#not every trollhunter in the history of trollhunting is named because not every trollhunter has been listed

[whatudottu]

If I thought the Transformers (Aligned) timeline was convoluted, god the Trollhunters timeline is fucked beyond all hell, and worse of all because they use Merlin - bloody MERLIN - as a character that created the amulet there's an upper limit of time Trollhunters have existed before, heck even Myrddin Wyllt his welsh name (and canonical alternate name in the show), Merlin stops being the Merlin from human myth and starts becoming Merlin a similarly named folkloric character in troll myth-

I wonder if I, a fan coming in at minimum 2023, am arriving to this a little late but- if this isn't going to be a timeline rewrite then let me complain about how specific canonical details contradict with one another, including the glaringly obvious issue of Wizard's addition to the timeline, making Deya the Deliverer the first Trollhunter and thus practically erasing most of the historical Trollhunters or conforming to fit them all in a timeline of 900ish years.

I'll address the elephant in the room when we get to it, but let's set up the basics, both for me and any viewer not already in the know (given that my audience is mostly from transformers and ben 10, I'd say it's a lot of you).

Trolls and humans got off to a bad start, humans living on the surface and trolls having originated from a realm called the Darklands, accessible from a bridge (a gateway) Kilahead bridge. Like with any civilisation there are good and bad trolls, the baddest being Orlagk the Oppressor, leader of the Gumm-Gumms. Having been introduced to the surface, trolls fought with the humans who already lived on it creating the War for the Surface Lands, and their fighting lead the first Heartstone (a gigantic magical gem that serves as the centre of troll caverns, healing them and providing power) to corrupt and birth Gunmar. This war lasted for millennia, Gunmar taking over leadership of the Gumm-Gumms after slaying Orlagk at some vague point, up until the Battle of Kilahead Bridge where the Gumm-Gumms were sealed away in the Darklands again thanks to the Trollhunter Deya the Deliverer.

Okay, sure, that doesn't sound very bad at first, up until you realise that the Battle of Kilahead Bridge was 900 years prior to the series (2016 was it's release date) and thus in the year 1116 AD give or take; the legend of Merlin as a magician, a wizard, was in the 12th century which would've been instead at minimum 1300 AD that's 200 years of difference. Not to mention Angor Rot - a character and antagonist in the show - came begging for magic to stop Gunmar's armies from destroying more and more independant troll tribes, like his own, in 1200 AD at least. Why in the fucking hell would Angor Rot bother to risk his own soul asking for magic, from a sorcerer known as (among many things) the Eldritch Queen, if Gunmar and his Gumm-Gumms were already kept within the Darklands. Gunmar's son Bular, the one Gumm-Gumm to not be banished, is surely not that much of a threat to not one but multiple villages it would send someone to the doorstep of the Pale Lady. In addition, Angor Rot was responsible for killing at least a few Trollhunters, one known and named being Voltar the Voracious, who was the only Trollhunter given an exact year of choosing in 1578. And the fucker is listed BEFORE Deya on the wiki but that alone doesn't mean anything, however she does die in 1620 to Bular, 396 years before the show.

Alright then, so you look at Merlin's mythological existence and go 'now what about the whole thing about millenia' because 12th century doesn't allow the War for the Surface Lands to have a Trollhunter, even with 11 named Trollhunters that come presumably before Deya (Unkar the Unfortunate, despite being trained by Blinky who in human standards - assuming his human body tells us his age - is probably about middle age give or take, fought in the time Gumm-Gumms were still around even if slain by Bular). Given that Trollhunters itself references Merlin's original Welsh name Myrddin (and his in show last name is Ambrosius, which would be Emyrs in the original Welsh, as opposed to Wyllt for 'of the wild), I thought that potentially looking into when Myrddin first came around I would be able to get a better timeline; Myrddin Wyllt was said to have been born - and not just the legend - in 540 AD, which gives between that and 2016 1476 years to work with, allowing the 400ish years ago that Deya died (and the 438 years from when Voltar had the amulet) and the millenia's worth of war the War for the Surface Lands took.

Done deal, right?

Well guess what, some fucker named Spar the Spiteful (not even the first Trollhunter like Deya so proclaims to be) died 5200 years before Jim, our protagonist and first HUMAN Trollhunter, ever picked up the mantle. 5200 years before 2016 is the bloody fucking 4th millenium BC. This period included the beginnings of the Bronze Age, and was the bloody time WRITING was invented! And in Spar's time, there was no DOMESTIC HORSES! HORSE RIDING DIDN'T BLOODY EXIST WHEN SPAR DIED HOW FUCKED IT THAT!?

God FUCKING DAMN IT!

Fine, I can work with this.

Merlin in the show is all the old man we think of him as in myth, but he's also still old when we go back in time to when the Battle of Kilahead Bridge takes place, albeit it without a full head of grey hairs (how does the old man age more than his teen/young adult apprentice) potentially as a young sorcerer/wizard/whatever they use these terms interchangeably, Merlin or Myrddin created the Amulet of Daylight. You could even give more wriggle room between whenever trolls came to the surface and when Merlin made the amulet, because although Orlagk was a figure explicitly older than Gunmar, there is no mention of an amulet without Gunmar simply a time when he was still not a leader. In fact, given that Merlin's original name - Myrddin - came from a riddle designed with the intent to kill Gunmar, a piece informing the Trollhunter teams how to kill Gunmar rather than Orlagk the original leader, perhaps it's befitting to make Myrddin technically younger than the trolls; given that the original purpose of the Amulet of Daylight was not to kill Gunmar but to protect trolls, seeing as how one of the keys to Gunmar's destruction is a Triumbric Stone (one of 3) that resulted in the death of Orlagk, the amulet can date to before Gunmar and have been made after the Gumm-Gumms took out their rage on other trolls instead of humans alone.

The Trollhunter after Spar the Spiteful was Boraz the Bold, named that specifically for taking on 1000 Gumm-Gumms, was killed by Bular who was - as I said - Gunmar's son. While that does not mean that Spar the previous Trollhunter existed before Bular did, it does mean that by the time Boraz was selected after Spar's position Bular was competent enough to slay a Trollhunter, especially one as 'Bold' as Boraz who felled a thousand Gumm-Gumms before falling to 1001. It would mean that his father Gunmar would be much older, potentially tracking further and further back in time and putting Orlagk's death deeper and deeper into the War for the Surface Lands, potentially even aligned Orlagk's death and the Triumbric Stone's creation to a period humans heard of Myrddin, the death of Orlagk potentially landing in 540 AD, perhaps even in 573 AD where an actual battle took place, the Battle of Arfderydd; this details a Riderch Hael, King of Alt Clut (Stratclyde, a Brittonic kingdom in northern... well... Britain, which got annexed in the 11th century AKA 1000 AD to become part of the emerging Kingdom of Scotland) slaughtering the forces of a Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio, Myrddin having gone mad watching that defeat.

The remaining named Trollhunters, ones that weren't explicitly dated and timed, are in a bullshit order on the Wiki that I just have to piece together what is being said to put together a timeline.

Maddrux the Many, he/him in the show and she/her in the comics, was canonically an active Trollhunter before another, Araknak the Agile, was either born or an actual functioning adult; Araknak is the ancestor of the previously mentioned (and assumed to be) middle aged Blinkous Galadrigal and his brother (an older brother or twin depending on who you quote) Dictatious Maximus Galadrigal, the pair being present for the Battle of Kilahead Bridge and still alive by 2016 and idk about Tatious but Blinky appears in 2017 or at least whenever RoTT takes place. To use the term ancestor instead of grandparent or even parent, which technically ancestor can be used on either anyway, means that the exact family history is undetermined. However, we can place Maddrux at the very least on the timeline where Orlagk was still active in, seeing as that was her major enemy in the comics.

At the end of her service instead of going directly to Araknak, a Trollhunter preceded him in Magmar the Molten, the only known mountain troll to be a wielder of Daylight. Interesting to note, Araknak learnt from Magmar a certain combat move so, even before his selection by the amulet Araknak was already preferring the lifestyle of a warrior in comparison to his scholar parents; a trait that outlasted the warrior spirit and descended to the Galadrigals however many years later. Mentioned specifically as preceding not only Araknak but Tellad-Urr, we have another date to place as Tellad-Urr the Triumphant - very soon to be Tellad-Urr the Terrible - was active until 501 CE where Orlagk was still alive; how convientient. It helps that Gogun the Gentle - his immediate successor - would be the only Trollhunter to die of old age, potentially because Gunmar was too busy killing Orlagk and Orlagk too busy being dead for either of them to do anything.

Hopefully Gogun was already an old fart because the oldest recorded troll Chokeenamaga lived to 5352 years and I have no idea if that's slightly above average, notably old, or specific to a troll type (like for example, mountain trolls may have the longest average lifespan of all trollkin), and it's not like I can look at the show for any reference because Draal the Deadly, son of Kanjigar the Couragous and the previous Trollhunter did not age between 900 years yet there are no troll whelps in modern Trollmarket, let alone the fact that the Battle of Kilahead Bridge according to our established Trollhunters could not have happened before 1578 but must have happened between then and 1620. And Draal is an adult in modern day but is rather impulsive and I do not know if that is simply a troll trait or the trait of a twenty something year old that should've had a different design in the past but couldn't because of the limitations of 3D show animation (Prime fans would know or at least see visually that you can't just design a cybertronian version of a bot's root mode without things getting expensive, it's why Skyquake couldn't fly despite looking the same before and after alt mode acquisition).

Speaking of age, this is also the time where Aaarrrgghh!!! was a teenager, which either means that Blinky is actually much younger than Aaarrrgghh!!! or there is another Trollhunter or few between Araknak the Agile and Tellad-Urr the Terrible; 5200 years is a lot of grounds to cover, especially with a Trollhunter dying of age between it. Tellad-Urr has an appearance similar to Kanjigar, and given that it's a book cover rather than a 3D model there may be grounds for him being of the same tribe as Kanjigar if not an ancestor like Araknak to Blinky. It could work give or take, especially since 'ancestor' is less of an official word and more of a footnote for someone's opinion, but it isn't word of god nor anything found in any media.

And keeping with age (last one I promise) Gorgus the Gorgeous, referenced in terms used by modern trolls 'By Gorgus' or 'Great Gorgus', was one of the youngest Trollhunters to be chosen. Whether he was younger than Jim Lake Jr, 16 years old at his time of getting the amulet, depends on what the hell the age of 24 fucking means to a troll. Is it the equivalent of 24 years in troll years? If so then why the hell does he begin training 32 troll years later at age 56 if he wasn't chosen to have the amulet at 24 human years old. What is 24 human years to a troll. NotEnrique, a changeling (troll whelp cursed to change into a human, can do so at will) is canonically a few centuries old, and he is fresh from the Darklands after replacing a human baby Enrique. He at a few centuries old is able to throw and host a troll party at his age, and maybe changeling's age differently and a changeling hosting a troll party would be very new because haha discrimination, but no troll flinches at the concept. And a few centuries could be considered more than 2 (being a few it's already more than 1) so the more centuries you tack on to this college type frat party host the more and more Gorgus' age becomes terrifyingly young like exorbitantly so.

If a few centuries means 'ability to host a party where full grown trolls do keg stands' then 24 probably means whelp, baby, a fucking toddler by troll standards, assuming changelings follow troll aging standards against their human mimicking physical development standards. If a 24 year old Trollhunter is only ONE OF the youngest Trollhunters, who was the youngest? Predestined at bloody birth!? Gorgus started training at age 56, presumably when he was old enough to wield a sword, being trained by none other than Kanjigar himself; Gorgus died during training when a group of Gumm-Gumms attacked, an arrow hitting him in the head. If NotEnrique was an adult, or at the very least on the cusp of it, at a few centuries old - more than 1, probably more than 2 - then what of someone at age 56, less than a few centuries, less than one. Whether Kanjigar was a father at the time or not, loosing a kid under his guidance - to death no less - would've stuck with anyone. Why was this child sentenced to death, and so young too. One can argue all the Trollhunters to failed to live up to legacy, who became their own version of Unkar the Unfortunate, were sentenced to death and fated to die young. Gogun may have defied fate and beat the ticking clock, but Gorgus the Gorgeous - a gorgeous child, a son to parents that will never see their little boy again - proved that there is no outrunning the clock for the bells toll for thee.

If Unkar was before Gorgus, then it is to be presumed that by dying on his first night - after 6 hours of training - that Gorgus the Gorgeous was failed by Blinkous in the same way Unkar had been. The next Trollhunter in line was summoned too soon, so because of Blinky's failure the trolls against Gumm-Gumms were without a defender, potentially reducing the remaining candidates for better trainers by slaughtering them before the Trollhunter was of age. If Unkar was after Gorgus, then Kanjigar needed to step away from training, even as it was his task given to the aging elder Rundle, potentially a younger but very busy Vendel, an elder by proxy of everyone else dying on the edges of Gumm-Gumm blades. He couldn't sacrifice another child to death, and as the amulet falls onto the arrogant overconfident Unkar, Kanjigar could not bare to have stone dust on his hands again. Blinkous Galadrigal (there is no mention of Dictatious despite the presence of Gumm-Gumms in Unkar's time) is tasked to train Unkar, to teach him the tennants of Trollhunter and put to good use his scholarly teachings and pray that the soul of his Trollhunter ancestor guides him. Unfortunately - as Unkar will be enshrined in by title - you cannot let a scholar do a warrior's duty.

However way it plays out, Blinky was young (or at least younger), and his failure marked his reputation for centuries.

There is a Grimbald the Grave, trained with Kanjigar AND Deya, which would definitely place that before 1620 and potentially before 1578; Voltar wasn't mentioned to have been trained by either, but given that he was the last Trollhunter before Deya (at the very least in close proximity), Grimbald most likely came before. Now this seems like a non-issue, if you consider Grimbald against our timeline nothing seems to be wrong, potentially Kanjigar's age since he's been around for a while but his son's an adult in the modern day so he could potentially be older than Blinky who knows. But I have an elephant to address and since it's been so long since I brought it up it's been drinking tea this whole time.

Wizards, the third installment of the Tales of Arcadia series, sequel to Trollhunters, introduces to audiences that Deya the Deliverer was originally Callista the Calamity, a troll who's tribe had been wiped out by humans and had been living in human custody since she was a whelp (or of an age that she had forgotten her name). Deya makes the timeline such a mess, because her first appearance in the comics, she was of an age where Rundle - Vendel's father - was the elder of Glastonbury Tor Trollmarket at the time of Deya, the Trollmarket before Dwoza which is the Trollmarket before Arcadia. Rundle was around in 501 AD, but it was his father Kilfred who was the elder and his son Vendel was of age enough to help in consulting, however old that is. In Wizards however, Vendel was the elder of Dwoza before Deya was Deya and when Callista was still an outcast, and even then he was only the elder by proxy, signs of his father Rundle or of Kilfred missing. Of course however Rundle could have been elder of Dwoza, as his father before him was elder of Glastonbury Tor, simply that he was potentially slain potentially died of old age and that Vendel being one of the few older than most of the Dwozan trolls took over in his father's stead.

The issue with Deya is that I really like the Callista part of her backstory, of being an outsider, an outcast, in the world of trolls that still hated humanity but held a deeper fear of the Gumm-Gumms. Diaspora for trolls, Callista the Calamity is seen as a human pet despite her wanting to find her way home, a home she can never go back to because it had been destroyed long ago; the one place that she could be accepted don't because they see her as too human, a far cry to being called a monster by humans but certainly not relieving. But she had become Deya, and found her footing as the Deliverer, by turning the Trollhunter from a single force to fighting alone to rallying a bunch of... gravellors? (Whatever, I like to think of Dwoza as essentially a refugee tribe given it's diversity in comparison to the Krubera tribe who are only krubera and the Quagawump tribe who are only - save for the generic troll king Angor killed - quagawumps) to fight one last fight against the Gumm-Gumms and ending the War for the Surface Lands.

...SO... that probably means that Grimbald was trained exclusively by Kanjigar after the whole Unkar and/or Gorgus ordeal and eventually got the Trollhunter's amulet himself when Deya was slain, her sacrifice delivering the migrating trolls of Dwoza a chance to get to the New World (or the Americas). Oh and their migration was after Vendel and some king wrote a truce called 'The Pact', which - I mean - it's described as a feeble truce and with a name like that I don't blame it, where they promise to stop eating humans and limited their diet to cats and used clothes which well- they might've broke on the journey to the New World because hiding in the cramped ballast of a 1600s era boat isn't fun nor is it fast. But regardless-

I think for a sense of cohesion, let me pull out an almost timeline for this post.

Trolls who had previously been in the Darklands somehow get to the surface

Tensions between trolls and the already present humans grows beginning the War for the Surface Lands

The intensity of the war corrupts the first Heartstone, giving birth to Gunmar

A young wizard Myrddin creates the Amulet of Daylight and gifts it to the good trolls

Spar the Spiteful gets the amulet. He dies 5200 years ago

Boraz the Bold gets the amulet. He dies to Bular, Gunmar's son.

Maddrux the Many gets the amulet

Magmar the Molten, the first mountain troll Trollhunter, gets the amulet

Araknak the Agile, ancestor to Blinkous and Dictatious Galadrigal, gets the amulet

Tellad-Urr the Triumphant, turned Tellad-Urr the Terrible, gets the amulet. He is killed in 501 AD

Gogun the Gentle gets the amulet.

Orlagk the Oppressor is slain by Gunmar. Gunmar loses an eye

Gogun dies of old age.

Angor Rot makes a pact with the Pale Lady, trading his soul for her magic

Unkar the Unfortunate gets the amulet. He dies 6 hours later

Gorgus the Gorgeous, one of the youngest Trollhunters, gets the amulet. He dies at age 56

Grimbald gets the amulet

Voltar the Voracious, born of two minds, gets the amulet in 1578. He dies to Angor Rot and his soul is stolen

Deya the Deliverer, previously Callista the Calamity, gets the amulet

The Battle of Kilahead Bridge is fought. Gunmar is defeated and the Gumm-Gumms (+ Dictatious Galadrigal) are trapped in the Darklands

Deya dies against Bular, last remaining Gumm-Gumm on the surface, in 1620

Kanjigar the Couragous, trainer of many Trollhunters, gets the amulet. He dies to Bular in 2016

James Lake Junior gets the amulet, and the events of the series take place

So, members of the Trollhunter fandom, how'd I do? If you stuck around this long, welcome to my gimmick, long posts :)

Hoo boy how should I tag this?

#trollhunters #toa #rambling #headcanon #idk this is a timeline rewrite but not a rewrite yaknow #like i'm interested in what the book timeline might have to offer #but idk #this took me several hours to write #give or take 4 hours maybe #not every trollhunter in the history of trollhunting is named because not every trollhunter has been listed #and kanjigar is only noted as the trainer of trollhunters because he's the one trollhunter to have experience with trollhunting i suppose #also- its one thing to have longevity as a species (i come from the transformers fandom those robots are fucking old) #it's another to have fathers and ancestors and dying of old age without considering how that shit works #like the oldest lived troll is in the 5 thousands right? is it the equivalent of 100 years old for humans? #like is the typical age of an elder troll 4000? is it just as likely they might cark it at 3000? #that's 80 and 60 in human terms- maybe the common age of an elder troll is 3500 at a human 70 equivalent #24 years in comparison to 5000 years is like a 6 month old human baby #56 compared to 5000 is 1 year old but surely that is not the case #trolls are apparently born egg-like... as egg-like taking a piece of each other literally and putting them together as one object #that eventually hatches into a troll whelp is egg-like... the parts i mean are heartstones which i think are hearts #draal is described to have hatched this way with ballustra and kanjigar splitting their heartstones #what the hell are gronknuts then meta answer kicking people between the legs is integral to kid comedy #okay i'm going to stop looking at my screen i don't have a mirror but my eyes feel like they're red

[pa-pa-plasma]

I need a jury to decide something please

Who Lost Let's Go Eevee?

