#toa wizards analysis

[tenebrius-excellium]

Hey, can I chime in? As a person who definitely thinks that Douxie should have gotten Excalibur (at first), the opinion that Jim should wield it is not mutually exclusive! Allow me to explain!

Naturally, we all know that Douxie does not need the sword. Douxie already has his magical staff. Jim needs the sword. And boy do I want him to have it too!

However, Douxie canonically earned the sword first with Nimue in a strong display of character. He had an onscreen moment that justifies why the sword could, and should belong to him.

Jim certainly needs that sword, especially when you enjoy the headcanon that he will form a modern circle of the Knights of the Round Table. However, all throughout Wizards, he was barely connected to the sword. Jim's focus was on helping Deya to acquire Daylight. It was Douxie who came close to Arthur on a number of occasions. Now that doesn't mean that Jim shouldn't step into the honor of wielding Excalibur, it's just that he was never canonically associated with it until the very last shot of the very last episode!

Now, if Jim had suddenly gone for Excalibur without a proper story arc to set that up, to me it would have been like he had randomly demanded to receive Toothache from Steve. My brain goes ????, why would he want that all of a sudden. He has not been connected to it at all.

To me, Jim ABSOLUTELY should have it. All I'm trying to say is that because Wizards was so rushed, and the movie doesn't exist, it never had the chance to finish telling its story, which should have been about Jim getting his own moment with the sword, and thus earning it himself. To the voices saying that Jim doesn't need to earn anything and that he's already worthy of the sword; well, the sword itself certainly didn't seem to think so. It's the whole nature of this particular sword to be a picky item. It HAS to be earned, always, and even though Jim is our main character, the sword seemed to want him to undergo another growing arc before fully submitting to him. If Jim was supposed to get the sword then and there in the last episode, he would have been able to pull it from the stone. But the ending of Wizards set it up as if he wasn't supposed to have it just yet, although the weapon was perfectly vacant and up for the taking, and I respect that.

I headcanon that Douxie later gifts the sword to Jim. But it needs to pass through Douxie, because of everything that was canonically proven and implied. Excalibur does end up with Jim, no question.

But how it happens? That can only be left to personal headcanoning. Because as a matter of canon fact, Excalibur is NOT Jim's at the end of Wizards. Not yet. I would like this thought to be allowed.

And I choose to interpret that as a positive thing - as a chance to let Jim recover from what he's been through before he embarks on his next adventure - and not as a question of whether he was done dirty or not. Jim is most certainly already worthy. But maybe it's just about Excalibur deciding that he needs to take a break and heal. Maybe it's about shedding the negative and traumatic experience that Jim had with the sword because the Green Knight injured him with it. Maybe it's not about Jim at all, but rather about Excalibur choosing to let some time pass, because other events need to happen first before the sword agrees to be wielded in battle again.

We don't know. That's the beauty of headcanons. :) ♥

"Douxie or Steve should have gotten Excalibur, not Jim"

"Douxie was the real owner of the Excalibur"

....

Sorry guys but I think we have watched a different series 🤷‍♀️

[foursthemagicknumber]

“GIVE ME A BREAK ARCH!”

Ok yeah now notice the difference in expression… Do you see it? Past Douxie looks more aggressive in this scene while his counterpart is more defensive.

Now what does this say? It says while Douxie has always been standoffish but as time went on it became less about lashing out and more about defending himself/his friends

Anyway past Douxie would start a bar fight and loose present Douxie would jump into a bar fight to protect some random person and win

[jmeestella]

Okay, I have never done anything like this before, But I need to get this random thought out of my system. Small analysis and thoughts of color theory in tales of arcadia: Why I think Gaylen Krel could be a real thing

I really like Gaylen Krel concept and here is a little speech about why I think it would be interesting with a very vague concept of color theory (it's actually just my my totally altered perception of reality and boredom).

(An apology if anything here sounds weird, English is not my first language).

I do not think it is necessary to say that this has spoilers for the entire saga of tales of arcadia if you haven't watched it

Some extra alert, I may be editing this constantly, since I may notice some new stuff and since my english may improve jsjs

So, there you have, the 3Below squad, as akiridions, all of them are basically blue, all equal, nothing to say here, this is clear, BUT- I think something interesting happens when they are in their human desguise: the predominant color is red.

