It's That Time Of The Year Again 🎃💥

I love the idea that the 2003 iteration of Leonardo is so intent on being a mother hen that he tries to take care of literally everyone around him—even grown-ass adults. I especially love the idea of fifteen-year-old Leonardo mother henning Casey and April, who are in their mid-twenties.

Leonardo: [hands an apple and a protein bar to Casey] Here. You might get hungry during patrol, and it’s important to keep your energy up. I also have dark chocolate or peanut butter if you finish those.

Casey: [staring at the snacks, confused] Uh… thanks, Leo?

Raphael: [snickering]

Casey: [frowning] Does he always do this?

Donatello: [with a straight face] You have no idea…

Michelangelo: [letting Leonardo peel an apple for him with his katana] Oh yeah, all the time. It’s kinda nice—he cuts the apple into perfect little pieces.

That means so much to hear from you—thank you!!

I adore merpeople AUs too, and I'm thrilled you're enjoying this one! I can’t get enough of imagining Gi-hun with his striking red hair and a deep green tail—like the same shade as the Squid Game tracksuits, which feels so poetically fitting. And oh wow, I hadn’t thought of In-ho as a Prince Eric parallel until you mentioned it, but now I can’t unsee it and I’m obsessed. It fits him so well!

Poor Gi-hun, truly. In my headcanon, he’s the child of two merfolk himself but was abandoned young—left near the ocean floor to fend for himself, hunt, survive. So like you said, he knows nothing about raising a child, specially not one with a human parent, which is completely unheard of in mer society. I imagine Gi-hun was genuinely heartbroken to leave the baby with In-ho—he just didn’t know he had a choice. No one taught him otherwise.

Because the baby is half-mer, he can breathe underwater, but Gi-hun, being used to the way merchildren are, handles him with a kind of reckless affection that would horrify a human parent. Merbabies develop fast and are tough, so Gi-hun will just casually drop him in the water or even toss him in the air and bop him gently with his tail like a dolphin playing with a ball. The baby’s completely fine (maybe even giggles), because in mer culture, that’s considered normal caregiving—for the two whole days they do keep their kids 😅

Looking ahead, I love the idea of Gi-hun eventually finding a way to gain legs so he can be with his baby and his eventual husband-slash-co-parent-slash-accidental soulmate. And once he learns how to really care for a child, he takes to it like he was made for it. He adores that baby with his whole heart—and mourns, quietly, that he never knew love like that himself. But he’s so grateful to In-ho and Jun-ho for showing him that there’s another way.

Thank you again for letting me ramble—it means the world! I’m definitely going to keep building this story out. I’ve got so many ideas!

Also, just imagine Gi-hun doing this with zero context and In-ho having a minor heart attack.

I need someone to rant to about a potential story idea for In-ho x Gi-hun inspired by fanart on Pinterest, which I have included below, so I hope you do not mind. To begin, In-ho and Jun-ho live on an island and work as police officers but do a lot of fishing together in their spare time. One time while out, they witness another fisherman heartlessly throw a kitten in a sack into the water, and when they go to rescue it and plan on going after the fisherman, a massive green tail emerges from the sack with the kitten in it, and they think it is a big fish trying to eat it, so they net it and drag it in with the sack. Only to find it is what appears to be a merman with bright red hair who takes the kitten and resuscitates it and tries to keep it away from the brothers, thinking they were planning on harming it too.

This merman cannot speak but does understand human language, having watched them from afar for so long, so they communicate and eventually become friends. In-ho names the merman Gi-hun since his actual name is a series of unreplicable screeches. Well, In-ho, Jun-ho, and Gi-hun develop a deep friendship, though In-ho and Jun-ho only get to see GI-hun a couple of months of the year since he moves based on the seasons. Well, eventually Gi-hun and In-ho catch feelings for one another, and one thing leads to another, in a cave specifically, but Gi-hun has to leave for the winter afterward. But In-ho waits patiently for him to come back.

Gi-hun comes back months later with In-ho and Jun-ho waiting for him eagerly; only he has a basket he obviously scavenged from the water, and in it, a newborn baby with human legs and dark hair. Of course, In-ho, who had no idea mermen could carry, nearly faints into the water while Jun-ho loses his mind. “You fucked a merman???” When both finally calm down and turn back to the water, they find Gi-hun gone.

Turns out merpeople are absentee parents, so they mate with other merpeople or humans and then dump their offspring on them, thinking it is like a gift. Well, next time In-ho sees Gi-hun, he patiently explains how humans are expected to raise their children together and not just dump them on one another 😂😂😂 So they learn to co-parent their half human half merperson baby with Uncle Jun-ho.

Sorry for the rant but as soon as I saw the fanart below this whole story came to me. I obviously want to finish other things first but what do you think?

please never apologize for ranting at me!!! i love it 💞🙌

i love merman aus so much!!! 💖 i'm also loving that between the green tail and the red hair, gihun is looking exactly like ariel... plus his love interest is a dark-haired charming man with a four-letter name....

i absolutely love the story!! it has a lot of potential going forward since u can expand on the fact that gihun, due to merpeople being absentee parents, would have no idea how to raise a child. nor would he have any idea on how to raise a child with humans.

since the baby is half-merperson, im assuming it can breathe underwater but imagine inho and junho's shock when gihun grabs their tiny baby and just dunks it into the water 😭

also - totally get if u haven't thought that far end - but would gihun ever, little mermaid style, make a deal with a witch and get legs so that he can walk with inho, junho and their baby?