Option 1: My Sister

Why it could be her:

was the last person to have had the Switch after I played the game and hadn't taken it out. She randomly took it for several days with the cartridge inside.

Has told me multiple times she doesn't know where the game is, yet today told me they mysteriously found the game in a place I checked many many times, in a game case I also checked many many times.

She added that this is exactly where she left it and she had told me this many a time, but this event is no where in my memory.

Has a history of gaslighting

Has a history of stealing my stuff

Has a history of flipping blame

Has a history of being a bitch

She literally stole my Switch our father bought me and started a fight about how I don't deserve it. Hasn't stepped down from this stance. Still has the Switch.

She doesn't know the game's name despite it literally saying Let's Go Eevee on the cartridge, calling it "Mew" instead.

Obsessed with possession and money to a scary degree. Will hoard other people's things just for fun and tell them she's never seen or heard of those things in her entire life or that they were always hers to begin with (example: every game I've ever bought or owned, Trollhunters (book), my laptop)

Why it can't be her:

She says it's not her.

Option 2: Me

Why it could be me:

I have ADHD and could have plausibly forgotten where it was.

That's it.

Why it can't be me:

I checked the Animal Crossing case along with every other game case in the house (yes, all of them, including other consoles) and my room multiple times and never found the game.

I asked several times since "losing" the game and everyone, including my sister, said they had no idea where it was or could possibly be.

I would never put or leave a game in the wrong case.

my sister took the Switch without permission somewhere else for a few days, so I wasn't the last person to see or have it.

The game cost like $80 if I knew it was in the wrong case in the bottom of some random bin in my room I wouldn't have left it there.

I know the difference between eevee and mew

This is all the information on the case I have at the moment. Thank you for your cooperation and if you have any information feel free to scream in frustration and agony because my sister will never accept responsibility for any of her actions :)

#im starting a petition to put my sister down #the pros would be no longer having her steal my shit & blaming it on my ''bad memory'' #she's 27 btw #this is not new behaviour. she hasnt changed even a little in the past 20 years

[mitamicah]

How amazing would it be if the animation style for animated movies and shows reflected the perspective and personality of the protagonist? 

Kipo an the Age of the Wonderbeast? lots of edges, colourful, fun and fast - all words I would use to describe Kipo herself 

Over the Garden Wall? Everything is so eerie and dark and mysterious just how I’d imagine the forest would seem for Wirt being physically lost while also trying to figure out the emotions of adulescence 

Into the Spiderverse: Miles is coping with all the new stimuli, challenges and changes of growing into adulthood + the radioactive spider thingy the one way he knows how to cope with life: comic books. 

The Mitchells vs the Machines? Possibly the best example with all the sketchy additions from Kaite everywhere like the whole movie is one big trip into Katies brain. You cannot tell me this girl isn’t autist or have adhd or both. It is a wonderful quick, witty and quirky world she is living in and the movie shows that perfectly. 

Tales of Arcadia? This works for each series in different ways but the overall idea is the same: lively 3D animation filled to the brim with insane details, colours and contrasts - for Jim this could give the feeling of being in the moment and noticing everything taking in his new responsibility as the trollhunter, how real it feels to him and how serious he is about it - the 3D style can be said to give an extra dimension (heh sorry x’D) to the realness of the situation. For the Tarrons the many details can reflect the wonder and curiousity they bring to Earth and also how advanced and cool their own planet is. For Douxie I feel like the details (and especially Easter eggs) relates to his age and experiences through life and how much of history he has been a part of. He knows of many things since he has lived it to the fullest through 900+ years. 

HTTYD+RTE? A bit the same as for ToA but also ever wondered why almost all the dragonhunters look the same and it is only the important people that we know by name that gets their own unique features - well it would make sense for Hiccup who seems much less interested in people especially bad ones to take notice of the hunters’ features and only focus on those who is a direct threat to him. On the other hand every dragon design is so cool and unique because the dragons are Hiccup’s real passion. 

Feel free to add more examples if you like this idea ^V^ 

#long post #fun little late night thought #httyd #how to train your dragon #race to the edge #tales of arcadia #toa #trollhunters #3below #wizards tales of arcadia #the mitchells vs the machines #tmvtm #into the spiderverse #over the garden wall #otgw #mine #kipo and the age of wonderbeasts

[theoptimisticdaydreamer]

For a movie that I had been anticipating for years and had the potential to be amazing, this movie was absolutely not it. It was like watching the Titanic sink in 5x speed and only being able to look on horrified.

It has to be said that the animation of the movie was absolutely stunning and this movie represents the hard work of so many people during the craziest years of recent history. So thank you.

That being said....WTF.

<<<<<SPOILERS>>>>>

From the start, the vibe of the movie was off. This movie was set-up to be the be all end all. The final moment. The stakes could never be higher. I was expecting to feel that the entire way through. Feel the intensity of the situation. I barely got that throughout the entire movie. Instead I got several unnecessary terrible comedic bits. Terrible in the fact that they were not well timed nor funny at all. I understand this movie is aimed at kids (though it should understand that it reaches a far broader audience) but even kids can understand when things are meant to be serious. They had blended serious moments with lighthearted ones before so skillfully which made this movie stick out like a sore thumb.

Second, this movie had the potential to be a movie in which all characters that we had been introduced to over the course of years played a major role in saving the universe. I have never been more disappointed in seeing so many characters be side lined.

The first part of the movie was absolutely a Jim pity party which drove me absolute bananas. He is a Trollhunter yes and the title describes his responsibilities. He protects good trolls and humans from bad trolls--he is not some sort of Jesus figure who has the sole responsibility of saving humanity! So them looking at him as their savior makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE. Making the entire fate of the world be dependent on whether or not he possesses the stupid amulet completely discounts the efforts, skills, blood, sweat and tears of everyone else! The previous series also brought forth the magic that it is people who save the day, not a single person. A hero is stronger with people by his side. This movie was supposed to be about everyone coming together and saving the world! The camaraderie! The community! The roll up your sleeves we have got some work to do pitch it however you can! Not everyone helps Jim save the world or boohoo Jim doesn’t have the amulet whatever are we going to do now? Jim had also already learned that he was a hero without the amulet! The amulet only magnifies what was already there. Why was that lesson so quickly unlearnt?!!!

Toby once again was used as mainly comic relief which was ridiculously frustrating. At the same time, he is exactly where he is not supposed to be. His compatriots are trolls and aliens who are so incredibly strong. Why is he trying to compete with them on strength (lifting those cannon balls) and failing and thus slowing everything down? He has brains. WHY DOES HE NOT USE THEM. Be the strategist. Engage in balanced combat not where you are clearly weaker! Also the fact that at the end, everyone forgot he existed until Jim called his name is really pathetic. This is your friend. Care about his well being all of the time and not just when he is on the verge of death.

Claire has grown so much over the course of the franchise. Her magical abilities that she has developed have also gotten so much stronger. However, you see her magical abilities get constantly exhausted rendering her useless while they are down.  She barely has any meaningful dialogue or impactful solo scenes where she is in charge. Every other line is “JIM”. As one of the two female characters in the gang, it was frustrating to not see her kick more major ass. The ass she did kick she kicked brilliantly.

Steve. Steve. STEVE. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I was expecting something better after Wizards! Wizards you see him almost become a threat but not because he is being used again for comedic relief and never given a proper weapon. I had hopes that he would be someone that would be taken seriously in the fight to save the world. I got the complete opposite. It was him getting pregnant after a mere kiss that signaled to me that they were not going to treat the supporting characters seriously. Steve had been with them from the start and had grown so much as a character and YOU NEVER GOT TO SEE IT. I would take him going into battle with a baseball bat and a skateboard helmet over him being pregnant!!! It was another instance where whatever comedy that would normally be seen in that instance was missing because the stakes were too high and the comedy thus becomes inappropriate.

Eli also got sidelined which bugged the shit out of me because again he was part of the original gang!

Krel barely had a role. Barely. Aja only a little more. Le sigh.

Douxie never got the respect he deserved either. He was the only reason the Arcane Wizards did not come together in the beginning. He got tortured before they got Nari. His magic saved their asses so many times. His magic and friendship broke the control that the titan had over Nari and was the only reason the Ice Wizard was defeated. He lost the last link he had to his home and his oldest friend (Archie). Yet, he also lives in the shadow of Jim.

Blinky and Aargh were the only two consistently enjoyable characters throughout the movie by far.

The “Ninth Configuration” altogether really ticked me off. This had never ever been mentioned before. Which means they wrote it specifically for this movie which also means they had all the freedom to change it. NINE? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THERE ARE MORE THAN NINE. THE ELEVENTH CONFIGURATION AT THE VERY LEAST! STEVE AND ELI ARE IMPORTANT TOO.

Where is Nana? Where is the community of Arcadia helping to defeat the Titans? Why were they never informed? They lived through aliens and trolls and ancient soldiers, they are well versed in the weird. They should have had an active role in saving their home and thus the world.

The world building was also incredibly strange. Yes, it was cool to see other places and other languages but why not pick places that are themselves hidden? Arcadia is not exactly on the map and nor should anywhere else of importance. Hong Kong is not hidden and also just makes no sense. The location of the entrance to the Troll Market is also the opposite of accessible. There is more time in Hong Kong then there is in any other place besides Arcadia and why? Also why not tell the Troll Dragon why you need the Kronisfere? I am sure he is also invested in not see humanity (and likely all other forms of life including Troll Dragons) wiped from the planet. He does not even need to give the artifact to them, he can lend it to them temporarily and then have it given back.

The number of unnecessary deaths in this movie blew my mind. There were so very many. Strickler is one of the main ones that comes to mind. I have no love for his character but he made Jim’s mom happy. She was finally happy and doing something for herself after dedicating her life to raising her son. There was no reason to send him with the explosives (why tf were they turned on so prematurely in the first place). They could have gone back, dried their wings and come up with a plan B. Not only did he die, and Barbara’s new happiness with it, it all meant nothing because the wizard regenerated the Ice Titan. Barbara also faded from the rest of the movie and again I am like why. Archie and Charlemagne also didn’t need to die either. Toby didn’t need to die, they could have made it so that he miraculously survived that.

The ending made absolutely no sense whatsoever. They could have gone back just enough in time to save all of the lives that we taken (i.e. the start of the movie) or before the final battle to save Toby. Instead by going all the way backwards and rewriting the facts, they completely erased everything including character growth. It undid all of the struggles that they experienced. Having Toby be chosen as a Trollhunter initially also means that the amulet did not choose based on worthiness but right place right time which just seems off. It would have been better if Toby survived and Jim passed the amulet on that way being like you are worthy too.

This movie has a bitter taste to me. Because it is the end of an era and an end that ended wrong. I don’t think I will ever rewatch this movie. Thinking about this movie makes me frustrated beyond belief.

All the characters deserved better.

(Animation 30000/10 though)

#trollhunters #trollhunters: tales of arcadia #trollhunters rise of the titans #rise of the titans spoilers #rise of the titans #all of the supporting characters deserved better #unnecessary comedy #WHERE WERE THE CREEPSLAYERS #THE ELEVENTH CONFIGURATION #there are eleven and not nine and I will die on this hill #beautiful animation #rott

[troublesometrollhunters]

Hi! I was wondering if I could request headcanons of the cast of Trollhunters reacting to a very young child and basically adopting them or something? Platonic pls :)

Being Raised in TrollMarket

(Tried to write this how a kid would think it)

~ Your guardian was driving you home after a long day at your babysitters. They'd been working all day and you'd gone to school before your babysitter picked you up. Your favorite song was playing and you were telling them all about your day when something ran into the road. You both screamed and then the car crashed.

~ You don't remember much. You were dizzy and you didn't feel good. There was something giant and black with teeth growling. You think it was trying to hurt you but then a boy of light fought it, keeping the creature away. Your guardian was gone.

~ You weren't scared but you were. Your head hurt and you didn't know where you were or where your guardian was. Your mind began to wander. A creature similar to the other picked you up and you felt scared but he gently put his head to yours and you suddenly felt safe. You fell asleep in warm gray arms surrounded by green furr.

~ You had woken up in a strange place. One with magic and creatures you'd only heard about in books and stories your sitter told you. You woke up with a large orange crystal in your hands and bandages all over. You remember a goat looking stone man walking into the room and how his hands were gentle despite being stone as he touched your forehead. He introduced himself as Vendel.

~ That was a few months ago. Occasionally you'll get memories about that night but as scary as it was you hadn't felt fear since. Your new family didn't make time for fear with all your schooling, training, and playing.

~ Blinky and Aarrrgh were like your parents now. They fed you, gave you clothes, and took care of you just like parents should. Blinky told you Aarrrgh was the one who saved you and that he was Aarrrgh's mate. They explained how your guardian was no longer around and couldn't take care of you but they'd asked them to take care of you. You were sad for a bit but Aarrrgh and Blinky were really nice. And so was the goat man and this entire place was really cool! You missed your family but TrollMarket made you happy.

~ You meet the blue guardian angle soon after. Turns out he was a normal boy but he had a magic amulet. His name was Jim and he was really nice. You call him your guardian angel and he seems to like the nickname a lot. He also has really cool friends! Toby was super good at giving hugs and knew everything about rocks! Claire was really pretty and spoke three languages! They hung out in the library a lot so you saw them all the time. You learned a lot of awesome sauce stuff from them!

~ Blinky reads you to sleep every night. He'd tuck you between Aaarrrgh and him as he read different stories. Some were about trolls like him and some were human books. He always made sure to read in different voices for the characters and he'd pause to show you any pictures. If you got curious about the book or pictures he'd stop and explain things to you making you happy. You liked knowing things.

~ He talked about his brother sometimes he seemed sad but also happy when he spoke of his brother, your uncle Dictatious. Blinky thinks you'd get along well with him because of all the questions you ask. Dics gone just like your parents but that's okay, just because they're gone doesn't mean they don't love you and you don't love them.

~ You always fall asleep to soft rumbling and Blinkies gentle voice as he reads. When you can't sleep Blinky sings you troll nursery rhymes and makes you some soothing tea while Aarrrgh hums deeply, calmling you down. Eventually you drift off with them cuddling you close telling you your loved.

~ Aarrrghs very cuddly even outside of bed. If you ever feel sad or miss someone he gently nudges you before pulling you close. He gives nuzzles a lot and kisses. Sometimes he'll lick your hair to try and make it look nice. Apprentally it's a troll thing called grooming. People do it to people they love and care for. You tried to do it back but Blinky suggested you brush their hair instead.

~ Even though you weren't hurt anymore and didn't have to be carried around Aarrrgh liked carrying you. You didn't mind, when you were up on his back or his shoulders you felt tall and you could talk to other trolls without looking up at them. Aarrrgh was super fast too so sometimes it felt like a ride!!!

~ Draal was like your big brother. At first he was a little mean but apprentally he lost a guardian too. When you got closer he became a lot nicer and would follow you around when you went on adventures.

~ When Blinky and Aarrrgh were busy Draal would take you around TrollMarket showing you everything. He always let you pick something you wanted to keep and told you everything he knew about his home.

~ You loved sparring with Draal. He couldn't use his full strength but you could. He showed you different moves and then helped you copy them. Jim Claire and Toby always clapped so you must be doing well. You know you can't help them but maybe someday!

~ When you were done training you'd watch your siblings train and cheer them on like they did for you! They were older so they could do more complicated things but that was okay you knew someday you'd be able to do those things too.

~ Vendel gets closer to you the longer you stay. Apprentally he's usually very grumpy but you've never noticed. He always has a new book for you too read and if you want jobs in his study. He teaches you about all his potions and the history of his people. Once when you asked he let you hold the heartstone staff just so you'd know what it feels like.

~ Your home in TrollMarket is a loving and flourishing place. Jim, Claire, Toby, and Draal are your siblings. Aarrrgh and Blinky your parents and Vendel like a grandpa or mentor. You know danger lurk outside in the form of goblins, changelings, and GumGums but for now you are safe and you are loved and your not scared. Because no matter what happens, you have your family.

#platonic trollhunters #platonic toa #trollhunters #toa #platonic trolls #platonic jim #sibling jim #jim #claire nuñez #claire #tobias domzalski #toby #draal #brother draal #aarrrgh #papa aarrrgh #dad blinkous #dad blinky #blinkous #blinky #vendel

[unexpected-possibilities]

So! Let’s talk mental health and extended lifespans for magic users!

This has been a topic of a lot of thought for me, and I’ve landed on a couple of headcanons that aren’t necessarily close to how it works, but they sound plausible and work within the range of things that I want in my fics.

First things first, I’ve decided to go with a theory that it takes about a decade of regular magic use to extend the lifespan of a human mage/wizard/witch, etc. This means basically using magic with frequency- a couple times a year with low-strength spells isn’t gonna give you immortality, whereas daily or every other day use will, no matter what level the magic is on. Over that decade, the magic user still ages relatively normally, maybe a few hitches here and there(I decided that Zoe blames magic for being short) but otherwise they’re not really stuck until that 10th year or so. So I headcanoned Douxie as having begun regular magic use at the age of 9 (quite early by any means.) which leaves him stuck at 19, assuming he always kept up with magic over the years. I put Zoe at starting magic at 11, leaving her stuck at 23. Now, wait a minute, that math just doesn’t sound right, you say. I’m saying that it took about 12 years for her extended lifespan to kick in because of on-and-off magic use while trying to hide her abilities.

Magical creatures, on the other hand, age slower naturally. Trolls seem to have much-extended lifespans, but they do age. Vendel appeared younger in the 1100′s because of this, and considerably older in Trollhunters, a natural process of aging(and maybe all the stress of leading a town of trolls for over a thousand years.) Now, wouldn’t Gunmar and Bular have aged as well? Bular, I would say, absolutely should look a bit older, along with Blinky and Aarrrghh and Draal and anyone else who showed up then. I’m willing to let that slide on account of not wanting to redo character models that significantly. Gunmar was sucked into the Darklands, which I can excuse as having an altered way of interacting with time. HOWEVER, trolls do age that much slower, and maybe it’s possible the Vendel we see in the 12th century is simply already old. Charlemange is at least a thousand years old I would say, probably older. Who knows how dragon aging works, especially in regards to shapeshifting ones. I would presume that their interaction with magic, as with mages, would leave them unaging and therefore their form never shows indication of age.

So what about mental health? Well, trolls already live ‘slower’ lives, less eventful on a day to day basis, takes them longer to mature, things just aren’t as quick as in a human life. I’d say most trolls would be decently well off, besides the lingering affects of living through various disasters, wars, and other traumatizing events. The amount of stress that a troll like Vendel goes through probably has a bit of an exacting toll. I don’t blame him for getting irritable.

But a human immortal would not be able to live in a slowly moving society like the trolls do. As far as we know, very little has changed for the actual process of Trollish society. Human society advances quickly, as we know. Not only that, but a human immortal would be basically alone in regards to all of this.

Let’s start with Merlin. Grumpy, irritable, easily annoyed or frustrated, and constantly busy or stressed. And he is old. When would Merlin have started magic? Or was he on and off with magic in his life? Did he grow up at the same time as Arthur? I think? I don’t know but it would be neat to find out a little about his history. Merlin also seems to cling to the few immortal friends he has, between Morgana, Arthur, and then Galahead. And he has really no patience to put up with a maturing apprentice. Also, how many apprentices has he had? Both he and Morgana would indicate there being multiple. What happened with them, and where are they now? What has Douxie heard about their ends, because so far, up until him, it wasn’t good things.

