directed by: Miki Brewster (supervising), Sandra Lee (art)

I just watched a new episode of Adventure Time...

That, dear readers, is a sentence that—after the airing of “Come Along with Me”—I never thought I’d get to write again! And believe me, it feels great to be proved wrong in this instance.

In October of last year, we were all treated to the news that four new Adventure Time specials—collectively identified as Distant Lands—would be airing in the next year or so. For months, the Adventure Time fandom has waited with bated breath for these specials to drop. Would these episodes be good? Would they live up to the series that came before? Would they undo the emotional satisfaction of the Adventure Time finale? These were the questions. And now, the first special—entitled “BMO”—is here. Does it live up to expectations, proving that Adventure Time always bounces back? Or is it toast-bread for sure? Read on to hear my thoughts!

Beginning in media res, "BMO" opens with the titular character on its way to Mars to terraform Mars. After running into an errant service droid named Olive, BMO is transported to a fantastical space station known as the "Drift." It is here that BMO becomes acquainted with a humanoid rabbit named Y5, and together, the two help reveal the insidious plotting of the station's capitalist overlord, Hugo, and his henchman Mr. M (who, it must be noted, is almost certainly Finn’s father, Martin, up to one of his many schemes). After much mayhem, hilarity, and poignancy, the special ends with BMO traveling back to Earth and meeting up with Finn and Jake for the first time—revealing that this entire special was a prequel to the main series, explaining how BMO first met up with his good friends in Ooo.

The first thing I'd like to comment on is the fact that many of the show's former crew members returned to work on this special. In addition to Adam Muto (Adventure Time's hard-working executive producer), this special saw the return of: storyboard artists Hanna K Nyström, Laura Knetzger, and Anna Syvertsson; storyline writer Jack Pendarvis; character designers Andy Ristaino and Benjamin Anders; art director Sandra Lee; and composer Tim Kiefer. I was actually quite surprised (and delighted!) that so many of the show's old guard returned to help out. And while this special also saw several new creative voices helping out (including folks like former OK KO! storyboard artist Iggy Craig, former Steven Universe board artist Miki Brewster, and writer Kate Tsang), the overall product was recognizably Adventure Time. I must admit, this was my biggest worry going into Distant Lands; without folks like Tom Herpich, Kent Osborne, or Cole Sanchez, would this feel like the show I know and love? I’m happy to say that the answer is yes!

BMO really is in fine form in this episode—from their singing the "Potatoes (More Exciting Than Tomatoes)" ditty in space all the way to their hitching a ride to Earth on a space lard. (Indeed, the sheer number of humorous remarks the little robot gets makes me think that many of the shows writers were saving up goofy one-liners following the show’s cancellation, just in case.) I’m quite pleased with how the episode handled the character, and, in truth, somewhat relieved. Initially, I was worried whether the character would be able to coherently anchor an hour long special, given BMO’s unpredictable and somewhat unreliable nature (see: “Ketchup”). Would 45 minutes of BMO’s seemingly boundless goofiness work? Thankfully, the other characters in this special do an excellent job counterpoising the lovable robot’s more, shall we say, unorthodox personality features (Y5 perhaps said it best when she noted that BMO tends to “expend energy for no apparent purpose”). The end result feels remarkably balanced, with BMO’s chaotic, goofball energy complimenting the very real plight of the Drift’s residents.

Speaking of other characters, Y5 served as a workable straight man, whose half-heartedly pragmatic personality contrasts nicely with BMO’s boundless and wacky optimism. I must give the writers and producers credit: it was extremely risky for them to feature a brand new character as one of the main players (rather than one of the show’s many beloved side characters), but for the most part, they stuck the landing. I think much of this success is due to Y5’s voice actress, Glory Curda, whose performance really breathes live into the character, giving her an earnest believability. That said, the fast-paced nature of this special precluded me from developing the strongest emotional connection to the character, and as such, Y5′s “my parents don’t appreciate me” subplot did not resonate with me as strongly as, say, “It Came from the Nightosphere” did. (But then again, not every character can be Marceline!)

Strictly in terms of story structure, "BMO" is not exactly groundbreaking, and the special follows the standard "buddy movie" formula fairly closely (You know, the structure that goes: "Two individuals from different walks of life are forced to work together. Despite a rocky start, they begin to function as a team. Alas, they are split up, but reunite just in the nick of time to save the world"). But unlike Grace Z. Li of Vulture, who wrote that the special plays out "expectedly" and as such "is simply unimaginative in its structure," I cannot say that the standard plot structure torpedoes "BMO"—it simply gives the special a solid story frame that supports the characters while also providing an opportunity for the show to drop some timely social commentary.

Adventure Time has never been one to shy away from such commentary, but I do not know if it has ever been more overt than in “BMO.” As Alexander Sowa of CBR puts it, Hugo—the alien-human overlord of the Drift—is a “futurist reminiscent of Steve Jobs or Elon Musk” who long ago used a spaceship to escape Earth during the final days of the Mushroom War. After “biohacking” his DNA with the genetic material of the grey aliens who flit around the Oooniverse’s infinite cosmos, Hugo and his ilk founded an Amazon-esque empire in the Drift, inculcating its inhabitants with a love for rampant commercialism. As a villain, Hugo really is the wombo combo: a selfish capitalist hell-bent on stealing riches, colonizing new lands, exploiting conquered peoples, and then leaving when the situation looks bleak. It is not hard to see Hugo and his followers as stand-ins for the leaders of today, who refuse to acknowledge the reality of thinks like climate change or income inequality—problems that, if left unchecked, will lead to cataclysmic societal collapse. It is a bleak topic for Adventure Time to meditate on, but at least the episode ends on a positive note, with BMO's actions proving that with the right leader(s) and enough people working together, otherwise powerless individuals can topple oppressive regimes and begin to right the wrongs that have been made by the bourgeoisie (if you’ll allow me to invoke the ol’ Marxist term). Now, "BMO" admits that such reformation is one that will require many sacrifices, but nevertheless, the special does emphatically assert that it is possible. And in the hellscape that is 2020, this is a message of hope that so many need to hear.

