Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The date is February 1st, 1997. It is an average morning in Gardenview. Glisten is doing his makeup, Shelly is dusting her fossil collection, and all of the other Toons had just woken up and are following their own little routines, doing their own thing. Little did everybody know, they would be meeting some new friends today.

Delilah had just finished creating all four of the Valentine’s Day Toons. It took quite a while, believe it or not. After a lot of trial and error, designing concepts with Arthur, the both of them had created new Toons that Dandy’s World’s audience would enjoy. Delilah then walked over to Arthur’s drawing studio to inform him that the new Toons had been a success.

“I’m finished,” Delilah said in a monotone manner. “They’re ready.”

“Oh goodie,” Arthur responded with a bit of excitement. He was pretty glad about the success. “May I see how they’ve turned out?”

“Yes.”

Delilah always had this flat tone in her voice, sounding monotone. Sometimes, her speech is described as “almost emotionless” by the other staff. That’s just her way of talking.

Arthur then walked with Delilah to her office where she created the Toons that he helped her design. Delilah opened the door, and they were both met with brand new faces. Well, new for Arthur at least. Sort of. Not really. He sketched out their designs. Though, they were new for everybody else who hadn’t seen what the Valentine Toons look like.

“Oh my,” Arthur exclaimed with delight. “They are wonderful! They look just like the drawings you asked me for.”

“I’m happy you like them, Arthur. I’m sure these guys are happy to be introduced to everyone in Gardenview, too,” Delilah told her coworker.

“I’ve got a question, Delilah. What exactly should their names be?” Arthur asked.

“We’ll give them names now,” Delilah informed Arthur. “I’ll go first.”
Delilah then looked at the first Toon she’d created. A common toon. The Toon she looked at was short, around 3’5, the same height as an already existing toon, Boxten. This Toon had a very light pink love letter for a head, as most Toons are based on either objects or animals. She wore a rose coloured button up shirt with a round white collar. The cuffs on her long sleeves matched her collar, also being a bright white. Her knee length skirt was the same bright white, too. She had a very simple colour palette.

“You are Louise the Love Letter,” Delilah told the toon in front of her.

“I like that name!” Louise replied happily.

“Do you remember your occupation, Louise?”

“Occupation is like a job, right? I deliver mail! My occupation is a mail delivery lady.”

“The correct term is ‘mail carrier,’ but yes, you deliver mail,” Delilah informed Louise.

“May I name the next one? You told me you wanted her to be a main character, yes?” Arthur asked Delilah, who he was standing right next to.

“Yes, yes you may,” Delilah told Arthur.

Arthur then inspected the Toon next to Louise. This Toon was a bit taller than Louise, being around 3’10. This taller Toon was a pinkish-red candy heart. She had a long sleeved sky blue dress that was calf length. Her dress had crimson polka dots all around, and cream coloured ruffles underneath. She also wore an off-white pinafore, with crimson red decals. She had cream coloured stockings with crimson stripes. Again, a pretty simple colour palette. Looking at the Toon, she looked a bit like a Raggedy Ann doll with her dress, pinafore, and stockings. She looked as if Raggedy Ann was a Dandy’s World Toon.

“Your name will be Sweet Ann the Candy Heart!” Arthur told the Toon. “I think it suits you perfectly.”

“I think my name suits me well, too,” Sweet Ann told Arthur with a smile. “What is the dove’s name?” she asked, referring to the Toon next to her.

“I don’t know yet,” Arthur informed Sweet Ann. “Me and my friend here are giving you all your names.”

“I know what her name will be,” Delilah exclaimed. “You, the tall bird, your name is Delilah the Dove.”

The dove who she had named after herself was indeed pretty tall. She was taller than both Louise and Sweet Ann. Delilah the Dove is 4’7. She’s taller than Vee, who is around 4’2, meaning that Delilah is the tallest out of every Toon. Which is a funny coincidence, because Delilah Keen, the staff member is the tallest out of her colleagues. Delilah Keen is 6’7, in case you were wondering. This dove is a white ringneck dove. Her feathers were an off-white, almost cream colour, while her beak and talons were a pale red. She had a periwinkle bow tie, and pretty indigo eyeshadow.

“..Delilah, you just named her after yourself,” Arthur pointed out to his coworker, with a bit of disappointment.

“I think Delilah is a wonderful name. Don’t you?” Delilah Keen asked the Toon she had named after herself.

“I like my name,” said the dove. “I think it sounds elegant.”

“I’m glad you like your name!” Delilah Keen exclaimed. “Now, Arthur, you will give the last Toon her name.”

