#This takes place right before Merlin make Jim into a half-troll

[earth-ambassador-jim]

Lost Souls: Story 12

Plume Moths

Lost Souls Summary: Merlin awakens early from his sleep. He decides  that he doesn’t want to leaving anything to chance and kidnaps the young  James Lake Jr. to began training his Trollhunter as early as possible.

Barbara  is determined to hunt down the man who kidnapped her son. In her  efforts to get her son back she finds a strange old radio that speaks to  her in a woman’s voice. The radio leads her to an underground society  of shapeshifters.

Mother and son meet again years later as strangers on opposing sides.

AO3 - Fanfiction

~~~~

~~~~

Darci wasn’t supposed to answer the door, but her Mom was on the phone and she was right by it when the bell rang. She hazarded a glance into the kitchen and saw that her mom hadn’t heard.

She contemplated the situation for a moment and decided it would be fine. Her mom could see her from where she was and Darci was eight now.

She checked to make sure the porch light was on and then pulled the door open, letting in a breath of cold night air.

She stared in bafflement at their visitor. Standing outside, alone, in the rain, was a boy about her age. He was in a dirty, too large t-shirt. His straight black hair -cut rather unevenly as if whoever had cut it didn’t really know what they were doing- was wet and plastered against his head and neck. His skin was pale, not just because he was white, but as if he had never seen the sun.

He stared at her with wide blue eyes.

“Who are you?” He asked.

“…I’m Darci,” She said uncertainly.

“But I mean… why are you here?” He shifted from one foot to another and took a quick glance back before fixing his eyes on her again.

“…This is my house?” She really didn’t know what he wanted.

“But… but… this is my…” He trailed off, looking around once more uncertainly. “Do you know where my Mom is?”

“Your mom?”

“Barbara Lake. She lives… lived here?”

“She must have moved,” Darci offered. “It’s just me and Mom and Dad here.”

“Oh,” The boy said quietly.

His lip quivered and water welled up in the corners of his eyes.

Darci frowned. She didn’t like people crying. She was never quite sure what she was supposed to do.

“Maybe, Mom could…”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Both Darci and the boy jumped in surprise at the new voice. A tall grey haired man had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, behind him. He was wearing an absolutely obnoxious Hawaiian print shirt with plaid shorts and sandals but something about him, something in his sharp, hawk like gaze made Darci wary.

“Merlin…” The boy started to say, but then quieted when the man shot him a look.

“Who are you talking to?” Darci jumped again at her mom’s voice behind her.

She glanced back and saw that her Mom was frowning at the strange pair in front of her.

“I thought I told you not to answer the door without me.”

“Sorry, mom,” She said automatically.

She wasn’t really paying attention to her Mom but rather watching the boy. The man… Merlin?... His hands rested on the boy’s shoulders and he seemed to tense under them. He looked as if he had been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to be.

“Sorry, ma’am,” The man was saying. “My grandson was looking for his Mom who used to live here. -He came to live with me during the divorce, you see- I did try and tell him that she had moved but well…”

Darci’s Mom frowned.

“Sorry to hear that. Was she Mrs. Lake? I think we still have her contact info…”

“Quite alright,” Merlin interrupted. “No need to trouble yourself. Boy, tell this lady you’re sorry for disturbing her.”

The last comment was accompanied by a squeeze of his hands. The boy kept staring at the ground and muttered ‘sorry’.

Something was wrong here.

“What’s your name?” Darci asked the boy.

His head jerked up and he stared at her in surprise.

“Oh, it’s…”

“Come along,” Merlin said sharply, cutting him off. “We need to hurry if we’re to make it to our hotel in time to check in.”

He turned away taking the boy with him.

“I don’t like that,” Darci heard her Mom murmur.

As Darci watched the two figures move out of sight, something small and white detached from the taller of the two. The things came closer and she saw that they were two little white moths.

One of them landed on her Mom and the other tried to land on her. She dodged it. It followed her. She darted away from it toward the kitchen. Behind her she heard the door close.

In the kitchen Darci turned around and saw the moth still following her. Beside her was a water glass. She grabbed it and brought it down over the small insect.

“What are you doing?”

Darci glanced up at her Mom.

“I caught a moth.”

“Oh, why don’t you take it outside?” Her mom turned toward the stove and her casserole.

“You’ve got one on you,”Darci told her, pointing at her Mom’s shoulder.

She blinked and glanced down at it before swatting at it with her hand. It fluttered away to the window and squeezed out through a little crack between the screen and the sill.

“Annoying creatures,” She said. “I should make sure none have gotten into the closet.”

Darci turned back to her captive moth and studied it. It was a strange looking little thing. It was a pure, chalky, white with wings shaped like downy feathers and a long thin body. She got a piece of paper and slid it under the glass so she could pick it up without it escaping. She started toward the window.

“Do you think that boy was the one who used to live here right before us?” Darci asked her Mom.

Her Mom looked at her with a puzzled frown.

“What boy?”

~~~~

The events of that night haunted her all week. Darci tried to get her Mom to say anything about the strange man and boy who had come by their house, but she didn’t seem to remember a thing. She asked her Dad about Barbara Lake but he had only met her in passing and didn’t remember if she had any children or not. When he asked why she wanted to know she changed the subject. Darci was starting to wonder if she had just imagined the meeting. She kept the strange moth in a cage by her bed. It was her only proof that the whole thing was real.

It wasn’t until Friday when something finally came of the incident.

~~~~

“Do I have to come?” Darci whined.

Her Mom took the bread out of the oven.

“Yes, dear. We won’t be there long and it will be good for you to get to know our neighbors.”

Darci heaved a large sigh. She glanced at her Dad, who was busy fumbling with his tie. When he noticed her stare, she gave him a pleading look. He gave her a rye “we’re all in this together smile” and went back to his tie. Darci turned back toward her Mom.

“But Toby’s so boring! He just ignores me when I come over.”

“That’s because he’s shy.”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. That’s what adults always said about loners. She had tried her hardest but Toby’s actions made it very clear he just plain wasn’t interested in being friends.

After dinner finished up and Toby and Darci were told to go off and play while the adults chatted.

Once in Toby’s room they had split off to play games on their phones and ignore one another. After about a half hour Darci ran out of lives so she took a break and looked around the room.

It was a rather dull place in her opinion: Nowhere near as cluttered as her room. It had bare wooden floors, a few scattered posters, an old computer, and a large wooden dollhouse. The only interesting thing in the room was the collection of rocks and crystals that spread across every available ledge. Eventually her gaze was drawn to a picture on the desk. It was of Toby with a black haired, blue eyed boy. A very familiar looking boy.

Darci stared at the picture.

“Who’s that?” She demanded.

Toby blinked at her and then briefly eyed the picture. His gaze quickly returned to his phone.

“That’s Jim,” He said quietly. “He used to be my… neighbor.”

“Is his Mom’s name Barbara Lake?”

Toby turned fully toward her with a frown.

“How did you know that?” He asked.

“I saw him last week,” Darci said excitedly. She was so glad to finally have some confirmation that she hadn’t imagined the entire thing! “He came to our house and said he was looking for his Mom.”

Toby was staring at her.

“What.”

“Yeah, he was with this weird old guy who said he was his Grandpa.”

“Jim didn’t have a grandpa,” Toby said quickly.

“Well he never called him “Grandpa” He called him “Merlin”.”

“Like the wizard?”

Darci nodded.

Toby’s nose wrinkled and his eyes narrowed.

“Quit lying,” He said and turned sharply away from her.

Darci stared at him in opened mouth shock at the sudden accusation.

“I’m not lying.”

She had always prided herself on being quite honest in fact.

“Yes you are,” Toby said. “Jim’s been missing for two years now. He’s probably dead. I heard the police talking about it.”

That was news to Darci.

“He’s missing?”

“Yeah, that is what I said,” was Toby’s clipped reply.

Darci frowned. She remembered the way Merlin had been holding onto Jim’s shoulders. It was like he thought the boy would try to escape.

“Do they know he’s dead for sure?”

“No…”

That must have been why Jim was at the house. He must have gotten away from his kidnapper and tried to return to his Mom…

Only to find out that she had moved.

“So what if that really was him,” Darci insisted. “Why would he say his Mom was Barbara Lake otherwise?”

Toby said determinedly looked away from her. “Maybe because this is a stupid prank that someone put you up to?”

Darci folded her arms in irritation.

“Why do you think I’m lying?”

“Oh I don’t know.” Toby finally looked at her. His fists were clenched and his brows were low. “Because I’m not dumb. I mean “Merlin”? Really? You should try to make up a better story than that.”

“I am not making it up.”

“Are too!” Toby snapped getting to his feet.

“Am not!” Darci took a step forward, her own fists clenching.

“Are TOO!”

“Am NOT!”

There was a pause. They were practically nose to nose now. Apparently it struck them both at the same time just how ridiculous they were being and they took a step apart.

“So what would it take to convince you?” Darci asked.

Toby huffed.

“I don’t know… actual proof?”

Darci hesitated and then decided to go for it.

“As they were leaving something strange happened,” Darci said hesitantly.

She described to him what had happened with the moths and her Mom.

Toby was now looking at her like she was crazy. Darci could feel her face burning.

“I still have the moth,” She said.

Toby made a little scoffing sound.

“What’s a moth prove?” He asked. “There’s moths everywhere. And seriously make up a better story.”

Darci ignored the jab. She was tired of the whole thing. “Take it or leave it.”

“Fine, I’ll come see your moth and if I’m not convinced will you leave me alone?”

“I will,” Darci said easily.

It wasn’t like she would want to hang out with him anyway if he kept insisting that she was lying. She got why, but it still stung.

~~~~

It was a nice sunny Saturday when Toby came over. It had now been about two weeks since the incident.

“Let’s see your bug,” Toby said in a surly tone.

Darci shot him an annoyed look. She was seriously rethinking her choice in telling him but… he was her best bet for finding someone to believe her. She didn’t know many people yet and wasn’t ready to risk any of her new friendships at school.

“Come on.” She motioned for him to follow her up the stairs and turned right to go into her bedroom. Once inside she turned back to see Toby hovering in the hallway, brows furrowed and posture tense.

“Well?”

Toby blinked and then came into the room with on quick jerky step.

“Let’s get this over with,” He said eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

Darci picked up the small plastic cage; noting with an uncomfortable jolt that the moth stayed as close to her hands as possible.

“Here.” She handed the cage to Toby and wiped her hands on her pants.

“It’s certainly a weird looking thing,” Toby said after a moment.

“I looked online and found out that it’s a White Plume Moth,” Darci said. “They’re from Europe and North Africa.”

Toby hummed.

“Doesn’t prove anything,” He said, turning the cage around in his hands.

“Look at how it follows me,” Darci said.

She moved closer to the cage and the moth began fluttering against the plastic closest to her. She circled and the moth trailed after.

“Okay. That is a little weird,” Toby admitted after trying to get the moth to follow his own hand with no success.

“Right? Based on what happened with the other moth and Mom, I think if it touches me I will forget about meeting Jim.”

Toby’s nose wrinkled and he shot her a skeptical look.

“It’s weird but it doesn’t prove anything. Here.” He held it out toward Darci.

Unfortunately when he took a step forward his foot landed on Darci’s gunrobot toy and he slipped. The cage flew out of his hands and hit the ground causing the top to pop off. Now free of the cage, the moth started flying toward Darci.

“Nope. No. “-Darci jumped out of the way.- “Absolutely not.” -She took a swing at it with a book and missed. It was unusually agile for a moth.- “Not today.”

She was feeling a lot more certain of her theory now.

“Quit standing there and get it!” Darci yelled at Toby who was standing there watching dumbly as the moth chased Darci all over her room like she was a giant lightbulb instead of a girl.

“Uh…”

Toby grabbed a shoe and brought it down on the little white insect as it fluttered past.

There was a flash of light and a puff of green smoke.

Darci and Toby stared with wide eyes at the shoe and then at each other. Slowly Toby lifted the shoe away. The moth was flattened; its insides splattered on Darci’s desk. In the middle of the mess was a very small green gem, about the size of a grain of rice. It was glowing faintly.

As they watched its light flickered and died.

Toby grabbed a pencil and poked at it.

“I think it’s an emerald,” He said. “But emeralds don’t glow. Where did it come from?”

“Maybe it was in the moth?”

Darci was shaking. It was one thing to suspect that there was something weird going on but this… this was freaky. And not in a good way. The thought that there really existed something that could remove memories –that she would have never known if it had been used on her- was very, very unsettling.

“Do you believe me now?” She asked.

Toby nodded wordlessly.

After a moment his gaze shifted up from the remains of the moth to her. They were wide and shiny.

“S-so you were telling the truth? You really saw Jim?  He came here?”

Darci blinked, a brief rush of warmth coursed through her before cooling into a cold shiver at the memory.

“Yeah,” She said looking away. “I think so.”

“Was… Did he look okay?”

Darci grimaced and focused her eyes on the moth. She really didn’t want to answer that question.

“Darci?”

She jumped when she felt a hand touch her arm.

“Sorry,” Toby said quickly.

He clasped his hands together so hard that the knuckles where turning white.

“Please?”

Darci sighed.

“He looked scared,” She said finally. “He wasn’t hurt but he was all raggedy like a homeless person. He only had time to ask about his Mom before Merlin showed up.”

“Oh.”

Toby was shaking. He let out a loud sniff and then sat down heavily on the floor. He hiccupped and then, to Darci’s horror, he burst into tears.

Darci glanced at the door and then at Toby. Her hands stayed uncertainly at her side and then, after another long moment of hesitation, she knelt down by him and patted his back.

“Are… are you okay?”

“He’s alive,” Toby managed to whisper out between sobs. “I thought…”

He twisted around and latched onto Darci in a hug.

“Thank you.” He said. “I’m sorry for calling you a liar.”

“I forgive you.”

Eventually Toby’s tears petered off and he pulled away from her. They sat for a moment in awkward silence.

“So what now?” Darci asked.

“I don’t know,” Toby said. “Your Dad’s a detective right? Maybe he can help.”

“I’m not sure,” She said.

She thought of the moth taking her Mom’s memories. What if she got her Dad involved and this Merlin guy got mad. What if he made him forget more than just Jim? Besides…

“I doubt he will believe me. My only proof is rather flat now.”

She gave a meaningful glance at the table.

Toby flushed.

“Sorry about that.”

Darci waved her hand dismissively.

“Don’t be. I’ll sleep better without that creepy bug watching me.”

They sat a moment. Toby pulled out a couple Nugget Nummies and offered her one. She accepted and they ate them in thoughtful silence.

“So going to the grown-ups is out of the question,” Toby finally said. “I guess it’s just us then?” He paused eyes widening. “I… I mean me. You don’t have to help. It’s enough that you found out he’s still alive. I wouldn’t dream of…”

“I’m helping,” Darci said firmly.

“But you don’t even know Jim.”

“Yeah, but it’s the right thing to do,” Darci said. She couldn’t drive those sad, lonely blue eyes out of her mind. “Anyway this is definitely the most interesting thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“That’s for sure,” Toby muttered. “And here I had just stopped believing in fairies and stuff. So where do you think we should start?”

Darci shrugged. Despite her Dad being a cop she had never been that into mysteries. She glanced at the flattened moth.

“I guess we could start doing research on Merlin?”

Toby frowned following her gaze.

“Do you think he really was the Merlin?”

“No idea,” Darci said. “But it’s as good a place to start as any.”

“I suppose. Do you want to meet at my house tomorrow?” Toby said. His gaze was alternating between her and the ground.

“I’ll have to ask my Mom and Dad but I think that sounds good.”

“O-Okay…”

Toby started edging toward the door.

“I’ll see you then?”

“Yep.”

Toby darted quickly out of the room and a minute later Darci heard the front door open and close.

She looked out the window and saw Toby trotting across the street. Once he was out of sight, she walked across the room and collapsed onto her bed.

What was she getting herself into?

