#analyzing krel

[magicmousetrash]

Krel Tarron x Reader

Non-binary reader

SFW Scenario

It takes place during the 3below series

I'm writing all this with the translator since English is not my first language so if there are any mistakes please let me know <⁠(⁠￣⁠︶⁠￣⁠)⁠>

🪄🐁: I will soon come with more food

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Krel was back in front of the holographic screen in his room, drumming his fingers nervously. He was determined to win the heart of his human crush, but earthling customs remained a mystery. How did humans connect emotionally without all the advanced technology and science he knew? So she had turned to "Mother" for advice.

—Mother, I need your help, —he said seriously, taking a breath.—I want to… impress a human.

The AI projected its holographic form, and Krel felt a slight flicker of discomfort as the ship's sensors analyzed his request.

—Understood, Prince Krel. I can provide suggestions on human courtship. Data shows that humans respond to certain common social stimuli. I will proceed to share a series of recommendations.

Krel nodded, looking over the list of tips that appeared before him. It seemed simple, in theory. How difficult could it be?

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Tip 1: A meaningful gift

—"A thoughtful gesture or a small gift is a way of showing appreciation between humans."

Krel frowned as he reviewed that first tip. He knew humans gave flowers and chocolates, but he wanted something more special. Something unique, something that would show how much he cared... without it being very obvious.

Determined, he spent the whole night creating a… how to describe it? A small, handmade device. It was a mix between a terrarium with a bioluminescent plant and a small gravitational field that made the object float gently. Krel thought it was impressive and was sure his crush would appreciate it.

The next day, with a big, self-satisfied grin, Krel approached them at school.

—I made this for you, —he said, holding the floating contraption in an outstretched hand. —I thought you might like it.

They looked at it, at first intrigued by the strange gift. But as soon as they took it, the plant began to emit a flickering glow that grew in intensity.

It’s so… cute! —they said, smiling at first. But as soon as the glowing plant started spinning faster and blinking wildly, their expressions changed to panic. —Is this safe?.

Before Krel could respond, the artifact began to sputter and floated too high, crashing into the ceiling of the hallway and exploding in a small burst of light.

Krel cleared his throat, trying to appear calm.

—Maybe… it needs a couple of adjustments, —he said as he picked up the remains of the device..

First attempt: disaster.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Tip 2: Specific compliments

—"Personalized compliments create a greater emotional connection between humans."

Krel thought this advice would be easy to follow. He knew a lot about his crush. He knew they liked science and was pretty smart. So, he decided that praising their intellect would be a great move.

The next day in chemistry class, Krel sat next to her and waited for the perfect moment. As she focused on measuring a substance, Krel decided to intervene.

—Your accuracy with test tubes is… statistically astonishing, —he commented enthusiastically.

They looked at him, not knowing whether to laugh or worry.

—Thanks… I think. —they replied, somewhat bewildered.

Krel decided to double down, thinking that perhaps a more specific compliment would be better.

—And the way you calculated the molar concentration of that solution… it’s almost as if you could handle mathematics at the quantum level.

Now they were clearly more confused than impressed.

—Uh… well, I learned it in class last year. —they answered, trying not to sound strange.

Krel bit his lip, realizing he might be going off on a bit of a tangent.

—What I mean is… you are very smart..

They smiled politely.

Second attempt: weird...

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Tip 3: Be protective

—"Showing care and protection creates a sense of emotional security."

Krel was convinced that this advice would be a success. He had noticed that humans reacted positively when someone showed concern for their safety. And since he had advanced skills in protecting others, he thought it was his time to shine.

As they walked together towards the cafeteria, he saw some kids running past, clearly not paying attention to their surroundings. This is my chance, Krel thought.

With quick movements, he pulled his crush to the side, placing them behind him with exaggerated protection.

—Watch out! —he exclaimed, turning dramatically. —You could have been run over by those reckless individuals!

They stared at him, mouths agape, totally surprised.

—Krel, they were just… running, — They said, with a nervous smile.

Krel was unfazed. He was certain he had done the right thing.

—You can never be too careful. Safety first. —he replied determinedly.

They laughed softly, clearly seeing the situation as a bit exaggerated.

Third attempt: exaggerated overprotection

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Tip 4: Quality time

The last tip was simpler: spend quality time together. No technology, no interruptions, just being in the moment. Krel thought this would be easy, but he underestimated how hard it would be not to use technology..

As they strolled through the park after school, Krel tried to hold a normal conversation. But soon, the silence felt awkward, and Krel began drumming his fingers, wishing he could Open your device to avoid this awkward situation.

Finally, he decided to distract himself from technology and focus all his attention on them.

—Did you know that the human brain releases dopamine during pleasant conversations? —he said, trying to start a topic that seemed interesting to him.

They looked at him, laughing softly.

—Really? That’s… good to know.

Krel nodded, glad to have steered the conversation back to a scientific topic. But then, without realizing it, he started talking about chemicals that activate dopamine in the brain… for 15 minutes straight.

By the time he realized it, they were looking at him with a mix of fascination and exhaustion.

—Krel, that was… very informative. —they said, trying to sound friendly.

Fourth attempt: excessive talk.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

At the end of the day, Krel returned to his room, somewhat frustrated, and stared at "Mother's" screen, waiting for her assessment.

—Mother, how did I do it? —he asked, sighing.

—The results indicate that 45% of your attempts were successful and 55% were questionable. I recommend adjustments to your approaches.

Krel slumped back into his chair.

—Maybe… humans are more complicated than I thought.

Despite everything, they allowed themselves a small smile. Even though everything had gone a little wrong, there was something charming about his mistakes. And they… well, thay hadn't completely walked away. That was a good start.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

We all love this alien boy called Krel

[ewritesfanfics]

Akiridion Nights

The third installment of my Krexie Fairytale series.

Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54003262

Aladdin, but make it Krexie. --- Inspired by Aladdin (1992), with elements not used in the movie taken from "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp" from One Thousand and One Nights, and featuring the cut song "Humiliate the Boy" from Aladdin (1992). Featuring Douxie as Aladdin and Krel as Jasmine.

Excerpt:

Krel scoffs, once more turning away. “Please, I am not so stupid as to fall for that. Just…go jump off the balcony.” Of course, by turning away, he makes sure Prince Dahi can’t see that his resolve is weakening. But he can’t let himself believe pretty words with nothing to back them up. No matter how much he might want to.

Douxie deflates.

“Alright,” he says. “But I do mean it.”

Krel turns back, afraid to be hopeful, but he is anyway.

“You’re a handsome prince, yeah, but you’re also smart, and fun,”

The way Prince Dahi says it– well, it sounds like he just might actually mean what he’s saying.

“And I wanted to get to know you better and prove myself to you,” the prince continues and then he steps up onto the banister. “But if you want nothing to do with me, that’s fine. I’ll leave you be.”

He steps off.

“No!” Krel yells, reaching out toward Prince Dahi even though there’s no way he can stop what’s already happening. He can only watch in horror as the prince disappears over the side of the balcony.

But just as quickly, Prince Dahi pops back up, looking around wildly. “What!? What is it?”

Krel can only stare at him in sheer confusion for a second.

Is he– is he levitating???

But after that moment, he manages to find his voice again. “How are you doing that?”

He walks over and can only watch in wonder as Prince Dahi swoops around so he’s over the balcony on–

“A magic carpet,” Douxie says. Carpet waves at the prince.

“Amazing…” the prince says as he slowly circles around Douxie and Carpet, analyzing it from every angle.

“You, uh…you don’t wanna go for a ride, do you?” Douxie asks when Krel completes his circuit. “We could get out of the palace. Go anywhere we like. Anywhere in the world.”

Oh, how dearly Krel’s heart longs for exactly that. But first, he has to ask, “Is it safe?”

“Sure, do you trust me?”

Krel’s eyes snap to Prince Dahi’s face. That voice, those words… “What?”

“Do you trust me?” Prince Dahi says again, leaning out to offer Krel a hand, and suddenly Krel’s not on his balcony with Prince Dahi, but deep in the city with a street rat he’d thought was gone.

But that face, that smile…

“Yes,” Krel says, trying not to choke up as he takes the “prince’s” hand.