Looking at the last Toon Delilah had created, Arthur noticed something. This Toon resembled Sprout. Arthur remembered Delilah telling him about how she wanted Sprout to have a twin sister like how Goob and Scraps are brother and sister. He had entirely forgotten about that up until now. He had accidentally created Sprout’s twin. No wonder why Delilah Keen was so happy when she got the drawings for this Toon.

When Arthur was designing the Valentine’s Day Toons, he was stuck on what he should make the Rare Toon be. He then thought of chocolate strawberries. “Of course! A chocolate strawberry, that’s who this Toon will be!” he thought to himself when drawing her concept art four weeks prior. Chocolate strawberries are a Valentine’s Day thing, this idea would be perfect. Now, it was time to give her a name.

The strawberry’s appearance was very similar to Sprout. They had almost identical colour palettes. Sprout had a red body with light red limbs and a light green stem, while this chocolate covered strawberry had a slightly pinker and a tad bit lighter variation of that color scheme. The only other differences between her and Sprout was her chocolate dipped face, her pink cardigan sweater with hearts, and her cream coloured leg warmers. Also, her strawberry head gave her some sort of snout. It looked rather silly, in a good way. Arthur was aware of the way some children drew Sprout. Sometimes, they would give him a snout. Instead of his head being straight, his head would be drawn at an angle, and his face would be moved down a bit to make it look like he had a snout. The chocolate covered strawberry looked exactly like that. Then, Arthur thought of the perfect name for this snout having strawberry.

“Your name is Cecelia Seedly,” he told the strawberry Toon. He chose the name Cecelia because she would be called Cecelia the Chocolate Strawberry in the show. The name Cecelia starts with C, and so does the word chocolate. He thought it had a nice ring to it. He called her Cecelia Seedly because she is Sprout’s sister, and Sprout’s last name is Seedly.

“Cool! Are we going to see the other Toons like the tall lady said?” Cecelia asked Arthur.

“Of course you’ll get to see them!” Arthur exclaimed.

And so, Arthur, Delilah, and the Valentine Toons started walking out of Delilah’s office and into the elevator that would take them down to Gardenview. Delilah pressed the “F1” button, which stood for “floor 1.”

“Arthur, before you show these guys to the other Toons, I will tell them that they have some new friends. Then you will come out with the Valentine Toons. I want to give the others a little surprise,” Delilah told Arthur.

Chapter Text

Delilah, Arthur, and the Valentine’s Day Toons they’ve created have entered Gardenview. Arthur stood next to the elevator with the new Toons while Delilah went to announce the news about the new Toons. She then walked over to Dandy, who was colouring in some colouring books with Poppy.

“Oh, hiya!” Dandy greeted the Toon Handler in front of him. “What’re ya doin’ here?”

“Hi Miss Delilah!” said Poppy.

“Hello, you two. Dandy, could you get every Toon and tell them to come to the Gardenview Lobby? I've got an announcement to make,” Delilah asked the colourful flower.

“Of course I can! I know just where to find ‘em,” he said with a smile. Dandy then turned over to Poppy, who was colouring in a daisy with a yellow crayon.

“Poppy, you wait here with Miss Delilah while I go find everybody, okay?”

“Will do,” Poppy exclaimed. “See ya later! And everybody else, too.”

“Bye bye, I'll be back in a jiffy!” Dandy said as he skipped away, on his way to look for everyone like Delilah told him.

“How come you guys always call me ‘Miss Delilah?’ You can just call me Delilah, I don’t mind,” Delilah told the Toon next to her.

“I just think it sounds more polite,” Poppy said.

And so, Dandy went over to the kitchen where he would find Sprout and Cosmo. They were frosting the cupcakes they had made earlier now that they’ve cooled down.

“Hiya Sprout, Hiya Cosmo,” Dandy chirped out.

“Oh, hi Dandy,” Cosmo said, “what brings you here?”

“Miss Delilah told me I had to bring every Toon to the Gardenview Lobby, I think something important is happening,” Dandy replied.

“We’re kind of in the middle of somethin’ here..”

“It’s alright Cosmo, we can finish frosting the cupcakes later,” Sprout told the shorter Toon next to him.

“Okay then. We should seal and refrigerate these cupcakes first so they don't go bad,” Cosmo suggested.

“Good idea! We’ll meet you in the Lobby, Dandy,” Sprout informed the colourful flower.

“Alrighty then! I’ll go find the other Toons while you guys put those cupcakes away. See you later!”

Dandy then skipped out of the kitchen on his way to look for everyone else. He knew just where to find them. He skipped through the hallway, humming a tune. He was about to pass Shrimpo’s room, when suddenly, Shrimpo came out of his and they ended up bumping into each other.

“OOF,” yelled Shrimpo as Dandy bumped into him, knocking him over. “WATCH WHERE YOU’RE WALKING, DANCIFER!”