AND OMG I LOVE THAT GIHUN LOVES CATS IN EVERY UNIVERSE!!! HE SAID CAT PERSON 4 LIFE 😩🙏🤧

Squid Game Incorrect Quotes 〇△□

Seong Gi-hun: You've taken my best friend Jung-bae... and my new friend, Young-il! You monster!

Hwang In-ho: On the contrary, Player 456... [slowly removes mask.]

Seong Gi-hun: [gasps, staring.] Young-il! You're alive! I knew it! But where's the Front Man? He could come back any second-quick, we need to get out of here before he finds us!

Hwang In-ho: [stares blankly, then slowly puts the mask back on.]

Seong Gi-hun: [eyes widen, incredulous.] Young-il, no!Where did he go? What did you do to him now, you monster?!

Hwang In-ho: [lets out a frustrated sigh, voice flat.] ...There's no way this is happening.

Squid Game Incorrect Quotes 〇△□

Front Man | In-ho: Join me, Gi-hun! You feel it too—I know you do!

Gi-hun: Never! My heart belongs to Young-il, and you murdered him in cold blood!

[Later]

Front Man | In-ho [dramatically collapsing onto a velvet couch in his office]: I GOT REJECTED… BECAUSE OF MY OWN ALTER EGO.

Masked Officer: [awkwardly patting his shoulder] There, there…

if you marry me

would you bury me?

Geum-ja, barely holding it together after being trapped in the Mingle Room with “Young-il” and Gi-hun:

Hello! I hope you're doing well!

I was wondering, what is your opinion on Raphael?

Hi! Thank you for your ask. I am doing well, though this semester is already proving to be a challenge! I hope you are doing well, too.

It is no secret that Leonardo from the 2003 iteration of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is my absolute favorite. Honestly, I could write an entire dissertation on why, but that might be a topic for another day. That said, Raphael has a special place in my heart, too. When he is written well, he goes far beyond the "hot-headed one" stereotype-there is so much depth and complexity to his character that I find fascinating.

One of the dynamics I particularly enjoy across different iterations is the relationship between Raphael and Leonardo. It is often seen as just two alpha males butting heads, but there is so much more beneath the surface. It is a complicated, deeply-rooted bond that shows their love for each other in unexpected ways. And in my opinion, the 2003 series captured that dynamic best.

Thank you again for the ask! My first ask one actually!

Gi-hun’s life truly is miserable because imagine losing people you love in such horrific ways, winning a death game, harboring some of the worst trauma imaginable, and desperately looking for the person responsible for all of it for three years.

then when you finally do find him, he is basically just an unhinged homosexual pretending to be some guy to manipulate you, and when he realizes you won’t let him hit he fucking kills your best friend. crazy!

omg love the pfp 🤝

Oh my God, another babygirl Gi-hun enthusiast?! I absolutely love yours too! The way a middle-aged man can radiate that kind of energy in a single photograph is both baffling and utterly captivating.

Thank you so much for responding! I would definitely recommend the movie is science fiction horror is your thing! The unintended bonus for the movie for me is definitely Ripley and Hicks, hence why I could not help imagining Gi-hun and In-ho as them. Not to mention Gi-hun is so final girl-coded—survivor’s guilt and all✨

Also, I loved your description of the scene. It actually made me blush 😊 🫣 Now, I definitely want to write this! Thank you again!

Hey! I don’t know if you have ever seen the film Aliens, which, full disclosure, is science fiction horror. Quick summary if you have not seen it: Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor of an alien attack on her ship, agrees to return to the site where her now-dead crew first encountered the alien creatures with a unit of Colonial Marines with Corporal Dwayne Hicks to investigate.

Anyway, I want to write Gi-hun as Ripley and In-ho as Hicks so bad solely because of the chemistry they have through the film being so protective of one another. But mainly because of the scene below where Hicks shows Ripley how to fire a pulse rifle to defend herself:

Seeing In-ho show Gi-hun how to fire a gun would be so 🫣 🫣 🫣

hi!! 💖

i've never seen it unfortunatley but i hear it's an amazing movie!!

omg, can u imagine inho behind gihun kinda realizing that with their height difference he can't quite get his arms around gihun, so he presses up against his back, their bodies touching from shoulders to hips. he hooks his chin over gihun's shoulder and uses his hands to bend gihun's arms this way and that, speaking soft instructions the entire time. gihun is tense, trying to concentrate on what inho is saying but his body is firm as it presses against gihun's own, and his hands are warm and calloused, and every time he turns his head his breath ghosts over gihun's neck and makes goosebumps erupt all over his skin. when gihun finally gets a good grip, inho's hand leave his arms and trail down, fitting themselves over gihun's trim waist, thumb brushing soft circles over his shirt. he tells gihun to relax and to always remember that inho will be there every step of the way. gihun almost presses his finger against the trigger and, in a moment of weakness, leans back against inho's body, feeling those fingers tighten on his waist and flex, almost as if inho wants to press them against one another even harder.