#Gumm-Gumm Culture

[i-am-gun-robot]

Trollish Dictionary

This is a project I’ve been working on when my writing brain isn’t working, and it’s only just begun, but I thought I’d share my progress! I don’t have the grammatical structure figured out yet, but I’ve got roughly 80 words so far with many more to come. Feel free to use any of this so long as you give me credit!

[albentelisa]

Hi! Are there any headcannons you have about Jim and Draal?

Oh, I really enjoy the friendship between Jim and Draal. Draal has surely gone far from his initial bully attitude to becoming one of the most loyal allies.

Symbolically, Jim is the one to liberate Draal from his shackles (those shackles being his obsession with the Trollhunter's title). In Trollhunters Draal claimed that he had been training for the position for his entire life (which isn't true according to Wizards). However, if we go with his age according to additional books (which is 1200), then it's still three-quarters of his life (for some comparison, for a forty-year-old human, that would be 30 years). That alone is a lot, but I also headcanon that Draal was obsessed with proving himself way before the amulet creation, and once the amulet appeared it was just his answer to how he could do that.

Why such obsession though? I'll say that troll culture is one to blame. I feel that in it surpassing your parents is a must, and who is Draal's father? Yes, it's Kanjigar, who was most likely well-respected even before becoming the Trollhunter and, according to Blinky, was the best out of all Trollhunters. And, unlike his father, Draal is rude and arrogant, most likely a troublemaker and with a dubious reputation (dating Nomura aside, where did he get Grit-shaka, the Gumm-gumm totem from? I bet that one is illegal at the Trollmarket).

Before Kanjigar became the Trollhunter, Draal viewed the title as his ticket to surpassing his father. After that, it only got worse. Not that Draal didn't think his father was worthy (if anything, he probably thought that Kanjigar deserved it more than any other troll), but it meant that now Draal had to become a better Trollhunter as well.

And now we come to the very beginning of Trollhunters. Jim getting the amulet was a major offense to Draal, more than anyone else being chosen, even if there were some champions Draal believed to be unworthy (like Unkar, for example). The situation with Jim was just the last straw - and Draal snapped.

The death match was the turning point. I'm pretty sure that Draal didn't think he would be in danger and instead planned to use it to publicly humiliate Jim. I can imagine that trolls at the Trollmarket were already joking about Draal not getting the amulet once again (and even if it wasn't that bad - it sounded bad to Draal).

Only when Draal gets close to death, with Jim standing above him with a sword, he realizes that his defeat was partially his own fault, that he heavily underestimated his opponent. That time he was clearly not ready to die or face death bravely (he closed his eyes)

On the other hand, I don't think Jim wanted to kill Draal (and seriously, he grew up in a society where killing is considered bad). It was more about defeating a bully, not that different from facing Steve. Sure thing, when the audience was yelling to kill Draal, Jim realized it was that serious. Yet he still refused to kill.

Ironically, from any troll point of view, it most likely seemed as if Jim refused to give Draal an honorary death in battle, disgracing him even more. From Draal's point of view, his life now belonged to Jim and he was willing to serve him until he paid him back.

Luckily for Draal, Jim had no idea about the troll traditions (though, he wouldn't follow those even if he knew).

I believe that when Draal started to teach Jim he had fully grasped at last that Jim was just a kid and that it wasn't his fault for being chosen as the champion. It was the start of Draal letting go of his mental shackles and becoming a better (and happier!) troll. And Jim got a rough older brother figure.

I believe that at some point Draal acknowledged Jim as a fellow warrior and started to see him as his brother-in-arms too.

[daylightisminetoconsume]

(arctic troll)

taught well, they do listen. though, fear is still prevailent on their features as they slowly inch closer, unused to walking on stone floors and not snow. one thing was familiar, though, and that was the cold.

Gunmar lowers his head and touches his snout to hers.

The touching of nose to nose was a greeting between adult and child in Gumm-Gumm culture, originating in the nest. Some, not all, Gumm-Gumm whelps were born blind. And from that small minority came a tribe-wide way of telling a young one it was welcomed.

"Can you remember the way you came?" Gunmar demanded, washing the unfortunate child in his sour smelling breath.