In Aja it is easy to see this in her shirt and shoes, the only blue element is her jeans, For Varvatos it's a little less obvious, but both his shoes and his jacket are also red (His pants are a kind cream color (?), which like red is a warm color, the only cool color element is his shirt), and then we have Krel, basically all his color palette is blue, cold colors, The only red element is his shoelaces, which is hard to notice.

Someone once told me: ok, but Krel skintone is really warm, and this supports my theory, all the characters have most of their warm colors ON THE OUTSIDE, but Krel, aside from his cold clothes HAS THE WARM COLOR INSIDE HIM, HE'S THE WARM COLOR.

And just like fun fact, like, BRO- even the dog is designed in warm colors 🙃

It seems to me that this could represent a bit how difficult it is for them to fit in being themselves (?) after some point I''l explain this

Another extra parenthesis, I find it curious that in the TOA saga the blue color palette predominates in characters that are "not-human", Like Jim who becomes a troll, or Douxie who's a 900 years old wizard.

And it seems to me another important detail that Claire and Toby represent a little about this dynamic of cold and warm colors.

Toby is orange and red, warm colors = human. He was human and he'll be a normal human forever.

Claire is purple, closer to red, but still cold= normal human but a wizard (a kind of transition?).

Together, The path of the chromatic circle represents how they move away from being human. You can check de crromatic circle here:

Douxie does not seem to have any predominant color temperature, he wears neutral colors, this may be because he wants to go equally unnoticed in both worlds, but the detail is in his eyes, normally his eyes are amber (yellow, warm color= human) but when he uses magic they become blue like his magic itself.

Anyway, I don't want to stray too far from the topic.

It's been a long time since I watched the serie, But I think we even have a whole chapters on that topic. Aja even with problems at the beginning, she fit quite easily as a human, For Varvatos, socializing is a weirder experience, but in the end he has his thing with Nancy and is quite accepted among the other older adults, But we get a whole episode of Krel feeling bad because he doesn't think anyone will remember him, because he never quite fits in.

Long short story if you already see the serie, no much what to say on that, good ending to everyone.

Aja although she tried hid in the human red, in a human disguise, in the end she fully accepts her responsibility and decides to live in the blue that she was born, as the akiridion queen she is, while Krel, Despite being the most insistent in wanting to have his life back in Akiridon-5, Krel Krel, who wanted to hide behind the blue of what he considers his identity, he decides to live like the human he feels like.

But wait. don't missunderstood me, This for both of them is neither good nor bad, neither of them rejects their nature, and I think this is an important part of 3below, embrace who you love and who you are, part akiridion and part human.

I think you may be getting my point: For them being blue is actually good, because at the end they are not human, they just are who they are, And they proudly show their true colors, and they actually do it in a very literally way jjsjsj...

BUT-

Here we have. Blue vs red.

I need to be honest here, at this point this becomes more imagination than anything, but I think you all might agree with me.

Gaylen represents many things that an akiridon should not be, And what color is him? Oh of course it's red, a fucking warm color.

Speaking of my theory that warm = more human, I find it curious to point out that Gaylen only has 2 arms, wich is very human for the royal ones.

I saw many people talking in many places here on thne internet that it seemed that Krel and Aja woul be a heirs of Seklos and Gaylen, some in the figurative sense of "oh yes, don't let yourself be corrupted by power and be good people" and others in the literal sense. I believe both are true in some way.

There could be many things here but as I said it's a lot of imagination. Was it really a mere coincidence that Gaylen's core was on Earth? Are the colors a coincidence?

Here is a series of points that you yourselves can connect.

The cores of the tarron parents are blue. Probably any akiridion core is also blue. Cold Color

Heartstones are orange, warm colors.

Gaylen Core is purple, but he wasn't an Akiridion? shoul't it be blue? oooh, look a the chromatic circle, purple is just aside froom de red. May be healing? Perhaps it is beginning to retransition to red or orange, its original color.

What other purple elements in the saga do we have? Claire? Is there some shadow magic involved here? Was Gaylen perhaps a wizard?

