#toa the janus order

[honeyxmonkey]

Dark and evil, leather wearing, fuck you up, unhinged wizard boy

With long hair!

This is really a Douxie hair show case than anything else

But now my unhinged writing brain wants to start this fic... even though I have so many others uuggghhhh

[rexnanorum]

Nighthawks... Of the changeling kind!

I made something new! A trollhunters version of Edward Hoppers famous painting 'nighthawks' - featuring our beloved disaster changeling troupe and also lots of creepy things lurking in the night...

Have a look!

[joethehoeee]

You know what came today? My CONCEPT ART BOOK from trollhunters.

Did I spend way too much money? Yes.

Was it worth it? Absolutely.

I am gonna show some things that I really liked ofc starting with Strickler and Barbara just bc but I will talk about the others soon.

Sooo as for Strickler:

MY GOD WHAT?! I mean it has his basics but the first compared to the final is a bit weird?

His hair looks so goofy and his arms are so long but he also looks more... harmless?

In his final concept he looks so dark almost intimidating, like an actual villian and in his older one he looks more grumpy and ... rough?

Still like it tho, It could've been a different troll but it dosen't fit his character.

And I think you can see in the Stalkling concept much more similaritys to Strickler than in the show. His cape and the thing around his neck.

He is 100% part stalking and noone can proof me otherwise.

And I just liked those-

He is so awkward and I love it.

But this is the first and only time that we see Strickler this happy... Like okay it's just a concept but it's cute-

ANYWAYS..

Barb:

I actually like all of them but our original one is the best.

I really like the one with the ponytail on the left but it dosen't give much Barb vibes.

but HOLY SHIT!

THIS RIGHT HERE IS EVERYTHING.

Both of those hairstyles are perfect.

I am gonna pay the person who draws her with both of those hairstyles.

MY GIRL IS PERFECT IN EVERY WAY.

If anyone has to add anything then I am happy to hear it! :D

[katy-89]

Ok but what happened to the Janus Order is terrible. And nobody cares. Not even Nomura and Strickler...

Also, they were far better than the useless Gumm Gumms. Gunmar is a dumbass!

[rebelorder-official]

I am infinitely grateful for all the support you have shown me with the prologue! I hope you also enjoy the first chapter<3

Capter 1

Good Morning Arcadia Oaks

Haruki jerked awake in his bed. His heart was beating fast, sweat was sticking his shirt to his chest, and his breath was reduced to a gasp just like in the dream.

Something was sounding in the room, but it was definitely not the dream witch's chant--no, this something was more repetitive and annoying, like an alarm. It took the boy a few seconds to realize where he was: he was in his bed in his room, no longer in the Dark Lands, and what was sounding was not the fire alarm, but his alarm clock, set as it was every morning at 6:30 sharp.

Haruki then reached out his hand to turn off the alarm clock, and when his fingers touched the off button, a voice took the place of the sound, wishing as it did every morning good morning to all the citizens of the small town where he lived.

"Good morning Arcadia Oaks! It's 6:30 a.m. and time to get up. Today's weather forecast calls for sun in the morning and bad weather in the evening, let's hope the afternoon stays sunny or at least no rain!"

Haruki huffed dejectedly and sat at the edge of the bed massaging his temples. He stretched his legs and arms and dressed, grabbing the first things his closet presented in front of him: a white NASA T-shirt and a pair of dark jeans his aunt had bought him at that Saturday's flea market.

He picked up from the floor the shoulder bag with his school books inside and watched as the clutter of his room gripped the desk covered with papers and junk. The computer on it was still on from the night before and the screen glowed a deep green, almost as if to call attention to itself.

Haruki moved only a moment closer, looking at the encrypted email in the center of the screen in a language unknown to human but very clear to him: trollish.

Just a few words: "Janus awaits socks."

Words that to a human, if he had ever managed to decipher them, would not have meant much, in fact they would probably have made him smile a little, but not Haruki.

