#we don't actually know enough about the house trio to characterize them

[snowyleopardess]

I wonder if the final episode of the Bridon arc will end with Cheng Xiaoshi dying again.

Lu Guang dives back in time to save him. Again.

But this time, when he moves in, he steals the Bridon photo before Cheng Xiaoshi can find it and burns it.

[redbuddi]

How will you handle the characterization of characters like Sam and Tucker? Danni?

What are some of the biggest changes to the overall story you are looking forward to exploring?

*cracks knuckles* alright here we go!

Sam and Tucker are extremely important to the series, more important than I think people tend to give them credit for, and that importance would be retained in Redux.

Tucker would be more or less the same as the OG Tuck, he's still a big tech geek, still loves meat, is still simultaneously the comic relief and the voice of reason depending on the situation, etc. I mostly plan on just making a few subtle tweaks to his character to flesh him out a bit more than the show was willing to.

Now is the time to mention that Redux will take place the same year the OG show came out, 2004. So the tech that Tucker salivates over will be tech that's dated by our standards, he still uses a PDA like a cell-phone, and carries around a lot of big chunky gadgets like portable CD players and such. While he is mostly a programming guy, he will build and invent things, and will help Danny do the same. He invented Danny's goggles and co-invented the Thermos with Danny.

Tucker is the most emotionally available of the trio, he doesn't always have solutions but he's willing to hear people out, and with his weak constitution he is the least fond of fighting, tho not purely pacifistic. He is the most outgoing of the group as well, but doesn't desire popularity, he's pretty satisfied with his lot in life. He's just a pretty amicable guy and likes to talk a lot. Like in the show, he's been friends with Danny for the longest, and knows him the best.

"Time to hack the mainframe..."

*swats away computer*

"Hello! This is the front desk, right? Sorry, I'm new and no one's told me the company password yet..."

I'd also take out his more wannabe-casanova traits, cause it's just kind of uncomfortable. I see him as more of a jughead-type, commenting on the drama and romance from the sidelines while never himself being too interested in it. He'll still joke about ladies loving him, but it'd be more tongue-in-cheek and self-aware.

Overall he tends to try to outsmart or talk his way out of situations, which can be a huge help, but also sometimes makes things worse. His smooth-talking has a 50/50 success rate.

He has a pretty good relationship with his parents, but can be kind of distant with his Dad, who is pretty overbearing and really wants Tucker to follow in his footsteps as the Mayor. It would be a running joke that Tucker is so disinterested in being the Mayor that he often times doesn't even justify his dad with a response. He will literally just leave if he can tell that that's where a conversation is going.

Sam is probably the character that would be overhauled the most. The OG Sam isn't terrible, but is very obviously an attempt at a counter-cultural character by people who know nothing about counter-culture.

The biggest change I'd make is that she no longer comes from old money. I get what the OG show was trying to do, but even as a little kid I couldn't really buy it or her whole rebellious thing. Not when she still greatly benefited from her family's money.

Instead, she comes from a well-off upper middle-class house, and she hates her parents. Not just because they don't understand her, but because her parents are actually horrible. Her Dad is a lawyer who is always looking for loopholes to get the rich out of trouble, and her Mom runs an MLM selling cheap clothes to desperate housewives (Think LuLaRoe). Her parents don't not love her, but they are deeply terrible people who, at the end of the day, only really care about themselves. Sam has sworn to do everything in her power to not be like them. The only reason she hasn't run away is because they're not home often enough for her to have to deal with them too much.

Danny: "Ow! Watch where you're poking!"

She tries to do as much on her own as she can, up to and including making basically everything she wears out of discount clothes and thrift shop purchases. While she does get an allowance, she doesn't spend any of it, she's saving her money so that she can leave home the moment she turns 18 and never look back. She is more interested in fashion than she often lets on, and dreams of running an eco-friendly fair trade boutique. After destroying capitalism, of course. She designed and made the alterations to Danny's jumpsuit, with the help of spectral thread that Danny had invented for her birthday.