Let's say Gaylen would have been more than a vague part of the lore, following what was said before, that Aja's nature is blue and Krel's is red, it is easy to say who is who's heir each one, but Seklos is not seen nowhere, was she really destroyed or is she somewhere else? There are many suspicious places for me, the shadow realm ((which supports my theory that there is shadow magic lurking here), the darklands ((I mean, after all the series doesn't tell us much about where or what the dark lands are supposed to be), the eternal forest ( (This is Nari's last name, but we could share more lore froom this concept, jajaja) I'm just saying...

I don't know how the whole thing could happen to get in the story to get to the point of Gaylen Krel, but there's my final though: After that, his new red colors could represent a lot of things, maybe the warm colors really only represented a nature that lost it's magic and in the end we were all always meant to be magical (?) just saying that, for example, Toby's grandmother has lived suspiciously too long to be a normal human, perhaps she is not as human as they wanted us to believe. That would also be an interesting door to explain why Toby's presence was really necessary from 3Below.

But hey, I want some angst, what would mean that Krel is Gaylen's heir? He would be an akiridion after he becomes like him? maybe he's something more, something weird or strange, not akiridion at all, not human at all.

Under this theory, it is similar to what Jim went through as a half-troll, although it is predominantly blue, the eclipse details are red cause after all he's still Jim, that human boy that we all love, and that was sacrifice and change was somtething needed to be made but doesn't change him at all, they both had to become like this, and after all, Krel would still being Krel.

I will share a mental picture I have so that you can get excited with me about the concept: I like to think of a parallel to Jim's breakdown when he becomes a troll, but this time with Krel changing drastically when he becomes Gaylen's heir. Hear me out, he's powerfull as a semi good (or like a really powerfull wizard) Imagine the team trying to catch him, using all kind of tricks until they catch him, to help him and cheer him up because he's scared and he ran way like Jim, and yeah, actually no one here care cause by this point in the story, since when the team care about who they were o are? Like the cherry on the cake, instead of the legendary Jlaire scene of "no matter who you are, I love you" we might have some cute confort sibilings moment with the same vibe but with "whatever you are, you will alway be my little brother" and we could have a moment with Varvatos of the kind "When I see you, I see no royal, no God, no one of those things, I just see Krel, Our very dear, young and intelligent Krel".

I don't mind the idea of ​​having a post-ROTT scenario, even his own parents could be present in this scenario, and Krel could have a "we're proud of you" from his parents in person.

Someone please tell me I'm not crazy with all these thoughts, I am traumatized with TOA

[tenebrius-excellium]

I second this, Morgana had great ideas and she really wanted to give gifts to the world. She had a kind, sensible soul and unlike many others, she was quick to take action about the injustice she saw around her. But her decisions were clouded by having been around Arthur and Merlin too long. They were too close, too hurtful, too back-stabbing with each of their words and choices... there was too much painful, personal history between them. The trio were so destructive towards each other that Morgana started to interpret everyone who even spoke to the two men to be like them. She lost all capacity for nuance.

I dunno, Morgana should perhaps have gone to live with the peaceful trolls for a while. Regroup, choose what she wanted to see in the world and which lines she wasn't going to cross. Even kidnapping her to make her calm down would have been funny XD Imagine Claire, Douxie, Archie and Steve in that typical "trapped in a cave" trope with her where they don't get out until they've come to an understanding and are able to work together. She would have realized that Gunmar wasn't her answer. And she might have not become abusive to the changelings and other trolls that wanted to serve her.

The concept of connecting trolls and humans via hybrids wasn't the worst!!! She could have made a really great Changeling Queen if she hadn't felt her hand to be so forced!!! I mean... in a functioning troll / human society, Changelings might have happened naturally....???

Reconciling the idea of Changelings pre-killahead.

Changelings are referenced several times before Morgana turns evil. Jim is referred to as an Impure, and Merlin doesn’t seem surprised by the changeling assassin that came after Arthur. But before that point, Morgana was a kind, magic-loving person who wanted trolls and humans to live together, peacefully.

With that in mind, what’s better than building a bridge to connect two worlds?

Building a hybrid.

Trolls resented humankind for their ability to walk in sunlight, and humans were rapidly outpacing trolls in terms of reproductive capability and progress. Humans adapt, Trolls endure. Rock, meet hard place.