 ~~~~

~~~~

Author Notes:

Alternate scene: Darci *opens the door* Jim *standing in the rain looking like the ghost of a murdered Victorian child* -"HavE yOu SeEn mY MötHEr?" Darci: ... Darci: Nope *Slams the door closed* ~~~~ Anyway this was supposed to be a short chapter but then Darci and Toby started arguing.

Plume Moths being able to take away memories was borrowed from the "Dark is Rising" sequence, though it was used very differently there. I'm going to say Merlin added his own twist. (Also go check out The Dark is Rising. It's a good series.)

Please let me know what you think! (Reviews, critiques, and comments give me as a writer power and motivation!)

Tune in next time for the appearance of our favorite punk wizard.

[honeyxmonkey]

Douxie clenched his teeth as he took a few steps back, bumping into Jim, the two teens now back to back as they were being surrounded. Jim hefted Daylight in his hands, fingers gripping the hilt more tightly. Douxie clenched his shaking hands into fists, runes clicking into place on his bracelet.

"What now?" He asked the Trollhunter, still feeling the trickle of blood down his leg from where the arrow had been earlier.

Jim glanced at the wizard, an expression passing over his face that Douxie couldn't quite name. The half-troll looked back at the nearing enemies and he glared at them, holding Daylight up more. "We stand and fight and we win. Or we die trying."

Douxie let a snarky smirk come to his face, looking at the crowd of troll soldiers stalking towards them. "If I'm going to die tonight, I'm glad I died fighting by your side, Jim."

Jim chuckled, free arm reaching to gently but firmly grab Douxie's bicep. "The feeling is mutual, Doux." The brothers clasped hands tightly, ready to face their doom together. "Not Trollhunter!" Jim shouted, raising his sword in the air.

"Trollhunters!" Douxie finished with a mad grin before releasing a blast of magic into the ground.

Curling tendrils of blue magic quickly wove in and out of the ground, shooting out of the dirt like cursed roots, wrapping around the trolls and dragging them to the ground, trapping them in place.

The ones who were lucky enough to not be targeted by the spell were quick to start running towards the two, hell bent on destroying the last pieces of Merlin's legacy. The great wizard's accursed Trollhunter, and his successor and son.

Jim swung Daylight in a wide arc, cutting down the ones who got too close. He kept a tight grip on Douxie's right hand, more so as a comfort to make sure he was okay.

Douxie felt nausea creeping in and was beginning to feel lightheaded from the blood loss. He staggered a bit as he released another spell. This was taking too much out of him.

The wizard quickly shook himself off and dove deep into his magic reserves, ready to pull off one more stunt. "Per gratiam diei da mihi fortitudinem!" He yelled, raising his left hand in the air, feeling the tingling heat of his magic crawling down his arm and pooling into his hands. He felt a stiff, hot breeze blow into the cavern, his hair being blown this way and that, beginning to float listlessly around his face. Douxie felt his strength waning so he quickly turned his body, facing the same direction as Jim, hand reaching out towards Daylight's blade. "Lamina lucis fortis et vera, plena potentia ad te voco!"

Jim had no time to ask questions as Daylight began to glow even stronger and brighter than before. He could feel the power of the day, of the sun being poured into the blade itself. With a triumphant laugh he held it with two hands and leapt forward, blasting back enemy after enemy with nearly no effort at all.

In no time at all, Jim had all their enemies turned to stone, or running back to their master. He looked back at Douxie with a grin only for the triumph of the moment to fall away as his brother collapsed on the ground.

Jim dropped Daylight, running to his side. He quickly brought Douxie's limp body into his arms, breath catching in his throat when he saw just how pale the wizard was. Blood was trickling from his mouth and nose, eyes still glowing under his closed lids. Fading pulses of blue magic burned under his skin, accentuating his veins in an unnatural way. Jim did not deem this to be what a healthy wizard looked like.

"For the love of Deya what did you do?" Jim said under his breath, fear and panic creeping in. "Hisirdoux Casperan, you better make it or I will kill you."

He, of course, got no response from the unconscious teen. Jim wasn't even sure if he could chance moving him. He was in such rough shape.

"Come on Doux," he whispered, gently scooping the young wizard up in his arms. "Dont die on me. Not now."

[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...

[novantinuum]

Trollhunters alt timeline AU concept:

Okay, so since I’ll never have the emotional energy to Write It in full, I just want to share my wild ass Trollhunters alt timeline AU, inspired by that chaos ride of a movie.

Disclaimer: Personally speaking, I actually enjoyed the RotT movie for the absolutely absurdist, emotion-murdering storyline it was. I can certainly say that it... (and in fact, Wizards too) most definitely doesn’t follow the ToA personal canon I hold in my heart, BUT- I don’t consider my idea a “fix-it” because I strongly dislike using that term myself. In all its imperfection, canon simply is what it is, and thus my idea is instead just a wild little AU concept, because thinking about what-ifs is fun. However, given that self-indulgence is a hoot, this is also my way of molding a plotline where some of my favored elements get to play in to everything.

Beginnings:

This AU diverges from the very end of the RotT movie.

So… from my reading of the last scene, one could argue that Jim’s canon decision to return to before he picked up the amulet and avoid picking it up again was born out of a sense of failure… a feeling that he failed as a hero because he wasn’t there to save his best friend from dying. He kinda wished himself (as he is, as the Trollhunter) away in a “It’s a Wonderful Life” type manner, hoping that by simply allowing someone else to take up the mantle, maybe things could end up better.

In this AU, instead of sending himself back to before he picked up the amulet, Jim’s last spoken desire before he uses the time crystal is a stubborn, confident assertion. Not doubting his own ability as the Trollhunter, but resolving to save all his friends in whatever way he can.

And he’s going to do this starting from Draal.

However, there’s a catch. This time crystal… powerful magic like this always poses consequences. And once he uses it, he discovers that the terms of this second chance are that no one can ever find out that this previous world ever existed. Jim is alone in his knowledge. He must tread carefully. Should anyone ever discover this secret… cataclysm will occur.

Time will shatter.

No pressure, or anything.

Timeline 2.0:

Future Jim is shucked back to his old body somewhere amidst early season 3. His first goal is keeping Draal alive. His foreknowledge of Angor Rot’s involvement in Merlin’s tomb will aid them greatly in how to better protect his friends.

His second goal... is one that he’s kinda of two minds about, but knows is desperately necessary for the fights he’ll face in the future. He’ll of course have to become a half-troll again. Thankfully, this go around it’s entirely his choice, and he knows it’s coming. That transition will be easier. Along with this... he knows he’ll have to somehow manage to keep ahold of his amulet. He can’t let the Arcane Order destroy it, and he can’t let them take control of him. If he stands any chance of being on top of his game in the early stages of their eventual fight against the titans, he’ll need to keep both that AND remain half-troll.

His challenge early on: Jim is stuck in the very awkward position of having to play chess master with events that he’s already lived through, so as to attain the same old victories WHILE ensuring all of his allies come out alive this time around... and WHILE not cluing anyone else in on the fact that he knows their futures. The stress involved with that is immense, and there’s bound to be instances in which he’s very clumsy with how he manages this. One of the largest early consequences of this second timeline is that he grows more emotionally distant from his friends and allies, especially those who had died in the original timeline... because after all, it’s almost as if he’s walking among ghosts, right now.

I honestly don’t know exactly how Wizards would shift because I haven’t seen it in eons, but Jim still has to ensure they end up in the past, right? Since he knows they’re a part of the past for better or for worse. He isn’t injured this time around, he likely has been hiding his amulet while back there, and there’s no beast Jim situation because the Arcane Order hasn’t wrest control of him. That’s all I know at the moment.

But yeah, those earlier battles end in victory (or partial victory, since of course the Arcane Order are a slippery bunch)... all allies are still alive... Jim remains half-troll by the beginning of the events of RotT in timeline 2.0...

HOWEVER.

Because of Jim’s extreme focus on keeping his friends- Nomura, Nari, Strickler, Toby- alive... because of how bonds within the group have weakened from his emotional distance... his second go at trying to stop complete armaggeddon is an entire failure.

Nari is saved, but they fail at stopping the other two titans. The world is set to be reborn in ice and fire. Jim has failed, once again. It’s at this moment that in a fit of frustration and rage, he lets his secret slip... accidentally reveals what was supposed to remain hidden... that this is his Second Time experiencing this.

Time shatters.

And then, the whole of creation falls silent. On pause, for Jim’s eyes only.

At this point in this AU story, since I am super self indulgent, I want to do a literal God from the Machine. Because I had a concept flash into my mind... a concept of a literal ancient deity rising from a deep sleep to set her attention upon the mess these mortals have created. All she appears as is bright, blinding light, and an echoing, sonorous voice.

When Jim asks her identity, she simply replies that she is the First Spark. The origin of all life, light, and magic. She has many names… names that countless souls have used to name their young in unknowing reverence… but one in particular that he might recognize.

Deya.

This goddess is the embodiment of daylight and creation, and the sword Jim wields? The armor? It is essentially made of her body. Her power. Her essence. Stripped away and used for whatever purpose mortals desired whilst she slept. How egotistical, she thinks, that Merlin directed all glory towards himself, rather than to the deity that allowed for his use of magic in the first place.

And so Deya reveals that she aims to clean up this cataclysm by returning the world to its original state. The original timeline. The one where this world hasn’t been destroyed in a horrible cataclysm. Jim, of course… immediately protests. Brings up all the hard, desperate days he lived just to get this far, just to save his closest friends and family. Begs her to do something, ANYTHING to help.

And eventually… the goddess offers up a choice. She’ll agree to restore the individuals who were dead in the original timeline, weaving the living souls of those in the second timeline into the first… but. To provide consequence for the disastrous mess mortal kind made, she refuses to use such power of resurrection in a “pick and choose” sort of manner. If she’s going to resurrect Jim’s allies, then she’s going to resurrect his enemies too. Everyone who has died throughout his journey will be brought back, no matter their alignment with the Trollhunter team.

Now, in order to save everyone, Jim must once again risk re-igniting the same conflicts with many of these foes all over again... except this time, in new paradigms and patterns that even he cannot predict. Is it worth it, for his friends? For the ones he loves?

Endgame:

Jim makes the deal. All the dead are restored. As time begins to flow again, they stand in the rubble of the titan they destroyed in timeline one. Jim feels great anxiety at the thought of the last two members of the Arcane Order being alive once more, but at very least the titans they piloted are no more. They’d have to come up with a new plan of attack now, if they had their hearts set on the same goal.

Toby is alive. So is Strickler, Nomura, Draal, Nari... Those who were dead, however... quickly realize that they remember dying. Those who remained alive in both timelines realize that they possess memories of both. Certain relationships will likely be rocky and strained for the first while.

Somewhere on this planet, old foes, old allies, and unpredictable agents alike have returned from the cold grasp of death with a shock. It’s anyone’s guess what new rivalries, alliances, and driving plans will emerge this time. At the very least, however... team Trolhunters is intact... and they’re more than willing to face this new, unpredictable future once more, wherever it leads. Together, hand-in-hand.

Fin.

[p-artsypants]

Arcadia or Bust (17)

Heartstone Hall

Previously on Arcadia or Bust:

James Lake Sr. came back to Arcadia while Jim and friends were out retrieving the new Heartstone. The deadbeat not only ran away with a girl, but he’d been dealing cocaine in LA. Now he’s come back to lay low, since he owes a lot of money to some really dangerous men. He got a kilo of cocaine to try to make his profit back, only to not pick it up from the drop zone before Jim found it. Thinking it was trash, Jim ate the brick and went into an 8 hour rage, busting up the town. The US army of Area 49-B got a whiff of the destruction and came to collect Jim from the hospital. With a campaign from the town and an old friend of Walter’s, Jim is turned loose. However, he’s not out of the woods yet, as his amulet was ripped out of his chest and now he has a crater. 

—

*points in a random direction* Hey look! What’s that over there?! *Drops update* *runs*

Ao3 | FF.net

—

“It’s okay Jim, you’re going to be okay,” said Claire, as she hovered just over his face, and pressed little kisses to his cheek. “We’re going home.” 

“…For the…glory…” he muttered, before wincing and falling silent. 

“Are you taking us to the hospital?” Barbara asked as the van sped on, faster than any speed limit. 

“Nope,” said Samuel. “I think this is a Heartstone issue.” 

She nodded, knowing that would be the best. “He needs a tissue transplant, but his skin is so tough…I don’t even know what we could do for him. Get human skin and have Merlin transform it into half-troll? I hate that I don’t know what to do! I’m not a surgeon, damnit! And I’m certainly no magic expert!” 

“Stop at the McDonald’s near the edge of town,” said Toby. 

“Really? You want a Big Mac at a time like this?” 

“No! Merlin is probably there, and I bet he could fix Jim up.” 

“Wait, Merlin-Merlin? Like ‘Amulet of Merlin, Sword of Excalibur’ Merlin?” Asked Samuel.

“That’s the one!” 

Once they got into town, Samuel pulled in at the McDonalds as requested, and Toby was out the door before he stopped the car. 

“Merlin! Merlin help!” He cried, as he ran inside the restaurant. 

The employees behind the counter all looked at him, and then pointed at Merlin, who had set up shop in the corner of the store. He was surrounded by books, and other magical artifacts. 

How had management allowed this? Well actually, Merlin wouldn’t have listened to any authority, so they probably didn’t allow it. 

Toby ran to the wizard. “We got Jim back! He’s in the van, and he’s hurt really bad! We need you to heal him!” 

“What kind of injury?” Asked Merlin, calmly packing up his books. 

“They took his amulet, and there’s a huge hole in his chest! I could see his lungs!” 

Merlin screwed up his lips in thought. “Where are they taking him? To the Heartstone?”

“That’s what Samuel said!” 

Merlin didn’t ask who Samuel was, so he probably didn’t care. “I will be there shortly. I must gather the appropriate supplies. Keep him reclined and relaxed. And try not to prod the wound.” 

Toby nodded once and then ran back outside to the van. 

One of the McDonald employees calmly came over and refilled Merlin’s coffee, as he had asked to be done every hour. 

“Good lad. I’m leaving now. Here, for your trouble.” And he dropped a sizable emerald in the kid’s hand. 

The kid looked at it and shrugged. “Whatever.” It beat minimum wage at least.

—

At the canal, Claire opened up the portal to Trollmarket while Walter and Samuel started to get Jim out of the van. She ran in and called out, “Blinky! ARRRGH! Jim’s back! He’s hurt!” 

ARRRGH came running, while Blinky gathered all sorts of supplies and carried them down to the Heartstone. 

It was a mad dash then. Jim was quickly, but carefully, brought down into Heartstone Hall, and rested on his mattress on the floor. 

“…cold…” he whispered as he grasped and pulled at the blankets. 

Barbara pulled the comforter up to his stomach, and draped a smaller one over his right side. “I know you're cold, but you have a wound, and we can’t cover it yet.” 

“…water…” 

“I’m on it!” Cried Toby, running upstairs.

Jim groaned out in pain, and the Heartstone responded with a pulse of light. 

“Is that good?” Asked Claire. 

“The Heartstone is picking up on Jim’s pain, and is releasing magic to aid in his healing!” Said Blinky, with a smile. 

“Is that going to deplete the magic we put back into it?” 

“No no! Well, maybe…it shouldn’t!” 

Jim moaned out again, tensing his whole body, and craning his neck in an effort to find relief. 

“Just a little bit longer, sweetie,” said Barbara. “Merlin will be here soon.” She gnawed on her lip. “I could probably get an IV for him from the hospital. I have my phone, so call me if there’s any change!” 

“I’ll drive you, Dr. Lake,” said Samuel. 

“That’s alright, I’ll take the tunnel to my house and grab my car. That way, you don’t need to be held up here any longer. You’ve been a great help.” 

The general smiled. “It was worth it more than I thought. The Trollhunter owes me a favor now, you see. I probably won’t need to collect, but it’s always fun to have that in your back pocket. And besides, I got to see Trollmarket and the Heartstone with my own eyes.” He glanced at the orange stone. “That’s a privilege everyone in the Janus Order longed for.” Before he got too wistful, he turned to Walt. “You’ll let me know how this all turns out, right? Because I’m invested in Mr. Lake’s fate now.”

“I’ll text you updates.” 

“Fantastic.” He gave Jim a pat on the shoulder. “Hang in there, Trollhunter.”

“I’ll show you out,” said Barbara as they left together. 

Then it was just Blinky, ARRRGH, Claire, and Walt. Time ticked on in silence, as no one knew what to do or say. Only occasional groans from Jim broke the quiet atmosphere.

“What’s taking Merlin so long?” Said Claire, with irritation. 

“He’s coming?” Asked Blinky.

“We told him about what happened before we came down here. Said he had to collect ‘appropriate materials’.” 

“So he’s collecting materials,” said Walter. “It might take some time.” 

“Yeah, but he’s probably doing it at a leisurely pace. The man has no concept of time anymore. We need to get him a phone. Or at least a walkie-talkie.” 

Just then, a gallon bucket of ice and water bottles descended on a rope from the center column of the room. 

“Heads up! It’s kinda heavy!” Toby called before it hit the ground harshly. Then he nearly tumbled down the stairs himself. 

“I got a bunch because I know Jim doesn’t have running water down here yet, and I didn’t want us to run out!” He took a bottle from the bucket and put a silly straw in it so Jim could drink without having to sit up. “Sorry Jim, this is the only straw I have…it says ‘big boy’.” Toby tilted the end of the straw so it touched Jim’s lips. 

In his half conscious state, Jim felt it, took it in his mouth, and sucked, emptying half the bottle in one go. He released the straw and licked his lips. 

“Better, Jimbo?” 

“Uh huh…” Jim managed a little nod. 

“Okay. I’ll be on water duty. You just say the word, okay?” 

“…For…the glory of Merlin…” Jim tried again, before wincing hard. “Hurts to breathe…” 

Claire sat cross legged on the bed next to him, scratching his scalp lightly with her nails. “Just hang on for a little bit longer. Your mom is bringing some medicine from the hospital, and Merlin is going to fix you up.” 

His eyes flickered open ever so slightly. “Where am I?” 

“You’re in Heartstone Hall, in your bed.” 

His eyes closed again. “My amulet…gone.” 

“Yeah. Don’t worry about it right now. Just relax.” 

“Hurts…” 

“I know, babe, I know.” 

Walt stood, looking at his phone. “Barbara’s back. I’ll go help her.” And he left. 

Blinky snapped his fingers. “I think Vendal had a recipe for a burn salve up there. I can work on that. Come ARRRGH! It’s the least we can do!” 

“Yell if Jim need help,” ARRRGH added, as he followed Blinky up the stairs. 

“More water, Jimbo?” 

“Huh Uh…” 

After he drank, he winced, and a tear rolled from his eye. “I want my mom.” 

“She’s coming, Jim. She’s bringing some medicine for you.” 

“Where…am I?” 

Claire then realized that Jim was barely conscious, and wasn’t listening to much anyways. She’d end up repeating herself a lot. 

She pushed his bangs out of his face and kissed his forehead. “Shh, it’s okay. You’re nice and safe, babe.” 

Toby and Claire sat in silence as Jim continued to struggle to breathe. 

Thankfully, Barbara and Walt appeared not a minute later, with all sorts of goodies. 

“Alright kiddo, let’s get you all cleaned up. Claire, would you put on these gloves? I’d like you to clean the skin around his wound with these alcohol swabs while I set up the IV.” 

“On it Barb!” Claire got to work quickly, thankful to be able to do something to help. 

Walt set up the IV stand while Barbara prepared the needle and inserted it in Jim’s arm. 

“I hate that I have to use a thicker gauge needle, but your skin is so tough, kid.” 