He knew that email, which arrived at about 3 o'clock that very morning, could only mean one thing: Another hellish evening working for the Order of Janus.

I mean, come on! It was only Monday and already his fellow changelings had problems to solve. There was never a moment's peace.

But... He knew he had to answer the call. Deep down he knew that without his help, many changelings would feel at least lost in front of those new technologies like computers and telephones. Centuries of writing goose-feathered letters on handmade papyri only to find oneself catapulted into constant progress must have been exhausting to metabolize, so Haruki did not hold it against him.

Luckily for him, he had only been on earth for 18 years, so learning modern culture had not been all that difficult. He had found himself immersed in it since childhood, and when his aunt had given him his first computer at age 12 he had taken an immediate interest in technology and programming. Good thing in hindsight; thanks to his love of computers he had secured a secure place within the Order and now enjoyed a position of respect, but sometimes all that work weighed on him.

He turned off the computer and went downstairs. His aunt was still asleep, a luxury that those of us who are adults and go to work later can afford, while his younger sister, Yuko, would have woken up an hour later anyway, because the middle school where she went was definitely closer to the Ōta family home than Arcadia Oaks High School.

Haruki ate breakfast, composed her sister's packed lunch, and left the house at a brisk pace. He grabbed the blue bicycle Auntie Maemi had given him for his birthday and leapt into the saddle.

He pedaled down the driveway and through the woods, avoided the canal and crossed the large bridge that led to the innermost part of the small town of Arcadia Oaks.

The sky was a brilliant blue and the trees laden with green leaves reminded him that yes, summer was finally near. There wasn't long to go, just enough time to prepare for and take his final exams and then he would enjoy the summer before college; although to fully enjoy it he would actually have to pass at least his final Spanish tests so he wouldn't risk being deferred.

He arrived in front of the school just in time to hear the last bell. He hurried to get off his bike and tie it to the bike rack that the school provided for students. He entered the institution, handling his bag in search of his phone to put it on silent before some message, probably sent by the Order of Janus, could disturb him during Spanish class. It was precisely this distraction of his that caused him to collide with the one person he really hoped not to meet that morning.

"Mr. Ōta." Groaned the professor, backing away a few steps after being bumped.

"M-Mr. Strickler!" Haruki stammered, trying to compose himself in the most dignified manner possible.

Strickler's jade eyes met the younger boy's brown ones.

"I'm glad to see you're okay..." The history teacher added, aggravating his voice slightly. "I thought you were sick." He raised an eyebrow and Haruki felt a jolt of chills run down his spine.

And there it was, he would have bet. He knew that someone like Strickler would never let something like that out of his sight-but let me explain. You know how I told you that someone like Haruki certainly couldn't escape a call from the Order of Janus? There, I lied.

Haruki was perfectly capable of ignoring an order like that.

Just the night before, despite a fairly important e-mail request for help, Haruki had fallen asleep from an overdose of afternoon study in a desperate attempt to pass the Spanish assignment he would have that morning, and so at the Order a wi-fi malfunction during a conference with the base of operations in Tokyo had turned into sheer chaos and terror, later escalating into trollish profanity and an unpleasant brawl.

"I... fell asleep to be honest." Muttered Hideki, lowering his head as his cheeks tinged red.

Mr. Strickler's eyebrows rose comically, and a very unsurprised smile plastered on his face. "Don't tell me..." He teased him with that thick English accent of hers that used to drive the group of moms at parent-teacher class interviews so crazy.

"I'm sorry, I really am. It's just... I have this Spanish assignment today and..." Attempted the boy, but his teacher beat him to it:

"School is important Mr. Ōta, I understand that. After all, I'm a teacher myself. Don't worry, I know that this morning Mr. Uhl will give you a hard time with the new test, you did well to study."

Haruki almost managed to breathe a sigh of relief before Strickler was able to finish the sentence.

"However... Janus awaits his socks with great anxiety. There have been some um... problems."

