#thinking if Darius had one before Chaos Theory

[swan2swan]

Thinking about irony here...

I think Sammy's the only camper who never actually looked death in the eye, even though she arguably came the closest.

[kitabearuwu]

Chaos Theory was fantastic, genuinely one of my favorite additions to the Jurassic Franchise in a while!! I’m looking forward to season 2 a lot. Massive applause to all of those who worked on the show, it came together beautifully.

Here’s a comic titled “Two Sides of the Same Coin” that I threw together after finishing the show. (major spoilers ahead, like seriously, MAJOR spoilers)

I’ve noticed that Ben and Brooklynn are mirrors to each other in Chaos Theory. They parallel each other in ways that are easy to miss if you don’t think too hard on it

Brooklynn is everything Ben could’ve become if he hadn’t been grounded by Darius in the initial stages of his paranoia. Ben is everything Brooklynn could’ve become had she not been too occupied with theories to notice she was getting to the point of being too far gone. They had a wonderful friendship before Brooklynn’s “death” and I’m intrigued to see where the show-runners take it when Brooklynn and Ben inevitably reunite.

[hadesisqueer]

I already said this, but saying it again: I fully believe that one of the conflicts the rest of the Nublar 6 are gonna have with Brooklynn when she reunites with them is not just gonna be for the whole 'did you seriously fake your death and let us mourn you for months', or the whole 'why were you buying a dinosaur', because the obvious answer for me, as I already said before, is that she was either trying to infiltrate or gather proof to dismantle the black market (I might be wrong, though). No, I think that obviously it'll truly upset them that she'd faked her death, but I think they all will likely understand and believe her when she explains what she was doing with the whole dinosaur thing. What will bother them is that she did all of that alone.

Like, one of the things that are repeated several times in Camp Cretacious and that Chaos Theory repeats again is that the reason the Nublar 6 survived everything they went through is because they all had each other (and Bumpy obviously, she's Camp Fam as well). They weren't always perfect, but they were a team, friends and a family, they relied on each other, and they worked together. That's how they made it. They weren't alone.

Now, Brooklynn? She kept all she was doing from them. She seemed to have probably wanted to tell Darius about it that night, but didn't have the chance. She kept secrets and did everything alone, without relying on any of them. And that's not how the Nublar 6 do things. That's why for example Kenji feels conflicted about her, and doubts because buying a dinosaur for her own benefit is something that the Brooklynn they know —that we all know— would never do. But none of them can understand why she'd hide what she was doing. It's probably because Brooklynn knew what she was doing was dangerous and didn't want any of them getting involved and all of that, but still: doing things on her own without relying on any of them goes against literally everything the shows tell us, that they survived because they weren't alone. And Brooklynn was trying to do things alone. And that's simply not how the Nublar 6 work. I think it's probably something that's gonna be brought up again once they all reunite, that they manage to do things because they're not alone. They're stronger together.

[alltheboysandgirlsiloved]

I'm sure that many people are going to disagree with me but personally I think that post-Chaos Theory season 2 events Kenji and Brooklynn shouldn't get back together (and it's probably been a long time coming event).

And I have an explanation.

Before any of you bring out your pitch forks - yes, I admit, I was never a big fan of brookenji BUT I understand how they could have developed feelings for each other. Spending so much time together, relying on each other every day, sharing semi-similar experiences prior-Isla Nublar, not to mention simple attraction - those are all valid reasons as to why they could have fallen in love. And, hear me out, I think that their relationship worked well for as long as they tangibly experienced the aftermaths of Isla Nublar/Mantah Corp Island on the Main Land.

What do I mean by that? When you are going through an experience with someone, especially a traumatic experience, you may still kind of feel rooted in that experience even once it ends. It doesn't necessarily mean stagnation - during that time you can develop as a person, and gather new experiences, but a part of you is still living as if it expects to go back to the old ways. That means that you still follow a similar routine, cultivate the same habits, or keep up the same mindset.

However, as time progresses, you naturally move on. Kenji and Brooklynn could still have experienced some side-effects of living on dino-infected island but their minds moved on and started "settling" on the Main Land. Now that on its own - is not a problem. The problem (well, part of it) is that their threads of development started to stray apart. And I want to emphasize here - it is no one's fault, it is a natural occurrence.

By the end of jwcc S5 and in the first season of jwct, we can clearly notice how it is important for Kenji to have something (and someone) to anchor in. That is not surprising at all - he was a mostly neglected child, who saw a hero in his father but who found a real family in his friends. Perhaps that was his first real experience of a family. Naturally, because of that, "family" suddenly (compared to pre-jwcc Kenji) has a whole different value for him, he starts to associate family with new things like safety, mental comfort, stability, and proximity. We see it not only in how he treats Darius in the finale of jwcc S5 but in how, despite it all, he stays in close proximity to Daniel Kon in jwct S1 - because yes, he (probably subconsciously) extended some of these new aspects of a newly discovered "family" even to Daniel. This explains even better his very emotional reaction to Daniel's death - losing a member of a family is almost like a taboo in Kenji's concept of "family". Staying alive was the top priority on Isla Nublar, being alive together was what made the Nublar 6 family real and safe.

I think, to some extent, a member of a family dying itself Kenji almost treats like an act of betrayal (remember that his mother also died when he was a child).

And now we have Brooklynn who not just dies but fakes dying. And Kenji hates deceit - especially after he was lied to by his own father - a member of his "original" family. And here we have Brooklynn - a member of the found family doing the same thing but even worse. She had her reasons, and her reasons are justified, but the justification of something isn't enough to rebuild a shattered core value / core belief for someone else. Listen, Brooklynn can be forgiven but it doesn't mean that Kenji will be able to restore what they had. Like physically and mentally it may actually be impossible for him.

Now it's time for Brooklynn's side.

Brooklynn is a very interesting character on her own because there's one thing that is unchangeable about her and it's the fact that she likes being independent. She was basically a solo internet superstar who was used to doing things on her own throughout her whole life. Now, it doesn't mean that she doesn't need friends or that she can accomplish everything on her own - no, and throughout jwcc (and I predict that jwct is going to make a point out of it too) she learns how to reach out for help and how to help others. She's a good friend - even her motivations in jwct are deeply rooted in the fact that she is just a really incredible friend. But! That is not the only catalyst for her motivations. She is also ambitious and, like I said earlier, very independent. Both of these are very strong, often dominant traits that heavily define her actions. And listen - those are also traits that for a very long time granted her success and, what's more important, self-satisfaction. To put it plainly: it makes her happy when she can solve mysteries, track suspicious leads, uncover secrets - it has always been her thing! And it obviously makes her happy to this day - maybe it's not as carefree happiness but I believe that it's just a more adult version of the same "emotional high". And not only does it make her happy - she's also incredibly good at it.