[escape-from-arcadia]

NOT ME ALMOST ANALYZING THE AVENGERS TATOO THINKING IT WAS YOUR CURRENT DRAFT OF THE TOA TATOO. (I know nothing about the Avengers hsdhjfak)

I know diddly squat about designing tattoos so these are very eeeeh, but I sketched a few symbols out to maybe incorporate. (Did these rushed on a lined piece of paper because I'm currently in exam heck.) Not sure of how to simplify it though.

The main idea I was thinking of was interlocking circles, similar to the amulet (and the Tarron crest?!)

Jim: the "hands" on the amulet (I call them hands bc the amulet ticks like a clock), or just the straight-up sword

Claire: circle w/ the shadow portal design or the shape of the shadow staff

Toby: Hammer is a go to (T shape?)

Aja: Her serrator

Krel: His circle ball music tech thing please help, boom box?

ALTERNATIVELY: combine Aja and Krel to just be their house crest? Or a star almost like the Avengers?

Douxie: the spell circle he uses in Wizards or the shape of his staff

also here's a simple idea for my sanity. it's just the first letters of their names (just realized i forgot K, crap)

I want to design a tattoo for the Trollhunters Team

I want it to have the same vibe as the Avengers tattoo

I want to incorporate something to symbolize each member but still make it look like one coherent design

Assistance would be greatly appreciated :D

[depreshroom]

Analyzing Krel: Episode 2

Part two of Krel analysis is moving on to the second episode. Although this episode doesn’t have a lot that contributes to Krel other than what moved the plot along, I did notice a few things so I’ll focus on that.

To uh, set the scene I guess, they just crash-landed, got their tranductions for the first time and Eli is just standing there waiting at their doorstep and immediately walking right in the door without permission. Rude but alright Eli. So starting out, eventually Varvatos Vex kicks Eli out and they start to explore their new home when Mother mentions that the energy expenditure is too high to alter Vex’s human form and energy is so low because they don’t have a daxial array anymore.

First off, after a few seconds of discussing stuff, Aja mentions they should go explore the planet---mind you, this is before they so much as looked outside---Krel immediately says, “We can’t go out there. This dump heap planet is primitive beyond description.” 

-That’s kind of weird because Krel hasn’t even really seen anything. All he really got to explore was vintage music which he really liked. Of course later it’d be alright to see why he says that, after he discovers that Earth actually is primitive in comparison but this is right out of the gate. He finds that because what he has seen so far is different, it’s automatically primitive. And while that likely does put emphasis on the fact that he’s a royal, this behavior still doesn’t occur in Aja. This is simply to add to traits of the sibling’s characters. For one, Krel is not only less exposed but as explored in the last episode, has likely been the one made to fit into more of a mold of how things should be as he is the only one who complies with his parent’s wants. Being royals and always following royalty, I guess it would be pretty likely he’d suspect something else. Aja, on the other hand, runs away and it’s later stated that she literally gambles. So I guess she wouldn’t judge too quickly. I’m definitely going to reference this later.

Nevertheless, they go explore the town, Krel steals a record and they must go to school. When discussing things with Uhl about their placement there is the point where we also have this little gem. Although it’s probably simple, I did want to talk about Krel raising up his chair to be just as tall as his sister. In the scene he’s already sitting down and as soon as he sees that his sister is taller than him, he raises the chair to be not taller, but exactly the same height. Almost like he simply just wanted to be on equal level and given that this is only episode two and they only crashed earlier that day, him raising his chair brings light to the way that on Akiridion-5, he isn’t on equal level in the face of his parents, or authority. He wants to be just as good as her yet still doesn’t want to take over completely as if to put all the pressure on himself. When Uhl is there, it’s a chance for authority to see how good he is, and that he is great, just like his sister. I would say it’s also pretty significant that Aja was, in fact, the one who took over in the creation of Cantaloupia being extroverted and more of a people person. Krel simply but also helpfully filled in some of the smaller details. -So in a sense, he was in Aja’s shadow which is something I find happens a lot within 3below, so I guess what I should say is keep that in mind.

So skipping to about the last 5 or 6 minutes of episode 2 of 3below, Aja is upset and Krel goes to comfort her. And he takes out the very object hat was used to make him King-In-Waiting, and when she asks about it, he replies:

“You saved their cores, I saved this.”

I find this interesting because we’ve already discussed that Krel is told that he isn’t good enough which had made him seem under-confident. But, Krel saving this coronation tool, is like he’s only saving a representation of a part of his parents. That part is not the part that makes them his parents, he didn’t save Mama and Papa. Krel saved King Fialkov and Queen Coranda. He saved the professional part, he didn’t save the parent that told him he wasn’t good enough, he saved the King who was going to spar with him as an honor to the tradition. By saving the King and Queen, it was like he was trying to forget that to his Mama and Papa he was a liability. He was attempting to bring light to the King-In-Waiting, not Krel Tarron.

Another thing is right before Aja has her mini coronation, he says, “Hey, before the ceremony, Papa told me that we are all each other has. That’s why I’m not afraid. Because I have you.”

While on one hand this is a very wholesome interaction which shows Aja and Krel’s glorious relationship, on the other hand, one can assume that given the context, this is Krel’s way of saying that he needs her, so that he can be good enough especially with the inclusion of what his father said. As if he cannot be good on his own, as if like I said above he is a liability. This is once again, a show of the way his parents affected him and his view with his sister. I would also like to point out that when he says this, Aja isn’t Queen-In-Waiting yet and he is also coming from a comforting brotherly approach which once again means when he talks about not being good enough he is talking about Krel Tarron. Just as he had referenced his Papa without necessarily talking about the royal part of his father.

Altogether I found that ⅔ of these things were Krel comparing himself to Aja, it’s the first time we really get to see some small things that are Aja and Krel, not Krel and his parents. If you pay attention, you can put together the pieces to see how he views himself towards her, and we know that is probably once again a result of their parents. And I think it’s just as significant that Aja was the one to get their parents’ cores because just as I said Krel kept a part of them--the royal part---Aja kept them as a whole because she has no reason not to. Then of course we have him saying Earth is primitive which does happen a lot and will soon become a major part of his character.

Uh, thank you if you read this! I know it wasn’t as good as part 1, and I meant to get this done sooner but I hope you found some interesting stuff! Ep. 2 has less significant stuff than ep.1, and for a few episodes there will probably be less action than more but I promise it’ll have some interesting stuff if I do the episode. (I hope.)

[the-fanaddict]

I absolutely love comparing and contrasting the 3Below, Wizards, and Rott soundtracks like they’re so different but so good Jeff Danna has the range

if there’s one common stylistic thread is that Jeff Danna loves strings 

[valentimmy]

How about Toby or Claire hc?

Toby :

- hes autistic too I SAID SO also he’s pan

- he watches a LOT of anime and was the one who introduced krel to it along with eli

- he’s besties with krel they talk a lot about rocks and geology and also about technology and use the one in the mothership to try and analyze rocks to see if they can discover a new one

- he’s punk it’s just that he dresses Like That bc his nana gave him those clothes and he loves his nana so

- whenever he goes to a concert tho. he has like a bunch of cool pins and boots and jackets and band shirts and ya

- some of them he made them himself (and nana helped him) he also got some for his birthday and he got some of the pins from douxie

- he grows his hair out a bit and gets a beard when he gets older bc ya

- he’s also RLLY RLLY strong actually from constantly carrying a giant hammer around

- he knows a l l the gun robot lore and will info dump about it and if he finds out u didn’t watch it he will take you to watch it

- he‘s an artist! a really good one too! - he has a fursona and it’s . so so so so cute and cool

Claire:

- she also grows her hair out it’s curly they just straightened it

- theyre bi and non binary (she/they) (me slapping all my favorites with the bi and non binary beam so true)

- she has a LOT of band shirts and pins and posters sometimes they like. trade them with Toby

- “give me ur papa skull shirt and I give u my viper poster :))”

- she’s BESTIES with krel they bond at first during the tour he gives her of the mothership then they become best friends and they do portals together and gossip and they teach him Spanish so they talk to each other in Spanish a lot yeag

- if there’s tiktok in the toa universe theyre definitely famous

- she gives hairpins to their friends if she gives u a hairpin ur a Friend Now

- * camera cuts to Jim Toby Krel Mary Darci Aja and Douxie with little pins on their hair *

- she met Mary and Darci when they were all small they became besties IMMEDIATLY by talking about what their favorite cartoon was at the time

- can sing rlly good

I love them a lot ur honor

[maaykaepussy]

So i was rewatching trollhunters and 3below to see Douxie's cameos and damn there was so much in there that I hadnt even noticed

I mean we all knew he was a little suspicious and basically knew he was most likely gonna be in Wizards during the end scene of 3below

There were some things I havent noticed before tho.