Haruki sensed as he looked around that the professor's words were dosed so that no student passing by could understand them. He looked up and their eyes met; Strickler barely smiled, but Haruki noticed a purple bruise protruding behind the collar of the teacher's blue turtleneck.

A scuffle.

Bular.

His blood chilled again.

"Tonight I will be there professor, I promise. There is nothing more important to me than ... deliveries."

The professor's smile became more sincere and he waved a hand in the air disengagedly. "Very well then. Good assignment Mr. Ōta, I hope Mr. Uhl didn't really go as hard as he described to me this morning."

Strickler walked away at an elegant pace, and watching him leave Haruki could not help but pause to think about how capable the man was of blending in with the crowd of humans while still remaining integral to his identity. In short, he was not a totally anonymous man, he knew a lot of people through his role as a history teacher, and yet Haruki was certain that no one, ever in the history of Arcadia Oaks, could have suspected that he was a changeling.

It was Strickler himself in those years who had taught him that although it was important to blend in with the crowd better than anyone else, a changeling could aspire to great things.

There was only one constraint to adhere to: never tie oneself to anyone. The changelings were not meant to have friends, let alone a family. It was bad enough that they put up with their own kind and did not kill each other....

The right medium was to make humans trust themselves without really letting them into their lives or let them know the truth about their true nature, which was much more difficult than or could not seem to be...

When Mr. Strickler's footsteps were only a distant memory, the silence of the hallway managed to interrupt the flow of his thoughts.

Haruki took a quick glance at the clock on the wall and lost a beat in surprise; it was definitely late and the reason the hallway was now deserted was that all the students were already in their classes.

The boy ran almost to the point of crashing into the front door of the classroom and when he opened it all his classmates were already sitting in their seats.

Homework on their desks and pens in their hands.

Mr. Uhl, an Austrian man in his early twenties, was leaning against the desk with his arms folded. When his gaze crossed Haruki's, he smiled wickedly, waving a sheet full of questions on the front and back.

The damn paper in class.

The boy ran and picked it up and settled down at his desk, the one in the third row near the wall, to begin filling out the test he had studied so hard for.

As he read the questions, panic targeted his mind, making the evening spent studying completely useless.

"Shit." He muttered, as Mr. Uhl's clear eyes smiled wickedly at him, as if the man already knew that the boy's fate was sealed with a big red F on his report card.

[sonicasura]

Did the Plumbers know about the Janus Order prior to Jim's involvement in saving Arcadia? Or were both groups unaware of each other?

They are aware of each other but NOT with the proper identity. The Plumbers were viewed as either Sector 49-B or government affiliation while the Janus Order was unclassified species of alien. Blows were traded but no casualties for both.

It's only when the Eternal Night is over does the answer come to them.

[saturnniidae]

Trollhunters, the Janus Order and why it's antisemitic.

This is a very like surface level explanation, and I'm probably forgetting a few things, but it's the way the Janus Order itself is very similar to a lot conspiracies that almost always boil down to antisemitism.

The concept of 'people infiltrating the government and other such positions, biding their time and controlling things from the shadows for the endgame of world domination' combined with the baby abduction (uncomfortably similar to blood-libel) and changelings' non-human nature is just like textbook antisemitic conspiracy type thing, like think of the lizard people, in terms of them not being human or whatever.

Also, here's just kind of a quick background for the conspiracy theory stuff, taken from the Wikipedia article on antisemitic tropes.

The trope of Jewish governmental and international domination often appears in the twenty-first century in coded terms that cast Jewish domination plots as the exploits of elite individuals, and like with the history of the protocols, this often seeks to scapegoat Jews for orchestrating broader political changes or perpetuating great social ills. For example, it has been linked with the conspiracy theory QAnon, a conspiracy theory which purports that a secret, evil cabal of global elites is harvesting children for world power.

(Yes, this is real stuff people genuinely believe, I'm aware of how ridiculous it is.)

