#Nari and Skrael fighting. That was cool

[owlfacenightkit]

It’s just. How did they mess up ROTT that badly??

Like. The plot of the movie was basically already covered in Unbecoming. We’ve already seen it play out

How is an almost two hour movie worse than a 23-minute long episode??

[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!!

[falling-hand-in-unlovable-hand]

can i hear some of your hcs about the order? i love hearing other people's little ideas and concepts :)))

Ooh, im just gonna toss this in my drafts for a bit and add when i think of things!

If Bellroc get upset, or are having high emotion, they can get a little hard to understand because the voices get more separate and the shifts are more jarring, like when they say “He’s after Nari!” after the time trap

But most of the time, their voices speak simultaneously, and fade in and out as to which one is louder.

if they concentrate on it, they can force their voice more into one octave. this is useful when, maybe, pretending to be human in NYC while they track down Nari

the reason Bells had functioning armor that could see for them, prior to Killahead, is because they can’t see shit in their skull helmet, but it looked too damn cool to not wear

none of them are all flesh and blood, as in canon, bells has magma for blood- but i hc that skrael has a mix of silt and meltwater. Nari is mostly wood and mushroom, so the closest thing she has is sap.

their home doesn’t really have stairs- both bellroc and skrael can float, and nari likes to climb, and her plants can just lift her if shes tired.

skrael. has hair. fight me

[dreamcrow]

Character Headcanon Ask Meme: Skrael

(from here; thank you for the ask!)

1: sexuality headcanon

i think i have always fairly comfortably thought of him as "bi?" 🤔 or at least: "interested in his own + other genders," a definition i have seen used often by bi bloggers.

also: [QUESTIONABLE ACE REP HANDSHAKE EMOJI]

2: otp

baby's absolute first artisanal rarepair, hand crafted, with love :') i have to (mostly) feed myself for the first time in my adult fandom life and i'm suffering. i absolutely genuinely love it here

(THIS GOT LONG; tossing the rest under a cut!)

3: brotp

not 2 continue 2 b like "THE ORDER ARE A SET, DO NOT SEPARATE" but... listen... bellroc is in the order to balance out the sheer chaotic potential of an unmitigated skrael + nari teamup. also:

skrael 🤝 nari NECROMANCY PALS!!!

4: notp

skrerlin lmao. no yuck if that's anyone's yum here but uh... even in jest: A Polite But Firm No Thanks

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

ohhh i can't find the post that inspired this thought, but basically—for the past few days i've been kicking around this idea about the intersection of "a growl might be frightening, but at least it's a warning. a beast that doesn't growl will straight up kill you" + "what on earth kind of person wears pajamas to the fuckoff giant wizard fight?" (the kind of person who knows he's going to win.)

6: favorite line from this character

ＳＵＲＲＥＮＤＥＲ， ＭＥＲＬＩＮ >:)

(i absolutely cosign your thought that he was practicing in the car the entire ride over)

7: one way in which i relate to this character

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

the sheer energies of that pristine all-covering goth poncho + miniskirt ensemble. "do not the hell perceive me but please god think i'm cool." respect, solidarity, absolute "oh god, who found these myspace photos of me,"

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

baby boy. baby. evil. (problematic fave. i never disliked him, but neither did i ever expect to become so fond of him as i am now.)

[archies-litterbox]

honestly... since they brought in so many elements of pacific rim into rise of the titans (like the fight with varvatos' giant robot and... literally just the titans in general) I would have loved to see the movie involve something like drift compatability

like... maybe once nari was snapped out of mind control she was weakened by its toll on her but still wanted to fight for her friends using the earth titan... so Douxie offered to try controlling it with her to carry some of the burden of piloting the titan so it wouldn't exhaust her to do it alone

and Nari and Douxie both controlling her titan together would be so COOL visually!! like Nari could have controlled one side while Douxie controlled the other!! like a jaeger!! and like it would have still been green and viney and tree-like but it could have glowed with douxie's blue magic!! and Douxie and Nari could have held hands as they fought (and maybe a green vine with blue magic could've wrapped around their joined hands to show how Strong their sibling bond is)

and maybe if Skrael still gutted the earth titan in their fight... the severity would have been halved with two pilots (or Douxie's magic stops Skrael's ice from freezing Nari/deflects it back at Skrael) so instead of killing Nari it just injures both her and Douxie

also... nari and douxie piloting the earth titan together and destroying skrael with it would have really driven home their theme of "no more running" that was so prevalent for them in the movie (even though we really don't get to see any of the "running" they did after Wizards but I digress)

and just... yeah. magical siblings fighting together with drift compatability

[awakefor48hours]

Talking about ROTT

Since I can’t just keep talking to my sibling about it, I’m just gonna say what I felt about this movie. So I’m going over the things I liked first, then I’m going over the things I didn’t like.

The Good

Since TOA is REALLY good with writing, my expectations were through the roof and it actually started off REALLY good. Claire opening a portal to the subway that she mentions is going 55mph shows that not are the writers considering real life physics but also to show just how strong Claire has gotten with her shadow magic (you have no idea how many times I said “yeah, you girlboss gatekeep gaslight”). The fight was so beautiful to watch, I LOVED it, and it raised my expectations for the rest of the movie. 

The use of an anti magic generator was also very interesting and shows just how good Krel has gotten with developing technology and I’m so proud of him for that. 

Douxie (who needs a break) switching bodies with Nari isn’t something I’ve seen a lot of people talk about but it was really cool to see. Douxie has gotten so much better with his magic and was willing to sacrifice himself for the world (because that’s what heroes do)

Strickler and Barbra are getting married, good for them. I’m surprised that I’m actually VERY happy for them considering how much I don’t like their romantic relationship (I just feel like they’d be better off as friends) but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m happy for them.

“For the good of all” no longer “for the glory of Merlin.”

Jlaire continuing to be a happy and healthy het couple. 

Strickler sacrificing himself for Jim was great, it shows just how much he really does care about the Lakes. Also, I love when stories have characters that will sacrifice their lives to help everyone else save the day only for their death to mean nothing. The reason why I like it is because it shows the ugly side of war and how it isn’t as glamorous as movies make it out to be.

Nomura’s death was brutal but also shows just how much she’s changed. She used to loathe Jim and everyone else but in the end she gave everything to try and stop Nari.

An eldritch god and alien mech fight? YES PLEASE! (I even said during that fight “do you livestream or pray when this happens.”) 

CLAIRE, CLAIRE, CLAIRE, CLAIRE

That fight between Nari and Skrael. Yes, yes.

The final battle *chef’s kiss* yes, you go Jim. You go on and malewife, mansplain, and manipulate.

There are so many good things that happened in the movie that it makes me sad to write the next part.

The Bad (I’m very angry so there will be a lot of swearing)

Like most of the fandom, I want to say what the ACTUAL fuck was that ending. No, I need actual answers WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THAT ENDING.

