#these scenes put together remain my favorite headcanon pre-series moment

[quintessence-sentimentalist]

Caleb, Peter, the Oracle/Himerish and Yan Lin for the ask game.

Alright, after a VERY unexpected hiatus (for which I wholeheartedly apologize), I’m finally back with responses to the ask game I reblogged with the expectation of answering much sooner.

Answers below the cut, with the exception of favorite photo (I just didn’t have the time to search through both comics and cartoon to find the best ones).

Caleb

• favorite thing about them: 

I guess the fact that he pulls off Badass Normal pretty well, surrounded by all of these powerful women. He can still hold his own in a fight, and managed to coordinate a successful rebellion in a world long under tyrannical rule. Also, can’t forget the literal dream-guy aspect of his initial comics characterization.

• least favorite thing about them: 

On the animated series side, I really dislike the toxic masculinity and sexism fueling his characterization, which was especially prominent in season 1 (and thankfully waned as the series went on). Which I guess is also my problem with him in the comics, except that trait came out of the blue well into his time in the series and served the sole purpose of breaking up his relationship.

• favorite line: 

I do like the first romantic scene between Caleb and Cornelia, so I’ll go with his speech there. 

• brOTP: 

Listen, “D is for Dangerous” is one of my favorite episodes of the animated series, so Caleb and Matt is always a favorite relationship. He also has a fun relationship with the girls in season 1 (when he’s not being all “Ugh, girls”), and I do like his comic partnership with Vathek.

• OTP:

I don’t really ship them actively, but Cornelia and Caleb have a fun dynamic in the animated series, and the initial concept of them in the comics is really sweet.

• nOTP:

I’m not a fan of Elyon/Caleb for a number of reasons, and with the way CxC ended in the comics, I just don’t see there being a good way for them to get back together later on, so I really don’t ship Caleb with anyone after about issue #20. 

• random headcanon: 

Well, my knee-jerk reaction here is that cartoon-verse Caleb would find one unusual—by his peer group and personal characterization’s standards—hobby and be amazing at it and honestly enjoy it. Like in “Divide and Conquer” we got natural snowboarder Caleb because the sport had a Meridian counterpart, for a hot second he played a guitar on the school roof, and then “D is for Dangerous” was rife with his inability to understand Earth teenager things. So based on all of that, I’m thinking he’d somehow latch onto some activity that’s quiet and leisurely—because the guy needs it, he’s basically been raised in and for battle since conception—but still involves some skill and concentration. Something that can help him take his mind off things but also be productive, allowing him to create something fun and useful.

Basically, this is my roundabout way of saying that I had the mental image of Caleb taking up knitting and being great at it, maybe making the girls shawls and scarves for Guardian business in colder climates (because Kandrakar knows that the uniforms don’t offer optimal coverage). There’s just something comforting about the repetition to stitching, where he can either tune out to everything or focus on something else while his hands still work the needles without interruption. It makes even war rooms for the latest universal threat less of a stressor for him, and oh no I think I’m attached to this concept that started as a stray thought based on one of my own hobbies.

• unpopular opinion: 

Mm, maybe just the fact that he’s not my favorite love interest in either media, even when on his best behavior? In terms of ship-related stuff, I most frequently see CxC as the popular canon pairing, and while I’m glad to see the love for them (means that this series overall is getting the love it deserves!), I’m personally just neutral and can’t really muster up any strong feelings. I pretty sure that’s just a ME thing, because many a time I’ve just been chill with major canon pairings, not really caring either way, while I’ll positively be clutching my heart and wanting to cry over my tiny canoe of a minor or even wildly non-canon pairing. So I’m totally down with and supportive of Caleb/CxC fans, even if I don’t feel what they do as potently.

