Hi, thank you so much for making it the whole way through Talking to the Moon. I started writing this in 2017, but it was this last year that this story grew from 1k to 22k! I am so proud of myself for actually finishing a story, the last time I did that was 5 years ago (though that one is currently going through a major rewrite, I wrote it over a couple of all nighters and posted without editing. I am so ashamed of it's current state).

I will be using this as a bonus material space, facts about Valerie that I didn't manage to fit in, or maybe ideas that I never got around to using. I hope you find it interesting, and if it's not your thing, feel no obligation to read this.

About Valerie:

So there is no misunderstanding, she is black. I do say afro hair and dark skin, but sometimes that isn't enough to go past people's "default" caucasion mental image. Caucasion shouldn't be the default, but unfortunately in western society it is often deemed as such, so I want to make sure there is no misunderstanding: Valerie is black.

• Surname: Merricks

• Born: 15th Feb 1996 – Named after Valentine's day

• Has a paralysed vocal cord after illness during teenage years.

• Works in customer service, but on live chat rather than the phone due to getting vocal fatigue if she speaks for a long period of time.

• Type 4a/b hair. – She uses Sunday as her self care day, washes her hair and leaves it in whichever twists she fancies to set her curls for the week. I did hours of research in how to care for natural afro hair (mostly via Mini Marley) just to not use it in here.

• Has two tattoos; the black star of Africa on the inside of her right wrist and guaiac wood flowers on her hip.

• Right tragus pierced.

• Wears false nails – She loves to have long nails, but hates the sound of them taping on the keyboard, so she takes them off when she plays.

• Refers to herself as a non-practicing Christian.

• Although she mainly played the keyboard, she also knows how to play the pipe organ and guitar, though no where near as well.

• I wrote a whole chapter switching between ValArie and ValErie, I think I managed to catch them all, but I'm sure no one will notice if I haven't, right?

Valerie's family:

Sisters: Caroline Merricks, older; Justine Thompson, younger

Father: Kane Merricks (previously Kwame Mensah - see Other Ideas below), from Ghana

Mother: Serena Merricks (previously Sakina Beckford - see Other Ideas below), from Jamaica

Valerie comes from a very christian family, while she was in High School, she ended up dedicating so much time to her music, that she ended up neglecting her religion. Her mother responded very passive aggressively, and Valerie would bite back causing their relationship to become very strained. Justine is very close to their mother, so she shared her view point, and they got into so many arguments that they ended up not talking at all once they moved away from home.

Valerie is very close to her father and Caroline. Although her father is sad that she was neglecting their religion, he had faith that she would find her way back in due course. Caroline doesn't think that Valerie will ever go back to church, but she isn't fussed because it's Valerie's life to do with as she wants.

Songs:

Fantasies Come True – Avenue Q

The song Valerie is practising in the first scene of the first chapter

Fine Line – Avenue Q

The song Valerie is singing the night she finally meets Mikey

Music of the Night – Phantom of the Opera

The song Valerie plays at the failed audition. She was originally going to audition for Les Mis, but then I found out that it wasn't playing in New York.

The Lion King Soundtrack

What Mikey and Valerie listen to when they sit behind the billboards

Count on Me – Bruno Mars

The song Valerie mentions before playing Talking to the Moon

Talking to the Moon – Bruno Mars

The song Valerie plays when she misses Mikey. Plus the song I took the title from.

Timeline:

Mid September: Valerie moves to New York

Mid October: Anniversary

Late October: Terence gets role in show

Mid November: break up

Early December: Phantom of the Opera audition

New Year's: Donatello find out

Mid January: celebrate with gyoza (Thursday)

One week later: attack and Leo finds out (Thursday)

Just over a week later: Donnie hears the song Valerie learnt for Mikey (Sunday)

Tuesday: Leonardo talks to Valerie and reunion

Other ideas:

Witness Protection

One of my first ideas was to have Valerie get kidnapped by a mob/gang. Not due to her relationship with the turtles (which I have read quite a lot in TMNT) but because of her father.

Before Valerie was born, her parents lived in New York, where her dad, then known as Kwame Mensah, was an accountant. His boss then asked if he could do the accounts for one of his friends. Needing the extra money, Kwame said yes.

It didn't take long for him to realise that his new clients were getting their money from less than legal routes, and when he brought it up to them, he threatened his girlfriend Sakina Beckford. So he complied.

It wasn't until Sakina fell pregnant, that Kwame finally stood up to them and went to the police. They then set him and Sakina up in witness protection, sending them to the Willows, Wisconsin, where they change their names to Kane and Serena.

Fast forward a couple of decades, and their middle child (Valerie) wants to move to New York to make a name for herself on Broadway. Her dad is dead set against the idea, as he knows how dangerous New York could be, and he doesn't want her to be recognised as his daughter.

She wears him down and moves there anyway, but he is always warning her about the various dangers.

