Ma Fille
(meaning My Daughter) is a Punch-Out!! fanfiction published on November 9th, 2021. It is written by NoonboryKedabory.
After learning he has a child with a long-lost fling, Joseph "Joe" Beaufort takes in the baby, a feisty girl named Katrina, and swears to be the best father he can for her.
On January 25th, 2022, a Sequel Series titled Shining and Sweet began publication. Both fanfics are hosted on FanFiction.Net. Ma Fille also has a port on Archive of Our Own as does Shining and Sweet.
Tropes:
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General
- Adults Are Useless: Zigzagged. While Joe and the other boxers are stable figures in Katrina's life, her teachers sometimes leave more to be desired, such as them doing nothing to help her when she was being bullied by Tyler Peterson.
- Affectionate Nickname:
- Joe often refers to Katrina as "Katie" or "ma belle" (a common French pet name meaning "darling" or "sweetheart").
- In Katrina's tween years, her friends begin to nickname her Trina.
- Katrina often calls Von Kaiser "Vikky".
- Appropriated Appellation: This is essentially the story of how Joe adopted the title "Glass Joe"; Katrina overheard a teacher at her school insult him with that name, she went home and told him about it, and he ended up liking it.
- Bilingual Dialogue: Characters speak in their respective languages (ex. Joe speaks French, Von Kaiser speaks German, Piston Hondo speaks Japanese, etc.), and they can all understand each other with no issues.
- Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting: Joe grew up without a father, and his mother Amélie is shown to still have some issues from the separation. As a result, he tries to be a present, positive figure in his daughter's life, although he has some baggage of his own that seeps into Katrina's life. In "Till the Tigers Come Home", a future version of Katrina appears in a dream, saying she married Hilda (then her girlfriend) and they have a daughter, implying that she may break the cycle once and for all.
- Butch Lesbian: Flying Feather, and later, Princess Hook, are muscular, tomboyish lesbians.
- Consistent Clothing Style: Katrina is commonly seen wearing a pink top and a blue dress or skirt.
- The Cutie:
- Katrina in her younger years, who captures her father and grandmother's hearts with her big brown eyes and adorable baby babble.
- Bear Hugger's toddler son Raine, an adorable forest elf.
- Daddy's Girl: Katrina's favourite person in the world is her father; in fact, the chapter where he first meets her is even named "Daddy's Girl".
- Friend to All Children: As straightforward and curt as he is with the boxers, referee Pierce is very kind to the child characters.
- Good Parents: Joe's goal in the story is to be the best father he can be to Katrina.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: From the little info given about Katrina's mother, she was a kind woman with blonde hair.
- Happily Adopted: Several of the boxers' children (Bear Hugger's son Raine, Mr. Sandman's kids Callie and Trevor) are adopted, and are just as happy with their families as the biological children.
- Heroic Bastard: Katrina, an innocent, justice-minded little girl born via a one-night stand.
- Named by the Adaptation:
- Joe's full name is given as Joseph Luc Beaufort.
- By extension, Gabby Jay's is Gabriel Jay Beaufort.
- The referee is named Pierce Adamson.
- Von Kaiser's first name is Viktor.
- Disco Kid's full name is Thomas Miller.
- Great Tiger's full name is Amar Khan.
- Mr. Sandman's full name is Xander Whittier.
- Piston Hondo's full name is Riki Kobayashi.
- Bear Hugger's full name is Barnaby "Barney" Forrester.
- Super Macho Man's full name is Brad Cash.
- Bald Bull's full name is Bahadir Tiryaki.
- Little Mac's full name is Maxwell Vancelli.
- Aran Ryan's sister is named Brigit, and their mother is named Saoirse.
- Narcis Prince's first name is James.
- Joe's full name is given as Joseph Luc Beaufort.
- One-Night-Stand Pregnancy: Katrina was stated to be the result of these.
- Papa Wolf: As weak as he is, Joe can be extremely protective of Katrina when she's put in harm's way.
- Pink Means Feminine: Katrina's signature colour is pink, throughout her entire life.
- Posthumous Character: Katrina's mother Heather is already dead by the time the story starts.
- Punny Name: Soda Popinski's wife is named Ivana Kycurassis ("I want to kick your asses").
- Related in the Adaptation: Gabby Jay has been changed from Joe's apprentice to his uncle.
Tropes specific to Ma Fille
- Accidental Misnaming:
- In "Stage Name", Mr. Thompson mistakenly calls Piston Hondo "Honda".
- In "Aunt Laura", despite wanting to take custody from Joe, Laura doesn't even remember Katrina's name, and calls her "Karina".
- And This Is for...: During her match against Aran Ryan, Chaton Cheri shouts "This is for my dad!" before delivering the strongest cross she can muster into his gut.
- Appetite Equals Health: In "Sick Day", Joe says he feels he can't eat a thing after falling ill with the flu.
- April Fools' Plot: "Clowning Around", which includes a guest appearance from Mad Clown.