The Krohnisfere, the WORST thing in this entire series. Jim has been through A LOT and obviously loosing Toby was hard on him but to just erase EVERYTHING, nope, nope, nope. This is even worse than a “it was all a dream” ending, hell, it would’ve been better as a “it was all a dream” twist for so many reasons:

Everything that happened for the past FIVE FUCKING YEARS have been for NOTHING. Every plot twist, mystery, battle, etc have been erased and now have no meaning. Not to mention, Jim is the only person that can come out of this alright. There’s literally no way Jim can stop what’s happening on A-5, so Aja and Krel’s parents WILL be in a status and since Jim was in a different state while 3Below was happening that means he has no way to know how to stop General Morando from stealing Gaylen’s core and therefore has no way to stop Aja and Krel’s parents from sacrificing themselves for the world. There’s no way Jim can stop Merlin from getting killed by Arthur. So in the end, the Tarron kids and Douxie lose their parental figures while Jim gets Toby back. Jim doesn’t really sacrifice or lose anything, he gets everything he wants. 

It undermines the entire purpose of episode 37 (Unbecoming-season 2, episode 11) because the issue is that we SAW what would happen if someone else besides Jim took the amulet. Draal is a very good fighter and has probably been training to be a Trollhunter since Deya (probably even harder when his father was chosen) and even he failed to stop Bular. BULAR. Jim was chosen because he was special and a human which is why I was mad when Jim became troll, it undermines the whole reason why Merlin specifically choosing Jim to be the Trollhunter. So by giving it to Toby, it throws that entire episode in the trash. Merlin chose Jim and Jim specifically.

It doesn’t even matter that Toby is the Trollhunter now because Jim HAS to be the leader no matter what they do. Toby can’t do anything without Jim’s say-so because if anything veers off to the left, it’s over for everyone (tbh, this could be a very cool idea for a bastardization arc for Jim as he keeps getting more and more hungry for control, but that’s not happening).

“The amulet didn’t make me a hero, I already was one” (or I at least I think that’s the quote) just shows that Toby can’t be the Trollhunter. Throughout the entire triology, Toby has accepted his role as a sidekick, he’s never shown interest in being the type of hero that Jim is and has been alright with that. So by forcing him into the hero’s role goes against everything Toby stands for. Hell, AAARRRGGHH!!!’s nickname for him is “wingman”

There’s NO way that my Jim Lake Jr would ever do this. Being the Trollhunter has traumatized Jim and ruined so many parts of his life. If I was Jim, I’d let Toby die his heroic death, being a pawn for Merlin is worse than death anyway.

If they wanted to save Toby, they could’ve just saved him with magic or alien technology bullshit or have him just drive away last minute. Either way, I think killing Toby was the right route. As I mentioned earlier, this would’ve shown more of the ugly side of war and that you can loose anyone at any time. No one has plot armor in real life.

Getting the Krohnisfere was awful too. They got it too easy which is unfortunate because the idea of having to outsmart your enemy instead of just forcefully making your way through is such a scarce thing in action shows. I would honestly pay GOOD MONEY to see this remade and watch how Blinky, Charlemange, Archie, and Claire could think of a way to steal the Krohnisfere from a dude who could see into the future instead of some “Looney Tones bullshit” (my sibling’s words, not mine). In the end, it just felt like it was only there so Archie would be stuck in the trollmarket (which makes no sense). Honestly, I think it would’ve been better if the Krohnisfere was at the bottom of the ocean in like a temple or something or force the gang into combat trials to get it.

Nari. Alright, I’m gonna say it. NARI WAS SO ANNOYING. She couldn’t just TELL Jim “hey, go back like 2/3 months ago and make a better plan.” It would’ve saved us so much trouble. Instead we got “time is like a flower” bullshit that sounds like something that Soren from the Dragon Prince would say when trying to write poetry.

A CANON MPREG. A FUCKING CANON MPREG IN A Y-7 SHOW. It’s disgusting to believe that we have to fight so hard to get just a sliver of gay rep in shows and how hard Nate Stevenson had to work to get Catra and Adora to be able to a gay kiss on screen but a teenage boy kissing his alien girlfriend which resulting in him getting pregnant (without his knowledge or consent might I add) is A-OK. Ever since Steve stopped being a bully the writers have been so bad with him and that makes me sad because Steve is so much fun especially as a CreepSlayer. It just feels like the writers don’t know what to do with him so they took him out of the story in the worst way possible. It had no reason to be there (I think it’s real purpose was just shock value), if they needed to take Steve out of the story, they could’ve had him: spend some time with his family, babysit the kids that Barb and Strickler now have to take care of, send him to therapy to help him get over Lancelot’s death, send him to A-5 to learn about the history/culture because he wants to marry Aja, or HELL send him to college. If kids are going to be confused about anything it’s the fact that a teenage boy got pregnant (once again without his consent/knowledge) because he kissed his alien gf not two people of the same gender kissing. 

(In Red Vs Blue, there IS a mpreg because of an alien and I want to talk about how that differs. Red Vs Blue isn’t a children’s show, the target demographic is for teens-adults and the show has crude humor, it fits in with the show’s established humor VERY well. But TOA’s audience is CHILDREN (literal first graders), the crude humor is usually very cryptic because it’s only there for the adults that are forced to watch the show with their kids can have a laugh. But they outright showed Steve giving birth and it wasn’t even funny, it was so gross. I couldn’t even laugh in shock like I usually do, all I had was a disgusted look on my face.)

To conclude this, I’m going to start gaslighting myself to help forget that the last 10 minutes of the movie and Steve getting pregnant happened. But I really needed to FINALLY just get all my thoughts out there. There were so many good things that happened in the movie but unfortunately, they’ve been outshined by the bad things. Endings are important because not only are they a reward for the audience that have been watching or reading your creation over the years but it also makes-or-breaks any future fans. Therefore because of this, so many potential future fans are never going to watch TOA. 

A year ago, I persistently begged for weeks to get my sibling to just watch the first episode of Trollhunters but now if someone asks me for a recommendation, I’m never going to suggest watching TOA ever again. I’m so mad at this and need to spend A LOT of time on AO3 before I can think properly again. I just needed to get this off of my chest because I can’t keep pulling my sibling away from her life and job or mumble to myself about how angry I am.

[aevyk-ing]

My Rise of the Titans script notes

SPOILERS!

-Barbara and Jim reunion because obviously.

-Everybody getting home. Some things have changed. Others not.

-Yes, what Claire did was awesome and she leveled up and why nobody talks about that?

-Stricklake only keeps two babies: Walt Junior and Susie. a) Babies are cute and all, but they need a lot of work and attention. Don’t put this couple in charge on a hundred kids just for the visuals. b) Yep, NotEnrique was the one to chose Susie.

-Jim’s stuff is in his wardrobe because Barbara hoped he would come back soon.

-Strickler isn’t much of a cook. While Barbara at least tries, he prefers to eat in restaurants and take-aways.

-After the city being destroyed, every councilwoman would look for ways to protect the city even more.

-Claire’s relationship with her parents is my own headcanon, based on what she said in the series mixed with my own personal stuff and the first novel.

-Jim is now an expert in Troll food.

-Jim has been through a lot and they never talked about it! He was transformed! He had another body! He was a mix of two species! He couldn’t be in the sun or eat his favorite dishes!

-Steve and Krel are a little more friends now. Just a little.

-Zoe deserved a whole story.

-Blinky being a dad because he cares about Jim a lot.

-Jim enjoying cooking and human food again.

-Krel actually talking to Jim about making a new Amulet.

-Douxie and Nari time.

-People reacting about Troll Jim and him being normal again.

-Changeling Jim? Maybe... who knows? (leaves it open just in case).

-Visiting the old Arcadia/New Jersey Trolls because we deserve to know they’re okay.

-Also having a visual image of the new cave (it only took a quick Google search, seriously).