Jim didn’t seem to even register what she was doing. 

Once the IV was in and taped in place, Barbara took out a thick gauze and started taping it in place on Jim’s chest. “The wound isn’t bleeding nearly as much as it should,” she stated, with a frown.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Asked Claire. 

“I’m thinking it’s because of the burns on him. They weren’t this bad at the hospital. He had been out in sunlight that day, but it was overcast and he had on long sleeves.” She taped down the gauze with medical masking tape. “No, this looks like...well, third degree on a human. Direct heat like flames or burning metal. I guess that would be a UV light for Jim.” 

“I’m going to hammer that lady into the ground,” Toby muttered.

“There, this should be good for now. I’ll bandage him again once Merlin cleans him up.” She rested a weak hand to her head. “Lord help me, I’m depending on Merlin.” 

Thankfully, news came by Claire’s phone, with an unknown number. 

“Hello?” 

“Claire? This is Douxie.” 

“Douxie! Please tell me you’re with Merlin!” 

“I am! Not that I can get his butt moving any faster. He briefed me on the situation, and I’ve been trying to rush him…but, you know how he is…” 

She could hear the old man shouting somewhere in the near distance. “Three days? Well he’ll be dead by then! No need for it by that time! You don’t have anything in stock?” 

Claire winced. “Where are you guys?” 

“At the hardware store, ummm you’re better off not knowing why for now. We’ll be at Trollmarket soon, I promise!” 

“Thank you. And thank you for calling. We were getting worried.” 

“How is he?” 

“Barely conscious. He’s on an IV with pain meds now…so he’ll be feeling a little better. He keeps trying to summon his amulet, but he doesn’t have the strength.” 

“Uh oh, he doesn’t have the amulet with him?” 

“No, the army wouldn’t give it back.” 

Douxie exhaled in a huff. “We’ll figure something out. Oh, Looks like Merlin found an alternative. We’ll be on our way soon!” 

“Great! See you!” And she ended the call. “Merlin should be coming soon!” 

“Thank goodness!” Barbara sighed. “Though it looks like Jim finally fell asleep. His pain is mostly managed…all we can do now is wait.” 

It felt like they were waiting hours. But there was not much else to do. 

Jim slept fitfully, occasionally opening his eyes to look around. It was clear he was exhausted, so he’d just close them again a moment later, and they heard his slow breathing. 

“This is torture,” said Claire. “But I can’t imagine what he’s been through.” 

“I hope that along with her discharge, that Kubritz lady does hard time in prison,” said Toby. 

“And I hope they do everything to her that she did to him,” Claire added, with venom. “If they don’t, I will.”

“I’ll back you up.” 

It was hard to share small talk, but just listening to Jim’s labored breathing and waiting felt like a terrible option. 

Finally, finally, Merlin’s horrible grating voice echoed through the Heartstone husk. “Hello? Is this where the injured Jim is?” 

“Yes!” Claire cried out. She was never so happy to hear that man’s voice. 

No really, most of the time, his appearance filled her with dread. 

Merlin and Douxie descended the stairs, arms full of plastic shopping bags. 

And it finally seemed like Merlin was done wasting time, as he spared no greetings and got busy examining Jim. He removed the blanket that covered his shoulder, and the temporary bandages Barbara applied. 

He cringed at the sight of the crater. “Yikes. That is quite the wound.” 

“Can you heal him?” Claire asked, afraid that he wasn’t up to the task. 

“Sure. No problem. Douxie, prepare the plaster.” 

“Plaster?” Barbara asked, with horror.

“Ugh, I know,” said the wizard. “Three days for expedited shipping for clay! Ridiculous! I thought the modern era was a time of immediate gratification! But no, the one time I need something quick, it’s a three day wait! Do they not know where the nearest clay deposits are?!” 

“Okay, but the plaster? What’s the deal with the plaster?!” 

“What else do you expect me to use to fill a wound in a troll?” 

“You’re going to pour plaster in his open wound?!” 

“Yes! And more!” He glanced over to the bucket Douxie was mixing in. “How’s it coming?” 

“Do you want it more watery, or thick?” 

“Thick without being too dry.” Then he turned back and leaned in close to Jim. “None of you are going to like what I’m about to do.” He pressed two fingers to Jim’s chest, and spoke, “imperium.” 

Jim’s eyes flashed open, wide, pupils expanded so the iris was just a hint of blue.

“Jim Lake Jr., summon your amulet,” Merlin commanded. 

Jim raised his hand up in the air slowly and spoke clearly, “for the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command.” 

Then Merlin let go, and Jim fell back into slumber, Claire having to catch his hand before it smacked him in the face. 

“What was that?” She asked. 

“I thought it was fairly obvious. A mind control spell. Very weak, only works on unconscious individuals within range.” 

“You know Mind Control?” Asked Toby, with some horror. 

“To a degree. As I said. It’s more like the power of suggestion. Morgana has learned how to fully possess someone’s mind, but I always preferred to use my natural charisma to persuade people.” 

Someone snorted. 

“The plaster is ready,” said Douxie. “Did you want to start with the strips?” 

“Yes,” he collected the tray Douxie had prepared. Mesh cloth strips sprayed with plaster, which created a base. Carefully, Merlin began to lay the strips in the hole in Jim’s chest, applying just enough pressure to adhere them and blend the edges. Once he had completely coated the inside, without filling the hole, he stopped.  

“There, now we’ll treat his burns. You said you had electricity down here?” 

“Uh, yeah. There’s an outlet on the wall next to you,” said Claire. 

“Perfect.” From his various bags, he took out a palm sander with a coarse paper on it. He plugged it in. “Now how do I work this thing?” 

“Why don’t you let me handle that while you use the file…” Douxie took the power tool away from him. “Claire, can you sit him up and lean against his back as a counter weight?”

“The file? I don’t want to use the file! I got this so you would use the file!”

“Merlin!” Barbara scolded. 

“Fine, I’ll use the file…better for fine detailing anyways.”

It was agonizing moments as Douxie buffed away the dried, burnt skin that came off like dust, while Merlin shucked off the chunks that were too thick for the sander. 

Jim, for the most part, only twitched and cried out on occasion, only when they got too close to fresh skin. 

Once he was rubbed raw and bright blue, a little bloody in some places, they stopped. 

“It’s like an extreme pumice stone,” Douxie tried to soothe, feeling guilty as Claire wiped her tears. “The skin affected by the sun, or UV lights or whatever, was solid stone and had to come�� off.” 

“I know,” said Claire. “It was just…jarring.” 

“Alright, we’re almost done,” said Merlin, scrounging up some compassion. “You can recline him again, Fair Claire.” 

Gently, Claire laid him back down on the pillows. 

Merlin took the loose plaster and slopped a bit in the wound, trying to make up for the missing space. 

Then, from the stairs came a ‘plink, plunk, plink, plunk’ as the amulet rolled its way down and stopped at Merlin’s feet. “Got here faster than I anticipated. I’d love to see the damage it did on it’s way.” 

“I thought if someone stole the amulet, it wouldn’t come back?” Asked Toby. 

“Not unless it’s properly summoned. If it only chooses one Trollhunter, you think it would want to be anywhere else?” Merlin cleaned the amulet with a rag to a near mirror shine, before placing it back in its spot on Jim’s chest. 

“Can’t you just keep it out of him? What if something like this happens again?” 

“Then we’ll just have to buy more plaster,” shrugged Merlin. “Anyway, it’s better this way.” He smeared more plaster in the cracks and smoothed it with his hands, until the seam was perfectly even. 

“Now what?”

“The plaster should start to dry soon, and a chemical reaction will take place, putting off heat. Then I will start the incantation.”

“Why then?”

“Must everything I do be questioned?”

“Yes.” Said everyone, unanimously.

“Because I said so. That’s why.” He touched the plaster, careful not to jostle it, and waited for the heat to set in. “Alright, I suggest everyone stand back. You too, Claire, get behind me.” 

Claire scooted off the bed and stood back with Toby and Barbara, then they waited anxiously. 

“It’s going to look and sound painful, but a little bit of pain, and he’ll be all better.” Merlin’s hands glowed blue, interacting with the pulsing, ticking amulet. Instead of a one word spell, like he had been doing, Merlin muttered a fast string of words that sounded like nothing and everything at the same time. Lightning bolts skittered from his fingertips, and drew patterns on Jim’s flesh. 

Jim screamed and writhed as every bolt connected. They danced across the plaster, turning it to his hardened flesh as they moved. The hands on the amulet spun rapidly as the stone pulsed a violent blue. The wound from Morgana, lower on his chest, flickered orange like embers. The Heartstone glowed as well. 

Claire felt her hair stand on end and goosebumps rise to her skin. The magic in the room was deafening, blinding, and amazing.

Finally, Merlin halted, and only smoke remained. 

Jim breathed deep, quick breaths, like you would after a run. But it wasn’t labored or halted, like before. 

“Cl-Claire?” He asked, his voice stronger than it had been. 

She nearly tackled him. “Jim! Jim you’re alright!” 

He winced slightly as she collided with his raw skin, but hugged her anyway. “Where am I?” 

“You’re home!” 

“Home?” 

“It’s a long story. How do you feel?” 

“Tired, hungry…a little sore. I remember being in a lot of pain…” he looked down at his chest, touching the amulet in confusion. 

“Merlin just healed you,” she explained. “They hurt you pretty bad, huh?” 

He rolled his neck and stretched his shoulders. “No kidding.” 

“Well,” said Merlin, “my work here is done. I think I’m ready for a nap of my own.” 

“Thank you, Merlin,” Barbara said sincerely. “Thank you for saving my boy.” 

“Of course! You didn’t think I was going to leave my greatest warrior to die, did you? Oh, before I forget, I should probably give this back.” He handed a black wallet over to her. 

“Wait, whose is this?” 

“James’. I needed to pay for the sander somehow.” 

Barbara laughed. “Well, he’s not going to be happy about it, but glad to know he contributed to this too.” Then she muttered, “considering it’s all his fault in the first place.” 

By the end of the day, Jim was up. Not fully recovered, but enough to shuffle around. He was able to go to his mother’s house and take a shower, while Barbara changed the blood-stained, plaster dusted sheets. When he was all clean, he sat in the living room in his sweatpants, exhausted, and aching. 

“Blinky made you a salve, if you want me to put it on you,” Claire offered, holding up a little jar. 

“I’d love that.” 

She delicately rubbed it into his skin, like Aloe on a severe sunburn. Careful not to scratch him, but also wanting to make sure he was covered.

James walked past the room and halted. “Jim! You’re—you’re back!” 

Jim just glanced at the man. “And?”

“I just…um, look, I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?”

“I didn’t know…that you ate trash. I would have made the drop for the cocaine somewhere else. I didn’t think—that’s not something people usually have to worry about, you know?”

“Yeah. Usually.” Jim said, stone cold. 

“How are you feeling?”

“Why do you care?”

“B-because you’re my son?” 

Jim couldn’t stifle the eye roll. “So NOW you think I’m your son? Where was that mentality when you pointed a shotgun at me?”

“I was in a severe crack withdrawal when I did that.” 

“And you’re just magically better now?”

James sat in an armchair opposite him. “I’m not going to say yes, but I’m better. I’m trying to get out of your and Babs’ lives, because I brought so much hurt in the first place. But…seeing what I’m missing out on—“ 

“No!” Jim snarled, standing up. “You don’t get to be sentimental now. You don’t get to change your mind. You suck! That’s all you’ve done! Mom’s moved on, I have men that are more fatherly than you could ever be if you tried! So just—finish your business and get lost!” He tried to step towards the basement, but he crumbled, still far too physically weak to walk on his own. 

“I got you,” Claire whispered, wrapping an arm around his waist. “James,” she turned to look at him briefly. “I don’t know if you realized how crappy that thing you just said was. Don’t try to get Jim’s hopes up. He’s hurt, he’s upset, he’s vulnerable. So just stay away. If you truly want to be back in Jim’s life, don’t mention that you’re considering it. Back it up with action, or else you’ll just be disappointing us all when you go back. And as far as I know…your word is worthless.” She helped Jim walk slowly back to the basement, to the tunnel back to Trollmarket. 

“Trouble? I heard yelling,” said Draal.  

“No, no trouble. Thanks Draal,” Jim gave him a weak, affectionate punch. 

—

Many many miles away, a group of men watched the news, an old broadcast that one of them had snagged. 

“—The campaign worked perfectly! Now, hero to Arcadia, James Lake Jr. has been released from his wrongful imprisonment for his bizarre appearance, and returned home. Lake is hailed a local hero, as his acts of kindness and selflessness during a horrendous tornado in the area have become well known in the community as well as on social media. A parade in Lake’s honor is set for this weekend, as Lake has made a good progression in his recovery from captivity.”

“Okay, a kid was arrested because he looks weird. Not sure what the correlation is.” 

The leader of the pack smiled. “Oh, it’s such a subtle thing. We don’t care about the kid, or his deeds, or even the city of Arcadia really.” 

“Then…what?”

“Did you catch the boy’s name?”

“I…Lake? Like…”

“Jim Lake Jr. is what they said. Maybe a common name. But if there’s a Junior…perhaps there’s a Senior nearby.”

—

I have not seen Rise of the Titans (though I expect to watch it this weekend) but I heard it was…not good, story wise. So in this fic, I won’t be applying any of it. Probably. Unless something juicy catches my eye.

[yellowmagicalgirl]

1 + douxie and jim

1. "A good friend wouldn't let me do this." "It's lucky I'm not a good friend, then." "You're right about that."

So, this takes place in a potential bad ending for that one AU I wrote where Douxie was an Arcadia Oaks High student. (The bad ending is not Jim becoming a troll. The bad ending is about what Douxie becomes.) (I have no idea where Archie is in this fic and only realized that he’s not around after I wrote it. Maybe his lack of presence is a contributing factor.)

CW: drowning, Douxie being an OOC-on-purpose dickhead.

~

“A good friend wouldn’t let me do this,” Jim said loudly enough that his voice could be heard over the sound of the tub filling.

“It’s lucky I’m not a good friend, then.” Ah, so Douxie was self-aware enough that he knew how many people he was betraying. But, in a twisted way, he was right. If Douxie were a good friend, he would be trying to talk Jim out of recklessly sacrificing half his humanity to save the world. They’d be wasting time sitting and talking and trying to figure out if there were any plans they could make that would keep Jim as himself.

“You’re right about that.” Douxie had definitely seemed like a good friend before they’d found out that Merlin was still alive. And maybe he had been, but he’d changed. At first it’d been in subtle ways, like his posture or facial expressions. But he’d been agreeing with things that Merlin had been saying or doing, things that everyone knew normally would go against Douxie’s conscious. He had never been one to sacrifice the many for the few.

He would have never sacrificed his friends.

“You know, you don’t have to do Merlin’s dirty work. You have a life outside of him,” Jim said. Douxie had complained to them once, when the three of them were loitering around at the book store where Douxie worked, that sometimes it felt like as a child all he had done for Merlin was the unimportant dirty work. Nothing important, nothing interesting, and nothing that would finally earn him a staff.

“Yes, a life I owe to him.”

“Did we mean anything to you?”

“More than you’ll ever know,” Douxie said, and for just a moment the emotionless mask started to slip away.

“But not as much as finally earning your staff.” Not as much as earning the approval of a father figure who would probably never give a damn about him. Funny. Jim had always thought Douxie was the wiser of the two of them, but clearly Jim had learned a lesson at five-and-a-half with only half a year of abandonment that Douxie still hadn’t learned at seventeen after three years of abandonment.

Douxie turned his once-again blank gaze from Jim to the tub.

“Right, right, it’s not about any of us. It’s about the world. I hope you’ll be able to face Toby and Claire after today, because we both know they’re going to hate you.”

And then Jim let his former friend push him into the darkened waters.

A bunch of different dialogue prompts #16

[writings-of-a-daphodil]

Fire Keeper: Chapter 15

Douxie x fem reader

Chapter 1

Masterlist in bio!

Series Summary: You are Jim’s older sister who is taking a break from college and has moved back home to Arcadia. You end up joining Jim and his friends on their adventures.

Chapter 15 summary: Just as you and Douxie get back to Arcadia the Eternal Night begins. 

You stroked Archie as Douxie drove the three of you back to Arcadia. It had been a pretty silent drive with you drifting in and out of sleep, but you were awake now and you and Douxie were singing along to some music you were playing via your phone.

It was a lot of fun and it made you even happier to see Douxie smiling again. You looked back out the window before he could catch you staring.

A new song came on and you began to sing, but your phone ringing cut you off. You unplugged the aux cord and answered it.

“Hey, mom. We just got back. We’re almost in Arcadia.”

“Y/n, something happened, can you come to the school?” She asked, her voice filled with urgency.

“Um, yeah. I’ll be right there.” You hung up and looked to Douxie. “That was my mom, something happened.”

“I can drop you off and then you can pick up your car tomorrow?” Douxie suggested and you nodded.

The two of you continued singing, but you were distracted by your thoughts. Your brain had decided to conjure up thoughts of all the worst possible scenarios.

Thankfully you didn’t have to suffer through the scenarios as you arrived at the school. You hopped out of the car and thanked Douxie.

You immediately sensed auras on the roof and while they all seemed relatively calm and a little anxious, you didn’t sense Jim’s.

You decided to forgo the stairs and you flew yourself up to the roof. You arrived to see everyone but Jim. Even Merlin was there, but you didn’t see your brother. However, you did see a troll in the eclipse armor. You stared wide-eyed at him and dove into his aura. If you peeled back a few layers you found your brothers.

“Jim?” You asked, alerting everyone to your arrival.

“Hey Y/n,” he greeted, smiling nervously.

“Are you okay?” You asked, concern for your little brother consuming you.

“Kinda,” he admitted and you ran over to hug him. Tears pricked your eyes when you realized how much taller he was now.

“What happened?” You asked as you pulled away from him, but you still held his hand.

“I needed to become stronger and Merlin did this.” He gestured to himself.

“But you were already great,” you whispered. You could sense the pain and fear and Jim’s aura and it made your tears run faster. The best word to describe your mood was ‘furious’ and the cause of your anger was Merlin.

You had been home for about three seconds and you were already ready to fight the old man. You were only holding back because you didn’t want to start something or upset Jim.

“Ah so this is the Trollhunter’s sister?” Merlin asked and you were seriously ready to throw hands. You had really expected Merlin to be cooler from what Douxie described.

You scowled. “I am, and not only that, I’m a sorceress.”

“Really?” Merlin asked, interest showing on his face.

“Yes, and what were you thinking? How could you do this to him?” You asked.

“I didn’t do anything. It was his choice, I just created the means. In the end you will thank me.”

You decided to be mature and ignore Merlin. It was the best way to calm down. It also helped when you remembered that Merlin was able to see the future. Maybe Jim becoming a half-troll was a good thing?

You turned to Jim. “Don’t worry Jimbo, you still have your looks,” you joked trying to make light of the situation.

He chuckled. “Thanks.”

You looked at the rest of the group and you noticed Strickler standing very close to your mom. You decided to be mature and read their auras before attacking Strickler and you were presently surprised to sense forgiveness in your moms aura and caring in Strickler’s. Maybe he wasn’t that bad.

You put on a small smile. “Why don’t we walk home and you explain everything that's been going on this past week to me.”

“There’s something you should know about our trip to find Merlin,” Jim said once you all had gotten down from the roof.

“What’s wrong?” You asked, sensing the sad shift in everyone’s auras.

Jim looked down. “Draal didn’t make it. H-he died back when we were getting Merlin’s staff. Draal took a dagger for me, Angor Rot killed him.”

You looked at the rest of the group and saw sadness shining in your eyes. You began to cry again and Jim hugged you. “I-I can’t believe it,” you sobbed.

“I know I’m sorry. But we are going to avenge him,” Jim promised. You sniffed, looking up at him. He was so grown up now and you were incredibly proud.

You took a deep breath. “I know we will.”