Morgana is a case where I think her immortality never comes much into play, but it does make me wonder how she got to be Merlin’s apprentice (again, would be neat to hear about). I’d really love to know more about the whole Camelot history but I’m guessing some of that was cut, seeing as how we get little tidbits but nothing so substantial as, say, Merlin’s history prior to Douxie.

Now onto Douxie, who was really the main part of this post originally. Where do I even begin? Poor guy absolutely has a whole host of issues as I’ve discussed in my fics, but I’m really guessing over the years he’s formed a few, namely a distinct rejection sensitivity, probably some abandonment issues, and I’d have to say depression and anxiety as I’ve already talked about. Think about how much happens in one human lifetime. There’s tons of things that would be depressing as all hell, not to mention that if he ever makes mortal friends, he has to be very aware that they are going to die well before he ever will. Wars, natural disasters, crises, and so on and so forth. Merlin gave the boy increased anxiety and an unhealthy amount of stress, and then left moppet!Douxie with a list of things to do while he waits for his master to come back. And ultimately, Merlin acts like he forgot his apprentice even existed. That could have only destroyed him on the inside, and especially to lose Merlin just about the same day he finally got him back. I could talk for days about what the world has probably done to Douxie, but instead I’ll leave that up to my fics to elaborate on.

We don’t know much about Zoe, besides things here and there and that she’s known Douxie and Archie for a while. I’d have to guess she spent a lot of time with Doux and Arch over the years just traveling along with them. But I’d imagine that sometimes they split up, things changed, etc etc and they always found their way back to each other again. I haven’t really delved into what her mental stuff looks like, but not to fear, because it is certainly coming(in fic form). But much like Douxie, she probably also went through an assortment of traumatic events. Humans do not do well on their lonesome, so I can imagine that she probably chose to stick with other magic users for the most part to protect her emotions. I’m not confident Douxie could really bring himself to do that, however, seeing as he cares so deeply for other beings.

Conclusion? The only reason Douxie and Zoe made it through nearly a thousand years of crazy human bullsh*t with very little mental health support for the majority of the time is that they had each other and Archie.

#my ramblings #toa headcanons #douxie headcanons #long post #verrrrrrryyyyyy long post sorry lol #douxie #toa zoe #toa merlin #toa morgana #toa wizards #wizards #wizards spoilers. #toa archie #this is a lot of writing lol #but im glad to be putting my thoughts out there somewhere and in a comprehensive way #anyways have fun with this one folks

[gotmilk5101520]

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia Watch Episode 7 To Catch a Changeling

How to catch a changeling for idiots.

“All right”

“Do your worst”

The Sword of Daylight. A weapon to kill trolls and cutting watermelon.

“What is this mockery?” Me seeing stupid shit.

“You want to take it for a spin?”

*Cries in Troll*

Yeah, no one will notice.

“Ridiculous garment” Agree.

“Sorry. Draal was training Jim”

“Draal?” “Training?”

“Yeah, he sorta made a home in my basement to look out for the place”

“Of course. When a troll is defeated in combat, it’s completely natural for them to take refuge in the victor’s domicile” So, this happened before?

And it’s gone.

“It was, eh... It was out of focus, and i did forget to turn on the flash” Once again, i went back.

And the flash was on.

Have some Jim is done with this bushigal face.

“I’ve not left the Heartstone in a century” This is what it’s like to be force to go somewhere, cause they say it’ll be worth it. But it’s really not. Wow Vendel is becoming the most relatable character in this series.

“I hate conspiracies”

“That is why i am dedicated to rooting them out” If Trump hired Blinky to root out all the conspiracies of him Blinky will end up making them worse for Trump. #LetTrumphireBlinky

“If it’s everyone, it must be a conspiracy!” I would say Donald Trump, but that would be insult to Blinky.

“Later”

“Oh, no. Claire”

“Claire? A changeling?” Changeling Claire au.

“No. When i thought i was gonna die, i wrote Claire a letter, too, and told her everything”

“Everything?’

“Everything” And what is this “Everything” you speak of? What did you write?

“There you are!” Mission: Avoid Claire. Mission Fail.

“You didn’t run into Miss. Janeth yet, did you?”

“Is she mad i couldn’t make rehearsal yesterday?

“Something kinda came up”

“Heh heh” Good of the episode to put flashbacks in for me, so i don’t have to do it myself. Also Jim implies that last episode happened yesterday (Out of universe, yeah it did) But i thought about it and today would be Monday, and yesterday was Sunday. Jim and Draal’s fight happened on a school day meaning that it was Friday. Jim and Toby getting arrested and Jim making the letters were on a Thursday, and Jim and Toby finding out about Nomura was a Wednesday. And then the school trip to the museum was a Tuesday.

“Steve filled in. That’s what understudies are for, right?”

“Uh, you haven’t heard?

“Steve isn’t the understudy anymore. You are”

“She’s tired of you never showing up”

“So she made Steve Romeo. And trust me, Steve isn’t happy about it either”

“As i was saying, every algebraic equation requires balance”

“Not unlike, say, actors in an ensemble!”

“For instance”

“Every piece of this equation plays an important role”

“That is, unless variable X”

“is a zero”

“X has no role”

“X doesn’t show up”

“X lets the equation down”

“Then, the entire play-”

“I mean, equation- falls part!”

“It becomes impossible!”

“Mr. Lake”

“How would you solve this mathematical problem”

Yeah i’m at a lost.

“Promoting Steve to Romeo wasn’t your idea. Plus, he’s been trying to leave” “Tell me about it. After class he told me off. Steve told me off. Steve. Of all people”

“And, honestly, i’d rather be on stage with you”

I’ve seen that face before. Marinette made that face, too, when Adrien touched her shoulder at the end of The Evillustrator.

New meme template.

“So, we find another changeling”

“Stop saying that so loudly”

“Do you mind?”

“Whatever” Like i said, his name is Changeling.

“Ailment or curse?”

“Oi, numbskull! I;m supposed to answer it!”

“But i already did answer it” Wait are Rot and Gut like one troll sharing a body or no?

“You’re gonna need a gaggletack”

“Unfortunately, you see, we’re a bit short on those. Very hard to get”

“But i got a bag of them right here”

“What in the world? If you’ll excuse us for one moment”

“Ey, what are you doing? I’m trying to drive up the price over here”

“I thought we were trying to help these nice lads” Rot doesn’t understand Capitalism. Good boy.

“Gaggletack?”

“Rare artifact”

“Exceedingly rare. An object of great mystery”

“It’s a horseshoe”

“Made of pure iron”

“Why would you put such a precious thing on a horse’s foot?” Great, what other things are “Rare artifacts” to trolls?

“Beware. Changelings are swapped with their human counterparts at birth. So, it is likely these troll-pretenders have dwelt amongst you for decades”

“They could be anyone”

“Used car salesmen”

“Tax collectors”

“Television executives”

“Donald Trump”

“Yes, especially Donald Trump”

Nope.

Nope.

“Shall i hear more, or shall i speak-”

“Steve!”

“Hey! Who did that? And can i leave the play now?” “No”

Another new meme template.

Nope, nope, and nope.

“You, uh, try this out on Mr. Strickler?”

“Come on. You really think he is one?”

Yes.

So close.

“Here you go, Mr. Strickler. Here’s your horseshoe back”

“Thank you, Miss. Nunez, but that belongs to Mr. Lake”

“Oh. Well that would explain the flying horseshoes” Wait “Flying horseshoes”? You mean Claire noticed the horseshoe that hit Steve earlier?

“So not going to ask” Jim should look on the bright side of this. Claire touched the gaggletack, that means she’s not a changeling, and that the real reason she invited him to her house was not to secretly kill him. Oh wait. That’s not till later.

“Claire” “Still here” When people forget you’re here too. Trust me, i know that feeling.

“You’re still coming home with me, right?”

“Oh, right!”

“Claire and i are gonna go too her house... for math stuff”

Toby is surprised by how that escalated quickly. And it’s not even the second half of season 1 yet.

Series creator, director of The Shape of Water, and the man that said “Monster Fucker Rights” Guillermo Del Toro. Voicing a dentist.

“For the glory of Merlin”

“Daylight is mine to make babies ogle”

“He really likes you” Jim would be a great dad. Wink wink Claire. Wink wink.

“Wonder what he’s thinking about right now” “No idea what’s going through my brothers mind right now” “I’m going to get kidnapped next episode and you will never see me again for a long time. Goo goo”

‘Wow, this novocaine you numbed my mouth with is really strong”

“I can’t even feel my hands”

“That’s because i didn’t inject you with novocaine, dear”

“I hit you up with a potent paralyzer”

“Why would you do that?”

“Well, it’s not everyday someone comes in with a gaggletack” The moment i saw this.

“Why don’t i take that, sweetie? It’s not very hygienic” I knew she was a changeling.

“See, the equation only contains powers of X that are non-negative integers”

“Does that makes sense”

“Is it supposed to?”

“Nah. That’s why it’s called algebra” Algebra never makes sense. It makes Kingdom Hearts make sense. #ReplacealgebrawithKingdomHearts

“I realized you’ve got a lot more going on than people think”

“I do”

“I do?” You may now kiss the bride. Okay guys, Jim and Claire are married.

“You can’t just write a letter like this and not expect a conversation. If you had written something like “I’ve most likely been slaughtered by a troll” I would’ve said: Understandable, have a nice day” “Wait, really?” “No! You are lucky, you’re cute and everything” “I... Uh... It’s... Wait what?” “Nothing”

“You have to battle monsters?”

“Saving the world in which we know? What monsters are you battling? Are they fuckable?” “Well- Wait what?” “Uh... What monsters are you battling?”

Have some Claire being done with her (Not yet, almost, but not really, not for another season) boyfriend’s bushigal.

“I mean, we all have stuff we’ve got to go through”

“But are you in some kind of trouble?”

“I... Yeah! Metaphoric”

“I was...”

“In an exploring stage”

“Not successful” Let it be known that Claire thinks Jim has depression, if not suicidal tendencies. And i did not get this from the wiki or TvTropes.

“There’s some sentimental stuff at the end which i thought was... kinda sweet” Umm. Can we read the full letter? I want to know what he said.

“Really?”

“If you ever need someone to talk to about “the monsters” you can talk to me”

“It can be our secret” Yeah. There are going to be a lot of secrets you two will be sharing. Also, you two could’ve kissed here as well. But whatever you tried i guess.

“Halt, changeling!”

“Or else my giant friend will tear you limb from limb!”

“Maybe later” These things always happens.

“Oh, it burns!”

“Oh, it’s just a painting” Paintings don’t kill trolls confirm.

Huh. After an entire episode of using it on everyone, and making me think it didn’t work, it actually does work.

“What’s that?” “Laughing gas”

*Laughs in Troll*

“Laughs in Troll*

“Hello? Wait how did you get my number?”

“Hey! What’s up, Nunez?”

“Hey Colby”

“Someone named Woby?” Claire can’t remember Toby’s name.

“Fighting monsters again?”

“Who are you, Jim Lake” Claire is getting sus.

Imagine walking into this.

“Perish, you worm!” “Wait, before you kill me, i have something to ask. You know Nomura, right?” “Yes” “Well she has a history with a troll named Draal. Do you know what their history is?” “No, this is the first time i’m hearing about it” “Oh, okay. Thank you. You can die now” “You’re welcome. Wait what?”

“Do you have some magic artifact that can clean this mess?”

“Yes. I believe it’s called a Tobias” Translation: “Clean it yourself”

“It appears Nomura has gotten her way”

“Another changeling has been chosen”

“And look who it is” “Enrich? Enquran? Enquin?” “Oh, for the love of. It says Enrique!” “Oh. Who’s that?” “Claire Nunez’s little brother!” “Which one is Claire again?” “The one you haven’t met!” “Well no wonder i don’t know who that is. I never met them”

Anyone is a changeling. Maybe i’m a changeling.

So who’s the worst babysitter? Jim or Marinette?

#trollhunters #milk watches trollhunters #tales of arcadia

[silver-spider-art]

ToA: Trollhunters vs Wizards

First I don’t want to come off like I don’t think people should enjoy Wizards. Its a fun story and as a stand-alone or an AU its funny with so many call backs to favorite characters, and many emotional moments. Lots to enjoy on its own. However, it is AU. It doesn’t fit in the same timeline of events as what was hinted at and implied in ToA:Trollhunters. I believe the biggest reason beyond the tight time frame the crew had to work under is just that the main writers that were responsible for the majority of the original script for ToA:Trollhunters didn’t return to Wizards for whatever reason (they are back for the movie so fingers crossed). The people who wrote Wizards mostly had teleplay credits on ToA:Trollhunters (edited the screen play but didn’t write it) so while they’d been deeply involved in the original... well clearly a lot of ideas were lost in the swap.

So, why do I say the timeline was screwed up by Wizards version of events?

The opening of Wizards tells us that it’s the late 12th century and then says the present is 900 years later. We know that the current year is 2016 because Enrique’s crib in the Darklands lists him as born in 2016 (so while this doesn’t directly set the shows date it can’t be much past that and assuming Enrique is less than a year old, we can say it is 2016). Now 2016 - 900 is actually 1116 which is early 12th century, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

This drastically changes how we understand the history of this world. If Deya is the first Trollhunter, then all other Trollhunters existed between 1116 and 2016. We see at least 14 troll statues in the Hero’s Forge and we also see several others in storage when Claire retrieves Angor Rot’s head for Morgana, so we can assume a minimum of ~20 Trollhunters. This gives us an average of 45 years as the life span of a Trollhunter. And yes that might seem long to a human but we are told the oldest troll was 5,352 years old and since Vendel, Blinky, Arrrgh, and Draal are all there to see the first Trollhunter chosen and thus well over 900 years old (Draal is straight up said to be 1200 years old during ToA:Trollhunters), then to be chosen by the amulet would be a quick death sentence. Now, while Blinky does only say that the Trollhunters date back to the age of Merlin, this is implied to be further back than the lifetimes of the trolls of Heartstone Trollmarket. Draal talks about spending his entire life training to be worthy of it. Kanjigar pushed his son away to protect him from the dangers of the Trollhunter’s duty implying Draal was young and not an adult during this time, and the absolute faith the trolls have in the amulet and their reliance on the protection of the Trollhunter implies that they’d grown up seeing this as normal. Yet as shown in Wizards, Draal was an adult when the amulet was made. If this was the case he would've seen the amulet pick literally anyone other than him for 900 years and have no reason to think it’d pick him now. Also while showing Jim the box of stones to try in his amulet Vendel talks about Maddrux the Many from legends of old. So old they’d all forgotten what the stone’s actual power was, thinking it was the power of great strength and not the ability to make copies of yourself. 900 years, as we’ve established, isn’t long for a troll. Would you call something a legend of old if it was an event you were alive for? Even if Maddrux didn’t hang out in Heartstone Trollmarket, Maddrux wouldn’t have been an ancient legend. Vendel would've been alive for every Trollhunter to have ever been, so would’ve Blinky, yet they talk about the Trollhunter and the amulet in a revered way that doesn’t befit something which happened within a single lifetime, a single troll generation. 900 years is long for humans, but not for trolls. They would all have to have such bad memories if this is to be believed. 

Another point of contention is Angor Rot. It is shown in a flashback that Angor Rot gets power from Morgana in 1297 with the location stated as Bulgaria, Black Sea... which Wizards shows us Angor Rot taking Morgana here after she drowns... but Camelot is in England/UK (in the normal legends)... that seems quite the journey for a dead girl he randomly found but  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. He calls her forth by 4 names Argante (queen of Avalon or another name for Morgan Le Fey), Pale Lady, Baba Yaga, Eldrith Queen. So one, Angor Rot knows who he’s calling to, he’s not addressing the other spirits that Wizards showed using this place. Also it implies that Morgana has gained quite the legacy of power and influence. Now, when he gets her attention he says “Gunmar’s war for the surface lands has ravaged my village. I need the power to protect my people.” This very heavily implies that the war is ongoing. Based on Wizards, Gunmar was sealed away 181 years ago. It’s also strongly implied that all the Gumm-Gumms except Bular are gone now. So... who’s destroying Angor Rots village? Also we see Morgana’s hand in this scene, so either she’s really good at manifesting or she hasn’t been sealed yet. And if it was a manifestation, why would she make a physical ring? Regardless, she tells him he’s to seek Merlin’s Champions and kill his Trollhunters. Angor Rot was later sealed away in an ancient ruin of Aysa-Thoon in Ranthambore, India (which is in the middle of a tiger reserve btw). It’s old and overgrown implying he’s been there a while. Otto also says he found the location in old tomes so at the very least Angor Rot has been sealed away for centuries. So he runs around killing Trollhunters for ~300-400 years. If this is after the Killahead Bridge battle as Wizards would have us believe, then the only trolls on the evil side killing Trollhunters are just Angor Rot and Bular... which just seems off to me for how everything else is talked about in ToA:Trollhunters. 

The Janus Order and the changelings are another confusing point that Wizards makes worse. When asked about changelings Blinky says that in the Old World Gumm-Gumms stole their young and did something unnatural to them and that their main purpose was to spy on the surface lands. Blinky also says that the Janus Order is an ancient guild of changeling spies, as old as they are mysterious. The phrasing of both these points imply that changelings have existed for a very long time by troll standards, not something that happened well within the lifespan of every troll seen in the show. In Wizards we see all of one changeling who’s already an adult and implies his power is new. Gunmar uses plural when he talks about Morgana’s changelings but they are also very clearly a brand new thing. From ToA:Trollhunter we know that human babies and changelings are exchanged through fetches into and out of the Darklands but if Wizards is to be believed and all the Gumm-Gumms except Bular were sealed away after the Killahead Bridge battle in 1116... who was stealing the babies? Bular? Considering how much Bular hates changelings I have a hard time picturing him setting up the exchanges to get the Janus Order established entirely on his own. If we assume there were a few changelings left loose after Morgana was sealed away... maybe... but Morgana and Gunmar just met and have worked together for like 3 days max... why are they so reliant on each other. And if most of the changelings were made after Morgana was sealed away then why are changelings like Otto so beholden and worshipful towards her? In his Janus Order orientation speech Strickler calls her their Lady Creator and that seems undisputed by any of the changelings. It is implied that Morgana is the only reason their are changelings. NotEnrique says he’s centuries old which means he’d been waiting in the Darklands as a baby until he was needed which I always took to mean that all the captured troll babies had been changed by Morgana before she was sealed away. If Morgana isn’t actually needed to make changelings, then why do they worship her and answer to her over Gunmar? Also Morgana only whispered to the changelings like Otto, never to Gunmar in the Darklands, so she couldn’t have helped set up the changeling magic from that side. 

Then there is Morgana and Gunmar’s relationship. What we see in Wizards, Morgana becomes the champion of the 3 new elemental villains, she makes a changeling (off screen) and sends him to kill her brother, only then does she go see Gunmar. When Morgana talks to Gunmar she immediately brings up the Eternal Night, which... if she’s the champions of the 3 elemental beings who want the humans dead to bring balance to the world... how does the eternal night help them? It certainly wouldn’t help Nari of the Eternal Forest and I can’t think of any reason the other two would want that either. It only helps trolls (trolls who don’t realize that all their food sources need sunlight to exist). After we see her add the mind control power to Gunmar’s Decimaar Blade we don’t learn anything else she does for the Gumm-Gumms. To be honest, if I were Gunmar at this point I’d assume she set me up. Some sorceress shows up, is the king’s sister, she frees your son with a new troll hybrid thing you think is impure in order to get you to trust her and gives you a weapon upgrade to make you think you should go all in on the next battle and then you and your whole army gets locked away for 900 years... kinda no reason to think she ever had your back, especially not to the point that you trust people who say they’ve gotten visions from her in a worshipful way. She very clearly did Gunmar no favors in Wizards. 