In addition to social depth, there's quite a bit of existential nuance to this episode, too. Perhaps the most striking scene in the entire special is the scene wherein BMO is torn apart and—for all intents and purposes—dies. It is a chilling scene made all the more haunting by the return of BMO's rainbow personae (last seen in season seven's "The More You Moe, the Moe You Know"), who urge BMO to accept death ("Now your job is to be dead") and recognize that the robot has failed in its mission to be a true hero. (As pointed out to me on Reddit, the scene stylistically echoes an eerie bit of dialogue from Portal 2, wherein GLaDOS tells you: “I have a sort of black-box quick-save feature: In the event of a catastrophic failure, the last two minutes of my life are preserved for analysis. I was ... forced ... to relive you killing me. Again and again. Forever." Talk about horrific!) Thankfully—in the spirit of the hero's journey—BMO bounces back from the brink of oblivion, proving that even in the bleakest of moments, all of us can be heroes.

Or something like that.

All in all, “BMO” was an enjoyable romp that dropped us back into a magical world we all love. While I wouldn’t say that the special was mind-blowing, it succeeded in its mission of telling a new story in a new place, while focusing on a character whom Adventure Time fans care deeply about.

Here’s looking to “Obsidian!”

Mushroom War Evidence: When it comes to the Mushroom War mythos, this episode was full of a lot of little details. CGO’s monologue reveals that, indeed, Earth was ravage by numerous nuclear weapons; what is more, it seems that some sort of doomsday weapon vaporized part of the Earth, leaving that gaping scar in the planet that has for so long fascinated the show’s mythology-junkies. It is also explicitly state that Hugo and his ilk were humans who fled Earth during the Mushroom War to escape certain destruction.

Final Grade:

Also, while I have your attention: Book update! As some of you might already know, over the last year and a half, I’ve been working on a book all about the history and production of Adventure Time! It’s been an absolute blast, and I’ve been lucky enough to talk to quite a few of the folks who worked on the show (including people like Tom Herpich, Jack Pendarvis, Pat McHale, and Rebecca Sugar). I’m in the final stages of type-setting, and should hopefully have the book ready to go within the next few weeks. Here’s a sneak peek of cover (please ignore the faint InDesign lines; they won’t be in the finished product):

Originally, I was going to publish this work through McFarland and Company, but then Cartoon Network got all pissy (long story short: I reached out to Rebecca Sugar and Adam Muto, got in contact with both of ‘em, and asked some questions about Bubbline. Rebecca responded and and confirmed that Bubbline was intended to be canon when she boarded “What Was Missing” but structural homophobia prevented it from being explicitly declared as such. This revelation made CN PR reeeeeaaally uncomfortable and they threatened to sic the lawyers), so I’m now going to be publishing through the University of Kansas Libraries. The good news is that the work will be free to download, and easily accessible! Yay! That said, if you want a hard copy of the book, I’ll post details about that in a bit. Anyway, keep your eyes peeled!

#adventure time #atimers #distant lands #adventure time distant lands #bmo #hanna k. nyström #iggy craig #laura knetzger #anna syvertsson #adam muto #miki brewster #sandra lee

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rufamapo · 5 years

Text

This is the manhwa version. This doesnt belong to me. I just saw it on mangadex comments. These are huge spoilers guys. BE CAREFUL

JULY FOUND BY CHANCE ENDING SPOILER

SQUID FAIRY:

Continuing from Chapter 22, Squid Fairy and the lady will continue to spend time together and eventually fall in love. However, a princess, the character who is squid fairy's love interest, will appear. He will then spend more and more time with the princess, and less with the lady. Of course, this is against his will, but since its a set role in heads, he can't do as he pleases. The lady will in turn start to get jealous and doubt squid's feelings. She will tell him to stop meeting and interacting with the princess, but of course Squid can't do that even if he wants to because of his role. Then squid and lady will start to grow apart. Then one day, in a fighting scene in tails, squid slashes an assassin, but it turns out this assassin is the lady. While holding her in his arms, the lady dies. Then in the next scene, the lady is seen alive, but can't seem to remember squid.

And that is how squid found out that characters who dies in tails loses their self awareness. That is also why he keeps insisting that nothing will change even if they try.

Squid Also tells Danoh during their conversation that after the comic they're in ends, they'll end up in a dark world, where they'll remain until they are pulled out into another comic again.

___________________________________

BAEKYUNG:

Wonder why Baekyung is super rude af to Danoh? Well that's because Danoh is similar to Baekyung's mom, a terminally ill patient.

When he was a kid, his mom died due to illness, and during that time, he felt a great deal of pain and loneliness(his dad ain't that great of a support either). Now, not wanting to experience the same pain again, he closed off his heart towards Danoh, and used rudeness as a self defense so he won't develop any feelings for her.

Welp, but in the end, he ended up liking her even more, even in the tails where he is free from his role.

___________________________________

DOHWA:

Dohwa has the heaviest secret in the entire comic, and it's not even his fault.

During their childhood years, Juda got kidnapped and tortured when her and Dohwa were out playing in the snow. Later, Dohwa found out that she only got kidnapped because the kidnapper thought she was a child of the Lee(dohwa's family) family.

In the past, Dohwa's father operated on Juda's mom, but due to an accident during the surgery, her mother died. Not wanting to accept responsibility, Dohwa's father hid this fact, and made another doctor take blame for the medical malpractice.

Remember in the earlier chapters, Juda's grandmother's death? Welp she was murdered by none other than Dohwa's Dad. Suspicious of her daugther's(Juda's mom) death, grandma investigated around and found out the truth. To silence the grandma, Dohwa's dad killed her on purpose during her surgery, but made it looked like she died in the middle of the surgery due to, uh, natural reason.

Our dear Dohwa, after finding out all these things, couldn't bear the guilt anymore, and commited suicide in tails, resulting in him losing his self awareness.

[P.S. Dohwa's brother(Danoh's doctor) was also an accomplice in Juda's grandma's death.]

__________________________________

HARU:

Following from chapter 22, Haru isn't responding to Danoh when she calls him "Haruyah!" because he lost his self awareness.

How he lost it? This is why:

Danoh is supposed to get a heart surgery, but because she waited for Baekyung, who failed to show up due to a road accident, her surgery got delayed and unsuccessful. To change this, Haru took Baekyung's place and was the one who got in the accident instead, so that Baekyung can arrive on time and the surgery will be a success. This resulted in Haru getting killed, which made him lose his self awareness.

When Danoh learns of this, she will, as she did back then, make Haru remember. She will continuously look for Haru, greet him, and introduce herself every time. During this time, a very touching scene will happen. Remember that infirmary band aid scene in the previous chapters? Welp, its gonna happen again. Like before, Haru will place a band-aid on Danoh's knees and will say the same words he did as before.