[aisling-the-vengeful]

“*Are there religious rituals that Gumm Gumms would perform?*” - Anon

“ Gumm Gumms don’t exactly have a lot of rituals. Gumm Gumms, originally in history, are trolls that came together that were exiled, banished, and outcasted by other clans, so we are a melting pot of cultures of other clans that trolls would be raise on in the Gumm Gumm plate. But there is a few Gumm Gumms ritual. The strength ritual. Yes. We have Grit-Shaka. Amulets that can vanished a trolls fear and being their bravery and courage up, however, there are trolls who either cannot get their hands on such thing, or they do not wish to wear one. So, the ritual of strength “Aisling flick her wrist” is a little practice one trolls would do to hopefully raise their bravery up and keep them save when they go into battle. I been taught this by a troll once a upon a time. It was an old general of the army called Jagger. An…old mentor of mine”

[ssiggss]

Hello again ! You don't have to respond to any of these if you don't want to btw, I just like explaining/rambling about Trollhunters because all of my friends aren't into it.

Anyways, my story for the Arcane Order is WILDLY different from both the Wizards series and the movie.

Nari's (who is based off of the Tylwyth Teg from Welsh mythology) more of a villain at the start of Wizards, being the driving force for the Arcane Order's disdain of humanity. Skrael and Bellroc aren't fully on board with the idea of letting the incredibly violent and destructive Gumm-Gumms win the war and rule over the surface world. But, Nari's the eldest, and they can't not admit that Camelot is a threat to the magical creatures within Nari's woods.

Still, allowing the man-eating trolls to win sounds like a bad idea, so Skrael and Bellroc refuse to assist in Nari's plans.

So, Nari plays with fate by herself, approaching Arthur under the guise of a fair maiden, and planting the seeds of doubt in Morgana's loyalty. Which leads to her death at his hands.

Nari is the one who resurrects Morgana, and gives her more power, along with a mission: Tamper in the battle and have the humans lose.

Fast forward, Nari realizes her mistake mid-battle when she's forcefully shown the future via that time-map thing. (I despise time traveling, but I can make it work to keep it just a *little* closer to Canon). After seeing what her world will become with Gunmar and Morgana ruling it, she backs down, and brings the forces of nature crashing down on the Gumm-Gumms. Deya still wins the overall battle, and locks Gunmar away, just like in Canon.

Now, remember how I said Skrael and Bellroc didn't want to destroy humanity? Well, Nari's actions seem to have a habit of coming back to bite her.

Fast forward to Jim's lifetime, and the world is polluted, cultures are getting smaller and smaller, and not many people are still in touch with nature. So, remembering what Nari had tried to do with Killahead, Skrael and Bellroc decide to ask her help in wiping out humanity for good, to preserve the cultures that are rapidly fading.

Nari sticks her nose up at them and basically says "Nah fam, y'all didn't help me back then, I ain't helping you now. Besides, Merlin's letting me live at Camelot for free" and peaces out. And Skrael's like "You didn't even go through with the plan back then???"

Yeah so, Nari, #1 hypocrite in my Au. I still love her, since she's also inspired off of numerous fae and also kelpie mythology.

In what would the Rise of the Titans movie for my Au, all of the battles and stuff are a lot different, including the Titans themselves. I'll draw them all eventually, but moving on for now. There's still a fight between Nari and Skrael; Nari loses an eye and forearm during the fight, and Skrael is almost strangled and crushed to death by vines and rubble.

Eventually it turns into Skrael seeing that yes, there's still good people on Earth, and yes, killing them all is not the answer. He helps how he can in the upcoming confrontation with Bellroc, which is less of a battle and more of a therapy session. Because, damn, these guys' cultures have been absolutely wrecked by time and colonization / global warming.

In the end, the Arcane Order splits up for good.

Thank you for reading! Have a digitalized version of the sketch from the other day

This is a very interesting concept!!

UIltimately you've made some cool alterations!! I like the more in depth dive in Skrael and Nari's bond, and the differential development of your storyline!!

You've put a lot of work into this, I respect that!! Its all very detailed, and you've got good visual language!!

I like this au, thank you for sharing!!

[xdeusxmachinax]

So, I was thinking yet again about 31 Days in the Darklands, because its an absolutely amazing fic and l love your writing style, and I was thinking about your headcanon about Trans! Strickler. I don't personally HC it, but I do find it a very interesting take. I was wondering, Strickler's familiar is male, so is that a reason, in your fic, why he's so much more comfortable human? Cause that would make sense then. Also, when did Strickler transition? It seems like he transitioned while still a whelp, and I'm thinking trolls are naturally able to change gender and its not a big deal. I just want some answers and more background on it, if you don't mind, because different species views on gender/sexuality are fascinating.