• song i associate with them:

I feel like I use this song for every “enduring fight against evil” situation, but I’m still going to go with “The Good Guys” by the Elms (and of course, I can’t find a YouTube link for it…). I just feel like it captures the weariness of leading a rebellion against an oppressive superpower—especially in the days before the Guardians’ involvement—and the fact that Caleb is just a guy fighting without any powers. “When all you got is a single shot/You do the best job that you can/’Cause it’s a long road for a simple man.”

Peter

• favorite thing about them:

Look, he’s just a really great guy all-around. Best older brother, caring boyfriend, good friend, and the coolest dude who’s simultaneously a complete dork.

• least favorite thing about them:

I’m just going to go with the fact that he really doesn’t have any character in his short time in the animated series except to be a) Taranee’s brother (without really seeing anything with their relationship) and b) Caleb’s short-lived romantic foil for Cornelia.

• favorite line:

Not so much a line as a particular scene that sticks in my head as an iconic Peter moment, and it’s just this one comic image of him balancing on a kitchen chair like it’s a surfboard, excited that Taranee got accepted for the Redstone exchange program because it’s a “surfer’s paradise.” Like he’s super proud of his little sister for her achievements, but he’s also very much a surfer dude dork who’s going to geek out over some choice waves and get yelled at by his mom for standing on the furniture.

• brOTP:

He is the BEST big brother to Taranee, so of course that has to be my top choice.

• OTP:

Peter/Cornelia deserve so much more love than what I’ve given them in the past, they’re precious.

• nOTP:

I don’t really have one, at least not a specific one? PxC is the only thing I know in terms of Peter shipping.

• random headcanon:

In the instance where he finds out about the Guardians, I imagine he’d be like the Team Mom (or Best Boyfriend, in Cornelia’s case). Much like his sister, he’s not going to be pleased with the Council and what they put the Guardians through—really, if you throw Judge Cook in here too the three of them would probably put the entire establishment on trial and win. But in the meantime, until definitive change can be made, Peter devotes his time to making sure the girls are taken care of and maintaining a proper balance between their two lives. He’s probably there with cookies and hot chocolate and fuzzy blankets after every rough mission, letting the Guardians finish the initial debrief before ushering them to a mandatory movie night or something to decompress. Date nights with Cornelia invoke a firm no-Guardian-business clause, where all conversation is on everything but and any lingering concerns are checked at the door, where they can remain for a few hours.

It’s just… this is Peter’s sister and girlfriend and their best friends, and it’s in his nature to be a very chill, caring dude. If pre-New Power Matt was ecstatic about providing support by running interference while the girls are away on mission, then I imagine Peter would be the go-to guy for emotional support after a battle.

• unpopular opinion: 

Mmm, just as a stray thought, I guess I’d have liked to see more of him in the animated series? Not sure if that’d be unpopular, but given the fact that CxC have something of a better relationship there than in the comics and Peter was pretty much introduced into that canon for the sole purpose of a love triangle, I thought it might be. So yeah, I’d have liked to see cartoon Peter some more—give me the good brotherly moments with Taranee, and I’d be curious to see a platonic friendship with Cornelia (and maybe even Caleb) assuming endgame CxC.

• song i associate with them: 

Because I’m such a cheeseball, we’re going with an era-appropriate selection in “Catch Your Wave” by the Click Five, a song I still unabashedly love nearly 15 years later (and consider criminally underrated compared to the popularity of “Just the Girl”). Chosen partly because of the ‘00s feel and partly because Peter is a surfer, and frankly I think he’d be enough of a cheeseball to sing this one for Cornelia.

The Oracle/Himerish

• favorite thing about them: 

I do enjoy that the “Trial of the Oracle” arc humanized him a bit. I feel like it’s not often that you get to see such a higher-power character be brought down a bit and not only reveal their more normal past, but have them return to it for a time. It was an interesting change of perspective, both as a reader and for Himerish himself. 