-Toby being worried about his best friend.

-The new Amulet being a mix of Troll, Akiridian and magic.

-After a good, nuanced and slow-paced 20 minutes or so, the action begins.

-Yes, I somehow put my little comic version of Eli coming back (the second part I didn’t uploaded).

-Jim breaking down because obviously.

-Douxie and Aja reunion.

-Had some fun looking for new spells for Douxie.

-If they could defeat “god” Morando, they can defeat a Titan no problem.

-The Fire Titan is still in China, but in a volcanic region (thanks again to a quick Google search).

-Douxie and the Wizard Underground v.s. the Earth Titan, the Akiridions and Creepslayerz v.s. the Ice Titan and the Trollhunters and their many friends v.s. the Fire Titan. If you’re not going to spend time in character relationships, just make three big armies.

-Douxie apologizing to Zoe and giving her the chance of an adventure together.

-Yes, male Akiridions have the babies.

-Reunions with lots of old friends.

-Toby geeking in the New Jersey Trollmarket.

-Stuart being inside the robot with Varvatos so he can fix it.

-Steve wishing Jim doesn’t die (character development).

-Creepslayerz forever.

-Jim needs Excalibur to fight the Titans, but he misses Daylight.

-Wizard Underground and Douxie in brooms.

-The Arcane Order isn’t exposed, but buried inside the Titan’s chests.

-Douxie’s magic guitar.

-Nari doesn’t want violence. They’ve failed. The Earth lost the balance between magic and mortal a lot of time ago. She wants to speak to her brothers.

-The Titans have to go to different places to form a triangle of energy that would wake up Chronos, their father, so he can restore Earth to a primal state.

-Every Titan has a special attack or two so nobody can get close to it.

-Of course, Charlemagne is the one to read more of Merlin’s Grimoire to translate it.

-Nobody has to fight Bellroc, Skrael or Nari in a one-on-one.

-Nari has the power to transport her brothers to the Lull Chamber from time to time so they can think more about their decissions.

-Claire uses all her energy to transport Bellroc, as they are the strongest Titan.

-And yes, Bellroc is still a “they”.

-Strickler is injured but he doesn’t die. He promised that to Barbara.

-Epic robot/Titan fight because that was cool.

-Toby falling so Jim thinks he has lost both him and Claire.

-Flashbacks with little Toby and Jim because we deserve them.

-Nari manages to convince her brothers getting into Bellroc’s mind, just like they did before with her.

-Nomura still dies.

-Open ending with the Arcane Order. How can they heal the world?

-A part of the armies died.

-White-haired Claire.

-Jim and Claire reciting their lines from Romeo and Juliet (the balcony scene).

-Jim gives Excalibur to Steve and goes to get Daylight back.

-Troll, Akiridion and wizard funeral where Nari says goodbye to Douxie.

-“Go fill the world with magic.”

-Stricklake wedding.

-Jim’s speech over the celebration.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32894761

[rikalovesrice]

My Thoughts on Trollhunters : Rise of the Titans

WARNING : ALL THE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW

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Mmmmm. Okay. So I just finished the movie. I’m fatigued as always so this’ll be a bit of a mess lol. Gotta spew the thoughts while they’re still fresh, y’all know how it is.

Right out the gate, I definitely want to talk about the things I loved.

The animation was, of course, phenomenal and gorgeous!

Voice acting was incredible as always

MUSIC SLAPPED

Douxie. I just loved seeing Douxie again and honestly kept my eyes trained on him for most the of movie lol

OK DOUXIE AND NARI SWITCHING?? BODIES??? Definitely didn’t see that coming and I legit started screaming lol

Nari in Douxie’s body is the most precious, chaotic, and wholesome thing like holy cow that was so adorable LOOKIT DOUXIE CROUCHING AND CRAWLING AROUND ON ALL FOURS WITH THOSE NOODLE LIMBS OF HIS I CAN’T --

We called Nari’s mind control and Douxie trying to reason with her!

In the very few scenes they were together, Douxie’s love and affection for Nari really came through. You could really feel how much he cared about her. ALSO THAT TENDER HUG AND NARI’S LITTLE HAPPY SQUEAK MY HEART NO--

Loved Barbara. Always love Barbara.

Walter and Barbara getting engaged

Nomura back in action

Claire being the powerful sorceress she’s become

Loved seeing Aja, Krel, and Varvatos all together again.

NARI VS SKRAEL WAS ALL SORTS OF EPIC AND CRUSHING EMOTIONS.

The way Douxie yelled Nari’s name and ran to her after she died and the remnants of her magic falling all around him, like she was saying goodbye, just *UGLY CRYING*

It was so cool to see Charlie out of his den and flying about like the mighty dragon he is

Loved the Guardians of Arcadia pulling Excaliber out together.

All the gang all going after Bellroc together

YES JIM MY BOOOOOOY

BLINKY DIDN’T DIE

Aarrgh I love you so much

Stuart, what a bro!

We saw a hint of mercy in Bellroc towards the end.

Toby’s death... That was a huge curveball. Jim might as well have cut my heart out with Excaliber as he sobbed over his best friend.

Uh.....um....and.....Er...what else........ .___.

..........Alright so.......It’s about to get a bit brutal from here on out as I talk about the things I didn’t like at all. And the really sad thing is, at least to me, the cons far outweigh the pros in this movie. Because I’m actually having difficulty picking out things I enjoyed, they were so few and far between...which really sucks.

So here we go.

Gosh, where to begin... I guess I’ll go ahead and say this : I’m really disappointed. 

Like as I’m here typing this, I’m just thinking, “...That was it? That was the movie?? The big finale???”

So much of this movie just felt....unnecessary. I hate to say almost like filler. The entire intro re-caping the series really wasn’t needed. And then Toby went and restated it all again when he was being interrogated. The pacing, oh my gosh...Guys, the pacing in this movie was not good. The action started and it never seemed to stop. There wasn’t a single moment of rest, of levity, of our characters just being themselves, getting to know each other, being friends outside of the battle. No Reckless Club Segment. No fun, just... I mean Claire and Aja didn’t speak to each other at all. Douxie and Toby hardly interacted. Steve was turned into a gross male pregnancy joke. Jim and Krel barely spoke. Douxie and Aja had nothing to say to each other. Even Aja and Krel didn’t have any moments together. The list goes on. The whole movie was just go, go, go. And it’s so frustrating because there was time for it but it was poorly executed.

Like was the whole break-in to the Chinese Trollmarket really necessary?? Guys, I really found myself not caring. I didn’t care to see this random side quest involving an insignificant new troll character and a Trollmarket that had little to no bearing on the plot. Did I love seeing Charlie, Archie, Blinky, and Claire? Of course! But these scenes were so pointless. So needless. They could’ve written other ways for all our heroes to go after the chronosphere (Maybe we could’ve had Zoe for crying out loud). But instead this vital artifact was the hands of a character we don’t know and don’t care about in a place that turned out to have basically nothing to do with anything.

Deaths. The deaths in this movie. Because of the pacing in this movie, there wasn’t nearly enough time for the emotional impacts to sink in. Nomura? Gone and the only ones mourning her are Aaarrgh and Douxie, who barely knew her. Walter’s death was handled better since we got to see Jim and Barbara actually having a moment to mourn him. The weight of Nari’s death was singlehandedly carried by Douxie, but even that was over before it started. The immense gravity of Toby’s death, which really got to me, was also short-lived to make way for an ending that...I don’t know. 