Merlin, oh Merlin... one, he’s entirely useless in the entirety of Wizards and always doing something wrong or just not having any power to do anything which is just baffling compared to the power he was throwing around in ToA:Trollhunters. As we see Morgana get sealed away in Wizards, it’s Douxie doing the sealing and Merlin has already fallen down and is asleep for some reason. This despite the fact that in ToA:Trollhunters he claimed he needed to use nearly all his power to seal her away and that was why he was asleep. That her being free meant he could get his power back which just... isn’t how anything happened in Wizards. Also Merlin very pointedly claimed that Jim couldn’t defeat Gunmar as a human, that he would die. But, in Wizards Merlin had originally been building the amulet for Arthur, a human. It was only afterwards that he decided to make it for trolls. So was the only reason Jim had to be a troll because the Jim he met was a troll? Because that is just really fucked up. The speech he gave Jim about needing to sacrifice his humanity, it implied that Merlin had planned this all out, seen this moment... but Wizards Merlin was just constantly in reaction mode and was completely backing Arthur and ignoring literally anything anyone else said until right before they went to the trolls for help. Merlin didn’t give a shit about trolls and they also hated him... but afterwards they love him to the point that they’ll talk worshiply about him? And why did they have to go back to the past? Merlin was so insistent they go back to the past at the start of Wizards... implied like they needed to flee the enemy but a moment after the kids are lost in time he just defeats the skull ship and no one that’s left on Camelot is in danger  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. 

Also when Merlin and King Arthur go to the trolls to ask for help, at this point in Wizards it’s mostly been shown to be a battle between Gunmar and King Arthur for territory. It’s implied that the other trolls have until recently been more hurt by Arthur than Gunmar and Gunmar is only now trying to force them to join because he needs more recruits. Yet in ToA:Trollhunter the war was stated to be mostly a disagreement between Gumm-Gumms and all the “good” trolls and the humans just the victims. Everything in ToA:Trollhunters implied that humans didn’t stand a chance against trolls, Gunmar was endlessly dismissive but in Wizards King Arthur and company were a real danger to trolls, Cal/Deya was nearly taken out by an arrow. In fact the trolls of Dwoza were so useless that they needed humans to train them how to fight. They had no warriors? Where were Draal and Kanjigar during the fight with Arrrgh? So all of the trolls who would become the Heartstone Trollmarket trolls (including Bagdwella) had to be trained to fight by humans before Killahead but then were so disgusted by human Trollhunter Jim that they fainted? That they thought the very idea that a human could fight a troll was laughable? Yeah, that doesn’t make sense. 

And Killahead Bridge, let us not forget. It is the portal to the Darklands but as Cal/Deya walks over it she dismissively says its nothing but a bridge over a dried up river so clearly Wizards is saying that Gunmar isn’t actively using the bridge as a portal, in fact we see no portals or any sort of magic used by trolls in Wizards, not even the door like in Heartstone Trollmarket, Dwoza just has a physical door. The only person who seems to have known that the bridge was a portal was Merlin as he is making battle plans. This also implies that the whole point of the amulet was just to seal Gunmar away in the Darklands. Which is just... why? The amulet hadn’t even been tested against Gunmar yet at this point. This brings up so many questions about the Darklands that are more confusing like how anyone figured out the fetches if travel back and forth from the Darklands wasn’t a thing until after the bridge became a sealed door. 

As for the Trollhunters themselves, what were they all doing if every other Trollhunter existed between Deya and Kanjigar? Deya defeated Gunmar and sealed him away leaving only Bular and Angor Rot and the changelings. We know they weren’t fighting the Janus Order because Blinky had to look them up in a book and Blinky has actively been involved in several instances of Trollhunters (at least Kanjigar and Unkar) so he should know. Jim killed both Bular and Angor Rot, to whom everyone else just died. So what were they doing? Just cleaning up Gnome messes and Goblin battles? If there were no other Gumm-Gumms to fight, why was it a revered position that anyone wanted. The way Wizards sets up the timeline its more a curse that just means you have a countdown timer until Bular kills you. Also every single Trollhunter in the void tells Jim its suicide to fight Gunmar, even after he killed Bular. But by Wizards logic the first time the amulet was used against Gunmar it was able to seal him away forever with hardly a fight. If anything they should think Bular was more powerful than his father by that logic. It all just makes no sense. 

There is more, like character backstory elements that upset me. For example how Arrrgh’s trauma over his treatment as a pet by Gunmar was ignored by Wizards and how his fear of violence was intrinsically linked to that trauma which fueled his insistence on pacifism and how Wizards showed him just casually hitting people after swapping sides with out any issues and that is just very upsetting to me, but that’s a very different rant. 

In conclusion, Wizards has a lot of fun elements to it and can be a very fun watch, but it comes off like fan fiction to me, an alternate universe unconnected to the rest of canon. It doesn’t understand the world building that was established in ToA:Trollhunter and absolutely breaks its own timeline. 

I’ve always pictured the line of Trollhunters stretching back to the Broze Age and the beginning of humanity, a war that has lasted several millennia, long enough that every troll in Trollmarket grew up in war, their lives shaped by it. A war that stretched out into their parents and grandparents generations. Which is completely doable from what we know of troll ages. Gunmar could easily be 4,000 years old (he looks it with all his cracks) and still not beat the oldest troll on record. Merlin always felt inhuman and ancient (centuries long nap and he just has to crack his spine), so he could be far far older than the Arthurian legends and have gone by many names. Also I clearly wasn’t the only one with this idea as if you read the Trollhunters novels or comics based after ToA:Trollhunters those authors assumed as I did. One novel has Jim and the gang go back to 501 AD to see Gunmar lose his eye to Orlagk. The Comics show an early Trollhunter interacting with humans from the stone age. To me this makes so much more sense. Trolls are old and long lived, it only makes sense that their perception of what constituted ancient be very different to what we humans see as ancient. They are also shown to be very slow to change, which is why it makes sense that the Trollhunter mantel is something that has been around longer than the current living trolls.

So anyway, I just really hope the movie doesn’t rely on too much of the nonsense that was shown in Wizards and is a fun romp. I loved full troll Jim and I miss half-troll Jim already. It just feels like his whole sacrifice was meaningless, that by undoing it and showing that humans can fight trolls just fine that it had been for nothing. Its just very disappointing. But that’s just my opinion (but then I’ve always voted for a Jim who can change back and forth and really have one foot in each world). 

#trollhunters #toawizards #tales of arcadia #toa wizards #toa trollhunters

[magic-and-moonlit-wings]

Backstory timeline for ‘Becoming The Mask’

Since I’m Not Using The One From Wizards

Notes: not every Trollhunter will be listed

Eight million years ago: First trollish writing appears. Trolls have culture and oral history prior to this point, but this was when literacy became a thing; or at least, the earliest written documents that survive to the present day date back to this time.

Mentions of ‘Trollhunters’ appear in these early writings. ‘Troll’ can be used to mean ‘a member of the species’ but it can also be used to mean ‘a member of a particular tribe’. 

Hunter Trolls are nomadic and travel alone or in small bands between various tribes, fighting monsters like Nyarlagroths. 

Being a Hunter is a self-appointed job. There can, therefore, be more than one Trollhunter at a time, but there can also be periods without any active Trollhunters. 

The Trollhunters are mostly young adventurers who want to see the world and fight things. 

Some Trollhunters are trolls who were banished from their home tribes, and are taking the only job that allows them to continue interacting with other trolls. 

Some are basically running protection rackets. (“Nice cave you have here. Be a shame if it got infested with monsters.”) These Hunters usually get taken down at some point by another Trollhunter who isn’t running a protection racket and takes offense at the Hunter reputation being besmirched. 

Because Trollhunters travel between different tribes, sometimes they get commissioned to escort other travelers, or go to dangerous places and retrieve magical/medical ingredients. 

Trollhunters begin to be called upon to mediate inter-tribal disputes; if there is a Trollhunter who has saved both tribes involved in said dispute, they are therefore a neutral party that both sides are willing to trust.

Six million years ago: Mediating inter-tribal disputes becomes an expected part of the Trollhunter job, even if they’ve never dealt with either tribe before.

It becomes a faux pas for a Trollhunter to try and refuse a request for aid.

Because most of these jobs are dangerous, a member of one Trollhunter band invents a grit-shaka, a talisman that takes away fear. The resulting recklessness proves fatal for almost every wearer. 

This is the origin of both “Trollhunting Rule Number One, always be afraid”, and the expression “the fearless are the first to die”.

That band of Trollhunters decides to start calling themselves Ga-Huels (“adventurers” in archaic trollish) instead of Trollhunters, so other trolls will stop asking them favours when the band passes through their territory.

Four million years ago: The Ga-Huels expand enough to become a tribe in their own right. They continue to be nomadic rather than permanently settling somewhere. 

Their typical pattern is to move into another tribe’s territory, conquer the locals, demand tribute while there, and then move on to the next place. 

The Decimaar Blade is invented and magically bound to the Ga-Huel leader. (Decimaar means “authority” in archaic trollish.) 

It can be wielded by any member of the tribe, and only by members of the tribe, but only summoned or dissipated by the leader. The link will be passed down to anyone who manages to kill the leader using the Decimaar Blade. If the leader dies another way, the sword chooses its own successor. 

The sword also gives its wielder the ability to look into people’s minds, intended to give the wielder a heads-up to sneak attacks. The “mind control” feature came about as an accidental overload of this power. 

One million years ago: The Ga-Huels officially start referring to their leader as a Warlord.

500-300 thousand years ago, by current estimate based on fossil evidence: Homo sapiens diverges from other hominids.

Six thousand years ago/circa 4000 BCE: Trolls discover that there is a surface, rather than the whole universe being rocks and caves and magma. 

Quag, of the Wumpa tribe, meets and befriends Merlin and Morgana. They study magic from each other. Morgana starts doing research into how to allow trolls to withstand sunlight, on the theory that this could also enhance her Shadow Magic, which is weakened at certain times of day.

Some of the Wumpa tribe form a settlement on the surface, under the leadership of Quag (now their king), and rename themselves the Quagawumps.

More trolls begin visiting the surface after discovering how tasty the animals are. Most trolls do not yet distinguish between humans and any other surface animal.

The Ga-Huels begin actively displacing trolls with territories near the surface, in the interests of claiming the best bases of operation for hunting parties. They start to be referred to as Gumm-Gumms.

“The fearless are the first to die” starts to be used as a taunt instead of strategic advice, becoming “the brave are often first to die”.

Gunmar is born and quickly becomes known as a powerful and dangerous wizard. He kills King Quag when the Ga-Huel attempt to conquer the swamp.

Merlin learns (or remembers, from conversations with Quag) that a Trollhunter cannot refuse a call for help. He approaches the only active Trollhunter of the time, Gorgus the Great, to ask her to protect humans from Gumm-Gumms.

Merlin builds the Amulet of Daylight. Designing and assembling it takes a few decades. 

Because he doesn’t have Shadow Magic, which is necessary to allow trolls to touch sunlight, he cuts off Morgana’s hand and forearm to melt down and infuse into the metal. 

Tethering the artifact to one person at a time and letting it choose a ‘worthy successor’ is based on the enchantment structure of the Decimaar Blade. 

Merlin adds a few safety features, such as the amulet not choosing whoever killed its last bearer as the new bearer; no one being able to wield the sword except for the summoner; and it being possible to steal the Amulet entirely (in case he ever had to take it back from the Trollhunter). 

He also adds a language translation enchantment, so the troll who carries the Amulet can talk to humans. 

Gorgus accepts the weapon and armour, but continues referring to herself as a ‘Trollhunter’ rather than ‘the Champion of Daylight’.

Morgana’s research into how trolls work allows her to create an animate stone prosthesis for herself. She swears revenge on Merlin.

Five thousand years ago/circa 3000 BCE: Spar the Spiteful is the called as the second Champion of Daylight. He wasn’t a Trollhunter before that and does not want the job, but is magically stuck with it. 

Gorgus is annoyed at Merlin for not telling her that her soul would be trapped in the Amulet to watch over and occasionally advise her successor. It is unclear if Merlin knew this would happen but she suspects he did. 

Spar meets an Akiridion, on Earth for reasons unspecified. He helps jump-start her spaceship by pushing it off a cliff after the local humans throw a spear through the Daxial Array. (Scene from the Trollhunters spin-off comic, The Felled.)

The Gumm-Gumms begin to use the Darklands as a permanent base of operations, with Killahead Bridge giving them rapid access to the surface. Killahead is one of the earliest examples of trolls using bridges as portals. 

Morgana experiments with transmuting stone to flesh and back again. She invents Creeper’s Sun toxin and its antidote during these experiments. 

2000 BCE: In the course of her experiments, Morgana finds a way to 'pause’ the development flesh or living stone, and to restart the process later. 

(This is eventually used to keep the Familiars from aging in the Darklands, and the Changelings from aging until they get Familiars.) 

She uses this to give herself eternal youth on top of her wizardly longevity.

Humans begin launching counter-attacks at the less dangerous troll communities on the surface, intended as retaliation against the Gumm-Gumm raids. 

Even though trolls can now tell humans are capable of more complex reasoning than most other surface animals, these attacks encourage anti-human sentiments, so eating humans remains common even among troll tribes that don’t actively hunt them.

1000 BCE: Morgana begins to consider the merits of an Eternal Night, which would allow her to access her full level of power at any time rather than the fluctuations in power that the day-night cycle brings. 

0 BCE/CE: Maddrux the Many becomes the Trollhunter. There have been a few others between Spar and Maddrux. By this point it is more-or-less forgotten that ‘Trollhunter’ was once a job title that had nothing to do with the Amulet of Daylight.

300 CE: Orlagk the Oppressor becomes the Gumm-Gumm Warlord and names the wizard Gunmar the Skullcrusher as his top general.

400 CE: Maddrux the Many dies and is succeeded as Trollhunter by Araknak the Agile.

Late 400s-early 500s, the time period to which Arthurian legend dates back: Rise and fall of Camelot.

500 CE: Morgana proposes an alliance to the Gumm-Gumms, giving them magical items and cutting them in on her ‘Eternal Night’ plan, in exchange for them giving her trolls to experiment on.

530 CE: Deya is born. 

600 CE: A plague ravages Deya’s village. Her newly-hatched brother is one of the dead. The villagers are weak when humans attack, and most of the surviving trolls are killed. 

Deya survives the plague and the raid. Since she is small and ‘harmless’ at the time, she is taken by the humans, who rename her ‘Callista’ and raise her as an exotic pet. 

She picks up their language, but her ability to speak is seen as a charming quirk rather than a sign of intelligence. 

800 CE: ‘Callista’ runs away and tries to find more trolls. 

Vendel is born.

900 CE: ‘Callista’ finally meets other trolls for the first time since she was in her eighties (the trollish equivalent of a human 5-year-old). Her clumsiness with social niceties gets her the nickname ‘Calamity’. 

A series of negative coincidences happen in various places she tries to stay, and she gets a reputation among other trolls for being bad luck. The nickname ‘Calamity’ gradually becomes a more deliberate insult.

Mid to late 1100s: Usurna and Gunmar secretly make an alliance.

Merlin meets a young con artist named Hisirdoux Casperan, realizes the boy has actual magic as well as slight-of-hand, and takes him on as an apprentice.

Although eating humans is still not something most trolls think is morally a big deal, it’s also starting to be more trouble than it’s worth, so avoiding humans becomes more typical. 

Early 1200s: Usurna becomes Queen of the Krubera.

A troll scholar named Bodus attempts to study the Gumm-Gumms, creating The Book Of Ga-Huel. He learns some old Ga-Huel magic during his work to make his book self-update as their tribe’s history progresses. Due to overall troll sentiments about Gumm-Gumms, Bodus himself becomes feared and distrusted.

1200-1300: AAARRRGGHH and Stricklander are born (exact dates undecided) and taken by the Gumm-Gumms. AAARRRGGHH is raised as a soldier and Stricklander becomes one of the first successful Changelings. 

Mid 1200s: The Trollhunter, Tellad-Urr the Triumphant, cracks under the never-ending demands placed on Trollhunters to resolve every petty little problem, and starts working with the Gumm-Gumms, becoming known as Tellad-Urr the Terrible.

1297: Angor Rot asks Morgana for help in protecting his village from the Gumm-Gumms. Morgana responds by taking Angor’s soul and magically enslaving him. She also magically pauses his aging, so he’ll perpetually be in his prime while hunting down the Trollhunters. 

1350s: Angor Rot kills Tellad-Urr the Terrible and absorbs his soul. 

1360s: Gogun the Gentle, the Trollhunter after Tellad-Urr, dies peacefully in his sleep. Gogun is the first Champion Of Daylight not to die in combat.

1380s: Angor Rot kills his second Trollhunter.

Deya learns her birth name when she is called by the Amulet. Trolls are still not particularly welcoming of her, but they stop actively driving her away. 

Early 1400s: Blinky is born. (Exact date undecided, but he is in his 600s in the present day.) 

Skarlagk, daughter of Orlagk, is also born. 

Enough Changelings exist that the Janus Order is formed. 

Mid 1400s: Testing the limits of how mutable she can make living stone, Morgana creates the first Polymorphs; Changelings who do not need a Familiar to take on human form. Because this is more difficult and has a higher death rate than making ‘standard’ Changelings, she only makes a few of them. 

Late 1400s: Deya goes on her quest to punch Merlin in the face for being chronically cryptic. (Scene from the Trollhunters spin-off comic, The Felled.)

Non-Gumm-Gumm trolls learn that Changelings exist. Gaggletacks are discovered. 

Trolls start making more active efforts to conceal their existence from humans, partly to avoid encounters with Changelings and partly because human weaponry continues to improve.

Early 1500s: Gunmar kills Orlagk and becomes the new Gumm-Gumm Warlord. 

Gunmar loses his eye in the fight. Merlin has a vision of the Triumbric Stones being the key to defeating Gunmar, so he gathers them and hides them in places he thinks will be safe until he figures out how exactly that will work. 

AAARRRGGHH internally questions how safe it is to remain on Gunmar’s side, since AAARRRGGHH is now at the same rank Gunmar was before overthrowing Orlagk and therefore Gunmar might start viewing AAARRRGGHH with suspicion. 

Mid 1500s: Skarlagk the Scorned begins recruiting Gumm-Gumms for a coup, intending to kill and replace Gunmar to avenge her father.

Jim, Nomura, and Not Enrique are born, kidnapped, and made into Changelings.(Nomura is older than the boys, but only by about twenty years, which isn’t much for trolls.) 

Bular is also born. 

The Dishonourable Bodus learns of the Triumbric Stones and records that there is a way to defeat Gunmar. Stories about the hypothetical ‘Eclipse Sword’ begin to spread. Gunmar has Bodus and his students tracked down and killed, and all found copies of his work destroyed.

After burning Bodus’ Final Testament, Stricklander reads and memorizes the riddle about where to find the “three forces elemental” which make up “a shadow’s bane”.

Deya hears that Merlin found a potential way to defeat Gunmar and is annoyed that he hasn’t told her about it, but right now she doesn’t have time to track the wizard down and punch him again.

1582: The Gregorian calendar is established. 