Douxie Cameos: a personal analysis

1. During the time we were first introduced to Douxie in trollhunters S3E1 "Night Patroll", he was probably not even flirting with Claire in the way we thought (like a potential love rival for Jim) but probably bc he knew about her and what she was capable of in terms of magic. And when he says "I hope to see you again, Fair lady Claire" it seems suspiscious of him and we thought he flirting some more but I'm quite sure he means to see her again in a way involving what was going on. We never know, he probably knew what the trollhunters have been up to and have seen Claire do magic. From what we saw in Wizards, he was basically helping Arcadia too by defeating magical monsters, I imagine, and so I have no doubt he has seen them probably a few times or since he is a wizard, he used magic to see whats been going on in Arcadia since it was also his job to keep the material plane safe.

1.2 not a Douxie cameo but I've noticed in the episode "Arcadia's most wanted" they mentioned pets were going missing. (Probably it really was Gluug who ate the pets) but in Wizards E1, Douxie caught who he thought was the possible culprit to who was eating all the pets. I dont exactly know if Gluug really was responsible (since we did see the collar in the tub and Toby saying "oh that was Gluug") but it could also possibly be that shadow creature who has been taking the pets since it was stalking Arch.

2. Next would be when they went on a double date ( S3E4 "So I'm dating a sorceress")when Claire (semi-possessed by morgana) suddenly bursts out wanting to have her steak raw dripping with blood and you noticed that Douxie is disturbed but you can see that he was suspicious about it.

3. And later on in that same episode when (possessed) Claire comes back from the bathroom, Douxie comes back with the steaks and asks Claire if he could listen to their band sometime and she replied with "Begone, Servant!". Now he becomes even more suspicious, you could see it in his expression when he says "my apologies". He probably suspected (or knew) that something was wrong. (I could be over analyzing things but oh well this is how I saw it.)

3.2. In the episode "The Oath" we see in the beginning of the episode we see Merlin making the amulet but it wasnt only him, another set of hands with black bracelets were aiding him in making the amulet. (Now who do we know wears black bracelets? Yep, Douxie). This was the moment most of us (if not all) suspected Douxie. (Well since most of us has seen Wizards at this point, we now know that it exactly was Douxie.)

4. Next would be during the episode of the eternal knight pt.1 in the battle of the bands when Mama Skull came on stage and Claire went on in full armor, Douxie whistled and gave her two thumbs up. We thought maybe he was cheering her on for the band but maybe he knew what was about to happen and what the trollhunters were doing.

5. Same episode where Darci and Mary were about to be attacked by a gumgum, Douxie comes flying in and hits the gumgum with his guitar. Now if we look closely, he had jumped on the gumgum from a high place. Sure he probably climbed on something and jumped on the gumgum but it looked like he flew to their rescue using magic. As well as when he hits the gumgum with his guitar, a light sparks the second he hits the gumgum with his guitar (could be magic) and heres the big part, he says "I've always hated those twits" right after. This was no brainer, he knew what was up all along.

6. Now we move along to 3below. His first cameo would be in the episode "Lighting in a bottle" but he was just seen walking in the streets, shaking his head when he witnesses that racist dude telling off his kid (the one Krel was suppose to beat in a math duel) that he wasnt going to space camp if he didnt win. So nothing special there but its always nice to see him.

7. During the episode "Theres something about Gwen (the gordon)" we see him serving Aja and Steve a smoothie. This is basically a closeup shot of his hand where his scar is. It was as clear as daylight. They would probably never put that significant detail on a background character.

8. During the episode "Luug's day out" he was outside his shop and sees Aja looking for Luug. He says he would love to help look for Luug but he couldn't leave the shop so he offers to read her palm. Here's the moment where I had thought "hmmm this guy is probably magic". He reads her palm and asks her if she had taken a big trip lately, Aja says "I'm about to take one now" before running off. He then says "hmm guess I should've seen that one coming" before going on with his business. This indicates (probably) that he knows they were aliens. Also you could see the scar on his right hand. This was the last time we saw him before Wizards.

9. Now this isnt a Douxie cameo but the last scene in the last episode of 3below we see Aaarrrgghh, Steve, and Toby. The black cat with glasses appears (aka Arch). Aaarrrgghh mentions that he was a familiar aka Wizard assistant/companion. So basically this is where everyone knows that the next series would be about Wizards and a certain someone was going to be in it (you guessed it, its Douxie).

Now this was my analysis of the Douxie cameos or mentions of anything relating to him after rewatching Trollhunters and 3below. This is simply from my own perspective so to each their own

[nrth-wind-a]

Among Us Halloween Event: Crew 1 // Round 1

Poll Link

Imposters: 2 Map: The Skeld

Crew Members:

Strickler

NotE

Douxie

Krel

Arthur

Nari

Aja

Barbara

Nomura

Eli

Round One:

Barbara and Strickler go to Weapons and Admin

Nomura goes to Electrical and then Admin

NotE goes to Storage and is spotted near Electrical when Nomura leaves, on his way to the Lower Engine

Nari goes to Navigation and then the Cafeteria

Douxie goes to Electrical and then the Reactor, and then to the Lower Engine

Krel goes to MedBay

Aja goes to Admin and then to Electrical

Eli goes to Shields and then to O2

Arthur’s body is found in Electrical, reported by Aja

Nothing was sabotaged this round

Chat Below the Cut:

Chat:

Eli: oh no NotE: where Aja: the electric room Douxie: what was everyone doing? Strickler: asteroids, card swipe w Barbara Barbara: can confirm NotE: refillin our engines Nari: I did the course charting, and the garbage Douxie: wiring, then uploading data, myself Krel: I was analyzing samples in the medbay Eli: I primed the shields! Eli: and then cleared the oxygen! Aja: I did the card swipey thingie, and then went to electrical to fix wires, but found the body Nomura: calibrated distributor, card swipe Nomura: didn’t see Stricklander, though Strickler: you liar Strickler: I watched you card swipe for several seconds too long Barbara: He was with me, Nomura— I saw you there, and you saw me there. You had to have seen him, too >:( Nomura: I kept going too fast Nomura: besides, I’m not the one lying about his location Douxie: okay, okay Douxie: are we voting or not?

Poll Link Down Here, too, In case it was missed above

[arcadialedger]

Krel and Autistic Coding

This is a post I have wanted to make ever since watching season 2. It is also very near and dear to my heart. So here we go. 

KREL IS ABSOLUTELY, 200% CODED TO BE AUTISTIC. This has become abundantly clear after season 2, and a variety of characterization it contained. 

Notable traits include:

- Krel’s streamlined, narrow focus and interest in technology and engineering. It is very common for people with autism to grab hold of one specific interest and pursue it full force. This stems from the wiring of the autistic brain and what I like to call singular capacity (though I have no idea what the official term is)-- the ability for the brain to handle one subject or element at a time, in full depth.

-Krel’s struggle to communicate, understand, and socially interact with other people. Now, it can be hard to judge this because the entire plot is two aliens being thrown into a new environment. However, Krel’s inability to connect and understand the nature of others (even his Akiridian sister), understand emotion, and struggles appropriately responding to social situations is very indicative. 

- Krel’s high mechanical and mathematical intelligence. Often, autistic individuals excel in/ take comfort in the steadfast, straightforward nature of numbers and math. It is isn’t flowery, it is poetic, there are no hidden meanings-- simply hard, stone numbers. This is very appealing to the autistic brain, which has trouble processing non literal meanings and language.

- Krel’s struggles with connection, being distant, and developing/ maintaining relationships. People with ASD often struggle with disconnect and attachment, and are often very guarded and closed. This is due to their difficulties understanding the human condition and outside world. 

- Krel’s focusing through music. This was the scene in s2 where the clarity of his autistic coding was made abundantly clear to me. Many, MANY autistic kids take comfort in and find focus in headphones and music to avoid overstimulation. Krel himself seems to hate being overstimulated (he hates Aja making a lot of noise, any ruckus, etc.). Music is a therapeutic outlet and escape, as well as a channel for thought and clarity.

