#ON WHETHER OR NOT HE'S FIT TO BE THE TROLLHUNTER AND AT THE END THE ANWSER IS YES!!!!!!!!!!

[rangersrambles]

BLINKY SUPREMACY FR 🤝💞

strickler is such a lil shit in season 1 and 2 ur so right but I gotta admit him having beef with a 15 (16) year old is funny as hell while simultaneously trying to get with his mom

[feather-dancer]

Tales of Arcadia Fanfic Recommendations - Part 6

I do admittedly have things left to read in my tabs I’d normally prefer to clear out before posting one of these but when you sail past the 30 mark I think it’s about time to get it out my drafts, yeah? Most importantly means this will be out before Rise of the Titans comes and emotionally destroys us all.

Needless to say soon as this is posted I give it 24 hours before 7 starts, we’ve got some amazing writers in this fandom and there’s a couple I juuust want one more chapter before I feel I can recommend it. Hope you find something you enjoy :)

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

If at all interested in my own writing you can find it here!

General Trollhunters

Romeo, Question Mark - Jim is figuring himself out and has a question for Toby though nervous of how he might react. Honestly the support Aromantic’s need when they’re either questioning or coming out, Toby is a gem.

By The Book - After his dad left changing his world Jim had moments in his life where he needed to wrangle things in a way he could understand them with some moral support along the way that wasn’t there to do it for him, just give a light nudge the right direction. Comes with light Jilaire fluff.

That I Could Fear a Door - Jim was pulled from the Darklands whole but you cannot escape the trauma of your experiences quite so easily. It will take a little time, a lot of patience and perhaps the right ear to listen but with it can come hope.

Lest Back the Awful Door Should Spring - Sequel to the above, Jim’s capture to be sentenced by the tribunal echoes his experiences in the Darklands a little too closely sending all his careful progress hurtling back in one fell swoop. Is it any wonder he chose a false freedom that Unkar offered?

Façade - The confirmation that Mr. Strickler is not the man you thought he was probably was not going to be an easy one, Jim’s thoughts sit ill after that dinner.

Fashion - All changelings take root somewhere in a human life before their changeling one succeeds it and Nomura is no different. She felt love she could not understand and the ache of loss will follow for as she meanders through this world by the Whisper Man’s orders and her own volition of needing to belong somewhere. She will try her hand with the humans and the trolls, paint the road with blood as much as indulging herself with the arts and even risking her heart until everything leads her to Arcadia’s doorstep.

In Deep Trouble - What happened in the Deep during Season 2?

Aftermath - Just after the finale of Season 2 the Market trolls are forced to run leaving their homes behind and follow the Trollhunter they had dismissed so many times into the great unknown before them.

Don’t think - Jim weighs up his options and attempts to settle his thoughts before making the final decision whether or not to go through with using Merlin’s potion.

Nocturne for a Trollhunter - Jim learns a new hobby that gives him another way to relax that doesn’t involve cooking, one that follows him beyond Arcadia.

The Asteroid - A rare 3Below fic for my lists if centered on a certain hedge witch and Wizard. The end of the world is coming but not by Morgana’s hand and Merlin certainly never warned Douxie about it so if this truly is the end then it’s the best time to bring your loved ones close so you won’t be going out alone. Yes it’s Zouxie.

A bright future so it seemed (but that light grew a little less bright) - Claire’s parents (Or more specifically Ophelia) set her on the perfectionist’s path early, even a little slip can feel like the end of the world

Rest, Master Jim - You might be able to escape the Darklands but you cannot escape the consequences of being trapped there for so long as easily.

General Wizards

Not Found - So why did neither Douxie or Archie find the two remaining changelings in Arcadia or bring back the sole Akiridion when Merlin asked?

Place of Power - A lovely bit of shameless Zouxie fluff in that brief period the gang was at Hex Tech before the plot came to get them.

Bitter Water - Only two of the old team remain in Arcadia and those were Jim and Krel, the rest having left to pursue educational pursuits and in one particular case kept away for Nari’s safety. For the Akiridion he is still here with reminders of his heritage and what it took to have this life on earth chasing him all the way. It’s always good to have friends with a listening ear and hot chocolate.

Together, Dearest - The very act of resting is a potential invitation for nightmares and Nari is no different but when once more in the waking world you will find you’re not alone, there are hugs available.

The Night Belongs To Us - Lovingly described Skraelroc fluff during their long hunt for Merlin and the strangeness that can be observed on clearer nights.

Nineteen Plus Nine Hundred, Give Or Take - 900 years is a long time by anyone’s standards but perhaps during that Douxie can figure out how to truly live.

Twelfth Century Wizard, Twenty-First Century Witch - The follow up to the above, when you’ve lived a long and interesting life things can still pop up in odd ways... Even if you haven’t quite mastered the sacred art of texting yet.

ERAS TÚ (It was you). | Tales of Arcadia One-Shot - Would you want to live forever if it meant leaving everyone behind? Jilaire.

the only way for us to go - From his rescue from the streets of Camelot to the eventual guardian of this realm, Douxie has come a very, very long way. Through the frustrations of trying to learn magic, the belittling of others, the faith of Morgana and the power of music his experiences throughout 900 years truly make him what he is.

lay down your head - Even the mightiest can be plagued with the not so humble migraine. Skraelroc fluff.

Stricklake

Merry Christmas, Doctor Lake - Some Christmas gifts are worth going all out for and getting your friends and family to help out to make it extra special.

Grocery Run - After the incident where Merlin dismissed Strickler for being a changeling it is time for an excuse to get out the house for a bit and have a frank discussion about their relationship, the future beyond the incoming battle and lingering insecurities of two worlds colliding.

Alternate Universe

Fashionista, How Do You Look? - An AU that very much takes the term very literally here where everyone is human, Skrael, Bellroc and Nari are fashion designers plus many other ToA characters we know and love are either in the industry in some way themselves or on the fringes because of their jobs/who they know. Sometimes you work with catty bitches and want to kick back and watch the fireworks you know? Contains friends to almost to enemies to friends to maybe we’ll get our shit together this time but the odds aren’t great Skraelroc. There’s also a Zouxie oneshot in this collection that was a gift for meee because of the corner I dug in the AU.

Atlas, Fallen - When a star falls from the sky it is a punishment so when Atlas suddenly finds himself amongst the humans he had observed from above for countless ages in a flesh body like theirs he fears his Mother is punishing him and unable understand what he did wrong. While trying to find his way back home he gets a crash course in what it’s like to be human making friends along the way. Slow burn Jilaire.

she once was a true love of mine - I put this under the AU section even though it wavers between that and not, a mixture of classical Arthurian mythos and the glimpses of the Camelot in Tales of Arcadia where one kingdom collapses from war another strengthens by taking their princess as queen. While Arthur might have turned her head once it is the sibling that seems to be catching Gwen’s eye of late as much as her thoughts. Morgwen but in the department of pining.

Pulled From The Ocean - AU doesn’t quite fit this one but it feels a bit more fitting than general. A little oneshot snapshot of Jim living with deafness and the contrast of one world that falls easily into supporting that whereas the other tries their best but it makes the slip ups sting even more.

you are a stranger here, why have you come? - Fate is a funny old thing, something happens a little bit differently such as a father not leaving alone and everything can change so drastically. Nari’s fondness for children strikes again and this time it involves a 5-year old Jim Lake Jr. ending in the Order’s care and their foray into found family. Somehow Jim is even more of a disaster and as likely surmised from the fact I write this trope myself I am very weak for it.

go into your local forest and you will find a friend and a boy - Toby was unlucky in the friend department and by the time he is ten he still feels miserable and lonely having to endure Steve’s increasing bullying all the while. This is of course until he finds a blue half-troll hiding out the daylight hours munching cans in the local woods...

[tiecladartist]

Okay, spoilers beneath the cut because I have some issues with Rise of the Titans.

Tales of Arcadia is one of my favorite series ever. It handled the "Kid is the chosen one" situation brilliantly, every character had depth (even characters like Steve, Eli, the teachers, etc). Theme was expertly handled with each part of the series. Destiny, heroism and sacrifice for Trollhunters; Family, duty and home for 3-Below; Legacy, prejudice and family (again) for Wizards. Every season brought me to tears, made me laugh, made me fear for the safety of the characters and want good things for them after watching them sacrifice over and over again. It is a comfort show for me and always will be.

Now, the movie...

So, I don't think it was bad. I also don't think it was good, unfortunately. The animation took a bit of getting used to after bingeing everything else leading up to this, but I can't deny it was incredibly beautiful. It was especially nice to see places other than Arcadia and Akiridion-5. It started off strong with the train fight, and admittedly there were a lot of scenes I quite liked during the movie. But, just the scenes. I liked moments, but overall it didn't come together quite as well as the shows did.

The biggest factor is likely time. I doubt making this a movie was the initial plan since I know production companies enjoy snubbing out strong series for various reasons. Honestly, I was surprised we got an "ending" at all based on the trends of recent shows being forced to wrap things up prematurely. Even Wizards felt rushed compared to the others and as a result a lot of interesting concepts were brushed over quickly. I mean, I for one would've loved to see more Camelot "filler" shenanigans since those less plot-heavy episodes that we had throughout Trollhunters and 3-Below helped us explore the characters and grow to love them, and we didn't get quite as much of that with Douxie, Archie, Lancelot, Charlemagne, etc. But I digress, this post is supposed to be about the movie, not Wizards.

So yeah, I think Rise of the Titans should've been a show rather than a movie. We could have more time before Nari is captured, focusing on the "where are they now" of all the characters after the year we skipped. Jim gets to cook and eat human food after losing that passion when becoming a troll, adjusting to being human again! Maybe him and Toby talk about Barbara and Stickler being together and how it's kinda weird (Toby could compare it to having conflicting feelings over his Nana dating an alien). Krel and Aja have a call about how it is being the Queen and Steve interrupts because he misses Aja. Perhaps we hear Eli in the background doing something related to the "Secret weapon" and the call gets cut off quickly because this leads to a small disaster on Aja's end that she needs to go fix. Claire is practicing her magic with the help of Zoe while Douxie is off with Nari. NARI AND DOUXIE INTERACT WITH EACHOTHER AND WE ACTUALLY GET TO SEE IT! (Like, I know that they were travelling together for a year and that that is why Douxie is sad when Nari dies, but it didn't impact at all outside of empathy because there was no emotional investment on my end towards their friendship). But yeah, we get to see what's going on with everyone, and then perhaps this first episode ends with the reveal of them being ready for a plan of sorts (luring the arcane order and cutting off their magic. That wouldn't be revealed though). Cut to the Arcane Order in their super secret clubhouse saying they're close to finding Nari and you get a decent cliffhanger.

Episode 2 would start with the train fight and go fairly the same way. We see Jim struggling with fighting with no armor. Or perhaps he has akiridion armor, but it's too rigid or keeps malfunctioning (doesn't fit, so to speak). Only difference is that Jim's arc wouldn't be about whether or not he's still the trollhunter, because we've been through that already and he knows. I could get having moments of doubt, but his full on denial was kinda out of place after everything he went through. Instead, it could be that he feels useless due to now being a burden in a fight. Or perhaps instead he's wrestling with guilt. He's blaming himself since the arcane order got the seals due to them trying to rescue him. Maybe both? Maybe he even misses his troll body and feels that he's too weak now. Yes, he's still the trollhunter, amulet or not, but he's feeling less and less capable of answering this particular call, and that bothers him. He doesn't want to be a burden after all. Fight ends with the train crash, arrest, Douxie swapping with Nari, all the same.

Now, this is where things would go very very differently. Have more time before Douxie and Nari switch back. Let the Arcane order monologue a little more. They want to reset the world because the balance has been shifted? Cool! Tell me more! Did they used to try to get along with the humans? Did they try diplomacy in the past only to fail due to the stubborn humans, and that's why they've decided to take drastic measures? Or if not, explore why they believe they're the ones allowed to decide the balance is off. Is it because they're powerful? Or how long they've been on Earth? Did they reset it in the past and thus know through experience? I don't mind not knowing, since not everything needs to be spelled out for the audience, but there was potential to make them characters rather than obstacles, and it wasn't really utilized to its full potential. Allow Douxie to pick their brains a little instead of immediately swapping him and Nari back and only succeeding in delaying things a few more hours. Hell, if it was a TV show I honestly would've had one or two episodes before doing that while we address how that initial failure (and the fact that magical creatures/aliens were revealed to the world) affected everyone.