It doesn't mean that for Brooklynn the Sense of Adventure is more important than family and friends, it just means that stability is not the value she has as much space for as Kenji does. Because for Kenji, whose whole life centers around creating a solid concept of family and home, a sense of safety and stability is a key value, Brooklynn on the other side is always ready to be on the move, she anticipates dynamism from the world. And that's why Kenji, who's slower and more anxious (even if he doesn't voice it out openly!) to accept changes, doesn't quite keep up with her lifestyle.

Post leaving Isla Nublar, the campers (including Kenji and Brooklynn) started developing in new ways - they picked up new traits, gained new experiences, and started figuring out what works best for them. In my opinion, Kenji's life led him to the point where he had to quite physically sculpt his life on his own for the first time and this process takes years. It doesn't mean that he's boring or, god forbid, lazy - it means that as a person in so many ways shaped by a changing concept of family, he needs to build a house for himself - mostly metaphorically. Only recently he started rock-climbing, and found out that he loved it - that's amazing but he needed time and a proper state of mind to figure it out. We can only guess how the rest of his life unfolds but I tentatively predict that some kind of stability - being able to turn around and see the person you love always there and will always reassure you - will be a core value for him. Brooklynn, with a different personality type, clearly picked up some parts of her life that she had before Isla Nublar. She didn't have to build everything from scratch and, ergo, doesn't value the "building" itself as much as Kenji. None of them are wrong in their mindset, in what they value. But having a different mindset makes it much much harder to reach a common ground in a relationship.

And I'm temporarily putting aside that Brooklynn betrayed Kenji on so many levels and basically broke his heart - in a way, I would argue that (though I feel like she was too harsh when she was talking about it with Darius) Brooklynn could also feel as if Kenji hurt her by not giving her enough credit and space which probably was uncomfortable for her because she is, as we established, very independent. So both of them hurt each other in different aspects for sure (this post doesn't aim to put blame on any of them), but the thing is that I think they just grew up to be different people with different needs.

And that's okay.

(I'm sure some of you are going to be mad either way but I just wanted to share my point of view)

[lily-s-world]

Chaos Theory – Theories

Gotta admit that I watched the trailer a few times already, and some theories had been showing up in my head. I decided to write them here to share them and mainly to comeback after the season drops to see which ones I got right.

Two Stories

The main one I had, and I had seen comments also mention it, is that we will see two main stories this season – the Camp Fam in the strange island and Brooklynn’s side of her accident. It was revealed at the end of season one that she was alive, so I think they won’t leave us hanging for long to tell us what happened the night of the back and where Brooklynn’s had been hiding all this time.

Sorna and Nublar 2.0

Season one ended with the Camp Fam jumping into a boat towards an unknown location, the trailer shows us that they left that boat (on accident or voluntarily pending to be confirmed) and arrived at what seems to be a version of Sorna but abandoned. The place is plagued with deserted facilities used to create dinosaurs, along with some dinosaurs in the wild. My theory is that the boat was directed to the version of Nublar, but the Fam arrived at this one instead. Along with the idea that the islands are maybe a backup made by InGen or the MantaCorp version of what Jurassic World had.  Judging by the state of the facilities, my theory is also that they suffered the same fate as the original.

Dinosaur Liberation

We had a big revelation on the trailer and it knowing that Ben knew Brooklynn was alive. Ben throwed away his and Darius phone at beginning of season one, so I’m guessing he knew before the season started. In one of the flashbacks, it is told that Ben was the one showing Brooklynn the Dark Jurassic website, after her death he may had been a little to involved with the site and found the “Dinosaur Liberation” movement which led him to the clip showed in the trailer.

My theory here is that Brooklynn was the one that warned Ben about the Nublar Six being targeted. After her accident, she may have gone full spy hacker and figure out what happened. She then reached Ben knowing that from all of them, he was the one that would believe her.

Camp Fam learning Brooklynn is alive

My theory for this one is quite a stretch, but I believe Brooklynn is behind the entire liberation thing and that the islands showed on the trailer are the safe haven they are trying to build for the dinosaurs. If the Fam went to explore the places, they could have found evidence of Brooklynn being alive and confront Ben about it (when he doesn’t seem surprised or confess?) Another option is Brooklynn being at that island and the group finding her.

Bonus note: Can’t my girl catch a break??

[lamponellatempesta]

synopsis of Chaos Theory, but as things @gingericywolf said during watch:

- Ben watch the road when driving (and stop throwing PHONES. I will maul you if you do it to ME.)

- darius, darius, darius, darius.

-he is a sassy boy and I like that

-Accidental fire but still a fire and I count that as started by ben

-you live like this man. Really??

-sammy so stressed poor girl

-this

-stop lying pincus no one believes you on That.

-how fucking tall is ben

-DID KENJI JUST MAKE HEART WITH THE STICKERS?? (DELULU BENJI FEELINGS AWOKEN)

-climbing scenes. Respectfully looking. The height is killing me from the screen.

-yaz IS The best adjusted one after all

-someone hug darius pls.

-SOMEONE HUG KENJI FUCK

-Cried in That Kenji scene

-Brooklynn what the fuck did you get into. Omg she had a Bike!! Yess girl slay. But what. What

-NOOO THE VAN. I mean I knew it but Nooo the Van

-also Ben talking in italian!!! Canon!! [explodes] [shame you won't feel that in the Italian dub] [those 3 words will live in my head forever] [I'll dream them] [the new 'what never seen a ghost before' to ME] [ON LOOP] [Daniel is too good at imitating him in that scene and is bullying me with it, send help. I won't survive. If he says it one more time I'll melt]

-Darius. Darius.... my boy. Have you idea of the germs in that tub..? Whatever brothers moment. FUCK DARIUS WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY

- DON'T TOUCH BUMPY AWAAAW.

-Ben does muscles are really useless, you had more strength before

-EGGY. Baby!!

-Ben/kenji looking like parents with the egg. It's super effective, ginger fainted

-Sees more benji crumbs. Dies.

-so is that big eatie after all or is it another rex? Cause Darius said that he doesn't think it's her? but also not the same from nublar? So? Buck?

-GREEN CARNO SPOTTED

-This is actually so cool

-Ok but what is the timeline of this stop fucking my timelines theories!!

-if it post dominion it doesn't match their ages but the dates don't match a pre dominion. Plus a lack of Red also doesn't match a pre dominion but a post dominion fucks everything in my mind

-Oh Ben did get electrocuted in the end uh! How does it feel then? I bet bad. Think how you wanted to do that to Hap and only Lynn stopped you.