Some other quick tartars I’ll mention

- Intense prolonged emotional reactions (Krel’s prolonged and intense hatred of Vex is a wonderful example) 

- Unusual interest in objects (Krel seems more interested in interacting with technology than living beings)

- Great ability in one area (tech, science) and lack of ability in another (language, communication)

- Difficulty with changes in routine (the move to earth and instant change in their lives seems to affect Krel a lot more than Aja)

This is a basic, BASIC analysis. Obviously this post is merely scratching the surface of ASD, and these traits do not apply to all of those with ASD. Mental disabilities are highly interwoven and can often be mistaken for one another-- as an OCD individual I can tell you many of Krel’s traits could also suggest OCD, as OCD and ASD are quite similar, or even simply introversion. I am by NO means trying to say Krel is canon autistic-- merely analyzing based off some observations I made and discussing some overt coding-- and I would love for you guys to share your own theories down below.

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

3BP2 Episode 6: There’s Something About Gwen (of Gorbon)

I do 2 watches of favorite shows when they first come out.  The first, a single binge-watching session through all new episodes, so I can feel all the emotions I’m gonna feel.  The second is slower, to fully take in the new material and sort out my thoughts.  This time, with 3Below, I’ve decided to liveblog my second watch through.

Episode 1.  Episode 2.  Episode 3.  Episode 4.  Episode 5.

Beneath the cut, thoughts on 3Below Part 2 Episode 6: There’s Something About Gwen (of Gorbon).

>Right off the bat, new headcanon, those girl scouts just love utterly scaring people for funsies.  They know all the Horror Movie Things and use them to their advantage.

>Say what you want about her, but Gwen has a freaking awesome design.  To be fair, I’m biased toward anything that has more than two eyes.

>I honestly like the relationship conflict between Aja and Steve in this episode.  It seems very realistic to me.

Things have been getting more intense with the bounty hunters and with Kubritz.  Last episode, Aja experienced her school being invaded, her brother potentially being experimented on, Tronos revealing her parents weren’t as honorable as she thought, and the end of the episode implied she learned the truth about Voltar.  There’s a lot of important things she’s focused on, so it’s reasonable that they’re more important to her than Steve.

I also think this is the first indication that she’ll decide to return to Akiridion-5 at the end of the season.  Out of the two options Aja has here, obtaining a piece of tech for her brother so he can continue work on his wormhole device or go on a date with Steve, she prioritizes the tech and, by extension, Akiridion-5.  That’s not to say she doesn’t care about Steve, because I think it’s clear she does, but she does not choose him over her planet.

I’m not sure if it’s intended as this, but, thinking about it, I’d say the ending of last episode and what happens in this one are the beginning of Aja not running away anymore.

When we first met her, she was running away from her coronation.  Here, she’s working in the opposite direction (to return to Akiridion-5 and being royalty).

However, what’s also cool about this is that Aja brought Steve along (granted, there were clearly some communication issues between them on what exactly they were doing).  To her, he represents Earth, being normal, and things she’s chosen for herself.  So, by having him there, yes she’s working for the eventual saving of her planet, but in her own way.

When Aja doesn’t want to be a royal, it’s before she ever came to Earth.  Her assumption likely was that she would have to be a royal like her parents were.  However, due to her time on Earth, I think, she’ll figure out how to be a royal in her own way (I’m fairly certain her last line to Vex about titles before going in the wormhole is indicative of this, but I’ll wait until we get there to analyze further).

Welp, not even two minutes in and I’ve already written my first essay.  Not sure if that indicates anything for how the rest of the episode will go, but let’s get to it! 😏 

>I love how the first person Stuart goes to is Vex and how Vex is just chilling on the couch as he freaks out.  Idk the part of me that wants to ship these two was very pleased by this scene.

>Yup Vex is totally jealous/frustrated because he thought Stuart could be new boyfriend material, except Stuart clearly has a complicated romantic life.

>So, what is Gorbon exactly?  Is it a planet?  A place on Durio?  In the flashbacks, I’d assume the place Stuart and Gwen are at is Durio.  So, why is Gwen there if she’s not a native species?  Inquiring minds would like to know.

>Did not need to know about the snorfing thing.  Really didn’t.

>Reason I Like Krel 9567, he prefers breaking the laws of physics to dating.  Yup, he’s definitely my fave here.

>The homemade film side plot is something I enjoy a lot.  I like how it shows Toby and Eli as friends and especially how it gives Krel a way to shine and be in the spotlight and have fun with it.  I also think that it’s the plot line that gets him to start seeing Earth as home, but we’ll see how that goes.

Actually, wait, thinking about it, in season 1 Krel wanted to be accepted.  He wasn’t until the Battle of the Bands at the end there and that was in a distant sort of way.  So he hasn’t really had a chance to connect with anyone on Earth and, considering it’s implied he’s experienced racist microaggressions before the math competition/that whole thing with Seamus’s dad, there may be a part of him that doesn’t want to.  Up to now, he hasn’t exactly been treated well on Earth.

What changes now is that he’s being offered friendship.  In a way that goes against his expectations.  Krel assumes the alien in Toby and Eli’s film will be the villain (or a monster), except he’s going to be a hero.  So, for once, he gets to have a really positive, personal experience with humans.  Coming right after they saved him last episode, that’s gotta feel good.

>It took me a couple watches to get that Star Wars joke reference with the Episode IV and prequels bit.

>Holy crap this whole episode is a protagonist paradigm switch.

Aja goes from wanting normal things (Steve/Earth) to focusing on Akiridion things.

Krel goes from focusing solely on his wormhole generator (Akiridion) to agreeing to help Toby and Eli with their film (Earth)

Like, the choices they’re making here, I feel like, indicate what they’ll choose to do in the final episode.  Essentially, those choices didn’t come out of nowhere, they were part of their character arcs all along.

Everyone was just much too focused on shipping to notice

>Can’t say I’m a fan of Director Toby’s pushy attitude

>But I do love Aja mimicking Vex 👌 👌 👌 stuff right there

>Honestly, I don’t really have anything to say about the ships here.  I’m not really into any of them and I already wrote my analysis of Aja this episode, so the whole dance lesson scene is just watchable for me, but nothing special ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

>I’ve never been fond of the kind of romance rules Gwen lives under.  They annoy me.

>God, I love Douxie.  I just love his expressions as he reacts to the weird things he sees.  I’m seriously hoping we get more of him in Wizards.

>I feel like there was going to be more of a plot line with Gwen, and that’s why we saw her checking in with Morando, but it maybe got cut or something so it never happened and we’re just left with this fragment of it.

[archaeopter-ace]

The Girl in the Mirror

Day 3 - Mirror or Masquerade @talesofarcadiafemslashweek​ Aja/Shannon (Shanaja) wordcount: ~2k Rated: PG

(Quick note: the reason Aja uses she/her for herself and he/him for Krel is an artifact of imperfect translation. Akiridians don’t have genders as we’d understand them, so their use of gendered terms like ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ really just reflect that the Akiridian language has more than one word for ‘sibling,’ and that Aja and Krel use different terms for each other.)

Aja washed her hands slowly at the row of sinks in the school bathroom - she was not eager to get back to English class. It was, by far, her least favorite class. There were so many assumptions made, so many fundamentals her classmates had spent years learning, comparisons being made to other books that everyone else had already read.

She was forever thankful that she and her brother had Universal Understanding, that the technology had been acquired by her people in trade with the Babelpisces several generations ago. It was essential for interplanetary negotiations, and, now, to analyze eyeball symbolism in The Great Gatsby.

Aja turned off the sink, taking a moment to examine her features in the mirror. She did not know when she would get used to her fleshy human appearance, but she hoped it would be soon. She poked her nose, moving it from side to side, opened her mouth to look at her teeth. She was a girl now, apparently, whatever that meant.

All she knew for certain was that it meant using certain pronouns and not others. Akiridian pronouns did not, so far as Aja could tell, correspond to gender, but she was still a little unclear on what ‘gender’ was, and had been racking her brains - a funny human idiom - to see if she could think of an Akiridian equivalent.

On Akiridian-5, a person’s pronouns told you a lot about them - their approximate age, social rank, and sometimes even area of expertise. They had over a dozen third-person pronouns, but it was easy to know which one to use because they also had a over a dozen corresponding first-person pronouns. In Arcadia, everyone was “I” this and “I” that - it was honestly one of the most startling things about being human, how the same everyone seemed.