Late 1500s: AAARRRGGHH deserts the Gumm-Gumms. To prove himself trustworthy to Deya, he gives her crucial information about the location and function of Killahead Bridge, the Darklands’ main access point to the surface.

Anticipating an attack after AAARRRGGHH’s desertion, Gunmar leaves Bular in the care of the Janus Order.

Deya seals the Gumm-Gumms in the Darklands.

Merlin seals Morgana in the Heartstone and decides to take a nap for the next few centuries.

Early 1600s: Morgana figures out how to siphon Merlin’s magic.

Skarlagk openly turns against Gunmar. Many Gumm-Gumms resent being trapped in the Darklands, which makes recruitment easier for her. 

Gunmar begins mind-controlling more and more of his soldiers. This increases the rate of desertion among those not being mind-controlled. 

The Janus Order beings trying to gather and rebuild Killahead Bridge.

1620: The Mayflower sets sail, with trolls stowing away ... somehow.

1630s: The trolls find the Heartstone and settle under what will become Arcadia Oaks. 

Birthstones which were carried along during the migration begin to hatch. Draal is one of the first trolls born in Heartstone Trollmarket.

AAARRRGGHH makes contact with the Krubera for the first time since his infancy.

Dictatious, who was too close to the bridge and pulled into the Darklands by accident, is found by Gunmar’s forces. He swears loyalty to Gunmar to avoid being mind-controlled or killed. 

Gunmar decides that, if Dictatious was able to survive the Darklands alone for as long as he did, he must have potential and be worth keeping around. 

At the age of 1100, Deya the Deliverer is killed by Bular. 

Unkar the Unfortunate is called as the Trollhunter and killed by Angor Rot before Bular even knows who the new Trollhunter is. 

Late 1600s: Unkar’s successor is also killed by Angor Rot, but successfully traps him before dying. 

Their successor is killed by Bular, who assumes the Trollhunter he just killed was Deya’s successor. 

On Gunmar’s orders, as conveyed through a Fetch, Usurna makes contact with a few Changelings, who begin spying on trolls instead of humans and reporting to her instead of Bular. 

Gunmar’s eye is passed from Usurna to the Changelings to the Janus Order.

The head of the Janus Order is aware that there’s at least one non-Changeling troll besides Bular who still serves Gunmar but isn’t in the Darklands. The head does not know Usurna’s name and has never met her in person.

Bular does know Usurna’s identity, but has never had the opportunity to meet her in person.

Through Usurna, who got the information from AAARRRRGGHH when he told the Krubera about how he left the Gumm-Gumms, the Janus Order learns that Killahead Bridge is now ‘locked’ by the Amulet of Daylight, and the Amulet will be necessary to reopen it. 

Stricklander begins building a fake Amulet on the hypothesis it can work as a ‘lock pick’.

1700s: A branch of the Janus Order located in New Jersey discovers a Heartstone. Rather than turning it over to Gunmar, they desert as a whole, making it look like humans discovered them and the Changelings gutted the base to destroy any evidence of what they were doing before getting wiped out. 

The Changeling deserters rename their group the Jersey Devils, after the local legend.

1850: California becomes a state.

Kanjigar becomes the Trollhunter. 

Stricklander becomes the leader of the Janus Order.

1859: Nomura is assigned to a Familiar. She will later resent that she “just missed” the Renaissance. 

1875: El Rancho Arcadia, the town that will become Arcadia Oaks, is founded. (Year and original town name seen on a sign on the final page of the spin-off comic The Secret History Of Trollkind.)

1876: Nomura, with her Familiar’s family, attends the first ever performance of Peer Gynt.

1877: Phonographs are invented. Stricklander buys one for personal use and Morgana communicates with him through it. All Janus Order bases are equipped with phonographs as soon as possible. 

1900: Nomura and Draal meet and attempt to date. 

1903: The Janus Order finds out Nomura has an ‘in’ with the Trollhunter’s son and she is instructed to try and steal the Amulet. Strickler gives Nomura the fake Amulet in case she can swap it for the real one. 

Nancy not-Domzalski-yet is born.

1909: Carla Fontaine, leader of the Jersey Devils, accidentally encounters her ex-lover Tiffany Archenn, who is still in the Janus Order and thought Carla was dead. Luckily their relationship ended on good terms, so Tiffany is willing to keep Carla’s survival a secret and Carla is willing to accept her promise. 

1914-1918: International warfare erupts, which will come to be known as ‘World War One’ after humans have a second one; at the time it is called ‘The Great War’ and ‘The War To End All Wars’. 

Teenage Nancy probably-not-Domzalski-yet acts as a spy near the end of this war, taking advantage of her youth to avoid suspicion while running information.

1920s: Draal figures out Nomura is a Changeling but doesn’t let her know he’s figured it out. He starts “sneakily” trying to convince her to change sides, which gives away that he knows.

Nomura gives Draal a grit-shaka, expecting him to do something stupid under its influence that can be used to lure Kanjigar into a trap.

Things end badly, but surprisingly no one actually dies in the fallout. Draal sees Nomura escape, but does not correct his father when Kanjigar assumes she’s dead. 

Trollmarket knows there was a Changeling trying to get in, but are under the impression Nomura was on her own, and that therefore they don’t need to worry about more Changelings. 

Early 1950s: Dr Bernie Sturges begins working at Area 49-B, keeping an eye on what the humans are up to there on behalf of the Janus Order. 

Nancy Domzalski has a surprise pregnancy. She and her husband Horace name their son Ralph. 

1970s: Barbara is born. (Exact date undecided, but she’s in her mid-to-late twenties when she has her son.)

Early to mid 1990s: Barbara meets James Lake at college. They marry shortly after graduation. 

Late 1990s: Bernie Sturges is discharged from Area 49-B for questioning policy decisions one too many times. They remain under surveillance because they know so much classified information, and are suspected of being involved in Stuart of Durio’s escape. (Bernie was not involved in that escape but did regularly object to the base’s treatment of prisoners.) 

After several years of working as a painter, Barbara decides to go back to school to become a doctor. 

James decides to get Barbara pregnant, expecting her to change her mind about going back to school once they have a baby, with the reasoning that “this whole ‘doctor’ thing is just because she wants someone to look after,” and “if I ask her not to go back to school, then I’m the asshole, so she needs to feel like it was her own idea.”

2000: James Lake Junior is born. Three months later, he is swapped for a Changeling who comes to be known as ‘Jim’.

2001: Mary Wang’s parents, Thomas and Laurel (names inspired by the character’s voice actress, Lauren Tom), get divorced because they have incompatible money-management techniques.

Laurel is very cautious with spending and meticulous about saving, believing in putting money aside for a rainy day; Thomas expected her to "be less of a penny-pincher" after they got married and pooled their resources.

Thomas is very relaxed about money, believing if you have it then you might as well enjoy it; Laurel expected him to "be less of a spendthrift" once they got married and had a fiscal responsibility to each other as well as themselves.

Once their finances are untangled, they get along much better, and the divorce is a friendly one.

2002: Ralph Domzalski and his wife win the state lottery. They put most of the money into savings but also decide to go on a cruise around the world, leaving their two-year-old son Tobias in the care of Ralph’s mother. They are lost at sea during a storm. 

2003: Nancy Domzalski turns 100 years old.

2004: Darci Scott tells her parents she feels more like a girl than a boy. They do some talking with her and some research on their own, and help her to transition. 

2005: Nancy and Tobias Domzalski move into the house across the street from the Lakes. Jim befriends Toby mostly because it draws attention from concerned adults if a child appears to have no friends. 

James Lake Senior abandons his wife and son. 

Several months later, Jim brings the unassembled bike kit James gave him to the Janus Order base and throws the pieces through the Fetch.

Nancy sets Toby up with regular therapy appointments with Dr Tiffany Archenn, because Nancy believes in preventative maintenance as part of mental health.

Mary Wang’s mother remarries. Premarital counselling happens this time around to make sure they’re on the same page about things like money. She and her wife, Jennifer Smith, each leave their names unchanged. 

Jennifer Smith, a Changeling, puts heavy-duty protection spells on every building where her wife and stepdaughter spend a significant amount of time and any items they frequently have with them. The spells are applied in such a way that you have to be checking for protection spells (or set them off) in order to notice them.

2006: Jim realizes he genuinely cares about Toby, and gives him a spot on Jim’s mental list of “humans to try keeping alive”.

Barbara starts learning krav maga. In these classes, she meets and befriends Zelda Nomura. 

2008: Bernie has been away from Area 49-B long enough that the surveillance is beginning to slack off.

2012: Since James Lake Senior has been “missing” for seven years, Jim is able to have him declared legally dead.

Barbara graduates medical school and becomes an emergency room trauma surgeon.

Summer 2015: Since Mary is about to start high school, her parents finally agree to let her have a cellphone. Jennifer adds yet another protection spell to the device; it’s a good anchor since Mary will presumably have it with her at all times. 

Claire and Jim both attend a fundraiser for Arcadia's hospital. Claire sees Jim dancing with Barbara and is charmed and intrigued at the sight of a boy her age who is unembarrassed to dance with his mother in public. (Idea taken from the first spin-off novel, The Adventure Begins.)

September 2015 - June 2016: Toby develops a friendly acquaintanceship with Eli Pepperjack. 

Jim is polite, in the interests of not driving Toby away by preventing him from having other friends, but wary because of Eli’s conviction there is something supernatural in Arcadia and his determination to uncover it. 

Eli picks up that he is more ‘tolerated’ by Jim than ‘liked’, which makes Eli feel awkward and suspect Toby feels the same way and is just better at hiding it. Toby and Eli never progress past “friendly acquaintances” into “friends”.

Jim and Claire are partnered in several school projects. Like Toby and Eli, they become friendly acquaintances. Jim makes a note of how often and how fondly Claire speaks of her little brother once Enrique is born.

August 2016: Bernie Sturges fakes the death of their current human identity and temporarily moves into the Janus Order base while setting up a new one. (Sometimes Changelings have overlaps or gaps between identities, to muddy the trail if someone tries to track them.)

September 2016: Kanjigar dies. Jim is called as the Trollhunter. Fanfic begins at this point.

#Becoming The Mask extras #backstory #long post #Trollhunters #alternate universe #My Fanfiction #Tales of Arcadia #TOA novels and comics #3Below #toaWizards #Changeling Jim

[absolxguardian]

I was pretty bummed that it seems like Wizards has retconned out all of the books and comics. Except, I’ve figured out a way for things to still work. With just more time travel.

First we have a lot of minor contradictions, such as the length of the battle of Killahead Bridge (Welcome to the Darklands) or the context of Aaarrgghh’s defection or why Bular was out of range of Killahead Bridge (The Secret History of Trollkind). However, all of these can be explained through the presence of Jim and co changing the timeline in minor ways. So instead of the events of Wizards resulting in a perfect self-resolving paradox, it’s actually more like how time travel works in Back To the Future. Jim and co leave from their original timeline (which because I’m a Homestuck, I’m going to refer to it as the Beta Timeline), and then create a future that is similar enough that they can return to (the Alpha Timeline), but not exactly the same. There might even be some kind of fate or destiny that provides a gravity that prevents minor actions from having too great of an effect.

So everything we’ve seen in Tales of Arcadia has been the Beta Timeline, until Jim and co return to the future. This would also explain a lot of weirdness in the shows themselves. The reason why Blinky never said “oh hey you look kind of familiar” to troll!Jim is because that Blinky, Beta Blinky, never met a time traveling troll!Jim. That’s also why Beta Douxie doesn’t have the memories his Alpha self would have of things from his perspective. In also explains Merlin’s sudden change of heart. The Merlin we’ve seen previously has been Beta Merlin, who never experienced working together with a time traveling Douxie. But once the protagonists return to the Alpha Timeline, they’re encountering a Merlin with that character development, who is now nicer to Douxie. The same goes for Morgana. In Episode 9, she instantly recognizes Claire as her handmaiden, but she didn’t during Trollhunters. 

So how did Beta Merlin create the Amulet and seal Morgana without the help of future Douxie. Well the answer is simple, Nari’s defection. Surely one can substitute one of the three most powerful magical beings for a Master Wizard. In fact, having to wait for Nari to find Merlin could be the cause of the Battle of Killahead Bridge taking weeks. At first, Deya might not even have been the Trollhunter, Gunmar just assumed she was fighting in her dirtied armor for the extent of the battle.

Before we go onto the big retcon, there’s also the matter of leadership of Trollmarket. This one is simple. While there were trolls living in Dwoza under Vendel’s leadership, there were still trolls in Glastonbury Tor led by Rundle. After Killahead, the two groups of trolls reunited, and then between the Battle and the Pact, Rundle dies and Vendel succeeds him. 

Alright, now for the big one- Wizards making Deya the first Trollhunter. First, I’d like to point out the reasons why that makes things weird, in addition to retconning the books (although I wouldn’t mind Boraz the Bold being the Trollhunter from Sumer to Rome getting retconned). It means that Blinky, Draal, and the rest of the main troll cast knew every single Trollhunter. That doesn’t make for much of a grand legacy for Jim to have to live up to. It also forces the Trollhunters into having very short life spans and makes 3 Below a bit weird. The king and queen entrusted Galen’s Core specifically to Kanjigar as the Trollhunter and Vendel centuries ago. When does that allow for the rest of the Trollhunters? 

So how do I fix it? With more time travel. After the Battle of Killahead Bridge, he and Nari build another Amulet and travel back in time to give it to the real first Trollhunter. In the Beta Timeline, he figures out that he has to do that from troll lore. In the Alpha Timeline, Jim and co just ask him “wait why do you have to make an amulet for Deya?” 

So when Draal says “Trollhunter?” during Merlin’s speech to the Dwoza trolls, he isn’t thinking “That’s a weird name” he’s thinking “Oh Trollhunter, the old title for a protector of the balance between Trolls and humans.” And when Claire asks “Wait wasn’t Deya the first Trollhunter?” this is after the protagonists and Merlin had an off screen conversation where they ask Merlin why he needs to make the Amulet. Beta Douxie probably even already knows that there was discontinuity between Deya and her predecessor, with Merlin needing to build a new amulet, even if he didn’t know that Merlin hasn’t made a first amulet yet from the Master Wizard’s perspective.

Now when Merlin goes to sleep after sealing Morgana, that’s not what takes him to his tomb. Rather, he gets better after a bit. Wizards hibernate now, ok. In the Alpha Timeline, Nari probably revives him. And in the Beta Timeline, with Nari standing in for Douxie, Merlin might not even get knocked out. So Merlin sends apprentice!Douxie away, and using Nari’s power to create what he needs (like a time map and time travel mechanism in the Alpha Timeline) he and Nari jump back to whenever obscure Troll lore says the first Trollhunter received the mantle. This first Amulet is also Morgana hand free, making more use of Nari’s power in either timeline. Merlin and Nari go back to pre-history (it’s also a lot easier to hide Nari from an Arcane Order that isn’t even looking for her), and while being a distanced guide to the Trollhunters, Merlin lives through history without any extra time-travel, using the time map to check his progress. Once he reaches the point where he would go back, he arranges for Galahad and the floating Camelot castle to protect Nari, while he goes to sleep with the Staff of Avalon, to prevent paradoxes or whatever.

While making his way through the past, Merlin also builds his tomb and creates the future telling murals all around the world. I’m not sure why he’d do that, possibly just because that’s what the time map tells him to do, to make sure the book of Ga-Huel is created for those sweet sweet stable paradoxes. Or maybe their creation is a side effect of Nari’s presence, and the murals were just attributed to Merlin.

There’s also evidence for the Amulet getting destroyed upon the death of Deya’s predecessor. Because the title of Trollhunter was in decline before her. We have Unkar dying in a few hours (although unfortunately he can’t be Deya’s predecessor and the amulet was destroyed through Bular/the Forest Troll’s ritual sacrifice of him all the way over in the Yucatan Peninsula(The Book of Ga-Huel)). But then, although not necessarily a direct successor, he is followed by Tellad-Ur, an evil Trollhunter who supported Gunmar’s gathering power against Orglak the Oppressor. He is succeeded by Gogun, a pacifist garden troll, who ended up turning a blind eye to Gunmar readying the Gum-Gums for war. Now maybe Gogun went into hiding, requiring a new Amulet. Or maybe Gogun died in a way that destroyed the Amulet. Or maybe some other shitty Trollhunter is the one who succeeded Gogun and ended the line.

Now Spar the Spiteful identifies an Akiridion as some of Morgana’s magic (The Felled). The answer for that is since Changelings are already a known thing before Morgana went evil, they were created by the Arcane Order. So Merlin just told Spar that Changelings (or some other creation of the Arcane Order) was Morgana’s, because he likes to play his cards close to his chest.

Finally, Deya’s story in Felled shows Alpha Merlin getting ready to go back to the past. He is getting ready to put the Omniscenstone into the time map were it can actually be handled. 

#trollhunters #tales of arcada #toa #tales of arcadia trollhunters #wizards #tales of arcadia wizards #wizards tales of arcadia

[earth-ambassador-jim]

Changeling Loyalties: Chapter 6

A Small Problem

Toby is quite happy with his life, but then the Amulet of Daylight just had to choose his human friend. What’s a changeling to do? Good thing Toby never really liked Gunmar anyway. 

I forgot to post this here...

AO3 - Fanfiction

~~~~

~~~~

Toby was practically drooling as he stared at the strange and colorful crystals the vender was selling.

“Close your mouth, Tobes,” He heard Jim say with a snicker.

Okay. Maybe he actually was drooling, but could he really be blamed? They didn’t sell these kind of things on the surface.

“Sooo, how much are these?” He asked the shopkeeper, a stout, light grey troll about a head taller than Blinky. He leaned against the table and tried not to look too interested.

“What’ve ya got?” The shopkeeper asked in a gruff bored tone.

Toby blinked. Did the trolls here have a currency? They ate the metals humans prized for their own currency. He looked around him at the different stalls trying to see if he could spot a transaction, unfortunately most of the trolls were just talking.

In the Darklands, while it was generally every troll for themself, they did do some bartering. Toby himself had been rather skilled in finding and extracting valuable gems and minerals. It had not gotten him very far in a society based on violence, especially when the other changelings kept stealing from him. Eventually he had put a stop to that by crushing some stinger crystal and putting it in an offending troll’s food; the results were not pretty but it did the job…

“Toby we need to get going,” Jim said, tapping his shoulder.

“Right!” Toby shook himself back to the present. “Let me just try something first.”

He turned back toward the shopkeeper, who was now polishing what looked like a glowing amethyst on a stone wheel.

“Sir? Sir!” The troll pulled the crystal back and turned toward him with a grunt.

“What kind of things are you looking for?”

“What’ve ya got?” The troll repeated, making Toby feel a bit like he was talking to an NPC in a video game.

“Nothing at the moment…” The troll started turning away. “But! I happen to have unlimited access to the surface.” Toby’s gaze darted around quickly cataloguing the wares at the other stands. “Socks… blankets, tin cans… lightbulbs, you name it I can get it for you!”

Now he had the troll’s interest. The troll’s eyes, grey-brown and translucent (smoky quartz maybe?), sized Toby up. The changeling carefully kept his pose casual.

“Hmmm… Come later and A’ll give ya a list. Bring that stuff and w’ll talk.”

“You got it,” Toby said shooting him finger-guns and winking for good measure.