ALSO DOUXIE JUST??? BEING OKAY WITH HIS FAMILIAR, THE ONE WHO RAISED HIM AND WENT THROUGH SO MUCH WITH HIM FOR CENTURIES, LEAVING HIM FOREVER TO BE TRAPPED IN THAT DUMB TROLLMARKET WITH CHARLIE LIKE???

“I hope he’s happy.”

WHAT. THE. EVERLASTING. FRICK. 

Douxie’s reaction objectively doesn’t make a shred of sense. Geez, it’s almost like Douxie was expecting Archie to up and leave him someday to be with Charlegmane. Just...what???

What also frustrates me so much is how this movie undid so much characterization and development that happened in Wizards. Or more like all that development didn’t even matter.

What was the point of Steve’s arc in Wizards if he was just going to be reduced to...this?

I was so excited to see Douxie really being a Master Wizard. To see him lead the Guardians of Arcadia alongside Jim. To see him in action as Successor to Merlin and Protector of this Realm.

But no.

Douxie, who had such an incredible arc in Wizards and a character who’s come to mean so much to me in my life, was nerfed and sidelined.

And then time restarts and I can’t help but wonder why any of this mattered at all. What the heck was the freaking point of the suffering, the loss, the pain, the growth, enduring and overcoming so much, the friendships and family spanning across three shows... All gone. Starting all over. Undoing everything, except what Jim went through. As much as I love Jim, I didn’t think he’d be the only character I’d be getting closure for at the grand finale of this entire franchise. But that’s what happened and I really hate it.

Just...all in all, this movie wasn’t satisfying. Not to me. It had its good moments. But not nearly enough. The comedy was misplaced and fell flat. The climax was sorely anticlimactic and didn’t hold a candle to Eternal Knight. The writing, the direction, characterization...For some reason it was all lost and confused and none of it felt right and so much didn’t make sense.

I’m not at all upset with the writers, though, because they still pulled through and did what they could. When the movie did something right, it was beautiful. The things I loved about it I truly adored. No, I’m not upset in the least bit with any of the creative team.

I’m upset with Netflix. I’m upset that Wizards was robbed of the seasons it should’ve had. I’m upset with big cooperations stifling creators. I’m upset that this’ll be it. This is the ending we got and nothing can be done about it.

Aaron did say there’s every possibility for the franchise to continue in some capacity, and I’m hoping for that someday. Because so much, too much, has been left unanswered. So much left to be explored that couldn’t. But until then....I guess this is it. This is what we get.

Now, I want to remind everyone that this is my own personal experience with the movie. These are all my opinions. If you enjoyed every second the movie, that’s wonderful! And who knows how my thoughts will change upon another viewing. But in the meantime, Rise of the Titans really missed the mark for me. I wanted found family badassery and fluff. But nope. Just fighting and heaviness and no payoff. It’s such a letdown...a real shame. 

But yeah...Thanks to any and everyone who read to the end of this haha

I still love Tales of Arcadia. It’s a series that has blessed and inspired me so much as an artist, writer, and as a person in general. I do want to keep making ToA content for a while. Cause this movie isn’t the end. Not my ending, at least.

I’ll continue to hope for more Tales of Arcadia in the future (a Douxie spin-off series please Lord pleaaase). We shall see. Until then, fics and fanart fixing this mess galore haha

Until next time everyone! God bless!

[the-fanaddict]

an in depth analysis of why every character was written horribly, even without the dumb reset

Steve

I mean this one’s obvious. We had someone with such great character development in Trollhunters, 3Below, and Wizards. Personally think that Steve was fine in Wizards (I like his knight subplot) and I thought they were setting up Steve recreating knights of the roundtable, but guess not lol. 

He didn’t even get to fight. He had a strong start in the movie and his concern for Jim really shows his growth from being his bully, but then he got immediately turned into a punchline.

Eli

All of Eli’s involvement with the plot happened offscreen. It’s great that he created the gun robot, but that’s it. Then he got turned into a midwife for Steve. 

Krel

Also a lot of the involvement happened offscreen. He remade the amulet which was cool, but it should’ve held more weight. The amulet should’ve been introduced way later into the movie. 

And okay as much as I love Stuart why did he need to fix the Amulet KREL WAS RIGHT THERE WHY WAS STUART RELEVANT

I know Stuart is good with electronics and he even made Seklos’ canon back in 3below but this is such an annihilation of Krel’s genius.

Plus the whole “It needs to have Merlin’s magic” thing was bs HELLO DOUXIE WAS RIGHT THERE THE ORIGINAL AMULET WAS ALSO MADE WITH HIS MAGIC

Aja

I’m glad she’s come into the role of queen, but by god she was so cold to Jim for no reason. She knows what it’s like to be powerless. She lost her parents to a coup and couldn’t do anything!!!! SHE AND JIM HAD THE MOST UNDERSTANDING IN 3BELOW. 

Also evacuating the earth goes so much against who she was in 3below. She ADORED the Earth. Loved everything about it, not just the people. 

And by god the kissing Akiridion lore is so dumb and so obviously thrown in there with no thought on how it would’ve affected 3Below. The kissing tree is ruined and her relationship with Steve is ruined.

Claire

bruh what do you mean her magic is spent this was not a problem in Wizards. She barely does any shadow magic and then it is spent. How many times are you gonna nerf her like that

I’ve always said Jlaire is what Hiccstrid should’ve been and in the end they become what I dislike about Hiccstrid. Claire was a prize for Jim and was reduced to Girlfriend who Fights. She didn’t have any meaningful or fun interactions with any other character. Really nobody did

Douxie

@douxie-casperan​ goes in much more in depth here https://douxie-casperan.tumblr.com/post/657457589076000768/rise-of-the-titans-and-the-assassination-hisirdoux but i’ll add my thoughts as well

the narrative just gives him one big trauma conga line without addressing any of it. Douxie was tortured by the order and absolutely no one wants to check he’s alright????? Just immediately start questioning him?? 

Archie was his companion for CENTURIES and all he says is “I hope he’s happy?????” honestly this was just httyd3 for them but without any of the emotion

Nari died and Douxie should’ve fucking snapped by that point. He should’ve gone avatar mode again when Nari got stabbed and help Nari kill Skrael on the spot. And then Nari would die. He should’ve been on his knees sobbing hearing Nari say “no more running” one last time. It would’ve been a great parallel to Wizards. 

And then he also was nerfed with his powers but with no explanation. The body swap spell was great. Power move. Everything else was no. Not to mention his magic was so inconsistent like hello that’s not what tenebris excellium does

He took on the order alone in wizards with a tenebris excellium but then bellroc overpowers him and flicks him away like w h  at. 

Toby

If Toby was going to die and have his friendship with Jim be prioritized at all, then for the love of god stop reducing him to a punchline. I mean the series has this issue as well, but he’s supposed to be important here. There are barely any meaningful moments with Jim outside of his death scene and moments from the series. 

Charlemagne 

Literally used as a plot device. Guy who knows a guy. I mean, that’s kind of what he was used for in Wizards as well, but his character moments with Douxie was why he was important. Honestly no reason for him to be in this movie. 

Archie

Archie CHOSE TO BE A FAMILIAR AND DEFY CHARLIE’S WISHES TO BE WITH DOUXIE AND THEN HE SAYS NO THANKS I’LL JUST BE WITH MY DAD FOREVER????????