In this series, Sam isn't just a holier-than-thou goth girl, she's a full-on anarchist punk-rock bitch, and she's proud of it. She will always speak her mind when she feels an injustice is taking place, and unlike in the OG series, Danny and Tucker will usually be there to back her up. That said, there's plenty that she gets up to on her own, she has had her brushes with the law, she's gotten into fights, she does not protest peacefully, and she usually doesn't involve Danny or Tucker because she doesn't want them to feel obligated to help her and then get hurt because of it.

She is strongly antisocial, and generally pretty closed off. She is the type of person who will listen to everyone's problems but won't speak about her own unless pushed. She is deeply loyal to and protective of her friends, sometimes to the point of being a little overbearing.

As for Danni, I certainly have thoughts, but I haven't settled completely on how she would fit in to the overall story. I do want her to be in the series, I just need to figure out what her deal would be.

EDIT! Completely forgot to answer the second part of the question!

The biggest change I'm looking forward to is giving Valerie more screen time, haha.

[nullanythorm-ao3]

Okay. But Jim Lake Jr/Camilo Madrigal???

NULLANY'S BACK WITH MORE WACKY CRACK CROSSOVER SHIPS LET'S GO (Essay under the cut, be prepared. Also this is placing Camilo and the Madrigals in modern times alongside Jake, obviously, so there are some differences in background - but not enough where I'd need to go in detail. TBH they could even have the magic house and powers, what with the whole magic/troll underground. Insert joke about Camilo using shapeshifting magic and the Trollhunter gang mistaking him for a changeling at some point - ) Also keep in mind a lot of the way I characterize Camilo is probably like 75-ish percent headcanon at least, since we don't see a lot of him in the movie. What we do see, though, is enough for me to draw at least some lines on his character and figure out how I'd write him.

Okay, so I've been big on a certain set of Disney/Dreamworks properties crossing over lately. Most folks who follow me know my Hiccup/Hiro/Varian crackship. But while I haven't explicitly mentioned it a lot on the blog, I've actually been thinking about the friendship between the trio and Jim Lake for a while -- because I like taking properties I love and fusing them. It's just how it go. While working on one particular idea that featured the four - I was trying to find a way to bring in a fifth. I ultimately settled on Camilo after watching Encanto. And as I was working on interactions between the group, I realized I REALLY liked the possible interactions between these two. I'm not going to go into interactions specific to the quintet (though there are some I love - like the two of them having incredulous looks whenever Hiccup, Hiro, and Varian go on their science tangents), but I'm going to tell you some of the fun things I noticed and potential interactions and chemistry between their characters because I. Love. Them. #1 - The Way To a Boy's Heart So, Camilo really likes to eat? We've seen how much he stacks his plate, and that he even transforms to try to trick his parents into letting him gets seconds. Judging from that bit alone we can imagine he's a little bit of a glutton. And what's one of Jim's primary hobbies? COOKING He loves to cook, experiment in the kitchen, and come up with all sorts of recipes. He'd love spending time in the kitchen, coming up with all kinds of things. He'd be a bit exasperated at Camilo's bottomless stomach sometimes, but overall Camilo's his #1 taste tester (along with Toby and his mom). And if he ends up accidentally making too much, Camilo's always happy for second and thirds to keep from having too many leftovers. I have a weakness for cook/glutton duos okay? And these two are amazing. I also have this image of Jim asking Pepa and Julietta for family recipes, or just about Columbian cooking, to be able to cook a wider range of things for Camilo. Of course, Camilo would absolutely love this (but he'll devour anything Jim makes, so). #2 - MAMA'S BOYS, MAMA'S BOYS, MAMA'S BOYS Jim was raised by his single mom, so naturally he's a bit of a mama's boy. One of my favorite lines is from the very first episode, where Jim's best friend Toby says he "mothers his mother a lot". He's always fretting over her, helping her, cooking for her, and carries the weight of looking after both the family and his friends. He and his mom are close, and he absolutely loves her more than anything. He goes to extreme lengths to protect her and keep her safely out of his Trollhunting shenanigans. Now, we don't see a lot of Camilo in the movie. However, I think it says a lot that one of the key scenes we see him in (while played for comedy) is him trying to help soothe his stressed-out mother. All the Madrigals find family incredibly important. It's kind of the key point of the movie. And yes, when your mother being upset means thunderstorms and hurricanes it's natural you'd want to calm her. But Camilo is so sweet and gentle with her (also he uses "mami", which - while I'm not an expert in Spanish so I can't say for sure - is a pretty cute and affectionate way to refer to your mother compared to things like má, or mamá, so), and just kind of gives off the same sweet mama's boy vibes that Jim does. TBH I'd just want to see them both interacting with their moms in the same room - man that would be cute. Also I just feel like these two could go on and on to each other about their moms? They'd trade ideas on how to soothe their overly-stressed, overworked moms. They'd plan little surprises for them or just fret over them together. They get together whenever it's one of their mothers' birthdays and bounce presents off each other. It's amazing. #3 ACTION & INACTION So, for those who don't know, Jim is the type that will sit there and pine for months or more on end without really saying or doing anything. He isn't exactly good when it comes to romance and it takes some time for him to get up the