_________________________________

NEAR THE ENDING:

After our character's find out all about the 'killing your self awarenes" and "dark world" fiasco, soon they start making their choices one by one. Well we already know Dohwa's choice... *sobs*

As for Danoh, she chooses to keep her awareness and remember everything, her reasoning being that she's the only one that remembers everything about her and Haru(now that Haru lost his awareness), and she wants to keep these memories alive. Later on, Haru will get his self awareness back thanks to Danoh's great efforts, and he will also choose to keep his self awareness together with Danoh.

Baekyung also makes his decision, and chooses to remember and keep his awareness despite knowing that Danoh chose Haru. When he was making his decision, he was having a convo with squid fairy. I don't remember much of their conversation, but I do remember squid saying something like self awareness is a "curse they must bear(aka a price to pay for hurting the ones they love)"

_____________________________________

ENDING:

Remember Danoh's surgery during the road accident? Welp it still failed despite Haru's effort. And so, this time, after seeing yet another storyboard, Danoh knew it was gonna be her last.

Danoh wakes up in an ambulance, but before it takes her to the hospital, she gets out and makes a run to find Haru. However, her feet are moving against her will and are going in a different direction, which is towards Baekyung. As she and Baekyung sits on the bench with the snow falling, her last line appears, however she puts her hand on her mouth and willfully stops herself from saying her last line, saying to Baekyung "All I can do now is wait(for Haru to come)." Alas Haru comes, and they exchange their final thank yous and goodbyes, with Haru showing a happy and cheerful face to a dying Danoh. And then beeep Danoh dies. Not long after Haru is trembling and crying. Turns out he kept his compose and didn't dare to show sadness to Danoh so that her last moments of him that she'll remember is a happy one.

After Danoh died, she stayed in the dark world for awhile, then she woke up into a new comic world.

__________________________________

DANOH:

Danoh is actually the main character of a work the creators made before their debut. Her character is a time traveler that can:

•time travel back and forth between past and present

•can see the future

•has the power to change the future

So that is how she was able to change and delay her death(the creators wanted her to die a long long long time ago, but for some reason, she keeps living). Also, that's why she was able to change minor things in the comic(like the curry incident, her facial expressions, etc.) despite Fairy squid saying she can't.

_____________________________________

EPILOGUE:

At the epilogue, the creators are seen working on two new comics. One, a modern day highschool drama and one a historical drama. The modern drama has Danoh in it while the historical one has Haru in it.

Then the creators are shown chatting, talking about how the two comics are going to be merged into one.

Then after, Danoh is shown to have time traveled to a kind of like Joseon era period, where there......

SHE MEETS HARU!!!!!

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Then at the end, it showed both of them leaning to each other side by side, while looking at the sunset.

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

#extraordinary you #rowoon #kim hye yoon #july found by chance

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yumeka36 · 5 years

Text

The Frozen fandom has certainly been in an uproar this past week, and of course, since I decided way back to partake in spoilers, I’ve been part of the emotional turmoil too. It’s been very draining, but I felt I needed to make one more post before I lay low for a while. As usual, steer clear if you don’t want major Frozen 2 spoilers...

Ever since the ending leaked about a week ago, I’m not kidding when I say it’s consumed my mind since then. While I’m not one of the people who thinks that, should this ending be as clear cut as the leaked book makes it out to be, is the absolute worst (especially not if it’s handled correctly), I’m not in favor of it either. I’ve been constantly going back and forth in my mind, coming up with scenarios about how it could work or not work, examining the evidence both from official and unofficial sources, trying to put the pieces together. I did have a reprieve this past weekend when Frozen Fan Fest hit - I came up with a new, more positive interpretation of things and really enjoyed myself visiting the different stores and seeing all the new merch. But alas, more leaks happened, which supported a more unfavorable view of the ending we’re trying to come to grips with: Anna becomes queen of Arendelle and Elsa becomes Snow Queen/the fifth spirit - I’m willing to say that this is 95% confirmed since the leaked book and the new leaks from Discord both mention it. However, the new leaks also stated that the supposed final scene of the movie is Anna’s coronation (with Olaf and Kristoff) while elsewhere Elsa is off riding the Nokk. I was willing to work with all the other leaks we’ve gotten should they be true, but I’m definitively not in favor of this being the absolute final scene, one that emphasizes their separation. But again, an obscure word-of-mouth leak that could have come from storyboards that have since been changed, or were misinterpreted to begin with or got misinterpreted while being passed along via telephone tag, are definitely not reliable evidence.

Regardless, I can’t help thinking of the worst scenario for the ending of a movie I’ve been looking forward to for years, and it’s taken its toll: I’m just so tired now - I’ve had a lump in my throat and a knot in my stomach for days. I’ve lost hours of sleep unable to keep my mind from trying to figure how the last 20% of this movie plays out (since The Enchanted Forest and other books pretty clearly describe the first 80%). I guess that’s the price you pay when you love something too much and built up such extreme expectations. It’s so ironic that a movie that has brought me so much excitement and happy thoughts for nearly 6 years is bringing me such dread and anxiety in its last two months before release. I’m not gonna last unless I make a serious effort to put my mind elsewhere, which I’m definitely gonna try to do. But I wanted to give one last theory for the road, again, trying to work with the evidence we have and assuming the leaks are somewhat true: the original leak from the mythology book states that Anna and Elsa must make a sacrifice to fulfill Pabbie’s prophecy (still don’t know what that prophecy is). Maybe the sacrifice Elsa has to make is to keep magic/nature in balance by becoming the fifth spirit, which means she stays in the enchanted lands out of duty, reluctantly accepting her destiny. At least a couple interviews I’ve read said the creators see her as a tragic hero archetype, so it would make sense. As a result, Anna has to become queen of Arendelle. Of course, the movie couldn’t end with both of them being sad about their fate, as that would just beg for a Frozen 3 which we know is not in the works. So maybe the final scene that the leak mentioned isn’t totally final, and in the real epilogue some trigger happens that allows Elsa to return - perhaps the balance between nature/magic and humans is restored now that the Northuldra and Aredellians are at peace. So the real final scene would be the embrace in front of the stone pillars that was leaked from Christophe Beck’s Twitter a while back. Maybe the movie will then leave it up to interpretation as to whether Elsa goes back to Arendelle or not, similar to how the ending of HTTYD3 left it up to interpretation if Toothless and Hiccup end up living together again or just visit each other.