Strickler + Nomura

Literally brought into this movie just to be a casualty. I will admit I like the small interaction between Douxie and Nomura but he barely knows her so there’s no reaction to it. Their deaths were so goddamn stupid how would a bomb defeat a magical being and why would you send a changeling to brazil. 

Jim

Jim. Oh buddy Jim. For a character with pretty much the only tangible arc in this movie, they sure botched that up. I was ready for the arc to be about him being weak, but I figured it would be due to turning human, not losing the amulet. We’ve been through the fact that without the amulet he’s still the trollhunter. But now he’s back to being powerless. That’s what his arc should’ve been about being powerless, not the amulet. 

I’m not a fan of making him the center of the movie when he’s had way more screentime than anyone else. and to learn a lesson HE ALREADY LEARNED. I wouldn’t have minded as much if his arc was handled any good. 

I hate to say this about one of my favorite emotional characters, but Jim kept angsting way too much throwing pity party after pity party for himself. Like we get it dude. Outside of that he was so emotionless as a leader. There was no charm to him at all. He honestly could’ve given less of a crap about anyone else besides the og gang.  He honestly reminds me a little of rtte!hiccup and how hiccup treated his friends terribly from time to time rip

Douxie getting tortured?? After he fought tooth and nail for him when Jim was hurt in wizards??? Immediately starts pestering him for answers. Where is his kindness? His selflessness? The trademark Jim sacrifice??? BECAUSE GOING BACK SURELY WASN’T A SACRIFICE

[fantasy2739]

Time to discuss magic in toa. This isn’t too spoilery but I’ve still tagged it as just in case.

So each wizard (or witch) has a different colour for their magic, which is great in fights and stuff but also I think give us a little insight into their character. Obvs this is head canon but I like a bit of colour theory and stuff so why not:

The Arcane Order-

The arcane order look like they represent primal forces. So Skrael is ice and a bit of wind (think Boreas), Bellroc is fire and Nari is nature.

Skrael Ice Blue: ice is symbolic of coldness, being aloof, mixed with the blue it can give off a childish nature (shown by him chuckling at Steve). It’s also associated with intensity and narcissism which I think is very fitting for Skrael. He’s a very intense ice mage.

Bellroc lava/flame red: fire is associated with hot bloodedness, a temper which Bellroc seems to have more of compared to the others. Red is the colour of danger, war and determination. Bellroc is the more upfront attacker. The engager and it shows in their magic.

Nari Forest Green: Forests are associated with nature but also spirtualism. Nari is quite unusual and as said in the show can feel all spirits. It reminds me a little of the swamp episode in atla. The colour is also associated with balance, which was something Nari wanted. She may feel that the decimation of humans creates an imbalance in terms of her spirituality. One association of forest green that I find interesting is persistence. And looking back over wizards. Nari is persistent in the persuit of her goals and her ideals. She keeps running from the order because she thinks they’re wrong.

The ‘good’ guys-

I get to be a bit more in depth with these guys since we’ve had them and explored them longer.

Claire violet: our new sorcerer in training. I quite like Claire. She’s been thematically purple for a while and it suits her quite a bit. Purples are famously associated with nobility (due to being an expensive dye to make), and in a sense Claire is nobility by the loosest terms. Her mother is a councilwoman, very important in Arcadia and would be a modern equivalent to nobility. She’s also powerful. Douxie and Morgana both consider Claire powerful in terms of magic but her inner strength is just as good. She leaves her home to go with Jim, perseveres when her brother goes missing and keeps fighting for the side of good. Violet is associated with ambition as well. Ambition in tv has become sort of a bad thing but Claire is ambitious, she does well in school, sets goals for herself and follows through to accomplish them. Brother in the Darklands? Okay I’m going to save him.

Morgana golden yellow: ah Morgana, our sort of redeemed sorceress. Credit where credit is due she really did just want peace. Ironically yellows are associated with happy emotions such as joy. Which would make sense if we’re thinking about the Morgana with Gwen. A joy for just the two of them. Gold obviously is associated with wealth and excess. She’s royalty, sister of the king. Of course she’s wealthy. But gold is also extravagance. And although Morgana doesn’t seem the type to attend vanity fairs and parties she does like her flashy magic. Conjuring in large numbers, appearing in flashes of light. Angor Rot. She indulges in her magic. An often overlooked association with gold is intellect. Morgana is extremely intelligent. She thinks things through, her plans last years. She managed to accomplish her goals through careful planning and had the intelligence to see where Arthur’s war was going.

Merlin lime green: Merlin is a character I feel conflicted about. He did care about people but those he cared about seemed to suffer terrible fates, not to mention how verbally abusive he is to Douxie. Similar to Nari, lime green is for nature and balance. Merlin does seem to have a respect for living things but it can be overridden by balance. Merlin works for the greater good and only the greater good. With the exception of choosing to save Douxie. Lime green is also associated with confidence which is Merlin. He’s confident in his plans and ideas. He doesn’t think he can get things wrong. Wizards don’t make mistakes indeed. Ironically greens are also associated with stability. Which in a sense yes he provided stability. Douxie got a home, Camelot is implied to be kept safe by his magic protecting the denzins, Arthur got a powerful sword to keep peace. Plus all the merlin is one of the most famous wizards ever. He’s someone people know they can go to to fix things. Even if he only wants to work for the greater good.

Douxie sky blue: my sweet summer child, too pure for this world. I love Douxie’s magic. The way he uses it is cool. Douxie gets creative with the way he uses spells and tools. Which strikes me as a very fun but also free way to use magic (traits associated with the sky). And Douxie seems to value freedom a fair bit. Like when he let the lady of the lake go just because it wasn’t right or when he tells Claire that her magic is her own. His blue is in many ways opposing to Skrael’s. The traits are truth, reliability and wisdom. Douxie is for the most part a pretty honest guy. He’s pulled some scams but he doesn’t withhold the truth about Jim, or blame others for the messes he makes. He’s very reliable, despite Merlin acting like he’s a bane on his life. Douxie encourages people, acts as support and does what he needs to. Wisdom is a little harder to pin on Douxie. I mean for 900 years old he’s intelligent but he doesn’t seem to have that sage wisdom I normal think about when someone says wise. But he is. He’s used all of his past experience and understanding to guide him. He does think things through to the point where he’s fully aware taking on two full powered wizards is going to kill him.

[tazzykiki]

...

so...um...my little obligatory review I do for every trollhunters installment...for Rise of the Titans...oh boy...

Started off pretty fun and actiony. I really liked how they jumped right into the action and had pretty much everyone on deck.

Is it me or did the comedy feel too forced?? Like this isn't something I felt after watching, it was during. Like they were trying really hard to be funny and there were some funny bits but also some really weird bits I cant describe other than "hollow".

Animation, beautiful as always.

Just gonna get right to the point: what the fuck was with the whole Steve thing. Like...lmao what? I thought they were joking at first but oh my god what the actual shit. Like they could've just killed him off like the rest of the characters if they didn't want him to do anything.

Eli had me hyped but then proceeded to do nothing but stand around and be showered in Steve's juices the whole movie.

Why was Aja's plan portrayed as bad????? She was the only logical person in the whole movie.

Why did no one give Jim armor???? Why was he going through a crisis the ENTIRE movie? Am I the only one put off by that?