Jim let out a groan, before grabbing his arm and dragging him off.

 ~~~~

“Trollhunter!”

Toby jumped as a portly troll lady barged in on their history lesson.

He shot her a look of annoyance as Blinky turned toward her. He had actually been enjoying himself. Aaarrrgghh was quite comfortable to lean against, he had Jim beside him and out of danger, and Blinky was a very good reader. Also, while he knew the basics of what happened at Killahead, he had never really learned the details.

“What is it Bagdwella? Is it the heartstone?” Blinky asked closing the book with a concerned expression.

“Stalkling?” Aaarrrgghh rose to all fours.

“Is Bular in Trollmarket?” Jim asked nervously.

Toby doubted that was the case; there’d have been a lot more screaming.

“No. No. No!!!” Bagdwella yelled waving her arms around. “Rogue gnome!!!!”

~~~~

The glue traps were kind of creepy, Toby reflected with a shudder. He wasn’t familiar with gnomes, but their skeletons looked eerily human. Not to mention he’d always been of the opinion if one was going to kill something they should do it quickly. He figured it fell into the whole “treat others how you wanted to be treated” thing. Slowly dying from starvation and dehydration was not a nice way to go.

Bagdwella was explaining her problem to Jim who seemed to be just as baffled about why he was being called on to help with this as Toby was.

“See you need a gnome catcher,” He said with an awkward smile when she had finished. “And I’m, well, the Trollhunter. So…”

“Oh no, Master Jim,” Blinky interrupted. “The Trollhunter cannot refuse a call and what better a call for you to train with than a pint sized quarry.”

Toby supposed he could see Blinky’s reasoning there. Still…

If Toby had come to one of his superiors over something this trivial he would have gotten a harsh reprimand for wasting their time at a bare minimum. Did they really treat all the Trollhunters like this or was it because Jim was new and hadn’t earned their respect yet? Or, more likely, because he was human?

A sound that was something like a guitar drew their attention to a rack of socks. The gnome emerged strumming a makeshift instrument made out of a small rake and singing incomprehensible words. It was actually a pretty good musician. Toby found himself warming up to the creature… at least until it stole his belt and nugget nummies.

What ensued after that was something like a cross between slapstick and the world’s worst game of wack-a-mole. The gnome eluded them at every turn, slipping out of their hands and through crevices, stealing things all the while, until it ultimately got Jim’s amulet and escaped into its hole.

“Oh come on,” Jim muttered as he foolishly reached his arms into the hole.

“So what now?” He asked, finally giving up and turning to Blinky.

Blinky sighed.

“Well if you had lost or rejected the amulet would have returned to you, but unfortunately as it has been thieved it will not do so.”

Toby choked on his saliva.

“That… seems like a really bad system,” Jim said slowly echoing Toby’s thoughts.

Blinky shrugged.

“It talks about it in A Brief Recapitulation. Not much is known as Merlin was notoriously close-lipped. Fortunately that is not the problem at hand.” He folded his upper arms behind his back and started tapping the lower ones together. “No, our current problem is how to retrieve the Amulet.”

“Well what am I supposed to do?” Jim complained, “I can’t fit in that hole.”

A slight, but concerning, smile formed on Blinky’s face as he tapped his chin.

“Currently.”

Toby wasn’t sure what he was talking about but Aaarrrgghh apparently knew.

“Bad idea,” The Krubera rumbled shaking his head with an apprehensive look.

“No Trollhunter has ever lost his amulet,” Blinky said irritably. “We'll need time to procure the Furgolator.”

“Uh, the Furgolator?” Jim, understandably, sounded concerned.

“Don't you worry about anything, Master Jim! Tend to your studies. We'll watch over the hole.” Blinky said resting a hand on his shoulder. “Tomorrow, you'll return refreshed to deal with this, um… little problem.”

Toby, however, was not about to let it go that easily. Especially not when Aaarrrgghh seemed to dislike the idea.

“What, exactly, is a Fergolator?” He asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

“It’s a machine we use to compress minerals,” Blinky said. “If the gnome won’t come out, the Trollhunter shall go in.”

“You’re going to shrink me?” Jim yelped.

“Precisely!”

Toby did not like the sound of that.

“Have you tested it on humans before? Or at least animals?” He asked. “Because from what I know, humans do not compress well.”

“Well…” Blinky had the nerve to give them a guilty smile. “No… but I’m not concerned…”

Toby crossed his arms.

Blinky frowned.

“It’s our best option,” He said throwing up his arms. “Do you have any other suggestions?”

Toby glared at him, something unpleasant simmering in his chest. His fingers twitched.

“Not yet, but anything’s better that squashing Jim in a machine that’s never been tested on humans.”

This was his best friend they were talking about.

Jim glanced from Toby to Blinky then quickly stepped between them.

“Woah there!” He held out his hands placatingly. “How about instead of arguing we take a break and do some brainstorming.”

“That sounds like a stellar idea,” Blinky relented with a smile.

Toby huffed and stepped back. He needed to get Blinky some books on human anatomy before the troll went and did irreversible damage to one of them.

~~~~

After quite a bit of discussion it was decided that Jim and Toby would acquire a high powered vacuum cleaner and see if they could suck the gnome and his stolen goods out of the hole. However, as it was going to be dark soon, they would be coming back to do it the next day.

“Well that was… something,” Jim said pulling off his werewolf mask.

For some reason Toby had insisted on them wearing their disguises until they got into the bushes.

“Yeah…”

Jim glanced over to see Toby frowning. His eyes darted around their surroundings as if he was looking for something.

“Toby?”

Toby blinked and refocused on Jim.

“Yeah it was! I can’t believe Blinky was just going try shrinking you like that!” He grinned. “Though if it worked I guess we could have had you go to school in my Sally-Go-Back clothes. You would have looked so cute.”

Jim groaned but felt a smile creeping across his face anyway.

“Maybe we could have shrunk you instead. I could have gotten you a chocolate fondue fountain to swim around in.”

“Tempting but no.” Toby said with a shudder. “I’m already way too short.”

“I like to think you’re fun-sized.”

He shot Jim a mock-glare.

“Hey! That’s my line. Anyway, I’ll hit my growth spurt soon.”

“Uh-huh…”

Toby attempted to punch his shoulder and almost tipped his bike over when he dodged. Jim smirked at his friend and sped up.

“Hey! Get back here!”

The race home left them both winded but Jim didn’t mind. It was nice to have a bit of normalcy for once. It was also nice messing around with Toby, he’d been a bit worried that…

“Oh look, Mom… I mean Dr. L’s home!”

She was. Her blue car had just pulled into the driveway ahead of them. Jim couldn’t help but to pedal a little faster.

“Hey Mom!”

She was just getting out of the car and turned at his call.

“Oh! Hi Jim!”

Jim coasted into the driveway and hopped off his bike to go give her a hug. With everything that had happened over the course of the week it felt like it had been forever since he’d last seen her.

“Good to see you kiddo,” She said returning it.

“Hey Dr.L!”

“Hi Toby,” She said with a smile as they pulled apart. “Are you boys going to be home for dinner tonight?”

“Oh course,” Jim said.

“You sure have been out late,” She continued, retrieving her bags from the car. “Do you have some big school project or something due?”

“Or something…”  Toby muttered.

Jim winced, he felt a bit guilty about not telling his Mom about Trollhunting but she had enough on her plate right now. She’d be worried (Terrified if he was being honest with himself). It wasn’t like she could do anything about it.

He frowned, feeling the happiness leak out of him as his hand drifted to his empty pocket.

Blinky had said that if he refused or lost the amulet it would come back to him (unfortunately that didn’t work if he was trying to get it to come back on purpose. Seriously what was Merlin thinking?). It was… It was a little disconcerting to hear just how permanent the position he now held was. No take backs… and yet… he’d never had the chance to accept or refuse it in the first place.

“You okay, Jimbo?”

He glanced to his right to see Toby staring at him, eyes bright with concern. It looked like his Mom had already gone in the house.

“Yeah… I just… I guess I’m a little bothered by what Blinky said about the amulet returning if I reject it.”

Something in Toby’s expression shifted, his gaze becoming a little sharper.

“Do you want to reject it?” He asked tone completely serious.

Jim blinked, a little taken aback.

“I… I don’t know… I mean I don’t really care for the fact that I have a killer troll out to… well… kill me, but Trollmarket’s cool and I like Blinky and Aaarrrgghh… Draal not so much…”

Jim trailed off, frowning, then shrugged.

“Well it doesn’t really matter since I can’t get rid of it.”

He turned back toward the house.

“Come on, I’m going to get started on dinner. With any luck I’ll get it done before the hospital calls Mom again.”

There was a pause and then he heard Toby make a noise of agreement and follow.

~~~~

Toby was in good spirits when he retired to bed for the night

Dinner had been delicious: salmon, wild rice and a nice side salad, curtesy of Chief Jim. They’d called Nana over and the four of them had eaten together for the first time in about a month. Afterward they played a round of Rummikub before Toby and Nana retired to their house for the night.

He’d gotten his homework done and even gotten a round of video games in before going to bed. Unfortunately he should have known his lucky streak would not last long.

It was about three in the morning when Toby’s phone went off. He groaned and groped around in the dark until he found it. Toby hissed at the bright light before squinting at the screen. He groaned again. Maybe he could just pretend he’d slept through his phone going off…

He sighed and sat up dislodging Kracka from his chest. The goblin shot him an annoyed look.

“Sorry,” He said in English before switching to Goblin. *Gather pack. Called for clean-up.*

Kracka immediately perked up and darted off, rousing Bob who was sleeping at the foot of the bed on the way by.

Toby snorted, padding over to the closet to grab his hoody. At least one of them was happy about this.

#Trollhunters #tales of arcadia #trollhunters fanfiction #toby domzalski #Tobias Domzalski #changeling toby #changeling!toby #Jim lake jr #James lake Sr #blinky galadrigal #aaarrrgghh #My writing #My posts #Changeling Loyalties

[tunafishprincess]

Fallen Too Far

Chapter One: Sixteen

(Warning, this story ultimately goes into Mature. Tags will be listed on every chapter. The fic is completed on fanfic.net and AO3.)

Next. 

He is sixteen when he notices it.

The changes are gradual. Falling asleep in classes, not doing her homework on time, but those are to be expected when you spend your nights preparing for Gunmar and his army. Even Jim struggles to keep his school life and Trollhunter life separate.

When she begins to forget things, however, he starts to worry.

At first, it is only the small things, like what they had for dinner the night before, or when their next Spanish test is. Later, he starts mixing up which troll is which, or not remembering her best friends’ names.

Every time she uses the Skathe-Hrün she changes, bit by bit. The black veins around her eyes take longer and longer to disappear.

He should have paid more attention.

Jim chalks it up to stress when her personality begins to switch from hot to cold without warning.

Mood swings, Toby says, you know how girls are.

He is a foolish and naïve boy back hen; he still believes he can save everyone.

It is when she murders Bagdwella with the staff and disappears that he should have given up.

He doesn’t.

Toby, Blinky, and AAARRRGGHH!!! try to be there for him, try to comfort him. It’s no use. The remaining Trollmarket trolls want vengeance; he just wants his girlfriend back.

Still relying on the hope that he can bring her back, he leaves his friends, believing that it will only take a while before he’s back with Claire, safe and sound. How stupid of him to think so. He followed the same kind of reasoning in the Darklands and look where that led him?

History repeats itself as they say. He doesn’t tell his mom and friends goodbye. It is one of his greatest regrets.

It takes days, weeks to find her, but when he does, he almost doesn’t recognize her.

The black veins around her eyes are now visible and prominent, making her skin look translucent. Her hair is tied up in a tight bun, though a few ringlets have fallen out, framing her gorgeous face. The expression on her face is not a welcome one.

Even as a monster, she is beautiful.

They fight; he tries to talk to her, but she mocks hi, her words as painful as her magic. Again and again he returns to that cave, begging for her to return. It is a dance, almost—he enters her domain, she strikes at him and he avoids. Over and over, until both are left gasping for air.

It is as if his words are to no avail; nothing he says reaches her.

Regardless, Jim never hits her back. Claire is his girlfriend. Hope is still on his side.

This is long before her first followers arrive, before he understands the truth about the girl he loves.

It is only when the possessed Draal comes, knocking her to the ground, that he truly lets go. It all happens so quickly, even she is surprised at the blue troll’s sudden appearance. Seeing her there, blood running down her temple, makes something in him crack. Perhaps it is stress, perhaps it is anger—either way, he unleashes hell on his former friend, the damn that holds back his emotions springing free.

The battle is intense; the longest he’s ever fought thus far.

But he is the Trollhunter. He still hesitates to make the final blow. It is only when his old friend gives him no other option except death that he sinks the blade into the troll’s heart.

It is traumatic. He imagines Kanjigar screaming in anguish in the back of his mind.

Jim wins and loses at the same time. It is the first of many.

Hot, wet tears stream down his face at the end. He vomits next to his friend’s mangled body. Draal didn’t deserve to go out like this. None of his words got to the troll. He was too far gone for Jim to save. These are the words he tells himself.

They don’t stem the guilt however. It hurts like a knife to his heart. Jim has kiled one of his friends. What would Toby, AAARRRGGHH!!! and Blinky think of him now?

He blames Gunmar (but secretly, he blames himself).

Claire calls for him meekly, looking at him with those eyes—the kind of eyes any man would get sucked into. He is at her side in seconds, searching for injuries.

“Oh Jim,” she says, and he cries harder, because it’s her, it’s really her. Brown and clear, like the day he first met her.

Jim strokes her cheek, “Claire.”

And then she’s gone, snuffed out by cold, calculating purple.

“You saved me.” There is wonder in her tone. It is not Claire who is speaking.

“I saved Claire,” he corrects her.

He can almost hear the gears turning in her head, face contemplative.

“Gunmar and I are in a disagreement of sorts,” she says. “He’ll come for me again, with more assassins next time. My children have yet to appear and I—”

“Give me back Claire,” he interrupts.

“You dare—”

“Please,” he begs, voice low. “I-I love her.”

The words slip out on their own accord.

Her eyes widen a fraction, but that is the only reaction he receives at his declaration.

“Then prove it,” she demands, pushing herself up and away, blending back into the darkness from which she came.

And he tries.

It is lonely—almost suffocating really. Days go by before another of Gunmar’s men comes and he is forced to kill that one as well. On the positive side, it doesn’t bother him as much as killing Draal did; it is still unpleasant and distressing to do though. His stomach curdles, however he resists throwing up.

Around this time her people arrive.

He thinks them human until they change in front of her, bent down on one knee and pledging their loyalty in Trollspeak. Changelings. He doesn’t recognize any of them but they certainly know him.

Thankfully, her followers ignore him, too focused on their tasks. It is, in some ways, a relief. He does not want to fight them too. Claire, or the person in Claire’s body—he can never be too sure—merely watches him. An improvement from before, he tells himself.

Boredom grips him during the day, so he trains in the woodlands nearby, never leaving for more than a few hours’ time to find food and drink to sustain himself.

Once, he leaves his phone in his backpack near the river to bath. Both are gone when he returns. He searches for them for days, weeks even. How else is he going to contact his friends and family?

In the end, he gives up on ever finding either again. It doesn’t matter, he reasons. Once Claire is returned to her former self they can go home.

Speaking of, his girlfriend barely spares him a moment’s time to talk and usually it is only in response to his questions; it agonizes him.

Jim misses home, his mom, his best friend. He misses AAARRRGGHH!!!’s gentle smiles and Blinky’s lectures. He contemplates giving up, to return home, but his desire to save her always wins out. It is in his nature to never give up on his loved ones.

It is his greatest strength.

And later, his worst weakness.

The attacks increase in force and ferocity. He grows stronger, striking down her enemies with a flash of his blade. With every death it becomes less difficult. They were Gunmar’s men, he tells himself, bad trolls he would ultimately have to kill anyways. It is much easier to deal with the devil you know than the devil you don’t. He believes that with each swing of his sword he comes closer and closer to freeing his girlfriend.

He has always been good at daydreaming.

It is when she revives Angor Rot that he loses his patience. How could she? It is when he begins to doubt.

The night is dark and foggy when he starts off for the journey home. She must have noticed his silence at the resurrection, because he runs into her in the forest.

She is ethereal, the glow of her eyes and staff matched only by the shine by his amulet.

“Jim, where are you going?”

“Don’t you dare,” he says coldly, avoiding her gaze. “You brought him back, after all we’ve done? Angor Rot tried to kill me. He tried to kill my mom. Hell, he tried to kill all of us! And for what? Is Claire even in there anymore?”

Fingers weave through his hair; he startles at the sensation. It had been forever since someone touched him.

“I feel so lost, so confused,” she whispers in his ear. He shudders at how close she is. “So many memories. I’m not even sure who I am anymore.”

“You’re Claire,” he insists, “You’re my girlfriend. You like Papa Skull and guacamole. A-and you have a light brother, and a mom and dad. Your best friends are—”

Her lips silence him. It is soft and hesitant, as if she would break at even the slightest of touches.

Jim melts into the kiss. It has been so long since she has last kissed him. His arms encircle her waist. Warmth fills his being. He has forgotten how nice hugs are.

“Only you. You are the only one I can’t kill,” she admits. “I have sent dozens of Trollhunters to their deaths and yet, when when I look at you, I cannot bring myself to even consider the notion. Why is that I wonder? Have Claire and I become so intertwined that her feelings now influence mine?”

“You...” His eyes search hers. “Who are you exactly?”

She tilts her heads to the side, lips pulled into a secretive smile. Her fingertips travel down to his face. “I’m known by many names.”

A chill runs down his spine. The air becomes thick with what he will later associate as her magic. As of now, it reminds him of burning wood and incense.

“Then what would you like me to call you?” He asks.

The purple of her eyes lightens.

“Morgana,” she says after a long moment.

“And who are you, Morgana?”

“I’m many things,” she says wistfully.

Answers, he later learns, are never easy with Morgana.

He goes in a different direction. “Where’s Claire? What have you done with her?”

Not-Claire drums her fingers across his shoulder, staring directly into his eyes. “Your girlfriend and I are one now.”

“Is there any way you can just separate from her?” He asks. “I’ll do anything.”

“It would kill both of us.”

He wants to cry. His eyes even begin to water. A black-nailed finger catches one of his stray tears. She brings it to her mouth and laps at it like a feline. Disgust blossoms in his stomach but he suppresses it. It is another stark reminder that Morgana is not Claire.

She sighs, switching her gaze to the sky. “I simply want to protect my people. I didn’t mean to take over your girlfriend. It was an accident.”

He laughs darkly, “An accident or a convenience?”

“Do you hate me?” Morgana says, voice wavering slightly. Her hands tighten on his shoulders.

“I,” he swallows, looking away, “I don’t know.”

He wants to, but every time he looks at her he sees Claire. Her eyes, her nose, her smile—it’s all there.

“She loves you.”

The lingering hope in his chest swells.

“She does?”

“Yes, so much. I can hear her, even now.” She says, and he believes her, because what else could he do?

“Tell her…tell her I love her too. That I’ll never betray her. I’m hers, forever and always.” And he means it.

“Then you’ll stay?” She asks, and its Claire’s voice, and he’s the happiest he’s been in weeks. “Here with me?”

“Where else would Romeo be than with his Juliet?” He jokes. Later on, he would curse how easily he falls, how gullible he is. He still thinks he could do it alone.

She emits a small laugh, light and dainty. “Thank you, my Trollhunter.”

And then he is hers.

#Trollhunters #fallen too far #jlaire #dark jlaire #fanfic #jim lake junior #claire nuñez #clairegana #Dark!Claire #dark!jim #Dark Fic

[sol1056]

Do you think they couldn't make other characters queer cause of copyright? As far as my knowledge goes (correct me if i'm wrong bc I'm confused) Shiro belongs to the first itineration of Voltron, Go Lion! and Koplars are the owners of the American version. The post-s8 tea on Twitter said they weren't given permission of changing last names, what if was the same with sexualities? Koplar's Shiro, Sven was coupled with Romelle but I think Go Lion's Shiro didn't have anyone, so it was an easy pick?