And with Strickler specifically, he is a very classic caricature of a Jewish man. His nose, the 'foreign' accent, how formal he is. Otto also plays into similar sterotypes, like 'the fat jew'. Them both being changelings, creatures that transform into form with horns and fangs, is very reminiscent of like nazi Germany era propaganda of jews having horns and not being human.

All of this combined are things that while I doubt intentional, are still very much harmful and you should be aware of it. Makes me kind of sad considering how much I love changelings and how much potential they had in the story (like let's be honest the way they were rlly done dirty isn't helping 😭)

Don't in any way take this as hate for the show, as me saying you can't/shouldn't enjoy it. I adore Trollhunters, but like with anything we need to acknowledge when our favorite stories have aspects that do real world harm.

Also, any other Jewish ToA fans if you see this I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

[rosemaidenvixen]

Tales of Arcadia Halloween Fic recs

Any TOA fans out there looking for something spooky to read around Halloween? Well then this is the the list for you! A compilation of my favorite horror and Halloween themed Tales of Arcadia fics. Some of these are safe for all ages, but some do lean hard into horror, so mind the tags and read with caution.

Arcane Blight @avirxy Do you like horror? Do you like Tales of Arcadia? If the answer is yes to both then stop what you're doing and read this. Takes place in an alternate universe where Jim is the new kid in Arcadia, and he quickly realizes that this innocent looking town has dark secrets lurking beneath the surface. To say any more would ruin a lot of the truly gut punching, jaw dropping twists and turns this story has.

The Changeling Masquerade @earth-ambassador-jim Takes place in the author's changeling Toby au. Shows how exactly changelings celebrate Halloween, but with a sinister twist.

Tear Me In Two (The Moonlight Will Anyway) @avirxy Two words. Werewolf Claire. In a monster hunter au Claire gets a nasty bite from a lycanthrope and the whole group struggles with the consequences. One of my all time favorite pieces of werewolf media for the absolutely phenomenal way it explores what it means to unleash the beast within.

Through the Veil @pinkytoothlesso11 This one's just getting started, but holy hell what a start! Jim doesn't given much credibility to Eli's ramblings of monsters and conspiracies in their town, until he witnesses someone he trusts performing a horrific ritual on Halloween night that brings everything he thought he knew into question. Now Jim and his friends are far from home and lost in a world hostile to human kind, and no guarantee that they'll make it home safe.

Something's wrong with Arcadia @earth-ambassador-jim When Jim and team Trollhunters aren't running around causing problems, what does the average Joe think of the strangeness going on in Arcadia? Bular and goblins and changelings shown from a mundane point of view in a way that's absolutely chilling.

31 Days in the Darklands @xdeusxmachinax Not technically a Halloween story, but takes place near and on Halloween with tons of horror and spooky imagery. I always give it a re-read each spooky season. In the wake of an unconventional treaty Strickler struggles to keep balance between Trollmarket, the Janus order, Arcadia, and the Darklands but the universe seems to sabotage him at each stage, and there's more than just pumpkin spice in the air this year in Arcadia.

Snippets, Snails, and Trollish Tales @whitherwanderyouspirit Some mostly Stricklake centered Halloween one shoots ranging from sweet to spooky to downright terrifying.

The Manor atop the Hill @avirxy A Haunted House story like you've never seen done before. When a desperate and frightened Jim follows his mother into the mysterious mansion on the outskirts of town he finds himself trapped in more ways than one. No one has lived in this house for as long as anyone can remember, but it is far from empty. Forced to rely on ghosts and a mysterious girl, Jim has to keep his wits about him if he wants to escape with his life, and his soul, intact.

cave bestiam @rosemaidenvixen Based on the online two sentance horror story "A girl heard her mom yell her name from downstairs, so she got up and started to head down. As she got to the stairs, her mom pulled her into her room and said, “I heard that, too.” But staring Barbara and Jim.

Fear of Fears @rosemaidenvixen An alternate take on my sunshine au. Jim decideds to sneak out on Halloween by passing his troll form off as a costume, a decision that will ripple outward into horrific consequences.

