#when you say a part of a franchise as small as tales of arcadia should not have been included

[the-gateway-to-madness]

anytime i see posts about how 3Below was a mistake and that it didn't fit into Tales of Arcadia or that it's bad or really just ANYTHING complaining about it, my brain reminds me of when this site used to cross over Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons and the Futuristic Four. At the same time. not to use an old meme but you wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me (hiccup haddock and hiro hamada being friends. emo edits of rapunzel. Do you Remember? I Remember.)

3Below being part of Tales of Arcadia feels like HOME to me. It's the part that resonates with my brain and my feelings. It makes me feel like the way my head and humor work has a place in this universe I love- 3Below is my anchor to the franchise.

I wouldn't be who I am without this show, and the show wouldn't be what it is if it weren't part of Tales of Arcadia.

[nikibogwater]

Bogwater’s Guide to Writing Platonic Relationships

Have a seat, dears, pour yourself a mug of cocoa, and let’s talk about writing for a bit. Specifically, writing emotionally intense, compelling relationships that are completely devoid of any romantic tension.

“Niki, those don’t exist! The only relationships that are truly intense and compelling are the romantic ones! Everybody knows that!”

*gently bonks you on the head with my magic scepter* NO. This is a common misconception that is perpetuated by media and especially fandom culture. And it stems from this bizarre idea that emotional intimacy must always equate with romantic intimacy. I have no idea where this idea got its start, but if you ask literally anybody who has experienced real, genuine friendship in their life, they will tell you it’s absolute nonsense. Just because you’re not doing the kissy-kiss with someone, that doesn’t mean you’re not emotionally intimate with them.

“But I don’t want any emotional intimacy without the kissy-kiss! It’s boring!” 

Yeah, so, there’s a reason platonic relationships in modern media often feel less interesting than romantic ones, and it’s precisely because of what I said above. Media producers and many fic authors are skittish about showing platonic love with the same level of depth and emotional intensity as romantic, so it often ends up being somewhat watered down and simplified, to the point that it becomes a less interesting relationship. The only thing this does is perpetuate the idea that any and all emotional intimacy immediately implies romantic attraction (it does not) while also devaluing the very real importance of genuine friendship/familial bonds. 

“Okay, but what if I just like romance better?”

That’s your personal preference, and that’s okay! Everybody has their favorite genres and tropes that resonate with them more than others. My personal favorite is Family, Found or otherwise (with a healthy dose of Hurt/Comfort on the side), but I can totally understand if romance speaks to you more. HOWEVER. This does not excuse writers and other content producers from low-key asserting that romantic relationships are objectively “better” than platonic ones. Hard fact of life: Nobody needs to experience romance, and even those who do experience it do so in different ways. But everybody does need to have emotional connections with other people through the bonds of friendship and family. Believe it or not, romantic love is not a universal experience. Platonic though? Everybody knows that one, and everybody needs it to be happy. To devalue it as a whole is to impose a toxic mindset that forces people to experience relationships in a very narrow and restrictive way.

Okay--*steps off my soap box and kicks it to the side*--now that we’ve established that friendship is important and should be given the same value that society gives to romance, let’s talk about a few ways to write intense and compelling platonic relationships!

Emotional Intimacy:

I’ve talked about this a lot already, but just in case some of you are confused, emotional intimacy is just when two people have a very deep familiarity and understanding of each other. They understand how the other’s mind works, and feel comfortable opening up to each other about their own stuff. Obviously, this is very important for any relationship, platonic or romantic, but writers will often limit such familiarity between characters to the romantic relationships. The first step to writing an interesting friendship is to not do that. Show that your platonic soulmates understand each other and are vulnerable with each other. Here are some easy ways to do that:

Character A knows all of Character B’s personal preferences--likes and dislikes, including small things like food, flowers, music, etc. 

A can finish B’s sentences for them. 

A is willing to talk about their feelings when B asks if they’re okay.