~~~~

Last night as all of you walked home the group recounted the events of the last week to you and you had to admit a lot had happened. Now it was time to defeat Morgana and Gunmar.

That morning you had gone over the plan and you had to say, while you were nervous and scared, but you were excited to end this. It would all be over soon and hopefully your brother and Merlin would come out victorious.

And while they did that, you were on crowd control with Douxie. You wouldn’t have regular civilians dying, not if you had something to say about it.

You stood on the sidelines with Douxie watching Aja and Krel play their music. The crowd seemed very excited for Krel’s DJ-ing, but you were a ball of nerves. Claire was supposed to arrive soon and tell everyone to go and find someplace safe.

You bit your lip as Señior Uhl announced Mama Skull and Claire walked onto the stage in her armor.

You barely listened to her speech, but you could tell nobody was understanding how much danger they were in. That is until the sky darkened and gumm-gumms appeared.

You tried to call everyone to you, but they just panicked. Unsure of what to do, you and Douxie just began to fight. The less gumm-gumms there were the less chance of people dying, right?

You summoned your sword and immediately sliced through one as you sent a magic blast at another. You heard someone scream on stage and you and Douxie ran over there. You noticed he didn’t have a weapon and you wondered what he was going to be able to do with just a guitar.

Apparently he could do a lot. He hit a gumm-gumm that was terrorizing Mary and Darci over the head, knocking it out cold.

“I've always hated those twits!” he grumbled. You went over to finish the job while he helped Mary and Darci.

You walked back over to Douxie who Mary and Darci were swooning over and you rolled your eyes. “Come on Romeo, we need to get these people to safety.”

“Alright, Ladies follow us.” Douxie took off and you followed him.

“Where should we take them?” You asked. “We need some place big enough to fit a ton of people.”

“The school!” Douxie responded. You turned the corner and found some gumm-gumms harassing some of the old guys who like to play chess in the gazebo.

You held out your sword and charged the creatures, easily taking them down while Douxie covered your back. The two of you made a very good team.

Soon the street was cleared of the black and green monstrosities, but you knew it wouldn’t last long. “We need to get going,” you said helping the old men up.

Your ever growing group made your way through the town with Douxie up front and you guarding the rear. Occasionally you ran into gumm-gumms, but you and Douxie took care of them easily.

Soon you made it to the school. You used your magic to unlock the doors and you had to admit you were proud of yourself.

You watched as Douxie led everyone across the street. Things seemed to be going your way for the time being and you hoped all of your friends were doing okay. You didn’t know how you would go on if you lost anyone else.

Another tremor hit and you wobbled on your feet. Tremors had been occurring all day, but this one felt different.

The cause of the tremor was soon revealed when you heard a roar. It was a roar you had only ever heard once before, and that had been in the Darklands. You watched everyone freeze in the middle of the street as a gigantic black and green snake thing turned towards all of you. It could probably smell the fear radiating off of everyone.

“Fuzz buckets,” Douxie cursed as the Nyarlagroth charged. There was no time to make any mistakes so you just decided to call upon your magic. An orange glow surrounded the Arcadians and they floated into the air. You heard shouts of surprise, but you didn’t have time to warn them as you threw them inside the school.

You went to chase after them, but you instead saw a kitten standing in the middle of the Nyarlagroth’s path. There was no way you were going to let something bad happen to the adorable ball of white fluff, so you did what any compassionate human would do. You ran towards the kitten and picked it up.

Unfortunately now both of you were in the Nyarlagroth’s path, but you weren’t there for long.

You and the kitten glowed blue and you were yanked towards Douxie who caught you. He carried you bridal style into the school, gently setting you down before the group of Arcadians.

“Um, thanks,” you mumbled.

“Anytime, thanks for getting the kitten. I didn’t see it.”

“Of course.”

“What now?” Someone asked and you turned to face them. You didn’t have to be an aura reader to sense that these people were afraid. But what you weren’t expecting was for them to be determined.

“I know you might not be happy to be stuck in here, unable to do anything, but in here you are safer. I also understand how scary this is. Right now Douxie and I need to take care of that giant snake thing so we can make this place safer.” You looked at all the terrified faces and sighed when you noticed that your speech didn’t seem to be impacting them. “Okay, look. We’ve all lived in Arcadia for a while and I’m sure many of you have noticed the weird things that go on around here. There are different creatures that live here who aren’t human, but this is their home too. Those bad guys out there have taken their home before and are trying to take it again as well as ours. There aren’t many people who can do something about it, but those who can are out there, fighting for you and they are going to win. But to do that, they need you in here where you’re safe so they don’t have to worry about you. It may seem scary now, but if we all do our part things will work out!”

You looked again and noticed that everyone seemed to be calmer and even more determined than they were before. “Good luck!” Someone called and you smiled.

“We’ll be back soon,” Douxie said, holding the door for you.

You reluctantly gave the kitten to Phil and Jerry, the two the old guys you had saved. “Now let’s go take care of that Nyarlagroth.”

~~~~

“I didn’t know you gave inspirational speeches,” Douxie joked once you were outside.

“It’s one of my many hidden talents,” you replied smiling at him.

You and Douxie raced to the top of the school to get a good view and you saw the Nyarlagroth circling the school.

“When Jim was in the darklands he stopped one by overwhelming it’s sense of smell,” you explained. “We need to find something that will do that.”

“This is a school, there’s got to be tons of  gross laundry here,” Douxie suggested.

You bit your lip. “I hope this works.”

“Me too,” Douxie sighed, looking one last time at the beast. His aura was buzzing with worry.

“We’ve got this,” you said, pulling him back down the stairs. The two of you went looking for the laundry and you plugged your nose as you levitated it out of the school. “This should be fine.”

“Good.” Douxie chuckled. “I hope these kids won’t be mad about us feeding their stuff to the Nyarlagroth.”

“I think they’ll be fine.” You set the hampers down to catch a breather. “Okay, I’ll go across the street and when the Nyarlagroth comes around be ready to fling this stuff into its mouth.”

“Yes Ma’am,” Douxie said, jokingly saluting you.

You gave a small smile before running across the street, levitating your baskets behind you.

You heard the Nyarlagroth before you saw it. Hiding in an Alley you levitated the hampers and got ready to shove them into the beast’s mouth.

It roared and you sent the disgusting laundry flying into its mouth. You watched as Douxie’s hampers flew in after yours.

It froze and you took it distraction as an opportunity.

“Douxie blast it, I’m gonna go stab it!” You explained, ever eloquent.

You leapt into the air and onto the Nyarlagroth’s back. You felt the beast shift as Douxie began to blast it. Quickly you located a space between its scales and you squeezed your eyes closed as you thrust your sword into it. You pushed it into the hilt and watched as it slowly turned to stone. You felt bad, but you knew it would kill everyone if given the chance.

You floated off the Nyarlagroth and down to the ground where Douxie hugged you.

“We did it!” He celebrated. “You did amazing.”

“Thanks, but we both did amazing.”

You high fived in celebration. The Nyarlagroth was now a pile of useless stones and the People of Arcadia were mostly saved.

However, the celebration couldn’t last long. You had work to do. You and Douxie placed anti gumm-gumm sigils around the house and then went to go look for more people. Soon you had gathered quite a few and you were bringing them back to the cool when you saw a horde of goblins.

Stood to challenge them while Douxie got the people inside. The goblins charged at you and you blasted a few before they got too close.

The leader leapt up at you and you sliced him with your sword. This only angered the rest of them causing them to fight with more vigor. But you were fighting for the safety of your town.

Soon Douxie joined you, bashing the goblins with his guitar that he had kept. It was a little battered by now, but it made for a good weapon.

You fought goblin after goblin, but there always seemed to be more of them.

They suddenly stopped attacking though and you noticed a change in the air. The goblins looked at each other then at you and Douxie who had your weapons arrived.

They turned and ran. You were tempted to go after them, but you realized that you couldn’t do much against that many goblins. You should have to save that problem for later.

“What do you think happened?” Douxie asked.

Red lightning came out of nowhere and hit a gumm-gumm which shattered into a pile of rocks. “I think Jim killed Gunmar!” You exclaimed.

Now that the street was clear you and Douxie went to check on the Arcadians. After you were sure they were good the two of you can off to the canal. The both of you were worried that the Eternal Night hadn't ended.

You didn't have your car so you wouldn't be able to drive. Instead the two of you ran.

You arrived to see Claire, Jim, Toby, Aaarrrgghh, and Blinky looking at a giant crack in the ground.

You looked into it and saw the heartstone, but it wasn't warm and happy orange anymore. It was a cold gray.

"What happened?" You asked, aghast. You had spent so much wonderful time in Trollmarket now it was destroyed.

"Gunmar happened," Blinky said, bitterly.

"What are you going to do now? " you asked.

"We're gonna look for a new Heartstone. Merlin mentioned that there would be one in New Jersey," Jim said.

"New Jersey?" You asked, shocked.

Jim avoided your eyes. "Yeah."

"I'll miss you," you said, hugging him.

"I'll miss you too," he said.

~~~~

After you had met with Jim Claire and Toby and they had told you their side of the battle and you told yours, you went to see your mom who was sanding on the cliff overlooking Arcadia. The two of you were waiting to say goodbye to Jimo. You knew he had to go to New Jersey, but it still hurt you to see him go.

Merlin arrived and he looked out over Arcadia. There was smoke billowing over some buildings and while it looked sad and hopeless, but you knew it would be okay.

You gently stroked the kitten you had saved from the Nyarlagroth. You had decided to adopt the kitten, though you didn’t have a name for the darling fluff ball.  

You were spooked out of your thoughts by some rustling behind you. You turned around to see Jim. You tried to hold back your tears.  You hadn’t even said goodbye yet and you were already missing him.

He went over to you and your mom and hugged the two of you. “I promised I’d never leave you,” he said.

“Honey, I knew this day would come, I just...never knew when,” your mom rubbing yours and Jim’s back. “I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

You heard your mom sniff and you knew she was crying. Your own tears began to fall. “Just call often,” you sniffed.

“Everyday. Twice. Text. Now and then?” Your mom added.

“Of course, guys. I love you,” Jim said, also sniffing.

“Not more than I love you kiddo,” your mom chuckled.

You heard more rustling and sawBlinky arrive. “Are you ready, Master Jim?” He asked coming over to you.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Jim sighed, letting go of you and your mom, but keeping your hands.

“I don’t know what tomorrow brings, but with our Trollhunter by our side, I don’t fear it either,” Blinky said,  putting his hand on Jim's shoulder. You smiled, you were glad Jim had someone like Blinky.

“I really appreciate that, Mr. Blinky,” you mom said.

You heard more rustling and saw Claire and her parents arrive.

She walked over to Jim. “Claire, I can’t ask you to—“

“You didn’t ask,” Claire said and you were so glad Jim had such a great boyfriend.

“She has enough credits to graduate early,” Claire's mom said. “We’re treating this as some time abroad.”

“As long as she comes back soon,” her dad said.

“Well, congratulations, Claire,” You said, high fiving her. You wondered how it was possible for a sophomore to have accomplished that.

Jim laughed and you jumped a little as Strickler came flying by. He landed by your mom. “Good luck, Young Atlas.”

Jim smiled at the three of you and slowly let go of your mom’s hand as he walked away.

“You did good raising him, Doc,” NotEnrique consoled. “Here’s a thousand new babies to raise.”

“What?” Strickler asked as NotEnrique handed your mom the cradle stone.

“Have fun with that, you two,” NotEnrique called, running away so they couldn’t give the stone back.

“Wait!” Strickler called.

“This’ll be fun,” you muttered and your mom patted your back.

“Wait! Wait for me!” Toby yelled as he came running up to the group in his War Hammer armor. “Boy, these goodbyes are tough, you know. Nana wanted me to take Mr. Meow Meow P.I., but he does not travel well. What?”

“Tobes...you have to stay.” Jim said, kneeling down.

“What?” Toby asked and you felt really, really bad for him. “You’re going on a quest. I love quests. We go everywhere together.”

“I’m hurt, Claire lost her Shadow Staff. We need you here to protect Arcadia.”

“No, Wingman,” Aaarrrgghh said, coming up to Toby. “I help. I stay.”

Blinky gasped then nodded, accepting it. Their air was thick with bittersweet goodbyes and you felt a few tears fall.

“So, you’re staying with me-” Toby gestured to you and Aaarrrgghh “-and you’re leaving,” he summarized, gesturing to Claire, Jim and Blinky.

“But we’ll be back. Someday,” Jim promised as you handed the kitten to your mom and walked over to them with Claire. The four of you were pulled into a group hug.

“You better,” Toby sniffed.

“And then we’ll get tacos,” Jim said, chuckling.

“And enchiladas,” Claire added.

“We sure found that adventure. Right, Tobes?” Jim asked and you smiled through your tears.

“I’m really glad we took the canal that morning,” Toby agreed.

The four of you stood. “Keep Arcadia safe,” Jim requested. “You’re its only Trollhunters now.”

Nomura walked over and hugged Toby. “I still don’t like you.”

“I know,” Toby cried. You began to quietly shed your tears as your friends and little brother walked away into the forest.