Tales of All Hallows Eve @rosemaidenvixen Collection of my Halloween themed one shots and drabbles.

Dig your eight graves @rosemaidenvixen Eight teens from Arcadia wander far from home and suffer a brutal attack from an evil that was much closer to home than they could ever imagine. Alone and traumatized, one of them makes a bargain in order to reclaim what was taken from them. They gain everything they ask for and more, but lose more than they ever thought possible.

A Bunch of Hocus Pocus @rosemaidenvixen A collection of 31 spooky and Halloween themed one shots for Tales of Arcadia and The Owl House, released one per day each day of October until Halloween.

[dreamcrow]

2, 6, 25 :3c

(from this trollhunters meme; thank you for the ask!)

2.) fave protagonist?

oh, jim. easy. i know i'm preaching to the choir here but rott (and wizards, tbh) did my boy so fucking dirty. the kid who tried to reach out to fucking bular simply would not taunt an enemy he had powerless before him. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

6.) favorite episode from trollhunters?

oh my god, it's been so long…! fuck, i really am over-due for a trollhunters rewatch, haha. on my very cursory scroll through the episode list, i'd have to say the s2 finale, "in the hall of the gumm-gumm king." the janus order hq…!! usurna's horrible troll politics. gunmar being SCARY. claire pulling her big damn heroes!! steve and eli being genuinely charming… strickler and nomura coming back to help jim!! morgana possession!! GOD.

25.) unpopular opinion?

oh lord. has the fandom cooled off enough to put this out there yet? well, alright.

y'know...i'm not a fan of troll jim. i don't quite want to say i'm glad he got turned back in wizards, but mainly because the way it happened doesn't…actually make sense; but in the grand toa rewrite i'm continually idly entertaining, i think it would still happen. me @ merlin, continually:

[troublesometrollhunters]

Fluff fic about Bular trying to use human courting customs like flowers and a dinner date for the first time?

You're reading a book in the Orders expansive library trying to find a certain article when you hear the door open somewhere behind you. Thinking it's just another changeling you ignore it flipping through the pages until large thuds echo through the large space. Confused you pause your reading recognizing those steps. You'd never expect Bular to be a reader...?

Turning using your finger to mark the page your on as you close the book you jump seeing him so close. How could someone so large be so silent? His golden red eyes stare into yours before he chuffs. Opening his mouth a large rose bush with the roots still attached is dropped at your feet. Looking at the flowers before looking back at the prince you tilt your head leaning against the bookshelf behind you.

"Uhhhhh... hello Bular." You greet looking at the flowers before staring at the prince confused. Bular often sought you out but coming to the library was new. Waiting for his response he doesn't speak he simply nudges the flowers towards you huffing. Blinking surprised you stare at Bular. Were you missing something? "For me?" You ask in disbelief. He chuffs clearly annoyed and you quickly take a flower not wanting to insult him but unable to hold them all.

"Humans like flowers I've been told. And your half human. ... Mostly human. Part human. Humanish." He shakes his head and snorts looking away flustered. You nod holding the rose you'd taken close. The luminescent lights flicker above your heads and your eyes flash as you look at the dainty petals gently touching each one. Bringing the rose close smelling it you smile at Bular face becoming darker as you too grow flustered.

"I do like flowers." You hum. "Thankyou. Will that be all Bular?" You question confused on why he brought you flowers. Because humans liked them? What was that supposed to mean? Ever since you'd been assigned as his partner on a mission a few weeks ago he had been acting weird. Was he commending you on a job well done now that the mission was over? Or did these mean something else? Spinning the rose inbetween your fingers looking at him he huffs.

"Have dinner with me." He demands. Pausing you tuck the flower into your book before closing it. Staring at your boss you tilt your head.

"... Dinner?" You question beginning to realize his intentions.

"A date. A dinner date." Blinking in surprise your not sure what to say. That wasn't what you were expecting. A dinner date? With the skullcrushers son? Flattered but also concerned you wonder if this is a trap or if its genuine.