A and B trust each other and know the other always has their back

A and B will occasionally reference events in their shared history and even have inside jokes

A will seek B out for comfort when they are upset.

A and B almost never miscommunicate--they know what the other means when they say something, and will immediately notice if the other is acting strange.

A and B can communicate with each other silently, via subtle looks, eye movements, or gestures.

Selflessness:

To quote a grossly over-marketed Disney franchise, “Love is putting someone else’s needs before yours.” This is the simplest and also most accurate definition of love I’ve come across, and it is universal to all kinds of relationships. So in order to make your platonic relationship compelling, you need to show that the characters are willing to make sacrifices for each other--even big ones. Make sure this is a mutual exchange between both characters, because otherwise you risk making the relationship look a bit toxic. Here are a few of my favorite examples of selflessness between friends/family:

Character A willingly puts themselves in harm’s way in order to protect Character B.

A is always ready to drop what they’re doing and come to B’s assistance. 

A and B regularly do small favors for each other without being asked. 

A is always mindful of B’s needs and makes sure they’re taken care of.

A and B always do their best not to hurt each other, either physically or emotionally. 

A is openly very worried whenever B is in danger and stops at nothing to help them.

Affection:

This is the part where most writers balk when writing platonic relationships. “They can’t touch each other!!! That’s sexy and weird!!!” No, it’s not. This idea that any and all signs of affection are exclusive to romantic relationships is toxic, and we need to wipe it from existence. Obviously there are different levels of physical intimacy, and some absolutely are exclusive to romantic relationships. Here’s a list of No-Gos if you want to keep a relationship completely platonic:

Kissing on the lips/mouth/neck.

Gazing deeply and silently into each other’s eyes for long periods of time for no other reason than to simply Gaze.

Doing the Do or otherwise touching each other in an explicitly sexual way (I feel like this one should be pretty obvious. Also wth guys, that stuff is grooooosssssssss 🤢)

Honestly those are the only ones that I can think of that are always exclusively romantic. Everything else requires pre-established context in order to be taken as such. So here’s a list of affectionate gestures that are totally safe for established platonic relationships!

Little forehead/cheek kisses.

Hugs--yes, even prolonged ones. Sometimes friends/family just want to hold each other for a while, and not in a sexy way. 

Holding hands.

Leaning on each other.

Playing with each other’s hair or gently petting it in order to offer comfort.

Sleeping next to each other when circumstances require it (and neither of them makes any fuss over it)

Saying “I love you.” STOP MAKING THIS AN EXCLUSIVELY ROMANTIC THING, PLEASE, FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THAT IS PURE IN THIS WORLD!

Touching foreheads (my personal favorite of the lot!)

Maintaining prolonged eye-contact during moments of sincerity and communication, especially if Character A is trying to tell B something important.

Sweet little smiles, or other such soft looks of fondness

And many other gestures that I don’t have time to go over in this list.

Tip the First: When writing platonic affection, be sure to bear in mind your characters’ personalities and physical differences. For example, if Character A is significantly bigger and heavier than Character B, they probably wouldn’t be tackle-hugging B, because that would risk seriously injuring B. Different personalities also have different levels of comfort when it comes to physical affection. If you’re writing fanfic, it helps to revisit the source material and observe how the two characters interact with each other. And remember: just because two characters aren’t physically affectionate with each other, it does NOT mean they don’t have a deep and meaningful friendship. Also bear in mind that many people have different dynamics with different friends simply due to the way their personalities fit together. Not all of my friendships look the same, and it’s not because of insincerity on my part--I just have different interactions with different people.

Tip the Second: If you want the gestures of affection to really pack a punch, use them sparingly. Save your long, warm embraces for when the two characters finally reunite after a long separation. Have Character A take B’s hand only when they can sense that B is frightened and in need of reassurance. A “First Platonic Hug” scene can be just as sweet and feelsy as a “First Kiss” scene if you do it right! Also, don’t be afraid to talk at length about how a gesture of affection makes a character feel. Describe the warm fuzzies that bubble up in their chest when their friend/family member gives them a hug, wax poetic about how grateful they are to have said friend/family member in their life. Taking time to explore and dwell on a certain feeling should never be strictly reserved for the ones associated with romance. 