They stopped and you watched as Merlin pulled out the Eclipse Blade and you noticed that it was broken. “I believe this belongs to you, Trollhunter.”

Merlin used his magic to fix it and Jim grabbed it. They looked back one more time and you waved a sad goodbye.

****

Thank yall so much for reading and liking my writing!! It makes me so happy to see your positive feedback!! It was super bittersweet writing this chapter. I know there will be more, but it felt sad writing the scene where they leave. Anyways, I really hope y'all have a wonderful day/night!! And stay safe!! 💙💙

Also I haven't though if a name for the kitten yet, so if you have any suggestions I'm open.

P.S. if you want to be on the taglist feel free to ask. I hope it works and please message me if it doesn’t.P.S. if you want to be on the taglist feel free to ask. I hope it works and please message me if it doesn’t.

P.P.S. I'm totally open for requests on fluffy half chapters! If you have any ideas for the half chapters send them in and I'll do my best to include them.

[bastet-c-haddock]

ToA Cyberpunk AU 1/?

"Attention citizens of Arcadia..."

That uneasiness takes over, that voice roaring through the dark city thanks to the speakers located throughout the streets.

"The city's center will be closed down to the public from tomorrow until further notice. The reason for this has yet to be explained, still, no one is allowed into the main state building, the plaza and the clock tower. Be tuned for more info down the line"

Sometime ago, that voice used to be good news, a bright light at the start of everyday. Now, sounds hollow, almost dead, as if the joy was sucked out of it since the day the sun stopped shining onto this town.

A black bubble encapsulates the city, making each moment eternal.

Sunlight was replaced by LED and Neon Lights, placed into every corner of the town just so anyone could see where they where standing in this black hole. The town grew more in the last 3 years than in all of its history because it became a Sanctuary to every living creature. Troll, human or...akiridian. From a small town to a city, Arcadia was no longer the place I grew up on. Now, it is a place where forest are scarse and the air is hunted by the ghosts of the past.

How did we end up like this?

The eternal night didn't took hold of the world, as Gunmar wanted. Morando's threat over humankind was vanquished as well. But the Arcane Order...was too much for us...for me...

I was no longer the Trollhunter, I couldn't be the one on the frontline guiding the attack. I was left sitting on the bench, looking as everyone I loved perished because I wasn't able to wield Daylight or...Excalibur for that matter...

Despair drove me to keep hidden where I once lived, now...I'm nothing more than an urban legend living on a wreckage of a house.

Me...the last Trollhunter

Me...James Lake Junior, the ghost of Merlin's champion...

I still remember when Kanjigar told me "I had to fight on my own". I proved him wrong so many times but...at the end...he was right. How could I be so blind?

. . .

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Her voice as calm and soft as always, her gentle embrace helping me get by once I was my old self again. Everything was shifted, my height and weight were smaller from what I had been the last year or two. Being human again after being half troll was...weird. Claire, against everything, was there. "Last time she saw you, you were...different. Don't you think she'll be worried?" Concerned, yet sweet.

"She's right, Jimbo!" Tobes replies, as concerned as her. "Wouldn't you like to rest before confronting Dr. B?" For once, Toby was trying to make me change my mind, maybe with a reasonable logic. An hour before, I was a monster, lost in a magic indused rage, and before that, I was wounded with a magic shard for a little over a month, even before all of that, I wasn't able to properly sleep for...who knows how long! Weirdly enough, that only fueled my desire even more.

"Guys, I only want a thing right now..." as I said that, a glimpse of a very familiar and nostalgic sight can into view. "My home..." I whispered as I desperately wanted to run to the front door. Claire and Toby followed me, seeing as I tripped over the sidewalk, drunk on my homesickness. I could already feel the warmth of the living room, the clean smell of the kitchen, the dust on the basement, the fabrics of my bed and most of all, the sweet scent of my mother's loving embrace.

I bumped into the door, trying to keep balance as I tried that night 2 years ago, the night I came home as a half troll. As that memory ran, I stopped my hand from opening the door. She was going to have a thousand questions about how, why, when. Everything...

"Jim?" Claire whispered from behind, placing her hand on my shoulder. "Is everything ok?" Confused because I was hesitating after running down the street to get there.

"I'm...scared..." I reply, remembering how worried my mother was when I fell over that night. "What if...I...she..." my mind was running, my anxiety was making my thoughts blurry. Once again, Claire looked at me, her dark eyes being my beacon of light.

"Everything is going to be ok" those worlds coming from her, made me throw my anxiety aside for a moment. I was still nervous but...the only way to find out how everything was going to play out, was by entering the house.

I open the door, hesitant, someone's in the kitchen...

"Walter! You returned earlier!" Her voice, as warm as ever. Sweet, like a nursery rhyme. Walks from the stove to the open square on the wall that lets her see directly to the entrance. "How was your...day?"

Our eyes clash for a moment, her expression changes from happiness, to disbelief. And there I stand, like the eighteen year old youngster I was once, frozen by a sight I never thought I could get to see again and I now wish I still had.

She walks slowly, from the kitchen, to the access directly in front of the entrance door. Her face doesn't change, but her eyes glisten. She comes closer, slowly, fearing her eyes were lying to her.

"Jim?..." she muttered in disbelief, getting closer by the second. Her hands slowly moving upward, until they embrace my face, carecing my scarred cheeks. "Jim, is...is it really you?".

I could only left out a nervous giggle, trying to keep my tears at bay. Her touch makes the clock run back in time, back to those good old days, when there was only me and her against everything. When I promised her I would never leave...

"Hi, mom...It's me..." only those worlds leave my mouth, as I try not to whimper like a kid, but that dumb smile in my face, alongside my glistening eyes speak volumes. Luckily for me, she looks the same.

At a moment's notice, she hugs me like she had never done before, stroking my hair with her hands shaking like crazy. I can hear her weeping her heart out, but she's also giggling. I hug her back...

"I missed you!" I whimper as my silent tears run across my face.

"I missed you too! I missed you so much!!" She replies, as we let the clock go by endlessly, trapped in a melancholic bubble. Her embrace is all I ever wanted since I left to New Jersey, her warmth, her sweetness, every last piece of love I always got but never fully appreciated. Just being with her, already felt like home.

"Welcome home, kiddo" . . .

. . .

I no longer remember how she passed away, I guess my mind blocked it so I could keep my sanity. Was it that bad? I no longer know...

And now...here I stand, alone in this empty house. Few things still work, others have become dust gathering ornaments. Against the bright city surrounding me, this feels stuck in time. The walls are cracking, the paing is rotting away and the dust stains everything with its gray color. A color that fits me perfectly now...

Heavy footsteps come and go through the house, all coming from my tired feet, who no longer wish to act as intended. My body moves around only when needed, like when I need go search for something I can eat.

Since I'm dead to the public eye, I have certain liberties. I can steal anything I need, since tracing me always comes to a dead end. It isn't something I enjoy, but I don't have any other option.

When social structure was reorganized, humans were left at the bottom of the priority list. Because they used to be the former residents of the town, they soon became the hosts for the refugees, specially to akiridions, who felt no shame whatsoever on having their hosts turning into servants. Other aliens came by, reinforcing the control over us, because they were stronger than us. As far as I know, there are still groups who search for some level of equality, but none have spoken up. I can't give you names, mostly because I don't know any, but sometimes, while going through the streets, I can see a symbol on some walls: Two circles one inside the other with a line crossing them horizontally. Seems familiar but...I can't put my finger on it.

Sometimes...I wonder how everything could have been if I had fought.

If I had been the Trollhunter when the Arcane War came upon Arcadia. We would´ve won? I don´t know...but...I miss them...I wish I had protected them like I did before. If only Excalibur had given me a chance...

. . .

The night falls over the city -my only marker of that is on the clock I still have on my room- And my time has come to go gather the essentials: Food, water and maybe a rogue to deal with. Those have become abundant for the last month, probably because of that treaty everyone is mumbling about. 

Supposedly, the queen of Akiridion 5, among with other heads of state, will sign a document. No one knows why but the sole temptation of a big fish roaming through the city has caused some criminals to rise. I have no doubt that a revolution is coming, I can sense it. This comes as an opportunity to “recover the town”, but I think we lost it a long while ago. Either way, I won´t get involved.

From the old streets of the phantom of a house I live in, to the bright lights of the city that we still call Arcadia. I go by with the same old blue hoodie, one of the few good memories I still hold close. Obviously, my face is covered. I don´t fear being recognized, It just makes it easier to blend with the crowd. Another gloomy 21 year old who survived the war and stuff like that.

My head is empty while I scout around, looking for a good target. 

Most are other people who buy for themselves, “hosts” to some other alien who gives them permission to go for groceries. I don´t bother them, they might have more problems than I do. Some faces are familiar, from school, from our old daily lives, maybe from my mishaps as the Trollhunter, but none of them recognize mine...Luckily keeping me off the radar.

“Ow!” lost in my own thoughts, I don´t notice someone coming straight at me until we bump into each other. They react at impact, stumbling for a bit, the same as me. “Kleb, look where are you going!” their voice seems awfully familiar...why? I turn my gaze to see this stranger. A guy with dark hair, copper like skin and a backpack, he´s taller than me, his hair on a half man bun but his eyes...strike my memory like...Lightning...lightning in a bottle...LIGHTNING ON A BOTTLE! Krell?. . .

Our eyes lock for a moment, looks like he recognized me as well. Damnit!

“Jim?” he asks, a smirk forming in his face. Suddenly his eyes shine, with hope? Why?! “Jim Lake?” asks again, hoping I will answer. What do I do? I stay silent, when suddenly...

“HELP!” a stranger screams close, as the fast steps of a burglar run past me. “Help me please! Everything I have is on that thief´s hands!” screams once again, this stranger saved me without knowing it. As fast as I hear that, I run past Krell, towards the thief. This is my chance!

[gotmilk5101520]

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia Watch Episode 7 To Catch a Changeling

How to catch a changeling for idiots.

“All right”

“Do your worst”

The Sword of Daylight. A weapon to kill trolls and cutting watermelon.

“What is this mockery?” Me seeing stupid shit.

“You want to take it for a spin?”

*Cries in Troll*

Yeah, no one will notice.

“Ridiculous garment” Agree.

“Sorry. Draal was training Jim”

“Draal?” “Training?”

“Yeah, he sorta made a home in my basement to look out for the place”

“Of course. When a troll is defeated in combat, it’s completely natural for them to take refuge in the victor’s domicile” So, this happened before?

And it’s gone.

“It was, eh... It was out of focus, and i did forget to turn on the flash” Once again, i went back.

And the flash was on.

Have some Jim is done with this bushigal face.

“I’ve not left the Heartstone in a century” This is what it’s like to be force to go somewhere, cause they say it’ll be worth it. But it’s really not. Wow Vendel is becoming the most relatable character in this series.

“I hate conspiracies”

“That is why i am dedicated to rooting them out” If Trump hired Blinky to root out all the conspiracies of him Blinky will end up making them worse for Trump. #LetTrumphireBlinky

“If it’s everyone, it must be a conspiracy!” I would say Donald Trump, but that would be insult to Blinky.

“Later”

“Oh, no. Claire”

“Claire? A changeling?” Changeling Claire au.

“No. When i thought i was gonna die, i wrote Claire a letter, too, and told her everything”

“Everything?’

“Everything” And what is this “Everything” you speak of? What did you write?

“There you are!” Mission: Avoid Claire. Mission Fail.

“You didn’t run into Miss. Janeth yet, did you?”

“Is she mad i couldn’t make rehearsal yesterday?

“Something kinda came up”

“Heh heh” Good of the episode to put flashbacks in for me, so i don’t have to do it myself. Also Jim implies that last episode happened yesterday (Out of universe, yeah it did) But i thought about it and today would be Monday, and yesterday was Sunday. Jim and Draal’s fight happened on a school day meaning that it was Friday. Jim and Toby getting arrested and Jim making the letters were on a Thursday, and Jim and Toby finding out about Nomura was a Wednesday. And then the school trip to the museum was a Tuesday.

“Steve filled in. That’s what understudies are for, right?”

“Uh, you haven’t heard?

“Steve isn’t the understudy anymore. You are”

“She’s tired of you never showing up”

“So she made Steve Romeo. And trust me, Steve isn’t happy about it either”

“As i was saying, every algebraic equation requires balance”

“Not unlike, say, actors in an ensemble!”

“For instance”

“Every piece of this equation plays an important role”

“That is, unless variable X”

“is a zero”

“X has no role”

“X doesn’t show up”

“X lets the equation down”

“Then, the entire play-”

“I mean, equation- falls part!”

“It becomes impossible!”

“Mr. Lake”

“How would you solve this mathematical problem”

Yeah i’m at a lost.

“Promoting Steve to Romeo wasn’t your idea. Plus, he’s been trying to leave” “Tell me about it. After class he told me off. Steve told me off. Steve. Of all people”

“And, honestly, i’d rather be on stage with you”

I’ve seen that face before. Marinette made that face, too, when Adrien touched her shoulder at the end of The Evillustrator.

New meme template.

“So, we find another changeling”

“Stop saying that so loudly”

“Do you mind?”

“Whatever” Like i said, his name is Changeling.

“Ailment or curse?”

“Oi, numbskull! I;m supposed to answer it!”

“But i already did answer it” Wait are Rot and Gut like one troll sharing a body or no?

“You’re gonna need a gaggletack”

“Unfortunately, you see, we’re a bit short on those. Very hard to get”

“But i got a bag of them right here”

“What in the world? If you’ll excuse us for one moment”

“Ey, what are you doing? I’m trying to drive up the price over here”

“I thought we were trying to help these nice lads” Rot doesn’t understand Capitalism. Good boy.

“Gaggletack?”

“Rare artifact”

“Exceedingly rare. An object of great mystery”

“It’s a horseshoe”

“Made of pure iron”

“Why would you put such a precious thing on a horse’s foot?” Great, what other things are “Rare artifacts” to trolls?

“Beware. Changelings are swapped with their human counterparts at birth. So, it is likely these troll-pretenders have dwelt amongst you for decades”

“They could be anyone”

“Used car salesmen”

“Tax collectors”

“Television executives”

“Donald Trump”

“Yes, especially Donald Trump”

Nope.

Nope.

“Shall i hear more, or shall i speak-”

“Steve!”

“Hey! Who did that? And can i leave the play now?” “No”

Another new meme template.

Nope, nope, and nope.

“You, uh, try this out on Mr. Strickler?”

“Come on. You really think he is one?”

Yes.

So close.

“Here you go, Mr. Strickler. Here’s your horseshoe back”

“Thank you, Miss. Nunez, but that belongs to Mr. Lake”

“Oh. Well that would explain the flying horseshoes” Wait “Flying horseshoes”? You mean Claire noticed the horseshoe that hit Steve earlier?

“So not going to ask” Jim should look on the bright side of this. Claire touched the gaggletack, that means she’s not a changeling, and that the real reason she invited him to her house was not to secretly kill him. Oh wait. That’s not till later.

“Claire” “Still here” When people forget you’re here too. Trust me, i know that feeling.

“You’re still coming home with me, right?”

“Oh, right!”

“Claire and i are gonna go too her house... for math stuff”

Toby is surprised by how that escalated quickly. And it’s not even the second half of season 1 yet.

Series creator, director of The Shape of Water, and the man that said “Monster Fucker Rights” Guillermo Del Toro. Voicing a dentist.

“For the glory of Merlin”

“Daylight is mine to make babies ogle”

“He really likes you” Jim would be a great dad. Wink wink Claire. Wink wink.

“Wonder what he’s thinking about right now” “No idea what’s going through my brothers mind right now” “I’m going to get kidnapped next episode and you will never see me again for a long time. Goo goo”

‘Wow, this novocaine you numbed my mouth with is really strong”

“I can’t even feel my hands”

“That’s because i didn’t inject you with novocaine, dear”

“I hit you up with a potent paralyzer”

“Why would you do that?”

“Well, it’s not everyday someone comes in with a gaggletack” The moment i saw this.

“Why don’t i take that, sweetie? It’s not very hygienic” I knew she was a changeling.

“See, the equation only contains powers of X that are non-negative integers”

“Does that makes sense”

“Is it supposed to?”

“Nah. That’s why it’s called algebra” Algebra never makes sense. It makes Kingdom Hearts make sense. #ReplacealgebrawithKingdomHearts

“I realized you’ve got a lot more going on than people think”

“I do”

“I do?” You may now kiss the bride. Okay guys, Jim and Claire are married.

“You can’t just write a letter like this and not expect a conversation. If you had written something like “I’ve most likely been slaughtered by a troll” I would’ve said: Understandable, have a nice day” “Wait, really?” “No! You are lucky, you’re cute and everything” “I... Uh... It’s... Wait what?” “Nothing”

“You have to battle monsters?”

“Saving the world in which we know? What monsters are you battling? Are they fuckable?” “Well- Wait what?” “Uh... What monsters are you battling?”

Have some Claire being done with her (Not yet, almost, but not really, not for another season) boyfriend’s bushigal.

“I mean, we all have stuff we’ve got to go through”

“But are you in some kind of trouble?”

“I... Yeah! Metaphoric”

“I was...”