What if Morgana sought a way to give trolls human adaptability? A way to walk in sunlight, and learn human customs, to understand the alien, flesh-creatures that lived alongside them?

What if changelings were created out of misguided love, rather than to be tools?

Morgana knew the trolls would need time to accept her new creation, but she never expected the outright horror and disgust that her changelings were met with. She never expected the hatred and loathing, the outright rejection from both worlds.

Changelings were a failed experiment, but trolls are well known for their ‘waste not, want not’ mindset. 

Especially Gumm-Gumms. 

They accepted Morgana’s gift with open arms, after all,

they could always use more slaves. 

[albentelisa]

Hi! Not sure how you feel about him, but what do you headcannon about Steve and Jim in the show?

Actually, I like Steve and the fact that he has a true character developement.

My headcanon is that Steve's father forces him to be first in everything to the point that Steve begins to believe that if he isn't the first he is worth nothing. It obviously doesn't make him happy. Besides, when Steve's father leaves his mom, Steve starts to think that he's partially responsible too.

Steve initially dislikes Jim because Jim has questioned his authority over the school. Deep inside, Steve is highly insecure and scared that he won't be 'school king' anymore.

Ironically, there is a clear parallel between Jim's and Steve's family situation - both of their fathers left and their mothers start a relationship with their school teachers (and it goes without saying that both Strickler and Coach Lawrence are true father figures for boys).

I feel that Steve put more meaning into his rivalry with Jim, investing everything he could into destroying his sudden opponent. As for Jim, well, there was so much going on in his life that Steve ended rather low in his list of priorities. I believe that Steve felt it too, and probably thought that Jim kept deliberately demeaning him.

Once Steve becomes a Creepslayer, it seems he is free from the previous obsession. He is more happy to be just a knight, a team member. I feel that Steve also finally managed to see what kind of person Jim actually is. And Jim forgives Steve, that's for sure. I feel that they are good friends afterward.

I say that if Jim is the new king, Steve is one of his knights.

[orphetos]

What is the missing piece?

This is gonna drive me insane. Ok. So. In Trollhunters part 3 episode 8: For the glory of Merlin, I have been wondering about what piece of the amulet was missing when merlin was rebuilding it (since Jim smashed it in episode 7 to get to Merlin’s cave). When Merlin had “finished” reconstructing the amulet, he said there was a piece of the amulet missing. But the amulet looked like it had all its parts to me.

So, I decided to try and figure out what was missing from the amulet by cross-referencing a screenshot of the broken amulet with images of the amulet.

First, I decided to use the concept art of the amulet that is in pieces and put some colored-coded dots, lines, circles, and boxes on the pieces. And sure enough, nothing was missing.

Initially I thought it might have been the small plate that connects the wheel to the ridge of the amulet. But that couldn’t be it because the rectangular piece of metal was already on the small wheel.

Well, ok. Maybe the concept art of the pieces might not be ideal, since some of the shapes and pieces look different. Then let’s take a look at the pieces of the amulet on Merlin’s blueprint found in Tales of Arcadia's third instalment: Wizards.

More color-coding later. Looking back and forth at the blue print and the pieces in the episode. Yeah, nothing's missing.

So yeah, I really don't think anything was missing from the amulet, as far as I could tell. But apparently, the show says otherwise and now I am stumped.

Also, let’s talk about what was used to replace this mysterious missing piece. Remember what it was that replaced the missing piece? Well, I'll tell you.

It’s one of Claire’s hair clips.

A hair clip…

That’s what used to replace the missing piece.

And Merlin just slips it in the amulet like there’s no problem with this idea.

Just look at it! Look at it and tell me that hair clip wouldn’t have caused any problems with the amulet’s gears.

Seriously that hair clip would have either made the amulet pop, jammed the gears, or have been crushed. But nope.

And would you look at that, it worked. Shoving a hair clip into a powerful, magical amulet made it work.

Merlin’s just like: “Wait, that worked?”

Yeah, I’d be confused to if shoving a small hair piece into a mystical device that gives the wearer a suit of armor, complete with a sword made of daylight, fixed the thing.

Welp, this has been my post about something that is so useless that I tried to figure out.