• least favorite thing about them: 

Probably everything related to the “these are young teenagers fighting your battles and enduring what will almost certainly be lasting psychological trauma (given the prior generation, where, FYI, one of them killed another and you just kind of locked her away and let two of the distraught survivors be banned from your sky fortress for eternity because they dared question your judgement in expression of their trauma from losing two best friends to this madness), and you’re still going with this, huh, Himerish?” situation. We’re not going to delve into that any more because we will be here for a while.

• favorite line: 

Oh, I can’t remember which arc it’s from (the end of Book of Elements, maybe?), but there’s this one sequence where Himerish and Yan Lin are simultaneously (yet separately) getting ready for a celebration and having a bit of fun with it, and Himerish jokingly looks at his reflection and says, “Maybe I’ll get a haircut!” I’m just laughing thinking about it, so we’re going with it.

• brOTP: 

I mean, Himerish and Tibor (and Yan Lin) is the ultimate Kandrakar BROTP. Himerish also had a much more human relationship with the Guardians and Orube with the fourth arc, which I appreciated.

• OTP: 

Uh, frankly not something I’ve thought of for him, so we’re going to pass.

• nOTP: 

Again, not something I’ve considered, but I guess I’d say Oracle ships with the Guardians are not my thing? 

• random headcanon: 

Oh, he definitely kept that outfit with the baseball hat and the Cupid t-shirt. Both Tibor and Endarno almost had an aneurysm the first time he wore it to a Council meeting.

• unpopular opinion: 

Ehn, well I guess I’ll go with the fact that even after Trial of the Oracle he’s still not one of my favorites. The arc definitely humanized him, a fact for which I’m grateful, but I’m still not huge into Kandrakar overall.

• song i associate with them: 

You know, for someone who massively associates songs with characters and/or stories, this one was a really tough one. But I was trawling my music library and stumbled on Rascal Flatts’s “I’m Movin’ On” and it just slammed into me.

Now I know I largely don’t recognize the arcs post-Ragorlang, partially because I don’t know them well (having only read them once) and partially because what I do remember was bad, but I still have this lingering image of Himerish’s final page in the series, where he just quietly walks away and disappears from Kandrakar. I don’t remember the context of this in the slightest—like I can’t remember if it was his choice to leave (unlike during Trial of the Oracle) or if he was being called into question again—but I do just remember this silent sendoff, and seeing this song made me think of this scene. From the title alone, it’s very much a bittersweet goodbye kind of song and I’ve loved it for that purpose, which I think it serves perfectly here. Particularly the line “I never dreamed home would end up where I don’t belong”—for so long, Himerish had been synonymous with the position of Oracle and Kandrakar itself, yet as Trial of the Oracle showed us, he led a very different life prior to taking the title. The fact that he’s leaving (presumably by choice, because that’s the way my memory is leaning at the moment) just reads to me as him no longer feeling like he fits within the infinity of Kandrakar—the place that once encompassed the whole of his being—and knowing that it’s time to be moving on.

Yan Lin

• favorite thing about them: 

She’s just the ultimate grandma. So very sweet and supportive to her granddaughter and her friends, and always the one to dispense wisdom. Also, she’s one of the few characters—if not the only—where I honestly can’t decide if I love her comic or animated counterpart more. They’re very different characters—comics Yan Lin is traditionally wise and kindhearted, while cartoon Yannie is the kind that will teach you an important lesson and then make some sort of witty comment and/or break out her old tennis racket that she found in the attic—but still so great.

• least favorite thing about them:

Hmm, maybe just how she had to watch one friend go power-mad, another get murdered by the first, and two get exiled forever from Kandrakar for saying this isn’t right, and yet she has no apparent fears or concerns about her granddaughter serving as a Guardian and running the same risks, amongst others? I get that Yan Lin would be proud at the very beginning because by the time the Nerissa arc happens everything was well out of the creators’ hands and thus nothing could be foreshadowed, but you’d still think that there’d be some level of terror once Nerissa awakens. 