Maybe I'll go through and like, actually plot out episodes and stuff, but since I only just finished watching, here's just some various things I'd change:

-Get rid of that whole Steve pregnancy. That was just out of place and rather than the "comedy" breaking the tension, it shattered it completely and distracted from everything. If you wanna explore his father-based character arc, maybe have him and Aja discussing the fact that now that she's queen, she'll need heirs. And maybe Steve isn't sure he could be a good dad due to his history with paternal figures. You could even have it that he's taking care of Nari while her and Douxie are switched, and that leads to a situation where he helps her out and realizes he may be a better dad than expected. Or perhaps Blinky gives him paternal advice. Or Strickler. Or even BARBARA AND JIM like, Steve couldn't be worse than Jim's dad, and letting Steve and Jim bond over that would be nice. There was so much potential, but instead, Steve was reduced to an out of place running gag instead of getting a resolution to his character arc. And hey, if you wanna keep the whole male akiridions give birth thing that's cool, but it's gotta be done in moments where it won't distract. Or, you could even have it be that it means Aja and Steve need to adopt because uh... she's inorganic and he's organic? His body likely isn't actually built for akiridion childbirth despite the movie glossing over this fact? And maybe Steve has mixed feelings about someone else being the dad of his kids, but Coach and him talk about how Coach isn't his biological dad, but that doesn't mean he loves Steve any less.

-GIVE DOUXIE MORE SCREEN TIME! Seriously, had this been a show he would have the most potential for character growth out of everyone. His series was the shortest, so really all he got was a confidence boost and moving past needing Merlin's approval. But there was so much to explore with him still. What was up with that extreme burst of magic after Merlin's death that was never brought up again? How has he been mentally handling singlehandedly guarding Nari against the Arcane order for a year? Once he and Nari switch back, does he feel guilt over not being able to protect her? "Merlin wouldn't have failed like that. He kept her safe for thousands of years, I lasted a little over one". Perhaps, in his constant desire to prove himself to the people he cares about, he takes risky moves to try and save Nari again and make up for his mistakes, similar to how Jim was acting in the movie. Eventually, when he and Nari meet up again when trying to break her controlled state, Douxie is apologizing and talking about how he wants to make things right. He sees Nari as a friend; as family, just as much as Archie, and he doesn't want to lose her like he lost Merlin. He doesn't want to lose anyone else (which would make Archie getting stuck in the other Trollmarket, and Nari's sacrifice even more painful later on if that still happened).

-Krel, Eli and Stewart also needed more time. I get it was a movie, so time was short, but still. Krel's entire thing is that he grew to see Earth as his true home, and we didn't get to address the fact that he was immediately at risk of losing it at all. Not to mention the sheer amount of stuff he'd built for everyone. Like, could you imagine an episode where, to break up the tension (in a proper way, not a weird pregnancy way), in the midst of everyone trying to figure out how to stop the titans, Krel has overworked himself fixing and managing everyone's tech. He has to spend a day resting and disasters ensue as no one knows how to fix any of the stuff he usually manages. Like the tech keeping Camelot afloat, for example. Stewart and Eli could be the ones that end up stepping up to fill the Krel sized gap for the day.

-And I know that these fillers would lower the tension a bit, but like, having the titans need to charge up after awakening (like, absorbing elemental energy or something), or perhaps making the Arcane Order have to collect certain things to break the seals in the first place that they had on their fortress but lost when that was destroyed , or any other kinda obstacle to give time between the train fight and the Titans waking up would give time for less plot-heavy, more character focused episodes. And even after the titans wake up, they were moving super slowly and walking across the planet. It's not like they'd be short on time despite the movie making it seem like walking from china to america was a short jog at most.

-Don't give Toby the amulet. Don't get me wrong, I love Toby very much and literally bawled out loud at his sacrifice scene. But like, it made no sense to give him the amulet? Jim doing everything again with years of Trollhunter experience would help solve a lot of problems from his first go around (and I'm not fully on board with the whole time reset in the first place. Resetting to the start of the movie, or even just the fight with Bellroc would be better). Jim knows the burdens of being a trollhunter first hand, and you really think he'd be okay dumping all that on Tobes? Toby, the guy completely content with being the wingman and helping the people he cares about. Toby, the guy who never worried about not having a grand destiny up until the movie. The guy who in his biggest dreams was a Duke, not a king. I think Toby was well aware of how important moral support is and wouldn't see it as a lame superpower. But even if he did, in a tv show they could explore that in a way where he comes to learn just how much that moral support does for his friends. And if you still want his moment of glorious sacrifice (because I count that as one of the well done moments), then do that! But rather than going back in time to save everyone, make it so they sacrifice the stone to turn back time a bit. Risk their victory to try saving Toby. Have them fight Bellroc together instead of it being just Jim, because it's trollhunters, not trollhunter. It always has been, always will.

-And if you're like "But if they don't go back then Strickler and Nomura stay dead!" Then how about they don't kill them for shock factor in the first place? Have Strickler badly injured instead, because by god Barbara deserves some happiness. And think of the potential scene of her treating his wounds, and the two of them think about how things have changed since that visit to trollmarket when they were both hurt. About how Strickler stuck around, and when Barbara thought she'd lost him it scared her. How she's sick of almost losing everyone she cares about. She could talk a bit about Jim's dad then too, and it could be revealed that Jim was outside because he was going to check on them, but stopped when he realized they were talking. And then later on, he asks about his dad, admitting he overheard, and we get that conversation they had in the movie. And if you keep the Nomura sacrifice, give her more of a moment ffs. Like, she deserved better! Have the death be a sacrifice to save someone else instead of just "oops I got caught and I'm in the sun now". Make it deliberate. Make it her decision after a life of serving others. Finally, she got to be the one in control of her fate, and she chose to protect the people she cared about.

There's so much more I could say about this and the potential that was killed by the lack of time, but this is getting long and I should probably try actually doing the work I need to do today.

Edit (Because this just popped in my head and I need to add it).

THEY WERE LITERALLY AROUND THE ROUND TABLE! THE NINTH CONFIGURATION (which like, screw that there are more than 9 heroes here to save the day) WERE THE NEW KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE. They were there to protect the world, and like... did the bond between Lancelot and Steve just not exist anymore? Did that get timeline erased too? Could you imagine Steve fighting to protect the world, doing his best to protect the people he cared about so that he never loses someone like he lost Lance again? He gets to keep his promise to carry on the legacy of the Knights even after they died. THE POTENTIAL WAS THERE!!! THE SET UP WAS THERE!!! BUT NO! WE GET MPREG STEVE INSTEAD!!

[ct-multifandom]

MLB ideas/hopes/predictions/prompts

Bunnix using her umbrella to fly like Mary Poppins

Ladybug coming up with an overly convoluted Rube Goldberg machine type plan with her lucky charm, but not having some of the components, so she just sends Pegasus to the store in the middle of a battle

Characters who are close slowly finding out about each other’s superhero identities in funny ways

Pigella picking up something massive and like 10x heavier than her and chucking it

I really want one of these heroes’ tools to be a comically large anime-style weapon, but alas I don’t think they’d do it

Season finale boss fight featuring all the new heroes, which is totally gonna happen at some point, but it would look really busy on screen to have them all running around at once, so I’d split them into smaller teams based on their skills to carry out specific parts of Ladybug’s Epic 36-Step Plan™️. It would make for a satisfying “oh yeah, it’s all coming together” montage and also give us some unique character interactions.

Ladybug picking unique combo teams of new heroes based on their skills to fight specific strong villains

Alya starting a school paper and getting the whole team in on it. I love the episodes where the class does one big project together, they’re so cute.

Someone/a group getting akumatized on purpose to disobey Hawkmoth and take advantage of their akuma’s power for a noble goal

Episode from the POV of a boring background character detailing how the life of the average Parisian is affected by LB and CN. Unreliable scheduling, monster traffic jams, the sheer embarrassment of getting got by an akuma...

I want an animal to get akumatized. Someone’s dog who feels lonely when their favorite human gets a new, demanding job and turns into a terrifying Cerberus beast or something.

Mayor Bourgeois allocates some taxpayer dollars into a LB bank account to support her, and she has to make the very important decision on whether to save it for a real emergency or buy 17 hamburgers.

Okay part of me doesn’t want to make kwami/future hero predictions in case I accidentally come up with something way cooler than what will really happen and then be disappointed, but the other part of me is like hee hoo predikshun. So don’t expect these to actually happen lol.

I won’t talk about Multimouse because we kinda know everything about her, but she looks cute and it’s nice to see two heroes who aren’t super skinny.

The silhouette of Minotaurox in the intro doesn’t offer a lot of insight other than his epic horns. I have no idea what his tool might be. His costume looks to be pretty simple/practical, though, which is in line with Ivan’s character. I heard a theory that his power will be increasing in size, and it makes sense looking at Stoneheart and the pattern of flipping the characters’ flaws on their head, but that sounds kind of boring to me, especially compared to all the other creative abilities.

Tigresse’s silhouette makes me think her design will be awesome. Her tail looks like it might be her tool. It kind of resembles Amethyst’s whip from SU so maybe she can use it to grab things like Ladybug does with her yo-yo. I heard a theory that her power will be invisibility which I support because it takes the flaw that turned Juleka into Reflekta (wanting to be invisible out of insecurity) and makes it powerful like the stealth of a tiger.

From the silhouette, Caprikid looks a bit like a beginner’s Trollhunters cosplay, but I’m sure he’ll be cool. I’ve seen people argue whether he’s Nate or Marc and I’m positive he’s Marc (making Nate CC) so if anyone asks for an explanation I’ll make the comprehensive post on why. He’s holding his tool, and I’ve seen debate over which direction it’s in. If he’s holding it pointed up it looks like a giant calligraphy brush, but I think he’s holding it pointed down and the “brush” is just a decoration on the end. I’ve heard a theory that it’s a shepherd’s cane which is my favorite one. Personal idea here: I’d make his power telekinesis. Pretty basic, but I can imagine it being very useful for the type of scenarios we see in the show without it being OP. I like the idea of using a cane to “shepherd” something through the air. This could reflect Reverser’s desire for control, but flip it to be more collected and useful.

I fully support Coq Courage’s ninja pants, they are simply Correct. It’d be cool if his tool was a bow and arrow, and that seems like a pretty popular theory. The shape to the left of his torso looks like it might be a quiver but it’s probably just his other arm. Thumb rings are used in archery, but what little we’ve seen of the miraculous (disguised on Marinette and Chloe) shows a different type of ring. Still tho. Also get ready for my crazy never-gonna-happen idea: the bow can turn into a hang glider. Roosters can fly, but not super well/freely, which could translate to gliding. It’d add some versatility to the way the heroes move around since a lot of the temporary ones can only run, and it would let him reach places LB might not be able to. I’ve heard a theory that his power will be supersonic voice which could contrast how Nathaniel is bad at communicating and quiet until he gets mad and blows up.

Orikko might be the kwami of illumination. Roosters are associated with the sun and Evillustrator’s power was sourced from light. At first I thought his transformation words might be “sunrise” and “sunset” but someone said the activation code could be “rise and shine” which sounds awesome.

Traquemoiselle, believe it or not, is actually in the intro, she’s just hidden at the very top and only a snippet of the head is showing. All we know is that she has round dog ears. Barrk is surprisingly one of the more fleshed-out kwamis as of now, having a few solid lines of characterization in Furious Fu. Kwamis are usually yin-yang to their holder, so Barrk fits Sabrina perfectly, being loyal yet independent while Sabrina is loyal and an absolute doormat. No clue about her tool. Her power is kinda in the name: tracking. Maybe she can track down some one specific thing of her choice, but maybe she can sniff out akumas. As seen in Dark Owl and Gang of Secrets, Hawkmoth can be creative with akuma placement, so she can probably save the team from some close calls.

I have no theories for the transformation words of the other kwamis. Ziggy or Stompp could include “horns” or “charge” and Roaar “stripes” but I can’t think of any phrase including those words that isn’t too similar to an existing one. There are some phrases based on powers, though, not the animal. Or maybe they’ll just give up and give us another iteration of “Sass, scales slither”.

I think the theme for one of these remaining new heroes might be “assertion”. A lot of them struggle with that as their civilian selves, and the animals that are left can all be associated with independence/dominance, not that the animal traits always play into what the heroes are.