-Ben leans on kenji,kenjj holds him tenderly, ginger dies again

-hell ye go to that ship and find out stuff!

-brooklynn you beautiful, problematic, beautiful girl. God she looks soo pissed? So badass and so... evil.

-lots more fucks in the middle of everything and after

[louthestarspeaker]

[ID: A collection of six images of Jurassic World: Chaos Theory promo material. The images are in the style of a magazine, with a cover and interviews from each of the Nublar Six, minus Brooklynn.

The cover has all of the Nublar Six lined up on the docks in Costa Rica, just after they made it back to the mainland. Yaz and Sammy are holding hands, Kenji has a hand on Brooklynn's shoulder. All the kids are smiling nicely, with the exception of Darius whose smile is kind of awkward and looks a little uncomfortable on camera. The title of the magazine, The Dino Times, is splashed across the top of the page. Just below it is the subtitle "Who are the Nublar Six?". Below the photo of the campers is text that reads, "Meet the miraculous survivors of the Jurassic World catastrophe in this exclusive, celebrating the anniversary of their return."

Each of the interviews has a picture of each of the Nublar Six as a young adult, their name printed large, and a little logo for The Dino Times in the corner. A transcript of the text of each interview reads as folllows:

Darius: Dino Nerd Turned Hero

Darius Bowman never would've expected a shy, nerdy kid from Oakland could become the leader of the Nublar survivors.

"Back at Camp Cretaceous I had to learn to trust myself and my friends to make it through. It was a terrifying experience, but what they were doing to those dinosaurs at that facility just wasn't right. Somebody had to do something."

Since his return, Bowman has traveled all over the country giving talks about dinosaur conservation, and has worked with the Department of Prehistoric Wildlife.

Ben: Brave Soul Against All Odds

Ben Pincus had perhaps the most dramatic metamorphosis as a result of his experiences at Nublar.

"I was terrified of pretty much everything," he said. "Germs. The dark. Non-organic snacks. And then all of a sudden we were up against actual dinosaurs."

Luckily, Pincus found an unlikely ally in a baby Ankylosaurus he named Bumpy.

"Bumpy is my best friend. She helped me face my fears and see how much I had to contribute to the group."

We'll have to see if the campus office can make an exception for Bumpy as Ben gets ready for college in the fall.

Sammy: Cattle Rancher, Dino Wrangler

Sammy Gutierrez lived with her parents on a Texas ranch before Camp Cretaceous. Ever the optimist she remarked, "At least I was already used to big animals before that whole fiasco! There;s really not much difference between a longhorn and a Triceratops if you think about it."

Back at home, Gutierrez maintained that positive attitude by staying busy.

"I have my own ranch, now. And my girlfriend, Yaz. And tons of pies to bake! We don't have time to keep worrying about all that running for our lives stuff!"

Yaz: A Track Star and Her Team

Yasmina Fadoula went from national track star to Nublar Six survivor in the span of months, and the aftermath hit her particularly hard.

"I wasn't used to feeling helpless. Before, I would just push through to the finish line no matter what. Nublar made me realize you can't win all your races alone."

She credits her relationship with fellow survivor Sammy Gutierrez as a major source of support.

"I've been going through a lot of anxiety since coming back, and Sammy's been there constantly. I want to show her I can be the strong person she sees in me."

Kenji: Cool Kid Finds New Family

Kenji Kon has declined to comment on his father's incarceration.

"All that matters is my new family. They're the ones who always had my back."

The Nublar Six have been instrumental in Kenji's return to normal life, from his relationship with Brooklynn, to his best friend Darius.

"All I wanna do is chill, you know? I've moved out somewhere peaceful. Started my climbing school. All is good in Casa de Kenji."

End Transcript. The page of Kenji's interview has a ragged edge, like the page next to it has been torn out. There is no interview for Brooklynn. End ID]

[aquaquadrant]

thoughts on the new character bios/interviews that the dreamworks twitter posted below the cut, as promised

so right off the bat, i’m trying to figure out when these interviews took place. it seems to be along the lines of a ‘where are they now?’ for the nublar six, so it’d be long enough after their rescue for them to be settled back in their lives. in terms of exact timing, my guess would be it’s 2-3 years before the time frame of chaos theory, and here’s why.

ben’s part mentions him starting college. if he was 14 during JWCC, he would be around 17 at the time of JW fallen kingdom (ie. during the epilogue scene) cuz it’s 3 years after JW. this would make him roughly 21 during chaos theory cuz it’s supposed to be around the same time as JW dominion (i think so, anyway, could be misremembering), which is 4 years after fallen kingdom. while it’s possible ben delayed his start at college bc of the whole ‘was stranded on dinosaur island for a while’ thing, starting at 21 seems pretty late. so this would most likely indicate the interviews were closer to the timing of the epilogue scene, maybe a year or two after (putting ben at 17-19).

more evidence: darius’s part portrays him as fairly well-adjusted and mentions him traveling to give talks, as we saw in the epilogue. we know that at the start of chaos theory, darius has been isolating himself for an unknown amount of time following brooklynn’s supposed death. i doubt ‘the dino times’ would’ve been able to get ahold of him for an interview.

final point: kenji’s part mentions his relationship with brooklynn and that “all is good in casa de kenji.” so like, it’s very unlikely brooklynn is ‘dead’ yet LMAO

the only thing that snags at me is sammy’s part saying she has her own ranch now. if this interview took place a couple years before chaos theory, she wouldn’t be older than 20. that’s a pretty damn young age to own and operate your own ranch- but since she comes from a family of ranchers, it wouldn’t be impossible. perhaps her family purchased some additional land for her to manage a smaller herd and they stay in close business with each other (providing surplus calves as replacement heifers for sammy’s herd, for example). either way, we stan a strong independent businesswoman.

also there’s the fact that they didn’t make one for brooklynn, when theoretically she would’ve still been alive at the time these interviews were done. but i think the dreamworks team might’ve just been concerned that ppl would confuse the timeline and use it as proof brooklynn is alive (full disclosure: i fully believe brooklynn is alive but ofc the show wants us to still think she’s dead) so i could see them leaving her out just for that reason.

now that the timeline junk is of the way, here’s more random thoughts.

yaz doesn’t seem to have returned to her career as an aspiring pro athlete (seems like something the interviewer would’ve mentioned if she had). this feeds my headcanon of her retaining permanent damage to her ankle quite well. also, the trauma. sammy’s part says they “don’t have time to keep worrying about all that running for our lives stuff.” maybe that’s part of it: yaz decided to just settle down and enjoy the quiet life on the ranch. good for her!!