gumption to even talk to a crush. Camilo, on the other hand, has absolutely no idea when to stop talking. He's very direct and flamboyant and flirtatious when it comes to crushes. He still flounders and gets embarrassed - but go big or go home, right? Camilo's directness would bring out a lot more of the romantic side of Jim. He can be a VERY helpless romantic in the right situation, and when someone like Camilo is flirting with him, it's hard not to be - especially since Camilo can dish it out but he can not take it. He loves flirting and flustering Jim, but the moment Jim learns to grow a backbone and flirt back, Camilo frigging melts. Once he learns this, it's a hilarious back and forth of flirting and flustering. This goes for regular banter too. Jim is very sweet, but he also has a sassy side that comes out a lot more around Camilo. The two of them sassing people together? Yes, I live for it. I feel like Jim would also teach Camilo patience, though. If Camilo brings out Jim's sass, Jim brings out Camilo's sweet side. When he's with Jim, his bluntness is softened a bit. Jim is very much the one to keep the sassy trickster on a short leash (and usually the one apologizing when Camilo's tricks get them in trouble) so he learns control. It's the perfect balance why is it so gooood. #4 - "JIM LAKE JR., YOU HAVE A TYPE." "And that type is fiery Hispanic theater kids." That joke is something that popped in my head for Toby to say at some point - because he would. In all seriousness though, there's actually a lot of things I can think of that Camilo has in common with Jim's canon love interest - Claire Nuñez. There's plenty of differences as well, but still... Jim has a type. Let's discuss shall we? Well, aside from the obvious ethic background (it's not stated which Hispanic background Claire is from, but she is Hispanic so). They're both rather fiery, sassy, and stubborn when they need to be. Not really afraid to talk back, and boy do they have attitudes. This applies a greater deal to Camilo than Claire - but well, people who know Trollhunters know that Claire can let loose when she needs to. And even if she's not as brazen as Camilo, she definitely has some sass on her, and isn't above sneaking out and breaking rules at times (Papa Skull concert anyone?). Pretty sure you don't want to make either of them angry, either. The family pressure is also real. Claire's mom is a politician, so naturally she's constantly pushing Claire. On top of that, Claire has to deal with being an older sister, babysitting her brother, keeping up grades, and everything else. As for Camilo, basically the entirety of the Madrigal family is under pressure from Abuela. In a world where they'd have to keep their magic a secret? Oh boy, it would be even worse. I feel like he and Claire would actually be good friends and would spend a lot of time in study sessions together to deal with their family's pressure to keep up grades. They're both also incredibly clever, good at thinking on their feet, and adaptable in most situations. These two are masters of improvisation and clever wordplay. Just picturing them joking around with each other and then Jim just staring like the bi disaster he is. And if you don't think that this dramatic, sassy boy isn't a theater kid, you'd be wrong. Camilo is 1000% theater kid, and he and Claire talk about whatever's going on with play rehearsals or their little theater group constantly. Essentially, Camilo and Claire are best friend, in fact they probably meet through Claire. And then the bi disaster starts pining for both of them and Toby never stops joking about it. I'm a fan of polyam so, I mean, who's stopping them? Anyway, that's about it on this one. I just wanted to give a basic idea but god I love these two. They're getting to the point where they match Hiccup/Hiro/Varian in my shipping mind, and I haven't even had them in my brain that long. Help.