Ok last one, long one: in season 3, Luka’s main traits were “cool and nice” which doesn’t make for an interesting, complex major character, and at first he seemed like the perfect love interest, but from an outside perspective the extent of his kindness is kind of disturbing. I’m hoping they can flip this around and turn it into a character flaw where he has practically no boundaries, and it turns into a problem. Maybe he could agree to run random errands for the background characters for nothing in return, and at first it’s just him being nice, but later people start seeing his help as an obligation. They get peeved when he’s unavailable one day and get akumatized into a “boss rush” of classic akumas, effectively trapping and forcing him to help them. Then Tigresse Pourpe comes and helps save the day, expanding on Juleka and Luka’s relationship. The resolution can teach kids that putting yourself first isn’t necessarily selfish, and that sitting back and letting people take advantage of your kindness isn’t heroic.

There’s probably some stuff I forgot which I can put in a different post later, but lmk if you want a separate post about any of these things in more detail! This was just me rambling out all my new hyperfixation thoughts. Also if anyone uses any of the hypotheticals/scenarios as a prompt I’d love to see it.

[magic-and-moonlit-wings]

Things I hope we learn in ‘Wizards’

Steve’s mom’s name. 

Tales of Arcadia has focused on Steve growing to accept Coach Lawrence as a father-figure while leaving Steve’s relationship with his mother off-camera, except for that one scene where they were arguing inside while the camera watched the outside of their house. Coach Lawrence’s relationship with Mrs Palchuk (or has she gone back to her maiden name? I don’t know, because she is never named) is also kept off-camera. 

Steve is seen in promo images for the new series, so there’s acceptable odds his mom will at least be mentioned. 

(Of course, I thought that about 3Below, too ...)

Nomura’s full name. 

The fandom uses ‘Zelda’ as her first name a lot - I’ve heard that it started with somebody putting said name on a fandom wiki; I started using it because she was called that in so many fanfics I assumed there was a canon source I hadn’t seen yet - but there is no canon source for it. In the show, end credits, spin-off novels, and spin-off comics, she’s only ever ‘Nomura’ or ‘Ms Nomura’. 

Nomura is not in promo images for the new series, so this may be left unknown. 

What inspired AAARRRGGHH to change sides. 

The comics show the moment it happens, but frame it as an impulse decision in the middle of a battle, which is kind of unsatisfying for a major turning point in a main character’s life. A bit of set-up, please, besides “it has to happen because we already know it does happen”? 

Promo images imply that the new series will include scenes from before the Battle of Killahead Bridge, so hopefully AAARRRGGHH’s redemption arc backstory will be fit in somewhere. 

What the blue stone in the Amulet is.

It also seems to be the stone in Douxie’s staff on the poster, so it’s obviously important. Was it in the staff before and taken out to make the Amulet, or is it taken from the Amulet (since Jim’s only using the slotted half of it anyway) to make the staff, or are there two stones of that size and shape and colour and glow?

Whether Not Enrique is still going by ‘Not Enrique’ or has a new name.

Like Nomura, he isn’t in the new promo images, and so may not actually feature in the new series. If he does appear, I hope someone addresses him by name, so we can learn what he’s calling himself now.

Alternately, Claire could mention him while talking about her family.

What Troll!Jim looks like without armour.

How fluffy he is, what new outfit he’s chosen or if his old sweatshirt and jeans magically still fit him, whether the different number of fingers on each hand is permanent or if that was just to re-use the gauntlet animation model and he actually has four-digit hands on both sides when the armour is off, that kind of thing.

What Deya the Deliverer was like.

Promo images imply that the new series will include scenes from before the Battle of Killahead Bridge, so she should at least have a cameo appearance. She appears in the spin-off comics but that’s not the same. Animation and voice acting give different impressions than illustrations and speech bubbles.

As a bonus, I’d like to see how she locked the Bridge to only open for the Amulet, since it’s implied that before she did that, the Gumm-Gumms had control of that portal.

(I’m actually in two minds about whether ‘more Deya’ is something I want, because it could turn into a “never meet your heroes” scenario, but I’m willing to take the gamble.)

What year the Battle of Killahead took place. 

I feel like there’s a pretty good chance of this question being answered. It’ll be useful for composing timelines and working out how old to make characters. 

How old Nana Domzalski is.

As pay-off to her line in 3Below about spying in World War 1 (when World War 2 would’ve made more sense given the show’s time period and the average human lifespan), she might turn out to be immortal or otherwise long-lived.

How AAARRRGGHH knows what a ‘Familiar’ is in the context of ‘wizard assistant/associate’ rather than ‘human linked to a Changeling as an anchor for said Changeling to take on human shape’, which would be the context in which he was more likely to encounter that word before, considering his species and backstory. Are all Changelings considered wizards or something?

Who the first Trollhunter was and when they got the job.

According to one of the spin-off novels, there’s been a Trollhunter for at least 5,200 years. That may not be all that long in a trollish reckoning of time, but is still further back in history than Camelot is typically described, so this may or may not be addressed. 

[wizardouxie]

Kindergarten Douxie pretending to be a waiter when Jim is over with his kitchen toy thing. It is very adorable. High school teacher Douxie after the Eternal Night helping Krel and Aja. Maybe what High school teacher Douxie did during the D’aja vu episode? Here’s some ideas.

Order Up

Kindergarten Douxie having the time of his life with his kitchen toy kit and forcing everyone to sit at the table so he can be their waiter and serve them his food.

Said food consists of those plastic toy vegetables and fruits, alongside a dish of play dough mashed potatoes. Depending on whether it’s at Merlin’s place or Jim’s, there could be some acrylic paint for sauce as well.

Blinky and Aaarrrgghh indulge the child by actually eating what’s on their plate, since such objects are edible to them. The delight on Douxie’s face is priceless and Toby makes sure to capture it on his phone.

Eternal Night

I’d say he’d be with the original trollhunters during Eternal Night but let’s imagine he gets separated from them momentarily. He finds Aja and Krel with Zadra and tries to cast magic at her, thinking she’s a special kind of Gumm-Gumm. Aja and Krel have to quickly convince him that she’s with them. Both his eyebrows raise and he apologizes immediately. She nods and says they have to get back to Mother.

Now, Douxie has no idea who Mother is, but since all the roads leading to Jim and the others are blocked as of now, the only thing he can do is help the people he’s with now.

This leads them to witness Varvatos taking off with Zadra’s ship and crashing into Mother. Douxie, after clarifying that Varvatos is on their side (really confusing since Aja calls him a traitor), uses his magic to cushion the commander’s fall and joins Stuart to help recover him.

Unfortunately by the time they reach there, he’s gone. Douxie grimaces and hopes that he didn’t accidentally send the Akiridion to limbo...

D’aja Vu

Similar to how Jim’s trollhunter amulet protects Jim, Douxie’s magic cuff shields him from forgetting and he begins to question why he is going through the same day over and over again. Jim explains what he knows and points to Aja, another student of his. At this time Douxie doesn’t know that Aja is an Akiridion, but he had a feeling she was special.

The episode goes as it should, but it’s Douxie who is the one to teach Aja patience. It fits well because he knows exactly what it’s like. Merlin had always advised against hastiness much to the younger wizard’s displeasure, but as time passed Douxie realized just how helpful that would be in his life.

One twist to this episode: Douxie still remembers everything. Turns out the magic stored in his cuff was enough to still protect his memories, unlike Jim’s amulet and Aja’s serrator.

The episode ends with him enchanting Shannon’s volcano project so it would not break.

[hamliet]

Tales of Arcadia: Wizards

Or, that time (heh) I took a deep breath and plunged into time travel trusting in Guillermo del Toro’s storytelling skills. 

I dislike time travel in stories; I think that’s not news if you’ve been around here for long. And I will say I had qualms about how Wizards portrayed it: it did have confusing elements, and so I had to turn my brain off for that. However, thematically it tied into the characters’ arcs and the overall themes of the story of not just Wizards, but of Tales of Arcadia as a whole. For example, 3Below addressed children paying for their parents’ mistakes and history, and as Claire (and to an extent, Jim) were major players in Wizards, it ran the risk of repeating elements--but it avoided doing so. 

I was nervous about Claire and Jim’s roles, since I felt they completed their arcs in Trollhunters, but the story didn’t take away from those arcs at all: they expanded them in beautiful ways, thereby emphasizing how characters keep growing. Claire, for example, got to reconcile with her shadow in an even more fulfilling way than in the beginning. I suspect a lot of people were disappointed with Jim’s ending; I actually found it very fitting and a perfect place for him to begin a film. 

To continue to discuss character arcs... great parental characters has been a recurring element in all three series, which is highly unusual for a middle grade series. Like, look at Avatar or Korra. Good parents don’t usually make for great stories, but Tales of Arcadia works around that by having the parents be majorly flawed even if supportive, and through giving the parental figures their own arcs that are complementary to the kids’ arcs and thereby equally compelling. From Varavatos Vex to Barbara Lake to Merlin to Charlemagne, they’re all excellently crafted arcs. 

I disliked Merlin straight through episode eight (I think my comment here sums up my opinion of him). But by the end of episode eight? I was crying for him and for Douxie. His final words to his apprentice/son were perfect and beautiful, and his mention from the afterlife of how Douxie refused to sacrifice one for the many or many for the one because he believed “every life was precious” pretty much sums up the overlying theme of all three series. 

To continue to expand on how Wizards explores that theme, I’ll talk about Morgana. I loved her as a female villain (voiced by the excellent Lena Headey, who is none other than Cersei Lannister; I’m glad they gave Lena a role with a satisfactory arc this time). Their exploration of her character, from her fall into villainy to her eventual reconciliation with Claire, her sheer complexity--it was brilliantly written, and genuinely moving. It also continued the motif of siblings in each series (Claire and Not!Enrique, Krel and Aja, Morgana and Arthur), and demonstrated the highs and lows of sibling love. 

On to a different sort of love... unlike Trollhunters (which has Jim/Claire, Toby/Darcy, and Strickler/Barbara), and 3Below (which has Aja/Steve and Krel/Mary), Wizards doesn’t have a clear central romance, which was a shame as the series generally does a fantastic job with selling their ships. Douxie and Nari’s relationship does have some set up, but as for whether it goes romantic or sibling-esque, we shall see; there’s also Zoe, who seems fairly underutilized given her appearances in two series. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Zoe is a major player in the upcoming movie (and hope for it). I also think Steve is set up to play a major role in the movie: Jim is the obvious candidate to remove Excalibur from the stone, but the ending of Wizards seemingly rejected that possibility, and it would do his character arc few favors. However, Steve has the set up as a knight-in-training, and he’s the one who has had a long-running arc through all three series thus far. 

Like the previous two series, the alchemical imagery in Wizards is on point, from green symbolizing violence to philosopher’s stone imagery to the structure of the story. I can’t wait to see Rise of the Titans. 

[gotmilk5101520]

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia Watch Episode 4 Gnome Your Enemy

And gnome yourself.so you never forget rehearsal.

“For centuries, the troll and human worlds stood separate and at peace, divided by bridges that acted as doorways between our two realms”

“But the Gumm-Gumms wanted to devour all of mankind”

“They were led by Gunmar the Black”

“The rest of trollkind fought against him, culminating the great Battle of Killahead Bridge, the portal to Gunmar’s Darklands”

“After many moons, good triumphed over evil”

“And our great Trollhunter, Deya the Deliverer, locked Gunmar away, exiling him to the Darklands”

“And sealed the Killahead Bridge with the sacred amulet. After we tore it apart, stone by stone”

“We left the old world in search of peace. We stowed away on a ship called the Mayflower”

“Just a handful of us and gnomes we’d brought along for companionship and nourishment”

“Finally, we arrived in a strange and exotic realm” “New Jersey”

“We kept walking”

“Eventually, we came across a new Heartstone”

“And we realized we had found a new home... Under Arcadia” Random backstory. Also Wizards might want to have a few words about this.

There are two types of people.

"¡Lo siento, Sr. Draal! ¡No me mates!" I suck at Spanish, but thanks to ToA wiki this translates to “I’m sorry, Mr. Draal! Don’t kill me!”

“For these precious early steps will decide whether a young Trollhunter will become”

“a Deya the Deliverer”

“Or Unkar the Unfortunate” Translation: “Will Jim be remembered was great or bad”

Also they fixed Unkar’s arm from last episode.