Picking another rose tucking the book that held your flower into your bag you pluck the thorns off the new plant before putting it behind your ear. Eyes glowing in interest you hum.

"I don't happen to be the dinner do I?" You question playfully. He snorts and you chuckle allowing Bular to lead you towards this supposed dinner date. "I was just asking." You tease. He chuffs rolling his eyes at you before he smiles.

You smile back heart fluttering. You had some lingering feelings from the mission but to think it'd lead to this... to a dinner date with the skullcrushers son?

Straightening your posture you feel the rose to make sure this isn't a dream. Touching the petals you know it isn't. As Bular glances at you you glance back golden eyes meeting golden eyes. You guess there were more absurd things...

After all love had many forms and formed between many people. If Bular could research humans courting methods you could accept his affections. Especially since you felt the same.

[honeyxmonkey]

Leader of the Janus Order au Douxie sketch dump

Partly the reason nobody (read: Strickler) challenges Douxie to his face about how he runs the JO is because this Douxie has completely embraced his fae heritage

It scares his underlings 👀

[lexel05]

On the night of the accident, Haruki discovered what it means to kill.

[TOA OC]

[theoldandnewfirm]

"Brain, what's the best possible use of my finite time on this earth?"

"Make an org chart for the Janus Order."

"...Okay."

---

Here's a thing that nobody asked for! And it exists solely because I was trying to write a line of dialogue where Nomura identifies herself in an official manner to other changelings. Not shown are the other things born of this single line of dialogue, including:

Titles

Pay Grades

Job Descriptions

Field office structure

I unashamedly stole 99% of what you see from the org charts for the CIA, US Military, and L'oreal.

Feel free to use this in whatever form or fashion is useful to you. I also welcome feedback/suggestions/corrections/mocking for the absurdity of this exercise.

[bluheaven-adw]

Oh Strickler, if you only knew.

[sundown-draws]

Hello, I was intrigued by your post/thread on the various problems with Tales of Arcadia’s worldbuilding and such, as well as how the Arcane Order could be rewritten, and I was wondering if you had any similar ideas for things like the changelings, the Janus Order, the goblins, Colonel Kubritz, the character designs/characterizations of Strickler and Nomura, etc. Your posts about this have been super informative, so thank you! It’s really cool!

Hello kind anon! My judgement on certain topics are limited.

As I mentioned in the slideshow, I speak from the things I experience & know of erasure, colonialism, anti-pagan and anti-indigenous sentiments. Since I do not experience antisemitism, sinophobia or antiblackness, nor have I paid close enough attention to the mentioned characters, I feel not adequate at the moment to make a post on how to re-write them...

So my best advice until I do address this better, is to look into negative stereotypes of said groups of people and how to avoid them. Antisemitic stereotypes (Strickler & Goblins), Asian stereotypes (Nomura), anti-Black stereotypes & "model minority" stereotypes (Kubritz). I would personally get rid of the Janus Order as a concept all together as it falls into the antisemitic conspiracy theory of "lizard people & Jewish plan to world domination".

Perhaps research Troll lore, Fae folk lore, etc. to better understand where they come from in the first place? And keep in mind for Wizards and Merlin that the Arthurian legend is Welsh...

[sonicasura]

In the Ben 10 Trollhunters Crossover, does the Janus Order still get destroyed by Gunmar when he betrays the Changelings?

A massive split occurred once Masquerade became active in Jim's roster. Most members saw that Gunmar isn't the solution to their troubles. This sentiment practically explodes when the mysterious shapeshifter began changing everyone's narrow perspective about them.

It led to the Janus Order's information network to break apart as some members either falsify reports or keep details hidden from Gunmar. Only the most faithful Changelings like Otto fell for their leader's betrayal. The ones who follow Jim assisted in the Battle For Arcadia.

Afterwards, the Janus Order was fully repurposed as an organization that provides lost information/history and teaches those who wish to engage in the world of espionage.