That’s not really the way copyright works. 

Shiro belongs to DreamWorks, full stop, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. The same goes for Allura, Pidge, Hunk, Keith, Lance, Coran, Kolivan, Krolia, Zarkon, Lotor, Haggar/Honerva, and any other iteration of the characters as they are presented in DreamWork’s version. 

Note: I’m not saying that Shiro wasn’t a character in GoLion. I’m saying that the Shiro-of-GoLion is a character copyrighted by Toei Animation; Shiro-of-VLD is a character copyrighted by DreamWorks; Shiro of… well, any other iteration would be copyrighted by whomever created that iteration. 

It’s a complicated and heavily-legislated area of the law, but here’s the core idea boiled down into a single statement: your creation is copyrighted the instant you “fix it in a tangible medium of expression”.   

That is, you cannot copyright an idea; you can only copyright a distinct implementation. Furthermore, copyright is always owned — automatically upon creation — by the person or company who did the work of setting that idea into its concrete state. 

Behind the cut: copyrighting characters, withholding character information, cultural hot buttons, and where do we go from here. 

note #1: there is one exception, known as “work-for-hire,” where employees create something on behalf of an employer. This must known beforehand and made explicit via some kind of agreement. If you read the fine print, there’ll be a work-for-hire clause in most employee or contractor agreements.

note #2: yes, this does mean you could create a mecha series where the robots are all big lions, or a mecha series where animal-based mecha combine. It would probably end up in court anyway ‘cause companies get prickly about protecting their IPs, but afaik the court’s decision would hinge on whether your implementation is different enough.

(this is why I scoff so much at the EPs being so open about where they steal ideas from: there’s a reason writers talk about filing off the serial numbers. it’s not because we don’t want you to think we get ideas from everywhere. it’s because distinct is also a necessary ingredient for plausible deniability of plagiarism.) 

copyrighting characters

The ‘no last name’ claims are frankly a lot of hot air. 

First, you cannot copyright a character name; you can only copyright the specific and fully-developed character as a whole. (A Meg Murry who’s a South Asian marathon runner? Not a violation of L’Engle.) You could trademark a character name, but only if that name appears in the title; frex, Indiana Jones was able to be trademarked because his name is part of a series of works that all begin with “Indiana Jones.” 

WEP could trademark Voltron (as the mecha’s name), but doesn’t look like WEP chose to do so. Recent research seems to indicate WEP actually embraces and supports non-media products (that is, things that are obviously not their adaptation-of-an-anime) using the name, possibly on the theory this wide usage increases the name’s recognition and cultural cachet.

Second, consider Devil’s Due Publishing (DDP), which gave every character a full name, new biography, age, height, and family history. It retains its copyright over those characters, but only as whole characters. You could make your Keith Kogane an orphan in his mid-20s who’s distinctly anti-social, and you’d probably be fine, because that description is still more of a stereotype than a distinct/unique character. 

To quote the legal encyclopedia:

Judge Learned Hand of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit established the standard for character protection in a case called Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corp., 45 F.2d 119 (2d Cir. 1930), when he stated that, “the less developed the characters, the less they can be copyrighted; that is the penalty an author must bear for marking them too indistinctly.”

For example, alien characters stranded on Earth is a popular and recurring theme as portrayed in My Favorite Martian, Starman, Alien Nation, Transformers, District 9, Predators, and The Man Who Fell to Earth. The idea of a stranded alien character, without embellishment, is not protectable.

[…] once a stranded alien character acquires more distinctive features or aspects—for example, a big-headed, long-necked alien with a glowing finger who murmurs “Phone home”—it becomes distinct enough to merit protection and its owners can prevent others from using the character’s image and expression.

If you make your misanthropic orphan named Keith also a former Marine, and an expert in hand-to-hand combat, and grieving a dead fiancee… He’s no longer a stereotype, but a character with a unique combination of features. DDP probably would have grounds to send you a cease-and-desist. 

However, if you say Keith Kogane is a lonely kid from Texas with an alien mom and a fireman dad, who’s the best damn pilot of his generation, and is generally awkward and whose silence hides a whip-smart intellect… again, a unique combination that fleshes out generic ‘Keith’ into a very specific and distinct Keith. Who is not, it should be noted, a carbon-copy of DDP’s Keith.

And the real nail in the coffin: if you’re going to argue that it’s a copyright violation to use Keith’s or Lance’s or Hunk’s last names, then why wouldn’t the same apply to using their first names? Or using names like Daibazaal, Sincline, Lotor, Honerva, Haggar, Alfor, Yurak, etc. Pretty sure ‘Zarkon’ isn’t a name you see everyday. I mean, it’s not, say, ‘Bob.’ 

withholding information

I’ve seen staff from another DW project say they can’t specify character ages until marketing decides. Which is… truly bizarre. If DW really is having marketing make such creative decisions, it’s not just putting the cart before the horse, it’s putting the cart in the jewelry store and the horse in the attic. 

If marketing or PR is anywhere in the mix, perhaps that’s because someone with social media savvy has realized topics like ethnicity and age will bring out the vitriolic teeny meanies of the Fandom Purity Police Brigade. Thing is, that doesn’t hold water, either: Trollhunters gave us ages and grade-in-school.

There could be another layer, too. The EPs I saw in those earliest interviews clearly had little firsthand experience with fandom, and seemed startled to hear fans actually care about those details. Two years of their interviews, and I have the strong sense they don’t like losing what they see as a battle of wills, no matter who their opponent is. Fandom cries out for surnames? Fandom will never get it. Fandom likes this couple over that one? Fandom is heading for severe disappointment. And so on. 

That’s ignoring the praise the EPs enjoyed for fandom’s conflation of a Korean-American VA and a Korean studio’s aesthetics, to see Keith himself as non-white. The EPs got representation points, and didn’t have to do a thing; the fandom did it for them. Why mess with that?

But no, copyright has nothing to do with that. 

cultural hot buttons

Sexuality, gender, and ethnicity are three places that a franchisee could run into problems, because these are hot buttons in the US. If the franchise owner feels a particular tangible form (this specific character in this specific iteration) violates the franchise’s ‘family-friendly’ aspect of their brand… I’d bet the contract between the parties does give the franchise owner some right of refusal or revision. 

Set aside what you think of VLD’s beginning, middle, or end. For all LM’s other faults, that sketch she did so long ago highlights all three: gender (Pidge), race (Keith and Allura), and sexuality (Shiro). We may’ve had to wait for an unfortunately tacked-on epilogue to get explicit confirmation*, but in the end, VLD was a significant break from previous Voltron iterations. 

Where, exactly, is anyone getting the impression that WEP is so terribly upset about its princess no longer being white, one of its pilots no longer being male, or another pilot no longer being straight? Whatever Bob Koplar might think of VLD’s end, his statement on the day of S8′s release made clear WEP is eager to continue their partnership with DW. 

Sounds to me like WEP is okay with DW’s creative and cultural approach. Otherwise, why go back for more? 

* edited to clarify, per @inklingdancer‘s tag

moving right along

It ultimately doesn’t matter what a previous iteration did. So long as DW’s creation is fully its own, copyright is neither barrier nor impetus to providing (or withholding) any information about that creation. 

What DW creates, DW owns. Which means DW is free to tell us last names, middle names, heights, ages, family history, race, gender, sexuality, love interest, even most hated food or favorite color — or nothing at all. 

#vld #voltron #copyright #sol thinks about stuff

[elizabethemerald]

Shipping Game

I was tagged twice! Thanks to both @autumnalfallingleaves and @eurazba for this fun game!

Pick your top 10 ships without reading the questions. [or if you’re a one ship dedicated blog, feel free to answer all of them for just that one, or do all the ships from one fandom, this is just for fun].

1. Jlaireby - Jim x Claire x Toby

2. Barbmura - Barbara x Nomura

3. Hammerhunter - Jim x Toby

4. Girl Power Polycule - Darci x Claire x Shannon x Mary x Aja

5. Main Protagonists - Jim x Darci x Claire x Toby x Aja x Steve x Eli x Krel

6. Stricklakerot - Strickler x Barbara x Angor Rot

7. Blinkbarbmura - Blinky x Barbara x Nomura

8. Mary x Shannon

9. Darci x Claire x Toby (Does this have a ship name?)

10. Trolldads - Blinky x Aaarrrgghh

[God I have 6 poly ships in my top ten, and not a single het appearing one.]

Do you remember the episode/chapter/scene where you first started shipping 6? Stricklakerot

There wasn’t a canon scene but when I first saw this piece of artwork (X) I thought of it as a possibility, fell in love with it after that. 

What’s your favorite fanfiction for 4? Girl Power Polycule

Honestly, I don’t know that I’ve ever read a piece of fanfiction focusing on all of them. I am however thinking of writing that very story. 

What’s your favorite fan art/picture for 2? Barbmura

That is...really hard to say. I think it’s going to be this one (X) because it my dream to have an amazing wedding like this. 

What’s your favorite headcanon for 1? Jlaireby

I have so many headcanons for them, it’s hard to choose. I think my favorite and one I’ve written about several times is that Toby will video call Claire and Jim as “Video dates” while they are on the road to New Jersey. It’s the cutest headcanon to me. 

What do you like most about the dynamic between the people of 7? Blinkbarbmura

This is one of the ships that is the most likely to absolutely lose their minds if something happens to Jim. Barbara was willing to throw hands with Merlin when Jim was hurt. Blinky straight up blew up a dude when Jim was on trial. Nomura has no hesitation with doling out punishment, and willing sacrificed herself to allow Jim to escape the Darklands. Together there isn’t a restraining force among them. So Jim gets hurt, and these three rain an ungodly hell on the perpetrator. 

When 9  10 have sex is it more giggly or more serious?  Trolldads

Uhhhh, I’m not to create a head canon for how three teen aged kids have sex, so how about I do Number 10 instead? I think it would be more serious. Blinky and Aaarrrgghh can be silly and lighthearted, but I feel like when its just them things are more serious. 

Out of all the ships who do you think have the best chemistry?

In order of best chemistry my ships are: Jlaireby, Hammerhunter, and Darci x Claire x Toby. These kids are the ones who have gone through the most. Their relationship is started on being best friends. There’s nothing these kids can’t do together. 

Which ship has the strongest bond?

I feel like saying the Main Protagonists is a little cheating, so I will say Barbmura. These two women, have a longer life experience and more in common throughout. They understand each other, understand what drives the other. 

Which ship do you spend the most time reading fanfiction for/talking/writing about?

Again, in order of how much I’ve written:  Barbmura,  Jlaireby, and Mary x Shannon. These three ships are the focus of my entire After the Eternal Night extended universe. 

Which one was your first ship?

Jlaireby. Being poly myself, I’m always all for shipping all the protagonists. Teen Titans? Lovers. The Mystery Gang? Lovers. The Trollhunters Trio? Lovers

If 6 were to break up, how would it happen? Stricklakerot

Unfortunately it would probably be because of Strickler and Angor’s history. One did kind of enslave the other. That might be hard to forgive. 

Between 3 and 8, who would last the longest if they were in a zombie apocalypse?

Ok this is between Hammerhunter  and  Mary x Shannon. That’s a tough call. Fortunately it just happened to line up two of pair ships, rather than my many poly ships, so no unfair advantage. Jim’s biggest weakness during a zombie apocalypse would be his weakness to sun (I actually have an AU idea focusing on this idea, that I haven’t started writing yet) I think Jim and Toby would win out. They are experienced fighters with magical armor and weapons. Shannon has magic, and Mary’s no slouch in a fight, but I just think experience would win out. Or they would end up working together and be unstoppable. 

Does 7 hide their relationship, and if so, why? Barbmura

I think there might be a brief period where they hide their relationship. Barbara may be unsure how Jim will feel about her dating his father figure Blinky and his former enemy Nomura, much less at the same time. I think when Jim tells he is dating Claire and Toby at the same time, she implies that she might also be dating multiple people. Jim guesses right away that her partners are Blinky and Nomura. He’s happy for her and for them. Toby and Claire are the ones to give them both the shovel talk. 

What is 9′s favorite date to go on? Darci x Claire x Toby

So far in my writing they have gone on a date to a coffee shop and a funeral. Of the two they definitely seemed to prefer the coffee shop. I think staying in would probably be their favorite dates in the future. 

What’s your favorite canon moment between 10? Trolldads

So my two favorite moments are when Blinky lovingly touches Aaarrrgghh’s statue in the library while Jim is in the Darklands and when Blinky is human and Aaarrrgghh is wounded by Creeper’s Sun and they are both being awkward around each other and so sad that things are weird. 

What do 5 argue most about? Main Protagonists

Ok. Ha ha ha. Take your pick. There are a lot of powerful personalities here. A lot of different ways of approaching problems. They’ve all had their share of arguments about how to deal with their trials. I mean even in a domestic setting where they have a massive house in Arcadia, or in the Royal palace on Akiridion-5, or cave in New Trollmarket. There could be arguments about so many things. I love them all, but there are quite a few hot heads in this group. 

If you had to pick an OTP which would you chose?

Even the concept of choosing one can go fuck itself. The closest I could get would be the choosing two. All the Teenagers and All the Adults. Every teen is dating every other one. Every adult is dating every other adult. Two massive love webs. Who even chooses?

What’s the biggest kink that 1 2 shares?  Barbmura

Uh,, Still not making sexy things for teens so for number 2 instead? That’s a hard one. I don’t think its anything related to bondage or domination (Mostly because i feel like they are both doms) I think it would be “marking” the other. Scratches, bites, hickeys and the like. In her troll form Nomura has to be careful not to make the marks permanent. Barbara will cover her body in lipstick kisses, when they are both human, the fun can get intense. 

Do 8 want children? Mary x Shannon

Hell yeah! Shannon is from a long line of lesbian witches. She knows a spell that can allow two women to conceive. Their kids are going to be so pretty and they’ll have a share of Shannon’s magic. Plus they will have so many magical aunts and uncles as the rest of the Reckless Club jump over themselves to take care of the kids. 

Between 10 and 4, which would you rather become canon?

Which one is more likely? Trolldads. Which one would I prefer? The lesbian power polycule. Like let’s get all the ladies to date each other. It’s super gay and very wholesome. And they can all kick the asses of any guy who messes with them. 

Does 2 do much PDA? And does it annoy their friends? Barbmura

Uh, probably yeah. In my story I’m writing for these two, they are pretending to date at first so they do a lot of PDA to prove that they are dating. Then when they are actually dating that trend continues. They are both in other matters pretty private people and probably wouldn’t normally, but they love each other so much they can’t help it. The PDA annoys Toby and Jim but no one else minds. Barbara is basically Toby’s mom, and literally Jim’s and they are both done with having to see their mom kiss changelings who tried to kill them. 

Which of the ships would you say is the most romantic with each other?

Jlaireby, hands down. These kids who have, almost literally, been to hell and back for each other? Oh yeah. They know exactly what the others need, when to hug, when to kiss, when to give them space and when to hold them tight like they will never let go. They all go above and beyond for each other Valentines is a glorious disaster every single year. And their anniversaries (there are multiple depending on when each felt they started dating the other. None of them agree on the actual dates) are always magnificent. 

How would the proposal between 5 go?

I already wrote this! (X) Like so many things, it’s a god damn disaster of a romantic night. All the planners and over thinkers interacting with all of the spur of the moments. They didn’t even mean for it to be this poly or this gay, but it sure as hell was. After everyone proposed and danced they retired to Jim’s house (it was closest) and fell asleep on the floor in the living room. The next morning they tried to sort out who had proposed to who. The relationship web became increasingly silly. A few folks who didn’t get the chance to propose to everyone they wanted to did so in the morning. Which made the relationship web even more difficult to read. They gave up when someone asked what a wedding like that would look like. I am now going to write this up!!!! This is great. 

Who cooks more often in 3? Hammerhunter

Is there ever any doubt? Jim all the way. 

I’ll Tag @yellowmagicalgirl, @imthegingerninja and @sombra-core Uh if anyone else wants to do this please feel free! I don’t know how many people have been tagged already. 

#I have so many ships #how am I supposed to tag this?

[trollhunter-nomura]

Ch 4 conflicting interests

As exciting as the previous night was, Nomura was hoping for a little bit of normalcy during the day, and aside from the class field trip that had come, and Strickler being ever bored, which considering he taught history in school, it was ironic that a history museum would bore him. Things were uneventful, tho one teenager was trying to find nude neanderthals or something for some reason. She never really liked teenagers, they were rather obnoxious.

Later that evening however was when things got interesting.

She sat in the employee lunchroom of the museum, enjoying a nice cup of oolong tea. Tho Blinky had given her some tea last night in Trollmarket, she much preferred her own blend. She read over some shopping invoices for incoming packages to the museum. Some were for new exhibits, and some were coded. Those were pieces of the bridge to be added when other fragments arrived.

"So, did you hear about the new trollhunter?" A voice asked, entering the room.

Nomura turned her head to the door to see a tall lanky middle-aged man. Strickler, or Stricklander as his real name was, was another shapeshift. He always wore a hideous olive green jacket over turtleneck sweaters. Even in the summer.

"What about it?" She asked, looking back to her paperwork she was sorting.

"According to Bular, the trollhunter is human. Or appears to be."

Nomura let out a chuckle. "What do you mean 'appears to be'?"

"I'm not sure, but according to Bular, the human seemed to have unusual abilities." He poured himself a cup of tea, then promptly spit it out. She smiled. Her tea was of an unusual blend, and can be rather strong if you weren't used to it like she was.

"How so?" She asked, leaning back in her chair, taking a sip of the tea.

"I'm not too sure." Strickler sat down at the table. "I wasn't there, but according to Bular, she seemed to managed to jump over his head. And as far as I'm aware, no human should be able to jump almost ten feet in the air."

"Really?" She asked, pretending to be impressed. "Where is the brute anyways?"

"Hunting." Strickler answered, rolled his eyes.

"What?" That was not good news.

"Yes, I know." Strickler continued,noting the look of apall on her face. "But he barely listens to reason. I managed to convince him to go elsewhere lest we be found out by authorities."

She nodded, pondering. She looked at the papers in front. Tho many were for bridge pieces, one in particular was something she'd been waiting for. She wondered when she would bring it to Bular's attention.

"If I didn't know any better, I would think this human trollhunter was actually a changeling." Strickler's voice brought her from her thoughts.

She gave a rather smug smile. "If the trollhunter were a changeling, you would think they'd value their live's enough to come forward immediatly with the amulet, wouldn't they?"

Strickler seemed to be trying to read her reactions. He may be older than she was, but she'd had better practice at subterfuge. He usually allowed his Humanity to get the best of him. She hated her humanity.

"You would think that. Regardless, a human or a changeling trollhunter is not the norm. If it is a changeling, they probably wouldn't last as long as most of the previous trollhunters."

Nomura looked over. "Indeed. Bular would certainly make quick work of them, human or changeling."

Nearby a clock started chiming. It was midnight.

"Well, if Bular isn't coming tonight, I need to go and sort the incoming packages. Don't you have a history class to bore tomorrow?"

Strickler scowled at her remark, but left either way. Once she was certain he was gone, she went to the safe in her office to retrieve her purse. Checking to see that the amulet and horngozzle were still there, she headed off to Trollmarket.

....