[the-gateway-to-madness]

Mad's Akiridion Analyses

It turns out I've made too many to keep track of (there's only like four rip) and my numbering is all wrong, so I'm just going to compile all my Akiridion development/culture posts here and link it to all my analyses.

[tenebrius-excellium]

Thanks, I agree. I imagine Barbara was far more relieved when she heard about Merlin’s death than Jim. To her, the old Wizard corrupted her polite, responsible High School son and brought him on a dark path. To Jim, Merlin was the great mentor who shaped him into the warrior he is - no matter if he thought of him more as a “good” or a “bad” mentor in the end. If anything, Jim would keep any negative remarks between himself and Toby out of respect for Douxie.

Oh my gosh we never DID see Jim's reaction to Merlin's death did we O_O how did this completely fly over my head??? How do you think he reacted??? Not in memes, but genuinely???

You know.... I'd love to say he thought good riddance, but this is Jim we're talking about. Jim that is unbelievably forgiving at times, that makes friends of enemies, that cares too much, that cries and blames himself for every death and injury. So I would imagine he was sad and upset, especially since he unwittingly played a part in it (and sadly remembers everything he did while corrupted, though as if a bad dream), and because of Douxie and Merlin's relationship (as depicted... I know fandom is split on that). It probably weighs just as heavy as the loss of anyone else.

In my head though... it's totally the meme lol.

[05raine]

I feel like- if given enough time and proper motivation- I could do a full character analysis and synopsis of Hisirdoux Casperan from Tales of Arcadia.

This is a threat.

[inhonoredglory]

The following commentary was written by @tenyai​, concept and storyboard artist for Hisirdoux Casperan on Wizards: Tales of Arcadia, in response to my meta on the closing scene of Wizards 107.Killahead Part 1 (link here):

Great analysis! You’re right on point!! I had the pleasure of boarding this scene and I’m so glad you picked up on a lot of the symbolism here. You’ll also notice Douxie, despite being told there is nothing that can be done, tells Jim that they will find a way to reverse his ailment.

It’s a huge part of who he is that even in this moment where he as to abide by Merlin’s orders he is still fighting for what he believes in, the need to fight relentlessly to save a life. He makes a promise he has full intention to keep, but it’s the very opposite of what Merlin would have done.

Other fun things to notice in this scene is the staging. You’ll notice Douxie is backed by the turning gears and green light of the Heart of Avalon. I staged him there because the chaotic spinning of the gears alluded to his chaotic turmoil emotionally and internally. And the green light symbolizes Merlin. Together the gears and the lighting are Merlin’s words and his way pressing down on Douxie’s soldiers and his conscience.

As contrast, Claire is backed by the square, rigid lines of the castle wall. She is rigid and is desperately pulling him towards what she believes is stability or something that can guarantee his survival. You’ll also notice directionality here. Left symbolizes staying in the past and going right means returning to the present. You’ll notice Claire pulls Jim leftward, and Douxie pulls him right.

But one key moment is the hand clasp (also the profile shot) where you are neither looking left (where Claire pulled him towards the past) nor are you looking right (at the Heart of Avalon). You look center, and this center symbolizes Douxie fighting for a third option. It is neither left (disruption of time, altered life by staying in the past) and it is neither right (returning to the present/certain doom). He is promising that he will help them find a way to save Jim, and to trust him.

That’s why that dialogue is specifically staged over those shots, and the hand clasp at that angle. In the boards, I actually had his bracer hand up, so you saw the blue light of his magic which was also symbolic of Douxie finding a third option, but they just had his right hand in the final (shucks!!! My symbolism!!).

If you also look closely at the composition you’ll also notice Claire and Jim are separated by the Bg elements, wall vs sky. And when Jim turns to tell Claire the news... You guessed it, he’s backed by the green rotating gears representative of Merlin. He is breaking to her the messed up reality that Merlin forewarned him of. 

Anywhere you see those gears and the green, it’s the weight of this decision pressing on the characters. And you already remarked on the end of the scene where Douxie takes accountability for his action. The staging there follows everything I just described as well, as does the lighting!!