“I recommend A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore by the venerable Bedehilde. Volume 1 of 47″ Can we get the manga versions? I can read them if they were mangas.

“Oh, no. Is it the Heartstone?”

“No! No!”

“Stalkling?”

“Is Bular in Trollmarket?”

“No! Gnome!”

“Rogue gnome!” Bular? No. Gunmar? no. Gnomes are the real problem.

This is still a kids show. Right?

“Why? He can’t be that bad”

“Oh, no! My belt!”

“At least he didn’t take my Nougat Nummy”

“We need to catch that gnome” Belt gone? Oh well. Nougat Nummy gone? Get him.

“Over there!”

“Oh! Over there!”

“No! Over here!”

“Right here”

Sonic the Gnome.

“Oh, no. Where’s the amulet?

“Oh, no!” And now to rename this series to Gnomehunters.

I’m Jim when moving things, and my sister is Aaarrrgghh.

“Come back, come back”

“Shouldn’t the amulet be coming back to me right about now?”

“Dolefully, that rule only applies if you’ve rejected it”

“When thieved, it’s another story” But, why? That makes no sense. Look at the Miraculous. They can be used anyone. If stolen, then they can’t go back to their holders, they have a new holder. But the Amulet of Daylight, which chooses it’s owner, can get stolen in the blink of an eye and it won’t go back to the owner? What the fuck?

“What else can i do? I can’t fit in that hole” That’s what she said.

“You broke my tooth. I’m going to break your life”

“When i’m through with you, you’re going to-” “Is that Diary of a Wimpy Kid?” “Wait what? No. This is you!” “No that’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid”

“And, by the way, i know Steve is a jerk, like a really big jerk. Okay, what does Aja see in him?” “He’s a himbo. She likes himbos” “Oh, that makes sense”

“But there are better ways to finish a fight than punching someone in the face. You should’ve fought him in a alley, alone, and if he dies you need to get rid of the body. But don’t worry i know a few places to get rid of a body so no one can ever find it” “Uh... What are we talking about again?” “Uh... See you at rehearsal!”

“So, what was that all about?” “I don’t know. I think Claire said something about a body?”

“Whoa. Did you hear what Claire said?. But who’s body was she talking about?” “What do Aja and i see in you?” “Said something?”

We interrupt Trollhunters to bring you Night at the Museum.

“Full disclosure, i’m a little worried how i let you talk me into this” Ain’t that a mood.

“So, how does me going into this thing help me get a gnome out of a hole”

“If a gnome won’t come out, the Trollhunter must go in” That’s what she said.

Honey, i shrunk the Trollhunter.

“I can’t be shrunk! I have exams to take!”

“I have sinks to reach!” Shit i have sinks to reach too. Oh well.

“Nothing in this world makes sense” Our world never made any sense.

This is not creepy at all. Okay yeah, it is. Remind me, how is this a kids show again?

Gnome pencil sharpeners.

New meme template.

“You touched my hat, prepare to die!”

It was at this moment he knew; he fucked up.

“And what about this shrinking stuff? When does it wear off?”

“Don’t worry. Sleep it off. By morning, you’ll be as good as new” They always say that, and it never happens.

“All that is left is for you to take care of it”

“Wait, what? Take care of it?”

“Rule number 2″

“Always finish the fight”

“And by “Finish””

“Deaden. End. Le Coup de grace”

Finish him!

“Neither of us are killers”

“I am”

“You are?”

“Detective Snuggles. Nana warned me not to leave my chocolate lying around”

“But it was just after Easter, and i had pulled in a big haul”

“I never thought that cat would find my stash”

“But he did. And by the time i found him, it was too late”

“Death by chocolate”

“There are worse ways to go”

“That wasn’t the worst of it”

“I never had the heart to tell Nana, so to cover up the murder”

“I used to eat his cat food just to make it look like he was still around”

“And i liked it” What a sad, yet funny, but also scary story.

“By morning rise, the dark deed will be done and my soul will be damned” Wait did he just say damned?

Well, Jim slept with a girl. Only downside it’s not Claire.

“Oh, no! School!”

“We have to call you in sick”

“Tell them you ate too much chocolate. That always works”

“No, Senor Uhl can sniff out a lie a mile away” So is he related to Tanjiro?

“¡Hola! Sorry i couldn’t be en escuela, Senor Uhl, but i just tested on Covid and waiting for the results”

“No, no... no need to fight at home”

“Ponce de Leon joined Columbus in the New... New-”

“What in the world?” That’s my reaction to world events.

Sonic the Gnome 2

“It’s happening!”

“What’s happening?”

“It’s happen” “High five!”

“Internet connections, am i right? Gotta go. Bye!”

“Is this the part where Jim becomes Half Troll?” “No, no it can’t be. Claire doesn’t know yet” “Steve, did you just say something smart?”

“We can keep him? Jim, i already have a name”

“Gnome Chompsky” “Not going for Sonic the Gnome?” “Nah, we’ll get sued”

“Two crises averted it’s not like you get to rehearse these things” I feel like we’re forgetting something.

“Oh, no! Rehearsal!” Oh yeah. Fuck.

“Oh, Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou, Romeo?”

“Shall i hear”

“Shall i hear more”

“Or shall i speak at this”

“Oh, Mr. Lake!”

“Your repeated tardiness has forced me to take precautions. Mr. Palchuk will now serve as your understudy”

“I told you i was going to break your life!” “Okay first off, your drawing looked like something out of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and second i thought you meant my Trollhunting life!” “Why would i want your Trollhunting life? I could die” “You do realize Romeo and Juliet dies at the end, right?” “Wait what?” “Yes, they do., Everyone knows this” “I don’t want to be here anymore” “Too late!”

“Hey! What are you doing in here?”

“You were followed?

“Of course not. I brought you a midnight snack”

And with that, Night at the Museum comes to an end.

Well, let’s not go to the museum at night.

Wait we’re going there tomorrow? Crap.

[queenangst]

Uh,, I don't really know what to say to make a good impression but I just wanted to say that I like the 'dont think; become' quote you have on your blog?? Can I ask what inspired it?

“don’t think; become” is from the animated show, Trollhunters (which is part of a larger animated series called Tales of Arcadia. 3Below, the second installment, has two seasons out.) it’s said by one of my favorite characters, Blinky, to the main character Jim in the beginning episode(s?) of the show, but at a point where Jim is very uncertain whether or not he’s fit to be the Trollhunter, like he was chosen to do.

later on, Jim delivers Blinky’s monologue, but this time when he says it he really believes it. 

it’s one of my favorite lines from the show, and Trollhunters is one of my favorite shows. it means a lot— don’t think... become. in my description you’ll see another line from that speech: fear is but the precursor to valor.

Destiny is a gift. Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valour, that to strive and triumph in the face of fear, is what is means to be a hero. Don’t think. Become!

it’s incredibly moving and inspiring. and best of all, it was delivered by the late anton yelchin, who voiced jim before his [anton’s] death. in the third season, they tried to preserve as much of anton’s performance as possible, and casted a new voice actor (who did a wonderful job), but anton was the guy who really knew jim, understood his character, and brought a hero to life on screen. and so i also remember the quote because in the last episode of Trollhunters, in season 3 at the very end, they play Anton’s version of that speech again—telling us to find strength, to be a hero; and not to think, but to become.

(check out my trollhunters tag! i yell about it, a lot whenever someone dares ask me)

[undignifiend]

5 am ramblings (’Cursed Sun’ Trollhunters AU - On Decimaar)

I'm thinking this Cursed Sun AU Eldritch!Gunmar doesn't use Decimaar's mind-control power all that often, if ever. Not out of the kindness of his heart, but because it's not his idea of practical, and he can be kind of pompous when it comes to that.

Some voice keeps whispering that Decimaar was used against Gunmar during Orlagk's reign. It didn't quite work on him, though, because he doesn't exactly have a soul to steal - at least not in the usual sense. But it was enough to render him a mind-slave in the beginning, before he could work out how to break free and take Orlagk down with all the wrath of whatever abyss he came from.

With his innate mind-abilities he can't control others, but he can pseudo-hypnotize them, show them his perspective, experience theirs in turn, enter and influence dreams, convey sensations, and communicate through limited telepathy with those whose minds are familiar enough to him. In linking their minds, Decimaar gave Gunmar a back door directly into Orlagk's. He used this to break free of control and challenge the Oppressor, but as a self-imposed test of strength and rite of passage, he refused to fully exploit it until just before he delivered the killing-blow. Gunmar earned the name "Skullcrusher" twice over - once for obliterating the mind within said skull, and twice for stomping it after.

He took Decimaar to keep it out of anyone else's hands, and as a trophy to show off what he overcame. As a mind-based weapon, Decimaar fits like a lost piece of himself, but he's too prideful to think he needs it. He's strong enough to get what he wants without it - his victory over Orlagk proved that, and the loss of his eye, he likes joke, is "a constant reminder to keep perspective." In his mind, to rely too heavily on any power that isn't innately his - as Orlagk did - is to tempt him to take the easy path, and in so doing, turn that power into a fatal weakness.

He'll use it as a convenient and intimidating physical weapon, but it's no substitute for winning hearts and minds. And stealing them, he has learned from personal experience on the other side, is the fastest way to lose them.

Besides, what with the whole Cursed Sun issue, (it's actually a giant Heartstone turned toxic to trolls by humans who had enough of getting eaten by said trolls), this Gunmar absolutely hates thieves. But he still won't use Decimaar's Touch on them. Despite his own sense of principles, he's still an absolute villain, and he relishes the challenge of sussing out someone's greatest desires, fears, and weaknesses, and torturing them with their own, personalized Worst Fate Imaginable. On short notice, though, a blood eagle will suffice.

Another layer of this has to do with a deep need for loyalty and willing service, which mind-control strips all the meaning from. He was literally born as a dark omen, a subject of terror even among trollkind. And as much as he enjoys the fear he inspires, he's still very much a troll, and an inherently social creature. He's aware that he has a weakness for those who would fight not only for his vision of restoring trollkind's birthright (ending the curse on the sun), but for a place for him in a world that regards him as an abomination with no right to be there. He'll carve his own place into it whether anyone likes it or not, but feeling genuinely wanted is the secret, forbidden fruit he’s been denied.

Of course, this also means he doesn't suffer betrayal lightly, and he knows when he's being flattered or bullshitted. Like canon Gunmar, he's very quick to express how much he hates that.

[im-the-king-of-the-ocean]

7, 8, 9, 12, and 15 for Galadrigilake?

7. What annoys them the most about their partner? Would they change it if they could?

What annoys Barbara the most about Blinky is how he can sometimes get lost in a riddle, puzzle, or problem and only focus on that for hours (kind of like he spent so much time thinking on his torch thingy when they went into the Darklands that he lost it, if I recall correctly).  To Barbara, a lot of things Blinky gets stuck on are relatively minor and can be put aside for later, but Blinky just won’t let it go until he’s settled it.

Barbara is torn on whether or not she’d change this aspect of Blinky.  On the one hand, it leads to a lot of personal frustration for her.  On the other, she does admire Blinky’s determination, so there’s that.

What annoys Blinky the most about Barbara is how she can be dismissive or downplay things that are bothering her (to the point of being passive aggressive or her bad habit of giving the silent treatment).  He’s perceptive enough to pick up when something’s bothering her (even if there’s a lot he still doesn’t know about humans), and will try to bring it up with Barbara, only for her to brush his concerns aside.  Blinky gets frustrated because ‘no, I can see this is clearly bothering you despite you trying to say the opposite and if you’d simply talk about it, we could work things out, but you won’t even do that.’

Yes, Blinky definitely would try to change this aspect of Barbara.  He’s put a lot of effort into trying to get her to understand she can open up to him.

.

8. What do the like best about their partner?

Barbara likes Blinky’s kindness and how he became a ‘troll dad’ to Jim before she ever knew about Trollhunting or any of that.  She doesn’t necessarily like the whole training to be a warrior part, but she does appreciate that Blinky did try to be there for Jim.

Blinky likes how Barbara is one to actually listen attentively to his stories, not fall asleep during them, and ask questions afterwards.  Also, how she seems to enjoy spending hours reading and/or researching with him in his library (she’s curious to learn about trolls and thirsty for knowledge and he has a lot to give there).

.