Honestly I don’t even believe this theory of mine, but I’m trying to point out that there are still many possibilities: the worst ending for me would be Elsa wanting to stay in the enchanted lands just because she feels she belongs there (not because of duty), Anna is accepting of this, and we’re given no indication they’ll see each other again. But as I said, this is certainly not the only outcome we can get from the leaks and information we have so far, plus there are many things that don’t add up: as I said, the leaked book mentioned a prophecy from Pabbie, yet none of the officially released books mention it. One of the books says that Anna and Olaf return to the forest the same time as Elsa, yet we clearly see scenes in the trailer of Anna making her way through the cave alone. There’s also the whole “Elsa losing herself to magic” thing that Pabbie mentioned in the trailer, and is mentioned in Elsa’s official character description, so where would that fit in with all the leaks/info we have? Then there’s the fact that Disney knows the leaks happened (since they’re taking down posts from Discord) so I’m assuming they know that fans aren’t happy (I also heard people are harassing the creators on social media, which is NOT okay!) But whether the leak ironically results in any change to the ending has yet to be seen.

Even if the ending ends up being the worst case scenario, I’d still want to give it the benefit of the doubt. I’d still want to believe that seeing it described in a couple sentences in online text is a world of difference compared to seeing it within the context of the actual movie, with all the details and nuances of the story flow and character interactions. I want to believe that it’ll make sense to me when I see it for myself and it’s not just following the trend of “a kids movie can only be seen as mature if it ends with a major shock like the main characters separating” - maybe I’ll develop a different appreciation for Anna and Elsa as characters even if it clashes with how I feel about them now. Maybe somehow Jen Lee and team will work their magic and give me an ending I didn’t think I wanted but I end up being satisfied with. Who knows. But in the meantime, we’re still over a month away from the movie and I’m tired. I’m seriously gonna get an ulcer or something if I keep stressing about the end of Frozen 2 like I have this past week. I’ll be getting a copy of Forest of Shadows soon, so I’ll get my Frozen fix reading that, and then I intend to lose myself in one of my more engrossing video games (doing NG+ in Dark Souls 2 is looking good now) to distract me until November 22nd (though I have a feeling we’ll know everything about the movie a week or so before then). I really hope two months from now I can look back at this post and say “I should have had more faith, the movie was great from beginning to end, I could have saved myself so much anxiety.”

I seriously wish I could hibernate until November 22nd.

#frozen #frozen 2 spoilers #frozen 2 #frozen2

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neshabeingchildish · 5 years

Link

Charlie Danger: Family Danger Conclusion

Every hero has their own way of dealing with the harsh realities of the job. Some of us find solace in the arms of someone special, sometimes in the arms of someone convenient. Some of us paint our wives and kids, some of us garden, some of us listen to a computer system schooling us on the properties of crystals and usages of essential oils until we fall to sleep, and sometimes, we just look at the good work that we’ve done, and it feels good. I’ve been keeping a video journal since my first day as a secret sidekick. If anyone ever wants to tell my story, they would have to dig it up, but it would all be right there, and whenever I’m gone, I get to know that my legacy is carried on by two perfect people, that I couldn’t love more…

“Suck toes, Nerd Brain!”

“I’m not even going to dignify that with a response..”

“That WAS the response, genius!”

“And so it was. Alas, this is the final.” Hank pressed a button and Charlie’s supersuit vanished from her body and she was left in the clothes that she had come to training in. He looked at Henry and smiled, “I love being able to remotely transform and currently having to only code to that function.”

“I thought you said you weren’t gonna say anything else!” Charlie fussed. Hank didn’t respond, because he’d been talking to Henry and to say something now, she’d catch him slipping again. Nope. He simply pulled up some holographic articles and continued talking to Henry, “As I was saying, to you, Dad, before a pestilence was upon us…” She squealed. He ignored it. “Your efficiency, likability, and public safety in general has decreased since taking on a sidekick. That’s not to say that your sidekick isn’t any good, but you’re really going to have to train and focus better if you expect for people to trust you with missions.”

Henry looked over the articles and nodded, “Whenever I began working for Captain Man, there was a period like this as well. Jasper thought that it was Kid Danger’s fault and suggested that he’d make a better one.”

Hank let out a hearty laugh, to the skies. Charlie couldn’t help but to laugh too. They looked at each other, stopped laughing, glared, then smiled, in spite of themselves. They had been driving each other crazy while Henry tried to get them on the same page as hero and backup, because “Someday, I won’t be here. Someday, Charlotte won’t be here. Maybe you’ll have other heroes to work with, other techies, other family… But, I don’t want to leave this world not knowing that you two will have each other.”

“We’ll always be there for each other!” Charlie had said.

Hank had asked, “Do you think I’d entrust her to just anyone?”

Henry had smiled and said, “We’ll see how much conviction you have when you’re out in the field and somebody who’s never punched a soul is stressfully criticising you for not knocking out the culprit at the first swing. Or you - how much entrusting you’ll feel like doing when you think out an ingenious plan and she gets to the scene and decides to just jazz fight or something. In order for this to really work, you two have to be like two halves of the same coin, like your mom and I… and trust me, it took us YEARS to be that way.”

“We’ll be fine,” they had said in unison.

Presently, Charlie was mad that Hank’s progress report sounded like she was making her dad look bad when they went out on assignment. That was absolutely what Hank was saying, but he didn’t understand why she felt like she could be mad whenever he was being honest and she needed this truth to step it up. But, laughing at the ridiculous thought of Uncle Jasper being a better hero than their dad? Classic Uncle Jasper Foolery. Hank pulled her in for a side hug and kissed her on her hair. She smiled and hugged him back. Henry just smirked to himself.

Whenever Charlie and I are done with a mission, she always draws out a storyboard of what went down. She wants to make comic books about our missions (omitting the secret parts, of course) and she’s fine with THAT being her real world revenue, although she already has SoulDates as an inheritance and Hank and Charlotte made Charlie’s Charms for her, as well. She wasn’t as interested in business and at 13, not as willing to pretend to be as she had been when she was younger.

“Starlette got her cape,” She said, frustrated. “She’s 15 and she got her cape from the Hero League.”

“Capes are symbolic, but you don’t need one to prove anything,” Henry said.

“Did you ever get a cape?”

“No. And I didn’t want one.”