Anyway, fun little tidbits for you! That was a super fun scene to craft, a lot of visual language and symbolism in there, all reinforcing and emphasizing the emotional state of the characters and their struggles :)

––––––––––

Teny, having the person behind the story telling me exactly the kind of symbolism she intended in a scene is just... absolute gold. I love symbolism and parallelism and how narrative, characterization, and meaning are all supported by every tool in the visual narrative box. And as a fan-turning-pro, I’m still learning a LOT and commentary like this helps me see just how much care and thought went into this show, and validates the gut reaction all us fans have had about how narratively masterful Wizards (and the TOA universe) really is.

Like the directional symbolism! That blew my mind! Cuz in the end, we have Douxie leading them rightward (to the future), through Merlin’s green light, but guided fundamentally by his own staff’s blue and thus his own conscience. Also I wonder if the stable arcs behind Doux in that last GIF are a mirror to the unstable ones of Merlin’s Heart of Avalon––a way of pointing out that although Douxie is following the pattern set by Merlin’s shifting moral compass, he’s still holding to Claire’s stability. Using Merlin’s magic, but with his more constant, noble morality. (And going off that, these arcs mirror each other by cascading upward in opposite directions––Merlin’s arcs rising to the right and to the future, and Doux’s rising to the left and to the past, or Claire’s moral standard.)

Also the fact that Merlin’s Avalon arcs rotate downward in such a way that they cut through/push down on Douxie’s head, with an especially high-contrast panel––Unlike when he’s making the promise, in which the Heart of Avalon fades just a tad into the background and doesn’t rotate down on him so much as around him. In framing Douxie against the Heart, the shots move from a Medium Full Shot to a Medium Closeup and finally to a Closeup when he makes the promise––making him slowly larger against Merlin’s Heart of Avalon, his own morality against Merlin’s philosophy. Exquisite combination of prop design, lighting, shots, and narrative symbolism.

And the lighting you mentioned!! Jim’s is red, Merlin’s green, Douxie's blue. Claire’s is purple, but here it’s also the natural, human light of the doorway she’s trying to draw Jim towards. And like you said, Jim choosing Merlin’s path puts him in the backdrop of the Heart of Avalon, bringing Claire into that moral space too. Now this sweet Jlaire moment is heightened by tension just knowing this symbolism!!!

I always loved the interplay of Merlin’s green magic with Douxie’s hair, and knowing your intentional purpose in clashing them makes me all the more excited for scenes like the one before Charlemagne destroys the staff, because the green in Doux’s hair is almost as strong as the blue––showing how much he doesn’t want to let go of Merlin, and how much his staff and his presence is overwhelming his own sense of self and confidence.

Thank you, Teny, for sharing your incredible thought process behind this pivotal scene and letting us know the kind of visual narrative techniques you’ve used to bring out the drama and poignancy of everyone involved. Your love for these characters and this show is truly inspiring. I’ve just started my animation degree at San Jose State University and interactions like yours inspires me to know that the kind of professional I want to be is out there making art, being a storyteller, nerding out, and being awesome. Thanks again!

all gifs are mine

[tenebrius-excellium]

17 reasons why we love Douxie

Right, who knew I’d ever turn into a full-time Douxie blog? I didn’t know I loved him so much. It came very naturally. He’s the personality I’d want to marry, if I’m honest. There’s nothing boring or off-turning about him. He’s charming, caring, quick on his feet, and imaginative. Judging from fandom content, I’m not the only one who loves our bean. So here’s a few reasons why Douxie is so great! ♥

................................................................................................................

1. He has a vision.

He has big goals and a clear intent of where he wants to go in life. It speaks of determination and a broad, open mind. That’s super attractive.

2. He is hard-working and committed to bettering himself.

He disciplines himself and is serious about his eagerness to learn. “And what sort of life would that be?” Those words really stuck with him.

3. He is humble.

He doesn’t think himself above correction. He listens to wisdom and applies it.

4. He’s a natural charmer.

He’s smooth and juuust a tiny bit of a show-off.

5. He’s confident about his capabilities.

He trusts in himself and does not overestimate himself when it counts. What he lacks in skill, he knows he will be able to make up for in spontaneity (and luck).

6. He doesn’t shy away from danger.

He is brave and loyal to his cause and to the people who are important to him. He will stand up for his loved ones and defend them. He’s stubborn like that.