9. Do they discuss big issues? Religion? Marriage? Children? Death?

Blinky brings up religion, as he’s learned a lot about the various human traditions over the years, and he’s curious to know what the Lakes celebrate.  He’s rather disappointed to find they aren’t very religious, but finds their New Year’s celebrations utterly delightful.

They assume the role of a married couple before ever being married.  That’s just how Barbara and Blinky fit together.  Neither considers marriage a big priority for their relationship, but they do eventually decide to have a ceremony anyway.

Glances at my current big WIP, which revolves around them having a child…so his name’s Arthur.

Though I also think I created a different Galadrilake child back in 2018.  I have a sketch of her somewhere in one of my sketchbooks, I think, but I’d have to go looking.  Also I completely forget her name.

Anyways, yes, they have kids.

Blinky worries about outliving Barbara, to the point where he started looking into ways to extend her life (which pushed him into dabbling into dark magic).  In a fluffy au, he eventually realized this wasn’t a good idea and stopped before it was too late.  In an angsty one, he never stopped, corrupted himself beyond recognition, and drove Barbara away in fear.

.

12. Is there a wedding? What was the proposal like? Any kind of honeymoon?

Neither finds a wedding strictly necessarily.  They know they love each other and that’s enough for them.  However, Blinky is Elder of Trollmarket and eventually they come to realize it may be a good idea to have a public ceremony as a way of symbolically joining the human and troll worlds.

Both the proposal and the wedding are very public affairs that exist more as Events for the Public rather than for Blinky and Barbara themselves.  However, at the end of their wedding, they announce they’re eloping and escape via gyre for their honeymoon.

.

15. How adventurous are they?

They both assume the other isn’t adventurous until they go on a gyre ride together for the first time and love it.  After that (and only when the kids aren’t around), they tend to be extremely adventurous.

They break into Gatto’s Keep together to steal potions and then try them randomly until they figure out how to turn Blinky human temporarily again.

They travel all over the world, visiting both troll and human historical sites.

They tend to get into trouble and throw dvarkstones at it but always manage to come out the other end.

[ravenfirelair]

Okay, so let’s talk about the cartoon tv show 3 below for a bit and how the writing in season 2 kind of really suffers, particularly with this character….

Tronos madu, and why I’m so salty over his character death.  The backstory behind this character is that he is a bounty hunter from a war torn planet voltar and the reason he is after the royal children is to get revenge for the akiridions turning their backs on his alien race when they needed their help the most during the war, inturn it ended with the almost complete genocide of his alien race and almost entire destruction of his planet. So yeah, that a pretty good justified reason to want the royal family dead. His role in the show is at first he hunts down and attacks the royal children, but then ends up getting captured colonel kubritz and while he was being held captive at site area 49-B he makes a deal with kubritz to capture the royal children so he can have their cores and she gets their technology, but the deal goes bust after tronos tries to kill the royal children before kubritz can exploit them for the techology and kubritz ends up incapacitating tronos and locks him up in area 49-B again and tortures him. Then later an asteroid is about impact and destroy earth, the akiridions agree to work with colonel kubritz to destroy the asteroid before it hits earth, Krel builds a big laser gun to destroy the asteroid, but lacks a massive power source to power it and the only one who as a massive enough power source is tronos with his endless electrical lightning powers. Of course, tronos is like, why should I care? But after Aja talks to him that she found out what her parents did to his planet and agrees that was a real shitty thing for them to do. That she understands where he is coming from and willing to do better than her parents. This convinces Tronos to help them and they destroy the asteroid, but soon after kubritz betrays them and tries to capture the royal children and tronos again. Of course, krel saw this coming and planted a bomb on the giant laser gun. They use the explosion of the laser gun as a distraction to escape from the base. Tronos tries to escape, but at the last minute decides to help the akiridions escape and get revenge on kubritz, but he ends up getting captured AGAIN. And the akiridions make no effort to try to rescue him. They just end up leaving him behind. Like, seriously what the fuck? Real great way to just throw him under the bus. It’s like “ok, thanks for your help, but your still evil so will leave you with crazy military lady to torture you.” And furthermore, what was that speech aja said about being the better person when she just ends up abandoning tronos?  Like okay aja, you want to a better person, but you still kind of a piece of shit.

Then in the next episode, general Morando comes to area 49-B, confronts tronos is his captive cell and then just straight up kills him. And I’m just like WHY? Why build up this awesome villain character with a start of a redemption story arch only to kill him off in the few episodes we see him? And that’s not the worse part of it, later in the episode Aja gets stuck in area 49-B again and doesn’t even acknowledge or mention him at all. Yeah, real great way to forget about someone who just helped save the world and all that stuff you said about being the better person and you still turn out to be a shitty person. His death felt pointless. At least with the first villain alpha his character death made sense and fit well into the narrative of the story, he was a bounty hunter that no remorse in killing varvatos vax’s family and varvatos wanted to kill him to avenge his family, so alpha had it coming to him. But with tronos his death just seemed like a cop-out because the writers couldn’t figure out anything more to do with this character and make him fit into the story more, but really matter of fact there was a lot they could of done with him. Why not continue his redemption story arch to show he still has some speck of goodness in him? Maybe have him not wanting to kill the royal family anymore and join sides with the akiridions briefly to get revenge of kubritz? Or have the akiridions actually help rescue him from kubritz and they just part ways after that? Or maybe have him get injured while trying to escape from kubritz and goes to the akiridions for help? There were so many opportunities they could have done more with this character, but they choose not to.

I really like antagonist redemption stories, it shows a lot of character growth that the person is willing to overcome their past traumatic experiences and not let their past define them and work towards being a better version of themselves. I would have liked to see that struggle with tronos, was he willing to overcome the trauma of the destruction of his planet and let go of his grudge against the akiridions? Or was him working together with the royal children just a fluke and still wanted his revenge more than anything? Well, we never got any of that, so we will never know.  

And yeah, I did notice the similarities between tronos and angor wat from trollhunters, they both seemed like all around villain characters at first, only to later reveal that they had good justified reasons to do what they did even if it isn’t really morally right. Angor wat just wanted to save his people from war and get his soul back that he was tricked into sacrificing by morgana. Tronos just wanted to avenge his alien race for being left to die by the akiridions. And both characters never see full redemption because they get killed off beforehand. But also with the case of Strickler from Trollhunters, it proves that secondary villain characters can have a good redemption story arch while fitting well into the rest of the story. So why couldn’t tronos have the same thing?  

Oh, and all the stuff about the royal family abandoning the voltarians during the war when they needed help the most is never brought up again throughout the rest of the series, which is a shame because it puts into question the morals of the royal family and the reasons why they did what they did and whether the royal family is really purely good. So yeah, really didn’t like how this show handled tronos, his story was cut short too quickly just for the sake to quickly wrap up the rest of the story to the series final.  

[zealouschristian24]

Trollhunters:“Recklessly Changing” AU

I’ll be first to admit I suck at naming, and I really should come up with something better. Basically, the divergence for this idea is that the Fetch is discovered about 16 years before the start of the series, and Gunmar responds by ordering several replacements in quick succession. In more practical terms it means there are a few more Changelings scattered amongst the youth of Arcadia Oaks. Specifically, there are eight young Changelings at Arcadia Oaks High: Jim, Toby, Claire, Eli, Steve, Mary,Darci, and Shannon. They justify their meetings under the excuse that they are all part of a “Classics Club” endorsed by Strickler, either out of genuine interest, scholarship applications, or in order to salvage a falling grade. Of course, all is not well within the lives of these Changelings, as each is growing to question their place in the world:

• Jim is wrestling with issues on all sides of his life. He loves his mom, even if he feels guilty about having to lie to her about the “real” Jim, and as time goes on he’s becoming increasingly worried that the upcoming return of Gunmar and coming of Eternal Night will leave her with a place in the new order no higher than “slave” or, worse, “livestock”. And he’s not sure any of the Changelings will be safe in the new world order either; when Gunmar doesn’t need his infiltrators anymore will they end up as nothing but one big buffet? Recent events have given him a chance to perhaps fix things, but being bonded to the Amulet and being christened the Trollhunter would come with a host of problems even if he was just a normal human. He can’t rely on the mom he wants to keep in the dark, he has to pretend he's a normal, ignorant human to Blinky and the rest of Trollmarket, and he can’t rely on the fellow Changelings he’s come to view as the only ones who can understand what he’s going through because they’d likely regard him as a traitor, even if he’s doing it for them. Set upon on all three sides and without anyone to help him, Jim has to decide who he can trust if he doesn’t wish to fall.

• Toby’s issues center around the fact that, quite bluntly, he’s gone native and everyone knows it. He does well enough when asked to do things that he hasn’t been thrown under the bus or offended Bular yet, but at the same time he’s also worried about “his” Nana, and struggling with the morality of what they’re being called to do. (On a side note, I wonder if it might be interesting to make Changeling!Toby of Krubera stock?)

• Claire was willing to do what had to be done, even if she finds it hard to not think of herself as a parasite, a creature that takes away the life of another and claims love that doesn’t belong to them. But then Enrique was replaced without warning her, and now she’s stuck not only dealing with an amateur who lacks any sort of subtlety, her own feelings of guilt are rising to the surface. Do they really have the right to steal both of this couple’s children?

• Eli feels both uplifted and constrained by the Janus Order. On one hand, he has access to knowledge and records that the average human seeker of the strange would positively drool over, but at the same time, knowledge is guarded and controlled, turned towards the furthering of the Order’s power to bring Eternal Night, and not only are his other theories laughed at or ignored (Aliens are real, he’ll tell you, real!), the new world that Gunmar is bringing doesn’t seem like it’ll have much of a place for scholarship or things that fit outside one particular paradigm. And this is before getting into the question of whether Eli has the stomach to do some of the grizzly things the Order would have him do…

• Steve didn’t use to have qualms about the Gumm-Gumm cause. Humans are weak and pathetic, cringing cowards or arrogant jerks who lash out at those they think are less than them to deal with their own sense of inferiority (Palchuk has never been known for his skills at self-reflection in any universe). But the eviction of his human dad and the arrival of Coach Lawrence has started to change his way of looking at things, for all that he tries to fight it and honestly doesn’t comprehend what it is he’s feeling.

• Darci is feeling particularly claustrophobic. Her “dad” has always been overprotective and the arrival of puberty and the possibility of boys has sent him into an aggressive overdrive, which is pretty bad considering the sort of secrets she needs to keep. Her position as school mascot has provided a perfect outlet, a time when she doesn’t have to worry about keeping up appearances as a normal girl or as a member of the Janus Order, but can just be herself, a feeling she’s not all that used to. Still, she’s playing a very dangerous game; she’s already done one game wearing her true face under the mascot suit, and while the thrill was intoxicating, she knows that she’s getting a bit too loose with safety in the name of feeling okay. One wrong move and she could be in a lot of trouble…

• Mary would be disgusted if you suggested she and Domzalski had a lot in common, but she too has gone native, abet in a subtler way. She just wants to be a normal teenager, and doesn’t get why Eternal Night have to happen now. Heck, why does Eternal Night have to happen at all? Gunmar’s stuck behind the Bridge like most of the Gumm-Gumms, and while Bular and whatever sympathizers are around might be tough, they probably can’t handle a full human military. And while that’s a nuclear option considering what it might do to the Order, she still can’t see why they should help them. Why trade a world of smart phones and fast food and modern society for some rundown dictatorship in a bleak wasteland ruled by some overpowered thug? Mary knows no one would listen and keeps her voice down, but if someone offered a reliable way to change things, she would be all ears…

• Shannon… well, I’m not sure what to do with Shannon. We know so little about her compared to the others, so I might wait to see if we get a look into who she is in 3Below or Wizards. Still, from the small bit of hidden deviousness she displays (embezzlement?!) I feel comfortable suggesting she might be an outright polymorph in this AU.

• Strickler is left with a problem of his own. Despite his best efforts, he’s essentially a father to eight children to whom he’s grown attached. This has greatly increased his anxiety regarding the arrival of Gunmar and his desire to see Changelings strike out on his own, but at the same time he knows that that Bular would rip his head off given the chance, and without an option to escape all he thinks he can do is try to keep these children from getting themselves killed. And that’s before he finds himself interacting with Barbara enough to fall in love…

Ultimately, all nine find themselves caught between the cause to which they’ve been pledged and the good of “their people”, both human and Changeling. Torn between the Janus Order, Trollmarket, the Gumm-Gumms, and human society, will they be able to navigate towards a better tomorrow, or will they be destroyed by conflicting loyalties?