Aja and Krel used the royal pronouns for first born and second born, respectively. Krel had once confided in her that he had toyed with the idea of using an engineer’s pronouns, but ultimately his sense of duty to the crown won out. That, and their parents would have thrown a fit if they had known.

Aja had not told Krel that she sometimes disguised herself and used artisan pronouns when she went to the skeltag pits to watch the fights.

(Neither of them had quite gotten the hang of the new king- and queen-in-waiting pronouns they should now be using.)

Mother had implied that gender was a social rank modifier when she said that Aja would be overlooked if she were a girl - Aja had, at the time, assumed it meant something like the suzinx, those who moved unobtrusively through the palace - but Aja was unsure how true that was since Krel was less girl than she was but he was more ignored. (Possibly Aja was just exceptionally bad at blending in and lying low.)

Aja had yet to reliably identify who was and was not a girl in daily life. At first she thought being a girl had to do with clothes, but she had given up on that idea after it turned up so many false negatives. It also had nothing to do with eye color or hair color or how much time they spent talking or whether they liked burritos.

Being a girl seemed to be positively correlated with hair length quite strongly, so that was her current working theory: the longer someone’s hair follicles, the more girl they were.

Aja had the longest hair of anyone she knew; she supposed that made her a full girl. Mary was a close second - 90% girl, maybe? Her best guess was that Krel was at least half girl, about the same as Claire. Aja had been momentarily stymied by the fact that Claire was apparently considered a girl while Krel was not, since both had shoulder-length hair, but then she realized that all the clips Claire added to her hair probably increased her girl quotient.

Aja was startled from her introspection by the sound of rushing water behind her. Shannon stepped out of a stall and blinked at Aja, offering her a tentative grin, before she moved over to the row of sinks.

(Splitting hairs into clumps seemed to have a similar effect as adding clips, because Shannon’s hair looked like it might be shorter than Krel’s but she was also a girl.)

She looked on in curiosity as the other girl washed her hands - Aja quickly realized that she’d forgotten to use any soap, and hurried to correct her mistake, washing her hands a second time while carefully imitating the human’s motions.

“Oh!” A flash of color had caught her eye, and she abandoned her own sink to try to get a better look, reaching over with the intent to pull Shannon’s hands from the faucet for closer inspection - but the girl eeped and jerked her hands away. “Sorry, sorry.” Aja held up her dripping hands in apology. “I was just admiring your colorful fingers. How did you do that?”

“You mean my nail polish?” She finished rinsing the suds off, revealing dark blue fingernails that seemed to shimmer in the light. For some reason her face got very red, like Aja had seen on some humans in gym class when they breathed in and out more than usual. “You, you like it? um.”

“Yes, very much! Very lively!”

“Oh, thanks.” Her face got even redder, and Aja started to grow concerned. “Um, I could - I could do your nails for you sometime? If you want?”

Any color she added to her nails would not survive her transition back to her Akiridian form, but as she thought about what ‘doing her nails’ would entail, going to Shannon’s house and sitting down together, spending time with her, she decided that it didn’t matter to her that the finished product would not last longer than a day.

“Yes, I would like that very much. Thank you! And oh! Maybe you could help me with a problem I have been having. Could you help me understand what a girl is, please?”

“You - you what?” Shannon sputtered, wide-eyed.

“We don’t have girls on Ak - on Cantaloupia. Being here is very confusing. I would like to learn to be a girl, please.”

“Oh, I thought you meant - nevermind what I thought.” Shannon looked at her for a very long time, the red color slowly fading from her face. Aja was not sure what she was looking for, though she had an inkling.

She tried to reassure her, “I know my hair is tucked up right now, but I promise you, it is definitely long enough to be a girl.”

Shannon’s expression seemed to… crumple, and she bit her lip. “Are you just… wanting to learn performative femininity because it’s expected of you?”

“Per-for-wha?”

“Sorry, my mom’s a therapist. I meant, do you just want to learn to act more like a girl because you think it’s expected of you?”

“I am supposed to do what people expect of me, it is part of being in hiding and remaining unnoticed. Ah, I mean…” Aja blanked on trying to explain away her slip-up, decided to ignore it and hope Shannon didn’t notice. “Yes, I suppose it is a little bit what you said. Mostly, I think I am just curious. I have been watching the television and there are many girl things I would like to try - like your fingernails! They are so colorful and lively! I would like to do that.”

Shannon still did not look satisfied with her answer. “You can do girl things without being a girl, that’s okay too.”

Not be a girl? Was that an option? “But I am a girl.”

“But you just told me you don’t know what a girl is!”

“Yes? What is yout point?” Aja was a girl now and that was why she needed to know what one was.

“Do you want to be a girl?”

“I… I don’t know. That is why I want to better understand what a girl is.”

Shannon rubbed at her temples. “Okay, okay, I think I understand. You’re exploring your gender identity, and you want to see if being a girl is right for you; is that about the gist of it?”

Aja did not particularly understand the question, but she thought she could guess at the answer. “Yes?”

Shannon nodded. “Okay, alright. Yeah, I’d be willing to coach you in girl stuff, hang out and show you the ropes. But, um,” she wrung her hands together, “while we’re being open and honest, I want to say that… I’vegotacrushonyou.” She immediately buried her face in her hands. “Argh, why did I say that?! Stupid Shannon, stupid.”

“Oh. Was it mistake to say that?” Aja cocked her head to one side.

Shannon peeked at her between fingers still firmly affixed to her face. “Do you…” she began hesitantly, “know what a crush is?”

Aja waggled her hand back and forth in a so-so gesture she learned from watching her classmates. “I have been observing hu-uh-hyour culture and I know it does not mean flattening someone with a zorkgast. I think,” Aja picked her words with careful deliberation, “it means the same as like-like, yes?”

“Yes.” Shannon removed her hands from her face, and drew herself up to her full height. “Aja. I think you’re cool and amazing, and I like-like you. Do you want to go out with me?”

Aja gave that some thought. She knew what ‘going out’ meant, and dating - she was a princess, she knew all about courtship. She had never expected to have the freedom to do so without political consideration, and it gave her a heady rush.

But it would be selfish to say yes just because she could, just because she wanted to learn what this girl could teach her, just because it sounded like an adventure. She could see that that would not be fair to Shannon.

And yet. Shannon was nice. She told funny jokes, and she carried extra pencils to loan to anyone who needed one. She read a lot of books that looked a lot more interesting than the books they had to read for class. Thinking about it, Aja realized she would like to spend more time with her, find adventure together, learn more about her and hopefully more about herself.

“Shannon,” Aja began, uncertain if she would be able to find the right words. “I like you too. I do not know if I like-like you - there is a lot I do not know, yet - but I am willing to find out, if that is okay.”

Shannon smiled softly at her, “Yeah, yeah that’s okay.” Suddenly she squealed loudly, “EEEEEEIH! Sorry, sorry, I’m just so excited, I couldn’t help it!” She glanced at the door, shifting her weight back and forth. “We’ll talk more later, yeah? We should really be getting back to class - Ms Janeth hates long bathroom breaks, she’s gonna give me the stink eye.”

“I do not think Mr. Clemens is all that fond of them either,” Aja admitted ruefully.

“Here,” Shannon pulled Aja’s arm towards her and fished a blue pen out of her pocket with her other hand. She wrote a string of numbers on the inside of her forearm. “Call me, yeah?” Her face had gone that funny red color again.

“Yes, I will!”

Aja felt lighter than she could remember feeling, the prospect of figuring her life out seemed less like a weight she had to bear and more like journey she could share, and she skipped her way back to class.

(Mr. Clemens was very unhappy with the length of time she had spent in the bathroom, and said she would not get any more bathroom breaks in class for the rest of the week, but Aja did not particularly care)

[depreshroom]

Analyzing Krel: Episode 3

It’s been more days than I wanted it to be and I’m sorry. But, here it is! t The next episode has more insight into him  but this one did have some really important messages so, y’know here I am.

To start off, we have the 3 rules of humanity after Aja and Krel are caught washing their hands with orange juice and eating messily at lunch..

-Those three rules being: 

Prepare for change

Embrace your mistakes

When in doubt, play with your phone.