This fic then carries on as normal, until just after Christmas when her dad visits. Someone recognises him, and see Valerie with him. A few days later, they kidnap her, and use her to threaten Kwame/Kane.

Mikey also worries about Valerie, and confesses to his brothers that she has been kidnapped, and they think it's due to them. Que comical scene where they break into all their enemies lairs, just to find them doing something innocent (having afternoon tea, playing video games, learning salsa dancing, baking a cake, etc)

When they finally find the people who have her, they go to rescue her, and along the way meet her dad who is on his own rescue mission.

They team up, save the day, blah, blah, blah , and then Mikey's confession happens when they rescue her.

I decided against this, as I couldn't write it so Valerie want just a damsel in distress. Sure, she's no super hero, but I didn't want her locked in a cage for half the story or more.

I have kept the back story, just because her parents (and by extention her) are in witness protection doesn't mean there has to be drama.

But the main reason I didn't go with it, was due to my struggle to write a storyline that treated Valerie as a character with justice.

Companion

After moving on from the kidnapping idea, I had a stylistic idea that I would only tell the story from the apartment building. This is why a lot of the story actually takes place in the apartment, especially at the beginning of the story.

There would then be a companion fic of how everyone finds out about her. First April when Mikey asks for help to cheer Valerie up. Then Raphael when he sees Mikey come home all perky. Donatello while they're skateboarding. Finally Leonardo when he saves Valerie.

I felt like this setting was too limited, and I struggled to come up with good bonding scenes which weren't just sitting at home together.

Unexplored relationships

I did want to do more with the other brothers' relationships. In particular Donatello and April, and Raphael and Casey.

I really like Donatello and April together, and I was so behind it becoming a thing, especially in the first season. But then as the seasons go on April is very hot-cold towards him, and Donatello's affections get a little creepy. I wanted to write it like they were awkward teenagers, and now look back on it and cringe, but they've stayed good friends.

I think Raphael and Casey would be really cute together. I didn't like the forced triangle of Donatello-April-Casey and one again, April treated Casey very hot-cold, though he didn't treat her with much respect either. I 100% think that when the situation with April stressed him out he went to Raphael and, between kicking people's butts, they opened up to each other. At the time of Talking to the Moon, I don't think they're out to the rest, but when Michelangelo was bored, Casey and Raphael weren't kicking butts together.

Sister Rivalry

Terrence ended up being quite a rude person. I did want to make him more likable, they had to be together for a reason, but that would have meant going back further to before Valerie moving to NY, and I didn't want to drag the beginning out too long. So I just settled for this being the end of their relationship, and things were more often bad than good. Besides, I don't think you came here for the love story between Valerie and Terrence!

But I was going to have him end up a lot worse. While Valerie was in New York, he would still visit her family, as they were close. While he was there he'd get closer with Justine and Valerie's dad would break it to her that they started dating just before Christmas.

I thought that was far too harsh, and I ended up marrying off Justine.

My original notes:

I found this about a week ago on an old USB stick, it's amazing that I have been able to find this, and I doubt I have this for any of my other WIPS. Beware, cheese and clichés ahead:

Moves into NYC ahead of bf.

Wants to be a pianist for Broadway, until then moonlights in bars and hotels

During day works at a call centre

Has 2 nd anniversary with bf while she is in NYC, has argument on phone about how he never does anything for her (not even buys flowers)

Flowers are left on her window with note.

Bf calls and says can't come to NYC as he has been offered a role at the local city

Week later has a conversation with Mike, although she doesn't know he's there. He responds though and she runs up fire escape to roof, only to see him jumping away.

A week later she breaks it off with bf

Is crying at piano when she hears something by the window, she manages to keep closer to him as he climbs away. "Please don't leave me" She cried, and he stopped in his tracks.

"I don't think you look that bad, besides you have treated me with the most humanity"

"Well I am the handsome brother"

Mikey promises to come the next evening.

Hangout:

-Gameboy

-Sing tv show openings

-Returns to lair singing, Raph notices

-Takes her roof jumping

-Go skateboarding, Donnie finds them

Gets mugged, Leo saves her. She calls him Mikey, and he Questions how she knows him.

Leo leaves her to get home by herself.

Mikey texts her saying he can't see her anymore

Mikey still goes to apartment block to listen, but never talks to her

Leo notices how sad Mikey has been, and decides to talk to her.

"Look, I get it, I'm a lowly human, and he is incredible – it was amazing that he wanted to be my friend in the first place."

Ex starts dating sister. Although never been close with sister, it still hurts. She threw her phone at the wall and it broke. She didn't have time to tidy it up before Mikey shows up.

He gets her a t-phone

If you are inspired by any of these ideas, please feel free to use them, though please follow the conditions below, thank you:

• Always credit the inspiration back to me and this fic.

•Please don't write about racial issues unless you are black (or at the very least a POC), us white people can never fully experience the nuance of racism, and no amount of research will help us fully understand.

•Please treat my story as canon, though feel free to do whatever with info in this bonus chapter.