7. He learns on the go.

He is not a book smart, but learns things fast by putting them into practice. He is a quick thinker who knows to use his surroundings to his advantage, which makes him a flexible, versatile fighter.

8. He’s a pure, innocent soul.

He doesn’t have any nasty thoughts or gross habits. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and he has sentiment for what he loves. He couldn’t harm a bug. You guys, that was all just in the first episode.

9. He is polite, diplomatic, and stays collected in precarious situations.

He doesn’t blindly take charge, but instead listens, observes, mediates and delegates.

10. He is kind and considerate of others. And he cares so, so much.

He is gentle, sensible and sensitive. He is an empath who identifies a lot with other people’s emotions. He can understand their problems easily and reacts with great care. He is comforting, helpful, optimistic, encouraging and hopeful. He is not dismissive, raging, or loud, but a great listener who cares a lot.

11. He loves unconditionally. 

He doesn’t repay evil with more evil, or is unkind to others just because his own day isn’t going great. Instead, he always pays kindness forward, so much that others are impressed by it.

12. He is generous.

He goes out of his way to do nice things he doesn’t have to. Heck, he’d never tell Steve to his face how annoying he finds him, but is totally supportive of his Knight career instead. Douxie makes friends easily and everywhere he goes. This also makes him a great teacher who it’s fun to learn with.

13. Although spontaneous, he is well-prepared for unexpected turns of events.

He is not gullible, naive or foolish, but makes plans whenever possible and has his bracelet equipped with all necessary functions that come in handy in close combat. He isn’t afraid to take matters in his own hands and present a good idea.

14. He loves what he does and is actually amazing at it. He loves life.

The freedom we see him gain when he learns to unashamedly be himself is absolutely beautiful to watch.

15. He is honest about facing facts, but he doesn’t give up on people.

He won’t lie to people about inconvenient truths, but he is also passionate about helping them. Any people for that matter. Be it family, or strangers, or friends. He’d go to any length to assist them, and that’s something he promises. In fact, it’s something he says over and over: “Trust me.” And trust he earns. 

16. He is shattered by the unfairness and grief in the world.

He lets those things touch him. He’s not emotionally distant, but lets these things affect him as raw and deeply as they come. He works through them, and gathers strength through his close relationships. That’s super healthy. He’s conscious of his flaws and weaknesses, and in tune with the knowledge that processing loss takes time. He’s okay with crying, and sitting with the weight of the hurt. That’s not a thing many men are able do, if you ask me. 

17. He’s at peace with himself.

He’s ready to die for his friends. And he’s completely okay with that. He may be afraid in the moment, but he stands bold and tall and doesn’t fear what’s to come.

He’s amazing. ♥

[tenebrius-excellium]

I love you and you are a gem @talesofarcadiaforever

I’m *somewhat* disappointed that we never got to see a really big display of Merlin’s power in Trollhunters or Wizards. Sure, the guy was incredibly smart, incredibly careful and super mysterious. But when it comes to awesome power scenes, he kiiiiiind of underperformed compared to Morgana, Douxie or even Claire. He didn’t cast a single spell, as far as I can remember, in Trollhunters, and even in Wizards his magic seemed casual and day-to-day. We got Fulgur Praeca and half of Sigilia Infractum Causea  - which Douxie finished - and that chain spell right before Arthur ran him through. But I’m 100% convinced that in his prime, he was capable of more. Or maybe he actually wasn’t the most powerful wizard and therefore, built his excellence in secrets and trickery. But if that was the case - if he wasn’t actually that great at Wizardry…I say it’s because he stopped learning. He relied on magical artifacts hidden someplace (like his staff), on others do do his job for him, and on his stuck beliefs. Had he let his magic flow freely like Douxie, and had he stayed teachable, he could have been amazing. Also, if magic is emotion like Douxie said, maybe thinkers/tacticians such as Merlin are at a disadvantage compared to feelers? It could be harder for him to access his magic at all. In any case, I wish he’d had a moment to shine. For me, the closest to a cool moment is after he shoots down the Arcane Order’s castle and goes: “Must I do everything myself?” BADASS

[tenebrius-excellium]

One detail of Wizards that has been stuck in my head for days now is how Morgana’s eyes got surrounded by the black veins as she was breaking the curse off Excalibur, indicating that she was overexerting herself. You know, they didn’t have to put that in there. But it tells us so much about her. About the extent of her magical ability and that she was reaching her limit. That she gave her absolute all to defeat Arthur so the Guardians of Arcadia wouldn’t need to deal with that after her passing. And yes, she knew exactly that she was dying. But she wanted it, too, and therefore didn’t hold back. She was looking for peace.