Each of these are shown to be very important as 3below goes on, of course, Aja and Krel misunderstand it at first but the point here is their great enthusiasm. They really are trying their hardest. Aja had taken a bunch of “change” to school and of course Krel tried to hug Mrs.Janeth. Multiple times. At the end, when being confronted, Senor Uhl approaches them about their mistakes and they play with their phones. No, it doesn’t work but eventually we will see how these rules affect Krel..and maybe Aja too.

They come home, frustrated because the rules didn’t work out and Krel decides to make a mind reader. The first noticeable thing about this is, as we come in to see him work, we see him vibing for the first time in the series. Krel is simply in his element. He has his music, and his tools and he actually seems like he’s having fun.

Aja even asks if he’s having a very small party. I find it important that although he still views the planet as primitive at this point, the first time we see him truly enjoying himself is not on akiridion-5, but on Earth with music---something that came from Earth. He also is without anybody watching or judging him contributing to his more introverted personality. -He likes having his own down time--he needs his own down time.

Skipping towards after they destroy the planetarium, they sneak out to go find the mystery extraterrestrial (who we later learn is Stuart.) As with most episodes, this is kind of the peak, the message, and the point. Aja goes to look across Arcadia, and see what everyone is thinking. 

-Krel tries to use it, but says he isn’t picking anything up and fails, so instead of trying again he gives up. He simply says that “it’s hopeless.” That was something I thought was significant--that he gave up once he saw that he couldn’t do it, and he was only there for a small amount of time. As soon as he saw it wasn’t working the first time his immediate thought was to say not only that he cannot do it--but that it cannot be done at all, “It’s hopeless” This is before Aja tries, and really he wasn’t planning to give her a chance and I can only assume that this is because to him tech is his thing. It’s the one thing that Aja can’t have.

Then Aja says to let her try. The first thing I noticed about this is that Krel is really nervous and on-edge about his sister using his invention. He didn’t just say “be careful” multiple times but it was almost like he was mildly freaking out.  

Krel, (after she forcibly takes it away): Fine, but we need to increase it slowly.

Aja: Like this?

Krel, (said with annoyance): Not at all like this.

That’s the entire conversation before immediately x’s start to appear maybe one second after the other around his head, giving insight to his thought process as the mind reader is supposed to do. And what I find interesting about this is Aja didn’t even do anything, she was simply looking at him. Those x’s came fast too. By the quickness of how they appeared, it gave me the impression that it was to represent how fast his mind was going just seeing someone who admittedly can be quite reckless with his invention. It was like a small spiral, a chain line, as if he started thinking that Thing A might go wrong, only to realize that Things B, C, D can go wrong too.

Which is where his voice eventually cracks in desperation, as he says, “What? No! You’re gonna break it!” 

Aja still hasn’t even done anything so it was basically Krel just overthinking, overwhelming, and worrying himself in a matter of 10 seconds or so. Of course, Aja tells him to relax, and even as he does shut up for then, he is looking over her shoulder to make sure she isn’t messing anything up as she uses it. What’s great about this is that Aja’s thought process just as easily could have been shown, but instead Krel’s was. Krel is also the one who doesn’t follow his own wants and needs as easily, he doesn’t give in to his emotions like Aja, and he wasn’t the one who had run away his whole life. He also isn’t the one who outright says how he feels. That’s also why the fact that when he told Aja she wasn’t using it right at all is the annoyance in his voice conveys something--that goes on to be how he often expresses himself in front of others when he feels down or upset about something. 

Moving on, Aja uses the glasses, and finds herself overwhelmed with us, the humans, and the way we think, and she and Krel start talking about that.

Aja: “I mean all they think about is themselves and what others think of them. She’s worried about what he thinks about her, and all he’s thinking about is what that other person is thinking about him. Being human is difficult for everyone, it’s even hard for humans.”

Right after she says this, Krel looks down at the mind reader (which she threw to him and he caught on instinct) for a split second, and then just says, “I never thought about it that way. But you must focus, Aja. Listen. Remember why we’re here.”

When he says that he never thought about it that way, it’s likely that he isn’t only thinking about humans, because they’ve only been there for maybe a day or two. They don’t know anybody personally, nobody has annoyed them to that point, even Krel hasn’t said much bad about the planet...yet. It’s more likely he’s thinking about someone close to him, for instance, Aja. Krel doesn’t have as much empathy for others as Aja, so even though yes she was talking about the humans and their struggles, he is probably thinking about someone more relevant to him. How much does Aja struggle being forced into a certain destiny that she knows isn’t right for her?

Still, he goes on to tell Aja that she has to focus, and remember why they are there--likely the same thing he has been telling himself because while Aja did end up crying and expressing herself at the end of episode 2, Krel hasn’t yet at all really which is something he needs to do. What also might contribute is the fact that Krel, who actually participates in royal activities, has probably heard the line “Smile and wave” (no matter what) more times or has been faced with simply dealing with his sister’s absence multiple times. He is used to bottling up emotions, it’s been taught to him.

After Aja successfully uses the mind reader, Krel goes on to say, “It worked for you? I mean, I’m glad it worked.”

In a way, this line is kind of sad. Tech was Krel’s “thing” for lack of a better word. It was his skill that he had, that Aja wouldn’t be good at, it was his comfort. Once again going back to how we already saw the way their parents acted towards him vs. her. Aja had already been told that she was going to be good at her destiny, she had something going for her. By her being good at tech, it’s in a way taking away the one thing Krel is good at. I did notice this is also kind of how it went with Krel giving Aja the coronation tool. He had that, now he doesn’t. He had tech, now he doesn’t. Of course he still is much, much more superior but now she has tainted his ownership a bit.

Once they notice the extraterrestrial language among them (Stuart), they of course notice him saying their names, and Krel says, “That can’t possibly be good. It must be one of Morando’s agents.”

I really only pointed this out to acknowledge how he immediately jumped to conclusions, the worst conclusion possible actually. Of course with everything going on it’s definitely justified, but the difference when Aja replies is she says, “Only one way to find out.”  

Aja doesn’t say that it definitely is, but she for sure is mindful that it might be. Krel, on the other hand, immediately, not thinks---but knows, it’s bad news. He says “it can’t possibly”. Not only that, it’s the worst--the people who are actually after them. Out of all the galaxies, all the planets, Krel thinks that this one alien they spot is automatically one of the 7, maybe 8 bounty hunters specifically after him. He decided that in 5 seconds too. It’s just once again, Krel quickly--very quickly-- falling into this negative thinking pattern of “something bad is going to happen” like with Aja and the mind reader. 

Jump to where Steve punches Krel for calling him an idiot and an alien. (Poor sweet, sweet, socially clueless child.) Obviously Krel gets punched, he bleeds, and says, “I’m--I’m leaking fluid, what is this? I must be dying. Is this the end?”

Well, first of all, OH NO! NO, KREL! It’s gonna be alright! You’re okay!  

Second of all, Krel said that with true terror, he was serious. This is the third time in this episode that Krel’s quick and negative thinking pattern was represented, only this time was where it was most serious I’d say. Chances are, he felt mostly fine other than a small headache, it was the sight of the blood that set him off, from “leaking fluid” to “dying.” I wouldn’t say he was joking either being that this actually is his first time seeing blood, or at least the first time it just, came out of his nose. It was like a spiral, he was leaking fluid--he didn’t know what it was--he must be dying now, no ifs, ands, or buts. 

Last thing: Aja did indeed break Krel’s mind reader while chasing after Stuart, which he was kind upset about. Poor child.

In conclusion, Krel tends to overwhelm and worry himself when he thinks, ⅔ of those times, he thought it might as well be death because of the simplest clues. A single language? One of Morando’s bounty hunters. He leaks fluid? He’s dying. I’d also like to point out that somewhere in the episode, Vex did point out that they don’t know all of Earth’s languages. What if it simply happened to be any other language but English? Aja did also cry--she leaked fluid which was a known thing at this point. Why is this particular fluid automatically death? He’s not only pessimistic, but this attitude can cause him to panic. Krel was also happiest in his own setting--as he worked on tech alone with music in the background. I’m sure that pops up more as we go, but that was his happiest in this episode. Last but not least, he seems to be frustrated by Aja doing his job, and being good at his skill. It was almost like she was invading him.

Once again, if you read it, thank you! I will hopefully take less time for episode 4!

[depreshroom]

Analyzing Krel: Episode 4

I’m back, this took a lot longer than I wanted it to. It may be short but I feel like this was significant! So, here it is I guess.