“I want one,” she said. “I want a purple one, one to match the violets in my hair.” She wore a violet in her hair everyday and she had violets on a lot of her stuff, from her violet garden that Henry made for her when she was a little younger. It was her birth flower and her favorite color, so she liked to always have some, especially with her daddy being a “flower man.” It was like carrying proof of his love for her around with her all the time. She had her now deactivated bracelet from Hank, flowers in her hair from Henry and… Well… She felt like maybe she and her mom just would never get THERE. She loved her, so, so much. She was the queen of her heart, as far as who sang to her when she was small and always picked her up and held her whenever she made a mistake that she didn’t realize was dangerous, and made sure she was clean, safe, fed, sheltered… you know, stuff that parents need to do. She even TRIED to connect with her by showing her the work that she did and asking her how she felt about things and scheduling numerous Mommy-Daughter days with her. But, Charlie just didn’t know how to feel the same way about her that she felt about her father. They told her that was fine, but she knew for a fact that at least a couple of times, her mom cried about it. That really hurt her. Her mom was the strongest woman that she knew, which translates as the strongest woman alive. Having the power to make her cry wasn’t one that Charlie desired.

Charlie took to bringing Charlotte keepsakes from battles, much like Charlotte would do whenever she came home from a business trip that she couldn’t take the kids along with her or the way that she would make a prototype of something in a design or form that she thought that her family might like. Charlie had brought Charlotte hand picked flowers, pretty rocks, nicely done business cards, and other souvenirs that the woman would label for the assignment that it was and put away in a safe place. “I do love you, you know that, right Mom?” She’d sometimes feel like she was asking too frequently.

Charlotte would always give her the biggest smile and tell her, “If anybody knows a thing or two about their love not looking like what other people think it needs to look like, it’s me. I do know that and I’m so happy about it.” She’d kiss her on the forehead, adjust something on her (her glasses or clothing or something), and strum her finger tips down her face before disengaging.

With some of the ginormous problems that presidents had in the past, Charlotte wasn’t worried that any of her potential scandals would ever be an issue that she couldn’t live with. So, despite the fact that she was the leader of the free world, if Hank alerted her with a, “Mom, I need your genius,” she was putting that “free world” on hold. Hell, at least she wasn’t golfing! Hank did his best not to trouble her, but he knew whenever he was at even the slightest bit of a loss for an idea that meant that Charlie and Henry were possibly in danger and he couldn’t let it be on his conscious or pride if something didn’t go right. He’d check in quickly with his mom (who would usually just calmly ask him what he was thinking, then affirm that idea was better than any that she could come up with. It was done enough to the point where he got confident enough to KNOW that he knew his stuff and didn’t think to even call her.

The Danger Force Family Jet was his baby. He had bought it off of profits of his medical technology company, for his father and it was the most expensive thing that he had ever gotten for either of his parents! That excited him. He basically synched the systems of their home, his Washington DC lab, the Lady Lair, and associated hero allies, apps, and systems that Mr. Danger and his sidekick would need. Or rather, what he would need to back them up.

Charlotte still had the ability to insert herself into things from the White House, and while they always said that Henry was in charge, he looked to Charlotte enough that the kids felt like she was in charge… until she was President. It was harder to look to her. It was more difficult to get her to come up with things. Instead, she gave them a lot of trust and affirmation. (The same that she felt that she always gave them, but not accompanied by any ideas of her own). She was impressed by the height of independence it gave them. Whenever she read stories about Mr. Danger’s successes while she was in office, she was her proudest. Whenever they were in town and able to be with her was when she was her happiest. Whenever she got to hear firsthand about the missions that she hadn’t been able to be a part of was when she was at her most bittersweet.

“Then, I lifted the building on my shoulders and Dad dashed out. I mean, it almost CRUSHED him, I was so scared, but I was like wedged and couldn’t get out.”

“She could get out, but she was scared that she might not make it before the building crashed again.”

“So, then Dad was like, “Take my hand, and let go of the building. You know that I’ve got you!” And like, in my mind, I was like - yes, Daddy definitely wouldn’t just let you die, but what if he’s not able to save you from this mess you got yourself into? What if he can’t do it? Then, I felt like a blasphemer, right? Right word? Because, how could I doubt that Daddy was fast enough to save me, even from my own mess? So, he looked me right in the eyes and said, “If knowing how much I love you doesn’t make you confident enough, think about this - I promised your mom that I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” So, I was like, well, why didn’t you say THAT the first time. I took his hand and the building crashed so loud that my eardrums busted! But, I looked over and we weren’t under the building. It had collapsed a little bit, but hadn’t fallen like it would’ve if I hadn’t caught it, and me and Daddy were both safe.”

She told this story at the site of the building that she had accidentally thrown a villainous robot into, while Charlotte was still shivering in fear and holding her close to herself, because she had gotten on the jet and headed that way AS SOON AS she found out about the possible danger. “Are… you gonna make me stop?” Charlie wondered. Charlotte just shushed her and continued to hug her. She was kind of in shock and ready to quit her job and get back on the team, but she knew that could cause political chaos and also make them feel like she didn’t believe that they were capable. She believed that they were capable more than THEY believed it. What she wanted was to be closer, in case the worse happened. The thought of Henry being crushed accidentally by a building triggered her memories of him being crushed by Max, and she couldn’t believe that was still possible, but Piper had spoken to her several times about her PTSD of that event and even though she understood it and knew that it could come back that way, she hated that unsettling feeling of reliving it and she hated the new fear that Charlie was now in this type of potential danger. “Mom… are you okay?” Charlie asked, wanting to get out of this hug, but being genuinely worried about her mother. She just shushed her again.

Eventually, she let go, when Henry said it was his turn now and freed their daughter to take his wife into his own embrace. “I’m sorry, Char. I know this is hard for you and I hope that it passes soon. We’re gonna get on the jet, and we’ll soak in the scolecite tub and let the Interface hone in on your needs and set the entire thing to your vibrations, okay?” He knew the signs. He knew when she had been taken back to that place and he was the only one who really got it. Well, not in the way that she did. He’d always known that it wasn’t the same difficulty for him having been the injured one as it must’ve been for her to watch helplessly and she was plagued in recent years by the fact that she’d had super strength all along and didn’t know it in time to protect him and honestly, whenever these triggers were fired, ashe could be quite inconsolable for a bit. She never wanted the kids to see it, but they couldn’t hide it forever.