kenji opened up a climbing school?? that’s random as fuck but i’m here for it. on the surface, it seems like the kinda thing rich tourists would sign up for- y’know, the ppl who travel to exotic places around the world to climb shit. but it’s actually a super useful skill to have in a post-dinosaur world, and kenji knows all too well how important these kinds of skills are for survival. so for me, it’s a choice that reflects the maturing he did during his character arc.

i’ve seen some ppl speculating that yasammy might’ve had a breakup/relationship issues. i sincerely hope that’s not the case- at the time of the interviews, they seemed to be in a very committed relationship, but since that was prob a couple years ago i guess there’s a chance something could’ve happened after. fingers crossed i’m wrong and we’ll just get loads of wonderful yasammy content in the show🤞

i’m curious what ben went/was going to college for. considering the epilogue slated him as researching with mae on mantah corp island, i wonder if he’d pursue some kind of neuro/psych/animal behavior thing.

yaz anxiety mention! god please let the show delve into all the PTSD these kids must’ve brought back from the island.

every new bit of info we get has me so excited like can the show just drop already 😩⚰️

[aristaspark]

My Chaos Theory... well, theory.

Who's the villain?

I thought about it hard, and I think I came to a pretty solid conclusion as to who's the villain.

And the best candidate is...

Matteo.

There are so many things not adding up with his character, but I'm going to lay out why I think that.

1: He's way.too.nice. I don't buy his whole naive persona, sorry, I still have PTSD from Tiff and Mitch.

2: The night Brooklynn "died". His story is awfully convenient and can actually seem believable from Darius and Kenji POV, but from an audience standpoint? Hell no. We know Brooklynn is alive. She was saved by someone that night (there was only a puddle of blood so it's certain she was picked up by someone with a car). I don't care how strongly he claims he covered his ears, he would have seen or heard something/movements (her screams because she lost her arm, for starters). The fact that, if he tells the truth, he would have magically waited for Brooklynn to be taken away by someone before coming out of the bushes is ridiculous.

3: His reaction when Kenji and Darius are shocked that she had a secret apartment. I swear, I found the delivery of his line suspicious the first time I heard it. "You didn't know she had a secret appartment? 🥴" It seems like he was saying "Well, how could you not know your friend was the kind of person to have a secret apartment, even I KNOW THAT since she's been after my ass for months before I tried to kill her.

4: I don't remember the line exactly, but when the DPW agents said the boss didn't like when things weren't "done right", basically, which made me sure we had already seen the villain.

5: Sorry it took me so long to give the phone of your dead friend back to you, I just conveniently waited for you to be targeted by a psychopath to do so. Just because.

6: Why did he take the phone in the first place? 😂 Even in the scenario he gave to Darius and Kenji that part isn't explained like dude wanted a new phone??? Like in his scenario he had no reason to hide it, if he was who he claims to be he would have given it to Darius right away.

7: The fact that he was the one at the crime scene is suspiscious enough. If it hadn't been deemed a dinosaur attack, he would have been interrogated by the police right away.

So my theory is that:

Brooklynn discovered that someone was doing some horrible things using the DPW to dinosaurs. She pretty much had all the informations, except for one thing: the identity of the person who was doing these things (aka Matteo). Maybe Matteo's daughter is real, and she is the one who told him Brooklynn was getting closer to him (possible she's the one Ben spoke to on DarkJurassic) (or Matteo's lying about that too and is actually really good at tech). The night Brooklynn died was an ambush and he had planned on killing her, but he wasn't actually there, only his subordinates. Brooklynn was saved by someone though, which is why now he is so hell bent on finishing things. When he arrived, he discovered her phone and took it, in case it could be of some use (and maybe to erase all the things she had on him), and that's when Darius arrived. He decided to leave the campers alone since they didn't suspect anything anyway, but when Ben started questioning the night Brook died on Dark Jurassic, he panicked. For the time being he knows Brooklynn didn't tell anything to her friends and probably doesn't know his identity, but he knows that if the campers start investigating, he's in danger. So I think he has two reasons to target them: So that they don't investigate further but the main reason: to make Brooklynn come out of hiding, and to kill her for good (he now has a personal vendetta kind of thing). Maybe he's the one who put the money in her appartment, I'm not sure about that, he might be willing to put the blame on her so that when she reappears everyone will think whatever he is doing was her doing all along (since poor Brooklynn already appears to be suspicious for faking her own death) and that's why he decided to try and gain the trust of the campers.

I think that's about it.

[mangosaurus]

Ceratosaurus, Dilophosaurus, and Compy for the ask game! Btw I’m so happy you get to finally participate in it 🧘‍♀️

HEHE same here! kind of wish i was around while it was still getting passed around by my mutuals so i could have sent in my own asks, but better late than never >:)

1. Ceratosaurus - Favorite character design from both series? (Also who in your personal opinion, had the best glow up from CC to CT)

AW MAN THIS IS SUPER HARD. of the nublar 6 my favorite designs in camp cretaceous are tied between yasmina and brooklynn from s3 onward, mostly because i love the way they both wore their hair. in chaos theory darius totally wins over everyone else though, the team really nailed his design there (but i am really fond of some of the concepts the artists came up with during pre-production! same goes for the other campers, especially brooklynn. that bleach blonde pixie cut is my roman empire tbh)

as for biggest glow up ... i feel obligated to give that one to ben, if just because of the growth spurt. also gonna take this opportunity to go on the record and say LEAVE KENJI ALONE I GET THAT HE'S SUPPOSED TO LOOK A BIT ROUGH BUT HIS HAIRCUT ISN'T THAT BAD 😭😭😭

2. Dilophosaurus - How did you discover Camp Cretaceous?

so, i didn't actually start watching camp cretaceous until a few months after the final season wrapped up—i think sometime around september 2022? but i had some close friends who had been keeping up with it for a while, and after hearing them talk about it so much i was like, hey, i want in! which is funny, because i was never really into jurassic park/world before then? i was more of a marine biology kid than a dino kid growing up. but even without knowing the ~lore~ of the franchise, CC and its characters still managed to reel me in, and now i'm here nearly two years later and my hyperfixation is still going strong!