This headcanon actually came from a dear old friend of mine in the fandom, we've gone to separate fandom since then, but they remain an inspiration in my writing.

I didn't 'get it' at first, but the more I thought on it, the more interesting the idea became. An extra layer of out of placeness in the trollworld, but at the same time, another aspect of how 'alien' human gender norms are to Trolls. I think Strickler identified at a fairly young age, five, six, seven. Probably to Bular and Kodanth first. Bular didn't second guess it, because gender and sex aren't the same in modern Gumm-Gumm culture, especially with such a wide variety of reproductive methods.

I think Kodanth went out of his way to find his student a 'male' familiar. A chance to feel more comfortable in his own skin. But even as I type this, I know I might not be the best person to write about it. I have no idea about the trans experience, I can't begin to imagine, and I can check with the community around me, but I'm so worried i'm going to get things wrong.

But at the same time, how could I resist the chance to include not just a fan-favorite as the main character, but to give him another aspect that just doesn't get explored enough in modern media. If anyone has any tips or ideas to include on this subject, I am very happy to listen.

[obsessedwiththebatman]

57 years ago today...

"Batman" premiered on ABC TV, January 12th, 1966. The series quickly became a cultural phenomenon. Children were able to watch it as a straight adventure series, while adults could appreciate it's camp sensibilities and dead-pan humor. The series had a colorful pop art style that was unlike anything else on TV. The series also had a huge impact on sales of Batman comics, as well comic books in general, and helped launch Batman into his current status as the most popular comic book character of all time.

The series was originally intended to be an hour long, but ABC only had two half-hour time slots available, so the episodes were split in two. Which the first part of the Episode would leave our Dynamic Duo in a cliff hanger for the BATFAN’s to stay tuned into the the second part of the story and wonder how their Heroes will escape from the rogues gallery of villains

Batman ran three seasons 120 Episodes and the

series spun-off a motion picture in 1966 featuring most of the TV cast.

Principal Cast

Adam West as Batman/Bruce Wayne

Burt Ward as Robin/Dick Grayson

Alan Napier as Alfred

Neil Hamilton as Commissioner Gordon

Stafford Repp as Chief O'Hara

Madge Blake as Aunt Harriet Cooper

Yvonne Craig as Batgirl/Barbara Gordon (Season 3 only)

And what would Batman be with out his Villains who portrayed by the Big Names of Stage and Small screen

Main Recurring Comic Book Villains

The Joker (Cesar Romero)

The Penguin (Burgess Meredith)

The Riddler (Frank Gorshin and John Astin)

Catwoman (Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether (motion picture), and Eartha Kitt)

Other villains were used from DC Comics

The Mad Hatter (David Wayne)

False Face (Malachi Throne)

Mr. Freeze (George Sanders, Otto Preminger, and Eli Wallach)

The Puzzler (Maurice Evans)

The Clock King (Walter Slezak)

The Archer (Art Cartney)

Some Villains that were created for the show which also some came Fan Favourites To BATFAN’s

King Tut (Victor Buono)

Egghead (Vincent Price)

Shame (Cliff Robertson)

Marsha, Queen of Diamonds (Carolyn Jones)

Olga, Queen of Cossacks (Anne Baxter)

Lord Ffogg (Rudy Vallee)

Lady Penelope Peasoup (Glynis Johns)

Freddy the Fence (Jacques Bergerac)

Other show Villains

The Bookworm (Roddy McDowall)

Ma Parker (Shelley Winters)

The Minstrel (Van Johnson)

Black Widow (Tallulah Bankhead)

Zelda The Great (Anne Baxter)

Chandell and Harry (Liberace)

The Sandman (Michael Rennie)

Siren (Joan Collins)

Louie the Lilac (Milton Berle)

Lola Lasagne (Ethel Merman)

Colonel Gumm (Roger C. Carmel)

Nora Clavicle (Barbara Rush)

Dr. Cassandra Spellcraft (Ida Lupino)

Minerva (Zsa Zsa Gabor)

Calamity Jan (Dina Merrill)

Cabala (Howard Duff)

The other things which made this Live Action TV Series Great was the Bat gadgets such as the Ironic Batmobile which was designed and built George Barris using 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car he had purchased from Ford for $1.00. Ford had used it for many years to promote "the car of tomorrow"

And Mr Barris had only three weeks and $15,000 (US) to turn it into the Batmobile, which included adding a Ford Galaxy chassis

Even to when people see the Original TV Batmobile it turns heads it’s the most Famous car from TV and film History

This past last year we lost the legend Batman himself Mr Adam West 9th June, 2017 at the age of 88

I was so grateful to had meet Mr West while attending LA Comic Con 2016 I was able to have a few laughs with the Man himself who was a kind and friendly gentleman it only lasted a short time meet and greet but I will never forget it as I Met My BATMAN

Mr West will live on as he made TV History and worldwide fans young and old and he will always be in our heart

[ask-madam-ruby]

Demon Troll Lore: The Beginning

When the Arcade Order made Earth and it’s nature and inhabitants, Demon Trolls where one of the first troll spices made. Nari blessed the Demon trolls as one of their purest trolls.