Hank added on, “Oh, I’ll bet that Interface blends lavender, jasmine, ylang ylang and… hmmm…” he studied his mother’s mannerisms for a moment, “Maybe a slight hint of patchouli and/or cedarwood. Calling it now.” He pulled out a spare handkerchief in a handkerchief holder that he carried around, because it seemed sophisticated and fancy and he liked the aesthetic of it, and he handed it to her. She smiled softly and accepted it to wipe her face. The couldn’t hear the swarms of Madame President, are you alright? Or President Page, what are your thoughts about this event tonight? Or even Mr. Danger’s Dude, back up. President Page does press conferences. You don’t get to mob her at a crime scene. Or Let me tell you like this, Man. I’m not the President, I’ll bust your ass. Back up. All she heard was her heartbeat in her ears, too fast, the world moving around her too much and wherever her beacon was to get back to her balance, she couldn’t find it.

“Oh! I got this for you, this battle,” Charlie cheered, cuffing her mother protectively, now that she noticed what her father had - that she was going through something right now and this crowd wasn’t helping. Charlotte smiled softly and accepted the gift. “I got it from the robot when I jumped on top of it and pulled stuff out of it’s center. Since it was like flashy and cool looking, I decided you might like it.”

Charlotte spoke for the first time saying, “This is the AI chip. It’s basically the part of the robot that helped it to think.”

“I ripped out a robot’s brain and gave it to my mom! I am SUCH a freakin’ warrior!” Charlie cheered and flexed her nonexistent muscles.

Charlotte laughed and pulled her close. “Yeah, you are. You’re a natural, Charlie. You were born to do this.” And, the beacon came into view. Charlie smiled brightly at her mom and squeezed her tightly and the four of them got into the Danger jet to head back to Washington DC.

Usually, Charlotte had been the beacon. She had been the glue. She had been the law. She had been the brains. Henry was excellent backup, but she definitely had been the family crisis “go to,” just as she had been growing up in the Man Cave. Henry always took care of her when she had her moments of just not being able to do it, but that night, she had her entire tribe to do this. She wasn’t expecting it and kept trying to get out of it, because it simply didn’t feel right to let her family pamper her, especially since, “You guys have been fighting crime tonight. All I was doing was looking over paperwork!”

“Paperwork that in some way will definitely affect the entire country and knowing this country, possibly the entire world. Now, sit down, woman and let me rub those feet while Charlie grabs you a unicorn dust brownie sundae!” Henry fussed, after the bath and he’d put her hair up for her. Hank was selecting something to watch that would cheer her up, but not excite her so much that she wouldn’t be able to sleep. Unicorn Dust Brownie sundaes were more of Charlie’s thing… but she would write down the alterations of how Charlotte might enjoy hers - for instance a blondie instead of a brownie, white chocolate instead of fudge, fat free soft serve instead of extra sweet, toffee flakes instead of nuts - and order from the auto snacker and set it up on a nicely decorated tray, with the crystals that Interface had given Hank, the flowers the auto florist had given Henry, and the Fun Notepad that they sometimes had to replace her work one with (Hank altered so that it blocked any of the work related content), so that she could just read something she enjoyed for a change, every now and then. It was this moment that let her know that when her term was over, she was going to focus her energy on her family, only.

There was an ongoing debate of what Charlie’s sidekick name should be. Currently, they were calling her Daughter of Danger, in the media, and whenever Mr. Danger spoke publicly, he always referred to her as “My sidekick.” She wanted her own name! “I get that you want your own name, but I also know the great responsibility and great stress that comes along with being a child hero with their own name to build and reputation to establish and hold. You are not going to be your own entity until you are AT LEAST 16, because that’s when I feel like I finally found my groove and so I think that’s an acceptable time for you to become officially established as your own.”

“That’s not FAIR! I’m BETTER than you were!” She squealed.

“Yeah, you are? You know why? Because of responsible parenting and properly administered life experience and workload,” he said.

She threw a fit! She wasn’t used to him making rigid rules and she knew that it was him and not her mother, because it had actually been a while since they checked in with her for guidance. They still gave her very detailed progress and incident reports, composed and submitted by Hank, but Henry was in charge of their business decisions on this team. She took the flower out of her head and threw it on the ground and Henry picked her up, kicking and swinging and placed her in the temper tube, able to withstand her attacks, so she wouldn’t accidentally wreck the jet.

Whenever he returned to the main area, even though he hadn’t said anything, Hank had picked up the discarded flower and put it in his own hair. Henry smiled at that and gave him a hug from behind. “Now, we’re doing too much,” Hank advised him. Henry grunted and let go. Hank fought a smile. “Are you okay? Your princess was flopping around pretty aggressively.”Much like Charlotte, Hank would ask a question, but still run a diagnostic, because Henry was bad at knowing what “being okay” was, a lot of the time. “You seem like you’ve got minimal bruising. She probably subconsciously reigned it in whenever you picked her up. But, mentally, you okay, Dad?”

“Yeah. She’s a teenager. You had your moments when you were young, too.”

“I don’t recall anything like that.”

“No, your outbursts were different. You didn’t really respond angrily, more like you responded with anxiety. You freaked out whenever you got upset. It’s normal to have tantrums when you’re a kid, and they look different for everybody. Yours look more like your mom’s used to and Charlie’s look like Aunt Piper’s used to.”

“What did yours look like?” Hank wondered, not even gonna dignify the fact that he had been emotionally compared to Aunt Piper with a response.

“I didn’t really have them when I was little. I didn’t have the room or the chance to.” He laughed a little. “I had a few as an older teenager, whenever I was around Ray and Jasper, but I wasn’t so much a tantrum kid. I did have some freakouts, kinda like yours whenever I got scared, but I was more of a silently depressed kid.” Henry tilted his head, just now actually saying this out loud and realizing it as he did.

Hank assessed, “So, I’m actually more like you and not Aunt Piper.” Henry wanted to comment on how THAT was what he focused on, but the fact that Hank had said that they were alike in some way was so touching that he was speechless, even if it was something like this. He hugged him again. “Dad-”

“Nope. This is happening.”

“I don’t like hugs.”

“A small sacrifice that I’m willing to make.”

“This is my body!” Hank said. Henry let go and patted him on the shoulder. Hank was slightly amused, but couldn’t break his facade of displeasure, on pride alone. He cleared his throat, adjusted the violet in his hair and continued working.