And when in doubt:

Observe the professionals. Here are some fantastic platonic relationships from various pieces of media that I take tons of inspiration from:

Frodo and Sam from Lord of the Rings (especially in the books)

Jim and Toby from Dreamworks’ Tales of Arcadia series

Din and Cara from Star Wars: The Mandalorian

Lilo and Nani from Disney’s Lilo and Stitch

So in conclusion:

Listen, I get it. Romance is exciting and cute and sexy and very important in its own right, and society likes to beat us over the head with it these days. But I cannot impress on you enough just how vital platonic relationships are to living a good and fulfilling life. I am who I am today because of the family and friends who have helped me grow. Please don’t disregard it, whether in your writing or in your own life. Cherish friendship. Acknowledge the depth of your platonic feelings for someone. And writers, please don’t be afraid to express those feelings in your work. If we let friendship and family die, I can assure you, any potential for healthy romantic relationships will quickly follow suit. 

[aion-rsa]

How Wizards: Tales of Arcadia Finishes What Trollhunters Started

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In the nearly four years since Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia debuted on Netflix, the animated series created by Guillermo del Toro, and produced by Dreamworks, has introduced viewers to Arcadia Oaks, reluctant heroes, and a society of trolls over the course of three seasons. Then, the adventures continued with two seasons of 3Below, featuring humanoid aliens who crash land on earth whilst escaping a civil war. Now, the final chapter of the Tales of Arcadia franchise, Wizards, debuts on August 7 with a time-traveling fantasy epic that spans Camelot and the suburbs.

In addition to introducing new characters, and re-introducing previous ones, Wizards also seeks to pull the threads together of the entire trilogy, and fill in the blanks on events only previously referenced. 

Set immediately following the events of 3Below’s second season, Wizards picks up with Merlin’s apprentice Douxie (voiced by Colin O’Donoghue), and a magical war across time which involves Arthurian characters Merlin and Morgana (David Bradley, and Lena Headey); Trollhunters characters Jim (Emile Hirsch), Claire (Lexi Medrano), Toby (Charlie Saxton), and Steve (Steven Yeun); trolls Blinky (Kelsey Grammer), Aaarrrgghh!!! (Fred Tatasciore), Dictatious (Mark Hamill), and Gunmar (Clancy Brown); as well as Akiridion-5 alien Krel (Diego Luna).

With the 10-episode season of Wizards, Tales of Arcadia, completes its marathon with 88 installments of a family entertainment series featuring a cast of celebrity voice talent, surprisingly sophisticated humor, and arcs that mature alongside younger viewers as the stories progress. 

It likewise marks another achievement for Marc Guggenheim, who serves as an executive producer, as well as showrunner, of Tales of Arcadia. Similarly known for his work on The CW’s Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl, he is not new to complex world-building, and potentially confusing interconnected plotlines. In the following interview, Guggenheim discusses how the final chapter of the franchise fits together while also standing alone as a piece of storytelling, as well as the show’s approach to time travel, and if the conclusion is really “The End.”

Den of Geek: What is the challenge of setting up this spinoff that also serves as a conclusion to a trilogy spanning different genres?

Marc Guggenheim: It’s an interesting challenge because, on the one hand, you’ve got a spinoff of Trollhunters, and my philosophy with spinoffs is they should always sort of function as their own show. They should have their own identity, and they should stand on their own feet. On the other hand, though, this is not just a spinoff. This is the third and final chapter of a trilogy. The show kind of needs to function as two things simultaneously. 