At the beginning of the episode, they are interrogating Stuart when skeltegs fly into the ship. Krel immediately blames Aja by telling her that she was the one obsessed with sketleg fighting on akiridion-5. Granted, it was her fault but it still took him only all of two seconds to blame her. He was eager to say it, and to point out that she did something wrong. 

Side note: Aja said skelteg fighting was easy money...Aja gambled. Aja, you’re a royal, why did you need that money? More relevant question: Did you ever get in trouble for gambling ma’am?

Later, at school after leaving Stuart’s shop, Mary and Darci inform Aja that she is popular now for kicking Steve in the face. Poor Krel is simply ignored and left behind with his boombox which he had brought to school. During the day, the skeltegs invade the school and as they are running, this scene happens between Krel, Aja, Darci, and at the end Shannon.

Krel: “Just remember sister, you were the one who brought them here.”

Darci: “Aja, you really did this?”

Krel: “Finally, you made a mistake!” ~~Senor Uhl cancels school over the announcements~~

Darci: “Yes! Aja you just saved my butt, I was gonna fail that quiz!”

Shannon: “Oh man! She even makes infestations look cool.”

Krel: “You literally cannot lose.”

 “Just remember sister, you were the one who brought them here.”

First of all, it seems significant that Krel once again reminds Aja that this is her fault. She did this, everything going wrong right now (within the school) is because of her. He says that as if to prove a point, to put the spotlight on her.

This would simply seem like he’s just blaming her for fun, but then he says “Finally, you made a mistake!” 

So yes, he’s happy his sister made a mistake, but the thing about this line is not only that he’s happy but he said finally. He says it as if his sister is perfect all the time--he has been waiting for this, for the moment that his “perfect” sister showed a taste of imperfection. Nothing serious has happened yet, there haven’t been any big mistakes for any of them, so this conclusion that his sister is perfect would have to come from akiridion-5 where we once again talk about their parents. He has been set to a lower bar and belittled in comparison to Aja. He also sees himself that way as in his mind without Aja, he’s doomed. Or as he puts it, back in episode 2, “That’s why I’m not afraid. Because I have you.”  Another thing is that in the episode before this, Aja was able to use the mind reader and Krel wasn’t. He didn’t necessarily make a mistake, but he didn’t succeed like Aja and that was his field of expertise so it did leave him upset. 

What can be assumed by not only the line itself, but his excitement is that being taught to think, and thinking that his sister is better than him did take its toll on him. Seeing his happiness about this break into Aja’s nonexistent facade gives insight into his insecurities. It’s probably the more selfish side of him, but wanting Aja to mess up lets Krel believe that he isn’t a failure. 

Unfortunately, school gets canceled so the others instead cheer Aja on. In disappointment, frustration, and annoyance, Krel says “You literally cannot lose.”

So Krel is finally able to catch Aja in the act of making a mistake which leaves him ecstatic because it broke her---once again nonexistent--facade. That was only for him to quickly be slapped in the face when her mistake is actually praised. 

I feel like it might be important to acknowledge the fact that Aja never does act like she’s perfect, Krel built this illusion for himself and while it was likely that it was influenced by his parents the idea that she’s flawless is something that he has come to truly believe. If he believes that she’s faultless, and also views his parents on a higher level than him, then that leaves him at the bottom. 

Skipping all the way to the end, after they find out the boombox brought the skeltegs to the school, and they have fixed the infestations, Krel comes to apologize to Aja, and they reconcile. Then she asks about building a daxial array.

Aja: “Hey, how many akiridions does it take to build a daxial array?”

Krel: “It’s impossible.”

Aja: We exploded skeltegs with a music machine little brother. Nothing is impossible on this planet.”

Krel: “In that case, it will take two akiridions.”

There’s not much to point out about this, but I did want to talk about the fact that while I’m sure Aja’s optimism is somewhat helpful, Krel is the only one who’s really that good at technology. So when he says that “it’s impossible”, he’s simply referencing himself, and saying that he’s the one who can’t do it. In turn, Aja does an uno reverse by saying that it’s entirely possible and encourages him. She’s a good sister, and it’s likely that they both knew Aja would be more helpful in terms of blending keeping in mind her newfound popularity rather than technology. In a sense, she is simply letting Krel know she believes in him. After that he does admit that he does need help by saying that it will take “two akiridions”.

To sum it up, considering the idea that Krel’s family are the closest people to him in his life, and he has always seen himself as lesser in comparison, I would argue that has led him to have always felt like he’s the “flaw” in his family for lack of a better explanation. Aja is also a good older sister, and is willing to encourage her brother despite whatever argument they had before which is nice and brings out how good their relationship is! Finally, this took long and thank you for reading it! Have a nice day, night, or afternoon!

[depreshroom]

Analyzing Krel, episode 1.

The titles a work not-in-progress. So, for once in my life I’m actually doing something that I said I’d do. Look at that! Me watching over my son Krel! I promise I do NOT hate Coranda, Fialkov, or Aja lmao. Again, this is just stuff I noticed and wanted to point out. I’d like to think it makes sense, but then again...maybe it doesn’t. Under the cut because it’s probably long af.

To start off, Krel is a very complicated character in the sense that he’s not only different from literally everybody else, but in the way he expresses himself, his relationship with his parents and other things that I will hopefully later type out.

Beginning from episode 1, we start off with him y’know doing his little tech genius thing over there before his coronation and a few things did happen to stick out to me. 

For one, as his father comes in to discuss that Aja has left, Krel is in no way shocked, surprised or even the slightest bit of hurt that we know of. Instead he seems closer to the side of simply accepting of it. Even if he did seem a little exasperated. Yes, we do know that he receives this news constantly but then again, coronation was no ordinary day even before the coup. It was their SHARED coronation for goodness sake. Knowing Krel, that seems like it would be a bigger deal. He even knows the drill when his father comes to it.

“It’s fine she is a... free spirit.” Would definitely like to note that he says that “it’s fine, she is a..” automatically. He’s done this a million times before, it’s cool. But immediately after that he pauses for a split second, which leads me to assume that this is a moment where Krel is questioning one of two things. (Or even both.)

Either a) he’s trying to find a reason why it is fine, why on this day in particular it’s justified that he’s alone in this, in his life and future really, because it’s fine obviously or b) he’s questioning if her being a free spirit actually is fine. Why should he be alone simply because Aja is this “free spirit” huh? She can be both as Queen. 

But, nonetheless he goes through with what he was saying. After discussing this he continues on to have this conversation with his father:

“One day, you will be king, your mother and I will be gone, and you and Aja will be all the other has.”

“What if i’m not ready to be a king?”

“Of course you’re not ready to be a king. No one ever is.”

“What I mean is, what if I’m not good enough?”

“If I know anything, my son, it is that life is a series of choices, it’s what we choose in small moments that makes these choices better or worse. You will not face these choices alone because you will always have your family, even your sister.”

I have so many thoughts about this Fialkov...oh my god.

Starting off with this, “One day, you will be king, your mother and I will be gone, and you and Aja will be all the other has.”

FIRST OF ALL, what a terrible thing to bring up as a conversation starter. My baby boy just sitting there minding his business, a little bummed bout his sister but mostly alright, and this man just comes up and talks about how lonely he’ll be with Aja, his sister who is currently runniing away. Like, dang I imagine I wouldn’t feel too good after that either. Especially if that’s what hyping me up to become ruler of a planet is supposed to be. So, of course I wouldn’t think it’d be too unexpected when Krel asks about being king.

Krel, probably not reassured, goes on to say:“What if i’m not ready to be a king?”

What I find interesting about this is that Fialkov was discussing death, he was talking about Krel having nobody but his sister. Yet, what Krel asked in return was if he was ready, no--he said “what if i'm not”.  Generally, Krel isn’t portrayed as somebody with low confidence but that’s because he was in his element. What’s so important about the first episode in any show is that it gives us insight to who the character was beforehand. This isn’t the same Krel we see even later in this episode. Later in this exact episode, Krel was confident enough to fix an akiridion ship. A crashing ship. That was being shot at. Upside down. Being driven by Zadra. 

-Krel “‘why is Aja’s bounty higher than mine’ as he nearly goes unconscious from a punch to the nose by Steve” Tarron could hang upside down whilst fixing a crashing akiridion ship and be shot at at the same time. And that, my friend, was simply because he was in his element. However, when we look at him talking to his father about being king, all that pride seems as if it didn’t even exist, as if it was never there to begin with. 