[earth-ambassador-jim]

Changeling Loyalties

Toby is quite happy with his life, but then the Amulet of Daylight just had to choose his human friend. What’s a changeling to do?

Good thing Toby never really liked Gunmar anyway.

Fanfiction - AO3

“Toby-pie!”

Toby quickly changed back into a human before Nana opened the door. It was really just a precaution. Her vision was so poor he could probably lie about in full troll form on the couch and she would remark on how his new outfit was so cute. He had never been quite bold enough to try it. Maybe next Halloween…

Toby threw all of his homework into his backpack and trotted out of his house and over to Jim’s. He got there as his friend emerged from the garage.

“We’re late for school, Jimbo,” He said.

“Sorry busy with the lunches,” Jim said.

Oh Toby knew. Even in human form he could smell the delicious sent of meatloaf. Why trolls wanted to eat humans instead of their cooking was always a mystery to him. Bular had probably gotten a bad donut or something.

Jim finished straightening up a garbage can. Toby snorted when he heard him grumbling about raccoons. Arcadia didn’t even have raccoons any more. It was no doubt one of the goblins. There were usually a few hanging around the Domzalski house.

Jim handed him a brown paper bag which he made a big show of smelling before listing off the ingredients. Jim had always been impressed by his ability to figure out the ingredients and often made more complex dishes in an attempt to stump him. He had yet to win.

“Hmmm. Balsamic mushrooms, meatloaf, chunky, sun-dried tomatoes aaaannd… cardamom! Taking a chance there, Chef Jim.”

Jim shook his head in amazement as he got on his bike. Before he could take off Toby grabbed his shoulder.

“Could we not take the canals?” He asked.

Jim’s brows furrowed as he turned back toward Toby.

“But it will save us five minutes.”

“I know, but I’m really not feeling that good today,” Toby said.

Kracka, a goblin that often stayed over, had told him that the Trollhunter and Bular were fighting under the bridge that morning. If there was any chance that the Trollhunter or, even worse, Bular was still around he did not want to risk running into one of them. The Gum-Gum would probably find Jim tastier than his cooking. He would no doubt eat Toby for good measure too.

Jim’s eyes widened with concern. He was always so trusting, Toby almost felt bad for the lies he fed him

“Are you sure you should go to school today? I could collect your homework for you?”

Tempting, but if he didn’t show up to history class Stickler would probably put him on Bular clean-up duty. He shuddered at the thought.

“No, I should be fine. I’m just worried that the canals will make me lose my breakfast,” Toby said as he mounted his bike. “Come on, let’s get going.”

It wasn’t until gym class that the problem made itself known. Toby and Jim were sitting in the room getting ready when suddenly Jim’s head jerked up like a dog that has heard its name called.

Toby stopped struggling with his socks to watch Jim look around with a puzzled expression.

“Something wrong?”

“Did you hear that, Tobes?” Jim asked still looking around.

“Hear what?”

“I thought someone was calling me?”

He trailed off, head tilted, a frown playing across his lips.

“There!”

Okay, now Toby was concerned… There was no way Jim would have been able to hear something Toby couldn’t. At least not now that he was paying attention. He finished pulling on his sock and jammed his shoe on.

“What are you…”

“James Lake.”

Toby yelped and backpedaled at the voice.

“So you did hear it!” Jim said triumphantly. “I think it’s coming from my locker.”

Jim opened the locker as Toby peered warily over his shoulder. Bright blue light hit their faces and Toby felt his heart drop down into the pit of his stomach. That was the Trollhunter Amulet.

“James Lake.”

The Trollhunter Amulet was calling Jim’s name. That was not good. That was the exact opposite of good. Toby could feel himself starting to sweat. His eyes darted around frantically. Fortunately they were the only ones in the locker room.

Jim was looking at it as if entranced. His hand started to drift toward it and Toby grabbed his wrist. Jim blinked and looked at him in surprise. Toby mentally cursed. He needed an excuse fast.

“I think that’s a prank. You should definitely not touch it.”

“A prank?”

“Yeah people do stuff like this all the time,” Toby forced a laugh. “They put something cool looking in a locker and then when you touch it there’s a trip cord and you get sprayed with all sorts of nasty stuff. It was probably Steve.”

Jim nodded with a frown.

“That does sound like something he’d do…”

“Great!” Toby clapped his hands together. “You get going to gym class and I’ll grab a teacher or someone to take care of this!”

“But…”

Toby pushed Jim toward the door.

“Don’t worry about it. It’ll give me a good excuse to be late. It won’t take long.”

“If you’re sure…” Jim reluctantly left the locker room.

Toby darted back to the locker. He needed to get rid of that thing. He reached for the handle and paused to take a few deep breaths. He had this. All he had to do was grab the amulet and give it to Strickler. It would score him some points in the older changeling’s eyes and Jim would stay uninvolved. Easy as pie. He opened the door to the locker…

It was empty. Toby growled and launched into a string of curses in trollish.

“Waaaacki?”

“Nope, go fish,” Toby said.

Kracka stared at him with narrowed eyes, his nose wrinkled slightly.

“Chet-wa?” He asked suspiciously.

Toby rolled his eyes.

“Of course I’m not cheating.”

After all he didn’t have the card Kracka asked for. It was hidden under the rug. There was a difference.

The front door slammed open. He quickly shoved the protesting goblin out the window before Jim came upstairs.

“Toby!” Jim burst into his room without knocking. “Look what was at my house!”

Toby froze at the sight of the amulet in Jim’s hand.

Jim, oblivious to his inner turmoil, continued on.

“It was just sitting on my bed when I got home. I have no idea how it got there. Maybe someone threw it in my window?”

“Maybe it’s another part of the prank?” Toby said hopefully.

“No, I doubt anyone would…”

The amulet pinged and Jim looked down at it with a puzzled expression. His eyes widened.

“Woah,” Jim breathed.

“What’s it doing?” Toby asked, trying to edge closer.

This was bad. He needed to get the Amulet away from the human as quickly as possible, before someone saw him with it and drew the wrong conclusions. They’d probably assume Toby was involved too. It wouldn’t be good.

Jim, oblivious as always, continued to scrutinize the amulet.

“The inscription on it just changed.” He rotated it in his hands. “It says:  ‘For the Glory of Merlin… Daylight… is mine to command’.”

The amulet pinged again and the air felt supercharged as if they were in the middle of a lightning storm. Toby could feel his hair standing up on end as objects around the room started floating. Several orbs of light shot out of the amulet and into Jim’s chest.

Toby watched helplessly as his friend floated into the air. Troll sized armor materialized around him and then he clashed down to the floor with a loud thud. For a second he stood there looking very awkward and then the armor shrunk down to fit him.

“Wow!”

Jim sounded awed and excited. He had no idea what this meant. No idea of the death sentence he had received. Toby’s stomach and heart clenched painfully.

There was another flash of blue light and the infamous sword Daylight appeared in Jim’s hand.  Toby flinched back and fell off the bed.

“Isn’t this awesome!” Jim was smiling like an overexcited puppy.

His blue eyes met Toby’s. Clearly he was looking for his friend to share in his elation. Toby shoved down his fear and horror and forced on a wide smile.

“This is so cool!” He said a little higher pitched than he really meant to. “You’re like some sort of warrior! You must have like a sacred duty or something.”

“I know right!”

He was going to get himself killed. He loved Jim but the kid had never been in a fight in his life. He lacked the aggression and drive necessary to be a warrior, let alone the Trollhunter. What was Merlin thinking?

He needed to think up something quickly.

The door slammed open again and he heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. Far too heavy to be human. Toby felt himself start to tremble. Bular had found out. He was toast. He was getting ready to throw himself out the window when the door opened and…

“Master Jim!”

That was definitely not Bular.

Jim screamed. Toby screamed. The strange six-eyed troll also screamed when Jim reflexively threw Daylight at it.

Jim attempted to run away and crashed into a wall going down with a clatter. Daylight vanished with a flash of light and the troll stopped screaming. Another troll, larger with shaggy green fur, appeared and started to force itself through the doorway. Toby contemplated whether or not it would be a good idea to transform and try to fight them off. Probably not… Aside from being outnumbered, the second troll was very big. If he transformed and they captured him…

“We mean no harm!” The four armed one was saying to Jim.

Jim stared at him from his spot on the floor. Judging by the way he was gasping he was very close to passing out.

“I am called Blinky and my large friend here is AAARRRGGHH!!!”

“Hi!” The big troll, now stuck half-way through the door, gave a little wave.

Blinky waited a few seconds, clearly expecting Jim to return the greeting. Unfortunately he was in no condition to do that so Toby decided to step in.

“What are you guys?” He asked.

He flinched when all the attention in the room shifted to him. A trickle of sweat ran down his neck as Blinky studied him. If they figured out what he was… He nearly let out a sigh of relief as the troll gave him a wide smile.

“Why we are trolls of course. Beings of stone and earth.”

“Cool. Cool. So what are you doing in my house?”

After the Trolls had finished explaining the amulet and Toby had convinced them to leave for the night, he sat down on the bed with a considerably less enthusiastic Jim.

“What do I do now?” Jim groaned covering his face with his hands. “I’m not ready to die. What if this Bular troll eats me? What will happen to Mom?”

Toby put an arm around his shoulder and Jim leaned into him. Toby sighed.

“We’ll figure something out.”

“We?” Jim looked up at him, his eyes already a little red and glistening.

“Of course,” Toby said and realized that he meant it.

Toby had grown up knowing he was disposable, worthless in the scheme of things. Nana loved him because she thought he was her grandson. Gunmar despised his kind and Bular would sooner eat him then look at him. The Janus Order only barely cared about another changeling and only if he was useful. Even Mr. Strickler, who knew him personally, would turn on him the moment it suited him. (He wondered sometimes if that was why he related to the goblins so much: No one cared if they lived or died either.)

Jim was different; Jim cared about Toby.  

He could be a complete mess and unable to even get out of bed and Jim would be there for him.

Something warm and solid settled in his chest.

“I’m with you to the end of the line. Whether you want it or not.”

“Thanks,” Jim breathed out and smiled at him.

Toby smiled back. He had something worth protecting here and, Gunmar be dammed, he was ready to fight for it.

Not sure if I’m going to continue this or not. For the moment I’m going to call it a oneshot, but I might come back to it in the future. I’m going for it!

Be sure to let me know what you think!

[magic-and-moonlit-wings]

Chapter 52: Adoption

Becoming The Mask

Bold italics are trollish. Although honestly, I'm thinking about doing away with them? At least in scenes where it's just trolls talking to each other and nobody is present who doesn't already understand trollish. And in scenes where multiple languages are in use, I could just indicate them with dialogue tags.

+=+

"Blinky," said AAARRRGGHH, "I want to talk. About Jim."

"Certainly. What about him?"

"Jim needs help. Support."

"… Do we not already support him as his trainers?"

"Not that kind, not for fighting and strategy. For … feelings. For belonging here."

"Support of a familial or parental nature, then."

"Yes. I think …" AAARRRGGHH trailed off, then started again. "Jim has a human family, but he is not human. Or, not only human?" Changelings were oddly in-between and AAARRRGGHH didn't know how exactly Jim thought of himself, species-wise. "Jim is a troll, too. So he needs a troll family, too. And deserves one."

"AAARRRGGHH." Blinky put his hands on AAARRRGGHH's forearm. "Are you absolutely sure you're not projecting? Thinking of things you wish you'd had when you joined us? Master Jim seems largely content with his relationships as they stand –"

"He's scared." No matter what exactly Jim was afraid of – Gunmar specifically or failure in general – he was definitely scared. "He needs support."

Maybe AAARRRGGHH was projecting, but – but he and Jim had both deserted the Gumm-Gumms, so AAARRRGGHH should have some idea how Jim was feeling about that, right? What the boy expected and feared for his future?

I can't afford to mess this up, Jim had said.

AAARRRGGHH wanted Jim to feel safe and welcome on Trollmarket's side, not convinced that rejection was looming if Jim didn't immediately and perfectly do everything asked of him.

"What did you have in mind, beyond what we're already doing?" Blinky asked.

+=+

"Master Jim." Blinky steepled his upper hands together and folded his lower arms behind his back. "AAARRRGGHH and I have been discussing your … place, within troll society. Namely, that you don't officially have one, outside your duties as Trollhunter."