- Babies Make Everything Better: Joe is initially very anxious and worried about being a father, but once he first sees his baby daughter, she instantly captures his heart.
- Bilingual Bonus: Why did Joe think the name "Glass Joe" was icy? Because the French word for "ice" is "glace", which is pronounced identical to "glass".
- Birthday Episode:
- "Birthday Girl", the story of Katrina's first birthday.
- In "Birthday Boy", Joe celebrates his thirty-fourth birthday.
- Canon Character All Along:
- A boy named Maxwell appears in "Big Kids", helping Katrina build a snowman. At the end, another kid calls him Mac. Mac later returns as an older teen in a few chapters, and "Hospital Visit" confirms that he is indeed Little Mac.
- "Old-New Guy" reveals that Dragon, the young boy from "Field Trip", was actually a young Aran Ryan.
- Christmas Episode:
- "Christmas Concert", in which Joe takes on a tough match to get Katrina out of having to sing with her bully in a Christmas concert.
- Downplayed; "New Home" and "Cousins" take place around Christmastime, but are not explicitly about the holiday.
- Class Trip: The chapter "Field Trip" has a fifth-grade class visit the arena for a day trip.
- Crack Defeat: "Revenge": Despite having a foot and fifty pounds on her, Aran Ryan still loses to Katrina.
- Crush Blush: Joe gets one of these in "Aunt Laura", when Von Kaiser invites him to share a bed.
- A Day in the Limelight:
- "Field Trip" is mainly focused on Pierce, the referee.
- "Cousins" is set from the perspective of Marie, a young British girl whose father recently married into the Beaufort family.
- Disowned Sibling: Sisters Heather and Laura Sanders cut each other off in their early twenties due to their conflicting values and life goals. They never reconciled, as Heather died a few years later after giving birth to her daughter Katrina (the titular "fille").
- Disproportionate Retribution: Pierce gets back at Joe for skipping a fight against Great Tiger (thus forcing him to fight him instead) by pitting him against Soda Popinski the day he comes back. Why did Joe flake on the fight against Great Tiger? Because he was bedridden with the flu.
- Double Take: Joe does one in "Stage Name", when he realizes Katrina is already home.
- Empty Nest: As shown in "Growing Up", this is something Joe dreads having to go through in the future.
- Evil Aunt: Aunt Laura, Katrina's maternal aunt. She wants to take custody of her from Joe and raise her with Heather's side of the family, despite her disowning Heather years ago and not even coming to her funeral. In her debut chapter, she even attempts kidnapping Katrina, but is foiled when Katrina starts screaming her head off about stranger danger. Later, in "Custody Battle", she files a false claim that Joe, as well as her own mother Louise, kidnapped Katrina, and almost has them arrested.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: Katrina's transition from the little girl of days past to her current teen form, which she appears as in stories outside of this one and Shining and Sweet, is marked by her getting a blonde streak in her hair.
- Fanboy:
- Joe idolized Doc Louis as a child, which later influenced his decision to take up boxing.
- In "Christmas Concert", Joe is shown to have a fanboy of his own called Kaiden.
- The Food Poisoning Incident: This is what costs Aran Ryan the match against Katrina; he had unknowingly consumed spoiled ham right before entering the ring.
- Go-to-Sleep Ending: Used in "Aunt Laura", combined with a Sleep Cute between Joe, Von Kaiser, and Katrina.
- Halloween Episode: The aptly titled "Halloween", which focuses on a Costumed Fight Night.
- Heel Realization: Getting screamed at and eventually defeated by Katrina is what finally pierces Aran with the realization that he's become the bully he hated as a child.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Joe and Von Kaiser are extremely close and care a lot about each other's wellbeing. Of course, by "Aunt Laura", it's not quite heterosexual anymore.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: "Revenge": Aran's own cockiness (as well as some bad ham) is what seals his defeat.
- Hot Drink Cure: In "Sick Day", Von Kaiser makes Joe ginger tea while he is sick.
- I'm Cold... So Cold...: Non-death example: Joe's bout with the flu makes him feel dreadfully cold, even with a thick blanket.
- Motor Mouth: Downplayed, but as an infant, Katrina is noted to be rather chatty for a four-month-old.
- Mythology Gag: In "Stage Name", Mr. Thompson references the name "Piston Honda", which is what Piston Hondo was called in the NES game.
- Queer Establishing Moment:
- In the aptly-titled "Coming Out", Joe explains to Katrina that he's gay.
- In "Aunt Laura", Von Kaiser is revealed to be queer when he accepts Joe's Love Confession.
- In "Sibling Rivalry", Natsumi asks Piston Hondo if the scars on his chest (as is top surgery scars) have healed, revealing him to be trans.
- "Valentine's Day" mentions Don Flamenco takes testosterone. "Scary Movie" confirms that this is because he's trans.
- Quizzical Tilt: Von Kaiser does this in "Aunt Laura" when the Beauforts suddenly show up at his door needing somewhere to stay for the night.