“Oh, sorry Shrimpo!” Dandy apologized as he reached out his arm to help the angry shrimp get back to his feet. “I didn’t see ya there pal, are you okay?”

“DO NOT TOUCH ME. I DON’T WANT YOUR FILTHY FLOWER GERMS,” said Shrimpo right before he stood himself up with his hands on his hips, crabby as ever.

“Sorry ‘bout that… Anyway, now that I’ve ran into you, both figuratively and literally, Miss Delilah says I have to bring every Toon to the Gardenview Lobby. Could ya head over there with Poppy, Sprout, and Cosmo? I believe they’re there already,” Dandy told the comically short and angry crustacean in front of him.

“SHRIMPO HATES BEING TOLD WHAT TO DO, BUT FINE. SHRIMPO DOES NOT WANT TO MAKE MISS DELILAH ANGRY!” the shrimp shouted as he stomped his way to the Gardenview Lobby.

“..Alright, there are 4 Toons in the Lobby, now I’ve gotta find the rest!” said Dandy as he walked away to find everyone. He ended up finding Looey, Gigi, Flutter, Vee, Astro, Tisha, and Finn, all in just 10 minutes. Golly, he DOES know where to find everyone! Well, he didn’t exactly find everyone. At least he found a lot of the Toons quickly! Though, he was having trouble finding everyone else. He checked quite a lot of rooms, but he just couldn’t find ‘em. Suddenly, he looked just around the corner, and he saw somebody. Shelly!

“Oh, hello there Dandy!” she greeted him as she saw him peek around the corner. “Are you looking for something?”

“Well, I'm really looking for some-ONE. Okay, not someone, multiple people,” said Dandy. “That Toon Handler, Delilah told me to find every Toon and tell them to go to the Gardenview Lobby. Do you know where everyone else might be?”

“Who’s in the Lobby already?” Shelly asked.

“Well, Poppy, Cosmo, Sprout, Shrimpo, Looey, Gigi, Flutter, Vee, Astro, Tisha, and Finn are all in the Lobby,” Dandy informed the ammonite sitting at a small table, in the middle of colouring a brontosaurus.

“I overheard Sprout telling Cosmo about bringing some of the others to the Lobby. Let’s check the Lobby to see who else is there!” Shelly exclaimed as she stood up out of her seat.

“Alrighty then, c’mon,” said Dandy as he held Shelly’s hand and started walking to the Lobby.

“Who do you think Sprout sent there?” asked Shelly.

“I’m not so sure. Maybe Boxten?”

“Eh, we’ll find out once we see for ourselves.”

And so, Shelly and Dandy spent about 2 minutes walking and talking about random things. Then, they made it to the Lobby. There were some Toons there that Dandy didn’t send out. There was Connie, Brightney, and Toodles.

“Hey, I didn’t send you three here,” said Dandy. ”Who brought you guys here?”

“Cosmo wanted me to come here for some reason. He told me that Delilah lady was going to announce something,” Connie said.

“She told me to send everyone here,” Dandy exclaimed. “Thank you for helping though, Cosmo!”

“No problem, Dandy. It wasn’t just me though, Sprout helped, too,” said the cake roll who was standing to the right of Sprout.

“Yeah, I ended up finding Brightney and Toodles!” Sprout told Dandy.

“Well, thank you both for helping-”

“HIYA, MISTER DANDY!!” Toodles shouted, interrupting Dandy, startling him a bit.

“EEK-!” Dandy shrieked. “Oh, hello Toodles.”

“Pfft-” Gigi blurted out, trying not to laugh.

Dandy then looked over to Gigi, who was standing next to her best friend, Flutter. “Did you tell Toodles to sneak up and scare me??”

“Maybe, mweheheheh..” chuckled Gigi.

“Oh my goodness-”

“Hey, how long have you and Fossilian been holding hands?” Connie asked, interrupting Dandy.

Dandy quickly moved his hand away from Shelly, a bit embarrassed. “What’re you talkin’ about?”

“Your face is red, Dandy. Are you okay-?” Shelly asked Dandy, before he interrupted her on accident.

“I am fine! Anyway, I’ve gotta find everyone else, wouldn’t wanna waste time standin’ here!” Dandy blurted out as he quickly sprinted away.

About 19 minutes later, Dandy managed to find everybody and brought them to the Lobby. Now, Delilah was ready to announce the news about the new Toons.

“Everybody, I’ve got some wonderful news,” Delilah announced. “There will be some new friends joining you in Gardenview today. Arthur, you can bring them here now!”

Arthur then walked over next to Delilah with the new Valentine Toons. “Everyone, please welcome Louise, Delilah, Cecelia, and Sweet Ann,” he said with joy, very proud of his creations. He saw each Toon as his own child, considering the fact that him and Delilah Keen created them. He thinks they are all very special. Louise then walked down to greet everybody, starting with the star of the show, Dandy.