Behind Blinky, AAARRRGGHH winced. Jim carefully did not.

"That isn't going to be acceptable in the long term."

Now AAARRRGGHH covered his face with his hand. "Blinky," he groaned.

"So, to that end … How would you feel about being adopted?"

Jim's jaw dropped. That was not the direction it had sounded like Blinky was going with this.

"By … you guys?"

"Yes," said AAARRRGGHH.

"It would present the widest range of options," said Blinky, "although it could be just one of us if you'd prefer."

Jim looked back and forth between them. AAARRRGGHH nodded.

"What exactly would this mean?" Jim asked.

"Well, first of all, you are not required to renounce any family you have already," Blinky assured him. "You would remain 'Jim Lake Junior, son of Barbara'. You would simply also have the options of introducing yourself as 'Jim, son of Aarghaumont' or 'Jim Galadrigal, son of Blinkous'."

Jim covered his mouth to hold in a laugh. Not only did he have access to Dictatious' library, now he was being offered use of Dictatious' family name? If the Dark Underlord's Counsel ever found out about this, there would be steam shooting out of his ears!

"You'd also be welcome to share our dwelling, should you choose to live in Trollmarket at some point, though of course you had a standing invitation to our dwell before this so that wouldn't change much," Blinky continued.

That was news to Jim, actually. He'd only ever been in their home with one of them there with him.

"Perhaps the most direct benefit is that, as members of your family, AAARRRGGHH or I would then have the right to intercede on your behalf in legal matters, such as if you were accused of a crime or offered some sort of contract."

"Like an adoption contract?" said Jim. Blinky chuckled.

"I suppose, yes."

"And what would my obligations be to you?" Where did they stand to benefit, other than potential 'legal intercession' if Jim tried to broker a business deal with someone? This deal sounded heavily slanted in Jim's favour.

"… You'd be expected to acknowledge us as your fathers, I suppose," said Blinky. "Adoptions are forged by mutual agreement unless the whelp is still too young at the time to understand what's going on."

"Family is … mew-chew-all care," AAARRRGGHH said. "You tell us, if hurt, or scared, or sad, and let us help."

Jim narrowed his eyes at AAARRRGGHH. Being vulnerable like that would be a heck of a concession.

Although, it wasn't like they were as good as Toby yet, at telling whether Jim was lying …

"I accept," Jim decided. "How do we, ah, seal the deal?"

+=+

Apparently trolls didn't have adoption papers. Jim was instead loudly reintroduced to various trolls around the marketplace – Bagdwella, Rot and Gut, Shmorkrarg, Tagaw, Neorbin, Plagsnork – as Blinky and AAARRRGGHH's son. The newly forged family was given many "congratulations" and one "whatever".

Krax seemed to be the only one concerned.

"You … do know humans don't tend to live more than a century?" he asked Blinky gently. "If that."

Blinky huffed and neatly sidestepped Jim's actual lifespan. "I assure you AAARRRGGHH and I discussed all possible concerns before approaching Jim."

Krax shook his head. "You're both braver trolls than I."

"Vendel!" cried Blinky, spotting the Elder across the pub. "AAARRRGGHH and I have exciting news!"

"You're finally getting married?" Vendel guessed dryly.

"Close!"

AAARRRGGHH nudged Jim forward. "Meet our son, Jim."

Vendel dropped his mug and coughed. He pounded on his chest a few times and cleared his throat. "I see."

"We've adopted him," said Blinky boastfully.

"Yes, I inferred as much," Vendel said. "Well, congratulations, I suppose." He gave Jim a little nod. "Welcome to Trollmarket, Jim Galadrigal."

"Thank you, Vendel."

+=+

The Soothscryer rumbled into position the moment Jim set foot in the Hero's Forge.

"Oh, sure, now you guys wanna talk to me."

He climbed the statue and put his hand in its mouth, which still unsettled him. The room around him went dark and blue, stars lighting the ceiling.

"Jim!"

Even if he'd heard that voice before, the happy tone would've made it hard to recognize. The Ghost Council was not usually pleased with him.

A spectral troll faded into existence and held out four arms as though for a hug.

"Welcome to the family, youngling!"

"What?"

"Blinkous hasn't gotten around to teaching you about me yet, and I'm sure Dictatious had the sense not to endanger himself mentioning a Trollhunter ancestor," the ghost said casually. "I'm your great-great-grandfather, Araknak Galadrigal. More famously known as Araknak the Agile. I was the Trollhunter after Maddrux the Many, I know you've heard of them."

"Uh, maybe?" The name sounded familiar but Jim couldn't place it.

"The Battle of Doomscavern," said another ghost, who didn't bother manifesting beyond a flicker of floating light.

"Oh, right." Jim had read that one out loud, months ago, for Blinky to test his trollish literacy (and deliberately messed part of it up so Blinky wouldn't realize how literate Jim was).

"I've been keeping an eye on my descendants as best I can, though the Amulet," said Araknak. "Very happy Blinkous decided to adopt you! If my parents' ghosts were in here, they'd be so excited. With that scholastic mind of yours, you were obviously meant to be a Galadrigal."

"Says the troll who became a warrior because he didn't think he was fit for academics," sneered another ghost light.

"Says the troll who became a warrior because he didn't think he was fit for academics," sneered another ghost light.

"I could outwit you any day, Spar!" Araknak snapped. To Jim, he added, "I was, in the human terms, an odd duck. My parents were proud of me anyway. They used to follow me around to watch me fight things. I suppose you should expect that from Blinkous twice over, now."

"I guess."

Jim climbed down from the Soothscryer but didn't take Araknak up on that hug he still had his arms open for. The ghost shrugged his upper shoulders and let his arms fall.

"So, since I'm here," said Jim, "do you have any advice about the Triumbric Stones?"

Deya the Deliverer manifested beside Araknak. Jim recognized her from her displayed body, and a few illustrations.

"If you ever meet Merlin, punch him in the face," she ordered Jim. "This could've ended a lot sooner if he'd just given the stones to the Trollhunter instead of hiding them."

"In fairness, that might've been Tellad-Urr the Terrible," said Araknak.

"No," said a different Trollhunter, Jim wasn't sure which one, "if one of the stones is Gunmar's Eye, it would've been Deya, because that happened when he usurped Orlagk."

Deya growled and punched her palm. "I should've hit the wizard harder, then."

"So aside from punching Merlin," Jim said.

Deya cut him off. "The Eye is Gunmar's blind spot. Your armour got dimmer when your dad was carrying you back to the library the other day, so you weren't as easy to spot. See if you can go full invisible."

"It wouldn't have activated in the Forge because you weren't trying to hide from anyone there," added Araknak. "Maybe in a sparring match, but not with just the equipment."

Deya chuckled. "Unless you, what's the term, Epic Failed and were so embarrassed the invisibility kicked in."

Jim's heart sped up with excitement. "I have a stealth mode now? That's perfect! I mean, not super useful against Gunmar unless I'm back in the Darklands, but, for other things!"

"Yeah, I would've loved a stealth mode at your age," Deya agreed.

"… I'm in my four-hundreds," said Jim, suspecting Deya was misreading him as an adolescent or younger child rather than a young adult.

"I know. My four-hundreds sucked."

Araknak folded three of his arms together and tapped his chin with his upper hand. "That's right, you were Jim's age when you started trying to re-enter troll society, weren't you?"

Deya kicked him. Araknak shrunk down to a wisp of light before her foot could connect. Deya smacked him in the back of the head when he reformed.

"I deserved that," Araknak admitted easily.

Jim was confused. He'd heard and read a few stories about Deya, but all of them were about her time as a Trollhunter.

"Were you … temporarily banished, or something?"

"I was raised by humans," said Deya. "Kinda like you were, except they knew I was a troll."

"You're a Changeling too?!" asked Jim eagerly. No wonder her pre-Trollhunter life was undocumented –

"Nah. It's just a thing that happened sometimes. Fleshbags can't exactly tell Gumm-Gumms and any other trolls apart, so they'd attack our villages in, what'd they call it, 'pre-emptive self-defence'. Sometimes they'd keep a whelp or two alive as an exotic pet."

"Oh." Well, that was sickening. Not shocking, considering everything Jim knew about human history, but sickening.

"That's probably how Morgana got troll whelps to experiment on in the first place before she allied with the Gumm-Gumms," Deya continued.

Jim growled reflexively at Deya's insulting tone when speaking of the Pale Lady, but her hypothesis did seem likely. Although Morgana hadn't successfully developed the Changelings until after making her alliance with Orlagk the Oppressor, she had been experimenting with transmuting living stone into flesh and back again for centuries prior to that.

"Anyway, I escaped after a couple hundred years, and met trolls again when I was about your age, but obviously I didn't really fit in anymore, and I didn't luck into an adoption. I didn't even know my real name until the Amulet called me a few centuries later."

Jim cringed in sympathy.

"Then I soundly thrashed anyone who doubted me, killed a bunch of monsters, punched a wizard, saved the world, and became one of the most revered Trollhunters ever, the end."

"You forgot leading the migration to this Heartstone and founding a new Trollmarket," said Araknak.

"That part was honestly super tedious."

"True."

"Hey!"

"We were all watching, remember? The peace was refreshing at first, but the squabbles you were called to resolve …"

Araknak and Deya both shuddered.

"Worst part of being the Trollhunter."

"And how."

Jim was only half-listening now, trying to visualize himself translucent like the ghosts. Hide me, hide me …

He watched his hands. They weren't fading away. The fingertips of his gauntlets might have gotten a little darker?

The memory-replay-cloud, or vision-window, or whatever it was, appeared, showing Jim on AAARRRGGHH's back. Jim studied the image.

The silver parts of his armour had a greenish tinge, which might have just been a reflection of AAARRRGGHH's fur colour, and the blue light from the plates' etchings had faded out.

The black scale mail, visible here and there at the joints and gaps where armour plates met, was maybe a little closer to gray than black? The image was a bit washed-out, though. But it would make sense in a stealth mode, because gray blended into the shadows better than a true black.

"So that's another benefit to stealth," said Deya brightly. "People can't find you to ask you to deal with petty stuff."

+=+

While walking home, Jim considered who to tell, and how to tell them, about his new relatives.

His human friends should know, of course, because they spoke to Blinky and AAARRRGGHH regularly. They'd all be happy for him.

Enrique might get jealous, but if Claire knew, then he was likely to find out, so Jim should probably take the initiative of telling him.

Nomura, he probably should not tell. Jim's experiences with Trollmarket were basically the opposite of hers – or so the gossip chain implied; it wasn't like she ever confided in him about it personally – so she'd probably get bitter. A bitter Nomura was a violent Nomura.

Stricklander would probably find it hilarious. Jim's infiltration of Trollmarket had exceeded expectations in all regards.

(Hopefully he'd find it funny … Jim had some time to work out exactly how to tell him, at least.)

Jim was so concerned with how his fellow Changelings might react, it did not occur to him to worry about how his mother would feel.

+=+

"What were you doing in Trollmarket today?" Barbara asked, cutting up her steak.

"AAARRRGGHH and Blinky adopted me," said Jim brightly. Barbara dropped her cutlery. "It's mostly a bureaucratic thing, to give me a place in Trollmarket besides of my job. Jim Galadrigal might have a say in discussions that Jim Lake Junior wouldn't even be allowed to listen in on."

If Barbara had taken a bite already she might've choked on it. Jim had gotten adopted? He'd changed his name? What next, was he going to move into Trollmarket full-time?

She blinked quickly to avoid tearing up. Jim reached over but stopped before touching her hand.

"How could you make a decision that big without telling me?" she demanded. "I know, I know, you're technically an adult and don't need permission, but – this is a big deal, Jim! You could've at least told me before you said yes."

Oh, my God, I've become my mother. That was nearly what her mom had said when Barbara called to say she was spending a semester in Rome.

"Do you …" Oh, no, the tears were coming. "Do you not see me as a mom anymore?"

Jim gasped.

"This doesn't – Blinky said, troll adoption doesn't mean cutting any ties you had before," he said. "And, I, I didn't want to push it, but, I don't really know how you feel about me. Now that you know what I am."

AAARRRGGHH and Blinky know what I am, and offered me a place in their home, and you found out what I was and kicked me out, was unspoken, but Barbara heard it loud and clear.

She grabbed her son's hand, still on the table so close to hers.