The eye thing is also a nice callback to Claire and how far they’ve both come since they first met. They grew in power together, both had setbacks in regards to their magic, and both had something to teach to the other. They were bonded by both hatred and understanding, united because they both explored shadow magic. I believe they could have become really amazing friends. 

Another detail is just...Douxie. The way that he retreats behind a pillar from Skrael and Bellroc, exhausted from battle, with labored breathing, all alone, but collecting himself and reminding himself of who he is doing this for. The way he jumps back out front, exposing himself, knowing this is for the last time...knowing it’s the last attack he’s got in him. He knows there will be no more. And he, too, gives it his absolute all. Having made his peace with death. Out of love. He regards his life as nothing for his friends. He’ll gladly give it. 

And then his fall, man...the gasp as he hits the ground like lightning. The fact that he was dead...and we expected his face to be pale from the strain, and every bone in his skinny body shattered...and Archie to mourn yet another loss. 

This boy touches too many heartstrings.

I haven’t even gotten started about Claire fighting for Jim’s life, and about the music. Our Final Act was soooooooooooooooo good.

[sergeantsporks]

Okay, Merlin said that the shard Arthur put in Jim’s chest was onyx, right? Fun fact, superstition said that one could use onyx to cause nightmares. I think we can all agree that turning into Beast Jim and hurting his friends is probably one of Jim’s worst nightmares. Nice job, writers.

[bluheaven-adw]

So I was doing some research for my Unicorn Au, trying to figure where Wizard's Camelot might be located so I could find the furthest place for Jim to start his journey. I remember people pointing out that Camelot didn't overlook the sea. Well, turns out the Wizards team possibly got it right!

There are 4 possible historical sites for Camelot. One of which is Tintagel castle in Cornwall, which did sit basically on a bluff overlooking the Celtic Sea.

So I went straight to everyone's favorite source, Aaron 'National Treasure' Waltke 😄, and he has confirmed that Wizards Camelot was in fact partially based on Tintagel!

So now we know! And now I know it's location well to the south, I get to dump Jim way way up in the north Scottish Highlands 😁

Maybe I'll put him on the Orkney Islands, then he has to figure out how to cross the sea over to the mainland. Poor Jim would have to cover almost 900+ miles to get back to Camelot.

[inhonoredglory]

I keep thinking about this scene when Douxie is about to level with Claire about how he can’t guarantee Jim’s safety upon the return to the present. Jim jumps in and tells her, but when he explains the main reason he won’t stay in Camelot––What kind of hero would I be if I sacrificed everyone else?––the shot cuts to Douxie to follow his reaction. And here is why I love scenes without dialogue, where you know the moment is important and you have to figure out what’s going on in people’s minds. Cuz I fully believe this moment helped teach Douxie the kind of Hero he wanted to be. He’s making the Merlinesque tough call here by bringing them all home––guaranteeing the safety of many at the risk of one. It’s not a space Douxie’s is comfortable in, because it goes against everything he believes about fixing things and keeping everyone safe. He doesn’t like doing things the Merlin way, but he’s doing it now, because he’s just entombed Merlin in Camelot to sleep for a millennium and he’s in a very real way acting in Merlin’s place and he’s trying to live up to what Merlin taught him. But it’s not his way.

That’s why he feels so awful when Claire looks back at him in the end. That’s why he puts that responsibility on himself in the end, reminding himself of the weight of his guilt for doing what he’s doing right now. That’s why he’s owning this decision and not just letting himself off the hook because Jim was willing to put his life on the line. He’s keeping his conscience closer to what he himself believes. “My burden to bear” is not something Merlin would say. It’s something Douxie would. Because what kind of Hero would he be if he sacrificed any one? He wants to be the kind of Hero Jim is––the kind that believes that to truly save others, the only life that should be dispensable is your own.

Follow up post here.