• favorite line: 

Just because it’s in my head, I’m going with the aforementioned tennis racket bit from the cartoon. After she gives Hay Lin the map and Hay Lin questions if it’s because they’ve matured enough in their powers to handle the burden: “Nah, it was in the attic. I couldn’t find it. Found my old tennis racket too. [swings racket] FORE!!!”

• brOTP: 

Honestly, I love Yan Lin as the honorary grandma for all of the girls. I’ll also say BROTP to C.h.y.k.n. (pre-everything awful, obviously), and Caleb and Yan Lin’s cartoon relationship, especially in season 1, is pretty fun too.

• OTP: 

Well the animated series paired Yan Lin (or at least her Altermere) with Zacharias Lyndon, so I guess I’ll go with that. 

• nOTP: 

Don’t really have anything specific in mind?

• random headcanon: 

Not really a headcanon, but I have to wonder what younger Yan Lin—particularly the animated one—was like with her (presumed) late husband. I mean, the woman was a literal force of nature in her youth and is uniquely wise in her prime, so what was the love story between her and Grandpa Lin? Was it more of an opposites-attract sort of thing—solid bedrock to her whirlwind—or was it more like-to-like?

Given Chen’s overprotectiveness in the animated series, my thought is he was the rational child of two eccentric spirits.

• unpopular opinion: 

Granted, I don’t remember these arcs well at all to judge the execution, so this is based more on the concept: I’m not super into the Oracle Yan Lin idea. Not as a testament to her ability to do the job or anything, but it just doesn’t work for me with her character. While she’s had apparent faith in the Council and Himerish all along—even after Nerissa’s betrayal and Cassidy’s murder, the breaking point for both Kadma and Halinor—Yan Lin will always put her granddaughter’s safety first and foremost, as much as she can given the dangers of Guardianship. She’s gone out of her way and behind the Council’s back to get crucial messages to Hay Lin, and even smuggled the key to the Crown of Light to Will while Elyon was being held prisoner under Phobos-as-Endarno’s—AKA the new Oracle—rule. For as much as she outwardly believes in the laws of Kandrakar and the power of the Oracle, Yan Lin is not afraid to quietly go rogue and do what she knows is right.

That last point could arguably be a positive to Oracle Yan Lin—Kandrakar knows that plenty of modifications could be made to Kandrakar’s policies (i.e. the dangers of Guardianship)—except for the fact that Yan Lin’s stealth aid almost always comes as a last-minute, dire situation save. It’s not a preemptive way to diffuse the situation (which you’d think she’d want to do, given how maybe both Nerissa and Cassidy could have been saved if the Council had intervened sooner and with a better plan) when she comes to Hay Lin with the analogy about the oak and the rush, but a survival tip for when Will attacks the girls. Similarly, Yan Lin only gets the fragment of Elyon’s power to Will when she knows Phobos is hot on her tail and will take her out of the picture in mere moments. The fact that she only interferes when desperate times call could speak to her trust in the girls to handle things on their own, but it doesn’t bode as well for future change to the burdens of Guardianship that she could viably make as Oracle. Plus, the fact that her granddaughter is a serving Guardian almost certainly clouds Yan Lin’s actions—would she take similar actions even if it wasn’t Hay Lin’s life on the line?

And we’re going to stop there because that’s getting into different territory than I intended, but the short of it is I’m not into the concept of Oracle Yan Lin and much prefer her as the devoted Council member who’ll still sneak behind the laws of Kandrakar to protect her girls.

• song i associate with them: 

First thing that came to mind was “Cassiopeia” by Sara Bareilles. Normally I’d say this is more of a Hay Lin song, just in terms of the star imagery and whimsical sound, but what sold me is the first line: “Come in close now, it’s time to tell a story.” And isn’t that the epitome of Yan Lin’s character! The revelation of the girls’ Guardianship, the Four Dragons—all of them start as stories that Yan Lin tells. So I guess it could still work as a Hay Lin song too, just within the frame of it as a story told by her grandmother.