"You've been my son for sixteen years – I'm sorry I took the truth as badly as I did but I swear I didn't just stop caring about you. And I should've told you that sooner, but I didn't know how you felt about me, either. Did – did you ever see me as a mom? Or just some human you were playing house with to keep your cover?"

"What?!" Both Jim's hands were on Barbara's now. They had a crushing grip on each other and were staring straight into each other's eyes. Jim's eyes glowed red. He was tearing up, too. "Mom – Mom, I got so, so attached. I'm not, I wasn't, supposed to be, but – it's an open secret for Changelings, we always get attached to our host families. You mean the world to me."

Almost as quickly as it exploded, the tension in the room started to drain away.

"I guess we should've talked about that sooner," Barbara admitted. "In … in the interests of full disclosure, I've been scared to bring it up. As long as I didn't ask, I wouldn't have to hear … an answer I didn't want to hear."

"Same," said Jim. He looked like he was trying to smile; with his red eyes and the tear-tracks on his upper cheeks it came across rather like a grimace. "So … we're still a family?"

"We're still a family."

"Finally!" barked Draal from the basement. "Now you can stop shying away from each other."

Barbara jumped as their lodger reminded her of his existence. Jim blinked and his eyes turned blue again. They both laughed.

Barbara made a mental note to check out some of those family therapy books at the library again. She doubted anything had been written about her specific situation – "I recently found out I had adopted my child, who has now also been adopted by someone else, and I don't know what to feel about that second part" – but at least there should be some advice on 'communication with your teenager'. And maybe 'co-parenting'.

+=+

Previous Chapter (Jim fights Blango for the Killstone)

Table of Contents

Next Chapter (Claire and Not Enrique debate his name)

Jim and Barbara's talk was supposed to drag out a lot longer and have more tension, for the first part since neither of them really wanted to be the one to bring this up and for the second part because there was a lot of emotional ground to cover, but then feelings got intense and they both blabbed quickly.

I've got some new ideas, based on Wizards – some of them are here in Deya's backstory – but I think I'll wait until the movie comes out before fully updating the fic's outline again. As I believe I've said before, I am not keeping all of it; I've gotten a few comments asking if I'll be incorporating aspects of Wizards into this story, and my answer remains "some but not all". (For example, this timeline continues to have Trollhunters prior to Deya.)

Some elements from the spinoff novels and comics appear in this chapter: Araknak the Agile being an ancestor of Blinky's (though the exact generations were not spelled out in that comic), Barbara spending a semester studying in Rome, and Shmorkrarg being a common trollish name.

[tunafishprincess]

The Roads We Take

Chapter 1: Twenty-Five

(Art by @brothebro, writing by @tunafishprincess ) Sequel to Fallen Too Far. This is rated M for Mature. Proceed with caution. 

She is twenty-five, nearly twenty-six, but she feels sixteen.

Years have passed but high school still feels like yesterday to Claire. How could it not? Ten years: it terrifies her how in such a short period of time the world she knows has disappeared.

All she has left are the remaining people who remember her for who she was, however even that has been distorted by time. They treat her like glass, as though she were some expensive piece of art that could do no wrong. Her hermano, little NotEnrique, looks at her with uncertain eyes; his entire perception of her is created by her family and friends. As if she was some paragon of goodness, a princess trapped by an evil witch; that’s how their parents explained it to him.

But wrong is the very essence of her now. Her parents try to pretend everything is okay, but the emotions that radiates off the medical staff and guards tells her another story.

They are afraid.

And so is she.

The woman in the bathroom mirror is not her, not really. Her hips are too wide, her breasts too full, her face too mature—and that isn’t even the worst of it. The rich dark brown her Papí used to brush for her has vanished, replaced with a white so bright her eyes hurt to look at it for too long.

Ugly dark veins run up her arms and out of her eyes, branding her, as if to forever remind her of the horrors she caused.

She hates it. This is not her body, her hair, her face. Morgana twisted the girl she knew into the woman she did not and she is terrified. So utterly terrified.

After a while, she turns away, too sick with disgust to remain. The white gown they placed her in clings to her body, making her so desperately wish for her old clothes, even if they could no longer fit her. She has changed too much now to go back, and dios mío, she wishes she could go back.

Yet even still, time ticks on.

Claire wants to say she’s better (wants to be better), but she never will be, not after what Morgana has done to her.

Guilt eats at her innards, her soul, her entire being. The deaths she caused weigh heavily. Breathing takes effort, so much so that at times she wonders if she’ll suffocate under its load.

So many ‘if onlys’ pass through her mind, thousands upon thousands each day. Before, she cried, day after day, but now, all that is left is a hollow shell.

And isn’t that what she is now? Morgana destroyed her inside and out, emptied the part of her that made Claire herself in order to make way for the sorceress.

A small part of her wishes for death. She deserves it, especially after what she did to everyone, to her family and friends, to Jim—God, Jim.

If she is the drowning swimmer than he is the life raft she desperately clings onto. How could he look at her so lovingly? She didn’t deserve him, not after what she did. Yet still, he stays at her side, her protector, forever and always.

How pathetic. What a selfish being she has become.

Look at her. Her old self would be repulsed by such desperation.

Claire knows it is wrong to dependent on him so much, but now the feeling is innate. She wonders if that is why Morgana never gave up on Jim, if Claire’s feelings influenced the witch to hold onto that last bit of sanity within the darkness.

Who knows. In the end, Morgana is gone and Claire, well…Claire is here.

She isn’t sure if that’s a good thing or not.

The door opens, carefully, as if not to startle her. Claire’s hand clenches the railing she uses to walk between the bathroom and her bed, she tries to smile, even though it feels as plastic as the sheets she sleeps on.

“Toby,” she begins, clearing her throat. “You’re early.”

He approaches her cheerfully, a pip in his step that softens the fake smile on her lips. It reminds her of old times. Even though he has lost weight and aged, she can still see the excited gleam in his eye he got when he had good news. “I couldn’t wait for Jim to get here. The verdict just came back!”

Her brows furrowed.

“Verdict?” She asks.

Immediately, Toby pales. His hands freeze in the air.

The stench of secrecy is thick. Claire can feel the annoyance inside her rising, just below the surface of skin.

“Oh…Oh crap. I forgot,” he admits in a soft voice.

Claire tries to edge forward. “Forgot what?”

Unfortunately, her foot slips on the linoleum, breaking her trek towards the other. Her breath hitches as strong hands catch her. She blinks widely as her boyfriend came into view.

Her eyes flicker over to the open door.

She hadn’t even heard him come in. Another of Jim’s abilities perhaps? It is a surprising discover, especially considering his size.

“What’s going on?” Jim asks, worry in his sharp features. He examines her body like a hawk, lingering at her chest for a moment before returning to her eyes. Blood rushes to her cheeks.

“Claire, are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine,” she stammers out. As if reading her mind, Jim guides her to the bed, his hand encompassing most of her back. It is a comforting warmth. She is saddened when he removes it.

Toby’s mouth twitches. There is so much uncertainty in his stance. It reminds her of her previous question.

Fixing her gaze on her old friend once more, she reiterates, “What’s this about a verdict?”

She watches Jim this time, his expression closed off but the hairs on his neck and forearms rising almost instantaneously. Claire reaches out, settling her palm to his cheek. Softness spreads across his features. He cups her hand with his own, engulfing it in a steady, pulsing heat.

“Well, the good news is we can finally get you love-birds out of this place! I’m thinking beach, or, oh, oh! Maybe the countryside? I don’t know about you guys but I am totes ready for a vaca. Can I hear an amen?” Toby asks.

Claire frowns. “You’re avoiding the question.”

“Nothing gets past you huh?” Toby sighs.

“It doesn’t matter,” Jim asserts. “We’re safe. Everything’s going to be alright.”

“Jim.” She leans forward, so close she can see the detailed texture of his skin. It is a strange mixture of pore and rock, the uncanny but beautiful valley between the two species. “Tell me.”

Jim’s face darkens. His golden pupils dilate, his gaze clouding over with a stormy grimace. Inwardly, she knows it is her fault he is like this now. Claire wonders what it is he is looking at: her or some past memory. Perhaps both.

“You know what happened,” he states.

She nods. Her other hand fists the fabric of her blanket.

“What I did as Morgana’s champion will never be erased. To most of humanity, I’m a monster.”

“But you’re not.” She shakes her head. “Morgana controlled you, manipulated you.”

“Claire, you don’t understand. I had a choice,” Jim stresses, his other hand resting at her knee. Selfishly, she moves closer to the warmth. Out of everything and everyone in the room, Jim is the only one who is warmest.

“What was the verdict about?” She asks again.

It is Toby who speaks up first, “Whether he would continue to carry out the duty of Trollhunter or…” There is a pause, one that feels like an eternity for Claire until he answers, “whether it would get passed to someone else.

Her boyfriend pulls out of her reach, as though on autopilot. Claire wants him to stay, wants to use his warmth once more, but the second he leaves her range it is freezing again.

They were going to kill Jim? The annoyance within transfigures into a freezing tundra of fear.

No. Never. Jim is hers, just as Claire is his. Why would they try and separate them? Didn’t they see how much Claire needs him to live?

“No, no, no, no—” She chanted, her fingers burrowed into her hair. “Why didn’t you two tell me?”

“Relax, okay? Everything’s going to be fine. The verdict went fine. Jim’s still here,” Toby tries to comfort her.

But it’s not. Nothing is fine. Toby isn’t fine, Jim isn’t fine—No one is. The cracks along her hands and arms ache. It is as though a million ants were inching up her body, underneath her skin.

She resists the urge to violently scratch them like she did the first few days. It is why the Doctors make her keep her nails short now.

When she finally regains control of her emotions, Claire brushes him off. “It’s not fine. None of this is fine. You didn’t even tell me. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Her heart breaks as Jim presses himself into the corner, as if trying to make himself smaller. Is he terrified of her?

“We were afraid of how you would react,” Toby says, hands up and facing her.

“So what, you’ll just treat me like some porcelain doll the rest of my life, is that it?” Claire snaps. She can’t help it. The emotions within are boiling over.

Toby presses forward. “No, Claire, it’s just, after everything that’s happened—”

“Stop it!”

Her water glass shatters. She doesn’t see how it happens, but she knows in her heart who did it.

Morgana left more than scars on Claire after all.

In the corner of her eye, she notices a long crack has developed in the window that was not there before. Another testament to her emotional state.

To no surprise, Jim has disappeared from the room. Because of her.

“I’m sorry,” she cries, and truly she means it. Everything is her doing.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Toby says, resting a hand on her shoulder. It is warm, but not like Jim’s. It barely heats her at all. “We know you didn’t mean it.”

“I want to be alone,” she whispers.

“You sure, Claire-Bear?” He says, leaning over.

A multitude of emotions pass over her friend’s face. This Toby is more calculative and calm, holding a maturity Claire wishes she could possess. Even when facing her darkest moments, he stands tall. She envies that confidence.

“Go. Talk to Jim. He looks like he needs it more than I do right now,” she suggests.

Toby’s lips smooth into a thin line, but he nods. As he turns towards the door, he looks back.

“I’m just a call away. Anytime, anywhere. Darci too.”

Halfway outside, Claire calls out. “Wait. Toby, be honest with me, what does the verdict really mean?”

And like that, the old vestiges of Toby are gone. The man before her leans on the frame, an age-old look crossing his features.

“The world has changed a lot since you last saw it, Claire. The new world government wants order.”

“They’re going to use him, just like I—Morgana did.”

Toby nodded.

“This is my fault.” How could it not be? She wishes they would just admit it.

“No it’s not,” Toby stresses, halfway back inside. “You’re not—”

“Go,” she commands. No more. Claire can’t stand the way he looks at her.

“But—”

“Go!”

The crack along the window spreads out like a spiderweb. A freezing wind envelops the area, blowing her hair around and pushing the door close with a sharp echoing slam.

The lights flicker, off and on, until she regains control once more.

As the magic disperses, her body loosens, tears running freely. Her arms burn from the use of magic. Everything hurts, but none approach the pain in her chest.

Morgana’s magic flows through her now. And for someone as broken as she, it is no wonder her friends are afraid both for and of her.

She wishes she could go back. She wishes she had fought harder. But wishing doesn’t turn back time. Believe her, she’s tried. Claire glances upwards, back in the bathroom mirror. She is a monster. And that’s all she ever will be.

Chapter 2: Coming soon