3. Compy - Favorite duo/trio/friendship and why?

favorite purely platonic duo goes to ben and yasmina EASILLYYYY. they just get each other on such a personal level, and i love seeing ben go from this kid yasmina begrudgingly tolerates to someone she trusts enough to confide in, both in JWCC s5 when she realizes she might harbor romantic feelings for sammy, and then again in JWCT s1 when her relationship with sammy has hit a rough patch. shout out to yasmina and darius though, their interactions in JWCC s2 were really sweet, they don't get enough love imo. i've said this at least three billion times before but if kenji is darius's shitty older brother then yasmina is darius's cooler older cousin

as for my favorite trio, i feel like most people would probably say either yasammy + ben or the original three (darius kenji and brooklynn) but for me it's darius brooklynn and ben 🥹 their individual dynamics all mean so much to me, and it doesn't hurt that i also lowkey highkey ship them as an OTV with darius in the middle (although if i had to seriously ship ben with any of the girls, it'd be brooklynn, lol)

🦖✨ JWCC/CT ask game!

[hopefullyfuelingfandoms]

Crossover Fanfic idea: My hero academia & Jurassic world: camp Cretaceous/Chaos theory

Isla nublar, the dinosaurs and other stuff from Jurassic existing in the mha world.

Obviously the Nublar 6 not living in Japan, the mha crew wouldn’t necessarily meet them. The idea isn’t about the mha characters anyway tho, sorry.

But if you want, there’s many ways they could know some of them; like Brooklyn being an influencer, Kenji seemed to have travelled a lot with his dad, Yasmina is an athlete and competitions happens all over the world… There also when the mha people goes interning with heroes, those are ways they could meet too. And besides if they never meet, you could just do a story where some mha characters have fun at the Dino park, slice of life kind of thing, before anything bad happened to the park. Or them helping evacuate the people…

So, what kind of quirks could the Nublar 6 and other characters could have?

It would have to be quirks that are not helpful for seeking help (since they get stranded) and not helpful to get off the island.

Here are some of my ideas:

Yasmina: a speed quirk would be a pretty easy choice, plus her not being able to use it because of a broken ankle make it all the more tempting…

Sammy: maybe a quirk good for stealth, empathy or info gathering? Since she has such a big family, maybe her quirk is more intricate? (Because of the mixes of quirks through generations). Just as her quirk could also just be something good for farming.

Ben: I thought of a healing quirk but then I remembered Yas ankle, so if so, it would be a very weak healing quirk… so maybe some kind of immortal/revival quirk (referencing his fall, he could even had thought he was quirkless before that). Or maybe an explosion quirk, that would require the same kind of ingredients found in hand sanitizer or hand sanitizer neutralize it, because of having an explosion quirk his skin could be tougher too.

Brooklyn: could have a memory quirk, she see how to do something one time and then doesn’t need to see it more, just need practice.

Kenji: could have a quirk his dad wouldn’t appreciate maybe? Or quirkless? Maybe an illusion quirk, or some kind of flamboyant quirk (too flashy), a hair quirk? Something embarrassing? Or maybe something he think isn’t useful but actually is, he just learn to use it properly while stranded, that could be why his father would want him back. Maybe something that could help with climbing.

Darius: maybe a knowledge quirk. Or a Dino quirk, protection quirk? Tho him being a human walking Wikipedia could maybe make more sense than the other ones… we could add some kind of Dino traits that he could have inherited from his dad who would have a dino quirk for example (kind of like how Dark shadow is Tokoyami’s quirk, but he has a bird head that isn’t his quirk, does that make sense?)

I haven’t thought about the quirks of other characters yet, but that was at least the main ones.

[swan2swan]

Let's talk about what happened with Brookenji.

And no, I don't mean the fallout in Chaos Theory. I mean what happened in the original show. At least, what I believe happened. This is--mind you--total Conspiracy Board style speculation based on little pieces of evidence collected and gathered throughout my years looking into behind-the-scenes stuff and following social media. It would really help if I could find one particularly tweet, but I think it was deleted either in anticipation of spoilers or just because he regularly deletes them.

But...here's the one responsible for that:

Xi.

Xi was the Original Ben, as you can see. Young and nervous. While Ben was...

Well. Ben. Big Ben. But obviously the jock character. The tall, smarmy, rich white guy.

You may be able to see where this is going, but I submit this evidence to you from my memory, and you'll just have to trust me:

One of the showrunners of Camp Cretaceous tweeted ages ago (Season 1-2, well before Season 4 and the Nonsense), tweeted about how there's a disappointing lack of Asian romantic leads in media.

And you know what? He's right. Very much so! Think of ten major tentpole movies from the past thirty years and pull a Japanese, Korean, Chinese, or Vietnamese romantic lead. No, no, no, not the women! The men. An Asian man.

"Oh, well, Shang Chi--" no. Don't get cute.

The fact is, it's just...not a thing that happens. And I think one of the goals with Camp Cretaceous was to change that. Just like they struck ground with Yaz and Sammy being an interracial wlw romance in a children's cartoon, they were gonna put an Asian dude in the romantic partner position.

By now, you obviously see where this is going...and what happened:

If Xi had remained the scared kid, he would have fallen from the train. He would have grown in the jungle and emerged as a wild child. He would have an mmensely different feel in Season 3 where he was breaking away from the group and determining to stay on the island...until the end, when he bonded with the group.

And that is when Brooklynn--or Jules, rather--would have suddenly taken interest in him. Xi and Jules, the wild kid and the rich girl. It would be cute!

But they changed things and took them in a different direction--possibly pretty close to the time the show started. Which meant that the whole first half of the show barely had any setup planned for Kenji and Brooklynn, as they were now known...and they didn't really want to go with Ben and Brooklynn. Especially with how strong the dynamics between Ben and Bumpy and Ben and Darius became.

But they still had to set up the Brookenji romance, and the plans for OG Ben and his Rich Dad to shatter the group dynamic suddenly had to adjust...and you know what? Throwing the romantic strain into it was a pretty good idea! Not bad! But...with the timing of his arrival, the writers only had one season left to them. So they had to jam it all into one season, because there was a little race-swapping done at the last minute that wound up being super-crucial to the endgame.

And personally?

As messy as Brookenji was, I think it was better for them not to remain rigidly focused Xi-Jules and turn it into Ben-Brooklynn. While it would have neatly paired off everyone for the final seasons--Ben and Brooklynn having their Rich Girl/Wild Child romance, Kenji and Darius having their Friends-to-Brothers arc as Kenji betrays the group for his dad (SEE HOW SMOOTHLY THAT WORKS, TOO?), and Yaz and Sammy...well, you know...I think I like what we got with Ben a lot more.