“Hi there!” she said, shaking Dandy’s hand. “You must be Dandy, right? Mister Arthur told me a lot about you. He says that you are the star of the show! Is that true? Am I going to be a star, too?”

“Golly, you must have a lot of questions!” exclaimed the rainbow petalled flower as he let go of Louise’s hand. “Before I answer the first question, I’ll ask you something. What’s your name, new friend?”

“My name is Louise the Love Letter! You are Dandy, correct?” she asked.

“..You already asked that, but yes, my name is Dandy,” said the flower. “Welcome to Gardenview, Louise!”

“I will go say hello to everybody else. Nice meeting, you, Dandy!” Louise exclaimed before running off to another Toon, very excited to meet everyone.

While three out of the four new Toons went to talk to somebody, Flutter noticed that the dove was standing there, awkwardly. She must be too shy to talk to anyone. Flutter wanted to go up to her and say something, but she could not talk. She can speak telepathically, yes, but she did not want to startle the new Toon. So, she walked up to Gigi to ask for help.

“Yo, Flutter, what’s up?” asked the gachapon.

“...!”

“You want to talk to the new Toon?”

Flutter then nodded her head in response.

“But you don’t wanna make things awkward cuz you can't speak?”

“..!”

“Do you want me to introduce her to you for you?”

Flutter nodded her head again.

“Aight, let’s go then,” said Gigi. She then turned her head and looked over at the tall dove that was standing alone. “Is that the one you were talkin’ about?” Gigi asked Flutter.

“....!”

“Kay, c’mon man.”

Gigi and Flutter walked up to the new Toon and welcomed her. Well, Gigi welcomed her, not Flutter. She can’t even talk.

“Yo, welcome to Gardenview! What’s your name?” Gigi asked the dove, who she had to look up to in order to make direct eye contact.

“..I’m Delilah,” she said quietly. Not too quiet though, Gigi and Flutter could still hear her. “What about you, what are your names?”

“Woah, you're named after the Toon Handler. Cool! Anyway, I’m Gigi, and this is my homegirl, Flutter," she said.

“..Your homegirl?” asked Delilah. She was a bit confused. She had never heard the phrase “homegirl” before.

“Yuh.”

Flutter then looked at Delilah, a bit mesmerized. If Flutter could actually speak, she would tell Delilah that she is very pretty. Gigi noticed this, and then tapped Flutter’s shoulder to get her attention.

“Flutter, you good man?”

Flutter blinked, a bit startled. She looked over to Gigi, and nodded her head in response.

“Uh.. Does she not talk?” Delilah asked

"Nah, she's mute," Gigi informed the bird.

“Oh, really? My apologies, I didn’t know,” Delilah said.

"It’s alright man,” said Gigi. “Imma leave you two here so y’all can kinda get to know each other and stuff, y’know? See ya.”

“Wait,” Delilah added, “how will Flutter communicate? You just said that she is mute, no?”

Gigi paused for like, two seconds. “Ion even know dawg. Peace,” she said before walking away.

“...So, you cannot talk?” Delilah asked Flutter, who was sitting next to her.

Flutter shook her head gently in response.

“It must be upsetting not being able to communicate verbally. Have you tried learning sign language?”

Flutter didn’t nod or shake her head in response. In fact, she did not respond at all. She just stared for a bit, as if she was disappointed or something. At that moment, Delilah realized something. Flutter did not have any arms.

“Oh- uh.. Sorry, I didn't notice that you do not have arms… I hope I didn’t upset you.”

Delilah felt a small wave of guilt. This is Flutter’s first impression of her. Did she end up offending her? Does Flutter think of her as rude now? She hoped she didn’t ruin her chance at making a new friend.

“...So, you can’t talk or use sign language to communicate.. Is it alright if I could still talk about some things? Are you okay with listening..?” Delilah asked, a bit nervous.

This caught Flutter’s attention. She liked listening to people talk most of the time. So, in response, she nodded her head. She liked Delilah’s voice. She liked how calm she sounded. She let Delilah talk about whatever she felt like. This went on for a while, about 20 minutes. Everyone had left the Lobby by now. Well, almost everyone. Gigi, Cecelia, and Connie had been there for about 12 minutes, rambling about anything they could think of. Then, Cecelia noticed how long Delilah had been talking to Flutter.

“Hey Gigi, how long have Flutter and Delilah been there?” Cecelia asked the gachapon with comically long sleeves.

“I have no idea, probably a while though,” Gigi responded. “I think homegirl made a friend.”

“Homegirl???” asked Connie.

“Yeah, Flutter is my homegirl.”

“...Okay then.”