When the humans evolved, Demon Trolls and humans live together in peace. With their own tribes and cultures. Demon Trolls are originally from European continents, would also wonder the Earth. Traveling to different parts of the Earth. From Japan, to South America. 

As centuries pass, Demon Trolls live with nature, like how Nari wanted them. Demon trolls use magic to cure them from diseases and even have them walk in sunlight. But the humans evolved and grew. As religion became a thing in human culture, they became fearful of Demon Trolls and just call them Demons. The humans would make up lies about demons and how demons will do bad things to you if you don’t obey God and destroy them. Each culture has their own reputation of the demon. Fear became a weakness in humanity as they grew out of magic. 

All over the word for thousands of years, humans would kill demons. Causing the demon population to decrease year by year. Human would destroy demon culture and practices. Some would capture demons for show or for sacrifice.

By the time the Roman Empire came around, there were only a handful of Demon Troll tribes left. 

This anger Nari and the Arcade Order. So they decided to create a new species. Changelings. But there was some flaws in their creation. They will need a human baby to hide their troll form. They made the Darklands under the Earth. And made Heartstone’s around the Darklands, hoping it will be a safe haven for Trolls and Changelings and the Changeling familiars..Some of the Heartstone’s thrive in the Darklands. But it doesn’t last long. The Heartstone’s keep on dying. The Arcade Order is confused by this. But they discover new trolls being made from dying Heartstone’s. One of them being Gunmar the Black. Meanwhile, the Gumm-Gumms are trying to take over territory from the lands they lost from the humans. The Gumm-Gumm’s would take over villages and take children to train as Gumm-Gumms. All of the Demon Trolls were killed or taken away by humans or Gumm-Gumms. Some demon younglings were spared by Nari and the arcade order to be served as Changelings. Ruby was one of those demons. 

[weregreatatcrime]

Also, how well do you know the TMNT comics? Because I have a few ideas that tie into said comics.

BTW, given that she’ll want the Turtles to be able to defend Miwa if/when the Janus Order tries to come after her for deserting, Karai will tell the Hamatos about the horseshoe thing, right? I can just see Donnie freaking out at how little sense it makes, lol.

I do NOT have access to any of the comics nor have I read any of them lmfao

Nah. Karai has that settled pretty well. There's a chance they'll come looking for her, but likelihood is if she can avoid being outright Seen Taking Her Familiar out of the Darklands, nobody's going to know. Goblins aren't very verbose and don't like ANYONE coming near their territory. The majority of the trolls in the Darklands are thralls with little to no actual intelligence. Sometimes changelings die and their familiars just wink out. Sometimes it's the other way around.

Sometimes a troll or Darklands monster of some sort manages to successfully steal a baby, because young, tender, fresh meat is a very, very powerful lure for the vicious predators of the wastelands. It's not too uncommon for a familiar to randomly die. Hell, sometimes Gunmar just randomly demands a snack and goes and gets one.

The main leash Gunmar has on the changelings is that the access points between the Darklands and Earth are the size of a basketball and literally No Other Method of crossing dimensions is available

The best thing about the Gumm-Gumms and changelings having such a difficult time accessing each other is that communication comes through very limited means and thus make accurate record-keeping difficult. If a changeling disappears and their familiar isn't recorded as still being in the Darklands, nobody is going to think they deserted and somehow rescued them. They're gonna think one or the other died and their only priority will be finding the changeling's body if it's even still there. Changeling corpses explode into dust, there's nothing left.

The Order's main concern would be that if the changeling survived their familiar's death, they'll be in troll form and going absolutely Mad and need to be put down before they break cover. They'll investigate her disappearance but after seeing Oroku Saki dead and hearing about the number of exploded buildings in New York.............. eh. They'll assume she's dead and on the like 2% chance she's alive, as long as she isn't breaking cover, they'll all pretend she's dead.