But you can see how the original plan of broad strokes would have been a lot smoother. Turned out that the characters evolved more than planned. And obviously they could have stuck with the Kenji/Darius focus being the main fallout of the group...but that also sort of leaves Brooklynn high and dry with regards to the plot. What's she got left? Though, also...looking back on those seasons...even her romance with Kenji didn't do much for her. Probably because it wasn't really supposed to be a thing. We don't know what the plans for Jules were in the original script, but when those got ditched (PRESUMABLY. THIS IS ALL ME SPECULATING!!!), they had to scramble with her. Maybe she was supposed to have more parental issues. I dunno.

But whatever the truth is, I do still maintain that Kenji was written to be a romantic guy with that in mind. Listening to Brooklynn's color preferences, feeling awkward, being protective...heck, he even kept that rizz through to the new series:

But the bottom line is that Kenji isn't Xi. He didn't have the growth that was planned for Xi, which would have tangentially influenced Brooklynn/Jules's sudden interest in him.

This is also one of the consequences that comes with having shows compressed and rushed so much in the modern era. If we'd been getting filler episodes over the seasons, they might have been able to start building Kenji and Brooklynn up during the E750 arc, if not sooner.

NOTE: I'm not sure what the scripting and planning timetables were with this show. But from what I've gathered, the characters were swapped well after the conceptual stages. And they made it work! There's still a coherent story! I think the sloppiness just came because they had to hurriedly change tracks on some parts, and we noticed.

[cloud-navi]

⚠️ spoilers ⚠️

My thoughts on:

Camp Cretaceous season one

Darius

Feels pretty basic, not bad. Understandable feelings of grief from his dad.

Kenji

Loud enough to hear considered obnoxious, but I counter that with: Daddy issues (obvious from the start, very happy they pulled that around for season 2 and Chaos Theory).

Darius and Kenji

In episodes 1 and 2 they both get in trouble and Darius takes the blame for it after Kenji admits that all he’s really done/wanted was to make his dad proud. Darius gets angry because Kenji “lied” about wanting to make his dad proud, but really, thats not a lie. Kenji, (assumption) is likely an only child, with no mention of his mom, and his dad is extremely neglectful and manipulative. Only showing attention to Kenji when he wants something from his son, or use him as a tool as seen in season five. Kenji didn’t lie about wanting to make his dad proud, making his dad proud get him the attention that he rightfully deserves a human being and as a child. lonely children like Kenji tend to act out because they want the attention that they aren’t getting when they need it, attention is very important during development and neglect leaves emotional scars and affect how they behave. I think Darius, as an adolescent didn’t quite understand that point of view because he sees Kenji, how Kenji wants Darius to see him. Overly confident, laidback, cool. So Darius, who also had a wonderful relationship with his dad, didn’t have the insight of “Lack of parental support/attention = Lack of self-worth/masking as someone cooler then (they think) themself even if that means a few lies.” Except, he didn’t lie. His mask cracked, he told the truth. Anyone with neglectful parents can tell you, before you start resenting your parents neglectfulness, you resent yourself for “not being good enough,” blaming yourself, just wanting to make them proud (✋).

Because his behavior stems from neglect, it also dictates the way he’s acting in season five, which is some thing the other characters seem to struggle with understanding and having empathy. Darius and Ben are probably the youngest in the group, so they may not pick up on those signals, They should still be in developing their empathy and understanding other peoples experiences than a five year old. Out of all of the main characters, I only give Brooklyn a pass. it feels really shitty that your friend is doing some thing that y’all are all against and have been against for almost a year, but you need to understand. They are not focusing that they are focusing on getting some thing they have been deprived of since they were young (parental love, and engagement), which is a very valid reason to have tunnel vision. I also don’t like how Mai the researcher in season five, didn’t point it out to them in a way that they would understand Kenji‘s position, but I also don’t remember if she had the chance to. Will come back to that later.

Ben

Literally my favorite cinnamon roll baby in season one, I adore his relationship to bumpy. Ump is a fucking angel. And I like how they bring a few of the seasons down to the wire with bumpy near the crossfire. It’s a good way to keep bumpy as a main side character.

Yasmina

Also kind of flat, not much to say. She’s more introverted doesn’t talk to people as much doesn’t like to be on camera, really shy, with trust issues. I understand why she feels betrayed when she finds out Sammy did lie, but also for her age (15) I think it’s both reasonable and irrational for her to lack in understanding and having empathy as to why Sammy was doing what she did. Reasonable for her to feel that way, considering she has issues with trust. But also irrational to disregard Sammy’s motive for what was happening. 

Brooklyn

Not many notes on Brooklyn either, though it’s clear that she also hasn’t had much real social interaction, considering her whole career started since she was like 10 (mentioned in season two) so she hasn’t had much real socialization outside of the Internet. I understand why she’s angry with Sammy when her phone is taken, and when it is proven after everyone has told her to shut up about it so many times before. However, just like Yasmina, I think she needs to chill out with blaming Sammy. You might not have known why at the time, but what Sammy was doing was pretty understandable in my opinion based on her character and what her experience. Being upset was reasonable, but blaming Sammy for the events at Isla and not being able to get off the island, was completely irrational considering who do you think was gonna pick up the phone? Do you think they were going to get there in time? Do you think they would Believe the probability of their survival was high enough that they would send a team when there was a huge evacuation of an giant park and you weren’t even at the park. I think they’re being unreasonable at the time, it’s not like Phone would’ve charged enough, or the fact that when the island lost power, it’s a no fly zone and there is no service (revealed season 2).

Sammy

I can see why she could be considered obnoxious, but more so just allowed and bubbly person. I like Sammy I can understand her motive, and what she was doing, if I believed in myself that much to complete those tasks, I would do it too. In her position, her family was on the verge of losing their farm so they got a loan that ended up being really bad people, and left them with the only choice of losing their livelihood or using their daughter as a spy. Sammy has a large heart, and clearly a lot of self assurance, to rationalize her actions based on her motive. Regardless of what was happening on the island I would not be able to stay mad at Sammy. Because when you boil it down, Sammy‘s tasks would not have hurt anyone by her doing. Anything after getting the samples and information going to Manta Cor, would have been Manta Cor’s fault because it was in charge the information. Sammy‘s motives were completely out of love for her family.

Sidenote, when they are in the field in the gyrospheres, I kinda think that was completely on the kids being idiots. Brooklyn and Darius were completely at fault for nearly dying, just as much as every other person was except for Sammy. None of them listened to the person with actual experience, herding animals. Up until Jurassic Park and then Jurassic World, the books that Darius has are probably all just theorized behaviors, it would have been more valuable to listen to someone (Sammy) that has EXPERIENCE herding herbivores. Just saying.