- Relative Error: In "Sweet Baby Sakura", Nurse Mahari mistakes Piston Hondo to be Natsumi's partner/Sakura's father. Hondo, grossed out, clarifies he's her brother/Sakura's uncle.
- Relax-o-Vision: Used as a Vomit Discretion Shot in "Revenge" when Aran hurls during the match, in which the audience is directed to imagine cute characters playing together.
- The Reveal: A few:
- "Custody Battle": Heather died from birth complications, which is why Laura is so resentful of Joe.
- "Old-New Guy": Dragon is Aran Ryan.
- Ruptured Appendix: In "Hospital Visit", Joe lands in the hospital for an appendectomy.
- Sick Episode: "Sick Day", where Joe comes down with a severe flu.
- Sickness Equals Redness: In "Sick Day", Katrina says that Joe's nose is red like strawberries when he is ill.
- Title Drop: Occurs whenever Joe refers to Katrina as "ma fille" ("my girl/my daughter").
- Tranquil Fury: In "Aunt Laura", when he's had enough of her bad attitude, Joe calmly but firmly tells Laura that she is not welcome in his house, she absolutely is not getting custody of Katrina, and to Get Out!.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: What ends up sealing Katrina's victory against Aran Ryan; the audience is spared the details and is instead told to imagine something cute.
- Walking Spoiler: Aran Ryan is difficult to discuss without mentioning that he and Dragon are the same person or that he was defeated by Chaton Cheri.
Tropes specific to Shining and Sweet
- A Birthday, Not a Break: Joe falls ill with Moondew's Curse on Katrina's fifteenth birthday.
- Added Alliterative Appeal: Flameleader's intro phrase is "the most powerful part of a perfect pyramid".
- Brick Joke: Early on in "Happy Hour", Don chases Aran offscreen with a guitar. Later on, when Great Tiger needs to find Aran to take him home, he listens for guitar music.
- Bully Hunter: In "Bullying Blues", Katrina enlists Aran's help dealing with Claire and her Girl Posse. Aran tells the girls that if they continue to harass Katrina, he'll hang them off the flagpole by their underwear.
- Comedic Underwear Exposure: In "Happy Hour", a drunk-off-his-ass Aran runs around in nothing but his boxers.
- Congestion Speak: Joe speaks like this in "Cough Up". The translation of his dialogue doesn't include it, though.
- Curse Cut Short: In "Sleeping Fabulous", Disco Kid's narration cuts off King Don before he can say the word "sperm"Context.
- Crossover: "Girls Night" features guest appearances from Princess Peach, Pit and Palutena, and Isabelle.
- Darker and Edgier: Shining and Sweet has a noticeable edge compared to Ma Fille, including more violence, a few more risque jokes, and a Disney Death for Joe.
- Fairytale Episode: "Sleeping Fabulous", where the characters feature in Sleeping Beauty. Disco Kid plays the titular Sleeping Fabulous, and Prince Aran must awaken him from the curse.
- Foul Medicine: In "Cough Up", Aran has a cold and stubbornly refuses to take cough medicine that Disco Kid claims is "a little sour", so Brigit distracts him by saying there's a moose outside and Disco Kid shoves a spoonful of it into his mouth. Aran admits it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.
- Gossip Evolution: In "Telephone", Aran telling Disco Kid he was going to be late because someone made a bagsnote at his apartment building turns into him running a sewing business as a side hustle.
- Heroic BSoD: The story opens with Joe having hit one of these after recovering from surgery, which prompts his plan for his last years in the ring.
- Lethal Chef: In "Master Chef", Aran absolutely fails to make breakfast, including trying to cut an apple with a butter knife, and dumping burnt toast in the sink to put it out.
- Lost Voice Plot: In "Lost Voice", Heike Kagero has lost his voice.
- Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: In "Snow Day", Katrina calling him chicken is what prompts Aran to join the snowball fight.
- Odd Name Out: In "Sleeping Fabulous", there are four fairies; the Bear Fairy (Bear Hugger), the Tiger Fairy (Great Tiger), the Kitten Fairy (Katrina)... and the Piston Fairy (Piston Hondo).
- Practically Different Generations: This story introduces a second child to the Beaufort-Kaiser family, Paige, who is fifteen years Katrina's junior.
- Production Foreshadowing: "Poster Girl" has a character with a key chain of Stealth Elf. Two weeks after that chapter was published, the author released the first chapter of a dedicated Skylanders fic, where the first chapter starred Stealth Elf.
- Sand In My Eyes: Katrina says this to Joe when he asks her if something's wrong in, fittingly, "Sand In My Eyes".
- Sick Episode: In "Mysterious Circumstances", Aran becomes very sick, thus leading his sister Brigit to take his place for that day's match.
- Talking in Your Sleep: Aran threatens violence in his sleep!
- Taken for Granite: Moondew's Curse causes its victim to slowly turn to stone.
- Tickle Torture: In "Get Him!", Mac, Katrina, and Princess Hook all tackle Aran to the ground and tickle him as retribution for annoying them.
- Wham Shot: Katrina discovering Joe frozen in stone at the end of "Bear the Load".