My kids are special people. Not because my son is a genius, or because my daughter was born a super, but because they just fundamentally are good people. Hank hates to show emotion, but he has a lot of them and most of them are pretty pleasant and positive. He is extremely judgemental, but he has known since he was a baby, practically that he was literally just smarter than everybody that he met. So, I’ve never faulted him for living in that in the best way that he could figure out how. If anything ever happens, Hank is always the first one to check to make sure that everyone is okay. Honestly, I don’t think that he can even move forward unless he knows that everyone is alright. He’s like his mother, that way, and apparently like me in how he processes his feelings. It took this Dude 18 years to admit to me that we had something in common! I’m filled with pride about that, but I also always knew that he was just as soft as me. Showing it though, makes him uncomfortable. When he was young, I worried that kids at the academy might have caused him some kind of harm or trauma that made him that way, but his mom was never very affectionate either, until after my attack. I don’t even want him to have to live through anything like that, on either side of it. So, if what I’ve got is a snooty mini-me who insults everyone with a simple motion of his eyebrows and rarely blesses them with his personal space and bodily contact - I’ll take it. He’s a Nobel Peace Prize winner. He doesn’t have to hug anybody if he doesn’t want to… Not that he would’ve had to before that title! I’m just tryin’ to brag on this Dude that I helped to make.

Charlotte read about the report of Charlie’s tantrum and linked in to the temper tube. Charlie was thwacking it with the heel of her hand until Charlotte’s voice said, “Hey, you’re gonna fracture your wrist on that impenetrable glass and be out of service for at least 8 weeks. Having super strength doesn’t make us invincible, remember?” Charlie stopped hitting, folded her arms and screamed. “Do you want me to keep you company while you let it all out?”

“I WANT for everybody to stop treating me like a baby!”

“Okay. But, I don’t think anybody is trying to make you feel that way. We are using professional opinions and studies, and our very own life experience to make sure that not only do you and your brother have a better chance than we did, but also so you can be the best you that you can be, from a place of love. That’s a hard line to walk and sometimes, it’ll seem unfair. But, my parents didn’t even let me date until I graduated. I had to check in with them so many times a day and I had to lie to them because superpowers were hush hush stuff and superheroes didn’t used to unmask. You’ve got kind of a sweet deal in comparison and I wish that you could see that and allow yourself to enjoy your privilege and your good fortune. If you focus on everything that you can’t have, which, I believe isn’t even very much, you’ll not be able to see the good things that you do have.” Charlie took a deep breath. “Are you calm enough to be released?”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Good. I’ll send your dad in. I love you.”

“Love you too..”

Charlie looked at her growing stack of comic book journals and wondered where in the world she might store this stuff as time went on. It had been less than a year and she had really high stacks. “Daddy, how in the world did you keep records of your adventures? Or, did you just not?” She wondered, sitting on the bench in her violet garden (Underneath which was an opening to the tubes beneath their home).

“I have video journals that are saved to microchips,” he said, working diligently on a flower crown.

“Hwat? Video Journals… Like, you RECORD yourself telling your secrets? What if someone found them before supers were out?”

“Well, I hid them well. Do… You want me to show you?” He wondered, looking up from what he was doing, momentarily. “Your mom made me an entire video journaling booth a few years ago whenever we were constructing the Danger Fortress underground. I could have Hank get you your own drive to upload yours to, maybe even your own booth, at some point.”

“I’m more curious in seeing what you had to say in your video journals… But, I know that’s private.”

He thought for a moment, tilting his head from one side to the other, and shrugged his shoulders, “I think that we’ve been pretty open with you and your brother about things that happened in our lives. It shoul;d be fine. There’s one bit that I’d love to keep you away from, but I’ll just restrict the access to those.”

“Can… we do that now. I know that’s a super important floral crown, but…”

He smiled and said, “All done,” and placed it on her head. “Hot damn, that’s one of my best ones. Yeah, we can go now.”

He sat her in the booth, showed her the different controls and started it out for her, from the beginning, and she was engaged from the moment she heard and saw this child that she knew was her dad in smol form say, “It all just kinda happened. I wanted an afterschool job…”

Henry came into the house, where Charlotte was in the kitchen with Hank while the Super Secret Service was on the grounds. She smiled at him and said, “I’m making some tea, if you want… where is my daughter?”

“She’s in the booth watching my old Kid Danger journals.”

“Oh my God, those!” Hank said, laughing and stirring the tea in his little teacup. This kid, well adult man, often tickled Henry. He was a unique dude. This tea set was actually his, that he had bought because he just wanted to have a nice tea set. He bought things like… Well, he had a collection of several feather quills, and fancy ink to dip them in. He had a wax seal for letters. He liked actually WRITING letters. Mostly to his mom, for special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries and stuff, but he also wrote encouraging postcards to Charlie for missions. He didn’t really write to Henry much, but that was because he knew Henry didn’t like reading with his dyslexia and he didn’t want to make him feel compelled to read stuff.

But, Hank also had a pocket watch with a chain, which he turned into a Whiz Watch and also his music listening device. He also collected figurines of heroes that he knew personally and had a copy of EVERY form of Kid Danger, Mr. Danger, Lady Danger and Daughter of Danger that there was.

He ran the Danger Force Family Official Website and had a section where any fan art could be submitted, as long as it didn't violate the content guidelines. Like… online he saw hella "Mr. and Lady Danger shipping and he reported it EVERY time. Yeah, that might have been petty, but that was gross and he didn't want to see it on Blue Ivy's Internet. Another fixation of his - Blue Ivy. He had everything that she ever done and had gone to see her multiple times. "Sit down. Have tea with Mom," he said. "I'm gonna stay here tonight, but I'll be in the Fortress finishing some things for the office."

Henry said, “Well, are you gonna deal with that cape situation?”

“I am not,” Hank said as he left the room.

Charlotte laughed and shook her head, “What did I miss?”

“Hank tormenting his sister about her not being eligible for a Hero League cape by flaunting his fashion cape collection at work.”

“But, they’re not even the same type or style of capes,” Charlotte pointed out.

“I swear, you cloned your brain and put it in our child. That doesn’t matter to Charlie! She wants a cape and Hank has capes in almost every color.”

“And many materials. His cape collection is very impressive and screams bougie old queen.”

“Well, now she wants a cape now more than ever and he doesn’t want to make her one because he says she can’t be her best self and be copying his “steelo.”

“Technically, she’s been wanting a cape since Starlette got hers, so really it's HER steelo she’s copying.”

“She’s not copying ANYBODY’S steelo and I wanna also retire the word steelo from this conversation. She told me that she wanted a purple cape to match her flowers in her hair. As long as her cape is unique to her, she needs to have one, because why not? She’s a kid and she wants it.”