Titan fights were cool. Love me some pacific rim. And hey trope dodge! They didn't destroy San Francisco's bridge! Hooray!!!

Did Nomura change voice actors or is it because I haven't heard her voice in forever?

Speaking of her, she died in a fucked up way huh. Strickler died in a really weird halfway force way?? Nari and Skrael died in like the most badass way possible. I am genuinely confused on whether or not Archie died with his dad. I'm gonna assume he died. Other people might've died? Idk.

Toby's death hit the fucking hardest and made me burst into tears. Like oh my god that was such a good and heartwrenching scene????

Too bad it was ruined by one of the most asinine writing choices I have seen in a while.

LMAO WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT.

WHY DID JIM GO ALL THE WAY TO THE BEGINNING OF THE SERIES??????

Why did he just erase years of story and heart???? Why did he shove all of that responsibility onto Toby's shoulders???? Why didn't he just go to the start of the movie and change shit???? Where in the entire series was it stated that it all genuinely went wrong because Jim picked up the amulet???? He's just going to go through the same shit again! They really call him Atlas for a reason, hUh.

Like the movie had it's bumps here and there but it was still good until that one point. They would've been better off just leaving everyone dead if this was the solution they came up with.

Anyway...If I had to recommend this series to someone, I would tell them to watch the first 3 series and then do one of two things: Not watch the movie at all. Or, watch the movie but pause right after Toby dies and end it there. What a horrible way to end this series.

[yellowmagicalgirl]

If you were to write a version of Wizards without time travel but still keeping the struggle against the Arcane Order how would you do it?

This is pretty much a combination of plans I have for the cagemates au as well as the backstory of this fic I wrote pre-Wizards. This is very self-indulgent and I doubt it makes sense but oh well.

Okay, so the story starts the exact same way, with the single change of how I’m going to be using my revised backstory for Douxie (aka there was forwards-only time travel and he’s only 17 as opposed to 900-ish). Also, Jim hasn’t been sharded yet.

I think the story would involve a teleporting castle as the kids’ home base, with them effectively going on fetch quests. There are scenes of the kids bonding with minimal adult supervision (just Archie, Merlin, Blinky, and AAARRRGGHH!!!). And, that includes the following private conversation between Jim and Douxie:

Jim: You know, you’re actually pretty cool when you’re not flirting with my girlfriend

Douxie: Uh, thanks, but I never flirted

Jim: Yes you did

Douxie: No I didn’t

Jim: Yes you did

Douxie, in a lower volume and nervous: Jim, if I wanted to cause you and Claire to break up, and I wanted to get a significant other for myself in the process... I wouldn’t have flirted with her.

Jim: Oh? Oh! Okay, that’s cool. I support you. Uh, does anyone else in this castle no?

Douxie: Just Archie.

Jim: Okay, cool, I won’t tell anyone.

(The rest is going beneath a cut because this is getting long)

Back in Arcadia, after Merlin teleports the castle away for the first time in the story, Bellroc and Skrael grumble and travel the mostly-empty streets of Arcadia Oaks. And they find Gaylen’s core. Eons ago, they gave a fraction of their power to an akiridion who wanted to create a permanent home for his people, spacefarers who were constantly having to leave their planets due to war and inhospitable landscapes. And when he went mad with power, they gave Seklos the strength and inspiration to create her cannon.

They pick up the core, and they learn of an akiridion whose core resonates with Gaylen’s. And, it’s not like they would have to leave the Earth to find him - they just have to go to a wrecked and ruined spaceship to find a lonely boy whose family is dead or far away, and his best friend has left him. He tries calling his other friends, but they’re not responding (mainly because they’re recovering from the battle that Krel doesn’t know about.)

Krel’s consent to Bellroc and Skrael causing him to integrate with Gaylen’s core is dubious at best, but they do convince him that Merlin the Evil™ Wizard (along with his apprentice) has kidnapped his friends.

Steve and Toby try to reach out to Krel, but he doesn’t answer. He needs time, they think. He’s grieving and wants space, they think. In the mean time, some of the mooks they have to fight have some disturbingly akiridion qualities. And then, the kids get kidnapped. Everyone but Douxie gets placed in a surprisingly well-furnished cell, and Krel goes to them and tells them how happy he is that he was able to save them from Merlin and his apprentice. The kids, of course, can see that Krel has been changed and are scared.

Krel is sad that his friends are scared of him (and he doesn’t like that he’s been changed by Gaylen’s core, either) and so he decides to leave them so he can go to try and interrogate Merlin’s apprentice. Tries is the key word here. Varvatos may have tried to teach Krel, but Krel is too squeamish to cut off Douxie’s thumbs and thus the two of them end up bantering. Krel gets flustered; why does he like talking with his enemy so much? Krel tries to intimidate Douxie by putting the tip of his serrator’s blade under Douxie’s chin and using it to tilt Douxie’s gaze upwards... instead they both manage to get more flustered because it’s a homoerotic sword-under-chin scene now. Krel leaves the room, and finds out that his friends have broken out.

Claire ends up awakening stronger shadow magic, and she and Krel spam portals at each other as the kids try to find Douxie and escape. Someone asks Douxie if he’s okay. He claims to be physically fine and emotionally compromised. Jim finally gets sharded in the escape. He’s in a great deal of pain, and Barbara finally gets brought in. She’s terrified because her baby is hurt and she can’t do anything for him.

The other kids ask Douxie about the whole emotional compromise thing when they’re safe.

Toby: Just because Krel was our friend before you, that doesn’t mean it’s okay that he hurt you. Are you sure you’re okay.

Douxie: If he’d hurt me it’d be easier.

Everyone: o_O what?

Douxie: I... why is it that the only time I’m able to talk to a cute guy and not get too flustered to speak is when he’s trying to interrogate me by being really sweet and funny?

Everyone: O_o

Toby: You really weren’t flirting with Claire, were you?

Douxie, relieved that Jim didn’t out him but also frustrated: Why does everyone think that.

Claire: I didn’t think that. Well, I did for a little bit but then I remembered seeing you at the GSA meetings back before I switched schools from the Academy to the High

Douxie, grumbling: Why do I get the feeling that I wouldn’t be in this mess if I had just managed to try to talk to that cute DJ at the Battle of the Bands before the Eternal Night happened

Steve: Quick question, are you saying you had a crush on DJ Kleb?

Douxie, head in his hands: Yes

Steve: Yeah, that’s Krel’s human disguise

Douxie: Fuzzbuckets.

Toby: If it’s any help we all thought you were the token cishet.

Krel is panicking, because the Order was fine with hurting his friends, and also because he has a crush though he’s in denial about the latter.

Jim ends up looking way more like he did in the Deep (except he still has horns) than just growing into a giant beast.

Douxie gets a staff. Somehow.

Krel defects at around the same time as Jim joins the Order. He’s able to make up surprisingly easily with his friends, and Aja and Eli come back to Earth, shocked to find out what has been done to Krel but affirming that they still care about him the way they did before.

Merlin’s death is more-or-less like canon.

Morgana remains evil in her dying breath. Claire gets to kill her. “Oh happy dagger, this is thy sheath. There rest and let me finally start to live again.”

Barbara, Blinky, AAARRRGGHH!!!, and Toby snap Jim out of the shard’s corruption.

Nari sacrifices herself to destroy Bellroc and Skrael, which would make Wizards the end of the story rather than needing Rise of the Titans.