“In an exploring stage”

“Not successful” Let it be known that Claire thinks Jim has depression, if not suicidal tendencies. And i did not get this from the wiki or TvTropes.

“There’s some sentimental stuff at the end which i thought was... kinda sweet” Umm. Can we read the full letter? I want to know what he said.

“Really?”

“If you ever need someone to talk to about “the monsters” you can talk to me”

“It can be our secret” Yeah. There are going to be a lot of secrets you two will be sharing. Also, you two could’ve kissed here as well. But whatever you tried i guess.

“Halt, changeling!”

“Or else my giant friend will tear you limb from limb!”

“Maybe later” These things always happens.

“Oh, it burns!”

“Oh, it’s just a painting” Paintings don’t kill trolls confirm.

Huh. After an entire episode of using it on everyone, and making me think it didn’t work, it actually does work.

“What’s that?” “Laughing gas”

*Laughs in Troll*

“Laughs in Troll*

“Hello? Wait how did you get my number?”

“Hey! What’s up, Nunez?”

“Hey Colby”

“Someone named Woby?” Claire can’t remember Toby’s name.

“Fighting monsters again?”

“Who are you, Jim Lake” Claire is getting sus.

Imagine walking into this.

“Perish, you worm!” “Wait, before you kill me, i have something to ask. You know Nomura, right?” “Yes” “Well she has a history with a troll named Draal. Do you know what their history is?” “No, this is the first time i’m hearing about it” “Oh, okay. Thank you. You can die now” “You’re welcome. Wait what?”

“Do you have some magic artifact that can clean this mess?”

“Yes. I believe it’s called a Tobias” Translation: “Clean it yourself”

“It appears Nomura has gotten her way”

“Another changeling has been chosen”

“And look who it is” “Enrich? Enquran? Enquin?” “Oh, for the love of. It says Enrique!” “Oh. Who’s that?” “Claire Nunez’s little brother!” “Which one is Claire again?” “The one you haven’t met!” “Well no wonder i don’t know who that is. I never met them”

Anyone is a changeling. Maybe i’m a changeling.

So who’s the worst babysitter? Jim or Marinette?

[moonsofmars-writes]

and in the dark i can hear your heartbeat

Fandom: Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro, Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Jim Lake Jr./Claire Nuñez Characters: Claire Nuñez, Jim Lake Jr. (Tales of Arcadia), Blinkous "Blinky" Galadrigal, Trolls (Tales of Arcadia) Additional Tags: Fluff, Slice of Life, Post-Season 3 (Trollhunters), Canon Compliant, the trolls are going to new jersey, oh my that's a long trip, Poor Claire, claire is tired, Jim is a good boyfriend, jlaire, jim carries claire, because I say so, they are cute, rated T for kissing, blinky is there too, He is trying

Summary: The Trolls are travelling to New Jersey and everything would be great, if only it wasn't so damn exhausting. Or, Claire is tired but will not admit it and Jim tries his best to be helpful.

It turned out that walking for hours every night was exhausting. Claire huffed but kept going, careful not to stumble on a rock or a root; the moon was almost full in the sky but barely filtered between the branches of the dense trees, leaving her and her companions in a thick, cold darkness. They had been walking for a week by now, travelling from dusk till dawn and camping during the day, always making sure to keep away from inhabited areas. Her Trollhunter training had helped her to keep going until now, but she wasn't used to hiking this long.

At her side, Blinky walked carelessly, showing no sign of tiredness. He kept his eyes fixed on the map he was holding, brows furrowed. She considered asking him when he planned to stop, but she quickly discarded the thought. To stop they first had to find a place where the Trolls could camp comfortably, protected by the daylight. That was the reason why Jim had left the group, an half an hour before, to explore the wood that extended in front of them. Besides, Claire didn't want Blinky to worry about her. She was perfectly able to walk another few miles, despite the aching of her legs. Well, or so she hoped. Sighing, she looked down. Her first days had gone better, but then her feet had started to hurt and now her leg muscles contracted painfully every time she took a step. She had even taken out the armour Merlin had made for her - she loved it, really, but it wasn’t made for long trips.

Luckily, her caravan didn’t move too fast. She soon found out that Trolls didn’t tire easily and could keep walking for hours without much effort, but they were slow and there was always someone who got lost or stayed behind, forcing the whole group to slow down or even stop to find them. Out of curiosity, she glanced behind her back, but the thick mass of trees prevented her from seeing much of the long column of trolls. Hopefully they were learning to stick together.

"I found a place!" 

Read on AO3

Claire jerked and almost stumbled as she turned around, just in time to see Jim emerging from the wood. She hadn't heard him approaching - how was he getting so good at sneaking up? He smiled at her before turning towards Blinky, "The branches are tight, so the sun shouldn't be a problem, and I found water!" He moved closer and bent over Blinky's map, "It should be ... ah, here," he said, finger brushing against the paper. "A little farther, keeping on the right. We will surely be there before dawn."

"How long will it take?" Claire asked, moving forward to reach for his hand and lace their fingers.  

He immediately squeezed her hand back. "At this pace, a little less than an hour." She nodded, holding back a sigh. Her calves would have hated her.

“That will do,” Blinky said, folding the map. His eyes lingered for a moment on the couple and their joined hands, a faint smile curving his lips. “I will inform the rest of the group while you start leading them,” he said, turning around, “I have no intention to waste other time looking for lost fools! Not again!”

Jim chuckled, “Good luck with that.”

“You know you are helping me when it happens!” Binky’s voice faded in the night as he disappeared behind the first group of Trolls. Jim and Claire exchanged a look and giggled, then walked away, still holding hands.

“I guess we are going to spend some quality time chasing gnomes later,” Jim said.

Claire let out an exaggeratedly heavy sigh, “Please, not again! I didn’t bring with me my entire wardrobe, I can’t get another shirt ripped because one of them has decided to hide among brambles. I'm sure he did it on purpose!”

“You could stop by the next town, you know,” Jim said softly, “I could get you close enough before the sunrise and come back for you at dusk. You could buy new clothes, have a proper meal, sleep in a real bed -”

“Hey, I’m perfectly fine sleeping with you guys! And I’m not that sick of camping food yet. Besides, I don’t want to leave you alone during daylight hours.”

“We can handle ourselves for a day,” he made her a confident smile, “no one is going to move anyway. I … I am very happy that you came with me - with us,” he added, his eyes full of affection and warmth, “and I don’t want this to feel like a torture for you.”

“That’s not possible! I -”

“Just think about this, okay? Soon or later you’ll have to get supplies anyway.”

He had a point. Claire nodded, murmuring a small “okay” and squeezing his hand a little tighter. They kept walking in comfortable silence, broken only by the creakings and rustles of the forest and by the distant sound of the Trolls moving and chattering behind them. They must have outdistanced them, and it wasn’t hard to see why: Jim’s gait was fast. Claire found herself struggling to breathe regularly and felt her tired muscles contracting painfully; she wouldn’t have been able to keep up that peace for a long time. She frowned, eyes pointed on the ground, and focused only on taking a step after another, and then again, one step after the other, and again, and -

And then Jim was suddenly slowing down and she could breathe a sigh of relief - at least until he asked, voice filled with concern, “Are you alright, Claire?” When she turned, he was bending over her, eyes wide, “Do you want to take a break?”

“No! Well,” she added, “maybe could you slow down a little? We have left everyone behind.”

“Oh?” His eyebrows rose when he glanced back and noticed that the wood was empty. He immediately stopped and gave her an embarrassed smile, rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry, I didn’t notice.”

“It’s alright,” she panted, taking advantage of the break to stretch her legs a little, “We’ll just wait for them, okay?”

“Sure, but what about you? You are tired, aren’t you?”

She bit her lip, looking down. “Just a little,” she admitted, “but I’ll be fine. We are stopping soon anyway.”

He frowned, mouth clenched. “I’m sorry,” he whispered then, “I should have realised it sooner, Since I became … ah, this,” he vaguely gestured at his body, “I don’t get tired as I did before. But you are human and this is not a simple hike in the woods around Arcadia. I should have thought about it. I’m sorry, Claire. You shouldn’t have to -”

“Jim.” She put a hand on his arm and smiled at him when their eyes met. “It’s alright. You had other things to think about. Leading the Trolls it’s been exhausting! Besides, it’s not that bad. Give me another few days, I’ll get used to it!” Hopefully, she added in her mind. New Jersey wasn’t exactly around the corner.

Jim sighed. “I just wish I could make it easier for you! Maybe I could -” He suddenly fell silent and his brows knitted, as he was thinking about something.

“You don’t have to do anything, I don’t want to slow us down even more, or we’ll take forever," she reassured him.

“You are right but, uhm, I thought I,” he cleared his throat, looking away, “I could carry you.”

Her eyes widened as she stared at him. He avoided her gaze, and even though she couldn’t see it clearly, she would have sworn that his cheeks had taken a slightly darker colour. She couldn’t help but grin - he was taller and well, bluer, but he was still Jim. Then her mind registered what he had said. “Wait, what?”

“It wouldn’t be a problem,” he muttered, “I’m not tired at all and I got stronger - I mean, you know I did, I just - I wouldn’t mind carrying you. If you want to.”

“There is no need!” She could literally feel a blush creeping into her cheeks. “I  can  walk, for another little while.” Her legs didn’t really agree about that, but she knew she would have made it. She didn’t have any other option - or had she?

Jim finally looked at her. “Are you sure?” He asked, tilting her head.

Claire took a moment to seriously ponder his proposal. Would have it been that bad? She was tired and he was offering and she trusted him. He was her boyfriend! And he was without a doubt strong enough to carry her. “We can try for a while if you are really okay with it,” she carefully answered. “But if you  start to get tired, I’m walking!”

“I won’t!” He hurried to nod.

A chuckle escaped her lips, “Okay then, Superman! How do you want to do this - Ah!” In the blink of an eye, Jim’s arms were around her and she was lifted from the ground. She yelped and instinctively put her arms around his neck, seeking stability, but there was no need to. His arms felt firm and strong and she simply knew he wouldn’t have let her fall.

“See? No effort!” He said cheerfully, a spark of pride in his eyes.

This time, Claire laughed. “Great job, Trollhunter!” She patted his armour with her palm and took some moments to make herself comfortable in his arms. When she was finally at ease, she glanced over his shoulder and noticed that the other Trolls were finally getting closer. “I suppose we can leave now.”

He turned briefly to check the group and nodded. “Let’s go.”

Claire wasn't used to being carried like that, and at first, it felt - well, new. It didn’t take her long, though, to get used to the pace of his walking and the solid feeling of his arms supporting her body. Resting her head against his chest, she decided that this was nice, actually. And admittedly way more comfortable than using her legs.

During the rest of the trip, they quietly chatted about the people they left behind. Claire showed him some pictures of Enrique she had received from her parents - "I already miss him," she admitted, "he will have grown up so much when we'll come back!" - and then it was his turn to show her all the baby pictures his mother sent him.

"I can't believe your mother and Mr Strickler are really going to raise them all."

"I can't either, but they trying to make it work. Mom texted me to ask if I knew how what exactly she should put in baby food. I've never even tried to make baby food!"

"I'm sure you'd made something awesome if you tried," she laughed, "you are the best chef in Arcadia!"

"You really think so?" He hummed happily before adding with a smirk, "Only in Arcadia?"

She snorted. "Don't get too cocky! My guacamole is still unequalled."

"I've never doubted that!"

Like this, time passed faster. Claire didn’t even notice that Blinky had joined them until the conversation died and she checked again if the other Trolls were still in sight. He nodded at her with a smile and she waved at him before resting her head against Jim’s chest, listening to the comforting thud of his beating heart. This wasn't just nice, it was comfortable, so comfortable that her mind started to cloud and her eyes to close against her will. She tried to keep them open, to keep herself awake tracing senseless patterns on the plates of his armour. With her finger, she followed the edges of his amulet with her finger, again and again, until she knew it by heart and the metal was warm from her touch. She didn't want to fall asleep, not yet. They would have needed help later and she was the only one among them who could walk in sunlight now. So, she definitely had to stay awake. She had to.

She was failing miserably.

When she was about to doze off, her eyes closed and her hands resting on her belly, Jim finally halted. "We are here," he said quietly, probably not to disturb her. Claire heard him anyway and lifted her head, blinking. The wood around her didn't look much different than before, though, she realised looking around, it was a little darker. That would have been helpful at sunrise. “There’s a pool over there,” Jim continued pointing somewhere on their left, “and there should be enough space between the trees for us to sleep.”

Blinky nodded, then let out a sigh, “Now, let’s hope we will be able to camp quickly for once.” Raising his arms he turned around to approach the other Troll. “We have arrived! Now, please, just do as I say ...”

“We should probably help,” Claire said, unable to hold back a yawn. Not that she really wanted to get down, but she knew for sure that Blinky needed all the help he could get.

"Are you sure?" Jim asked, gently putting her down when she moved and supporting her until she stood. "You can go to sleep. I am not tired, I can take care of them alone this time."

"No, it's okay." She stretched and smiled at him, "I feel definitely better now that I got some rest! We will finish faster together."

"Okay, you are right. If you feel like, you can take care of who's already here. I will check the rest of the group to make sure that no one was left behind. What do you think?"

She nodded. "Good plan! But first, let me thank you."

“There is no need to -” he started, shaking his head, but before he could finish she reached for his shoulder with both her hands and dragged him down, making him yelp in surprise. Even like this, she still had to stand on her tiptoes to kiss him.  

They hadn’t got many chances to kiss since his transformation. His lips still felt a bit different under hers, not quite hard but somehow solid and cool. She traced the profile of his temple and buried her fingers in his hair until she could scratch the base of his horn. Suddenly he pulled her closer and enveloped her with his arms, lifting her little to reach her better. She smiled against his lip, brushing his cheek with her hand. Yes, she was definitely getting used to this.

When they parted, his cheeks were definitely bluer. He beamed at her, scratching her back with his fingers, “Okay, I like this kind of thank you."

“You better!" She grinned, patting playfully his arm, "Now we should go, they will never set this camp without us.”

He chuckled, “I’ll see you later then! Good luck.” He kissed her forehead before disappearing in the wood, quick as a wild cat. Claire stood for a few seconds, staring at the trees, before heading for the rest of the group. Leg pain or not, she thought, this trip was totally worth it.

[moderatelysociallymaladjusted]

So as a follow up seeing as I've had a couple of people like and reblog my Douxie is jaskier and yennefers kid post. I have since then come up with an elaborate au because I've been rewatching/finishing once upon a time. I see my own original headcanon and raise myself. Douxie is Hope. As Regina said she refused to believe there wouldn't be more adventures. And battles of course. So what I'm saying is something happened to threaten everyone and little Hope was at the center of things much in the same way Emma was once. So Emma and Hook have to send her away as it seems to be that family's unfortunate curse. Hope ends up in Camelot and adopted by some people who find her wrapped in a blanket (which is Emma's old baby blanket but with new added embroidery that makes it now say "Emma's little Hope") and well. That sounds good so they keep the name but as Hope gets older it becomes apparent she is not a little girl. He is in fact very adamant he is a boy. And being good parents that's that. Hope is a name that is no longer used and what started as a nickname play on words becomes his new name. When Douxie is around 10 or so his family dies. And thus on his own and eventually he meets Archie and then eventually Merlin. Who figures out Douxie is trans relatively fast and scolds him for his binding and offers to help. The spell that would later be altered to turn Jim half troll in its more or less original form. Allows Douxie to transition entirely by way of magic and Douxie never looks back. But he still keeps that baby blanket because it's less about his dead name and more about the mother he must have had. Emma. Who very much must have loved him and had not wanted to give him up if the blanket and it's very affectionate embroidery is to go by. Or the fact that his name was apparently Hope because that sounds meaningful and deliberate.