I’ll get back to this a few times too as I go through the episodes. Actually here how about this, a dash (-) means something that will be referenced again.

Even worse as we move through this conversation is that Fialkov tells him that of course he isn’t ready. I-this sounds like he’s really trying to be helpful but also not adjusting the situation to his own son. It’s like hitting the wounded. Krel is already on edge, only to be told that he’s not ready because nobody is ever ready. May I ask, what is that information going to do for him? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

-Krel, once again, proving my assumption that he’s not reassured, rephrases it: “What I mean is, what if I’m not good enough?”

-That’s a vital question. While yes, throughout the show Krel shows his moment’s of confidence, once again, this is the part of Krel we started out with. The funny thing is that although it was in reference to becoming King, the part about King isn’t tacked onto the sentence. Without the context, this question is simply “what if I’m not good enough?” Why isn’t Krel asking specifically about King, even more fascinating, as we’ll later explore Krel seems to have a complicated relationship with his parents. And Krel isn’t talking to anybody but his father, he’s pleading for validation. And honestly he needs it because at this point, he’s alone.

And finally the last line: “If I know anything, my son, it is that life is a series of choices, it’s what we choose in small moments that makes these choices better or worse. You will not face these choices alone because you will always have your family, even your sister.”

Fialkov tells Krel that the small choices in life are what matters the most. He will not face these choices alone because he always has his family… I’m sorry but did he not JUST SAY that he and Coranda would die one day? And yes he says that he will even have his sister, but he JUST got done talking about how Aja is a free spirit which apparently means it’s justified for her to run away. Coranda even says at the beginning of episode 1 to a frustrated Fialkov: “You know your daughter, Aja’s spirited.” As if that makes her running away okay, she even says it in a sort-of smile. Most importantly: He didn’t tell Krel that he would and/or be good enough. He didn’t even reference Krel’s question really. Krel never heard those words, never even heard his Papa talk about it. Imagine how this fifteen year old boy, nervous as hell sitting here apparently alone feels when he asks his father “what if he isn’t good enough?” and that question is ignored completely in favor of talking about how it’s alright because he has his family. -That is something that is often shown to hurt Krel, not being recognized but being overlooked for his sister, and in some ways not being good enough. That’s something that affects Krel a lot, and is shown to be something that makes him incredibly upset but happens multiple times. Fialkov avoided the question entirely giving off the impression that Krel is indeed, not good enough.

All together, in that conversation, there’s a pattern here. Fialkov is consistently bringing up the negatives of Krel’s situation. Soon, he’s going to be left with his sister who’s always running away because his parents will one day die which leaves him in charge of everything and he is already at a point where he doesn’t even know if he’s good enough. On top of that, he has to focus on the small moments now because those are the most important apparently. -Not to mention, his father never did tell Krel that he was good enough.

-Immediately after this Krel finishes his invention and exclaims “I did it!” That’s the first time he sounds genuinely excited and surprised. It was something he made by himself and was obviously very proud of despite the fact that he’s a tech extraordinaire. This supposedly comes easy to him, but yet there’s still a shock factor---even if it is small---that he managed it. As if yes, he was trying but he didn’t think actually could do it.

We also see Zadra arrive to tell them that it’s time to go. Krel says that Fialkov should “speak for himself” when saying they’re ready. (Good to see he’s still a smartass.) That’s only before telling himself  “Fine. I’m ready.”, then sees the audience and immediately goes “I guess.” Once again, an act of nervousness and second guessing the entire being “King” thing.

One thing I find incredibly fun to think about is the fact that Krel’s parents insist he smiles and waves no matter what. Walk out to claim your fate for the rest of your hundreds of years? Smile and Wave. Be ripped limb from limb by Vex? Smile and wave. One could assume that’s part of his tendency to bottle up his emotions, especially since he’s portrayed as the child that tries harder for his parents. One could also assume that this is how it is for him normally, this sentence is no different than “you know your daughter, Aja’s spirited” because that’s really what he has to do all the time. Aja gets to run away and he doesn’t, he just has to suck it up and deal with it. 

Side note: I love how an entire coup happens so Aja asks Krel if he’s scared and he says “I am now the King-In-Waiting, I am terrified.” I do realize that he says he won’t be scared as long as he has Aja in episode two but, you’re telling me, after everything that just went down, Krel is terrified because he’s the king-in-waiting? The throne was just fucking usurped Krel! Oh my god, I love my baby boy who has no brain cells.

By now, we’ve seen the first impression of Fialkov and Krel’s relationship which I wouldn’t say is exactly good, but later in the episode Aja has a flashback to when she runs away past curfew and her mother gives her some insight. This is how that conversation goes:

-“Royals don’t need to skulk under the cover of darkness.” (This. This is incredibly important, but I’m not going to touch on that until the last episode unfortunately.)

“They do when they don’t want to be caught staying up past curfew. I can’t be what you want me to be, I can’t be a royal.”

“No one gets to choose their station in life Aja.”

“Maybe I’ll be the first.”

“There are those that would trade their life cores for royalty.”

“And I would trade my royalty for a life. A normal life.”

“You’re remarkable Aja.”

“You say that because you are my mother.”

“Royal or not, you are extraordinary, that is what you are constantly running away from. You could leave this palace, fly far away from our world...and your destiny would follow you.”

First of all just glancing at this, what a difference between Krel and Fialkov. Coranda immediately tells Aja that she is amazing as soon as she says she would want a normal life. She goes on about how amazing Aja is, which is great because she is, but that versus Fialkov not even saying anything about whether Krel is good enough or not is a BIG difference. It’s almost like, Krel is the less favored child right out of the gate. No? Maybe? That’s definitely important and we’ll get to that later? Cool.

Final remarkable thing about episode one.

So we are nearing the end, and after the coup has happened, and their parents are now in stasis after just being shot, Aja is extremely upset which is of course valid. I hope she wouldn’t be happy after that. As Krel comforts her, and she blames herself, it takes him less time than it takes for me to register what just happened before he immediately instead blames himself too as a counter argument.

“And it would have ended sooner if I had done better in the duel, if anything we’re both to blame” The sad thing is, nobody ever told them they aren’t to blame because Mama and Papa were reunited with them, but decided to instead fight for akiridion-5 where they then retreated to their cores. 

In conclusion, the Krel we see in the first episode is nothing like the impression he could give off throughout the rest of the series. When we start off, Krel is actually just nervous and under-confident as well as asking for validation from his father. Aja also appears to be favored over him. You can’t tell me that Fialkov completely avoiding Krel’s question about being good enough was a mistake when he went on this entire rant about making choices even with his sister. All he had to muster up was a simple “I believe in you” or “you will be a great king.” or even something along the lines of “yeah, you’ll be decent.” However, he avoided the question by saying something else entirely. This, and combined with the fact that Aja was immediately told how great she is the second there was any mention of not wanting the life she has is mostly what led me to believe that. And as I said before, what makes this episode so important is that this is the first episode that gives us an insight into who Krel was BEFORE everything happened. This is Krel Tarron, the King-in-Waiting who is forced to follow this life path, nervous, and under-confident, and I’d argue timid. (Timid sounds like such a weird word to label him as but that is how he acted.) This isn’t the Krel Tarron we see who would slide down a bounty hunter’s back just for the thrill of it or who made a daxial array out of nothing or even the Krel Tarron who went joyriding on the solar system in the planetarium. Obviously at the time, something was very different or off.

I did it, part one, it has no real conclusion despite what I said, it’s basically just thoughts since it’s only the beginning. If you read it, thank youuuu!!

[the-fanaddict]

This might be me over analyzing stuff but Aja and Krel know what magic is

[depreshroom]

I just read you Analyzing Krel series, and simply had to ask this; were there any moments in 3below where Krel showed enjoyment in seeing his sister fail at something besides the “Finally, you made a mistake!” line? I know that this is quite harsh and even mean to hope for your sibling’s failure, but it got me curious.

I’m mostly saying this from memory, but while I’m not sure if there’s any scenes where he enjoyed it, in season 1, episode 3:Mind over matter, he does show disappointment at the fact that she is able to easily use his invention while looking for “morando’s spy” (who happens to be Stuart.)

It’s the line: “It worked for you? I mean, I’m glad it worked.”