But a big component of Wizards also involves Jim from Trollhunters…

The biggest story thread we sort owed was a payoff to Jim’s journey because he essentially ended Trollhunters having become a troll himself, and basically walking off into the sunset as the trolls go off to search for a new Heartstone. Seeing what has become of Jim, even just revealing what happened after those final moments of Trollhunters, was very important to us to help bring the whole trilogy full circle. Similarly, Guillermo had the great idea to actually not do a prequel, but return our characters to the period of time before Trollhunters that tells the stories we’d only alluded to, and referenced in — namely the invention of the Trollhunter amulet, the rise of Deya the Deliverer, the Battle of Killahead Bridge. These are things we’ve only glimpsed. There was something very elegant about that idea because we had to go to the beginning in order to get to the ending. And I kind of liked the symmetry.

You’re no stranger to time travel with your work, but how do the rules of Legends of Tomorrow compare to Wizards?

It’s funny you mention Legends. We did have an episode in the second season where we went back to Arthurian times, and played around with that. There are a million different TV shows, and movies, and novels, and short stories about time travel, and one of the fun things about writing about that subject is the rules operate very differently. The rules in Back to the Future operate very differently from the rules in, say, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. With Legends, we made the decision very early on if you were watching the show for the rules of time travel, you were going to be sorely disappointed. We kind of threw the rule book out.

With Wizards, we kind of take the opposite approach. We are making part of the drama the difficulties of time travel; namely it’s very easy to screw up the future if you don’t know what you’re doing. And we have some characters in Wizards who could safely be described as not quite knowing what they’re doing. So, we definitely wanted to show the consequences, and also live with the stakes of what happens if you make a change to the past you did not intend.

The show has subverted expectations by allowing characters to grow, or evolve. Steve begins as a bully, and now he’s a good guy. And within the Arthurian legend, the king is not necessarily the king you might expect him to be. Has that subversion been cooked in since the beginning of Trollhunters?

From the beginning with Trollhunters, me and Guillermo, and Kevin and Dan Hageman, we always felt like we were telling a very classic Campbellian hero’s journey. When you are doing that, the only way to make it feel fresh and original is to, as you say, subvert expectations. I think it’s Gertrude Stein who said tell the truth, but tell it slant. That’s been our governing philosophy, which is we’re going to tell you this familiar story, but we’re going to do it in a way a little off center, a little off kilter from what you’re used to.

This final chapter also feels more intense, more mature, and at times a little scary. Was this decision based on the notion that your audience has grown up a little with this franchise?

You’re right on the money. From Guillermo’s very first pitch to Jeffrey Katzenberg, when Jeffrey asked for an additional two shows and basically asked for trilogy, Guillermo said he wanted the humor of 3Below to be a little bit more sophisticated, make it a little bit more adolescent because the kids, our audience from Trollhunters, is growing older. And then he wanted the tone and the vibe of Wizards to be darker and a little scarier, again, because our audience is growing older. So there was a real intentional evolution in terms of tone. 3Below isn’t scarier than Trollhunters, but its humor is definitely more sophisticated. Wizards is much darker than 3Below.

We meet these new villains, The Arcane Order, which are visually compelling sorcerers. Can you talk about their design?

Thank you for calling that out, specifically, because those are among my favorite designs of the entire trilogy. I think it’s the result of a really fantastic mind meld between the designers and Guillermo. Guillermo was very specific about what he wanted to see with these three characters, and it’s always a privilege to watch his design notes sessions with the designers. They would print out the designs on these big sheets of paper, and Guillermo would actually draw on them. Guillermo’s a very good artist as a lot of people know, down to these really minute, small details that make big changes. And the designers were, I think, particularly inspiring. I can’t draw a stick figure, so I’m very impressed by the work they’ve done.

Is this really the last we’ll see from these characters? 

If I were to comment on the end of Tales of Arcadia, it would mean the end of me. Dreamworks and Netflix have paid assassins on retainer, and I hear they’re very good shots.

Tales of Arcadia: Wizards premieres on August 7 on Netflix.

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