Also, yes, Karai will tell the group how to detect changelings. A gaggletack itself isn't necessary - I don't know why it's a horseshoe, Donatello, ask the damn trolls, they're the ones misinterpreting human culture to create the damn things - any bit of magically pure iron will work. Along with some other tricks only another changeling will know.

[unladyboss]

TIME OUT OF JOINT VS THE BEAR : RICHIE OR NEIL FAK AS BILL BLACK

The plot of Time out of Joint parallels that of THE BEAR.

Ragle Gumm lives in the year 1959 in a quiet American town. He learns that his idyllic town is a constructed reality designed to protect him from a frightening fact.

A neighbor Bill Black knows what is happening right away to Ragle and worries he might become sane again

Bill Black undoubtedly is found on both levels of reality at once: he is even the biggest liar in the novel, as someone who shares the Nielson’s daily family life for three years.

Ragle judges Black’s appearance and his social standing, and rejects his type and the values for which he stands.

His portrait is yet another ferocious social commentary: “The odd thing in this world is that an eager-beaver type, with no original ideas, who mimes those in authority above him right to the last twist of necktie and scrape of chin, always gets noticed. . . .

Submitting to authority, one of the fundamental characteristics of Black’s personality, leads him to do much worse than that: let us recall that Margo Nielson is really his true wife.

HE is no longer the one who accepts ready-made cultural frameworks, but the person who creates them so that others can submit to them.

The Bear has its own plot of course dealing with substance abuse, dealing, money laundering etc.

But the major parallels are there. I put pics of Richie in here as BILL BLACK, however it could just as easily be NEIL FAK. The show runners probably made the names rhyme so we'd know for sure. I actually believe it's FAK, because they put Richie there as the obvious choice. (Plus I never trusted Fak)

The show runners made sure to mention Philip k Dick so at least the audience who picks up on it would know where they were headed.

READ ABOUT TIME OUT OF JOINT AND THE BEAR HERE

Note the narrative related to Time Out Of Joint is referenced from

[crystal-grotto]

I have a feeling Sturm fears hurting the whelp bit all I can think is "ew, gross, children"

//Whelps are important in Gumm-Gumm culture! He doesnt want to hurt hide nor hair on one if he can help it, but he dowsnt have social skills enough to know how to interact with one either as they were so scarce

[lovelystones]

Jim’s first encounter with Orlagk the Oppressor vs Gunmar the Black

Tiny runt Bular doesn’t give a damn

Jim decides Gumm-Gumm culture is scary and confusing

[daylightisminetoconsume]

Only some human cultures appreciate maggot cheese. I think the rest associate maggots with rot and decay too much to be comfortable eating maggots

"Insects are a poor troll's food, but some Gumm-Gumm's eat them."

Gunmar drums his claws, food was a subject that always held his interests.

"A Wormbeard's tongue is like a spear, while they eat carrion, they can clear a hive of insects in minutes. They often make speed-eating contests of it."

[chinesegal]

Troll morality in trollhunters

Something that fascinates me is how Trolls in the toa universe are human-like enough for humans to understand and even befriend, but their system of morality is clearly different, they are much more casual about inflicting lethal violence and bloodshed, considering that challenging a 15 yo to a duel to the death, and using lethal force during a popular sport (pyroblixt) are treated as perfectly acceptable. From this we can deduce that that "might makes right" is a common view in troll society.

It makes me think what makes the troll "bad guys" like Gunmar, the gumm gumms and Usurna "unacceptable" in the eyes of mainstream troll society? Well, in Usurna's case it does make sense for trolls to see her actions as wrong, since she traded the tribe's children to Gunmar, but even then when compared to what "mainstream" trolls find acceptable, it makes you wonder how bad it is in comparison.

Someone I talked to on tumblr has said that "Honestly, if one looks at troll society, S1 Draal and the jerk that he was, is the product of a bad system in trollmarket society. If Trolllmmarket society made Jerk!Draal, then it's not too far of a stretch to say that troll society+gummgmumm society could lead to someone like Usurna and Strickler"

I think that makes perfect sense. Usurna did justify her actions as sacrificing a few whelps would help the krubera gain power, and when your society already has a "might makes right" mentality I could see how someone could internalize their actions as being the "right thing" to do.

[joyfulunion]

GUMM - Staring Through You

Gumm’s latest release ‘Staring Through You’ is out now on Dog Years Records.

Purchase Cassette: GUMM - Staring Through You

[twixnmix]

Judy Garland hosts The Hollywood Palace. Airdate: May 7, 1966.