[hadesisqueer]

One thing I really like to imagine is like. How the Nublar 6 adapted when they returned to the mainland. Like, in Chaos Theory, random people recognized Darius and Ben, so it's clear that the five of them (Brooklynn was already famous, so not really counting her) became pretty well known and must've been on the news for months, to the point that some people still recognize them six years later. How did they handle that? How did they handle going back to school? I mean, imagine you're a parent and you send your kid to a camp at Jurassic World and you think they're dead for —according to CT— nearly a year, and then they come back. How do you act around them? Do you treat them normally eventually, or do you start off being very overprotective because you're scared of losing them again? How do you get used to this new version of your child, or your sibling, or your friend? Because for example, Ben had a radical change at Isla Nublar; he's definitely not the same person he was before leaving, (none of them really are), how do you handle that? How did their classmates at school treat them? Did they find them intimidating, were they all suddenly the coolest kids at school and got asked questions all the time? Most of all, how did they get used to live like that again after everything? And did any of them have to repeat a year? Lmao. I'd just like to know how they handled everything, because really, it must've been a lot and it probably took them a while to get used to it.

[alltheboysandgirlsiloved]

Chaos Theory review (characters' oriented review)

Since everyone is doing this, I thought I'd share my thoughts too because, to some extent, I feel like I'm in a minority here. In this post I'm going to focus mostly on the characters because there's a lot to say about the show in general and I don't have patience to write everything in one post.

spoilers under the cut

I said it yesterday and I will say it again: I absolutely loved Chaos Theory. It was action-packed, well-paced, dramatic and funny. It was everything I loved in Camp Cretaceous.

I'm especially grateful that they gave us a whole variety of emotions coming from all of characters.

I loved yasammy's conflict because it felt real and natural. Yas' PTSD being openly addressed was everything I hoped for (all of them have PTSD in some capacity but when it comes to Yas the execution was on the next level). And Sammy being fiercely overprotective over her girlfriend to the point it became too much?? That made so much sense because she had always been always protective but after the experiences in camp cretaceous, it is no wonder that this trait started to get out of her control. I don't know, it just made sense. I hope that in season 2 they go in detail about Sammy's family situation, I want her to talk about it with Yas. I'm really curious how it will play out and I can't wait to see Yas being super awesome supportive girlfriend.

I also really liked Darius and Kenji's relationship - I know, I know but hear me out. I actually enjoyed how the conflict(s) in their case seemed to keep piling up; they were growing like a fungus. I adored that little bit when Kenji mentioned that he stayed in touch with Darius' mother, while Darius didn't call her. I think it was incredible; such a small detail but tells you a lot about the years in their life that we didn't get to see.

While we are at it, I have to address the whole Darius and Brooklyn thing which I actually... didn't mind. I really didn't? And I don't mind that it was one-sided either. Maybe because it is the first (*cough*) openly addressed one-sided love story between the campers. I've always loved Darius and Brooklyn friendship, I genuinely believe that it was one of the strongest relationships in CC. It would be cool if they stayed platonic but really, I truly don't mind that one-sided love plotline. I wouldn't even call it a love triangle because to me it seems that Darius, to some extent, always knew that it was an unrequited crush, and I don't feel a sense of a privatization (between Kenji and Darius) either. You know what I actually liked about this situation? The fact that Darius didn't go to meet with Brooklyn because he was basically ashamed, embarrassed, and a little scared of his own feelings, of getting hurt. I feel like, in the long run, this is going to be incredible for his character development. Darius trying to run away from his own feelings to the point where he abandoned someone, where he tried hiding something from others? I genuinely think it added to his character and gave him additional depth. That's just my opinion though. I also think that even without that romantic plotline he would still call Brooklin after her "death". So to me, this really didn't change much other than adding more awkwardness and I had no trouble handling that (I always really liked visually the scene where Kenji and Darius were sitting in the bathtub. There was something pleasing about this)

Moving on to Kenji... Killing Daniel Kon so fast was certainly... a choice but. Kenji's reaction to his death was so well-done. It really highlighted the complex relationship that Kenji had with his father - someone he hated but who he also considered kind of a indestructible. His reaction was so heartbreaking and I was there for it.

And then there's also Ben. I'm gonna be honest - I am biased. I loved him before, I love him still so it feels unfair to write about him from my very biased perspective. Still - they could never make me hate him. I like how his character changed in so many ways but also stayed true to his core – he is adventurous and a little reckless (like a Jungle Boy that he was), and he is also soft and sensitive (that scene when he was crying when he was hiding under the truck broke me). I'm extremely curious about his background story that we barely touched upon - it is obvious that he had been living in that van for a while, which is interesting considering how he used to live on the campus and (let me remind you that) he has a loving mother that would surely support him if he decided to take a break just because he needs a break. From the looks of it, Ben seemed to be living on his own for a while – was his obsession with "being hunted" the only reason? or was there more? many questions. I am also a bit... sceptial about his girlfriend. The first time he mentioned her was not convincing to say at least, not to mention that apparently he had been living without his phone for a while now - were they talking online all this time or what? Idk, if he really has a girlfriend then first of all - the screenwriters are cowards, second of all - the relationship doesn't seem super-convincing for now.

Bonus: Mateo is one of the best characters introduced in the show, for me, he beats even Mae. He was perfect, actually perfect, I loved him. I really hope we will see him again in season 2 (above taking care of Bumpy) because I really liked his agency and his character arc.

Overall: I feel like your final review of CT depends heavily on what you tend to focus on while watching the show, and what you like in shows in general. I don't mind drama as long as it doesn't interfere with characters' personality. And I feel like a lot of choices they made in CT actually makes sense for these characters. I think it is also important to remember that this was - from what I understand - planned as a two-seasons long shows from the beginning which means that a lot of loose ends and decisions may not make sense yet but they will eventually be developed in season 2 (which would be awesome, we love consistent writing)

anyway, I only watched CT once for now, so don't quote me. I'm sure that I will have more thoughts later

[judzea]

Chaos Theory Count Down!

PROMT ONE FAVE CHARACTER!

Ben Is my fave character. So naturally, I had to add more trauma to him because I have theories.

This is a character study behind the other motivations Ben may have had when he tried to stay behind on the Island. I just always felt there had to be more reasons to Ben wanting to stay behind on a literal dino island than to go home.

Warnings ⚠️ implied child abuse and implied alcoholism. I don't think Ben had a good home life.

--

Darius was so confused. Because this wasn’t like before. He had thought Ben just wanted to stay because of Bumpy. He knew what trauma bonding was. He had read books on trauma after his fathers death. He read them to help his mum (himself too) and now that knowledge was useful here but what Ben was doing now was beyond someone who had bonded with a dinosaur when he was vulnerable. Bumpy didn’t need him anymore. There was no guarantee Bumpy would even stay with Ben now she had been accepted into the herd yet Ben still wanted to stay.