Cut to an epilogue where Eli is complaining about how Krel is dating a guy from their rival school while Aja is laughing in the background, Steve is hanging out with Coach Lawrence and talking about teaching sports to kids after school, Douxie is training Claire in magic, Toby helping Miss Janeth direct a play involving Shannon, Conrad, Darci, and Mary, and Jim (still a half troll) is building a new motorcycle so he can be prepared for whatever next adventure is lying in wait for their sleepy little town of Arcadia Oaks.

[ssiggss]

I made a whole AU in my head yesterday and I'm debating whether or not to invest in it but chances are, knowing me, I'm gonna do it anyway-

Please ignore the absolute MESS that this is- it is completely disorganized 😭🖐

So basically I replaced the Arcane Order with my own OC I literally just made for this specific reason as the villain.

His name is Pyelan, (pronounced PIE-LAN) and he's an old god of peace- very powerful and ancient. However, he's grown corrupted and angry at humanity for the amount of needless war and death in their history.

He sees the pollution of Earth and the sickness, and takes it upon himself to fix it, having gone mad after the eons he spent alone.

The humans stopped worshipping him, that is why they have no peace, they've destroyed everything, in his mind the only option is to create a whole new Earth with a new species that would do better.

He seeks The Arcane Order, knowing who they are (having once been friends in ancient times) and means to have them open the genesis seals and wipe out humanity forever.

(I'm taking what Tobias said in the interrogation scene in ROTT and running- the bit abt The Arcane Order being the creators of everything.)

(Also, I like to think each of them had a hand in different species, Bellroc creating trolls and changelings, Skrael creating humans and goblins and Nari creating the animals of the Earth- with input from eachother of course. Though I'm still hammering out the details)

In this AU, The Arcane Order do not hate humanity, are more so disappointed and eager to fix the imbalance so humanity and all beings could return to their lives.

They understood his plight, but told him that because they created humans, they would find a way to restore balance without killing them off.

This throws him into a vengeful rage- could they not see that their humans have failed them? Could they not see the damage humanity has done to their planet?

If the gods who created this world were too stupid to see the truth and fix it themselves, then he would do it.

During an opportune moment, Pyelan steals Nari away and holds her hostage- this is where The Arcane Order enlists the help of their old friend's apprentice, Hisirdoux Casperan.

Douxie involves the Trollhunter and his merry band of armored children and various peoples, and there ensues many scenes of Bellroc and Skrael interacting with everyone.

So Pyelan pretends to be remorseful, tells them to meet them at the roundhouse to return Nari to them.

Obviously its a trick, but he still manages to gain control over all three of them and releases the titans- now its up to Jim and everyone else to save creation, and the creators.

Steve does NOT get pregnant but instead, the 'seventh kiss' is an engagement, meaning he would become king- a huge responsibility he's not sure he can fulfill. (Possible subplot about Steve gaining true confidence in himself and a tear-jerking scene where he looks up at the sky and hopes his mentor is proud of him after the final battle.)

Claire, Douxie, Archie, his father and Blinky still go to find the Khronosphere- it was Bellroc who told them to find it this time, their last words before they succumbed to Pyelan's mind control.

Archie chooses to stay with Douxie, there would be a heart wrenching scene where he and his father says quick goodbyes as the wall seals.

"Take care of eachother," he says, "I love you, son."

Varvatos still comes down in the bigass robot, but this time he has a co-pilot and its Zadra.

They actually manage to take Bellroc down, and Jim insists on going up and talking to Bellroc in hopes of breaking Pyelan's control.

"Is this what you truly want? C'mon!" he says as he battles against them upon crumbling molten rock. "You are who you make yourself, don't let him think for you!"

Bellroc is freed from Pyelan's control, discovers that they had been tricked by Pyelan and that Skrael and Nari were still in danger- they go ballistic.

Zoe's called in by Douxie to aid them, and she and Krel pair up as the designated tech nerds and they get a whole scene with some crazy cool akiridion tech/mechromancer wizard shit that frees Skrael from Pyelan's control- two down, one to go.

Claire is ofc a badass, portals Bellroc's titan to Arcadia and then shit really hits the fan.

In this AU, Toby and Steve fight alongside Jim against Pyelan, Strickler doesn't die but instead tends to a severely wounded Nomura with Barbara.

Pyelan uses Nari and her titan against the other two, Bellroc and Skrael are trying desperately to not hurt her too badly, but its not going so well.

Varvatos and Zadra's robot goes down against Pyelan, who ends up fighting Jim, Toby and Steve directly.

Instead of Toby dying, Jim sacrifices himself one last time as the Trollhunter, defeating Pyelan but taking himself along in the process.

This prompts everyone else to make a unanimous decision to use the Khronoshpere to save Jim.

The Trollhunter has saved countless lives, and now its their turn to save the Trollhunter.

Rewinding back to when Pyelan first set the trap for Bellroc and Skrael, they defeat him much much quicker this time.

Everyone knows what his next move will be as they all retained their memories, and Jim is safe.

The balance is slowly but surely fixing itself as time goes on, The Arcane Order are dedicated and often visit Arcadia to take breaks or to enlist help for certain missions.

Steve becomes king, ruling alongside Aja and later in their adulthood, they have children. (with much better designs)

Barbara and Strickler get married, and later so do Claire and Jim, and when I tell you that wedding was a sight to behold.

Toby is much more confident in himself, and is known all throughout Arcadia as a hero, The Trollhunters partner- Keeper of Peace.

"I'll do a much better job than the last guy, trust me."

All in all theres lots of things I gotta figure out for this AU, but its purely for self-indulgence because I can't stand the ending of ROTT. And also I was told all headcanons are canon now so I am doing what I must

[crescentmel]

⚠️ rise of the titans spoilers!!! just some thoughts

I don’t even know where to begin

- I loved everything about the movie

- except the last 5 minutes

- story was good, the animation was BEAUTIFUL

- ALL THOSE FIGHT SCENES WERE FLAWLESS

- imma be honest, there was no need for nomura at all, this is just my opinion of her but she should have either left a while ago or died a while ago 😬

-ALSO I NEVER LIKED HER WITH DRAAL THERE I SAID IT

- NARI MY LOVE

- DOUXIE MY BELOVED

- NARI SHOULD HAVE HAD A CHANCE TO LIVE

- I NEEDED MORE NARI AND DOUXIE SCENES

- the nari vs skrael fight was flawless probably my favorite fight scene next to jim vs bellroc

- but also I kinda wanted nari to turn skrael to their side so they could fight bellroc together, I think that would have been pretty cool

- WHEN BLINKY SAID JIM WAS HIS SON I SHED THOSE TEARS

- strickler shouldn’t have died >:( let Barbara be happy

- I LOVE THAT BARABRA WAS LIKE, YEA FUCK UR BIRTH FATHER, UR MY SON THATS ALL THAT MATTERS

- I LOVE HER

- Archie and his dad were so cute ;0;

- it’s been a bit since I’ve watched all the toa series and I don’t remember a lot from wizards but like, pls I wanted to see our trollmarket trolls where are they :(

- on that note I still don’t forgive them for not being draal back

- THE BELLROC VS VARVATOS SCENE WAS SO GOOD IM GLAD HE GOT SCREENTIME

- OH ALSO AJA MY QUEEN I LOVE YOU SM

- THE ELI GLOWUP????