Now I do have some convoluted time travel/world hopping that once upon a time is known for so that Douxie absolutely gets stuck in storybrook right around the time just before season 2s plot where Emma and Snow get portaled to the enchanted forest. So he gets to meet her and. Coincidence. Her name is Emma. But takes until they are gone to find out for sure she's his mom. Because he's helping David clean some in the apartment and finds the blanket Emma has and oh God that's my mom moment. But he doesn't say anything to David. Or anyone else. Because well. He's been in the past once he knows messing with timelines is bad. Then Emma and Snow come back. And shortly after Hook. And welp. "Why does he sound like me? Oh I don't like that". Because he very much does not like Hook and takes some getting used to. He's still very in the I don't like him camp by the time the charmings leave to go rescue Henry but at least he's helping. Though Douxie stays behind. Offers to help get the bean crop back up. "I don't have an adopted sister who's a literal nature goddess and not pick up on things. I can get the crops back up and running in no time" but pull Emma aside long enough to confess to her but tells her as little as possible that he barely knows himself and basically makes a plea. That even if Emma wants to keep him. Even if they think they can preemptively find a way to stop the evil that makes them send him away in the first place. Don't. He has a good life. And he doesn't want that to all go away. And that maybe someday when that evil is defeated they can find a way back to each other but not by keeping him. Annnnd well. The whole "I don't know who my dad is. But. I have the worst inkling and I'm not gonna say it but. I really hope not" cue what's not more than many a year or two later for him but is a few years after they send him away as a baby that Emma finds a way to Arcadia and welp. News. They defeated the thing. And. Well obviously she knows who his dad is. And when he finds out it was Hook he has a meltdown. "I'm the son of captain hook what the hell kind of life" "well you're also the grandson of snow white and prince charming so there's that"

Now. I'm gonna say. In this. Which takes place what would be several years after the movie. I do have Douxie and Jim together and look. There was a whole conversation with a friend about how there'd be teasing and jabs at one another over who outranks who. Because Jim now has Excalibur so in theory. He's king. But Douxie says that's not fair he's only king by some supposed legend but he's genuinely the grandson of snow white so he's technically a prince by birth. Regina and the others may or may not offer Jim a place in their realm to rule since well. King. And Excalibur. (Once they get over the whole trigger that the name Excalibur would probably give Emma and Hook) doubt Jim would take it. But you know they all have to constantly visit back and forth. Toby would be impossible to be around when he first goes to the enchanted forest because of course he would be freaking out and spazzing. And "Jim! Your boyfriend is a prince!!" But yes. Shenanigans. Douxie getting to bond with Hook now that Hook isn't the sort of person he was when they met last. Douxie appreciates this and there may or may not be the realization that when the spell that let Douxie transition did its work it took into account subconsciously certain things within his own memory and dna in which the reason he sounds like he does. Is because it was his memory deep down matching the sound of his own father's voice that he couldn't consciously remember. Because you know Hook totally sang baby Douxie to sleep. And his subconscious latched onto that. So there you go. Some of my crossover headcanons.

[earth-ambassador-jim]

Lost Souls: Story 7

Nowhere to go but Forward

~~~~

Lost Souls Summary: Merlin awakens early from his sleep. He decides that he doesn’t want to leaving anything to chance and kidnaps the young James Lake Jr. to began training his Trollhunter as early as possible.

Barbara is determined to hunt down the man who kidnapped her son. In her efforts to get her son back she finds a strange old radio that speaks to her in a woman’s voice. The radio leads her to an underground society of shapeshifters.

Mother and son meet again years later as strangers on opposing sides.

AO3 -Fanfiction

~~~~

Barbara listens half-heartedly as the meeting drones on. Spy movies really put too much glamor on the concept of secret societies. An organization is still an organization whether it is made up of middle aged salary men or centuries old shapeshifters. And unfortunately that means that they have to deal with things like supplies and delegation of manpower and paperwork. The major difference in is that if she allows herself to stop paying attention the backstabbing will be much more literal.

“What is your opinion, Dr. Lake?”

Barbara raises her eyes from the point in space she’d been watching to meet the gaze of her ex-boyfriend. Walt –Or she supposes she ought to call him Walter now: Strickler or Stricklander don’t feel right and she can’t say Waltolomew and keep a straight face.- Walter is giving her a rather smug eyebrow raise like he thinks she won’t be able to answer. He has been rather testy ever since she took over his position.

“I think that we need to focus more on laying our communications groundwork,” Barbara says after making a show of thinking about it. “We all know that Gunmar will not want to be kept waiting when he comes to the surface and we can’t have nuclear bombs being shot at us, so the normal modes of communication will have to be the first thing we hit. We’ve started relying a little too much on human means for our own infrastructure in the past centuries.”

She says “we” as if she herself is centuries old and not human. It’s almost laughable how sometimes she still feels like a sheep supping with wolves despite how much she’s changed.

Some of the assembled changelings nod at her point, some just watch silently. The secretary takes notes.

The rest of the meeting proceeds in much the same way. There’s always a feeling of walking a knife edge at meetings. Barbara may be the mouthpiece of Morgana, who is a god to the changelings, but if she can’t prove her strength and cunning on her own, she won’t last long.

When the meeting finally wraps up the changelings depart out of the room from the lowest ranking to the highest. Walter and Barbara hold eye contact for a long moment. She sees just the faintest glow of yellow in his eyes and allows a glint of volatile blue to flicker in her own in response.

He tenses and looks away, chin tilting up ever so slightly despite the clear resentment that is evident in the curl of his lips.

She watches silently as he leaves. The door closes and she lets out a breath and her shoulders slump. She isn’t quite done yet -she still has to report back to Morgana- but she just wants a moment to breathe.

Her head aches from keeping up with the constant scheming and swirling agendas that are present at any Janus Order meeting. That and…

And she still misses her relationship with Walt. They’d already been strained after she found out the truth about changelings but once she had taken over his position they’d truly split. She knew as well as he did that if their positions had been flipped he’d have done the same, but it didn’t make it less cruel for him.

And it didn’t make his bitter resentment and verbal stabs any less painful for her.

She misses having someone to talk to and just be herself around. A memory of the odd meeting in the rain flickers through her mind.

“Everyone needs friends…”

That is what she had told the Trollhunter then.