“I am not afraid here’”

Ben had said. Darius was thinking about it as the group walked back to the boat occasionally asking Ben if he was sure.

“Ben what are you afraid of when you go home?”

Darius realised as soon as he spoke that he over stepped. Part of him felt guilty doing it there in front of everyone but it felt necessary. Their heart to heart earlier about his own trauma and guilt about loosing Ben wasn’t enough to keep Ben from staying. Ben’s trauma was the thing that needed to be talked about here.

“What?”

“I just mean… You said earlier that you wern’t afraid here. You talk about liking who you are here and that here you know how to survive. But does that mean there is something back home you think you don’t know how to survive?”

Ben hunched his shoulders forward and refused to slow his stomping pace though the leaves. Kenji rolled his eyes at Darius.

“Dude Ben was afraid of everything before. He didn’t know hoe to survive a car ride.”

Brooklyn punched Kenji in the arm and looked to Darius meaningfully.

“I think I get what Darius means. Before you were scared of lots of things but those things are things I know you are not scared of anymore. You eat bugs now and crelay don’t care for hygiene as much as you did then. It isn’t like you would still be afraid of that kind of stuff when we get back. So there has to be something else. Something back home that makes you think surviving here is easier than surviving home.”

Darius nodded along with Brokyln watching Bens stiff back as he hunched further in on himself.

“You don’t talk about home much Ben. I talk about my family all the time. All of us have at some point. Even Kenji misses his dad and his dad kind of sucks.”

Sammy says. Kenji makes an upset noise before sighing and nodding his head in agrement.

“Ben what ever it is surely it can’t be worse that getting eaten by dinosaurs.”

Yazmina says using her superior speed to catch up to Ben quickly and grab is shoulder. Ben shugs her off suddenly.

“You don’t get it.”

“Home isn’t perfect Ben but it is better than this. Yeah my parents put me under allot of pressure to be a good athlete and I don’t have allot of friends but it was home.”

Ben has stoped walking but he still won’t face the group.

“My dads sold my life to millions of other people before I was old enough to know what fame meant. I rely on strangers to feel worthy of love but at least I could go get food when ever I wanted.”

Ben shrugged.

“My family was struggling allot with money and we all pretended it was fine but we knew we would still have eachother if this wen’t side ways.”

Ben moved his arms around himself, hands visible gripping the sides of his waist.

“My dad was barely there. I spen’t more time with staff than with my family. And when he was there he was parading me around to other people and belittling me when I didn’t mesure up to their kids but… I had a roof over my head, my dad had his moments and Candy she was really starting to grow on me.”

Kenji moved forward to touch Ben but was shrugged off just as hard as Yazminas previous attempt.

“My family was healing. Losing my dad changed my family's whole dynamic and I am not sure what kind of dynamic I am coming home to, but I know my mother will be happy to see me. Won’t your mom?”

Ben sighed heavily finally turned around eyes glistening with tears.

“You don’t get it! It isn’t pressure or, financial strain, or neglect or loss I am running away from. You all go home at you get to go somewhere safe. Somewhere that you can go to sleep at night an not have to worry about predators getting you in your sleep. I don’t get that! Here when I sleep for a few hours at a time I know what to expect if something comes for me. I know how to defend myself if something comes at me. But I can’t do that back there. I know that no matter how strong the Island made me that I can’t… I won’t be able to protect myself there.”

Ben was shouting pointing back and forth form the shoreline tears springing out form his eyes as he yelled his voice cracking.

“You mean you mom?”

“Don’t you dare blame her for him.”

Ben snaps with unusual venom at Brokyln.

“You have never mentioned you dad before.”

Darius says watching Bens heaving chest unable to look at Bens teary eyes in fear he might begin crying to. Sammy already was.

“You just lost your dad I wasn’t going to talk about how much I wish I had lost mine.”

“Ben I…”

“Don’t I am still not angry at you. None of you have done anything wrong. I just… Please trust me when I say I am better off here.”

Brooklyn shook her head.

“You don’t know that. You can get help back home. You will be alone here. But back home we can help. Your mom can…”

“No she can’t if she could she would have along time ago. People are stupid when they are in love. He is good to her he makes her happy. They are probably way happier without me there. He doesn’t have a disappointment of a son to be angry at and she doesn’t have to feel guilty. When I am not home and he gets drunk he just falls asleep on the couch. It is better when I am not there.”

Kenji shoved himself in front of Ben and placed a palm on Ben's cheek gently forcing him to make eye contact.

“I am not.”

“Huh?”

“I am not better when you arn’t here. None of us are. We are all better with you with us.”

Bens eyes watered again tears rapidly falling.

“I am sorry. I just I can’t. I don’t want to go back to that. I don’t want to lay in my bed evey night unable to sleep listening out for the sound of crumpling beer cans hoping he won’t find another reason to come into my room and hurt me. I don’t want are more hospital visits I don’t want any more raised voices. I was scared of everything before. I knew to be scared of things, I know how dangerous things can be. Know that bad people really do exist because I live with one. I know you all think I am brave now but I… I am so scared.”

Ben began to sob in earnest now Kenji grabbing the back of his head and smooshing his face into his chest. Ben embraced the hug greatfully relaxing further when a crying Sammy joined in followed by Darius then the others.

“I promise Ben I won’t let any of that happen again. None of us will.”

Kenji said looking at Darius over Ben's head. Darius nodded.

“Yeah. We survived dinosaurs. We can surive this. We are a family now and family sticks together. You would be welcome in my home.”

“Or mine! My mom has too many kids as it is whats one more!”

Ben sniffles.

“My dad had killer lawyers we are going to sue the crap out of Injen. You will have so much money you can buy your way out of your family.”

“I can black mail you dad so he won’t make a fuss when you try to leave and live with one of us.”

“You can have like a whole floor in one of my penthouses”

Ben begins to shake in the groups arms and for a moment Darius worries that he is crying again. But he realizes when he hears a snort that Ben is laughing.

“You guys are crazy.”

“Hey Camp Fam for life Ben. We protect each other. From anything.”

Darius says finally able to look Ben in the eye.

“You really mean it?”

The whole group around him yells in positives. There is no way they are leaving Ben behind. And there is no way they will do it when they get home either. Darius was already making plans, and back up plans. He was sure Brokylen had done some legal videos in the past. When they get off this island they were going to have so many plans and back up plans that there was no way Ben was ever going to be without one of them again.