- the aja and steve storyline was so out there

- I do think that aja and krel should have gotten more screen time, especially krel

- I WANTED MORE AJA AND JIM SCENES

- ok so,,,,that fucking ending

- was so bad imo

- jim, knowing the kind of hell he’s been through as the trollhunter, would fucking NEVER let toby go through that

- jim has always been about protecting his friends and family, and letting toby take the amulet and become the trollhunter is something he would never do

- bc of everything he’s been through

- IM SO??? LIKE WHY.

- ALSO? Could he not have just gone back like a couple weeks ago??? Or something??

-BUT NOW HES JUST GOING THROUGH HIS LIFE MANIPULATING EVERYTHING ESSENTIALLY TO MAKE IT INTO THIS “PERFECT LIFE”

- that being said, I loved the movie, I love the art and the animation. I know everyone on this team worked super hard and I greatly appreciate them.

- however the storyline for that very ending wasn’t good imo, everything else in the story was actually SO good

- I’m like, kinda disappointed it ended this way :(

[everlastingfable]

Technically we had Douxie with glowing eyes when he swaped body with Nari. That eyes were pretty scary in my opinion but I was also amazing to see Douxie use powerful spell and so quickly! But I understand what you meant. I wanted Douxie to go berserk like when Merlin died. It showed how much of a very powerful wizard he is and that's what was needed in the movie.

oh yeah that's true, it was a little unsettling at first but I think a very cool way of showing the soul swap, by having their associated colors switch. Hold on, I just realized how wouldn't be able to work if douxie soul swapped with any of the other protags because they're all associated with like the same blue lol. You wouldn't be able to tell lol

ughh I wish during the fight between skrael and nari, bellroc was also there, like perhaps they showed up just as skrael and nari killed each other. Then bellroc could please show some emotion aren't they supposed to be family or something, and douxie would go avatar state at nari's death and we could see an awesome battle between the two

like come on give me douxie the powerful master wizard with his spellcaster guitar

[zoe-b-raiden]

// ALRIGHT  FUCKERS you guys showed interest and now I will proceed to dump my chaotic AU thoughts on your heads.

~~~~~ ToA Dance AU ~~~~~

Disclaimer: This was originally intended to be just a Zouxie AU. I make a lot of those in my head. But that quickly spiraled out of hand when @nikibogwater wanted the Found Family w/ Nari to be a thing and I said “Well damn, it’s not like I have a million and five things I’m already writing, why the hell not?” And so here we are. Anyways, this will be me spewing random bullshit until I figure out what’s going on.

Douxie: The adopted son of Merlin who taught him piano and violin to eventually become a part of the orchestra, turned performance dancer of his own volition and interest. Generally good at what he does in the performance arts but knows nothing of modern dance.

Archie: Douxie’s incredibly intelligent and frighteningly understanding ESA who goes with his partner everywhere and is often seen in the crowd or on the stage of a performance (this doesn’t matter but he has an adorable set of cat neck-ties and bows to match Douxie)

Zoe: Member of The Coven, a modern dance group. Originally a ballet dancer, she left the formal and strict teachings behind at a young age to pursue something more free and rebellious.

Merlin: Conductor and manager of Camelot Dance Co. Renowned for his teaching ability and prowess. Particularly dislikes any dancers/music that doesn’t follow traditional or classical styles (i.e. modern dancing.).

Arthur: Owner of Camelot Dance Co., once ran it with his wife Guenivere before she got caught and met an untimely end in Darklander gangwar conflict nearby.

Morgana: Cover conductor under Merlin, talented in music and like the older sister to Douxie. Understanding and a bit serious.

Bellroc: Head manager of Arcane Industries, a company that actively searches out real estate to purchase and turn into business districts for profit. Serious and dedicated to their job, believing this is the right course of action for progression into the future.

Skrael: Bellroc’s right hand and co-manager, shares many of the same beliefs with them.

Nari: Essentially the younger sibling to Bellroc and Skrael, who is mostly along for the ride and does not understand the damages being done in the beginning. Rather neglected and forgotten about by the other two. A little naive but caring and understanding and dedicated to doing the right thing. Eventually leaves Arcane Industries and secretly lives with Douxie and Archie, out of fear that Arthur and Merlin would retaliate.

Bular and Gunmar: members of the Darklander gang, violent and angry with Arthur for taking property and businesses from them and leaving them at a significant economic and social disadvantage.

I do not really know yet where the teens/kids (in the show they are older here) quite fit in but: Jim and Toby own a restaurant, Claire has a theater troupe, Aja and Krel are refugees from another country and are musicians, Steve....? Maybe he’s part of a boxing program? honestly don’t know, the rest of them I haven’t worried too much about yet.

~~~~~ Background/Plot ~~~~~

For all the years Douxie has practiced music and dance under Merlin’s instruction, it’s been mostly the same. Learning something new, practice, mastering it, and performing. This all changes, however, when Arcane Industries, a monopolizing company seeking to make profit at whatever cost, begins to stake out new territory in ?

Zoe’s rented studio used for The Coven is bought from it’s owner by Arcane Industries, putting them out of a usable place for practice. Arthur’s grand dance institute is the only place left to turn. When Zoe and her troupe arrive it’s understandable chaos even when she asks to rent a space from them and share the stage at times.

Merlin vehemently disagrees, claiming that modern dance will ruin their rigid style and dirty their name. Zoe points out that Camelot Dance is next in line unless they can make enough to keep themselves from being bought out. Morgana proposes letting The Coven rent out a few studio rooms in exchange for participating in a large upcoming performance that they were lacking the members for and splitting profits. Arthur reluctantly agrees to it and Zoe accepts.

It’s not long before various internal conflicts come up and heads are butted, on top of the ongoing disaster of a production. Douxie and Zoe are chosen to be the leads of the performance, much to Zoe’s initial irritation. Douxie’s just kind of happy to have a dance partner at all.

Eventually things change a bit and feelings are recognized between Douxie and Zoe, yada yada I’m still cooking that all up lol. It’s stupidly fluffy and fun.

Once Nari shows up, he begins to teach her formal dance and she loves it. It’s actually a return to her roots; Bellroc, Skrael, and herself came from a wealthy family that were mainly dancers only a couple generations ago. Bellroc and Skrael learn of Nari’s betrayal and join forces with the Darklanders to get her back and secure the deeds to Arthur’s property at the same time. Morgana has a corruption plot here but I don’t know what I’m doing with that yet.

~~~~ Misc ~~~~~

Not entirely sure where the plot of Trollhunters comes in, but so far I’ve got:

Gunmar, Bular, and the Gumm-Gumms form the gang that got Guen killed and have it out for Arthur-- who owns multiple businesses and properties formerly belonging to the Darklanders --that they want back. Notorious for having tattoos of trollish figures. 

Arthur requests that Merlin and Morgana do something about this issue because he fears for their collective safety, and hence a small fighting force, the Trollhunters, are formed to defend them. Something happens with all that but I’m not entirely sure yet.

~~~~~

Is this a metaphor for capitalism being really bad? Maybe, I wasn’t aiming for it but hey that’s cool with me. Bellroc and Skrael get a redemption arc, I’m not sure what that entails but they do because I said so. Clearly a lot of plot work to go and I’ll change things up as I work on it.

If any of y’all have input please be my guest because this is a beast that I’ve been thinking about all day and I’m sure there’s things or potential connections I’m missing that would be neat.

And by all means please feel free to get involved in this mess.