Perhaps she should take her own advice.

~~~~

Barbara sits in her car in the driveway for a whole hour before she works up the courage to walk up to the front door. This house was once as familiar as her own but now it’s been years since she last visited. Knocking takes her another ten minutes.

There’s a series of soft thumps and the door opens. The elderly lady stares at her before adjusting her glasses as if she can’t quite believe what she’s seeing. The light of the late evening sun glints off the thick round lenses.

“Barbara?” She says finally.

“Hi Nancy,” Barbara responds.

Her lips twitch into an uncomfortable smile as she tries to remember how to deal with normal social niceties. Nancy beams back in response.

“I can’t believe it’s you! What brings you back to Arcadia after all this time?”

Barbara doesn’t tell her that she technically still lives here. No one, or at least no one from her old life, knows. It’s easier that way.

“I’m just going to be in the neighborhood for a while and thought that I’d visit… You aren’t busy are you?”

Nancy steps out of the doorway gesturing with a hand to invite her inside.

“Of course not! Come in. Come in! I just finished a fresh batch of cookies.”

“Thank you.”

Barbara enters and finds that her old neighbors place hasn’t changed much in the time she’s been gone.

The two of them settle down in the comfy couches in the living room. The elderly lady pours a cup of tea for each of them and sets a plate of cookies out on the table.

“So how is Toby?” Barbara asks. “He’s in high school now right?”

Jim would have been in high school. He’d be fifteen now…

Like the Trollhunter.

A flash of blue eyes set in a slighter darker blue face flash through her mind. Her heart aches.

“He’s doing well,” Nancy says, interrupting her thoughts. “But he’s always been a bit quiet since…”

She doesn’t have to clarify. Jim’s kidnapping hit him hard too. There’s a moment of silence before she straightens up and goes on.

“He has Darci and they stick together. It sounds like now that they’re in high school she’s been able to introduce him to some more of her friends. She’s really such a dear.”

“Darci?” Barbara asks. She swirls her tea around in the mug and breaths in the smell. Like everything else it’s familiar. She sets it back down without drinking.

“Darci Scott. The Scotts were the family that moved in next door after you left. Her father is one of the police.”

Ah, Detective Scott then. The Janus Order monitors the police force within Arcadia carefully. They have agents in key areas to make sure that no one ever looks too closely where they shouldn’t.

“I see…” Barbara says and isn’t quite sure what else to say.

Nancy sets down her mug and fixes her in a gaze that is slightly too sharp for a woman with cataracts like hers.

“Enough about me, you didn’t just come to catch up, did you? What did you want to talk about?”

If Barbara hadn’t spent so much time learning to cover up her emotions she would have tensed.

“Why would you say that?” She asks instead.

She doesn’t like it when people are able to read her. She’s usually very careful to only show the emotions she wants them to see. She wonders what she let slip.

Nancy smiles disarmingly.

“I happened to be looking outside when you pulled up, people who are okay don’t spend an hour sitting in their car in someone else’s driveway.”

Barbara does actually blush a little at that. Her hand drifts up to toy with the yellow pendent around her neck.

A weight comes to rest on her leg and Barbara’s hand clenches around the crystal. She looks up to see that it’s Nancy’s hand. The woman is staring at her with concern.

“Sorry,” Barbara says, before mentally wincing at the apology.

“Take your time dear,” Nancy says. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”

Barbara opens her mouth to say something –A denial, maybe?- and then closes it.

She’s become a little too used to hiding her emotions and vulnerabilities from everyone. In truth, she wants to talk about the strange young troll who, despite being her enemy, she finds herself suddenly worried about, but even the little bit of openness she’s shown has already put her on edge.

She’s so wrapped up in a web of secrecy and magic that she can hardly even remember what it was like to be a free woman living a normal mundane life.

Barbara sighs.

“Can we just talk for now?” The words come out almost pleading.

“Of course,” Nancy says.

There’s pity in her gaze that makes Barbara’s jaw clench but she accepts it and tries to let go of her need to be seen as invincible.

“How is high school been for Toby so far?” She offers the question like an olive branch.

“Oh it’s going quite well,” Nancy says, leaning back into her chair. “One of Darci’s friends, Claire, got Toby to try out for the play the school is putting on…”

Barbara finds herself relaxing minutely as Nancy rambles on telling her about things that seem to be happening a world away.

Eventually the light outside begins to take on an orange tint and Barbara forces herself to her feet with a sigh.

“It’s been nice, Nancy, but I really must be going,” She says.

“Oh! Well it’s been a pleasure having you over, dear.”

“Thank-you.” Barbara slings her bag over her shoulder and hesitates. “Would you mind if I visited again?”

“Of Course!” Nancy smiles. “You’re always welcome here.”

Barbara smiles back at her. She’s forced to take a careful breath to fight back the prickling she feels in her eyes.

Thank-you,” She says again, before slipping out into the darkening world.

[nattikay]

Some Thoughts on Troll!Jim and Humanity

First, a disclaimer because Merlin is always brought up when troll!Jim is: this post is not about Merlin. This post is definitely not defending Merlin or his actions. I absolutely agree that Merlin is a butt and acknowledge that what he did was manipulative at best. But what’s done is done, and that is beyond the point of this post.

Now that aside...I’ve seen theories floating around that Jim, after being transformed into a half-troll, is now perpetually living his worst fear as shown by his time in the deep.

I disagree.

That thing Jim fought in the Deep? That wasn’t troll!Jim ya’ll. The design is different.

In fact, interestingly enough, deep!Jim actually looks physically more human than troll!Jim. He lacks horns, his hairstyle is closer to human!Jim’s, and he appears to be about the same height as human!Jim, whereas troll!Jim is significantly taller.

He does possess a few similar traits to troll!Jim, such as pointed ears and enlarged bottom fangs (hard to see both in every screencap but I assure you they’re both there), but even those aren’t quite shaped the same as troll!Jim’s.

It’s almost as if deep!Jim is somewhere in-between human!Jim and troll!Jim physically.

However, he does have one particular trait that neither human!Jim nor troll!Jim have: slit pupils. This gives him an instantly more threatening and animalistic face, vs. troll!Jim whose eyes are still very human and therefore feel safer, design-wise. Easier to trust.

Deep!Jim communicates in guttural growls and laughs menacingly as he threatens to overcome his foe. He’s taking pleasure in the violence. The real Jim never does this in either form. Deep!Jim was a brutal, vicious fighting machine, something that the real Jim never wanted to be.

Jim’s greatest fear was not becoming a troll. It was becoming a monster.

And that goes much deeper than physical appearance. At its core, being a “monster” is not about looking scary on the outside--it’s being broken on the inside. Being cruel, vicious, brutal, uncaring.

While the ability to walk in daylight did come in handy here and there, what made Jim a great Trollhunter was not his physical humanity--in fact, other than the daylight thing, that was often a hinderance. It made him smaller, weaker, slower, and generally more vulnerable than most of his enemies.  

No, what made Jim a great Trollhunter was his human heart. His compassion. His reliance on his friends and ability to make allies. His trust and loyalty and his ability to see outside the box of troll culture/tradition ( standing up to the Trollhunter spirit counsel about the help of his friends, saving Chompski instead of killing him, etc). His values.

He did not loose any of these when he became half-troll.

This is why I don’t much like it when people say Jim “gave up his humanity”. It is technically true in that, yes, physically he is no longer fully human--but wording it that way, to me, makes it sound like he lost his human heart.

He didn’t. And in that sense, his humanity--the most important part of it, anyways--is still very much intact.

As Claire stated:

“Maybe you feel like everything has changed...but only the outside stuff. Inside...you’re still you.”

And she’s right.

At first Jim’s transformation was overwhelming. He’s already been through a heck of a whole lot over the course of the series, not to mention having to make this choice in the first place and with the ever-manipulative Merlin breathing down his neck, and now he’s suddenly being bombarded with new senses, a new body, new strengths and weaknesses--it’s foreign and it’s scary and there’s no going back. No fleeing to a more familiar, comfortable state. No crap ‘it was overwhelming’. And for a while he panicked. Good gracious, who wouldn’t?

But that doesn’t mean he’s doomed to misery forever.

He’ll adjust. It’ll take time, but he can do it. And he won’t be alone either. He has Blinky and Claire, as well as Toby and Aarrrgh and Barbara and Strickler etc. via phone, all of whom have been and I’m sure will continue to be very supportive. 

His life is not “ruined” either. Yeah, he won’t be able to live a normal human life anymore, but let’s face it, with his duties as the Trollhunter he wouldn’t really have been able to do that anyways. He was already struggling to balance the two.

School? The trolls had to leave to find a new Heartstone, and as the Trollhunter Jim probably would’ve had to go with them even if he was still human. And on the flip side, if the trolls had stayed in Arcadia? Arcadians know about trolls now. If Aarrrgh could go to summer school in 3Below, troll!Jim could most certainly have finished his last two years. Sure he’d need some arrangements to get there and back with the sun, but even that could be as simple as bringing an umbrella. 

Not being able to walk in daylight? That’ll be frustrating, but there are workarounds. The aforementioned umbrella is one; there’s also that stone he can put in his amulet that grants sunlight immunity. Annoying, sure. But life-destroying? Nah.

Not being able to eat human food? He’s only tried the one dish. Just because that one didn’t taste good to him anymore doesn’t mean no other human food will. Dictatious eats Nana’s pie, and if I recall correctly I think he also eats some of the Nougat Nummies Toby throws into the Darklands (though to be fair I get the feeling that Dictatious isn’t particularly picky lol). Blinky also comments about Toby’s tacos that he “knows what those things do to the inside of a troll”, implying that he’s eaten those before.

Yes, his palate has changed; so what? Is it really that big an issue that different things taste good to him now? He can still cook; he’ll just have to learn new recipies and do some exploring with what he can and can’t eat. Heck, maybe it’ll even be fun to experiment with foods and ingredients he never would have used before. Just because he’ll be enjoying different foods doesn’t mean he won’t be enjoying food, period.

“But he was upset about these things in Jimhunters!” Yes, when he was already stressed and panicking. You don’t think rationally when you’re that stressed. In that state of mind every little thing is blown up, even things that normally wouldn’t be a big deal at all. Once everything calms down, things will get better.

tl;dr

Jim is NOT “living his worst fear” and his life is not “ruined”. Yes, he will need to adjust to his new form, but with his friends and family still very much by his side (physically or emotionally), he can still very much lead a happy and fulfilling life as a half-troll.

thank u and goodnight

[feather-dancer]

Tales of Arcadia Fanfic Recommendations - Part 5

Can you believe we’re here again? I certainly can’t, five fanfic recommend lists is getting a bit on the silly side and yet here we are! This one started building within 24 hours of the last one and it seems about the right time to chuck it into the wilds for peeps to enjoy.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

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

General Trollhunters

Falling in the black - Jim had accepted his fate the moment he began pouring out the elixir Merlin made into the bathtub, all that was left now was to go through with it and hope he was doing the right thing.

Night of the CreepSlayerz - Morgana was defeated and the Trollhunter left Arcadia with many of it’s former residents in search of a brand new Heartstone  thus the protection of the town fell to those left behind. It is not quiet though, far from it in fact, for in the fallen Market an evil yet stirs with a siren’s song...

and in the dark i can hear your heartbeat - It’s a long trip to New Jersey and for the only human not the easiest on her feet, still she has Jim with her. Jilaire fluff.

Champion - Angor ponders over what became of the troll he once was after he was forced into servitude by the Pale Lady.

A Mutually Beneficial Relationship - By chance, Angor Rot meets the Trollhunter Tellad-Urr.

General Wizards

A wizards associate - A lovely little tale of how Archie and Douxie possibly met for the first time. You never know what your kindness might produce.

Saudade - There was always gonna be an After when the Order had been temporarily beaten back and the successor to Merlin was forced to flee to keep Nari safe but this was never going to be an easy thing to bear. Follows multiple characters including stop offs with Jim n Co. and Zoe picking up the pieces of suddenly not being in the same town as her centuries long best friend. Does eventually go Zouxie!

Eye of the Hurricane - A lost moment after arriving at Hex tech, Douxie goes to take a breather and is given the chance to chat to Zoe, freshen up and wonder what on earth they’re gonna do now Jim has been captured. Zouxie fluff.

A Bit of Simple Magic - Technically before Wizards but since it has a couple mentions directly from Wizards I’m popping it here. This is shameless Zouxie fluff based on Teny’s artwork and I am HERE for it.

afterimage - An unusual one. A popular take is that certainly Skrael and Bellroc might have been human before becoming what we know them as now and this is a little bit of dabbling with young Bells who is figuring out they don’t appreciate gender nor long hair with the expectations it brings very much.

When You Least Expect - Panic attacks can happen to anybody and if Wizards had anything to say, Douxie has an awful lot of material should one be triggered.

Cantus In Memoriam - Some mercies are gifted like a blessing but to the hands that take it, it's a lie they need more than anything. The Arcane Order has lost, it’s true, but Douxie will take no joy in ending their long vigil.

alight - I may be a tiny bit biased here because there’s a reference to Ghost!AU but you know what screw it the author is great and deserves the love. Jim wants to go back to his second life, the one he thought would have been forever before he was revived into softer flesh but there is no guarantee he will be the same as he was then. Sometimes the possible comforts are worth the leap of faith it will take to get there.

Jim the Baby-Handed - Jim is home again, human and there is no getting around how things have shifted in his absence. Sometimes however, all you need to do is ask.

Stricklake

Strange Treasures - There is an aftermath to everything, even the Eternal Night and one that leaves Barbara wondering how she stands in it and particularly with regards to a certain changeling adrift himself who had once upon a time tried to kill her son.

The Only Constant - If Walter was offered the chance access his human appearance again after the Eternal Night, would he do it for her despite it would literally be walking into the unknown?

Tumblr Drabbles - He loves Barbara, he truly does, but after everything he had done to the final insult of Angor Rot coming for his own life and in turn threatening her in the process perhaps walking away is for the best. A broken heart in exchange for her life. The second one is an entirely different and is almost innocent Strickmar fluff, almost.

Alternate Universe

Another Dark Prince (Working Title) - Fate can be a strange thing sometimes. Gunmar could have escaped the Darklands far sooner but in lacking the army to go forth with his conquest is relegated to the shadows with his son and the changelings minding them whilst seeking the reopening on the Bridge for the third time. Following this thought further, perhaps a fatal accident could have led to the death of Barbara and a five year old Jim swept into the arms of a troll he would kill in another life on a promise to the deceased to keep him safe. Wouldn’t that have been a thing?

Arcane Blight - Another horror fic! There is something rather unsettling going on in Arcadia, one that contains no trolls in the conventional sense but doesn’t stop them being here, and the household the Lakes moved into seems to be treated with fear and distrust. That said there is the chance it’s more the location that’s the issue particularly with a school existing in fear of a certain ginger haired lad...

Mohs Scale - The fantastic Don't Listen to Kafka series got a new update! Sometimes you just want to help out your bestie who is going through very weird changes as his body is slowly becoming less and less human by giving him a pedicure.

Eternal Night - Gunmar was defeated at the Eternal Night but did not die, no he survived blinded and bound in chains by the mercy of the formerly human Trollhunter. Beware, even the presumed subdued still have their teeth.

Amnesia - Jim is in a blue body that cannot be quite right but he doesn’t know why, found half drowned by trolls and taking into their care. Cut off from those who might have known his old life and flung into a new strange one without his memories this boy is in for a ride while he tries to piece back together anything that makes sense.

Hope Dies Last - Nari said they would rip his soul to shreds if they caught him during her rescue from the Order’s stronghold, she spoke a very nearly fatal truth.

Fear of Fears - An AU of an AU in a sense, an alternate take of the fabulous Sunshine series and somewhat darker as the situation that starts far more innocently rapidly spirals out of control when Jim attempts to sneak out for Halloween but even then nobody could have expected the result. Heed the warnings in the tags they’re there for a reason.

Moirai - There is a danger when you take up the Skathe-Hrün that you may gain the attentions of eyes you would much rather did not and in Claire’s case, it is the notice of the assassin Angor Rot.

He lay dreaming - A follow up in a sense to the above, sometimes on rare occasions Angor by choice or not begins to dream.

The Pursuit of Stone; A Chance Meeting - Another part of the highly recommended The Heart of Janus series that has lore threads spread far and wide, a fine example both of why I adore Sam in his chaotic... Samness and another beat in the story of Otto Scaarbach’s rise to Grand Commandant in that even in the most unlikely places you may still find an ally, a future tool to be ultilised.

The OP in the very second of typing this had a sudden realisation that when the author sees this post will no doubt start laughing for. It’s for a good reason tho, promise.

The completely unrelated to this fandom fic

hell calls hell - This Overwatch R76 fic is an absolute bruiser of a read set in an alternate universe of royalty and political intrigue that I started reading blind and... Could not stop. The summary simply is A trained assassin sent to kill an emperor and his son encounters more than he bargained for and while true, does not do justice for the sheer amount of world building bursting from every seam being as much part of the plot as the very fabric the entire thing is soaked in.

[imbeccablee]

🥀 For Claire and Jim?

🥀 - rose petal trail

Claire couldn’t help but roll her eyes, laughing a little under her breath, as she arrived at the final destination. With four folded pieces of paper in hand, she walked down the pathway of red, pink, and purple rose petals that led away from the paved sidewalk.

She honestly didn’t know what to expect from Jim here. He’d always been a bit of a romantic, even if he didn’t have much experience outside of her (though, she couldn’t exactly talk either), but a scavenger hunt? On Valentine’s Day? With all these cheesy love poems and even a rose petal trail? It was a little much, even for him.

That isn’t to say Claire hasn’t enjoyed herself. She’s having a blast. But she’s just a little suspicious of what his play is.

She finds her half-troll standing in a small garden in the park he’d led her to, a ways away from any prying eyes. There’s a blanket and a basket just behind him, but she only gives the items the barest glimpse before she meets the eyes of her boyfriend of four years.

When he noticed her, his eyes lit up in the most adorable way and Claire’s breath caught in her throat, a loving smile pulling at her painted lips. As she approached, his huge grin stayed present, but his eyes softened in the most loving way. “Hey, Claire-Bear.”

Claire snorts and rolls her eyes again. “Hey, you big oaf. What’s all this, huh?”

“I thought we’d have a nice dinner under the air pollution tonight,” he said and after glancing up to see approximately ten stars and a third of the nearly-full moon in New Jersey’s night sky, they shared a short laugh.

“Well, this is nice and all,” Claire said as she took his hand and settled into the blanket. “But was the poem hunt all that necessary? You could’ve just told me to meet you here.”

“What, and not let you know how much I love you in the cheesiest way possible?” He looked almost offended at the idea. “What kind of embarrassing boyfriend do you think I am? It’s Valentine’s Day, love.”

“Oh, my mistake.” She gently pushed shoved him with her shoulder before reaching out and grabbing the basket. She slid it towards the two of them and opened it, all while asking, “What’s on the menu tonight, Chef Jim?”

“For the pretty sorceress, we have a classic garlic butter steak, some Merlin-approved scalloped potatoes, and a few slices of cheese garlic bread,” Jim listed, looking quite proud of himself. “And for the troll, we have all the remaining cutlery used to make the lady’s dish.”

Claire laughed again. “If you keep eating the utensils you need to cook, you won’t have anything to work with anymore!”

“What am I supposed to do, eat scrap like the rest of the trolls? I have standards, Claire!”

She only shakes her head as she reaches down to pull the tupperware out. Each container still feels warm, so he must’ve only just gotten here after finishing the meal. “How’d you time this so well?”

“A half-troll has his ways...” Jim said cryptically, but she could see right through him.

“You had Merlin cast one of his spying spells on me, didn’t you?” The way he tensed and held his breath was all the answer she needed.

“Th-That’s neither here nor there. Here, lemme plate it for you!”

Claire only laughed again as she let her boyfriend take the tupperware from her and neatly place everything onto the single plate that he’d had in the basket. As he did, her eyes landed on the small, wrapped box that lay half-covered by napkins in the corner of the basket. It was really tiny, probably only a few inches wide and long. It kinda looked like a— “Aw, what?” she said and reached for it. “You didn’t have to do this romantic picnic and get me a present—”

“Ahh, wait!” Jim gently pulled the box from her hands as she lifted it out, holding her plate in his other hand. “That’s for after dinner, yeah? Let’s just—enjoy our meals and each other first. Then this.” He gave it a little shake and slide it into his pants pocket.

Claire pouted. “Well now I just wanna know what’s in it.”

Jim laughed and handed her her meal. It looked and smelled absolutely incredible. “Just be patient. I promise you it’ll be worth the wait.”

“Fine!” Claire sighed dramatically before smiling warmly and leaning into his side. He wrapped an arm around her as she stared fondly down at her dinner. They sat in silence for a few moments, soaking in the warmth of each other’s company. Then, Claire said, “But the answer’s ‘yes’.”

Jim tensed for a moment, before relaxing and letting out a choked laugh. He squeezed her closer to him and Claire let out a contented sigh, feeling a little choked up herself.

“Well,” Jim said, voice wavering with unshed tears, pulling away just the smallest bit so they both could move. “We better get eating, yeah?”

Claire nodded once, happy and so in love it hurt. “Yeah. Let’s!”

[elizabethemerald]

Eternal Night Redux: Part 3

Part 1, Part 2 

AO3

Please reblog if you like!

Claire was starting to regret her half baked plan. The Gumm-Gumms, including several Krubera had arrived and pulled her out of the hanging cage. She was escorted, none too gently, to the Heartstone.  

She regretted not taking longer to do a character study of Jim's mom. How timid should she be, how fierce? Fortunately none of the Trolls knew Barbara and Claire was an amazing actress. She wanted to make that her career after all. 

The only time she let her mask slip was when she caught sight of Angor Rot. Fear and rage in equal portions crossed her face when she saw him casually leaning against the wall of the Heartstone with his arms crossed. 

The assassin had killed Aaarrrgghh.  Almost killed Jim, and pushed him into the Darklands.  He had killed Draal. She wanted to hate him. She wanted to hate how comfortable he appeared with this whole situation. But she now knew what it was like to be controlled. To have no choice but to hurt the people you care about. 

She started as the assassin’s golden eye swept over her. Had she been too obvious? Did he recognize her? However he merely pushed himself off the chamber and moved to escort her into the Heartstone. 

“I’m surprised you recognize me.” Angor growled. “Your memory would have been changed by the removal of the changeling’s binding spell.”

Claire stared at him defiantly. “Jim told me all about you.”

A strange chuckle echoed from Angor. “Did he now.”

Before she could process that she entered into the lower chamber of the Heartstone. Suddenly breathing was a struggle. Angor came in behind her and steadied her as he pushed her forward. In front of her was Gunmar. The Skullcrusher. She had seen the Gumm-Gumm king only from a distance. But she had seen Jim fight him, in the Darklands. She had heard about his cruelties toward her boyfriend while he was trapped there. Her throat felt tight. 

“Barbara!” Walter tried to push forward but was stopped by Gunmar. 

“Walter!” Claire said. She tried to say it the same way Barbara had earlier. 

Gunmar stood in front of her. He towered over her. Claire couldn’t help but swallow in fear. She needed to get to Mr. Strickler to get him out of here. She prayed silently that her boys were ready to fight. She focused on Jim, as she tried to put all her fear into the Shadow Staff. 

“Now Impure! Release your Queen! Or I will peel the skin from your fleshbag pet.” Gunmar said and pushed Strickler forward. 

Claire saw for the first time what Strickler was standing in front of. The crystal hanging from the ceiling. The form frozen in place there. She held her head as the image of a pair of golden eyes flashed through her mind. Morgana. She had never wanted to be this close to the witch after her possession. Angor grunted next to her and watched her closely. 

Strickler turned away and walked to the emerald topped staff. “I’m sorry Barbara. Forgive me.”

Claire realized she had only a moment to act. “Wait Mr. Strickler!”

He turned to face her. Confusion on his face. Then his face changed with understanding and he glanced and saw the staff in Claire’s hand. She extended it and cast a portal straight up to the ceiling. Within a moment Jim and Toby jumped through the portal, their armor in place and their weapons in hand. 

Jim went straight for Gunmar swinging his blade wide pushing the Gumm-Gumm back away from Strickler and Claire. Toby’s hammer crashed into another troll and sent it flying backwards. Strickler immediately transformed and joined Jim in attacking Gunmar. Claire extended her Shadow Staff and struck Usurna across the face. 

“Where is Barbara?”Strickler shouted as he hurled another handful of knives at Gunmar’s side. His fight style was cramped in these tight quarters. Claire could tell he wanted to put his wings to use. 

“She’s safe!” Jim shouted as he spun and hurled his glaives at Gunmar before using his shield to block a strike from the Decimaar blade. “We need to get out of these tight quarters!”

“All you had to do was ask Jimbo!” Toby swung his hammer wide as he spoke. Then he brought the hammer forward and used its weight to charge forward. Claire followed close behind him and Strickler then Jim were right behind her. 

“I have never thought I would be so happy to see you Young Atlas.” Strickler said as they made their way back into the prime Heartstone Chamber. “Though I must admit this is one of your more foolhardy plans.”

Jim merely grunted in pain as Gunmar’s blow drove him to his knees. He quickly rolled out of the way of a second blow though that put Gunmar in between him and his friends. Claire cast a portal behind him and pulled him through. They all ran from the Heartstone, Strickler and Toby immediately taking to the air as Claire and Jim fought through the crowd. Daylight and Shadow Staff created a spinning dance together knocking Gumm-Gumms flying and turning them to stone. Still more came. 

“Toby!” Jim shouted. “Go to where we met Chompsky” 

Toby nodded and shot off towards the center of Trollmarket, Strickler flying right behind him. Claire grabbed Jim around the waist and fired a portal in front of them. 

“Shall we?” She asked as she pulled him through. 

They immerged in Bagdwella’s shop. Toby and Strickler arrived a few seconds later. They could hear the sound of Gumm-Gumms running past the shop and the distant sound of Gunmar’s roared orders. 

“We can’t hide here long.” Toby whispered. “It’s only a matter of time before they find us.”

“Let’s get back to the surface. I’ll portal us to my house and we can regroup.”

“No.” Jim whispered then repeatedly more firmly. “No. Gunmar has everything he needs to free Morgana. He has his army, and he has the staff. All he needs is someone with human hands who can speak the incantation.”

“Ok?” Toby said. “All the more reason to high tail it out of here!”

“Do you think leaving will stop Gunmar?” Jim asked quietly. Everyone else was so silent they could hear the distant sound of tromping boots. “It will only be a matter of time before he finds another way around the fail safe. Maybe another changeling, maybe a human who can be taught the words.”

“So what are you thinking Young Atlas?” Strickler put his hand on his student’s shoulder. 

“We can’t trust Merlin right now, he’s got some kind of messed up plan. So that means we need time to figure out a plan of our own. Right now there are only four people who have human hands and who can speak Trollish.”

“Mr. S is one.”

“Ms. Nomura is  another.”

“And then Claire and myself.” Jim said. Claire gasped. In the heat of the moment she quite forgot that NotEnrique had taught her to read and speak Troll. And Jim’s amulet could translate the text for him. “What we need right now is to stall Gunmar. Give him something to occupy his time so he won’t think about storming the surface at night and killing or kidnapping humans.”

Claire realized in a moment what he was suggesting. “Jim. Absolutely not. There has to be another way.”

“Listen. I survived two weeks in the Darklands. I survived Gunmar’s tortures. He won’t kill me till I release Morgana. I can do this. I can buy us time.”

“Jim no. I can’t stand to have you have to live through that again.”

“Come on Jimbo, if we need to stall him we can all stay.”

Jim growled out his frustration pressing his fists to his forehead. Finally he turned to Strickler. “Would you have released Morgana to save my mom’s life?”

“Yes.” There was no hesitation or uncertainty in his voice. Jim turned back to Claire and Toby. 

“I would do the same for you. I went into the Darklands by myself because I couldn’t stand the thought of either of you dying. If Gunmar threatens either of your lives, I would absolutely let the rest of the world burn to protect you.” Jim hesitated before putting his hands on their cheeks. “I love you. Both of you. As long as you are both safe. Gunmar won’t be able to make me crack. No matter what he does to me.”

Claire had tears running down her face and so did Toby. Even Strickler had a shine to his eyes. Claire threw her arms around Jim’s shoulders. Toby was only a second behind her. Jim held them both close, praying to whatever gods there might be that this would not be the last time he saw the two of them. 

“I’d hate to break this up, but if this is our plan we must act quickly.” Strickler said softly. 

Claire angrily dashed tears from her eyes before she extended her staff and cast a portal. Toby hugged Jim extra tightly before grabbing his hammer and running through the portal. Jim held Strickler’s gaze for a moment longer. There was an unspoken conversation there. ‘Protect them.’ Jim thought. Strickler nodded and ducked into the portal as well. 

“James Lake.” Claire said. She kissed him for a moment then let him pull away. “Give them hell.”

“Goodbye Claire. Don’t come back for me. I can’t risk you or Toby getting captured.” Jim pulled Daylight from his back. “I love you.”

Then he turned and dashed away. Claire could hear him shouting in Trollish and could hear the rush of Gumm-Gumms after him. She wanted to scream her frustration at the world and everything that had happened. Instead she ducked into the portal, leaving her boyfriend to fend for himself  in a Trollmarket filled with evil trolls.