Over the next few weeks she got into a bit of routine of her trollhunter duties. While she couldn't really "answer the call" while she was running the museum, she managed to slip those between lunch and dinner and dodging Bular. Alot of the things she was asked to do were rather inane, such as clearing out a couple gnome infestations. She knew not to touch their hats, but even so all she wanted to do was punt the whole lot and their constant bickering.

Tho one request she got was really curious, from a troll named Bagdwella. She asked Nomura if she could deliver an ornate box to her sister who lived in a sewer on the other side of town, and to be very careful that only her sister can open it. Nomura looked over the box. She still had difficulty reading trollish. But she could make out some of the characters. She looked at the robust troll.

"This doesn't contain a curse, does it?" She asked wryly.

Bagdwella looked offended at the accusation. She demanded for Nomura to return it. Nomura shook her head. She didn't know the extent of the curse, but judging from the carvings it may have had to do with gravity.

"I'm sorry, but as the trollhunter, I can't on good conscience let you have this back. Whatever issue you have with your sister I'm sure it could be resolved more civil than a silly curse."

Bagdwella huffed and stormed off back to her stall. Nomira looked over the box knowing exactly what to do with it. A sensible trollhunter would lock it away in the vault. She had a better idea. She would send it to a changeling named Gladysgoro. She worked as a dental assistant and loved to torture children for fun behind the orthodontist back. She may not have liked children too much, but some things can go to far.

...

After dealing with the box she went towards the forge where she could train. Tho she felt she could hardly call it training. She wondered if Blinky was taking things slow and easy because she was a "human woman." Because lately the only thing that excited her from training was when Blinky taught her the lore. As a historian she loved learning new things.

"Blinky is there anything else that this place has to offer, I feel as if there's more to this trollhunter training." She asked, hooking her sword to her hip.

"Well Master Nomura, I don't want to overtax you."

She rolled her eyes. "Come now, I may be human, but I believe I can take much more than what your having this place dish out."

A voice laughed from the stands. Ever since their little duel, Draal has made it a point to sit in on every one of her training sessions. You'd think he didn't trust her! She got an idea.

"You think you could train me better, tough guy?" She called up to him.

"Master Nomura, perhaps it would be best that you don't antagonize him?" Blinky said, nervousness tinging his voice.

She gave the four armed troll a warm smile. "I'm sure Draal is more barl than bite."

At her remark Draal jumped from the high stand, landing a few feet from them. He walked over to them, leaning on a fist to look over her.

"If I were to train you, I would work you within an inch of your life." He growled.

Nomura smiled at him. "Well, I'm always up for more excitement. I figure you can do my physical training here, and Blinky, I'll still come by your library for the literary learning"

Blinky looked between Draal and Nomira unsure what to say, but smiled at her request he still teach her in ways he knew. He nodded.

"Very well then. As you wish, Master Nomura . I will leave you to Draal." He walked out, ARRRGGGH following.

Once they were out of earshot, Draal stomped close to her.

"What game are you playing now, Trollhunter?" He nearly spat the last word. He put as much contempt in that title than he normally would in using the word 'impure.'

"I'm not playing any games here. I want a more effective training." She smiled at him innocently.

"I don't buy that. I don't know how long you plan on stretching this scheme of yours, whatever it is. But know this: I will not let history repeat itself."

"What do you mean by that?" She asked, genuinely confused.

"Merlin's made mistakes in the past. One mistake nearly led to the destruction of troll Market. If it came to it, I WILL kill you. Even if it meant forfeiting any chance of obtaining The Amulet. I will NOT let Blinky go through that again."

She shook her head. "Draal your not making any sense."

He sneered at her ignorance.

"Why don't you just look up Tellad-Urr the Terrible." He stormed out After that, leaving her ever Clueless.

She looked around the heroes Forge, trying to pick out this terrible troll that Draal was talking about. The name seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't think of why. Until she saw him. she recognized the form of the supposed evil troll, but she didn't know enough of the story. She was going to need to do some research.

......

For those who do not know who Tellad-Urr is, he is a troll hunter from the tie-in book series. He was in "Age of the amulet" and essentially helped gunmar rise to power. He imprisoned any trolls who refused to subjugate humankind. Blinky was a very young troll in this book, so it was well before Draal's time. But he knows well enough about the events. I hadn't planned on mentioning anything from the books, and this might be the only time.

#trollhunters #trollhunter nomura #fic

[jayalaw]

Trollhunters Deviation: Deviation: If Jim had told Strickler

Tagging @wolfie-dragon-rider, @kingofthewilderwest and @evilwriter37. Special thanks to themf or hearing out this fic.

No. No. No, no no no no no. Strickler sat in horror as Jim showed him the amulet, and told him about the strange creatures that had come at night. He described them as large trolls, that if they wished could have squished him like a bug. Instead they had dangled him upside down and addressed him as “Master Jim”. They talked to him, and called him a Trollhunter.

"You do believe me, do you?" Jim asked, sounding lost and desperate.

Strickler's eyes caught the lump growing on the back of Jim's head. It looked like it would swell into something large and purple. He could just ask if Jim needed to go to the nurse for a concussion. It would be plausible, but contrary to his goals.

"Yes, I do, Young Atlas," Strickler said slowly. "After all, history is filled with fantastic creatures, that the greatest minds believed existed. The Greeks certainly did in their epic sagas."

He hoped he sounded like a teacher, like a mentor, someone who didn’t know about another world. Jim must have trusted him a lot to confide in him. By Merlin's glory, why did it have to be Jim? Wasn’t the boy suffering enough?

"I thought it was a dream, but this has been glowing since I woke up." Jim placed the amulet in Strickler's hands. "I found it by the canals yesterday, when Toby and I were biking to school. It was amid a pile of stones."

Impossible. It wasn't this easy. Strickler fingered the intricate amulet. It wasn't like a gaggletack, or his true form would have sprouted. But it throbbed with power, he could feel it. It didn't like him.

"If you would like, I know a few museum curators, archaeologists," he said. "They could examine this, and see what they learn from it."

"I think that would be a good idea," Jim said. "It's creeping me out."

The bell rang. Jim's head swiveled towards the noise.

"You should head to your first class, Young Atlas," Strickler said. "I don't think the other teachers would appreciate if you were tardy because of trolls. They might even accuse you of trolling them."

Jim groaned, but there was amusement in his eyes. He got up and hurried out of the classroom.

Strickler stared at the amulet. It glowed with heat. He blinked, and it vanished before his eyes. His palm was still warm.

"Merlin curse it all," he whispered.

The sun dyed the canals orange. They were dry, for it was that time of the year. No one was up and about, so neither noticed the skinny man or large troll next to him.

"The boy is young, weak," Bular growled. "I could tear him apart and feast on his bones."

"You should have grabbed the amulet before he did," Strickler retorted, his eyes glowing yellow. "He's not a threat. I see him every day in class. His head is in the clouds all the time, and he is weighed down by his responsibilities. Besides which, he cannot see through my ruse."

He kicked at Kanjigar's remains angrily. Of all the humans he would have wanted to pick up the amulet, he would not have wanted Jim. Maybe the brunette, Toby, or even that blonde-haired bully Steve. But not his Young Atlas. Gumm-gumms were destined to wipe out any Trollhunter. It was why Strickler had told Bular that he had found the new champion; knowing Bular, he would seek any sign of magic, and crush the boy as soon as possible.

"He will get stronger, with training," Bular said. "It's best if I finish him now,

"Blinkous's previous Trollhunter died after one day," Strickler pointed out. "His knowledge is bookish and not based in combat."

Bular stared with skepticism. He had recovered from his time in the sun, but it was clear he remembered how Kanjigar had fought.

"The boy trusts me, and without the amulet he has no power," Strickler went on. "And if the amulet is stolen, taken without his knowing, then he cannot recover it except by nonmagical means."

“What are you saying?”

“We can win without revealing troll’s existence to all of mankind.” Strickler smirked. “And thus without alerting those in Trollmarket who stand against us. I can make the Trollhunter weaker.”

“Hmm.” Bular glared at him. “You know the penalty of allying with the humans.”

“And I know the penalty the boy will face if it’s revealed that he enabled Gunmar’s escape.” Strickler stared at his hands, an idea forming in his brain.

He worked hard at the device. It required delicate refinement, so that only a sharp-eyed troll would see the differences. His hands were pricked red in the morning. No one noticed except Barbara, whom he met with for tea on occasion. She recommended a generic lotion for his hands.

Jim came to see him before each class. He talked about his training, play rehearsals with Claire -- Strickler had all but forced him to go onstage and audition -- and his fears on hearing that the troll Kanjigar was one of the best Trollhunters, and had died facing Bular. One time he came in despairing, about how he had tried to toss away the amulet because Kanjigar's son Draal challenged him to a fight, and Jim had lost, badly. Jim didn't even know why he was chosen when he didn't know how to fight.

“It is an unfair burden to place on you,” Strickler agreed.

“The amulet was wrong,” he said angrily. “It wants someone who is good, not someone who is scared of losing.”

"True courage is doing what's right even if you are scared," Strickler reassured him. “Draal sounds like a bully, and bullies are often wrong.”

He tried to ignore the gnawing guilt that grew in his stomach. If all went according to plan, Killahead Bridge would open without sacrificing Jim's life. The Janus Order was taking down names of which humans could go into safe houses and avoid the inevitable slaughter; they knew how easily changelings bonded with the fleshy beings. Even so, Strickler sensed that if Jim knew what he was, and about changelings, then Jim wouldn't accept the offer of safety. So he took care to listen, without betraying any hints of how much he knew.

Several times, he was tempted to make the swap. He hesitated when Jim mentioned fighting Draal again, and knowing it would be a match to the death. There was another close call when Jim and his friend Toby investigated goblins at a museum and had nearly discovered Nomura out of her human guise. If Strickler hadn’t known of Jim’s plans, he wouldn’t have been able to warn his fellow changeling. Thus, their secret in the museum remained safe even as the boys fought the little green miscreants.

The bridge wouldn’t wait forever, and neither would Gunmar. Strickler knew that. Each piece glued together reminded him of the impending endless night, and the bloodbath that would follow. He wanted to believe Gunmar would spare the changelings of the Janus Order, but Strickler also knew that leaders did not always reward hard work with fairness. Even so, the minute he made the switch, Jim would be powerless, while the monsters would come for him.  

He seized his opportunity the day after Jim’s birthday, where the boy survived a dangerous Stalking. Jim came in, excited and terrified.  

“I almost died!” he told Strickler. “But I used lightning from the sky.”

“I’m sorry,” Strickler said; he didn’t have to fake hs concern.

“It’s fine,” Jim said, his eyes wild. “After that Blinky came with Vespa parts and said we could assemble it, like my dad once promised. I can’t believe he did all that for me.”

“Yes, well, he is trying to make sure you’re the best Trollhunter you can be,” Strickler said, trying to be dismissive.

Jim left, not noticing that his amulet had been replaced. Strickler slipped on leather gloves and bound the real one in cold iron, hoping the amulet would not disappear. The iron if it touched his bare skin would reveal his true form.

He ought to have known it wouldn’t be that simple. He presented the amulet to Bular, who placed it in the bridge. Gunmar watched from the ether of the bridge with anticipation.

“Son, what have you done?” he tried, as Bular tried to remove the amulet, and got blasted for his efforts. Eventually, the bridge shut down

Strickler choked as Bular wrapped a large, meaty hand around him. He dangled.

“You said we would succeed once we got the amulet,” the larger troll growled.

“Something went wrong,” Strickler gasped. “We need something . . .”

“What?” The troll shook him. “What?!”

“The trollhunter,” he choked out, and it felt like the ultimate betrayal.

Bular tossed him down. Strickler gasped for air. He barely heard Bular setting out with Nomura, for it was early dusk. He blinked, the weight of what he had said coming with the inflow of oxygen.

“You better be right, impure, or Arcadia will burn for your failure,” Bular growled. “You stay and guard the bridge with the goblins. I will know if you left.”

“Jim, I’m sorry,” Strickler whispered.

The wait was agonizing. He paced, decked in his true form. The amulet gleamed from the ground, as if it was mocking him. Strickler went and picked it up. He thought of how happy Jim had looked the day after his birthday.

If he had any sense, he would have killed the boy on realizing who Jim was destined to be. He wouldn’t have gone on those dates with Barbara, or let Jim confide. There wasn’t any way that Bular would let him take the Trollhunter into hiding. Jim was dead where he stood.

Unless . . .

The amulet glowed, and started floating. Strickler grabbed for it. His gestures were half-hearted. The amulet crashed through the ceiling of the museum, and zoomed away. Despite himself, Strickler felt hope. He clenched his fists.

“Fight, Jim,” Strickler whispered, glad that he was alone and no one could hear him. “Fight with everything you have.”

He kept pacing. Bular didn’t believe in text messages. Nomura also wouldn’t send anything while she was on the hunt.

The commotion came. He heard Bular’s familiar trundle, loud thuds, and the familiar tale.

“Put Jimbo down!” Toby was screaming. “Hang on, Jim, we’re coming!”

“Are you mad?!” Strickler started to shout. “You led THEM here . . .”

Strickler’s heart stopped. Jim was dangling from Bular’s shoulders, semi-conscious but still struggling. He was in his school clothes, which were stained with dirt and dried blood. More blood dripped down his face. Bular held the amulet in his free hand, miles away from Jim’s reach. Draal, Aargh, Blinky and Toby were in the distance, Nomura fending off Draal.

“Doesn’t matter if they know,” Bular grunted. “It’s too late for a rescue, Young Atlas.”

Time slowed down. Jim blinked in confusion. Strickler’s mouth dropped open.

“How do you know . . .” Jim started.

“I will greatly enjoy this,” Bular growled, carrying Jim to the bridge. Strickler couldn’t move a muscle, though he knew a fight was coming. He was glad to be in his changeling guise, but the suspicion was already planted. Even so, it was too late. There was no way he could rescue Jim without committing treason outright.

What am I going to tell Barbara?

Bular dangled Jim from his grasp like a ragdoll. Jim still seemed to be fighting. His hands flailed. Even so, it was futile. The large fist made Jim hold the amulet and press it to the bridge. It started to glow and open. Then Bular dropped the boy, with a hard thump. Murder gleamed in the Gumm-Gumm’s eyes.

“You still need him alive!” Strickler reminded him, pulling out his knives.

“Not anymore,” Bular said, lifting a foot, preparing to stomp down the boy.

“No!” A chorus of voices sounded. They came from Blinky, Aargh, and Toby. Strickler wasn’t sure if his own voice added to the mix. An aquamarine blur thudded against Bular, throwing off his kick. Jim rolled away, sluggishly.  

“You’re a disgrace to your father’s legacy!” Bular taunted as he regained his footing. Draal attacked him with a curved sword.

“I disgrace no one, you son of a half-troll!” Draal retorted. “Now is when I avenge my father!”

“The bridge, the bridge!” Blinky called. “Toby, get Jim away from it!”

It was opening. Gunmar was going to come through, as soon as the sensation of the bridge sucking in everyone who couldn’t hold onto something faded. Strickler realized that he wasn’t being attacked, with Aargh battling Nomura and Toby charging towards Jim. He ought to have done something, but it felt like time slowed.

“Jimbo, Jim, stay with me,” Toby was trying to get Jim, lifting him by one arm. Jim moaned. Strickler ran towards them, knives held high as if he had the pretense of attacking.

“You stay back!” Toby pointed a hammer that he struggled to wield. It was both endearing and pathetic.  The hammer flew out of his hands and into the bridge. Judging by the pained grunt, Gunmar had been hit between the eyebrows.

That’s when Strickler realized he had made a tactical error, as he prepared to slice the larger boy’s throat and let him bleed quickly; the six-eyed troll had found ropes by which to swing to the bridge. Bular seemed to realize as well, which allowed Draal to punch him into a wall.

“Careful!” Aargh called. He had trapped Nomura in a wall tapestry, and leaped over all the fighters. He and Blinky held onto the amulet and tried to pull it out.

“Don’t, you fools!” Strickler abandoned Toby to come after them, feeling the sucking sensation on him. “It can’t be removed-”

Gunmar was coming through. Once he was, all the humans in the room would die. Strickler could feel it. He knew that was why he was leaving Toby with Jim, rather than killing them both.

But Draal was cleverer than Strickler and Bular had surmised. He lured Bular close to the bridge, and had goaded him to hit. Bular had taken the bait, and now he flew into the portal. He screamed as he ran into the silhouette of his father.

An explosion happened; Blinky fell from the top of the bridge. Two of the arms fell with him, crumbling to stone. Aargh leaped after him. The amulet was clenched within the stone hands.

And just like that, it was over. A victory snatched away from them. Or was it a great loss?

“Flee,” Strickler mouthed to Nomura, who sneaked out of her tapestry prison. With everyone focused on the injured trolls, and on their narrow defeat, they could leave.

Afterward.

Well.

There was an afterward.

Jim didn’t come to see him before school. He also wasn’t in classes. That didn’t surprise Strickler. According to Barbara, the concussion he had from being “mugged” was severe, and she wanted him in the hospital under observation. She’d determine if he could play Romeo.

He bought flowers for Barbara, and a book on recipes for Jim. When he went to the hospital, he sneaked in after hours. He left the flowers in Barbara’s locker. Her combination had been easy to deduct.

Jim’s forehead was covered in bandages, and bruises littered his body. It didn’t look like Bular had broken any of his bones, which was a mercy. Strickler left the book on the bedside table.

“Why are you sneaking in?”

He jumped. Jim’s eyes were open. They looked tired, bloodshot, betrayed. He groaned and tried to sit up.

“I couldn’t get away until now,” Strickler said honestly. “Lie down. You’ve been through a lot.”  

It was the truth. The Janus Order had to think of a new plan to get their leader out.

“He called me Young Atlas,” Jim murmured. “You call me that.”

A moment passed between them. Strickler supposed he could leave. Instead, he pulled up a chair. Jim deserved this much.

“I trusted you,” Jim went on, his voice hoarse. “I told you about the amulet. I vouched for you when Blinky said no humans could know.”

“It’s complicated.” Strickler’s eyes glowed in the darkness. “We have to serve him, or we die. He’s going to find a way back, and he’ll be fiercer.”

JIm’s eyes widened. He seemed to be more awake.

“Then why are you here? To finish the job?” Jim didn’t seem to have that much fight in him, but he clenched a bandaged fist. “Do you want to give it a shot?”

Strickler considered how a fight between them would go. Jim’s eyes dilated in the darkness. He seemed to groan as he moved. Strickler was hale and hearty.

“If I wanted you dead, I could have done it at any time,” Strickler said with more force than he intended. “I spared you and Toby on purpose. As for the rest, I didn’t know the bridge needed the Trollhunter to open it. If things had gone . . .  if Draal had picked up the amulet before you did . . .”

There wasn’t any way to apologize. If it had been any other troll or human, Strickler wouldn’t have said he was sorry.. He wouldn’t have cared. Jim didn’t know the changelings’ plight, their need to serve the Gumm-Gumm king.

So instead, Strickler pulled a corked bottle out of his purse. Jim noticed and reached for something. The amulet, probably.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Strickler said. He had already opened the bottle.

“For the glory of Merlin-”

A purple mist covered the boy’s face. His eyes slackened, and he fell asleep. Strickler corked the bottle before it could make him sleep as well, and he pulled the hospital sheets over Jim’s sleeping figure. Then he placed the amulet in Jim’s hands.

The potion would wipe Jim’s memories of the previous few days. His friends could fill him in on why Blinky would be sporting two mechanical arms, and why Toby was training with a spare hammer. No one knew Strickler had two forms, or that he had held back during the bridge. Neither side knew what to expect.

#trollhunters #trollhunters whump #jim lake jr