“Huh. Yeah. I agree. We’ll get her a cape,” Charlotte said and opened her notebook.

“What’re you doing?”

“Making my daughter a cape.”

“Is it gonna be some kind of super cool, super cape or something?”

“Yep. And super dope Charlie swagger.” She showed him what she was planning. “I’m gonna make it violet on the inside and black on the outside with actual violets as the pattern.”

“Fresh to death,” Henry commented.

“Totally her style, but still matching your black, silver and gray color scheme. The features of the cape will include flame resistance, cloaking technology, and shielding support.”

“Hotness on hotness,” Henry said.

“She’ll finally have something in her uniform that I made, and even though she might not wear it everyday, she’ll at least be taking me into battle with her.”

“Awww.” He gave her a fist bump and proceeded to steeple himself some tea.

There weren’t a lot of different things that someone with Charlie’s heritage could do. Everyone in her family was a living legend, and her mom’s side even had non-pow star power. In order to be worthy of the Page name, her mother’s reputation, her father’s legacy, her brother’s support… She felt like she needed to go above and beyond. She pushed herself harder than they all wanted her to. She practiced when she was alone, to hone things that her father didn’t feel like she was ready for, and she was a little more focused on where she wanted to go after watching over his journal entries from his youth. She also understood her parents’ protectiveness and cooperated with them more when they’re desires were conflicting.

She made a framed storyboard of her Cape Presentation Ceremony, which honestly was just a family gathering + house party at which she was given her cape, and her mother explained the functions and why she was so compelled to do this for her only daughter. Charlie was crying and filled with joy and excited and never wanted to take her cape off! She also wished that her mom was around more and told her that. “Well, after my term ends, I’m all yours. I’m gonna be focused on my family, and by that time, you’ll be a proper hero, like you were born to do.” She fixed wild strands of her hair, strummed her fingers down her cheek and kissed her on the forehead.

“Born to do,” Charlie whispered to herself.

Charlie’s 16th birthday was a little less than a month after Charlotte officially was no longer a US President. They had been planning it for a long time. She had a Princess-Warrior Sweet Sixteen at the Page Estate. The dress attire was costume (limited to warriors or royalty) or fancy dress. There were purple flowers of all shades everywhere, and the favors were swag bags with purple holistic beauty products, gems, jewelry, perfumes, and stationary. Charlie had given the cakemaker her order and revealed only to them what she wanted her sidekick name to be (so that they could put it on there).

Charlotte had made several party edition gumball tubes attire changes. There was a feast. It was a lot, but everyone had a great time and Charlie was super stoked about it, although when it was battle time, just the press of a button got her and her father into their fight outfits these days. Whenever they revealed the cake and sang her Happy Birthday song, Hank curiously looked to see what she had spent years to decide on.

“Calvary Danger?” He asked and pushed up his purple rimmed sunglasses with his pinky.

“Uh, yeah. Because, I’m a sidekick, I’m backup. I’m not the one that people call upon immediately necessarily, but when I do show up, there will be salvation!” She said and clenched her fists.

He smiled and wondered, “Did you practice that?”

“I did.” He laughed. “Let me live!” People started chanting “Speech! Speech! Speech!” “At… At my birthday party?”

Charlotte took the floor and there were cheers, “Okay, okay. So, we’re very thankful that everyone made it for this important celebration of our daughter, Charlotte II, true royalty in our eyes. She’s always been our little princess warrior and now that she’s old enough and trained enough, she’s vowed to dedicate herself to being the same for others. It was tough to let her, but it would have broken our hearts to try to hold her back, as well. I present to everybody, the birthday girl, Mr. Danger’s legacy, the newest superhero in the Hero League database, complete with an official cape, though she’s got an upgrade in her abundance of gifts,” She winked at her and Charlie squeed at the mention of a cape upgrade. Hank flipped his fashion cape and Charlie swatted it away, so it wouldn’t hit her. “Daughter of President Charlotte Page and Henry Page, aka Mr. Danger, a hero who always knew what she wanted to be… Calvary Danger!”

Charlie smiled and came forward, kissed and hugged her mom then watched her return to her seat and kiss and hug Henry. “Wow. I didn’t know that you have to do birthday speeches and I don’t like speeches, but I like talking, so I can tell you all some things. When I was little, I thought that every girl wanted to be a superhero when she grew up. I looked up to my dad and it was the most natural thing for me to want to follow in his footsteps that I simply presumed that’s what all girls did. I didn’t even really know that everybody’s dad wasn’t a super, because, hello - Metroburg?” They laughed a little bit, “But, what I didn’t realize at the time was that my mom was a hero too, in her own right. She didn’t like to get in the field, but PageMaster changed the world on many occasions that I didn’t grasp until I was older. I wish I had admired her more, in my youth, but I’m really proud that I was made from these people, that my destiny was to be this person that I am. I thought that I had my dad to thank, and I do and I’m grateful, because I never would have been me without him, but I’m thankful for you too, Mom. You were such a wonderful mom, and doing that while being what you were everywhere else? You’re Supermom.

Hank told me years ago that when you’re gone, both of you that he wanted to remember the love that made us. Well, I never want to think about you two being gone, but I am filled with the love that made us and I’ve never been prouder of who I am than when I look at the two of you and get reminded of who I come from. Thank you. You’ve always told me that I was a gift to you, but truly, you two were a gift to me, and to Hank.” Again, she whispered, “Thank you,” you know… provoking people to tears and stuff. The next time a lot of these people would see her, it’d be in the news, after a heroic mission.

She was a sidekick, but someday, SHE’d be the Fortress commander! She could envision it every since she was little. Her mom was now back into the fold, being the “Schwoz.” Her brother was the “Charlotte,” and she was gonna be even better than her number one hero was, someday. It was her birthright. She hugged and kissed her parents and Hank started the music for everybody to get up and dance.

It didn't all just sort of happen. I was born to do this. My dad once thought that a chance interview gave him the opportunity to become a sidekick. But the gag is, I'm sure that was all on the universe's plan. You see, I am the hero that I was always meant to be. And the reason I'm able to be that hero is because my dad, Mr. Danger was brought up as one to pave the way for me… not just his sidekick, but his legacy. The future of our family name. Blowing bubbles and fighting crime was cute and all, but I don't just fight crime. I eliminate it. I. Am. Calvary Danger.

#Family Danger Conclusion #Family Danger #it is finished #Henry Danger #Chenry #Nesha HD Fics #hd fanfic

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